Imaginary Maggie Knits!

Better With Age

2009-01-28T07:20:00.001-08:00

I am 43 years old. I am a woman and proud to be 43 years old. Driving in my car this morning I realized that I am more beautiful today than I was when I was half this age. I am happier than I was when I was 21 or so. I am more confident, healthier, eat better, care about myself and my family and my friends much more; love more. I am certainly smarter.

I may wear reading glasses and I may have laugh lines, but I am close to the same size that I was when I was 21. I seem to have better control over my limbs. I took Tae Kwon Do in College and was in fabulous physical shape. It gave me a control over my body that I never had before. But now it seems that I know my limbs, my hands and feet, my digits, my backside, much better than I did back then. We are comfortable working together towards the same goals. Back then I had to convince my body parts to do things, even whip them into doing one more set of sit ups. Now I have a rapport with them and they tell me when they’ve done enough. I know when I just can’t go out tonight because my body just has to sit on the couch and rest. I know when I’ve rested too much and I have to burn off some nervous energy outside.

I did not know these things when I was younger.

At 43 I have a sense of humor. As a child I had a child’s sense of humor. You know; fart jokes. In my teens and twenties I couldn’t even tell a joke right. In my thirties I worked very hard memorizing long complicated jokes and loved telling them over and over again. Now in my 40’s I have a sense of humor. I see humor in everyday occurrences. I tell others self-deprecating stories that we all find hysterical. I point out funny little tidbits to others so that we can laugh at the sublime absurdity of politics or business or other drivers.

At 43 I am more beautiful. My skin may not be as tight, but my body is healthier, my mind is sharper, and my soul is happier. Thank God!

Seven years ago today

2008-09-11T08:29:00.000-07:00

I didn’t watch the news last night like I usually like to do while I’m making dinner. I have to admit that I got a new PSP game and played it until my thumbs were numb and my shoulders were sore. Then decided we were going out to dinner instead.

Sometimes ya just gotta take a night off.

Then this morning I didn’t watch the news like I usually like to do while putzing around the house and getting ready for work. I got up a little early today and did a yoga class that I recorded on that wonderful little TiVo box. Love me my TVR!

After yoga “class” I turned on the Today Show to get my Matt Lauer fix and was promptly reminded that today is September 11th.

I was mortified that it never crossed my mind all day yesterday or this morning that seven years ago today the world changed just a little bit. Then I was frustrated with the news agencies that didn’t remind me sooner. I wondered why and realized that it was probably because of the elections. Covering election dirty laundry and soap opera scandals is SO much more entertaining news than covering the 7th anniversary of 9/11.

Let me tell you a portion of the story of my experience of September 11, 2001. I bought a new car. Now, I know that may sound bad, but I had ordered it a couple of months earlier, and the dealership received it special-order from the factory a couple of days earlier and spent those couple of days cleaning it and pampering it and getting my plates and stuff. Around 2:00 that afternoon I got a call from the Chrysler salesman, Chad, whom I had known for years and had bought my previous car from. He said “Maggie, I just wanted you to know that I understand if you don’t want to buy this car today. There is a lot going on and I don’t want to you feel like you have to come in, or that there would be any hurt feelings”.

I thought about this for all of 1.62 seconds and replied “Chad, really. I am a white, college educated, self-supporting, full-time working wife, mother and grandmother, who is able to buy herself a brand new American made car. There is absolutely nothing that these orthodox Muslim zealots would hate more than for me to throw all of that up into their faces and buy myself this car today. Of all days, today is the perfect day to by myself this car.”

Chad whimpered in a small but happy voice “I love you Maggie!”

The Meandering Vacation: Chapter 11

2008-09-07T05:30:00.000-07:00

After waking up slowly on Sunday we packed up the convertible, said our goodbyes, and hit the road south. Neither the D.H. or I had ever been on the road known as "Alligator Alley" so we decided to take that route to my parents' winter home on Key Largo. I took this photo so you would know what Alligator Alley looks like. Well, it looks like this... for hours! Thick evergreen trees growing up to the shoulder of the road for a couple hundred miles. Really pretty for a half hour, but honestly kinda boring after that. And clausterphobic. There are almost no breaks in the trees until you get closer to Miami, and you can easily see why they film so many TV episodes and movies here.
It's creepy.
It's isolated.
It's long.
It's definitely worth the drive, and I loved it. But I'm not sure if I would want to drive my Harley down this road because if I broke down it could be a long walk to a gas station or at least quite a few minutes until a car came by. Oh yeah, not a lot of cell phone range here either.

I love anyplace where I can really unplug.

I'm back!

2008-07-19T04:52:00.001-07:00

I just wanted to let you know that I'm back! I finished my schooling for a doctoral level degree last winter, and that school immediately hired me to write a course book for them. No, you won't find my name on it, but it was quite the honor. It's so very nice to have time to write "for fun" again and get back to my blogging.

The Meandering Vacation: Chapter 10

2008-07-19T04:44:00.000-07:00

We planned on stying at Pete and Judy's house only two nights, but it was so comfotable we decided to stay a third night. But come Sunday morning we packed up the little convertable and headed down Alligator Alley towards Miami. Neither of us had taken that route before and we wondered what all of the fuss was about.

Well, it was beautiful, and desolate. Not the kind of desolate that you find in a desert, because this trip was nothing but hundreds of miles of green tree-lined highway. This was desolate in the way that there weren't many places to stop if you had a car problem or needed to use ther restroom. We certainly did go past a few Seminole reservations, and one very large casino that called my name, but thankfully Ron was driving at the time.

I think it was during this portion of the trip that I actually finished a sleeve of the sweater that I started in Kentucky. Knit two Purle two baby!

The Meandering Vacation: Chapter 9

2008-04-27T18:21:00.000-07:00

After spending a wonderful day at the mermaid farm we drove to our good friends' house on Pine Island, which is just "inside" of Sanabel Island and isn't nearly to crowded. We both love Pine Island and spending time with Pete and Judy.

Soon after we arrived Judy fed us a fresh dinner of crab cakes and fresh veggies. Yummie!

The next day was Friday and I actually put on a slacks suit and drove to Napels to visit a couple of business customers. Yeah, I worked a day during vacation, but I didn't have to consider that day a vacation day. I got home late in the afternoon, showered and changed into nice, cool shorts and tank top, twisted up my hair, put on some lipstick and we all went to Octoberfest.

Yup, a German, a Irishman, and a couple of dutch women at a local Octoberfest. A giant tent with Oompa bands, polka bands, and lots of men in green shorts. It was 90 degrees, which is WAY too hot for us northerners, with carnival rides, at least 5 kinds of sausages, kraut, potatoes, and lots and lots of good strong beer. Wonderfully cool beer.

Judy, Ron, and Pete in the heat.

Look at thoses rosy red cheeks, which had nothing to with the 90+ degree heat and massive quantities of beer.

These were tastey little bottles of fig flavored schnapps, which were served by scantily clad young girls on trays of ice to keep the liquor cold. Sooooooo nice.

This woman was from Germany and was visiting with her husband and two kids. We got along great.

