Wednesday, December 31, 2008

happy new year

Do you make resolutions for a new year? I make resolutions, but not on New Year's Day. I make them all year long... some are big and some are small. Some are very short term, and some for the rest of my life. I'm over new year's resolutions, though.

I do think it is a good time to look at things. Assess where you are, and how you're doing there. It is a time to follow nature, and put away the things that are done, and make room for the new growth. A season to bide your time, waiting for spring to come, for the warmth to come, for growing season to come.

I've come to a couple of realizations today, reflecting on "where I am," and I"ve come up with a few ideas to help me progress on my road. No, not resolutions, just, "maybe I should try..."

I'm not a new year's partier. I like the idea of the big, formal party, where everyone is drinking and dancing and looks beautiful, but... I'm not a big drinker, and once anyone gets past the point where the alchohol is in control and they are not, I'm done there. I'm not a "beautiful person" and I don't really like dressing up all that much. No one much asks me to dance, and I'm a big, shy wallflower. Oh. I hope that doesn't sound like I'm whining, here. I'm not. I just finally came to the realization that I like the _idea_ of those parties, not the actuality of them.

So, no big deal, here tonight. Tomorrow, I think we have a cookout (weather should be permitting) and gaming party. In the afternoon. When its light out, and sane, and all those other fools will be sleeping off hangovers, and watching football.

I hope your new year is a good one, filled with hope, and love, and the promise of growth.

Tuesday, December 30, 2008

nice things

We got to help a young cousin celebrate his birthday this evening. Its nice to see him growing up. Well, he's over 6 foot tall, I think, and just turned 15. Growing "up" for him may be more a matter of maturity than height. Still, he's a good kid, and the next few years may be a challenge for him as he finds his way. I wish him well.

I also head that another young man I know got married recently. I know him as a good kid, but he is hasn't been a kid for a while now. I wish him and his new wife all the happiness they could have, and the strength for when happiness isn't enough. Huzzah!

Monday, December 29, 2008

i said i would




I'm going to post pictures. Last time I posted more than one, I learned that I need to post the last first and the first, last. When I was taking the pictures, just a few minutes ago, I learned that the thing around the lens (don't you love those technical terms?) was creating a shadow in the flash. hmmm I tried a few shots without the flash, which came out better than I thought they might, then I took the thing off and tried a few shots that way. I cropped the shots I wanted to share, as this camera takes a lot of pixels. I hope I can actually include them as they are, and I won't have to modify them further for memory size first.

First (I hope) will be a couple of my latest dragons. One for a friend's daughter, and a lava dragon for Raine. Next a scarf I knitted for the friend's older daughter. I tried wetting the scarf to block it so it wouldn't roll up at the edges, but I'm not sure how good I did with that. maybe more water next time.

Finally, I emptied out three boxes today, with craft books, magazines and leaflets. I got them on the shelves in the craft room, mostly, but I haven't sorted them all quite yet. No sign of the dragon patterns yet, but if I still have them, they're in there somewhere. Two more boxes are poised to go in the car back to school with me on Monday. Now if only I can get the rest of the books onto the shelves, there will be a little more order in here.

Sunday, December 28, 2008

i could

blather on about things i've already blathered about before. But I doubt it would be any more interesting this time than it was before. Instead, I think I'll take myself into the tv room, and see what I can call up on hulu that I would like to watch. I'll let you know if it is anything worth sharing.

Tomorrow, I'm going to be posting pictures... will you be ready for them?

Saturday, December 27, 2008

here we are

Its Saturday, now. Ron has been home this week, which has made it very vacation-y for all of us. Every day seemed like the weekend, in the best way. We relaxed and got done what needed to be done to enjoy our Christmas. Here we are at the real weekend now, and tomorrow will kind of be back on our routine. Laundry, and shopping and stuff to be done.

Next week, Raine, Carl & I will still be home, and Ron will have to tolerate being the only one who has to go to work for the week. I've been there, and there's resentment. Still, he did get a nice week. I hope he can take that with him. I've got plans, though - don't I always? Boxes, you know, there are still boxes. And I still haven't found my crochet patterns. Maybe if I clean out the closet here in the computer room, I can put the shelves in it that we got for it, and check in the boxes there to see if I get lucky... Then there is some sewing that has been lying around teasing me...

And of course there's Raine... I'm thinking I may take her to see a movie. Maybe we'll even see if Ezekiel would like to join us. THEN I can think about going back to work myself. It will come sooner than I think. I know it will.

Friday, December 26, 2008

and so

Life goes on. More or less back to the ordinary, although I'm sure that even those days that are special to us, would be pretty ordinary to many folks. Some people have watched to many soap operas and they think regular, real people should live like that. When there isn't enough drama in their lives, they create some. Its more interesting, I guess.

