yeah, that was a surprise

You Are a Beer Drinker

You drink to have fun and let loose. Simple as that. And you aren't picky about what you drink, though you can appreciate a quality brew. Casual and down to earth, you can hang with anyone who's real... no matter what walk of life they're from. You prefer to be around friendly, honest people without pretensions.

What Should You Be Drinking?

On a soap box

You guys know I really don't get up on a soap box often. I really don't see my blog as the place to deal with issues open to debate. But a friend of mine, Min from Philly sent me the link to this commercial I AM REALLY REALLY INCENSED BY THIS. The commercial implies that to be of 2 different races is a "contradiction". So, me, my brother, my daughter - we're all contradictions??? Fuck them!! Seriously. Starburst is owned by the Mars Corp. A privately owned company that makes M&M's, 3 Musketeers, snickers, bounty, combos, Dove chocolate, Greenies dog bones, kudos, milky ways, Pedigree, cesar dog food, sheba and Whiska's cat food, skittles. twix. I am not buying any of their f'ing products. Seriously!!

THURSDAY THUNK

Milk might be on the science test

Welcome to the June 24th version of Thursday Thunks!

(which we always seem to post on Wednesday)
Where we make you think a little bit before you blog!

This week we will answer some crazy questions brought to you by Berleen, the number 1559 and the color calico.

1. Someone knocks at your door. You answer it. It's a kid from the local school selling candy bars for a fundraiser. Do you buy one? The local school stopped selling candy - it's "junk food". But be that as it may, if they had Krackel, Crispy or Caramel ( the local band used to sell band candy that had caramel inside that was awesome) then yes.

2. The end of the world is tomorrow and you are out of milk - do you go buy some? Tough question. What time tomorrow?? I put milk in the first couple of cups of coffee I drink in the morning, so unless it was ending in the middle of the night why would I be miserable about it. Then again, if the world was ending tomorrow, I'd have to drink all my beer - wouldn't want it to go to waste, so I might be drinking my coffee black.

3. Have you ever picked up the phone and called someone that you hadn't talked to in years? Actually, that's how I ended up with my husband. We were friends in college, he was older and we lost touch when he graduated. A couple of years after I graduated, I ran into his best friend in the mall, we got to reminiecing and he said I should give Curt a call. So I did. We ended up going to a mutual friends wedding together, started dating, and now 20 years later are married with a 17 year old!

4. Whats on your computer desktop background? Tony of course!!

5. What was the very first movie you saw in a movie theater? I'm pretty sure it was Star Wars. Not 100% sure. I didn't go to many movies when I was a kid.

6. If you had to take a 10th grade science test, do you think you would pass?10th grade was chemistry? Not sure. 11th grade was physics and I'm pretty sure I could still ace that.

7. Describe heaven. Why dwell on a place I'll never see??Heaven on earth would involve either a Starbucks quad venti non fat caramel macchiatto or Smithwicks, yarn - probably mmmalabrigo and awesome seats on a cool breezy but sunny day at a race track with Smoke winning the race.

8. Has a place that you lived ever been infested with some sort of insect or rodent? Not that I know - if I did I'd move. Seriously.

9. When you were a youngin', did you hide in the clothes racks at department stores?Once. Just once. Got my ass beat with my great grandfathers cane. WASN'T DOING THAT AGAIN!!


10. Is there anything in your vehicle that is broken? Not to my knowledge, although after teaching Angie to drive - and the car being a stick shift - the clutch is starting to slip and will need to be worked on this summer. Probably while she is in Ecuador.

11. What is something in your house that people would be surprise to find? There are a lot of things in my house people would not expect, I give off an image that is not always the complete picture. I am seriously multi faceted, and most people only see a few of those facets. A Bible that actually gets use would shock a whole lot of people, A copy of Beowulf in old English, skirts in my closet would shock even more, A six foot tall poseable, plush Wile E Coyote wearing a sweatshirt from my daughters dance studio and my first attempt at a knit hat that looks like a hat on him but not on someone without 2 foot ears sits at the dining room table.

