Book and Hook

Update 7/23/11

2011-06-23T16:43:00.000-07:00

I know I haven't been posting. I am a very bad blogger.
So, some things that have been happening:
I am still delivering the morning paper, I currently deliver 3 out of 4 of the papers that are delivered in my area. The 4th paper is now available, if I want to deliver it as well. It would add 189 papers to my 130-150 papers, 92 of the new papers would be to addresses I don't already deliver to. I am still going back and forth on this.
I am currently on Plurk and Ravelry as Jarista.
I reached out to an old friend after finding her own blog, but I have yet to hear anything back from her.
In May we went down to Idaho Falls, ID and visited with my family. The main reason we went was to see my older sister 'MM' graduate from ISU with a Doctor or Pharmacy degree, which was super exciting. I got to visit with far flung family members, my older brother 'MH' and his wife and 5 kids came down from Douglas, WY, my sister MM came up from Reno, my younger brother 'DJ' came from Georgia. DJ is stationed with the Air Force in Georgia with his wife, who also came. DJ just got back from being deployed to Afghanistan so it was REALLY good to see him and to meet his wife. My mom and her husband TC were there, as were my dad and his wife KH. We last saw family last June when hubby, the new puppy(oops, guess I haven't mentioned her yet), and I went to McCall, ID for the 'C' family reunion. Mom begged me to come down since it wasn't that far away, (the trip down took twice as long because of construction, but oh well) and because TC's family drives her crazy after a few days of close proximity.
We recently switched internet providers, Clear Wire was super slow, and glitchy. We've signed up with Time Warner Cable, while the sign up process was a bit horrific, now that it's installed (finally) we are able to actually watch Netflix Instant Watch! We hadn't been watching Netfix online because out internet was so slow. One afternoon I was downloading something and it was crawling along at 5 kbs/s. Bleck!
I have signed up for Audible, and even though it costs a whole lot, I've been enjoying listening to audiobooks on my paper route. I am currently listening to Voyager by Diana Gabaldon, next up is Oath of Fealty by Elizabeth Moon.
Earlier this year I participated in the garage sale at the Beasley Collisium, while I didn't make very much money (I had way to much furniture I think) I did SPEND money. I bought two smaller flat screen monitors/TVs. Which was fortuitous later as our main living room TV bit the dust. The remote sensor had died some time ago, and things that were supposed to be white were looking a little pink. In an attempt to fix the color by playing with the menu buttons at the bottom of the TV, hubby managed to get the TV off the 00 channel needed to watch things from the VHS/DVD player. Turns out the only way to get to the 00 channel is by the remote, which doesn't work. Also the only way to adjust the setting was from the remote. We decided to go TV shopping. It was a holiday weekend, everything TV shop wise was closed. We ended up at Walmart. We have a massive entertainment center which was bought to house the decent sized TV hubbys' parents bought. The EC is full of 'stuff', along with devices. There is a dual cassette player, a record player, a receiver, 2 VHS tape holders. YOu get the idea. So we're at Walmart, we measured the space we had for a TV before we left, and all TV's are now the wide screen things. Using our measurements, the only ones that would fit are the 28" or below sized ones. I didn't want one so small, hubby's having sticker shock and fighting with me in his own special PA way, so I was thinking we could get a new EC as well, that way we could get a bigger TV. He thinks we can't fit 1/10th of the stuff currently on our current EC into a new one. More fighting, we end up leaving with nothing. Once we get back home I end up setting up one of the small Monitor/TVs I got at the garage sale, and that is what we have been using ever since. I also managed to clean my desk and get the other (not as high quality) monitor installed as my computer monitor.
While in Idaho Falls my dad talked us into getting some baby chicks. If you don't know we previously got some chickens from my dad before he moved to Maui. The local CalRanch store had baby chicks for sale for a good price. They were 2 weeks old, so the mortality rate was cut way down. We brought home 5 baby chicks in a tote with food and water. We also took our dog down to Idaho Falls so she could meet the family, she was fascinated with the chicks, and would sniff them whenever we let her. 4 of the baby chicks have survived, and are currently in a giant metal feeding tub on the back porch. I also ordered some baby chicks online, the minimum I could order, without massively expensive shipping charges, was 15. So I ordered 15, they arrived this morning and are so cute and fluffy! 16 arrived, but I'm not going to dispute it. This way, we can eventually replace the current chickens we have with some newer, tamer chickens. Since I grew up on a farm and am not squeamish about it, the older chickens will get butchered and put in the freezer.
Now, about he puppy. Hubby wanted a dog, he wanted a dog like our friend JC's dog Shadow. So, since Shadow wasn't fixed JC bred her 1/2 Black Lab 1/2 Blue Heeler, to a co-workers pure bred Black Lab. A few months later Shadow gave birth to 9 puppies!

Hubby wanted a girl puppy, and there was only 1 girl puppy in the litter. 8 weeks later, after much visiting and holding, and holding a sleeping puppy on us, we brought home Sassy. In a litter of 9 she was the only girl, and she was 'in charge' and would beat up on her brothers. JC kept 1 of the boys, named him Blaze, and still has Shadow. We love having a dog, she is sweet, funny, hyper, goofy, and currently sleeping under my computer chair. She's 14 months, but as a friend says Black Labs are puppies until they are 3 years old. Sassy and the cat, Moonstone, play and fight and tolerate each other. It's hard to feel bad for the cat after seeing the cat go up to the dog, who is minding her own business chewing on a raw hide, bat the dog without claws and run off. When the dog ignores her, the cat looks all disappointed and comes back, extends claws and takes another swipe to get the dogs attention and to get her to chase her and play.

We also had a human new arrival, but since this is getting rather tl:dr I'll save that for another day.
Best wishes!

I am a bad bad blogger, but here is a update

2009-08-30T09:58:00.000-07:00

Sorry to have been so, non-communicative, things have been rather busy.
The Highlights:
-I am up at 2:30 int he morning because I deliver the morning paper.
-I get home at about 7 am, where I usually join hubby in the bed.
-He gets up to go to work at 1 pm, leaves by 2 pm, I usually get up with him.
-I spend the next few hours doing various things.
-I am usually back in bed by 8 pm
-and the whole thing starts again.
Add-ons to this lately have been:
-We have mostly moved into the house.
-We still have a trailer full of stuff, and our living room is full of the furniture that should go in the bedrooms
-We have been waiting to get the sewer line replaced before replacing the carpets in the two bedrooms and the basement apartment.
-Our new housemate has arrived and is living in the basement, and going to the U of I.
-I started playing around on Plurk.com. I am Jarista for anyone interested.
-Our brand new bed has arrived, and that is glorious. I have never had a brand new bed.
-I am painting when I feel up to it.
-I have been fighting a cold/sickness, oh and I don't get days off from delivering the paper.
-I finally finished the add-ons for the Delaura afghan. Now, to wash it, photo it, and give it back to her.
-Sewer line may not have to be replaced, the city wants to use us as sort of guinea pigs to see if a new system will work. they basically put a lining in the pipe, inflate it, and pump epoxy around the lining, which makes a brand new pipe. They are coming on Tuesday to video the line.
-Carpet estimate ppl are coming on Monday to take a look at where we want carpet, and to give us an estimate on installing carpet.
-I have lost quite a bit of weight from what I was at this time last year, which is awesome. I think the paper route really helped with that.
-Our lovely used Jeep we got last year may be having some issues, we are planning on trading it in on a truck of some sort, and buying the Jeep from the estate.
-I am loving listening to podcasts, audio books, and podiobooks on my paper route.
-Hubbys 'partner in crime' at work has had to 'cross train' at work, so she has been working Day-shift for the last two weeks. So he has been really bored at work. We went and kidnapped her from work on Thursday, and took her out for some really good Chinese.

It is now 10:15 am, I am going to head to bed.
Have a wonderful day Everyone!

Explanation of Hardest of Days

2009-04-27T16:50:00.000-07:00

Ok, I think I am finally ready to post again. It has been so long I'll have to remember how!

Just after my husbands birthday my Mother In Law passed away. She was 56. Her one love, her husband had passed away about 6 years before this. She had never really gotten over losing him, and to cope she was drinking more and more, and eating less and less.
For years and years when Brad (her husband and my father-in-law) was alive they would stop drinking for a month, as an exercise to prove they were not alcoholics. We suppose she had decided to do this on her own, and didn't tell anyone what she planned.
My husband and I, and his sister, her husband, and young son all live in the same town with her, my sister-in-law lived about 3 blocks away, and still the first we heard of this was that she had called the police because she was certain she heard someone in the house, locked herself in the bathroom and called the police. The police broke down the back door, and found no one. She was hallucinating. Debie (my sister-in-law) came over to be with her. We got a call at 11pm on Sunday night, but we weren't home because we are night owls and my husband works swing shift 2:30-11:00 pm. When we got home at around 4 am we got a message from Jasson(Debie's husband, my brother-in-law) that we needed to call them, no matter what time it was when we got home. We called, he filled us in. Could we come over to the house and be with mom on Monday because Debie had to be to work by 8 am. Yes of course we could. We got what little sleep we could and came over. Debie had called in sick to work, and we were trying to decide what to do. What scared ME was Debie said mom had had what she termed seizures in the middle of the night, muscles knotted up and severe shaking. She was going through alcohol withdrawals. Which can be deadly, especially without medical help.
We couldn't convince Debie to bundle her up and take her to a hospital. She kept saying she was sleeping now, sleep is good for her right? Especially since she hadn't slept much during the night. But.
There is always a but isn't there.
When she woke up, she became stubborn and refused to go to the hospital. Refused help, out stubborned both of her stubborn children and me, the scared spouse.
I grew up LDS, I had NEVER dealt with alcohol withdrawals, or DT's as they can be called.
I wanted to just wrap her in a blanket and drag her to an ER. But she woke up before we could come to a consensus, and she out stubborned us all.
She said she needed some more sleep, we let her sleep some more, checking on her every 15 minutes or so. Debie went to check on her and screamed for my husband, he sprinted for the room, leaping the coffee table. I stayed in the living room, he yelled for her a couple of times, shaking her, then yelled for me to call 911 NOW!! I did so, she wasn't breathing. He was doing CPR. The fire dept. and the ambulance came and worked on her for some time while we stood in the living room, trying to stay out of the way. Trying to believe it would be ok. That they would get her back. They took her to the hospital. The one that made a medical mistake and killed Brad. It was so hard to sit in that waiting room. I just sat in a chair and held the arms of it and tried to control my shaking. I called my mom in Idaho Falls and asked her to pray for Linda, telling her some of what was going on.
She never came back. They called us into a room. Debie immediately says 'I don't like this room.' I didn't either, it was the "I'm sorry we did all we could, but she is gone." room.
We picked up her watch and ring from the police department last week.
We lost her on Monday, Debie's birthday came on Tuesday.
She and I were just starting to become friends. I miss her. I am sure her two kids miss her ever so much more than I do, but I miss her still.
We are in the process of moving into the house she owned, which we now own.
I am typing this from what used to be her living room and is now mine.
We are working on the house, I have painted the living room. I have plans to paint the main bedroom before we move our bed into it.
We are sorting through my husbands parents lifetimes worth of things.
The hardest of days is not over, I am not sure it ever will be.

The hardest of days

2008-07-15T23:52:00.000-07:00

Things I've learned since Monday morning:

Grief and grieving are exhausting.

Stubbornness is not always a good trait.

Laughing at a two year olds antics is still possible.

Grief hurts, physically and mentally.

How you deal with your grief can lead to some horrific consequences.

Finding out who needs to be called is very difficult.

Eating and drinking are important during the first few days.

It's good to have family around.

I've had a very bad two days.

