Racing Yay!!!

The wait is over - racing is returning!  yay!  This weekend had the Rolex 24 hours of Daytona.  Grand Am racing is more Curt's thing than mine  - although I had fun the last 2 years in South Jersey when they ran.  I just have a few issues with 2 completely different kinds of cars, that go 2 completely different speeds being on the track at the same time.  But by now, I'm so jonesing to just hear the revs of a racecar engine that I actually caught myself watching snowmobiles the other night!

Last night was the Camping World West ( kinda like the minor leagues) Toyota All Star Challenge from Irwindale in CA.  Other than Joey Logano hogging the spot light it was a good race until I fell asleep- lulled to sleep by stock car engines- what could be sweeter?

Then this afternoon, Joey (again geez)  won gold and Melanie Troxel from Drag racing took silver at the Bodine Bobsled Challenge.  It's really a great fundraiser to support out Olympic Bobsled team.  The Bodines started it after they found out that the US team was buying sleds from overseas and not necessarily getting the top of the line.  They now manufacture the sleds used by our team in this country.  Racing celebrities from all manor of racing show up for the 8 days of the challenge and really out it out on the line.  The funniest thing this year was a hat Logano wore that made him look like he had Boris Said's ( road racer)  hair!

7193 days up in smoke

That's how many days I've had at Depot without a lift machine accident.  Sigh.  All gone up in smoke.

Friday, I got to work with Don, who normally works 530-230 on Sat and Sun, so I rarely if ever get to see.  I used to work with him all the time and we always had a blast.  Don is about 6'5", his fingers are like sausages.

When the carpet truck showed up, he came back to receiving to help me bring the carpet out to the floor.  THe trailer backed up and as Bill ( not C my regular driver) was lowering the landing gear and chocking his wheels, Don opened the trucks roll up door and dropped the dockplate on.   We took out the remnants on a lumber cart and then there were 2 pallets.  I already had the carpet boom on the pacer truck that I had removed the forks so that I could pull of the 2 rolls of carpet off the truck (had to be prepared)  

Usually, if the pole is already on that machine I would use the electric pallet jack ( or my "scooter" as C calls is) to get the pallets off the truck.  But they weren't full size pallets, they were 1/4 pallets and the jack wouldn't fit under them and they were between a bunch of rolls of carpet ant the side of the trailer, so I couldn't use the trick of only sticking one blade into the pallet.  

I grabbed the reach truck ( yes I play a lot of musical machinery) and scrunched the blades together.  This was where my problem started.  The reach is about 2 inches taller than the pacer truck.  2 friggin inches. From the dock there is this vinyl padded thing that comes down, so if it's rainy or cold or windy the weather doesn't blow into the dock.  The problem is you can't see the top of the trailer from the dock.  And I had broken my own rule and trusted someone other than C to open the gate and not have me check it.  I even check it when Bill - the guy who most often replaces C opens it.  But seriously, the guy is 6'5", he's not a clutz or a f-up.  He can reach up and touch the roof of the trailer.  When I open the gate I have to kind of jump as I do it, cause I come up to the guys shoulder.  I rolled onto the dock.  Normally you would here a thunk, thunk as the dock dropped under the weight of the machine and then straightened onto the trailer.  Well, I heard thunk crunch.  CRUNCH in case you are wondering is a really Bad noise when unloading a truck.  REALLY BAD NOISE.  I looked up, the safety guard on top of my was caught on the door latch.  And the 2 roller on the bottom panel had popped off the door and out of the track.  Don reached up and pushed the door up as I slowly backed out.  And the locking latch sheared off.  Sigh.   Can I tell you how bad I just wanted to cry?  

Then I have to call Ed ( aka "grouchy guy" on  a good day) at the terminal, and tell him what happened.  And had to tell him, yeah I was driving.   It was horrible.  Then Ed talks to Bill.  While I was on the phone, Don and Bill had ascertained that the track wasn't damaged, the latch worked but just couldn't lock and the gate would roll up and down.  SO Ed said it shouldn't be a big deal, that they'd probably be able to just fix it since Bill and DOn had found all the pieces.    THEN  I slowly realize that when/if C hears about it my life is going to be hell.  Seriously, I luv the guy, but he's going to ragg on me forever.  I made Bill SWEAR he wouldn't tell C.  And he won't see Ed probably until Thur since most days he leaves the terminal before Ed comes in.  And by then it may not be on the forefront of Ed's mind.  BUT, a lot of people at the terminal bust C's chopps and refer to me as his "little girlfriend"  (makes you wonder how big the women around there are - I'm not little by any means!)  So if any of them realize it was me that damaged the trailer, he'll definitely hear about it.  I sooo want to call out on Monday.

