Saturday Sundries

The plan was to get up and drive to Columbus.  Christi has been wanting me to come visit, and I'd planned to do so, but in the end, it just didn't happen.  It's been such a hectic week at work that any sort of movement today on my part was out of the question.   Even though the Saturday Sky was a beautiful, cloudless blue

the temperatures were still in the upper 90's, so doing anything outside was out of the question, too.  So, I pretty much stayed inside all day.  The most exciting thing was that yesterday evening my flat iron died.  I'm just glad it died after work, when I could go get a new one without having to go out in public with my hair all sticking out everywhere.

Even my knitting mojo seems to have wilted in the heat.  I need to cast on the second Pixie Dust sock

but it just didn't happen.  I'm part way through the leg of the first Gingerbread House sock

but it didn't reach out and grab me either.  These are both being made with Knit Picks Imagination sock yarn.  I'm telling ya, this yarn ain't it.  I love the color of the Gingerbread House, but the twist is soooo loose that I feel that these socks won't last very long.

Even my Fruit Of The Vine scarf wasn't calling to me.

Nor were the two lace yarns I still have on the needles. So naturally, I did what I always do in these situations.  I cast on something new.

The pattern is Tidal Wave, by Southwest Trading Company.  The pattern was written for their TOFUtsies yarn, but that's not what I'm using.  This is Cherry Tree Hill Supersocke in the limited edition Very Scary colorway.  I've made a pair of these before out of TOFUtsies, but they got huge holes in the heels.  So, we're trying it again.  The mojo is definitely with these.  I cast them on this morning, and am almost ready to turn the heel on the first one.

But that'll have to wait until tomorrow.  I'm going to bed now.

A Way To Give Back

If you've followed the blog for any length of time, you probably remember my short lived and ill fated association with a Yahoo group called Socks for Soldiers.  The purpose of that group was to send soldiers hand knit socks from home.  Oh, I had good intentions, but it just didn't work out.  The group owner was way too much of a control freak.  I mean, seriously, we could only used the yarn SHE approved of, and only the pattern SHE had written, and only the label SHE had designed.  As if that weren't enough, we had to fold and pin the socks just so, and wrap the label around them just so, and make up a darning kit just so, and tuck it behind the label just so...  Even after all that, the way the socks were folded, wrapped, pinned, tucked were never good enough for her, so we had to listen to her constantly complaining that she was having to redo all of them because they weren't just so. 

Throw in a heavily moderated discussion group, in which any and all comments that the owner didn't agree with were either edited or deleted outright, and well, you have the making of a conflict with this free spirit.  I don't do well with control freaks.  Finally, I got fed up and left the group.

I'd always felt bad that it had come to that.  I mean, I really wanted to do something for our fighting men and women overseas.  A lot of that came from remembering how letters and packages were received when I was overseas.  I still remember the frenzy Uncle Lavergne's peanut butter fudge caused, and excitement my shipmates felt when I received a letter from my dad--which I had to read aloud to the entire watch.  But other than that, there is a great sense of gratitude and appreciation I feel for our military members.

I know there are other organizations that send care packages, but none of them touched me.  And there is Soldier's Angels, where you can adopt a soldiers.  I shied away from this one, because I was terribly afraid I would fail to follow through on my commitment.  I used to be a terrific letter writer, but those days are long gone. 

But, just a week or two ago, I found on Facebook a group I can get involved with.  It is sponsored by Green Beans Coffee, and I can buy a cup of coffee for soldiers serving overseas. I have the option of including a note with the coffee I send, but it's not mandatory.  It's just a small thing, but it's something I can do often.   And maybe, just maybe, I'll find someone I can send a care package to.  Yeah, I know, I know.  But if they can face death and destruction every day, then I can suck it up and face...

The Dreaded Post Office.

On the way home from work yesterday, I crossed the bridge over our creek, and noticed just how many dragonflies there are this year. I came home and wrote the following in my fake leather journal with the ribbon marker:

To An American Soldier,

I drove home from work today through a veritable cloud of dragonflies --or mosquito hawks, as we called them growing up in East Texas-- and I thought of you. I wondered if there are dragonflies where you are. I wondered if you have time to stop and marvel at the simple and wonderful things that surround you. I do, and it's because of you. I don't know your name, but in that moment, I thanked God for you. Now, every time I see a dragonfly, I will think of you, and I will pray for you.  I hope that you can see them too, and when you do, you will remember that you are not forgotten. 

Thank you

Now, I'm off to buy my weekly round of joes for our Joes. I hope that you will join me and do the same. It's cheap, it's easy, and it means so much to those who serve.

Dogs On Thursday

What is Rylea so intent on?

The crusts from my roast beef and cheddar sandwich.

 Sorry for the blurry photo, but dadgum that dog is quick!

Yesterday

seems so very far away...but not really.

Yesterday evening, we had some bad storms come through.  Lightning so fast and furious that it seemed like daytime.  Thunder rolling continuously.  Strong winds, heavy rains.  Aaaand the power went out for an hour and a half.  Which is why I didn't get to post this when I'd wanted to.  So, though it is no longer new news, I'm still giving my opinion on the matter.  And just what matter is that?  The matter that is now jokingly being referred to as "Padgate".

Surely you know what I'm talking about.  It's been splashed all over the headlines for the last two days.  Heck, it was even the lead story in Toronto, Canada.  Yes, I am talking about Dez Bryant declining to carry Roy Williams' pads after practice.  Yeah, that...

OK, the first thing you need to understand is something Dez apparently didn't.  This is the Dallas Cowboys.  They always make the news.  If this same thing had happened (as it probably has) on the Detroit Lions or the Rams, Dude, nobody would have known about it.  It wouldn't have been considered newsworthy.  But this is the Dallas Cowboys.  And Dez Bryant.  Throw in a bunch of two bit reporters desperately wanting to become the next Dan "I knew the papers were fake, but I really, really wanted them to be real so I reported the lie as if it were truth" Rather, and what should have been a non-issue suddenly becomes an international incident.

(Tony Gutierrez/AP Photo)

Indeed, the media firestorm surrounding this incident has crossed the border into the realm of the ridiculous.  In the post practice interviews, it's all anyone wanted to ask about.  They badgered poor Jason Witten so much that he finally said he wasn't going to talk about it any more.  So they asked one question about John Phillips, and were right back to the Dez Bryant Shoulder Pad incident. 

For what it's worth, none of Dez's team mates have had anything negative to say about it.  Jason Witten said it's been blown way out of proportion, it's been taken care of, and no it will not affect team chemistry.  Bradie James said Dez didn't do anything wrong.  Roy Williams said it's no big deal.  Even head Coach Wade Phillips said that all this hazing stuff is voluntary, and that nobody on his team has to do anything he doesn't want to.  He reminded reporters that Flozell Adams didn't do any of that stuff his rookie year, and he spent 12 years with the Cowboys, and his team mates respected him plenty enough. Dez himself said that if he'd known the media would get themselves worked up into a mouth foaming frenzy, he'd have carried the blankety blank pads.  Well, he didn't say it exactly like that, but that's the gist of it. 

The reaction among fans ranges from one extreme to another.  Some say he's another T.O and has a real attitude problem.  Others say, good for him.  I suppose your perception of the incident depends largely on which article you read, and what spin that writer put on it.  For example, if you read Shutdown Corner, written by a rabid Cowboy hater who never passes up a chance to sneer at the team, you'll probably be in the Dez Has An Attitude Problem camp.  On the other hand, if you read Les Carpenter, you'll  be in the Good For Dez camp. As in, it's about time someone stood up to the bullying, and face it, that's all hazing is anyway--the politically correct term for bullying.  Funny, isn't it, that the ones who support hazing are not the ones being hazed.  Ahh, but that's a whole nother topic.

To me, the real issue is the media.  This should not have been a story.  It should have never seen the light of day.  It was resolved in house, and that's how it should have been handled.  Now, it's over and the subject should be dropped.  Does Dez have an attitude problem?  That remains to be seen.  You can't make a snap judgment over one isolated incident.  Should he have carried the pads?  It's tradition, but just because something is tradition doesn't mean it's a good thing.  Does demeaning yourself earn you respect?  Somehow, I don't think so.  But when all is said and done, there is one thing I do know. 


