Ds2 decided he wanted to knit a kitty pi for Precious today. Only he doesn't know how to knit, so he asked me to teach him. Only we didn't have any size 11 DPNs, so we had to make some from wooden dowels that I happened to have on hand from the last time I made my own wooden needles. But then I couldn't figure out to get started knitting in the round and shortly after casting on 9 stitches and not knowing what to do from there, I gave up, grabbed a crochet needle and began creating a crocheted kitty pi. Why I didn't write down what I was doing, I will never know. I pretty much winged it and it came out just like I planned! I doubt if it took me more than four hours. Ds2 did crochet several of the rounds, but he has only crocheted chains in the past, and so today was learning to do chains again, plus learning the slipstitch, single crochet and double crochet. We finally agreed on Hunter's Chicken (aka Chicken Cacciatore) for dinner, but I didn't really want to cook. He really wanted the kitty pi to be finished, so we agreed that I would crochet and he would cook. That worked out great.
I did use wool from my stash, the Irish Twist Yarn for Aran Sweaters, but I don't know if it was prewashed - I don't know if it will shrink and felt like the kitty pi is supposed to. We first read about kitty pi's at Crazy Aunt Purl's.
When I finished it, ds2 put Precious into it and she immediately began bathing. We had the kitty pi perched on top of a TV tray. It was a somewhat precarious, but she didn't seem to care much.
Until next time.
Friday, August 31, 2007
Kitty Pi In One Day
Labels: cats, crocheting, knitting
My Grandma - Still With Us
Labels: Memory Lane
My Grandma is still with us. This is a picture of her from 1944, the year she gave birth to my mother. My mom just told me that my Grandma crocheted the piece of fabric in the photo behind her. If my Grandma tarries, she will be 93 years old on the 6th of September.
I went to see Grandma on Tuesday after work so I could take her a CD player and a CD with some of her favorite music. I knew she liked Lawrence Welk and my sister R emailed me one of Grandma's favorite songs "He" by the McGuire Sisters. I downloaded one of Lawrence Welk's albums - 22 Favorite Waltzes - and burned that to CD, along with the one my sister sent. When I told my mom, she asked me how my sister (who lives in another state) did that. Technology rocks sometimes. My grandma was very sleepy and groggy on Tuesday night. I was worried she might not make it much longer.
I decided to go again on Wednesday night because my coworker S brought in a bunch of CDs with favorite hymns. My grandma always liked hymns. I am really glad I went again on Wednesday night because my grandma was wide awake. I cried more because it is hard that she doesn't know who I am. I tried not to cry though, because Grandma would frown when I would cry. Frown with concern. Then I would make myself smile and she would smile at me, obviously relieved that I had stopped crying. I mean her face would soften once we smiled. She can't really talk. Mostly she says gibberish type things. She does repeat "Bye" when I say bye to her and "I love you" back to me, when I say it to her.
We got home late on Wednesday night, around 8pm. As we were coming up the road where we turn south to drive two more blocks until we get home, there were two huge explosions in front of us. Well, maybe not so huge, but at least the size of a small car. Then the lights in the area went out and I was on the phone with ds2 and he suddenly wasn't there. I'm pretty sure some power lines were knocked down and the explosions were the electricity hitting the bushes on the ground. The power was out until 1 o'clock in the morning. At that time, dh asked me what I wanted to do... we'd talked the night before about maybe staying home and getting caught up on our sleep. But I told him I'd just as soon get it over it, so we could have today off. I'm so glad we decided to go to work because now we get to have today off.
This next picture is my Grandma and Grandpa, my mom and my aunt in April, 1962. My mom and dad were married a few months later on July 4th, 1962. I was born the next year.
My mom gave me a bunch of pictures that belonged to Grandma. I'm going to scan all the pictures that everyone can get to me, in high resolution, then burn them to a CD so everyone can have a copy of the old family photos. This next picture is of my mother and stepfather, my birth sisters and my stepbrother. I'm the eldest.
This next picture is such a neat idea. My grandma holding my mom, leaning toward a mirror, their images in the mirror. It's too bad you can't really make out the reflection in the mirror! These old photos are not really very good, but I guess when you have nothing else, what can you do?
These two turtledoves were waiting on the wall in front of our vehicle when we came out from visiting Grandma. They stayed right there like we weren't even there.
I'm hungry and tired... I should get off this computer and do something else.
Until next time.
Monday, August 27, 2007
What A Day Yesterday Was
Labels: Memory Lane
Our church has Sunday school and morning services on a regular basis, with no Sunday night services. I guess every once in a while they have a Q&A session. So ds2 and I had planned to go to that. I made plans with my friend Rees to have her do a test wedding hairdo. We had planned to go to Sunday services, go out for lunch, then go to Rees' house at 2pm and then back to church at 6pm.
