So apparently

I live under a rock. Because I'd never seen this before:


I laughed so hard I. My hubby and daughter were like, "what the heck??" So I had to show them, and I was still laughing. I literally was laughing so hard I couldn't talk, lol. There was just something about the mother panda's reaction that tickled me!

I'd never seen this video either, and it's one of the most watched videos on YouTube EVAH!

Sheesh, I gotta crawl outta my cave a little more often...

*Snicker*

I totally take where I live for granted. But not in the way most of you are thinking I mean. For 10 years I lived in a small mountain town that rolled up the sidewalks at 11 PM in the summer and 8 PM in the winter. Groceries are much higher priced there than in stores down in "the valley" and forget the cost of gasoline! There is no Wal-mart, Target or K-mart. No running to the store in the middle of the night when you run out of diapers or formula or just want ice cream.

So on our days off, we would climb in the car and spend the day in the valley. It was a 45 minute drive down the canyon in good weather, on a winding mountain road. Back UP the canyon could take much longer, depending on the season. (Summer tourists + windy roads = slooooooow moving.

When we first moved to Colorado, the only discount store in the closest city was Kmart. If we wanted anything else we drove another 15- 20 minutes to the nearby college town that has everything.

For 4 years I commuted to that college, many semesters 5 days a week.

Even now that I live in the valley, I still drive to the next town over at least once a week, even though we now have much more than just a Kmart. For me, to drive 20 minutes to go to the library or grab dinner is nothing.

So when my mother (who sparked this whole post this afternoon on the phone, haha) says, "I took the printer back to the store. I had to go all the way to Davenport," I have to roll my eyes and laugh, because all the way to Davenport takes 10 minutes even if it's way the hell on the other end of town. And then I strolled over to Roggey's a few minutes ago (sorry Roggey, but really?? Hahaha.) and saw that she likened driving to JoAnn's in Davenport with driving to Montana I again rolled my eyes.

Because though my hometown may feel like a small town, it's a nice-sized city that shares two main streets with the next really good-sized city. And the area isn't called the Quad-Cities for nothing! My mom has never had to drive more than 10 minutes to get anywhere, to get anything, even in what she calls traffic (my cousin from Seattle is the one who rolls her eyes over that one, lol). Hell, I road my bike everywhere when I was a kid, to the library for books, the 5 and 10 for books (yes, there's a theme there...) and even out to the farm where my horse was pastured, because ain't anything far away there! ;)

So I guess I take where I live for granted. I know I have to drive 20 minutes to get my books at the library (to be fair, we do have a great library in town, but the nearby library has a free book delivery program that will get me just about any book I want from libraries all over the state, my local library does not) and yarn from my LYS (my really LYS closed, waaaa). I am still willing to drive 45 minutes to see my GYN in my old town, because he's awesome. Driving, even with these ridiculously high gas prices, just isn't a BFD (gas is still cheaper than supporting my book habit any other way and if I'm there for books, why not go a little farther and pet yarn?!).

On the other hand, I live 2 minutes from work, Target and JoAnn's and at least 10 restaurants, and only 5 minutes from Super Walmart and a mall with even more restaurants, so the rest of the time, I really don't drive far at all!

PS. On the foot of girly sock #2, woo hoo!

Girly Sock #1

Complete! Time to cast on for sock #2. Woot!

Bits of this and that

The kiddo is sick, which is no fun for her. I had to go pick her up from school Tuesday, but Wednesday she seemed fine. Then she developed a wicked cough. So home she stayed yesterday and today she will stay home as well, since she was up and down all night last night. Lucky for me, it was hubby's night off, so he was here and awake to take care of her.

Better news is that her sock a) fits and b) seems to be going well. I am past the gussets and have maybe an inch to go before I start the toe. Woo hoo!

My plan this weekend is to go buy some jump rings or toggle clasps and redo all my stitch markers. I made my own a few years back, but the loops of wire just get squished and frankly they are a bit bulky for sock knitting. So I want to get some small rings and only attach a few beads like this. I looked at buying some, there are some adorable ones out there, but most seem awfully large for sock knitting (Ring-wise. I need small rings, not rings that fit a size 10 needle, lol). And frankly, for the price I pay to buy and ship them, I can make a ton of my own! I already have beads, and the rings and head pins are pretty damned cheap. Although I may have to look at new beads anyway ;)

But ummm, my point is, I really need stitch markers :)~ I tend to ladder if I don't move my stitches around, so my stitches travel from one needle to the next, so I really need markers to let me know especially where the top of the foot is so I can knit in pattern. Plus, it will be nice to be able to stick the correct stitches back on the correct needles before I start decreasing for the toe!