The Meandering Vacation: Chapter 7.5

2007-11-25T09:00:00.000-08:00

I forgot! I forgot!

After leaving the nice little hotel in Inverness on our way to the incomparable Weeki Wachee Springs we did make one stop to refule... our stomachs.

We drove around and it didn't take Ron very long to sniff out this place:

Ron had bacon, hash browns, and eggs over medium. I had bacon, eggs, and (yummy!) grits. Real, honest, southern grits. And not the instant type. Not only were our stomachs refuled, but you could taste the love in the food and our spirits were refuled too.

The Meandering Vacation: Chapter 8

2007-11-18T15:03:00.000-08:00

I know, I know. It’s been a couple of weeks since my last chapter, but there’s no more waiting! Here are photos from the highlight of our trip: Weeki Wachee Springs!

They performed a very accurate version of Hans Christian Andersen’s “The Little Mermaid”. I told Ron that I wanted to retire down there and audition for the role of the wicked witch. I can cackle with the best of them.

The Meandering Vacation: Chapter 7

2007-11-04T11:05:00.000-08:00

After lunch and a few beverages we decided to drive a few hours and stayed just into Georgia. That night we got online and searched long and hard for touristy things to do in Georgia the next day. There was nothing. Well, there was plenty of things to do for kids, and for people who liked specific historical things like trains of the locomotive type as well as trains of the underground type, Ron voted against going to the relatively new Atlanta Aquarium. We did find an amusement park along the way but their rides were too small for Ron who is a roller coaster fiend and snob. So we kept driving.

We spent the night in the small town of Inverness, Florida. I was surprised at Inverness, which looked like a good sized town on the map, and when we got there we found lots of churches, restaurants, housing developments, bars, grocery stores, and plenty of things to do for those people who lived there. There were almost no hotels. Well, there were exactly 2 hotels. We couldn’t find one and we drove by the 2nd one which had an old MOTEL sign that made me have flashbacks of the Bates Family Motel. But the buildings (I think there were 4 total) were not as old as the sign, and were comfortable.

Ron had the presence of mind to fill the growler with beer at a brewery earlier that day and we sat outside our room with bare feet and enjoyed the warm damp night breeze. I was mesmerized by a sticky toed tree toad that clung to a post outside of our hotel door. Ahhhhhhh. Florida.

The Meandering Vacation: Chapter 6

2007-10-31T18:35:00.000-07:00

We spent the night in Bowling Green Kentucky, not far from the Corvette Museum and only about 90 minutes from our next scheduled stop: Nashville Baby! And we didn’t have to be there until noon, when we were scheduled to have lunch with our most infamous friends: Pete Huttlinger and his adorable wife Erin Morris.

Now Erin is the publicist for some pretty famous country music stars including Vince Gill, LeAnn Rimes, and John Michael Montgomery. And of course the uber talented Pete Huttlinger, who is arguable (I’ve argued about it) the most talented guitarist in North America.

So we’re sittin’ there eatin’ some great organic, fresh, and tasty Mexican with these guys and getting’ caught up. Did you know? Did you? Pete’s going to be on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno TOMORROW NIGHT! It’s too cool for words. We are just SO proud to know you Pete. So set your TiVo’s to record Jay Leno Thursday night, November 1st. Even better, he’s playing with LeAnn Rimes. Just the two of them making beautiful music together for us. All is right in the world.

Then set your TiVo’s for next week Tuesday (November 6th) and sit down to enjoy them again on the “Dancing with the Stars” show. Again: so proud to be able to tell all my friends that we “did lunch” with you. And you too Erin! Love you!

Since Pete and Erin had just returned home from a long 3-nights-sold-out-performances in Aspen weekend, where Pete reunited with the rest of John Denver’s old band for the 10th annual John Denver memorial concerts. Whew! Three nights in Aspen with three completely sold out shows. And Pete and the band keep saying they’ll never do it again because nobody would be interested… Right! We wanna go next year!

Click on this link for Pete’s website and click the “Schedule” button on the right to look up his upcoming events. http://www.petehuttlinger.com/schedule.cfm You can purchase his C.D.'s there too.

We said our goodbyes in the parking lot after they suggested we go just a block or two down the road to Blackstone Brewery so that we could sample some of the local micro brews. It was there that we realized that we completely forgot to take any photos of our lunch with Pete and Erin. Well, I do have photos that I took during a concert he performed near Ludington Michigan a year and a half ago. I’ll give you a couple of shots of that performance here:

Now if you want a real thrill go to You Tube and watch Pete’s performance of “Superstition”. It’s the bomb!

And here are some photos of Blackstone Brewery, which had excellent beer; well above the average micro brew. And we’re beer snobs! I’m just sayin’ is all.

This photo of the pick up truck with a trailer full of spent grains, or grains that were used to make the beer here, belongs to a farmer who is going to give the grains to his cows and/or pigs. I am just amazed how cool it is that not only are the grains used for making beer, but instead of throwing them out they GIVE them to animal farmers to feed their livestock. I’ll drink to that.

The Meandering Vacation: Chapter 5

2007-10-30T17:25:00.000-07:00

And where did we go right after Mammoth cave? We drove an entire 15 or so miles to the National Corvette Museum.

Here are loads of gratuitus photos. Enjoy!

The Meandering Vacation: Chapter 4

2007-10-28T05:25:00.000-07:00

Monday morning I awoke early, grabbed the laptop and headed to the free breakfast offered by the hotel. I checked my Emails and surfed the web for about an hour, sipping my tea, before checking out breakfast. It was the usual hotel breakfast, with tons of pastries, cereals, and breads, and little in the way of “real food”. I found that all of the free hotel breakfasts on our trip offered hard boiled eggs, which I usually ate.

Now I’m a little bit torn about checking my Emails while on vacation. On one side I just love modern technology, and it makes me able to go on vacation without worrying about problems at work. On the other hand I sure miss the days when going on vacation was forced relaxation, and you honestly didn’t even think about work for the entire time you were gone. I vividly remember the first time we went on vacation after Ron got his first cell phone. We left on vacation and one of his sub contractors called with a question. If we hadn’t had the cell phone nothing would have got done on that part of the job for the whole week we were gone. Ron was delighted, elated, and was able to relax the whole time we were gone just because people called him with questions that got answered, and he was making money while we vacationed.

Where were we? Oh yeah, Mammoth Cave. We left the hotel at the crack of 10:30 and got to Mammoth Cave about an hour later. When you get off the exit to Mammoth Cave they say to drive west for a few miles. Trust me, it’s more like 10 miles, and not all of the signs are clear telling you how to get there: it reminded me of a road rally. You might be tempted to stop at any one of the dozen or so trinket shops along the way, or Dinosaur World, or camp sites, etc.

Once we found the headquarters nestled on top of a densely wooded mountain, which was honestly a beautiful place, we parked and went inside. There were more than a half dozen different cave tours you could take and we decided on the “snowball tour” which started in about a half hour and included a box lunch inside the cave (for an extra $5). It was a 3 hour tour, and now you’ll have the theme to Gilligan’s Island in your head for the rest of the day. This particular cave wasn’t pretty like some you might think of, but it was large, which I loved because of my slight claustrophobia, and it had over 150 years of history. I’ll give you some pictures here of 100+ year old graffiti and of our lunch.