Perfect Post Award

2008-06-30T23:59:00.000-07:00

I am having trouble coming up with how to start this post.
It has been quite some time since I did one of these, but I am nominating a post for a Perfect Post Award.
This post by Thumper sums up perfectly my view on the argument about gay marriage.
Growing up my aunt lived with a roommate. It was many years later that my mom explained that her roommate was actually her lover and partner. I love my aunt and was not all that surprised by the news. Not long after that my best friend came out to me. Since then I have been rather aware of the horrible treatment homosexuals receive on a regular basis.
The Perfect Post Award is run by these two lovely ladies; Lindsay www.suburbanturmoil.blogspot.com and Kimberly / MommaK www.petroville.com.
If you want to check out other Perfect Post Awards, go check out Momma K at www.petroville.com

Answers and other news.

2008-06-22T22:11:00.000-07:00

I've been a bad blogger, and I freely admit it.
I just don't think people are interested in my ramblings.
However I have had two questions, and I think I'll answer those.

rennratt said...

Has work been going well for your husband? Are things looking up now that spring may finally be there?

Spring was here for quite some time, now that we are finally headed for summer temps, things seem to be going a bit better. DH still hates work, and his coworkers are driving him quite crazy with how um, well dumb they can be.

AND

Maria said...: So, how did the friend thing work out?

So far she has been good, I joined in on a yard sale with her and a couple of other ladies at her house. We haven't been mistreated, but I am still not completely at ease with her. They invited us to play Mario Cart on their Wii this weekend but we ended up playing DnD* 4th edition with some coworkers of DH.
The DnD was pretty fun, basically we created characters and checked out how the new combat system was going to work.

Other news, we went and looked at a $84,900, 4 bdrm, 2 bath, unfinished basement house in Colfax, WA. It was pretty nice, but it has a few problems, like very little yard, a porch that is coming off the building and taking part of the roof with it, rotting stairs, a boarded up asbestos furnace, plastic taped down over a dirt floor, and a set of removed steps next to the rotting steps that would have to be replaced. So far we haven't made an offer at all.
We have also been looking at used cars. Think we finally found a car that we can live with. Only problem is that we would have to put a longer seatbelt in for me, because I couldn't get the passenger seat belt latched. The dealer said there wasn't anything they could do about it. He said he checked into it twice, yeah right, DH Looked online and found something within a couple of minutes. Despite the dealer being weird we will probably get the car.
I have been enjoying Woolgathers, they are great ladies and one guy.
I have been helping my friend J.D. get his apartment cleaned out. He is finally moving after being in a one room apartment for the last like 6 years. I helped him on Friday, and I'm helping on Monday too. This is about the third time I have helped him clean his apartment in order to move to a new one. This time his mom is actually paying me for my time, she says so she feels like she is doing something to help him move.
I finished my socks!!! Pictures soon.
I started a pair for my mom, and another pair for me.
We had quite a bit of snow on June 10th. About 3" Most was melted by the time we got home from Spokane, WA. We went to help our friend Scott with his 2 sons while his wife became a citizen. It was pretty cool to watch.
If I think of something else to update I'll try and remember to post it.

*DnD = Dungeons and Dragons for those who don't recognize the abbreviation.

Update

2008-04-22T21:18:00.000-07:00

Well at least the snow is gone, mostly. There is still some in the hollows of the hills, areas that don't get much of the available sunlight.
Spring has been acting more like a cranky toddler than a lion this year. Snow, then sun, then hail, then rain, and back to any of the previous. All within minutes.
Sorry I haven't had much to say recently, so here for your enjoyment is a update from me.

I started selling my plasma again. I had stopped over the winter because it was just to difficult to get in and still have an acceptable heart rate. Though I must say my heart rate has really been behaving the last few weeks.
We were looking at a house in Colfax. WA. But it went really quick. Probably because of the $39,900 price tag. Which is really, really low by most any body's measurement. Friends called us on Sunday to tell us about it. We checked the web site on Monday, it said Pending later in the day on Monday, and was off the site by late Monday night/ early Tuesday morning.
I found a new group of crafters, they are called The Woolgather's. They meet on Thursday nights (for now), and they invite anybody who does crafty stuff to come join them. Knit, crochet, spin, weave, or whatever. They are very nice. I am still going to Monday night Purple Paisley Quilters (PPQ), but I didn't go this Monday because I wasn't feeling well, and I had a Birthday party to go to. Which you would think that would be mutually exclusive, but I managed. I don't think I had an actual illness, just an upset stomach.
I have been back in contact with a woman who has previously made me feel like dirt, but I am being wary this time, and if she starts coping attitude with me or my husband we will remove ourselves from spending time with them, and they can just deal with it. This is pretty much a last chance offer to be friends. They blow it this time and I'm going to block their numbers, and cease ALL contact. So far they have been behaving. It was her husbands birthday party that I went to.
We recently purchased a laptop. DHL has tried to deliver it twice, but we can't hear people knocking when we are asleep in the bedroom. So we are sleeping on the futon tonight, so we will wake up when they knock on the door, at about 9 am . Fun part is it wasn't supposed to be done being built until the 25th, with an arrival date of Apr. 30th. Yet it tried to arrive on the 21st, isn't that cool?
We also went to Costco and did a MAJOR shopping trip. As in $500 major shopping trip. Holy wow! Both the laptop and the Costco trip came from our tax return money.
The snow in the yard may be gone, but the yard itself is major swampland. We probably won't have to water it until June.
We haven't had any yellowjackets show up in the bedroom/house recently, which has been really nice. Watch now that I have said that, one will show up tomorrow morning. Though I did have one inside the door hinge area when I opened up the drivers door of the truck. I am guessing it was a queen looking for a sheltered warm spot to start a new nest since it was very swollen looking. Unlike the ones we had been getting inside the house, which are skinny and lethargic. She was pretty lethargic also, and I was able to sweep her off with a napkin and onto the ground below the door.
I am really bad about doing things when scheduled to, but I will try and have something to say in a few days.

Playing Catch-up Friday Fill-Ins #66, 67 & 68

2008-04-11T19:50:00.000-07:00

Friday Fill-In #65
1. Some relationships are meant to last forever.
2. Yanni is the last concert I saw; it was wonderful, uplifting, and a great time.
3. Spring should be less like a cranky toddler throwing a tantrum.
4. Oh no! I forgot oh so many things!
5. I've recently started making crocheted carnations, they are beautiful.
6. Kittens never fails to make me smile.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to getting some laundry done , tomorrow my plans include used car shopping and Sunday, I want to sing in the choir again! (Unfortunately these will be the same since I have very little memory of the last weekends.)

Friday Fill-In #66
1. Tonight I saw dead bugs when I changed the bulb in a lamp.
2. Being hyper makes me wanna dance!
3. Splitting a few appetizers between friends is very fun.
4. Janice W. is someone I'd like to get to know better.
5. The smell of manure (for fertilizer) reminds me so much of springtime!
6. Love from my husband and that made it all better.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to getting some laundry done, tomorrow my plans include used car shopping and Sunday, I want to sing in the choir again!

Friday Fill-In #67
1. I love springtime in someplace other than here!
2. Cereals are foods I love to eat for breakfast.
3. It seems I'm always searching for energy.
4. Falling asleep next to the one you love is a great way to end the day.
5. I think I need to get to work on my sisters bday present!
6. Not my cooking is what I've been craving lately.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to getting some laundry done, tomorrow my plans include used car shopping and Sunday, I want to sing in the choir again!

Sorry for missing the last few weeks. I am just now getting caught up.

Friday Fill-in #64

2008-03-21T10:00:00.000-07:00

1. Spring is so exciting! And different every day (and every five minutes).
2. Strawberry fields sound yummy.
3. The above sounds like it would taste delicious!
4. Why does reading in the bathtub make me feel so good?!
5. The Grand Canyon is something I've always wanted to see.
6. It's sad when there are lots of things that are sad, but it is spring so I shall not focus on the sad.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to Women's Non-Spirituality Group, snacks and chatting, drinks, tomorrow my plans include blackjacking the seems in the roof and Sunday, I want to sleep in!

Wanna Play?

Friday Fill-Ins #62

2008-03-07T22:20:00.000-08:00

1. Ahhhh, it's so nice to relax together on the weekend.
2. One of my favorite things on my desk or bureau is my candle warmer.
3. Japanese Cherry Blossoms are very pretty.
4. The Futon and the bathtub are my favorite place to sit and read.
5. _____ and _____ is delicious!
6. I love to watch _____ in movies.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to watching TV with my sweety, tomorrow my plans include hanging out with some friends and Sunday, I want to(am going to) SING IN THE CHOIR!

UPDATE: I hadn't realized I missed number 5 and 6 until Janet commented.
So:
5. Cream cheese and Marshmallow Creme Puff is delicious! (Mixed together they are a great fruit dip.)
6. I love to watch Haley Joel Osment in movies. I loved him in Secondhand Lions.

Friday Fill-Ins #61

2008-03-02T03:24:00.000-08:00

1. I'm looking forward to my birthday next week.
2. I don't handle conflict very well.
3. Cool Ranch Doritoes is something I could eat every day.
4. Warmth and sunlight bring out the yellowjackets, sadly into my bedroom.
5. Birthday weekend here I come!
6. I admire tattoo(s). But I am scared to get one.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to my hubby coming home from work, tomorrow my plans include tearing apart the bedroom, to find out where the yellowjackets are getting in at, and Sunday, I want to attend my best friends very first sermon!

Wanna play?

Stung!

2008-02-28T23:05:00.000-08:00

So we knew last summer/fall that we had a yellowjacket/wasp nest under our trailer. We set out traps around the place they were exiting from, and caught a few hundred. Seems we had forgotten we had a problem. Well lately we have had a problem with yellowjackets showing up IN THE HOUSE. Specifically the bedroom, on husbands side of the bed. Usually one arrives, and within a couple of hours a second one will show up, making a beeline (hehehe) to the bathroom, crawling along the floor.
This morning was a little different.
I woke up about an hour early and went to the bathroom. This is pretty normal, I regularly have to get up about once a night. I came back and talked a little with hubby who was awake. I heard a 'buzz, buzz' from his side of the bed. I kind of sighed and said, so they are already up and about, hmm? Hubby agreed. I went and put my glasses on because I didn't feel like putting in my contacts yet. I came back and looked for the bugger. I couldn't find it. I put my contacts in and kept looking and hubby finally admitted that he had been stung at least twice and had swept the wasp to my sewing desk. I looked around my desk and still couldn't see it. I decided to go turn on the computer to find out what I could about wasp stings. This comp takes quite some time to boot, being an older computer. I headed back to the bedroom to talk with DH, and rub his feet a little. I headed back to the living room comp a few minutes later. I was standing outside the bathroom when I reached up my left hand to brush some hair off my forehead.
OUCH! Hey that hurt! Damn, I bet that was the wasp. It was. It was on my shirt in my armpit/boob area. I had been stung on my inner forearm. I violently shook my shirt, trying to get it off such a sensitive area in case it stung again. Spent a moment or two tweaking out, until I saw the bugger climbing the door frame of the back door. I managed to kill it and rinse it down the drain. I went back to the comp and looked it up, ice and cold water would help with the pain. Nothing to remove the toxin though.
Hubby got up and got in the shower since he couldn't sleep any longer.
Our day progressed normally after that.
So any suggesting on trying to remove the nest that is inside the skirting/under the trailer? And somehow finding their way into the bedroom?
Hubby says we need to pull everything from the bedroom, steam clean the floors, including the closet, and take out the built in drawers to find the entrance they are using. Man that sounds like a lot of work. I think I have mentioned that our bed is really high up? The mattress hits me mid chest. Thus we have a lot of stuff storage under the bed, with no place to put the stuff that is stored there.

Projects Pictures Post

2008-02-14T21:55:00.000-08:00

Everybody seemed to like the projects I have been working on, so I thought I would show some more.

Here is the sock I have started, this is the first sock I have ever knit, so far it is coming along ok. I am to the gusset, and I am kind of scared to move on from there. I plan to take it to my quilting meeting, where I can get help from an experienced sock knitter.

