Ok so recasting on the

Flowers on the Go bag the other day was a rather ambitious idea as it turns out. Just balling the last skein was a project in itself. New Years Resolution number 2: From now on I only buy yarn at places that ball the yarn for me ;)

I have a ball winder. It works fine and dandy. But the last three skeins of yarn I've tried to wind have ended up a tangled mess 2/3 of the way through. I would guess that this last skein of yarn took a good two hours for tow of us to wind.
how the heck it gets so tangled I know not. One moment everything is fine and the next there is 50 yards of wool in one giant knot.

So while I love my closest LYS because the owner is friendly and helpful when I need help and content to let me just wander and touch yarn when I don't, she doesn't ever offer to ball the yarn.

The adorable LYS in the next town over (love, love, love the location and the atmosphere of this store!) has friendly and helpful employees who ALWAYS offer to wind my yarn.

Even the employees at the single most unfriendly yarn shop I've ever been in wound my yarn for me the one and only time I shopped there.

I don't know, it just seems life (and knitting time) is too short to waste untangling wool ;)

New Year's Resolution

Yes, I know it's a little late. But still... My resolution this year is to get a family photo taken. Our last family photo was taken when the munchkin was probably 2. And that was just a shot we set up before Christmas in front of the old fireplace so really, it wasn't even a great picture. This year I want a real photo taken, and since you can't really beat the price it's not asking for a lot, is it?

It hit me last year when we were at Mt. Rushmore and someone offered to take a pic of the three of us (and cranky hubby said no, but that's another story) that we really needed to do this.

Of course, hubby and I have both put on some weight this last year (being out of work and sitting on one's arse eating chocolate tends to do that...) but oh well.

My other resolution is to knit more. I just need to make the time. I have some lovely stash yarns that are just begging to be used. Heck, I have some UFOs sitting in my knitting drawer. The Flowers on the Go bag needs to be frogged and the new skein of yarn balled so I can cast on again. I've socks on the needles. I've got Corntastic yarn begging to be knit into plain Jane socks for the kiddo. And my Brooks Farm Yarn is crying to be knit in to something fantastic. Not to mention my spiderweb shawl...

Oh yeah!

This year about 3 days before Christmas I smacked myself in the head as I realized I had forgotten our Christmas Kringle. Oh the heartbreak!

Well, last week I solved the problem and ordered my Kringles. Today they arrived, lovely and fresh. Raspberry is my hubby's favourite, and this year I tried the cherry cheese. YUM! I've also had the pecan, which was delicious as well. Happy happy happy!

Memories

So I was cleaning off the old computer tonight, trying to get anything salvageable off just in case we need to do a reformat. Some of my old recipes are in a Works database format that I can't access with the new computer, so I was printing some out and copying others into a readable format when I ran across a recipe I hadn't thought of in years. As a kid it was my favourite desert ever. It never had a name that I could recall, other than Grandma's Bars.

I swear, I am going to make some soon, even though I know no one else in my family will eat them. I'll take half in to work, lol. But I just have to have them!

It's a very simple recipe. Smooshed graham crackers, brown sugar, butter, and coconut are all mixed together and boiled, then spread over a layer of graham crackers and topped with more graham crackers. Then you frost the whole lot with frosting with a touch of lemon juice in it. Sounds so damned weird, but they are soooo good, lol.

And of course I found the old Christmas recipes. Recipes I haven't made the last few years because we haven't been doing the turkey and stuffing routine. See, I have a secret...

I go into my local grocery store and I order Christmas dinner ;) This year we had a lovely spiral cut ham, mashed potatoes and gravy, green bean casserole and a truly tasteless apple pie. Everything but the pie was delicious. We ate every last bit of the ham, making ham and bean soup with the leftovers. And the only dishes I had were the pan from heating the ham and the plates we ate on. Brilliant! No one spent the day in the kitchen and we had an amazing meal.

Tonight I am using up the massive container of dates that I bought because I hadn't had dates in years and had to have them (yeah, I do that a lot) by making date bread. It's a new recipe, hopefully it will be good.

