The Only Dissention In Our Household

VS

Rock em' out CALIFORNIA!!!!!!!!!!

The Big Guy is gonna kill me.....you can take the girl out of CA,

but you can't take CA out of the Girl!!

(We'll have to see if I'm still around tomorrow night!)

Anna Tagged Me! :)

Book Buzz Tag

Here are the instructions:
I am going to list three categories of books: 3 MUST Read Books, 3 Keep Your Eyes on These, and 3 Look for These Soon. Keeping with the theme, I am going to tag at least 3 bloggers. They should put these same lists on their blogs but SUBTRACT one book from each list and ADD one of their own. Then they should tag at least 3 more bloggers. It will be fun to see how the lists change as they go around the blogosphere. Please come back to this post and leave a comment so I can see how the lists are changing. Since this is Book Buzz...please keep your lists to titles released in 2007-2009.

3 MUST Read Books:
Somebody Else's Daughter by Elizabeth Brundage
Without a Backward Glance by Kate Veitch
Mademoiselle Boleyn By Robin Maxwell (I enjoyed this book compared to a vast number that I've read recently. Some really stink, this one was actually very good.)

3 Keep Your Eyes on These:
The Memory of Water by Karen White
Seeing Me Naked by Liza Palmer
Free Range Knitter by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee (Supposedly an essay book like her first book which I've actually re-read numerous times. All knitters can relate to some of her experiences).

3 Look for These Soon:
Feather Man by Rhyll McMaster
The Good Thief by Hannah Tinti
The Devil's Brood by Sharon Kay Penman (My favorite Author really, I own all of her books. She creates a world that's hard to draw yourself out of if you love historical fiction).

For this I tag:
Dawn (Knittinwolf)
Julie
Jeanne (Natredknits)

(Please, don't feel obligated to play along!)
*************************************************************************************
6 Quirky Things About Me TAG

Here are the rules:
1. Link the person(s) who tagged you
2. Mention the rules on your blog
3. Tell about 6 unspectacular quirks of yours
4. Tag 6 fellow bloggers by linking them.
Leave a comment on each of the tagged blogger's blogs letting them know they've been tagged.

Okay, Anna's the one who tagged me.
Here are my 6 quirky things:

1. I love forensic TV shows but would pass out to see that stuff in real life.
2. I like a clean house more than my family does. Weird huh?
3. I hate to use the last of ANYthing. I'll save something just so it won't be gone forever.
4. I like "even" years. I always feel that they'll be good years for me. (I was born on an even day, month and year).
5. I like to sleep in very cool room with my electric blanket and heating pad on. (It's a pain thing). And I need NOISE. Have to have my fan going to sleep.
6. I hate sharing the TV remote. I AM the Queen of my own TV. Bossy Bossy bossy.

Again, don't feel obligated to play along (especially if I tagged you twice or you've already played), but here goes:

For this one I tag:
Dawn (Knittinwolf),
Jeanne (Natredknits),
Julie,
Rikki (SheWolf's Corner),
Ariel (Ariel's Knitting)
Aim (Bumpy Doink)

Have a great day!!

I hit the wall...

I know all competitors go through this. Did my marathon knitting wear me out? No. I wish it was only that. This is what I've had on my needle for over a week. It hasn't budged.



There hasn't been any knitting going on. I've been having one of my "bad spells" as far as the pain and fatigue go. Add my usual migraines and endometriosis pain and I'm totally shot. I wish I didn't get these flare ups, but I have to live with it and TRY to make peace with myself at not being able to do all the things I want to do. The guilt really stinks.

I did go for a walk on Sunday and that was a BIG mistake, I was hurting bad with each and every step and pushed myself to go all the way around. I think I just prolonged the agony. I know people may think this is crazy, but whenever my Mom is having one of her own flare ups or bad times, I'm usually feeling just as crummy. We're always on the same plane as far as our health goes. Last week when I called her, we both could barely stay awake! At least we got a good laugh out of how we sounded!

Anna tagged me for a meme awhile back and I plan to do that soon!! I just haven't been able to think very clear lately. Don't give up on me Anna!!

