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. :)

bowling alleys are bad for me

So, those that don't know me, my hair is my biggest psycho attribute. If my hair's good, all superhero powers are go and life's good. If it's not, I am an absolute FREAKING mess. It's cute. I hate cute. really really hate cute. I know I'll love it in a week or two, but I'm doing my damndest to ignore it, but OMG I may have to go postal on someone. Did you know it's impossible to be tough and intimidating with cute short flippy hair?

Bowling alley tonight, my little team-mate bowled 780 last week when I didn't make it. For those non-bowlers out there, that's absolutely freaking amazing. That's averaging 260 a game for three games. She bowled well again tonight and was VERY excited about bowling tonight and is a lady who's so wired she makes ME look calm, which seemed to piss off our opponents a bit. We bowled a group of ladies that don't seem to realize we're in a little league in a little bowling alley and NO ONE CARES. It is a scratch league, but these are NOT professional bowlers, the majority of us SUCK. I do enjoy beating them, only because it pisses them off so... Anyway, I'm warming up, waiting my turn to throw the ball in practice and this chic POKES me in the back, making some comment, POKES me HARD. I was pissed. I did not turn around, wasn't going to even look at her. I think she meant to be joking, but it freaking hurt. THEN after the first few frames she yelled across at me something I didn't understand and I smiled sweetly with attitude and decided I'd just beat her each game. (which I did with relish) Another chic said, man, I'd have turned around and knocked her on her ass if she poked me like that and I said, "have you LOOKED at me?" I do not give off an air of ass-kickability. In fact, in my one and only fight-ish situation a few years ago, I said what I considered to be a witty comment to this old man (again at a bowling alley) who was being a royal ass to me and his 70 year old wife stood up and hit me in the shoulder and knocked me flat on my ass. I guess I looked a bit scary (back in my days of big hair) when I got up as she then faked a heart attack to the point of having an ambulance take her away after she staggered around the room dramatically before dropping ala Gone with the Wind damsel in distress. Can anyone say Jerry Springer????

I know, I know, these bowling alleys are apparently not good for me. Hmmm. A bad marriage due to the ex cheating on me with bowling groupies (scary, isn't it?) at his pro tournaments.....a bad mini-marriage with another bowler.....dating a man who I didn't realize was married until his WIFE called me on the phone and when I asked "what can I do for you" thinking it was his daughter, told me "stop dating my husband" (also a bowler).....getting dropped like a rock by a 70 yr old woman at a bowling alley.....getting poked by some psycho-bitch-with-delusions-of-grandeur at a bowling alley.... Anyone see a pattern here? I hardly even spend any time at them now, weird. AND Bill (my old boss/date for the last few months off and on) who manages a bowling center in Hilton Head called tonight at the bowling alley asking when I'm coming down to South Carolina for a weekend. I'm thinking nope.

On the knitting front, I'm all inspired and have been checking out purse styles and can't wait to experiment with a new felted bag or two. It shouldn't be hard, I only want a totally classic line, it to look unbelievably expensive, be fast to knit so I can stockpile them by Sept for my little sale, and not use much yarn. Easy, huh?

Things I saw today that made me go WTF????

#1....a Porsche SUV that I'm guessing costs more than the house I live in. How much money must you have that you think, nope, I guess a cadillac or lexus suv isn't expensive enough for me, I wanna Porsche SUV.

#2...8 out of 9 men in line at the grocery store buying bundles of flowers to take home. Do those women know how lucky they are? Or did a whole lotta guys piss off their women last night?

#3...A billboard sign on I-435 stating "Babies are perfect when they are born, Parents say NO to circumcision". WTF? A new campaign to end circumsision???? Don't we have enough things to be concerned about and spend $$ on than launching an ad against extra foreskin??? I have to be honest, the one time I had the opportunity to observe a non-circumsized man, it was not my favorite thing. I know, I know, TMI, but it's hard to be all sexually excited when you want to play with something that looks like an elephant trunk. I tried to take a picture of the billboard with my phone, but wasn't coordinated to do that while curving round the highway, so to avoid a major wreck I missed the pic op.

I'm gonna be in an art show!

