Ebay Treasures & Secret Pal Stuff

Here's what I did tonight after bowling was over....My craft crap on ebay. So far, I've just listed some cross stitch stuff, but I'll be adding plastic canvas, more cross stitch stuff and even some knitting books as well. If you get bored, take a look! I am working to clear out some serious area and making cash to enhance the stash is ok as well.

No knitting tonight. I was so pissed off at myself today, I got to my daughter's school 20 minutes early and had ONE knitting needle with my bumpy scarf. One needle. I guess the other one fell out when the damn bag fell off the shelf in the closet where it was previously jammed when my brother & his wife came over Sunday afternoon.

OH OH OH my big news.......... I'm going to be an AUNT! I'm going to be Aunt Christine !!!! The married little brother Mike and his lovely wife Barb are expecting in September! I'm so happy!!! This isn't the cute blond brother that's engaged & living in FL, but the cute dark-haired brother living here in town! His wife is stunningly beautiful in one of those if-she-wasn't-so-damn-nice-you'd-hate-her because she's just a natural beauty. They should have a seriously gorgeous baby! OH MY GOD, I can't wait to see that baby! I'm going to get my baby-fix every time they'll let me babysit!! At least until that kid starts moving, I plan on volunteering to watch the little booger. I am surprised my kids ever learned to crawl, I think I just held them until they started walking. GOD I love babies. YEAH!

KR SECRET PALS is starting up!! WOO HOO! I just got my secret pal and she is just starting felting projects. I get a REASON to go shopping!! :) To the secret pal stuck with me, I promise to get a wish list up soon, but basically, I love EVERYTHING KNITTING!!! Everything and anything is an adventure to me in this new passion of Knitting! I especially love natural colors of greens, browns, and greys, or something colorful. Sorry to be so specific, hah!

hangover.....

Well, I finally got OUT of the house for a REAL night out on the town. Ok, not actually out on the town, but out in Overland Park with a backyard facing Metcalf, where apparently they need to shoot the next issue of COPS. Holy crap, within two hours, we had a front-row seat for a wild dui arrest that went a bit violent, lots of cop cars, ending with the vehicle in question being towed off and almost everyone in the car in cuffs, a few tickets, the works. Then, one guy in a truck nailed the light pole right next to our party's yard, and then took off running once he realized he couldn't drive away. Within MINUTES we had a full cast of people just waiting to be on tv. OH holy hell, there was a fat lady in a tank top (I SWEAR) just waving her arms around and yelling about this guy along with about half the cast of deliverance. WHO lives in those apartments across the way ANYWAY????? We went up to check things out and the back was full of stuffed animals. I'm thinking they're probably full of drugs or something. I totally do NOT remember sticking my ARM in the damn truck, just wait until my fingerprints end up in the middle of a drug case! cripes.

The party was for Rich's bday/housewarming. Apparently most of the women of the group didn't make it out, so it was 5 chics and about 25 men. MY KIND OF PARTY!!! Of course, most of them were friends or married or whatever, but still, it's good for the mojo to be surrounded by men and liquor every so often.

Here's a few pics...click on them to see bigger versions.

Me & Michael (married, good friend) but LOOK AT ALL THE MEN AROUND ME, can it GET any better than that???

Here's the truck from earlier stories, notice how cute Bambi (yes, that's her real name and no, she's not a stripper) and the Knitting Virgin look, then look how dorky John and Michael look! HAH!



Now we see why Christine had the woozy stomach, the headache, the works this am....Starting the evening with a couple of beers, a few glasses of wine, and one or two lemon shots, I think I was cranking the diet coke for the last 2 hours to keep myself from repeating the truck incident myself. Don't worry, there was a breathalyzer at the party and I was all good before driving off. Here's the remainder of one of the cool ice shot glasses...very artful picture, no?



All in all, it's a good thing I don't drink that much that often...my old body can't handle it! I was finally able to eat some toast at about 6pm. THAT's how we should lose weight!!! The mere thought of food, not good today.

One oscar comment, did Beyonce's eye shadow/radioactive paint on her eyes when she was doing the Phantom of the Opera song frighten anyone besides me??? She was singing along and instead of listening to the beautiful lyrics, I was freaking out each time she closed her eyes!! It looked like they fused actual metal on there.

house stuff

Well, it's a good thing I've got a super-realtor. I was ready to BUY BUY BUY my little dream house. She pointed out that 2 years ago the guy bought it for $18,000 less than it's listed and there's some serious structural foundation work that needs doing. She said there's only one other serious looker right now, so we'll let it sit for a while, if it's still available, we'll see if he'll fix the foundation, and LOWER the price and then maybe make an offer. If not, she's now looking for me for my little pocket of liberal kansas in PV. I still think it's the perfect house for me, but there's a lot of crap to get fixed on it first, but I'm very excited that the time-table for getting my little family a house is NOW or at least SOON. WOO HOO! I'm also going through tons of CRAP as if I go to a smaller home, there's no clutter coming with me. I'm going to ebay ebay ebay tonight.

Knitted my ass off this weekend, almost ready for a serious little felting party in the laundry room. I've got 3 bags and a hat almost done and ready for felting!!

Dirty Martini Louge update: I've gone over 25 hours of listening on my radio station! People like me, they really like me! (at least that's what the little emails from live365 keep telling me. It's fun. My listening hours aren't counting, so it looks like there's a few other swing/funk/big band fans out there as well. Thanks for checking it out! The thing that cracked me up was when I was showing off my stats to my cousin/babysitter last night and it was pointed out to me that the rewards I've earned so far total $0.01. Yup, one penny. Ah well, I didn't do it for the cash, I did it to save my sanity and give me a way to play my tunes at work & home on the computer. So, now it's "They like me, they really like me, all the way to one cent."

WARNING--Long-ass post

OK, first of all, thanks ladies, I'm feeling much better about venting. I'm staying in this damn state and I am still going to love it, but I am going to STAND UP for what I believe in. It may only by voting and spreading the truth and differing opinions where I find it, but by GOD, I'm going to make my little part of the world better. OK, off the soap box. Back to the normal flighty me. :)

I did the boobie thing. Mamogram of COURSE didn't show a damn thing as I'm not 40 yet (getting closer every day) so the tissue is a bit dense. I keep telling them that, but ah well, I guess they need practice squeezing little half-a cups in the machine. Did you know us "little women" get an extra damn piece of plastic to help squish? It's pretty sad. At one point I think the lady had a rib bone in there as well, I swear I heard it separate from the rest of my rib cage. Sonogram showed one cyst in the left one and about 5 in the right. The left one had some blood in it, but is not supposed to be any big deal. I have to stay on very low caffeine and will have them aspirated (doesn't that word sound better than STICKING A LARGE NEEDLE IN YOUR BREAST WHILE YOU DON'T MOVE) in a couple of weeks. YEAH for me! No masses, no surgery, no scary stuff. Ok, one thing was slightly spooky. I'm laying there on the table, squishy stuff on my boob, and am watching the screen while the cysts show up as black holes in the midst of gauzy-looking tissue. At one point, I swear an alien face with a screaming mouth showed up. It was FREAKY! The tech kind of jumped a bit and looked at me and we both cracked up. I said, nothing better be springing out of my chest like Alien here, right??? Try as we could, the image didn't come back like that, I wanted her to take a picture for my blog! The cysts were quite artistic.

The sun was shining on this beautiful day, MAN it was hard to drive back to work!!

I'm also officially house hunting now!!! I'm trying to move to "the village", no not a cool part of NYC, a quiet little part of southern KC that I LOVE. Actually, the house right across the street from Mark & Russell is for sale, and would be PERFECT for me, but it's a bit over-priced (ok a LOT overpriced) and has structural damage and a furnace that dates to the 1960's. So, I'm looking a little longer. It did have the coolest tiny little kitchen complete with the ORIGINAL oven & range & a chrome exhaust fan in the wall that looked like it would suck you right through to the outdoors if you pulled the chain to crank it up.

OH, I got the esperanza rolled into balls at Knit Wits and ended up with ANOTHER FREAKING BOOK. But I couldn't help it. It's the new Pursenalities. I know, I know, I don't need any more damn books, but this one is COOL!!!

I took this from Robin's blog, who TAGGED me for the tivo thing:

You're A Prayer for Owen Meany!

by John Irving

Despite humble and perhaps literally small beginnings, you inspire
faith in almost everyone you know. You are an agent of higher powers, and you manifest
this fact in mysterious and loud ways. A sense of destiny pervades your every waking
moment, and you prepare with great detail for destiny fulfilled. When you speak, IT
SOUNDS LIKE THIS!


Take the Book Quiz
at the Blue Pyramid.

