Journal of impossible things...

Crash and Eddie

2010-01-18T10:07:00.003-07:00

Too lazy to go through and deal with all the photos. (Mostly it's that I need to leave the house and don't have time.)

So... New blog entry on Wordpress: Crash and Eddie

Lots of pretty yarnie photos.

Enjoy. :-)

My annoyance.

2010-01-17T19:01:00.002-07:00

Alright. Blogger has annoyed me for the last time.

I've been lusting after wordpress for a while.

The features were calling me.

The ability to reply to specific comments.

Not having my pictures go wonky, or crop half of them off.

So the time has come, the walrus said...

You can now find me over at Wordpress:
http://myjournalofimpossiblethings.wordpress.com/

I will continue to cross post over here for a while. But please do switch the url over to the new one.
Those of you on Blogger can still follow me just the same as you did before.

Thank you all. :-)

My sincere apologies

2010-01-16T22:04:00.005-07:00

Wow. I cannot believe it is already the 16th of January.

And wow. I cannot believe that my last blog posting was LAST year.

I haven't forgotten you. Really, I've just been... busy yet not.

I finished one super sekret knit project. But I can't talk to you about it yet.

I gave up on one project, as it was kicking my ass and I've sent it to it's room. That was my Ishbel project. First Lace project. It could be that the yarn just didn't want to be that project. We'll see when I come back to it.

I started my Doomsday Cardigan. No photos as of yet, as I'm only like 8 rows into 117. (Link goes to Ravelry)

I am theoretically starting my first aqua aerobics at the gym on Monday. Which of course means I'll be having a gym membership for the first time in my life.

I have been writing every day. Which is a very good thing. And I have noticed it has helped. Only one day in the last week or so did I not write much, but instead did brain storming. I do not feel guilty for this, as brainstorming is a much needed piece of the machine. Especially since I was quite unsure where the story was going.

I have to admit it is odd working on two pieces at the same time.
But, the Blitz novella is almost done! I'm in the home stretch of the 1st rough draft.
Small aside on that. Today I started reading M is for Magic by Neil Gaiman. In it is an introduction explaining things a bit. On the subject of short stories: "In the beginning they were a great way to begin to learn my craft as a writer. The hardest thing to do as a young writer is to finish something, and that was what I was learning how to do."- Neil Gaiman.
This made me exceedingly happy to read. I often forget that the things I am going through, are things that the greats themselves have gone through.
When I had to stop writing a few months ago due to work, and I realized that I was giving up finishing the novella in time for the contest, I was quite... put out. Truth be told I was down right depressed. It had been a deadline that quite literally went wooshing past. Then the last few months, with no deadline... no work stopping me, I found excuses. "I've got company coming!" "It's the holidays!" Before I knew it, it was the end of the year.
Well, the time for excuses is over. I don't have a deadline. But I do have a commitment to writing every day. I've been finding myself writing more and more each day. Mind you, this is written long hand in a spiral bound at about 10:30 at night when I'm in bed.. But I'm getting more use out of the time I am writing.
(Generally I try to shut off my light by 11:30)

Last night I found myself in a very short span, writing 2 pages. This made me exceedingly happy. I could have written more, but I had reached a point that I needed to ponder on, and as it was the end of my writing time, I decided instead to call it a night.

Yes, I realize I'm rambling. Deal with it.

Today I did some dyeing.
I dyed 3 different colorways.
Nothing that I had planned, as I was simply working on technique.

I will photograph them hopefully tomorrow, and post photos.
2 of the skeins are already spoken for, but I'll have one skein up for grabs.

I received a wonderful gift from a friend of mine in Nova Scotia. You've heard me speak of her before, but Crystal is just absolutely fab.

The little bag of Cheshire Cat fabric was made by Pheelya.
The shawl is "Traveling Woman" based off of the character Angela Montenegro from Bones.

The yarn is amazingly soft, and I absolutely cannot stop petting it. I love it and I want more of it.

Other than that, there is not much new. The library is doing it's 8 books in 8 weeks program like it did last year. Not as many sponsors which is a bummer. But oh well.

My life right now gets divided up between "Write, Knit, or Read?"

I don't know if this should worry me or not lol.

I promise photos of new yarn soon!

Edit: Details of the shawl project can now be found on Halifax Mommy's blog: Knitted Things for Knitting Friends

Year of Change.

2009-12-31T17:50:00.002-07:00

2009 was a year of Change.

At first I didn't think it really was. After all, 2009 was feeling a lot like 2008.
I still had to get up every morning and go to a job that I hated.
I was still too tired at the end of the day to do what I wanted to do.
But then change creeped in.
Layoffs became more and more. The ground felt very shaky.
I in effect, started a new job. True I stayed at the same company. True, I still answered the phones, and did tech support for people who should never have a computer. True, I was still underpaid. But I still had a job. For which I was thankful.
In 2009 I gathered around me some people whom I truly count as best friends. Sure, I can't go over to their houses for tea at any time that I want. But they are there for me when I need it. We have our virtual Stitch and Bitches (Crystal, I can't believe how adept we both are at typing and knitting at the same time lol). I get random and high-larious messages of key singing on my phone (Yeah Marissa, I'm looking at you.). I have friends that I'm already making plans with, to wreck havoc upon London (Yeah Kels and Jo... London isn't going to know what hit them when we come around!).
I started a business (as it is), and have loyal customers, who have become friends.

I reconnected with family, even if thanks to facebook.
My sister cousin came to town and I actually got to spend time with her.
I've seen my grandfather more this year than any year in the recent past.

My wonderful Hunny2Be came to town, and though the universe decided to be mean to us... We managed to have a wonderful time even still.

I lost my job, which was the best thing that happened to me.
I've been able to pick back up my writing, which I had unfortunately had to put down due to that hellish job.

As of last night, I roughly outlined the last part of the novella. I'm almost done I think. No, it's not the original word count I was looking for, but that word count was only for a contest that I didn't get to enter into.

I don't have any New Years Resolutions.
I have goals that I've been thinking about setting for myself, that just happen to fall at this time.
One goal, to finally start working out more and more.
One goal, finish my novella.
One goal, write every day.
One goal, start learning another language.
One goal, knit and finish my Doomsday Cardigan in time for the wedding.
One goal, get more prototypes dyed up for my business.
One goal, start organizing my stuff for the move.

See these are not resolutions. These were things I've already been planning.

For the majority of 2009, my year sucked.
Then it started to get better.

My finances suck. My car broke down, and I got a speeding ticket that will cost me an arm and a leg all in the same week.

I'm determined this next year will be a better year.
It will also be a year of change. A big move. A wedding. A Marriage. I'll be going to school, even if it's just free classes till we can afford proper school. I'll be pushing to get my work published. I'll be getting my official business licenses and be all official with the govt. I'll be doing everything I can to help get Hunny2Be into the political position he wants.
It'll be a scary year for certain. But a year I look forward to.

I hope that everyone is having a good and safe start to the new year.

2010 Allons-y!

'Twas the night before Christmas, my way.

2009-12-24T11:31:00.004-07:00

'Twas the night before Christmas, and I'm spending it in quite the mundane way.
Mum is in Denver, having driven her there just yesterday.

Snuggled on the couch in blankets and socks
Trying to avoid the numbness in my 'tocks.

Words glaring at me from inside it's file,
of angels and demons and a foggy British isle.

On the telly it's whispering Ghosts and Jennifer Love Hewitt,
Ironically, as I write this, just started the episode "Holiday Spirit".

Knitting sitting unknit,
A shawl almost done, simply just waiting for me to finish it.

The shower is being avoided, due to the indoor crisp winter air,
Frankly I don't want to get sick with wet frozen hair!

Homemade GingerRoo Cheesecake and Oatmeal Chocolate Chips are drawing me in,
Which is evil and wicked and an unavoidably delicious sin.

This little ditty has gone gotten rather long
Avoiding the real writing I should be working on.

So once this episode is over, avoidance is gone.
The shower, the dishes, and back to writing shall be done.

It'll be a quiet couple of nights, just Pan and little old me
So to everyone a good season, and I end with Allons-y!

Productive day

2009-12-20T15:05:00.003-07:00

Yesterday I made a decision.

I was sick and tired of not having a writing space.

Laptop on the couch was just not cutting it. Specially since I cannot write with my mother doing her thing around the house. This is not her fault. I do not blame her at all. I certainly am not the only writer who needs a quiet space where they can shut the door and be away from the world and enter into their own world.

I had avoided having a computer in my room... well for the entire time that I have lived in this house. Over three years now?

Why? Well... possibly having had my computer less than 2 feet away from me at all times in my previous bedroom, and by that statement I don't mean I'd move it around, I mean that the room was just that small and crowded. Also the fact that I suffer from insomnia and having a computer in your bedroom is one of the factors that doesn't help. Also I know I'd end up getting up when my insomnia hit and turn on the computer. All of that are just some of the factors.

Now that it doesn't matter if I have insomnia or not (which, I haven't had a bout in a long while), I've decided the only way I'd get some writing space and not have to have it on my bed would be to setup a desk in my bedroom and put my mom's antiquated and slow laptop (which isn't a laptop even more so than the one I am typing on now. Mum's laptop has a display that is dying. So it really needs to be hooked up to a monitor (which I have all the tools for) at all times, or it's not usable. Don't even get me started on the battery or lack there of. Which this laptop also shares that little joy.).
So I spent the mid morning/day creating a tornado in the upstairs.

Had to move a small chest of drawers, small bookshelf (as opposed to the large bookshelf that also needs to be moved but I've decided to do it at another time), even smaller bookshelf, and a piano. Not to mention all the crap on the floor in front of all those objects.

Then, had to move a futon mattress out of my way as Mum and I haven't put it in it's proper place. Lets just say it was in my way most of the time. This went INTO my bedroom basically where all the crap I just moved came from. You will see the logic soon.

Then, had to uncover Mum's sewing desk. (We had discussed this prior to me doing it)
You'd think this would be easy. Not at all. Did I mention there was a shelf on top of the desk? And lots of sharp pointy things.

Now one thing I forgot to mention, was that the upstairs loft was in complete disarray to begin with, so really I had no place to put all this stuff.

Had to next take apart the sewing desk so that I could get it into my room. Thought that moving the desk into my room would be simple. Not so much, as of course it was too big to slide in the door.

I get the desk in the room. I slide the futon mattress out of the room back just in the walk way.

I put the desk back together.
I get the desk into place.

I have to now uncover my computer desk of all the sewing crap I had just buried it with.

Ah.. the dust. Considering I hadn't worked on that computer upstairs in over 6 months (power source failed.... ) there was many inches of dust on the desk and everything on it.

I spent at least an hour cleaning everything.

Mind you, the can of compressed air had run out, as Hunny2Be had used it all up (or nearly all... I had one squirt of air left) when he took the hard drives out of the two desktops from the desk (remember the failed power source? he ripped out the hard drives so that he can recover all the info off them back home since I don't have the tools for that.)

So I get most of the computer accessories cleaned and hooked up. I uncover a path to the stairs so that I can go find Mum's laptop, and the docking station for it. Oh my god. Since the docking station had been sitting in one spot basically since Mum moved in (under a chair out of the way) I kid you not, there was a coating of dust so thick on it I had to take it outside and blow the top layer of dust off before I could even think about taking a rag to it to get the rest off.

Got everything plugged into it. Started having issues. Mouse didn't want to work, neither did the keyboard.

Even outside the docking station the mouse didn't want to work, but the keyboard did. So it took me a long while to find another random mouse in the house. I swear it wasn't even the one I was looking for. How many mice do we have in this house!?!
Either way, it worked.

At this point in the saga, the laptop is hooked up to the monitor, the keyboard, and the mouse. But not any of this is running through the docking station. I feel rather cruddy and gross so I call it quits for the day. Hop in the shower.

The upstairs is still an absolute mess, but right now I don't care.

Tomorrow I'll see if I can get the laptop connected to the internet. (I'm not kidding when I say this laptop is old. Do you remember those giant red NIC ports that you had to plug into the computer? Yeah... it's got one of those. Not to mention if my router is locked for direct connection as well then I'm screwed, as the key for my router is in the hard drive that Hunny2Be had to take with him to recover. I can't remember what setting I had my router on. We shall see.) If I can't get it connected to the internet, it's no big deal as the plan is just to use it for writing. But it'll be a bit of a pain as occasionally I do have to go research something. I'll survive though.

Tomorrow Mum and I might tackle the sewing area. Though if it doesn't happen before she leaves for the next bout of House sitting, it's no biggie. I've got a path from the door to the stairs, and I have access to Pan's food. Also we don't have any houseguests coming to town, so honestly the only person who would be hassled by it would be me, and right now I really don't care. I'll just be happy to have a writing space.

Mum has cheesecake baking in the oven. Tonight is just gonna be leftovers. Remington Steele season 2 is on the telly.

I am frankly exhausted. So I'm done for the day.

Still had my headcold all day, and the dust hasn't helped, so unfortunately didn't get to go to Jes's party today. I wouldn't be very sociable right now though with how tired I am...

More knitting updates soon!

Gretel Lost in the Poppies

2009-12-19T16:48:00.002-07:00

Been meaning to post this for a long while now but it got lost in the limbo of drafts for the last month.
And Drat. I just wrote an entire post and it got eaten by the wireless connection. Sigh. Frakking internet. Lets try this again. It won't be nearly as witty or insightful as the previous one.

Project: Gretel Lost in the Poppies
Yarn: Fresh From the Cauldron "Field of Poppies"
Pattern: Gretel by Ysolda Teaque

I absolutely love Ysolda. She is a 20something student who manages to make a living off of her designs.
Ysolda will make it into the Hall of Great Knitters.
Elizabeth Zimmerman, the GrandMamma of Modern Knitting is in that Hall.
Stephanie Pearl McPhee will make it. Not necessarily because of her designs (I'll be honest, I'm not familiar with her designs) but because of her voice in the knitting community. Stephanie leads Knitters Without Borders (which donates to Doctors Without Borders), she has been on a late night talk show because of the fact that she started the term "Kinnearing" (or Kinneared) (Greg Kinnear and the host called her to talk about it) - which if you are not familiar is the act of inconspicuously taking the photo of someone. Generally a celebrity. Which I myself Kinneared Howie Mandel in Vegas during my last trip. I didn't even know about the term at the time.

I digress.

I have learned a lot thanks to Ysolda.

I learned to "Trust Ysolda." If she says do something.. Don't over think it. Just do it. (Actually I learned this on another project from Ysolda.. but it worked on this one as well)

I learned how to do a Tubular Provisional Caston. (Come on.. you know you wanna say it like a surfer. Tubular dude!)

I learned that no matter how many times I do the Tubular Provisional Caston (which I have done a lot now), I still need to watch a video of it each time as I don't trust myself enough to do it from memory yet.

I learned how to do Twisted Cables. Which are not easy. But also not entirely hard. But they can be.

I learned not to do Twisted Cables when I'm tired.

Oh... and did I mention that this was my first project with cables??? Yeah. It was. Awesome huh?

I learned that I will be making many of these hats as I love them.

I guess thats all for now. Hopefully this will post and not get eaten. (I'm also going to be smart and copy it into a word doc first) (And thank goodness I did that.. as yes.. it got eaten since it still thought firefox was offline.)

Antiquated Regality

2009-12-19T16:31:00.005-07:00

I'm a horrible blogger. I realize this. I used to be so good about it. But I've gotten lazy about it.

I've been really meaning to post a blog the past couple of days, but then things just come up.

Well, now I've got a major headcold.

So this shall be quick.

Guy's Christmas Pressie (which he now has, which is why I can talk about it)

The scarf is called "Antiquated Regality"
The reason for that, is the yarn is called "The Antiquated"
And the stitch pattern I used was "Snapes Stockings" and well, to me the combo just seemed a bit regal.

I wanted to knit Guy a masculine scarf that could be worn with both jeans, or when doing more special outings such as political functions.

So there you have it.

More updates hopefully soon, as well as the discussion about Guy's trip out here.

Such a busy time!

2009-11-16T16:17:00.003-07:00

Alright everyone, it's been quite a busy little time for me.
Well, busy and yet not.

Lets go in order shall we?

Sunday night:
Had dream I was laid off. This was not me panicking. This was me happy, and deciding how best my day was going to proceed. I had decided in the dream that I was going to walk to the library every day, which is up quite a good sized hill. This urge to walk it every day, meant that I was skinny (less jiggly) by the time 1)I moved to England next year, and 2) the wedding.
It was a good dream.

Monday morning:
Come into work to find that 5 people had been laid off.
Go have a chat with the bossman.
He tells me that 3-4 more people needed to be laid off by the end of this week (err last week by the time I'm writing this)
Casually discuss with bossman that I've got contingency plans in place if I were to be laid off. Saw his eyes light up at that. Assured him that I was not volunteering to be laid off.
Go home, double check my contingency plans just to make sure.
Have some important discussions with family.

Tuesday morning:
Have discussion with bossman again about the whole layoff situation. Can't go into details, but I just level with him more about my personal situation.

Wednesday:
Day off of work. Spent the day cleaning. Seriously cleaned my bedroom.

Thursday:
Work a 10 hour day with no lunch.
Was informed by bossman that I was in fact being laid off. Don't worry, this is a good thing. I've got it all planned out, I've got contingencies, and I'm also leaving the country in 33 weeks. It just means that Pan (my kittah) will have to wait 6 months (That is of course if the vet tells me that he's healthy enough for the process).
Drove home with a sense of calm. Which is odd after a 10 hour shift with no lunch. Wasn't cranky. Didn't want to cry.

Friday:
Good day at work. Another 10 hour day. Pack my desk up. Drop off my badge at the end of the day. Said goodbye to my favorite security guard.

I'm one of the few people who got to know ahead of time that I was getting laid off. Mostly, it was because I had given so much to my job, and been such a loyal worker for so many years. Not to mention all the s*** I had put up with.

It was a good Friday the 13th in my opinion.

Saturday:
YAY. It's my birthday.
4:30am attempt to email from my phone- doesn't work. Drag my butt out of bed and turn on the laptop. Quickly email Guy to call me.
5am he finally calls, when I'm supposed to be getting out of bed and getting dressed. So I talk to him for a moment.
6am we leave the house. Drove up to the Boulder Tea House (with a stop at Walmart first to pick up a few needed items for the house as it's snowing and things like toilet paper are things you do not want to run out of in a snow storm)
I order a pot of my Russian Caravan. Nom. Love that tea. If anyone is ever curious what you can get me... Russian Caravan from the Boulder Tea house (yes, they are online) is a good bet. Lapsang Souchang is also another one. (There are a few that peaked my interest after I had ordered, but I wasn't going to try it on that day. Mayhaps next month)

Katte and Mimi show up shortly thereafter. It was supposed to be a huge surprise that Mimi was in town. It was great to see her. I did know she was in town, which I"m glad I knew... if only because it allowed me to make my bedroom livable while she is here.

Mark, Darla, and Aidan joined us.

We had a grand old time, and breakfast was quite nummy. And I have the coolest friend. Crystal (of the Vampire Halloween Swap rescue package fame), sent me the coolest birthday pressie. A necklace of Wicked. I loved it.

Mother of Mine then dragged all of us to a yarn shop in Boulder. Which... to be honest... I wasn't impressed with. I mean, it was alright... but... meh. I knew exactly who one of her suppliers was, as she didn't even bother changing the name.

Then we scooted down to Denver so that Mum could be entered into the Wicked Lottery.
Mum gave up her ticket to Mimi so that she could join us for the show.
Unfortunately Mom didn't win one of the spare seats. (You show up 2 hours before the show, and you get the chance to win a seat to purchase.)

We walked over to the Tattered Cover, and looked at books etc.
Then Mimi and I had to head over to the theater again.

Don't worry, Mum had her own adventure with friends so it all worked out. And next year Mum and I will go see Wicked in London, so it will be fine.

The show...

The show was FANTABULOUS!
The girl playing Elphie was just... amazing. Honestly.
The girl playing Glinda.... was a bit nasaly. Which bugged me to be honest. But she was still good.
The boy playing Fiyero was good. Much better than the previous performance I've seen. (Though towards the end he played it... lets just say "a little less than straight". Which frankly I prefer to the previous Fiyero who played it "ghetto prince")

Everyone else was quite good.
Went and picked my Mum up at another LYS (which was not the original plan, but as I said.. she had her own adventure)
Drove home in the snow storm. (Started snowing in the middle of the performance)
Stopped at Petsmart for kitty food.
Stopped at Whole Foods for the dinner fixings. Homemade pizza with Chocolate Chip Angel food cake with homemade ganache for dessert.

Quite a splendid day all in all.

Sunday:
Was spent in jammies and a Firefly marathon, as Mimi had never seen it.

Which brings us to today:
This morning, I went to look at my phone to get out of bed, and dropped my cellphone on my face, busting my lip. Joy.
I was highly afraid it would set the tone for the day, but in fact it didn't.
Started the unemployment process.

It was amusing, I didn’t get the phone call over the weekend, so I panicked, and I called my employers (not the bossmen, but the people who actually handle the contracts) as I had a few questions in regards to the form I had to fill out for the unemployment benefits…and I got a hold of her before she checked her email. And the convo went like this:
Me: Hi, I was laid off on Friday, but as I didn’t get the phone call, I was just checking in to make sure everything is copacetic.
Her:My computer is still booting up, it’s rather slow.
we chat about other things
Her:Just got the email from (Bossman). And it says ”I’m emailing you to inform you that I had to lay off Erin G*****. Please call her in the morning to inform her of this.” So, Erin… I have to tell you (trying not to giggle as it was amusing) you’ve been laid off.
Me: Phew. And yes my desk is already cleared out, and my badge was already turned into (bossman).

The reason for the amusement of the convo was 1)I’ve been aware that I was being laid off since pretty much last Tuesday. (Can’t talk about the details of how or why I knew. But lets just say the entire decision was not only bossmans) 2)It was now Monday morning, and I was laid off on Friday. 3)I was the calling her instead of the other way around.
But yup, she confirmed that I was now in laid off status, and that I am in the “Rehireable” status, and that all I needed to do was send her an updated resume. (which counts towards my UI weekly requirement.)
So I was able to finish applying for UI this morning, already made 2 out of 5 of my requirements for the week.

After that we decided to head to Garden of the Gods as the snow was finally starting to melt and the Sun was out.
Stopped at Colorado Mills to look at fabric. I finally found my wedding fabric. Of course, I've got taste. So it shall be highly expensive. Must see if I can find it online. But... I've decided on White Crushed Silk. As I will be able to dye it after the wedding, and thus my wedding dress will no longer look like a wedding dress, but instead a fabulous silk dress.

Then we get to Garden of the Gods, even stopped at the Nature Center. Which was neat.
Went through the hike on the path, it was quite a beautiful day.

Apparently they were filming The Biggest Loser in the park there. And I managed to slip on the one bit of ice right in front of about 10 of the contestants. But I spectacularly caught myself and didn't actually fall. They applauded.

Came home, been watching Inspector Lynley. Just been enjoying the rest of the day.

I can now officially do the ”I’m Free at last” dance (Which I was doing a lot this morning while I was taking the hike through Garden of the Gods)

The weight is already off my shoulders. :-)

Tomorrow I have to drive Mimi to the airport in Denver.

Don't worry, there shall be lots of photos of the Garden of the Gods, and the Birthday enjoyment, uploaded here and onto my FB.

Have gotten lots knitted.
Current book: House of Many Ways by Diana Wynn Jones

Bugs and Hisses everyone!

Too many things to list them all- Happy Halloween

2009-11-01T15:31:00.006-07:00

I realize it's been a while since I last blogged. Or mayhaps it just feels that way.

Sadly I don't have much new to report. (Well, a few things)

Just been trying to get through the days at work.

Down to 35 weeks.

I have the best friend in Canada ever. Halifax, Nova Scotia to be more exact.
Here's the story.
I was part of a Vampire Halloween Swap.
It was supposed to be secret. Meaning, we victims didn't know who was "spoiling" us.
Well, right off the bat the secret got spoiled by my spoiler as she messaged me to make sure I was her partner. That took out a lot of the fun on my part right away.
Then the package finally arrived.
Lets just say I was less than enthused by the contents.
The colors were not colors I would choose at all, it was yarn I stated I was allergic to... and there was not a vampire related item in sight.
She reasoned that I didn't want to have to ship things.... *head desk* Thats fine, but she could have included something that was vampire related.
So, to be honest. I was disappointed. I was well within my right, as other people noticed how lackluster the package was.

What does this have to do with my friend in Nova Scotia?
Well, a package arrived to me from my friend Crystal that knocked my socks off. It was to make up for the lackluster package I had previously gotten.

The yarn alone had me drooling. It is Seacell and Silk. Meaning it is HEAVEN to smoosh.

Honestly, I was so blown away and touched by the kindness of the package.

Moving along, here are some things I've made over the past couple of weeks.

Hoot is a little hair clip designed by Ysolde Teague. Whos work I absolutely adore. Hoot knitted up in like 10 minutes, I've actually made 2 of them as I couldn't find the first one.

The stitch markers were little metal bobbles I found at Michaels craft store. I loved them so much that I went back to get more so I could make myself a set. These, and Hoot were going to my Halloween Vampire Swap partner, so they are no longer in the house.

I just made some new stitch markers for the Flirt and Flounce custom order that I have.

Yesterday I made myself exceedingly proud.
I made homemade bagels from scratch. Sure, a bread machine was involved, but that was just to save my hands from all the mixing and kneading. I do after all have early arthritis (or darn near close) in my hands, so I have no qualms about using my bread machine.
I made Cinnamon Raisin bagels.
And let me tell you,
No, they were not hockey pucks like I feared.
Yes, they were absolutely delicious.
No, they weren't beautiful store bought perfectly round bagels.
Yes, they had the perfect crust, and the perfect texture inside.
No, they weren't a pain in the ass to make.
Yes, it was amusing twirling the dough on my fingers.

I was absolutely shocked at how easy they were to make. The actual making of them... took far less time than I imagined.
The boiling in the pot was not as scary as I imagined it to be.
The only thing I might try differently shall be to use actual bread flour instead of regular flour. But pretty much.. thats the only change I'll do for next time.

Eventually, my goal is to also know how to make Pumpernickel, as Cinnamon Raisin and Pumpernickel are my two favorites.

Other than that, we had a very quiet Samhain/Halloween.
Mum made a pumpkin sauce with black pasta for dinner which was very good. You can read all about it over here. (Once she posts the blog that is. So if it's not up, just be patient.)

I guess really thats all I've got to say right now.

I guess I'll end it on the note that yes... I've had the weird realization that this time next year, I'll be in the UK and finishing up my wedding.

OOOHh! Just remembered one thing. Had an awesome dream last night. The kind of dream where in the middle of it, I was awake enough to go "Oooh this would make a great novel". Can't recall it at all, I mistakenly fell into the cocky writer mentality of "Oh, it's so vivid and I'm awake enough right now... I'll remember it in the morning." - Yeah. How silly was I.
I know it involved fast cars... A theme park... a roadway quite like the autobahn, a sinkhole that swallowed a pickup truck, and promptly repaved it's self (alright, someone repaved it.. but in the time it took me to glance away) with the truck and a body inside. A dying car crash victim, a lot of questionable money, the disappearance of the car crash victim and her body, and over all the entire sense of intrigue and "who can I trust" sensations. - Mind you, none of this is in the order it happened in the dream. It also no where near covers the depth of the dream and the complexity it had. By typing all this out for several times, I'm hoping to recall other details.. But no... no such luck.
I know, I know. I should have woken up and grabbed the dust covered notebook I have on the floor. But sadly I did not.

The only good thing that this is telling me, is that possibly the creative spark inside me that I feared was being killed by work possibly isn't fully dead. This gives me hope that next year when I can actually sit down and write, I won't just end up staring at my keyboard in vain.

Well, thats all I've got for now.
Ta everyone. Have a safe and happy start to the new year if you celebrate it.

Flirt and Flounce!

2009-10-21T13:46:00.005-06:00

I'm such a spaz.. I totally forgot to post photos of new yarnie goodness!

This shall be a quickie..

Flirt and Flounce

This is on 20 Silk, 20 Bamboo, and 60 wool

It was a custom order that I decided to cleverly name and add to one of my colorsets as it was just perfect for it.

I'm quite happy, and it's soft..

Crazy Holidays and other randomness

2009-10-12T17:20:00.004-06:00

First I want to say, Happy Thanksgiving to all my Canadian friends. (And of course all it's territories)

Though I do not celebrate Thanksgiving, because in the US it's all about Turkey... and well... I'm allergic to Turkey. I don't do cranberry sauce, I don't do stuffing, I don't do gravy on my mashed potatoes. I don't like marshmallows on my sweet potatoes (or yams). I don't like almonds on my green beans... Yes.. I am a freak.

Oh, I'm also not a Football (US football) fan either. I don't like to go shopping at the crack of dawn for christmas pressies... Really... I'm just not big into the T-Day.

But I've still got more than a month before I have to deal with the US version of it.
Moving along.
Today is Columbus day.

Which means, once again the kids in NY are not at school. Which means I am once again having to make up time throughout next week. I'll actually be working on Saturday to make up for the pay.

Well, this weekend we got a new couch. Spent 45$ on it.. and so far, my ass does not fall asleep. My body is objecting to the new positions, but thats alright.
We are also in the process of rearranging the house completely.
The stuff currently in the dining room area is going upstairs to the loft area (which was a bitch to clear enough space for)
The stuff currently in the living room (meaning our Dining room table) was moved to the dining room. (What a concept)

Still not done yet of course. But we are getting there.

Unfortunately in the aftermath, I broke one of the Harmony size 4 needles that currently are holding my Legal Assassin socks. Luckily, we had a random size 4 around the house, not to mention 2 other sets floating around as well. So we actually have "matched" sets. Which is all good.

I have discovered that shopping on any holiday.. even if it's not a normally celebrated holiday in this state... is never a good idea.
People are freaking crazy. Seriously crazy.
Never again. I don't care if it's National Smile Day... I'm staying home.

Which thinking on that.. means I'll never leave my house as there is a holiday for every day. Shoot. There goes that idea.

Oh.. I totally forgot.

I dyed this weekend.

New colorway called "Flirt and Flounce".
No pictures as of yet as it is still drying and well.. we had an Ice Storm down here in Colorado Springs so it's cold and there is moisture in the air.

The colorway was for a custom order, which is why it got bumped up before continuing with either the Repo series, or the Moonlight series.

I guess that's all I've got for now. Gotta go make dinner. Tomorrow is going to come very early. Sigh.

Bugs and Hisses peeps!

Stupid snow.

2009-10-09T06:48:00.002-06:00

The first actual snow happened last night.

Which meant my ass had to get out of bed 30 minutes early. Which means yes, my ass was out of bed at 4:30 in the morning. That means my first alarm went off at 4:00 am, when I took 2 caffeine pills instead of my normal 1.

Yes, I hate my life.

