Green goodness! Like an apple!

Yay!! I'm so excited, Apollo got me an iPod Shuffle!! I researched it to bits and decided that while the Nano is cool and allows categorization, etc, the Shuffle would suit my workout needs better.


And Apollo listened! Today he came home from shopping and handed me a small pizza box saying, "I got you a slice of pizza." I was surprised since we had eaten lunch just a few hours earlier. Well, I opened it and surprise! The green Shuffle! He also got me a set of headphones too since we've heard so many bad things about the iPod earbuds. I'm so happy...I can't wait to start downloading music!!


:D

*yawn*

I've been feeling kind of down lately and despite everything I've been wanting to tell you, I just haven't had the energy to blog. I don't think it's related to my birthday, I've just been tired.

I'll be back tomorrow. I have some pics just for Faythe!

MUWAHAHAHA!

Birthday eve

It's the night before my birthday, which snuck up on me this year. I spent a straight hour on the elliptical tonight. I was going to post more but I'm tired. The elliptical got stuck on high resistance (something to do with the battery going out) and I'm exhausted.

Off to bed for me! (sorry, nothing interesting to say)

A few days to myself

I had three days off in a row. I wasn't expecting it and in fact, was caught off guard when I checked my schedule Monday night. It gave me some time to purge more stuff and clean.

Since it's also been cold here lately, I also had a couple pots of tea. What with the wind and the water falling from the sky, I had to put on my slippers and jacket! brr! We even turned on the heat tonight!

During my time off, there was an incident involving Apollo, a $25 budget and a shopping list. Needless to say, not all items on the list were purchased. Instead, other items such as a 4lb tube of balogna, Vienna sausages and a pack of party wings were brought home and Apollo went over budget.

I am not a fan of half-inch balogna sandwhich's. I couldn't eat it.

I started knitting again. I'm trying something knew with Shine. You know how you splice wool together by splitting yarn several inches in on each end? I tried it with the cotton. You can see the tails sticking out of the wrong side of the fabric above. I'm also trying to find a sweater pattern that's suitable for a boy. I think I've found something but am still looking.

Oh yeah, and I started using the elliptical again. It feels good! That just about updates my weekend.

Skin care anyone?

Anyone try Proactiv? Or know of anyone who's tried it? I'm thinking of giving it a try. Is it any different from other skin care products out there?

Boomer at 5 months

Shawn sent me some new pics of Boomer. She's still adorable!

I'm glad to see her spots haven't faded and her wrinkles are still there. But then again, I'm not sure if they ever go away with this breed.

Shawn and Boomer...you can tell he just hates this! :)

Boomer loves her daddy. She always wants to be pressed right up against him. In this case, on top of him. Hey I just noticed, their fur matches!

At least she gets her beauty sleep. Her paws look huge, she's going to be a big girl.

Almost makes me want to get a dog. I'm sure this is one of Shawn's favorite moments: when she's sleeping. I hear she snores loudly.

Boomer's lucky, her belly will always be considered cute. The rest of us are not so lucky.

So there they are, a cute puppy and an amazingly handsome knock-dead-gorgeous guy. (Shawn, you can leave the $5 in my top desk drawer.) Nice dimple.

hehe

More pics now that it's daylight

Since I stayed up late to help Mac clean up his bathroom (broken glass was everywhere) and woke up with a horrendous headache this morning, I decided to work from home. Some people may think this whole "car in the side of a building" thing is just an elaborate excuse to not come in to the office. For you, I present:

Exhibit number 1: A hole in the building with plastic over it to protect the building from that water falling from the sky.

Exhibit number 2: Cement parking thingy broken in 2 places. The picture only shows one. The force of the actual event caused it to break.

Exhibit number 3: A banged up car. Note, the trunk is damaged and will not close.

Hopefully, our landlords insurance will be proactive in matching up that license plate number with its owner so Mac can get his car fixed.

This just in: water falls from the sky, car smashed into building

That's right! Water! From the sky -- in southern California! *gasp* The ground was WET! Traffic was a nightmare. It took me an hour to drive 35 miles to get home tonight. But enough of that, on to tonights excitement!

Tonight we started up the latest James Bond movie again when we heard a couple of loud banging sounds. Apollo jumped up, opened the door and looked out to see what the noise could be, telling me twice to stay inside. So I did the only thing a dutiful woman should do. I grabbed my camera and ran outside!

Some of our neighbors saw a car slowly drive away without their headlights on after hitting a car but we arrived too late to see them. Fortunately, a different neighbor looking out his window saw some of the activity and got a partial plate number.

While investigating the damage to one of the cars in the alley, Mac came out of out of his apartment, yelling that his bathtub was messed up! OK, well he didn't use these words but you get the idea. Tiles were literally knocked off the wall and lay on the floor and in the tub.

So we look on the other side of the building, and sure enough, the driver hit Mac's car with so much force, it had been smashed into the building!

He was parked straight in the parking space before the driver hit the right side of the car, pushing it to one side.

The fender and light have quite a bit of damage. Even the hood is buckled and has huge pieces of paint sticking straight up.

Mac is not a happy camper.

It only took the popo about 40 minutes to show up. I was afraid to take a picture with the flash, I heard they don't like that.

Big Mac surveying the damage with a flashlight. Since our landlords insurance is going to be involved, we're hoping the driver will get caught and damage to the Caddy will be covered. Poor Mac. He just spent $1400 on the car!

The project that ate up a bit of my soul

So I was confidently knitting along on the pink cable jacket when I realized...well, it sucks. The cabling looks great. I love the cabling and how all the different cable patterns look when mixed together. The problem lies with the cat faces which I intended on turning into a Hello Kitty faces.

After some fist shaking and obsessing over the pattern with Faythe, we decided cables should not be mixed up with stockinette. After all, cables pull in the fabric and make it tighter while stockinette is loose. And it doesn't help when said stockinette is filled with intarsia! Now the cat faces are bunching up and it looks awful! At first I thought it was because the stranding was too tight. While I'm sure it still may be a bit of a problem, when I lay the panel down flat the stockinette area gets all frumpy and bunched up due to extra fabric it's created. ARRRRGH!!

I'm just about done with the back panel but have stopped. The panel sits on the little table next to the couch where I can bitterly look at it every day. I've even started to feel deep-seated resentment. Maybe even some hostility towards Knitpicks Shine, while I'm at it. No real reason.

[photos to be posted here later] ****

Anyway, I've decided to give up on it. I don't think there's anything I can do to make it better. Plus, I'm not taking any anti-depressants and that just may be necessary should I choose to continue.

Meanwhile, now I'm not knitting anything. I truly believe that silly cable pattern has caused some sort of temporary damage. I have no desire to knit. I mean, yes, I want to knit. But nothing appeals to me. I have looked through all my books and blogs and yet, nothing.

I...I don't even want to buy yarn.


****Just as I was about to take a picture, we heard the crash which I posted about above. Hence, something better to take pictures of.

The Balls go to the Wild Animal Park

It was cloudy Monday morning, but we decided to risk it and go to the Wild Animal Park. The drive didn't take as long this time, probably because we were greatly entertained by The Balls.

As you can see, they were so excited about the road trip that they wanted to sit front and center. No longer were they back seat drivers. Instead, they kept yelling out "Swing left, swing right" in an attempt to get me drive around other cars.

Soon enough, they were jumping up and down trying to look out the sunroof. Here you see them acting silly and going "balls up."

We finally made it to the park and The Balls were VERY interested in the fowl in the pond. We paid for some duck food, threw it down on the ground and watched the ducks and geeze flock to us. Unfortunately, as soon as The Balls made an appearance, feathers and poo went flying. Nobody wanted to hang out with The Balls. They leaned up against the post and swore.

The geese would not stop complaining about The Balls! They kept honking at each other and us. One even grabbed Apollo's pant leg and demanded compensation.

Finally, to appease them for The Balls intrusion, Apollo gave them some food. We tried to do another photo shoot but with all the small children around, we felt uncomfortable unleashing The Balls. You know how crude and improper they can be sometimes.

Walking through the park, The Balls got excited when they saw this sign for "dik dik." They were sorely disappointed when they realized dik dik were not related to their friend, Penis.

Here's a dik dik. They can weigh up to 12 pounds and are about 14 inches at the shoulder, very cute!

Some meerkats writhing around in a big meerkat pile. This is about when The Balls started to sweat, looking at all those furry bodies in the hot sun.

After a short hike, we made it to the elephants and saw two baby elephants. We heard that the youngest one is 6 weeks old but their site seems to have his age at around 6 months.

You see, this is why we don't let The Balls run around unmonitored! They see signs like this and start to make lewd comments and insinuations. *sigh* I assume this comes from hanging out with "bad apples" like Penis. (Or maybe from being bad apples.)

The petting area for kids (can't remember what it's called) had a bunch of deer that were ultra kid friendly. This little girl was really cute but I kept waiting for the deer to head butt her.

I was so distracted by the little girl and the fact that the deer seemed to be missing fur, much like mange, that The Balls escaped. We found them leaning up against another deer. I guess they were bored and tired.

The deer (gazelle?) was not impressed.

He swore at us and we left. There was more to the park but we got bored and The Balls started to stink.

Gold gems of the citrus family

Yum.

The Balls have some down time

You may have wondered, where are The Balls? What have they been up to these days? Or maybe not.

Last night I got home after dark to discover Big Mac, Apollo, Tee and Rob (from the infamous WWE in the ghetto event) having a party in our parking lot. Since it's birthday month here at the gayto (where the gay hood meets the ghetto) so the guys do a lot of drinking outside with Tee's trunk open and music blaring. Gin and juice, plastic cups, pork rinds and Tabasco sauce were available in large quantities. It was disgusting.There was no escaping them as each of them sauntered up to me in creepy old man fashion and danced little jigs. One of them even danced around me in small circles, something like a Mexican Hat dance. They each demanded my attention and hugs. *shiver* (and yes, I'll be getting back to The Balls in a second here)

All women walking by were subjected to staring and mumbling. One poor old lady, who apparently knew them, overheard a not so quiet comment "She's got bow legs" and turned around to look at them. The comment was made as if it was a good thing. *sigh* I don't want to know, really.

Anyway (I get distracted easily), since I wasn't able to go inside yet due to all the dancing and Tee who wanted to tell me all his woes, I opened the back door of my car to get my jacket and lo...there were The Balls! Still seat belted!!

I had forgotten Apollo belted them in days ago so they would arrive safely to work. Then I realized, they've been strapped into the back seat all this time! At work! At the store! I wonder if people saw them. Anyway, The Balls will be joining the guys for their next gayto birthday soiree. (The idea of the guys using the word soiree is hysterical)

They're still in the car now. I'm sure they're sweating a lot. I may have to sanitize the car seat later.

Mom using her evil powers for good!

Emails from my Mom are always interesting. Well, emails and all conversations. Nobody can say my Mom is boring! So this morning on the way to work I call Mom and wake her up. She says she was taking a little nap but really, who takes a little nap at 8:20 in the morning? Nice try Mom!!

The first thing she asks me is if I got her email yet. It seems she sent me an email at 2:11AM! When I got to work, I checked my email and first she tells me that she has just finished cutting the dogs fur and, "He is not a pretty sight." Poor thing! He's an old man and gets grouchy if the cat walks by him anytime after 7PM, which is his designated bed time. Can you imagine the horror he had to endure while Mom cut his fur all night long?

Next, she informs me that she's going to be doing some lobbying at the state capital, Salem. I, for one, think Mom would be a great lobbyist! I have no idea what she's lobbying for or against but Mom has the skill of nagging down to a T. And we all know that nagging yields a certain power.

Seen here with Liz and Mickey, Disneyland has an auto-switch off policy regarding nagging.

