Frisco!!

This is what I deal with when I sit down to work at my computer...

Squatter Kitty Rights??

Apparently Frisco has learned about Squatters Rights.





Do they apply to the feline persuasion??

Fairies, and Kitties and Boo-boos... Oh My!!

I have be knitting up a storm lately in order to get holiday gifts out of the way. So far... none are done! *Hera help me* But I have several started... one crocheted blanket for my sister, one for Mom & Dad, and a knitted blanket for one of my nieces. I had this crazy fuckin' brilliant idea *HA! brilliant?? Is that another way of calling yourself CRAZY!!* to knit up all these different fairy dishcloth patterns and then stitch them together and make a blanket for my niece. She is very into fairies *just like her aunt*

Anyhoo... I made one square up and from there determined that I needed 48 squares to complete the blanket. 48 Freakin' squares!! What the fuck was I thinking?? I thought... no problem there's plenty of time! That was back at the beginning of October. Now we are in the middle of November and.... here are all the squares I have completed.


Yes, you counted correctly 5 with another on the needles right now! FUCK!! After calmly rethinking my plan *HA! I'm not sure I would know what calm looked like anymore!* I decided I will make one square in each of the 4 patterns in each of the 4 colors. Then jion those squares together as the center of the blanket and then crocket my ass off to complete the blanket around those squares... as if they were the center piece. *Erckle comes back to haunt me.... I meant to do that!*








Of course, as I am furiously knitting and crocketing away on all my holiday gifts.... wouldn't you know it!



My yarn holding finger starts bothering me. It's been bothering me on and off for about a month now, but I think nothing of it till Monday morning. When I woke up my finger was swollen enough that I couldn't get my ring on! That's when I knew it was time to call the doctor. So I did and had an appointment Tuesday morning. I was pricked, prodded, poked and X-rayed. Good news is it's not broken, bad news is it might be arthritis. *I would have preferred it to be broken cause at least that heals and goes away!* So as we wait on the blood results to come back I have to wear the finger brace, use ice and take anti-inflamitories.

So what did I do last night after work.... I went to Curves and did my workout, went home and showered, ate dinner, iced my finger, .... and knit for about two hours *laugh* I have to get these gifts done!

As I sat on the couch knitting away, Frisco curled up in his usual spot behind me and kept me company.

The Last Wedding.... for a while that is

Busy, busy weekend! It started out calling in sick on Friday. My stomach was not doing well and I had to drive up to NY later that night for a family wedding on Saturday, so I thought it best to stay home and rest. When I finally felt OK to get up and start moving around I dragged out the suitcase to start packing. Here's the first thing that WANTED to be packed!



Isn't he cute! So anyhoo... I shooed him out of my luggage and instead of getting the hint and just curling up on the bed to watch, Frisco followed every step I made. I mean EVERY step! This little guy knows what that red bag means. I almost stepped on him, I don't know how many times, because he kept scampering around under my feet as soon as I moved.


Luckily the drive up to NY wasn't bad. I made it in 4 hours. *lets just hope the NJ Turnpike people don't check the times on my E-Z Pass account*


Now, a little family history between my and the mom. She hassles me about my weight EVERY time we talk. And when I say every time, I mean each and every time we talk on the phone or the first day of the visit - if not every day of the visit. *and she wonders why I lag between phone calls or get annoyed with her over the conversation topic*

So, I get to my folks house about 10 PM, say hello to all (sister and hubby are there as well as my aunt and uncle from Florida), then run to empty the bladder that was filled with 3 bottles of water from the trip. *I tend to drink a lot of water on driving trips so that I don't feel the need to stop for food - not so good on the bladder though*


10:06 PM

I came out Mom was heating up some of what they had left-over from their dinner. I told her not to do that because I wasn't hungry and I really didn't want to have a full meal in my belly when all I wanted to do was hit the bed. Not to mention that because of the drive, I had missed my 4 mile walk for the day. I told her I had something before I hit the road *I didn't tell her it was half of a McDonald's chicken nugget happy meal, but I had eaten.... and felt disgusting afterwards, so I guess that's one good mark of watching my weight since that's the first McD's meal I've had in months* She got annoyed with me! H-E-L-L-O!! Aren't you the woman that badgers me about my weight at EVERY conversation?? I'm home for 6 minutes and it starts!