12. Do you agree with the death penalty? Absolutely positively. If you kill us, we will kill you back. I do not believe in all the red tape and stuff that allows people to sit on death row for 20 years.

13. Whats your favorite type of bear? Fozzie of course!! Be the Bear!!

14. Where was the last place you went? Work this morning, then back home!

15. What if that person knocking at your door earlier was an adult selling candy bars... would you buy one? Wouldn't answer the door, if it was an adult was knocking.

Most Improved Girl's field player -

Should I give you three guesses??

It isn't raining!!

We actually had a few hours of sunlight this afternoon. I of course spent that whole time in the laundromat because I was too unmotivated with all the rain last week to do laundry. I'm still trying to motivate to bring in the rest of the stuff from the car. So I really didn't get to go out and revel in the sun!!

Yesterday it stopped raining for a few hours and I took some pictures of my container garden. I need some more sunlight so the tomato and pepper plants start growing. Right now the only thing growing is mint, basil and dill weed.

Father's Day recap

I hope everyone had a great father's day yesterday. Here are some pic's from Curt's day. We took him out to breakfast at the diner across town. He likes it better than the one closer to us. Yes, we are in North Jersey, there are 5 diners within 5 miles of us. Curt is very difficult to shop for. He has weird interests that are hard to buy for, and I hate giving him GC's. So the other day in Borders I came up with the perfect plan. there is a book of breweries in NJ. I bought him the book.


One of the breweries listed (way down in South jersey) is Flying Fish. I've had their beer before good stuff. So I went to the liquor store and got 2 bottles of their inaugural series of NJ beers, based on the exits of the turnpike ( in NJ it is all about what exit) It is called exit 4, where the brewery is.


I also gave him an IOU for a weekend in Cherry Hill at the (Hilton I think) since their tours are from 1 to 4 on Saturdays for the middle of August. (our weekends are kinda full until then).

Awesome right!! I think it is a great gift for Curt.


Here as a PS is a pic from my Dancing With the Stars group on Ravelry. Each player was assigned one of the stars, and everyone had to send a 15 package to the person who got the winner. I had Ty Murray, and I was very proud of him for making it to the semi finals, since really the man is an awesome bull rider and has a cute grin, but no dancing talent whatsoever! So the winner received her package yesterday and I can now post this pic:

Sunday Stealing

I have nothing to blog this weekend. I'm not sure where my camera is, so I can't take any pictures to post about. It's still raining, not great thunder storm rain, just depressing incessant blah rain. Sucking all the life out of me. A bunch of people that do Thursday Thunks do the Sunday Stealing meme so I thought I'd give it a shot.

Cheers to all us thieves!

Sunday Stealing: The Finish The Sentence Meme

1. I've come to realize that my last kiss... was so sexy, because it came from an amazing guy.

2. I am listening to... the tv show I'm watching " Man vs. Cartoon" where they try to successfully create the engineering of Wile E Coyote. We all know he's my hero. If I wasn't such a wimp I'd have a Wile E tattoo on my left ankle.

3. I talk... not as much as my daughter.

4. I love... so many things and people , they would be hard to name.

5. My best friend/s... have been with me literally forever. They are the greatest 5 guys, and have gone with me through the good the bad and the really ugly.

6. My first real kiss... must have sucked as I have absolutely no recollection of it.

7. Love is... very mis- understood and met with unrealistic expectations. I once heard that ancient greek had like over 20 words for different loves (after all my love of sushi is not really comparable to my love of Curt) We should have that in English.

8. Marriage is... the rock that holds my kite string so I don't blow away and get lost.

9. Somewhere, someone is thinking... if she has nothing to say why does she keep blogging?

10. I'll always... drive a stick shift.

11. The last time I really cried was because... my dad died.

12. My cell phone... holds the keys to my life, phone, friends, calendar.

13. When I wake up in the morning... do not get between me and my coffee.

14. Before I go to bed... I try to get curt to come too.

15. Right now I am thinking about... what I want for breakfast.

16. Babies are... not my cup of tea.

17. I get on Myspace... never

18. Today I... will knit on my afghan, work on my Beach swap, watch the race and hopefully catch a nap before the race.

19. Tomorrow I will be... hoping C delivers my carpet.

20. I really want to be... in better physical shape.

I'm cheating

My friend Grace, sent me a weird e-mail, but I decided it would make a great lazy post so except for the first question which wouldn't make any sense here it is:

Has your birthday come and gone this year or yet to be? I'm a late fall baby. Here's hoping to snow on my birthday!

Tell Us about your immediate family My sweetie is a total enabler to all my obsessions, but doesn't cook for me :( Although come to think of it, I like cooking and don't want to share! Angie is the picture in the dictionary next to over acheiever. Good kid, cares about people (didn't get that from me) really bright, athletic . Now do you see ehy I had to stop at one?? A second would have been way to risky!

Do you have an absolute favorite color? I like bright bold colors, red, orange. I like deep dark colors black, garnet. I REALLY DO NOT LIKE PASTELS!! Keep the pink, mint, lavender, away from me! I am very against beige - pick a damn color already! HATE white cars - pick a damn color already!!

If you could never knit another stitch what would your favorite craft be? I'm going to cheat here and say crochet. hee hee hee.

If you could only have one yarn to knit with for the rest of your life what would you pick? Either fiber or brand will do! MMMMalabrigo ( how easy was that?) Thank God for the internet(or Al Gore if you/re a demoncrat) lots and lots of yarn just a click away!!

You and a friend go out shopping for the day and stop at a tea room, but this particular tea room serves Hot Tea, Iced Tea, Coffee or Hot Chocolate ----Which would you pick and why Ok, have you never met me?? It would definitely be coffee, preferably an espresso based drink. Inless it was between 4 and 6, then it might be hot tea, cause I switch to tea in the late afternoon, although if it were really hot ( over 85) and they didn't have iced coffee I'd go with unsweetened iced tea. When it's actually snowing or I'm skiing is the only time I drink hot chocolate ( and usually it has a shot of ameretto or zambucca or other happy juice)

If you could eat only one fruit forever what would it be?Strawberries

If you stood with your back to someone and held your arms straight out to the sides like a +. What would you measure from elbow to elbow. No one's home right now so I have no idea!

The hair from your last haircut ... what would it say about your new style?new style?? what new style?? I almost never blow dry my hair, rarely actually comb it with anything other than my fingers, so a style is kinda pointless. Also, since I am very paranoid about not being able to put it in a ponytail when it's hot (over 75) I only cut it once or twice a year. So the only thing is how long do I want the back, do I want it straight across or angled down toward the center, and I usually get a face frame done. I'm making up for all the hair spray etc I used in the 80's!

THURSDAY THUNK

Worst Thursday Thunks Ever!

Welcome to the June 18th version of Thursday Thunks!

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

This week we will answer some crazy questions brought to you by
Kimber, the number 3000 and the color grape ape.

1. Are your ears dirty?Ewwww, No.
2. Would you rather be stung by a scorpion or bit by a snake? (Don't say either...no one wants to be in pain, that's the point. Pick one.) Scorpion
3. Do loud noises make you snappish? (i.e. A loud restaurant, screaming child next to you, booming stereo from a neighbor's house?)They get on my nerves after a while.
4. PETA- thoughts on this org.?People Eating Tasty Animals?? I'm all for tasty animals, will be grilling some this evening, yes in the rain.

5. Would you rather be the discoverer of the Loch Ness Monster or Bigfoot? (Imagination!) Ok, I'll have to go for the Loch Ness Monster, because if being discovered pisses it off, I can always haul ass out of the water. If bigfoot is pissed off, I'm pretty sure he can run faster than me!
6. When in a public toilet and it's not flushed: do you flush & use or move on to a clean one? Once again Ewwww, definitely move on. WHy are people so gross?? At work, I have noticed how many people do not wash their hands on the way out of the women's room. Customers and employees alike. One woman NEVER washes her hands. Every time she comes near the computer or phone in my dept, I douse the keyboards and phone and counter with Lysol. Once while she was still using it!!
7. Neighbors are having a noisy, party bonfire, what do you do? Grab a couple six packs and see if I can "buy" my way in!
8. Do you play Monopoly? If so which version of the game? Not since my daughter kicked my ass when she was 7. We own Monopoly 2000, cat monopoly, nascar monopoly, nfl monopoly, and i think disney? We have a ton of boardgames here.
9. Are you a remote hog? Only when I have to take it away from my husband, otherwise I am generally too lazy to change channels.
10. Do you like the smell of paint? Latex yes, Oil no, spray paint no.
11. My questions obviously suck this week. {I've had a bad week.}
So do you think Kimber should have...
~smoked pot before doing these questions?
~drank liquid courage?
~begged Berleen to do them (she's better at them anyhow)?
~just piss off! I could have done better!
pot would make them worse. A few margarita's may have helped!

