And so it goes

I really have very little to post about; this is mostly just to keep in the habit of posting :-)

I was sitting in my car the other day, & two women walked past, slightly out of sync with each other in their steps. With their high heels on the asphalt, it sounded exactly like a horse walking past. I will never understand why so many women wear clompy shoes like that. I'll stick with my comfy flats, thankyewverramuch.

Poor Ralph has been fighting a bad asthma attack since Friday night. It was so bad that he had to sleep in the trailer; whatever it was that set it off seems to be in the bedroom. We've cleaned, vacuumed, moved items out of the room, changed the sheets & it hasn't helped much. He went to the doctor's for it today & is feeling a little better. We just finished washing the dogs, and Mudgie is back on Allerpet so hopefully this will take care of things.

Hmm. I think that's all I've got for today. Better post next time, I promise :-)

Another exciting post

Such a busy day at work yesterday! Mr. Boss Man was off, which meant I did all the updates that he normally would have done: updated price sheets for five communities, uploaded some contract documents, verified options on four phases, etc. This was in addition to my own work, of course. It was actually rather enjoyable, and made the day go quickly to have so much to do.

One thing I noticed shortly after starting my new job was that everyone seemed to have a Gumby in his or her office. It turned out that one Christmas, after a meeting in which flexibility had been stressed, Ms. IT bought these for everyone. Last week she picked up a couple more for us new folks. I've got mine balanced on the edge of the bulletin board. It's a small thing that really helped me feel welcome & part of the team.

Started reading a new book last week. It's called The Eyre Affair and so far is pretty interesting. It's a time travel novel; the main character is a woman named Thursday Next. This is the book that I was given in the Pi Day Swap.

I'm also making very good progress on my shawl. I'm down to 45 stitches per row (it was 99 at the longest point) so with any luck I'll be able to finish it this weekend. I won't have a lot of time to work on it, though, at least not today. Maybe tomorrow.

My orange & black yarn arrived! It's gorgeous, and as a little added bonus came with a pretty beaded stitch marker attached to the label. I see lovely new socks in my future.

Some random thoughts

It never ceases to amaze me what people will post on the internet. Don't they realize how absolutely public it really is? For example, the other day a friend on Facebook posted a request for some mason jars. Another friend of hers, whom I do not know, responded that her mother had some, and then posted her mother's phone number. I commented to that person, "Um, Person, you do realize you just gave your mother's phone number to the entire internet, right?" With websites such as STFU Parents and Failbook, you'd think people would know that all it takes is a screen shot. Amazing.

One of today's pictures is of a white rhino at the San Diego Safari Park. She is past breeding age, and so is not part of the park's program to increase the rhino population (they are an endangered species). The tour guide said her horns look odd because she doesn't grind them against objects the way rhinos usually do, so the park rangers have to give her occasional "manicures."




I'm almost 3/4 of the way finished with my shawl. I really like how it is turning out. The only thing I don't care for is the one edge has yarnovers all along it, but the corresponding edge does not. If I make it again, I will use a different increase so the sides match better. Probably a lifted left increase, as I think that would best match the knit two togethers that are along the other edge. (For you non-knitters, yarnovers leave a hole & lifted increases do not.)

Folgers makes these flavored coffees, the best (IMHO) of which is the chocolate silk. Of course the store nearest our house stopped carrying that flavor, although it does carry the others. Last week I decided to see if I could find a store nearby that has it. According to the Folgers website, the closest store is 50 miles away--but the site included a link to the Smuckers Online Catalog (who knew they are the same company?) and I was able to order it there. Unfortunately it only comes in a case (six jars) but it was a reasonable price so I went ahead and ordered some. It arrived on Friday and mmmmmmmmm we have really enjoyed it these last two mornings. I'd almost forgotten how good it is.

I went to the yarn store yesterday. Oddly enough, I didn't buy anything. Oh, I found a few skeins that I really liked, but they were similar to yarns I already have & after months of frugality I just didn't see the need to pay $25-$30 for something that is similar to what I've already got. I *did* buy a skein off of an Etsy site, though; a lovely sock yarn in black & orange. The colorway is called "Monarch Butterfly" and it's really gorgeous. I'll take pics when it arrives.

Two weeks? Why do I even keep a blog?

I have worked the first week at my new job, and it's everything I could have hoped for. I was surprised by the number of familiar faces; including me, there are seven people from my old company working there. What a pleasant surprise that was! There's plenty of work to keep me busy, which is how I like it. I know I'm going to be very happy here.