Personally, I take the Chinese curse "may you live in interesting times," for the curse it is. I get it. I would much rather live the ordinary, daily life. The one with not so much drama. Those people on the TV shows are NOT my friends. My house does not have to look like that, nor do my clothes (or my figure). I have no pretensions that I'm ever going to be there, nor do I strive nor secretly (nor overtly) yearn for that life. I love my ordinary life. I take care of my responsibilities. I choose my reasonable and legal entertainments, and I enjoy them. I strive to be a better person than I was. I try to create instead of destroy. I try to look on the positive side of things.

I know people who live the other way, with the drama and the disasters, and the uncertainty. They don't seem to achieve more than me... at least no more than the population in general. They certainly don't seem happier than I am. Its way too easy to be more attractive than me, so I'm not even worried about that. They may enjoy the interesting times. Me, I try to brace for them. Be prepared and ride them out when necessary. Let them flow around me and move on, so that the ordinary life can return. I will embrace it.

merry Christmas

This was a good day. We got to watch Raine open her presents, which outnumbered ours by a good margin. We didn't mind that at all. She got many things that she really liked, and spent the day spending some time with almost all of them. The slinky may last through tomorrow, if we convinced her not to take it to bed with her tonight. She wore new spongebob jammies to bed, although the other new clothes (some very nice ones that she will get lots of use out of) were not so thrilling to her. At one point, she said, "I got everything I wanted!" Which wasn't really true, no Spike the dinosaur, for instance, and really, she didn't need to get EVERYTHING she wanted. Not many kids do. I'm glad she was happy with what she got, though. After all, that is the Santa goal, isn't it.

The rest of the day was nice, too. We watched a lot of Dvd's. We played a game. We ate some fabulous food. We visited with friends and family. It wasn't a stressfull day, or a day too full to relax in. It was a good Christmas. I hope yours was too.

Wednesday, December 24, 2008

play santa

As much as kids love Christmas, and cool presents to open up, and the hopes of new cool toys, parents have to love playing Santa. That dance of joy when they get something they like is priceless (as the commercials will tell you). I mean, really, that IS why the old guy hangs around, isn't it? Still there are some dilemmas, aren't there. When I was growing up, one year I really, really, really wanted a chemistry set. When Christmas got here, there were two big presents for three kids. A chemistry set and a slotted hockey game. Cool gifts yay! for us to share.. not so yay. I mean, it was cool that I got what I wanted, but really really uncool to have to share it. My perspective on it as an adult is much more forgiving than it was as a kid. That chemistry set was a big, nice one, and it probably cost a good bit. More than they could pay for each of us... so they did what they could. Here's the other part of the story. The chemistry set sat in the garage (definately not an in the house activity) unused for most of its "life." Sure, one or the other of us would do this experiment or that now and then, but... Let's just say none of us turned out to be chemists, or pharmacists.

This year there have been many, many things that Raine has wanted Santa to bring her. Is there a commercial on? If it isn't pink, she probably wants it. Still, the thing at the top of her list has been Spike the dinosaur. For anyone not familiar, that is a fairly large (2 foot tall?) radio controlled long neck dinosaur. Very cool and fun for Christmas day. But, what about afterwards? I mean she loves dinosaurs, but she has several large ones that come out once a month or so. She got several RC things last year that hardly ever get played with... and need new batteries every time she pulls them out. 5-year-olds are not good at turning things off when they are done playing. They just aren't. SO here is the Santa dilemma. Get the toy that you know will make the eyes light up on Christmas, or go for something you know your kid will play with and play with and play with. Something that she asked for, mind you, just not _the_ thing. We went with the long haul toys this year. I hope it is the right choice... but only time will tell.

Tuesday, December 23, 2008

could it be?

Tomorrow is Christmas Eve, and I think I'm basically ready. Can that be right?

I mean, I have more gifts to craft... but then I could never be done with that. Still, I've told several people that I would make them this or that, just don't expect it on Christmas Day. Raine has been waiting so patiently for a dragon - well, patiently for a 5-year-old, which sometimes isn't very - so hers is next on the list.Then I have 2 or 3 more to make. I finally decided that hers should be a lava dragon. I almost kept the fire dragon for her, but lava, how cool is that? I think she'll really like that. I read up on blocking - as in blocking a knitted project. The scarf I made really wants to roll up. What I read said, get it wet, lay it out like you want it and let it dry... hmmm I'm trying it, but...

So Christmas Eve. One of the traditions that my family created was the Christmas Eve potluck. A true potluck, everyone was supposed to bring their favorite dish, and if it was all dessert, then that was what we ate. Of course that never happened, not with my family. But the mix of food was always eclectic, and yummy. My dad and Lynda had the party after they got married, but now with Dad gone, and Lynda not feeling well, it kind of moves around. Oh, I'm willing to hostess, but the living areas in my house are not large, and there is not that much comfortable seating. This year, Roxanne is hosting. We've been considering our dishes to take. I think I am going to bring several kind of dips, and stuff to dip into it. I'll mix some blue cheese with some cream cheese. I'm thinking something cheese dip-py and maybe another cream cheese mixture with either olives or artichokes. I've got celery, carrot, bell pepper, and snap peas, along with some crackers and some cocktail bread to spread the goodies on. I love stuff like that, little muchy, dippy stuff.

Then there is the question of Ron's sister, and her husband. When I talked to her at Thanksgiving, she said they wanted to come down for Christmas, and they are welcome. They had some car issues and I guess some phone issues as well. I haven't heard from them finalizing any plans. When I tried to call them, I got a message about the wrong code... hmmm. I just had a thought on that. I'll try an e-mail, but I don't want to call this late.

For all you out there. Have a really enjoyable holiday. Don't get stressed if it isn't perfect, THAT is what makes the memories. Yeah, the good memories, if you can let it. Enjoy your time with your friends and your families, and with yourself, if that is your choice.

Monday, December 22, 2008

adventures in shopping

Today Carl and I took Raine and Shelbi (our niece) shopping for clothes which were Shelbi's Christmas presents. We needed her to go since we didn't know what sizes she wears, nor did we know her tastes in clothes. Our budget wasn't large, and we wanted it to go as far as possible, so we went to Ross, where she picked out 5 tops that she liked. Then it was off to the outlet mall, a little ways down the highway. She scored 2 pairs of sketchers (and Raine got one too) in one store, two pair of pants and two pair of leggings and another top from another store, a hoodie from yet another and a dress in a different store. Total for everything? about $100. woo hoo!

Our color scheme for the day seemed to be brown and pink. The dress she chose was a pink velour kind of thing, with fur at the collar and cuffs. Very cute for Christmas. It was also all stuff that Raine turned her nose up at. So, I got to do some girly kid shopping with my niece, which also was rather a treat.

The outlet mall was pretty busy, but the mall part was spacious enough to not be crowded, and being out doors helped as well. Some of the stores were smallish, but the crowds were manageable. Their parking lot is no where near as big as some of the malls, and it was an easy exit from the highway. Know what's better? When we left it was an easy entrance back onto the highway as well. So, I had kind of been avoiding the outlet mall, but it really wasn't bad at all.

Sunday, December 21, 2008

i've been ruined

OK, so 1941 isn't Spielberg's masterpiece, but its a fun movie to not take seriously at all... only... Tonight as we were watching it, all I could think of was how one of the main characters reminded me of the boys in Drake and Josh. Yeah that insipid, horrible kid's show that I try to avoid. My daughter even tries to avoid it. But, they seem to play the commercials for it non-stop, even during Spongebob, which she does watch.

Now, as if that weren't bad enough, I noticed some inconsistencies which in previous viewings I had been able to overlook, like that the two guys in the ferris wheel car somehow trade places about midway through their shift, even though no one is there to work the ferris wheel and let them out. Hmmmm... Then there is that great scene where the ferris wheel rolls down the pier and into the ocean. Wouldn't the lights go out right about the time the thing disconnected from the pylons (or whatever they call those things holdin git up)??? Nope, they are still lit all the way down the pier and into the water. That's some extention cord.

Want to know the worst thing? I couldn't keep these observations to myself. About the time the ferris wheel hit the water, Ron & Carl were ready to throw things at me. Not big things, no, but still. I think the only thing that stopped them was the thought of cleaning it up later. Still, they did complain that I was "ruining it" for them. My bad. Sorry, guys, but I just couldn't help it...

Saturday, December 20, 2008

Congratulations

Some friends of mine have a new baby girl this week. Her name is Ember Corinne, which I think is a beautiful name. Mom and baby are healthy and happy, even though their home birth plans fell through. I wish them all love and peace and happiness.

Hanuka begins tomorrow. To all of the Jewish faith, Happy Hanuka.

The winter solstice is also tomorrow. The longest night of the year. The hope of spring and new life begins. The cycle of nature and life continues.

Seasons greetings. Love, peace, hope, and happiness to all.

Friday, December 19, 2008

time for my 2 cents

I have some dear friends who are lesbians. They are married to each other, and make a wonderful, loving, positive, good-for-each-other couple. The went to CA to get legally married, and I think if they could afford it, they would travel to every state where marriages between gay or lesbian people is legally recognized and get married there. I don't know about you, but I don't know of many couples who would happily get married again and again. (not to say that the other married couples I know won't stay married, but still)

I'm not particularly an activist for much of anything, bad me. But I do have an opinion about letting gay and lesbian people get legally married. I think we should make it legal, in every state in the US. Lets face it, this issue isn't about what people other people are attracted to, or how or with whom they have sex. None of those things are going to change by recognizing these marriages legally. What will change? Their right to get insurance from a spouse's employment. