Freakin' brrrrrrr!!!

Yep, that's right...at approx. 5 p.m. this evening it was 72 degrees. By 730 it was down to 51 degrees, and at 845 the temperature was a whopping 38...and still dropping. Yes, I live in North Texas, and we, along with a whole hell of a lot of other people, are getting ready to freeze our asses off but good. Here is a picture of the sky this morning at about 630. Pretty, but ominous.

So, I did my first merchandising stint today. It went pretty well. I'm going to go thru my emails from the secret shopper place, and see what else I can turn up. There are a few that I want to check into further. What the hell. Do something I'm good at and make money at it. Sounds good to me. Besides, it's not like I have a job. This way, maybe I can earn my yarn money, instead of trying to skimp it out of the budget. It'd be really nice to have my own money again...plus I want to acquire one of bitchin' Canon digital cameras that'll shoot like 7 frames or more per second, and all that cool jazz. Of course, that'll set me in the whole about 800-900 bucks, but what the hell...it'll be worth it.

So my dog is pestering me to go out, so I guess I'll take her and write more tomorrow with an update on the weather conditions here...as if y'all really give a rat's ass...lol.

Wow...

...my latest scarf is now on it's fifth ball of Wool-Ease, and is longer than I am tall. I figured out that I was going to get approximately 15 inches of scarf for each ball of wool-ease, which, with 5 balls, gives me at least 75 inches of scarf. I had hoped to finish it over the long weekend, but it didn't happen. I am hoping to get it finished this week, then return to the Here and There scarf that is still on the needles in my other knitting bag. I don't think that it is going to be anywhere near as long as this one, but what the hell, it's sure gonna be a warm one, and as long as it's long enough to wrap at least once, it's all good.

In other interesting news, or at least interesting to me, my new calendar for 2007 came in yesterday, as did Liz's. Here's a picture of mine...

And here is a picture of hers...

These are some of the most incredible calendars ever made. They are huge...with large date squares and stickers to catch your eye for important events, like doctor and dentist appointments, school events, birthdays, special occasions, vet visits and more. The one for teenage girls, has stickers for spring break and other type of stuff like that. And at 15 bucks each, not a bad deal at all. This is my 8 year of having one, and I actually threatened PW when he bought a cheapo-depot calendar one year. You get what you pay for and this is one of those instances where a little extra cash spent is a good thing. I try not to make plans unless I'm standing in front of the calendar with a pencil in hand (pencil, because if something goes wrong and an appointment has to be changed, I can ERASE!!!).

The trip to Oklahoma for Thanksgiving was nice, but it's good to be back home and in our own house. Christmas is up in the air as to whether we'll be here or in Oklahoma, but we'll have family and that will be nice. It's always good to have family.

Well, I guess that's really about all I have to post for now. I have a merchandising job this morning, assembling a card carousel at a gift shop in a nearby hotel, then it's back home to do some laundry and some housework.

A whole week

...of my children without school. My girls are in Oklahoma with their Grandma (my MIL) and Bubba is here with me. He was supposed to go to Oklahoma, but he got sick late Saturday night/early Sunday morning, and had to stay here with me. This, for me, is not that big a deal, because he entertains himself most of the time without help from me, but he is so sweet and loving and such a good boy, that it's not wearing on my nerves to have him around constantly.

So, we went to the OU/Baylor game Saturday and had a BLAST! We spotted Toby Keith after the game. I'd post my pic that I snapped with my cell phone, but it still hasn't shown up in my mailbox. I knit on the 2 hour trip there and back, and am now on the 3rd ball of wool-ease for this new scarf. I really need to lay it down and get back to work on the here and there scarf so that it is finished in time to ship for Christmas. I got some Lion Wool today...Autumn Sunset and Cocoa, with which I am going to make myself another felted purse...I just have to find a pattern that I like that will come out big enough to allow me to carry my knitting.

All in all it was a great weekend with good food, good times and a hair cut, too. Hope y'all have a great week...I'll try to post some pics of my scarf later this week, and hopefully a finished here and there and a purse started...

So, finally, I am able to post a pic of the new scarf. This picture really doesn't do it justice, but what the hell. I'll try again in a few days. For now I am busy cleaning and getting the "house" (read apartment) ready for our incoming guests (MIL and SIL).

They will be here sometime tomorrow afternoon or early evening. They'll spend the night and then Saturday morning we'll all get up relatively early and head out to Waco for the OU/Baylor game, which starts at 11. Then we'll return home and I think that sometime on Sunday MIL and SIL will head back to OK, with my kids (read very excited Mommy). Since we don't know whether PW has to work the day before and after Thanksgiving, we may or may not have our Thanksgiving dinner here in Texas.