Speaking of my old job, though, I hear that they are going to be moving back to Irvine. Ms. Boss Lady says she's going to make the commute. That's insane; she must live at least two hours away from Irvine, and even taking the train that's going to make her work day about 17 hours long. It also means they won't be just downstairs from the escrow company, so now there'll be the added time & expense of overnighting the grant deeds. Which reminds me, I need to sign up for a notary class. . .



I received my Pi Day swap package a little over a week ago. There were so many things in it! A ball of green & yellow fingering weight yarn, candy, Harry Potter fabric, a book, a tote bag with a pie recipe printed on it, a needle case, several small crochet hooks (I'm forever losing mine), orange cat-eye safety eyes, bookmarks, and I'm sure I've left something out here. Oh, I know what it was, a pattern for a triangular shawl. It's knit sideways, increasing for the first half & decreasing for the second to make the triangular shape. If you don't have a lot of yarn, you keep track of how much you've used by weighing it at intervals, then start the decreases when you've used have the yarn. Brilliant! Ms. Zinnia really put a lot of thought into the package. Makes me eager to join another swap!

I also got another little gift in the mail: a skein of handpainted yarn from Goginator! She bought it at Stitches West & thought I might like it. The colorway is perfect for me (and perfectly named for me, as well: the yarn is "Voodoo" in the colorway "Spirits"). Not sure yet what I'm going to make with it, although I'm leaning towards socks at the moment.



I'd been trying to get the family together so we could go to Lobsterfest at Red Lobster. I sent e-mails out with last Saturday lunchtime for the date, and everyone but Dad e-mailed back, "Can't, busy that day." I figured it was cancelled, but on Saturday I got a call from Dad at about 12:45 asking "Where are you guys??" Luckily we hadn't eaten yet so we put the groceries away, picked him up, and headed on out. The food was delicious, and we had a very nice time visiting with Dad.

Ralph bought a new coffee pot. I'm not 100% enamored of it; you need both hands to open the lid, and it brews veeeerrrrrrrrry sllllloooowwwwwwwwwly. On the plus side, it does have a timer which means usually the coffee is ready when I get up. I was up a little early today however I just heard the beep telling me it's ready.

Yes, I'm still here

OK, all right, so it's been ages since I've posted. Just not a whole lot going on right now that's interesting enough to talk about.

Weird to think that this is my last week of freedom before starting work again. Ralph & I have been enjoying it immensely, and treated ourselves to an overnight trip to the San Diego area as a mini-vacation. We spent yesterday at the Wild Animal Park (which has in fact been renamed as "The San Diego Zoo Safari Park") and had a wonderful time. Being a weekday in the off-season, it was not at all crowded & we got some really good views of the animals. Lots of nests in the aviary, and several babies around including the little antelope amongst today's photos. At the time we took the picture, it was less than 2 hours old. I was particularly glad to see the elephants; they looked much healthier & happier than the one we saw at the LA County Zoo.


Today we went to the San Diego Botanical Gardens (formerly Quail Botanical Gardens) and spent a couple leisurely hours strolling the grounds. Very pleasant & relaxing. We got there shortly after they opened, so even with spending 2-1/2 hours there we were still able to hit the road before the traffic started to get heavy and made good time on the drive home.



All of today's pictures were taken at either the Safari Park or the Arboretum. We don't know the woman with the lorikeets on her; we just thought it made a nice photo & she gave us the OK to take her picture. The shots of us with our arms outstretched is to show our "wingspan" as compared to that of a California Condor. See, I am tiny and petite, smaller than a bird :-) Please ignore the fact that I have major hat hair in the photo.

A super Super Bowl Sunday

I haven't taken any new pictures lately, so y'all are treated to another view of the socks I posted last time. I still need to get a photo of the most recent pair that I finished.

Had a *very* busy weekend. Ralph had the day off on Friday so we did some puttering about, including a trip to the local nursery. We now have a very small vegetable garden consisting of two cauliflower plants, one each of three different kinds of lettuce, and a basil plant. We've also got a yellow tomato which still needs to be put into the ground. As we were planting the last lettuce, I stepped at the edge of the garden & my foot sank--gopher hole! Augh! We basically gave him a salad bar right outside his door. Ralph has put down some gopher bait & hopefully this will work.

We also got a call from Dad on Friday, and made arrangements to meet for dinner on Saturday. We all got together in the early afternoon (Lizard, The Boy & The Girl were also invited) & as usual yakked for quite a while. Dinner was at Outback Steakhouse where we got fantastic service. Bread was brought on a regular basis & water glasses were refilled without anyone having to ask. We tipped the waiter very well (more than 20%). The food was delicious, too. I had the BBQ Mixed Grill: a small serving of ribs, grilled chicken, three large coconut shrimp, and mashed potatoes. YUM! Then Ralph & I split a Cinnamon Oblivion for dessert.

Sunday morning brought a last-minute invitation to a Puppy Bowl party. It's like a Super Bowl party, only we watched Animal Planet instead. It didn't start until 2:00, which gave us time to whip up some of Ralph's famous homemade guacamole and a fresh steamed chocolate pudding. The hosts also provided a fine array of goodies including bacon-wrapped drumsticks & some fantastic Asiago cheese spread with ranch crackers.

Monday I went shopping for work clothes. I made the wonderful discovery of not one, but two shops in the local mall that carry business attire at reasonable prices. I got a blazer, three skirts, and a couple shirts. Oh, and a coat which I ended up bringing back yesterday for a larger size. It fit OK, but I realized if I had winter clothes on under it rather than the shorts & t-shirt I wore out shopping it would be just a little too snug. The only downside to the trips was the overly aggressive salespeople at the skin care kiosks. I passed several of them, and they are really pushy about trying to get you to sample their products. I generally had to tell them "No, thank you" at least six times before I could get away, and even then they look at you like you're the one being rude.

Yesterday I got assigned my "swapner" for the Pi Day Swap on Ravelry. Of course that meant I spent all afternoon online looking at potential items & placing an order or two (I'm not going to say what I looked at or what I got, since my blog can be accessed through Ravelry & I don't want to spoil the surprise). The swap box is supposed to contain yarn, a hand-crafted item, and some goodies/toys relating in some way to either pi or pie. I've already started on the hand-crafted item & have a few ideas regarding the pi/pie goodies. My swapner has requested no baked goods, which makes it easier as I don't have to try to figure out how to ship a pie to Utah :-)

It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood

Well, while the majority of the US is fighting snow & blizzards, we on the West Coast continue to have lovely weather. Ralph & I even did some gardening over the weekend, trimming trees, pulling out some dead plants & replacing them with live ones.

In other news, I got a job! I'll be working as an escrow administrator, and my new boss is none other than Mr. Boss Man himself. It'll be awesome working with him again. The job promises to be very busy & challenging, which I'm quite looking forward to. It starts at the end of the month so I've got some time to let it all sink in.

Today's photo: the socks that I finished a couple weeks ago. These are the ones from the pattern book my SIL bought me for Christmas. They are without a doubt the funkiest socks I ever made, but I love them. I'm thinking of entering them in the County Fair. The flash washed out the color a little bit in the photo but I think you can get a good idea of how they look.

Stuff for today

Well, as you can see, our nectarine tree is in bloom. Provided we can keep the birds from eating them all we should have a pretty good crop. Nectarine cobbler is definitely in our future :-)

Things are looking up in the job market, I hope. I don't want to go into any details just yet--don't want to jinx things!--but please do send good mojo my way if you are so inclined.

I'm trying a new recipe from the Unofficial Harry Potter Cookbook: chicken & ham pie. I bought a whole chicken & cut it into pieces since it was a lot less expensive than buying it pre-cut. I will never do this again. Cutting up a whole chicken is DISGUSTING, especially when you have to cut through bone. Yuck. It's well worth the extra money to not have to do that.

I'm also making another steamed chocolate pudding, which I fear may be a Fail since for some reason, even though it says to cook it for 3 hours, I set the timer for 2-1/2 which is the cook time for the treacle pudding. I didn't realize the error until I tried to turn it out onto a plate after cooling. Mostly cooked pudding remained in the bowl, and a pile of chocolatey goo ended up on the plate. Sigh. I scraped it back into the bowl & am boiling it for another 45 minutes (I'm adding some extra cook time to get it back up to temperature), which I hope will salvage it. I've been craving this all week & it would be a shame if it's not edible.

Last weekend Ralph & I went to a Dickens Festival in Riverside. It was OK, but not as much fun as I'd hoped. We did enjoy watching Jeffrey the Juggler (who was a friend of Ralph's years ago at Ren Faire), and the costumes were lovely. I also liked the musicians. But the dealer area was kind of small, and the play we started to watch was both dull & difficult to hear (the microphones didn't seem to be working, and the cast was relying on them rather than projecting). I think my favorite part was playing some of the children't games. Ralph skunked me at jacks, which I should have anticipated since he is also a juggler. There was also a game there called "Graces" which consists of using two sticks to toss & catch a hoop. I did better at that than I expected. Still, it was a free event and I enjoyed it enough to be interested in going again next year.

