En Fuego

So at the Marching Band contest on Saturday, I did a very stupid thing and forgot to put on sunscreen. i thought i would be okay cause I was just going to stay for a couple of performances, but I was having such a good time that I stayed longer and ended up with the world's strangest sunburn. I have a V from the v-neck shirt I was wearing, I have an official "red neck" , I burnt half of my right ear and 3/4 of my face because I use acne medication that you are supposed to avoid direct sun with. I know, not so smart, but I have a giant stash of Tylenol and aloe lotion, so I am making it through. I just hate the fact that it raises your body temperature really high and I have a naturally lower body temp so my type of hot is way hotter then the norm. In the end, it doesn't really matter because I had a blast watching the bands perform. It was like half time all day long which we all know is my favorite part of watching a football game.

i had so much fun though, I crocheted a dish cloth in between performances and I got to take video with my digi cam that I bought about a year ago. It has really great sound, better then I expected but it was really hot and windy that day, so I don't think this footage is perfect, but it gets the point across.

I started working on Baby L's blankie again after I finished dish cloth number 4 this past week. i'm not sure how many rows I actually did this weekend but I made a lot of progress.

I also was stuck doing a ton of homework which I hate because it is all busy work. I managed to get it done before all of my Sunday shows premiered. I can't wait to see the Rock of Love Reunion show--it will be a hilarious cat fight most likely. Brothers and Sisters was really good but some time I am going to have to get that season on DVD because apparently I have forgotten a couple of minor plot twists.

I really don't want to go to the office of complete boredom tomorrow. I love my company, just not the office biddies I work with.

By the way, I was very naughty and bought chocolate covered expresso beans at my new Starbucks in town this weekend. They are so good, but I will only eat one at a time.

Anyways, I am going to sleep on top of my bed directly under the ceiling fan and pretend that I am staying at the hotel made out of ice in Canada.

Hooks Up!

1. Purchased Ravelry "where my stitches at?" limited edition shirt and button set. It is so cool, I can't wait until it gets here.
2. purchased another skein of Sugar and Cream Stipes. This stuff is my new crack candy. I need dish cloths like i need a hole in my head, but I just started number 4 tonight and that is the fourth one for this week. LOL.
3. Purchased top secret gifts for secret pal 11. Yay for sales! At the same sale I bought another Susan Bates bamboo handle hook (the second one this week, but only because they were fifty off at Hobby Lobby)
4. Finally took yucky finance test!
5. Gathered up recycling
6. Did dishes
7. watched the first three episodes of Margaret Cho's sitcom All-American Girl. It is still hilarious over ten years later.
8. Visited my town's 1st EVER STARBUCKS!!!! Hot chocolate is great!!!! If I drink enough of it, maybe it will feel like fall weather.

In other news, good luck to Sunshine tomorrow. His marching band is competing and I know they will totally kick major ass. i will be attending a separate marching band invitational closer to home. I am attending the prelims so I can see my hometown band's show. I got to see them march at the homecoming parade before my night class on Thursday, but that doesn't really count because it's not the same at all. i am a total marching band groupie!!! I am all about supporting the Arts in schools, especially music.

My secret pal 11 (the one I'm spoiling) sent me a funny e-card for my birthday. I have been sending her almost weekly letters because I think it makes things more fun, people love real letters and i think it makes the time between packages go faster. I just want her to have a really good experience because the person spoiling me has been sending me great packages and e-mails, so I feel like sharing the love.

Birthdays are Exhausting

I haven't posted in awhile because I am trying to play catch up. I am basically caught up on everything except for homework, I still have that to turn in this weekend. My sister is in a total crab ass mood and doesn't want to do anything except for Mtv when she gets home from teaching. I really need a break from her, so i think i am going to go to Owasso on Saturday. I am thinking about looking for work pants at Old Navy and there is a marching band competion going on at the high school then and so I am thinking of at least watching the prelims because several of the local high schools will be there (that have strong programs). Plus, I know that my sister would definitely not want to see that.

Dallas was awesome. the Dave Matthews Band is an awesome band to see live. there was lots of shopping but I really didn't buy much. The big purchases were a sweater hoody on clearance at Old Navy and Crazy Aunt Purl's new book. Sunshine and I tried really hard to buy ipods but we ended up going home empty handed, they were out of the Touch that he wanted and I was paranoid about spending money, so i think I am going to wait a week or so. I liked playing with the new ones in the store though, it helps narrow down the choices. I just wish the regular video ipods came in more color choices like the nano video.

