Friday, September 30, 2011

WAY After The Fact, But...

In an effort to give myself a little jump start into posting more often, I've been going through old drafts for posts that I never got around to actually writing.

I found this one from back in October, before we put in the kitchen cabinets. A little bit later (ahem), I'm posting it anyway.

Part of what makes renovations so chaotic is having to move everything around and cover everything up to keep it from dying of exposure to dust and such. We went to thrift stores and bought a ton of ugly old sheets for this purpose:


At this point, I can't count the number of times our living room (or another room, for that matter) has looked like this.

After we had ordered the new cabinets, we prepped the kitchen so that we could put them in as soon as they were delivered. There was so much involved in this process: building the new wall, reconfiguring plumbing, repairing drywall, filling in the old door...so for a few weeks this was our entire kitchen setup:


We ate out A LOT for those few weeks...

Here's just one example of bad plumbing that we had to fix:


Remember how our house was built by monkeys? Yeah. Who puts plumbing outside the wall? Monkeys, that's who.

And, at last, our sink became useless, so we had to do everything upstairs in the bathroom:

 

The end...only about 11 months late...

Wednesday, September 28, 2011

5,000 Questions: Part 4

61. Do you believe in Hell? 
Absolutely. I've been there. It's being trapped inside your own mind.

62. What one thing have you done that most people haven't? 
Dated a murderer.


63. What is the kindest thing you have ever done? 
I try to do kind things as often as I can think of them. It seems to be a good way to live my life. Nothing specific comes to mind.

64. Are you a patient person? 
Most of the time. I tend to lose my patience (at least, inside my head) around willfully ignorant people.

65. What holiday should exist but doesn't? 
National Take Klonopin And Eat Ice Cream Day

66. What holiday shouldn't exist but does? 
Arbor Day. Does anybody know anyone who actually does anything for that day?

69. Is your hair natural or dyed? 
I've dyed it but the color seems to have mostly faded, so it's just a brighter version of my own color. I think. I'm not entirely sure what my real color is...

70. Do you have any deep dark secrets or are you pretty much up front? 
I'm very upfront with people whom I can trust completely, if they actually ask questions about my deep, dark secrets. Otherwise, I keep certain things to myself.

71. What is under your bed right now? 
A pillow and probably some socks and I think my gym shoes are under there...

72. If you were in the Land of Oz would you want to live there or go home? 
Go home. I'm such a homebody.

73. If you drive do you frequently speed? 
I try hard not to, but everyone around here is hell-bent to get where they're going, so it's easy to lose track of how fast I'm going.

74. What is the world's best song to dance to? 
Um...anything by Shakira?

75. What song was on the last time you danced with someone? 
I dance in the car all the time. By myself.

77. What is the first animal you would run to see if you went to the zoo? 
I always love to see the...everything! I love animals!

78. Would you consider yourself to be romantic? 
On occasion. Most of the time I'm practical.

79. If the earth stopped rotating would we all fly off? 
No. Gravity, bitches!

80. What is the one thing that you love to do so much that you would make sacrifices to be able to do it? 
Hang with Scott (or Em or Jorg or Mim OR ESPECIALLY KWIDDENS). If you're looking for a more materialistic answer, then knitting.

Monday, September 26, 2011

Text Time 18

Me:
Mim: G's are expensive...


Me: My back is killing me. I think a quesadilla would cure me.
Kwiddens: I think cake, chips, ice cream, pizza, etc. would help me!


Em: I wish there were a degree in calling other people stupid.
Me: That would be EPIC.
Em: I could have a doctorate in six years easily.
Me: Way more quickly than that, I think!
Em: No kidding.


Me: Thanks for calling in that scrip for me. My bladder sincerely thanks you!
Dad: No, I was just commenting on the appearance of your cats, wondering how they possibly ended up that way.
Me: I am SO confused.
Dad: Sorry, wrong person. In the middle of some friendly flaming.
Me: Okay, well, thanks for the antibiotics! :)


Me: What do you want to name your new computer?
Coworker For Whom Scott Built A New Computer: Computer, I don't care. Or Optimus.
Me: ...Optimus Prime? :)
C.F.W.S.B.A.N.C.: Yeah, then maybe it will come alive.