These are the "Snowballs" made of either lime or gypsum (I forget which).

Here is my Ronnie standing in the "lunch room" where we had turkey sandwiches, chips, and an apple. I actually drank coffee to get warm.
Hello! It's me!

This is he ladie's bathroom at the bottom of the cave. I honestly thought it was one of the coolest parts of the tour. How did they get plumbing down there, and can you imagine the lift pumps needed to get the "stuff" back up? Yikes!

This is some 100 year + grafitti. I reads "Cofland's Tonic" which I'm guessing was a few medicinal herbs soaked in cheap vodka. They wrote the grafitti using the soot from the flames of their candles.

We left the caves and headed just a few miles down the highway to the National Corvette Museum. Almost all of the cars there are on loan from private individuals, and other than that I think the photos will tell the rest of the story... tomorrow.

The Meandering Vacation: Chapter 3

2007-10-26T03:54:00.000-07:00

I am one of those people who fade every night around 10:00. I struggle each night to stay awake until the 11:00 news but I usually fall asleep on the couch in front of the TV long before then. I wake up around 6:30 – 7:00 weekday or weekend, and I think it’s strange that I struggle to get out of bed on weekdays, but I jump out of bed bright and early on Saturday and Sunday because I look forward to “lap time” with the cats and watching BBC America. I do my best writing in the morning, and if I read I retain the most at that time of day. Don’t worry, I’m not one of those chipper happy morning people. I just have my most clear minded moments at that time of day.

Not so much with Ron, who loves to stay up to watch Jay Leno and loves to sleep late on the weekend.

Sunday morning finally came and as usual I was up early, start watching “How clean is your house?” on BBC America, drinking citrus flavored green tea with a cat on my lap and a stack of knitting books and magazines on the floor beside me. I had decided to start my 2nd ever sweater and although I didn’t have a pattern I surely had a tone of mercerized cotton yarn that I bought with my friend Cheryl at a going-out-of-business sale for about $25. Woo Hoo! I love a bargain. I picked a pattern out of last springs’ Interweave Knit magazine, packed all the yarn and all my needles and my little help book into my bag and I was officially ready for a little “Vacay”.

Ron got up slowly, drank coffee, we showered (we like to shower together and we even have a 6 foot long shower with 3 (yes 3!) shower heads each with their own temperature control because we don’t all like the same temperature. Call me spoiled.) I cooked eggs and toast for breakfast, and we left the house at the crack of 11:00. Heh.

We went directly to Bill and Cheryl’s barn warming party, and their barn was really more like a 3 stall garage. There is a double garage door on one side for his and her vehicles and another single stall door on the other side for Bill’s fishing boat. There was plenty of room on the other side of the cars and the boat to store tools and other manly barn implements, and lots of electrical sockets to plug all the tools into. And the coffee maker, because Bill planned on spending many a morning out there totting around drinking coffee and listening to the radio. I was so impressed with it also because although their house isn’t new, the garage had matching siding, roof shingles, and trim. It matched their house so very nicely! Ron brought a growler of his most recent foray into beer making, which was a Stout I think, and everyone who had the kahuna’s to try it liked it. Bill even had seconds, which was good, because I didn’t really want Ron to drink a 3rd glass before driving to Kentucky.

We left the party at the crack of… 1:00? Oh boy. And drove a whole 18 miles before stopping at a gas station to pick up beef jerky and chips for the road. We could only laugh. We headed south about another hour before Ron spied a Harley Davidson dealership out in the middle of a cornfield in Indiana and just HAD to stop to buy a T-shirt. I’m kinda glad he did because I had to go to the bathroom already. Blame it on the beer. He bought his T-shirt and a H-D shirt and pants for our grandson Connor and off we went. Again.

We ate lunch at a Steak and Shake where, when I went to the bathroom (blame it on the iced tea) there were two waitresses who also were in there and neither of them washed their hands. They didn’t even pretend to; just preening themselves in the mirror on the way out the door. Icky!

Ron decided that he would drive as far as Elizabethtown, Kentucky that day, because you know we had just watched that movie with Orlando Bloom and all. I pulled out the laptop and tried out my new Sprint internet card which worked in the middle of nowhere Indiana! I was thrilled! And I was thrilled again when I found the Elizabethtown chamber of commerce website which should be a pattern used by all cities’ websites because it was so easy to use. It had links to dozens of hotels with their average rates listed on them, as well as links to all the restaurants, stores, historic sites and attractions.

Overall Elizabethtown was a very nice town, and our first day of vacation was just fine.

The Meandering Vacation: Chapter 2

2007-10-23T07:38:00.000-07:00

It’s Saturday and mom dropped off her 10 year old BMW convertible ready for the road and picked up my good old P.T. Cruiser that she drove while we were gone. Dad said that the car would be empty because they didn’t need anything else at their Florida house, but mom had other ideas. She asked me last Tuesday night how much luggage Ron and I would have because she wanted to send some boxes down in the car. Well, we would each have a duffle bag as well as my computer bag and my knitting bag (of course). These four things alone would pretty much fill the trunk of the BMW, which are not known for their large trunks to begin with, then add the convertible option and their trunks are about big enough for a set of golf clubs.

When we got the car there were two LARGE throw pillows in the back seat. Mom said that we could use them for seat cushions on the drive down, but if I put one behind my back my boobs would be pressed against the dashboard, and if I sat on one my head would make the rag top bulge up about 2 inches. I held my tongue when I opened the trunk, which was packed with 5 boxes and a bag, with one of the boxes marked on every side “Fragile!!!” There was enough room for my makeup bag. Maybe.

OK, I’m exaggerating a little, and we did get our medium size duffel bag and Ron’s Biker Boots in the trunk, but by the time we got all of the other bags (including a goodie bag of snacks and a small cooler of bottled water on ice that was really to put beer in to bring up to the hotel rooms) and Ron’s king-sized pillow in the back seat we were cracking jokes about the Clampett’s.

Well, it looked like we were all ready to leave on Sunday and the crack of dawn. We know we only had to drive about 6 or 7 hours to Mammoth Cave, which is just north of Bowling Green Kentucky, so we certainly didn’t have to leave too early. That would give us time to sleep in, and it would give me some extra quality “lap time” with the kitties.

Then Ron said something to the effect of “Oh, yeah! I forgot to tell you that Dennis has been planning a Barn Warming party all summer for Bill and Cheryl and it’s on Sunday. We can go at 10:00 and leave by noon. OK?”

Wait, you knew about this all summer and you’re just now bringing it up? But it sounded like fun and we weren’t in a hurry, and we ARE on VACATION after all. OK! Let’s go!

The Meandering Vacation: Chapter 1

2007-10-22T06:08:00.000-07:00

So the idea was that since all our lives we Michiganders (Our law makers say “Michiganians” but most of us prefer Michiganders, which by the way Spell-check also prefers!) drive to Florida in the winter and try to break land speed records on the way. Our men are often heard saying things like “Yeah, I made it to Orlando in 22 ½ hours” or “I made it to Key West in just over 25 hours” which we know is a lie. The problem is that not only does that make for a painful trip down for the rest of the family, as well as our bladders, but there are so many great tourist destinations on the way that are always missed.

