What a Difference a Week Makes!

So, I am feeling much better now, thankyouverymuchforasking.

I realized, that if someone had asked me one year ago what my ideal life would be like today, I would have responded that I wanted the following things:

1. A wonderful boyfriend/partner - CHECK!
2. A good, stable job with decent health benefits - CHECK!
3. My massage practice to be to a point where I am seeing 2-3 clients a week consistently - CHECK!
4. My dog not peeing on the floor anymore - CHECK! (and truly, this might be appropriately placed slightly higher on the list)
5. In grad school, working to get myself out of debt - CHECK! (more on my master financial plan at a later date!)
   
6. I would have more yarn - CHECK, double CHECK and triple CHECK! (the stash getteth out of hand!)

This brings up the question of why am I feeling overwhelmed if I have all the things I thought I wanted? I think it was more a feeling of, for the first time in a long time, my life seems to be going ferociously in the direction I want it to, and that is a little scary. There has been a great deal of change going on around here in the last 10 months, and that is scary, but at the same time, the things that are changing are all things that I wanted to change, and I am grateful for where I am and to be abale to do the things I want to do with the people I want to do them with.

For the past week, whenever I felt overwhelmed by what was going on, I just took a step back, and said to myself "this is what you are doing right now, at this very minute (i.e. driving in the car, walking to my office, knitting a never ending surprise wedding present for my BFF), doesn't matter what is going on in ten minutes or ten days, this is what you are doing now and this is what is important." This focusing in on the present has really helped me to come back into myself a little, if that makes sense. I tend to get super stressed out about all the things that are going on in my life that are coming up instead of enjoying the things that happen to me as they are actually occurring. This past week, I made a concerted effort to not let myself do that, and it has made a huge change in how I feel.

I'm doing what I can, when I can, and instead of feeling overwhelmed, I feel grateful that I have the kind of life that I wanted and now know I am capable of having. I'm taking it one day at a time, and trying to change my perspective on things. For example, I am no longer saying "I have to fly to Florida by myself for the first time since 9/11 and pick up a rental car and then drive all over Florida to go pick up my HNB who will most likely already be drunk and then go to a wedding where I know exactly three people, all in the same day."

New attitude is dudes, I'm f***ing going to Florida - pass the sunscreen!

Update on this week's activities: Had a super fun time last weekend with HNB at the track; my lawyer friend "gently" informed him that I was allowed to bring knitting. I brought it, but didn't actually do any knitting because I never got bored. I did, however, bring the baby sweater I had been working on for my lawyer friend's new niece, and she loved it, so that got finished up and delivered this week. HNB bought me my own motorcycle helmet(!) and it matches the new one he bought for himself...now if he could only get the part he needs to get the bike fixed so we could go riding, we'd be all set! Grad school is starting on 9/10, and I am all set, and excited even - I got all my financial aid paperwork done and my employer's tuition reimbursement will pay for both of my classes this semester and the books I need for them. My mother is doing fine and feeling much better actually. All is good over here at the kniternet, all is good! I am going shopping for a dress to wear to both weddings today, and may stop in for a pedicure. I also have to go to the LYS to pick out some buttons, darn...doesn't that just sound like a terrible day ; ) Peace out kiddies!

Full

When I was in massage school, I had a teacher, who, amongst other wonderful quotes such as "Nervousness is just excitement without breath" (really, think about it and its true!), also used to say "I'm full."

Not full in the sense that she ate too may burritos at the burrito bar or consumed a whole bag of Oreos on her own in front of the TV the night before. Nope. What she meant is the feeling when you have just taken in too much information, when there is just too much going on in your life and in you head and you don't quite know what to do but cut yourself off from it.

Needless to say kids, I am full.

In the past few weeks, I have come to the conclusion that I really love HNB in a way that is almost uncomfortable for me to deal with, because I haven't felt quite this way about someone in over ten years, and even then, it didn't feel like this.

My dog got completely out of control and then bit me (!) so HNB (who thinks he is the Dog Whisperer) and I have been working with him to do some long overdue dog training, and HNB has been working on trying to get me to treat the dog as a, um, dog, and not my child. It has been difficult for us all.

Also, my BFF....preggers and engaged and getting married next month!!!! I have her wedding surprise that I am crafting (on the off chance she has time to surf the web and comes a wandering over here, I am not telling you all what I am doing..suffice it to say though it is loverly and third time is a charm with the crafting).

Other BFF from college is also with child, and I have a combo surprise baby shower and "bachelorette party" weekend down in NYC that I hadn't really planned on time wise and money wise, because....HNB and I are going to Florida the next week for one of his really good friend's weddings.

The wedding is on Saturday, so I am flying down on the earliest flight that day. Um, yeah, my vacation time is a little lacking as of right now. I have managed to get Monday and Tuesday off, and will be flying back on Wednesday morning and going right to work from 11:30-8:00pm. Lather rinse, repeat.

My massage practice has somehow blossomed into its own thriving little entity, in fact, I just had a call from a new client who booked for Monday night, which means, for the first time ever at my "new" office (I have been there over a year), I will have back to back clients. While super excited and grateful for this, I am a little concerned with the amount of time I spend on my massage therapy practice (in addition to my forty hour a week job) because....

...I got accepted to grad school, and am supposed to start on Monday. Like in three days Monday. Don't have any books, don't have any financial aide paperwork done because my advisor hasn't created a profile for me to be able to log on and get started. Have no way to pay for anything (tuition, books, my credit card bills) until I get the student loan. Someone hand me a paddle, I am up a crick.

All of this, combined with various other situations such as my mother having surgery yesterday because she has been sick for two weeks and never told me about either situation (she's kinda passive aggressive like that); the fact that I am going to the track and to a party tomorrow that I had no idea I was going to until yesterday and will be gone all day instead of home doing the nothing that I had been looking forward to doing all week; next weekend, I really want to go to the Great New York State Fair with HNB, but am concerned that I will get more stressed out by going than I would be upset by not going; I talk on the phone all day with elderly people who don't understand their health insurance (sometimes, I even get to talk to them under my desk because I have to yell at them so loudly that I have to get under there for the echo).

For poops and giggles, we will add to all of this the fact that I am making all my Christmas presents for 2007 and 2008 (please see the forgotten about list to you right). I have an insane amount of knitting and crafting to do, and basically, once all this wonderful stuff is over and dealt with, we will be in October and the Holiday crafting will be in full scary swing. All I have to say is HNB told me I can't bring knitting with me to the track on Saturday - he is incorrect, I can and I must (I will put it away at Uncle Ryan's party though babe, promise!) and Lawd help the TSA agent who may try to take my needles away from me when I fly to Florida. You may get to read about that one in the papers!

