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I'm pretty much brain dead today.  I can't think of anything to say.  We didn't even get to take our walk this evening.

I was so excited, well, ok not really excited, but glad.  When I got off work (and on time, no less!) it was sunny, warm, with just enough breeze to keep it from being hot.  Rylea and I were going to get to walk for the first time since Monday.  It's been raining here, you see.  But today was perfect.  We were going to take our walk.

Those walks are important.  Sometimes they are all that keeps me sane. 

But when we got to the dirt road we usually walk down, there were people down there, hunting.  I don't know what they were hunting.  I think it was doves.  Still, I was bummed.  So was Rylea. 

She likes running those hills.  Instead, we just walked down to the bridge and came back.  Since we never left the paved road, Rylea had to stay on the leash. 

And that was our day. 

Oh, and I was going to tell you some sort of nonsensical trivia about me that you probably didn't want to know in the first place, but now I can't remember what it was.

And I have an inexplicable craving for bacon. 

Oh, and today is the first day of baseball season.  I follow the old axiom that Baseball is America's Pastime, but Football is America's Passion.  You have your Boys of Summer.  I say, bring on the Boys of Fall!

Y'all Thought I Was Joking

And these are just the ones I could lay my hands on without getting out of my computer chair.  There are more.  If I got them all out at once, I think I would frighten myself. 

I apologize for the brevity (and boringness) of my posts here lately.  These 10 hour work days leave me with precious little to talk about. 

I have made one important discovery, though.  There is a direct correlation between how hard it rains and how well I sleep.  It came a gully washer last night, and I slept soooo well.  It almost makes me wish it would rain every night. 

On the other hand, throw thunder into the mix, and all bets are off. 

I Definitely Have A Problem

That was Friday. This is Tuesday.

I'd gone into Walls Bargain Center, a store which I absolutely despise and haven't been inside in at least 5 years, but I went in there today, and there it was. Just laying there on the shelf, lonely and water damaged. It needed me.

You can see the little bubble of water damage right above the silver plate.  That plate, by the way, reads "Imagine".  I couldn't help myself.  It came home with me.

HOWEVER, I did manage to resist when I went into Fred's, and Family Dollar, and Walgreen's.  I came home with a new insulated cup for work, two boxes of Moon Pies, and some gummy vitamins, but no more journals.

At least, not until next time. 

Music Monday

And that's all that needs to be said...

One Sock Completed, Sir!

When I was in Navy boot camp, and we had to do our PT, at the end of each lap, we were required to shout in unison, " [Company] K087, One lap completed, sir!" 

Now, every time I finish the first sock of a pair, I always think of that and say, "one sock completed, sir!"

And here we have one sock completed.  Sir. 

I slept good last night, thanks to a dose of The Green Elixir of Death.  I wish I could take it during the week, but the hangover would be too bad.  I think I really would sleep through the alarm then!

Houston, We Have A Problem

Well, I have a problem, at least.  I'm addicted to writing implements.  Ever since I was a kid, I've collected journals, notebooks, pens and the like.  Funny thing is, once I buy them, I don't want to use them.  I have so many books with just a few pages --if any-- written in them.  Yet I am constantly buying more.  They are my crack.

I've barely begun writing in my fake leather journal with the ribbon marker that I bought last July, when what did I spy at Wal-Mart last evening. 

And I just had to have it. I didn't care that I had stacks and stacks of notebook/journals. I didn't care how much it cost. I had to have it. So, it came home with me. I still haven't even taken the paper band off of it, but it's mine, mine I tell you! Mine!!  My own.  My Precious....

And of course, I had to buy some new pens worthy of a fake leather journal with a magnetic clasp.

Even though I have packs and packs of pens that I haven't even opened yet.  I think I have a problem...

But before I check myself into journal addiction rehab, let me show you what else I bought.

Wait, what? How did that picture get in there? Shhh, nobody was supposed to see those.

Ahem...

Isn't this just the cutest thing?  It's supposed to be an Easter basket.  

So, naturally, I had to find appropriate eggs to go in it.