Now if they fix the trailer and it doesn't go past there it won't count and the 7193 days will keep going forward ( I do hold a record by 6 years)   but I'll know it was wrong.  I think Bill was right - he said that if C doesn't hear about it before he gets to me on Monday, I'LL  end up telling him.  I think I will, it's better than worrying about him finding out.  

And people wonder why I trust No One!!  ANd guess what??  I'm a lift trainer and I'm scheduled to give a hands on driving class Tuesday morning.... I need a rock...

Well, if I'm at work before the sun...

You Are a Morning Person

You're optimistic, alert, and full of energy to start the day. While you would love to party all night, you rather be up at the crack of dawn. You don't procrastinate or spend time worry about what to do next. You take life by the reigns, and you like to have an early start.

Are You a Morning Person or Night Person?

Blogthings: Quizzes and Tests and Memes, Oh My!

       

I wish I were that cat!

 

 

Haiku

Silly Haiku Wednesday

Welcome to “Silly Haiku Wednesday!”

Click here for info and background on this weekly event!

The basics:
Haiku is simple! It is 3 non-rhyming lines of 5, 7, and 5 syllables respectively (a great way to use your fingers!)

This week’s theme is: Changes

 Angie graduates

will be leaving for college

I will be lonely. 

Ravelympics

on Ravelry ( a community of over half a million knitters/crocheters/spinners/dyers etc), there is a fiber challenge that coincides with the Olympics.  Since I knit when I watch tv, I guess it's aimed at people like me.  It's a friendly competition, where everyone could win.  People join teams - mostly formed in existing groups.  Then they choose "events" to compete in, that if finished before the end of the olympics wins a blog "medal".  There are 17 days left until the  Olympics, so I need to start figuring this out.

I didn't do the Ravelympics last time ( the summer games 2008)  This year. I dove in and joined 3 teams.   I joined Team Jersey - well I live in Jersey after all, but I'm not doing anything major there.  I'm also on Team Puck This - a hockey group.  And my  main team ( that is shown on my Ravatar) is Team Fast Girls Knit Left - a group of Nascar fans.

 

Here are the events.  One project could actually be listed as several events.

• Aerial Unwind eventaerial (Frog those poor unloved projects to reclaim that yarn. (This event only: requires a WIP or FO pic and frog pile pic) As I currently have nothing unloved that I want the yarn from I am not doing this.
  
• Bag Jump eventbagjump (Bags, totes, pouches) Not ruled out if I found a quick felted project,
  
• Beading Biathlon eventbead (All things beaded and embellished) The yarn for my knit along finally shipped yesterday.  I may do the shawlette for the Ravelympics.
  
• Bobsled eventbobsled (All things pets)Nope
• Cable Cross-Country eventcable (All things cables)I love cables.  So if I find a pattern I may do a cabled  project it would probably be a knitted slouch hat or just knitted watch cap.  Since the Puck This group started me making hats again it would fall under that team.
  
• Charity Curling eventcharity (Projects for charity)My Nascar group is doing a Speed weeks knit along for squares for Victory Junction.  Since Speedweeks overlaps the Olympics, I plan on doing one square before and one square during the Olympics. So that would come under the Fast GIrls team.
  
• Designer Biathlon eventdesignerbiathlon (From a swatch to published pattern in 17 days sample completed and pattern released on ravelry - swatching allowed before torch lit)Totally not creative enough to design anything, the most I ever do is modify existing patterns.
  
• Designer Original Dance eventdesignerdance (Create your own design sample from scratch in 17 days {swatching allowed before torch lit}; pattern need not be written])See above
  
• Designer Pattern Skeleton eventdesignerpattern (Create a publishable pattern (sample can be already knit); do what you feel is necessary to produce a publishable pattern testing, editing, etc)yeah no - see above.
  
• Downhill Dyeing eventdyeing (dyeing yarns - this will only create stash)While I really appreciate the fact that there are great dyers out there that I buy really cool yarn from , I have as little interest in dyeing as I do spinning,
  
• Felting Freestyle eventfelting (All things felting and fulled)if I do a felted bag it will fall under this category.
  
• Fleece to FO Long-Track eventfleece (Start with fleece or roving and create a finished object)See dyeing.
  
• Flying Camel Spin eventflyingcamel (Just spinning…lots and lots of spinning)See dyeing.
  
• Free Dance eventfreedance (Don’t fit into any other event? This is for you)Since I kinda am using the categories to decide what my projects would be, I don't have a preconceived project in mind that I would use this for.
  
