Kelli Restored

Bring on the snow! Or at least a temperature below 78!

2009-09-01T14:05:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone! Welcome to another week.

Oh, and Happy September!

This is one of my favorite months of the year, because of the promise of my favorite season, Autumn!

Although one doesn't see much autumn in southern GA. Palm trees don't really change colors much.

However! Should there be an influx of cold weather, I am more than prepared:

Yes, I finished the arm warmer in the pink yarn. And I actually had enough to do the other one too! This pic shows the colors really bright - they're actually more muted like the first pic.

I changed the pattern up a bit and already emailed Berroco yarns to see if they want the pattern to this one and the blue/green/teal one from last week.

Speaking of, I got the yarn for the other arm of that project - it arrived on Saturday. Allison at Supercrafty.com is so fast with shipping! Amazing. Also? Somehow accidentally some pretty green sock yarn also ended up in my checkout cart. I just can't imagine how that could happen! What a tragedy! Heh.

On other (non-knitting) topics: Had a good weekend. Went for a long drive with Noel, saw some fun stuff which I will be posting pics of later this week. Played with the kittens, and also took them to the vet. Found out that Loki is apparently a little chub ball - we thought Poe was underweight. No, actually Loki is pulling a Garfield and is a little fat. Oops.

Also, I went for a motorcycle ride with Noel on the big white motorcycle, Bertha! I learned some things:

1. 60 mph doesn't feel fast in a car, but it really does on a bike.

2. I don't like the idea of swallowing bugs.

3. I still had to try to get my cheeks to do the whole flapping in the breeze thing, despite Point #2.

4. Cheeks, no matter how big, don't flap at 60 mph.

5. Birds fly low.

6. Motorcycles are hard for short people to mount without looking like a geriatric contortionist.

Bertha and I remain merely acquaintances. Bike riding is not my thing. I wasn't overly comfortable with feeling so open and vulnerable. Also? I was afraid my contacts might blow off of my eyeballs. Not a good feeling. Might be different if I were driving, but probably not. Noel was very gentle on the bike, going around the curves slowly so I wouldn't freak. Thanks for that! But yeah - a biker chick I am not so much. Guess I can save some cash since I don't have to buy that Harley bikini now. heh.

Also? I look like a total dork in the helmet. Sersely:

Good lord.

I am perhaps delusional.

2009-08-26T13:08:00.000-07:00

Why delusional? Because I insist upon making stuff obviously intended for cold weather, despite the fact that currently in Savannah it's approximately 542 degrees out. And yet I persist.

Y'all may recall my obsession/love for my new socks in the previous post. I had some yarn left over, so.....

Cool, huh? I designed them myself and wrote out a pattern, so we'll see - I'd love to get a few patterns published, and this might be one of the first.

I love the little teensy thumb on it:

The only problem is, I'm running dangerously low on this yarn (which I found out is Berroco Sox, in Kingston colorway, for all those who give a crap). And I only have 1 of them finished. And I am a believer in equal warmth for all arms! So I went onto http://www.supercrafty.com/ to order some more, and as always I got a confirmation immediately that my order was in process. If you ever need yarn, sersely order from Supercrafty - excellent service and you're supporting a small business that deserves it!

But alas, that yarn is at least 1-2 days away...so! In the meantime, guess what happened?

Yup. It's another arm warmer, this time out of the leftover yarn from my pink socks. Seeing a trend here? At least I'm not making these quite as long, so there's less of a chance of running out of yarn.

Now I just need to move to Vermont so I can actually wear them.

And for those of you who are concerned about progress on Rachel's sweater, please be assured that I'm working on it as my non-traveling project. I was actually traveling with it, but it's getting to be too much to pull out of my knitting bag, so it's going to be home work from now on. Socks, arm warmers and hats make great travel projects. Sweaters? Not so much. But it is progressing nicely and I hope Rachel likes it!

I started this pink arm warmer today while waiting at the doctor's office. I had to go for a follow-up exam from my cancer scare from February, and ended up waiting for about an hour in the waiting room (not the doc's fault! - I *heart* my doc!). The PAs kept apologizing, and I tried to explain that if I have my knitting bag with me, I love to wait! They didn't believe me til I started pulling out stuff to show them. I promptly was told (upon modeling my arm warmer - I am SUCH a dork!) that I was to make pairs of them for everyone in the office for Christmas. :)

On a totally unrelated note, the scariest thing about going to the doctor? Is getting weighed. Ok, I know I've plumped up a bit since The Days Of Not Eating that occurred last fall (pre-divorce). At that point I had pretty much a flat stomach! wow. Not so much anymore. But! I still think that doctor scales are about 20 lbs heavier than normal scales. I think they do this to scare the ever living crap out of you, so you think that you REALLY need to exercise and get fit, etc. I refuse to give in to the lie, and am defiant as I eat my potato chips. :)

It's rainy here again today, and is supposed to be all week. Good staying in and snuggling and petting kittens weather. If only work wouldn't get in the way!

Busy busy busy!

2009-08-24T14:16:00.000-07:00

Happy Monday! (As if there is such a thing, even with copious amounts of coffee). Hopefully everyone had a good and safe weekend.

Mine was busy! I got a lot done: exercising (I'm working on interval training now), submitting a dress design to Burdastyle.com, cleaning, crocheting (a lot), knitting, etc.

I finished up these socks about a week ago and have just admired and gawked at them as if they were the first socks ever made. I ADORE this yarn!

Embarrassingly enough, I actually showed the off to everyone at work. Including the lady who sells us corporate branding stuff, and an interview panel for a job promotion. Yeah, I'm kinda dorky. But! They're so pretty! I love them.

Even Loki had to be in on the exciting sock action! He's my quality tester.

"Is that a twisted stitch? I'd better sniff it to be sure."

Can you see how HUGE this little guy has gotten? He's not fat, just massive! I think he's going to be well over 14 lbs when he finishes growing. I have to take them for checkups on Sunday, so we'll find out then (if I can wrangle them into the carrier). Poe is about the same size, but just much lighter. Strange.

Oh, and in case you were wondering (and I know how riveted you all were by last week's litterbox post), the kitties are doing fine with 2 boxes (both uncovered). They actually prefer the 2nd one now, as it's more private (oh geez), so now I get to rock 2 catboxes every night. But the boys are happy and spoiled, and I wouldn't have it any other way. :)

We also watched The Craft this weekend. What a fun, guilty little pleasure that movie is. hee hee. So cheeseball.

OH! And speaking of cheeseball, there's a new Sy Fy (I hate that name change) movie coming on next week, called something like Mega Shark vs. Monster Octopus (or something equally inane) and it features....Deborah Gibson! Not Debbie - she outgrew that, and apparently the side ponytail. She's now A Serious Actress who must battle a massive shark that attacks airplanes. Sersely. I HAVE to watch this.

Territory Wars - Kitty Style!

2009-08-19T12:13:00.000-07:00

Oh yesterday evening was fun. Oh yes. Let me set the scene:

We had just eaten dinner (one of those TGIFriday's frozen pasta dinner things - very tasty) and had some ice cream. I was working on Rachel's sweater, Noel was reading. I noticed a lot of pacing by the kitties, particularly Poe, who seemed to be engaged in running toward the litter box and then running away from it.

Let me put in here that over the weekend, we made a decision to go with one of the covered litter boxes, not because of smell issues, but because we have some Olympic-worthy litter flingers in the house. These guys can get litter EVERYWHERE and often do. So! We got a nice new litter box with a top on it, and the cats had seemed to take to it. I thought. I decided to play National Geographic and observe, because something was obviously up. Here's a sample of what was happening:

Poe goes into the box.

Loki follows him to the door of the box, and thwacks at Poe's tail with his paw.

Poe jumps out of the box and runs away.

2 minutes later, Poe reapproaches the box.

Loki, sprawling in front of said box like Mufasa, King of the Lions, glares at him.

Poe runs away.

3 minutes later, Poe gingerly approaches the box yet again.

Loki ambushes him as soon as he tries to get in the door.

Kelli swats Loki with a magazine.

Poe, thinking he's somehow in trouble (he's very skittish!), runs away.

Poe poops in the bedroom.

Because Loki won't let him in the litterbox, because apparently it's the center of the universe now and is up there with the Playboy Mansion in real estate desirability, but HELLO it's full of cat poop.

I went online for cat help forums and Noel and I discussed at length what measures could be taken to topple Loki's Reign of Litterbox Terror.

We are very scientific and intellectual and smarty-smart about this whole thing. After all, just getting these guys to use the litterbox in the first place was a major ordeal, requiring careful observation of kitten behaviors, having a controlled environment in which to make one change at a time til we figured out the issue (namely, they preferred peeing on paper and so we put mostly paper in the litterbox, slowly changing to more litter/less paper until they got used to the litter.) See? Very sciency! Very hypothesisy! Even the vet commented on it, and said we could be Cat Whisperers! (Except Poe claws my face every time I try).

Anyway. So we debated and discussed and tried to figure out what to do. We came up with a solution of sorts:

(1) Take the lid off the box, since Loki and Poe both love enclosed spaces. This will make said litterbox less attractive as a Fortress of Solitude (although we will be subjected to more litter flicking).

(2) Put out another litterbox in a different location, because Loki, as all-powerful as he seems to think he is, can't be in 2 places at once. I really wish we didn't have to resort to this, since they were just fine using the same box before. Perhaps if they don't use Box Deux I can take it away.

(3) Buy Poe a taser.

Isn't my life exciting? Don't be jealous! There's enough cat poop to go around.

Howdy and crafty photos

2009-08-18T12:27:00.000-07:00

So much has been going on! Oh the craftiness. My fingers have been extremely busy lately working on all kinds of stuff (and I remembered to take pictures!). Will wonders never cease?

First, I did a little bit of clothes shopping. Now those of you who have known me for more than 93 seconds know that I am NOT fond of clothes shopping, because I'm....well, let's call it frugal. Because I am a seamstress, I HATE buying overpriced, poorly made clothing that doesn't fit me well. If I'm going to buy poorly made clothing that doesn't fit me well, it can AT LEAST be cheap. Let's hear it for the Goodwill!

I went there last week to buy a few pairs of jeans and whatever else I could find that was inspiring. I ended up buying 3 shirts and 2 pairs of jeans (at $2.50 each. wow.) Not bad. I'm having to do some work on one of the pairs of jeans, but they're Tommy Hilfiger, and also, did I mention they cost $2.50? Yeah.

I also picked up a cool shirt/sweater thing. It's really colorful and fun, and matches everything (nothing?) so it's very versatile. And the shape is flattering. I think I might use this shirt as a template for sweaters and other things I make for myself, to get the same fit. Here's what the fabric looks like:

Funky, no?

I've also been channeling my inner HGTV host and bought a $10 chair for my newly revamped sewing/writing desk. Here it is in its Old Floridian Beige glory:

I took off the cushion and started painting the frame a lovely teal color, because that's the way I roll.

Woo hoo! And because I refuse to let someone's retinas NOT sear while in my house, I covered the cushion in chartreuse velour. Voila:

Now one funny thing that came from overthinking (as many of my mistakes do): I was meticulous about not putting paint on the top of the seat of the chair, so that the fabric wouldn't stick and the paint potentially chip if I ever wanted to recover the cushion. I got into the corners and around all the visible areas well, leaving the beigy color showing on the top of the seat pieces (see above photo of the chair for clarification, or if you're bored enough).

So! Imagine my surprise when I put the cushion on, and realized that the seat cushion doesn't cover ALL of the wood of the seat pieces! Huh. For a second or 3, I actually thought somehow the paint had gotten wiped off of the back seat, and looked over my person to make sure I didn't have a big teal streak on my leg. Then I thought that it must have been sabotage. Perhaps gnomes, or evil fairies, or poltergeists (paintergeists?). Then I realized that no, I'm just a moron and didn't paint that spot.

But it's not noticeable! Really! See?

Yeah. Needless to say, that got fixed. The chair is now finished and has been used by everyone in the house, particularly Poe, who enjoys leaving black fur all over the green cushion.

I've been sewing a lot too lately - fixing Noel's work pants, modifying some jeans of mine, and making a fun baby hat for some friends who were moving (and are going to miss the SEC a LOT there in Nebraska). No pics of sewing...yet!

Next in our cavalcade of craftiness, we have knitting. I've been a sock knitting machine lately, and also terrible at the photo thing because I have a beautiful pair of new socks sitting in the drawer at home, unphotographed for posterity. Here's another pair that I'm almost finished with. This yarn is Berroco Sox, and was a birthday gift from my sister (she gave me a gift certificate to http://www.supercrafty.com/ - great site! Go buy some yarn! Or another gift certificate for me and I'll go buy some yarn!)

I'm almost finished with them, and then I need to get to work on holiday knitting, because as far as knitting timelines go, the holidays are virtually around the corner!

Speaking of holiday knitting, my sister's birthday was last week and I'm crocheting her a sweater. This yarn is gorgeous! It's some kind of eco yarn (I am so bad about yarn names!) and it's got a great luster to it. Rachel, I hope you like the color (it's a bit lighter than in this picture). The pattern is Aruna from Berroco.

I did my gauge swatch and was so pleasantly surprised to get the same gauge as the pattern. That never happens! So I happily started away, and got about 4 inches of the back (pictured above) done, when I held it up and thought "My sister is not ginormous, and yet this sweater is." The back piece, which was supposed to measure 24 inches, was coming out at around 30 inches. Um....that won't work. So I had to frog the whole thing and crochet the sweater that's 2 sizes smaller, to get the right measurements. OY. I don't know what voodoo happened between the gauge swatch and the actual sweater but WOW it was a doozy.