I did make two dish cloths on the trip and I started a third on my birthday which I am almost finished with. Sugar N Cream cotton has some really awesome striping colorways that come out looking really nice.

Special Thanks to Sunshine for driving, being generally awesome and playing referee. it was a blast. I promise next time we go to a concert we can go to a symphony type concert with a less rowdy crowd.

Secret Pal Goodies!

I received package #2 today! It is the Pink Package and it is so awesome. I love it all and I will edit this post to add in details but it is starting to thunder and lightning outside and I don't want to blow my router again. Thank you Secret Pal!!!


I'm back!!!!
So the mini-storm is over and I think it will be a late night because Justin Timberlake is on Oprah tonight! I have to watch the re-runs on the CW at 10:30 pm if someone good is going to be on and I saw the ads during the premieres of ANTM and Gossip Girl. Gossip Girl is going to be good I think.

Now for the goodies! My Secret Pal is the coolest ever! I opened up the package when i got home from work and it was like Yarnpalooza!

I received:
1. Hello Kitty candy! Hell yes!
2. Pair of Pony Pearls knitting needles
3. Kool-aid and a skein of Cotton Fleece to try kool-aid dying with
4. Cotton Fleece that was dyed a rose color by my pal
5. Fisherman's Wool from Bartlett yarns that was also dyed by my pal
6. Knit Picks Tulip
7. And a nice note describing all the lovely yarn.

Thanks so much! I was stoked about my birthday coming up on Tuesday but honestly any day when someone gives me yarn is almost better than my birthday.

I was naughty and bought the new issues of Knit.1 and Bust, but since i have been on a magazine buying diet for the last month, I figured it was okay. There was a couple of others I debated about but I made myself be good and pick two. Yay!

Favorite Place and Color Swap Questionnaire

FUN STUFF!

What is your favorite color(s)?
Hot pink, black, blue, purple

What are your least favorite colors?
orange, olive/moss green, yellow

If you have a favorite brand of yarn, what is it?
Cascade 220, Koigu, Sugar and Cream

What weight yarn do you prefer?
like a sport weight or thicker. I like anything that
isn't super bulky or really dainty. I like to make a
lot of scrap afghans if that helps any.

Is there any weight of yarn you'd rather not have?
No lace weight or sock yarn, because I just don't work
with those types.

Do you enjoy novelty yarn? If so, what kinds do you
like and dislike?
No fun fur or ribbon yarn, I like to try the other
kinds of novelty yarn, but it has been awhile since I
have bought anything.

What are your favorite fibers?
I like wool, cotton, bamboo

Do you have any fibers that you dislike or worse yet,
have an allergy to?
No allergies
Do you have pets? If so, what do you have?
yes, but they live with my parents in SC right now.
Two Yorkies, Haley and Daisy

Do you spin?
No

Would you enjoy receiving spinning related items, such
as roving?
I don't spin and don't have any spinning supplies, so
no.

Do you knit, crochet, both, or other?
Crochet first, still slowly learning to knit

Is there anything within your craft that you haven't
tried yet that you'd like to try or learn?

Is there anything that you enjoy collecting, aside
from yarn?
Hello Kitty

Is there anything else that your pal should know to
help her spoil you?
I don't think so. I post on my blog almost daily, and
I usually talk about what I am into right now at the moment.

I GOT IN!!!!!!!!

I received my invite to join RAVELRY THIS MORNING!!!!!!!! I couldn't ask for a better early birthday present. This site is possibly the coolest thing ever! I feel like this massive window of wonder has been opened up to me.

Anyways, for those who want to see, my user name is: shoegirl (no spaces). YAY!!! There goes my free time! I now have this instant urge to catalog every thing. YAY!

Edit: I just added my inventory of needles and hooks. the only things I didn't add in were a couple of pairs of mutt needles that I have no idea what size they are and my itty bitty crochet hooks that they don't have in the list yet (they are like the thread crochet kind). this is so cool, it's like crack candy. I am having no luck exporting my LibraryThing Library to Raverly so if anyone has tried that before, let me know!

Edit #2: I finally downloaded the new version of Yahoo Messenger for Mac, I hope it works better than the last one. My computer doesn't really like the old one, and people would message me and I wouldn't always get their messages which is annoying!