So we're sitting at Denny's and my mom calls me to let me know my Grandma is in hospice. She'll be 93 years old on the 6th of September. I told my mom I'd come see Grandma during work on Monday. My mom asked me if she didn't make it, would I be okay with not having seen her and been able to say goodbye. I said I'd be okay, but then after I got off the phone I realized maybe I'd better not waste time.
One thing I felt really good about at lunch was that I made a decision to eat only half my burger and save the rest for later. I kind of lost my appetite after the phone call from my mom, and picked at my food while I was crying on the phone with her. The burger didn't taste that good anyway. Ds2 said we shouldn't eat at Denny's again because the food isn't that good.
Usually when I go out to eat, I have trouble ordering, because everything looks so good. At least 95% of the time, I'm disappointed in the food once it gets to me. It always looks so good in the pictures. I also eat everything on my plate though, and nearly always feel uncomfortably full afterward. I thought about that as I contemplated my order, and then I decided if I had them cut my burger in two, and determine that I'd be saving the other half for later, that would make it easier to stop at satiation, instead of feeling stuffed full. It worked out good and I hope I can employ the same technique in the future. Sometimes it takes a long time for me to learn these lessons.
I called Rees and let her know I need to cancel. I was really disappointed because I'd been looking forward to seeing what she would do with my hair. But of course it was more important to visit with my Grandma.
My mom called all my siblings and let them know Grandma is in hospice.
On the way there, I realized we'd be passing by my youngest sister's place and she doesn't have a car or drive, so I offered to bring her with us.
My mom was really happy that everyone was able to come visit - well, not EVERYONE, because she hasn't been able to get hold of her sister, and two of my siblings live in other states. My brother lives here, I'm not sure where he was. Maybe my mom didn't want to add him into the mix at the same time.
I got this really neat photo of all of us standing around Grandma's bed. It will make a great 8x10.
We got back to church just after 5:30. Q&A started at 6pm. Only one other couple besides the pastor and his wife showed up. We asked questions and got answers until after 8pm. I finally crawled into bed at 10. I'm very tired this morning. And hungry and there was nothing to bring for lunch. Oooooooh, my eyes are trying to close I'm so tired.
My Grandma survived breast cancer in 1954. She had a mastectomy. I guess the cancer came back as a tumor showed up on her chest not too many weeks ago. Since she is going to be 93 years old, the doctors are not suggesting treatment. She is too frail and old to survive the rigors of aggressive cancer therapy. My mom hopes she makes it to her 93rd birthday. That's next Saturday.
Until next time.
Saturday, August 25, 2007
I'm Up Late
Labels: Just Stuff
I determined to figure out our finances and if I had to stay up late, that was what I'd have to do.
It helps that I had a three and a half hour nap today!
I'm chagrined to see that from July to now we have only whittled down our credit card debt by only $58.52. It doesn't help that finance charges were around $150 for the month! ACK! And dh has been working on his business and has bought materials for the current job from our own money.
We are only using debit cards now.
One credit card is in use for automatic bill pay purposes. Right around $400 in bills goes onto this card each month and my automatic payment was set to $310. $180 of those bills belong to my sister, who regularly has me floating her for 60-90 days. I finally broke down and started charging her the interest that I have to pay. When she pays, I pay the total amount she paid, toward this card, so not only am I paying the amount being charged each month plus interest (her bills and ours) but her amount goes there, too. I've just increased our automatic payment to $450 per month. This credit card has the lowest interest fee at 9.50%. I know that is still quite high and I am sure I can do much, much better. I just need to take the time to look at one of the credit card offers that come in the mail that offer 0% for one year. There is still a transfer fee that has to paid. I believe it is a percentage and maximum of $75.00.
I have a minimum automatic payment set up for the other credit card, plus I am paying bigger chunks at the end of the month when I see how much money we have left. I REALLY need to get this one transferred someplace else as the interest fee is 15%. OUCH!
On the lower interest card, it looks like I have a Balance Transfer option at .99%.
I will look into this. After I pay the bigger interest card down by another $1000, we would have enough room on the lower interest card to max it out, leaving us with one credit card account to manage.
The less accounts to manage, the better.
Dh is gearing up to get his business started again. This time we are looking into what he needs to do to make it a "real" business. With business cards, a business license, a business checking account even.
We'll see.
Until next time.
Palo Verde Root Borer
Labels: Just Stuff
The Palo Verde Root Borer used to creep me out when I was a youngster.
A friend on our local goats group found some grubs and wondered what they might be. A list member positively identified the grubs as being the grub to Japanese beetles then posted a link to the Stag beetle (Lucanus cervus).
Naturally this aroused my curiosity (because how can one be so certain of a grub's identification with a grainy image and there are MANY types of grubs?) and I began researching myself, to come up with not a correction to this member's post, but a new one of my own with the correct information.
