Gabriel

Says hi. 

I have a friend who calls this stage of life "mental pause".  Now that I'm there, I can understand the reasoning behind her colloquialism.  It's like my brain has quit working.  That is why, instead of a clever and witty post, you are getting a picture of a fish. 

And I'm going to bed. 

Goodnight.

Off And On

I'm tired.

I stayed up way too late last night watching football.  The Cowboys had the Sunday Night Football game, wherein they dominated the Saints the entire game.  Then, as usual, I was too keyed up to fall asleep easily, so it was after midnight when I fell asleep. 

Time being the uncooperative entity that it is, 5:00 AM still came at 5:00 AM.  I wasn't out of bed for 10 minutes before I was eagerly anticipating getting back into bed at the end of the day.  Nevertheless, I have just enough wits left to give you a rundown of my weekend. 

Saturday was an absolutely beautiful day.  Partly cloudy, breezy, but just a bit too warm to open the windows.

Still, it was fallish enough to put me into the baking mood. 

Look!  Mini pumpkin pies!  I made six, and put five of them in the freezer.  The other one met its unfortunate demise in my stomach.  I still have quite a bit of pumpkin left, so I might make a few more pies, or I might try that pumpkin soup recipe. 

Well, sort of.  I view recipes more as suggestions.  I'll probably just pick the best parts of the several recipes and wing it from there.  There is one drawback with cooking without recipes, though.  When you make something really, really good, and can't remember how you did it.  Been there...

Just to cheer you up, here is a flower. 

OK, onward...

I finished the scarf I was weaving. 

Then I warped the loom for another one. 

This one is Red Heart Supersaver in Gumdrop for both warp and weft.  I like the way it is turning out. 

Finally, Squeaky has laid claim to a sweater piece that I'd tossed on the back of the love seat.  

"Dis mine nao.  You not getz it back." 

Dear Church Member

Just FYI, the sound booth is not sound proof.  The entire congregation really can hear you talking away up there. 

Yes, we can.

Thank you.

That is all.

New Stuff

New Oreos. 

I wasn't that impressed.  They weren't very pumpkin-y or very spicy.  I probably won't buy another pack. 

New Hat:

I'd seen some of the players wearing this one last season, and I wanted one so badly.  I'm glad I finally found one in the Cowboys Pro Shop.  These NFL sideline hats are an investment, but they are so warm. 

New Necklace:  

The day after I ordered these, they put up a new necklace with matching earrings that I liked better.  Maybe Cody will get those for me for my birthday.  Which is coming up in about 7-ish weeks or so.  I have a wish list on Amazon.  I have several wish lists on Amazon.  Not that I'm hinting or anything.  November 11.


New Scarf On The Loom:

I used the solid pink for the warp, and the variegated for the weft.  I wasn't too sure how the colors would work out together, but I think it looks OK. 

I am declaring tomorrow to be a baking day.  I'm going to do some mini pumpkin pies, and maybe some sausage gravy pot pies.  If I have enough pumpkin left, I'm going to try that pumpkin soup recipe I found. 

Now, since I've made my intentions public, I might actually do what I'd planned. 

About Like I Thought

Yep, today went about like I thought it would.  I slept in until 7:30 -- which may not sound much like sleeping in to some of you.  Trust me, when you get up at 5:00 every day, 7:30 is definitely sleeping in.  I had intentions of getting my heater fixed in my Jimmy, but as soon as I got up, I knew that wasn't going to happen.  Fall allergies have my sinuses on the war path, and I've kept a headache all day.  So, I didn't do anything. 

My biggest accomplishment of the day was getting my carpet vacuumed and shampooed.  Oh, and I watched six episodes of Criminal Minds. 

The good news is spider lilies are blooming!  It's finally Fall for real.  

Oh, and here is a lantana

and a zinnia, for good measure. 

You know, I used to take lots of photos, but I've kind of gotten away from it lately.  I need to take the camera out on another photo safari, like I used to do.

In the meantime, I just sit around knitting and knitting...I've picked Kyle's blanket back up. 

I've gotten several squares added to it, but we still have a long, long way to go.

Those aren't dirty spots in my carpet.  It's just still a wee bit damp from where I shampooed it.  Really.

I finally got started on my other cross stitch ornament. 

You can't really tell what it is supposed to look like right now, because it's just a jumble of colors at this point.  If you'll go to this post and scroll down to the bottom, you'll see what it is supposed to look like.

I had to set it aside, due to the aforementioned allergy headache.    Knitting is just easier on the old eyes. 

A Finished Object

And here it is. 