This is a washcloth I made recently, isn't the owl beautiful? He is going to be sent to my dad.

Two pics of another washcloth, this time in 'Praying Hands'.

Last two pics of washcloth 'Baby feet'.

Both the praying hands and baby feet washcloths will be up in my Etsy Store here soon,
For now, go get one of my afghans I have up for sale.

Humpty Dumpty Fell

2008-02-13T19:01:00.000-08:00

Remember how we kept getting snow, snow and more snow?

This one was from a while ago, say December.
This is more recent and is what our plowed pile pretty much looks like. Though this is in front of the neighbors.

This is in the neighbors yard. I know it is a crappy picture, but it is the best I could do at 3 am. That snow fort is awesome!
Here is another shot of it. Soooo fun.
These were taken about a week ago.
On to the story.
Well, throughout this entire winter, I have managed to not fall even once. That all changed last night. Over this last weekend the snow started to finally melt. I know many places it won't start to melt for some time, but this is about the time our precipitation turns into rain instead of snow. So, things warmed up this weekend and have been melting the last several days. We still have mounds from the plows, but I can see grass under my tree, where not as much snow accumulates.
Wednesday morning is our trash day. DH works swing shift, so he got home at about 12:30 am on Tuesday night/Wednesday morning. We usually stay up until 3-4 am, taking the trash out before we go to bed. Only we have forgotten to take the trash out the last two weeks, the trash can is full, and I have a large black forceflex bag full of trash. I also have a Netflix to send out. So when Humpty Dumpty(me) fell down and went boom I had the big trash bag in my right hand and the Netflix in my left. OUCH!! I had hit an area that had been draining the melted snow from our yard, right across the end of our steps, where it turns to concrete. With the recent temp drop it had frozen and I hadn't seen it. I landed on with my back and shoulder on the steps I had just come down. I lay there for a few minutes, long enough to get my pants wet, before I managed to get back up, and go down the last concrete step before our parking area, and out to the mailbox. WHAM!! I went down again. On that last concrete step. More frozen drainage from our yard. This time I yelled really loud. No response from inside. I yelled again, same thing. I gave it a minute for the pain to subside before I tried hollering for DH a few times, no response. I laid their longer than I had the previous step, soaking my pants further, until it was my freezing wet pants that got me up off the ground. I managed to hobble to the end of the parking space, deposit the trash bag and cross the street to the mail boxes. I hobbled back, and made it inside, sobbing all the way. Partly the pain, partly because DH hadn't come out to help me. He heard me come in, sobbing, and sprinted down the hallway to me. Don't know why I was still crying so much, but I managed to tell him I had fallen twice, and to please finish taking out the trash. He was getting ready for bed, so he got redressed, but didn't put his shoes or socks on. He told me later he has never had problems when in bare feet and walking on ice or snow or even mud. Slipping yes, but no falling.
He was taking the trash can out, I was hobbling around, taking off my soaked pants, and getting my shoes off when I heard him crash. I was hobbling to bad to go out and help him and I was indecent as well. I talked to him through the screen and he got up and said he was fine. I had warned him about both icy patches, but he hadn't seen the second one. Which was basically totally clear ice, on the roads they call it black ice because that is the color of the road.
I ended up a little bruised on my back and sore with a twisted right ankle. He had scraped his left bare foot on the concrete, and managed to make it bleed. I managed to bandaid him up, take some Calendula (anti-inflammatory that works wonders), some painkiller and wrap my ankle before we went to bed. I have been babying the ankle all day, and I'll probably have to wrap it again tonight.
Tomorrow, I plan to post pictures of what I have been working on lately. I've got socks, washcloths, and afghans to show you.
One more picture of snow, just for fun.
This is the friends car that is parked in out parking spot, it hasn't moved since it was parked, but it gets whatever sun is out so it melts more than other spots. This is a view at the drivers side window, all that snow is on the windshield. It is hard to find things to contrast the snow against to see how much we actually had, so this is a good view.

P.S. I now have two afghans for sale in my Etsy shop. Go check it out. I'll have washcloths up on it soon.

De-Lurk athon

2008-01-22T18:29:00.000-08:00

I am currently attempting to comment on all the blogs I read.
So welcome to the nuthouse.

Some of my favorite posts are here, here , here, and here.

Because I have been doing so much gift knitting my hands have been hurting in new and interesting ways, so I have switched to crochet for now.
This is what I have been doing lately.

They are flipped, the turquise on the top on the left, and the bottom on the right is where I am currently working,about to change to a dark purple, which if you you look closely at the pic on the right you can see the start of the purple. This is my random remnants afghan. I have been making myself use whatever yarn my had touches first when I reach for a new color. This is the Granny Chevron pattern from the Jan Eaton 200 ripple pattern book. It is a really easy and repetitious pattern. Since I have been knitting for so long I had basically forgotten how much faster crochet is. This is 8 days of inconsistent work. * days of knitting for the same time would be about 1/8th as big.

Lately we have had snow, snow and more snow. It is now below freezing, and has been for days. It is currently 11 degrees outside, the road out front is basically ice. With no snow tires of the truck I reluctant to go anywhere. I had to go shopping yesterday, and when I went to turn right, to go up the road to the store I kept going straight. I almost hit the lady who was waiting to turn left onto the road I had just come off of. I managed to stop, and then get turned so I could head up the road.
This was taken about 4 weeks ago.
We have had several snow falls and melts since then, but I forgot to take pictures today so this is what I have to show. There is a big plowed mount on the right side of our driveway that is about 3 feet deep. I know others have lots more snow, but we haven't had this much snow in years. In fact we have been in a drought for about 9 years. Hopefully all the snow we have been getting will help with that this year, at least somewhat.
I am nervous about going in for my appointment tomorrow to get an IUD, so I have been chewing on my cuticles. So far not my fingernails, just the cuticles. I would like to keep my fingernails nice if I can manage it.
I am also planning on making prime rib roast for a Feed of Dreams at my church tomorrow. I need to cal my dad and get a good recipe.

Mouse in the house.

2008-01-16T03:00:00.000-08:00

Lately we have had a mouse running around the house. I has been seen at random hours, running into and out of our small bedroom which is right next to our furnace. Mouse has been leaving signs and seen running around for about a month or more. Finally we went out and got traps on Sunday night. We got home and eventually got them set up and baited, then we went about our evening, pretty much forgetting that we had set out traps. My DH looks up from the book he was reading and goes, "Huh, I wonder..." Then he goes into the kitchen, comes out and starts getting dressed. He had been in his pj's so this was very unusual. I was confused and kept asking him where he was going, since it was fairly obvious he was getting dressed to go somewhere. He told me he was going tot he recycling center, which isn't far away, but still the recycling center? In the middle of the night? Then he said not to worry, he was going to the composting area of the recycling center and not all the way around to the front. He put on his coat and started looking for gloves. Once he had them on, he came out of the kitchen carrying one of the tripped traps. Ah, now that made more sense, he was taking the mouse to the compost recycling area. He explained when he got back that it seemed the best chance of survival for the mouse. The compost provides heat and food. Once he got back we again went about our evening, after we reset the trap int he same spot. He asked a little before we were going to go to bed it I heard that tapping sound. I said that I thought so. He went and checked.
Sure enough we had trapped another mouse.
This time we went to the recycling center together, to release the mouse. We got back home, rebaited the trap (we had neglected to rebait it after cleaning it out after the first one was caught) and reset it up where it was and went to bed. I checked on it when I got up to use the restroom, and sure enough we had trapped another one. DH took it to the recycling center after we got up for good and after his shower.
So far we haven't caught anymore, and I am hoping we have gotten rid of our infestation. I thought we only had the one mouse, so it was a bit of a surprise to catch three of them. No wonder they had been so bold, they were many.

Picture post

2007-12-28T16:53:00.000-08:00

Ok, so I may have over done my holiday knitting. See this picture? This is a picture of my now bent knitting needles.

I didn't think that was possible, ok perhaps possible, but very unlikely. Some examples of the knitting I have been up to is order I do believe.
Pretty washcloths, lots of pretty washcloths.FrogTulipCheck markCirclesBig 'O'
Bowl of Cherries (upsidedown)DiamondsTulips (upsidedown)Check marks

Ovals

Diamonds

4 "O's"

This is just a sampling of what I have done in the past month. I have made about 5 times as many as you see here. Aren't they pretty? I think I am going to start making more that I can sell at etsy.

In which I vent some.....

2007-12-10T21:10:00.000-08:00

I am so sick of our VOIP (phone service)! We have been going through Packet8 for over a year now, and in the last 6 months their service has become absolutely bottom rung. From the service just plain not working, to their cruddy, crappy customer service. Up until this we have had problems with noise on the line, but lately calls aren't getting through. Tonight I missed going to an event I go to every week because my ride calls me about 30 minutes before she picks me up, and the call didn't go through so I didn't wake up. (I know, I'm lame, I can take naps. But sometimes the body just overrides, and I'll conk out. Usually in the chair I surf from. Tonight I slept about 3 1/2 hours in the chair. I woke up, past the point when my ride would have picked me up. GRRrrrrrrr!!!! I suppose a bit more explanation about the ride might be helpful. She is an older lady, so when she gets here she honks the horn, so she doesn't have to get out of the car in the cold, and now the snow. We got about 3-4 inches of snow late last night after a couple of days of freezing weather, so when it snowed it stuck.

*********

It's been a while since I've posted so what else is going on?

I have sold 12 washcloths in the last couple of weeks. Yay me! We held what is called the PPQ Holiday Bazaar, they let me sell for my self, so I could keep the money I made. Most everything else that was sold there went into the PPQ fund. They have extended the sale another week, but I really don't know if I am going to sell at the sale again. I was going to use this week to knit for family Christmas presents. After Christmas, I am planning/hoping to make yet more washcloths and put them up on Etsy, and hopefully someone will want to buy them. At the moment I have plenty of yarn, we'll see if I have enough after all this knitting I have been doing, and planning to do.

Stress, stress and more stress. I need to find a job. I have no job. Money is really tight. My husbands co-workers are giving him a hard time. "Just make her get a job." "Cut her off, she'll find a job." "Install net-nanny." Blah, blah, blah. Actually this upset me more than a little. Enough it made me cry, and throw things, and oddly enough, do laundry. I clean when I get pissed off. Wow, I must be calm a lot of the time because my house is a disaster.

5 things meme

2007-12-05T21:10:00.000-08:00

5 things found in my room:

1)A Really tall bed with lots of storage underneath. I need a stool to get into the bed.

2) Yarn, in one big tote, and three big 'banker's box' drawers, all under #1

3) My sewing machine in a little built in nook. Also has all the sewing accessories.

4) One tall light blue laundry basket for colors, and one tall lidded garbage can for whites.

5) My cedar chest that I talked my dad out of one trip. This is also under #1

5 things I've always wanted to do:

1) Finish College.

2) Become an astronaut. I would love to be weightless.

3) Be more at ease around people.

4) Have a wonderful, clean, and beautiful home.

5) Scuba dive in the ocean.

5 things in my bag: (Well, I don't carry a purse per-se, so I guess I'll go with my knitting/crochet bag)

1) Stress 'ball' in the shape of a hard hat It was free at a local career fair. I take it with me when I go to sell my plasma.

2) Current project, of course.

3) One of the books I am currently reading, I say one of because I usually in the middle of 3-4.

4) Stitch markers, even if what I am working on doesn't require them, I will still have a bunch with me.

5) A small secondary project, usually in the opposite stitch of the current project. Say current is knit, I usually have something in crochet also. Never know when I'll get bored or my hands will start hurting.

5 things found in my wallet:

1) Insurance card.

2) Z-fun Event, Moscow Bio-Medics, Bring this card and receive an extra $10 after your first donation, with an employee signature.