Who'd of thunk it?!?? Me, little ol me, in an ART SHOW??? How freaking cool is that? OK, so Friday afternoon I picked up little man Joe at about lunch time. I was in the mood to sit & knit & noticed they now have Dip N Dots at the JCC (Jewish Community Center), so we went and he had the very healthy lunch of Dip N Dots and potato chips and chocolate milk. I know, I know, it sounds terrible, doesn't it? He needs twice the calories and about 4 times the fat of a normal child, so he pretty much lives on chips & cheetos dipped in peanut butter. ANYWAY, I was sitting and knitting on the Tina's Tote and had my finished booga bag (with the same noro yarn) with me as well. The two little ladies at the table next to us were dying to say something, they'd lean over, change their minds, lean back and repeat. It was like being in high school trading glances with the cutie in the back row. Finally I just smiled at them and kind of waited. One of the ladies finally said she's on the committee to run the big JCC art show each year and was dying to find out how much I sold my "creations" for. I said, oh, I don't sell them, I am just beginning and I just make them for gifts for others and myself. After talking with them a while, they petted my booga bag, appropriately Ooohed and Aaaahed and then decided I HAD to have a booth at the big show. This is a SERIOUSLY huge art show where people spend a LOT of freaking $$, but most of the artists are ARTISTS. (You have to submit 5 photos of your work to the panel and they decide if it'll work or not and the tables are very limited.) Thousands of people attend each year and it was wall-to-wall people last time I went. Then I said, I'm a member here, but I'm not Jewish, wouldn't that be a problem since it's a JEWISH Artist's Show? They said an exception could be made if I included something with a Jewish theme in my collection. I said I designed a cross stitch/needlepoint design of the Star of David a few years back, would that work and they said YES. They also decided if I changed the name of one of the purses to "Joseph's Bag of Many Colors" I'd be approved. I thought it a bit tacky naming a purse after a biblical man, so I thought I'd go with a "Scarf of Many Colors" instead. I have until Sept. to get enough crap done to sell. At first I said, oh, I don't have very many items done and don't know if I'd have time, and they said I could just have two or three samples of the bags and take orders as they both want to buy buy buy my stuff. That gave me a heart attack just thinking, what if I couldn't get in the yarn I needed, and I don't like the idea of knitting under a deadline, so I think I'll just crank out what I can and bring what I've got. If I somehow sell everything, I'll keep the last few items for samples and take a few orders. If I come out not selling anything, EVERYONE I know is getting purses & scarves & hats for Xmas next year!

I know, I know, you don't make any $$ selling what you knit when you consider the time that goes into it, but I'm an old craft-show regular. I used to do all the bazaars, church sales, craft sales, etc. with my cross stitch and other crafts it was ridiculous, I've got the fever again. And this one's RESPECTABLE. WHOO HOO. OK, I'm a bit excited. Now I figure I'll design a small & medium bag to go with the tote and crank out a bunch of scarves and I should REALLY do some felted hats as one of the more fundamental Jewish groups' women wear hats ALL the time, and I think those would sell well. Of course, I've never MADE a felted hat, let alone designed anything resembling a felted hat, so I may or may not do this one. But how cool would it be to take a class on ways to decorate felted items and put a little flower or design on the front of a felted hat????? The possibilities..... I guess it'll be "in my spare time". The fair is pretty cool. Table rent gets you a tented booth, a table and an art screen. They take table rent and 20% of the sales for the charities the show promotes. I'm trying to get it approved that I can sell some of my beaded cross stitch kits I used to sell through a needlepoint shop here in town, but that one's iffy as they don't want "crafts" they want "art." I am trying to convince them that in helping others create items of beauty I am promoting art as a whole, but I don't know if it'll fly or not. They probably won't accept any other knitters as they want a broad range of items, so I've got some room to come up with different things. I think I'll focus on a limited number of items and just have a lot of them. We'll see. Anyway, I was just all happy-shiny with B52's music playing in my head all night!

Joey's feeling better this weekend, but still running a low fever. I'm going to try to work 8-2:45 Monday, we'll see how that goes. I think they may be getting tired of me working from home so much lately, but I'm getting the work done. I'm actually getting more done at home than when I'm in the office.

We got the PRETTIEST snow-ball snow fall last night. Mom came and got the kids out of bed just as I was getting them to sleep. I was going to be a bit irritated, but then she took us to the back door to look at the snow. It was coming down in the prettiest scene, and actual snowballs were coming down. It was amazing. We put on coats & boots over pjs and went out in the backyard catching snowflakes on our tongues. How is it that a little snowfall can quiet the sounds of the city so? It was amazing, there was a little glow in the air and you could actually hear the snowflakes hitting the ground and our coats. We got up today and made a snowman called Harry (as the snow packed so well the snowballs were coated with grass and leaves, giving us one hairy looking snowman) and "the best snow fort EVER", consisting of about 10 BIG snow balls rolled up and down the hill. It wasn't too cold, we ended up with about 3" of wet, packing snow and just played and played outdoors. Good day.