The weather is completely cooperating with my pain and fatigue, it's been overcast, cloudy and rainy lately. We really needed this rain!! (Thanks Fay!) Our grass was looking pretty brown. Yesterday I had to pull myself out of bed to get the umbrella out and get to the corner to walk my daughter home from the bus stop. Silly me. Kids LOVE getting soaked. She just ran ahead of me! When will I realize these kids are growing up?? I used to walk home in the rain too, I didn't melt! It's just hard to realize they don't need you as much anymore.

Ok, Off to rest a bit more. (I can't even write a short blog post when I'm running on empty! Miss Big Mouth! )

Ravelympic CHAMPION

Dawn's First Ravelympics Challenge 2008

My Purple Haze Faze will continue. I love my scarf.
I love it. I love it. I love it.


Jade Sapphire Cashmere-Silk 2 ply
Plum Crazy Colorway #45
Knitpicks Harmony Straights Size 4
Started Friday, August 8, 2008 8:00 pm
Ended Tuesday, August 19, 2008 2:04 pm

NOTE: Thanks to Rav still letting people ADD things to the Ravelympics (Dawn? Anna?), I found out my Purple socks DO qualify under the WIPsWrestling Category. I started them right before the Olympics started and finished them in the allowed time. They COUNT!! Woohoo!!! (Cut off time isn't until the 25th....)

Mission Complete. Many Thanks to everyone who cheered me on to victory. I couldn't have done it without your support. I'm so grateful for all of your friendships and all of the awesome encouragement you sent my way. You guys are the best.

Now I'm going to go collapse. Well, after I go cheer for my fellow Ravellers.
The games continue......

And Now A Commercial Break

The olympics are still going on and my Haruha Scarf is on the floor blocking as I write this. I am SO CLOSE to the finish line - I can smell the taste of victory! But this is a break from the scarf so onto other stuff that's been going on.

We went this past weekend to the inlaws to visit with my husbands nephew who came down from Missouri with his girlfriend. I almost thought we weren't going to make it, this is what traffic looked like right out of Knoxville. It took an hour to go about 5 miles. Typical Tennessee stupid &^$#@#! road construction. It NEVER ends.... It ate up so much of our time that I didn't get to stop at The Yarn Patch to buy more yarn either. I know...I know... that is so not fair and I complained about it for several hours (okay, minutes).

I wouldn't have been so upset about all this trips misfortunes if this hadn't also happened:

That's "half" of my BRAND NEW KNITPICKS HARMONY SIZE 8 STRAIGHT NEEDLE that I stepped on (crunch) when getting back into the car on our way there. Boy, some days you should just stay home with your head under the covers... The other half is somewhere in The Big Guys car. I gave up looking for it (I didn't try that hard once it fell between the seat and console). My heart was just broken. I guess I'll just have to order some more....

After all that turmoil though, I was so glad I went and got to see him before he leaves. He's due in Fort Bragg, NC in late September for a couple of months of deployment stuff and then is off for a tour of duty of 12+ mos in Afghanistan. (He's Army Nat'l Guard.) I'm so not looking forward to him leaving. I feel so bad for his Mom as well. She has two boys and both are totally serious about being soldiers. It just breaks my heart to know he has to go and what he'll have to deal with. Thank God for our troops, and God Bless all the Mothers out there who have to let their boys go. We are a military family, this isn't new for us, but it's NEVER easy. Never.

In between the scarf though I finished these:

And I'm in LOVE. Lorna's Laces Purple Club (Shepard Sock). Size 0 needle (magic loop) and 72 st cast on. Simple. Soft. Comfortable. "No One Is Getting These But Me" kind of socks. I must go put them back on.

Ravelympics Update- Day ? (heck I don't know)

What I do know is that I've been a knitting machine, well...... here and there anyway. I'm probably about half way done now. I don't even know how much time I have left really but I'm going to try to get it done before the end.
Scarf's are tough. Knitting a scarf takes extended fortitude and perserverance. Knitting a scarf can be SO BORING! Add the lace bit in there and that equals my personal challenge. But hey! Row 11 isn't killing me as bad anymore! As long as I mute the TV when doing it I'm pretty much okay with it now. We've made our peace.

