Getting There...

Yes No-Blog-Rachel...here it is...first of several...after all, I was there two weeks...

As all you regulars know, I left Friday, February 1st on my first ever, on my own, trip across The Pond. I'd traveled internationally before, lots of times. Never alone though...and it had been about 15 or so years since my last trip. And almost 14 years since I've had a vacation that wasn't with family (hmmm....strangely the same number of years Spencer has been around...)

Anyway, Feb 1st started out early. My airport ride showed up in the wee hours of the morning. They needed to drop me off and then make it to work early that day. I, of course, was all ready having calmly finished my packing the night before. Hah. Don't you just love fiction? The ready part was true...the calm? Not so much.

Upon arriving at the airport, the lovely, helpful lady at the check-in counter informs me that since I'm so early, they can put me on the earlier flight out to Chicago - which had been delayed, but was now scheduled to take off in about 45 min. Yay! I was excited about that. It would give me an extra 45min in Chicago to get to my flight to England.

We shall hurriedly mention the "BAG SEARCH!!!" "BAG SEARCH!!!" incident in security. Not very exciting and no needles were confiscated. They apparently didn't like the fact that I had a digital camera. Go figure.

On board I go...squeezed into the window seat next to a very large man with a cold. No, fellow knitters...there was no knitting on this flight...

Halfway thru the flight, I looked out and saw this...




Somewhere over the Midwest....all flat and covered in feet of snow...

Sock Monkey decided to come out from the backpack and take a look...my seat mate's snoring woke him up...



Yes, my friends, Sock Monkey is back and couldn't resist going on a new adventure...especially since he's never been in a plane before...

And we had another friend join along...Ms. Cow - she had some visiting to do as well.*



She was a little intimidated by the whole noisy plane thing, so stayed in the seat pocket. Sock Monkey tried to get her to look out the window, but she refused.

A few hours later...Welcome to Chicago Ladies and Gentlemen!



A cold and snowy day greeted us. The plows were working hard to clear off the runways. I was really hoping my connecting flight was still going to leave on time....

Check out the snow melting truck/machine thing! Coolest. Thing. Ever!!!!




With 45 minutes added to the 45 minutes I had to waste in the Chicago Airport, and being way too nervous to do anything but walk about, I, of course took pictures of the toilet.



Coolest. Toilet. Ever! Press a button on the wall, and a new toilet seat cover comes out and around the seat...whirrrrrr...now I'm really wishing I'd taken video...

No pictures from the flight over unfortunately (which left right on time, by the way). I was in and out of consciousness on it and trying to get in a little knitting in-between. I had finally started the second of my fingerless mitts about 30 minutes before we'd boarded the flight in Chicago, and had gotten more than half way through it by the time we landed. Knitting on a plane! YES! Had many friendly conversations with other passengers about it during the flight, the technique I was using (two circulars instead of dp's), and the stitch pattern (Anne the pattern writer calls it Pave). I apparently messed up somewhere around where the thumb gusset increases started. Several days later while in the car traveling to somewhere with The Honey, I noticed my mistake. Gah!

We arrived Feb 2nd, at 6:15am - ish...on a cold and snowy morning in England. We were an hour early (!!!!!!) and with all of us from the flight making frantic phone calls to our rides saying we were early. I sent a text to The Honey while in line at Immigration saying we were early and I was heading thru to the luggage carousel already. He replied that he was still 30 minutes away. Had expected as much since I didn't find out we were going to be that early until we were about halfway thru the flight - so I couldn't tell him.... and he wouldn't have found out until he woke up and checked the airport website.

After making my way thru all the official hoo hah, 15 min later, The Honey arrived and we set out.

DAY-YUM IT WAS COLD!!!!! I knew it would be cold and tried to prepare myself for it, but there is just no way to do that if you're not used to it. Took a while for the shivers to go away. Yes, I was bundled up, but it was definitely a shock to the system.

Luckily, The Honey's car has a fully functioning heater.

After a snowy drive home and several incidents of The Honey talking to himself as I passed in and out of consciousness...we arrived at his house.

Here's a view from the window on the second floor at the top of the stairs...



First thing I thought was...Good Heavens, I'm in a PBS show!!!! Looked just like the houses you see in the British shows they have. LOVE IT!

Honey thought I was crazy...and then bundled me off to take a nap before I passed out cold.

In case you haven't gotten it, I don't travel well. Also didn't help that I hadn't been able to sleep for those last few days before I left...

Coming soon...Off to Wales!!!! Castles!!!! Foreign toilets!!!!!! Bridges!!!!! Visiting with The Honey's Family!!!!!!! And Stairs...Lots of Bloody Stairs!!!!!!!

Whuh....a little unstable never hurt anyone...

* Ms. Cow has a bit of a relationship with Cow, who just happens to hang out with The Honey in his Home Office. Ms. Cow hangs out in my home office. They met for the first time when Honey came to visit, and have been an 'item' ever since. Ahhh....Bovine Romance....how sweet.

Coming soon to a blog near you...

Finished objects! Two of them!

Needles on fire! I'm knitting again!

Future projects! Yarn P0rn!