OK, I'll give them the LOUD part! It was a cool quiz as there are 64 different answers instead of the normal 3 or 4 catch-all answers, so go & tell me what book you are!

TAGGED:
TV Meme:
1. How much space is left on your Tivo or Comcast box?
I'm a poor little single mamma, so I'm still doing the damn vcr thing. I do have about 12 tapes I use over & over.

2. Have you ever bought a DVD of a TV series and if so which one?
Will & Grace, but I still want Seinfeld

3. What was the last TV show that you all watched before reading this message?
Some chic doing standup on Comedy Central. I wasn't paying all that much attention as my kids are NOT sleeping yet tonight!

4. List 5 shows you won't miss.
The Daily Show, Jon Stewart (my daily dose of liberalism & humor)
Will & Grace
the West Wing
What Not to Wear
Everybody loves Raymond

5. Name 3 people to whom you will pass this stick.
I never know who to send these things to, I'm going looking to see who's not yet been tagged!

Also, sorry for the lack of comments lately on everyone's blogs, I am reading my little heart out, but I am not able to comment while at work, so I'll catch up this weekend!!!

Gotta love Kansas

It's getting to be if someone asks where I'm from, I might just have to make up something. My little twang wouldn't give me away if I said I was from Chicago would it? or from the east coast?

Bumper sticker I saw yesterday, "Kansas....as Bigoted as you think" and it really spoke to me. Our lovely state spent MILLIONS, yes MILLIONS of dollars coming up with a new slogan of "Kansas...as big as you think." I guess "the Land of Ahs" wasn't cutting it and instead of spending our hard earned tax dollars on feeding the poor, educating our children, etc, we came up with a slogan. great.

Not only are we making national news with our evolutionary battles (now we get stickers that say "Evolution is a theory, not a proven fact" and school boards are battling to teach the good ol' Adam and Eve theory as equal with evolution in our history classes. Then our Blue Valley school district is leading the way in censorship with banned books of most of the classics that helped my little educated self learn about the world and DIFFERENT points of view (I know, that D word is very frightening for most Kansans.....Darwin started with a D, Different starts with a D, with a D, maybe we should ban that letter too.)

NOW, our Attorney General is on the march....wanting PRIVATE records of clinics that have performed abortions or provided birth control (seen as the same thing by a majority of the right-to-lifers). Yup, PRIVATE records because he's avenging under-age sex and late term abortions. No, there's no proof any of that has occurred, but he thinks HE should have access to a number of women's PRIVATE records so he can just make sure everything's ok. The man was just recently blocked by a federal judge to require medical personnel to report all knowledge of under-age sexual activity so he can prosecute. Does this guy sound a bit like McCarthy????? We've got politicians riding the tide of the Christian Right, violating rights wherever they see fit in the name of the law and the ethical thing to do and crap like that. I'm getting SICK of it. And, of course, I have TOTAL FREAKING FAITH in our political leaders that they will keep records confidential, total faith. I'm sure some poor lady who had a difficult time in life, made a decision and went on with her life will be publicly outed to the not-always-sane abortion opponents, churches, right-to-life groups and the like. No, Kansans wouldn't do that. Call me crazy, but isn't there something else our beloved Attorney General could be spending his time and OUR MONEY on besides furthering his personal agenda??? Like PROSECUTING CRIMINALS???? Sending a message by PUTTING A KILLER IN JAIL???? Call me crazy, but I'm getting a bit sick of it all.

I'll be less ranting and more knitting later. I'll also give an update on the mamogram & sonogram I'm going for today. Ick. Ah well, at least the place is in the same shopping center as Knit Wits!! I've got 3 skeins of Schaefer Esperanza that need winding into balls, so I'll drop them off before-hand.

On a happy note, I've had all kinds of little listeners add my new station to their presets, so I'm officially a real station! Thanks for listening! Good music to knit by

I'm off to try not to be so pissy about my DAMN CONSERVATIVE BACK-WOODS PERSECUTING MCCARTHY-ERA state that I used to be so proud of and get my boobies squished.

The Dirty Martini Lounge is on the air

No, I didn't have enough going on in my life. Yes, I realize it's probably a complete waste of time, but WOO HOO BABY, I've got my very own little live365 radio station up and running!!! I am stuck in cubicle-land in the basement at work and am too lazy to get up & change my cd's all the time, so I started listening to these different swing/lounge free stations on www.live365.com, but so many of them were 75% elevator music and only 25% good groovin tunes, so I created my very own. Please feel free to click on the pic below and if you'd like to listen for a few minutes and even wait until it says "vote on this station..." and say nice things, like "excellent" or "very good" or even "adequate" I'd be your very best friend. It doesn't really do anything for me, other than get me listed higher on the line, but anyway, if you'd like to groove out to Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, Sinatra, Harry Connick Jr. (yummy), Michael Buble, Ella Fitzgerald, Rosemarie Clooney, and anyone else I can stick in there that makes me feel happy, come on over.

I'm also very proud of the artwork, quite retro, huh? OK, very elementary, but I like it. I also wasted time by drawing this little thing on paint. I've got to get better software. All together now, "Aaaahhhhh". Thank you. I am very proud. As I'm jammin out to my tunes.....GOD I've got to get an ipod....shuffle, whatever.

The playlist is basically a vision of what's in my head. I love knitting to my swing tunes & my whatever you call the genre of Voodoo Daddy tunes. It's a good thing they don't put you away for hearing music in your head, I guess as long as those voices are singing "let's schwing, baby..." instead of "kill them, kill them" or whatever psychotic people hear, I'm ok.

PIA scarf finished pictures!

This is Christine with her 6 or more diet cokes per day:

This is Christine WITHOUT her diet coke:



Cripes. I've had two mugs of decaffeinated green tea, two glasses of water, and a cup of chocolate milk right from the cow (Shatto Milk, yummy) and I'm still craving my damn diet coke. It's a good thing I don't do drugs, or I'd be a royal bitch trying to make it through withdrawl symptoms of something serious. I scare myself with just the diet coke dt's.

This artwork is from Matt Doubek, The piece on top is titled "Glamour Head (with Spinach)" and the other one is "Ugly Lady Liberty."

FINISHED OBJECT!!!! WOOOO HOOOOO!!!



An upclose version of front & back:


One tip, when reading the pattern on this puppy, I'd heard people commenting on how to bind off, and that they all had problems. At first I tried regular bind-off, but ended up with this freakishly skewed thing, then I tried to bind off in pattern, but my sanity level was too low for this, so then I just bound off by knitting together every 2 stitches (they kind of line up that way from the pattern anyway) and I ended up with a finished end that is almost identical to my beginning line. pretty cool. I am going to add fringe anyway as the ends are a bit wider than the scarf, and I'm just a fringy kind of a girl. I may have to make a few more of this thing. I'm not sure it showcases the yarn colorations as it makes kind of a weird pattern with the changes in color, but WTF I don't care, it's DONE. After I finally got the hang of it (and quit having to rip it out over & over) it was almost enjoyable. almost. NO I'M NOT MAKING THE HAT. I don't know enough curse words to see me through that little adventure! NOPE. Well, I might just read the pattern to see what it would take, but NO. Not gonna do it.

On a side note, my damn alternator decided I'd not spent enough $$ yet and was not broke enough to have to starve for the week before the next payday, so it went out on the way to work. I do have about the cutest sexiest guy EVER that always coordinates the vehicles in my family (my folks have bought new cars at this dealership for about 20 years, and I got the hand-me-down of the red blazer, which I LOVE)... I normally flirt a bit each time I go for my oil change and then curse the fact that I don't drive more in my current job so have an excuse to go back more often. About a year ago, I thought he was going to ask me out as he said if he got tickets to some race or other, he'd give me a call since I'd never been to anything Nascar, but I never heard from the guy, so thought, oh well. I didn't even try to flirt today, I was a good girl, and when I was ready to go, he walked me to my car, shut the door, and gave me a definite arm rub (kind of a swirly touch thing) and I thought hmmmmmm. who knows? I have to go back next week for another part on the vehicle, so maybe I'll leave my card and tell him to call me for a drink sometime.
maybe. I do need to get out with a non-gay man sometime so I don't forget how to flirt.

I'm back

Well, it was no biggie at the dr's today after all. We ended up deciding that I need new mamogram & ultrasounds done on both bumps. I've got one in each breast, he thinks it'll probably be cysts that we can get rid of with the dreaded needle, but just in case I've got an appt Friday morning so they can see if the bumps are liquid (good) or solid masses (bad). Then we'll see. He says a lot of caffeine can make cysts more tender and larger, so I'm OFF CAFFEINE for 2 weeks. I'm not supposed to go cold turkey as that almost killed me (and everyone around me) when I was pregnant with my daughter. I drink an unholy amount of diet coke, it's my very very very very favorite food or drink substance (even over chocolate, can you believe it???) and the caffeine free stuff tastes like CRAP and just makes the fact that I don't have the good stuff that much harder to deal with, so I'm up for a fun few weeks.

