I'm a BAAAAAAD blogger

Geez, I drop that last BOMB on you and then I virtually disappear. First off, I want to thank you all for all your kind words of encouragement and support. You all really do not know how much they have meant to me.

Work is still the same but I am actively doing something about it. I'll keep you all up to date on any specifics that I may have, kay?

Alright, onto fun stuff. First thing to tell you is that we have been working hard on the yard. "We" meaning mostly "me" with some assistance from DS. DH is out of the pix on this kind of stuff. So, I was tired of looking at this from my kitchen window:









So I did something about it and after lugging 48 stones (at 25 lbs each I might add) I now get to look at this instead:











It's actually much prettier b/c I've planted impatiens all around and they are doing lovely. We cleaned up and filled up the bird feeders and are having all sorts of wonderful guests: blue jays, purple finches, cardinals, robins, goldfinches, chickadees, morning doves, red winged blackbirds, sparrows and even a bunny! It's so nice to stand at my kitchen sink and look out the window now. The dishes don't pile up NEARLY as much as they used to! (wink, wink, nod, nod)

OK, so re: knitting. I wanted to show you my newest and on my quickly becoming a fave gadget; it'a kitchen scale I bought a Bed, Bath and Beyond recently for a total of $5.99 plus tax. I was going to post a picture but blogger is being silly again and not letting me do it (aargh). So, WHY do I love my scake so much? Well, besides the obvious use (evenly splitting a skein of yarn into equal parts - mainly for sock knitting) it is SO CONVENIENT to use. It is self contained meaning the scale itself is stored inside of the container that holds the yarn. Let me try to explain this. It is a rectangular container with a clear lid that is big and deep enough to house the scale portion when not in use. Besides the convenience of storing the scale, the size of the container is big enough that it can hold a 100gm wound ball of sock yarn with room to spare! THAT is what I love. It holds LOTS of yarn, it stores easily AND it was just $5.99. What's not to love? Now I can evenly split my sock yarn, knit toe up and use EVERY LAST BIT of my beautiful yarns for my socks!

Life is good sometimes, y'know?

I'll be back with knitting pix soon OK? FYI, I'm on the home stretch with the second watermelon striped socks (just about 2 1/2 inches left). Woo hoo!

So, THAT's it!

I've HAD it! Work has been steadily getting less and less fulfilling for me and today broke the camel's back. Don't get me wrong. I love nursing. I love nursing as much as I did when I first graduated. It's just that there are LOTS of changes going on right now where I work and I don't necessarily agree with most of them. Again, don't get me wrong. Change is good. I know that. HOWEVER, I like to feel that I hold a pretty high standard when it comes to my profession. Besides this being a result of my incredible OCD, anal retentive, perfectionistic nature, I think that it comes from the basis of my spirituality as well.

Let me explain.

Each and every patient I care for, I care for as if they were my OWN family member laying there. I do. It's the right way to nurse a patient, at least it is for me. I feel as that if I treat each and every patient this way, I will then be giving the absolute best of who I am as a nurse. I feel that each and every single human being deserves that much. Now, that being said, there have been plenty a day and, Lord knows, plenty a patient that just doesn't jive with that. Personalities clash, head-aches occur, days are just "off". . . . it happens and I KNOW that I am not perfect. Those days I reflect on what went awry and I strive to improve it. HOWEVER, lately I seem to see a decline in the work atmosphere where I am. For quite a bit of time, it has felt to me as though our nursing standards keep getting dropped to the lowest common denominator.

I can't live with that.

I am the type of person who, whether I achieve it or not, strives to continually improve and raise my standards. This is true of my nursing, my knitting, my cooking, my parenting, my self. SO, feeling as though my environment keeps dropping to the lowest common denominator is just a moral dilemma for me. How can I say that I provide the best that I can when I witness this perceived drop and continue to stay within it's hold? I've struggled with this for months now. I really like my immediate coworkers and cohorts. Currently, my acting Manager (who is actually my Director but is doing double duty until the Manager position is refilled) is the person who hired me. I love working for her and I feel that she has the same work ethic and nursing philosophy as I do. However, her hands are tied by the wave of change that has swallowed our hospital and can only do so much. My office mate is a great nurse and a great friend. There are a handful of nurses in my departments for whom I hold very high regard and utmost respect.