Well, Team USA is having it's ups and downs in the Olympics but I guess that keeps it exciting. I've still been enjoying watching what I can and tonight I think Michael goes for Gold #6. I'll be watching that for sure!

Right now I'm waiting for the gal to come by my house to do a quick medical check for my life insurance. I don't know why I'm nervous, maybe it's the whole blood work thing. As I get older my veins are getting finicky. I just wish it was over with!!! It should only take about 15 minutes, but what would I do if I had nothing to complain about?

Update - Day 4 OR Blasted Row 11

I spent a lot of yesterday knitting on my Ravelmpics Scarf and it hardly seemed to grow at all. That was a bummer, but when you use tiny yarn and tiny needles (well, size 4) I guess it CAN take awhile for your item to show some progress. I see it's going to be one of those "measure = 7 inches. Knit, knit, knit, knit, knit, knit, knit, knit - measure = 7 inches" kind of projects. *sigh*

Do you ever notice that there can be ONE row of certain repeat pattern that you just don't like doing? I mean, for some unknown reason, it just ticks you off and you dread coming up on it? For me, in this pattern, it's been Row 11. The dreaded Row 11. I don't know why, it's just got like 8 yarn overs and k1's, k4's, k3 thrown in there. The other rows are similar to some extent. But I don't like Row 11. And everytime I stop, it's on Row 11. Ugh. Same thing happened with the Gretel. I really moaned about the left twist/right twist rows. They weren't hard to do at all, I just couldn't dig them. Am I weird?

Today was BACK TO SCHOOL!!! The girls both had good days and since they got home I've been filling out forms galore, writing checks, and reading over info. It's going to be a good year. Of course, I didn't sleep at all last night, but it wasn't excitement over them returning to school, it was to watch the Men's Relay race last night over again. Man, was that C L O S E!!!!! I'm so glad I watched it though, it was way more exciting to see the race then just them celebrating after! (That's what I get for flipping channels during commercials!)

Today is The Big Guy's Birthday, so I better get off of here and say Happy Birthday to him yet again. He really likes lots of attention on his Birthday (and on the days leading up to it!),
LOL!

And later I guess I'll knit on my scarf.... Yes. I'd like some cheese with my "whine".

Ravelympics-Day 2

How exciting! I really enjoyed the opening ceremonies this go around. It always chokes me up though, I'm a big crybaby.

On the Ravelympic's side, I started my HARUHA Scarf. Yes, I can spell it correctly even though I didn't in the last post. I also said I had to get my scarf done by the 17th!! Yea! Big Dufus here. I have more time to do my scarf than I thought I did!!!! I could've added another project for pete's sake!

Nah, I already feel stressed to get this done. Lace is NOT one of my favorite things to do, I think because I'm always so tired due to my sleep issues. It's hard to concentrate and I've had to TINK back a few times on this already. Not a bunch of rows thank goodness! Just one row here and there. Once it's finished I can knit whatever the heck I want to with no time restraints. See how competitive I am! LOL!! Lazy Mazy. Gotta say, I'm LUVIN my new Harmony straights too.

What do you enjoy watching during the Olympics? I love the swimming, diving, and gymnastics. But really I can almost watch anything, which is ironic since I really don't care for other sports. I honestly didn't know that some athletes get PAID to compete for medals. That took a little of the punch out of it for me, but The Big Guy says that's just the way it is. Money makes the world go round I guess.

Today has been spent cleaning out some closets, filling more bags to take to charity, and cleaning house. The girls start school on Monday so I figured I'd get their help with some chores so they wouldn't be bored these last two days. What a nice Mom I am!!!

Ohh, swimming is on, gotta run....

Tomorrow = Ravelympics

I start my Harahu Scarf tomorrow night for the first Ravelympics and I must admit, I'm getting a tiny bit excited! Technically my converted "start" time would be 8:00 AM EST since the opening ceremonies start at 8:00 PM Beijing time, but since I'll probably only have been asleep for a couple of hours by then, it's better for me to just start later. It IS a "lacey" scarf I'm working on after all. To do one of those with not enough sleep is just insane. And, I would like to FINISH this by the 17th!

