New Year's Eve Organization

Yup. I'm an organizing bandit. I created new file folders for all my "important papers" and it's all happily filed in one box instead of in multiple places. I have outgrown the shoe box method. It works for temporary saving but not for long-term purposes. Plus, how I am I ever going to convince Sunshine that filing and organization are great, unless I lead by example? Plus, there is a high possibility that my father might get transfered, so I could be moving later on this year.

I made another Dulaan hat today. I am now working on a baby camo hat for Hunter, Y's new baby. Y is a family friend that lives in Wisconsin and she had a baby boy named Hunter in August. It was one of those Christmas card surprises and mom talked to Y's mom who happens to be her best friend so we are making a box of baby things to send to her and since he's named Hunter, I decided to make a baby camo hat because Wisconsin is cold as hell and they actually get snow up there where they live.

E invited me to a last minute party that her and her husband decided to throw, but I politely declined saying that I had a previous engagement. My sinuses are still recovering from hanging out at her place Friday note not to mention that I come home smelling like a bowling alley and I have to take a shower to get all the smoke nasty out of my wild mane of hair. And they live in the ghetto part of town and I don't think that's going to be a very safe place to be on New Year's Eve. I have just grown out of those types of parties.

I heart Crochet

So I have mostly been working on crocheting Red Scarf #2 today with my new Addi hook. It is the perfect hook. Seriously, I have tried many different brands and types and this one is my favorite by far. Of course, it's the most expensive, but since I don't follow patterns it doesn't really matter what size hook to use. I am using Cascade 220 for scarf #2, it's not the fanciest wool yarn in the world, but it is good quality and I like the feel of it. I also made two more Dulaan hats today. This makes a total of 15 hats that are in my Dulaan box now. Lol...i can't help being organized. i'm a recovering Type A.

I watched this awesome documentary on Showtime this morning called Life After Tomorrow which is about the child actresses that played Annie and the orphans in the Broadway musical Annie. It was really neat because it showed the effect the show had on them and what they were doing now. I remember my parents taking us to see Annie at the Des Moines Civic Center when we were in elementary school. I can sing the whole score to Annie, and I'm not the type to memorize music like that. Sometimes when I am having a crappy day I dig out my old VHS copy of Annie the movie with Bernadette Peters and it cheers me up. I secretly love Broadway muscials. I am hell bent on seeing Wicked this summer when it comes to OKC.

Not much is really going on. I have had so much free time that I even painted my toe nails! Holy shit Batman! I'm also having very strange cravings for Dr. Pepper.

2007 Goals - Be The Change

It is very late in Melissaland and I just got home from spending the evening at E's new place. I went over there because I had called her to thank her for the Christmas card and she sounded like she needed some girl talk. So we hung out and chatted over some queso dip while her husband sat in the back room smoking and playing Warcraft..... Anyhoo, since my sinuses are all clogged and after hearing all her drama, I thought I should sit down and write my goals for 2007.

1. Finish my accounting degree.
2. Travel travel travel..This includes my week off in May and possibly taking a weekend off in August to see DCI in Pasadena( or at least one DCI show this summer...sweaty muscles and shiny instruments baby!!).
3. Learn more advanced knitting and crochet techniques and along with that, make more hats and scarves for my favorite charities.
4. read more books regularly. In college, I used to read every night before i went to bed and I have been slacking on that lately.
5. Cut back on pop and junk food. Become one with nasty diet pop and trick myself into thinking that sugar tastes like shit.
6. Normally, by now I would have some goal about dating or such, but I say to hell with that shit. Que sera, sera.
7. Quit buying stupid crap and save more money. I have been doing better at this but I know I can do even better than I have been. I need to start at least keeping track of what i spend so I can make a realistic budget and forecast my expenditures/financial disasters. I will start this on Jan 1, to be on the easy side.

I think 7 is plenty. I like manageable goals. I am going to log off now and crochet some more on red scarf #2 that I started tonight before I went to E's house. I am using Cascade 220 and my new Addi Hook. ADDI HOOKS ROCK!!!!!!! They are the best things ever and I will be ordering more of these in the future.

Day Four Already?

So Day Three kind of just flew away. My sister and I had received these gift cards to Barnes and Noble for Christmas, and we needed something to do so we drove down to Tulsa. I still have money on mine!!! Isn't that a hoot! First time in the history of Melissa! I bought a Frank Lloyd Wright mini wall calendar, a really awesome Skyscrapers coffee table type book that has awesome pictures and the history behind these cool buildings, two magazines, two cute little notepads, a copy of A Christmas Story (60 % off baby!!!), two copies of the mini Mister Rogers book. Then we ate at Back Yard Burgers. We have a favorite one in Tulsa and the manager knows us by name and always remembers what we order and who orders what. Awesome service there!

Then I made my sister go to Utica Square because there is this really awesome yarn store there called Loops and they were having this totally awesome after Christmas sale. I bought a skein of Lamb's Pride Worsted in Blue Blood Red, one skein of red Cascade 220, two samples of Soak (wool wash), and this Rowan leaflet with Kim Hargreaves that was marked down to 3.99!!!! I was being seriously conservative because of vacation and the big tuition bill coming up. Plus, I didn't "need" any yarn because of the infamous 19 skeins I received for Christmas, but this is like a once a year sale, so I wanted to at least see if they even had any yarn left, which they did.

We left Tulsa after that and went home so we could see the 4:40 showing of Holiday. That movie was awesome, and Jack Black didn't annoy me, which was great and Kate Winslet was awesome. We got home from the movie about the same time that my dad got home from work with my accident report. Boy that was hilarious. It actually is written on the police report where she admitted to being "lost" and talking on the cell phone. Call me naive, but I don't know how you could be driving a brand new 2007 Chevy 1500 pick-up and not be able to provide proof of insurance. I could understand not having a copy but she didn't even have a name of a company or her old policy or anything, so I think that was a total crock of shit but that's okay because she got two tickets and my insurance company is going to go after her skanky ass.

What lies ahead for Day 4? Well, it's pay day so I am going to the post office. I am working on hat eight right now. i have a ton of new books to read and some yarn catalogs to drool over that came in the mail today. There will be some more Boston Legal involved and I am waiting for two packages to arrive today.

Finally, the question you really want the answer for, What's on my ipod?

1. I wanna Dance with somebody - Whitney Houston
2. One Wing in the Fire - Trent Tomlinson
3. And I am Telling You I'm Not Going - Jennifer Hudson (the dance mix from the Dreamgirls soundtrack)
4. Santa Monica - Theory of a Deadman
5. Gonna Fly Now - Bill Conti

Day Two

I am calling this Day Two because it is the second day of my vacation. The weekend doesn't count because I always have that off. So yesterday was Christmas and my sister and I went to see The Pursuit of Happyness. I finally figured out why it is spelled wrong. The movie was awesome, so now I want to buy the book and find out more, because I am a sucker for a good true-life story. I have made it through Disc Three of Boston Legal Season 1. I am surprised that I have not cracked a rib laughing. I wish I could show up to morning staff meetings with a light up star on my head. It might make them bearable....

I did buy the matching tote purse at American Eagle to go with the party purse and the wallet, all in gun metal gray. Did I mention that they match one of my favorite pairs of Converses? that was all that I bought because there wasn't any really mouth dropping stuff on sale and that purse was the only thing that I have really been toying with purchasing recently.

I made the dreaded visit to the bank to order some overpriced checks. Had I know my routing number or my account number I might have ordered them online for one third of the price, but I think in a cleaning frenzy, I accidently shreaded that piece of paper with that information. See my original bank merged with another bank, but I could keep using my old checks cause they were connected, but the box of checks that I got when I opened the account my second year in college finally ran out. there are two things that I have to pay cash or check for, no debit card allowed, so I am therefore forced to order another stinking box of checks that I will not finish because most likely I will be moving by the end of this year. When I do so, I am getting a new bank, one that doesn't charge fees for using your debit card, doesn't charge you out the ass for checks and is open either past five o clock or at least a little bit on Saturdays because some us have to work long hours and don't fit into banker's hours. The only positive thing about this whole dreaded experience was that i got some cute Snoopy checks. Trust me, they were the best choice out of my limited options. Who really wants Mr. Potato Head on their checks?

On a happier note, I did go to see Rocky Balboa today and it was stinking awesome. It had the magic of the original Rocky and if you can't help but feel motivated when you walk out of the theater afterwards. Milo was awesome as Rocky's son and I loved the pea coat that he was wearing.

I am currently working on making my fifth hat since Christmas Eve. I am not power knitting because I am on "vacation" and this is supposed to be fun and not the cause of hand cramps. I'm thinking that I should make a funky scrap afghan with the leftovers from making hats out of my 19 skeins of yarn, but we will see. Afghans aren't the most portable project in the world and couch space is limited in my house.

I am hoping that I will get a call from the body shop saying that my parts are in because I would really like to get my car fixed before any more tiny plastic parts fall off. We will see what happens.

Christmas Eve Delight

So in recent years we have started a newer tradition of opening our presents on Christmas Eve. I am still in shock because I opened up this giant bag and inside of it was 19 SKEINS OF YARN!!!!!!!! It's a good thing that I didn't sign up for one of those stash busting programs. It's all in the colors I like too. So between all this yarn and the all the dvds I got for Christmas I might actually turn into a hermit over the rest of my vacation. We'll see. I don't like to be cooped inside all day.

Well I have made two hats this evening. I'm really glad that I did that since I have a lot of yarn to make projects with. The funny thing is that I ordered a skein of Rowan Summer Tweed Vanity the other day with some Addi hooks because I didn't think Santa was going to buy me any yarn for Christmas. See people, if you believe in Santa, even at age 26, he will listen to you and bring you cool stuff like yarn and a Hello Kitty stapler. Lol...I also got a Barnes and Noble gift card and a Hello Kitty toaster, more Hallmark ornaments and some other cool stuff little things. My little sis also bought me 4 new Eskimo Joe's cups. Hello, they put out new colors every year.

Seriously though, everybody wins with the yarn though because now I can make lots more hats for Dulaan and other things for my charity causes. I think the best part of this evening was watching my little doggies sleep under the tree after we had opened all the presents.

