Thursday, August 25, 2005

DragonCon!

Anyone else going to DragonCon in Atlanta?
I am!
8 more days baby!


*Yes, I know I've dropped off the earth. I'm still there, but it's looking up. I start my new job Sept 6, after a weeks vacation, including DragonCon. I haven't been knitting, and bad person that I am, my final SP package still has not be packed up and sent (yah, I probably gave myself away if my SP reads my blog). I even have a thank you gift for Susan, but haven't packaged that up either (Susan, I need to get your mailing address too!) Plus I started my "13th" grade biology and chemistry classes at night, Monday thru Thursday. Wow, I won't even get into how terribly awful the guy is who "teaches" my chem class. It makes me cry. So there's my update. If you're going to be a DragonCon, email me before Thursday! I'd love to meet up!*
Continue Reading...

Saturday, August 06, 2005

WELCOME ZACHARY!

I have a new NEPHEW!
He was born today!

Way to go Paula (and Brian)!

My parents are now GRANDparents and I. Have. A. NEPHEW!

*and at this point this is all I know, information from my teary mother just 15 minutes ago*


7lbs 13ozs, 23in long, born at 6:28pm.
Continue Reading...

Thursday, July 21, 2005

Pictures as promised

*Warning! Picture intense posting!*

The baby sweater I made for my sister:





This was our weekend fun last weekend with Bronwyn and Ian. This is a trick taught to us one morning while sitting on the porch with some very dear friends after a night of imbibement. Flying June Bugs. First, you catch a June Bug, and let me tell you they are quite abundant around these parts. In fact only after I moved to NC have I seen beetles this large! They're light Japanese beetles times 10. They don't bite, and I don't think they actually eat as destructively as the JBs. Anyway, catch a few, and with thread tie the end to a back leg, right up against the body. It's kind of oookie, but just wait for the fun you'll have! Then you just let 'em go! They'll fly around in circles in their "kite" string and many laughs will be had as you duck and try not to let them land on you. (Yes, it's hard to see the bugs)






Tying the bug up, a primer in pictures (click for biggie goodness):





This is Inca in the vetch field behind my parents house.


Here's an shot of the field. In the winter it's great for sledding. But the walk up is long and hard...we usually joke about putting in a little mini ski lift to pull us back up after the ride down.




This is Obi out on the dock at the Cabana Boy's parents house. Obi is terrified of water, but he's even more distressed to be seperated from his daddy. Nate swam out to the dock and I took the paddle boat out and Obi paced the shore for awhile. Then he just said fuck it, and jumped in and swam out. Getting him to swim back was interesting.






Here is our sexy new van, a 2005 Honda Odessey EX-L. Her name is Moya and she is wonderful! Great ride, some sweet comfort, and plenty of space. We'll be taking her down to Atlanta GA for DragonCon in September.






And the pictures you've all been waiting for!
First, the unopened "blue" box. So very very sparkly! Or Glittr-y as the case may be.



And the contents! Note the blue theme throughout? All the yarn is just spectacular, and I can't wait to knit it up...once I decide on what it's going to be!


The funny thing about that scarf is, in the card Suzanne calls it "something that feels like a cat". I made my husband feel it and his first response.....yupper, "feels like a cat"! Love it! I can't wait until it cools down so I can wear it.



So I hope you all enjoyed all the pictures. I suppose I'm kind of like picture camel. I save up all my pictures for one big release. I guess that's more like a reverse camel....

Amy, I did see on your blog where you were Suzanne's SP! At first I thought, "wow, what a coincidence that she's sending her packages to a Suzanne!" I also saw her packages on her blog. I'm so glad you spoiled her as much as she spoiled me! She really does deserve it!
Continue Reading...

Blue blue blue

Nope, not sad! That was just the color theme of my third SP package! And I promise promise promise I took pictures of it, and once I get my lazy butt around to uploading them (really, no excuse since we have high speed internet now) I'll put them here. Everything was so pretty and soft and just wonderful. My wonderful (not so) Secret Pal Suzanne has really really spoiled me, and made my first SP participation fabulous. And she's going to make me fabulous too, or atleast help out...because some the lovely Rio yarn is going to become a skinny scarf which I hear is all the rave in the UK! *wink* The Drake likes to be on the cutting edge!


Now, not that I was tagged with this, but I found it on a friend's blog.

id·i·o·syn·cra·sy
Pronunciation Key
n. pl. id·i·o·syn·cra·sies
A structural or behavioral characteristic peculiar to an individual or group.

Write down five of your own personal idiosyncracies. Then, if you wish, tag five people from your live gerbil or friendslist to do the same.

1. Never leave the house once: Nope, I always forget one thing or another and have to run back in to grab it. I think my personal best was 5 trips back in before I was ready to go. But I do say I get it honest. My dad is the same way!

2. Soooooo: And I hate this one. When I talk I start and/or end most sentences with soooo. Especially on the phone. I'm trying to stop this one.

3. Stuffed animals: If my husband wasn't there to stop me, I'd still be buying stuffed animals like a kid. I love the cuties! Thank goodness I knit now! I can just make my own cuties!

4. Makeup: I refuse to wear it. Hate it. Hate it I say! It feels horrid. On super special occasions (Halloween, really) I might put on some eye shadow...lipstick a little more often (though I've developed a super-love of flavored lip glosses). I am the Un-Girl.

5. I am the Un-Girl: I know, I said that already, but I have to say it's a subject all it's own. I like dresses, but I hate heels. I like nail polish and long nails but I also like digging in the dirt. I don't wear makeup, but I like to look pretty. I can't think of any other category I've ever fit in...I'm not preppy, or punk, or goth, or boyish....I'm an un-girl, one who is girly in her own non-girly way.

Now, I've gone and tagged Lisa, Heather, Amy of AmyLovie, Amy of GoodtobeGirl, and my longshot tag Crazy Aunt Purl. Muahahahahaha
Continue Reading...

Friday, July 08, 2005

And the winner is......

The Honda Odessey.
We decided it was the best for the price, nice and comfy, good extras.
Barring any complications we'll be signing the paperwork this evening and driving the new girl home. My new girl. Woot!

Yah, cause the last new vehicle we bought was the cabana boy's Dodge truck, which was cool, but his. Then I got the sub, which also was cool, but used. Now it's my turn. I picked the color inside and out too. And it's real purty. Leather seats even! Not that we wanted them, but the best gas mileage only comes in the leather seat model. Ah well. Heated leather seats. I'm not complaining!

Dan Irving: Anywho - my Dad owns a Honda Odessey and I have to say, while I'm one of those gas-guzzling SUV owning types, if I *was* a mini-type I'd have an Odessey. I've helped drive the van up to Long Island NY where the other half of my family lives and it was a pretty comfy trip. Edumunds shows a consumer rating of 9.2 which isn't too shabby. My dad isn't very mechanically inclined (in fact he is somewhat retarded in that aspect) but he's been able to keep the regular maintenance intervals. The van is about 5yrs old now and still runs really well.

Glad to hear it! The reliability and longevitiy was definately a factor.

Helen: can't help you much...we had a Dodge Grand Caravan in '92, kept it til 2002. Bought another one. had a MAJOR accident (2004) and man, hit a guy, hit from behind by garbage truck and two other vehicles and ended in a tree...when i went back to see the van, i was amazed at how beat up it was..and i tell ya, our injuries were totally minor compared to the look of this mess...man. unbelievable. so i hope your choices are as safe as ours! we are now on our third Grand Caravan

The rental we have now is a Caravan. It's not bad. Sounds pretty safe too! Didn't get too good of a rating from Consumer Reports though (none of the newer American vans did though). We've got one Dodge, and decided to go foreign for this one. Wow though. Wow. I have a whole new respect for safety ratings, air bags, and all that now. Really really glad to hear the Caravan has served you well!
Continue Reading...

Tuesday, July 05, 2005

When the car is the only thing you can complain about, you know you're golden

Really. I have to say that after all the complaining about losing a great and wonderful car, I'm just happy I'm not complaining about losing a great and wonderful partner.

And we get to go car shopping now! We got the replacement numbers from the other guys insurance company, so now we just have to sit down and crunch the numbers. But we're really leaning towards the Honda Oddessy. Yes, it's a mini-van. We do after all have two very large dogs. And hopefully some day some we'll have kids too. So rather than take our settlement and spend it on a crappy car to just "get us by" we figured we might as well buy a good, dependable, safe (side curtain airbag safe) vehicle now. We'll probably be making a few sacrafices for it, but it's not like we've never done that before. We'll get by.

I have to say I was pretty anti-mini. I have never desired to be the soccer mom type. First the test driving started to turn my opinion. They really are spacious! And comfy. Almost decadent really! Then we paid a few extra bucks a day to get a mini-van for our rental, then drove 9 hours to PA for family reunions. I have to say, it was the best trip we've had. The dogs has plenty of space. With all the seats down we could move around to get stuff we needed from our luggage (oh, luggage = rubbermaid bin. Yes, we travel in style) and if a nap was needed we just crawled back with the pups and snoozed in comfort (well, it's not soft-bed-comfort, but it's better then wehavetoomuchcraptoevenreclinethedameseats uncomfort!)

