My Craftastic Blog

2009-07-13T12:57:00.001-04:00

Just a quick post. One of my pieces of jewelry was chosen for a treasury on Etsy today. Check it out! Mine is the "Blue Bead Bracelet."

2009-06-18T16:13:00.003-04:00

On May 23rd, Patrick and I headed out to Provincetown, MA for our first real vacation together since I don't know when. We ended up having a great time. Here's Patrick enjoying the local cuisine:

On Sunday, we spent some time hanging out and people watching downtown and then went out to Race Point Beach to do some beachcombing:

Sunday night we went to see Poppy Champlin, a hilarious comedian. I laughed so hard I cried. I highly recommend seeing her if you are the open-minded sort and don't mind a lot of very dirty, gay jokes.

On Monday, we went on a whale watch. It was an amazing day and we ended up seeing between 20-30 humpback whales.

Tuesday, we went on a dune tour and then up to the top of the Pilgrim Monument.

Wednesday, we headed home as the rest of the week the forecast was for rain. We were happy to get home and pick up Saffy from the kennel. She wasn't too happy because she got a bath:

2009-06-16T08:12:00.002-04:00

Boy I suck! It's been way too long since I last posted. I guess I've just been too lazy. Busy isn't an issue in my life usually, so it can't be that. Right now I am on a forced hiatus from yoga so I have a lot of extra time on my hand.

Since December I've been having lots of adventures with the dermatologist. I had a biopsy on a bump on my face which turned out normal and then I had a mole check in March which resulted in another biopsy on a mole on my stomach. That was mildly abnormal and the doctor decided he just wanted to watch that one. While on my follow up appointment for that mole, he decided to biopsy another mole on my groin which turned out to be moderately abnormal and resulted in another appointment to have it and everything around it removed. I now have nine stitches in my groin and two on my chest as he decided to biopsy yet another mole when I went to have the one on my groin removed. Hence the hiatus from yoga. I should find out the results of the biopsies this week and get the stitches out on Friday. I really hope this is the end of these adventures for a while. I know it won't be forever. Being a redhead, it's just something I have to live with.

In two weeks, Saffy and I are heading to Wisconsin for a two week visit with my family. I am really looking forward to it. A trip to Six Flags, a Brewer game, and a wedding reception are all on the agenda. Saffy will be very happy to have her very own Golden Retriever to play with in her cousin, Gus.

In knitting, I finished my Kai-Mei socks and have started the Cookie A KAL for June by knitting the Sunshine socks from Sock Innovation.

Patrick and I also took a short vacation to Provincetown, MA last month. I'll update with tales of the trip and pictures tomorrow.

2009-05-14T19:59:00.002-04:00

So, it's been two weeks since I've last updated. Today was Weight Watchers and I am now down 40 pounds! I can't believe it. I only have 29 more pounds to go to get to my goal weight. It seems so much easier now that I've come as far as I have.

In knitting news, I am doing a Cookie A KAL on Ravelry and one of the patterns for the month of May is Kai-Mei from Sock Innovation. I finished the first sock on Tuesday and I love it!

I am also working on another pair of Mingus socks:

And I picked up some new gorgeous Malabrigo Sock yarn to be used for a future Cookie A KAL:

In Saffy news, she went to doggie daycare for the first time today. I have never seen this dog more exhausted than she was this afternoon. The people at the kennel wanted to keep her and were impressed by her ability to hold her own with the big dogs. I just wish I could have seen it all. They have a webcam, but it just isn't the same. . .

2009-04-30T20:51:00.002-04:00

Happy last day of April! I did it! A post a day in April! Hooray!

Today was Weight Watchers. As I said last week, I've been having a big loss week then a small loss week. This week was a small loss week of only .4 lbs. I've lost a total of 37 pounds with 5 pounds lost in April. I also was able to meet my other goals of earning 28 activity points and eating all my daily points every day. I plan on keeping those two goals for every week. It should be easy now that the weather is nicer and I can take a lot of walks with Saffy.

Hope everyone has a great May!

2009-04-29T20:45:00.002-04:00

All through high school, my best friend was a girl I'll call Jane. Jane and I weren't the kind of best friends that were inseparable, we each had other friends outside of each other, but we were very close. Every summer we went to Chicago to stay with friends of Jane's family and go shopping, do crafts and just be silly. It was really great. When I went to college, we still stayed close, but not as close. It was hard with me being in Virginia and Jane in Sheboygan. She started dating when we were in high school. I was too scared and self-conscious to even talk to guys. She always got really distant when she was dating someone. She never talked to me about anything since she believed I wouldn't understand since I never dated anybody. That really hurt my feelings, because maybe I wouldn't have had first-hand knowledge of what she was talking about, but I could still listen. It also seemed that whenever she was dating someone, she could only be close to him and only came back to me if they broke up. After college I joined the Army and Jane found a husband. She got married shortly after I started dating Patrick. I was the maid of honor in her wedding and caught the bouquet at the reception. I got married five months after her and she didn't bother to come to the wedding and sent our gift three months late. Shortly after we received her gift she sent me a long letter about how she didn't want to be my friend anymore because I was a bad friend and selfish person who cared more about myself than about her. She said we were just "fun friends" that didn't have any substance. I have to say that no one ever hurt me as much as she did with that letter.

I went through a lot of therapy and dug into my relationship with Jane from every angle and discovered that I was NOT a bad friend and selfish person. It took me a long time to realize that everything that happened between us was all about her and never about me. I learned that when people are angry with themselves they accuse someone else of what they are mad at themselves. I heard this all the time when I worked on the phones. I got accused of losing a lot of people's money. Usually they were just mad at themselves for not selling their mutual fund shares when the price was up. Anyway, what I learned from the situation with Jane was that I never want to be that kind of friend. Being without much of a social life except Patrick makes me hope that I am not that kind of person.

2009-04-28T21:42:00.002-04:00

There's a lot of uncertainty in my life right now. My husband works four hours away from me in Maine and I don't know when I am going to be able to live with him full-time again. I also don't know where we'll be living when we are back together full-time. I'm in a holding pattern here. Sometimes I think I use the fact that there is so much uncertainty right now as an excuse to do anything. I'm working really hard to lose weight and be healthy, but I am not doing anything to help my social life or to figure out what I want to do with my life. I don't really have many friends here so during the week I am all by myself. My social interactions consist of chatting with people on my walks and small talk before yoga, at knitting and at Weight Watchers. I think I'm ready for a do-over.

2009-04-27T20:19:00.002-04:00

After today, I have three more posts for the month of April. I think November was a lot easier because of the holiday. April has been pretty much yoga, Weight Watchers, and walking the dog--lather rinse repeat.

Patrick left very early this morning and when he woke me up to say good-bye, I had a killer headache. After he left, I went back to bed and dreamed that I, along with my brother and sister, were kids again and we all had the swine flu. I am slightly freaked out by all this swine flu news. I try not to let it worry me and I probably won't change the way I live my life unless something comes out that tells me I should, but it does worry me. We almost booked a vacation to Mexico in May, but we couldn't afford it and are going to Cape Cod instead. I'm looking forward to the trip. Finally something a little different in my life.

2009-04-26T21:30:00.002-04:00

It was another warm day and Saffy and I took yet another walk today. Also, the trees in our back yard are getting their leaves. I never think Spring is really here until the leaves show up. I went out onto the back deck to take pictures of of the trees and who should be sitting on a branch and looking at me, but our friend the red squirrel. I decided today that the red squirrel is a boy and his name is Clancy. I got some pictures of Clancy and I swear he was posing for me. Such a saucy little lad!

Here we have the leaves:

Here's Clancy!

This is our back yard in December when we had the big ice storm:

Here's our damage, which I need to clean up:

Patrick is heading back to Maine tomorrow. I'm going to miss him. It was nice to have him home for a week.

2009-04-25T21:02:00.002-04:00

It was another beautiful day today. It actually got into the 90's according to the thermometer in the Beetle which we took out for cruise with the top down. I also took Saffy for a super-long walk after which she was exhausted. Not a whole lot else to say today, but I do have pictures! First, we have me in my new shorts. The only thing that could make my outfit more preppy is a white cotton sweater tied around my shoulders.

The next photo is Saffy after her walk today. She pretty much passed out after she drank practically her whole bowl of water.

Last but not least, the first completed Twisted Flower sock! I am turning the heel on the second so it shouldn't be too long before they are all done and I start on another pair of Mingus socks.

2009-04-24T22:07:00.004-04:00

Today was a very nice day. I went to yoga in the morning and came home and had my omelet. Then I showered and fell asleep for an hour with the puppy and the hubby. After I got dressed, Saffy and I took a nice long walk. We ran into our doggie friends Gracie (Pit Bull mix) and Sully (Greater Swiss Mountain Dog). Gracie was overjoyed to see us. She is such a sweetheart. Sully had never met Saffy before and was scared of her. Every time she tried to come near him, he would whine and back away. It was very funny. Saffy also discovered the squirrels on the back deck today. She likes to sit on her pillow in the sun in the mornings and today she saw the little red squirrel darting around. She just followed its every move and then started scratching on the glass and whining. We think she wanted to go play with it. The whole thing was very cute.

Tonight, Patrick and I went to Macy's to buy me some shorts with my gift card since it is going to be in the 80's this weekend and all my shorts are too big. I got a really cute pair of brown and pink plaid shorts and a pink polo shirt. The awesome news is that the shorts are a size 12! I can't tell you the last time I wore a size 12! I just got my new size 14 pants a month ago and they are already falling off of me. It's going to take some time for me to reconcile my new outside with my old inside. Going shopping was never easy, but I have to consciously steer myself away from the XLs and the plus sizes.

The only bummer thing that happened today was that we called our gamer friends to see if they were up for some Indian food and games and they said they were going out to dinner with our mutual friends for their daughter's birthday. I guess they threw together a big party at the Japanese steakhouse for everyone and didn't even call us. Gamer friend said they would ask mutual friends to invite us too, but we said if they wanted us to come they knew how to get in touch with us. We haven't seen them since January. I've called to talk or to get together at least once a week, but my calls are never returned. Oh well, I'm trying not to get too worried about it. Patrick says that life is too short for bad wine and fair weather friends.

2009-04-23T20:44:00.002-04:00

Today was Weight Watchers. I am down another 2.2 pounds for a total of 36.6. I only have 32.4 more pounds until my goal--less than I've already lost. Whoo hoo! As for my other goals this week, I didn't meet either of them. I missed eating all my points on two days and only earned 21 activity points instead of the 28 I wanted to earn. I am not too bummed about that though since I had a nice loss on the scale today. I'm keeping the same goals for this coming week though. The weather is supposed to be much nicer this coming week so Saffy and I will be taking a lot more walks. Unfortunately, because of the weight I lost, the 60 minute yoga class that I attend is now only worth 3 points so my yoga activity points for the week is only 18 now. I'm thinking about adding in another class during the week. I just haven't decided what day to add in. I have Thursdays and the weekend, perhaps Saturday mornings.

2009-04-22T21:02:00.002-04:00

It was another rainy day and my new head lacerations are proof that Saffy desperately needs a walk and her nails clipped. I finished the second repeat on my sock and am about to start the heel flap. Nothing else happened today. Tomorrow I get weighed so there will be a longer post then. Have a good night!

2009-04-21T20:59:00.002-04:00

Today was a much better day than yesterday. I went to yoga and finished the first pattern repeat on my second Twisted Flower sock. I felt a lot better.

I've been re-reading the Adrian Mole books by Sue Townsend. They are very funny, but can also be very sad. It is hard for me to believe that there could be someone in this world less self-aware than the character of Adrian Mole. He believes himself to be an intellectual, poet and writer and better than everyone else, yet he pretty much fails at everything he does. The lack of self-awareness shows up because he rarely believes himself to be the cause of his own failure. It is always someone else's fault. There are a couple of rare, shining moments in the series when you think he is going to get out of his own way and become a happy and accomplished person, but it never does happen. A couple of years back, I had Patrick read the books and thanks to that, we are the reigning Taboo champions wherever we go. All I have to say is "leather industry" and Patrick knows I am talking about "Norway."

No walk today as it has been raining pretty badly all day. It is supposed to rain again all day tomorrow so it looks like I will have to put up with extra puppy attacks on my head until I can get Saffy out and exercised fully. I guess all the lacerations have healed so it's time for some new ones.