3) My old University card, it lets me ride the between town bus for free.

4) Student Rec Center Single Use Visitor Punch card with 7 punches left.

5) Punch card for a local restaurant named Pita Pit, with 7 of 10 punched. We will see if they validate them when the store re-opens. They had a fire and ended up moving, and aren't open yet.

5 things I’m currently into:

1) Ravelry! I just got a new camera, so I will be uploading tons of projects and yarns.

2) Blogs, my Google Reader currently has 156 subscriptions, but since I spent most of the weekend hanging out with my husband I have 258 new things to read.

3) Free Rice! Go, play!

4) Lolcats, oh so funny.

5)Ummm....Sleep.

Now according to the rules, I'm supposed to tag five other people for this, but I'm going to break the rules and advise anyone reading this to give us a glimpse into their five things.

Ever have one of those days?

2007-11-09T16:08:00.000-08:00

I've had a surprising good/bad day.
Good: I managed to make it out of the house in time to make it to the food bank.
Bad: The food bank is closed because they are out of food and will have a shipment over the weekend.
Good: I managed to drop off a ton of grocery bags, we had saved up, at the food bank.
Bad: Traffic was really heavy on a street I needed to cross, it took me 10 minutes to get across, and I had to piggy back on a couple on bikes in order to do it. Then the bike riders decide to ride in the street right in front of me.
Good: TJ's Books and Treasures (my local used book store) is going to take most all of the books I brought in.
Also Good: I managed to sign into donating at 2:25 pm
Really Bad: Donating dicked around and around and around. Then they called me back to the physician office because they had put an ALERT in my file because my heart rate was to high the first time they called me back last time. WHAT THE HECK!!! It took you 35 minutes to figure this the HECK out!!! By now it is 3:03 pm. The sun goes down around 4:15 pm. I talk to the PA, she takes my pulse by hand and tells me I am in the high 90's. She tells me I can go sit and wait in the waiting area, she has to have Cody sign off on the file. I sit until 3:10 pm, I figure I have to be done with donating by 4:00 pm, at the rate things are going I am not going to make it. Rather than have to worry about it, I go up and tell Andrew that I am out of time, and have to leave.
Also Bad: I noticed that at some point today I lost my zipper pull and zipper stop off my favorite jacket. I stopped at what USED TO BE Threads and Things, where I got my wedding dress altered, like I said, USED TO BE. It is now a Falling Moon Tattoo and Piercing Studio. EEK!! I went in and asked about Threads and Things, and they said they think the guy is still doing alterations, he is just doing it out of his house now, and they think the number in the phone book is still the same. Happy Happy joy joy.
Good: I made it home intact, and before dark.
Also Good: I got rid of some books, and a whole lot of paper bags. And I apparently clamped the canopy onto the truck sufficiently well, because it never even moved the entire time I drove around.

Like I said, good and bad all day.

Why I Love Him Wednessday

2007-11-07T04:46:00.000-08:00

I found a post earlier about how she was going to start a new Wednesday thing. It sounded like something I would be interested in. It is a Wednesday post about why you love your significant other.
Why I love him...
Tonight when he got home he started picking stuff up and putting it out of the way. Eventually I understood what he was doing, prepping the floor to be vacuumed! Big deal many of you may say, but at this house it is a big deal. The floors get vacuumed only every few weeks, sometimes months. Ewwww! I hear collectively. Yeah, I know, but it happens. We just wear socks a lot. Figuring out what he was prepping to do, I helped clear the floor, and I even got the hallway cleared, so he could vacuum it as well. There is now the semi-leaning tower of stuff that is stacked on the loveseat, but I can wait to deal with that tomorrow.
He even ended the vacuuming with a laugh. I heard the vacuum suck up something that was not good for it, as quick as he could he had switched it off and says 'Okay, the vacuum is all yours now." Right. And what was it he had sucked up? It had started to eat a ball of yarn by wrapping it around the brush. Easily unraveled, but still funny (at least to us).
Also, at some point after the vacuuming, I was hanging up shirts in the closet. Things were getting a little tight in there, and I was running out of hangers, so I decided to 'cull the herd' so to speak. Pulling out several of his shirts I took them to the living room to ask if they could be given away or otherwise disposed of. I had picked shirts that were either to small or that he never wears anymore. Not all of them made it into the 'go away' pile. I can understand some of them have sentimental value, like hunting shirts. Thus why I brought them out to ask for approval. Why I love him? He only kept a few of the shirts. Keeping 3 out of the 12 I brought out is fine, throwing only 3 out of the 12 would have been harder. The hard part for me, was going back to the closet and doing the same for my side. Shirts I don't wear anymore and shirts that don't fit. Isn't that hard for most women? I always think, but if I lost enough weight this would fit again..... DH didn't seem to have have that internal debate.
I do love him so.

New project

2007-11-06T19:59:00.000-08:00

I am thinking I need to start working on knitting or possibly crocheting a sweater or cardigan. It is going to have to be something really simple. I need to look for patterns online and in whatever instructions I do have. I would like recommendations of fibers, basically what kind of yarns would make a good sweater/cardigan. Basically NOT wool, and not felt-able, and washable. I may have to go talk to the LYS that didn't hire me in order to find out what I need to know.
I'll post more as I go threw my decision process.

Living here.

2007-10-24T20:39:00.000-07:00

I love living in Idaho. The main reason I am saying this right now, is what I saw on a store's marquee:

BUY A NEW GUN TODAY!!

Hehehehe. Sometimes you just have to appreciate the area you live in.

???

2007-10-17T22:53:00.000-07:00

I saw something today that made me take a second look, and still made me scratch my head.
I was headed to the store, and I passed a maroon car that looked like the front end was pealing. Made me go 'Oh, that is to bad new looking car and the paint is pealing up.' Then I looked again, the paint wasn't pealing, they had white stars painted on the front of the hood and down the sides to the front wheel. (In my defense for not seeing them at first, it was raining and at dusk.) Little white multi sized stars spangled the front end of this car.
This just makes me go "Huh?"

P.S. Hehehe, I almost spelled maroon, moron! Glad I always re-read before I post.

TMI about my rotten day

2007-10-16T18:17:00.000-07:00

What a rotten, rotten day.
Warning TMI ahead.
I had to go in for my PAP smear today. BLECK!
I hate going in for that yearly appointment. Worse I tell them every time that they need to us the bigger speculum, do they believe me? Well, yes they did today. However, she took larger to mean wider, not longer. Sigh. So the Physicians Assistant had to go get the longer speculum, which of course was freezing. Sigh. So after the exam I needed to ride one bus in order to catch another bus in order to get back to my town. As I was leaving the building I found it was raining father nicely. Bah. So I waited for the first bus for 20 minutes in the rain. Then for another 25 minutes for the other bus, under a tree at least so I was out of the rain. I get back to my city and it is still raining. Bleck. I get to walk home in the pouring rain in just the soft jacket I figured would be fine. By the time I get home, I am just soaked from head to toe. It was pouring so hard rain was sheeting off my face. I'm glad my book had a plastic cover and didn't get damaged. I stopped at a bathroom on the way home and found I was spotting fairly heavily. Wow, for the first time I was spotting when they said I would spot! I actually needed the pad they sent me home with.
So, poked and prodded, then poked and prodded again, then rained on, rained on again, then bleeding, then getting completely soaked, then after I get home DH tries to call me while on his lunch break, and it took about 12 tries for the phone call to finally go through. At least that made me feel a little better to talk to my hunny.
I really hate going in for my yearly PAP Smear.
I am thinking of getting an IUD, So I wouldn't have to worry about going to Pullman every 3 months, or about the timing of the Ring.

I've been neglecting all kinds of things lately, my google reader is up to 207, I haven't posted here in weeks, my kitchen is a mess and so is my living room. I finally cleaned up my bathroom shelves, but I still need to vacuum in there, yes I said vacuum. I don't have tile or linoleum anywhere in my home. I have carpet, old worn and stained carpet everywhere, including my porch! At least on the porch it is Astroturf.
I'm off the start my pellet stove so I can warm back up.
Cheers.

Dyson Drawing

2007-09-21T21:38:00.000-07:00

5 minutes for Mom is giving away a pink Dyson! Head on over and sign up for the drawing!

Sorry I haven't posted lately, DH and I have been pretty sickly.
Hope to post more next week.
Tina

Update

2007-09-11T20:31:00.000-07:00

Update on what's been happening lately,
Labor day weekend DH and I got a lot done around the house. DH cleaned out the storage shed, he pulled EVERYTHING out of it, and then cleaned out the dirt, old bees nests and cobwebs. I then went through every box and tote in the shed, sorting out what to keep (and go in the house), what to put back in the shed, and what to give away/ebay/freecycle. We also got up on the roof and painted sealant on all the seams of the roof, this needs to be done about every 2 years, and it has been 2 years since we moved in, so it has been at least that long. While DH was cleaning out the shed I was on the porch scraping away at the old paint on the porch, and sanding the edges. I got some off but I need to work on it some more, I got a different style scraper, we'll see if paint comes off more effectively.
I had a job interview at Needle Nook, my Local Yarn Store (LYS), a few weeks ago. They called yesterday and said they had found someone to fill the position, someone not me. So disappointed.
This weekend I sold my plasma successfully, then I went to Costco in Lewiston with 'C'. I stayed in my budget, just barely but I did. I love shopping at Costco and getting things I know we will need and use in bulk at a lower price. Later we went to Macy's for their One Day Sale, I got some new pants, an embroidered peasant blouse, and an apple slicer/corer. Then on Sunday DH and I went on a bike ride, to Pullman and back. We haven't done this in a long time, a very long time. I hurt so bad Sunday night and all day Monday.
*********
We've been watching Medium lately, it's a pretty good show. We just finished watching Season 2 of How I Met Your Mother, very funny show.
I've been reading the Witch series by Kim Harrison, I'm currently on Every Which Way but Dead (book 3). To see some of the books in my collection go look at my Library Thing catalog.
That's about it for now.

9/11

2007-09-11T20:29:00.001-07:00

Thursday Thirteen #4

2007-08-30T18:02:00.000-07:00

Thirteen Chores I have been avoiding.

Folding Laundry, ugg I hate this chore.
Putting away laundry, same as above, and same with washing the stuff.
Cleaning out my fridge, "Are your sure there is a bad smell?"
Cleaning/straightening most of the area in the tip-out of my trailer. I'll just walk carefully.
Clearing the are in front of my bookcase, it seems to be a catchall for everything.
Sorting through the big tote that is full of books I got for free. My goodness where am I going to put them all the bookcase is already full!
Putting the china I got for my wedding in storage under my bed. No worries about crushing the china, my bed is about 5' off the ground.
Putting yarn I pulled out of my stash for a project, back in my stash boxes since I have now canceled the project.
Clearing out my incoming mail holder. Most of it is just junk mail anyways.
Putting the cooler, suitcases, and water jug from our vacation back in the shed. Everything is stacked so higgeldly-piggley in there that finding room is hard.
Cleaning off my kitchen table so it can actually be useful. Where is all going to go?
Posting things to Freecycle so they can go away. No excuse for that one.
Cleaning and organizing my kitchen. Oh boy, what a task.

