Monday, August 31, 2009

Music Monday

This one's for you, Kate. You were a good dog.

Saturday, August 29, 2009

Goodbye Old Girl

When you bring a puppy into your home, you know that dogs don't live as long as humans. Somewhere in the back of your mind, you know that one day you'll have to face losing that puppy.

But you don't have to think about that yet. That's a long way away. Right now she's just a cute little puppy, with soft little puppy fur and sharp little puppy teeth. She'll make a good companion for your little diaper wearing, pappy sucking baby.

Time goes by. The boy grows up. The puppy becomes a dog.

She's a part of the family. She's always there for you.

At Christmas.

At Easter.

Camping in the living room, with her own backpack.

The first day of school.

The first day of Cub Scouts.

And Little League.

The first day of the last year of junior high.

She's there to comfort when you're sick,

or any time a sleeping boy just needs a little extra security.

It seems you barely turn around and before you know it, that diaper wearing baby is in high school and your dog is no longer that bouncing little puppy she once was. You know she's getting older, but you try not to think about it.

Then one day it hits you. She can't see. She can't hear. The black patch on her eye that you nearly named her for has faded to almost completely white. She has trouble getting up and down the front steps. That's when you realize, your dog is old.

That long way away suddenly got a whole lot closer.

You know that the decision is coming, but still you try to put it off. She may be ready, but you aren't. You do what you can to keep her happy and healthy, but time still stalks the old girl.

Relentless.

Unyielding.

Then one day, you wake up and you know.


It may be that look of patient suffering in your dog's eyes.

It may be the sounds of pain she makes when she lays down,

or the scream when you try to help her up the steps.

Whatever the reason, you know.


It's time.


An agonizing trip to the animal clinic. A shaking hand signs the paper. The doctor that gave her her first puppy shots now gives her one last injection. And she drifts away, peacefully and without pain. She's gone.

An "I'm so sorry" and a hug in the parking lot from the vet, and you take your faithful companion home for the last time. You ask your boy if he wants to pick out a spot for her, and he says, "I want to do this myself". And your boy --no this man your pappy sucking boy has somehow become-- buries his dog out by the back fence, near the cow pasture she loved so much.

A bouquet of plastic flowers.


A too quiet house. A big, gaping hole in your heart.

And it's over.


Goodbye old girl. You really were the best dog ever.

Thursday, August 27, 2009

Heir Apparent

It would seem that Michael Crabtree is to be the NFL's heir apparent to Terrell Owens, at least in the ego department.

Michael Crabtree, wide receiver out of Texas Tech, was drafted 10th over all by the San Francisco 49ers. He feels that he should have been drafted higher. And he feels that he should be paid as if he had been drafted higher. At first, I'd heard that he wanted to be paid at least as much as the third overall draft pick, which was Tyson Jackson of LSU, who was drafted by Kansas City. Latest reports say he is wanting more money than Okland's #7 pick, Darius Heyward-Bey. The 49ers say they are going to pay him less than the Green Bay Packer's #9 pick B.J. Raji. Crabtree thinks this is not good enough. He says if he doesn't get his way, he's just going to take his ball and go home. Crabtree's temper tantrum has reached such a fever pitch, even his agent is distancing himself from his actions.

If Crabtree doesn't get the contract he wants, he is going to sit out the entire 2009 season and re-enter the draft next year. This is a risky move on his part. It may very well be that he is drafted LOWER next year. He might just ought to take the deal he is being offered. There were reasons he wasn't drafter higher than he was. It might have to do with teams deciding they just didn't need a wide receiver at that point. It might have to do with his injury concerns. It might have to do with pro scouts not taking Texas Tech's football program seriously. In fact, Graham Harrell, who was once considered a Heisman Trophy contender, wasn't even drafted. Wasn't picked up as a free agent, either. Last I heard, he was playing in the CFL.

Whatever the reasons, Crabtree was drafted 10th, and no higher. Those reasons are not likely to go away between now and next April. Then you add to that the fact that now he is giving himself a reputation as being an selfish egomaniac.

Now, Terrell Owens has the reputation of being an selfish egomaniac, but at least we know he can play football. We don't know that about Crabtree. Sure, he did well at Tech, but can he make the transition into the NFL? We don't know that. Lots of college stars can't. That's one reason I think it's ridiculous to give unproven rookies multi-year, multi-million dollar contracts before anyone knows if they are going to be able to play in the NFL. It's like buying a car sight unseen. You don't even know if the thing is going to run. Same with rookies. You don't know if they are going to play well, yet they are demanding their contracts before you can even get them into training camp.

