Labradorable

Maybe I Can Manage One Post a Month

I'm back!! 

After that pretty sky from Sunday, I'm starting things off with a meme:

Do you nap?  I wish!

What was the last thing you bought? That wasn't food?  Pair of Uggs.  I finally gave in, still kicking myself but they are warm and it is winter.

What are you listening to right now?  "Looking for Paradise" by Alejandro Sanz and Alicia Keys.  I'm mellowing in my old age!

What is your favourite weather?  I'm okay with anything as long as it's not too cold, windy, or humid.  I like a little variety.

What’s on your bedside table?  A lamp, clock radio, couple of magazines, dust.

What are you currently reading?  Nothing at the moment. Just finished a book.  Any recommendations?

Name the things you can’t live without. Books, music and food. (Oh, I lifted this verbatim from the person I lifted the meme from!)

What would you like to have in your hands right now?   Probably nothing that I could admit to on the internet, lol!

What is your favourite tea flavour? I like most kinds of black tea, but chai, Earl Grey, and darjeeling are favorites.

What would you like to get rid of? Clutter in my house (and my mind and my life).

What is your favorite scent of candle? Lavender, pumpkin, balsam, sandalwood.

What did you want to become as a child? An orthodontist, a dentist, a veterinarian.

What's your favorite brand of jeans? I'm a traditional Levis girl for the most part.

Say something to the person/s who tagged you: I wasn't tagged, but I stole this from Nancy, from whom I steal most memes. 

I have actually been knitting.  This is just the latest creation.  I promised DD that I would knit her a pair of socks and she picked this yarn out of the stash.  (Yarn is from Secret Pal 2!)  I found a pattern for four to eight year olds and knit the sock, and it doesn't fit her.  It's a bit stretched out from her trying to put it on.  It does fit DS, and he's happy to have it.  I haven't managed to kitchener the toe and knit the second sock yet.  It was easy but boring.  Still, I could knock out sock two pretty quickly, so I ought to get it together before the warm weather arrives.

I think I have a few finished socks that are just waiting for kitchenering of the toes.  Now's the perfect time to do that because I can actually wear them.  I wore an old pair of Opal socks when I shoveled this weekend and I stayed nice and toasty warm.   I hope that DS likes these socks.  And I guess I should start knitting small women's socks for DD because apparently at eight she's got adult size feet.  I'm not sure how I didn't realize that, as she stole a pair of my mom's sandals this summer.  (In all fairness, my mom is only 5' 1" so she's got little feet, even for an adult.)

So what else have I been doing in my blogging hiatus?  Ah, many things.  Quite a lot of working, actually, so not terribly interesting.  Today I missed the historic vote for the Massachusetts Senator to replace Ted Kennedy.  The polls are only open from 7:00 am to 8:00 pm and I was out of the house before 7:00 am and didn't get home until 7:00 pm, at which point I had to make dinner, get the kids to do their homework, and then. . . polls were closed by then.  I'm disappointed I missed the election.  But here are two photos I took on my way to work this morning, which are some consolation.  It was beautiful this morning.

It was a lovely grey, snowy morning.  It snowed all day today, but we only got a couple more inches of accumulation. 

I think my plan for tomorrow is to knit.  I'm on the road for work, so we'll see how that works out.  I have to figure out how to balance work, life, knitting, and blogging.  But I miss blogging and all of the wonderful people I've met, so I'm going to try to be more present in blogland.  I am present more often on Facebook because I can access that from my phone,  but it's not the same as blogging.

Camnesia

It's been almost six months, but I'm dropping back in for a drive-by post.  My plan is to get back into the swing of posting and of reading blogs.  I've been very much absent from cyberspace over the past several months.  As I attempted to gather my thoughts and my photos to put together a post, I realized that I have had a serious case of camnesia. . . I don't seem to have photographed much of anything that I have knitted and I can't even remember what I finished over the past six months.  I have been knitting, though, I really have.  In fact, I almost finished a sweater for DD before realizing it was going to be way too small and frogging the entire thing.  But there are things that I did finish.

