Saturday Sky

Enamored

I have now become quite enamored of little three inch mitered squares.

Still, the lace is beginning to whisper my name. Cody is going hunting tomorrow, so I think I'll spend the day knitting lace and mitered squares. And watching chick flicks. I haven't done that in a while.

I finally got Scarlett into her new tank, though I don't have a stand for it. She, and the tank, are sitting on the floor for the time being. When I get my tax refund, I am going to head up to the pet store and get one.

I posted this picture a few days ago on my other blog. I just liked it, so for those of you who don't visit the other one, here it is.

Surprise Project

It appears that the surprise has been let slip, so I guess I can show you what the project is.

You know that guy Machosauce? He's the one who makes those cool videos, like this one:



Well, a bunch of us ladies on Ravelry are so totally enamored of Mr. Machosauce, we are making him a sock yarn blankie. We are each making a couple of squares, then a couple of ladies--braver than me--will sew them all together and send it to him and his wife. Yes, he knows it's coming. That's why I can tell you.

Here are my two squares:




It has been a good experience for me. I, the one who seeks out the most complicated lace pattern available, have always been intimidated by the ubiquitous mitered square. Once I had motivation to sit down and do one, I found that they were so easy, I swatched for my own blankie.

Mine is going to be made up of three inch squares, rather than the 6" squares we did for Zo. It's going to take a while, since I don't have that much left over sock yarn. It doesn't take much to make a square, but still, I don't have very much, nor very much variety. I'll have to work on it over time, as I accumulate more sock yarns.

Unless I can find some friends who want to send me all their little scraps of sock yarn.

Ha ha...

Sixth Photo Meme Redux

Cindy tagged me to do the sixth photo meme. I did it once, not too long ago, decided to go ahead and post it again, since I've been tinkering with my photo albums, and the picture isn't the same.

This is one of those whirligig yard ornament things. Shortly after this picture was taken, it became prey to Rylea's puppy teeth. I'm not real fond of this picture, and it would likely have been deleted, had I gotten around to it.

I'm supposed to tag some people, but I'm not going to mention any names. If you're reading this, consider yourself tagged.

Cutting Up Deer Meat

If you're faint of heart, or of stomach, you might want to skip this one...


I'm ready, just hand me a knife...


Well, are ya gonna let me cut or not?

Yeah, finally, a sharp object and something to use it on.


This is fun.


Where's my meat?

The end result

MMM MMM good!

On The One Hand

lace is calling me



But on the other hand, so is a surprise project.


Can't tell you any more just yet.

On the other hand, bed is starting to call pretty loudly, too.

I think bed's going to win out.

After just one more row...

Restless Sunday

Without any football to watch, I haven't really known what to do with myself today. I usually go through this every year when football season draws to a close. It takes some adjusting. And counting down until September...

The good news is, I took the other antenna back to Wal-mart and picked up a new co-ax. I got the quad shield optimized for digital co-ax and my channels come in crystal clear. Well, except for PBS, but I never really got good reception anyway. I get three PBS channels now, though, and they all show different shows.

My but this post is boring, kind of like my day has been. Here's a photo:

Kudos to anyone who can tell me what it is.

This About Says It All

Saturday Sky

And magnet boards!


They came in the mail this morning and have made my shawl knitting so much easier. I had two already, but was having to put one page of charts on the back side, thus having to flip the board back and forth. I don't have to do that any more, and I'm moving right along. I'm still messing up fairly regularly, but usually that consists of adding a yarn over where one doesn't belong, or omitting one where it does belong. Both are easily fixed, and I've become quite adept at picking up the strand between stitches.

On the DTV front, I packed the new antenna back up and took it back to the store. On a whim, I bought a set of digital rabbit ears to see if they would work better. No dice. Well, they worked better than the one I'd bought Friday, but I still wasn't able to pick up all my channels. I packed them up and will take them back tomorrow. But before I did, I hooked the co-ax that came with the new antenna up to my old antenna. Worked like a charm! I re-tuned my converter box, and was able to pick up all 12 channels that I'd had before. So when I take the rabbit ears back tomorrow, I'll pick up a new co-ax, and we should be in business.