Factory Girl

Yup that's me! I had to be at work by 6 am to the quarterly inventory audit of parts in the factory. Did I mention that I have to be up at 4:30 am so I can get ready and squeeze my commute in? I will also note that this is for a random sample of parts and it takes about four hours to complete the audit. I wish I had a dorky picture of me and all the safety gear I have to wear: ear plugs, metal tarsals and safety glasses. Why don't metatarsals come in pink? That would be really nice.

Songs of the Week:

1. Stronger by Kanye West --- I don't always agree with his tantrums, but the man makes some of the best hip hop out there and I am really picky about that type of that music because it is out of my usual box.

2. No One by Alicia Keys --- She never fails to disappoint me, and I love the piano part in this song. I think this is one of my favorite singles of hers. This songs is just beautiful, and if you are reading this Sunshine, you need to listen to this song.

New Show -- Episode 1 of Gossip Girls is free on ITUNES right now prior to the premiere!!!!! The blonde girl from Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants is in this show and the books the show is based on is a guilty pleasure teen read for me and my sis.

So apparently, things are very slowly becoming less of a disaster. I am looking forward to October and the Fall season.

Crochet and Cleaning Day

Today was scrub the bathroom day. It is sparkly now. yay. Tomorrow is my night class, so I won't be doing any cleaning projects. i have designated Friday as vacuum and sweep day. Saturday is take in the recycling and trim psychotic bushes day. My sister did sort out the half-empty shampoo bottles, so the shower is less junky now. We also now have mystery shampoo in a cup. I just want the house to look pretty for when Sunshine comes next week.

On the crochet front, I am nearing the finish line. I have no idea what to do for a border yet. I am thinking that I will get a solid green or blue matching yarn to do the border. We will see. i am going to finish this skein and then work on baby L's blankie because it has been neglected for a long time. I also have some yummy dishcloth yarn I need to use up.

The creativity project is going great. I cheat. I refuse to get up extra early to do morning pages, so I write them during my morning break. I have a long ass commute and I don't like to get out of bed any earlier then I have to. I will find out tomorrow afternoon whether or not I have to be at work at 6am to do an inventory audit. the only plus side to that would be that I would get off work really early on a Friday. We will see. I am indifferent either way.

**** In a Box

D*ck in a Box and Kathy Griffin both won Creative Arts Emmys! How awesome is that!!!!! I would like to note that I am not offended by either one of them.

So work was boring as snails. My security badge is fixed now so at least I can get in the front door now. That is a huge plus. I did our nasty ass dishes. I can't stand it when the sink smells because my sister won't rinse the pan after she makes cheeseburger helper in it. Gross. Gross. Gross. Thank god it was trash day.

I plan on spending the rest of the night reading the rest of Writing Down the Bones by Natalie Goldberg and crocheting on the Splash blanket. There is not much excitement going on in my life right now. I have been helping my mother with some genealogy research, which I don't mind doing because I think it is kind of fun. I have been given a list of things to find when I go back to Iowa in October for Baby K's baptism.

Somethin' to Believe In

MY HOMEWORK IS DONE!!!!!! YAY!!! I also completed my AIS Exam one. All this before my Sunday night shows start. Usually I don't even start on my homework until late sunday night. More crochet time for me. My sister and I have been watching Grey's Anatomy Season 2 all day because there is nothing on tv right now and they keeping running the same episodes over and over. I am so excited for Season 3 to come out this week, because my sister still hasn't seen the finale and I forgot the some of the little things that happened on the show.

I have also been going through my tiny recipe pile looking for recipes for my college student because she put easy recipes on her list and I don't even like to boil water, but I do like to collect recipes because I like the pictures. I am going to put them on brightly colored cards, and then hole punch them in the corner, so that I can put them on a ring, so they are easy to use and keep track of in the kitchen. I think it is going to look really cool when it is done.

By the way, I just finished watching Rock of Love. Holy crap. tonight's elimination was not what i expected and I think the Meet the Parents episode next week is going to be great. There's just something about watching a good chick fight, especially when a rock star is involved. Plus, I always get a lot of rows done on an afghan when watching this show.

I hope this week goes okay. With radios, etc banned at work, I felt like I was in solitary confinement all week. My poor shuffle feels abandoned.