And the ever traditional Easter classic, Peeps.

My mammaw always bought us Peeps at Easter, and though I don't really like them, I always ate them. Mammaw has been gone for long years now, but every Easter, I buy at least one package of Peeps, because they make me think of her.

Besides, they do cool things when you put them in the microwave...

Conversation at Work:

Former Group Leader Rod:  You'd better stop talking to yourself, or people will think you're crazy.

Me:  They already think that!

I'm off to sign up for my crazy check.

Good bye forever.

Yeah, I'm Weird

I seem to have developed an irrational fear of sleeping through my alarm.  Never mind that I have the radio volume set so loudly that when it goes off, I nearly wet myself.  I still find myself waking up several times a night and checking the time to make sure I haven't overslept.  Which kind of defeats the purpose of going to sleep in the first place.

On the bright side, I can feel my new vitamin supplements taking effect already.  The mood swings are much better, and the dark cloud of depression has lifted.  I can now understand why people describe depression as a dark cloud.  That's exactly what it felt like.  Now, I feel as if I've woken up.  I am becoming myself again.

Heck, I even got out of the house this evening.  I wanted Chicken McNuggets for supper, so I went and got some.  Then I drove out through the lake.  The long way home, but still I went.

Now, for those of you not from this area, I perhaps should explain the colloquialism.  When I say I drove through the lake, I didn't mean literally through the lake.  I meant down the road by the lake and across the dam. 

I need to get off of here and knit.  I'm determined to finish this pattern repeat of my Monkey sock before bedtime. 

And I'm really sleepy. 

So, until tomorrow....

Happy Knitting.  Or whatever it is you do. 

It's Wednesday!

And that means Whiskers and WIPs.

First up, the WIPs.  OK, these aren't all of my WIPs, but I decided this week just to show my active WIPs.  Here we have the Monkey Sock. 

I'm almost ready to start the toe decreases. As soon as I finish the pattern repeat I'm on, I'm going to try it on and see. I may have to carry one more pattern repeat on into the toe decreases, if this one doesn't make it quite long enough.

The Arwen Wrap is coming along, slowly but surely.  It's going to end up being a Christmas gift, so there's really no hurry.

Although, I might end up making a few more of these, so there's kind of a hurry. 

And finally, my waiting hat.  This is what I keep by my computer, to work on while I'm waiting for stuff to load.  Thus the "waiting hat". 

It'll probably end up in a care package for a military person eventually.

Squeaky says, "Oh, no.  Not this again." 

You Know You're Tired

When the first thought that pops into your head when you wake up in the morning is, "Oh, I am so tired!" you know it's probably time for a vacation. I'd really love to take one. The last time I took a real vacation, the Twin Towers were still standing. That's how long it's been. I wouldn't have been able to take that one if my ex-MIL hadn't paid for the trip.

Or when you try to pick up your gusset stitches before you turn your heel. Yep, I did that. I got all the way around the first round before I realized my stitch count wasn't coming out right. That's when I realized what I'd done. But I got it ripped, and turned the heel. Then I picked the gusset stitches (again) and went merrily on my knitting way.

Or when you get dressed and put your shoes on before you put your pants on.

Add to that the realization that I am smack in the throes of The Big M-- or The Change of Life as the older ladies refer to it.  Yeah, these last few weeks have been rough.  I decided to start taking some of those vitamins for women my age.  I got some Estroven. 

Lord, those things are huge!  I don't see how anyone could swallow them whole.  The first one I took, I split into 4 pieces.  Even then, the largest piece didn't want to go down.  Now I grind them up and take them that way.  Tastes terrible, but at least I'm not choking on them. 

I just hope they help. 


Gee, I hope this isn't TMI....

F is For

Fudge pop!

F is also for Frosty Fudge Pop.

Socks, Snakes, Shawls, and Success!

Let's start with the Success story. My friend Dee successfully completed her first ever marathon. Yep, it poured rain the whole way, but she persevered. She did it. I am so proud of her!

Now, on to the second success. Slider ate his rat today!