First post about vacation!

Other stuff!

Not so many exclamation points!!!!!!!!!!!!!

But first, I need to decompress from this week (with some knitting and some Viggo and some pizza), and I have a busy weekend ahead.

!!

The Last 24 hours...

Once work was done...I putzed around the apartment, basically doing nothing. Whatever. Round about 9PM, I decided to be productive. I wanted to knit. Imagine that. I needed some background noise for the knitting...which movie to watch? Wasn't ready for any Viggo - don't think I could have handled it. WTF? Couldn't watch Viggo?!? There is DEFINITELY something wrong with me.

Anyway, decided instead on some Brendan Fraser, John Hannah, and Oded Fehr (sp?) in The Mummy. I think I've seen The Mummy more times than I've seen Viggo I, II, and III - hard to believe, but yes. I knew exactly what was happening and could happily knit away.

I'm happy to say, I'm almost done with the second mitt...the former demon mitt from hell. Instead of tinking over 2 inches (it was worse than I thought), I just took the whole shebang apart. Rip, rip, rip...R.I.P. second mitt from HELL. It was wonderful to sit and knit and watch gorgeous men on the tellie. Sigh. What a wonderful Friday night. No kid, just me, and my knitting, and Brendan Fraser.

This morning I got up early and headed to the Flea Market in Berkeley. Found some nice crytals - think I'm going to make earrings out of them...I'll post them when I finally do...got some sunglasses for both myself and Spencer. Nothing else struck my fancy, so headed back home, met up with Spencer and headed to Target.

At Target, there lives the Perfect Purse.




I. WANT. THIS. PURSE. But I won't let myself buy it until I organize up my little office space. I stopped by it to visit. I pet it, I told it that it would be coming home with me soon...then walked off before I was tempted to toss in the cart and run to the checkout.

As I was wandering thru Target wanting the purse and feeling sorry for myself, I came across this...




Oh. My. God. Purse? What purse? Viggo. Oh sweet Viggo. Sigh.

Fast forward a few hours to...On the way to his soccer game tonight (they won by the way!!!), we were running ahead of time, so did some shopping in Oakland on the way. I suppose I'll post a picture of my new jacket at some point. I love it!

No purse at this outing. Almost had some shoes, but I'm sure if I tried to walk in them I would have most likely fallen flat on some part of my body which would have been very entertaining to watch.

But I got a new jacket - and I love it - and it'll go fantastic with my new mitts. FO pix of those coming soon!

Something to tide you over...

...while I get over this week.

It started off wonderfully...getting stuff done...organizing trip photos and thoughts...blah blah blah.

Then reality (in the form of work) stepped in...and I stepped back a few paces...

So, in the interest of tiding you over for just a few more days while I try and pull myself up and out of my 'work sucks funk' and 'I'm too tired to do anything funk'...I give you something easy that Honey sent me today.

Enjoy...even not knowing the intracies of World of Warcraft, I found it quite entertaining.



ROFLMAO

Reason to Celebrate!!!

There is some a whoopin' and a hollerin' goin' on here in the Chaos. Well, not really, but we are very, very excited!

We just found out that Spencer has been accepted into the High School that was his first pick. I am so excited and proud, I could bust a gut. This weekend we will go to a fancy dinner to celebrate. Evanna's Italian Kitchen here we come!

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go back to organizing my trip photos - but thru tears now... 'cause you know my baby is going to high school soon... and I just can't help balling my eyes out.

Sniff, sniff.

PS You guys did notice I said 'organizing my trip photos' right? That means the first trip post is coming soon. Yay!

Taskmistress Buttercup...

Don't know if anyone else but me could hear it, but there was some whip crackin' 'round the Chaos last night...

For those of you who don't know...I like the PowerPuff Girls...especially Buttercup. Not only does she dress in green (hello, my fav color), but she is a badass little Superheroine - she of the kick ass first, ask questions later school of Superheroing...

First, a view of my current Buttercup/PowerPuff Girls collection...massively downsized after the office closed as I kept it all there. Posing of course with Marvin, the resident DFS (Dalek for Scale).




Yesterday...which I'm pretty sure was Sunday, Antonella and I headed out for one of our favorite San Francisco destinations - Chinatown. Time chitchatting on BART, walking up and down Grant Street...nom nom nomming on giant sesame balls...OMG YUM! And generally browsing the stores trying to stay out of trouble - as in not spending too much.

Anyway...here's my latest addition to the Buttercup Collection. It was an impulse buy I could not resist. I've been wanting one for ages...and it was on sale for $10. As I hadn't seen any PowerPuff Girls stuff lately, I pretty much pounced on it...and brought it home. Here she is with Marvin.





My brand new Buttercup Alarm Clock. Yippeeeeee! SCORE!

One of my favorite pieces from my collection, besides the hat is this little gem...came in handy at work...whenever anyone ticked me off...you'd hear this...




Struck terror into the heart of many programmers...let me tell you. Usually happened right before I threatened to cut off all their access to the source code...

Anyway, I was hoping for an alarm along those lines...you know...PowerPuff Girls theme song..."I'll Whoop your Heiney if you don't get up" kind of thing.

