How many days?

...77 days til Honey and Cow arrive. Squeeee!!!

Ms Cow and I are very excited and working very hard to make things, sort things and get rid of things.

We're busy! :)

Tomorrow I'm off to a work thing for the day. I love it that it's in my home town (esp since it starts at 8am)...but...it's been pushing 100F for the last few days here. I haven't even looked to see what the high was today. Honestly, I don't really want to know.

Sigh...it's been pretty toasty in the whole area, so I really don't think going to the North Bay or over to San Francisco would even help heat-wise.

I'm just glad the venue where I'll be is air-conditioned. :)

I'm trying very hard right now not to fall asleep. I worked very hard this weekend at home, and was very busy all day at work (it was HOT in the warehouse).

I really need to do some laundry, but I just can't get myself up and at it. I really wish I had the machines right here in my apt...it wouldn't be such a chore to just pop things in and out when I needed something. I've got just what I need to get me through tomorrow, then I have no choice tomorrow night. Sigh.

Off to figure out when I need to catch the bus tomorrow and which bus I need to transfer to...

Recommendations?

Hello out there...seems Bloglines has decided to stop offering their blog feeds service.

What do you guys use to read your fav blogs and such?

Any recommendations?

Lego Tardis

Cool.

When you start thinking of excuses...

...not to do something you love doing, it's time to stop.

What am I talking about? Knitting.

Not stopping knitting, just stopping knitting 2-socks-at-once toe up.

I know I was excited about it, I know there are others who just L.O.V.E. it. Honestly, I think it's the most wonderful thing since just plain Toe Up and Magic Loop.

(hanging head and sighing) I just can't do it. I can't get into a good enough rythym with it and God knows I've tried. And tried and tried and tried.

I started making excuses not to pull out my knitting on the train. Not too far out there if you consider that my ride is short and it took me the entire 25 min just to do one full round on each sock. About 10 minutes was spent untangling the yarn and cables. How do people DO this?!?

But then, I started making excuses not to knit on the socks at home, in the evening, when I was doing laundry or watching TV when I had plenty of time (so to speak - it's multitasking time, but time none-the-less). I started cleaning and sorting and organizing rather than knit.

You know it's bad when you'd rather clean than knit. Especially if I'd rather clean than knit. I'd rather do ANYTHING than clean.

The 40" size 1 square needle had to go.

Back came the size 1 bamboo dpns. Ahhh.... I'm back to enjoying knitting socks. They may be one at time, but they are getting done. I'm sticking to the toe-up thing tho, that I absolutely L.O.V.E., whether it's one-at-a-time or two-at-a-time.

Oh, and after taking apart the two socks, and after knitting for about 3 inches further on one of them, I discovered that they were probably too small. I looked at my calculations, the instructions for the calculations, the sock, and (sigh) something just didn't seem right. Asked Honey for his measurements again, redid the calculations (redid again) and sure enough...too small!

No worries tho...both socks frogged, yarn cakes remade, new larger socks started. I'm about at the same spot I was when I frogged the one I started with the other method. Knitting one at a time. :)

It's so much easier to knit on the train, and people really avoid sitting next to me again since I have a mini-porcupine in my lap. They seemed to like the bowl of spaghetti better (seriously, with all the cables, yarn, etc - it looked like spaghetti). Guess it didn't look so "dangerous".

Anyway, I knit cos I enjoy knitting. Doesn't matter what I make or how long it takes me to make it. I don't even care if I have to frog several times before I get it right. Just means I can knit even more. :)

At the rate I'm going, Honey's socks with be ready in no time flat - definitely way before he comes to visit. I might even have my pair AND Spence's pair done too - and we can be sock triplets cos I'm making them ALL out of the Knit Picks Time Traveler yarn! hee hee hee

Edited to add:

Just want to give a shout-out to Charles Voth, author of Design Your Own Toe Up Socks. I've knit every single pair of socks (5 pr complete) since I started knitting socks with his method of measurements and calculations and they come out perfect for the wearer every time. Follow the link and the tutorial is for sale in the right had column.

Sorting thru the Chaos

Today Spence and I used a friend's car to haul a bunch of stuff off to the Thrift Store.

A b.u.n.c.h. of stuff!

We filled up the car...boxes, baskets, little shelves, bags. It felt absolutely wondermos to get rid of it all.

After, we headed off to IKEA to pick up a few things to organize Spencer's closet. We're doing a major rearrange and clear out in his room. We actually just walked out of that place with just a few items - and some hot dogs after at the snack bar. :)

A quick stop at work to pick up some more boxes (for packing up stuff for donation of course) and then it was home.

Last trip of the day was back to my friend's place to drop off the car and here we sit. Tired out, but full on artichoke ravioli.

Tomorrow, we're off on the bikes for a training ride. We're doing this in a few weekends. I've done 5 mile rides and 10 mile rides...I should be able to do this ride. I'll find out soon enough. If I can't make the training rides, I won't push myself to do the full ride. I really want to do it tho and Spence wants to come along too. Maybe even get his riding buddies to come along as well.

It really looks like fun and I hope the weather cooperates. Hope Summer doesn't decide to settle in the valley on that particular weekend. :)

Sigh...

The cat luxuriates in an apartment cooled by an A/C.

I'm at work in a non-A/C warehouse where I will be baking by 2:30pm.

Fair?

Don't think so.

But...I am glad that she will be comfortable and not baking. Me? I can always go sit out in the boss's car and turn on the A/C for a bit.

Kitty? If the A/C wasn't on, she'd be stuck in a hot apartment.

...and we can't have that.

New label category...Squee Worthy.

Honey and Cow are coming to visit over the Holidays. For. 4. weeks.

C'mon December!!!!

Definitely SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!

Conversation with a Cow

First of all I'd like to explain something... Ms Cow's 'talking' style. Combine a small voice, lolCats speak, an attitude and a slight Chicago accent...and there ya go.

On the way home from work yesterday, Ms Cow and I had this conversation.

Ms Cow (MC): Oh my, she nots gonna likes dat.

Me: Who's not going to like what?!?

MC: da Queen!

Me: What in the world are you talking about?

MC: you didn't see da big words next to the place where the cars goes fast?

Me: Huh?

MC: dere! DERE!!!!

Me: oh...the billboard next to the highway...

MC: YES!! Dat ting. Dat BIG ting.

Me: It just said "Tattoo Expo at the Cow Palace". What's the big deal?

MC: Dat's not right. Exposing all dem tattoos in fronts of da Queen.

Me: Um...the Queen won't be there Ms Cow.

MC: Yes she will. Is da Palace of Cows, right?

Me: Ummm

MC: Dat's where da Queen of Cows lives!

Me: ummmmmm

MC: Yous just can't goes in dere exposing your tattoos to Her Majesty da Queen Cow. She's vewi sensitives about dat sort of ting. She will not bees amuses.

Me: Ummm...Ms Cow?

MC: yah

Me: I hate to be the one to tell you this, but there is no Queen Cow that lives at the Cow Palace.

MC: What?!?!?!?!

Me: It's just a big building and it just happens to have a name that has the word Cow and the word Palace in it.

MC: Dat's not right. Queens always lives in Palaces.

Me: I'm sure they do, but this big building isn't a palace, it's just a big, big building where lots of people go to have big meetings and expos.

MC: I hopes you not going to drags me dere den. I don't wants to see no tattoos exposing.

Me: Don't worry, I don't either.

MC: Good. Can we go when dey are done exposing dere tattoos?

Me: We can go when there is a big meeting that we want to go to...ok?

MC: OKs...I still don't believes you about dere not being a Queen dere...I has to see for myselfs.

Me: OK, but we're not going there until there is something we'd like to see. Next Spring will be the Flower Show. You'd like that, wouldn't you?

MC: Noms! Yes, I'd likes dat vewi vewi much! Da Royel Gardens will haz lots of good flowerses and grasses to noms!!!

Me: Sigh. (hand to head...)

Culinary experiments...

Not done by us of course, but Spencer and I have been visiting local street food "establishments" lately.

Jon's Street Eats and Chairman Bao's Bun Truck

Both yummy yummy!

Jon's is on Facebook and I'm sure Bao's has a web-site. Google is your friend. :)

Last week I saw the "Seoul on Wheels" truck go by (Korean BBQ of course) and there is "The Falafel Truck" and tons of other taco, burrito and what-not trucks cruisin' thru Emeryville.

Oh, and don't forget the "CupKate's" truck. Cupcakes on wheels. I have yet to make it when they are just down the street, but someday I will. Sure hope they are as good as everyone on Facebook says they are...

Gratuitous knitting content: Waiting for a 40" square circular to arrive. Tried the 2-at-a-time method on the 2 16" square circs I have and it's just not working out. I mean, I LOVE LOVE LOVE the whole idea, it's just that I'm not using the right means to do it. It's spaghetti, not a knitting project. They should arrive soon. In the meantime, Honey's Dr. Who socks are on hold cos I just can't handle the cable and yarn and needle points mess without wanting to chuck it all out the train door. Honey is expecting socks, so that wouldn't be a good thing for me to do. :)

On a knitting roll....

I can't seem to stop knitting. Ever since my wrist has been mostly recovered (it's pretty much 100% now unless I do something stupid...ummm), I can't put the needles down.

Well, that's not completely true, as I have put the needles down on my Juliette Sweater. Funny thing is, I stopped knitting on it because it's summer and it's a sweater and there's quite a bit of it now and it makes me hot to knit it.

But...it's acting like winter here and it's chilly at night and I really should pick it up and knit on it because then I'll have it all ready to wear once Fall is here.