I finished these socks and took a crappy photo standing on a chair to catch the natural light on one of the short, dark days of winter.  The yarn is Cabin Cove.  The pattern is Spring Forward.  I originally started these socks over the summer, but after knitting almost one entire sock I realized that they were going to be too small for me, as in too tight.  I contemplated knitting the second sock and gifting them to someone with smaller feet, but then Dave announced that he was going to shut down Cabin Cove.  The choice was obvious.  I had to frog these and knit them one needle size larger and keep the Cabin Cove goodness for myself.  I wore these socks a lot this winter and they are very comfortable.  The colorway is lovely.  I'm going to have to locate and rephotograph these socks, and this photo doesn't do them justice.  When I wear them, I feel like I am standing ankle deep in some warm tropical ocean, with the blues and greens swirling around in both colorway and pattern.

This next pair of socks is almost finished. I have had one toe to kitchener for months and months but haven't done it yet.  There's only one photo of the WIP.  I believe this is Waving Lace from the Summer 2004 issue of Interweave Knits.  I bought the yarn when the magazine came out, and it's the same Lorna's Laces colorway used in the pattern.  I'd never knit socks before, and I ended up putting the yarn away for years.  Then Interweave published their favorite socks book and my interest was reignited.  I started knitting the socks from the pattern in the book and finished using the pattern in the magazine.  Usually when I do things like this, there's a typographical error that I don't notice until it's too late, but I'm happy to report that both versions of the pattern are the same and that the socks were a success.  I'm going to have to finish them and post a photo.  (And, yes, I did make DS wash his face after I took this photo.)

I think that's it for this dip back into blogging, but I will work on a post for later this week.  I need to get back into the rhythm of blogging.  I'm off to knit and do laundry. . . and take some photos!

Sunny Sky

 

It's not really Saturday Sky. . . it's Thursday at 8:30.  As usual, we did the Feaster Five (5K, not five mile) on Thanksgiving morning.  The only dog who came was Loco, as Yogi is too wild to handle the crowd of 8,000 runners/walkers plus assorted strollers, dogs, and wheelchairs.  We mostly walked, though Yogi did get into the spirit of it and he got going fast enough so I had to jog.  Given that I resumed smoking the other week, it really wasn't the time to go jogging.

I haven't been a good blogger or blog reader lately.  I've been busy and stressed out, hence the smoking.  My tendonitis has also flared up again, so knitting happens somewhat infrequently now because I can only do so much.  Some days, just driving to work is enough to aggravate my tendonitis.  (I have a standard shift car, and it's my right arm that is affected.)  I stupidly made an appointment with the orthopedic surgeon at the same time as my parent/teacher conference for DD, so I will get to the doctor but not too soon.  I have a skin cancer check with the dermatologist coming up this week any way, and one doctor a week is enough for me.

So, I'll try to check in soon, and maybe even have some knitting to show for it.

Inspiring Envy

The idea of 24 hours alone, sans husband and kids, sounded really wonderful and inspired much envy.  It was pretty good.  I managed to watch two DVD's, both subtitled, though I'm knitting stockinette (as I mention every chance I get) so the reading of the subtitles really doesn't interfere with the knitting.  The first movie I watched, Paradise Now, was so riveting that I didn't even knit.  It's about two suicide bombers who have some trouble while en route to Israel to carry out their mission.  The second movie, Control Room, is about the Al Jazeera network and was filmed at the time of the beginning of the endless war in Iraq in which we are currently embroiled.  I enjoyed both movies for different reasons, but I have to say that the one thing that they had in common was that they broadened my perspective, and I'd highly recommend them for that very reason.

  My parents returned my kids, and while in the course of doing that, my dad let Loco out and Loco took off through the woods.  For some reason, my father waited a while before telling me this.  I ended up searching the woods, and all I got to show for it was a tick.  My dad and I then ended up taking the search on the road.  My dad drove and I took shortcuts through the woods where we walk the dogs and occasionally joined him in the car.  We finally came home to find DD outside on the front lawn all excited because Loco had come home.  No one could call my dad and I because he didn't have his cell phone on and because my phone was in the house, as he insisted I get in the car without going back in the house to get it.  I don't know where that dog went, but he seemed just fine when he came back.  At least I didn't have to call DH and tell him that while he's living in up in Arizona, I lost the dog.

As soon as my parents left, I noticed hot pink stuff all over back porch, the kitchen floor, and the carpet in the family room.  My mom and DS had been playing with Play Doh while my dad and I were searching for Loco, and DS apparently dropped a half a can of it on the floor, stepped in it, and then tracked it all over the place without her noticing.  I got most of it up except some that was really ground into the carpet, and I cleaned out the sole of his sneaker.

