I Aten't Dead

Courtesy to the wonderful Terry Pratchett for the title. Really, I aten't dead, just busy, wondering what happened to the summer.

Yikes. It's been a long time. It was pointed out to me (not even very recently) that my drive-by posting was August 1, and it's now October. I hadn't realized that it had been so long. Anyway, what have I done lately? Should I categorize by month? Maybe.

July: I ended up in the Cooperstown area visiting the lovely and blogless Kathe during the last weekend of July. Very nice drive, wonderful visit. The cupcakes and beer were appreciated. We went to Ommegang, wandered around the nice bits of Oneonta, saw some entertaining signs ("25 years of relatively safe flying" and "KILTS"), and Kathe scored me a ticket to the Glimmerglass Opera where she works summers, so I saw I Capuleti e i Montecchi.

August:
Caught a few performances of the Cleveland Shakespeare Festival over the summer (Hamlet and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead), as well as a Tri-C performance of A Midsummer Night's Dream. August 2 brought the Weakerthans, which was a lot of fun. Made a metric tonne of cupcakes that day, too, as it was also SAAZ Blues and Brews. Mike went there, cupcakes and beer in tow, and apparently it was a great location (with indoor plumbing - yay!!) and an enjoyable evening. He got home later than I did, even.

Skipped the Stan Hywet Blues and Brews festival this year, too. I was all about skipping the beer parties in August for some reason. But what did I do? I think I dyed yarn. Managed to drag myself out on that Friday night to see A Lion In Winter at Notre Dame College. Was surprised at how entertaining it was. Met a girl who was new to our knitting group, and must have underwhelmed her, as we've never seen her again. Hit up a few Wade Oval Wednesdays, though not as many as planned. Darn work got in the way!

Mike and I saw Great Big Sea in Akron on the 16th. They're always a good show, and were in rare form that night, with random parodies and covers, and Lock 3 Live is a great place to go. We'd never been, but you can't beat free parking and $5 tickets. Will definitely go again next summer, depending on the schedule.

Ended the month with a cookout at Melita's. Very nice time, quiet but enjoyable afternoon. Got to show off the sweater that I'd finally finished!

September:
Had some knitting group drama at Studio-A-Rama. Enjoyed the evening, otherwise, and the person in question is no longer in our group (not like we'd ever met her), so no worries there. Joined the bandwagon and started a clapotis, which my mom promptly claimed shortly after arriving for her visit later that week.

Went to the Vatican exhibit with my mom. Had a very nice visit, saw all sorts of papal clothes and accessories. One robe looked like something Elvis would have worn.

Took a fabulous course called "Horrid Musicals." Watched Xanadu, Can't Stop the Music (the Village People movie), and The Apple (a look at the 90s music scene from the perspective of the 1970s). Best Thursday evenings I've had for a while.

Tried to see Dar Williams in Pittsburgh, but due to Ike causing a power outage the concert was cancelled. Had a nice lunch with my dad anyway. Gotta love Fat Head's!! Ike also blew one of our deck couch cushions into the pond. Luckily it floated the whole way across - Mike was out there with a fishing rod trying to retrieve it, but it swam right to him. Very happy that it floats!

Lecture season at the museum started again, with a talk on the polar regions and changes that have occurred there, with the next lecture on ecological design. Bought more yarn for the Museum Scarf, as it has been promoted to the Museum Set, and will include a hat and possibly mittens. Learned that the yarn gets really soft after washing. The set will be used to decorate a wreath for the Women's Committee mini-fundraiser, and hopefully bring a decent amount. Discussed the idea at an event at Dike 14, received good feedback, so the wreath will be decorated with knitted goods rather than Alejandro's sunflowers. Which is probably good, as the sunflowers didn't seem to dry as well as I'd hoped.

~ picture interlude ~







from Dike 14

Speaking of the Women's Committee, I am now the recording secretary. Or is it corresponding secretary? I'm not exactly sure, but I get to hang out at board meetings and such. Have also been recruited somewhat for a Membership Subcommittee at Kirtlandia, possibly because I am under 40.

Found out that I won't be working weekends this school year. I'm not exactly sure what I'll do with all the extra time, but I am not complaining. Couldn't complain about the job, but can't complain about not working, either.