The romantic version: My Dear Husband and I decided to drive slowly from Michigan to Florida and stop to smell the roses on the way. We would drive a whole 6-7 hours to Kentucky on the first day, wake up the next morning to take a tour through Mammoth Cave in the morning, stop at the National Corvette Museum and if we had time at the Corvette assembly plant down the street in the afternoon. I set up to meet friends for lunch in Nashville on Tuesday, which was a whole 1.5 hour drive from the Corvette museum. We downloaded and talked about many other touristy things to do in Tennessee and Georgia. We decided that the highlight of our journey would be seeing the mermaids at Weeki Wachee Springs on the Gulf coast of Florida, which Ron had seen as a child, and had taken his kids to see years ago, but I had never seen. We would then spend a couple of days with friends on Pine Island further down the coast, and end up in Key Largo. All of this would be done at the leisurely pace of 10 days. Ahhhh.

The not-so-romantic version: My parents asked us to drive their car to Florida for them so they could fly down.

With digital camera in hand we planned our vacation. Over the next few days you’ll find out how it went. Cross your fingers! And yes: I did bring my knitting with me.

Sucked in by Lion Brand

2007-10-13T06:36:00.000-07:00

So a couple of Fridays ago I got my weekly Lion Brand Yarn Email with an adorable free pattern for a crocheted candy corn Halloween bag. I simply HAD TO make two of them for my grand kids, and about an hour after receiving their Email I was streaking over to my LYS to purchase the four colors of yarn and a very large crochet hook, since I knew I didn't have one anywhere near that large.

Yes, I was sucked in by Lion Brand.

I'm not so proud of that. It's much more cool to say I was sucked in by Tilli Thomas or South West Trading. But no, it was you common run-of-the-mill, good old-fashioned Lion Brand Wool.

And three hours of quick work for each of them while watching TV I have two of the most adorable Halloween bags I've ever imagined. Love them!

Ain't no candy gettin' thru these holes!

Promises, promises!

2007-08-13T12:45:00.000-07:00

I am actually knitting a pair of socks. Come on people! It's August and the temps and the humidity levels are in the 90's!

OK, but they are cotton blend socks, fully washable, because I've shrunk way too many pairs of wool and cashmere socks that my neighbors and grandchildren now own.

I'll have photos for you soon, I promise!

Until then here is a gratuitous cat photo... This one of Pumpkin makes my heart melt.

Scattergories: More Meme

2007-07-23T06:06:00.000-07:00

EMAIL SCATTERGORIES...it's harder than it looks!
Use the 1st letter of your name to answer each of the following...They have to be real places, names, things...nothing made up! Try to use different answers if the person in front of you had the same 1st initial. You CAN'T use your name for the boy/girl name question Then send to 15 people plus the person who sent it to you.

Your Name: Maggie
Famous Artist/Band/Musician: Mike and the Mechanics
4 letter word: Mice
Vehicle: Mazda
TV SHOW: Mannix (That shows my age!)
City/town: Miami
Boy Name: Melvin
Girl Name: Matilda
Occupation: Mailman
Something you wear: Mules
Celebrity: Maggie Smith
Food: Malted Milk (That's a drink; does it count?)
Something found in a kitchen: Microwave
Reason for Being Late: Migraine
Cartoon Character: Mutt (& Jeff)
Something You Shout: More!!!!

Vacation ideas

2007-06-28T05:39:00.000-07:00

I just got an Email from a woman who I know through work. She lives and works in Hawaii, and her Email was letting me know that she was going to be gone on vacation for a month.

This brought to mind the question: where does someone who lives in Hawaii go on vacation?

No, really, where do you think they go? Please comment and give me your ideas.

Invitation to Alaska

2007-06-18T11:30:00.000-07:00

Dear, Sweet Purl.

As promised here are a few photos from my families cottage in Port Protection, Alaska.

Here is a shot of sunset from the deck. This is literally taken from our wood-burning hot tub. The best way to handle it is to get the fire started to heat the water in the hot tub, then go fishing (or whatever), then the water is about 104 degrees F by the time you get home.

This is a shot of our floating boat dock during a party. We only have two boats, so it's usually not that crowded. There is a government dock just past it that always has quite a few professional fishing boats on it. I think you once said you love looking at boats and the rugged men who work them. (?) You'll have your fill of them here, right from the privacy of your own deck.

And here is a typical pre-lunch activity: Pulling up dungeonous crab pots for lunch. What? Crab again? And they are so sweet you don't need butter or anything else to enhance the savory flavor.

My brush with fame

2007-06-11T08:37:00.000-07:00

Last weekend was the annual Waterfront Film Festival in Saugatuck, Michigan. I must admit that I’ve never gone to any of the indy films that they show, but my D.H., my friends and I all enjoy sitting on a deck or in a bar with lots of windows watching the pretty people walk by. We all hope to catch a glimpse of someone famous, and we don’t really expect to recognize them if we do.

Except Gretchen, who is especially talented in star spotting. “Oh, there’s so-and-so from that one soap opera, and there’s so-and-so who had that bit part in that horror movie last year.” She is annoyingly accurate that way.

Anywho, we didn’t really spot any stars, even though it was reported that William Baldwin was there, as well as that pouty computer-geek girl from “24”, who I love, but I can never remember her name. Sorry pouty girl! We love you and think you’re great!

As D.H. and I were driving out of town Saturday night on our way home, and we were stopped at an intersection, we were passed by a woman driving a new black Saab, and there was an older woman who definitely looked like the driver’s mother. I said to Ron “That looked like…” Ron said “Yeah, that one lady…” then I said “Sela Ward!” He said “That was her.” “With short hair”

Don't know Sela Ward? Click here for her bio.

Assuming it really was her I just have to say that she is just as pretty in person that she is all glammed up for the red carpet. I’m just sayin’ is all.

Maggie's Glam moment

2007-06-01T11:21:00.000-07:00

It’s Summer. That being said, I called up the woman who has been cutting and styling my hair since I was eight years old and announced “I need to be blond!” I think she had a little orgasm right there on the phone. She said “I’ll stay late tomorrow: be here at 2:00.”

We had SOOOO much fun. After I gave her enough money for a weekend in a five star spa I went home to put on my big glam makeup, a new white shirt that I normally would only wear on business trips, tight jeans, Dior sunglasses, bright red 3" heals, and my denim motorcycle jacket.

I then went downtown to meet my Dear Husband, who was belly up to a bar with a bunch of his cronies. I walked into the door of the bar and every. Single. Man. Along the bar whipped their heads around to the left to check out the chick with big hair and bigger attitude. Dear Husband nearly fell off his stool, his eyes popping out of his head and his mouth making an “oooo” shape. Do you know what I mean?

Anywho, I felt glam. For the first time in a LONG time. And it was good.

Here’s proof:

Seven Random Things hits Saugatuck

2007-05-25T09:32:00.000-07:00

I’ve only been tagged once before for a meme, but thanks to Drew I hereby present Seven Random Things!