Mark & Russell are expecting dauchsund puppies around Valentine's Day, so I get to go play with the little weiner babies. I already said I can NOT have any more dogs, as Miles is perfect for us, one dog PERIOD. If anyone you know wants cute little puppies, let me know. They called to see if I wanted to go eat with them. I love them, they take good care of me! But, I wasn't able to get out tonight, so we will try for later in the week. OMG at the CF Great Stides Walk meeting Monday night everyone was trading phones, so I gave mine to look at, not quite understanding. Apparently, moms across the world have their cell phones loaded with pictures of their beautiful children. I haven't quite figured that part of the new phone out yet. I was getting a few strange looks, and then someone finally asked me, "is this your husband?" and I realized the ONLY picture on my phone is one of Mark with his mouth open showing a mouthful of chips & cheese sauce from the mexican restaurant when Russell was trying to show me how to work the damn phone. Yup, that's again why I blend in so well in with the mommas around here. Cripes. When I told Mark and he laughed so hard he snorted. Thanks, babe.

Makeup Update-->
First, I got my hair cut, thank GOD for Allegra. She is my personal super-hero. It's a bit short, but it grows FAST and after about a week I normally LOVE it for 4 months until I call her desperate again. ALSO, she's back with the ex-boyfriend I LOVED for her, he's good to her, treats her well and is a FIREMAN. Oh LORD, I love the firemen. Apparently he has SINGLE FRIENDS that happen to enjoy playing texas hold-em at Allegra & Dave's house, so I may be heading over there some time to flirt a bit with the hunky firemen. yummy. She's got a swimming pool at their new house, and I've been warned that I WILL be hanging out at her pool this summer. Damn treadmill of doom, I've got to start running NOW so I can get those thighs a bit less scary. I don't want fireman bob to think he can't lift me and carry me away.... OH, back to makeup. Allegra is in her late 40's or early 50's. She, Like Miss Country Chic from UR, looks at LEAST 20 years younger and it makes me SICK SICK SICK. I finally asked her what the HECK she does to look so stinking young and she said she uses the Bare Escentuals mineral makeup every day. Apparently it's supposed to not only protect your skin from the effects of aging, but she swears it repairs and restores and all the rest of it. She showed me that I was apparently using enough for a week's applications in one dose, so once she put it on me, I was stinking LOVELY. No big craters in the face, and the cool thing is it feels like you're wearing NOTHING, no, not really, because when I wear nothing, I get all greasy, and I never get greasy feeling with this stuff. I am a believer. I got more on eBay, but think I'll be getting the official stuff after Allegra yelled at me because "how do you KNOW no-one opened it up and stuck their dirty fingers in that stuff..." etc. Ick, so I'll just use the good official stuff sent from QVC or from the bare escentuals site. I promise.

This firemen by the pool threat may help in my lack of willpower. Tonight instead of eating the 2 m&m cookies left over by my children, I thought of myself in a swimsuit in front of firemen, and put them in the trash. Good chunky momma. Good. put down the cookies and walk away.
My goals for the next week:
**Complete the Tina's Tote and keep thinking of a basic design for a small and med. handbag.
**Follup up w/stores on doing the cf $1 donation shoe cards
**Write a letter to the grandparents
**Wear something BESIDES stained jeans, tennies, sweatshirt, baseball hat at least ONCE in the week

blah blah blah

OH, I actually WENT somewhere and DID something. Yeah for me! I got to catch up with Miss Amanda the vibrant and we went to the dinner theatre and saw the guy who played Larry on Three's Company in The Foreigner. It was SUCH a fun night last night! We ate so many goodies I'm still full. They have a really nice buffet dinner that had the BEST little steak things and herbed mashed potatoes....and pasta....and chicken florentine or something....OH holy hell, I ate till I about rolled back to the car. The play was very funny and we laughed and we talked and we ate, and we had nice wine and it was a good time all around! Thanks Miss A! We need to do a girls' night out once a month or something! Next time we'll go somewhere that Liz and the others can tag along too!

Somehow I got nominated to teach my little asian friends how to knit. I barely taught Amanda how. I'm trying to convince them to go to the LYS all together and have them teach them the RIGHT way, but so far no go. We'll see. I may be running around to get extra needles & yarn & start the ladies on a scarf....AAAAHHHHH I'm stressed. But, we'll see. It'll be Sunday afternoon Feb 6th, so I have time to learn to teach and to chop up a few veggies or something so it looks like I'm domestic.