However, the wave seems to be going towards the decline and those cherished individuals are shadowed by the rest.

I'm going onto Monster. I NEED a new job.

sigh.

I know what I need but it still isn't easy. I hate feeling defeated or disloyal but I do. And yet, I hate feeling as though I sometimes don't want to say where I work b/c I am embarassed by it.

sigh, sigh.

Man, life really is hard, isn't it?

Yarntopia came to town. . . .

Well, not really but it was pretty darn close. Amy's lovely mom, Mary Ann was in town visiting family and I was lucky enough to be able to talk her into meeting me. I was going to meet her half way but then she wanted to get together tonight and . . . . . it was Sit 'n Knit so she came up to us! YEAH!
We all had a lovely visit with her, what a doll she is! Amy, I can see where you get all your beauty and warmth. Can I steal her more often? ;o)

So, why did I say that Yarntopia came to town you might ask? Well that would be because of this:
That my blogland friends is my very own skein of Fleece Artist Merino Sock Yarn in the exclusive Yarntopia colorway! Yeah! Mary Ann hand delivered it all the way from Katy! It was so gorgeous that I HAD to wind it up right away. (I think that I can see the colors much better when it's wound up don't you?) We were all drooling over it when she took it out of her bag. No, really, everybody went nuts. What? You don't believe me. OK, OK, here's the proof:

See? I told you so! tee hee.

AAAUUUGGH! I have one more cute picture of Mary Ann and I were she is giving me the yarn and blogger won't let me post it. ACK!

Anyhow, we had a lovely visit, the yarn is amazing and I was tickled pink to have met her.

Watermelon sock pictures (finally)

Here's the sock from the side. I divided the skein prior to knitting so that I could make them toe up and use as much yarn as I had. They are "almost" knee high. I like them! I love the way this yarn striped up. Isn't it adorable? the yarn quality is great and the dye job is excellent. Thanks so much to Dani.
Here is a close up of my short rowed heel. This time I didn't have nearly the "holes" problem that I had last time I did this. I don't think I was picking up the wraps the correct way the last time I made them. I think I have it down now.


Last shots are in my new, adorable, I am in love with SHOES! Aren't they cute too? AND, I think the socks are going to look great in them. I am now almost at the beginning of the heel on the second sock. Yikes but my summer knitting has been slow. Sheesh! I better pick up the pace if I want to have a successful one of these!

Wish me luck!

It's Official!

Thanks to Amy for coming through with this one. Isn't it too cute?

Oh, and that *&^*&%*(*$#!@# gelato drape? I brought it to work to show my office mate . . . SNAG CITY! I've got like 6 or so "holes" where I need to go back and even out the stitches. It's got to go!

p.s. blogger wouldn't let me upload the sock pictures so, I'll do it after I get home tonight.

toodles!

My plans for the Summer

I meant to post this on the official first day of Summer but then life got in the way and so I'm late. Anywhoooo, while it seems that everyone else will be having one of these, I will be having a SUMMER OF UFOs (please use your imagination and picture a snazzy, cutesy little button with an adorable alien or flying saucer, maybe with a ball of yarn or ooh, ooh, a flying saucer superimposed on a crossed pair of knitting needles - yeah that's the ticket) over here. I would make a button but I have yet to figure out how those are made so you all must use your imaginations, kay?

After a moment of realization where I was overwhelmed by the number of UFOs in my possession (oh, and just for the record, I had missed a couple of projects in that original count - yeah, really I did!), I've now decided that I must do all I can to complete these items. Therefore, I will work on these during this Summer of UFO's to get as many done as I can. I will then chronicle my successes (and failures?) and go over the reasons WHY I had set the projects aside. Thought it would be excellent to not only finish the project but to write the reasons that kept me from completing them in the first place.

SO, that being said, I've completed one so far!