This one took a while, mainly because my weaving fu took a little vacation.  But I soldiered on and got it done.  It wasn't easy, I tell you.  The yarn is Cherry Tree Hill Sockittome Select in Old Rose. 

I'm still trying to do the Blogging 101 thing, but I'll admit that I'm struggling with it.  The last few assignments have had to do with the theme and layout.  That part is more for beginning bloggers.  I've had mine the way I want it for a few years now.    I actually tried to start a blog over on Wordpress so I could play around with their templates and stuff, but it just seemed too much trouble to try to keep up with two.  Anyway...

Today's assignment is to leave comments on four blogs you've never commented on before.  The caveat is, you have to remember which blogs and what the comments were.  Dude, I can barely remember my own birthday, much less which blogs I comment on. 

Even worse, you have to write a comment that contributes to the conversation.  "Nice blog" and the like just won't get it.  I'm thinking I may have to just bow out of this one. 

The good news is, tomorrow and Friday I have vacation days. Counting the weekend, I'll have four days off in a row.  Yay!

The plan was to put Jimmy in the shop and try to get my heater fixed before the cold weather sets in.  The reality will most likely be Criminal Minds on Netflix all day. 

Yeah, because I'm such a wild one like that. 

Tired On Tuesday

I was at work yesterday, just a workin' away.  Group Leader Fernando wasn't there.  I didn't think anything of it.  I just figured he'd taken a day off. 

We all do it from time to time. 

But then, people started running up to me and texting me and asking "What happened to Fernando?" like they thought I would somehow know.  I'm not sure why they all thought I would know, but they did.  Think I would know, that is. 

After about the third time someone asked me that, I figured I'd better find out.  I started asking questions.  Seems he'd been having severe headaches, and was just feeling lethargic all weekend.  Sunday his sister talked him into going to the hospital. 

Well, I'm not going to go into all that, because it's his business and not my place to be putting it all over the internet.  Be that as it may, the hospital wanted to send him to Jackson, but they didn't have any beds.  They sent him to Greenwood instead, where they ran some tests on him. 

One of my friends said she and another co-worker were going to go see him after work, and I asked if I could ride with them.  I did want to go see him, but you know me, I wouldn't have gone on my own.  I was really glad she said she was going, and that I could go, too. 

I'm always like, thinking that people wouldn't want me around, but this morning, she stopped by and thanked me for going with them.  She said they really had a great time. 

Anyway, we got to the hospital and found his room.  Crystal knocked, and Fernando's sister called for us to come in...

"We came to see how you are doing," said Crystal, hugging him. 

"We're here to cheer you up," said Edna, hugging him.

"I'm here to finish you off," said I, strangling him...not really.  I just hugged him, too. 

We visited with him a bit, and the doctor came in and said he was OK, and could go home.  A few more minutes and the nurse came in with his discharge papers.  "Oh, I still have to take your IV out," she said.  "OOOOOH, can I?"  I volunteered -- which was met with a resounding NO from Fernando.  Gee, I wonder why...

We saw him safely off with his sister, then we came on back to Grenada.  I made it home just in time for the season premier of The Big Bang Theory, followed by the season premier of Sleepy Hollow.  By that time, I was just tired and ready for bed.

The bad news is, I tossed and turned until after midnight before I fell asleep.  Even then, I woke up two or three times before the alarm went off at 5:00 AM.  Needless to say, today has been a bit of a zombified day for me. 

But look who came to visit:

This is the neighbor's puppy, and he's the cutest little thing.  I was trying to figure out how I could keep him without them finding out.  Eventually, I decided that they wouldn't appreciate that too much, so I let him go on home. 

In other news, I bought another pie pumpkin and cooked it down over the weekend. 

I found a pumpkin soup recipe that I want to try.  You know I'm all about the soup.  I'd better be.  I've got enough soup in my freezer to feed an army. 

Finally, the fish has decided he wants to be named Gabriel.  

"Why Gabriel?" I asked him.  "It isn't a very fishy name." 

"Because I like it," Gabriel said.  And that was the end of that discussion. 

So, Gabriel it is. 

A Quick Post

I'm running late today.  Stuff happened.  I'll catch you up on it all tomorrow.  But for now, two quick things.

Saturday, I went to our town's annual Downtown Jubilee.  The adult education center was giving out free books.  Oh, yes, ma'am, I'll always take free books.  

I've already read the first one, and am going to start on the second one as soon as I finish here.  The adult education center does the GED classes and stuff.  I don't need a GED, but if they ever decide to teach Conversational Latin, I'm all over that.

