Stupid Questions By Kimber

Stupid Questions By Kimber

Welcome to the September 30th edition 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.
Don't forget to go visit the other participants' blogs.
Read and comment about all their Thursday Thunks responses!
That's what all this is about after all, isn't it?
We'll have so much fun and become lifelong friends....

The TT questions are brought to you by Kimber, the color of absolute black granite and the number 16.

101. When was the last time you went to the doctor? Do you like your doctor?  I love my doctor.  I hate going to the doctor, a few months ago I was there.

201. My back is itching, will you scratch it for me?Just a warning first, I like my nails nice and square tipped, so after they are done they are sharp.  I can do some serious damage with them.  That being said, if you still want to chance it , sure!

301. Do you have nice handwriting? If I take my time and I write small then yes.  If i write big then No.  I made a sign at work once, store manager said it looked like a bunch of drunk chickens with markers tied to their feet, were being chased  br Colonel Sanders.

401. We are sending you to either New Zealand or Canada, which one do you choose? Well, I've been to Canada, many times.  I love to knit. New Zealand has lots of sheep, and thus wool.  So I'd have to say, New Zealand.

501. Do you sing in the shower? I take my shower at 230am, if I started singing my husband would be a self-imposed widower.

601. Have you ever been streaking? If so, how far did you streak and did anyone see you?  Let me ask a clarifying questions.  If your dog runs off with your clothes while you are skinny dipping, and cell phones haven't been invented yet and it's a quarter mile to the house, does that count?  Yes?  Hmmm, well I'm not saying.

701. How soon is too soon for Christmas decorations and music playing in the stores? Any time before Halloween.  That being said, here is a picture I took at work last week -




801. If you celebrated Halloween as a kid what was the costume you wore at 5?  D'Artagnan. 

1001. Berleen and Bud come to Arizona to visit Kimber. Who do you think will decide it's too hot here first?  

I think it will be obvious.

1101. Who do you think will ask TT questions next week?  George Carlin?

Sensational Haiku Wednesday

Sensational Haiku Wednesday

Welcome to “Sensational 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: Stress

Wake up and Roll Over

five thirty, start work at four,

Forgot the alarm!

 

true story of this morning!!

Project Me (4)

Not a huge update this week.  I finally finished Through the Looking Glass, and the first book of a new(ish) series by Nora Roberts - Vision in White.  I returned them to the library this afternoon.  The library was out of book 2, so I picked up 2 more books from the 1001 list.  I got Atonement by Ian McEwan and  Lady Chatterley's Lover by DH Lawrence. 


Some knitting updates will be up tomorrow ( I am also working on 2 projects for swaps so those pictures won't be up until my partners receive them)   


Since I posted late last week, not a whole lot is new.  I was really tired, between staying up for Monday Night Football, and being up late on WEd getting Angie's fencing gear together, getting back from Philly after my bedtime...  folks, I'm definitely not 40 anymore!! My friends, who are much better able to go to bed when they need to , weren't very sympathetic .  I put the battery in the scale yesterday.  I'm thinking of getting my "annual" hair cut.  It's not annual on purpose.  I put of getting a trim and then warm weather came - and I won't cut it at that point because I NEED to be able to put it in a quick bun or pony tail.


This week I have been trying to extricate myself from several "drama" situations, involving friends or family.  They all hit at once, and seriously folks, I love , well some of you, tolerate the rest, these situations are not of my making nor am I directly involved.  If you insist on my opinion, most of you are not going to be happy with what you hear. If you want me to take sides, please understand that I will categorically pick whomever did not insist on this.  I am not going to be your messenger.  Hire a damn courier.  You are all being ridiculous and you know it.  I am not going to get stressed out or annoyed because of it.

We needed a quiz to tell us this??? Pffft.

You Are Odd

You are an odd duck - you don't do anything the conventional way. You see life as an adventure, and you always take the less traveled path. You love opportunities, but you run from responsibilities. You live for today. You may want to strike more of a balance in your life. You could stand to be more even!

Are You Even or Odd?

Blogthings: We Have a Quiz for Almost Everything

          

Philly

On Thursday, I was going to go down to Philly to meet my friend Min's Mom from Missouri.  I was supposed to meet her last fall, but I had to work and couldn't get out of it.  I figured I'd kill 2 birds with one stone, since for some inexplicable reason, Angie didn't bring her weapons with her in August, and practice started already.  Then she added sweatpants and t-shirts to her list. Then she added a bunch of VHS tapes to her list (well you get the picture - point being I had a full trunk!)  Then she asked if I could have dinner with her.  So I asked my friend if it would be a huge problem to add Angie to dinner.  THEN out of the blue Curt announced he rearranged his schedule to come with me.  I was a bit concerned at this point, because my friend has been under the weather and I didn't want to innundate her with known crazy people.

