Do You Smell Smoke?

Thank you all for your kind comments about my winning ways yesterday. :)  (Special thanks to Leitadala for saying it was the best project she's ever seen- as my Mister knows, my head still has room to grow.  He's not at all tired of hearing me say, "I won TWICE!  I totally OWNED those awards!  I RULED!")

As the glow of my win slowly wears off, I'm brought back to reality and am sobered by all the other things I need to accomplish rather than fantasizing about the throngs of fans that will cheer for me as I step into a yarn store.   *Le sigh*

You know those times in life that you just feel like if there is one more item on your to-do list, you might as well just burn it?  The list, I mean- not the individual items on that list because that'd be wrong, right?  I mean, there are laws against burning things just because you are trying to avoid them, right?  I mean, burning a house just so you don't have to clean it would be insane, right?  *Goes to check arson laws*

My in-laws are coming to visit the first week of June.  I love my in-laws- I really did luck out with them.  However, they are so neat, clean, and organized they make Monk look like Pig Pen.  That is awesome for them- they work well together and, truth be told, I do envy their organizing and cleaning abilities.  My Mister has inherited this "clean and organized" gene, though not to the extent his parents have it- thankfully.  It is because of him that our house isn't one huge tangled ball of yarn.  I truly like organization and dream of the day when I'll have my craft room in ONE room with lots of little cubby holes to house my mountainous stash and shelves where my cute baby stash of fabric can be neatly folded and easily found.  

However, I am unfortunately lacking that organizational gene.  It takes me FOR.EVER to get something organized.  Even as a kid, my mom would be astounded that it'd take all day for me to clean my room since I would have to read every single little scrap of paper before deciding whether or not to throw it away.  When I finally get something organized, it is simply breathtaking how quickly I can ruin it again.  I really have no idea how it happens- any scientist out there want to study Entropy?  Come on over to Chez Gege- and yes, you're welcome for your Nobel Prize.  Now, I am able to get things clean- I like my kitchen tidy and can't stand a dirty bathroom- but as far as organizing things.....forget it Charlie.

Herein lies my problem.  I have 2 months to get my office organized (*shudder*), while combining it into my craft room (hopefully) which would free up the guest room where my in-laws will be staying.  Sounds good and manageable, right?  I mean, I have 2 months so, what's the big deal?  The big deal is that I.AM.ME- remember when I said I'm an all or nothing type of gal?  I meant it- I need to have a whole day (or month in this case) devoted to one thing (especially if that thing is so freakin' huge it would scare King Kong) or else my ADD takes over and I work really hard all day long on many different things and yet still don't get anything completed.  I wish that I could devote an hour or two here or there after work or on a weekend and slowly by slowly get things accomplished.  However, I have lived with myself long enough to know that if I start something and not complete it, then I lose my mojo and find something else to occupy my time and then the original project will never get done. (Thus 2 solid months of crochet for this bad boy. Did I mention I won twice?)

Unfortunately, I don't even have a whole day to devote to getting my bags lined (count is up to 8 now- yes, eight) or on starting my garden (which I need to do this weekend- I'm 2 weeks late on starting the peas!) or getting the ironing mountain whittled down to a manageable Mt. Everest size, ditto the laundry planet, or finishing my Tri-Colored and Turtle bag patterns, or consolidating my various yarn piles strewn across the house into one ginormous organized mound so that we can actually have a couch to sit on once again.

So where does that leave me?  Not off to get the matches....no, no....that'd be wrong.....it may stop the twitching that I keep saying is my new, cool way of blinking, but.....no, no.....that'd be wrong.....right?

I Am the Champion, My Friends

GAAAHHH!!!! O.MY.LANTA!!! I’m sooooo excited that the Ravelry Bobby Award winners are finally posted and I’m literally shaking about this- my Super Mario Blanket won BOTH categories it was nominated for!!! (I’ve had to retype that sentence twice- my fingers couldn’t find the right keys- I’m soooo stoked!!!)  I WON!!!  TWICE!!! 

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU to everyone- the folks who nominated my project, the Bobcademy, and those who voted!!!! (I wish I was better prepared and had my speech written out! I was going to end with, “You love me! You really love me!” but figured that'd be too cheesy.)

Without further ado, I give you the winning project for the 2010 Ravelry Bobby Awards for Geekiest Project AND Best Personal Pattern Project. 





 YAYAYAYAYAYAY!!





(My Mister thought I may have lost my cool a little. So, now that I’m recomposed….Meh. That’s cool.)

Wild Things- Healthy Food Made Fun

Wow.  What an insane day.  Our local mall had their annual Children's Day at the Mall today where hundreds of children partook in dozens of free activities provided by area childhood providers.  There was face painting, puppet shows, dance competitions, and free stuff galore!