Secondly, tomorrow may be the first full day of Fall, but it arrived at my house on Friday.

The candy corn ones aren't that great, but I love the pumpkin spice marshmallows.   The pumpkin spice kisses are kind of meh, too.  I like them, but I probably won't buy another bag. 

Well, I'm off to bed.  Catch you on the flip side. 

Dear Coworker

I got news for you.  Real men don't feel the need to bully, threaten, harass, belittle, hit, pretend to hit, threaten to hit, rape, joke about rape, threaten to rape, or day dream about raping women.  That is the domain of weak, cowardly men.

If you find yourself bullying, threatening, harassing, belittling, hitting, pretending to hit, threatening to hit, raping, joking about raping, threatening to rape, or daydreaming about raping women, I suggest you take a long, hard look at yourself, and why you feel weak and inadequate around strong, confident women.

I guarantee the problem is yours, not hers.

Get help, before I feel the need to show you how weak you really are.

Thank you.

That is all.


*Yes, I do go through this every day at work.  No, I can't report it because our HR department would just tell me to get back to work and pretend it isn't happening.  Go on, ask me how I know.

Psycho

Why does line 2 always seem to wind up with the psychos?

There I was, minding my own business, lost in my own little world, singing

Have you been to Jesus for his cleansing power?
Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb?
Are you fully trusting in His grace this hour?
Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb?

when I caught a movement out of the corner of my eye.  I looked up, and there was someone standing beside me.  I don't even know who she was.  Right away, she began cussing me out, saying I had a "F***ing attitude".

I was like, "Excuse me????"

I hadn't had an attitude before, but when she started cussing me, I got one really quick.  And she backed off really quick, too.  I went back to work, but the more I thought about it, the madder I got, so I went and reported her to my supervisor.  He got with her supervisor -- she's a temp-- and they got on to her pretty good.  I'm not sure what they said to her, but she stayed away from me for the rest of the day. 

For some reason, Line 2 always seems to attract the crazies and for some reason, they always seem to hone in on me.  Long time readers may remember this little gem from a couple of years ago:

You're Not Going To Believe This

Yeah, that guy didn't last much longer after that.  I saw him a few months later in Wal-Mart, and I just walked past him like he wasn't even there.

Then there was "Sunshine".  That's what she called herself.  She cussed me for a good 20 minutes because she walked over and tried to pick up a piece of hot copper with her bare hand.  Somehow, that was my fault.  I was supposed to have warned her that the (blankety blank) was hot.

Duh, I just melted metal onto it.  Common sense should tell you it's hot.  Besides that, if you were wearing your gloves like you were supposed to, you wouldn't have burned yourself.

She ended up getting fired because everywhere they tried to put her, she ended up cussing somebody out.  Now, she was a certifiable looney. 

How's about we talk about something more pleasant?  I finally managed to get my WordPress account activated.  Or, I should say, Yahoo mail finally came back up so I could confirm my e-mail address.  I've still got to figure out the reader and stuff, but I've got time for that.

Today's assignment is:

Write a post to your dream reader, and include a new-to-you element in it.

The first part is easy.  If you are reading this, then you are my dream reader.  The new element will be a bit of a challenge, though.  Admittedly, this entire course is geared towards new bloggers.  After several years of doing it, there isn't much I haven't used.  Animated GIFs, embedded videos, photos, links-- even music tracks have all been a part of this blog. 

So, I'll just leave you with this:

 

Jesse gets very nervous when thunderstorms roll through. This afternoon, he decided to try to hide under my jeans. When I called him, this is how he came to me. 

Silly boy. 

Say Hi To The Neighbors

The good news is, I can participate in the Blogging 101 course, even though I don't have a WordPress blog.  I do have to open a WordPress account if I want to participate in the forums or use the reader.  The bad news is, due to site difficulties, I can't get the e-mail with the links to open right now, and I'm just too lazy to do a search.  Ah, well, it be's that way sometimes.

I knew a chief in the Navy who used to say that.  It's an old colloquialism of which I have yet rid to myself.

Anyway, on to the day's topic.

Today’s assignment: follow five new topics in the Reader and five new blogs.


My blogroll is pretty long already, and the sad part is, I don't usually even have time to keep up with them all. So many of them I've lost interest in also.   I've started following many new ones when I started doing Chats, but I just don't feel like I'm connecting with the authors.  The ones I actually keep up with are listed in my right sidebar.

Once I get into the Wordpress site, though, I'm going to try to find some new blogs that will hold my interest better.  From what I understand, in the Wordpress reader you can follow topics as well as individual blogs.   I do hope that I can find some new friends there. 

Now, how about a little real life?

Monday, I was at work just hanging around, and I realized that here it is the middle of September already, and I've only taken three days off so far this year.  After consulting my calendar, I put in for my remaining 17 days.  Today, I got final approval on all 17.  Yay!

At least one of those days, I want to get up with Christi and go to the range.  We've been talking about going again anyway.  They've opened a new range up in Oxford, but they want $30 a day for lane rental.  That's just a bit out of my budget.

And finally, Fall is finally here!  The first spider lily is poking its wee head above ground. 

 

 

Soon, the yard will once again be a riot of red.  You can bet I will be posting photos. 

Now, let me see if I can go figure out this WordPress thing. 

We're Blogging!

My friend and fellow blogger Jasini clued me in to this Blogging 101 course.   Even though I've been blogging for almost 9 years, I'm always looking for ways to improve the blog.  They also have a Writing 101 course that I may do after this one is over.  I hope that I will be allowed to participate, even though my blog isn't on WordPress. 

The topic of the first post is to introduce myself and to give a brief statement as to why I am blogging.  OK, here goes...

For those of you who don't know me, my name is Becky.  I was born and raised in Texas, and hope to go back there some day.  Soon.  I'm not married -- or I should say, I am no longer married.  I have one son, who will turn 21 next month and is going to college to become a minister.  Myself, I'm going to hit the half century mark in November, and no, I'm not embarrassed to tell you my age.  Growing old is a privilege denied to many. I also have two dogs, a cat, seven snakes, and one fish. 

I started this blog back in November 2005 in order to post my sketches.  I thought if I had to be accountable to readers, I'd be more disciplined with doing them.  It didn't really work out that way.  Then, I was thinking that since my family is so scattered, a blog would be a good way to keep in touch with all of them. That didn't work out either, as most of my family doesn't even read my blog. 


Other topics of interest over the years have been my adventures in the martial arts, photography, football, knitting, and weaving.  I've kept at it, because I really enjoy writing.  I do keep a private journal, but I also chose to blog publicly because I enjoy the interaction I have with my readers.  Being a classic introvert, I've always expressed myself better in writing.  When I sit down to write a post, I imagine myself sitting down with a couple of best friends over coffee and chat about my day.   

Successfully blogging over the next year will bring me not just new readers and new blogs to read, but also new friends. 

Now, since technically, I was supposed to start yesterday, but didn't know about it until today, I'm going to also do today's topic, too.  The assignment for Tuesday is to edit the title and tagline of my blog.  I won't be changing the title, since it was chosen in a contest several years ago.  My first title wasn't all that appealing:  Sketches And More.  I was a bit bumfuzzled at choosing a new one, so I had a contest on the blog looking for suggestions. 

The winner was Fine Martial Fiber, suggested by Sus, who no longer blogs.  She said, "because you're a fine artist, a martial artist, and a fiber artist." 

I was going to try to come up with a better tagline, but on second thought, I think I'll keep it, too.  Chronicling The Arts Of My Life. 

Because it just fits. 

At Last

Let's see, where was I? 

Hmmm, half day for training Friday.  The Great Fish Quest Saturday.  Church and football Sunday, after waking up from strange dreams...ah yes, here we are at Monday...

It was a crazy day at work today.  So many people were out that even Supervisor Ronnie put on a pair of gloves and worked on the lines.   I had to go help out in another area, but before I went, I wrote on our rate chart the following:

STANFORD - 35
ARMY -- 0

In large letters.  Very large letters.  Then, I loudly explained to a co-worker, "Navy and Air Force both won their games this weekend.  The only service academy that lost was ARMY." 

Group Leader Fernando said, "You just made your day a whole lot worse!" 

But it really wasn't, other than everyone being so shorthanded.  I had to run back and forth between my work station and one over on line 1, because they had so many people out. 

After work, I had to run to the store because my milk was getting sour.  I was trying to hurry up and drink it all up, but this morning, I realized I wouldn't make it.  While I was there, I found these:

 They taste OK, but are hard as a rock.  It's a bit like gnawing on a hockey puck.  I like soft cookies.  I won't be buying these again. 

And last...

At last, I have finally picked up the long neglected Kyle blanket.

Poor Kyle has been waiting forever for this thing.  It didn't help that four rows in, I decided I didn't like the way it looked and started over.  Yeah...

I'd started doing it in entrelac, but I felt it was puckering too much.  So I ripped it and am now doing it in mitered squares.  It's going much better now. 