So when we got to Philly, since I never really discussed times before heading down, I bought Curt breakfast at a place we attempted to find during one of Angie's visits during a monsoon. I went with Min in August after we moved Angie into her dorm, turns out we were only a couple blocks mis-placed.   When we were done, Min and her Mom were still in NJ, visiting a friend and shopping, so to kill time we looked on our phones to see what  was around.  What we settled on was The Foodery.  Part of it was a sandwich shoppe, part was a beer store.  ( I would say liquor, but I only saw Beers and Malt drinks) They had a ton of different beers, a lot of imports and a lot of micro breweries.  What was even better was that everything was sold as singles.  And if you filled a six pack holder with singles they were 10% off.  I though I exhibited remarkable self control by only getting 2 sixes:



When we finally met up with Min and her Mom ( and I just now realized I forgot to get a picture :( ) 
I brought a giant mouse for Fe (he really loves his mice - and actually when we were there he was playing with the one renamed Triscuit)  I think he thought it was a NYC sewer rat, because he seemed leary of it.  I brought Min a pint of jalapeno jam and a half pint of habenero pepper jam.  I brought her Mom a pint of Jalapeno Jam because I wasn't sure how into heat she was, and you know, it's bad form to light your friend's Mom on fire.  She brought me three gifties!!

To understand the first giftie, you need to realize that for some inexplicable reason, Min's Mom is a Joey Logano fan.  She thinks he's cute.  I think the cute identification part of the brain must be the first to go.  Anyway, I had noticed a trend of after Joey crashes a car, we run out of toilet paper at work.  Most people think it's because out store mgr is too cheap to sign off on the expense POs.  I think it's cause we keep having to buy new parts/cars when Joey wrecks them.  So I told Min her Mom owes me some toilet paper.  Now you can see giftie 1:



She also made me two Tony pillow cases!



It wasn't until I took the pictures that I noticed the JL in the corner.  Funny, very funny!

We hung out.  Min's Mom discovered what it's like having a story told by someone with ADD.  Late in the afternoon, we left to go get Angie's stuff in her room and arranged to meet Min and her Mom at the restaurant.  We emptied the trunk, and went up to Angie's room.  It was relatively neat.  I was impressed until her roommate confessed to spending most of the morning cleaning up.  Oh well.  Angie's really happy, having settled in to dorm life.  Her hallway is the "social" hallway, everyone has their room & suite doors open when they're in.  They bring their dinner up to the hall and sit in the hall on weekends eating and having fun. They created a hallway long Twister field and had most of the floor and part of another floor in a huge 70+ person game of Twister.  Her building is split between athletes and honor students (interesting) so she easily finds people to go to the games with her.  She learned that ping-pong is a blood sport. 

Angie said she needed more Temple wear, as she only had one pair of sweats and 2 t-shirts.  So we went down to the Barnes and Noble across the street, but she couldn't find what she wanted.  So we went to the bookstpre in the Student Union.  I ended up buying her a t-shirt, a long sleeve thermal shirt and a stuffed zebra wearing a Temple shirt. (She currently is into zebra stripes.  Has a zebra snuggie.  Ordered 2 pairs of zebra knee high soccer socks to fence in, has a bunch of zebra unmentionables)  Does anyone want to guess when she decides she needs a hoodie?  My guess is Halloween.  Her brain thinks since she is south of here, she doesn't need cold weather gear.  College kids, just want to smack them.

We met Min and her Mom a few minutes after we were supposed to, because the parking garage we went to has the SLOWEST valets ever.  We went to the Italian Bistro.  The food was pretty good, and the beginning of the meal was great ( Angie really liked Min's Mom - she was originally expecting a more grandma-ish person) but then a party was seated right next to us.  30-40 people I think.  The manager was "surprised" that many people made so much noise. WHo'd have thunk that?  Jeesh.

After dropping Angie off at her dorm, we went to Trader Joe's.  Min has a friend (vying for Minister of Medicine wth Med-student) (longer story than I have room for here)  who works there.  We had a vague notion of going in with Angie's sabres, until I paid the armorer $200 before bringing her equipment down.  So we had cocktail sabres.  it would have been funny too, except Curt and Min's Mom are spoilsports.  And afterwords I realized I forgot to ask about the swiss cheese!  Ugh!  Well, next time I suppose. 

cappucino

You Are a Cultured Cappuccino

You're sophisticated enough to choose this glorious underrated drink, and you're quite picky about the details that go into it. Of all the types, you are the most likely to be a coffee (or espresso, really) connoisseur. You don't gulp down your cappuccino in a rush. You take your time with it. And you're likely to enjoy a cappuccino a couple times a day. It's not just a morning routine for you.

The Coffee Oracle

Blogthings: Learn Something Surprising About Yourself

       

Project Me (3) a bit late~

I've had a horrible week, I really think the entire universe is out to kill me!  Included in this is most of my family, a lot of my friends, people that I thought I jammed in the skeleton closet years ago, work, NCAA football, NFL (Ok mostly the niners) and definitely Tony and Darian(grrrr).

It rained, several days so I didn't walk.  And then I didn't walk when it stopped.  I did buy a battery for my scale. Of course it's still on the Home Depot bag.  I barely read at all.  I did make a lot of pepper jam (yum)  and in honor of finishing the annotated Alice in Wonderland (including all the notes):



Color is actually a much brighter blue.  But the name of the polish is :

Alice in Wonderland!! 

Avast Mateys!

Aye, 'tis the day again! Have a grog then, and round up all those bilge rats that have been angering ye, and get them up on the plank Arrrghhh!

 And I'll share with ye all, the pirate that shivers me timbers !