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2007-08-30T17:15:00.000-07:00

Warning, minor rant.
//rant
Ok, so for the last 3 days I have tried to donate/sell my plasma. I have been doing this for a while now, and it should be no big deal by now right? Apparently it is still a big deal, to my body at least. It may be rebelling. My heart rate has been really high the last few days, and I mean REALLY high, like 116 high. At least today it went DOWN after they had me go sit for a while to try and bring it down under 101. Yesterday and the day before it was just about the same. Part of it could be that I am psyching myself out. Some time ago the sites where they insert the needle got really, really sensitive and it hurt quite a lot to have the needle inserted. Last time I donated I have to have a re-stick done because my right arm hurt so bad. A re-stick is where they stick a new needle in your other arm. So I think I am worried that the sites are going to become all sensitive again and one way to get out of it is to have a heart rate that is to high.
The other thing is apparently Corporate came through a few days ago a ripped on them pretty hard. One of the results of that is a new rule that you have to sign in as soon as you come in. Whereas before this I was coming in and sitting for an hour before I would sign in. So today, since signing in immediately for the last two day hasn't worked, I sat in what is called Friendship Square for an hour reading my book facing away from the donation center. Nice and sunny out, I'm sitting in the shade on a bench reading. You'd think that would help and be relaxing right? ::Sigh:: Apparently not. I go in, sign in, get the lovely finger stick, sit and wait until they call me to a booth, heart rate is 116. On the plus side my temp was down from yesterday, yesterday my temp was 99.5, today it was 98.6. Driving in a very hot truck without AC could have been to blame for yesterday, but who knows. Anyways, I talk her into letting me sit for 30 minutes instead of the usual 15. I sit and crochet and silently bemoan having to watch War of the Worlds AGAIN. She calls em back and...........111, and then 109. CRAP, Crappity, crap!!! So for the third day in a row I am deferred for the day. But hooray! I can come back and try again tomorrow! For the FOURTH day in a row. If I wasn't so very, very broke I wouldn't have even tried today. How broke? I have $1 until next Wednesday. I have $1 headed into a three day weekend! Basically I am very upset.........with myself.
ARRRGGGGGHHHHH!!!!!
//rant
********
In better news I had a job interview today for my LYS (Local Yarn Store). How very cool would that be? I think it went very well. I am happy with everything I said, and haven't had a random comment come back to haunt me. YET. At one of the other ladies suggestions I took in projects I have done, and ones I am in the middle off, and that seemed to really help.
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Yesterday I was just bawling because I found out Ubee didn't make it and passed to the Rainbow Bridge. Such a sweet, sweet kitten. So very sad.
*******
In other news, I am headed out to mow my much neglected and turning brown lawn.

Wordy Monday

2007-08-21T00:05:00.000-07:00

Funny the things that motivate us.
On Sunday afternoon we had a major power outage. It started at about 6 pm and lasted until after 8 pm. We took it as a hint that we should clean instead of lounging on our backsides like we usually do on the weekends. We opened up most of our curtains and blinds to let in as much light as possible, and we lit candles and our oil lamps for more light because it was very dark and rainy when the power went out. We went for a walk to drop off our utility payments, which are in front of our local grocery store Rosauers. So we stopped to get some groceries, remember the power is still out, they had emergency lighting and the cash registers running on a generator so we could still buy our groceries with cash or check. When we got back home we started seriously cleaning and my living room is much, much cleaner. There is suddenly an uncovered love seat, top of monitor, and coffee table. Not to mention floor, there is suddenly floor!
********
Saturday was fun, we went with friends from DH's work to Lake Coure'd'lane (sp bad i know). We drove up the windy highway instead of the main freeway. It was very pretty, very windy. We stopped at a few shops on the way, one in St. Maries and later in Coure'd'lane. Then we went and had dinner at the Coure'd'Lane Resort, expensive but very tasty, though the service from the waitress kinda sucked. We were at the very end of her route of tables and she didn't come by to help us or ask if we needed anything nearly as often as we saw her do for the table just next to us. Finally 'C' asked a different waitress to tell our waitress that we would like to see her. That FINALLY brought her to our table. 'C' and 'J' did tip her, but if we had been paying for it I am sure my DH would have only tipped her a fraction of what they did. Then we came home and they dropped us off at home. We unloaded our gear, and 'C' came in to see our place and more specifically to see the bed frame that DH built for our bed. Because of the frame he built our bed is very high off the ground, with lots of storage space under the bed. The top of the mattress hits me at my breast bone and I am 5'4", so it is very high up.
We head out to their van to say goodbye, and found out that their keys had been locked in the van, along with their two small dogs. She flipped out. Thinking her keys might still be at their house DH and her husband 'J' walked to their house to try and find them. He can't find them but he does bring back their other vehicle, using a spare key for that car. Of course the cell phone was locked in the van as well. So from the house 'J' calls their cop friend who is also their roommate, luckily he is able to come out with unlock tools and an instruction manual. Problem was he couldn't manage to get either door to unlock. So 'J' calls their insurance company for unlock service when it was clear their friend couldn't get the doors unlocked. A tow company that their insurance company called showed up and istead of using unlock tools, he went in through the door seal with rubber pads and then a bendy piece of insulated wire to either press the unlock button or open the door. By this point DH had pulled out our camp chairs and we were lounging on the lawn. He gets the door open and the alarm goes off. It is midnight by now, I am sure our neighbors just loved us. Sorry everybody. We walked the dogs, and loaded them back in and they went home. So it all turned out ok, but still.
********
In other news I applied for a job at my LYS!! That would be so cool. Yarn! Yarn! Yarn!
I am getting close to the point where I can't continue on one of my projects, or can't continue without buying some yarn online since I can't find it anywhere else. I need Simply Soft in Lt. Country Peach. I need at least a couple of skeins of it. I finally have paypal set up, so here soon I may be able to get them from the Caron site. When I can afford it that is. The pattern I am using is a knitted feather and fan pattern.

Oh my, a new post!

2007-08-09T19:02:00.000-07:00

I know, I know what is up with this only posing once a month?

Sorry.

I am lame, that is about the only excuse I have. Life didn't really get to crazy, other than from July 27th thru Aug 5th which I will try and explain about a little later.

I was very bad yesterday. I may have frightened a kid by yelling at him, but him and his friends deserved it.
Ok, so here is the story of yesterday. I haven't been able to donate/sell my plasma for the last few months because the retest that they do every 4 months came up with my proteins being 0.1 to high. Everything else was in the fine range, just that one thing was slightly to high. So I had to wait a couple weeks before I could come in and have a retest done on my sample. At the time I thought the PA (Physicians Assistant) told me it was going to cost me $5 to have it tested. Money got really really tight and I literally didn't have the $5 to spend to do it. Finally I had the $5 so I went it to have the sample drawn, turns out they paid me $5 not they other way around. Oh, well cool then. They said it was going to take about 7-10 days to get the results back, and when they came back they would call me to tell me I would come down to find out what they were but that they couldn't tell me good or bad over the phone.
Skip to about two and half weeks later, I call to find out if the results are back since I hadn't heard or gotten a message . The results were back, I was fine to come in tomorrow.
"Fine to come in and find out what the results were, or fine to come in an donate because things were fine with my test?" I asked them.
"Fine to come in and donate, the results were fine." they said.
"Tomorrow? Not today?" I ask.
"Nope not today." she says.
"Ok, how come tomorrow and not today? I'm just curious." I say.
"Um, let me ask." She comes back to the phone and says, "The results are in but they haven't been processed yet." she replies.
"Ah, ok. Thank you." I say and hang up.
So yesterday I am going to drive down to the plasma center, I pull out of my drive way, go down the road to where it "T's" with Almon St. and turn right. I go a little ways down the road and here comes a group of 3 boys on bicycles. They are directly in my lane, headed directly for my truck. I slow way down so they have time to move to the other lane(no traffic there), or otherwise move out of the way of my 3/4 ton pickup. They don't move. I eventually have to stop entirely and sit and wait for them. While I sit and wait for them in the middle of the road they leisurely ride towards me. Two go to the right of the truck and one goes to the left (drivers side). I think they were up to something, I didn't like to look in the eyes of the ring leader who was one of the ones that went right. Now the bad part. When the one that went to the drivers side got to my open window I yelled as loud as I possibly could, (um, I think I got my lungs and vocal power from my dad, this was not a weak voiced yell)
"HAVE A NICE DAY!!" and then I slammed the gas. I must have spoiled their fun somehow because as I looked in the rear view the ring leader was off his bike and making obscene gestures at me.
Anyone need to wonder why my blood pressure was a bit high at the plasma center?
********
5 Minutes for Mom is having a new contest in which they are giving away an Insignia® 37" Flat-Panel LCD HDTV. How cool is that? They are giving it away from Best Buy. If you want more information check out the link for 5 minutes for Mom, they have the details.
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I have been listening to audio books via podcasts lately and I just wanted to pimp Podiobooks.com I've been listening to Earthcore, if you get the chance check them out.

Have a great day and I'll talk about my trip later

Noisy

2007-07-06T20:20:00.000-07:00

Neighbors, neighbors, neighbors.
Yeah, so our Noisy neighbors are back. It was soooo peaceful and quiet while they were gone for the 4th. Now they are back, and they are 'unpacking' their car. Which as far as I can see and hear (OMG the hearing!) consists of the kids either swinging whatever is in their hands around and around or making roaring and squealing noises. AAAAGGGGG!!!! I am lamenting the loss of some quiet.
EEk! It has turned into a game! Adult roars and the kids squeal! My ears, my ears!
I know, I know, if it bothers me so much. Move.
Can't, not right now anyway, and the next move I make I want to be into the HOUSE we just bought. Right now we live in a mobile home, in a trailer court. The only good thing is that it is the nicest trailer court in town.
I know it isn't much to complain about. All the other neighbors are quiet, even the ones with kids and newborns and little chihuahuas are quiet. I think the thing that really got to me was when the oldest (about 11-12) brought home the GUITAR. At least it isn't a violin a friend told me, ok, I'll give them that, it is not a violin. But really bad, just learning, guitar music can be REALLY grating as well. It has taken about 3 months, and he is finally up to about 3 chords which he loves to play over and over again on their front porch.
I really don't know how much more of this I can take, before I blow up and storm out of the house (sans pants probably), and go across the street and start screaming at them to turn down the damn rock music while they are doing dishes with the windows and door open! Or to go over there screaming at them that the car alarm is not a toy! That one is my favorite. The wife sits in the car and continually beeps the car alarm until five minutes later her husband finally comes out with whatever it is she sent a child in to tell him to bring her. Or one of the kids gets a hold the remote and sets off the alarm every 3 minutes(I timed it for an hour one day).
Regular kids noises I could probably deal with (sans the roar and squeal that is STILL going on), but it is the guitar, and the car alarm as toy, and the deciding to play loud rock music at odd hours that are getting to me.
********
Not quite as hot here today, close though.
********
I didn't here from SEL today, so no idea if they want me yet. Sigh.
Update: They e-mailed me a rotten e-mail to tell me they were 'looking at other candidates'.
********
I need to get something to eat.
Tina

2007-07-05T16:20:00.000-07:00

So hot, it is 98* outside. It is about 80* in here, thanks to our swamp cooler. I am still feeling like I have been stuck in a roaster pan and put in the oven.
It is supposed to cool off towards the weekend, we shall see.