• Giant Slalom-ghan eventgiantslalomghan (Afghan, blankets, throws)I'm not sure if the Square made toward the Victory Junction Afghan would count under this category.  I am certainly not making an entire ghan.
  
• Hat Halfpipe eventhathalfpipe (All things hats and heads) See cable cross country.
  
• Holiday Jump-Start Skiing eventholiday (Projects to be gifted/given in Dec 2010 and holiday-themed items) Do I really seem that organized??  But seriously, since I don't wear hats - if I made one it would either fall under Charity Curling, or would be a gift item.
  
• Junior Olympics eventjunior (garments/accessories for kids and babies {toys have their own event})nope.
• Labyrinth Weaving eventweaving (All things woven)um, no weaving for me!
  
• Lace Luge eventlaceluge (Lace patterns and laceweight yarns)I need to find out if this event is lace with lace yarn - or if the shawlette with sport weight would count for this.
  
• Mittens Moguls eventmittenmoguls (Mittens, gloves, anything that covers hands/wrists/arms)Not sure which team this will go for, but I am going to finish my snowflake mitts if it kills me!
  
• Nordic Colorwork Combined eventnordiccolorwork (Colorwork, intarsia, fair isle)My snowflake mitts falls under color work as well.
  
• Platter Lift eventplatter (Home and décor projects)considering a cozy.
  
• Samalog Machine Skate eventsamalog (Machine knitting)no knit machine.
  
• Scarf Super-G eventsuperg (Scarves, cowls, neckwarmers, smokerings, scarflettes…all things neck)If I don't do the shawlette, I may do a spring drop stitch scarf.  Or maybe a cabled cowl.
  
• Short Track Shawls eventshorttrackshawls (Shawls, stoles, wraps, shawlettes)see BeaDING Biathalon.
  
• Single Skein Speed Skate eventspeedskate (Projects of just one skein/hank)The hat, the squares and the cozy would all fall under this category.
  
• Skelegurumi eventskelegurumi (Toys and amigurumis)I need to make another crocheted devil.
  
• SnowCross eventsnowcross (Projects that combine knitting, crochet, needle-felting, embroidery, sewing …; minimum of 2 crafts combined together) Probably not, but if I do a felted bag, I may needle felt it,
  
• Sock Hockey eventsockhockey (All things socks and slippers) Socks in 2 weeks isn't happening.But I do have 3 different pairs of slippers that just need finishing/seaming.
  
• Stash Compulsory Dance eventstashdance (Use of long-neglected stash purchased at least 1 year ago) My charity squares would fall under this category, maybe the hat as well.
  
• Sweaterboard Cross eventsweaterboard (All forms of sweaters, vests, cardis, pullovers, boleros)Nope
• WIPs-Dancing eventwipsdancing (WIPs/UFOs and only these; Projects not touched since Jan 12th)My mitts would fall under this and if I do finish the slippers, they would be here as well.
•  

I realize that none of this makes sense  to my non-knitting friends, and doesn't tell much to my knitting friends.  It is more a think out loud kind of post.  By next week I should have firmed up my thoughts more and will have a more definitive post. 

Happy 101 - yeah I need that class!

Thom at Thom's place for Well Whatever has awarded me the Happy 101 Blog Award. Thank you so much Thom!  I’m honored and grateful that you thought of me. I really appreciate it. This award comes with the following rules:

1. Copy and paste the award on your blog.
2. List who gave the award to you and use a link to her blog (or hyperlink).
3. List 10 things that make you happy.
4. Pass the award on to other bloggers and visit their blog to let them know! 10 Things That Make Me Happy 1.  Angie (most of the time)2. Curt ( most of the time)3. My friends (M,M,D,M,B,M,C,A,T,G)4. My knitting friends (G,M,J,J,T,M,S,J,W)5. Sushi6. When a dish comes out exactly like I want.7. AN ice cold beer (usually ale)8. Finding a "perfect" yarn.9. Tony, the Devils, The 49ers, the Mets winning!10. The carpet truck bringing me exactly what I want on my pins that day. (yeah C - I know you only bring what I order)  Now to pass them on ( you know Thom, if you hadn't given this to me I definitely would have given it to you):

 

• Grace (you are one of the few who get the irony of me getting this yesterday) @ LovinComfortKnits. 
• Min ( I know you could use a smile today) @ Minvironment  
• Jen (if nothing else, the escapades of Jeffrey and Lexie ALWAYS make me smile) @ Sarah WInchester of Fiber Arts 
• Teresa ( maybe she'll make a post now) @ Girl With Needles 
• PENNY - I mean Jean @ Baa Baa Knit Stitch 
• Sisters Cici and Cajtalk @ 2 Sisters Knit Together 
• Lizz @ Lizzzknits  
• Theresa @ Crochet Goddess  
• Carrie @ Knit Fiber  
• Poo - I mean Catherine @ Bean Count Knitter  

