My Anniversary!!

So Thursday was Curt and my anniversary. I really can't believe we've been together that long. Obviously the man is a saint, hee hee. He is a huge George Clinton fan. Me - never heard of the guy before I met Curt, and I still really am not a fan. I can tolerate it for short periods of time, but mostly when we're together Curt listens to my music. We did go to a concert around ten years ago at the Community Theater in Morristown. It was very interesting to say the least. Anyway - we went into Manhattan on Thursday evening to BB King's near Times Square. It was really dim- great if you have an ugly date! In order to create their "pit" area, they moved 4 person tables next to 2 person tables and then sat 8 people at them. Kinda too close for me especially sitting next to strange strangers.

Rather than order dinner we split a bunch of appetizers. The catfish fingers were excellent and they had the most interesting Nachos. Instead of taco meat and sauce, they used pulled pork, beef and chicken then covered it with barbeque sauce. there was still jalapeno's, sour cream, and guacamole on top as well. Yummy! I'm going to do my own version at home.
George Clinton is an interesting kind of guy to say the least. he is a great musician, even though it isn't my kind of music I have to give him credit for that. But at the last concert we went to there was so much pot being smoked, that I was afraid to get on a piece of lift equipment for three days, just in case something happens - and knock on wood I've never had an accident- I need to be able to pass a drug test!


Dennis had reminded me that you can't smoke in bars, restaurants or clubs anymore so I figured I had nothing to worry about. Yeah right. During the opening act Kendra somebody, I saw plumes of smoke rising. Apparently you can't smoke tobacco cigarettes in bars. clubs or restaurants! Now I did say the food was excellent. Drinks though... they do have a wine list that is several pages long. I cook with wine, I don't really know what kind of wine I would want to drink. The only time I really drink wine is when we're out with friends and they order the wine. Curt doesn't drink wine at all. Ok - I'll admit it - I'm a beer girl. They did not have one beer that I drink! They had becks, something ultra light ( really what is the point?) heineken, bud, bud light, amstel light - I really didn't want to spend the whole evening in the ladies room peeing! Curt got a Stella something beer. I sipped it . eh. Wasn't bad, wasn't good, wasn't worth what they charge for a beer. I ordered a margarita - how hard is it to put some tequilla, grand marnier, and oj in a shaker. Blech!! the worst margarita I have ever had in my life. So I was going to get a soda and this man came out on stage:



I needed alcohol and lots of it! STAT!! So I spent the rest of the night with Jamesons ( I think I spelled that wrong) We left Manhattan at 1:45 ( remember I am at work at 4am) We got home at 2:30. Fortunately we had computer issues during the week and I had a couple hours overtime, so I took a 2 hour nap and went in to work at 6am.

I should seriously get a nomination for wife of the year for living through that evening!! Curt did have a really good time, bought a couple of cd or dvds I'm not sure and a couple of tee shirts. And trying to look at the bright side of the evening- it was fun to go out just the two of us, to a grown up can't bring the kid anyway venue, dressed up with heels and jewelry and everything. Walking back to the parking garage along 42nd street, with still a lot of people and light and everything was kinda cool. To think, 20-25 years ago I spent many an evening ( ok night) wandering through the city because we missed the last PATH TRAIN back to NJ. I don't think I'm old - I think I actually grew up when I wasn't paying attention!

Hopefully everyone is having a great weekend (I'm typing this Friday for tomorrow's post) We're having more anniversary fun this weekend. There is another prepost for tomorrow and I'll tell you about it on MONDAY!

Fill-in's stolen from Grace

Stole this from Grace's Blog today:

Friday Fill-Ins And...here we go!

1. I'm __ cute___, I'm __annoying___, I ___flirt a lot__.

2. Why do I have __brains___ and not __beauty___.

3. How does this _ life____ work, anyway?

4. Every morning, I put __deodorant__ on my __armpits___.

5. I consider myself lucky because __I was born in the USA___.

6. One day we’ll see _a Republican Female President____.


Rainy evening. Was really nice out this moring. met with my knitting friends this afternoon. We have decided that we need a name. grace suggested knaughty knitters. hee hee hee. well we know that would describe me anyway!

THURSDAY THUNK

Dryer sheets, Octomom, roses, puppies, oh my!

Welcome to the Feb 26th version of Thursday Thunks!

(which we always seem to post on Wednesday)

Where we make you think a little bit before you blog!

We pick a subject, and your job is to interpret it anyway you want. Write about it on your blog... simple as that. Maybe you can interpret it as a picture - we don't care!
Please only leave a link if you have written a Thursday Thunks post. Please mention us in your post, and link back to the blog here.
Don't forget to go visit the other participants' blogs. Read and comment about all their Thursday Thunks! Thats what all this is about afterall, isn't it? We'll have so much fun and become lifelong friends....

This week we will answer some crazy questions brought to you by Berleen, the color white and the number 1734.