So, the point of this post, besides explaining where I have been and where I will be, is to inform you posting will be spotty at best around here for the next couple of weeks. Also, I feel better for having gotten my frustrations out in written form (have I mentioned I am also a little bit cranky because I haven't been writing or working on the book lately??). At any rate, also, I have decided that a daily mediation practice is in order, and I will begin working on that today. Also, taking a page from Aunt Pearl (she's crazy you know!) and giving this a shot. I am going with October 28, sound like a good day for a breakdown, no?

You Know You Miss Me

Yes. So my life seems to be a repetitive continuous stream of HNB is here = stay up late and wake up early to take out the dogs; HNB not here = can't sleep until after midnight but am so tired when the alarm goes off in the morning that I am useless. Sigh....

At any rate, this weeks WWWdotWEDNESDAYdotCOM goes to what may be the best name for a knitting blog ever! Knit and Tonic is a very funny sight. She is a designer and very talented writer. Unlike a lot of knit blogs, hers is not filled with pictures of her kids and stories about them, which can get a little annoying (maybe like reading a knit blog that is all about someones new boyfriend......). I think you will enjoy reading her site, right now she is photographing pictures for her first knitting book that she is publishing.

K, this is a quickie - I have a lot to do before I leave for work and not a lot of time to do it. Sorry for the lack of posting lately, but you know how it is in the summer. Peace out!

In the Abscence of HNB...

...I find myself unable to sleep.

It is after midnight, normally I am well on my way to sleepy time. Not so much tonight.

My darling overindulged in the Labatt Blue like only he can, and he had to spend the night at his friend's house in Saratoga. I much prefer this to his driving home (or me going to pick him up and then having to bring him back up there to get his truck), but still, my mind wants to go to sleep and my body wont let me.

I went to dinner tonight with my lawyer friend, we had a lovely time, and then I went to get groceries.

At 9:30 at night.

By myself.

I had to bring all the bags up to my apartment (normally HNB goes with me and carries the bags for me because that's how he rolls, that, and most of the food is for him). I put all the groceries away, cleaned out the fridge and freezer, did the dishes, ran the dishwasher, did a load of laundry (and folded it!) and made a pot of organic black bean soup in the crock pot (did I mention I started with dry beans and had to soak and cook them???!!).

Now, its way past my bed time. I am hoping I will fall into bed in a minute or two and drift soundly to sleep, but I don't think so. I love having him here, but I'm not so in love with the being so used to him being here that I can't fall asleep without him. I guess this is what people do though...they get used to being with people, and they depend on them and then that's how a real relationship is deepened and strengthened.

All I know is my HNB is sleeping on some couch tonight, and I will fall asleep eventually in my uber-comfy bed with my dog snuggled up behind my arse or up against my belly, wishing that HNB was here and thinking how wonderful it will be when I see him again.

That, and I am such a girl.

Sweet dreams people of the inter-tubes...I am off to Ambien land!

PS - The application was submitted at 11:05 pm...at least I got something done in the absence of HNB besides domestical crap!

Growing

Today is the day.

Yes, it is time for WWWdotWEDNESDAYdotCOM, but today is also the day I am actually going to send in my application for grad school.

Yep kids, you heard right...I am going to do it today.

In honor of this, today's link is for Ellis College, where I will be sending in my application and $85 right after wok today. See, with my work schedule and massage therapy practice, going to a brick and mortar school would be very difficult if not impossible, and would also cause Mr. Kendall to turn into even more of a latchkey dog than he already is (and who wants that?). I mean really, look at this face...



Now that I have distracted you with cute dog photos, I will take this opportunity to admit that going back to school has been the plan since I took the new job in November. I had to wait until the first week in June to begin classes so that I would get my tuition reimbursement from the company ($5k a year!), but, you may ask, why have I waited another two months to actually get the paperwork in and get the ball rolling?

The easy answer is to blame it on all the time I spend with HNB, and that has played a part in my delay. Also, I decided that I didn't really want to start grad school at the beginning of the summer, and there are financial aid implications (like me having to fill out another freakin' FAFSA form to start before August/September). Truth be told, even after the tuition reimbursement, I am still going to be paying for a large portion of this with loans, and I am slightly hesitant to take out more student loans than I already have.

I took out a doozy of a loan when I was in undergraduate (I paid my own way through and worked to pay all my living expenses, but tuition and books were expensive) and the one for massage therapy school still has another 12 years left on it, do I really need to add to this?? And, truth be told, my track record for using my degree once I graduate isn't the greatest. I defend this by saying "What the hell can you do with a BA in psychology and a dual minor in English and women's studies besides waitress or be poor?" As for the massage therapy degree, I never intended to use it to provide my sole source of income, so the fact that it is more of a side business really is okay with me.

I figure, I can take 5k worth of class there in the calendar year, if I don't like it, no harm no foul my company paid the bill. Kind of like when the restaurant I used to work for (many, many moons ago) paid for me to take a summer graduate level class in education and I promptly decided that Education graduate students are a special type of crazy and I didn't want to be a teacher. I'll give it a shot, make the most of it, try to explain to HNB why I never see him anymore and bunker down and go back to school.

This just leaves us one question to be answered: Is it appropriate to buy yourself a new back to school wardrobe if you are going back to school online??? I think the answer is yes my lovelies, I think the answer is yes.

PS for my Lawyer Friend: The baby hat is done, the sweater has one sleeve and one entire body done. Today while at work I will make the other sleeve and start working on the neck/shoulders area. Estimated time to completion, Saturday. Pictures to follow promptly.

Disappointment

Of which there will be some (and none!) in this post.

Firstly, my weekend with HNB and my family went very well. He liked them, they liked him, everyone behaved and was polite. Food was cooked, beer was drank, a hotel was stayed in and doggies went to their grandparent's houses so their respective mommy and daddy could sleep peacefully and beyond the hour of 6am...all was good with the world. We played in the pools at my aunts' houses, went for a boat ride along the St. Lawrence River with my dad and brother...all in all it was good times.

We "took the scenic" route yesterday and the trip home took us about eight and a half hours when it should only take about four, but we did stop at HNB's family camp. It was beautiful and peaceful and I look forward to making him take me up there in the fall when the leaves change colors so we can enjoy another weekend of dog-less wonder.

Here are pictures. In retrospect, I wish I had taken a little movie of it so that you could hear the water rushing past...it was surprisingly loud and I fear if we were there for any length of time I would be tinkling a lot.





In the last one, you can kind of see how orange the water is. HNB said because of all the leather tanning they used to do in the area, the water still flows with a pretty strong orange tint. Whatever, it is beautiful and I wanted to go jump around in it, but I only had my Crocs with me and they are not the best shoes to be wearing in rapidly moving water, IMO, so I stayed on the shore and took pictures. At least I took pictures until my camera ran out of batteries.