Dez just wants to play football.  And I say we let him.

Music Monday

This song really makes me want to forget my Southern Baptistness and get up and dance!!

One More Thing

But first, a knitting update: 

I got a few more squares done on the Friendship Blankie, but now I'm out of yarn again. So, it's back into its bag until I get some more.  What I really need to do is to get some more socks done.  That way, I'll need to buy some more sock yarn, and I'll have more for the blankie.  I know, sock yarn doesn't count as stash, but I'm running out of places to put it. 

And here's the Fruit Of The Vine scarf after 5 pattern repeats.

But what I really wanted to show you is this, the final purchase I made that day I went shopping:

It is, as you can tell, a leather--albeit fake--journal with a ribbon marker.  I'd been admiring it in Wal-mart for weeks, now, but hadn't bought it.  That day, I'd forgotten to get milk, so when I went back into town, I bought it.  I'd already spent scads of money, so I figured, "what's $13 more dollars." 

This may have significance to the blog.  You see, I've been debating with myself for a while now about whether or not I want to keep the blog going.  Nobody's reading.  I get a measly 8-10 hits per day, and most of them are searching for photos of king snakes.  Few hits, and fewer comments.  I know I've always said that I blog for me, not to get readers.  But if nobody's reading, I'd much rather record my thoughts in long hand in a fake leather journal with a ribbon marker.  I've said before that Calliope doesn't like keyboards.  Calliope likes pen and paper.  There's just something warm and alive about reading something written out in long hand.

I guess the truth is, I've kind of lost interest in blogging.  I used to see it as sitting down with a good friend at the end of the day and chatting together over a cup of coffee.  I looked forward to posting, and to reading.  But now it seems that all the friends I used to chat with no longer come around.  Many of them no longer post on their own blogs, either. Maybe whoever said it was right.  Maybe this whole blogging thing is passe'.  Or maybe I'm just that boring.

Face it, my life isn't exactly a wellspring of excitement, is it?  I get up at 4 something, work in a factory for 9-10 hours a day.  I come home, and by the time I catch up on 10 hours worth of Facebook posts, it's about time to get ready for bed.  I have to go to bed while it's still daylight to get a halfway decent night's sleep.  And yes, I'll admit, there is significant amount of sleep deprivation going on here.

I've thought about including more current events in my blog, and maybe with peak season winding down, I'll do a better job of keeping up with what's going on in the world.  And a better job of posting about it.  That's the real problem--sitting down to post about it.  I'd thought that buying the laptop would make blogging easier, but it's had quite the opposite effect.  If Calliope doesn't like keyboards, Calliope really doesn't like laptops!  It seems blogging has become more of a chore than a joy here of late.  So, I'll be debating with myself about whether to continue prattling on about my boring life here where you all can read.  In the meantime, dull posts will continue.

Funny thing about that fake leather journal.  I'd wanted it for so long, but now that I have it, I find myself extremely reluctant to put pen to it.  I haven't written a thing in it yet. 

Rylea says, "All you really need is a good nap." 

Ah, if only life were that simple, sweet girl. 

.

Peak Season

.

Peak season is starting to wind down. Last Saturday, we only ran one shift, and today we were off.  It used to crack me up how people would react to the fall slowdown.  Every year it was the same.  Peak season usually lasts until late summer/early fall, though with the economic slowdown, it's ended a few weeks earlier than it usually does.  In years past, it was August or September when the slowdown came.  And every year it was the same.  They'd cut out the overtime, lay off the temporary workers--same as they did every year.  And every year somebody would start the rumor that the plant was closing and/or moving to Mexico, and we'd all be out of a job.  They couldn't get it through their heads that this happened every year, and the plant hadn't closed yet.

Beats me why the Mexicans all want to come here, when all our jobs are moving down there anyway.  Oh, yeah, for the welfare, free schooling, free healthcare, reduced cost housing, and food stamps. 