I almost fell asleep three times while bowling tonight. Not while actually throwing the ball, but every time I sat down I'd start to doze....When the dr and I had our talk and he showed me how tender my little bumps were (after poking, pushing, rolling them around, etc OWWWW) I poured out my beautiful 32 oz. plastic just starting to bead with condensation, beautiful bubbly QT diet coke in the sink.... It's only been 12 hours and I can hardly keep my eyes open through a normal day. Look out basement, I may be very bitchy for a while.

only knitting accomplished today was about 15 minutes of a bumpy garter stitch scarf while waiting at the dr's office. I just can't keep my eyes open any longer, good night. I hope tomorrow's a bit more interesting than today.

Hi ho, hi ho, off to the boobie doctor I go...

Well crap. The boobie bumps are back. I like to call them that because the official name is too long. I get those damn cysts in my breasts and apparently they like to come back just so they can be sucked out by long needles every couple of years while I lay on a table with sonogram gel all over me and watch the needle on the computer screen. Ick. I do have a wonderful breast specialist, so I know he's good, but DAMMIT it's hard to lay still while that needle is going from one to the other through perfectly good breast tissue. Last year I had a growth that was not malignant, and had it removed as it was growing pretty fast, but I think these are just the regular pain-in-the-breast kind.

I also think it sucks that I have such LITTLE breasts and yet have to put up with this crap. My dr. told me I'm lucky to be small chested, as it's easier to find the lumps and then the needle doesn't have to go in so far. Yup, that's lucky. I'd rather have the needle have to boogie through a B cup instead of my little half-A, but I'm healthy, I'm here and shouldn't bitch. I shouldn't, but you know I have to.

Quiet weekend. I finished the PIA scarf and actually ended up liking the damn thing. I'll add pics later. I think I'd better take the plain ol' Schaefer bumpy garter stitch scarf today, so I can knit without thinking.

I realized NO ONE pissed me off all weekend. I actually didn't go very many places, but still, I never even ranted or pouted. strange. I did get mildly irritated with a driver ahead of me that stopped for a yellow light when I was planning on cruisin on through, but then saw it was a very old little woman, so it's all good. People that get mad at old people for driving slow REALLY PISS ME OFF! First of all, these seniors deserve our respect. Second of all, do you really want little Miss Daisy crusing down the road at 60 mph when her reaction time would be better served at 20 mph? Think about it. and be nice. dammit. (hey, I have to rant a bit, or my mojo gets all out of whack.)

Think happy thoughts for my little boobies, no, actually, that sounds pretty creepy. You'd better not.

misc crap

Knitting bit:
I actually made TWO, count em, TWO swatches last night of that weird Armadillo or some strange yarn I bought long ago to make a tank top. I gave up as I couldn't make it work and thought I'd use it for something else. I'm not quite sure what yet, probably a sleeveless turtleneck or something. I HATE making gauge swatches, and these were only about 2 inches long, but I figure it's better than the normal, starting in knitting and thinking, yeah, that'll work and ending up with a sweater sized for a Chief's linebacker.

I want to go to thrift stores and rummage for old sweaters. I keep reading about all these great finds that people are finding and creating their own stuff from cashmere, angora, and the like! I may have to sneak downtown to go treasure hunting this weekend if I can get someone to watch the monsters.

Beauty bit, tip of the day:
Don't wear jeans with a hole in the knees if you haven't shaved your legs in a week. It's not pretty. Good thing I'm a redhead and have blond stubble, cripes.

Political bit:
MAN, I still like Howard Dean! In a debate between the new chairman of the Democratic National Committee and Richard Perle, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld's former top policy advisor, he had a quote that just reinforced WHY I like the man. He's intelligent, energetic and stands up for what he believes in. Here's my favorite quote from the debate when Dean was stating that Democrats are actually tougher on defense than the Republican right. Democratics have been pushing for the current administration to not ignore the problems in North Korea and Iran for some time now, instead of focusing all our money and energy and lives on Iraq and Afghanistan.

Defense is a lot broader than swaggering around saying you're going to kick Saddam's butt.
-- Howard Dean

When confronted about a statement made on 9/22/03, where Mr. Perle predicted "a grand square in Baghdad named for President Bush" within one year, Perle said though it was not on his original timetable, he still believed a square will be named after the President. Mr. Perle was a key person in designing the Iraq invasion plan.

I'm thinking there will be some things named after our President, but instead of "a grand square" it may be a burning effigy, a pile of rubble, etc. I'm thinking even those that we are "liberating" are not too pleased with the good ol' USA, so keep on dreaming people.

Getting hot bit:
This new plan of not eating ANYTHING after 9pm is killing me. I've realized I'm not actually hungry that late, but I'm freaking MISSING my late night eating....I could hardly focus on anything last night as my mind was saying...."just one cookie, just one day off....just one Hershey's....and on and on. I always knew I ate for comfort, stress, habits, but DAMN it's hard to change. I just want to get healthy now so I'm not facing lots of heart trouble & become diabetic like most of the women in my dad's side of the family. And, getting into a bathing suit by this summer wouldn't hurt either, I have those firemen friends of my hairdresser's hubby to think of! Hanging at the pool with firemen will be much more fun if I can get a little slimmer in those legs & thighs & butt that you can't hide in a suit. (I did find a mini-skirt suit that doesn't look like a grandma suit, but STILL, gotta keep on running/jogging/sweating and cussing. I'm trying to keep the cursing down to a minimum until after the kids are in bed, but when I'm thudding along on that damn treadmill, a few slip out. I always try to imitate my dad, he still does the "son of a biscuit" or something similar. My mother, the woman who would not allow the words "suck, pissed off" or ANYTHING stronger in our home now curses like a drunken sailor when she gets going.

I do like the woman, she can be an intimidating biotch, but I like to think when I get going and strong, I get a lot of it from my mom. I'm still working on "the eye". I have a pretty intimidating "eye" when I need it, I've been known to make a few people crazy with it, one ex-hubby and an assistant who said I was making her hair fall out in clumps on her letter of resignation to the president of the bank I used to work for. (I love that.) She actually was trying to embezzle money and mess with accounts, but I caught her at it and got an auditor involved, so she HAD to quit, but still, I like that I sounded like such a bitch! bwa ha ha ha ha...... But, that's nothing compared with the quiet, steely presence my mom can get when she is standing up for what she believes in. She just retired as the head of the negotiating team for NEA for the teachers in her district, and the replacing teacher works at my daughter's elementary school. I got such a kick out of her when she pulled Beth & I aside at Open House to say, "Elizabeth, your Grandma ROCKS!". :)

I do apologize to you poor readers out there, I talk A LOT and FAST and I type faster than I talk, so when I have "just a thought" it ends up going into the 4 page range before I know what's happening.

That's it, have a GREAT weekend! :)

bigwig work update

Well, we had a "corporate meeting" this morning. They told us they are planning on being in business for some time to come. They started with three people and are very happy with what we are doing now and how everything is getting done with much less overhead and much less capital. I think they finally realized it was getting to where no one wanted the owners to come to town as each time people were out of a job. I think they realized the problem was when local bossman said "We're closing the doors tomorrow" the other day, and we all gasped and assumed we were out of jobs, he meant we were closing January's billing figures, but forgot to say that. I kind of laughed and told Ms. Boss that I figured getting the shirts meant we were here for a little longer.

*Sigh* So, no more stress for a while on the job front. I'm glad as (except for the low pay) it is the ideal situation for me & my little ones. I'm able to work around their school stuff and Joey's illness and I couldn't ask for more. Well, I'm sure I COULD, but I'm not gonna. I kind of enjoy being paid on a regular basis.

I feel like that old character, "they like me, they really like me." I'm glad I"m back in good graces with the powers that be. Yes, I'm a dork. But I'm a dork with a job that lets me work from home when I need to. Besides, how could I buy yarn with no $$???? Hey, I could live on food stamps, but food stamps doesn't buy the angora!

