I need to rethink Monday and Tuesday.

When I decided to start blogging again, I came up with a sort of weekly outline to give it some structure:

• Monday Musings:
•      New things I'm learning/thinking about
•      Coursera/Ted 
•      Astronomy

• Tuesday Training:
•      Running
•      Workouts
•      Health

• Wednesday Words:
•      Books
•      Articles
•      Considering a language to learn

• Thursday Twists:
•      Crafty Updates
•      Knitting /Crochet Projects 
•      Ravelry

• Friday Foodies:
•      Recipes
•      Restaurants
•      Beers
•      Veggie Gardens 

 Other than forgetting to finish a post (last wednesday's blog book review) I realize I do need to write some ahead and schedule them, because even though I have a plan for posts, if I get home late or tired from work I'm not always going to get those ideas to the computer. Wednesday, Thursday and Friday are working out well.  I've been reading a lot, usually have been crafting somewhat and a girl's got to eat right??  Monday and Tuesday aren't working out quite so well however.  Apparently I think less than I thought for Mondays,  I dropped a bunch of Coursera classes that were just too ugh, I end up tweeting the cool stuff that's going on with the different Space probes and a blog posts of stuff I already tweeted seems lame. Other than "Hey! I worked out" which makes a boring Tweet much less blog post, I don't seem to have huge amounts to say on Tuesdays.

 So, much like Wile E.  It's back to the old drawing board.

Two Blogging Books

Both of these books are much better, and much more helpful than the Huffington Post book I talked about last month. (I'm pretty sure they aren't losing sleep over my opinion though..)

I really wish I had read one or both of these books before I started to blog, but even so, once I got past the start your blog chapters, they both had a lot of good pointers and suggestions.
 

Review- The Huffington Post Complete Guide to Blogging.

This book was the first of the three I requested from my library to arrive.  I really wasn't that thrilled with it.  If you have a concept for a blog with a single focus, it would probably be an awesome book, but my blog is more like a blog magazine with different weekly sections than a focused on one thing blog book.

The book is split into three parts.  The first part is the "How-to" part of the book.  How to start a blog, how to find a server to host your blog on, why the ability to immediately react to something going on in the world or your life is advantageous, how to write in a more conversational mode rather than a more edited "newspaper" mode. These chapters were helpful. Then the section goes on to how to narrow down the focus of the blog, how to be seen as an expert at something within the blogosphere, how to expand your readership, get more followers, get more links back to your blog, getting other bloggers to link to your site and/or guest blog on your site, how to get up higher on the search engines results page.  These sections were not that helpful, because becoming an internet expert on something or having thousands of followers isn't really my personal goal in blogging, if it is yours read these sections.  The last chapter of this part is about building a community. I kind of already know who mine will be.  Mostly either A. People I know.  B. People I "know" online from Ravelry or Twitter. C. People who the last two groups know and are linked over here for a post or as a suggestion to read. D. People who accidentally stumble on here and either leave or stay.  ( I do actually have some good virtual friends  - and their pets because of interactions when I first started blogging) The part I found helpful here was using the comments sections to have conversations - by replying to comments (which I rarely did before) and actual conversation can occur and be joined by whoever else reads the posts and comments.

The second part is called "The Blog Revolution is Here!! Be a Part of It.  This is basically an excuse for the writers and founders of The Huffington Post to give themselves huge kudos and pats on the back, and kiss Arianna Huffington's  well connected ass. I'm not taking away the fact that the HuffPost did revolutionize the way a lot of people, myself included keep up with current events, form opinions and learn about breaking news.  They did totally, in my opinion force mainstream media to create more useful web presences as well.  However the syrupy nauseating, blatant "Yay us!" tone in this section was a real turn off.  If you are looking for lessons in ass-kissing for whatever reason, (well if you are the type of person who is - you probably aren't the kind of person reading my blog) this is the section to read.  With some Bush hating thrown in ( although this I pretty much expected from anything written by the HuffPost- I've learned to take that with a huge chunk of salt) and some celebrity guest comments.