Spent a Saturday dyeing yarn with the knitting group. Participated in a shop hop of stores throughout Northeast Ohio - explored a few new shops, had a lot of fun. A few of us (Megan, Mary) visited four shops that Saturday before dyeing. I tried to hold back, and did a decent job of sticking mostly to one skein of sock yarn per shop. Took a combination knitting course with Annie Modesitt at River Colors/Stitch Cleveland, and learned some new things.

Other highlights of the month were: seeing Neko Case at the Beachland (she was wonderful!), taking an Angels tour of Lakeview Cemetery, going to a book reading at the Akron library and meeting Chuck Klosterman and other Akron-area authors.

October (nearly done!):
Started the month by going to see Eliot Abrams at the Natural History Museum for an Archaeology night lecture. He was as brilliant as ever, and I wasn't paying tuition this time.

First weekend of the month was our annual October party. We chose the date when I was expecting to work weekends, so it was a bit earlier than we would have preferred, but we'd sent the "save the date" notices by the time I found out weekends were free, so hey, we stuck with it. We had a good crowd, about 30 people (cupcake to guest ratio was 5:1 this time), and I forgot food. Oops. Meant to put out a veggie tray, cheese and crackers, dip, and a few other things. Like chips and salsa. Really. I forgot the easiest bit because I was focused on ho-ho cupcakes. Luckily the beer cheese soup went over well. And that's nearly all of the past excitement - we're on to things that Will Happen!

This weekend, Gretchen is visiting! We'll hit up the Rock Hall, Lakeview Cemetery, and who knows what else. Maybe Melt. If we have time, we'll hang out with the knitters at the Miss Chickpea Knit-In in Hudson.

My mom will be driving in on Monday morning for the North Coast Tour de Stitch. We'll drive all over Northeast Ohio, from Madison to Toledo to Canton. Wednesday night is an in-store performance at Music Saves - my current favorite band, Frightened Rabbit! I am pondering staying for Jennifer O'Connor's show at the Beachland Tavern, but we'll see how awake I am. Thursday is a workday, and Friday Mary and I are off to Rhinebeck!

Seriously debating going to visit Kelly and Carry during the NC State Fair on the last weekend of the month. We'll see what happens. I will do my best to keep y'all informed.

Finally, I was tagged twice for the Six Random Things meme, which is very similar (IMHO) to the Seven Random Things meme that I did several months ago. Erqsome and ktb both tagged me, so I guess I'd better participate, eh?

The Rules:
1) Link to the person who tagged me (see above)
2) Mention the rules
3) Tell six quirky yet boring, unspectacular details about myself
4) Tag 6 other bloggers by linking to them
5) Go to each person’s blog and leave a comment that lets them know they’ve been tagged

1. My hair changes color on its own. I was born with black hair, that fell out and what grew in was blonde, and it got progressively darker as I got older, with a reddish phase in my high school/college years. During the HS years, I dyed my hair red once and my mom didn't even notice.

2. I am a packrat, and tend to carry lots of unnecessary things with me. My backpack weighs enough to be considered a passenger by my car. (At least it is light enough not to require the airbag.)

3. I am a compulsive list-maker, whether or not anything will ever happen with the lists.

4. I am an overachieving slacker. I want to do everything, but lots of the time sleep wins.

5. I have a fear of having nothing to do. I generally have at least one knitting project (usually two-four) and one (or more) book with me at all times.

6. I have what some people consider an encyclopedic knowledge of 80s music, although I have forgotten a lot of it.

There. I really don't feel like tagging anyone else, so if you want to be tagged, tag yourself for me.

Anyway, I think it's quite funny that it's taken me several months to post, and I keep getting errors saying that Blogger cannot be reached and there may be errors in publishing. Oh well. I will keep trying. Have fun!

After a long day

Yesterday was my birthday. With the party to celebrate the fact that my birthday was on a Saturday and that I didn't have to work.

Knitting group came over, we went to Miss Chickpea's and bought yarn, came back and exchanged gifts and ate cake.

Nine cakes. Just a few more people. Yum. I still haven't sampled everything. To be honest, there is a cake that has not yet been cut.

Here's what the table looked like when we started. (To be honest, we had some of the peanut-buttery-goodness-frozen-dessert-cake before the trip to Miss Chickpea's.)