10:22 PM

The movie (Kingdom of Heaven) they were all watching is finally over and Mom has the usual coffee and sweets ready for dessert. She fixed everyone a plate with a slice of cake and a scoop of some orange cream ice cream without asking who wanted and who didn't. Now, if I had just told you less than 15 minutes ago that I wasn't hungry would you automatically assume that I would want cake and ice cream?? I fixed my coffee and didn't touch my dessert plate *kudos to me* It took a few minutes for Mom to notice that I was eating my dessert, when she finally asked if I was going to have it. "No, ma. I don't want it"


"How about just the ice cream?"


"I don't want it, thank you."


Then she huffs and eats the ice cream herself! I just can't win! I'm damned if I do and I'm damned if I don't.


Saturday:

Saturday was pretty relaxing. By the time I got up my mom and my aunt had left to go get their nails done. I made a quick trip to the local CVS to get hair gel and some pantyhose *whoever invented pantyhose needs to be shot!* Then I came home, changed into my workout clothes and got on Mom's treadmill *that hasn't been used in God knows how long* and did my 4 mile walk. The treadmill hasn't been used in so long that the motor started giving off a burning smell when I hit about 3 miles. I kept looking around the machine to make sure nothing was actually smoking! Then is was shower, hair, make-up and we were all off to the wedding.

The wedding was beautiful. The weather was kind of crappy, but they say rain on the wedding day is good luck. Hope so! Here are a few photos. You can click on them to see a larger picture.


The little guy in the picture with my mom and with me is my cousin's little boy. He's 6 months old and adorable. He was my dance partner most of the night so that my cousin could dance with her DH. I had 2 different ladies come up to me while I was holding him and told me "Your son is absolutely adorable!" Those of you that know, can just image how hard I had to work at keeping the tears from falling. The wedding was hard enough, but to hard these two women mistake this little guy for mine (honest mistake - I know) was just not something I had prepared myself for that day.

On Sunday my Mom shared the following documents with us all. Apparently she found some old awards that her grandfather, my great-grandfather, won! These two agricultural awards are from 1932 & 1933!! She needs to get them framed.





Lastly, is a photo of my great-grandfather from World War I!! Right side of the photo, 2nd row, 3rd guy in is Great Grandfather! I love all this old family shit!



And this is probably the last family wedding for a while. I do have two other cousin who are still single along with me, but one is a workaholic and as far as I know she isn't seeing anyone, let alone someone seriously, right now. My other cousin, well we seem to be two of a kind *guess since he was only born 2 days after me it makes sense* He in a very similar love situation that I am, minus a potential baby. Guess Geminis really do have twins out there.

Holy Coffee Swap Package Batman!

Yesterday was a crazy day! Work really sucks and I am trying not to think about how "the boss" *cause she certainly is no leader* is really placing our school on a downhill slide for catastrophe. Why is it that that my county cannot find good, intelligent, reasonable people to be principals??


I love these stitch Anyhoo, after work I have my therapy session, then grab a bite to eat on the way to meet up with my Wednesday night knitting group. When I got home from the Stitch 'n Bitch session this was waiting for me at my door!! Suddenly all the bull$hit from work melted away as I couldn't wait to open my package. My kitty was just as interested, and while I was trying to be good and find my camera, he was trying to open my package! I couldn't wait to see what Megan, my coffee swap partner, had sent me :)

She even used on of the HP note cards I sent her in her package!

Here are all the goodies. I retook pictures when I got home from work today, so that I could take better pictures outside. My neighbors thought I was a tad off *image that, me a tad off.... nnaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhh* setting up the display just so for a picture *laugh* Look at all this stuff!! Even now, I'm still so excited about what I got! *did I mention that there a little girl trapped inside me and that no matter what age my licenses says she always rules me :) *

Two different kinds of Espresso bean! Fudge brownie mix *drool* A kitchen magnet. Adorable book plates!
Aren't these stitch markers great! That's me! S-E-X-Y!! :)

She even got me my own specially blended tea! I had told her that Starbucks used to have this great tea called Winter and how I had been looking for it ever since Starbucks switched tea companies. I told Megan how I had searched the Internet to avail because I could not find my Winter Tea and I guess I must have told her what was in it and she went to a specialty tea store and shared my frustration over trying to find this tea and they whipped up a special batch on the description! You're AWESOME Megan!! I haven't tried it yet, but it certainly smells as I remember the Winter Tea did! She got me honey sticks to go with it! Of course I told her that if this special blend is right she will have to purchase my monthly supply for me *giggle*

She even got something for my inner child and her affinity for fairies! She made me this felted latte fairy! I have her hanging in my kitchen already!