I spent the morning getting tags for the Yukon and the Grand Am, plus laundry supplies and then I came home and got busy on the living room and dining room. I have to finish dusting the living room, then move on to the kitchen and upstairs. I rearranged the living room while I was at it, moving the couch and the chair, and getting everything ready to put the tree up eventually. We're going to get one of those skinny ones that doesn't take up a buch of room , but this way the kids will still have a tree. Personally, I could live without the tree, but the kids are hell bent on having one, so have one we will.

That said, I have something to share with y'all. I found today a book called...The Best of Knitter's Jackets for Work and Play. There are a few in there, at least, that I am looking forward to trying. There's the Stockinette Cables, very pretty, Roundtrip, which is the first one I am planning on making. I love that it is rounded and shrug-like. Those are just two, but there are more. The instructions seem easy enough for me to follow...let's hope that I'm not deluding myself. I really am looking forward to getting in at least one sweater. If I decide that I don't like it, it's no big deal, but hell, I liked cables okay, and they weren't anywhere near as difficult as I thought that they would be, so what the hell. Socks intimidated the hell out of me at first...I kept trying to read ahead on the pattern, which for some reason you just can't do with a knitting pattern cuz for some reason the patterns don't make sense when you just "read" them.

Well, I guess that's about it for now. More soon.

New scarf and the horse's ass

Three doctors are at a convention discussing their greatest triumphs. The first doctor said, "a few years ago a young man came in with all his fingers cut off. I sewed them back on and he later played a piano concert for the queen of England." The second doctor chuckled and said, "Two years ago, a young man was brought to me, and his arms and legs had been cut off in a freak train wreck. I put him back together and he won last years Iron Man competition." The third doctor snorted in derision and said, "You guys suck. About eight years ago LifeFlight brought me a horse's ass and a cowboy hat. Now that bastard is President"

That being said, said President never fails to surprise me. First he says we're gonna stay the course. He says it repeatedly for 3 years. Now, all of a sudden..."Listen, we've never been stay the course". Um, excuse me...Mr. President? Now, since the Dems have taken control of the house and the senate, he suddenly says that he has always been in favor of raising the minimum wage. However, I remember him stating that raising the minimum wage in this country would be tantamount to entrepreneurial homocide. That it would kill small businesses and increase unemployment. And the republicans had the gall to say that Clinton was a waffler? I have figured out what is wrong with our country.

When we laud and praise a man, and his group of "appointees" for what great, upstanding citizens they are, while these same, "draft dodgers" question the patriotism of a war veteran, who left half of his body in the paddies of Vietnam, and we stand by and say nothing, we should have a boot planted in our ass. How dare they (bush, cheney, and rumsfeld) stand around questioning the patriotism of men like this, and so many others, while they cut the funding for veteran's benefits, enjoy the freedoms that these men sacrificed themselves for, when they -avoided their service to their country stating "oh, I was there." "I had better things to do." "Psoriasis." Bush is a lying horse's ass who didn't serve honorably, yet he had the nerve to question the service and patriotism of many of our veterans. He calls himself a war veteran, yet he never saw the war, because his daddy and his daddy's friends made sure he didn't have to see the war. Hell, he never saw the inside of his airplane. Cheney states he had better things to do, and yet he helped lead the attack on Kerry, a decorated war hero. Then there's Rumsfeld and others of their ilk, who claimed "flat feet", "psoriasis" (what the fuck, itchy skin means you can't serve your country?), and more. Even after all this time, the republican party does it's damnedest to blame everything that goes wrong in this country on Bill Clinton. For the love of God the man hasn't been president since 2001, and yet, the problems in our country are still his fault? What, did he hold a gun to Bush's head and tell him to squander the surplus, piss on the balanced budget, and fuck our children and grand-children? Did Bill let Tom De Ley get away with bilking people of their hard earned pensions? The republicans spent MILLIONS investigating a land deal in which the Clinton's were involved. A land deal in which the Clinton's LOST money. More money than their fellow investors, and yet they were investigating them to ensure that there wasn't any wrong-doing. What in the hell. If I'm in a land deal, and I'm gonna do wrong, I'm sure as hell not gonna lose more money than everybody else. 9/11 was Bill's fault, too. Ask them and they'll tell you. We've spent more money on "policing" a country that was fine till we walked in. Okay, they "might" have had the "means" to develop weapons of mass destruction. Way to ignore the little freaky guy in N. Korea, Mr. President. You know, the one who was jumping up and down right in front of you, TELLING you he had a NUKE!!!! Oh, but by all means, lets ignore that crazy little bastard and concentrate on eliminating the only person evil enough to keep the peace in Iraq. That country has gone to hell in a handcart since we stormed in and took over. The reason? EVERYBODY over there was afraid of Hussein.