But wait, it gets better.
The snow stopped in the middle of the night. The roads were clear, just had to scrape off the car.
But, it didn't matter, I was still up 30 minutes early.
Not like I could go back to bed.
Drive to work, mom is going to borrow my car today so she tags along.

I'm at work by 5:20 in the morning.
I figure I could start working at 5:30 thus leaving 30 minutes early this afternoon.
None of the managers are here to ask. Damnit.
I call my manager on his cellphone to get his A-Okay.
He doesn't answer.
Goddamnit.
Now I'm stuck at work 40 minutes early twiddling my damn thumbs.
My back is seriously tweaking already from having to get up before my normal time. I've taken all the drugs I can for it, and none are working.
Every single person I've dealt with on the phone has been a cranky bitch, and I'm not in a happy mood. I've only been "working" for an hour now and have dealt with just too much crap.

Moving along..
I'm currently reading Diane Mott Davidson's "Catering to Nobody"
Which, is set in a fictional town that vaguely resembles Evergreen, Colorado.
It's nice to see a book set in Colorado, even if it is filled with the classic Mountain town cliches. The cliches bother me, mostly because I never see them, so I sit there going "thats not what Colorado is really like."
But... thats not actually true. I just happen to live in my little world in Colorado, and I end up not seeing half the cliches that are even a block away from me.
What can I say, I live in the slightly posher area of town, I don't have farmers for neighbors, none of the people I know where fringe clothing or cowboy boots.
Yes, the town I live in is the Republican city of Colorado (seriously, if you try to register Democrat here, they actually ask you "Are you sure you want to do that? I mean are you really sure?"
This is a "military mountain town" so it's an odd mix of everything and thus does not fall into any cliches other than being the "nexus of all evil" in my opinion.
Sigh... I miss Boulder. In Boulder you got looked at funny if you were Republican. (I had a friend who was borrowing her fathers car while hers was in the shop, her father was uber republican, but did not live in Boulder. My friend was afraid to drive around town due to all the republican bumper stickers. lol)

In Evergreen, I'm pretty sure it's slightly more on the Democratic side of the spectrum, which is both in the book I'm reading, and also what I've witnessed from the town it's self.

Moving back to the book it's self, I'm just over half way done.
I'm very torn about the characters.
The Main character Goldy... is alright.
Her 11 year old son is a twit whom is making me not want to bother having kids if all 11 year old males are like that. (Suddenly.. I'm seeing Dogs in my future instead of children)
The 20 year old female that is renting a room from the main character is such a dumb ass twit that I want to scream if she is mentioned on the page.

The book is alright.. if not repetitive.
Yes, she left an abusive marriage.
Yes, she is afraid of loosing her income due to the attempted murders that happened at one of her catering events.
Yes, the cop likes her.
Yes, she needs to "calm" down (seriously every single person has said this to her at least twice)
Do we need to be reminded of this every single page? No.

I will reserve actual judgment until I have finished the book. I could just be cantankerousness in my review due to my sleepy cranky nature at this moment.
I do like some of the recipes that are in it.

Sigh. I guess I'm done for now.
I think I'm going to dye yarn tomorrow.

I hate snow.

So long and thanks for all the fish.

2009-10-02T19:43:00.005-06:00

Yes, I realize I've used that title before, but not on this blog. (I am forgetting most of my Myspace years, so if ya don't like the title repeat, just get over it.)
Disclaimer- No, do not take the title to mean that I've quit my job. I have not.

Speaking of work... this week was... slightly on the hellish side.
Monday was calm and easy and as it was a DOE holiday, but not a VOLT Holiday, I worked it. (not willing to take a non paid day off if I can avoid it)
Unlike my days on Postal... I don't get yelled at if we watch something on Youtube. (My gawd Martin the jackass used to have a hissy fit about any flash or streaming material.)
So, I spent the day watching Doctor Who season 4. Only got two episodes because I could not get a good link for Episode 3, so I spent the other time surfing. Calls were moderate and not too annoyance filled.

Monday night on the other hand, I was sick as a dog. Either I ate something that did not agree with me, or I caught whatever was floating around. (Lots of people have been elsicko at work, and it is less easy to avoid dealing with people and human contact on the new desk.)

Finally around 2 am I am no longer getting up every 20 minutes to do things that you really do not want to read about, nor do I wish to type. (I'll type it for a novel, but my blog... nah)
But, that means I've gotten no sleep. There is no way I could go into work like that. If I didn't just start getting sick again (while at work of all places... ugh) I'd end up snapping due to lack of sleep.
So, I spent Tuesday curled up in my chair (no longer the couch, though I wish the couch was downstairs again so I could have been stretched out on it), watching Season 1 of Angel and me reading Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett.

Speaking of Good Omens. I highly enjoyed it. Can't tell who wrote which parts, mostly because I've never read any Pratchett novels yet.
I rather liked Crowley and his Angel counter part who's name is escaping me.
And there were a few other characters I rather enjoyed.
There was one character that annoyed me for the most part... But it wasn't his fault, he was just written that way. His name also escapes me. But he was the one in charge of the Witchfinders. He was an idiot, he bugged me.

Wednesday I was back at work, Thursday too... oh, and today... what a concept.
None of the days were fun. Not at all.
Oh, and somewhere in those days I finished reading Fatal Voyage by Kathy Reichs.
Highly enjoyed this one. All the uncanny coincidences were missing from this one. There was really only 1 coincidence, but it worked and didn't actually feel forced. There was actually reason behind it, and plot was setup in the third book.
The plot of this one was focused around an Airplane crash, and everything that goes into dealing with the aftermath, then a horrible twist added in. Once again I did not see the "Whodunit" until it was actually revealed.
It's honestly that aspect which made me forgive all the "uncanny coincidences" from the first 3 books. Kathy keeps me guessing right till the end. Generally when I watch a movie or read a book, I can figure out who the "killer" is in the first 10 minutes. Half way through at the latest. But so far, I'm along for the ride right along with Tempe. Lets hope the latter books remain that way.

Today at work, I was dealing with the official aspects of "Oh my god this place is killing me" and had a sit down with Manager R.
Convo went as such:
Me: "Doode, something's not right with the priorities you've got me at. It's killing me. We'll have 14 avail, I'll be on a call, as soon as I hang up the call I get another one even though we still have 14 people sitting there waiting for a call. Please tell me why."
Him: "Thats impossible. You are set to being in the slow queue."
Me: "Pull the data. I'm getting more calls than anyone around me."
Him: (pulls the data) "WOW. You weren't kidding."
We pull up the individual data, he's right though. I'm in the "slow" queue.
We've got 3 queues.
My highest priority is in the Outlook queue.
My middle priority is the Primary queue (which is also known as "every thing").
My lowest priority is the password reset queue.

Password resets and Primary gets the most amount of calls per day.
But, I am so kick ass at my job, that I end up taking on 3 times more calls than everyone else because I'm just so quick.
My stats from yesterday.
48 calls.
6 minute average on those calls.
ACW (After call Work) - less than 30 seconds

Yup, I had the highest amount of calls for the entire DESK. Not just my team, but the entire desk.
Lowest call time average as well.
And rocking ACW. (They want you to keep it under a minute)

Manager R was quite in shock about my stats. He was impressed.
In his words "your cooking."
In my words "but I'm also burning...out."

He is now aware of just what I'm dealing with. He knows I can't purposefully slow down my work, and this is killing me.
And if I need to take a break, I can tell my team lead that Manager R needs to see me, go into a special aux code. Walk over and tell him I need a break and just take a few minutes for myself.
He knows I will use it sparingly, and only if I'm about to go postal on someone. He knows I am trying to avoid loosing my temper, and to keep my attitude "cheery".

So at least he knows now what is going on. And he says he's going to bring it up in the next meeting and push to get me on the equivalent of Backlogs.
And once again, I have proven to myself that as long as I don't snap and tell some principle to shove it where the sun don't shine, I'm not going to get let go any time soon. This should be comforting. Why is it not?

Today I stop at Sunflower Market on the way home. So brain dead I pick a few things up, but nothing that actually will constitute a meal for the evening.
I am craving Sushi.
The sushi at Sunflower doesn't look that appealing.
Head home with my few wares.
Talk to Mother of Mine about sushi for dinner. Can't really afford it, but Sushi is comfort food for me, and generally saves the world from mass destruction at by the will of me.

We decide to go to a place we've never tried before. It was near the fabric store mother of mine needed to go to.

It is not one we shall ever go to again.
How hard is this?
Cucumber roll (which is really what i was craving)
Tuna roll
Salmon Skin hand roll
2 pieces of Mackerel
2 pieces of Salmon

Simple right?
They were out of Mackerel.
The were out of Salmon skin.
So we replaced the Salmon skin hand roll, simply for salmon
We replaced the Mackerel with shrimp
We also decided we wanted some little Roe (the name I'm forgetting right now)

Here is what we got.
No cucumber roll
2 rolls that we honestly couldn't tell if it was tuna or salmon.
2 pieces of Shrimp
2 pieces of very salty salmon
2 pieces of little Roe
1 very salty and weird salmon handroll. (we had been expecting our salmon roll to just be a regular salmon roll instead of a hand roll.. cause that was just... weird. Should have gone with tuna instead.)

The miso soup was luke warm... like everywhere.
The edamame was amazing. Honestly the best I've ever had.
The price was.... well shockingly less than I was expecting.
But the old adage is true... You get what you pay for.
Oh, and there was lots and lots of waiting.

We have crossed the place off from our lists of sushi places around town.
I can't even recall the name of it right now. It is on the corner of Austin Bluffs and Academy on the East side, north of the intersection. (In the same place with the Underwater Connection)

The last time I blogged about Sushi saving the world from destruction, I was living in Denver. Still working at Transfirst. That place was good.

I have started reading Digital Fortress, which I've already seen the formula. Honestly, Dan Brown has 1 formula, and so far it only generally works for his character of Robert Langdon. Mother of Mine and I discussed that while at dinner, it's because Robert Langdon is a character we can like.
Personally, he's a character that I've always looked at as what I like in the male species if I could find one. - What can I say, I've academia in my blood. Though my specific generation of the family tree has been unable to attend the ivy covered walls, "Professor" was always on the list of acceptable professions of my non existent future husband. The one caveat being of course that I don't care how sweet the little coeds are, there is no way in hell that he'd get away with any dalliance. Which I'm going to stop that paragraph right there, because my views are quite different than any of the normal views when it comes to that discussion.
I digress, Robert Langdon is a character I like. So I look forward to reading the next book. Won't buy it. Nope I'd rather Diana Gabaldon get higher on the list than him. But Katte already has the book, has finished the book, and it will most likely be coming home with Mother of Mine at the end of this weekend, which it will take her 2 nights at most to read it, then she'll pass it to me.
Where was I?
Oh yes, Digital Fortress. I'm reading it. Most likely won't like it, as I can already see flaws in the actual guts of the theory. (which is sad, since I'm no where near proficient in mathematics to ever actually work with crpyto at all. Even though it fascinates me, and always has. But if I can already see the flaws, that is sayin' something.)

The plans for the weekend as of right now: start organizing the house to be able to clean the carpets.
Possibly dye yarn. My dyes arrived today. I've got yarn.

Last night I was once again inspired to dye some Avalanche inspired socks.
I think I have decided that my sports team yarns shall be self striping. We'll see how it goes.
The reason for the Avalanche inspiration, was because the 1st game of the season was last night, and I caught the first 5 minutes.
It was also the Farewell tribute to Joe Sakic, who retired. *sniff sniff*
By the way, the Avs won against the San Jose Sharks. It's cute because one of my Ravelry friends is a huge Sharks fan. She's the one who actually reminded me that the game was last night.
I hadn't planned on catching the game at all, because I never actually do. I generally miss it for various reasons. But I finished watching a recording of Cyrano De Bergerac with Kevin Kline and Jennifer Garner (and Eric Sarandon..) whom all were fabulous. But I just happened to flip channels right and landed on the hockey channel. (No I don't actually have the hockey channel, but last night was hockey night so whatever sports channel I was on was hockey-centric. Saw the last few minutes of the Toronto game before the start of the Avs game. I will admit it revved my inner hockey gal for the season.)

Last night while watching Cyrano, I got a bunch knitted on my Legal Assassin sock. I'm happy with it so far. Don't think it needs any tweaking at all. So we'll see what people think of the finished product.

Wow. Look at all this rambling. Didn'tcha miss me?
I won't say I'm "back" yet. But it looks like I'm starting to get there.
Just gotta survive October at this point.

Alright, I'm done. The tummy is not happy with all the lack luster sushi (prolly all the salt from the salmon.. seriously... I've never had salmon that salty and there was a lot of salmon)

Oh one last thing. Absolutely adorable. It got cold enough last night that Pan was huddled against me right from the start, and almost even crawled under the covers at one point. It would have been even more adorable if he hadn't been waking me up for the petting that was him nearly crawling under the covers.

Thats it. I'm done.
Night folks.

Echo in the Tardis... err.. Bone. Diana Gabaldon book signing.

2009-09-25T20:24:00.005-06:00

I am such a bad blogger. I promise, when Hell is over I shall be back to my overly verbose writing updates.

Work has been killing me. I kid you not.
I even had to take a mental health day this week. Before one of my superiors reads this and fires me, I very much felt sick and had the start of one of my poundy headaches. You know I don't call in sick if I'm not, so please don't fire me. I couldn't come into work because I was not physically capable to do so.

Speaking of work, it has gotten easier in the aspect of the actual work. Today I only had to ask for assistance twice, and it wasn't actually "what do I do" type questions, it was the "This is how I think I should code the ticket, and I do not want it bounced back, is this correct?"
I'm on the Approved Escalation List, have been for a week now. I could have been on it as of 2 weeks, now but I had chosen not to. I did not feel I was ready. Now I am, and so far nothing has come back as a feedback. My current team lead is not the kind to hold or delay "coaching" someone, so I'm pretty sure that there hasn't been one.

But yes, work is killing me. The mad rush of beginning of the school year is starting to calm a bit, but then the politics come into play, and still makes tons of work.

I've realized one of the reasons I dislike my job...
I am good at it.
What do I mean by that? I mean that I actually know what I'm doing, and how to do it. So I get through my calls rather quickly. Which means I am doing 2 to 3 times as much work as everyone else on my team (and I have the daily stats to prove it.)
This means I also burn out faster. But I cannot slow down, I cannot purposefully make calls last longer, it just is not possible.
It was just like how I started on Postal.
The thing that saved me was actually getting onto Backlogs, I was able to pace myself a bit more, and even then I still did more work than everyone else, but I didn't have the constant beep in my ear, and I was able to research the problem before I ever had to speak to the client.
It was my manager's wish here on DOE to eventually get me on "Contacts" (aka Backlogs), but there is nothing they can do to get me started on that till after September is over at the very earliest.

I digress, lets move along.
Wednesday, after a particularly bad day (back was tweaking, people were horrid... the usual.) I get an email from Mother of Mine stating that we didn't have a choice, we were going to drive to Denver for the Echo in the Bone release and book signing of Diana Gabaldon.
Mind you, all I had wanted to do was curl up in my jammies and sleep. If I closed my eyes for a moment, I would honestly fall asleep.
But, Katte had gotten us tickets for our spot in the signing line.

Mother of Mine and I drove to Denver and went to Baja Fresh for dinner before going to The Tattered Cover in Highlands Ranch.
We got good seats in mad crowd of people, and as Katte so elegantly put it "Well at least I'm touching butts with girls I know" - mind you, she had the benefit of being wedged between Michelle and Myself. So every boob to elbow collision and cheek to cheek bump was nothing new for us. (Come on, we've known each other for about 10 years now) Katte was lucky sharing bum space with us, as I unfortunately had to touch a half tock with a stranger! Oh well, at least here was no boob to elbow collision with the stranger.

Diana aka 'Herself was absolutely amazing.
I learned something that I did not know.
Outlander, when it was in it's original blank pages of "What do I want to write about", was inspired in part by an old episode of Doctor Who.
"There was this image of a fine figure in a kilt. And at that point, I thought "hmm... Scotland would be nice"" (I'm paraphrasing of course, but I was rather exhausted and cannot be required to remember every word. I just don't have the mental ability. -I honestly can't wait to get the full use of my facilities again)
Diana is a talker. She loves her digressions. (and that, is her verbage)
She did a reading from Echo, which to be quite honest had all of us blushing in our seats. (Thank goodness there were no small ears in the crowd!)
I shall share a line from the reading, it's in truth the only line I can remember... well.. other than the last line.. but I'm not going to share that because... well.. I'm ebbbil.

"I haven't seen you naked in 6 months. Which means you'll be the best thing I've seen in 6 months." Jamie to Claire. (And forgive if I got any wording wrong, it's past my bedtime, and read the disclaimer above)

Oh, I bought a copy of course. I couldn't not. I have all the other books signed.... Oh shoot.. I don't. I forgot that I do not have a full collection, as I do not own a copy of Fiery Cross, nor Breath of Snow and Ashes. Those are Mother of Mine's copies. Oh well, it's not like I could afford to buy them that night as it was.

Hunny of Mine is jealous that I got to go to the signing. Mind you, he's currently in Singapore at the Grand Prix. Jealous? Moi? Never. ;-) (He keeps sending me messages while he's in the Executive Lounge of the hotel eating sushi and drinking Gin and Tonics... the lucky bast... lucky bloke)

I politely informed Hunny of Mine, that we will of course just have to go to Scotland when Diana is in on her yearly visits. I shall of course by then have my full set again. And of course Hunny of Mine will have actually been introduced to the books properly. (I can't recall at the moment if he has actually been able to read them or not, but if he hasn't I do know he is intrigued by them.)

All in all, I had a wonderful time at the signing. For photos, and other anecdotes you can go read them at Mother of Mine's blog here.

One last note before I go. Diana has given me hope. She didn't start writing Outlander until she was 35. Mind you, she was very lucky when it came to landing an agent. In fact, she got what every author dreams of. I doubt I'll ever be that lucky, but at least I know that even at 35, one can start a persons dream. Oh, and she was amused that the last time I saw her was when Drums of Autumn was coming out, and it was in California and I was like 12 or 13.

Oh, big news involving "The Wedding", so I didn't blog about it, which I'm glad about. But with Guy coming to town in December, there had been chatter about having a handfasting while he was here. Just a small intimate thing with a few friends. Then of course as these things do.. it spiraled. No.. snowballed. Suddenly it was becoming an actual wedding.
Between the stress from a wedding I wasn't wanting to deal with and work, I snapped. I reached my breaking point. There were constant tears, fighting etc.
I finally reached a decision.
I called it off.
Back to what was Plan A.
IF there is a Handfasting, it will be at my going away party in June. It will be casual, it will not have any pomp and circumstance, and it will just be Myself and Guy getting handfasted with my family and friends.

The actual wedding will happen in October, and will be in England. I feel bad that a lot (most) people in the US won't be able to attend. But unfortunately, I'm not going to feel too guilty. I do not have the ability to pay for the plane tickets of everyone I want to be there, so I am not going to stress out over things I have no control over. If someone really wants to be there, they will make it happen. I cannot. If they cannot be there, they will be there in spirit, and will be in my thoughts.
I have a wonderful Hunny to Be, who is being wonderful and is researching places for us. He's got some favors tucked away in his sleeves, but no matter where we end up having the wedding, it will be fantastic. (Alright, just heard Christopher Ecclestons voice right there... Can this blog get anymore Whovian? Oh yes it can.. stay tuned)
I am contemplating the Doomsday song as my down the aisle song. It's beautiful, it's mostly instrumental, and it would be quirky at a wedding, just like me.
Which of course means, Song for Ten would need to be played at the reception, and if that is played, then Love Don't Roam also needs to be played. Ah, the "Ten" song trifecta.

Oh, completely random. Mother of Mine just finished watching an eerie British show from the 70's called "The Children of the Stones" which even if we hadn't just come back from a book signing of Diana's, and both are champing at the bit to start reading Echo in the Bone, would have still immediately gone "oh my gawd, this reminds us of Outlander"
Standing circle of stones.
Buzzing coming from the stones.
when you touch the stones, you hear screaming, and get flung multiple feet away.
Time being manipulated by the stones.
Some people being "sensitive" to the stones.

Honestly, thats the quickest synopsis of the show. But it screams of Outlander. And it made us wonder since we just found out that Outlander was originally partly inspired by a British show from the 70s..it made us wonder if also this little obscure show was also partly inspiring it. Or even if she knew about it at all.

Alright, I guess I'm done babbling for now.

Current book:
Fatal Journey by Kathy Reichs
Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett

I have to admit, I really do like both covers. I'm not sure which one I like more. I know of course the US cover is the one Diana has been wanting for years.

Made it through day one of Hell, and the neatest thing

2009-09-08T19:05:00.003-06:00

I survived the first day of hell.
I can honestly say I'm shocked at how unlike Postal it is. We were in the hole pretty much all day, I mean not just some... it was a constant 60-150 calls waiting for 30 minutes or more. But some how, I made it through without wanting to cry, without hitting my mute button and wanting to call someone something I shouldn't repeat... None of that. And I didn't have to ask for much help unless it was one of the issues that we supposedly never see and aren't supposed to ever happen in the computer world in general. My team lead still needs to learn the art of talking to people without making them feel like idiots.. but... whatever.. he's not going to learn it anytime soon. And I've only got to survive 9 months. Less than that actually.

But I'm not going to go on about work. I'm sure I'll be singing a different tune about it by the end of the week, so whatever...

The reason I am blogging right now, is I can honestly say I have had tears brought to my eyes.

I started a phenomenon on Ravelry... seriously epic. I started a little group about doing a Pen Pal exchange. I figured no one would sign up and I'd have to beg people. Round 1 had 150 people officially sign up (and a quite a few more that didn't actually sign up but thought they did).
It was a major headache to be quite honest. For the most part everyone who signed up was really great and helpful, but there were a few... well... calling them snarky twits is being reallllllly polite.
It all got to the point where I was ready to tell everyone to effff off and someone else gets to organize round 2.
I had even started composing the notice informing everyone that I was stepping down from organizing round 2. But I have not posted it and I don't know if I will. No matter what though, I will be adjusting how the signups and partner assignments are done.

Today though, I got my first letter. A woman who when she signed up specifically asked to be my partner (if that was alright by me). Neat!
I can say it brought me to tears reading her letter. I was smiling, and most of all.. I was amazed.
I've been keeping my personality on the downlow for a while now due to the whole 'incident' on Ravelry, and I know that she doesn't have access to my Facebook, and though she admitted that she has checked up on my blog... she hadn't prior to me actually saying "sure I'd love to be your partner" I swear it's a situation where I think I was destined to know her.
She owns a costuming business... (hmmm how many years have I been costuming now??)
She has a sailboat... (hmm... entire summers spent on the family boat when I was a child... sailing? me? never!)
We have a lot of the same taste in books, and movies and music. (Well, other than the fact that she hates The Beatles.) She even mentioned one of my favorite movies of all time. ;-) Won't mention it here since I'm not entirely sure she's not still stalking my blog.

I can officially say, all the headache and frustration was worth it. All because of one letter. How absolutely neat is that?

Well, time for bed. I worked over 9 and a half hours today, and I'll be doing the same tomorrow. I'm going to curl up with Tempe Brennan and my cat.

Being Human, Repo the Gentic Yarn, and many other things

2009-09-05T20:38:00.010-06:00

So my previous post was a little well... for lack of a better word... emo.
But hey, I'm a writer... it tends to be what we do at times.

After writing my blog, I went and scrubbed 2/3rds of my bathroom. This makes me happy.
I had a dust bunny, that honestly I thought he was the Prince of the Dust Bunnies, and was going to start plotting war against me.

For those who don't know, this wood burning is from Catharsis Comic, which for the most part is on permanent hiatus, but it is still fun to go back and read through.

I kid you not about the dust bunnies in my bathroom. Colorado Springs is a dust bowl, and to be honest the dust drives me absolutely bonkers. By tomorrow my counter will once again have a coating of dust on it, but at the very least it will be a while before the grandeur of the Dust Bunny Prince decides to show his bunny self again.

So, I've been catching up on a lot of telly... but I'm not going to go into most of the things, cause I can't remember most of them right now. This proves once again I need to take the time to blog more often to do my reviews.

But here is one that I am sooo ready to pimp out cause it's like AWESOME.

Once again, a BBC production.

Being Human.

Blogger hides most of my photos no matter what I do to it in the upload, so to see Annie the Ghost, just click on the image and it will get larger. I'm annoyed at blogger for this. -.-

A Ghost, a Vampire and a Werewolf trying to live a "normal" life in Bristol.

What can I say, other than Freaking Awesome. The writing was witty, and refreshing, and well... human!
There were nice twists at appropriate places, and the episode 5 and 6 (meaning, second to last and last) had me literally going "Ohmigawd!" and squeeing and being quite creeped out at times.

I like their take on the Vampires, which it is amusing as it mimics a few of the "rules" my own vampires in "A Hard Day's Bite" had. Ranging from sunlight to religion and the symbols of power. I liked it!

I'm never fond of the "Wolfman" style of werewolves, but I think that they pulled it off very well.

The Ghost, also had some great rules.

Mostly I liked how the stories intertwined, flowed and how you actually connected with each character. I actually cared about the characters which recently I haven't been doing so much in regards to telly.

Oh, and it was great seeing in the first 2 episodes not 1, but 3 Doctor Who people.

Annie, played by Lenora Crichlow was in Season 3 of Doctor Who in "Gridlock"

George, played by Russell Tovey was in Season 4 Christmas Special: Voyage of the Damned (and actually it looks like he'll be reprising his role of Midshipman Alonso Frame for at least 2 more episodes of Who, so.. WOOT!)

A character who's name I cannot recall, was played by the actor who played Shakespeare in season 3 episode "Shakespeare Code"

I very much am looking forward to Series 2 of Being Human, I hope that it lasts for a good long while as it is a very good show. If you haven't gone out and seen it yet.. Go do it now!

I'm actually getting inspired for some colorways from this show.
Sigh, I wish I had time and money enough to dye up all the yarn I want to dye right now!

Speaking of yarn...

I am currently knitting up a pair of socks called "Legal Assassin" which is a pattern completely designed by me! Don't have photos at the moment since I'm still in the "working out the kinks" phase.

This sock pattern is to match the yarn "Nathan Wallace / Repo Man"

I'm quite proud of this yarn, it was my first time working with wool.
And it will be for sale. I've got only 1 skein left for sale at this time.

Which reminds me, I've been officially made into a Yarnie on Ravelry. Woot. I'm official.

What am I currently reading?

Deadly Decisions by Kathy Reichs

I can already say that I'm going to be pretty opinionated when I finish this book. Not necessarily about the story, but more about the over all books in general. I will be spoiling a bit for those who have not read, so when I do post that post.. don't read if you don't want a bit of a spoiler. Don't worry, I'll give warning.

I guess I'm done yammering for now.

I give up.

2009-09-05T11:05:00.002-06:00

Universe, you win.

My writing time is very limited right now. Meaning, I have approximately 4 days of uninterrupted writing. After that, who knows when I'll get to write. As someone will be home, or I'll be too brain dead from work.

Right now, during 2 of those days (yes, one of them was yesterday) someone has always managed to piss me off to the 10th degree to the point where I cannot write anymore.

That means, I'm giving up. I will not finish this in those 3 days I have left.

So.. You win universe. I am not going to bother working on this novella until after the move.

That is now 3 pieces of work put on the backburner.

Starting next week, all hell breaks loose at work. I'll be doing everything I can to not have a nervous breakdown, and or get fired. This period of hell will last about 5 weeks, and then hopefully start tapering off.
The week after next I have to order yarn for the goddamn wedding sweater that I've decided to knit so that I look freaking half way decent in the goddamn photos. (Thats a freaking joke.) Which, I'll have to have finished by December.. DECEMBER. Again.. what a freaking joke.

I'm done. My back hurts, my head hurts, and I want to cry. Universe, you win.

Such a bad blogger...

2009-09-01T09:50:00.002-06:00

Work has been killing me, hence the lack of updates.

So this one is gonna be quick.

I am sorry if the updates are sporadic for the next 5 weeks. I'm gonna be brain dead. This I already know.

Here is the yarn I dyed a few weekends ago...

I'm quite happy with it. I've already sold one skein of it, and I've got plans for the others. One skein I am keeping for myself. I'm actually in the process of knitting socks to go with the yarn. Yup, a pattern of my own creation. Woohoo. I unfortunately had to frog it last night, as part of it was supposed to zig zag, well.. there was zig.. but there was no zag. Back to the drawing board as it were.

Writing has been non existent right now because of work. I'm hoping that when mother of mine heads out of town this week, I'll be awake enough to write. I think I've only got a few thousand words to go. Then I'll hand it off to my editor and we'll see if I can get a rewrite done in time for the contest. If I make it, neat. If I don't.. I'm not going to freak.

I've been crazy recently, and organized an massive Pen Pal exchange. Seriously over 150 signed up for this. I wasn't expecting that at all. But now the signups are over and all the assignments handed out. This will be fun.

Also to note, I'm finally officially a Yarnie over on Ravelry. Yup, I've taken the plunge. Woohoo.

Well... I guess thats all the time I have right now to write.

Ta peeps! Bugs and Hisses.

Massive Update!

2009-08-20T10:25:00.003-06:00

Alright. I'm a bad blogger right now. You all knew I'd be busy, and I have been. I've also been brain dead. I've been meaning to blog.. really I have. Something will happen, and I'll think "I should blog this" or "I really need to update them..." but then I find myself in bed not having done it.
So quick sum up of my life right now.

Went to Highland's Ranch Highland Games Festival.
It was fun. Clan Blair (thats us) was the uhh... whats the word I'm looking for.. Honored Clan. Yeah that works. Basically it means we got to walk at the front of the parade. Not that I walked. I don't do parades anymore.
I got to see Scott, a fellow clan member. It was good to see him. As soon as he heard I'm moving to England his eyes got all big and you could see the wheels turning then the "Hmmm there are things I shall have to have you send me."
I have been hearing that statement a lot recently.
I did not get to see My EMT. Yes, I said MY EMT. Whose name is escaping me right now. Short story is that he is one of my Festival Buddies. Meaning when you've done so many of these over the years you tend to see the same people, and develop friendships with them. You never see them any other time of the year, and everything is nice.
Apparently he was there on Sunday when I was there on Saturday. He asked after me.
It was the Clan's Annual General Meeting (AGM for short) which meant members of the clan from all over the country came to attend.
I will admit, I preferred it when it was just Scott, his father and his brother, my mother and myself. Much more relaxed. Quiet, and just.. much nicer.
There is a running joke that every year at Highlands, I end up asleep under one of the tables. This year it did not happen. But hot damn you can sure bet I was exhausted enough that I looked longingly at the nice soft grass under one of the long tables and wished to be laying there. But Scott would never let me live it down. Not that I let him live down the Yellow boxers with Blue Seahorses. (Long story... but basically... he has finally learned how to sit in a kilt after all these years)
I only went the one day and didn't stay till close. It was worth it though, as I obtained my final Fidget.
What is a Fidget you might ask?
Well, it's a stone.
And as Curtis will call it "damn stones I keep finding everywhere."
The story of the Fidgets goes back many years, to when I was still in Highschool. Katte Beth taught me to drive as we were driving up to the Mabon Music Festival (The Ren scots were there doing the event)
There are many stories from that weekend, including Katte Beth's 4 year old daughter scrambling my eggs. (If I cannot have children in the future it will entirely be Jenny's fault. She knows this. We laugh about it.)