But...I can't do that because I am obsessed with knitting socks. I started about May-ish and I've done 2 pair since then (which is good for me). Just finished my first pair of the "Dr Who Socks" as I've been calling them as I'm using Knit Picks' Time Traveler Felici yarn. No photos yet because they are still in the camera.

Next up on the needles is another few small projects - special gifts for a special little lady - that I can't talk about because then the cat will be out of the bag. First gift will be knit on dpns, second one will be knit using the new 2-at-a-time-toe-up method from my new book. Trying something new - yay!

After that are socks, socks, and more socks with the new method. They are the perfect projects for the daily commute. I even cast off a sock while standing at the shuttle stop yesterday after work! Wish I had a photo, but I was the only person at the stop.

I'm geeking out excited about the new method because I have the hardest time getting things to match up on the socks when I do them one at time. Is the foot the same length? Am I starting the gussett at the same point? Is the leg the same? At worst, the socks I have done so far will be a few rows off - not noticable differences to anyone unless they're going to sit and count row by row. I'm really tired of stopping my knitting to compare one sock to the other, so yeah. Bring on the 2-at-a-time.

Ok, enough geeking out. Photos soon.

For a bloggy interwebs friend...

Piratey, monetary, lickable...





Go ahead AntiM, give the piggy a big slurp...

It's almost the end of the month...

...the birthday month...and the shopping...oh my goodness the shopping...

I spent my Amazon gift card in a New York minute (thanks G!) and ordered a book I have had on my wish list for about 4 years (!!!!), and another that I found and thought I'd like (Ms Cow requested it actually).

A small shopping spree at The Yarn Boutique in Lafayette, CA happened the weekend after my birthday. The owner was there the day I went and she was very very helpful. The store is very small and PACKED to the ceiling, so don't bring kids or carts or strollers or wheelchairs if you go. I could barely walk round in there and kept knocking stuff over. I got 3 different kinds of sock yarn and another set of square circulars. We also had a good chat about the yarn I won at the SF Ravelry Meet-up in May. She gave me a few suggestions about patterns I should look up - all free. :) She's made them before and really liked the results and said my yarns should work well.

I couldn't stay there long tho as my wool allergies started up...high concentration of wool fumes in the wee tiny shop. :)

Lunch came after, then a trip to the hair colorist. Ask for Jesse, he rocks - maybe that cos he's the head instructor for coloring... :) If you're curious, the number is 925-937-2011. Tell him Donna the knitter sent you. They are very accomodating as far as appointments go and the prices are very reasonable - Ms Troi says they can do that because the Academy tuition pays the rent, the rest is just a service to the local 'hood.

And if that wasn't enuf...I hit Target and Ross before I FINALLY headed home.

There has been a wee bit of internet shopping since then...very small amount of beads, some more yarn and needles (not b-day stuff tho as it's for gift projects) and a few books from the my book swap club. One for me and one for Spence for a school reading project. I just LOVE the swap club!

It really was like Christmas in July around the Chaos this year. Not only was it very COLD out, I just kept getting delivery after delivery. :)

Spencer and I will decide some day what we will do to celebrate our b-days again. On our actual days, it was so freakin' hot that we didn't do much of anything. So I promised him, we'd wait til summer was over and do something special together.

Happy Birthday to me!

OK, so I thought I had figured out something to count for my birthday.

I thought it would be clever to count down the minutes to my actual time of birth so long ago...

But then that would entail 47 monotonous posts.

There are tons of minutes in the day, but I don't feel like wasting any of them doing post after post after post.

Then I thought, I'll just put them all in one but that would be totally b.0.r.i.n.g. and how the heck would I organize it?

So I'm writing this all to tell you I was born at 8:39am 47 years ago...and I'm setting this to auto post so that I can get it all precise-like and now I can go relax for the night.

I'm going to go knit for 47 minutes. The first Dr Who sock is complete and I've already cast on and finished the toe of it's quasi-twin.

Yawn

I'm tired and should really be getting ready for bed. Instead, I'm about to pay bills. Argle.

I'm calling my hair dude tomorrow to schedule time for next Saturday. Grey must go!

I played way too much xbox today and I don't care. Unfortunately, my wrist does. D'oh!

My kitchen is a wreck. I'll deal with it tomorrow.

Spain won the World Cup. Tha tha tha-tha-tha (look up Katherine Tate and The Interpreter - hilarious)

Evil Thorn Season has started. My Beastly Tires are ready. Bring it.

Lance, dude, you shoulda just stayed retired - gone out while you were ahead. Now you're just another biker back in the pack.

I'm trying to think of what to use to count off my age on Thursday. Don't know if I have that much of anything. Sigh.

Maybe I'll just ignore my birthday. Kinda leaning in that direction already anyway.

I just had to check the calendar to make sure my b-day really was on Thursday.

Maybe I'll just count the brain cells I have left. Maybe I'll just go to bed and save the bills for tomorrow.

Sigh.

Hi!!!!!

Hello out there!

I'm still here.

I'm knitting.

I'm working.

I'm aging.

It's my b-day month. Tell me I look 30 and I'll be your BFF.

Mom's socks are done and blocked. Need to weave in the ends and send it off with a few other things.

Looking forward to a quiet Holiday weekend. Is there such a thing?

Birthday Boy...

...no longer. Spencer is now a "young man".

My young man is now 16 - as of 6:49am this morning - I swear, I woke up in the middle of the night with labor pains to mark this momentous occassion.

Seems like just yesterday that I took my first look at the wriggling baby who wrapped his long, tiny fingers round my one big finger in the delivery room.

Now he's pushing 5'10", is about 160lbs and wearing size 11 shoes.

No photos today cos I'm a totally lame mother. We went out to breakfast this morning before I headed off to work and he went off to spent the day with his best buddies. I took a photo of our burritos, but not my newly driving 16 yr old son.

Sigh.

Sigh...

It is official.

Spencer and I just spent 1.5 hours at the local DMV office getting his driver's permit. As long as he follows the zillion and one rules they attach to it, he's a legal driver.

In 2 days he turns 16.

I...am old.

Summer...

Well here we are...Summer.

Mom's b-day, Spencer's b-day, my b-day... plus all sorts of other things going on.

Spencer starts his First. Job. Ever. on June 28th.

Can he really be turning 16?!? Good Grief!

He's very excited, I'm feeling so old...am not looking forward to turning 47 next month.

Freakin 47. Figured I should get all my aging angst out of the way for the next few years so that when I turn 50 I can do so without flipping out. We'll see in 3 years. :)

Almost done with Mom's b-day socks. If you are my friend on Facebook, they are my secret project. Mom's b-day was back on June 4th, and it's about to be about a zillion degrees hot where they live, but yes, I'm knitting her a pair of socks - and they are late. Just shut it.

My Sis reads the blog, but Mom doesn't go near the computer, and Sis already isn't saying anything to Mom about the socks, so it's safe to post here.

Have a few other things I've been making for her and my Sis, so will send those off with the socks. The Socks should be done in the next few days. Hope I remember to take photos of all this stuff before I send it all off - I get excited to finish things and mail them and then realize I didn't take photos! D'oh!

Train spotting...

Left-handed knitter on the train,
Knitting fast and true.
I looked up, you smiled at me,
I smiled right back at you!

Ah, the knowing smile of a fellow knitter that says "We got it right don't we - best thing to do on the train."

I've finished all sorts of books and now I'm all booked out. Time to knock out some small knitty projects while I ride on the train. I've never actually knit over the summer (wool + heat + me = ugh), so we'll see how long I can keep this up. It's not officially summer yet, but the temp yesterday in my neck of the woods was 97F. It's back down to the 80's this week, so there will surely be plenty of knitting.

Oh yeah, Disc 1 and Time Traveler yarn, both delivered on Saturday. Watched the dvd and the yarn is on the shelf and readily available for petting. :)

Love it, love it, oom pa pa...

Lady Gaga's Bad Romance, polka style...

Time Lord Craziness...

Gah. OK, so the yarn didn't show up yesterday, but should be here any day. I can live with that...not like I'm going to drop everything and start on Dr Who socks as soon as it shows up. I'll probably just fondle the balls for a few days and wish for my sanity back as I rub them together.

Heh.

What I can't believe I did was mess up my Netflix queue. Two discs of the last special with hottie David Tennant as the Dr. I get the usual shipment notice in the email yesterday. Disc 2 is due to arrive on Wed.

Whuh?!? Disc 2? I haven't gotten Disc 1 yet. Wtf?

Quick check of the queue shows I put disc 2 before disc 1. Sigh. Going to take a few days of sending Disc 2 back, getting Disc 1 and then adding Disc 2 back to the queue.

Yeah, the "Ins and Outs of being me".

Sigh.

Time Lord Obsessed

OK, so I've been really busy about the Chaos, at work (this job thing really wears me out - in a good way tho), Kublacon (another year down) and just the daily ins and outs of being me.

Still trying to recover from Kublacon - there are photos to be taken and items to be added to the shop.

Posts to be written about Kublacon, what I've been making, the fact that my wrist is recovered enough to knit with small needles again, happenings about town, things seen, Spencer's doings, etc.

Meanwhile, the latest Knitpicks catalog pops into my mailbox. Damn them, they always seem to arrive when I'm at my weakest...

Anyone else notice the "Time Traveler" self-striping sock yarn? Love the description!

Anyway again....6 balls later...ordered during a particularly weak moment during Kublacon weekend....on their way to be delivered today to the Chaos. I've also stocked up my Netflix queue with a bunch of Dr. Who episodes, old and new, so that I may knit away whilst watching. :)

I had an idea to knit a neverending scarf, but it will have to be quite thin in order to take advantage of the stripes. I like thickish scarves, so nah. I think I'll stick to socks. I know of 3 Dr. Who fans who would appreciate a Tom Baker-esque pair of socks and 6 balls is the perfect amount for that. :)

Still here...

...been working hard, taking care of personal stuff and finally...FINALLY!!! making things to sell at the Kublacon Flea Mkt this Friday.

This Friday!!! Seems like just yesterday that we all signed up - and that was back in January...

Oh well, excitement reigns here in the Chaos as armies are prepared, stray mini-dudes are painted, dice are made into pretty, shiny things.

I need to take photos. And print stickers. And go over my setup. And...and...and...

Lunch with a friend

Yesterday, Ms AmpuTeeHee and I met for lunch. You can read about it there and see a photo of my yummy burger.

And oooh, it was good. Hit the spot. Don't normally go for the beef burger (I prefer turkey) and the fries, but every now and then the body just craves it.

I'm not very good with measuring portions (I eyeball it), keeping a food journal, or counting calories, etc. I DO pay attention to what's in my food, what I eat, how much of it I eat, and how my body reacts to whatever it is I'm eating. I let myself indulge a craving (within reason) every so often, cos I can't do "you CAN'T" have this or that or the other thing. Just makes me want it even more, and then I give in and go overboard.

Add all that "monitoring" to riding my bike to the train station when it's not raining, and you get.....

drum roll...

....10 lbs lost since I started my new job. YAY!

I am happy about that...very happy. The planets are aligning as far as getting myself to a healthy place, so I'm going with it. I know that's a lot for me (just me, no one else) to lose in 1 month. I also know that going forward, the weight might not come off as easily. I'm ok with all that. I'm on pretty good speaking terms with my body, so I know what it can do and how far I can push it. When it pushes back, I listen.

In the meantime, clothes are fitting better, even shoes. It's a good feeling.

I don't care what the scale says, or what the clothing tag says. Just feeling comfortable is nice.

Sending vibes today...

...to a good friend and her hubby who are in the middle bringing a new life into the world.

Can't wait to see the new little one...better get knitting!!!

It rained again this morning...

...but nevermind. The sun is trying to shine, I saw a rainbow on the way to the bus stop this morning and I've lost weight.

Trying to focus on the positive as there are so many things now that could possibly be negative in my current brain-fried state of mind.

My body needs a rest. Rain threatened this morning, so I didn't ride. If I can't give my body a rest during the night (sleeping issues again), I can at least give it a break during the day every so often.

Job Update: The job is going well as can be for a newbie who has never ever ever done this before. Ever.

KublaCon Update: Still suffering from the worst case of creating block yet. KublaCon is 4.5 weeks away. I've got a flea market table. I've got NUTTIN' to sell people. N.O.T.H.I.N.G.

What I do have is a bead stash that has been culled, arranged, rearranged and rearranged again. Time to stop "playing" with the pretty, shiny beads and make something. Seriously.

Every weekend until KublaCon and a few after it are full. Busy busy busy.

I miss sleeping in. I really really really do. Really.

Peppered out...

OK, so I just had the soup for dinner. It was good and filling and yum. Only problem? Got a bit heavy-handed on the pepper and spices. I'd say one less tsp of the "21 Spice" stuff and grind in a bit less pepper. Other than that, I'd add more zucchini, more carrots and probably more of something else I have yet to think of...

So, if any of you can suggest any other veggies that would be yummy in a soup besides what's in the recipe and what I've added already, please let me know.

Oh, and I'd add more water.

Someone's in my kitchen cooking all day...

...oh yeah, that would be me!

Started off today with a short ride to the farmer's market down the street. Note to self, drag your bum out earlier and you won't have to dig and dig for the few really good veggies that are left.

Anyways, got some fresh ingredients for some healthy veggie soup. Healthy as in not so full of sodium, but still tasty. I've tried just about every low-sodium canned soup out there and have yet to find one that I like, so I decided to try my hand at making my own. I was channel surfing last night and came upon the Dr. Oz show and lo and behold, they were talking about a healthy veggie soup that this woman made that helped her lose weight. I thought I'd give it a try. Don't care whether it helps me lose weight, but being that I am currently obsessed with finding a tasty low-sodium soup, well, there you go.

Since I wanted it low-sodium, I substituted 4 tsp. of Trader Joe's 21 Seasoning Salute spice mix (no salt in it that I could find in the ingredients) for the 4 cubes of chicken bouillon (which is way too salty for me). It still has an hour to cook, but so far, the broth tastes good.

I added zucchini and cut back on the celery and cabbage cos we don't like those too much here in the Chaos. Also, the cans of Plum Tomatoes at TJ's are a bit smaller than needed, so put in all of the two rather than waste the extra, so now it's a bit more. I believe I also cut back to 3 cans of water instead of four.

I'm going to make some Mexican Star pasta later (since I'm using my pasta pot to cook the soup) and will add that if I want to make more of a meal out of it. It's an uber chunky veggie soup, which is what we like here. And oh boy does it smell GOOD. My turn to fill up the hallway with the smell of what I'm cooking. Hee hee.

The only problem I have is...how to store it all? Not sure if I have enough containers....I'm pretty sure I'll be using them ALL...sigh.

Can't wait to take this to work for lunch!!!!!

A Good Day

Woke up extremely tired this morning. Promise not to whine about getting old, etc tho.

Weighed myself last night and saw the little red thingy pointing at a smaller number. Hmmmm....weighed myself this morning and saw the little red thingy pointy to an even smaller number.

I knew I had probably lost a few pounds as I have been eating sensibly/healthy and riding my bike almost every day. The biggest clue is how baggy my jeans are...I had to dig out my belt.

It may sound like I've lost a lot, but it's only been a few lbs. I'm happy tho as the baggy pants bit tells the bigger story. Things are shifting, I'm gaining muscle, etc etc. If I could only stop having to bundle up so much, you could actually see my curves trying to reappear.

It's fascinating watching my body react to what I've been doing. It changes almost daily.

And that's a very good thing.

The temptations are extreme tho. Spence made the most awesome lemon bars I've ever tasted last night. He's going to a community service thing today and baked them (from scratch no less) to take along. I'll post a photo and a link to the recipe sometime this weekend.

OMG they were good, but I only had a few little bites. Good thing he took them out of the house!

Yawn!

Not cos I'm bored, but because I'm tired.

Antonella and I did most of what we planned for Saturday. We got out to the Art Show, the Bead Shop, the other stores on the way home.

What we didn't do was make anything. We were out running about from 11am until 4:30pm and pretty much wore ourselves out. We got to my place, I made dinner, she "shopped" in my bead stash and that was pretty much the end of that. We even went to sleep early!

We're going to have to try and get together for jewelry making on another weekend. The next time, we're not going out beforehand!

We came home with some cool stuff from all the places we went - and were very well behaved at the bead store (not very much wallet abuse at all!).

I have more energy after work now - that only means I sit on the couch, but don't fall asleep. Hah. Last night while on the couch, I culled my bead stash. And part of my fabric stash. Tonight I'm going to try and get some stuff made for KublaCon. Dunno tho, as I'm biking off to Kohl's for some shopping. This is the last day I can use my Kohl's bucks so I don't want to lose that $20 coupon I got a few weekends ago. Plus I've got a $20 store credit and also will be retunring something. Hopefully I can spend it all tonight as I don't get to Kohl's very often.

After all that (it's a long ride home - with potentially full paniers), I just might sit on the couch and zzzzzzzzzzzzzz.............

Drive by Update...

Still adjusting to the work routine. Getting quicker on my rides to BART, but they still wear me out. Just wish it wasn't so darn cold in the mornings still...

Haven't done much crafting/knitting -wise. With all this coming home and falling asleep on the couch after work, things have gotten rather cluttered and creativity-stifling.

For a few nights this week, I have been putting things away and so on, so I should be able to get back to all my projects soon. This weekend as a matter of fact.

This weekend is a busy one. Antonella and I are off to San Francisco for a friend's Art Showing, some bead store blitzing (mostly of our wallets, I'm sure) and a stop off at our fav stores on the way home if we're still standing by then (and if we have anything left in those poor abused wallets).

Then we're off to my place for a girl's-night-in-crafting. I've been teaching Antonella how to make jewelry, so we're going to make some stuff for ourselves, then she's agreed to help me get some work done on some things for KublaCon.

There will be my 30min Spaghetti and Meatballs for dinner, some snackage, and prob some instant viewing on Xbox while we work.

A full day!

Been busy...

...working.

Yes, you read that right. I'm employed again! As of April 1st - and no, it's not an April Fool's joke. It's for real.

It's going to take a while to get back into "working mode". You know, the whole having to get up early, make myself human, and then commute thing.

I've been riding my bike to BART every day, so I'm tired at the end of the day.

I'll be ok tho...the steady paycheck will help me adjust. :)

Starting major production on stuff for the KublaCon Flea Market, still knitting on my Juliet (had to take a break for the wrist), bought yarn for the mystery baby gift, still have yarn left to make more beanies (taking a break from that too).

Things are going back to what they used to be (uber chaotic), but part of me likes that...and the "old lady" part of me will eventually get back into the swing of things.

Now I just need to stay away from the damn Xbox...I downloaded a game and was on until 3:30am Sunday morning.

No more starting a game at midnight...

Getting my English on...

OK, so I'm trying Xbox LIVE for a month and after just a few hours I am hooked. More specifically, I'm hooked on the "Instant Movie" feature.