One of my coworkers mentioned something about doing research online and getting paid for it and I was thinking today, I think I'm pretty good at researching. I wonder how much it pays?
I found a really cool insect identification website, Bug Guide which shows lots of identification pictures of insects. Sometimes your bug might not look exactly like the one in the photograph, so it is very helpful when there are LOTS of images with which to compare.
I learned that many beetle larvae look like grubs. I suspect the grubs in question were the Palo Verde Root Borer since it is native to Arizona.
1. Palo Verde Root Borer (Derobrachus geminatus)
This is the HUGE black beetle that we find flying around in the early evenings in Arizona. When Iwas a
And also from Maricopa County Cooperative Extension Home Horticulture.
Some states seem to have their own version. The Southern California version, the Pine Sawyer (long-horned beetle family (Cerambycidae)).
This page has a lot of people talking about the huge black beetle:
2. Japanese Beetles:
However, this site does not indicate that this beetle is infested in Arizona, at least not at the time the webpage was created.
3. Stag Beetles
Finally, this page has nothing but grubs.
They could also be the grub of Scarab beetles.
Putting The Program Together
Labels: Wedding
It was raining when I got up this morning, so I had to wait to milk until 8am. That's very late, but the goats wouldn't come out of the barn without dragging them so there was no point in hurting myself trying to get milking done ON TIME. If it were a work morning I'd have no other choice. The other morning - a work day, mind you - it was raining and it stopped right about 3:05am and started back up at 3:45. Perfect timing.
Since I could get out to milk, I decided to work on the wedding program. I have it together for the most part. Ds2 is thinking about memorizing a poem that dh wrote for me last December, and reading it during the ceremony. But he's not sure he can read it. He says it is kind of emotional and made his stomach hurt (he read through it so we could see how long it takes to read - 2 minutes, 11 seconds). I told dh we might need to get someone else to read it. Not a woman, she'll be crying. I have a person in mind if ds2 thinks he can't do it.
So I need to scan the picture I'm going to use for the cover of the program. I don't own a scanner that works. I rarely need one, but I really need to invest in one.
I think I'm going to take a nap.
Until next time.
Friday, August 24, 2007
They Won't Listen To Me
Labels: FlyLady
I keep telling these guys that I live with that it DOES make a difference to use the carpet cleaner on this carpet!
Dh's sister gave us a professional carpet cleaner over a year ago. Ds2 tried cleaning the carpet with it one time, but the hose was ruined with holes all in it and it just didn't work out very good. We were all discouraged about it and no one has tried it since. That was probably back in January. I did buy a replacement hose ($30! for a six feet) but it has just sat around. The carpet has gotten increasingly worse. It doesn't help that my dearest heart loves to give his little LJ bones to eat wherever his little heart desires. So the carpet gets these big globbing greasy spots that collect every grain of sand that comes in the house. Which is a lot. Trust me. I sometimes have to empty the vacuum cleaner twice while vacuuming. I am demanding that LJ be taught to eat his bones in one place, on a blanket or towel. I have tried to teach him that but EVERYONE needs to be consistent in order for him to fully comply.
Yesterday dh and I were talking about putting ceramic tile in, and today I just couldn't take it for even another minute. I managed to find all the pieces to the carpet cleaner and boy was it ever a mess. The carpet cleaner only sprays and sucks, but the messy grease spots needed scrubbing. So I spent over 3 hours on my hands and knees scrubbing the carpet with the car scrubbing brush. I knew that I shouldn't use DAWN dishwashing detergent because it will attract dirt. I used some carpet cleaning liquid and for the really bad spots, our homemade goat's milk soap. It seems to have worked well.
In spite of my physical pain, it was so worth it! It's not PERFECT, but it's an amazing improvement over the way it looked before. Don't hate me. I'm sure you've noticed in some of my photos how bad the carpet looks. All the little spots. Gross. YUCK!! Don't look! Skip down to the next one!
It was hard work!! I was sweating real hard to begin with and my back was protesting mightily. I kept going and going and going, and finally got to a point where I was comfortable in stopping. What I mean by that is if I don't finish tomorrow like I plan to, then it won't be too noticeable the area that I didn't finish.
After I stopped my back was cramped up so bad that I had to lie down, take aspirin AND apply ICY-HOT.
Tomorrow the kitchen and then I need to start on some wedding things! I read through a bit of the book on vows and such. I'd like to get started on the program. At least get it started.
Until next time.
Stormy Skies and Desert Landscapes
Labels: Just Stuff
This first picture was on the way to pick up the shred on Thursday afternoon after work. We saw this beautiful scenery last Thursday but the camera batteries were dead.
