Quote of the Week

Notice I do not say find the time. That is an absurd and dangerous phrase. Time is never lying around waiting for us to find her.
Jennifer Louden

I've found an idea for a post

It's kind of a meme thing but here goes.

SUPPOSEDLY if you’ve seen over 85 films, you have no life. Mark the ones you’ve seen. There are 239 films on this list. Copy this list, go to your own blog, paste this as a note. Then, put x’s next to the films you’ve seen, add them up.Have fun!
(X) Rocky Horror Picture Show
(X) Grease
(X) Pirates of the Caribbean
(x)Pirates of the Caribbean 2: Dead Man’s Chest
() Boondock Saints
() Fight Club
(x ) Starsky and Hutch
(X) Neverending Story
( ) Blazing Saddles
( X) Airplane
Total=7
(X) The Princess Bride
() AnchorMan
(x)Napoleon Dynamite
( X) Labyrinth
( ) Saw ( ) Saw II
( ) White Noise
( ) White Oleander
() Anger Management
(x) 50 First Dates
( ) The Princess Diaries
( ) The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement
Total so far: 11
(x) Scream ( ) Scream 2 ( ) Scream 3
(x) Scary Movie ( ) Scary Movie 2( ) Scary Movie 3( ) Scary Movie 4
(x) American Pie (x) American Pie 2 ( ) American Wedding ( ) American Pie Band Camp
Total so far: 15
(x) Harry Potter 1(x) Harry Potter 2( x) Harry Potter 3( x) Harry Potter 4
( ) Resident Evil 1( ) Resident Evil 2
(X) The Wedding Singer
( ) Little Black Book
() The Village
( X) Lilo & Stitch
Total so far: 21
(X) Finding Nemo
( ) Finding Neverland
(X) Signs
(x) The Grinch
( ) Texas Chainsaw Massacre( ) Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning
( x) White Chicks
( ) Butterfly Effect
( ) 13 Going on 30
(x) I, Robot
() Robots
Total so far: 26
( x) Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story
() Universal Soldier
(x) Lemony Snicket: A Series Of Unfortunate Events
(x) Along Came Polly
(x ) Deep Impact
( ) KingPin
( ) Never Been Kissed
(X) Meet The Parents
(X) Meet the Fockers
) Eight Crazy Nights( ) Joe Dirt
( ) KING KONG
Total so far: 32
() A Cinderella Story
( X) The Terminal
( ) The Lizzie McGuire Movie
( ) Passport to Paris
(x ) Dumb & Dumber( ) Dumber & Dumberer
( ) Final Destination( ) Final Destination 2(x )Final Destination 3
( ) Halloween
( ) The Ring ( ) The Ring 2
( ) Surviving X-MAS
( ) Flubber
Total so far: 35
(x) Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle
( ) Practical Magic
( ) Chicago
( ) Ghost Ship
( ) From Hell
( X) Hellboy
(X)Secret Window
( ) I Am Sam
(X) The Whole Nine Yards ( ) The Whole Ten Yards
Total so far: 39
(x ) The Day After Tomorrow
( ) Child’s Play
( ) Seed of Chucky( ) Bride of Chuck
( ) Ten Things I Hate About You
( ) Just Married
( ) Gothika
( ) Nightmare on Elm Street
( x) Sixteen Candles
( ) Remember the Titans
( ) Coach Carter
( ) The Grudge ( ) The Grudge 2
(x) The Mask ( ) Son Of The Mask
Total so far: 42
( ) Bad Boys ( ) Bad Boys 2( ) Joy Ride
( ) Lucky Number Sleven
(X) Ocean’s Eleven (X ) Ocean’s Twelve
(X) Bourne Identity (X) Bourne Supremecy
( ) Lone Star
( ) Bedazzled
( ) Predator I ( ) Predator II
() The Fog
(X) Ice Age( ) Ice Age 2: The Meltdown ( ) Curious George
Total so far: 47
(X) Independence Day
( ) Cujo
( ) A Bronx Tale
( ) Darkness Falls
( ) Christine
(x) ET
( ) Children of the Corn
() My Bosses Daughter
(x) Maid in Manhattan
(x) War of the Worlds
(x ) Rush Hour (x ) Rush Hour 2
Total so far: 53
( ) Best Bet
( ) How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days
( ) She’s All That
( ) Calendar Girls
( ) Sideways
( ) Mars Attacks
( ) Event Horizon
( ) Ever After
(X) Wizard of Oz
(X) Forrest Gump
( X) Big Trouble in Little China
(X) The Terminator ( X) The Terminator 2( X) The Terminator 3
Total so far: 59
( ) X-Men( ) X-2( X) X-3
(X) Spider-Man (X) Spider-Man 2
() Sky High
( ) Jeepers Creepers
( ) Jeepers Creepers 2
(X) Catch Me If You Can
( ) The Little Mermaid
() Freaky Friday
( ) Reign of Fire
() The Skulls
( ) Cruel Intentions( ) Cruel Intentions 2
( ) The Hot Chick
(X) Shrek (X) Shrek 2
Total so far: 65
( ) Swimfan
( ) Miracle on 34th street
( ) Old School
( ) The Notebook
( X) K-Pax
( ) Krippendorf’s Tribe
( X) A Walk to Remember
( ) Ice Castles
( ) Boogeyman
( ) The 40-year-old Virgin
Total so far: 67
( X) Lord of the Rings Fellowship of the Ring (X ) Lord of the Rings The Two Towers
(X ) Lord of the Rings Return Of the King
(x) Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark (x) Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom(x) Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
Total so far: 73
( ) Baseketball
( ) Hostel
( ) Waiting for Guffman
( ) House of 1000 Corpses
( ) Devils Rejects
() Elf
( X) Highlander
( ) Mothman Prophecies
( ) American History X
Total so Far: 74
( ) The Jacket
( ) Kung Fu Hustle
( ) Shaolin Soccer
( ) Night Watch
(x) Monsters Inc.
( ) Titanic
(x) Monty Python and the Holy Grail
( ) Shaun Of the Dead
( ) Willard
Total so far: 76
( ) High Tension
( ) Club Dread
( x) Hulk
( ) Dawn Of the Dead
(x) Hook
( x) Chronicles Of Narnia The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe
( ) 28 days later
( ) Orgazmo
( ) Phantasm
(X ) Waterworld
Total so far: 80
( ) Kill Bill vol 1 ( ) Kill Bill vol 2
( ) Mortal Kombat
( ) Wolf Creek
( ) Kingdom of Heaven
( ) the Hills Have Eyes
( ) I Spit on Your Grave aka the Day of the Woman
( ) The Last House on the Left
( ) Re-Animator ( ) Army of Darkness
Total so far: 80
(x) Star Wars Ep. I The Phantom Menace( X) Star Wars Ep. II Attack of the Clones
( X) Star Wars Ep. III Revenge of the Sith(x) Star Wars Ep. IV A New Hope
(x) Star Wars Ep. V The Empire Strikes Back(x) Star Wars Ep. VI Return of the Jedi
( ) Ewoks Caravan Of Courage( ) Ewoks The Battle For Endor
Total so far: 86
( ) The Matrix ( ) The Matrix Reloaded ( ) The Matrix Revolutions
( ) Animatrix
( ) Evil Dead ( )Evil Dead 2
( ) Team America: World Police
( ) Red Dragon( X) Silence of the Lambs( ) Hannibal
Total: 87