This weekend I popped the entire first 5 seasons of MI-5 into the "instant" queue and started watching. Picked up the Juliet pattern and my 3 giant balls of bulky English yarn and started it up.

This yarn is soft and squishy and totally YUMMY-licious...I want to put hundreds of balls of this stuff in a room and just dive in...THAT's how yummy it is... The description is so spot on when it says: It’s a conversation piece in itself, and it sure gives you lots of great colour to feast your eyes on. No one can walk past this yarn without looking twice.

I'll post photos of my balls soon, I'm just too busy squishing and fondling and totally enjoying the experience of knitting with this yarn too much right now to share it. And the pattern is knitting up quite easily. Thanks to AmpuT for knitting up such a gorgeous Juliet. I saw it while she was knitting it and then the finished sweater in person. omg. As soon as I saw it, I just knew this English yarn was perfect for it. And now after so long (over a year) I am finally picking up the needles and knitting one for myself.

Oh, and I really want to know what the deal is with these English balls. I knit and knit and knit and they don't look any smaller than when I started. Are they magical? Are they like Mary Poppins' Carpet Bag? Do they just have that much more in them than US yarn balls? I don't know, but I'm loving those English balls. I don't remember how much I paid for them, but they were worth every pence.

Actual Knitting!!!!! With Photos!!!!!!

Been knitting a lot since I decided my wrist was recovered enough to start trying again - I think I started the double-knit beanie about a month ago.

So far: one double-knit beanie for Spencer,



one regular knit beanie for Spencer,



one set of wrist warmers and matching sort of cowl for myself.



Not nearly enough yarn left for the cowl, so it's a sort of neck warming thingy that can also be used as a headband/ear warmer sort of thing.



Two multi-colored (brown and several shades of green) balls of Lana Grossa something or other picked up during a browse thru the clearance wall at ImagiKnit after One-Sock-A-Month Club way back a long time ago.

Silly poses yes, but had to get the wrist warmers and the neck thingy all in one...much better than the "Oh my! What's a knitter to do?!?" pose..



Doesn't seem like much for those of you knitters who have 10 projects in progress and crank out tons of knitted items a year, but it is so very very much for me who has not be able to knit for so long.

I'm a new knitter all over again.

Oh, and I've been doing all this "freestyle". No patterns, just grab the needles and yarn and go! I love it. Can't tell you how liberating it is...creativity-wise.

Love it love it LOVE IT!!!!

And all of this just in time for the warm weather.

Oh, and did I mention the double-knit beanie is too big? Hoping a run thru the washer and dryer will set the stitches a bit and it'll come out a bit smaller. It's not wool, so there will be no shrinkage cos of that...maybe I should use COLD water? ha ha ha

It's some acrylic yarn I bought while Spence and I visited Honey, summer of 2008. Spencer picked it out. It's driving me crazy. Love the colors and all, but it's 3 magic balls of yarn. I knit and knit and knit and I still seem to have the same amount I started with...seems like I'll be knitting up a few more single knit beanies out of it. I can crank those out in a few nights knitting. By the time the balls are finished tho, I know I'll be tired of green, grey, and rust. Good thing there are no more colors like that around here.

Next project is a baby something for my friend Cherry - her little one (girl!! Yay!!!) is due in May I believe. I won't say what it is here as she reads this... I did ask colors and what kind of yarn and all and I think I may have found just the right stuff. I'm going to try and use worsted weight yarn as knitting with larger sized needles feels the best right now.

Still have to be careful with the "new" wrist, so that's why I'm sticking to the larger sized needles. A few more months and I should be able to start knitting on some socks. Surprisingly, I have quite the collection of sock yarn...don't know how all those skanks came into my possession, but there they are...and my size 0 (or are they 1's?!?) square circular needles are waiting for me to grab them by the shafts and caress them with fingers and yarn. Can't wait! Those things are like buttah in my hands. I bought those at Stitches West 2009. I wonder, do they come in dpns too?!?!?

Off to try out my one month trial of Xbox 360 LIVE. Saved off some "instant" movies to watch and might just try my hand at Call of Duty - World at War. Watch out Spence, Mama's got a brand new gun (controller). While I watch a movie, I guess I can whip out an English ball or two and get started on yet another beanie. He doesn't want a scarf and scarves take too long for my current instant knitting gratification mood.

No-blog-Rachel...I'm BACK!!!!

Tired

But at least my hair isn't grey.

Actually got some knitting time in...

Well now that the Olympics are over, I've started up knitting on Spencer's beanie.

I actually picked it up on Saturday. I pulled my back on Friday, so couldn't do much at all. Knitting and reading were about the only things I could manage on Saturday, so there you go.

I knit a good 2 inches or so on it during the afternoon and evening in between getting up and walking and stretching and reading bouts.

Would have much rather been out doing something else. Like going to a good friends' 50th b-day party. Yeah, I missed a big one. Sigh.

Still feeling sore and smelling of Tiger Balm - I'm using the patch version on my back - it's done wonders, but the smell...oi... It wouldn't be too bad, but I'm sensitive nose-allergy-wise to some of the ingredients. Luckily, they are in small quantities and I've been able to deal. Small price to pay for the back to feel better.

Life back to "normal" round here I guess. As normal as it gets here in the Chaos.

Did you see that?!?

OK, so I wasn't at all tired tonight and stayed up (obviously, it is 12:20am) to watch the end of the Ice Dancing competition.

First off, congrats to the Canadians for winning the Gold. Oh...Canadaaa...eh!

Finally saw my first medal ceremony. Did you see the sweater coats that the medal bearers were wearing?

W.A.N.T.

That is all...

Edited to add: After trolling just a few seconds in Ravelry, I found this...which led to this...I REALLY W.A.N.T. now that I got a better view of the sweater coats... Look at the size of those custom made needles. I bet you could make that sweater with a few yarns held together and a giant Tunisian Crochet hook.

Now to learn how to shape Tunisian Crochet...maybe for next winter. I've got other things to concentrate on right now - Kublacon anyone?

Can't Blog now, watching Olympics

My days are filled with doing not much - I just don't feel like it. I am managing to get some stuff done from little bursts of energy or the urge to clean or organize something. Alas, nothing big enough to tackle the start of my Spring Cleaning jag that I mentioned a while back. There is supposedly rain starting tomorrow, so we'll see if that gets me in the mood I need to dive into the kitchen deep cleaning scenario. I'm getting close...I can feel it!

In the meantime, it's time for dinner and then...oh crap...it's either Bones or Olympics. We'll have to see what the Olympics offers tonight. I'm not into the ice skating anymore, so if that is on tonight, it's Bones until 9pm then we'll see what the Olympics has to offer.

Last night was exciting with the downhill and the half pipe and the speed skating.

Oh yeah, and I'm supposed to be knitting on Spencer's beanie while I'm watching. Pah. Have not even touched it in weeks. I don't even remember where I put it. Very hard to knit on it when he comes home from school in a sweat (he rides his bikebikebike to BART). Like he'll be wearing it!

More Cunning Plans...

OK, so I end up taking a 4 hour nap today. 4 hours! Totally did not see that coming, but I went to rest for a few moments and....4 hours later... Anyway, my body obviously needed it cos I was OUT!

While running here and there in the car, I loaded up on mega size containers of laundry detergent, rice, and some other staples. Stopped in at shops I wouldn't normally go to on the bus and picked up several other small crafting items necessary for the Kublacon Master Plan. Decided I should make the bus effort every so often cos that store has some things the other usual craft store doesn't.

On the way from one store to another, I stopped over at an old favorite charity shop. Mainly to see if they were still open. They are...and even better yet, they have free pick up! All is not lost with the two chairs after all. Best part is...if you have a big item for them to pick up, they will take smaller boxed items as well. Booyah!

Bottom line, I've got some work to do. I think I'm going to blitz the rest of the boxes in the living room over the next week and then see what I've got for donation. Give them a call and go from there. Might need to wait a bit to call and finish going thru everything. I'll have to see how much I get after this first pass and if I'm will to live with all the donations sitting in my living room for a few weeks.

Dude...you've been living with the damn boxes in there for a very long time, but at least the donation boxes will GO AWAY with minimal effort once you call. ALL AT ONCE!!

Oh. Right. D'oh!

:)

Best laid plans, blah blah blah

Well, the conference didn't go as well as we planned and there has been a business setback. My friend is carrying on though and pushing forward, etc. He's not one for giving in and this is his dream, so onward!

Ms Cow was a fantastic navigator by the way...even thru fog!!!

It has been nice having the car, altho it is very tiring to drive (and drive so much too) after not driving in a long time. I am worn out from yesterday. Drove Spence into SF today all the way to school and picked up his bike while I was there...more lots of driving...this time in traffic.

So on to the best laid plans. I don't seem to be the superwoman I used to be. My big plans to take the two chairs off to the charity shop just fell thru. I can't lift the damn things, so there is no way I'm going to be able to get them down the stairs and into a car. I'll have to have some help with that. I'll just have to borrow the car over the weekend when Spencer can help me. In the mean time, I've given up on even taking anything. I don't have enuf for a car load without the chairs. To be honest, it doesn't even fill up the cart. Sigh. Can't lift the heavy boxes either, so taking anything to the charity shop for donation is out for today.