 The irony of this post is that I'm kind of mad at the universe right now, because it's picking on my friends.  So if you could send up a prayer or positive thoughts for them I'd appreciate it.  I have on friend who keeps having another health issue every time she turns around,  topped by worries about her kids ( even as adults kids are pains apparently) AND her husband keeps having work cut.  Another friend just go laid of on Friday (after it took her a really long time to find said job  originally)  and she has multiple health issues which makes insurance a must have.  Another friend has to get ehr thyroid removed.  Another's grandson just had  heart valve surgery 2 weeks ago.  Another is helping in Haiti for the next 3 months. 

Knitting!

So I have some knitting updates.  After several pattern changes and frogging (that's completely ripping out the stitches for non-knitters  - ripit, ripit)  I finished my Noro slouch hat.  It's the third hat for my hat trick on the "Puck This" hockey fan group on Ravelry.  It still needs to be blocked.





My January Dancing DIshcloth arrived so I can show you that now:



 

I can also show you two out of three of my afghan squares ( the third may give away the recipient so I won't show you that one until they recieve the completed 'ghan.



Yes, same pattern as the dishcloth only bigger and striped - excellent tip - if you can't find a 'ghan square you like - blow up a dishcloth!



I can't really show you any works in progress today, because they are all for swaps.  I have a Valentine's Day Swap - that the crocheted part of the project just needs to be seamed up.  No, I'm not normally a crocheter - I learned more so I could do cool edges to my knit projects and so I could make toppers for mason jars when I make my mixes for Christmas.  But crochet is easier to make a heart with.  SO I'll show you that after she gets her package.  I also have a warm and cozy swap on my friend Grace's blog.  It was one knit warm up item, a skein of chunky yarn, a hot beverage and a snack ( I think).  I am swapping with a really sweet lady who is allergic to everything.  She can't be near any animal fiber - no alpaca! it's tragic!!.  I didn't want to use acrylic so I looked into alternative fibers.  There's cotton, bamboo, corn, rayon.  Although you would be surprised how many of those are actually blended with animal fibers!  I was going to use Tofutsies - then realized they were almost 50% WOOL!  

I'm not going to give away what I ended up with - but I'll tell you all about it after she gets her package.  

I'm really pissed about a KAL (knit a long) I joined.  The KAL started with clue one last Sunday, clue 2 last Wednesday, not sure if this Wednesday is the final clue or if there will be one more.  It's for a beaded shawl.  I still don't have my kit of yarn, beads and a tiny crochet hook!  I paid for it on Dec 26th!  What really pisses me off is the fact that about a week and a half or so ago I had to resend her a copy of my paypal receipt.  So it's not like the color I picked was on backorder, she just mislaid my order.  If I wanted to do a beaded shawl on my own I would have gone to the store or ordered online and found a pattern.  Granted, she does make great videos of different techniques, but I usually don't watch them.  The whole fun/point of the Kal is to read everyone else's comments and stuff and to have the whole back and forth.  Realistically I don't want to read 150 comments on a clue I haven't done yet.  There is no point in commenting on someone elses comment 2 or 3 weeks after they have made it.  

I did dig around my stash and found a yarn that would work.  And I know that AC Moore has beads that would match.  I even bought a tiny ass crochet hook ( size 13/14)  for a different project to throw beads on an edge.  But I don't want to.  At this point I haven't decided if I want to do the shawl as a Ravelympic project or if it's just going to die in my stash.  Once I'm pissed about a yarn I tend to not be happy knitting with it or happy with the project I make with it.  I may just have a blog contest at some point and give the whole thing away.  Grrrr.  What really pisses me off is I have made a bunch of this designer's stuff and really love how they all come out.


Hope you all have a great week!

You Are Silk

You are cultured, sophisticated, and a little bit picky. You go for the best in life. You like your clothes to be top notch, even if it means paying more or buying less items overall. You tend to be particular and even somewhat high maintenance. You can't stand being uncomfortable in any way. On the flip side, little pleasures can really make your day. Like the feel of silk on your skin!

What Kind of Fabric Are You?

Blogthings: A Fine Line Between Insight and Stupidity

       

Foodnetwork is Back!!

It's back!!

I am Happy!

That's all for now! 

My cold black heart

Berleen's turn to thunk your thinker

Welcome to the January 21st 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 chocolate caramel and the number 0.

Did you miss me?  OF COURSE!  I had to think of things to blog about without your insane questions!