Answer, Owls, Comedy

For those who read my post yesterday here is the answer (at least part 1) of what I'm doing with all those peppers:



2 different recipes of jalapeno pepper jelly and 2 of hot pepper jelly ( has some habeneros and jamaican gold peppers as well as jalapenos)  There are other peppers slated for home made hot sauce (haven't done that in YEARS, so we shall see.)

The Temple Owls beat UConn's Huskies today 30-16.  Angie went to the game (she's actually been to all three home games)  It was an important game for her, as UConn, made a serious attempt to get her to enroll there, but she chose Temple.  She is a real fan of their new coach Al Golden (I think his 2nd year?) Obviously the decision was not a sports based one (although Temple's fencing coaches have a great reputation, and UConn only has club fencing against local schools) but winning never hurts!

Your Inner Muse is Thalia

You are most like this playful muse of comedy. Life is all about laughter to you, and you're a natural comic. You make people laugh until their sides split. And you're always up for some play time!

What Muse Are You?

Blogthings: Quizzes and Tests and Memes, Oh My!

        

So guess what I'm doing this weekend??

MMin & Grace are not allowed to guess - you guys already know!

 

Jalapenos



The little peppers are tabasco peppers, the bigger ones are hotter than habeneros!



Another bowl, with habeneros on top.

You Are High Strung and a Bit Wild

You are a dynamic, vibrant person. You aren't afraid to pursue your passions. When you're happiest, you are outgoing and expressive . You love celebrations, and you enjoy showing off a little. You embrace change. You love change. You see change as a rebirth. You find solitude to be the most comforting thing in the world. Being alone with your thoughts feels very peaceful. Your ideal day is active and full. You like to keep busy with your favorite things, and you appreciate a routine. You are nostalgic. You can't truly appreciate something until it has come and gone.

The Autumn Test

Blogthings: 100's of Fun, Free Quizzes and 3 Stupid Ones

        

Do Elephants Come With a GPS Installed?

Do Elephants Come With a GPS Installed?

Welcome to the September 16th edition 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.
Don't forget to go visit the other participants' blogs.
Read and comment about all their Thursday Thunks responses!
That's what all this is about after all, isn't it?
We'll have so much fun and become lifelong friends....

Thursday Thunks: Do Elephants Come With a GPS Installed?

The TT questions are brought to you by Berleen, the color of my kitchen table and the number 45.

10. What number blog post is this for you?  702

9. You are driving down a road and your GPS says turn right, but the road has a Dead End sign. You check your GPS and according tgro it's map, there is a road at the end of the Dead End road that you need to turn onto. Do you follow the GPS?I don't use a GPS.  My husband and daughter have them.  I use google maps and a printer.  ( my phone does have 3 different navigation apps loaded onto it already, so I guess I technically do have one, but I don't use it)

8. If you had a $2 bill, would you spend it? I got a 2 dollar bill a few years ago, I gave it to my daughter who still has it.

7. When there is nobody else around and you sneeze or cough, do you cover your mouth?Gross question, but yes!

6. You are a DJ at a radio station and your first guest is Bud... what is the first question you are going to ask him? WHy he didn't bring his lady?  ( I'd want to dish with her)

5. Have you ever stopped to help a stranger with a flat tire? No.  I did stop to help someone whose roof carrier had opened and their stuff was being blown around the road.  Have you noticed that there seem to be fewer flat tires in recent years than the 70's when I was growing up?  Are the tires better?  Do people change them more often (doubt that)?  Is it the north?  Was it the fact that I was in Texas & NC? are there more flats in the south?

4. You get on an airplane and you find that your seat neighbor is Kimber... what do you talk about or do you ignore her completely?  I don't think I know what Kimber looks like?  I think that the only two thunkers I might recognize would be Bud and Thom.  But in all seriousness.  I get on a plane, I put my i-pod on, I fall asleep.  As soon as we start descending I wake up ( I guess it's the altitude change?) SO really Kimber, if it was me - don't feel bad! I wasn't ignoring you on purpose!

3. Have you ever rode an elephant? Yes.  County fair.  Angie was 4 or 5. She wanted to ride the elephant, she was scared, Curt wouldn't ride the elephant.  Do I get good mom points for that?  I rode a camel that day too!

2. Time to bitch & moan! What is your biggest complaint about your current friends on Facebook?I have no friends on facebook.  I mean I know some of my friends are on facebook. I am not, will not, won't.  DOn't ask.  I am on twitter though.

1. School is back in session for all little girls and boys now. What, in your life, changes when kids go back to school? well this year Angie is living in a dorm a bit over 2 hours away.  SO I can run naked with scissors.  But it's been cold. And I have no where that I need to get scissors too very quickly...

Sensational Haiku Wednesday

Sensational Haiku Wednesday

Welcome to “Sensational 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: Food

 

wanting comfort food,

because it feeds not only,

body but the soul .

Clue 1 is tomorrow!

The colors came out awful.  The top right is a bit purplier (without being purple) The bottom right is a deep dark blackberry purple.  The center bottom is more of a golden/camel tan, the top center is a dark chocolate.  The bottom is more of a darker sage, and the top left is a much lighter shade of the same green.  Hopefully as the project progresses I will get some daytime pictures.  I still need to make sure I have the right needles (don't know why I didn't check that before... aw geez, may have to hit an LYS... geez...)  

