PIF exchange

OK,so you all know that I am in the Dish Rag Tag right? So, we are off and running and I was reading my team's forum so that I could participate with my team mates and find our just where we are in the race. So I started to do a little blog surfing among my team mate's blogs. I found information on the PIF Exchange from Alicia who found it from Alaina who got it from Jody. I was able to join in from Moriah's blog. So, just reading that last couple of sentences should give you a 'sense' of what it's all about. Here is the gist of the exchange (taken blatantly from Alaina's blog).

PIF Exchange

This exchange is based on this gorgeous movie with Helen Hunt in it called 'Pay It Forward'. How many of you out there have had a chance to watch it? O.K. If you've yet to see the movie, this is what the PIF Exchange is all about......


"Here is how it works! I'll send a handmade gift to the first 3 people who leave a comment on my blog requesting to join this PIF exchange! I don't know what that gift will be yet, and you may not receive it tomorrow or next week...LOL... but you will receive it within 365 days, that's a promise! and it will be something yummy!! The only thing you have to do in return is pay it forward by making the same promise on your blog..."

So the first 3 people who leave a comment on my blog, will get something made for them by me! I can't wait to see who you are! I should be able to come up with something good for you all, just you wait and see! Let me know you want in and if you are among the first 3, you'll be in! I'll need your email address when you comment so that I know how to reach you to obtain your address, ok?

Join in and then just pay it forward!

Fun, fun and more fun

I've been pretty negligent in my posting. I received my "Pay it forward" gift last week and never posted about it. Moriah really outdid herself with my package:

Look at what a great graphic she came up with:

I think I might just have to steal that for my PIFs! And the soap was so wonderful! Thanks again Moriah!

I've been working on assorted dishcloths myself in preparation for my part of the dishrag tag. Y'know, finding a pattern that is interesting yet quick to knit. However, my team's box seems to have gotten lost on it's way to me from California! Ugh! Oh well, the race is over - Congrats to the winners! - but I still want to get the box so that everyone in my team gets a turn at it. Hopefully it will turn up soon. No pictures of the cloths I've made as I have gifted them to ladies at work.

I've been working on my chevron scarf and it's coming along nicely. I'm more than half way through the yarn and should have a finished product relatively soon. I'm waiting until that time to take a final picture and then post. It's going to be so pretty! Question is, do I keep it or gift it? Not sure yet. We'll see when it's done.

Lastly, I was playing around on knitter crack and somehow came across this pattern. How could I resist? Let me start off by saying that I used stash yarn to complete it and it just took 1 1/2 days. So quick and easy too! Wanna see mine? OK. . . . . .



I used a pale green Paton's Grace - it took less than a skein to make. Really this was such a fun, quick and entertaining knit. The fact that the yarn I used is a cotton yarn actually makes it, dare I say, wearable. Let me tell you, the fit is really nice and it's comfortable. I was really surprised as I thought it would never work as a garment. HAHAHAHAHA. I was thinking that I would make an I-cord and use elastic thread in the center of the I-cord to make it more wearable (vs. the ribbon).

Whodda thunk it?

ADDED 9/9/07


Click here to create your own painting.

I'm slowing heading over to the dark side

So, DH has always spoiled me. Even when we were first married and had very little money, he would find ways to go above and beyond the necessary. He said that ha got a kick from seeing me happy. It's never changed.

I usually have something significant that I want for Christmas that he will get me as my " big" gift. This past year he was puzzled that I had nothing significant on my list. I had everything that I wanted and didn't really have any "wishes".

So what does he do? He got me an iPad. The big 3G iPad. I was stunned and said "but I've never asked for an iPad". He said he knew me and that he knew I would love it. He knows me well.

So although I've always been a PC person, here I was with an iPod, iTouch and now an iPad. Hmmmmm........

Fast forward to this past week. Verizon gets the iPhone. Hallelujah! I have been an Altel customer for over a decade (now Verizon) and had been waiting for this day. I was debating on whether or not to upgrade to the iPhone or not.... Friday night my hubby tells me that Verizon has decided to eliminate it's "new every 2" feature on the tail of getting the iPhone. It seems that they feel that getting the iPhone has given them an edge and that their customers will be so elated from that, they won't balk at the elimination on "ne2" AND that AT&T customers with iPhones will switch to them b/c of their network. Humph!

