Wednesday, August 31, 2011

WIP and TMI

Before I get to the TMI part-- and yes, I will give you fair warning before I get there-- let me first distract you with a lovely shot of a WIP. 



This is Ice Queen at the end of the first chart.  The yarn is Kidsilk Haze.  Apparently, it doesn't have a color name, but the number is 592. 

Now, on to the TMI.  This is your warning.  Stop reading now or don't holler TMI! at me. 



La la la la la la la....




If you're still here, I'm going to assume you want to hear the rest of the story.  Soooo away we go..

I went to my much dreaded gyno appointment this afternoon.  I'd managed to work myself into such a state that I was practically in tears driving to the clinic, and wishing I'd brought my teddy bear with me.  Once I got there and got things rolling, though, I was fine.  Emotionally, that is. 

After briefly berating me for not coming in since 2005, the doc checked me out and said that there's nothing physically wrong with me.  Fibroids aren't growing.  No sign of anything more serious.  He said that this kind of thing just happens sometimes, and it really isn't all that uncommon.  Basically, what had happened was --to put it into very simplistic terms-- my hormones gotten out of balance.  It was kind of like they'd gotten stuck in the "on" position. Thus all the bleeding. 

He gave me a prescription which will do something like a chemical D & C.  The medication will help my uterus slough off the rest of the retained lining, and the bleeding should stop within a week.  A couple of weeks after that, I should go back to having normal periods.  Or, given my age, I may never have another one.  I said I was just fine with that. 

My gynecologist reminds me of the Pillsbury Dough Boy.  He is very large, and always has red cheeks. 

But I digress...

The good news is, there is nothing really wrong with me.  And that's the important part.  Still, I hate to have a good nervous wreck go to waste. 

After my appointment, I went to Wal-Mart to get my prescription filled.  While I was there, I decided to get my oil changed, too.  Guess which one got done first?

If you said the oil change, you guessed right. 

Kind of a shame, that. 

Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Tuesday Topics and TMI

Yes, this post will contain what will be to many of you TMI. Don't worry, I'll give you fair warning before launching into said sensitive topic so that you can quit reading.

But first...

Group Leader Greg was standing behind Vanessa enthusiastically singing an old time gospel song about laying down his burdens "down by the waterside." Vanessa told him, "It's 'riverside', not 'waterside'".

"Oh, well, I messed up in church, then."



Beverly called me up Sunday afternoon. She teaches English as a second language to people who've immigrated here-- LEGALLY, I might add --and are studying for their citizenship. Anyway, a couple of her students are going back to China for an extended visit, and she wanted to give them a small gift. So I let her pick out two of my soldier hats to give them. While I was there, she asked me if I would knit an Ice Queen for the woman.  Naturally, I agreed to do it.  I was planning on knitting one for my sister for Christmas, and they work up pretty quickly.  It'll be pretty easy to do two. 

Yes, the Ice Queen is the new project I'd started on.  Nobody guessed it.

And now, here is your TMI warning.  I'm going to talk about some delicate female issues.  If you don't want to be a part of this, stop reading now.


(Imagine elevator music playing...)


OK.  Still here?  Good. 

Away we go...

I'd known for several months now that I was going through The Change.  I've had all the symptoms.  Well, here lately, my periods have gotten really irregular.  This latest one started August 4th. 

It hasn't stopped yet.  It will slow down a bit, and I think it's going to be over with, but then it'll crank back up.  I finally got to the point that I did something dreadful. 

I made a phone call. 

Not just any phone call.  I made a phone call to the gynecologist.  Yeah.  I got that desperate.  I'm going in tomorrow afternoon to see what's going on with this.  I"ll have to leave work early, but that's OK.  I just want this to stop. 

You know, most people are afraid to go to the doctor.  They're afraid he will find something wrong with them.  I'm afraid to go to the doctor, because I'm afraid he won't find anything wrong with me.  I'm afraid I'll get up into the office and the doctor (whichever one I go to, be it gyn or my regular doc) will say, "Ain't nothing wrong with you, you big hypochondriac!" 

This period has been going on 3 1/2 weeks, and I'm nervous now that it will stop before tomorrow afternoon.  Oh, well.  I'm overdue for my pap anyway. 

I'll let you know how things go.

