Thanksgiving Socks SO COMFY

I finished a pair of socks I started over Thanksgiving break. I was so excited to knit, because the day before Thanksgiving my doc said I could take the brace off. So it's been slow going, since it's still sore now and again, but they're done! SO COMFY and I wore them to work today.

Let It Snow...

So our company does this thing where the day before a holiday break the big boss says we can all go home early, but then says that he wants all the lab work done, so that pretty much means everyone except lab personnel can go home early.

Whatever.

Either way, Happy Holidays to all who celebrate and Happy Days Off to those who don't.

It Doesn't Have A Name Yet

So here are some pictures of the 'Stang:The Scott is working on the lights.

And here is the whole thing:It's a project car, for sure, but we're really excited. Scott took it in today to get it inspected. He's been working on it for weeks to get it all ready to pass safety and emissions. Apparently it runs too rich in idle, though, so we'll have to figure out how to fix that.

It needs a paint job, of course, and the entire interior is a mess but for the most part the engine is in good shape, so it's mostly cosmetic work it needs. Scott and I can't agree on colors for it, though. I guess that's a way in the future though, so we won't worry about it for now.

Old And Busted...New Hotness

So let's FINALLY blog about the new hotness. What am I talking about?

New instruments at work! 2 of them!

Remember this old thing? Old and busted:

It was a pile of junk. Maybe it used to work well, but over a couple years of sitting in a room with poor ventilation, it just started to corrode itself into crappiness. I often spent hours every day fiddling around with it, trying to get it to work. Plus, it was an obsolete technology, so outside labs didn't want to contract with us for heavy metals testing.

Enter the new hotness:
Agilent ICP-MS 7500cx.

Oh. My. This thing is a work of art. It doesn't need tweaking every day! It has a detection limit of 1 ppt (part per trillion) (that is amazing people)! That is over 100 times more sensitive than the old and busted! The best part? It can do MORE than just heavy metals. It can do almost ANY element, and isotope analysis for each! That means carbon dating HOLY CRAP I AM SO COOL NOW.

So now we can get outside labs to contract for us with all sorts of amazing things, including more heavy metals testing. But so far we have run several multimineral mixtures that used to take hours and hours overnight to run on the ICP-OES, but now with the new program I wrote into it, it takes about an hour at the most! Here's what it looks like to run this program:
Hard to see, but there are three sets of standards, 2 QCs, about 17 different elements being analyzed all at the same time.

So there is the first new instrument. BEAUTIFUL.

Remember this old and busted?
Oh how I loved running mercury on this baby. NOT. It was easy enough to run but it took 2 full days and 5 different chemical reagents to run a sample.

Here's the new hotness:
Milestone DMA-80

All this one does is mercury, but it does it so well. So very well. Its detection limit is 50 ng (that's nanograms, that's ridiculously small). I just load it up and walk away.

The best part? It takes NO prep AT ALL. I just load the sample itself into a little boat and away it goes!
When I need to rush a sample, I also have the capability to stop the instrument where it is, run a specific sample, then go back to what it was doing before. SO COOL.

So, there you go. Sorry for being nerdy (again).

Sad

I don't think I will ever be able to watch/read about Dumbledore dying without crying.

8 Cylinders of RAW POWER

I just haven't been in the mood to write anything lately. So here are a few things I will (probably) post about in the future:

We bought a car. 1968 Ford Mustang. Not even kidding.

I have two brand new instruments at work and I have been loving my job more and more every day.

I am knitting again. I have made one sock. Now I just need to start the next...

I have been craving tacos like you would not believe.

It's snowing today (finally).

I have had headaches for days that won't go away or respond to medication. I'm not sure how much Tylenol my liver can take, but I'm probably pushing the limit.

Allene and Chris moved out, so we have our house back to ourselves. And that stupid dog is gone, too.

I put up my Christmas tree today.

I need to reformat my laptop. Scott is going to show me how.

Mim and her boyfriend are coming over tomorrow to hang out, so I need to clean my house. I should probably do that now, actually...

The 'Stang is the coolest thing ever. We are officially cool now.

Very cool.

Kwiddens and The Family

From the left:

Me, Mim, Kwiddens, Em, Jorg

We're a pretty family, if you ask me.

Sorry for short/intermittent posts. Typing still hurts, although I was allowed to take my splint off today :)

Sad Buster

Poor Buster scraped his leg pretty badly. All the hair is gone and the skin is all red and raw on a big spot on his leg. I had to bind it up with gauze and Neosporin and wrap it in an ace bandage, and here is a picture of him glaring at me. Ignore the bottom of my closet, I have way too many shoes!

Hand Pictures

Since my hand hurts pretty badly lately I am limiting my blog posting. So, since a picture is worth a thousand words (I never really liked that cliche), here is a visual chronicling of my hand's progress. If you don't like wounds, don't scroll down.

Here's how it started November 3:
That cast was annoying. Especially because I couldn't get it wet and Kwiddens or Scott had to help me wrap it up in plastic and shower.

Here it is, straight out of the cast:
Six stitches!

After stitch removal (I almost fainted, I feel like such a pansy...):
Then they put glue all over my palm and added these surgical tape strips:
They are supposed to just slowly peel off on their own, and I can get them wet and everything. When the nurse put the glue for the strips on, she didn't clean off the excess glue OR wait for it to dry before throwing me into this new splint:
Fun, huh? So when she put it on, the palm of my hand stuck terribly to the inside of the splint and HOOBOY did it hurt when I had to take the splint off later. I don't know if you can tell from the pictures, but the palm of my hand is one giant bruise and this didn't make it any more comfortable.

