Happy Birthday Gracie!!

It's my good friend Grace's birthday today! So go over to her blog and wish her a Happy Birthday! Grace is an amazingly talented woman - she used to teach quilting and now churns out shawls , amazing shawls faster than I do anything! She is really sweet, and anyone who can listen to my discombobulated ADD conversations deserves some serious applause. She makes the sweetest knit cupcakes for peoples birthdays, although if you read my last post you would know that just isn't going to happen. So I looked online and found a really cute knit birthday cake:

A really funky birthday cake:

Then I found this cute pick of a birthday cake for a Grace:

And another:

A giant cupcake for Grace:

And a cake made by someone named Grace in England


So Grace -
Happy, HAPPY, HAPPY
BIRTHDAY!!
LUV YA!!

Fall

It rained on and off Saturday, most of the day on Sunday, started raining again late Monday afternoon. Although, after seeing pictures of Atlanta and the surrounding area, I won't complain. The good thing is the temperatures have gotten much cooler. It was in the low 60's most of the weekend. I actually turned the oven on!!I made 2 chocolate chip scones, and 4 cranberry, white and milk chocolate chip scones, Yummy!!

Knitting updates

I realize the only 2 posts I've had in the last 8 days have been the quiz results which auto post on Mondays. I'm sorry. I really haven't been up to posting. Between physical therapy, Angie's stuff trying to figure out what jobs to apply/interview for when my job position ends on 11.23 I just haven't felt like posting. I've done an equally horrible job at keeping up with my favorite blogs. So, I'm here, breathing, living and now posting.

Here are some knitting updates:

My Every Way Wrap is 25 out of 59 inches done. At this point, while I haven't given up, I am kind of dubious about it being done by Rhinebeck. I did about an inch today at lunch, but really can't do much knitting in the evening after PT. Hopefully tomorrow will be a better evening!



The Member of the Month in my dancing dishcloth swap received her package so it is safe to post now-




I just mailed the package for my spa swap partner so no pictures or hints at this time!!

I know I have said in the past that I don't do Mystery KAL's. I think in the entire time I've been knitting I May have done 3, and they were all dishcloth/ potholder type KAL's. But my friend Jody had let me know about Sharon Dreifuss's Mystery Bag 2 KAL. Sharon designed the dumpling bag in Interweave Knits I made last year, she is also the designer of the LaPorte Ave Tote in Fall 2009 Interweave Knits, which I'd like to make. The mystery bag is another felted bag. The yarn kit for the KAL was very reasonably priced (although optional - but I really didn't have time to drag Curt around to help me match up 4 yarns for an unknown pattern) and I loved the color choice for BOLD. so I signed up and ordered it. I still have to wind my yarn, which I received last week before Wednesday when I get the first clue.



The yarn on the left is actually a silvery grey, the multi colored yarn is soooooooooooooooooooooooo soft, I don't want to knit with it, I just want to pet it.

I got the weirdest titled PM the other day on Ravelry - it was OCT MOM. I was like octomom? why am I getting a rav pm about octomom? It was actually the October Member of the Month in my dancing dishcloth swap. The OCT MOM is grace!! How cool is that! I'm going to have a great time finding the perfect pattern to make for her!! It's so much more fun when you know the recepient well.

Patience??

You Are Impatient

You hate to wait, and you hate to waste time. You get antsy quickly. You have zero tolerance for any situation you don't like, and as a result you get stressed easily. You have a short fuse, and its easy for you to lose your temper in a major way. People tend to annoy you. You don't have tolerance for anyone else's crap.

Are You Impatient?

Superpowers??

Your Superpower Should Be Manipulating Fire

You are intense, internally driven, and passionate. Your emotions are unpredictable - and they often get the better of you. Both radiant and terrifying, people are drawn to you. At your most powerful, you feel like the world belongs to you. Why you would be a good superhero: You are obsessive enough to give it your all Your biggest problem as a superhero: Your moodiness would make it difficult to control your powers

What Should Your Superpower Be?

Talk Like a Pirate Day!

I almost forgot about TALK LIKE A PIRATE DAY!! Thanks to Jenn for reminding me!
Women who behave are also pretty boring! Here's to all my friends who will make Herstory with me!