Christi wanted me to drive to Columbus and hang out at the yarn store with her, but I decided to just stay home this time. There'll be other weekends for a road trip.  And that's exactly what I did. I stayed home, did a little housework and a lot of knitting. I've gotten almost all of my new yarns

incorporated into my blankie. I've got one more of these more to add, plus some other yarn I'd bought back in March, then I'll post photos. I tried something new, too. The new Cherry Tree Hill yarn I'd bought (on the left),

well, I wasn't ready to wind it into a cake just yet, so I put the hank onto my swift, and knit the blankie square directly off the swift. When I was done, it was really easy to re-hank the yarn. I'll do the Lorna's Laces yarn that way too, along with a hank of Knit Picks Stroll I'd been saving. It would already be in the blankie if I'd thought of this earlier.


The Cowboys opened training camp today.  That means two weeks until the Hall of Fame game!  Then preseason.  Then football season!

I can feel life returning. 

A Day Of Disappointments

.

About a year and a half ago, I was perusing the Dallas Cowboys website and noticed an ad down in the corner. It was to apply for a Dallas Cowboys credit card.  Naturally, I applied for it right away, and was right away approved.  A few days later, my card arrived in the mail.  As with most credit cards, I had to call to get it activated.  Only, this time I spoke to a live person instead of an automated system.  I don't think--no, I know I've never had as much fun activating a credit card.  The guy and I carried on a right conversation.  He told me he was a Raiders fan, and I said, "Oh, I'm so sorry!"  He responded that that is what his brother in law said to him also.  Finally, the card was activated, but the customer service guy, I even remember his name.  It was Ron.  Anyway, Ron had one last question for me.  Why did you choose this card?

I told him the truth.  I wanted a card with the Dallas Cowboys star on it.

So, I began using the card.  Boy, I just loved plunking that card with the star on it down.  And one day, I got a surprise.  An autographed mini helmet.   It was a thank you for using my Dallas Cowboys card.  That was just icing on the cake to me.

Fast forward to about 2 weeks ago.  I received a letter from the Bank saying that the NFL Rewards program was going to be dropped and that my Dallas Cowboys credit card would no longer be valid after July 31st.  Any reward points I had accrued had to be used up by August 31st or they would be lost.  But, I would be receiving a new, plain, nothing special about it credit card to replace my Dallas Cowboys card.

What a disappointment.  I don't need another new, plain, nothing special about it credit card.  I wanted a Dallas Cowboys card.  Bummer.

So, I went to the Rewards website to see how many points I had.  I didn't have many, but I was able to order this.

A melamine serving tray. Pretty huh? But again I was disappointed. See what is stuck to it?

Nope, not one of the easily removed, modern labels, but an old fashioned 20th century sticker.  And boy was it stuck, too.  I soaked the tray for a couple of hours and got the paper off, but the glue residue was still on my tray.

I knew I had some Goo Gone somewhere, but couldn't find it.  I worked at removing the residue with dish soap and my plastic scrubby, but it wouldn't budge.  Finally, after I had gone to bed and gotten back up because I'd forgotten something, I found the Goo Gone on the floor of the utility room, behind the mop bucket where it had fallen from the shelf.  I removed the sticker residue, and that's when I noticed that, as gentle as I'd tried to be, I'd still badly scratched the surface of my tray.

My first thought was to send it back and demand that they send me another one.  After all, it was their fault for using those old fashioned stickers.  But I didn't think I'd get away with it.  And besides that, it'd get worn with use anyway.  So I choked back my disappointment and dealt with it.

It held my fettuccine Alfredo just fine.

And my ice cream.  It was really nice to have something besides my legs to set hot dishes on.  It was even better not to have to try to balance my plate on the arm of my chair.  So, all it all, it was a good purchase.

Especially since it was free.

.

Dearest Doggie

No, you can not go for a walk. Do you see what this says? Do you see what that temperature says? More importantly, do you see what the heat index is?

You will bake your furry little brains!  And we certainly don't need a half baked dog around here, do we?

I rest my case. 

.