We drove home through the Adirondack Park, and poor HNB (who had to listen to me say "Ooh, babe look - a kayak!" every time I saw one strapped to a car) was forced to listen to "Ooh, babe I wish I had my kayak!" as we dove past about a gazillion calm lakes and slow moving streams that are perfect for the type of kayaking I like to do. I need to "gently encourage" HNB to get a kayak and then get a roof rack for my car and we can just take off and go kayaking like a couple of kayakers.

What, "this is supposed to be a knitting blog" you say? Well, here is where the disappointment comes in (see, the rest of the post, completely lacking in disappointment because I was one very happy knitter all weekend!). Whilst driving home yesterday, I saw a sign that said, amongst other things, "yarn shop." HNB, being the best boyfriend ever, pulled a u-turn and promptly delivered me, wallet in hand, to the "yarn shop."

We pulled in the driveway, and seeing as the sign instructed us to "blow your horn," HNB tooted the tooter and we waited. Nothing.

Eventually, the neighbor came out and went to go get the people who lived in the house with a sign that said "yarn shop." At this point in the story, I would like to take this opportunity to explain a little more about where we were, geographically speaking.

We were in the middle of East Bumblef*ck, on what amounted to a mass of farm land. One could assume, with a sign that says "yarn shop" given the geographic location of the area that even though sheep were not visible, they must be close by, right???

Eventually, a very old gentleman came out and said yes, they had yarn and it was in the house. HNB stayed outside to entertain the dog and I walked through a dirty garage into a dirty house that smelled like kitty tinkle, the gentleman who came out of the house called to his wife that "there was a yarn customer" and he opened the door to a small room and told me to go in because his wife would be right with me.

I walked in, and it was filled with acrylic. Not even good acrylic. We're talking pastel baby yarn from 1973 and really, really, really old musty patterns and toilet paper crochet cover things. I waited until the lady came into the room, and politely asked if she had any wool. Because, it as obvious the beautiful handspun and dyed wool from the beautiful flock of invisible sheep must be hiding somewhere that was safe from the obviously evil peeing kitties. Her response, gentle blog readers, sent chills down my spine:

"I am allergic to wool, don't use it so I don't sell it."

She said this with a straight face as if her being allergic somehow made it okay for her to call this sorry collection of yarn a "yarn shop." Truth be told, it was more of a moderate sized stash of really bad yarn. I felt duped. I felt sad. I felt like I wanted to cry.

In the end, I said thank you, but that I really was looking for wool, and then we made small talk about an atrocious cardigan that had been knitted in a very scratchy acrylic yarn in a color that would not be becoming in a person the size it was knitted for. Then I left. Empty handed.

HNB looked at me quizzically when I came back to the car, and I tried not to laugh/cry as I told him it was okay to get back in the car because there would be no purchases here. For Miss Kniternet had struck out at bat, and there would be no stash enhancing opportunity that day. Nope. No new yarn for me.

We trudged on home, and I sat there not knitting (because while I brought my knitting with me, there was no actual knitting performed all weekend - sorry Lawyer Friend, I promise the baby sweater will be finished soon - opening day of the track tomorrow means HNB is out of the picture until Friday...I have lots of free time!), even though I did have about ten hours in the car that were prime knitting time - two hours were lost to sleep - I just so enjoyed being a passenger for the first time in a zillion years that I stared out the window and HNB and I had good car conversation.

All in all it was a great trip, even if the lack of truth in advertising did cause me to think there was yarn available where there was only crap. The doggies had fun, HNB and I had fun and I think I speak for everyone when I say we are happy to be home. On a final note, super cute picture of my dog and his nephew Sam (my parents' dog) playing in the backyard with my brother. Peace out - post tomorrow...I promise!

Did 'Ya Miss Me?

Cause heaven knows I missed the wonderful tubes of the internet!

I had a lovely trip to see my family, filled with lots of sleeping, , family togetherness and Mr. Kendall being a good dog (seriously, no sarcasm there). HNB and I are going back up there together this upcoming weekend so he can meet my family (!) and I am thinking things will go fantastically well. Keep your fingers crossed for me.

Of course, as usual, I brought my camera but didn't really take any pictures. You would be correct in thinking all the pictures I did take are of my dog, so when I have time to download them to my computer, you will be regaled with cute photos of my four legged baby. I misses him because he stayed for an extended vacation at his Gramma and Grampa's house. It just didn't make sense to bing him home for four days and then bring him back up there and have him stay there without me [HNB and I are getting a hotel - two double beds of course ; ) - so Mr. Kendall has to stay with my parents because they don't allow dogs] next weekend. I figured he could enjoy being a country dog for the week and I could sleep in a little bit in the mornings!

Before I forget, this week's WWWdotWEDNESDAYdotCOM is for Etsy.com which is a uber-wonderful website where crafty peoples make things and then sell them. It's kind of like an online craft market, and is filled with all sorts of wonderful ideas and pieces and truth be told, I could spend a lot of time (and money!) there. Last night I made a purchase, and I can't wait for my stuff to get here (don't worry, I promise I will take pictures when it arrives!).

On to the knitting. Last post, I realize was all about the "yarn stash" problem, but I feel in the ten minutes I have to finish posting this before I need to leave for work, we should discuss the alarming problem of the number of things I have on my needles, i.e. the number of current projects I am working on. Off the top of my head, I can think of no fewer than nine unfinished projects I am currently working on:

1. My parent's Christmas mitre square afghan
2. Purple socks for my Mom
3. Baby blanket for BFF Erika
4. Teddy Bear for Jennica
5. Rainbow Opal socks for me
6. Lavender Mittens
7. Pink and white cotton baby hat
8. Jennica's baby sweater
9. Knitting for Peace messenger bag
   

Add to this the fact that the yarn was delivered to me yesterday for my fist contracted knitting assignment, and it is Cashmerino and I must stat knitting with it straightaway, and that combines for a pretty full bag of knitting tricks. Problem is I have so much yarn now, that I want to cast on for even more projects and I am a fickle, fickle knitter who has no control of herself. I fear becoming the knitter who has projects she forgot about casting on and then finds them years later and doesn't remember what they are.

For all of these reasons, sometime in the near future, a fair and honest inventory will be taken of all current projects, along with a "status check" of the craft closet. This will involve photo documentation as well as the welcoming of public admonishment for my shameful knitting ways. I fear public humiliation is the only thing that can save me now.

Well, I am off to work, and I have a bag FULL of tricks to knit with today ; )

Peace out kiddies and Happy Wednesday!

Falling Down

Sorry for the abscnece. I got to play Florence Nightengale all weekend because HNB caught my illness and was super sick all weekend. He was a very manly sick person though, no whining and/or whimpering. I practically had to make him let me take care of him...yeah, thats what happenned ; )

On to business. My best friend that just got engaged, well, she's also with child. Remind me not to drink the water in Syracuse, these things are contagious! News of the upcoming baby (and wedding!) prompted a visit to AC Moore last night.