Cans

I posted this photo on my Project 365 blog, and I thought some of you might appreciate the story behind it.

The church I attend supports a church in Mexico. The people down there are very poor, and cannot even afford to pay their pastor a living wage. Years ago, so long I don't even remember when they started, my church found this little Mexican church and began helping them out. Not just sending them money. Every summer a group of our church members would go down to Mexico and work on this church. They practically built the church building and the pastor's home. They also did Bible Schools for the kids.

In those days, there was an old man in my church whom everyone called Mister Ted. Mister Ted was in his mid 80s and had some pretty serious health problems. He was also in a fixed income, and didn't have a lot of disposable cash. But Mister Ted went on these mission trips to Mexico faithfully until his health would no longer permit it. He collected and sold cans to raise enough money to finance his trips.

When some members of the church found out that Mister Ted was collecting cans, they began saving and bring him their cans. Every Sunday would find Wal-mart sacks full of cans left by the back door of the church for Mister Ted to take home. Soon, so many bags were being brought that Mister Ted put up a portable pen for people to leave the sacks in. Eventually, a trailer was built just for these cans.

Mister Ted has since passed on, but what he started continues to this day. People of the church still bring their drink cans and leave them in the trailer. The church still sells the cans back to the scrap metal yard. Every penny of this can money goes to support, in one way or another, that little church down in Mexico.

Every life that pastor touches. Every child that little church brings hope to. Every person those people reach out to. That is Mister Ted's legacy.

A Day Of Disappointments

I was disappointed that neither Talkin Cowboys nor the Lunch Break broadcast today. I consoled myself by watching this and this. And this.

I was sorely disappointed in the new Indiana Jones movie. I liked the first three, but this one seemed too cartoony. I know the others had supernatural elements in them, but they were at least believable. This one reminded me of some of those badly animated Japanese cartoons. It was just bad.

I was disappointed in my knitting. I'd messed up somewhere and couldn't figure out what I'd done wrong. I ended up tinking (that's un knitting for you non knitters out there) and reknitting a row and a half to fix my mistake. I know that doesn't sound like much, but I'm to the point that there are multiple hundreds of stitches on each row.

I was disappointed in the new antenna I bought for my TV. This one was supposed to be specially designed for digital signals. I was really hoping it would not only improve my reception, but would also simplify the convoluted mess of multiple antennas I need now to pick up all my channels. When I hooked the new antenna up, I could not pick up a single channel. Not one. Not only that, when I'd unhooked it, packed it back up to take back to the store, one of my old antennas was no longer working. I believe the problem is in either the co-ax or the amplifier. Tomorrow when I take the other antenna back, I'm going to see if Radio Shack has another amplifier. If not, I may just buy a whole new antenna--a different kind.

I was going to do my taxes, only to discover that Wal-mart no longer carries the tax program I use.

My mail carrier folded my Dallas Cowboys Star magazine in half before stuffing it into my mailbox.



On the bright side, someone gave me a gold dragon egg!(Click it , please)



But the dragon site I post to is down. What else can go wrong?

I'm really wishing I hadn't put that package of Oreos back...

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WIP Wednesday

Yeah, I know it's Thursday, but I was supposed to post this yesterday and didn't. So what you have here is a belated WIP Wednesday.

1. Mystic Waters--I'm about a third of the way through chart E. They go through I.

Here is a close up of the stitch pattern:


2. Trekking Is For Necking--They are a few inches longer, but the shawl has been taking up most of my time and attention.


3. Branching Out #2--Also taking a back seat to the shawl, but I got a few pattern repeats done.

4. Longhorn Socks-- The pattern is Express Lane. No progress this week. Like everything else, they are being supplanted by the shawl obsession.

That's it. I can't believe I only have 4 active WIPs. Well, there's 5 if you count each of the Trekking scarves, but since I'm doing them at the same time, I don't. Makes me want to cast on something else.