1. Pants on the Ground....  Means I'm not going back out this evening!

2. To compliment Kimber's question from last week.... have you ever fell down the stairs? YES - but despite a minor in math in college I can't count high enough to tell you how many times.  Suffice it to say, I grew up in a really old ( before the Civil War) house with narrow stairs that weren't all the same size!

3. Have you ever written to a company about their product? Ever called them?  Absolutely!!  And e-mail makes it easier.  While it's been awhile I think my most recent was bitching at GM because I loved the Aura but it didn't come in stick shift.  They did answer to tell me that their target audience didn't drive a stick shift.  So I guess they didn't want me :(  but now Saturn is out of business - guess they had the wrong target audience!
4. Your dog/cat/snake/iguana/pet skunk (or just fill in your pet's species) goes to the vet. Ok, you take them to the vet... most pets wouldn't go on their own. The vet tells you that your species has cancer. Do you:

• a. tell them to pull out the needle and put them to sleep on the spot
• b. take them home and let them live out their life until the end
• c. same as b. except you don't let them get to the suffering stage
• d. go full steam ahead with cancer treatments
• e.  both c & d
  

5. What is your favorite comfort food?  SUSHI  well I am 1/2 Japanese after all!

6. If your child was put in jail for putting a gun in their spouses mouth and pulling the trigger (even though the gun wasn't loaded), strangling them and breaking their arm... would you post bail for them?

Of course!  So I could bring them home, put a gun in their mouth, pull the trigger - may or may not be loaded , strangle them and then break both their arms!

7. If elephants had wings, how many feathers do you think they would have on each wing? I don't think they'd have feathers - would be more like a plane's wing!

8. Is there anything growing in your refrigerator right now?  Just cleaned it out last weekend - so no!

9. What did you do with your Thursdays while we were on a break? Was forced by a lack of originality to post the answers to Thom's quizes!

10. Would you donate to the Kimber Ark Building Fund and donate wood? She is about to float away after all... If she promised not to go away again!

11. If I were to send you a letter and I wanted to put a little heart sticker on the back of the envelope, what color sticker would you like it to be? BLACK!

pictures courtesy of the web.

Freestyle

Silly Haiku Wednesday

Welcome to “Silly Haiku Wednesday!”

Click here for info and background on this weekly event!

The basics:
Haiku is simple! It is 3 non-rhyming lines of 5, 7, and 5 syllables respectively (a great way to use your fingers!)

This week’s theme is: FreeStyle – your choice

My choice would not be

to decide on what to write

after my bad day.

friends or family

You Are Much Closer to Your Friends

Your friends are so great, it's hard not to be the closest to them. As for your family, your relationship with them is probably a bit strained. It's okay though. While you can't pick your family, you can pick your friends. And you've picked some amazing friends who count as family to you.

Are You Closer to Your Friends or Your Family?

Blogthings: Our Quizzes Weren't Written By Bored 12 Year Olds

       

Mutton Wrangling

It's taken me over a week, but I finally downloaded the pictures from my camera to my laptop, and discovered that I took some really horrible pictures of the bullriders at Madison Square Garden last weekend.  So I am left to tell you we had a great time.  You should have seen the dimples on Angie's face!  She has 2 favorite riders - Kody Lostroh and Guillermo Marchi.  She has many more favorite bulls.  I personally love the bulls that know when they won!

 

The funniest thing happened over one of the breaks.  Mutton Wrangling.  These little kids - can't be more than kindergarteners- get on the back of sheep.  There is a pen of sheep across the ring, and sheep being sheep, when the chute opens, the sheep runs across to join it's friends.  The kids try to hang on.  The current reigning champ was there.  I don't remember where he was from and I don't know how they got the little kids from around here to compete.  But the winner was the cutest little blonde girl!  Yay, Girl Power!

 

Eye Candy!

It's 10:24pm.  I didn't get a chance to create a post for today.  I am slowly going through "SMOKE" withdrawal.  And can't wait for Speedweek to start so I can have my NASCAR back!  So to make myself feel better, I gaze wistfully upon my picture - Gosh, he cleans up good!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!

Happy Birthday Angie!

Angie is 18... an adult.  Sigh.  I've had some minor brain seizures over being old enough to be the mom of an adult!  Then my P>I>A best friend decides to remind me she is now 6 years younger than I was when I got pregnant with her.  More brain conniptions!  

She had school all day and then practice.  After all that we took her to Red Lobster for dinner.  I could barely keep my eyes open!  I'm sure her friends are more fun after.

She doesn't like cake.  So we got her ice cream cupcakes.  With Belgium chocolate "cups".  Then I stuck 18 twisty candles and lit them.

  
  After the flames went out.