This is another she-knits KAL  for Kimmy, a slip stitch color work messenger shaped bag.  I love Sharon Dreiffus's bags ( I usually don't do mystery KAL because it can turn out to be a lot of work for a disappointing finished object.  But Sharon hasn't let me down yet!)  It is supposed to be all bulky weight yarn, which will be felted when done.  I didn't want to spend the $65 on Sharon's kit this time ( all the dorm shopping has made a dent in my wallet) so I went with knit picks instead.  I couldn't get the light green or purple I want in their bulky, but I have in previous felted projects, mixed 2 strands of their worsted with their bulky and it felted to an even fabric, so I went that route.

She has another simultaneous KAL going on for Sammy, a bag with I think it sounds like organizer pockets.  I bought both patterns together (cheaper that way)  but, haven't bought yarn for Sammy yet.  I want a variegated dark blue yarn.  It uses 3 skeins variegated/heathered/nonsolid bulky yarn, 2 of a solid mathcing bulky and 1 of another solid.  I want a REALLY deep blue bag.  I am leaning toward Aruncania, but that seems like a waste to felt! I MAY  do a swatch with some leftover Aruncania and some leftover knit picks bulky. and felt it.  If it felts together well, I may get 3 skeins of A from Webs, and the other 3 from Knit picks.

Until tomorrow - Happy Knitting! 

Project Me (2)

A week has gone by, and I'm not sure exactly how much I've accomplished.  

I was going to weigh myself this afternoon, tough to lie to a scale.  But I have discovered, after locating the scale in the linen closet, that it needs a new battery.  So, later in the week then.  And don't even kid yourself that I'm going to tell you how much I weigh.  I'm not going there.  But I will let you know if it goes up or down and by how much.  There may be a widget I can put on the side, I'll look into it.


It did cool down considerably last week, and there is a large pond/ small lake on the border of my town and another called Park's Lake.  And there is a park around it, complete with walking/running trail.  I believe it's a half mile (if I remember correctly).  On three afternoons last week, I walked from 2 to 3 laps. I was going to walk 3 laps this weekend with Curt, but he was busy on Saturday, and it poured yesterday.  But three afternoons is better than none, right?  I did not go today as I had a considerable number of errands to deal with, but weather permitting I should be able to go every day (maybe only 1 lap on Thur) this week.  I think I just need to make it a habit. 

Another thing I did, was drink a bottle of water every day.  i know that doesn't sound like a lot, but I rarely drink water.  My main beverage in life is coffee, with the occasional tea thrown in.  I really don't like water, unless I am extremely thirsty, or on a road trip (don't ask how that make sense, I blame my relatives).  The way I made sure I had a bottle of water, was that I brought my lunch 4 out of 5 days last week.  My "lunch" was basically half a breakfast.  I leave for work at 330 am.  I do not wake up early enough to eat.  ( I set the coffee pot on timer, so I do have time to fill 2 travel mugs on my way out)   By 1030, I'm usually hungry.  So when I go out for another cup of coffee, I end up getting oh a Sonic's breakfast burritto, or a DD grilled cheese flat bread, or  a spicy chicken snack wrap from Wendy's.  So I made a bagel thin sandwich, cut it in half , made myself eat half with my first cup of coffee, and put the second half in a cooler with a frozen water bottle.  So I didn't buy any crap food last week, and by the time I got off work between 1 -230, I had an ice cold, but not very frozen water bottle.  This week my big goal is to watch my portion size at dinner.  

I finished my biography ( all 533 pages of it) and have started Alice.  I have managed to read anywhere from 20 min to an hour, almost every day.  I joined goodreads to keep tabs on my reading, and may eventually put a widget on my sidebar.  Currently it wouldn't  do any good, because I spent a lot of time this weekend, while trying not to overreact, and remind myself that sports isn't life or death (not very successfully most of the time I might add) going through various lists on Goodreads and checking off the books that I have read already ( much better for my self-esteem than the 1001 list)  So the widget would show weird books I read 10 years ago.  And just to show that I really am not out to retake English Lit from hell,  I did check out a nora Roberts book when I returned my biography this afternoon.

Hopefully I haven't bored you all to tears with this post!  Another post in a week!

Knitting/ Crochet Update

I finally got around to weaving the ends in, and blocking my cotton robin.  It's been a rainy day and my favorite model is in Philly, so forgive the bad pictures.







I'm up to the heel on my lunch time sock project - this pair using Knit Picks "bells" pattern.



I've made 2 more squares for my charity afghan.  I really want to finish before the 23rd, so I can give it to Min - she "collates" them and delivers them to Victory Junction Camp.

 

Relaxation Feels Like Home to You

You believe that your home should be your sanctuary. Life is stressful enough in the outside world. You take it easy when you're at home. It's the place where you feel like you can truly be yourself. You are the type of person who has deep hobbies and interests. You treasure your alone time. You could spend all day at home if you had to. You always can find plenty to do around the house.

What Feels Like Home to You?

Blogthings: Free Quizzes for Everyone

       

REMEMBER

You've Got Mail

You've Got Mail

Welcome to the September 9th edition 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.
Don't forget to go visit the other participants' blogs.
Read and comment about all their Thursday Thunks responses!
That's what all this is about after all, isn't it?
We'll have so much fun and become lifelong friends....

Thursday Thunks: You've Got Mail
  

The TT questions are brought to you by Bud, the color of Meg Ryan's Blouse and the number 33.