So!

It's coming along nicely now and measures exactly 24 inches. Go team!

Also? I like the wrong side of the fabric better so far. I asked Noel for his opinion, and he chose the wrong side as well. So I may just make that change in the pattern. :)

p.s. That's my ergonomic crochet hook, a christmas gift from a coworker. This thing is wonderful, and cuts down tremendously on the tendonitis, which severely interferes with my drinking and eating of homemade bread.

Good news! If any of you decide to collapse in a heap in my presence, I can help!

I'm official (again). This certification was through work, and lasts for 2 years, which is really nice. (The last time I got certified it was a yearly renewal, which is just...a lot to remember).

But please don't collapse on my behalf, just so I can have practice. Really.

We're watching out for Hurricane Bill down here, hoping he doesn't come for a visit. Will keep you posted!

Back to the birthday sweater now! Maybe there's some CSI or Poirot on....

Whew!

2009-08-06T14:12:00.000-07:00

Can I just tell you how thrilled I am that today is my (work-wise) Friday? Wow. This has been one crazy week! Today was orientation, which is always somewhat hectic, but for some reason today was worse than normal!

Also we were handed down changes to our benefits plans at work from the Bigwigs, which includes a change in the severance pay policy from 60 days payout to 2 weeks payout (and you're expected to work those 2 weeks, so how exactly is that a severance package? You're working and getting paid. That's normalcy, people. Not a "benefit.") Anyway. Noel thinks this is the harbinger (oh, I love that word!) of more layoffs to come. Sounds feasible, probable even. We'll see.

Harbinger. HARBINGER. Sorry I just LOOOVE that word! You just don't get to use that word often enough in conversation. That or loquacious. Or verisimilitude. ooooooh.....verisimilitudinous. heh.

Anyway. Sorry to be so loquacious. HA!

I'm getting ready to take on another furniture refurbishing project, which should be simple. Damn. I just jinxed it. Anyway. Should be fun! Damn. I'll post pictures. It's a $10 goodwill chair that will be FAAABULOUS when I'm done!! DAMN.

OH! In other news, for those of you who like to cook (and those who don't really, but enjoy the benefits of cooking!). My dear sister gave me the easiest bread recipe on the PLANET. Sersely.

DELICIOUS EMBARASSINGLY EASY BREAD RECIPE:

3 cups self-rising flour
3 tbsp sugar
12 oz. beer

Mix together into a dough, put in greased loaf pan, bake about 45 min-1 hr at 350 degrees. Slice, devour.

I've used lime beer (Bud Light lime?) that leaves an interesting taste. I think so far my favorite experiment has been using Strongbow Hard Cider in it. YUM. Rachel said the main key point there is to use something effervescent/carbonated - somehow that gets the self-rising part of the self-rising flour going. I wonder how champagne would taste in it? Hmmm.....maybe for New Year's?

We've had about 4 loaves of this in the past 2 weeks. Oink. OOH! And you know what's really tasty? Mixing margarine and honey (about 50/50) to make honey butter, and eating that on fresh baked bread. OH MAN that sounds good. Might have to make another loaf tonight.

Hear that muffled screaming noise? That's the sound of the seams of my jeans, crying out in agony and terror.

Guess it's about time to head toward the house now. Pictures, coming soon to a blog near you!

Better (and worse!) living through chemistry

2009-08-04T09:56:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the delay in blogging. I know, I know. It's been over 2 weeks! Many apologies. I do have excuses though! Let's see...

(1) Noel's kids are in town visiting, so time for blogging has been limited. (1st part true, 2nd..not really).

(2) I've been busy at work and therefore had no time for writing posts. (Ha).

(3) I've been totally uninspired. (This is true).

(4) I've been on a veritable cocktail of medications that have made me alternatively droopy, sad, angry, tired, and unconscious. (This is also true, and possibly the cause of Excuse #3).

Let's discuss chemistry for a second. Modern medicine tends to revel in medications - pills, syrups, shots, whatnot. I myself am not averse to taking pills to make myself feel better. In fact, I am known for taking Flintstone Vitamins With Iron because they seem to be the only vitamin/supplement capable of keeping my iron count at an acceptable level. Plus they taste good.

However. There comes a time when one must draw the line.

As some of you may know (here comes the TMI part) - I've been having....let's call them lady issues. Of the painful cramping/crying variety. These issues have gotten worse in the past few years, to the point where I was willing to go on medication to hopefully eradicate the root problem, which can't be confirmed without surgery (and would be treated with this same medication, so what's the point in surgery?). Anyway. My doctor put me on a daily pill for said lady issues (not getting into specifics here, but it rhymes with Baz). These pills were supposed to make me less moody.

I lost track of the number of times I cried during the month I was on these stupid pills. Sersely. I would cry at ANYTHING. Noel caught me on the computer one day looking at animal rescue shelters, fighting back tears as I read about this one Large Cat shelter who had taken in a terminally ill lion who died after a year of residing there, and how much he loved sitting under the tree, and how he at least had 1 year of his life that was full of caring and love. And I cried.

And I cried retelling this story to some coworkers a few days later.

Reminds me of a time (years ago). I was talking to my mom & sister about how depressing/morbid Disney movies can be, and they, upon not believing this hypothesis, were subjected to me telling them about how sad Dumbo is when they bring Dumbo to his mom, who's been locked away for being a mad elephant, and she puts her trunk through the window and rocks Dumbo before they take him away from her. And the tears began to flow, ladies and gents. And I even managed to have my mom and sister crying. Because we're all a bunch of animal-loving saps.

Anyway, I digress.

So! These pills = extreme moodiness and weeping at work.

I was considering going off of them, because let's face it. 5 days of severe pms is still better than 30 days of moderate pms.

Then last week happened. Last week was full of searing pain in my head. Like Lou Ferrigno was squeezing my head like some kind of exercise ball. It HURT. I took advil, I took tylenol, I took excedrin migraine. Nothing worked. By Thursday I was in such pain that I went to the urgent care center. I thought it was a sinus infection but the doc said it was a textbook migraine, and gave me 2 prescriptions, 1 for nausea and 1 for pain. I went to get the prescriptions filled, and folks, this doctor was NOT kidding around. He prescribed Hydrocodone. Which is that stuff that people get addicted to and sell behind the Wal-mart. I will not be selling mine, nor will I be developing an addiction to it, because this stuff knocks me out cold. After 3 days of it though, my migraine was rapidly waning and life began to return.

The side effect of this medicinal unconsciousness was that I didn't take the other pills. The Moody Pills. Which, as you know, must be taken every day, 24 hours apart. I missed 2 days. And realized that in those 2 days, I hadn't cried over dead lions or lost puppies or Hallmark commercials or the cat walking away from me when I wanted to pet him. Huh.

So I decided to stop taking them. I just quit. And I feel much better! Whew!

In other (differently boring) news, I've been knitting and crocheting a LOT. I've been making socks like crazy for some reason. I'm on my 4th sock in 2 weeks. Not sure what's going on there, but I have to say I like it. I'm also working on a few crochet patterns, and am already thinking of holiday gifts. Gotta get an early start!

It feels really good to just get stuff cranked out. I tend to procrastinate on projects when I want them to be perfect, and so it's hard sometimes for me to get over the fear of something not being what I imagine, and just let go. I've found it very liberating to realize that even if this sweater I'm designing isn't perfect, you know what?

I can make another sweater.

WOW. What a concept!

Ok, this has been a blog post about really nothing. Sorry to bore everyone to tears! Much is in the works behind the scenes that I hope to be able to share soon, but until then...you'll have to suffer with posts about my medical problems and yarn. Sorry.

Lions and Tapirs and Bears, Oh My!

2009-07-20T12:08:00.000-07:00

Two weekends ago, Noel and I decided to go somewhere. Anywhere! Must get out of town! Must embrace the open road! Etc!

So we google mapped to see where was a decent destination that (1) was within easy driving distance, and (2) was a place we haven't visited yet. Jacksonville jumped out as a good choice, because we'd only passed through on the drive to Orlando in April, and didn't spend any time there.

So! We planned out a very short trip - one overnight stay, see some fun stuff, come back and pet the kittens. Well-rounded and thorough plan!

We started by going on priceline.com and finding a hotel. We found an AWESOME hotel - the Hyatt Regency Waterfront (right on the St. John's River). The staff was so friendly, and gave us a 14th floor waterfront view. Gorgeous! And it only cost $65 a night, plus incidentals. Thank you, Priceline Negotiator! (Judo chop!)

Pretty Room:

Fancy Pants Bathroom:

Lovely view of the city:

Rooftop Pool and Hot Tub: (swanky!)

Requisite Thing In Sky (a chandelier in one of the hotel's ballrooms):

There was much luggage (for an overnight stay - NOTE: Much of this was yarn):

The hotel even had a bar with cool wavy glasses, I guess so you could feel drunken vertigo before you start drinking! Saves time and money!:

We went to a really nice Irish pub called O'Brothers. Fantastic service, phenomenal food. The waitress even gave Noel a shirt for free because they had sold out of the one he wanted. They had some different ones and gave it to him! Cool.

I had one of my very favorites, Bangers and Mash. They even wrote the name of the pub in mustard. High falutin'!:

We found a dive rockabilly bar with a cheap pooltable, so we stopped for a drink there. (Noel skunked me soundly in pool that night!):

We also went to the Jacksonville Zoo while we were there. I hadn't been to this zoo, and am a professed zoo snob - I only go to ones with big enclosures and happy animals, because if I see unhappy animals I spend the next few months having Dora the Explorer animal release fantasies (except without the talking backpack). So! Anyway. We spent a nice afternoon at the Zoo, which was very nice! I really liked the way it's set up (by region), and is easily walkable (unlike the San Diego Zoo, which is so hilly in parts you feel like you need oxygen tanks and a sherpa).

I had fun taking pictures of the various wildlife we saw there.

Lions!! 3 of them, 2 females and 1 male. Lounging. In the sun. Like 2 other cats I know. Ahem.

In the Asian section (gorgeous gardens and a neat Zen bridge & pond), they had some impressive komodo dragons: (This guy was at least 6 feet long!)

Some cute little monkey whose name/species I don't remember. Let's call him Walt:

Flamingos! So happy! So fabulously pink!:

Ooohh, next up, the rare Homo Sapiens. This particular example seems to both fear and enjoy water. Note the umbrella for rain, but close proximity to the fountain...curious.

Just for you, Rachel, a tapir!:

This is one of my favorite pics from this trip. This is a Capybara, a very large rodent. This guy was about 5 feet long and came up right in front of me and posed for the camera. (singing) Faaabulous!:

OH OH! Here's another of my favorites!!! JAGUARS!!! They had an awesome exhibit that looked like a South American temple (as in, Aztec or Mayan) and a viewing window where 2 of them were napping. HOW CUTE ARE THESE GUYS!?!:

Silverback gorilla. This guy was huge. And fuzzy! But possibly mean, so I'm not going to tell him how fuzzy and pettable he looks:

They had a giraffe feeding station, and a baby giraffe that was only about 7 days old (this isn't him, he was segregated in another pen). Aren't these guys sweet?

Oooh...alligator hiding in the plants! (It isn't algae, it's a small aquatic plant according to the signs). He's in stealth mode I think:

A sleeping black bear. Isn't he almost huggable (but not quite)?:

HUGE owl that reminds me of Sam the Eagle from the Muppets:

This was some little exotic bird that....I don't know what it is, but isn't it cute too? LOVE the green head:

A bobcat!:

Ralph always hated his annual trip to the proctologist:

All in all, a wonderful trip and a great 1.5 day getaway!

It's Official.

2009-07-13T15:27:00.000-07:00

I am divorced. It was finalized today.

Just so you know....

Goin' thru the Big D and don't mean Dallas...

2009-07-08T13:11:00.000-07:00

It's been over a week since I posted, and honestly I had no idea time was passing so fast! For shame.

Life here has been a bit stressful and emotional lately. I'm going through the Big D and have my divorce final court date thing on Monday morning. This has been very difficult, dealing with the emotions and hurt and tears that come from separating. It's not fun. But it is something that I'll get through, I am already stronger because of it, and life goes on. And really, that's all I have control over - my own emotions and reactions, and that's where I have to start.

I'm also having a hard time controlling my emotions lately because of a new medicine my doctor has put me on for various...lady issues, let's call them. Which means the level of hormones floating around my bloodstream is enough to make a crocodile cry REAL tears. Or kill someone. Or both. I certainly have been extremely moody, and am so thankful to my friends who have been so tremendously supportive to me throughout all of this. Thanks, y'all!

Sigh. On to other things.

So the organizer of my knitting circle is leaving us! (She also just got divorced) and is starting a new life. In Asheville! Small world! So I told her about the fun things to do there, good restaurants, yarn shops, etc. If you see Amy around town, tell her Hello! We will miss her tremendously.

Our knitting group is meeting on Monday and I'm glad - it'll be good to get out and see some friends on The Day Of My Divorce, and also maybe drink something and knit a bit. I now have a ton more yarn, because Amy is destashing in preparation for her move. I'll have to take a picture of my new yarn - she has excellent taste in quality yarn, so I walked away with some gorgeous wools and ribbon yarns and such. Some even especially for Project X! Lovely lovely stuff! Also enough sock yarn to make about 4-6 pairs of socks!! Because you need wool socks in southern Georgia! But they're stripey!