I think too much is made of draft position anyway. The NFL draft is basically an educated crap shoot. You can guess well, but you don't really know what you are going to get out of the deal. Yeah, there have been some great players chosen in the first round, on the other hand, remember Jim Druckenmiller? Ki-Jana Carter? Rae Carruth? No? I don't either, but they were all first round draft choices.

Of course, the flip side of it is, that undrafted guy working in the grocery store just might end up being Kurt Warner.

.

Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Make Me Laugh! That's An Order!

I took this photo several days ago, and I've been trying and trying to think of some terribly witty and clever caption. Unfortunately, I've come up empty. So I'm leaving it up to you, my readers to caption this photo:


In the past, when times were better and I was more prosperous, I probably would have made this into a contest and offered some really cool yarn as a prize. Right now, though, I just don't have anything to offer, unless you want the really hideous novelty yarn that I won in a contest some years ago and it's been sitting in my yarn closet ever since because I just can't think of anything horrible enough to make with it. If you do want it, just let me know, and I'll send it to you. If more than one of you wants it, we'll resort to the old slips of paper in the hat routine.

OK, I'm depressed now. Make me laugh!

That's an order!

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Monday, August 24, 2009

Music Monday

Cody requested some Weird Al, and that put me in mind of this:



My absolute all time favorite version of my absolute all time favorite Weird Al song.

Sunday, August 23, 2009

Blah!

What I thought were allergies turned out to be a full fledged cold. I woke up this morning with my head feeling like it was about to explode and that familiar burning in my chest. Needless to say, I pretty much just laid around all day. I watched some DVDs and got caught up on some of my podcasts that I listen to.

And I got my bandwagon sock all the way down to the toe decreases. Right now, I'm waiting for mice to thaw so I can feed some of these snakes. As soon as they've et, I'm going to bed.

I'm going to post pictures of my snakes, so if you have a thing about them, stop reading here.

OK?

La

la

la

la

la

la

la

OK.

Scarlett:


Sunset:


Slider:



Blaze:


And the king, Onyx:


I don't have recent photos of Monty and Snow. I'll post them when I get some.

Saturday, August 22, 2009

Socks and Skies

It was an absolutely beautiful day. Partly cloudy Saturday Sky.

Not too warm. OK, it was in the 80s, but it was breezy enough that I was able to open my windows and enjoy the fresh air.


I'm not so sure that was such a good idea, since it seemed that every single person within a 10 mile radius was mowing grass today. But I did it anyway.

And what did I do on this glorious Saturday? House work. I'm serious. Something about having the windows open, the breezes flowing through the house, the fall feel in the air motivates me to clean. Heck, I even made Cody clean up his room.

I did get some knitting done, too. I made it past the gusset decreases on my first Bandwagon sock,

and pulled out this old Trekking Is For Necking scarf.

It's been languishing in UFO land for quite long enough. It was going to be a Christmas gift for my cousin, but with the economy still in the tank, I don't know if we'll exchange gifts this year. We didn't last year, but then, last year they didn't come here for Christmas. I don't know if they will this year or not. I'll just have to wait and see.

Last night, the Cowboys played their first game in their new stadium. It was just a preseason game, but still...And the first score ever in the new stadium was a touchdown by Marion Barber.

Titans-Cowboys

One more thing, I want to give a shout out to my friend Cindy, who was promoted to the rank of first degree black belt yesterday. Shodan Rei!

Tennessee Titans v Dallas Cowboys

Congratulations, Cindy!

.

Friday, August 21, 2009

Flipside Memphis - Memphis Zoo


Let me put in a little plug for the local (somewhat) zoo. We haven't been there in a while, but I've posted pictures from this zoo before. They are about to open a new exhibit in October. We're planning on going up there to see it when it opens.

Thursday, August 20, 2009

Has Anyone Seen

my knitting mojo? It seems to have wandered off somewhere. I did get one more pattern repeat done on my Falling In Love socks, but just haven't been that interested in knitting lately. Here's the most recent photo, but you can't really tell much difference.