I realized today that I have a corner office with a view. OK, actually my computer is crammed in the corner of my bedroom next to my window with a lovely view of the backyard and SUNSHINE. Little man Joe wasn't up to school yet, so he went with me to work in the basement (it's moved up from the Dungeon) this morning. He was really good & quiet and wore his glow-in-the-dark pj's with spiders all over them and his hair spiking up all over the place. Yup, me in my ball cap (haircut coming Sat. thank the great-hair goddess!) and dirty jeans, we were the picture of white trash. Stylin'. Good news, got him started on the last of the antibiotics that almost worked on his sinus infections before and his ENT surgeon (whom I LOVE) called to check in on him. Sweet sweet sweet and talented lady! We're going to both the ENT clinic & CF Clinic in early Feb. and now we're scheduled for CF visits and labwork every 3 months no matter what to monitor his little system so he doesn't get too run down and they don't get too busy and push him aside again. I need to teach a class on how to be sweetly persistent or a pain-in-the-butt-but-they-really-love-your-kids that gets things DONE. THAT I could teach. I knew growing up with a strong woman as my momma would come in handy someday.

Minerals arrived. I've tried out the Bare Escentuals i.d. brand stuff and have mixed feelings about it. I am by NO means glowing, as promised and my pores look the size of the grand canyon. BUT my face has cleared up and I've had NO breakouts whatsoever in the last week. I was fighting a nasty case of the adult acne crap and used to wear an obscenely thick amount of nice lancome foundation, but my skin turns everything PINK and blotchy and so I'd slather on more...add stress and lack of sleep and too much diet coke and BOING zit city. Good thing besides my face is healthier than it's ever been, the stuff STAYS. I can put a tiny little bit on in the am, and at midnight that night I still look good. Supposedly you can even sleep in it as it's good minerals etc. and I even worked out tonight and I looked in the mirror afterwards and I was STILL looking good (at least in the face). Where was this stuff in my wild college days? It is also a PAIN in the butt to apply and carry around as the mineral/powder stuff goes EVERYWHERE, but all in all, I'd say it's a keeper.

Knitting News....picked up my knitting bag from the lost meeting night on Monday and my fingers are so very happy once again. I've knitted NOTHING this week and have been really craving the relaxation and zen-crap it gives me. I am making some progress on the "Tina's Tote" but haven't quite decided what to do at the top....hmmm I want to do something different for the handles and maybe have a tab that goes across the top? who knows? Maybe inspiration will strike. I just hate experimenting on felting something that's got that much stitchin in it. I know, I know, I should do a swatch and work with that. I really should. We all know I won't. But, the lady that saved the bag for me is also a new knitter who's just graduated from scarves and is starting her first felted bag. So, I spent a good half hour chatting. She gets all her stuff at this little shop called Locke or something? It's two little ladies in a house in Mission that sell the basics and even have a bathtub full of yarn for charity events. I'll have to head over as my curiosity is peaked. But, of course, I'm poor and must wait for $$ to shop for any yarn....

Haven't seen any of the new child support yet, but have paid $437.85 out of pocket medical since Jan 1 and my children HAVE good insurance. cripes. Though I love and respect the pharmaceutical industry as they are pretty much keeping my kid alive and well (for the most part), I am getting a bit pissy with the insurance industry. I've spent more time running down stupid details for BCBS to pay their damn bills so I keep everyone happy. I don't know WHY they don't pay, they make up something every so often just to see if people will take the extra two to twelve steps to get it paid.....fun fun fun fun fun

God, I've either got to get drunk or laid. I'm entirely too occupied by these details of day to day crazy-land.

short post, can you believe it????

They FOUND my knitting! Woo Hoo's all around! I'm going to pick it up tomorrow afternoon, so Tina's Tote is still a go.

Joey slept through the night, only waking around midnight with the fever, got some tylenol in him, put him in my bed, and we both slept till 6:30. We got Beth to school, went back to bed and slept until almost 10:00am, so I'm feeling MUCH better about the world! It's amazing what a bit of sleep can do for you!

Kid's feeling better, but still feverish, so it looks like I may be home a bit more than I expected. Hope the ol "we'll work with you" still holds at work. We'll see I guess. I've got quite a bit done this afternoon, but need to put in some extra hours this weekend to keep up.

What else? That's about it, I'm so excited about getting my knitting back! WOO HOO!

Newest addition to the frog pile? Here's what it ended up looking like:

The curling edges did not get better with blocking, I just really didn't do a very good job making it. Then instead of spending extra time on it I realized, what kind of a person wears a 100% double strand WOOL tank top anyway? It was hot & itchy & looked ok, but was a bit big and needed some fitting as well since I made a size too big. I figure it'd make a better purse than a tank, so when I get bored, I'll frog frog frog frog frog it.