The final part is the resource section.  The Huffington Post's blogroll- granted the book came out 6 years ago - but you've either heard of these blogs and follow or look at them or you don't, maybe 6 years ago they were good suggestions.  A glossary of blogging terms - if you are going to blog, you probably have a computer and can Google these terms if need be faster than flipping to a glossary which is 2 pages long 45 pages from the actual end of the book.  A Website Resource list - also somewhat outdated (MySpace anyone?) And the "Best of" several of what they consider the best posts from their site. 

I think I actually read the whole book so I could list it as finished on Goodreads and count it toward my 2015 Reading challenge. 

Goals I've been working on

As I said in yesterday's post, I have been reevaluating my personal goals.  So most of these I have been working on in some form or another already.

1.  I need to get healthy. I really can't deal with my knees hurting, back hurting, shoulder hurting, and feeling lethargic and tired.  My personality is pretty hyper and I need to be able to keep up.  I did really great last spring and summer and lost a bunch of weight and tightened up. Then I stopped going to the gym as regularly (not totally) and eating crappier because from the hurricane and blizzard and going from garden back to flooring - I pretty much worked 12 hour days and Saturday night overnites from Labor Day to the week of thanksgiving.  Other people got it for a few weeks and wen the wave of rebuilding moved on to the next category they got a break - I ended up following the wave. While getting ready for inventory. ANd because I was working so many hours and was TIRED I started grabbing quick easy food and not hitting the gym.  SO, I've been going back to the gym for the last 2 weeks, and I've been making some healthier eating choices- some.  I'm either going to get a thing on the side of this blog to update the gym/food thing or I'm going to post about it - monthly maybe? So you guys can skip those post but it will give me some accountability- cause I'm not going to want to post - um sat on my ass and ate cookies and ice cream all month.  More importantly - I need to figure out a way to keeep myself going when spring breaks and the overtime hits again.

2.  Blogging - I really did think it through and decided that I want to/ need to blog.  So I need to figure out how to do it with some regularity.  I'm going back to Haiku Wednesday- I really enjoy coming up with a poem for the prompts - yes even the hard ones.  I'm going to do weekly yarny updates.  I haven't decide if it will be a specific day of the week ( what if I have an ooh shiny moment?) or just at some non-Wednesday day.  I'm considering a weekly sports post - not really a news post but more of an op-ed type post - cause trust me, ask any of my RL friends - when it comes to Football/Hockey and Racing I have a ton of opinions!  I'm going to post mini "reviews" on all the books I hope to read. And I am going to use the blogger app on my phone more often - so more picture posts to share with you guys.

     2A - I have a bunch of stuff I need to catch up on - Rhinebeck in October, My sister's Wedding in November and my Brother's Weding in December.

3.  Preventing brain rot - AKA my Goodreads reading.  Last year I set a goal of 24 books - because for a lot more years than I want to admit - I would read the occasional book but most of my reading was magazines - and football stats or recipes really aren't real reading.  I finished the year with 25 books and 3 partials.  The partials because I am not finished with one and 1 I need to get back to eventually and one just didn't catch my attention and this isn't lit class its my life.  For 2012, I'm raising the bar a bit - to 28 books including 5 from the 1001 books to read before you become worm food list.

4.  Yarny stuff - I missed my goal by 6 projects of 52 projects last year.  3 reasons.  First there were 3 months I didn't finish anything. I did do 3 more labor intensive than my usual projects. And I am totally addicted to hexiflats.  I hope to have enough made that I can make a king throw by the end of 2013 - and since they aren't a done project I didn't count them.  I am trying for 52 projects again.  Including 150 hexiflats.  I may edit the flat number at some point but I think three a week is reasonable - since they have become my mindless knitting,  but I think I will count 25 as 1 project.  I also want to knit 12 Christmas ornaments as part of this.  As I said in goal 2- I'm going to post yarny updates - to try to avoid the months that I knit nothing - hexiflats will help that because they are super small and super portable and super mindless.

