Because it's that time of the year again ;)

I have to post it. Click Read More to see my favorite birthday scene, lol.

Honestly!

If you look at all the stuff out there about food and food borne illness, you'd never eat again! I've been trying to lay off the prepackaged frozen dinners for lunch and instead eat sliced turkey, tomatoes, lettuce and fruit. Strawberries made the most contaminated list, from pesticides, and now cold cuts and lettuce are on the list of dirtiest foods.

Frankly, I am getting tired of all these scare-people-to-death articles. Everyone is too worried about everything,and the media just makes it worse.

I rode around in a car as a kid without a seat belt (Not that I advocate not wearing a seat belt, I had a friend get thrown from a vehicle because he wasn't wearing his seat belt and get crushed to death. A seat belt would likely have saved his life. I ALWAYS wear my seat belt now and insist that everyone in my vehicle do so or my vehicle doesn't move. But I digress...)

I survived riding my bike without a helmet. (But yes, I make my kiddo wear hers, why take chances, lol)

I survived a game of tag on the playground, along with the swings and everything else. That schools are taking away swing sets on the playgrounds and not allowing kids to play tag, not allowing kids to be kids, that's just sick and wrong.

I survived unwashed fruits and veggies as a kid, (in the time of DDT even!) and under cooked meats. My father used to mix up the hamburger patties and then eat bits RAW for crying out loud.

We didn't have anti-bacterial soap. And you know what? We didn't die! Our bodies made antibodies.

But most important, we went to the doctor and we got our immunizations. And polio, measles and mumps went the way of the dinosaur. Until recently, when the scare-em-to-death reports started linking (erroneously, as it has now been proven that the studies were falsified!) immunizations to autism. Or parents got complacent. I have a co-worker who insists her kid doesn't need immunizations because when was the last time someone got the chicken pox?? And he's only around his cousins, not other people so he's not exposed to anything. Ummm. You leave the house, right? Yeah, you are super over-protective of your kid in every other way, but you can't protect him from germs...

Sigh. Stepping down from my soapbox and going to go get ready for work.

No new picture but...

My first square is coming along nicely, I'm about 16 rows from calling it done. I mentioned to my daughter that I only had "70 more squares to go" and I thought my hubby was going to have a heart attack! The idea of me knitting 70 more pairs of socks just about sent him over the edge, lol. But 70 was a bit of an exaggeration, as there are only 36 squares. Still, the idea of that many more pairs of socks is a bit much for him to handle. But I think I can get 2 squares per remainder ball, and I have 3 pairs of socks completed, one on the go and another sock kit ready to go whenever. So that could be 10 squares right there ;) Only 13 more to go after that, lol.

And I already know which yarn I would like next, well, which yarns I would like next as I love several Blue Moon colorways ;) Pepe le Plume, Puck's Mischief, & the Incredible Shrinking Violet to start! Apparently, I am into purples now ;)

Barn Raising Project

Started my first square this morning. This could be a fairly quick project if I actually had more yarn, lol. The square pattern is easy and quick (once I got used to fumbling around with 5 needles and 12 stitches!)

Wonderfully woolly!

We went up to Estes today for the Wool Market. This year the weather was most cooperative and it was not too hot, not too cold and definitely no rain or snow! The kiddo and I had fun walking through the vendor barn (or the Yarn Barn, as I like to call it). I bought a lovely sock kit with hand dyed yarn, and nearly bought another ball of sock yarn, but they didn't take plastic. It was a booth for a large somewhat local store though, so the kiddo and I will likely be taking a trip to Shuttles, Spindles & Skeins soon ;)

The lamb booth didn't have any ground lamb this year, so that was a disappointment, but the cinnamon almond vendor was there as always, this year I bought the biggest bag he had (the kiddo ate all of my small bag on the way home last year! I was livid, my once a year treat, gone, waaaaaaaaaaaaa. Not this year, lol).

There weren't nearly the number of llamas and alpacas this year as there have been previous years, due to the equine herpes outbreak we had late last month.

But we did meet some famous names!

For instance, here we have Barak O. Llama!