So what do we do on Christmas? Well, we go to morning mass and then we go to the movies. I'm sure I will also be knitting or crocheting something since I have no idea where in the heck I am going to put all my lovely yarn.

I must go now and watch my Boston Legal dvds way into the wee hours of the night.

Yarn Holiday!

Well, I am now officially on holiday and I don't even have to think about accounting at all until January 3rd. YAY!!!! I love accounting, but my brain needs a break.

I watched Rocky tonight while i was working on the red scarf and so now the Rocky theme is totally stuck in my head. Maybe it's supposed to motivate me. It must have because I did like 3 loads of laundry and sorted through some stuff in my room. I measured the red scarf and I have about 30 inches done so far and most scarves for adults are usually in the 60 range.

My little sister has gone cookie crazy. She bought real cookie sheets at a Pampered Chef party hosted by one of her fellow teachers and I think she made like 4 batches of cookies tonight. Homemade. Talk about craziness. Sometimes I wonder how we are even related.

Other movie purchases of note include some vintage Patrick Dempsey in Can't Buy Me Love and She-Ra on DVD (5 fan favorite episodes plus the feature length movie). Courtesy of my mother, I also have two grown-up table lamps. They are totally girly!!! They have dangly beads but in a subtle non-tacky way. The shades are a grey-beige with a silver base. They look way cooler than what I can describe. I just plugged one in and it's really cool. She thought I needed lamps because of all the needlework and computer/school stuff that I do. Subtle hint, eh? My favorite part is that they match and they will look really cool in a future living room.

Anyways, for the rest of the night since I can stay up as late as I wanna, I plan on reading/drooling over my new knitting and crochet books as well as my Andy Warhol books.

I hope everyone has a very happy and fruitcake free holiday weekend! Remember: If the relatives are driving you crazy, go hug a skein of yarn. It will make you feel better.

Shaked not Stirred

Well, Monday night on my way home from work a crazy lady in a big truck ran a stop sign and ran right into my car as I was driving my dad and I home from work. We are fine, not a scratch but my Subaru has $2500 worth of damage. We can't get it in until after the holidays because of parts and the holidays themselves. It will take a week in the shop but it is in driveable condition now. She hit the front left fender (the thingie over the wheel, cracked my headlights etc. The body shop dude had to pull my fender out of the door hinge so that I could open my car more than a foot. This was my first wreck so it has been a frustrating week. The lady was cited with failure to yield and she didn't have proof of insurance. the accident report isn't in yet either. At least I still have my good looks and my mighty Subaru will rise again like a phoenix from the ashes.

Tuesday night I finished my Veteran's scarf. I will send it off over break. I plan on starting the Red Scarf sometime tonight. I also want to make a scarf from the skein of Liza Souza's Violet's Pink Ribbon that arrived on Tuesday. I also need to make K's doink hat too. i also want to crochet a technicolor log cabin afghan. Lots of goals for 2007.

One bright spot is that grades came in the mail today and I totally passed my classes! It sounds silly but I always have this fear of failing classes somehow even though I know I totally aced them.

Scarves

So while I was at Sunshine's I made some massive progress on yarn projects. I made the scarf for A-dolly that matches the winter coat my mom made for this year. I am over half-way done crocheting the scarf for the Knit Your Bit campaign sponsored by the National World War II Museum in New Orleans. The address for the project is here: http://www.nationalww2museum.org/education/knitting.html

My next project is making a doink hat for K, the father of A-dolly. He named and designed the hat, I am just the person manufacturing it. When the doink hat is finished I will most certainly post it on my Flickr page. As soon as I finish the vet's scarf, i am casting on for the Red Scarf Project. This project is sooo awesome and it is near and dear to my heart because I am back in college again and this project sends encouragement and care packages to orphans/foster kids who have aged out of the system and are now going to college. Ironically, while I was at Sunshine's my mom bought me the perfect red yarn for the project, not even knowing I was planning on it. She just thought I would like the color. It is Autumn Red (Caron Simply Soft) and it is machine-washable which = college-student friendly and it is really soft. Info about The Red Scarf Project can be found here: http://www.interweave.com/knit/events/redscarf.asp

Anyways, this weekend went by way too fast. I had so much fun and I am so relaxed. Sunshine is like the best host ever (Thanks again for everything!!!). Sniff sniff, I wish we lived a tad bit closer together, but at least my mighty Subaru gets fantastic gas mileage. There is also a major aura of productivity at his house. I always finish tons of UFOs and I get tedious homework done faster there for some reason.

I am like seriously tired. I think my inability to sit still has finally caught up with me. So i am going to dive under my bazillion denim quilts on my bed and dream about piles of yarn. LOL!!!

O Hanukkah Tree

It's not really a Hanukkah tree, but I did find the perfect tree and we did put it up last night and it's the first weekend of Hanukkah. It's a 4ft prelit Indiana spruce, totally faux, but it is quite possibly the cutest little Christmas tree ever. I am dragging Sunshine out to Target today because he HAS NO CAFFEINE and we still need a tree topper and a little tree skirt to finish it off. The best part is that the cat is not trying to pounce the tree! I know this has to be a Christmas miracle.

Speaking of Christmas miracles, I got a big fat raise and vacation pay I didn't know I had. Unfortunately I have to be mostly responsible and stick a whole lot of it up my butt because I have a big scary tuition payment and some scary expensive accounting books to buy in January. I have only made one yarn purchase which was a skein of Miss Violet's Pink Ribbon made by Lisa Souza. It looks so beautiful and Liza Souza has the best customer service ever. I give her two hooks up for sure.

On the Christmas shopping front, I am pretty much down to stuff for Chinese gift exchanges at work and stocking stuffers. I bought my sister's final presents Thursday night after my cost accounting final.

If anyone has tricks to getting dried up super glue off your hands let me know. The cat doesn't really bother the tree but she thinks that the Christmas village is her personal toy box so when we magically found the superglue, I was able to repair the broken pile. Props to my mother for showing me the tricks to getting the super glue to bond before it gets too messy. I didn't glue my hands or fingers together so it was a successful project.

Sunshine also made some very fancy hot chocolate that looks like it walked out of the Martha Stewart Holiday issue. It tasted even better than Starbucks.

Happy Holidays!!!!!

Is it Christmas Vacation yet?

I know most people aren't fortunate enough to get a week off from work paid or unpaid, but i do get the week off between Christmas and New Year's due "factory shutdown." I am sooo ready for it too, because i will have a short break from school as well. I am just so tired. I haven't been to Wal-Mart in a full week and I have all these work parties and last minute Christmas shopping to do, but the only time I am motivated to do anything is on the weekends or after night class gets out, since I am already out and about.

I had an awesome weekend in Kansas City. There is just something awesome about walking around the Plaza and the Crown Center, and we went to the Crown Center at night and got some really awesome pics. I made a visit to the BN on the Plaza which is one of my favorites. I bought Crochet Today magazine (it has really cool patterns that don't require a lot of technical skills) and Jennifer Stafford's book Domiknitrix (really good technique pictures and a heart shaped pillow that says Bite Me--i need that one in my cube at work) and Warhol by Klaus Honnef because it was the most affordable Warhol book they had. I got to carry A-dolly around everywhere and read her stories and do puzzles. she is sooo freaking smart for a two year old. I was amazed just sitting there watching her put together 24 piece puzzles without any help at all..She is a chatterbox, and she has the crazy curls like i did when i was a little girl. My aunt D also hooked us up with new Iowa Hawkeyes shirts. She even got me a bright pink one! yay! a-dolly is going through a pink phase too, and on saturday we both were wearing pink shirts and she danced around saying "pretty in pink! pretty in pink!" I also have to give a shout out to my favorite hotel chain Hampton Inns. They have free and fast wireless internet and the world's most comfortable pillow-top mattresses and comforters. I knew they were upgrading their beds but this is better than I expected!

This weekend I get to play Martha Stewart at Sunshine's this weekend. I am decorating a Christmas tree for him since it his first house that really has good display space for a tree and I found cool ornaments that were on sale so this tree is going to rock!

Gracias!

I came home from work tonigh and there was a Post Office extravaganza waiting in my room. I received, not one, but TWO boxes from my Secret Pal 9. YAY!! Thank-you so much! She sent me three skeins of Red Heart in Plum berries, a pair of size 13 circulars, a friendship cookie mix, starbursts, skittles, a poncho leaflet, and a stuffed Christmas Teddy Bear. Yay! I love presents, especially when it involves yarn. I also received a really nice thank-you note from Major Knitter for the donation of yarn and supplies for the PTA Knit-A-Thon contest that she was involved with. She included a handmade set of Knit Notes and a post-it note pad that says Knit Happens on it. I was really surprised. I sent off some stash yarn and extra looms and needles, because the premise behind the contest was to teach the elementary school kids how to knit so that they could knit hats for Caps to the Capitol, which will distribute hats to babies through the organization Save the Children. I even made twenty hats to send off to Caps to the Capitol. Anyways, it was a very impressive effort and I am just glad that I was able to help out in my own little way.


Anyways, I am super tired from work. I was doing double-duty trying to catch up for my snow day on Friday, so I think I am just going to lay on my bed, rest my eyes and listen to the new Incubus cd and do that thing otherwise known as relaxing.

Cabin Fever

Well, since the blizzard started Thursday afternoon, I have made five hats and embroidered another pillowcase for A-dolly. I cleaned out some more crap in my closet and I have all my Christmas cards ready to send. I finished reading The Innocent Man by John Grisham. I did three loads of laundry. I had chit chatted with the customer service rep at US Cellular who took my phone payment---I am people deprived!! He was friendly too and was asking me about the snow that we got. I watched a really good Hallmark movie on the Hallmark Channel called The Christmas Card...I can't help it...I am a hopeless romantic to the core. I also tagged all my hats to send to Caps for the Capitol, but I don't have a box the right size. Tomorrow I am pitching a fit and going to walmart. If my father can run off with my Forrester and go to the grocery store, walmart and a movie, it is plenty safe for me to drive to walmart. Did I mention the lady across the street that routinely backs into her daughter's Jeep Liberty was out driving today without incident? I need some Mountain Dew!!! My dad actually had the cajones to bring me back Diet Mountain Dew. HE KNOWS I HATE DIET MOUNTAIN DEW!!!!!! It doesn't have the caffeine or the sugar and I would rather drink 100 year old eggnog. He acted annoyed when I told him right to his face that it TASTES LIKE SHIT...Can you tell I'm getting a little cranky? i just want some decent pop and a small change of scenery. I like to have the option of getting out of the house. I would have gone today but my dad took my car without asking and took a 5 hour long hour trip to get milk. I would have been okay with the taking of my car but to tell me that I can go anywhere and then go joyriding all over town using up my gas really hacks me off. Did I mention I have Daddy issues??

