Foster!

I have officially stepped into the realm of being a Foster Mom! Let me introduce Dymond:

She is a beautiful, very sweet 16 year old kitty. Right now she has a bit of a cold, which is why she's living with us for a little bit. We all love her at the shelter and hopefully since she's 16 having some rest here will help her get better quicker. She absolutely adores her foster dad, only 20 minutes after coming home she went and curled up next to him on her blankets. She follows him around whenever he comes into her room.

She's really great. I caved lastnight and let her sleep in bed with us since it was so cold out. So far, every morning she has gotten up with me and followed me around the house. Now I really want a cat too. Hah.

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Vacation!

Mike and I took the day yesterday to go up to Portsmith NH and it was amazing. I love old old towns. Didn't go into any museums, but we'll be there again.

On the way home we stopped in Salem. Took a ghost tour that was decent but not scary like it said it would be. I goofed and bought combo tickets for a cemetary/witchcraft tour that we missed. Would have loved that and may do it sometime. They let us sit in on a "ghostly parlor show" that was ultimate cheese. Hah. It was fun but I want to go back when it's not Halloween and explore the history more.

Here's a photo from the car on our way out of Boston. All the leaves everywhere were gorgeous but the wind has taken a lot out

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

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Baby update

Finally got in touch with the vet lastnight. Baby also has low glucose levels which could point to insulinoma or a tumor in his pancreas. Sigh. . Poor thing. He's still acting fine and lowering his antibiotic dose has helped with the diarrhea. The doc here at Angell said the same medication she recommended will help the low glucose levels too. She wants to meet up with me this week so go over some more things.

Since I have to prepare for the inevitable I also have to think of what I can do for Buddy when the time comes. The best thing I can thing of is to get another friend for them sooner rather than later. I don't know what would happen if I waited until after. And I don't want him to get lonely and depressed. I do think that were it the other way around Baby would have a rougher time.

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Baby's News

The week before I started my new job Baby got suuper skinny and had really bad (really smelly) diarrhea. He was pretty much skin and bones and was pretty dehydrated as well. We took him into the vet and, long story short, he's pretty sick. He was put on three different medications for 2 weeks. An antibiotic, anti gas, and something to help with the diarrhea. 2 weeks later and lots of hassle to try and get him in for a follow up (I don't want to explain, just trust it was a mess). The local vet found a mass in his stomach and did a 'quick' ultrasound. Which basically means he didn't sedate the little guy. The good part of it is my stubborn little fella became quite the cuddler and just wanted to curl up in my arms and around my neck.

We went to see the specialist at Angell (finally) and she says it's one of two things IBD (Irritable bowl disease) or Lymphoma. I have blood results waiting for me at the vet but we haven't had a chance to connect again on the phone because of my crazy hours. They may or may not confirm Lymphoma. Either way though, the conservative treatment is the same. So I've decided not to put him or my wallet through more diagnostics to figure out which it is.

The only real difference is with IBD he may live a lot longer then with Lymphoma. I've ordered a new food to switch him to that will be much better nutritionally and he will be on meds for the rest of his life now. But I'm becoming a pro at giving them, and he's learning to accept it. He still weighs the same, but he looks a lot better.

Hopefully tomorrow I can get in touch with the vet to learn the results of the blood test. And by the time he gets switched off his current meds and onto Prednizone my benefits should have kicked in.

He was the star of each vet office we went to. He and I had a great bonding experience through it funny enough. The vet at Angell got a kick out of him sitting at my feet and just watching me like a dog or jumping up and asking to be picked up like a little kid. I didn't realize that was not a normal ferret attribute, but it's always been my favorite thing about him. And he doesn't do it to anyone but me. :)

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Who Needs a Whistle?

Saturday evening Mike and I were walking through the park waiting for our movie to start when a Golden Retriever came up to me and buried her nose in my coat. Her owner tried for several minutes to get her to keep walking but this dog was not having it. I explained to her that I worked at the shelter and a few mintutes later they were finally able to continue on.

Tonight at the toy store I had another dog bound up to me and ask for lovings, but this was just due to my charm and good looks as I'd washed all my clothes that day.

I love being a dog magnet.

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Lunch partner

I have a new lunch partner. She loves pizza and donuts.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

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Rollahcostah

I'm upset. I'm going to be working with the Vet Hospital we took Baby to last night and still they would not let us do a payment plan for his diagnostics. I should've pushed to talk to someone higher then the insensitive heartless numb financial man.

But the good that came out of it? We pay less and I got to take my snookums home for the night instead of leaving him to be poked and prodded. He still got poke and prodded though. The lady behind the counter asked if he got bit by something. No, that's just the 8 pricks it took to draw blood from him.

They are looking for bad or worse. It makes me sad. But he did eat solid food this morning. And he likes two of the three medications we were given for him. The third takes 10 minutes and is authentically a baby about it. Twisting and gagging and wiping his mouth off because it's "Soo teerible mommy!" But he loves his new carrier.

Which is good, because he has to go back tonight for more blood draws.

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It's happened

I have too many projects I want to make and not enough time to make them!

Currently working on:
* Scarf for Mike (64% done)
* Hexagon blanket: (80% done. 3 more to finish and mail all out by end of October,then assembly)
* Autumn blanket: (90% done. All blocks are made, 4 more need to mail out and then assembly)
* Oh yeah and eventually I need to buy the last bits of yarn and finish my Christmas blanket!

Next in line:
* Hat to go with Mike's Scarf (will have to be solid Crimson, will run out of black poo)
* Glittens for me (b/c it's dang cold in the winter)
* Fix super big slouchy had I messed up
* Christmas gift 1 (probably the longest one too, need to get started on this one by November at the latest)
* Christmas gift 2 (Will make enough for 2-4 people depending on how I do it)
* Secret Santa Project

What I want to make for myself:
* This beautiful sweater wrap
* This shawl And there's already been at least 3 instances where I wish I already had it.
* This sweater
* Leg warmers (these may need to be bumped up with the Glittens, I need'em)
* about 4 other sweaters I can't decide which I want first.

This is a problem. I could hurry up and finish my Christmas stuff so I can get started on my stuff.. but we know that won't happen!

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No Opportunities Wasted

I can't believe how long of a journey this has been, but I am officially starting a new job!

I am working for the MSPCA as an Animal Care and Adoption Counselor!

Who's surprised?

There's a lot of hands on work. Taking care of the animals but also doing/assisting with preliminary vet checkups. Animal behavior tests. All sorts of fun stuff!

I'm surprised. I beat out 75 other interviewees and it's taken over a month for this whole thing to finally come to an end. It took me 3 days to track down my current boss to tell him. That equals my stomach in knots for that entire time, but it went smoothly. I'm hoping the find someone soon, or have a work study student take over most of my load so it doesn't fall on the Lab Manager.

I may need to start cleaning out my desk now... nearly three years means I probably have stuff here I didn't even realize. Which reminds me; I found a t-shirt I've been missing for at least a year in my locker at the toy store! I've really missed that shirt too. LOL

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Dripping Luxury

Before I share my news I have to show off this ridiculously glorious scarf I'm making for my dear. It started out as a scarf to wear to football games but the red is a little too rich. No worries, he loves it anyway and I have to admit I am a little sad that I'm not making it for myself! The yarn is Classica Elite Lush with angora. Angora is rabbit fur shed by the funniest looking rabbit ever. I definitely need more of this wonderful yarn for myself!

PS my news actually has to wait until tomorrow, you'll understand why.

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One Man's Trash

Look at this wonderful piece my Darling brought home! It's from the 20's or 30's and belonged to our neighbor's Grandmother. I have somewhere to put all these blankets I'm making!

PS. I have fun news to share tomorrow

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Fall's Here!

The weather is finally at a point where you can be outside all day and not have a care in the world! Although it's been rainy for a few days, and it going to be pretty nasty later in the week, for now it's just perfect! There are even some Eager Beaver trees starting to turn!

Every autumn I have a huge need to make scarves, hats, and gloves. I don't know why. I have enough scarves (3), but I'm already planning another one (2). Already worked out a hat and scarf ensemble to make for the Harvard Football games so we can be warm, cozy, and show our school pride! Going to learn a new technique while making it: double knitting. Oooooo sounds tricky hm?

I also want to make a hooded cowl to wear under my coats when I don't have my hooded sweaters on. I love hoods. I love being wrapped up in scarves Babushka style. I love wearing enough other warm cozy things that you don't need a coat when it's 40 out!

New England winters may be the death of me, but autumn makes up for it.

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Snooze

There once was a girl with a curl right in the middle of her forehead.
Everything was fine, when she was on her meds
and then they changed them and it was awful!

Not "It's Christmas and you're going to LIKE IT!" awful

more like "I know I just got 7 hours of sleep but I'm just so... so....what's the word?"

Friggin Doctors meddling with things.

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Bad Math and Summer's Eve

It's a bed of flowers, hurry and jump in before summer's over! I have 5 more to finish once I buy more olive. And beige. I much prefer the beige background over another color, but that's just me. If I were to make this blanket again all for myself, that's what I would do. Pick 3-4 motifs (probably the one with the round petals which you can find here and then the other sharper edge ones here and here) And then I would do the backgrounds in beige, only making the hexagons 6 or 7 inches each side, then join with olive. Then the flowers don't quite get as lost. Of course, I'd have to make more then 18 to make a whole blanket. The hexagons here are 8 inches a side. Which is pretty huge. Some of them you can see I mis-measured. So need to fix those once I get more olive. And that dang wave. I fear I'm going to have to rip out a few rows and redo them with less stitches to straighten the buggers out. Blast it all.
A big pile of leaves!
This is where the bad math comes in.. I could've sworn I had 10 done. That would've meant I was pretty much done except for my own. But alas, I only have 7 finished. I have two that are half finished. I also need to sit down and make sure I have blocks for people according to their color preferences. I sorta just.. started making them.. without paying attention to that. But! I'm sure I can find homes for them all. If not I'll just keep them for myself!

