onecraftychick

Into Each Life a Little Rain Must Fall

2011-08-09T08:08:00.003-04:00

I recently completed an online photo class called Find Your Eye. As part of that class, we had to create an inspiration file of our photos that "spoke" to us.

I took this picture this summer on our trip to Panama City Beach. I thought it was so cool to look out from my balcony and see a storm rolling in - lightning, thunder, rain.

I've thought about this pic over the past few days since I found out that one of the Navy SEALs killed in Afghanistan was the husband of a high school classmate. Though she and I were by no means "close," we were (and still are) on friendly terms and I keep up with her through Facebook.

Right now, I feel as though I'm standing again on that balcony in PCB, watching a storm roll in to someone else's life. I'm a safe distance away but I can see see the lightning and hear the thunder and watch the peals of rain as they pelt this sweet family. Like all storms, this one will pass and her sun will come out again but unlike a normal rain, this storm will leave behind visible damage in it's wake.

I've spent the last few days thinking about her and her children and all the things they'll never be able to do again with their husband and father. And that breaks my heart. Watching the storms in other people's lives certainly makes you take stock in your own. I have to admit that on Saturday night I hugged my husband a little tighter, and the snoring bothered me a little less and I was a bit more patient with my children.

My prayer for her family is that the God who heals will wrap His arms around her heart (and the hearts of her children) and protect them as they recover from this tragedy and move on. I pray that her boys will always have fond memories of their father and that they will work hard to cement those memories so that they never fade. My prayer for myself is that I will love my family a little more and remember that our next breaths are not promised and that we should live each moment to the fullest.

What storm are you watching now? Maybe it's one of your own and you're struggling against the wind and rain. Maybe you're watching a storm in a friend's life. Do you need to take your friend an umbrella? You might get a little wet in the process, but everyone appreciates an umbrella in a downpour.

2010-01-28T16:19:00.002-05:00

Taking a photo a day can be quite the challenge. Like with most things, life kind of gets in the way. One of the Daily Shoot challenges (can't remember what number challenge it was) was to take a self-portrait. Ta-da!

I would have attempted a more traditional self-portrait, but on this day I had only made it to wardrobe and not to hair and make-up. Some days are like that, you know.

This week at the Punkin's school they had their annual International Night. (Which they're now calling "Heritage Night" - was the old name not inclusive enough? Just asking.) We live in a very diverse community and the premise of the night is to celebrate all the cultures that are represented in the student population. The event is sponsored by the PTA and is the most well attended of all the PTA's events. This year was no exception. When you arrive, the students hand out "passports" that you take from country to country and get stamped.

Each country has a classroom and the classroom is decorated with artifacts from that country; the "hosts" dress in their traditional costumes and most rooms have samples of food from the country. The most popular country was Mexico (my personal favorite). I snapped a quick picture of these tomatillos and jalapenos while were were waiting in line for taquitos and salsa. I liked the different green colors and the way they were arranged.

I wish I could remember what country this amazing carved box was from but I can't. I loved all the colors and bold patterns as well as the hand-carved details of the figures inside.

As part of the 365 Project, I made a list of all the little things that play a role in my day-to-day life. Today I decided to snap a picture of my arch nemesis...

The alarm clock. Oh how I hate this little torture device. I aspire to one day be able to chunk it into the garbage and never have to listen to it beckon me out of my cozy, warm bed and into a day of drudgery at work. Pie in the sky. Unless of course I win the lottery . . . how much is Mega Millions this week? :-)

Raise Your Hand If You Saw This One Coming

2010-01-23T21:18:00.002-05:00

Which one? Oh, that would be the one where you knew there was NO way I would ever be able to take a picture EVERY day, without fail, for one year. Three days in and I missed not one, but two days. Oh well, when you fall down you have to get back up, right?

So, tomorrow, I'm back on the photo wagon.

Oh, one more thing... Bill got tired of watching TV with the Punk talking constantly and told her that she wasn't allowed to talk for a whole show. LOL! She's done pretty good so far. She's only written me three notes; it's so quite I don't know what to do with myself. We might have to make more shows "wordless." Wonder how long THAT will last?

A Lesson in Being Prepared

2010-01-21T15:19:00.002-05:00

I wouldn't have made a good Boy Scout. The most obvious reason is that I'm not a boy. The less obvious reason is I'm just not very prepared. My dear husband will tell you that I'm an "Idea Person." I have great ideas but I'm not very good at implementation.

So, today, I decided to make Aunt Doris' Chocolate Chip Cookies (which could quite possibly be the best chocolate chip cookies ever - just sayin'). I start grabbing my ingredients from the pantry: sugar (almost all gone but enough for cookies), all-purpose flour, brown sugar, butter, eggs, etc.

I cream the butter and sugar and get ready to mix in the baking soda and water. Oops. Problem number one - no baking soda. (An aside: Who runs out of baking soda? Doesn't a box of baking soda last for, I don't know, ever?) OK. No problem. I'll just use self-rising flour and leave out the soda and salt. Problem solved.

I continue mixing. Add in the vanilla; go to the fridge to get the chocolate chips. Those who know me best know that I always (always) keep chocolate chips on hand in the refrigerator. However, today, NO chocolate chips. How can you have chocolate chip cookies without chocolate chips? Ugh! At this point I could blame someone in my family for eating the last of the chips and not putting them on the grocery list, which incidentally, is RIGHT NEXT TO THE REFRIGERATOR, but I'm not going to lay blame. Not today.

All of a sudden I feel like I'm on the Worst Cooks in America show. If I had just read through the entire recipe first and made sure I had all the ingredients, I wouldn't have ended up with this:

This is what chocolate chip cookies look like without chocolate chips. Not quite as tasty as with the chips. Guess I'll be making a run to Publix . . . in the rain . . . with the baby. Oh joy. In the meantime, here's Aunt Doris' Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe in case you happen to have chips at your house and decide to make them for yourself.

Chocolate Chip Cookies - a heritage recipe from my great aunt Doris Olliff

[Ingredients]

1/2 cup brown sugar, firmly packed

1/2 cup white sugar

1/2 cup butter or shortening (use butter, trust me)

1 egg

1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

2 tablespoons hot water

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 package chocolate chips (use mini chips)

1 cup pecans, finely chopped

[Directions]

Cream sugar and butter, add egg and beat well. Dissolve baking soda in hot water and add to batter. Add flour which has been mixed with salt. Mix well. Fold in chocolate chips and nuts. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees 8-10 minutes until done.

The Issue with Clutter

2010-01-20T15:36:00.003-05:00

This week's assignment at www.365project.org was to photograph clutter. (Mom, I can hear you laughing....) There may be some people who would have a problem finding something clutter-related to photograph. I would NOT be one of those people. Frankly, there is no shortage of clutter in my house. With the exception of my downstairs bathroom, you can pretty much turn in any direction in my house and see clutter.

With so many choices to photograph, what did I choose? I chose the Punkin's clutter. This is a shot of the desk in her room. Uh, right. This would be the desk where she is supposed to do her homework. Since you can't actually see the top of the desk, you would be right if you guessed that not a lot of homework gets done there. She does it on the sofa in the living room, while watching Phineas and Ferb (but that's a post for another day).

So, in addition to Project365, I'm also back on the FlyLady bandwagon where I'm desperately trying to get my house (and my clutter) under control. I swear some days I think there are Gremlins who follow me around messing up stuff behind me and disappearing when I turn around.

My first stop on the FlyLady decluttering train are the two spots that drive poor Bill the most nutty: the computer desk in the living room and the desk in the kitchen. There will be pictures - before and afters. I will also add that all of this decluttering is in preparation for hopefully, one day, putting our house on the market. Since EK arrived, we've kind of run out of usable space and really need to concentrate on getting a bigger place.

Whew. I have a lot to do. Guess that means that I shouldn't be sitting here talking about what I need to do. Where's my timer? My 15 minutes starts now...

Jumping on the Project 365 Bandwagon

2010-01-19T08:51:00.003-05:00

Over the summer I bought a dSLR camera and 2 lenses. Then in the fall I took a class to learn how to use it. Since then, I've pretty much only been taking pictures of my kids. Over the holidays, my friend Jodi (a budding professional) posted on Facebook that she was participating in Project 365 for 2010. The premise is that you are to take a minimum of one photo per day for 365 consecutive days. You can take pictures of anything, including the mundane things of life, just so long as you take one picture per day.

I decided this would help my photography skills since it would (1) force me to use my camera everyday and (2) force me to look at everything in my life and how all those things - big and small - make up who I am.

Yesterday was a warm day for us (in the low 60s) and a welcome reprieve from the really cold weather we've been experiencing over the past few weeks. My friend Elizabeth and I took our girls, and another friend, out to Sims Lake Park and spent a few hours snapping pictures of the girls. This is yesterday's photo:

I also joined a Project 365 group where I'm cataloging my progress. The group posts daily and weekly themes - this week's theme is clutter. I'm pretty sure I'm going to be able to find something to take a picture of. :)

Holy Freaking Cow? Where Did the Year Go?

2010-01-03T12:35:00.004-05:00

If there is anyone who still stops by to read my blog, you might be wondering what happened to me last year. Or you might NOT be wondering, but I'd rather think you care enough to at least be curious.

Well, last year was a crazy busy year for me. You, of course, know about the Biggest Loser challenge that I was doing with some Facebook friends. I made good progress and lost about 15 pounds.

It was a contract negotiation year at the Deathstar and, because I'm in management and not part of the folks represented by the contract, I spent a good portion of the year training to do someone else's job in the event of a work stoppage (a.k.a. "a strike"). That involved about 100+ hours of online and classroom training - on top of my normal job.

Speaking of normal job, I wrapped up the project I've been working on for two years! FINALLY!

Perhaps the biggest thing that happened to me last year was this ...

Aww! We welcomed a new daughter to our family. Emily Kathryn (a.k.a. Emma Kate) joined our family on December 1, 2009 weighing 5 pounds and 15 ounces. She's absolutely the best thing about 2009!

Progress Report - Month One

2009-02-02T21:20:00.003-05:00

It's been one month since I started the Biggest Loser challenge with some of my Facebook friends. It has NOT been easy since I LOVE to eat and I have an incurable sweet tooth. I am not a morning person and by the end of the day I find it hard to squeeze in a workout (working 10+ hours a day doesn't help either). I've been doing pretty good on managing my calories. I downloaded an app (called Lose It!) for my iPhone. I use it to track EVERYTHING that goes into my mouth as well as my exercise and daily weigh ins. Since my iPhone is virtually attached to me like a body part, it's easy to remember to log my intake.

The good thing is that there has been some weight loss! So far I've lost 9 pounds, which is about the 1-2 pounds per week average I was shooting for. What makes it great is that the 9 pounds translates into 7 inches! 3 inches from my chest (bummer), 2 from my waist (yeah) and one from each of my thighs. I can finally start to see a difference! Yahoo! My pants fit MUCH better now. I'm planning to literally work my arse off so that I can win the prize money ($600) - you can buy a lot of new clothes with $600!

Now, get out there and eat a Krispy Kreme for me! (Just tell me that it was awful and I wasn't missing anything. Thanks. Carry on.)

Bad Blogger. Bad.

2009-01-25T20:07:00.002-05:00

Hi. My name is Jennifer and I'm a bad blogger.

Today is January 25th and it's been since January 1st since I last posted. To make matters worse, I have no real excuse. I have time to update Facebook and read email but for some reason I can't make time to update this blog. Sad, really.

On the weight loss front, I've lost 6 pounds - it doesn't sound like a lot but it feels like a lot. I actually bought 2 new pairs of pants yesterday and my jeans are starting to fit a little more loosely. I have a long way to go but I didn't get to be this size in 3 months and I won't lose it in 3 months. I realize it's a process. My goal is to lose it all in a year. I would like to lose most of it by the spring/summer because of my husband's 20-year class reunion. But that's another story for another day.

The only thing I've been knitting is socks and if I'd knit a complete pair before I started another pair I would probably have something to show for my efforts besides 5 half pairs of socks. But, alas, I cannot be "project monogamous." My next project is going to be these Leyburn Socks that I saw on the Harlot's page - they're from Pepperknit. As soon as I figure out how to do a toe-up cast on I'm going to knit them in Sagitarius from the Knit Witch because I think the stitch pattern will show off the colors in the yarn nicely. The picture of the yarn doesn't do it justice - it's WAY prettier in person. If you have a suggestion for a toe-up cast on (or better yet a VIDEO of what to do) leave me a comment.