Music Monday

Just for fun, I decided to do a Music Monday. This song is from the musical 1776. It is--as the name would imply-- about our founding fathers. They have just selected the committee to write the Declaration Of Independence, and now are debating on who to get to write it. This is my favorite song from the musical.

Happiness

While Amy and I were petting yarns in Southaven Wednesday, they had one of these Fruit of the Vine scarves there in the store as a display.  Naturally, I fell instantly in love with the pattern, and came home and found it online. 

Yesterday after work, I cast on, using the leftover Knitpicks Shadow Kettle Dyed Begonia from my Vernal Equinox shawl. 

But something was wrong.  The scarf just wouldn't cooperate.  After ripping out twice, I figured out what it was.  The scarf didn't want to be pink.  It wanted to be blue.  I tried to convince it otherwise, but the scarf insisted. 

It wanted to be blue. 

What else could I do?  I ripped it out once again, and cast on in blue. 

The scarf is much happier now. This is Knitpicks Shadow in the now discontinued Snorkel colorway, left over from my Garden Party Shawl. 

This is how Rylea spent her Sunday afternoon, the picture of contentment. 

Friday Funny

This'll make you giggle:

The Loot

Yes, I did make it up to Southaven yesterday and spent way too much money. My justification is that I only make it up there every 6 months, so I'm doing half a year's worth of shopping at once.

One of the main stores I wanted to go to, Sportsman's Warehouse, I discovered had closed. I was very disappointed. I wanted to find me some Teva type sandals.  When I walk Rylea with my regular sandals, I tend to fall off of them.  That takes talent, I know, but yeah...

So I went on to Gordman's and bought me some new work shirts. 

Then I saw an American flag t-shirt, and just had to have it.

I also bought a sweater shaver.  I'd wanted something like this for a while, and I finally got one.  The leg shaver came from Wal-mart.

I'd been wanting one of those, too because I hate shaving in the shower. Plus, there are times when I will be going somewhere and think, "Oh, I should have shaved", but don't want to bother getting all wet and stuff. I'm thinking this ought to come in handy for that.

I got two new hides for the snakes, but they didn't have the aquarium stand I wanted.  

I put the Repti-Shelter in Onyx's tank, but worried that it might be too small for him. It wasn't. He likes it just fine.

I put it into his tank because he has a way of filling up his hides with the wood shavings.  I thought the enclosed nature of this hide would prevent him from doing that.  So far, so good.  I'd originally put the other hide--the one on the left--into Blaze's tank, but took it back out.  It just seemed too big for him.  I put Onyx's old hide into Blaze's tank, and am going to put the new one into Slider's tank.  I'll clean up Slider's old hide and put it into Scarlett's tank.  That should be the end of musical hides, since they will all have adult sized hides now.

Onward...

I stopped at the book store and bought

Arguing With Idiots, The Overton Window, and The Boy In The Striped Pajamas.  I've already finished reading The Boy In The Striped Pajamas.  Now, normally, I am a the-book-is-better -than-the-movie type of person, and 99% of the time that is true.  This is one of the few cases in which I like the movie better.  (SPOILER ALERT) The movie much more vividly portrays the experiences of Bruno's final few moments, and does an excellent job of evoking terror from the viewer as you realize what's about to happen.  It also delves deeper into the fear Bruno's family feel as they discover he's missing, and the horror they experience as they discover what had happened to him.  The book just says he was never seen again.  After the terrible rush of emotions during those extremely disturbing scenes in the movie, the book was almost a let down.

Oh, the store clerk tried to get me to buy their discount card.  He said, that if I'd had the card, I'd have only paid $13 for Arguing With Idiots.  I asked him how much my total would be if I bought the card.  After he went and found a calculator, he figured out that my total would be $25 higher than if I didn't buy the card, and that was with the discounts applied to my books.   I passed.  Oh, if I shopped there a lot, it would end up paying for itself, but since I don't get up there that much, it just wasn't worth it. 

Anyway, back to shopping...After the disappointment of having the sporting goods store closed, I was excited to discover a Jo-Ann's had opened!  Woo Hoo!  Finally, a craft store within 100 miles of me!  Yay!  And, they had yarn!  Lots of yarn.  Ok, not as much as the yarn store, but definitely more than Wal-Mart.  I bought some new sock yarns for the blankie

And I bought some surprises for someone else, but I can't show them because she sometimes reads this blog, and that would spoil the surprise. (Uh, Opal, I need your mailing address again...I was sure I'd written it down last time, but now I can't find it!)

Finally, it was on to the yarn store!  I was a bit nervous about meeting Amy, because what if I couldn't think of anything to talk about?  Not to worry, As soon as she walked in, we were chatting as if we'd known each other forever.  We talked, we laughed, we knitted, we petted yarn.  She gave me this:

It is Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock in the Geaux Tigers (LSU) colorway, enough to make a couple of blankie squares.  Speaking of, everyone was duly impressed with the sock yarn blankie.  I'd taken the one I'm making for my sister up there to work on while we visited.

Too soon, it seemed, it was time to come home.  Before I left, I bought two more hanks of sock yarn.

The one on the left is Cherry Tree Hill in Country Garden, and the one on the right is Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock in Liberty colorway.  The funny thing about that is, I saw it on the shelf and only saw the maroon and white end.  I thought, "They have Mississippi State sock yarn", but when I picked it up, I saw that it wasn't MS ST after all.

And that was the end of my shopping spree.  I did buy one more thing, but since this is pretty long already, I'll save it for another day.

Vacation Day

I took a vacation day for tomorrow.  No reason.  Just because I can.  I'm going to go to Southaven and meet Amy B.

Oh, and do some shopping, too.  Blazie and Scarlett both need new hides, and I'd like to get a stand so I can get Scarlie up off the floor.  I have a big knot on my shin where I ran into her tank the other morning.

The foxhound was still here this morning, but he was gone when I got home.  If he shows up again, I'll feed him, but I don't think I'll get too attached.  Once peak season is over, and work slows down a bit, I'll check with the pound and see what kinds of dogs they have.

Only 10 more days until training camp starts. 

Yes!!

Monday, Moanday

When I got up this morning, the little dog was gone.  He was still gone when I got home from work, but then, about 8:15 PM, I heard a whining outside.  I wondered why Rylea would be whining, but it wasn't her.  It was the little foxhound.  I loved on him a bit, and put him some fresh food and water out.  If he's going to come by for dinner every evening, I need to get him some regular dog food.  I've got Rylea on fat dog dog food, but this guy sure doesn't need any weight management.  Unless you count putting some on.  He's very thin. 

Yesterday, I tried to get my Anniversary Mystery Shawl '10 out and work on it.  I got one round done, and put it back away.  The mojo just isn't there.  I don't know where it went.  I have hardly knit anything in two weeks.  Even the blankie square I started is incomplete, and I started it yesterday.  Well, Wednesday I have the day off of work.  No reason, I just wanted a day off.  I'm going up to Southaven and gonna meet Amy B at Hank of Yarn.  It's so bad that I don't even know what project I'm going to take to work on while we visit.  I'm sure I'll think of something, though.

On the other hand, I did get my new fan club packet in the mail.  I actually got it last week, but haven't been able to fit it into a post until today.  In addition to all the normal fan club stuff (including a new membership card, which I didn't seem to get into the photo)

 
I got a new photo, schedule and, team photo. 

And the certificate, of course. 

It's not much good without the certificate.

It has my name on it. 

Evening Walk

When we set out for our evening walk, I didn't think at first that we'd get very far. Dark clouds looked ominous, and we even felt a few raindrops.

I started to turn back then, but decided to keep going until I knew if it would really start raining. It didn't, so we kept going. We walked all the way down to the creek, so Rylea could get herself a drink, and cool off a bit. It wasn't really that hot, but it was very humid.  By the time we got to the creek, I was soaked, but I joked that it wasn't sweat.  It was condensation.

Somewhere along the way, we picked up this guy

He's a little foxhound.  He didn't have a collar on, or any tattoos or anything.  He was thin, but didn't appear to be starving.  He was full of ticks, though, and appeared to have been shot in the behind with a shotgun. 

