Hot Crochet

123 rows!!! Yay for me!!! I don't know how I added on so many considering how big and wide it is and it's like a bazillion degrees in the house. I am not putting a huge border on it. I am doing two rows of single crochet and that is it because it is as wide as the top of my double wide futon without a border. I made a chart for the Slouchy Purse pattern. I have problems counting and remembering what row I was on, so I write out what I am supposed to do on every single row and then i can check off the row upon completion. This was the system I developed for the Ocean Waves purse and it worked very well. Luckily there are only 35 rows total. After making this afghan, this purse is going to be a piece of cake. My goal is to have most of it done before I leave for SC so that I can have my mother the craft goddess do the piecing it together and making it look wonderful part.

My sister that weighs two pounds turned on the heater the other day when it dropped into the 40s at night and forgot to turn it off. I didn't realize what she did until it warmed up this weekend and it was ridiculously hot even with the ceiling fans. I go over to the thermostat and it's 85!!! She is having a bunch of ditzy moments this weekend. She lost the keys in wal mart and she drove so i didn't have my keys with me so if she hadn't been able to go back in and find them we would've been locked out of house and home.

I will be so relieved when finals/closing week is over. I hate studying for tests.Closing week will be interesting because our boss has been gone for 1/2 the month and our G/L's last day is Friday. I am trying to be positive but I am too much of a realist.

I am excited because I did catch up on Ugly Betty this weekend. I wish Henry the Accountant was my boyfriend. If i were to pick a dream guy that would be it. He wore an argyle sweater vest--a man after my own heart...My issue of W came in the mail and America Ferrera was on the cover. Her photos were beautiful, they were black and white and she was done up kind of like an old Hollywood starlet. You go girl!!!

Backyard Adventures

I actually sat down and read an entire book today. I finally bought the Friday Night Knitting Club by Kate Jacobs and it was so good I couldn't put it down. Even if there was no talk about yarn or knitting this book would still be good. Like a muggle would enjoy this book. The ending really surprised me and so did some of the plot twists. That rarely happens to me because usually I figure out where the plot is going within the first chapter or so. anyways, I will read this book again.

I discovered the world's smallest Dooney and Burke purse today. seriously you can fit a tube of chapstick and a couple of credit cards and that's it. IT WAS SOOOO CUTE....I really wanted it especially because it has a rainbow colored metal zipper on it but it was freaking $65 bucks. No way. $65 should at least get you a bowling bag/mom purse sized bag.

It's getting hot again. I actually put shorts on to do laundry. this is bad because I never wear shorts which is obviously when you see my bright white legs. We actually had several ceiling fans going because my sister and I are holding out on turning on the air conditioner as long as possible.

I did make progress on the afghan today, but i don't know yet how much I actually got done because I was reading the book and committing acts of domestication. the heat factor is an issue, i have to sit in my big purple recliner so that i can prop my poor elbow up and be under a ceiling fan cause air circulation is could.

I have only drank one mountain dew this weekend. yay for me! i'm trying to drain myself to drink water with those little flavored packets--i like crystal lite and the cherry limeade stuff from wal-mart the best so far. My favorite bottled water is Evian but if i add in flavor then i'm fine with just the tap water. we will see how this goes. i'm not quitting pop or booze, i'm just trying to drink better stuff.

My 50 + year old neighbor was sitting in a kiddie pool in a speedo today. I hope he put on some suncreen. this was my view when i went outside to my garage to switch the laundry. I also saw two Morman boys on bicycles today. I am an indoorsy gal so I don't go outside much but when I do, I sure get an eyeful of interesting sites.

Music and Yarn

So the sewer problem is fixed with minimal yard damage and smell. I am now waiting on an 82 page annual report to print out because my INT II final is a series of questions about this company and we can use a copy of their annual report on the final. Lucky for me this company has a financials only version so i don't have to waste ink on a bunch of pretty pics.

