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December 29, 2007

A Break

christmas has  come and gone and this year unlike previous years, i'm a little disappointed that the christmas carols are over.  i know!  they've been on since halloween and yet it feels like i barely got a chance to get sick of them!  we never even put up a tree.  although i did have the inflatable snow globe up.  i love that thing. (although clearly not enough to actually have a close-up of it).

home with tyvek

i partly blame that on being back in school.  it was only one class but between lab and lecture, i barely had a week without an exam or project due.   kind of sucks any joy out of the holiday season.

my birthday and christmas were relaxing.  j surprised me with a fancy schmancy wide-angle lens for my birthday.   we're still getting acquainted. (me and the lens.  not me and j.) and the girls pitched in a got me a gift card to lush.  i have high hopes for the beautification.

christmas day

for christmas, j got us a network storage type device thing.  overkill of course, as all i wanted was an external hard drive to back up my laptop.  but that's j for you. you send him out for  a shovel, he comes home with a backhoe.

what's been great is that i've had the past week off from work.  there was time for last minute shopping and meeting up with stitchy.  and thursday, i introduced caro to WEBS.  despite the weather i think we both enjoyed ourselves.  it's possible that i may have bought some noro sock yarn and some kidsilk haze.  and a namaste needle binder. 

there was some knitting too, but i'll save that for tomorrow.


 

December 24, 2007

Merry Christmas!

i want to thank you all for the wonderful birthday greetings.  it was very sweet of you all to wish me a happy birthday.   i'm still freaking out but just a little on the inside.

now it's my turn to wish you all a merry christmas.

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nothing says christmas more than a disembodied doll head ornament.


 

December 20, 2007

Zero More Days!

hey, guess what?  it's my birthday!! 

yarn cake mmmmm

have some cake!

and here's number 20.


20.  i'm 45 years old today and i have to admit, i'm a little freaked out.  i'll try not to think about it.

December 19, 2007

One More Day

i've got nothing today other than to say that I JUST FINISHED MY EXAM!!!!

19.  AND STARTING TOMORROW AT 4PM I'M OFFICIALLY ON VACATION UNTIL JANUARY 3RD!!!!

December 18, 2007

Two More Days

ok, i'm done for the season with the funfur trees.  i want to knit something else. 

merry kitschmas x3

here i've got 3 different sized trees knit up with 3 different types of funfur/novelty crap.  the red one kind of reminds me of my legs when i haven't shaved in awhile. heh heh.

red tree with gold ball

and adrian says they kind of look boobly with the little balls on top.  heh heh boobly.

and that takes me to number 18 on the hit parade of things about me.

18.  no matter how old i get, there's a part of me that's still in the 3rd grade. sometimes i struggle with that feeling.  i want to be more mature.  i think.  but most of the time i'm ok with it.   if you can't laugh at at any word with boob in it, then life isn't worth living.

boobies.

December 17, 2007

Three More Days

so whatever happened to my little yarn cake friend? 

tell it to go away!!! help!!!

yeah, it's been awhile since i first introduced you to my imperiled pal. i'm afraid that his story didn't end well.  but i can't blame the cat. 

it's all my fault.  and The Knitter's Book of Yarn. 

maine morning mitts

the maine morning mitts, by clara parkes.

i followed the pattern as written except that i added an inch in length to the wrist area.  the yarn used was some nameless natural wool that i kool-aid dyed.   

by the way, unless you've been hoarding the stuff, it looks like kool-aid as a dyeing agent may be a thing of the past.  they've come up with "invisible" kool-aid!  i know, what gives?!  better for the kids who drink the stuff, i guess, but not so good for wool dyeing.  (although i'm not sure kids will get excited about drinking something that doesn't turn their lips blue.)

maine morning mitts

anyway, i've since created a Knitter's Book of Yarn group on flickr, so if you've made something from the book please feel free to join the group and post your photos.

and now number 17:

17.  i have only two UFO's.  both are crochet projects and one is a bag that's waiting for a fabric lining.   i usually have more than one project on the needles/hooks at any one time, but very rarely do i leave a project unfinished.  if i'm enjoying a knit, i'll finish it.  if i'm not, i'll frog.  there's very rarely any middle ground for me.  i am, after all, an all or nothing kind of gal.  and yes,  mafia,  if you want to take it that way, you can. 


December 16, 2007

Four More Days

yesterday the sun was out and the snow was still deep and white and crunchy. 

louisa lake park bench

today, we got snow and sleet, so i spent the day inside studying and knitting and watching football.  it's quite possible that i never got out of my pajamas and fuzzy feet.

louisa lake park bench

by the way, we're only 4 days away from the birthday, so here's number 16 in my list of things about me:

16.  i'm a doodler.  i doodle during meetings and in class when i'm not taking notes.  and most of my doodles look like this:

Dscn5533_2

whenever my mind starts to wander and i need to concentrate on what is being discussed i start with the swirlies.  if i'm on conference calls alone in my office though, i knit.

December 15, 2007

Five More Days

teresa commented on yesterday's post that i still owe you all numbers 12, 13, and 14.  so here's what i put together for her last night:

12.  i'm a very safe driver leaving 2 to 3 car lengths between me and the driver in front of me.