The Rules: Each person tagged gives seven random facts about themselves. Those tagged need to write in their blogs seven facts, as well as the rules of the game. You need to tag seven others and list their names on your blog. You have to leave those you plan on tagging a note in their comments so they know that they have been tagged and need to read your blog.

Since I only know 3 people who have blogs I’m going to break the rules a lot and not tag anyone for the continuation of this torture. I don’t actually mind meme’s because I don’t post enough to my blog and I sure do need the push to get me to write. Here goes!:

1) I’ve been to Japan twice; once for two weeks between my junior and senior year of high school, and again two summers later for three months in Tokyo. The first trip was spent in Miyazaki, on the southern island of Kyushu, with my exchange student sister and her family. It was HOT and I was the only white girl in town, except for this older couple from Texas who were wearing matching pale blue polyester cowboy suits and talked way too loudly in a strong Texas accent. The three months in Tokyo was a blast, and although I was terribly homesick I loved every minute of it. I taught English for 3 meals a day and a room shared with a German girl and a Swedish girl.
2) While I was growing up my family lived in a house that was built in 1857. Yes, it was haunted, but my mom told me that it was red squirrels in the attic. I knew she was just trying to make me feel better.
3) My first car was a 1978 Jeep Renegade CJ5. We did amazing things with that vehicle, including two-tracking in the woods, getting stuck in the sand dunes on Lake Michigan, and we once put 22 high school kids in, on, and hanging on it and drove it around the block and took a photo of the whole mess. That photo ended up being the inside cover shot of our year book.
4) My second car is to this day my very favorite. It was a 1979 BMW 320i, and I got it in 1988 with over 125,000 miles on it. I gave it a “heart transplant” (a new engine) in 1992 (which cost about as much as a heart transplant) and I put it to it’s final resting spot in 1994. The engine was great, but every piece of rubber was rotting, including important things like gaskets and belts. I once drove it at 120 miles per hour for over a half hour down Highway 55 North when I was between two other cars that each had a radar detector. It never even got hot, and it only had 4 cylinders!
5) I made my husband buy a Harley in 1996, and now we own three of them between the two of us. I bought a 1998 Springer Softail with a limited edition two-tone paint job of Inferno Red and Patriot Grey. It has twisted spoke chrome wheels, and lots of chrome everywhere else. Love it!
6) I love to go to new places, and I love to go on vacation, but I hate to travel. I’m not afraid of cars, or driving, or meeting new people, or flying; I just hate to be in motion. It messes with my bowels and my monthly cycle every time I leave home for more than a weekend.
7) I’ve had my heart broken many times, and had two really bad boyfriends. You know, the kind you look back on and wonder “What was I thinking!?!?!” But I’m now married to Prince Charming, my Sole Mate, my B’shert, and I realize every day that I wouldn’t appreciate him nearly enough without the experience of having those rotten boyfriends first. I tell Ron every day that I appreciate him, and I realize that my life would be so very different without him.

Updates

2007-05-02T13:12:00.000-07:00

Update on “Boys will be boys” and Bowling:

My Dear Husband DID win the roll offs and he DID take the trophy and he DID rub it in for a few days. But then he let it go, and didn’t torture me nearly as long as he did last year.

After being so excited to buy that old plow truck last February the owner of the truck lost the keys. The D.H. finally got the keys yesterday (May 1st!) and is now, in the flowering spring weather, the proud owner of one old Ford plow truck. I hope it doesn’t take too much to get it going again next November.

And I do promise to post some photos of knitting... someday soon... I hope.

Sigh.

Bowling for furniture

2007-03-23T06:17:00.000-07:00

Last night was the last night of “regular” league bowling and my D.H. is in the roll-offs next week, and my team is tied for the 3rd quarter so I have to roll-off to see if I’m in the roll-offs against my D.H.

Confused yet? Then you’re not a mid-westerner.

He has a trophy on our mantle from last year, how cool would it be if I put a trophy up there this year? Actually it’s fairly likely that his team would win again, then I would have to listen to him crow about “I won the roll-offs!” for the next two weeks. Ugh!

By now I’m sure that you know I love to knit, and although I haven’t posted much here the past few months that doesn’t mean I haven’t been busy knitting. As soon as I find my patch cord to the digital camera I’ll be downloading some way cool shots of socks and my first sweater. I might have to break down and buy a new cord at Radio Shack or something though.

But I digress; although I love to knit, every time I go to Lady Linoleum’s website I have an overpowering urge to learn crochet. Because really, how cool would it be if I showed up at the bowling finals with this purse?

Even if I knew how to crochet I don’t think I could get this done in 5 days in time for the finals, but it would be fun trying!

Boys will be boys

2007-02-26T11:01:00.000-08:00

Cell phone conversation just now:

Me: Hello.
Ron: I ran out of things to do at work today so I bought a new truck.
Me: What?
Ron: It’s a Ford.
Me: What?
Ron: (you can hear him smile)
Me: A new Ford truck? (Me thinking we’ve already discussed that I get the next new car and this better have heated seats and be in my name. Oh, and it better be red, too).
Ron: Well, it’s an old snow plowing truck that Leapin’ Larry owns - He went out to Utah for a vacation and decided not to come back - so I called him and asked him if I could buy his old plow truck – and he wanted $1000 and I said OK where’s the key and I think it leaks a little oil but I looked at it and I think it’s just that the oil filter need to be tightened and maybe buy it a new battery and two new tires and I can get minimal insurance on it just enough so it’s street legal and if someone messes with me on the road I can just run into them.

Meet the Drama Queen

2007-01-19T07:52:00.000-08:00

Now that you've met the sweet and adorable Scootie (a couple of days ago: below) it is time for you to meet the Drama Queen: Pumpkin.

And if you thought Crazy Aunt Purl's Sobakawa is a fierce and evil tyrant, you've never spent time with PUMPKIN, THE QUEEN OF THE UNIVERSE.

"I will smite you with lazer beams that will come out of my shining eyeballs and fry your silly little brains if you dare to come near Drew's stash! These are priceless top secret designs that he had "my lap" (that would be Maggie) model for his new book. Get back, I say! Top Secret! You are dangerously close to being lazer beamed!"

"Unless you feed me, of course."

Who couldn't love this face?

2007-01-15T10:38:00.000-08:00

I'm just sayin' is all.

This is Scootie. She is 17 years old, deaf, going blind, probably diabetic, and SUCH a loving cat. Every morning I feed her special food with extra vitamins and supplements in it, and when she's done she meets me in the Kitchen where I sit on the floor and pet her until my tea is done. It's our few minutes a day lovin' time. She purrs.

She does not purr easily, or loudly, but for a few minutes every morning when her belly is full she gets one-on-one time with me and is blissfully happy.

The rest of the day is spent sleeping in a sun beam or in front of the wood burning stove. It's a hard life.

Saturday Sky

2006-12-04T11:28:00.000-08:00

I know I'm not an official member of "Saturday Sky", but I just HAD to post this photo, especially for my friends in "The South".