While we were there, we also wandered through an antique store & found a bunch of Happy Hollisters books. If I'd had the money I'd have bought several of them, since I know I'm missing quite a few of the titles they had there, such as "Ghost Horse Mystery," "Monster Mystery," and "Swiss Echo Mystery." Ah, well, perhaps when I do have the money they'll still be available. They were pretty well hidden so perhaps I'll be lucky.

I finished the pair of socks I was working on. Since each ball of yarn was enough to knit a full pair, I've got enough left to make another pair. I've already cast them on & am halfway through (just finished turning the heels this afternoon). I'm using a slip-stitch pattern, almost mind-numbingly easy and yet extremely attractive if I do say so myself. I'll have to post pics--which reminds me, I *still* need to post photos of the Bloody Stupid Johnson hat, especially now that I've made two of them.

Wake up, cousin! We're going to the zoo!

Today Ralph & I spent about 3 hours at the LA County Zoo. For the most part, we had a good time. There were only two downers: the elephant was rocking & looking most unhappy (a little online research tells me that this behavior is only seen in captive elephants and is probably stress-related), and the orangutans looked very sad and bored. The rest of the trip was fun. The meerkats were adorable, of course. Lots of interesting birds--my favorite, I think, was the Andean Condor although we were not positioned well enough to get a picture. Ralph got some pretty good photos of a wallaby, however I shall refrain from posting them since it's really quite obvious that this was a male. Really obvious. I was especially pleased that we got a good view of the tiger. I think this is the first time I've ever seen one, since every other time I've been to a zoological park they've been hiding in the shady grass.



Haven't been doing much knitting. Instead, way too much time has been spent on the computer (oh, look, I'm on it again!), mostly on Ravelry but also playing games. I really need to cut down on that, especially if I ever expect to get those socks finished.

Last night we watched "Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time." Sadly, that's two hours of my life that I won't get back. Bad acting, stilted dialogue, way too much reliance on the characters telling you the story rather than the story being played out, and for the love of Bob, WHY does every person in Ancient Persia speak with a contemporary British accent? Thank goodness I had some crossword puzzles on which to work or I'd have been totally bored.

Sleeeeeepy

While 49 of the 50 United States have snow on the ground, I'm ready to take a nap. Why? Because I lay outside in the sun for about 30 minutes in my shorts, and now I'm all warm & sleepy. Some of my Ravelry friends are talking about 13" of snow, and freezing temperatures, and here I am with this lovely, lovely weather.



I've been doing a lot of cooking, as I'm sure you have all figured out by now. Today's picture is of last night's roast chicken, which I served with onion-garlic mashed potatoes, gravy, and peas. No, it's not burned; those dark patches are the herbs showing through the skin. Dessert was a bit of the Steamed Chocolate Pudding; not the one in the January 8 post, as that was completely devoured by January 10, but the second one that I made on January 11. I polished off the last bit of it this morning. I think I need to cut down on the desserts so I won't be making another one for a while. The chicken leftovers are going to be turned into stew tomorrow.

Kind of a silly thing happened a few minutes ago. I was sitting here in the living room when a car drove past the house. A man in the car was laughing the entire time, so loudly that I could hear his laughter better than I could hear the sound of the car. Got a great Doppler effect. I certainly would like to know what was so funny, though :-)

My new socks are coming along nicely. I've done the leg & heel portion on both of them, and the gusset on one. I was worried that they were going to be too tight, but I tried one on today & now I think they might turn out a little bit too loose. Ah, well, I'm not too worried about it. I wanted to make them because they are unusual, and if they don't fit it isn't the end of the world. I'm thinking of maybe entering them in the County Fair, although every year I think about entering the Fair and have never gotten around to really doing it. But hey, it could happen!

Condensation!

Our house is wet. The archway separating the dining room from the living room was dripping water onto the floor before we wiped it down. The windows are quite steamed over. The bathroom mirror is fogged. What could possibly have caused this?

Dense and Fudgy Steamed Chocolate Pudding. Yup. The whole house is soggy because I decided to cook. But ya see, I had some issues when I made the Treacle Pudding, because the pot was really too small which made it very difficult to remove the steaming hot bowl, and the only thing I have that's any bigger is my roasting pan. You know, the kind you use to make a turkey. This thing was boiling away on the stove (taking up two burners) for three hours, during which time I had to add a total of six quarts (!!) of additional water as it boiled. That is a lot of moisture to add to a 1,000 sf house.



Ahhh, but it was worth it. It came out a little soggy; I put the lid on the pot & I don't think I was supposed to do that. It tastes very much like a gooey, slightly underbaked brownie. Ralph ate two pieces of it in rapid succession. I'm thinking of having another piece now, but will show a *little* restraint and wait until after dinner. I tell you, this Harry Potter cookbook is the best!!!



I've spent most of the past 2 days knitting and watching Mythbusters on Netflix. I finally took a picture today of the socks in progress. I know they don't look much like socks yet, but they will once I start working on the gussets. I really like how the colors look together.

Harry Potter Cookbook

As some of you know, Ralph bought me The Unofficial Harry Potter Cookbook for Christmas. (Actually, I found out yesterday that there are two books with this title; I got the one with the purple cover). I was completely jazzed about it and couldn't wait to try some of the recipes. Now that I've made some--I am even MORE jazzed about it. Entree-wise, my favorite so far is the Breaded Pork Chops, with the Herby Roast Chicken a close second. Ralph likes Molly's Meatballs with Onion Sauce best, and I have to admit those are very good too. A couple days ago I made the Treacle Pudding (see picture) which Ralph & I both love. It was just OK the first day, but after it had "aged" overnight, WOW!! There's just barely enough left for our dessert tonight. I'm hoping to find bittersweet chocolate somewhere so I can make the Steamed Chocolate Pudding this weekend. It's also used in the Dark Chocolate Truffles so you can see it's very important that I find some.

Knitting-wise, I'm ready to pick up the stitches for the gusset in the first sock. I've put that one aside for now & am casting on for the second one. I do prefer to work on both socks at the same time to avoid "second sock syndrome," but that hasn't been feasible with this one because of the bobbins. I didn't want to load up 20 bobbins & then have leftover bits on them when the socks are done. I really need to get a picture of the one in progress, though.

Had one nibble at my resume during the week, but nothing definite at this point. I've got those same mixed-feelings about it all. I like being home. It means real dinners instead of fast-food or whatever can be thrown together; the dogs can stay indoors when it's cold or rainy; I can get the chores & errands done so the weekend is free to do fun things. Ralph likes me to be home for the same reasons. BUT. We just can't *quite* afford for me to not be working. A part-time job would be great, or even a series of temp positions would work out. Oh, well, as the old TV theme says, "we'll just take life as it comes, one day at a time." Hmm, wonder if I could find that on Netflix?




I got rather grossed out at the grocery store the other day. The bagger at the next checkstand over thoroughly wiped his nose on the palm of his hand & then went back to bagging groceries. YUCK! From where I stood it looked like his nose was really runny, too; his mustache looked wet. ICK ICK ICK. I kept a close eye on him to make sure he didn't come over to bag at the checkstand where I was. There was no way I was going to let him touch the lettuce I was buying, even if I had to say, "I'm sorry, but I saw you wipe your nose with your hand, and I don't want snot on my salad." Luckily he stayed put. I probably should have told him to go wash.

The second picture today is from the Christmas parade last month. It shows up a lot better if you click on it to enlarge. Isn't that just the coolest cop car ever?

First post of 2011

Man, I really need to start taking more pictures. Today's photo is from the Mt. Baldy trip we took last March. I just don't have much recent stuff that isn't already posted.

Sadly, my temp to hire position has fallen through after one month. The company didn't have as much business set up for January as they had anticipated so several of us (including some full-time staff) were let go. To say I was disappointed would be an understatement. I am glad for the experience, and who knows? Maybe they will get busy again & remember me.

I have made several of the recipes from my Harry Potter cookbook. I really like the Herby Chicken a lot; the skin comes out nice & crisp, and since it's got butter under the skin you don't really need to baste it. The Onion-Garlic Mashed Potatoes that go with it I wasn't so impressed with. The recipe calls for 1/2 cup of vegetable oil, and the next time I make it I'll use butter & milk instead. I think that will make a big difference. I didn't care much for the Glazed Carrots although Ralph did like them. However, I don't believe that the recipe itself is poor; I think the issue was 1) I used "lite" corn syrup instead of regular since that's all they had in the store; and 2) I didn't cut the carrots thin enough so they were too crunchy for my liking. I will definitely give these another chance. Today I made Molly's Meatballs with Onion Sauce, and these I give two thumbs up! When I was making them I was dubious about the large quantity of onion (a whole one in the meatballs and another in the sauce), however it really is the right amount. Soooo good.

Yesterday was our 12th wedding anniversary. We didn't buy gifts for each other, but we did have a very pleasant weekend together. We saw "Tron: Legacy" on Saturday. When we got out of the theater, Ralph mentioned it was 3:00 o'clock. I said, "3:00 o'clock . . . isn't that when we were supposed to be at J & K's for the potluck?" Ralph said a Bad Word & we headed home to quickly make a corn casserole. We were quite late but no one seemed to mind; we arrived with the casserole just as people were thinking about having seconds of the meal so that was OK. We talked & ate & watched the re-run of the Rose Parade and basically a good time was had by all.

Yesterday Ralph needed to get some rear view mirror adhesive, so we went & picked that up, then sat in the truck listening to the rain, drinking hot chocolate and reading (him)/knitting (me) while we decided where to go for an early dinner/late lunch. We picked a Moroccan place in San Pedro, but alas we got there long before they opened. After driving around a bit we decided to eat at a British pub. Good choice, very good choice. The meal began with marinated mushrooms, and individual Yorkshire puddings with beef & horseradish sauce. Then we both chose steak pies (his with mushrooms, mine with kidney) and we finished it up with a lovely bread pudding which was complementary since it was our anniversary. Naturally I picked out the raisins since those are An Abomination Unto Nuggin.

Right now I am snuggled up under this wonderful electric blanket Ralph bought for me. It's just the right size for one person. He got one for himself, too. They were a bit pricey but I suspect they'll save us a lot of money when compared to running the space heaters all the time.

Winding down the year

Dear Rain--yes, I know you are good for the grass. And normally I like a little rainy weather. But this is getting ridiculous. You were here in force for the whole week leading up to Christmas, and here you are again. Now, I do appreciate the fact that you went away for the holiday, really I do. It's just that I'd like to have some dry weather for more than just three days. Thank you.

I got a real kick out of the last two entries on hyperboleandahalf.blogspot.com. I suspect I'll be getting the giggles at every Kenny Loggins song for a long time to come, and the post about moving with the dogs had me laughing 'til I cried. I wish I could write a blog that great, but alas this is what y'all are stuck with. You'll just have to go read hers for the big laughs.

Speaking of laughs, I got a chuckle at work the other day. I was walking down the hall, and a guy came out of a doorway. He politely held the door open for me, then got a rather sheepish look on his face as he realized that my destination, in all likelihood, was not the men's room. Ah, well, I appreciate the manners nonetheless.

Had a very good Christmas. Ralph & I only got each other a few things--mostly books--and spent a nice afternoon & evening with family. I've already tried a couple of the recipes in my new Harry Potter cookbook, and have started a rather complex pair of socks from the pattern book my SIL & BIL gave me. Well, it's not so much complex as time-consuming. It's a pretty easy intarsia--just strips of color--but with 10 bobbins over 81 stitches on size 1 needles, there's a lot of tangling. It took me 35 minutes to do 3 rows this morning. This is going to keep me busy for a long time!

One sad note. I learned on Sunday that my old boss, CD, passed away. He was a fun person & I was sorry to hear the news. I knew he had been ill, but the last time I'd seen him he seemed in good spirits. Such a shame.

We have been invited to two parties for New Year's Eve. I suspect that I'll be going to one & Ralph to the other, even though we accepted the invitation to the party I will be attending first. Funny, we've not been to a NYE party in years, and this year we get two invites.

Not much to say

Very little to talk about, however it's been weeks since I've posted so I figured I'd better say something.

The temp job is going really well. I'm not 100% up to speed yet, however I've learned a lot and don't have to ask nearly so many questions as I did at first. The computer software is very different from what I'm used to using. There are also a lot of little things to remember, like you can't change certain figures if the loan is being processed by one particular location, but it's OK on the other locations, and certain fees have to be lumped together after printing a copy of the HUD statement. I'm catching on, though!

Nearly broke my toe on Saturday. We've got a 15 pound steel weight we use as a doorstop, and SOMEone left it in the middle of the hallway. Slammed my bare foot into it on the way to the bathroom. Cussing ensued. Hurt like the dickens for a long time, although now it's nearly back to normal. Feels more stiff than it does painful.

Yesterday we had to take all the animals in for their second de-worming shot. We were 3/4 of the way to the vet when I realized we'd forgotten to bring the cat! So, we've got to go back this weekend & get him taken care of. Luckily the vet is open on Boxing Day.

Oh, my, Boxing Day--has it really been almost a year since Hoover died? I guess it has. Poor little kitty. I miss him still.

It's a New Job After All

I didn't say anything before, because I didn't want to jinx it, but I started a new temp-to-hire position yesterday. Yay! It's as an escrow assistant, and basically it's all the things I liked best about my old job, albeit with a different computer system. The people there are friendly, too. This is a place I could like. Keeping my fingers crossed that this is a long-term (dare I hope for permanent?) position.



One of the things I did today was fix the sweater of the woman who sits in the desk in front of mine. (OK, it's not *my* desk; but it's where I sit while I'm being trained). Yesterday I noticed she had a ripped thread that was causing a stitch to drop, so today I brought some yarn & tools to repair it. While I did want to do something nice for her, the main reason I did it was because the knitter in me was screaming in torment at the sight of that dropped stitch. The yarn didn't match as well as I'd like, but she was very happy with the repair.

Having some headlight troubles on the Prius, darn it. The headlights go out at random; sometimes just one and sometimes both. It was particularly scary on the O-shaped, unlit off-ramp coming home tonight--yikes!! I'll be driving the Saturn until we can bring the Prius in to be fixed.



I was almost late for work today. I left at 6:45, which one would think would be plenty of time to drive 28 miles & arrive by 8:00 am even with traffic. Unfortunately there was an accident on the freeway, and it took me just over an hour to drive the first 16 miles. Unbelievable! Luckily traffic was pretty clear for the next 10, then backed up again. UGH! However, I did make it to work safely & barely on time.



Today's photos are a few of the ornaments on our tree. I'll try to get a good shot of the whole thing; the one I took tonight didn't come out very well.

Mondaaaaaay.

As you can see, I took a picture of the armadillo that will be my nephew's gift. I think it came out really well. I did make a couple minor changes to the original; mainly, instead of casting off & making the head, body, and tail as separate pieces, I just did an extra round to change the number of stitches to match the next bit & did it all as one piece. I'm quite pleased with how it came out.


I'm also making decent progress on the sloth, or at least I would be if I could find the stupid cream yarn that I *know* I have somewhere. I've got a couple skeins that are sort of cream, however they just don't look right with the body color (the body is done in eyelash, the head in plain yarn). I'm sure it will turn up somewhere. If not, well I think I've got some cream fiber somewhere & I just might end up spinning my own yarn just so I can finish.

Thanksgiving seems to have been an omen of things to come. I went to the market today to pick up a few ingredients. I've got some acorn squash & sweet potatoes, and wanted some meat to go with it. I also wanted to make a Quiche Lorraine for tomorrow's breakfast & needed some Swiss cheese. I couldn't find any meat that was less than $3.99/pound, which I wasn't about to pay, except for some pork shoulder that had more fat than meat visible. No dice. OK, change of plans; I bought some cabbage & I'm cooking that up with some mango chicken sausage we had in the freezer (the sausage is too sweet to pair up with sweet potatoes & acorn squash).

Off to the cheese section to get the Swiss. The *only* Swiss cheese they have is the store brand at $6.49/pound. Seriously. $6.49/pound for freakin' Swiss cheese. I already had cheddar at home, so I did a recipe search when I got home & made a cheddar/bacon quiche instead. I'm getting good at these last minute menus.

Black Friday

Well, our Thanksgiving did not go according to plan. Ralph came down with a horrendous cold, which meant staying home so he didn't infect everyone at the open house/potluck. This also meant having to come up with an at-home Thanksgiving meal at the last minute. I think I did pretty well, all in all. I had already baked a cranberry pie (thank you, Lizard, for the recipe--we're already down to the last tiny slice!) in anticipation of the potluck, and had all the ingredients for a corn casserole as per my last post. A quick run to the market snagged us a turkey breast, the last jar of chicken gravy (and I only got that because I saw someone set it down amongst the cans of mushroom soup), and the fixings for a green bean casserole. A box of Stove Top isn't quite the same as mom's oyster stuffing recipe, but was definitely better than no stuffing at all. I used the last little bit of cranberries from the pie to make a small dish of cranberry sauce, plus already had some instant mashed potatoes at the house. Not too shabby, if I do say so myself, and we even had leftovers.