This new splint is even more restrictive than the cast was. I can move my fingers a bit more easily, but I can't rotate my wrist at all. So I usually have my wrist held a certain way when I type and write and open doorknobs and crochet and basically EVERYTHING and it makes doing everything really difficult so I am in pain and grumpy.

But I finished my sweater. I took pictures, but Scott has the camera in Hong Kong (he comes home on Thursday! I've missed him SO BAD). So the pictures I took with the camera on my phone kinda suck anyway, so when he gets home I can get him to take a picture of me in it!

Bored

So I got my stitches out, went back to work stoned on Lorotab, spent almost the whole weekend being bored and doing nothing with my hand before I decided that seaming up my sweater would probably be ok with my hand.

So, I spent a few hours seaming and weaving in ends and the sweater is done.

I have pictures of the taking-out-the-stitches and of the finished sweater, but this new splint is even more restrictive than the old one so it's harder to type so this is all for now.

Nice Timing

Dear Swine Flu,

If it's you that forced me to leave work early today even though I am SO in the hole for my PTO I am going to be seriously mad. Seriously. I don't enjoy being on Sudafed, Nyquil, and Benadryl all at the same time but this seems to be the only thing that can help me sleep.

Hate,

Anna

To Blog Or Not To Blog

So when I started this blog I wasn't sure what my intent was. I thought maybe I would write about my feelings. Maybe I would write prose. Maybe I would rant. Maybe this, maybe that.

So far it has been things that happen, general complaints, funny stories, interesting things I found on the internet...well, you've read it.

But there are some things that I would like to talk about, but am afraid to because I might offend someone, or because I'm afraid someone might judge me and stop talking to me because I'm such a heathen (it's happened before, you know).

Here are some examples:

My in-laws

...what if they stumbled across this blog and got all offended and hated me forever and the world ended? My mother-in-law is particularly emotional and I would actually feel bad if I made her cry.

How I'm crazy and such

...people view mental illness differently. Some people understand that it's a disease, caused by a chemical imbalance, just like cancer or diabetes, but some other people think...well, they think you're just crazy. Which is true. But it's because of the chemicals, and they don't understand that. It's hard to explain. It's hard to talk about openly.

Why I'm not Mormon anymore

...when Scott decided to leave the church some of his friends completely alienated him and he's sometimes lonely because of it. I would like to think my Mormon friends aren't like this, but you really never know.

Why I decided to not have children

...there are very valid reasons. Including not wanting to die. And DUDE, children are sticky. And LOUD.

There are many others, I'm sure, but these are just a few I've been mulling over lately.

Gettin' Hitched

So Kwiddens got some exciting (and weird and scary) news: she's having a baby.

I hope it's a girl. I want to knit little pink baby clothes SO BAD.

Ahem.

So she's getting married soon (November 7) and for a wedding present I decided to buy her a ring set since she's totally skint right now and she deserves to have a sparkly of her very own (and anyone who can tell me what movie that's from gets 10 bonus points. Redeemable for...um...mittens).

I tried to take a picture of the rings but I suck at photography, so they just kept coming out blurry...sad. There's a princess cut stone in the center and then two channel-set stones on each side, and then the wedding band has 5 channel-set stones so it lines up with the ones on the other ring. Very pretty. Very sparkly.

Anyway, I'm really excited for them. Isaac seems like a really good guy and they seem very happy together so I hope their relationship continues to bloom and grow.

Also, I will get my baby fix every now and again without actually having to touch a diaper. SCORE!

The only thing is, I will be totally stoned on pain meds that day.

Fun times.

Wow, This Is Fun!

So I had my surgery yesterday. It wasn't so bad, really, I was asleep the whole time and everything was numb when I woke up. But let me tell you, it sure hurts today!

Here's my hand:

I really wanted to get a picture of the stitches but I suppose that will have to wait until next Friday when they take this cast off.

My company was super sweet and had flowers delivered to my house:

Also, some women in my neighborhood have brought some meals by for me and Scott, which is just amazing and super sweet of them and helped a ton.

Now I hadn't thoroughly considered how much help I would need. I keep trying to do things only to get frustrated and have to ask for help. Scott has had to brush my hair, help me put clothes on, get me food, help me eat the food, get me drinks, open my bottles of water and medicine, scratch my back, fill up my ice pack, the list goes on and on and HOLY COW am I lucky to have him around. He just had to help me take a shower. I know we're married and he's seen it all, but it's still really weird to have someone else scrub you! He had to help me wrap up my arm in plastic bags and plastic wrap and packing tape:

See that smile? That's the narcotic pain meds smile. Oh yeah. And see my super awesome plastic stump.

At least I can use my lappie by myself. Although Scott had to plug it in for me. Ha.

Trick Or Treat!

Halloween is one of our very favorite holidays. Each year we buy a few more things to add to our collection and every year it gets more elaborate, even if only by a little.

First we made Scott a long black cloak. It was perfect because Scott could hide his face but still see out.
It reached all the way to the floor. It was so perfect!
We then blacked out Scott's face, neck, and ears:
He put on a long-sleeved black shirt, black scrubs and black socks. We bought a pair of black gloves that had glow-in-the-dark skeleton hands on it, so he wore those too.

Next we set up the front yard. We bought six tombstones and a skeleton pirate for the front lawn. Scott set them up perfectly:
And it's hard to see but I have the cutest outfit on.
Then for the front porch we had some spiderwebs, orange lights, and a door cover.
Also we found a cauldron and put some water and dry ice (and Buster's new chew toy) in it.
While we were doing our shopping for this year we decided we needed a new fog machine. We put it outside, blowing over our graveyard (our camera kinda sucks so it's hard to see)(Scott is going to get us a new one when he goes to Hong Kong next week):
Now, I forgot to take pictures of the inside of the door, but we built a wooden frame around the door and sealed a chamber with sheets and put our other fog machine inside along with a strobe light and a blacklight. We left the fog machine on the whole time and every time kids would come to the door the fog chamber would be ready and Scott would come out:

Next year we plan on getting more tombstones (we totally didn't have enough) and building a little fence around our graveyard and getting a more powerful fog machine and...yeah we're excited!

So Fluffy

I'm getting cut open in the morning. Expect a post about that (typed very slowly of course, with only one hand) and also one about Halloween, and one about upcoming festivities for a certain someone. But, for now, I leave you with Buster.

He likes to hang out exactly where you don't want him to. When you're walking in the house with arms full of grocery bags he's prancing around right in front of your feet. If you're trying to walk somewhere he stands right where you're trying to walk. And of course, here he is hanging out right at the bottom of the stairs. Just look at how long his hair is getting!

Also, I finished all the knitting on the sweater! I even started seaming but then my hand got tired, and I figured I wouldn't be able to wear it until after my brace comes off anyway so I'm not too concerned about it. I'll finish it sometime later. Turns out I have enough yarn to make another one for someone. Maybe Mim? Matching sweaters...I think I'm just dorky enough.

Teaser

Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiip

I was doing so well in September, and then I slacked a little on the blogging in October. But, with everything as crazy as it is, I really don't feel too bad about it.

So I was totally pumped to keep knitting my ten rows a day. I came home, worked out (3rd time this week, I think I don't suck), showered, and began knitting. Slowly. I got several rows done and then I noticed that on one lace panel somehow I had 9 stitches instead of 7...and I tried to undo it and fix it but I couldn't figure out how far down the mistake was...so I ended up ripping out 15 rows. Fortunately I was able to re-knit those 15 rows before my fingers went numb, but I still don't think I will make it. Not a big deal, really.

In other news, It's the Freaking Weekend. DUDE. This week was long and painful. Work, my moods, home, family, everything has been out of balance lately and it's throwing me off big time.

It will all be over and settled by December.

I can see the light at the end of the tunnel, and it really doesn't seem that far off. Thankfully.

P.S.

Oh, and we are officially homeowners now.

I thought I would feel different.

I just have a headache. As usual.

Our mortgage payment is more than $100.00 less than we were paying in rent.

Super awesomely fabulous.

Icy Hot Rocks!

So my goal was to finish the sweater before I have surgery next Tuesday.

I counted up how many rows I have left yesterday, and I decided that if I knit ten rows per day (and fifteen on weekend days) I would make it in time.

So yesterday, I sat down to knit my ten rows. I knit one row, and then took a rest. I knit another row, the same thing. I got nine rows done and then my hand just went eeeeeeeeehhhhhhhh no. I was determined, however, so I very very slowly slogged through the last row and then collapsed in pain. But I finished my ten rows!

I had to put an icy hot heat pad on my wrist underneath my wrist brace for the rest of yesterday and overnight. Then, today, I had to wear the brace as much as I could.

I got home and had a horrible, sudden mood swing and had to go hide in my room so I wouldn't do or say anything stupid, and took a cat nap. Then I came downstairs, feeling a bit better, and started knitting (because I'm really dumb, apparently). It hurt. Oh yes it hurt. But I wanted to finish my ten rows.

How many did I get?

Two.

This goal is not going to work out.

The funny thing is, I keep thinking of ideas for new things I would like to make, and I can't make anything.

Happy Halloween, Buster!

So we love Halloween. It's our favorite holiday. We even like it more than we like Christmas.

Today we went around to like five different stores and got all of our Halloween decorations and stuff to make Scott's costume (and I found some cute Halloweeny earrings, too). I would tell you what we bought, but it would ruin the surprise.

BUT, while we were out shopping we saw this and thought it would make the perfect (and hilarious) chew toy for Buster:
Yes, a severed hand. Buster really enjoyed playing tug on it with Scott:
And, of course, when we were going through our boxes of Halloween stuff we had to put my old devil wig on him. Because that's what dogs are for.
He wasn't too happy about it.

I have my pre-op appointment tomorrow. Then, one week until surgery. I wonder if I can finish my sweater by then...

It's Like A Circus

So why is it that every time something breaks at work EVERYTHING breaks at work?

When it rains, it pours...

Anyway. So things were running mostly ok at the beginning of last week. The graphite furnace is a pile of crap either way, so when things are running at all it's a happy sort of thing.

Wednesday I was wanting to spend a little extra time at work because I had to leave early on Monday and I have to work so many hours each week, so when I got in in the morning I pretty much killed time for an hour before I even started prepping the samples. I worked at a pretty leisurely pace all day, and after I finished all my work on the graphite furnace I got ready to do mercury. I turned on the instrument and let it warm up, and then I got set up and started the program and it was all, "No. Not today. I'm not communicating with the instrument. Sucks to be you."

Ugh. The last time this happened it was because the IEEE computer chippy thingie was dead, and it was quite an ordeal to get a replacement, so I was a little worried.

My boss called the repair dudes and they said they couldn't come until the next day (since I had killed time all day and it was actually quite late in the repair man time zone). So, I cleaned up and went home (early, even after all my efforts at being slow).

The next day (Thursday), we had absolutely no idea what time they were going to be able to come out, so I just went about my day normally and got all my other stuff done. I got lead to run normally, and about 1/3 of my arsenic samples, and then the graphite furnace made a funny noise and a clunk and stopped working. So, I took it apart (again) and found the problem and fixed it and cleaned it out and replaced a part and we were back on our way. BUT, then, it wouldn't calibrate. And again. And again. I tried to get it to work for two whole freaking hours. No luck. It was now 3:45, and I was supposed to leave at 3:30, so I decided to give it up for the night and try again in the morning (sometimes this happens and it works inexplicably in the morning with no changes or modifications)(I swear it's haunted). Rod (repair dude) showed up at this time and started fiddling with the other instrument, and I just told him to leave me a sticky note so when I got there in the morning I would know whether it was fixed or not.