Instead, I got this...





WTF is up with the "Little Mermaid" music?!? GAH!

So... "she" got this....




Between me and Marvin, we took care of her. She is now a SILENT part of my Buttercup Collection...

Although I do think she would be perfect to set off in Spencer's room at about 5:30AM next Saturday. Bwahahaha...yes, I am an evil Mother. That's what he gets for losing his house keys while I was off on vacation.

ANYWAY...back to the title...setting off that damn alarm jolted me back into reality...WAKE UP WAKE UP it said...(add whip cracking noises here)...I listened. Reality rushed back into the Chaos and I've been taking care of business here. No more moping about the house. Vacation is over, I can't use Jet Lag and Time Change as an excuse any more. Honey is not here. I am not there. That reality sucks, but nothing we can do at the moment. He'll be back in these parts in June. In the meantime, life goes on, stuff needs to be done...projects need to be finished and started...I think I'm finally in the mood to knit!!! It's been a month now since I've picked up the needles. Good Heavens girl...get with it already!!!

And no, I didn't turn the volume up just for the video...that's the "normal" volume... there is no mute or volume adjusting switch...that damn thing is so loud it could wake the dead. But now it is silent...gloriously silent...and it shall remain that way until I choose to torture my teenager with it.

Watch out! She's baaaack...

PS...notice snippets of sweater sleeves. Isn't it gorgeous? And yes, I will get on with the trip photos and stuff...and post pictures of the sweater. Good grief people, one thing at a time.

Now that he's collected his thoughts....

Hello everybody!!!

My eight-grade class and I are going to Washington DC in May. This is an awesome opportunity for us to learn all about the US government up close - especially during an election year.

We are trying aggressively to raise money for our class, especially for those students that are financially disadvantaged. I would like to personally raise $20,000. I know that sounds crazy but I can reach that goal by only raising $10,000. I have someone that will match any money that I manage to raise.

Unfortunately, this approach is not tax-deductible for you, BUT we can double your money! Send Mom an E-mail to find out how - it involves personal checks, addresses and other stuff she doesn't want to publish here.

We are trying our best to do most of our fundraising within the next several weeks. Our generous "doubling your money person" has extended the deadline for another few weeks, so donate today!

Any donations you can provide will be greatly appreciated! Once my tally is fulfilled, whatever extra money I collect will be put towards the general trip pool for my school. Please help us get enough money to go and learn stuff and get out of our parents hair for a week!

Thanks a bunch!!!!

Spencer

PS by Donna...yeah!!! Get him out of my hair for a week! Woot! (hee hee)

While our guest blogger collects his thoughts...

...I'd thought I'd take the easy way out and show you a favorite commercial of mine... cut and paste...easier than a quiz...




and this one I just saw in the last few days...



Oh, and this one...hahahahahahahahahahahaha!!!!



yay YouTube!!!

She lives????

Hey Everyone...

I think I'm finally coming out of my stupor...I think...

Anyway...I'm going thru all my thoughts and photos and I'm trying to get them all organized and coherent and all...not doing very well...gah...

In the meantime, we'll have a blogging guest tomorrow!

There hasn't even been any knitting or even thoughts of knitting or diving into that yarn I bought before I left. Spencer asked what was wrong with me...ummmm....I'm a Zombie?!?!

And...I'm totally dreading tinking the rest of the 2 inches of stupid mistakes I made on the fingerless mitts...still ticks me off...

Instead, I've been reading...Terry Pratchett Discworld books... #1 down...started #2 last night. Oh, and slowly taking 30 min here and there throughout my work day to catch up on blogs...78 left of the 526 I had waiting for me when I got home. You guys have been BUSY!!!

Oh well, in time, I'll get back to the routine of total chaos...right now, it's just bits and pieces...about all I can take for now.

Back....

Hey everyone,
Made it back to life here...of course, still wishing I was in the UK with the Honey. Although, he did say it was a lot colder now than when I was over visiting...

Anyway, still recovering from the trip back...which is rather hard with Spencer being off this week from school and jumping straight back into work (which is being a total bitch BTW), but I am getting to bed early every night and hope to be over this soon. Guess I shouldn't have waited 14 or so years to travel about the world again, eh?

Sigh...back to reality...which totally sucks this week. I'm sure once I'm not a total zombie, I'll feel better about it all. Probably not, but one can hope, right?!?

Someday soon, I hope to tell you about the trip...oooh...and Stephieface, I've got one Kilt porn pic for you...but just the one...that's all I could get...and it was purely by chance we came upon him...bagpipes even...

Chat soon...lots of bloglines to catch up on...see what you all have been up to while I was gone...

BRRRRRRRRRR!!!

Not really, but I am spending quite a bit of time bundled up...

Hi everyone from sunny England. The weather this week and at the end of last week actually has been sunny and warmer. YAY!!!

Lots of adventures to tell about and all that...Honey says HI!

OOOOOHHHH....Honey's Mum made me an aran cardigan for Xmas at his request. I put it on right away and have spent most of my time in it...hee hee...it's warm! And lovely. Honey and Antonella have apparently been conspiring for months now to get the right size, etc so she could make it. Sneaky, aren't they?!?!?!?!?