Progress has really slowed on these, because I'm on the leg now, and have to knit the pattern on the back as well as the front. Well, I suppose I don't HAVE to, but I am. I've also done a little bit on the bandwagon socks.


I've finished the leg, and am working on the heel flap. It doesn't normally take me three days to do a heel flap. I just can't seem to get motivated to do much of anything lately.

I watched the preseason game between the Colts and the Eagles. Go whoever is playing against the Eagles! Cody let me wear his Joseph Addai jersey, since I didn't have any Colts jerseys.


But, since it was a preseason game, it was kind of boring. Still, the Colts won, so that was good even though it doesn't count for anything.

Tomorrow night is the Cowboys first game in their new stadium, and Cody said he didn't mind if I stayed home and watched it. Tomorrow is their first game, too, but they will only be playing about two minutes of their band program. It'll be sometime in October before they play the full program.

Anyway, gotta go find my dogs and head for bed.

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Brett Favre

is back in the NFL.

Some people just don't know how to quit while they're ahead.



Bill is now a Category 4 hurricane in the Atlantic.

Two sure signs that fall is right around the corner--football and hurricanes.

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Mixed Up

I have been so mixed up on my days these last few. I have no idea what day it is, and have to keep asking Cody. I'm sure fatigue has something to do with it. My animals seem to have forgotten the concept that night time is for sleeping.

The first High School football game is Friday. I'm really bummed because that's when the Cowboys play their first game in the new stadium. It's even going to be on TV! I wanted to watch it, but you know I have to go support my son. Sigh, if only I had a Tivo.

This is cool:

Monday, August 17, 2009

Music Monday

Back in my Navy days, Restless Heart used to be one of my favorite bands. I kinda rewrote the words to this first one, but being as this is a family friendly blog, I won't post them here. Let me just summarize by saying instead of Fast Movin' Train, my song said, "Fast Movin' Marine."





This one got dedicated to me a lot in the EMO (Enlisted Mess Open) club. I'm from Texas, and have blue eyes. Get it?






The music of the early 90's is so much better than what they put out today. Doncha think?

Sunday, August 16, 2009

Dove - Evolution Commercial (higher quality)

No wonder normal women don't have a chance in today's society. Who could compete with a computer generated model of perfection.

Saturday, August 15, 2009

Lazy Saturday

And it was exactly that. I didn't do much of anything but sit on my behind all day. Other than laundry, dishes, and cleaning the carpet, that is.

I made it past the heel turn on my Falling In Love socks, then had to tink the heel back out and re-do it. The pattern said to start the heel when the sock is 4 inches shorter than the length of your foot. That's what I did, but when all was said and done, I decided the sock just wasn't long enough. I guess the pattern writer likes her socks really tight, but I don't like my toes being constricted even the tiniest bit. So I tinked, and knit another pattern repeat before doing the heel. The sock fits much better now.

I've only done short row heels a couple of times before. I think I'm starting to get the hang of it. This one looks much better than previous attempts.

When I'd sat for just about as long as I could, I went for a walk outside. The pear tree is loaded with fruit.

One year, I picked a whole bunch of them and canned them. We ate pears for months. Unfortunately, all my canning equipment got ruined in one of the hurricanes, and I just can't afford to go buy more right now. Still, I guess I ought to do something with them, before Rylea eats them all.

Here is something I haven't done in a while, a Saturday Sky:

As most of you know, between financial struggles, personal injuries, and Cody's busy schedule, I've had to take a bit of a break from Karate. One day I hope to get back into it. I have good intentions of working out on my own, but my propensity towards sloth often prevents that. However, I did run through Sunsu kata today. I tried to do kusanku also, but forgot part of it. I think if I can actually make myself start doing a kata or two a day, they'll all come back to me.

I'm going to go try to remember the rest of kusanku, now.

.

Friday, August 14, 2009

Did I Really Swatch?

Sure I did! I wanted to check my gauge, since I had never knit with this particular brand of yarn before. I wanted to make sure I was still getting 8 stitches per inch.

Yeah, right. The ugly truth comes out...

I've been so excited about the start of football --ok, it's preseason, but it's still football--that I hadn't knit a stitch in two days. Football was all I could think about. And finally, it was here. I was watching the Cowboys/Raiders game last night. Kickoff wasn't until 9 PM central (7 PM Oakland time), and it lasted until well after midnight. At halftime, I decided to take my laptop and finish watching the game in bed. So I did.

