December 30, 2004
This entry is written out of chronological sequence.
<sniff>They're gone.</sniff> My cousin and family have headed home and should be touching down in just under five hours
My dad took them to the airport and I watched his shop. Dear gord, I forgot to take something to knit with me. Strangely, he wasn't gone very long so it wasn't as bad as it could have been. I just helped out there for the rest of the day. I did plenty of eye rolls at some of the customers. With so many of the tourists, you'd swear that being on vacation meant you were allowed to act like a complete idiot.
I did a little grocery shopping with my dad after we closed his shop. My dad has a tendency to buy a lot when he shops on his own. I spotted some Jones Soda at the store. That was odd.
Before we headed to my dad's shop, my cousin attempted to teach me how she makes roti. I discovered I don't knead the dough like she does. That's required. Once I get it down, I'll post the recipe and method. Oh and...
Kash,
<-------- Look over there for the recipes!
What else is new? My next project is to make a doll carrying case for Brittany*.
Josh has fallen asleep with The History Channel on and I am now watching Countdown to Armageddon.
Alright, I need to babble here about something silly. I won't buy Josh any sweaters unless they are Merino wool. However, not all merinos are the same. Last holiday I bought Josh a really nice (I mean really nice) merino sweater that has turned us into merino snobs. I actually thought about getting him a nice cashmere sweater that I saw but thought it wasn't soft enough compared to the sweater I got him last year. This comparison shopping is making life really difficult to find warmer wear. It is also causing me to have issues with yarns. I have yet to find any merino yarns that I find soft enough. /sigh
Second thing, WTF is up with Abercrombie and Fitch? I went shopping with my cousin and we ran in there for a minute. They had a simple garter stitch scarf made in cheap acrylic for $39.50!!!!!!!! Sick, just plain sick. However, I was surprised to find a poncho for under $10. I think I probably had a pretty strange look on my face after seeing those two things. WTF?
Kitty has informed me that it is time to eat by being a cat and sitting on my mouse!
*Someone remind me to get that girl to start updating her site. Kids.
Well, I went shopping bright and early with my cousin and she did a fabulous job at buying just what she needed! Temptation was there, but she actually withstood it.
So I arrived home and checked the news. I am saddened that Jerry Orbach has died. He was one of those actors that was good in everything he did. /sigh
Holiday wrap-up.
In addition to the previously mentioned goodies from Calhoun, this year I received; knitting books, Donnie Darko, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, LoTR figurines, yarnage, gift cards to yarn stores, a knitomat knitting machine (circa 1955), and of course money.
There was tons of food and everyone was stuffed. It was cold and rained all day as well, but we still had fun.
To those that celebrate this day, Merry Christmahanukwanzakah.
This "Santa" is tired and expecting a good nights sleep tonight.
Christmas biking ahead before making the finishing touches for lunch.
About 25 minutes ago, I stood outside in the cold with a ziploc bag full of dimes, shaking it just to the side of the window to the room my cousin and her family are in. Her daughter was up and we just had to do it. I even threw in a little Ho Ho Ho for the hell of it. I wish I could have seen her face. Apparently it was priceless and adorable. The cookies for Father Christmas have been eaten and there are a few crumbs left on the plate. Oh the things we do for kids.
After holiday entry will come... after the holiday.
Well, it finally hit. I've come down with something. I think it is a combination of whatever AJ had and whatever my cousin's two children had. This is the first time I can recall having little to no congestion in my nose, but everything in my chest, on the first day. The whole fever/delirium thing wasn't great either. I think Josh just ignored me, which was probably for the best.
The giant Nightmare Before Christmas mug and tea Calhoun got me is coming in mighty handy.
I imagine I should be well enough to give another bike riding lesson tomorrow. Tomorrow is terrain riding. No more smooth asphalt.
Is it sad that while sick, I am so obsessed with getting my laundry done that I got out from a warm blanket to sort and start a load? Moi, obsessive? Never.
I haven't gotten the change to work on the wontons for Skittles, but I will either tonight or tomorrow. I am due to take some medicine, so it should kick in around the time I am ready to make some.
I went shopping most of yesterday (ahh) and managed to find something that I HAD to buy for Calhoun's birthday. I had alread spied something at one of the local shops, but I HAD to get this. I'll probably get the other stuff for him too, but I literally saw it and grabbed it before anyone else could. I'm bad like that.
Other news, I completely forgot to take pictures of some of the items I knitted for gifts. I think I can still take a picture of one, but the other is long gone. /sigh Thankfully, I took pictures of the Irish Hiking Scarf I knitted Calhoun as soon as I finished it. I think it was because I didn't finish the other items at home, where my camera was. Sure, that's it.
My list of things to do before Friday:
- Finish the names on the stockings. I do not have enough patience for knitting the amount of stockings we need here.
- Wrap the last presents.
- Fill said stockings.
- Make kitty some wontons.
- Give bike riding lessons.
Now I am off to possibly do the second to last one while doing the last one.
Let me just call my mother what she is, an ENABLER!
Tonight she, my cousin, and I went to get most of the 'fixins' for Christmas dinner (ironic considering we aren't Christian). At the checkout, I spied a knitting magazine. I jokingly asked my mom to buy it for my stocking (A few minutes prior we had been discussing needing things for the kids' stockings) and she did. Later I pretended that I was Brittany and pleaded like a 10 year old to have it now. She of course did and now I am drooling at some ideas. Evil, just plain evil.
I haven't seen Blade: Trinity yet, but I've been listening to the soundtrack today. So far, it is much improved from the second Blade movie's soundtrack, but not nearly as good as the first one. There are only a few songs that I am a little iffy on. The Ramin Djwadi songs are pretty good. Song five is about the start of the stuff I enjoyed. I think it is probably my lack of interest in most rap/hip-hop of that particular style.
Once I see the movie, the initial songs might make a little more sense placement wise, but, in general, it is actually something I could recommend someone buying. The eight good songs outweigh the four bad songs.
Found via the LJ diy_tutorials community... A pattern generator - From MicroRevolt.org. Upload a gif, jpg, or png file and it will convert it to a pdf file.
Yes my sweets... I used it to chart Frank from Donnie Darko, among many other things. I may just finish these last few projects and begin Frank. It may just work.
Finished watching the trailer for the new Charlie and the Chocolate Factory movie. Wow.. ????
Migraines + thunderstorms = going to go rest now.
Found via LiveJournal..
The Knitters' TWAS THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS
'Twas the night before Christmas and all around me
Was unfinished knitting not under the tree.
The stockings weren't hung by the chimney with care
'cause the heels and the toes had not a stitch there.
The children were nestled all snug in their beds
but I had not finished the caps for their heads.
Dad was asleep; he was no help at all,
And the sweater for him was six inches too small.
When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter,
I put down my needles to see what was the matter.
Away to the window, I flew like a flash,
Tripped over my yarn and fell down with a crash.
The tangle of yarn that lay deep as the snow
Reminded me how much I still had to go.
Out on my lawn, I heard such a noise,
I thought it would wake both dad and the boys.
And though I was tired,my brain was a bit thick,
I knew in a moment,it must be Saint Nick.
But what I heard then left me perplexed-ed,
For not a name I heard was what I had expected
"move,Ashford; move,Lopi; move,Addie and Clover
Move,Reynolds; move,Starmore; move, Fraylic--move over"
"Paton, don't circle round; stand in line.
Come now, you sheep wool work just fine!
I know this is hard semi, it's just your first year,
I'd hate to go back to eight tiny reindeer."
I peered over the sill; what I saw was amazing,
Eight woolly sheep on my lawn all a'grazing.
And then,in a twinkle, I heard at the door
Santa's feet coming across the porch floor.
I rose from my knees and got back on my feet,
And as I turned round, Saint Nick, I did meet.
He was dressed all in wool from his head to his toe
And his clothes were handknit from above to below.