Now, the colubrids are good eaters, but those balls-- I never know if they are going to eat or not. But Slider ate today, and Monty ate two weeks ago. I'm so happy!

Progress is being made on the sock, too. I've gotten past the gusset decreases and am about halfway down the foot.

I've also discovered that I'm not very good at being a monogamous knitter.  So, even though I'm doing well on the sock, I cast on another project.  It's not much to look at right now

but this is the Arwen wrap designed by my friend Tabitha. Sorry, I can't provide you with a link.  She has all her stuff on that knitting site that I was so unceremoniously booted from two years ago.  Something I still have not received an explanation for, by the way.  Oh, and yes, this is a wrap, and not a shawl, but I wanted to preserve my alliteration. 

Because I'm geeky like that. 

Oh Great

On a night when I really, really wanted to get to bed early, the across the street neighbors are having one of their blast-the-music-until-it-rattles-the-windows parties.

And I can't even sleep in tomorrow, because I've got library duty at the church. Sigh...

This is my life.

I guess I should look on the bright side. At least they play good music, not that old rap crap.

On the other bright side, I got new yarn in the mail yesterday! This is Aloft, Knit Picks version of Kidsilk Haze.

It's basically the same fiber content, at about half the price.  The green is called Tranquil, and the pink is called Blush.   

The other yarn I got is this Imagination, in Wild West. I'm not that thrilled with this yarn for socks, but it does make good scarves and hats and things. And I loved this colorway.

I was good this time. I only got these few yarns. I'm really trying to knit from my stash, as it's beginning to take over the house. The other things I got were some new needle tips, and look! A darning egg.

Now I don't have to use an old lightbulb to darn my socks any more.

As a bonus, here is Onyx doing his best Midgard Serpent impression.  

Now, since it doesn't look like I'm going to be able to get to sleep anytime soon, I think I'll go look through my lace books, and see if I can come up with something to knit with my new yarn.

Run Josh, Run!

Dee is one of the oldest and dearest friends I have. I've known her since college, and can't imagine my life without her. She is a beautiful, vivacious, loving, generous person, and she brings joy to everyone she meets.

There's just one thing about Dee. She hates to exercise. Hates it. Yet, this Sunday, Dee is going to run her first ever full Marathon.

How did a couch potato who hates to exercise become a marathon runner? Well, I'll tell you.

It all started back in November of 2009...See, Dee has a nephew, Joshua, who loves to run.  He lives for Jesus, but he loves to run.  Suddenly, in the blink of an eye, this fine young Christian man could no longer run.  In the blink of an eye, with the grinding, screeching sound of twisting metal and shattered glass, this fine young Christian man lay fighting for his life.

They weren't sure at first if he would even survive, his injuries were so severe. The worst injury of all was to his brain. Traumatic Brain Injury, it is called.  And it is often fatal. They didn't know if Joshua would live, but he did.  One night, then a second, and a third. As hours stretched to days, and days to weeks, when it appeared his life was no longer in jeopardy, Joshua's long, slow process of rehabilitation began.

He was completely helpless at first.  He had to learn to walk again, to talk again, even to swallow again.  He was like a newborn baby --starting over at 17.  But he persevered.  Buoyed by the prayers not only of family and friends, but by strangers who heard his story and felt moved by it,  he slowly regained his strength.  He slowly began becoming himself again. 

Throughout all of this, Dee was by his side, in spirit, even when she couldn't be physically present.  Throughout all of this, Dee --as so many of us in that situation do--felt helpless.  Felt as if she could only stand and watch.

But Dee realized that there was something she could do.  She could run.  She could run for Josh:

So, Josh, when you can't run, we'll run for you. When you can run, we'll run with you...and all the time, we're running behind you! Run, Josh...Run!!!

Love beyond measure!

And in doing so, she would find a way to tell his story.  If she could just inspire one person to pray for Josh, she would accomplish her mission.

