A Sad Day

RIP Hoover, my knitting kitty 2001-2009

Boxing Day 2009

Well, as you can see, Ralph looooooved the spider I made for him :-)

Christmas was a very good day. I like all the gifts I got, including the "it's not a Christmas gift" Lizard gave me: stitch markers with little pictures of Jeff Goldblum on them. I don't know if I'll be able to get a good picture since my camera is not so hot with focusing on small items but I'll give it a try later on when the sun is out. I think Ralph liked everything he got, too, including the spider although he will never admit to that.



Had a very nice time visiting at The Kids' place. Lots of chatting, good food, good company, and AT even kept his new hat on long enough for Lizard & me to get a few pictures of him wearing it.

Yay! It's Christmas!

Merry Christmas!! Woke up with a song from a musical version of "A Christmas Carol" stuck in my head: "Christmas, Christmas, Christmas, Christmas, bah, humbug, who cares? Candy canes and cuddle bunnies, fluffy teddy bears. Christmas, Christmas, Christmas, Christmas, bah, humbug I say! Christmas is just a day, like any other daaaaaaaay!" Of course, that is exactly the opposite of how I feel about it all.



Can't wait until Ralph gets up & sees his stocking. Yes, that's it in the pictures. See, he's a bit of an arachnophobe, with the black widow spider being the worst enemy of all. So of course I just had to knit one for him & use it to top his stocking. In addition to clinging to the top, it's also holding a couple of the gifts that didn't quite fit inside. Heh, heh, heh!!



Got some holiday baking done yesterday. Made two batches of cookies & a jelly roll. The jelly roll is not a pretty sight--the cake decided to cleave itself unto the pan until death did them part--but I managed to patch it up well enough. It's only Ralph & I who will be eating it so it's not a big deal that it is less-than-picture-perfect. It tastes good, too. The cookies are to take over to The Kids' place today.

Only 4:20 in the morning. I am sooooo ready to start Christmas. Wake up Ralph, wake up! I guess I could see what's in my stocking, however I think it will be more fun to wait for him & open ours together. Guess I'll surf the web while I sipsipsip my coffee (running joke between me & my sister there, should she happen to read this) & then do some knitting until he gets up.

Speaking of knitting, I'm working on a scarf & pair of wristwarmers. I started the scarf first, decided I wanted some wristwarmers to match, and am knitting those from the other end of the ball of yarn (hooray for center-pull balls!), then will finish the scarf when those are done. That way I don't have to worry about using so much yarn in the scarf that there isn't enough for the wristwarmers. I'm using Jitterbug in October Afternoon, which has about 3 shades of dark orange and a bit of green in it. Not sure what it will look like after blocking; my fingers turn orange after a few rounds/row so I know it will bleed like a head wound when it gets wet. I'm planning on putting some vinegar in the water to help set the dye.

Good dogs, my butt!

What has gotten into my dogs lately? Two weeks ago, I caught Sadie sleeping on the couch. A few nights ago, I caught Hali sleeping on the couch. Last night, I caught Hali in the act of jumping onto the couch. And as you can see from the photo, Zoe has decided that the basket of formerly-clean laundry makes a good dog bed. And here I thought we had good girls. Please pardon the poor quality of the photo; the lens was dirty, and of course the battery died after I took the shot so I couldn't get a better one after cleaning the lens.

Still finishing up Christmas knitting. You would think, since I started two weeks before last Christmas, that I would be done by now. Guess I shouldn't have spent so much time making octopi, even if they are fun. I finished K's mittens, and AM was my Santa's Helper & gave them to her yesterday. AM said that K's face just lit up. I'm really glad I decided to make them. I also made a little hat for my great-nephew A; it's a mini version of the ogre hat I made before. Now I am working on one last gift & am halfway done with it. Then maybe I can finally finish my sweater that I started in the spring.

I got all of Ralph's gifts wrapped today, and his stocking is stuffed & ready. I sort of overdid it on the stocking stuffers, and had to wrap some of them instead as not everything would fit. Still have some things to wrap for other folks, but I got burned out today doing his so they will have to wait.

Tomorrow we plan to finally get a tree. We had a really good artificial one, but sadly it has given up the ghost so it's time for a new one.

Mittens, fish, and a parade

Merry 12 days before Christmas! I am nearly done with the gift-knitting. Working on the penultimate project now: a pair of mittens for K, a homeless woman who lives under the stairs at work. She leaves her little area very early in the morning with all her things packed up in a big backpack, and I thought a pair of mittens would keep her hands warm on a cold day/night, but be small enough to fit in the backpack without adding a lot of weight in warmer weather. They are rather large, as I figured she could still wear them if they were too big but not if they were too small.

Yesterday I finished the last of the fish hats. I've got the whole school of them here in this photo (the dark blue/purple striped one is the one I just finished). Well, not quite the whole school; I left out the ones I made for Ralph and myself, and of course I couldn't include the one I sent to Cheapet in Oklahoma earlier this year. I need to get a box to pack them up & ship them out. Hope they are well-received.