1. What kind of dryer sheets do you use? PURPLE SNUGGLE

2. How many times a week do you eat out/order in? 2

3. What did you do the night of your high school graduation? Went to NYC, with a bunch of friends to go dancing.

4. So Octomom is rumored to have been offered a million bucks to do a porno. Would you do it for a million? Trust me when I say - no one would want to watch me in a porn, and you couldn't pay me a million to watch her in one.

5. If your child was born with an extra finger or toe, would you have it surgically removed? I think probably depending on the inherent risks in the surgery.

6. What was the last movie you saw? I just saw Pink Panther 2 with Steve Martin. Martin - as always was hysterical. I think it was perfect casting for the new Cleusseau ( can't spell) The pr lady reminded me of HR in my company. And it was great to see John Cleese still being funny.

7. I wanna buy you a dozen roses, what color should they be? Multi colored.

8. You are walking across the street, you are not quite half way when a speeding car comes... you have to run to get out of its way, which direction do you run? Forward, I think it would take longer to turn around. Although I'm so slow I'd get run over anyway!

9. Tell us about a time when you were invited over somewhere and had the most awful time. not sure - I usually find a way to entertain myself.

10. You open your front door and there is a box with a puppy in it... what do you do? Give Curt sad puppy eyes and try to keep it.

Knitting Updates

So here are the long promised knitting photo's. First, the catbeds I made. Kittyfostermom from Ravelry is going to try to make it to knitting group on Friday afternoon and I am going to give these to her for her cat rescue efforts. She was trying to get enough that the cats could take them to their forever home with them!





they really did hook up quickly. I did one at each of Angies last two fencing meets.

Now my socks. I know this is not the best yarn for this pattern, and the pattern would be better served by a more solid or longer colorway'd yarn. And I probably will make them again in such yarn. But I don't care. I wanted this yarn and this pattern ( so there!!)





I think for my Malabrigo I bought last week I am going to make a pair of fingerless mitts and either Amy , cockle shell or vegas sands ( all cowls that can be found on ravelry) I love ice queen, but am not ready to tackle beads at this time.

Totally Stolen from Grace - Meme, Ten on Tuesday and Stuff

Totally Stolen from Grace - Meme, Ten on Tuesday and Stuff

lovincomfortsknits tagged me for this meme.

Here’s how it works:
Find your 5th photo file folder, then the 5th photo in that file folder.
Then pass the meme to 5 people.


OK- my husband still hasn't gotten the stuff off the hard drive of my laptop yet- and I don't have iphoto on this one yet. So This is the fifth picture off my desktop.

I don't know who to tag - so if you read this and want to do it, consider yourself tagged!!

Ten On Tuesday: 10 Favorite Ethnic Foods

1, Cavetelli & Broccoli - Italy
2. tequilla - Mexico
3. Sesame Shrimp China
4. stuffed grape leaves - Greece
5. Swedish Meatballs & Ligonberry pancakes- Sweden
6. Schnitzel & Spaetzle-Germany
7. Paella Spain
8. Blue Mountain Coffee- Jamaica
9. Sushi Japan
10.Pad Thai - Thailand


Ok- I sooo could not be a high school teacher. These kids are scary!! Mind you the fencing team has the highest average GPA of all the athletic teams at her school. Today was equipment turn in except for the boys foil team which made it to squad states. I showed up with 2 other parents to help. OMG - Before they turned in their equip - all the non-assigned equip had to be gone through and sorted ( last year was kind of unorganized because the one coach was new and the experienced coach was very ill and couldn't make it) Things like someone sort the gloves into righty and lefty and pull out any with holes or are gross and ready to walk away on their own. So after the are sorted I go to count them - apparantly some kids do not know which hand is right and left. Other very simple tasks - like make sure all the zippers work ( how do we do that?) were apparently mind boggling. After this their stuff had to be added to said piles. One kid comes up to me with a saber lame (A jacket that has metallic threads from the waist up for electronic scoring) I ask him righty lefty or back zip? He doesn't know. I ask him if he's righty or lefty. Righty. ok we can rule out lefty. Then I ask him if it zips in the front or the back?? HE DOESN'T KNOW!! I ask him if he's worn it before. He says yes. I just took it and looked. It was back zipped by the way. You would think he would remember having to get it zipped back there!!! Now everything is supposed to be WASHED before turned in. There was some really gnarly things from last years turn in - we used a sword to transfer it to the garbage bag. shudder!!


On the knitting front - I still have to take pics of the 2 cat beds, I have one breeze sock about 25% done. I haven't knit anything since Saturday though. I am trying to take my knitting mags prior to 2007, and cutting out the patterns or articles I think I may use someday and recycling the rest. As of now - SIMPLY KNITTING - the British knitting mag, seems to have the most patterns I want to save. I have bnders set up by category that I'm putting them in. So that is why no knitting for the last 3 days!

quiz- what color do you need?

Hey Tony's red this year! Bring on the red!

You Need Some Red in Your Life

Red will make you feel energetic, passionate, and determined. And with a little red, you will project an aura of warmth. If you want to feel intensely, you've got to get some red in your life! For extra punch: Combine red with orange or pink The downside of red: Red can provoke anger or rage. Watch out! The consequences of more red in your life: You will feel more enthusiasm for life You will have the confidence to go after what you want You will have a lot more physical energy

What Color Do You Need?