Physical Therapy, Back to School

Late last spring I did something that twinged my shoulder. No recollection of what it was. Tried ice and heat, popped a bunch of ALeve, tried to give it a rest. It felt almost (key word here is almost I guess) like tendonitis so I treated it as such. It really only hurt when my arm lifted over chest level, and since most of my heavy lifting is not that high I wasn't that worried. When I went on vacation in July it really calmed down, so I figured it was going away. Well, now it is at the point when getting coffee filters out of the top cabinet causes a sharp pain that then stays sore for a while. If I move my arm when I sleep the pain is actually sharp enough to wake me up. The problem here is that I am seriously right handed. My left arm allows my shirts to fit better, and offers moral support to my right arm. So even though my right arm hurts. it is hard to make myself use the left. When I went for my physical last week, I 'fessed up to my doctor about it.

Turns out I don't have tendonitis, I have an impingement syndrome, which is pinching my Bursa sacs. great. My arm is moving wrong, and instead of rotating nicely in the joint it is coming up and pinching the bursa. Thus pain. Then like a balloon, when you pinch one end the other end expands, and the expanding side is pressing on the end of the tendon causing some of the same symptoms of tendonitis. Then the doctor tells me there is a fast way and a slow way to stop the pain. Well, duh, what's the fast way? Three giant needles!!! And when the cortisone wears off, the pain may be back. EEEK! What's the slow way? Physical Therapy. OK, sign me up.

My insurance co, approves up to 60 sessions per calendar year per joint on impingement. At three visits a week, the therapist and my doctor figure I should be good in 8-10 weeks, So right now I'm scheduled for 12. I cannot tell you how bad I hurt after the first visit (wednesday) My whole arm and shoulder (including my shoulder blade) was sore Thursday. Friday I kept telling myself no shots, no shots, no shots. Today, I'm sore but not stiff and it's not as bad as it was on Thursday. I'll let you know how Monday goes.



Thursday night was back to school night. As we were walking up to the school (with my coffee in my LEFT hand) Curt makes a comment that we made it to our last back to school night. AAACCCCCKKKKKKK!!!!! Last back to school night?? I'm not old enough to have been to my last back to school night!!! The rest of the night was somewhat surrealistic. I found out why Angie suddenly likes literature - 20th century literature and composition is taught by the baseball coach. Youngish, not bad looking guy. Mmmhmmm yeah I get it now. her Statistics AP teacher reminds me of the funny little man that plays the asst football coach on Evening Shade (please tell me you remember that show. A lot of people at work sort of gave me blank stares on that one.) really hyper dude. She's had her french teacher 3 out of 4 years. her french IV is being taught as a gifted and talented class because there are only 7 kids (and 2 haven't taken their test to skip french 3 - the actual gifted kids - if they don't pass the class will have 5) and doesn't make the minimum sign up numbers. The kids all qualify for GAT based on test scores, class selection, grades and recommendations, so yes it is a loophole. Otherwise she would have had to travel across town to the "evil" knolls to take the class. She had her sociology teacher for World Civ and Hist 2A so this is her third time with her also. ( we were the only parents to show up for that class) The teacher was all - I'm so happy Angie liked me enough to take me a third time. (Angie wasn't totally thrilled, but figured she needed the class and since that was the only teacher sucked it up- although Angie says she's a very different teacher for an elective) Her adv calculus teacher she had last year for calc, she's happy about that because when she moved up from college prep to honors math she had lots of issues first marking period last year, and that teacher spent a lot of extra time with her. Also she knows exactly what Angie and three of her friends learned last year. Her physics teacher - looks like a stereotype of a physics teacher (mind you I love physics) his shirt and tie even didn't match!! Gym is gym, and her Art of Film teacher wasn't there.

LAST BACK TO SCHOOL NIGHT!!! sigh.

Thursday Thunks

Ouch, denim, news and that desert island question again....

Welcome to the September 17th 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 Berleen, the number one thousand twenty seven and the color of leaves in the fall.

1. My daughter (aka Demon #1) informed me the other day that her hugs were worth a million dollars. Would you give up hugs - giving and receiving - for the rest of your life, for a million dollars? Oh never! I can't make it through a day without several hugs ( I must be one of HR's nightmares.) And on carpet day....
and what about chocolate hugs???



2.Have you ever been bitten by a member of the canine family? I dated a kind of hairy guy once. So if he was really a werewolf would that count??


3. What is your favorite color of jeans? Blue...

4. What is something that has changed in public schools that you wish was the norm when you were in school? Kids today are allowed to wear shorts an flip flops to school. Angie wears flip flops when there is snow on the ground!! Curt draws the line at wearing them while it is snowing!