Before moving on with the next topic, I need to sort of explain the layout of the streets around here. We're on Maine; to the south of us is Barnett, to the north is Hill, and behind us (to the east) is Daisy. In the section behind us, Daisy is a two-way street, but when it hits Hill it splits into two one-way streets with a wide stretch of grass dividing it. This section of one-way streets is the City's "Christmas Tree Lane," and every year the City puts up decorations in the grassy area (I'll get some pictures later today) and many of the residents put up some amazing light displays.

So last night was the annual Christmas parade. It starts at the intersection of Daisy & Barnett, goes up the east side of the one-way section, back down the west section, turns onto Hill then comes down our street, ending at the intersection of Maine & Barnett. I went for a walk last night to looky-loo the lights, and as luck would have it the parade started just as I was nearing the intersection of Daisy & Barnett. I went back up Daisy a ways to find a place to sit that wasn't too wet. This is only the second time I've seen the whole parade in the eight years we've lived here (it's only been coming down our street for the past two years; it used to end at Hill). It's sort of a dorky parade--poorly spaced, with some groups too close together followed by long waits for the next group to come up--but I enjoyed myself waving madly at the people in the fancy cars & fire trucks as they went by.

I especially liked two things about the parade. The first was this really cool police car. It was the normal-for-California black and white, except where the paint colors met it was painted in flames so there were black flames extending from the front of the car into the white section, and white flames extending from the middle of the car into the back black section. Really awesome. My other favorite was a group of cheerleaders. They were quite good, very enthusiastic & energetic, but what I really liked about it was that they had girls of different ages & sizes, not just skinny teenagers. The youngest was probably about seven or eight, the oldest I'd guess to be about sixteen. One of the girls in the front was about, oh I'd say thirteen or so, definitely on the heavy side, and IMHO the best performer in the group (which is probably why she was at the front). This girl could *move.*

Once the whole parade had passed by (ending, of course, with Santa Claus & his reindeer atop a fire engine) I walked back home only to discover that SOMEbody had locked the door. Did I have my keys? Nooooooo, of course not. I rang the bell but no reply. So I sat outside for a bit & re-watched the beginning of the parade as it started to make its way past our house. Ralph eventually came out (he'd been in the jacuzzi in the backyard) and let me in. Luckily it wasn't too cold out or he'd have been in big trouble :-)

Today's exciting plans include grocery shopping, maybe a little Christmas shopping, wrapping some gifts, and yay laundry.

12/09/09

Today was a good day at work. First off was our quarterly meeting, which was actually a lot of fun. It was E's birthday, and first Mr. Boss Man's Boss made him sing "Happy Birthday" by himself, then we all sang it to him. Awards were given & guess who won Admin Associate of the Quarter? Why, yes, it was indeed I. I thought for sure it was going to be Ms. Boss Woman, up until the word "sarcastic" was used in the description of the winner. Funny, a lot of people looked at me at that point. . . anyway, I got a very nice plaque and a hundred dollars, which is nothing to sneeze at.

Speaking of sneezing, there was also a health fair at work. There were about a dozen companies there including a dental office (free toothbrush!), a doctor's office (free band-aids!), and a bloodmobile. There was also a representative from Sam's Club; not really health related, but they are offering a membership discount to our company right now and today was a good day for him to come out since all the field people were there for the division meeting. He was giving out cookies, which I skipped because Ralph bought Entenmann's donuts last night & I knew I'd want one after dinner.

It's a good thing that work was a pleasant day, because my knitting SUCKED. I'm making a hermit crab, and one part of the instructions says to purl one row that I was positive should have been knit. So, silly me, I knit that row. I'm now at a point where it's obvious why it was purled, and now I either have to live with it not looking right, or pull out the picked-up stitches, cast-off, and incorrect row. I'll probably do the latter, as I had major problems kitchenering (grafting) the picked-up stitches. I kept getting off count, plus I cut the yarn too short & had to do a Russian join which is great for knitting but terrible for grafting. I might just chuck the whole piece & start over on it; it's only 22 rows plus the picked up stitches so that's not so bad.

Today's picture is kinda crappy--too dark, and there are dirty cups on the table ooops! However, I like it because it shows the two resting styles of my cats. Hoover is all neatly tucked up like the meatloaf he is, while Mudgie is sprawled like a dropped Jell-o mold. What a pair!

And it's a sad thing indeed when one's onliest sister doesn't even read one's blog.

Now we'll see if Lizard is still reading my blog

People at work are really getting into the holiday spirit with decorations appearing every day. VT, I think, has topped us all with this inflatable snowglobe. I've never seen one in a building before, except in stores that are selling them. He said he's had it in his garage for years, and since he can't put it up at his apartment he figured work was the place for it.

Now, to see if Lizard is still reading my blog, I've posted two photos that will be of interest to her. The first is of Mudgie being a monorail cat; she mentioned a while back that she had searched my Flickr account looking for such a photo & was surprised that I didn't have any. The second is of LS's Eeyore Family Christmas, the latest addition to the costumed Eeyores she uses to decorate her cubicle.


It's been a pretty busy morning. I got up at 5:00, and by 5:50 I had ridden the exercise bike for 30 minutes, brewed the coffee, packed lunches, gave Sadie her pill, fed the dogs, cleaned the cat box & taken a shower. I'm ready for a nap, ha ha! Mind you, tomorrow will be busy too as we have to take 4 of our 5 mammals to the vet for vaccinations. The dogs aren't too bad, but since Hoover's last visit resulted in me getting scars I'm not really looking forward to taking him in.