Angie got her DL.....finally

So I guess three times is the charm. As I have mentioned in prior posts, Angie had failed her driver's license exam twice! The first time she did not use her turn signal once over the entire course. The examiner came up to me after her test and said she did a textbook parallel park ( thanks carl!) but didn't signal in or out so she failed. There was a stop sign that was on a bit of an incline. (both her father and I drive stick shifts, not automatics) and she didn't roll back at all. But she was turning right and didn't signal. Failed that. Didn't signal for her K-turn- failed that. Her second time through, she hit a cone entering the course. That is an automatic fail. So on Thursday, Curt took her to her test. ( If she failed again she would have to wait 30 days not 14) He texts me, just as I'm getting in the shower that she stalled at the beginning of the course. So I'm pissed for the entire shower. Like I had it!! First I'm thinking that's it, I'm not taking her anymore, she can only go places she can walk. Then I'm like I'll call the driving school, have them give her a refresher and take her for the re-test. And when she buys herself a car and insurance (it's the insurance that would be the killer for someone without a job) she can drive. So I get out of the shower and text Curt did she pass or fail, no response. So I call his phone. She answers and says she has to go back in a year!! A year!! I was so pissed I hung up the phone. You have no idea. She calls me back and tells me it's because NJ gives out a restricted license at 17 and she has to go back in a year to get her regular license. GRRRRRR. Now I'm worried she's watched too much racing with me!! I already threatened her about that though. So here's to safe driving! And those of you living in NJ may want to be a little bit cautious if you see a young girl behind the wheel of a berry saturn or a blue VW!

Yarn Group Trip

Our knitting group had talked about a yarn shopping trip one day, and since I was off this week, we decided to go on Thursday. (Unfortunately Jacqui wasn't able to make it this week). As none of us had ever been to Why Not KNit in Chester, we were going to go there and then since Chester is one of those quaint town with a great walking downtown, and stop somewhere for lunch. ( would you believe that weird chicken is the first picture to come up when I google images Chester, nj?) Sandy had tried calling the store several times on Wednesday, leaving messages and again on Thursday. Since she was getting no response, and while not far, Chester is a bit distant to go and find the store closed. So neither Grace no I had ever been to Down Cellar in Basking Ridge we decided to go there instead.

The above picture came off their web page, the picture is from their old store. It was very small ( I have yet to be in a large yarn store) packed to the ceiling literally with yarn. They also have addi's circs and a lot of bamboo needles. It was also very, very warm. I found 3 skeins of malabrigo silky merino in vigo. The perfect color in my search for yarns inspired by Tony's new ride. The red and black and thegreys (his nickname is smoke after all) I was going to ask if they had bamboo cable needles, but I thought the one salesperson was kinda snotty to Sandy about her sweater ( which is gorgeous - all knids of colorwork I would never do) and ya'll know how much I despise asking for help in a store anyway. We ended up having a fabulous lunch at a restaurant called "the store" When Sandy first brought it up, both Grace and I thought it was tables in the back of a suoermarket. But it was a really cozy little place. They had cheesesteaks and fries. I had a chicken caesar salad wrap. Grace got lemon merengue pie, that looked wonderful. EVERYTHING WAS DELICIOUS. We then went back to Sandy's place for some more chatter and to pay attention to her cute spaniel.

Toothpaste, ressurections, watermelons, chalk, pictures & more crap.

Toothpaste, ressurections, watermelons, chalk, pictures & more crap.

Welcome to the Feb 19th version of Thursday Thunks!

(which we always seem to post on Wednesday)

Where we make you think a little bit before you blog!

We pick a subject, and your job is to interpret it anyway you want. Write about it on your blog... simple as that. Maybe you can interpret it as a picture - we don't care!
Please only leave a link if you have written a Thursday Thunks post. Please mention us in your post, and link back to the blog here.
Don't forget to go visit the other participants' blogs. Read and comment about all their Thursday Thunks! Thats what all this is about afterall, isn't it? We'll have so much fun and become lifelong friends....

This week we will answer some crazy questions brought to you by Berleen, the color Barney Purple and the number 734.