You know, it's nice not having to bring work home with me. I can just go home and not worry about anything until the next morning.

So in the morning on Friday I went in, and the sticky note said that there was a part that needed to be replaced, and he would look around and see if he could find one. This was disconcerting, because the instrument is obsolete and parts for it are few and far between, and if this thing kicks the bucket we will have to replace it somehow, and seeing as we just bought a brand spanking new ICP-MS with a collision cell, that would reeeeealy strain the budget.

So I once again went about my day and got everything else started. Just as I predicted, I started up the arsenic samples from Thursday and it worked perfectly. So at least there was something good.

Then, I went to start up my FTIR computer to run a sample on it and the little light came on, but the computer just went whiiirrrrrr, whiiiirrrrr, whiiirrrrr and didn't do anything else.

ARE YOU SERIOUS?

So I made an appointment for Tim to come take a look at the computer around 1:00. I hurried to get everything finished on the furnace before he got there (the FTIR and the furnace use the same monitor, keyboard, and mouse). Fortunately, he was running late and wasn't there until 3:00 so I was able to finish before he got there.

Rod got there about the same time as Tim, and they were actually helping each other with their respective problems. I had extra samples to prep so I was going to be there for quite a while anyway, so I just hung out with them while they were working.

Tim mostly figured out what was wrong, and was running around like crazy trying to find parts and such and in the end he decided he had to come back on Monday morning to fix it.

Rod tried replacing parts and splicing stuff together and was getting really inconsistent results, and he all but gave up unless the problem was a bad cord, and he planned on coming back Monday around noon to see if a new cord would take care of the problem.

So this morning Tim came by and set up a computer, and was trying to get it set up and it just Would. Not. Go. He fiddled around with it for a few hours and then had to leave to take care of some personal stuff and said he would be back again around 1:00. It ended up being around 2:00, and he had it fixed and finished by 3:00 and I was able to run the pile of samples that had accumulated while it was down.

One down, one to go.

Rod was supposed to be there around noon today, but he was late as well, so got there around 1:30. He worked on it for four hours, I am not even kidding. He took it apart, and put it back together, and did it all over again, and did the Hokey Pokey and apparently that was NOT what it was all about and at 6:00 (I was off at 3:00 normally, yay overtime) he gave up and in the morning I have to tell Ryan we are broken.

I talked to my boss's boss today and asked him, realistically, what would we do if it were unfixable. Basically, there is absolutely no way we can buy a new instrument this year, since we bought the new ICP-MS (still being installed, I can't wait). So we will have to wait until sometime next year.

In the meantime we have rigged our ICP-OES with a mercury method so we're not completely dead in the water, but our outside clients might not be ok with this...we'll see what happens.

Every day is a new adventure at work. Oh yes.

Did I mention that the power went out for 45 minutes on Friday and that my hot block stopped working today as well? Yep.

A Bedtime Story (About A Criminal Delinquent)

Chapter One


Once upon a time, a lovely girl named Anna had a headlight go out and got pulled over for it the next morning on her way to work (Friday, October 2). The cop was really nice about it and just gave her a warning, but when he ran her license it came up as DENIED due to medical reasons. He did have to give her a ticket for that, and she had to go into court to resolve the issue.

Aside:
In Utah (and maybe other places, I don't know) when you apply for a driver license, you have to tell them if you have any medical conditions. If you do, you have to have your doc fill out a form and send it in and then they approve your license and you get to drive around for a year before you have to get the form filled out again. They even send the form to you in the mail every year so you don't have to come in and get it.


Another aside:
When I moved I called the DMV and asked them what I needed to do to change my address with them. They said I didn't need to change it in the system and that I should just put a sticker on the back of it with my new address on it and that would be good enough.


Yet another:
When we moved we forwarded our mail.


And the last:
It turns out they don't forward government mail.


And on with the story:
It turns out that when our heroine Anna moved last year a sequence of events occurred that prevented her from receiving her doctor's form in the mail. Consequently, she completely forgot about it.
When she was pulled over she realized her blunder, and hastened to the DMV the very next business day to rectify the situation (after fixing her headlight, of course). She obtained a new form and called her doctor. Unfortunately, her doctor was completely booked UNTIL NOVEMBER! Poor Anna almost started crying until her noble knight Scott pointed out that she could find a new doctor. Genius!
So Anna found a doctor in Ogden who was taking new patients, but they needed a huge packet of paperwork before they would make her an appointment, so they e-mailed her the packet, she printed it out, and then drove the long and winding road they call I-15 up to Ogden. Fortunately, they were able to squeeze her in the very next day at 1:00.
Now, this entire time, Anna didn't want to continue driving on a denied license, so Knight Scott kindly chauffeured her around wherever she wished to go. He therefore picked her up from work the next day and escorted her to her new doctor, who turned out to be very nice and understanding. She signed Anna's form and our dear Scott whisked her away to the DMV to reinstate her license. Finally, she was free to drive again! Ironically, when she reinstated her license, noble Scott was informed that his license had been denied since 2007 because of his asthma. The same sort of things happened (this time with Anna driving) and Scott, too, was able to drive once more.