I have finished project pictures galore on my camara, but I just haven't gotten around to getting them off. My sister (who I got so see in all her baby belly glory! Hi P! It's a BABY!) got the sweater I made for her baby and by the pictures, I think she liked it. I hope she did! And the bear too. I have a picture of those to put up. I got the felted bag bug again, and knit up a bag with a little turtle intarsia bit. Kinda mixed and matched patterns, and came up with a cute little tote, that I still need to put the handle into and maybe line. But it's done and cute. I'm on my second repeat of the decreases on the clapotis, and it's looking lovely. I did 15 drops instead of 12 during the lengthening section, but only 5 of the 6 increases, so it'll be a bit thinner but longer. I couldn't resist showing it to my mom, even though it wasn't done. I just had to show her the beautiful alpaca yarn. I think she liked it! *grin*

Oh, if anyone out there reading drives a Honda Odessey let me know how you like it! Or a Toyota Seinna...that's our #2 choice.
Continue Reading...

Thursday, June 23, 2005

You put $1200 into a great car that runs near perfect but just happens to be about 12 years old, and what do you think happens? It gets totalled.

It's a good thing that's the only thing we can complain about though.

I was at home. I had just got in from de-flowering the garden and was in the process of emptying the dishwasher and ran outside to have a smoke. And the phone rang. It was the cabana boy, who asked if I wanted to good news or the bad news. The good news was he was walking, the bad news, the Subaru was totalled. Some kid pulled across two lanes of stopped traffic into the third lane where Nate was moving at about 35mph.

I had to drive 30 minutes. Some things about living in BFE really do suck. I knew he was okay and talking, but that's all I knew. I had my mom on the phone with me (on speaker phone, I wasn't taking any sort of chance) to keep me calm while I drove there.

Nate's okay really. A lot beat up, some bruised knees and sore muscles. Thank Subaru for making a good safe car.

It just sucks a lot to have our wonderful safe car is now totalled, and it's going to be a hard task to find another just like it for what pittence I'm sure they'll end up giving us for it. Oh, but we'll be making sure they know that in the past month we put over $1200 into our baby.
Continue Reading...

Tuesday, June 21, 2005

Monkee, this one's for you!

I was out and about for my job today, and ran across a store.


In case it's hard to see (which is highly possible, seeing as I took the picture with my phone camera) the sign on the store says "Monkee's".

See Monkee, it's all yours! I suggest you go claim it and turn it into a yarn store. While I like shoes and all, the area this little shoe store is in sure could use a cozy yarn store, maybe with some outside tables with umbrellas to sip coffee from the cafe across the way, while knitting and people-watching.
Continue Reading...

Thursday, June 16, 2005

political with a bit of contempt...no knitting, sorry

So, if you have anything along the lines of a white magnet that says "bigot" or maybe "asshat" on it, I'd love to have one. There is a car that parks in the parking deck of the hospital/university I work for that has this bumper sticker on their car. It makes me fume everytime I go past it. How hateful and evil. I would love to slap something over it to show what a bigotted statement it is.

Not that I think it would change their opinion, but it would make me feel better.
*scream*
Continue Reading...

Monday, June 13, 2005

Sooooo many good things!

I should mention this is going to have a LOT of pictures. So if you don't have high speed dial up (WHICH WE DO! but I'll get to that in a bit) be patient.

First we'll start with Saturday. If you've read Lisa's blog you already know that we took Heather, who is new to the NC area, on Yarn Store-palooza. We had a great time, and made a really great new friend. The highlight of the entire trip was definately finding Shuttles, Needles, and Hooks in Cary.










Yes, that is a stove. The store is in an old house, and with all the nooks and crannies to stuff yarn in, it was like a treasure hunt!




Lisa and Heather checking out the amazing (really really amazing!) stash.
I can't wait to go back again.

Then today. Well today started kinda crappy. I had to meet with my boss for my yearly eval. Not too good. And I knew it wouldn't be. I won't go into why or how. But finding a new job will definately bring some fire back into my gut. And I let my boss know this, and that I was looking. He gave me his full support, and let me know not to worry that I'd be replaced before I found some other place to go. A good and bad meeting all in one.