Oh, and the fingerless mitts and hat...remember those? Well, um...I finished one mitt and started the next...it's been the mitt from hell! Can't get it right for nothin'...have had to tink so many times, I just want to rip it out and never start it again...if it wasn't for the fact that I already have the one, I think I would....

Off we go now...Cheers!

Oooh...I've blabbed non-sensically 331 times*...

...see? Told you...does that make any sense to anyone else but me?

*translation: this is my 331st post

My mind (and quite frankly my stomach) are all a-twist. For those keeping track...I leave early tomorrow morning to go see my Honey in the UK.

Why yes, I am all excited to go...so why the anxiety?

There's a whole number of reasons...travel anxiety being the main driver to it all. I usually get this way when I travel...you know...have I taken care of everything at work? (yes)...have I taken care of everything at home? (almost, but very very close)...have I emptied the trash...have I washed what clothes I want to pack...have I paid all bills that will come due while I'm gone...did I drop off the rent...

...and it goes on and on and on...to the point of not getting very good sleep...I'm a wreck...

Was telling the Honey this morning that at this rate, I really don't think falling asleep on the plane will be a problem. I'll probably get on and pass out from sheer exhaustion...

The worst part is that I haven't packed yet. I should be packed already....and I'm not...and it's freaking me out.

There's only a few items on the to-do list left now...and those will be done with plenty of time to spare...and leaving me plenty of time to pack tonight.

Really wish I could get my brain to realize that everything is OK.

OK..enough rambling...it's taking away from my panic time!

Anyways...back in a few weeks...I may post a bit while I'm over in the UK...I did promise Antonella a picture of a castle before I got back home, so there will be at least one posting.

In the meantime, don't clean up the Chaos while I'm gone...and take care and see you soon and all that.

New acquisitions...

Strange creature, we have you surrounded...



Step away with your cuteness...EXTERMINATE!!



blink...blink-blink... blink...you can not resist our cuteness strange creature...



Must. Resist. Cuteness...



We Looove you Strange Creature... You cannot EXTERMINATE cuteness...



Could. Not. Resist. Cuteness...WE ARE FRIENDS...





Note: This cute little trio of Kitty photo holders was just given to me by Spencer...a little something he brought back from his trip to L.A. with his Dad over the holidays. They are just adorable... Can't really blame Marvin for failing to resist... They are pretty darn cute!

PS...oooh Stephieface...girl...you know it...and if Gerard Butler just happens to be over there at the same time and just happens to be stuffed into my suitcase...not my fault.

You comment, I comment...

Darci - I got them at Wal~Mart about 5 years ago...my first ever pair of reading glasses.

Stephie - great idea with the finger knitting...

Ready...Set...

...GO!!!! Well not officially until this Friday....you don't think airport security would mind if I went now and just camped out at the gate for a few days, do you? Don't want to be late for my flight...


All I really need for the trip....passport, e-ticket receipt, yarn etc, and knitting glasses (knittin' in style, what can I say)...the Knitpicks goodies just came today. Yay!




And when I get back...this will be waiting...





The colors are gorgeous...absolutely gorgeous. Don't know about the rest of us, but Marvin sure is excited.

WIP it, WIP it good*

No, we haven't moved from Threesomes to S&M...we're just talking Works In Progress...and other yarny stuff... jeez.

And now with the help of Marvin, the D4S (Dalek for Scale), I present...

3 balls Karabella Vintage Cotton colorway 311 (sent in the sweetest care package last Spring from No-Blog-Rachel)and some Patons cotton colorway unknown (but it's an awesome blue color - thrift store find). Have no idea what I'm going to do with it all yet, but I'm definitely going to combine the two colors. Somehow. On something. Will take a while for the cotton to 'talk' to me. OK, OK...I just have no clue what the hell I'm gonna do with it...




The Mystery Blue Thing for my Sis...backside once again...about half way along...the fabric is hard to maneuver at this point...getting harder to work on...I shall prevail... Am debating whether I should take this on the trip...it's getting quite bulky...probably not.



The beginnings of my fingerless mitts...Rowan Tapestry color 177...pattern Paris Roubaix set from Anne Hanson...Love. It. Absolutely love working with the yarn, and the pattern is fabulous. Hope to have the hat and mitts complete by the trip...and will be making this instead of the scarf - and I'll be using the same stitch pattern as the Paris-Roubaix set so it matches. Need something around my neck, but not a long scarf...too much bulk under the new 3 in 1 jacket. I'll probably knit that on the way over.



SWTC Bamboo in the Serendipity colorway (also from No-Blog-Rachel)...pattern Holey Moley...for me... Might take this along...it's an easy knit and very portable.




Caron's Cotton Terry...10 skeins...another thrift store find. Going to be a shitload of face washcloths for me and Spencer... I plan on taking some of this on the trip...washcloths are quick, easy, instant gratification...and a great way to practice new stitches.