4A.  I am going to try to knit from my yarn stash this year.  Not the "knit down your stash" that some people are doing. I'm not going on a yarn diet.  I'll still buy the stuff.  Ask anyone who has gone yarn shopping with me.  I rarely buy yarn for a project.  I touch yarn and when I find one I love I bring it home. Then I find a project.  The "problem" (cause having yummy yarn really isn't bad is it?) is that if it comes home and doesn't get cast on right away it gets buried in other yummy yarn.  So I want to give some love and attention to the neglected hanks I own, whose only crime was poor timing catching my eye.

5.  My house is a clutter.  Seriously  those people from the TLC and DIY networks are going to shoe up soon.  Worse - its getting harder to remember where I put something.  So I'm not getting all unreasonably optimistic here - I'm going to try to organize, sort or get rid of something every week.  A nice  somewhat vague, lots of wiggle room goal that will hopefully add up over 52 weeks.  And it leaves room for times I feel super motivated, and for times I don't want to do anything at which point a small accomplishment will still be a victory.

6.  Giving back.  I need to thank NerdWars - their giving geeks category, has given me impetous to give back more,  I did before - but beyond throwing money in a can shake outside the super market or the second collection at church.  This past year ( a lot due to NerdWars challenges ) I've made a bunch of knit items for different causes , and done more myself.  I want to keep this trend - especially in the months (3) between the tournaments when I don't have an outside influence causing me to do something.

Anyone have interesting goals for the year??

Retrospective

Happy New Year's everyone!

I looked back at this year.  On the blog front I sort of dropped off the planet in mid-October.  I only posted 156 days - my lowest since starting the blog (and the year I started I began in May)

My post from last New Year's Eve:


I'm already looking ahead to 2011.  I am going to try to do the 52 again.  Harder than that I currently have 12 projects on Ravelry that are either WIPs or UFOs (Works In Progres or UnFinished Objects) I don't consider stuff I've worked on recently as a WIP - it doesn't hit that status in my mind until its been out of sight for two or more months.  To become a UFO  it has to have been a WIP for a year or more.  A few of the UFOs were cast on in 2006 ( a year before I joined Ravelry) I guess 2006 is the year I became a knitter - I taught myself to knit in 2003.  But I started out only struggling through one project at a time.  I'd finish something, then pick a pattern, go out buy the yarn (back then it was Michael's. Ragshop and AC Moore- I had yet to discover LYSs or online yarn) most of the time I also had to buy the needles too. In 2006, I started working on multiple projects, and creating my first WIPs and UFOs.  So, 12 on Ravelry, 2 not on Ravelry, I am going to aim for finishing or frogging (frogging is unraveling and giving up on a project, saving the yarn for another project)  one of these a month during 2011.  Some are almost done some barely started, so one a month is the average I'm aiming for.


 To recap that - I did 46 individual projects this year - 6 short of the 52 I was aiming for.  I did start making hexi-flats for the Beekeepers Quilt , and I have over 100 flats now - But I need over 1000 to do what I want, so they didn't count toward my projects.

One note on those projects - Thanks to NerdWars on Ravelry ( a knit/crochet team competition) which has a "Giving geeks" category each round -  I have made and donated 8 knit/crochet projects to various charitable causes and also 4 ownerless projects.

As far as the WIPs and UFOs  go I frogged one of the projects not on ravelry and finished 3 of the one's not on Ravelry.


One Goal well reached was reading 24 books in 2011, I read 25 and 3 partials.
But tonight is New Year's Eve.  Time to look at and forget all the fall shorts of 2011 - bloggable and not.

I hope you all enjoy a safe and happy New Year's Eve and have a Happy, healthy, prosperous New Year!

We celebrate as always - Appy feast & board games!

Just seeing how this works.

I got the Blogger app for my phone to see if it helps me blog more.  A lot of days, by the time I get home, I have too much to do and/or I'm tired.  Of course, if Grace would get Twitter, it would make my life a bit easier.