2009-04-20T21:25:00.002-04:00

What a miserable Monday. I have been feeling like crap all day. I went to yoga this morning and just went through the motions. When I came home I wanted to go back to bed, but I showered up and got ready to take Saffy out for her walk. When we went out, it was so cold that we didn't stay out very long. I don't think I'm going to make my 28 activity points this week as tomorrow and Wednesday are going to be cold and rainy.

I did get some jewelry made today in my nice clean craft room. I haven't been too inspired lately, so I have to force myself to work. I'm going to try to get some pieces on Etsy and get some listings up on eBay this week. Hopefully I will feel less crappy tomorrow.

2009-04-19T22:24:00.002-04:00

I got the best news today, Patrick is going to be staying home all week! Yay! I knew he was going to spend the night tonight because he has a doctor's appointment in the morning, but he surprised me with the news today while we were grocery shopping. He was picking out a suspiciously large amount of food to cook out on the grill if I was the only one going to be eating leftovers. He also came for a walk with me and Saffy which is a very rare occurrence.

I'm about halfway through the leg of the second Twisted Flower sock. I am finding this one to be much easier than the first. The cables are still a bit of a pain, but the finished object is worth it. I am charging my camera so I can get some pictures of the work-in-progress.

This week was looking to be another week of the same old thing, but with my sweetie home, it might be a little more exciting. I certainly won't be as lonely as usual.

2009-04-18T16:47:00.002-04:00

We have three bird feeders on our back deck. I love to sit in the kitchen and watch the birds come and eat. Our usual visitors include goldfinches, tufted titmice, black-capped chickadees, and nuthatches. We also on occasion get purple finches and woodpeckers. There's a mangy old squirrel that has been trying to climb up onto the feeders as well. Unfortunately, the baffle is not baffling him. This morning when I woke up and came downstairs, there was an adorable little red squirrel sitting on the deck railing making a loud chirping noise. I noticed it was shaking. Saffy started growling and I saw why. There was a big white cat with brown spots and a tiger-striped tail on the deck stalking the poor squirrel. I've never seen this particular cat before and didn't want it to get the little squirrel. Saffy started barking and barking with the hair on the back of her neck standing on end. That cat stared at me as I moved toward the door. It darted down the stairs as I opened the slider and then sat at the bottom of the stairs. It started creeping back up when I moved to go back inside, so I fake-lunged at it and it ran away into the woods in the back yard. Then the little red squirrel relaxed and took off into the trees in the side yard. Me and Saffy to the rescue! Saffy continued barking until she was sure that cat was gone. I don't mind cats catching small animals, I know it's in their nature, I just don't want it happening on my back deck. It's not fair to turn our bird feeders into some sort of easy-prey trap for cats.

The rest of the day hasn't been as exciting. I worked on cleaning my craft room and tonight we are heading over to our friends' house for a game night. Hence the reason I am posting this early.

2009-04-17T21:29:00.002-04:00

Today was my average Friday. I went to yoga this morning, came home, showered, made an omelet, cleaned up the kitchen, threw in a load of laundry and took Saffy for an hour long walk. Then we just chilled until Patrick got home.

Patrick is a total sucker when it comes to Saffy. He always holds her Kong so she can eat the treats out of it easier.

Sorry for the short post, just the same old same old today. . .

2009-04-16T21:27:00.002-04:00

I had Weight Watchers this morning. I am down .4 pounds for a total of 34.4. It seems like I am getting a good result every other week. Last week was 2 pounds and the week before was .8. So next week, I think I can expect to be down between 1 and 2 pounds. I've been having trouble eating all my daily points this past week. My goals for this week is to eat all my daily points every day (already did it today) and earn 28 activity points for the week. If I go to yoga four days during the week, I earn 19 points, so I just need to earn an additional 9 points. Luckily, tomorrow it is supposed to be in the 70's so Diana and Saffy will be hitting the streets for a long walk.

2009-04-15T21:20:00.002-04:00

Patrick is an evil evil man. Today one of his co-workers was talking about getting a dog and he started looking on Petfinder. This is what he found.

His name is Jasper and he was born without front legs. He looks like such a sweetie pie. Just like Saffy did when she was a puppy except brown. We are currently not planning on getting another puppy, but sometimes it's nice to see what's out there. I'm a sucker for Chihuahuas! Saffy is our fourth Chihuahua and definitely won't be our last.

We got Petie and Cocoa in April of 2001. They had to be adopted together and were about five or six years old when we got them. Petie was a roly-poly guy and Cocoa looked like he had some Dachshund in him as he was shaped like a little sausage with a pot belly. They were both sweetie pies.

Jesus came to live with us on Christmas Eve after Cocoa died in April of 2005. He was a total character. He walked into our house when we brought him home like he never lived anywhere else. He and Petie never really got along all that well. They only tolerated each other.

Chihuahuas are really wonderful dogs. I think they have a bad reputation as yappy, obnoxious ankle-biters. They are actually very loyal, sweet and loving dogs. I think the yappy idea comes from the fact that they are very protective of their people. If you ever want a dog that loves to curl up on your lap and snuggle or if you like your dog to be silly and make you laugh, check out a Chihuahua!

Of course, all five of my followers are quite familiar with Saffron, so this Chihuahua-lovin' tribute post will end with a shot of her. This picture is the aftermath of Saffy versus Time Magazine. One guess who won!

2009-04-14T21:31:00.002-04:00

I finished the first Twisted Flower sock today. It's a little tight on my foot, so I've decided to give the pair away when I'm finished. I was thinking about making gifts for my yoga instructors as a thank you for helping me lose all the weight. I have three skeins of Classic Elite Alpaca Sox and will make a pair of socks for each of my instructors. I'm glad to have even a small goal to work towards!

Saffy and I took another long walk today. It was a beautiful day. I would have worn shorts if I had any that fit. We met lots of new people and Saffy made a new dog friend named Gracie. She is a very sweet dog. She's some sort of pit bull or bull terrier. She was so excited to see Saffy. She is very friendly (she even let me give her a tummy rub) so hopefully we will run into them again on our walks.

2009-04-13T21:37:00.002-04:00

In first grade, I was in a lower reading group than all my friends. So, I went to the local library and checked out the higher level reading book and spent all weekend learning the whole book. The following Monday, I went to school and told my teacher that I could read the whole book and should be in the higher reading group. She had me read for her and put me in the reading group with my friends.

Now that I am a grown-up, I wish I knew what happened to that very determined little girl who didn't want to get left behind. It's not so much that I feel left behind, I just have no idea what I want. I don't know what I want to do with my life. I'm getting in shape and taking care of myself which is all good, but now what? I don't know what job I want and I don't know what career I want. I have a bachelor's degree in Sociology with a concentration in women's studies, I've been a supply specialist in the Army, an events coordinator and a stock broker. I have no clue what's going to be next and I kind of wish I could figure it out.

2009-04-12T19:32:00.002-04:00

Sorry if I freaked anyone out with yesterday's post. You all have had a little glimpse into Diana's crazed psyche.

Today is Easter. As with most other holidays, my husband and I don't really celebrate Easter. We live far from our families, have no kids, and have friends who celebrate with their own families leaving us on our own for most major holidays. We just hung out and worked on cleaning up the house today. We only got a little bit done, but a little is better than none at all. This week, my goal is to clean my craft room. I have a friend coming to visit at the beginning of June and don't really like the thought of having to do major cleaning right before she comes. I'll have to make sure the house is toddler-proof as she is bringing her 3 year old son and her 2 year old son. I think Saffy will enjoy the visit as she will have lots of people to chase her.

If you celebrate Easter, I hope you had a wonderful holiday.

2009-04-11T13:30:00.003-04:00

Sometimes, my mind works in mysterious ways. Recently I was wondering if I lost a limb, depending on how much it weighed, would I still be considered overweight? I thought that one leg would be a good option (like I would be able to choose) because I would retain my height and it would weigh more than my arms. I brought this topic up at a knitting group and one of the other girls said she thought they probably have an adjusted BMI chart for people with missing limbs. We just don't know about it. They probably use body measurements, but it was an interesting thought. Believe me when I say that I am not trying to be offensive to people with missing limbs, I just wonder.

In the same vein, last night I was talking to Patrick and I told him that his being home makes my heart smile. In my mind, when I picture my heart smiling, it is spreading arms wide open. Yes, I actually imagine the things I say are really happening and in this scenario, my heart has arms. I told him about my heart arms and wondered if my heart would be able to smile if it didn't have arms. Then I wondered if I would be able to smile if I didn't have arms. I thought I wouldn't be able to smile immediately after I lost my arms, but maybe I would after I had time to get used to the situation. I then started imagining life without arms. Life without arms would be very hard. I pictured myself eating a grilled chicken salad at the Texas Roadhouse (my thought scenarios are very specific) with the dressing on the side. I have to be VERY specific about asking what I want on my salad because I wouldn't be able to eat around it and I wouldn't be able to dip my fork in the dressing like I usually do. After that thought, I wondered what body modifications I could make in myself to make being armless easier and I came up with a snout and dog teeth. I would also have to have a very strong neck so I could lift things up with my dog teeth. I imagined myself trying to feed the birds by chewing holes in the bag of birdseed (much like Saffy does) and picking up the bag in my teeth and then shaking my head violently to scatter the seeds about. That's about as far as I went thinking about being armless with dog teeth, but I will probably continue the thoughts at a later time.

In not so bizarre news, Patrick and I are having a date night at Harlow's Pub in Peterborough. We haven't been there in months and months and I have been jonesing for their chicken quesadilles with homemade vegetarian black bean refried beans. Yum. They also have great beer on tap, so it should be a nice time.

2009-04-10T21:10:00.002-04:00

This past week I've been watching a lot of Buffy The Vampire Slayer. I've watched the complete first two seasons and about 6 episodes of season three. After repeated watchings, it is definitely easier to pick the good episodes from the not-so-good. In season one, my favorite episodes are "The Pack" and "The Puppet Show." The former for hyena-Xander and the eating of Principal Flutie and the latter because I love how the opposite of what you expect is true and the excellent "Oedipus" performance by Buffy, Willow and Xander at the end. I tend to like the stand alone episodes in the early seasons better than the ones focusing on the Big Bad. In season two, I am partial to "School Hard" (introduction to Spike and Drusilla, yay!), "Ted," and "Go Fish." Season two is not my favorite season. I think there is too much Buffy and Angel angst, but then I was never a big Buffy/Angel shipper. Season three is my all-time favorite season with my all-time favorite episode, "Band Candy." I just love watching the adults act like teenagers and can only imagine how much fun they had shooting that episode. I love when Joyce is looking at the coat in the shop window and says, "It's soooo Juice Newton!" I was also a major Joyce/Giles shipper after seeing the episode.

I'm not a big reviewer-type person. I've just been having some thoughts about Buffy and felt like sharing.

In other news, I have officially verified that Saffy is the eater of the birdseed as I caught her red-pawed. She was chewing on a sunflower seed with millet stuck to her nose. It was very cute.

Patrick is home, so I am very happy! Have a great weekend.

2009-04-09T20:44:00.002-04:00

Today was Weight Watchers. I was down 2 pounds for a total of 34. I'm about halfway to my goal of 69 pounds. I got some new pants a couple of weeks ago and they are already getting baggy. I'm going to be wearing 12's in no time! I think when I reach my goal weight, I'll be wearing either an 8 or 10.

It was a beautiful day. I took Saffy for our longest walk yet. We walked about 2 miles. She totally passed out when we got home, but I honestly believe she could have walked further. I know I was pretty tired out!

I've also been working on my Twisted Flower sock. I am almost done with the first one. I decided to officially frog the Absinthe sock once I figure out what I want to do with the yarn. I think the pattern is beautiful, but it just isn't for me. Good thing Knitty.com is chock full of gorgeous, free sock patterns!

2009-04-08T21:00:00.002-04:00

Nothing new or exciting happened today. I guess I am not going to Maine this weekend. Patrick said he'd rather come home. I still miss him lots when he is gone.

Gratuitous Saffy shot since I don't really have a whole lot more to say.