Right now though, my interests seem to fall along crocheting lines. I've been so busy with the crochet hook, it's kinda ridiculous. I made a shawl for my grandmother and shipped it off to her (she loves it). I have a photo here somewhere and will post it. I also made myself a newsboy cap (very fun! But sweaty because it's wool and hello, it's hot here, but I wore it anyway).

Here's Grandmother's wrap:

Light and airy, so she can wear it/use it during all different seasons. It gives me so much joy to send something to someone who is also a crafty type, and knows the time & energy that goes into it, and shares her appreciation. I love that. :)

And in my designing efforts, I'm finding crochet to be an interesting medium, namely because for indecisive crafters like myself, it's easier to rip back crochet and redo it, without feeling you just wasted 9 gazillion hours of your life and then dropped a stitch when you're trying to pick up all of the live stitches that are there waiting to commit little knit stitch suicide by unraveling themselves. Oh no. Crochet is sturdy! And only has 1 live stitch at a time!

So I designed a soap holder/scrubber thingie and whipped it up in less than an hour. People might be getting these for the holidays, because (1) they're fast, (2) they're practical, and (3) they're super cute! So act surprised, people.

I'm also designing a sweater for myself in crochet. It's a wine color and will be a v-neck that's basically a short-sleeved cardigan that only has a button below the bust line, so it'll be a bit flowy. I'm intrigued by the idea of crocheted garments that aren't super-stiff and that also don't look like something someone would hide toilet paper under. I'm using pretty yarn and a huge hook, so it's soft and flowy so far, and fitted. I'm very pleased so far, and am taking careful notes so that when I'm finished, I can submit the pattern to the yarn company and see if they want to publish it!! I feel there's a dearth of pretty, modern crochet patterns that don't make a person look like a potholder. Or an afghan zombie.

I will take pictures of all of my projects at some point soon!!

Oh, and on another cool note, a friend of mine chatted with me online the other day from Algeria! ALGERIA! (Hey Christy!). She looked at this blog, loved the blue hat, and commissioned me to make one for her. Hee hee. I love making those hats - they're so fun. Also I love it when people like my stuff enough to purchase it. Makes my fingers feel smiley. :)

It's very dark and overcast here, and we've had rain for a few days now. Fits my mood for the most part - rather dour and gray, but knowing that there's sun behind it, just waiting to peek through.

Turks and Knitting

2009-06-25T11:07:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone (All none of you who read this blog anymore - oh well).

Today I finally have some project photos to post. Hurrah! But not a lot. Because I still haven't taken dress photos, but sersely? It's about 300 degrees outside, and the following photos were all I could muster.

Ok! First off, some of you might remember this hat from several years ago. I'm entering in to that book thingie I mentioned the other day, and had to get some artsy shots of it. I'll lighten this up later so you can see the cypress trees behind it, but here it is....Hat In Swamp:

Heh. I also had Noel take a few pics of me wearing it:

This is as close to my face as I'm willing to put here, because I was super shiny because of bug spray. Also? The other people at the end of the dock were really confused as to why I'd be wearing a big wool hat in 100 degree heat. Always keep 'em guessing!

(Also, you'll notice my hair is extremely red. I colored it last weekend, and it came out a LOT redder than I was planning. It's fading a smidge but WOW. My head looks like it's on fire.)

So next! A finished object! Yay! This is my Textured Circle Shrug, designed by Stefanie Japel. I'm pleased with it, except the arms need to be taken in a bit so they're not so bell-ish. I don't need the extra width on my arms/shoulders/chest/torso area. The yarn is gorgeous, and you can't really see it here (I'll try to lighten the pic later on and repost it) - but it has little metallic flecks in it. It's a wool/mohair blend and is SOOOO soft. And also teal. Which I love. And always reminds me of my Makita drill. Anyway.

All I can say is, after wearing that for about 1 minute, I was hot. It works. Now to pack it away until January. Bye, shrug!

On to other things now. Very exciting things.

First, a little background. If you've ever read the Chronicles of Narnia (which I have, many times in my life) you may recall that Edmund is seduced as it were to come to the White Witch's side of the battle/power play by a never-empty plate of Turkish Delight. Ever since reading that as a kid, I wanted to try some. I, for some unknown reason, always had it in my head that Turkish Delight must be some fanciful and delectable turkey dish with gravy. I am perhaps a comfort-food carb ho. Anyway. Imagine my surprise when in Scotland many moons ago, I was walking through the grocery store and stumbled upon...Turkish Delight! In a small plastic package, in the candy aisle. Huh. Candied turkey. Interesting. I was intrigued. Must try. So I purchased it, and instead of finding one of my favorite winged food products, I found instead a jello-type substance wrapped in chocolate. The jello-stuff was flavored like fruit, and it was...ok. Not superb. Not enough to betray your siblings to the wiles of an evil tyrant who wants to ice over the planet. I had basically given up on understanding the yearning for Turkish Delight (much like I just didn't get Prawn Cocktail flavored potato chips).

While my family came to visit me in Scotland, we met up with some people my BIL & sis knew from the BBC (love you, BBC and Top Gear and Miss Marple!). I told them the story of the sucky Turkish Delight, and the lady (whose name escapes me at this point) decided to call in the cavalry. The Turkish Delight cavalry. In the form of her aged and absolutely ADORABLE father, this little Scottish man with cane and tweed cap and little sweater OMG I could've eaten him he was so cute. Anyway. We arrived at the train station to leave Glasgow, and this little man shows up with a small bag from a confectioner's shop, full of REAL Turkish Delight, not the cheapo mass-produced stuff I had tried before. It was little inch-size cubes of the firm jelly, flavored like lemons, other fruits, and some like rose essence (Rachel thought these were like chewing bubble bath balls - I liked them). It was such a sweet gesture and one that has stayed with me through the years. And can I just say, that real Turkish Delight is AWESOME.

So I ate it all.

And lived years of my life with no Turkish Delight.

So Noel and I were discussing this a few months ago, how yummy it is and you just can't find it here and sigh....

And Noel being Noel, took it upon himself to procure me some Turkish Delight. He talked to one of his coworkers who is originally FROM Turkey, and found out that his nephew was planning to travel there. So he requested a box of Turkish Delight from this guy we've never met, traveling halfway around the world. I arrived at work yesterday and found this on my desk:

A box of REAL Turkish Delight! From Turkey! Sersely! Genuine stuff. See?

It's even written in Turkish! And it's from Istanbul. How freaking cool is that?

And in case you were curious, this is what Turkish Delight looks like (thankfully I took this pic before digging in!):

YUM.

Cranking and Coughing

2009-06-23T14:20:00.000-07:00

Hello all.

Much going on here lately in the craftiness world! But alas I have no photos. I'm planning on taking some tonight!

Here's a quick rundown:

(1) First, and most exciting, I finished my Textured Circle Shrug on the Lion Brand knit-along. Very lovely pattern and it turned out quite well, if not a little big. I think I'll take in the arms a bit, since they're a bit bell-ish for my taste.

(2) Entry into a hat competition for a knitted hats book. Need some nice photos of the hat. Funny, to take pics of a winter hat when it's hotter than Dante's oven out there, but hey.

(3) I started last night on a crocheted wrap for my darling Grandmother. It's a nice sage green color and is open and airy, so she can wear it now if she feels like it, or throughout cooler weather. I love crochet because it goes SO FAST. Mom's wrap took 2 months or so to finish. This wrap might be done by tomorrow. Depending on how much I do tonight. But I already have about 2 feet of it done. Wow!

(4) Mystery Project X, which I want to keep secret for now because I don't know how it will turn out! It's a freeform crochet garment for myself. Check out what freeform crochet is at: http://www.freeformcrochet.com/

(No, I'm not making a wearable coral reef, but that would be an AWESOME halloween costume for Neptune? SCHWEET.)

(5) Slipcovers for the living room furniture, which are in stylin' fabrics. Woo hoo, let's here it for purple!

(6) Sundresses for myself. I still have the 6' 3" dress that needs to be shortened dramatically. I also have enough fabric for about 5 more dresses, and want to get going on those.

(7) Amigurumi project for the kitties - a family of crocheted octopi. Fun stuff!

Speaking of the kitties, I had to take Loki to the vet this morning because he's been sniffling a lot lately and has runny eyes and nose and sneezing fits. So apparently he has a respiratory infection (and a fever) but they hopped him up on antibiotics, so he'll be back to his playful self soon.

Interesting note though - we thought Loki was either trying to throw up or cough up a hairball. You know, that sorta painful looking neck-out body spasm thing that cats do? Except nothing ever came up and he was making kind of a weird sound with it. Apparently that's how cats cough as well. Huh.

Anyway, after his trip to the vet, I got him some new toys (since that's exactly what the cats need) and some Greenie treats, which he loves. Recovery is assured!

(2)

R.I.P. Ivy

2009-06-18T13:53:00.000-07:00

My sister's beloved calico cat, Ivy, died yesterday. She was a beautiful, loving kitty cat and will be sorely missed.

2009-06-17T08:23:00.000-07:00

I forgot to take pics of my dresses again. Oops. I will! I promise! And I will upload them too. I still need to do some readjustments to the long one, since I'm not 6'3" but apparently sew as if I am. Whoopsie!

Good news! I got an article published on www.savannahbest.com, but it's not posted yet. I wrote it about our trip to Boone Hall Plantation. Cima, the editor, gave me a really nice compliment. I had said that I was trying to get back into writing more, she said "Do keep writing! You owe it to yourself." I thought that was a nice thing to say, and very motivating to have someone who thinks you have a talent for something.

Yesterday I finished a great book called I Could Do Anything If I Only Knew What It Was: How to Discover What You Really Want and How to Get It, by Barbara Sher. VERY interesting book. She had some really good insights into Scanners like myself, and it made me feel like maybe there isn't anything wrong with me after all, for wanting to skip from one project to the next. (It's something I've always beat myself up about, that I can't just Buckle Down and Focus and so on.) She recommends a 30 day Very Small Commitment, where you choose 1 project you want to work on and spend 30 minutes on it for 30 days. I chose crochet, because I've been working on some projects and designs for crochet and feel I need to expand my skills there, and why not work on my skills in a conscious way?

She also made an interesting point about people who always got things very quickly (as in learned things without really realizing they were learning) and how challenging that can be later in life, to realize that mastery of something (which generally Scanner types don't have - they flit from one thing to the next) can take time to learn and perfect. I know I tend to do this - I get mad at myself if I don't get something right away, or get impatient and then feel like I'm a total loser because I need to practice at it. I expect that I will be the be-all-end-all right away at something, instead of giving myself time to learn how to do it.

She also talks about the all-or-nothing mentality that some of us fall into, how we think we have to be able to dedicate ourselves wholeheartedly to 1 thing in life, and until we have the right circumstances, we can't do anything toward that goal. She used the example of a man who wanted to write poetry, and also do several other random things in life, but he couldn't do any of it because he couldn't just quit his job and "go off and write poetry". And the author asked why he had to "go off" to do it - you don't! You can do it every day, in your own life, in little snippets. That's a nice feeling!

Anyway. Great book, and I think It was one of the reasons I was able to finally sit down and finish that article & submit it. I can be a freelance writer, even by only writing for an hour a week. That still qualifies me as a writer, and it's better than doing NO writing because I can't dedicate 60 hours a week to it (which I don't think I want to do anyway!).

I have another of her books, this one called Live the Life You Love, and am going to start reading that one now. She has another that I might buy (the library doesn't have it). But I also don't want to overwhelm myself with books about living the life I want, and put off ACTUALLY living the life I want because I'm so busy reading about it!

On to other things - it's HOT here. Brutal. This weekend will be even worse. They're saying that Friday and Saturday's high temps will be 100. That's without the heat index added on, y'all. That's MISERABLE. I really sometimes wish that I lived someplace that wasn't so unbearable in summer. It really takes the fun out of this time of year, because you can't do anything outside at all.

Of course, that means I can stay inside and work on my crafty stuff! So things could be worse. :)

Stitchy Fairy Princess, that is me, yes indeedy.

2009-06-11T09:51:00.000-07:00

I've been busy sewing this week. Noel's having to work late because our mill is in the middle of a shutdown, so he's slaving away on top of some big machine in 95 degree heat. And I sit in my office and file stuff and then go home and it's about 2 hours or so before he gets home. So to fill the gap in my afternoons, the kittens and I have been busy at work with the sewing machine.

On Sunday I finished up this little bonnet for some friends' baby's baptism, and it looks ADORABLE on her. :) Of course, anything would look cute on that child, but hey. The bonnet looks nice too, so I'll take partial credit. hee hee.

This was a superfast thing to sew - it's basically just 2 rectangles, and the trim goes on the outer rectangle and you stitch them together with some ribbons and lace and voila! Instant Bonnet Cuteness!

So a few days ago I had to go to Wally World to pick up some eye stuff (kittens hid my contact case in the morning and I was forced to open a new pair of lenses. I had no idea the kittens were myopic). (They're also grounded for that, and have had no canned food since then - they must suffer with hard food until my old contacts are returned, or I cave into the cuteness).

Anyway, while at the store, I decided to take a quick look through their fabric department, and lo and behold, I found some fabric I liked. I'm into cottons lately - they're super easy to sew (no stretching!), inexpensive (unless they're designer, more on that later) and most importantly, they're cool and easy to wear when it feels like the 6th layer of hell outside, which currently it does in the SAV. Holy crap it's hot outside, y'all.

