Alas, No Harlot for Me

I've been reading everyone's posts (JP, EvilScienceChick, HockeyMom, the KnitWitch, Jen and the lovely Melissa) about the Harlot's visit to the ATL. As you can tell by my title, I didn't go see her - I decided to do the wifely/family thing and spend Bill's birthday with him. I did that "how would you feel if it were your birthday?" thing. And, well, those of you who know me know that I make a HUGE deal out of my birthday. So, if Bill wanted to go see some golfer on MY birthday, well, I'd be pissed. Totally.

Since I'm back on the "plan" we bought a really tiny cake from Kroger. (Note to self, Publix icing is MUCH better than Kroger icing.) It tasted kind of plastic - not that Punkin cared. :)

On Saturday afternoon we went hiking with the Jenks on the Suwanee Creek Greenway, which I've run on many times while training for the marathon. However, I didn't know that they had unpaved trails. A nice break from the asphalt/concrete. Here is Punkin and her buddy, Austin, full of energy at the start of our little hike....

We only went a total of maybe 4.5 or 5 miles. There was some pretty scenery along the way...

I have NO idea what kind of flowers these are. I'm not "good" with flowers (I would post a picture of my yard but I'm too embarassed). But they were pretty nonetheless.

Back to the girls...this is what they looked like when we finished the hike - quite a difference, don't you think?

After we cooled off, we headed over to the Old Towne Tavern and Grille in Suwanee. HIGHLY RECOMMEND IT! That's also where we ate for Bill's birthday. If you go, get the Asian Chicken Salad. To quote Rachel Ray, "Yum-O!"

Oh, finished the BallBand Dish Cloth I was working on . . . and two others . . . and got bored and did a log cabin one, too. I'll post pics of the those later. But for now, here's this one.

Total mindless knitting. Love them. Weaving in the ends is a bee-yotch. No pain, no gain.

This weekend is the Duluth Fall Festival. A virtual cornucopia of craftiness! (And crap, but we're only going to focus on the craftiness, people.) It all starts with a kitchy parade of cheerleaders, football players, (the bar girls from Wild Bill's), political candidates, PTA groups, etc. All the things that make Duluth feel like a small town. After that candy-throwing nonsense is over, you meander through TONS of craft booths. Some of them are really good -real artisans, if you will, and others are, well... It's kind of like American Idol - you know where the really bad singers have been told by their families that they're really good - but you and ALL OF AMERICA knows that the really suck. Some of these people are still making crafts from the 80's - chee-zee! I'll see if I can sneak some pics. I love, LOVE, LOVE the Duluth Fall Festival. Small Town America at it's finest.

More to come...gotta feed the family!

Random

File this one under totally RANDOM thoughts.

On my "Today I Feel" link, you'll notice that today I feel FAT! As in huge, retaining water, blobbish, etc. And I have a headache (but there's no "PunkyMoods" icon for that - maybe I should suggest it). So, to make all my ills go away, and allow for some much needed sleep, I've had a nice glass of Savingon Blanc (sp?) with dinner and followed that up with a nice muscle relaxer (Flexeril, to be exact). Now, before you get the wrong idea, my neck has been killing me - too much work on the computer lately (see below for my random ranting about work) and not enough quality sleep. When my neck gets out of whack, it causes my muscles to tighten up and that causes the headache. Follow?

Speaking of work...could I have just a little more of it, please? (Hopefully you're reading the sarcasm - cause it's there.) I'm SO busy right now that I don't know which end is up and I spend most of my days putting out whatever is the most critical fire drill of the day. I'm managing the big software implementation project. One of my main vendors in the Midwest is going through major changes and the same vendor in the Southeast just isn't selling as much as they have in the past (and should be still). And it's my job to find out why and turn the ship.

And I made the mistake of buying groceries at the Super Wal-Mart in Suwanee last night. Don't get me wrong, I spent WAY less than I normally spend at Publix, and I bought a new dog bed for Gretchen. BUT (and this is a big but) the check out process is so TOTALLY stressful that it almost (not sure yet) negates all the savings. No lie. There are 26 checkouts at this Wal-Mart and they had, are you ready, 5 open! On a Sunday evening! When their parking lot and store were packed! What the hell? Come on Wal-Mart! You bully your way into a community, ruining property values, leveling acres of trees and the best you can do on a busy weekend day is FIVE FREAKING REGISTERS? Give me a big, fat break! (That feels better.)

On to knitting....

I'm still working on the Ball Band Dishcloths from Mason-Dixon Knitting. I'm loving the colors I've chosen (not those on the photo above) and they'll look nice in my new kitchen. I'm thinking of making some for Christmas presents for some family. I have a few aunts that would appreciate them. I think my mother-in-law and sister-in-law would also appreciate them. I'm thinking of making some for my brother's Red & Black University of Georgia kitchen. I'm not worried about fading since he doesn't actually cook there. It's kind of like he has a house that happens to also have a kitchen, know what I mean? Bless his heart....