I Feel Like Oprah...

2009-01-01T22:03:00.003-05:00

Well, without the TV show and the magazie and the money and the multiple houses. I feel like Oprah and her "how did THIS happen" issue of O Magazine.

"How did what happen?" you ask. Uh, how did I go from a svelte 125 pounds 13 years ago to (approximately) 180 pounds today? HOLY FREAKING COW (no pun intended)!!!!

I'm either really brave, or really stupid, for this but . . . want to know what (almost) 180 pounds looks like on a 5'3" tall woman? It looks like this (and I'm only showing you the back, mostly because I can't bear the front):

What am I? A really short linebacker? Look at the size of those shoulders! (Notice the placement of the fire... obviously a poor choice of location for a photo shoot, but funny nonetheless.)

So, to do something about this I've joined a "Biggest Loser 2009" support group with some Facebook friends. There are 12 of us so far and we've chipped in $50 each. The person who loses the biggest % of weight between today and May 31st wins the pot 'o money (and a nice engraved silver cuff bracelet which is going to look awfully funny if one of the two guys happens to win).

I'm hoping that the six of you (ha!) who actually read my blog will remind me of this picture and offer moral support along the way. Especially when I mention "work," "stress," "beer" or "cookie dough" in the same post. Our first virtual weigh in is on January 11th. I'll post additional pics and report on the progress. And the next time you eat a Dairy Queen M&M Blizzard or chocolate chip cookies or a Mocha Frapp from Starbucks, think of me. I'll be over here in the corner (of the gym) munching on carrots and sipping something with protein in it. Let the fun begin!

Holy Cow! What Just Happened?

2008-12-29T16:28:00.002-05:00

It's almost been a full 2 months since I last posted. You might be asking, "What happened to you, Crafty Chick?"

Well, since you asked...

My choir kids put on their fall show, Life School Musical, the first Sunday in November so I was pretty busy with rehearsals leading up to that.

We went to Statesboro for Thanksgiving and had a great long weekend hanging out with family.

My big project (that I've talked about in previous posts and on Facebook) launched the first weekend in December and I'm relatively sure that I was so busy working that weekend that I might have gone three or four days without make-up or a shower. Yuck!

The second weekend in December was my choir's big Christmas shows and, on top of post-project launch activities that week, I had 15 hours of rehearsals in the span of about 5 days. Whew.

By December 16th, I was celebrating my 13th wedding anniversary. As it turned out, it wasn't THAT big of a celebration because I was sick! I know - why in the world would I be sick? It's not like I'd been burning the candle at both ends or anything. Good grief.

So, because I felt so bad and could hardly drag myself out of bed, I finally broke down and went to the doctor. I saw one of the new docs in the practice and she noticed that the last three times I'd been in had been for (surprise) FATIGUE. Ya don't say? (Oh, and she did mention that I've gained 15 pounds in the past year since my last visit. She did blood work to check my thyroid. Uh, whatever. I can tell you why I've gained 15 pounds...start reading from the top of this entry and multiply that stress by 12 months. That should just about equal 15 pounds.)

That brings us to Christmas. I've been off for one week already and I'm not scheduled to go back to work until the first Monday in January - a nice, well-deserved breather.

The Punkin got a Wii for Christmas. What a hoot that thing is! We've had a blast playing with it so far; now we're waiting for some store somewhere to get another shipment of Wii Fit in stock so we can have an animated computer figure tell us how fat we are. HAHAHA!

I have plenty of pictures to post - as soon as I get around to getting them off the memory card. Hopefully sometime this week. Oh, and I did do a little knitting between all of that stuff; something has to keep me sane.

One Day as I Was Walking, Walking to the Fair...

2008-10-27T17:47:00.006-04:00

Check it out... I'm now an "award winning" crafter! (Stop laughing; I can hear you.) I entered 14 items in the fair in my hometown and each of them won something! Now, it could be that everyone won something, but I prefer to think that the judges were simply smitten by my clearly superior handiwork. Yeah, we'll go with that.

This is the Golden Child jacket, hat and boots set by Candi Jensen and each item got a blue ribbon. I crocheted them in Lion Brand Suede solely because I fell in love with the pattern, not because I like anyone enough to give them a baby gift made of $75 worth of yarn.

The pink afghan won a white ribbon. The pattern is from Simple Crochet for Cherished Babies by Jane Davis. It works up quickly and is my "go to" pattern for most baby presents I've made recently.

In this view: the pastel bag on the top won a white ribbon. The socks below (Flame Wave by Ann Budd) won a red ribbon and my Monkey Socks won blue. The brightly colored bag (below and right of the pastel one) won a white ribbon. You might remember it as the bag that caused me to lose my religion with my sewing machine. The blue/green hoodie won a red ribbon. It's a good thing they didn't put in on a real kid. I know kids have big heads but it would take a ginormous head to fill up that hood. I think it was something wrong with the pattern. I'm just sayin'....

The green ballerina neck sweater won a red ribbon. (I actually expected blue and would have liked to have seen the entry that got first place.)

My "Game Day Hobo Bag", a pattern of my own design, won a red ribbon! I had two dishcloths and another kid sweater that I entered on a lark and all of them won ribbons, too.

All in all, I'm pretty pleased with the winnings from my first Fair entries; prize money . . . not so much. All 14 projects netted a whopping $33! I'm rich! I'm rich! A quick shout out to my mom who took the pictures for me: "Yahoo, Mom! You rock!"

WARNING: Political Rant!

2008-09-30T19:03:00.005-04:00

Those of you who aren’t interested in politics or our financial crisis need not read further. And if you’re one of my “church lady” readers, there’s going to be some harsh language – you’ve been duly warned.

Ladies and gentlemen, I’m mad as hell and I’m not going to take it anymore! I’m sick of Congress and the Media thinking that we’re stupid myrmidons and we can’t do our own research and that we should just assume that everything they tell us is the gospel truth. Well I’m NOT stupid; in fact, I’m extremely intelligent and my head isn’t so far up my “politics” that I can’t see a line of crap when it’s fed to me.

I’m more than just a little torqued that the Administration thinks that the money I work my ass off for should be taken FROM me at the threat of jail and used to bail out companies that made bad business decisions. No one bailed ME out when, as an ill-principled college grad, I ran up astronomical credit card bills. No one! I worked HARD to pay off those debts and it took me more than 10 years! But, by God, they’re gone – as are my student loans. And no, I didn’t get a consolidation loan; I scrimped and scraped and spent nights and weekends at home until they were paid off. Big surprise – LESSON LEARNED – do you think I’ll EVER get in that shape again. HELL NO!

So, here begins my RANT on this financial crisis and how, why and who caused it. I’ve linked where appropriate so that you can do your own research. You aren’t going to hear this on the CBS News with perky little Katie Couric because it makes certain people and their party look bad and that doesn’t fit the mold of the news they see fit to share.

The Community Reinvestment Act of 1977 was a bill passed under the Carter administration. The Bill, like most, had good intentions but was manipulated for political gain. Designed to invest dollars in community revitalization, this Act was hijacked under the Clinton administration by groups like ACORN (I’ll get to them later) and used to brow-beat leading institutions into lowering their lending standards to make loans to people who would have not qualified under standard lending practices, hence the onslaught of sub-prime lending. Now for an aside – do you REALLY THINK for one minute that any bank, out of the charity of their heart, is going to loan money to someone they KNOW cannot afford to repay it? Of course not – that’s corporate suicide! They wouldn’t loan it unless, they were forced/coerced by the government to do so. (This is where Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae come in.)

Freddie and Fannie were NEVER government entities - they were Government SPONSORED Entities (GSEs) which means that they looked from the outside to be a true government entity, like the FDIC. The banks and lending institutions were leery of making these kinds of loans until Freddie and Fannie stepped in to say, “Hey, we’ve got your back. Make the loans, bundle them together and we’ll buy them from you.” Now, as a GSE, Freddie and Fannie were not governed by the same rules and oversight that normal corporations are subject to. In fact, Republicans warned against the coming disaster while trying to pass the Federal Housing Enterprise Regulatory Reform Act of 2005, which sought to curtail these kinds of lending practices. The warnings were NOT headed and the legislation was soundly defeated by Democrats in the Congress. In fact, some Congressmen went as far as to say that there was nothing wrong with Freddie and Fannie and the simple act of trying to clean them up amounted to a “political lynching” of Franklin Raines, the then CEO of Fannie Mae (who happens to be black) and now a financial advisor to the Obama campaign.) Under Raines leadership, Fannie is accused of cooking the books to generate fat bonuses for their leadership, including Raines. They were then forced to restate their earnings wiping out almost $9 billion in reported earnings.

Back to ACORN, the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, ACORN is one of those “community organizing” groups that the Media is so fond of these days. What they don’t tell you is how they operate – or at least how they operated in the time period leading up to this financial meltdown. For example, ACORN representatives jammed the lobbies of banks, confronted bank executives at their homes, blocked the drive-thru teller lanes of banks, and otherwise intimidated banks into making these risky loans. So how is ACORN involved with Barack Obama? Obama was a trainer and an attorney for the organization during his community organizer days in Chicago. His campaign has paid more than half a million dollars to ACORN for “get out the vote” efforts. Speaking of “get out the vote efforts,” there are MANY instances of ACORN being involved in blatant voter registration fraud – some of them are detailed here – you can Google each of them for yourself. (For the sake of space, I didn't include links here.)

So, for the sanctimonious Nancy Pelosi to stand on her "pulpit" in the House of Representatives and preach to me about how it’s “all the Republican’s fault” that this happened is pure crap and a load of unadulterated lies – and she knows it. She also knows that most Americans get their news from ABC, CBS and NBC and they aren’t going to tell the whole story. Her lies are safe - safely perpetuated by the Media. (Which is why I do my OWN research.)

Were the Republicans PARTLY responsible? You betcha! Were they SOLELY responsible – OF COURSE NOT and it's stupid to try to place all the blame there! And for Pelosi, Barney Franks and Harry Reid to continue to pontificate that it’s the Bush Administration’s “failed economic policies” is an affront to the US Constitution. My understanding of that sacred document is that it’s the HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES responsibility to initiate EACH AND EVERY spending bill, NOT the President's responsibility (no matter his party affiliation). So, Nancy need look no further than her position as Speaker of the House to find the ultimate blame. Where I work, the buck stops with ME - I don't get to pass blame to others. Buck up, Nancy!

Rick Warren once said that “you can’t fix the problem if you’re consumed with fixing the blame.” So, shut up Nancy and get about the business of fixing what CAUSED the problem instead of trying to put a $700 billion dollar band-aid over it!

Finally, to use my friend Jodi's words, "Nancy Pelosi, do you wanna piece of me?" Bring. It. On. I’m done and I’m going to uncork a bottle of Chardonnay. Discuss…

Hysterical!

2008-09-30T08:22:00.002-04:00

Tim Hawkins is a Christian comedian and is hysterical. If you go to a church that does Praise & Worship music, you'll get a BIG kick out of this clip.

I'm Happy To Report

2008-09-26T08:57:00.003-04:00

I'm quite happy to report that today (cue the music...) I am FINALLY GETTING MY ROOTS DONE! (Ta-Da!) So, after 2:30 this afternoon I will no longer look like a country-music-fan-fest-4 wheel truck-driving-Redneck-Princess anymore. Not that there's anything wrong with that...it's just not the "look" I'm going for. It's actually gotten so bad that, thank God I work from home a lot, I've resorted to the college-just-rolled-out-of-bed ball-cap-wearing look.

For effect, I took this pic just now with Photo Booth on my Mac. Nice. Really nice. So, obviously you can understand my excitement about getting my hair fixed. :)

In the world of crafty endeavors, I'm working on some new projects. (Please, contain your shock...) All better? I've started this cute little cardigan (#22 on the link) using some stashed Lion Brand Microspun in a pretty purplish-blue Lilac. I currently have not one, not two, not three, but FOUR pair of socks on the needles; three on double points and one pair on one LONG circular. (I'm trying to teach myself to knit two at a time using this book.) So far...OK. I'm a "neat knitter" and getting started on this method is so far from neat that it drives me crazy. It's a hot mess!