Quick Knitting Updates

I finally finished sock 1 of my Kaffe fasset ribbed socks. They look kind of funny w/o a foot in them. Kind of like clown socks long and skinny. They look better with a foot in them, but I don't want to take a pic with a foot and stretch it out, this way I can make sure the socks end up matching. So for now here is the pic:



I don't think I will get to start sock 2 until the end of the month or beginning of July. The "bonus points" deadline for my next VJGC afghan is 6.22, Monday. Not really sure if this is going to happen. I need 12 squares. I have 7 finished squares, 1 partial. So I need 4 1/2 squares. I need to crochet a border around all the squares and then seam them together. I'm not sure if I'll be able to accomplish this, but for now, I'm going to try. I'm going to bring the partial square to work tomorrow to work on at lunch. I have to hit the laundromat after work so I'll get some in there. Tomorrow night is my daughter's spring track banquet. I don't think I'll get anything done there. Wednesday, if I get my carpet truck early enough, is knit group at Mara's, so if I'm not sure if I'll bring a mindless square or a hook to work on the borders.

Once I get this 'ghan either mailed off or come to the realization that it won't happen , I am in a swap on Ravelry. It is the beach square swap I mentioned last week. I have to make a beach bag and 3 beach themed squares to mail out by June 30th. SO starting Monday, i'll bring the bag to work, to work on during lunch because it's quick and mindless. Then I can knock out the squares, 2 nites per square and have plenty of time.

Until these 2 get sent out, I won't be casting on my second sock. I am also waiting for my stuff to start my rain drop (blood drop) shawl. I'm really excited about that, but thatis it's own post

here's 4 more squares:

You Are Chess

You are brilliant and shrewd. You can often predict what people will do in the future. You thrive in complex situations. You deal with contradictions well. You can have many streams of though going on at your mind at once. You keep track of things well. You are very patient. You have lots of endurance, even when your energy dwindles

What Board Game Are You?

Hey! Chess was my favorite game growing up!!

vjac.etsy

I don't often hawk stuff, but you must check out this dyer. Back story - I make afghans for Victory Junction Gang Camp. Since the NASCAR community and many drivers personally have been hugely supportive of the endeavor, a group of knitters on Ravelry have an afghan making competition based on driver. My driver is Tony Stewart if you couldn't guess.
To defray the delivery costs of the afghans in the fall, an etsy shop has been created. Some really creative people have contributed to the shop.

I purchased some great stitch markers that say (heart) Tony (2 of these) and one that says (heart) smoke. Sara makes them to say whatever you want. As she really despises Tony, I'm very impressed they came out so great! I don't have a picture as they are in use in my bag in the car.

Jenn makes these really adorable pins called WIP (work in progress for non knitters) The truly sad part is I purchased this pin for a gift.



Now brook, is a hugely talented dyer who doesn't follow NASCAR at all (Min has totally dropped the ball here) but she created a line of NASCAR inspired yarn. This yarn is 99 based on the AFLAC color scheme of Carl Edwards. I got it for a swap and now that I physically have the yarn it may kill me to mail it out,



Finally, she made a yarn based on Tony's #14 car. It is 50% organic cotton - have to find out what the other 50 % is.
But it is gorgeous.



If the NASCAR inspired colors don't move you you can check out her shop
http://www.twistedfiberyarn.com/shop
She has gorgeous yarns and rovings and needles etc. etc.

Non- Nascar stuff!!