But here is the best photo I can find right now of what a Fidget is:

The ones we have are colored glass from a glass maker.
But, Katte Beth and I in our Witchy ways got our stones and blessed them at Mabon.
The first one we obtained is a Celtic Knot Heart. (which, you cannot get the same hearts we had, as the individual who made them has changed the design)
That, is to bring love into your life.
The second fidget is that of a Claddagh.
That, is to bring marriage into your life.
The third and final stone is the Family Tree (tree of life) (it used to be a celtic 4 knot, but you cannot get them anymore)
That, is the Family stone. To bring a safe and secure family.

These stones you are to sleep with. Only one at a time.
I had the first 2 stones, but I did not have the 3rd (hey, when I bought my stones I was 16 and not even thinking about marriage! okay I might have been 17?)

As I am leaving the country we needed to get me my last stone before I left.
Luckily, our stone guy was there! Huzzah!
I have my full set. I am happy.

Moving forward
Last weekend,
Mother of Mine was out of town and I was attempting to write. I couldn't get a thing written on Saturday and was feeling quite like the failure.
So I decided to do something productive.
I did some dyeing.
I am SO glad I did. As it is absolutely gorgeous. I will post photos soon.

Work:
Work has been... interesting. Good days and bad days. I'm still in training but I'm taking calls on my own, and slowly not having to ask for help on every call. See... I can learn things. We are already starting to see my fellow class members dropping in number. 2 quit this week. Once School starts, there shall be more.
As long as I can get through September, I'll be fine. Thats all I'm really going to say on that right now.

Misc:
Most of my spare time has been spent working on various Asylum things. Just doing things behind the scenes to drum up more business. I also reopened a group on Ravelry for my yarns, and so far.. no stalkers. This is good.

I have a custom order which will be fun and exciting, and I'll be working on a new Base, which is already drumming up interest. This makes me happy.

Writing:
I feel like a fail there. Work has been zapping my brain power, and when I do get some time to write, I generally can't. I don't think I'm going to make the deadline. But that doesn't mean I'll give up on the novella.
Who knows, mayhaps one of these weekends I'll get a burst of inspiration and finish it. I'm only... half way there?

So.. interesting little happenings today.... This is how my day started:
I was downstairs in my kitchen (which has line of sight to my front windows) and I heard a bang, and then I saw a flash of light.
My first thought was “hmmm car backfire.” my second thought was “I didn’t see a car.” my third thought was “not walking outside right now.nope.” I heard sirens, but they sounded really far off, and isn’t that uncommon a thing for me to hear. (I live tucked behind a very busy main road, so I can sometimes hear sirens and such when they are flying down Academy)
So I continue about my morning routine and 10 or 15 minutes later I’m walking out the door. The entire time though I was thinking how odd it would be if I had to leave a message at work saying “yeah I’m gonna be late, one of my neighbors was shot.”
What can I say, I have odd thought processes.
Then I back out of my parking spot, and immediately see a cop car, and a cop talking to one of my neighbors. Now, this was down and to the left of my house, but incidentally coming from the direction I thought I saw the flash come from.
When I get to the T intersection of where the cop car is, I see two other cop cars. I inch past them as it was a tight squeeze and I leave the neighborhood. So, after about 20 seconds thought, I turn around. There was no way I was going to be able to chill at work without knowing what had happened.
I talk to a nice female officer and she informed me that one of the neighbors reported that someone was banging on their door. They were searching the neighborhood, but found nothing, and the flash I saw was most likely them. (Hmmm didn’t hear the sirens until after the flash… so that doesn’t seem right.)

Well... I am half way done with my work day. I've got to decide on the dyes I want to order next, and all in all... just survive.

Later peeps!

All's Quiet on the Western front...

2009-07-27T06:30:00.003-06:00

Alright, so my beloved readers, you may (or may not) have noticed it's been a little quiet over here in my little journal of impossible things.

Well, there is a reason for it. A reason I went into vague detail about in a blog I have not posted. I do not know if I will post the blog or not.

Lets just say, it involved drama. Not just roll your eyes type drama, but the Erin coming home from work in complete tears drama, including a massive dose of cyberstalking just because some people thought it was amusing.

My profile from Ravelry has not yet been deleted, but it will be shortly. (oy, i've got over 700 items in my queue, so I don't want to loose all that, and transferring them over to the new profile takes time.)

I've pretty much been hiding on the down low for the last week because I was sick of the stalking.

I may or may not have to change the name of my shop. (there was slander against me and my shop)

For now I am leaving it as it is. I did have make arrangements to have my group on ravelry shut down, because that's where the bulk of the stalking occurred. I do not yet know how it has affected my etsy store (thank goodness you can't leave comments on someones shop unless you've purchased something, and for the record, all my product is Excellent, and I do not cut corners on anything. The materials I use for my yarns are tried and tested materials and the company I buy my dyes from has been in business doing what they are doing for over 100 years.)

I will have my shop minion open a new Group for me on ravelry when I feel it is safe to do so.

All in all, the whole situation has sucked.

But it did show me just how many friends I do actually have.
Okay, thats all I'm gonna say about that for the moment.

Moving along,
Knitting: I've been bad on the Fangtasm sock. I haven't been working on it. Mostly because I have been working on creating original patterns.
I have the start of the pattern down for a certain Repo Man sock.
I have 1.5 parts of a pattern for Blind Mag down. She's complicated, and is requiring to basically defy laws of nature here. So she's going to take a while, but I'm getting closer with each try. Once I get this one little part down, then I've just got 1 more element to figure out, and then it's just writing up the pattern to work with the over all construction of the project. (The over all shape is gonna be easy, but it's just the pattern elements in the design that are taking a while.)

Writing:
Well, due to all the emotional crap going on, I was slacking when it came to writing.
But this weekend, I did manage to get nearly 2000 words done. Not the full goal, but nearly.
I've also done the math. If I actually do 1000 words a "day" (which is not impossible for me), it will take me 11 days to complete the minimum required word count. So I really do need to make this next week count. I will have the house to myself for the next week (or is it 2 weeks? I can't recall exactly when Mother of Mine comes home) I doubt I'll be able to get 1000 words every night with how exhausted from work I generally am, but I quite possibly can get a couple of hundred. If I can get 500 done on a work night, then I'll be getting really close. I'm also going to see if in the slow times at work, if I can get even a sentence or two added.

I'm at quite the juicy part if I do say so myself. My minion Jo is enjoying what I've got written, and once I get it all done I'm going to put a call out for readers/editors.

Work: Right now is being odd. We are getting more inbound phone calls then we have been recently. But we are no longer getting Backlog tickets (my job), basically we get a handful a day, and I pretty much twiddle my thumbs to be able to work them. (Most of them are in Hawaii so I can't call until a certain amount of my day has passed)
I am taking advantage of this down time for me, as well... for the last year (and yes, I say year because it was a year ago that the desk started downsizing and our volume started dropping off) I have been the busiest person here. I have always had something to do, and generally a minimum of 4 times as much work as everyone else. The only exception to that was my work minion Pat who did the same amount of work as me. (Though, but for one month, I always beat him out in the amount of tickets I did, and really the month he beat me out was my "Hmm the desk is going away, I don't care anymore" month. He beat me by 5 tickets lol.)
So since the next 48 weeks are gonna be hell once this one ends, I'm taking advantage of the quiet now.

Oh, in other news:
The whole drama that happened... was so bad that Mother of Mine and Hunny of Mine had to divulge a BIG secret just to cheer me up.
Guy is coming out to visit in December. I cannot even express how happy this makes me.
They were going to surprise me, but unfortunately thanks to the major unpleasantness that occurred, they decided to tell me to cheer me up.

Dyeing:
Is going well. Well,I mean for the fact that I haven't dyed in a while. Squibstitcher from Fresh from the Cauldron (whos yarn I love) gave me a few secrets, which was really awesome of her.
I am going to venture into wool dyeing, as 1) I have beautiful handspun that needs to be dyed, and 2)people still prefer wool. Personally, I think they are crazy, but thats just me. I have very good reasons for not liking to knit in wool. And I am very annoyed that I can't get the same weights of yarn in the non wool stuff.
But just because I don't like to knit in wool, doesn't mean I won't dye it. I only started with the non wool stuff because I happened to have it. And with the way I plan on running my shop, I strive to make sure I can recreate any colorway I make on both wool and and non wool. So people get a choice.

I am actually going to participate on a swap on Ravelry, which I'm hoping works out. Basically, it's for new "yarnies" (people like me who dye yarn), we will get paired with a Knitter (or Crocheter), and we will trade 1 skein of dyed yarn for a skein of Undyed yarn. So we won't be out anything other than our time/the cost of dye/the cost of shipping, but in return we will get the publicity of our yarns being out there and used in a project.

Random note #2:
Finally got to see Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince.
I must admit I highly enjoyed it. I enjoyed it much more than the last 3 films.
Yes, they changed things.
Yes, they left things out.
But in the end, everything they changed made it work without feeling forced. At no point did I sit there feeling disgusted at how they had changed the over all story. (*cough* POA *cough*)
There was really only 1 scene that they left something out of it that I was annoyed about.

Yes, there were other scenes they omitted that will make the next 2 films a bit harder to make work. (Okay, gonna spoil here. There was no Bill and Fluer. So, if there is no Bill and Fluer in this one, the whole "wedding" from the 7th story is going to feel completely out of left field. Which, I know the wedding is going to be in the movie. Oh well, I'm sure they will make it work somehow.)

I think that the kids they got to play Tom Riddle were absolutely BRILLIANT. Little Hero is actually Ralph Fiennes nephew, and then the older one... just... perfect. Seriously.

I'm gonna stop talking about HP because I really don't want to spoil it for those who have not yet seen it.

Alright, I guess I've killed enough time. Time to do a little work.

bugs and hisses.

A most disgusting sight.

2009-07-19T14:04:00.003-06:00

Another quick post because right now I'm quite frosted and so I must keep it short and simple. I can't even write right now, so I'm just going to work on my knitting.

Posting this before I forget about it.

Wanna know something that absolutely disgusted me yesterday?
I was driving home from the festival. Stopped and Whole Foods.

What do I see? I see a huge ass Hummer parked up on the curb outside the Whole Foods. And this woman loading groceries into the back of it.

Was it Military? Nope. Just a housewife. In a huge ass hummer, parked half way on the curb. Loading groceries from a grocer that is all about being "earth friendly" I wanted to smack that woman upside her head for having the hummer.

There is absolutely no reason what so ever that any civilian should ever have a Hummer.

And there is no amount of Local Grown or Free Trade groceries that will make up for what that person I saw yesterday was doing to the environment.

I'm going to go work on my knitting now.

Joss ripped off SeaQuest...

2009-07-18T19:00:00.005-06:00

DUDE. Joss Whedon ripped off SeaQuest DSV!

I kid you not.

And bear in mind, I write this as still a card carrying member of the Mile High Browncoats (alright, I admit.. we didn't HAVE cards... but if you ever meet a Mile High Browncoat and mention Wicked.. well, the stories you'll hear. Yuppers folks.. thats me. Now mind you, you'll be opening a can of worms, and by the time all the stories are told about Wicked and Bree... you'll prolly end up with UV (Ugly Virgin, whos name.. i don't recall if I ever knew or not... Oh Jeremy.. thats it.. right?) dropping his pants and Moon laughing her tocks off- at you.) sorry.. lost track there. Yes, I am a Browncoat. I did my part to resurrect our beloved show, and get the movie. So please.. don't flame me for posting this. I'm just giving ya'll my observations.

Alright, we all by now know the basic plot of Serenity, which was Joss' Firefly resurrection. If you'll remember, the plot was basically this: (avoid if you haven't watched the movie, as I'd hate to spoil for those who haven't seen it)

Miranda - a planet where they attempted to manipulate the "Aggression factor" in the population via atmospheric chemical enhancement. - This was bad. It resulted in all but 10% of the population falling dead where they stood. The 10% Became the dirty little secret of the Alliance. This dirty little secret was known as the Reavers. Ravers would eat you alive, then kill you if your lucky. They terrorized space and were really bad.
This movie came out in 2005.

Now, go back to October 1994, Season 2, episode 3 of SeaQuest DSV (before it became SeaQuest 2032) an episode called "Sympathy for the Deep"

Underwater colony called "Miranda Colony" where after 10 years of peace suddenly started going homicidal on each other, including hallucinations and majorly violent psychotic episodes.
To top it off? Telepaths, were involved as well. Telepaths that decided to go homicidal and start killing each other. (River anyone?)

Alright, I'm going back to writing, though I'm exhausted from the Festival (blog to come) I'm apparently awake enough to be able to write. And going back to watching my beloved SeaQuest. Nothing like watching not one, but two Deluise boys when they were at the prime of their adorableness. Not to mention a slew of other cuties. Suddenly, I'm back in the Westlake house.. I'm in elementary school, and it's Sunday night and the family is sprawled around the family room enjoying some good SciFi.

I really need to stop watching tv shows from my childhood.. they are making me all nostalgic. (Hey look at that, spelled it correctly on the first go. Woot.)

Writing, Knitting and Dyeing- an update

2009-07-16T07:51:00.003-06:00

Alright, so on top of the whole "someone trying to steal all my money" situation of 2 weeks ago. Last week my employer decided to over pay me.
Now I can hear you already saying "Woot. more money right?"
No, this is a bad thing. Why? Because the last time a company over paid me, it took over 6 weeks for them to correct the error, and Murphy is not my friend. It would not matter how long I would sit there and not spend the money, something would happen, and the day/hour/minute before the employer would get their act together and retrieve the money they over paid, something would happen ans *poof* it'd be gone from my account, thus making me extra broke and generally negative in my account.

Thankfully, I was pretty on top of the situation this time, and I notified my HR person, she sent the appropriate email, and instead of the company retrieving the funds from my account, simply took it from the next paycheck.

Sucks because this paycheck that I got today now has a whole lot less than it normally would, which of course puts me mentally into a not so happy place. Luckily, I had not had any bills clear, nor really buy anything I shouldn't have, so the funds were still in my account, and I'll still be golden for the week.

What does this mean? Well, once I finish paying bills for this month, I will more than likely be able to afford to buy some more yarn goodness.

I plan on finishing up my Moonlight colorways, (2 more planned for the series, Josef and Coraline) and starting on a little custom project that I have in the works. Here's a hint... when I finish it.. it will be part of my Wicked set.. and it shall be called: "Little Ways to Flirt and Flounce"

So thats the update on the Dyeing front.

Knitting front:
I'm almost done with Sock #1 of the Fangtasm pattern (which I've dubbed my sock project to be "Playful Bites")
I'll most likely finish tonight and then cast on Sock #2. I'm terrified that they won't match for whatever reason, which is very much making me want to start 2 at a time on the next pair I do. I didn't do it this time because 1)I was still new to socks, 2)I had never done Magic Loop socks, 3)I had never done Toe Up.
Now that I've accomplished all those little things, I think I'm safe to move on to 2 at a time.

Next up: Writing.

Alright, the past two days have been a little crazy for me. But on Monday I did manage to write some. Which makes me happy. I'm hoping to spend this weekend busting out even more on the word count.
Mother of Mine is going to be out at the Elizabeth Celtic Festival (formally known as Kiowa Celtic Festival), and that means I'll have Friday from Noon till I fall asleep, Saturday morning. Saturday Afternoon I'm going to go to the festival for my "very last time". I'll spend a few hours there then come home (thankfully, it's not like I'll be driving to Denver at all) and write till I fall asleep, and then I'll have the bulk of Sunday till Mom comes home to write.
Hopefully I'll be able to bust out my goal for the week and a whole bunch more past that.

Work: My backup who really was the only other person at work who
did anything broke his leg last week. I can't recall if I wrote about this or not.
Well, Tuesday he went to see his doctor to find out if the surgery is a "go."
And I don't know what he did to piss off his doctor, but he is now banned from coming to work until the end of the month.

This leaves me screwed. Now, I'm the only one doing work until this desk closes. Yes, I have the other backloggers, but they do not get nearly as much accomplished as my backup.

This means I'm brain dead when I come home from work, and cannot write at all. Sigh. We'll see how it goes.

Other news: I'm totally geeking out. I bought a new printer. It is a spiffy one, that is an all-in-one. Most importantly, it has a flatbed scanner (last year my scanner that I stole from the ex broke.). This means I can now scan all the photos from my childhood and not be without them when I make the big move. I am happy.
It's spiffy. It's new. It's wireless. It will so pay for it's self in like a month. (now I can do business stuff easier. Color printing.. woot! etc etc)

Alright, I guess that's all I've got for now.
Talk to you later people.

Bugs and Hisses.

The Weekend, a recap of errors.

2009-07-13T08:49:00.004-06:00

Alright. Please forgive the glaring mistakes in the previous post. I should know better than to post many hours after my bedtime. (And they were the mistakes that Firefox didn't catch because they weren't spelling.. just word and sentence mistakes)

This past weekend was.. interesting to say the least.

Friday I get off of work. I've got the house to myself.
I change into more hot weather friendly clothes (alright, alright. I admit it, it was my jammies).
I make myself some lunch.
I put McLeod's Daughters in the dvd player.(love that show)
I sit down and open up my novella, every intention of working on it.
I get a phone call from Mother of Mine.
The car she was travelling in to go up to Denver decided to stop working. Joy.
I put real clothes back on.
I get in the car.
I drive 25 miles up to Monument and pick up Mother of Mine and friend plus teenager.
I drive to Denver, okay it was Littleton, but it was the far north end of littleton, which is also known as BFE and is practically driving to Denver.
I drop Mother of Mine and crew off at the festival. Say hello to a few people whom I do not honestly recall.
I get back in car.
I drive back home, sweating and dripping the entire time as it was bloody hot. And dude.. I even had the AC running.
By the time I reach Academy, the AC is off and I'm screaming along with Amanda F^cking Palmer. Yes, I got a few weird looks from the cars around me, but frankly my dear, I don't give a damn- I had just driven over 150 miles round trip and I needed something to distract me from my screaming back.

I change back into my jammies.
I start McLeod's Daughters back up.
I start writing.
The storm finally hits, which was nice. Nothing like a torrential downpour to make the afternoon more enjoyable.
I had homemade Lasagna for dinner.
I stay up late.
I write a lot.
I go to bed.
Saturday:
Wake up.
Putter around the kitchen doing breakfasty type stuff.
Hear a noise from my mothers bedroom.
Pause in confusion as the cat is next to me, and Mother of Mine is supposed to be still in Denver.
Walk into her room, see her home. - odd.
She's slightly awake. I ask her why she's home.
Apparently the individuals she had been riding with (and I rescued) was unwilling to drive her to the place she was going to spend the night, so she just came home with them.

Great. My plans now are drastically altered.
Pan, aka the Little S^ht decided to be a little bastard. I won't go into details. But lets just say... there was a screaming Big Cat (me) and Pan was avoiding me the rest of the day.
I let Mother of Mine borrow my car so that 1)She could go back to the festival, and 2)I'd have the house to myself and could continue as originally planned. Considering my mood, that had been the best for both of us.

I get a lot of writing done.
I post stuff for sale in my shop.
I stay up late.
I write a blog that has many mistakes in it. lol
I go to bed.

I finished with over 4000 words written. And I'm to the spot where exciting things are starting to happen. (I finished with "defining the world", now I get to play.)

I am happy with the writing thus far, and I am getting good reviews of it. (Thanks Jo!)

If I can continue with at least a minimum of 2,000 words a week, I'll get done in 10 weeks, which is mid September. Which will then give me about a month and a half to do any editing and reworking and getting the query letter/synopsis done. Meep. Those last two items scare me. Hopefully I'll finish with more than 2000 each week. That'd be nice. I believe Mother of Mine will be out of town again this weekend.. I do wish to go to the festival 1 day, as it will be my last chance to go.

Sunday was spent with no writing done. Mother of Mine was home, and it just doesn't work very well. Every time I opened up my file to start working on it, something else would require my attention.

On the Needles:
Fangtasm is still my main project right now. I'm almost done with sock#1. I'm about half an inch away from doing the cuff. Woohoo. Look at me go.

On the TV:
McLeod's Daughters season 1- mom introduced me to the show, and I've seen most of season 4 (due to it being on while I was at home) and so its amusing watching the earlier seasons when I know whats coming in season 4.

The International - Watched this as I was waking up on Sunday. That was a mistake. I for the life of me.. cannot tell you what happened.

Lovejoy season 1- an enjoyable show.

Monk season 1- wow. I had no idea that some of the episodes I caught on the telly randomly were from season 1.

Army Wives season 2, disc 2- badness is afoot.

Chuck season 1- Oh my gods, I absolutely fell for this show. And once again.. it's one that's been cancelled. Sigh. All the good ones get the axe. And I'm starting to think that poor Adam Baldwin is cursed when it comes to funny witty shows.

Burn Notice season 2, disc 2- I very much feel that Burn Notice is the new MacGyver. Yup Pass it along. It's great. And it's amusing, I caught part of an episode on tv the other day, and it happened to be an episode from season 2 disc 2. It amused me.

Lets see.. what else have I been watching?.. I think thats it for now.

Current Book:
Hunter's Moon by Lori Handeland - werewolf hunter fluff. But it's alright. I need fluff right now. I was going to reread Dead Witch Walking, but I decided that I need to focus more on my writing than using some of my precious time for reading.

Other news:
I plan on putting in an order for more yarn very shortly. Just waiting on finding out if the extra money in this weeks paycheck was a mistake or what it was...

Go buy my yarn! That means I can buy more yarn and then make lots of pretty new colors!

Beth and Mick wanna go home with you...

2009-07-11T19:44:00.003-06:00

Oh yes... I went there.

Just a quick note to say that yes, my yarns for Beth Turner and Mick St. John are up for sale in my shop:

Asylum for Wayward Yarn

For reference images:

Mick in the Sunlight

and
Beth Turner, the morning after

The wanna go home with you. They want to party. They want to be petted and loved, and they want to do wrap themselves allll over you.

How can you resist this pair? They know how to play. Watch out for Mick though, he's a biter.

And for those who get to take these lovers home... I'm gonna be pervy here and say.. I want photos.

(Also, there will be a 10% off coupon waiting for you when a FO is completed and shown to me.)

Mick in the Sunlight...

2009-07-08T06:12:00.002-06:00

Alright, sorry I'm delayed in posting pictures of Mick St. John in the sunlight.
What can I say? He doesnt' like to go out in the sun. It's bad for him. Makes him sick. He likes to stay inside where it's safe... preferably being petted.

My scale has arrived, and I will be posting both Mick and Beth up for sale in my Etsy store shortly...
Sorry for the delay.. Work has been interesting due to my minion whom is the only other person in this place that does as much work as I do.. well.. he broke his leg. He's gonna have to have surgery, which means I'm doing pretty much everything. That doesn't leave much functioning brain power when I get home.

Bugs and Hisses people.

Dear person who tried to steal all my monies.

2009-07-06T06:47:00.003-06:00

Hello internet, (specifically the individual who tried to do what they tried to do)

Ahem, I write this letter after a few days reflection on the matter. I chose not to post right away, as I wished to calm myself and actually think of what I fully intended to say.

So it is with a calm mind that I say this to you:

SCREW YOU.

Of all the people in the US of A right now to attempt to steal money from, I am not the person you should have tried your lack of skillz on.
Did you not think I would see the purchase?
Did you not think I would go to my bank?
Did you not think I would notice due to the holiday coming up?
Do you think I will not bring charges against you once we find out who you are?

Let me educate you as to your little error.
I have been living paycheck to paycheck in survival mode for nearly 10 years now.
I obessivly check my bank account daily. Multiple times a day even.
My bank is good at immediately posting up all information about every little cent of my accounts.
So, your little 1$ pre-authroization for "Yahoo Wallet", was immediately visible to me.

And, as I do not use any online Wallets, I immediately knew something was amiss.
I do not trust online Wallets, for exactly the reason I am writing this letter. I won't even allow Amazon to turn on the 1-click shopping feature.

Call me paranoid... because I am.

So, the charge you attempted to do, has been disputed. Oh yes, I was at my bank within 4 hours of seeing that little charge. I would have been sooner, but I was stuck at work.

I do not know what you had intended to purchase via Yahoo Wallet, but, you certainly will not be able to do it with my card.

All you have succeded in doing, is making me even more paranoid.
My purse is now locked up whilst at work.
Never shall I order anything via the internet at work anymore.
And my personal firewalls have been upgraded.
Instead of only checking my account a minimum of 6 times a day, you've now made me compulsively check it another random handful of times.

This, is not a challenge that I am presenting for you. I am simply stating fact. Go find someone else to try to rip off. Or better yet... Get a job. Earn your own damn money, and leave mine, and all the other innocent hard working people's fundage alone. I realize the state of the economy is bad. I realize that the unemployment rate is the highest it's ever been. But dude. Seriously, don't steal from those who are just scraping by. If your going to go after anyone.. go after those fat cats who get thousands of dollars in bonuses when their companies go belly up. Leave my patheticly small accounts alone.

Sincerly,
Your recent "near" victim.

_____________________________________________________________________________

And on another note, my banker was very impressed with how quickly I jumped on everything. Yup.. I'm a dragon when it comes to my little "cave of treasure". (Oh, and a correction from the previous blog. This happened on Thursday, not Friday.)

Mick in the shower.. and Happy 4th of July

2009-07-04T15:40:00.005-06:00

Alright.. that title sounds a bit.. well.. heh. But it's true.

Today, 4th of July.. I dyed some more yarn.
Friday, I went to my Local Yarn Shop.. spoke with Shop Mom, and she is willing to work with me when it comes to ordering some of the Panda Cotton from Crystal Palace Yarns.
While I was there, I picked up about 6 balls of yarn.
I dislike working in balls, because they are so small. Generally about 100 yards each. This is frustrating when I prefer my yarn to be.. SKEINS and about 450 yards.

But now I've gotten to play with some Panda Cotton, Classic Elite Bam Boo, Classic Elite Silk, and Plymouth Earth Oceanside Organic (cotton)

They all took the dye slightly differently, but all took the dye really well. The silk is the most muted of all of them. But that is the nature of silk.

He will also be for sale once I pick up my scale.. (should arrive at Evilmart any day now)

Knit Picks was having a sale, and I picked up some books. (At 40% off can ya blame me?!) Specifically I picked up:

which means I can in fact start working on my Avalanche Hockey Sweater once I get all the yarn.

lots of good patterns, and I am so far liking Toe Up socks.

which already has given me several great tips. Woot.

Right now X-Files season 1 is on the telly, some NY Strip Steaks are being cooked, and the rain just stopped. So Happy 4th of July everyone. Hope your having a good one.

Oh, I haven't forgotten the blog about JC in Denver.. and also I have another blog about not so fun drama that happened yesterday.. But don't want to blur that ickiness with todays awesomeness.

Beth Turner, the morning after..

2009-06-27T17:47:00.005-06:00

Heh. Sounds a bit kinky.. Morning after what?

Well.. It's pretty mundane.

She's dry. She's cozy..

And here she is.. I'll post the photo of the "One of a Kind" Cake soon. I thought I wasn't going to like it. But it actually turned out neat.

Right now it is raining. I just finished watching disc one of Burn Notice season 2.. And now I'm watching Equilibrium. A Christian Bale/Sean Bean futuristic movie. Too early to tell if it'll be any good.. but so far they just burned the original Mona Lisa... (oh, and apparently the guy who played Robert the Bruce from Braveheart is in the movie as well)

Today was brutally hot, and muggy in the morning. I'm loving the downpour right now.
I went over to Jes's house and hung out with "The Girls" for a little while. Mostly just to prove that I am still alive.

I realized I should not take the pride and joy of my new work (Beth Turner) with me to show off to people whom.. well.. they don't knit, and thus do not care.
As there was a 2 year old running around, I was not able to work on my stitch markers like I had planned.. I had forgotten that Kasha is growing and growing quickly. So I did some knitting, which I now have to go count a few rows to make sure I'm where I'm supposed to be, as I didn't have a pen to mark my place, and if I don't I'll forget what row I'm on. Luckily, I know at least one spot I've done, so it's just a matter of counting from there.

After that I stopped of at EvilMart to get some groceries as I was passing right bye it. Got myself a real pair of gloves for dyeing. I discovered I didn't like using latex disposable ones, as of course your hands get sweaty and gross on the inside, and also my hands smell of powder for hours afterwards.. no matter how many times I wash them. And also, if you get dye on them, they don't wash very well, and can transfer. So.. real gloves it is, and will also give me a bit more protection from the heat that the disposable ones didn't. Some day I'll upgrade to a pair of Bluettes (like.. THE gloves) And a new bucket for when I'm doing the yarn prepping and rinses.

I really need to buy myself a digital scale so that I can start knowing the shipping cost of something without having to actually go to the post office and have them weigh it for me. Ugh. Evilmart has one for 16.99$ online that I'll prolly get. If I remember correctly it does grams as well, so I should be fine using it for the UK.

Now, I am going to go. Have some stitch markers to make. I will get to the Denver adventures to Jacqueline Carey soon, I promise!

I think I'm going to make some pizza for dinner.. mmmmm Yummy.

Bugs and Hisses!

Oh and on a random note: My Lucien from Fresh from the Cauldron arrived yesterday. Woohoo. More of the yummy werewolf. And a pattern I was hoping to get called Vindication.

Beth Turner.. Welcome to the World.

2009-06-26T21:44:00.003-06:00

Alright... Just a quickie as it is well past my bedtime, and I am also running on less than 4 hours of sleep (don't worry, you'll get to hear all about the adventures in Denver and the Jacqueline Carey book signing) And forgive me any of you who have already seen this announcement in other various places.. I'm excited.. and I'm also trying to get my work out there.

This is my very very first yarn dyeing attempt.

Yarn: DK weight 100% Bamboo, chain style
Dyes: Cushing Direct Dyes

Colorway name: Beth Turner - Moonlight

In the photo's she's really dark, but thats because she was still quite wet. As she's drying I've already noticed the color softening. Which I'm fine with because I originally envisioned this colorway to be 'softer'.

I have to admit that the perfectionist in me is slightly disappointed in a few spots of it, but for a first attempt it's certainly not too shabby, there were only a few spots where the purple and the yellow mixed in a not so pretty way or that the color got on a section it wasn't supposed to.
I was very much flying by the seat of my pants doing this, and I learned a lot with each color dipping I did. So I'm keeping my head up and really I'll wait to see what the morning light brings. If nothing else, I'm learning that I can actually get things to translate from the image I see in my head, to the yarn I hold in my hands. (just a matter of perfecting it now)

I'll decide in the morning when she's dry if I'll be selling her or if I'll just be keeping her for personal use.. either way.. I had fun.. I just very much wish I had a larger kitchen! (Thankfully, the Hunny of Mine knows that I will require a large kitchen for when we are house hunting.)

