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.

I smell Baseball

I have this itch to watch some baseball. Maybe it has to do with the fact that Opening Day is April 1st. I used to go to baseball games all the time when I lived in Iowa but I haven't been to one in a long time and I miss that. I have made it one of my goals for this summer to go to as many baseball games as I can. It doesn't matter to me what league or what level.

I have finished my 45th row on the afghan. YAY!! I have made it to a wrap level or a big dresser scarf size. This is definitely my largest project yet and if I can pull it off, A-dolly is just going to flip over it. I just truck away at it. It's a good project to work on while you are couch potato-ing like me.

Aunt D mailed me some of her infamous sugar cookies to me for Easter. I can't wait. they are probably my favorite cookie, with or without the decadent frosting. I did the dishes today. My kitchen is skank free.

Today was a sunshiney day today. that was nice. my sinuses appreciate it.

Weekend Update

My lawn looks like shit. It has rained hard almost every day this past week and the previous owners had never heard of weedkiller so my lawn looks like yuck. Every time I try calling the lawn service the line is busy because every one in town needs their lawn mowed. Seriously.

I took off work a couple hours early. Since everyone is out of town this week I needed to be able to make my last tuition payment of the semester. I don't mail them in because I spread the love over the month, because of commuting I have to have a very flexible gas budget. Things have been stressful the last few days, there was a glitch in my parent's moving process but everyone is fine now and back on track. Since I was downtown, i went to the library because i needed free entertainment. They actually had some new knitting and crafty books that I had been interested in but not enough to buy, so I checked all of them out. Then I came home and did laundry. tomorrow I have to tackle dishes. I can't stand dishes in the sink, even though my sister and i always rinse them off.

It started to pour rain this evening so I decided to stay in. I ended up watching an old favorite, Reality Bites. I really identify with that movie but in a positive way. When that was over, I was channel surfing and found Paula's Party. The theme was cheese. She started off with macaroni and cheese that had 6 DIFFERENT KINDS IN IT!!!! I love her. Some day I hope to make a pilgrimage down to Savannah and eat at Lady and Sons. Did i mention that mac and cheese is like my favorite? It's in my top 3 three foods that I will eat.

Somehow in the midst of this, I was able to add on a few rows to the afghan. I am now up to 42 rows I believe. Crocheting an afghan is the perfect project for yucky rainy weather. I also started work on my photo collage of my doggies. I need to print some pics off at Wal-mart before I can finish it. I am lazy with my digital camera. I also need to print off the pic cd of baby K that my aunt D sent me. The creative juices are flowing this weekend I guess.

The Thunder Rolls

So we are having massive thunderstorms. No tornados yet, Sunshine, so you better not be doing your tornado dance! My dad stopped by our house today and gave me money to hire someone to mow the lawn until we get the lawnmower situation resolved. he is coming back next weekend so we might work on that then.

My sister is at a convention so I am all by myself this weekend. This should be interesting. I would like to imagine one major fiesta, but I need to become very close to my accounting text books. I have this tendency not to become a serious student until after spring break (last week). LOL.

I have not made any more progress on the afghan. It has been a wild week, with school and closing the books at work, so I didn't have any more time to work on it. I plan on working on it a lot this weekend during my homework breaks.

April is National Poetry Month. yay! I can't wait. So, because of this, i leave you with a little quote from one of my all time favorite poets, Emily Dickinson:

"If I can stop one heart from breaking, I shall not live in vain"

One is the Lonliest Number

This is definitely a pity post. My parents pack up almost 9 years of their lives in Oklahoma and head out to their new place in the Carolinas. My sister is leaving tomorrow for a science teachers convention in St. Louis which is where my dad is from. she is going to stay with my dad's sister and our teenage boy cousins who are on spring break and have promised to teach her how to play guitar on their Wii when she is not at the convention. I think she's going to see our grandparents too while she's there because she doesn't come back until late Sunday night. So I am all by myself for the rest of the week + weekend. I'm hoping that I will see my parents one more time because I have scored the infamous push mower and we still have our garage door openers to their garage. My mom says not to worry, i don't need to come to the house because the moving vans will be all parked up that they will take care of it all and yes they know I have the night class that i can't skip on wednesdays. I just want to be able to check it off my mental list. I don't like the anticipation part especially when it concerns major life changing events. I'm worried about the doggies traveling on the plane too because they have never done that before. I'm a first born can't you tell? Classic Type A worrier.

On the plus side, I've scored some major victories at work and I am almost caught up with homework. I almost fell asleep in Governmental accounting because my teacher was rambling again about fiduciary funds and about how his son bought him the coolest blue tie for his birthday last week. randomness, eh?

On the yarn front, I am almost done with row 36 on the afghan. That is really awesome because I am using an H hook, and the stitches are all half double crochet. I'm really glad I didn't decide to use my F hook, that would've taken my until A-dolly was in kindergarten to finish.

I should go to bed. It sucks royal A getting up at 6 am and driving at least 40 minutes to work one way.

Sweetie darling!

I think I have finished at least two or three more rows since my last post but i'm not sure. I'm sleep and food deprived so I am making slow progress especially with the sore elbow thing going on. The Patternworks order finally came this week. I got my new addi hook, my first Koigu, the mitten loom and the book for my mom which she really likes.

I am glad it's the weekend. All the rain makes me sluggish and congested too so I feel like i'm in a little rain cloud. I did get the new issue of Bust and Marie Anoinette on dvd. I have to take my mom to Owasso this weekend so that we can go to Petsmart and find some airline approved pet carriers since my parents are taking the doggies on the plane with them for the first time and putting the outback on the moving truck. their house has a for sale sign in the yard now and the remodeling is done. it's all very strange. i don't want my little doggies to leave. stupid rental house.

My sister's eye muscle surgery went well. You can't really tell she had eye surgery unless you look in the corners of her eyes, then you see the redness. She can see but she can't really read yet because it strains her eyes and they are still adjusting. I bought her some Jackie O sunglasses.

ugly betty and grey's anatomy were good this week. henry the accountant is HOT. lol..My spring break is almost over and i'm not looking forward to going back to class but it will give me something to do.

14 Rows and a ton of Rain

It has been raining Seattle-style all of last night and today. This stinks when you have to go to work because it is cool/warm so my stupid windows try to fog up a bunch. At least it rained hard enough to wash the bird crap off my car. LOL. I made my travel arrangements for my trip to HQ next month. I get to stay a nice hotel in a room with two queen sized beds and I don't have to share!!!! -- because that's what the corporate travel people had to offer. I can dig that. This is one of the perks of corporate travel people. I am also earning frequent flyer miles too so that rocks. I am flying on a crop duster but it is one of my approved airlines and I don't connect through O'Hare so that is great.

I hung out at Mom's again tonight. I have completed row 14 on the Kiss afghan and now my right elbow is really tender because I think I have bad crochet posture.

Things are starting to calm down here and it's weird. I can't believe my "spring break" from school is almost over. All the heavy rain just makes me want to sleep and I think that has a lot to do with the fact that I am even more congested than usual.