I had a little accident.

Back in the day, say about last week, I was the type of knitter who went to the store to get yarn for a specific project. I might not cast on for it immediately, but the yarn was bought with a purpose, and intention of what it was supposed to be. Didn't always become what I had originally planned on, but it was never bough all willy nilly. Sure, I had what I considered "stash," it was a few small leftover skeins and two balls of souvenir yarn from a trip last year, and I always have sock yarn (see the rules about yarn - sock yarn doesn't count as stash or as yarn purchasing really), but I didn't feel the situation was out of control.

Last night, while shopping, it occurred to me that I now have so much yarn for so many projects, that there is no way I can remember what project I bought what yarn for. Furthermore, I continue to be bombarded with new reasons to buy yarn and new things I need to make.

FYI to my people, please stop reproducing, joining your lives in everlasting love and union with boys, having birthdays, and wanting me to celebrate Christmas with you, there by expecting that I make you something of knitterly goodness. Also, if I could be released from all social responsibilities for the next year, I may have a chance to get all this knitting done. Oh, and HNB if you are reading this, please quit your job so you can drive me around everywhere I need to go for the next couple of months so that I can stop wasting valuable time on "personal transportation," and can instead focus on knitting at least until I can get caught up with the yarn. Don't worry, I can drive myself to the yarn shop (I don't want you being able to see that I am in fact adding to the stash which is making it necessary for you to chauffeur me around).

I leiu of my sanity, of which there is obviously none left, I present pictures of what was procured.

This will become the baby blanket for my BFF's new little bundle of joy who is due in March. I am using blue, not because she knows the baby will be a boy, but because there is a long tradition of fuzzy blue blankets in her family and in the apartment we used to share.

One can never have too much warshrag cotton, especially if it is on sale for $1.19 a ball. My mom's birthday is on Friday, need to make her a quick little sachet out of this and some lilac potpurri today. I'm thinking the pink is more her style.

Onward and upward, this was on sale for $5.99 a bag (its mill ends, but it is Lion Band Homespun - $2 a skein isn't half bad!). This will be for the Red Scarf Project 2008 charity knitting shenanigans.

And, seeing as I am going away this weekend to see the family (there will be no more posting until next week - super sorry lawyer friend!), I wanted to make sure HNB had something to keep himself occupied with. I may have mentioned he is super smart, but I am pretty sure I didn't confide in all of you that he is also capable (and quite competent, actually!) at solving a Rubix cube. He also loves the Mets.

That oughta keep him busy, right?

On to this week's WWWdotWEDNESDAYdotCOM posting. Great little crafty website called How About Orange. It focuses a lot on craftiness and design, and I just think the look of her website and the content is very warm and cheery. Lots of good stuff over there - go check it out!

Well, I am off to run some errands before work. Wish me fun at my parent's house, hopefully I will have lots of time to knit! Peace out kiddies.

A Post to Say I Posted

I had grand plans for getting a bazillion things accomplished today. Because of the July 4th holiday, a lot of the people at work who do the 11:30-8:00 shift took the week off, so I had the opportunity to go in late today. HNB works late on Thursday nights, so he wasn't coming over last night. I came home from work, went to le Tarjay and spent a lot of $$ buying things to organize my office.

See, I got rid of my old office configuration a few months ago, and they way I changed it to just wasn't cutting it. So, I bought a lovely 6' folding banquet table for $34, combined it with the 4' long card table I have already been using to store my printer and paper accessories, and made an office!

View from the front:
And view from the side:

Yes, you may have noticed the purple bumper sticker that says "Save the Uterus." Feel free to ask me about it sometime!

Well, I really enjoy my new office space, and it feels good to have a large flat surface to work off of again. The desk is a little messy and the carpet needs to be vacuumed (it never occured to me to wait to take the pictures until after I had done these things), but I think that it will work out just fine for me. Grad school is supposed to be starting soon, and I am going to need some place to be smart ; )

Oh, so on to the bazillion things. Had to go to Target, make some cupcakes, do some laundry, a whole whack of cleaning (see above), and then there was the feather in my cap...I had to call Vonage to shut off my phone service with them because quite frankly it sucks.

Now, I work as a customer service rep, I understand the reps have NOTHING to do with the hold time, but when I have been waiting for 35 minutes to cancel my sevice becuase their website wasn't working properly, and then some boy who sounded like he would have been scared of his own shadow starts trying to get me to keep my service, well, lets just say gentle blog readers, it wasn't one of my finer moments.

But you know what, I don't feel sorry. Confidence is a trait I demand in people, and those that don't have it can make up for it by being either smart or cute. Yohan (yes, seriously his name was Yohan), may have been very cute, but over the phone, you just can't tell, so therefore nothing saved him from me unleashing a very un-knitterly flurry of not nice-ness, which, I must say, might not have happened had I been knitting while on hold instead of cleaning.

Moral of the story is, I am late for work, and because of the karmic cycle of the world, I will probably get screamed at all day by cranky old people. Or perhaps, my loudness was me balancing the karma of all the times I have calmly and patiently talked the elderly people off the ledge of crankiness ans back into the warm confines of niceness.

Yeah, thing about that karma wheel, you never know which way it's turning.

Enjoy your weekend, and if you are an old person calling your insurance company today, remember that I am confident, smart and cute, so please don't yell at me, okay??!!

Happy July 4th!

Well, not only is it July 4th, its also Wednesday, and you know what that means....WWWdotWEDNESDAYdotCOM!! Whoo and my I add Hoo!

Okay, the original plan was to have this as this week's link,



Knitting, animation..what's not to love??


But then I found this on the Onion's website, and somehow it seemed more appropriate for today.

I Should Not Be Allowed To Say The Following Things About America

As Americans, we have a right to question our government and its actions. However, while there is a time to criticize, there is also a time to follow in complacent silence. And that time is now.

Happy July 4th and be well and safe!

Crabs

I am sick, and it sucks! Sore throat on one side, my ear on that side is painful, and my whole body just aches, plus, I am super sleepy. So I called in sick to work today and slept. So sick, I don't even want to knit. I almost didn't even blog about knitting today, but at my lawyer friend's urging, I am here. Blogging. Through. My. Illness.

Knitting content!

Baby hat the Third, recipient unknown:

Pictures of the s'mores squares from last week, don't they look tasty??!!

Actually, they did not pohotograph so well in my opnion (I think it was the tinfoil), but damn they taste good.

Here is a picture of the bear in progress:
See, he's wearing green shorts and then he will have a blue sweater (maybe with a matching blue vest or scarf). Problem is I need to get a 16" size 7 circular needle so I can get the bear off the DPNs and get the raglan arms set in. Right now the bear took a little bit of a break on a 24" size 7 because I wanted to see how it was coming along and make sure the proportions are looking okay. Haven't had a chance to get it back on the DPNs co I can start knitting it again.