1. From whom did you get your last e-mail? Curt sent me a funny picture.

2. What is the most recent movie that you have seen in a theater?the sad truth is I really don't remember.

3. Have you ever seen a ghost?Just once.  My great-grandfather woke me up to tell me he had to leave, but he would always love me.  I went and woke up my uncle and my parents to tell them "gray-gramps" died about 5 minutes before the hospital called the house.

4. Ever loved someone so much it made you cry? I really don't do crying. 

5. What are you most afraid of? Spiders, alligators.... being "normal". Yes, being "normal" scares the crap out of me!

6. What do you do when you are bored? I usually crack jokes, heckle, pass doodles around... ok the only time I'm ever bored is in meetings at work, or clothes shopping with Angie ( ok with anyone, but I only go with Angie)

7. Other than the author of this mess of a meme, who blog are you most curious to see their answers? Thom

8. Name three thing from your bucket list.  My child has had a bucket list that grows and has stuff checked off since she was 6.  Me I'm not that goal oriented.  So the handful of stuff I do have include - learning to weld, going to Ireland, learning Italian.

9. Who was the last person who complimented you on how you looked, that actually was a surprise? Last week, I wore half my hair up in  a bun, the other half was down.  A trucker (whose truck I never unload or care about) Was waiting for my carpet truck (luv Brauns) to leave the dock so he could back in.  As I was doing the key-rec paper work on MY truck the guy walks up to me and says I look real "purdy" (yup serious accent) with my hair like that and I look like a proper girl, and I should "purdy myself up" more often.  ( I think I pulled a muscle laughing after)

10. Do you remember Berleen? Hmmm, in light of the fact that I actually never met her, vaguely...

11. What was the last concert that you attended where the band was much better than you imagined? I saw Charlie Daniels in a tiny olde time theatre.  (mind you I learned to play the violin because of Charlie Daniels - much to my parents chagrin) He was amazing and had way way more energy than I do!

12. What’s the next band you’re either planning to see or want to? Dierks Bentley is coming to NYC next month....

13. What were the last things do you imagine that Kimber threw off the roof? Her emily post handbook, her decorum...

Sensational Haiku Wednesday

Sensational Haiku Wednesday

Welcome to “Sensational 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: Belong(-ing)

 

Home from a long day,

A kiss, arms wrap around me,

The world disappears. 

one quiz - two results, both pretty accurate

I took this quiz on my friend Teresa's blog last week.  IMy first reaction was obviously to use the name I've been going by for almost 20 years.  This is the results I got:

You Are Brainy Sexy

You are sexy because you are smart. People know that there is more to you than meets the eye. You are alluring and mysterious. While many people are intrigued by you, the feeling isn't mutual. It takes a lot for someone to turn you on. First and foremost, you're only attracted to someone who's incredibly brilliant. But you just don't go for brains alone. Physical attractiveness is something you won't compromise on. You of all people can afford to be picky. You are demanding, but you are also in demand. And when someone gets you alone, you're truly amazing. Not many people get to see you in action.

What's Sexy About Your Name?

The First Rule of Blogthings Is: You Don't Talk About Blogthings

        


Pretty interesting - not entirely off base.  But then my friend Moe pointed out that it should really be my maiden name I use.  So I redid the quiz using my maiden name and I got this:

You Are Passionate Sexy

You are sexy because you are torrid. You are a fiery lover. You have an extremely high sex drive. And you don't do much to control it. You crave variety and excitement. If someone interests you, you'll pursue them... full force. Your passion is all consuming. There's nothing that can quell your sexual energy. Sexual freedom is very important to you. You don't like following rules. You feel that anything between consenting adults should be fair game.

What's Sexy About Your Name?

Blogthings: A Fine Line Between Insight and Stupidity

        

Which is a fairly good description of my single days..  Weird... very weird...

PROJECT ME!

A recent blogpost by Julie, really echoed what I was feeling inside, although I hadn't developed it into a coherent thought yet.  Her post A Journey of Change is here.

I need to lose weight.  Not for looks, but for how it feels inside.  I'm tired of my knees hurting, my back being stiff if I sleep in. I'm tired of feeling like a lump on the weekends.  I know a lot of people who know me in real life may be surprised to read this.  When I'm around other people I really don't let on that I'd just rather veg out.  The problem is that no matter what kind of diet I attempt, the only way I'll lose weight is by working out.  I know that if I muster up the energy to actually work out, I will end up with more energy in the end. 

I feel like my brain is turning to mush.  My reading is defined by the internet and magazines.  The only books I've read in the last several years have been Debbie Macomber and Nora Roberts.  I used to read... a lot.  I don't want to imply that fluff is all I read.  I love Discover and Scientific American, but as interesting as they may be, a three page article is hardly brain bending.


A  lot of this came to light because as I posted earlier, my daughter moved into her dorm at Temple.  So now, I don't have to worry about being home after work for her. I don't have to worry about her uniforms being cleaned and ready for meets.  I don't have to worry about her getting to practice or lessons (even if I didn't drive her - she took my car)  I don't have to worry about being at her meets.  I don't have to care that she doesn't like onions, or raw peppers.  The only things I have to worry about is the house being human, Curt and I having clean laundry, and there being food in the fridge.  I now have time.


