Poor Fig!

Poor, hungry kitty!
Today is cat dental day. And Fig is not happy. He has been on a forced starvation diet since midnight last night. He is not shy about letting me know that he is not a happy cat. He has tried the yelling meow. The leading me to the kitchen technique, the persistance and now is onto the pathetic kitty routine.
Once upon a time, I did not even want a cat. I just did not yet know that I was a cat person. He doesn't hold that against me. One day our neighbors knocked on the door carrying a food dish and a bag of food. She asked if we could feed their cat, Figaro, on our porch for just a couple of weeks because they had to move temporarily out of their apartment while it was being deleaded. 2 weeks, 3 tops!
Um. Okay.
We fed him on the porch. He was basically an outdoor cat. A real neighbor hood bully.
3 weeks passed. Soon that June turned into September, and October. But I knew that it was getting cold outside with more to come, so we had to make a decision to give this cat a home or find him one.
You know, he IS kind of cute we found ourselves saying. Okay, he can sleep in the basement.
And he did. Then the decision to get him neutered came along. When he came home from the vets that day, I could not make him go to the basement to sleep. He slept on the couch that night and it was not long before he was sleeping in our beds.
Funny how that happens.
His origins were even sketchier than that. He was a dumpster kitty, rescued by the neighbors who would eventually abandon him. It is in this part of his history that his extreme food need comes from. If he can see the bottom of his bowl, if we DARE to let it get somewhat empty, he has a bit of an anxiety attack, with dramatic sitting at the bowl for hours on end and meowing like he is actually starving to death.
Imagine, today he has no food. At all.
It's getting ugly, people!
And speaking of ugly
The nit wit is still at it, I am trying to be patient, explaining to her/him ( I think it's a her by the little cutesy icons she has on the forum:gag)
Being the bigger person sucks sometimes, you know?
Thank you for your support. It means a lot to me.
Now, Fig is appealing to you to please, please, send him a morsel or two?
Please?

Opal and anger

Oooooh! Opal Petticoat socks!
Love. The. Petticoat! I decided to go with a no frills pattern sock to highlight the wonderful striping action going on here. I was pretty focused on 2 projects before opal came along. My attention was being shared by the Marilyn sweater and the new mitten. I guess my feet felt a bit left out because I can't stop knitting on the sock.
Poor feet. They should feel better soon!
~~~
Seething
In no way should the following be taken as Christian bashing. I am a person of faith myself, this is why I am floored by this:Lately I have been noticing an increase in bandwidth "borrowing". ahem. There seem to be more than a couple forums that have lifted pictures off my blog without saving them to their servers first.
I know. I'm preaching to the choir. I don't need to go into it with you.
So, as I have been keeping an eye on the growing number of interlopers, I figured that I would tackle the one on the Christian Forums first. I guess thinking that being Christians that I would find kindness and understanding.
Yeah, um, NO! I got a tongue lashing that cannot be compared in my blog life. My insides are shaking.
Here's a peek at a bit of the message:
And I quote:
I have no time nor desire to email you at your email address. I don\'t know what the problem is with your bandwidth, and my apologies for your problem, but if you are going to have pictures on the internet, people are going to copy them, this is NOT stealing. Its just part of the internet. The internet is free to all. Why you purchase this bandwidth is your business, and if you want it restricted from people, maybe you need to purchase some sort of restriction walls or something. Please do not put pictures on the internet if you do not want people to see them and copy them. Thanks. :wave:
Yeah, God bless you too!
*&%#^*%&!
Added later:
or:
And Furthermore:
:)
Perhaps I should have named this entry
PETTICOATS AND PETTINESS! haha!
All of you have such great ideas. I am grateful for each and every one of them. Now, I must spend time to learn. OR....hmmmm. I think I'll email my trusty Mary and beg her to help! :)
I have to let you know that I did Private message ( I had to JOIN the Christian forum to send her a message!) her again, after I had calmed a bit, explaining that it was okay to USE the picture, just that she had to save it to her server before doing so, I explained in detail how. I have not yet heard from THE MEEK ONE! (I kid you not, that is her Christian Forum name!)
I DO believe that she does not know better. And she took offence to the term BANDWIDTH STEALING. But, well, it is what it is.
I was so floored at such acrimony. I truly did not expect it from someone that is Christian. I thought I would find patience and kindness.
Lessons are hard to learn sometimes.
And anyway, my little feelings were hurt!
:)

A very fine day, indeed!

Yup. It was my birthday yesterday. I am now 44 years old. And thank you for all the wishes! It was great! As usual!
I don't want to brag or anything, but I have to share my gift! I hope I don't make you feel jealous!
My present is teeth cleaning for Fig. Yup. I know. So wonderful, right?
But really, poor Fig has terrible tooth decay and needs a cleaning and dental work, most likely with a couple of extractions. And believe me, knitters, THIS is not cheap! So, I asked for Fig's dental work for my birthday. I don't need anything really. But Fig does!
I did get my yearly dinner at Woodman's. Every year, it is not my birthday until I am sitting at the wooden tables eating most yummy fried clams. YUM. They were delish!

Here is one gift though. They couldn't resist!

Ooooh, I can't wait to get my needles into that! Opal Petticoat! I fell in love with Tracy and Margene's petticoat socks! I am lucky, indeed!
Teeth AND sock yarn? Can a girl get any luckier than that? I think not!
And today...
Is Derek's 19th Birthday! When I was pregnant with him, I worried that he would be born on my birthday. I wanted him to have his own day. I got my wish! I was in labor the WHOLE day of my birthday and he was born around 7 am on the 26th. Now that I think of it, that is the earliest he has ever woke up on his own!
Happy Birthday, Derek!

Playing computer games, what else?
~~~~~
This is the view across the street from Woodman's.