Made out of some old acrylic dk weight from my stash and a ton o' green and clear glass beads...Celestine...the beads really make this star...I have 3 points left to make. This will be an awesome addition to our Xmas decoration collection...and I will be making more out of different yarn, beads, etc etc etc...love this pattern. Not taking this...too many needles sticking out of everywhere...could cause a security meltdown...wouldn't want that now would we?!?




So that's what I've got on the needles...there are so many more projects running around in my head...for many things, just not knitting. They'll probably stay there for awhile...

*adapted from Devo, Whip it, 1980

P. S. ...

Yes, Stephiface, Spencer does have one black shoelace and one white shoelace. It's "cool".

Warming up from the inside out...

Having this new stove has inspired me to cook more and more...this time, with Da Pot.

Veggies...



+ Meat...





+ Da Pot...




= YUM! *



Our bellies were full...and warm...until we walked across to the store and bought ice cream for dessert...



*This scrumptious delight, Pirate Stew, comes from Fix It and Forget It Cookbook. ooooh...and they have a Low-Fat version...

Not saying I ever won't....

...but I just got this new button from Grumperina (who just got married btw - congrats!).

I've made 3 sweaters in my knitting adventures, but I enjoy the smaller projects so much more...and the occassional uberly large projects (queen-ish size afghan anyone?!?) as well.

Two of the sweaters were pretty much disasters and one sweater was, well, so warm and toasty I couldn't wear it. If I ever find a photo of any of them, I promise I'll post. I'm sure you'll all enjoy it too...they were all made in the '80's...heh heh heh...

In the meantime, we have this...check the new button over there to the right -->

Enter...Panic Mode...and Other stuff again...

There are only 9 days remaining until Antonella whisks me off to the airport at some ungodly hour in morning. But, The Honey is at the other end of the journey, so it's worth it for sure.

PANIC!!!! OK..just had to get that out of my system. My to-do list of things to-do before I go just seems to be getting longer and longer even though I'm crossing things off that I've to-done.

Yes, I'm babbling. Leave me alone.

I've been unable to knit...which means Big Sis's secret belated b-day present will not be done before I leave. Most likely not done. Seeing that I've not been able to knit and all.

Yes, I'm babbling again. Leave me alone...again.

OK...pulling it together for just a moment, I present Spencer and his most favoritest Xmas present ever...from Grandma and Auntie of course, since Mom's don't ever get their kids cool stuff like Grandmas and Aunties do...

First we take a gander at my baby's feet. The little baby feet on the right would be mine. The ginormous battle cruisers on the left would be my baby's...and my feet aren't really that small...women's 8.5 is not a small, petite foot...unless you put it next to Spencer's size 10 battle cruisers. Which are now pretty much officially size 10.5 battle cruisers...yes folks, it's a winter growth spurt.




And here we have Mom (um, that would be me) trying to get up on the wave board. I decided this would be the most acceptable (to me) photo to post. The others, if they existed, would be of me just about killing myself on this funky contraption...and since they don't exist, that means I don't have to bother erasing all trace of them, and therefore they cannot be published for all the internets to see.




Yes, I'm babbling again...get over it.

And here we have proof that this funky contraption does indeed work, the kid enjoys riding around on it, and yes, Grandma, he does use saftey equipment...ummmm...at least while I was filming him and he was just learning...








OOOh...and since Stephieface likes threesomes so much, we'll give her another one tonight... Let's see Panic Attack, that's One...Grandma and Auntie get major cool points with the Wave Board, that's Two...and a Finished Object, that's Three...yep...another threesome.

And now on to the Finished Birthday Object for The Honey...Happy Belated Birthday Honey!!! (it was Jan 3rd - right in the middle of my "I don't feel like blogging" stint so I was bad and didn't post on his B-day)...




This is a photo of the scarf in progress, as I was so excited to have it done on time to ship off, I was at the Post Office with it all packed up before I realized I had no official FO picture. Not only is it a cabled scarf, but it's a reversible cabled scarf...cabled mostly without a cable needle. Even after all those bazillion and one cables, I still love cables. Oh, and I loved the yarn so much (Rowan Tapestry) that I bought more for myself to make some warm wooly accessories for my trip to the UK.

Maybe I'll remember to get an official FO photo of the scarf while I'm visiting...

OH GAH!!!! I'm leaving in 9 days...excuse me while I go off and panic again...

A woman renewed....and other stuff...

That's right folks...no. more. grey. hair. 'nuf said.

On to the other stuff...

Time for the killing of two birds with one blog post...in other words...it's a twofer! I'm finally getting off my lazy, bloggy ass and posting some stuff. Don't get used to it.

First off...remember this?!?



"That 70's Stove" in it's final moments...sniff sniff...I shall miss you...NOT!

and introducing...



The New Stove. I love it so much I almost want to name it. OK, so I won't go that far, but we do loves it lots! Really changes the look of the kitchen, oh I don't know...by about 30 years or so?!?

And now for a trip back in time to ummm, let's see...June '07...the time of the first visit from The Honey....weee ooooo....weeee...oooooo.....weeeee...ooooo...when he gifted me with this...




...or should I say "Him"... Just over 5" of RC Dalek fun and frolic...