And we can't forget country sensation Toby Keith! Well, the goat version anyway! And he certainly lives in the country ;)

Sock Yarn and stuff

I prefer shorter ankle socks to regular calf length, which means when I knit, I have extra yarn leftover. So I was wandering around the web and I found a blanket that is made from sock yarn. So I think I am going to take my extra yarn and start knitting squares for the Barn-Raising Quilt. If anyone feels like donating left over yarn give me a shout ;)

But first, tomorrow is our day at the Estes Park Wool Market, woot! Looking forward to the yarn barn. Last year I actually managed to get out without buying anything but some ground lamb, but this year... I do want to wander around downtown Estes too, it's been years since I've walked along Elkhorn! (We moved from Estes over 11 years ago, and I'm pretty sure it had been a few years before that!)

Then on Sunday I'm going bowling with the gang from work. It will be interesting to see how things sort themselves out between the children... Sadly, there's one kid going that no one really wants around, though she has latched on to another co-worker, convinced T's her new BFF, when really T just wants her to shut up, just like everyone else. I soooo hope she finds a new job soon, because I think once she goes, a lot of the childish behavior goes with her and morale will go back up.

Back to Junior High

*Sigh* For months now I have felt like I'm in high school again, thanks to all the bickering at work. We have a group of kids that just cannot get along. All of them are legally adults, but none of them are grown up!

So let me share with you my rules for the workplace:
1. Never, EVER, date someone you work with.
2. Never, EVER, date someone you work with, who is involved with someone else you work with!
3. You may not like someone, but guess what? You frequently have to work with people you don't like. Pull up your big girl (or boy) panties and deal with it like the adult you are supposed to be.
4. Leave me out of it. I don't want to get caught in the middle when you complain about each other. I'm old enough to be your mother, but I don't want to be. I'm not your BFF either. Nor am I your confessional.

Just... Stuff

Yesterday was a gorgeous day. By noon it was 85 and I decided it was time to hit the pool. We spent a few hours over there and then the sun got to be to much for me and we came home, changed and ran to the grocery store for a few odds and ends that I had missed on Friday. After that the heat and sun had me pooped, so I took a nap, lol.

I read for a while yesterday evening. I'm back in that rut where it doesn't seem to matter what I grab, it just doesn't hold my interest. I've been reading the Grace and Favor mysteries by Jill Churchill. Good books, I just can't seem to settle.

And I got the "last" book in the Clan of the Cave Bear series. I'd always thought Shelters of Stone was the last. And frankly, maybe it should have been (actually, Plains of Passage should have been the last, 'cause the 12 years we waited for SoS weren't worth it!). From what I have managed to read so far, Ayla is the biggest MarySue evah! And it's making me crazy. I'm not sure if I can make it to the end of this one...

Beautiful morning

I love spring mornings! Nice and cool, but comfortable. They are the best time to sit outside on my deck and listen to the birds and frogs sing. The pelicans are just starting to move around on the lake, searching for breakfast. Soon there will be babies in the osprey nest to watch as well. The sound of the redwing blackbird's call brings back so many childhood memories, good times spent at the pool while the parents played golf.

If I could drag my preteen out of bed I'd make her go with for a walk around the lake. I'm thinking I need to ban her current book of choice from the bedroom at night because I am pretty sure she is staying up to read. Yes, it's summer and there's no school, but she was awake at midnight when her dad came home for "lunch" the other night and when I woke up at 2:45 am that night I noticed a light on and found her wide awake and reading. No wonder she doesn't want to get out of bed at 9:30 am! Unfortunately for her, today is my day off, which means it's errand day. First stop, the bra shop, since my favorite (most comfortable) bra got eaten in the washing machine last night!

And now for something completely different...

The Estes Wool Market is only a week away! Yay!!!!

Minding my own business

I was walking up the sidewalk to the house, just minding my own business, and kind of spacing out after a long first day back from vacation. As I am walking my brain kind of registers that something is different about the sidewalk, so I stopped to take a look. There, just a few feet in front of me, was the biggest damned snake I've seen outside of a zoo!

Needless to say, I took a few quick steps back. The snake was stretched out across the sidewalk and not moving. No rattle, so I knew it was probably just a rat snake or something (the only venomous snakes we have in Colorado are rattlers), but I still wasn't getting any closer to it.

I pulled out my cell phone and called my hubby, just in case they should look out the door and wonder why the hell I was just standing outside, lol. By that point the snake was slowly moving off the path in to the rocks and shrubbery. Conveniently, hubby could see the thing from upstairs, so he told me I could walk past it without upsetting it. Now the kiddo was standing on the deck, and they were both watching it while I quickly scooted past it.

That will teach me to zone out on my way home! Poor snake, I almost stepped on you! Poor me, nearly had a heart attack when I realized it *grin*