In the yard, the daffodils are also slowly making progress. There'll be blooms in a couple of weeks.


Not much else is going on, unless you want to hear about house cleaning. We have been off all this week due to plant shutdown, and I've really gotten the house clean. Well, it's somewhere above total squalor now. Being off has also made me a bit lazy, which is why I think I can't get my brain to function. I've got stuff to blog about, but when I sit down at the keyboard, I find I just don't wanna.

Other than that, I could totally handle this staying at home thing.

Light Blogging

Though I have several posts rattling around my usually empty head, lace knitting has become the all consuming obsession.

I was watching a rerun of the old TV series CHiPS. Roosevelt Grier was a guest star on that particular episode. I don't know if they ever gave the name of his character or not, but I recognized him right away. Anyway, he's a big man, and he was driving down the highway in a tiny little car. I didn't get the make and model, but it was about the size of a Volkswagon Rabbit. He was speeding down the road saying to himself, "I'm so late. I told Mama I'd be there on time, and I'm late". Suddenly his car starts spewing dense, black smoke, and he says, "Oh, now I broke my little car."

Well, the CHiPs pull him over, and while they are writing him his ticket, he destroys his little car with his bare hands. He rips the doors off, breaks the windows, kicks the headlights in, pulls the seats out, and tears the steering wheel off--not to mention all the dents and stuff from kicking and hitting the car.

I don't know what it was about that scene. I think it was supposed to be funny, but to me it just seemed so sad. It started when he said that he'd broke his little car, and just got worse from there.

The whole scene just made me sad.

So here's a bluebird of happiness.

Taken this morning, looking out my back window.

The Reject

This is the photo I wanted to post on my Project 365 blog, but when I looked closely, I found it to be out of focus. So you get to see it here.

I really liked this one, but there seems to be just a bit of camera shake. What can I say? It was 20' out there!

I Am A

My Conservative Identity:

You are a Faith-Based Fighter, also known as a religious conservative. You believe in Judeo-Christian values, restoring God’s rightful place in the public square, and in showing all the unwashed and unsaved liberal sinners the path to salvation, or at least to the GOP.

Take the quiz at www.FightLiberals.com

That Didn't Take Long

The man's just been inaugurated, and Iranians are already burning him in effigy.

So to speak.

(AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

They sure didn't waste any time.

Project 365

There's this thing out there called Project 365. I'd heard of it before, but it sounded like too much commitment. The short version is, you take a photograph every single day of the year and post it. That's it. But the thing is, you take a photograph every day. You can't just take a week's worth on Saturday and post one each day.

I'd thought about trying it, but I was afraid I'd forget, then just run out and take a crappy photo just to have something to post.

But it does sound intriguing. I thought maybe I could try it on a smaller scale. Like maybe a month. Or a week. Or days when blog fodder is lacking...like today.

So here is today's photo. Yes, the sky really did look like this. At least for a time. But don't let it fool you--it was cold out there!


You know what, I think I'm going to give her a go. As long as it doesn't become a burden, that is. I'll be posting my photos over on my old Summer Photo Project blog, which will be renamed accordingly.

You can join me if ya want.

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Championship Sunday

There will be one less name on the list of teams that have never played in a Superbowl.

(Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)

Kurt Wariner led the Arizona Cardinals to victory in the NFC Championship game, and to the franchise's first ever Superbowl appearance. Their opponent will be the Pittsburgh Steelers.

I don't think this Cowboy fan could have handled a Philadelphia - Pittsburgh Superbowl.

Shawl Progress

It was a bit warmer today than it was yesterday. Highs actually got up into the 50s, whereas yesterday the high was only 30. I eventually got dressed and ventured out to do my weekly grocery shopping. It was gray and drizzly, and still a bit chilly, though I'm beginning to see signs of spring wherever I look.

Signs of Spring:

Daffodils beginning to poke their heads out of their winter beds.

I spent most of the rest of the day watching shows from my Netflix queue on my computer and working on Mystic Waters.