I need this time. I need it for me, for my sanity (what sanity I have).  I still don't have a very solid plan.  It's more vague concepts.  I am the kind of person who needs accountability.  So I'm using this blog.  I'm going to try for every  Monday, but that may change.  First to develop a plan.  Then to follow the progress of the plan, tweaking as necessary.  

I've already started on solving the brain pudding problem.  Since last Monday, I have made time almost every afternoon to read.  It is a little bit depressing.  I used to be able to knock out a few hundred pages at a sitting.  Now it's a struggle to read past 40.  It's not the books fault.  The book I'm reading is really very interesting and well written.  ( A biography of Lewis Carroll)  I am reading this biography, because I also checked out an original version of Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass.  All of his characters are parodies of people in mid-nineteenth century Oxford. 

Why Alice??  Not because of johnny Depp.  Sorry.  There is a list of 1001 books to read before you die.  No I do not plan on reading all 1001.  But I think I've only read 33.  SInce I want to read more, I plan on reading some books on the list.  Since I already passed every English Lit class I ever plan on taking there will be many I have no intention of torturing myself with.  But it does give me somewhere to start, so I can expand beyond sci-fi and classic British lit, which is most of my reading comfort zones.  I joined a group on Ravelry (amazing how many different forums a knitting/crochet/fiber arts site plays host to) that has a read a long each month of a different book on the list. Sept is Alice, Through the Looking Glass is October.


I'll let you know how the whole weight/fitness/energy issue coalesces next week.

You Are Fencing

You're competitive but not brutally so. You compete to make yourself better. You find having an opponent to be challenging and rewarding. You are fierce when you're in a competition, but you don't wish your rivals any real harm.

What Olympic Sport Are You?

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

     

Thom Hit Me!

 My friend Thom at Thom's Place got tagged with this and then he tagged me! I am to answer 8 questions and then tag 8 others. Thom has a contest going on, on his blog with the prize being a $20 gift card to anyplace he can get a giftcard online.  All you have to do is be the first to correctly guess how many people will complete his tag by Wednesday, and you have to do the tag.


So here are my answers:
1. Why did you start blogging? A lot of my knitting friends had blogs to record their knitting problems and show off their knitting successes.  I don't know a lot of knitters in real life so before RAvelry, it was a way to communicate with others.  It also was a way to keep family and friends updated on what's going on with Angie.
2. If you could travel anywhere in the world with no restriction of costs, where would it be and why? I would spend 9 months traveling all around Ireland, followed by 3 months in whichever little Irish town I liked best in a little cottage heated by peat.  I guess because growing up, there were Italians, Irish, a smattering of Jews and me.  I've been to Italy, (love to spend a year travelling through the Itallian countryside) I've always figured I'd be one of the foreign tourists killed in the strife around the Holy Land.  My Irish friends grandparents however, told such wonderful, magical stories of Ireland.   And reading fiction makes Ireland sound so wonderful, while being a knitter I covet Irish yarn (love thier sweaters!)  AND let's be honest - the ale!  My absolute hands down favorite beer Smithwicks is imported here from Ireland!
3. Did you have a teacher in school that had a great influence on your life? If so, what? Three actually.  All from high School.  Mr Eineker was an amazing math teacher, the first person to ever make math fun, not boring.  Mr Beirne who I had for 2 years of physics, who also introduced me to the local astronomy club and encouraged my fascination with astrophysics.  Mr Holland, my french teacher, who I had for 2 years before he was promoted to head of the Language dept.  I worked in his office that last year.   All three, while totally different, seemed to be the only ones in my school career, that could breakthrough my boredom and actually make me interested, like and even love the concepts they taught.  I still love math, am fascinated by physics, ski every few years in Quebec for the french. And the best way to marry math and physics? Mech Engineering. And it was in school for this that I met Curt.
4. If you could spend the day with a famous person, who would it be, and what would you do?Leonardo DaVinci. Whatever he was doing that day.  The man was the ultimate ADD genius.  Art, Engineering, life sciences .
5. Toilet paper – over or under?What is wrong with people??  It's under.  WHy is this an ongoing question?
6. Name one thing in your life that you would do over if possible. Not get fat.
7. Tell about your pets – if any.Well, there's Carl, and Hugo, and Abel - oh you meant animals didn't you?  oops...
8. Do you live in a small town or a large town. (You don’t have to name the town.)Geographically large (46 or 49 square miles)  but really a Mayberry ish suburb.


Now for my  victims Grace - Lovin Comfort Knits Catherine - Bean Counting Knitter Amanda- Bloggin with AmandaTeresa- Girl With Needles Curt (don't think he'll do it)- Netman Julie - JuleeQue  

At the Zoo: TT100

At the Zoo: TT100

 Congratulations to
KIMBER & BERLEEN!
at once a week...a great milestone

Welcome to the September 2nd edition 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.
Don't forget to go visit the other participants' blogs.
Read and comment about all their Thursday Thunks responses!
That's what all this is about after all, isn't it?
We'll have so much fun and become lifelong friends....

Thursday Thunks: At the Zoo

The TT questions are brought to you by Bud, the color of my neighbor's wife's eyes and the number 33,333.

1. Would you rather have a pet hippo or a pet elephant? ELephant - you can train them to do cool stuff, you can ride them.  Hippo's are really really mean angry animals and will kill people for no apparent reasons.