And these were storm clouds earlier this evening. Ds2 had his camera shooting the sky, and I was doing the same. We were side by side taking shots. :-)
It was sprinkling giant drops of rain, not steady, just a drop here and a drop there. The sunset was beautiful.
Until next time.
Tuna Time!
Labels: cats
All the kitties love tuna!
The kittens have learned "Here, Kitty, Kitty, Kitty" very nicely and come running when they hear me calling. Especially in the morning after milking. Lionel has even begun to associate the pail with milk and was milling around my ankles mewing when I was getting ready to go OUT to milk yesterday morning.
Dear honey opened a can of tuna and all the cats came running. They all know the can opener sound, too. Here you can see the little kittens have pushed their way into the can of tuna. Poor Presh didn't even get a lick in, although she was trying to get a lick when the little boys pushed her aside. Tiger can't believe this is happening. Blogger has a new video feature and I'm trying to upload a video of the kittens. It is so cute. They keep pulling the can back and forth. It's mine, no it's mine! The video is so huge though, I don't know if I want to keep it up for very long. I think it's going to take at least 10 minutes to upload it at the rate it is going for the size. 13MB! The first time I tried Blogger stalled out at 2MB and said I wasn't connecting. Hmmm... well this time it uploaded all the way through to 13MB and then when it got done, it's not on my blog anywhere. I don't know what happened. Oh well, it was a very cute little video.
Dear honey takes mercy on Presh and Tiger and opens another can. Presh stretches up trying to get closer to the tuna.
Until next time.
Auto Maintenance Fuel Filter 223100
Labels: auto maintenance
Dh changed the fuel filter in the Pathfinder today. He says we have never changed it since we've owned the vehicle (2001). He says it has a lot more get up and go, and we might get better gas mileage.
Wedding Flowers
Labels: Wedding
I had a bit of a lull in wedding planning, but now that are less than 8 weeks from the wedding I had better get with it again.
I spoke with one of my coworkers on Wednesday about the wedding and she has offered to help me make my bridal bouquet. I am thinking I'm going to let her help me. I have a tendency to want to do everything myself, I'm too independent sometimes, but I have been stressing a little about what to do about the bridal bouquet. It will be good to start letting others help me with some things that need to be done.
I do want to use real white roses in my bridal bouquet. I'm thinking about picking them up the Friday before the wedding. I wonder if that will be enough time to allow for bouquet making. I can leave the bouquet either in my office at work, or maybe in the walk-in refrigerator to keep them fresher. This site says to buy the flowers two days in advance, and tells how to keep them fresh and what to do to them once you get them. Frugal Bride: What You Need to Make Your Own Floral Arrangements.
So I have the purple berry flowers, about forty bunches, and the white rose bunches, I'm thinking a dozen of those.
I'm thinking about attaching a bunch of the purple berry flowers to the chair on the inside of the aisle. Maybe some tulle around the stem, draping down? I got the idea from this photo over on the SewChic blog, but the bows wouldn't be this big. Since we won't be using pews, but chairs. I'm not even sure about the tulle idea... maybe just a bunch of the flowers attached to the inside chair. I'll have to see. Maybe white ribbons draping down?
The bridal bouquet I really loved is here, but it is too expensive to make (when I priced out the items it came to over $80!). I still like the idea of the bouquet cascading. I love the way it looks, but also I read that when the bride is "plus size" the length causes a slimming effect. I still don't want to spend $80. I like the cascading ivy... I'm pretty sure that is what is hanging down. But I don't know how the ivy would look with roses and the purple berries (probably just used as accents, not overwhelming with the purple) OR maybe like my coworker suggested, ribbon hanging down.
I previously blogged about my floral centerpiece.
There will also be an arch and I haven't figured out what to do with that, flower-wise, but am hoping there will be enough purple berry flowers for that. I figure I have forty, and will need at least 12 for the aisle (chairs) and probably 4 bunches for the table centerpieces. Oh, and I have two vases to put in front of the arch on each side that will need about 3 bunches each. That leaves 20 bunches for the arch. Dh was going to make the arch, but when he realized it would only cost $15 (from Michael's or Joann's with the 40% off coupon), he said we can't make it for less than that.
So that's where I'm at with the flowers. I really like baby's breath and will probably see about getting some fresh of that also, to put into the bridal bouquet. I'm starting to realize I do have something in mind of what I want... and starting to feel some hesitancy about letting someone else put together my bouquet. But there is only so much I can do myself on the Friday before the wedding. I'm going to have to start getting my people together who can help me out.