In my personal opinion, the Republicans hate Bill Clinton because while they were busy preying on little boys, hiding their viagra dependency and blowing money, Bill was busy getting it on in the Oval Office.

Now that I have gotten that off my chest...on to the knitting. For you viewing pleasure I am including a pic of my new scarf in progress. I still haven't taken a pic of the mock cable scarf, and since it's upstairs, and I'm not gonna climb the stairs and further irritate my already throbbing knee, it'll just have to wait. But here is the current scarf on the needles. Or not....seems that Blogger is eating pics again. I'll try posting the picture later. If I had a job I'd just get myself an account at Typepad or one of the other places that isn't constantly fucking shit up. Oh well. I've gone thru a ball of Cranberry wool-ease so far, and am not quite halfway thru the second ball. I have decided to give my MIL the mock cable scarf and keep this one for myself. I had to go back to JoAnn's and trade out my yarn, because I am a dumb-ass and didn't check dye lots, so I am almost finished with the first ball of wool-ease, and getting ready to begin the second when I notice that they are two VERY different colors, though they are supposed to be the same color. So, I got 4 more balls of Cranberry, after checking to make sure that the colors matched up, and I'm thinking I might go get a couple more today, just to be on the safe side. I am planning on this one being nice and wide, and plenty long to wrap and wrap, and maybe wrap some more.

The wind is blowing like an SOB here this morning, which means that I am going to have to wear socks with my shoes today. At least I have some that are hand knit that I can wear. I love my knit socks. I really need to finish my chameleon socks and get busy on some more. I have to admit that I'm probably not going to make socks for anyone but myself. I know that makes me mean, but that's a lot of damn work. There is really only one person I'd consider making socks for, but not this year. Maybe for her birthday, if I can find the right colorway for her. I must admit that I have plenty of sock yarn to keep me making socks for a while, well, at least six or seven more pairs. I'm thinking about making my kids some for winter, to wear with their slippers, but I haven't decided yet.

Well, I guess that's about it for now. Hope y'all have a fantastic day.

It's Finished!!!!!

It's finished, it's finished! I finished my mock cable scarf yesterday! I'll post a pic tomorrow for y'all to see. I still have to weave in the ends. I did a few more rows on the here and there, but not much. I started another scarf in Cranberry wool-ease using the reversible stitch pattern that I found on Steph's site, www.yarnharlot.ca/blog . Very easy to memorize. Very easy to work on while watching dinosaur and santa clause movies with the kids. Very fun. And the Cranberry is the best red I've ever worked with. It's not day-glo red, like red hearts, but it's not as dark as the chestnut heather wool-ease. I may end up giving the chestnut as the gift and keep the cranberry for myself. Of course, I could just get more cranberry and make a 2nd scarf in that for the gift.

I'm leaning towards making a sweater. I know that I swore I'd never knit a sweater, but hey, I also swore that I'd never do cables. Go figure. Never say never, I guess. I'm still trying to find a pattern that I like that I can use with the yarn that I have...though, I could just make myself a shrug out of that yarn, and get some new yarn with which to make a sweater. I guess I'll figure it out as I get there. I want kind of a cropped cardigan, but without buttons. Nothing too difficult, as it will be my first sweater. I suppose I could use the pattern out of my Sally Melville book, knit stitch. It's a cute pattern and shouldn't be too hard, I don't think. I really like the sweater that's in the Encyclopedia of Knitting by Donna Kooler. It's a fair isle pattern, but there's nothing saying that I have to do it in fair isle. I could just ignore the chart and make it up in my yarn that I already have. No way in hell am I doing fair isle. All those yarns and what not. I will be the first to admit that I am crazy, but I'm not suicidal.

My dad went back to California yesterday. I miss him so much already. The bastards at security took his jar of Habanero hot sauce cuz it was over 3 oz. and was in his carry on. I guess they were worried that he might bludgeon somebody with it. Though I'd be more worried about it ending up in my mouth and closing off my airway, than being beaten with it. That shit is wicked hot.

I sent him and my mom the list for PW and I for Christmas. I asked for the knitting bag set from Knitpicks. The matching chart keeper, and Steph's book, Knitting Rules.
For PW I put down a Texas Rangers hoodie and a tee-shirt in his 2x size, since we can never seem to find 2x Ranger's gear in the store.

I am looking forward to Christmas, though I'm sure that by the time it gets here I will be ready to be done with it. Maybe this year will be different. Of course, maybe hell will freeze over too.