Today is my father in law's birthday.  My SIL told my husband she wanted to take him to dinner tonite.  Then, there was an issue because the kick off meeting for their bowling league is at 4 or 5. (how early was she going?)  So now it's 11 and I still have no idea!  To top it off I haven't gotten my rental car yet, so its more complicated.

Update on the car. I'm making the Angie deal with the insurance company.  I also made her call Robbie's and have the car towed to Robbie's .  My friends want to know if its to teach her to deal with stuff or because I don't want to.  The answer ....yes.

I've actually won TWO blog contests! Robin Spoilers

Seriously!  I'm considering grabbing a lottery ticket.  FIRST  I won a contest on my friend Diana's blog.  Diana is an extremely talented knitwear designer.  I won 5, yes 5 of her patterns.  Check out her designs if you're a knitter  otterwise  And her blog is here. 
If you're wondering I got: Wild Cherry Bark Mitts, Corydalis Cowl, Winter Bud Cowl, Catseye Socks and Kiva bag.

Thank you so much again, Diana!!


The second contest was this past weekend on my friend Thom's blog.  He had a birthday contest for Quilly.  We had to guess her birthweight.  I guessed Angie's weight ( at birth not now!) and while she was smaller than Quilly, I was the closest so I won!!  I got to pick any internet giftcard.  So I'm getting a Knitpicks gift card ( so I'll have the yarn to work up Diana's patterns. LOL!


Thank you so much again Thom!  I really have fun with your blog every day!!

I  finished clue 3 on Sunday ( too bad clue 6 comes out on Monday) on my Stormy Robin.  I think I'm going to try to catch up on the Cotton Robin- since it will be more practical with summer coming up.  And once I'm caught up then work on the stormy.  It is going to be 32 degrees tonite!!  My tomato is coming inside so she doesn't freeze.  It's almost May!  I want my plants done already!! 

So here is the cotton Robin after clue 3:


The yarn is not quite so yellow.

A close up of the "robins"



Here is a shot of my Stormy Robin:
 

Knitting updates

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

Here are some knitting updates:

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



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




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

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



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

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

Thursday THUNKS

Twilight, Emails, Being Nude And More Crazy Questions!

Welcome to the April 16th 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 Kimber, the color rainbow and the number 2.

1. Recently Berleen and I discovered the allure of the Twilight series. Have you ever been sucked in to the latest "thing"? (Like Harry Potter, the movie Titanic, social networking, etc. etc. etc.) Latest Thing? Not usually my style- I did read the first bunch of Harry Potter books ( not the last 2) I never got as into it as some people( those of you on Ravelry have seen I'm sure the huge number of Harry Potter projects and Gryfindor, Slytherin yarn etc. NASCAR is supposedly the fastest growing sport in America- but I've been a fan for 30+ years so not a recent bandwagon jumper. I'm trying but I really can't think of anything that I've jumped on a trend-
2. What software do you use for your email? Software? Not sure. I use firefox as a browser, have hotmail, yahoo and google e-mails ( have never used the google though.) Does that help?? It's not my fault really- married a techie - don't feel I need to know as long as the laptop works.
3. Are you comfortable being nude? Yes - my husband accuses me of being a nudist. But seriously I don't go out in public naked. trust me no one wants to see that unless I lose some weight and tone up a bit and maybe get a tan. My daughter figures that once she's off to college I'll never wear clothes in the house again.
4. What is something you plan on doing this summer? While my daughter is off being a do-gooder in Ecuador this summer- Curt and I are going on vacation without her!!
5. Do you have a favorite movie/book quote? If so, what is it? There are so many - but they just kinda pop out of my mouth at appropriate (or inappropriate times) A lot of quotes from a Princess Bride, Monty Python, The Muppets,
6. How many email addresses do you have? 3
7. Is the sky falling? I'd rather not look up to find out. When or if it hits me it hits me. I think it will be less painful if I don't see it coming.
8. Have you been to the Grand Canyon? No, flown over it a whole bunch of times - would love to go rafting through it, I'm afraid there will be scorpions or huge spiders or I'd want to go camping and rock the tent in the canyon ( can you do that?) I think I'd like to go at least once - to go on that glass bottomed lookout thing- not sure about riding a donkey though... Do they have real horses?
9. When was the last time you mailed a hand written letter? March. I always mail a long newsy letter to my cousins with their birthday cards.