Monday, August 29, 2011

Music Monday



Only 5 more days! I'd had high hopes for this season, but what with Jordan Jefferson arrested, and Russell Shepherd ruled ineligible, that could change very quickly.

Well, they've still got The Mad Hatter...

Sunday, August 28, 2011

It Was On A Sunday

First of all, let me start off by saying that there has been entirely too much mowing going on this weekend.  Cody mowed the yard, and they cut the big pasture behind the house.  Being that I'm severely allergic to grass...yeah, you can imagine.

It got so bad for a while that I couldn't even breathe.  I was sucking air into my lungs, but it didn't feel like any oxygen was getting to my brain.  Even during church, we stood up to sing a hymn, and I got so light headed that I had to sit back down.  I felt like I was on the verge of fainting.

I came home, ate something, and laid down for a while.  Even though I didn't sleep, I felt much better when I got up.

But enough of that...

Yesterday morning, it was cool enough to walk the dogs.  When I got back home, I found a small box on my front step.  Inside were these.


I've known my friend Amy all my life.  Literally.  We were babies together in the church nursery.  She makes these, and just out of the blue, sent me a set of four.


The were a fantastic little pick-me-up after the week I'd had.

In spite of everything, did get something accomplished this week.  I finished another soldier hat.


And I started on my sister's Christmas gift. 


Can you guess what it is?

.

Saturday, August 27, 2011

Hurricane Irene

From space.


Feeling a bit better today, but still kinda puny. I'd thought about going to Batesville, but decided I'd be better off just staying home.

Friday, August 26, 2011

Epizoodies

I haz them.

I'd been feeling really tired and just worn out all week, and I guess this morning it all caught up with me. I actually started getting ready for work, but when I dissolved into tears in front of the bathroom mirror because I just felt soo bad, I decided it was time to call in sick.

I still don't know what was wrong with me. I felt feverish, but didn't have a fever. No cough or congestion, either. I just didn't have any energy and I couldn't get warm. I had to get a blanket out of the closet because I was shivering.

I tried to knit a bit, but didn't have the strength to hold my arms up. So, I read the Kindle a lot, and watched some Netflixes. Finally, around 5 PM, I felt well enough to get up and make some bacon.

Because you know bacon makes everything better.


And besides, I'd already eaten all the chocolate in the house.

Ahem...

Just to give my meal some semblance of healthiness, I fried up some tofu in the bacon grease.


Yeah, that ought to do it.

But by 7:00 PM I was feeling poorly again, so I'm going to go back to bed now. I'll catch you later. Bleh...

Tuesday, August 23, 2011

This Is Your Freezer

This is your freezer.


This is your freezer on drugs.


Well, OK, maybe not drugs, but definitely on something. Yes, that is my order of snake food crammed into my itty bitty freezer. Believe it or not, there is actually some people food in there somewhere.  My weekend project will probably be to vacuum seal most of the rodents so that they'll last a couple of years in there.  See, it costs nearly $45 to ship the stuff, so I try to get at least two years worth of food at a time when I order.

But why don't I just buy them at a local pet store, you ask?  Because even with that outrageous shipping charge (hey, it costs a lot to keep the meat frozen en route), it's still cheaper in the long run to buy in bulk.

One of these days, I'm going to clean out a space in my utility room and get a small deep freeze for this kind of thing.

One of these days...

Abrupt change of subject.  Jesse needs his toenails trimmed.  I'm not sure how he'll react to that, so I've been kind of hesitant to do it.  Plus, he has black nails so I can't tell where the quick is.  I'd hate to hurt him, especially now that he's just becoming de-traumatized.  Rylea bites her nails, so I don't have to worry about hers.  

All right then, here we have the Sugar Maple shawl freed from its bonds.


I wore it Sunday with the dress I sewed. I'd intended to take a picture, but never quite got around to it. Um, sorry about that.

And I got one more soldier hat finished. 


This is Knit Picks Swish Tonals in Kindling.  Or something like that.  That reminds me.  I keep thinking that there is something I need to order from them, but I can't remember what it is.  Hmmm, I think I'm going to get off of here and go browse their catalog.  Maybe that'll jog my memory. 

Saturday, August 20, 2011

Catching Up

Yeah, yeah, I know it's been a while, so this'll be a bit of a catching up post.