I do like the ribbon tank that I showed earlier and here's the closeup of the actual item. It's not mis-shaped, I was just lazy when taking the pic.

CF Walk 2005 TEAM JOEY

Sat. May 21, 2005 Shawnee Mission Park Shelter #8 CF GREAT STRIDES WALK Taking steps to cure cystic fibrosis
OK, I'm not fully up and operational, but we'll be soon having a link that accepts donations securely online through paypal and through the www.cff.org official CF website that goes towards TEAM JOEY's fundraising. Last year, our little team raised over $2500, and our goal this year is to hit $5000. Nothing like big goals, huh??? Ah well, here we go!

Great Strides is a nationwide 10K (6.2 mile) walk to raise money to fight cystic fibrosis. My son Joey is a 5 yr old battling this disease on a daily basis. It's a genetic disorder that affects approx. 30,000 people in the U.S. and the median age of survival is 33.4 (just raised within the last 5 years). The disease primarily affects the lungs and digestion, but moves onto osteoporosis and diabetes and other fun stuff as the kids get older. My son is living proof that these fundraising events work as two of the medicines he's currently on were approved within the last 5 years and have made the WORLD of difference, keeping his little lungs healthy and strong. In a nutshell, money buys science, and science buys life.

Anyone in the KC/Lawrence/Topeka area that's interested in joining our little team, send me a note and we'll get you signed up. We have SO MUCH FUN at this big ol' celebration. I have sponsor form/collection envelopes that I personalize with a picture & word of thanks for helping Joey and other kids like him. If you raise lots of money, yeah for you! If you raise $5, well that's $5 we didn't have before. Each year we make very stylish and comfy (just ask Amanda) shirts for our team members and I have to admit, a good portion of our team is a tad bit lazy, so we walk about a mile or two and head back to the big party. The best part of this event (besides the saving children's lives thing) is the FOOD and fun stuff for kids of all ages. We have donations out the wazoo of food food food, pizzas, subs, cookies, yogurt for you healthy ones, donuts for the rest of us, coffee, pop, water, granola bars, desserts, and on and on and on. We normally have a good d.j., there's a big playground for the kids, entertainment, firetrucks, you name it, we got it. Did I mention the food? Another perk of finishing early is you get the first choice on the chow.

Those of you out of the KC area, please don't feel obligated by any means, but if you're considering donating to a charity anyway, why not send some $$ to help my little guy and a ton of other kids like him. One story for what this money goes towards hits home VERY closely. My son is now at the point where he is almost entirely immune to all oral antibiotics that fight respiratory and sinus infections. This means that soon we will be like the thousands of other CF families, facing months of living with infections, then going into the hospital for "tune-ups" 3 to 6 times per year. Tune-Ups are scheduled for the kids to go in to stay at the hospital for 2 to 4 weeks and have i.v. antibiotics to help knock their infections down to a more livable level. One of the worst parts of CF is that these infections are not only antibiotic-resistant, they are extremely aggressive and pretty much don't go away. Right now there are new stronger antibiotics in the different levels of testing that can hopefully help keep my son healthier within the next few years. This all takes more money than we can imagine, so I fund-raise with a strong personal investment.

I'm hitting the LYS's and our local area grocery stores (with cute child in tow--I am LOW, aren't I?) to see if they will accept $1 donations for Team Joey. Wish me luck!





I think I'll put a virtual collection of the 65 roses cards with first names or blog titles on the donation line for any online donations. That could be really cool to see.

Here's part of our Team Joey 2004 group. This year, we will be joined by Miss Amanda and her friends, some of Joey's pre-school classmates and their families, a group of my asian friends, and anyone else I can convince to join the fun. You raise $$, I'll get you a tshirt and free food. What else could you want?


Last gratuitous shot of the cf poster child for Team Joey:


Almost done writing, don't worry! Here's a link to a little 2 min. movie showing scenes from a CF walk:
CF WALK SHORT MOVIE

Thanks for your support, thanks for reading, thanks most of all for your prayers and kind thoughts. It means the world to me that this circle of friends I've found online has become a part of my life.

OK, enough gushiness...

Tiny life & knitting update for the day--> LOST my knitting last night at the CF motivational meeting. Went back to the company where the meeting was held, and it was gone. :( 3 skeins into my "Tina's Tote" Gone, gone, gone. So sad. At least it was just a plastic LYS bag but it had 3 skeins knitted and one more of noro and my circ needles. sad.