A bright Fairisle sweater he wore on his back,
and his toys were all stuffed in an Aran knit sack.
His cap was a wonder of bobbles and lace,
A beautiful frame for his rosy red face.
The scarf round his neck could have stretched for a mile,
And the socks peeking over his boots were Argyle.
The back of his mittens bore an intricate cable,
And suddenly on one I spied a small label.
SC was duplicate stitched on the cuff,
and I asked "Hey Nick, did you knit all this stuff?"
He proudly replied "Ho-ho-ho, yes I did,
I learned how to knit when I was a kid."
He was chubby and plump, a quite well-dressed old man,
And I laughed to myself for I'd thought up a plan,.
I flashed him a grin and jumped up in the air,
And the next thing he knew he was tied to a chair.
He spoke not a word, but looked in his lap
Where I'd laid my needles and yarn for a cap.
He quickly began knitting, first one cap then two;
For the first time I thought I'd really get through.
He put heels on the stockings and toes in some socks
While I sat back drinking Scotch on the rocks!!
So quickly like magic, his needles they flew,
That he was all finished by quarter to two.
He sprang for his sleigh when I let him go free,
And over his shoulder he looked back at me.
And I heard him exclaim as he sailed past the moon
"Next year start your knitting sometime around June.
Author Unknown
December 7, 1941. A date which will live in infamy.
Shortly before 8:00 A.M., December 7, 1941, Pearl Harbor, on the Island of O'ahu, Hawaii, was attacked by the Japanese Imperial Navy.
September 11, 2001 is still fresh in everyone's minds, but we should never forget today's date and what happened 63 years ago. So many of the people who survived are dying before this new generation can learn from them what happened. Search the web, talk to someone and hear the stories while you still can.
I was just searching through the web and when faced with useless links, I thought to myself, "Wow, TV really sucks." Maybe it is my subconscious referring to the fact that while cleaning I had the little TV on E! Television. The show that was on was The E! True Hollywood Story of Whitney Houston and Bobby Brown. I feel so dirty.
Only one week away from the Extended Edition of Return of the King. Can you feel it people? Four hours and ten minutes long. Good gravy that's going to take a while to watch.
I think I need to go back to sleep now. I had some strange/silly dreams last night. Woo, yeah. That's weird.
OK, updates:
I'm more allergic to shrimp than I thought. </scratch>
One knitting project down, three more to go before Christmas/Yule.
Litter box clean. </gag>
High of 83°F when you arrive K. The temperature has been really crazy lately. Bring a little of everything!
That's about it. I'd go into more detail, but the holidays are really kicking my butt. The hurricanes are really throwing me off this year.
Why didn't I hear about old ink-jets' use in health technology a year ago? I had a 15 year old HP that still worked beautifully. We only "tossed" it because it was getting harder and harder to find ink. /sigh
Uh, this story reads like the first 10 minutes of The Day After Tomorrow.
Last night I went to bed earlier than the kids on a school night, and managed to wake up at 4:30AM thanks to the cat. She gets bored, so she wakes me up. I sort of slept until 7AM and had planned to go back to sleep after getting Josh up to go flying. I climbed back into bed, looked at the pathetic cat and couldn't sleep. I think it was a good thing. It would appear one of my neighbors is getting something fixed. All I can hear is this horribly loud banging going on. It's not the roof because it sounds like they are connecting against something metal. I have to go do a few things in the yard, so maybe I will find out if I should wear ear plugs today.
Plans for Saturday:
Work on a few client related things.
Clean the spare room.
Get some knitting done.*
Clean the living room.
Put up the Xmas tree for kids to decorate tomorrow.
*I have approximately 18 inches left on this project. This particular pattern is averaging 20 minutes per inch if I watch something interesting on TV, so I'm looking at six hours left. Damn you In a Fix and Clean Sweep.
I detect a slight chill in the air...