We have, clockwise from lower right:

1. Plain cheesecake
2. Chocolate cheesecake
3. Peanut-buttery-frozen-goodness
4. Mocha layered cheesecake (complete with chocolate covered espresso beans)
5. Raspberry layer cake with raspberry frosting (pink)
6. Cassata cake (white)
7. Ugly Bundt cake - white with chocolate filling and glaze (ugly because the top stuck in the pan when removed)
   
8. Three-layer chocolate cake with chocolate ganache frosting
9. Four-layer yellow cake with chocolate sour cream frosting

We ordered pizza for dinner, and the boys ran to get it. (A change, as I am usually the carryout driver.) Patti brought salad with some tasty dressing she made, and we chowed.

Cakes went over mostly well, I think. Megan really liked the cassata cake's frosting, Jessica really liked the raspberry cake, Melita liked the cheesecake(s), and Nick really liked the peanut-buttery-goodness. Not sure what Patti took home, but she filled her tupperware. I still haven't sampled them all. Hope no one was freaked out my my very strong french press coffee.

Oh well. Zuzu was very well-behaved, although I think she did swat at a few people who were trying to pet her. It takes her a while to adjust to people. At some point during the evening she did sit on my lap, which was nice. She is now snuggling on her alpaca blanket.



Oh, I finished Chris's clogs. They were desperately crying out for red hearts on the toe, and now they have them.



Yes, I am rediscovering the joy of posting pictures. Hope you appreciate it.

About 60% done with my sister's blanket. Here, you can see how beautiful Zuzu looks on it.



Because she needs the love.

Oh, and the gifts! Patti brought some tupperware in a cute bag (I told her to bring her own tupperware if she wanted to take leftovers home since I was running low). I get to regift the bag back to her, as she realized that it said "Baby" on the handle. Megan brought some chocolate and some very cute coasters that she'd made from a thrift shop sweater (great idea!), and Jen had somehow found the time in her crazy schedule to make a needle organizer! I am thrilled - the needle shoebox can be retired. :-) I will have to post pictures of that once I get everything organized. Carl brought me a six-pack of mead, too. Mine, not Mike's. Although he will probably drink most of it, as I can only drink mead in small, small doses.

The gift exchange was fun - much yarn and needles were exchanged, as well as a project bag and even cash.

Anyway, I should have more cake, and get back to the knitting. Enjoy some cheesecake!

And just like that...it's winter again

I am sitting at home, watching it snow. Wimped out on the museum lecture, as I headed home after work because it was cold and rainy and I didn't feel like camping out somewhere for three hours, plus a friend was supposed to come with me, so we could carpool back up, and the closer I got to home, the worse the weather became. Rain turned to freezing rain to sleet to snow. And snow it stays. The ground is covered, the cars are covered (Mike is brewing, so cars are on the driveway), and the road is covered. I am cold and depressed.

Okay, life is slightly better now. We just had dinner. Breakfast for dinner, to be exact. I am warmer. Mike's watching the Pirates play the Yankees in Florida. (On TV, of course. Do I need to specify something so obvious?)

Anyway, life has been full of bad drivers lately. Last week, after stopping at North End for a drink with Mike after work on Saturday, I was approaching a traffic light. Watched a Lincoln coming from the road to the left stop at the green light, get passed by a pickup, finally decide to make a left turn, and then veer into the left lane, right into oncoming traffic. Luckily the SUV that would have been hit was more observant than the Lincoln driver, and stopped. I think Lincoln decided to turn around after that.

After that, I needed to make a left turn. I used my blinker, and waited for the oncoming traffic to clear. The SUV that was nearly hit by the Lincoln started into the intersection, then stopped. I waited, as the intersection was blocked. Next thing I know, the SUV is making a left turn behind me. No blinker - in which case we could have both made our left turns simultaneously, and with the other clearly in sight. Oh well. The whole episode was clearly a case of "WTF?!?!?!?!"

Trying to keep this week calm. Skipped knitting group this week (Monday) to stay in and watch a movie with Mike. Little did I know that my Thursday dinner would be cancelled, and we'd get snow today, so I'd wimp out on the lecture. I'm sorry to miss it, as the lecturing curator is always entertaining. Last night we went to a Monsters game. A few WTF moments there, too. Most notably the mascot, an eagle. They are the Lake Erie Monsters. Logo is a Nessie-ish aquatic lizard-like creature. The costumed mascot was an eagle. WTF? The hockey team has cheerleaders. WTF? Okay, I gave in and looked at their site. They claim that the eagle is a seagull that has seen the Monster. Best part of that whole bit are the Mullets, who imitate the Hanson brothers while working on the ice. It was 80s night, so the music made me laugh, even though I still find it difficult to tolerate AC/DC. Damn you WEBN!!! Stupid station even bled through the stereo when I was trying to listen to CDs. Yet another reason I no longer live in Cincinnati.