I have realized my problem now though...

I am now completely out of undyed yarn. :-(

I shall have to order some...

100th post, and huge news!

2009-06-24T07:49:00.004-06:00

How very lucky am I that I have huge news, and it also happens to be my 100th post on this particular blog. (Meaning, since I jumped over from Myspace... I don't miss it. I haven't even logged into Myspace in most likely, 2 months)

Yesterday started something major for me.
You've seen it coming.

The Asylum for Wayward Yarn is now up and running. It's a little bare at the moment. I'm working on logos and such like that.

I posted my first set of stitch markers.
A set of 4 Doctor Who "Pinstripe 10" themed gems. I already knew there was interest in them prior to posting them for sale. And guess what, they sold immediately. (didn't get the confirmation until after I came into work, simply because I had to go to bed at my normal time, and I don't have time to check my email before I come into work)
I had already had the package ready to go, it just needed the address, the postage, and the envelope to be sealed.
Mother of Mine has kindly added those last few pieces so that it will go out in the post today instead of tomorrow.

I am excited.

Here are the envelopes ready to go:

I had stopped off at Hobby Lobby on the way home and picked up some more fixings, also so as to pick up some envelope blanks, so that I could decorate them and of course get things shipped out.

Here are the fronts of the notecards:

New set of markers I made last night: and you can also see the inside of the notecards

Beth Turner, and some more Pinstripe 10

Tonight I must work on more of the skeins. If I get time, I will make more stitch markers, but first comes the skeins.
I still haven't gotten my dye pot. I hope it arrives today.
The knitting is going slowly, as the past few nights I've been focusing on *ahem* other things.

The next set of stitch markers, shall be Mick St. John. I look forward to him.
I also plan on having in my shop a "Mix and Match" option, so that, say if people want some of Beth and some of Mick, they can have it.

Alright. Time for me to get cracking at work.

I'm just very excited.

Oh. Quicky book review:
Dead and Gone - Charlaine Harris
Finished last night. I can see why some people are starting to feel that CH is kind of loosing the steam when it comes to the Sookie verse.
I don't quite know how to explain it. But whenever something major was happening, it reminded me of my first notes. It didn't actually show much of the violence (thinking of a big scene towards the end). It was written in the "I didn't think they would cut me. They did." type style. That style was how I would do my quick shorthand notes. Not the finished product. I don't know. I really don't know how to describe it. I don't know if I'm happy about what happened to a certain Vamp. Actually wait.. that really bugged me. This certain person had silver capped teeth. This person bit a vampire. That vampire was supposedly then poisoned. WTF? how would being bitten by silver be any different than having a silver chain cut into their flesh? Why then did they not get silver poisoning then? Totally a cop-out methinks. And also, CH forgot her own rules. Bill entered a house without permission (or no permission that we were aware of).

Alright I'm done for now as I really must get back to work.

Bugs and Hisses people.

Interest in Wicked things..

2009-06-23T09:16:00.004-06:00

Alright, so there has been some interest in my Kiamo Ko stitch markers.

Unfortunately, the beads were ones Mother of Mine got on clearance, and I've had them for a while now, and the tag has mysteriously vanished. (umm my bad. I prolly threw it away the day I got the beads)

So, I haven't a clue where the beads originally came from.

Also, the wire I used, I believe I also got on clearance, and knowing my luck, they will be all gone before I get get my tocks over to the shop.
This, is not a big deal. As, well as neat as those are.. they were a pain in the tocks to work with, and I am not 100% pleased with the result. So I shall find a different set of wire to use, that is just as Ozian.

But my question dear reader, is if you think these beads I have just found, are a suitable replacement for the beads I know I will not be able to find again.

Here are the Kiamo Ko markers I made:

Here are the beads that I hope will be a suitable replacement: Now obviously, it doesn't have the awesome sun glow action going on, but they seem to be reasonably the same size, and I imagine the just might do the same glow as my originals.

Alright, I'll be posting a poll, so please go vote.

Bugs and Hisses peeps.

Ramblings and Poor Customer service: Part 2

2009-06-22T06:40:00.005-06:00

Alright. I've been meaning to post this for a few days now. But at this point, I couldn't care really, as I still stand by my first impression of the company.

I did finally get my answer.

It took 2 more emails after the ones you have already seen in the previous post.

Apparently he completely didn't realize (in the 4 emails, where I mentioned it) that I was in the US. What a freaking moron.

So I finally got the prices, and the answer.
No, I do not need to have a wholesale license, only a wholesale amount to be purchased on the first purchase.
As the wholesale amount is a tad high for my budget while living in the US, I will not venture down that avenue at this time.

Now, as far as the British company whom the Idiot over at Crystal Palace Yarns kept foisting me to...
Well, their response was short and basically said "yes you need a license but we will not talk to you about anything until you are here in the UK and are official." (paraphrasing, but that captured the tone and the gist of the email.)

Mother of Mine is being helpful in speaking with the LYS (Local Yarn Shop for those who aren't in the know) about getting the yarn from them as they do business with the main company in question and "understand completely what I'm trying to accomplish."
This could be quite beneficial actually, because if I do get my non wool yarn from them, and they like my colorways.. we might be able to come to some arrangement about them having them in their shop. - Ha no pressure on me to make some freaking awesome colors. It will of course make me have to change some of the names a bit more, as I don't think I could get away with some of the Pop Culture TV references... *shrugs* Who knows. As long as I don't get sued, I don't much care. (Already have started coming up with Alternate names for the Disney inspired colorways- eeep! did I give away a little secret there? *shifty eyes* No.. never... *whistles innocently* )

But all of this is dependent on talking with "Mom" over at the shop. (Mother of Mine had discussed it with the Daughter of the shop.)

I admit that I'm starting to get rather nervous about my ability to create what I see in my head. It's a very artistic process, and does very much have the potential to just turn out horribly. There are also so many different methods that my head is spinning. I think I have decided as of right now, I'm gonna go with the first way I had decided I was going to dye the yarn.

Meaning, my method will be mostly "immersion" dyeing, and not the sprinkle kettle method.

And for further clarification, that means I'll be making a dye bath of the color, and then putting my yarn in. Not putting my yarn in and sprinkling the color on the yarn. I'm not adventurous yet enough to do that method, also I want to see how this dye is going to work. not to many dyers have used this dye (at least not that I have found), so it is a bit of foreign territory for me.

One of the reason I'm getting nervous, is that my new pot and next set of dye shall be arriving either today or tomorrow.
I will most likely wait until the weekend to dye though, as I will have the house to myself (well, I would have done it on the weekend no matter if Mother of Mine was home or not) and because I have a feeling I'll just be exhausted this week.

I still need to cake off the last bit of yarn.
I still need to cut my niddy noddy down - i'm not happy with how "long" my skeins were, so I need to shorten the length of the center bar. (they wouldn't fit on my swift... which means that will be inconvient for anyone else, and might result in tangled mess- like mine did.)
I still need to then skein my cakes (using the niddy noddy)

Also, Thursday I'll be driving to Denver to 1) Drop Mother of Mine off in Boulder, and 2) Go see Jacqueline Carey for a book signing. Woohoo. So yeah.. not able to dye that night.

Then I'll be able to start dyeing.

Time for me get back to work.

Bugs and Hisses

A busy weekend

2009-06-21T13:19:00.002-06:00

So today I was productive. I was also productive yesterday, but that is a different story.

Today I made some stitch markers.

These, were made for two girls on Ravelry whom did me a huge favor. Of course, since I had all the pieces parts, I decided to make a couple of more. (The girls will get 1 each)
I haven't decided if I'll save them for when I'm doing yarnie stuff, or if I should perhaps put them up for sale on Etsy... The are made from Swarovski crystal.
Of course, these are of Doctor Who, and specifically my loverly Pinstripe wearing Ten.

This little penguin was made for myself, but I have decided to gift him to my swap victim, as I had mostly buttons for her and not many stitch markers. But, I can get another of him, so I'll be making another for myself.

And lastly..
Mother of Mine found these "emeralds" for me, they are absolutely gorgeous, and are very OZ like. When I was getting my other materials for the other stitch markers, I found these pins.. They also reminded me of OZ.
So these, which are only for myself (as the pins were a bitch to work with and fought me every step of the way, which is why one of them is a little more bent then it should) and I am calling them Kiamo Ko.

Oh, and the random Button one in there, was actually a set of earrings that Dot made me. I was of course highly allergic to the earrings, so I never wore them and so I decided to make them into stitch markers and send them off in the Button and Stitch Marker swap. Very appropriate if I do say so myself.

Now, my victim for the swap.. I have to say is getting damned spoiled. As all buttons were 50% off, so she is getting a freaking lot. I most likely will not be as lucky, as well.. thats how it goes.

I said yesterday was productive as well. We completely rearranged the house. Okay, it wasn't that drastic, but it involved shuffling things around the entire house because our house isn't that big.
The main thing, was the couch. But moving a couch is so much more involved then most people would think. It meant moving 2 other chairs, and also cleaning cleaning cleaning, making room in the room that the couch was going up into and so on and so forth.
Both our backs are sore, and we ended the day exhausted, and cranky, and broken. My leg was hurt during the process, but it's doing better. The cat is slowly accepting the new arrangement, but he was quite freaked out by the entire thing.

After the move, we also decided to go through the leather trunk of mine that is full of fabric. Quite seriously, it is a huge steamer type trunk that was chock full of fabric. We put it all in one of those space saver bags, and it now is only taking up about a fourth of the entire trunk. I gotta say, I am entirely impressed with it, and will definitely be using those bags on ALLLLLLL my stuff for the big move.

Alright. I'm done babbling. I need a brownie.

Next post, or at least one in the near future, shall be talking about my Playful Bites sock. There shall be pictures even. I'm kicking ass on this sock.

Oh, and PS:
Just came up with a few more colorways. But I want to get permission first. Then I'll talk about it.

Sneaky Sneaking Sneakers

2009-06-19T17:12:00.006-06:00

Isn't it funny how little things can sneak up on you?
I mean, it's the same as buying a Starbucks drink every day, you don't think about it. It's just a few dollars.
It's only when you see the large amount of how much those drinks cost you for the year, that your heart starts skipping a beat.

I'm sure some of you are thinking "What the heck is she talking about? She doesn't drink coffee, and I know she dislikes Starbucks"
Well, it was an analogy.

Since January.. no make that February of this year... I have been slowly buying things for my future business. Though, I did not know that is what I was doing.
My first yarn purchase was for a different project, and when that fell through I decided "I can dye this myself... but I'll wait till after I move."
And then the idea got started that... "Hmmm maybe I could start a yarn dyeing business someday.."
I was not planning on using the Bamboo yarn I had bought, as that was still for me..
But now, it's caked up, ready to be skein'd.. and then ready to be dyed.

Today I feel official, as I did a spreadsheet of my costs etc of all this.
Now, most of the items I have spent money on, are not things I would have to replace anytime soon, so this cost analysis is pretty much all start up base cost.

But I must admit that my heart did a pitter patter when I realized I have now spent $207.00 (And a skosh of change)

Really? WOW.

Okay, also in my defense, 60$ of that was today buying the perfect pot, and another set of dyes so that when my pot gets here, I'll be ready to go dye crazy.

I feel official, because I know exactly what I have to do to recover my costs, and it's not that insane a situation. Actually, my prices will be quite modest compared to what I've seen out there for 100% Hand Dyed Bamboo.

Unfortunately, I have determined I do not have enough yarn in this go round to fully recoup my costs... But.. I have a plan.
Actually, I have Mother Of Mine to thank for the plan.
And no, I'm not just jacking up the price.

No, Mother of Mine is working on learning how to hand spin yarn (she used to know how, but it's been a long time)
I, a few years ago gave our friend (And ex house mate and Renscot) Darla a HUGE amount of raw wool.
It was given to me, because I was learning how to spin.
When I was going through all my highschool to post highschool transition and homelessness, I gave the wool to Darla to be used for demonstrations in during the Renscot events. I mean, Darla and Mark gave me a roof over my head.. a huge box of wool was the least I could give them..
Well, Mother of Mine will be re-learning to spin with this wool. She has offered to give me the result, as she doesn't know what she would do with it.
So, I shall be dyeing that up as well, to cover the "amount I need" to recoup my cost of this little adventure.
Heck, after the next batch of yarn gets dyed and sold.. I might even have some profit. I look forward to that, but mostly I look forward to just breaking even. That way, if I decide I can't do this.. I won't be out any money.. Just my time.
I highly doubt that I will walk away from this, because I just have far too many ideas. tee hee.

Alright, enough talk about my budding business, because if I don't stop now, I'll just keep babbling. I'm excited. When I'm excited, I babble. I really want my new pot to arrive so that I can dye!

Today I had to pick up a bunch of things at the craft store.
A bunch of buttons to send to my swap partner...
I am totally spoiling my swap partner.. Jo-Ann's had all buttons 50% off, so my 20-25$ limit ... heh.. well you can see where that was going.
Though, she's not really getting many Stitch markers, she's getting a few, but I totally went out on the buttons, so it's all good.

Also picked up another 2 skeins of yarn for Marissa's project. Which I will be working on once I finish the stitch markers I need to make this weekend.

Also I will be working on The Great Batsby, which my project name for him is "On the Wings of Steam"
I picked up the copper wire I wanted. Yes, I am using Copper not Brass.. oh what a bad Steampunker am I!
Well, they didn't have the size wire I needed in the Brass, and to be frank.. I'm a Copper girl, not a Brass girl. And the Copper will stand out better amongst the other yarn.

Speaking of things sneaking up..
Today is the 19th.
The 19th of June!!!!
It is also the monthly Anniversary of meself and Guy. One month closer on the full count.
Just a week left on the official count for the month to be over. - it's complicated.

Oh... Did I mention that my first batch of yarn... shall be Vampire related? Oh yes.
And no... I shall not be posting the name of it yet.
But there shall be photos, and an official vote. (I'll be dyeing the colorway 5 different ways, and ya'll will get to vote on which one gets the official tag for all subsequent dyeing.- This is how it will be for pretty much all my colorways, unless I decide during dyeing that my first one is the one I want to go with.. but I doubt it.)- alright.. seriously.. I'm done talking about it.

Currently reading:
Club Dead - Charlaine Harris (Book 3)
Dead and Gone - Charlaine Harris (Book 9) And yes, it is odd reading both book 3 and book 9 at the same time, but the library decided to send me book 9 before I finished rereading the whole series.

Currently on the TV:
MacGyver season 2

Tomorrow, other than making stitch markers, and knitting.. and dreaming of other colorways.. we shall be making a drastic change to the house.
The couch, that has been afflicted with the "curse of the painfully sleeping 'tocks*" shall be shuffled upstairs into the loft. To be used when we have company. (okay.. thats the plan.. but seriously.. we really haven't had company in this house.. ever.. )
And in it's place shall be a chair that Mother of Mine found for me, and a chair that she finds most comfortable for herself.
Pan, the ever vocal shall protest the change, but will succumb when he realizes that the couch shall soon become his entirely. Yes, this shall happen. He is always distraught when we make him get off the couch so that we can sit on it. Heaven forbid!

*in case you are not aware of what "tocks" are, and lack the imagination.. here is a good definition.
Personally, I would recommend scrolling through all the Archives, and specifically looking at entries for "Tocktober"

Methinks I am done for now. Bugs and Hisses peeps.

Poor Customer Service: Crystal Palace Yarns

2009-06-18T06:48:00.004-06:00

I am feeling cranky, as I have now had to send 3 emails to get a question answered, and it has still not been answered. Thus to me.. that is poor customer service, and they will most likely loose my sale.

Hello,
I am inquiring about the Panda Cotton yarn you have for sale.
I realize that it's "Wholesale quantities" only, but I'm curious if you will sell to someone who does not (yet) have their wholesale license.

The reason I ask is because I have come across some companies that will only sell if you have the license, but there are some who will sell without it, but just require the wholesale amount, and the notice on your website did not address that.

I do not have my wholesale license yet, because I am moving to the United Kingdom in less than 12 months, and I was planning on officially starting my business then, under their rules and obligations. But if I can start ordering from you and building my stock now in the US, it will make my transition easier next year.

Thank you,

Erin Gallagher

His reply:

Hello Erin,

In the UK our products are available from

[information removed by me, as I don't want to post it on my blog]

Sincerely, Andy

Sigh. This does not answer my question.
So, thinking it was just I hadn't made my question clear enough.. I sent a response..
I chose to be a little more direct.

Andy,
That actually didn't answer my question.
I am inquiring about ordering Panda Cotton now, if it does not require a wholesale license.

Now, again my question is this : Do you require a wholesale license, or do you just require a wholesale quantity to be purchased.

Next question:
How much is the cost of the Panda Cotton?

In regards to the UK sale, I will tackle that in 12 months when I move. But I still need to know the answers to the above questions.

Erin.

His response:

Erin,

Sorry, but [name of company] handles all sales in the UK.

I think it is their policy to sell only to those with wholesale license. I think that eventually they will answer your question.

Good luck.

SErioUSLY?

ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME?
I just said, I do not need to know about the UK sales AT THIS DAMN TIME.

Alright, lets try this again.

Short, quick, because frankly.. I'm loosing my patience. It's a simple question.

Andy,
My question is related to sales in the US, not the UK yet. (Like I said in my previous email, I will deal with purchasing in the UK, 12 months from now. Not now.)

Didn't even sign my name, because at this point they are about to loose a damn sale.

If it weren't for the fact that they are the only ones who have undyed Bamboo/Cotton/Elastic sock yarn for sale... I would no longer be dealing with them.

So far, I am not impressed with Crystal Palace Yarns. And as of right now, I am one unhappy consumer. BIG MISTAKE ANDY. Big damn mistake.

If it was just that they required a wholesale quantity to be purchased. Which, the confusion started because the website says "Wholesale Quantity Only" It does not say "Wholesale License required" and there is a very big difference between the two.

Why does this need to be so damn complicated?

I'm tempted to call, and speak to anyone other than Andy, and preferably his boss. Because Andy is loosing them customers. And in this economy, that is not something you want to do.

Now, if he continues to not answer my question.. I will get downright bitchy, and I will voice my opinion on Ravelry. I can ruin their business quite easily, just by voicing my opinion.

At this point, I honestly think that I will rather do business with the UK shop, which means they won't get any of my money for OVER 12 months. Tisk tisk.. Thats not fiscally responsible of them now is it...

So proud of myself.

2009-06-15T17:24:00.003-06:00

I completely forgot!

I am quite proud of myself. Much more beyond my amazing zen like patience on that tangled mess of yarn.. But for the fact that I taught myself how to do Magic Loop!

Now, for those of you who have done Magic Loop before, this is no big deal, and you scoff in amusement at my country bumpkin ways..

But to be honest, Magic Loop scared me. Why? Because i hadn't actually seen any photos of how it was done.

So I pulled out my "How to Knit Socks: 3 methods made easy" and flipped over to the Magic Loop section.

Now I was not working on socks, I was instead working on The Great Batsby. Whom I might say, is mostly finished. I just need to do his wings.

Batsby before I shaped his ears.

My yardage meter. One of the rubber band bracelets is Cancer Awareness, and the other is Katrina Relief. Both of the bracelets are thanks to mother of mine, as mine are hidden away somewhere upstairs.

But isn't it pretty? I made it meself.

Best laid plans..

2009-06-15T08:05:00.003-06:00

Alright, so Mother of Mine and I had a plan. Friday was supposed to be a double header of our local AAA baseball team. Saturday was supposed to be opening day of Faire.

Well turns out there was a snafu with the tickets for baseball (basically someone got the wrong info. Not only was the game on Saturday, not Friday, but the tickets were also completely sold out, but there was the possibility of two tickets for us.)

We had decided that we could miss opening day of Faire.. as frankly.. it's no big deal to me anymore. I don't know about Mother of Mine, but I'm not rushing out to faire.

So Friday, we spent chilling at home waiting to find out if we'd have tickets for the game on Saturday.
Late that evening we found out that there were not any tickets.

No biggie.

Friday (I think... I can't recall.. the weekend has blurred) I spent the day washing and rewinding my tragic Bamboo. Yes, this is that bamboo yarn from months ago that arrived damaged. Figured I should get it washed since I was going to have dye arriving soon.

Oh, Friday I also stopped at Home Depot and picked up the final supplies for my Yardage Meter, and a PVC Niddy Noddy.

Got it washed. Got it skeined into two very large skeins.

Saturday, I decided I was going to deskein it into mini skeins. And when I say mini.. I mean 450 yards as opposed to 2 skeins consisting of 1800 yards.

Well, everything is an experience, and one learns from those experiences.. Lets just say, I have learned a lot.

I made the mistake of thinking I corral the yarn, having it draped on my wooden staff, while I slowly pull the yarn, run it through the meter, and put it onto my swift.

Simple plan right?

BIG mistake.

Thankfully, it was the smaller skein of the two that I had been working with..
But yes, the half entire mess slid off the staff at one point and now is a pool of tangled bamboo yarn.
I spent all of Saturday night, including staying up past midnight working on untangling bits.

I also spent most of Sunday doing the same.

What do I have to show for over 10 hours of untangling? Oh.. about 300yards. Thats about it. And that poor skein has so many joins in it. Thank goodness I wasn't planning on selling it.

Finally after giving up about 3:30 in the afternoon (seriously, after having worked on it since 8 am) I felt like I could fall asleep right then and there. I was so exhausted. I forgot to mention my back, neck and knees throughout this entire process were on fire. After dinner (about 4:30) I finally decided that I couldnt' just give up for the night entirely. I had put away the tangled mess so that we weren't tripping on it, but I took down the much larger skein. The one that I was originally afraid of tangling lol.
I put it on my swift.
I then slowly ran off 450 yards worth through my meter and onto my ball winder.

Took me about 15 minutes. And the reason it took that long, was because the skein was so big on the swift, I couldn't just pull the yarn and make it move. I had to pull a section off slowly, and then run it through and cake it (put it on the winder). Then repeat the process.

I'm just going to cake up the entire amount, and then after that I'll use my niddy noddy to skein it for dyeing.

And then.. then and only then will I go back to working on the other skein of tangled mess.

I have to admit.. Other than my back hurting to the point of tears... I am quite proud of myself when it comes to this fiasco.. I didn't get frustrated, I didn't scream and yell.. I just sat there with a zen like concentration untangling the mess and watching movies.
By the by.. on to movies.

The Unit season 3- very good season.. Sad that it was cut short due to the writers strike. But loved it.

Battlestar Galactica season 3- also a good season. I admit I was very confused by the first episode. But then everything started making sense.

Doom- Yup. Finally watched it. I needed a Karl Urban fix. It was a fun movie. Brought back memories, as I remember playing Doom when I was kid. It was the only video game that was at our friend Grace and David's house.. so guess what I played? yup. I sucked at the game. But the movie was amusing.

Mulberry- a British show from.. well I have no idea when it was done. The music for the opening credits and the closing credits are HORRIBLE. But otherwise the show was amusing. It was about a mysterious man who was sent to deal wtih a horrible cranky old lady. turns out, he's a grim reaper sent by death. The show was cute.

Primeval - I really liked this show. Not much to say about it other than I'd really love to have my own little Rex.

Umm.. I think thats it for now...

I'm flipping exhausted by the by.

Oh and I'm reading Dead and Gone the newest Sookie Stackhouse book. I am once again slightly sad that I do not have HBO as the new season of True Blood is starting. Well.. haven't seen season 1 yet fully so it's not a big deal but everyone loves to chat about it online. Sigh.

Okay, I guess it's back to work for me. I'm less freaked out now by work than I was on Friday.

Bugs and Hisses

It happened.

2009-06-12T10:20:00.002-06:00

My life is about get 100% worse.

No, I'm not being melodramatic.

As of July 31st, my desk is gone.

The irony of this.. is that tomorrow marks my 2 year anniversary on this desk.

They offered me a position on the Department of Education desk. Which is a nightmare for me. But I would have been stupid not to accept it.

If I didn't accept it, I wouldn't have gotten unemployment. So, you can see why I needed to accept it.

But this is going to be life altering, because for over 9 months now, I've worked through my lunches and left early on Fridays.
This started due my unfortunate almost like clockwork, migraine showing up on Thursday. I would work through my lunches, so that if I had to leave early on Thursday, I wouldn't miss any pay, and also wouldn't then have to work nearly a 12 hour day on Friday.

I do not know if they will let me do this on the new desk.
The new desk scares me.
They fire people over there.
And they have mandatory down time during the summer. Meaning, your still employed, but not working. This, is not quite as scary for me, as when I'll be moving over there, is past the Down Time period, and as I am moving at the beginning of the summer next year, I don't think I'll end up being affected by the MDT.

But also I shall have the stress of a brand new desk. To me, it's a brand new job. It's just at the same building.
Also, I will be a regular agent again. That means inbound calls, and no control over what I get.

That means, my stress level is going to go through the roof.

I honestly want to cry.

Really cool peeps.

2009-06-11T06:41:00.003-06:00

I did it.
I just sent the email to order my first set of Dyes.
only 4 colors, which is perfect for the starting point I need.

This morning while I was brushing my teeth I decided on another colorway I want to add to my eventual list.

But mostly I started this post to talk about the amazing people.

Reni, a friend on Ravelry sent me a little something something. It wasn't anything special in her words, but when she saw it, she thought of me.
Now, she has no idea just what she did.
It was a bookmark of The Wicked Witch of the West and it was green and sparkly and awesome (there shall be photos soon.. ) and it says .. ack I'm not awake enough to remember it word for word. But it basically says "You say Wicked like it's a bad thing"
Now, this basic sentence is what got me my nickname of Wicked all those years ago.
I was having a discussion with my friend Katie (Katie not Katte), and she looked up at me after I said that I didn't think Wicked was a negative word, and she said "Thats your name" and without missing a beat I said "your right." then we continued the rest of the discussion.
So it was just a little thing that Reni did, but it had a big impact as she didn't know anything about that little story. She knew I had a nickname of Wicked (as my ravelry ID is BewitchedWicked) but she had no idea where it came from.

Now also a buddy on Ravelry.. Spud's bud to be exact, sent me a package of herbs from his garden. that was freaking awesome.
Last night we had NY Strip Steaks (hey, they were on sale) with fresh Thyme on it. YUM.
Tonight, shall be salmon cakes with some of the fresh Dill.

I have also found, what shall be my UKBFF. Yes, i did in fact utter the word BFF. But, Jo (another Ravelry person) and I have been just chattin' up a storm, and have discovered that we pretty much love all the same things. Her passions? Knitting and Reading. Hmmm... considering my life goals... I'm alright with these hobbies lol. She and I plan on wearing Dead Fish hats (alright, her's is technically not a Dead Fish.. and mine won't be a dead fish, but instead a Blow Fish...) to the Tower of London. We also have Nights of Drunken Dyeing planned. Followed by Days of Sober Dyeing... tee hee.. methinks the drunken nights will instead just end up being Movie Appreciation nights.
Jo is one awesome lady. She's helping me out so much with my whole Dyeing plan.. I honestly... wouldn't have as much confidence if it weren't for her. She has done some dyeing. She also is an avid knitter. And most importantly, she'll tell me what looks good and what doesn't. This is important. For the past week now I've been bouncing ideas off of her. She has also graciously allowed me to someday steal a colorway that she created. It's freaking awesome, and of course she shall always get credit for it both in acclaim, and monetary format. It's only right. Also according to her, I think outside the yarn box. Which is a good thing, as most dyers find one thing, and stick to it.

I'm babbling because I'm not awake.

Seriously, I need to stop dreaming about yarn. lol.

Alright. I guess back to work for me.

Excited again, and The Great Batsby

2009-06-10T11:57:00.004-06:00

So I've been meaning to blog for a little while now.
I've even had things to blog about. But, I just never seemed to have the chance or the brain power to do so.

I am excited.

Oh, lets get through the other stuff first. ;-)
Work = dull right now. Thats alright though.

Saw Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian. It was quite fun. When I was younger I loved the Air and Space museum, so seeing it in a different light was quite enjoyable. Ben Stiller didn't even annoy me that much. No, the only person in the movie that annoyed me was the "I'm only famous because I'm fat and am slightly a comedian" actor Jonah Hill. I'm sorry, John Candy used up all the "I'm fat and stupid, so that makes me funny" quota. No one has ever come close to being him. Oh, and sadly the Jonas Brothers were in the movie as flying Cherubs. They were annoying.
And yes, it rained on us, so we really did see the movie.

Now on to some more exciting stuff.
Sunday I had a bit of a break through in the writing.
No, I did not add to the chapter I was working on, but I actively got a Chapter Outline started, and it actually helped me get past the place I was stuck. So I am quite excited about that. I allayed my concerns that I had about certain pre-existing correlations, but in the end.. Hey.. those authors had the same process on human friendship as I did. So I'm not going to fret.
Guy was quite helpful in figuring out some of the military stuff, and yes, I have a lot of play in what I actually end up working with, but now I at least have a base to start from.

On to other exciting stuff..
Tomorrow, I am going to purchase my first set of dyes. Yes, yes I will.
I can't recall if I've mentioned it before, but I have just found a supplier of non acid dyes, that work just like Acid dyes.
What does that mean?
Well, all the readily avail dyes out there for the non animal based yarns... suck. The process is "Cold" and so takes FOREVER. And you don't get good vibrant colors either.
Well, the dyes I just found are "Hot" like the regular animal based dyes. The process is the same, the only thing I won't have to worry about is the pH level of the bath. WOOHOO.
I already know exactly which colorway I'm gonna do first. I can't wait. I'm excited. It's odd, because the colors are not something I would normally do for myself. But, this is an experiment, and also it was the only colorway I could do in only 3-4 dyes.

Also, any day now I should have a Rolotape meter arriving, so that I can accurately count off my yardage. Hey, I'm for real on wanting to start a business.. I need to know exactly how many yards are in my skeins.

Also, any day I should be getting Santa Olivia from Amazon.com (i was buying the rolotape, so I figured I could justify the cost of finally getting Santa Olivia)

The reason I am buying Santa Olivia is because June 25th, Jacqueline Carey will be IN Denver for a book signing. Woohoo!
Her new book Naamah's Kiss comes out the DAY before her visit, so I will pick that one up in person instead of running the risk of it not arriving on time for her to sign it.

Saturday mom and I are going to a baseball game.
It is opening day of faire, but mom got the tickets thinking the game was on Friday. No worries. I'm alright with not going to Faire opening day.
I might go closing day.. but who knows.. I'll go if and when I feel like it.

An awesome person on Ravelry gave me a free copy of one of her new patterns, as it was something I had slightly requested her to make. (I asked her to make a gargoyle pattern, and this she made first.. so it's close) The condition of getting the pattern free is that I have to make a SteamPunked Bat. Woohoo I think I can do that.

So I cannot wait to start playing with The Great Batsby

He actually clips on things. Tee hee.

Alright, I guess I'm just trying to kill time.

oh, and I'm bummed because Since JC is coming to town, it means I cannot go to REPO the Genetic Opera in Denver the night after. I just can't justify driving to Denver two nights in a row for no other reasont than to just see a movie and get a book signed. lol

An odd morning for certain.

2009-06-03T06:35:00.002-06:00

This morning after I came into work, and did my "first thing in the morning responsibilities", I steeled my reserve, straightened my spine, and walked in to my bosses office.

I didn't immediately shut the door, so for once he didn't get that "Uh Oh." deer in headlights expression. (The reason for not shutting the door was simply because there were only 3 other people in the entire office and they were all at least over 30 feet away. Privacy wasn't really going to be an issue.

I let him know where I was mentally with the state of the desk.
After all, moral kind of took a nose dive after we laid off 3 people, and shifted 2 people away(By all rights, we technically also got at least 2 people back, so we really didn't reduce our numbers.)

I let him know that I was absolutely terrified of being shuffled over to the other main desk we have here. They fire people instead of laying them off, they also have entire weeks (during the summer especially) where they don't lay you off or fire you, they just don't let you work. (Or they only let you work a few hours).
He understood my fear of that desk, and also of the other desk we have- which is not nearly as scary as the first one I mentioned, but it's still scary enough because they also fire, not lay off.

I let him know that I did the math, and by all technical accounts, I can afford to be laid off. (Not fired)
Now before you freak out, he understood that I wasn't lining myself up to be let go in the next round (if we have one). No, he knew I was letting him know, that if it came down to it, and the desk went away... What the best options for me were. Also, karmically, if me being laid off means someone else who desperately needs to be working can keep a job, then I'm okay with that.
The bottom line is, I'm moving. July 2010 come hell or high water, I'm moving. I have nearly half, of my over all "move money goal". Right now, I can move my cat. Or I can move my belongings. Not both.
But, if it comes down to it. The cat can stay a few months longer. The belongings can be put into storage until I can afford for it to be shipped.

I will be one of the last people who ever get let go when it comes down to it. I am one of the very few people who bring revenue into our desk.

The summer is always a slow time for us. It always has been.
Fall through till after Christmas is our really busy time. Then we get slow again till around graduation. Then the cycle repeats.

So I'm not actually worried about loosing my job any time soon. That doesn't mean I'll relax though, because I'll still do the best work that I can do, and continue to make myself indispensable.

I feel better now that I've had the talk with the boss, as in the end, he is the one who decides where I go and what happens to me.
I've always been lucky in the fact that I can openly talk to him.
It so far has never come back to bite me in the bum which is good. He knows where I'm at. I know where the desk is at. I know where I am at with him. And for now, I'm one of the safest people here.

Alright, moving along before I keep rambling.
This morning was an odd morning.
Well, technically it started yesterday.
I came home to Mother of Mine asking how to reboot the internet.
I started walking her through all the steps, that way if it happens when I'm not home, she can do it.
During that process, we discovered that the modem wasn't powering back on. I hadn't looked before I told her to unplug it, if there had been any lights.
I tried turning on the computer that was plugged into the same power strip- no go.
Huh, looks like the power strip finally died. I mean, I'm not surprised.. that one was prolly at least 10 years old, if not more.
Plugged the modem into a different power strip, everything booted up fine, we had the net again.
I didn't think much of it, thinking it was just that power strip.

This morning, I wake up. I go to walk downstairs.
The light above the stairs doesn't come on. huh. interesting... "damnit" I thought, we burned out another bulb. That means it'll be 6 months at least before it gets fixed, because we can't do it. We have to have the leasing company do it.
I make my way downstairs (normally it's not a big deal, but today it was raining so that meant no natural light coming in the house)

I turn on the kitchen light. - nothing.
I look at the stove, the clock is correct. I look at the microwave, the clock is correct.
My bathroom light had turned on when I was upstairs, and my alarm clock had gone off. Thus, it was not power failure.
I turn on the dining room light (which is on the same set of switches as the kitchen light) - nothing.

It's weird, because it's only 2 sets of switches in the entire house that aren't working like they should. And I don't think they are on the same fuse.
Mom is going to check the fuses when there is natural light (the fuse box is outside- i know... BRILLIANT!)

So that's how my morning started.
It's now an hour into my work day. Though I've been up for 2 and a half hours.. and I am only just now being able to eat my brekkie. (Yum, a peanut butter and jelly sammich... sigh.. I must really buy milk so I can have my normal cereal.)

Also.. it is the 3rd of June, and it has rained every day. Or at least been drizzly.
Methinks this shall be an odd summer.

I guess thats all the rambling I'll do for now. Must go make myself indispensable.

Hush, Hush, Off the Record, and on the QT.

2009-06-01T10:28:00.003-06:00

Alright. So I'm not going to go into details, because I don't want someone swooping in and doing it before me. Mainly, someone who can afford to play right now.

So, those who already know what I'm talking about.. Keep yer traps shut? mmmkay?

Now, you might be thinking to yourself, "So why is she blogging about it, if she doesn't want to talk about it, and doesn't want others to talk about it?"
Well, my dear readers.. the answer to that is:

I'M SO EXCITED!

I just can't hide it. And you know, you know.. I think I like it.

No in all seriousness, I am just practically foaming at the mouth right now with excitement.

If what I'm planning actually works, it will revolutionize a certain little world of mine. And will just be so awesome.
I honestly don't care if no one else is as excited as I am. Because I'm selfish, and I'll just do it for myself lol.

I am thinking, next pay day... I'm going to at least splurge a little, and get a few of the things I need to accomplish this goal. I know.. I know I'm crazy.. but I need to see if it will work before I even try.

Alright, I'm done babbling in my elusive way.

Just.. Squee.

Oh, and on a completely different note.

holy frak. It's June. Officially 13 months to go. Or.. 12.99 depending on how you look at it. ;-)

The love of Terminator. And cuddly werewolves.

2009-05-30T15:01:00.008-06:00

Alright. So, yesterday I was cranky. So very cranky that I couldn't wait to get out of work. I think what started the crankiness (Other than dealing with crappy internet services in the UK.. don't ask) was when the person who is my backup strolls in (late mind you) and immediately tells me how to do my job. I'm sorry, I was on break, I hadn't even logged back into my computer before he asked me to work a certain case. Which by the freaking way, I would have seen as soon as I logged in. But it was the fact that he told me to take care of it, just urked me. And he has done this with others, I frankly wanted to tell him to frak off and do his own job. (Which by the way, there was no reason he couldn't have taken care of the ticket himself. It took a total of 30 seconds to type 2 sentences and send it back to where it came from.)
That was about 9 am, and it put me into a foul mood till I got out of work at 12:30, which was 30 minutes later than my normal Fridays thanks to Monday having been a holiday.
I decided that it was going to be a day where if I stayed in the house, it would be a bad thing. Grabbed Mother of Mine and headed over to the mall to see a movie. Now, we normally do not go to the mall for movies, but I technically had errands on that side of town. (mostly, gas had been cheaper over there for the last few weeks. Of course because I was finally going to that station, it was now the same price as everwhere else.)
Mother of Mine and I puttered around the mall, and got ourselves some pretzels. Dealt with noisy kids, and a pain in my neck from walking around the mall. I was reminded why I don't like to go to that theater. (Granted, I hadn't been to that particular theater in quite possibly.. 10 years, but it hasn't changed)

Then we saw it.
Yes, we saw Terminator Salvation.

Now, those who don't know me, won't know my feelings when it comes to all that is The Terminator.
I love the movies. I grew up watching them. I personally feel that the first one is a romance chick flick. Yes, yes I did just say that.
Why do I think this?
Mostly, I can give you 1 reason.
Kyle Reese.
"I came across time for you Sarah."
Makes me melt every time.

Hmmm between Jareth from The Labyrinth, Kyle Reese from Terminator, James Bond, and James Fraser (Outlander books) it might explain why I have such a high standard for men lol.

Being a youngin' that I was, I remember actively making the decision to watch T1 and T2 on the special Judgment day. Which, for those who don't know, was August 1997.
Skynet came online August 4th, and Judgment day was actually August 29th.

I dislike the 3rd Terminator movie, because.. well it just didn't feel right.
I have grouped it into the batch of movies I pretend don't exist. Though, this one I will actually own, as I will have to have all the T movies.. most likely on Blue Ray someday. (Yes, technically my copies of T1 and T2 are still on VHS, and I'm not going to upgrade till after the move. - Hunny.. hint hint but wait till all 4 come out in whatever spiffy boxed set they're going to do.. as you know they will. )

Now, moving on to Salvation.
Once again, I love Kyle Reese. This time he was not played by Michael Biehn, but instead is played by Anton Yelchin. (You'll know him from many things, but most notably the new Star Trek Enterprise movie) Who I have recently gotten an extreme crush on. He is so adorable.
Marcus, played by Sam Worthington is a hot Aussie, and I kept catching his accent, when I'm sure not too many other people would. But yeah.. He's hot. He did a good job in the role he had. I won't go into details as that will spoil things.
Christian Bale played John Connor all grown up. Though he was limited by the existing lore of the character, and the actors who have played him previously.. I think he did an excellent job.

One thing that annoyed me in the movie, was the tapes that Sarah Connor made for John. I was sitting there in the theater thinking "how could they get someone else to do the tapes? Why didn't they just use the recording of the original tapes from the first movie?? They got the freaking photo of her, why couldn't they get the tapes?"
Well, my annoyance was that it didn't sound like Linda Hamilton.
To my chagrin, it was Linda doing the tapes. She went uncredited in the part, but yes, it was in fact her. In my defense, it really sounds nothing like her. And Mother of Mine also did not think it was her. Linda has a very distinct voice to me, as I grew up listening to her in Terminator, Beauty and the Beast, and everything else she's done. I always know it's her. So I was completely shocked when her voice sounded so different.
Mayhaps I'll just mentally chock it up to the tapes having been distorted in the 30 years since they had been made and thats why it didn't sound like her. - That might be plausible enough lol.

There were many little homages in the movie that made me squee in geekdom. (For those who haven't seen it... keep an eye out for a scene later in the movie involving John, a metal walk way, and a Terminator... it is very.. reminiscent of a very good scene from T2)
Arnie was in the movie, not as an actor, but just his likeness. And I think they did an AMAZING job.

On a different note, there was a scene that amused me. I couldn't help but think of a scene from The Princess Bride, and the entire time I watched this scene I had Vizzini's voice in my head saying "Those are the shrieking eels". Again, for those who have not seen it, you'll know which scene I'm talking about.

The movie made me jump many times. Which is slightly hard for a movie to do to me anymore, so this was quite fun.

All in all, GO SEE IT. It is very worth seeing on the big screen. I laughed, I cried, I jumped out of my seat.

Now moving along.

Yesterday I also received my 2nd package from the Vampire Club.
Whoohoo more Lucien yarn.

This month also included a cute little stitch marker.
I love the pattern by Gherkin, that is called Fangtasm. Unfortunately, it is 1) a sock, and 2) a toe up sock. Which until I get over my aversion to socks, this one is going to not get touched. And also I do not yet know how to do toe up socks- which is not nearly as simple as doing a regular sock. I did wish to learn how to do a toe up sock, but then my aversion happened.

Here are photos, and I apologize for the lack of photos previously (I can't recall if I had posted them or not) as I didn't get good photos last time.
Today, the light outside was gorgeous.

And now for an action shot with my lovely new swift. Ignore the chaos behind it, we are rearranging the house-mostly the front room, so it's a mess.

I absolutely LOVE the swift. It took me 10 minutes to cake up a skein of yarn with it instead of the hour it had taken previously, and that was if I was lucky enough to not have it tangle into a horrible mess like Lucien did previously. (Seriously 8 hours minimum spent untangling it)

Oh, and on a completely random note... I just watched a cute movie. "The Student Prince" It was enjoyable. It had Rupert Penry-Jones (Known from Spooks, and Casanova) when he was verra young.

Okay, I guess I'm done rambling.

Bugs and Hisses.

A tease of an idea...

2009-05-26T19:00:00.002-06:00

Just something that amuses me greatly.

And no. I'm not gonna talk about it.

And if you don't know where it's from, then shame on you.

My "Ah ha!" moment from last night.

2009-05-26T11:26:00.003-06:00

Last night, I was actually writing.

Woohoo!

Then I hit a wall.
I was trying to describe clothing.

And then I told myself "I will need to research the clothing of the 1890's. Darnit. Can't write anymore tonight."

I started researching a bit. And then it hit me.

It doesn't matter.
I am not writing about London that was.
I am writing about London that never was. Thus, I can play with the clothing a bit. No drastic changes, but I am no longer held to the rules of "this is what they wore in that time period."

I then started zooming when it came to writing again.

So I have a feeling that when it comes to this particular novel, I will have to constantly remind myself "This is my world. Not theirs. My world, my rules."

Moving along. Yesterday Mother of Mine needed new sneakers.
So we hit the shoe stores.
I shouldn't have gone in. I should have just had my mom meet me at Whole Foods next door.

But I went in.

Now, shoe shopping for me has always been a PITA. I mean serious pain.

I've worn a size 7 and up since the 5th grade. I now wear a 10, and have worn a 10 for the last like... Oh well.. since high school.

Finding a pair of shoes that 1)fit, 2)I like, and 3) don't kill my knees is nigh on impossible.

Boots even more so.
I found a pair of sexy sexy black boots.
I made the mistake of trying them on.

I could actually zip them up over my massively large calves (thank you Track when I was a kid)
I didn't wobble. I could walk. they didn't pinch.

And they were 40% off. Sigh. I was suckered in as soon as I saw them.

Next pair of boots.
Not quite as sexy, not a color I would normally buy.

Again, knee high boots. Suede.. Cowboy style heel.
My mind went "Ren Faire?"

For years now, I generally have to leave mid day because the only boots I have, are not good Faire Boots, and my back generally is in too much pain to allow me to continue. Having a low heel is better for our rocky terrain.
These were more expensive.. but they were also 40%
So, for two pairs of boots, I spent 120$
Not bad... If the Ren Faire boots last me even 1 season, and make it possible for me to enjoy myself, then they will have been money well spent. (Not to mention, I can use them while mucking about the field in England.)
(Only in Black) And yes, I am SOoooo wearing those to Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince.

I guess thats all my rambling for now... My body and mind, really do not want to be here at work today.

Ramblings of the insane, and a few reviews.

2009-05-25T08:53:00.006-06:00

Last night Mother of Mine and I watched Australia.

I must admit, that when I originally saw the trailers for it... I thought "hmmm looks like something I want to see.. but it looks like something I'd need to be in the mood for"

Which is why it hadn't been watched until now.

Don't get me wrong, I'm a HUGE fan of Baz Luhrman. I do in fact own the Red Curtain Collection, and Strictly Ballroom has been one of my all time favorite movies.
I'm also a huge fan of Hugh Jackman. I mean, heck... I once recorded a PBS showing of Oklahoma! because he was in it. (I managed to somehow not watch it before I accidentally recorded over it, but you still get the point.)

Now, one of the reasons I was meh about watching it, was because I just have to be in a mood to watch one of her movies. I'm not saying she's a bad actress... I'm just saying I tend to have to be in a mood.

But Australia finally came in last night at the library.

Now, the first thing I will say... is if the trailers had actually shown what most of the movie was about... I would have watched it a LONG time ago.

The trailers made it seem that the movie was ONLY about War coming to Australia.
And also, that it was because of the war that Lady Ashely (Nicole Kidman's character) goes to Australia for.

Without giving away the movie.. I'll say, that only about the last half to last quarter of the movie has anything to actually do with the war.

Ironically, I'm glad that I've watched McLeod's Daughters a bit prior to watching Australia, because if I hadn't... I think all the Droving, would have just made me think of City Slickers (you know... Billy Crystal). Which, though there were a few times I snorted thinking about that movie... I was glad my mind was flicking more back and forth between what was on the screen and the droving of McLeod's Daughters. (Mostly, I was just thinking about the "Station House" and how something can in fact have been around for over 100 years, and doing the exact same thing as it was built for originally.)

The movie, very much had Baz's signature flair. OR at least, the very beginning did. There was no doubt in my mind watching the first 30 minutes of the movie that this was in fact a Baz Luhrman film.

The music was very gorgeous, and of course I ended up going to bed having "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" in my head. Which, if you see the movie, you'll understand.

The cinematography was absolutely without a doubt breath takingly gorgeous. And they did such a great job with the Green Screen, that you can only tell it was employed in very few scenes. I don't know how many it was actually used in, but there are some where you could tell. Which, there were obvious reasons for it.

Wicked's vote: I'll own this someday. (And thats saying something!)

Moving along...
I quickly read over the weekend, the latest book by Joanne Fluke.
Cream Puff Murder.

I have to admit, though this book was slightly annoying in the aspect that it was mostly centered around Hannah's waistline and the need to loose a few pounds.
The person who died in this one... I, like others am very glad to see dead.
Mike, one of Hannah's two boyfriends... I have decided I do not like. Originally, I used to be more Team Mike rather than Team Norman. I mean.. who wouldn't want the hot police detective as opposed to the slightly normal looking dentist. Dentists have the highest rate of suicidal tendencies per year. Perhaps I'm the only who thinks about that in the grand scheme of things when it comes to choosing a partner.
Yes, Mike has more danger when it comes to his profession, but is less likely to kill himself when it comes down to it.

Right now, I'm definitely more in the Team Norman camp. I'd kill for his house. lol.

Almost through with Sandman Volume 3 by Neil Gaiman.
Started reading Summer Knight again by Jim Butcher. Hopefully I'll be able to finish it this time before it's due back at the library or one of my other "gotta read this now because there is a waiting list a mile long" books comes in.
That means Sookie has been put down for the moment.

Oh, on completely random news. I got something really cool, and I don't recall if I had talked about it yet or not.

Leslie over at Dv'yne Writes, has a contest every month for those who subscribe to her news letter. As I have known Leslie for years thanks to the Colorado Ren Faire... and I've owned at least one of her notebooks, and have lusted over many more of them.. I of course would be a subscriber to her latest news. I mean, I never would have known about her awesome leather covers for say.. Harry Potter, or the other books she has.. I mean amazing work.
Well, I happened to win this months free journal give away.
It arrived quickly, as well.. she lives only about 70 miles away from me. Ironically, the journal via the post office, would have traveled more than that, because though she lives in Littleton, I'm willing to bet it had to go to Denver (north), then back south to me.
I opened up the box, and was BLOWN away. I mean absolutely blown away by what I found.
I was expecting one of the little soft sided refillable notebooks.. (like the one I have) I mean, it's one of the less expensive books she sells (which is why I have it. I mean I bought mine at least 10 years ago, and I could never afford any of the more expensive ones), and one generally figures that for a free give away, it would not be an expensive one.

Well, the journal I got was a 60$ slightly hardsided non refillable journal.

Sad news is that Leslie will not be at CRF anymore. She officially sold her booth, and is moving on to other things. I wish her luck though, and I don't blame her for wanting to move along. CRF was not a money maker for her in the recent years (I know this due to having a friend who worked her booth for a few seasons) I'm sure she also has other reasons for moving along. She will be missed.

Moving along...

Yesterday.. or was it the day before? I got an idea into my head. This is always dangerous. As I should have been writing or knitting. Not painstakingly editing a photo so that I can maybe make it work in a chart, and then attempt to knit it up.

If this works, it will be FREAKING AWESOME.
If it doesn't work... I will be once again reminded why I do not like socks. lol.

I won't really say what I'm working on yet... but I will say this.. "Wuv... True Wuv"

Hmmm I wonder if this can count as part of my Read/Knit Along? I'll have to see.

Alright. I guess I'm done rambling for now. I guess I should try to write.
Oh, and I must say.. .even though I put down Alex and her world of vamps... they are still talking in my head. Constantly.

Which recently has come up a lot it seems. Marissa commented on her blog, how writing is an acceptable form of schizophrenia. I agree with that statement. (Mind you, I was paraphrasing) It reminded me of the introduction in the first volume of "Comedity", where Garth talks about his friend's experience when it came to being a writer.
His friend had a high paying job (he delivered payroll in his own car, through nasty parts of town.. so he was really really well paid due to the danger involved). He quit his job to become a writer and work on his novel. Well, of course when Tax time came around, he went from reporting a lot of income to reporting 0 income for the year. He of course was audited. He went in sweating and freaking out, and having everything he could possibly have ready to explain his expenses for the last year, and when the taxman asked "so... why did you go from reporting _____ much, to reporting nothing"
Friend: "Well sir. I quit my job to write"
Taxman: "Oh." *scribble and rubber stamp* "We're done."
Friend: "What?"
Taxman: "You are crazy. And this crazy is explainable. Have a good day."

Apparently, per the IRS, writers are insane, as we will willingly go from having high paid careers (ha i wish) to having zero income for a year or more.

(Again, paraphrasing.. but the words crazy, and insane were actually used, and the convo was that short. I'm not willing to dig out my copy of Comedity right now as it is upstairs)

So not only are we schizophrenic, but we per the taxman are also insane.
This makes sense to me. As I remember sitting in my 2nd period class my Sophomore year of highschool working on a play I was writing.. my first one "Just an ordinary day... like no other", and my friend Nikki (not the crazy Irish one, but slightly Hispanic one) asked me how I could write what I was writing. I mean, 70 pages of dialogue? She wanted to know where it came from. I couldn't explain it other than "I just hear them talking." And it's true. It's also the reason I only wrote plays for the longest time.. Because I could hear the voices, but I sucked at the "The color of the mountains at dawn reminded me of a glass of sherry held up to the light coming in from the window." That kind of stuff.. I sucked at it back then. I wrote poems and plays. That was me.
I'm partly still sucky at it, I have to force myself to do description, and thats partly why I end up putting down somethings I'm working on. Actually, that is one of the reasons I had to put Alex down, Denver and it's descriptions were kicking my ass lol. I digress..

Is it insanity, when I clearly hear entire conversations of people who do not exist? If I never put my pen to paper, and I only just spoke of the convos... would I have been forced to undergo meeting with psychiatrists? No, I don't think so. Mostly because I come from a family where we tend to embrace our creativity in all it's forms. (or at least we do now)
I was never a child who had "imaginary friends" or at least none that I remember. I don't consider the voices I've always heard my imaginary friends. Though, these voices in my head tend to be best friends. So, I guess in fact they are the epitome of what one would call an imaginary friend.

Well.. I'm rambling.. so I guess I'll leave it here. But yes, I guess I just confirmed what all of you have thought of me for years. I'm absolutely bonkers. ;-)

I think the only thing that really drives me crazy, is not only do I have Alex, Daniel and Kit talking in my head right now, but I've got my people from my new novel chattering as well. It can get confusing at times lol.

Oh and the final note. My gods... homemade chocolate chip cream cheese rolls.. are just still so wonderful.. no matter how many times I make them.

The Lunatics have taken over the Aslyum

2009-05-22T10:11:00.002-06:00

Alright, I splurged yesterday.

Collide is a band that I enjoy, but have never been able to justify spending the money to 1)buy a physical cd, and 2) I haven't been able to justify spending money on any of their cool merchandise.
When I say merchandise, I mean the shop Saints and Sinners, which is run by KaRin who is a member of Collide, so thus, the merchandise in the shop helps support the band.

I got an email, my usual monthly email from Collide. And in that email, they announced a sale that was happening till the end of May. If you order from Saints and Sinners before the end of May, you'll get a free Collide cd of your choice.

Hells yeah.

So, I decided to get meself one of the belt buckles I was wanting, and opted for the Vortex CD, which I realized after I placed the order, that Vortex is a 2 disc set. Woohoo. They didn't say that Vortex wasn't an option for the free cd, and it is the only cd that has my favorite song.

The song in question... "The lunatics have taken over the Asylum" (I think it might be on the live cd, but i'm not fond of live cds)

So for 34$ (after shipping) I got a spiffy belt buckle, and a 2 disc cd. Woot.

Saints And Sinners

I also splurged when I got home, as I mentioned that Knit Picks has a wooden Swift on sale for 50$ (normally like 89$)

So mom and I decided to split the cost, as I really don't want to spend another 8 hours untangling a skein of yarn.

I know when the move happens, we'll have to decide who gets to keep it... But perhaps, I'll be able to have bought a new one by then. If it stays the same price, in a few months, we'll both pitch in for another one and that way we'll both have one and it didn't dent our bank accounts too much.

Knit Picks Yarn Swift

I also bought a new set of needle tips, in size 6, slowly I'll have all the ones I need.
I also got myself one ball of the Knit Picks Comfy so that I can start doing some gauge and figure out how much I'll need for my Av's sweater.

Yummy Non Woolly Stuff.

2009-05-20T17:50:00.008-06:00

So I am totally BLOWN away. Today after spending too much money at the Evilmart, I came home and had a little package waiting for me.

Faux Cashmere, Milk Protein, Tussah Silk, Carbonized Bamboo
(Photo is not mine, it is stolen from Gherkin)

Gherkin over at Gherkin's Bucket did an amazing thing for me.

What did she do?
She not only battled with the evil mail delivery service not once, but twice.

The first package of non woolly fiber got stolen when they "delivered" it.

So, she finally got a new delivery of non woolly goodness, and spun some up.

Some of it, was a bitch apparently. I believe it was the Milk Protein that was the bitch.

I don't know what I'll knit these up into yet, as I need to test how my body reacts to them.

I have to say, at first impression, I am loving the Carbonized Bamboo.
The Milk yarn is just gorgeous looking.
The Tussah Silk is... oh my god.. .as beautiful as I imagined it. It really makes me want to buy some hanks of it when I start my whole dyeing thing.

The Faux Cashmere is cute... and quite... i don't know how to describe it. Very soft to say the least.

Now, you can find her over at her ETSY shop, and I hope that you all talk with her. (She can also be found on Ravelry for those of you who are on there)
Pretty much she is the most awesomest person ever right now in my book.

Gherkin's Bucket

Poll is closed

2009-05-20T07:29:00.002-06:00

Well, I had forgotten about the poll lol. No not really, it just wasn't at the top of my mind for the past few days.

So it looks like 7 people voted

6 For the name Mathais Davenport and 1 saying "Find something else"

So, I'm curious... Who voted for the Find something else? And why?

The curiosity kitten is strong in me, so if your brave enough.. let me know.

I truly do value the comments.

Twice cursed

2009-05-20T06:47:00.003-06:00

Okay, lets just say that if I think of something to post, and don't post it that day... I for the life of me cannot recall what I wanted to post. So yes, you all are missing out on some witty quips because I'm too exhausted when I get home to post them.

This one I remembered.

Yesterday Mother of Mine and I were twice cursed by the same curse.

Mother of Mine made Lemon Bars as a little while ago we mentioned them and then went "Ooooh that'd be really good right now, and we have all those lemons"

Well, as Mother of Mine puts it "The bottom was cooked too much and the middle lemony part was not cooked enough." (We forgot to adjust anything for altitude, and I honestly don't believe we've made Lemon bars while living in Colorado. Having a daughter who is allergic to citrus like that tends to not make them high on the list.)

They were still quite yummy, they just require a fork to eat them. And my craving for lemony goodness has now been sated for another 10 years. The remainder of the bars will go with Mother of Mine to her quilt guild thingie today so that they are out of the house.

Also yesterday when I got home, I had been craving cream cheese filling/frosting. Don't ask why.. I just was. This was before I knew mom was making Lemon Bars.
But so I started whipping up a batch. It didn't taste right. I didn't do anything different than I ever do. (Mayhaps it was that I didn't measure the powdered sugar??)
No.. it was the curse.

For those who don't know... I am cursed. If I have a craving for something, it will inevitably taste... wrong. It does not matter if I make it, or go out and buy it. Or heck.. have it at a restaurant. If it's something that I'm craving (and yes, it has to be a craving.. you know... the kind that just stay with you until you give in.. that kind of craving).. it will just not be right.
This is highly annoying for obvious reasons.

The frosting, I have decided I will make the other part of it's original purpose, and that will be to make my chocolate chip cream cheese rolls. The frosting/filling, on my tongue tasted odd, will be just fine paired with the rolls it is originally meant for. Perhaps it was just my tastebuds being funny.

So this weekend, I shall dust off the bread machine and whip up some of the dough.

This week at work, (and yes I realize it's only Wednesday) has been... well not off to a good start. Thanks to the pesky earthquake in California on Monday, over 700 email servers went down. That meant.. I was busy. Everyone whining that they don't have their email.
We have finally caught up, but thats only because I worked my ass off and have already worked 241 billable tickets. Lets put this in perspective... Normally, I try to make sure I have 80 tickets... for the entire week. Anything above that is just gravy. So yes... I am exhausted.

At home:
I've been reading Absolute Sandman vol 3- don't know how I feel about this one yet. It's good.. but I don't know about the story.. Delirium is not my favorite character... Neither is Despair.

Also been rereading Dead Until Dark. It's amazing to remember how much I liked Bill at first.

Haven't been knitting the last few nights because I'm just too tired to deal with it mentally.

Been watching some of McLeod's Daughters (season 3) I really do need to go back and watch the earlier seasons, as I never ended up seeing them whilst my mom had them from the library. The show is good, and now I'm hooked. So back to the beginning it is for me. And by the way.. Season 3 is like... Sigh.. they were evil.

The heat is becoming an increasing issue. I can tell already that it will be a brutal summer, and my sleep is already becoming sporadic.

Okay, I guess I've rambled enough for now.

Bugs and Kisses people.

Sandman... bring me a dream...

2009-05-17T10:37:00.005-06:00

So last night, as I was crawling into bed...

I got a thought about a colorway I'd love to do when I start dyeing.

It was quiet appropriate as I dreamed it up in bed, as the colorway involves Sandman himself.

I won't go into details about it, because well.. I don't want people to steal my idea before I get the chance to dye him up. But if he turns out how I thought of him... it'll be gorgeous.

Unfortunately, it means I will definitely need to buy the Absolute Sandman, as my reference images are no where to be found online.

Hmm... perhaps if I actually wait till after I start my business, I can do it as a tax write off? Sigh.. I'll keep those thoughts at bay till I actually move. I will definitely need to consult a tax person over there, as I know nothing when it comes to the taxes of the UK.

I have decided that I will in fact be signing up for the Dyeing class at my local yarn shop, as I really do want to make sure I've got some talent for this- and I'm a visual person.. I can only glean so much from tutorials etc, I need to get my hands dirty so to speak. So, for 30$ I can get class instruction and dye up a skein or two. I think I have some ideas for what colors I want to play with in the class. Well, thats if they let me. I don't know if they'll let me do the stripey style in the class or if they will be having us do non variegation yarn.

Well, if I don't stop yapping now, I'll end up babbling, and I'll most likely end up babbling about the colorway.