Here's winning vibes going out to all our USA athletes. Go Dara! Go Michael! Go everybody!!

And go ME!! woooohooooo!!!!

Uh-oh!

I don't know how this happened! It just showed up on my doorstep today.

The yarn is Knit Picks Essential Shiraz Tweed. I've been CRAVING some tweed. I have no idea what to do with it yet, but i HAD to have it. I know, what's new? that's why my stash is so um...large. I also HAD to have some Harmony straights. Yes, HAD to. Because.

The Knitpicks circs are because my CAT keeps chewing up the cords!!! I have to be a better steward of them and only knit inside of a bag I guess. It only takes her one second and "CHOMP!" Total bummer.

Off to rest, I have a migraine starting and just when I have all these toys to play with.

Oh, and Project Runway is coming on soon. I love that show.

Just Checking...

how accurate this is....

Your Birthdate: August 2

You're so intuitive, it's like you have a sixth, seventh, and eighth sense. You connect with others freely and easily - and you tend to have many best friends. Warm and caring, it's hard for you to close your heart to anyone. Affection is like air for you - you need to give and receive it to survive. Your strength: Your universal compassion Your weakness: Your unpredictable mood swings Your power color: Mauve Your power symbol: Butterfly Your power month: February

What Does Your Birth Date Mean?

Hmmmm.....I think I am intuitive, and the MOOD SWINGS thing is spot on, but although I love the color mauve, it looks terrible on me! LOL!!!!

I'm so spoiled, VERY spoiled, la-la-la

(Picture Heavy Post)

Happy Birthday to ME!!

I don't want birthdays to count anymore number-wise, but PRESENT-WISE, now that makes me happier than all get up. First, I tripped and fell off the "Stashdown" bandwagon (again!) and went to one of my LYS's yesterday. (We kind of celebrated yesterday, ran errands, went to Outback for dinner, and shopped till we dropped -technically, I WAS a day early, but no one remembered the bet, we were too full and tired.)
This particular LYS moved into a bigger location and carries a much wider assortment than the other one here in town (she's been open longer). Plus, even tho Ms. Owner isn't exactly the friendliest I've met, she remembers me even if I haven't been in for a year! -I KNOW the other YS lady never remembers me! I have to say: selection + remembering me as a customer = you'll probably get my $$. I almost hyperventilated on all the yarn fumes in there, it's a knitters paradise really. Miss C and I could've stayed in there all day (if we had more time & money!)

Then I finally got myself a new phone....LUV IT. AND I opened Miss Dawn's Box: Doesn't my phone look pretty with my card?? So..... "ME" (Both items!) LOL! Here are some of my goodies! I didn't realize I had the nail file underneath! But I LOVED everything she sent me!!! My Lamb magnet makes me smile big time! Look at that FACE!

She also sent me a jar of green olives stuffed with garlic!!! I laughed so hard! My daughter took a picture of me but if I showed that one no one would ever visit my blog again!

Yea, I looked pretty bad!

I bet you can guess what this is and what it's for??? I tried to get a closer up pic,

I need to try that again....

Wa-la!! My Ultimate Present in the World!!!!

(It Worked great to hide my face and fat.LOL!)

I kept it on for hours, after Miss C finally gave it back!!

I didn't want to take it off....ever. (I look tired, I AM tired!)

A thing of Beauty. A true Masterpiece.

Miss Dawn tried so hard to get me to make a shawl when she was making her first. I totally chickened out and abandoned her but she's way better at everything than I am! And I'm not ashamed to say being lame pays off!!!! See what happens????????? Magic!!! This is very inspiring though.... someday......check out her blog! She has more now!

Today is "recoup" day. I've gotten calls from Family, hugs from my girls, and chocolate cake from the Big Guy so I totally need a nap about now! Well, after my pastrami sandwich (Gee Dr, I don't know why my cholesterol is up?!) This "age" thing...oy.

All I need is a rocker! And more yarn.

Have a Happy August 2nd!!!!!!!