Over halfway done with the blanket. It's just far too easy, although now it's a bit on the bulky side. Brought it to knitting on Tuesday afternoon, and the kids and teachers asked me to work on it, because they didn't quite grasp the concept of HUGE needles and fluffy yarn. A row is about 1/2" of fabric, so it goes quite quickly. Haven't worked on much else other than hats. Finished Matt's hat, with the exception of weaving in the ends. It is in the car, so that won't happen tonight. Started another hat, probably for Brad, because he was the recipient of one of my first hats, and I want to prove that I have advanced since then. Plus he likes blue and wool. I am using the Hat Attack ribbing pattern (p2-k2-p1-k2) to start, and will probably throw in a few cable crosses, but not in the binary pattern.

Haven't frogged/restarted the Fibonacci glove, although I did pop it off the needles so it can be frogged. I've decided that I will make the smaller size, too. Used it as an example to show the HS knitters stockinette stitch. They've mainly been doing garter stitch, but I taught a few how to purl. Not sure that they will remember it when they get back from break, but you never know. Too many projects, too little time. And here I am posting rather than cooking and knitting.

Yes, I should be making cakes tonight. Or at least cassata filling. I should have tomorrow evening, though, as well as Friday afternoon/evening. I am such a procrastinator. Haven't even really invited anyone outside of the knitting group to the event. I want to make at least six cakes, but there will only be um, 14? 16? people there. So if you're lucky enough to be one of the few invited, bring your appetite! Maybe I should buy more milk.........

Oh, found out that the makeup weekend for the work I missed is the weekend that I'm supposed to go to Knitter's Fantasy. Don't know if I will have to work or if someone will cover for me.

Zuzu is being a pest tonight. Poor Mike is very annoyed, as she will not leave him alone. Especially when he is trying to do some brewing calculations.

Anyway, I should get this posted, so I can work on something productive. I Will.Not.Ravel for the rest of the evening. Yeah, right. We'll see how long that lasts. Probably not long, as I need to research recipes online, and whenever I'm online, I log on.

Day of the (almost) FO's

Finished the charity socks today.
Took them to Miss Chickpea's and dropped them off, along with a matching hot pink scarf that had been lingering in the scarf bag. Finished Sock #2 first, then frogged the tip of the toe of Sock #1, as I'd made it too pointy. It really wasn't that bad; only three-four rows needed to come out. No charity hat this year, although I will keep the yarn and can work on something after Christmas.

Finished the body of the stripey tote bag, too, plus one strap. Should be able to finish the second strap tonight, as they don't take very long. Needed my size 13 circs for all the clogs I'm making, and as the bag was so nearly done it was easier to finish it than to take the bag off the needles.

Oh, and finished reading "Spook" today, too. Very enjoyable.

What else? Haven't dug out the yarn for my test clogs yet, but probably will tonight. Should also take a picture of the mound o'yarn that will be my November sweater. Hopefully I'll have enough left over to make a hat and maybe mittens.

Upcoming projects:
NaKniSweMo Sweater
Mike's hat
Clogs for Christmas
Eesti Trail Socks (Nancy Bush October Sockdown - need to be finished by Nov. 30)
Baby hats (good friend plus neighbor both expecting winter babies)
Jaywalker Socks (must jump on very cute bandwagon...)
Lots of other socks (even though sock yarn is not stash, it's taking up a lot of space)

Anyway, must finish handle!

Oh, and we had a lovely party yesterday. I made enough food for twice our usual turnout (which is my normal party preparation), and since we kept things small this year I had way more than it was physically possible to eat. Mike and I will have leftovers for a week. Good thing about smaller parties - I actually had the chance to enjoy more than half a pint of beer. Not too much more, but some. Loved the chocolate stout cake. And pirogie casserole. That was probably the hit of the party. Aside from Mike's homebrew. Everyone loved his beer.