Coffins, Citrus, Raped Pipe, And Much More To Start 2010 Thunking

Coffins, Citrus, Raped Pipe, And Much More To Start 2010 Thunking

Welcome to the 1st version of Thursday Thunks for 2010!

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

Kimber, the color of a clear blue sky and the number 1142010.

1. Build It Yourself Coffin Kits. Creepy, interesting, cost effective, your new hobby?

They are making coffins out of recycled cardboard and new British wool.  Maybe I can knit my own coffin soon?

2. Can you blow up a balloon under water?That would depend on how hard you could blow.  They use inflatable balloons when raising stuff from the bottom of the ocean - of course they have air pumps for that.  Can you tell I watch too much History/Science/Discovery channel?

3. Why do you think when naming citrus fruit they simply named an orange the color it is? Picture it - Garden of Eden.  Adam and Eve have to name EVERYTHING, and they're naked.  THey obviously were running out of ideas and wanted to get finished so they could get on with naked stuff.

4. Insanity Cafe's topic of the day on Tuesday was this article. Have you ever known someone to do something embarrassingly stupid like that? I know several people, who would not surprise me in the least if they did something like that.  However, most people would know that if I ever found out they were that dumb, they would have to join the witness protection program to escape the mocking.  So, it might explain the people that just "disappear" out of my life!

5. If you got stranded high on a mountain in the snow, how many snowmen would you make? Would you name them and talk to them?

Minions!  I would create a snowman army, and take over the world... until spring thaw that is!

6. Have you ever tripped and fell while walking up the stairs? Semi-regularly!

7. If you were to make your own currency what would it look like, what would you call it and would you give some to your fellow Thursday Thunkers?Roman coins, with pictures of guys I've had crushes on.  So Viggo Mortensen would be a 10, Tony Stewart would be a 20, Joe Montana would be the 5....  Sure coinage for all!

8. Have you ever made a Mr. Potato Head from a real potato? Made my brother into a Mr Potato head one Halloween - does that count?

A late Wednesday Haiku

Silly Haiku Wednesday is hosted by Jenn at You know… that Blog?.
The basics: Haiku is simple! It is 3 non-rhyming lines of 5, 7, and 5 syllables respectively (a great way to use your fingers!)
This week’s theme is: THE ROAD
 Today I feel like
I need to find the rest stop
Want to leave the road.

Sorry for the Silence.

Sorry, I haven't posted for awhile.  I'm been running around like a nutcase.  Angie had 3 meets this week, there was a booster meeting, I ended up working a bunch of extra hours at work - why take vacation if you have to put in crazy hours before and after?  Friday we went into NYC - more about that tomorrow,  There are 2 huge state wide tournaments one for boys, one for girls this weekend.  You get the picture - in between, I did have lunch with my friend Grace, had dinner out with "my boys"  and there is the never ending laundry, grocery shopping, keeping the house civilized ( no Grace our tree is still up)  ACCKKKKKK!

I have gotten a bunch of knitting in in this new year though.  I'm halfway done with my 2nd red & white snowflake mitt.  I put that aside temporarily, because all of the sudden my January knitting filled up!  I had joined  a KAL ( knit a long) .  It's a mystery shawlette with beads, by the same designer as my Autumn and Dumpling bags.  I've never done knitting with beads before, so I sucked Grace into the project and ordered my kit.  The knit a long starts on Jan 17th, so still no problem.   I have my dishcloth of the month group - I finished that earlier in the week ( no pics until the recipient gets it though).  I then signed up for a valentines day swap, It has to be mailed out by the end of the month.  OK, that's cool.  Then I decided to join the january Hat trick in my hockey group.  Still ok, I have 2 hats done ( and my first pom pom ever) and one more to do.  Then Grace has a swap on her blog.  I can do this so I signed up.  Everything was still ok.

Then last week, a at this point secret emergency came up, requiring a couple items to be knit up fast.  ANd I started getting nervous.  That's why I haven't been blogging much this week. 


My first pom - pom!



Earflap hat in 49er colors



Roll Brim hat with Super Chunky yarn!


So to recap.  1 1/2 gloves done - on hold until other projects are complete.
                    dishcloth swap - done, will mail tomorrow - no pics until received
                    hat trick - 2 hats done, 1 to go by 1.31
                    emergency projects - done, mailing out tomorrow
                    valentines swap -casting on (starting) tomorrow
                    grace's swap - haven't got a partner yet
                    Shawl KAL - haven't got kit yet, starts on 1.17

I am hoping to finish the 2 swaps by Friday.  Then if I work on the hat at lunch at work, and the shawl at home ( don't want to be dragging beads around)  I can work on my mitts, at Angie's meets the last 2 weeks of the month!