2007-07-03T23:27:00.000-07:00

MMMMMmmmm!!!!!
I love the smell of gunpowder.
I went to the grocery store tonight and I could smell it.
An employing getting carts wanted to know what the smell was. Um, hello it's almost the 4th, aren't you familiar with the smell of exploded fireworks?
I grew up with this smell, Dad liked to make things go 'boom', usually in the canal right next to his house.
Again. Mmmmmmmm Gunpowder. Exploded sulfery wonderful smell.
Tina

Nominating Yarn-A-Go-Go

2007-07-02T16:38:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite blogs called Yarn-A-Go-Go made a post that really touched my heart.
I nominated her for a perfect post award, and one of the requests was to make a post today about why I chose that particular post.
The post I chose was her post about The Church of Bob. This post really touched me and made tear up, and then made me laugh and smile and miss him to even though I don't even know him.
I loved this post, I love hearing about wonderful people who make a difference in peoples lives, it helps me believe that people aren't all bad, and that there is good in the world. I love her descriptions of Bob and how he helped her and was there for her.
Thank you Rachael for keeping my hope in humanity a float
This choice was really hard to make because she recently had something absolutely magical happen to her. Her cat Digit returned home after being lost for four months.
I am nominating her through the wonderful people over at Suburban Turmoil and Petroville.
Thanks again.
Tina

stress, stress, stress

2007-07-02T15:18:00.000-07:00

Just finished my phone interview.
Eep!
Last night I was so stressed out about this phone interview I was shaking, just a little, and my stomach was upset, and my DH kept asking if there was anyway he could help me.
********
Looks like we are headed into a heat wave, yeah I know most everybody is already there, still......looks like all this week the heat is going to climb and climb and hit way hot by the end of the week.
********
I ran into brother and sister-in-law and their son while I was grabbing lunch with my friend of forever. They just really don't 'get' that we don't have a vehicle that will reliably take us out of town. They asked "So, you guys didn't go see the fireworks?" I asked, "Fireworks? What fireworks?" and she says, "The ones out at Elk River." I say, "Ah, those, no. We don't have a vehicle that would make it there. DH doesn't trust the truck to take us to Pullman and back, much less to Elk River."
Elk River is an hour drive away on good highway.
Pullman is 8 miles away through road construction.
********
I managed to make it to church Sunday. Summer service is at 10 am. I didn't get to sleep until 6 am, woke up for one of the nightly/morningly constitutionals at 9:30 am, and thought, Hey I'm awake, I should get dressed and go to church. The amazing thing is I followed through with it and made it to church. Met a nice guy named Glen, I recommended the John Ringo books to him, mostly because I think everyone should read them and enjoy them as much as I did. They are soooooo good.
********
I hope, I hope, I hope, I hope I get this job, life would become easier.
********
I have PPQ tonight, looking forward to it. I love being around other crafty people. Mary Jo (shown knitting socks in the DVD The Zen of Socks) has been showing me how to knit socks. Can you believe it? Socks!! Me knitting something actually useful?! Other than a baby blanket or a wash cloth.
********
I talked with my BFF last night and got some sad news. It seems she may not be able to have children. Instead of dropping down her eggs form cysts in her ovaries. So sad, she is someone who has wanted kids for as long as I have known her. She just wants a whole passel of them, a whole house full. She got married in September and they have been trying since then, and now she finds this out. So sad. I am keeping her in my prayers, please do the same if anyone is actually reading this.
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I miss having Sarah P. as a friend.
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I wanna a kitty.
Tina

Wordy Thursday

2007-06-28T13:24:00.000-07:00

I know I haven't posted in a while. Sorry. Life as usual goes on.
I haven't been working for over a year. I don't like working for people that enjoy jerking me around and around. Hopefully what I did yesterday will help with both issues. I started the application process for a place called SEL. DH works there, and it would be so nice to be on the same schedule, and to double our income in one swoop. Perhaps then we could get a new to us vehicle, and do repairs around the house.
Anyways, yesterday.
I took the bus to Pullman to go to the SEL Open House, I figured while I was in Pullman I would pick up my birth control so I wouldn't have to worry about going next week to pick it up. Coasted down a really, really big hill. Pullman was built on 7 hills, to go practically anywhere you have to go up or down hills. Got my stuff, and headed across town for the Open House. I made it in time to see DH on his 4 pm break. The hill to get up to his building is a real killer. I managed to make it up the hill, and be waiting for DH (panting, sweating, and red face matching my red shirt) to come out of the locker room.
I went through the Open House, did the tour and the tester board that shows what it would be like to work on the drop line. After the tour I signed up for a telephone interview on Monday. I did the same thing at a previous open house, did the same thing and did the whole telephone interview, assembler testing, and main interview. They didn't want me then, hopefully they want me this time.
I forgot that the bus changes its schedule for the summer and that it doesn't have the later pick up that it did in the fall/spring schedule. Ahhh living in a college town and next to another college town. So I missed the bus and had to ride my bike all the way home. 12.5 miles. Again. Today I am a big OUCH.
My keyboard and mouse are currently freaking out, keep losing connection. I keep having to hit the connect key in order to keep typing. I think it is the piece that connects it wirelessly. This last paragraph of typing took 9 re-connects as an example.

******
I am hoping that DH gets home ok. His bike tire went flat on the ride to work today, multiple times. He has to ride home tonight, or walk his bike home which would take even longer. It is 12.5 miles from his work to home. He has walked it before, I just hope he gets a ride. He rides in about once a week. Otherwise he gets a ride in with a friend of his.

Thanks for reading my ramblings
Tina

Thursday Thirteen #3

2007-05-24T21:12:00.000-07:00

Thirteen Things about Me
There is the 7 random/habits about you meme going around, so I figured I would just make it a TT.

When I was growing up I had a really bad habit of pulling off my toenails. Including the roots. I think I was a little bit of an insomniac and so I would usually read until all hours of the am, when even that got repetitious I would pick at my toenails. The next biggest toe was my regular victim, though all but the big toe got pulled. This is still evident in my toes today, my next biggest toes' toenails grow in very thick, and instead of trimming the top edge I have to trim the whole thing down. Big toe wasn't immune to this treatment, but the nail is to large to have pulled out, so it got picked at and trimmed down to bare nail bed. And my parents wondered why I limped funny. I also chewed my nails all through high school. I finally quit chewing my nails about 2 years ago, I got it down to just chewing on my right pinky, and then I quit that one to for my wedding. The pulling and chewing was a way for me to deal with stress, and let me tell you stress was a big part of my life in high school.
My first job was working for my father at a place called Checks Plus Collections. I called angry people and told them they had to pay their returned checks plus our $20 fee per each bounced check. Try sounding mature and firm with very angry people when you are 16. The pay was ok, it wasn't fast food, I made night manager, and I had spending money. The worst was getting the people who were angry and cursing, cursing me and everything in between, and that I had to work Saturdays 8am-12pm.
I like to eat Lipton Chicken soup mix dry. That is to say I like to eat it without mixing it with water, or cooking it. Just the soup mix and the hard noodles. I like salt.
I really love having a swamp cooler.
I have at least six knitting or crochet projects currently in the works. A rainbow knit baby blanket; a front post double crochet; a crochet random ripple that changes colors every two rows; a crochet spiderman round ripple; a crochet round ripple baby blanket for a friend who is having a baby soon; a crochet hexagon patchwork blanket; and a knit ripple scarf.
I can not find a decent bra in my home town, I have to go to Spokane, and I have yet to find the shop open when I get there. So I stay home a lot, so I don't have to wear such an uncomfortable device. I believe I am up to a 48D, the biggest the stores here go up to is 44.
We like to hang out with our friend 'S' on the weekends. Where we watch movies and TV series, and I work on one of my many projects.
I like to play runescape.
I love to read, and I am enjoying sharing my favorites with my DH.
We have been fans of Firefly since we first saw the train episode (pilot?) on TV.
I try to donate/sell my plasma twice a week. They pay $30 per donation, which is why DH calls it selling it instead of donating it. My last donation took 37 minutes, which is rather fast for me, I usually take about 42 minutes.
I go through a lot of milk and pickles.
We like to go camping, but we don't currently have a vehicle that would get us there. DH gets a ride to work with a friend, since the truck wouldn't make it to his work and back.

Bonus: I get what I call 'cold aches' . Basically it feels like I have an ice pack where my leg bone should be, and it feels like it is radiating cold and it aches. Lately this has been starting in my left thigh bone and then (most of the time) it expands to include my hip joint. Then it will start in the other leg and expand to its hip joint as well. Weather doesn't seem to be a factor, as I get this no matter the season. Many times I have gotten this in 90+ degree weather, doesn't seem to cool me off any just hurts. I would get these as a kid too, my parents figured they were growing pains, gave me a Calcium pill and a hot pad. Oddly enough the Calcium still helps some, so in an effort to prevent 'cold aches' I take Calcium at night before bed. (It didn't work last night and my thigh bone is currently aching). The hot pad helps most of the time, but in hot weather is more of a pain.
Thanks for looking.
Tina

Links to other Thursday Thirteens!

Shooting in my town

2007-05-20T17:57:00.000-07:00

I know it has been awhile since I posted, not much has been going on, I go down to donate plasma, I go shopping, I eat things that are bad for me i.e. Doritos and ice cream, and I get phone calls from friends and family.
Like this afternoon, our friend Scott calls to see if we had heard about the shooting.
Me:The WHAT?!
Scott: The shooting, here in town.
Me: No, I hadn't heard anything about a shooting, where was this?
Scott: Up at the courthouse, and then the shooter holed up at the First Presbyterian Church, shooting off more rounds and killing a couple people inside.
Me: No I hadn't heard anything about it.
Scott: You should check CNN.com, they have an article up about it. My mom (who lives in Wisconsin) called me this morning to ask about it. That's how I heard about it.
Me: Wow, um ok, thanks.

So, wow. Our town had a shootout. We made the front page of CNN.com, so much for the peaceful tranquility that is our normal weekend. DH's mom lives about a block from where this happened and I wonder if she heard the shots. Also, apparently our town has 3 SWAT teams?? DH says every cop in town and every county officer belongs to one of the SWAT teams, it's more of a drinking buddies group. Though I do find it interesting that it took the SWAT teams 5 hours to storm the church after the last shot was heard at 1 am. I am also sad that "first Moscow police officer to be killed in the line of duty" happened this weekend.
We were awake until about 6:30 am and didn't hear anything.
I keep expecting phone calls from family to check on us, and find out what is going on.

In other news, I need to post to tell about our fabulous weekend 1st anniversary trip, do the 7 odd things/habits about me meme, which I may turn into a TT like others I have seen do.
That's it for the news here.
T

2007-04-25T18:38:00.000-07:00

Ok I know you have done it too, fess up. Gotten depressed and (physically) hurting, and gone and gotten a HUGE bowl of ice cream and eaten ALL of it. Digging through it for the little veins of caramel, using it to sooth your inner cranky child who just wants to go hit stuff, and then go scream and cry on the floor. It is so wonderful that ice cream now comes in these great little cardboard boxes, so much screaming in the world stopped before it even starts. I know most women use chocolate for this purpose, but I have found that chocolate is one of the few things that upsets my stomach pretty badly. Acid reflux combined with acid indigestion, not fun. I miss my Lindor chocolate, but I suppose I can do without it, since it means not as much acid burbling up my throat. So that means I had to replace the comfort food, that turns out to be ice cream.

I went to donate/sell some plasma yesterday, heart rate was to high. What makes your heart rate be so high? Is it a food? I don't drink caffeine a day before I go it, I am good about the salt before I go in. As more explanation, the pulse rate has to be 100 or lower, my pulse rate was 105, 107, 109. Then I get to go sit for 15 min. to try and bring it down, after the 15 min. it was 107. In the past the highest I hit was 123. I also sit in the lobby area crocheting for about an hour before I sign in. I figured it was so high because I was riding my bike in, and we know I have some issues with bike rides sometimes, so I have been driving the truck in. Apparently that hasn't helped all that much. I am starting to think it is just because of my weight. Always a joyful subject.

On to happier things. Our good friend Scott bought us the first season of Forever Knight, and we have been watching it when DH gets home at night. I have no idea if anyone else out there remembers the show, but it is a favorite of DH's and it isn't a bad show. Speaking of not bad, on Sunday night we went with Scott to see Enter the Haggis perform at a local bar. It was awesome, I really enjoyed the music. If you haven't heard of them, you should go listen to them online. If I have this right, they are a Celtic rock band from Canada. They have a very cool sound.
That's it for now, hopefully I'll have a Thursday Thirteen up tomorrow.
T

Friday update

2007-04-20T18:11:00.000-07:00

My goodness has it really been a week since I posted? Wow, must be. Guess that means it is update time.

So, I made it to Pullman and back with the stuff I needed to get, I even stopped off at my favorite used bookstore, Brused Books. I picked up a Tom Clancy book, Chicken Soup for the Soul audio book, and The Hero by John Ringo. So by the time I got home I had ridden 7 miles, yay me!
I am thinking about making candles today. My 4 wick candle just died, the wicks went out one by one and the wick started floating in the melted wax. Time to melt it down and pour it into the mold DH bought me. Only problem with that theory is that I can't find my candy thermometer so I would know what temp the wax is, and trust me it has to get to a certain temp before you pour it, or it turns out way funky. Maybe I'll head out to the store and get a new one.
The loss of Gizzy over at Darling Millie, and the news of the shootings over at Virginia Tech has made me very, very sad this week.
All this week my back has been hurting so bad I can hardly move, DH gave me a back rub last night and I feel 75% better :) Horray for Husbands/SO! I slept in today, it was so nice to sleep in the bed without extreme pain.
Even with my back hurting I got a lot done yesterday, dusted all the corners of the house, getting rid off the cobwebs that have accumulated. Emptied the dishwasher, and reloaded it and ran it. Made homemade chicken noodle soup from scratch. Ran loads of laundry, and put them away, that is usually the hard part, getting the laundry put away once it is done. Cleaned out the fridge a little bit. Cleaned up the stove and washed the drip pans, and the under burner area.
I have been working on one of my crochet projects, the ribby ripple, though I am going to run out of the light blue before I think I should, may have to pick up another skein of it.
I found a piece of technology that I have fallen in lust with, the Sony Reader, soooo cool!! I love to read, and this sounds so very awesome. To bad I don't have any hope of ever being able to afford it.
I have been thinking I need to start on the quilt I promised my friend Scott. He wants to take a jean quilt to his wife's parents in Taiwan. Luckily I have about a year to finish it. Going to take the material to PPQ on Monday (PPQ is Purple Paisley Quilters).
I have been listening to Outlander on CD. I have already read this, but it is nice listening to it with the appropriate accents.

So that is what has been going on with me this week.
Hope everyone has a good weekend.
T

Avoidance

2007-04-13T13:49:00.000-07:00

So I have been avoiding doing something all this week and all last week too. *Sigh* I have to go to Pullman (neighboring town, aprx. 8 miles away). I don't have a vehicle that will make the trip, so that means taking the bus. Now normally this is not problem, however the place I need to go is across town from where the bus does drop offs. Options after that point are the problem. I can either catch the bus and take it to Pullman, then wait for the Pullman bus to come by and take me across town (for a fee, our towns town bus is free), then I get the thing I need to get, catch the Pullman bus again, and then catch the between towns bus again and go home. The problem with this is that I am not sure which route bus I need to catch in Pullman, there are like 8 that stop where I would be picked up. So the other option is to load my bike onto the bike rack that most of the between town buses have, and when I get dropped off, ride across town, and then back across town to pick up the bus again and go back home. Sounds like the best option right? Well the only issue with that is that the bike racks are kinda tricky, and the driver always seems impatient that and I am just being lazy. And it is fairly cold out, and I just am being lazy and don't wanna go, I just want to ride in a nice warm vehicle, get the stuff, and go back home in a nice warm vehicle. *sigh* so much for that pipe dream.
Anyways, I am about to head out to catch the bus. Good luck to me.
T

Update

2007-04-11T21:30:00.000-07:00

So it has been a while since I posted anything, so here is an update.
On Saturday Darling Husband and I rode our bikes to Pullman, which is about 8 miles away. First we walked down to the bike shop to pick up our bikes after their tune up, then we took them both for a test drive. We added a bike rack to the back of my bike, my rear flashing light needed replaced and my headlight needed tightening up. His bike needed the chain tightened, and they tightened up his spokes. We headed straight out from the bike shop on our bike ride. We headed out on the bike trail that runs between our two towns. By the time we got halfway I was feeling pretty worn out, but I persevered and we hit the new overpass that had just been built. In fact the trail had been closed until the overpass was finished, though it wasn't paved under the overpass just graveled. After we went through to other side I was feeling better so we kept going, we finally hit Pullman. Once we hit town we found that they had extended the path across the road where it used to stop. We kept going, to find out where it went to. It kept going and going, it ended up going all the way across town. The really cool thing is that in a town known for its hills the path was flat for the entire length. We had dinner at a local place, and headed back home. We stopped and picked up some groceries on the way home and then rested for the rest of the night. All told we went 23.01 miles!! That is 7 miles more than we had planned. We were amazed that we were even capable of that.

I finally started reading Watch on the Rhine by John Ringo with DH. I also started Rachel's Holiday by Marian Keyes. Soon we will start Take A Thief by Mercedes Lackey. I/we are listening to the audio book Outlander by Diana Gabaldon. I read the book many years ago, but it is nice to listen to it read in the accents, since most of it takes place in Scotland and the main character is English. So it is fun to hear the orator say things in an English accent and switch to a Scottish accent for the most of the other people speaking.

I have been frogging this:

I am now down to the bright yellow all the way on the left. I had forgotten that I had combined same colors together, like the orange in the middle is two slightly different oranges, and the red (which you can't see in this pic, but is just after the multi colored red/orange) is two different weights of the same shade of red.

I got my permanent crown put in today, feels nice, though my tongue keeps investigating it because it tastes different and is smoother. It is nice to be able to chew on both sides again.

I miss my cool ranch Doritoes.

T

Belated TT #2

2007-04-05T23:39:00.000-07:00

So I called and talked to my family today (Friday). Everybody is fine, oh and younger brother (who is 16 going on 17 in Aug.) is going down to Ogden, UT tomorrow. TO BUY A CAR!!!!
A little back story...
We have a truck that is falling apart and is untrustworthy. In Nov. 06'we blew the engine on our 87' Toyota Tercel. End of Sept. we blew something through the engine on our 88' Nissan Sentra in the middle of the freeway06'. So we blew up two cars in two months. We bought the Tercel to replace the Sentra. Since then we haven't been able to afford to buy a new to us car. Yet my brother in HS can. I am soooo tired of being broke.
So....

Thirteen Things I don't like about being poor/broke

1. We can't get a new to us car, much less a New car, even less get the truck fixed.
2. I would like to join a Health Club so I can lose some necessary weight.
3. I want a house, I want an actual house of our own where we can afford for repairs.
4. I would love to be able to have a pet, or pets :)
5. I'd like to be able to visit our families more often, and without having to drive to do it.
6. I would like to be able to buy the things I see online, like tech and yarn.
7. Being able to up and leave and go some where on the weekend would be nice.
8. New wardrobes are becoming increasingly necessary.
9. Cable TV would be nice.
10. Vehicles and repairs, did I mention that already? :)
11. Being able to afford groceries, electricity, heating, and other necessities without overtime being required would be nice.
12. Being able to afford to go to the doctor when needed would be awesome.
13. New computers all around would be very helpful.

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So, I am feeling very poor today.
Me

Cranky

2007-04-04T21:37:00.002-07:00

Cranky today! Yelling children without a mute; heck loud children, adults, and college people without even a volume control have been driving me crazy all day. I have been looking into signing up for PayPal. Horror stories anyone? Happy with it?
Tiredly
Tina

Sort of an ode to my dad

2007-04-03T17:27:00.000-07:00

My father has this wonderful, beautiful plan.

In a couple years he plans to sell his house and move with his wife to a house boat in Hawaii.

To know why this is amazing and the last thing I would have expected to hear from my father I suppose you need to know a bit more about my father. My father was born into a hard working farming family in south-eastern Idaho. He grew up working the land, canning, butchering, and making due. When I was growing up we lived in a house my parents built right next to my grandparents house, we had fresh milk in glass gallon jars in the fridge that we had to wait for the cream to rise on, canned goods on the pantry shelves, and homemade salami and meats in the meat house. We moved from that house when I was 4, we moved about 30 minutes away, my dad opened up a butcher shop, and on weekend we all went back out to the about 1 acre of farm land and 6 rows of thorn-less raspberry bushes. We left early and came home when the sun was going down. I learned to catch grasshoppers, and that if you pulled their head off their guts came too. But you had to get the grasshoppers or they would eat up the garden and the raspberry bushes. Dad would go up and turn down the water into the irrigation ditch, and then come back and open up the holes that he plugged last time, letting the water down the rows of corn, potatoes, beans, carrots, peas, squash, cucumbers, zucchini and the raspberry bushes. After harvest we would can and can and can, it was about a month straight of canning items. We even made our own pickles. We still had fresh milk, we had friends in the ward who had a small dairy and we would buy our milk from them at at discount. It still came in gallon glass jars, but it didn't have the cream on top, which was so good on top of a bowl of fresh raspberries. We also had a garden at the house we were renting, the house sat on quite a large bit of land, had about a 1/4 mile driveway to get to the house, then looped back out to the street with a big barn. Which made catching the school bus in the winter rather interesting.

When I was 7 we moved to Tacoma, WA. Talk about culture shock! Even living in a major city my father had his garden. It was a greenhouse he built himself out of heavy plastic sheeting, pvc pipes, screws, and an old house door. Even in late fall when you went into the greenhouse the air was heavy with with wet air and warmth. We had rabbits too which were our semi-lawnmowers and a beautiful half wolf, half german shepard dog named Amber, she was beautiful and friendly and happy. About 3 years later we moved again, back down to southeastern Idaho. We rented for about 6 months before my parents bought a house across town. One of the first things dad did after we moved in was plan out where his garden was going to go. Before that even, I think he was planning it when we first went to look at the place. Since then dad has been in that same house, building and working on that garden spot. He now has chickens that run all over the yard, and a dog that is happy to leave them alone and chew on the scraps from my dad's butchering business.

Thus you see, my dad is addicted to the earth and what he can grow from it. I know he loves the ground, and the animals that roam it. He loves water too, as do I. Swimming is a favorite of us both. I am just expecting to hear that he also has floating barges, one with a chicken coup, and one with a garden or a greenhouse on it.
We have had our differences, but we are in such a better place now. I give some of the credit for that to his wife Kathy. She is a wonderful influence on him, and especially knows when to call him on his BS.
He has worked hard to earn my trust back. Thank you dad for making such an effort to get back into my life and my heart.
I Love You, Dad.

Me and my dad.

Darling Husband, Me and Dad

DH, Me, Dad and Kathy

P.S. I LOVE this dress

2007-03-30T18:58:00.001-07:00

Read my VisualDNA™ Get your own VisualDNA™

Contest

2007-03-30T16:51:00.000-07:00

They are running a contest over at 5 Minutes for mom for a new Dyson Slim. The names will be randomly drawn in a few days. If you want in on it just go to the 5 minutes for mom site and sign up! I don't know that I have a chance, not anymore than anyone else at least.
Short post today.
Tina

Thursday Thirteen #1

2007-03-29T21:55:00.000-07:00

Thirteen Things I like about My town

1…. Our Libraries :)
2. Our used book store Tj's books and Treasures
3. That most of the town is reachable by bicycle
4. Being so close to another college town, one that is about double the size of ours, so it has more to offer
5. Our local yarn store, Needle Nook. They are very helpful
6. That there are so many trees and so much greenery most everywhere
7. That the town was built on a series of mild to large hills, it's hard to see all the way down a street because the street goes up and down and curves this way and that
8. During the winter time the town actually does a good job plowing the roads and sanding them down so they aren't as slick, though when it snows it is still a good idea to avoid 6th St. hill.
9. Howard Hughes Video, they have the best selection of movies, especially stuff that is not all that mainstream, my favorite section is TV Shows. Plus Sun-Thur they have a deal of every $2.50 title is $.99
10. UUCP, Universalist Unitarian Church of the Palouse, subgroup PPQ Purple Paisley Quilters
11. Most of our grocery stores have an organics section, and our Co-op carries all kinds of interesting things along with primarily organic meats and produce.
12. That an hour away is our favorite camping spot with a town nearby for supplies
13. That even though we live in a trailer park, the trailers are not all jammed together, in fact there are hills with trees between each section of trailers.