THURSDAY THUNK

Bugs, fruit, eating strange things and some other stuff

Welcome to the March 5th 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 puke green and the number 12345.

1. You are walking down the road and you look down. There is a bug. Do you step on it? If I am wearing shoes and it doesn't look like a cockroach yes. ( someone once told me if you step on a female roach it's eggs will stick to your shoe and you'll infest your house. ewwww.)
2. What is one fantasy that you want to come true more than any other? Let's just say it involves a scruffy NASCAR driver/owner and a carpet truck driver with gorgeous eyes and me!
3. Someone knocks on your door. Do you look out the window to see who it is before you open it? Do you open it regardless of who it is? yes I do look. I am somewhat anti-social in that I don't open doors to strangers. Once I was expecting a delivery and I opened the door to Jehovahs Witnesses. I told them I was a wican devil worshiper ( my apologies to any actual wicans out there) so they would go away.
4. Have you ever eaten Play Doh? No, should I?
5. What was your favorite Saturday morning cartoon as a child and why? Close, but has to be Wile E. Coyote. I was so sure his plans would work if only his equipment would stop failing.
6. Are you a "people watcher"? I end up having to kill time while waiting for my daughter. She seems to be to far to go home a lot. ie her dance studio is 12 miles away (half an hour during evening traffic) fencing lessons about 40 minutes away. So my husband and I wind up at Starbucks, or dunkin donuts, or borders having coffee, watching and making fun of people. It's our "together time"
7. I have a bowl of fruit. There are apples, oranges & pears. You help yourself to one - which one do you choose? If the orange is a clementine - otherwise a pear
8. What is your biggest pet peeve in the blogging world? People who leave rude hurtful comments for no provocation.
9. What is one religion that you could just never see yourself joining? Hinduism or any other that requires vegetarianism.
10. What word do you use far too often? fuck!
11. How long do you spend in the shower? 20-25 minutes
12. If you were to write a personal ad about yourself, what would it say? funny, smart, slightly psychotic knitter seeks slightly scruffy, temper prone NASCAR driver or carpet truck driver with gorgeous eyes!
13. Your favorite flavor of soup is....? Italian wedding soup.
14. You are sitting on a bench in the park and a bug walks in front of your feet.... do you squash him? Same answer as #1

Blog Award

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


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

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

Great Blogger Contest.

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

Contest winners!

We have our winners! the random number generator picked 4 and 19. So Miss Monica Jean wins a gift certificate to scoutsswag. And Daisy Mum wins a skein of sock yarn from Penny Rose. I left them comments on their blogs to pm me on Ravelry with their real names and e-mail addy's so I can have Scout send the gift cert and I can Paypal Ruth.

Congrats ladies! I hope you enjoy the yarn you choose!

AAAARRRRRRGGGGHHHHH

I can't believe it!!! I moved my pre-written post up another day. Then I had problems loading a picture and something went wrong with my laptop. I fell asleep while my husband was fixing it. So I missed yesterday's post! AARRRggghHHHH

Weekend

So I finished the lacey anklets. Have some issues with the yarn ( of course being a freebie my friend Sandy gave me from a knitters retreat/convention she went to I can't complan too bad) the left sock pooled a lot. Seriously. It's even worse on the bottom, but i can't take a picture of the bottom of my foot - not as limber as I once was. Ok, it was a giveaway. but why would i then want to spend money on hanks when the yarn pooled. And i know sometimes the colorways pooling is pretty. Not here. The other thing - i should take a pic of the yarn I have left. if you wanted to make socks that actually went up your calf you would need at least 3 hanks. Also had some issues with the pattern. I thought the reason the first sock came out twisty was that I missed the fact that every other k2tog row was through the back loop. Well I did it right on the second sock and it is still a bit twisty. On the plus side - they are comfy and they are short so they'll be under my sneakers most of the time.