In more food news, today I made soup from a leftover roast chicken that Ralph had cooked on Wednesday. This is the first time I've ever made soup from a carcass and actually had it taste good. It helped that there was a lot of meat left on the bones. I seasoned it with black pepper, sage, thyme, and Better Than Bouillon, thickened the juice with cornstarch, then topped it off with Bisquick dumplings. It was so good I had two bowls of it (and four dumplings!). Plus there's something soothing about chicken & dumplings on a cold day like this. (OK, so 66 degrees isn't exactly freezing, however as a California native I get chilled at 70.)

Making slow but steady work on the sloth. I am remembering why I dislike knitting with eyelash yarn. I spend more time making sure the maximum number of eyelashes are on the right side of the fabric than I do actually knitting. Still, it's promising to be absolutely adorable when it's done so I'll just keep at it.

An old photo today, one which I think I may have posted in the past. Halitosis has some arthritis in her hocks, so I knit her these legwarmers ages ago. As you can see from the look on her face, she adores them & is sooo happy to wear them. I think the 10 seconds it took to take the pictures is the longest she's ever worn them.

End of the line

And so it ends. Today was the last day of my temp job. I plan to enjoy the holiday weekend, then back to the job search on Monday.

I'm looking forward to Thanksgiving. Ralph & I will be going to an open house/potluck at the home of our friends JM & KM. They've been restoring their home--a historic Victorian--and I'm excited about seeing the progress. Lizard sent me a recipe for cranberry pie, so I'll be making one of those, and of course also bringing a corn casserole. It wouldn't be a potluck without a corn caserole.



I made a second armadillo. The first one is so cute that I had to make another. The second one is dark grey with a black back (I still need to stitch on the back, but other than that it's finished) which I think is a little more "manly" so that's the one that's going to be gifted. I also started a sloth, which will be another gift. Hope it turns out as cute as the picture in the pattern.

Had to have a plumber in today. Tree roots in the main pipe leading from the house to the street. I checked out the company on the BBB website yesterday, and was impressed with their A+ rating/zero customer complaints. After today, I can see why they are rated so high. The guy got the pipe draining in less than an hour, but stayed for a full three routing it out more thoroughly. The cost for this 3-hour job? $149. Yes, you read that right. I couldn't believe it myself. If we ever need a plumber again, I know who we're going to call.

Lastly, we saw "Deathly Hallows" over the weekend. I loved it! I won't give anything away, though, in case there are some among the Teeming Millions who haven't seen it yet. I did feel that this movie more closely followed the book than any other except possibly "Sorcerer's Stone" and the kids have grown up to be quite amazing actors. And I really, really want to knit a pair of fingerless mitts like the ones Hermione wears!

Pain, family, and armadillo

Two week since I've posted. It's a wonder I have any followers left!

Poor Ralph threw his back out today. He's been unable to do much of anything other than lie flat on his back; virtually anything else (including taking a deep breath) makes him groan & shout out with pain. Luckily his jury duty got postponed so he doesn't have to worry about that this week. Looks like I might have to take tomorrow off work to bring him to the doctor, though, which kinda sucks since it's my first 40-hour week in over a month.

Last Saturday was Dad's birthday. We went to Lizard's place for a potluck lunch/dinner, and she had a surprise for him: both my brothers flew down from Washington state! Dad was really happy to see them; he hadn't a clue that they were going to be there. Lizard's friend Duh (whom we've known for over 40 years & is certainly considered to be family) was there with her husband Happy, and of course The Boy & The Girl attended too. The food was yummy (two kinds of enchilada, corn casserole, refried beans, chipsnsalsa, banana cupcakes & chocolate cake) and I think everyone had a good time.



Started a new knitting project on Friday, and finished it up today. It's a little armadillo (see photos), which will be a Christmas gift for one of my nephews. I don't think he reads this blog so I'm not spoiling the surprise :-) I couldn't believe how quick and easy it was to knit up. Even the sewing up wasn't too onerous, as everything except the back is worked in the round which eliminates seaming. The pattern included a link to a tutorial on making the eyes, and it's sooooo much easier than the way I usually do them. The yarn I used for the back was too thin, so I held it double which made it too thick & the shell came out a little too large. Still, I think it looks pretty good. He's designed in such a way that you can roll him up, just like a real armadillo. Definitely have to make one of these for myself.



So, with the armadillo and the pony, I've got two gifts taken care of (or should that be "two gifts, care of which has been taken"?) Need to go through the Ravelry patterns & find a suitable toy for the third child. I'm thinking maybe the sloth that I saw the other day. That would be different, and I do try to be different.