Last, but certainly not least, look at this awesome yarn! Manos del Uruguay! Look at those yummy colors! I can't wait to figure out what I am going to do with this great yarn! Anyone have a suggestions??

Last weekend I told you all about the pretty fuchsia plants I got. Well here they are hanging off my front porch. I love these plants.



Here's a picture of Frisco in another one of his favorite spots. I lay back on the couch and stretch out and in 2.2 seconds flat there's Frisco wanting to lounge and sleep on my legs. He's such a strange kitty, but I wouldn't trade him for the world! *like I could, any cat owner knows they own us and not the other way around*

As for knitting/crocheting updates - not much. Still working on the baby blanket, though I do only have the edging left. If I can just figure out what I want to do for it! I did complete one of the Mason*Dixon Warshcloths and started a second. My gf Tracey just moved in to a new apartment and she has no pot holders, dishrags or anything, so I thought I'd make her a nice kitchen set with all this cotton yarn I have! I'll post project pictures soon!

Goodies, Yarn Porn and Philadelphia

This was a hectic weekend. It started out (after work of course) with finding several lovely treats at my door when I got home. I had ordered a few items from QVC (I know, I know - that a dangerous channel to watch) I had ordered 3 different kitchen items from them last weekend. The first thing I ordered was an Electric Mandoline Slicer w/Removable Tray. I tend to be accident prone when I am in the kitchen working with knives. I usually enjoy cooking when I actually have the time, so I am hoping that this will help me regain some time and in the end save me a little money in the long run.

The second thing I ordered was a set of Cast Aluminum Lemon and Lime Squeezers! Perfect for Midnight Margaritas!! These things are awesome. They literally squeeze just about every drop of juice out of the lemon or lime. You cut the lemon or lime in half and place a half cut side to the holes. Then you squeeze the handles together to get the juice to come out and the tool literally turns the sliced half inside-out!

Strange how such little things can make life just a little easier to bear :)

The last thing I ordered from QVC is a new FoodSaver Automatic Vacuum Sealer. The one I bought numerous years ago is on it's last leg and I just love that this one is a.) stainless steel and b.) it can stand up so that it takes up less counter space when you don't need to use it!

The goodies didn't stop there! Next up.....

YARN PORN!

In addition to these three treats there was a special envelope in my mailbox as well. I had found some Great Adirondack yarns on eBay for a steal of a price! I mean SERIOUSLY! On the left is Great Adirondack Silk Delight yarn and on the right is Great Adirondack Nassau yarn. The colorway for both is Purplicious, so I'm thinking it might be neat to make something with the yarns together, I'm just not sure what. I just could not pass up those vibrant colors!

Lastly on the knitting frontier....

I have finished one half of the Monica for my niece's birthday gift! Birthday being May3rd and the other niece's birthday is May 13th! I have pinned it down and sprayed it with water to block it. I have the back on my needles now! I'm thinking of modifying the pattern slightly for the 2nd one and knit it on circulars to knit in the round and avoid seems. Hopefully I will have them both done by their party - no idea exactly when that is yet!

Philadelphia!!!!
Most of my weekend was spent in Philadelphia. I am one of two state representatives to my national organization (American Association of School Librarians - AASL) and we had a Region II meeting this weekend to discuss some issues before the meeting at the annual ALA conference in June. There wasn't a whole lot of time for site seeing when you are in a meeting from 9am-4pm on Saturday. We did all go out to dinner Saturday night. We went to the Chart House... mmmMMmmmm. Here are some shots I took when we went to the restaurant.

And of course, no post would be complete without Frisco! I don't know what it is about a laundry basket full of dirty clothes, but he just seems to love hanging out there! This is where I found him when I got home from Philly earlier today!