I was all snuggled down in bed, watching the game, when I felt the urge to knit something. Problem was, I'd left my Falling In Love socks in the living room, and I just didn't want to get back out of bed to go get them. Fortunately, I had a ball of yarn and some DPNs on my nightstand. I even had a pattern for a pair of socks I wanted to knit. Buuuut, I didn't want to get back out of bed and go wind it.

So, I cast on 25 stitches and knit about two inches, just for something to do. I tried to convince myself I was being noble and checking gauge, but we both know better than that, now don't we?

Like I said, the game lasted until well after midnight, and the only reason I was able to stay up and watch it was because we'd had today off at work. Once I got Cody up and off to school (with a stomach full of sausage gravy, I might add) I went back to bed and slept until 10:00. When I got up, I wound my yarn and cast on my sock for real. Here it is:

Pattern: Bandwagon Socks
Yarn: Plymouth Yarn Sockin' Sox Color 002
Needles: Knitpicks Nickle plated DPNs 2.75mm

I'm still working on the Falling In Love socks, too. And the shawl. And the scarf. And the other scarf...gee, I really need to do a WIP update, don't I?

But for now, I'm gonna go find another ball game to watch.

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Darning Socks

Yeah, I had to darn a sock today. I found this huge hole in the heel of my Texas Longhorns sock while I was doing laundry.



It was simply too massive a tear to fix, so I darned it, which in my case means saying "Darn it!" loudly and emphatically as I tossed the sock into the trash. I'm a bit irked, as I've only had these socks a few months.

Then, as I was waiting for Cody to get done with band practice, one of my earphones blew out, so I had to listen to the rest of Talkin Cowboys with only one ear. I'm a bit irked about that, too. I've only had my MP3 player about a year, and I've already gone through three sets of earphones. I'm not rough on them either.

Sheesh, what a depressing day. I'm going to bed.

Cowboys


I feel better now. But I'm still going to bed.

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Falling In Love

I think this may be the reason for my recent obsession with old Elvis Presley songs.

These are Falling In Love socks, from the now defunct Magknits website. Fortunately, I had printed the pattern out before the site went down. These have been on my list for a long time, and I finally decided to do them. I'd hesitated because they use a different toe than what I usually knit. It is a short row toe. It's a bit fiddly, but I like the results. Now I'm to the point where I have to make a decision. If I do a short row heel, its time to start now. If I want to do a flap and gusset, I knit in pattern for two more inches before starting the heel. I'll decide that later...

Do you see the little hearts in the pattern? Here is a better picture:

Kindly ignore the blinding whiteness of my skin, and just focus on the sock for a moment. See the little hearts? I think that's why they are called Falling In Love.

And that could be why I'm singing old Elvis Presley songs. On the other hand...

NFL: New York Giants vs Dallas Cowboys DEC 14
Yeah.

Monday, August 10, 2009

Music Monday

This song was on my mind all day today. I thought you might enjoy it, too.



I never was a real big Elvis fan, though I vividly remember the day he died. I was 12 years old. Fan or not, I do have to admit that he has a beautiful voice.

(Couldn't find a better video.)

Sunday, August 09, 2009

It's Football Night

Football! Football! Football! Football! Football!

Ok, it's only preseason, but it's still Football!

Football! Football! Football! Football! Football!

I got my popcorn,


my jersey,


and a sock to knit on.


I'm all set.

Saturday, August 08, 2009

Socks

The Zokni's are finished!


Now, to swatch for the next pair. Then to decide which pair to do next!

Katie got to come home today. She got a pretty good report. They did a blood panel and her organs are all working fine. The Dr. said that her kidneys just aren't concentrating her urine as much, so her bladder fills up faster. This is common as dogs get older. Unfortunately, there's nothing they can do about it. They are just wearing out. He told me to make sure she gets plenty of water, to protect her kidneys as much as we can, and I'll just have to get up in the night and let her out. She's slept with Cody her whole life, but he's a heavy sleeper. She'll have to get used to sleeping in my room from now on.

He also said that he thinks she has a tick borne illness based on her blood work. We've got her on medication for that. She's still stumbling around a bit, but it's not as bad as it was yesterday. Dr. O said, "She's what? Thirteen years old? That's like great-grandma." These are problems we have to deal with when a dog starts getting old. But for now, she's still hanging in there.