My daughter worked the concession stand at the football game this morning. ( it's warm 65ish but on and off pouring rain today and she wondered why there were'nt a lot of people in the stands!) I had gone grocery shopping at 7:30 this morning, so while she was at the game Curt and I snuggled under the covers for a rainy day nap. Bliss sheer bliss!

Tomorrow I better get comfy in my car. Angie has a can shake for her fencing team at Shop Rite from 845 to 11. But she has powderpuff practice from 930 to 1015 because they never practiced on the field. So she got another girl to come cover from 920 to 1020. I'm the chaperone for that time, so Curt has to come pick her up and bring her back. Then she has to go 2 towns over to work on a fund raiser for her trip to equador. for half an hour. She has to be back at the field for her powderpuff game by 12:45. I'm hoping to get home by 3 or 330 to watch the final Nascar race of the season. And worry about the 49ers.

Friday the Devils lost. But last night they won in 2 overtimes. Sigh. The Irish won today. I watched the Yale / Princeton game instead of the Notre Dame game in case it was me jinxing them. The Aggies lost, but by only 20 points woo hoo....

I think I need some kind of anti-depressant or sedative for the weekends. One weekend I'm going to have a cranial implosion or something.

Angie went out to the movies last night. Stressed a bit as her friend drove her ( but on the plus side it isn't one of her "flaky" friends) but it was seriously pouring rain. Curt was bowling so I was home alone. Pretty pathetic, but I actually enjoyed the empty house.

Day 16 of NaBloPoMo and I am still in it! I had my doubts if I'd do it, but I'm over the hump now!

Don't forget to leave a comment to my post from Nov. 14th! Contest is for 2 different hand dyers yarn! Gift cert/credits so you can order what you like! Contest ends on Saturday the 22nd!!

Have to take some pics

Ok, haven't taken any pic's haven't looked for any pics. Will bring pic's back soon. Mailed Min the yellow squares today. Seriously, no more afghans. Love Tony, want to get him points, not that bad! Next year, granny squares, no afghans, definitely no ripples. The last month knitting was actually more stress!

House still a mess, not working on it right now. Pondering laundry, not looking good for today. I didn't get out of work until 2:20 this afternoon. ugghhh. I knew I'd be paying for the 4 day weekend. Do you want to know what was the worst part of it?? The last half hour was doing my sorta boss' paperwork that was supposed to be done by Friday. I usually do it, because if he starts changing counts etc, it will make me nuts trying to fix what he screws up. But I had a lot to do last week. So on Wed when I was leaving (after 3 - I'm supposed to be out by 1) I had it about 70% done. I gave it to him to finish. It was taped to my computer this morning. then he wanted to know how soon it would be done because it was due on fri. I told him I'd do it before I left but my job was getting done first. Then I have no idea who taught the guys at the DC to load a trailer, but seriously they have got to be kidding. The biggest problem is we have these drop down beams in our trailers. The trucks from the vendors don't so our trailers are practically 6 inches shorter on the inside. So these guys take stuff off the vendors trailers, and slide them onto ours. Which you can do pushing the pallet along the floor. The only problem is to get them off you have to lift them at least a hair because you are pulling them off. Well they don't leave the hair. I have been getting very creative, both with my machine work and with the constant stream of curses coming out of my mouth. I almost dumped $2000 of light bulbs that were balanced weirdly on a skid of my tile, and you know nothing was going to happen to my tile (that's why I do the trucks with my tile on them.) And being Monday, I'm supposed to get to play with my carpet truck. I had rems ship on Wed. When they ship on Wed I usually get them on Friday or if they're late on Monday. I also had a roll of commercial carpet ship Wed. So that should have been in today. So I was actually happy because I have a bunch of stuff on Wed afternoon ( my re-scheduled nail appt and an equip inventory at my daughters school) so I was going to leave early. Well by 130, I called the terminal and no, no truck today. So it will be here Wed. Great. Still haven't found anything out at work. Getting to where I don't want to care but I can't stop myself and there is a very un-Ria like pessimist inside my head saying it will turn out exactly how I don't want. Need a shovel, must start digging a hole.