Silly Haiku Wednesday

Silly Haiku Wednesday is hosted by Jenn at You know… that Blog?. Mahalo Jenn for hosting.
The basics: Haiku is simple! It is 3 non-rhyming lines of 5, 7, and 5 syllables respectively (a great way to use your fingers!)
This week’s theme is: NEW BEGINNINGS
      new Beginnings is
an Armstrong vinyl stripper
for a nice clean floor!

yes boys and girls, I have been in the flooring industry way to long!

Unseen ramifications of losing Food Network -

I realized this afternoon, that without food network on, I start surfing the web more on my laptop, play online sudoku , and this is starting to interfere with my knitting!!  Grrrrrr.

On a lighter note - had lunch with Grace at Mara's - sort of - Grace had tea, I had coffee and soup.  But we knit and chat for a couple hours.  I of course forgot to bring my one finished mitt or my two hats, yet I tease Grace when she doesn't bring show and tell (hers is nicer anyway)

Was forced to eat pizza hut for dinner (yuck) because Angie's fencing team had a fundraiser - if you handed in a coupon they got 20% of your order ( blech)  had the fencing booster club meeting - we are sooooo chasing our tails this year ( the president resigned the first week of practice, and nothing had been set in motion because everyone was on hold for the meeting that never came to get stuff approved)  but it's starting to come together.

Gotta go to bed - nite!

sniff - in more ways than one!

Those of you who know me well, know I really enjoy cooking.  One of my favorite channels is Food Network.  A lot of times if the tv is on while I'm knitting or doing something it's tuned in to Food network.  Imagine my surprise over the weekend - when I turned on the tv to nothing but a repeating announcement from CABLEVISION, that they were unable to renew their contract and that Scripps Network, pulled the channel and would not allow them to continue broadcasting while trying to negotiate a new contract.  Then I read this on Wall Street Journal  this afternoon 

About 3.1 million Cablevision Systems Corp. customers saw Food Network and HGTV go dark after the cable operator couldn't reach a deal with Scripps Networks Interactive Inc., owner of the cable channels. Scripps had been pushing cable operators for big monthly fee increases for Food Network, people familiar with the matter said. Scripps now receives an estimated average of 8 cents per household per month for Food, according to SNL Kagan

Cablevision said it had "no expectation of carrying their programming again, given the dramatic changes in their approach to working with distributors." 

This really pissed me off.  I'm not changing to Fios - they haven't rewired where I live - so it's paying for fiber when getting copper - plus verizon has it's issues from what I hear around the neighborhood.  I'm not getting a dish.  Realistically speaking I have no bone to pick with Cablevision.  I had even told my father in law once that I will never move back to a Comcast town again.  So I looked at what Scripps owns:

So I have decided - I'm not using Shopzilla.  If I don't get my channel back I'm canceling my subscription to their magazine.  I'm not going to buy any more products with their logos ( ie- Rachel Ray's stock etc) And I sent them an e-mail - including a copy of my Shop Rite receipt from last week. 

Pissed - I'm Pissed!  Right now I'm watching the Military Channel - yeah that's good for me!

You Are the Sense of Smell

You appreciate the smaller things in life that few people notice. You notice subtle changes just as they happen. You're the first one to know if the seasons are changing or if the cookies are done. You love new environments, and you can recall all the places you've been. You have a sharp memory, and you are often nostalgic for the past. You enjoy traveling internationally. You have an easy time taking in a new place.

Which of the Five Senses Are You?

Back to Work tomorrow:(

I have to go back to work tomorrow.  LE SIGH.  Of  course if I had to go back on Tuesday, I'd just be sighing tomorrow.  Life got back to normal this weekend so the transition isn't as abrupt.  Curt bowled and Angie went to her friend's birthday party yesterday.  This afternoon the Giants lost ( sorry about the snickering Curt) and Angie had a fencing clinic.  I'm not quite sure if the clinic really teaches her anything, but any extra practice is good right?  Although she almost took off 2 different kids non-weapon hand when it drifted in front of their torso.  You'd think they'd learn not to do that with her. While she was fencing we went down the road a bit to JOSE TEJAS - a really great restaurant with  a bit of schizophrenia. It's menu is pretty much split between mexican and cajun food.  I went Mexican with a Margarita and seafood enchiladas.  Curt went Cajun with a Hurricane and chicken/sausage etouffee. We did get Angie corn and black bean empanadas with black beans and rice to go.