Honestly, though, I am having a good time. i just need to get out of the house for a few minutes, have some caffiene, buy a couple of magazines and then I will be all happy again. Online shopping is just not the same. it is great for hard to find items, but I miss the people interaction, good or bad. Plus, I hate waiting for packages in the mail. speaking of this, I did order a new purse online. LOL. I was soooo bored that I was looking at Delia's.com and Urban Outfitters online. They both had these Factory Girl Andy Warhol totes with the giant banana on them (like the velvet underground album cover). I wanted to get it from Urban Outfitters but the banana tote was on back order from them so I had to suck it up and order it from Delia's (home of the teenyboppers). Lol. I just totally ruined my rep by admitting to purchasing from Delia's but that's okay. I will repent by listening to the new Incubus album tonight. Snow makes people goofy.

Snowed In!

I had to e-mail in to work today. Those that can are working from home today. I don't have a company laptop, so I logged into my email log enough to email my boss and turn on my out of office reply. Lol...My section of Oklahoma got 10 + inches, my town officially had a blizzard, a power outage, and a reported 15 inches. I don't feel like shoveling a path to the yard stick I stuck out in the middle of my yard last night, but the view from my patio says you can only see the top two feet or so of the stick. I should've buried a ruler just for shits and giggles.

besides running around in the snow taking pictures this morning, I have been downloading some fresh songs from Itunes. I plan on busting out the dvd collection later on. I'm not sure I will be going to tulsa this weekend. Lol...I'm not one for digging cars out of the roads and such. I plan on making some hats today.

I heart SNOW!!!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/shoe_girl/

Check out my Flickr page to see all my first hand pictures of the snow fall. I have not seen snow like this in at least 6 years. Parts of our town lost power for over two hours and we have ten plus inches of snow on top on the pile of sleet we started off with this morning. I did go into work for about 5 hours today with my dad but we said to hell with it and came home before we got stuck at the plant overnight. School was closed for today and has been canceled for tomorrow. It feels very little house on the prairie-esque. I've been taking the dogs out on their leashes even in the back yard so i have something to fish them out of the snow with. For some odd reason my little Yorkies are snow lovers just like me. :) Of course, they have their doggie sweaters on and their super duty doggie jackets from Lands End with the reflective strips on them too. I am excited that I was able to capture the action with my camera. I will have to read the manual this weekend so i can learn the special settings.

So what do you do when you can't go anywhere? Well, you make some hot cocoa from Starby's with a shot of Hershey's chocky syrup. Mom ate all the leftover cool whip from thanksgiving otherwise i would have dumped some of that in. Then you put on your big snow skiing thick socks and fight over the good spot on the couch with your younger sister so that you can watch episodes of Ugly Betty, Grey's Anatomy, and Men in Trees. All were very good. I am also 3/4 of the way through the book, The Innocent Man by John Grisham, a sad but compelling read. I think I will make some more embroidered pillow cases tomorrow. I finished the unicorn pillowcase for A-dolly this past weekend, and I have two more pillow cases that I can decorate. I also plan on cranking out some serious hats this weekend.

Also, for some random reason, I got an issue of Golf Digest for Women in the mail. I didn't subscribe to this at all. ya'll, I lived across the street from a public golf course for 18 years. I know how to pop wheelies in a golf course but I can't put to save my life. In fact, I'm not even sure how to swing. That's why it was so hilarious, when I got this magazine in the mail. it is very nicely put together, so if you do like to golf and you are female, I recommend this magazine. I think I am going to tear out the travel article on Savannah and then I will recycle the rest of the magazine...LOL...

Anyways, ya'll try to stay warm, I"m crawling under my ten layers of denim quilts and pillows and plan to finish reading my book tonight.

Good Things

1. This week's TWO ALL NEW episodes of Boston Legal. I loooovee you James Spader.
2. The Knit-A-Thon on Gilmore Girls
3. The digi cam that arrived in the mail for me today, I ended up getting the pink Fujifilm Finepix tiny cam.
4. the cold weather that is on the way
5.My books that arrived from Amazon.com
6. My vintage long sleeved Gap tee that I bought on Black Friday that is sooo soft.
7. The new snowflake stamps
8. Light Grenades, the new cd by Incubus
9. 24 hour Claritin D that is making it still possible to function in all this wet weather that is soo bad for my allergies
10. L Word season 3 on dvd

Anyways, these are a few things that have made me smile lately while work and school have been draggging on and I'm tired, etc. The trip to KC is all planned, I just hope we don't have any freaky weather cause I need an excuse to take pictures with my camera with. I am glad that it is Wednesday because my alleriges have really been bothering me and that makes me tired and cranky-poo. My sis and I might go to t-town on saturday if we don't get the alleged blizzard to end all blizzards like everyone says we are supposed. There is a book that BN ordered for me so we would go there if it comes in and the usually trip to tar-jay and Starby's trips. Since it is now like 33 and dropping my doggies have their matching green doggie sweaters on. I took pictures and it was cute.

The Aftermath

It appears that I have managed to have survived Black Friday. Hmm...I dragged my little sister at 5:30 am to go to the mall to people watch and experience insanity at its best. I skipped Staples because when we were pulling up to the mall, there was a line wrapping around staples and going to the edge of the highway. to hell with that. We walked into the mall and waiting because there was a crowd waiting for the 250 gift bags to be dispersed at 6 am. Through dumb luck, I managed to grab one and received a free George Stait cd and a ten dollar mall gift card. It was funny because we were totally at the end of the group too and we didn't really care if we got one or not. We made a mad dash for the Gap and we were like the first couple of people in the store. I scored two new pairs of jeans and a sweater hoodie, and three shirts all 50 % off. I also got baby high tops for Baby L. SCORE!!! Gap = Happyness. We made the obligatory visit to JC Penney's to visit S who just started working there. He has to wear a tie and button upped shirts. It was worth it to see that. He wears sloppy Ts and shorts year rounds, stains or no stains. He is a hoot to be around but definitely not a fashionista. We peaked in at Bath and Body Works but that store was full of middle aged woman rooting around in bins so we didn't venture far in. Plus, they had a mega line at the counter and i hate waiting in lines in tiny stores. then we went to Waldenbooks, i got the new John grishman for 50 % off, and some books to finish off A-dolly's christmas gift. We headed over to Big Lots so my sis could pick up some $5 barbies for her friends' little girls. Our final stop in the spree was Hastings where I finally found the L Word Season 3. I was happy and i didn't give a shit that I had to pay full price. I also reserved the new sisterhood of the traveling pants book that comes out in january.


Then we got home only to find out that my dad had this INSANE idea for us to go see that penguin movie Happy Feet in Tulsa and then eat at Cracker Barrel. We had to take two cars and it was insane cause Tulsa is very bad on Black Friday and there was a couple of times when I thought my sister and I were going to be scrambled eggs on the BA expressway because people down here really suck at driving. We ended up having to see Happy feet on the imax screen because it wasn't showing on the regular screen. It was a cute movie, but I am not really the cutesy animated movie type. I would have been a lot better seeing something like Bobby or The Queen or The Pursuit of Happyness. I like dramas. we made it to cracker barrel and because it was such an odd time to be eating we only waited 30 mins for a table. we had to ask three times for silverware and all our side orders got screwed up. How we did not kill each other, I don't know. I am finally starting to recover, after two mountain dews, three rapid release extra strength tylenols and a whole shit load of orajel because apparently i have been chewing on the inside of my cheek while i sleep at night and so i have a really raw spot on the dominant side of my mouth. i know, i'm a mess.

I did make at least two more hats today. I have made 9 so far over thanksgiving break. Still depleting my stash yarn which is good because i need to make room in my tiny ass closet for my sexy ass Gap jeans.

Sunshine, I brought home a little surprise for you from the Cracker Barrel. Hint: A breakfast condiment.

have a great holiday, and remember girls, if you are feeling stressed out, go hug your yarn. You will feel a lot better! :)

Hats and hats

Well, it is thanksgiving evening and I have made 7 hats since last night. I should get a gold star cause these hats were all made from STASH YARN. YAY!!! I could make more, but I have to stop periodically cause my elbow will hurt if i don't and i can't knit/crochet as a lefty. I took my grandma k to kmart on today after we had finished watching the parade and stuffing face with turkey. She doesn't have one nearby her anymore and she can only really do one store at a time and it's the only thing open on thanksgiving day. they weren't really having any useful to me sales, but i did get the new keith urban cd for only 7.99 so that was like a steal. cause keith urban makes good commuting cds. my dad and grandpa put up the xmas lights and no one fell off the ladder so that was good. i did wrap some xmas presents last night. my sis got presents for mom and dad on behalf of us both so i'm off the hook there. A-dolly is the hardest to buy for because my aunt d (her grandma) buys her the sun, the moon and the stars. I'm tempted to start a mutual fund for her or something useful like that. I love A-dolly to pieces but a 2 year old does not need $100+ American Girl dolls. LOL. I got new pictures of Baby L. She will be one in January and she is starting to toddle around and is growing up way too fast. I am going to order her some baby converses for Christmas. I wish my girls would stay little forever. It's just easier that way.

Out of boredom and the inability to sleep more than like 7 hours, I am going to get up early and go shopping. just for shits and giggles. I want to go to Gap Outlet and see if they have any good deals. I am debating about Staples. They have $7 flash drives but I don't want to go there and find out they only had like 2 in stock and you had to be like there waiting in line at 3am to get one. Lol...I just don't have the will to be a stealth shopper...I like to dawdle around too much. I do need more Mountain Dew. i am drinking my last can, and I can't be caffiene free on a holiday weekend. That would just be bad news.

happy thanksgiving ya'll!!! Especially Sunshine. I ordered us some entertainment and it should be arriving early this coming week.

Yarn and Pirates, Oh My!

Well, busy weekend so far. What did I do on Friday night? I think I just watched tv and started working on another hat for charity. Saturday morning, I took A's box to the post office and I went to Hobby Lobby just to see if they had received anything new. Nope. Then my mom, my sister and I went to Owasso/Tulsa. We started out in Owasso and went Christmas present shopping for the dogs at Petsmart. Then we went to Tar-jay to get Christmas presents for my sister's best friend's little girl. It is a lot of fun buying Barbies and my little ponies and having a legitimate excuse to. I mostly bought ornaments at Tar-jay. Then we went to Hancock Fabrics in Tulsa so that my mom could get a certain pattern and some sewing supplies that she couldn't get in town. Then we came home. I went to Hastings to look at magazines and long-lost E finally called me back. She wanted to go to the 9:45 showing of Pirates of the Caribbean 2 at the two-dollar theatre. I didn't really like the movie. I prefer Johnny Depp in non pirate outfits. We missed the first twenty minutes because she was late and she told me some scary drama stories about her life now. Why do good people do stupid things? I just felt really really old, while i was listening to her talk on the way home.

I have finished the crochet scarf by the way, in fact I think that is what i did on Friday night before I started the hat. I only purchased one skein of Bernat Cotton Tots this weekend to make more infant hats for charity. My swap partner for the Teeny Little dog swap on Craftster sent me some really ADORABLE doggie hats. They were crocheted and had little openings for their ears to poke out. Daisy kept trying to eat the pom poms and Haley was like "why am I wearing a hat? It is 50 degrees outside!" I was able to take some pictures before the batteries died on my digital.

My digital camera is going to heaven soon. It eats batteries like crazy and just doesn't work like it used to. So since I need a decent digital for the holidays I am going to order one next week with my video ipod fund. Sniff sniff...I will have a video ipod in 2007. It is sooo going to happen. This is the camera that I want:

http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=5297432

I just want a point and shoot pretty much. I don't feel that I need a Canon Rebel to take pictures of my dogs or yarn stash. The main reason I like this camera is the 56 MB internal memory and the fact that it is really slim because my current one is very bulky. If they sell out of the pink then I will get it in silver. The white version looks too much like my ipod.

I spent most of this morning cleaning the house. My grandparents are coming from St. Louis on Wednesday and my dad comes back from a week long trip in Mexico so the laundry needed to be done before he brought all his dirty clothes home. I just have thursday and friday off but I plan out getting a lot of charity hat making done while my grandparents snooze in front of the tree.

I also made an excel spreadsheet for the holiday season. It lists all the people that I am either buying a present for or sending a card to. It has a check list feature as well. I even found Christmas cards with green and yellow tractors on them. YAY!!!! I need a list this year so I stay on track and don't forget stuff or buy too much. I am starting to like this whole saving my money thing a tad. I think it's because I don't want to be like the people on Big Spender (it's on A&E, he helps people get out of financial holes).

Happy Birthday, Sunshine!!!

On this day, a mere twenty-four years ago, my best friend was born. Even though we just met in college, I feel like I have known him my entire lifetime. I think that he knows more about me than I know about myself. I am very fortunate to have three very best friends, to walk beside me on this twisted journey through known as Life. I think it's important to let the people in your life know how much you care about them and how much you value their friendship, because friendship is a choice. There are sooo many great things about Sunshine. I knew right when I met him that we were going to have many adventures together.

Sunshine is probably my favorite person to travel with. We have been on the best road trips together, and his sense of direction is better which is good because my internal compass is broke. He knows that I like to get up early, and that I am much happier when I have five minutes to check my e-mail. He has really good taste in music. I had no idea who Incubus was until he played their cd for me in his little red car. He has this way of coaxing me to try new things without being forceful. He patiently stands next to me when i am debating over what colors of flip flops at Old Navy to buy or whether or not I really need all three skeins of yarn. he opens car doors and asks if you need a drink or an extra blanket.

When your world falls apart and you feel like total shit, he is there to listen to your sob story. He is really smart and creative. He can get high schoolers to march in unison. I had a couple of opportunities to watch him direct the band this fall, and it was so awesome to sit up in the bleachers and look out over the field at the band playing. I just sat there watching, with my eyes wide open, and it was so awesome seeing my best friend out on the field living his dream. He's actually doing something that he loves, and not too many people get to say that about their jobs. I know that he is going to go even farther in life, and I'm just glad that I get to be along for the ride. He respects me and that is a nice feeling. We don't always agree on everything, but we can agree to disagree. He makes crappy parties bearable. It's the little things really. the little everyday tiny kinds of things that make people incredible.

Happy birthday, my friend. You deserve all the happiness and pancakes with maple syrup in the world and a Broadway chorus to sing the birthday song in three part harmony with spirit fingers and tap shoes. Are you smirking yet?

What a Weekend

The haul from My trip to T-town:

1.really hot laptop bag/purse from Swiss Army...yes it's black but it has lots of pockets and real purse handles. It is not your average black laptop bag...and it is big enough for my intermediate accounting book and my laptop and two skeins of noro to fit inside...lol...plus all my other crap.

2.mini hello kitty christmas ornaments

3. The haul from Loops: one pair of addi turbos!!!!, two skeins of noro silk garden, one skein of Blue sky cotton in Thistle and one skein in black. I have already made a hat for myself last night out of the thistle...so pretty...and the scarf I am crocheting out of the Noro is almost done and it is sooo pretty...

4. Starbucks hot cocoa and peppermint sticks. I need something soothing while my office area is being re carpeted and I am stuck out in god knows where with a loaner craptop. Hopefully my cubicle walls don't fall apart when they jack it up three to six inches to slide the new carpet underneath...LOL....soooo Office Space

5. I bought a used copy of the movie Lake House with Keanu and Sandra in it....It is sooo awesome and the story is set in Chicago. What's not to love about that? It was sooo awesome I watched it three times already.

I made one baby hat on my way to T-town, but I was really tired from getting up too early.. That was all the damage I did to my wallet this weekend. I hid my debit card. It is only coming out of it's hidey-hole to be depleted by my gas tank until after Thanksgiving and then it can come back to my wallet again. I am really great at saving other people's money, but I suck saving my own money sometimes. I have seriously gotten better at it though. there is actually money in my savings account...holy crap, huh. I got a lot done this weekend, but it never feels like enough. I just don't have any time during the week to get time intensive things done because of my insane work and school schedule.

O Dark Thirty

So it is o dark thirty am on Saturday morning and I am awake because I have to take Daddy to the aeuropuerto so he can catch an 8:30 flight to Mexico (for business). Since we have to take him to the airport we are going to to go shopping in Tulsa afterwords. Tar-jay, BN and Loops are all involved in this ploy. My twisted peppermint lotion from B&B arrived yestgerday but my Sublime Stitching patterns that I ordered on Oct 16th still haven't yet. Oh cool, they included a free sample of PIna Colada Shower syrup. I like this! Screw going to the store, I'm going to have to order more stuff from them online since they gave me freebies.

Anyhoo, while I am on a shopping spree, I hope to get some cool yarn and some gadgets and maybe a book or too. I need to get some stuff for my Secret Pals, since i will be going to a non-acrylic real yarn store. I mean hello, they have Addi Turbos! That makes me excited because you can't just buy those at Wal-Mart. In the end the 12 hours of overtime I racked up during fiscal year end was a positive thing because reward is guilt free shopping in Tulsa! YAY!!!!

I would also like to thank my musical hero of the week, Ben Folds, for releasing his cover of Dr. Dre's song, B****** Ain't S***. It is just beautiful and the perfect song to listen to when you are frustrated with the world.

I would also like to give a quick shout-out to Sunshine, whose birthday is on Monday. I plan on a big cheesy happy birthday post for him then, but for now, I hope he is having an awesome birthday weekend.

Swoosh!!!

What kind of knitting needles are you?

You are "turbo" charged.Fast moving and classy, you get things done with power and grace. Your expensive tastes can be deceiving, since what you really value is quality and efficiency. As you're careening around those corners in life, finishing a dozen knitted objects each month, stop and smell the roses. Don't miss the beauty of process!
Take this quiz!








Quizilla |
Join

| Make A Quiz | More Quizzes | Grab Code

Presents

I received a really awesome package from my Secret Pal 9 buddy today. It is SOOO COOL and I love it: It was full of the following:

one pair of circular knitting needles
1 skein of purple Caron Simply Soft (one of my faves)
1 skein of really bright Peaches and Cream dishcloth yarn (love the colors)
1 Waterfall scented candle (it is blue and it smells like really good)
1 set of Pomegrante scented soap/lotion/shower gel
1 cross stitch kit


Yay! I love it all and I was totally surprised and that is very hard to do. It was waiting for me when I came back from running errands this afternoon. Since it is November, I must get into gear on my holiday shopping/decorating/crafting. I finished another hat this morning. Last night I was at the Hallmark store and they have ornaments from A Christmas Story. I am now the proud owner of the Ralphie wearing the infamous pink bunny suit ornament. It is even fuzzy! I let out a little squeal in the store. I even ended up watching the movie this afternoon. It is one of my comfort movies. I'm just kind of lounging around and recovering from the fun week I had at work during fiscal year end.

I have Internet again!

Daddy fixed our screwed up wireless. YAY! Mackie is happy again. I am currently downloading all my podcasts and my homework. I have just caught up on reading blogs.

So the hell week of fiscal year end is basically over with. I did over 66 account reconciliations, with some accounts having over 7000 lines. My eye balls are shot. I had to get eye drops so I could keep them open, because they are drier than the Sahara desert. Wal-mart and others have started putting out their Christmas ornaments. I found tiny tractor and mini sweater ornaments. How perfect is that!

This wekend I plan on working on more hats for my holiday knitting. My stash is starting to multiply so I need to use it up. I have been also going through my Martha Stewart holiday magazines so I can figure out what kind of holiday stuff I want to make.

I'm in the middle of watching Grey's Anatomy tonight and it is sooo good.