I have given up on Ruth (the Yarnarian's) mystery sock. I was trying to squish the top to make an ankle sock, because neither Angie nor I wear socks over our sneakers. There is no way in hades to squish the top. So looking for a new pattern to use on the pink sock yarn. I still have to finish my lacey anklet so I can start on the 49er sock yarn. I am tempted to join the holiday swap on my msn knitting group. if I do , I'm making the unpurled cowl and the matching hat. I have yarn don't know if I want to deal with another knitting deadline. quick question - can one knit in a hole? Need superwash yarn, need superwash yarn now!

I'm not mad at Curt anymore, but my feelings are seriously hurt. Seriously. Now he's getting pissed about that. But I'm not going to lie and say they aren't. I don't even know what to tell him I need to feel better. I really don't. this has so far transcended our original argument it isn't even funny. I really feel like if my promises aren't sh*t to him why did he marry me?? There are only maybe 4 people alive on this planet right now who actually have access to that part of my brain/heart/soul whatever, that allows my feelings to be hurt ( sad to say my mom is not one of them) and he does. Not helping my whole " the world is crumbling I want to crawl into a hole thing" Not one bit. Must make the hole big enough for alcohol!

Still have managed to avoid all news regarding last weeks election. I am in serious don't want to deal with this denial. So I guess I have to bring enough chocolate for 4 years in my hole. Hmmm, maybe need a cave, don't think I want to actually dig a hole that big. to much work. Although I always wanted to operate a back hoe. Do you think I could learn to do that and get a job on a back hoe?? Then I won't have to seal with whatever crap happens at work. yeah that's the ticket. Find a backhoe school, or maybe crane operator? I don't want to drive one of those paving trucks - that looks too hot for my taste. Oooh speaking of hot, I can drive a backhoe around hot shirtless construction workers!! ok this is starting to sound like porn. With my luck I'd get the bald, beerbelly hairy crew. yuck!

Now for the "big" news. if you've actually made it this far down my rant you can be the first to get a heads up. My Ravelversary is Friday. 11.14. My birthday is Sat 11.22.. I am working up a scheme for a blog contest between those 2 dates. I am not prolific or skilled enough to give away finished goods. I don't really know what yarn would be the most popular as a give away. So ( I use that word too much I think) although I have no idea what the contest will be about, I am going to do a gift cert to scoutsswag she's the one who dyed my 49er sock yarn - does awesome work. And to support the jersey gal from whom I bought my most recent yarn I am trying to work out something with Ruth (the yarnarian) for a gift cert for a hank of yarn and pattern. She doesn't do gift cert's but is going to try to work with me on this. So mark the date and remember to check back here on 11.14!!

Visit NaBloPoMo



November is apparantly National Blog Month or something. So one of the bloggers on my ravelry group created a group for needlecrafters on NaBloPoMo. You join ( don't actually give your full name unless you want it all over. i thought just your nickname showed up, but I was wrong so i changed my name to tony fan. Then you post every day for a month. Apparantly they do this every month, but November is the BIG month. There are prizes and stuff as well. I don't know if I am going to make it for the whole 30 days - we may have in addition to the ever popular wordless wednesdays - Mute mondays, silent saturdays, shh sundays, tongue tied tuesdays, ---- would that be cheating??? Just kidding , although I'm not ruling some of it out!

Also kinda cool in the world of blogging : ceci9293 (ravelry id) had a contest on her blog. Apparantly my comment on the best way to deal with computer issues is to marry a sugar "it" daddy came in runner up so I win a prize! How cool is that?

Worstedknit (also on ravelry) also had a contest a few weeks ago and I won something! And i never win anything!!

i think I'm going to have to come up with a contest here. My blogversary isn't until May, but my birthday is in November. Stay tuned for further details, once I think of them!