I was going to enter some of my work, both knit and crochet, in the Gwinnett County Fair - however, I missed the registration deadline. As it turns out, that's good for all the folks who DID enter their "work" in the fair because I would have SO hated to make them look bad. My stuff was WAY better than their stuff. I'm just sayin'. (Bless their hearts.) So I'm going to send a whole bunch of it down to Statesboro so my mom can enter it for me in the Kiwanis Ogeechee Fair. Since I'm FROM Statesboro, I see no problem with this plan whatsoever. I'll post pics later of everything I'm entering, 15 projects in all. Who knows, I might actually win enough for a trip to Starbucks - or a gallon of gas! (Ha!)

Woohoo!

After Which Nothing Was the Same

2008-09-11T20:26:00.003-04:00

I remember it like it was yesterday. I was working in sales at BellSouth and had just popped my computer into the docking station at my desk and hit my radio's "on" button to listen to WSB AM 750 (and my boy, Boortz) when I heard the news.

What? A plane? Like a BIG one, or a little one? Oh, most definitely a big one.

We all ended up in the Vice President's office watching the news unfold on the TV in her conference room. Numb. Shell-shocked. Speechless. Quiet ... odd, still, deafening quiet. Who could possibly work on a day like today?

The girls and I went to Jocks 'n Jills for lunch because we knew they'd have on every news network. We sat for 2 hours and ate in near silence - remarkable for our group. How could this happen? In America? This kind of stuff happens somewhere else. Not. Here. All I could think about was my 9-month old at the baby sitter's house and how I wanted, no needed, to get there to hold her.

A fog. A fog that lasted for days and days and days. You'd blink, thinking that it was a dream and you could just blink, wake up and will it away. But no, it was real. Painfully, heart-wrenchingly real.

After 09-11-01, nothing was the same. Never will be. To this day I cannot step foot on a commercial airliner - for business or pleasure - without thinking of those people who, on 9-11-01, were going about their business . . . like they did every day before and thought they'd do every day after. But it wasn't an ordinary day. It was a day that profoundly changed us all - affected us to the core of our beings. Forever.

And I will never, ever, forget.........

Gettin' Cozy

2008-08-26T17:21:00.005-04:00

So, I had some cotton yarn in my stash, but not enough of any one color to make a sweater. And since I'm not that found of a "Coat of Many Colors" for myself; I wondered what I should make with said cotton yarn.

I happened to have just bought a case of Caffeine Free Diet Coke ('cause it tastes better than regular Diet Coke), I decided that those cans needed Cozies. So I grabbed a size G crochet hook and set out to designing. This is what I came up with.

The pink/orange/white one is totally random and made from scraps. The pink and black one gets me in touch with my "Diva/Princess" self. The pink camo one gets me in touch with my "Redneck Princess" self. (HA! I kill me. Redneck Princess...)

This blue and orange one is an experimentation in "team colors" - if your team colors happen to be blue and orange (University of Florida, Auburn....)

Then I thought, if you can make a can cozy, why not one for a bottle? So I did...

Red and black for the 'Dawgs. Some fuzzy boucle novelty stuff at the top. Now that I look at it, it should have been a little taller.

This "making up my own pattern thing" was working for me so I decided to take it a step further (or maybe a couple of steps). I designed my own mini hobo bag!

How cute is that? It's about 7.5" long x 2.5" wide x 6" tall. It even has a zipper! (Don't worry - I didn't sew it with my sewing machine - I actually LEARN from my mistakes.)

Another shot with the handle up...

It's perfect for "game day" - just big enough for your wallet or ID, some cash, keys and lipstick. Since I'm really NOT a Georgia Bulldogs fan, I'm not sure what I'm going to do with a red and black purse...

So, what do you think? Not too shabby for the first couple of original "OneCraftyChick Designs" patterns, huh? I have PDF copies if you're interested.

You're Ruining My Life!

2008-08-17T18:35:00.003-04:00

Those of you know me well know that the Punkin has NEVER, I repeat, never been one to sleep through the night in her own bed. To say that we've been struggling of late with the sleep in your own room thing would be a gross understatement.

So, last Thursday night was a doozy. Friday morning was not much better (considering none of us had had much sleep). So, after the battle to get her off to school, THIS is the note that was waiting for me on the white board in her room. For the benefit of those who cannot read I-just-started-second-grade phonetic spelling, it says "You ruin everything in my life and you need to say you're sorry."

She has NO idea how much I can ruin her life. Just wait until she's a teenager! So, we're beginning to employ several techniques to get her to sleep in her room ALL night. Or at least to NOT come into our room in the middle of the night to wake us up. I'm sure there will be more to come on this subject.

In crafty news, I'm working on the Farm Fresh blanket from the Candi Blankies book by Candi Jensen. Right now it would be a terribly boring picture to post - since all I've got finished thus far is about 3/4 of the green "field" that the cute sheep hang out in. Hopefully I'll finish this week. Fingers crossed.

Laundry Update!

2008-08-15T15:55:00.002-04:00

I'm happy to report that my 8 loads of laundry have all been folded. Not put away, yet, but folded. Baby steps, friends, baby steps.

The Bag Lady and Her Albatross

2008-08-05T08:03:00.003-04:00

I've been called a "bag lady" before, and with just cause. You see, I do love the bags. Here's my parade of finished bags from last week. I can't find one that the Punkin absconded with but it wasn't that great anyway.

This is the one that gave me fits with the sewing machine. You can't see the inside, but I ended up hand-stitching the ribbon to the handles and the top edge of the inside of the bag.

This one was done (*cough*) two years ago as a baby gift that obviously never got gifted. It's based on a Candy Jensen pattern and was super easy. (They all were super easy; crochet works up fast.)

This one. Well, it took a little longer. You can't tell from this picture, but it's made up of 26 triangles that are sewn together. Twenty-six triangles = LOTS of ends to weave in. A royal PITA (pain in the arse), but cute, no? It's a pattern from BH&G Easy Crochet a couple of years ago. Again, I made up all the triangles a while back and just got around to sewing them together last week.
So, my friend Robin on Facebook reads my status on Saturday (which said "Hanging out at the PGA Superstore looking for a new driver" 'cause that's what I was doing) and comments, "Sewing, scrapbooking, marathons and now golf! Is there anything you don't do?"

Uh, yeah, right. That would be housework. Laundry, my Albatross, to be specific. This is the pile of CLEAN clothes in my office/craft room that have yet to be folded and put away.

Let's look at the pile from another angle, shall we?

Nice. The Flylady would be so disappointed in me.

I'm on a Roll...

2008-07-31T21:17:00.002-04:00

Seriously! Three - count 'em - THREE finished objects in ONE week. (And "they" said I never finish anything.) After the sewing machine fiasco, I got inspired to break out some other unfinished bags and move them from the "to do" bin to the "Ta Da!" (done) pile. I don't have pictures taken yet - no time to take pictures when you're busy stitching - but TRUST me when I say, there are three bags hanging from the desk in my craft room. I'll post pictures soon, but for now, I'm on a roll....

There's Joy in the 'Boro!

2008-07-27T20:50:00.002-04:00

I'm back from "the 'Boro" after a whirlwind weekend. My dear friend Joy did a concert at my parents church so we went down to support her. I didn't take any video but here's a snipit of her with my choir a few years ago. Hope you enjoy. Go to iTunes and buy her stuff. You won't be disappointed.

A Rant About a @#$% Sewing Machine

2008-07-24T21:38:00.005-04:00

It should have been an easy project - just adding some 3/4" grosgrain ribbon to the inside of the handles of a bag I finished crocheting. You know - a little something "extra" to finish it off nicely. Should is the operative word here. I'm here to tell you that nothing (do you hear me? Nothing!) sends me over the edge, makes me cuss like a sailor, drives me to drink copious amounts of wine, than my dang sewing machine! Apparently, I am NOT smarter than a 5th grader because this little bit of straight line sewing kicked my proverbial arse!

First, there was the bobbin. Oh, the bobbin. The @#$%^&* bobbin! (I could sew if it weren't for the bobbin, but I digress.) You see, I wanted to use this shiny, hot pink for the top thread and a really cool transparent (clear) for the bobbin thread - so the bobbin thread wouldn't show through on the outside of the bag. Um. Not. In. This. Lifetime.

This is just some of the thread I wasted in my multiple attempts to wind my bobbin. (Why didn't I have an interest in sewing while my grandmother was living? Why!) If nothing, I'm persistent. I refuse to be licked by a heap of cheap plastic. (Translated: I wound, unwound, rewound - not with one color, but with three! Hot Pink. Clear. Light Pink.)

These are the handles after much fussin', cussin' and general "un-christian-like" behavior. I didn't get a close up shot because I didn't want you to see how crooked my "straight" stitching was. UGH!

This is the (still) unfinished bag. I will HAND stitch the handles onto the bag. I will hand stitch my label into the bag. And I will never try to do this on my sewing machine again.

I. Do. Solemnly. Swear. (So help me, God.)

Or, maybe I should just take a sewing lesson? What do you think?

Ah...Summer!

2008-07-14T18:58:00.005-04:00

If it weren't for the sweltering heat, the oppressive humidity and the total lack of rain, I would really, REALLY love summer. Don't get me wrong, it's WAY better than winter. (Though in winter you can put on extra clothes to stay warm. There is an acceptable limit to the amount of clothes you can remove in the summer and still be "presentable." I'm just sayin'. ) Any who, I thought I show you what I've been doing on my summer vacation (insert hysterical laughter here since I've actually had no vacation to speak of...)

I present to you my hydrangeas. Bask in their splendor.....

And this was after the "first cutting." I've given some to friends and I'm on my third week/vase full of blooms. What's left now is covered with spider webs and those of you who know me know that I don't do spiders. (There's that unfortunate incident while learning to drive when I found one crawling across my skirt and I, uh, let go of the steering wheel. Riiiight. We won't mention that one again.)

I also went to the Deeper Still women's conference at Phillips Arena with 19,000 of my closest friends. It was great fun with wonderful teachers (Priscilla Schirer, Beth Moore and Kay Arthur). If you have one coming to a town near you I highly recommend it - if you can still get tickets. Here's the only picture I took - the place was packed to the rafters with women. Our church had a "party suite" complete with leather recliners - one of which I promptly procured for myself the first night.

Check out my "pretty little cupcakes all in a row..."

That was Punkin's idea and I, being the obliging mother that I am, had to assist in baking them. They're presently cooling and awaiting a covering of Better Crocker vanilla frosting directly from the can, 'cause that's how I roll.

Speaking of rolling, that's what I'll be doing after I eat these. You'll have to roll my fat arse right out of the kitchen! Oh well, just another sacrifice for the children. :)

Long Time, No See!

2008-07-02T23:07:00.003-04:00

Well, it's been awhile since I last posted (like...more than a month) and you might be wondering what I've been up to. Well, I've been playing on Facebook. I know it sounds sad and desperate, but I've found LOTS of people who I used go to school with (both high school and college) and others that I've just lost touch with over the years. Remarkable, really, that it takes something like Facebook to get people to connect.

I've also been taking classes at the Apple store to REALLY learn how to use my iMac. Check it out....

I made this video of the Punkin leaning to ride her bike. I took the video/pics with my digital camera and edited it all together using iMovie. Why did I wait SO long to get a Mac?

On the knitting front, I did finish the Harlot Socks but haven't taken any pics. I'm working on another pair of "plain" socks and I still have the fancy Embossed Leaves pair that I'm almost halfway through. Other than that, it's just too hot to knit. I'm already stashing away some projects for the fall, though.

My big project at the Death Star has (finally) kicked in so I'm thinking that I'll probably need to do a lot of knitting this fall just to stay sane. I've also decided to train for The Weather Channel Half Marathon on Thanksgiving - that'll help to manage the stress from work. I'll keep you posted on that progress, too.

Much more to come...