1. What brand & flavor of toothpaste do you use? Colgate Total Whitening
2. What is your earliest memory? My aunt's hair in a bun when she came from Japan to help my mom when my brother was born. I was 2.
3. Hot Dogs or Hamburgers? Definitely burgers, definitely rare!
4. If you could bring any one famous person back to life, who would it be? Leonardo DaVinci
5. What is one thing we would always find in your fridge... what one thing would we never find? Always have a jar of crushed garlic, never ever have budweiser beer
6. Did you have to go and look for the answer of #1?No
7. What don't watermelons grow on trees? because when they got all heavy close to ripening they'd start falling out of the trees!
8. What is something that you own that you should probably just throw in the trash, but you never will? A Tony Stewart sweatshirt I got his rookie year 1999. It haS A LOT of holes in it and the wrist cuffs are just disintegrating.
9. I push you into a room and lock the door. I leave you there for 6 hours. The walls are chalkboards and in the middle of the room there is a box of colored chalk. What will be written/drawn on the walls when I let you out? A lot of disjointed stuff. Geometric doodles, cartoons, poetry
10. When was the last time you changed the oil on your car? 3 weeks ago
11. In your extended family, who has been married the longest? I'm guessing widows/widowers don't count so I guess my cousin Michael - at 26 years.
12. Name one thing that is so normal to you now that someone who was your age 50 years ago would think was abnormal. That my child has had a cell phone since she was in 6th grade - so I could always communicate with her.
13. Have you ever wanted someone or something so bad that it hurt? Someone
14. What do you dip your french fries in?
I REALLY DON'T LIKE FRENCH FRIES, EXCEPT AS DISCO FRIES OR WITH CHILI AND CHEESE ON TOP!
15. What was the last picture that you took?

OOOOO

Blog Award

I got this award from Grace @ lovincomfortknits on February 2nd, and then again from Ceci @ intarsia on February 12. So I figure I need to do something with this before I run out of people to nominate! I am relatively new to the whole blogging world after all. So here are the rules:


Here are the official rules:
1. Copy the award to your site
2. Link to the person from whom you received the award
3. Nominate 7 other bloggers
4. Link to those on your blog
5. Leave a message on the blogs you nominated.

So while it wasn't easy. Here are my nominees. Jen whose blog is always entertaining and has two of the most adorable kids you have ever seen. Ginny who is probably the most creative person in so many different mediums. Catherine who does great knitting, and I love following the plight of her kitty POO. Theresa who while she doesn't blog completely regularly, blogs so it feels like you're talking to her on the phone. Joyce
who somehow manages to come up with a crafty blog entry just aBOUT EVERY SINGLE DAY!! Jodihas a blog I have only recently begun reading, but she and her family do a lot of fun things. Trish does a lot a really creative work and spins as well. And lastly knittyvritti who also does some amazing work.

DaNGERS OF RAVELRY

I realized a couple of months ago that Ravelry ( the knitting site/community) was cutting seriously into my actual knitting time. As I have over 5000 posts in just over a year, that averaged out to about 360 a month. The most dangerous were the word games ( word association, scrabble etc) So I ignored those threads and in the last 30 days I posted 218 times. I'm good with that - everything in moderation after all. You can really tell that the race season is starting up can't you? 156 of my posts 71% are in the three race groups I'm in. I haven't quite figured out what that actually says about me. Or that most of the 19 posts in the MCNJK group revolve around us working out the date of our next knitting group meeting at Mara's - which gives me my caffeine fix as well. Sigh.

New Recipe!!

Ok, did you ever have one of those nights when you have absolutely no clue what you are in the mood to eat for dinner? And if you are like me and have an entire bookcase (not bookshelf) of cookbooks, but looking in them is too much work? As is looking in the little file box of cutouts. So after working 12 hours ( I have mentioned back in December how it seems like going on vacation always results in a couple 12 hour days before I leave and another couple when I return... why do I go??) I found myself staring in the refridgerator for the dinner gods to drop some inspiration on me. And I came up with an AWESOME (if I do say so myself) recipe. Requiring only stuff I keep in my fridge. ( I never got the hang of making a menu and then shopping. I mean what if I don't want spaghetti 3 days from now. And if I'm making fish I go back to the store that day anyway) So I end up with weird assortments of food in my fridge. ( you should see what I come up with when I have 3 or 4 unrelated ingredients approaching the end of their shelflife.) Well, enough - here is the recipe. I do apologize, my daughter and her friend scarfed up the extra one I was going to photograph. Also another apology - I never measure, even when using a cookbook recipe. So this is as close as I can come up with.

Chicken pesto pockets

1 can of Pillsbury Recipe creations crescent dough ( you can use regular , but this is not cut into triangles)
A handful of leftover roast chicken from Saturday(yours can be from anyday you want doesn't have to be from a Saturday - or you can buy the packages from Perdue of pre roasted chicken shreds) diced up pretty small.
A handful of shredded pizza cheese. (you know in the bag has like 4 cheeses mine was sorrento)
half a handful of parmesan/romano ( I buy it pre-grated in the cheese shop at Shop Rite)
5 baby portabellas destemmed and sliced
A teaspoon ( like you use for tea/coffee not a measuring spoon) heaped diced garlic
A soup spoon of butter
pepper ( I used white because I didn't know we ran out of black peppercorns)
3 soupspoons (heaping) of pesto sauce - the kind in the refridgerator section. the only jarred pestos I like was MC at A&P but I haven't seen that in a few years or one kind of jar you can get at WHole Foods. But really if you're game to try this use whatever kind you like.