13.  i've been known to study recombinant DNA

14.  i kiss my car

and now for number

15.  i do not have a tattoo and nor do i ever want one.  i had a henna tattoo on my arm once and by day 3 i was scrubbing it off so i think i'm too fickle to commit to ink.  but on july 4, 2000 i did get my navel pierced.  it was my way of celebrating our nation's birthday.  heh heh. 

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for sandy  a little bit of sky.

December 14, 2007

Eight, Seven, Six More Days

yeah so i kind of dropped the ball.  the last couple of days were a bit challenging time-wise and it's only today that i've found a moment to write.  wednesday night i had a big ass final lab exam and then one more lecture so i didn't get home until late .  while ms. mafia was drinking chocolatinis after her econ final, i was sitting in class learning about recombinant DNA.  yes, everyone else and their mother is done with classes but i have one more final next week. i have  never had so many tests for one class in my life.   it's been crazy.

yesterday, while caro was getting all excited i was stuck in snowy traffic for 4 hours like these two and when i finally made it home, i passed out in a crumpled heap.   talk about nerve-wracking.  people were pretty well-behaved though.  except for the asshat who rode my ass for at least an hour (about 2 miles) along the mass pike.  that is until he finally passed me and then had the nerve to give me the hairy eyeball because i thought it might be smart to have at least 2 car lengths between me and the guy in front of me.  CRAZY i know.   and can i just say how proud i am of my little mini?  she even managed to climb the hill to my house with nary a complaint!  i may have kissed her snow-covered roof when i made it safely home. 

good mini good mini

so that's what i've been up to for the past two days. 

good times.

December 11, 2007

Nine More Days

I'm really tired tonight.  My shoulder hurts.  My cat's being a pain and won't let me type.  I'm not even posting a picture.   I'm going to bed.

11.  Sometimes I can be a big baby.

December 10, 2007

Ten More Days

halfway there!

this weekend, in addition to shopping, i also made more funfur trees.  (you know, instead of studying.  i have a lab final on wednesday and then a final final the following wednesday -- fuckers).

trimmed trees

these guys are little, no more than 6 inches tall.  and what i like about my version of the funfur tree (pattern in the side bar over there ----> ) is that because it's started at the top and you knit down toward the base, you can stop knitting whenever you feel like it without having to plan ahead.  ran out of yarn?  you can stop.  sick of knitting with the funfur?  you can stop.  bought 3 tons of funfur at a sale 3 years ago when you were all about the funfur and you want to use up the stuff?  make a much bigger tree.  you are only limited by the size of your house. 

i didn't use lion brand funfur for these trees, but some green trendsetter aura that i got at graceful stitches for 50% off.  it looks and feels like easter basket grass.  yes, it's lovely stuff.  makes a nice loofah too.

and the garland i  made by stringing a bunch of those giant sequin thingies (they're called paillettes) onto metallic sewing thread and with a tiny crochet hook i made 15 chains, crocheted in a paillette, crocheted 15 more chains, etc. until i had a chain of paillettes long enough to wrap around each tree.  then i secured the garland with a small stitch or two.  ta-da! 

and now to the 10th thing about me:

10.  sometimes stupid, insignificant stuff can really irritate me and i'll obsess about it, getting all riled up and outraged.  and then feel kind of dumb because in the grand scheme of things, who cares?  for example, this is my current pet peeve.

i was listening to very smart people talk on NPR this morning and this one very smart, journalist person who writes for a living and expresses her opinion in publications that people spend good money on used three little words when used on their own do not annoy me.  but when strung together as a transitional phrase make me want to set something on fire:  "THAT BEING SAID."  (or it's equally annoying cousin "THAT SAID.")

god, i hate that little phrase.  because these days, every one uses it.  i read in newspapers, magazines (god you  magazine people need to mix it up a little).  i hear it on news shows on tv and the radio.  i hear it all of the time.   bloggers use it a lot, and that's fine.  i can live with it, because most bloggers, don't blog for a living.  i don't use caps in my blog posts and i'm sure that annoys people but hey, i'm not getting paid to type.

but if a professional writer or speaker uses it, ugh!!! it annoys me so much.  know why?  because it's sheer laziness on their part.   they should know better. and they should be able to transition from one thought to the next without using "that being said."    in my line of work, it would be as if  instead of collecting data from actual data sources, i decided to make the data up.   ok, maybe that's a bit of an exaggeration but you get my point.  maybe.

ok.  see how stupid and insignificant that is?  and now i'm all riled up just at the thought.  want to set my teeth on edge a little more?  use the phrase "the fact of the matter is" over and over again.  yeah.  annoying.

alrighty then.  that being said, i'm out of here for today.

heh heh.

 

December 09, 2007

Eleven More Days

today was a fun day.  i met caro and adrian early this morning for brunch and then we shopped at the bazaar for a bit.   we then fortified ourselves for more shopping with a burger and a giant beverage.  beers for caro and i.  soda for adrian (she doesn't like beer.  weirdo.)   i can't speak for those two but i certainly had a good time.  (i didn't bring anything back from the bazaar though.)

but get this .... and this is my number 9....