Ralph made a wonderful potato dish last night. He sliced up red potatoes very thin, layered them with onion & butter in a shallow dish, then baked it. After the potatoes were completely cooked, he topped it with shredded cheese & baked it another 20 minutes or so. The bottom was brown & crusty, the onions cooked until they were sweet, and the cheese was just starting to turn brown. Delicious!!

Utilities--what fun

Did utility shut-offs at work. This is when homes have closed & we notify (and by "we" I mean "I") the companies to let them know that we no longer own the homes. It's really getting to be a ridiculous process. Before, I would just send a fax for each community and be done with it. Things have changed, though. For example, at our Beaumont location, the water company insists that we use their form with a separate one filled out for each home rather than one fax with all the info on it. Palm Springs water wants theirs e-mailed, and also to please put the new homeowner's first name on it as well (normally we only put the last). We have three communities that use Southern California Edison, and those have to be done on another fax specifically for SCE, because unless there are at least seven shut-offs on the fax, they won't do it; you have to phone them in. So that means two faxes & an e-mail for Palm Springs, and for Beaumont one fax for SCE, one fax for the gas company, and one fax per home for the water. Oh, well, at least they're done for another week.

Sadie's chewed-up spots are clearing up, so of course now Hali's started. Sigh. We used some of Sadie's spray on it which hopefully will help. We also Frontlined all five animals last night; I was going to say it was a bit early for it, however now that I think about it today is the first of the month; they were early by what--12 hours? If the weather is warm enough we'll bathe all the dogs this weekend with the special shampoo the vet prescribed.

I had two weird dreams last night. One was I was at rehearsal for the Renaissance Faire, and realized I had committed myself to being in Danse Macabre, AND the Washerwomen, AND St. Ives. Most of the dream was trying to work out a schedule where all three would get a decent amount of my time as well as leaving me some free time to see the Faire. The other was I came back from vacation to discover that not only had someone turned my office into a storeroom, but I was now sharing that office/storeroom with Ms. Boss Woman. Luckily she was good at organizing & got it cleared out enough for us to work.

By the way, if anyone has the slightest clue where I put the pipe cleaners, please let me know.

Wow, Blogger really knows me today!

So, usually when I click the "next blog" icon in the toolbar, I end up getting websites that aren't in English, or are basically big advertisements for products in which I have no interest, and the like. I have just spent about an hour clicking on the "next blog" icon, and with one exception, every single blog was related to crafting in some way: knitting, crocheting, felting, scrapbooking, quilting, card-making, even one on soapmaking! Found the blogs of several Ravelry folks. I have been online at least 30 minutes longer than I had planned just because I couldn't believe how many crafty blogs were popping up. Mind you, the one exception was really not up my alley at all--it was a "mommy blog" where all the posts were about her kids and filled with photos of her kids. So not me. . .

Black Friday

So, y'all have any big shopping plans for Black Friday? I'm not one for the crowds, so other than a trip to the yarn shop & picking up a couple things at the grocery store, I'm staying home today. Well, I might go to the bookstore, too. I just don't get the whole rushrushrushcrowdcrowdcrowdgimmegimmegimme mentality that seems to go with the Friday after Thanksgiving.

And here's something I can't believe I forgot to mention. Last week Ralph entered his first archery tournament. It was all bare bow (no sights or stabilizers allowed) and had several different categories. He entered for longbow, and took first place for most hits in that category (107 hits out of 108 shots). As far as he could tell, the second-highest number of hits was 99 so you can see he did really well for his first tournament ever. He even knows what he did wrong that made him miss that one shot. His friend PmcA took first for most bulls-eyes (9) using a Mongolian horseman's bow.

My sweater is very close to being finished. I only have one sleeve left to do, having completed the first one last night. I tried it on & it fits better than I expected it to. I should have knit it a little bit longer--maybe another inch or two--although of course if it really bothers me I can take out the bind-off, undo the ribbing, and add a couple inches before reknitting the ribbing. I certainly have enough yarn for that, having grossly overestimated the amount I'd need. I had calculated that I would need 11 skeins of the yarn I had picked, bought 13 just to be on the safe side, and at this point have 6-1/2 skeins with which to knit one sleeve. Perhaps when I go to the yarn shop today I'll see if the clerks have any suggestions as to what to make with the leftovers; it was a sale purchase and cannot be returned so I definitely need to make something with it. Too bad it's hand-wash only; I'd make a doggie blanket out of it if it was machine washable, but I'm not going to hand-wash a blanket that's for sure!

As Christmas approaches, I'm taking a moment to point out the link to your left for Heifer International. Instead of just feeding the hungry, this organization provides livestock (such as cows, sheep, goats, rabbits, bees, and even llamas & water buffalo) & training to families in need all over the world so they can break the cycle of poverty and become self-sufficient. They also organize collectives so when the initial donation has grown to where there is surplus produce, the people have a place to sell it. Then there is the "passing of the gift," where the initial recipient gives the first female offspring to another needy family. There are animal gifts to fit every donor's budget, from $20 for a flock of chicks up to $10,000 for an animal ark. I generally donate chicks or bees as they both fit my budget and provide multiple benefits: chicks can be turned loose in the family garden where they eat insects & sprouting weeds, plus their droppings are free fertilizer. As adults, a hen can produce as many as 200 eggs in a year, providing protein for the family & with a flock of hens, surplus to be sold. As for bees, in addition to providing the obvious honey & beeswax, they pollinate local gardens and orchards which can as much as double the crop yield. Anyway, end of public service announcement :-)

Thanksgiving morning

I have finally remembered to take pictures of the spider I knit back in August. I think it came out pretty well, eh?

Have the Thanksgiving feast all planned out. Assembled a pumpkin pie last night, so dessert is already taken care of. I've got a 14 pound turkey, which is a little larger than I wanted but what was available in the store. Have the oysters for the stuffing although I need to get celery, as well as sour cream for the corn casserole. Instant mashed potatoes (yes, I know!) and some gravy packets in case there aren't enough drippings to make gravy. Mmm, mmm!! Way too much food for just the two of us; I'll have to freeze some of the leftovers to avoid wasting it I think.

Been getting a lot of knitting done. Think I'll do some spinning this weekend, though. I've got some purple merino/silk that I started on the travel wheel a month or so ago and really ought to finish it up. I've also got some yellow merino & orange corriedale that I want to blend together, as I don't care much for them separate. However, the yellow will brighten up the orange and I think the blend will be an improvement.

As usual, not much else going on. Hopefully something exciting will happen for me to blog about :-)

Dull weekend ahead

Nothing exciting planned for this weekend. Need to take Sadie to the vet as she is chewing her skin raw. Need to buy cat litter. Hope to get some knitting done. Need to buy food for Thanksgiving. Ralph doesn't know for sure yet if he is working that day or not, but I can serve dinner at 6:30 as easily as our more traditional 3:00 pm holiday meal.

Traffic SUCKED last night, and not in that good way you can charge extra for. Took me almost 2 hours to get home. I was tired, cranky, and headache-y by the time I arrived. Ralph, sweetheart that he is, had dinner just about ready, hooray! It was much appreciated, even if it was only re-heated leftovers.

And that's it for today's exciting blog entry.

Forgot to mention. . .

When one clicks on the "People" tab in Ravelry, part of the page has a "Random Assortment of Favorites." Yesterday, one of the random projects was mine! I was so excited, I didn't want to close the page. Silly, I know. This is the project that came up: the Bigfoot Shawl.

How I Spent My November Vacation

Well, here it is, the last day of my vacation. As always, the time just zoooooomed past. Thank goodness I've got a 4-day weekend coming up with the Thanksgiving holiday in just a couple weeks, because this just didn't seem like enough time off.

Monday I just mainly kicked around the house: did some knitting, read a bit, played with the dogs, brainsucked. Cooked a pot roast for dinner; it tasted good but was amazingly tough. The potatoes, onions, and carrots were excellent though.

Tuesday I went to the yarn store to get size 3 needles as noted in my last post. Amazingly, I ONLY bought the needles, despite much temptation from gorgeous yarns. One skein in particular was difficult to resist. It was a soft, thickish merino sock yarn in variegated shades of lavender. I actually had it in my hand & ready to buy it, and still managed to make myself put it back on the shelf.



I also went to the bookstore that day. Bought a total of four books: "Ghost a la Mode" by Sue Jafarian; "The Body in the Library" by Agatha Christie; "Six Geese a-Slaying" by Donna Andrews; and the latest Sherman's Lagoon collection by Jim Toomey. I'm already done with all but the Agatha Christie so it looks like another book trek is required. I am failing to see why the esteemed Ms. Christie is so popular; I'm finding her writing style to be almost cartoonish. Unrealistic dialogue, no depth to the characters (not yet, anyway; I'm only a couple chapters in but still. . ) and she's already used that annoying TV trait of the one-sided phone conversation where the speaker repeats what the other person says so you know what's going on. "What's that you say? You found a body? I see. A young woman you've never seen before, you say? Yes, sir." Really annoying.



Ralph's time off began on Wednesday, and we went to see the new "Christmas Carol" starring Jim Carrey. I was pleasantly surprised to see some other familiar names in the opening credits, including Gary Oldman, Carey Elwes and Bob Hoskins. I enjoyed the entire movie with the exception of one section, whereas Ralph was bored out of his skull and went to go read in the truck about 2/3 of the way through. The only part I didn't care for was the segment involving Ghost of Christmas Yet to Be. While I loved how the Spirit itself was portrayed, the storyline at that point took a strange deviation from any other version I've seen & I just didn't care for it, or see the reason for it. After the movie we ate lunch at George's Greek Cafe; not the one in Long Beach, but his new location in Lakewood, which is in the same parking lot as the movie theater we had gone to. Delicious as always :-)



Thursday we didn't do much of anything other than brainsuck & wash the dogs.

The photos on today's posting are from our Friday outing to the Los Angeles Arboretum. That was a lovely visit. Oddly, we didn't see that many peacocks (usually there are dozens) and not a single peahen. Then again, we don't normally go this late in the year. I was highly amused by the name "woollybutt" for a tree. The photo of Ralph is of him standing next to it so you can see how tall it is. Fewer things in bloom this time of year than the last time we visited, which I suppose is only to be expected. Still, we had a nice, relaxed mosey around the park. My favorite section was the Shakespearean herb garden, where they had planted different herbs & had little signs with quotes from Shakespeare that referenced the particular herb the sign was near. I think Ralph liked the roses the best.



Yesterday we had planned to go to archery, only to discover when we got there that class had been canceled due to the Senior Olympics holding their archery competition. There were a few open butts (stop giggling, it's what you call the big hay bales that hold the targets) but Ralph didn't really want to shoot since none of his friends were there. Instead we headed to the Nature Center across the street, where an Acorn Festival was being held. The Festival itself was kinda sad; just a few tables set up with acorn-related information. However, there was a tour of some of the oak trees in the Center and that was really fun & informative. For example, I didn't know that oak trees produce different kinds of leaves, depending on where they grow in the tree: thick leaves at the top, thinner, flatter leaves lower down, serrated edges on some leaves & smooth on the others. Some of the trees were so scrubby they looked like bushes, and one was amazingly tall and spread out.

Saturday night we attended a party at our neighbor's house. Good food, had some good conversations (including one with a fellow knitter, always a pleasure!) but didn't stay as long as I would have liked because it was just too noisy for me. Neighbor A had set up his X-Box to play music, and it was cranked so high that conversation in the living room was virtually impossible. There weren't any chairs in any other part of the house, and outdoors was a little chilly. Also, since most of the people were outside away from the music, there were so many conversations going on that it was hard to concentrate on a single one.

Today will eventually be a day of housework, as we both need clean work clothes for the coming week plus the carpet needs vacuuming AGAIN even though we just did it.

Pumpkin pancakes FAIL

Made pumpkin pancakes for breakfast, or attempted to do so anyway. I put too much pumpkin in the batter, so they didn't cook through properly and were very very soggy. Tasted OK though.

Started on a pair of gloves yesterday, and ended up frogging them as the size 4 needles I was using were a tad too big for the yarn. Went to get a set of size 3 needles. I own about elebenty-billion size 3 needles. I can find one. Not one set--just one needle. Might have to go to the yarn store today & get a set or two. I better leave most of my cash & my credit cards at home so I don't buy yarn, too. OK maybe one skein if they have something really awesome.

Today's photo: octopus bellies :-) I really am addicted to that pattern.

My cadaver :-)

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Since I'm trying to eat a more healthy diet, I bet I could up the value on this old corpse in a few months. I'll have to take the quiz again in six months, if I remember.

Made another octopus over the weekend (this makes 5) and have four tentacles done on another one. Man I love this pattern! So quick to make, doesn't use up a lot of yarn, and it looks great IMHO. This one is variegated red with a white underside, and the WIP is variegated green with a white underside. Rather Christmassy now that I think about it.

Had a wonderful time at Termite's Twin Peaks marathon yesterday. Stayed about 7 hours, which got us through the pilot & six episodes or thereabouts. I think we all had fried eyeballs by then. Several of us wore clothes appropriate to the show: Termite & her sweetie KH dressed as Leo & Shelly; I wore my fish hat and represented the fish that was in the percolator (as noted in a previous post); and one of the guys dressed as Gordon complete with a hearing aid. OK, it was actually a bluetooth device but we all knew what he was going for.

I even managed to stick to the diet pretty well during the party, having only a very small serving of cherry pie (one MUST have cherry pie at a Peaks party) & half a slice of homemade pumpkin bread to go with my sandwich at lunch. Normally at this sort of event I would have had a big piece of pie, and a whole slice of pumpkin bread, and probably a donut because, well, it IS Peaks after all, and maybe even a scoop of the mac-a-chee (that's macaroni & cheese to those among the Teeming Millions who have never read any of the "Trixie Belden" series).

Busy day planned today. Need to do laundry and buy some groceries, vacuum the living room, and I promised Ralph I'd have dinner ready when he got home. Not positive what I'm going to fix but at the moment I'm thinking of roasting a chicken. We have fresh basil & rosemary growing in the backyard which will be good with poultry, and maybe I'll pick up some sweet potatoes to bake along with it. Also want to work on my sweater a little bit & I still need to organize the stash since I didn't do it on Saturday.

Still waiting for my internal clock to adjust to the time change. Waking up between 3:30 and 4:00 because my brain thinks it's an hour later is getting tiresome (no pun intended).

Today marks the beginning of my vacation. Archery this morning, then who knows? I'm thinking this is a good day for knitting. And maybe organizing my fiber/yarn stash. Yes, definitely a yarny day.

A few short notes

Had my official weigh-in today since I won't be at work Monday: down just over a pound at 166 even. I have not eaten out at all this week, which is really unusual. Cooking dinner has helped, as it means leftovers to take for lunch the next day (I can only eat sammidges for so long before I start craving burgers & burritos).

Making excellent progress on my sweater. I had it set aside for a while because of the arm pain as you may recall, but have taken it up again this week. I've finished the body and am halfway through the first sleeve. My goal is to have it completed by the end of my vacation.

My friend Termite is having a Twin Peaks Marathon on Sunday. Costumes are optional, although there really aren't that many distinct outfits from the show. I think I might wear my fish hat, and go as the fish that was in the percolator. True Peakers will know what that means :-) Ralph has never seen the show; hope he enjoys it although I'm sure he'll bring a novel just in case. I don't think I can watch TV all day, so I'll be bringing a knitting project. Not sure what yet--the sweater is kinda big for hauling around, and there's not enough left on the last fish hat to bother bringing it. Maybe I'll make another octopus, because four just aren't enough. Especially since I'm giving one away.

Well, it's getting late by my standards. Time for bed, I think.

Changes at work

The good news at work is there have still been no lay-offs. The bad news is, two people have chosen to leave the company, including my good buddy JN. Today was his last day, and I didn't even find out about it until late yesterday. His reasons for leaving are sound--can't argue with them at all--but dang I'm gonna miss him. I had TK take a photo of JN & me together today. (Please note--he's sitting on the edge of the desk while I am standing; with me at 5'-3" and him at 6'-5", it was really the only way to get both of us in the photo, LOL!) The other person who is leaving is CK, and again while I can't argue with her reasons I wish she were staying.

Looking forward to next week's vacation. We're not going anywhere other than a few day trips to places such as the arboretum, dog beach, maybe the Japanese garden at the University, plus I'd like to see the new "Christmas Carol" movie that starts on Friday (I'm a sucker for Christmas movies). I also plan on finishing up a few knitting projects, including the last fish hat (can you believe that still isn't done??) and my green sweater. Organizing my yarns & fibers is a possibility as well. And definitely need to wash the Girly Girls if the warm weather holds up; they SHTINK!!! as only a dog can shtink.

Speaking of warm, Ralph fixed the hot water tap in the garage, which means we can finally do laundry in hot water again. He had been avoiding it because he was afraid of doing more damage, but the repair turned out to be so easy that now he wonders why he waited so long.

LS at work has taken down all her Halloween Eeyores, and put up a pair of Thanksgiving ones: a pilgrim & an Indian. I took a photo today but it's kinda blurry so I'll try again tomorrow.

Well, gonna hit Facebook before dinner. Adios!

A few notes

Well, that was a strange Halloween. I mean, I had a good time at Duh's party, and I'm glad we went, but without the haunted house or trick-or-treaters it just doesn't feel like we had Halloween at all. Ralph feels the same & is rarin' to go with next year's haunted house.

We failed to go grocery shopping over the weekend, and so last night I was going through my cookbooks trying to find a recipe that used ingredients we already had in the house. Came across one for "Maryland Fried Chicken with Creamy Gravy" in my Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook which Ralph cooked up (the chicken, not the cookbook) when he got home from work today (I was stuck in traffic--gee, thanks KFI for totally NOT mentioning the two accidents on the 91 West in any of your traffic reports). Oh. My. Goodness. It was absolutely wonderful. Really flavorful, nice & juicy. Ralph says it was easy to make. Plus, since the chicken is only browned in a few tablespoons oil then simmered in milk rather than being cooked in 1/2" or more of oil, it's got less fat than your usual fried chicken. To top it off, the recipe makes six servings, which means we've got leftovers for lunch and dinner tomorrow.

Work is having a "Biggest Loser" contest. I signed up for it & had my first official weigh-in today: 167.2 is my starting point. I want to get below 160 by the end of the contest (Feb 1) which means 2.5 pounds a month. That seems achievable, plus is motivation to get me back on the dang exercise bike which I have not ridden in about a month before today. Only rode for 11-1/2 minutes but I guess that's better than zero minutes. Since I have a relatively low goal I doubt I'll win the prize ($50) although I certainly wouldn't be upset if I did :-)

Halloween at work, 2009

Yesterday was the work Halloween party. Just about everyone dressed up in costume, and there was a very nice lunch to go with it: tacos al carbon, beans, rice, and cake. I noticed something interesting during the lunch, though. All the people who had cake were happy, laughing, and chatting. Those who didn't all looked very bitter and disdainful. You could almost hear their thoughts: "I want cake, but I will not have cake. I am stronger than the cake. You cake-eaters are weak even if you think you are having fun." Incidentally, it was really good cake. I'm with Erma Bombeck on this one; she once said, "Think of all the women on the Titanic who skipped dessert that night. What a waste!" Anyway, here are some pix from the event:


The winners of "Funniest Costume" went to: Andy Gibb & The Bee Gees, as portrayed by SC, Mr. Boss Man's Boss, WM, and JN. Incidentally, people who are 6'-5" in their stocking feet should not wear platform shoes, especially when walking through doorways. Ouch!


A shot of the extremely yummy, happy-inducing cake. It was marble with chocolate pudding for the filling & buttercream icing. I brought some to the escrow ladies upstairs. AM liked it so much she actually did the Happy Food Dance :-)


Mr. Boss Man himself, dressed as mild-mannered reporter Clark Kent. His costume was a big hit, and he might even have won a prize if he had stuck around for the party instead of going back to work.


My other boss, Ms. Boss Woman, showing support for her favorite team. Go Angels!


LL doing a marvelous Michael Jackson impression. She was actually part of a group costume that included KR as Liz Taylor, MG as Prince Michael (complete with mask), and KB, fresh from maternity leave, as Macaulay Culkin.



And the winners of Most Original Costume went to a joint effort by Homeowner Services and the Construction Managers for their portrayal of "Geoffrey Giraffe and the Toys R Us Kids." They certainly got my vote! Unfortunately the photo I took of the entire group came out really blurry. I'll see if I can yoink one from MG, as I know she took a lot of pix.

I just wore my Faire outfit for the day. It's funny--I've worn Faire clothes for so many years that I didn't feel like I was wearing a costume at all. I have never before had so many people tell me I looked cute as I did yesterday. Weird.

Halloween party

Had a very good time at the Halloween party last night. Talked with old friends & people I'd just met, decorations were wonderful as always, good food, many good costumes with prizes for best, most original, and most humorous. I've posted pictures of the winners:



Most original went to "Scottish Air Force."




Most humorous went to "Spanish/Swine Flu."




Best costume went to "Ruth Buzzi and Arte Johnson." Yup, that is me and Ralph. Yay us!!

It's the weekend again

Let's see, posted last weekend, and the weekend before that, and the weekend before that. I am starting to see a trend here.

Busy day ahead of us. Need to finish the last few things on the costumes. Who knew it was so freakin' hard to find an old-fashioned hair net? I might actually have to MAKE one. Sheesh. Ralph is going to go over to M's from archery to see their Halloween decorations, plus there's a play that he wants to go to this afternoon, plus of course the party tonight at MS & SS's place. And as always the household chores need to be done.

I've been very bad about riding the exercise bike. Need to start doing that again.

And that's all I've got for you today. Should have some good pics from the party next time.

Silverado Days and Pioneer chicken

Had a very nice day today. Did some housework, and while the place wouldn't win any Good Housekeeping awards it wouldn't embarrass me to have people drop by unexpectedly either. It always feels good to have the place tidy.

Took a quick trip to Michael's because Ralph wanted to get a basket to keep cords & things in. I picked up a couple items too, but I'm not saying what as they will be fashioned into Christmas gifts & I don't want to give anything away. I will post pictures after the holiday, though.

Next we headed to Silverado Days in Buena Park. MH2 & PH2 were going to come, but they are busy moving PH2's mom so they weren't able to go. Nothing too exciting--a few booths, rides, and games--but it was free parking & free admission, AND there was a chili cook-off & tasting/voting was free. There were about 8 different kinds of chili. The first one we tried was the best IMHO, very spicy and meaty. There was also a chicken chili which I liked very much, however the mild flavor made it taste more like a chicken stew than a chili, so even though it was delicious it did not get my vote. I kept expecting there to be dumplings in it.

Funny thing--there was a hang-glider ride there, and I took a picture of it because I thought it was pretty neat. After it went around a couple times, I decided to take a second shot to make sure I got one with people in it (there weren't too many riders at the time). Here are the two pictures I took:












I could not have gotten two more identical shots if I had tried.



After that we went to Pioneer Chicken in Bell Gardens. This may not seem like a big deal, but this was the first Pioneer Chicken I have seen since I was in my teens so it was a real trip down ol' Memory Lane. It was wonderful, too, exactly how I remembered it.

Well, going to keep the post short tonight. I want to do some knitting; I'm on the bottom ribbing of the shirt, and have another project that I want to go over the pattern for and make sure I've got all that I need for it.

Yay, it's the weekend!

. . . although I don't know why I'm excited about it. No real plans other than archery & housework. Buena Park is having some sort of old West days this weekend, might go to that, or to the Oktoberfest in Anaheim.

Kinda missed out on dance class this week. We went, but I wasn't feeling well & only did the first set (2 dances). Ralph did the second set without me, then we headed home. I took some Pepto and went straight to bed. Felt better in the morning; I was really sorry to miss class because we've been enjoying it so much, and it's really fun now that we know more than just alemande left & grand ring.

And sadly, that's really all I've got for this post.

Posts? Why would a blog need posts?

Wow, 10 days since my last post. And still not much to write about other than yesterday. What's so special about yesterday, you may ask? Well, my niece KT and her son AT were out visiting, and the family had a picnic get-together at a park near Dad's place. Ralph & I brought a Honeybake ham, rolls & 2 gallons of home-made lemonade (which required the juice of two dozen lemons, e-gads!). Dad & J brought homemade potato salad, donuts & chips; The Boy & The Girl also brought rolls & chips, and Lizard brought two batches of brownies. We all had a good time chatting for about three hours, at which point it got a bit chilly for those of us in shorts & we packed up for the day.



I got a little bit more done on my sweater/shirt. I've had to pretty much stop working on it because the pressure from sliding the 232 cotton stitches along the circular needles is causing arm pain. That's kind of frustrating because as you can see from the photo I'm only about 2 inches away from starting the bottom ribbing (about 16 rounds), then adding the sleeves to finish it up. Still, better to slow down and take it easy now than to push on & end up damaging my arm so badly that I can't knit at all. And looking at this photo of me trying it on, all I can say is: "Dang, I've got big boobs!!"

Ralph & I went Halloween costume shopping today. I was pleased with how much we were able to find. We need a few more items but all in all we got the majority of the shopping finished. And no, I'm not telling what we're going as--you'll have to wait for the photos. So far we've only told Lizard, so she better not spill the beans, even if I *did* forget to bring her repaired Eeyore to her on Saturday.