For example, one time when Aimee and I were around 8 and 9, we were driving by my Uncle Scott's apartment when she saw the door was open. So she did a U turn and went back to see what's up (I guess she knew he was gone). She ended up following two guys out of the apartment, down the stairs and into the parking lot with one hand on her hip, the other one with a finger wagging in the air. And her mouth? WAH WAH WAH WAH WAH WAH

The thieves did their best to leave the apartment with my Uncle's personal items in their arms as quickly as possible. One of them finally turned around and looked at Mom and pointed a rifle at her. Without skipping a beat, she said "What, are you going to shoot me? My two daughters are in the car right there and are watching every move you make. Do you want to leave them motherless??" *sigh* I mean, MOM, they could have left us motherless! Or even worse, shot us all!!

Long story short, they left, she called the police and all ended well. At least I think I did. Well, we didn't get shot so that's good enough for me.

The only times nagging didn't worked out for Mom is when Aimee was supposed to clean her room. For some reason, Aimee passed out on the bed or floor whenever she was supposed to clean her room. Amazingly, some of my stuff would end up on her side of the room whenever that happened. WEIRD! No amount of nagging kept Aimee from losing consciousness or keeping her room clean. To this day she claims she's allergic to cleaning (this includes doing dishes, it makes her legs itch).

Anyway, I think Mom's finally found her niche. She's found something that will make good use of at least one of her finely honed evil powers!

Turning a new leaf (and throwing it away)

Perhaps due to my birthday which is looming before me, I've decided it's time to make some changes and throw some crap away!

The problem is I've been taught you shouldn't throw things away - that's wasteful! Plus, if you do throw it away, that's when you're going to need it. So through all the years of my life, I've saved things, squirreling them away until I can't even find them when I do need them.

This week, I looked around my depressing bedroom and decided it was time to get rid of some stuff. I've been going through clothes, books, etc. and throwing them out. My old Mac? Out! Printer, an extra monitor, some sheets that have lost their elasticity, out! Even some yarn!! It feels weird throwing away perfectly good stuff, but it's also relieving.

After I finish, I'm going to talk to the landlord about getting new carpet. And then I'm getting a new bed! And maybe even a bed frame! I feel so grown up. :)

Meanwhile, it feels good to get rid of all this extra, unnecessary crap. Yay!

Dear yarn store owner/employee:

When I walk in your store, do not come up to me and ask me if I need help. Considering I walked straight to the yarn I want and am grabbing several balls, I think I know what I'm doing. If this is your standard response to people who walk in the store, fine. If so, you might as well ask other people in the store if they need help as well. I saw you avoid that old lady.

Do not treat me like I know nothing about yarn. If I ask for sport weight yarn, do not show me dk or worsted weight yarn and try to pass it off for sport weight.

If I ask for wool, do not show me cotton, alpaca or *shudder* acrylic blends and tell me they knit up similarly.

Yarn store employee, do not ask me if I know what gauge is. I asked for sport weight. I think I know what gauge is. Oh, and when I say yes, do not then explain to me how the yarn you're holding knits 6 stitches per inch and tell me exactly what that means.

Please do not assume I'm knitting a scarf. There's nothing wrong with scarves if that's what pleases you, but I think it's safe to say if I'm buying 6 balls of an alpaca blend and some size 3 needles, I am not knitting a scarf. (By the way, don't you remember me from Christmas when I almost bought out your Mega Boots yarn? For socks??)

Do not look at me blankly when I tell you I am using an Elizabeth Zimmermann pattern. This is particularly embarassing for you, since you're standing in front of several Elizabeth Zimmermann books. And you sell them.

Do you treat me this way just because I look young? If so, are you under the impression young people cannot knit more than rectangular garter stitch? If so, you are wrong. DEAD WRONG.

Miffed,

Yarn store shopper

Rthr the deaf cat and Dolly the calf

A few days ago I reminisced with my sister, Aimee, about our childhood. We had a good long talk about all these stories we want to tell but are concerned that, while they make good fodder, they may also make people uncomfortable. As you can see from all the blahbittyblah up ahead, I opted for "good fodder."

For example, a good story might be ....(struggling to think up good story)....oh yes, about Aimee's deaf cat Rthr. (Aim had a knack for odd names.) Rthr was a pretty cool cat. Aimee and Mom discovered him one day in an alley. Shortly after his discovery, a fire alarm went off directly above Aimee's head. Aimee jumped and covered her ears but Rthr didn't move. In fact, he kept on purring.