My Favorite Project

So for Secret Pal 10 we have been challenged to post about our favorite current project. Lucky for me, I just started a new project. See, Sunday night my little sister and I were sitting in our living room and we came to the realization that our parents are really moving away to the Carolinas and we can do whatever we want and nobody is going to find out because our relatives all live in Iowa or St. Louis for the most part. This is how we ended up watching Gene Simmons Family Jewels. Surprisingly enough he has a really normal family life. His kids are normal and not messed up like The Osbournes. Gene is one of my secret favorite rockers of all time. How can you not love him? Hello, the tongue. Anyways, I was watching the show and I have major problems just sitting still so I decided since I have all this newfound free time, I should embark on an epic project. I decided to use all of the bazillion skeins of Red Heart Supersaver Plum Pudding yarn to make A-dolly her very own pink and purple afghan because those are her favorite colors. She will be three in May and already has good taste. I am using my Addi F hook and half double crochet (my favorite stitch). It is 185 stitches wide because I just chained my wingspan. I am working on my tenth row which is awesome, I think. When the body is done I am going to make some kind of wavy border. She just brings me so much joy in the short time that I have known her so far and so I want her to have something that she can just wrap around her and feel the love in every stitch.

i know it's Red Heart but she is still little and so it needs to be sturdy and washable and when she's 26 and a half like me i will make her a giant Koigu afghan or something out of soy silk maybe. It would be really cool if I could finish it in time for her birthday at the end of May but it might not be finished until my birthday in September. LOL. It's highly appropriate that I started this afghan while watching Gene Simmons Family Jewels because I am the person that taught her to stick her tongue out like he does and I taught her how to dance like a rock star. I'm sure her Mom just loves me for that but A-dolly is just sooo cute when she does that.

I should also mention that this is the first afghan that I have ever made. I originally thought it was going to be a throw she could grow into (hee hee) but seeing my ten rows stretched out, It is probably going to be closer to twin size, which is okay too. Anyways, that is the story of my favorite project, the KISS afghan for A-dolly.

Lucky Girl

Things I am grateful for on this St. Patrick's Day:

1. The two skeins of SWTC Karoke I purchase today
2. Rebecca magazine in German
3. My Bailey's
4. my new LL Bean carry on bag
5. Mountain Dew
6. Soft batch chocolate chip cookies
7. Burt's Bees chapstick, all flavors.

I knitted one more hat this morning before our big trip to T-Town. Barnes and Noble is my happy place. I like to hang out with the knitting and crochet books and the magazine aisle. I did find state maps for NC and SC so that I won't get lost when I visit my parents new digs later this summer. I found this quirky little book on making felt stuffed animals and a book that has dog sweater patterns it--my favorite is the little baseball raglan shirt. daisy would look so cute in that. Super Target is my home improvement friend. They have little picture frame hanging stuff kits that A my coworker and I used to hang up the bulletin boards and big picture frames at my new place. The house looks more put together and A has this uncanny knack for hanging stuff up that is level on the first try with just using a pencil and a measuring tape. I don't have a level yet.

I am saluting my Irish heritage by drinking some of my mint chocolate Bailey's Irish cream that I bought around v-day. It is still fresh. I didn't have any chocy syrup or reddi whip to put in it but it was nice even with just milk mixed in. That was my treat to myself because I just spent over three hours at my parents house helping them move crap out to the garage. Stupid real estate people are coming over to the house tomorrow afternoon.

Erin Go Bragh!!!

Tales of An Ipod

So I'm attached to my ipod. Ever since I talked my co-worker friend into buying the video ipod (which she completely loves!) I have been bringing my beloved 3rd generation ipod (named Spanky) to work with me. We can have radios at work so we decided ipods are okay. anyways, usually i have this old ashtray that I found one day while cleaning out an old filing cabinet that I use as the home for my ipod, but today, i had a little cardigan on so I had it in my pocket when i was walking into work and an older lady saw the little white cord and asked me if i was using an insulin pump! I about died! I was like no, it's my ipod and she was like oh....yeah. um, i know what insulin pumps look like and the cords are totally different. I don't know it happened at like 7:30 am so I don't think either one of us were awake.

I totally aced my governmental accounting test tonight so that was awesome. It sounds like I will be flying to corporate headquarters next month to train some people so that will be cool because i will get to test out my LL Bean carry-on bag and see if it really fits under the seat.

I am stoked because this thursday there is a new episode of Grey's Anatomy and I have a test that night so I will get out early enough to see it live!! YAY! this is another reason why i can't wait until i can buy a video ipod. I think i will be able to fit it into May's budget since I won't have to make a tuition payment and my summer tuition will be super cheap since there is only one class that is offered this summer that I need. Grr...but i seriously need a break from class.

My sister and I are going to Tulsa this Saturday and I am totally conning her into letting me go to the fancy knitting store. Even though it is in the mid 70s now I still want to pet the wool!

Fun Times

I am still helping my parents out with the moving stuff on the weekends. I did make two more hats. I went shopping in owasso Saturday morning and it was a dud. I was hoping to find some khakis and new work shirts but there isn't really anything at Old Navy right now that says classic on it. I really need to order from like Eddie Bauer or a store like that but I would have to try on stuff first to see what my EB size and I didn't feel like dealing with Sat. traffic in tulsa. next weekend, my sister wants me to go to tulsa with her. She likes driving in Tulsa. More power to her. You don't have to ask me twice to go to Barnes and Noble with you.

Work is a ball of frustration. Job transitions and your controller getting fired aren't pleasant. I love the company I work for and I like the people I work with but things just kind of suck right now.

I have two accounting tests this week. that isn't fun either. Memorizing journal entries is hard. I don't memorize stuff very well unless it's like song lyrics or brands of yarn.

I did order a really handy carry-on bag from L.L.Bean this weekend as a present to myself. I needed something more practical since I will be doing a lot of airplane travel between my parent's move and the internship. Plus, the strap on my Adidas bag is going to crap and I've had it for almost three years, so I'm tired of it. The LL Bean bag has a padded strap and a little zipper pocket on top that i can stick my snacks and ticket in so i don't have to dig through my bag while sitting in the tiny airplane seat.

I am looking forward to my order from Patternworks arriving. I ordered the mitten loom, a new Addi hook size F, a knitting book as part of my mom's b-day present and a skein of KOIGU!!!!! How cool is that! Ever since I saw the episode of Shay Pendray's NeedleArts studio where she visits the Koigu shop and I saw how they hand dye the hanks of yarn, I fell in love with the coolness of it all. Now I understand why knitters go ape shit for it.

I know it sounds like I went on a shopping-palooza, but I did spend less then average for this paycheck. AND I PUT MORE MONEY IN SAVINGS!!! Reading Suze Orman's new book and seeing the special she made for it on PBS this week really helped me out a lot. Gold star for me.

We are supposed to get our Secret Pal 10 matches sometime this week. I am stoked because I had a really good experience with Secret Pal 9.

Hmm...Maybe the light at the end of the tunnel is coming back out. I just have to be patient. I suck at that. I am a total instant gratification girl.

Shout out to Sunshine. I am going to teleport you to my house so you can see all my little home improvement projects. I did gardening this weekend...Eewww dirrtyyy....And you can see my special neighbors that have a couch in their front yard that they sit on in lieu of lawn furniture. Lol...My neighborhood is nice and safe, it just has some weirdos.

Today's Special

just when life was stuck in a rut, Pearl Jam comes out with a new single that is on the soundtrack to Reign Over Me, the new Adam Sandler movie. Pearl Jam and I go way back to the teenage angst years. Eddie can emote.

They have also released old school Strawberry shortcake on DVD!!!! YIPPEEEEEE!!!!! the Pieman is still naughty! Um. what's up for this weekend? Studying for tests, helping with the move and some yarn time. I have a new Addi hook in size F on the way---i found a place that has it in stock and so i ordered it with the rest of my mom's b-day present. I also bought her Celtic Woman's dvd. My mom loves all things Irish, especially their music.

I also bought Suze Orman's latest book "Woman and Money". I have been waiting for her to write a book like this and I am really excited about it and will probably stay up all night reading it (or most of the night anyways). powerful women rock! She presents financial terms in a useful way that can easily be applied without having to really have any money.