My computer chair is not as comfortable as my recliner, but it's easier to work on the shawl there because I can spread my pattern out on my desk. Speaking of, Abigail has just made my life so much easier. She posted a link to these Magnetic chart holders. I have two already, but have been unable to find more locally. I have just ordered three more. They will make my dealing with those myriad of charts in Mystic Waters so much more doable. I'm thinking I should have ordered 4.

I am almost back to where I was when I ripped the whole thing out. It's going fairly quickly, mostly because lace can quite easily become an obsession. In fact, I'm going to leave you now and go work on it some more.

Good night.


Saturday Sky:

Do You Have A Life?

SUPPOSEDLY if you’ve seen over 85 films, you have no life.

There are 239 films on this list. Copy this list, go to your own blog, paste this . Then, put x’s next to the films you’ve seen, add them up, change the header adding your number, and click post at the bottom. Have fun.

( ) Rocky Horror Picture Show
( ) Grease
(x) Pirates of the Caribbean
(x) Pirates of the Caribbean 2: Dead Man’s Chest
( ) Boondock Saints
( ) Fight Club
( ) Starsky and Hutch
(x) Neverending Story
( ) Blazing Saddles
(x) Airplane
Total: 4

(x) The Princess Bride
( ) Anchorman
( ) Napoleon Dynamite
( ) Labyrinth
( ) Saw
( ) Saw II
( ) White Noise
( ) White Oleander
( ) Anger Management
(x) 50 First Dates
(x) The Princess Diaries
(x ) The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement
Total so far: 8

() Scream
() Scream 2
() Scream 3
() Scary Movie
() Scary Movie 2
() Scary Movie 3
() Scary Movie 4
() American Pie
() American Pie 2
() American Wedding
() American Pie Band Camp
Total so far: 8

() Harry Potter 1
() Harry Potter 2
() Harry Potter 3
() Harry Potter 4
() Resident Evil 1
() Resident Evil 2
() The Wedding Singer
() Little Black Book
() The Village
() Lilo & Stitch
Total so far: 8

(x) Finding Nemo
(x) Finding Neverland
(x) Signs
(x) The Grinch
() Texas Chainsaw Massacre
() Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning
() White Chicks
() Butterfly Effect
() 13 Going on 30
(x) I, Robot
(x) Robots
Total so far: 14

() Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story
() Universal Soldier
(x) Lemony Snicket: A Series Of Unfortunate Events
(x) Along Came Polly
() Deep Impact
() KingPin
(x) Never Been Kissed
() Meet The Parents
() Meet the Fockers
()Eight Crazy Nights
() Joe Dirt
(x) KING KONG (The Original)
Total so far: 18

() A Cinderella Story
(x) The Terminal
() The Lizzie McGuire Movie
() Passport to Paris
() Dumb & Dumber
() Dumber & Dumberer
() Final Destination
() Final Destination 2
() Final Destination 3
() Halloween
() The Ring
() The Ring 2
() Surviving X-MAS
() Flubber [the original]
Total so far: 19

() Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle
() Practical Magic
() Chicago
() Ghost Ship
() From ***
() Hellboy
() Secret Window
() I Am Sam
() The Whole Nine Yards
() The Whole Ten Yards
Total so far: 19

() The Day After Tomorrow
(x) Child’s Play
() Seed of Chucky
() Bride of Chucky
() Ten Things I Hate About You
() Just Married
() Gothika
() Nightmare on Elm Street
() Sixteen Candles
(x) Remember the Titans
(x) Coach Carter
() The Grudge
() The Grudge 2
() The Mask
() Son Of The Mask
total so far: 22

() Bad Boys
() Bad Boys 2
() Joy Ride
() Lucky Number Slevin
() Ocean’s Eleven
() Ocean’s Twelve
() Bourne Identity
() Bourne Supremecy
() Lone Star
() Bedazzled
() Predator
() Predator II
( ) The Fog
(x) Ice Age
(x) Ice Age 2: The Meltdown
() Curious George
Total so far: 24