He was a medium sized lanky cat, white, blue eyed and had half a kinked up broken tail. I used to pretend his tail was one of those wind up things you see on the front of antique cars. Winding him up with a "wow wow wow" sound always made Aimee upset so I did it as much as possible.

If he thought he was abandoned in the house, Rthr would scream these awful howls and we'd have to flail our appendages wildly until he saw us or bang our feet on the floor until he felt the vibration. The first time he screamed we thought he was hurt but no, he was just alone in the kitchen.

Rthr had a good life on the ranch. A life filled with happily sitting on the road while being honked at by log trucks, catching hummingbirds in the horse trough near the honeysuckle bushes and laying in the green grass in the warm summer sun. Yep, it was a good life for Rthr, a loving, good natured, cooler than cool cat. Thankfully, we never knew what happened to him. He just disappeared one day.

A bad story would be about the time that Grandpa decided he wanted to shoot one of the bears eating blackberries in our backyard (it was a big back yard, we lived in the mountains). While preparing, he told a bunch of old-timey bear stories and got himself all wound up. I say old-timey because we have no way of telling if they were true and besides, his nickname is Banjo. 'Nuff said. As he told his stories, his eyes got bigger and bigger by the minute. It was hard to not get sucked into his tractor beam eyes which bulged out in a cartoonish manner.

Anyway, Aimee and I went out to put away the goats (Brandy, Mo and Rambo) and pet calf (Dolly) when we heard a gun shot. Long story short, Grandpa went outside early (hello, the grandchildren were out attending to the goats!) and shot at what he thought was a bear. How he mistook a red and white calf for a bear, I do not know. He didn't kill her or anything though. Just put a bullet through that fatty area near her wind pipe and set up an infection.

I don't really remember what all happened after that. I put up a big wall around that memory, it still makes me sad. Let's just say it ended a couple weeks later with us receiving a load of packaged meat with the words "Not to be consumed by the penicillin sensitive" stamped on them from the meat packaging plant. Aimee and I used Sharpe's to draw fun little pictures of cow faces with eye-lashes on the white freezer paper along with "Dolly's burger" or "Dolly's back strap" before throwing the packages into our huge deep freezer. Yes, we ate her. We were poor.

Life doesn't care about your feelings, what's fair or what makes you uncomfortable. If you can't poke fun at it and laugh, you'll just end up bitter and depressed. At least, that's what I learned.

Stranger Than Fiction

I just saw Stranger Than Fiction. It's refreshing, I love it! It's nice to see Will Ferrell in something other than his usual silly comedies.

It's no wonder I haven't been promoted yet

I'm not sure if people take me seriously when they see me knitting pink things with cat faces on my lunch break.

The Balls go to work!

Today The Balls went to work with me. They attempted to answer some emails but soon gave up when they realized they couldn't type. It seems they're not used to making any sort of effort on their own. They told me they usually just swing around and sweat all day.

After watching me type for a while, The Balls decided it was time for a coffee break. When I took them to the break room, they were amazed at all the choices. They stared up at them in awe.

In fact, they felt so much pressure from having to choose just one flavor of coffee or tea, they started to sweat profusely. It was nasty.

By the time The Balls made a decision, they needed the caffeine and bad. They couldn't wait for the Coffee Ambassador to finish up.

After bathroom breaks, The Balls dutifully de-germed themselves with some germ-X. Considering they did all that sweating, I was happy to see some sort of effort towards cleanliness.

Later that day, The Balls found the copy machine. I knew they were going to start trouble.

Sure enough, they decided to pull an office prank usually left to those who make questionable choices.

Fortunately, I found all the photocopies they made before anyone else did.

While I worked through the rest of the afternoon, they hung around and made comments like, "Why do they ask questions they already know the answers to?" and "Why the F*%& did they buy it if they don't even know how to refresh a page?"

I asked a co-worker if he would pose with The Balls while I took a picture. He laughed (???) and politely declined the offer. WhateverRRRR.

At the end of the day, they were more than happy to nestle into my pink bag next to my knitting and go home. Poor balls, they had a long day.