Update on the iMac

2008-05-27T19:12:00.003-04:00

Being a life-long PC user, I was a little worried about the learning curve on the iMac. I know. I know. Everyone that has one says that "once you go Mac you never go back." I'm happy to report that I'm almost there. There are a few quirky things that I haven't figured out how to do yet but I'm working on it. I finally got the outgoing email to work on Monday so I've been able to retire my Yahoo! Mail for a little longer.

I took my first Apple One to One class on Monday and took a list of questions with me (would you have expected anything less from me than an annotated list?) and the guy was great. He answered all my questions, patiently showing me how to do everything. We spent the rest of my session playing with iPhoto - which could possibly be the coolest photo thingie ever.

Speaking of photos, here's one my mom took this past weekend when she and my dad were here. Ain't my Punkin big? Not sure what's going on with her new "model poses" but they are cute.

Speaking of my mom... "Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday to you-oooo! Happy Birthday to you!" (Trust me, that's way better than me singing it.)

It's Been Awhile

2008-05-25T22:19:00.002-04:00

For the four people who actually read this blog, you'll notice that it's been awhile since I last posted. My brother and his girlfriend were here last weekend and we spent all day Saturday at the AT&T Classic and all day Sunday playing golf.

Then, our computer finally bit the dust. (Insert moment of silence....) Last Thursday when we had finally had enough of fooling around with it, we trekked up to the Apple Store at the Mall of Georgia and bought an iMac 2.4GHz. I wish I could say it was "sweet" - but I'm not there just yet.

You see, I'm a lifelong PC user and the transition has been less than easy for me. All of my little shortcuts no longer work. I can't "right click save as" or "right click open in a new window." And to top it all off, I can't SEND email and I can't get the thing to recognize my card reader so I can import all 650 pictures currently on the card into iPhoto. (iPhoto is one of the coolest things about the iMac - a definite selling point for me.)

So, tomorrow, on Memorial Day, instead of sleeping late, I'll be trekking back to the Apple store at 9:00 in the morning for my first "One to One" session. Apparently that's where they take those of us who are in PC detox and slowly teach us how to use our new Macs.

Maybe they'll at least teach me how to work my email and load my photos. After all, a blog without photos is just the tiniest bit boring! I'm just saying...

Mother's Day

2008-05-10T21:10:00.001-04:00

Look what I got for Mother's Day... They'll be here sometime this week. WooHoo! To prepare for their arrival, we went to the Superstore and to the driving range this evening. Punkin hit her clubs and is doing quite well. She got a new golf glove at the Superstore and thought she was 'da bomb! How cute is that? We're thinking that she's going to be a better golfer than gymnast - she can't point her toes (kinda hard to be a good gymnast if you can't point your toes).

I sold some stash yarn on Ebay - at least (overall) made my money back. Someone in PA got a dealio on some Hobby Lobby Yarn Bee eyelash yarn - 20 balls for $8.50. It retails for $2.97 per ball - I only paid $1 each for it. I made up the difference on some Lion Brand Homespun that was gifted to me. Those 10 skeins sold for $15.50. All together - $24, $4 more than I had "invested" in the eyelash. As they say, one man's trash....

Taking the Edge Off

2008-05-08T19:41:00.004-04:00

Nothing takes the edge off a perfectly crappy day at the Death Star like a nice glass (or two...or a bottle) of Chardonnay

and some new sock yarn.

That's 600 yards of hand painted from Spider Goddess in the Lucinda colorway - a lovely blend of pink, red and orange.
Can't wait to start a new pair with it, but first, I have to finish the Harlot Socks.

I'd say I'm about 85% done - I have a little more of the foot to finish, then the toe and I'm calling them done. I've been working on them on the train when I have to work downtown. Funny the looks you get when you knit on the train - it's almost like you have a communicable disease or something. The train can be packed with one seat left next to me and the knitting and seriously people will STAND rather than sit next to me. I'm mean, really, dude, I'm NOT going to poke you with them! Hello! Occasionally people will ask "what are you knitting?" and I'll politely reply "Socks. Keeps my hands busy..." but that's as far as the conversation goes. I'm waiting for someone to say something stupidly inappropriate like "they sell socks in stores" or "I wish I had time to do something like that..." so I can say "My parole officer recommended knitting to keep my hands busy. You know after what happened the last time...." How funny would THAT be? No one would ever sit next to me again. What a hoot!

On other sock yarn news - I've ordered my first skeins of Blue Moon Fiber Arts Socks that Rock in the Dixie Chick and Watermelon Tourmaline colorways. Can't wait to get them -should be sometime either tomorrow or Saturday. Happy Mother's Day to me! I have my eye on Pixie Park but I'm waiting to see if I like using this yarn before I "invest" anymore into it.

I thought you'd like to see some of the other yarn that I've gotten over the past few weeks.

Check this out....

This is 100 yards of Kollage Yarns Cornucopia in the Wine colorway - made of 100% corn!

Who knew they could make yarn out of corn?

This is 150 yards of Manos del Uruguay silk blend (30% silk and 70% merino wool) - it pretty much has all of my favorite colors in it.

I'm not sure what I'll be doing with it but I love it.

This is 270 yards of Louet Claudia Hand Painted linen in the Fresia colorway. The photo just doesn't do it justice - it's beautiful!

So pretty and orangey-pink. I got this and the Manos from Knitch when I went to see the Yarn Harlot.

This is my first purchase of the famed Koigu Painter's Palette Premium Merino in a beautiful colorway that should have a name but only has a number (912, which now that I look at it is the same number as my mom's area code - what a kawinkeydink, huh?).

It, too, has all my favorite colors. I'm not sure what I'll do with 2 skeins of it but I'm sure it'll be wonderful! I got this and the Cornucopia from Patternworks.

Lest you say that I have a "yarn" problem (to go with my "wine" problem, HA!) I'm happy to report that I currently have two eBay auctions ending tomorrow for some stash yarn that I'm getting rid of. I'm got 20 balls of [what I now consider hideous] eyelash yarn from Hobby Lobby and 10 skeins of Lion Brand Homespun that was gifted to me. Just doing my part to share the yarn-ey love with other crafters! Knit on!

Make Note of This - I FINISHED SOMETHING!

2008-04-30T21:21:00.005-04:00

There were those (Bill) who said it couldn't be done - that I would never actually finish anything that I started. But yet... TA DA! I present to you a completely, totally finished, wearable sweater. BAM! That's what I'm talking about!

Head shot... (Punkin took these pics so they're slightly shy of centered.)

Dining room table shot...

Close up of the eyelet lace at the cuffs and hem.

I know. A first. It's one thing to finish socks (hello - they're in your shoes - no one sees them). It's another thing to finish little bitties for little babies. It entirely something else to finish something that YOU can wear in PUBLIC in front of people and NOT have it fall apart! Very cool. I wore it to work yesterday and half of "my girlz" were working from home and didn't get to see it. Total bummer. But hey, I have full-out pictures to prove it. As Madea says, "I lurve it."

Little Miss Personality

2008-04-25T21:31:00.001-04:00

Claudia had this on her blog, and being one who's always up for another personality test, I had to do it, too. So, here goes - if you know me, let me know what you think.

You Are An ENTP

The Visionary

You are charming, outgoing, friendly. You make a good first impression.

You possess good negotiating skills and can convince anyone of anything.

Happy to be the center of attention, you love to tell stories and show off.

You're very clever, but not disciplined enough to do well in structured environments.

In love, you see everything as a grand adventure. You enjoy taking risks for love.

And if things don't work out, you're usually not too much worse for the wear!

You would make a great entrepreneur, marketing executive, or actor.

At work, you need a lot of freedom to pursue your own path and vision.

How you see yourself: Analytical, creative, and peaceful

When other people don't get you, they see you as: Detached, wishy-washy, and superficial

What's Your Personality Type?

Life's To Do List

2008-04-22T19:56:00.004-04:00

JP posted this to his blog and I thought it looked like fun. If you want to do it, too, copy and paste and then bold everything that you've done. Post a comment on JP's blog so he'll know.

Here goes...

Life's To Do List

01. Bought everyone in the bar a drink
02. Swam with wild dolphins
03. Climbed a mountain
04. Taken a Ferrari for a test drive
05. Been inside the Great Pyramid
06. Held a tarantula (NOT on your LIFE! Never! Am I clear?)
07. Taken a candlelit bath with someone
08. Said ‘I love you’ and meant it
09. Hugged a tree
10. Bungee jumped
11. Visited Paris
12. Watched a lightning storm at sea
13. Stayed up all night long and saw the sun rise
14. Seen the Northern Lights
15. Gone to a huge sports game (huge is relative but it was huge to me)
16. Walked the stairs to the top of the leaning Tower of Pisa
17. Grown and eaten your own vegetables
18. Touched an iceberg
19. Slept under the stars
20. Changed a baby’s diaper
21. Taken a trip in a hot air balloon
22. Watched a meteor shower
23. Gotten drunk on champagne
24. Given more than you can afford to charity
25. Looked up at the night sky through a telescope
26. Had an uncontrollable giggling fit at the worst possible moment
27. Had a food fight
28. Bet on a winning horse
29. Asked out a stranger (and dated for a while)
30. Had a snowball fight
31. Screamed as loudly as you possibly can
32. Held a lamb
33. Seen a total eclipse
34. Ridden a roller coaster
35. Hit a home run
36. Danced like a fool and not cared who was looking
37. Adopted an accent for an entire day (does Southern count?)
38. Actually felt happy about your life, even for just a moment
39. Had two hard drives for your computer
40. Visited all 10 provinces
41. Taken care of someone who was drunk
42. Had amazing friends (had? still have!)
43. Danced with a stranger in a foreign country
44. Watched wild whales
45. Stolen a sign
46. Backpacked in Europe (I have a backpack and I've been to Europe, does that count?)
47. Taken a road-trip
48. Gone rock climbing
49. Midnight walk on the beach
50. Gone sky diving
51. Visited Ireland
52. Been heartbroken longer then you were actually in love
53. In a restaurant, sat at a stranger’s table and had a meal with them
54. Visited Japan
55. Milked a cow
56. Alphabetized your cds
57. Pretended to be a superhero
58. Sung karaoke
59. Lounged around in bed all day
60. Posed nude in front of strangers
61. Gone scuba diving (but I'd like to)
62. Kissed in the rain
63. Played in the mud
64. Played in the rain
65. Gone to a drive-in theater
66. Visited the Great Wall of China
67. Started a business
68. Fallen in love and not had your heart broken (sigh..)
69. Toured ancient sites
70. Taken a martial arts class
71. Played D&D for more than 6 hours straight
72. Gotten married
73. Been in a movie
74. Crashed a party
75. Gotten divorced
76. Gone without food for 5 days
77. Made cookies from scratch
78. Won first prize in a costume contest
79. Ridden a gondola in Venice
80. Gotten a tattoo
81. Rafted the Snake River
82. Been on television news programs as an “expert”
83. Got flowers for no reason
84. Performed on stage
85. Been to Las Vegas
86. Recorded music (yep - singing back up)
87. Eaten shark
88. Had a one-night stand
89. Gone to Thailand
90. Bought a house
91. Been in a combat zone
92. Buried one of your parents
93. Been on a cruise ship
94. Spoken more than one language fluently
95. Performed in Rocky Horror.
96. Raised children (still raisin')
97. Followed your favorite band/singer on tour
98. Created and named your own constellation of stars
99. Taken an exotic bicycle tour in a foreign country
100. Picked up and moved to another city to just start over
101. Walked the Golden Gate Bridge
102. Sang loudly in the car, and didn’t stop when you knew someone was looking
103. Had plastic surgery
104. Survived an illness that you shouldn’t have survived
105. Wrote articles for a large publication
106. Lost over 100 pounds
107. Held someone while they were having a flashback
108. Piloted an airplane
109. Petted a stingray
110. Broken someone’s heart (not that I know of)
111. Helped an animal give birth
112. Won money on a T.V. game show
113. Broken a bone (just a toe and a finger)
114. Gone on an African photo safari
115. Had a body part of yours below the neck pierced
116. Fired a rifle, shotgun, or pistol (HELLO? I'm from SOUTH Georgia!)
117. Eaten mushrooms that were gathered in the wild
118. Ridden a horse
119. Had major surgery
120. Had a snake as a pet (no ma'am...)
121. Hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon
122. Slept for more than 30 hours over the course of 48 hours
123. Visited more foreign countries than U.S. states
124. Visited all 7 continents
125. Taken a canoe trip that lasted more than 2 days
126. Eaten kangaroo meat
127. Eaten sushi
128. Had your picture in the newspaper
129. Changed someone’s mind about something you care deeply about
130. Gone back to school
131. Parasailed
132. Petted a cockroach (WHY would you want to do that?)
133. Eaten fried green tomatoes (Yum!)
134. Read The Iliad - and the Odyssey
135. Selected one “important” author who you missed in school, and read
136. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
137. Skipped all your school reunions
138. Communicated with someone without sharing a common spoken language
139. Been elected to public office (nope; but I've thought about running for one...)
140. Written your own computer language
141. Thought to yourself that you’re living your dream
142. Had to put someone you love into hospice care
143. Built your own PC from parts
144. Sold your own artwork to someone who didn’t know you (does knitting/crochet count?)
145. Had a booth at a street fair
146: Dyed your hair (brown, red, blonde...)
147: Been a DJ
148: Shaved your head
149: Caused a car accident
150: Saved someone’s life

FCS3, 10Ks and New Girlfriends (not mine!)