I've completed a neck drape from Gelato by Fiesta Yarns
Now, this was a free pattern in a very old patternworks catalog. I altered it a bit to make it a bit bigger than what the pattern called for. Seemed like a waste of yarn as there would have been a good deal left over but not enough for another drape. OK, so, WHY did THIS project get cast aside? Despite it having a beautiful color (I used the Alaska colorway) and drape, the drape itself is what caused me to set this aside. First of all, I wound it into a centerpull ball on my yarn winder. I thought I was being smart by using the yarn from the outside b/c it was so slippery. Well, I'm here to tell you, that was NOT enough. This stuff is slipperier (huh? maybe I should say "more slippery"?) than a newborn baby in a bathtub full of baby oil. AUGH! It would not stay in any sort of a usable form. I finally put it into a plastic baggy but only after I already had a "throw up yarn" mess which I then tried to unknot as I knit! Also, it's a ribbon yarn. I'm an OCD, overlay anal, perfectionist who just COULD NOT STAND the thought of the yarn twisting on itself. So I would untwist the yarn on the needles as I knit, which would cause the yarn to twist onto itself in the mess that I now had in a plastic baggy and therefore become even knottier on that end as I then continued to try to unknot it while I knit it!

You all get the picture right?

Well, THAT's not the end of it.

Besides all THAT mess, this is the most "catchy" thing I have ever made. It catches on everything and the *&^***&%$#!%*&^$& slipperiness (I do believe that this actually is a word) of the yarn then contributes to it pulling it's stitches out of place. Because I am so OCD, overly anal and perfectionistic, I must then (truly I MUST) pull the thing back into an orderly and even fashion each and every time it catches. ACK!

OK, so I love the colorway and the feel/look of the yarn and drape. I will probably be extremely careful as to where and when I wear it though. OR, I might just have to put myself out of my misery and gift it to my mom who may not be quite as OCD, overly anal and perfectionistic and will love it as it deserves to be loved!

SO, that's one down and MANY MORE to go.

In the meantime, I continue to work on one of my most recent UFO's - the watermelon stripe socks! I finished sock number 1 (had I mentioned that already?). I would post a picture of it but Blogger is being stupid and is not letting me. I'll try on a separate post.

We had a great Father's Day.

I have to say that I am so thankful for Father's day. Although my heart is extremely saddened over missing my Father so much each year at this time, I am eternally grateful that I have the opportunity to celebrate Father's day because I have been blessed to be a Mother. Thank you to my DH for giving me the most amazing gift I will ever receive in my lifetime. . . . . the gift of my DS and Motherhood.

OK, I just couldn't even begin to do this.

You all HAVE to go and check this out.

How do people do stuff like that? I like to think that I am an "alright" knitter, maybe even venturing into intermediate/advanced but THAT, who can compete with that? You all did catch that she is just 22 years old, right?

WOW!

Proud Momma moment. . .

OK, so it didn't really have an effect on the outcome of the game and he did only face 3 batters BUT. . . . . . DS got to pitch in today's Riverdog game! I was so THRILLED for him. He walked 2 guys and had an out on a hit to first base, but still, HE PITCHED!

Knitting has OBVIOUSLY gone by the wayside in lieu of the baseball. In fact, I served as bench coach today (you gotta know that they were DESPERATE). It was fun though sitting there with the boys and getting them ready to hit.

I've yet to miss a practice or a game. The boys are all really quite sweet and very supportive of each other (although they ARE 9 -10 years old and can get a bit rambunctious at times - What is with them and picking up dirt and throwing it into their shoes and onto their pants????). I've really enjoyed this year so far and the boys (I think) look forward to seeing me there. Could it be b/c I am the most obnoxious, um I mean supportive Mom out there? tee hee! One of the boys got the first Riverdogs Homerun of the year and I was glad to be on the bench cheering him home! It was a great experience.

OK, OK, I have worked on watermelon socks (finishing up #1) and lacy leaf scarf (somewhat, not much though). Next time, knitting pix (maybe). We do have 2 more games this week y'know! ;-)

tee hee

I have a BLUE Aura and so is my knitting. . . .

Your Aura is Blue

Your Personality: Your natural warmth and intuition nurtures those around you. You are accepting and always follow your heart. You in Love: Relationships are your top priority, and this includes love. You are most happy when you are serious with someone. Your Career: You need to help others in your job to feel satistifed. You would be a great nurse, psychologist, or counselor.

What Color Is Your Aura?

Well, that just solidifies that I am in the RIGHT profession~ I'm such a sucker for these things.