I would like to say that the Barnes and Noble in Springfield has the best magazines and the largest selection of knitting and crochet books of any BN that i have been to. Total drool worthy. I survived spending a mere $26. Seriously, I spent like maybe 1/4 of what I typically do on a "shopping weekend." I must be getting sick or something. I had loads of fun with Sunshine this weekend. We drank some nasty wine (it started out sweet but it has a really bitter after taste). We also so did some rearranging in the living room, hence the bookcase project. So it was a good thing I spent a nice relaxing weekend with Sunshine, otherwise I would have ran screaming from my cubicle this week. Co-worker A thinks I should decorate my cubicle a little, to make my environment more pleasant. I told her I didn't have anything "workplace appropriate." LOL...I just tend to be a really private person at work.

Happy Halloween

Our wireless is really screwed up right now and my dad is in complete denial, so the internet only works on my mom's psycho computer and my dad's. SO until the weekend when I can secretly beat our router with a baseball bat, i am stuck using my mom's super slow computer. I am seriously considering going to the library and taking my laptop with me so i can use their wireless. I should have stayed at Sunshine's. I was having fun and life made more sense. It doesn't help that I spent 12 hours at work on monday and nine today plus class. fiscal year end is hell on earth.

On the positive side, i had an awesome weekend. I made four baby hats for caps to the capital. I will go into more details this weekend when my internet has improved.

Greetings from the Quad Cities

I am sitting at the airport and it is 1:55 and my flight does not leave until 4:45p.m. Most people would be annoyed but I have my Mackie and my cell phone so I am cool. So I thought I would send a shout out to everyone, especially Sunshine. See you soon darling! I would post more about my trip but it's company business related so I can't post about it on the internet. Other than things went really well (to the best of my knowledge). the wi-fi is free at the Quad Cities airport (not at the memphis one) and it was at the yucky hotel I stayed at. It was clean, but that was it. I am going to be flexible and not go on and on about why that hotel was yuck. But the company paid for so it's all good in the end. I got to have some ice creams at Whitey's ice cream. It's a famous ice cream place in the iowa/illinois area. The ice cream is dee-lish. I could really go for a big fat mountain dew right now. there seems to be a coke monopoly which is okay, but I really need a serious mountain dew fix right now. Can we say caffeine dependency? Nah...I didn't need my new wool coat either, but it would've probably snowed if i had left it at home.

While i've been away, my sis has informed me that J has sent me Chicago Cubs flip flops...How sweet is that? I can't wait to throw these dress shoes out the window and wear them. The dress shoes are pretty decent, but they don't compare to a nice pair of chucks or flip flops. My sis is jealous because she is an even bigger Cubs fan than me (and Daisy has chewed up most of her flip flops---i hide mine in the closet).

I am reading a biography about Marie Antoinette (the new movie is based on this book). It is pretty good so far. i discovered it at the airport in Memphis. At the QC airport I found a very rare special edition JD tractor (Ertl Premiere series) with muddy tires!!! I about squealed. They only put a very limited few with muddy tires in each tractor series and I have only seen them in collector's books. This is one tractor that I will have to leave in the plastic because typically take them out. . I can't wait to show my dad. LOL....

I have received several compliments on my hot pink adidas duffel bag that I have been traveling with. It makes things a lot easier to find especially in a luggage pile. People have also been checking out Mackie. Thank god I got a 12" because the 17" would not have fit on the airplane trays of the puddle jumpers I have been flying on for this trip. They are two seats by two seats. One time i flew from denver to palm springs on a one by one and that was tiny ass.

The Tease of Winter

It tried to frost this morning. Yesterday, it was a very cold 50 degrees and I could wear a coat (not buttoned of course). I managed to find a suit for the big trip this week and a pair of shoes I won't kill myself walking in. Surprisingly I found them at Target, the last place I looked. I can always find cute shoes there, but their clothing sizes are really odd and vary so much by brand that I can't usually find anything. But I did, which was great because I couldn't find anything at home, and I really really reaally really didn't want to go to T-town. The holiday season is trying to begin and it is getting more crowded and traffic and parking are bitches at the big mall. The whole day was kind of a blur actually. I feel like I have gotten nothing accomplished since all I really did was suit shopping yesterday. I just want to make it to November 1st and have fiscal year-end and the work trip over with. I did manage a quicky stop to Hobby Lobby. I got the new issue of Crochet Today which has some cute projects in it. I got two more balls of sugar and cream in colors I hadn't used before. LOL. Like I need more yarn.

Pop Quiz!

So this quiz has been floating around the Secret Pal 9 organizers, and i saw it on one of their blogs and thought it would be fun.

Actor - Don't have a particular favorite
Actress - Don't really have a favorite actress
Animal - My two little Yorkies, Daisy and Haley
Band - Um, see the attached 20 page file...Like there is that many. Aerosmith, Kenny Chesney, The Bangles, The GoGos, Bon Jovi, The Killers
Beverage - Mountain Dew, Mike's Hard Lemonade, Amish wine, straight Jack Daniels
Book - Too many favorites. i am currently reading Son of a Witch by Gregory Maguire
Bubble Bath - Green Apple Suave Shampoo...Lol...It is sooo cheap and it smells so good. I also love Victoria Secret's Love Spell
Candy - Skittles and Starbursts
Color -black, blues and dark purples
Flower - hot pink Gerbera daisies, unusually colored roses--hot pink, dark purple/black
Food - pepperoni pizza from Pizza Hut
Lip Balm - Bonne Bell Dr. Pepper (soooo yummmy)
Lotion - Victoria's Secret Love Spell
Movie - Fried Green Tomatoes and A Christmas Story ( i have the special edition dvd that i watch year round AND I watch the marathon every year on TV
Song -Way too many to even narrow down
TV Show - Gilmore Girls, Grey's Anatomy, QAF, Desperate Housewives, Wifeswap, Supernanny, Boston Legal
Yarn - Rowan Summer Tweed, Sugar and Cream, cheesy Christmas Holiday yarn
Vacation Spot - Chicago and Iowa City (vacation is wherever you have the most fun and i have a ton of fun in Iowa City). Dream Spots: Ireland, London, Berlin, Alaska, Vancouver, factory tours (I love those!)

These Chucks were Made for Walkin

Wow. So it is Sunday night and I am pooped. Yesterday was a craft store marathon in T-Town. We went to two non-craft stores at the mall, Jo-Ann's, Babies R Us, Hancock Fabrics, a quilt store and Barnes and Noble. My heels are really sore now for some reason. Maybe I have grown accustomed to sitting in a cubicle all day. I try to get up and walk a lot but there aren't too many places I can go. I finished the camo family of hats--one for A-dolly and her mom, one for her dad and a baby girl and a baby boy one since we don't know if A-dolly is going to have a little sister or a little brother yet because her parents want to be surprised. My aunt D and my mom had two sewing machines constantly going when we weren't shopping. They were making clothes for all the babies that we know that have been recently born or will be born soon. They were also making lots of doll clothes for A-dolly. She is going to be Cindy-relly for Halloween and she looks beautiful in her costume. I still prefer my role as the fairy godmother. I have also made two other hats for charity, since it is that time of year again. I am getting closer on the rainbow dish cloth. I also got almost two yards of Hello Kitty pink Rock and Roll polar fleece that is soooo warm and soft. Like I really needed a new blankie but it was 40% off!!! That stuff can be between $10 and $14 a yard depending on what is printed on it and the grade of fleece used.

It rained a lot this weekend so my allergies are screwed up again. And my car is in the shop. Through a sick twist of fate, somehow a rock flew up in the undercarriage of my beloved 03 Subaru Forrester and ruined the air conditioner, radiator and something else related that is expensive. So it is at the dealership, awaiting parts and a $2000.00 repair bill. I am now officially indebted to my father for all eternity now for bailing me out on this one. did i mention the rental car is in his name so i can't technically drive it? He took the car to the dealership in Tulsa on Friday while I was at work. Lets hope the parts get here super fast. it really sucks having to bum rides off of people and driving unfamiliar cars. Did I mention I left my good cds and my sunglass clips in since I didn't know it was going to have to have a shitload of repair work done? we just thought the air conditioner was having problems and needed more juice or something...Sniff sniff....Some random mechanic gets to listen to my Justin Timberlake and the new Killers cds!!! I miss my car!!!

Work and school are insane as usual.My goal is to make it until Nov. That is when things should calm down except for the school part maybe. Honestly, though, I thrive on insanity. I like challenges and having things to do. I get bored very easily.

I think those are all the stories that I can tell on the internets.

Taco Tuesday

I had to share this because i am an accountant in training and a Mac freak:

"http://www.apple.com/business/profiles/cowen/"

Yay! That is like the coolest thing ever. I wish I could use a Mac at my job...Gilmore Girls was awesome tonight. Props to Rory for learning the joy of dirty text-messaging. I got a b-day present from Watergirl today. She sent me vintage copies of The Workbasket from the 50s and two ADORABLE cutesy doggie bandanas. There is an opening for their collars to slide through and I damn near squealed when I pulled them out of the envelope. I am going to make sure that the doggies are wearing their bandanas when Aunt D arrives. She will crack up. Yes, I am a dog freak and I dress my dogs up when they will allow it. I have finished 4.5 out of 5 camo hats. lol...The things I do for family. At least three of them are pink camo, that makes me feel better. My car is still sick, the temp outside dropped like 20 almost today and my pos front defroster is even more of a pos since the air conditioning quit. But we HAVE to drive my car and not my dad's. I had to drive today cause he felt like sleeping on the commute. Must be nice. Honestly, I'm just severely sleep and fun deprived and college + 50 or more hours of work a week really bites ass. But I know when I'm finally an accountant, it will be all worth it. The change in weather is also messing with my allergies, hence the sinus and ear pain that makes me bitchier. LOL...At least I am honest. Speaking of pain, I hope you feel better Sunshine. I promise there will be plenty of ice cream and adult beverages for your birthday fiesta.