Everyone, meet Marvin...Marvin, please don't Exterminate! everyone...




Isn't he just adorable! My very own RC Dalek!!!! Honey earned major points with this one...him and the sneaky Antonella...but I love it and am glad to add him to my little family of named objects. See? I named him...means I love him! (oooh and bonus points to Honey for bringing batteries)

Yes folks, I am a big Dr Who fan...grew up with him, still watch him...did you know Netflix has the first two "new" seasons on DVD?!? Hoo Hah! (Spencer's new phrase...replaces Booyah)

You folks will be seeing lots of Marvin in the future. I have decided he will be my "Dalek for Scale"...cos every now and then you need a little perspective. Besides, Marvin needs to have something to do once he's done exterminating the remaining plants in the house...




OOOOH....I lied! It's not a twofer, it's a threefer! Who doesn't like a threesome every now and then...

Time for a finished object. Not too many details since it is just about midnight and the blogging magic wears off at midnight...at which time i turn back into a lazy ass blogger...

Meet Sidney...




Just over 12" of cushy, knitted Dalek Exterminating Fun...Now in possession of The Honey. It was his Xmas gift...made from the left over yarn from his Leeds United Scarf. 56 bobbles later...



...and lots and lots of knitting around and around and around and I had a Dalek for Honey. Isn't he adorable? And Marvin isn't in the least bit intimidated because he knows size doesn't matter...It's how you use your ray gun that's important.

OK...so it's past midnight and I'll leave you all contemplating ray guns, size, threesomes and stuff. Any second now, I'll lose all ability to.....damn.

ARGH

OK...nevermind about the sock yarn...my fav color is sold out...it was awesome, trust me.

Guess I'll just get something fabulous while I'm in the UK...that's if I ever even want to see another sock by the time I get there...

Oooooooooh....

I'm sure that no more grey hair and some of this will definitely improve my mood. Just sayin'...

So I'm not a sock knitter...give me about a month. I'm going to learn on the way over to see The Honey. If I do manage to figure out sock knitting, that yarn is M-I-N-E when I get back. It'll be a nice treat....'cause you know going over to see The Honey isn't a big enough one already...

hahaha...I really need to get to bed...

sigh....

Still trying to get my self together and dive in to a post-a-rama here at the Chaos.

Just haven't had it in me to do it yet. I'll get there...eventually.

Today was encouraging and setting back all at once...you know...the ol' one step forward, two steps back routine...

One step forwards....one day closer to my Honey Trip...finished off some stuff with work that has been giving me grief and causing it's fair share of sleepless nights...progress on my sister's birthday + 5 gift (that's actual date of b-day + x amount of days overdue)...back to the treadmill routine regularly (that would mean daily)...have the use of a car for the week...

Two steps backs...more blog fodder keeps popping up, yet I don't get around to blogging about it...about half of all clothes purchased recently for the trip do not fit (that would be the bottom half)...High School application craziness...hair still grey...our Xmas tree is still up (and the little guy is still alive and kicking too)...

Tonight Spencer and I went out for a bit of shopping and looking around. I ended up in the Fitting Room (hell on earth) with some pants. The pants I originally bought at the after-Xmas-sales don't fit...they are too tight. A temporary setback I keep hearing. Yeah, whatever. I know I will get back down, blah, blah, blah...but it still didn't help me feel better tonight as I tried on pair after pair of size 18 jeans and slacks. Just 2 short weeks ago, during my shopping spree at the sales, I was wearing a size 14....and during my brief stint in the size 12's, I promised myself that I would never, ever, ever be a size 18 again. Yet there they hang on the door, my new size 18 jeans. It's all I could bring myself to purchase tonight. They were the last pair of pants I tried on, and the only ones I bought. If I still need size 18's by the time the trip rolls around, I will go and buy the others. Tonight I was too tired, and too emo to fork over the cash. And while I took off the new jeans and folded them up, I had a little sit down and sniffle session. Yes folks, I cried in the fitting room at Wal-Mart. A nice short little wah-wah-wah. Yes Antonella, I gave in to the urge...just couldn't stop it. Once that was done, I picked myself up, and walked off to purchase my new jeans. They fit well, were just the perfect length and were on sale. What more could you ask for...don't say it.

And now I sit here stressed and down...wanting so much to have me a bit of vanilla ice cream. Which I will not because it's almost midnight, I'm hitting the sack after I publish, and it's not a good thing to do anyways. I have in the past turned to food when stressed (both emotionally and physically) and I don't need to get back on that nasty wagon. Don't need to be eating myself into size 20's either...oh HELL no...

Really don't know what mental shape (or if I'll be clothed for that matter) I'll be in come time for the Honey Trip. Screw it all, I'm going anyway. I have a few skirts that fit...and one pair of jeans...and if I still can't sleep, there's always the flights over for a nice long nap or two.

In the meantime, I look forward to the day where I don't feel like a Macy's Thanksgiving Parade Balloon anymore, my hair is no longer grey, and I get a good night's sleep.

Well, at least I can do the no longer grey thing...Looks like that's happening before the week is out. I need a mood boost.