5. What is your news source? The grapevine??



6. What sort of people do you think read your blog? Nuts and knitters??

7. If I told you that I had a headache, you would say..........??? Well, if you are a female or unattractive ( to me) male I'd offer you your choice of Excedrin migraine or Goody's headache powders. If you are an attractive ( to me) male I'd tell you that I know SURE FIRE way of releasing some endorphins and working off that headache ( wink)




8. You go to a buffet style restaurant, what is the first food you put on your plate? Don't do buffets if I can help it.

9. If you were stranded on a desert island.... no, we aren't asking that again. Lets put a twist into this. Would you volunteer to be dropped off on a desert island, to be picked up in a month? And you don't get to bring those 3 items, either. Do I get food and drinks?? Smithwicks anyone? speaking of anyone- can I bring a someone?? need something to do if there isn't any tv you know.

10. When the sun sets, what are you usually doing? Well that would depend on whether or not I can lure Curt back to my lair...

ARCA/REMax NJMSP

Sunday, Curt and I went to the ARCA/REMax at New Jersey Motor Sports Park. we had a great time. Justin Lofton ( my replacement for Dexter) did great despite limited road course experience. As he passed us in the last lap he made an awesome pass for 2nd, but something must have happened after (damn road courses) and he finished 6th. He goes against the rule of if you suck Daddy can still buy you a ride. Daddy may be his main sponsor but he's tied for first right now and has a lot of talent.



Lofton's Car



justin lofton



Frank Kimmel's car and crew



patrick Sheltra's car and crew



Angie feels better that Ali Owens needs shifting reminders.



Maybe Ali should look into a post it note sponsorship.



Or maybe GaRMIN??

ROle play

You Are the Warrior

You feel that it's your role to defend and protect society. You'll fight for what's right, and you especially like fighting for the underdog. You love getting things done, especially if it means working with your hands. You also have a great mind for strategy... whether it's military strategy, legal strategy, or chess. You love being challenged, and you love challenging others. You are eager to prove how powerful you are. You are ready for a (literal or figurative) fight at any time. Maybe a little too ready.

What Role Do You Play?

Big Game Results

Wouldn't you figure as soon as we got to the game it started to drizzle, then light rain, then rain then back to drizzle? Would you think that either of us would have brought an umbrella, poncho or even plastic bag? If your answers were yes and no then you are correct. However, the Knights played well and:

Final Score:

20-0

BIG GAME

So today's the big game - Hills vs Knolls. The game both teams MUST win. (We're a regional high school district 4 towns split to 2 schools plus the county math/science/engineering academy is attached to Hills. So all the kids know each other and serious bragging rights are on the line) The seniors organized a huge tailgating party in the senior parking lot (it's a home game for Hills) Curt and I are about to leave to go to the game. It is great weather for a game. It stopped raining a few hours ago, in the low 60's...

Go Scarlet Knights!!


Beat the Eagles!!

Never Forget

This monument "tears of grief" was given to us by the Russians to commemorate 9.11. It sits in the harbor of Bayonne, NJ facing the Statue of Liberty across the river from where the twin towers stood. At it's base is inscribed all the names of the victims of the 9.11 attacks.

1 Hank 12"

I just finished knitting one hank of yarn. I got 12" into the wrap. Considering I am a SLOW knitter, this pattern is a fairly fast knit. The moss stitch section goes quickly, the cable pattern is easy to follow, just check each line and then knit away!

Box of chocolates

Thom at Thoms Place 4 Well Whatever gave me this blog award on Sunday. Here are the rules that go with it:

Pam says: “In my best southern accent, I would like to say that I have been thinking about a new award and what I would like it to say. People are like Forrest Gump said ” Life is like a box of chocolates and you never know what you’re gonna get.

You can see this box of chocolates is filled with different and unique candies and just like the chocolates we are all different and unique people. We are the same in that we all have common ingredients that make us more a like than not. Except for the frosting, which represents our personalities, we are indeed very similar on the inside.”

And of course there are rules: 1. That you must pass this award to others.

2. Link back to me when you have passed them forward.

3. Write a nice post about this award.

4. You must read this award with a southern accent. I call it southern day where we all have to speak with a southern accent. I know that will be hard for some of you, but for the rest of us, we will be fine. So now, ya’ll just enjoy this little ol’ award and have fun with it.