So first in a little pan melt the butter and brown the mushrooms and garlic adding a bit of pepper. After they are browned dice them up. Add them to a bowl with all the other ingredients except the dough and mix up. Cut the dough in half ( if you have a larger cutting board than mine you may not have to do this) roll it out until about twice the size. Cut into six squares. Put a soupspoon (heaped) of mixture in the center of each square. Bring opposite corners together and pinch then pinch the 4 diagonal seams. Repeat with the other half of the dough. Put on baking sheet lined with foil ( ok foil probably unnecessary but it makes it easier for hubby to clean the sheet.) Bake at 375 for 12 minutes or until the dough browns. I warmed up some left over basil garlic tomato sauce from friday ( again leftover from any evening would probably work as well) to dip them in. I made salad and couscous( boiled chicken broth with some browned onions, garlic, sundried tomatoes diced small and basil - added the couscous covered off heat until done) it was yummy.

Quiz

You Are "enter"

Some people might try to say you're impulsive and rash. You like to consider yourself decisive and committed instead. You don't have a lot of trouble making very final decisions. You trust your instincts, and you don't waver. You just go for it!

What Keyboard Key Are You?

RANDOMNESS

Ok, so here's some randomness for today. I finished my off-season afghan for the Victory Junction Gang Camp. I had decided last week that I didn't like how the squares were blending and the checkered flag squares were puckering. If I ever make checkers again it will be using bobbins, with each square being bigger. But as it would take way to long to reknit the squares, I decided to go with a black and white granny square which was kind of checkerish. Then since I didn't want just the 4 corners to be crocheted I made 3 other granny squares in colors from other squares. So here is the afghan as it was mailed yesterday. I was going to do a crocheted border, but the width came out to the max width the camp accepts so I left it plain.



By the time I seamed everything up it was already 5:15 ( over 5 hours after the post office closes) and it had to be sent yesterday for the points to count so I ran up to Fedex/Kinkos. First off, I always was under the impression they were open really late. Well, we walk in and the guy says we close in 3 minutes you can come back tomorrow if you want. No I don't want, why would I want to do that?? So I'm filling out the form as fast as I want and the guy is going 2 minutes until we close, we're open from 12-6 tomorrow. So just as he is about to say 1 minute I hand him the package and the form. I SWEAR if I didn't need to send it out yesterday so bad, I'd've walked out. I really think I'm going to fire off an angry e-mail to fed-ex. My daughter realized later that Staples and maybe Office Deot do UPS shipping and we could've gone there. Oh well. So since Fatburgers is a few doors down we got that for dinner. Yes an exciting Valentine's Day dinner. Burgers with my daughter while Curt was bowling. Sigh.

I was in a Valentines caffeine swap in Ravelry and while my package arrived yesterday, they left a tag on the door so she didn't actually get it. So I can't post the package I sent. Here is the one I received.



5 pot size packs of coffee, cappucino, cookies, chocolate, a mug, bear, pencils, a book and yarn!! No idea what I'm doing with the yarn. Angie already "appropriated" the pencils and she's eyeing those m&m's!!

In her last 3 fencing meets Angie has gone undefeated!! Granted 2 were "easy" schools she should have won against, but still awesome job. Right now the girls fencing team has a much better record than the boys team. I think it is because the girl's captains sub more. Since there are 27 bouts in a meet as soon as one side hits 14 they won. At that point the girls generally pull most if not all of the starters and sub in underclassmen. So to look at their record it looks like most of their wins are close meets and their loses blowouts,but last year over 1/2 the team members onboth sides graduated. The girls at least had some depth , the only boy's captain that had subbed regularly was saber so that is the most successful boys squad currently. On the girls squad, the sabers have had a winning record in all but 1 meet this year. Angie is B strip saber. Here's a picture of the starting saber squad. (If they look a bit nuts, they are. I think all saber fencers have that crazed look in their eye and they aren't quite normal)



Well, I'm off to the store. Need food for the week and provisions for the daytona 500 this afternoon. GO TONY!!!

Tony Won the Nationwide!!

Tony won the Nationwide race today! I don't think I took a breathe the last 6 laps of the race! I'm hoping this is a good omen for tomorrow's 500 and the season as a whole!

There was a apocalyptic wind storm on Thursday. The cable connector outside broke so I had no cable, no phone, no internet until today! I'm hugely behind in e-mails, ravelry and here.

This quiz is for Grace

You Are Chai Tea

There are many subtle sides to your personality. You are difficult to decode. You are a complex and deep individual. You have many nuanced beliefs, and your mood frequently changes. You are a creative and expressive person. You draw your inspiration from the whole world. You enjoy exotic food, music, and travel. Your tastes are very international.

What Kind of Tea Are You?

This week we will answer some crazy questions brought to you by Berleen, the color Cotton Candy Pink and the number 3,333,333,331.