Joey's going back to Children's Mercy Thursday morning for a day of tests as his sinus infection's back with a vengeance. I picked him up today from pre-K with a 103 fever and chills, went into the pediatrician, and one good thing is the antibiotics that he's resistant to for his sinus infections actually worked for his ear infections. The next available emergency-based appointment with the ENT clinic at Children's Mercy is in 2 months. TWO MONTHS. What do people not as pushy as me do with their sick kids????? Good thing my kid's got a way with the ladies, as his doctor gave me her email address for times when I can't get through in time at the clinic number. This amazing woman (who I LOVE LOVE LOVE) does all his sinus surgeries, etc. is going to squeeze him in for me. HOW AMAZING IS THAT????? She's the only specialist that works with CF related Sinusitis in the city and she has a bedside manner you would DIE for. When she saw he was crying and scared when saying goodbye to me before his last surgery, she came out of the operating room, bent down and asked if she could carry him into the room while they talked about Buzz Lightyear and video games her boys used to like to play. He kissed me and jumped up into her arms with his little stuffed cheetah. I'm wiping my eyes now just thinking about it. We are really blessed.

Ok, don't worry, it's back to normal SHORTER (yeah right, I type like I talk--a lot and fast) more life/bitch/knit/men related issues. Working at home tomorrow, which is a good thing. Tylenol & Motrin's keeping the fever pretty deal-able, so I plan on getting a little sleep.

ONE last note, the chocolate basket I won SUCKED. The big box of Ghiradelli dark chocolates had two, count em, two pieces in it. The other boxes had strange things in them that are being donated to the "give em to my assistant at work to make her stop talking all the dang time fund." See, I can still be catty, even when I'm sentimental. it's a gift.

Pictures Pictures Pictures

OK, here it is...

My goodie package from Nyxxie!!! Can you believe it???? The pretty balls are hand dyed kettle yarn, and are soft & yummy! I am going to have TOO much fun deciding what to make!

We need a close-up of the CUTE little bags too! I always lose my measuring tape & scissors & such, so now I'll be stylin and organized!!!



Here's the stylish Knitting Virgin modeling her ribbon tank finished (FINALLY) in the bathroom mirror:


Here's my booga bag, it knitted up SO fast! I couldn't believe it. Gotta LOVE that noro yarn!


Not much happened on the life front today. I did get a phone call from Young Boy (my little friend w/privileges who's only 11 years YOUNGER than me) and we chatted. He is off to Vegas to bowl in the High roller and will take me out when he gets back. He's actually a very sweet friend, but it's still a bit weird.

What else? hmmm boring day really. OH, I can now whoop up on BOTH of my children on smashbrothers on the nintendo. Mommas beating their kids at video games, all is as it should be.

Went to the Great Strides team leaders meeting tonight. Our big walk is on May 21st this year, to raise money for Cystic Fibrosis research. Team Joey is growing stronger this year! I'll put a link on soon if anyone would like to contribute or join the team and walk in Shawnee Mission Park in May! We're hoping Miss Amanda comes back this year as we had a BLAST last year and raised a lot of $$. If anyone's looking for a great place to donate a little money, please keep us in mind. Joey's walking (ok running, jumping, climbing) proof that research money is working as three of his med's were just approved within the last few years and have made the world of difference. One of the newest things they're working on is new oral antibiotics so he can stay out of the hospital. We're almost at the point where he'll have to have i.v. antibiotics each time he gets any infections, which isn't much fun when you're a 5 yr old boy. OK, it isn't much fun no matter how old you are. On the Joey front, we're heading back to the pediatrician tomorrow as the ears are infected again, but he's not feeling too bad, so that's good. And guess who won the raffle for the Godiva Dark Chocolate basket???? mmmmmmmmmmm yummy.

a little bit of knitting going on

So, I knitted like a banshee this weekend. My children were like some strange version of my normal obnoxious yet cute red heads. They played together ALL weekend with hardly any whining or "she touched me", "he's annoying me" and "it's MY turn on the nintendo". I know, I'm actually waiting for the earth to open up here in KC and for the real monsters to rear their whining heads.... No, really, I've got amazingly good kids, they just drive me nuts every so often. It was FREAKY though. I spent most of the weekend sitting on my butt in front of the tv knitting knitting knitting. I'd get up and fix food, help direct them into another project or just make sure they were actually alive and they just played their little hearts out. I completed my booga bag, pics to come soon, it's dark now and the pics under the lights don't show the noro's pretty colors, so I'll take a pic in the sunshine tomorrow. YES we also had SUNSHINE! I thought we were living in Seattle (minus the cool artsy atmosphere) for a while as it was about 3 weeks without direct sunlight...clouds, mists, fog, rain, and all that fun stuff.