I prewashed all of the new fabric I had (which includes the designer stuff from the store in Asheville, which was I think about $10/yd). My new fabric cost between $2.50 - $3/yd, which really? You can't beat a $5 dress. So! Anyway. I digress. I prewashed it, which means I washed it (duh) and then put it in the dryer, so it would shrink. Why would I want to shrink my new fabric? Because I'd rather have it shrink BEFORE I cut it out and made it into a dress than AFTER I made it into a dress. If it shrinks before I make it, no big deal. If it shrinks after I sew it, my pretty little size 12 dress becomes a size 8 dress, and thus a castoff to friends who can avoid Doritos better than I can.

So here is my new fabric stack, all nice and pretty (they're actually folded with the wrong side out here, so they're brighter than this in reality):

Fun, huh? I got the red and the lime green as possibilities for contrasts for a plaid dress I'm designing out of the leftovers of Noel's kilt. I'm still iffy on that dress, and am going to put it away for a while and let it simmer there.

The next one down is a fabric that was used in my sea-themed quilt, and I loved it so much I went and got more. I ADORE that fabric. I would swathe my life in it if I could. It will likely be the bodice of a similarly sea-themed sundress.

The next one down is the designer fabric from Asheville. LOVE that fabric too, and am trying to figure out exactly what I want to do with it.

The next blue one is a fun $2.50/yd cotton print that looks like various shades of bubbles all over it. Very fun and...effervescent. heh. Might end up being another shorter sundress, not sure yet.

The last 5 fabrics (hard to tell there are 5 there, but trust me) are also from Wal-mart and cost a whopping $3/yd. I've been coveting some Anna Maria Horner fabrics, but at $15 - $19/yd, I just can't justify the purchase. These 5 resemble her style. So I liked these a lot and they're all designed to go together, and I don't own a lot of yellow clothing, so why not? The very bottom fabric is a dove gray with yellow flowers and black designs on it, and that's going to be the bodice of my dress. The other fabrics (2 yellow and 2 black) will be a tiered skirt to go from my hips down to the floor. I love me some floor-length dresses.

The dress will be of my own design, and I wanted to try it out on less expensive fabrics before cutting it out of the pricier stuff. That way if I don't like it, I can go buy more of the cheaper stuff and just make simple short sundresses out of them and be done with it. (Nothing like a little fatalism, huh?)

I'm going to get started cutting the yellow/black dress out tonight. I spent yesterday evening working on the plaid dress, only to have Noel come home and look at my facial expression while I stared in the mirror and say "You don't like it, do you?" and I said I was completely indifferent to it. Which doesn't encourage one to spend hours working on it. So I'm going to put it away for a little while and work on the yellow dress in the meantime.

In other news....um....it's hot here. It's really oppressive, and makes living here a real challenge. I get frustrated that it's so miserable that you can't comfortably go outside without sweating like a pig (oh wait, per Lisa, pigs don't sweat! What does? Um....a muskox?). Ok, so this weather makes you sweat like a muskox. NOT pleasant.

Also we live in fear of the Tyranny of the Mosquitos of Doom.

It's at times like this that I put snowy photos on my computer and try to pretend I live in, say, Wisconsin or something. Where it HAS to be cooler than here.

Speaking of, I'm gonna go turn on the A/C again. Whew!

STICKY.

2009-06-10T12:17:00.000-07:00

Hey. Busy day here today. I had to do three safety audits at work, which is basically walking around the mill making sure everyone's working safely.

Then I did a housekeeping audit of the parking lot (picking up cigarettes in 94 degree heat = NOT fun).

Am very sweaty now and heading to the chiropractor.

Monsoon Season Already?

2009-06-07T19:02:00.000-07:00

This past weekend we visited Asia! Ok, not really. We did go to the Asian Festival though. Which is cheaper (free!) than going to Asia. Also it doesn't require flying. So I saved all that money in Xanax. (We also ate sesame chicken for dinner tonight - that has to count for something).

Anyway, the Asian Festival happens every year, and sadly enough, this was the first time I've ever been! What is my deal? Why have I not been there before? (Also to the Greek festival - helllloooooooo baklava!) There were a LOT of people there, and lots of vendors of different types - restaurants, various Asian associations, martial arts schools, visitors bureaus, and shops selling Asian fun stuff.

I resisted the urge to buy one of those round pyramid rice paddy hats, although Noel thought they were fetching. :) And NO, I didn't sign up for Kung Fu classes even though I wanted to.

And on that topic, let's all have a moment of silence for that master of modern Kung Fu, David Carradine. We'll miss you, Bill!

I digress. Back to the festival. We stopped at the Indonesia travel table, because WOW would Indonesia not be awesome? They have incredible temples there, and just gorgeous textiles, arts, fantastic stuff. I mean, check out these costumes:

How gorgeous are these outfits!? I coveted. I admit it.

There were also performers, and when we first arrived there was an extremely talented drumming group that were so full of energy and excitement for what they were doing, it was absolutely contagious. At the end of their performance, one of the players was so pumped he just kept on shouting and throwing his hands up in the air, and then realized that everyone else on stage had stopped, and he shrugged and said "Sorry!" to the audience, at which point the entire audience started cheering yet again for him. What a great thing to witness, someone so carried away by what they're doing that they completely forget where they are and just let the enthusiasm carry them along.

Also? That drumming group was GOOD. We wanted to see more, but unfortunately came in at the end of their performance, so we only got to see a few minutes of it. Super cool, and also, these people probably never have to go to the gym, what with the large stick wielding and such. It was reminiscent of the opening ceremonies for the Olympics with all the drummers, except instead of 2000 or so, there were only 8.

So yeah, now I want to go to Indonesia again. Managed not to buy anything at the market, although they had some pretty silk dresses. Those aren't very easy for curvy women to wear though, because they just don't make them to fit curvy women. I have fabric to make my own (someday).

Speaking of sewing, I did quite a bit today. I'll post a picture of my work tomorrow - a baby bonnet for a friend's baby's christening. Sewing baby stuff is fun because it's small projects and fun stufff with little ribbons and ruffles.

Ok, so we decided to leave the Asian festival and walk around downtown for a little while. The only problem was, apparently these Asian performers brought the monsoons with them:

Yeah, that's the curb there, underwater. This was rain that fell in about 15 minutes or so (and it didn't stop for a while after that). Can you say Flash Flooding? Thankfully we had an umbrella. Unfortunately the car was about a 15 minute walk. And it was a bit windy. So. By the time we got to the car, we were...damp. To put it mildly.

I'm trying to wring out my skirt here. It was SOAKED.

See? (OK, so it's a black skirt and you can't see how wet it is, but it was WET.)

So as I mentioned, I've been working on some sewing projects, and will have another one to work on very soon. I was at work the other day and had a wardrobe malfunction.

This looks pretty bad, huh? Just wait....

To get a real feel for how bad this was, check this out (please pardon the cotton undies! but better than NO undies, right?):

YEAH. NICE. Thank the gods Noel was the one who discovered this, when we were leaving work. He politely offered me his shirt to wrap around my waist. At first I just tried to pull my shirt down to cover it.

Yeah, that wasn't happening.

I had a sweatshirt that I used to cover my tushie. These pants though, I refuse to relegate to the Cleaning Rags pile. I'm going to make them into a cool (hopefully) skirt in the mode of http://www.alabamachanin.com/ - some embroidery, some patching (for obvious reasons!) and hopefully it'll turn into something lovely. That won't show my entire rear end.

And I though the only work hazards I had to worry about were the gators!

And now for your Daily Dose of Cuteness. Check out Poe taking a nap.

Hee hee! He has his tongue out. I could even touch it and he still kept it out. How funny!

A Few Words on Envy

2009-06-04T13:00:00.000-07:00

I've spent a lot of time lately thinking about envy. I tend to have a lot of it. I envy thin people, I envy (natural) redheads. I envy wealthy people. It's been a way of life for me so long. I guess because I'm natually very competitive? I never thought about myself that way until Noel pointed it out - I'll compete over anything! Therefore if someone else has something that I perceive as better, I get really frustrated and envious about it.

The funny thing about it is, it's such a wasted emotion. I spend a lot of time reading blogs, books, etc. and looking at other people's (public!) lives and thinking: wow. If only I could live like that. If only I could decorate my house in really bright fabrics (www.annamariahorner.com) or if only I could have a business designing knitwear (www.glampyre.com) or if only I could be some world-traveling bon vivant who lives life the way she wants, and appreciates what she has. And is Put Together.

Does anyone else have this hangup about being Put Together? When asked to define it, I can't. It's a mish-mash (in my mind) of living creatively, having a clean and well-decorated home, a healthy and open relationship, a pet (or 2), a worthwhile job that's fulfilling, and a general sense of satisfaction with life as it is, TODAY. Not wishing for the future, not waiting for someday, not constantly What If-ing life. I look at some of my friends and think they're so Put Together. And then am surprised when someone else tells me that they think *I* am Put Together, because I guess it's all a matter of perspective, isn't it?

One self-helpy thing that I do want to work on, however, is a sense of appreciation for the moment. Not constantly living for the future, because (1) the future isn't guaranteed, and also (2) the future never comes. If I live life looking forward and not at where I am, I'm going to miss all the wonderful things happening to me now. And I do appreciate them, I guess it's more that I look for changes in myself to be satisfied with who I am. In the future I'll be in a job I actually enjoy, I'll be thinner, I'll be wearing clothes like I want (www.anthropologie.com and www.alabamachanin.com) and won't life be grand? I'll be who I want to be.

But here's the thing: I won't get there if I don't actually take steps TODAY to be that person. I want to wear fun colorful clothes? Then why not wear them TODAY? I want to be thinner? I need to lay off the potato chips TODAY. What a concept. Sometimes it's hard to wrap your brain around though.

Speaking of clothes though, I've been working on a dress made up of the leftovers from Noel's kilt. I'm thinking I might have an idea for the dress - I have it put together but it's a bit boring right now. We'll see.....

Palace Envy

2009-06-02T11:47:00.000-07:00

Well, it's been a while since I posted. Sorry about that! I have no excuses to offer other than I've been busy and also extremely crampy. So sorry.

Anyway.

We did end up going to NC for Memorial Day weekend, and had a nice time. I have bokoodles of pictures to post, so here goes:

It was lovely up there. We went for a drive on the parkway, went to the Artisan Center to look at the local arts and quilts and such, and the weather was very pretty.

How can you not appreciate this kind of scenery? Gorgeous!

We went to Biltmore Village that day as well, because I wanted to see a fabric shop there that's reputedly very expensive, but we found it to be reasonable and full of gorgeous fabrics. It's called Waechter's Fine Fabrics and is the oldest continually running fabric shop in America: http://www.fabricsandbuttons.com/ I found some lovely fabric there that I got a couple of yards of, to make a fun little summer dress. Let me see if I can find it....Yup! Here it is:

http://www.fabricsandbuttons.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=SandiHenderson-11770&Category_Code=MichaelMiller

Adorable, no? The shop itself is very pretty, and the staff is helpful.

So we did that, and then stumbled upon this little beaut:

Woo hoo! Yarn store! And you know what I bought there? NOTHING. I am an oak. Also I have a ton of yarn already and just couldn't justify shelling out money for knitting that I might get to sometime in 2014.

Moving on! The next day, we went to the Biltmore Estate to take in the finery and expensivity (is that a word?) of the Vanderbilts. These folks really know how to spend some cash. It's the largest private home in the U.S., with 250 rooms in it. We saw only about 60-70 rooms. Unfortunately they wouldn't let us take pictures on the inside, so I only have shots from the outside and the extensive gardens.

First, the house itself:

Cozy and quaint, no? Unfortunately it was rainy that day, so you can't see the mountains behind it. Oh well. Here's a detail from the outside:

Fancy schmancy!

Here are some pictures of the gardens and greenhouse. First, the cultured gardens, which Mom really enjoyed:

I like to call this one Still Life of Noel Among Orchids and Lilies:

The greenhouse is impressively large (just like the house) and full of weird, exotic plants.

That kinda looks like a plant that could, with enough motivation, eat you. Scary.

And for those of you who just can't get enough Things In Sky:

Japanese maple tree:

Greenhouse ceiling:

Arbor and vines:

Scary plant leaf that makes a lovely light filterer:

Another still life: Noel in Tree, Exuberantly

I guess the nice weather agreed with him (that and the whole Being Back in the Mountains thing, as his dad lives in TN). He couldn't resist climbing this tree in my mom's backyard and got really high up there before I could dig out the camera. I then related my Learning To Climb Trees story, which involves my cousin Brooke in West Virginia, much grunting and strenuous attempts to grab lower branches, and a misguided idea to climb a pine tree, resulting in copious amounts of sap on my clothing. Note to self: don't climb pine trees. End of lesson.

So we had a nice time, ate a LOT (thanks Mom!) and enjoyed a weekend replete with several very exciting things that we don't experience frequently here in the SAV:

(1) NO BUGS. This is uncanny, to be able to sit outside and not be 3 pints of blood low because of the swarms of mosquitos waiting to ambush you ninja-style by the door. Unbelievable.

(2) Cool breezes. As opposed to hot breezes that smell vaguely of sewage. Nice.

(3) Clean roadsides. Noel pointed this out, that there is very little or no garbage on the sides of the roads. I hadn't noticed it til he mentioned it, and then realized that it's really quite amazing. I guess we've gotten so used to people not giving a crap, and emptying their car floorboard onto the road at redlights (I've seen this happen, and sersely? The world is not your garbage can, asshat.)