(x) Independence Day
() Cujo
() A Bronx Tale
() Darkness Falls
() Christine
(x) ET
() Children of the Corn
() My Bosses Daughter
(x) Maid in Manhattan
() War of the Worlds
() Rush Hour
() Rush Hour 2
Total so far: 27

() Best Bet
(x) How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days
() She’s All That
() Calendar Girls
() Sideways
() Mars Attacks
() Event Horizon
(x) Ever After
(x) Wizard of Oz
(x) Forrest Gump
() Big Trouble in Little China
() The Terminator
() The Terminator 2
() The Terminator 3
Total so far: 31

() X-Men
() X-2
() X-3
(x) Spider-Man
(x) Spider-Man 2
(x ) Sky High
() Jeepers Creepers
() Jeepers Creepers 2
() Catch Me If You Can
(x) The Little Mermaid
(x) Freaky Friday (the original)
(x) Reign of Fire
() The Skulls
( ) Cruel Intentions
() Cruel Intentions 2
() The Hot Chick
(x) Shrek
(x) Shrek 2
Total so far: 39

() Swimfan
(x) Miracle on 34th street
() Old School
(x) The Notebook
() K-Pax
() Krippendorf’s Tribe
(x) A Walk to Remember
(x) Ice Castles
() Boogeyman
(x) The 40-year-old Virgin
Total so far: 44

(x) Lord of the Rings Fellowship of the Ring
(x) Lord of the Rings The Two Towers
(x) Lord of the Rings Return Of the King
(x) Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark
(x) Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
(x) Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
Total so far: 50

() Baseketball
() Hostel
() Waiting for Guffman
() House of 1000 Corpses
() Devils Rejects
() Elf
() Highlander
() Mothman Prophecies
() American History X
() Three
Total so Far: 50

() The Jacket
() Kung *** Hustle
(x) Shaolin Soccer
() Night Watch
(x) Monsters Inc.
(x) Titanic
(x) Monty Python and the Holy Grail
() Shaun Of the Dead
() Willa74
Total so far: 53

() High Tension (Haute Tension)
() Club Dread
() Hulk
() Dawn Of the Dead
(x) Hook
(x) Chronicles Of Narnia: The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe
() 28 days later
() Orgazmo
() Phantasm
() Waterworld
Total so far: 55

() Kill Bill vol 1
() Kill Bill vol 2
() Mortal Kombat
() Wolf Creek
() Kingdom of Heaven
() the Hills Have Eyes
() I Spit on Your Grave aka the Day of the Woman
() The Last House on the Left
() Re-Animator
() Army of Darkness
Total so far: 55

(x) Star Wars Ep. I The Phantom Menace
(x) Star Wars Ep. II Attack of the Clones
(x) Star Wars Ep. III Revenge of the Sith
(x) Star Wars Ep. IV A New Hope
(x) Star Wars Ep. V The Empire Strikes Back
(x) Star Wars Ep. VI Return of the Jedi
() Ewoks Caravan Of Courage
() Ewoks The Battle For Endor
Total so far: 61

() The Matrix
() The Matrix Reloaded
() The Matrix Revolutions
() Animatrix
() Evil Dead
() Evil Dead 2
() Team America: World Police
() Red Dragon
(x) Silence of the Lambs
() Hannibal
Total: 62

Dilemma

While I was at work today, I had a nice, long, interesting post all composed in my mind. I was going to tell you all about something that happened to me while I was in the Navy. However, when I sat down to type it out, all I could remember of the story was, "While I was in the Navy..." So, I will try to remember what I was going to tell you about, and post it at a later date. In the meantime, here is a pretty picture.

I call this one Winter Sky.


A while ago, we did this meme. Post what is on your desktop. Mine is set to rotate every so often. Here is my current desktop.

I'm tagging everyone who reads this.

My epizoodies are a lot better today. I think what I needed most was a good night's sleep. Which I sort of got. Except the times the cat woke me up crawling across my face. No, she doesn't normally sleep in the bed with me, but last night was supposed to be cold, so I let her in. Tonight is supposed to be even colder. They're forecasting down to 12'. That's cold, no matter where you live.

Now, just so the epizoodies don't get ahold of me again, I think I'll take my desktop and go crawl under the covers.

Without the cat.

.

Epizoodies

I don't really know how to spell it, I just know I've got it.

So I'm going to bed early.

Really,

I am.

I'm not kidding.

I'm going to bed.

Right now.

Goodbye.


Still there?

I'm leaving this time.

I'm going to bed.

Goodbye.

Stop reading.

Seriously.

I'm going to bed.

Now.

Goodbye.

Why are you still here?

I said I was going to bed, and I mean it this time.

Really.

I mean it.

Goodbye.



Goodbye.


For real this time.

Goodbye.


*sheesh*

What I Have To Say

may surprise some of you, shock others, and have some of you rolling your eyes and thinking, "There she goes again."

But before I get to that, let me thank Leslie, Ruth, Sus, and Lou for commenting on my post yesterday. In the three years I've been blogging, I'd never gone so long without a post receiving a single comment, yet in my last seven posts, I'd only received one comment. Ironically enough, it was just to say, "No comment." I'd begun to feel just a little bit deserted. Thank you for sticking with me, even through the down times.

And now, back to today's regularly scheduled post...

What I have to say may surprise some of you, shock others, and have some of you rolling your eyes and thinking, "There she goes again."

So what is this surprising, shocking, eye roll inducing news? Just this...I frogged the Mystic Waters last night. Every last bit of it. Down to the very last tangled bit of yarn. I cast on again and started over. I finished Chart A today, and have started Chart B.

So why did I rip it out, just to start it right back over? A couple of reasons--neither of which was the mistake I mentioned finding. One, I just wasn't feeling any continuity between what I'd knitted before and what I was knitting now. Everything seemed disjointed. Like it just wasn't right. So I started over, hoping to attain more of a rhythm. A flow. A connection, if you will.

Secondly, and probably more importantly, I'd started this shawl as a KAL* with a long time blogging friend. For reasons she never chose to explain, this person had suddenly decided to discontinue our friendship. No explanation, no goodbye, no nothing. She just unfriended me, both on Ravelry and on Facebook, and has stopped coming by the blog. It was soon after that that I set the shawl aside.

When I started working on it again, I was hoping to put this behind me, but I found I just couldn't. Picking the shawl up--knitting on it--every stitch became a painful reminder of this severed relationship. By ripping it and starting over, I was making this my project, instead of our project.

This is also a big factor in my melancholy of the last few days. The lack of comments was making me wonder if all my friends were deserting me. I'm glad to know that at least 4 of you are still out there!

To tell you the truth, I am pretty sure I know why she deserted me, even though she didn't have the decency to face me about it. It was over a difference of opinion. I do have strong opinions about certain things--politics, though I mostly keep them off my blog, and football--which is one of my main blog topics. I do hope all of you know that you can come here and disagree with me, provided you can discuss the topic in a rational, adult manner and not resort to name calling, trash talking, or personal attacking. Oh, and that you don't hide behind the anonymous label, because I won't take you seriously if you do that.

Posting anonymously is such a cowardly thing to do, don't you think?

*KAL--Knit A Long--an activity in which two or more people knit the same project at the same time.

Delurking Day

Today is Delurking Day. If any of you are out there, I'd sure appreciate if you would let me know. The lack of comments here lately is really getting discouraging. Am I really that boring that all my readers have abandoned me?

Still plugging away at Mystic Waters.


Boo. When I posted this picture, I noticed a mistake . It's several rows down, and I don't think it's one I can drop down and fix. I guess the real question is, do I really want to rip back 30 rows and fix it, or pretend I didn't see it.

I think once I've blocked the shawl, it won't be all that noticeable. I'll just leave it.

Hello?

Is anyone out there?

Digital TV

Next month, TV broadcasting will go all digital. The debate was that my TV is 14 years old. Do I buy a converter box, only to have my TV go out in another few months? Or do I spend the money on a new TV. We really wanted a new TV. We'd planned on getting one, but then we were cut back to 4 days a week at work. I told Cody, "I just can't justify spending $500 or $600 on a new TV when I can't put groceries on the table."

Thus, the digital converter:


It sat around the house for a couple of months, and just today, I finally got it hooked up. I've managed to find all of my regular channels except for CBS. Weird thing is, I can get them on my rabbit ears, but not with my digital converter box. I hope before the switch next month, I can find them.

As for football, I was 0 for 4 today in my picks. Well, not totally. I wanted the Chargers to win, but didn't really expect them to. Still, I got to see my boy Jacob Hester make a first down. He's the only reason I sort of root for the Bolts anyway.

That's pretty much been my Sunday. That, and knitting a few more rows on my Mystic Waters shawl. Cody is watching the Golden Globe awards, something I have absolutely no interest in whatsoever. I'm feeding snakes. I've got one more, then I'm done for this week. Well, I guess I'd better go get his rat ready.

Until tomorrow, God bless.

Divisional Saturday

It poured down rain most of the day today, which made it a perfect day to stay indoors and knit. And watch playoff games, of course. This weekend is the divisional round. I'm 0 for 2 on my predictions today, but secretly kinda glad the Cardinals won. I hope I do better tomorrow.

Of all of my LSU players from last year who went pro, two are still in the hunt, as of this writing. Those would be Early Doucet and Jacob Hester. I'd love to see those two meet in the Superbowl.

Cody was reading Sports Illustrated the other day, and there was a paragraph on some Colts defender. He was commenting on this article, and in the course of his conversation said, "As dedicated a Colts fan as I am..." I immediately guffawed, "Dedicated fan? You? You won't even sit down and watch a game!"

"I'm still a dedicated fan," he replied.

No child. You become a dedicated fan when you sit through every last second of a 44 to 6 thrashing, and still don't take your Jason Witten jersey off. You become a dedicated fan when your once Superbowl favorite team fails to make the playoffs, and you still wonder where you can go to get a star tattooed on your butt. You become a dedicated fan when you are not just there for the 13 and 3 seasons, but for the 1 and 15 seasons as well. Calling yourself a dedicated fan doesn't make you one. It's something you have to earn.

Knitting Content: I started working on Mystic Waters again. It's a pain having to go from page to page to read the charts, but I'm making progress. I worked on my Trekking scarves during the ball games. I needed something I didn't have to keep looking at a pattern to work on. Those fit the bill quite nicely.

Saturday Sky:

WIP Update

For your knitting content, an update on my WIP list, which I first posted a couple of weeks ago...

1. Mystic Waters--no progress. It's starting to call my name, but the thought of all those charts, in all those pieces...It's a bit off-putting.

2. Trekking Is For Necking--I haven't really worked on them since the last update.


3. Branching Out #2--I think I did one pattern repeat this week. I really need to lay it out and take another picture. By next week, for sure.

4. Longhorn Socks-- The pattern is Express Lane. They are moving right along. I'm almost to the heel, but I don't really like short row heels, so I'm going to find a different one to substitute.


5. Cowboys scarf--It's finished.


6. A Washcloth--completed

Good News and Bad News

The good news is I got to work today. This will be the first full five day week I've worked since--I think August it was. The bad news is, I'm no longer used to working five day weeks, so I'm really tired.

I didn't make it all the way through the game last night, either. I'm not a fan of either of those teams. In my case, who to root for depended mostly on which team I despise less. Florida won out, but only by an eyelash, so I rooted for Florida. I wanted to stay up for the whole game, but by the third quarter, I was fading fast. If I'd had today off, maybe I would have stuck it out, but as I had to work, I went on to bed midway through the third quarter. Cody stayed up and watched. He was rooting for OU, and I pretty much knew how the game was going by hearing him holler. At one point, I had to holler at him to quit hollering because I was trying to sleep. Well, I knew how the game would go once I saw how Florida's defense shut down Sam Bradford. I guess they didn't appreciate the arrogance of OU boasting for the last month about how they were going to hang half a hundred on Florida. Two measly touchdowns. That's all this Heisman Trophy winner could come up with.