Anyhoo, better go check the bread. Catch y'all next year!

Edited to add: Bread was not so good. I love allrecipes.com most of the time, but occasionally no matter how good the ratings are on a recipe they turn out to be stinkers. :(

Post Christmas Consumerism

Apparently the new Black Friday is the day after Christmas now with stores offering deep discounts to after Christmas shoppers.

Me, I'm not really planning on taking advantage of any of these sales. But my dear big brother sent me some money for Christmas and I plan on hitting the yarn shop. I originally started knitting the free smaller size version of this pattern. I was quickly distressed by how small everything seemed. I mean I was using the shortest circular needle I could get and I couldn't join my stitches, even following the hint to use two needles together for the cast on. So I switched to DPNs and it still seems very small. And it's supposed to be felted...

The whole thing is tucked away in a Ziplock bag where I glance at it now and then and shake my head, lol. I think I decided a while ago that it was never going to be completed in its current state. So thanks to my brother I can go buy the full sized pattern and more yarn. I'm not worried about matching dyelots, since I am working with two strands held together. I'll just hold one of each dyelot and it will all be good ;)

And now that the weather is cold again I am thinking of picking up my needles and starting my socks again. I actually wore my wool socks the other day and loved them. This next pair is going to be a normal sock though, instead of just the footie socks. My ankles get cold lately, lol.

I've also promised the kiddo we could scrapbook tomorrow. We got my mom a digital picture frame for Christmas, so scrapping for her isn't such a big thing, but Nanny and Granddad haven't gotten a page in over a year. And we've a new scrapbook just waiting for them. (It was actually supposed to go home with Uncle Andrew last Christmas, lol).

Anyway, have a lovely Boxing Day ;)

Happy

Christmas y'all! Hope it's been a lovely one for everyone!

Exploding muppets

My daughter has a couple of eyelash scarves that I knit (my first knitting projects actually). One is adult length because it was originally knit for someone other than my munchkin. That is of course the one she chose to wear to school last week when the temps were below zero.

So long story short, she was carrying it home one day and her hands were full and it was dragging and sploosh! Right through a muddy puddle. Hubby washed it yesterday. It's acrylic. It's machine washable, right? Lol. All the clothes in that load look like an orange muppet exploded on them. We will be picking orange strands off of things for a while. Luckily the black pants I wear to work escaped with only two strands that were quickly picked off.

Baby it's cold outside!

On Saturday the temp was in the 50s. On Sunday the snow was falling and the temp had dropped to 3 degrees. Yesterday it was -15 when the kiddo went to school. Brrrr. Today looks a bit better. We actually have a chance to get above freezing, lol.

It could be worse though. I talked to some WoW guildies that live in Canada. Temps are 30 below in places there (an apparently in some places in Montana too). Yikes!

We didn't let the cold keep us home though. Hubby and I went out and did what I hope is the last of our Christmas shopping. Gifts are in the mail to my mother. Cards will soon be in the mail to those that I could be bothered to send them too, lol. And last night was the dear daughter's Christmas show at the school. So we all trekked out to that.

We certainly didn't stay outside any longer than we needed to, that's for sure.

Anyhoo, I'm off to get dressed for work. See yas!

Tribute

Y'all might not know this, but I love pin up art. I especially love art by Olivia, and particularly those she's done of Bettie Page. So I was dreadfully saddened to hear that Bettie Page passed away today.

So here's my little tribute to Ms. Page, the quintessential pin up girl. (I almost feel this is too modest to do Ms. Page justice, my favourite pic ever is this one followed closely by this one).

Mellow Black Friday

Every year I dread the day after Thanksgiving. Shoppers are crazy that day, as evidenced by this and this. So working on Black Friday sends a chill down my spine.

Last year I worked in a mall that decided opening at midnight would be a great idea (this year the mall opened at 11 pm on Thanksgiving night for crying out loud!), so we had to spread out our employees kind of thin throughout the time period. Which really wasn't a good thing, since we were also going out of business at the time and everything in the store was on sale so things were nuts.