I just realized that we will need to make some boutonnière's. For dear honey and our sons. Maybe from silk so that will be out of the way? Items needed:
* 1 'Anna' rose
* 2 leaves of Pittosporum and perfect rose greens (collect them from the discarded rose stems)
* 1 24 gauge straight wire
* ½-wide light green stem wrap/ corsage tape -
* Floral clippers
* Pearl headed boutonniere pin
Maybe a corsage for each mothers? Speaking of mothers, I need to go shopping with each of them (at very least with my own mother to help her) for a new dress. I must schedule in time for that! On Sunday, ds2 and I are going to church together, then over to my friend Rees' house for my test hairdo. And then back to church for Q&A. We don't have Sunday night service and they usually have Q&A every other Sunday night but attendance had dwindled to the point where they stopped having them, at least for the summer. But at church last Sunday, someone asked when we'll be having our next one and Pastor set it up for us.
Here are some articles that looked good for reference on flower arranging: Jill Slater's Wedding Flowers:
How to make your own bouquets, boutonnieres and centerpieces.
Expert Village Video Tutorials on Floral Design
Until next time.
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
This Made Me Cry
Labels: LJ
As I've admitted many times before, prior to getting LJ, my dh and I were like many others who think "pitbulls" are vicious, dangerous dogs.
I'm glad we don't believe that any longer. Make sure you have tissue nearby before you watch this YouTube video:
Love Can Build a Bridge
Until next time.
Monday, August 20, 2007
Beading the Veil Edge - 1,064 Beads Worth!
Labels: Wedding
I am trying to bead at least 30 minutes each week night, or until I finish the length of thread I pulled out. I can't make the thread too long or it gets tangled too much. Actually for some reason the nylon thread has begun turning into a curlicue (is that really a word?) which makes it very cumbersome to pull the thread through the bead and the tulle. Tonight's beading session took 53 and a half minutes, and I got 20.5 inches completed. I have 24.5 inches remaining on the edging! [Update: The next night I figured out what was causing the curlicue effect. I was very careful when I pulled the thread through the needle and the thread stayed straight. Normally I pull the thread through the needle, using the needle. This was creating the problem! The remaining beading went MUCH faster with the thread being straight, instead of a tight curl to get easily tangled!]
Dear honey and I just figured out that the edging of the two tiers comes to 342 inches. The entire length will contain ~266 pearls, ~570 flutes, and ~228 glass balls.
That's an estimated 1,064 beads stitched onto this veil's edging. Is that awesome!? Wow. And I won't be done at the edging. I'm planning to scatter single and 3-pearl clusters throughout the top and bottom layer. Scatter meaning, sewing each bead individually. 8:-)
After completing about 3/4ths of the edging, I finally came up with a secure way to knot the thread at the end of each row. What I did was when I had about 5" of thread left I would knot the thread three times at the end to secure it there. I learned to sew the thread close to the end of the flute bead and then knot into one little thread of tulle. Otherwise the tulle would pucker. Knot the thread and then pull each piece of thread one piece at a time to tighten the thread securely. Three knots. Then feed the needle through the flute bead going to the other side and tie three more knots. I feel satisfied those beads will not come undone. Now I'm just hoping and praying I knotted the first 3/4ths well enough to hold up without coming undone. When I got the lower tier finished and was at the beginning of where I started beading, the thread was already loosening and beads were starting to dangle! I will have to examine the beginning eventually and make sure the beads are well connected.
I realized when I had dh and ds2 pick up the second packages that the iridescent beads are actually real glass. Uh, my first clue should have been when the very first flute shattered when I tried to force a needle through it that was a bit too big. When it happened I thought, "Hmm, that's odd for plastic to shatter like that." In addition to working with nylon thread, I've been working with the tiniest needle I own. Okay, it's not teeny-tiny, but it's very skinny and shorter than normal. Nylon thread is nearly invisible. What I'm trying to say is this has been a real labor of love and I have really loved doing it! I love the feeling of accomplishment and determination for sticking with a tedious project such as this!
And now it's my bed time.
Until next time.
Sunday, August 19, 2007
My Hair
Labels: Just Stuff, knitting
ADDED NOTE: I forgot to give credit to the photographer for all the photos in this post. One Kevinsky Stewartsky. Thank you for your excellent photo taking skills, you will one day be as famous as Leonardo Da Vinci!
I never did get to report back on Saturday like I promised. I did finish the housecleaning that I'd planned to do, and got started with figuring out our finances. I got through one credit card statement. I worked for one more half hour on the veil. Then I got his hair-brained idea to thaw out a turkey to cook for today.
Speaking of hair, here's a couple shots of mine. It's gotten very long and it's Day 21 of No Poo. I'm still loving the experience, my hair still smells delicious. Very neat.
I probably need a trim at the bottom... probably a good six inches should be removed.
Around 4pm, suddenly it thundered and rain began pelting down. The wind blew very hard and rain poured down in all directions. This is a picture of the north side of our property.