He's a real sweet thing, and very obedient.  We waded in the creek a bit, then headed home. 

 
I figured the little foxhound just wanted some company, and when we went home, he'd head back to his home.  He didn't.  He followed us all the way home.  I gave him some food and water, and tried to get him to come into the house.  He wouldn't. 

Tomorrow, if he's still around, I'll call the radio station to run an ad, and I'll put one up at the vet's office.  I'd thought that if no one claimed him, I'd keep him, but now I'm not so sure.  He needs to be with someone who will hunt with him.  That's what these dogs are bred for. 

Religious Jewelry

 I saw a guy wearing a Rosary today at work. Apparently, that is some sort of new fashion statement.

The football player formerly known as Chad Johnson wears one.

As does this guy, whoever he is

And this guy, whoever he is.

Now, I am not Catholic, but I do know this one thing, Rosary beads are not for wearing. (If you are Catholic, and I am wrong about this, please feel free to correct me.)  They are for praying. Wearing them is very disrespectful, perhaps even sacrilegious. I'm sure any devout Catholic would never be caught wearing Rosary beads.  But to these people, and others who wear them as if they were any ordinary piece of jewelry, they mean nothing.

Kind of reminds me of the fad not too long ago of wearing crosses.  The bigger, the gaudier, the better.  You know that these people did not know the significance of the cross.  Rappers who glorify the abuse of women, murdering police officers, drug use, violence.  The ones who can't go three words without the vilest of obscenities coming out of their mouths, would have huge 3 inch gold crosses hanging from their necks. 

And the jewelry store owner asks them, "Do you want a plain cross, or one with a little man on it?"  Yet they have no idea who that little man is, or why he was on the cross in the first place.  Because it means nothing to them.  It's just a fashion statement.

Several years ago, my sister and brother in law were visiting me.  This was during the height of the WWJD bracelet fad.  We had gone to visit the Christian book store in Batesville, and they had a basket of them for sale.  My sister offered to buy me one, but I'd seen too many people wearing them who had no idea who "J" is, or why they should even care about what he would do.

I declined.

My faith is more than just a fashion to me. 

.

Sleepy

So, I was out looking for Rylea yesterday evening, when I stopped to speak to a neighbor.  She invited me in, and offered me a diet coke.

Now, since the doctor told me that avoiding caffeine will help reduce my tachycardia episodes, I've limited myself to one diet Dr. Pepper per day--and usually I drink most of it in the morning.

I just wasn't used to have that much caffeine in the evening, so I was wide awake until probably after 11:00 PM.  After a while, I was afraid to look at the clock.  Still, it was a too short night.

I found Rylea, by the way.  She'd followed a neighbor kid down the road, and I found her in the cow pasture.


Knothead.

Telephones

I work in a job that is basically a no-brainer, and as such, I have a lot of time to just think about stuff.  Its strange the things you sometimes think of when your mind isn't otherwise occupied.

There was this boy I went to high school with.  We weren't really friends, but I had a lot of classes with him throughout junior high and high school.  One day we were in class, and he was telling the story of a girl--a class mate of ours--and how she would call him all the time and just talk and talk and talk.  She drove him crazy.  Finally, he got an idea.  When he was tired of talking to her, he'd ask his parents to yell at him to get off the phone.  He said his dad was cool.  He'd just yell across the room, "RANDY!  Get off the phone!"  The first time he asked his mother, though, she came up to him and said, "Randy, dear, I really need you to get off the phone."

He was like, "Aww mom!" 


Moving right along....

I was in fourth grade, or thereabouts, when one day I couldn't remember my homework assignment.  I got the phone book to look up a classmate's number.  As I was searching for her number, I found another classmate's number.  "Oh, here is James' number.  I'll call him.  He'll know."  At that moment, my mother rounded the corner, arms a-flailing and eyes a-blazing. "Girls do not call boys on the phone!  It's not proper!"

"But mom", I countered. "It's not like I was going to ask him out on a date.  I'm just calling him about school work."  But my mother was adamant,  girls do not call boys on the phone under any circumstances. 