A day late and a gift short...

And for something I didn't get a chance to do yesterday...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BIG SIS!!!! Hope you had a good day yesterday!!!

Here's a hint to your gift...yes I'm knitting it...and yes, it's taking me a while...and yes, it's two shades of blue...oh, but this is the back of it. I've been working on it for almost a month now, but the color work is slowing me down. I've never done color work, so it's a learning process. I am getting better at and am beginning to cruise, so you should see this before I leave to see The Honey.




And now for something that has always bugged me about my Sis...she is older than I am (for the interest of family togetherness we shall not mention by how much or in fact any numbers whatsoever) but she has very few of these...




...grey hairs... You can count the number of grey hairs on her head on one hand. Really really ticks me off. I, on the other hand, am not so genetically blessed...neither is Mom... Dad was...didn't show too much grey for the longest time. Lucky.

Mom however, has not been grey for a long time (wink wink), and I'm usually not either (more wink wink). But, I got tired of doing it myself, then figured I would treat myself to a salon cut/color before I went to see The Honey, then life happened.

The Money Pit, aka Spencer's school, has come up with yet another scheme to relieve me of my hard earned ca$h. So...I am back to coloring my own hair and will visit Chris (the god of scissors) for only a cut in a few weeks. Sigh.

In the meantime, I look in the mirror every morning...counting down the days to when I can color it again and it'll stay colored all through my trip...and curse my grey hair genes...and my sister for not having them!

Take a good look Honey...you'll most likely not ever see this much grey on my head again!!

Should I be insulted or run with it?

Go read this article about the new rules for Drivers Licenses that we'll be coming up against soon. Go ahead...I'll be here when you get back...

While I'm ecstatic that I fall in the 'born before the date that shall go unmentioned but you obviously know now' and won't have to deal with it all until much later, I can't help but almost feel insulted that by the time this goes into effect, I will most likely not be a threat to national security.

"The over-50 exemption was created to give states more time to get everyone new licenses, and officials say the risk of someone in that age group being a terrorist, illegal immigrant or con artist is much less. " **

Hah! Tell that to the airlines and courtrooms of America. I like to knit, therefore I am a threat. They must not have gotten the memo...oh, and if you're a 'grannie that knits'...rock on grannies! You can take over the world now and no one will suspect you because you are over 50 and not a security risk.


So this all gets me to thinking then...why on earth does my 70-something year old Mom get frisked every single friggin' time she flies? She's over 50, so she's in the 'low risk of being a naughty person' category and she's not even packin' needles...asswipes.

Anyhoo, when my over 50 time comes, I've got my knitchucks...I'm in...




** Oh grrrr...since I've written this, they've changed the article that I'm linking to, but trust me, that paragraph in quotes is from the original...

Here's some clever...along with a public service announcement...

...actually some lazy...just some copy and pasting of links... but still you will learn and get public serviced in one entry...

Originally linked from Claudia...knitting your food...


...and what do my wandering eyes spot when this is over?


Such a catchy little tune....

Knock knock...

......uhhhhhhhhhh....I'm here?!?

Promise I'll post soon...have lots of fodder, but have been in a very non-bloggy mood. Said fodder includes: Finished objects! Pictures of Spencer getting his latest Karate level! Video of Spencer on his new wave board! Our new stove! Our Christmas tree! Our non-burned all the way cooked Christmas dinner! Works in progress!!!

Told ya there was lots.

OH, and I'll try to be clever and interesting too.

24 days...yes my friends...the countdown has begun. I have e-tickets and passport in hand. The trip to see The Honey is ON! And, yes, I could already be packed, but I decided living out of a suitcase for a month was a little too much, so I will wait until my departure time gets closer...

New Stove! Pictures soon...

Lots happening here in the chaos...

New stove delivered this morning...check...last photos of old one taken...check...photos of new one taken...check...

Package from Grandma delivered today as promised by UPS...check...don't open until Xmas...duly noted and check...dammit...

Researching latest rules and regulations about traveling overseas since I haven't done that in 15 years...check...rules have definitely changed...duly noted and check...dammit! No problems knitting on the way there, but can't have knitting on UK to Chicago flight when I return. Argh. They must have heard about my threats to the local justice system here in California. Since "No sharp objects whatsoever - no exceptions - and that means YOU" are allowed on flights leaving the UK, looks like I break out the crochet - didn't say anything about hooks. Can't needlepoint, cross stitch, sew/quilt, knit...crafters must be overly agressive and just plain unruly on transatlantic flights. Honey is hoping I don't get myself in trouble on the way home...or lose any precious crafting supplies.

ACK. All I want to do is keep myself busily occupied and not in anyone's hair. And if I'm busily occupied, no one will get in my hair...which is of course more important in this situation.

Lots of work piling up...check...and ACK!!!! Will be working late the next few days to get it all done.

Lots of pictures piling up in the digi camera...will eventually post.

Knitting Content:
Honey's Dalek is coming along well. 85% complete as of last night. Spencer's Surefire hat was sneakily confiscated Saturday night after soccer, properly blocked, and lined with lightweight fleece last night. Looks awesome. So proud of myself on both projects. Yay!