Other things have been going on besides my recuperation from the race. Angel is going to be in the honor guard at graduation this year. Go Angie!! It rained ALL week!! All week. (The only place I burned last weekend was my neck, cause I'm new at this whole sunscreen thing and forgot to sunscreen it. So I was a bit peely despite all the aloe, cocoa butter and lotion I've been putting on it. I think the apron at work caused it. But I told people I was growing gills) SO my herbs have been growing like crazy, but the veggies aren't. We've had yummy pesto and dilled salmon. Along the cooking line, since the berries smelled sooo good at Apple Farm I made:


A mini-strawberry/blueberry crostada for me and Angie


I made peach/blueberry for Curt, cause he doesn't do strawberries. I was going to glaze them with melted peach jam, but it was late and I wanted to eat them.

On Ravelry, I'm in a group called squares squared link will only work for Ravelry members. the group does weekly squares in a loose checkerboard theme. I've been making the squares to go around number squares for my next Victory Junction afghan. There are bonus points for early dates this year ( I guess to make it easier on Min rather than getting them all in the fall.) So 6.22 is the date. I'm not sure if I can finish in the next 9 days, but I'll give it a shot. I'm working on a 14 square ( in red of course) right now. I'm in a beach swap on the group. The swap involves sending three or four squares around a beach theme in cotton yarn that can be used either as cloths or added to a blanket or throw. And a beach bag - the bag can be either knit, crocheted or sewn. I'm not telling what I'm doing because I don't know if my partner has found my blog ( I say found like they have to look! it's linked off my ravelry profile for those of you not on ravelry) and I don't want to spoil the surprise.

For myself I've decided on a small throw for cool summer nights ( um Mother Nature that's a hint COOL breezy summer nights not hot humid sticky nights like last night ok?) I'm going to do beach symbols like smiling sun, beach ball, light house, seagull, sand castle (my partner sent me a great link to rachel who has some really cute patterns including flip flops, a bikini, a one piece) And some just wavy squares. It took a while to find the colors I wanted. I wanted kinda soft colors. My friend Jenn had custom dyed yarn made to remember the gulf coast of Texas which she will be leaving soon. The yarn had the colors of the sun, the sea and the sky. It came out gorgeous. So that inspired me, because originally I was looking for white blue and green and wasn't happy with what I was finding. So I went with green, blue and beige and I think it will just what I want:



Angel used my car to go see Land of the Lost last night, so Curt and I decided to go do something. We ended up going to this amazing bbq (real smoked slow cooked bbq) place in Wharton called HOT RODS link will work for everyone. Curt had ribs , I had pulled pork (was deciding between that the Texas brisket and the jambalaya) we both had red beans and rice, really good cornbread and hush puppies both with honey butter (yum!) I had a seasonal beer called beach bum, curt had cricket hill's IPA. Then we split an apple thing with ice cream and caramel sauce. mmmmm. I found out recently that Cricket Hill ( which is only 20 minutes from here) now does tours and tasting - definitely on the to do list for the summer! We ended up getting home AFTER Angie! How cool is that?! I know I'm sad...

Hope everyone has a great weekend!!

Last Pocono Post - Well, until August

Angie at the track


Always some at the race


Curt got GREAT picture of Tony's team in a group hug after the win. My brain was still in oxygen deprivation from not breathing for 7 laps and the whole aneurysm thing so I got the crew heading for victory circle.


Smoke smoking!



Oh, I did tell y'all that Tony won!! Right? Well Tony won!!

Pocono Part III

Tony during Pre-race


One of the prettiest things in the whole world is all the teams lined up in their team colors down pit road for the national anthems.


Pocono always get weird planes for the flyover.


Tony's crew fires off an awesome pitstop.

THURSDAY THUNK

Sleeping and swimming and dirty barefoot feet

Welcome to the June 11th version of Thursday Thunks!

(which we always seem to post on Wednesday)
Where we make you think a little bit before you blog!

This week we will answer some crazy questions brought to you by Berleen, the number 1 (because I am) and the color nude.