Yeah, re-entry back into the world of cohabiting with other people was a bit rough today.  I ended up taking the kids to see Madagascar 2, which was okay.  I have to confess that I didn't think that the first movie was all that great and I didn't have high expectations that this sequel would be wonderful.  I've seen it once and I don't need to see it again.  The kids loved it, though, and we had to go to McDonald's for dinner after the movie so they could get the Madagascar 2 Happy Meals.  At least McDonald's has good iced tea, and I did get quite a bit of knitting done during the movie.  I wasn't too sure about knitting with dark colored yarn in a dark movie theatre, but it worked out fine, except for one place where I got confused and put away the knitting.  Fortunately, even though I told the kids to use the bathroom before we left the house and once we got to the movie theatre, they didn't listen to me, so I had to make two bathroom trips with them.  The first such trip afforded me an opportunity to figure out what had happened with my knitting (The yarn split and I knit two stitches into it, but fortunately didn't knit any further because it felt wrong in the dark.) and fix it so I could go back and knit in peace.  The second trip to the bathroom was advantageous only in that it afforded me another break from the movie.  Best part of the whole movie -- after the credits rolled, DS danced in the aisle and sang, "I like to move it, move it!" over and over again, which amused the people behind us to no end.  I thought it was better than the movie.

Apparently, Christmas Season Starts November 1st

I think that people are feeling optimistic about the economy after the election.  I went shopping this afternoon and traffic was unbelieveable, almost on the level of the Thanksgiving to Christmas shopping frenzy.  I actually thought I was getting a jump on Christmas, too, but other people must have had that idea as well.  I think the rest of my Christmas shopping is going to be mail order and not in person because I can't cope with the traffic and crowds. 

I also am having a hard time with the sudden jump on Christmas when Halloween has only passed a week ago.  When I went down to buy lunch in the shop in the lobby of our building, the radio station they were playing was already broadcasting Christmas songs.  It just doesn't feel right.  I felt strange today buying Christmas gifts while it's still warm enough out that I wasn't wearing a jacket (though I realize that's normal for those of you in the southern hemisphere).

It's also been a grey, overcast day leading into a rainy night, so I don't have a great Saturday Sky photo.  I do have an indoor "sky" photo, some of our Dia de los Muertos decorations, which will be coming down this week.  I taped them to the ceiling, so, in a way it's sky.

 

That skeleton with the hat allegedlly represents Emilio Zapata, but I wouldn't put money on it.  I'm going to miss these.  I don't decorate for Thanksgiving, and it's a long way off until the next decorating holiday.

I have been knitting, more stockinette.  Here's the back of DD's sweater:

  As soon as I put it down on the floor to lay it out for a photo, Yogi jumped on it with his favorite ball.  I'm almost done with this, the back of the sweater.  I should be able to get it done tonight and start on the front. 

It's a rainy evening, the kids are at my parents', and DH is away for the weekend, so I'm having some nice quiet time to myself.  I got a flu shot this week at work and I'm feeling a bit achy and tired anyway, so there seems to be a convergence of things that are going to make curling up on the couch with some tea, a DVD, and my knitting very appealing this evening.  I hope you have an enjoyable evening, too!

Happy Birthday, Bro

 

In honor of my brother's birthday this week, I bring you a photo of the two of us together.  This is from the late 80's.  We were both younger and thinner.  My mittens are handknit, by my aunt.  I didn't learn to knit until a few years after this photo was taken.  I miss doing stuff like this with my brother.  It's been too long since we have lived close enough to have fun wasting time.  Now, we see each other once or twice a year and there's this feeling that we always have to be doing *something* with every waking moment. 

I tried to find a recent photo of the two of us, but my brother and I tend to be the people behind the camera most of the time, so if one of us is in a photo, it means the other one took the photo.  But I did find a photo from August of DS and my brother.  I'm thinking they might want their tongues pierced.

 

In some ways, they are two peas in a pod.  We'll see how they get along this spring when we go on a cruise together.  Last time we did that, DS was a toddler, so it was a bit different.  Who knows what the terrible two will get up to together?  As for me, I'm going to make sure I make time to just *be* and enjoy my brother's company (and that of everyone else in the family) and I'm going to remind the other adults that I'd like some photos of my brother and I together.  He's the only brother I have and I love him lots.