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Thursday, bleh!

2007-03-29T19:11:00.000-07:00

I just came from reading Diva Kitty & the Fluffies, I loved her list of "Essential vocabulary additions for the workplace"! Hehehehehe, oh I needed that laugh today.
I think Darling Husband and I are coming down with something......again. *Sigh* it seems like we just got over these nasty nasty colds/flu. I think DH is coming down with the achy flu, he says everything aches and hurts. Back rubs, foot rubs, head rubs, and hand rubs seem to help him some. I know I am way to nice, but I like to rub him. I think I am starting to come down with it too because last night I had a headache despite the painkillers I am on from the root canal, a headache bad enough I was clenching my teeth, which OWW! root canal tooth didn't appreciate.
I rented Mutant X Season 3 for us to watch while I was going to be laying around not doing much, though I can see why it was canceled after this season, they lost two of the main actors/characters and things have been moving kind of slow. DH got kind of bored with it last night, enough that he told me he was considering going to get his book so he could read while he watched.

Speaking of books, we finished Brightly Burning by Mercedes Lackey earlier this week, though I can't seem to remember which night that was (silly drugs fogging my mind). Now that I think of it, it must have been Sunday night, because I handed DH Exile's Honor before we went out the door for my root canal appointment, for him to read while I was in the chair. Last night we finished up The Postman by David Brin. Tonight we move on to The Watch on the Rhine by John Ringo. Oh Yum! This is one book and book jacket I would like to keep nice. Any suggestions? Best I could think of was the protective cellophane type stuff the library uses on their hard cover books. I don't want to use like laminate stuff, which I do have, on it, though I will if I can't come up with something better. Main reason I don't want to use the laminate stuff is that it is so hard to work with. For now the jacket is just going to have to stay off the book while I read it aloud before bed.
I also went to the library yesterday, which was mmm lovely. I like our library, This may be a small town but we have two really nice libraries. We are a college town so our population doubles every fall. We have the huge University Library which even non-college people can use. We also have the local library, which is connected to like 60 other local libraries in the area, so if the local library doesn't have what you are looking for, chances are one of the other ones do and they will ship it for free to be picked up at whatever library you choose. I borrowed two movies, and three books. The books are: A Stitch in Time by Allison Bottke, which looked interesting on the shelf, and still seemed interesting after I read the back and the first couple pages; Rachel's Holiday by Marian Keyes, which I picked up because of a good review on this blog; and McSweeney's Mammoth Treasury of Thrilling Tales edited by Michael Chabon, which I picked up because it looked interesting when I was perusing the shelves. I am such a book addict, I have a whole stack of new books to read at home, and yet I go looking for more at the library, I'm also in the middle of reading several books, yet I go pick up more!
At least I had a legitimate reason to go to the library, I was hoping they had 200 Ripple Stitch Patterns, which everybody on The No-End-In-Sight Ripple-Along that I joined seems to swear by. Unfortunately they didn't have the book, and neither did the other libraries, but the librarian was really nice and suggested I make a request for the book, making no promises she said they may actually buy it.

I also did my first successful ebay sale. Meaning I sold the item a few days ago, got the check for it yesterday, and shipped it yesterday. Yay me! I am hoping to sell some of my crochet and knit work. Though from what I was looking at the other day, there may not be much of a market for hand knit washcloths, baby blankets and afghans. Maybe if I offered them here? Any interest whatsoever, please post in the comments or e-mail me.

Root Canal

2007-03-26T22:21:00.000-07:00

I believe I mentioned I was having to have a root canal on Monday.
Well I went in and had it done, fun times, I am still a little loopy. After the procedure, we went and picked up my prescription, they gave me percocet (sp?)! Still feeling floaty.
I was so nervous about getting this done, but it was fine. I love my dentists office, they are so considerate, they figure the less pain/bad experience you have the more likely you are to come back to and to tell your friends. I still hate going to the dentist, but at least I will go and not freak out.
We finished reading Brightly Burning last night, really good.
I LOVE my Darling Husband, when he found out that the Watch on the Rhine order had been cancel he reordered it. Along with a few other things! A NEW copy of Firefly, the movie Armageddon, and The Good, the Bad and the Undead by Kim Harrison. mmmmmm!!!!! Yummy!! I can hardly wait to tear into reading Watch on the Rhine with my DH. We went through the first few book in the series really quickly and they were soooo good. I keep saying these books are like candy for my brain.
I love reading books, getting new books, and hearing audio books. Mmmmmmm!!!! Books!!!!!! The Library is one of my favorite places to get new books to read. Which is good because my bookshelves are waaayyyy to full, along with the tote on the floor in front of the bookshelf. Which makes this site I found from The Dilbert Blog especially cool. The other cool site I found is book related, it is called podiobook. They are both really cool.
I have been working on my ribby ripple, and on my feather and fan rainbow ripple baby blanket. Which could be interesting if I am doped up for the next couple of days, but at least I will have the time to work on them, I hope. Especially the rainbow one, everyone seems to really like that one. Once I done with it I plan on trying to sell it on e-bay, unless I get a personal offer that I can't turn down.
Part of having teeth (seriously) worked on is ice cream! I just had a bowl of Butter Krunch ice cream. mmmmm! No nuts! So nice to find and ice cream that doesn't have nuts in it, most anything with a caramel or something like it have some form of nuts in it. Sorry, not a fan of nuts in general. When I was younger nuts and certain citrus would break my tongue out. Not bad, just hurt, and made my taste buds swell up. It looked worse after it stopped hurting. It is not as bad now, some will still do it, but nuts not as much. Now I just don't like the taste, texture or them getting stuck in my teeth. But try and find boxed popcorn or ice cream without nuts in them.
Randomness tonight, like most posts I suppose.

I HATE inconsiderate drivers!!!

2007-03-22T22:40:00.000-07:00

AAaaggggg!!!!
A few years ago I was hit by a car while I was riding my bike. No broken bone, no head injury, just some bruises a whacked out back, foot and a hurt shoulder. Oh yeah and it totalled my bike. So since then I have had some lovely panic and anxiety attacks when I ride close to large amounts of traffic, or cars get closer than I am comfortable with. Being without a vehicle however makes riding my bike to get around a necessity. Usually this isn't as much of a problem, I ride on the bike trails (not near traffic), and on sidewalks, and through parking lots. I have been slowly getting over the attacks, however Wednesday was the exception to the rule. Darling Husband and I were headed for our dental appointments when a car that was about to use their 'free right on red' almost didn't stop in time to keep from hitting me. Okay so it wasn't that close, but remember the anxiety thing. Then it was time to head up this lovely big hill. Halfway up it I was breathing hard enough I couldn't get any air. DH was very concerned and made me stop and walk up the rest of the hill. He was in for a tooth cleaning and I was there to confirm that I was going to have to have my broken tooth pulled. Turns out that the dentist thinks he can save it with a root canal and a crown. Expensive! But I think I would rather keep it. I have had to many pulled already. DH had to catch his ride to work at 1:50pm or 2:00pm if he was really pushing it. Well we got out of the dentist at 2:03pm and he had to ride mostly across town to his pick up, so I told him to leave me behind and book it in hopes he would catch his ride (which he just barely managed). I shouldn't have taken the route I did, I should have turned off at the trail instead of riding down one of our main streets.
As an aside the intersection I was headed for is one of our odder intersections. Not a huge amount of roads involved, just the two in and two out, and a name change for all streets. However, there is a one way(Jefferson has 3 lanes) that turns into a two way(Troy Hwy has two lanes) , and a two way(Main St. has 4 lanes) that turns into a one way(Washington has three lanes). Clear as mud? Wonderful!
I was headed down Main St. to this intersection, the light was green, and the walk sign was flashing, which means that the guys turning right onto Washington from Troy Hwy should have had a red arrow, and should have been actually watching for people and traffic. But no! This maroon car pulls up to the red right arrow, slows a little, looks down main for oncoming traffic, completely ignoring ME in the crosswalk. Though I figured since he looked in my direction, he had seen me so I kept going. Well apparently he hadn't seen me and almost pulled into me, would have if I hadn't slammed on my brakes. Freaked out I yelled "HELLO!!" Then he looks directly at me and kind of shrugs and pulls out onto Washington. THis was almost a direct repeat of my previous accident where a red car pulled out of a parking lot and into me on my bike as I was riding on the sidewalk.
I don't think people in vehicles realize what kind of mental and physical damage can be done by 'almost' hitting someone. I cried and sobbed all the way to our local supermarket, where DH had left his bike. At the bike rack I stood there and sobbed and cried and tried to breath for a good 15 minutes. Shaking my hand to try and shake out the fear and anxiety. Some nice lady came over because she saw me standing there in obvious distress. Through my tears I tried to explain that I had been hit by a car a few years ago and I had just almost been hit again. She thought I had pinched my hand because I was shaking it and crying. I managed to calm down, and walk our bikes home. So much for the rest of my plans for the day. I wasn't going out of the house, much less downtown again.
I had planned to walk our bikes down to the bike shop for tune ups, and donate/get paid for some plasma, and go to the library to borrow some movies to watch. After this however I went home, tried to calm down some more, took a much needed nap, watched movies already in my collection and put together my new steam cleaner. Yay for the new steam cleaner! Which arrived right before we left for the dentist.
In other news, I spent most of last night getting my kitchen floor ready to be vacuumed so I can steam clean it tomorrow. I am a terrible house keeper and I readily acknowledge this. Which is silly because I am the one that isn't working and is home all day. But DH doesn't do much housework either, so the house is in a perpetual state of disarray and disgustingness (ha! I can make up words too). I am hoping with a steam cleaner I will be motivated to actually clean.

Running late on Monday

2007-03-19T14:16:00.000-07:00

So this morning (ok it was afternoon, but hey that is when we get up so that is our morning) my DH's ride to work called at 12:50pm to say that he wouldn't be picking him up this morning. This causes a problem, if DH doesn't get a ride to work he has to catch the bus....at 1:30pm....the bus stop is not that close. If he has to catch the bus he usually leaves the house at about 1:00pm, which leaves him time to pace and cool down before the bus gets there to take him to the neighboring town. SHOOT!! That only leaves 10 minutes to shower, get ready and get out the door!. HA! Like that is likely! He managed to make it out the door by 1:15pm and he said he would be ok, just wouldn't have time to cool down before getting on the bus. Good heavens I hate rushing that fast in the mornings. Since he was running late and did not have time for breakfast I even managed to make a couple extra sandwiches so he does not starve before lunch at 6:30pm

In other news, it is Monday! Yay, Monday! The main reason I actually like Mondays is that my quilting group is held on Mondays. Our group is called PPQ (Purple Paisley Quilters), and they are great fun. All the people involved also seem to do other things to, so it is more of a crafters group; people knit, crochet, make catnip toys and other things. Most of the members are women but we do have a couple of men who quilt too which I thought was very cool. Growing up my family made about two quilts a year, everyone worked on them including my older brother and my father. For those that know what it means we made them at Conference time. I still have several of them, and love them all.

Okay, here we go...

2007-03-19T01:03:00.000-07:00

First post on my brand new blog.
This is a crochet Afghan I have been working on, it is made from leftover yarn or yarn I didn't have a project for. Colors go Gray, pink, white, multi blue/purple, purple, dark orange multi, light orange multi, white, light blue, dark blue, navy, light pink, dark pink, purple, multi purple, light blue, turquoise, pink, orange, yellow, green, turquoise, light blue, purple, multi blue/purple into turquoise. Soon to go to light green and then dark green.

In keeping with the title here are the books I am in the middle of...

Emerald Sea by John Ringo
Brightly Burning by Mercedes Lackey
Between, Georgia by Joshilyn Jackson
The Postman by David Brin; Total Recall by Sara Paretsky
Storm Testament IV by Lee Nelson
Bitten by Kelley Armstrong.

What I read depends on what I am in the mood for.