As far as my knitting being blue, I am in a knitting FUNK! The watermelon socks are coming out cute as can be, I am more than 3/4 way done with Sock #1. BUT, I am not in the "mood" to knit on them as much as I should be. So, I looked over all my UFO's to see what was there. YIKES! I have the beaded shawl to work on, the Zara sweater, the Tivoli top and the Little Leaf Lace Scarf as well as a baby einstein (or is it a baby albert) coat from the Knit Stitch book. That a total of SIX UFO's. Yowza.

Sadly, I was trying to find a NEW project to get excited over. I want to make Tempting II along with the rest of the Sexy Knitters but, can I really justify THAT many UFO's??????

Sigh.

RAOK'd!

Thanks so much to Bethanie for the AMAZING RAOK. It was a wonderfully unexpected gift. I'm off to light my candle. It's going to be 65 tonight. I think I will make myself some tea as well . . . . .

That's my boy!

After having suffered a loss on Thursday, the Riverdogs were back in form and brought home a win in today's game. That brings them to 3-1 for the season. Woohoo!

And what was I doing during the game? Well, I've appointed myself as the official Riverdogs photographer. I've been to each game and practice. I am going to put together a powerpoint and burn it to CD for each coach and player. I need to bring the camera to practice though. Got pix of all games but none of the practices. Ooops. Question for all my computer savvy friends though. . . . . How do you add music to a powerpoint presentation? I would also like to know how to make a powerpoint automatically start rather than come up with the menu. Do you guys know what I mean?

OK, so besides watching, cheering and photographing, I HAVE been knitting at the games. I finished my sassy stripes socks that way and I am into my watermelon stripe socks now. I'm going toe up and I have the first foot, heel and ankle done. What? You want to see a picture? Can you believe I'll have to get back to you on that one? I've got a hungry baseball player and assistant coach to feed. (yeah, I downloaded and posted before I fed my boys - oops again!)

see ya in a bit!


ADDITION TO ABOVE
OK, the boys are now fed and after correcting a few typos above, I am now posting a picture of the knitting:


Aren't those just too cute?!?

If you have 6 minutes to spare. . . . . .

you really should check this out. I think it's too funny. Each time the song changes I can see the video/performer/movie in my mind and there he is doing it. Funny, funny. Of course, I am easily amused.

Free bead kit anyone?

Just take a moment and head on over to Make the connection. You can order a free bead kit that will make TWO bracelets and with each order, Merck pharmaceuticals will donate $1 for Cancer Research and Prevention Foundation for cervical cancer.

Unfortunately, My DH and I have 4 friends from the ages of 35-40 that have all been stricken with cervical, vaginal and uterine cancer. All derived from HPV. That's WAY too young to have to deal with the thought of losing such an important part of a woman's body. Luckily they have all found their cancers with routine screening but, a couple are still not out of the woods.

Don't like ordering stuff online? There is also a 1-800 number at the site that you can use.

What's to lose? You and a friend get a free bracelet and Merck donates towards cervical cancer research. It's a win-win.

thanks!

What's going on?

Well, it seems as though I keep thinking that there's a lot to blog about but when I sit down. . . . .writer's block. I can't think of all the stuff I want to say. So, if I am a bit disjointed, I apologize. It rained here last night. . . .AGAIN.....Our grounds is so soaked that it feels really mushy to walk on grass. yuck! Even Sunny doesn't want to go out and has been doing her business on the walk up to the house rather than get on the grass. The rain of course has done nothing to help with the extremely high pollen count around here and everyone looks as though they have been crying for weeks b/c of their allergies. VERY attractive. Poos DS had 2 solid weeks of 3-4/week baseball practice then had 2 straight weeks of all games/practice cancelled due to rain. He got to play his first game (finally) this past Wednesday but then last night's game got rained out again! His team did win their first game so at least it was worth the wait. DS? He got to go to bat twice and was walked both times. He drew 4 straight balls at his first at bat and then had a full count on his second try. Kept a good hold of his bat and a good eye on the ball and got another walk! Woo hoo.
He is showing off his "raspberry" in the second picture. He slid into third when forced to run but despite his great effort, was tagged out. Oh well, at least he got his first official slide out of it right?