Dim the lights! We have a flower show for you!

I could show you some knitting, but it would be unimaginative. It's almost the same as before with the addition of a few rows.
Since I have to fill space, how about the topic of conversation will be flowers?
The second annual Dahlia tour:
My elderly neighbor started planting dahlia's one year. He faithfully lifts them out of the ground every fall and replants the bulbs in the spring. He started with a few and now has hundreds. HUNDREDS.
This is one side of his house:

And this is the other:

So, here are a few of my favorite dahlia's, summer 2005 edition.




Hydrangeas are pretty too! These are mine. The bush has grown HUGE this year and I'm loving it!

Flower show has now ended.
Raspberry talk:
On the way home from the grocery store, I was hit with the hungry horrors. You know the kind. Where you could polish off a bag of chips in a flash? Or cookies? Gone. Long gone. It's dangerous eating at it's finest, crumbs flying as you drive down the road towards home. This time I decided to eat a couple of the raspberries that I bought, buy one get one free. As I arrived home, I realized that I had finished all the raspberries. One whole package, gone. It was not a huge package, but nonetheless.
It was worth it.
My taste buds are happy. Very happy.

Mittens and dried out grass, an oxymoron blog entry

There is a small amount of progress on the Estonian mitten. But progress is progress. And must be embraced. I laid it out on the dried up summer grass. We need rain, badly!
And as I was outside I looked beyond the weeds (why don't they turn brown and dry up?) and saw this little guy!

He's sitting on the mint plant. Mint. It seemed like a good idea at the time. It's pretty. And wonderful smelling. And every year, I think that I have pulled the last of it only to be surprised by it's appearance the next spring.

A letter from Eric

A couple of months ago a friend at work's daughter, Dipti, was diagnosed with breast cancer. Thank God it was caught early and the prognosis is good but in the meantime, treatments are hell. Especially as a busy mother of a 2 year old. About a month ago, her 2 year old son, Brody was diagnosed with ALL. Leukemia.
Mother and Son. Can you imagine?
Take a minute to read this letter by Eric, husband and father. And help if you can. If not, perhaps a prayer or candle lighting would be appreciated!

Brody, a little while before being diagnosed with leukemia. See an updated picture of him at the pledge page.

Last week I sent out an email to update everyone on Dipti and Brody's progress, I would never have imagined the number of phone calls and emails that one message could bring about. Dipti, Brody and I would like to thank you all for your support and encouragement, it means more than you know. Many of you responded by volunteering to help in any way possible...... well, I would like to take you up on your offer.

One of the most difficult parts of this experience has been coming to terms with the complete lack of control. As a husband and father it is debilitating to realize that I cannot play a more direct role in curing my wife and son. I am grateful for the team of doctors and nurses we are working with, they are incredibly talented professionals who truly care for Dipti and Brody. Still, it's hard to stand back and entrust their care and future health to others. Dipti confided in me that she feels the same way when she thinks about Brody and the road he has ahead of him. We decided we needed to do something to take back control. To empower ourselves, our families and our friends. To feel that we are doing something more significant to battle this disease.

A few weeks ago we had the opportunity to meet many other little boys and girls fighting cancer during the time we spent with Brody at Children's Hospital. I can't put into words the range of emotions you experience walking the halls of that facility. Many of the kids you see are fighting every single day just to see the next. Regardless, there is no absence of laughter and happiness. These children are inspirational, they find the joy in every little moment. And while they don't know it - it's their ability to smile through the adversity that is helping their parents, friends and families to stay strong for them.

We would like to help these kids and their families in the fight against leukemia and other blood-related cancers. My friend Scott and I have made the commitment to build a team for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's Light The Night Walk, here in Seattle. Light The Night is a three mile walk around Green Lake to celebrate and commemorate the lives of those touched by cancer. The walk will raise money to fund research to find a cure, as well as to improve the quality of life of those patients and families who are currently fighting the disease.

It's a very worth-while cause, The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society is the world's largest voluntary health organization dedicated to funding blood cancer research, education and patient services. Right now there are more than 670,000 people in the US alone who are fighting blood cancers like leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma. And while leukemia is the leading cause of disease-related death in children under 15 years of age, blood cancers strike people of all ages. Every five minutes someone in this country is diagnosed with blood cancer, every nine minutes someone dies.

You can help. We've created Team Brody and set a very aggressive goal of raising $10,000 for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. If we are going to meet this objective we will need the support of each and every one of you. There are two ways to contribute:

1. Make a donation online -
It's easy, it's fast, it's what all the cool kids are doing.
Paste the following into your web browser:
http://www.active.com/donate/ltnWA-AK/ltnCox14

P.S. - I've attached a photo of Brody, taken a little while before his diagnosis...to help put a name to a face for those who haven't met him yet.

Vitavitavegamin

You know, I don't have to tell you, that when life hands you those lemons, you make lemonade. Make mine Pink.
After reading all of your wonderful comments, feeling all happy and WARM (did you read the jokes? They were silly. And good for me) I decided to do what anyone would do.
Wallow.
Just go for broke.
Sit around sighing dramatically. Eating sweets. Drinking diet coke until I was full of it. Watching mindless tv, Big Brother 6, which just pissed me off even more. I was just glad I was not in a house with a bunch of jerks like them. Which made me feel a bit better. I knit. I stared at the wall. I sighed some more.
And then?
I went to bed early.
Hey! It can't hurt!
So, today, this little ant, CAN move a rubber tree plant. A little ways anyway.
Here's the knitting du jour:

The ribbing to the Marilyn sweater is done. This is Black water abbey yarn in colorway moss. Delicious!
And then there is this

That. Is definitely a good thing.

Miss Grumpy Puss

I wonder what the hell is wrong with me? Do you think I need to go on medication or what?
Some people blame the moon. Perhaps it's hormones. Maybe it's even a mid life crisis, who the hell knows?
But my chin is dragging on the ground. I am wearing a frown. This little ant CAN'T. Move a rubber tree plant.
More than likely it's the calendar slipping away on me. Derek will be leaving to go back to school in a couple of weeks. Bethany's looking at colleges and in the meantime driving away on her own.
But really, I'm not the type to mope ahead of time. So, what's my problem?
I wish I knew.
Is it the moon wreacking havoc with my mood?
Well,
Goodnight MOON!
I have made a mental list of the things to be thankful for, and believe me, the list is long. I mentally had to go to another page.
I am lucky that I have food on my table.
A wonderful family.
Of which I don't want to strangle every minute of every day.
A roof over my head, even if it IS leaky.
Look! Even Fig looks grumpy today!

What is up with that?
So......
Know any good jokes lately?
Hmmmm?

Go ahead, make my day!

Just do it.
No, not jogging or mountain climbing, although if you insist, then go right ahead.
Just knit mittens.
I have had a couple of comments and emails saying things like, "I wish I could knit mittens like that!" or "I always wanted to do 2 color knitting".
Well.
Why aren't you? Hey, listen. I'm going to tell you a secret. It's not rocket science. As much as I would love you to believe that I am some superhuman knitting wizz, I am not. I knit and I purl. That's it. And if you know how (which if you read this blog, you most likely DO) then you have all the prerequisite skills you need.
Knitting with 2 colors? Easy peasy. Take my word for it. Knit with one color. Let it drop. Pick up the other color. Knit with it. Follow the chart.
See? you can do it!
Go ahead. Try it if you've been thinking about it? What's the worse that can happen? Ripping it out. No loss. But think of the gain!
Do not make me pick up the cheerleading pompoms for cripe's sake.
~~~~~
Today Bethany and I are visiting the UNH campus. College shopping with my baby! When did this happen to me?
Hug your toddlers, ladies. And men. They will be college hunting soon.

Off the cuff

~Warning: colors are not as blaring as they seem under flash circumstance. Consider yourself warned~ The beginnings of Liidia's gloves from Folk Knitting in Estonia. Since I do not wear gloves, I do believe I will make them into _______________. Fill in the blank.
I wonder what it could be?
I remember stating instead of having a summer of lace (which I dabbled in) that I would be having a summer of socks. BULLTICKY! This has been my own personal SUMMER OF THE MITTEN.
I have a couple more pairs in the brain stage.
Can a girl have too many?
Can she?

Helgi's Mittens: aka Sandy's mittens

Mittens!
88F degrees today (31C) means MITTEN TIME!

Pattern: Helgi's mittens from Nancy Bush's Folk Knitting in Estonia
Yarn: Knitpicks andean treasures alpaca yarn, colors moss and fog
Needles size: 2US
On a fun scale, these are FUN PLUS. I love them. AND. They are for me.
Good thing too, look!

Some funky thumbs. It appears as if there are too many right thumbs. But when I put them on, they are FINE ENOUGH. They would not be okay if intended as a gift but honestly, you can't tell when they are on. Or more, *I* can't tell when they are on.
When I started the decreases on the second mitten, it seemed as if too many stitches landed on one needle, so I spread them out a bit and started decreasing, moving the thumb to the side of the mitten. Unnoticed by me. However, this may have solved the weird thumb placement. A happy accident, I think.
Onto another pair. Which ones will it be? Nobody knows!

Up close and personal

Well, LeAnne asked. And I'll tell.
She asked me what I did for work. I guess I've kept it quiet. I'll tell you, but then I"ll have to kill you!
:)
First, a story.
I went to college for physical therapy. I worked in a chiropractor's office for 13 years. After getting laid off (as did 7 other long time employees) I found myself in limbo. I realized and finally admitted to myself that I hated the job. I never should have went into that field of work. With the value of retrospect on my side, I realize that going to college was my way out. And I had to get out. I chose quickly and unwisely. But it served it's purpose. I made my way into the world separate from my family, which would have been impossible had I lived in my hometown.
I then collected unemployment for 6 months and pretty much moped. Hung around and felt sorry for myself. A sorry sight was I. With unemployment rapidly running out and a strong feeling that if I had to do PT again I'd certainly croak, someone mentioned a job opening to me. Local. Nice place, nice people. I'd check it out. May as well do that until I can figure things out. Life has a way of handing things on a platter to you. But you have to recognize the platter.
Now I work in a job. My passion is at my home. It is not a career. It is not what I planned. But I am happier on a daily basis here than I was in a chiropractor's office.
What do I do? I work in a place that designs and manufactures microwave products for radar systems, weather and defense and communications. Specifically, I paint ceramic pieces that will eventually get built into those devices.
As often happens when one does not plan to stay, I have now been there for 7 years. I do my job, I do it well and then I leave it behind and go home to my family, the real importance of my life.
Sure, some days bug the hell out of me, I wouldn't be human if that did not happen. But I never imagined that I could find happiness and fullfillment in a job.
And yet. It happens when you are not looking. Life is funny that way!
Another layer of the story of me, for you.

Morning already??

Back to work is super hard on the second day. The first is never a problem. But the second? I hardly slept. Never mind that I am now going in an hour earlier to add to my work day. Money. It's a gas.
Blahblahblah:bitchbitchbitch.
Crabby:

I've been to the desert on a seahorse with no head
Taking liberties with song lyrics. THAT is how tired I am this morning.
So, see on the right? Crab. On the left? seahorse with no head. But all of a sudden while working on this it dawned on me. It is AUGUST! Which means fall is right around the corner. Which mean sweater weather. Which means,
"Sandy wants a new fall sweater!"
So I did this:

This is the re-start of the Marilyn sweater, pattern and yarn from Blackwater Abbey.
I know that this may doom the reef to the knitting bag but desperate times call for desperate measures.
Now, excuse me while I pump caffeine (diet coke, not coffee) into me so I can face the workplace. Ugh.

Nature's finest

Last night I heard the words I have been longing to hear.
"Sandy" said hubby Andy, "It's orange outside!"
A girl can wait years to hear these words.
Wasting not a minute, I grab my trusty camera and set out into the neighborhood for some sunset hunting.
My first view upon reaching the outdoors was this:

Which was admittedly gorgeous. But it's not orange. I had some hunting yet to do.
I head off down the street in the general direction of the orange and this is what I am rewarded with:

Now THAT's What I'm talking about! No one around to share it with except Sony.
If only I could knit that.

It's okay, no real lobsters were injured during this entry!

Imagine my surprise when a package arrives on my doorstep with a return address of NORMA. And I look inside, as anyone would do and a live lobster is looking at me. Not just any live lobster, but the biggest, yummiest live lobster I have ever seen.
See?

The biggest ball of yarn ever from Cottage Crafts in colorway, live lobster. Really. No real lobsters were hurt in this entry.
But more than sending me the greatest yarn that will make the greatest mittens, Norma ROLLED the yarn first. Now, THAT is a friend!
I am lucky indeed.
New blogger
Does anyone remember Julia? She is the one who won the pink yarn on April Fools day. She is a new blogger. Head on over and say hello to her! She's an awesome knitter and could use some welcoming to the neighborhood!
Friday, or let's put a stop to this vacation
I have now been on vacation for 2 weeks. 2 work weeks anyway. And let's review what I have gotten done, shall we?
Yeah, that's right. NOTHING. I have gone nowhere, done nothing. It's been nice while it lasted. But this may tip me over the edge for the Most Boring Person Ever award.
So, excuse me while I sit on the sofa and knit for a couple of hours. I'm still on vacation, you know!
:)

Mid to late summer's eve

Knitting on the Creatures of the Reef shawl has resumed. I have to admit to performing a fast fix on a dropped stitch so I'm sure that eventually a specially handicapped crab or seahorse will rear it's head in the near future.
Not that there is anything wrong with that.
My mood has been a bit down today, kind of a POOR ME thing, which is never attractive so I have spent a lot of quality time on the reef. It's helping a bit. But I'm sure this WOE IS ME attitude will stick around until I rest my head on the pillow tonight. It's best to bury my nose in the knitting and keep the mouth shut so I don't say anything I might regret later. You know?
I did take a small walk out into the yard. It's a beautiful summer evening. If all the nights were like this, I'd gladly look forward to summer.
~~~
I spied with my little eye:

Marshmallow clouds
and

Busy bees

Can we talk?

Vacation time should bring lots of time for knitting, don't you think? Not yet. But the week is young. It may happen yet. You never know!
I descended the stairs this morning with morning hair and comfy jammies on to encounter a random teen boy sleeping on my couch. That is what I like about having teenagers, you never know what will happen.
~~~~
It is senior picture time for Bethany. Bethany. My baby. Is getting her senior picture done. You know what this means? She'll probably be graduating then. When did this happen to me? How can children grow so fast? Yesterday she asked if she could get her eyebrows done. You mean as in waxed? Yup. Again,My baby. Eyebrows waxed. So we did. Today we get the hair done. Only trimmed and blow dryed smooth. Nothing fancysmancy. Please. What would her friends think?
But you know, this has all led me to think, I am fortymumblemumble years old and I have NEVER gotten my eyebrows waxed. Perhaps it's time for that. And while we are at it, that pesky upper lip hair that has sprouted. What the frick is up with that, anyway? Are all old women destined to be sporting mustaches?
~~~~
And while we are, yet again, talking randomly I may as well talk about my refrigerator. It is stuffed to the gills. I could not fit one more thing in there if I tried. If you are hungry and need a meal, come on over. I have it. Meat, veggies, pasta, salads, drinks. We seem to have stocked up on everthing. Without even knowing it. I'm sure Andy thinks that there must be some party coming up that he has forgotten about. But truly, there is no good reason for the fridge stuffing. It just happened that way.
And yet, still, the kids will stand there declaring that there is
NOTHING TO EAT!