Anyhoo, going to go knit for a bit before I go to work. Ciao!

The kiddo's socks

I am working on the gussets on sock #1. It's going so well I am a little scared, lol. But I have my lifeline, so I think it's all ok for the moment ;) DD loves they way it is striping. Narrow stripes on the cuff, a bit thicker on the heel flap, even thicker as the heel turns and now back to narrow around the foot.

Done and Done!

Update

I've got about 2 inches to go before I start decreasing for the toes. I was derailed by work yesterday, didn't even get a chance for lunch, let alone a chance to knit. And today doesn't look any better, since we have bigwigs coming this afternoon.

Insomnia

I have insomnia. So this article caught my attention, 5 foods that help you sleep: cherries, oatmeal, toast and warm milk (bananas is the last food, but I don't really care for bananas unless they are in daiquiri form or accompanying ice cream, lol).

Cherries have melatonin, which is something I take as a supplement regularly. That helps me get to sleep. But I wake up frequently through out the night. I am lucky in that I generally can get back to sleep in a short amount of time, but it's not really restful.

After my daughter was born, I took a sleep aid / anti-depressant. That was brilliant, because it helped on both fronts, it helped with my post-partum depression and it helped me sleep. When I couldn't sleep, it of course amplified the depression. I quit taking that when I lost my medical insurance and didn't feel the need to go back on it when I got new insurance. But I surely do miss the sleep aid part!

Turned the heel

Whew! Got the heel done, after much angst. It's not like it's really all that difficult, I just can't count, lol. And idiot that I am, I said last night as I put my knitting away, that I needed to put in a new lifeline before I went any further. So what did I do this morning? Just started knitting and somehow managed to screw up the turning of the heel. My last lifeline was before the heel flap.

But the heel is turned, a new lifeline is set and I am on the home stretch!

Now if I could just get the kiddo to finish cleaning out her toy box. She only started 2 hours ago and now there are piles of junk all over my living room: keep, toss, donate. The toss and donate pile are much larger than the keep pile, which is good, but I want all the piles gone, lol.

My goal is

to finish my second sock today. I have to. Because I slipped and landed in a pile of sock yarn at the LYS this morning. Only one skein demanded to come home with me, but it's soooooooooooo pretty (It's Lorna's Laces Girly Stripe Sock) and I keep hearing it call my name...

We won't mention the 10 year old girl that keeps petting it and giving me puppy dog looks, since this pair is for her ;)

Quiet day to myself

I took today off, since it's our anniversary and lately I've been working close shifts on Mondays. I just didn't want to do that tonight!

So the kiddo is at school, the hubby is sleeping and I am enjoying the quiet. In a little bit I will go get showered and dressed and head out to Sam's and the grocery store. I need to pick up some things to make hubby a birthday cake. As usual he gets a chocolate raspberry cake with chocolate ganache topping instead of frosting. Yum! And soooo easy to make, if a bit messy because of the ganache, lol.

I guess I have dawdled long enough, since the coffee is gone and I've just spent the last 30 minutes surfing the web, lol. Chocolate cake lead to a search for the recipe to link to, that lead to the library, which went to Amazon next, then from there to the Signature needle site, lol.

Valentines

Monday is a BIG day in our house. Valentine's Day always is around here. But this year is especially big, because it is our 20th wedding anniversary. (And hubby's birthday too, but who's counting those anymore, lol).

We don't have any big plans. Neither one of us cares for crowds and long waits on the day, so we go out on another night to celebrate. But we both arranged to have the day/night off work, so at least we can spend the time together :)

I love you, honey :)

Socks! (Again, lol)

I am about to the toe decreases on Sock 1. Sock 2 has been cast on and the cuff will begin soon :) Yay!

Disappointment

I think one of my favourite chain restaurants has changed their recipes whilst I wasn't looking. One night after we had just moved here I decided the restaurant was close and I wanted Italian Nachos. So I brought some home and settled down happily to eat them. Hmmm. They just weren't as good as I remembered them being.

And recently I decided I really, really wanted their Spicy Shrimp & Chicken and I didn't want to cook it (We got the recipe a few years ago from the guy who created it!). It's one of my favourite meals EVAH! And again I was disappointed. It didn't have the kick I remembered, and it was almost dry, way too little alfredo sauce.

Now maybe it's because we make our own, and we probably add a bit more spice than they do. Maybe I am just used to our version now. But I honestly think they changed their alfredo, and they certainly aren't as generous with it now as they used to be. I will give them this, there was quite a bit of shrimp and chicken in the meal, BUT we used to buy their family platter and have meals for two days. Like everyone else, they have cut back on their portions. That was a bit disappointing as well, because I had hoped to have leftovers for lunch the next day.