2009-04-07T20:25:00.002-04:00

When I was a senior in high school, the Spring play was this crazy, made-up, sketch show about equality and diversity. Everyone in the play was white except one Hmong girl so we had to interpret "diversity" as different types of personalities. It was called "The World As We Know It." It had everything: interpretive dance, a clarinet duet, attempted suicide by a call-in radio host, and me and my brother. My brother was a freshman and until we were in the play together, I didn't really get along very well with him. In short, he drove me nuts. Doing the play together did succeed in bringing us closer together and as lame public service message about getting along, I guess it did it's job. We weren't bff's or anything, but we were definitely more tolerant of each other.

In 1997, my brother and his then-wife had their first son, Darren. I was honored to be asked to be his godmother. I was in the Army at the time and the baptism was when I came home on leave before going to my permanent duty station. I believe that Darren's birth was what really matured my brother. I can't point to what made me an adult, but I really think that his son is what made Aaron. Ever since then, we are much closer. I'd even call us friends. He has a wonderful wife, two terrific sons and a beautiful one-year-old daughter and I feel blessed to have him as a brother.

Here we are last year, celebrating his 30th birthday. Happy Birthday little brother!

2009-04-06T20:32:00.002-04:00

What a miserable rainy day it was! After yoga, I came home, showered and made lunch. Because it was so yucky out, to cheer myself up, I watched the first season of Buffy. That's really all that happened today.

Saffy has taken up eating birdseed. She has been chewing holes in the bag that we use to fill our bird feeders. Patrick thought it might have been a mouse, but I think a mouse would have been much more destructive and left behind droppings. There are no droppings anywhere. I'm quite impressed that Saffy is actually cracking open the sunflower seeds and eating out the inside. She is a talented little puppy. When it stops raining, I might actually fill the bird feeders and give the food to its rightful owners.

Boring post for a gray day.

2009-04-05T20:31:00.003-04:00

Today was a nice day. I got up around 9am and watched some Animal Planet. Patrick got up around 10 and told me to get dressed so we could go out for breakfast. We ended up going to the Red Arrow Diner which recently opened up in Milford. It's pretty good and not too expensive. Not the best healthy choices though. I have to count my points carefully when we eat there!

I thought it was going to rain all day, but to my surprise, it was sunny and in the 50's. I took Saffy for a long walk when I got home and then sat with Patrick and watched TV. There was woodpecker in the woods at the side of our house all afternoon going to town on one of the dead trees. It was very relaxing. Around 4pm, Patrick started packing up and getting ready to head back to Maine. He decided he wanted to take a short walk with me and Saffy before he left. We had a great time. Saffy was soooo happy! She was chasing leaves and greeting everyone we came across. She is definitely happiest when Patrick and I are both with her. It was a good end to a too-short weekend.

To close, a nice shot of my beloveds:

2009-04-04T21:38:00.003-04:00

I haven't been knitting too much lately. I finished a pair of Jaywalker socks for myself two weeks ago. I used the Opal Rainforest yarn my mom bought me for Christmas. I think they turned out very cute:

Last week I cast on for Absinthe and I am about halfway through the first sock. It is my first toe-up sock and I really don't think I like it very much. I got halfway through the foot and ended up ripping the whole thing out because I messed up on the cables. Now I am contemplating ripping out the entire thing. I'm just not feeling it and the idea of having to knit the second sock really doesn't do it for me. I have to come up with another pattern to use with the Flat Feet I'm using for Absinthe.

I've also been working on Cookie A's Twisted Flower pattern. It's a beautiful and very well-written pattern like all of Cookie A's patterns. It is slow going though. I have only been working on it when I go to my knitting group on Tuesday mornings and I just started the heel flap on the first sock.

In general, I've been feeling a bit out of sorts lately. Patrick being gone so much is really wearing on me. I'm pretty lonely during the week and the time I spend with him on the weekends is just not enough for me. I try to keep busy and now that it's spring, I will be getting out more often. This past winter, of all the winters we've spent in New Hampshire, had really inspired me to hibernate. I just did not want to get out of the house more than once a day. I'm glad winter is over. Hopefully, I will be able to see Patrick more often some day soon.

2009-04-03T16:31:00.003-04:00

Just a short post today. I went to yoga this morning and about halfway through class I developed a miserable headache. I took a nice long nap this afternoon, but haven't been able to get rid of it. I just feel tired, weak and ooky. I hope I'm not coming down with something.

2009-04-02T19:39:00.003-04:00

Today was Weight Watchers and I am down another .8 for a total of 32 pounds. I really love my meeting, there are some awesome crazy older ladies there and they crack me up. Today, one of them told me I was looking foxy. I also arranged to start walking with another lady in my meeting that I know from my LYS. It will be nice to get out of the house and spend time with other people. I've been realizing lately how lonely I've been.

I went to Target today and discovered that they had Wii Fit in stock, so I picked one of those up. I decided that it was our anniversary present. That was my way of justifying spending money we don't necessarily have. I did enjoy my hula hooping today and was happy that my Wii Fit age is 32 which is younger than I really am. Yay me.

2009-04-01T12:58:00.002-04:00

Surprises

Ever since I was a little girl, I have loved surprises. Not the "jump out at you and scare the crap out of you" scary-type of surprises, but the surprise party awesome type of surprises. I never got a surprise party (would love one someday, btw) but my grandparents surprised me pretty good when I was little. I remember sleeping over at their house and the next morning, Grandpa announced that we were going to go for a ride in the car. We all piled in and drove and drove and drove. Suddenly, in the distance, I saw a roller coaster! I asked my grandpa if we could go there and he said, "sure!" I couldn't believe it! I was so excited to get to go to Great America. To this day, this is one of the best memories I have. It was amazing. I recently found out that when I was little, I would get so excited that I would make myself physically ill, so they couldn't tell me about the trip without risking me getting a high fever. My husband picks on me about this now. "Don't get too excited or you'll get a fever!" he tells me.

Since I started Weight Watchers, Patrick had promised me surprises for every ten pounds I lose. Until Saturday, I hadn't reaped any of the benefits of this promise in spite of losing over 30 pounds. Saturday, Patrick scheduled me a haircut. I haven't had my hair cut in almost a year, so it was overdue. Here's my before (looking skinny):

And my smokin' hot post-haircut shot:

Happy April!

2009-03-30T17:09:00.003-04:00

I signed up for April NaBloPoMo so I will be posting every day in April.

As promised, here is what I received in the scavenger hunt swap:

Something Local is wool and silk handspun from a local spinner and Something Related to the Letter "M" is Malabrigo sock yarn.

Something Hard is a fun fur blanket for Saffy. She called it hard because it was a pain in the butt to knit.

Something Purple is cotton wash clothes and Something Recycled is a reusable grocery bag.

Something Funny is two magic yarn balls in Minnesota Vikings colors. As a born and raised cheesehead, I am a Green Bay Packer fan through and through. The first picture is the before and the second is the unwrapped after.

Something Dotted is a water bottle.

Last but not least is Sender's Choice, which was my favorite. A felted bag.

Thanks to my swap partner for the best swap ever!

2009-03-29T20:10:00.004-04:00

Sorry I have been such a slacker about posting here. I think about it a lot, but never do it. The last month has been pretty much the same old thing. I have upped my yoga to four days a week and am really seeing the results. I am now down over 30 pounds! 35 is halfway to my goal weight, so I am getting close to the halfway mark.

Patrick and I just had a nice weekend. Our 10th anniversary was on Friday, so he took the day off work and we had a great long weekend together. Friday night we went to see "I Love You, Man," which was very funny. We also bought some beautiful filet mignons which Patrick grilled on Saturday night. Saffy got a couple of pieces since it was her 1st birthday. Today we watched some DVDs before Patrick left to go back to Maine. It was a great weekend and I was very sad to see him leave.

In crafty news, I just finished up a swap on Craftster.org. It was a scavenger hunt swap. We had eight categories and had to come up with an item for our partner for each category. It was a yarn-based swap, so at least five of the items had to be yarn related. Here's what I sent my partner:

Something Local is Reclaimed Cashmere from a local spinner.

Something Purple is a neckwarmer and a pair of fingerless mittens.

Something Recycled is a pouch made out of recycled grocery bags. It took me almost a month!

Something Hard is sock yarn and sock needles since my partner thought knitting socks was really hard to do.

Something Funny is a fun fur pattern book.

Something related to the letter "M" is stitch markers.

Something dotted is some notecards.

And finally, Sender's Choice is a spring-y necklace that I made for my partner.

I'll post what I received in the swap in my next post. I believe that I really lucked out in this swap as both of us were extremely happy with everything we received.

2009-02-28T13:27:00.003-05:00

Yesterday morning I had a really awesome yoga class. It was the first time that I did Chaturanga Dandasana off my knees for the entire class. Basically it is the down part of the push-up which you need to do without plopping your entire body on the ground. It requires lots of upper body strength and control. Usually I drop to my knees because I feel it is more important to keep proper form during one's yoga practice than it is to try to do the poses "the proper way" and end up doing them half-assed. Yesterday I was feeling strong. The entire class went by quickly and it was the type of practice that felt completely effortless. I was going deeper into poses than I ever have before and not feeling it. I was in the yoga-zone. It was awesome. Unfortunately, my mood changed rapidly after class and I was just in a miserable mood. There's quite a bit of stress going on in my personal life right now and that was weighing on me. I am very glad that yoga, at least, probably prevented my mood from being even worse.

I bought Patrick and I tickets to see Stephen Lynch in Boston for his birthday and last night was the show. We had tickets for the 10:30 show (which is past my bedtime, but the earlier show was sold out). For dinner, we decided to stop at the Burlington Mall and go to Johnny Rockets for burgers instead of going to one of the expensive, crowded places downtown. It was a good choice, I haven't had a hamburger since October and this one was mighty tasty! I should be able to go a while longer without having another just based on how delicious it was. After dinner we hung out at the mall for a bit. I haven't been to a mall for about two months. It was crazy. We don't have any full length mirrors so I haven't seen what my body looks like since I've lost the weight. Plus, I tried on some clothes and I fit in a Large--no X's at all! That was exciting. I swear every time I passed a full length mirror I stopped to check myself out. I'm such a dork.

The show was awesome. It was so funny. I laughed so hard I had tears streaming out of my eyes. I can't believe how lucky we got with parking. We found a spot RIGHT IN FRONT of the theater. If you have ever been to Boston, or the downtown area of any big city, you will understand how incredibly rare this is. We didn't get home until about 2:30 am.

Today, I slept in and took the Beetle and the truck to get inspected. That's about it.

In crafty news, I made Saffy a sweater last week while watching the Oscars. She likes it and looks adorable in it:

2009-02-17T14:15:00.002-05:00

Happy 100th Post! Yay! I never thought I'd make it.

Lots of pictures to post today. First, I finished my Mingus socks. The picture is of them still in progress, but they are finished now:

And a close-up of the stitch pattern:

Here's the in-progress Eastscarf:

I love the way the Malabrigo is working with the pattern. The slight color variations in the yarn really help to make the pattern pop. I constantly have other knitters ask me if the pattern is difficult and they don't believe me when I tell them it's very easy. I am actually to the section of the scarf which is a 6-row repeat so it is pretty boring now.

In my previous post, I mentioned that I reached my 10% goal at Weight Watchers. Here's the keychain that I got for that achievement:

I am amazed at how well Weight Watchers is working for me. I am so happy that I finally realized that losing weight intelligently was not something I could do on my own. What I love about it is that the program teaches you how to eat in the real world and shows you how to live in the real world without depriving yourself of things you love. For Valentine's Day, Patrick and I went to the Bedford Village Inn for dinner. I had a caesar salad, foie gras encrusted filet mingnon, and strawberry amaretto mousse. I was able to eat the entire meal within the parameters of the plan and I don't feel guilty about any of it. Knowing my body, I will have a larger loss this week than usual in spite of that meal! I also really like the Weight Watchers e-tools. They have great recipes. A couple of weeks ago, I made a delicious black bean soup which ended up more like a stew:

That soup lasted me a whole week. I like to try a new recipe every now and then. It's nice to do during the week when Patrick is gone so if it doesn't work out, I don't have to subject him to my experiments.

Back in the craft world, I sold a necklace on Etsy last week, so that was a pleasant surprise. I am also working on a commissioned bracelet. I am getting close to being finished with that. There's a lot of sawing silver involved so I'll be glad when it's done! In fact, I should get back to work.