So... Bugs and Hisses everyone.

Angels and Demons, Bones, and a moment of panic.

2009-05-16T18:42:00.008-06:00

So, I cast on and started my special project.
Some how, I messed up, and either cut an extra bit, or I split a bit, and I have to figure out what I did.

Figuring out that I messed up was actually only found out after I finished my second row, and 3 parts came off. It left me with a WTF? moment.

So after giving up last night due to frustration and sleepyness, I have not picked it back up again. I don't know if I will pick it up tonight or not, as my back is hurting, and I do not want to transfer any of the back pain vibes into the knitting. Which happens. And as this is a gift... I have to make sure it doesn't happen.

Yesterday I nearly had a heartastroke as, well mom and I went to see Angels and Demons.
We went to Whole Foods to buy a bit of lunch, and I must say that I feel as if I am cheating on my Whole Foods every time I go to the WF over on that side of town. It is a smaller one, and not nearly as good on top of the whole "I'm cheating" feeling.
After eating lunch, mom and I went to Coldstone next to the theater and got some ice cream.

Then we went into the theater. Of course we were the first ones there.

I sat down, got up, went to the loo, got us napkins, sat down, chilled, got comfy. So on and so forth.

I reached for my chapstick in my right pocket, and realized there were only 2 items in my pocket. My chapstick and my Orajel (the tooth I had a root canal on, and has been damaged etc has been bugging me, so I started keeping numb stuff with me again... you'd think that after 3 years (or more) of sucking that stuff down I'd be immune to it... nope. still works.. well for the most part. The problem I have can't be fully numbed, but I'll do my darndest.).

What was missing from my pocket was my flash drive.
I had distinctly remembered putting it in my right pocket when I left work.
Que me panicking.
I search under my seat.
I trace my steps back to the loo.
I come up with nothing.
Mom said she remembered seeing it poking out of my pocket while we were in the car eating.
I did technically have time to go out and check the car, but there was a reason I didn't. The reason was this: If I simply clung to the hope that it was in the car, I'd be able to possibly enjoy the movie. If I went out to the car and it wasn't there. I'd cry, and thus not really enjoy the movie. So, the fear of not knowing helped me in this case.

Fast forward, yes. It was in the car. Thank gods.
Seriously, I'd rather loose my wallet then loose my flash drive.
Not because the stuff isn't replaceable (at most I'd loose a few reference images, that I had just added, because I'm a smart girl and saved a copy of everything on my computer.) but because that would mean a copy of both my unpublished novels, my resumes, documents on the whole "starting my own business" thing. (Including a list of all my colorways.)
a wallet would be, though expensive (just the fees of replacing my cards etc) would be less frightening to replace then the creative content that would then be floating into the world without my control.

Now, on to the movie.

Angels and Demons

I absolutely LOVED the movie.
It was breathtakingly beautiful.
The music was fantastic.
The changes they made, for the most part were completely understandable, and did not affect the overall story too much.

The only gripe I had, was the "Illuminati Diamond"
I will not give spoilers as there are people who haven't seen it yet.

I have to say also, that it is amazing, how just 1 scene.. an innocent scene, can cause the entire audience to collectively gasp. And no, it's not a scene any of you prolly think it is.

I'll wait at least 2 weeks, then I'll chat about it.

One thing I can say without spoiling anything.. .because I doubt anyone other then myself would have noticed it...

But the writers created a paradox.
That, is amusing to me.

They created a paradox because, the story of Angels and Demons is supposed to be set prior to the events in The Da Vinci Code. This, was also established in the DaVinci Code, because of Robert Langdon saying "I've met the pope" or whatever the line actually was. It implied the story that we didn't see. The story of Angels and Demons.

Well, in Angels and Demons, they set those events AFTER the events of The DaVinci Code, and makes a point of setting it AFTER.

Which means they created a paradox. Considering the subject matter... the fact that they created a paradox just highly, highly amuses me.

After the movie, mother of mine and I went to Hobby Lobby, as she needed to pick up some more paint. Why is it, you can have over 50 bottles of paint in the house, but not have the exact color you need?? I swear it's a giant conspiracy.
I picked up two rubber stamps, as I couldn't not get them.

One is of a crooked witches hat, and the other says "Bugs and Hisses"

I had to.. I just absolutely had to.

Caught up with Moonlighting season 3, man that show was good. And oh my gods, Mark Harmon was a hottie in it. Yes, the show immediately started to jump the shark after the whole "hook up" moment, but I'll still continue to watch the seasons as they come out on dvd.

Right now, I'm starting Season 4 of Silk Stalkings. Again I love that show.

I finished reading Death Du Jour by Kathy Reichs. The 2nd book of the Bones books.

I know I've commented on this already, but it was highly enjoyable, and I honestly can't wait to read the next one. Got to actually see more of Detective Ryan, which was enjoyable.. I very much am starting to imagine David Boreanaz when I see Detective Andrew Ryan.

Next book up, I'll be finally actually starting The Princess Bride, and I'll also quickly reread Dead Until Dark.

Today mother and I went out to Panera for breakfast to use our last free sammich certificate before it expires. After that we hit up Evilmart, and I bought myself a new pair of jeans. Mother of mine found a pair for me, that actually fit, and when we rung them up, 3$ oh yeah, nothing like finding a pair of jeans that fit and paying less than 5$ for them.
Wait, no that still bothers me. I hate shopping at Evilmart, but I just can't justify spending 40$ on a pair of jeans right now when ever penny is trying to be saved.
My last pair of Evilmart jeans lasted me nearly a year, and that was a year of tough wear, so these should at least last me till the move if I'm good at rotating all my jeans out.

Alright, I think I've rambled on enough. I gotta go check on my dinner.

Bugs and Hisses everyone.

The Things One Sees in the Graveyard....

2009-05-15T06:02:00.012-06:00

This morning I woke up with time on my mind.

Specifically the passage of time.

All week long I've been complaining each day how I wanted the week to be over.
Then last night, I realized "tomorrow is Friday? wow."

I was once again reminded how The Day it's self goes slow, but the weeks go by quickly.
I mean, it's already the 15th of May.
I find this time warp situation most interesting. Am I the only one who experiences it?

This has been on my mind because I've been doing a lot of math.
Not my favorite subject.
But I realized I have less than 2400 work hours left in this country.
It wouldn't be so bad if it wasn't broken up into 8 hour groups with 48 hours of nothingingness in between.

Man I can't wait to get out of here. but yes, I did the math. 2400 work hours. Less than that, as that was on a 60 week time line. Which, this week is nearly over and it is also including the holidays.

Nope, I'm not counting down at all... *innocent whistle*

But yes this morning when I woke up, this was on my mind. It's been on my mind a lot recently, but I'm sure it was compounded by having watched the season 3 finale of NCIS last night. Where, not to give things away for those who haven't seen it... Gibbs ponders everything that has taken place in the last 15 years of his life. Well, that is a way to sum it up, but not the full and correct way. But to say anything further on it would give things away.

This being fresh in my mind, it really made me look this morning at the last 10 years of my life. Well, not so much all those ten years, but what I was doing 10 years ago.

This time 10 years ago... I was finishing up my very first year at High School. Yup, 9th grade. 1998-1999 was my Freshman year.

We had just moved to Colorado right before the start of school..

Columbine Highschool, as of this day.. would have been only a few weeks ago.
You know whats funny about that day....
I remember it rather clearly. It was "Senior Ditch Day" and I remember this one senior.. who was one of the "smokers", he always wore this black leather trench coat. He was one of the many at my school who did. But this day, he didn't. Infact he was quite... normal looking. He was wearing a white tshirt and a pair of blue jeans. Now, this might be normal to you.. but for him, it was odd. He always wore dark pants, a dark shirt, and his trench. He didn't have his trench. We laughed about how odd it was. I don't remember his reason for not wearing it.
I remember being in the office talking with my friend Amy. I was sitting no more than 10 feet from the principles office. She knew I was there, it was a study period and I often had free license to roam the school. They knew I was responsible, and so I never got in trouble. Lets see, that particular semester... I was actually the assistant to the Swim Coach, and the pool area had been particularly muggy that day which is why I was hanging out in the office.
I remember watching everyone in the office go on alert.
They didn't say what was going on, but I remember Mrs Bailey come out of her office with her walkie talkie and listened to her as she gave the order to 'quietly' lock down the school.
The bell rang, and I went to my 7th period class. Which also was with my Swim Coach, as I was in Life Guard Training.
I was one of the few lower class men to be in the class.
I was sitting next to my other friend Amy, and we got the announcement.
We then of course put on the tv and watched the travesty unfold.
I remember sitting there and when they panned across the parking lot of the school.. I remember seeing a Yellow VW Bug. I remember giving a half hearted laugh and said "Yellow Bug" (as I don't know if you ever played that game, but there was a game involving the Bugs and if you spotted one.. I don't remember the rules)
I remember Amy looking at me and saying something about "how could I say that, with whats going on." Then she paused and realized "oh. you need to laugh" (mind you, I'm paraphrasing right now)
She understood why I needed to laugh about something so silly as seeing a yellow VW Bug.

It did help lighten the mood in the room. (there were only like 7 of us in there)

School was then over. I don't recall how I got home. Whether it was via a ride from my 1)Mom, 2)friend, or 3) the bus.. I honestly can't recall.

Mom had not yet been diagnosed with cancer.
I was still a very good student. Participating in school plays, and the swim team, and a few other things.
I think my best friends were Jen(Diz) and Nix (Jess??) and of course Gabe.

10 years ago, Mom and I were living in a town house in Denver. I most likely had a mountain of laundry (it was a common occurrence that I quite literally wore every single piece of clean clothing I had before doing laundry, simply because we had to pay to use the washer and dryer, and it was always such a hassle.)
I didn't know how to drive. I had absolutely no desire to learn. (Ironically, I wouldn't actually learn for at least 5 years)

I saw my very first Hockey game that year I believe. Watched it on the Telly of course. It might have been the year after. I mean my memory is slightly fuzzy.

Alright.. enough of a trek down memory lane.

Last night, I cast on a new project. A project I had been putting off, as I was missing 2 skeins of yarn (well, I had bought enough for the project, but I got 4 skeins of 1 color, instead of 2 of one and 2 of another.)
I have decided to say screw it, and use the yarn I have.
I will not post pictures yet, as it is for someone.
I've never started a project like this, and it's taking a bit to wrap my head about it. I'm sure I'll do fine, it's just... odd. I'm actually really liking the colors. I might have to make one for myself. I mean, I had saved the pattern for myself as well before I ever decided to make it for someone else.

Review:
Underworld: Rise of the Lycans
I did enjoy this one. Though, I have to say I am annoyed that it was a different actress that played Sonja. Yes, I realize the original actress was.. not an actress. She was Miss Turkey '03 if I remember correctly. (The country, not the bird..)
I can understand then why they didn't use her. I mean all she did was writhe while chained up. Not much acting involved.
But I remember Sonja in the #1 (and #2) as being blond. The actress they used for Rise of the Lycans, was very much not blond. And it kind of bugged me.
Michael Sheen of course was fabulous as Lucien.
Bill Nighey of course is brilliant as always. No one could ever play Viktor like him.
It was nice to see everything from the Lycans point of view.
I will of course own it.

Having just watched the trilogy, I have to say I'm very glad I did. I forgot how much I love the movies... and it brought an interesting perspective to my own writing. Mostly the "rules" of the Vamps.
These vamps are not "dead". They are immortal, and need blood to sustain them.
They can bear children, as they are not dead. They can in fact age... (look at Viktor)
I like the reasoning behind why they are what they are. It's a genetic defect, but they didn't go too much into the science. (Well, they did a bit, but not going so far as to claim "it's nano technology, and we are from Atlantis!" (ahem.. looking at you Lynsay Sands) )

If I continue, I'll start rambling.

Yesterday, I was reading the blog of one of my Boys..
Alan Doyle from Great Big Sea. Now you all know I am a huge fan. His most recent blog amused me. It was talking about his experience while filming the new Robin Hood movie.
Yup,Ridley Scott is directing... Russell Crowe is Robin... Cate Blanchette is Marion .. and a little musician from Nova Scotia is playing Allan A'Dayle. We know him better as Alan Doyle from GBS.
I'm very happy that he got a role in it.
But so he was musing on his recent adventures in regards to his horse Arthur. Arthur is a screen veteran, and has been in many many recent horse involved movies.

For those interested in reading the quite amusing musing, here is the link:

Alan From The Road

Today is Friday, and I shall be going to see Angels and Demons today. Woohoo. I can't wait.

In other knitting news... I have discovered the pattern I will use for my Avalanche Hockey sweater.
Oh yes, I had forgotten to mention that.
I cannot stand the team sweaters (jerseys) that are out there. They are made of material that.. I can't stand to have near my skin.
Not to mention, they are never flattering for the female form.
So, I'm going to knit myself one. A little reminder of home as it were.
Now, I'm a huge fan of the 3rd Jersey, when it comes to the Av's.

This one: And ignore the "Your name" part, it's from a website that will do custom jerseys.

I have found the pattern I'm going to use for the base sweater. The only thing I will have to change, will be the neck line, as I do in fact want it to lace up.

There is no good way to link to the pattern I'm gonna use, as most of my readers are not Ravelry peeps.
I will be buying my yarn from KnitPicks, as they have the right colors, and it's cotton. Woohoo for cotton!

I haven't decided if I'm going to put "Wicked" on the back, and my number, or if I'm going to put my last name. Which... with how long this sweater will take me... My last name by then will be Grandison, so I still haven't decided what I shall do. Either way, I'm not going to put a real player on the back, because.. that would be like picking your favorite children. I've just got too many.
I think, in a pinch.. I might pick Roy... but meh... I don't know.
I think I'll put up a vote when it comes time.

Still reading Death Du Jour by Kathy Reichs. It is quite enjoyable, and I'm zooming through it. Though, I think I understand why some people have problems reading the books. There are times I laugh because the description to me at least seems a bit.. Technical. I don't know if it's just me or not, but there was a scene, the only "romantic" scene in the entire book thus far (and i'm nearly finished the book), and it was very "His hands were here.. then they moved here counter clockwise" I don't know.. it just felt... a little like a text book lol.

But it's still enjoyable. I'm still so early in the series that I quasi try to put faces to characters. Like, I'm thinking that the Booth character in the show is the Detctive Ryan character in the books. So, for me.. I see Detective Ryan as David B. Not bad at all lol, but I don't know if that is supposed to be the closest book character to the tv character.

Does that make sense?

Alright, I guess I've yammered enough. I'll certainly let you know what I think about Angels and Demons.

Oh, and today's blog title, is not as profound as you might have suspected. I was just listening to the Repo Soundtrack before coming into work.

Pondering the Animalia of my life..

2009-05-12T17:36:00.002-06:00

For those who have known me, know that I have had this plan for "Apartment Sized Sheep"

Yes, a Mini Sheep about the size of a MinPin. Think about the lawn maintenance you could do with just 1 sheep!

As of recent and my ever growing allergy to wool... I have let go of this genetic dream. Not to mention, I really don't want to deal with the maggots and tar that go along with Sheep herding.

For my indy dyeing business, I will be more than happy to buy my yarn already off the sheep.

Guy and I have discussed the menagerie we might someday have. Bunnies... Kittahs... a tortoise... a Hedgie.... these are all critters I'd like to have. Including mayhaps a dog.

we have now added... a Wallaby.

Yuppers.

It all stemmed from a BBC news article.

Wallabies in the UK

So... when we have a well fenced yard... I foresee a wallaby in our future.

It rather amuses me.

And obviously, I'm in a much better mood today. Work was crazy. Not as crazy as yesterday.. but still crazy.

Tonight I'll get to watch Rise of the Lycans.
I can't wait.

Dislike of Clubs

2009-05-11T15:43:00.004-06:00

Note: I am bitchy right now. I've had a super long day at work, a day where I frankly do not know how I will survive 13 months, if every day is like this.
And then my "hunny" decided to do the classic male thing of not paying attention. This, makes me pissy. So if you don't wanna read it.. frak off.

I hate "sock" clubs.

Let me clarify. I dislike clubs that I really want to be a part of, but they do not give any even hint as to what the yarns will be.

I am very picky when it comes to yarn I buy.
I will never join a blind club. If I don't get to choose what I'm getting, well then you don't get my money. Last thing I want is to be saddled with some puke green colorway or heaven forbid.. pink.

Most yarns I find out there, just don't do it for me. I'm all about the jewel tones, and all about the darker colors. And for some reason, most yarn companies (or dyers) like.. .yellow... and reds, and those two combined.

I also dislike clubs because of the exclusive nature of them. The whole "buy it now, or buy it never" mentality doesn't work for me. I'm a person who if only given that choice, will say no. Well.... thats unless it's something i really really want. Not knowing what I'm buying? I'll say no.
Pushy sales people hate me, because I'll push right back and they won't get what they want.

Sorry Bob, I'll take the car I see in front of me, not the Mystery Box.
No, I do not want to change my answer for what could be behind Door #2.
Yes, that is my final answer.

If and when I do my own yarn dyeing shop.. yeah mayhaps I'll have a club or two. But I'll let people know what they're buying first.

I guess I have too much of an "On Demand" mentality. Thus, I try to give that option to the people around me.

I'm ranting, sorry. Like I said it's been a long day, and I honestly don't know how I can survive 59 more Mondays.

Yes, I have approximately 59 Mondays left in this country. And if they are all like today, I'll not survive it. I most certainly will not survive if every day is like this. My back is spasaming, my neck is tweaking, I'm cranky, and there are many things I want to say about my job, but can't for fear of the whole "fired for blogging about the company" situation which one hears too often now a days.

Yes, I love my company. I love the job, and I just can't wait till tomorrow morning.

Love does not equal survival. I'm serious. I mean survival of my sanity and body. Quite literally. with how much pain I'm in right now, I'm debating weither or not I can make it into work tomorrow. I guess we'll see how I'm doing in the morning.

I'm going to go get my better mood on by watching NCIS and then Underworld Evolution.

And on the writing front.. .I've got some great ideas going for the novel. Woot.

Vote on a name, Startrek, and knitting.

2009-05-11T08:12:00.008-06:00

The eye is twitchy.
The body didn't want to get out of bed.
The mind was having some odd NCIS/Top Gear cross over like dream. I do not recall the details, but lets just say it was odd.

I very much wanted to not acknowledge Monday's existance, but unfortunately the universe and my conscious "adult" mind had other plans.

I have a little project on the needles right now. And I must say I am really not liking the Caron Simply Soft Eco yarn anymore. I absolutely am just being annoyed with the texture of the yarn. I don't know how to describe it other than.. skuzzy. I will still finish the project I am working on though, as well... I want to be done with this yarn. And if I use it all up then I can just make sure I don't buy it again. Well... if I absolutely need yarn and the only option is that, then yes.. I'll buy it.. but I won't necessarily like it.
The project is not for me, and I haven't a clue how it'll turn out. Honestly I'm winging it. Which.. once the project is complete, you'll find that pun amusing.
This little project did though, teach me something quite useful which will allow me to go forth and do some other projects, so all in all it's a good thing.

The amazing Cathie, who is a buddy of mine over on Ravelry was totally awesome and sent me one of her spare copies of "Dead Until Dark" woohoo. Now I get to start the entire series all over again without having to wait for the library. Once I'm done, this one will go on the stack of books I need to send to Guy in the next care package. She also sent me a cute little bookmark she made. It was an attempt at some lace, and it is quite pretty! It's pink, but it happens to be the 1 shade of pink I like. All in all, I say this was a WIN. Cathie rocketh most verrily.

Oh.. So Friday Mother of Mine and I went to see StarTrek.
IT. Was. Freaking. Amazing.

Yes, yes it was. I highly enjoyed it. I want to see it again. (But I won't until it's on dvd, because I'm being "responsible")
I won't go into detail because I respect that not all my readers might have seen it yet. But just gotta say.. freaking.. awesome.
They cast the film brilliantly, and if they decide to keep the Star Trek saga alive with the younger cast.. I welcome it.
And Karl Urban was just perfect.. PERFECT as Bones.

Well alright, actually everyone was PERFECT. I would end up just listing the entire cast if I went that way, so I wont.

The rest of the weekend was spent pretty quietly.
I did laundry. Did a few other chores. Knitted.
Started watching:
NCIS season 3.
BattleStar Galactica 2.5
The State Within, Part 1 (well.. not part 1, but disc 1 of 2) - Which was really good. It's a political thriller by the BBC, set here in the US. Specifically in D.C. and it's all about a terrorist attack on the US by a British Muslim and how the British Ambassador in the US has to handle it. (played by Jason Issacs) It's very good. A heck of a cast, and I can't wait to see the second part.

Underworld - man I forgot how much I love that movie. Mom never saw it, and as Rise of the Lycans releases tomorrow on DVD (and netflix is sending it to me today), I gotta have her catch up.

Tonight we'll watch Underworld Evolution

Okay, on to the knitty gritty. I need ya'lls help.

Please vote on this name:
Mathais Davenport

poll can be found on the right hand side.
I will explain the name later, but for now.. just need to know if ya'll like it.

Motivation in all it's forms...

2009-05-06T06:20:00.005-06:00

Alright, so right now I'm having odd motivations.

This morning, I was very motivated to sleep in. - I did not follow this motivation though.
Instead at 4:30am when my first (yes, first out of 4) alarm went off. I realized that the cat box very much needs to be done, and if I risked not doing it till I got home from work today, I quite possibly would want to strangle my cat for his.. ahem, misadventures and outright snippish attitude (meaning, I'd once again be cleaning up someplace other than his litter box.) So I hauled my ass out of bed, cleaned his cat box, and then promptly went back to bed. Odd motivation, non?
For the next 15-20 minutes, I was in a quasi state of sleep/awake. I thought about my writing and the motivations of it.
A Hard Day's Bite has been officially put down for now. As I've quietly spoken about in recent posts, it needed to be changed. It just wasn't gelling.
I no longer had motivation to write a story set in Denver.
I have motivation to write about a story set in London. But due to the setting change, a lot of the little things will have to change. This is not a bad thing, but it just means I have to think about things in a different way. I also need to do more research. I am okay with this. Mother of Mine was very supportive of the idea when I was pitching it to her with all my "hows and whys".
When I move, pretty much I'll be stuck with not much to do for the first 6 months. Yes, I have things that I can keep myself busy with. (I write this as if I won't be going to school, because honestly... who knows if we'll be able to afford me to not be working, and also be enrolled in school.)
I will possibly be trying to launch an Indy Dyeing business.
So, I am quite sure that I can and will always be able to find something to keep me occupied.
But, not working for 6 months, will also mean that I can:
1)Wander around London for hours upon hours "discovering / researching"
2)Spend a day with the police force learning their procedures.

This, excites me. This makes me look forward to writing again.

I was not able to really do either of those 2 things right now while living in CO, because it would generally require me to take off of work, which I just can't afford right now.

As I am going to keep the main character (Alex for those who know her), American, it means I can still incorporate Colorado. And I can still have some bit of storyline set in Colorado. I am okay with this compromise. (By the by... she's gonna be from Boulder, cause that just fits her.)

Another thing in my favor right now of switching the city, is that to my direct knowledge... I cannot recall any major Urban Paranormal Fantasy novels currently set in London.
Truth is, it's all set in cities around America, and well... America is gettin' rather full of the Vamps and wolfies. It seems like every city, weither it is a small town, or as large as gotham... they've all got the ones who go nibbly in the night.

So yes, I have currently put AHDB down for right now. I will not drop it entirely because I really feel good about this novel. But, I just am not at a point where I can do it justice. If you know me, I'm not one to really do things half assed. Wait.. let me clairify before Mother of Mine decides to chime in... If I care about something, I don't do it half assed.

But, putting AHDB down, has allowed me to pick up my other novel. The one I refused to start writing on until I had finished AHDB. This one, does not require the same amount of research as it is not set in the modern world, nor is it set in a time period that I have to adhear to specific rules on. This one, allows me to play. Woohoo!

I'm not far into it, only about a paragraph or so. It's a prologue really, and I'm quite happy with it.
Guy has read it, and promptly stated he wanted to read more. Which gives me confidence as always.

So this morning as I was half awake, and half asleep I was thinking on my new little novel. The main character is still nameless as of yet, but that will change. It's just a matter of finding his right name.

Right now I am sitting at work, and I am quite unmotivated to be here.
Yesterday was not a fun day, because certain people have decided to not show respect.
I will not give a person respect if they do not give me respect.
Though, I will for now, keep my mouth shut and simply not speak to them unless absolutely necessary. I need this job for 14 months, and after that, well it will be a moot point. So, I'm determined to just smile on the outside and inwardly squish their heads every time I see them.

I am sleepy. I want to go home. I want to write, I want to knit.

Update on Mother of Mine:
We have determined that her fevers over the weekend were related to a tooth issue. (Well, we are hoping- because it's not like she needs to be sick on top of the tooth issue)
Lets just say there was lots of pain, and just not being happy.
Yesterday we took her to the Er dentist, and shockingly it was not as painful on the wallet as we had been expecting.
For the most part, we figured we would need to just have the tooth pulled.
I've been down this road. The dentist will always try to sell you a root canal first.
But, that is at least 2300$ before even getting the crown put on.
The reason mom was in this much pain, was the crown she had broke off to begin with.

The tooth also we discovered had a big old crack in it. Hence all the pain.
My personal vote is and pretty much always will be right now (until I have money to get my teeth fixed) is to just pull it. You can always save to get an implant later. (or other dental item)
So, Mother of Mine got the tooth pulled.
She is also in the process of trying to get a Case by Case grant for dental work. And the dentist we went to is going to give a comprehensive list of everything she needs to get done (including the cost of getting a denture made.) so hopefully mom will get awarded the grant, and will be able to get her teeth fixed. The grant only goes to people in need, and my mom more than qualifies.

Moving along....
Knitting: I don't have anything on the needles right now. Mayhaps I'll actually finish my Wicked Verdigris... it's just a few sewing stitches, I don't know why I haven't done it yet other than lack of motivation.

Oooh oooh Oooh!
My first batch of Lucien arrived. Woohoo! He is absolutely gorgeous. I cannot wait to start playing with him.
This very much means, that I will need to buy the pattern I plan on using, and then finding out the appropriate guage. I know I wasn't planning on actually knitting up the waistcoat until I moved.. but he's just sooo gorgeous. And the name of the project, has now changed from "Steamy Alexandra" to "Clockwork Lucien"

I have lots of photos that I need to take, and if I don't loose the light today, then I will do that.
Must take photos of the Seaweed Shrug
Must take photos of Lucien
and I think there is something else I need to take a photo of.

I got another person for my Pay It Forward project, which makes me happy. As really I had been bummed that though I got people who thought it was neat, none of them actually paid it forward. And in the rules I said "maybe I'll send you something even if you just comment" but really.. I want people to pay it forward if I'm actually going to make you something.

I guess I am done rambling for now.
Gotta get back to work (gee it only took me an hour on and off typing this while getting work done)

Later peoples!

Buzz kill.

2009-05-04T13:04:00.002-06:00

It's amazing how quickly a buzz kill can happen.

Today I was all excited. Riding high off a certain someone commenting on a previous blog. Riding high off finally making a decision that is scarey and new, and will completely make me rethink how I write my novel.

Now, I'm just so... Yeah... makes me almost say "why bother?"

Here.. as it is Star Wars day... (May the 4th be with you) I will just steal a line from it.

"I find your lack of faith disturbing."

Ch-ch-ch-changes

2009-05-04T12:07:00.004-06:00

Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes
(turn and face the strain)
Ch-ch-changes
Dont want to be a richer man
Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes
(turn and face the strain)
Ch-ch-changes
Just gonna have to be a different man
Time may change me
But I cant trace time

Come on, you all know you now have that song stuck in your head.

But, yes it rings true. I think I have finally given myself something serious to think about with the direction of my novel. It's something that a lot of authors end up doing. You get a really great story, but somethings not working.. so gotta change. For some, it means putting the idea on the back burner for 10 years (a la Jacqueline Carey, and her new Santa Olivia), for others it can just be as simple as changing the hair color of a character.

For me, it shall be a bit of a drastic change. But one I'm willing to embrace.
I think part of the reason I hadn't been able to write recently, was things were just feeling a bit off. My own fears about reality were creeping into my world too much.
Not to mention, one of the characters, just kept fading too much from my mind.
And yes, I consider the location a character as Denver, is quite the character unto it's self. Well, Denver and I have not been friends for a while. I have not hung out with Denver for about 4 years, other than the occasional drive through, or quick trip to say hello.
And in my novel, the backdrop of Colorado, and Denver specifically was kind of important.
Certainly it will adjust a future novel. (I mean come on... it makes total sense that there would be werewolves in Boulder.. right?)

But I think the change I'm making will be for the better. I was getting too bogged down trying to remember things. I've been meaning to take a trip to Denver, and it just hasn't happened, and all of this will only get worse after I move.

Then, here is the reality that kept trying to creep in.
If I were staying in the US, then as an author trying to pitch a story set in the city of Denver, wouldn't be a big deal. I can sell internationally even though it's a small US city (yes, Denver isn't that small, but compared to NY.. it is.. see my point?). Look at LKH, and KH, and even the tiny towns like SM, and CH proved.

I won't change my main character, she'll still be who she is. But just the backdrop will change, it opens up more possibilities, and actually tackles a few of the little problems I was having. (just little stuff I doubt any of you would have thought about.)

It'll be tough, because I won't be able to experience some things first hand until things in life settle down. But I think I can make it work. I am a woman who knows how to use her resources, and also who knows how to do her research.

For once, the fact that me being too brain dead to write has been a bonus.

So, I'm hoping that this will be a good change. I'm confident that it will be. And it will allow me to feel more stable in the world I'm creating.

Completely selfish slacking day.

2009-05-03T16:50:00.003-06:00

Alright, so today I was finally not suffering from headache or headache echos. Only had a touch of sinus pressure, which as soon as I head to Evil-Mart tomorrow, I'll pick up more daytime sinus meds, and I'll just start half dosing myself every day. It will mean unfortunately having to buy a new pack every time I go to Evil-Mart instead of stocking up, because if I do stock up.. they'll think I'm trying to cook my own meth. Lovely.

But so, pretty much all I did today was do nothing. I chilled on Ravelry and watched Jekyll and Stargate Atlantis season 4.

I did run to drop off the Rent, so as to not get dinged on a late fee and also switch out the Vitamins I bought at Whole Foods. Darnit I had gotten too low a dose of my B12 stuff. So instead of risking the change, I just went back and swapped it out today. Which, I realize now that they were out the other day when I initially did my Whole Foods shopping, which is why I accidentally got the lower dose.
Hopped in the shower, did a load of dishes, but otherwise have done nothing.

I don't feel guilty about it. I mean, I should have been working on my novel since my mom was not puttering around, but I don't know... I just didn't do it. though, I think I found a new inspiration song. Woohoo. More music to get added to the list.