I also got a really nice note from F.I.R.E., the organization that runs the Dulaan Project. this past Spring ( i think) I sent them 40 knitted hats, because that's what i like to do. i like to crochet dish cloths and knit hats on my looms because it is repetitive and I don't have to think to much. I just thought it was cool that they actual sent me a formal thank-you, it was completely unexpected. I also got a voice mail while I was in class from my friend E. She was the first person I became friends with my senior year in OK and she has moved back to town. Very random, but so is our friendship. The last couple of weeks I have heard from all kinds of people that I hadn't heard from in awhile, with the expection of N. People still talk about him at work even though none of us have heard from him since July (i was the last one he talked to). It's almost like he has achieved mythic status. Just like he wanted.

anyhoo, I am really rambling, I will blame all of this on the massive amount of claritin-d that I must take so that I will be able to breathe and hear in the morning.

Random Thoughts Sunday

I was able to finish two hats today. One was a camo colored hat for K (he wanted one in time for hunting season) and then I found this girly camo yarn that looks really pretty, so I made a little girly camo colored hat for his daughter (my god-daughter) A-dolly. She's daddy's little girl. Aunt D promised me that she would bring me loads of pics of A-dolly when she comes down on Thursday.

I am currently taking a break from doing all my accounting homework. Because of the insanity of this week and visitors this coming weekend I won't really have time to do it otherwise without losing mass amounts of sleep. The only other major thing i really did today was the dishes and massive amounts of laundry. I live with complete slobs. I love my family but they are total slobs. I've pared down my stuff to the point where i can't really get rid of anything else, otherwise i would just end up re-buying it later. I did find another stash of sucky cds buried in my closet. lol..I really had no idea what was in my closet other than it was neatly packed away.

Anyways, I promise to have more newsy stuff to report next Sunday. If i don't go insane by then (insert sarcastic smile here).

It's Crafty Saturday....

So much going on really. I am participating in a new swap on Craftster and I am soooo stoked because I am a member of Secret Pal 9! So this means, I need to get it together and get my craft on. Hmmm what else. Well, now that I am 26 i got this idea in my head that I should start wearing mascara. It looks great once it's all done, but it takes me like a good ten minutes to do it right and I end up poking my poor left eye out because I am not good at using the wand. LOL. I am a mess sometimes. I had a 40 % coupon for Hobby Lobby so I was going to finally buy some fancy rosewood crochet hooks and that stuff was on sale! I stocked up on some crochet and knitting implements (they were on sale and you can't have enough of them) So lucky for me, I found a hello kitty scrapbook paper (it is SO COOL) set to use the coupon because they haven't updated the knit and crochet books at that store in like three years or else they get one copy and someone buys it right away. that's what you get for living far from a big city. i would talk in more detail about specific crafts i will be making today, but since the people i am making them for could potentially read this blog, my lips are zipped.

In the book world, my current bed time stories are Son of a Witch (sequel to Wicked) and the Fight Club. Did I mention I am a Type A - ? I am not counting my accounting books as pleasure reading since that's homework and homework is not fun even if you like the subject.

The cleaning project is going well. the feminist magazines and yarn porn are now stashed in nifty martha stewart regulation magazine holders. My dvds have an actual home (well the ones that are kept in room and not with the family stash do). My cds are organized still. The dust bunnies have been banished to OZ.

Secret Pal 9 Questionnaire

1. What is/are your favorite yarn/s to knit with? What fibers do you absolutely *not* like?
I love Sugar and Cream dishcloth yarn (bright colors) and Rowan Summer Tweed (i really love the blues and purples). I am a wool freak even though I live in a very warm place right now. I don't like fuzzy yarns cause they are a pain to work with. Acrylic is okay as long as it doesn't feel like plastic. lol.. I use a lot of Caron's Simply Soft for charity projects.

2. What do you use to store your needles/hooks in?

I store my needles in an Eskimo Joe's cup and my hooks in a celestial print roll-up case that my mommy made me. I am a purse freak so I am always buying little pouches to carry my supplies in cause i get bored easily.

3. How long have you been knitting & how did you learn? Would you consider your skill level to be beginner, intermediate or advanced? I am a rebel crocheter since 2003. I have been knitting on and off but I am really awful at hand knitting but I love to loom or machine knit. So I would say very much beginner on the knitting front and intermediate on the crochet side.

4. Do you have an Amazon or other online wish list?
No, but I should...

5. What's your favorite scent? (for candles, bath products, etc.)

Lime, cherries, green apple. I don't like spices or anything that smells like old lady.

6. Do you have a sweet tooth? Favorite candy?

Hershey's milk chocolate, skittles, starburst, Orbit gum

7. What other crafts or Do-It-Yourself things do you like to do? Do you spin?

embroidery, cross stitch, i make bottle cap magnets. I don't spin but I think it's really cool.

8. What kind of music do you like? Can your computer/stereo play MP3s? (if your buddy wants to make you a CD)

The Killers, Justin Timberlake, Kenny Chesney, marching band music, really I am a music lover. I am in the process of upgrading from a 3rd generation ipod to a video ipod. Ooh, I like Sleater-Kinney too...Alternative rock is probably the genre I listen to the most. I am an Itunes fanatic, i download music all the time. I just bought a mac powerbook this year (12''), so I am definitely tech savvy.

9. What's your favorite color(s)? Any colors you just can't stand?

I love blues, purples, hot pink, aqua, black, rainbow colors, i look nasty in yellows and oranges. yeah, I am very pale, my skin doesn't see the sun ever.

10. What is your family situation? Do you have any pets?

single and lovin' it. I have a very close friendboy and some best friends that are scattered everywhere and two Yorkies, Haley and Daisy, and a mom and a dad that have been married forever.

11. Do you wear scarves, hats, mittens or ponchos?

I have a big head so I like hats, but they can't be tight. I don't do ponchos, but I love scarves and mittens. I would really like a pair of black fingerless gloves...that would be really cool.

12. What is/are your favorite item/s to knit?

I like to crochet hats, scarves, dishcloths/washclothes, squares for charity, little baby sweaters cause they are quick.

13. What are you knitting right now?

I just started crocheting another dishcloth

14. Do you like to receive handmade gifts?

of course!!!

15. Do you prefer straight or circular needles? Bamboo, aluminum, plastic?

I prefer metal hooks or heavy woods. I am starting to learn on circulars, so some lonely orphaned addi turbos would be awesome. I have a tendency to break plastic and cheap bamboo stuff.

16. Do you own a yarn winder and/or swift?

No, that is on my list of things to get when I win the lotto.

17. How old is your oldest UFO?

usually they get frogged or they don't get started. so i don't think i really have one.

18. What is your favorite holiday?

Halloween and Valentine's Day. I like Christmas when it snows. I like random holidays too.

19. Is there anything that you collect?

John Deere stuff, huge Hello Kitty fan, love Converse Chuck Taylors

20. Any books, yarns, needles or patterns out there you are dying to get your hands on? What knitting magazine subscriptions do you have?

Hookorama by Rachael Matthews, I don't think it's out yet and I have banned myself from buying crafty books until January. Like I mentioned earlier, I would love some addis or Rowan summer tweed (really anything from Rowan) I don't subscribe to anything but I would really like to have a copy of Rebecca in the German edition but the English edition would be cool. I don't live near any actual yarn stores so I am very deprived.

21. Are there any new techniques you'd like to learn?

Not any that I can think of other than I would like to be profient at knitting someday.

22. Are you a sock knitter? What are your foot measurements?

Yeah, I'm not that great at knitting yet, so I can't make those. I am a size 8 US.

23. When is your birthday? (mm/dd)

Lol...I just had it. Sept 25th.

Seriously Part 2

WARNING::: RANT AHEAD...

So this bee-yatch at wal-mart informed me that my coupons (that i had cut this morning) were expired before she even scanned or looked at them. Just because I took a bath and was nicely dressed doesn't mean I can't use coupons. So I told her to double check and then she got all huffy and scanned them and low and behold, they were of course good. Unfortuneatly the nearest target is like 30-40 minutes away. Anyways, I just had to rant about that, cause I worked in retail and received numerous 100% customer feedback survey scores so it really hacks me off when I treated like shit in a store. Low prices shouldn't have to equal low service. I will point out that I have been to some decent wal-marts that have semi-speedy and decent service but they are not located in my town. We don't have the self-checkout lanes either (and they just renovated too...) Seriously...

HAPPY TIMES:
Anyways, so last night at like 1 am , after much procrastination I finally went through my cds and made two piles: sucks and doesn't suck. When my sister came back from Stilly this morning, we took the sucky cds back to Hastings and I made $76. I would like to thank my ex boyfriend for giving me the crappy rap cds that I sold back for $3-5 each. My sister gave me hell for even owning a Lindsey Lohan cd,but she was worth $2, it was all good to me. Lol...So now I can definitely buy a video ipod this month without having to go on a caffiene diet. YAY!!! Now I can find my cool cds again, i have less clutter and I am closer to buying a new video ipod in a more "responsible way." Selling back cds is a long and pain in the butt process, so I made my sister go with me so I wouldn't get too fidgety (and her car's air conditioning works).

Seriously...

A shout out to my childhood friends back in Iowa City who are currently getting trashed at the Iowa vs. Ohio State game. Win or loose, the Hawks will always be my all time favorite football team.

My car is having issues again. The air conditioning is no longer blowing cold air and my dad was too busy tanning and going to the gym to take a look. I will remind him of that on our hour long commute when we have to drive with the windows down and it's back to a lovely (insert sarcasm) 85 degrees. Plus guys were gawking at me when i had the windows rolled down. Was it the boobs or the Justin Timberlake music bouncing out of my car? Hmm...At least I wasn't playing my Peaches cd. Lol...

I did get very close and personal with my accounting text books this weekend. I actually studied and used my pretty new highlighters. I also finished reading Girl Sleuth: Nancy Drew and the Women Who Created Her by Melanie Rehak. Awesome book.

I watched disc one of Gilmore Girls Season 6 and disc one of Grey's Anatomy Season 2. I also cleaned out all the cd cases from my car. I really need to organize my cd stash, I still have no idea what I have right now.

My aunt D is going to visit in two weeks and my room looks the same as it did the last time she came to visit which was like two years ago I think. She's the type that would notice something like that. Plus, I'm kind of bored with the decor and I can't paint or rip out the nasty carpet (heavy furniture pain in the ass to move out of tiny-closet like room) seriously, i need to dust too and pack up some of the knick-knacks.

I've been making more dishcloths again. It's a stress reliever and I really do use them a lot.

The Twenty-Six Year Old...