Thanks for all the support and I look forward to sharing my next 100 posts!

2009-02-05T20:49:00.002-05:00

I can't believe it has been a week and a half since I have written a post. I'm such a slacker! A lot has happened in the past week and a half.

Last Sunday, the Etsy New Hampshire Street Team had a meet-up in Concord. It was really great to meet a lot of the other artists I've gotten to know through their work and through our Yahoo group. There were a lot of great ideas about ways we can help each other with marketing, business skills and promoting ourselves. I also learned about a non-profit organization called MicroCredit-NH. They help micro business owners get loans, learn business skills and network. I went to an orientation meeting today and I really think they can help me. I really don't know a whole lot about starting a business or running a business and having the support of people who are in similar situations will really inspire me. I've found that I am the type of person who does well with a support system. Some people can go it on their own, but I now know that I am not one of those people.

Today was weigh-in day and I hit my 10% goal! I have lost 21 pounds since starting Weight Watchers in November. We set my next goal at another 10% which is 18 pounds.

Patrick has been dealing with a ton of crazy things with work so he won't be coming home this weekend. I'll miss him lots. I guess our Valentine's Day/Patrick's Birthday celebration will be extra special. I got him an awesome gift which I won't be posting here until after he receives it. Since I am all alone this weekend, I'll be doing laundry and taxes. It'll be like an awesome party.

2009-01-26T19:06:00.002-05:00

The Christmas gifts have been received! They are also all loved. Time for the show and tell.

The first is the afghan I made for my parents. I used the same Sudoku idea I did for the afghan I made for my in-laws. In this case I only used two colors and chose one number on the puzzle to randomly disperse the accent color. They really liked it and said it matches the living room wonderfully.

For my brother, I made Mr. Pitt's Socks out of Lion Brand Sock-Ease.

I also made Mr. Pitt's Socks for my brother-in-law, Paul. I made these out of Misti Alpaca Handpainted Sock yarn.

Also out of Misti Alpaca are my sister's socks. I used Cookie A's Hedera pattern from Knitty.com.

Last but not least are the socks I made for my sister-in-law, Andrea. For these I adapted a stitch pattern from volume one of the Vogue Stitchionary. It's the closest I've come to designing my own pattern. I made these out of Conjoined Creations Flat Feet.

I'm almost done with my first Mingus sock. It looks awesome! I will want invisible shoes to wear with them.

2009-01-23T20:44:00.004-05:00

The gifts are finished and in the mail! I am so happy. Hopefully they will be received tomorrow and I'll be able to post them here soon! Christmas is over!

I have started my Eastscarf and I really love working with the Malabrigo. I needed to get new needles for the scarf and as a special treat for myself, I got Lantern Moon Ebony circs. I must admit that they aren't quite as nice as my Pony Rosewood circs, but they run a close second. I am about 55 rows into the scarf, but for some reason, I decided that I needed to also be working on socks as well, so I cast on Mingus. I am using Noro Kureyon Sock yarn. These will also be for me.

Yesterday was weigh-in day and I am down another 2.2 lbs! I am only 1.6 lbs. away from my first goal of 20 lbs. which is 10% of my starting weight. My jeans are starting to get baggy and I am fitting back into some of my old clothes.

In Saffy news, she got a bath today. I have to keep treats next to the sink while I am bathing her to keep her from jumping out. After her bath, she went seriously nuts. I think she thought she could outrun her wet fur. I was wearing a cardigan and she kept jumping into the front of it and out the bottom. She is now beautifully fluffy and smells wonderful. One of the women in my knitting group has a dog that's a little bit bigger than Saffy. She knit him a sweater which turned out to be too small so she gave it to me. Here's a closing shot of Saffy in her new sweater:

2009-01-15T14:12:00.002-05:00

I'm down another .8 lbs this week. I honestly believe the slowdown in weight loss is that I haven't been eating enough food. I went back to yoga this week and probably should have begun to eat my activity points on top of my daily points. Metabolism and they way the human body works can be so counter-intuitive sometimes. I guess I need to work on eating more healthy, higher point value snacks.

I finished another gift, so now I only have the one remaining. I am about half finished. The end is in sight, as is the Malabrigo!

2009-01-13T20:00:00.002-05:00

I finished a gift last night! All I have to do is weave a couple of ends in. I have half of one gift and a quarter of another left. I hope to have everything out by the beginning of next week. That means that Christmas will be finally over! My next project will be for myself. I bought two skeins of Malabrigo in burgandy and am planning to make Norah Gaughan's Eastscarf. I am a total sucker for Norah Gaughan's patterns.

Back in October I knitted two 8-inch squares for the "Friends of Fake News" group on Ravelry. Painty, one of the moderators, put together this amazing flag afghan for Stephen Colbert. It was sent out last week and was received at the show on Friday. We're hoping that our gift gets some airtime so I've been watching "The Colbert Report" with my fingers crossed every night. Here is Painty's blog entry with a photo of the completed afghan. Unfortunately, it is so big she wasn't able to take a full picture of it, but I believe she said it ended up being queen-sized. Luckily, both of my squares are visible in the picture. Both are white. One is the second square in the white stripe next to the blue field, and the other is directly below it in the next white stripe down. So, watch "The Report" and keep your fingers crossed for us!

We had eight inches of snow on Sunday and our plow guy never came, so on top of the tons of yoga I have been doing, I have added snow shoveling to my workout regime. The city plows dump all the snow in our yard because we are at the end of a dead-end street. This morning I had to shovel a huge snowbank to free our mailbox. I'm just glad that I have a truck with four wheel drive so I can get up out of our driveway. Hopefully we won't get too much more snow before the snow we already have melts. Too bad it's going to be super duper cold the next couple of days. Stay warm!

2009-01-08T19:37:00.003-05:00

I had my first weigh-in of the new year today. I am down 4.6 lbs for a total of 15.4! I am very happy. I am beginning to see the changes and I am starting to fit back into some clothes that I've outgrown. So far I've lost 25% of my goal. Yay!

About a week and a half ago, I applied for a job with a broadcasting corporation in Bedford, NH. Today I got a call about the job and had a five minute phone interview. Of course, I totally think I bombed, but I can never be objective about these things. I always assume the worst. The position is for an executive assistant/marketing assistant with a background in finance. Basically, the job description fits my work history to a tee and I think I would be a great fit. We'll see what happens.

Tomorrow it is back to yoga after many many weeks away. It is going to be painful, but I will power through it.

As for the Christmas gifts, I am still slowly trucking along. I hope to finish at least one of the gifts this weekend and maybe two if I am lucky. Hopefully I can send them out next week sometime along with my niece's and nephew's birthday presents.

2009-01-05T13:53:00.002-05:00

Ugh. I am still trying to finish Christmas gifts. I have three left. I am done with half of one, a third of another and two-thirds of the last one. I feel like I am never going to finish these gifts.

Patrick went back to Bangor last night. He had been home about three weeks so it is very empty around here. I miss him.

Saffy has been a bit nutty today. I was working on my laptop and she decided she wanted my attention so she jumped onto the keyboard while I was on my "bookmarks" page. She landed right on the delete key and ended up deleting all my bookmarks. As soon as it happened I tried to remember everything and re-enter them all, but I barely got half. Oh well.

I've been spending way too much time on Facebook lately. It's so addicting. I particularly love the chat feature and have reconnected with a ton of people from my past chatting about stupid stuff.

I'm heading back to yoga this week. Hopefully I will be able to get off my butt and do something about my life. I'm still looking for a job and still working on my weight. I have a lot to do.

2008-12-31T21:00:00.002-05:00

I'm feeling melancholy this evening. No plans for New Year's Eve this year. I actually spent the day in my jammies watching the snow and working on Christmas gifts. Yep, I'm still not done.

2008 was a rough year for us. I am kind of glad it is over. There probably was more good than bad, but the bad has been weighing on me and stressing me out. Hopefully 2009 will be better. I don't usually make resolutions, so I am going to keep on doing what I am doing and get the rest of this weight off me and keep it off. I have also started applying for jobs. There isn't a whole lot out there now but we'll see.

Best wishes to you all for a happy and prosperous New Year.

2008-12-26T08:05:00.002-05:00

I hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas. Ours was very quiet. Just me and Patrick this year. We woke up, opened presents, watched TV, played some Wii, and had ham for dinner. Saffy enjoyed the wrapping paper enormously. She even opened all her presents herself. She got about a gazillion new toys and yet all she wants to play with is the wrapping paper and the tubes from inside the wrapping paper.

I am STILL working on Christmas gifts. Four of them have been received so here, finally, is the first round of Christmas gifts!

This pair was for Rita, Patrick's sister. I used the Jaywalker pattern by Grumperina that I found on Ravelry. It's a quick and easy pattern and I love how the yarn worked in this pattern! I knit these in Blue Ridge Yarn Jubilee.

This pair was for Teri, Patrick's brother's wife. I used the Monkey pattern from Knitty. These were also knit from Blue Ridge Jubilee.

This pair was for Patrick's brother, John. I used the pattern, Mr. Pitt's Socks and they were knitted in Noro Kureyon Sock yarn.

Last but not least, the Sudoku afghan for my mother and father-in-law. I used Vanna's Choice and made up the pattern myself. I used shades of blues and grays in honor of my father-in-law's Air Force career and a Sudoku puzzle in honor of my mother-in-law's love of puzzles.

As far as I know, all the gifts were loved.

In other news, I have officially lost 10.8 pounds as of December 24th. Yay me!

2008-12-18T16:26:00.002-05:00

Sorry it's been a while. I wanted to post last week, but the universe just said no. Last Thursday, New Hampshire had a huge ice storm and about half of the state was left without power. Patrick and I stayed in the house over Friday night. We slept with the dog and two comforters and many blankets. I was planning on going to Syracuse on Sunday to visit my friend Sara, but ended up leaving a day early as she had power and heat. Our power was out a total of five days. I was going to come home yesterday, but there was snow in New York as well as New Hampshire, so I spent an extra day. It was a really nice visit, except for the cold I brought home with me. I just got over the last one.

I'll do some more updates when my head is less stuffy!

2008-12-05T20:37:00.002-05:00

4 gifts complete! I didn't finish yesterday as I was hoping, but just this afternoon. I doubt I will finish two gifts this weekend either, but I will settle for one. I am done with the majority of the crocheting for one of the gifts and all that is left is a LOT of finishing. I can't wait until I can share everything I am working on. I guess that is my Christmas gift to my blog readers.

I am still stuffy and snuffly. I can't wait for this to be done! Saffy keep stealing my tissues and then ripping them apart into a million pieces. She tries to steal them while I am blowing my nose.

Just thought I would post a quick update.

2008-12-03T20:30:00.003-05:00

I purposely skipped posting yesterday after posting 30 days in a row. It sure felt weird. But I am back, typing more about nothing!

I am still suffering from this miserable cold. It has finally reached my head and I am stuffy and snuffly. I skipped yoga today as I didn't want my head to explode during the inversions. I did have an appointment with a new dermatologist today. I have a bump under my left nostril that has been there for around 15 years. He thinks it might be a basal cell carcinoma and I have a biopsy scheduled for the 22nd. I'm not too worried. It's been there a while so if it was going to misbehave I think it might have done so by now. My dad just got cleared of skin cancer so it's better safe than sorry.

Saffy and I had obedience today. She was really wound up. She started freaking out the minute she saw me getting her bag ready. When we got to Petsmart, she walked in the door, stood on her hind legs and waved her paws at the ladies at the checkout. It was very cute. She did do a good job in class as I got one good "stay" out of her. She has been driving me and Patrick crazy lately. She nips at our arms and scratches my head and face. The instructor told me to put her in time-out every time she is naughty. I've been putting her on the floor and standing on her leash until she calms down. It seems to be working, but I will need to keep it up. I am such a strict mommy. Patrick is a push-over when it comes to the puppy, but I am with her most of the time so I guess it falls to me to be the disciplinarian. I keep telling her that she is lucky we love her so much!

I'm about 3/4 of the way done with one of my gifts! I hope to finish tomorrow and I want to completely finish two more gifts this weekend. Wish me luck.