Seems I barely have no life. Some of them I've seen little pieces of them but never the whole thing so I didn't include them. This does give me a few ideas of some I should watch. I don't watch horror but some of the others should be ok.

Philosophy

A post on a forum I read got me to thinking. It was about new year's resolutions. Are they a waste of time? Do they motivate people? Why do it at this date and not some other date in the year? Do people actually keep the resolutions? (I don't think they do) Some years I have a resolution and some years not. I tend to not keep doing something unless I make it fun somehow. My attention span is not all that great. Even something I start out liking I might drop later on. I try to remember this when I make commitments to organizations. I realize that after a year I probably won't be all that interested anymore, even if I feel like I should be. The good thing about this is that I've done a variety of things, been in charge of a variety of things. I'm glad I did them all.

Yoga

I'm an on/off yoga person (mostly off). But I really enjoy it when I'm doing it. And since the holiday pounds are already starting to gather I decided to join a WoYoPracMo that I found out about on the namaste knitters group on Ravelry. You commit to practicing yoga even just a little bit every day in January. I think I'll start this week and then just continue on into January. Hopefully it will get me in the habit of wanting to do it and feel and look a little better in the process. I miss feeling good about myself so I need to do something I guess. Namaste!

Scarf

I've finished plying the merino/tencel and it came out nice. I've started on the Morning Surf Scarf and it's turning out really nice once I learned (again!) to count. It's going pretty quickly too.
The weather has been cold cold. It's been at least 15-20 below zero the last few nights and so everyone pretty much stays inside all the time. You don't go out unless you have to.
I'm hoping Christmas will be a good one this year. It hasn't been good for me the last few years. I'm not getting that 'special' feeling I used to get. But hope springs eternal....

Funny Kid Quotes

Mom, I want another brother so there will be three of us. So spit one out now!