On the knitting front (oh yeah, this IS a knitting blog), I did tell you all that I finished the sassy socks right? Lovely, lovely, lovely to work on I must say. I used the Lorna'e laces sheperd sock yarn in the sassy coloway gifted to my by the fabulous AMY of Yarntopia fame using this pattern. Here's a really BAD picture but a picture nonetheless:


I LOVE them. Thanks so much AMY. They are fab and so are you! I've started another pair of socks now. I am FINALLY attempting the Jaywalkers. Can you believe it? After all this time? I know, I know, I can be a bit slow on the uptake sometimes.

As far the alpaca and silk. I've yet to fully decide what to make. I am think that I am going to go with Wendy's "Somewhat cowl" in the longer sleeve version but am not 100% convinced. I know what I think I want it to look like, but I have yet to see "it" in a pattern, y'know? This stuff is so GORGEOUS, I want to be sure to use it in something that is IT for me. Therefore, the search goes on.

Besides the socks I am still working on my beaded shawl. I have slowed down considerably with that project, but, it will get done prior to the fall and that's the next time I will really be able to use it anyway.

OK, so write in, comment and let me know what you all think and are up to. It's been quiet on the comments. Oh, well, maybe that's because I've been such a slacker blogger huh? Yeah, I know. Sorry.

Oh yeah. . . . .

I would like to say that I hear the title of this post as the song from this movie when thinking of this quiz. . . . . .

I'm a Ferrari 360 Modena!

You've got it all. Power, passion, precision, and style. You're sensuous, exotic, and temperamental. Sure, you're expensive and high-maintenance, but you're worth it.

"Take the Which Sports Car Are You? quiz.

tee hee! Thanks to Erin for posting this quiz!

Suggestions anyone?

OK, so this weekend I went to a LYS and got some Blue Sky Alpaca "Alpaca and Silk" in the apple green colorway (color i16). I got home and realized I had a few other skeins of it. . . . . I now have a total of 9 skeins! NINE! That's enough to make a significant piece. So, my question is, what do I make out of this FABULOUS lot???? I originally bought 5 skeins, thinking I had 2 at home to make the Somewhat Cowl. But now I realize that instead of 7 skeins, I have 9. NINE! so, again, what should I make with this huh???????

Finally some time to post (properly post that is)

OK, so now that the dining room redecoration is completed (except for hanging my prints on the walls)







And the First communion is over:





I can concentrate on some knitting talk. I've done knitting while all this has gone on. Truly. If I hadn't, I probably would have been in the nuthouse by now. Let's see. Sassy socks? 1 and 3/4 way done with the pair. Here's a picture of the first sock (coloring is bad - will retake when pair is done) They are going to be "almost" knee highs. I had enough yarn to make them knee highs but I didn't think I would wear them that way. I'm weird I know.

It's been raining here for 10 days straight now. 10 DAYS! Every day. Very little sunshine. Cold temperatures. YUCKY overall. So bad that poor DS hasn't been able to have a single baseball game this season. Each and every little league game has been cancelled so far. RATS!

Work has been OK. There is some restructuring going on and I am involved. I will have my job but it will be a bit different. Good thing is that it will just be 3 days a week. Bad thing is the shifts will now be 12 hour shifts. Still no weekends or holidays though so I really can't complain. The stress I've been feeling at work is easing up a bit so overall I guess the change will be for the good.

I just finished teaching a beginning knitting class at the Ireland Cancer Center affiliated with my hospital. I have my "caring caps" program where I make, along with many volunteers, and collect chemo caps for the patients there. There was recently some interest in holding a knitting class for the patients/families from the center. I got a group of 9 lovely ladies (I wanted just 8 but ended up with 9) in the class. They were so appreciative of the class. The social worker at the center went over the therapeutic and meditative qualities of knitting while I taught the actual process of knitting. I had referred her to this book as well as this one, both of which I own. She was not a knitter but she got the books and went through them. She chose bits and pieces and I chimed in here and there. The ladies took to both aspects quite well. Today was the second and last session and I entered only to find that not only had all my students practiced and mastered the basics (casting on, knit, purl and binding off) BUT the social worker picked up needles and had already completed 2 scarves!