Chapter Two


Driving on a denied license, whatever the reason, was frowned upon in Anna's society and she was forced to take time off work to schedule a court appearance to defend her honor. The appointed day came, and, full of trepidation, she found her way to the Weber County Justice Court, where parking was scarce and she had to park several blocks away and walk, which was a terrible ordeal since she had worn "nice" shoes.
Anna found herself in a courtroom full of other delinquents, many of which had the hardened look of seasoned criminals. This only increased her nervous disposition.
As she waited her turn, many many others walked up to the Podium of Doom, in front of the fairest judge in the land. They were there for many reasons, including destruction of property, driving without insurance, speeding, not paying previous court fines, and many others. Fortunately, this was mildly entertaining.
After some time, Anna's name was called, and she was brought before the judge to plead her case. She pled guilty, and was given an opportunity to explain herself. She told her tale, about how she never received the form in the mail because she moved and didn't know they don't forward government mail, and about how she took care of it the very next day. The judge pronounced her efforts good, and, unlike the others before her, he declared that Anna did not have to pay a fine and please don't do it again. She thanked him profusely, and went back to work, where she spilled acid all over the nice shirt she wore to court and completely ruined it.


The end.

See? It's OK!

I am totally justified.

Just saying.

They're Cutting Me Open!

I finished the front piece of the new blue sweater. It is looking so good! There is one little mistake, and it's front and center, so I'm thinking about buying a cute button to go over it or something. I also started a sleeve and got about 8" done. Not bad.

BUT, to get there, I had to knit a row (or sometimes even just half a row) and then wait a few minutes for my wrist to calm down...and again...and this sweater is going to take ten years at this rate.

I had called my doc on Friday but he was out of town for a conference, so I left a message, and they were super awesome and called me back first thing Monday morning, and they were able to see me at 3:15. Usually this is super awesome but Monday we had 32 samples, which is basically a double workload, so I was totally thinking I would have to make my boss finish for me, but lo and behold I am invincible super chemist and I finished it all in 6.5 hours. A NEW WORLD RECORD. And to celebrate I went home and ate salad.

Anyway, I went in to the doc and it has been about 8 or 9 weeks since the cortisone shot and that wasn't very long as far as these things go so I made it very clear that I REFUSE to get a cortisone shot every 3 months for the rest of forever just so I can function on a daily basis. They agreed (thank goodness, they would have had to club me over the head to get another one of those shots in me) and so we scheduled the surgery for November 3. I will have to stay home for a week and wear a splint for 10 days or so and I will have stitches (you will totally get to see them) and then I will have a super badass scar (ok, not really, the doc said it would probably blend in with the lines on my hand).

I am so happy to get this over and done with.

Love/Hate

I hate how the holidays go in stores. You know, Halloween stuff starts showing up in September (too early) and then Christmas stuff starts showing up right after Halloween (too early) (and what the heck happened to Thanksgiving?). It's ridiculous. It's like every store is doing everything they can to squeeze every penny possible out of each holiday. Maybe that's why they skip Thanksgiving. They probably can't make as much money on pumpkin pie as they can on costumes and presents. Just a theory.

Plus the Christmas music that never ends. But I won't go there.

HOWEVER.

There are some things I can definitely get behind.

It's the seasonal FOODS, dude.

I believe I already mentioned my everlasting love for the Pomegranate 7Up that only comes out for the holidays, but did I mention how I want to have egg nog's babies? And I don't even like babies (except babies that belong to people I know)(when they're being quiet) so that is really saying something! Then there's the white fudge covered Oreos. Every year Scott and I stock up and buy many many packages so we don't have to limit the absolutely heavenly taste to the holiday season.

I am totally making myself hungry. FOCUS, Anna, you're trying to eat more VEGETABLES.

Complaints Etc.

Ugh, I haven't wanted to post for days. Not that there isn't anything going on...on the contrary, two BIG things are going on. One will be resolved one way or another this coming Wednesday when I will then post THE WHOLE STORY (it's a doozy), and the other will be resolved in...nine months...eight months...something like that and NO it isn't me that's pregnant.

Things that bug me today:

1. My stomach is all bloaty. I know you wanted to know.

2. I am really confused because I'm working on the new blue sweater and I'm up to the point where I divide for the neckline AND work the armhole at the same time and I just wasn't feeling up to figuring it out tonight.

3. My wrist pain and numbness are back.

4. My doctor wasn't there today. He was at some medical conference.

5. I ran out of Pomegranate 7Up. Holy Yum.

6. My back itches.

7. My body can't make up its mind about whether it's hot or cold. I put on a sweater, I start roasting. I take it off, I get chills. I can't win.

8. Going on a diet sucks.

9. I spilled acid on my pants today and now they have holes all over them. Bye, pants, it was nice knowing you. Now into the trash you go.

10. Damn chemical imbalances in my stupid brain. Lame.

So there you have it. I mostly try to keep things positive and a little goofy around here but sometimes you just have to let it all out.

On another, completely unrelated note, we have all the paperwork done and in and now we're just waiting to find out when we close on the house. This is really cool. And scary. And cool.

Tomorrow:

Sleeping in

More knitting

More knitting

Watching more LotR

More knitting

(I want to finish this sweater)

(Could you tell?)

And...drumroll please...

Exercising on my treadmill for the THIRD time this week.

Applause is quite welcome.

Shower and Socks!

So we are so close to closing on the house! I'm really excited, and also very sad that I will see our bank account a LOT smaller than it is right now.

Oh well.

For my first act as homeowner, I decided to take out that stupid, ugly shower door and put in a rod instead. I hate the thing. It has so many crevices that it takes way longer to clean it, and stuff gets stuck in the cracks and you have to use a toothbrush to get it all the way clean, and I am WAY too lazy for that, so it HAD to go.

Now, technically we don't own the home for another week or two, but I couldn't wait and the house is as good as ours so Friday we decided to get it done. Here it is before:

Stupid ugly thing.

So Scott is amazing and super handy, so he did most of the work. Here he is unscrewing the frame:
It only took about an hour and a half, and when everything else was done he let me put caulk in the holes so I can honestly say I helped (a little).