(4) Real forests that have lots of trees. So pretty. The mountains are beautiful.

But now it's back to heat, mosquitos, sewage smell, and Hardee's wrappers on the side of the road. Ah yes, Savannah. How we (didn't really) miss thee!

Rain Rain Go Away (No, really don't!)

2009-05-21T14:14:00.000-07:00

You know, for a depressive, moody type such as myself (well, particularly during a few days per month), I shouldn't like rain as much as I do. I love the way it sounds on the roof, I love the way it makes everything look faded and yet reflective, and I love the smell.

It's raining again today. We're supposed to have lots more in the next few days.

The only thing I find hard to deal with regarding rain is the fact that I don't easily have homemade potato soup accessible. One needs potato soup on a day like today. Potato soup and knitting. And CSI.

Speaking of knitting, I'm progressing like mad on my shrug:

Noel is worried I won't like it once I get it done, because I tend to hate things that make me look puffy and/or like the Michelin Man. This sweater is a little bit roomy thus far (those are the sleeves and back of it) and the sleeves in particular are a little big. However. I usually have the opposite problem, that the sleeves are too tight! So I'm going to reserve judgment til later. If all else fails, I can make the sleeves smaller.

I'm pleased with how fast it's coming along though. Maybe if it turns out nicely, I'll make another one. (Ha. Who am I kidding? I love making new stuff with new patterns, and already printed out 3 patterns today that I like).

It looks like this weekend will involve a trip up to NC to visit my mom. It was her birthday a few weeks ago and I wasn't able to go, so this will be a belated birthday trip. I'd love to get some real bbq while up there. YUM.

Kilts and kittens and knitting, Oh My!

2009-05-18T13:10:00.000-07:00

Hello, all! Long time, no post. But I will more than make up for that here, with the copious numbers of photos I'm about to post!

So, just to get us all started with Photo Extravaganza 2009, let's discuss work.

My job has descended upon me like an avalanche of paperwork lately. I somehow end up taking on not only my work, but also the drudgery of paperwork that no one else wants to do either. So! Fun stuff. Here's my desk:

Note that there seems to be a bit of clear space on the front corner, but that's only because the stuff that's supposed to be there has been temporarily relocated into a box on the floor. Insanity! I'm trying to clean it off, but really? It's hard to care sometimes, especially when people keep coming by and dropping off more and more stuff. Awesome. So. There's that.

Moving on!

Now that my Mom's birthday/Mother's Day has gone by, I can show you the shawl/wrap that I knitted for her:

I was very pleased with how it turned out, and I love the delicate leaf pattern on it. It ended up being around 6 feet long and the yarn is a bamboo blend, so it's super-soft and cuddly. MMMmmm...soft yarn!

Since my niece's birthday hasn't come yet, but she's not likely to go onto this here blog and search around for pics of her gift, I'll show you her birthday sweater as well:

This is a crocheted pattern and is super fast. I completed this really quickly, and I just loved the button so much I wanted to make it a focal point. My niece loves her some pink fluffiness, so I figured this yarn would be a good choice. It's also probably going to be a bit big, so she can wear it for a while I hope.

Since I got that done so early, I started on the shrug (see previous post) and am making out like a bandit on it. Here I am so far, done with the back and most of 1 sleeve:

I love this yarn. Too bad I don't have this done today though, because it's cold and rainy out.

Now onto other things! I know that some of you must be wondering what the title is all about, with the kilts and all. Well, if you read my last post you'd know about the Scottish festival. We had a great time. Irn Bru was drunk in large quantities. We watched caber tossing, which is impressive any way you look at it. These guys take this telephone pole and try to throw it to go end over end. To prove that Shorties Are Capable Too, the smallest guy out there was one of the only guy able to actually get it to go over! (This isn't him, but it gives you some perspective on how huge those cabers are.)

Throw it, buddy!

And I was able to finish Noel's kilt in time! Isn't this fetching? I love this picture.

He loved the kilt so much, he wore it a few days later when we went to Charleston to visit the aquarium. Here he is in the swamp room:

He did get some "What's up with the skirt?" comments, but also quite a few "cool kilt!" and "what tartan is that?" and "man, that thing looks comfortable!" comments too. He was very proud to wear it and that made me feel good. I was pleased with it too. Next up, one made out of a khaki fabric, like a utility kilt. Fun stuff! :)

I have to say though, the moray eel didn't seem impressed with it.

Ah well. Everyone's a critic.

I suppose that's enough for today. Have a lovely week!

Will Miracles Never Cease?

2009-05-06T07:54:00.001-07:00

I don't believe it. Hell must have frozen over. I actually finished a birthday present ahead of time. Unreal. And even more unbelievable? I finished TWO birthday presents ahead of time. What's happening to me? I'm suddenly able to plan my time? WTF?

I finished my mom's present (I do have pictures but I can't post them until she gets the gift this weekend) and also my niece's birthday present. And I found out that the pregnant woman in my knitting group has registered at Target & Babies-R-Us, so therefore I'm off the hook for handknitting anything for that party on Monday. She probably needs fewer handknit hats and more wipes anyway, right?

So for those of you keeping track (all 0 of you), that mitigates 2 of the issues I had with knitting the shrug on the Lion Brand knit-along that starts tomorrow. The third issue was that of yarn, and needing to buy some and Oh The Horror of having to buy new yarn! Whatever shall I do? Gasp!

Then I went digging in my stash. And guess what I found? Some gorgeous Italian yarn, enough to make the shrug (I hope) and it's lovely - turquoise, with glints of shiny metallic pieces in it in all different colors. I'll take a picture for you. I tried to find a picture of it online, but this yarn must be discontinued because no one seems to have any for sale. Glad I bought out the store when they were going out of business! :)

So obstacle #3 is gone now too. So! Guess what I'm starting on?

Very exciting.

What's also exciting - our plans for this weekend! The Scottish festival will be in town, and I do love some telephone-pole-throwing Scottish people. The festival isn't huge, but it's still fun - vendors, dancing, heavy athletics (see aforementioned telephone pole) and of course, Scottish food! YUM. The Scots are southerners at heart, really (or maybe southerners are Scottish at heart?) because these folks can deep fry anything. Including candy bars. It's good stuff, their meat pies and such. I'm excited. They also sell this:

I don't know how to describe Irn-Bru to you if you've never had it. It's...kinda like orange soda, but with more battery acid. But it's good! Scotland is supposedly the only soda-drinking country on earth where Coke isn't the soft drink of choice - Irn-Bru is. It's a particularly Scottish soda and I do plan on having at least one for old time's sake. Ah, St. Andrews, how I miss thee!

It's supposed to be HOT this weekend though. They're saying Saturday will be up to NINETY degrees. Wow. Better bring some sunscreen. I also hope they think to shear the sheep before the herding competition, or we might be having some broiled mutton at some point in the day. Sorry sheep! That was mean! I do hope someone thought of that though....poor little sweaty sheep.

Do sheep sweat? And if so, wouldn't their wool shrink? Huh.

On that mind-bending note, time to get to it. Ta ta!

Warning: Knitting Ahead!

2009-05-01T10:26:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone! Happy May Day!

Because of spring and warmth and such, I decided to change the look of the blog. Also? The dark color was REALLY dark. Sometimes the words didn't show up right. So! New colors. La la lovely fun!

I'm excited today because they're having a knit along on Lionbrand.com with my favorite knitwear designer, Stefanie Japel! (Check out her stuff at http://www.glampyre.com/ - fabulous). They're making a shrug that I've been eyeing for a while - most shrugs make me look like a linebacker, but this one is fitted, lean, and lovely. Here's the link to it:

http://blog.lionbrand.com/

Of course, there are a few reasons why I shouldn't participate in this knit along: (1) I need to buy more yarn for this project (oh the tragedy), and (2) I have 3 other projects waiting to be finished: my Mom's birthday present (will be done probably tonight for shipping tomorrow), my niece's present for her birthday in May, and an emergency baby gift for a woman in my knitting group. Apparently I'm unaware of how long babies gestate, because for some reason I was thinking that I had still 3 or so months before the baby arrives. Um, no, 6 weeks. Oops. So our knitting group decided on Monday to have a shower for her on the 11th, which doesn't leave much time for dawdling! I think I can crank something out pretty fast though.

Anyway, I've been wanting a shrug to wear over my sleeveless dresses but not a bulky one that makes me look like a refrigerator. This one fits the bill I think. I'm thinking a turquiose color would be nice. :)

This brings me to a point I wanted to discuss, of being stuck in clothing ruts. I realize that I've been stuck in one for a long time, primarily because of my former figure (pre-surgery), and now that I'm smaller and more fit, I could be wearing more fitted things, sleeveless and (gasp!) even strapless stuff! But I haven't been, for the most part. I've slowly branched into fitted things, and occasionally will wear a sleeveless dress, and I even bought 2 strapless maxi dresses recently, but then sewed straps on them. I find I'm not very comfortable showing my shoulders yet, probably because of years of always covering up.

The shrug is, in that sense, a security blanket - I can take it off, or leave it on, but that way I can decide my comfort level with a sleeveless dress or whatever. If I feel too uncovered, I can put it on and not feel like I'm wearing shoulder pads or a poncho or something. I love little summer dresses and have fabric to make 3 more of them. Now I need to sit down and make those too (Now that the weather is regularly in the mid 80s!).

Ok, enough about knitting. No, wait. More: One of the women in my knitting group is opening a yarn shop, and the big grand opening is tonight. Should be fun. Noel is going with me - poor guy, exposed to so much alpaca. :) She has said that she needs people to teach classes and bring in samples to hang up, but I don't really have any samples of anything, except another sweater designed by Stefanie Japel that I made out of cotton (big mistake - it droops and sags and is just a little sad). Maybe I could donate that to the cause. Hmmm....

Anyway.

It's a beautiful day outside - the kind of day when it's hard to stay in your seat! I'll have some finished object photos to post soon, so stay tuned!

Orlando Conference!

2009-04-24T17:49:00.000-07:00

Guess where we went this week?

(Ok, so yeah, this looks like Savannah, but it's not.)

It's ORLANDO!

We went down to Orlando on Monday through Wednesday, because I was scheduled to speak at a national conference there. See? Here's my little presentation thingie on their website:

http://www.aaohn.org/education/symposium-expo/Advance_Program/Tuesday.cfm

I did two presentations, one on Plain Language and one on Presentations (I call it my Presentation Presentation). They both went quite well. I had about 50-60 people in the Plain Language class and about 130 in the Presentation class. I had forgotten how much I enjoy speaking to groups like that. Anyway. Here's the only picture I got of the conference center:

It was BIG. The hotel was right next to it, but because my classes were on the opposite side of the conference center building (and I am not exaggerating at all - they were in the far corner!), it was about a half mile walk just to get to the right room. We got a lot of exercise, but not enough to compensate for the delicious food that we absolutely buried ourselves in. Yum. More on that later.

Here is a picture of the hotel, from the pool area:

The pool area was nice, and the hotel looked really pretty on the inside, but the rooms were just average. Nice, but not incredible. Also? Everything cost a ton of money - guess they expect people who stay there to be able to afford it. I dunno. It did have seriously snazzy furniture in the lobby though:

Love those chairs!

We went out the first night to an incredible Greek restaurant called Taverna Opa. I HIGHLY recommend this place if you're going to Orlando. The food was amazing - we had gyros with lamb and beef, and they tasted like the ones I had when I was actually in Greece. They also had baklava. YUM.

There was also a belly dancer. I tried to get her picture with Noel in the foreground, but the flash wasn't cooperating. See her in the background, with a sword on her head?

Here's a better picture of her:

One other fun thing was the floor decoration. :) We overheard the manager say that they weren't allowed to break plates on the floor like they're supposed to, so instead they would throw handfuls of napkins into the air and they settled on the floor (or your drink, or your head). Then people would get up and start dancing. Fun stuff!

I guess I should include a photo of myself. This is me cheesing it up in the hot tub. Good stuff!

Just call me Busty Sinclair.

One weird thing we saw in Orlando was a hands-on museum that was designed to look like it was picked up by a tornado and dropped intact but upside down into the city. How cool is this?

I loved that the palm trees by the building are still hanging there upside down. We didn't go in (they were having some fancy-schmancy conference cocktail party going on when we went by there). Anyway, it was certainly interesting!

So we got back Wednesday evening and I had to go to work on Thursday to the boringness of everyday life. We had a great time though - the weather was beautiful, the presentations went well, and much food was enjoyed by all!

The end.

A Story of Springtime!

2009-04-08T12:13:00.000-07:00

Ah yes, chickadees. It's that time of year. Spring! When the weather turns nicer (except for the cold spell we've had for the last 2 days - freezing last night! Brrr!) and my general feeling is one of not wanting to be inside. I get antsy, ready to move, ready to go, wanting to not sit in an office and file papers. It's hard! I suffer miserably! I'm like a child who is impatiently waiting for summer break to arrive, fighting my urge to heed the siren call of verdant growth!

Everything is frolicking!

Bright green tree frogs are singing! Butterflies are fluttering their way from flower to flower! Ladybugs daintily flit from one leaf to another! It's lovely! It's magical! It's enchanting!

So I go outside! I want to be part of the effervescent life of spring! I run outside, ready to frolic as well as any fuzzy caterpillar! (Do caterpillars frolic?) I want to be one with nature! I want to breathe in the deep scented air of spring!

I throw open the door and leap into the great green yonder!