I have been twenty-six since Monday and really not much has changed. My parents bought me Office for Mac AND I LOVE IT...I can do school homework on my mackie now and i haven't really had any problems getting the files to open on a PC. What a change from the old days. I still have major video iod envy...I have this problem where if there is something I want, I am not satisfied until I get it or achieve the desired goal. So i am absolutly FORCING MYSELF to save my fun money so I can get one by the end of the month.

I signed up for Secret Pal 9. I love mail and sending people mail is fun too. I am hoping that it provides me with some crafty inspiration too. I did get some crafty magazines when i went shopping with Sunshine last weekend. I am still in a crochet phase, although I had two tests and two papers due within the last week and a half, so my crafty pursuits were halted. Since I am not going anywhere this weekend, I will hopefully be able to get ahead on homework and possibly have some time for crafting and watching Gilmore Girls and Grey's anatomy dvds since those came out while i was in homework hell.

I also decided I need to organize my cds this weekend cause I seriously don't know what ones i have any more. That is one of the tragedies of the digital age.

Why Sunshine is my BFF

So tomorrow is my 26th birthday and this weekend I went to see the best friend a girl could have, my Sunshine. He managed to treat me like a birthday queen for the whole entire weekend. I had so much fun, I didn't want to leave. Honestly, this is probably one of the best birthday celebrations I have ever had. So this post is a shout-out to Sunshine, for making my birthday fiesta weekend awesome.

Reasons why Sunshine is my BFF

1. He accepts the fact that I love to wear black and as a result, am constantly whipping out my super duty lint roller and doesn't give me too much shit about it.

2. He patiently goes to craft stores and waits while I pace the yarn aisles.

3. He opens doors for me....proof that chivalry isn't dead

4. He is the only one that understands how much fun is it to sit in a booth in a restaurant playing with his new video ipod (i have major ipod envy since mine is a 3rd generation classic) watching Desperate Housewives, and using the stopwatch to time how long it takes for our food to arrive.

5. We can basically tell each other everything so we can hang out and not have drama.

6. He doesn't mock me for my Gap dependency

7. He is Mac compatible

8. He takes me to cool places like the Plaza and marching band festivals

9. His music stash is the only one that rivals mine

10. Did I mention that he is an awesome listener? and puts up with all my quirks?


Well, those are just a few reasons. I could go on and on forever. I just wanted Sunshine to know how much I appreciate him and that I am really grateful that he is my friend. Like my platinum friend for sure. Seriously...

Live from Wichita, it's Saturday morning!!!!

So I am at M's new apartment listening to her saw logs cause she is into sleep and I am like crap, half the day's over!! lol... She skimped on the DSL signal so it's slower than i am used to and Mackie doesn't like that as much, but it's better than dial-up...Last night we ate at Bennegin's with Red and I had a really awesome Texas Lemonade. Yum-O. We only had an hour before SuperTarget closed to shop for a wedding present and the towels they wanted were half-off on clearance....they are really soft, I want to get another one when we go back to day if M ever decides to give up on sleeping. I will also be buying a Texas sized super ton duty lint brush because I am covered in CAT HAIR!!!!! EWWWWWW!!!!!! I am NOT EVEN going to go there... Sunshine knows how I feel about that. YUCK....


Anyhoo, more later...I can't wait to see you next weekend Sunshine!!

Thank You One Skein Secret Pal!!

So yesterday, I came home from work and there was this most wonderful skein of yarn waiting for me from my One Skein Secret Pal. It is 100% handspun mohair and it's turqoise with some light green throughout...It is soo soft and the colors are just vibrant. The yarn was made by Inhope, at inhope.etsy.com and I can't wait to make something with it. This is my first skein of handspun yarn, I feel really spoiled. I will have to put a picture up on Flickr this weekend so that everyone can see the colors...

Thanks!!!

My Blog is Over A Year Old!!

So my blog turned a year old on August 30th, but it was a weekday so i totally forgot about it until this weekend. Lol...Lots of things have changed since last year. I have a different job, gas has dropped to $2.42 here in Oklahoma, I am going to accounting school and well, I still don't have a boyfriend, so some things never change.

All my crafty ambitions fell to the wayside. I did finally finish this obxious green dishcloth and I started on another one today that looks exactly like Neopolitan ice cream. I bought clearanced out mini cross stitch kits and organized that stash. I didn't work on my bigger crochet projects. I did manage to do a ton of laundry and vaccuming. I finally broke down and bought one of those mildew resistant shower curtains at linens n things today, so we'll see if it lives up to its claims. My Sublime Stitching book arrived on Friday, but i was a slacker so i haven't tried out any of the patterns yet. I was going to take pictures of all the dishcloths and post them on my Flickr blog but my stupid digital camera batteries died and they are really old so they take forever to charge and my camera is old so it eats them right up..lol...and it doesn't like regular batteries either.

I downloaded the new Justin Timberlake single "SexyBack." I can't wait until that cd comes out. I have decided that The Killers' latest single "When You Were Young" is my new birthday song, cause I will be TWENTY-SIX on the 25th...Lol...

I didn't really watch any new DVDs this weekend except for the Duckie Edition of Pretty in Pink, i couldn't resist buying that because it is one of my favorite movies and I didn't have it on DVD yet. I can't wait for season 6 of Gilmore Girls and season 2 of Grey's Anatomy to come out on DVD...YAY!!!! ABC family will start showing Everwood on October 2nd. Now if they would only release the other seasons on DVD I would be a happy camper.

Is it Friday yet?

So working 45-50 hours a week and taking 2 upper level accounting classes at night is kicking my butt in a good way. I am managing my time better (sort of) and it gives me something productive to do. I am very much looking forward to labor day weekend so that I can work on my crochet projects and work ahead on homework so it will be less of a burden during the week. It was a nice cool 77 degrees today and I truly thank God for the break from the sweltering heat that I am still not used to after all these years. I also plan on watching more Gilmore Girls (season three is my favorite). My sister and I also want to make Twinkie sushi (no fish involved) from the twinkies cookbook i bought last weekend. it is more my speed. i mailed my rachel ray cookbook to A this weekend. It was a nice cookbook, but i hate cooking and A likes to make homemade stuff all the time, so she will give it a good home.

i also need to find an outfit to wear to a commitment ceremony that i am attending on the 16th. it's a outdoorsy evening ceremony and i just have power suits and jeans because i swore off cute party clothes a long time ago. hopefully the Gap outlet will come through for me, although i look nasty in bohemian and jewel tone wear.

Sunshine, I miss you. i ordered a book for us and i will bring it with me to my birthday fiesta if you can wait that long.

anyhoo, i am dog tired, so i am going to crawl into my futon underneath my two denim and flannel super duty quilts that i love so much.

Counting, Counting, Counting

well, this past week I started my first cost accounting class. the professor seems nice so far. he attempts to be interesting anyways. yesterday was my sister's birthday, so we went to Owasso. The first stop was Hobby Lobby so I could get more colors of dish cloth yarn (i prefer Lily's Sugar and Cream) and some red with white polka dots ribbon for the Little Mouse Purse, that I just starting. then we went to Petsmart so that my sis could buy cute doggie toys for Daisy who is still in the puppy chews all the time stage. The Ty Beanie baby company has a line of dog toys that are just adorable, epecially the dog bone shaped ones. Next, we just HAD to go to Tar-jay. I ended up buying a TI-30 calculator so i wouldn't have to borrow my sister's all the time for night class. It was $12 bucks and has a two line display which is all I really needed. Then we ate lunch at Fuddruckers, cause we really like the chocolate shakes and the burgers taste pretty good too. i was really surprised that my sis picked Fudds over Chick-Fil-A, cause that is one of her top fives, but she was apparently in a hamburger mood. Then we came home and watched a whole bunch of Gilmore Girls Season three. Her big birthday present was a rebuilt HP laptop from my dad. Not bad for a PC, but i still heart my Mac.

On the hook, well i have another dishcloth half done. The color is "sunshine." I am starting the Little Mouse Purse and I would like to make the flip-flop coasters from The Crochet Dude's blog because they are soo cute and I have plenty of leftover dishcloth yarn to make them with.

I am waiting on my order from Mary Maxim, my intermediate accounting book and the Vonnegut books that my sister ordered, including his latest. No trips planned until my b-day probably. Owasso and Tulsa don't count as trips because they are less than 1 hour away. My Arbonne order came in this past week. It is really helping my poor face out.

work has taken a turn for the better. some procedures changed that will make my life less stressful. Did i mention that i actually cracked open my cost accounting text book this weekend? A new day has come....Lol.

Purses Galore

Tonight Mom and I finished lining the Ocean Waves purse and attaching the handles. I think it looks really great and I was able to fit all my junk in it. I went to Loops again this afternoon, after my sister went to a bunch of educational supply stores to get stuff for her new classroom. I bought the supplies to make the "Little Mouse Purse" by Billie Anne Griggs, who also designed the Ocean Waves purse. The Little Mouse Purse is so adorable that i am going to make one for A-dolly and probably myself, cause I think it would be fun to take to work (accounting clerks can have fun purses even in corporate America). I really like the feel of the yarn that the designer chose. It's a cotton blend, which is perfect for Oklahoma summers. I'm such a purse fanatic that it's no surprise to me that all my recent crochet projects have been purses.

hmm, not much else is going on. I'm going to cut out a bunch of sports articles to send to my cousin in Iraq. he really loves sports and newspaper articles are really easy to slip into a box and he enjoys reading them. I've been also rocking out to Def Leppard's greatest hits this evening (hey, i'm a child of the 80s) and I've been listening to R.E.M. during my work commute.

My classes start this week too. I just hope I can stay awake during my night classes...LOL.

FO (sort of)

So last night I finished crocheting the Ocean Waves purse. My mom is going to whipstitch it together and sew in the lining, but we are having a hell of a a time finding a color to go with fushia and dusty rose. We looked through our stash and everything we have is too red or too pink. I think I'm going to have to suck it up and go to Hobby Lobby.

Our darling neighbors informed us that our water main has been leaking onto their driveway for the last four days. what the hell? Back in Iowa, our neighbors would've told us right upon discovery of said leak. so my dad had to call one of those on call plumbers to fix it. we have water to the house, but we have to call a landscaper to fix the irrigation system line. lol.