KC Winer Opener VIP night/Bigwigs here at work

OK, So I went to the MOST BEAUTIFUL fun amazing restored home/schoolhouse/building thing called the Webster House in downdown KC for the VIP night of the CF Wine Opener. OH MY GOD! I've GOT to do a girlfriend's lunch there sometime, it's the coolest place. Filled with antiques, amazing gifts, candles, and the FOOD was to die for, and the building was amazing. The assistant chef "whipped up" some mushroom stuffed things for us servers in the back kitchen was the best pasta I have ever had in my entire life. I have eaten a LOT of pasta in a lot of very nice Italian restaurants, and from Italian men who themselves are wonderful cooks, and nothing can compare to the heaven I ate last night. OH HOLY HELL. It wasn't even something on the menu, she just created it. I don't even LIKE mushrooms, but I went back and ate 2 BIG PLATEFULS! Chef Tim also made extra of all the good stuff that went out for the event, I think I could get used to eating like that.... mmmmmmm

I had so much fun! I was not a "server" as they had snooty wine men to pour and describe the wine. Thank Goodness, no spillage on any rich people! I was more of a bus-boy. We polished over 300 wine glasses, set up everything, wandered around with trays picking up dishes, forks and glasses and then took everything back to the kitchen. Easy work and I got to wander around and check out the auction items and dream a little bit, listened to good ol' crooner/jazz music in the background and flirted a bit. Just a bit, I controlled myself. Not on purpose, as the only men attending the function were either married or gay, but the guy that manages the wait staff was yummy. Italian, Catholic, only about 10 years older than me, charismatic, fun. He talked with me afterwards about giving him a call, and I'm thinking "OH YEAH BABY" thought in Austin Powers twang, and then I realized he wanted me to work for him on some catering events. I said, Oh, I really don't like to work that hard on a normal basis, and I have a job, well, for NOW I have a job... but he said it's totally seasonal, they could call a few weeks ahead, for about 5-6 hours of work I can come out with some serious money as they pay way above catering levels and the chef also gives his staff part of the tips, which are normally huge. I thought since I'm poor, I'd probably better take the option of making $$ over the option of a fun night out sometime, so I was a good girl, gave him my number in a professional manner (dammit) and figured, I could always hit on the guy LATER... bwa ha ha ha.

Also, since the point WAS to make money for CF and not just for me to go out and flirt, the event made over $15,000 and the big night is tonight. The organizer of the local CF chapter said she had two free tickets for me if I'd like to go since she knows I'm normally POOR POOR POOR and though it would have been fun, I've not spent much time at home with the kiddos this week, so we're heading to blockbuster and renting Shark Tales or Scooby Doo or something else.

I am going to have to do more charity events in this town. I overheard more people getting job info, schmoozing and networking and the like. It is all about who you know I guess.

Bigwigs weren't in the office yesterday, so today's the fun day....OOOOHHHHH I'm looking forward to it. Talk about shell shocked, I pulled up to work yesterday morning and saw our part-time receptionist's car wasn't in the lot and I thought, OH MY GOD, THEY FIRED HER, but then I realized I'd forgotten she'd asked for the day off. Then, Tuesday afternoon, the big bossman said, "Christine could you come into my office, we need to discuss something...." And I thought "OH CRAP!", went in and realized he really DID want to discuss something, but it was just related to the collections I was working on and he was pleased with my progress. He just wanted an update. Cripes. Live to work another day. I really really really really really don't want to be here today or tomorrow, but hell, if I survived childbirth twice, living in a trailer home in New Mexico with mud, black widow spiders, rattlesnakes and NO PHONE with inlaws from HELL, and four layoff/firing days here, I can survive a couple more days in the basement. What's the worst that could happen? Option #1--I could be out of a job. Well, what's so bad about that? Less money. I've been poor most of my life and can deal. Option #2--I could still have a job, and just more crap to do. That's my daily life right now. So I just figure I'll work my little butt off, hide behind my flowers, keep my mouth shut and see what happens.

Song in my head this morning: "Gee Mom, I wanna go, but they won't let me go, gee Mom, I wanna go home......."

Makeup tip for the day: Don't sneeze immediately after applying waterproof mascara. The little black marks are NOT attractive and they DON'T go away, but turn into a black smeared shadow that just looks like dark circles. I guess if you were an organized woman, you could put on your makeup at HOME where you may have eye makeup remover, but when you put it on in the parking lot or at a stop light, you just don't have that option. God, I'm a hottie.

Things that make me chuckle

Ok, first, my daughter gets up and dresses herself while I'm in the shower this morning. I was so freaking proud, I couldn't hardly speak, had to get the camera to record this for myself. Here is Miss Beth, modeling her poncho (my first non-scarf knitted item) and sporting a belt created in green acrylic yarn and a pony-tail tie in noro kureyon both finger-knitted by Miss Beth! She's also finished the outfit in BOOTS, Love it! Overhead at the playdate last Sunday to her friend Konner, "Come and look at all my shoes!" WHERE does she get it from? She actually only has about 8 pair of shoes (including boots and old tennies, but one pair of brown boots with one inch heels I found on clearance for TWO DOLLARS that are just cute as HECK and I've been saving them for a couple of years now).

Here's a pic I also had to take for my own little memory book. This was when the kids were being TOO QUIET...you moms know, all of a sudden, you realize you're actually able to WATCH the tv and knit more than a half row of a project and you go "OH CRAP!" and take off in a run to find out just WHY they're so quiet and not bothering you...They were getting ready for bed in the "sleepover" Sat. night in Beth's bunkbed. PJ pants are on heads and shirts are sporting legs where the arms should be. They were so proud, I had to sit down and laugh.



Sometimes it's just good to be a mom.

oh crap

Well, I just realized the bigwigs are in town at the END of a pay period today. That wouldn't be too bad, except the last few times they've been here, less employees were left. Last time, one flew into town to fire some employees at the other company they own. The time before was the big Christmas massacre in the dungeon. Before that, each time one employee was sent out the door with her paycheck in hand and always at 4:45pm on the 15th or 31st.

I was just starting to get into the swing of the new business thing down here. I hope it stays a while longer.

I'm going to go cheer myself up by picking up lunch at a little soup & sandwich counter supposedly next to the local firestation. Maybe I can see some firemen. That'll always cheer a girl up. Eyecandy to go with my chocolate candy.

"I'd rather be a woman than a man. Women can cry, they can wear cute clothes, and they're the first to be rescued off sinking ships." --Gilda Radner

Well, 10 minutes after I left work, the florist came. Bill (my old friend/old boss/sometimes date that moved to SC) had sent a big-ass bunch of flowers and artistic-looking chocolates (so pretty, but not too pretty to eat). The arrangement is the size of a small shrub. The card said "Miss You. With Love, William." All together now, AAAAHhhhhhhh. He is sweet. He's actually sent me chocolate now for 3 years. Three years ago I worked for him and he gave both Linda (the other District Manager) and me Godiva Chocolates, last year we were just friends and he called, said he knew I didn't have a valentine, would I like him to be mine just for lunch? and fed me and gave me a plant and chocolates. I told him today that he's now got a system set up and he will have to give me chocolates every year until I die. When I told him how big the arrangement was (it should probably be in an entryway in a large mansion on Ward Parkway) he said he was looking for something I could hide behind. He knows I miss my little walls and with the big bosses coming in, hiding is a good thing.

Martha gets out March 5th I think I saw on another blog. Go Martha Go! So, will her big protector/biotch prison friends be invited to her dinner parties on the outside?

Got beat ALL three games and totals by a 75 year old woman at the bowling alley last night. Beat bad. She is at least a nice lady, so I didn't mind it too much, but seriously, it was humbling. SEVENTY FIVE YEARS OLD.

I do wish Bill were here this weekend as the Big Bad Voodoo Daddy is playing at the Midland on Sat. night. Dammit. I called Jildo to see if she's feeling good enough to come to town for the night. Beth's got a sleepover and Joey's best friend may take him overnight, so I wouldn't even have to pay for a sitter. Not sure yet. I almost called Italian Man, but it would seem a bit desperate right after Vday. I haven't talked with him in about 3 weeks, so I have to have a casual drinks or dinner & drinks eve with him before anything concert-y, too official of a date situation. Young Boy is more of a friend/flirty/sex thing, so also not good for a concert-y date thing. I've got to get out more and meet more people. I realized today that the only men I'm around are bowlers, married or the strange guys you see on the industrial park side of town I work in. MAYBE if I were actually AROUND normal people more often, I'd MEET some of them. Nah, too much work. I'll try to keep working on getting in shape and maybe join a volleyball league or something later. maybe.

It's 8:40am. Can I go home yet?

Happy Hairy Valentine's Day!

It's actually quiet on the stalker-front. Normally I get some strange crap or flowers or bears from a stalker or two...I have to say though I'm glad I think Kenny Rogers & my old 2nd worst date guy (LV) must have finally gotten the hint. (Although, it was a bit fun to get stuff--hey, I never said I wasn't shallow!) Last year was a big-ass bunch of flowers, roses, sunflowers, branches, like half a tree of stuff in a gorgeous big vase from Toblers from Kenny and just a card from LV. The year before it was black dead roses from the ex hubby of the mini-marriage (I thought that one was pretty funny and gave the guy credit as he never sent me LIVE flowers in our short time together), and a black & red butt-flosser version of a thong with beads spelling "CHRISTINE" up the string in the back from LV. Though I do wear thongs occasionally, I am not a fan of the butt-flosser string version. And, if I were, I don't think I'd be putting a string of beads up the crack of my butt because it just doesn't sound pleasant. I'm sure some people enjoy beads up the butt, but it looks bumpy and what if you got pinched? ick. I am like a serial killer, saving trophies of my victims, except I'm saving trophies of the WORST DATES EVER.