High today, 69°F, currently 66°F. I am wearing a fleece pullover and extra warm wool and chenille socks. The cat has been sleeping under the wool blanket since about 7:30AM and refuses to get out. Why? Because I refuse to admit that it is that time of the year where it is cold enough in the house to turn on the heater! I know I will need to soon, but I was hoping the house would warm up some on its own. Alas, that has not happened. AJ and Shalyn will be here after school and I don't want them to freeze. I will be caving in within the next half hour. /sigh
I've spent most of this morning trying to get my freaking wireless to work. Something has been wrong for a couple weeks now and I was just dealing with it until I had the time. This morning I couldn't do diddley, so I uninstalled everything and then reinstalled it. Of course it couldn't find the driver, so that was another flippin issue to deal with. It is sort of working now. I think I may just completely reload this machine or figure something else out. A girl can't live like this much less get any work done!
A plea for those in the know...
When my dad is asked what he wants for <insert holiday here>, he always says, "I just want my family to be happy" and we just get him something he needs for business or something. Well, this year I asked him that (because it is now tradition) and he gave the usual answer, but about 15 seconds later he added, "If you want to make me a scarf, that is something I could use."
Now ladies and gentlemen, this is a first! My dad wants a scarf and I want it to be nice and warm. I don't need a pattern, I need a good yarn. It needs to be soft (my request) and maybe washable, even if it is by hand. He smokes, so I figure it would be good to have something that can be washed often.
<gasp>, I have never worked with Lamb's Pride, but I was wondering how that is? There is no place around here (or in the state) to buy it, so I figured I would buy it direct if it was soft enough. Most of the generic wools available around here are too harsh. I need help people! If I must, I'll experiment and give him about five different scarves, but I need something! I am also thinking of getting a half of a yard of fleece to make a fleece scarf.
Do you remember that productive high I was on a few days ago? Well I've come down from it. I got up at 5:55AM with the first alarm and told Josh he could sleep five more minutes because I was tired. When the second alarm went off I started waking him up. I got up around 6:15 and starting making breakfast. Gabriel was coming over at 7AM, so I wanted to get everything I would need to do with an eight week old munchkin in tow, done. Gabriel got here and his uncle Josh went to work. We watched about five minutes of the Wiggles and a few more minutes of some other Disney short and we were both bored. He ate a little breakfast and we decided to go hang out on the swing out back.
It was about 70F out there, so I bundled him up. He absolutely loves that swing in this cool weather. We listened to birds and two squirrels fussing over the last of the bird seed outside. If they were willing to wait, I was and am still planning to put some out this afternoon! I spoil the wildlife around here. I do it for the cat.
My sister in law came to pick up Gabriel and we decided to go see if the new Jo-Ann's was open. It was not. We went into Marshall's to see what kind of stuff they had. I LOVE going into the toy sections of places like Marshall's and Ross. I've gotten some of the neatest toys there. Well, they actually had knitting kits for $8. Not a bad price at first glance. It came with real wool and a set of needles. It wasn't very nice wool though. It was very itchy and only enough for a small and skinny scarf. After investigating, the quantity and quality didn't really make it worth the $8. Oh well.
Now I am home. My tea is finished and I feel very unmotivated to get back to cleaning. I did do a bit of knitting while Gabriel took a nap. Does that count as being productive?
Today is World Aids Day. Unfortunately, we have to have a day to remind us how wide spread and nondiscriminating this disease is.
"According to UNAIDS estimates, there were 37.2 million adults and 2.2 million children living with HIV at the end of 2004, and during the year 4.9 million new people became infected with the virus. Around half of all people who become infected with HIV do so before they are 25 and are killed by AIDS before they are 35. 95% of the total number of people with HIV/AIDS live in the developing world. But HIV still remains a threat to people of all ages and nationalities."
Links:
Stop Global AIDS
UNAIDS
National AIDS Trust
Yahoo! Health's HIV/AIDS resource center
CDC Divisions of HIV/AIDS Prevention
In Their Own Words
AEGiS
Avert
Frequently Visited:
Etc