2008-04-22T17:40:00.008-04:00

(The Blogger photo uploader is starting to pi$$ me off so there may or may not be photos with this post. I tried to post on 4/16 but the photo uploader kept giving me error messages. I tried again today and. Same. Freaking. Thing. Driving me NUTS! Sometimes it works...sometimes it doesn't.)

We went to Statesboro the weekend of April 10th (my brother's b-day) through April 13th and here's what we did...

To recap, strawberry pickin' - looks yummy, huh? Nothing better than picking your own strawberries. :)

We played a little golf . . . though some of us didn't play so well.

This is my brother and his cute new girlfriend - she's absolutely adorable; I couldn't have picked a better one. They're planning on coming to ATL for the AT&T Classic; she's a big golfer. (Which means that Bill thinks she's great, too.) Her only flaw is that she's a University of Florida grad and my brother is a huge University of Georgia fan. Oh well, opposites DO attract - or so they say.

This is where I WOULD post the picture of what I got from my FCS3 secret pal - Susan from Knitter's Delight. She sent 7 balls of Elann Camilla in a pretty shade of peachy-pink, the pattern for what will be my first shawl, a candle, some great beads, a notepad and various other little goodies. I posted about it here - the photo loader was working THAT day...

Here's what Claudia had to say about what I sent her. All in all, FCS3 was quite fun and I'll definitely do it again.

Last Saturday my friend Kimberly and I did the Corners to Crossing 10K. We walked - she's not a runner and I'm totally out of "race shape" and couldn't have run anyway. We finished in 1:35:48 (me) and 1:35:49 (her). Not bad given neither of us trained for it and only signed up a week before the race. We're planning on doing the Big Peach Running Company 5K on May 3rd - I'll let you know how that one goes; I'm thinking of trying to actually run that one since it's only 3.1 miles. This year all of their proceeds go to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's Team in Training, of which, as you know, I'm a big fan.

Well, that pretty much catches me up for now. If I could stop playing on Ravelry I would probably post more often. :)

Knit on, friends!

I Saw the Yarn Harlot

2008-04-07T18:03:00.002-04:00

And proved once again what a total moron I am. Remember the last time the Harlot was in ATL? Right. Had a ticket - decided to stay home and help celebrate the hubby's birthday. Later found out that he would have been OK with me going to see her?

Well, I went yesterday and spent 6 hours with 600 of my closest knitting friends. (Here's where the moron part comes in.) Took my camera...No. Freaking. Memory. Card! OMG - You're kidding me, right? Idiot!

Anyway, the Evil Science Chick and Grace have some great pics posted and there are some in the AJC article, too. I won a prize at the raffle - an autographed copy of New Pathways for Sock Knitters by Cat Bordhi. The Harlot signed my book - she's as funny and charming as I imagined her. She's the kind of girl you'd like to hang with over a plate of nachos and a cold beer.

The next time she comes, I'll be WAY more prepared.

Late to the Party

2008-04-02T23:23:00.003-04:00

I've been a Ravelry member since October 2007. However I JUST started seriously playing on it. Oh. My. Gosh. How have I not paid attention to this before? Now I know why and how people spend so much time on there. It's very addictive! Like, right now I should be in bed (because it's 11:30 on a "school" night) but what am I doing? Playing on Ravelry and blogging!

I now want to dig out all of my un-finished objects (did I mention I have can'tfinishitis?), photograph them and load them into my project file. Perhaps the accountability of actually having them posted on a forum where other people can see them will motivate me to actually finish a few. Hey! I can hear you laughing at me and that's not nice! :)

(Still no time to post pics from the trip last weekend, but I will. Gotta couple of big projects at the DeathStar that are due by the end of the week.)

I'm Back!

2008-03-30T19:32:00.000-04:00

I'm back from my trip to Fort Mountain and we had a great time. Even though it rained most of Friday night and ALL day on Saturday we managed to get in a little hiking (can you say "out of shape?") and a little sight seeing in Ellijay. I have lots of pics to post but I'm burried in muddy, dirty laundry right now so that'll have to wait until tomorrow. More to come!

One of Those Days

2008-03-27T19:59:00.004-04:00

I must be PMS-ing or something because I've had one of "those" days. You know the kind. The day where you have grandiose plans, make a great start and, at some point, the wheels just fall right off? Yepper. One of THOSE days.

It all started innocently enough. I had a "list." (SIDEBAR: Did I mention I'm a list maker? I make lists of lists...not quite that bad, but almost. I make a list of everything I need to pack, pack the stuff, and pack the list so I can check it off before I leave for my trip back home. I'm sure there's medication for people like me.) Where was I? Oh yes; the list. I had a list of all that I wanted/needed to accomplish today before my weekend in the mountains. I was working away and all the sudden up pops an email from one of the attorneys. Now I'm not sure you've ever worked with attorneys but when they email, they pretty much demand an immediate response. (Funny how it NEVER works the other way - it takes me days to get an answer out of one of them, I'm just sayin'....)

I'm a web master (I know; hard to believe given the savvy-ness of my blog - LOL!) and the attorney needed something posted "right away." No problem. I posted it. Then he finds an error in what HE sent me. Now, as a general rule, I do not edit other people's stuff. If it's crap, it should be their crap - not mine. But I guess he caught me at a weak moment because I edited it. I should have been overly cautious, (after all, it is a document written by an attorney). When I edited it and re-posted it - it went to crap! Pure crap! Red edits all over the thing - on the LIVE server! (I swear it looked "normal" when I saved it.) So I had to figure out exactly how he had turned on the "Track Changes" function and what password he'd used to protect the doc....blahblahblahblahblah.... I finally got totally frustrated, got it to "look" right in Word and wrote that dang thing to a PDF. Problem solved. (Note to self: Do not ever, EVER edit stuff you didn't create!) Lesson learned.

So, that ate up most of my morning and sent me on a downward spiral that ended at a quarter 'til 6 with plenty still to do on my list. There's only one thing that'll fix this day... two glasses of Pinot and a trip to Target.

I'm going to bed. I'll pack for my trip tomorrow. After all, I made a list. :-)

Happy Easter!

2008-03-23T20:43:00.006-04:00

Happy Easter to you! I hope you were able to worship with your family today at the church of your choice. We were at PCBC today and it was packed. I love Christmas, but Easter is my favorite of the Christian holidays...without Easter and the Resurrection, Christianity is just another religion with a dead leader and no hope of a future.

After church, we had lunch with the Jenks and the girls hunted eggs together.

After lunch (WAY after lunch - like 4:00 after lunch) we came home and I took a big nap! I think I woke up about 7:15 PM. I had a screaming headache (can you say p-o-l-l-e-n?) and tried to sleep it off. We were outside all day yesterday doing this...

Working in the yard and getting everything ready for spring. It was pretty warm (low 70s) so I had on a tank top...and got my first sunburn of the season. :(

The we cleaned out the garage. Now I can park my van in there for the first time in (no lie) 4 years!

Then we went down to the school so Punkin could learn to ride her bike with a nice, flat surface since we live at the bottom of two hills. She was a quick learner - I think that gymnastics helped a lot because her balance was great.

She and Bill went back this afternoon when I was napping and practiced some more. She still needs a little help getting going but after that...she's a pro! All in all, it was a great weekend - no knitting...but some things are more important than knitting.

Next weekend we're going to the North Georgia mountains with the Jenks. We have a cabin rented at Fort Mountain State Park. Hopefully the weather will be nice (no rain) and we can do some hiking. I'm sure there will be lots of pics!

Friday Five

2008-03-21T19:51:00.001-04:00

A new "thing" for OneCraftyChick...a Friday Top 5 List. Today's installment: Top 5 Reasons Spring Rocks!
5. Birds chirping early in the morning
4. Daffodils and Tulips (my favorite flower) popping up everywhere
3. Longer days (finally)
2. New flip flops and a pedicure
And the # 1 reason spring rocks...
1. March Madness - Go Tarheels! (I was born in NC)

Favorite Color Swap Questionnaire

2008-03-13T23:07:00.003-04:00

To help my secret pal in the Favorite Color Swap get to know me a little better, I've answered Nichole's questionnaire. Ya might wanna pull up a chair; it's gonna be awhile. Here we go...

1. What are your top three favorite colors? Pink, Turquoise and Yellow (mixed with either brown or black, of course)

2. What crafts do you really enjoy? Knitting, Crochet, Rubber Stamping, Scrapbooking, Cross Stitch & Painting (in that order)

3. What products do you really covet? Unique knitting needles - not your run-of-the-mill Clover (I already have all of those), pretty buttons, anything beaded and sparkly

4. What other activities do you enjoy besides your favorite crafty things? Reading, Running, Golf, Napping (just kidding...not really, napping IS one of my favorite things), Cooking (but not cleaning up afterward), Singing

5. Is there anything you collect? My husband would say I collect hobbies (LOL), Vera Bradley bags, bags in general (I love bags...I must have been a high-class bag lady in a previous life)

6. What is your zodiac sign and/or Chinese zodiac symbol? Aquarius (Que the band..."This is the dawning of the age of Aquarius....")

7.What are your favorite……

scents/smells? light florals (think "just out of the bath tub clean"), the smell of the air after the rain, fresh cut grass, clean babies
types of music and/or bands? Christian - Chris Tomlin, Matt Redman, Country, Classic Rock
authors? I read a lot; and I read a lot of different stuff. Modern Day Classics like "The Devil Wears Prada" or "The Manny" (Riiight, modern day "classics."), Classic Classics like "To Kill a Mockingbird", political books, Christian authors (Beth Moore, Bruce Wilkinson, John Eldridge), business books (like John Maxwell)
animals? I'm a dog person (I know! A knitter who isn't a cat person. Weird, huh? Go figure.)
places to shop? I'm not saying I'm cheap, but I don't like to pay full price for anything. So, Target, TJ Maxx, Nordstom Rack, Marshall's, Ross....you get the picture.
season? Spring and Fall (Summer's too hot and winter's too cold. But like Goldilocks, spring's "just right.")
yarn/fabric/paper/other craft supplies? Any yarn (except Red Heart acrylic - itchy) and any fabric. I love Basic Grey paper, Stampin' Up stamps/inks, and just about any colored pen I can get my hands on.
candies or goodies? Oh please, do you have to ask? I love chocolate - any chocolate. Peeps, Whoppers malted milk balls (which is great 'cause no one else in my family likes those), Girl Scout Cookies...I could go on. How much time do you really have?

8. Do you have any wish lists? Nope; I'm very easy to please. Anything I get in the mail that's not a bill is a good thing.

9. Are you allergic to anything? Nope

10. Do you have any pets? I have 3 dogs - 2 mini schnauzers (one salt & pepper, one black) and a Border Collie. The black schnauzer and the border collie are rescues; the other schnauzer has "papers" and thinks she's "all that." We joke that she's a cat stuck in a dog's body because she's THAT snooty.