First off, Jesse is adjusting really well.  He and Rylea are getting along, and even Jake has stopped snarling at him.  He's starting to put on weight, and his cough has cleared up completely.  I've started allowing him more freedom inside the house, though I still don't know how well housebroken he is.  No accidents so far, but I still feel like I have to watch him constantly.  He's a good dog, though.  Very sweet and loving...Other than the one time he decided some of my laceweight yarn was a chew toy, he's been really well behaved.  I still can't believe someone threw him away. 

Onward...


I finished knitting a shawlette to go with my new dress.  If it looks familiar, it should.  It's Wendy's Summer Mystery Shawlette, done in Cherry Tree Hill Sockittome Select in Sugar Maple.   If it's dry enough, I'll wear it to church in the morning.  If not, next week.

I've been wanting this little thing for a while now, and today, I finally broke down and bought it. 

 

It's a little 2 quart crock pot. I had a big one that I got when I got married, but really, it's too big for just me. This little one ought to be just right. And look, the best part is, the inner pot comes out so you can wash it.


That's the one thing I never liked about the big one. It was so hard to really wash, because you're not supposed to submerge it. This ought to make clean up a breeze.


Um, nothing to see here.  Move along, folks.  Move along...



I've been a member of the Dallas Cowboys' True Blue fan club for a while now.  In June, I renewed my membership, but got a letter saying that my stuff would be delayed.  They were re-doing how they did the memberships, and would send it to me as soon as it was ready.

Well, it came this week.  In addition to the certificate and letter,


And the standard team photo,


this year, they sent a different style of key ring and sticker, plus a lanyard to hold the membership card.


These cards, which aren't standard trading card size.  They're like 4" x 6".


A wristband


This, whatever it is.  You can stick it on your phone so that it doesn't slip off the counter and land somewhere you can't find it until the message beep goes off and scares you half to death. 


And a nifty blue nylon bag to keep it all in. 


In addition, there is a whole host of other benefits for members, and they get better the longer you stay in the fan club.  I'm at the silver level, which is for those who've been in the fan club from 2-5 years.  I get a 20% discount at all DC Pro shops, including online. 

And finally, at long last, Drew Pearson is being inducted into the Cowboys' Ring of Honor.  It's way overdue.  He should have been put in when Roger was, but at last, he's finally where he belongs.  And maybe, now he'll be considered for the Hall of Fame. 

He should already be there, too. 




















Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Dear CoWorker

Anyone who still wears his hair in a mullet --most especially after his hair has gone gray-- is not nearly as sexy as you seem to think you are, so do us all a favor and stop prancing about like you're God's gift to women. 

You really aren't.

That is all.

Thank you.

Monday, August 15, 2011

His Name Is Jesse



The first thing I did when I picked him out-- well, after signing the papers and all --was to take him to the vet. Just my luck, there was only one vet in the office that morning, and half the population of this town suddenly decided that their animals just had to have medical care. So we ended up sitting in the vet's office for about an hour and a half.

If I'd know it would be that long, I'd have waited until today.

Anyway, the vet gave Jesse his shots, and tested him for heartworms.  That one came back positive, which didn't really surprise either of us.  No telling how long he'd been wandering the streets before Animal Control picked him up.   The vet went ahead and put Jesse on preventative, which will kill the larvae in his bloodstream, but won't do anything about the grown heartworms.  He wants to wait until October to get those taken care of.  In the meantime, the preventative will keep the infestation from getting worse.

He also gave him an antibiotic to clear up an upper respiratory infection.  Jesse had a pretty bad cough, but it's already gotten a lot better.  As soon as that's cleared up, and he's put on some weight, well, he's going to bid farewell to his manhood.  Dog hood.  Whatever.

Speaking of putting on weight, I had to go buy him some regular dog food.  Rylea tends to be on the chubby side, so I've got her on weight management food.  That's the last thing Jesse needs.  I was brushing him yesterday, and could clearly see every one of his ribs.  Right now, I'm just keeping his food bowl full, and letting him eat as much as he wants. 

He's got a sweet disposition, but right now he seems very reserved.  I'm guessing he doesn't trust people yet.  I hope to change that. 

Saturday, August 13, 2011

My New Dog

I'd been wanting to get a new dog for a while.  Watching poor Rylea try to get the cat to play with her was almost heartbreaking.  But for some reason, things just hadn't worked out.  Well, a few days ago, the local animal shelter announced that they were going to have an adoption drive today at the pet store. 

So I got up and drove down there, just to see what they had.  They had quite a few dogs and puppies, and some kittens.  Walking down the line, lots of cute puppies.  A basset hound.  A pit bull.  A yellow lab.

As soon as I saw him, I knew he was meant to be mine.


I have no notion of his breeding.  He's practically skin and bones.  But he's mine.


He had a collar on, with a bit of a broken chain or leash still attached to it. 



Apparently, he'd been at the shelter long enough that they don't feel like someone will claim him.  And apparently he'd been running loose long enough to have lost significant weight.  The volunteers at the shelter were guessing that he's between one and two years old. 

He's a good dog, though.  Very sweet, though very shy.  He's obedient and willing.  He walks well on the leash, so had been somebody's dog, but at sometime in the past he had not been treated well.  James said he looks like he's been rode hard and put up wet. But we'll get him fattened up and healthy.

Rylea snarled a bit at him when she first met him, but now they seem to be getting along just fine.   Jake snarled at him when he first met him, but by the end of our walk, they were getting along just fine, too.


Now, if only I could think of a name for him.

Thursday, August 11, 2011

FOOTBALL!!!

FOOTBALL!  FOOTBALL!  FOOTBALL!  FOOTBALL! FOOTBALL!!

OK, it's preseason, but it's still

FOOTBALL!  FOOTBALL!  FOOTBALL!  FOOTBALL!  FOOTBALL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Wednesday, August 10, 2011

The Need To Write

My new phone is here!  I've been busy playing on it all evening, but did want to blog these thoughts before I forget them.


I watched The Electric Horseman last night via Netflix streaming.  There was once a time when I loved this movie.  However, last night, as I was watching it, I couldn't help but thinking how silly the entire premise was.  I mean, here's this horse that was the premier Thoroughbred racehorse in America.  Supposedly worth $13 million. Some company has bought him and has him stoned, on steroids, and hawking breakfast cereal.

In real life, a horse that valuable would never have been sold in the first place.  He would have retired from racing and would be living the rest of his days in comfort, siring many offspring.  He'd never have become what amounts to a circus clown. 

I mean, seriously could you imagine Secretariat prancing across a stage in Las Vegas with Christmas lights all over him?  Nope.  Never would have happened.  I mean, it's a pretty good story, if you can get past how unrealistic --how unbelievable-- it is. 

Which kind of made me think about Tolkien's works.  Hobbits, Elves, Wizards, Goblins, magic rings, Middle Earth...purely fantasy, yet fantastic.  Every bit of it is totally believable.  When you are reading it, it's not fiction.  It's reality. 

It's history. 

That's what makes the difference between a good story, and a great one. 

Which brings me to my point.  I've kind of been wanting to take some creative writing classes.  The local CC doesn't offer any at their campus, and I don't know if I'd want to drive all the way to Oxford.  I'm thinking of looking online for some, but have been known to be terrible about keeping up with such things on my own. 

Like the Latin and Italian lessons I was going to learn.  Yeah.

But anyway, I can't afford classes right now.  Not for something that would just add to my own personal enjoyment.  Maybe one day.

Just not today.

Tuesday, August 09, 2011

Conversations With Cody--The Preschool Years

Mama!  All your food was dropping on my head!

What are you talking about?

When I was in your stomach, every time you ate, all your food would drop on my head. 

Monday, August 08, 2011

Monday Misscellany

My day started pretty early this morning--around 3:30 AM, when thunderstorms blew in and woke me up.  I was dreaming about the Dallas Cowboys.  I don't remember the dream, but I remember Jason Witten being in it.

This is the third night in a row I've dreamed about them.  The first night, I dreamed they were having a pre-season game against the Buffalo Bills.   In the dream, one of the fans ran in from the sidelines and shoved Tony Romo out of the back of the endzone with his hands around Tony's neck.  He still managed to complete a pass to Miles Austin.  The Bills won the game, and even though it was just pre-season, they were acting like it was a SuperBowl.  Guess them two losses back in the 90's still rankle just a wee bit.

The next night, I dreamed the Cowboys were in the Super Bowl, only Jason Garrett had benched DeMarcus Ware for disciplinary reasons. Yeah, like that'll ever happen.

Anyway, my day started early, and ended a bit early, too.  One of the machines in tubing was broke down, and when it became obvious they weren't going to get it fixed in a timely manner, they shut the lines down and sent us all home.  I tried to get Greg to let Vanessa and me stay until 3:00, but he said no.  Greg is a tough case.  I could always talk Former Group Leader Rod into it.

When I got home, Jake came to visit.  Somewhere he found one of those rings that come off of the milk jug and brought it to me to throw for him.


 Not a ball-- of which I have plenty-- or a bone, or a rope toy.  But a milk jug ring.



 Throwing a tiny piece of plastic for an 80 lb dog ended up being quite comical. Um, kindly ignore the hair on my carpet.  When there are more animals than people in the house, it kind of comes with the territory.

Wait, what?  Houses are supposed to be cleaned?????  Boy, talk about shattering my illusions...

I think I'll go huddle in a corner and whimper a while now. 

Sunday, August 07, 2011

Sunday Sundries

Wow, I can't believe how long it's been since I've blogged!  I'd intended to blog Friday, but then the internet went out for -- well, I don't know how long it was out.  Once it became clear that it wasn't going to be back in just a minute or two, I shut everything down and went to bed and read a bit.  I never did check to see if it had come back up.

The other reason I haven't blogged is because absolutely nothing has happened in so long that I just can't think of anything to say.  It's too blasted hot to do anything.  And I need new glasses.  I thought we were fixing to quit working Fridays, but we've worked the last two in a row.  Which is good, but I sure would like the time off.  I kind of got used to it over the last few years.

Speaking of Fridays, the high school's first home game is August 19th.  This is Cody's last year in the band...it's his last year in high school.  How did that happen?

Yeah, I'm totally rambling now, so let me give you a knitting update.

I finally started on a shawlette to wear with my dress I sewed. 


This is the Wendy's Summer Mystery Shawlette. It's kinda the one I wanted to do all along, but I was afraid the bright colors would obscure the shawl's pattern. But I decided to go ahead with it anyway.

Traveling Roses is coming along, albeit slowly.  


I've set it aside to do my shawlette, but intent to pick it back up pretty soon.  And I cast on another soldier hat. 


This one is with the Knit Picks Swish Tonal in Kindling.

I finally took the plunge and jumped into the Smart Phone world.  I was eligible for an upgrade as of today, and so I ordered a LG Phoenix.  I'm sure I'll post about it when it gets here. 

But for now, I think I'm losing my readers.  Sheesh, this post is even boring to me.  So, I'm going to go listen to Jason Garrett's latest press conference and call it a night. 

Unless you want to hear all about how rank dog farts can be.  Which I'm sure you don't.  I'll spare you that. 

I know you're happy. 

Wednesday, August 03, 2011

For Those Who Missed it....

I don't normally have guest posts on my blog, but sometimes a mama just has to brag.  Here is what I copped from my 17 year old's Facebook wall: 

For Those Who Missed it....

by Cody Anglea on Sunday, July 31, 2011 at 1:02pm
So last Wednesday night I preached my first message, and I've had a few people who weren't able to make it ask me what it was, so here it is:

Who’s Bread are YOU Eating?

            How about that bread?  Bread is everywhere we look.  We use it to make sandwiches, hamburgers, a different kind of bread is used to make crusts and pasta.  Bread is one of the most common food items in the world.  Bread was also a major teaching illustration used by Jesus.  He frequently referenced the “bread of life.”  So who’s bread are YOU eating?

“14 And they had forgotten to take bread, and did not have more than one loaf in the boat with them.  15 And He was giving orders to them, saying, “Watch out!  Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod.”  16 They began to discuss with one another the fact that they had no bread.  17 And Jesus, aware of this, said to them, “Why do you discuss the fact that you have no bread?  Do you not yet see or understand?  Do you have a hardened heart?  Having eyes, do you not see?  And having ears, do you not hear?  And do you not remember, 19 when I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces you picked up?  They said to Him, “Twelve.”  20 “When I broke the seven for the four thousand, how many large baskets full of broken pieces did you pick up?”  And they said to Him, “Seven.”  21 And He was saying to them, “Do you not yet understand?” – Mark 8:14-21 NAS

Bread:

“And they had forgotten to take bread, and did not have more than one loaf in the boat with them.  And He was giving orders to them, saying, ‘Watch out!  Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod.’”

       While the disciples are talking about having only one loaf of bread with them, Jesus warns them against the “leaven” of the Pharisees and Herod.  They assume that He’s talking about their lack of bread, but He purposely uses the word “leaven” while they’ve been talking about “bread.”  Leaven is like yeast – it is put into bread to make it rise while it bakes.  In His metaphor, Jesus is talking about leaven as a teaching or ideal that can grow in someone.  He tells them to be careful about letting the example of the Pharisees and Herod grow in them.  The Pharisees were very religious, but they completely missed the point; they focused on the traditions and rules of Judaism instead of the glory of God.  They were so wrapped up in following their religious law, that they forgot the commandments of God and what their religion was supposed to be all about.  They focused on disproving Jesus to be who He is.  Mark 8:11-12 reads, “The Pharisees came and began to argue with Him, asking Him for a sign from Heaven to test Him.  And He sighed deeply in His spirit and said, “Why does this generation ask for a sign?  Truly I tell you, no sign will be given to this generation.”  The Pharisees weren’t satisfied with the miracles that Jesus had performed, and demanded that He give them a supernatural sign of who He was, but they contradicted their own teachings by doing so.  He had performed the miracles that had been outlined by the prophets perfectly, but they refused to accept them.
            Jesus also warns them of the leaven of Herod.   Herod Antipas was the son of Herod the Great and represented the laws of a government that was against Jesus.  His family claimed to be Jewish, but rode the fence between Judaism and the Roman society.  Much in the same manner as modern society, the governments of the day rejected Jesus and His teachings.

Blindness/Deafness:

“They began to discuss with one another the fact that they had no bread.  And Jesus, aware of this said to them, ‘Why do you discuss the fact that you have no bread?  Do you not yet see or understand?  Do you have a hardened heart?  Having eyes, do you not see?  And having ears, do you not hear?  And do you not remember, when I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces you picked up?’  They said to Him, ‘Twelve.’  ‘When I broke the seven for the four thousand, how many large baskets full of broken pieces did you pick up?’  And they said to Him, ‘Seven.’ And He was saying to them, ‘Do you not yet understand?’”

The disciples hear Jesus mention leaven, and mistakenly think that He is talking about their lack of bread, but He is not.  They seem to forget the two very recent miracles they just watched Him perform in which he fed two separate multitudes.  In the first instance, He takes five loaves of bread and two fish and feeds five thousand men.  This crowd was mostly Jewish and He takes compassion on them saying “They were like sheep without a shepherd.”  From the five loaves, He feeds the five thousand men AND their families and still has enough left over to fill 12 baskets.  The second time He takes seven loaves of bread and a few small fish and feeds four thousand men and their families.  This time the crowd is made up of mostly Gentiles, and the disciples are reluctant to help them at first – Jesus refers to this when He asks if they have a hardened heart.  In their reluctance to help people purely because they’re not Jewish, the disciples have taken on the example of the Pharisees.  Jesus takes compassion on the second crowd because they have come from a great distance and have stayed with Him for three days because they value the teachings and healings He gives more than even food.  Jesus is also careful to mention that after this event they fill seven LARGE baskets with left-overs.  These baskets were likely carried by the disciples and are much larger than the baskets in the first miracle.  They could be compared as large sacks to picnic baskets.

The disciples are worried about having only one loaf of bread with them, but they’ve become blind to who they’re with.  They don’t realize that with Jesus one loaf is MORE than enough.  He points this out to them, but we can also take this as Him asking us how we can still doubt Him after He has given us so much proof that He is who He says He is.  We are like the Pharisees, looking for a special sign so we can know that He speaks the truth, but He’s already proven Himself to us.  We’ve become blind to the fact of who He REALLY is.  So who is He?

Who He Really Is:

“And Jesus went out, along with His disciples, to the villages of Caesarea Philippi: and on the way He questioned His disciples, saying to them, ‘Who do people say that I am?’  And they told Him, saying, ‘John the Baptist; and others say Elijah; but others, one of the prophets.’  And He continued by questioning them, ’But who do you say that I am?’  Peter answered and said to Him, ‘Thou art the Christ.’” – Mark 8:27-29 NAS

            Jesus came to Earth as the “Messiah,” or a “SAVIOR or LIBERATOR.”  By His death, He DEFEATED Death and FREED us from sin.  These are words of power that describe a God with power far beyond anything we can comprehend.  This is a God who SPOKE the universe into existence and breathed life into man.  He turned water into wine, healed the blind, fed thousands with one boy’s lunch, and raised the dead from life.  So why do we doubt Him?  We are like His disciples – we are worried that we aren’t enough and that we won’t last, but we forget what Jesus can do with one loaf of bread.  Five loaves fed five thousand men and their families; seven fed four thousand and their families.  Each time there was a huge amount left over.  Jesus can turn one disciple into many.  He started out with just 12 disciples (one of whom betrayed Him and later hung himself) that turned into millions of professing Christians today, but we still doubt that He can use us.  He can.  So my question to you is: Are Our Eyes Open to Who God Is?

Tuesday, August 02, 2011

I Can Haz Yarnz!!!

But first...

Oh, Sue! I finished another one!


Yes, I've managed to resist the siren song of the Traveling Roses scarf just long enough to finish another hat. It really isn't pink. It's more of a purply...pink. Well, I'm sure there are some female soldiers out there who would appreciate a hat, too. And who knows, some men like pinks, too.

And now, on to the yarnz.

But first-- or should that be "But second"?-- a story... I'd ordered this yarn some 3 weeks ago.  I'd gotten the e-mail that they'd shipped the order on July 15th.  I kept watching for the box, but it never came.  I waited two weeks, and it still hadn't come.  I was getting just a bit peeved.

Now, I know when the mail comes and I'm not home, the mail carrier brings it to Beverly's house.  Well, I called them and asked if the box was there.  They hadn't seen it.   So I called Knit Picks customer service.  They looked up the tracking number and it showed the box had been delivered on July 19th.

I was bumfuzzled.  No one had seen the box, so the nice lady had said that they'd send a replacement order.  She was talking, and said something about a substitute mail carrier, and that gave me an idea.  If there had been a substitute mail carrier that day, they may not have known where to leave the package.  I mean, it's not like Beverly and James have four doors on their house or anything like that.  Oh, wait...

So I walked over and poked around a bit, and sure enough, there was the box.  Apparently it had sat there for two weeks.  The customer service lady and I were both very happy that the box was found safe and sound.

And what was in said box?  YARNZ!!  These are some of the new Swish Tonals.  From left to right, Thunderhead, another Thunderhead, Foliage, and Kindling. 


Most of these will be going for soldier hats, but I have a special thing in mind for one of the Thunderhead yarns.  I can't tell yet.  It's a secret.  I just have to get my rear in gear and get 'r done. 

Heh heh heh, don'tcha just hate that phrase?  One of these days, I'm going to dedicate a whole post to popular words and phrases that get on my nerves the worst. 

But for right now, I'm going to eat some ice cream.  Oh, and do some research. 

For my secret. 

Monday, August 01, 2011

Monday, Monday

In response to the myriad unasked questions that I'm sure everyone was thinking after yesterday's post, yes someone really did come to church like that. No, it was not me, nor will it ever be. I hope. Now if I go senile and so some crazy things, maybe, but not while I'm ever in my right mind.

My excitement for today was fixing my toilet.  The sticky up thing in the tank was not working right, so that the water wouldn't shut off once the tank was filled.  I went and got another one, along with some chocolate chips, since I've had a request for cookies, and replaced it.  The hardest part was getting the old one out.  Whoever originally installed it didn't seem to understand the concept of "Do Not Overtighten".

Once I got the lock nut loosened, the rest was easy.  Now, I no longer have to shut the water off between flushings.  I know you're thrilled. 



In football news, Marion Barber has landed with the Chicago Bears.  That's a relief.  I can at least stand to watch them.  You have no idea how hard it was last year for me to watch the Steelers just so I could see Flozell.  They've cut him, by the way.  Anyway, Marion will be joining Roy Williams and Sam Hurd in Chicago, while Marc Colombo has signed with the Dolphins.  I haven't heard where Leonard Davis has ended up, if anywhere.  I'm sure someone will let me know.




Less than a month to go!  I'd better hurry up and get my cable hooked up!