Saturday, September 24, 2011

Fiber Fair FTW (And Something For Mim)

So a few weeks back I mentioned going to the Great Basin Fiber Arts Fair with a yarny friend. I never really posted about it!

We headed down to Salt Lake in the morning and walked around...in only about an hour. It was MUCH smaller than we thought it was going to be, and aimed more at spinners than knitters. There was some yarn, however. Some very pretty yarn!

I picked up this skein of handspun mohair with a bit of something sparkly in it:


It's only 87 yards, so my options for its use are limited, but I Could. Not. Resist. The. Shiny. (This picture sucks. I took it in the middle of the night.)

I also picked this up:


This picture also sucks, for the same reason. But it's a mixture of berry and pink and a teeny bit of blue. It's Mini Mochi, which I've used before (Thanksgiving Socks) and LOVED.

Now, this was a few weeks ago, remember.

The latest issue of Knitty Magazine just barely came out, and there's a sweater in it that calls for this exact yarn (well, in a different color, but I always pick my own colors anyway) and it screams "MIM!" (I think you'll agree). It's safe to post about it here because Mim never has time to read my blog, so she'll still be surprised if I show you all!

It's the Tenney Park sweater. It has something I've never tried before, which is Entrelac, which is the kind of stitching on the front panel. It looks wicked hard, but it's actually pretty easy (based on a tutorial I found online) so I think it'll be okay. The rest of the sweater is a piece of cake.

So it turns out it was awesome of me to buy that yarn when I did, and I didn't even know it!

ANYWAY.

So after the fair my friend and her sister and I went to Olive Garden for lunch, and it was amazing and delicious.

Aside: A week before, I had gotten hit with another UTI (Apparently there are gremlins living inside my bladder). It was the worst one I've ever had. I went to the doctor and got the antibiotics I needed and lots of Azo, and it was bad enough she even prescribed me painkillers. Yeah. THAT BAD. But, as usual, I gave it a few days and I was good as new. Or so I thought...

Back to Olive Garden: So there we were, enjoying our tasties with lots of delicious cheese, when I felt the call of nature. Okay, no big deal. I excused myself from the table and slipped into the ladies' room, and WHAT DO YOU KNOW I ALMOST DIED. It was so sudden. I went back to the table and I was desperately hoping I could get through lunch and just go home right after, but I couldn't even make it five minutes before I started convulsing from the pain (okay, slight exaggeration, but the pain was substantial). 

I had to call Scott to come pick me up at the restaurant and leave some cash so my friends could pay for my food. I was really embarrassed. I mean, I shouldn't have been; everyone has a bladder, after all.  BUT STILL.

I got home, and at that point I decided to try to take Azo and drink five gallons of water and see if that helped, but it didn't. Mim was planning on bringing Jorg up to do some work, so when she got there I was thinking of having her take me to the doctor again, but it was like 6:00 pm. on a Saturday and my only option would have been the ER (ginormous copay...), so Mim (angel) called Dad and asked him to call in a scrip for another antibiotic for me. And he did. And it went away for real that time.

It was a crazy sort of day.

But at least I got some awesome string. And at least I got to pet a llama:

Thursday, September 22, 2011

Wave O' Babies!

Ten points if you get that reference.

Check out this amazing Bebby I found!

This chick can walk now. On her own, even! But here she is with Isaac:


Running down the hallway with a blankie:


And covered in berry applesauce. Straight into the bathtub:


Remember when you were young enough to have toys in the bathtub, and it was time to play?


Such a smiley Bebby!


Can you even believe how adorable she is?

She's getting freaking huge, by the way.

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Fewer Weeds Means Less Work!