Because I decided to make a turkey today, of course I had to put together a Thanksgiving dinner with at least SOME of the trimmings. When I got up this morning, after milking, I cut up and toasted the many day old bread cubes (I even used 2 bagels that were a week old), peeled potatoes, started my potato rolls and the turkey broth (using the neck, heart, gizzard and liver). We only had a few potatoes and so after church we stopped by to the store to get more. Of course that meant a family shopping excursion. We finally arrived home just after 2pm.
The turkey was a bit overdone. I immediately punched down the dough, formed the rolls and got them going on their second rise. Strained the broth from the turkey and added it to the broth I made on the stove and made gravy. And on and on. Point being, I never got back to our finances or working on the veil.
I snacked during the entire meal making process and really should have not eaten dinner at all, but fixed myself a plate anyway. I have not overeaten that badly in quite a long time, and I actually had to lie down I was so uncomfortable. :-( I got pretty sleepy around 6pm and fell asleep around 6:30 or so. I'm up now because I slept for three hours and it was like taking an afternoon nap. I got up to email my friend about my hair appointment next week. I hope she'll be available next Sunday so we can get together to see what she can do with my hair for the wedding.
I haven't been doing much wedding stuff, aside from the veil. Not even reading books or putting together the program. I need to recommit myself to the process and get a time line written out.
I did manage to get some knitting in today! On the way to and from church. I grabbed this skein
and my homemade wooden needles and started as we left the driveway. Good thing I have a second skein as this came out too short. I will probably bring it with me and finish in the next day or so. I used to sell my scarves on the Internet with some friends but that only lasted a couple of years before everyone lost interest. I tried to keep it going, and the front page can still be seen, but the store itself is no longer available. It was like my baby, it was the first shopping cart I've ever done... it is probably for the best. Rest in peace, baby. So I thought maybe I will look into Etsy to see about selling all these scarves I have on hand. I have at least a dozen, if not more. I have read that other knitters find scarf making to be totally boring. But I like knitting scarves. No pressure. No worry about gauge, am I knitting too tight or too loose? No remembering patterns. Just knit, knit, knit, knit. These two skeins were on clearance at Michael's for FORTY cents each. I wish I'd bought more, but I hadn't thought of trying Etsy. I have been trying to avoid buying yarn because I have plenty in my stash. But who can pass up at least a couple of skeins when they are marked down to FORTY cents? I also got eight skeins of baby blue furry type yarn to make a baby blanket. For who, I don't yet know. But it is going to be so soft! I was going to start on that today, but realized the pattern was for crochet. That would be fine, but it is so furry I think it will be disastrous trying to crochet with it. If I do a swatch gauge I should be able to figure out how to knit it.
It's now 11pm. I had better get back to bed. What's that? My stomach seems to indicate hunger. Sometimes when I can't sleep it is because my blood sugar level dropped. Eventually I'll feel hungry like I do now. I think I'll have a tall cold glass of chocolate goat's milk and hop back into bed.
Until next time.
Saturday, August 18, 2007
Today's Housework
As usual, I'm having trouble getting motivated.
Sometimes I use music to get me going, but after I read this article yesterday I was a bit chagrined to discover that I may give up listening to my favorite music. It slams Contemporary Christian Music claiming that an estimated 95% is not Biblical.
Anyway, here is my plan. I'm going to get off this computer and head into the kitchen. I'm setting the timer for 30 minutes and I'm going to see how much I can accomplish. Since I had the kitchen cleaned up yesterday, except for the floor, it shouldn't take more than half an hour.
My next 30 minutes will be either: Tackle the living room, or bead another line on the veil.
The next 30 minutes will be the reverse of whatever I chose - you know, if I beaded, I'll clean the living room and vice versa.
I'm getting so close on being done with the edge beading on the veil. I have about five feet to go (about 2 hours or so). I've asked the guys to stop by JoAnn's and pick up another package of the beads so I can finish and start on the pearl clusters. It is beautiful.
Some time today I also need to clean ds1's bedroom, fold laundry and put it away (it's so much easier to do one load at a time!). I've already printed out all the statements for our checking and credit card accounts so I want to get to that today, too. It's been six weeks since I last worked with our finances. OUCH!
See you around 11:20am.
Mrs. So and So
Labels: Memory Lane
My earliest memory of Mrs. So and So was from when I was five years old. My father had left my mom and sister to carouse with his girlfriends. I knew about it and I even saw him with another woman on one occasion. I can still see in my mind the car, him driving with another woman, down the alley behind our home. Of course my mother saw this and became very upset. She says she cried daily for months and months after he left us. My younger sister was three and my mother was 4 months pregnant with their third child. One of the reasons he left was because my mother was ten pounds overweight. Nice guy, eh? He found me via the Internet a few years ago and he kept insulting me by giving me diet advice and harping about my weight. When he had the nerve to start in on my children's father, calling him a loser, I'd had enough and cut him out of my life permanently. But I'll talk about "Daddy Dearest" another day. On with more Mrs. So and So stories.