After:
It makes the bathroom look so much bigger! And cleaner!

And here is the shower curtain, rod, and hangers we found:
They match the brown color on the walls very nicely. The only downside is that bathing Buster is much harder now because before the doors kept him from jumping out. Scott and I had to make it a joint effort, with one of us holding him in while the other scrubbed.

I have been on a roll finishing projects that I have been working on. I finished Em's arm warmers, then I started to finish Allene's pink socks, and I finished those yesterday morning. I washed them and then let them dry/block, which took FOREVER because the air here got cold and wet suddenly so they were finally dry this morning. Here they are on my feet:

They are just a tiny bit too small for me, which means they fit Allene perfectly since her feet are about a size smaller than mine. But they turned out soft and pink and cute and very comfortable so I call this a win.

Now I am back to working on my blue sweater. It's slow going, but I'm having a blast working on it. It's going to be so beautiful!

Last week Kwiddens and I decided that we were going to hang out on Saturday night and watch Zombie movies, but there was a little issue with my driver license and I can't drive until I get that straightened out (more on this another day) so she came up here instead and stayed the night. We watched Firefly and ate snacks and had a lot of fun talking and goofing off and I am so glad we are friends again. Breaking up with your family sucks. For a while there I thought we would never be able to move on and talk to each other again but I guess time plays a big role in healing.

Life is awesome like that.

I'm off to knit more!

Birthday Bash

So this past Friday Jorg tuned 14. I can't believe it, it seems like he was just born yesterday. It makes me sound old to say that.

Anyway, so Scott and I went down there to celebrate on Saturday.


On Friday, we had had flu shots (my work gave them to us for free, yay) and so we were both feeling a little crappy.


So we went down there and went to Brick Oven for lunch. Every time I have ever been there, it has been so delicious and the service was great.


Not this time.


SO let's begin with our server. He was very quiet, so we had to strain to hear him. He was terse and socially awkward. He was unprofessional. And he took a long long time to get anything done. When he brought the check at the end of the meal, he called Mim "young lady" (this guy can't have been older than 21 or 22) which was very rude and patronizing and Mim was really bothered by this.


The food: Scott's soup smelled like B.O. Not even kidding. My salad was all wilty and drowned in salad dressing, and the chicken on it was overcooked to where it was mushy. Ugh. The only good thing was the garlic bread, and the apple beer I had (LOVE apple beer, but it's so hard to find).


But, we had a fun conversation and some good laughs.


Then we wanted to do something else, so Scott suggested going to the mall. Jorg was down with the idea, so we all went over there and split up (I know, this was "family time", but we all like to look at different things) and after about ten minutes Jorg called Mim's phone and said he wanted to go.


Jorg does this all the time. He will be ok with something, then get moody and want to stop after just a few minutes. He did it once when I came down specifically to hang out with him, and he was being so annoying that I ditched him and hung out with Mim instead.


While we were at the restaurant he was pouty and when the server asked him if he wanted a birthday treat he just scowled at him, and so when we were at the mall and Jorg wanted to go, and suggested a movie, I pulled Mim aside and told her I didn't want to because ten minutes into the movie Jorg would just start to pout again and say he didn't want to be there. I didn't drive all that way just to have a birthday party for someone who clearly didn't even want to be there in the first place. So, I said goodbye and Scott and Kwiddens and I just left.


I really hope he gets over this moody thing soon. I want to spend time with him, I really do, but how can I when he never wants to do anything?


Moving on.


Scott had to go out of town this week on business. It's only two nights alone, but I feel so strange sleeping alone. I was so lonely yesterday so I went to the craft store even though I had promised myself I wouldn't buy crafty things until after the mortgage. I only spent $25 but it was the principle of the thing.


I bought a bead organizer for when I am working on my perpetual Christmas tree project, two skeins of sock yarn in really happy colors, and fabric to make myself knitting bags.


So I spent lots of time yesterday and today working on making a knitting bag, and it looks terrible but I am so impressed with myself (I don't really know how to sew, I just make it up as I go...). I love the fabric I got, and I'm having fun figuring out how to put together a lining and making pockets and straps and I will post pictures when I'm finished and when Scott is back with the camera.


I felt so stupid. I set up my sewing machine (it was a surprise from my Scott) and got everything cut out and ironed on the interfacing and was ready to start sewing and I got one seam done before my machine made a weird grinding noise and stopped and gave me error messages. I was so mad at the machine and I went to bed grumpy about it and then I got the bright idea to read the manual, and it turns out I was using the wrong kind of bobbin so it was all my fault in the first place. Silly me.


Sometimes I wonder how in the world I got a degree when I do stupid, ditsy things all the time.


On another, completely unrelated note, yesterday I came out to my car after work to this:

I also had to scrape snow off my car, and this morning it was ice. Winter has come, all in one day. And I forgot to turn on the furnace last night so this morning when I woke up it was around 50 degrees in my house...I took a super hot shower!

Last Weekend...A Marriage Proposal

So this past weekend was ok. I did something completely out of character for me that I've never done before:

I went and hung out at a bar.


Allene was going to meet with a friend she hadn't seen in many, many years and I went along as a designated driver. Scott thought it would be funny if I took my wedding ring off and flirted with boys.

I took my ring off and later regretted it.


But that's getting ahead of the story.


So Allene and I got ready. I even put makeup, jewelry, and a nice shirt on. I wore LIPSTICK. It's been years since I've worn lipstick. Don't believe me? Check this out:
Yes, no tee-shirt and jeans for me!


Anyway, we got all hottie-fied and went to Maverik (we have a problem, maybe some day I'll tell you about how addicted to Maverik we are) and got some drinks. On our way out this guy totally hit on us and asked us why we were dressed up and asked to come with us. He was cute. too!