When I came home things definately brightened up. My lovely lovely cabana boy had finished some garden work to make our beans very happy. He also put up a new bird house so we can lure more blue bird families to our back yard. We already have one that's returned from last summer, so it will be fabulous to have more. Oh, and the returning family has already hatched out one nest of babies, and there's another waiting in the box now too. He cooked up some lovely dinners for the week too. Some amazing soup in the crock pot! Want the recipe? Just ask! But I warn, it's a long long list. Oh, and he suprised me by opening up my blog and willy nilly clicking links...and guess what?! They all opened in a FLASH! Yes! Our DSL modem came today, and the Cabana boy had it all hooked and set up. So I bring you my Dragon blog from high speed heaven! But that wasn't all! As you may have seen, I love my hummingbirds. We have three feeders. Well, we had three. Now we have SIX! Yes, six feeders for the mean beasties to fight over. We had a nice sit on the porch watching the drama while downing a few beers.

And not to top the boy, but last and not least was my next package from my Secret Pal! It was shimmery and shiney and sparkly, perfectly fit for a blue dragon like myself!














Lovely smelly lush message bar, sparkley yarn, kidsilk,

a wonderful Debbie Bliss pattern book

, wonderful smelling candles that say Knit Goddess on them

(SP, did you put that on yourself?!) and NORO SILK GARDEN!

Yes, you can all become green with envy now. My SP is the best. Yes, I rolled around on the floor professing my love for my SP wilst rubbing Noro on my cheeks. Yes, my cabana boy professed his confusion.

I have a few more pictures, but the Cabana boy is threatening to eat my dinner if I don't finished up with this blog thing and go spend time with him. Oh, and speaking of Cabana boys, SP.....
Continue Reading...

Wednesday, June 08, 2005

Beary Beary Good!

I hate when I forget my sunglasses on a super sunny day!
I forgot just about everything this morning. I had to run back for my gym clothes.
What I didn't forget was every single thing I need to work on the next bit of beary goodness!

The first bear hanging out with me at work.



I think I'm going to have to make myself a bear too, because I'm going to miss this little guy when I finally send him up to my sister!
Continue Reading...

Monday, June 06, 2005

and your inner dragon is a ....




Topaz Dragon
In the war between good and evil, a Topaz Dragon tends to walk the fine line of Neutrality.

When it comes to the powers of Chaos vs. those of Law and Order, your inner dragon is a risk taker and answers to no one.

As far as magical tendancies, a Topaz Dragon's nature does not lend itself well to the ways of Magic.

During combat situations, whether by spells or by claw, your inner dragon will do whatever it takes to get the job done.



Dragon Description:

The Topaz dragon makes it's home on temperate islands and coastal regions. This particular gem dragon is widely known for it's impish behavior and charm.


Unless something specifically interests or affect them, topaz dragons tend to be indifferent to happenings about them.


When born, a topaz dragon is a dull yellow-brown in color, infused with streaks of blue. As the dragon ages, its scales harden, darken and become translucent and faceted. A topaz dragon shines brightly, giving off rays of amber and blue light.


This Dragons favorite elements are: Topaz, Beauty, and Charm


Sent to me by my SP, whose blog is not listed on my site. *grin*
From DragonHame
Continue Reading...

Hummingbirds are back, a Jayne hat, the Dragon Lair is where it's AT!

Wow, was that bad or what! I had that title stuck in my head since yesterday afternoon, I just had to use it! It came to my while enjoying a Yeungling on our wonderful porch, watching the hummingbirds beat on each other. Hummingbirds really are vicious creatures! We have three feeders, and they still fight each other for food.

So yes, yesterday the hummingbirds were really back. I saw atleast 2 red throated males, and a female. Those buggers don't usually stay in one place long enough for pictures, but one likes to hang out on the windchime, so here's a couple not so good pics.

I had my feeders out for probably 3 weeks, and they just started coming yesterday. Could be because after 3 weeks I finally changed the food. I'm sure it doesn't take much fermented sugar water to get a hummingbird drunk!

I'm also so very close to having 3 projects finished. The bear has a face, I just need to better attach his arms. Here he is before face

The baby sweater is all seamed (and I have to say I did a kick ass job on the seams!) and just needs the buttons.

And I started the Jayne hat for my cabana boy Friday, and am so almost done with it! I would have finished it Saturday evening but I kept drinking the Yuengling, and I didn't want to mess it up, so I put it away for the night.


I did some gardening too, my other summer love.
Look away if you're squeamish, I'm going to show the big wolf spider that hung out with me while I weeded.

Okay, bug all gone now. Here's what I was weeding.