5. And of course let your folks know that they have a nice award waiting for them.

So who get's the box of chocolate next?

GRACE @ Lovincomfortknits

CICI & CAJTALK @ sistahsthatknit

JEAN@ BAABAAKNITSTITCH

JENN @ Sarah Winchester of Fiber Arts

TERESA @ Girl With Needles

MIN @Minvironment

THERESA @ Crochet Goddess

JOYCE @ Yarn Journey

Prelude to the Dream - Tonite!!!!

No Needles!?!

Went for my physical today. Yay I'm alive! I do like my doctor, I hate going for a physical though. He must have got tired of me rescheduling (originally I was supposed to have one last summer) so when my meds came up for renewal he only renewed for one fill so that I would HAVE to come in. It wasn't today that bothers me though. Ok , the electrode thingys for the EKG creep me out a bit. It's tomorrow. I have to go for bloodwork and urinalysis. It isn't the peeing in a cup either, it's the vials (yes multiple) of blood they are going to let. Ok not the vials themselves, I'm sure I have enough to last me, it's the needle to get the blood from my veins into the vials. i am terrified of needles, really really scared of them. . Sad. i know. I really do in the logical, rational part of my brain know it. I know it really didn't hurt (much) last time. But in the irrational, instinctual part of my brain that is in charge of fear, I am scared sh*tless. And that part of my brain thinks the needle is going to feel like an amputation.

But, I'm pretty sure I need my BP meds,

I did have him look at my shoulder and he says it's NOT tendinitis. It is an impedance in my bursar sack. Great. So he tells me there is the quick way to fix it and the slower way. Why oh why did I ask him what the quick way was. He says I'll send you downstairs and have the othopedic (yeah I can't spell) surgeon use a needle this big (holding his hands apart) and stick you in the joint to inject some cortisone. This is BEFORE doing my EKG mind you! The slower way is a month to 6 weeks of physical therapy. HMMMMMM. Guess who's going to physical therapy?

the Fourth of the Fourth

THE FOURTH OF THE FOURTH

James at Newtown Area Photo on his blog passed on a little challenge to his readers. The rules are as follows:

1. Open the fourth file where you store your photos.
2. Pick the 4th photo.
3. Explain the photo.
4. Pass challenge onto 4 other bloggers.

I actually got this blog challenge from my friend Thom at
Thoms Place 4 Well Whatever

Thank's Thom!

My picture is my Mom's Akita Sara. My mom wanted a doggy sweater for her for Christmas 2007. It was a bit tough - Akita's are sled dogs - they LIKE the cold! So I couldn't find a pattern that would fit, so I basically attempted to adapt a smaller pattern. The neck came out a little droopier than I would have liked. As you can see, being caught in any sweater embarrasses the poor dog, and she won't look you or the camera in the eye when wearing it!

comfort food?

You Are Meatloaf

When you're stressed out, you seek food that will sustain you. You crave a hearty, protein packed meal. And there's little heartier than meatloaf. Life demands a lot of you. It's likely you work hard and have a lot of responsibilities. You are energetic and can handle a lot more than most people. You take comfort in anything that fuels you.

What Comfort Food Are You?

Every Way Wrap

When I was in Philly last month, I bought 8 skeins of Berroco Lustra, a peruvian wool, tencel single ply worsted yarn. I originally bought it with some silver and black yarn and was going to use these two as accents (Tony's car's colors) but was kind of vague as to what I wanted to make with it. I then got my Fall 2009 Interweave Knits and absolutely fell in love with the Every Way Wrap





So yesterday, I hunted down my size 9 circs and cast on. the color of the yarn is gorgeous. More like the second picture than the first. I like the sheen that the Tencel gives the yarn. I've always liked single ply yarns for whatever reason. My only complaint with the yarn is it does pill a little as it is being knit and inside the ball two strands get stuck together and needs to be untangled. Hopefully there won't be a lot of pilling in the finished wrap.





I really wish you could reach into the screen and FEEL it. it has wonderful hand feel!

Fish, Beach Glass

I have found the cutest way to use cotton scraps, of which I have a lot! Wishy washi fishy tawashi's !! For those of you on Ravelry it's a free pattern.



This one still needs the eye.

Here is the progress of my traveling woman - aka Beach Glass. I finished the set up row and have done chart A once - I am going to do chart A 2 more times and then finish with chart B. I seriously hope the pattern shows up better once it's blocked.