I'm waiting on two important packages that I ordered last Friday. Both were originally supposed to arrive by the end of the week. One (the most important one) is a air mattress that was supposed to be here between Wednesday and Friday, but now it says it won't get here until MONDAY. And my mom is going to be staying the night on SUNDAY. Crap. UPS took their sweet-@$$ time going from Arizona to Indiana (four days. Four days!) We drove from Colorado to Boston in two days, if we can do it, they can do it. Now it's in Buffalo. But come on, that's like, 7 hours away already!

Friday is our six year anniversary. (Monday technically, but I'll be in the Cape with some fam, so it's been moved up) Woah. We're going to Cirque de Soliel's Alegria. How exciting is that? This is becoming a tradition that I l-o-v-e- love.

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Finally..

The moment you've all been waiting for:


No outdoor pictures b/c it's just too dang hot. I had a hard time wearing it for the 5 minute photo op! The color is pretty close to true though. I wore it out to a comedy show the night I finished it and it was still pretty cool out. It's tucked away in a drawer for the next couple months though. If I wore a long sleeve shirt under it, it'll just about perfect for coat-less autumn wear.

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Upcoming

I joined two more swaps even though I haven't completed my Christmas blanket. I need to make 4 or 5 more blocks (I can't remember) so that it's big enough to snuggle in under and then join them all together. But, I'll finish it before Christmas, I promise!

One swap is made of hexagons instead of squares and they are flower themed. It's going to be beautiful, and probably large enough that I won't have to make extra blocks, but we'll see. Besides, it's a summer throw, so no need to totally wrap myself in it.

Swap two is Autumn themed! Squares again, and I may make a few extra, but possibly not as many as the Christmas. Oranges, reds, and browns all thrown together in an un70's fashion!

On top of all that? Mr. wants me to make him a blanket all on my own, just for him. Plus I really need to start one of my secret projects! AND! And I'm going to make myself a shawl. The last few nights I've really been itching for one, when it's really warm but then the sun goes down and it's -just- cool enough that you're uncomfortable. Plus, they are beautiful.

Going to be a busy busy girl. Love it.

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Here are my favorite pictures from our Fishing Trip last month!





























































The very delicious cusk.

















Following behind the boat on the way back to shore, eating up all our discarded fish parts.

We saw some Minke whales and also a Blue Shark but I wasn't able to get pictures of them. They were so magnificent though!

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Sun

I need sun so I can take pictures of my finished sweater in it's full glory.

I need sun so I can feel it's warmth on my skin.

I need sun so that my flowers will stop wilting.

I need sun so I can open my windows and have a bright apartment.

I need sun so there won't be a cloudy fireworks display.

I need sun so that I get a summer.

I need sun to get me through the New England winters.

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The Hobbits are Real

In 2004 archeologists stumbled upon some interesting human remains on a small island in Indonesia named Flores. They found 1 nearly complete skeleton and 8 more partials. What was so exciting about these? They appeared to be a brand new human species! These humanoids, named Hobbits, stood 3 feet tall and would have weighed around 65 pounds. But the fascinating part was that their brains seemed to be perfectly normal, even fairly evolved, except they were very tiny. Evidence of tools and a camp fire were found with the Hobbits.

Debates ran wild as some scientists tried to prove that Hobbits were a new Human species while others tried to prove they were simply diseased modern humans. Now formally named Homo floresiensis, scientists have striking evidence in their favor of being a new species. Not only are their brains well formed and not simply genetically diseased, but their feet also point to being a separate species. They are closer to a chimpanzee foot without the opposable toe, but show all the signs for upright walking.

Here are a couple articles: a summary and some more detail.

The species was wiped out 8,000 years ago when a volcano erupted on the island and decimated much of it's land.

On a related note: It is being debated that Chimpanzees should be reclassified as "homo" as they are more closely related to us then they are to other Great Apes.

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All Quiet on the Eastern Front

I've yet to finish my sweater! It's become so much fabric that I couldn't bring it to work any longer. So it sits at home and I do an hour here and there. It's actually really close to being done though, one sleeve, the trim, and the ties to go. With the way the weather's been I may just get away with wearing it with a skirt when I'm done!