I'll have a bit of a rest and then go do some running about...I have several things that need to be done that would take forever if done by bus, so having the car is not going to go to waste. I was going to try and fit in the errands and the donation run, so now I can just relax and take my time. I'll pick up Spencer from BART and we'll most likely take a run down to In 'n Out for some yummy burgers. We only go to In n Out during Kublacon cos I've got a rental car and there is one by the hotel where it's held, so this will be a bit of a treat for us. Altho I must confess that when I first picked up the car on Tuesday night, Antonella and I stopped in for dinner. :)

Oh yeah, almost forgot, the dice beads came the other day. The silver and gold medal ones are awesome, the skulls are a bit bigger than I thought they would be, and the "white" dice beads are actually "grey". They'll be some emails to the seller about that. I have a feeling I'll be sending them back. I need WHITE. These just look the color of dingy socks. Yuk!

I've gotten several other "new" things to help me make stuff and give me instructions/ideas for Kublacon items, so I need to get going on it!

See ya later...

I've got the use of a car for the next 2 days.

Tomorrow I go to Sacramento to a conference - standing in for my friend who is starting his own business.

The next day, I will be loading the car up with a few heavy boxes and some chairs to take for donation. I asked, he said sure no prob, so I'm going to be getting rid of some major stuff. As much big and heavy stuff as I can! Might as well. No way I'm gonna take any heavy boxes the usual way via bus!

Spencer will be getting rides to and from BART as well. I think on Thursday I'll actually be driving in to SF to pick him and his bike up after school so he can have it here for the weekend.

Time for bed, I've got to be at the Sac Convention Center at 8am, so it's a VERY early start for me and Ms Cow. She insists on coming. Anyway, she's my navigator, so if we get lost, it's HER fault. hahahahaha!

The rain finally came...

Lots of updates...

Spencer is enjoying the new school. He's actually getting homework! And he loves the fact that he has a locker. It's the little things that make us happy. :)

Had my last surgery follow-up with the wrist doc. I am FREEEE...to do whatever I damn well please. He says everything looks great, my range of motion is excellent, my strength is pretty much "that" close to being 100% and he doesn't want to see me again. :o) I still haven't done any heavy lifting, but thankfully, no heavy lifting has been required. It still gets worn out if I overdo things though, so I do still need to be careful.

My friend who was waiting for licenses and stuff for his business is now "this" close to getting them. There has been much movement there in the last few days and some political intervention even. :o)

I have found a new supplier for dice beads! I am so excited I can't even tell you! At our first Kublacon 4 years ago, I bought a wee box full of mini dice beads (200 in the box). I've been making things off and on for the last few years and now I am running out. This year, I decided to go ahead and get a Kublacon Flea Market spot for the Friday night of the convention when I signed us up this past week. I am very excited. I have been drawing things out, making lists, collecting up supplies for several months now and now it's time to start cranking some stuff out. Most all of these designs and ideas have included dice beads...and PANIC! I needed more.

After trying to get some from various game shops (where I got them in the first place), I was very discouraged as they are not sold anymore. Last night I got a revelation and checked on Etsy and Artfire. Both sites have shops that sell not only hand crafted things, but supplies for hand crafters as well. SHAZAAAM! Next thing I know I'm ordering metal dice in silver and gold colors, and regular white dice beads, small red skulls and some little bells. I got a little bit of all of it and if they work in my designs and stuff, then I can order bigger batches. The gold and silver will really make my jewelry designs look awesome!

I have one rosary to make this week (jade and silver - it is going to be purty!), and then it is time to get crankin' on Kublacon stuff. Spence and I have made a huge list of things that would possibly be good sellers at a gamer convention so now it's time to make patterns and get the assembly line going! Yayyyyyy!!!!

Oh, and I'm back to sorting thru stuff here in the Chaos and took 2 cart loads of stuff to the charity shop this week!

My future is filled with sorting, spring cleaning (I'm starting in the kitchen), and making stuff.

Oh, and Spencer's beanie is finally on it's final start. I think this is the one. No more frogging!

Got any cheese with that whine?

As a matter of fact, no, I don't.

And that's why I'm a whiny cranky pants today.

This whole weekend was just one shopping fail after another.

Saturday we biked over to the farmer's market for some of our favorite chipotle cheddar cheese. The vendor wasn't there, so...no cheese for us...one week. We head off to Safeway for some stuff and Spencer pops into McCallou's looking for a beanie - he comes out with 2. Grr.

Yesterday, I talked Antonella into running off with me to the Ashby BART flea market. We were on the hunt for interesting beads and bead findings. Neither one of the two vendors who sell things like that and are usually at the flea market were there. Not many vendors were, but that's beside the point.

Antonella consoled herself with two cool rings and a pair of very pretty earrings.

I got nuttin'. Grrr.

We went off to downtown Berkeley for lunch and a stab at getting some more dice beads. At least the pizza was most excellent.

Like I was telling her on the way home. Once I get it in my mind that I am going out for a specific item, I get very disappointed when I don't get it and no matter what I look at, nothing seems appealing. And when I have an entire weekend of not getting, well...crankiness ensues.

I am in a rainy mood. The weather dudes say that more is on the way.

Bring it.

A Happening!

For everyone whose prayed, kept their fingers crossed and sent good mojo vibes for Spencer getting into a school of our choosing...


It's happened!!! He'll be going to a school that was top of our list for transfers. It seems like it's taken forever, but it is finally over.

We're all very excited and happy and very relieved that we are all finally out of limbo with the whole school thing.

Keep your fingers crossed now for a job for me and some other random important things that need to go well.

YAY!

PS...the wrist continues to heal...it is coming along great!!!! YAY!!!!

#570 Where we stop counting posts.

Cos of course now the post counter is behaving. As soon as I stop tho, it'll take 3 more months to get to 580.

Anyway...


Fingers crossed everyone, things are happening.

Lots of things all at once, all of which could be good.

I'll fill you in next week with the outcomes.

#569 It's a Miracle!

Hey Everyone!

I made something! *I* made something!

Hee hee...

Yesterday morning was a bit of an adventure... Taking Spencer to go get xrays in the middle of a deluge, a stop after at the groc store and hardware store and a long walk home in the rain...

Don't worry, Spencer is OK. He hurt his wrist, but nothing is broken, it is just a sprain.

Anyway, we were both soaked to the skin. So after drying off, hanging up everything to dry, climbing into our warm jammies and several cups of tea and some snacks...I couldn't keep my eyes open.

So off to nap I went...and I had a dream about something wonderful...

Last night, I made my dream come true.

I started with this....leftover beads from Antonella's necklace and a bracelet chain.



It turned into this...



...and ended up as this...



I call this the "Foreign Bracelet".

The "main" beads are from England, there is an Eiffel Tower Charm, an English Phone Booth Charm, and some sort of Asian Charms with Chinese characters on them (I think it's Chinese).

Anyway, I love it! It was fun to make - pain free even! It took me several hours, but only because I searched through everything bead related that I have to find just the right pieces to add - just ask Antonella, I've got a lot of stuff!

So there you go...I made something. I love it.

TA-DA!

I think this is #568...Someone's been making somthing...

...unfortunately, it wasn't me.

Feast your eyes upon my friend Antonella's first adventure in making jewelry.



She was over one day and spotted a necklace in one of my English (as in "from England") jewelry magazines.

She decided she had to have it. So I says, "I'll find out where to get the beads and then we'll make it."

So after a few emails, I found them at Bijou Beads. We ordered and well, here you are...

...one Italian version of an English necklace.

She is very proud of herself...as well she should be - it looks pretty much like the necklace in the magazine.

She added a few beads and also switched things up a little, oh, and added a little purple dangle bead at the back by the clasp.

I won't say how long it took for us to work on it, but she did 95% of the work herself after some quick instruction from me. It was a good Saturday night last night and now she's got some killer bragging rights. She can't wait to go back to work on Tuesday and show it off.

She was kinda ticked that tomorrow is a holiday and she's got off - but only cos she can't show off her handiwork! hee hee hee

# 567 Where she continues to do nothing...

...and I'm still not "doing" all that much.

I did manage to go out for a bike ride with Spencer on Sunday which was wonderful. I really missed being out on Puff.

I still haven't done laundry...it has been two weeks. REALLY need to do laundry. I guess I'll attempt to do some tomorrow. Need the undies.

Tonight, I did dishes and made dinner for the first time all on my own.

And now my hand aches.

It's getting better and better every day, and I'm getting further and further every day before it signals - HEY! Cut it out.

Spencer and I have finally sat down and discussed the color scheme for his new beanie. I'm excited to start swatching (yes, I'm going to swatch) tomorrow. This yarn is double knit and I normally knit with the one that's a bit thicker than that. It's been so long since I've done anything yarn related that I can't even remember what the hell it's called! GAH. Anyway, need to swatch to figure out how many stitches need to go round his head. Can't wait.

Got a very uplifting email from the parent volunteer coordinator from Spencer's old school. I've been in a downer mood lately and this brought me up a bit. She sent me a photo of the current 8th grade class's production of MacBeth. They are all wearing costumes I made about 4 years ago or so for the school Renaisance Faire. It was good to see my handiwork - still at work. :) Silly me was afraid that they wouldn't last the day back then.

Damn I'm good with a needle.

Post 566...out come the stitches

OK, so maybe I won't be showing the photos I took today. Nasty!

Anyway, I've been released for "moderate" activities.

In other words, remember you are still healing and don't do anything stupid!

hahaha

It's going to be hard not to get carried away as I am used to doing stuff all the time. Even sitting on the couch watching tv, I'm "doing" something. Crafting, sorting, folding laundry, whatever.

I am looking forward to doing something else now besides, watching TV or reading. I just have to be a bit careful still. At least I can get it wet now and can wash my hair with 2 hands now. I've been a site these last 10 days, let me tell you. hahaha

Anyway, I'm sure the curious among you want to know...well, what the hell was it besides a bump on your wrist that hurt like hell?