And immediately lose a pint of blood, because every mosquito and sand gnat within a 5 mile radius can smell me coming and hone in like bloodhounds (pardon the pun there).

Then in a flank attack, every particle of pollen that was released around the house mysteriously finds its way into my nasal passages, where it attacks my sinuses like so many fluffy golden viking berzerkers.

So I frolic my way back inside to the couch and Spike Channel's CSI marathon and my knitting bag.

Cue Benadryl.

The End.

It's raining, It's pouring, the old man is snoring!

2009-04-02T13:41:00.000-07:00

See this?

Yeah, we're right in the middle of that. Helloooooooo flash flooding! Also possible tornado problems tonight. Hurrah!

Also, please see the following link:

http://www.wtoc.com/global/story.asp?s=10119103

That's where I was today - shaking hands and explaining to children at a local middle school how important water is. And getting my picture taken by the media. 2 news stations were there, so I expect to be on the tv news tonight too. Looking slightly pudgy. Sigh. I must lay off the doritos. Sersely. One of my coworkers told me that tv cameras make you look 25% bigger than you actually are. Which makes me wonder how much (or little) do those teensy little women on the weather channel weigh? Because...wow. Eat a burger. Take mine. No really.

What else is happening here other than doritos and rain? Hmm...knitting. I've been knitting a lot lately which is nice. :) Surprises! So I can't elaborate. But I will be taking pictures.

Also yesterday was a big family holiday for us: April Fool's Day. My sister came up with a fun idea - get everyone (everyone!) to tell my mom Happy Birthday, despite the fact that her birthday is actually in May. hee hee. I sent an ecard from the kittens, and one of Rachel's friends made her a little cake and brought her a balloon. hee hee. Fun stuff.

Of course, Noel got me good by pretending his arm was broken at work, and I went running for my car keys before he started laughing. And then I kicked him soundly in the rear end. Because yes, he got me good! Not many people can - I'm usually pretty cynical. However, I am apparently also gullible when not properly caffeinated.

On a totally different note a blog I've been enjoying lately is http://www.cakewrecks.blogspot.com/. Hee hee. You should check it out if you have time.

Also, a great knitting blog is http://www.brooklyntweed.blogspot.com/ - this guy is a phenomenal knitwear designer. Gorgeous stuff - I love me some aran cables and this guy has serious talent. Too bad we're about 3 weeks away from sweltering down here!

A Tale of Two Kitties

2009-03-23T20:02:00.000-07:00

Happy Monday. I think. Mondays are usually a bit fuzzy for me. Anyway.

This is picture heavy, so be patient! (Unless you don't like seeing adorable photos of two irresistably cute kitties, in which case don't be patient and go to http://www.msnbc.com/ or something else responsible and rather dull).

Kitties!

The kitties have been growing like crazy. Today was the day that they got their new collar tags, and they're now wearing their collars (very unhappily, I might add). The collars have little bells on them and the boys aren't used to wearing anything around their necks (or on any other part of their bodies!) so the collars are definitely throwing them for a loop.

However. They need to wear collars. It's not safe for them if they get out of the house, because they could get lost. Now their tags have their name, phone numbers, and the number for the animal hospital where they go (and an identification number). Just in case.

Also, it's helpful because the kitties are so big! They're hard to tell apart unless you're looking them right in the face! So without any further ado, here they are:

Can you tell who is who in that picture? That's Poe on the left and Loki on the right.

Poe (above) enjoys lounging on the sofa and clawing whatever piece of fabric he can drag around. Poe also has a penchant for stealing things when you're not looking. So far he's taken(allegedly - he's hard to pin down):

- 8 pens

- 5 chapsticks

- 1 pair of glasses (quickly re-confiscated & locked in drawer)

- 1 tomato-shaped pin cushion (panic set in when I looked up and saw it missing!)

- 1 Bettie Page refrigerator magnet

- 1 pair of earrings attached to the card from when they were purchased

- 1 To-Do list left carelessly on the living room ottoman

Moral of the story is, you really have to watch General Poereguard. He'll take anything.

Loki, on the other hand, is playful but generally will go with the flow, and is also the household bon vivant. Totally mellow and a complete love sponge, this one:

He loves napping in the sun. He loves napping anywhere. (That toy beside him is one that I crocheted for them - they love it!)

The little bald spot on his front leg is from the bloodwork they did for his little boy surgery. It's growing back fine, just looks a little weird on such a dark kitten!

So here are the boys modeling their new collars. Poe in the blue (because Edgar Allen Poe was nothing if not a little blue sometimes) and Loki in the red (because he's a little fireball!)

Poe is our household supermodel.

But can you argue with this type of charisma?

Still, I don't think they're too thrilled about the collars yet. I asked Loki to work the camera, and this is the face he gave to me:

SO CUTE I COULD EAT HIM. But not happy about the collar. Alas, they will have to suffer until they adjust. That's just all there is to it. Sorry boys!

By the way, some of you may have remembered my crappy rugby tournament photos. Yes, I bought a new camera - a GE A735 7.0 megapixel digital. The important thing to know is that it's red and very cute. :) It seems to take great pictures so far! Also, it doesn't seem to eat batteries like candy! Which is good. I'm liking it so far, and will keep on taking stupid photos to give you guys some modicum of entertainment. You're welcome. :)

Rugby Redux

2009-03-19T18:02:00.001-07:00

So it's Thursday after St. Patrick's Day. This weekend is always a hectic time around here. We avoided as much of the crowds as possible, but did make it out to the rugby tournament. Fun for all sizes!

I took some photos for you. It was a gorgeous and sunny day (I even managed to get a little bit of a sunburn!). Noel really enjoyed learning about rugby and enjoying the sunshine and violence. Heh. He couldn't believe (1) how brutal it is, and (2) that I used to play it.

There was a lot of scrumming going on:

And men in kilts (how fun!). Let me apologize now for the crappy quality of some of these photos. For some reason my camera decided to bleach out every one of the pictures I took that day, but then any other pictures I took later were too dark. (There may be a new camera in the future, says Madame Xentoria).

Anyway, kilts! Fun stuff!

There were about 60 teams at this year's tournament (a bit smaller than past years, but with the economy and so on, blah blah talky no money blah blah).

One team that caught our attention was this team. (Prepare yourself for un-PC-ness, and I'm not kidding). I tried to get a good picture of their jerseys but again the camera bleached all the color out. These pics I doctored up bigtime with Picasa so they'd not look like we were in the middle of a nuclear holocaust.

Anyway. Back to it. The back of their jerseys looked like this:

A big caution sign that said "Caution: Slow Children At Play." Nice.

The front of the jerseys looked like this:

Why yes, you're right. It's a short bus.

Ladies and gents, I present to you a rugby team who called themselves...

The Retards.

Now before anyone sends me hate mail for putting this up, let me add that I found out later that Retards stands for something, but honestly I don't remember what now. Sorry. Anyway, I couldn't help but think it was a little funny, and they had a lot of people come out to watch their games. Rugby is nothing if it's not PC.

Also? These were some big boys.

This photo just makes me feel plumb svelte, I tell ya. I might put it on the fridge everyday to remind myself to eat more girl scout cookies.

Tomorrow is the first day of spring. Happy spring! Enjoy the pollen! I don't know where you guys live, but we've got a fine layer of yellow/green on everything. It's not an easy time of year for the allergy-ridden, particularly since it hasn't rained much at all and so the pollen is free to assault you with its itchiness.

Kittens Ok!

2009-03-12T07:48:00.000-07:00

First off, let me happily report that the kittens are fine and playing joyfully and seem totally unphased that they're missing 2 little body parts each. They also ate like horses, despite the vet's comment that they might not feel like eating. Yeah right. She obviously hasn't seen these guys in action.

Loki has some gum swelling, which is odd, and had worms again (Aren't you thrilled to hear this? And shouldn't I have warned you because you might be eating? Sorry). Anyway, they're taking care of that, but it may explain his weight. He actually weighed a half pound LESS than he did about a month ago. So I'm giving him some new kitty treats that are supposed to help his teeth and gums to be healthy, and hopefully he'll get all healed up. Not that you could tell anything was wrong with him, the way he attacked his toys as soon as he got home.

I crocheted them another little yarn ball with a bell in it, and I tell you: it took about 20 minutes to make (at most) and they loved it. It's easy for them to pick up with their claws and throw, and then they can chase it like the jungle jaguars that they are, stalking an innocent springbok or other assorted 4-legged deer-like mammal. Grr!!! They're tough! Until it's naptime, then they want to be petted. :)

So! For all of you crocheters/cat owners/bored people, here is my basic recipe for a toy ball:

What you need:
- Regular old acrylic yarn (worsted weight - like Red Heart)
- Size G crochet hook
- polyfill stuffing
- jingle bell (1/2 inch size is good)
- scissors
- yarn needle

Chain 2.

Make 6 single crochets (sc) in the 1st chain stitch. This will turn it into a circle. Take a piece of scrap yarn to mark the beginning of the round (put the piece of scrap yarn right next to your last stitch and crochet over it when you start the next round. Then you can just pull it out and place it at the beginning of the next round).

First round: *2 sc in each stitch* repeat til the end of the round- 12 stitches

Second round: *2 sc in next stitch, 1 sc in next stitch* repeat til the end of the round - 18 stitches

Third round: *2 sc in next stitch, 1 sc in next 2 stitches* repeat til end of round - 24 stitches

Rounds 4-8: *1 sc in each stitch* repeat til end of round - 24 stitches (this is the part that starts to make your little circle into a cup shape)

Round 9: *dec next 2 stitches to 1 stitch, 1 sc in next 2 stitches* repeat til end of round - 18 stitches

At this point, you can start stuffing the filling into your ball. I like to wrap some of the filling around the bell and stuff it in, so that the bell is pretty much in the middle of the ball.

Round 10: *dc next 2 stitches into 1 stitch, 1 sc in next stitch* repeat til end of round - 12 stitches

Round 11: *dc next 2 stitches into 1 stitch* repeat til end of round - 6 stitches

Stuff any more filling you want into the ball to make it round and fairly full.

Cut working yarn about 5 inches away from your last stitch and thread it into your yarn needle. Stitch the needle through each of the remaining 6 stitches in order, and pull tight. This will tighten up the hole in the top. Tie a little knot and weave the end into the middle of the ball. Trim ends.

Throw at kitten and watch the fun!

So! I expect to see photos of the beautiful kitty play balls that you create! :)

It's another lovely day here again. Although the bugs are BAD. But it's a bit cooler, and the rain is supposed to arrive tomorrow. Just in time for the weekend! Hurrah!

Truck repair and so on.

2009-03-11T07:20:00.000-07:00

Good morning everyone. Sorry I haven't posted in a week! Wow. Time is flying by lately.

First off, let me say that the weather here has been gorgeous. Today it's supposed to get up to 84. It's sunny and bright out, and yes I'm stuck inside. But. At least I have a window. I can enjoy it from afar!

This weekend is the start of the St. Patrick's Day festivities here in the SAV. As per usual, I will be fastidiously avoiding downtown like the plague. It can be a mob scene down there, with too many drunk people weaving around and trying to give away their $1 beads to equally drunk exhibitionists. So! Yeah. Not going to that. Been there before, was designated driver. Boy is that fun, being DD in a crowd of 100,000 really drunk people. Don't bother to sign me up for that one again this year, thanks.

However! We will be attending the rugby tournament again this year, at least for a while. Noel wants to see what all the fuss is about (and probably to imagine little ole me being a rugby bruiser back in the day before my spine and knees told me NO! Bad Kelli!). Apparently this year there will be 2 teams of Irish prison guards flying in to play. HA! That should be fun! hee hee. I love me some rugby. It's such a gentle sport, a delicate ballet of strategy and grace. See?

HA! Just kidding.

Sersely though, the rugby tournament will be the only festivities I plan on attending. St. Patrick's Day is just getting out of hand here, and Noel said blithely the other day that he thinks it's only a matter of time before someone gets shot downtown during all the partying. I fear he's right. But. I might have some corned beef or a reuben or something, in honor of the Irish.

On a side note, I think I may have brought this up previously, but I have a dear friend who doesn't celebrate St. Patrick's Day at all, because it represents the stamping out of traditional pagan religion in Ireland and the dominance of the Catholic church. What's to celebrate? Good point. (I still might have a reuben though. Nothing personal).

On to other things now! Now some of you may know of (some of) my childhood career aspirations:

1. Long-haul truck driver with a pink truck and a kitten (I still think this would be fun)
2. Ballerina
3. Skating waitress
4. Sex symbol (at age 8. CREEPY)
5. Shoe salesperson (except the whole touching other people's feet thing dissuaded me of this)
6. Mechanic

Well, this past weekend I FINALLY got my first chance at #6. Noel wanted to do some work on his truck and offered to teach me some stuff about mechanic-ing. Cool! I jumped in and we replaced the shocks and the head valve gaskets (I think that's what they're called - obviously I didn't quite absorb EVERYTHING). Anyway. I helped! And we have photographic evidence!

Replacing the shocks on the front of the truck:

One must remember eye safety. And also safety glasses help with the whole Bono look:

(Also please note that the above photograph was a retake after the first photo showed a severe case of what I affectionately call Mechanic's Butt. It's like plumbers butt, but involves slightly more motor oil in a desperate attempt at keeping one's waistband pulled up with very dirty hands. Aren't you glad I shared that?)