2008-12-01T22:05:00.003-05:00

So, I figured out why I was so miserable yesterday. I caught Patrick's cold. I woke up with a killer sore throat yet still went to yoga. At the time I was still holding out that I hadn't caught the cold. Yoga made me realize that I did. I spent half the class in child's pose and the other half of the class with my legs shaking. Class was way harder than it should have been. I was kind of hoping I'd sweat out any germs, but it didn't seem to work that way. I'm supposed to go back on Wednesday, so we'll see how I feel. Patrick had a head cold so I don't expect yoga to be as beneficial when you can't breathe.

I spent the afternoon on the couch with Saffy and some tea. I am almost halfway done with another Christmas gift so I am at:

3 complete

4 in process

2 not yet started

I'm getting there!

Today is my baby sister, Drea's birthday. Happy 26th Birthday Sissy! I sent her money for knitting lessons. I tried teaching her this summer and we were working on the knit stitch, but with all the wedding work we didn't have much time to do any more than that. Hopefully, another convert to the dark side. Ha ha ha!

2008-11-30T18:10:00.002-05:00

Ugh. It's snowing. It's times like these that I wish I still lived in Seattle. Seattle rarely gets snow and rarely gets colder than the mid-30s. If you want the snow and cold, drive to the mountains. We used to go skiing all the time. In New Hampshire, I haven't been skiing once since we moved here. I don't think my ski gear even fits me right now. I remember our first winter in NH, Cocoa and Petie (our original Chihuahuas) had never seen snow before. They did NOT like it one little bit. We had to dig spots on the grass for them to go potty. Luckily, they were paper trained so they could go inside if need-be.

Officially, today is the end of NaBloPoMo for November, but I pledged to post one extra day since I started a day late. I can't believe I was able to do it! I've really enjoyed meeting so many awesome bloggers through Ravelry and I love to read what everyone is up to. It's almost like having pen pals. Blogging is like making the world your pen pal. Wouldn't it be crazy if my actual pen pal from growing up is reading this? I doubt it. I lost track of her a long time ago. . .

I don't know what it is, but I have been feeling down today. I think I'm stressed about the upcoming holidays. I have so much work to do and not a lot of time to do it in. Back to knitting.

2008-11-29T19:48:00.002-05:00

I am halfway done with another gift. Not much else is going on around here. Patrick isn't feeling well, so we are just hanging out relaxing. I hope he gets better soon and I hope I don't get it.

I'm not very inspired to write right now and I don't have much to say. Sorry.

2008-11-28T20:50:00.002-05:00

Here are the pictures I promised! First, we have the delicious Thanksgiving feast Patrick and I shared. Everything was so good. Isn't the canned cranberry sauce wicked classy?

Next up, we have the awesome Weight Watchers pumpkin pie. It was very tasty.

Saffy loves cardboard tubes. We totally don't need to buy her toys. We just give her toilet paper rolls. Yesterday was a very special day and Saffy got the tube out of some cling wrap. It's extra thick and chewable.

Last but not least, Saffy was exhausted after her crazy tube chewing and doing tricks for turkey. Puppy hangovers are so cute!

2008-11-28T13:08:00.002-05:00

I got tagged by Tangletale for a meme the other day and I wasn't even paying attention! I'll even post a real entry later today once I download the pics I took from our Thanksgiving holiday. Here it is for funsies.

The Rules:
1) Link to your tagger and list all these rules in your blog.
2) Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.
3) Tag 7 people at the end of your post by including links to their blogs
4) Let them know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog

I was born almost 9 months to the day after my mother's 18th birthday.
I love candy corn and conversation hearts.
I like it when my husband sticks his nose in my eye.
I don't like mayo or mustard and would rather eat my sandwiches plain.
I don't like crafts that you have to clean up immediately after doing. Like painting, polymer clay, anything messy like that. Mostly because I don't like cleaning up after myself.
I want a French Bulldog that I will name "Fromage."
If someone else is driving, I will almost always fall asleep in the car.

I'm tagging: Nicole, Andrea, Lauria, Jennifer, Holly, Laux, and Michelle. Have fun.

2008-11-27T10:19:00.002-05:00

Happy Thanksgiving! This was the sight that greeted us in our front yard two days before Thanksgiving four years ago. That was the first time I ever saw wild turkeys and at first I had no idea what they were. They looked like some sort of prehistoric creature. Now they are a common feature around here. Last November I opened the door to let Jesus out and didn't realize until it was too late that there was a group of nine turkeys in our yard standing next to our stone wall. Jesus got out on the stoop, stopped and stared. Without warning, he took off at top speed after the turkeys. The all spotted him and took turns jumping the wall into the woods. Unfortunately for the turkeys, Jesus was able to chase the turkey in the back of the group away from the rest and it was on. The turkey turned and ran the opposite direction, her claws clicking away on the pavement. She was flapping her wings and actually got off the ground a little in her retreat. She eventually made it to the woods behind our house and Jesus gave up his pursuit. Patrick and I watched this whole event unfold in hysterics. We had no clue what Jesus thought he would do if he caught that turkey. A four-pound Chihuahua doesn't have much of a chance versus a four foot tall wild turkey. I only wish I had a video of the chase.

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays. I always get up in the morning and watch the Macy's Parade on TV followed by the National Dog Show. Usually, Patrick and I spend the day alone. Neither of us have any family nearby and all of our friends do, so they usually have plans that don't include us. When we were in the army we used to have single soldiers from our units over for dinner. In Seattle, we had a lot of friends like us who had family elsewhere so we would always come together at the holidays and we became each other's family. In Wisconsin, all the family comes together and then the day after Thanksgiving, my mom, my sister and my grandma all go to Appleton for shopping and then to Green Bay to spend the night at the casino.

Whatever your plans, I wish you a wonderful and happy Thanksgiving!

2008-11-26T20:25:00.002-05:00

I baked my pie this afternoon. It smells so delicious. I can't wait until tomorrow to try it. I have a ton of phyllo dough left so I am going to have to look for some more recipes to use the dough.

I went to yoga this morning. It was great. I really have missed it and I am glad I am back at it. I have been going Monday, Wednesday and Friday. I definitely can feel myself getting stronger. I love how yoga ideals can be applied to your entire life. Today the instructor was talking about finding joy even in a struggle. I think that is something I am going to try to do. Maybe it will help me learn to be less scared in my life.

Five more days of posting until I have completed my entire month of posts! Yay for me.

2008-11-25T21:22:00.003-05:00

Thanks, Lauria! You solved our no-heat-in-hubby's-car problem. I suggested that my husband check the anti-freeze in his car and it was almost empty. He filled it back up and, BOOM, heat! You saved us like $80 which is what it would have cost if we got it looked at by a professional.

I'm not as inspired to tell stories as I was last night. Today was very boring. I went to knitting in the morning, came home, ate lunch, took a nap and did some more knitting.

My sister-in-law emailed me this morning to let me know she's been following my weight-loss adventures on this blog and started to document her own. Her blog is Working Class Mother and I recommend you check it out. Andrea is a great writer and an awesome person. Probably the best thing to happen to my brother besides his three kids. You go, girl!

2008-11-24T20:25:00.002-05:00

Back in 1996 I was lucky enough to have one of those "what would you do if. . ." experiences everyone asks themselves about. You know, the kind that you really can't say unless you've experienced it. I was backpacking in Europe for two and a half weeks during my Easter break. I had spent about four days by myself in Paris and Nice and was set to meet my friend Jenny in front of a youth hostel in Rome. We were supposed to meet around 4pm. There I was, standing on the street with all my bags, just waiting. I had been in Rome all day and hadn't been able to find an ATM or anywhere to exchange the Francs I had left from France. I was tired and hungry and Jenny was running almost an hour late. Standing there, I finally dropped my bags and left them sitting next to my feet. A minute later, a guy came up to me and started speaking to me in Italian. I had no idea what he was saying and was just trying to get rid of him when suddenly he just up and left. I saw him walk to the end of the block and turn the corner. That's when I looked down and saw that one of my bags was gone. The bag that was taken was the one with my passport, train tickets, plane tickets, money, and camera. At that point, instinct totally kicked in and I was running at top speed after the guy who had spoken to me. Around the corner, I spotted the guy and his accomplice and started screaming at the top of my lungs. At that point, the guy with my bag dropped it and took off running. I picked up my bag and started bawling. I headed back to the street I was supposed to be waiting on and Jenny eventually arrived with her own story to tell. Her flight had been delayed at Heathrow due to the royal family landing. I guess they ground all the planes when that happens. The one thing I learned from the whole experience is that I won't hesitate to act in that type of situation. It makes me feel safer and more confident.

I've been watching Band of Brothers with Patrick and wondering how I would act or react in war. I had all the training and know what I would need to do, but it seems to me that it's one of those situations where you can't know until you are in the thick of it.

2008-11-23T19:50:00.002-05:00

I spent most of the day today knitting. I am about a quarter of the way through another gift. Yay!

This afternoon I was bored so I convinced Patrick that we should go Candlepin Bowling so I could kick his butt (which I did). It's so fun and so very New England-y. It's like regular bowling, except the pins are smaller, the balls are smaller, you get three balls a frame and they don't clear the knocked down pins between balls. I think it is actually harder than regular bowling. We always make sure we bring our out-of-town visitors to try it out. We took our nephews a couple of years back and my nephew, Michael, who was four years old at the time, had a huge temper tantrum because he didn't want to give the shoes back.

I promised pictures so here is a picture of our downstairs powder room before (yes, Virginia, there is a Mr. Hankey):

And in progress:

2008-11-22T22:06:00.003-05:00

Yay! I finished another gift today! That brings the total up to three finished Christmas gifts.

We also did our Thanksgiving grocery shopping today. We are all ready for Thursday. It is going to be just me and Patrick. I plan on making a pumpkin pie I found the recipe for on the Weight Watchers website. It uses phyllo dough for crust instead of the traditional crust. It only has 3 points a slice as opposed to the 15 points a slice the cheesecake that I usually make has. Hopefully it will be good!

2008-11-21T20:47:00.003-05:00

It has been getting very cold here in New Hampshire. Yesterday I put my VW Beetle convertible in the garage for the winter. This morning I left for yoga and decided to take my husband's car because my truck is really low on gas and I hate stopping to get gas and avoid it at all costs. It was about 20 degrees this morning when I headed out and Patrick neglected to tell me that heat in his car wasn't working. It's about a 20 minute drive to the yoga studio and I couldn't believe how cold it was and how the car wasn't warming up. I was counting the seconds until I arrived because the yoga I do is in a heated room--usually around 85-90 degrees. In spite of the warmth, it still took me about 10 minutes to warm up when I got there. My poor sweetie drove four hours in that car yesterday.

I spent the rest of the day knitting and playing with the puppy. I've taken a break from the crocheting for a little while.

I am glad it's the weekend and I get to spend time with my honeybunches. We are planning on seeing the new James Bond movie and working on the house. Hopefully I will have some pictures to post soon.

2008-11-20T21:24:00.002-05:00

Yay! Patrick surprised me by coming home a day early. I was feeling kind of down this morning after getting pulled over for speeding. Luckily I didn't get a ticket. I also had my first weigh-in at Weight Watchers and I lost 2 pounds in my first week. I was hoping for more, but you gotta start somewhere, right? By the way (does anyone actually type out those three words anymore?), I just wanted to thank everyone for all the support and kind comments you have been leaving for me.

I've been knitting with my Harmony dpns and I have to say that I LOVE them! They are so smooth and slick. They also feel so sturdy compared to the Pony rosewood and the bamboo dpns I have been using. They also don't have chewed up ends like my bamboo needles do! Saffy is not allowed near my new needles.

2008-11-19T20:35:00.002-05:00

Tomorrow is my first weigh-in for Weight Watchers. I thought I would post a picture of myself from last month as a "before." It's amazing how you can't see what you really look like until you see yourself in a photo. Ironically enough, I didn't even eat any ice cream that day. I just enjoyed the juxtaposition of the tiny puppy and the giant ice cream cone.

I'm still working on my big crochet project. I also cast on for another one of my gifts that is easier that I can take with me to the meeting tomorrow. The other gift I have on the needles is the kind of project that requires my full attention. It isn't that difficult, but for some reason it is very easy for me to get lost.

Class number four for Saffy was today. We learned "come" and started with "stay." We still need a lot of work on "sit" and "down" before we can really get into "stay." She did great with "come!" The other dogs were so cute. Lulu, the Lab/Corgi mix and Winston the Yorkie really like each other. When Lulu and her mom were working on "come," everytime the instructor let go of her leash, she made a bee-line to Winston instead of her mom and the treat. Winston always seemed to try to run to Saffy. Saffy spent the majority of the class standing on her hind legs and waving her front paws in the air (so CUTE!). All the dogs were full of beans today. We couldn't figure it out. Maybe Sirius the Dog Star is in retrograde or something. Who knows.

2008-11-18T19:24:00.003-05:00

Not feeling that great this evening. I have a killer headache. My exciting news is that I got the 6" DPN Set I ordered from Knitpicks in the mail today. They are so pretty. I will definitely keep them away from Saffy. I have been going through so many sock needles because of her, I had to find a less expensive solution to replacing them. I feel a little guilty about not getting them at my LYS, but I just can't afford to keep buying new sock needles at $15 a pop. Sorry Beverly.

2008-11-17T20:38:00.002-05:00

I've been doing a lot of cooking lately what with the Weight Watchers and all. I have to say I have discovered one of the best inventions EVER! It's the Ziplock Steamer Bag. I can perfectly steam a large portion of fresh veggies in the microwave in approximately 3 minutes. I love steamed veggies, but I always have a tendency to over cook them in my stove-top steamer. This takes all the guesswork out of steaming as it has all the cooking times printed on the side. I highly recommend trying one out!

In craft news, I have been working really hard on my largest gift. It's tons of small pieces that will require lots of finishing. Luckily it's crochet so at least that part is going quickly. I am just over halfway finished with the pieces. I also laid a whole bunch of tile today. Saffy wasn't happy about it. She has been driving me nuts all day. She has been very nippy and demanding of attention. Tomorrow, I have knitting at my LYS so I will be taking a break from this tedious crochet project and crazy Chihuahua. She's lucky I love her so much!

2008-11-16T19:15:00.002-05:00

This weekend has been pretty nice. Yesterday was rainy and icky outside, so Patrick and I had pajama day. We watched TV and I worked on gifts. Patrick also got some tile measured which he cut today so I will be laying tile this week (yay!). I told Patrick that for Christmas, all I want is the floor downstairs and the downstairs bathroom to be completely finished. Of course, this means a ton of work for me, but since I am not allowed to use the tile saw, I depend on Patrick to cut the tile for me so I can lay it and grout. In case you are wondering, I am not allowed to use the tile saw because I am a klutz and I most recently almost glued my pants and underwear to my butt. A wet saw with flying shards of ceramic is just tempting fate.

Weight Watchers is going OK. I am finally getting used to it. The good thing is that I haven't been hungry. I pretty much can eat whatever I want provided I watch my points. I've made it almost into a game to see how I can eat tons of food with the least amount of points. The key is fruits and veggies. I don't know why I can't do this not in a program, but hey, whatever works, right?

About my previous post, I know it wasn't very well written or cohesive. I just want to reiterate how AWESOME my grandma is. She really is incredible and even the most eloquently written praise of her could not convey the awesomeness which is my grandma.

2008-11-15T20:28:00.003-05:00

Two days ago, my grandma celebrated her 70th birthday. She is one awesome lady. She grew up on an Indian reservation in northern Wisconsin and ended up a single mother with six kids when she met my grandfather. He said that she came into the garage that he was working in as a mechanic and all six kids were so well-groomed and well-behaved that he knew she was something special and fell in love with her right then. Grandma has always been the kind of woman who will bend over backwards for her family. If she can't be found at home, she is out driving someone around or playing bingo in Green Bay. When she cooks one of her specialty meals (chicken and rice with fry bread is a favorite) an APB goes out all over Sheboygan and everyone shows up for dinner. She is notorious for leaving her purse at my parents' house. So much so that we once hid her purse from her and she didn't even notice she didn't have it when she left the house.

My favorite thing to do with my grandma is to just talk and laugh. Once her laugh gets started, everyone has to join in. I lover her and miss her so much! I really wish I could have been with her on her big day.

2008-11-14T22:53:00.002-05:00

I'm kinda tired tonight, so this will be a short post. Last week I wrote about how I gave up soda and how I needed another goal. Well, yesterday I joined Weight Watchers. I had a doctor's appointment on Tuesday and was told that I am obese. Not a nice thing to hear. I basically decided to join on Wednesday and found a meeting in town on Thursday. The nice thing was I ran into a woman that used to work at my LYS. It was good to see a familiar face.

I must admit that I don't like that I have to do this, but I really don't know what else is going to work for me. It's hard, but I can do it. The hardest part is that I am so impatient I want to see results RIGHT NOW! Patrick has offered to surprise me with a (non-food) treat after every ten pounds lost. Hopefully that will help!

Wish me luck!

2008-11-13T20:30:00.002-05:00

This is my gratuitous, I'm too lazy to write a real post, Saffy post. Enjoy.

A while back I sent a card to Saffy's breeder along with her certificate of spay. I wanted the breeder to know that Saffy was doing well, so I gave the card to Saffy and she chewed it all up and I mailed it like that. Much easier than the stamp pad/paw print signature. For some reason, I thought it would be really funny if I made Saffy her own business card and then let her chew on it. Saffy is an accomplished paper shredder. Our living room looks like the aftermath of a ticker tape parade. I love my silly silly puppy!

BTW, her business card says "Blueboys Saffron Fuzzypants -Chihuahua Extraordinaire"

That's her actual registered AKC name.

2008-11-12T19:54:00.002-05:00

I started another Christmas gift so that means I now have:

2 complete

3 in progress

4 not yet started

The one I started today is pretty big, so I will have to put in some extra woman-hours on it. I am going to have to work almost non-stop between now and Christmas to get this all done. It's crazy. I just have to keep reminding myself how much money we are saving by me doing this. We are really planning on only buying gifts for the nieces and nephews. All our saved money is going to our 10th anniversary gift to Sandals in the Bahamas. I can't wait!

Saffy and I had class today and the trainer worked extra with her on "sit." Today we worked on "down" and discovered that Saffy thinks the hand sign for "sit" actually is "down." So we are switching for her and now I just need to find a new hand sign that works for her with "sit." We also worked on "leave it" and "take it." Next week is "come," which will come in handy. Saffy can be fast!

2008-11-11T20:56:00.005-05:00

My husband and I met in July of 1998 when we were both in the Army. We were stationed at Fort Lewis, WA. I was in the 14th Combat Engineering Battalion and he was in the 9th Finance Division. Our barracks were across from each other with Patrick's unit being a tenant unit in our barracks. Thanks to First Sergeant Mabini, I was on on duty in Patrick's barracks on a Friday in late July. Barracks CQ duty was a 24 hour shift from 9am-9am. During non-working hours we were allowed to bring our TV to the desk and watch videos. The week prior to this fateful night I had taken a trip to Las Vegas and won over $300 with which I bought the entire series of Blackadder videos. I popped the first one in after dinner when all residents in the barracks were coming in to pick up their mail. A guy with gray hair and glasses came up to me and started asking me about my videos and actually seemed to be familiar with Blackadder. I didn't really think much about it. Being in a unit with about 500 men and 30 women, I got used to random men coming up and talking to me or asking me out on dates. Most of the night passed as normal, watching TV and writing letters to friends. About midnight, the gray haired guy came back. This time he was wearing THE most obnoxious shirt I have ever seen. It was a short sleeved silk shirt with swirls of hot pink, purple and all the other colors you would imagine make up entrails. We started chatting and he started telling me about his two ex-wives and all manor of things you don't tell someone you just met. About 5am he actually got up the guts to ask me out and against all my reservations, I accepted, as a meal outside the dining hall paid for someone other than me was too good a deal to pass up. I really didn't want to date anyone and wasn't sure about this guy at all. I thought he was some sort of weird serial marry-er or something. However, he eventually won me over. This coming March, we will be married for 10 years

I find it quite amazing that we had been living across from each other eight months and our paths had never crossed. About a month before that night I had been dating someone else and Patrick had been previously married to someone else. Thanks to fate, the US Army and First Sergeant Mabini, I met my soulmate.

Happy Veteran's Day.

Me and Patrick, Christmas 2001

2008-11-10T18:23:00.002-05:00

Happy Monday to everyone! I am in a good mood today because Patrick isn't going back to Bangor until Wednesday and he finished installing the microwave over the stove this afternoon. I got a few things done myself. I finished a gift, worked on two other gifts and made dinner.

I just ate an absolutely delicious dinner. I thought I would try to make good use out of my rarely used Crock Pot and made a pot roast. I just got a 2 1/2 lb. roast and tossed it in the pot with a sliced onion, chopped celery and some carrots, poured a can of beef stock over the top and cooked it on low for 8 hours. It turned out wonderful. I served it with mashed potatoes, gravy, steamed carrots and crescent rolls. Patrick made us drinks (vodka tonic for me, gin and tonic for him) and we had a lovely dinner.

My first four eBay auction items end tonight. It's so exciting! I'm making about $40 off the four items, so I can't complain too much.

I'm pretty proud that I have been actually posting every day! I also really enjoy reading all of my new Ravelry friend's blogs. Keep up the good blogging, girls!

2008-11-09T18:20:00.002-05:00

Not a whole lot happened today. I mostly just chilled and went to the grocery store during the Pat's game so I knew it wouldn't be too crowded. Saffy spent the day perfecting her shark impersonation and Patrick installed the outlet box above the stove so we can put the microwave up there.

In Etsy news, I have decided from today until December 31 I am offering free shipping on all the items in my shop. Check it out and shop early for the holidays! I am also planning on adding lots of new items so keep checking back!

2008-11-08T16:37:00.002-05:00

I woke up Patrick at 9am this morning and told him he needs to get up and take me out for breakfast. We had a nice breakfast together and we are having a movie date tonight. We are going to see Zack and Miri Make a Porno.

This afternoon my bra was so painful I picked up and went to a lingerie shop to get fitted for some new bras. I was wearing a full band size and cup size too small. Now I have really really pretty Prima Donna bras. Very expensive, but I probably won't ever go to a less expensive model if these work out for me like I believe they will. Being the size I am, it is very difficult to find something pretty and supportive.

Patrick started working on installing the microwave over the stove today. When he pulled out the hood we discovered that the contractors that built our house just busted a hole in the wall to wire the hood in place instead of wiring an outlet box into the cabinet above as they were supposed to. As we are working on the house, we are discovering all the shoddy work that was done on the house which is making our work more expensive. Thanks guys!

2008-11-07T18:33:00.003-05:00

Today marks my second week without soda. I honestly believe that I had a little bit of a Diet Coke addiction. Last week I was even dreaming about drinking it! It has gotten much better and now when I think about having one, it just reminds me how hard it was to stop and I don't even feel tempted. I decided that the best way to make changes in my life was to do it a little at a time. Now I just need to decide what's next and when to start.

I got a call from the guy who was in charge of the volunteers at the Milford polling station yesterday. He set up a blog for everyone who volunteered in Milford to post thoughts and pictures. If you want to check it out, here's the link.

Here's the homemade Christmas gift count: 1 finished, 2 half finished, 1 three-quarters finished, and 5 not even started yet. I've been working on the three-quarters finished gift and I hope to have it finished within a day or two.

Patrick comes home today for the weekend! I'm so glad. I miss him.

2008-11-06T19:06:00.002-05:00

Last night around 9pm the phone rang. I assumed it was Patrick calling to tell me good night and that he loves me. Surprise, surprise! It was my friend Sara Jo that I have known since first grade. I haven't seen her since my Junior year of college. We've emailed now and then over the years. She has just moved to Syracuse from Germany and we have reconnected thanks to Facebook. It was really great talking to her. We actually spent an hour and a half on the phone. It was interesting reminiscing and finding out that she didn't even remember not talking to me in seventh grade. Of course, from my perspective, it's kind of hard to forget. Anyway, I'm planning a visit for a couple of days next month once Saffy's school is done.

I've been working on sit with her today and I realize what the problem is. I'm supposed to use just the hand signal which is open palm in front of her nose and then over her head. However, instead of sitting down and looking up at my hand which triggers the click and reward, she stands up on her back legs and tries to get the treat out of my open palm. So, I need some new ideas on getting her to sit. Any suggestions?