These ladies decided that they wanted to start a knitting circle at the center. I am thrilled. They could immediately sense the change in themselves since taking up this wonderful art and could not believe what a difference the "community" of knitting made for them. One of the patients stated that she liked this setting because the group could be therapeutic without solely focusing on "just sitting there and talking JUST about cancer". Today's session turned into a sit 'n knit and they talk of cancer yes, but also of other things in their lives, in their worlds, in OUR world. It was calm, peaceful and relaxing. Just perfect.

The social worker has invited me to come back from time to time as a 'guest speaker'. Tee hee! Whodda thunk it?

OK, I've babbled long enough. Regular postings will resume now.

That is until DH convinces me that we should start the kitchen painting. SIGH.

I can NOT believe she did this. . . . .

OK, so quick synopsis but I promise that I will post pix and longer post SOON. No, really. I mean it this time. I WILL right soon.

ANYHOW, dining room was finished in time and is (if I do say so myself) lovely, First communion came off hitch free, visit with Mom was short but good. Mother's day was great. Back to work is ok.

OK, so now what I am REALLY excited about. I couldn't even wait to actually get it before I wrote about it.

It amazes me how kind and generous people can be. Life also continually surprises me with the synchronicity that pops up and how things happen just at the right time. I've been a bit stressed and down lately and trying to "bounce back" quickly. Today I went onto bloglines to catch up on all my friends and found this post at my pal Knitting RN.

That's for me. ME! Can you believe it? She actually dyed it just for me. I'm so excited I don't know how to thank her enough. I've read so many unfortunate problems with horrible comments left on people's personal blogs, unkind statements from cowards who use pseudonyms to hide themselves. But, overall, I am amazed by the warmth, kindness and generosity of the friends that I have made via blogging. Ladies, ALL of you, you make my day a little brighter and I am a better person for having had the opportunity of communicating with you all.

Thank you all for EVERYTHING that you have given me. I've been truly blessed. (an extra-special thanks to Erin for the amazing act of kindness - you ROCK!)

Too funny!

What Disney Ride Are You? Mickey's Philharmagic You're not a ride at all, but you're magical, and 4-D, and when I'm on drugs, you're the coolest thing I've ever seen. You're Philharmagic!!!

Click Here to Take This Quiz Brought to you by YouThink.com quizzes and personality tests.

Nothing like waiting until the last minute. . . .

Why is it that it seems as though the only time we get any real home improvement projects done is when we HAVE to????

DS's First Communion is this Saturday. I've been thinking we really had to finish what we started in the dining room. About 1 year ago (yes 1 year) we tried to take down the HORRIBLY done wallpaper job in the dining room. Well, the folks that did it before us not only go adhesive all over every bit of wood trim and chair railing, they also didn't proper prime the walls so we were unable to fully remove the wallpaper. We decided we would have to sand it smooth and then re-wallpaper. So there it sat. For a year. With wallpaper backing in strips on the wall. Nothing else on it. Except some (minimal) exposed areas of dry wall. For a year. Seriously. No, I mean SERIOUSLY!

OK, zoom to now and of course, DS has only been preparing for 6 months. I knew we should redo the dining room. We set the date for the ceremony 2 months ago. I knew we should redo the dining room. We had the retreat 1 month ago. I knew we should redo the dining room. SO, NOW, 1 week prior to the event. I start to redo the dining room. YIKES!

OK, so last Friday, I primed from the chair rail down. Then Saturday morning I painted 1 coat on the bottom section. Saturday afternoon I did the second coat. Sunday I sanded down all the walls from the chair rail up to smooth out the walls (with one of these) which took all day b/c the sander is small and there was so much to smooth out.

This evening I primed 1/2 of the walls. So the plan is to finish the priming tomorrow evening and possibly begin to paper. I will finish papering Wednesday and Thursday nights. I also have Friday all day and night but I would rather have it done so that I can spend that day with my Mom who is coming up from FL on Thursday afternoon.

Sigh. I knew I should redo the dining room.

SO, anyhow, as a "fun" thing, I just got my name pimped.

I would like to be known as "Sugartastic J. Flow" from now on. Peace!

;->

gotta run watch Horatio get married!

Hi tea swap pal!

