I'm Free! I'm Free!

Well, until December 4th. Today was our last day of work before Thanksgiving. We are caught up enough on our scheduled work that they gave us all of next week off. I have vacation the week after that, so I don't have to go back for 17 days. I'm going to be ruined. The longer I'm off, the less I want to go back.

I actually had a productive afternoon. We got off at lunch (11:00 AM), and I was able to clean Slider's tank and measure him. I can't believe I haven't measured him in 6 months. I'm usually more diligent than that. Anyway, he had grown a whopping 8" since his last measurement, and he now is 41" long.

Then I finished baby Paul's hat and lined all four up for a picture:


I did Paul's a little different. I knit the ribbing flat, then switched to DPNs and did the body of the hat in the round. Once I was finished, I had the little bit of seam to sew up, but it wasn't like having a big honking wad of junk going up the back of your head. The ribbing was much tighter doing it this way, too. Still not perfect, but it's getting better. I think it must be this yarn. I've never had this much trouble with ribbing before.



Speaking of yarn, I was in Wal-mart and found some alpaca blend. I was a bit disappointed with it. Granted, it was mostly acrylic, but I still figured it'd be softer than it was. I didn't buy any. I want to start using more natural fibers, but 1) they can be way expensive, and 2) I have to use up my stash first. I was doing pretty good using up my stash until my mother cleaned out her closet and sent me her stash. So my stash is about triple what it was at this time last year.

I managed to get ahold of the GE people again. They are going to find someone different to send out. They are also going to send me $25 for the inconvenience of having to wait so long to get my washer fixed.

Yesterday I posted the recipe for Sweet Potato Delight. Since I always overestimate the amount of sweet potatoes needed for that recipe, I usually have enough to make a couple of today's recipe:

Sweet Potato Pie

2 cups mashed sweet potatoes
1/4 cup butter
1 cup sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp allspice
3/4 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla
2 eggs

1 (9 inch) unbaked pie crust

Combine butter, sugar, salt, and spices in a large mixing bowl. Add potatoes and eggs. Beat until smooth. Gradually add milk and vanilla, beating well. Pour into pie crust. Bake at 350' for 1 hour until set.

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Grocery Shopping

Tomorrow is my last regularly scheduled grocery shopping day before Thanksgiving. Do you know what that means? That means that B and I spent the evening discussing menus and deciding who would cook what. Then I came home and got out my cookbooks, checked the ingredients lists of my chosen recipes, and made my shopping list. That's almost as much fun as Thanksgiving itself, except that there's no football on.

As a special treat, for your drooling pleasure, I'll post one of our traditional family recipes each day between now and Thanksgiving, until I run out of recipes, that is. So, without further ado, here is today's Traditional Family Thanksgiving Recipe:

Sweet Potato Delight

3 c. sweet potatoes, cooked and mashed
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 stick butter (4 tbsp)
1/3 cup milk
1 1/2 tsp vanilla

Mix all ingredients and place into a buttered 8x8" baking dish.

Topping:

1/2 c brown sugar
1/3 c flour
1/3 c butter (approx 3 tbsp)
1 cup chopped nuts

Mix well and spread on top of sweet potatoes. Bake at 350' for 30-35 minutes.

Try not to eat it all at once.

P.S. I posted a few recipes last year around this time. I have gone back and added labels to those posts, so for a page with all my recipes, just click the label. Or for a specific one, click the link in the sidebar.
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Happy Anniversary

Today is my blogging anniversary. One year ago today, I took the plunge with this post. I don't even do my daily sketches any more, but I miss them. I want to get started back to sketching.

Funny enough, today is Buck's anniversary, too. He has posted quite a few more times than I have--690 as compared to my 372, and has had a lot more visits to his blog--over 10,000, while I can only claim about 3,000. Still, I consider him to be a friend, so if you are reading this, head on over to his site and wish him a happy blogiversary.

What In The World

Christmas decorations are already adorning the store shelves. I'm reminded of a woman I overheard in the Navy Exchange in Naples when I was stationed there. She was determined that she was not going to buy any Christmas decorations until after Thanksgiving. I had to laugh at her, because by Thanksgiving, there wouldn't be anything left. And there wasn't. Some people abhor the fact that Christmas decor is on the shelves long before the official start of the Christmas season. However, it makes sense, both from a retail standpoint and a decorating standpoint. Cody and I decorate the day after Thanksgiving, and if there is nothing in the store to buy before then, it makes it kind of difficult. It's no fun to try to rush out and buy the stuff, then come home and put it up.

When we were growing up, we didn't put our tree up until the Saturday after school let out. We'd get up and put up our family tree, then we'd go over to my Mammaw's house and put her tree up.