What I have would be working on at work is my Christmas blanket. But, I've actually been pretty busy here the last few weeks! (It's kinda nice) That combined with the fact that I'm making it twice as big as what the swap called for means that I will probably finish it in time for Christmas, and not too soon. I'm 8 blocks away plus sewing them together. The original blanket was 12 blocks, I'm making it 20.

In non-yarn news: I joined a gym yesterday! Dearest has a discount from school and talked them into giving it to me as well. So I have him to drag me out of bed every morning (Even when the alarms go off in the rooms and call me every few hours from midnight-6AM) and get my butt there.

Let me tell you, this gym is phenomenal. It's very small and pretty quiet even at 7 in the morning. There's a steam room in the locker room, a rooftop pool, classes. I'm excited. On Saturdays there is a Pilates class I want to take; all the other times are 9 or 10 AM. For the housewives and other non working folk -.- Same with Yoga! Come on now.

Went to Hampton Beach weekend before last, pictures will be up once I nab them from Dearest's computer.

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Guess Whaaaat

Who's the coolest of them all? Who is the Game Night master?
I WON RED SOX TICKETS! Woo-toot!

1 game of Pentago, 5 games of Jishaku, and one speedy 'double your money' game of Blockus and I had enough monopoly money to win tickets! Also: Quirkle, and Exago are very fun games.

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I've always been a monogamous crafter. I start a project, and I don't start anything else until that project is completely finished. This has generally been the case because I only buy enough yarn for one project at a time.

I'm slowly slipping. Unfinished I have my Christmas blanket (still waiting on two more squares), my sock (got bored after I learned how to turn the heel) and my sweater.

I am by no means getting bored with my sweater. Boy if that were the case there would be no hope for me! If lace and 3 cables all going through different row repeats at different times plus shaping couldn't keep my attention nothing would. But, that doesn't mean that I'm not planning ahead. (Yeah that's it.. planning ahead..) My present to myself after I pay off all my medical crap and tax crap is going to be yarn. ^_^ And somewhere to keep it that's not the box or bag that it came in.

Mr. has requested a blanket instead of a sweater. The last blanket I made for him is now acting as a slip cover. So I'm going to need lots of yarn for that, a zip-up sweater to replace the one that Buddy turned into a chew toy, and then two secret projects I can't tell you about.

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Brain Flexing

This sweater is a challenge. First sweater, first cables, first intricate lace work. Whew, not a mindless knitting. The biggest challenge is the way the pattern is written. It's sort of all written out, but not. It writes out each segment for the different cables and lace panels but then they only write out a 10 row segment which you repeat; changing increases and decreases that it lists out underneath that (in a very confusing, have to sit there for a moment and plan it out way). Examples:

Row 8: P4, work Row 8 of Lace patt over next 17 sts, p10 (12, 14, 16), work Row 8 of Small Cable patt over next 4 sts, p4, work Row 8 of Alternating Cable patt over next 8 sts, p4, work Row 8 of Small Cable patt over next 4 sts, p10 (12, 14, 16), work Row 8 of Lace patt over next 17 sts, p4.

Continue in patts as established, and AT THE SAME TIME decreasing 2 sts (as done onRows 3, 7, and 10 just next to the outer edges of the small cables) on every alternating 4th and 3rd row 3 times, then every 4th row 1 time = 70 (74, 78, 82) sts.

And after the first 10 rows none of the cables or lace panels line up. So I've been having to write down on a scrap of paper which row I'm going to be on in each segment for the next row of the entire piece. Luckily the smaller cable is only 10 rows long, and corresponds with the 10 row segment, except you'll be on row 8 and it's also row 8 of the small cable, but row 4 of the large cable and row 12 of the lace panel. wipes away sweat It also looks like I was only supposed to repeat rows 5-10 of the small cable and not all 10 rows, which really, why didn't you just write out 5 rows then? But I like the affect I'm getting with doing all 10 rows better then if I had followed directions ;)

I think I've gotten the hang of it though.

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Cloudy Day in Boston Town

Views from my office, just for fun.


That's MIT!


From my chair.





Roof at the end of the hall.

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IDK

I've never had the trouble of choosing colors before. Green has always been a yes. But now I feel like I have a lot of green. I don't really, but wearing green 3 days a week for work at the toy store makes me feel like I have a lot of green.

Red is a nice color too, so what happens? All of my long sleeve shirts are red. Granted 2 of the 3 are sports shirts, and they are all casual. So does that really count? I have nothing super feminine that's red.

I have discovered I like purple, but it has to be a good purple. So ordering purple online seems a little iffy to me. Although the purple I'm looking at is really nice.

Blue, I have no tops that are blue. Which is strange, because my eyes are blue, and when I do happen to wear blue near my face people always compliment it. But certain blues are just too much with blue jeans. I like bright colors. The light blue is nice, but I'm not really a light/pastel type of girl.

My other option is Teal which was my original first pick. But I wore a teal shirt yesterday and it was a nice color, but I'm just not sold on it anymore.

I would love to make a white sweater, I love white tops. But, I have one white pull over already and my light jacket is white. That's enough. Color time.

SIGH

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Hip Hip!

HURRAY!

I have been obsessing over this sweater by Sweater Babe for nearly a week now. I've figured out what yarn I want to use; the Knit Picks Andean Silk in Kenai. I'm all set to make it except I need to order the yarn AND buy the pattern. I've never bought a single pattern before. Just seems silly, but for a beautiful piece, ok I'll do it.

In my obsessing I was reading links about the pattern trying to figure out every trick and recommendation I could. When all of a sudden, I found this link to Women's World Magazine. They featured Sweater Babe in their last issue of the magazine and are giving away one pattern to each person! Yep, that's right. I got the pattern for free!! I was expecting to email them and then wait for a few days and then get it, but oh no. Five minutes later!

Now Knit Picks needs to hurry and finish dyeing the yarn!

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Crisis!

I'm in project limbo..

I have more Christmas squares to make but I kinda-sorta want to wait and see what I get from my partners first so I can see if there is a particular color I need more of. Or if I want more solid pieces or more superduper colorful ones.

In the meantime I've gotten an itch to make more tops for myself. Especially with the weather turning so nice, but I don't have the yarn for that right now. I also need more yarn for other blankets I have planed!

I'm also going to buy some stash storage this weekend so my yarn can finally move out of the Puma and Windsor Button bags it's in now. Then I can actually see it!

I should plan out some yarn to make Dearest a sweater for this fall. He'd like that.

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Finito!

I've finished my portion of the Christmas Swap! I spend all morning weaving in ends. I hate weaving in ends. I don't know of anyone who enjoys it. If you do, let me know! I might have a job for you. ;) Some of these are unblocked (mostly the curly ones) and are a teensy bit small, but I'll stretch them and flatten them.





Friday afternoon I raced home to change clothes for the Red Sox game that night. On my doorstep were these! Though I didn't have time to open them until after the game. It was torture; remembering, then getting distracted, then remembering again! Thanks TiggerRD!

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My Mosaic

Went into Google images and answered these questions and made this through flicker!

QUESTIONS:
1. What is your name?
2. What is your favorite food?
3. What is your hometown?
4. What is your favorite color?
5. What is your favorite movie?
6. What is your favorite drink?
7. What is your favorite hobby?
8. What is your favorite dessert?
9. What is one word to describe yourself?
10. How are you feeling right now?
11. What do you love most in the world?
12. What do you want to be when you grow up?
13. At this moment, what do I want more than anything else?
14. Home, Part I.
15. Home, Part II.
16. What is my favorite thing to wear?

Funny enough, for the drink questions, I'd picked Raspberry Lime Ricky and the picture I loved was from the Delux Town Diner where Mike and I eat at least once a week!

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New, Improved! Protien Inriched Coffee!

I woke up about half an hour early this morning, so after lazying around for 20 minutes I got up and decided that I wanted to try out my new French Press again to try and master the formula for awesome coffee.

Everything was going well until I couldn't find Mike's coffee mug, so I decided he wouldn't get any of my awesome coffee. I grabbed my mug and poured the coffee in and it was really hot still so I was only slightly alarmed when it was sizzling a bit. I thought 'oh it's nearly boiling water with froth, that's all.' So, I get all ready, open my new splenda and grab everything I need.

Then it happened.

I looked into my cup and (I gag as I write this) a large, juicy, bug is floating at the top. Sizzling. This bug was easily 3/4 of an inch long. And plump. And apparently done cooking b/c it was now floating.

After a few minutes of screaming "Oh my god! OH MY GOD!" Mike and Kev ran in and Kev observed how purple the bug had turned.

Needless to say the remainder of the coffee is still sitting in the french press, and I will be scrubbing out my pantry this weekend. And probably buying lots of glass, air tight jars.

Yuck.

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Christmas Swap Progress

Here's what I have finished so far for my Christmas Swap. I'm really having a fun time working on these. There's a ton of creative juices flowing into these since the patters aren't big enough for the 12 inch requirement and I'm having to improvise a bit.







This last one on the right is my favorite. I'm going to make several more of them. I might make one more of each of the snowflakes too, not sure.

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Swap Time!

Last night Mike and I went out and bought my yarn and a awesome pattern book for my Christmas swap. The book is 101 Crochet Squares. Figures, that the ferrets decided to want to drink out of my water glass instead of their bottle. So they kept dunking their heads in it while it was in my lap then shaking themselves off over my book. So it's already got the 'I'm loved' scars.

I'm still experimenting a bit to get the size correct. Each square needs to be 12 inches. That's a big square, and most patterns are written to come out around 6-7 inches. So far so good though. Although, it's been so long since I've crocheted I was doing my DC's wrong >.< Goof.

This is going to be a lot of fun, I predict. The first one I tried out is a really beautiful snowflake. I may just have to make one of those for each of my partners since I'm sending multiple squares to each person.

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Ahh

Finished just in time for spring. And still yarn enough left over to try my hand at a pair of socks with toes and a heel! I still need to wash them and see if (hopefully) the ribbing at the top will tighten up some. Probably should have gone down a needle size when doing that. Oh well. If it doesn't tighten I might just have to get some thin pretty ribbon to weave through.

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Christmas in April!

I am so excited! I'm part of a group on Ravelry.com based around a brand of yarn called Vanna's choice (Yes, Wheel of Fortune Vanna) and we're doing a Christmas themed crochet exchange. Here's the run down, I make 12 squares based around whatever theme I get put in; either traditional Christmas colors or 'Winter Wonderland' colors (blues, silvers). Then I mail out 11 of them to other people in the group and then they do the same thing. So in the end I end up with enough squares to make a blanket! It's going to be a blast! I find out on Wednesday what group I'm in and I'll probably be buying the yarn on Friday. :P

In other news my second leg warmer is going a lot faster then the first. I switched from magic loop to using two circulars and it's much less frustrating. I need to finish it by Friday!!

Other then my exchange I have two other blankets forming in my mind. It's going to be a fun summer.

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Distortion

I decided to pick up my leg warmers again. Partially because having an unfinished project staring at me starts to eat at my brain, and partially because the only other thing I'm able to make right now is another plush (which I will do, probably next).

So I actually finished the first one! Yaaay! BUT when I tried it on, the thigh is -huge-. I mean... huge. I must think I'm fatter then I am! Or I was knitting a lot loser then I had been. Both of which are probably true.

However, this means that once I'm done with both I might have yarn left over to try my hand at some actual socks! ^_^ And I have just enough time before the hockey game to frog it down to where it gets huge.

PS: YAY AMY'S COMING TOMORROW!

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Spring..?

Can I say it's official yet? Three of the next five days are going to be in the 50s!!!

I get to open up the windows and not get pestered for doing it! I'm also inspired to use my strength to manhandle some things down into the basement and have the boys come home and go "How..." (On second thought, that just sounds dangerous. I'll put them to work)

Second item on the agenda: I have nearly finished my shorts! Once I get my drawstring made and get the legs pinned out so they don't curl up I'll get pictures. They are awesome clown shorts.

I don't know what I'm going to make next! I really loved the lace work on my halter top, so maybe a lace shawl? Ooo.. that sounds amazingly difficult and fun. I also need to figure out what yarn I'm going to use for a present I'm making :D

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Surprise!

TADAH!

Once it's above 40 degrees outside I might just be able to model it too! This was definitely the most challenging piece I've done so far but it was one of the most fun! It was complicated enough that I never got bored, but no so much that I was screaming in frustration.

I was going to take a couple days off from knitting to give my hands a rest but of course I didn't. :P I decided that with my almost full rainbow of super bright yarn I am going to make myself some new PJ shorts. I'm even sort of making the pattern myself. Sort of, I'm using a free pattern I found for a guide on the sizing and everything, but the design is mine!

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The weather? Really?

15 inches of snow! Wow. And now it's stupid cold outside. All after a 57 degree day. Which I took complete advantage of and wore sandals. :D

I'm working on a surprise that you'll see in a few days. This will be evidence of my need for warmer weather.

Until then!

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Feeling Loved

I have the biggest sweet heart for a boyfriend! I came home from work to find he had worked all afternoon on this:

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<3

What am I doing for Valentine's Day? I'm making Sweet Potato Jalapeno Soup with Italian Sausage and then the three of us are going to watch the DVD Mike bought me! What is it? Meet Me in St Louis! Apparently I talk about that movie a -lot- and neither of them have seen it!

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Public Transit is Fun!

I enjoyed my first taste of Spring yesterday, I even rebelled and didn't wear a coat! But today there are huge snow flakes falling again. It's actually very beautiful from my window. I just have to put out of my mind the fact that it's all going to accumulate.

Had a really interesting commute this morning. We rushed across the street to catch a bus that was packed with 6th graders that talked enough for 50 extra people. Then had to cram our way into a train with bags jammed between ribs. I started to smell burning rubber, so of course once we get into the tiniest station there is they unload us all and take the train out of service. In the middle of rush hour. We're all crammed so tightly that the people standing on the edge of the platform had to squeeze back to make sure they didn't get clipped by the next train coming in. Which was of course packed full. And very few people get off.

So the three of us say screw it and decide to go catch a cab the rest of the way to work. It was so full in the station that there were people waiting outside the turn styles b/c there was no room for them to get through.

Oh how I love city living.

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$$$ = Value?

Does paying more money really mean you're getting a higher quality product?

Unfortunately, in some cases, yes. Working in a store that sells both high-end and mid-grade baby gear I have realized that paying a little extra can do wonders in the long run.


Yesterday a rep from the Baby Silk company came by. While I wasn't there when she came by, I did get some sample products to take home (yay goodies!) One of the products I got was a travel size of their lotion. It is honestly the best lotion I have ever used. Ever. My hands take a huge beating throughout the day between washing more then the average person should (because I must) and eczema my hands look like old lady hands pretty quickly. This stuff made my hands feel like, well, a baby! I would love to use this all over. Unfortunately the full size bottle is $20. (no lies)

Another area I see $$ = quality of product is jeans. The average person had probably 2-4 pairs of jeans that last years. Assuming they aren't super trendy. So I see no problem with spending $80 on a pair of jeans. Especially in my case. I have a -hell- of a time jean shopping. Until I found Guess Jeans. I can't go wrong in this place! Yes, $80 for a pair of jeans, but I go into the store knowing I'm going to walk out with a pair of jeans that actually fits. That used to never ever happen for me.

Here's an example where $$ does not necessarily = Quality. Strollers. Yep, another baby example. We carry a variety of different strollers from strollers that cost $1200 to ones that are $125. Disclaimer: Those two strollers are vastly different in so many ways it would take an entire post just to explain them. My favorite is the Baby Jogger City Mini (plug plug plug) $220, will take an infant, car seat, holds up to 45ish pound, big wheels, easiest fold in the universe, and only 17lbs. Amazing stroller. You could try and get away with only having this one stroller. (most people end up with 3) Not much money, lots of value. While it's only 2 years old we've -never- had a problem with them. Not one return because it was defective. Without bad mouthing any of the other strollers we carry, let me just say, this kind of quality/awesomeness doesn't always come in a stroller. Some strollers seem great, but just tend to break down quickly.

Working in the industries I do I've learned that doing some research before you go buy something, even if it's not a huge purchase, it not a bad idea. Research research research!

Oh, and organic fruits really do taste better.

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It's a Boy!

His name is Jackson, and he's a big baby! So I'm really glad I went with a really stretchy pattern. Can I just say, that this yarn is gorgeous? I think I can.

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!!

Look at what Amy made!

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On to the Next Chapter!

I have quite a few things I want to talk about, so this might end up being two separate posts. First and foremost, the Inauguration! It was absolutely amazing to watch history take place. I really wish I had the forethought to make a trip to DC for it, but I'm not sure if the city could handle any more people! Mike and I took extended lunches and watched the swearing in and the speech at the Old South church (which is beautiful). It was as close to being there as one could get without suffering in the cold. When they said to stand, we stood, when they prayed, we prayed. It was really awesome. I'm really looking forward to seeing how Obama is going to put into place all the changes that are needed to dust us off. :)

Since I hate ending on a sour note, here's my gripe for the post: FAFSA changed their qualifications for independent student status. I'm not kidding, it's now TWENTY FIVE to be independent! WHAT? They really think parents support their children for 7 whole years after high school? Sorry, but I don't know -anyone- who's parents have done that. But, I don't know any privileged children either. Here's how I feel about this. If the drinking age were 19, I am currently 18 and 7 months old. Oh, just kidding, they changed the drinking age to 21! And then, when I'm finally 21, they change the drinking age back down to 19. -.- I'm really upset! I was so thrilled to finally get more financial aid!

Alright, so a good note to end on! Mike's cousin is having a baby (yaaay!) Of course he forgot to tell me until two days ago and she's supposed to be having it this week. Goof. They don't know what sex it is so as soon as they have it his mom is going to call me and I'm going to knit away! If it's a boy I'm going to make a hat and booties out of the same yarn I made the previous baby gifts in, only blue and green. If it's a girl I only have enough for booties and maybe some mittens. I have some yellow and green I could use, but they are really, really, bright. Mike said I should just knit both because there's always babies to pawn off booties for. And, if I make a hat and it's a girl I could probably sell the hat to MK so she can sell it at the store. (maybe I should do that with the booties...)

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Always forget to put a Title!

I want to talk about some movies coming out this year that I'm really excited about!

First off, I'm really excited about Disney's Princess and the Frog movie. I found out about it Christmas of '07 and have been anticipating it ever since. They are going back to the old style of animation and (get ready) it's the first ever African-America princess movie! Originally I thought it might be an actual African princess, but it takes place in New Orleans during the hight of the Jazz age. Very exciting.

A book I read while in Canada: The Lovely Bones, is being turned into a movie staring Mark Wahlberg. I must re-read the book as soon as I get through my stack I have from the library! It was a great great book.

They are making the second Twilight movie.... Ok, I LOVED the books, absolutely. I haven't seen the first movie yet because I don't want to pay for a movie that gets bad reviews. I've read that the special affects are laughably cheap and you need to have the state of mind that it's not a serious movie in order to not be disappointed. Now they are making the second one, and CUTTING THE BUDGET! lol.. this'll be interesting... Not everyone can do what Harry Potter did. (which is also coming out this summer woo!)

Where the Wild Things Are was turned into a movie! Not sure when it's coming out. Apparently there is controversy and it might be refilmed. But I can't find any other info on the web about it, so who knows. Also, this book wasn't very long at all, I wonder what they'll do to make it a full movie.

Toy Story in 3D! The third toy store is going to be great! Why? Besides the fat that it's Toy Story, every movie (with exception to the Jonas Brothers Concert) is awesome in 3D!

The new Pixar movie Up looks really cute too. Basically, an old man wants to have an adventure before he's done with life. So he ties a million balloons to his house and goes! Only to find that a stowaway (boyscout selling popcorn) was on his porch!

(this post is getting long, there are way to many good looking movies coming out!)

Who can forget: WATCHMEN IS COMING! I only recently read this graphic novel, but oh man, it's good.

Johnny Depp and Christian Bale are doing a mob movie. Fainting.. Have to go see that. No matter what the story line is.

Of course the next Transformers is going to be good. And Angels and Demons is being made into a movie. It was good, but just not as good as other books I've read. I'll watch it eventually though I'm sure.

Oh! Fast and Furious! The third in line, and guess whaat, it's the original cast! Yay Vin Diesel! And Terentino is making a new movie. About WWII (I see a theme lately) so that'll be awesome!

Apparently I'm equally as excited about the kid's movies coming out as the adult ones. But kid movies are so much better then they used to be!
All in all though, going to be a great year for movies I think!

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Bebes

Made these for a friend from HS who just had a baby about a month ago. Hopefully they'll still fit her! They look kind of orange in the photo, but it's really a tomato red. If I have time at work today (which I probably will) I'll make some booties to go with them. I'll edit that picture in once I get them finished (probably by tomorrow).

Here they are!

I would have finished them last night but my hands were really sore. Now to get them to Jarrod so he can mail them out!

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Learn the Art of Layers.

I'm happy to say that yes, I can layer my yoga pants with my jeans and still fit them inside my boots. Which is very helpful when it's 13 degrees outside and overcast.

I've been waiting for a week to get a bunch of yarn I ordered and it came on Saturday (yaaaay!) I started on a pair of leg warmers first:

Now, as you can see, I'm not very far. They are going to come above the knee when I'm done, and I'm about.. 3 inches over the heel. So I might get them just in time for Spring! lol...

I got a Barnes and Noble gift card from the toy store for Christmas so I went to the library and checked out all the books I wanted to read that I didn't feel the need to purchase. So now I still have my library card and 6 books sitting around to be read. I just don't know if I have time to do anything else!

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New Obsession; Take One

Alright! Let me introduce you to my new friend: ravelry.com! Best.Site.Ever. I can keep track of what yarn I have, what patterns I want to do, and search a HUGE amount of patterns and people to help me with them! My first project from the site was Squishy the Fish.



This is his good side! He really turned out well in the end, but I'm a beginner and the pattern was weird for me. But he's adorable. On the other side I somewhere picked up an extra stitch and there's a bit of a hole, but I still love him. As I was stuffing him with love <3 Mike asked "So what are you going to do with him?" Well, I thought maybe I'd give him to the ferrets. But he'd get pretty chewed up so I'm not sure if I could bear to see that happen! But I don't know what else to do with him, he's sitting on my end table keeping watch over the living room at the moment.

More project posts soon! I have a bunch of yarn on it's way, will be here on Tuesday wooo! I got bright pink, yellow, blue, green and purple to make some more toys and then some to make a halter top and some leg warmers for myself.

:D

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Are you there?

This is like walking into a house that hasn't been lived in for a year. These most recent posts are so old! So, one of last year's resolutions bombed: being in school by the end of the year. :\ I was hoping to get in for this spring but FAFSA is a boob. But I'm going to get early admittance for the fall and possibly the summer if I can get aid. Probably going to go to UMass too, it's the cheapest option here and a good school. Mike's a little wary of me going over there at night though. S'ok. I beat'em up!

Christmas brought a wonderful, well earned, and much needed vacation of just over a week. I've also cut Monday's out of my Magic schedule so that I have a little more time for around the house. All my spare time at the College has gotten me back into crocheting and I learned to knit! Weeee. I'll put up pictures in a separate post.

So this year's resolution is to quit putting things off! Stop putting off school, stop putting off getting my certification through work, stop putting off everything! Unfortunately that little resolution also gave me the wedding bug >.< but I think I've made it subside somewhat. I love Mike more then ever (yes more then last year when I said the same thing) and I wouldn't want something stupid like me being antzy about wanting a huge party all about me to put a strain on our relationship.

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