Have a great weekend!  I panicked in the car on the way to work this morning when I looked down and realized I was wearing jeans.  We're only allowed to wear jeans on Fridays and I honestly thought it was Thursday.  I had even been trying to plan my Dogs on Thursday post during my commute.  Fortunately, my brain slipped back into reality mode and I re-remembered that it was in fact Friday.  Obviously, I'd figured that out when I was getting dressed in the morning.  It's just been that kind of tiring week.  I'm off to knit and watch Lipstick Jungle, if I can wrestle the remote from DH.  I hate myself for liking that show, but sometimes I sit there and think, "Oh, that's *me*!" and I find that the ladies give each other such good advice.  Sometimes it scares me that I think that way.  It's an interesting tension.

Yikes!

So, sometimes I lend my iPod to a guy at work.  That's no big deal.  We like some of the same music and I can trust him to be kind to the iPod.  Today he borrowed it and when he gave it back, he asked me what the engraving on the back of it meant.  I have the name of this blog and my nickname engraved on the back of my iPod.  Every muscle in my back tensed up and I thought, "Please don't google it, please don't google it."  I'm not at all into people at work being in my blog.  I have never ever told any coworkers it exists.  I did give a couple of people access to my MySpace page at my old job, but then I ended up restricting access to it and finally just took stuff down and stopped going to MySpace.  I don't want that to happen to my blog.  People at work can find me on Facebook or LinkedIn.  But the blog is sacred.  I would sincerely hope that if anyone who had their hands on my iPod today (There were two people, both cool, but neither of whom I want reading my blog.) did google and find my blog, they'll just stop reading and go back. 

One might argue that the blog is out there in the public arena and anyone can access it, and that is true.  There are lots of things out there in the world and just because we can see them doesn't mean we should.  The whole point of the blog was and is meeting people who have similar interests to me, and those are people who I don't meet a lot in my everyday travels through life.  The people I meet in everyday life have a different kind of interaction with me.  I like having the separate areas of my life.  It's like the difference between work and home, or children and adults.  Each adds something to my life, but I wouldn't necessarily want them to be so entwined as to be indistinguishable. 

And all this gives rise to some questions I have for you.  Do you keep your blog and regular life separate, and why or why not?  Have you ever had someone read your blog independently, and how did that make you feel?  Have you ever read the blog of someone you know without them knowing, and, again, how did you feel about that?

Way Later Halloween

  

Here's a blast from the past.  The last time I dressed up for Halloween, I was Pebbles Flintstone.  And, yes, my hair really was orange, before and after Halloween.  I have a question for you, a bit behind the times, but only by a few days.  What was your favorite Halloween costume?

Vini, Vici, Voti

Can you tell I don't know Latin at all?  I thought so.  But I did vote today, and I hope you did to if you are in the United States.  Either way, this is a huge election.

 

DS, shown here eating a cheese quesadilla, has decided that he wants Barack Ojama/Pajama (He's not sure which is the right one.) to win the election.  First order of business?  Making the Mexican restaurant stop putting the little Mexican flag of guacamole/sour cream/pico de gallo on the plate.  That kind of stuff can really push a preschooler right over the edge.

Karen came up with a fabulous idea for future blog posts for November.  Are there any questions that you would like to ask me?  Is there anything you'd like to see me post?  Any and all reasonable requests will be entertained.

Oh, and in my Facebook travels of late, I have discovered news about two of the people in the photo from my last post.  My friend on the left died, my friend in the middle is writing for the LA Times, and the guy on the far right is the son of someone famous so I didn't bother looking him up.  So, the trip down memory lane did have a bit of sadness.  But on the whole I'm loving Facebook even if I don't get all the bits and pieces of it yet.

Three Days in and Failing Fast

I know it should come as no surprise to most of you, but I'm fresh out of ideas for posts and it's only the third day of November.  I actually might have had something to say but for the fact that I've been playing in Facebook today. . . if you are there, too, let me know so we can hook up there.

Today in Facebook, I found the following:

It's the Sigma Pi Christmas card.  I'm not in it, but I was the Prom Queen for the Sigma Pi Safe Sex Prom that year.  There are no photos of that event, at least not that I know of, so unfortunately I can't help you out there.  For some reason, lately I've been feeling nostalgic, so you might just see some nonknitting photo trips down memory lane.