Mom is currently quite sick. No it's not swine related. She was pushing herself too much this past week to get things ready for this weekend and it just caught up with her. She is currently running fevers etc. If she doesn't get better soon, then we'll send her to the doc to make sure it's not swine related or not another West Nile relapse. All I can say, is I am so very glad that I do not have her compromised immune system. So today, I've been making sure she actually eats. And by eats I mean more than just a handful of crackers. Tisk tisk, I know I should have made sure she was eating more throughout the day yesterday... but for most of it she was just asleep. I did make sure she had a very good and healthy dinner.

Jekyll was freaking AMAZING. James Nesbitt did a freaking awesome job. The story was quite a good version of the classic "strange case". And I really just enjoyed how they showed it. In my mind, everything that he did was what I would have done to try to live as normally as possible.
And it was dark, and twisted,and just brilliant. Nothing quite like throwing a lion (dead lion) and then at the top of ones lungs singing "In the Jungle".

Stargate Atlantis season 4 is an enjoyable season thus far. I had no idea how big a role Jewel Staite ended up having. She was great. I am so glad that she was added to the cast and they didn't just shove her in the medical room and never let her do anything. Not to mention, the episode with her and Ronan was a great one!

NCIS: The official Soundtrack- So, I've been waiting for this from the library for a long while now. Though I have to say 2nd disc "Abby's Lab" was acting like it was going to kill my CDROM drive... how annoying. But, the song sung by Cote De Pablo is absolutely amazing. (thats from the first disc) apparently it's from one of the season premiere episodes, but I'm so behind. It's called "Temptation"* and it is absolutely brilliant. Also, Pauley Perrette has a song on the Abby's Lab disc called "Fear" it rocks as well. And I'm glad to see that a band I highly enjoy got a slot on the CD. Collide if your curious.

*This is the song that is going to be added to my Novel Inspiration list.

My Zen who is still nameless is starting to actually be full and like a real music player. Must find my Zen's name soon.

I did do some things today... other than the already mentioned...

I figured out a new project that I think I want to start...

It will be I think in this color:

This sweater:

I will most likely end up making the sweater longer, just because I don't like showing off any bit of my stomach. (Heh, after my 6 months of going to pilates after the move, that might be a different story.. but right now... not so much.)

So that was my big decision of the day.
Which, I won't be able to start the project anytime soon, because the yarn will be expensive. And I don't think I have the right size needles... but it's definitely on the "to do" list.

I guess I'm done rambling. Stargate just finished, so now I have to decide what goes on. Talk to ya later peoples, lets hope work tomorrow doesn't bring on another migraine.

White Witch, Black Curse and Twilight

2009-05-02T19:23:00.003-06:00

Alright, I finally finished White Witch, Black Curse by Kim Harrison

I gotta say WOW. For once I wasn’t absolutely annoyed to death by Ivy. Rachel was a little whiny for my tastes, but it’s alright.

Trent is being a baby, but that is natural. I missed not seeing Ceri.
Jenks is killing me with how old he is getting, and how much he is pushing the limits with the cold.
I’m really glad I had read both of the short stories prior to reading this one. I have to admit it slightly bothers me when authors use short stories for later major plot points. At least KH didn’t make the mistake CH did and not even mention the short story at all until too many people complained that they were confused.

I still miss Kisten damnit. And I don’t know how I feel about Pierce.

Al once again is a great demon.

And it just might be me, and having read the books to quickly and too long ago now.. but I swear I didn’t know that Glenn was black. o.O (I mean I’m not saying its a big deal that he’s of color, i just didn’t have a clue and didn’t remember reading it in the previous books so it just seemed out of left field. I’m sure it was just me reading the books to quickly and glossing over it, and not that KH messed up like JK Rowling (Blaise was a white Italian boy up until the later books, then suddenly he was black- and it wasn’t just me who noticed it.))

I guess I’m done rambling for now. All in all.. I did rather enjoy this one.

Knitting: Nothing.

Writing: I had planned on spending the day writing, but it just didn't happen. No, the story is NOT dead. I often talk to myself about parts of the story, I just wasn't in a good writing zone, and I was watching "Saving Grace" which wasn't a good background for writing Vampire stuff.

Alright.. time for my review of Twilight as I no longer have a headache.. And this is copied over from what I posted on Ravelry, but instead of being edited so not to hurt the Twisheep, this has the blanks filled in and commentary added.

It’s sad that I was distracted by all the greenery more than the acting. Oooh look at the green. Pretty. I was also distracted by the Cullen house more than what was going on in the house.
Robert P aka Edward looked constantly constipated. Seriously... And I'm sorry, I miss my english school boy from GoF.
Oh My Gods. Not only was it a volvo but it was a hatchback too?! WTF? I'm sorry, I don't care if Volvo calls it a "3rd Door" that is a fucking hatchback. Hatchbacks are not sexy. Volvo's are not sexy. Volvo's are "safe mom cars", or they are cars given to teenagers by their parents when it's a "first car" situation.
I get it. She (the girl who played Bella) and Emma Watson must have gone to the same school of acting. There was only 3 expressions the entire time. And she must have learned that “pensive” eyebrow fluster from Emma.
Jasper looked constipated the entire time as well. Yes, I realize he was supposed to be in pain.. but he just more looked like he was constipated.
He’s freaking Tinkerbell! Did you notice when he went all sparkly in the field (which wasn't a field, so WTF?!) there was a chiming bell. Yup.. he's Tinkerbell.
Awww the geek boy I’ve liked for a long time has grown up… but into a jock? Thats just wrong. (If your wondering whom I'm speaking of, I'm talking about Michael Welch, who has notoriously played scrawny geeks in everything I've seen him in. Now he played Mike the jock, but everything else was like SG1, Joan of Arcadia, The Pretender, X-Files, Birds of Prey.. .the list goes on, but seriously.. all geeky kid.)
It’s already a slow paced.. they HAD to put in a slow motion scene? That was just painful.

So I guess thats all I'll rant about now... eventually I'll have to watch it again, but that is only because Guy has not seen it, and well... we need to heckle it together. He needs to read the books so that he knows what all the hype is about, and also so that when is sister goes on about how great they are, he can actually give a valid rebuttal of information that he got on his own instead of getting it from me.

Reading: Summer Knight by Jim Butcher. Unfortunately as WWBC took 1st dibs, I'm almost out of time on how long I have it from the library, and I don't believe I can renew it. I may or may not get it done in time, as I am just starting it today. So far, it is enjoyable. Nothing like raining toads to kick off a good story.

Watching/Watched: Saving Grace, it's good.. .wouldn't necessarily have watched it if mom hadn't gotten it.
Starship Troopers 2- My gods that was awful and wonderful. I mean honestly for a bug sequel it wasn't bad. It was amusing to see whats her name* in it again only not playing the same character.
*Brenda Strong, who played the Captain of the Skymarshall ship in the first movie. (the one who died)
Bones season 3- MAN this season was a good one! And so much happened, so much changed. Don't want to spoil for those who haven't seen it, but hot damn it was a good season. I really did like the Booth and Bones in London episode, and for the record I do NOT like what happened to Zacheroni. Nor do I like what they did with Angela and Hodgens.

Next up:
Jekyll. Mmm nothing like BBC, James Nesbitt, and a classic horror story with a new twist.
Stargate Atlantis Season 4
Starship Troopers 3
State Within - jason issacs and a political thriller... woot!
Dr. Quinn Season 1 - yeah.. i know... an oldie.. but come on.. it wasn't horrible
George Gently season 1 - another BBC crime show
Tale of Desperaux
Brothers and Sisters season 1- another one my mom picked.. don't know if I'll watch it.

I guess thats all I've got for now, and for the record... 3 days of headaches... NOT fun. I actually crave rainy days right now because that means they won't work on the roof at work. The stench of tar apparently likes to trigger my migraines. The changing weather apparently did not help either.

Another month has finished, which makes me happy. Just have to keep surviving. October will be a changing month... it will decide some things work wise, but they have to give us 90 days notice if they are going to move/ not renew the contract. So, if something is up, we'll start hearing whisperings as of July. I'm optimistic that they won't change what they have, simply because they know they can't rely only on the union desks in house. They need us. Thats why we are still around. And even if the worst does happen, there are other desks that I will be moved to. Okay, I'm done talking about work. All in all, even with the headache.. and how crazy busy we were this week.. for me it was a good week. there was no snapping at anyone. I'm proud of myself for that. (okay, admittedly on Friday there was some slight snapping, but the guy had flat out lied to me, so that always makes me cranky. I was just... "firm" with him from that point forward. But there wasn't snapping.)

Okay. really.. done talking now.. i'm going to go have a brownie. I have a kittah cuddling with me.

Completely Random

2009-04-30T12:25:00.001-06:00

So, I realize this is random, but it amuses me.

I realized when I bought my copy of Breaking Dawn at the library, I paid.. at most 4$ for it. I believe it was 3.99$ or something like that.

Last week when I traded it at Hooked On Books... they gave me 12$ credit for it (half the cost of the hard cover)

That... is highly amusing.

The sock that almost was..

2009-04-26T14:08:00.004-06:00

As you read previously, I did my first sock this week.
And this morning, I finished it.

Yup. Woohoo and all that jazz. But before anyone says congrats or any bullshit like that, let me enlighten you.

As I was grafting the toe, for you non knitters.. As I was stitching the seam of the toe together, the final act of completing the sock, my stitches fell off the needles.

I put them back on, and finished the sock, but I ended up with this loop, that I spent 4 hours trying to get rid of.
Finally, I decided that there was no way I was going to be able to get rid of this loop, and I ripped it out to the start of the toe.
then I sat there trying to figure out how to get my stitches on the appropriate needles.

Once again after much frustration I could not figure it out.

I was not willing to hand it off to my mother, because whats the point of me trying to learn this if I end up handing it off to someone else every time I screw up.

Now, I guess when I am all menstrual and all that, I shouldn't work on anything more difficult than a scarf of garter stitch (which happens to be the only project I'm going to work on the rest of the day). Because I'm crying over a damn sock.

A weeks worth of work, a sock I was proud of, I mean honestly proud. It fit me perfectly, it was beautiful, and thanks to something that was no fault of my own it got screwed up beyond my skill level of being able to save it.

And right now, I have absolutely no desire to try again.
I'm done. I gave it a go, and I have not yet been lured into the world of socks. Perhaps someday, but right now it's not on my list of things I want to experience again.

I know I'll suffer from Second Sock Syndrome, so if I'm already aware of that, the thought of doing a grand total of 3 socks of exactly the same thing is so beyond unappealing it's not even funny.

Not even Strawberry Ice cream can save this disaster.

The things one hears in a bookstore..

2009-04-25T11:38:00.006-06:00

So there I was, in Hooked on Books this morning, and this highly amused me.
I over heard this conversation:

Little Girl 1: "No, you have to go to mom's corner to find her books"
Little Girl 2: "Mom has a corner?"

As the two young girls walk right past me into the very much "Romance" area of the store.
Little Girl 2: "Oh." (in a very knowing way)

Moving along, today mom bought a Spinning Wheel.
Yup, we are once more the owners of a wheel. But this one, is not in need of repair, which means you can actually... spin on it.

After picking up the wheel, I dropped my mom off at her church so that she can work in the garden. Even though it is drizzly outside, they are determined to get the garden going again.

We were early, so we found Poor Richard's. Which is a used bookstore in Downtown Co Springs (it was literally a block away, so that was fun)
Now, here are my thoughts on Poor Richard's.
I'm quite undecided if I like it or not. It is the neatest, cleanest used bookstore I've ever seen.
It doesn't look like a used bookstore at all.
You can find everything right away, and it's attached to a coffee shop, and it's also attached to a toy store, and has a lot of things for sale.
I honestly think it bugged me at how neat and organized it was. And it still didn't feel like a used bookstore due to the high amount of duplicates of the books.

I had taken my copy of Breaking Dawn with me, because the plan had not been to go to Poor Richard's but instead to Hooked on Books.
I had decided not to take my copy into Poor Richard's because 1)I didn't know if I would find anything I wanted to take home, and so I didn't want credit at a store downtown instead of HoB which is closer. and 2)a woman was walking in with a copy of Breaking Dawn. So generally used bookstores don't like multiple copies (this was before I went in and saw the many multiples.)

So when I was done dropping mom off, and we were done with Poor Richard's, thats when I headed towards HoB. Sure, it took me wandering around for an hour to find all the books I wanted.. .but also it was only my second time there. It is organized in the classic Used books manner, which means cluttered and there is the chance of tripping over some books... But it just felt a little nicer.
As I was trying to actually use my Trade Credit, that is the reason it took me so long to actually get out of there. The books I tend to read tend to be the ones that you can't use trade for.

The ones I ended up with was
Living Dead in Dallas by Charlaine Harris (book 2 of Sookie. So what that means, is I just need to find the first one and then I can send it to Guy without any guilt)
Digital Fortress by Dan Brown - haven't read it yet, so finally decided to pick it up.
Hunter's Moon by Lori Handeland - yes, it's a trashy romance novel, but once I'm done I'll take it back to the store for credit. And heck.. it's werewolves and such. So it's a fun trashy romance.

Books:
Still reading "White Witch, Black Curse" Kim Harrison

Watching:
Just finished Supernatural season 3. Man I enjoy that show a lot. Damn now having to wait for season 4.

Started watching Ghost Whisperer season 1. Meh.. .it's alright... I'm annoyed by the wardrobe choices made for Jennifer Love Hewitt. I'm sorry, but when you work in an antique store and actively moving boxes/gathering new merchandise.... you do not wear long flowy white dresses. So that bugs me. And my gods, it repeats so much dialogue it's not even funny anymore. "I call them earth-bound spirits, those who cannot pass on".

I am whilst having the house to myself, watching Smallville season 7. Oooh Bizzaro!

Health:
I finally figured out why this week I've been so cranky... My body decided that after nearly 6 months of not having a period it was time. (yeah yeah... I had been meaning to force one, but I just kept putting it off so I wouldn't be cranky at work)
That would explain why my tailbone felt out of whack yesterday, and why I've been so very irritable. Also why my entire body is all achy. So today I'll start my round of spacer pills and just go with what the universe and my body apparently wanted.

Work:
My backup is about to make my life a lot more stressful, as he has reached the breaking point with the politics at work. Basically, remember me this time last year, and you'll understand where he is at. Though I moved past it and just have hit the apathetic state, he is in the angry state and is doing everything he can do to get a new job.
I do wish him luck, and I do hope that he finds something (I cannot begrudge anyone for not wanting to stay there... If I didn't have the light at the end of the tunnel.. .I would have quit a long time ago)
But, it he goes.. that will mean I am loosing really the only real worker I have, and the sad fact is there is no one that I can replace him with. Quite literally, no one. Everyone else only works half days, or gets sent over to other desks. I do not have anyone who is trained for backlogs, that is always there. (And those who are not trained... well lets just say, there is no one up to snuff on even being able to do backlogs)

Knitting:
I'm almost done with my first sock. Woohoo. I've turned the heel and everything. I got very frustrated with the instructions for the heel, because it was wanting me to do something that is not physically possible.

There are times, were you just cannot fit 13 stitches, into a space where it only allows for 10. So that made me frustrated to the point where I had to hand it off to my mother.
I understand what the instructions wanted, but there was just no way that I could squeeze those stitches in there.
We'll see how the second sock goes.

Well... I'm officially starving, and I think I'm going to be decadent and make french toast.

Later peoples.

Lots of updates..

2009-04-23T08:23:00.000-06:00

Alright, I realize I haven’t blogged in a little bit. Or at least it might feel that way to me.

Mostly I have been brain-dead thanks to work, as it has been busy (at least for me).

We had a Bear sighting at the doors of my work. Nope, I didn’t see the bear, but I do have a photo.

Knitting:
I finished one project, the Seaweed Shrug (still need to take photos of the finished product), and discovered that it being narrower than the pattern suggested, was not a bad thing, but just didn’t quite work for me.
So, it was given to Mother of Mine, who absolutely loved the color. (Don’t blame her, I love the color too)
So one of the Pay It Forward projects has now been completed and handed off. (no, I hadn’t planned the project for her, but it worked out.)

I am now using the last of the yarn from that project to work on the next Pay It Forward.

Marissa’s project (the only one I had a plan on) is on the back burner till I buy the last of the yarn. I thought I had it all, apparently I was wrong. Oh well, another trip to Jo-Anns.

I have started a new project, which my mother has already blogged about…
But yes, I have been sucked into the world of socks.
I have my first sock on the needles right now, and I have to admit I’m quite proud of it.

Reading:
Currently, the only book I’m really reading is “White Witch, Black Curse” by Kim Harrison.
So far it’s not bugging me to much. Though honestly.. in a shocking reversal it’s Rachel’s whining that is annoying me, and Ivy is downright silent.

Writing:
Nope. Nada. But I did have a kick ass scary dream last night that everyone is telling me I should use for a novel someday. So it is tucked away in my “future unknown novels” folder.

Watching:
Just finished watching the first series of “A Touch of Frost”, what can I say, I enjoy British crime dramas. It was highly enjoyable, and for once felt very real. Most tv shows now a days make the mistake of having it be “1 episode, 1 crime” (unless it is an ensemble cast, then you get at least 2 crimes to solve), a real cops life, you have more than one case that you have to work. And it doesn’t matter if it’s a child abduction, or a hand found in the dirt. You have to work them both. So for me that made it quite enjoyable.

I also just finished watching season 1 of Pushing Daises.
Now, there was an irony to this.
We were eating fresh apple pie that Mother of Mine made, and of course as always knitting.
We pop in the episodes, not sure if we were going to watch past the first one.
There is pie… there is knitting.. there is dead people coming back to life.
Lets just say, we were absolutely hooked.
I’m sad to know that there is only one more season, but I’ll still watch it.

Health:
I finally bought a back brace. Just a 20$ one from walmart. I’m still undecided if it is helping. The reason for the unsure status is because all week long, even before I started wearing it, I would wake up in the morning with a stiff back. Then putting the brace on, on a stiff back meant my back never got a chance to relax before putting it on.
Yes, it makes me sit up straight at work, and at the end of the day I’m not so much in pain, but I am still in constant stiffness, and slight pain while at work (that’s nothing new)
So today, I am not wearing it. I will see how I feel at the end of the day.
Part of the factor, is I haven’t been sleeping well, Spring has finally Sprung, and my Dream Insomnia has started to kick in. Which might be why my back has been hurting me so much in the morning.

It’s been making me tired and cranky at work, which in my mind is not acceptable. I need to keep this job.
So yesterday when I went to Whole Foods to pick up something for dinner, I decided to get a little homeopathic remedy that is supposed to help with “Intellectual Fatigue or Overwork” which, describes me to a “t”. Basically, I’m taking Zincum Metallicum, which is supposed to help with 1) Mood, and 2) back pain (amongst other things)
So, hopefully I’ll get my irritability under check. Now, I’m supposed to take 5 of these little tic tacs (best way to describe them) 3 times a day. Nope, not going to do it. That’s the dose for a short term “ooh my back hurts” situation. Me, I’m in it for the long term. I took 2 of the little tic tacs today so far, and honestly.. yeah I’m tired… but I don’t feel crouchy.
My back is sore, of course like always, but I also lowered my chair in hopes of making a difference as well.

The truth is, right now I don’t care how much pain I’m in, as long as I keep my attitude in check. I can deal with the pain later as long as I can keep my job. The long term solutions, I can’t afford, so this is what I gotta do.

So here is everything I’m on:
Fish Oil – wow my skin is looking better and yeah I noticed a difference slightly in my back (skin is also being helped by Burts Bee’s Deep Pore Scrub.. love that stuff)

B-Complex – Stress formula - Yeah it’s helping, was able to stop taking Vit C by it’s self because this has it in it.

Zincum Metallicum – New, we’ll see how it does

Microgestin Fe- Yup, it’s Birth Control, which I don’t need right now.. But it’s keeping my hormones at a constant level as opposed to always in flux.

Jet Alert – yup, it’s caffeine pills, but only 200mg, once a day. Don’t look at me that way… you people who are addicted to your cups of coffee.

Random:
I bought tickets for Wicked for my birthday, yes.. I get to see Wicked again before I leave, and the show is actually ON my birthday. Katte Beth, Jenny (Jenna, but I’ll always call her Jenny), Curtis, Mother of Mine and myself shall go see the 3rd to last show whilst it is in town.
And that morning we girls are going to the Boulder Tea House for Brekkie/Brunch.
No excuse this time, since we will be driving to Denver rain/shine or snow… we are going to the tea house as well.

I’m excited.

Also, this Friday Mother of mine and I are getting a portrait taken of us.. for free thanks to our Real Estate company. Hmm I wonder if we’ll also get the free baseball game again this year, or if this is gonna be it for the “appreciation” stuff. If that’s the case.. man.. that’s kind of prejudiced against the men, as this gift was for “mothers day”.

I guess that’s all I got for now… I should get back to work…

Later people.

Frogged and A Hot Fairy Tale

2009-04-11T20:47:00.007-06:00

I do feel like such a slacker for not having written any of AHDB recently, but the stress of normal life, was making me unable to write as my cathartic release.
I've been knitting instead.

I started to teach myself how to do Cables, so that I could get a leg up on the Alexandra coat that I've been talking about for months.

I'm very, very glad that I decided to give it a go with normal yarn as opposed to my Lucien. (Which, I know has been dyed, but I have not received due to the "club" nature of it. I'll get my first two skeins of it in the next few weeks)

I was banging my head against the wall trying to do the cable chart, and then I finally said screw it, and cast on the entire project, as if I'm doing it entirely.

Well, I discovered my first problem. I was counting the chart as 26 stitches, instead of the 25 it actually was. That was just my mind merging a symbol that looked like another symbol, hence getting 26 instead of 25.

But, once I got past that, I discovered other problems. I didn't get 7 rows before I ran into this problem.
After frogging and putting it back on at least half a dozen times, I gave up and started poking about online.

Thats when I made a significant discovery. Everyone (minus one person) has had extreme problems with the pattern. There are many bugs in it, and entire parts missing from the instructions.

Woohoo. This means it's not me messing it up! It means that it's just a bad pattern.

Well, one of the girls I was chatting with, talked about picking up the project again and completely rewriting the pattern, but she hadn't thought about that in forever (really not since she had put down the pattern in the first place)

But, me chatting with her reminded her how much she loved the sweater and how it looks, and thus is inspired to possibly pick it up again. If she does, she'll send me the pattern. Which at this point, I'd trust her pattern over the original author any day. (The author put errata up on the pattern site, only after the girl I was chatting with pointed out the mistakes, and it doesn't count all the mistakes)

I'm about to start Marissa's project, as I picked up the last skein of yarn I needed today.

This, most definitely might count as the "neat thing" & holiday gift, as it is quite a well.. it's a good project. I hope she'll like it.

Everyone else is just getting a little small item.

I am also, starting a "Princess Bride Read-Knit-Along"
I've never read the Princess Bride.. I remember starting it in the 5th grade, but that was the day before school was ending, and I couldn't borrow the book from my friend. So I read a total of 1 page before I had to give it back, and somehow it has managed to not make it in my reading pile all these years. So I have till June 21st to finish reading the book and knit something related to The Princess Bride.

I now have a copy of the book, as I finally checked out "Hooked on Books" which is not far from my house. I like it much more than The Book Rack. But still not as impressed. I guess I'm just spoiled thanks to The Bookworm (Boulder).

The version I have is amusing. I think it was a cover that was directed towards the adults rather than kids. It's got artwork from like the 80's. But the back... the back is amusing..

“What Happens-
When the most beautiful girl in the world marries the handsomest prince in the world and he turns out to be a son of a bitch?”

I also picked up:
Death Du Jour by Kathy Reitchs, it's the next in the Bones books.
Shakespeare's Landlord by Charlaine Harris, first in the Shakespeare series
Dead to the World by Charlaine Harris, 4th book in the Sookie Stackhouse series - mmm Eric. love him.
Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman, woohoo.. finally gonna get to read it.

I was able to justify buying the books, because I only spend 23$ for all the books, and they are all books I plan on sending to Guy to read during the summer break and books to get him through exam times etc.

We ended up going to the bead store, and I'm honestly surprised how much I got for as little as I spent. Mother of Mine had a 5$ gift certificate, so with buying a bead for her, I only ended up spending 3$ (and 1.60$ of that was the bead for her)

Oh, random knitting note (sorry, typing past my bed time.. what do you expect?)

Having figured out how to DO cables, I have now accomplished one of my two main goals for the year. The next is to tackle simple socks. Woohoo.

Mother of Mine and I hunted slightly for Easter dinner. Which I can't recall if I've spoken of or not.

Now as you all know, I do not celebrate the christian holidays as I am not christian. But as Mother of Mine is connecting with her church and stuff like that, I am supportive of her. So I was sitting there thinking what we might want for Easter dinner, because she'll want to have something nice.
And really, the only thing that came to my mind was "Hmmm.. Rabbit would be nice."

Yes, I am that twisted.

Rabbit on Easter. bwhahahahaha

Unfortunately, the rabbit is not meant to be (this year). We left of inquiring about it till today, and the only kind we would be able to get would be whole (ugh) and frozen.

Nope, won't work for this year.

Oh, random jump.. sorry again..
I finally found the damn buttons. Remember the quest for the buttons? I hadn't gone to JoAnn's. Honesty I just should have looked there first. Perfect purple buttons, and I'm slick enough that they are the perfect size. Again, they were 50% off. SWEEET.
They are even stitched on to the leg warmers. So, as soon as Mother of Mine finishes weaving in the ends (i did the buttons, but it was her knitting project) i'll get to wear them, and will also post photos.
The purple was a grand choice and goes well with the blue. Woohoo!

Random: watching Alias season two.. and it is just always weird to see a Russian Cowboy bar and Russian cowboy songs it is not new, but it still amuses me (First time I ever saw it was of course James Bond, Goldeneye. But that was still in english)

Work: It was a rough beginning of the week just because things were changed and other things were in the spotlight. Nothing was my fault as I wasn't there. But it was blown out of proportion due to it being something that really NEVER happens. It just happened to happen and it bit us. (Mostly, the only reason it happened at all, is because one of our agents screwed up in the first place. Then things just slipped)
So that lead to meetings, and more meetings, and more meetings. Which just made it an unbelievably tiresome and hectic week, and made me freak out about my job. I really do just need to remember to take a deep breath and remember that I am a good worker, and I do my job, and that I'm not one of the people they want to let go.
It didn't help my mindset either to find out that another one of my Ravelry buddies ended up being let go this week as well. It was completely out of the blue, which is another reason everything that happened made me so freaked.

I should stop rambling about it. As I am rambling as I am quite tired.

Later peoples...

Oh, one last note:
Doctor Who season 4... FREAKING AWESOME!
We just finished watching it. And OH MY GODS.

I still don't like Catherine Tate, but I do like Donna a bit more.

And everything else... just... wow.. wow wow wow wow.

Another random note:
I have an entire rant to post soon, but I'm too tired to try to rant about it now, and when I first went to rant about it, Blogger didn't want to work on my work computer. So, I've got it sitting waiting for ranting.

Fast Cars, Appreciation, and incoming snow.

2009-04-04T09:47:00.007-06:00

If it doesn't snow.... have we seen the movie?

This is a question that I must ask myself, as every time I go and see a movie with my mother for the last many months, it is always cold and snowy.

Now there was the high possibility that when we came out of the theater last night, we would be met by snow. But sadly, it was only snowing on the mountains, and had not yet reached us.

So, the movie that we cannot officially say we've seen was Fast and Furious. Which I highly enjoyed.
1) I'm always up for some Vin Diesel Appreciation, and 2) it actually had all the boys, all the girls, and felt like a real sequel. Now, I haven't seen #3 and don't have much desire to after the horribleness of #2. So, when I own my Fast and Furious movies, I shall own #1 and #4, ignoring the two in between.

But, the only defense to the whole "If it didn't snow..." question, is we had not planned on seeing the movie. It was a last minute thing. Jes had tickets and then couldn't go. So I bought the tickets from her.

We had to putter around for a few hours before the movie, and I'm sure my bank whilst looking at my activity will go "hmm.. Erin's going on a shopping spree"
As yesterday,
I went to La Baguette and got some croissants for us.
Due to having driven into the parking lot via a different route, I found a new shop that I didn't know was there. "My Cuppa Tea"

I wasn't overly impressed, but I did get some Lapsang Sochoung (Sp?) As I have been craving some recently.

Then after having gone home, we left to pick up the tickets. Which we were meeting Jes as the Whole Foods, and I hadn't stopped at the atm. So, we bought some veggies for dinner.

Then, we headed over to Jo-Ann's to putter. I picked up yarn for a project. Of course spent tooo much money whilst there, but there were also some little charms that I could not pass up.
As far as the project goes, I am missing 1 skein of yarn, as apparently it is now discontinued. So i'll have to find a suitable alternate.
My needles arrived, so i will be able to actually start the project as soon as I get that one skein of yarn.

Then I'll just have to figure out what to make for all the other peeps whom are either going to pay it forward, or I'm going to be nice and just make something for the comments anyways.

Then after the craft store, we still hadn't killed enough time, so we decided to go get firewood from the store. We had run out of the house far too quickly, and we had realized that Mother of Mine hadn't eaten, so we got a few things to nom.
Thats when I found the pink cheese.

Yes, pink cheese.

It was a cheddar mixed with Claret, so it was much like the Porter that I enjoy.

But, I admit I wasn't overly fond of the very drunk nature. I could taste the claret, just a little too strongly.

So finally, we got to head over to the theater and have our Vin Diesel Appreciation.

After that, we came home, watched a few episodes of The Unit season 2, and also watched a craptastic sci fi movie called "The Lost Colony". I got it, because I remember when it first came on, I didn't get to see all of it, and 2 it had Adrien Paul. Yes, I will pretty much watch anything he's in. The graphics were horrible, the acting at times was annoying (of course, not Adrien.. he was great), and the story wasn't that bad. Not nearly as bad as everyone keeps saying it is. Honestly, think of the budget they had.. 1.50$ and pocket lint. So for the classic Saturday Sci Fi flick, it wasn't bad.

Slept fitfully because the wind was howling and once again the windchime was bothersome.

Woke up, hopped in the shower, and now I'm sipping some Sherlockian tea whilst watching Top Gear, and Arsenic and Old Lace. Which is a fun movie but for the fact that sound is quite inconsistent. You have to turn up the volume to hear them, and then suddenly one of the characters is blasting a bugle and yelling "charge".

Poured boiling tea on my hand at one point, which is not fun.

Pan is giving me lots of love. Methinks it's because he's sorry for waking me up so much this morning. oh yes, he was bothersome as he was thirsty. So until i turned the tap on in the bathroom for him, he was whining at me.Then he let me get some more rest before I just couldn't lay in bed anymore. Did I mention that it was before 7am?

I really can't wait till the point where I don't have to get out of bed at 5 every day. Because then I'll be able to sleep in on the weekends as well.