1. You are driving down the road and there is a puddle in the road. A big puddle. Not one that will really wreck your car or anything, but a big puddle. There is no other cars in front of you or behind you - do you drive through the puddle or drive around it? I will admit to driving around the puddle. I am actually irrationally nervous of puddles. I have some issues seeing how deep some puddles are. At one point in a 2 month period I got caught in a mini-flood on my way home from work (different home) The first time it is 1:30 am torrential rain, I had got off work at 1am , I saw the water it looked to me to be about 3-4 inches deep. Well it came up to just short of the bottom of the door, something got wet, car died. I walk 4 blocks home (did I ever mention I DON'T USE umbrellas?) Wake up my husband, to help me get the car to the side of the road. Fast forward a few weeks, another torrential rain, I detour to a different street ( to this day I won't take either street if it's even drizzling) because it is way uphill. Well there was a dip in the road that had filled with water, and I HAD TO GET CURT AGAIN!!! Amazing I'm not divorced.
2. Go to Google Images, type in any word that comes to mind and post the 1st picture you see.


3. A college calls you up and says that you have been selected to take get any degree that you want on their dollar.... what do you choose? Astro-physics
4. Are you blogging on a laptop or desktop? laptop - MAC
5. Which store, excluding a grocery store, do you shop at most often? TARGET
6. My daughters tried out for the school musical last night. Were you ever in a school play/musical? Which one? Yes, South Pacific, Fiddler on the Roof, The sound of music, Pippn
7. I read yesterday that a school PTA group wants to try to ban white bread, cakes, brownies or any other "treat" from their lunch menus... plus make kids' lunchboxes brought from home not include any "junk food". Thoughts on that one? My daughter's school doesn't even sell gatorade because it's made by pepsi. I think that turning into the junkfood SS is not how we are going to end childhood obesity. Many of the same school groups trying to ban all this stuff are also the districts cutting back on sports and gym. I would have a SERIOUS SERIOUS problem if I was ever told what I could or could not put in my daughter's lunch. My daughter doesn't really eat junk food and let's face it something like a cannoli is not very packable. But there were times when I had to work an overnite or something which made me miss her kiss goodnite and I wouldn't be home in time to give her a kiss in the morning and I would pop a hershey kiss in her lunch to make her smile. Trust me I am a pretty easy going parent about most things, I let the school do what it is going to dom but every once in the while I will go in with both guns blazing. I once told a principal that I was going to do X and she couldn't stop me because it is MY daughter and I have the pink(her Birth Cert)
8. How many people can your kitchen table seat? 2
9. What time is it right now? 3:49 PM on Wednesday
10. Walk out the front door of your house/apartment, turn right, walk 2 blocks. What do you see? My daughter's school.

GOT THIS FROM THE THURSDAY THUNK FOUND HERE

Inspiration

Yesterday I ran into a former co-worker and stopped to chat for awhile. As someone who knew me almost 20 years ago, she knew me not as a knitter (I have only been knitting for 5 years) but as a watercolor painter and ceramic/glass mosaic creator. ( I had made for her housewarming a large abstract watercolor and a co-ordinating mosaic top cast aluminum side table, which she apparently still uses as I saw them in the background of the pictures on her i-pod of her daughter's bridal shower) She was wearing a GORGEOUS beaded necklace/earring set. It turns out she turned the beads herself and then created the necklace and earrings. ( I knew her as an amazing embroidery/needlepoint/cross stitch artist) She will be coming for dinner in 3 weeks and I can't wait. In the midst of our conversation the topic of colors came up. And how she decides on the colors of glass she blends for her beads. What inspires the choices. She always wondered about my color choices especially with my mosaics. Most of her inspiration comes from the world outside her windows. She retired to a cabin on a lake in Colorado. (seriously jealous) she takes slide pictures of sunsets over the lake, the trees and mountains, deer in meadows etc etc. As you can imagine she is in no short supply of amazing photo-ops. She then pics things from the pictures. Clear blue glass for the lake, an opaque brown for the tree trunks, sparkling green for dew on the leaves a spot or 2 of red for birds or flowers etc. Sometimes she projects the pictures blurry on purpose so all you get is the colors.

When I was in high school and college I was a serious space geek. really. I had the walls of my bedroom painted an almost midnight blue, the trim in chrome. vinyl floors that looked like diamond plate metal. I had all kinds of space shots and posters framed in the same chrome painted around the trim ( my portholes) Yes serious space geek. A lot of the pictures from Astronomy, and Sky and Telescope, as well as the prints and posters I had served for my color blends and inspirations.

When I got home, I was telling Curt about seeing B. and our conversation and I realized that many of my current color choices and mixes as well as the handpaint/handdyed yarn I just have to have , are in the same color blends that inspired me almost 2 decades ago. Here are 4 of my favorite nebulae courtesy of various NASA telescopes/sites.



The Eagle Nebula



The Pillars of Creation ( a serious hotbed nursery where new stars are being born)



The Orion Nebula ( my personal favorite, as on a clear winter night away from city lights you can see it with the naked eye)



The Horsehead

Tony's Press Conference

Tony came in third last night. Totally awesome!! Remember folks, this is the first time out with a new team that only had a couple months to get everything ready for this season to start. The first race with a new crew chief ( I miss Zippy:( Zippy had his hands full, Tony likes a loose race car. If he's complaining about his car being too loose, most other drivers would have wrecked. Without testing this year I guess Zippy loaded the car up based on his notes from last year - with Tony in the car. Logano spent the practices complaining about being way too loose. Zippy fixed it and Logano wrecks in the begining part of the race anyway) First live pit stop with a pit crew ,that while the guys practiced all off season, have never serviced a car together under race conditions before. Tony had an amazing crew over on the 20 team - most of them have been together for the 10 years the team had been in existence - and they fired off some crazy fast stops. He managed to avoid the big wrecks - and judging from the shootout and the ARCA race, the 125's are going to be really interesting. There may be some really fast cars not in the 500 due to wrecks in the duels. 57 cars showed up for the 500, only 43 get to race so 14 are going home.