Ah well. Now I know. Just buy the ingredients and make it myself ;)

In happier news, I bought my mom a new HP printer yesterday. After the $50 trade in I got for my old printer, the $50 instant savings and the $83 Rewards check I had, it cost me the big $17 and I got free shipping directly to my mother. But the bestest thing: thanks to training with HP I'm going to get $100 rebate! So my mom is happy, and I am even happier, lol.

Anyhoo, better get moving and get ready for work. Ciao!

Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!

They canceled school today due to dangerously cold temps. It's -8 F by my thermometer with windchills down to about -20 to -30!

Can we cancel work too? Please? ;)

Ladies

Do you wash your bras every time you wear them? Or do you wear them once or twice first? And how many bras do you own? My daughter just came to me and informed me she needs new bras.

First, she's 10, so she can get away with an undershirt, of which I know she has plenty. Second, she just got two bras for Christmas. Third, she's a couch potato when she's at home right now (though during the summer she's more active.)

I have 2 bras that are really comfy, and two others that I will wear if need be. In the summer I tend to wash them after every wearing, purely because it's summer, I work around machines that put out a lot of heat and I sweat. Yuck. But when it's cooler and I'm not as sweaty, I don't wash my bras every time I wear them. And I have heard so many different things about bra care. Some places say not to wash them every time you wear them (but never wear the same bra twice in a row, let it "relax" between wearings, lol) other places say wash every time. And they all say hand washing is best.

I say who the hell has time to hand wash undergarments every bloody day?? My two good bras go in the wash and hang dry. The other two go in the washer and dryer.

So how many bras do you have, and how do you care for them?

Socks!

I put aside the mitten today, purely because the sock is much more portable. But the sock has changed. I abandoned the Monkey Sock and I'm now knitting a simple p1, k3 rib. When I get done with the leg I'll do the Harlot's heel and foot. The simple rib gives me a little more interest but it's easy enough it doesn't take all of my concentration ;) And honestly, if I stick with Monkey right now I will never finish another pair of socks, lol.

I'll have to get back to the mittens, but I'm just not up to dragging 5 balls of yarn around with me.

The kiddo took part in the local spelling bee today. Hence the need for something to knit, while waiting for her to do the written test. I started my own little knitting corner in the school library! One lady was knitting a teddy bear, another a scarf. While I was working on my sock two guys behind me were chatting. After a while one guys says to me, "After seeing you, I now have more appreciation for my socks." Lol. And as we filed out of the library to go find our kids and wait for them to check their written tests, a lady asks what I was knitting. I told her and she smiled and said, "That's so cool!" So I was cool for a little bit today, hahahaha.

The kiddo didn't make it to the oral round, but I'm pretty darned proud of her anyway!

Um....

Yay, it's Wednesday! Only two more days to go 'til the weekend! Even if I have to get up super early Friday to take the kiddo to school so she can go on her class ski trip. I don't actually have to be to work 'til noon, so I think I will go home and go back to bed.

So. The mittens. Umm. Still pretty much part of one cuff, although I am almost to the end of the cuff. I just haven't been knitting much. Maybe I will knit on the mittens tonight, the cold just came back with a vengeance today and it was snowing again. I need some pretty mittens to keep my hands warm, lol.

I haven't let myself become distracted by a Baby Jiffy Knit Sweater yet though. Mostly because I am distracted by everything else. I have the attention span of a gnat these days...

Same old stuff,

different year!

My goal this year is to actually finish my mittens. Preferably while I can still wear them.

But I keep getting distracted. The last several nights I've played WoW with the hubby, and now I am contemplating trying the Jiffy Knit Sweater again, and just adding some stitches and length so it will fit the not so Baby Tess :) Her daddy is a weasel and her momma is going through a rough time right now (thanks to said weasel) so she needs something new and pretty and hand knitted :)

Book-wise I am in a drought. There just isn't a lot that is on my wishlist right now. Apparently all of my favorite authors publish at the same time of the year! I do have a few books waiting at the library, a second series by a regular author that I've never read (still working my way through his first series!) and I am re-reading all of the In Death books by JD Robb (Nora Roberts).

Worst December in ages!

Please don't let this be a precursor to the rest of this winter. I've already had two stomach bugs and a horrible cold that kicked my butt for nearly a week. Frankly, the last 24 hours have been utterly dismal, as I woke up around 2 AM yesterday, sick as a dog. I would start to feel a bit better after some sleep and then it would come roaring back. I called in sick yesterday, and until about 2 AM this morning I was thinking I might have to call in again. I absolutely HATE being physically sick like that.

Still feeling a bit off, but the worst of the symptoms have passed, so I had better go get in the shower and ready for work.