Here's the official mumbo jumbo: benign leiomyoma

English translation: "nerve acting" tumor (which means it hurt like hell) on my muscle that also happens to be non-cancerous.

OK, so the doc originally said that the chance of it being a tumor of any kind was pretty slim.

And it was a tumor.

Go figure.

I'm going to buy some lottery tix.

Knitting needles, here I come.

The 565th Post...2 more days

I don't go back to the doc until Friday morning. I can't wait.

My hand gets stronger every day, but there are still limitations - of course. I now find myself "forgetting" I'm not supposed to use it cos it's feeling so much better.

I am reminded with a few twinges of pain.

Gah.

Meantime, it still itches every so often.

I've been gathering photos since the beginning, and once I get back to normal I might post a few. Don't worry, I won't post any graphic ones, but you just know I have to take them. Altho I have to be honest, I really don't think anything is going to be very gross. Sometimes I don't believe anything was done.

Why?

It doesn't really hurt.

There was no pain immediately after the surgery.

None.

I haven't taken any of the pain killers the doc made me get.

I haven't even taken any advil.

Seriously.

Did he even do anything?!?

I can't wait until Friday morning when the bandage comes off and I get to actually see the stitches and the incision and hear all the gory details. :)

#564 Healing continues

OMG it itches!!!!!!!

Post 563 The Recovery

cut and pasted from Facebook cos it's easier...

Donna is happy with the surgery so far. The surgery and recovery hurts lots less than before! Thanks for the well wishes! At least a week not using the hand tho before the doc gets a look. :(

...and i got a new sling with a nice padded strap!

Post 562

Well, tomorrow is surgery.

As if things weren't already quiet around here...I'll most likely not post anything for a while. I'm going to take advantage of the recovery time to rest and make Spencer wait on me hand and foot for a few days.

That reminds me, need to go find that old sling from the last wrist surgery. Doc says I'm not getting a big fat wrap or a sling - just some fancy pants waterproof dressing that is flesh colored and no one will even know I had anything done.

Whoa!!!! But I WANT a big fat wrap and a sling!!! How am I supposed to work the sympathy angle if NO ONE will even know I've had anything done. Gah.

Definitely have to find that sling!!!

Post 561...finally

Let's see how long it takes to get to 570. I'm watching you Post Counter!!!

This whole 'can't have this that or the other within so many days of surgery' really sucks.

I haven't had such bad headaches in a long time. While I normally don't take Advil at the drop of a hat at any old pain, it sure would be nice to pop a few right now.

I won't complain too much tho...cos I am going to have surgery in less than a week and hopefully my pain and other issues will be resolved.

What's really going to be hard?

No food or liquids - not even water - after midnight before the surgery.

When is surgery?

1:15pm

Yeah, that's going to be tough.

Especially as I'll have Spencer with me and the kid is constantly eating.

Good grief, I'm going to be a real crankypants. A really hungry and thirsty crankypants.

Your Days are Numbered Alternate Universe/Alien Being...

OK, so the surgery scheduling lady called me this afternoon.

Tomorrow morning is my pre-op form fest and exam and the surgery is on Dec 29th at 1:15pm.

Everything is happening very very fast, but that's a good thing...and it's what I want - I want this taken care of YESTERDAY.

The Results are In

So, after going thru this, that, and the other with this damn wrist...I'm to call the surgery scheduling lady tomorrow morning and schedule surgery in the next 7-10 days.

They know it's some sort of skin tag thing that shouldn't be where it is...what they can't seem to figure out is why it hurts so damn much as it's nowhere near the nerve but is acting like it's pressing on the nerve. Let's just hope there are no surprises - as the doc said this morning - all indications point to no surprises, but with my luck lately, well, you just never know. I'm sure it's an alternate universe that exists in my wrist and is attached to my nerve by an invisible cord to syphon off electrical pulses to run their generators or a sentient being whose taken up shop in my wrist or something weirdly sci-fi-rific like that.

Whatever, it's coming out. Soon.

And I am thrilled beyond belief.

The logistical details will work themselves out somehow and just think, Spencer is off soon so he can take care of me! And he was just complaining yesterday how bored he's going to be during break cos he's got nuttin to do!!!

Heh. Heh. Heh.

My Post Counter is Wrong

Wrong I tell you! I've been posting and posting and jabbering on and on and the count is still in the 550's...I swear it's been that way since the beginning of summer. I KNOW I've posted more than 10 times since June. Gah.

Whatever, time for some more jabbering.

I miss knitting.

I tried with the Tunisian Hook last night - no dice. Even that was too much. Regular crochet doesn't work either.

Neither does sewing, making jewelry, or any other sort of crafting.

My consultation appointment with the wrist doc with the "New and Improved" MRI is tomorrow morning. I'm SO FLIPPIN' TIRED OF WAITING.

The wrist REALLY hurts. The damp and cold IS NOT HELPING.

There has been a whirlwind of sorting and organizing activity here in the Chaos.

My apartment complex is getting inspected by the City on Friday morning. Nothing like an "incentive" to get you moving a bit faster.

The only storage areas left for sorting are the big, useless dining room closet and the smaller, but still as useless hall closet. Those will have to wait until after the inspection. Boxes and whatnot that have already been sorted but don't have a home yet will be marked appropriately and put wherever there is room - need to get them out of the way.

I've made so many trips up and down to the recycling bins and dumpster that I should have buns of steel.

I've made 2 trips this week (so far) to the thrift store with a very large metal cart full of donations each time - on the bus - it's been quite easy actually. The big cart is now sitting full in the corner waiting for another run. Can't go tomorrow cos of doc appointment and Friday I'm expecting a package delivery, so I guess I'll start up with the thrift store runs again next week.

My doc appt is tomorrow.

I've been doing some culinary experimentation. It sounds a lot better than its been tasting, trust me. It's been fun tho - and I can usually salvage most of it, so we haven't been starving.

My doc appt is tomorrow!!!

Back to work putting things away. I've done as much sorting as I can, now just to get it all back under the bed and in the closets and tucked away til after the holidays. I will do more as time and wrist permits - don't think I'll have it all done before the Holidays and I really do want to decorate for Xmas. So....everything goes away, clearly marked and mostly in their permanent homes.

After New Year tho...it's back at it full force!

I got a new exercise DVD today from my DVD swap club. I'm so excited. It's Core Conditioning and what not, but uses belly dancing moves. I watched it thru while eating lunch today (yeah, I know) and I think I just might be able to actually do this one and keep on doing it - I like belly dancing and the instructors aren't annoying and my body is familiar with the moves - and it's very low impact.

I'm going to the doc tomorrow.

Cunning Plan

Latest news from the Chaos...I've been sorting stuff!

I know, wonders never cease.

I have had a plan in my head for a long time about where I would put stuff that I'm keeping. I would sort thru a box or two...either recycle, toss or give away whatever and then move to the next box. That sounds like a good plan, right?

Well, the only problem with that is that the stuff I'm keeping does not have a home - yet. So things are added to other boxes in no particular rhyme or reason and I end up taking two steps forward and one step back. Sometimes two.

I get rid of one box here, one box there and the next thing you know I'm creating another box of stuff that will eventually need to be sorted thru again and so on and so on.

Well, enter the latest cunning plan. As I was sorting, I started putting the things I'm keeping in their actual "future homes". It was working, but not so much.

A few days after I started that, I decided to "map" out my storage plans. I spent about an hour or so thinking, listing things and then drawing out an actual "map" of the final homes for all my precious stuff.

Let me tell you, it's the best thing I've ever done as far as all this organizing stuff goes.

I have also been keeping myself concentrated on ONE AREA AT A TIME until it's all sorted out. That has been the hardest thing to do as far as all this organizing stuff goes. Every storage place and area in the Chaos is a hodge podge of anything and everything. There is no organization. And yes, I have higher concentrations of some things in some places, but there is a little bit of everything all over the place. Sigh.

Mapping example: I have two units of metal shelving in my bedroom. Glamorous I know, but I needed heavy duty shelves and they were the most affordable best bet at the time. One unit has been designated as the new "crafting stuff" home. So now as I am sorting thru stuff from each shelf, one at a time, from the top down even, I only put back on that shelf the "craft" stuff. If it's not tossed, recycled, or given away, I check my map, see where it is supposed to live and go take it there.

Sometimes things get tight in the "new" home, but when that happens, the items are put into a bag, basket, or box and left as close to the new home as possible. The box or bag is also marked as "already sorted and waiting for space in the permanent home".

So far, this has been really working for me. I have been sorting a shelf per day since the weekend, so the first unit is almost done. YAY!!!!!!!!!

So far, I have tossed and recycled quite a bit of stuff, so the whole moving it to it's new home has been kept to a bare minimum. Which is good, cos the more stuff I get rid of the better off I'll be.

As I move from area to area getting rid of more and more stuff, it should become easier to put things in their new homes.

Having that "map" is the best thing ever. I have it taped up on the mirrored wall in my hallway. It really really helps!

Next up is the second metal shelving unit in the bedroom. I am starting with the storage areas in the apartment. Closets, cabinets and shelving units. As I go thru all the storage areas and get things started in the "new home" scenario, it will get much much easier to go thru the boxes all around here and get things put away properly.

My goal of having things more organized for Xmas is looking like it just might happen after all.

And that is a good gift to give to those of us who live here in the Chaos.