The 49er's won!  WOOT!  Next year baby, next year...  I'm currently watching the Cowboys/Eagles game underneath the Tony Stewart snuggie my father in law got me for Christmas.  I really hate Dallas, but I categorically root against any given Philly team.  So whenever Dallas plays the Eagles I end up in this real dilemna of who to root for.  I have a lot of trouble NOT rooting while watching a game.  I have decided that my absolute hatred for all Philly teams trumps my hatred of the Cowboys.  So I am rooting against Philly.

It was really cold (19 degrees not counting wind chill) when we got home and snowing pretty hard.  It'll be really, really cold when I head off to work at 330am. Rough weather to go back to work.  But I'm hoping it won't be too horrible, after all I should get a carpet truck to unload ;P  Angie has a home meet against a school they haven't fenced before - they redid the conferences this year  so wishing her luck ( she has skill - she says - but luck never hurt any athlete)

Been knitting.

Yesterday and most of today has been spent inside, with a hovering husband.  I did run to the post office to mail an "angel" package - an "angel" is someone who sends out a swap package, when someone flakes out and doesn't hold up their end of the swap leaving someone else without a package.  It was an easy swap.  A Creepy Cute crochet without extras.   This was a little bit different as the person did mail a package from England in November.  The recipient loves the devil, and I had made a few, I mailed one out along with some chocolate hand cream, and 2 bars of Jersey Girl chocolate.

I spent most of yesterday and this morning knitting ( what a surprise).  I made an earflap hat, that is finished being knit, but the earflaps need to be sewn on.  I'll post a picture  when it's finished, but here is Curt trying it on for "hair" before it was seamed.

I also finished except for weaving the ends and blocking the right snowflake mitt.



And I'm just about done with a yellow bulky yarn hat as well. ( I'm knitting 3 hats for the January Hattrick in my Puck this group on Ravelry)  I also joined 52 in 52 on Ravelry.  The goal here is to craft 52 things in 52 weeks in 2010.  That averages 1 per week.  So if get 2 1/2 things done this week, that averages out later when I know it will take 3-4 weeks to do my mystery shawl later in the month.

Back to work on Monday!  Hope everyone enjoyed the week!

OMG! I think I'm allergic to champagne!!

Those of you who know me in real life, know I'm not a big wine drinker.  I never really developed a taste for, or learned enough about wine to drink it often.  I usually drink beer - mostly ale, tequila, rum and whiskey.  I very rarely have more than 2 drinks - and if I have 2, it's over a longer period of time.  I have never had a problem other than "the asian flush" if I drink too fast my cheeks light up like light bulbs.  But I'm more of a slow milker so that usually isn't a problem, except maybe on a really hot day in the summer.

Last night, being New Year's Eve, Curt picked up a bottle of Barefoot Bubbly Pinot Grigio champagne.  He tasted it and liked it, and figured it would be better than what I picked up for New Year's Eve.  ( I had gotten a triple fermented - thus extra bubbly - Le Fin du Monde -  comes in a heavy wine bottle with the wired in cork, but is most definitely a yummy beer)

We had our usual New Year's celebration.  A couple friends, slow but steady stream of appetizers, board games -Cranium - Pop 5 this time, and then triominoes.  Around 1130 Curt broke out the bubbly -  and sparkling grape juice for Angie ( although since she is just about 18, Curt mixed about 25% champagne into her glass)  After my first flute - sipped over half an hour, and if your interested is really good - I had the "flush" thing, but I kind of ignored it, as it usually goes away soon enough.  I had the second flute at midnight, but took about another half hour to finish.  

I thought my heart was going to beat through my chest and explode!  I could feel my pulse in my lips, cheeks, ears and fingers!  I looked at my hands and my palms were RED , my fingers seemed swollen.  I went to the bathroom to wash my hands and my lips were huge, red and swollen, my eyes were so puffy and swollen and red you could barely see the whites of my eyes.  My cheeks and forehead were red!  I started getting red splotchy patches - big patches 6-8 inches in diameter!  We figured it was an allergy to something (although I never had that kind of allergic reaction to anything before - my only "allergy" is artificial sweetners  triggering migraines) and so Curt gave me Benydryl and a whole bottle of water to drink it down with.  Well any antihistimine puts me to sleep, so within 6 or 7 minutes I was out.  Curt (such a sweetie) stayed up a bit to make sure I didn't look any worse or start having breathing issues ( although after Benydryl he'd have had one hell of a time getting me back awake!)  

I woke up around 6, and other than my lips are still barely tingly and my eyes are a bit itchy I feel fine.  I can't think of anything other than the champagne that could have done this.  Everything else I ate, was food I eat semi regularly, and have never had any issues with.

I am considering getting a dr's appointment next week, mostly because of the pounding heart thing being really scary.

So have any of y'all ever heard of a champagne allergy?  I tried googling it, but didn't find anything other than other stories.