Some day, I will get all this into Ravelry. I should be thankful I haven't gotten really sucked into it yet, altho I did discover that they also have crochet stuff! Guess where I'll be looking for ideas for the trip home.......let the sucking begin...

In order to distract those who come here for knitting content...

...or any coherent content for that matter....

First a knitty update...still haven't properly finished off Spencer's Surefire hat. He takes it off to sleep or shower and that's it...and quite honestly, I haven't had the energy this week to argue with him or wrestle him to the ground to take it off him...he is a bit bigger than me now you know...

Next update...the Dalek for Honey is coming along quite nicely...but will not be ready in time for Xmas...maybe his birthday in January?

Had a few other projects on the needles that just aren't working out, so those will be re-thought and most likely switched out for others objects d'knitting. Definitely not going to make it for Xmas either...

Damn those knitting muses...I have a few successes and bammmm! Total blockage...gah...need a brain plunger!

Work has been busy, lots of stuff happening with school and Spencer left and right...

ooooh! Have some tickets on Hold for my visit to go see Honey as of this afternoon. Have until Dec 24th to either buy them or find something better. I'm so excited I can't stand it.

OOOH! Getting a new stove/vent-a-hood combo on Monday. Sure will miss my avocado green "That 70's Stove"...well, not really.

Ok here's something for the WTF file...saw it on someone else's blog, but can't remember who...and then shut it all down before I decided to post it here, so had to go digging for it...wasn't hard to find tho...




Kept hoping one of them would fall off the catwalk or run into another model...can you just imagine what the models were thinking under those?!?

Desperate Knitters...

...take desperate measures...

Well, not really that dramatic, but we got tired of waiting for the last color of Lamb's Pride to come in so we could start the infamous hat for Spencer...

Into the stash we dove...and came out with some leftovers from Honey's Leeds United scarf. Namely the white and yellow. Combined that with the dark brown and turquoise we had ordered just for the hat and viola!






One finished Surefire hat! Welllll....one not-really-finished-quite-yet Surefire hat because Spencer put it on to test the size and never gave it back.

It still needs to be blocked and I think we are going to line it with some lightweight flannel. But first it had to go to school today and over to Dad's house for the weekend. It will be back on Sunday night at which time I will confiscate it so I can finish it off properly!

Once the other yarn does actually arrive, I will make him another. This time I think I'll use a size smaller needles so it'll be a bit more fitted.

Can't believe I finished the knitting up part that quickly. I started Wednesday night and finished weaving in the last ends and doing the crochet edge last night. Wow. Have never finished knitting anything so quickly in my life.

Then and Now...where has the time gone?!?

Good grief...time sure flies....where's the tissue box....sniff sniff sniff...



Baby photo courtesy of the hospital where Spencer was born, school photo from this year's photographer - whoever it was this year...

Knit happenings...

Hi everyone,
I was a little out of this weekend...if it's not one thing, it's another! But...I did manage to get some knitting in...

Started this...and it's been cool so far...altho...ask me again after I've finished making all 58 bobbles....

Would really like to start this...so far I have the dark brown and the blue that we ordered, still waiting on the cream color. Our version will not look like that tho...we are going for something along the lines of this...but without the pompom. We are trading in stripes for snowflakes... We were going to go with Swell, but we didn't like how things were starting to look. Earflaps just weren't right...and I couldn't get the damn thing to stop being so curly. Next!

Spencer and I are excited to get going on this...He graphed out the snowflake pattern from the American Eagle hat and now I've got to do some math to get it to work on the Surefire Hat. Now all I need for him to do is graph out the little wave pattern at the top for me and I'm in business. And...if the wool is too itchy, she has instructions on how to line the hat! How cool is that?!? It was intended to make the hat warmer, but stopping itchies will be it's mission here in the house of Chaos and Wool Sensitivities.

Been surfing and reading lots of magazines and books and blogs and websites lately...so many wonderful patterns out there! Waaaannnnnt to make so many. Realistically tho, some are way out of my league, some I'd get bored with and would never finish, and then there are some that I could totally do! And those I will do...eventually. In-between life.

Lamb's Pride, Lamb's Pride...where for art thou Lamb's Pride?!?

Hurry up and get here dammit!

Oooh...If anyone out there has any recommendations of anything knitty that's English, I'd appreciate it. Going to ask Honey's Mum (the only English knitter I know), but thought I'd put the question out there into blogland as well. Honey (bless his heart) has agreed to take me yarn shopping. I told him we needed to wait until my visit was almost over because I didn't want to blow all my spending money on yarn on the first day...poor dear has no idea what he's getting into...but now he does wink wink...wonder if he'll get too embarrassed if my eyes roll up into my head and I just dive into the yarn? Sensitivities be damned!!!

Ooooh...and when I mentioned I wanted to learn how to spin, he mentioned that Wales is famous for it's spinning wheels. Oh my...how will I get this all home?!? hee hee

You know, I'll probably be so overwhelmed, I'll come home with nothing (nothing but blotchy, itchy skin anyway)...but I promise I will at least take pictures...