Next up, replacing the gasket thingies (industry term). They're made of cork and form a seal around the heads (ahem, pretend I know what I'm talking about here). Anyway, the cork was old. This truck is old. 1971. So! Old cork. It had fused onto the metal on the head valve thing. So my job was to sit in the engine and take a scraper and get up the old cork so the new cork could be put on.

It was at this point that Noel commented that it's a good thing I'm small and agile, because most people couldn't work in this position. Or if they could they wouldn't be able to extract themselves out of the truck afterwards.

My hands got very dirty! I still have some residual grease stains on my cuticles, but I feel it makes me look utilitarian and tough and somehow sorta Mad Max. I like it. It was really fun working on the truck. I enjoyed the hands-on of it all, and the truck is running better and smoother now, which is very satisfying. This weekend we may be replacing the spark plugs or some wires or something. I dunno. But it'll also be fun!

I might not wear that shirt again for a while though. I never realized how bad my hair and that shirt clash. It's like Pretty in Pink. But not pretty. More like Colorblind Fashion No-No. But who cares. I was a mechanic for the day!

Also, (yet another) side note: Noel realized after we finished all this work that I hadn't taken a picture of him doing anything. He did. He really did work, I swear. He isn't forcing me into indentured mechanicship! :) Next time I'll try to get a pic of him in action.

In other (kitten-related) news, the boys are not having a good day today. Today is the day that they get their little special surgery that turns them from little boy kittens into....little kittens. If you catch my drift. They were NOT happy about seeing the crate this morning, and Poe decided to make like lightning and sprint every time I got near him. I cornered him under a chair and he hissed at me! ME! The one who gives him yummy tuna snacks and brushes his fur and scoops his box! And he didn't even know what was coming yet. It took me a solid 20 minutes to catch him. Meanwhile poor Loki was already in the crate and mewing pitifully because he was alone. Poor little guys.

Anyway, I dropped them off at the vet's this morning and will pick them up this afternoon. Loki weighed in at 3.9 lbs, which seems small to me considering he weighed about that last time we took him in. Poe, on the other hand, is HUGE. He was 6.9 lbs, and he's only about 8 months old. He's going to be a big kitty. I think they both will, but maybe Loki hasn't hit a big growing streak in a while yet. Poe just feels solid now, a clawing hissing little pile of muscle. Loki is still a love sponge and loves to sit on me and purrs so loud I have to turn up the tv. So cute.

In my attempts at making up to them for their imminent de-boying, I crocheted them a kitty bed out of my birthday yarn. Here's Loki posing for the camera (sorry it's so dark!):

I made it in a vaguely triangular shape, then knit the sides high. They were so floppy I went with Plan B, which was to make them even higher, fold them over, make a tube, and stuff it with some pillow fill. It makes a nice squishy pillow edge to the thing. I haven't actually seen them in it since this photo was taken, but I take comfort in the fact that they understand the hours of work that went into it and appreciate more than they can ever express to me. I am perhaps living in a state of denial.

I also knit them a kitten toy, but forgot to take a picture of it. Whoops! Maybe later. They seem to enjoy that thing a lot. It's a cute little bouncy toy ball on a spiral that hangs from a doorknob. Big hit. Might have to make a few more of those.

In honor of their impending surgery, I wrote a haiku:

Kittens getting snipped
What was there will now be gone -
licking not as fun.

I am, perhaps, not quite right.

March marcheth on

2009-03-04T13:38:00.000-08:00

Hi all. Sorry I haven't posted in a few days. I spent what feels like the last week in the dentist's chair, getting icky work done on some of my teeth.

Have any of you seen Alien? My dentist has this thing that he uses now that reminds me of those knuckly spider things that implant eggs into your chest in the movie. To prove my point, please see the following photos:

Exhibit A:

Exhibit B:

Please also note that the comfort level is about the same on both. Except with Exhibit B, you have the addition of The Drill. Fun stuff! Also, I had to pay a lot of money for this!

Overpriced Sadism. That's what it is. I hope my dentist likes his Porsche.

So that's what's happening right now. Needless to say, my teeth are still a little sore. I have to go back in 3 weeks to have the final stuff done, and then I'm never going to a dentist again. EVER.

In other news, it snowed in Georgia this past week! But not here. Of course. So everyone else got to enjoy snow and I got to look up pictures of snow on weather.com.

The kittens are growing like crazy. It's gotten very hard to tell them apart, because Loki has almost caught up with Poe on size. Poe is now the size of a normal sized housecat, and he's still only about 7-8 months. Which means he's probably going to be a pretty big cat. Loki will probably be about the size of a small hippopotamus if he keeps eating like he has been. He eats like it's going out of style. He needs one of those vacuum tubey things above to just suck the food down with out the hassle of actually swallowing! Must look into that....

I win! Finally!

2009-02-27T11:34:00.001-08:00

Wow! I actually won something! Check it out:

http://inkthinkerblog.com/2009/02/27/winner-last-weeks-fun-friday-challenge/

Yay!

No Juice Contamination, Please!

2009-02-24T16:57:00.000-08:00

This past weekend Noel and I went to Boone Hall Plantation, outside of Mt. Pleasant, SC (north of Charleston). It was an interesting trip - the avenue of live oaks and the house itself was made famous in North & South (love you, Patrick Swayze!), but one odd fact is that the big house that's there now was actually only built in 1936, to look like an old plantation house should look. Funny! The house that was there before, was a small 2-story white clapboard house - what you think of a farmhouse looking like nowadays.

Noel among the Live Oaks:

The garden had these neat brick walkways. I bet the azaleas will be blooming soon there - the ones in the yard here are already blooming.

Oh look! Thing In Sky! This is one half of the iron entrance gates. Lovely!

Here is the unauthentic plantation house. Looks like a proper plantation home, doesn't it? I think it's a little weird that it's lopsided though. It grates against my natural sense of symmetry. Weird that they'd put 2 windows on one side and 3 on the other.

Here's a good dose of reality to all the loveliness. Boone Hall was a working plantation starting in the 1600s (growing indigo, cotton, pecans, and peaches), and at one point had 225 slaves on the property. Here are some slave cabins. 11-16 people would stay in each, at the most crowded points in time.

More iron work. Pretty, huh?

The wall that went around the house and gardens was really cool - it undulated! Who knew brick could look so fluid?

So! Exciting other stuff too. On Saturday, Noel and I went to an outdoor/camping store, where he bought me a present:

Yay! Now my food won't touch!! Oh happy day. Sorry Rachel, you're going to have to figure out a new Christmas present for me. :) I am so dorky but happy with these (there are 2 of them). We ate off them once already and they worked perfectly. The barbecue sauce was safely ensconced away from the pasta salad, and ne'er the twain shall meet. Good stuff. I could maybe even eat juicy food again! OOh! Creamed corn! Or baked beans AND cole slaw in the same meal!!! Or anything doused in gravy!!!! The possibilities are endless.

Whew! It's Friday. Finally.

2009-02-20T18:23:00.000-08:00

Was it just me, or did this week feel incredibly long? I felt by Wednesday like I was in that Groundhog Day movie. Script:

Wake up.
Shower & dress.
Drive to work.
Sit at desk.
Shuffle papers.
Eat lunch.
Shuffle papers.
Drink coffee.
Shuffle papers.
Go home.

Rinse and repeat until Friday.

So today finally Friday came. Hurrah! With the promise of nowhere I have to go this weekend, nothing particularly crucial to do all weekend. Deep breath....and relaaaaaaaxxxxxxxxx. Beautiful.

There's a new movie coming out that I want to see: Angels & Demons. If you haven't read anything by Dan Brown, you should. His books are just addictive (he also wrote The DaVinci Code), because he writes action that goes at such a quick pace and switches between characters a lot, so it keeps you on your toes. Anyway, that's the Literary Corner for today. :)

On another cultural note, I'm currently watching Ron White the comedian on tv. He cracks me up. hee hee.

This post is kinda like a Seinfeld episode - it's about nothing. Nothing at all. Let's liven it up a bit!

One online thing I've seen lately on Facebook is the list where you google your name and the word "needs" (apparently all in quotes) and then list what it comes up with. So here are my top 10:

1. Kelli needs laughter n love. (of course I do!)

2. Kelli needs a family that is patient and can devote time to her. (patience is key. Ask my mom.)

3. Kelli needs support. (new bras?)

4. Kelli needs a transplant. (!!!)

5. Kelli needs a kidney transplant. (Ah. Ok. Better? But not really?)

6. Kelli needs our help. (no doubt.)

7. Kelli needs a new grill. (also some steak!)

8. Kelli needs some nookie. (nice.)

9. Kelli needs to be enlightened. (well!)

10. Kelli needs loads of help. (I'm seeing a theme here.)

And in the spirit of my inability to stop a list at the right number:

11. Kelli needs to come visit and have some more wine! (Here here!)

So, anyone else come up with some interesting results from this little game?

Alright, I'm off to stop the kitten battle going on in the library. Why the little jungle jaguars insist upon going for each others' jugulars is beyond me, but let's just say that they should have less testosterone in their system in a few weeks. Snip snip. (Sorry. Was that mean? Guess I'm callous because I used to do that for a living. That and bingo calling.)

Ta ta for now! Happy Friday!

Kitten Knitting

2009-02-17T18:49:00.000-08:00

Photo upload! I have some scattered photos from various and sundry activities from the past week. Let's see...first off,

My birthday! (Or the aftermath thereof). The shirt is a gift from my mom - isn't it fun? It was...late when this picture was taken. Let's leave it at that.

Next up, the upholstery project. This is as far as we've gotten, but it's progress. Perhaps this weekend we might get a bit further. So far it looks good though, I think!

Next up, knitting! My sister got me a gift certificate from a great website called www.Supercrafty.com, run by a woman who is apparently superhuman at getting packages in the mail quickly. This stuff shipped the same day I ordered it. Unbelievable! I ordered some pink stripey sock yarn, some double-pointed needles, and some circular needles. Isn't the yarn pretty?

I haven't started on those socks yet, because I've been busy finishing up THESE socks:

Yay! New socks!! I love them, although they didn't have as much orange in them as I thought they would. Also for some reason my right ankle looks HUGE in this picture. Huh. Not sure what that's all about. Also, I apparently don't have very big feet, or the yarn companies think everyone wears a size 17, because there is a LOT of yarn left over from these socks. So! I don't know what I'll do with it, but...oh! Maybe I can make socks for the kittens! They'd love that!

Speaking of kittens, they got baths tonight. I got clawed. But they're clean and I gave them some soft food while they laid in front of the heater, so they're not too horribly traumatized.

Also? They're growing like weeds. Here is Poe, still damp from his bath:

Loki was more concerned about the presence of food within eating distance, so he was wolfing this down. As in, eating so hard he wasn't breathing. Dude. There is no fire. Slow down. The 9-Lives is not a gazelle. It won't run away before you finish eating it.

(They're both blacker in reality than in the pictures, which I had to lighten a bit to get some contrast, so you could see them.)

And here's proof that the kittens are very helpful with knitting:

Hee hee.

Not much else to report on this end. Just working every day and....working. It's only Tuesday. Sigh.

One week of being 33

2009-02-12T10:42:00.000-08:00

Hi all.

It's one week after my birthday, and boy do I feel old. Also I'm falling apart. I got up off the couch a few days ago and my right knee tweaked and I just stood there grimacing in pain for a few minutes, then gingerly put weight on it to make sure it wasn't going to just completely crumble apart. Boy, I love my 30s!

So the birthday festivities were very fun! I took Friday off from work in order to prepare for the party on Friday night. I wore my goth Oompa-Loompa boots and realized that the left one really wasn't comfortable at all. So! Decision made. They will be returned. My wallet will thank me.

Anyway, the party was great! About 15-20 people showed up, and we had a wonderful time. The neighbors came over and could be stand-up comedians, the way they had everyone almost in tears laughing. And people brought me presents, even though I wasn't expecting them to.

On Saturday, Noel and I went to Midway, GA to look at a neat old cemetery down there - they have the really old slate stones with people who died in the 1770s. Very cool. It was a beautiful day for a drive, just to feel the sun and enjoy the day. That night, we got all dolled up and he took me on a gambling cruise, where I proceeded to show why I should never be taken to Vegas. I ran out of tokens oh, about 19 times. Sigh. But we had fun. I love me some slot machines! :)

This week has been busy - had to go to the dentist this morning (fun) and the vet tonight (even more fun). I also gave blood yesterday while passing through Savannah, so lots of needles lately. Eeek!

Anyway, that's the update for now. Hope everyone is ok! I'll let you know how much weight the kittens have gained. Poe is the size of a regular housecat now, and Loki is bigger than Poe was when they first came home. It's getting harder and harder to tell them apart. We tried putting collars on them yesterday so we could tell them apart, but that...didn't go over so well. Although it was hilarious, watching them try to figure out what was going on. Poe did this funny jumping backwards thing, like he could get away from it, and Loki generally just ran around in circles. :)

I'll try to get a picture of them in their new collars, so you can see how handsome they are!

Got cake?

2009-02-05T12:43:00.000-08:00

Happy Birthday to Me!

Yes, everyone, today is my birthday (thanks to those of you who have sent me cards/emails/etc). I'm not going to mention how old I am today, but suffice it to say I'm not yet in my mid-thirties. But I am standing on the brink. Looking down the slope to middle age. It's a fun place to be. :-

There will be festivities this weekend, which I'm very excited about. I promise to take photos and post them as well. I hopefully will be wearing a crown at some point. But no finger puppet. (glad to hear that, aren't you, Tom?)

