Arrrrgh - I’m such a nerd

Tonight we went to the Lizard for dinner. I was very anxious to get home, as the Yarn Pirate was having (very limited) sign-ups for her Booty Club. Success! The openings lasted at least 75 minutes, because they started at 7:00 eastern and we got home around 8:15. I will now have sock yarn shipped to my house every month.....and that makes me happy.

As I was trying to explain to Mike why I wanted to rush home, he offered to mail me some fun sock yarn every month. Then he admitted that he doesn't even know what fun sock yarn is. I told him that he could go to any yarn store and they would happily show him, but I doubt that he'll do it. I can always hope for a surprise, though, right? Then again, I will now be receiving a package of [Yarn] Booty every month, so he doesn't need to buy me yarn. Would it be appreciated? Of course. Necessary? Not at all.

***

This morning was absolutely gorgeous. I left around 7:00 to drive to work, and the sky was incredible. Distinct break between clear and cloudy sky, with shades of blue, grey, and orange. It was dry near our house, but drizzled a bit once I hit the road. And before I reached the highway, I saw the most vivid rainbow I've ever seen. The colors were as bright as neon lights. It truly looked like the rainbow's end was in Macedonia, until I got closer, when it was further north. I know that all rainbows are paired, but usually the second one is very faint. The paler of the two this morning was as deep as most of the rainbows I've seen. Anyway, I really wish that I had my camera and had had time to stop.

Looking forward to listening to Chasing Infinity (also found in my friends list) tomorrow morning. I've missed catching Ed's show live for several weeks now, as my Sunday mornings have involved things other than listening to the radio. (Out of town travels, mulching, etc.) Thank goodness for the archives; I've been catching up on shows at work this week. Don't know why/how, but I really appreciate Ed's taste in music. Tomorrow I should wake up early and clean, and WRUW will be streaming while I work downstairs. Mike's brother is coming over to watch the Steelers game tomorrow, and I should clean up somewhat before he gets here. And the rest of you should stream WRUW, too. Good stuff!

Knitting update: Have not worked on Malabrigo sock 2 for a few days (but I will!) while I've been working on stripey sock 2. Did the toe outside of the museum last night before the lecture. Worked on the foot during the lecture. Since it was dark, there are a few flaws, but I think they'll be fine with a bit of weaving (or, alternatively, the flaws can be on the bottom of the foot). Worked on it a bit more at dinner.

Speaking of the lecture, it was a good time. Saw some of my Kirtlandia friends, another woman from my knitting group, and met another knitter who just happened to be sitting in front of us. Very funny - we all have the attitude, "There's another one of us!" The lecture itself was very interesting, about native plants vs. imported ornamentals, and the species they support. His theory is that biodiversity among animals is increased when there are native plants to support them. Definitely inspired me to plant more native plants. Oaks are good, as are maples, if you're looking for trees. Black-eyed susans were one of the top-10 flowers he listed, which is good as I'm planning on planting more of them. Will have to get his book once it's released. Will post it below, as another endorsement for today. Will also investigate the Native Plant Society of NEO for additional suggestions. Hope to accomplish a bit of guerrilla gardening someday to add some green to the pseudo-lawn area between our house and the next neighbor on the east side of our house. Maybe blueberries.

I guess I'm quite the consumer reporter today - I've mentioned yarn, music, a book, and plants. But does anyone care for *my* taste? Who knows. As long as I don't *discourage* sales/listeners/gardeners, I'll be happy. Oh well. It's about time to feed Zuzu her second dinner and go to bed. Today's kitty alarm clock went off at 4:00, so I'm tired.

Serendipity

Backstory: I've been driving Mike's car, as the check engine light in mine came on the other day. The radio reception in mine is *much* better than in his, for whatever reason, so my music selection has been spotty, at best.

Anyway, this morning, while driving to work, I had one of those patchy radio moments, but a halfway decent song was nearing its end, so I listened. Well, as that song ended, the song that I'd been singing in my head for the past two days came on. The song from the mid-90s that is not really in everyone's playlist. I won't share it here, as it's a Guilty Pleasure (note capitals). Right as the song was fading out, the station that the radio was tuned to came in. Weird, eh? I was amused enough to post again today.

Wildlife moment of the day: Saw Grizzly Adams walking down the street.

Waiting for a computer to finish doing what it needs to do, so I'm babysitting here. Was amused because for a while I had four laptops lined up in a row, mine and three others. Okay, you've probably figured it out by now - I'm easily amused.

Anyway, there's still a chance I can catch the art museum before it closes. We'll see about that.

Long day ahead - and help!

Long day ahead - and help!

Zuzu woke me at 4:15 today. It's better than 3:30, but still early.

Have to leave for work early to pick up a computer which now hopefully has a working hard drive, then install all the software that it needs to be useful. From there to a place where I get to uninstall everything and clean up several machines for resale. After that, hopefully I can swing by the art museum to see their photography exhibit (I always catch their shows on their last weekends, it seems!) and then meet a knitting buddy for the natural history museum lecture. We plan on knitting to fight extinction! Well, okay, the title of the lecture is "Fighting Extinction with Native Plants: A New Role for the American Garden." (I highly recommend the whole series.) I'm hoping to get some ideas of what to plant in my now-thinned-out flowerbeds.

In order to have mindless knitting for the lecture (and yes, I knit during the lecture - I am capable of multitasking!) I need to finish the toe of the second stripey sock this morning. I'm three pattern repeats into the second Malabrigo sock, so two more to go before turning the heel.

Oh - request for assistance. Can anyone recommend a *good* energy bar-type-thing? I picked up a variety at Trader Joe's last night. I need to keep a stack in my bag, as my new career seems to have many days of missed/not good lunches, and as many of you know, if I don't eat, I get cranky / dizzy / disoriented / etc. and then might melt down. Anyway, I'm looking for something that's not necessarily a meal replacement, but something to help keep my blood sugar from dipping to an unhealthy level. Most of the energy bars I've tried are very hard to stomach. (Was it a Power Bar that I took a bite, spit it out and threw the whole thing away?) I can take Larabars every now and then, but was on a Larabar kick for a while and ate too many, so they don't excite me anymore. Can anyone suggest something that they like? Thanks...

Quick update

Posted a picture of the Cookie Monster scarf, and the two unblocked socks. Stripey and Malabrigo. (Will someday add pictures to Flickr.) Started the second Malabrigo sock tonight at knitting group. Showed off my traveling stash as we were leaving. The Royal Llama went over well. They'll be coming over here in October for a field trip. We're going to Miss Chickpea's and then back here for pizza and beer. Fun!

Zuzu is being a talky toaster tonight. I love my kitty! She's been chasing red laser lights for a good bit of the evening. Mike's been playing with the laser level, making her pounce over pillows and stuff, and she attacked the beams that my camera uses to check lighting when I was taking the pictures I posted tonight.

Got a new catalog in the mail today - patternworks. It could be dangerous. Lots of yarn and stuff.

Oh well. I should deal with the laundry and go to bed.

Home again

Got home from Pittsburgh not long ago. All I'll say about the wedding is that I'm glad we did things our way. Was surprised to see Mike's oldest brother and his wife there - apparently they are friends of the groom's parents.

Finished the first Malabrigo sock today, with the exception of closing the toe and weaving in the ends. *Love* that yarn. Must buy more, and make more socks (and other things) with it. Soft, warm, wonderful.

Made a scarf over the past two days (started at the Kirtlandia Society meeting, where we learned about meterorites in Antarctica) that I'm calling Cookie, as it's the color and furry appearance of Cookie Monster. Very cute. Will post a picture, as it amuses me to do so. The yarn kept tangling, so I finished the scarf so I could avoid untangling it again. Only one ball of yarn, so I can make a few more.