Okay, well I guess I'm done rambling for now...

Seaweed goodness, And the chance to win a Wicked handmade

2009-04-02T06:44:00.006-06:00

Alright, so I realize I've been a little quite.

I've been.. busy, and then yesterday I was avoiding getting on any site I actually care about. Why risk the nastys that are floating around the intarwebs. (considering we've been dealing with a nasty virus at work, and it's not that conficker thing, I just again don't want it on my comp at home.)

Knitting:
I've been working on a "Seaweed Shrug" as I've been calling it..
Not a good photo, but you can at least see why I've been calling it the sea weed shrug.

This photo is from a few days ago, and it's at least 3 feet longer by now. Okay, mayhaps not that much.. but darn near close. I will of course have photos of the finished product.

Also on the knitting front, I am opening up a little give away.
I originally posted it on my facebook, but I've gotten no one to actually follow the rules. I might give them something anyways, if I can't get 5 people to pay it forward on their own.

I'm feeling crafty.....so I think this one will work out fine

The first five (5) people to respond to this post will get something made by me. (You do not have to have been tagged.) This offer does have some restrictions and limitations so please read carefully: HECK I MAY JUST SEND TO ALL THAT POST A COMMENT :)

1. I make no guarantees that you will like what I make. Whatcha get is whatcha get.
2. What I create will be just for you, with love.
3. It'll be done this year (2009).
4. I will not give you any clue what it's going to be. It will be something made in the real world and not something cyber. It may be weird or beautiful. It may be baked goods.
5.I reserve the right to do something extremely strange, if inspired to do so.
6. In return, all you need to do is post this text into a note of your own and make something for me and the first 5 to respond to your note.
7. Send me your mailing address if you don't live close to me!

IMPORTANT: This offer is at your discretion but I would like to think null and void if I do not see you post your own note to pay this forward

Moving on..
I am rather tired this morning as it started snowing yesterday. What was supposed to be flurries was as ferocious as the blizzard we had.
So this morning something woke me up before my alarm.. might have been my internal alarm that i set last night, and also my cat helped wake me up. That meant I was out of bed when I my first alarm went off at 4:30.
I was dressed and downstairs 10 minutes later brushing off my car. Thankfully the snow stopped, but it was nothing but ice on the streets.
Had to stop and get gas, because I was not going to deal with trecherous driving on a nearly empty tank. Nope.. thats just asking to get stuck somewhere and not being able to run your car every 10 minutes for warmth because you ran out of a gas after the second "gotta keep warm" segment.

I got to work by 5:30, but I took it slow and steady the entire time. Yeah, a few red lights happened while I was still going through the intersection, but any cop would see that there was no way I could have stopped and I was already half way through the intersection before it went red.

Today is going to be a long day no matter what the call volume is like. Just because I'm so very tired.

Yesterday was odd... it was the first time in a long time where I didn't talk to Guy at all (when I wasn't upset with him.)
I wasn't on any real chatting sites or anything that could snag my info, and he was also at a Rugby match (right? I can't recall if it was Football or rugby) in Bath.

Which accordingly to the email I got this morning, Bath is now on one of the lists of "It'd be nice to move here." From what I've seen in photos and such like that, yes I would enjoy Bath a lot. So I'm not opposed to the idea. It's very Roman in the archtecture and just.. beautiful. I can't wait to someday visit.

Had some unpleasentness at work the past few days, but it's been resolved, and in the end I was doing my job as I was told to do it. So.. *shrugs* it's all good and my manager backed me up on it.

I guess I'm done rambling for now..

Books:
Bed book: Mirror, Mirror by Gregory McGuire
Couch book: Unusual Suspects - (Sookie Stackhouse short story is in it)
Purse book: the unchanging - Peshawar Lancers

I must be insane..

2009-03-28T17:50:00.004-06:00

S'hokay.

I am officially insane.

As about 30 minutes ago.. I officially purchased a pair of size 35 knitting needles.

What does that mean?

That means I now own a pair of needles that are basically like knitting with tree trunks.

They are no where near the largest needles one can have, but they to me.. are absolutely huge.

Yes, I bought these for a reason.

No, I won't tell you why yet, as it's a secret. Ha ha ha.

My needles should arrive in a few days. Then I get to play. Oh wait, not really as I still need to buy the yarn for this particular project.

Today was an odd day as I spent part of the morning struggling to get the piano stand to actually... hold up the piano. Parts of it look warped, which some how doesn't surprise me. Considering where the piano came from, it very very much does not surprise me that the stand is warped.

So I am now coming up with alternatives, so that I can actually use the piano. Yup, this is me. The girl who is using 2 book shelves and the spare shelves from my china cabinet(which is currently my tv cabinet.. which works since I don't have any china) as my desk.
So, I've got one chest of drawers that is a good height, and I just need to figure something out for the other side. I'm thinking another little bookshelf that I've realized has been buried behind the boxes. Why this shelf doesn't have more than 5 books in it, is because it's one of those tilted book shelves, and always used to use it, but this time all my books are in the downstairs shelves and or the other book cases around the house. So the tilted one generally gets saved for the odd sized books.
Chest of drawers + tilted book shelf + Shakespeare's unabridged and annotated complete collection = piano stand. (the Shakespeare won't get damaged and will be just about the right height to make the shelves even)

I'm going to completely start from the beginning again, which works since it looks like the books that came along with the piano are the beginning level. So, even if I'm still at the self taught beginner level... by the time I move to the uk and then finally actually have lessons someday.. I hopefully won't be a complete loss cause.

Okay.. off to make dinner.

Swift and winding...

2009-03-28T09:34:00.002-06:00

So, I'm entering a contest for a Swift and Ball winder. Which unless your a knitter, you won't care about.

From the blog of "Musings of a Fat Chick" http://musingsofafatchick.blogspot.com

Webs Plastic and Metal Swift and Ball Winder Combo

The swift is sturdy and lightweight and opens to 60". It can hold skeins up to one pound. The clamp at the base allows it to be easily attached to a table edge or shelf and can pivot for use at any angle. The ball winder will create 4 oz. center pull balls. Separately, the swift retails for $39.50 and the ball winder for $39.50.

So yeah... it'd be nice to win. I want a swift.

Dream, Snow, and Sookie

2009-03-27T16:04:00.003-06:00

Alright, while it's fresh in my thoughts..

I just finished reading The Absolute Sandman Vol 2.

And I say just finished, as I also just started it. I quite literally read it all in one go. (Okay, not just one go as I did get up and use the ladies at least twice)
But I gotta say wow!

Vol 1, took me at least a week to read. And that was with skipping an entire section because the art and the story was absolutely of no interest to me.

But Vol 2 I just zoomed through. And I didn't skip over any of the stories.

I can't wait to own it. Because yes, I will own it some day.

And actually, it has made me ponder some colorways that would be awesome. Nope. Not allowed to start dyeing yet. Nope. Won't do it. But I know I'll look through the book again later when I do start dyeing and such like that.

Also I really shouldn't ponder a project after reading that book, as it's making my brain go into many different paths of ideas.

A friend of mine posted a 5 People Gift giving Pay it forward type thing. The gist of it is, you post the note, and the first 5 people to respond will get something made by you. Rules are though that they must also post the note, do the same for the first 5 people, and also make something for you. So, she is making something for me, and I am making something for her.
As this was done on my facebook, if I don't get enough people responding, I will post it here for all my non facebook people.

Now onto Sookie...
I made a project that I have dubbed "Sookie Stackhouse Laceup Sexahhness"

Jen at Fresh from the Cauldron sent me a ball of her Sookie Stackhouse colorway, which is a silk base. It wasn't much, it was roughly... about the size of a Leprechaun's ball. (Oh yes, that just gave you a mental image you won't be able to escape from)
The yardage wasn't important, it was simply so that I could knit it up, see how my hands react during the knitting, and then also how the swatch would be against my skin.
Well, me being me.. I couldn't just do a boring swatch.
So instead I did a laceup wristwarmer.

Seed Stitch because I think it's so pretty.
And, I also taught myself how to do something I didn't know how to do before.
a 3 row buttonhole. I can honestly say, that this is my most favorite buttonhole that I have yet done. It was so simple.

Now, of course I will post photos, but unfortunately my camera sucks, and there is no way to turn off the auto focus, so there is never any way I can take a good photo of seed stitch at all.
So the photos do NOT do this little wrist warmer any justice.

Now on to my discussion about snow.
Unless you've been living under a rock, you know that this portion of the country has had some extreme weather.
We had a Blizzard.

No big deal right?

Well, this is the first time in more years that I know, where they called it a Blizzard before it hit. Previously, they would just call it a "severe storm" and then when it was over they would call it a Blizzard.

All day long while at work yesterday I was watching the weather reports...
At 9:00am I went outside, and it was sunny. You couldn't see the mountain (Pikes) but that wasn't uncommon.
By 12:00pm, apparently it was snowing.
I went out at 12:30pm and it was really snowing.

I flicked on the traffic cams, and saw that things were getting worse.
So at 1:00 I made the decision to leave early. you all know how I feel about driving in bad weather ...

Well Janice and I did the buddy system driving home. Which was comdedic.
Oh well, first I had to clear off my car, which was a miserable experience. Because I didn't wear a hat. So my hair was drenched and my ear was frozen. My hair wasn't just drenched, it was frozen.
Janice and I forgot to exchange phone numbers. Mistake. Whoops.
The plan was, that we were taking the safest route home, and she was going to break off from following me at Academy and Woodman. (where I turn right, and she would go forward)
Well, we get to Academy, and she's turning along with me.

I'm making hand signals out the window because I was like "dude did you miss it? that was woodman!"
then, I notice she's got a sign in her front window she's holding up (yes, this is all while we are driving on very bad roads with cars) that says "Call me" and her number.
Which I could not for the life of me see the number. Even when we were stopped at one point I opened my car door leaning out to look at the number. I was of course blinded by the snow so I couldn't see the numbers.
We pulled off into a parking lot (the first chance we had) and she informed me that a friend of her's had just been on Powers (the road that runs parallel to Academy for the most part and was going to be her route home to avoid the bad hills) and that there was a huge accident. So she was going to go down Academy with me and cut over after the bad hills.
Back in the car I go, and once again we start making the trek. The weather is getting worse and worse, and it's just about to become 2pm. Then I run into traffic before Dublin. There is this little bit of a hill there. Which I had forgotten about, but there is no good way to avoid it. It's the least of all the hills going that direction.
Well, in my previous car, I remember having problems on that little hill before. So I was nervous for good reason. Though, so far my car Byron had done fabulously on all the little inclines we had. Mind you, I had been coaxing and praising and encouraging my car the entire time. Yes, it would have been amusing if anyone had heard me.
But so Byron makes it up the hill without giving me any fits at all. Though, there were newer and fancier cars that were abandoned in the middle of the road at the median, and one that was being pushed up the hill by a nice guy with a big truck.
So I was honestly shocked that my car did so well.

I didn't want to risk the hill on the street before my neighborhood, as that is the one where I had my first experience of not making it up a hill and having to maneuver back down. So I just went around to the only other option on getting into my neighborhood. It worked though because it let me out at the top of the hill instead of at the bottom.
Yup, I got home safely. It only took me an hour and 15 minutes instead of the normal 7-10 minutes it normally takes me. But man am I glad I did leave early.

I slept restlessly, as I could hear the storm and my neighbor's wind chime all night (seriously.. I hope that stupid chime might 'disappear' someday. )
So at 4 am, I got out of bed. Looked outside. Saw the 3-4 foot drifts around my car. (Thats what happens when you have a end of the row parking space)
i fire up the laptop, and check the traffic cams.
Not many cars on the road, and the roads don't look bad. At first glance. But I noticed that there was a suspicious gleam.. that meant ice.
I make the decision that I'm not going to risk it. Not at 4am with no other cars on the road.
I go back to bed.
Janice texts me around 645 asking me if I was going into work.
I tell her my reasons why I wasn't but that I hadn't checked the roads in a while. She was going to see if her fiance made it to work then make her decision.
Daniel then texts me 730 (or something like that) asking the same things. Only he doesn't have inet right now so he can't check the cams himself.
So I get out of my nice warm bed and fire up the laptop. I really did need the update so I didn't mind.
I see more cars on the roads, but they are all 4wheel drive type vehicles. And things still looked icy.
Janice then texts me again after I've gone back to bed, and informs me that she attempted to go out on the roads (in her big 4wheel drive suv) and didn't make it far before she gave up. Apparently it was really slick. At this point, I'm not feeling guilty about not attempting.. I don't have 4wheel drive. And I have to replace one of my wiper blades. Specifically the driver side one. The rubber has decided disconnect from the metal. So really, it is useless. Which means if the roads turn into Splashback, I'd be screwed before I could even get to the store.

And guess what happened after the sun came up? The ice started melting, and splashback is the huge issue right now.
Yeah.. I'm not going anywhere until tomorrow at the earliest.

Yes, the sun is out and things are melting. And I possibly could have gone to work after 12.. but I still wouldn't get all the hours I've lost due to the weather, and it would also mean staying till after the sun set. Which no... not doing. So the amount of hours I could actually make up.. wouldn't be worth it.

So yesterday and today I've been watching Andromeda season 1.
Oh and finished Witchblade. lesigh I miss that show. Though yes, season 2 got WEIRD.
I still love it. And I will still own my buell. And I think I've mentioned this already.. .

I've got a stack of dvd's to get through... and I'm sure I think of a new knitting project.. and I can also finish reading the Sookie Stackhouse short story "Unusual Suspects"

Methinks I'll finish it this afternoon. I would have finished it when I first started it, but I decided to put it down and then yesterday I was simply knitting.

I'm rambling.

Santa Olivia, Snow, and a date with James..

2009-03-25T13:15:00.006-06:00

So, I plan on avoiding the whole "female body part + weapon of some kind+ tattoo" cover art that is soooo popular in the whole paranormal novel sector.. but if I do throw a girl on the cover of my book..

I want it to look as awesome as this cover on Jacqueline Carey's new book "Santa Olivia":

Cause that is just freaking sweet. But, I am trying to avoid anything like that.

Oh and I am not so patiently waiting for the library. I'm almost tempted to just buy the damn hardcovers so that I can read that and Naamah's kiss.

A storm front moved in last night. I woke up to snow on the grass and my car. None on the road.

As soon as I got into work, I got one of my ugly headaches.
And it hasn't gone away. Even though the sun is shining, and the sky is clear.. The pressure in my head has not.

It is quite frustrating.

But you know what, I'm able to type most of this blog with my eyes shut, which I have to say is pretty cool. (seriously, the last sentence was entirely typed with my eyes shut, and no changes were made to it. Opening my eyes, I screwed up this sentence at least 3 times if not more. And screwed up 'seriously' at least twice.)

I am home now, my headache has not yet dissipated to my knowledge, but I also don't really plan on moving but for to go to the ladies when necessary.

I have a date with Bond tonight.. .mmmmm James...

Well, later ya'll.

Boring Tuesday..

2009-03-24T07:26:00.004-06:00

I must say...

I am annoyed with Blogger. Le sigh. Mostly i am annoyed with not being able to respond to comments the proper way.

Mayhaps I'll have to slowly change things over to Wordpress as it has that option.

But don't worry my dear readers, I shant do anything crazy yet.

I might just suffer through blogger for the next 15 months, and then when i move to the UK, and Guy and I have made our own server and websites, I'll have my blog just how I want it and won't have to rely on silly little programs such as this one.

yeah mayhaps that is just the way to go for now.

I feel slightly bad, as when i bought my Flying Monkeys and they arrived, I was highly disappointed. Instead of emailing the person to inform them that the description was wrong, and that I had wanted Lobster Clasps. I simply stated in the feedback I left that the description was incorrect for the objects. Now, I did not leave neutral or negative feedback. I clicked that Positive button, because they did arrive quickly, and the transaction was painless. I just commented in my post of "i love them but.. "
Well, she emailed me today apologizing. So now I feel bad. Gee I'm glad I didn't hit that negative button.
But when it comes down to it, she should have checked her descriptions, since ALL her items that are stitch markers say that. Oh well, I still plan on buying more, and I'll just leave a glowing feedback on the next one.

Still plunking through Bride of Casa Dracula.

Here is a prediction: she's about to introduce werewolves.

Lets see if I'm right.

I did not get anything done on my vest last night. I just had no motivation. I'm in that final stretch. Tonight after I shower and feel more awake, I'll put it on. Check the pinning, then stitch it up and be done with it. Woohoo.
I do want to do it again, but out of different yarn, and I've learned a few things while doing this one. I know I need to lengthen the base without adding to the width.

A Hard Day's Bite: Been mulling a few things, but haven't made any decisions. I don't want to lean towards falling into the same lines as Charlaine Harris or Kim Harrison, or LKH for that matter. If you don't know what I'm talking about its the "Oh my god. She wrote about this. She's copying them!" Charlaine recently wrote a blog about that circumstance. Someone made the comment of "Charlaine added motorcycle gangs into her story! She's copying LKH."
Well.... people get over it. It's kind of hard to not incorporate things that are actually quite common in real life. Such as motor cycle groups. I have friends that are part of different motorcycle groups here in Colorado. Am I going to ignore a good plot because *gasp* it might involve a motorcycle?Also, it makes sense in the fact that Vamps and Werewolves tend to be part of the subculture. And what do you find in the sub culture? Gangs, adrenaline, and danger. No. Now, mind you I have nothing penned in that regard, but I'm using it as an example. Same goes for politics. Which is really what the whining was about. Yes, Sookie's world has gotten very Vampire Political, just like Antia's world.
But if your going to whine about that... well... Anne Rice kinda got the ball rolling on that. Remember The Theater of Vamps? Well, that was basically the start of the vampire political structure. Armand was in charge.

I'm rambling. Lets move on.
Umm...
Ummmm....
Cold snap here in Colorado? It's been freaking cold the past two days. Thank goodness I hadn't removed my heating blanket yet. Cause I'd never get to sleep otherwise.

It's a boring Tuesday thus far. Just sayin' .

Flying Monkeys!

2009-03-23T06:55:00.006-06:00

Yes, this Wicked girl has Flying Monkeys.

Wooohooo!

They are quite adorable. I ordered them from a shop on etsy.

Though, I have to admit that I am annoyed. As they were not as they were advertised. The description stated that they were "Lobster Clasp" markers. Meaning when you screw up and stitch them into the stitch of your knitting instead of just moving it along your needle, you cannot at all remove it without either cutting IT or ripping out all the knitting you just did (better pray you didn't realize your mistake after a very long row)
And you cannot use it to mark various spots in your knitting like I just did for my Wicked Verdigris vest.
So off to Hobby Lobby went I, to get some Lobster clasps and to get a few beads to make them extra pretty.
And I have remembered that me+hobby lobby+beads=bad idea. Well, bad idea for my wallet that it.
Had to get a few other beads so that I can make my own markers, even though I have beads upstairs. Which, I will go through and use as well... really i will... *shifty eyes* good thing, my bead box is compact and can be shipped to the uk with no issues.
I did pick up some pretty metal type beads that look rather steampunkish. So that'll be fun to work with. Who knows, mayhaps I'll throw them up on Etsy and make a buck or two.

I also bought some yarn that I shouldn't. 2 little skeins (and I say little. About 95 yards each.. ) of some cotton that was in pretty colors.
I bought a pretty Bamboo spun yarn that reminds me of fluffy chenille yarn. So *shrugs* the companies are starting to understand that we dont want just boring yarn.
Also they are starting to learn that yarn is safer for the planet.
Bamboo replenishes it's self in 56 days as opposed to wood that takes 56 years to regrow to the same height.
I also got a Spa yarn that is also bamboo. It is this pretty pearl type color. It is actually called "misty taupe" but it's more pearl than taupe. I'll have fun playing with it. And the good news, is it is DK weight. WOOOHOOO! So, I'll really get to play with it, and mayhaps make myself another Alexandra if I so desire. Who knows. We'll see. But now I gots me some options.

I could not find myself any Hat Boxes, which I need to get at least 2. I guess I'm going to have to go online to find them. I remember a time where you could walk into Hobby Lobby and see an entire aisle of Hat Boxes because people were using them for crafting and gifts etc. Now, no such luck.

I honestly don't care what they look like, I just need them to protect the hat that I bought from Traveler and a few other hats that I do not want to damage in transit. And honestly, they should be in boxes now just to avoid all the dust that is Colorado Springs.

Update on the Wicked Verdigris:
I am almost done. I have the last section pinned on and waiting to be stitched. I need to try it on first and make sure it falls the way I want it to. But then I'll be done. Woohoo. I would have finished last night, but I was just far too tired.
Though putting it together, the project has been very simple. Yes, sometimes putting it together felt like a puzzle, but now that I've done one, I know what to expect and it's not that difficult. I just need to remember to mark my rows next time so that I'm not doing ungodly amounts of row counting when it's all done. (Which is when lobster clasp stitch markers come in handy. That, or saftey pins) Next time I'll just mark every ten rows with a marker and leave 'em alone.

This weekend I was watching Witchblade. I gotta say I miss that show so very much. I love it. I will own it. Yuppers.
This means I really will need a region 1 dvd player in the house, because it took 10 years to get Witchblade on dvd (okay, only like 8 or 9 years, but you see where I'm going with this) and I doubt it'll get onto Region 2 any time soon.
And I still want my 2000 Buell. It's soooo pretty. Come on.. it's sexy. You know it's sexy.

Randomly:
I cannot believe that in today's day and age, a "serious" author can get away with using the word Frememy. It makes me cringe.
Wait, I just figured it out. The character of Milagros (sp?) in the books of Casa Dracula is always saying that no one considers writing to be a real career or "work", perhaps this is simply the author translating her own experience. Yup. that has to be it. So she doesn't consider herself doing any real work, and therefore can use words like "Frememy" and just have pretty bad novels. Why does at least one word in every sentence of this book have to be in spanish? And I'm sorry, I lived in California, not everyone intersperses their vocab with spanish, or spanglish even. And dude, I lived in SoCal. Even closer to the border than SanFran. But then, this is Marta's (the author) world, and I guess if in her world she thinks that everyone is of some form of hispanic descent, or if they are not they obviously hate the little mexican girls and obviously think them sluts... Hmmm thats starting to sound rather racist a hypothesis. But it's her world.. not mine. Hmm another interesting point.. not a single person of another race other than White and Mexican are in the books.. how very odd. I remember SanFran, and it's quite a mixed city. but dear lord everyone she meets is hispanic.. or white. Thats it. I would hate to live my life like that to be honest.

Not to mention, SanFran has the BEST chinese food. And I mean seriously, there is a reason for that. Last time I was there we drove through like 40 minutes of traffic just to get some proper dim sum.

I'm starting to rant. Again, I just need to remind myself to finish the book. At least I'm half way done, and I can pretend that I didn't hear that she is writing a 4th book. If I don't know about it, I won't be forced to read it by compulsion.

On another completely random note:
I absolutely cannot believe that it is already March 23rd. This month has flown. Woohoo.
I can't wait for it to be over and another month bites the dust.

Though, unfortunately i'm already being plagued with heat dreams. The weather is warming, the odd dreams begin.

I'm going to have to buy a new bottle of sleeping pills if this doesn't stop. I gave Mother of Mine my last bottle.
Sigh, the dreams are as bad as insomnia. This isn't fair, and it's not conducive towards me not snapping at work. So must take steps to remedy.

Well, I guess I've slacked off enough this morning.

Poll is now closed and other rants.

2009-03-19T18:41:00.005-06:00

Weeeeeelll...

As I'm uber paranoid.. and due to circumstances...
I am not going to end up getting any other nifty colors.

I just sent in my color list.

10 Luciens. Just to make sure that I have enough. It'll work out though, because it is a beautiful colorway, and I will just have lots to play with. I'm sure Guy wouldn't mind a scarf or something.

So yeah, 10 Luciens, and 2 Michael Corvin colorways shall soon be mine. Woohoo.

All the other colorways will have to wait till next year.. if I get in the club.. if the club happens again as a matter of fact.

I know, I know.. it seems silly to get nearly 3500 yards of a yarn, but I reaaaaally don't wanna run out, and I don't know how the smaller weight will react in the pattern.

After much frustration, I finished my taxes this afternoon. I'm not getting as much as I was planning, due to not being comfortable filing as HoH and claiming my mother as a dependent. Yes, I am HoH, and Yes all the bills are in my name. But my mother makes too much for me to be fully confident claiming her as a dependent. Sigh.

In fact, it's half the amount I was planning on. Which means, that little glimmer of hope I had at having all my money for the uk move ready to go with plenty of time for emergencies etc.. just went away.

All in all, nothing drastic has happened today, but it's been a no good, bad day. Just not happy. I've been bitchy and cranky and tired and people have been crapping on my parade.

I was almost inspired to write. Or at least I got an idea.. sort of.. but I'm not going to write right now because I'm cranky and tired and bitchy and if one more person tells me that Twilight is a good book, I just might snap.

I need to remember to not talk about my feelings on Twilight in areas where there are Twisheep. Because I have strong feelings on the crappiness of the book. But the Sheep come out in full force with their singleminded love.

I call them Twisheep, as it stems back from the days of a Harry Potter based school that I shant mention here so that the dreaded google doesn't find me and they think I'm still talking about them or any bullshit like that.. . Where there was a protest about censorship. I made a banner,

ah ha.. took me a while.. but i found it..

Okay. I'm tired. I'm bitchy still. I'm going to watch one more episode of BSG, which apparently we just fraked the order and watched disc 3 prior to disc 2. Sigh. So much for me paying attention.

Edit:

Thank you to all who voted.. I'm just sorry I couldn't get any of them And no it was not the plan all along. I quite honestly had 2 spots that I need help choosing on. It was just the yarn fiasco that changed that.

Defying Gravity...

2009-03-19T08:11:00.004-06:00

So just to make this even more themed...

Yes, I am going to Wicked in October. Wooohoooo! I can't wait.

now on to my Wicked Verdigris.

I am completely finished with section A and B. (Which are exactly the same)They are currently getting some light blocking done. Meaning they were made damp, and currently are pinned to the carpet to "form" them into the proper shapes.
I'm proud of myself, as my tension was pretty darn good and so they really don't need much blocking at all. Woohoo.

I am skipping ahead though, because your supposed to wait till it's all done to block and then put the pieces together.
But as I am modifying section C, I want to put section A and b together so that i can put it on, and see exactly how long i need and or want to make section C. The difference can be at least 40 rows of stitching, so I'd rather just try it out first then end up having to rip stitches out.

Last night I cast on section C (meaning I started it. for all you non knitting readers), and I got about 20 rows done before bedtime. Mind you, that was less than an hours worth of work on a very boring part. You know the boring parts I mentioned on the other sections? Well this entire section is that boring part 200 to 240 (or something like that) rows of nothing but garter stitch. BORING. gotta put it down every few rows.

On the reading front:
Currently reading The Bride of Casa Dracula. I'm about 50 pages in, and the entire time I've been debating it if I want to actually read it. But it's slightly a compulsion. Sigh. it's just... I don't know. Once again there is the whole "i dress like a slut, but why does think i'm a slut?!" aspect. Honestly. A plastic white mini skirt at least a size too small????
At least it hasn't dived into the "oh everyone hates me because i'm hispanic" aspect of it yet. And I say yet, as it will be inevitable.

I guess I read these books as reminders to myself of what I don't want to write like.

On the writing front:
Nope. nothing new. Sigh. Don't have time right now. but I got ideas percolating, and I'm still running high off the new chapters. woohoo for that.

On a random note:
So some of you have been hearing me whine for a while now (most likely in the previous blog on myspace) about how I want to get back into playing the piano.
Well, there was that bruahaha with a certain individual whom I was going to borrow a piano from.

Weeeeeeel... the person who was kindly storing the piano for the bitch in question has also had not fun times with bitch in question, and has decided to let me use the piano. When bitch in question asks for it back, they'll get it back obviously, but for now it's out of my friends house, and soon I shall actually have it set up and shall be reminding myself how horrible I am at playing piano.

Though, as I just discovered, there are some things one never forgets. My right hand has full muscle memory of the right hand intro for Tarantella. Woohoo. Ironically, it was that piece of music which facilitated my abrupt stop of playing music when I was a kid.

Tarantella was the piece I had to learn to move onto the next level. I informed my teacher I didn't want to compete. She didn't want to teach me anymore. And I was terrified of Tarantella because it was so beyond my skill. So it's the last piece I really "learned" and after at least 15 years, my right hand still knows how to play it. the left hand.. has half the memory, but it was confused the last time I attempted to play it.

On the work front:
Busy busy busy. They are messing with us greatly. Which is making more work for me. Which sucketh. To the point where my eye twitches when i'm at work. Almost non stop. I can't stand it.

The only thing that keeps me going is my constant mantra of "15 months, 15 months"

Speaking of that... Today is once again the monthly anniversary of meself and Guy. By the old counting system.. we have 1.39 years left.
The new counting system.. 15 months and a week and a half.

On the Vampire yarn front:
Poll ends tonight. But there might be some last minute changes. Such as I might only have 1 yarn to pick when it comes down to it.
As I said there is issue with the whole dying thing.
And now there is an issue with the whole Weight of yarn thing.

Jen is sending me one of her leftover balls of yarn, out of her "Silk Sock", which I can't remember the content right now but I think it's like 80% silk, 20% wool.. I think i can't recall. Which I might be able to stand, but she can only get it in whats known as Fingering Weight. Which is a lot lighter than the DK that I need to do the project in. So I have to do the math and figure out how much more I'm going to need so as to be 100% sure I have enough for the Alexandra. So I might need 9 skeins of the Lucien just to be on the safe side. And, that means with the 2 yummy Michael Corvins, that will leave only 1 spot open for a random color.

I will of course let ya'll know how it plays out. But I won't know till later.

Dumbing down the world.. one Tv channel at a time..

2009-03-17T07:59:00.002-06:00

Article can be found here:

Link

So for those who won't read it. The gist is that SciFi is now going to try to shed the geeky image by changing the name to "SyFy"

SyFy? What the f*ck is that?

Sci Fi is supposed to be SCIence FIction. Yes, it is geeky. Yes, it brings up memories of StarTrek, StarWars, and cheesey poof eating geeks in their parents basement.

But you know what. I'm one of those geeks. I've played Dungeons and Dragons. I've done online role playing games. Hell, I've done LIVE ACTION role playing games.

Growing up, I read science fiction novels about telapathic spaceships.
It made me think about the possiblities that are out there, and what we can achieve as humans.

Now, Science Fiction isn't just about space creatures and such like that.

It is Steam Punk. It is exploration. It is so many other things that just geeky overweight guys in their parents basement.
Jules Verne was a Sci Fi dude.
So was HG Wells. I mean, come on.. a time machine? That is one of the classic Sci Fi fodder.

SyFy has no meaning to me.

I am not happy. the SciFi channel was one of the few channels that I still enjoyed watching things on. I guess now I'm gonna have to go over to Discovery Channel and tell "SyFy" where they can stick their "Sy".