This is a very random post of sorts. i just can't wait to make more hats. I have made this same design hundreds of times, but I never know what I am going to end up with depending on the yarn type and colors that I use.

A little Bit of Sunshine

Yesterday in the midst of all the chaos that composes my life right now, I had the pleasure of briefly talking to Sunshine. So I just wanted to give a little shout out to Sunshine, talking to you did make my day seem less frustrating. I'm still going to be stressed out and be congested from my allergies going haywire, but somehow that didn't seem to matter much after talking to you for a little bit. That's the best part of having a close friend like you, cause close friends make the messy parts of life seem better, even if they can't really do much, sometimes just knowing that someone is there to listen is enough.


I would also like to give a quick shout out to Becky in Iowa who sent me some really awesome yarn that arrived in the mail today just for leaving a comment on her blog. The yarn is even prettier then it was in the picture.

Boxing Up My Life

So my parents came back from the Carolinas yesterday and so today we went through more crap and moved more stuff out to the garage. My dad brought down the mystery boxes from the attic. We had not see some of this stuff since 1999!!!
The highlights include:

1. My black suede Adidas Superstars still in excellent condition, the leather stripes just need some polish. And I still can wear them!!! That just shows how little my feet have changed. Seriously, I think I have had the same shoe size since 7th grade. Too bad I can say that for my jean size or especially my bra size.
2. My silver Barbie corvette
3. My rainbow brite dolls
4. A box of Danielle Steel hardcovers which had been chewed up by the infamous squirrel that finally died in our garage the while the rest of my family was in Ireland for ten days!
5. A king size feather mattress/comforter from Eddie Bauer Home. It just needs fluffed up other than that it is mint condition. I scored this for Sunshine cause I think that he would like it and my bed is way too small for his.
6. My little purple Smurfs duffel bag
7. My Rose Petals Board Game

Can you tell yet that I was born in 1980? I have gone through two of the boxes that I brought over. Tomorrow when I get up, I am going to go through the rest of the stuff that I piled in the garage and try to consolidate a little. I'm sure my sister will love that. She is experiencing eternal PMS. She is just in a constant bad mood and totally avoiding anyting to do with family. I think I'm just chronically tired.

My mom's 55th birthday is on Tuesday. I told her that we need to start lying about my age cause I'm going to be 27 in september. 30 is a dirty number to me. I just can not believe that I am almost 30. What the hell happened? Everyone at work tells me to shut up cause I'm so young but hell they are all 50 or over in my department practically. When those ladies were my age they were on their 3rd kids and second husbands. Major moves and family changes seem to make me really think about shit like that.

My parents did get the house. This is the first time ever that I wasn't involved in the process. There will be a guest room, but my sister and I won't have rooms there. There is a pool for the families living in their subdivision. Target is less than 1 mile from their new house and my mom says that it's closer than the grocery stores and wal-mart. A part of me is really struggling with this transition because I feel like my family is being ripped away from me. For the last eight years in exile, we stuck together pretty close. It is going to be so strange not spending Saturday mornings sitting in the living room with my mom and the dogs, the two of us working on some craft projects or debating types of yarn or fabrics. I really hate the idea of not having our dogs around. It sounds stupid, but I spent a lot of time with them, and even though they don't talk to you they do provide significant companionship.

I am really happy for them and I know I will have many fun times and adventures going out to visit them. I just wish I wasn't going through school, major job transitions and this whole move all at the same time. It's kind of a lonely time right now.

Oh gag. I just realized this whole post is like watching Oprah or one of those Barbara Walters where she makes the person cry and sometimes cries with them. I really am okay, I am just have a lot of emotions running through me. I think the theme song for today's episode would be "Come Undone" by Duran Duran.

IT'S A GIRL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My cousin A-dolly had baby K this afternoon at 3:05 pm. She is beautiful and healthy and she's wearing the pink camo hat I knitted for her. How awesome is that!!!! I feel really honored. Seriously. You can not slap the grin off my face. My aunt D called like literally five minutes after Baby K was born. when I got back from night class there was pictures waiting for me and I got all misty eyed. Babies are really precious and A-dolly and I grew up together and she really is like my own sister and I'm godmother to her first child. I wish I could just get in the ol Subaru and drive right home to Iowa to be there with them all. That is the shitty part about being down here. Maybe I can talk my mom into going up for weekend before they move to NC. Who knows.

Now I have a shopping excuse. there are girly outfits at Baby Gap waiting for me to purchase them. It's just a huge relief knowing that Baby K is here now and healthy.

SQUEEEEEEEE!!!! Insert cheesy-ass grin here. For today, I am Little Miss Sunshine. I will savor the beautiful moments.

Twenty Hours in Two Days

Since I have worked twenty hours in the last two business days, this will be one of my listy posts.

1. The parents made an offer on a house but we won't know for two days
2. I bought Little Miss Sunshine on dvd when I got out of night class tonight
3. I really hope that a second storm doesn't slam Iowa this week because A-dolly will be having baby number 2 tomorrow. i am anxiously awaiting.
4. I won a skein of yarn from Becky for commenting on her blog. How cool is that?
5. It is hard to sleep at night when you have two yorkies that both want to sleep on your chest and you are sleeping with them on a standard sized couch.
6. I loved all of Ellen's tuxes at the Oscars. yay for al and melissa E. too. Liberals rock!!!!
7. I survived closing the books for the month. barely. hence, twenty hours in two days and there wasn't enough caffeine in the world. A my co-worker and I have been secretly listening to music on our ipods in order to maintain some shred of sanity while making hundreds of journal entries. Thank god for cardigans!!!
8. Praise the Lord for the warm weather in Oklahoma. Please send some to my people in Iowa.
9. i am going to go now and have a glass of Bailey's con leche so that my anxious little brain will slow down. i feel like a two year old with severe ADHD.
10. I did make two hats while watching the Oscars. yay!

Sunshine, if you read this you need to send me a smoke signal that you are still alive!! You are one of my precious few sane friends and I have some interesting things to tell you that can't be said on the internet. And I miss you, like seriously.

All the Pretty Dresses

So I'm dog sitting at my parents house and so I'm watching the pre-shows for the Oscars. Personally, I would rather wear a tailored tux myself, but I like to look at the pretty dresses and the sparklies and the purses.

Who am I watching for?

Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie
Al Gore and An Inconvient Truth
Little Miss Sunshine cast (i love movies about dysfunctional families)
the gyllenhaals--Maggie and Jake
Melissa Etheridge and Tammy Michaels
and Ellen (i'm most excited about her hosting the show)

I took a visitor from the company to Catholic mass today at my mom's church. She's two years younger than me and actually practices and asked if I would go with her. It was special event day and it ended up being over an 1 1/2 hours!!!! The things I do for the company.

Then I went to Wal-mart on a mountain dew run and ended up buying An Inconvient Truth. I loved the book and all the sciency stuff. Al Gore presents it in a way that is accessible to the general public. I watched it this afternoon and I plan on watching it again. It was that good.

Tonight I plan on calculating financial ratios for my class and working on knitting another hat with my loom. it's royal purple. i might actually end up making two hats

By the way Ben and Jerry's latest ice cream Stephen Colbert's an Americone Dream is the best ice cream I have tasted in a long time. It's vanilla with caramel swirls and chocolate covered waffle cone bits. OH YUM!!!! the perfect thing to eat while watching the oscars.

A-dolly is about to have baby #2 any day now and they just had a big ice/snow storm near them in Iowa. My parents looked at a bunch of houses this weekend but i really haven't talked to them --my sister did. i hope they find one while they are out there this week. the moving process really stinks.