Mammaw had three children, Aunt Martha, Aunt Bonnie, and my dad. When Aunt Martha was 16 years old, she worked at Perry Brothers Five and Dime store. That Christmas, she bought an angel for the top of Mammaw's Christmas tree.

(Not actual angel--I don't have a picture of it.)

Long years later, after Aunt Martha and Aunt Bonnie were married and had children of their own, Mammaw decided that the angel was getting a little old and ragged and needed to be replaced. She bought a different ornament to put on the top of her tree that year:

(Not actual Ornament--I don't have a picture of that one either.)

Aunt Bonnie was married and living in Dallas with her husband and children, but they still came home for Christmas. If not on Christmas Day, they were there soon afterwords. My cousin Tommy Gene was 15 that year. As soon as he walked into Mammaw's house and saw the new ornament, he exclaimed,

"What in the world is that monstrosity???"

The next year, the angel was firmly back in place, and remained there until Mammaw died in 1987 at the age of 91.

Nobody ever saw the monstrosity again.

(Not actual Monstrosity.)

A Breakthrough

Today is the first day in I don't know how long that I've been able to go the whole day without taking any sort of painkillers. Yippee. My tooth is still a bit sore, and kind of throbs every now and again, but for much of the day, it was not bad enough that I felt the need to take an analgesic.

I finished a third hat this evening while watching Heroes.



This one is going to be for my nephew Nate. I did this one a little differently by knitting it in the round rather than knitting it flat and sewing up a seam. I don't like the way the ribbing turned out. It is too loose. I don't knit in the round too often, so I guess it's a learning process. I've got one more to do. After looking at the one I knit for baby Paul, I think it will be too big for a newborn. So it will be for Andrew. The problem is, there just aren't that many newborn hat patterns out there that use worsted weight yarn. But that's the only size the hunter orange color comes in.

I've got a mouse in my new house. Even with all the snakes and a cat about, he is still rather bold. He ran down the hall and into the living room with Cody and me sitting right there watching TV. I've got some mousetraps out, but so far, he has managed to sidestep them. I just hope I can catch him before he starts chewing holes in my walls.

Picture of the Day: Stealth bomber makes an appearance at the Greenville Ms. air show and balloon festival, Sept. 10, 2005

Autumn

It's my favorite time of year.

Birthday Sky

This is the sky I woke up to on my Saturday birthday. It stormed all night last night, but I was so tired I didn't even hear it. I slept like a rock. I guess since my tooth was hurting so badly that I didn't sleep well for the last few weeks, I'm making up for it now that I'm about 98% pain free.

Once the rains passed, though, a strong north wind blew all day, and by afternoon the skies looked like this:and the temps had dropped into the low 40's. Perfect weather for making another Hunter Orange hat. This one is for baby Paul, who is not due until January but is getting a hat for Christmas anyway. Two down, and two to go...

Yes, I did have a birthday cake today. It was delicious. It followed a wonderful meal of mixed meat gumbo at B and J's house. There was shrimp, crab, and sausage in the gumbo and it was delicious. I'm going to go get leftovers tomorrow...

Here is the cake,
Cody and I enjoying our cake,

and B and J definitely enjoying their cake.

When I wasn't eating, I got over to the old house and got the kitchen completely cleaned out. I got several more things moved over to the new house, and lots more stuff I'm not keeping boxed up. A coworker of mine came over Thursday night and got several boxes of stuff that I donated to her church's rummage sale. I told her that if I'd known a little farther ahead of time, I'd have had about twice as much. Though it is slow going, I'm beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Slider shed this morning--or rather last night. I fed him this afternoon, but forgot to measure him before hand. Now I'll have to wait a couple of days before I can mess with him so he doesn't upchuck his rat.

I didn't watch much in the way of football today. I was too busy packing up in the old house. I did watch a quarter and a half of the Auburn-Georgia game, just long enough to see that Georgia pretty much had the game wrapped up. Well, Saturday's a day for working, but Sunday is a day of rest, knitting, and football.

I'm looking forward to it.
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Finished One

This one is for my brother in law. The rest will go much quicker since they will be much smaller. This is Bernat Camouflage yarn in Hunter Orange colorway. I must say I was very disappointed in this yarn. Throughout the skein, there were several thick, lumpy spots. I was constantly having to cut and rejoin the yarn. Very irritating. I was going to send an e-mail to the Bernat company, but apparently they don't have one. They only have a snail mail addy on their website.

My jaw and tooth are marginally better today, but we had a bit of a scare when I read about massive acetaminophen recall. I had just bought a huge bottle of the stuff, and was sucking it down like candy. After checking my batch number, though, I determined that my bottle was safe and went back to gleefully inhaling the stuff.

Cody's algebra teacher sent home a weekly progress report, and his grade this week has come up. He is still failing, but it has come up.

Well, I'm off to cast on the next hat.

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Lesson for Today:

No matter how much you like the stuff, and no matter how much you need the protein to keep your blood sugar from dropping too low, and no matter that it is the only thing even remotely healthy in the snack machine at work, it is still not a good idea to eat a whole pack of beef jerky the day after you get major dental work done, even if it is only a snack size pack.

The dentist said my tooth would be achy and sore for a few days, and he was right. I have been absolutely miserable today. What hurts the worst is the spot where he injected the deadening. But it already seems like it is getting better, after just 24 hours. It is still achy and sore, but not like it was yesterday, or even earlier today.

Cody brought home his progress report yesterday. He is failing two classes and has C's in the other three. If he would just do his work, he'd be making all A's and B's. On these progress reports, they print out all the grades the teachers use for finding the student's average. In English he has three 100s, a 93, a 92, and eight 0's. Yes, that's right eight zeros.

Eight.

Zeros.

He is now grounded from everything but breathing. And homework.



Today's Pic: Bradford Pear tree in the fall. Grenada Lake, Mississippi November 2006
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Startitis

I've had a really bad case of startitis lately.

Startitis n. the habit of starting new knitting projects before the previously started projects are completed.

If you're a crafter, you know what I'm talking about.


It all started with my new Lonesome Skein project

which was this scarf knit from Red Heart Strata self patterning yarn, and using a pattern I found on the Yarn Harlot's blog:

Then I found this pattern, and couldn't wait to start knitting it.

Everything was going along really well. I was enjoying knitting this beautiful scarf from some leftover fingering weight yarn, when I realized how close Christmas has gotten. I decided to make my brother in law and nephews matching hunter orange sock hats as part of their Christmas presents, since they live in Alaska. I only got this far

on my brother in law's hat when I received the news that my cousin had passed on. So I started a prayer shawl for my aunt. There is a specific Prayer Shawl pattern out there, which has repetitions of stitches in multiples of three. As you knit each group of three, you are supposed to pray, "In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit". I liked the idea of that, and to add to it I could pray the names of my cousin's three children, or of his mother and two sisters. However, after only a couple of rows, I realized that I just didn't like how it looked.

So I decided to start over. And of course, the first step to that is finding a pattern I did like.

Finally, after much searching, I found this beautiful pattern that I could knit from stash.

It didn't take me long, however, to figure out that knitting this would take longer than I wanted to wait to give it to her. I still love the pattern, and want to finish the scarf eventually, but I needed something that would knit up more quickly.

Thanks to one of my fellow Lonesome Skeiners, I started this Simple, Yet Effective Shawl:

It is knitting up fairly quickly--I just started it last night, and the pattern just seems to fit. The randomness of the stripes represent the uncertainty of life, while the warmth and softness of the shawl represent God's love surrounding us during the difficult times.

So, that is five projects started in the last three weeks, with none of them even close to being finished. I'll bring you updates as further developments occur...

In other news, I went to the dentist to get my tooth fixed this afternoon. It was a very deep cavity/break, and he put what is called a sensitivity filling in it. He said that hopefully this would fix my tooth, and in about 5 weeks, he will put a permanent filling over that. If it doesn't, my options are a root canal or a tooth extraction. That is a worst case scenario, but we have to keep in mind that it may occur. He told me to start thinking about what I wanted to do, just in case we had to go that route, but I don't have to think. If this filling doesn't work, I know what I want to do.

My mind is already made up.

The tooth has got to go.

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Snake Photos

So if you're scared of snakes, you might want to skip this one. But I had Cindy's son in mind when I decided to post these most recent photos of my snakes.

Sunset--amelanistic corn snake, male, 2 1/2 years old

Snow--snow corn snake, female, 2 1/2 years old

Scarlett--bloodred corn snake, female, 1 year old, my problem child

Blaze--amelanistic corn snake heterozygous for the lavendar trait, male, 1 year old

Onyx--California King snake, banded phase, male, 2 1/2 years old

Slider--ball python, unknown gender, approximately 2-3 years old

Monty--ball python, male, 1 1/2 years old


I hope you enjoyed this trip down reptile lane. Now I really must get back to my knitting...
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Appliance Repair Woes

The washing machine repairman didn't show up again today. I called them back and the lady in the office told me he was working that way. About an hour later, I got a phone call from Matt, the repairman from HOULKA APPLIANCE REPAIR stating that he'd ordered a part for my washer and it had been backordered. First off, I asked him how he knew what was wrong with my washer when he hadn't even been out to look at it. He said, "Well, you said it wouldn't come on. That usually means it's the timer and motor." Basically, he is guessing. He said as soon as the part came in, he would call me and let me know. I asked him how long it would take, because I've already been waiting two weeks. He said he didn't know. The part could be in today, or it could be in Friday. He just didn't know.

I'd just about had enough, so I fired off this little beauty of an e-mail to the GE company:

Dear GE company,

Two months ago, I purchased a brand new GE washer, model number WDSR2080DAWW. After only approximately 6 weeks, it quit working. When I pulled the knob to turn it on, nothing happened. I came to the GE.com website and requested a service call. The site gave me the name and number of a service contractor, Houlka Appliance Repair, phone number 1-662-568-7014, and informed me that he would contact me with 1-2 business days to set up an appointment. I waited three days and no one called. I then called the GE 800 number to request a service call, thinking maybe there had been a glitch in the computer system. I spoke with a very polite young man who set me up another service call and again informed me that Houlka appliance repair would contact me within a specified time. When they didn't, I finally called them and set up an appointment and a back up appointment, in case he couldn't get to me the first day. He never showed up for either one, and didn't call to inform me as to why he didn't show. Thinking he was just very busy, I waited another day, then called them back and set up a THIRD appointment. Five hours after the third appointment came and went, he finally called me, saying he'd gotten hung up on another job, and asked if he could come another day. I told him it was OK, but he never showed up for the FOURTH appointment, and this time he didn't call or anything.

Today, I called them back and was told by someone in the office, "He's working that way." I asked her if he would be here today, and she responded that yes, he would. About an hour later, I was called by Matt, who informed me that he'd ordered a part for my washer and it was back ordered and he didn't know when it would be here, but he'd call me and let me know. I asked him how he knew what was wrong with my washer when he hadn't even been out to look at it. He essentially said that he was guessing. I asked him how long it would take for the part to arrive, and he said he didn't know. It could be here today, or it could be here Friday. He just didn't know.

I have been waiting two weeks for someone to come fix my brand new GE washer that shouldn't be broken in the first place. And now I'm told I will have to wait even longer. I know you may say that he's a contractor and you don't really have any control over what he does, but he represents your company, and frankly he's making General Electric look bad. And frankly, the whole situation is making me seriously reconsider ever purchasing a GE product in the future.

Thank you for your attention in this matter.

Sincerely,

R**************
A former GE customer

That ought to get a fire lit under someone's pants.

A Football Kind of Weekend

Yeah, it's been a football kind of weekend this weekend. First off, yesterday we watched Miss State defeat the U of Alabama Crimson Tide in Tuscaloosa. It was the bulldogs' first win on the road in 6 years. Six years to the day, as a matter of fact.

Then we watched a few minutes of Notre Dame running away from the North Carolina Tarheels. The score was something like 35-14 in the second quarter when I switched over to watch Bob Ross on PBS. Later on, I caught the tail end of the LSU-Tenn game. Cody is a big LSU fan and we were thrilled to see Jamarcus Russell throw a game winning touchdown with 5 seconds left in the game.

Today was a day for pro football. Probably the wierdest game was the Washington-Dallas game. With the score tied and 5 seconds left on the clock, Dallas attempted a field goal. It was blocked and Washington recovered. There was no time left, but Dallas had committed a face mask foul, so Washington was allowed one untimed down. They scored a game winning field goal with no time on the clock. It was just so odd...

Now, we're watching Peyton Manning and his Colts play against Tom Brady and the Patriots. I'm a big Peyton Manning fan, I think because he reminds me so much of old Roger Staubach, who was the greatest quarterback the game has ever known.

But enough of football, if there is such a thing...

The Sunday sky was so beautiful today I just had to post it. It was like this nearly all day long.




After church, Cody and I drove around trying to find some fall color. There wasn't much. We got this pic behind the elementary school:

And this one behind the upper elementary school:

And this one down by the lake.

Finally, as the sun sank, and the last light faded from the day, I was able to capture one last sky shot:

November Calendar

In my wanderings through blogland, I found out that Chappy's Mom is having a November Calendar Contest. Just post a picture of whatever picture is on your calendar for November and leave a comment over on her blog.

Here is my entry:

Busy Saturday

I actually got up in time to catch the Saturday morning sunrise. Unfortunately, the camera just doesn't capture what the eye can see.

A little later in the day, this is what it looked like. We don't get much fall color around here. Usually the leaves go straight from green to brown, but this one tree has turned a bright red. Cody says the trees out by the elementary school are gorgeous, so I may ride out there tomorrow afternoon, and go by the lake on the way.

The men from the trailer house company came out today and worked on my home. They got several things fixed, and were here about 3 hours. I was glad when they left. I just can't seem to relax when there are strangers in my home. They were real nice and quite friendly, but I was still glad when they left. Now if only the washing machine repairman would show up.

Good news is Onyx ate for only the second time since July! July 8th to be exact. Imagine how svelte I'd be if I had his willpower.

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