Azaleas

I planted these azaleas about 12 years ago, not long after we moved here.


I planted them on the East end of the old house, thinking that since Azaleas are shade loving plants, they would do OK.

They didn't.

They did fine the first year or two, but then began to bloom less and less.

Last summer, they had maybe a grand total of two or three blooms between the pair of them. I was seriously going to cut them down and just start over. I just didn't get around to it.

But then, I got that old trailer house moved out and they were able to get sun throughout the day. What a difference it made!

I think I'll keep them.

Conversations With Cody

I'm going to go try on my suit, now.





How do I look?

You look good. It still fits, too. It may be a little snug around the middle though. Well, it'll be fine for one night.

I'll just leave my jacket unbuttoned.

Not if you're going to wear a tie. You need to button it.

Brother Bob [our pastor] wears a tie and he leaves his jacket unbuttoned.

You're not Brother Bob. You're my son and I'm telling you to button your jacket.

I would think you would want your son following the example of his preacher!

.

Knitters

are the most generous people on Earth! Seriously!

I was talking about the blankie on a message board I'm a member of, and three wonderful ladies popped up and offered to send me yarn scraps. I already received one package of yarn a couple of weeks ago. Today, I got a second one!


Look at all the pretty yarn! I began incorporating it into the blankie right away. The lavendar/purple yarn on the far right has already been knit into a square, and the rainbow colored ball that you can barely see behind the red and black ball is being knit even as we speak.

Thanks, Chuckieknits! This'll help out a lot.

I figure I'm going to need close to 500 squares to finish. I had wanted to have 500 squares of different sock yarn, but I just don't see that happening. Still, I want to get to the halfway point before I begin repeating, so there's still a looong way to go.

I was thinking about having a contest to beg for sock yarn scraps, but I haven't decided if that would be tacky or not.

What do you think?

~~WoW~~

Oh, good grief, do we haveta do this again????

I'm trying to sleep here!

One Of Those Days

It's gonna be another one of those days. You know, those days when I just don't feel like typing anything, so you get a bunch of photos. Today's theme:

Flowers In My Yard.

Azaleas:




Wisteria:


Lily Of The Valley:

And yeller weeds:


That's all.

House

When I was a little kid, I had this next door neighbor. Her name was Shirley, and she had red hair. Shirley's think to say was, "My Lord!" I don't know what it was about it, but the way she said, "My Lord!' sounded so funny to me. She said it like a true Texas woman, with two--and sometimes even three--syllables in Lord. I used to go over to visit her and tell her the most outlandish things just to hear her say, "My Lord!"

After watching tonight's episode of House, I just got one thing to say,

My Lord!

WIP Wednesday.

Yeah, I know it's not Wednesday, but WIP Sunday just doesn't have the same ring to it. I've been lax here for a long time in posting progress photos of my WIPS, so I hope this will get me kick started into doing it again.

1. Sock yarn blankie--on hold until I get some more sock yarn.


2. Express Lane socks: I'm past the heel turn and about half way up the cuff, depending on how long I decide to make the cuff.


3. Trekking Scarf: slowly inching it's way along.



4. Branching Out #2--I'd almost forgotten about this one. But I picked it back up and did several pattern repeats today.

I'm starting to itch a bit to cast on another lace project, but I'm trying to get some of these done first.

And just for fun:

Obsessed Much?

In the comments to a recent post, Steve remarked that he doesn't get my "obsession" with Terrell Owens. Steve also said that he though T.O. was acting like Dennis Rodman on The Apprentice. My response became so long that it ended up being a post unto itself.

First of all, let me say that I hardly consider buying a player jersey (and on clearance at that) quite qualifies as an obsession. If that is so, then I am also obsessed with Jason Witten, Tony Romo, and Marion Barber, and I hope that I will soon be obsessed with DeMarcus Ware, Bradie James, and Terence Newman. If buying a jersey signals an obsession, then a lot of Cowboy fans are equally obesessed with Terrell Owens. I wanted one of his regular season jerseys, but those were all sold out. I feel lucky to have gotten the one I did, even though I don't really like the throwback style, because they sold out just a couple of days after I ordered mine. Maybe I should have gotten a Roy Williams jersey. They still had plenty of those left.*

Secondly, I have to admit, I haven't been watching The Apprentice, so I don't really know how Dennis Rodman is acting. I can say, though, that you may not know how he is really acting either. The MSM are masters of spin. They have become very adept at taking one word here, a phrase there, out of context, and splicing them together in such a way as to make you believe what they want you to believe. And in Terrell Owens' case, they wanted you to believe that he was a divisive cancer in the Cowboy locker room. And they spun their coverage to make it seem that he was just that way. Face it, Terrell Owens' media coverage was just about as fair and accurate as --well, as Sarah Palin's was. How many people out there still believe that her youngest child isn't really hers, or that she really said she could see Russia from her house? How many people still believe that T.O. was a cancer in the locker room or that he really did demand that Jerry Jones cut Tony Romo and draft Colt McCoy or that he got into a fist fight with Jason Witten?

You would think that if he was as bad as the media was making him out to be, now that he's gone, T.O.'s former Cowboy teammates would be coming out of the woodwork to condemn him. So where are they? I have yet to hear a single one of his team mates say, "Oh, I'm so glad he's gone!" Quite the opposite, in fact. Jason Witten said just a couple of days ago, "He is a great football player. He made me a better player just being out there." Roy Williams said in an interview last week, "Romo and T.O had some good chemistry together." DeMarcus Ware said in an interview at the Pro Bowl, "He is a playmaker. We need him." Even Marion Barber, upon hearing of T.O.'s release broke his customary silence to say what a great player Terrell is. All those locker room problems he was supposedly causing, until his former team mates, not the media, mind you, but his team mates begin coming forward and saying what a problem he was, I will stand by my earlier words--backed up by Bradie James-- it's all make believe.

So, am I obsessing over Terrell Owens? Not so much. Am I upset that Jerry Jones cut the biggest threat the team had, and their strongest offensive weapon? Much. My 15 year old son, who isn't even a Cowboys fan, by the way, asked me, "How do the Cowboys think they can win without Terrell Owens.?" I didn't have an answer for him. How are they going to win?

With Roy Williams, who is allegedly slow in the foot, doesn't like to practice** and is supposedly a sloppy route runner***? The Roy Williams of the 19 catches for 198 yards and one lonely little touchdown last season. Does he scare defenses? We'll have to see, but he'll have to step up in a big way.

With Patrick Crayton, who is a solid, dependable slot receiver, but doesn't really strike fear into the hearts of defenses?

With Miles Austin, who shows promise, but can't seem to stay healthy long enough for anyone to view him as a real threat?

With Sam Hurd, another one who can't stay healthy? Or how about Isaiah Stanback, who has spent so much time on Injured Reserve that most people forget he's even on the team?

Warren Sapp***, that great defensive tackle for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, that seven time pro bowler, that Super Bowl champion said "I would love to play this Cowboys offense now because there is nobody there that scares defenses. They have taken their monster out."

Can the Cowboys win without Terrell Owens? I don't know. Maybe. We'll have to see. I do know one thing, though.

I sure won't be buying a heck of a lot of popcorn this year.



*They have sold out since I ordered my jerseys.

**Jamie Dukes, NFL.com Is Romo Better Without T.O.?

***Warren Sapp, NFL.com State Of The Franchise

Kewl!!

So I was watching reruns of Lie to Me on Hulu.com, and when the episode was over, I saw this little icon which said "embed". I just had to try it, and it worked! Woo Hoo!

Now when I want my fix, I can just come here!



P.S. Be prepared for an onslaught of embedded videos.

P.P.S. Never mind. The episodes are taken down after only a few weeks. It wouldn't be worth it to embed them all here if they aren't going to stay available that long. I'll just have to wait for the DVD.

It's Not Just Wasting Time!

Watch CBS Videos Online

I knew it! I'm not just wasting time when I'm sitting around knitting. I'm providing for myself in my old age.

What Are You Doing This Weekend?

Right before I left work Friday, a co-worker asked me "What are you going to do this weekend?" It makes me wonder, why do we always have to be doing something? And of course, what she meant by doing wasn't what I was really planning on doing today. I'm sure she didn't want to hear my plans of doing laundry and cleaning the house--both of which did get done, to some extent. No, she wanted to hear me say that I was going out of town, or going to the club, or going somewhere and doing something. It seems downtime has become an unpardonable sin in our society. We are made to feel guilty for just spending a day piddling around the house, catching up on chores, and mostly resting. Ya wanna know what I really did? Exactly that. Piddled around the house. I did laundry. Cody fixed the screen door, and the shelf in my closet. I though about cleaning up the kitchen then went and sat down. I watched some Netflixes I needed to so that I can send them back. That's about it. Oh, and I knit.

I finally got the heel turns done on my socks and am working on the cuffs.

These seem to be taking forever. I chalk that up to two things--1) my gigantic feet, and 2) doing two at once on Magic Loop. That always makes knitting tedious. As you may have guessed, I'm not a Magic Loop fan. Give me my double pointed needles any day.

On a tip from Opal, I bought these play mats at Wal-mart.


What do I need play mats for? They make great blocking boards! I also bought a set of nickel plated T pins from the sewing department, and I'm ready to block. First up, that errant corner of Mystic Waters.

Finally, the sky,

and blooming wysteria.


And that's about it for my weekend.

Seriously????

This boring bit of drivel rates a 6.3? Seriously? Of course, I think all of y'all ought to run right over there and give me excellent ratings so that my score will be artificially inflated.

Remember, vote early and often!

Real post tomorrow. I've got a long one almost completed on our favorite topic of late. I'll just let you guess what that is.

He he...

Ain't I the stinker?

Band Concert

Finally! The videos of the spring band concert are up and ready to be viewed. Cody actually sat where I could see him this year. He's in the back, in the black suit playing the tuba. He said to tell you that his cheeks aren't really puffing out that much. The light just makes them look that way.

This song is In A Gentle Rain



This one is called His Honor.



They played a third song, but I ran out of memory on my card about half way through. The silver lining is, I came home and tore up my house until I found my 2G camera card. I ought to have enough memory for next year, at least!

No April Fool's Joke Here

I was scared. They were chasing me.

I wasn't sure who they were or what they wanted. I just knew I didn't want to be caught. I couldn't let them catch me.

I'd gone to town that day, though now I don't remember why. They'd found me there. I saw them coming for me and ran outside, to my Jimmy. I tried to get in and start it, but my hands were shaking so I couldn't get the key into the ignition. Just then, two of my friends drove up in their truck. I'll call them John and David, to protect their identity.

"Get in," David called as he opened the door. I ran to their truck and climbed inside, John accelerating even before David could get the door closed. Only David's strong arms kept me from falling back out onto the road. We headed out of town. As we turned the corner from Wooded Ave onto Sunset, I looked back. They were still chasing us, and they were using my Jimmy to do it! Well, my Jimmy and another car.

How far and how fast we drove, I don't know. We went way out of town, but still didn't lose our pursuers. David and John took turns driving throughout the night. As dawn's first light began creeping over the horizon, we abandoned the truck and struck out on foot, deep into the woods.

Fatigue was catching up to me. I lost track of time. I just remember walking and walking--occasionally breaking into a run as we heard our pursuers closing in on us. We must have traveled for miles. I vaguely remember following a creek and climbing some hills. I came to myself with a sudden start as David led us inside an old building. It was an abandoned theater. Looking around, it must have hosted dozens of community plays and other performances. We were in a room backstage. Scattered throughout the room were dozens of props and set pieces. John helped me climb onto a house. It was just a prop, and wasn't but about 7' or 8' tall, but it was at the back of the room. He thought we would be well hidden there.

David, meanwhile was looking around for a radio of some sort. He wanted to find out the news, or better yet, find a way to communicate with those who would protect us. Just then, a door behind us burst open and several uniformed National Guardsmen came in. They grabbed John and subdued him. They led him out of the room. The agent that took me was actually very polite as he helped me down from the prop.

"It's OK, Ma'am. I've got you. You're not going to fall. I've got you, come on down." Funny that.

The National Guard took John and me out and put us into the back of a van. I don't know what happened to David. I never saw him again.

I don't know how far we drove. I know I must have dozed off because I wasn't fully awake when the soldiers led us into a waiting room full of people--men, women, even some children.

"Wait here until they call you," the soldiers said. As I sat down, I looked around. I knew where I was.

As I was waiting to be processed, who should walk in but my pastor. He'd come to visit his friend. Bernie, I think he calls him. When Brother Bob saw me, he came over immediately to speak to me.

"What are you doing here?" he asked.

"They're putting me in prison," I replied.

"Why?" my pastor inquired.

"I don't know," I answered.

"What did they talk about at your trial?" he asked.

"I didn't have a trial," I said. "I just hope I'll get one eventually."

"Well, what did they charge you with?" he asked again.

"They didn't charge me with anything," I said.

"They had to have charged you with something when they arrested you," he said.

"They never arrested me," I replied.

"They never arrested me. They never charged me. They never ever read me my rights. They just grabbed me and brought me straight here."

"They can't do that!" he said, angry. "They have to tell you what you are charged with. You have to have a trial! You have rights. It's in the Constitution."

"Huh! The Constitution!" I scoffed. "There is no Constitution any more. "

Just then, the warden called my name. As I got up to begin my incarceration, I turned to my pastor one last time.

"Welcome," I said, "to Obama's America."


**This is no April Fools joke. It is actually a dream I had, in vivid detail a few nights ago. I mentioned before, sleeping with me is always an adventure!

What's On Your Calendar?

It's April 1st, and that means it's time once again for my monthly calendar meme:

We start off with my sister in law and my darling nephew on my bedroom calendar:
My kitchen calendar:

My office calendar:

And a new one this month, a calendar laying in my floor:


Seriously, though, I'm going to get it hung. I just need to get more hangers. I found this one on clearance at Wal-Mart for $1. Yep, that's right one dollar. How could I resist? I think it's funny, though. It is a 2009 calendar, yet it features the seniors from the 2007 football season. Pictured this month is my boy Jacob Hester, who now plays for the San Diego Chargers. He got some serious Madden love during their two playoff games last season.

And for a special April Fool's Day treat, I thought I'd throw Cody's calendar into the mix:

No need to tell you who that is. Let's see how he does this year without Marvin Harrison, who by the way, is still available.