There's the prettiest full moon out and the stars are bright it's amazing to see. It reminds me of when I was in a college class on languages and diction and the like and the hippie-chic teacher had us keep moon journals. I was thinking, what the HECK does the moon have to do with how different parts of the country pronouce words??? I did it anyway and it was cool. Must have fulfilled some ancient druid/back when women were priestesses thing in me as it was very zen-like. I know, it's late and I'm tired, and getting a bit woo hoo ish, but I thought now that I'm out every night with the dog, I may as well pay attention to my surroundings and all that.

Guess what else??? I got a box of GOODIES from Nyxxie. I'm not sure what I did to deserve this, or if it's part of a major stash relocation, but it was FUN opening the box and petting all the pretty yarns. Again, pics will be added tomorrow. The BEST part was these amazing little bags, they are COOL and then I realized, they're designed to look like little underwear...OK, it sounds weird here, but I'm telling you, they're CUTE AS HECK! I laughed and laughed. Thanks sweetie!

It's strange, I got into this blogging thing as a way to keep a record of my little day to day activities and thoughts and such so when I'm an old bitchy woman I can look back and relive my memories. (I have a VERY bad memory already, so was afraid I'd forget this stuff). Though the things I write are usually pretty mundane, that's usually more meaningful to me than the big official "event" kind of memories. What's amazing is I've found all these cool women and men that I just love keeping up with. In today's world it's hard to make new friends. After you leave college, you get those work acquaintances and the college friends drift away except for a few very close friends. I don't know what I'm trying to say exactly, except I have LOVED bringing you people into my strange little life and LOVE reading and commenting and keeping tabs on your often equally-strange little lives as well! It's like the old neighbors chatting over the back yard fence or at the kitchen table is taking place on our laptops, work computers and home pc's. I think that neighborly-ness is seriously lacking in our country and that bringing more of that back will help us as a nation and as individuals as well.

Ok, I've been without serious caffeine, chocolate and junk food since Thursday and I'm getting a bit sappy. I apologize for the gushiness, but it's true. I love you guys and thanks!

Weekend update: I completed the booga bag, it's amazingly cute, but it's also not so big. The pic makes it look like a major sized tote bag, but nope. I guess I could have READ the pattern spec's but ah well. It's a cute purse. I'm now making a bigger better bag, and it will be the "Tina's Tote". Also in the same color of noro, but bigger and I'm not sure how I'll do the handles as I'd like it to have a touch of style but haven't figured out what exactly yet. For now, I'm just making the dang thing HUGE and I'll figure it out what to do when I get near the end.

Sat. afternoon I survived dual play dates. I'm the WORST at paying back play dates as I get easily overwhelmed by too many children, so when I do it, I do it BIG and get it OVER with. Yes, I know I am wanting to go into education, but for big kids (high school), the little ones wear me out. Joey's little best friend came over at 11:30, just as I was taking the dog out for his lunchtime crap. I thought, oh well, I'll just send Miles out for a few minutes on his own, what could possibly happen in 5 minutes??? Got little Will and Joey set up playing with superhero action figures ("they're not dolls, mom, they're ACTION FIGURES!") Asked Beth to call the dog in, and he came in COVERED in FRESH DOG CRAP. I mean, it's a good thing he's a little dog, as every inch of him had CRAP on it. OMG he smelled HORRIBLE and he was tearing through the house, Will was screaming, Joey was trying to catch him, I didn't want anyone to get dog poop all over them with their friends coming over, it was pandemonium. Especially since I made a mistake and said "BATH" in front of the dog, which sent him into new levels of speediness. For something that small, with short little legs, he can FREAKING FLY. We finally corralled the damn dog into the bathroom, Beth didn't have the door shut well the first time and he was out again. FINALLY I have the dog inside a plastic tub in my bathtub, and am soaping him up, the doorbell rings, it's Beth's friend. I ask her to answer the door (after looking through the window to make sure it's acutally them so I don't have her let in a freak or anything) so she comes in with her little RICH stay-at-home-in-a-mansion-WITH-a-nanny-for-her-kids-and-a-housekeeper-to-clean mom walks into the bathroom where I'm up to my elbows in dog poop and bubbles. Yup, I fit right in with the Johnson County mommas. She is one of the cool moms, though, so she laughed and understood. It ended up being a really fun day. The boys played and built and drove hotwheels and created whole worlds out of cardboard and tape in the basement and the girls had school going with Beth's 52 stuffed animals. They had name-tags and numbers for each animal. It was a riot.