So we drove up to Ogden. The bar is called Teazers...sounds like a strip club, don't you think? Well it wasn't.


We walked around the bar, checking out what was where and seeing what was going on. Apparently 9:30 is early for these people...boy do I feel like a grandma sometimes. So there wasn't a whole lot going on, so we went to look for Allene's friend. He was scheduled to bartend the outside bar on the patio, so we spent most of our night out there. They were talking about old friends and memories and having a really good time, and I was feeling a little awkward because I had never been to a bar before and I didn't know anyone there except Allene and all the other girls were skinnier and hotter than I was.


Every Friday night this bar has an amateur pole-dancing competition. Okay, fine, whatever. We were bored so we decided to go watch. Nobody was any good except the girl who won. Most of the entrants were really old or fat women who were very very VERY drunk (because if you aren't drunk, chances are you aren't going to pole dance in front of total strangers...unless it's your job, of course...) so it was kinda amusing. When it was over we headed back outside to talk to Allene's friend again.


So at this point we've been there for a few hours and people around us are starting to get pretty tipsy. So here I am, at a bar for the first time ever, and what do you know, a bar fight breaks out! Out on the patio there were several pavilions (you know, the portable kind that aren't tethered down or anything) and while these guys were brawling they knocked one of them over, and fortunately the people inside it had seen them coming and gotten out before it tipped over. It was amusing how fast security was on those guys, and they were both escorted in opposite directions, one of them outside the patio fence, and he kept trying to come back in and was swearing and slurring and flipping everyone off...really immature, but funny.


Things calmed down and we were back to the talking and this random guy came up to me and Allene and offered to buy us shots. I said no because I was driving and he was too drunk to understand and tried to buy me one anyway, and when I said no again he got a confused look on his face and said "Oh, you don't drink?" and I tried again to explain to him that I don't drink if I'm going to drive, and then after the third explanation he got the message. So Allene drank the shot and thanked him, and then he walked over to me and started talking to me. He was drunk AND soft-spoken so I couldn't hear a word he was saying over the loud music (by the way the DJ was really really annoying). So I just smiled and nodded and pretended I heard him and then he asked me to dance. I said no, I don't dance well, and he grabbed my arm and hauled me off to the dance floor. I was like, ok, well, this is weird...then he started dancing. It was a sort of drunk, rocking back and forth, off the rhythm weird monkey dance he was doing, and I was just sort of playing along because frankly at this point I was amused at how drunk people act.


After a minute I thanked him for the dance and walked back to where Allene was and started talking to her again, trying to get this guy to leave. He got the message (or maybe something shiny flew by and his attention wandered, I don't really know) and left and I was a little relieved because this guy was a little strange. Probably because he was drunk.


So this whole time Allene is drinking rum and coke and she has had like five and also two shots and she's feeling really relaxed and happy and she was getting a little goofy. That was also entertaining.


Apparently if you have seven drinks you will need to use the facilities more often than usual. It was on one of her trips, the one during which I decided to just stay and wait for her instead of coming with her, that the guy came back and ambushed me. He started talking to me...


Him: "My name is Michael."


Me: "Nice to meet you, Michael."


Him: "You have really nice teeth."


Me: "Um, thank you..."


Him: "Can I have your number?"


Me: "Actually, I'm married."


Him: "Then where's your ring?" (This is where I regretted taking off my ring. It was all in good fun but yeah.)


Me: "Oh, I...um...dropped it off to the cleaner's."


Him: "It's at the cleaner's?"


Me: "Yes."


Him: "Haha, so is my drink!" *stumbles a little and giggles drunkenly*


At this point Allene came back. The guy went over to her and had a little conversation (I found out later that he was asking her if I was really married and saying he didn't believe me and telling her I was really pretty and it goes on and on...drunk people talk a lot. Anyway, she convinced him that I was, in fact, married).


Then he came back over to me.


Him: "You're kinda shy."


Me: "Sometimes. I just don't know anyone, and I've never been to a bar before, so this is a little weird for me."


Him: "If you're so shy how did you get a husband?"


Me: "I met him on the internet."


Him: "Oh, so you're married?"


Me: "Yes..." (um, DUDE, we've been over this already)


Him: "Hm...will you marry me?"


Me: "Um, I'm already married."


Him: "Oh. Ok."


And he walked off.


Okay. Amusing. Apparently I'm getting married to this weird drunk guy who dances like a monkey on acid.


Later on, just a few minutes before we decided to come home, the guy CAME BACK. He said he was about to leave with his friends and he wanted to come say goodbye to the lovely ladies, and then he kept hugging us (that's the other thing, drunk people like hugs) and saying goodbye, then hugging us again...and again...finally he went away! Permanently! Although we did see him on the way out and kinda ducked to avoid him...


Anyway, while all this was going on the owner or manager or something of the bar came over and started talking to Allene. Allene was smoking, and the manager was asking her if she smoked. Um, yes, obviously. Then she asked me if I smoked, and I said no, and she looked at me like I was so uncool and put her hand in my face and turned back to Allene. Then, she started to lecture Allene on how bad smoking is for you and telling her she should quit. So apparently, I'm not cool but smoking can kill you. Whatever. Then she started giving us hugs as well.


Anyway. This was an interesting trip for me.


The ironic thing? I didn't drink a thing, and Allene had like seven drinks, and in the morning, I was the one with the headache.


How does that work?

Slither

I FINALLY finished Em's birthday present. It only took me 3 months...or was it 4? They were more or less done for the longest time. All they needed were the ends woven in and the buttons sewn on. And it took me all of an hour to do, it was just so annoying, which was why I was dreading it and putting it off for so long. I was going down this past weekend to see my family though, so I needed to get them finished because who knows how long it will be before I go down there again?