This year I work for a company that's a little different. We opened at 6 am, so I did have to be there by 5:30 but that's not terrible. Yes we had a line. Yes we were busy. But things ran so smoothly that by 7:30 am I was able to break out without anyone freaking out. (Last year was, "break? What break? Lunch? We've got goodies on the counter, graze!").

And luckily for us, we've got really nice patient and polite customers :) Lines moved steadily and no one seemed to mind. But boy am I glad another Black Friday is behind me :)

Best WoW commercial... EVER!

*Grin*



I love Ozzy, lol.

Wool!

I bought some lovely green wool yesterday so I can start knitting today. Of course, I bought the wrong size circular (I don't know what I was thinking buying the longest cable length, lol) so I shall have to exchange that this morning.

And for once I actually dread going into a craft store. Why? Because JoAnn's has cinnamon scented pine cones at the front door that stink the entire store up. It's absolutely overwhelming. I don't mind the smell, in smaller amounts but this is just awful. It's no wonder they are in the entryway rather than the main store, the employees would keel over, lol.

Anyhoo. Gotta go run herd on the munchkin. See yas!

Not Knitting

*Sigh* I haven't picked up my knitting in days. I'm bored with it, lol. There is a reason many people keep more than one project on the go at a time and I've found it. It's funny, because I cast on for Cherry Bomb because it was so simple, but I have to say the straight stockinette is boring me to tears. Yes I can knit and watch TV at the same time without any thought, but blah. Not to mention the fact that we're hardly in tank top weather now, eh?

I do want to go to my LYS on my next day off. I've seen a pattern (Flowers on the Go) that I liked and need to buy some wool for it. I'm falling back on the old felting fun ;) I need a new purse, my poor little Sophie is looking a bit worn.

Ohhh, WoW is me...

Ass in, woe is me. WoW was to do their normal Tuesday maintenance today, be back up by noon our time. Ummm. Now it is 8 hours later and they are still not up. Of course, I had today off work and thought that between this afternoon and tomorrow afternoon when I have to go to work I'd be able to make a big push toward level 70 with my Alliance druid, Morticia. I hit 69 with her yesterday. Not bad, from level 62 to 69 in less than a week. I jokingly said to my hubby last week that we had seven days to get seven levels and we've nearly done it. Now if WoW would just cooperate. *Sigh*

Remembrance Day

The 11th hour, of the 11th day of the 11th month. Today is Veteran's Day, or Remembrance Day as it is known most of the rest of the world. Whether you support war or you don't, remember that our military folks are just doing their jobs and give them a pat on the back. And maybe at 11 am today, where ever you are, stop and take a few minutes to remember all those that have died serving our country.

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.
— Lt.-Col. John McCrae

Go and

VOTE!!!

Roflmao

So I got home from work tonight to find a box sitting on my chair. It was from the Beverage Gourmet. The company I ordered my Pumpkin Pie Sauce from. I was amazed that it had arrived so quickly, as it only shipped yesterday. I actually ordered through amazon.com. So when I found an actual web address for the B.G. on the invoice I went there, they had to be close since it shipped so fast.

Umm. They're just a few streets down from us, lol. I about died when I saw they were local. I paid them ten bucks to ship my sauce, hahaha.

So we are having 'puter issues, AGAIN. So the new 'puter goes off to work manana, where my boss said he'd have a look at it. Yay, my boss is a brilliant tech. And he's a sweetie to look at the stupid thing for no charge. I'm so glad he likes me, lol (all the managers do apparently, since I got employee of the month last month, lol. Never got my 3 month review, but I figure that means I'm doing something right).