My work was there, too, and I've been preparing for this event for a few weeks now, but this week it was down to the wire.  We had a bean-bag toss (the bean bags were fruit/veggie shaped) and a colorful animal hopscotch game to go with the theme of Amazon Adventures.  We had "Monkey Crunch" (a Chex Mix that I threw together- basically wheat Chex, Honey Nut Chex, pretzles, and M&Ms- it was a hit!) and a couple food demonstrations.  I had the kids making Ants On A Log (peanut butter on celery with raisin "ants") and some Wild Wraps that I thought up.  I am absolutely exhausted, but it was worth it to see those kids getting involved with snack making and eating healthy to boot.

For any of you parents who may have a tough time getting your kids to eat their fruits and veggies, this one is for you!

Wild Wraps:

• Lettuce leaves (Butter Lettuce works well, but any leaf you can roll up is good- try a red leaf lettuce to make it pretty!)
• Shredded Apples (Try Fuji or Pink Lady- crisp and sweet.  Also, get some Fruit Fresh to sprinkle on them to prevent browning)
• Shredded Carrots (you can get the ready cut matchstick carrots)
• Craisins and/or raisins (we used both)

Wild Sauce:

• 1/2C Lite Mayo
• 1 1/2 Tbs sugar (can use Splenda if you're diabetic)
• 1Tbs. Apple Cider Vinegar

1. Whisk the Wild Sauce ingredients together- you can put it in a squeeze bottle (like ketchup/mustard bottle) for easy application
2. Put the apples, carrots, raisins, and Craisins in the lettuce leaf.
3. Drizzle the sauce on it
4. Roll it up and enjoy!!

Even my boss was a little skeptical that I'd get this to work- he thought it'd be messy and no kids would be interested.  He was shocked with how popular our stand was!  (Don't pat my back, boss- pat my wallet.) Making healthy eating fun is half the battle when it comes to kids.  Make eating an adventure and let them do things themselves.  We had some items ready made for kids who didn't want to make them- we ended up giving them to the adults.  The kids all wanted to do it themselves!  Remember, we eat with our eyes before we eat with our mouths.  If something looks nasty, will you eat it?  Why would you expect your kids to?  If it's colorful and fun, they'll jump right in.  :)

Ok- I'm outie.  I have a cat boobie bag to work on (I swear it won't look anything remotely like cat boobies when I'm done, but I'm afraid that I will always be reminded of that when I see it.  Thanks a lot Sis.) and I'm just enjoying the quiet that I am hearing in my house and letting the Advil (and maybe a Cabernet...) work its magic.  

Until next time- same Bat time, same Bat channel.

I Didn't Know You Could Milk A Cat

We had a lot of animals growing up.  Most of them found us rather than we finding them.  One of these animals was a black calico cat with a white star on her forehead we named Isis. She was a tiny little thing- not malnourished (plenty o-mice in the barn), but just a very small, dainty cat.  She lived in our barn and, for whatever reason, not only was she not afraid of humans, she actually liked them.  From the day we met her, she would let us not only approach her, but also pet and pick her up. However, she only liked us humans on her terms and on her turf...in the barn.  We tried bringing her to our porch where we kept the cat food for our own cat- a tom named Tasha (short for Taj Mahal- based on the size of the presents he left in his litter box). She would let us pick her up and carry her anywhere, but she would run like the wind back to the barn every time we brought her to the porch. 

Well, eventually Isis figured out that if she wanted to be lazy pampered and, instead of hunting for those stupid mice, eat the food given by the strange human masseuses that visited her in her barn, then she should deign to allow them to carry her in her litter (ha! punny!) and feed her on the porch of their her new house.  Tasha was not pleased.  He started out as an indoor cat but, due to his love of the outdoors, eventually became an outdoor cat.  However, since he knew he was an aristocratic "indoor" cat, he would wait patiently for his food to be served at meal times.  He would not knock the lid off of the food and just dig right in like other barn-raised lowlifes he could name.  The prince would wait for his human slaves to serve him in his ever so proper pie pan like the regal feline he was.  Isis would see him eat and try to join in, but he would growl at her and would block her at every turn until he was done.  When he was done, he, being the master of the house, would then knock the pie pan over and bury any food that he did not eat.  He sure showed her!  Eh.  Why wait for the slaves when she knew where the food was stored?  Off the lid for the food would go and in Isis would jump to eat to her heart's content. 

We were sad that our sweet little Tasha (ok, truth be told, only I found him sweet- I'm some sort of cat whisperer- they love me) would never like the newest addition to our household.  Everybody loved Isis.  She was the type of cat that would let you pick her up and fold her up and play her like an accordion.  She didn't care- she was just so chill.  Well, we soon found out Tasha did indeed like Isis....during certain times of the month....

A few weeks after Tasha succumbed to Isis' charms, we noticed she started getting....plumper.  Since she was such a small cat, her swollen pregnant belly was a very comical sight to behold as it would swing from side to side as she sauntered around the yard.  A few weeks later, we were able to observe firsthand the miracle of birth.  First came out a black kitten, just like Tasha.  Then another black kitten.  Then...2 orange and 2 white kittens.  That slut. 