2008-11-05T17:48:00.002-05:00

I have been so tired today. I had every intention of going to bed early last night, but got sucked into watching the returns. Of course, Obama being declared the winner at 11pm didn't settle my mind. I kept expecting to wake up to hear that McCain had won. I've been smiling all day particularly every time I hear the words "President Elect Barack Obama."

Saffy and I had obedience class this afternoon. Saffy did not do so well with "sit." We also did an exercise where we had to stand in one place, no talking, and every time our dog looked at us we had to click and give a treat. Saffy figured that game out pretty quickly. She just stood there and stared at me for a while. She is no fool. I like taking her to class as it wears her out. She really enjoys playing with the other puppies. There is a Yorkie named Winston and a Lab/Corgi mix named Lulu. They are all friends. Saffy is the oldest and the smallest.

Still knitting away on the Christmas gifts. I got new size 1 dpns that I keep very far away from the puppy's mouth! I've also got 9 items up on eBay and have about five more to list. All the items are listed under the username "ivory_knight" if you are interested in taking a look.

2008-11-04T19:36:00.003-05:00

It's been a busy day, for me at least. I left the house about 9am to vote. It took about a half an hour and the majority of the time was spent trying to get into the parking lot. I got very emotional when I got in the voting booth and I teared up a little. I'm sure I am not the only one. The stress of this election cycle has been insane. I definitely agree with the comment on my previous post that there is a lot hold over from 2000 and 2004.

After I voted, I headed over to Starbucks for my free coffee and to Target to return a curtain I bought for the kitchen that was the wrong color. Then it was off to Nashua for my knitting group. I left early to spend a little time with Saffron before I had to head back to the polls to volunteer as a poll checker. I had a really nice time poll checking. Everyone was really nice. The Milford poll moderator brought over a ballot that a woman had cut out of the newspaper and given to her three-year old because he wanted to "vote" too. He colored all over it with red and blue crayon and then gave it to old man collecting the ballots. It was very cute. As of 3pm, there were over 5000 votes counted in Milford. There are about 13,000 people in town, so there was quite an impressive turnout.

Tomorrow I have a little less happening. Just Saffy's obedience class. I'm not talking to her right now because she is driving me crazy.

2008-11-03T18:24:00.002-05:00

Today I decided to join NaBloPoMo (National Blog Post Month) which means I pledged to post one blog entry a day for 30 days. I started a day late so I guess I will be wrapping one day into December. I've also joined with a group of bloggers on Ravelry to make sure we all comment on one another's blogs so we don't feel like we are writing just for our own amusement.

Patrick left this morning for Bangor. He hasn't been in almost a month. He was very glad to not have to fly. I'm not sure if he'll have to do any major traveling in November or not. I do think I will get a nice long weekend with him for Thanksgiving. I miss him so much and I wish I could spend more than two days a week with him.

I am still working on all the Christmas gifts. I got a phone call this afternoon and I put my knitting down quickly and Saffy got ahold of it and chewed of the ends of two of my size 1 dpns. So, I'll be putting the knitting aside for the evening and taking up the crocheting.

I can't wait for this election to be over. My tummy has been nervous for the past week. Don't forget to vote tomorrow!!! Go Obama!

2008-11-02T21:59:00.004-05:00

After being down and depressed not so long ago, I have been working on making some changes in my life. Most of these changes involve getting off of my butt and doing things that I have been putting off. Of course, these means that I have updated my Etsy shop and have at least four more pieces that I need to list. Doing the photographs is the major pain but I have been taking care of that and the new camera I have (10 megapixels!) makes the photos turn out very nice. Here's my pink origami necklace that I will be listing later this week.

I have also been going through the house and finding things to post on eBay. This week I will be listing some random Lia Sophia jewelry, RMWC collectibles, and other various things for sale. Here are a few of the items up for bid on my own personal version of the price is right:

Framed RMWC postcard from 1907:

A lot of assorted Swatch watches from the early 1990's:

Lia Sophia "Toasted" necklace:

I am also volunteering as a poll checker for the DNC at the Milford voting site, so if you see me, don't say hi, I'm not supposed to talk to the voters. Last but not least, I have cancelled my gym membership because we just couldn't afford it anymore. I have decided to re-take up power yoga to help me in my weight control battle. It's Diana vs. Hypothyroidism/Chronic Depression. A hard battle which can be frustrating and seem futile at times.

Thanks to everyone who sent me kind words of support over the last couple of weeks. I really appreciate everything and am so very lucky to have such wonderful and caring friends and family.

2008-10-31T21:54:00.002-04:00

I have been busy making gifts for birthdays and for Christmas. I sent my sister-in-law her gift and she loved it so I can finally post pictures here.

The fingerless gloves and hat are my very first venture into Fair Isle. I think it turned out pretty good and I need to start working on more complicated Fair Isle patterns. I'll have to wait until after the holidays though.

2008-10-23T15:18:00.003-04:00

I've been thinking a lot about my childhood and my friends from school lately. For the most part I really liked them and enjoyed being their friends but a lot of my memories tend to be tainted with something that is a little uncomfortable or off. Of course in middle school, we all liked the same band, but had to like different members of the band so as not to encroach on the other girls' territory. The guy I "liked" I didn't really like because my friends would be mad if I let my true feelings be known. My whole life seemed to be about pleasing my friends and changing myself so I would be liked. When I look back, I realize that I might have been the group joke. I was never as smart or as pretty or as well off as the rest of the group and was constantly putting myself down and making myself into a joke to ingratiate myself with the other girls. I took everything I wished I was and turned it around into a joke. I was a horrible singer, the world's worst ballet dancer, and a lover of the guy in our favorite band that no one else liked.

In seventh grade, my friends all dumped me for no good reason that I could see. No one spoke with me or interacted with me for a whole year. It hurt me so bad. There I was, trying to be everything to those people to no avail. During that time, I lost who I was and wondered if I would ever figure out who I was supposed to be. Unfortunately, I still have no idea who I am or what I am supposed to do with my life. I honestly believe that those years of my life formed a lot of who I believe myself to be today. A lot of the struggles I have had with myself really stemmed from those experiences.

I don't have a lot of self-confidence or belief in myself. If I had more, I wouldn't have believed the Sergeant in the Army that told me that nobody liked me because I thought I was better than everyone else (when the opposite was true). She made me believe I was worthless and deserved to be treated like dirt.

I'm so scared of rejection, I don't want to put myself into a position where I could succeed. I'm scared of trying to sell my jewelry outside of my Etsy shop, scared to try to share my creativity with the wider world. It's easier to sit at home with 20 pieces of new jewelry that hasn't been photographed or put online and say it's because I'm lazy. The truth is I am terrified that the things I create and are so very personal to me will be rejected by the outside world and it will feel like a rejection of me.

Sorry to be such a downer in this post, but I really want to use this blog to track my progress in both the craft world and my life. Right now the two are very closely intertwined and my success in the craft world is dependent on success in myself and belief in myself.

2008-10-22T19:58:00.002-04:00

Moving is no longer a certainty. The way Patrick's job has been going, he will only be in Bangor a week or so a month. So far this month, he has been there two days. He was in Atlanta last week, he is in Dodge City, Kansas this week and will be back in Atlanta next week. I miss him a lot. This weekend we are planning on going to see the Art Nouveau jewelry exhibit at the Museum of Fine Art in Boston. Anything we can do to make our limited time together "quality" time.

Yesterday, I took Saffron to the Howl-o-ween Party at Petsmart. She had a great time. She was the smallest dog there, but was not shy in meeting the other dogs at all. Some of the big dogs were actually scared of her. It was kind of funny. She wore her pumpkin shirt. There were a lot of other pumpkin dogs so she didn't win the costume contest. The dog that won was a Chinese Crested dressed as a biker. He was actually wearing leather chaps and doggles. I think he totally deserved the win. Saffy passed out asleep when we got home. All of the meeting and greeting wore her out. Next week, Saffy and I are starting beginner obedience class.

Been working on trying to get the house straightened up. It is so messy. All of the flat surfaces are covered in papers and junk and I have to go through everything. I'm also working hard on Christmas gifts.

2008-10-14T20:44:00.003-04:00

This past weekend was absolutely beautiful. Patrick and I were naughty and took a break from working around the house and went to the Milford Pumpkin Festival. I decided that Saffy should get out of the house after her traumatic spaying experience. She was healed enough and no longer wearing her cone so she was very happy to be out on the town. Because it was the Pumpkin Festival, I decided that Saffy needed an appropriate outfit for the occasion, so I whipped up a little pumpkin shirt with some polar fleece, felt, and velcro. She didn't seem to mind it at all and was a huge hit at the festival.

Here's a picture of Saffy in her new shirt meeting a new friend: Rebecca the Irish Wolfhound.

2008-10-05T19:27:00.002-04:00

Lots of craftiness going on lately. The major projects being the kitchen and the bathroom. All the full-sized tiles in the rooms are laid and lot of the cut tiles are also down. I have grouted about half of the kitchen. I am pretty tired out from all this work. I need to paint the upstairs bathrooms and the hallway once I am done downstairs.

Here's a before and during of the kitchen. The before was taken after Patrick cut some of the backerboard in the house. It raised a lot of dust.

I'm amazed how much brighter and cleaner the kitchen looks with the paint and the new appliances. We do have an over the stove microwave/hood combo to install. I'm very pleased with how everything is turning out.

In actual craft news, I finished Patrick's socks as well as the Monkey socks I was working on.

I have also started work on my many many Christmas projects. None of which will be posted here until after the holiday of course.

Since this economy has been really fun lately and I have no idea if we are moving to Maine or staying here. . . I will be signing up with a temp agency soon to try to make a little extra money. I will be living in NH for the time being, but may need to put the house on the market in the near future. Right now, my deepest wish is for there to be a little certainty in my life. Oh well.

2008-09-08T20:12:00.006-04:00

Since I need to start getting things cleared out of the house before putting it on the market, I have been making lots of piles of things to donate and to sell. I have about six big bags of clothes going to the Salvation Army tomorrow and I have posted some cake pans and cake decorating supplies on craigslist. Check it out and let me know if you are interested. If you need things to be shipped I can work something out.

Here are the pictures of what I am offering. I didn't post them in the ad since the server wasn't letting me. . .

Update: The round and oval pans have been bought. Thanks!

Snuggles

2008-09-07T14:05:00.001-04:00

Snuggles
Originally uploaded by coveykeating

Here is my personal Cute Overload. Saffy and Gus were best buds the whole time we were in Sheboygan. . . or should I say Saffy loved Gus and Gus tolerated Saffy. She loved snuggling him and using him as a step stool to jump onto the couch. They also enjoyed stealing each others toys.

2008-09-01T17:10:00.004-04:00

Well, it has been quite awhile since I last posted. I got home from Wisconsin on Tuesday night and am starting to get back in the swing of things around here. It has been difficult to get all the wedding stuff off my mind but it is happening slowly. Andrea and Paul's wedding was beautiful. I am very happy that I was able to be a part of such a wonderful event and had a hand in making it great. I really enjoyed spending a whole month in Sheboygan with my family. It was like being a kid again.

Now that I am back we are getting the house ready to either rent or put on the market so the three of us can make the big move to Bangor, Maine. All of our new appliances are just about finished being installed. We just have to put some cut tile under the stove so we can grout and push it all the way back. The kitchen looks about a billion times better than it did with those old yellow ugly appliances. I almost don't hate it anymore! The other thing that I have been busy doing is playing with the best birthday present ever, my new Wii! I just kicked some major butt at boxing and was sweating and hot at the end. I also have Super Smash Bros. Brawl and Rock Band which Patrick and I are planning on busting out tonight.

2008-07-19T22:11:00.004-04:00

I'm taking a break from all my work and car shopping and cleaning up paper towel shreds from the puppy. I found this meme on a random blog and thought I would do it. Enjoy!

1. What was I doing 10 years ago?

It was a week before I met my future husband. I was in the Army and I went on a trip to Vegas with my parents.

2. What are 5 things on my To-Do list for today?

Make four necklaces and four pairs of earrings

Finish sister's wedding gift

Finish sister's bachelorette party gift

Play with puppy

Laundry

3. Snacks I enjoy:

Nacho Cheese Doritos, Take 5 candy bars, movie popcorn, Diet Coke, B&J's Oatmeal Cookie Chunk ice cream

4. Things I would do if I were a billionaire:

Set up trust funds for everyone in my family and my husband's family so they are all taken care of for the rest of their lives. Get more Chihuahua puppies, set up a full jewelry/metalsmithing workshop, take a really nice vacation, get pampered at a spa.