Strangely enough (and I am almost afraid to say it for fear I will jinx things...) the old 'puter seems to be behaving quite properly at the moment. So... *Knock wood*

Anyhoo, I think I am going to call it a night. We are all off tomorrow, so I may actually get to sleep in a bit. Yeah right. I almost always wake up at the ass crack of dawn, lol. The good news is, come Sunday, 5:30 am comes an hour later, and wouldn't it be nice if my body decided that that was ok and continued on like normal? Lol. That sounds ever so convoluted, but you know what I mean. Or maybe not, but oh well *grin*

For crying out loud

I'm getting absolutely fed up lately with WoW. It's up and down more often than a fiddler's elbow. Tuesday it was down from before I woke up until at least 1 pm. Then there have been the rolling restarts, which normally only takes it down for a few minutes at a time, but always in the morning, which I'm sure is their low traffic time, but it's my prime playing time, lol. And now this morning they are having a "brief maintenance" that should only last about 3 hours.

I realize they just put out a huge content patch and that's why all the issues but I also find it absolutely amazing that they would release something so blasted buggy! And just think, in about two weeks we get to go through this again with the expansion. Yay.

Really my biggest annoyance is I pay a monthly fee to be able to play this bloody game. When it's down, I can't play. Where's my recompense? Okay, to be fair there is a post on the message boards about giving us credit for time lost, but no one is saying how much at the moment. *Grumble*

So anyhoo. I ordered me some Pumpkin Spice Sauce for my coffee. Yum. I've decided that I adore Starbuck's Pumpkin Spice lattes and since I can't go there all the time, I'll make my own, lol.

Okay, gotta go find a pic of Snoopy rising from the pumpkin patch so I can carve my pumpkin this evening. See yas all later!

Jeez

Where does the time go? And I've had so much more of it lately too (I just had three days off, you'd think there would have been some productive time in there, wouldn't you?).

And yet all I've really done is read a little and WoW a lot. I actually hit saturation point yesterday afternoon though. I logged out in the middle of a very frustrating battleground and only went back in occasionally to Trick or Treat, lol.

Saturday was actually a lovely family day. We headed for the zoo. Boo at the Zoo to be exact. The kiddo wore her costume and trick or treated whilst we enjoyed the animals. It was a madhouse. Sooo many people, sooo many kids, lol. Note to parents: If you plan to take your babies and young toddlers, maybe waiting until after their nap would be a good idea rather than instead of a nap? I saw so many tired and cranky kids and surely that's not what the day was meant to be.

Mind you, my kiddo actually fell asleep on the way home, and hubby and I would have liked to have napped as well, haha.

Anyway, it's back to work for me today so I had best go get ready. See ya all later!

And now for something completely different....

I don't usually use this space as a political forum. But with less than three weeks from the election I feel as though I must speak my mind.

First, I feel strongly that it is every American over 18's duty to go out and vote. If you don't vote, don't you dare come back to me and start bitching about the government, our economy, the war, whatever. Don't tell me you don't have time, or you can't get to the polls. Most states have mail in ballots available to everyone now, especially to those who won't be home to vote (The state of Colorado offers a mail-in ballot to everyone. They also offer early voting to those who can't vote on election day. Early voting begins Oct. 20th. I will be making my vote count Monday).

But most importantly I feel the need to urge everyone in Colorado who values choice to vote NO on Amendment 48. Amendment 48 proposes amending the Colorado Constitution to:
* define the term "person" to "include any human being from the moment of fertilization"; and
* apply this definition of person to the sections of the Colorado Constitution that protect the natural and essential rights of persons, allow open access to courts for every person, and ensure that no person has his or her life, liberty, or property taken away without due process of law.

What all this legal speak means for women is that a fertilized egg is a person. Therefore any form of abortion would be illegal. There is no out for the other person involved (the mother) in the case of medical emergency.

But the biggest issue I have with this amendment is that it would make many birth control forms illegal!

You all have a right to your opinion on abortion (though I do ask you to keep it to yourself here, thank you), but NO ONE has the right to tell anyone that they can not take reasonable steps to prevent an unwanted pregnancy! No one should be forced into parenthood. No child should be made to endure being unwanted.

Amendment 48 is intolerable. It's also unconstitutional and will result in an expensive, drawn out, legal battle that will cost the taxpayer.

VOTE NO ON AMENDMENT 48!