Anyway. So here they are, in all their glory:

On the beautiful Em:

They fit well on the hands and arms, but above the elbow they turned out to be too baggy. I am hating myself for this, but they're done and already gifted and there's nothing I can do about it. I need to accept that some things are in the past and beyond my control. Still, my eye twitches when I look at this picture.

Close up of the super awesome buttons I found on eBay:
On my hand/arm:
Laid out:
They really were fun to knit, once I figured out the right instructions.

And now, looking at that picture up there, I realize that Buster has bones and toys all over the floor and it makes the house look messy when it isn't. Just so you know.

Stickers

This past weekend was eventful, but I don't feel like writing about it right now. I will later, no worries.

The other day some Disney stickers came in the mail, and since none of us have any use for such things we put them on Buster. He was NOT amused. But we were...hehehe.

"I hate you."

"I'm not even going to look at you."
"Why would you do this to me?"
"I don't even like Disney!"

I Made Up My Own!

Ok, so I had a really clever idea today for a meme, so I'm starting it here and hopefully other people will want to do it too because I think it's clever and if you don't think so you can go away.

So here it is:


The Guilty Pleasures Meme


Under each category list something that you let yourself indulge in that you're slightly embarrassed about and/or people make fun of you for. It's actually funny.

1. Music
I listen to Britney. Scott makes fun of me, and if anyone else knew they would make fun of me. Oh, look, now the internet knows. I can't help it, people, it's CATCHY.


2. Movie
The Master Of Disguise. It's a horrible movie. Bad acting, stupid jokes, but let me tell you, it's so incredibly quotable if you're with Mim.

3. TV Show
I LOVE to watch those shows where it's eyewitness accounts of ghost stories and hauntings and poltergeists and exorcisms. I don't know why. I shouldn't watch them because they give me creepy crawlies and then I need a nightlight for a week, but it's like a freaking train wreck, I can't look away. Scott also mocks me for this, so I don't watch them when he's home anymore.

4. Book
I am a sucker for children's books. Not, The Pokey Little Puppy children's books, like books that were meant for children but have a large adult following as well. Harry Potter, Leven Thumps (Scottie just bought me the fourth one, gotta love him), Lord of the Rings, the Chronicles of Narnia, etc. all make me happy. Someday, if I do decide to have ONE kid, I will read to it all the time.


5. Food
I dip my pizza in ranch dressing. Disgusting, I know, but YUM.

6. Store
Wal-Mart. You know you saw it coming.


7. Chain Restaurant
I feel guilty about loving McDonald's so much. Those fries are like salty cardboard but Oh. My. do I love them. And McGriddles? Don't even get me started.


I'm more than halfway done with the second sock, but I've had to stay late at work several times lately so knitting just isn't happening as much as I would like.
I'm not sure if I like it, but it's hella comfy.

Sick Again

So I woke up in the middle of the night last night and my throat was all swollen and there was phlegm EVERYWHERE (you know you wanted to know). My alarm went off at 6:10 as usual. I seriously spent an hour debating calling in sick...I won and stayed home today.

Last Wednesday I also stayed home from work. I was feeling sick and I had a fever so I figured I shouldn't go in and spread the love to all my coworkers. The next day I woke up feeling mostly better but that day all through yesterday I pretty much felt...blah. You know the feeling. Not really bad, but just a little down and a little tired and sort of like you don't want to do anything because doing anything might actually make you feel actually sick...yeah. Fun. But I went to work anyway, because feeling blah isn't really an excuse to stay home.


But having your throat swell up and not being able to breathe through your nose because of the snot and body aches and head aches and stuffy ears are definitely an excuse to stay home.


I called Mim this morning and she could tell right away, and asked "Do you feel sick or just sick of it?" which was incredibly astute of her because yes, I did feel like crap but emotionally I was feeling crappy as well. I was feeling off this weekend so I was forgetting my meds all over the place and then today it REALLY caught up with me. I hate being depressed for no reason, it sucks big time.


But I have been battling this cold for over a week now. I was planning on going down to visit my family this past weekend but I decided not to go because Em and Mim were both sick and I didn't want to get sick (irony). So I stayed home, which did me ZERO good because Chris was sick and so everyone else in the house got sick too, so I should have just gone down to be sick with my family. At least I would have seen everyone. So, the visit has been put off until this coming weekend, assuming we all aren't dead.


So yesterday I was so good. I ate healthy all day and I even walked on the treadmill, although I had to stop because I pretty much almost passed out (because of the whole being sick thing). But at least I tried!


Then today I was feeling crappy so I ate crappy because that's what I do to make myself feel better, which of course made me feel worse. You'd think I would remember this before I eat a cheeseburger, but noooo, I'm an idiot sometimes.
So, Allene and Scott came home and we decided we all need to be healthier and stop eating out so much, so we went grocery shopping and got lots of fruits and veggies and stuff to make actual meals and stuff to make lunches so we aren't spending so much money. Hopefully we will all lose some weight and feel healthier. Either way, our wallets will be fatter.


So poor Em, all three of her bunnies died recently. It was a freakish coincidence. She takes amazingly good care of them, but first one of them broke her leg, then was ok, albeit in a cast, for a few days.
Then she got really really sick and Mim and Em had to stay up all night feeding her yogurt and gatorade and then she was better. For a few weeks. Then randomly she was dead one day.
Then, one of the other ones had a random intestinal rupture and died.
She just went downstairs one day and the other one was just dead for no apparent reason.
So now Em has mourned and gotten two new bunnies named Vincent and Yuki.
They were supposed to be both boys but OOPS there is a girl and a boy and so they will have baby bunnies.


At the store today I stubbed my toe (again, this is a trend) and it was bleeding all over. Yay me.