9.  i still get carded. 

ok i got carded today.  it's not a usual occurrence.  it's not like it happens every time i buy alcohol.  but it happened today.  so i'm going to say that i still get carded.  HA! 

cat in a hat

the cat's either not impressed or just disgusted. 

December 08, 2007

Twelve More Days

i'm lazy today so i'm going to link to a post from last year for my 8th random thing.

8.  i'm kind of weird. 

oh and a young miss is having a birthday today.  young, compared to me anyway. (but much more grown-up i think)  go welcome cathi into her thirties will you? 

and i'll also be at the bazaar bizarre tomorrow.  stitchy mcyarnpants and tomoko of tadworks will be peddling their wares so you might want to come too.  (and yes, there will be other vendors there too, i just don't know them).


yarn po

December 07, 2007

Thirteen More Days

almost forgot again today....

7.  i tape "the young and the restless" every day and watch it most days.   i'm sure you all have your own little dark secrets there too.  don't be too smug.

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December 06, 2007

Fourteen More Days

this coming up with random things is getting kind of hard and i'm only on number 6.

6.  i'm kind of obsessed with blue houses.  not in a creepy, peeking in the windows sort of way.  i just like them.  and i always notice  them. 

i like blue houses so much that when we decided to reside the house i told j that he could pick whatever color he wanted as long as it was blue.

north face done for now

half a blue house is a start.  he promises he'll finish in the spring.  tyvek has blue on it.

winterizing the house

December 05, 2007

Fifteen More Days

in case you've been wondering, there has been some knitting going on around here. 

i finally finished another pair of socks.

online socks

i kind of fucked up the second toe by screwing up the decreases, only figuring out my mistake AFTER i had kitchenered the toe AND woven in the end so trying to undo without using scissors proved to be impossible.  so i said fuck it.  this yarn is Online Tropic and i love it.  and to think i bought this yarn as a "thank you for letting me monopolize your time in your shop for the past 30 minutes while you tried to find an alternative yarn to the one i was looking for but that you did not carry,  so rather than leave empty handed i'm buying this skein of sock yarn" purchase.

and next in my birthday countdown ....

5.  i don't often wear perfume, mostly because i forget.  but when i do, nine times out of 10 it's Chanel Number 5.   

number 5

bet you didn't realize what a classy bitch i was, did you?

December 04, 2007

Sixteen More Days

whoa!  i almost forgot today's post.  i just got home about 15 minutes ago.  after work i met up with kellee and caro for some knitting fun.  i almost didn't go, tired as i was, but i'm glad i did.   it was fun.  yes, caro's here now.  with us.  heh heh.

now, it's off to bed i go.

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and before i forget here's number 4.

4.  i don't have serious food issues.  i'm not a big fan of fish and i don't like sushi or raw shellfish, but unless it's very exotic in a "fear factor" sort of way (or that guy on the travel channel that eats things that shouldn't be eaten at all) i'll try almost anything.  i mean, i eat snails  and frog's legs (yes they taste like chicken) for frig sake.  one thing i don't care for though that surprises people -- cucumbers.  i think cucumbers are yucky.  i don't even like cucumber scented things. 

alrighty then.  i'm out of here.

December 03, 2007

Seventeen More Days

continuing the birthday countdown by counting up random things about me, i give you:

3.  Three is my favorite number.  I'm going to be 3*X years old.   I like things in threes.  If i find a pair of jeans i like, i'll buy 3 pair (usually), or 3 shirts, 3 skeins of yarn, 3 lipsticks.   I used to have 3 cats.   I'm not such a nut case though that I need to get another cat to feel as if i have a complete set.  Two cats will do for now.

elves

ok, maybe random thing about me number 3 is a little weird.

December 02, 2007

Eighteen More Days

a few months ago i got tagged by a few people for "the 8 random things about me" meme.  back then, i wasn't really up for it, and after reading a bunch of 8 random (or weird) lists i discovered that i'm not all that interesting or weird.  but in honor of my birthday and the month of december being all about my birthday, i thought that i would try and push my limits and come up with not just "8" but 20 random things about me, in honor of the 20th day of the month of december, the day of my birth.

[dramatic pause]

you know, because it is after all about me.  and what is a meme but "me" squared. 

so i need 2 today to catch up.  so being totally random, although i can't promise weird, here i go.

1.  i get up every weekday morning at the ungodly hour of 5:30.  on weekends, i sleep in a little.  6:30-7:00.  unless i stay up late the night before, you know like past midnight.  i like getting up that early on the weekends.  makes the weekend seem longer.  on the weekdays though, not so much.

2.  i drink a decent amount of coffee.  and i drink it strong, black .... and lukewarm.  yeah, i'm not big fan of the steaming cup of hot coffee and when i order the "big one, black" at DD (heh heh) i always ask for ice cubes on the side. 

my morning coffee

December 01, 2007

Nineteen More Days

i'm at an age when one no longer celebrates birthdays.  but i think that's bullshit.

let the countdown begin.

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