Random Thoughts Saturday

I have spent most of the weekend working on homework and I feel like my brain is fried. It was so bad I dug out Spanky (my first ipod) so that I could listen to some music that unfortunately is not stored anywhere else. Spanky is a 3rd generation ipod that I got just before I graduated from college the first time. He has the five buttons which separates him from all the other versions. The problem is that Spanky is PC formatted and my primary computer is my newer Mac laptop. I still have my old PC but it isn't hooked up and it is a real pain in the ass to boot up and get running. I gave myself the ultimatium of getting a new video ipod by Christmas, but I haven't decided whether or not to keep Spanky or recycle him. I think I will keep him because he was my very first ipod and my very first electronic item that I got without my dad's input or help. I just have this weird emotional attachment with my ipod. I received a really cute ipod hoodie in the Mac swap that is pink striped with polka dots on the pocket and Spanky is wearing it (does this mean he is cross dressing?) Once you go Mac, you can't go back!

Disclaimer: Yes, I am referring to my electronics like they are people. I am not crazy, I am just a loner that loves her ipods and when something is in your pocket a lot, I think you can name it. I also only put *s in certain words so that I don't get spammed by bad people.

My sister took her Sears card and bought a non-shitty DVD/VCR player that was on sale for $99. She needed to be able to record our shows coming up while we were in class. It doesn't have a DVD-R because she is low-tech and it was going to be like an extra $129 for that feature. She wanted a Sony to match our Tv because every time we stray from Sony we end up with a piece of shit. She is going to hook up her old DVD player in her bedroom to her little dorm tv that has a VCR built into it. She made me go with her to buy it because she doesn't like talking to salesmen. I felt like I was her advocate or something. She is happy with it. We haven't figured out how to record yet, that might be a project for when Sunshine comes to visit, he is one with the cords.

I organized my little yarn stash today kind of. My problem is that my yarn won't fit into the picnic basket anymore, so I had to put the overflow into the plastic zipper bag that my cotton blanket from Tar-jay came in. I also managed to get a few rows in on the Splash afghan while my sister and I were watching High School Musical. I love both one and two. they are so peppy and they just make you want to dance.

It rained really hard this morning and so it was humid as hell the rest of the day. I hate humidty it makes my hair frizz and I feel like I am stuck to myself all day.

On the music front, besides High School Musical, I have been listening to the new matchbox twenty single (this one is more rock based--yay), over you by daugherty, and radio nowhere by Bruce and the E Street Band. I have also been watching video of Justin Timberlake's HBO special and his EMMY NOMINATED D*ck in a Box SNL sketch. This is hilarious and honestly not as gross as one might think. The only problem is that the tune is really catchy and it is probably not a good idea to go around the mall humming the Dick in a Box song, especially when you are looking for a baptism gift for a baby.

My IKEA 2008 catalog came in the mail yesterday. This catalog is complete p*rn and I envy anyone who lives within a short driving distance of one of their stores. I just love their style and their prices.

I was looking for some picture frames to put the new pics of K and A that my Aunt D sent, and stuck in between a couple of frames was my long lost 2007 mini Frank Lloyd Wright calendar. Isn't that hilarious? I have been looking for it ever since we moved into the rental at the end of February. LOL....

I have been helping my sister with her creativity journal for her creativity class. She has to write every single day, so I write the sentence starters for her. Thank god, she doesn't turn this into the teacher. She just writes a paper to summerize her experience at the end. Today's sentence starter was: If you found an unmarked box under the Christmas tree, would you open it? I was inspired by the D*ck in a Box video. I am still laughing about it and that sketch has been out for ages. I am doing a creativity journal too just for solidarity purposes and to make up for the fact that my day job is a creativity sucker and I miss writing just to write. The blog is different because it is semi-censored for privacy purposes obviously.

I mailed off my first package to my SP 11 (the one I am spoiling). I hope she likes it, I can't wait to see what she says. I stuffed that box good, because I use flat rate boxes because it is cheaper in the long run, especially if you are mailing a book and you want it to arrive before it is out of print. I am also working on the box for the college student I adopted through the swap on Craftster. Even though, I am in college myself, I don't consider myself to be a traditional college student, since I don't really participate in the campus life. This swap is going to be very easy because I don't have to make anything and my student has similar taste. I might be almost 27 years old, but I still act my shoe size (yeah, that is kinda of lame sounding, i know).