The real reason for the poor economy

2006-11-10T10:33:00.000-08:00

I got Ron one of those big back-pack leaf blowers for his birthday last spring, and I love it! I think he's used it twice, and I use it all the time. I cleaned out the gutters last Sunday, then I "raked" the leaves off the deck, patio (under the deck), and all around the house in about 3 hours. It used to take me 3 weekends! When I was done all I could think about is how we are loosing jobs NOT because of outsourcing, but because of gadgets like this leaf blower. I imagined that when I'm old I'll probably still be using it instead of hiring a couple of neighbor boys to rake for me. Then I thought about how that stinking leaf blower is also probably the cause of the obesity problems we Americans are having. Blame everything on the leaf blowers!

Don't get me started on the ozone layer!

I crack myself up.

C.A.P.

2006-11-09T13:22:00.000-08:00

Crazy Aunt Purl just plain cracks me up. I guess I'm not the only one who attracts "the crazies"!

Read about it here: http://www.crazyauntpurl.com/archives/2006/11/in_my_defense.php#comments

I am getting old

2006-10-31T10:21:00.000-08:00

It’s true.

Remember when we you young(er) and we loved the time change in the October because it meant that we could stay up an hour later and sleep in an hour more too? How good was that? Then we hated the “spring forward” because we couldn’t possibly get to sleep when we went to bed an hour earlier, and the stinking alarm clock would wake us at an ungodly hour. We were wrecked for a week. At least.

This is no longer the case now that we are mature adults. Last spring I had no problem going to bed early and no problem getting to sleep. This past Sunday morning I should have enjoyed sleeping in. Did I? Nope. I was up at 5:40 am, before even the cats could wake me up because they would simply perish if I didn’t feed them right now.

I like to go to sleep earlier than I used to, and I wake up sometimes more than an hour before the alarm goes off. I usually just get up and make a cup of tea.

O.M.G. ~ I’m turning into my father!

Beware of what you ask for...

2006-10-10T07:27:00.000-07:00

The Crochet Dude is sick and tired of his Houston weather. It sounds pretty close to perfect to me, with temps in the 80’s each afternoon and good-sleeping 60’s at night. This is what www.weather.com is saying about Houston weather while he is up here in Michigan:

Day High/Low temps Precipitatoin
Thursday 82/51 scattered showers
Friday 72/57 cloudy
Saturday 75/63 scattered showers
Sunday 81/71 scattered showers

Well, he sorely missed Michigan autumns, and wanted to smell the falling leaves and corn stalks and apples. He’s getting that in spades, as well as some REALLY cold weather, and SNOW.

Here is what www.weather.com is predicting to Michigan this weekend:

Day High/Low temp precipitation
Thursday 48/33 rain/snow showers and windy
Friday 46/34 rain/snow showers and windy
Saturday 53/46 partly cloudy
Sunday 53/43 rain showers

Did you notice that our highs are lower than their lows? My advice to you Drew: Bring lots of wool sweaters. All of the sweaters that you love to wear but just can't in Texas, and wear them all at once here in Michigan!

The Dude is traveling yet again

2006-09-26T12:40:00.000-07:00

Woo hoo hoo! It’s official! The Crochet dude (http://blog.thecrochetdude.com/) is coming to MY house to visit. I’m so geeked. He grew up here, and we went to High School together, and he’s kinda like been my best friend for like, well, OK, 24 years. At least.

He wants to go on a “color tour” at the height of the fall color change (I hope I can get Mother Nature to accommodate), but we are going to have SO much fun. I’d like to go to Fenn Valley Vineyards, and Crane’s Pie Pantry, and drive along the shoreline of Lake Michigan, and climb Mt. Baldy, and take photos, and hit lots of local yarn stores of course. And eat. And drink. And sit in front of the fireplace. And eat and drink some more.

I wonder what he would like to do.

The Original Spinning Classes

2006-09-21T10:01:00.000-07:00

I took this shot at the Michigan Fiber Arts Festival last month and forgot about it until today. There was a whole family sitting under a shade tree eating lunch and, you guessed it, knitting. It didn’t turn out very well, but you can see the legs of one woman using a spinning wheel. I was so mesmerized by the spinning wheels at this show. I instantly wanted one, and had lovely pictures of myself spinning happily all winter in front of the fireplace, with my kitties helping me out of course.

I have a dream

2006-08-31T05:54:00.000-07:00

I have a dream. No, seriously, I was day-dreaming this scenario in my car on my way home from the Cube Pharm last night: Myself, The Crochet Dude, Crazy Aunt Purl, and my Fun Girl Molly all went on a 2 week vacation together and stayed in a quaint little bungalow in the South of France. It was a very specific dream place, and if you are interested you are welcome to look at it here: http://www.untours.com/prop.asp?SID=3196&CID=303&RID=325&Date=all&Pax=2&Mini=

We would get up in the morning and go hunting for the freshest croissants and the richest coffee, then stroll around the village for a while purchasing cheeses and olive oils and greens for lunch. Go back to the cottage for lunch then have a nap. I might cook for us all some nights, then others we would have to go out. About every other day we would go to a vineyard, or an old church, or some historic site. And one day I would like to get up very early and drive to Nice for the day, and perhaps go to Monaco another day. We could get all dressed up for Monaco and learn how to play baccarat.

And of course we would knit and crochet until our hearts were content. And drink wine.

Ready?

Jumble*uck

2006-08-30T06:57:00.000-07:00

I finished my own socks! I love love love them! They are 50% silk and 50% cashmere. Well, actually, they are 49% silk, 49% cashmere, and 2% cat hair.

SO I jumped right into the next project, and decided to properly wind some of the new yarns I bought at the State Yarn Festival. I’ve only done this twice before, and then I was assisted by the very nice people in the yarn store. Moments after starting my D.H. decided to help, mostly because I was already in trouble.

And then the cats wanted to help.

And it took no time at all before I was hopelessly lost in yarn jumble*uck hell. D.H. and I just giggled through it all, taking lot's of time out to sip beer.

Some more beer and an hour later I finally had a nice ball of silk/linen yarn. *sigh*

I am not right in the head

2006-08-24T09:45:00.000-07:00

Last night I got a massage. Me, being massaged all over for a full hour by Millie, the wonderful massage therapist that I’ve been going to for many years. And then, when I least expect it, out of the blue this thought creeps into my head “I could me knitting right now.”

I know! I must be nuts! I would rather knit than get a massage? Why did I even expend the energy to think that? And then even more energy wondering why I did, and why can’t I just stop thinking about knitting for one single hour?

You should have seen Ron’s face when I told him. I thought his eyes were going to fall out of his head. Probably a lot like the face you made a few moments ago.

State Yarn Fair

2006-08-22T12:21:00.000-07:00

So a couple of weeks ago I’m having a beer with my DH at the golf course (don’t get any ideas, I don’t golf, I just like to eat and drink there) when I mention to an old friend that I’d like to go to this place in Allegan where the family raises their own sheep and spins the wool to sell to the public. Her reply was “Why go there when in a week and a half the Annual Michigan Fiber Arts Conference is being held at the Allegan Fiergrounds?” Now my friend has a degree in the fiber arts from Hope College so she knows about such things.