Yes, I am indeed STILL alive! You wouldn't know it from my blog, but I am alive and well and knitting on my sassy socks. It's been crazy over here for quite a bit. I am hoping to get some pix taken to post and writing a nice catch up post since I've been a horribly neglectful blogger.

Come back, I will have some info for you, I promise. For the rest of you guys that are kind enough to read my blog . . . . .

Come back, I will have some info (posts) for you, I promise. ;-P

AAAACCCCCCCKKKKKKK!!!!!!

OK, so WHAT was up with tonight's TV lineup? Seriously! I mean, SERIOUSLY?!

Let's start the night off with The West Wing, shall we? Great episode, loved the whole Donna setting Josh straight deal. LOVED seeing Sam (who doesn't love to look at Rob Lowe? Seriously?) I always did love to see the eventual melt-down that Josh always has when there is a LOT going on. He's so nuts but SO predictable. I love seeing the "take charge - carpe diem" side of Donna. Y'know, it's about freakin'time with the 2 of them. Then, I am sitting there at the end. I hear the words that I always want to hear at the end of a show. "Stay tuned for scenes from an all new (insert show name here) coming next". And then, WHAM - straight into Law & Order Criminal Intent. What was THAT? Where were my previews people?!? Seriously! I need my previews to hold me over for the full week until the show is back on. What did those dang broadcasters do???? Ack!

Ok, Ok, it's all good. There's a "synopsis" episode of Desperate Housewives on. Now, let me explain. I don't routinely watch DH. No, really, I don't. I hear my co-workers talk about it every Monday. THIS is how I am hooked to so many shows. Lunch time TV talk. I HATE not knowing what they are all talking about. So, I watch here and there. So, I got the synopsis show tonight. Yeah! I'm caught up for now. (not committing to the show - at least not now). All is good there although, eh, I'm not too worried about it.

THEN, the show of shows is on. Grey's Anatomy. I've been in deep withdrawal now for 3 weeks. THREE WEEKS! So, I settle in and I have my knitting waiting (tee hee) when, POW, it's a synopsis show. Another GA synopsis show. We've HAD a GA synopsis show. I want a new episode. A real episode. It's not fair. I've been good haven't I? I've done all the waiting and rationalizing about how it'll be OK and that a new episode is coming (with hunky Chris O'Donnell no less) and that sanity will once again rule my kingdom. But, NOOOOOOOOOO, they throw yet another wrench in the system and play a synopsis show. AUGH! Well, at LEAST I got the previews for next week to think about - at least they gave me THAT much!

I'm going to bed now. I'm going to dream of the visions of GA preview scenes in my head. Chris (Vet) O'Donnell asks Meredith out, George and Callie get it on, Burke and Christine do their little 'dance', Denny, Izzie and Alex continue the triangle, Bailey is back in full force and Addison and Derrick fall apart (OK, so that's not what happens - YET - but it's MY dream, remember?).

God I hope I can sleep!

Yeah I officially belong!

What a COOL idea is this huh? If you are a knitter and tea drinker, you should come on over and join in! It'll be fun, dont'cha think?

OK, so, I am working on sock #2 of my Lorna's Laces Sassy Stripe socks. The first one is done and FAB! I knit these toe up b/c I wanted to use every bit of yarn that I had. I didn't. The first sock was getting to be so looooong that I ended it before I ran out of yarn. I have a nice little bit left of it. I think it's enough for a heel. Hummmmmmmm, OR I could use it for toes and cuff????? Hummmmmmmm. . . . I'll have to see what I decide to do with it after the socks are done and I KNOW how much I have left.

These are my first toe up socks and I do believe that I like doing toe up socks. I still have to perfect my short row heels though. This particular pattern ended with the heels having "hole" along the short row ends. Although it was NOT the look I was hoping for, upon further review of the picture with the pattern, THEY TOO had holes in their heels. I live with it because it actually looks like part of the pattern. These socks are also my first patterned socks and have YOs that result in lacy areas. THUS, the "holes" in the heels fit in to the design.

HOWEVER, I do not want these holes there for all other socks. Any good sources of short row heels for toe up socks that do NOT results in "Holes"? Let me know will ya?