5. Places I have lived:

Sheboygan, WI

Lynchburg, VA

Reading, England

Ft. Lewis, WA

DuPont, WA

Lynnwood, WA

Milford, NH

6. Jobs I have had:

Waitress at lunch counter

Kitchen staff at GS Camp

Camp Counselor

Accounts Payable/Data Entry

Receptionist

Supply Specialist in Army

Temp

Administrative assistant/events coordinator

Stock Broker

Unpaid artist ;-)

(Wow! I have had a lot of jobs!)

2008-07-17T22:10:00.003-04:00

Holy crap. The calm is definitely over and I am smack dab in the middle of the storm! Last week Friday we headed down to Maryland for our new nephew's christening. Patrick is the Godfather. We also brought six cases of left over flooring with us to give to the in-laws. Saffy was a great traveler! She adapted well to every place we brought her and stole everyone's heart. We need to get puppy lo-jack because she is so lovable everyone wants to keep her.

Anyway, the real "excitement" started when we got to Frostburg on Monday to deliver the flooring. The car was acting up and it turned out that we had a leak in the transmission. Our intention was to head home on Tuesday morning but, we ended up taking the car to the local Ford dealer and they tightened up everything. We left on Tuesday afternoon around 3:30pm. About three hours into the drive I started smelling something like burning rubber. When we pulled over to get gas, it turned out that the transmission was leaking again. So, while I took Saffy to go potty, Patrick dumped two bottles of transmission fluid into the car. All was good. Two hours later, the same thing. By 11:30 we had emptied six bottles into the car and was smoking like the car was on fire and literally had a trail of fluid marking our trip from Maryland to Hartford, CT. We stopped for the night with the intention of having the car towed the last 12o miles home until we found out it would cost us $800. We decided to chance it. We had to stop three times during the last two hours to add fluid and did a lot of praying and willing the car up hills. The closer we got to home, the more the car struggled and smoked. About halfway up the final hill, it just wouldn't go any farther. Patrick hopped out and pushed the car the last 30 feet to the house. I still can't believe we made it. Right now, we have one working vehicle. . . Patrick's motorcycle. The good news is I get a new car for my trip to Wisconsin next week. Yay!

On Tuesday, Patrick found out that he got a new job with Fairpoint Communications in Bangor, Maine. He hasn't received his offer letter yet, so we don't know when he will start, but the plan is that he will get an apartment up there while I finish getting the house ready for sale. We hope to put the house on the market in the new year. Hopefully the market will be a little better by then.

The final countdown to my trip to Wisconsin is on. I have one crochet project, one knitting project, two paper projects and jewelry to make before Wednesday. I also have to take Saffron to the vet, pick up my bridesmaid dress from the tailor and get a new car. Nothing to get to worried about. Actually, why am I typing this and not working?

2008-07-06T21:28:00.002-04:00

Ah, the calm before the storm. Patrick and I had a very quiet 4th. We went to Lowe's to buy grout. That's about it. I finished laying all the full-sized tile yesterday so all we need to do is get the tiles cut down for the edges of the room and then grout. Right now all of the appliances are in the middle of the kitchen so I can't wait to get them moved into place. I am getting tired of eating either sandwiches or eating out all the time.

This week it is going to start getting crazy. Tomorrow I am going to Boston for the day to hang out with Kate, Tuesday I have knitting, Wednesday Patrick has to go to Portland, ME and Thursday we are leaving to go to MD for the weekend. When we get back, it'll be a week before I leave for Wisconsin for a month. I am still working on all the wedding projects as well as the house. It is kind of difficult because Saffy is always VERY interested in helping me with any knitting or crocheting I am working on.

I know my posts are boring lately. Not a whole lot of new or exciting things going on. Just the same old, same old.

2008-06-25T20:51:00.003-04:00

I love stress so much. Especially the way it affects my body. I have TMJ and lately my jaw has been killing me. The last couple of days I haven't been able to eat without being in quite a lot of pain.

I have been busy and I have a ton of things to do. We are still working on the house. The tiling is about half done and we are waiting for new appliances to be delivered. I have about three large projects to work on for my sister's wedding that I would like to get done before I head to Wisconsin at the end of July. All these things are contributing to my stress. I'm trying to break it down and do little bits at a time.

Saffron has been with us for about a week and a half now. She's a very good girl. She is pretty well potty trained. We have a crate lined with newspaper that she uses. We can tell she is getting much more comfortable with us as she is crazy! She runs around like a nut for about two hours at a time and then passes out. Right now she is sleeping on the top of the back of the couch behind me. She likes to sit back there and chew on my hair.

I don't really have a whole lot else to say, just thought I would post a quick update.

2008-06-04T15:07:00.002-04:00

Lots of news lately. The bracelet that was featured in New Hampshire Magazine sold on Friday so that was good. On Saturday morning, we were awoken by a phone call from the breeder I've been in touch with. She called to ask us if we would like to visit a puppy. Of course we did! We are now the proud parents of a baby girl we named Saffron. She gets to come home with us on June 16. Because of her impending arrival, we are in overdrive working on getting the tiling done downstairs. The last thing we need is a traumatized little doggie on our hands. Jesus totally freaked when we put in the hardwoods, so Saffron is a great excuse to do the tile.

Here she is with her daddy:

2008-05-23T19:39:00.004-04:00

Patrick and I got home from Austin on Sunday. It was a really good trip. We ate lots of good food, did some shopping, checked out the National Wildflower Center (beautiful) and did a lot of walking! I also got to indulge in the most decadent 3-hour spa treatment in the world. I was basically a big pile of mush when it was over. It consisted of a deep-tissue massage, facial, hand and foot massage, mud wrap, scalp massage and a vichy shower. I highly recommend all of these things to everyone. I did finish my first sock from my flat feet yarn while I was in Austin. I used the Hedera pattern from Knitty. I am about a quarter of the way through the second sock now. It was great for the plane and for the hotel room.

Now that I am back in NH I have been taking a break from knitting and have been crocheting. I am part of a crochet-a-long on Ravelry which involves making a new 12-inch granny square every month. I had only done the first two, so I have been catching up and am finishing up the May square right now. I am using up scraps from all the baby items I made earlier this year. I also have 6-inch squares (either knit or crochet) to make for a charity project I am working on through Ewe'll Love It! I got the Vogue Knitting Stitchionary Vol. 1 to learn new stitch patterns to make the squares. The book is very beautifully done and if anyone is looking for a gift for me, there are three more volumes. (hint hint)

I got a surprise yesterday. My pink Fat Bottom Bag was featured on the Crochet Liberation Front's blog and labeled as "Hookalicious." Looking at all the other projects that were featured on the blog, I am very honored to be in such amazing company!

2008-05-01T15:47:00.001-04:00

Happy May Day! New Hampshire Magazine has updated their site with the May issue so if you want to check out the article on Etsy along with a photo of my bracelet: look here.

2008-04-30T15:02:00.004-04:00

Life is slowly tipping the scales from the bad over to the good. My big news is that my Mah Jong Tile Bracelet was featured in an article on Etsy in the May issue of New Hampshire Magazine. It's not on the newstand yet and the website is still showing the April issue, but I will be sure to post an update here. I could scan my copy, but I have been too lazy.

The Souhegan Valley Chorus Spring concert is this Saturday. The theme is "Broadway" and it should be a great concert. If you are local and want to go, it is at Souhegan High School in Amherst, NH at 7:30pm. Tickets are $15 for adults and $10 for children and senior citizens.

I really like singing in the choir, particular getting out of the house and meeting new people. Lately, however, I have been having a conflict with another member of the group which is making it not so much fun anymore. I really don't want to go into details here, but if things don't turn around with her, I might quit. I'm at a point in my life where I know it is better for me to just get rid of the negative people in my life, particularly when they make me miserable and feel bad about myself.

The other big news is that I finally finished my sweater! It still ended up being a little big on me, but it is warm and cozy and that's the important part.

I have started working on my sister's wedding gift, which will not be posted on here any time soon. Too bad so sad. I am also working on my first pair of socks. There was a special sock kit available at Ewe'll Love It! to benefit the Breast Cancer 3 Day Walk. The yarn is beautiful: pink, brown and gray varigated. Beverly, the owner of the shop designed the pattern. The original pattern has two ribbons on the side, but I only did one repeat to keep the sock a little shorter. I am almost done with the first one. It is very exciting!

I also bought some really cool sock yarn called "Flat Feet" to bring along as a project when I go to Austin with Patrick in two weeks. The yarn is machine knit into a flat and then handpainted. You work directly from the flat which removes the need to wind the yarn into a ball and minimizes tangling. I got these gorgeous Autumn-y colors that will match my sweater.

Time to go grocery shopping. We have practically no food in our house. Unless you count Jell-o and pretzels. . .

2008-04-13T19:56:00.002-04:00

I have returned home from my last minute trip to Wisconsin. I got home on Tuesday and pretty much went straight to choir rehearsal. The concert is in less than three weeks so there is a lot of work to be done!

The visit with my family was very nice, it is always unfortunate to get together with family at a funeral, but it was good to see everyone and I really needed their love and support. I was able to be with my brother to celebrate his 30th birthday and I got to meet my brand-new niece, Autumn. She's a beautiful and very sweet little girl. She is also very strong!

My good news is that I am almost finished with the second sleeve of my sweater. Once the sleeves are done, all I need to do is the neck and block the sleeves and then sew them on. I might actually get to wear it before the weather gets too warm.

2008-04-02T20:59:00.004-04:00

It's been very windy lately. Last night it felt like the wind would blow our house down. Today I wished that the wind would blow me away. I've been very sick with the flu for the past week and woke up to the news that my grandfather had passed away this morning. I'll be heading to Wisconsin tomorrow armed with dramamine and hoping the stress of trying to get healthy and dealing with yet another loss in my life won't get me sick again.

Patrick says we are due a cosmic dose of good karma any day now. I'm waiting. . .

In other news, my sister-in-law had her baby boy on Saturday night and loved the blanket I made her. Here's an in-process picture:

The pattern is called "The Curve of Pursuit" and is also the mathematical name of this design. It represents four dogs chasing each other's tails around a field starting from the four corners. If the dogs were to keep going, they would eventually crash in the middle. I figured a mathematical pattern would be good for the geeky-ness that are my in-laws. I found the pattern and the info about the mathematical concept on Woolly Thoughts.

2008-03-12T23:20:00.006-04:00

Welcome to this edition of Craftastic Cribs! Today we are going to take a look at the room in which I create many of my crafts.
Here we have a general overview of my craft room. This room is actually intended to be a formal sitting room in my house, but who the heck uses a formal sitting room. The bookshelves were purchased at the unfinished wood store and were painstakingly stained and varnished by me and my friend Erica. The shelves are home to our books, my yarn stash, gem stones, papercrafting supplies, photo albums, and many other random items of crafty significance. My craft table was found in the clearance room of Ethan Allen for $199. It is very heavy duty and was in perfect condition. I still can't believe what a deal that was! The table is very messy because it seems to be the place in the house where we throw random stuff and I haven't gotten around to cleaning it up. Anyway, who has a clean craft room? Also, check out the wicked awesome hardwood floor that I installed all by myself.
Here we have my jewelry corner. Here is where I keep all of my beads, wires, and other findings. I have found the tool boxes to be the best place to keep all my beads and I have even labeled some of the drawers! The white bike basket was given to me by Patrick to go on the front of my Harley. Unfortunately, we had to remove it to pass inspection so it now is employed as an earring holder.
The next stop is where I keep the majority of my completed jewelry. Basically I took a piece of plywood, covered it with several layers of quilt batting and some canvas fabric from an old tablecloth and embellished with some ribbon and voila a jewelry-hanging thingy! I use T-pins to hold the jewelry in place. I am working on a larger solution now that my inventory is growing and hope to have it up soon.
Our last stop on this craftastic tour is my kick-ass rubber stamp shelf. Patrick and I built this for all my rubber stamps. I have all my jewelry hanging below it. Once I move my jewelry, I will be building another shelf to house the stamps that do not yet have a home.

I hope you enjoyed this tour of my craft room. Now everyone get out so I can get back to work!