Since tomorrow doesn’t really exist…. February 28, 2008

OK, this leap year stuff is kind of crazy.  I have this imaginary scene where the guy who made up our ridiculous calendar is standing up in the front of the room trying to explain it all, and there is the jerk in the back who keeps throwing out questions….”you didn’t perhaps notice that it doesn’t work”…”What?!?” says the poor guy up front….

“um” says our jerk ” it doesn’t work….mathematically…you know it doesn’t all add up to a year…?”

Our poor calendar inventor is forced to stand up front and try to explain it all again even though his mathematical error is glaringly obvious now.  In the end the room makes up all the stupid leap year rules, the committee gets all the credit, and somehow gets named after the jerk…..Gregory.

So while my version is fictionalized (entirely, the Gregorian calendar replaced the Julian calendar precisely because things didn’t add up)  I am sure the only reason Gregory gets all the credit is that whole pope thing though….which might or might not exempt him from jerkhood, Popes and the historical content of popedom may open up some questions in regards to potential jerkhood thing.   Anyhoo if you think all that is riveting, you should hear my daylight savings theory……

I spent the majority of the weekend and a good part of the week with a sick kiddo at home, finally he is feeling better… last night it turns out he could have DIED…(according to him). Why all this death talk? No Doritos in the house.  Seriously.  Fortunately, I had to make a trip to the store anyway…so Doritos were procured, and no death occurred.  Once my children are safely back in drama-ville, I feel much better about their health. 

I still haven’t settled into any knitting…..I will probably have progress on something on Sunday…. Saturday is supposed to be a beautiful day out here, almost 70 degrees, and sunny and I NEED a day like that… the last one I was supposed to get got preempted by an early storm and a sick kid, and Sunday the cold rolls in again…. the only problem is that this would be according to the weatherman, and since we already know that weather-people are liars…well…you get the gist.   Either I will be indoors cleaning and knitting all weekend or I will be indoors HALF the weekend, or the liars are really trying to be tricky and I will be outdoors all weekend.  See how those lying fiends mess up plans? 

So, tomorrow enjoy the mathematical remnants of the last four years presented in whole and as a day by Pope Gregory XIII 🙂

Mondays and sick kids….. February 25, 2008

Well, it is Monday, boy was sick all weekend and is just now beginning to feel better….. I did read a couple of books this eekend, both were nice in their own way, but neither one worth writing a diatribe about especially when I am sure someone somewhere already has.  Maybe if I weren’t so tired myself I would have stronger feelings about that 🙂

Pretties by Scott Westerfeld, basic juvenile fiction – it is good to read what the kids are reading sometimes. Also finally got a hold of T is for Trespass from Sue Grafton, the alphabet murders is still one of my favorite series.

Work is such a total drag I find myself fighting it right now, there are so many people in personal turmoil around me it is making me crazy.. divorces, kid stuff, you name it…. oddly enough the work environment I am in means I can not escape it, and normally I don’t mind being a group mom, but right now with so much else going on it is a bit much. 

The best news of the day is that today will be my final building allergy shot, so I will finally be at the highest dose, and can stop getting shots on a weekly basis and start getting them monthly!! It isn’t really the shot part that gets me, it is the co-payment, me and my budget will be WAY happier on one shot a month, I am even flirting with signing up for Weight Watchers again, but am wondering if I can pull that dough from my flex spending account……

 Despite my whining I am feeling pretty good, the weather is finally better, and that alone is such a spirit lifter….. I am already getting excited about a couple of projects and the creative juices are once again nudging there way into the front of my brain…… so until next time y’all 🙂

Long weeks….. February 21, 2008

So it is Thursday and I swear, not much has gone right this week…. nothing tragic or anything like that, just a chain of small mixups.

One of my co-workers that I have worked with for like 4 years now is leaving for “greener pastures”… at least he hopes.  It is one of those big time career moves for him, so I know he is nervous…. the leaving really creates a LOT of changes in the dynamics of our group, so that has been exciting to say the least. 

I haven’t done ANY knitting AT ALL.  Really.  I mean I have cast on for like five different things, then ripped it off the needles and  rewound the yarn.  I am not sure what my deal is.  Maybe it is just a symptom of the wrongness of the week. 

I just got an email from the library saying that two books I have been waiting for are in, so I think I shall read and not knit over the weekend. With nice weather (so that the kids are running with the neighborhood tribe) I could probably knock out both  books, then maybe by Monday the right project will present itself….. I definately have my eye on lace patterns right now, although I really need to cast on a mindless knit for myself…..sigh.  The joy of indecision.

Valentines…… February 15, 2008

Look, I have my own personal Cupid 🙂

This was his first school valentines day, you know, when it is still fun and everyone gets stuff, and you get to make a neat bag…..

So to him it was a pretty darn cool day.  DD had more haul than any thirteen year old has a right to have, and she is not locked in her room today because most of it was from girlfriends, although there was perhaps one small chocolate rose from a boy………I am waiting to see whether she eats that one first or last or just saves it. If she saves it the room locking is an option.