So, in Crazy Aunt Purl style I have my very own crazy neighbor story. Let me first start by saying, me and the Cabana boy are easily the most normal people in our little country neighborhood. Just a run down:
First there's the husband and wife who both hit on me on the same night while the cabana boy and I were being nice neighbors and hanging out with them.
There is the extremely large (large=obese) man who deems it his business to be in everyone elses.
The two men who feed stray cats and therefore have over 100 feral cats hanging around their house and the neighborhood.
There is the very nice couple who we've hung out with on several occasions who seem sweet, but are extremely bigotted and prejudiced.
There is the couple who are stoned pretty much 24/7.
There is the crazy lady, who used to have a husky that ran loose all over the neighborhood, and now has several cats. She has moved from renting one house to renting a ginormous house right next to us.
And then there is couple with literally a pack of dogs (where one dog killed another, so they replaced the dead dog so the pack would still be large enough) and the woman should probably be in the loony bin, and the dogs run everywhere. Oh, and they put up an invisible fense, but the dogs never have the collars on, so of course it didn't work.

So the story involves Crazy Lady, the pack of dogs and their family, and fat man. And two cop cars. The story goes that the pack of dogs mauled Crazy Ladies cat, so Crazy Lady called the cops (we live in the middle of nowhere, there is no animal control). The pack of dogs family was informed they needed to contain their dogs. So they went out and put up a shitty green metal fence, whilst shouting obsentities at the Crazy Lady. Crazy Lady came over to tell us about this yesterday afternoon too. The dog family was finishing the fence up yesterday too, and apparently the loony wife started yelling at Crazy Lady again, so Crazy Lady called the cops. The cops came out, and then the fat man appeared. You know, cause it's exciting and he needs to be in everyone's business. Two cop cars. With blinking lights and everything. I can see how the fat man was drawn there. I was almost drawn there! I stood on a turtle pen wall and watched a bit.

Finally the cops left. Then they came back. And Crazy Lady called us to ask if she could (drive over her yard and) use our driveway to leave because she didn't want to drive by them. Then the cops left again. Then Crazy Lady came home. By this time we were relaxing again on the porch. And then Crazy Lady called again. This time the Loony wife was apparently sitting on their porch staring at her through binoculars. And the story ends there. For now. Wow, what a bunch of wackos. The cabana boy and I are just going to laugh our asses off at it all and try to stay the hell out of it.



And I'll leave you all with this picture. A huge mamma cooter laying eggs on the side of the road right down from our house.

"Don't do it mamma! This whole neighborhood is bonkers!"
*yes, the color is very purple. It's from my phone camera. bleh*

Thanks to everyone on the compliments on the Xback. Rachel, it is a tattoo, a butterfly. My first one too. I love anything that shows it off!

SPAzuredrake said...Loving the x back! Looks great with flip flops - you still haven't a link to my blog..... ;) And that bear is toooooo cute...... SP, I have to say I spent almost an entire day going through the blogs on the knittyheads blogring trying to figure out who you might be! I was quite unsuccessful though.

I'll leave you with one more picture, again. Inca lounging, as she so loves to do.

Continue Reading...

Tuesday, May 31, 2005

Cute and Cuddly

Just a few pictures.

First the cute Xback made its debut this weekend. It went out clubbing at Legends in Raleigh with friends. Please disregard the flip-flops, I really wore a strappy pair of sandles, but I was trying to save my feet for dancing.








My cuddly Billy Bear lounges during a knitting lunch with Lisa. He's still missing his face, but that didn't stop him from getting plenty of attention everywhere he went.
Continue Reading...

Wednesday, May 25, 2005

It's a bill! It's a magazine! No! It's a SP package!

I'm all giddy, my first SP package came today!
Thank you Secret Pal, I love it all!

All wrapped up in pretty blue paper, it looked so lovely.



My wonderful SP sent me some beautiful Rowan Summer Tweed in the prettiest purple. And I just picked up some knitting books at the library, so I'm going to find the perfect tank top to make from it!

And food stuff! Luxxie Green & Black's Dark Chocolate bar...I did express some restraint and only immediately at a few bites. But that is not going to last long at all! Plus Vanilla Chai Latte! I think I'm going to try a chilled latte this evening while I wander the pages of the knitting books. And tomorrow morning a nice hot cup for the ride to work.



I think the coolest part of my gift was that is came from the UK. It's like getting a piece of somewhere far away.

Thank you Secret Pal for a wonderful gift!
And just as I'm typing this up, I realized I forgot the card. So I went over to open it. SP it is such a cute and funny card! I'm going to put it in my office! I tried to take a picture to share.



And don't worry about being late, I didn't think it was late at all! But I'll always accept chocolate as appeasement anyway!

*hug*



Evil Kitty agrees. It was a great gift, and I have THE best SP!
Continue Reading...
 

The Dragon Knits Copyright © 2009 Girlymagz is Designed by Bie Girl Vector by Ipietoon, Karjat Resorts