I was naughty and ordered yarn from WEBS. I bought the addi h hook and two skeins of brown sheep worsted in Chianti so I could make the Crochet Dude's Slouchy bag that was featured in the new Interweave Crochet. Then I finally bought the Vickie Howell yarn from her Love line that I have been coveting for months--one skein of Andi and Blaine for me and one for my SP (cause she really likes pink too) and one skein of Ennis and Jack. I had to stock up though because come May 1st I have no allowance because I have to save up money for my trip to SC and my first summer tuition payment. I have money saved up already but I don't want to deplete my savings since i've worked harder lately to build it up.

there is a lot of good singles coming out. Never Again by Kelly Clarkson is awesome (you can totally rock out to this one) and I LOVE Carrie Underwood's cover of I'll Stand By You. She does the Pretenders justice. Kelly and Carrie are in heavy rotation in my Subaru. Slots 5 and 4 respectively. Incubus is in slot 3 and Rob thomas is in slot 6. Slots 1, 2, and 7 are mixed cds with the latest songs that i've downloaded from itunes. I also like Daughtry. My sister saw their video while channel surfing and i thought they sounded cool. I can really identify with their song called "Home."

On the movie front, i bought The Queen so that i would have something to watch while filling out studyguides for my dumb finals and for working on the big afghan. I managed to squeeze out two rows tonight. I might do some more before I go to bed. i'm in a strangely peppy mood this evening.

There's a Hole in My Yard!!!!

So my life has just been one little thing after the other lately. I"m almost home and I get this call from my sister saying that the owner of our house is coming over to look at the mysterious puddle of muck that is around the air conditioner. Well, it turns out that our air conditioner is fine but there is a leaking sewer pipe right by it that was producing the muck. So I am tired and frustrated and I pull into the driveway and the landlord is waiting for me to update me on the situation because my sister wasn't home yet. he takes me out back and shows me the big hole he dug. Holy shit literally. This whole is like two feet long. The sewer pipe problem explains why we've had funky plumbing since we moved in. See the previous renters had a bunch of unauthorized people living there, didn't maintain anything and paid late all the time. He likes us cause we keep things nice and we pay on time. he flat out told me that and I thought it was humourous. Anyhoo, the landlord is coming back tomorrow with mr. roto rooter guy to fix the problem. I am sure I will have some hilarious tales to tell about this.

My fun books arrived today. I had ordered Mix Tape--the art of cassette culture by thurston moore (sonic youth--hell yeah) and 150 Crochet Trims. Both books are way awesome. I also bought the 40th anniversary issue of Rolling Stone to take my mind of the whole in my backyard. I am definitely having a music and yarn therapy weekend in preparation for finals week. I might have to make a new mix tape.

I have been invited to go on a float trip in June. I am so indoorsy that I had to ask what that is. Apparently people get some canoes and float down the river with beer and snacks and have a bunch of fun. So I said yes, cause i need some adventure and I was promised that it was okay that i have no idea how to canoe or paddle. I don't have to sleep in a tent either cause it's a day trip. See in seventh grade i went on a two week camping trip out West and after sleeping in a tent for two weeks I said to hell with that. I only camp at Camp Hilton now.

Tomorrow is pay day. yay. money makes me happy.I need to buy my mom a mother's day present so that I can mail it to her in time. I also need to buy a present for M's birthday since she sent me one for mine this year. I am going to go hug my pillow now. I am sleep depraved to the 10th degree.

Maniac Monday

Yuck. I am tired. I stayed up really late all weekend except for last night. I have an estimated 108 rows. There might be a couple more than that because i didn't count until right before I went to bed so i might have spaced out and missed a couple. I am stuck going into work at 6 am tomorrow which really sucks because i have to observe the part counting in the quarterly audit. I find this to be very boring. I am leaving as soon as my eight hours are up because I have night class and finals are next week so it's kind of stressful. My goal is to make it to May 4th which is the last day of the semester, finals week and closing week.

I found grape flavored Big Chew Bubble gum today at a gas station. this makes me happy. I love Big Chew gum and grape is the best flavor but it's hard to find down here.

daddy bought my plane ticket to SC so i can visit my doggies (and my parents too. i am stoked about it because it will make it easier to pay summer tuition. the "online fee" at my school is as much as the tuition for the stupid class but i am willing to pay it so that I can graduate sooner. The pitfall to going to summer school at any university or college is that most of them don't offer very many upper-division classes. this is my rant about school for today. did i mention that i don't really like school i just like the social part of it. It sucks to be a grown up sometime.

A Green Day

Since it is finally not freezing or raining buckets, I was finally able to plant flowers in the front planter box on our front entrance. I have a little box of reddish pink and purple impatiens and the big planter box is full of marigolds. We will see how long they last, the punk neighbor kids have been pretty good so far about not disturbing our property so I think my biggest obstacle is the upcoming Oklahoma heat. Our lawnboys mowed the lawn today too so our yard looks really great.

I made a lot of progress on the afghan today but it is really hot today so I kept having to take breaks because the afghan is really big now so it puts out a ton of heat. I made a little bracelet today. it's cute and preppy kind of. I also bought the new issue of Craft magazine. it is really expensive, but I get so much more out of this magazine then most of them. I really want to make the white rabbit in The Cute Book but I am out of felt and i didn't really feel like going to wal mart tonight just to get two pieces of felt. My mom emailed me about her trip to the local yarn shop today. all i have to say is NO FAIR!!!! I wanna go!!!!

I finally received my copy of Budget Travel magazine complete with the Girlfriend Getaways issue. it had some really awesome tips and articles in it. I love to travel. yay.

On the music front, I now have Avril's new cd and tim mc graw's new cd. yay for me. Good tunes = better commutes. I must have magazines, yarn, music and mountain dew. seriously. that would all be in my disaster kit if I were responsible enough to have one. maybe some hello kitty band aids too.

Movie Night

So i drove straight to Owasso from work in the hopes of finding suitable clothing such as a dress to wear to the wedding, shoes for work, and new jeans. I think I found some non-hideous dresses but I didn't buy any because I need some female opinion or Sunshine's opinion so I know if they look okay. Summer is the worst time to buy new dress shoes because it is sandal strappy open toed season and we can't wear sandals or open toed shoes to work because it is a potential safety hazzard. There were some jeans at Old Navy I liked but they weren't really on sale and if I wanted to pay full price for jeans I could just buy my favorite kind at the Gap outlet in town because they aren't on sale yet there either.

I did find the Freedom Writers dvd at the low price at Target so I picked that up for my sister and we watched that tonight. It was good. It is one of those inspirational tear jerker movies like The Pursuit of happyness that you can't help but love. I did get several rows on the afghan in while watching the movie however it is really late at night so i won't do a row count until tomorrow morning. I finally received my new issue of Budget Travel magazine and it's really good. I got a card from my mom and A sent me L pictures so it was another good mail day.

I"m tired so I'm going to bed in the hopes of tricking my brain into sleeping for awhile.

Yay!

I received another package from my Secret Pal 10 today. She sent me Neutrogena Hand Cream (the best stuff in the world for my poor dry skin), a little embroidered sachet with holly on it and this really cool knitting book The Knitting Experience Book One: The Knit Stitch. I had heard about how great this series of books was but I hadn't looked at one before but I skimmed through it tonight and thought it was pretty awesome. I like how the book is laid out and the diagrams are real color pictures that you can actually see the stitch formation on!! I am definitely taking this book with me to SC this summer so that my Mom can read it too.

My accounting test tonight sucked major ass. Seriously. He told us to study a certain set of problems because they would be on the test and the problems we got on our test tonight were nothing like them. When the smarties leave the problems blank that is a baddd sign. To make up for this awful tragedy I went to Hastings and bought the world's cutest Chococat wallet that is gray. Sadly I missed Ugly Betty tonight but I made it home in the nick of time to catch grey's anatomy which was awesome. I was heavily distracted by the show but I did manage to get a couple of rows in on A-dolly's afghan.

My Yarn Stash

My Secret Pal 10 hostess has challenged us to talk about or display pictures of our yarn stash. I am way too lazy to take pictures so I will talk about it. Prior to the move, I did do a major de-stashing which was good. However, i have noticed my stash is steadliy climbing back up.

1. Stash 1 --- I have this huge orange plastic tub that is full to the brim with my standard yarns. these are the colors and types I use the most. This tub is full, so this leads us to Stash 2

2. Stash 2 -- I have one shelf on my bookcase as designated yarn overflow. This is where my newly acquired yarn goes.

3. Stash 3 -- This is an old picnic basket I got from my Mom. It's really sturdy and it is where I keep all my yarn for A-dolly's afghan.

This all sounds not so bad, but my true addiction is knitting and crochet books, leaflets and magazines. If they were all in one spot, I could easily fill an entire 5 shelf bookcase. These are all ones that I like and use for reference, because if I don't like them I give them to friends or charity knitting groups. I could also fill a couple of shoe boxes with knitting needles, crochet hooks, and accessories. I also have a hat box full of my circle knitting looms and one plastic box that has all of my barbie spool knitter sets. I think making hats for the Dulaan project is what keeps my yarn stash in check.