2. Why do you think bananas are shaped the way they are?So that when I was in college, I would be able to have breakfast and screw with the boys' heads at the same time?

3. In one word (OK, you can go three to four MAX) , what do most people describe you as? Most as in generic population that has the misfortune of knowing me?  Or the significantly smaller subset of my friends?

4. Choice (stupid but a choice…): Loss of vision, ability to speak or hearing - which do you choose? (you have to choose one....) It's like a law. But we can't make you.  going to cheat hear.  I'd pick hearing.  I'm already partially deaf anyway.

5. Do you like lemons? Do you use them to clean with or just as a food source? Or are you saving them up for 2012? Love lemons!  Go through a lot as I cook,never cleaned with them.  Used to se them to highlight my hair when I was a kid.

6. When you are feeling icky with that sickness feeling, what is your first choice for feel-better medicine? Herbal tea - with fresh ginger root boiled in the water.

7. You are starving. You have not had anything to eat for days. In front of you is poison ivy, a live hissing cockroach, and a rotten stinky piece of some sort of mystery meat to eat. Which would you pick and why? If I had some salad dressing I'd go for the poison ivy.  Why?  Well I'm sort of cheating. I am not allergic to poison ivy, oak or sumac.  I ripped a bunch out at my mom's house this spring. Nothing.  ( I was really evil as a child.  There was poison ivy in the woods behind the school.  I got into a lot of fights.  I'd make sure the fight would be nearby and I'd roll with the other kid through it.  Seriously, I is evil)

8. Who was the last person you bought a present for? What was it? Will you buy Berleen one? Does a cupcake count?  I bought Carl a cupcake yesterday for his birthday.  I don't think a cupcake with mousse icing would make it to Berleen.

9. Name 3 things you want your kids to learn before they grow up. (If you don't have kids, feel free to explain to the other players why you chose the “no kids“ choice. Yea. I know. (Those who have children will NEVER get it. And no, don‘t explain it…)  She already is 18!  But they were - drive a stick shift (check)  cook well enough that she won't be tempted by takeout (check) and be self-confident enough to hold her own (check, check)

10. What was your favorite toy as a child? What happened to it? My bb gun.  I stopped playing with it when I got a real one.  It's probably in my uncle's attic.

11. If you could paint your house ANY color you wanted and your friends, family & neighbors would love the color from the moment they saw it, what would it be? YELLOW

12. If the Pillsbury Dough Boy got into a fight with Mrs. Butterworth who would win? And would anybody get hurt? And do we seem desperate even asking? Totally would go to Mrs Butterworth - the woman's got a set of guns!

13. What was the last thing you would guess that Kimber took a picture of? Oh. And consider the meme listed below. Click on it. It rocks. The inside of her pocketbook?

 

Tomorrow, please join us!

This is a GREAT meme...

This week features the lyrics of ELVIS!

24 more hours still no pics from the slackers!

Seriously!!  S. L. A. C. K. E. R. S!

So anyway, once we got Angie's bed made and her closet double rod hung, helped her hang her jeans, loaded desky stuff onto her desk I asked her what she wanted us to help her with next.  Through the entire process, I have tried to make her own the process, as she owns her life.  Now, I don't know if it was too little sleep, stress from the move or just bitchiness, but she TELLS  me to "go find the laundry room and you can take Min with you if you want"  Seriously, it took every fiber of self control not to knock her block off, and I leave the room and start walking down the hall.  Min tells me that she knows where HER laundry is.  I obviously know where mine is, and as we reach the end of her hallway, we find a nice window bench and a pretty comfortable chair.  So we sit and people watch (sounds better than mock and judge doesn't it?)  

There was an Indian gentleman in a full out suit, tie and silver cuff links, helping his daughter move in.  Sadly, there were also several guys in dress pants, dress shirts ( a few ties) and sports jackets.  A couple dress pants and dress shirt - one also with a tie. (Curt - shorts and a tee shirt. Min - jeans and a tee shirt, me- shorts and a tee shirt) As I am remarking to Min that this is not how one dresses to move one's child into a dorm a dad walked buy in elastic waist shorts and a giant baggy tee shirt that may have been as old as his child. I pointed him out and said THAT  is how you dress to move your kid into a dorm.

There was a really tall kid moving into the room on the corner at the end of the hall.  His door was open the entire time so we got a really good view of the proceedings.  His dad was in dress khakis with a serious knife pleat ironed in. and a dress shirt (fortunately no tie) and a blue blazer.  He comes across the hallway, looks at Min and myself - like gives us each a stare- an deposits 3 boxes right next to Min in a stack and returns to the room.  I'm not sure since we were wearing black tee shirts and the people there to help the kids were wearing black shirts, if he thought we were with the school.  Now the boxes weren't empty!!  There was still stuff in the boxes!!  Including something in the box that was the most hideous blue plaid on the planet.  maybe the galaxy!