Ah well, I got a hug & kiss from each of my kids and a card with $20 from mom & dad. That was sweet! Joey woke me up and said, "Mom, do you know who I'm giving my very first Valentine to today?" I said, "who?" and he said "You!" and gave me a big hug & kiss. My daughter is much like her mother in many ways. Besides looking like a mini-me, she is NOT a morning person. She stumbled into my room, fell on top of me and said "hhmmmmppyyy vvvnnnnnntinnnnns dnnnnn" which I took to mean good wishes for the day. I mumbled back, and we hugged, then drug ourselves out of the bed to stumble to the kitchen after the bouncing hyper MORNING PERSON little boy.

Hope your day is special and you all get lots of goodies! I think I'm going to treat myself to a SMALL purchase of yarn from the LYS, we'll see....

PIA, playdates and rollerblades

First, the PIA scarf has saved its own life. It was just sitting there, mocking me through the closet door, laughing at me...and I kept thinking, I don't really even LIKE the damn thing anymore, and was THIS CLOSE to ripping the whole thing AGAIN and NOT restarting....I thought, hey, THIS could be a couple of buttonhole bags, and I'd LIKE it. Then I thought I am not going to waste this pretty soft yarn on a damn handbag. I am good at frogging stitch by stitch as I have had TOO much practice at this, but this hatch-stitch had me unable to see it until TONIGHT! I did it! I even decided that I may like the damn thing a teeny bit. That's it. Just teeny. Thanks for the offer Camille! I am going to try to make it to the Yarn Store on Thursday, depending on the little guy.

Had tag-team play dates at the house this afternoon. It's funny, everyone always invites my kids over for half a day or so, and I can barely do two hours without going raving insane. It's so much easier to have each child have a friend over, as otherwise the one lonely kid is bugging the other one and ME. I am actually getting pretty good at it, one kid upstairs, one kid downstairs, then SWITCH then snacks, then clean up and get the heck OUT. :) I even had a chance to sit & knit for about 30 minutes during this deal today. Amazing. I was QUEEN of the household, I'd swept the floors, unloaded & reloaded the dishwasher AND cleaned two bathrooms, just like June Cleaver minus the heels & pearls. BUT ....at 8 minutes past 3:00, I was getting a bit flustered.....at 11 minutes past 3:00, I was a bit pissy....losing total control of everyone, what was all put away was coming out again, shoes were back off, NO NO NO! In my life I am not that punctual, but OH DEAR LORD IN HEAVEN, when your children play at my house, and I am looking at that clock, I am READY to toss the little buggars out the door at 3:01! Cripes. Afterwards, we thanked everyone, re-put on shoes, even had a "I think there's something in my pants.." episode that ended with Joey's little friend going home in some of Joey's underwear & sweatpants & socks...YES I had them take potty breaks, but at 3:08, it ALL came streaming out....But, at 3:13pm, shoes were back on, butts were clean, and momma was smiling super-single-mamma saying, Oh, let's do it again soon! And at 3:16 or so, we were all three dozing on the couch and watching Scooby Doo and the Loch Ness Monster. All in all a pretty good day.

You know, in the last two weeks I've been rollerskating AND iceskating with the kids. I think I'm almost ready for rollerblades. I am NOT the most graceful person in the world, but I just may get a bit wild and pick some up. I could take roller-blading breaks from work, how much fun would that be???

Wed. night I'm heading downtown to be a volunteer server at the VIP night of the CF wine tasting event. I'm supposed to wear white shirt, black pants and serve very rich people wine.....PLEASE God, don't let me spill red wine on a rich old lady, please please please. I am so clumsy I asked to be one of the "greeters" but that job was taken. At least if I spill it on someone, let it be a REALLY rich handsome STRAIGHT guy that's NOT married and thinks my eyes are so beautiful it makes up for the stain..... yeah, right.

I may just sit myself down and knit on the PIA scarf while grooving out to my new passion, the old time radio from live365. LOVING that! I got all into the Ozzie & Harriet episode the other day!

My PIA Scarf if FUXXED UP!!!!! and Ice Skating Fun

CRAP ALMIGHTY, I'm so tempted to rip this whole DAMN scarf out again, but will not since I have made it through about 1 1/2 feet. I've somehow lost a stitch in the row below and can't frog it without ripping the whole thing out, so I think I'll just put it in a bag, ignore it and maybe it will fix itself. Why can't those damn closet ghosts we have that leave the sliding doors about an inch open every so often and shrink my pants so I can't zip without stopping breathing just fix the stitch for me? Are they not knitting ghosts? Maybe I'll bring it out and try to hit the Thurs. night group at the Yarn Store and see if someone will take pity on me. AAAUUURRRGGGHHH I really like the look & feel of this scarf or it would be history. It's not even that difficult of a stitch at all, you just have to pay attention. DAMMIT

Now what will I knit??? I cranked out a little purse with a flap out of noro kureyon (what else?) and it only used one skein. ALL of one skein, I was pushing it on the icord srap. If it's cute, I'll do more. I'll felt it up tomorrow and put a pic on after it's done. The great idea of making my own version of the booga bag, just small enough for a cell phone, lipstick and condoms for a night on the town kind of backfired. It felted pretty enough, but is just not the right shape for a small bar/bag thing. Back to the drawing board. I had the BEST barbag through college but it finally wore out and was looking pretty old and I tossed it a few years ago. I need to recreate it as it was the BEST for wearing out and dancing all night!

I'm officially totally broke. I had to use quarters today at my daughter's ice skating party we went to to rent my skates. QUARTERS. sad, isn't it? Great money managing skills, too much yarn, too much medical copays, payday is not until Wednesday. Good thing we have a house full of food and a car full of gas!

Ice skating is not for the wimpy. My daughter had never been on ice skates and is not the most confident on roller skates, so I thought I'd better stick around. Also, as we were heading into the rink, a little girl just about her size was being loaded into an ambulance on a stretcher, which did not raise the confidence level of our little 2nd grade group. My thighs and lower hips got a serious workout. I need to incorporate more ice skating into my daily life. I'd be a hottie! OK, maybe not since I'm mostly lazy, but still, it felt good to get out there. All the girls were saying "Beth's mom, take me for a skate!" I said, ok as soon as I take Beth around one time. Then about 10 yards from the entrance, we wiped out majorly and then no one wanted to skate with Beth's mom. It was all "Kate's Dad, skate with us!" Beth realized it was actually kind of fun to fall, didn't hurt (since she landed on ME) and got over her major fear of skating. Then it was just inching our way around the rink, and once she regained confidence in me, we actually left the wall and would make a few rounds before she went out to sit & watch & play games. I'm thinking when it's time to teach Joey, I'll knock him over at the beginning too. Good strategy.

Also, had a Jesus sighting at the Ice Chateau. You know, back in the day, I'm sure the flowing beard and hair were quite stylish, but in 2005 southern Johnson County combined with a lovely aran sweater, the look is quite creepy. PLUS, this guy didn't seem to be with anyone, just sitting there in the stands watching us skate. I did "MOM PATROL" to make sure no one wandered off or went to the bathroom by themselves as he just creeped me out. I had the song "What if God were one of us.....just a stranger on the bus..." going through my head and then I thought, no, if Jesus decided to come down and hang out, he'd probably be smart enough to get with the times and wear jeans & tshirt or polo shirt or something. Probably not look just like a creepy old guy. Just a guess, but I figure God's pretty hip.

She tagged me.....ouch

OK, so if you don't like these little blog tag lines, don't read.

Beth from Diamonds and Pearls got me...BTW I love that she loves Earth Wind & Fire. One of the first concerts I ever went to was EW&F. Quite the experience for a skinny little butt-white sheltered girl! There is nothing like seeing these guys come down to the stage in a sea of smoke/fog inside planets that open to the bwaa bwaa bwaa funky base going....what memories....I don't actually remember most of the concert, as there was a tiny bit of alcohol involved combined with the haze of funny smoke coming from the audience outdoors at Sandstone!

1) Total amount of music files on your computer:
.....3.42 gigs. Lotsa songs. I'm hoping to spring for an ipod or something soon, maybe with tax refund $$.