The kids dropped off to sleep early and I just sat and knitted knitted knitted and went to bed BEFORE midnight. OH, I forgot to mention I snuck out to the BOATS Friday night. My cousin came over hungry and poor to eat all my food and watch the kiddos. I had nowhere to go, nothing to do, so decided I'd take $100 and PLAY IT SAFE (yeah right) and sat my butt at the poker table from about 11:00pm till 1:00am. I ended up winning a little, losing a little, losing a LOT, winning a LOT and left with $150. On the way out, the craps table was calling my name.....Christine....make some money.....play......DO IT....so I thought, what the heck, my cousin's normally asleep by 11:00 anyway, what's a few more minutes going to do? LONG story short (I know this post is at least 3 pages long by now) I ended up at home at 3:59AM with $456 in my pocket after paying my cousin double wages to make up for the late night. I get home, get to bed, Joey's up at 5:00am ready for the day. I sit him down with a bowl of cereal, turn on scooby-doo and doze till 6:00am when Beth's awake as well. I not only survived dog poop and 2 extra kids on play dates, I did it on TWO hours of sleep. yes, I am amazing. Yes, I do have big-ass dark circles under my eyes and I'm going to BED. But I had so much fun and really needed the extra $$ as the increased child support thing has not yet kicked into the point where I actually get to SEE the money. Good night!

Oh holy hell

"The world has always been betrayed by decent men with bad ideals."
--Sydney J. Harris

"Indeed, I tremble for our country when I reflect that God is just."
--Thomas Jefferson

It's a good thing the Christian soldiers are marching on the world...How frightening, to actually want to promote "love thy neighbor" as meaning love ALL your neighbors. Nope, we'd better only love those that conform with what the Family Morals police tell us should be our morals.

I was just a little Catholic girl, growing up taught to love other people, feed those who are hungry, clothe those who are cold, and to BE NICE. PERIOD. I am not up on my bible quotes, but I do remember the commandment of Love Thy Neighbor.

A nice group of people have created a video with children's most popular characters, and they sing and dance and teach kids to love EVERYONE even if they're a bit different. This would have been ok, but *GASP* there MAY be one tiny reference to gay people. Here's the scoop Christians issue gay warning on Spongebob video.

Can't the media start saying "Psycho Nazi-Wannabee's issue warning...." instead of "Christians"??? I always thought Christ taught love & acceptance. He let the hooker Mary Magdalene (I sure hope that was the right name, or I'll be showing my ignorance here) wash his feet with her hair and loved her as a lesson to us. We know history has shown us how much the evangelistic minister crowd loves hookers, so maybe they can learn a bit of TOLERANCE for cripes sake. Funny how commandments, bible quotes, and the like can be changed and tainted to serve your purposes, isn't it?

And I've gotta say, John Stewart was in rare form last night. I about peed my pants when he said that as George Dubbya was solemnly sworn in, many Americans across the nation solemnly swore as well..... that's the damn truth.

Does the current trend of government by fear remind anyone of our history books? It sure seems a lot like the times before McGovern (again I hope that's the right person, my brain isn't quite awake yet) started persecuting the "commies" and "commie lovers" and all things red. People were arrested, lost their jobs, disgraced their families all for maybe attending a meeting or dinner party where they MAY have discussed theologies a bit different from the mainstream American way. It got to knowing someone was a cause for ostracism. Hey, when did red get to be a good thing? hmmmmmm. I'm proud to be blue.

On a knitting note, I'm planning on KIP all over the dang city this weekend. My little trend is spreading...I usually line up in the car to pick up my daughter and you sit for about 10 mins, so, of course, I pull out the knitting (currently the booga bag). I've become "the mom who knits" and I've had quite a few moms come up and say they had knitted as children and been inspired to pull their old needles out and want advice....it's been fun. Amazing how GOOD things can spread as well as the persecuting kind, huh? sorry, ANYWAY, sitting there yesterday I saw TWO other mommas knitting their little fingers off in the cars and waved and smiled. As dear old Martha would say, KIP, it's a good thing.

My little protest against The War President

Please click the War President picture below to see the larger image. This image of our leader was created by Joe at The American Leftist out of photos of the soldiers who have lost their lives. It is an amazing thing and takes my breath away.

The Washington Post's Faces of the Fallen, a collection of information about each U.S. service member who has died in Iraq. Updated daily, when I checked in a few minutes ago, the total was 1,362. How many more before we admit it isn't working?

Please read Justinland's by the numbers. By all means lets spend millions on parties, gowns, food, protection while our servicemen and women are left with no real support or equipment necessary to stay safe.