Now back to the kid.  His name was Bill.  how do we know his name was Bill? because he had a very precocious 4 year old sister, who spent most of the morning running unsupervised in and out of the room and around the hallway.  Kind of annoyed me, because not for nothing, but there are a ton of people in and out of the hall and building.  there was security but they weren't checking id's or signing people in and out.  I do realize that would have been a logistical nightmare.  The closes thing the girl had to supervision is her brother's roommate's 10 year old sister.  And realistically, the parents don't know this kid! Some 10 year olds are very responsible, some are not.  I was waiting for the 10 year old to have a stroke or coronary as after one time skipping down the hall, she was huffing and puffing and turning a definite strawberry color.  the 4 year old's dad (man in blue blazer) looked to be almost if not just over 60.  So Min and I were discussing whether she was an oops baby or 2nd wife  syndrome.  Then we saw her mom.  I am now voting for oops baby.

Back to Bill.  As I mentioned earlier he was tall, very tall, as in the top of the door frame hit him in the bridge of his nose.  This height is very important to the story, and the fact that he was seriously skinny ( i guess all his nutrients went to skeletal bone structure?).  While his parents futzed around with the practicalities of dorm life, his first goal upon getting to his room was to install one of those chin up devices in the doorway.... of his bathroom. 

Obviously, you could now no longer close the bathroom door (did I mention everyone moving in during this time slot was in the Honors College?) So as everything else is going on, for a substantial amount of time Min and I were waiting for someone to attempt to close the door.  People went in, the mom put the soap/ hand towels/ bath mats/ etc. but no one closed the door. 

We continued to people watch ( mock and judge remember?) there was a girl whose mom and dad were each pushing a giant cart. Her brothers? were each rolling suitcases, her grandmother?  was carrying a laundry basket toward her room.  She was bee bopping down the hall carrying a teddy bear!  There was a skinny boy, with a bright yellow bandana headband, a neon pink tee shirt, and plaid boxers hanging out his pants.  Angie's roommate kept running up the stairs with her parents to her sister's room upstairs.  There were students from the "hoot squad" and students from the honors college were going in and out of the rooms, checking on the kids, answering questions etc.  There were the kid's mentors who also stopped into the rooms.

By now, Curt was with us as well and we came up with a hysterical practical joke.  As I didn't have a single on me, Min provided me with one.  I went up to one of these upper classmen who looked official like, and had a clipboard. (Clipboards add authority have you noticed?) I offered her the dollar to go into Angie's room. Ask for Angie by first and last name and tell her that there was a mix-up and she was in the wrong room and needed to move her stuff one floor up.  (Angie's room had been swapped twice during the summer once right before her orientation/registration in July and once right after.  WHat we did not know was when Angie went to check in to check in and get her key etc, All three rooms were still attached to her name.  So they deleted 2 and gave her the key to the thrid)  Now while most kids would look for their parents in this instance, Ange was calmly asking if the room was one of the first two rooms, was telling the girl that she needed to talk to someone becasue she was sure this was the right room and maybe there were additional mix ups.  WE were out in the hall DYING.  it was too funny. And the girl even made up a Victoria as the correct resident of the room. Finally the girl flat out told angie she should find her parents and go work this out.  SO AS SHE COMES OUT OF THE DOORWAY, SHE SEES THE THREE OF US , PRETTY LITERALLY ROLLING ON THE FLOOR LAUGHING OUR ASSES OFF!! 

She was pissed, but within a few hours admitted it was funny , and as word of it had spread around her hallway, she was pretty sure it would soon become freshmen move in legend.

We returned to our hallway window perch, just as the 4 year old, was begging her dad to go skipping down the hall.  The chin up bar thing was still in the bathroom doorway.  Now in a remarkable string of coincidence - at the very same exact time - the dad comes out still in his blue blazer, bends just about in half  to hold the girls hand, tells the 10 year old that he taught the 4 year old to skip, and skips down the hall. It was the silliest thing you have ever seen!  I AM LAUGHING SO HARD, I'M SNORTING, GASPING  FOR AIR.   At the exact same moment Min who is still watching the bathroom door, is rewarded when someone goes in the bathroom and tries unsuccessfully to close the door. Now She is also at the same time rolling on the window ledge, tears in her eyes laughing her ass off!  

People are stopping to stare at the two of us, we keep laughing.  people come out of their rooms to see what is going on, we keep laughing.  Curt tells random strangers in the hallway (turns out to be her roommates parents) that he doesn't know us.  (WHo does that? just tells a random person he doesn't know another random person?  I know how Jesus felt being denied by Peter - but kept laughing) We would slowly stop laughing  only to make eye contact and start laughing again.  WHen we could finally talk to tell Curt WHY we were laughing we discover we were not even laughing at the same thing, but we each thought the other was laughing at whaT WE WERE.  This led to even more laughter.  And byt the time we were done the bar was no longer in the doorway.  What made it so truly sad, was the kid was so tall, that he would have had to bend his knees to use it, and his calves wee so long that they then would have dragged up the wall.  We're picturing him, sing it just going up on his toes and back down, saying "feel the burn, why isn't the burn working?"  and laughed even more.

We then went to check into out hotel so we could leave one vehicle there, and went to Target to pick up some forgotten things, and then went to champs for lunch.  As this post is getting long, and it is now past my bedtime, there will be another installment to this story, including the day and a half I then spent hanging 0ut with Min since Angie was busy!  Stay tuned!!



Also, on another note, today is my good friend Carl's 42nd birthday.

  I brought him a mint chocolate chip cupcake (it's green - he's irish) when he delivered my carpet this afternoon -

Happy Birthday Sweetie!!