In my defense, this is my main hobby and top source of entertainment. it keeps me out of trouble and I can still buy groceries every week and afford gas for my commute. LOL...

I'm back from my trip. I feel awake now. It was such whirlwind trip and I was totally dragging ass at work on Friday. It probably didn't help that it rained buckets and so I was seriously congested.

i did get to talk to my mom Friday night for over an hour. That was great because she is my crafting buddy. As of Friday night there was a total of 76 rows on the mighty afghan but after today's marathon of America's Top Model on mTV, there is probably around 80. I wasn't seriously working on it. Last weekend, I wove in the ends on all of the 37 hats that I have made for the Dulaan Project. I am going to mail them off next weekend as soon as I find a big enough box.

I'm kind of restless. I'm tired of shopping at the same old stores. I'm looking forward to this summer because it will be a fresh start. I'm trying to work on a new routine for myself. I have a whole shitload of time because my parents and dogs moved away and apparently I spent more time with them then I thought I did. I think I'm mainly afraid of becoming a hermit.

I"m not sure how, but I did manage to underspend this week by a lot. Which is a good thing. I was mainly concerned because I was going on a business trip and even though I get reimbursed for it, that tends to eat up short term money. But I actually behaved myself.

By the way, since I was soo good, I allowed myself to buy 90210 SEASON ONE!!!!! Hell yeah, Luke Perry is still smokin hot! I think I have one of the most unusual DVD collections ever.

Leaving On a Jet Plane

I am so happy! I am in Illinois/Iowa depending on which side of the Mississippi river I cross. I can look out my hotel room window and see the mighty Miss and I just instantly feel at home. Until I moved to Oklahoma I had always lived in a town with a huge river running through it. My hotel room has this fancy sleep number bed in it and I'll be honest, I can't tell the difference between numbers when I am laying on it. There is a TGIF attached to the hotel and they will deliver to your room which is awesome.

i woke up at 4:30 this morning because it was raining and I kept checking the clock to make sure I didn't oversleep even through I had two alarms set. My flight up here was a breeze so I hope that my home is the same way. I went out to eat last night -with some co-workers last night and had the most enormous plate of spaghetti ever at the Brown Bottle. I love that place....

No progress on the afghan to report. It is too big to stuff in a carry on bag and i am afraid that an overzealous TSA would confiscate my precious Addi hooks which are harder to replace then my Susan Bates hooks. I did however read the new issue of Crochet! magazine while I was at the Dallas airport. I didn't buy it because i wasn't in love with any of the patterns. I liked the patterns in the new issues of Interweave Crochet ( i want to make the slouchy purse) and Crochet Today. I am trying to decide on what to make with the two skeins of Debbie Bliss I received from my secret pal. I might make a scarf just because the yarn is so soft.

I hope i can stay awake today since i am supposed to be training people. I woke up at 4:00 am yesterday so I could be up in enough time to drive down to the airport and make it through security. I don't like to feel rushed. I might have to make a caffeine pit stop on my way in. the hotel pop machine has CANS of mountain dew for a dollar. Rolls her eyes.

Easter Fun

So this is my only second Easter weekend where I have not been with my parents or relatives or dogs. Just me and my sister. Lol. We had easter lunch at the local McDonalds. We stood in line behind a lady purchasing NINETY CHEESEBURGER HAPPY MEALS. Thirty for boys and Sixty for girls. Wow. It was for some special event or something because she took a picture of the mc donalds worker helping her carry all of her stuff out to her old pick-up. Seriously, people I can't make this stuff up.

I did a little sorting. I've come to the conclusion that I have too much crap. Still. I could have sorted through more stuff but it was seriously still cold (like 40s). This would not be cold normally except for the fact that it's been in the upper seventies for the last few weeks and then bam it's cold.

My sister and I watched re-runs of America's Top Model (cycle 5). I didn't think I would like that show, but it's not bad for some mind-sucking reality tv. I remember back when we just had one major reality tv show, The Real World. I think I was in 7th grade when that show started. damn. can you tell I'm rapidly approaching 30? Now I am watching Gene Simmons Family Jewels. It is the big face lift episode. Whatever floats your boat. I think that I will just stick with the Ugly Betty method and carry around a pretty purse. That's what i do when i feel like the need to feel more glamourous or more pretty. I might also use the five dollar shampoo instead of my dollar shampoo. I'm pretty low key when it comes to beauty. I wear Burt's Bees chapstick and that is it. Everything else is a waste because I just don't have the desire to spend my time messing with it when i could be spending time doing fun stuff like crochet.