My mother was never a very good housekeeper (she's an excellent one now) and during this stressful time in her life as you can imagine, our home got very messy. My mother had recently started attending Mrs. So and So's church (Mrs. So and So being the actual pastor) and fell into it hook, line and sinker.
Somehow Mrs. So and So found out our house was a big mess and before we knew it she had organized a team of church members and they came over to clean up the filthy, disgusting, poor-children-living-in-filth of a messy home. I don't remember the mess. I don't remember the team of people. I do remember the deep shame and guilt. Mrs. So and So was one of those born organized people. Her house was spotless at all times. Believe me I know that to be true because I lived with her from the age of 16 to 21. Every morning the house was cleaned, whether it was dirty or not.
Mrs. So and So was skilled at manipulation and coercion, and had strong opinions about the way things should be. My mother was heartbroken, weak and gullible. I don't blame my mother but consider her to be a victim of a cult. My mom says she was involved with Mrs. So and So for 14 years, but I think it was actually 16 years. I was so damaged from the experiences I had with Mrs. So and So and her so-called Christianity that I strayed from the Lord for nearly twenty years.
SLEEP - THE ULTIMATE WASTE OF TIME
Mrs. So and So thought sleeping was a waste of time. She used to tell me stories about how her mother was in a wheelchair when she was a teenager and she had to do all the housework, cook meals, plus go to school AND she held a job after school. She said she would get up at 4am to take care of her momma, cook and clean house. Then off to school. Home to cook dinner, then to her after school job. She had this thing about having a hope chest and she would talk about how she'd bought all this lingerie for when she got married. (I used to wonder how come SHE got to keep her money that she worked for, when I couldn't keep one dime of my money.) She would get home around 10pm and then she'd do more housework and her homework. She'd get to bed around 1am. She used to talk about how most people wasted away 1/3 of their lives sleeping. I need a steady 7 hours or 6 at MINIMUM in order to keep functioning. One time when I was ten years old she came over to our house on a Saturday. It was 10 o'clock in the morning and everyone was still asleep. She began going from window to window, pounding and shouting for us to wake up.
When I lived with Mrs. So and So, I worked full time in the evening. I wasn't in bed until midnight, so I would often sleep past eight and sometimes to 9. She wouldn't wake me up, because she expected me to get up early and help her clean house. Some mornings I would wake up to find her in a rage seething about how I was pretending to sleep so I could avoid housework. I wasn't pretending, I WAS sleeping. I was barely 16, still a teenager, still needing plenty of sleep to grow. It took me decades to get over my issues with sleeping. Thank goodness I was able to be a stay at home mom and work through it. I used to feel phenomenal amounts of guilt for "sleeping in". My goodness I dreaded waking up. Not knowing whether I'd be in huge trouble. Waking up was bad enough, but she often had breakfast ready for me - consider that I have never been a breakfast person.
HOW NOT TO CURE AN ANOREXIC (WHO IS NOT ANOREXIC)
One of the reasons Mrs. So and So used to convince my mother to let me come live with her was I was anorexic and starving myself to death. (Coincidentally anorexia was just becoming known and a movie was made about it, which I'm sure she watched and then assumed since I was thin I MUST be anorexic. She was so used to looking at her beefy sons that I probably did look anorexic in comparison.) I was slender as a child and around the age of 10 Mrs. So and So "prescribed" a nightly malted shake to put some weight on me. When I began living with her full time she would often prepare my breakfast. Oh joy. Not when I woke up, but hours earlier when she made her breakfast. Mine would sit on the table, growing cold, until I finally got out of bed. Some days it was fried eggs - the white of fried eggs made me vomit so I don't even know how I managed to choke them down. Some days it was FOUR pieces of buttered white toast with a glass of milk. I hated milk also. But I didn't dare not eat the food. She was watching my every move. She was very manipulative about food. She would do things like pile a pound of spaghetti on a plate, I literally mean an entire pound. We're talking a DRY pound, so you can imagine once it was cooked up, how much spaghetti would be piled on the turkey platter. Okay, I love spaghetti with butter, but it needs to have plenty of salt. In her house, you did not dare salt or pepper your food for it was akin to slapping her in the face and shouting that she was a horrible cook. The one time she piled the spaghetti on the plate with no salt... I looked at it and groaned inwardly. I tried my best to choke it down, but I could not. When I could not finish it all (with her exclaiming about how "your mother" used to feed me that much so I had better finish up) she took what was left on the plate and threw it into the garbage can. I was horrified. I could have eaten what was left at work for lunch. But no, she threw it all away.