Jorg has been working pretty hard with Scott on lots of projects around the house to pay us back for his computer. He's helped us with painting, cleaning, truck repairs, yard work, and other little things around the house. His birthday is this week, so I knocked four hours off his debt.

This past weekend the giant project (that took eight hours!) was filling in the flower bed in the front yard. We had hated it before because although there were some very pretty flowers for about two weeks in the spring, the rest of the year it was just greenery that either just...sat there...or wilted. Either way, it wasn't pretty. Also, it was covered in wood chips (fugly), and weeds would grow like crazy. It was a lot of maintenance for very little aesthetic value, so it had to go!

First up, Scott and Jorg pulled out all the weeds, plants, and wood chips. Then, they needed to dig up all the bulbs and pull out any big rocks, so they dug up and sifted all the dirt about eight inches deep. Scott built this nifty little sifter tool thingy for the task.

I was sick this past weekend, so on Saturday I was feeling well enough to go outside, as long as I was just sitting. So I sat on the front porch and got a little sun and fresh air while they worked, and I kept them sunscreened and hydrated. So at least I contributed. But in the middle I got really tired, so I went inside to take a nap. When I woke up, they were all done sifting and were smoothing the dirt down.

Next up they put a weed blocker (a fabric/plastic sheet) over the leveled dirt. Over it we wanted to put a bed of nice, medium-sized rocks, which, it turns out, look infinitely better than crappy wood chips!

We went to Home Depot and got to use the truck to haul the rocks! We bought about a ton of them (and I do mean a ton, as in 2000 pounds). It took two trips in the truck to bring them all home, and the people at Home Depot had to load them for us with a forklift! That was lots of fun, actually.

In the end, this was the result:



I know it looks like there's a lot of dirt in there, but as it rains it will wash out and leave just the stones.

The plan now is to find some really lovely ceramic pots and place a few potted plants (probably flowers or something with colorful leaves) over the rocks. It'll be neater, cleaner, and a lot easier to take care of. Scott is pretty sure that weeds won't grow at all.

And the best part is, nobody got a sunburn!

Thursday, September 15, 2011

SNOTpocalypse, September 2011

It's about time for a nice little blog post, eh?

I've been feeling...well, Bipolar. There's no other way to describe it. I'm hot and cold, yes and no, in and out, up and down...I actually like her music, FYI. It's CATCHY!

So here's my recent life, in random, rambling form. Enjoy sorting it out...

Last Saturday I went to the State Fair with a yarny friend, her husband, and her mom. Her husband was cool. Her mom? TOTAL PARTY POOPER. (Sorry, yarny friend!) But she and I did pretty things with string in the car on the way there and back, and as a thank-you for driving, since I hate driving, I gave her a set of the stitch markers I made and WHAT DO YOU KNOW, they matched the yarn she was swatching with perfectly. I must be psychic.

Anyway, I did actually have fun, even though we didn't ride any rides. Yarny Friend and I were thinking about riding a few rides after we had looked at all the animals and exhibits booths and things, but we took one look at the line and decided it wouldn't be worth it. It's a good thing, too, because by the time we would have reached the front of the line to ride the whirly-around-make-you-sick ride, it would have been pouring rain. We got caught in it as it was! We were totally soaked!

This coming weekend Jorg and Scott and I were planning on going again, but he's not into exhibits, just fair food and rides, and THAT'S HOW WE LIKE IT! The problem is, I think I'm getting sick. Correction: I KNOW I'm getting sick. It's almost 5:00 in the morning, and I woke up about three hours ago with a burning sore throat and so much snot I don't even know what to do with it.

So I took some of that Zinc stuff that supposedly helps shorten colds, and some throat drops, and some Sudafed (the real kind, not the fake stuff they label as Sudafed nowadays) and lo and behold, I'm AWAKE. I'm not surprised; this is, after all, the stuff they make meth from. I can't really miss work (okay, well, theoretically I could, but it's been a hellish two weeks and my boss doesn't need to have to worry about covering for me when all I have is the sniffles...) so I'm going to suck it up and take drugs all freaking day, and maybe by this weekend I'll feel okay enough to go make myself sick from eating fair food and then riding in spinny-twisty-up-and-down-and-all-around rides at the fair. If not, I'll just have to wait until next year. SUCKO.

