Saturday, May 31, 2008

Saturday morning ramblings

That lovely fishnet scarf of the bamboo yarn? I frogged it. I dropped a stitch and got frustrated. Will restart it soon. In the meantime, I am working on the socks for Randy. I just have to do the toe decreases and then I am done with the first. They are for Christmas so I am well ahead of schedule. (He knows about them since I kept quizzing him about his foot size and he's practically a rocket scientist!)I am also starting something "Elvis" for my mother-in-law and her her no so secret crush on the King. I need to dig out some of the UFO's and get them finished. I keep seeing new projects I want to start but I can't justify buying more yarn. That hasn't stopped me, but I just can't justify the purchases!

On to different things. I had a phone interview yesterday. I think it went well. The company is 4 miles from the house and the hours are very flexible. I know the 2 owners and they are really nice guys. I have been enjoying my "Sabbatical", but it would be nice to be getting a paycheck again. The cool thing about being off work has been the realization that we could easily be a one income family. We have not really sacrificed a lot these past few months. We are still able to do what we enjoy. Its been a nice realization.

And now for something completely different: I saw a commercial the other day that stated "If you or a love one have died of cancer, call today". Do you see a problem with that? I for one really hope there are no annoying cell phone in heaven!

Thursday, May 29, 2008

It's Done!


I have finally finished the never ending scarf. Final length is 9 feet 9 inches. Thank God I finally ran out of yarn. It looks great, even though it was mindless and boring and drove me bonkers. Didn't help when Bob would keep making comments like "It's kind of long isn't it?" Well no shit! That's the point. I kept wanting to put the darn thing in hibernation but all the new projects I wanted to start need size 8 needles and I was not going to buy another pair because I was too lazy to finish the scarf! Even Mo was bored with it!



Now I am starting on a fishnet lace scarf from my "Ocean Breezes" book using Southwest Trading Company Bamboo yarn. Yes, that's right. The yarn is made from bamboo!


The pattern is kind of tricky and awkward to work at first, but its easy to memorize.

Tuesday, May 27, 2008

My Man is Back!

Its been almost 20 years, but my man has finally returned. I had always held out hope that someday he would come back into my life. Just to see that smirk again, the little scar on his chin and the trademark fedora and bullwhip send shivers down my spine.



Yes, Indiana Jones is back. (My husband and I have an understanding. If Indiana Jones came to the door I would be gone in a heartbeat. Of course if Jessica Alba showed up I would have to say the door would not hit him in the ass as he ran out after her!) He is a little older and a little wiser. As he said back in Raiders, "its not the years, its the mileage".

As an anthropology major, I know what he does is not true archaeology, and some of the historical references are off, but watching him is like being a kid again at the Saturday matinee. He can still fight the bad guys (and gals) and keep you on the edge of your seat. Of course there were a few "EW!" moments a la "Temple of Doom".

Marion is back as well. The only woman who could really keep up with Indy along with the next generation "Mutt". Marion is as feisty as ever and her smile is still as bright. She has aged too, but the years have been kind to her.

The entire movie was a great romp and I really enjoyed the ending. Let's just say, Indy may be old, but he ain't dead yet! Who knows, maybe we will see more of him. I sure hope so!

Monday, May 26, 2008

In Flanders Field

In Flanders Fields

By: Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, MD (1872-1918)
Canadian Army




IN FLANDERS FIELDS the poppies blow
Between the crosses row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.



Let us not forget to honor those who gave the ultimate sacrifice.
Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.
John 15:13

Wednesday, May 21, 2008

Road to Recovery


Honey is well on the road to recovery. We still have her on the bland diet and are limiting how much water she can drink. She vomited a little this morning, but we let her outside for most of the morning and she was happy. Her energy level is not quite back to her normal bouncy self, but she did feel well enough to jump in bed this morning and give her Daddy a "kiss".

Tuesday, May 20, 2008

Sick Puppy :(

Poor Honey Bunny had to go back to the vet today. About 5pm last night she began vomiting and could not even keep water down. The emergency vet suggested feeding her some cottage cheese or rice to get something in her stomach to possibly settle it. At 11 pm there are not a lot of places to get cottage cheese. Bob ended up getting some at Denny's. He came home and proceeded to tell me that he had started knocking on the neighbors doors until he got some. I was exhausted and worried and in no mood for his joke. She continued to have issues every hour until about 4am when we all fell asleep from exhaustion. I called the regular vet as soon as they opened and they got her in ASAP. They drew some blood and pumped her with fluids. They think she may have worked herself up so much to develop a case of pancreatitis. She is doing better now, looking for food and water which we can't give her until this evening. She is back in the house for the day. Poor Sweetie does not understand what is going on. Even though Honey picks on her she does not understand why Honey gets to stay inside all day.