Such is life. it is hot and i don't know what to craft next. does anyone know what to do with a whole massive hank of natural white bulky weight alpaca from ecuador?

One Skein Musings

So I had sent off my final package to Melinda, who I have been sending to in the One Skein swap all summer and forgot that I can actually reveal my identity in in this swap, cause I think all I said was my name. That is typical of me, head stuck in the clouds. So this post is for her, so that she can know more about me. Hmm, I will be 26 on the 25th of September and I am still infatuated with hello kitty and have been since like age 3. I love Grey's Anatomy and Gilmore Girls. I have an affinity for green and yellow tractors and love all kinds of music from Brad Paisley to Slipknot and everything in between. i am still learning how to hand knit but I can fly when it comes to machine knitting or crochet. In fact, I am like 15 rows from completing the Ocean Waves purse (crochet). I love, love, love yarn. My stash is crammed into a three foot deep plastic orange tub that I have to sit on to shut the lid and a Born shoebox that I have to put a giant rubber band around to shut the lid. I love blues, purples, and hot pink. i don't have kids but I have two little Yorkies that eat better than I do. I am also a bookworm in the midst of reading Mockingbird: A portrait of Harper Lee by Charles L. Shields, which is really good especially if you are a Harper Lee or Truman Capote fan like me.

Get your kicks on I-44

So from Friday until Sunday, i was in three different states, and the subaru consumed 1.5 ish tanks of gas. It was all worth it though cause I got to hang out with work buddies and see Sunshine and his lovely Chateau. I finished crocheting another dishcloth and my mom deciphered the purse pattern for me, so if i had free time during the week, i could actually start crocheting the purse. more than likely, i won't make any actual progress on it until this coming weekend, since it is month-end at work. It is really stinking hot here, it's been like 100 + degrees for the last few weeks. Too bad there isn't any accounting schools in the South Pole, cause that polar air would feel really nice right about now. i had breakfast this morning at the world's largest mc donalds on my way home this morning. I love driving underneath it. that is just so much fun. Stop laughing, Sunshine, that place makes me happy.

There's not a whole lot to report about this weekend. Well, that i would write on the internets anyways. even though i don't give a lot of specifics, things could still be googled. Lol. i did buy the new Peaches cd at best buy this weekend. It is so much fun to listen to even though the lyrics are quite raunchy. this would not be a carpool cd, more like a driving by myself down the interstate cd.

Stay cool ya'll.

Yarn Love

So, yesterday, to make a long story short, i finally got to go to a REAL yarn shop. Not like cross stitching and then some yarn. I was in Tulsa with my lil sis helping her find new teacher clothes and I remembered that there was this shop called Loops in Utica Square, that is really only a year old. However, I hadn't been there yet, because i don't like to go to Tulsa by myself and usually we just go to Owasso which is closer to us to shop at places like Old Navy and Tar-jay. I wasn't sure what to expect, cause I never been to a shop that was just for like yarn and knitting and crochet too. Right when I walked in, I fell in love. You would think the first thing my eyes would fall for would've been some pricey yarn, nope...I saw the big flat screen Mac monitor at the cash register. It was probably a 19", 17" at the smallest. I knew I belonged there, even though I was experiencing massive yarn awe. they have projects made up from current knitting and crochet books and magazines. The funny thing is that I recognized a lot of them from the books and magazines. They had a Lucy bag made up in this really pretty shade of blue, which I was excited to see since I had recently received the pattern for it. They make their own patterns at the store, and I fell in love with the "Ocean Waves Purse" pattern by Billie Anne Grigg. I ended up buying 3 hanks of Rowan Summer Tweed to make this purse, plus the purse handles, cause i knew I would be able to find something like them at home. it's a crochet pattern and it will be sooo awesome when it's done. A really cool summery purse. i allowed myself this little spurge because i have really probably cut my spending in half at least, and it's special yarn, it's ROWAN yarn, and I love it....i will definitely have to go back to this place, hopefully carrying around my Ocean Waves purse, cause they had loads and loads and loads of cool stuff, there. Did I mention that they will wind your yarn into little yarn cakes for you? The answer to my prayers.

In other news, just counting down the days until I start school again. This time it shouldn't be too bad though, cause I'm just taking two night classes and they are taught by the same teacher. I did finally wash all the mud off my car. This weeked kicked off RAGBRAI XXXIV, featuring a cameo appearance by Lance Armstrong later on in the ride. I have been following it via the web since I am far away from all the action. Other than that, not much else is going on.

Lucky Me!

So after one long ass Monday I finally arrived home and found a totally awesome package from my RAOK pal on Iowa Chicks Knitting...I love the stitch markers, I have always admire people that have the patience to make beaded stitch markers. When ever i try to make contact with beads, I end up flinging them all over the 70s shag carpet, never to be seen again. Then there was a cute card that had pink and a sheep on it and a piece of paper with the same design (which i am debating what to make with it). I just love sheep. Unfortunately my littlest Yorkie has discovered how to hit the button on my sheep tape measure and she drags it around the yard by the tape. She had to have a time-out after I caught her in the act. Thou shalt not mess with my knitting/crochet notions. It's like the 12th commandment, right after thou shalt not covet another's yarn stash..LOL...As if that wasn't enough to make my day, there was a pattern for The Lucy Bag and Heart Socks, soooo cool, I must learn how to make these this fall ( i am taking real knitting classes so that i can hand knit something bigger then a coaster). And then there was the yarn, in my colors! Two little skeins of Knit Picks 'Dancing' and one skein of Cascade Pastaza, which feels so good even when it is 103 outside, it's like 70 in my little bat cave, electric bill be damned, i am from Iowa and I will melt in extreme heat...

Thank you so much, Calamknitty! You did a five star job, I just love everything. I must go now and do a happy yarn dance...

Funny Quizes

Normally I am against these type of quizes but all you do is type in your name and birthday. I saw this on a another girl's blog and I thought it was so hliarious that I would give it a try. Here is the very morbid response I got:

'What will your obituary say?' at QuizGalaxy.com

Thank-you One Skein Secret Pal

So while i was in Iowa, I received my package from my One Skein Secret Pal. I can't thank you enough!!!! I received a skein of Rowan chunky print in lovely shades of pinks and purples, blues and greens and yellows. I love that weight of yarn too! It's my first skein of Rowan so my wool deprived soul is very excited. She also sent me a really pretty hand-made beaded stitch marker that is soo cool. I just love everything that my pal sent. Now, I just have to decide what i will make with it....

4th of July fun

So I am back from the great homeland and I REALLY DIDN'T want to leave....I got to spend lots of time with my little goddaughter A-Dolly. We read books and smashed play-doh and colored outside the lines. I spoiled her rotten, she is a girl after my own heart. Seriously, when a two year old girl with ringlets of girls runs towards you and gives you a big hug and smiles at you and says "i love you, " it melts your heart, even mine that has a dim view on love right now.

I shopped til I dropped at the outlet mall, ate loads of pork and beef and Amish noodles and pastries. I drove all over Iowa City and hung out with my cousins and visited schools. I went to the 4th of July parade and saw lots of really awesome John Deere tractors. I watched the fireworks and didn't get a single bug bite, which was a miracle. We also stuffed a flat rate box full of snacks and football reading material for my cousin in the Army in Iraq.

So what did I haul home?

1. two tone pink Jansport sling backpack (hello I will be going back to school in Jan and the outlet mall price = $18)
2. one skein of Jiffy thick and quick (which i am knitting right now and i swear it is like knitting with rope!)
3. two mini cross stitch kits ( 75 cents!!)
4. two metallic gel pens
5. 3 skeins of sugar and cream in very bright colors
6. a set of the new long Knifty knitter looms
7. one white polo
8. 3 pairs of old navy flip flops
9. purple hello kitty flip flops
10. Lion Brand's Just Bags book
11. british cross stitch magazine
12. messenger bag pattern
13. some odds and ends that I haven't unpacked yet.

Hmm, maybe it would have been better to list what I didn't buy. There really was stuff that i didn't buy and all most everything was seriously on sale. This also was my last allotted shopping trip of the summer since i am making myself save money for school and The Big Move. How boring is that?

Coming Home

So if i survive closing the books this week, my reward is a fun-filled weekend in IOWA!!!!! YAY!!! I get to see cousins, beautiful fields full of corn and Deeres and I might just get to see my beloved N--he hasn't said hell no yet. I will be taking my other Love--my Mac and some dishcloth yarn. There's no point in bringing loads of projects cause i'll be going all over the place and there's just not a lot of time to craft, but plenty of crafty stores to visit. and the cheese factory and the bakery in kalona, yum yum yum.....

what else is going? um i spent the weekend with Sunshine, which was loads of fun. learned the true meaning of rice and potatoes and had some interesting encounters with the neighbors. i also found the cutest hello kitty fabric at Joann's. i heart hello kitty big time.

i promise i will have much more interesting things to say once i return from my much too short trip to the land of my birth.

yarn slut

So it's been a gloomy day. Kinda rainy, but my shipment of yarn from Knit Picks arrived today....Merino wool, how I love thee. Yes, i am a certified Yarn Slut. I have no projects in mind for this yarn, all i know is that it was pretty and i wanted it. LOL...i am only hooked on three things, yarn, my mac and mountain dew. there are far worse things then those.

I got my school acceptance letters today. very happy. now it's a matter of deciding for sure which schools and which semester to start, because now my boss is trying to find a way to keep me somehow, so when i finish my accounting degree, i can be put in the same rotation program that N was in. which i would love to do, but if they don't come up with something concrete soon it's going to be too damn bad because i will go home and go to one of the schools on my list. either way, i will be on the fast track plan to moving home to Iowa. i don't really want to go to school down here, but i would do it if there was a guaranteed thing with the company, cause i love the industry i'm in, i just need to get a piece of paper so that i can get the pay and recognition for the work i already do. lol.

Not much is really going on this weekend, just a quite weekend away from work. i went to the library and heard the B'ville Symphony play at the H.O.T. market. they sounded really good. Next weekend I get to see Sunshine. YAY!!!! I haven't seen Sunshine in like a bazillion years (like maybe a month or so, but that seems like a long time in my libra world).