I also caught up on listening to my knitting podcasts this weekend. The baseball episode of Cast-On was awesome. I want to make it to a Stitch and Pitch event next summer but it will require planning and vacation days because I don't live very close to any MLB parks, the closest ones are between 4 and 6 hours away. I also like listening to Knitters Uncensored because they are hilarious and they are ex-pats living in Germany and I think that is so cool. Lime N Violet is another favorite although, i can't drink pop during that podcast because there is a high possibility that I will laugh so hard that it might shoot out my nose and hurt my Mac.

I haven't been really reading for pleasure lately. Mostly academic books or my text books. Unfortunately I can only do like two hobbies at once, before things start to suffer.

Okay, now that I have rambled forever and ever, I am going to go, before I bore ya'll to tears.

The Good Stuff

This weekend was wonderful, but this week has been like total crap, so I am focusing on the good stuff tonight. Below is my list.

The Good Things List:

1. Spending the weekend with Sunshine
2. My genealogy break-through on my dad's side (the side we know the least about)
3. Joined another Craftster swap
4. THE NEW 160 GB VIDEO IPOD....I knew there was a reason why I waited so damn long. It is $349 which makes it the same price that the old 80 gb was. I can get the new 80 gb for $249. There is also a video nano which is cute for $149 for 8 gb (i need more gb than that for video personally)
5. My big trip to Iowa in October for Baby K's baptism. My sister gets to be godmother this time.
6. My birthday trip to Dallas to see Dave Matthews Band in concert and shop my heart out (maybe)
7. My Morning Page where I listed the 8 main things that frustrate me and since then I have felt better
8. the new Sugar and Cream cotton in Twists and Stripes. Total coolness. I have two balls of twists and two of stripes. the pink stripes, the purple/blue/green/white stripes, and the pink and brown twists
9. Watching the marching band march on Friday night (massive improvement from last year. Yay for Sunshine!)
10. Finishing skein two on the Splash blanket and starting skein three.
11. No-bake cherry cheesecake (Sunshine and I made this and it was damn good).
12. my ten dollar cotton blanket from Target
13. Watching re-runs of Army Wives and kicking myself for not watching this show the first time around.
14. The creativity aisle at the Barnes and Noble in Springfield
15. French Kiss Vanilla Frozen Rockuccino Mix from the KISS Coffeehouse. The best stuff, I could hardly tell it was coffee (and I got a nice dose of caffeine)

Thanks again to Sunshine for the perfect weekend. You are a wonderful host and the best friend anyone could ever be so lucky to have.

On Eagle's Wings

It is with a heavy heart that I write tonight. I came home from a wonderful weekend with Sunshine only to find out that my godfather passed away this weekend on Saturday. I promise to post about all my adventures with yarn and Sunshine this weekend later on this week but for tonight I just wanted to write a little about my godfather since this blog has become my diary of sorts.

My godfather was my next door neighbor growing up in Iowa. He was a dentist, photographer, master gardener, Air Force vet and grandpa to everyone. He was there for all my birthday parties as a little girl, at my baptism, First Communion and my confirmation. He took the most beautiful pictures of me in my prom dress standing in front of a silver evergreen in his front yard. I am looking at those pictures now and I still feel the beauty that I felt that evening. He always grew pumpkins for us to decorate at Halloween, sweet corn and strawberries and cherry tomatoes that I called tommy's toes when i was a tiny tot. He used to pass out toothbrushes, travel toothpaste and a box of raisins, which he lovingly referred to as nature's candy. He is the reason why I love raisins.

He was batting leukemia for the last few years and I take solace that he is no longer in pain. We weren't expecting him to die, but we knew that he did not have much time left.I am not the most religious person but I firmly believe that he is watching over me in heaven now, close to God and our Lady. He was a surrogate father to me, always filling in when my dad was traveling and I had to go to a dad's day event. Him and his wife always came to all of our recitals and plays and my band concerts. I feel slightly orphaned in a way because even though I moved away, I always kept in touch and would visit with them every time I was in Iowa to visit family.

I was so upset that I found this beautiful card at Walgreens and I was writing a letter to his wife and family and it took me four tries because these big tear drops kept falling and I didn't want ink smudges on my letter. I will be fine, my heart just hurts a lot right now, as it does when something like this happens.

Song of the day: On Eagle's Wings performed by Michael Joncas (his version sounds the closest to the way we always sung it in Mass)