I have spent a good part of the day cleaning up dog vomit. (Don't you wish you were me?)I need to mop the kitchen & dining room floors but that can wait until she is ready to be outside again. Poor baby. She looks so unhappy. She thinks she will get in trouble for vomiting. She lets me brush her which normally she has trouble sitting still for. I think I have removed enough hair to make another dog at this point!

Monday, May 19, 2008

Poor Honey Bunny!

As I type this, Honey Bunny is sleeping in the hallway. Poor thing has had a rough day. Last night, Bob was out trying to deadhead the roses and Honey wanted to help. Since he did not want to perform rhinoplasty on a dog he gently pushed her head out of the way. She yelped in pain when he did this. I examined her and noted that her left ear was very sensitive. He ears are so furry and she was so unco-operative that I was unable to really get a good look inside her ear. I called the vet this morning and they were able to squeeze her in. My suspicions were confirmed when they informed me that she had a fox tail in her ear. Not only was it in her ear, but it was resting on the eardrum and if they tried to take it out without sedating her, it could puncture the eardrum. So Miss Honey Bunny had to stay at the vet for several hours so they could remove it. She is still pretty doped up so I am letting her spend the afternoon in the house, much to the chagrin of the 3 cats.

Sunday, May 18, 2008

Mmmmm...veggies

One of the benefits of living where we do is the abundance of fresh produce. Bob and I have started frequenting the farmers market, at least until our gardenb starts producing. We enjoyed some very tasty asparagas last night with a super simple recipe from Sunset magazine.

Heat your oven to 425, remove the "woody portion of the stems and lightly coat the spears in olive oil, salt & pepper. Place in a baking dish and sprinkle with grated parmesian cheese and bake for about 10 minutes. Turned out very yummy!

We have eaten all the strawberries and I think next time we may get a full flat. I might even make some jam,

Thursday, May 15, 2008

"Sweetie" is a dirty word?

I was watching the news this morning and the tease was about Barak Obama calling a reporter "a name". This intrigued me and even though I am so bored and disgusted with the election coverage I decided to see what horrible thing he could have said. It seems in passing he called a reporter "sweetie". For all the drama I was expecting something along the lines of when Barbara Bush refered to Hillary CLinton as a "Bitch". Good grief! My dog is named Sweetie! The other is "Honey". (As a side note, my husband never knows if I am yelling at him or the dog. Not that I have to tell him not to eat out of the litter box!) I never realized I was so politically incorrect. Of all the things to raise a fuss over its calling someone sweetie? What happened to real news reporting?

There are other words that I think are far worse for referring to people. I hate when I hear guys refer to girls as "Hos". That is in my opinion a very disrespectful term. I am also bothered by the use of the "N" word. When I was growing up, I was taught that was a derogatory term and I would have had my mouth washed out with soap for using it. Its also sad to hear so much profanity in entertainment. My Mom always told me that there are lots of better words to use and a smart person can use those words instead. (I am not saying that I have never sworn like a sailor on occassion, but I tend to keep it out of my general conversation.) You have to love Shakespeare in his ability to craft an insult in such a way that you utake it as a compliment because it sounds so pretty.

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Hot cats, lemony cheese

The weather is starting to heat up. According to the weatherman we should hit 100 by the end of the week. Of course I don't need a weatherman to tell me its getting hotter. If you own cats you know that the hotter it gets, the longer the cats get!




Bob and I went to the Farmers Market downtown today. So lovely to get really fresh veggies. (Our garden is just starting out so we are no where near harvesting anything.) There was a local dairy that was selling cheese and handing out samples. I got a dollop of "lemon quark" on a piece of strawberry. I thought I died and went to heaven. Its a lemony cream cheese that has been slightly sweetened. It complimented the flavor of the fresh strawberries so well. I got Bob addicted!

Tuesday, May 13, 2008

Free And Clear!

Today was a momentous day in our lives: we mailed off the final payment on our mortgage and now own the home free and clear! I can not tell you how exciting this is and what a huge weight has been lifted off our shoulders. I know that we were paying my brother, not a big mortgage company, who has been really cool about things. (He let us skip a payment when Bob's Dad passed away so he could fly back for the funeral) Still its the idea that the house is all ours now.

HAPPY DANCE!!!!