Here's the link to Tony's post race press conference

I wish I could find the link to his interview right after getting out of the car. He totally had the twinkle he gets when he's happy with a race. Last season was such a struggle , we didn't see that twinkle often.

Speedweek!!!

So tonite - in a few minutes the green flag will drop on the Budweiser Shootout at Daytona International Speedway. The format has changed from previous years. It used to be the pole winners from the previous year, and any previous year's shootout winners still racing. However since Budweiser no longer sponsors the pole, they changed the rules. It was the top 5 drivers ( by owners points) from each manufacturer. The owners points is an interesting catch. It meant Tony, who is now driving for himself, was out of the shootout for the first time in 9 years. It also meant that Joey Logano the 18 year old "phenom" A ROOKIE is in the shootout. And Rookie Scott Speed as well. Then all of the sudden ( I believe with pressure from Chevy who did a lot of lobbying to get Tony back in a Chevy) there was an amendment. Thbere was a "wildcard" position open. Either a past champion or the next highest in owner points. The only real "big name" that put in the race was Stewart. Hmmm.
Mind you Tony has won it 3 times previously. The weird thing is Ryan Newman ( who now drives for Tony in the 39 Army car, whose nickname is Rocketman because of all the poles he wins) is not in the race. And Matt Kennseth and Jeff Burton - both notorious qualifiers are in it. And Paul Mennard??
OK, granted Tony is not really a hot qualifier himself, but once he won the first Shootout, it really didn't matter because he was in. So this should be an interesting shootout, especially watching the ARCA race this afternoon, there are a bunch of drivers in the shootout who have NO restrictor plate experience at all. The race is always interesting because this race is only for the Pride and the Ego and the Bragging rights and the $$, since it doesn't come with any points. So all the drivers are just out to win, playing it safe for the points is not a factor. Most of the cars are not really in this years "stable" so if they get wrecked its no big deal. The starting lineup was determined by random picking of budweiser bottles with flags in them on Thursday night. So the front row is highly questionable, Tony is in 6th ( along side Denny Hamlin) the first row with any experienced drivers. Some really good drivers are in the back of the field - Kevin Harvick and Jeff Gordon are the last row.
Well enough of this - time to watch racing!! ( Ok started Thursday night) tomorrow is Daytona Pole qualifying, Thursday afternoon are the dual 125s that set the field for the 500. The truck race is Friday night. The Nationwide race is Saturday and the 500 - the start of the season is next Sunday. Woohoo!!! Happy Happy Happy!! Tony is looking good with his brand new team out of the box - he was fast in all the practices so far. YAY!!

Great Blogger Contest.

Check out inspired mamamusings blog. She is having a contest from now until Feb 11. The prize is a $100 blog redesign by summer. GOOD LUCK if you enter. BTW: Curt found out about my blog the other day. Not found out found out, but happened to come up behind me when I was working on it. I wasn't keeping it from him because I had anything to hide or didn't want him to know what I was posting (pretty much anything I post here is only what I would tell my friends at work, so nothing overly juicy) But because he is a network manager computer/internet guru nerd. I was kind of afraid that since I basically just use a blogger template and don't do anything fancy and since sometimes my blog is pretty sad even to me, I thought he'd make fun of me. Yes mockery, and sarcasm are 2 activities we have in common. But he was actually impressed ( not sarcastically, genuinely) that 1. I have a blog 2. I figured out how to create a blog 3. It has colors and pictures and links and things. I was momentarily all happy and warm and fuzzy, when I realized hmmm, so he didn't think I could figure this meager amount out? His answer is well the internet is not really your thing and you really aren't interested in learning more about technology than you need to. Hmmm, but I use a computer at work and can get more info out of it than anyone in the building. His answer - because you need to be the best at work, at home you tend to get your teenage daughter to do stuff for you. He said next time he thought of it he'd pick me up a book I could understand and use. ( so written ala Dr Sueuss?? ) So he said he was proud of me and gave me a kiss. You really can't argue with the man when he kisses....

What sweater are you?

You Are a Hooded Sweater

You are active, casual, and laid-back. There's not a pretentious bone in your body. You are very humble. You have a very giving spirit. Whether you're dealing with friends or strangers, you tend to ask very little of people. You are honest and open. You believe that if you are truthful with people, they will be straight with you.

What Kind of Sweater Are You?

THURSDAY THUNK

This week we will answer some crazy questions brought to you by Kimber, the color Red and the number 82.