And me…. little old me??? I got a dozen red roses….that I won in the VD raffle from work.  Actually I would have been a bit upset with hubby if he spent money on a dozen red roses (I like CHEAP flowers) but it is nice to have them 🙂

Slippers….. February 11, 2008

OK, so I have actual knitting to show off today!  Hot off the needles and out of the washer and dryer…. felted clogs 🙂  ALLL MINE!!!!!!!!!

I made a pair of these as a Christmas gift, and it almost sucked out my soul to give them away (ok, maybe not my SOUL, but you get my drift….I truly almost zombified myself (gratuitous zombie mention!!! 5 blogger points!!!)

Anyhoo, these are just so darn amazing, the thing is they are toasty and warm and soft and comfy, but not too hot so your feeties sweat….. PLUS you can make them nice and wide for fat little feets….sigh.  I love the Fiber Trends people 🙂   Since I am impatient I have found that the shoe rack in the dryer is the best way to dry these, and if you felt them in a front loader, they will be so close to dry that you don’t feel too environmentally guilty for using the dryer….. I am especially in love because the felting process is so cool, here they are pre felting, the shoes are mine, so that shows how much they shrink up….

So how’s about details eh?

Fiber Trends Felted Clogs

Brown Sheep Nature Spun Worsted in Hurricane Seas and Pepper – AWESOME because they felted to size with a single trip through the front loader!!!!! And the felted wool is snuggly soft and thick! Yarn from The Cottage Yarn in Littleton.

Knitpicks Options needles in size US 13 using the 24″ cord. 

If you are making the ladies small, you may have to get the 16″ needles or magic loop it or whatever…but for the medium, the 24″ worked fine, very close fit…but it beats changing needles! I also changed things up and used a US 11 to pick up stitches where called for and that made the juggling process of attaching the sole and the cuff WAY easier.  

In other news….. I am really sick of winter, but Saturday and Sunday were nice enough that the neighborhood tribe was roaming again!!  They are a little sad, because it has become clear that DD the daring leader of the tribe has moved on.  It is almost peter pannish…. how they all followed her around and she has been the leader of the play for a few years now, but she has grown out of that kind of play, and it was like they didn’t know what to do without her. The oldest is now a boy who lives just a couple of houses down, so it isn’t much surprise that they soon settled into the famous melting snow routine of building gutter dams. Odd how even though you know it is going to happen, the growing up still surprises you.   

Snowplows…. February 5, 2008

This morning, I drove all the way to work in this. The funny thing is that I was assured by various radio personalities and c-dot spokespeople that all the main roads had been plowed. Now there is a slight chance that I never take a main road, or that I have misunderstood the word plowed. It may be that snow has a new double meaning, and I am just uninformed on the nuances of our language.
As of now my list of complete and total liars is as follows:
1. Weather people.
2. people who say the roads have been plowed.
3. Traffic reporters.

Oh and HAPPY SUPER TUESDAY everyone!!! If you don’t play now, you can’t gripe later 🙂

Over a week….. February 4, 2008

Setting new records for absolute blog ignorance daily !!!!

Anyway….

I must get this out of my system or I will be unbearable.  I love Eli Manning and I am so glad the Giants won….I have ALWAYS said he was good, and that you really can not judge a quarterback right away, I believe good quarterbacks are born, great ones have experience….. I am willing to bet that while this may be his first, it won’t be his last.

 Ok, now that is done…. I can tell you MORE exciting stuff (of course if you define exciting differently than I do, I really don’t want to hear about it)! The Denver Creative Festival was this weekend… if you are unfamiliar, it is a venue where vendors booth up and sell their products.  Products vary from the newest gadgets and notions to the latest and greatest materials, patterns, etc.  So yeah, if you have any craft or creative hobby, and you don’t find a way to spend a single dime, well….there are some things that shouldn’t be said.

Anyway, if that weren’t cool enough I got to meet a fellow blogger (again) Anna-Liza and I met for the first time when the Yarn Harlot came to speak in April of 07.  Since then I have not only stalked her blog, but I have stalked her friends 🙂  So we met up at lunch time and gossiped briefly over the our favorite websites….and what is next to knit.  It was delightful to meet again, and I hope one day when the kids outgrow the need to cling to my legs, I may be able to go to knit groups and see more of the people I meet so infrequently these days. 

I also did some stash enhancement.  This company was there, and I bought some beautiful light coppery fall tones variegated in a lace weight so I can really jump in over my head.  No pictures yet….

In knitting news I am slowly slowly kicking out a second pomotamus, I think I have second sock syndrome…. But am QUICKLY (one down 1/2 to go) making myself a pair of felted clogs, I so loved the pair I knit for sil, and it was practically tragic to give them up, so hopefully and FO, soon!  And I actually have a FO, granted a really basic FO, but still… I decided to make a washcloth for mom for her b-day, and the only way to gift a washcloth is with cool soap, so voila 🙂

Knit with Sugar’n Cream self striping, I am SOOOO in love with self striping. 

In sewing news, I have made the sloppiest looking lunch-bag on the planet, but it is perfect for schlepping my lunch in, and I will never lose it!  

Basically I just made a pattern from the paper bag I used until it died and although it could be prettier, it isn’t.  I am also sure it would take some pretty large cajones to steal a lunch in a bag like this 🙂

Soon:  The latest and greatest from vogue and a total rant.