Activity

Hello all,
Well, Spencer has given the thumbs up to the latest attempt at Pumpkin Pie, but we both agree that the crust sucks. So next time we make a pie, we'll use a different crust and see how it goes. At least the filling recipe works - that's the most important bit!

The other day, I was going thru my closet, drawers and container-of-clothes-that used-to-fit-and-will-again. You guys know how that goes...sigh. Anyway, I managed to get several grocery bags (ok 8) of clothes and accessories to give away. Lots of old stuff, stuff I haven't worn in years, clothes that don't fit anymore and clothes that I don't care if they ever fit again.

Again, you know how that goes...

Anyway, I kept running across clothes that still had tags. Pathetic. Chaos hoarder that I am, I still had the receipts and went to Ross (that's where I get 99% of my clothes and accessories) and got a store credit. With that credit, I bought some things for the kitchen.

I also bought a bunch of socks (damn those necessaries like that really add up quickly, don't they - and they always all fall apart at the same time!!!) and a few pairs of gym shoes.

Which is why I'm writing this damn post in the first place. I decided while I was sorting thru clothes and more and more went into the container-of-clothes-that used-to-fit-and-will-again that I was going to have to work a lot harder to get into the damn things. I've got a LOT of REALLY NICE clothes. I've been really down about my weight lately (ok, for pretty much all my life) and thinking I REALLY need to do SOMETHING more than what I'm doing now. Riding my bike is good, but lately, I'm not riding all that often and that's really not going to help in the long run.

I enjoy doing my exercise outdoors. So I decided that when I took all this stuff back, I would get myself some walking socks and running/walking gym shoes. And I did. That was yesterday. I walked for an hour this morning. It was cold. I'm freakin' insane.

I finally did it. I've been thinking about doing something more than just riding my bike for a very long time - 2 weeks or so to be exact - actually a LOT longer, but thinking seriously for about 2 weeks. Sorting thru my clothes on Sunday turned out to be the catalyst I needed to get my ass in gear.

And it walked on the trail for an hour this morning at the ass crack of the day. It was cold. Which made me walk faster, which was good, cos you get more out of walking if you actually put some effort into it. I hurt, but that will go away with time. It's been years since I've distanced walked.

Tomorrow I ride Puff. I don't know how long I'll go for, but I'll be leaving with Spencer when he rides off to BART in the morning - which is when the sun comes up. You know, the ass crack of dawn. Sigh.

And the last reason I'm writing this post is that I need some help. I need a goal to work for...cos apparently, losing weight, being healthy, and living longer aren't good enuf to get me to exercise as much as I need to...sigh.

If anyone knows of any local 5k Walks or walk/runs or bike rides that don't cost much and are easily accessible by public transit...please let me know. I am going to do as many as I can. I need to keep moving. It's the only way I lose weight.

20 years ago, I lost about 50 lbs. The way I did it was thru the Jenny Craig diet program and training for The Mutiple Sclerosis 150 mile bike-a-thon (MS150). I ate JC meals and rode my bike 2 hours a day. I was a lean, mean, riding machine. I kept off the weight until I got pregnant - and I STILL have that "baby weight" - even tho my "baby" is almost 16 years old. Sigh.

OK, so I'm 20 years older and can't afford a fancy pants diet program. So what am I supposed to do?

Easy, drag my ass outside to move every day - for now that is riding or walking - my 20yrs older and 60lbs overweight body can't take much more than that right now. Eat right, get enuf rest and all that sort of stuff. With a hell of a lot of work, and a visible goal on my calendar to work for, I can do it.

If you know of a website or a walk/ride, let me know in the comments. My ass thanks you - really it wants to curse you, but I'm making it mind its manners.

Updates

Still recovering from the fun of the wee hours of this morning. I didn't sleep at all.

Maintenance men have been going in and out all morning and the carpet cleaner will be here "sometime today".

Kitty is in hiding. With all this coming and going of strange people, I don't expect to see her for at least 2 days.

Pumpkin pie is actually pretty good. Especially after sitting overnight. The real test is when the pie expert tries it tomorrow (that would be Spencer).

Pluses and Minuses at 1:15am

Minus - a hissing noise which is obviously water running, but where? (12:15am)

Plus - I had just climbed into bed so it's not like I was sound asleep

Minus - I can't find where it's coming from...it's not any of the toilets, I didn't leave any of the faucets running.

Plus - I found it...

Minus - the hot water valve under the bathroom sink is spewing forth a wee bit of water

Plus - this apt complex has on-site 24/7 maintenance, who are now getting a call

Minus - I just stocked up on all sorts of toiletries, especially the female sort which are now getting soaked cos the wee bit of water is now rivaling Old Faithful and just as hot

Did I mention it was the hot water valve?

Plus - the female toiletries are super absorbent

Minus - EVERYTHING is getting WET while I frantically pull out the rest of the stuff under the sink.

Plus - Maintenance dude shuts off water to my apartment

Minus - water is flowing into bedroom at this point

Did I mention it was HOT water?

Plus - Maintenance dude brings wet vac and sucks up the water.

Minus - lots of things are VERY WET and instead of doing what I had planned for tomorrow (oh yeah, today), I get to dry everything out. Except the female things, there is no hope for them. Altho I think I can salvage the ones in the box that only got a wee bit wet from the first trickling of water...

Plus - he fixed it

Minus - he has to come back tomorrow (umm...today) with more sucking machines and a carpet cleaner and yeah

Plus - I have water, in all the right places

Minus - I'm WIDE AWAKE.

Plus - I don't pay for water or for the gas to heat it.

Thank you Maintenance Dude - I really wish this could have happened in the middle of the day - and thank goodness I was home when it did. It's now past 1:30am and he's still putzing round in the bathroom and here I sit. WIDE AWAKE.

Telling you all about my super absorbent female toiletries, oh and the flood of hot water in my bathroom/bedroom.

Haven't seen Kitty for a while. She's pretty much traumatized, the wet vac was pretty damn scary. Don't think I'll see her for a few days except for litter box runs and occasional munching. Sigh.

A Pumpkin Pie Poem

I smell something baking, it's another pumpkin pie.
I've failed at this already, I keep asking myself why?

I put in all the ingredients, just like in the list.
I should have gotten a pumpkin pie, but all I got was pissed.

I pulled it out of the oven, it was not a pretty sight,
The center was still mushy, gah, that sure wasn't right!

Beep beep beep goes the timer, it's time to check the pie,
It sure does smell good, could this be my final try?

I turn on the oven light, so far it looks good to me.
I open up the oven, and GAH, what do I see?

The middle is still liquid, it's happening again.
I put it in for more time, let's see what happens then.

Beep beep beep goes the timer, it's time to check the pie
I'm beginning to think, YES! This IS my final try.

The whip cream is at the ready, the pie is cooling on the rack.
I hope when I cut into it, I won't be screaming FRACK!

If it doesn't work, that's ok, I've got more pumpkin cans.
I'll keep trying til I get it right, for we are pumpkin fans.


I'll update you all tomorrow on the status of this second try at Pumpkin Pie. I followed the recipe on the can of Trader Joe's organic pumpkin mush and that was not only a failure, but it was EPIC. And on Thanksgiving. Not a good scene - we had our hearts set on pumpkin pie that night.

This all came about as a brilliant idea to stock up on cans of Pumpkin mush while it was in the stores so we could enjoy Pumpkin Pie during the non-Holiday season - whenever we had the craving for one. I figured it would be easy to make. Can't be that hard right? Silly me.

I googled online and found a website with recipes using Trader Joe's ingredients. So far so good.

If this one doesn't turn out, I have several more to try.

Not yer grannie's nachos...

The "Oh no, not more turkey and stuffing leftovers I can't take it anymore" Nachos

Spread some corn tortilla chips on a plate.

Chop some turkey into wee little chunks and sprinkle across chips.

Chop up some stuffing into little bits and sprinkle across chips.

Sprinkle shredded cheese liberally over the top of it all. Oh crap, ran out of shredded cheese. Pull out a slice of cheese, tear it up and put it over the last half of the nachos.

Heat it all up in the microwave until the cheese is melted.

Desperate times call for desperate measures. I am so sick of Turkey Day leftovers. Wouldn't be so bad if Spencer was here with me, it would have all been gone Friday...but it's just me and I can't take it anymore. I think I'm going to toss whatever is left after tonight. No more turkey...please.

This one is for my Honey...

Bohemian Rhapsody, Muppets, what more could you ask for?




Saw it over at Go Fug Yourself...

Today's guest bloggers are....

...Hi everyone, today we have guest bloggers...Cow and Honey...Ms Cow and I are recovering from our afternoon at the SF Bead & Design Show yesterday (no photos). Lots of ideas swirling round in our brains. I think my crafting Mojo is actually coming back. Yay!!!

Anyway, on to Cow and Honey...

Helo evribody. Martin has been nagging me to rite a blogpost so I am gowing to rite about howe to get to sea Ms Cow.

Mi firts plan was to desine and bild a bote with sales, and sale acros the see to Ms Cow. Martin was desining the outside of the bote, and i was desining the inside, with places for us to slepe, and hav cow parteys, and a baffrum, but no baff, cos cows dont do baffs. But martins screen broke, and he dusent hav a bote desining program on the old puter. He sed that we can use pensil and paper, but he makes to meny mistaiks and we wud need lots and lots of paper.

Then wen he was cleening owt the kichen he left the model plane a frend had maid on the cher with me and I cud hav a gud luk at it. It is a very fast plane with lots of supersonix so I thort i cud lern to fly and then i cud sea Ms Cow very very cwikly. But Donna sed plane luks just like a target drone and the er forse wud shute it down! Thats not fare!!! I cud paent it blak and wite so theyd nowe it was me but Martin sed they use radar and that dusent sea colors.