She began entering races --short ones at first, but races nonetheless.  She hated it.  She cried.  She threw up.  But she ran, because she ran for Josh.  When it became difficult, and she wanted to quit, she thought of Josh, who couldn't quit, and she kept running.  When the pain became too great for her to bear, she thought of Josh, who had no choice but to endure, and so she endured as well.

After her first 5K event, Dee wrote this (which I copped from her Facebook wall): 

...and I run...because you can't, Josh...I run FOR you...there's more life for you to live...more for you to give...and I run...and every step, I cry. My heart is SO heavy for you. My heart aches for you to get better....and run.

I run...and I cry. People are watching from the sidelines. They see my little homemade flier on my shirt. They see your picture...and I cry. People are cheering. "Good job," they say. "Keep up the good work!" "You can do it!" "You're almost there!" they cheer....then I hear these sweet words, "We're praying for your Josh!" and I run....the road is straight...but it's full of bumps...and it has a slight slope up...but I can do it...and I run....because I run FOR you...because you can't...just yet.

Now, some 16 months later, Joshua has made significant improvement. You can see his story in this video.



Sunday Dee will run her first full marathon. She will cry. She will throw up. She will whine and want to quit. But she won't. Because she runs for Josh. And when the pain gets too great for her to bear, she will think of Josh, and she will remember that he can't quit, so she won't either. She will keep running, and she will finish the race.

Because she runs for Josh.

But what Dee may not realize is the impact she has had on those around her.  She may never know what impact her shining example of completely Christlike love has had on someone who may not even know her.  She may never know how many lives she touched until that day when she hears, "well done, thou good and faithful servant."

Until that day, she will keep running.  She may think she runs for Josh, and she does, but really, she runs for Jesus.

And great will be her reward.

Run Dee...Run!

Desires

Do you know what I want more than anything? No, not world peace.

Well, yeah, world peace, but no. That's not what I'm talking about.

Not unconditional love, or anything like that. No, what I really want more than anything in the world is

a writing desk.

But not just any old desk. A good, old fashioned solid oak desk with lots of nooks and crannies, and drawers, and cubbyholes, and one secret-- super secret-- drawer specially made for my fake leather journal with a ribbon marker.

Calliope doesn't like keyboards.

Calliope likes pen and paper, and old fashioned writing desks.

Can't Win For Losing

Poor Rylea just can't win for losing. Long time readers may remember that when she was 6 months old, she got hit by a car, leaving her crippled in her back leg.

Then, about a year and a half ago, she got hit again, re-injuring the same leg.

This evening, when I let her out to take her evening potty run, she came back gimping on the other back leg.    

A cursory inspection didn't reveal any injuries, but if she's still bummed in a couple of days, I'll take her on in to the vet.

Sock progress is being made, albeit slowly. I finally made it to the end of my heel flap.

It's taken me longer to do the heel than it took to do the entire leg. That's the difference a 10 hour work day makes.

Ten On Tuesday

As you know, I don't do these every week, but this topic is one I can really get in to.  Yesterday was March 14, also known as Pi day.  So this week's topic is

10 Favorite Types of Pie. 

Note: Be aware that many of these choices come from a bygone era, before I was allergic to eggs. Time and distance still have not diminished my fondness for them, though.

10.  Sweet Potato -- a staple in the South, but also one I'd never tasted until I was grown. 

9.  Hershey's-- one of the few commercially prepared pies I can still eat.  Available from Wal-mart and Burger King.

8.  Lemon Meringue/Lemon Icebox--  they say they're different, but they taste the same to me. 

7.  Peach--Back when I was in the Navy, I had a friend who was a Mess Management Specialist, or to put it into civilian lingo, a cook.  Mike was seriously trying to --um-- woo me, and he used to bake extra peach pies for me.  They were the best peach pies I ever ate.  Mike, unfortunately, turned out to be a loser. 

6.  Cream Cheese--  One 8 oz block of cream cheese, 1 can of sweetened condensed milk, a tablespoon or two of lemon juice and put it in a graham cracker crust.  Top with fruit if desired.