Zombie Girl

The last couple of weeks have been a whirlwind. We start closing the books on monday. I took test 3 tonight and had two others last week plus three sets of homework due. Turned in my taxes. My parents fly out very early on friday morning to NC for house hunting. They are having the cabinets refinished this week, new carpet has already been installed as well as the new oven and microwave/hood. My sis and I will be doggie sitting while they are gone for the week. I plan on enjoying the big screen, the oven with a working thermometer and doing my laundry indoors instead of in the garage. I will admit that laundry here is more pleasant since it has been in the 60s for most of the week. the farmer's almanac can take it's bad weather predictions and shove it. nasty winters aren't fun in a place that is totally unprepared for it. I thought I was starting to develop SAD because i have adapted to the glaring sun down here.

I did make 4 hats last weekend. i don't even remember now if I posted about that or not. LOL. Hence, the Zombie Girl. I even forgot that today was Ash Wednesday. Don't tell my devout mother that. I still believe in the Faith but I refuse to regularly attend until the Pope accepts my people and our ways.

I have a pint of choco haagan daz in my freezer and I have been rationing it because this week at work has super sucked. March will be a better month. I did catch Boston Legal on tuesday night. YAY! James Spader is on my list.

I am super tired so I am going to go to bed now and fantasize about all the yarn and supplies I could buy if i didn't have to pay rent and taxes.

Holy Cow

So I came back from my disasterous test tonight with enough time to see Grey's Anatomy. MEREDITH MUST SURVIVE. She is my dark and twisty sister. I don't think the show works without her. and besides, hasn't Derek suffered enough on this show?

I took the afternoon off work and went to the doctor and paid a twenty dollar co-pay to find out that i'm congested and have allergies. NO KIDDING????? The sinus drainage is the culprit for my sore raw throat but I don't have an expensive ear infection so that is good. I thought that i would go to wal-mart and buy some claritin -d 24 hour because when my allergies are bad the 24 hour part helps. well stupid walmart wouldn't sell any to me because the idiot girl was working back in pharmacy and she couldn't type in my DL correctly. So I was pissed off so i went to albertson's. My DL was fine there. I know this because the last time I bought any claritin d was in freaking december. It's just reason 2500 why wal-mart sucks balls.

I started another hat while watching grey's anatomy. I am burnt out and congested so therefore I must create. I am also freezing. I must cover myself in yarn until the sunny weather comes back. warm weather and mild winters are one of the few perks of living here. if i am going to freeze my ass off i might as well go back to Iowa.

I watched the Ellen show today. Billy Blanks JR was doing cardioke which is some exercise i think i could do. it's singing and dancing in an aerobic way that isn't scary like jazzercise. I really liked Ellen's shoes today. Serious I want to tour her shoe closet and see how many different pairs of Converses that she has.

V-Day Yuck

V-Day this year was uneventful. I am working on getting an ear infection. Works sucks monkey balls. My love song for the day the MTV Unplugged version of Korn's Freak on a Leash sung acoustically with Amy Lee. I love itunes. I have discovered so many cool songs and neat versions of songs I love by just searching through their site and their playlists, etc.

i love the idea of V-day because I am a hopeless romantic at heart. But when you are single and all the old biddies at work are getting flowers and candy and leaving early to get ready for their special dinner it kind of sucks a little. I couldn't even hang out with friends because I have Entrepreneurship class on Wednesday nights. At least I have Korn.

Is it the weekend yet? I have two tests this week and work was especially brutal and I just am tired. Just really tired of all the crap. Plus we are having an abnormally cold winter for Oklahoma. It would be nice to have a few days of 40 degree weather and some sun. I am tired of freezing my butt to the seat when I leave for work in the morning and when I get out of night class. Maybe I need to sit under one of those grow bulbs like people with SAD do. Either that or I need about twenty skeins of some bulky weight wool to hide under.

Maybe I should have labeled this post V is for Venting. I am planning on crocheting a lot and working on stupid homework and eating lots of macaroni and cheese and hanging out with my little dogs.

Me Me Me Me

Well I had an exciting weekend away from the craziness.

1. I finally got the oil change
2.I found hot pink John Deere fabric!!! I about squeed in the fabric aisle. 1 yard each of 4 different kinds
3. i ate some really nasty Taco Bell
4. Bought a spanking new microwave at Target
5. Watched Sleepless in Seattle
6. Was able to see the Grey's Anatomy cliffhanger and catch up on Ugly Betty (my guilty pleasure).
7. I completed 4 hats and an afghan square...YAY FOR ME!!! Sunshine picked out this really cute yarn and I made two of the hats from it.
8. Sunshine and i successfully made spaghetti and garlic toast. No pans were tossed in the yarn.
9. I am in love with the heated seats and the remote start and the 9 speakers that are in sunshine's new Grand Prix. It's just sooo cool.

Anyways, i spent the weekend with Sunshine and it was very relaxing. This is good because today is a Maniac Monday. I really wish that I had some Starbucks and a nice barista to add extra chocolate to my hot cocoa. Unfortunately I live like 40 mins away from one.

Crap!! I almost forgot that I drank some awesome booze this weekend. Bailey's Irish Cream Mint Chocolate is my new favorite liquor and we had some Jacob's Creek Merlot circa 2005 that didn't make me completely gag. I am not really a wine drinker. I like my booze from Kentucky or Ireland or Russia.

Have a great Weekend Sunshine! Thanks again for everything, I had a really great time. I am planning The Big Trip. My Budget Travel magazine came in the mail today so that was cool.

Secret Pal 10 Questionnarire

1. What is/are your favorite yarn/s to knit with? What fibers do you absolutely *not* like?
I like SWTC Karoke, Noro Silk Garden, Cascade 220, Brown Sheep. I don't really have a fiber that I don't like but I did receive 19 skeins of Caron Simply Soft and Red Heart, so I really don't need any more than that. I also love Rowan Summer Tweed

2. What do you use to store your needles/hooks in?
I am a hooker. I'm learning how to hand knit--I learned to machine knit and spool knit first. I have little pencil cases, cups and a hook roll that I attempt to store it all in.

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?
Yes, I do and I have recently updated it.


I also have a catalog of all my craft books at LibraryThing.com -- My user name is Shoegirl

5. What's your favorite scent?
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?
Orbit gum, starburts, tropical skittles

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, Incubus, The Bangles, 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, and my sister and I share a rental house together

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 am between projects so I have been making hats and afghan squares

14. Do you like to receive handmade gifts?
Of course!!!! I love it!!!

15. Do you prefer straight or circular needles? Bamboo, aluminum, plastic?
For knitting, I prefer Addi turbos, and my favorite crochet hooks are Addi hooks which I recently discovered. I only have two Addi hooks and i love them so much that I want to get some more eventually.

16. Do you own a yarn winder and/or swift?
No..sniff sniff..

17. How old is your oldest UFO?
Usually i frog them or i just collect the yarn, so they don't even get started.

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?
I would like an issue of Rebecca in German. I don't have any subscriptions, but if i were to subscribe it would be to either Vogue Knitting or Crochet Today

21. Are there any new techniques you'd like to learn?
I would like to become better at hand knitting

22. Are you a sock knitter? What are your foot measurements?
No, but I would totally wear hand knit socks if I knew someone who would knit them for me. My feet are US 8, regular width.

23. When is your birthday?

My half-birthday is March 25th and My REAL birthday is Sept. 25th.