What? You want to know how things went yesterday? Hmmm, do ya, do ya??

They went really well. I met both his parents, his sister and one of his brothers (the other one lives in Florida), and about five assorted dogs. As soon as I got off the highway and into town, I saw a little farm with sheep, and I knew things were going to be okay. I found the house with no real problems, and pulled in. HNB was working on his new car. His dog jumped up to say hello, and he had to come over and pull her down so I could get out of the car - that Ursa just loves me, I tell 'ya what! We kind of stood there for a little while, at HNB's request, I brought Kendall with me, and all the other dogs were very excited to meet him. He was a little less interested. I don't think he's ever been around that many dogs at once, and Ursa wanted nothing to do with him for some strange reason. So he was kind of on his own, poor baby. First time not fenced in and not on a leash (read through the rest of the post to find out why this was a bad idea).

So anyway, HNB's mom and I talked for a while, he showed me the house when he was done working on the car. I got to see his room from when he was younger and watch him work on his car (he's so manly!), I offered to help with dinner, but HNB must have warned her that I can't cook because she declined my help ; )

We went outside and he showed me the backyard and their pond, it was all great until Kendall decided to run up the road. While a car was driving by, and almost got hit. HNB got in the car and went to grab him, because the little jerk wouldn't stop running away from me and wouldn't come when I called him (this is why he doesn't get let off the leash!).

We had dinner, and it was good. Salad salad and fruit salad, bruschetta, a very nice pasta dish and steak sandwiches for the meat eaters. They also had some of the home-made wine they made, and it was very good. All in all, I think it went really well. I was nervous for no reason; his family was just very laid back and comfortable, kind of like him. Middleburgh is a beautiful area, the views are just incredible and there are animals all over (sheep, cows, horses, dogs and I even saw some badgers and a fox - it was like a nature excursion!). On the way home, I saw a rainbow. It was just kind of a perfect day.

So perfect, in fact, that Kendall is so tired, this is what he did all day:

And with the exception of the two minutes it took me to find the camera and take the picture, I was right there next to him. Twas loverly! Now, if you will excuse me, I have some soup to eat and some tea to drink.

Housekeeping

There has been much knitting in these parts lately. I got the legs and most of the trunk done on Jennica's baby's bear, and am actually keeping track of what I am doing seeing as I might make this my first pattern!

Although, I realized while knitting on it yesterday at work, I didn't have enough yarn to finish...so I made a mental note to get myself to the yarn shop sometime today since they aren't open on Sundays and are closed by the time I get done work on Friday. Then, HNB got done work super early yesterday, and any plans for yarn procurement were placed on the back burner.

What, you may ask, do a wacky knitter and a super smarty trousers HNB do on a Friday night? Well, the wacky knitter decides she wants to go out on the motorcycle, and the HNB obliges with a giant grin on his face as he realizes he has turned her into someone who actually enjoys riding on a motorcycle instead of being someone who is deathly afraid of them and opposed to the whole concept.

We met at his apartment, and, seeing as I understand that when we go there, there is usually some sort of distraction going on which keeps us there longer than I had planned on, and while I do enjoy watching his roommates play video game baseball or play Guitar Hero, I decided to bring knitting with me to occupy myself and my hands (and quiet the nervous butterflies in my belly since even though my mind wants to go on the bike, my belly still gets nervous until we are actually pulling out of the driveway). Nothing big, just a stockinette stitch project - moron knitting.

Well, I had my giant bag-o-crap with me like I usually do, although it was a bit more full than usual because I had to bring a long sleeve shirt and sneakers/socks to go out on the bike with (can't wear Crocs on a motorcycle!) and also had my knitting. HNB kinda looked at the bag with a slightly raised eyebrow, and gave me that "You are crazy, you have so much stuff with you" look, so I defended myself by saying I brought knitting with me, and he looked at me honestly and said "Babe, you can't knit on the bike."

I think dude seriously thought I was going to try and knit on the motorcycle.

Anyway, we took a trip up to Thatcher Park just after sunset, and the moon was almost full. We could see a fireworks show somewhere kind of far away, but neither of us could figure out where they were being shot off from. We sat on the little wall and looked at the view and the moon, and it was really, really nice. On the way home, HNB was almost attacked by a vicious bat, but in the end it all worked out okay, until we pulled into the driveway of my friendly lawyer and her MB's house.

I got my first motorcycle related injury (besides a sore arse). I skinned the crap out of my finger while closing the visor on my helmet as I was taking it off. There was blood involved, but no tears. It is now covered by a band aid and I feel much better, BUT I am not looking forward to having to put the Nu-Skin liquid bandage stuff on it tomorrow while I have clients. That will not feel nice, but a massage therapist has to do what a massage therapist has to do!

Cut to today, HNB and I had a lovely day. He put a new car on the road this week (its a convertible!), so we took that out for a spin. Guess where we ended up - the yarn shop!!!! I just got a few quick skeins for the teddy bear project (luckily the had the same dye lot for the brown color I am using even though I bought it three months ago!). He came in, met some of the ladies and seemed totally comfortable, even impressed by how quick I was able to get in and get out. It was a quick trip - I didn't even look at the sock yarn. Don't think HNB wanted to spend the whole day there, and I didn't want to let him see me in the throes of a yarn fume induced stupor.

So then we went home, he went to work and I took a nap. He's at a party tonight out in the 'Burgh, and I am spending the rest of the night on the couch with my dog and my knitting. I have a client tomorrow, and am pretty tired (not to mention the apartment is not the cleanest and the laundry pile is almost as tall as me), so I wasn't in the mood for an all night drink fest. But, when I am done with the client tomorrow, I am hopping in my car and driving out there because, I am meeting his parents tomorrow.

Wish me luck - I haven't met someone's parents that I have been dating in almost ten years - yeah, true story. I mean, his mom knits and has friends who spin, so she has to be cool, right? And besides, I am fabulous and cute and wonderful (if I do say so myself), how could they not like me??

Somebody pass the yarn - I need to knit the butterflies out of my belly..details to follow!

Baby Hats

I have a confession to make.

I have become slightly obsessed with knitting baby hats. We all know about the one where I decided not to give it away, well I finished that one and then cast on for a new hat so I could give it away to the mom to be. Of course, I forgot to wrap it up once I got home from work the other day or to make a card for it. When I saw her at work the yesterday, Amy said "Oh, look...she's still here! Did you wrap the hat?" And then I said some expletives inside my head, and the outloud I said "No."

I started looking around my desk for something to wrap it in, and tried to wrap it in the pretty paper from the potted plant I got for my birthday, which was pretty and bright and pink and yellow, but it was still covered with little specks of dirt that wouldn't come off.