But now i hav a new plan! We saw a syense program on the tely, and they torked abowt cwontums. cwontums is wen a partykul is in 2 places at wons, but there very clos together. And they had a pussy cat that was alive and ded at the sam time, but i didnt undestand that bit. Cows ar much cleverer than partykuls, so I cud be here with Martin, and with Ms Cow and Donna at the sam time!! I just need grat big laser and a wite cote, so peepl nowe im a syentist.

Ok, this post now has two authors... Don't you just love these science shows that over-simplify everything? I've tried explaining that the distance between the places a particle might be is governed by its mass, not how clever it is; and that a particle doesn't get to choose where it might be, so there's no guarantee that all Cow's particles would end up in the same two places; and the pussy cat idea shows that one of the two Cows might be alive, and the other one dead! I'm making some headway with that one, because the thought of a dead Cow as well as an alive one would definitely upset Ms Cow. I'll concede on the white coat though, Ms Cow will indeed think he looks clever as well as handsome in a white coat...

Cow is currently conferring with Sidney the woolly dalek, which really concerns me, because with Sidney anything including lasers will involve exterminating things, since that's what daleks do, even cuddly woolly ones. If you hear in the news that the north of England has been reduced to a smoking ruin, you'll know that Cow's career as a quantum physicist has been less than totally successful. And I only made one mistake when we were designing his boat; serves him right for constantly demanding we make it bigger!

NOTE: Cow refuses to use spell check. Honey says that Cow complains that the red squiggly lines are very annoying. D'oh. Maybe we can get Ms Cow to convince him that he really needs to use spell check...

Wrist Update

...and here I sit still not knowing what's up.

Get to follow up appointment. Wait.

Get called back. Wait.

Doc comes in and we start. Takes one look at MRI and radiologist's report. Starts mumbling and swearing under his breath.

Things not going very well at this point.

Seems like the MRI tech was having an "off day". He did not put a marker on the spot they needed to look at and on top of that, did not take pictures far enough up my arm to show the whole area they really needed to see.

Sigh.

Bottom line, Doc rips MRI supervisor a new one, which I'm sure was passed down to the tech. I was sent back to the MRI dept where I made an appointment for a partial MRI Tuesday morning.

Why wait? Well after the doc came back and explained a few things and apologized profusely, he said he wasn't going to be in for a few weeks, so I could take my time with the MRI re-do. And they weren't scheduling any non-urgent procedures that close to the holiday anyway.

Gee thanks. Just what I wanted to do...wait some more.

I did get some sorta good news out of it all...doc said that from what little he could actually see of my little bump, that it didn't seem to be attached to the nerve. And then threw a whole bunch of big fancy medical terms at me which he thought it was...and when he translated to English, it was basically a flap of some sort that needed to be removed...yada yada yada...no more pain.

All I really heard was MRI re-do, most likely not attached to nerve, no more pain. He says we really won't know until he gets hold of a good MRI - of course - but he seemed pretty sure it wasn't on the nerve.

Blah blah blah...yada yada yada...still hurts...still gotta wait.

In the meantime, I've got lots to do, don't feel like doing it and am going to do it anyway, attitude and pain be damned.

NYAH

The Wrist Thing

Hello All,
Can't remember if I've ever said what was actually wrong with the wrist, so here is the story.

It's not Carpal Tunnel. There I said it. Very tired of people telling me "it's just CT - you need to stop this, this and this". Well, it's not.

It all started 16 years ago. I found a lump on my inner wrist. A ganglion cyst was removed. That was 1993.

In 1995, a smaller cyst returned - in the same area. It never bothered and I forget all about it until about a year ago. It was just a bit of weakness and or pain, every so often until about 2 months ago.

For some reason, it did something like shift or whatever and the real pain began. Big pain. After about 2 weeks of denial and just hoping it would magically go away (yeah, I know I should know better), I called the doc.

Primary doc said she could take care of it in the office. I was skeptical because I felt it was somehow different this time. I was right, she sent me to a orthopedist - a hand specialist.

The next week, I was getting poked and prodded and pinched and sent home crying after an x-ray. Yes, it hurt that much. Nothing like an exam to help you feel better, no?

An MRI was ordered. An MRI was done this morning - almost 3 weeks after it was ordered. Almost 8 weeks after it first started hurting like the dickens. The insurance company took their time pre-approving it. Yeah.

There is a follow-up appt with the doc this Thursday afternoon. I can't wait to find out what the heck is going on...I just want to get my wrist back to the way it was and get on with knitting, sewing, biking (more than I am now) and just doing stuff in general. It can get quite difficult sometimes to do the simplest things. UGH.

And the pain just keeps getting worse.

But things are looking up.

And that's the story of the wrist.

Contest! Fabulous Prize!

Not from me tho, I'm just trying to win it. :)

Such being the case (we love free things and prizes here in the chaos), go check it out. AntiM is giving away a few cool things for your home. Technically one is for your furry friend, but still, you win it.

So click on over, enter and don't forget to say Donnaz Chaos sent you (I get extra entries if you do).

Hopefully I'll win the heated leopard print kitty dish and that little witch I call my Precious Little Princess Kitty can stop going medieval on my good wrist - she's pretty much scratching/biting the shit out of it lately. Just giving her extra treaties isn't cutting it...she apparently wants MORE.

Cowmon Sense and Dressing Up

Hello fellow Fashionistas!

Last post we chatted with Ms. Sammie and we came to the conclusion that she looks FABULOUS just as she is...well, she does!!!

Which gives me a pretty good lead into today's post...

We're going to discuss "working what you've got". Basically, we are all individuals with our own styles and "looks" and we should "work it"! Those in the fashion industry really love that phrase. Those younger fashionistas out there use the term "rockin' it". She's really "rockin' that outfit"!

A few weeks ago, I lost one of my nose spots. I was embarrassed and I was afraid to go out or be seen by anyone.




Well, then Donna and I saw on the news about something very exciting happening in San Francisco and it drew us both out last Saturday (I'll explain later) - even with only one nose spot. I didn't care, I had to go!!! While we were out and about, I learned a lot of important things about myself and others.

There were so many people out and about in the City. It was a beautiful day! I did a lot of people watching as I peeked out from Donna's bag. So many wonderful outfits, so many fashion disasters. It was all so wonderful... We stopped for a rest by the waterfront at a little park by the Bay Bridge. There were lots of doggies there playing in the sun. One doggie had a doggie wheelchair!




Lots of people kept stopping and pointing and taking photos, but he didn't care. And neither did the other doggies. They were all running about, chasing balls, sniffing each other and playing all sorts of doggie games! We sat and watched them play for a while. I thought to myself, he's really "working what he's got". He doesn't care what anyone else thinks of his wheelchair. He's doing his doggie thing and no one is gonna stop him!

Sometimes we choose how we look (clothes, hair color, glasses, etc), sometimes we don't (tall, short, round face, etc). As long as you are comfortable with your "look", no one can tell you it's good or bad. We'll definitely wonder whether some of you have mirrors at home or not (you with the pink eyebrows and fried hair, I'm talking about you), or some of you may make us uncomfortable or even jealous.

There were so many "looks" out there. Definitely a "Good, Bad, and Ugly" sort of day. It was fantastic!!!

OK, now it's later, so time to tell you what drew me out of the house with only one nose spot...

The San Francisco Opera had a costume sale!!! They opened their warehouse to the public and put up 25 years worth of costumes for sale. Partly to clear out their inventory, mostly to raise money for the Opera. We saw it on the news Friday night and just HAD to go take a look.

The day started out with going to the bike shop with Spencer where they did the final adjustments on his bikebikebike. He left from there to go riding with his friends, so Donna and I took off to SF for the sale! She was so excited she hardly slept Friday night. She kept mumbling something about it being a bit of a dream come true. So many wonderful, hand made costumes in one place!!!!

When we finally arrived, there was a very long line...it was about 4 blocks long! In the sun. We had no water, no sun screen, and no hats. We were totally unprepared. We knew we were in trouble when we started seeing people with lawn chairs, coolers and sun umbrellas as we walked further down the line. We were so out of our league. As we turned round and headed back towards downtown, we vowed we would try again at the next sale. This time we would go EARLIER and we'd be ready for ANYTHING! All we really wanted was to look at how the costumes were made and then look at the really fancy ones and try on some too! How fun would that be?!? There were some designed by Versace!!! There was even a long beaded dress by Bob Mackie! How exciting, no?

Donna and I just love costumes. We love to look at them, design them, and construct them. I'm studying costume design now...





...so it was very disappointing for us not to get into the sale. We were a bit upset at the world, and that's when we went wandering about trying not to feel too sorry for ourselves. It was a gorgeous day out, so we didn't want to come and lock ourselves away all day again.





We even had a visitor stop by as we ate our lunch!



Anyway, back to costumes... Costumes are fun! They can transform you into anything you want to be - not to mention they are fun to design and to make! It's fun to be someone or something different every so often, but you don't need to do it all the time - just be your own wonderful selves!!

Today is one of the most favorite days of all in the US to dress up - Hallowe'en!

So remember, be yourself - work your own style - have fun dressing up - and use your Cowmon Sense! Happy Hallowe'en!

Next post we'll take a look at a new book we picked up the other day - talk about FABULOUS!



The Kyoto Costume Institute's: Fashion, a history from 18th century to 20th century...drool!!!!

Oh, and Donna has fixed my nose! Yay!