My sister is claiming the stripey socks as a Christmas gift. Still need to make the second sock. My mom offered to be a swift for my Royal Llama yarn (60% llama, 40% silk) which will most likely be socks for her. Wound two balls of it today. It's easier to wind when the yarn is being held by another person rather than my knees. Asked for a winder and swift for Christmas.

Knitting club tomorrow night; will probably start the second Malabrigo sock just because. May do a gauge swatch of the Royal Llama, because it seems like it would be nice to work with. May try to convert this pattern for that yarn because Mommie and I both really like the pattern, particularly in the solid yarn. Or, may just buy some finer sock yarn. Hmmmm.... Maybe the stuff that I bought at Miss Chickpea's would work for that. (Only problem with having them wind the yarn is that I don't know where the label ended up...)

What else? Zuzu was happy to see me. She licked my arm. Learned this morning that I can sleep in until 7:30 now if left to my own devices and am not disturbed by the kitty alarm. She woke Mike this morning. I'm glad to be home with my hungry kitty.

Really, I’m not a shopper

Background:

Item 1.) We've lived in our house for just over three years now.

Item 2.) My cousin is getting married tomorrow (and forming a new family that very much resembles the Brady Bunch with two fewer kids, complete with Mike Brady architecture of bathroom between kids' bedroom, kids sharing bedrooms, and an attic [or is it basement?] room for the oldest kid to move into when he develops a need for privacy).

Item 3.) I needed to buy a dress for the wedding.

Items 2 &3 made me realize that I don't know where the nearest mall is. Strip mall, yes, indoor mall, no. I felt like such a fool, but I asked about it while exercising one day. Apparently I used to work across the street from the nearest good mall, so I'd actually been there once or twice with coworkers. And I'd heard of the others, so maybe I'm not as hopeless as I'd thought. I guess I'd figured that there was a secret mall down one of the roads that I never drive. Oh well. I bought one dress, but I still haven't decided if I'm going to keep it. Better try to find one of the non-secret malls this afternoon and look around, see if there's anything better.

Side note, every time I've wandered in to a department store (strip mall) looking for clothes, I've had a moment where I see a shirt (or other article of clothing) that looks vaguely appealing (good color, fabric, whatever) so I pull it from the rack, glance at it, and recoil, often making a repulsed sound. ("Gah!" is a favorite.) No clue if everybody else has no taste, or if I never had any to begin with and the shirts with ruffles and sequins and who knows what else are really lovely. Somebody, please, hand me a clue.

***

Skipped the book signing last night, as Mike needed a nurse. He had a migraine all day, so I brought him food and vitamin water. We were both dehydrated, me because I still haven't figured out how to get enough water during the day (I miss my Spaten 1L beer mug/water glass! Probably the only thing I miss about my old job, accessibility to a water cooler...) and he can explain himself elsewhere if he likes.

Worked on the malabrigo sock yesterday at home, and finished the pattern rounds. Time to turn the heel. Don't know that I like the pattern, but I *love* the yarn, so I'll definitely be working with it in the future. Perhaps more socks, but the idea of a sweater is very tempting. The pattern reminds me of slouchy socks, and while I appreciated them in the 80s, I've outgrown them (but not legwarmers). Could just be that they haven't been blocked or anything (not that I've blocked socks, at least not yet, although I have learned of sock blockers and am intrigued) and they're bulky yarn, but they look slouchy. Will post more pictures when there's more to show.

Finished Stripey Sock 1. Need to start the second, but was having difficulties for no really good reason.

Anyway, should get started on the day. Lots to do before I sleep!

Okay, I admit it...

...my inner eight-year-old still loves rainbows and unicorns. It manifests in rainbow-colored yarn. I'll upload a picture of the malabrigo sock, and you'll see what I mean. Did two of five pattern repeats Tuesday night, and have only worked on the stripey sock since then. May have to do another repeat or so before leaving for work, which means that I have better things to do than post here.

Oh, I'm nearly done with the stripey sock. That is, I'm nearly out of yarn. Yet another benefit of toe-up socks - you know how tall to make them!