I spent all this week wishing it were Thursday so I could go to knit night.

I'm doing a test-knit for one of my yarny friends, and I taught myself the Magic Loop method! I'd tried it before with little success, but I think now I've got it. I haven't decided if I like it as much as using double pointed needles, but I'm thinking I'll get there. One needle is infinitely easier to keep track of than five, if you know what you're doing.

Oh, the snot. Make it stop!

I just spent the last two weeks doing damage control (and working ten or eleven hour days) at my lab because my equipment was down. I'm so tired and mad about it that I'm not even going to tell you about it. For now. Because I reserve the right to rant later on. It is, after all, my blog, which I may fill with whatever I wish.

Ugh. My throat freaking hurts.

I feel like blogging is a chore lately. I feel like I have everything to say, but nothing to say at the same time. I'm exhausted, and unmotivated, and emotionally I'm just DONE with everything. Does anyone else feel like this? I want to blog. I really do. I just can't get myself to sit down and do it lately.

MY THROAT HURTS.

Tuesday, September 6, 2011

Plus, I Get To Show Off!

Let me tell you a little something about knitters.

Knitters are generally a very accepting group of people who love to make friends (especially yarny friends). All they have to have in common is sticks and string, and it doesn't matter whether they've known each other for days or for years: they quickly become the best of friends.

When we started our yarn group this past June, I was a little worried that I wouldn't fit in, or that I'd be DOING IT WRONG and they would be mean about it, or that they wouldn't like me, or whatever. Insert neurosis here.

But from the very first meeting, we all just clicked! We all fit together like a perfect, yarny puzzle, and we've all been having so much fun ever since.

We meet every Thursday, but it isn't just meetings anymore; we've gone to dinners and the fiber fair and this coming weekend, the state fair.

Even if I'm not in the mood to go anywhere (which happens more often than I'd like...) I still walk over to the coffee shop Thursday evening and by the end of the night, my mood is just freaking right.

They know I'm Bipolar, and they don't care. They know I hold the knitting needles "wrong", and they don't care. They know I'm incredibly lazy, and they don't care. They accept me for who I am, and they did it instantly, and you guys, you have no idea how wonderful that is for me. I have a really hard time making and keeping friends (by-product of moving around so much when I was younger, I suppose), but here I feel like one of the group, and it's one of the greatest feelings ever.

I went to the Great Basin Fiber Arts Fair with a member of our group a few weekends ago. I pet a llama! She has since informed me that she spun a bit of pretty yarn just for me! I think we all love to make and give presents, because I've spent a lot of time these past few weeks making pretty sets of stitch markers for my group (pictures to come), and I'm so excited to give them out!

I have to admit that I've been a little lonely for the past few years. I went from being fairly popular in school, surrounded by friends, coworkers, classmates, and fellow church-goers to just...me. I try to keep in touch with old school and church friends via Facebook, Twitter, blogs, and e-mail, but it isn't the same as being able to call someone up and say "Hey! Let's walk to Panda and get cheap Chinese food!" any time I want (my Panda friends now live in Texas and Massachusetts. I don't think they even have Panda where they live...). I have Kwiddens and Mim and Em and Jorg, and we spend a lot of time together, but sometimes I was still lonely.

I don't feel lonely any more. Don't get me wrong; I'd love to be able to see and hang out with my college friends again, but this knitting group is doing wonders for me.

We come from all walks of life. Some of us aren't married yet, some of us are married with no kids, some of us have kids, and some of us have kids who are grown and gone. Some of us are students, and some of us work from home, and some of us go to work every day. We're tall and short, thin and not-so-thin, knitters and crocheters, brand new and very experienced with all things fiber. But for two hours every Thursday night, we're all the same, and I LOVE it!