5.  Pumpkin-- that Thanksgiving classic, still one of my favorites.

4.  Squash--  my auntie used to make these, but they require white squash.  It's so hard to find white squash these days. 

3.  Pecan-- another Southern staple.  It's pronounce puh-CAHN, not PEE-can. 

2. Buttermilk--this has got to be the most delicious thing ever invented.  My aunt Martha and I used to fight over the last piece, back when I could still make them. 

1. Cherry--but not just any cherry pie. My great Grandma Carrie Dean made the best cherry pie, and from scratch. None of that canned filling for her, no sirree. She died when I was very small, but I can still remember being in her kitchen, watching her hold up the pie pan and trim the crusts. I always begged her for the scraps, and she would tell me to wait until she was done, then she'd give them to me. To this day, I have a fondness for raw pie crust dough. Once when I was a kid, my mother bought some pre-made pie crust dough that came in little blocks that looked like sticks of butter. I stole one of them and hid it under my pillow so I could eat it.

There you have it.  My 10 favorite pies, a childhood memory, and a secret.

As always, I'm open to even more suggestions. 

Music Monday

Just because...

Not Quite Uggs

I was looking for something in my closet, and stumbled across these old boots I'd bought some 25 years ago.

Lovely, aren't they? I know they're not quite Uggs, but maybe they could be fashionable.  Ya think?

No comments about my knees, please.

I had a friend in the Navy who was a full blooded Seminole.  He was going to make me an authentic pair of moccasins.  I even gave him a tracing of my foot, but alas, I transferred before he made them, so I never got my moccasins.  I don't even know what his name was.  Everybody just called him Chief.

Um, that was his rank, folks.  He was an E-7, which is a Chief.  I don't remember what his rate was, though. 

Anyway, I've made it to the heel flap of my Monkey socks.

People tell me I'm a fast knitter.  Well, it helps not to have a, you know, life or anything. 

Speaking of, since I sent my sister the Vernal Equinox shawl for Christmas, I've been wanting to knit myself a spring/summer shawl.  I can't decide if I want to do another Vernal Equinox, a Garden Party, or Mystic Waters, or do something new.  Eh, I've got time to decide. 

I've still got this hat in the works. 

There is no hurry on this.  It's the one I'm keeping beside my computer.  I knit on it while I'm waiting for stuff to load.  I don't know what'll happen to this hat.  It may go to Alaska, or to my bald headed older brother, or to another soldier/sailor project. I'll figure out something to do with it. 

Well, this time change is going to really mess me up in the morning, so I'm headed on to bed.  Goodnight.    

OK, I only said that because I couldn't think of an elegant or witty way to end this post.  So, I'm just going to end it. 

Goodbye for now.

Sock Progress

First thing this morning, I went out and took a photo of the yarn in natural light.

It still seems brighter on my monitor than the real colors show, though.

I've made good progress on the sock. This is after three pattern repeats. The pattern calls for a total of six before starting the heel, and that's probably what I'll go with. So far, the only modification I've made is to the ribbing. The twisted rib is just too tight to go over my heel, so I used a K2 P2 rib. That's about the only type of ribbing I can use for socks. Nothing else is stretchy enough.

I spent the rest of the day avoiding vacuuming my carpet.  One of the things I did to facilitate said avoidance was to take Rylea to the lake.

We hiked the Lost Bluff trail, and it was definitely a challenge. See what I had to climb up?

And that was just one part of the trail. The whole thing was 2 1/2 miles long, and the majority of it was either straight up or straight down. When we got to the very top, we were able to look out over the river.

By the time we got through, it had definitely become one of those What Was I Thinking? moments.

But, you know, if a pudgy old lady and a crippled dog can do it, anyone can.  All you gotta do is keep putting one foot in front of the other.

Kind of like life.

Just keep putting one foot in front of the other.

Eye Candy Friday

Cherry Tree Hill Sockittome Select in Peacock. Currently being knit into Monkey Socks. The colors are much more muted than this photo shows.  Maybe tomorrow, I'll try to get one in natural light. 