The next thing I know she is driving me to Allegan and we are walking through the barns, all filled with booth after booth of raw yarn, hand dyed yarn, bags of silk cocoons, spinning wheels, yarns sold by the ounce, angoras, alpaca, cottons, cashmeres, rugs, looms, tatting, paper making, hooks, needles, patterns, and plenty of paraphernalia.

There were three barns full, then more tents outside, and a 4th barn that Gail and I were simply too tired to go through.

I bought stash. Gail made me buy the gold and aqua yarn, which I wanted 5 skeins to make a proper afghan or shrug, but at $29 each I stopped at 2.

The red is such an unusual color, not brick or coral, but a color I don’t have a word for in my vocabulary. I would love to use it as trim in a cardigan or something, but it’s going to be difficult to find just the right color to pair it with.

I thought I bought 2 skeins of the natural silk/linen, but when I got home I only found one. Not to worry, I only paid for one. But I wanted to make a pair of socks for Ronnie, and now they may have to be quite short socks.

With all this yarn I simply had to buy the ball winder, or whatever they call that thing. Ron is really very patient and good for holding the yarn while I wind it. Doncha love a man who is comfortable in his masculinity? Or maybe it has something to do with growing up with two older sisters.

There was a family (I assume) sitting under a shade tree outside of the last barn. Some were knitting, some were chatting, some were eating, and then there was the lovely woman spinning wool on her spinning wheel. Loved it!

More Bobbi Bears

2006-08-10T10:38:00.000-07:00

I haven't finished the warm, soft, wonderful, silky, cashmerey (is too a word) socks for myself yet, but when I do I promise lots of photos. They got put on hold becuase my grandson's first birthday is next week and I simply HAD to knit him a Bobbi Bear. I'm knitting it with Lion Brand Lion Suede yarn in cream with brown nose and eyes.

Until then here is a photo of one of the baby jacket that Scootie the Cat modeled in an earlier post. If you look very closely you can see a flying red pencil that my DH threw at the cat to try to get her to stop cleaning herself:

Kitty Pie Update

2006-07-19T07:22:00.000-07:00

I told you about the Kitty Pie that I knitted, and I can finally show you pictures. Why so late? Well, it’s because although Pumpkin LOVED the K-Pie before I felted it, she didn’t spend a minute on it AFTER I felted it. Now, whether that was because she didn’t like it felted, or if it was too small, or if it smelled too clean, or if it was simply because summer had finally got here and it was just too warm… I don’t know. It may have been a combination of these things. But the bottom line was that although I had a “before felting” shot of her sleeping on the Kitty Pie I could not get a photo of her sleeping on the felted Kitty Pie.

Here is a “before” photo of Pumpkin sleeping happily on her Pie.

I do know that the summer heat must have had something to do with it (to my relief) because hours after I finally turned on the air conditioner last weekend (Hey, I’m Dutch you-all, and it’s gotta be dang hot for me to turn on the A.C.) there she was, sleeping almost happily on the K-Pie.

I have the Kitty Pie situated on a bench right inside my front door. She honestly sits there on weekday afternoons and waits for me to come home, staring longingly through the window at the squirrels, robins, and chipmunks. You know she’s not waiting for me as much as she is waiting for her supper.

You see here that she is half-in and half-out of the K-Pie. I think she would fit if she would try to, but it was still about 77 degree in my house. Once October comes around again I’ll bet some pie and coffee that she’ll curl up in a pretty bespotted ball and nap all day long!

Updates

2006-07-18T13:14:00.000-07:00

I’m working on a new pair of socks. Just for myself! It’s out of the same 50% cashmere/50% silk blend that I did the chartreuse green socks in, but I’m making these in a nice medium gray. I’m using a patter that looks like a cable, but much smaller, so the stitch used is actually called a “twist” since you are twisting only 2 stitches around each other. I can’t wait to show you shots of the finished socks! And with the 50% silk they should be cool enough to wear in summer… when it’s not 95 degrees at least.

And yes, I’m one of those knitters that knits both socks at the same time; a few pattern repeats on one sock, then catch-up on the next sock.

I’ve also ordered some Lion Brand Yarn on-line to make a “Fisherman’s shrug”. I got the pattern for free on the Lion Brand website, and I also got a promotional free shipping coupon from them, so I’m like “Sweet! Free Shipping!”. Then when I went to order it guess what? That yarn was 15% off. Soooo Coooool.

I’m not going to do the shrug in off white like they suggested. I’m just not a vanilla kinda girl. I chose their “Pewter” color. Yup, me, must be in a medium gray mood. Don’t worry, by the time fall comes around again I’ll be all about Reds, Browns, and Pomegranate colors.

Drew's in PA

2006-07-11T08:23:00.000-07:00

So where is The Crochet Dude and what is he doing in Pennsylvania? I wondered this myself and with a little help from Google… Ta da!

http://www.knitandcrochetshow.com/pdf/summershow.pdf

Oh! This Knit and Crochet Show sounds like fun. Scroll down to see the huge number of workshops and seminars of things us mere humans don’t even think about. Oh! How I wish I had the balls (which apparently Drew does have :p) to quit the Cube Pharm and make money doing what we LOVE to do! Knit and Crochet, of course. And also (for me at least) read and cook and give massages and help the occasional person solve their health and nutrition problems by picking out snippets of information from my library full of health and nutrition books.

OK, so you-all might not get into the health and nutrition thing like I do, but you-all probably have something similar that I wouldn’t have a clue about.

We can all still dream about being in PA this weekend!

Hippy Birfday to Drew!

2006-07-06T10:45:00.000-07:00

Today is The Crochet Dude’s birthday!

Woo-hoo Drew!
Who knew Drew
Would be so true?
To his “Anywho”
And stick like glue
To his blogging.

He’s kept us sane
In drought and rain
He’s no plain Jane
On Crochet Lane
(And not a bit vain)
While stash hogging.

Everything he makes
Like hamburger cakes
He shakes and bakes
His time he takes
He never fakes
Like he is dogging.

(OK, so I'm using a little artistic leniency on that last stanza.)

Noro Bobbi Bear wants to give Drew a big Birfday hug :p

Ernie the cat is half-blind

2006-06-26T10:57:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, Sunday, my parents called to invite Ron and I over for dinner. This is quite nice, and happens once in a while when my parents are in town. While on the phone my mother asks “How old is Ernie?” who is their cat. I didn’t know. “Well, was he alive when you two got married?” I still didn’t know, so I asked Ron, who did know, and he said yes, Ernie was at our wedding. Literally, we got married at my parents’ house, and Ernie was there.

My mom went on to say that Ernie was actually pretty old after all, and the question of his age was brought up because he had not been feeling well lately and wasn’t eating.

So we went over to eat dinner and the discussion went from world travel to US travel to family gossip to eventually to pets. Dad told me that he thought that Ernie was now completely blind, and was maybe loosing his sense of smell, since the cat couldn’t even find the nice pile of fresh salmon Dad put in front of him the day before. Poor cat: blind and smell-impaired.