In not-necessarily-positive news, I got my coveted boots a few days ago and to be honest, I'm not so sure I like them. They kinda make my calves look fat. Also they make me feel like a short rebellious teenager, not a swash-buckling, near-mid-30s pirate queen. So. I haven't returned them yet, but am debating on getting another type and sending these back for a refund. As previously noted, they weren't cheap, and with the economy potentially tanking (and taking my job with it), it might not be a bad idea to pocket some of that money and buy a less expensive pair of boots that don't make me look like a goth Oompa-Loompa.

So in an effort at daydreaming and not actually accomplishing anything productive lately, I've been quite successful at fantasizing about life in New England (minus the seriously scary mosquitos). Check this out (these photos are shared photos from weather.com but they had no credits, so nobody sue me!):

The coast of Maine.

Here is Maine in winter. Doesn't this just make you want to knit something? Or learn to knit in the first place? Or drink a hot buttered rum?

Lovely, huh? It's at times like this that I think about how nice it would be to live in a place with snow, and then I remember the years I spent in Colorado. Where it generally looks like this (again, thanks weather.com!):

Or this:

And the miracle of Colorado and its insane weather patterns, is that it can look like that on the same day in the same exact location! Really! Clear in the morning, fog at noon, rain in the afternoon, then snow. Then the next day, 70 degrees and the snow melts and floods the roads. It's fun.

Well, I suppose I should stop with the daydreaming and do something a bit more productive before the festivities begin in an hour. Woo hoo! I wonder what the kittens got for me?

Picturama!

2009-01-27T19:54:00.001-08:00

Ok, here we go! Lots of photos to post, and leave it to me to dump them all at once onto the blog. Sorry if this takes a while to load!

First, a couple of pictures of the library in the house. Isn't it lovely? (Please take into consideration that the table & chairs in the foreground have now been painted black except for the table top and the seat cushions - much swankier).

The green chair & ottoman was another goodwill find. $20! Can you believe it? Also, please note Loki's need to be in at least 1 picture per post. He is nothing if not an attention hog.

Next up is a shot of the living room. The cool lamp was a Christmas gift (thank you Rachel!), and the orange chair and teal cushion were both goodwill finds (chair $10, pillow $1). Bargain bonanza!

Now for a few project photos from the reupholstery project that was undertaken this weekend. First the chair as purchased, with aged icky pastel fabric:

Ok, so it's not too bad, right? Oh but wait. Let me pull up the seat cushion and show you the multitude of single-cell organisms residing in this particular piece of furniture:

One word, ladies and gentlemen: EEEEEEWWWWW. Sersely. You can also see how faded the fabric is. So really, there was no choice but to don some gloves (soaked in Lysol) and tear that puppy apart.

Here is what a chair looks like when it's naked! We got it down to the foam, the un-moldy batting (some of it had to be removed. again, eeeeeww), and the springs and wooden frame. Neat, huh? There are a bunch more pictures (read: about 65) but I figured you wouldn't be thrilled to look at 37 different views of the way the arm upholstery was attached. So. You get this one. You can thank me later.

And what happened to the sci-fi moldy horror that was removed? It was labeled, set aside, and used for patterns on the new fabric.

Can't you just smell the dank?

Oh, and just in case you thought that mold was the only thing hiding in that chair, you would be terribly mistaken! This is the chair that keeps on giving!!! Folded within the confines of the innard fabric (that's the industry term, for those of you not in the know), we found a whopping $0.40. Wow.

Oh yeah, and a really old, crusty morsel of bacon. Vintage as of yet undetermined. HOW, I ask you, HOW do you LOSE BACON in your CHAIR? And this wasn't just sitting under the seat. Oh no, it was tucked so far into the upholstery that I didn't find it for at least an hour of tearing the chair apart. This was some seriously reclusive bacon. Hermit Pig.

And to get your mind off of the question of "how much food do I have lurking within my furniture?" and "does my couch smell like old hot dog?," I'm including a photo of undeniable cuteness. Behold these adorable furry, purring little poop factories. I mean kittens. (but if you had to clean out the box, you'd think they were working on some kind of quota or something. Really).

Everyone all together now: AAAAaaawwwwwww. How cute. :)

Already Tuesday!

2009-01-27T08:12:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone!

I do have photos to put on the blog - hopefully tonight. Because I was very busy this weekend (along with Noel) completely deconstructing the wingback chair down to the bare bones and some batting. It was really fun - very educational to take the thing apart and learn how it was put together. It also had some nastiness going on, which was documented properly. Photos forthcoming.

Today is a very misty, foggy day here. I wish I could've stayed in bed (I did oversleep) with the kittens, who have discovered that the best place to nap is right in the middle of the bed. They look so cute - 2 little black furballs on the big quilt. :) (Photo of this also forthcoming).

So I'm already listed on the online program for the AAOHN conference where I'm speaking in April:

http://www.aaohn.org/education/symposium-expo/Advance_Program/Tuesday.cfm

Guess I need to get my presentations written, huh? :) I'm looking forward to this conference (even though it's only in Orlando - I was hoping for someplace slightly more exotic and further from Savannah, but whatever). I love doing these kinds of presentations, and my two topics (Giving Presentations and Plain Language) should be a lot of fun to do. Plus I get paid to do it. And they pay for my travel & hotel. Sweet. This is a good gig! Hey, if I get laid off, I could just try to do more of these types of things and travel all over the place (have Xanax, will fly!).

Alright, it's about time to get something productive done. More later (including photos!).

The Kittens Are So Stoic!

2009-01-23T12:05:00.000-08:00

Good news on the kitten front:

They're free of tapeworms (eew), their respiratory & eye infections are cleared up, and they've started receiving their vaccinations. They were such champs last night! They sat in their carrier without whining (which is a small miracle in and of itself) and didn't claw or pitch a fit. I was so proud!

Also, Loki has gained half a pound. In a week. Which seemed like a lot, until they weighed Poe, who gained almost a full pound. They're growing like little furry clawing weeds!

Other than that, I am SO glad it's Friday. This weekend will be the Start On Reupholstering The Goodwill Furniture Extravaganza, starting tonight with 3 hours of making piping for the wingback chair that's scheduled to go from old-Floridian-retiree-pastel-upholstery to pimpy-burgundy-crushed-velvet-upholstery. Sweet. The piping is a gold stripe with blue & red in it. Should look fantastic. I'm making the piping myself though, which generally takes a few hours to get the yardage I need (15 yards for this chair, I believe). I did it for the other chair I did, and it turned out nicely. I only slipcovered that chair though, I didn't upholster it, even though upholstery would've been easier probably!

Just to remind you, here are some pictures of the old chair before and after the slipcovering:

The new chair is a wingback chair with wooden legs - even the legs need to be sanded and refinished! But it was only $10 at the goodwill. You can't pass that up! And yes, I promise I will take photos of the upholstery projects as they move along. I take photos if for no other reason than to remind me of what it looks like so I can put it back together!

I'm excited about learning upholstery techniques - I know a little, but don't really feel like I know enough to tackle just about anything yet. It's one of my new year's resolutions to learn upholstery (as well as lose back down to 140 lbs, even though I sit here eating a Snickers - sigh).

Time to finish up a few things here and then head out for the weekend!

Perhaps a little birthday splurge is in order.

2009-01-22T11:52:00.000-08:00

So...my birthday is coming up in a few weeks and I've been feeling horribly unfashionable lately. There's a fantastic Goodwill about 20 minutes from Savannah, and I found some great clothes there. I love me some vintage weirdness. Anyway! I've spent a whopping $15 on clothes for myself from various thrift shops, and have been enjoying my new wardrobe additions.

However.

I have some boots that I LOOOOVE that I've had for going on 10 years at best guess. These are some of my favorite boots - knee-high motorcycle boots with a few buckles thrown on for good measure. They were cheap - maybe $30? from a catalog, and I've worn them literally OUT. They're falling apart - the sole is detaching, the pleather they're made from is all cracked and in some spots just...gone, leaving the fabric stuff behind to try to hold it all together. I've retouched them with polish, I've doctored them with Sharpies, but the time has come to send them to that great boot closet in the sky. It is, in my opinion, an unnecessary stress to wear shoes that make you wonder if they're actually going to hold together the whole time you're wearing them.

And we all know how I can trip on things. So it's critically important for the safety of my nose to wear shoes that will NOT fall apart on me, or crack open revealing my frozen little piggies to the unrelenting elements (sidebar: it's COLD here).

So! In the spirit of "I make enough money to splurge sometimes" and "it's practically my birthday already" and "the kittens don't eat THAT much," I bought some new boots online yesterday. Check these out:

http://www.onlineshoes.com/productpage.asp?gen=w&pcid=117260

I have never in my life owned a pair of Doc Martens, but they're apparently super-comfortable and extremely long-lasting. Also? I COVET these boots. I've wanted a pair of pirate boots with buckles for so long, and when I saw these I couldn't stop thinking about them. Desire, my friends. Unmitigated desire. I had to have them. So I ordered them yesterday and will fastidiously track them to my doorstep, at which point I will probably leave work and go home and put them on and prance around my house and then come back to work and everyone here will say "you don't even have a bike, Kelli" and I'll say "Arrrr!" with my best pirate voice and requisite finger-hook. And then they'll leave me alone because they'll think I'm borderline insane. But with really stylin boots.

So this evening we get to take another trip to the vet's office! Exciting. At least the vet is in PetSmart, so there's stuff to look at there (did you know that cats can apparently be walked on leashes? Because they sell them. Also, cats apparently love bedazzled sweaters). I'm not really looking forward to the trip, since my responsibilities will probably be (1) holding down kittens a la some wild animal wrangler while they get their vaccinations, and (2) serving as a scratching post when said kittens freak the hell out and start their Houdini routine. Should be fun stuff!

Hopefully they can get all their vaccines though - they couldn't get them last time because they were sick. They've done well with their antibiotics and seem to be healthy now. So I hope to get them on the wellness plan that this hospital has, so that they can also get neutered (shhhh - don't tell them I said that).

On another note, the weather has been very cold lately. And this caused me to realize a funny truth this morning on the drive to work in my frost-covered car: I have knit TWELVE hats in the past month, and yet the only knitted hat I have is bulky sky-blue with big tassels hanging off of it. It's warm, but not exactly...professional. Unless you're a 12-year-old professional snowboarder. Why have I never knit myself a hat? I find this amusing. Also, it gives me a project to work on! Which is good, since I have no other projects going (that was sarcastic, for those of you who haven't seen my knitting basket/sewing room/writing desk).

Time to grab something to eat!

Additions, Subtractions, Multiplications, Divisions

2009-01-20T18:58:00.000-08:00

Welcome to my new blog! I know it's been a while since I posted anything at all to the previous blog, but I have good reasons. I don't want to dwell on things past - after all, this blog (and my life right now) is about looking around at the present and enjoying it, not worrying about the past or fretting over the future.

That said, I figured that I'd create a new blog and start things off with a recap of the past few months so that you'd know where I'm coming from when I post about all the wonderful things happening to me now.

First (and biggest news): I'm separated and am getting a divorce. Not to drag out long unnecessary details, but I've learned a tremendous amount about this whole situation, about relationships, and about my own tendencies to put myself in second place to make others happy.

I moved out in October and am living in a lovely house (yes, I have pictures) with 2 darling little kittens (one of which is convinced he can help me type this). My job is still going well for now, despite difficulties with the current economy (help us, Obama!). I've met someone new, someone wonderful who understands me. More (much much more) on this later.

I am happy. I feel more myself. One of my new year's resolutions is to Embrace My Quirkiness - it's who I am. And that's fine - quirkiness, unbridled happiness for no good reason is a wonderful thing. It's a lovely way to go through life, smiling at a pretty blue sky or petting a random dog on the sidewalk just because I feel like it. Getting kittens despite the fact that they're expensive and will probably tear up my furniture, and aren't practical. They give me joy. And I'm starting to think that's the meaning of life: Seeking and finding joy. Why not?

But now (on a lighter note!), I want to show you some photos! This is a rather dark photo of the new house. Isn't it darling? It was built in 1940 and is 1600 sq. ft. Big! I have a huge sewing room that's still in the throes of being unpacked. Also I haven't taken any good interior photos yet since getting unpacked, but will do so soon.

This is Poe (as in Edgar Allen, because he likes to hide in dark places). He's about 6 months old and fairly reserved, calm and mellow (unless I pull out the catnip).

This is Loki (named after the Norse god of mischief - trust me, it fits). Loki is about 4-5 months old and a little ball of energy. Also he eats like a bird (as in, 3 times his body weight a day) and claws my necklace at any opportunity, usually under the premise of "oh, I'm so cute, I'm going to cuddle up under your chin." And then when you least suspect it, BAM! Claw right in the jugular. Poe tends to watch Loki with a look on his face that says "moron." But we love him.

I got these kittens from a friend of a friend, who has too many cats at her house. The poor things had respiratory infections, eye infections, tapeworms, and had no clue how to use a litterbox. After a harrowing visit to the vet last week and a lot of antibiotics squirted down unwilling throats (and a week of chucking them into the litterbox at the first signs of squatting), they're feeling much better, happy and playful, not sneezing, and (miracle of all miracles) pooping in the litterbox. Hurrah!

And yes, I will be knitting them cat toys.

I suppose that this is enough information for one post - it's a lot for some of you to absorb I guess. It's been a lot for me to absorb too, over the past 3.5 months, but I'm satisfied with my decisions.

And to leave you with a bit of cuteness, here is Loki helping me knit: