Crafty People

Throughout the years, I've done various crafty things from time to time.  I started off with crochet and embroidery, because those are what my mother taught me.  I've done ceramics with my aunt.  I've done cross stitch, and plastic canvas needlepoint.  I've painted things.  I've even done tatting and sewing.  Oh, and yes, I knit, too.  All kinds of crafts just seem to come natural to me.  I pick them up pretty easily.  There has only been one that has eluded me...

I've always thought scrapbooking was cool.  I loved to look at the cute little pages, so well designed and put together.  So, one year, I bought some supplies and tried doing some pages myself. To my dismay, I discovered that this was the one thing I just don't have the talent for.  Not only could I not design pages, I just didn't have the heart for it.  I lost interest pretty quickly. 

I suspect that there are lots of people out there like me.  Lots of people who think scrapbooking is cool, but can't seem to design a page that doesn't look like a kindergartner playing with construction paper and crayons.  If you're one of those people, never fear.  Help is on the way.

My cousin Ashlee has started a cottage industry--doing scrapbook pages.  She is listed on e-bay and Etsy, and her blog is Croppin Mamas.  Drop by and check her out, and if you have any scrappin friends, feel free to pass the link along. 

Thanks.

Baby, It's HOT Outside

Any way you look at it, it is HOT.  I've been absolutely miserable at work this week, and not just from the heat.  You've heard the old saying, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it"?  Well, there have been bosses and engineers all over the place busily trying to fix what ain't broke.  And as typically happens, they're just making things worse.  The funny thing is, if they'd just listen to those of us who really run the plant, we could tell them what needs to be done.  But they won't.  They're the bosses, and we're just peons.  What would we know about anything?  They're driving us all crazy, and that stress is part of the reason behind my rant of yesterday. 

There has been some sock progress.

Not as much because I haven't had as much time to work on it.  Still, I should get it finished and the second one cast on over the weekend.  Sunday is the Hall of Fame game, and I took Monday off, too, so I could stay up and enjoy it without thinking about how tired I would be at work. This photo is not true color, though.  The actual yarn isn't nearly that bright.  It's still pretty, though.

Squeaky says,

"I'm a cat.  I'm not supposed to cooperate."

Do You Ever Wish

you could crawl through the computer lines and slap the holy Hades out of someone who desperately needs it?

Yeah..

So, I saw where Brett Favre supposedly is going to retire again. I have a lot of friends who like football, and some of them had already commented on it in their Facebook statuses. Wanting to strike up a conversation with my football loving friends, I posted the following:

So Brett Farve is retiring--again. Wonder how long that will last?

The very first comment was somebody sneering, "Who cares?" Well, obviously I care, you dolt, or I wouldn't have posted about it. It really ticked me off, but I didn't say anything about it. Maybe I should have commented, but I didn't.

Several of my football friends joined the conversation, and we were chatting merrily away--through the comments--when someone else posts:

----and we care because?---

Well, that was just too much.  I responded, "We care because we care.  Just because YOU aren't interested in something doesn't mean the rest of us can't be."  I mean, sheesh.  If you don't care about the topic we are discussing, then stay out of the flippin conversation!!!!!  Just leave us to our chatting and mind your own business!  What?  Do you really think that the whole world should totally eliminate everything you are not interested in?  She did the same type of thing a few months ago when we were all talking about the Lost season finale.  She lost --he he, get it?  Lost? --no opportunity to remind us that she had never watched the show and wasn't the least bit interested in the finale.  So what?  If you aren't interested then stop butting into our conversations!  I finally, after reading the 298th comment about her not being interested in the show, pointed out to her that a lot of us were interested and were looking forward to watching the show.  If she weren't interested, no one was forcing her to join into these conversations.  Some people just don't seem to understand that it's OK for people to be interested in different things.

I liken Facebook to a city park type of environment.  When you go there, there will be all sorts of people having all sorts of conversations.  Some people on this bench may be discussing politics, others may be in a corner playing games, and still others will be talking about sports.  You will hear these conversations while walking through the park, but that doesn't mean you have to jump into all of them.  Especially if it's a conversation that you aren't that interested in.  Just keep walking and let those people carry on with their chatting.  And you certainly don't have the right to *** into the middle of someone's conversation and demand that they cease and desist just because their topic doesn't interest you.  Just move along...move along. Mind your own business and move along.

I suppose you can tell I'm a little steamed. 

Just for the record, Cowboy fans should care about this.  Or have you forgotten that they play the Vikings in October, in Minnesota.  That game will be a whole lot tougher with Brett Favre at the helm than with Tavaris Jackson leading the team.  Plus, it was BRETT FAVRE who scored that last second touchdown even though they had a 20 something point lead, childishly rubbing the Cowboys noses in it.  I'm sure there are a few Cowboy defenders *cough* Keith Brooking *Cough* who just can't wait to get up there and plant his face in the turf a few times for that. I'm looking forward to that game, too, but I'd rather see Jackson as QB than Favre.

Either way, I'm not going to base what I post in my status upon whether this person or that person will approve of it.  I will post what I post, and if you don't like it, just move along...move along.

Mind your own business and move along.

Music Monday

Note: The photos accompanying this video are from an old election campaign, but the audio was the best I've found, so I am posting it anyway. Close your eyes and listen, and love it as much as I do.

Sock Progress

It's amazing how quickly these things move when the mojo is there.

Next week at this time, I will be watching the Hall of Fame game between the Dallas Cowboys and the Cincinnati Bengals.  Did you hear?  T.O. signed with the Bengals earlier this week.  Him and Ochocinco on the same team--I've got my popcorn ready.

Emmitt Smith is being inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame Saturday.  Now you may be wondering why I didn't write a long, eloquent post about him, as I did for Bob Hayes last year.  Well, the thing is, Emmitt was a shoe in, and deservedly so.

There was never any doubt that the NFL's all time leading rusher would be a first ballot Hall of Famer.  Never. There was never any anti-Cowboy bias to overcome, nor a drug riddled past. 

We all knew he would waltz right in,

and The Triplets would finally be together again.

So, there really wasn't a whole lot to say about it. Because, in a way, he's been there all along.

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.