We stopped for lunch today at The Fish Tale, a very nice seafood place about 10 minutes from home. Ralph had shrimp & scallops with potatoes, and I had a soup/salad combo. The soup was of course clam chowder, served in a sourdough bowl that they had actually scraped most of the bread out of so I had a full serving of soup in it. Most places only make a tiny dent & you get hardly any soup at all. I told the waiter to "surprise me, as long as it's not Italian" on the dressing for the salad, and he brought two tiny pitchers: one of bleu cheese & one of honey mustard. It was kind of fun switching between the two, although I did like the honey mustard the best & ate mostly that. Ralph helped himself to the bleu cheese & about 1/3 of my salad. The meal came with a round sourdough loaf, still hot enough to melt the butter. Yum!!!! I was quite full when we finished eating although right now I am thinking longingly of the pie in the fridge.

Oh! That reminds me. I saw a cookbook that I want; I would have bought it at the time if I'd had enough cashola on me. It's all desserts, and it's called "Sticky, Gooey, Messy, Chewy." The recipes seem to rely heavily on chocolate, caramel, and/or marshmallow creme. A chef after my own heart. . .

October 1

I've noticed that I really haven't been blogging much lately. It's not that my life is any less exciting, or any more (or less) busy than it used to be. I think it's just part of me not being on the computer as much as I used to. I've been spending more time knitting, spinning, reading, and yes even riding the ol' exercise bike (which I'm skipping out on tonight, so there).

MG & LL have started putting up Halloween decorations at work. I'm still getting used to the fact that we can do that; in the old Irvine office, Halloween decorations were forbidden after the company had a decorating contest, and someone complained that the decorations were Satanic & creating a hostile work environment (she was given 2 weeks leave until after Halloween). They've got a huge spiderweb draped over their cubicles & across the hallway. I'm one of about 4 people in the office who can walk under them without having to duck--and no one seems to mind it. They either duck or use the other hallway. Amazing. MG & LL have also put up a couple tombstones & rats, and a skull with a wig & glasses that to my eye make it look like Andy Warhol.

Speaking of Halloween, Ralph still hasn't decided if he wants to do anything at the house this year. He really got burned out with last year's over-the-top building. I suggested today that we maybe do a small ghost town, putting cowboy hats on the skeletons & having Western-themed tombstones such as "Here lies the rustler/Old Black Bart/Shot by the Sheriff/Through his black heart," and get the fogger going. He seemed to like the idea. Wonder if we could get some tumbleweeds from somewhere? Hmm, and maybe a noose hanging from the tree by the deck.

Survivor is on tonight. I didn't enjoy last week's episode, as it had way too much arguing and drama for my liking. I think when The Powers that Be decided to include Evil Russell, they forgot that a villain has to have some redeeming characteristics or who wants to watch? At least Johnny Fairplay was entertaining with his scheming. Evil R is just plain malicious. If this week isn't any better, there's a good chance I'll stop watching.

Oh, and if you can't tell, today's photo is of a stick-insect in a terrarium. I took that photo at the LA County Fair last month. It was really hard to get a good shot.

Fall at last

Can't believe I've let a whole week go by without posting. But then, as usual, not a whole lot has been going on.

I had jury duty today. Not too onerous, really. The info sheet that came with the summons said that knitting needles were prohibited, so I left my project in the car. Once in the assembly room, out of all the people there who should sit next to me but a woman with a bag full of yarn & needles! I asked how she managed to get them in & she said she just showed them to the bailiff and got the OK. So of course at the break I scurried to the car & got my project. It took three people checking out the needles before I got the OK to bring them in. Made the day much more pleasant, knitting and chatting with the woman (KM, whom I shall call K from jury duty to avoid confusing her with the other KM that I know). I got called as part of a pool but didn't even make it into the jury box. Oh, fie, I realize that I gave K my blog site address but not my e-mail address. Good thing I have hers--I'll e-mail her tonight as she is going to send me a recipe for marmalade ham.

Making good progress on my current project: a short-sleeved cotton/silk top knit from the top down. I've never made a shirt before and am pleased with how this is turning out, although it is a bit heavier than I anticipated. It's done in sport weight at a gauge of 5 stitches per inch, and of course I'm used to sock yarns so really didn't anticipate how heavy it will be. Still, with fall here I'm sure the weather will start to cool down soon and the shirt will be appropriate for the season. The Polaroid in the photo is just for perspective, so you can see how much I've done.


The pirate party went well last week. Dad & J didn't stay very long; they weren't feeling too well & I think once most of the people had arrived it was just too noisy for either of them to really hear on top of that. Duh & Happy had great outfits; she had on a chenille skirt as part of her pirate-wear, and he was dressed as a seafarin' pirate captain. Yes, you've got it right--they were The Captain and Chenille. Many a groan followed that revelation. All in all there were about a dozen guests and I think everyone had a good time. Of course no one took any photos; I cheated & snapped a shot about 10 minutes ago of one of the decorations that is still up. My knit squid, octopi, and fish hats made nice additions, I think, to the pirate-y theme.

Not sure what to do with my evening. My shoulder & thumb are sore from knitting so that's out. Ralph won't be home for dinner so no reason to cook. Nothing I want to watch on TV. I took a walk during the lunch break so I don't even have to ride the exercise bike tonight, although I may do 10 minutes just to stay in the habit of using it. Or maybe I'll just read & go to bed early. Who knows?