We saw as she raised and nurtured those adorable mewling little balls of fur with the closed eyes and minuscule ears. We also noticed how they would nurse- kneading their mother's milk filled teats- and would cringe at thought of how painful it must have been.  She would still swing from side to side when she sauntered, but it was no longer a pregnant belly that was carried with the momentum.  (There may have been mention of a Feline Miracle Nursing Bra once or twice, but I can't be sure.) However, she would just purr in contentment as she raised her family.  Ahhh....the miracle of life. 

I was reminded of Isis and her brood today as I was working on a new design.  No, not the bag that made me giggle and blush from two days ago- I mean, I am working on that one, too, but this one ninja kicked that one out of the queue tonight while I was watching a movie- Coco Avant Chanel.  I'm not done watching it yet- my Mister is on the phone with his sister, so it's paused.  Gave me enough time to grab some wool and my hook and away I go!

Anywho...I'm loving this design and it's making me entirely too happy.  It'll be the first time I've worked with bobbles, thus the first time I'll felt bobbles.  I'm starting out with a swatch to see if I even have the concept down correctly.

Yay me!  I am loving the spacing of the bobbles and can picture the texture they'll make once felted.

See? Nice and texture-y and bobble-y.  Hopefully it will make a beautiful finished bag.  I'm really excited about it and showed it to my sis.  She saw.....this:

  Ah.....the miracle of the deranged mind.  Just don't let Gaylord Focker near him, sis.




(ETA:  It's later in the evening and I'm re-reading my post. My Mister is no longer on the phone and is now ready for bed.

My Mister:  Honey!!! Hurry up and come to bed!!
Me:  Hold on!  I'm re-reading to make sure I don't look stoopid with any misspellings or grammatical errors.
Mister:  What?!?  You are the one who just put boobies on a cat- what do you think you look like?!?

I laughed and laughed and laughed.

Argh.  He has a point....)

Back to Life, Back to Reality

I’m an all-or-nothing sort of gal. I have a difficult time devoting a little bit of time to any one thing without devoting all of my time to that thing. Either I’m hyper focusing on something, or else I have the attention span of a gnat. Once I get started on an idea, on a project, on an obsession, the ties that bind me to it are virtually unbreakable. (Unfortunately, this is only true with things that hold my attention- housework….not so much, much to my Mister’s chagrin.) This is even truer when it comes to books. If you are a reader, you know what it’s like to lose yourself in a book. To voraciously devour word after word and not notice the pages as they swiftly fly by until you subconsciously notice that the end of the story that has trapped you is in sight. Now that I have allowed that first love back into my life, I am completely under its spell and am having a difficult time breaking off the imaginary tales spun from an author’s deft hand and living within the confines of my “real” life. (I think that Libby from yesterday’s comments understands this. She’s my new blog friend- you should check out her blog- it’s filled with both crochet and knit loverlies!)



I have now started a book entitled, The Thirteenth Tale. I am totally and completely ensnared. This is a wonderful occurrence in the life of a reader, when the story encapsulates you wholly and completely until the very last words on the page releases you from its iron clad grasp. However, it’s not so wonderful when the lines between real and literary life begin to blur. I get stuck in a daze reliving the lives of the characters in my mind’s eye when I’m supposed to be living my life at home or at work. Their adventures are projected on my internal movie screen during any idle moments I’m able to snatch throughout the day (driving, in between clients, during private times utilizing the facilities….) and I end up being jolted back to reality with the adrenaline rush experienced when you are suddenly woken up out of a deep sleep.


Even though I know that reading is my escape mechanism of choice and that once I’ve “escaped” it’s ever so difficult to reacquaint myself with reality, I don’t care. At least, not right now. I NEED to finish this book. I cannot resume normal life activities until I know what the Thirteenth Tale is. Crochet and laundry and dinner…what are these next to the thrilling escapades brought to life in the pages of this book? Every time I shut it so that I can do something silly like earn money, I feel like I am somehow pausing the lives of these characters. They cannot exist unless I am there to see them live. They only have 400 pages to live their life- if my daily life must be put on hold for a few hours to allow these characters to flourish within the confines of these covers, then so be it.


My Mister knows this about me. He found it out early in our marriage when he tried taking my book (Hercule Poirot’s Christmas) away from me as I was brushing my teeth. I had it clasped so tightly in my hand that it ripped in two. (He was trying to have a conversation with me and was trying to be “playful.” He’s lucky he still has his arms.) It took me a verrrry long time to forgive him for that. He knows that it’s virtually impossible to get me to focus on something if I have yet to finish my book (or purse, or Mario blanket). He really is a very good man and is extremely patient with me. He’s the organized, logical, neat-freak and I’m the impulsive, disorganized, dreamer. We have enough differences to keep it interesting and a lot of love to keep it together. Sure, I’m a dreamer, but I’ve got enough of a Realist in me to realize I’ve got something good and no book or other distraction in the world will be able to tear it away from me. Even though I get so easily lost in other characters’ stories, our life story is The One I cannot get enough of and I am anxiously awaiting to find what is on the next page.

Until my next reading break, it truly is back to life, back to reality.....