2) The last CD you bought was:
.....Frank Sinatra the Film Collection, not one of his better cd's. I like it when he's obnoxious and the music's kickin', not the almost elevator music stuff. Before that one it was Shrek 2 soundtrack, which I bought for the kiddies, but actually crank the tunes, roll down the windows and jam out to it.

3) What is the song you last listened to before reading this message?
.....You've Got a Friend in Me from the Disney Greatest cd. We just moved from Superstar Kids cd where my kids were dancing around like fools to Sk8rboi. My daughter is so much like me it's scary, and my son dances just like his Uncle Will, who does have attitude, but not quite the rhythmic sense he thinks he has.

4) What are your five favorite songs and why they mean the most to you:
.....Music is my release. I never quite know who sings anything, but all it takes to get me feeling happy is driving down the road with the windows down, roof windowthing open, music up and either air conditioner on or the heater cranked and the butt-seat-heater cooking. I freaking love it. I hope to live to be a little old lady cruising down the road with my tunes cranked! Look out drivers!
Favorites, in no particular order...

There You Go, by Pink.....There you go, looking pitiful....just because I let you go.... This one became my strong woman song that rebuilt my fragile ego during a rough divorce. I still like it because I'll always be a bit bitter, and I enjoy the fact that I'm strong.

It's the End of the World As We Know It, by REM.....I can't hear this song without dancing around in circles. I will always think of Jildo and I dancing to this one, not caring about the world! It's a shiny happy people song (sorry B52's, I am always stealing that line)

You're Nobody Till Somebody Loves You, Goody Goody, The Lady is a Tramp, on and on from Frank Sinatra...... I just love this man, and the whole Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr. RatPack thing.... koo koo baby. OH I love this whole era, drinking all night, swing clubs, dressing up, mmmmmmm too much fun.

I'll Be There For You, by the Rembrandts How can you not love this song? And Oh, I miss my Friends!

Rock Lobster, by the B52's OH, this one we danced to as high school kids and at the down...down...down...part everyone danced down to the floor where you flopped around and then back up for bopping around jumping and slam dancing...Yes, I am a geek. If you haven't figured that out yet, I'm sorry for you. A Geek. And proud of it.

Time of Your Life, by Greenday I want this one played at my funeral. Weird, maybe, but I have had the time of my life. I haven't had what most people would consider the most exciting life, but I try to find joy in the stupid little things.

Anything from Violent Femmes, but mostly Add it Up & Blister in the Sun
More driving with the windows down music.

ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING from Harry Connick Jr. His music is good and he's extra yummy himself.

I have such a strange mix of music on my computer, Garth Brooks, Brooks & Dunn, Reba, The Blues Brothers, Funk, Pop, Rap, Soul, Blues, LOVE MY SWING, Disney, be-bopping teen music, soundtracks, classical, Motown, you name it, I listen to it. I'm like a schizophrenic musician. I also played the flute, piano, drums, tuba and was the one girl out of 22 sousaphone players in the KU Marching band (until I flunked out from drinking and NOT going to class). See, a geek.

5) What 3 people are you going to pass this baton to and why?
...I don't know! Everyone's already been tagged or are no longer blogging!!! I will probably make Amanda do it just to make her blog an entry and I'll do some reading to catch someone else.

Hey, at least I'm not half-bitch

From KUCrafter's blog:

I am 41% Asshole/Bitch.

I may think I am an asshole or a bitch, but the truth is I am a good person at heart. Yeah sure, I can have a mean streak in me, but most of the people I meet like me.

Take the
Asshole/Bitch Test
@ FualiDotCom

Checkups turned out pretty well!

Here's the start (no, actually my FIFTH start) on the scarf previously known as "My so-called scarf". It has been renamed to the "Pain in the ASS scarf" or PIAS. I am enjoying the unusual stitches, but this isn't something I can knit while sleepy or watching interesting tv....and it's a BITCH to frog stitch by stitch when you screw up, so I have gotten fed up and frogged the WHOLE DAMN THING four times now. All in all, it's kind of cool.

Here's a link to a matching hat pattern. I'm not sure if I'm brave enough for this one or not, thanks to Vicki for the name, I googled and found the free pattern for Cross Hat-ch!

Went to Children's Mercy for the CF clinic checkup first, where Joey did pretty well. We had a little scare when the oxygen level was only recording 95 (out of 100) and they went through 3 fingers before they finally got one that was back at 99, so that was all good. I'm not sure of what levels they are not comfortable with, but I know they stress whenever he's been below 96. He did well on his PFT's too (pulmonary function tests) and the only not great part was he has a bit of a "wheeze" in his lower left lung. It doesn't sound too bad, there's no "crackle" which is what the dr's hear through a stethoscope when CF kids have a lot of infection or damaged areas of the lungs. So, we have to up the Vest treatments (shaking machine) and he should be good as new soon. We survived the blood work & xrays much better than I'd hoped. It was an ordeal to say the least the last time the boy was exposed to a needle. NOT GOOD. You'd think my children wouldn't be dramatic in the least, wouldn't you?? Oh holy crap. This damn mother at the preschool when I picked up Joey for his pediatrician visit to get his flu shot while trying NOT to say the SH word in Joey's presence, said, "OH, are you taking Joey for his flu SHOT? I just took my son for his SHOT, don't you think SHOTS are ....." and on and on saying the SH word at least 5 times. My child cried hysterically for over an hour and a half until the damn thing poked him and he said, "hey, that wasn't so bad." ANYWAY, he was very brave today because he was wearing TWO spiderman shirts (which apparently gives the wearer a bit of superhero strength as well) and so we only lightly sobbed and worried for the 15 min's we waited in "the bad room." The bad room is the outpatient lab. Nothing good ever happens in there, so when we open the door now, the tears start flowing. We got a prety good tech, and it was over quickly. ENT checkup went well also, I LOVE LOVE LOVE Dr. Nicklaus!!!! If anyone's kids in the kc area get sinus or nose or throat stuff, this is the chick to see. We're back on the antibiotics for another week and she said to just email her when I think he needs to go back and she'll call it in unless I think she needs to see Joey. I am so thankful for her! She makes sure my little guy doesn't get too sick.

Open House was a trip! I've finally figured out the trick. If we have to go to the elementary school with NO parking for a school event, we pack the gameboys, head early and sit in the parking lot for 20 min's before the event. Otherwise, we're walking down the dark roads for a couple of blocks at the least. We pulled up just in time to nail the LAST available spot, which happened to be right in front of the door, SCORE! My favorite part of the night was my daughter's paper on "If I were President". After installing a swimming pool for her family's use, she would give a horse to everyone that wanted one, money for food for people that were hungry and build houses for people who needed them, and give money to the animal shelters to take care of all the animals. Anyone else sensing a democrat in the making here? They had a survey/chart thing on "Who's your favorite President?" and there were an obscene amount of GW Bush's listed (we are in the heart of conservative johnson county here, but still it makes me shudder to see it reflected in the ideals of little people...), two George Washingtons, and one Bill Clinton. That's my girl.

I have a cool pattern!!

From Sheep in the city, here's what I'm going to try with my new Schaeffer Esperanza yarn! My so called scarf. I don't know if I'll have enough yarn or not, but I think I'm going to try. It looks so cool, kind of a woven looking pattern. I'm either going to do that or maybe a seed stitch.

My hair is driving me nuts. I think I may have to break out the ball cap again, or I could wear the new felted hat I suppose. I HATE HATE HATE my hair...... I know there are bigger things in life to worry about, the war, GW, Condoleeza's face on every stinking news-related website I visit, health issues, medical bills, but NO, I can't get past my HAIR. cripes. I hope the next month passes faster so my super-hero mojo hair can come back to its own.... I'm getting tired of being a calm, quiet little johnson county momma. I wanna be obnoxious, hair-tossing TINA again.... Damn I'm shallow, but hey, that's me.

Jildo, we need to figure out when & where we're going for a mini vacation! Somewhere warm & with margaritas & half-dressed men sounds good to me.

OH OH OH I went to the LYS and spent some $$$

OH MY GOD, It was like the impending snow storm had all of southern kc knitters out shopping in desperation at Knit Wits. I'm sure the Yarn Store & Studio were rocking as well. It was like these women thought they would be snowbound and unable to get new knitting supplies....screw the food, we want YARN dammit! As I went into the store this afternoon, one of the ladies looked at me with her arms carrying two big bags full of yarn and said, "I mean, if I'm stuck in the house WITH my children, I've at least GOT to have yarn." I agreed and went indoors to spend my money as well. I was actually just needing some cascade to make the bucket hat from ChicKnits. She's also got some good free patterns on her site. While there, I saw the Schaeffer yarn Esperanza (70% lambswool 30% alpaca) was on clearance for $10 off, so I got some to make some scarves for the show next fall. It's very VERY soft and looks like the Schaeffer bumpy yarn I used for my other scarves that I've received so many compliments on, but when I just do plain old garter stitch, it's just not what I was looking for. I spent some time knitting & frogging & knitting & frogging to try some different ribbed patterns, but don't really know what I want to do with it. I'll add pics tomorrow and see what you guys think. I may try to find an old stitch n bitch book to see what the "ribbed for her pleasure" scarf used for a pattern.