My Own Little Library

So I found out about this awesome website called LibraryThing.com where you can set up an account and catalog up to 200 of your books for free or you can have a paid account where you have unlimited books listed. I was able to catalog all of my crafty books tonight. I have 42 crafty books. These are actual books, this count excludes leaflets and magazines. I plan on eventually adding all my other books too as I have the time because I think that this is the coolest thing ever. I started with my crafty books so I can share this list with my secret pals and buddies, etc. You can add your own tags too, like you could label them sucks or great, basically whatever you want to. I labled my crafty books by catagory: crochet, knitting, quilting and cross stitch.
My user name is Shoegirl if anyone wants to peek at my list.

Anyhoo, I just had to share this. Life is crazy as usual.

Super Bowl Knit-a-thon!

Well, I crocheted squares for Warm Up America, but my Mom did actually knit on her garter stitch scarf which is now 44 inches long. She can garter stitch perfect rows like people can breathe. I hope some day I can channel some of her ways. I finished two and 1/2 squares (7 by 9), so i consider that to be an accomplishment. Da Bears lost, but Peyton one the big one finally so it evens out. If my man Brett Favre isn't playing, i don't really care who is. The best part was the halftime show. Prince rocked my face off!!!!! All of sudden, I was a little girl back in the 80s with pigtails belting out Purple Rain to my Barbie dolls lined in a row. See, back in the day before I knew I was tone deaf, i used to rock out big time, cause i grew up during the days of 80s punk, pop and arena rock. those were the days baby. Prince was even better tonight, he did James Brown, Jimi Hendrix, the Foo Fighters before closing out with his ultimate make out song Purple Rain. There was even a marching band with glow in the dark trim on their uniforms! Sunshine, I think your marching band needs some of that! That was flippin sweet! Lol, can you tell I was even watching a football game.

Yuck, I am not really looking forward to going back to work. Our department needs to sit in a circle and hold hands for awhile. Things would be a lot better if I could listen to Prince on my ipod. Which I could, but then I would want to rock out and that is a little embarassing to do in a cubicle farm with a bunch of old ladies that listen to classic country and some nerdy dudes that only listen to really bad jazz. I really like jazz but they listen to the worst jazz music ever. It is so bad that I don't even think they wouldn't even play it on NPR at 3 am.

Little House in the Snow Bowl

So I was originally going to call this post "little house in the dust bowl" since that describes my current dwellings, but then we started getting snow/sleet crap again, so i thought that snow bowl was better. My night class wasn't cancelled tonight but my instructor was very nice and let us out early after our test so that we could go home before it got really cold and froze everything to pieces. I don't mind driving in inclement weather but i despise idiots who zoom past people when they are going 60 miles an hour on snow packed roads and black ice! Seriously people. It took me almost two hours to make it home tonight ( i work just over the KS border) because of the road conditions and bad accidents that caused traffic to be diverted and backed up for miles.

I was able to go to QT on my way home and stock up on skittles and chips and mountain dew. that is true sustance in bad weather. did i mention daddy left for charlotte today? I have to be the man of the house now, so because they haven't called off school (Yet--which is unlikely because of all the days we have already missed) I will be taking my baby sister into work because she has a little Honda Civic that I really don't want her sliding around in. So I will put on my Spidey suit and drive her into school in my almightly Subaru. Plus, she is my little baby sister and it is my job as the older sister to protect her. My mom is still in town but I don't want her to have to drive all the way across town so early in the morning. I have to protect her too. So, my mom will pick my sister up from school so that I can have a few more hours hopefully at work. Seriously, I hope this shit melts off. I forgot to mention that since my dad left today, my co-workers give me Little Orphan Annie looks in the hallway. Am I that helpless?

Sunshine, you would have laughed so hard this afternoon. At three thirty I said screw this and left to go home and when I was knocking the snow off my windshield, I popped off one of my windshield wipers and it went airborne. I'm not sure how, but I was able to snap it back on and thank god the stupid thing stayed on for the rest of my driving time today. Congratulations on your new car. It sounds totally kick ass. You definitely deserve to have a pimp-worthy automobile. I"m working on a special mixed cd to celebrate the occasion.

Spidey Girl!

Your results:
You are Spider-Man

Spider-Man 95% Green Lantern 85% Wonder Woman 80% Iron Man 80% Superman 70% Supergirl 70% Robin 60% Hulk 50% Catwoman 50% Batman 50% The Flash 45%

You are intelligent, witty, a bit geeky and have great power and responsibility.

Click here to take the Superhero Personality Test

Come Together

Box by Box, it's starting to look a lot better. We can see the office floor and my bedroom floor (of course). I can even compute at my desk now. I think my favorite spot is in front of the window in the bookcase because there is a spot between the bookshelves where you could actually make a cushion and sit there, but for now it's my favorite spot to sit in front of with mackie my mac. I know. Totally unoriginal name.

So far i have survived Day one of closing week. This is a good sign because all my deadlines are on monday. Goal number two: survive night class. LOL.

I have been purusing allposters.com for art prints to hang up in my bedroom and possibly my living room. I know I want some andy warhol prints in my bedroom. I also want some buildings, sort of like my print that shows the stages of building the Eiffel Tower. As for anything else, I'm not sure, but we have a whole ton of cream colored walls to cover up.

It's kinda of weird not hanging out with my mom and the dogs as much. I have a feeling I am going to wrack a load of frequent flier miles. I am already marking things in my guidebooks.

I am reading a really awesome book by Rob Sheffield, Rolling Stone writer. called Love is a Mix Tape. It is such an awesome book. I first read about it on the Pop Candy blog and liked it so much i ordered it right away from Amazon.com. Some of the playlists are pretty good, so I might download the songs. There was also some good Gilmore Girls characters playlists on cwtv.com. I just wish that they would put GG episodes on the web. I would even download from Itunes if I had to.

I am still a chick without a crochet project. I have this obscenely large pink/purple multi-colored skein from Wal-Mart that i could probably make an entire baby afghan from and I'm not sure what to do with it. I'm still kind of tired/recooperating from last week's hell week of moving/work/class/catchup, so when I'm extremely tired, I tend to read more then I crochet or knit.

Finally

We are finally moved into the new house. We are 75% unpacked. I really have no idea where all my stuff is, I just know that it is here somewhere. While I in Owasso with A my co-worker and MP my other co-worker, my dad locked both sets of keys in the house and i had the other set. I ended up coming home and not going to the community college basketball game in Coffeyville because I was just too tired to go back. I had been up since 6:30 am so that I could take some stuff over to the house before I met my co-workers in Coffeyville. My dad is voicing his opinion every five seconds so that is getting old very fast. Did I mention that I absolutely hate moving and that is why I try not to very much? Buying all that little house crap and cleaning supplies gets expensive too. It cuts into my yarn budget. LOL...

Other than the fact that I am tired and feel like a zombie things are going well, just at warp speed. It doesn't help when you work out of town and have three night classes in town.I feel like I have been moving at warp speed all week. This is the first time in weeks that I don't have a crochet project on the hook.Our internet here is super fast too. My sister and I hate slow internet so that was more imporant to us then having 6 million tv channels. We have encrypted too so people can't mooch off us.

Sunshine, you will not believe how bare our walls are. It is an ecru palace. We will have to look for wall art when I come visit and some curtains. We have COLORED MINI-BLINDS...Yikes...I haven't seen any scary neighbors yet but I think it's in the upper 20s so I might not see them for awhile.