At this time I’m thinking “how can a cat loose his sense of smell? This is not possible!” Since I was done eating I volunteered to find the good cat Ernie. I first looked in the basement, many corners of which had not been traveled in by my parents for some months, since I did the invisible-cobwebs-all-over-my-face-and-bare-arms dance on at least three occasions. And it’s not a big basement! Then I went upstairs and couldn’t find him in any of the bedrooms or closets. Then I walked around the outside of the house, with J.B. the dog, and had to wait around the corner before going into the back door because my Dad was relieving himself off the back steps. It’s OK, there’s a bunch of myrtle and bushes and trees, so the only people who would walk right were he was peeing would be robbers or peeping Toms or some other low-life.

We then all moved into the den to watch Cold Case on TV. I got up after about 5 minutes to retrieve my half drunk glass of Shiraz from the dinning table, and there sat Ernie, in the middle of the kitchen floor, holding his head away from me. I gave him a quick scratch on the head, moved my glass of wine from the table to the den, and went back to the kitchen to pick up the cat. Now you have to understand that this is an old Tom cat. He has had bad days, he is ornery, but as far as I know I am his favorite human, even though he only sees me about once a month.

I carried him to the corner of the “L” shaped couch in the den and laid him across my lap and chest. He is a large cat and just doesn’t fit in my lap. I began petting him and took a couple of little sticky-balls out of his fur, began scratching the top of his head, and finally brought his head around to inspect his eyes, since my folks were talking about his being blind.

Lord help me I almost puked up my pot roast! He had lost an eye, and it was partially sticking out of his head, and there was little half-tears/half-blood drainage down the side of his nose, and.. AND… THIS POOR CAT!

Why didn’t they take him to the vet yesterday? How could they not notice this? Did they decide to not call the vet because it could cost another $100 for a weekend emergency charge? They have more money than Bill Gates! (well, I may be exaggerating a little bit on the last one) But they have more money than they can spend before they die! Do they know the chances of infection at this point? What? You didn’t even think about infection? Ghaa! How did they manage to raise two human children at all? And Yes, it is good that he damaged the eye that was already blind, and he still has one good eye.

But I actually did a good job asking (most of) the above questions in a calm voice and not screaming at them, although I did give them just enough of a push to embarrass them a bit. I asked them to just take the cat to the vet’s office first thing in the morning, and they said they would call for an appointment. They did get one at 2:00 today.

Ron and I walked through the woods back home last night and ended up watching Crossing Jordan. It was an episode where a man with a glass eye is murdered, and then they lose the glass eye and people are walking around carrying it. I told Ron “I’m doomed to have nightmares about eyeballs tonight!”

I'll let you-all know how Ernie is tomorrow.

Post Script: I called my folks at around 1:00 to see what the vet said. Dad told me that they had a 2:00 appointment and they’d call me later that afternoon. Mom called me a little after 3:00 to tell me the doctor said the cat’s eye was completely blind (duh!) and he was “mostly blind” in the other eye. She called back at 3:30 to say they decided to put poor Ernie to sleep for “quality of life” reasons. She also said the cat scratched the hell out of the vet. I would have too if I thought my life were at stake! Good for him!

I have to say I wouldn’t have done it. I believe in euthanasia, on many levels, but I think he would have lived a few more years with a fine quality of life. I’m just sayin’.

Workin' for the weekend

2006-06-16T09:48:00.000-07:00

OMG! I’m turning into my friend Molly! I’m usually quite content at work, with occasional bouts of boredom and apathy, and a few times a year outright frustrated hate. But for the past couple of weeks I HATE MY JOB.

I have continuous daydreams of becoming a housewife, working out of my home, becoming a hermit, never having to deal with traffic, ordering everything off the internet (especially since our new UPS man Is. So. Cute.), dreading going to Holland for meat because the local grocery store’s meat is always rancid, running errands for my husband, babysitting my grandchildren, going to the movies, knitting everyday, reading everyday, having a lunch "out" seem like a special treat instead of just another day…

I even went to far as to ask my boss yesterday “Do you ever miss the good old days when there were only 3 or 4 of us in the office instead of 12+?” He laughed out loud, then he had to agree with me. Though he did say that we probably wouldn’t be in business yet if we were still small.

And I just have to sit myself down at these times and remind myself that it is just a job, and it allows me to live in the most beautiful house in America, drive a car that’s paid for, not worry about health insurance, gives me 4 weeks of paid vacation a year, gives me enough money to pay for vacations away from home during those 4 weeks, allows me to contribute money to worthy causes, and between my husband and me own 3 cars, one pick up truck and 4 motorcycles. The insurance alone is staggering! Having this job allows me to pursue and pay for a doctorates degree, the time to study, and money for books for the classes.

It is just a job, and at these times I have to realize all of the wonderful things it allows me to do. Like blogging.

Hailey's Socks

2006-06-07T07:28:00.000-07:00

Here are shots of the socks that I made for my granddaughter Hailey for her 8th birthday. Yeah, I’m pretty young to have an 8 year old granddaughter, but stranger things have happened!

Anywho, I’m posting both photos because neither of them show the color very accurately, but one shows the green of the sock body better while the other shows the bright colors in the fuzzy sock tops better. Hailey is one of those “girly-girls”, so I used the chartreuse 50% silk 50% alpaca for the body (I know it’s $10 a skein, but it’s SO YUMMY to work with) and the very nice lady at my LYS found the fuzzy stuff from Italy for the sock tops.

What ever will I do with the rest of the fuzzy stuff? I’m taking suggestions!

Kitty Pie

2006-06-06T06:03:00.000-07:00

OK, so I knitted a throw pillow cover in chocolate brown wool with chocolate brown fun fur that I was going to stitch into an envelope shape and felt. It took me quite a while to knit, and every time I would pick it up my cat Pumpkin would eagerly leap in my lap and curl up on the portion that was already knitted. She just loved it, and usually “made biscuits” with her paws on it. She loved it like a surrogate mother.

After I was done knitting it I set it aside. I kept thinking that there should be some way I can make this pillow cover into a “Kitty Pie” or bed for Pumpkin. Much thought and discussion was had, but the problem was that it was almost 3 times longer than it was wide, and you couldn’t just stitch up the 4 corners and have it look right.

I had an epiphany this morning. I decided to lace one long edge and pull it tight so that it’s gathered, and then stitch up the two ends together from that point. The gathered edge is now in the middle of the bottom of the pie (with a hole in the middle) and it has a rather large lip going up all around the edge to make a circle. While I was stitching it up this morning, drinking tea and appreciating the sunrise, Pumpkin made herself at home on my lap on the part of the pie that didn’t need stitching.

I think she approves.

I have time to felt it tonight. Hope to have photos for you soon.

Why Knit?

2006-05-23T14:16:00.000-07:00

Why knit? What is so fun about it? Well, for starters, you can dress up your pets, spouses, and grand children with your newest creations and then LAUGH AT THEM!

Bwaaa haaaa haaa haaa!

Introduction

2006-05-22T14:16:00.000-07:00

Coming soon by popular demand! Because I didn’t have time to post regularly to my nutrition blogs (see them by clicking on the buttons in the left side bar) I decided that I simply MUST begin another blog. More soon!