Speaking of crochet, i am almost done with skein 5. I don't have a row count except for that I know it is over sixty rows. i tried counting but lost track like three times, so no row count today. I think I am making a lot of progress. i've only been working on this since like march 25th. I'm not really sure if I will have enough yarn. lol. I have five skeins left in my stash but afghans are like big and suck up the yarn when you are using half-double crochet stitches. I just like the tight weave. i don't like afghans where your toe pokes through. We'll see how much yarn I end up using. I don't think I will be able to crochet with this colourway any more after this.

TGIF

well, it was in the thirties this morning! this is not cool when earlier this week it was 60 plus degrees at 6:30 am on my morning commute. Good friday was an official work holiday for me, but my little internal alarm said it's 6:30 why aren't you leaving for work, so I got out of bed at 7 am and was on the road for my little shopping trip. Well, I struck out in the clothes department. I am sorry. I can not wear shirts made out of paper thin fabric to work or cropped pants. Scary patterns do not work with my busty chest. I did find some pants ---basic black and khaki that might work in the LL Bean catalog, so I hope I can guess my LL Bean size. yeah, i'm like in between sizes right now and that sucks.

On the positive side, I did mail off some stuff to my secret pal 10. yay. I did get my Starbucks gum in the cute little tin that is just perfect for holding tiny crafty stuff. I did find the stuff A wanted me to look for Little L. A is a hermit living in the desert. I got a set of Chibi darning needles. YAY!!!!

I finished my fourth skein of yarn on A-dolly's afghan. It is as wide as the top of a double sized bed. My mom and I don't believe in tiny ass blankies, and I wanted to make something that would last forever. I have to prop two pillows up under my right elbow so that I don't have crochet elbow. I have five more skeins in my picnic basket, I hope that will be enough. I miss my little doggies so much. they used to lay next to me or in my lap while I was crocheting.

Tv was complete crap tonight. We ended up watching one hit wonders on VH1. It is going to be a weird weekend because it will be the first holiday weekend that we aren't with our parents or any one else for that matter. I'm not like sad, but it just feels very very strange. My sister and I are going to blow up some Peeps in my microwave on sunday to celebrate easter. It will be festive. i have pink and yellow bunnies. LOL....

Did I mention our GL accountant gave his two weeks notice on thursday? I can see why he did it because he got a really awesome job offer, but it means the capital accountant and myself will be covering the slack until the replacement gets here probably around end of may/early june. I love my company, just not the unit I work at.

The Postman Report

This update is brought to you by my new purple Peeps pen. It is covered in purple faux velvet and does have a stuffed purple rabbit shaped peeps at the top. Yes, people I proudly took this pen to work with me and signed off on every journal voucher with it. This is why I rock.

Anyways, I am really posting because I came home from a very dull day at work and there was this major pile of boxes on my front doorstep. Okay, so there was only two but that is a lot of packages to get in one day. Typically the only things I get are bills, earnings statements and come to Jesus mail addressed to the former renters. Package number one was the shipment of frosted sugar cookies decorated for Easter and a bonus container of various mini chocolate bars from my aunt D. She is awesome. Yay for chocolate!

I'm saving the best for last. The second box was from my Secret Pal 10. It contained a little book of knit stitches so I can finally figure out what I am really supposed to be doing with the point sticks. I only know like three stitches. there was also a Cadbury toffee bar, so I stuck that in the fridge with the rest of my candy stash. It stays better in the OK heat and I am less likely to eat it all at once. there was also a three pack of Orbit gum (one of my top 5 gum choices) and a three pack of fancy post its. Oh did I mention that my Secret Pal is a total rock star(major compliment in my book) because she included two balls of Debbie Bliss Alpaca silk in a pretty shade of pink! It is possibly the softest yarn my little hands have ever touched. My jaw dropped because I know how special this yarn is....Squeeeeeeee!!!!! What an awesome surprise!!! I have always wanted to try yarn like this before but I have never put it on a list because I didn't want to set the bar too high, plus, this yarn is the kind of yarn I would have to order online or else drive like three hours away to get. Anyways, thanks again Secret Pal 10 because that totally made my day.

Um it is really hot here today. Yuck. I start to melt at 75. But at least it is not raining that is a huge plus. I do not need my lawn to grow any more.