1. What is one of your favorite blogs to read? Why is it your favorite? MY favorite blog is lovincomfortknits - my friend Grace's blog. She is very inspirational with her knitting 0 I wish I could knit as well or as prolifically and she has an entertaining view on life as well.

2. Have you ever been hunting? YES, deer, pheasant, turkey,

3. Do you live near any active volcanos? No, at least I don't think so, until earlier this week I thought I didn't live in an earthquake area either,

4. If VH1 came out with a new reality show called Celebrity Anger Management, who would you most like to see on the show? Gotta be my boy Tony Stewart - GO SMOKE!!!

5. Would you drink horse's milk if offered? probably not.

6. Do you buy pickles? If so, what do you do with the juice after all the pickles are gone? If I'm making potato salad I'll spritz a bit of juice in, other than that I toss it.

7. Do you have a myspace or Facebook account? Thought about facebook, totally not interested in myspace

8. Facial hair on men, yea or nay? Love a guy in a well groomed moustache/goatee combo - And since Tony has a scruff most of the time - that would be a yay as well.

9. Do you know anyone personally who is stockpiling stuff for WWIII or a date they think will be the end of the world (i.e. 12/2012)? OMG - you should see the bottled spring water & cans my sister has in the back of her closet.
Of course after that week then what?? And I just pointed out that cans of many items have expiration
dates. hee hee hee

10. Have you downloaded Skype and use it? No idea what that even is.

11. Have you ever been stuck by cacti? more times than I can count - I have a 4 1/2 foot tall cacti
that started out as a 4" 99 cent plant from home depot about 15 years ago.

12. Do you still have packed boxes from your last move you have yet to unpack? If so, how long have they been there? yup - they are mostly curt's stuff and some of angie's little kid stuff - about 7 years.

13. Ever have a toxic friend you had to break ties with to save your sanity? Several in the past - only one at a time thank goodness. But I have a pretty low tolerance for that sort of things, so while everyone is entitled to a funk now and then, I'm not letting smeone like that get to me!

The thursday thunk here.

quiz

Your Friendship Style is Independent

You love your friends, but you don't always need them as much as they need you. You like to do your own thing. Sometimes this means taking a break from your friends and carving your own path. As long as your friends give you the space you need, you are happy to be there for them whenever you can. Your friends lean on you for advice and problem solving. You tend to be "the rock." You and an Empathetic Friend: Go well together. Your Empathetic Friend understand and accepts you... but may be too needy sometimes. You and a Gregarious Friend: Get along well, as long as your Gregarious Friend is happy to only see you occasionally. You and another Independent Friend: Have a love / hate thing going on. When you agree, things are blissful. However, more often than not, you butt heads. You and a Philosophical Friend: Are somewhat a matter of opposites attract. You're both thinkers, but you think very differently.

What's Your Friendship Style?

Rock My World!

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/03/nyregion/new-jersey/03njquake.html?partner=permakink&exprod=permalink

So last night there was an earthquake who's epicenter was less than 2 miles from my house.  I ( SLEEP LIKE THE DEAD) slept right through it.  Angie and Curt said that stuff on the wall shook - they thought a  truck had hit the building!  Wow, I did not know earthquakes hit this area.  While nothing was reported as damaged 3.0 is still a lot bigger than 1.0.  

MS Walk yarn raffle

Hi everyone.  I am posting this to try to help support my friend Jen.  She was diagnosed with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis in 2002.  She has the most adorable 4 year old son ( who loves NASCAR, and has a true appreciation for beautiful yarn)  he makes the funniest observations and I just want to eat him up.  She also has a daughter Lexie who is still a baby.  Her husband is in the Navy.  She will be walking in the MS Walk in Texas and is raffling off some of her yarn stash to raise money.  She has Artyarns Kid Mohair, Asian Trends Del Sur, Crystal Palace Creme, Knitpicks Gloss, Malabrigo, Plymouth Baby Alpaca among others.  Anywhere from 1 skein to 2220 yards.  There are 17 prizes in all.  Every $5 donation gets you one chance in the raffle.  So since most of the people who read this blog are knitters or crocheters  I'm linking to her blog so that hopefully she can raise some more money for her walk and my friends can win some yummy yarn!

Link to her blog  

Knitted Flower Project

So here are my finished flowers for The Knitted Flower Project.  I made them all out of my scrap bag of cotton yarn ( Peaches N Creme, Sugar N Creme, Lion Cotton etc)  mostly leftovers from various dishcloth projects.  I did notice in a few of the pictures that had been posted that the flowers were kinda floppy like and I wanted mine to be more structured and shaped.  So I used size 4 needles (metal yeah really) as I am a tight knitter to begin with ( I almost always have to go up a needle size to achieve gauge) I created a very stiff fabric that stands up.  The orange/yellow, yellow white/green, pink/white center were created because I ran out of the little bit I was using and added another piece.  I think my favorite is the yellow, white and green.  I like the green where it would attach to a stem. I have to stop by Mara's this week  to pick up a package of coffee to complete my valentine's day swap which is supposed to be mailed out by Thursday, so I will mail out my flowers at the same time.  

Happy Knitting!