In the end, I very unceremoniously took the hat up to her, unwrapped, explained the situation (she is so tiny, even though she is due next week that I thought I had more time - I mentioned nothing of my unwillingness to give up the hat that was originally meant for her baby), and wished her well and told her I hope I don't see her again for a couple months. Because that is something you can say to someone who is about to go on maternity leave. Its a good thing.

So what did I do when I got back to my desk you ask??? Cast on for another freakin' baby hat. My size 7 DPNs and cotton warshrag yarn have me entranced in a baby hat knitting coma. Baby hats in natural cotton, baby hats in white/sage/blue/lavender stripes, who knows where the shenanigans will end!!!!

And speaking of babies, I am doing my first commissioned knitting for my lawyer friend. I feel kind of like a "professional" because of it. All I know is, at some point, a package will be delivered to me of Debbie Bliss Cashmerino, I will not have to pay for it, and then I will get to knit a pattern I adore and make something cute for someone cute...good times! Speaking of which, I still have to finish the sweater for my Jennica's baby (Just have to kitchener up the armpits, procure/sew on some buttons and block that puppy).

Ooh!!! I said puppy, and that made me think! I just officially derailed the baby hat in cotton train and hopped on the express train to teddy bear land. I bought yarn to make a teddy bear for Jennica when I got the yarn for the baby sweater, and it has been resting in the yarn box for quite some time. I do believe I shall take it out and show it a good time at my office cube today. Because I mean yarn loves to go on field trips - it lives for that kind of thing!

Also, it has been brought to my attention that this blog has turned slightly away from being so much about knitting, and has started to focus a little too much on HNB. This was brought up in his presence, and he blushed a little (which was very cute). Just want to throw it out there that I will be making a more concerted effort to keep things on track over here, this is, after all, a knitting blog. I think HNB and I have found a good groove to be in, and we are moving gracefully out of that spending all the free time on the couch together thing (partially because the futon is gone - good story to follow!), and now that I can knit while he is here, there will once again be knitting content to share. Maybe even with pictures!

And with that, I leave you for this lovely Thursday and will now go hop in the shower and be grateful that I am not the smartee who got super sunburned yesterday - you know who you are and I have two words for you: 1) sunscreen 2) melanoma!

Changed my Mind

After kvetching about how annoyed I was with HNB for "messing with my computer," I am now going to take at least some of it back because Fire Fox actually remembers my password and log on information for the blog where as Internet Explorer always claimed that it would, but likewise always fell through for me. Lies. Deceit. Betrayal.

So take that honey if you are reading this, and add "fixing my computer" to the list of things that make you awesome!

Okay, lots of responses to the recipe from yesterday, none in the actual comments but thats okay - email is just as good. They are wonderful yumminess, and I promise they will be my new signature desert/you invited me to your house for something there fore I must bring something treat.

This weeks' WWWdotWEDNESDAYdotCOM is brought to you by my cheapness. I am linking to my local library, the William K. Sanford Library in sunny Colonie, NY. Granted, this will not help you much if you don't live near me, but the idea is to get you to your own local library and check out all the wonderfulness they have there waiting for you. Pointing out the obvious here, but they have books, books on tape, DVDs and CDs that you can borrow. There are also magazines and computers you can use, and at least at my local library, they have classes you can take and groups you can join...oh how I miss knitting on Fridays with the ladies, sigh...(damn grown-up job!). And of course, they have wonderful librarians who can help you find what you need and in general tend to be really cool people. And the kicker people, the books, the help, the computers...FREE!!! Get your stuff in on time, and you pay nothing. Zero. Nada. Again, me with the Captain Obvious, but it is a point worth repeating.

So, the moral of this post is...go to the library. Get books. Read them. Bring them back, and be smarter for it!

And on a knitting note, did you know if you are running spell check, and have typed in the word "Cashmerino" as in Debbie Bliss Cashmnerino yarn, spell check tried to correct it to "cash." Coincidence? I think not.

Quickie!

I haven't downloaded the picture, but I do have a recipe to post for you. When I was supposed to go up to Middleburgh this weekend, I put a whole tank of gas in my car and made s'mores squares. Knowing the level of intoxication that was most likely to be present at the gathering, I figured it may be safer to make a rice crispy square style s'mores treat than have drunk boys trying to roast marshmallows. Here is the recipe:

1/4 cup margarine
1 bag marshmallows
1 bag chocolate chips
1 box Golden Grahams

Microwave margarine until it is melted, or just leave it on the counter in the summer - either way works. Dump the marshmallows in the bowl, toss to coat with melted margarine, microwave for 45 seconds then stir. Dump half the chocolate chips in, microwave for another 45 seconds, stir. Dump the rest of the chocolate chips in, microwave 20 seconds, stir.

Dump in the whole box of Golden Grahams in the bowl and stir until its all mixed together. Then, pour the mixture into a 13"x9" pan that has been lined with buttered tinfoil, butter your hands and use them to pat the mixture into as even a layer as possible. Wait 15 minutes, and then dig in! Supper tasty treats!

I am sure I am not the first person to come up with this recipe, but I mean you no copy write infringement if you are the one who has copyrighted it, it was just a clever idea I spontaneously had while shopping at le Tar-jay. Pictures of how fantastic and tasty this looks will be posted as soon as I download pictures onto the laptop again. Knitting content to follow also!

Whew!

What a weekend!!!

Friday, we had a massage school reunion (CNW Class as Fall'04!), and I got to see a lot of my old friends that I don't get the chance to see very often. I also got to introduce HNB to some of my friends for the first time. It went well - here is some photographic proof.


Me and my friend Alicia, the soon to be Chiropractor. She is much taller than me, and wore heels. I wore flat flips. Lets just say we were eyes to boobs, good times.Theses are my knitting girls, Kiva and Jeanne. We haven't gotten together to knit in quite some time, but plans were made to resume our Sunday evening ritual in the fall.Group shot!

It was wonderful seeing everyone, and I really enjoyed myself. Afterwards, HNB and I came home, and I let him read the blog! We were talking about it while we were out, and it just kind of came up. I let him read the last post, and I do believe he got a little chuckle out of it. As well he should have, because frankly, that was one funny post. He also apologized for telling me the computer had crabs. He's such a good HNB. He also found this picture as wonderful as I did. Two peas in a pod I tell 'ya what!



Saturday, I had a new massage client - you all know how happy that makes me. I was supposed to go up to Middleburgh for a little pool party with my Lawyer friend and her MB, but I was super pooped, and decided to just stay home and wait for HNB to get done work. He ended up coming over after work and I made him dinner (Stop laughing, it was pizza. It was good. Nobody was seriously injured.).

While waiting for HNB to get done work- brace yourself for actual knitting content! - I cast on for a baby hat. One of the girls at work is mucho preggers. I thought that even though we aren't that close, I would make her a little hat and bootie set, just to, you know, be knitterly. I wasn't even halfway through the cast on, and the phone rang. It was my best friend Erika, calling to tell me that after over ten years, and a lot of crap, her boyfriend had finally proposed!!!! (Happy Dance that my BFF is getting married - FINALLY!!! - and that she is leaning towards a destination wedding. Did somebody say vacation???). So I continued knitting the hat thinking what nice mojo to be putting into a baby hat.

Then, HNB came over and I made dinner, and while it was cooking I sat with him on the couch and worked on the hat (This was deadline knitting seeing as the hat really needed to be done by Monday). I realized that was the first time I knitted while he was here, more good mojo to put in the hat.

Today, we had a wonderful day. The dog let us sleep in late (almost till 9am!!), then, seeing as I had cooked the night before, and I have a quota of cooking no more than once a week I need to maintain, we went out to breakfast and had a lovely time. While at the diner, I smoked some really good crack and decided that I would go for a motorcycle ride with him. See kids, I am terrified of motorcycles, and the first thing I said after finding out he has one was that I was never going to get on it, so he shouldn't even ask.

And kind of in the same way I like to teach people to knit, you let someone be around the yarn, see how much fun you have with it, don't give them any pressure, and 99.87654% of the time, they will come to you and ask for you to teach them. Such was the way with the HNB and his motorcycle. We drove around Albany, through Washington Park and up the highway a little. I must admit, it was much funner than I though it would be, and I felt very safe with him. As soon as we pulled out of his driveway, I released my death grip on him, and realized that I really just needed to hold onto him with my knees and very lightly with my hands. It was super fun, except when we got off the bike and my arse felt like my arse has never felt before - it was difficult to describe, but slightly painful to experience. HNB laughed at me a little, seeing as we "weren't out for that long." I was so distracted by my tingling arse that I didn't even take a picture, but I assure you, it was good times and the back of my boyfriend's helmet is super sexy, lol!

The fun times continued well into the afternoon, when, for the first time, he invited me to go watch him play flag football. His team was in the championships and they had a late afternoon game instead of an early morning one. So I took the baby hat out into public and sat behind the end posts (not my most brilliant move because every time they had to kick a field goal, I had to get up out of my chair and pray they didn't swerve right with the kick). Then, it occurred to me.

This baby hat I was making for some girl I barely knew and never really talk to has a lot of wonderful personal mojo in it, and I don't want to give it away to her. It was started while my best friend talked about getting engaged, worked on as the first piece of knitting I did while HNB was over, and it was part of what may be to date the most wonderful day I had with HNB. Its not like I used some crazy expensive yarn (Peaches-n-Cream, baby!) or some insanely difficult pattern, but I realized sitting there watching HNB play football and thinking about the grand scheme of things, that my knitterly generosity had met its match.

This has never happened before. People talk about being a result oriented or process centered knitter, and I am definitely the former. I don't tend to get tied up in the outcome of my knitting; if I am making something for someone, when the item is finished it goes to them.

But not this time. Nope. Not so much.

This tiny little hat, made with dishrag cotton and about five hours of my time over what amounted to one of the best weekends I've had in quite a while is too special to just give away to some girl I barely even know. No, this little hat is going someplace safe, not necessarily for me to keep (because what do I need a baby hat for?? -- and trust me, the gauge is a little big and I tried it on, it doesn't fit me), but at least until I find someone more deserving of the mojo, with a head that it will fit.


Even though it doesn't fit my head, it looks pretty cool as modeled by my knee , right?? And with that being said, I am off to sleepy time - I'll polish up the spelling and post this bad boy tomorrow so my Lawyer Friend has something to read while she's at work tomorrow instead of, um, you know, lawyering ; )



Have a great week everyone, and I promise not to wait until Friday to post again!.

Crabs

This post is PG-13....if for some strange reason you are younger than that and are reading my blog, I don't know whats wrong with you - go outside and play already or something! And my dear goodness, why are your parents letting you read knitting blogs???

So, Captain Obvious is going to tell you something astute blog readers will already know:

#5 got crossed off the list

It isn't my intention to draw attention to this fact, nor for all of you single people out there am I trying to rub your nose in it and make you feel bad (I always used to feel that way about things of this nature when I was single, and I was single for a looooong time!). I bring this fact up so that we may have a discussion about the fact that while I feel perfectly safe and comfortable enough with HNB to consummate our relationship (in a safe and latex protected manner of course), I had a trifle of a meltdown over the fact that he "did some stuff" to my computer.

My computer is my baby. I love it. I spend a lot of time with it; granted it is a lot less time since HNB came onto the scene (Super Sorry Lawyer friend for the lack of blogging, but damn it if that boy hasn't totally screwed up my schedule. Tell your MB [short for Middleburgh Boy] to take mine out sometime and then maybe we can go to dinner, AND I can write a blog post for you!). Tangent. Back on track.

I have used this computer to start a business, write a novel, and meet more people on Internet dating sites than any person should have a right to. My email is here (all 5 accounts that I have). I have used this computer to build a website, a blog and find overwhelming quantities of knitting patterns I want to make (all of which are saved into my favorites). My pictures are here. This 7 pounds of wire and electronic and plastic tomfoolery is my home and my friend.

I may have mentioned, or then again maybe not because not so much with the blogging lately, but HNB = Super Smart Boy. Like freaky smart to the point where I feel a little less smart because he is so freakin' intelligent. For those of you who know me, I do pride myself on being a little bit of a smartypants, but this guy is like a smarty trousers. With a nice cuff and well pressed crease...point being, the boy is a nerd.

He started complaining recently that my computer is slow. I will admit that it is not the fastest thing going, but it is two years old and I got it for only $449 and there is an entire season of The Shield saved to my hard drive. All I expect is that my baby starts up in the morning, connects to my LAN, gives me my email and takes me to the magical tubes of the Internet. I don't care if I need to wait five minutes for it to warm up and get started - I turn it on, plug it in and take the dog for a walk, the system works as soon as you get on board with it. Trust me.

Well, after listening to him whine for two weeks about how slow my computer is and how annoyed he is getting with it, I gave in and told him he could fiddle faddle with it to see what he could do. I'm telling you that man's eyes lit up like it was Christmas morning - he got that "Man get to fix thing, man LIKE fix thing" look in his eyes, a sparkly little twinkle that said he was soooo looking forward to this.

Then, I, the computer's mommy, got a little knot in my stomach. Dude was totally going to screw up my computer! I was sure of it.

I yanked it (lovingly) away from him and told him I needed to check something. I pulled up one of my email accounts to make sure the latest version of the novel is there, safe and sound. And then I let him proceed. I sat there, wishing that I could drink a martini or twelve, and watched as his eyes got big and excited and his fingers trickled over my keyboard - then it hit me.

I was totally willing to let this guy have sex with me, but was completely unwilling to let him monkey around with my computer. What kind of sense does that make?