11. Other interesting/or not so interesting things about me:

My Ravelry ID is onecraftychick, but I haven't played very much there because of family, work and life in general. Plus, spending time there cuts down on my crafty time.
I love note pads and pens.
I love grosgrain ribbon.
I'm a pattern person - stripes, polka dots, florals....
I live in flip flops in the summer - have tons of them.
I never wear less than a 30 SPF (that pale German/Irish skin just can't take it).
I worked at a Hallmark store in high school & college so I love cards and stationery.
I graduated from Georgia Southern University with a BS in Health Science. (Not that I actually use my degree...see below for where I work. A degree in psychology might have been a better choice...)
I probably have more running shoes than you have black pumps.
I only own 2 suits, one black and one navy, and I wear neither.
I work for the Death Star - and like it most days.
I'm a freak for nail polish but only ever polish my toes.
I own lots of jewelry but still manage to wear the same rings and earrings every day.
I went to Italy and love, love, love it. It would take me all of 15 minutes to pack my bags for another trip there.
I like to drink wine - whites. Occasionally a red. Hardly ever a blush. And beer tastes better in a chilled glass mug (in case you needed to know).
I own 3 sewing machines but need to take a class or something because nothing makes me cuss like a sailor more than a sewing machine. (I'd rather sew seams on a sweater, weave in ends on fair isle or sew up socks in Kitchener stitch than have to sew anything but a straight line with my sewing machine. Was that clear enough for ya? (I'm just sayin'...)

Does that help? :-)

How Fun Is THIS?!?!

2008-03-04T18:44:00.005-05:00

A Favorite Color Swap! OMG! Can I think of TONS of stuff to pack my pal's box with! I'm a pink girl, myself, as most of those who know me know. All you have to do is take one look at my closet and you can plainly see that I'm a pink girl.

Maybe it comes from being a Phi Mu - I don't know. I also have a lot of black and white in my closet . . . but those aren't very fun color sfor a Favorite Color Swap.

I've been knitting socks...here are some pics:

Monkey Socks that I finshed at THANKSGIVING (for heaven's sakes!). They're done in some cool yarn from SWTC - can't remember which one.

Plain old socks done in Wick from Knit1 Crochet 2. The colorway has a number and, bad me, I didn't write it down. Notice however the difference in size...take a look...I'll wait...see? The top one is considerably smaller than the first. And that one fits. This is why you should follow the Harlot's instructions and immediately cast on the second sock when you finish the first one. You see, I finished the first one Thanksgiving weekend and didn't cast on for the second one until January! I used the wrong cast on number and, well, the results speak for themselves. Sad. Really. Really. Sad.

Flame Wave Socks by Ann Budd (Favorite Socks - 25 Timeless Designs from Interweave). These were done in KnitPicks Dancing, Party colorway. They were supposed to be for me, but I didn't make them long enough. So, Punkin has a really cool pair of hand knitted socks. Just what ever seven year old needs. Here's a close up of the pattern. Fun to knit.

These are the ones I'm working on now:

Falling Leaves (also from the Interweave Favorite Socks book - did I mention how much I love that book...)

Since I now take the train to work, I have a little more time to knit and socks are easy and portable. They also seem to really impress people on the train - they're fascinated by them. You wouldn't believe the looks I get from folks when they see all those needles sticking out. Too funny!

I'll try to do a better job posting more often but it's tough since I'm still working on the HUGE project for the Death Star.

I'm just sayin'......

Two Years Ago Today...

2008-02-07T20:53:00.001-05:00

Two years ago today we adpoted Leah. This is what she looked like when she was rescued.

Pitiful, huh? She was abandoned by her former owners. Apparently they moved away and left her in their backyard - with no food and no water. They aren't sure how long she was there before someone found her and called animal control. The vet that originally treated her said that she was one of the worst cases of abuse they'd ever seen. She had to sleep under a heat lamp and on a heating pad for the first several days in order to keep her warm. She was barely able to stand due to her condition. She went to a wonderful foster mom named Jean Strein in North Augusta, SC. Jean got her in January and nursed her back to health.

We found her on PetFinder.com and fell in love with her because of this picture.

Look at that cute face! She just looked like she wanted to come live with us. In mid-January 2006 I emailed the foster mom and told her we wanted to be put into consideration for adoption. I told her our story or rescuing our three-legged schnauzer, Abby, and how she contracted optic neuritis and died. I told her about our visits to the doggie opthamologist.... all that to say we'd be great parents for Leah.

So, we got her and this is what she looks like today.

Hard to believe she's the same dog. If it weren't for the gray beard, you'd never know it. She weighs 18 pounds and eats like a BIG dog. She's my shadow - follows me everywhere I go. She sleeps in between me and Bill. You couldn't ask for a better dog. It's almost like she KNOWS how bad she had it and how good she has it now and I really think she APPRECIATES us.

So, the next time you think you want a dog, don't go to a pet store or a breeder. Go through a rescue organization. I have several linked on the right side of this blog under my favorite links. Leah is our third rescue and we'd never again do it any other way.

It's the Super Bowl of Politics

2008-02-05T21:10:00.000-05:00

Today is "Super Tuesday" and, yes, I voted. It appears that my guy is going to win Georgia and hopefully that means that the Fair Tax will get more attention. Fingers (and toes) crossed. It'll be interesting to watch the results come in. I've been instructed to only watch the tickers across the bottom of the screens and NOT to watch the shows where they actually talk about what's going on. That tends to get me a little too "hot and bothered" and I have problems calming down enough to fall asleep. Not good. (If there are knitters who actually read this blog I'll probably get slammed. Knitters tend to be aggressively democratic. Opinion based solely on the sheer number of comments on their blogs and the sidebar "Days til GWB is Out of Office" counters. Certainly not "inviting" for those of us who are of the more conservative persuasion. I'm just sayin.)

Any way. I've been making socks! Lots and lots of socks. It's totally the fault of this book:

I (will) have pics...as soon as I find my camera.

Boo Got Shot!

2008-02-01T08:36:00.000-05:00

This has got to be one of my favorite things of all time. It's actually an interview that appeared on NewsTalk 750 in Atlanta several years ago. The morning talk shoow host, Neal Boortz, liked it so much that he put it on the show. His producer, Royal Marshall, provides the "translation" of Peaches' account of the crime. Now someone has animated it. Too funny!

Boo Got Shot - Animation - video powered by Metacafe

I Got Mad and Threw It Up In the Air...

2007-12-17T20:47:00.000-05:00

*sniff* "Mom, the remote control doesn't work."
"What's wrong with it?"
"It's broken."
"Broken how? What happened?"
"I tried to change the TV and it wouldn't work. I got mad and threw it really far up in the air and it broke."
"Maybe the battery just popped out. Bring me the pieces..." Uh, this is what I got...
You'll notice that there are several pieces that are, as of yet, still unaccounted for. Most notably, the actual BUTTONS one would push to change the channel. I'm not exactly sure where they are but I'm sure we'll find them eventually. They'll probably be right next to the other battery and the little part that held the batteries in place. Speaking of batteries...

Notice the concave nature of the positive end of the battery. Must have been some force it was thrown with. I'm just saying...

Don't You Love It When a Plan Comes Together?

2007-11-20T18:01:00.000-05:00

We'll get to knitty stuff later... for now, we need to catch up on what's been going on at Casa de Thatcher.

We headed to the 'Boro the weekend of November 10th for my Aunt Jean's 50th SURPRISE birthday party. I emphasize surprise because normally she makes it a point to know everything about everybody and the fact that Amy, Kristen and Ginger (the daughters, my cousins) could keep it secret, and have everyone invited to the party keep it a secret, is monumental and worth mentioning. In fact, she was so surprised that it took her a minute to come in the door. So, here's a snipit of the reaction:
And for the cute baby photo of the night, I give you baby Kole - complete with his matching camo jacket and bappy. Can I get a collective "AWWWW" from the crowd? He probably should have been wearing this adorable gray wool sweater, but I digress...
In other news, my friend Joy's albums are FINALLY out (it only took 2 years...I'm just sayin'). You'll remember that I had the privilege of singing back up on one of the songs on her Christmas album - I was part of the live choir that did back up for O Holy Night - there were only 40 of us but it sounds like a lot more - good acoustics in the church we recorded in. Eventually (the week after Thanksgiving) you'll be able to buy them on CDBaby and iTunes (search for Joy Waters Fowler when you get there) but for now, you can only order them direct from the record company - Red Arches Records. Let me know if you're interested (thatch10ATbellsouthDOTnet) and I'll email you the order info. Or call me - if you're family/friend and have my number. Anywhoo, the albums are won-der-ful; the first one is all the hymns you used to sing in church (before praise and worship music took over) and the second one is all Christmas music. I'm sure you'll be thrilled with them - she's fantastic.

I'm almost finished with the Monkey socks! I only have the instep and toe to finish on my second one and I'll officially have a REAL PAIR. And they FIT! I know . . . shut up. I have a new pair on the needles - made out of Wick in a colorway called Painted Daisies. The pattern is from a book I can't remember but I'll look it up and post pics as soon as the batteries are charged in the camera.

I'm sure there's more but I can't remember what else I need to post. More to come...

Biggest Looo-zer

2007-11-06T20:48:00.000-05:00

Can I tell you, my absolute favorite show on TV (next to Grey's Anatomy) is The Biggest Loser. What an inspiring show and such fun to watch every week. I've been addicted to it for the past 3 seasons. The only thing I hate is the D-R-A-M-A of it . . . it could be an hour long show. Instead, it's an hour and a half because of all the drama before and after the commercials. I totally need TiVo. I'm buying it for myself for Christmas. I just decided. I can't even believe that I don't have it yet. Am I like one of 4 people in America that doesn't? Hello?

I've got one of my Monkey Socks finished - except for stitching up the toe. I don't think I've ever been so happy to see something finished. I told Bill that I'm going to wear them all the time and show them to everyone - even complete strangers! That should make for interesting conversation in the checkout line at Publix.... "Hi. I'm a knitter and I made these really cool socks. See!" "Uh, Security? Anyone? I think she's a few skeins shy of a sweater."

That's all for now; I just wanted y'all to know I'm still here. Oh, and a random thought . . . it's way too early for Christmas decorations on the light poles in the Publix parking lot. I'm just saying. . .

Catching Up

2007-11-01T17:32:00.000-04:00

Alas, I am a bad, bad blogger - again. Can it really be 2 full weeks since my last post? (Uh, yepper, I counted. 14 days. Last time I checked that was 2 full weeks.) So, here's what's been happening:

HALLOWEENIE (giggle)

Punkin was Ariel.

Apparently we're slowly working our way through all the Disney Princesses.

Remember Belle from 2005?

And don't forget Cinderella from 2004....

(We own the Tinkerbell costume, though to this point, that one's only been relegated to the dress up closet. There's still next year....)

She made off with a decent haul of candy, most of which she'll never eat because she only likes chocolate. (That's my girl.) As for me, I just left our candy in a bowl on the porch with a sign that said "Take Some. When it's gone, it's gone." And you know what? When I got home, it was gone! Who knew? Probably went to the two 12-year old vampires we saw dragging pillowcases full of candy. To be expected on Halloweenie. The best costume of the night had to go to the Golden Retriever we saw dressed up as a parrot. She was walking with her two owners (girls dressed as pirates). The dog had on wings and had been "painted" with colored hairspray to look like a parrot. Too funny, though I'd hate to know that after traipsing all over the neighborhood I had to go home and wash the dog. Every good pirate has to have a parrot.

KNITTING

I've been working on the Monkey Socks - on double points. And they're coming along S-L-O-W-L-Y. But when you only work on them one complete pattern repeat every other day or two, what do you expect? Bill says that if I sold them, based on the time it's taking to knit them, they would cost $200! I guess that's why people give them as gifts instead of selling, huh?

I got my invitation to Ravelry! (For my non-knitting family and friends who reads this, that will make NO sense to you whatsoever - it's a knitting thing you wouldn't understand.) I haven't gotten a lot of time to play around in there yet, but I'm SO looking forward to it.

I'm not working on any of the other "projects in process" right now because I'm up to my eyeballs in my work at the Deathstar. Maybe with Thanksgiving coming up I'll have some down time to finish up the stuff I have that's almost done but not quite. There seems to be a recurring theme with all the projects in my life . . . almost done, but not quite.