I also decided to make the bib pattern from Mason-Dixon Knitting. I have a few friends who are having/adopting babies and the bibs make for easy, mindless car pool knitting. Speaking of car pool, I'm thinking of making scarves for the poor teachers who have to work car pool. I have some (OK, a lot) of Lion HomeSpun that was given to me and those Berroco Keyhole Scarves are just so easy. A few years ago at work we had a craft fair to raise money for the United Way and, no lie, I sold twenty of them in one day and wrote a check to the United Way for almost $200 (there were a few other stash projects thrown in there, too).

Wednesday is hubby's birthday and the day that Stephanie will be at Knitch in Virginia Highlands. And I have a "ticket" to go... Now I'm feeling guilty for not spending Bill's birthday with him. What's a gal to do? I have ALL of her books and this is the FIRST time (and presumably the only time until maybe the next book tour) she's come to the ATL . I'm still thinking it over and I'll let you know what I decide to do.

Whew Baby, I'm Tired!

I think the title just about says it all.

We went to Statesboro this past weekend - since we hadn't been there since March, I decided it was about time to pay a visit. Some good natured ribbing from mom didn't hurt, either. Plus, it was my cousin's wife's baby shower. She got a lot of nice things. Mine gift was the only handmade item, which is funny because in my area of the ATL, it's generally a contest at baby showers to see who can give the most FAB-U-LOUS handmade gift. We fight over knitted/crocheted things (me), hand-stamped things (me, Chauveen, & Andrea), handmade bags (Chauveen & Andi), handmade embroidered jumper dresses (Chauveen), handmade hooded bath towels (Chauveen - she's a busy gal - about to have a web store - I'll link when she does), etc. Quite fun to hear all the "oohs" and "ahs" when the gifts get passed around. Anywhoo, apparently that "trend" hasn't made it to the 'Boro yet. Maybe it will - maybe they just need some inspiration, oh, and a good craft store. Wal-Mart hardly counts as a good craft store. :)

Tomorrow is the baby shower for the girl in my choir. I was working on another baby sweater, like the one I made for my cousin's wife, but I SWEAR there is something wrong with the pattern and I just don't have it in me to sew and unsew it again. Hello! Read my title - I'm tired. And that includes being tired of re-sewing a baby sweater. I'm about ready to rip it all out and re-purpose the yarn - or just thow it away.

I've been inspired by this site to start making ball band dish cloths again. Her's are SO pretty and colorful and I'm tired of baby colors since all I've made lately is baby stuff. Not that there's anything wrong with that. And cotton dishcloth yarn is cheap - I like cheap. Even more, my husband likes cheap.

So, I think I'll dig through the stash and find some cotton yarn and start knitting. The pattern is an easy, no-brainer kind of patter and given my past 2 weeks and the next say, I don't know, 12 weeks are going to be nuts and I need something easy to occupy myself. Which reminds me, the baby's (from the shower) great-grandmother-to-be picked up my baby sweater, admired it and said "You know, idle hands are the devil's workplace." My reply, "No idle hands here." True, true.

Hey, next week I get to go see the Yarn Harlot at Knitch! It's on Bill's birthday; he said my gift to him was not making him go see her, too. Ha! The whole knit thing has been almost too much for him to swallow; and he totally doesn't get blogging about knitting (or any other craft). Poor him...he'll come around.

Look What I've Been Up To...

The baby sweater is complete. I'm still convinced that there is something wrong with the pattern since I worked it and ripped it out not once, not twice but THREE times and I still don't think it sews together correctly. Oh well, it's cute and it's finished.

I also started this - the Wavy Scarf from Knitty.com.

(Did you notice the hardwood floors? Just thought I'd point that out.) I've had this pattern for quite some time and finally found the yarn I wanted to do it in. I'm using Paton's Shetland Chunky, a wool blend that feels soft and has some great color variations in it. See... Pretty, huh? I'd like a whole sweater made out of this yarn. The pattern is fun, too. I had to modify the stitch count since this yarn is way bigger than what it calls for on the pattern. I'm always amazed how you can get two simple stitches to "move" like this. Fascinating.

As for what we did over the holiday weekend...it was quiet and relaxed. On Friday, on a whim, we went bowling. Though I had my camera, it never occurred to me to actually USE it. So, I give you a picture of Punkin putting her real shoes back on after we finished. *sigh*

On Saturday night we went out to dinner at a new BBQ place with several families. It was YUMMY! The kids had quite the time at their own table while the grown-ups had normal conversations at their table. Here's Punkin and Palmer hamming it up. After dinner they set up a beauty shop and decided to make each other over - at the table. Too funny.

On Sunday night we went to Shawn & Kimberly's for dinner. Punkin played with all the kids and ended up spending the night with Austin - quite a big step based on all the separation anxiety issues we've had over the summer. Whew! Big sigh of relief. On Monday, we met them at the park for a quick picnic. We took Cody and Leah to burn off some energy at the dog park, then came home. After a nap and dinner, it was time to get ready for the back to work/school drag....

I love long weekends.