I find it funny that of the three teams around which the Big 12 controversy swirled--Texas, Texas Tech, and Oklahoma--the only one that won their bowl game is the one who kept getting overlooked--Texas. Got overlooked in the conference championship. Got overlooked in the Heisman race. Got over looked in the National Championship. Got overlooked in the AP All-American first team. Got overlooked in the AP Player of the Year. All of those awards went to either Sam Bradford or Graham Harrell. And poor Colt McCoy got left out in the cold. I guess it just goes to show that in college football, winning doesn't mean a blamed thing.

Just This Once

I am part of the Gator Nation.

But only for tonight.


Go Gators!

I Almost Forgot

to blog, that is. I was just about ready to head for bed--early tonight--and realized that I hadn't posted. So here it is.

I had the loveliest dream a couple of nights ago. It was just like a movie.

I dreamed I was able to travel through space and time through portals in the continuum. Every door could be a portal. I would get into an elevator, and when I got out, I'd be in a completely different place in a completely different era. Or those revolving doors--I would go into one in, say, New York in the winter and when I came out, I'd be back on my college campus in the spring. I had no control over where and when I went.

Anyway, in one place and time, I met a man and we fell very much in love. We were planning our future together, but alas, I had to leave the house. As I walked out the door, I stepped through a portal and ended up sometime in the future.

But something happened on that trip through time. I don't know what, but my traveling through time was done. I would never bend the space/time continuum again.

The entire rest of the dream was spent trying to find him, and wondering if he would still remember me. Finally, just before the dream faded, I did find him. He did remember me, and he had waited for me all that time.

Just like in the movies...

(Hey, beats the heck out of the eyeless ghoul who wants to marry me!)

A Quickie

I'm really sleepy tonight, so this'll be a quick one. I did want to show you the dishcloth I knit Sunday while watching the playoffs.

Once I'd finished it, I couldn't even find where the knot was, even though I made note of it when I knit it. So, into the gift drawer it went. The pattern is Pumpkin Dishcloth from Knitwits Heaven. The yarn is Peaches and Creme cotton, colorway sunburst.

And here is the progress I've made on my Longhorn Socks.


The pattern doesn't show up well in this picture, but right now I'm too tired to go take another. And just why am I so tired? Well, I stayed up until nearly 11:00 last night watching the Fiesta Bowl between University of Texas and Ohio State University. And what a game it turned out to be!

Everyone expected a high scoring offensive game, but it ended up being the defenses of both teams that dominated. The scores stayed low--and close. I don't think either team led by more than 4 points at any time during the game. When Ohio State scored their go ahead touchdown with 2:05 left in the game, it was already well after 10:30. Since 5:00 AM waits for no Longhorn, I said, "Well, that's the ball game," and turned off the TV and went to bed.

I should have known better.

A tiny part of me believed that Colt McCoy would be able to score that last minute touchdown, but I didn't want to get my hopes up. Imagine my joy when I got up this morning to find that it was true! (I'll tell you what, that Romo guy had better watch out. He's just about to get knocked out of the top tier of my personal pantheon again.)

Both teams went into the game with something to prove. Ohio State wanted to prove that they really could win the big game--having lost the National Championship game two years in a row. Texas wanted to prove that they really did deserve consideration for a national championship, but they probably won't get it. They'd won over a tough team that played them a tough game, but it's unlikely to impress those who vote for the rankings, because they didn't win "prettily" enough. The way the BCS is done is turning our college athletes into unsportsmanlike, beauty pageant contestants. Ah, but that's a topic for another post--preferably written when I've had more sleep, which won't happen anytime soon if I don't get off of here.

Listening to: Gift of the Magi, by O. Henry. A perennial Christmas favorite, be sure to keep listening after the story is finished. There is an absolutely beautiful piano rendition of Deck The Halls.

OK, I Lied

One more gratuitous Colt McCoy photo

(Photo by Jed Jacobsohn/Getty Images)