Verizon is attempting to change the wireless industry in the USA by setting a standard of making their customers pay for their phones each time they upgrade without providing any discounts. Hmmmm, I personally am a fan of good old fashioned competition and providing incentives to customers. AND Verizon has never and doesn't plan on providing rollover minutes. (a pet peeve of mine). Due to this new change in service, I was forced to upgrade my (and DS's) phone by today or forfeit my eligibility for a discounted upgrade. Really? A customer for over a decade and then this? NOT. GOOD. CUSTOMER. SERVICE.

So, off we went yesterday to the 3 major players (AT&T, T Mobile and Verizon) to review our options. Surprise surprise, who had the least accommodating and financially accommodating options? Verizon. Switching to a smartphone would void my current cellphone plan (a vestigial Altel plan) and force me to change to a current Verizon plan (more expensive). Plus their smart phones (even with my NE2 discount) were expensive! Unlimited texting (I DO have a teenager) was ridiculously expensive compared to the other companies. Anyone that knows me knows that I can't stand to be bullied or forced into any decision. Yeah, that's really bad. I WILL do all within my power to go against those decisions. Call me stubborn.

When comparing the other to companies (plans, texting, phone choices) we decided to go to AT&T and I ended up with an iPhone 3G S.

So, now I have an iPod, iTouch, iPad and IPhone. How long do you all think it will be before I switch from a PC to a Mac?

I guess we will have to wait and see.........

(but I love my iPhone!). Tee hee

Long time, lots of stuff

So, the last time I left you all with a real post, my Mom was here visiting. We took her to the opening weekend of the National Cherry Blossom Festival in D.C. and had a great time. The blooms were amazing this year. The entire basin was lined with them and they were gorgeous. My mom and I were both excited about the majesty of the blooms and all was right with the world.

We also took Mom to Guapo's for dinner (FAB food) where she had a sangria, I had a LARGE margarita and we both got the giggles. It's strange to think that I am actually old enough to get tipsy with my Mom and not worry about it. When did THAT happen? She was the one I always was most afraid of whenever I came home even after the slightest amount of alcohol. I never was, and still am not, a big drinker and I can count the number of times that I have been truly drunk on one hand but, something about Mami always made me nervous if I had ever had any amount of alcohol. Now, here we are getting tipsy together. Tee hee. Fun times.

Great weekend, great company, great time. . . . until we came home. We had left Sunny at our Vet's boarding for the weekend. When we went to pick her up on Monday morning something wasn't right. She came to me but she didn't run, spin in circles or prance as she usually does. She laid at my feet and waited patiently for me to pay the bill. Huh? The girls commented that she had been extremely quiet during her stay. Huh? MY socialite puppy? She turns those eyes on you and mesmerizes you into taking her out and carrying her along with you. What was up? I stood there worried a bit and one of the techs came around the counter. Then she licked her nose and we both noticed that her tongue was extremely pale. EXTREMELY PALE.

Fast forward, she has been diagnosed with Auto-immune hemolytic anemia. Her immune system has turned on her and is destroying her own red blood cells. We can't pinpoint what triggered it: she's negative for all parasitic and tick-borne diseases (but there are many diseases where no specific test is available for them so, who knows) and there aren't any signs of any tumors or other malignancies. Our vet says that sometimes one NEVER knows exactly what triggers this process. Looking back there were signs: she was less likely to bring a toy spontaneously than before; she was content to play fetch for much, much shorter periods of time; she would lay in her crate (usually just a night time thing) during the day rather than on one of her "daybeds" strewn around the house and she had been eating less than usual. Not any one of these things seemed like a red flag at the time and yet here we were. She was pretty sick and is still recovering but the doctor feels that she is no longer in imminent danger of dying (yeah, we were at that point) as she had responded extremely well to therapy.

She remains on steroids and antibiotics and we are monitoring her blood counts closely. We will always have to be aware of this process in her: she MUST be on tick/flea preventative programs; she MUST be on heartworm preventative programs (both year round regardless of weather conditions) AND she will always get minimal vaccinations from now on. We have to be careful to not stimulate her immune system into attack once again. She will have routine bloodwork done now on a regular basis and she will be on/off steroids depending on her blood counts. But, she is responding, she is peppy and she is 90% back to her normal self again.

OK, so that was trauma #1 (yes there was more) since I last spoke with you so, I will leave you with that and will be back with more PLUS pictures of the DC trip and of the FABULOUS yarn my hubby bought me while we were there (Yea, he's good to me - most of the time >wink< ) as well as of the jewelry that Mami and I made.