Fast forward to 6th grade...my little boyfriend called me on the phone.  I was unavailable at the moment.  My mother told him to call back in about 15 minutes.  He did.  "What were  you doing?" he asked.

"Oh, I was using the bathroom," I replied.  At that moment, my mother rounded the corner, arms a-flailing and eyes a-blazing.  "Girls do not tell boys they were in the bathroom!" 

"Why not?", I asked.  "They have to go, too."  But my mother was adamant.  Girls do not tell boys they actually *ahem* use the bathroom.

I think this may be where my phone issues come from.  My older brother had phone issues, too.  His freshman year at college, he was unable to find a ride home for the Thanksgiving break.  What did he do?  He wrote my parents a letter.  They got it the day he was supposed to be coming home.  My dad got off work that evening, and had to immediately set out driving 4 hours to Marshall, TX to pick up my brother.  They took the younger kids with them, but told me I could stay home if I wanted to.  I was 17, and they would have let me stay home alone, but I didn't really feel comfortable doing that.  I chose to go stay with my grandparents instead.

I was waiting for them to come pick me up, and they didn't come.  Six o'clock passed, then seven.  Finally I called my grandpa and asked him what time he was coming to get me.  "At 9:00," he snapped, then sneeringly added, "Is that OK with you?"

I have a terrible aversion to using the phone ever since. 

.

Rain

It has been raining off and on all day today.  My co-worker Kathy went out to the parking lot when it first started so she could roll up her car windows.  When she came back, she was soaked, even though she'd had an umbrella. 

Rylea is upset because she didn't get her walk.  I don't know what she's complaining about.  She doesn't like to be outside in the rain anyway. 

It is predicting scattered showers all week.  Soon we will have Lake Riverdale again.

Tomorrow is Rod's birthday.  I was going to bake him some cookies, but I completely forgot.  It's too late now to fool with them.  Well, I've left the butter out, so maybe I'll remember to bake them tomorrow.

At least he'll have something to look forward to.

Lazy Monday

I didn't do much of anything today. We didn't have to go to work, so first thing I did was to sleep in until 6ish. I'm not really sure because I didn't even look at the clock when I got up. I thought briefly about driving up to Southaven, but decided against it. Instead, I stayed home and caught up on a few things around the house.

I did two loads of laundry, cleaned the kitchen, vacuumed and rug sticked the carpet, and paid bills. After that, I felt like I'd earned a little knitting time, so I finished the first Bubble Wrap sock.

I did 4 pattern repeats on the foot, instead of the three the pattern calls for.  The last pair I'd made with this pattern were a bit tight across the toes, so I wanted to make this one a bit bigger.  As you can see, I succeeded. 

I was looking at them and thought, "Boy that toe sure looks pointier than normal." That's when I realized, I'd decreased to 8 stitches on each needle, instead of my normal 12-14. Oh well, I'm not re-doing them.

I'd also wanted to make them a bit big, because I've heard that this yarn (Knit Picks Imagination) has a tendency to shrink a lot.  It is supposed to be superwash wool, but some people have reported that it has felted on them.  Others have reported that it does just fine in the washer.   I'm not so sure I'm going to like this yarn for socks.  It seems very loosely spun, and even more loosely plied.  In some spots, it seemed that the plies weren't even twisted around each other, but laying side by side. 

It was also supposed to be hand painted in such a way that it wouldn't pool, but as you can see, it pooled just fine, thank you very much.  Oh, well, good thing I don't mind pooling.

After a while, I got tired of sitting and watching TV, so I took Rylea for a walk.  We were just going to go for a short walk, because of the heat.  But there was a good breeze blowing, so we walked all the way down to the creek.  Ry was able to get a drink and cool off a bit.  Even I slipped off my shoes and went wading.  It kind of reminded me of the carefree days of childhood, when playing in a creek was the most important thing I had to do all summer.   

Now, the sun is setting, and my beautiful, glorious weekend is drawing to a close.  In the morning--very early in the morning--I'll have to return to the humdrum grind of everyday life.  I sure have enjoyed this weekend, even though I didn't anything special. 

Sometimes doing nothing is special in itself. 

.