Next time I'll post pix. It's late now. Just finished with Survivor (poor Bruce - I hope he's OK) and CSI. Re: Survivor, although I hope he is doing well, I hope that Bruce does not get well quick enough to return to be on the Jury. Why? Because I am hoping that they then will recruit the person that was just shy of being on the jury. This will give Terry 3 members of his old tribe out of a total of 7 on the jury. I want Terry to win. I believe that he SHOULD win. We'll see what happens.

What was with Shane asking "you want to do that now?" as the medic informs him that Courtney and he will have to help get Bruce on the stretcher and into the boat? What part of "medical emergency" did he NOT understand? And the wood blackberry thing for next week? BIZARRO!

Shane, pick up your emails. It's the Surreal life. They want to book you already.

CSI Miami and Project Spectrum

OK, so who on the CSI Miami film crew is a knitter? There has to be one (or at least a fan of Lolly's blog. I say this because as I am watching tonight's episode, almost every character (and every MAJOR character) is wearing a shade of orange shirt or an orange patterned shirt. Even the 'tough' cop is wearing an orange print tie?

How karmic is THAT???!!?

Catching up

Wow! Time goes by so fast. It's been a week since my last post and that one shouldn't even really count! I've been buried at work and it doesn't seem to want to end. Lots of sick people, not enough nurses and unsympathetic (both to the patients AND the nurses) doctors add up to a lot of mayhem and misery! YUCK!

Luckily though, we had a FABULOUS weekend. DH, DS and I went to see the Tribe at the home opener. We played a fabulous game (we even had a GRAND SLAM) and won quite handily! Woo Hoo! GO TRIBE!

OK, so from there we drove straight to Breezewood, PA and stayed there for the night. On Saturday morning we went on to D.C. for the National Cherry Blossom Festival. I have looked forward to going to see this for years. YEARS people! I'm talking for at least 14 years. So. . . . . What happened you might ask? Cold, rain and wind, that's what was happening. YUCK! I was so dissapointed b/c as we drove, I could see all the barren branches of hundreds of cherry trees. ARGH!

I must say I was being a bit of a brat, very sarcastic and quite a bit whiny (shhh don't tell DH that I've admitted that). DH kept a stiff upper lip and did his best to make me feel MY best. We went on the U.S.S. Barry and walked in the U.S. Navy Museum. We had never done either. VERY cool!


Here are DH and DS at the helm. This was DH's favorite part of being aboard.


Here is another bridge picture. Honestly, DH was just like a little kid up there. I enjoyed watching the 2 of them but mostly DH!


Here is the little man at his favorite post on the ship. The sonar room. He was enthralled by all the maps and graphs and sonar screens. Glad he enjoyed himself. I on the other hand enjoyed another portion of the ship. Actually 2 portions. Any guess as to what they may be????? The sleeping quarters and the sick bay.
It amazes me the sacrifices that the members of the armed forces go through to protect the freedom which we so often take for granted. AND, the sick bay, well, that was just my sick sense of nursing curiosity at it's best. ;->

The rest of the evening was spent driving around the city. We shopped in Georgetown for a bit (Stitch DC). Tee hee! and went to dinner here. The food was good and I relaxed after a margarita! HaHa!

Sunday was a gorgeous day. We walked around the city, saw the few blossoms left after the storm and then we saw the FDR monument which we had never visited. The great thing is that the way the monument is built, it protected quite a few of the trees and I saw some beautiful blossoms like:









I felt much better about the trip once I got to see a few trees covered in blossoms and I was anxiously awaiting the "meeting on the mall" that Lolly had organized. It was fabulous to get to meet some of my blog friends and other bloggers that I have read about. It was a gorgeous day and although I couldn't stay long (we had to drive back to OH that evening) I enjoyed the few moments that I got with the ladies. Here are a few pix to add to the one's Lolly already posted:
Lolly and I on the grounds at the base of the Washington Monument.
And here is the whole group that I got to meet:
Tee hee!!! Thank you ladies for a great afternoon! It was a pleasure taking a few moments out to sit and knit and enjoy the great company. Knitting amongst a group that appreciates it as much as I do just adds to my overall enjoyment of the process and for that, I thank each of you!


I will know leave you with (more - oops) gratuitous pix of our weekend including some Yellow & Orange Project Spectrum inspired shots!