I remember she used to make this really delicious stew. She cooked it in the crockpot and was so proud of it. She'd talk about how she made it and on and on. One day while taking out the trash (that was one of my chores), I found the empty cans of Dinty Moore hidden within another bag. More and more I got glimpses of her true personality.
Sometimes she would make me stay in my room and abruptly enter and toss a plate of food on my table and say, "Don't say I never did anything for you" and then storm out slamming the door. I lived in fear most of the time; I never knew when or if I was going to incur her wrath. As I entered my twenties I would get up as early as I could in the morning and take the bus to work and get there an hour or two early and start working, just to be away from her home.
GERMOPHOBIA
She was also germophobic. I remember when I started my first job (which she found for me, thanks Mr. So and So!) the first night after arriving home she acted like I swam home through sewage. I had to go straight to the bathroom, not touch ANYTHING on my way there, remove my clothes, hand to her through the door and take a hot shower. She took my clothes gingerly with her fingertips and threw them in the washing machine immediately. I worked as a mall maid. I walked around sweeping up bits of trash that people dropped, emptying ashtrays, washing the glass door windows, cleaning and shining the pay phones. I wasn't working in the most contagious wing of a hospital, but she acted like I was contaminated from head to toe.
CHILD SUPPORT
Of course the reason I had to work was to earn my keep in her home. But she also had my mother paying child support for me to live there. I am pretty sure she had my mother paying her at least $300 each month. This would have been back in the late 70s, early 80s. I gave my entire check every single week. About a month or two into working, I decided to keep somewhere around five dollars (I needed to buy some feminine products). Since my pay was the same every single week, she knew I'd given her a few dollars less. She flew into a maniacal rage, threw the money into my face and screamed that I should just keep my money from now on. Well, at that time in my life I was eager to help as much as possible and I was genuinely happy (I was pretty stupid back then) to give her all my money. When she threw it back into my face, change and all, it freaked me out and scared me. I begged her forgiveness and after several days of the silent treatment she eventually accepted my apology and the money. I was so scared to take any money from that time on that eventually I began signing my check over to her.
Well, that's enough about Mrs. So and So for today.
Until next time.
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
Cement Truck Coming At Us?
Labels: Just Stuff
Whew. This cement truck was actually being towed down the road ahead of us. It looked really creepy though, like it was headed directly for us.
Until next time.
Baby Gecko
Labels: Just Stuff
I spotted this tiny critter at work the other day.
Here's a closeup.
Here he is in a cup next to a dime for size comparison.
Until next time.
Too Much Information
Labels: Just Stuff, Memory Lane
I've been working for the past few years to be more guarded with the information I disclose. I actually do well on my blog and keep personal things to a minimum, but I still have some issues with e-mail. I sometimes disclose too much personal information via e-mail. Since I'm so very busy, I have little time for personal e-mails, so there isn't much chance that I will say too much. Recently however, I think I shared too much information to a new acquaintance and may have made them feel uncomfortable.
I hope not. But if I did, I apologize.
I inherited this tendency to blab from my dear mother. The pastor of my youth (we were involved in a cult-like situation when I was young) was a firm believer in the Code of Silence and my mother was often harshly chastised for freely sharing personal information. "I could NOT believe what your mother did today! She told a lady in her doctor's office that she..." I personally couldn't see what the big deal was. If my mom chose to share personal information, that was her choice. It's not like she was giving the stranger her social security number and checking account information. It was probably something like my mom was pregnant with her sixth child and asked the other lady about her pregnancy and the lady said this was her first and my mom probably said something like, "Oh, I remember my first pregnancy. I lost the baby weight fairly quickly, I think it is because I breastfed my daughter. I didn't breastfeed my second daughter and it took me a lot longer to lose the weight."
In my teens I lived with our pastor and I was soon to discover that much of her reason for practicing the Code of Silence were because she had financial problems. More than once we moved during the middle of the night because she had been unable to pay the rent for several months. Back in the "olden days" you could call up the local phone company and have them turn on the phone with just your name (any old name you might come up with, I might add) and address and voila. That was another thing that happened, she had the electricity and phone turned on in different names each time because she hadn't made the payments. I was asked to call the utility companies and lie about why we needed to have the service remain on for one more day. Once she made me practice crying and saying that I was home alone with my baby brothers and my parents were in another state for some important reason. One time a man walked up and asked, Does Mrs. So and So live here?" I answered, "Yes" and he handed me an envelope. I ran in to give it to Mrs. So and So and then we found out it was legal material and she had just be served. OH, did I get in big trouble for that little bit of honesty! How was I supposed to know? How could I have known?
I don't really like the Code of Silence anyway. But I realize that there is a time and a place and disclosing personal life information to brand new acquaintances can be overwhelming.
I will continue working on that blabbing thing.
Until next time.