Irony of Ironies

It all started at a quarter to two this morning.  I woke up needing to go to the bathroom.  OK, that's normal enough.

But then, upon returning to bed, I flew into a near blind panic because my cell phone wasn't on my nightstand where I thought I'd put it the night before.  There was no, "I'll find it in the morning".  Not at all.  I had to find it, and right then.

I checked all the usual places.  I looked on the charger.  Not there.

I looked by my recliner.  Not there.

I checked the computer desk.  Not there.

I even checked the bathroom cabinet, though why it would be there escapes me.  Not there.

On top of the microwave.  On my dresser.  On the snake tanks.  The phone was nowhere to be found.

So I got the bright idea of calling myself from my house phone.  Only the cell phone didn't ring.  Why didn't the cell phone ring?  What was going on?  I briefly heard the buzzing sound from the vibration, but the line disconnected before I could locate the phone.

Four times I called myself before I was finally able to track down my phone.  You'll never guess where it was.  Well, OK, if you know me at all, you wouldn't be surprised.

It was wrapped up in the pile of clean laundry that I'd thrown on the floor so that I could get into bed, because I didn't want to fold it.  The laundry, not the bed.

Cell phone safely retrieved, and on the nightstand, I headed off to dreamland again.  Yet, something still nagged at me.  Why hadn't the phone rang?  I got back up.

I checked the settings.  It was set to Ring And Vibrate.  I checked the sounds.  Yes, I had a ringtone selected.  Why hadn't the phone rang?  My sleep deprived brain was unable to make sense of this riddle, and I finally drifted off again with the mystery unsolved.

It was only after a so-so night's sleep that I thought to check the ring tone volume.  Yep, that was it.  It had somehow gotten set to vibrate only.  Volume adjusted, mystery solved, and all was right with the world again. 

By the way, have I ever mentioned that my phone issues run deep?

Yeah...

.

The Good News

The good news is, I found my house keys.

As I suspected, they were laying on the floor at work, about 10 feet away from my brazing stand. So, that's a big "whew".

More importantly, I got my True Blue Official Dallas Cowboys Fan Club keyring back!

Now, if you will pardon the brevity of this post, I'm going to go knit.

And watch Planet of The Apes reruns.  Oh, and download ring tones for my new phone to replace those awful pre loaded tones.  Gag...

Bye, now.

Both Good And Bad

The bad news is, I seem to be giving up my house keys for Lent.  I'm so aggravated!  I've gone for 46 years without losing a set of keys, and here I've lost them twice in the last 6 months!  I'm really bummed, because this set was on my True Blue Cowboys fan key chain!

Let's see, I remember taking them out of the front pocket of my lunch bag and putting them in my pants pocket.  Then I went to pay a bill, buy sausage, and after that, straight home.  That's when I discovered that they were no longer in my pocket.  Maybe they are on the floor by my brazing stand.  Well, if not, I'll be off to Wal-mart tomorrow afternoon to buy yet another set of house keys. 

Fortunately, I keep nothing on my keyring that could identify to which house said keys fit. 

The good news is, after spending nearly an hour in an online chat with a very patient technical services assistant, I can now get online on my phone.  And guess where the first place I went was?  Yep, Facebook. 

Sad, isn't it? 

E Is For

I actually had a little trouble finding something to post for the letter E. The obvious choice for E would be eggs, but as I'm allergic, I have no eggs in the house. I'm sure there are some plastic Easter Eggs around here somewhere, but I really didn't want to ransack the house to find them. OK, what about the two lone remaining Cadbury's Caramel Eggs?

Yeah, they'd do. But nah, I decided eggs were too obvious. So I left the one remaining Cadbury's Caramel egg on the cabinet and went off in search of something else.

And what did my little eye spy?

An eagle blanket!  Yeah, that's the ticket!  But then, if I'd managed to get photos of the real eagles that are around here somewhere, that would have been so much better.  Suddenly, the blanket didn't seem such a good idea any more.

Back to the drawing board. I thought about various body parts --ears, eyes, elbows-- and even tried to take a photo of the cat's ears, but she was typically catlike. In other words, uncooperative.

Then I thought of it! The perfect E photo! Squealing with excitement, I ran and snapped a photo of it. And here it is:

Huh?  Blankie doesn't begin with an E.  How did she get an E word out of that?  Well, I'll tell you.

You're just going to love this!  He he he...

It is made from extra sock yarn! 

I'm amazed at my own cleverness. 

Hey, it was either that, or to show you my bottle of Vitamin E supplements. 

Yeah, I thought so...

Afghan Tales

For those of you who don't know, Sus is my long lost twin sister. OK, not really, but sometimes we're so much alike it's scary.  Anyway, she's given her blog a bit of a re-design, which is something I'd like to do, too.   I need to spend more time nurturing my blog as it is.  Facebook and Netflix have sort of taken over my life.

Anyway, in today's post, Sus tells a story of starting an afghan, only to have the yarn discontinued. I won't relate the whole thing, but I'm sure she'd be thrilled to have you drop in to her blog for a visit. I bring this up because I did something similar way back in the early days of my knitting venture.

I was going to knit an afghan that I found in an old Creative Knitting magazine, back when they were Knitter's Digest.  The pattern can also be found on this page.  Scroll down a bit until you see Christmas Stars.

The pattern calls for you to knit long strips of the patterned blocks, separated by red stripes, then long, thin strips of solid red.  Then you sew them all together.  Well, I got two strips knit-- one of each -- and got about 1/3 of the way through sewing them together when  I said to myself, "Self, this is the pits.  I'm going to figure out how to knit this all in one piece."  Shouldn't be too hard.

I started frogging.  Then I thought, "This sucks."  So I put the afghan back in a Wal-mart sack, and there it has languished in the bottom of my closet for some 10 years now.  Every now and again, I go pull it out.  I look at it for a moment, think that I really should either knit the darn thing up or recycle the yarn, and I put it back into the bag, and stuff it back into the bottom of the closet.

And the wind comes up and the Dead Sea goes on being dead.

Extra credit for anyone who can tell me where that quote came from.

On a more pleasant note, I've been working on the Family Blankie. 

I know this isn't the greatest photo, but I really didn't want to vacuum my carpet, so you're stuck with it.

Oh and by the way, those Pledge Pet Hair Fabric Sweeper thingys are da bomb!   When I actually use them, that is, which I didn't today, so you don't get a close up of the blankie because Rylea's hair is still all over my couch.  Which needs reupholstering anyway.  Which isn't going to happen any time soon.  So that's that.

Moving right along...

On the other hand, I'm a bit frustrated.  I added a data plan to my cell phone service.  It was supposed to be effective starting today, but I still can't connect.  I've searched all over the support section of their website, and nothing has helped.  You know what that means.

I'm going to have to *shudder* call them.  Yeah, my phone issues run deep.  Real deep.

Then again, if I wait until tomorrow, they will have someone available for a live online chat.  Yeah, maybe that's what I'll do.

Just one more thing before I go:

Crab Salad

Crab meat, or Alaska Whitefish
Pasta, cooked -- I used small shells
Boiled eggs, chopped up --3 or 4 of them
Pickle relish
Grated cheese --flavor of your choice.
Mayonnaise

Dump it all in a bowl and mix it up.  I can't tell you the measurements, because I never measured.  I just added it in until it looked right.  This is something I really, really, really miss since becoming allergic to eggs.  Just the thought of it makes me sad. 

Darned immune system!

I'm What You Call

Tuckered.

Plum tuckered out.

Vanessa and I went in at 5 AM this morning, which meant I've been awake since some 3:40 AM. And that's after tossing and turning until after 10 PM last night. I don't think I even dreamed. I don't think I slept long enough.

When I got off, it was dreary and rainy, which gave me the perfect excuse to do nothing for the rest of the day. Which is pretty much what I did.

Oh, I knit a square into the family blankie (pics soon--as soon as I find the energy to vacuum), and wove a few ends in, but that's about it.

Now I'm going to go hit the hay.



Goodnight.