Our House

My sister and I ended up acquiring a washer, dryer, and a fridge today at sears. It was scary spending that much money. appliances tend to last longer than boyfriends, you see. they will be delivered on friday and dad is supposed to make arrangements for the cable company to come out that day too. mom is going to stay at the house that day and wait for the people because they never come at the precise time they say they will and this is the worst week in the world for me to take time off. january always seems to be a wicked month for me. sometimes i wish all that i did was crochet and go to class, but i know i would be tired of that after the first week. i forgot to mention that gas has dropped down to 1.87 in town. that is really nice because it means i can fill up my tank for twenty bucks instead of $30 +. while i was going though my stuff and trying to pack this weekend, i found some really gems. i found my aerosmith scrapbook circa 1994. i was 14 and thought Steven Tyler was the sexiest man alive. I also thought I was bad ass. Those were the days. I also found a stack of journals from college. i might re-read some of them tonight just to see how cheesy i was.

Red scarf #2 is almost finished. i should be able to finish it monday night if i'm not stuck at work late waiting on stupid people. I would like to say that I really do love my addi hook. When this moving stuff calms down I am going to order some more.

The funny thing was that we ran into the controller at sears. he was buying a washer and dryer for his son! LOL...He's my boss' boss. What a hoot. I'm not sure that he knows about my dad's transfer yet but i bet he will monday morning during the exec staff meeting. Although, he is the type that wouldn't let on about it if he did. He is the silent observer.

So Desperate Housewives was awesome tonight. Bree totally rocked! I don't really like this whole Orson storyline but spunky Bree was shining in full glory. Brothers and Sisters was really awesome too. i would go shoe shopping any day with the senator. I am really looking forward to the return of Gilmore Girls. Grey's and Betty will be good this week too. I heart ABC.

i don't want to go to bed but i should because this week is going to totally kick my ass. one day at a time. one day at a time.

All the things that i have done

There are so many events today and so it might just be easier to make a list.

1. Since we get the house on Wednesday, my sister and i packed up a shitload of stuff. i am hoping that we are all situated by v-day but we will see.
2. THANKFULLY, we did not get the big nasty snow storm. it was too warm. we did get a little sleet that didn't really do anything.
3. Read the 4th Sisterhood of the traveling pants book. sooo good.
4.Made two funfetti cakes and one yellow cake in my easy bake oven and all three turned out really good.
5. finished winding the yarn for red scarf two.
6. mailed off a ton of stuff at the post office
7. watched a documentary segment on the discovery channel about the manufacturing of sanitary napkins. which was actually really interesting.
8. i don't like driving on slush, i prefer hard surfaces, so i really didn't go anywhere. plus we have house stuff to set up, so it was a good thing.
9. today is Baby L's first birthday. time flies by so fast.
10. i was naughty and bought three magazines at hastings friday night in preparation for the storm that didn't happen. lol.

things i need to do:
1. pack pack pack pack
2. make a list of house stuff that we will need to eventually procure
3. burn mixed cd
4. become friends with accounting textbooks. yuck
5. finish red scarf 2 so that i can start something new
6. watch how to eat fried worms.

Sunshine, i hope things are going better. i hope that you don't have any more yucky storms so that you don't have to worry about power outtages and falling trees. hopefully the weather will behave for the next month and we can see each other, cause I miss you!! i need you to help me pick out house stuff.

WE HAVE A HOUSE!!!!

In a total case of pure serendipity, my little sis found us a house to rent with a big back yard, a fence a one car garage, a black and white kitchen, bUILT iN BOOKCASES, a bathroom and some other stuff that is exciting for only $525!!! YAY!!! It's a brick house from the 50s but the owners maintain it and are really nice. We sign papers next Wednesday. Hopefully we won't get snow tomorrow so the ice crap can continue to melt off. it's on a cul-de-sac in a decent area. no psycho neighbors. my mom approves, so by god this place must be pretty special, because she is one of the pickiest people on earth.

Today was a long day at work. i did get a lot of things done, so that was nice. it is behind me now. i should be really pissed off but i've decided not to let it get to me because there are worse things in life.

i stocked up on pop. i have yarn, a spankin new easy bake oven and pop! i am disaster-prepared! tonight i shall dream of hello kitty curtains--my new bedroom is going to be phat! there will be pink and hello kitty and whatever the hell else i want in there. my red kitchen aid utensils are going to look beautiful in the kitchen. the third office/bedroom is covered with built in bookcases. totally drooling. i think this is going to be nice. the bathroom is in good condition. the carpet is newer--like a light beige/taupe and there are wood floors, so no disco shag.

anyways, i'm tired. but i will have more stuff to yak about this week. red scarf three is finished so i am winding the final skein so that i can finish red scarf number 2.

All Work and No School

I have made it into work every day this week which is nice because i need to continue to make money with the upcoming move and all. So far my tuesday and wednesday night classes have been cancelled. Most of my classmates and teachers don't necessarily live near by and a lot of them live in towns with no power due to our ice storm. I can't top the adventures that Sunshine has had during this storm. I will say this, I am busting out after work tomorrow. I need mountain dew and some other things.

Thursday, if the conditions improve, my sister is has appointments to look at a couple of rental houses for us in town. I gave her a list of things "for her consideration" since I can't be there in person to voice my opinion. My dad's promotion/transfer hasn't been announced at work yet, which is nice because i don't have people hounding me and asking me dumb questions all day. Did I mention that it was 71 degrees in Charlotte, NC when my dad talked to his new bosses down there? I don't mind cold weather but I get cranky when I can't shop.

My skein of Cascade 220 persimmion arrived in the mail today so I will be able to Red Scarf #2 this weekend. I am starting to become concerned that I will not have enough to finish Red Scarf #3. This is why I shouldn't be conservative in my yarn expenditures. I am still debating on what I will crochet for Little S' wedding present. I can't decide if I'm disciplined enough to make an afghan, and if I finished it, I would not want to give away my first one. So I am still looking at patterns.

Boston Legal was awesome tonight too. James Spader cracks me up still. Denny Crane.

Boxes Boxes Everywhere

You know when you get to the point in a major purge/house cleaning where the donation and trash bag piles are so big you don't have room to really sort any more? Well, we are nearing that point rapidly. Due to the lovely ice storm I couldn't go to the post office or Goodwill to send off some of this stuff. I just got my car back from the damage that crazy lady did, I really don't want another insurance claim. My sister and i don't really have that much stuff, just too much for our tiny rooms. A lot of it is dishes and household stuff from dorm life in college that we wanted to keep for this very time. We are getting a set of dishes and matching mixing bowls from my mom. We honestly really wanted her set with the avocado daisy-like flowers on it. They are retro cool. Most of my trinkets and picture frames are boxed up now. I kept some stuff on the walls because I HATE NAKED WALLS....My sister and i also went through my sock drawer and matched up all of my socks. I didn't have any orphan socks either!

I am sneezing like crazy too. I had to dust stuff as I was packing it up. We ran out of bubble wrap so all those t-shirts I saved for sentimental purposes are great for wrapping up picture frames and other breakables.

I have started Red Scarf #3 but progress is slow because I have been cleaning like a mad woman. Thank god we taped Ugly Betty and Grey's Anatomy. I need something to entertain me while I am sorting.

Packed Ice

Well, my area got close to two inches of ice pellets. I went out to the mailbox and the grass was frozen so hard you could walk on top of it. Any concrete is solid snow packed ice. It all stopped some time last night but until we make it above 30 degrees it will be a hockey rink outisde.

This weather makes it perfect for packing. Gee Shoegirl, why do you have to pack? Well, my dad accepted a promotion/transfer to Charlotte, North Carolina. He starts February 1st and will be flying back and forth the next couple of months. My parents have to hear back from the relocation specialist first, but it looks like april and may will be house selling time. My sis and I have jobs here and i'm so close to finishing school that we are going to get a cute little rental house here. My sister's friend S is going to be our realtor because she has mega knowledge of the decent rental houses in town. S's husband is an assistant manager at a local liquor store in town so he is going to set aside boxes from their shipment on Tuesday for us. Liqour boxes are small and sturdy and are awesome for moving your shit with out breaking your back. Our goal is to be moved out by March so that we can be settled in and it will make it easier to show the house and clean carpets and stuff. It was our idea, our parents aren't kicking us out or anything like that.