Worse thing that could happen with the computer is that I lose all of the information I have saved. Worse case scenario with the sex - lets not go there.

In the end, I sat there and just watched him, thinking in my head that I was a complete whack job and that this would all make a lovely blog post. As soon as he finished destroying my computer and I went any bought another one so that I could blog again. I must admit I feel like I am channeling Carrie Bradshaw with this one, and that kind of makes me want to vomit a little.

When all was said and done, he did find a virus (or three) on my computer, and he looked up at me with an evil smile and said "Babe, you have crabs." Because that is a statement that a girl wants to hear from her boyfriend. All the time. Seriously. Even if he is just referring to her computer.

I swear that I can tell no difference in the way the computer is working or how fast it starts up, because I still turn it on in the morning before I take Kendall out and it is ready to go when I come back in. I now have Mozilla Fire Fox instead of Internet Explorer, even though I don't know why, and the only difference I see is there is no "Refresh" button on my browser now and all of my favorites (which HNB so kindly imported for me) are all now called "bookmarks" and are listed alphabetically.

I guess that I am happy he "fixed" it for me, although, by his own account, it still isn't fast enough for him and is still pissing him off. I for one am just happy that neither my computer nor I have crabs. Seriously, who says that?! If there are any boys reading the blog, take note and put that on the list of things you will never say to a girl, for ANY reason - trust me, she doesn't want to hear it. Even if she is standing in the shallow water of Chesapeake Bay, with an actual crab (The kind you would eat) attached to her skin somewhere via those nasty crab claws - Girlfriend doesn't want to hear it. Seriously.

...Well its My Birthday Too!

And the birthday madness continues!

First, a moment of silence for the FinePix....

Thank you. It was a good camera and it served me well for over four years. I picked this little pretty up on Friday





Easier to take a picture of the camera box rather than the actual camera itself. I am rather happy with it, it takes wonderful pictures and is moron simple to use. Plus, it doesn't weigh eleventy five hundred pounds and is not the size of a Zack Morris cell phone. The very helpful sales boy at Staples asked me if I would need a new memory card to go with my new camera, and I told him that I already have one. He asked how big it was, and I said 64MB. He then proceeded to laugh at me in a slightly sarcastic tone. He then sold me a 1GB SD card and welcomed me into the 2000's...

Back to the birthday shenanigans. Here is a photo of all of my birthday cards.

Cute doggie cards - gotta love them! I wonder if I could get Kendall to hold a piece of watermelon in his mouth like that, hmm.....

Cute close up of my gift card to JoAnn's..how g-darn cute is this??

And it came with stickers!!!!



We have birthday sock yarn and new book,




This was one of the most wonderful birthdays I have ever had. HNB went to the kayak shop to get me "some accessory" for the kayak that I didn't have for my birthday, and quickly realized that when I go shopping, I get it all ; ) So, he got me this book, and told me that if he can't get a kayak this summer, he will see about borrowing his brother's canoe.

Then he proceeded to point out all the paddling spots that were close to his parent's house, his camp and where he grew up. Amy thought he was going to get me yarn, and for the last month has been reciting the following mantra "He is sooo getting you yarn for your birthday," but I think this -gasp!- made me even happier than if he did get me yarn. Lots of though went into this, and my oh my, I don't call him Handsome New Boy for nothing!

Oh, and this came for free with my new camera!


Yeah, it was a good week. And now, for what you have all been waiting for...pictures from the wedding. Sorry to disappoint you, but I am the type of person who always brings her camera with her, but never takes it out of her bag. HNB is also apparently the same way. I felt weird taking pictures at the wedding seeing as I met the bride and groom for the first time at the reception, and so, the new camera stayed safely tucked in my purse until we got home. You may notice I look a little sleepy, it was waaaaaay past my bedtime. But doesn't the shawl look lovely and the boy handsome? It was a wonderful night, a great end to a fantastic week.


And here I am making a valiant attempt to make it look like it is 3pm and not 3am as I make my poor drunk boyfriend take a picture of me so ya'll can see the shawl.

He did a pretty good job, seeing as I told him he could only take a picture from the waist up because it was 3am and I was not going to put my shoes back on. Speaking of putting shoes on, I have to go stuff my piggies in some Crocs and get myself to work! Yeah for Mondays! Peace out kiddies!

You Say It's Your Birthday...

This is what I walked into on Wednesday, big thanks to Amy, Lee, Michelle and Kristin for their cube decorating skills...

Little overwhelming, no?

This is a good picture of me, wearing my headset that is festooned with curly ribbon streamers and what amounts to a plastic ribbon sea anemone looking think on the side of my head which was meant to invoke the feel of an island flower. You can partially see how cute the new bangs look, and I am realizing that this may be the first time I have posted a picture of myself on here where you can actually see my face, so for those of you who don't know me, here I am!

This, while not a good picture of me, does show me sitting at my desk where you can (clearly) almost see the picture of Edward Norton that Amy cut out of a celebrity smut magazine and taped to my cube wall while I was on a particularly difficult phone call. My supervisor came over the other day and said, "Who is the guy on the surfboard? Is that your new boyfriend?" I could only stammer in my head, Hell yeah that's my new boyfriend, in my dreams!!!! because alas, while I may love me some Edward Norton, he may not, in fact, reciprocate those feelings, even if I do have a picture of him hanging at my desk. Sigh....

Sorry for the tangent, HNB and I are going to the wedding tonight, so there may be an actual picture of him up and on my desk before long. The wedding wrap got blocked, and it looks good. The FinePix has officially stopped focusing (as the munchkins would say, "Its not only merely dead, its really most sincerely dead"), and I am on my way to new camera shop today after I leave work early for the wedding. (By the way, who gets married on a Friday night, that just doesn't seem right to me - its like people who get married on a holiday, kinda rude).

All of these pictures were taken with Amy's camera, sent via the magic tubes of the Internet to my lovely laptop, and then saved and posted here. Gotsta love the technology! Suffice it say, there are more pictures of fantastic things that I would love to post for you, but I am unable to steal Amy's camera to bring it home to take pictures of them. God willing and the creek don't rise, new camera today, new pictures tomorrow.

I leave you today with the obligatory pictures of the birthday cake.

What are those round pink, yellow and purple things on the cake that look like squiggles you ask?

BALLS OF YARN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Amy, when ordering the cake had to argue quite profusely with the bakery to get them to do that, apparently the only decorations they feel should go on a birthday cake are balloons. Everyone I work with looked at me a little oddly as I said, "There's yarn on my cake!" in a happy voice. Think they thought there was actual yarn on my cake, which would not have been yummy to eat or good for the yarn. Too much fibre in your diet is a bad thing after all. Get it? Fibre/ Fiber....I crack me up!

All in all, it was a wonderful day, and thank you to all of you who were a part of it - you guys rock, and a girl couldn't ask for a better group of cube mates and friends!