1. What is your least favorite candy bar? I think they're called goobers? Chocolate w/ peanuts? Weird cause I love reeses and anything with peanut butter!
2. If I were to call you, what would you say? Hello?
3. What is your favorite type of leaf?This question needs some clarification. As in to do what with? look at? cook with? wipe your ass with? smoke?????? With the information given I really can't answer this question.
4. When was the last time you....
- had sex? Getting pretty personal aren't we?? let's just say it's a marital activity and I was definitely married last night.
- swam in a lake? Last September?? the lake is still kinda cold for this year.
- went barefoot outside? Whatever day you are reading this , today would be a pretty safe answer.
- ate peas?Had some in my risotto on Monday.
5. Since Father's Day is right around the corner, tell us about the person that you are celebrating.I do not celebrate my father, and it is no longer an issue now that he is no longer here. My husband is a great dad, and since he ALWAYS spoils me on Mother's day I make a special effort for him on Father's Day. Unfortunately there is nothing I can do to shield him from the exuberance of Angie's show of affection ( seen the comic strip Marmaduke? you get the idea. She's 5'7" and thinks she still is 3'5" sometimes.
6. Were you dropped on your head as a child?While my mother denies ever dropping me, it is a moot point as I specialized in getting my head bonked as a youth and have the scars from stitches to prove it!!
7. How often do you clean your toilet? two to three times a week.
8. Have you ever been sunburned? Tell us about it. I never used to sunburn. Then I was put on these BP pills. Yes, there was a warning label. No, I didn't think it applied to me- I mean I used to drench myself in baby oil the first weekend at the beach! I then went on a 4 hour whale watch cruise. And never went under the roof thingy. I burned - i stung, I aloed, I moisturized, I actually drank water. I peeled. The peeling is gross. Worse than the burn really.
9. On average, how many hours a sleep do you get a night? 4.5
10 How many hours did you get last night?3.5 - but I had a nap in the afternoon.
11. Take a picture of something. Post it. I took this sunday- does it count??
12. Are the bottom of your feet dirty? Um, did you read the question 4C?? I was just outside checking on my plants. Wiping them on the towel by the balconey door only does so much you know!
13. Do you know the names of every member of the family who lives next door to you? No , they speak very little English. I mostly just say hi how are you.

Pocono Part II

Yesterday's post (ok last night's really) was pre race stuff from 6am to 12ish. Today we'll do actual pre-race.


When we went back in the track, the cars were lined up on pit road, here are Ryan Newman's 39 (Tony's teammate) and Kyle "shrub" Busch (TOny's ex-teammate.


Tony's car lined up in front of Jeffie's car


The track had some water issues


If you look carefully the oompa loompas have broken out brooms and leaf blowers!!


then they decide that nooo let's not use the jet dryers let's get the port a potty sucker! For the record they did eventually bring in the jet dryers and then had to shut it down 'cause no one could hear the openning ceremonies!


My sweetie Dexter Bean after driver intros


Ryan NewmaN ANd Kyle Busch after driver intros


Tony after driver intros

Pocono Part I

I have decided to spread my Pocono NASCAR weekend out over a couple days or this post will take a couple of days to read.


If you read my blog from Friday, it rained really hard, so qualifying was cancelled and Tony by virtue of being first in the points standings had the pole. Unfortunately he spun during practice on Sat and switched to his back up car, and had to drop to the tail of the field and actually started 43rd :(


After shopping through the trailers ( yes as jeff foxworthy says just 'cause you see a redneck leave a store w/o a bag - does not mean no purchase was made) As miss redneck herself models the sweatshirt she just purchased.


Cannot believe A: digger has a trailer B:people were buying stuff. But I mostly am putting this picture on to traumatize my Nascar fan friends ;)


Checked out the Chevy tent among others. ( The best buy trailer was nice and cold - serious air conditioning - we luv them)


Angie relaxing after a hard morning shopping ( yes new t-shirt)


Curt relaxing after I literally walked him a couple miles around the trackside area ( not around the track )


This guy was in front of me in line at Tony's trailer - love his shirt!!


While we were walking to see where bobby was pitting - I checked out the awesome view I would be having of TOny's pit all race -( Angie had a really good view of Bobby's pit so all were happy)