My mom, my sister and I went through all the movies and split them apart. Holy cow! I could operate my own video store. We have at least two plastic tubs full to donate to the library sales and three huge bags of books too. We don't believe in garage sales, we think that they are tortuous to put on. At some point I need to empty out my dresser so that mom and i can glue the drawers back together, some of them have really loose joints (it was my mom's first dresser when she moved out of her parent's house in the 70s).

Let's just say I could use a week long stay at a knitting spa. I have my Annie smile on though. Change is good.

Random Thoughts Tuesday

I forgot to mention that in the blur of it all, the "Gulf of Mexico" scarf was finished. It's made out of two of the other skeins of SWTC Karaoke that my little sis bought me for Christmas. I love soy/silk/wool blends. They are awesome. I went to my first class tonight of the semester. believe, there is nothing exciting about NFP/GOVT accounting. Yuck. But the professor is one of my favorites so I know he will do his best to make it entertaining. I stayed up very late last night to read Without You by Anthony Rapp. It was so good. He starred in a lot of my favorite movies growing up and hello, he played Mark in RENT. That's like cool points times infinity. anyways, his autobiography was awesome and parts of it moved me to tears. It has been awhile since I have read a decent autobiography. I will definitely be re-reading it over and over. I also starting reading the Al Gore book, An Inconvient Truth. Also very good from a environmental science-y standpoint. Al Gore makes environmental issues accessible and breaks them down in a way that the average person can understand. I have not started any new crochet projects yet because I am waiting for pay day so I can order yarn to finish red scarf #2 and I am trying to figure out what to make for the celebration discussed below.

I also received a save the date card from Little S. She is marrying J on May 26th. I am excited about this wedding because I think the two of them are good together and have an equal relationship. Since she is the one who taught me how to crochet, and founded "crochet sweatshop (this is meant in a positive light)" I think it would be fitting if I crocheted an afghan for them. M thinks that is crazy. If she devoted 1/4 of the time she spent on lousy sex to things like career, crochet or friends I think she would be a much happier person. I think this is possible because I have realized that if you just do a few rows everyday while watching tv, or while you are waiting on carpool, you can make a lot of progress. That's how I've been able to make so many hats and scarves recently. So I thought, hell if I can do that surely I could finish a nice afghan by May 26th. Anyways, i had no intentions of talking to M tonight, but she calls me after class and is all like how come you haven't called me. I was just like you have a phone too. Why should I have to use all my minutes on someone who doesn't even act interested half the time in conversation because she is either getting ready for one of her hook ups or watching tv while on the phone. If you don't really want to have a conversation, then don't call me.

Anyways, I didn't talk too long cause she was just making me annoyed and I was not about to miss one second of the new boston legal tonight. so I gave her a taste of her own medicine and told her that i had to go because boston legal was going to be on in five minutes. Seriously, people that show is one of the current highlights of my week. Plus, William Shatner was playing a trombone shaped kazoo! It had a moveable slide! How freaking cool is that!!!????

By the way, I am an awful musical afficiando. I forgot to wish Elvis a Happy Birthday yesterday. Happy Belated Birthday Elvis! You still rock!

Anyways, those are my rants and raves for the day. I am going to take some allegra-d so that i can peacefully sleep and be able to breathe out of my congested nose in the morning. I am also going to read some more since i have purchased several books over the holidays and reading more frequently is on my "Be the Change" list of resolutions.

Warm Fuzzies

Just after Christmas I had sent off two boxes of yarn, hooks, needles and knitting magazines and leaflets. I sent off my doubles, the ones I knew I wasn't going to make anything out of to this really awesome organization called Warm the World in Colorado. They have some really cool outreach programs and other organizations that they help and just reading about their accomplishments gave me a good feeling. So I stuffed two flat rate boxes full of goodies and I encluded some fairly recent knitting magazines because I know they aren't cheap and most people probably don't think to donate things like that or won't part with them. They were happy to receive them too. I see it as part of my "Be the Change" resolution for this year. Knitting and crochet make me extremely happy so if i can turn that into good works for others, that makes it even better.

Today at work was kind of yucky. The stress level around me is awful. I bet if someone took the blood pressure of everyone in the department we would all probably flunk except for the payroll clerk and myself, because we are young and fun and sometimes we just shut the door and laugh until we are about to cry.

On the upside when I finally came home from work, there was the nice e-mail from Warm the World. I was very relieved that my boxes made it to them and weren't buried in a snow pile. I received a Christmas present from my aunt E. She sent me a diamond heart necklace, a really awesome three strand heart necklace from AMERICAN EAGLE and a $50 giftcard to Wal-Mart. I can afford a tiny bit of caffeine now!!!! Yay. The books I ordered from BN came as well. I must say the pictures and stories in the Al Gore book are just breaktaking (this also follows my theme too) and I will probably stay up very late reading parts of his book and the autobiography of Anthony Rapp (one of the stars of RENT!!!). A-dolly's Easy Bake Oven Gourmet Cookbook also arrived and their is a bourbon chocolate birthday cake recipe in it. Oops! Lol...When I agreed to be her fairy godmother, I never promised to teach her about morals.

Night night...

Food

So I got up early this morning and met J in Owasso for a little Starbucks and Tar-jay. Tar-jay had one Kitchen Aid spatula left, which was good because they didn't have any at Linens n' things but i did get a new cookie sheet. My sister got pampered chef ones at a teacher party but they are stone and there's all these rules about cleaning them. I had a 20 % coupon so I got your basic wilton cookie sheet. I got the cutest wash cloth at Tar-jay that is pink and has rows of different colored hearts. It's adorable!!! I also found a copy of Gregory Maguire's Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister on clearance for THREE DOLLARS!!! I about died! It is one of my favorites and usually it is $12-15 in paperback. I think it was returned because there was some mark on it but it wasn't missing pages so I was like hell yeah! Very good deals. Then I went home and I ended up going to Garfield's to have lunch with S. He always complains because we never hang out but he says that he wants to and usually flakes out on me. Lol. Why do all of my flaky friends live in town and my good ones all live out of state?

I can't believe that I actually start classes again on Tuesday. Wow. I told my sister she has to give me back my calculator for class. She has one, it's just buried somewhere in her room.

I got a phone call from Aunt D this afternoon. A-dolly received the little Easy Bake Oven cookbook that I had put together for her. Apparently she made Aunt D read all the recipes to her out loud last night and she carries it with her eveywhere. She has already tried out two of the recipes. I couldn't believe how many recipes were out there on the internet, and they use common incredients and small amounts, Much more afforable then the $5-6 mixes that they sell in the store. I might suck at cooking but I am good with computers and I can make pretty things. It's my way of being in her life since we live in two different states. Hopefully I will get to visit them in March maybe over Spring Break. I miss A-dolly. She is just little Miss Sunshine. DISCLAIMER: All this gushing still does not make me want to have my own. I am happy just to be fairy godmother to A-dolly and L.

At Last!!!!

I GOT MY CAR BACK!!!!!! HAPPY DANCE HAPPY DANCE HAPPY DANCE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Can you tell I'm excited? We got the call at work today so we left a little early. It is shiny and better than new. They put this shiny stuff called wax on it and my Subaru freaking sparkles now. I don't think my car has seen wax since 2003. The body shop did a fantastic job....Two thumbs way up to them.

I paid the big nasty tuition bill today. I survived the baby shower. It was basically a foodfest and watch her open up presents so that was good.

Seriously guys you can't smack the grin off my face. I didn't realize how emotionally attached I was to her until she had to go to the shop. Huge relief. I don't have to borrow cars or beg for rides. Reunited just in time for school to start next week too. YAY!!

Last night's Ugly Betty was pretty good. I can totally relate to Betty on many levels. A new purse always makes me feel beautiful. I also received the new Lion Brand Yarn Catalog in the mail today. I was seriously impressed. They have some really cool crochet afghan patterns that I could actually make (and want to).

YAY!!!!

Edit: I just finished the Rainbow scarf. How awesome is that! I think I am going to make another one with the other two skeins of SWTC Karaoke that my sister gave me for xmas with the other addi hook that i bought that has gold glitter inside of it. Can we say sparkle hook? I am very proud of myself for crocheting from my stash and i didn't even have to join a group to motivate me.

Make that a Double Expresso, please.

This was a two doubleshot Expresso day. We had to start the process of closing the December books the day we came back from over a week of Christmas vacation. My stuff was going fine but because two of my co-workers were up shit creek and couldn't row themselves out, I had to bail them out at my boss' request on top of my jam-packed day. See all my deadines are on the first day of closing the books and then i am done except for doing my reports. What really hacked me off is that these two co-workers snuck off for a 1 1/2 hour lunch in the midst of it all. It's okay to take a long lunch every once in awhile, but don't do it during closing week when you can't meet your deadlines. Lazy bitches piss me off! I made sure to inform my boss that I met all my deadlines today. I am also very glad that there are only two more days left in the week. .

Okay, so I am calming down. I am done venting. I am listening to Three Little Birds by Bob Marley, and if that song doesn't give you some calm vibes than I don't know what does. My snoopy checks arrived in the mail today just in time to pay tuition on Friday. Lol...the irony of that.

I started a skinny Rainbow scarf last night. My sister bought me 4 skeins of Karaoke by SWTC in two different colorways. This yarn is 50% soy silk and 50 % wool and it feels heavenly. The two skeins that I am using for this scarf are color #298 which translates to dark rainbow colors, there is some deep navy blue and indigo purple that makes it look more manly than some of the other Rainbow scarves I have crocheted. I am using my new favorite Addi hook for this one too.

Sunshine, I totally feel your car pain. Cars suck right now. I'm so glad that you received your surprise (perfect timing too!). Spoiling you is fun and it makes me happy. Plus, we needed the turner so we could have more cooking adventures.

Boring Day

Well work on Red Scarf #2 has come to a standstill. Lol. I underestimated how much yarn and I would need and the additional skein hasn't arrived yet. So, I was going to make something with my hank of Lisa Souza yarn. I don't have a ball winder or a handy yarn swift, and in my true nature, I was on the home stretch of winding it into a ball and turned it into a bit of a mess at the end. It is possible to fix, however, I have decided to wait to finish fixing it. My sister went back to work and my dad disappeared for the day ( i assure you this is completely normal so my mom and I were stuck at the house all day. I made a lot of progress working on #2 while watching former President Ford's funeral.

I am sort of happy I am going back to work tomorrow but I am not excited about closing December's books when I get there. It is probably the most stressful closing week out of the year and I am sure I will have a bunch of e-mails with stupid people questions when i return. However, I would like to make some money, so I will gladly show up. Because today was a government day of morning, I also couldn't go in and make my tuition payment either so I will have to go in late to work on Friday and pay it.

I don't know, this was just a boring day. I did watch some episodes of Boston Legal today. My sister brought home her labelmaker tonight so I was able to label my notebooks for my classes this semester in the hopes of bringing the right one to class. Lol. Each class is on a different night, T, W, and R, so it will be another semester of taping shows.

Flat on My Face

So it is Day one of 2007. I overslept until 9am and almost missed the Rose Bowl Parade pre-parade show. Then my mom fell asleep and overcooked the roast beef (which I didn't know she was even making cause i was asleep too). So she sent my sister and I out to the grocery store to get some beef gravy to compensate for the dryness. Well, we didn't make it out of the garage without catastrophe. It was all my fault. I am a complete moron. In my defense, I virtually only drive my beloved Subaru Forrester. Apparently, when I drove my sister's honda civic to pick up the pizza last night, i forgot to turn off the lights. The forrester's lights automatically turn off when you turn the car off because it has daytime running lights. IF i regularly drove the civic I would remember to turn the lights off. Anyways, we had to tell my dad because we had no idea how to jump a car, or whether the jumper cables would be in the garage. Alpha male (dad) + alpha female (me) = bad because he just would not shut up about the fact that I ACCIDENTLY left the lights on. He's done way more dumb things to our vehicles. Anyways, we jumped the civic, it's recharged and i will always know how to jump a battery for as long as i shall live. I MISS MY CAR!!!!!!!

The Rose Bowl Parade was awesome. There was sunny weather, storm troopers, Oklahoma Centennial floats, Kristen Chenoweth, Imperial Fighters and freaking 6 foot tall roses. On the Oklahoma Rising float, a real-live Rocket Man flew out of the birthday cake on the float. He was airborne for like 30 seconds and it was freaking awesome!!!! Of course there was some damn good marching bands, cause that's why I really watch the parade. My mom and I even watched the Rose Bowl game this evening. USC beat Michigan (i'm an iowa fan so i refuse to root for Michigan because they are a big rival, but i don't like USC at all either). We just watched the 2nd half which is when most of the action happened anyways. I was working on Red Scarf #2 while watching, cause we all know that I can't sit still. It is 16 inches long and the average adult scarf is 60 inches. I'm getting there. It would go faster but I am a bit of a perfectionist, i have to count the stitches in each row twice after I finish a row so that i know for sure that each row has an even 23 stitches. It's my ocd/accounting side. I am loving how easy it is to crochet with Cascade 220. It lends itself very well to the hook.The shade of red I am using is the color of Mister Rogers' cardigan. Lol. Don't you love my technical terms?

I was semi-naughty and ordered two Easy Bake Oven cookbooks for A-dolly online this morning. See, my A-dolly loves her new Easy Bake Oven, and cooking is a very useful educational tool for children because you can teach math, science and social skills in the process. Since I am her official fairy godmother, I am responsible for her education, especially her arts education and she is the heir to my throne after all. So I found two of them online and ordered them for her. I also found some free recipes by doing a google search (i loooove google) and put them into a little booklet for her. It's sad, A-dolly has more cooking skills than I do. LOL...Maybe I should have added that to my resolutions.

In my defense, i used the remainder of my gift card and since my debit card is a mastercard I got to use the $10 off promotion from Barnes and Noble. So basically, my order was 50% off. YAY for me! This order also included Anthony Rapp's new autobiography about RENT and other life experiences and since I'm a bleeding heart liberal, I ordered Al Gore's latest book about the environment called An Inconvient Truth. I've read excerpts and it sounds very interesting. I just like to read about everything. I like science, just not as a profession. I leave that part to my sister the physical science teacher.

By the way Sunshine, after I got off the phone with you, M called. She's started off the new year with a bang, to say the least. Rolls her eyes big time. I felt like Emily Dickinson after I got off the phone with her. Boo to her, props to you for starting a blog, I think that's awesome.

Based on my experiences today, I have decided that my official theme for 2007 will be Alanis Morrisette's cover of Crazy, which was originally made famous by Seal. I originally heard this version when I was hanging out with Sunshine before break and then I was watching The Devil Wears Prada yesterday and this version is on the soundtrack. I like both versions of the song, but Alanis' version brings a certain element of girl power to it.

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.