OTHER STUFF

Guess what I'm doing tonight? Singing backup (in a choir) for my friend Joy's upcoming Christmas album (due out on 11/27/07 - I'll link when it's ready)! She said it's not a "paying gig" but we'll receive full credit on the album jacket. Who cares? It'll be fun and she's great so I'm totally in!

More later...

Water, Water...Nowhere

2007-10-18T20:59:00.000-04:00

In case you haven't heard, we've kinda hit critical mass in the metro ATL. Based on today's news we only have 80 days worth of drinking water left in Lake Lanier. 80 days, people! And the Army Corp of Engineers still insists on releasing 250 million gallons of water daily to protect some endangered muscles in the Apalachacola (sp?) basin. WHAT? There are 6 million people in the ATL and we're worried about some muscles in Florida. I'm sorry - that just doesn't make walking around sense.

It rained today - for a grand total of 15 minutes. So, not much help for the drought. I'm not much on the whole Global Warming thing - in fact, I think much of the research is tragically flawed (leave nasty comments if you want, but when you have temperature guages in the New Mexico desert on the side of west-facing rocks, you're going to get higher temp readings) - not all scientists agree on the science of Global Warming - I don't care what Al Gore says in his little movie. Anyway, I DO think that people need to be responsible. So, we're now only running the dishwasher when it's actually full; same for the washer. Before you know it, they'll be rationing how many showers we can take per week. It'll be like living in France. :)

(Rant over...)

I said I wouldn't do it...but I'm now making the Monkey socks on double points, not circulars. I know, I know. But the circulars started to bother me. I'm also almost finished with a cardigan for Punkin's American Girl. We were at the yarn store on Saturday and she saw one on display in the shop. She choose her own yarn (pink, of course). The first skein she choose was $16+ ... um, I don't think so. We, the sales girl and I, were able to steer her to a more "reasonably" priced yarn for a doll sweater. It was a quick knit and I should have it sewn together sometime this weekend. I'll post pics.

Ladies and gentlemen, we have AquaDots! I'm not sure what they are, but Punkin's wanted them for, like, EVER and we finally broke down and bought them tonight. Once I figure out what they are, what they do and why they're such a big deal, I'll let you know.

Socks On Two Circs

2007-10-08T21:34:00.000-04:00

I took a Socks on Two Circulars class at my LYS and can I just say. . . socks on two circs are a HOT MESS! All those cables and needles hanging and yarn getting all tangled up (and fussing and cussing...). All that and yet STILL easier than knitting on double points! Who knew? We worked on baby socks (Gracie's SOX by Cathy Hannigan) and I pretty much got the hang of it until it came time to turn the heel - the class was Saturday and I'm still trying to turn the heel. I think I need "professional" help. Know what I mean.

In other news, I cleaned out the "yarn corner" of my bedroom that was driving the dear husband nuts, and guess what I found? Not one, not 2, but FOUR started -but-not-finished projects. So typical of one who suffers from can'tfinishitis. It's a sad and debilitating disease...I'm sure you know. I would post a picture of said corner, but I'm just too embarassed. Sad. Just sad.

I packed up a box of "what the hell was I thinking when I bought this" yarn and have it ready to send off to charity. Well, not exactly charity, but to a fellow knitter in D.C. who needs it for her student knitting group. It's not awful yarn, not even bad yarn, just not the kind of yarn I like these days. So, off it goes this week to find a good new home where it will actually be knitted. Novel concept, I know.

In the what I've been reading latetly category is It's About Your Husband by Lauren Lipton. Quite entertaining. And Drunk, Divorced and Covered in Cat Hair by Crazy Aunt Purl. Hys-ter-i-cal. Only a truely Southern gal could fully understand. Bought it on Friday - was finished by Sunday. A very quick, very entertaining read.

Tired...

2007-10-01T20:46:00.000-04:00

I'm too tired to blog today...but I have been busy. I'll post tomorrow for real. Promise. :)

Alas, No Harlot for Me

2007-09-25T17:54:00.000-04:00

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

2007-09-17T21:25:00.000-04:00

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!

2007-09-12T22:10:00.000-04:00

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...

2007-09-04T17:32:00.000-04:00

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.

It. Is. Finished.

2007-08-28T20:45:00.000-04:00

To say it took "longer than expected" would be a gross understatement. It took from Saturday until this morning to get all the boards down. The trim work still needs to be done but Bill says that he's going to hire someone to do that. I'm not sure he can tackle that task, based on this past weekend, without some serious medication. And medication and a miter saw just don't mix well.

Now we just need to get the new counter tops. We'll definitely be paying someone to install those - not doing so just might lead to D-I-V-O-R-C-E.

I sewed the baby sweater together, then took it apart, then sewed it together again, then took it apart again....are you seeing a pattern? I thought so. I seems that when one sews it together, there aren't the correct number of stitches at the neckline to make the neckband work correctly. I've re-done one of the front panels and now I'm re-doing the sleeve to see if that's where the pattern error is. (You see, it must be the pattern because it most certainly cannot be me.) I must say that the sweater is VERY cute when sewn together and no one would probably know that the neck stitches were whack - but I would know and it would drive me nuts. So, I'm giving it one more go and if that doesn't work, I'll check out the publisher's site and see if there are pattern errors. On second thought, maybe I should have done that after the first sewing and ripping...oh well, live and learn.

Progress

2007-08-25T18:32:00.000-04:00

Did I mention that we have a lot of angles in our kitchen? We do. Friends, I give you . . . progress!

I Hate . . .

2007-08-24T21:45:00.000-04:00

Painting yards and yards and yards and yards of white trim! But the results will be WELL worth it. I'll post "in progress" pics over the weekend.

I'll also post the complete baby sweater. Can you say "too stinkin' cute"?

Now Is the Time

2007-08-23T17:30:00.000-04:00

Ladies & Gents, the time has come to install the hardwoods. Do you know how many angles are in my kitchen? Here's a hint - LOTS! I'm pretty thankful that I am not the one putting them down by myself. We're going to have help; Bill's dad is going to come up and help us.

We've pulled up the old floor and it looks like this now:

Nice, huh? Notice the blue tape? Still haven't finished painting the trim. Guess that'll be tonight or tomorrow night. To keep Punkin entertained, we're having a friend come over to spend the night.

As for crafting, I'm working on a baby sweater (crochet) for a girl in my choir who is having a baby in October. Her shower is September 13th. I chose crochet because it's faster for me to do for gifts. If she were a really close friend or a family member, I would have knit something. Given how crazy my life is right now, it might take me months to knit a baby sweater. (Reference my post from early July that listed all my works in progress. Need I say more?)

Tonight is Curriculum Night at school so I'm off to grab dinner before we go. And, since you asked, we're having Mexican...again. :)

Send me back to Palmetto Bluff!

2007-08-14T19:40:00.000-04:00

Oh. My. God. Palmetto Bluff was fab-u-lous! I still can't believe or describe how fabulous it was/is. You totally feel like you've stepped off the face of the earth to a little piece of heaven (minus the mosquitos - they were SO bad). The land once belonged to Cornelius Vanderbilt and his wife. They built a HUGE (summer) plantation house there in the early 1900s and it burned 14 years later. The story says he was so distraught over the loss of the house that he never returned to the property. No lie. Here are some pics:

This is the chapel - there was a wedding there on Saturday night. Very quaint; very romantic.

We did quite a bit of boating on the Intercoastal. In this pic, we're beached on a sand bar at low tide. We tried to swim a bit but the water was gross - full of "stuff" coming in with the tide. Ooooohhhh. That's me (sporting a shirt because of sunburn earlier in the day), Toey, Tamara and Melissa.

This is the "cottage" we stayed in. Cottage being a 3 bedroom, fully appointed HOUSE, complete with a Viking kitchen, hardwood floors and down blankets and pillows. I told you it was a little piece of heaven.

Here are more pics from my Flickr account and from Tamara's. Too fun!

In other news - yesterday was the first day of school for Punkin. She loves school - still hates Little Tikes (the afterschool program). We're still working on that.

2007-08-08T22:25:00.000-04:00

Look where I'm going - Palmetto Bluff / Hilton Head, SC. Woohoo! We're leaving on Thursday after Punkin goes to meet her first grade teacher. We're going with a bunch of folks from Bill's office - his boss has a house there and we're all staying together. Cozy, huh? There's free golf, free spa, free BEACH, free food. Did I mention the beach? :) I love the ATL, but I really miss the beach. Living in Statesboro, I was 45 minutes from Tybee Island and 1 hour from Hilton Head Island. I could literally wake up on a Saturday and decide, on a whim, to go to the beach. As I drove down I-16 I would decide which one I wanted to go to. If I wanted a "nice" beach, I'd make the turn to I-95 and head to the Head. If I just wanted to get a beach "fix," I'd stay on I-16 and head through downtown Savannah, out the Islands Expressway and on to Tybee. Now, it would take me at least 4 1/2 hours to get to either.... *sigh*

I'll post pics and details when we get back on Sunday. Not much knitting right now because, HELLO, it's 100 degrees and 90%+ humidity! The last thing I want to touch is wool.

More later!

Today Was A Good Day

2007-08-06T21:45:00.000-04:00

Punkin had a great day! She met me at the door this afternoon and said "Hi mom! I didn't cry today." Be still my heart! No one can truly know what a monumental step forward this is. I worried about it all weekend - she worried about it all weekend. She's been absolutely fabulous tonight and she looks happy again. I'm beginning to feel the weight lifting. We still have a long way to go but I think the medicine is starting to work. I think I can see the light at the end of the tunnel.

I didn't knit this weekend....because of this:

I started on Friday night and finished on Sunday afternoon. Typical of my reading habits - get my nose stuck in a book and don't put it down until I've finished. I've never been one to "savor" a book - reading it leisurely. Now I've gotten about 1/3 of the way through the next book in the series, A Good Yarn. I guess when I'm done with this one I'll have to get the next one, Back on Blossom Street.

Oh, and I'm still working on Tempting. I've got one of the sleeves on the double points and I'm working it. It took me (no lie) three tries to get going on the DPNs. For some reason I've always struggled with double points - which explains why there are two pairs of socks that I've had cast on for almost a year that I haven't finished.....

So many projects, so little time.

Back to Normal (maybe)

2007-08-02T22:26:00.000-04:00

I think we've got Punkin's meds issue figured out. The neuro called and gave us the OK to put her back on what she's been on for the past 6 years. So far, so good. She still doesn't want to go to school, but we have a week for her to change her mind.

Now that the medication problem has worked itself out, I have more time to dedicate to fun stuff! I wanted to have the Tempting sweater finished by this weekend but it appears that half a dozen rows ago I switched knits with purls and now I have to ladder those stitches back and fix them. I just don't have that in me right now. So, I'll work on an easier project - like socks or something. Maybe I'll finish the Wildstripes blanket - it's all done except for seaming up one end of the lining and adding the topstitching details. My hubby would be SO excited to actually see me finish something.

I still need to finish the Knitting Pure and Simple Summer Cardi (knit in Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece in a nice shade of blue - goes well with my eyes). I've gotten as far as dividing for the sleeves; so it's pretty much straight, mindless knitting from here on out. I've got a lot of travel for work coming up and this might be a good project for my first plane trip. Afterall, it's kind of hard to screw up plain stockinette stitch.

My mom sent me a great recipe for a breakfast casserole so I thought I'd share:

Sausage Grits Casserole

1 lb sausage, ground

1 c quick cooking grits (not instant grits)

8 oz grated cheese, divided

1 c milk

2 Tbsp butter

1/2 tsp salt

Brown sausage and drain. Prepare grits according to package directions. To the cooked grits add 3/4 of the cheese, stir until well melted. Add the sausage and other ingredients; pour into a casserole dish and top with remaining cheese. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

Painting's Done . . .Almost

2007-07-31T20:19:00.000-04:00

Kitchen's painted! Well, technically the main wall color is on but I still have to work on the trim. Have I mentioned that I. Hate. Trim. Just curious. Trim takes all the fun out of painting.

I'm really very happy with the color - it's not too dark, not too light. Not too green, not too olive. Like Goldilocks, it's "just right." Walking in the door and seeing it makes me smile. I can't wait until we get the floors down. But, no floors until I finish the trim. ARGH!

The maids come to clean tomorrow. (Sometimes I wish I could read their minds when they walk into my house. I'm sure that they tell all of their friends back in Brazil about that crazy girl in Duluth who has a room full of yarn and paper and who never sweeps.) After they're done I'll finish the trim and then we'll start pulling up the old floor and getting ready to put down the new one. Here are a few of the other pics....

What to do? Knit? Run? Or Drink?

2007-07-30T21:54:00.000-04:00

Such tough decisions....it's been a little stressful at our house for the past few weeks. So stressful that I can't decide if I should eat, run, knit, drink copious amounts of alcohol, or some combination of all of them. I read in Vogue Knitting today that some lady in the UK won a Guiness Book World Record for knitting a scarf while running a marathon. I knit. I've run a marathon. I could get one of those little "beer hats" with the 2 straws that come down the sides....I could knit, drink and run -- ALL AT THE SAME TIME! We've been dealing with changes to Punkin's seizure meds and it's Wearing. Us. Out! So much so that I just washed down a muscle relaxer and 2 Excedrin . . . with freakin' a Mojito! (Not that there's anything wrong with that.)

On a positive note, the kitchen got painted. I still have to do the trim work - I'd rather stuff a hot poker in my eye, but hey, it has to be done if I want my new floor to get installed. I've taken a few "in progress" pics but none since we finished painting. I kind of want to get everything back in its assigned place before I snap the finals. Now that I'm in love with the color, I think I'll keep the cabinets white. With the new floor, new paint and new counter tops, the cabinets should look like I intended for them to be white.

On the Tempting sweater........I'm almost finished. I now have to decide if I want to make it plain (no cute ribbon threaded through it) or make it so I can change the ribbon out. I'm totally torn. Part of me wants just a nice, normal black ribbed sweater. Another part of me wants the cutie-patootie ribbon sweater. What's a gal to do? I hope to be completely finished with it by this weekend - it's kind of hard to get a lot accomplished between conference calls and a 6-year old having medication-induced meltdowns. Our trip to Hilton Head is next weekend and I'd like to have it done so I can wear it then. We'll see....

New Kitchen Alert

2007-07-27T22:19:00.000-04:00

OK - so painting my kitchen and putting down hardwoods isn't exactly "crafty" but it is a little creative, right? I'm up to my eyeballs in painting supplies right now. My 6-year old assistant/sidekick/helper and I finished putting Kilz2 on all the leftover navy blue tonight. Tomorrow morning will be all the little areas around and above the cabinets. Such a pain. Once that's done, on goes the paint - Montpelier Olive from Valspar (at Lowe's). It's more "artichoke-y" than olive which is good 'cause an olive kitchen would be, how shall I say, DRAB. Just gross.

Anywho - the new floor is called Summer Butternut and is a yummy shade of golden oakey goodness. All 14 boxes are still sitting in my van and stinking up the place. :) I'm hoping to get the floor down sometime this week. Hubby and I are debating whether or not to pull up the existing, builder's grade (read: crappy) vinyl that's currently there or to just put the floor over it. I say rip it, he says lay over.

Once the floor is down we're on to new counter tops. I wanted something fancy (like granite) but, alas, that's a BIT TOO MUCH money! So, we're settling for a laminate called Labrador Granite - looks like granite . . . but isn't. We're hoping that with the new paint, new floor and new counter we'll like the white cabinets that are still there. There's just NO way we can afford to rip those babies out and start over.

In knitting news, I'm still working on the Jenna Adorno Tempting sweater from Knitty.com (like 3 years ago). I've made it up to where I divide for the sleeves. My goal is to have it finished by the end of September. It's in black Debbie Bliss Cashmerino - otherwise I'd try to post a picture. I stumbled across a blurb on a blog (Crazy Aunt Purl) about a knitting store in ATL called Knitch. Hello! How did I miss that? It's in Virginia Highland; not exactly my "side" of town, but I'm always up for a yarn road trip. I just wish some of my buddies were yarn people instead of scrappers/stampers. What's a gal to do?

Vegas, Baby!

2007-07-20T18:28:00.000-04:00

That's where I've been for the past week. Bill and I left on July 8th and came back on the 15th. Can I just tell you, that's WAY TOO long to spend in Vegas. The trip was for Bill's job and we spent at least 10-12 hours per day working. Then.....we went out and partied until 1:00 AM+. I think I might be a little too old for that! Getting up the next morning by 6:00 was HARD and recovery time, well, I'm still recovering. :)

So, I haven't crafted anything since then. However, I did get my new Stampin' Up Fall catalog and L-O-V-E it! I'm heading to a Stampin' Up Hostess Club on July 30th - this year's Hostess Club will be doing more scrapbooking (which is good because I'm so far behind on my books!). I'll post pics of what we do. (I think I have the picture thing figured out now - I now have a Flickr account. We'll see.)

We're heading to Lowe's to look for a new kitchen floor. We're also thinking of getting our cabinets refaced (http://www.kitchenfrontsofga.com/) instead of springing for brand new cabinets. We have to do something because my kitchen is making me NUTS!

More later!

I Obviously SUCK at Blogging!

2007-07-06T17:12:00.000-04:00

It's fair to say that anyone who goes S-I-X months without a S-I-N-G-L-E post might not be cut out for Blogging. However, the third time's the charm, right?

It's been a busy first half of the year. The merger between AT&T and BellSouth (merger - funny word....totally was a "we bought you" takeover) closed in late December - practically on New Year's Eve. Since then, my life has been a total blur. Work got crazy. I got moved to a new team with a new boss who is in Chicago of all places. (I love Chicago.) There's no one on my immediate team in the ATL. The good news is I like what I'm doing and it's relatively the same as what I was doing before.

I ran a marathon! Totally true. 26.2 miles. I decided that I needed a way to manage stress (and the accompanying fat ass that it gives you) and it was either take up running or become really good friends with the wine guy at the Duluth package store. You get some "interesting" looks when you go to Cost Plus World Market, load up a cart with bottles of wine and respond "nope, all for me" when the clerks says "having a party?" Plus, a good Baptist like me isn't really supposed to be coping with a nice bottle of Chianti, right?

Back to the maratoning....so, in January I signed up with the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society's Team in Training program to run the Rock 'n Roll Marathon in San Diego, CA on June 3rd. My first run was 3 miles at the beginning of February and I thought. I . Was. Going. To. DIE. Seriously. Nearly killed me. Four months and more than 350 training miles later, I ran my first marathon! I finished in a stellar 6 hours, 39 minutes and 55 seconds. (You had to finish in less than 7 hours -- 20 minutes and 5 seconds to spare!) Who cares? I FINISHED! And I raised more than $4500 for those in Georgia/Atlanta metro area who are battling blood cancers. I told everyone that, next to childbirth, it was the most exhilirating and excruciating thing I've ever done. And it was. This picture of me is post race (see my medal around my neck!) and I was getting my blisters, um, "tended to" by some poor volunteer.

Crafting...ah, yes...my forgotten hobbies. Now that it's summer, I have time to break out all the works in progress. And honey, there are a lot of WIPs. Just ask my dear husband. He'll tell you. I'll try to take pictures and post but just for your pleasure here are the ones I can think of:

a lovely blue top-down cardigan

an crochet afghan for Neely that I just have to piece together (hello? what was I thinking? 48 different pieces)

two different pairs of socks

a blue "fish-netty" scarf out of Melody by SWTC (sidebar: quite possibly the most frustrating yarn I've ever worked with)

a white heirloom baby afghan that's 3/4 of the way done

a pink baby afghan for a baby that was born LAST NOVEMBER

a black bottom up 2x2 rib sweater from Jenna Adorno (pattern from Knitty.com)

this cute tank for Neely which needs to be seamed and blocked

an adorable purse made out of crocheted triangles that I need to piece together

then there's the ballet neck sweater from "Hip Knits" that I finished in 2005 that I steamed and blocked and just haven't sewn together (I obviously need professional help for my "can't-finish-itis")

and that's just some of the yarn projects. We haven't talked about scrapbooking and stamping and sewing and . . . .

Whew! That's enough, I think. Perhaps my goal for the rest of the year should be to, I don't know, finish what I've started! Oh, I'm not sure if that hurt or felt good?

Merry Christmas Eve

2006-12-24T18:11:00.000-05:00

I love Christmas . . . not just love, I mean L-O-V-E. I love the sights, the sounds, the smells. Most of all I love watching the excitment build in my 5 year old daughter. Right now, she's quite literally bouncing OFF the walls! She's totally stoked about Christmas.

It's been a crafty Christmas around here. We've stamped and painted tiles for Christmas coasters and trivets. We've made gifts for friends - hot spiced tea mix, spiced pecans, and simmering potpourri. Here are a few of my favorite recipes from the season.

Hot Spiced Tea Mix
1 (18 oz) jar Tang Instant Breakfast Drink mix
2 (3 oz) packages lemonade mix
2 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp ground cloves
3/4 cup instant tea
2 1/2 cups sugar, optional (I omit the sugar because the Tang and lemonade both have sugar)
Mix all together and store in an airtight container. Measure 2 tbsp mix into mug and add hot water.

Spiced Pecans
2 cups pecan halves
1/4 cup sugar
4 tbsp butter, melted
2 tsp salt
4 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
Stir together all ingredients; spread into a lightly greased 9x13-inch pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes or until lightly toasted, stirring mixture once. Store in an airtight container.

Christmas Simmering Scent
3 4" cinnamon sticks
3 bay leaves
1/4 cup whole cloves
1/2 lemon
1/2 orange
1 quart water
Combine all ingredients in a tea kettle, sauce pan or slow cooker. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer. Check water level often and add more when necessary. Can be stored in the refridgerator and reused.

I hope you and yours have a very Merry Christmas!

Finished!

2006-09-15T15:44:00.000-04:00

I finished the Ripple Scarf and it's very pretty - not as soft as I'd hoped, but pretty none the less. I still can't decide if I want to keep it or give it away . . . decisions, decisions. I'll post a pic as soon as I figure out exactly HOW to do that. And all this time I thougt I was pretty computer savvy.

It's been a crazy week at my house. First, I didn't get hired for a job I just "knew" I was going to get. I found out through a "Dear Jennifer" letter that I got after what could quite possibly be one of the most crappy days of work at my current job ever. And it was raining. At least I have a current job - lots of folks don't.

Anyhoo, I'm still working on the Tempting Sweater from Knitty.com. My girlfriends bought the yarn for me for my birthday in February. They recently joked that for my next birthday they were going to pay someone to finish it for me! HA! I'm also working on the Chevron Sweater from Lionbrand.com. Very pretty; not yet sure if it's my "style" but I'm going to make it anyway. If I decide not to keep it . . . someone's getting a nice sweater for Christmas!

I'm feeling the need for a Chick-fil-A Ice Dream ...... Thatcher - OUT!

Let's See How This Works

2006-09-04T18:39:00.000-04:00

OK. If everyone else can have a blog, why not me? I have things to say. . . except for now. Pretty much nothing comes to mind. I did, however, just finish another baby project. It's a hodded one-button jacket from BH&G Hip Knits. It's knit on fat #11's with Lion Brand Boucle' - it works up pretty quickly - provided you actually WORK on it. Oh well, the baby was just born on August 23rd and considering that it's still 90 degrees in "Hot 'lanta" I guess it'll be a while before he wears it. :)

I'm currently working on the Ripple Scarf from Oat Couture. I'm doing it in SWTC's Karaoke in Wild Cherry. I'm liking it a lot. Now I have to decide if I'm going to keep it or "gift" it to someone. Since the yarn is $9.25 per skien, I've got to really KNOW that whoever it's gifted to will love it and WEAR it.

As for my next project(s ) - I'm thinking that I really like this sweater. However, I still need to finish my Neck Down Cardigan from LAST summer and I still have to sew up the Ballerina Neck Sweater (BH&G Hot Knits) from LAST spring (that would be 2005 for those of you who are counting. I still want to learn how to knit socks - I'm still a little scary with DPNs so if you have any suggestions . . . . I'm open.

As for "daily life" at our house, my kindergartener has her first homework assignment due tomorrow. She has to write 4 words that start with the letter "P" and draw corresponding pictures. How does one teach a 4 year old how to draw "purl?" *LOL*