Winter

Well finally, instead of rain we have snow falling. It's not real cold out there today (hence the rain). I have a nice fire going and I'm cleaning and such. I've started plying the merino/tencel and it's driving me crazy. I see why people like tensioned lazy kates now. I spun it really fine and the singles love to twist back on themselves before I get them plied. It's going to take me awhile so please be patient. *smile*

Funny kid quotes

6 year old son "I don't kiss my girlfriend, I just love her."

Getting there

I finished spinning the merino tencel blend. That was from Spunky. So I'm going to ply my singles soon and try and make a scarf out of it for my sister. I'm also planning 3 headbands with beads for different people and a couple hats by Christmas. I just can't believe how much I want fiber. Looking at Ravelry, I click an ad every time it's one I haven't seen before and the first thing I look at is the fiber. Sometimes I ignore the yarn entirely. Very strange. I'm guessing I like my latest hobby. Now I'm afraid to try dyeing or weaving or I will be similarly hooked. Ah well. I don't want to be bored, now do I.

Funny kid quotes

Mom: Do you think I'm stylish?
Younger son: No mommy, you aren't stylish, you're pretty.
Mom: Thank you.
Younger son: What does "stylish" mean?

Christmas

Christmas is coming and I love it. Christmas carols on my mind already. What? do you ask. What do I want for Christmas? Well, let me tell you. Books are always good. Now anything to do with spinning or knitting is also good. Yarn, fiber and things like that. A nice digital camera would be excellent or a spinning wheel. Why am I telling you? Just in case you would be asking.

Notice me!

Funny kid quotes

Younger finicky son: Dude, you should really try butter on your pancakes, it's really good.

Funny kid quotes

Older son: Mom, do you have to do something stupid to make babies?

The fishes

Spiderman and the Incredible Hulk. Hulk is a fantail goldfish and Spiderman is just your garden variety feeder goldfish from Walmart. I just cleaned the tank and Spiderman is huge, nearly half the length of the 10 gallon tank. It's kind of scary. Really. That gaping mouth coming at you when you feed them.

Movies

Normally I don't watch a lot of movies but as our TV is turned off at the moment....

There were two that stood out from the ones I watched.

Pan's Labyrinth was nothing like I expected. I expected some children's fantasy story like Bridge to Terabithia or the Narnia series but it wasn't like that. The bad guy was really bad, the spooky things were really spooky(especially the creature with the eyes in his hands, ugh). It also had an other worldly quality because it was set in Spain and was spanish with english subtitles. Over all I really liked it and felt really touched and moved by it. The ending was kind of happy but not really. It really evoked more a feeling than anything.

The Painted Veil was very romantic but with a touch of reality. A woman marries a doctor but is just doing it to get away from her nasty rude mother. She then moves to China with her husband but has an affair. She falls into the trap of believing her lover will take her away but her husband knows the reality of what has happened and what kind of guy she has found. Circumstances made her realize her husband wasn't so bad after all. The ending made me cry.

I'd recommend both movies. When I watch a movie, I don't want to know what to expect so it's more of a surprise and has more of an impact on me.

Literary post of the week

Ah yes, let us discuss what I am reading. *perching spectacles upon my nose*

Living the Good Life by Helen and Scott Nearing

This book was first published in 1954 and yet I find it so relevant and interesting. This couple decides to buy a farm in Vermont and life a simple life. Hoping to work 6 months out of the year and spend the other 6 months spreading their ideas and doing good works. My quote of the week was from this book. Evidently this is something I would like to do because I've read a lot of books of a similar tone.

The Cat Who Had 60 Whiskers by Lilian Jackson Braun

I always like these books so it's no surprise I like this one. I like cats and I like the minor mysteries in the books. They are definitely light reading.

And the next book I have on the list is

Chicken Justice and Other Unexpected Lessons in Country Living by Steve Coffman

Yet another simple living book. I haven't yet started it but it looks to be well written.

Of course all this is addition to the textbooks I'm reading for class and everything else I do. Can you say BUSY?

Knit knit, (diddy do wap) knit

Bet you didn't know I could stand on the ceiling. Huh, huh, didja? These lovely socks I finished with only small hole in the toe (after frogging and frogging and then finally emitting a deep growl) But they fit perfectly and although the colors don't match in sequence, only I will know when they are ensconced in shoes. Sockotta yarn. Crystal palace pattern. This scarf is nearly done. Only a few inches to go. I had yarn left over from a sweater I knit a couple years ago and knit this scarf and another one. It's Lion Brand Wool-Ease and the Lion Brand Red Riding hood scarf pattern. I'm not going to make it into a hood like the pattern. It should be a warm and wooly gift for someone.
And what will this be? (the shiny thing is a small box of pearlescent beads) Could it be? Could it really be a couple headbands with beads? Yes, yes it could. Maybe. If I get it started soon.
Take care!

You spin me right round baby

This lovely stuff is my fiber of the month from Spunky Eclectic.

It's called Aspen, she said it reminded her of Colorado. I thought that was appropriate, seeing as I am in Colorado. It's a merino/tencel blend and I can spin it super skinny. I'm wanting to make a scarf with it when I'm done. So stay tuned. The spindle is a recent purchase from Spinsanity on the Etsy website. Purple with the moon and stars. I wanted it because it's lighter than the CD spindle I have. And of course, everyone wants new stuff.

This very blurry hat is the knitted toque I made from my second handspun. When I first made it I thought it would be too small. But I blocked it over a bowl and 'hey presto' it fits me. It's scratchy and I probably won't wear it but it's my very first knitted item from my handspun and does look nice (yuck photo nonwithstanding). Smile.
I have 6 more ounces of fiber on the way from Spunky and I'm rubbing my hands together greedily in anticipation. 4 ounces of wool and 2 ounces of a merino/bamboo blend. *ouch* Not so much rubbing please.
Take care.

Quote of the week #3

There are two ways of living: a man may be casual and simply exist, or constructively and deliberately try to do something with his life. The constructive ideas implies constructiveness not only about one’s own life, but about that of society, and the future possibilities of mankind.
Julian Huxley, Essays of a Biologist, 1923

Quote of the week #2

O God! Methinks it were a happy life,
To be no better than a homely swain,
To set upon a hill, as I do now…
So many hours must I tend my flock;
So many hours must I take my rest;
So many hours must I contemplate;
So many hours must I sport myself;
Ah, what a life were this, how sweet! How lovely!
William Shakespeare, King Henry VI, 1623

Quote of the week

Arise, come, hasten, let us abandon the city to merchants, attorneys, brokers, usurers, tax-gatherers, scriveners, doctors, perfumers, butchers, cooks, bakers and tailors, alchemists, painters, mimes, dancers, lute-players, quacks, panderers, thieves, criminals, adulterers, parasites, foreigners, swindlers and jesters, gluttons who with scent alert catch the odor of the market place, for whom that is the only bliss, whose mouths are agape for that alone.
Francesco Petrarch, De Vita Solitaria, 1356

In which........

This..... becomes this....

and then this....

Or, if you prefer.... this

becoming this....

The pink is a linen thread which used to be a sweater. I love linen and so purchased this too small sweater to ravel and make something else out of it. Upon doing this I realized that the linen "yarn" was just 4 threads of linen held together. After much thought and consultation, (i.e. asking Ravelry) I decided to spin it on my spindle and give it some twist and then wash it to try and set the twist. Seems to be working so far though I haven't actually tried to knit with it yet.

The blue is another 100% wool sweater raveled to make this beautiful yarn. (Someday I'll have a good camera that takes good pictures to show you the beauty of it) That hank of yarn is just the sleeves if you can believe it. I'll get 2 good sized balls from it to join the other 4 good sized balls I've gotten. The last picture is a sock I'm knitting from one of the balls. We'll see if a ball=2 socks. I'm hoping so.

Next time some spinning fun!

Take care!

This is where the random comes in...

I've been reading other blogs assiduously and quite on a regular basis lately. So perhaps I can do my own from time to time.
Just a few random things bouncing through my mind

Bounce: My son decided that since he doesn't have school tomorrow, I should stay home from work and homeschool him for that one day. Soon he will be much smarter than me.

Bounce: I'm going to try my hand at drawing something for a website I'm working on. This is evidently because I DON'T HAVE ENOUGH TO DO ALREADY!!!

Bounce: I love going to college and would like to do it full time again.

Bounce: I just got reminded somehow of the time I went to a homecoming dance with a guy from my church at a different school. His friend looked at me with a puzzled expression and asked what school I went to. When I told him he said, 'that can't be right, I know everyone there'

Lists

This seems a good place to write down things I've been thinking of. Today is titles. Books I may write someday in the future.
Not Another Dead Fish

An Old Friend I met for the First Time.


That is all today.....

I can't believe it

It's hard to believe I haven't done a post in over a month. Let's see, I left off with my first week of July. The second week was unbelievable. I had agreed to administer a test in Denver. I administer the test given here but the one in Denver is so much bigger. I spent the whole week boggling at it. Here's a sample, here we have about 50 examinees, there was 800, here I've never hired more than 9 people to help me, there I had 56 people working for me, here we are sent 4 boxes of test materials, there it was at least 25. I had to hire 56 people that I mostly didn't know and half of them had never done it before. My sister and brother in law came through for me and let people know about the job and I hired quite a few through them. (They also worked for me). The test itself went well but it was so stressful. I hadn't asked them how much they pay and truthfully, if they had told me when I first agreed, I would have thought it was ok. Unfortunately, they should have paid me at least 3 times what I make for this one but it wasn't even double. I was very cranky at them and actually, last week I did the test here but I didn't prepare like I usually do and didn't really care. My bad.
Anyway, I'm now knitting the 2nd sock of my 3rd pair of socks and it's going well. Since it's nippy now I'm anxious to finish them. I now want to get a new pair of shoes to show off my fancy socks so maybe when I get paid again I'll trot myself down to the store to look for some. This is a small town so there are no "shoe" stores here but JC Penney might have a few things and at least they will have a catalog for me to look at.
I'm planning on going to my first fiber/wool festival in Taos NM the weekend of Oct 6-7. I'm excited. I won't have much money to spend but just to go is exciting. I think of friend of mine will be going too and my boys of course.

July

July has been quite a month. Perhaps I'll just take it a week at a time. The first week I spent a week in Pagosa Springs. My mother in law owns a time share and so we spent the week there with 3 brother in law's and 3 other kids besides mine. We left on a Saturday and spent a lot of time just sitting around. The condo was by a small lake so the kids were able to go fishing. On Sunday my sister in law and I took the 4 small kids swimming at the rec center. They got tired of the kiddie pool pretty quick and so we took them into the big pool. My kids were just going along the side holding on when the water got over their heads. Then I was holding my 3 year old nephew when I looked over and Kel, my youngest was flailing around in the water. I walked over as quickly as I could and held him up out of the water. It really scared him and so I had to comfort him quite a bit. He doesn't seem worse for the experience as he went swimming later on in the week.
Monday we had to come home and pay some bills. Fortunately it was only 70 miles away so that wasn't too bad.
Tuesday was the best day. I finished spinning my very first handspun singles. I plied them together and was able to wind the yarn around a chair and then set it in hot and cold water. I hung it outside to dry and it dried very quickly because of the heat. When it was dry, I got out my new bamboo needles to knit it up. I just did a small swatch and I really liked how it looked. Wednesday was the 4th of July and so we went to the parade there in town and about melted. It was pretty hot. Then that evening we went to a nice fireworks show.
The next day hubby was withdrawing badly and I had to drive him home to get something for his habit. It's been a trying time with that.
Friday was just a laze around day and then we came home on Saturday. I wish it had been more fun and relaxing but people tend to get on each other's nerves in that length of time. I missed a massage taking hubby home but that's ok. I don't think I had the money for that anyway. I think I need a vacation just a few days by myself and rest rest rest.
I've gotten my internet back so hopefully I'll be able to start posting pictures again from home.

Wish it was Friday

I'm feeling restless today. Working a little, playing on the internet a little. Ice cream later today.
I'm knitting the shawl from hell. Seems like an easy pattern. Yarn is soft and nice. So I don't know what it is, yarn, cheap needles or the pattern or just me. It's really hard to work on. I'm hoping that when I get a few more rows done it will give a little more and not hurt my hands. If it doesn't I might rip it out and try a different yarn. And, the needles are cheap ones I bought many years ago and have never really used. Sigh. The yarn is so pretty, one of my previous posts has the picture.
Well, my learning to spin has been great. Just a drop spindle but I really love it and now I want more and more time to do it. I showed one of my boys how and now I'm having to get him a drop spindle because we fight over mine. I guess that's good. I want my boys to try everything they want regardless if it's supposed to be a "girl" thing or not. I've never taught anyone to knit so they kind of want to learn but I'm not very patient as I'm not too great at it yet either. I have some old workbasket magazines that have a series of 'teaching a child to knit'. I really liked it because it helped me to knit a few things. It seems there are very few really easy 'beginner' patterns out there for me to find. Or maybe I haven't looked enough. That is always a possibility.
I found out there will be a fiber festival in my small town of Monte Vista. First one ever. It just seems such a coincidence that this year I get interested in these things and suddenly fiber is all around me. Maybe next year I could have a booth or something. I'll have to remember that. I am wanting to volunteer for this one and since I just met the organizers, I would have a good chance of helping them. Volunteer work always seems to be welcome.

Temping

I'm not a temp but I'm starting to feel like one. Normally I work one job in the morning and another in the afternoon at 2 two different desks. But last week I helped in the mail room and this week I'm helping in the graduate office. Stuffing my head with even more information. Pretty soon I should be able to do everything at the college. Just think of the savings that would be in salaries! At least it is warmer up here. And I'm completely alone in this office for the morning. It's kind of nice.
Not much new knitting to report. I've gotten to the toe on the second pink sock but I like to do that all in one whack so I don't goof it up. So I brought a different sock to work on today. The first official sock yarn sock. It's coming out very nicely.
I haven't worked on the shawl past the one row I've done. With so many stitches it takes forever to do. And of course the scarves are languishing. I'm supposed to take a vacation in a couple weeks so I'll take it all with me and perhaps actually work on some of it. The other people going on this vacation (brother in law's family, mother in law) may have other plans. My plans are to rest and relax and go on slow walks and eat some nice food occasionally. My mother in law owns a time-share and found a place fairly close we could go for a week. Our budget has nothing in it for vacations so this is good. I'm thinking perhaps I could look for a yarn or wool store on one of these slow walks as well. I hope there is a pool, my kids will love that.
I haven't done anything with the wool I won yet. I have a free spinning lesson coming to me but I've had the stomach flu and I didn't want to associate learning to spin with the stomach flu. That didn't seem right. Perhaps I'll see if she could show me tomorrow or over the weekend. That would be another thing I could take on vacation.
Sorry no pictures today, what I need to do is take some pictures, send them to myself here at work and then post them. I tend to not blog at home much, too much going on all the time.
My boys are on two different baseball teams which means games every night and sometimes (like tonight) two games at two different places in two different towns even. And they are at the same time. Who thought this was a good idea? My oldest got two hits last night but got out both times. But he's getting better. He's mad they caught the balls but I told him that's how the game works. Kids always want things to go just their way.
The weather here today is supposed to be 79F so i will be walking at lunch, and not just to get something to eat. Summer is here again for a couple days maybe. Until it rains again.
See ya!

Still sick

I'm still sick and still sick of it. Yesterday was a fantastic nasty windstorm and I think all the dust in the air got in my throat because I'm coughing more today. There are many many trees down and power was out a lot of places and there was a fire caused by a downed power line. Hopefully we won't have a repeat of that soon.
I've cast on my new sock yarn and the shawl. The shawl is going to take me forever. 432 stitches each row and I've only done one row. Good thing it's a few months until Christmas. I wish I could do more pictures on here but I can only upload pictures at home. This computer at work doesn't allow you to upload or download anything at all. Seems they are worried about security. I understand I guess.
I'm still wanting to go to a fiber festival which there is one in a couple weeks in Estes Park. But with my no money situation I may not make it.
Oh oh, I almost forgot! I bid on a spindle, wool and a spinning lesson at a silent auction fundraiser for the democrats and I won it. I've been wanting and wanting to learn to spin and suddenly it drops in my lap. I hope to do the lesson in the next couple days so I will let you know about that. I'm excited.

Sick

I've been sick sick sick. I hate it. Mostly just a cough today but it's annoying. I have pictures of my new purchases.

This is 3 skiens of Plymouth Yarn Baby Alpaca Brush and one skein of Sockotta. Made in Peru and Italy, respectively. And I've also bought some bamboo knitting kneedles. I've been wanting to try them. I want to buy some Addi turbo needles next. The alpaca is a shawl for my sister and the sock yarn is just socks.

I've been neglecting the scarves but the socks are coming along. As you can see. One finished and the other with the heel finished. I sure hope they fit my niece. They won't fit me I know.

Tonight I have to work and tomorrow I have to work but I hope to have a little time to relax and knit a bit.

The Cold

That title should be in capital letters. It seems these days we are having a week of warm, a week of cold. It always seems like odd weather but I imagine it's the same every year. Although this May we've had snow the latest I ever remember. I've lived here just over 40 years. Once when I was in college we had about 10 inches of snow on the 15th of May. Well, yesterday it was snowing as I went home and it was the 23rd of May. Pretty much just a dusting but it was cold and blowing and nasty. Today at work everyone has sweaters on. This weekend is supposed to be better. In the meantime I'm drinking hot tea and had quite a bit of hot coffee this morning. I've also developed a notsonice sore throat and starting to be a bit sniffly. It was inevitable I suppose. A coworker is threatening to call in well tomorrow because everyone else is sick. A clever one he is.
My boys are having fun today, tomorrow being their last day of school. One went to a wildlife park and the other is having a picnic at a different park. I envy them getting to do fun things.
I worked on the sock for my niece last night, starting the toe. I got once around and realized that I had the wrong number of stitches. But having frogged the whole thing once already, I was in no mood to try to fix it. Especially since I don't know how. I read blogs of how people can take knitting apart and fix small problems but I have no clue how to do it. I also noticed that I dropped a stitch at one point but it just makes a tiny hole. Someday I will learn how to read the knitting like I can crochet. Crochet still seems so much easier to me. But I've had way more practice at it. I like both.
I'm wanting to go to a fiber festival this weekend not too far away. But I think a lack of funds and lack of support from hubby are going to nix that, just like everything I want to do that's fun seems to get nixed. I need to work on that.
You know, I think I made the tea just so I could hold the cup. *smile*

The Toy

It hides most the time, the toy does. It's hidden under other, more exciting looking toys, under Elmo, under racetracks and stuffed animals. Little do you know that it is actually the most exciting toy ever. Innocuous looking, it's very small and doesn't look like much. But it's rare appearance provokes such outbursts. The boys fight over it like it's gold or precious jewels or an X box. "Mom, it's my toy and I said 'please' so he has to give it to me" How do you argue with that?
The toy in question just happens to be small red plastic tongs. And from the fights and such that happens when the boys find it. It is nothing but THE BEST TOY EVER!!!!!!

More about scarves

The scarves are being knit from Lion Brand Wool-ease. For some reason the darker gray seems softer and easier to knit. Maybe a little less acrylic in it. I also want to finish the dark gray one first because I want those needles to start another scarf. The new scarf is a Lion brand pattern called the road scarf. It looks to have squares of different patterns so I'm anxious to try it out and learn some new things about knitting. But since I don't yet dare to take off a knitting in progress, I'll have to finish it. Anticipation. And thoughts of buying more needles. Foolishly I had once thought that one pair of each size would be more than enough for me forever. How young and silly I was. I'd like to get bamboo needles too. And learn to spin too. And I need a job that makes me a heck a lot more money to get all these things.
The pink socks are waiting. My method of knitting so far consists of making something and then seeing who it fits. So I've decided to give these to my lovely niece. So I've emailed my sister to find out how big said niece's feet are so that I can at least attempt to make the socks a similar size. Probably I'll be all proud of them and she will never wear them. I'd love to get some sock yarn like I've seen on the internet. Join a sock club or fiber club or knitting guild or spinning guild or something like that. I probably wouldn't stay part of it forever but I love learning how to do new things. Life is too short to not try everything that looks interesting.

Trying Pictures

These are what I have in progress as far as knitting right now.

Pink socks with all the color washed out in the picture.

And then there are the scarves. I'll tell you more about them tomorrow.

Fridays

Fridays would be better if I had more sleep and I was happier. Happier is the key. This year has been total crap as far as I'm concerned. Didn't get the job I wanted, personal life is crap. I'm even breaking dishes (not on purpose). Nothing like cleaning up glass all over the floor at 6 in the morning. I've been waiting for something to turn around but perhaps I'm going about the wrong way. I better make something turn around. From reading yarn harlot, I'm very motivated about writing on a novel I started many months ago. It'd be great to write something cool and go on a book tour every couple years. She also inspires me to knit. And to be happy. As crazy as her life sounds, she sounds contented and doing what she likes. I aspire to be that way. I aspire to be that way very badly. I'm trying to head that way. I'm taking geography classes, I'm knitting and crocheting, I'm writing, I'm spending time with my kids, participate in choir and hand chime choir, president of a church ladies group, president of a council at work, looking for different work, wanting a garden, wanting to work more around the yard, trying to go in the direction I want. It's probably (almost certainly) too much for me. But I'll get more depressed if I just sit around and not participate in anything. My husband is the main problem. Drug addict and other problems of his own. It's bad for me to be around him but I can't seem to get away. Maybe if I articulate more of how I'm feeling and thought processes, maybe I can see what I'm doing wrong. I'm need to forgive myself for hanging on so long with him. It's tough. Sometimes it's perfectly clear that I need to get away from him and sometimes it's not. I want to be happy again, or at least feel that I have the chance to be.

More knitting

Someday I'll figure out how to post pictures in here but until then, I'm knitting pink socks at the moment, I had knit the heel but then screwed it up so I ended up pulling it all out and starting over. I've read there are people who can pull it out to a certain point and fix things. I'm not one of those people yet. I did actually knit a lot more on the scarves than I had planned but they are evidently being knitted with the endless balls of yarn because they never seem to get smaller. Originally I had crocheted a poncho with Lion brand gray and dark gray and a variegated red heart yarn but it didn't turn out very good and I knew I wouldn't wear it so I pulled it out and started making 3 scarves instead. They are going along well and since the yarn balls are endless, I should have plenty of yarn.
Anyway, it's cold yet inside even though it's a balmy 70 outside. I'm really tired of being cold and I want some sugar. Last night I did plan ahead by buying poptarts to bring to work with me. But it seems I've neglected to bring some with me. I could go buy some across the street but that just seems wrong.
I'm trying to decide what to do this weekend for mother's day. I've crocheted a nice little bookmark for my mother and it was so easy I think I'll do another one as well. My mother in law might even get one. I can't decide whether to do some work at home or take my youngest son somewhere. His brother gets to go out of town and so he is already doing something special. He would love just to go to Burger King or something. Maybe a visit to the park to eat and play. We'll see

Socks

Remember the socks I was going to knit? I did knitted them. Most beautiful I would say except for running out of yarn at the very toe and so there is a different color blue spot right at the end. I don't think anyone will notice. I wore them all day yesterday and I love the feel of them. So right now I'm making myself work a bit on the 3 (count them), 3 scarves I have in progress before I dare cast on stitches for a pair of pink socks with a slightly different pattern. I'm liking this knitting thing so far.

Odd things from childhood

Last night at church, I thought about a couple of the odd things I remember from when I was a kid. It was just ignorance on my part but there was always a long prayer after the sermon. You stood for a long long time it seemed while all these big words were bandied about. So anyway, in the hymnbook (published about 1940), there was a prayer printed there. About half a page long, it said all the correct things, praying for important things. I was a very methodical kid and followed along every Sunday during the service. Only one problem. The pastor never said the prayer that was printed there. Never ever. I always looked to see. I always waited for it. I always followed along to that point. Now I realize it would have been incredibly boring to have the same prayer said every week. We would have had it memorized and been able to say it along with him. But, I wish he would have said it maybe once a year or so to keep me from thinking it had been a total waste to have it printed there.
The other thing is that I thought one song in the liturgy said "Ho-santa, ho-santa, ho-santa in the highest" When in actuality it said "Hosanna in the highest". I didn't really believe in Santa Claus but thought it a bit odd we would be singing about him in church. Beware, you never know what kinds of strange thoughts your kids are having.

Knitting Blogs

The last couple days I've been reading knitting blogs. Who knew there were so many? And beautiful beautiful pictures of yarn and finished and in process knitting projects. Seems they also like cats as much as I do. It's inspiring and so maybe part of the reason knitters write so much and read so many other blogs. It's also humbling that I can't knit nearly as well as they do but there are so many things I enjoy doing, it's hard to fit them all in. I'm wanting to knit socks and I have some yarn to try them out. I found a pattern that looks reasonably not too hard but we'll see. I'm famous for starting things and not finishing them. Oh, I do eventually but it can take years sometimes. Fibers and yarns are so wonderfully tactile and soothing. Some of the colors you can get are truly wonderful. I'm hoping to go to Taos or Santa Fe or SOMEWHERE this weekend for my birthday and a nice meal and try and find a yarn shop. The blogs I've read make me feel that it's not really a guilty pleasure to buy yarn with no plan in mind, no project in mind. That would make me happy. A delightful thought. These blogs make me want to get my own digital camera and start taking pictures. Maybe a beginner knitter blog. Or maybe I will just keep reading since my blog will probably be some other bizarre unrelated topic the next time I write. I'm famous for that too. nk's to D

Coveting

I had an interesting exchange the other day. A woman that works for me was talking about how she has a neighbor with a nice house. It's bigger than her house and and it seems they are always fixing it up, improving it, making it better. She looks at her house and wants to do the same, there are things that need fixed, improvements she wants to do, but she doesn't have the money to do all of these things. She said she would look and look at this house and wish she could do even some of the things they were doing. Then she tells me, 'One day, I was doing this and realized, 'I'm coveting this house' Well, that's not something you hear every day. Coveting is mentioned in two of the ten commandments but it's not an everyday word. I knew she was very religious because she mentions something like that nearly every time she works for me. She knows I go to church a lot because we've talked about it. So, is God trying to tell me something about my life? Is she trying to tell me something about my life? I wouldn't be surprised if she was trying to hint something to me because I always have in the back of my mind of the stereotype of Christians trying to make you feel guilty and acting holier than thou. But she really doesn't know me that well so perhaps her admission was a really true one and she wanted to share what she felt. Obviously it's made me think about it a lot. I may not always covet the things people have, but maybe the money that it would take to buy those things. This society seems to be made up of coveting people, hence the phrase 'keeping up with the Joneses' Our consumerist society pushes us that way. "It's good for the economy if we buy, buy, buy" I'd like to think I try to be a little bit above that although I long for things sometimes. Maybe the point of this whole thing is that I appreciate someone making me think a little harder and longer about something. I know I don't always have to agree with them, but thinking more about things is really a good thing.

Stamp Collecting

Stamp collecting is one of many small hobbies that I have. To me it has always sounded really boring and something a bunch of nerds do. But, either I am one of the nerds or it's really not. Each stamp is really a work of art, unique and interesting to look at. I can literally spend hours sorting out stamps and trying to figure out where they go in my book. Today I ordered additional pages and a few stamps for my collection. What I really realized is that my grandma used to save stamps for a church project. I think the stamps were sold to a dealer to make the church a little money. With very little effort I can imagine that a few of the stamps I've bought for my collection were actually saved by my grandma over 30 years ago. That is a pleasant connectedness feeling. That makes me happy.