I dreamed Saturday night that I was going through some kind of Army training (?), and they'd taken my glasses away.  I couldn't figure out what I was supposed to be doing, because I couldn't see.  I got so frustrated that I started crying, and the instructor said, "THERE IS NO CRYING IN THE ARMY!!!!"  But when he left the room, I said, "I don't care what he says, I'm going to get my glasses."  So I did. 

I still woke up crying, though.  I haven't done that in a while. 

There was something else I was going to tell you, but I can't remember what it was now.  I guess that means it's time for bed.  Maybe I'll think of it tomorrow. 

We Has Fish!!

The day dawned chilly and overcast.  It was so chilly, I had to put my sweat jacket on this morning.  I've had the windows open all day.  I'm loving that fresh air in the house.

But first, I had to go on The Great Fish Hunt.

Most Wal-Marts have male Bettas.  Ours has a space for them, but alas, that space has sat empty for several weeks now.  I kept watching, hoping they would get some in, but no...

Finally, I decided I'd go check the Wal-mart at Batesville. I was really hoping they would have some, because I sure didn't want to have to drive all the way up to the Petco in Southaven.  So, it was with some trepidation, I began my journey...

Upon arriving in Batesville, after a trip slowed by construction, I discovered to my delight that they had plenty of Bettas. 

They had red ones, blue, ones, green ones.  They even had one crowntail, but I decided just to get a plain one.  I knew I wanted a blue one.  Really, I wanted one that was TARDIS blue. 

There was also a lady in the aisle who told me she wanted an aquarium, but was afraid of fish.  I wonder how that is going to work out.

Back to my quest...after much deliberation and decision making, I finally chose this one.  He isn't quite TARDIS blue, but he was as close as I could get.  I put him on the dash of my car to take a quick photo before tucking him safely into the passenger seat and bracing his little bowl with my jacket. 

After a return trip also slowed by construction, we finally made it home, and into his little tank he went.

He seems to be adjusting well, and has even eaten a little bit.  I'm going to have to get him a heater, because I'm afraid he'll get too cold this winter. 

He also needs a name, but that will come in time.

Rylea says, "Why you get fish, Mama.  You not love me any more?"

Of course I do. You're my Baby Girl.

It's Beginning To Feel A Lot Like

AUTUMN! 

The first cold front if the year blew through last night and has lowered the temps a little.  And what with the dreary, gray, overcast day, it almost feels like fall.

Not quite, but almost.

Today was our annual training day at work.  It only last half a day at the most, and today we got out at 10:00ish.  I went straight to Wal-mart from work -- because I knew if I went home first, I wouldn't leave the house again-- and got that leaky tire fixed.  Finally.

Turns out it wasn't a flat at all.  The seal around the valve stem had come unsealed, or something, so all they had to do was reseal it.  I got the tires rotated and balanced while I was there, and since I'd bought all my tires there, they didn't charge me anything for all that work.  Because I'd bought the road hazard/rotation/balance insurance and stuff. 

So, the tire is fixed.  Now I just need someone to make sure I get up an get moving in the morning-- to go get a fish.  

More sure signs of fall, I bought a pie pumpkin.

I'd wanted to get one last year, but waited too late and they were all gone.  I'm going to stew it down and make some pumpkin pies.  My mini pie pans have sat idle for far too long. 

Here is some candy corn, just because. 

 Now, I'm just waiting on pumpkin spice marshmallows and my spider lilies, and it'll be fall for sure.  

Thursday, I was getting buzzed by the Army again.  I'm not sure what this one is. 

I think it's a C-130 Hercules, but I'm not going to bet my life on that.  A couple of times, it flew right over the house.   This one is cool, but my favorite is still the Apache -- um, I mean the Fuzzy Kitten-- helicopter. 

Never Forget

Whiskers On Wednesday

Since I still don't have a life, and nothing really has happened to talk about, and no, I still haven't gotten that leaky tire fixed (hey, it's been exhausting at work lately), here is a knitting update. 

Here we see a scarf in its natural habitat.

Seems like I've been working on this one forever.  The pattern is Trekking Is For Necking, and it's one of my go-to patterns.  Unfortunately, it looks like the website I found it on has been taken down.  Good thing I've got it memorized.  It's only three rows-- well, two rows and a wrong side row.

Next we have a partially finished sock in its natural habitat.

Will you look at that?  It looks like socks and scarves live in the same environment. 

Boy, do I really need to get a life. 

Here is something else in its natural habitat.  A cat.  Showing us her best side.  That is, the side without the claws.  Which have recently drawn blood.  My blood.  I don't want to talk about it. 

Squeaky says, "I thought you'd given up this nonsense." 

Seriously.