I guess that's about it for now. I'll post a pic of the finished scarf tomorrow or the next day. Hope y'all had a wonderful weekend. Stay tuned for another one of my rants...Bush is pissing me off again.

It's been started!

Well, since my dad is in town, we went Christmas shopping for the kids. I think we're pretty much done, as far as gifts from Grandma and Grandpa in California go. I would post what we got my oldest daughter, however, since she occasionally reads my blog, I can't do that, but the little ones I can...Mimi got a LeapStart Globe, and two windsuits. Bubba got 2 John Deere t-shirts, a John Deere sweatshirt and an Imaginext Mega T-Rex. The T-rex is wicked cool, cuz there's this button on his back that you push, and he roars and his head moves around. It's awesome. The globe we got Mimi is really neat, too, because it teaches you all about the world while you're "playing" and wow...I can't wait for Christmas to get here so we can play and have fun. PW and I will probably get them some more plug-n-play games, as well as some cartridges for their v-smile, and some little odd and end stuff, more dinosaurs, I'm sure, as they both are just crazy about them.

All in all, it was a very productive morning, and I am quite sure that the kids will love their stuff. I know Liz will love her present from her grandma and grandpa. Maybe it'll be a good Christmas after all. I was kind of worried about it, because of the fact that we haven't sold that damn house. I don't know if the mortgage company would buy the damn thing back or not.

Anyway, I suppose I had better get moving. I gotta go get the kids in just a little bit, and I still have to check the v-smile and see if the adapter was the problem. If it wasn't, then I will have to back up and punt.

I'm So Excited!!!!!

My daddy is here from California. Unfortunately he is only here for a week. He'll be leaving again on Saturday morning. I believe we're going Christmas shopping for the kids later today, after the kids are in school.

In knitting related news, I now have a little over 38 inches of my mock cable scarf complete. I am using Wool-Ease Worsted, and size 10-1/2 needles. I had originally started with size 8 needles, but I didn't think that you could see the mock cable well enough, so I upped the size. I am much happier with the appearance, as well as the drape of the material. I actually found the pattern at www.knittingwisdom.com, but they seem to have gone off line for some reason, and I haven't been able to pull the site up for nearly a week now. I figure I'm doing pretty good, as I have nearly 39 inches and I haven't finished my second ball of wool-ease yet. I think I'll probably stick with the 3 balls, as even if I do only get 19 inches of material out of a ball, that's 57 inches worth of scarf...surely that's long enough...lol. So, once I finish this one, then I'll get back to work on Here and There. As long as I remember to change my counter, and I pay very close attention while working the cable row, I should be fine. I know I have the pattern memorized, so starting the next one will be a walk in the park. I actually started playing around with some yarn the other day, trying out an idea I had, and I have to admit that I love the way my idea turned out, so once I am finished with my Christmas scarves and I have a little more time to post, I will work up a sample and post a pic of it, as well as the instructions...

Well, I guess that's about it for today. Hope everyone has a wonderful Monday.

Note to self...

I realize that as an adult, I am supposed to be above immaturity and temper tantrums. I do realize this. However, I am about to go off on a rant of gargantuan proportions here, so I ya don't want to hear me bitch, click a link or something now.

Last night I took the kids out to Trick or Treat on Main Street. I love Grapevine. They close Main Street and have all kinds of little "festivals" for all sorts of shit. It's a very historic town, and I love it...really, I do. However, last night I have to say that I ran across some of our towns "winning" residents, and I was truly proud of myself for not beating the ass of some very deserving children and their equally deserving parents.

At 37, I am still very harpy on manners. My dear hubby, even more so. He has actually helped me break some very ugly habits that were rude beyond all belief. Like tossing change onto a counter, when the person working behind the counter is standing there with their hand out, waiting for the change. Like always saying please at the drive thru rather than just saying "gimme" or "i need". These very things that I was once oh so guilty of, have become my pet peeves. So last night was an assault on my "manner radar" and I thought I actually handled myself pretty well.

For example: These are my munchkins prepared to go out for Halloween. The dragon is my son, Bubba, and the Ninja is my sweet, darling Mimi. God forbid my daughter pick out a "girl" costume. The knives got left in the van, btw. She didn't want to have them tucked into her belt. But anyway, we are standing in line, and this girl, who is supposed to be a vampire, goes walking up in front of us. Bubba says "HEY!" I say, "Sweetie, there's a line here, and you're jumping in front of a lot of people." Her dad is standing down in the street and tells her to hurry up and go get her candy. Just go, he says, rather loudly causing a few people to look at him. I calmly tell Mr. Antsy-pants that we are all waiting our turn to let our kids get their candy, and he glares at me, then says that he didn't realize that there was a line. No, I didn't lose it, but I did piss him off without being overly rude myself. I replied, "Oh, well, I can see how you could miss all of us standing her single file, waiting patiently and moving slowly along the sidewalk." That was when he told me I didn't need to be rude. But before I could say anything the guy behind me piped up and told him that the only person who was being rude, was him, and to leave me alone. I was touched, actually, by this.

Okay, now I get not wanting someone to be rude to your child...I don't like anyone being rude to my kids, and I'll be damned if I let my kids think that it's okay for them to allow people to be rude to them. There have to be some people willing to call others on their rudeness. Some days I will ignore rudeness, but most days not. Especially not when the person who is being treated rudely is one of my kids, or a "service" worker who cannot call a rude asshole on their rude bullshit. I have stood behind people and said please when they told the counter worker at McDonald's to "give me". I have said "excuse me" to someone who tries to act like I don't exist in the aisle at the grocery store after they nearly run my big ass over with their cart. I have said "you're welcome" to soemone who didn't say thank you after I so nicely didn't let the door of the store shut in their face...that one really pisses people off.

I know, you're thinking that I'm being rude...and I am, but for a reason. I have come to realize that many rude people don't get it. They don't see their behavior as rude. They think only of themselves, no one else and the fact of the matter is, we all have to live together on this planet, for better or worse, and would it really kill any of us to try to be a little nicer and make our lives and the lives of those around us a little more pleasant. I truly believe that there are people out in the world who will not change their behavior without prodding. So no, I am not above being snide or rude to someone who is rude to others.

I have parked so close to a car that all my kids had to get out on my side because the individual in the next parking place couldn't park in her parking place, but had part of the next one as well. And yes, I have done it on purpose. I have also made a woman wait for me to move my van because she couldn't get into her car until I did. When she started cussing me about it, I calmly pointed out that I was in my parking place. She was pissed, but what could she say? What made it priceless was that we were in a convenience store when she started cussing me, and I stayed calm, and everyone in the store is looking at our vehicles and the looking at her like she's a total bitch, because she's cussing me for parking in my parking place. But, shit like that sticks in people's minds.

I have called people on their rudeness to the person behind the counter at the store, the fast food place, the cleaner's...where ever. The lady that jumped in front of 3 of us standing in line at the pharmacy counter, slapped her prescription down on the counter and said, I kid you not, "Fill this for me." No excuse me, no please, no niceness whatsoever. I could have kept my mouth shut, but hey, why start at this late date. My kids weren't there, and personally, I was in a bad mood. So I said, rather loudly,

"Gee, were we in your way?" She turned and looked at me, and said,

"Excuse me?"

"Well, we were all here in line, waiting our turn. I was just wondering if we were in your way?"

"I'm in a hurry."

"SO?"

"Excuse me?"

"What makes you think we aren't in a hurry?"

"I beg your pardon?" She's getting pissed now, you could tell, and the lady behind me is snickering

"I was just curious as to how you being in a hurry justifies your rudeness not just to us, but also to the girl behind the counter there. It's bad enough that you try to jump in front of 3 people waiting their turn in line, but then you're rude to the girl trying to help us. She can't say anything to you about your rudeness, but I sure as hell can" (now, just so you don't think too badly of me, I never raised my voice during this incident at the pharmacy counter, though by the time it was over, she was yelling)

"I, I just need to get this filled and get home."

"Oh, well, I'm waiting for my son's antibiotic. He has strep throat. I'm sure he won't mind holding off his healing so you can hurry home." Then she yelled the magic words...

"What is your problem anyway?"

"My problem is that you completely ignore the three of us standing in a line waiting to be helped by that little girl back there. You slap you scrip on the counter and TELL her to fill it. You didn't ask her to fill it. You told her to. Then, when someone points out how rude and inconsiderate you are being, you get offended, and act like you did nothing wrong. You, ma'am, are my problem."

The look on her face, as I stood there, calling her on her rudeness, was priceless. She took her prescription and left without another word, and the little old man in front of me said that he was impressed that I had said something. Most people wouldn't have.

well, I ain't most people...but I digress...the fact of the matter is, rudeness is born of laziness and a lack of respect for our fellow man, and we in no way should allow others to be rude to us, or those who cannot defend themselves because if they do they could lose their job. Just think what a better place our world would be, if EVERYONE said 'please', 'thank you', 'excuse me', and just in general, were nice.

Okay, that's my soapbox moment...as always, it's okay if you don't like it...it's my blog and that's how I feel.