I saw a bunch of Debbie Bliss merino on sale which would make a great sweater, but I couldn't afford to spend any more and I want to have an actual pattern in mind before I just go crazy and buy MORE STINKING YARN....I have a cedar lined dresser full of yarn I've bought and need to use up!

What else, Oh I went to lunch with some friends from the old dungeon days. It was nice to see them both again, we will have to keep doing that every few weeks! The only thing missing was our San Antonio Lady! No gossip session is quite right with out her there. Miss you! I don't think I was too supportive, as I was talking about how I'm trying to hold onto my little job for every last penny because trying to get a job in this current market sucks. Then I went, oops, as they're currently trying to get jobs now. It really does suck. I hate doing resumes and interviews and sending those GOD-AWFUL cover letters and thank you notes, and schmoozing and the like.

Big bosses are coming to town next week, so since I've been "flying below radar" and haven't been called to the conference room since December, I'm sure I'm in for a few talks next week. I am actually working a lot harder now than I've ever worked there which is strange as now there's less people being involved with all the details. Maybe that's the key. You leave me alone, I get work done. As long as I'm not trying to impale my eardrums with pencils to avoid my next-door desk mate. She was better today, as I figured out if I play my 1940's old time radio shows a little too loud, she gets annoyed and quits talking. Ah HA! I do get a kick out of the old time ads. Apparently there was a lot you had to do to be the perfect wife and keep your husband happy and a lot of it had to do with the brand of coffee you used or if you used "tooth polish" or not. I, myself, was a fan of the tooth polish, but must not have used the correct brand of coffee as I'm a scandalous divorced woman now.... and lovin it.

Survived the brownie meeting this afternoon, and actually taught finger knitting to about fifteen 8 yr old hyper girls. We had this place QUIET and they were cranking out the knitted rope-like stuff. Even my little 5yr old Joey was helping teach the girls how to wrap the yarn & get going. It was cool. We had big fat cupcakes with about 3 inches of icing on top, the sugary kind not the whipped cream fake icing, so it was a SERIOUSLY FAT TUESDAY for me!

Happy Chinese New Year too! What are you the year of? This is the year of the Rooster, last year was my year (year of the monkey). See what your Chinese 2005 horoscope is for you.

Hit the jackpot at the half price bookstore on the way to bowling last night, picked up and old Sinatra and an old Tony Bennet cds and a box of "Swingin" notecards. NOT that kind of swingin', the big band era girls with HIPS in slinky dresses, guys in white jackets and cigarettes, and lots of martini kind of swingin'. I think I'm going to frame some of the cards, and I'm a sucker for cool boxes. Got all of it for under $10.

Met with the school nurse for Joey next year in Kindergarten to get things set up for his meds etc. It should work out, except she's only in the school half time and he'll have to work with whatever office staff is around the other times each time he needs to eat for snacks & lunch, but I think it'll work ok. I LOVE LOVE LOVE the school nurse we have there and will enjoy having only one place to pick up kids next year.

Ms. San Antonio, thanks for the info on Gordy. I'll send a card off tomorrow. Take care of yourself and enjoy that new house!

I think I have the "Jildo's Dildo Case" purse designed. I'm felting it now, and since I have that damn gentle washer, it will need another couple of cycles tomorrow. I'm interested to see how the bag turns out. Tina's Tote is just needing some black eyelash yarn for accents along the top and it'll be ready for the washer too. I've decided to keep the hat I made as I like it and it was really snow/water proof today. COOL! I am looking for a better pattern to use for sale items as the crown was a bit bumpy on this one.

Huyen is going in to have her little baby tomorrow! I'm so excited! She was one of the girls I went to Chicago with and just LOVE her! They all went out for Chinese New Year dinner, but I was scared to drive in the snow with the kids, so I bailed out and stayed home. Can't wait to meet the new little baby girl!

What the hell do they use for ink at roller skating rinks anyway??? I STILL have the hot pink remains of "skateland" stamped across the back of my hand from Friday afternoon. WTF? I swear I've bathed 3 times since then and washed my hands TONS all weekend and it's still THERE. nuclear hot pink ink?

A hat, a hat, now what do you think of that?

Ok, so I've read a few too many Dr. Seuss books this weekend, I sincerely apologize. I've been rhyming in my head all freaking day long. I've also cussed in my head, so it's been a bit unusual in there.

ANYWAY, this is what I did with the yarn I picked up at the Yarn Store Thursday night!!!! I am not entirely happy as the pattern I followed had the crown of this a bit bumpy, but it's my first hat and I'm all excited as it was FAST and FUN and I am loving this felted adventure. I think I'll do a bucket hat next. I'm trying to find some easy fast yet classic-looking patterns so I can make some extra for the show in Sept. Plus, I think I need a bucket hat. yup.

Before......


After......


Modeled by the chic with LOUSY hair and a BAD no-makeup face day.....


YEAH!! It's just like magic, my kids are already thinking I'm a dork as I keep saying, here, come & look, can you believe it???? at each stage of the felting game. I have a very gentle washing machine, so my felting adventures take me about 4 cycles at least, so it's an all day adventure, but I love it. Ok, I am a dork.

Weekend was so nice, Friday night the kids had a "sleep-over" in Beth's room. She's got a bunk bed with a double on the bottom and a twin up top. I thought Joey'd sleep on the bottom and Beth would sleep up top. Nope, I went in to tuck them in and heard all this giggling from the top bunk. They and 24 of their stuffed animals were arranged in the skinny little bed, so excited it was a crack-up. This lasted until about 3am when Joey kept waking up because his sister would roll over and smack him with an arm or leg, so after going in 3 times, I climbed up and dragged his butt out of bed and tossed him down below. They woke up, got dry cereal (Joey can have it without pills) and then played until 10:00am, TEN O'FREAKING CLOCK in the morning. It was heaven. I slept in, I got up to let the dog out, check on the munchkins, and slept some more. Then I laid around reading and I'm telling you, this was amazing. Normally EVERY STINKING WEEKEND morning I am out of bed by 6:15 or for a "late morning" 6:30-6:45. I am NOT a morning person and I enjoyed every moment of my lazy Sat. morning.

Sat. night I went out on the town with Mark & Russell and we went to hear a friend sing at the LeatherBoi competition at the Dixie Bell downtown. I've been to the casual gay bars before, no biggie, but this was a bit of an eye opener. There were more pretty men there than I'd seen in Kansas City in all my years. It was like a giant Abercrombie & Fitch ad. There were quite a few biker-looking guys as well and a few ladies. I even ended up with a phone number, I said, Oh, I'm sorry, I'm straight and just out for a few drinks with my friends and she said "I'm sorry you're straight too". All in all, very sweet and also good for the ego, as I've felt very NOT CUTE lately, so it was flattering. [Edit note--I was informed that I left out the best part of this story...The girl told me I was "a vision" and I was all "I'm so hot, even the CHICS want me!" And then she told me not to be offended if I call and she doesn't remember me, as she's had over 12 beers...and Mark told me I was her "double vision". Smartass. I said, I'm a vision and I'm proud of it dammit.] The funniest guy there was wearing a black leather pleated miniskirt (he called it a kilt, but oh lord, it was a girl's skirt) with NOTHING on below, and when the boi twirled, we all got a show. The outfit was set off by a bright orange mohawk. I was looking quite stylish in my normal bar-attire of eddie bauer jeans, heels, white button down shirt. MY GOD, I'm so stuck in suburban conservative clothes land, it's sad. I've got to get inspired to start knitting some cool trendy little sweaters and lose some weight in my legs so I can wear something besides loose fit EB jeans. I tried to go jeans shopping at the Great Plains mall, and was thoroughly disgusted and gave up. Now I have ONE pair of jeans with no holes in them that are appropriate for work and my 2nd best pair have a hole in one knee and the cuffs cut off with raggedy edges. I'm either going to have to get running again or start dressing up and wearing skirts every day. dammit. But hey, I've got a cute hat!

for the love of all that is holy,,,,,,,

PLEASE MAKE HER STOP TALKING TO ME!!!!!!!!!!!!! I can't get anything done, and I'm close to screaming....it's not normal talk, just non-stop like I'm in her head and knows what she's talking about....I've tried to be polite, I've tried mmmm hmmms, nope, NOTHING'S WORKING and my head is starting to hurt. It's like Looney Leslie is back!!! AAAAAUUURRRRGGGGHHH.

pant pant pant, there, I'm feeling better already.

this n that

Goal for the day bit: Eat no chocolate for one day. Goal was broken at 11:30am when I walked past the damn bowl of peppermint patties the bossman very nicely put out. I would like to make it through ONE STINKING DAY of not eating chocolate. Mark told me he is losing weight by eating good 6 days of the week and for that one day, eating whatever and as much as he wants. He said by then, you find that a tiny bit will ease the cravings. I wanna know how to at least eat well ONE day and eat the piles of crap the other 6?

Knitting bit: Brought the kiddos to the Yarn Store where Joey proceeded to flirt and Beth had fun looking through the project books for ideas. Each child brought their own quarters and I paid half on a "real yarn" skein for each of them. Both kids picked out noro yarns, Beth's in a cool blend of reds/pinks/oranges and Joey's had this cool metallic/looking thread running through it. I'd like to make something out of that too! They finger-knitted (kind of like a very loose i-cord made on your fingers) and are both wanting to try needles. I might have to try, we'll see how momma's patience holds out. All in all, I think we'll be able to go back again on a Thurs as I don't think we were too disruptive. They really are good kids (at least in public) so it's fun taking them along and seeing them enjoy something creative! I started a felted hat in green heathery cascade yarn, will try to get it going this weekend.

Political bit: GO Democrats! It's time we called the Bush administration on spending OUR TAX DOLLARS to promote their plans. Let's hope this has a chance to get this passed through: Bush says no to paid pundits

Night life bit: I have a babysitter for Sat. night, not sure yet what I'm going to do. I think Allison may be in town from Denver, so my group of friends may be heading out & about, or I may call Mark & Russell and see what they're up to. As long as I get out of the house for a bit, I'll keep my sanity.

crazy man bit: Had a message from Kenny Rogers (look-alike bad date who was secretly MARRIED guy) that he's off to Paris for a week, but will be thinking of me on Valentine's Day. How sweet. cripes.

Sore butt bit: Roller skating party for Beth's school tonight 4-6pm. Gotta go home & change as I am again wearing the Sam Adams sweatshirt and would like to attend one school activity not dressed in alcoholic propaganda as last time I forgot those mommas were not so nice. I've got a daughter who has progressed to the level of making about 3 rounds of the floor in 2 hours, does NOT want to skate holding hands, does NOT want help, but is so proud when she makes it, it's awesome! Joey has decided he's ready for skating, but becomes a bit of a wimp when the skates go on. Last time I paid $4 each for our skates, and we proceeded to SIT on the little carpeted bump things over by the lockers. He wouldn't even skate on the carpet, so we'll see. I'm hoping not to land on my butt and bruise it like last time. Yup, I'm just as graceful on wheels as I am on heels.

An actual KNITTING post, can you believe it?

I went to the Knitting Meet-Up meeting last night and could only stay for about an hour, but LOVED it! I was so nervous about trying to teach Phuong to knit, so I asked if anyone wanted to teach a better way, and WOO HOO the ladies helped out and when I left, Phuong was cranking out the stitches with this smooth motion in continental form. I guess I knit traditional, but did learn the cool knit cast-on. It didn't make sense there at the meeting, but once I got home I tried it out, and am LOVING it! There's nothing more frustrating than casting on over 100 stitches with long-tail and realizing your tail wasn't quite long enough..... We're going to the Yarn Store on 80th street just west of Metcalf tonight at 6pm and I'm bringing the munchkins. Beth isn't sure if she wants to learn yet, but Joey really does. I figured they'd just play gameboys and play in the kiddie corner, but you never know. Amanda, I'm sorry I wasn't a better teacher, if you want to come out on a Wed. night, you can learn more from them! Apparently this WAS at the Starbucks by KUMed Center. I grew up in this city, and swear to God, I never know where anything is. I had no idea I was anywhere near KUMed. I have also realized I can get almost anywhere in this city in 20 minutes. After cussing out those "damn Johnson County drivers" lost near the plaza/westport area when one of the blond dingbats went slowly by the WRONG WAY on a one way road next to me on that curvy-road from Ward Parkway to SW Trafficway thing...then I'm driving down SW Trafficway and realized, oh crap, I can't turn left anywhere.... and missed the last good road to do the turn right and go around thing, so ended up at the bottom of a hill, turning left from the right-hand lane (no cops around or oncoming traffic) and figured I'd cursed myself when I was bagging on the poor lady earlier. Serves me right!

Helen, here's the link to my family blog I set up for my grandparents & aunts & uncles & such to keep up with us:
My little family blog. It is SO simple to get started and then your kids can keep up with you & your hubby when you retire! You can set it up so family members can post on your blog as well, it's really neat for kids to read about their cousins, etc. Also, I am LOVING your knitting! That triangle rib thing was COOL! You need to come out on a Wed. eve and have some coffee & do some stitchin with the ladies!

Went home, watched the W-man do his speech, watched the response, knitted along and went to bed. How badly do we need a new leader? We need a charismatic, energetic, intelligent without seeming too lofty, leader that can get people to believe again, rebuild OUR country and get our troops safely home. That song is in my head today...."I'm hanging out for a hero...." We'll see.

Leave my cartoon characters ALONE

From an email from Miss Amanda...

First they came for Bert and Ernie, and I said nothing because I was not a Muppet.

Then they came for Tinky Winky, and I said nothing, because I was not a Teletubby.

Then they came for Sponge Bob and Patrick, and I said nothing, because I was not an asexual cartoon sea creature.

I'm just wondering who'll be the next target of the Righteous Conservative Wrath Against Imaginary Creatures...

TOO LATE, now they're after Buster! My children LOVE the Postcards from Buster show on PBS, as we learn about different people, different ways of life, different cultures and how we're all JUST PEOPLE underneath.

Education Secretary Margaret Spellings attacked PBS for getting ready to air a Postcards from Buster episode that happens to feature a household headed by a lesbian couple. The show was not about lesbianism, the two women were merely characters in the show who happened to have a different lifestyle than the norm. It is in no way a focus of the show, just a peripheral thing. Ms. Spellings was quoted as saying "What I take away from this is that we at the Department of Education need to do a better job of having an understanding of what we are buying and getting and paying for and what is the programming days before the airing."

Anyone else out there think the Department of Education has better things to spend money on than censorship? Oh, I forgot we were paying hundreds of thousands of dollars in contracts for Yes Men to promote Mr. Bush's No Child Left Behind....what was I thinking???? Teaching tolerance and understanding, unity, and the like? crazy ideas.

When asked if her remarks were intolerant, Ms. Spellings responded, "I certainly do not think that kids who are in those families are inferior in any way." Wow, that kind of heart-felt kindness just brings a tear to your eye, doesn't it?

The episode has been officially pulled from PBS, but it is being distributed to public television stations by WBGH in Boston. Gotta love those east-coasters. Gives us few non-nazi's here in KS some hope.

My quotes & info are from the Kansas City Star 2/2/05. Here's more from cnn: Education Secretary Condemns Public Show with Gay Characters

I'll be searching for a link that we can send comments to our illustrious educational leader. I'm still pissed that some jerk got over $200,000 of tax payer money to talk nice about Mr. W's plan.

Goin' to a knitting meet-up!

I'm off tonight to the KC Knitting Meet-up! Can't wait! I went last month and was all inspired. One of the girls who's wanting to learn to knit is going as well, Phuong, so it should be fun! We're meeting at Chipotle....mmmmmm......big burrito? burrito bowl? fajita burrito? mmmmm can you tell I'm hungry?

Happy Groundhog's Day! Here's my "Ain't nothin' but a groundhog" tribute:

And while I'm at it, these brought a chuckle to my lips:





I'm almost done with knitting Tina's Tote, but had to rip out the dropped stitch scarf in schaeffer yarn as it was looking very raggedy and not what I was going for, so started a plain ol garter stitch scarf as those really seem to showcase the pretty colors & bumpiness of the yarn.

Count for Sept. sale: 3 schaeffer bumpy scarves (Scarves of Many Colors), 2 felted med purses.

I'm all happy as I found these old time radio stations to listen free on www.live365.com and I'm jammin out to music & news updates from the 40's while working away at my desk. The old time ads are the BEST as well!

Bill called from SC last night to chat and it was nice. Nothing big, just chatted and checking in. I'm pretty sure he's not my Bob (my wild aunt-dot aka the Knitress has her Bob, an amazingly WONDERFUL guy who has his own damn house, his own damn life and a GOOD job and just loves her & our family like nobody's business and is there when she wants him and not when she doesn't), but he's not bad for a dear friend/flirty thing once in a while. I like the guy, but that's about it. Plus he lives far far away. And I don't want a relationship. Man, I've got some issues, huh? Who cares, I'm happy. :)