Thursday, May 8, 2008

Vitreous Humor

I just found the coolest yarn (in a sick sort of way). Its by insubordiknit (see button in sidebar)and is called "vitreous humor".



What is not to love about a yarn with felted eyeballs included! Just in case you were wondering about what to get me for a gift, I'll take 2 skeins to make a very fun scarf for me! Can't wait to see the looks I get wearing that!

Wednesday, May 7, 2008

Almost 500...

Wow, I checked out my counter today and almost 500 people have stopped by my blog. Holy Poo! That's amazing.

In other news, I have a new toy. I bought a Nikon Coolpix camera yesterday. No more will I have to beg the DH to bring one home from work so I can take pictures for Ravelry. Amazingly I can use it and and have not screwed it up yet. I like the fact that it has a rechargeable battery. I know DH's camera from work eats batteries like there is no tomorrow.

Sunday, May 4, 2008

Bowl-A-Rama

Yesterday, we were in Reno for our annual end of the year sweeper tournement for bowling. We held it at the National bowling stadium in downtown Reno which hosts PBA events and was where part of the movie "Kingpin" was filmed. All I can say os WOW. This place is huge. Our entire alley could fit in the pro shop. Wish I could say that I bowled up to their standards but sad to say I sucked. Big time. Did not even make my average. Bob however had a great series. Some of the guys decided to do a poker game: for every strike or every 2 spares you got a card with highest for each game taking the pot. Bob loves poker and this was a real inspiration for him to do well. (He actually won the Men's handicap series for the tournement.) Our team is thinking that we may do this for the regular season if it gets him to bowl this well. Sort of like Scooby Snacks. I bowled like crap until halfway through the 3rd game when I convinced Bob to give me $1 for every mark. For some reason I started to do better after that. Wish I had thought of that earlier in the series!

Bob did well playing slots. Not me. Heck, I couldn't even get money from the ATM machine at the bank! (It ran out just before I stepped up there!) I am glad to be home and out of all the smoke in the casinos.

Saturday, May 3, 2008

Derby Day

Since we were in Reno we decided to bet on the Kentucky Derby. Bob is great at picking horses. I use the "I like the name of that one" method. It works about as well as the "Ooo! That one's pretty" method. I of course had to pick Bob's Black Jack for obvious reasons. Bob took Big Brown and Colonel John. I went back up to the room to watch the race. I love watching the horses parade up to the gates. I love watching them run. At the start I was upset because my horse led the pack. Never a good sign so I knew I would lose. I was so excited watching Big Brown take the lead and win so commandingly with the filly Eight Belles behind him.

My excitement turned to anguish when the reported that she was down and not getting back up. That is never a good sign. I held my breath to see what would happen next. Veterinary medicine has come so far for horses. I was devastated when they said she had broken both her front ankles and had to be put down on the track. I flashed back to when I was a child and we were driving back from the mountains. We came across an accident site where a horse trailer had overturned. My mother covered my eyes, but not before I saw one of the horse dead on the ground. She could not cover the sound of one of the other horses screaming in fear and pain. That sound still haunts me.

Friday, May 2, 2008

Blonds do not always have more fun!

Ever watch those Funny Video shows where some one drives home with the gas pump hose attached? I always laughed at them. Today I became one of them.

I spent the morning getting everything ready for the Reno trip. Dogs to be boarded, last minute packing, making sandwiches, cleaning the kitchen etc. I headed out to get Bob when he got off work so we could head up the mountain. (I decided to drive up so he could drive home and I could nap on the way back) We still needed to get gas so we stopped in Granite Bay on our way to 80. Bob filled the rear tank and then started filling the front tank. After a while be came up to the drivers side and handed me the keys to the gas tanks and said he was going inside to cash in some lottery tickets. I sat and waited. It was taking a while for him to come back and there was a line at the pump. I assumed, since he had given me the keys, that he was done, so I decided to pull around and wait for him. I started to pull forward and then heard a strange noise. I looked in my side mirror and noticed my truck had a tentacle. I backed up and turned off the truck. Luckily, the front tank was full and the pump had shut off. I went inside where Bob was at the head of a line at the counter cashing in his tickets.

"Um, Honey? We have a problem."
"What."
"You weren't done pumping gas."
"Yeah. So."
"I sort of didn't realize that."
(puzzled look)
"I pulled the hose off the pump."
(stern look)
"Does it help that I feel like a total idiot?"
"Not really!"

We gave our information to the attendant.So now we are waiting to hear from them how much my stupidity will cost to repair.

Not good sign for me to gamble in Reno!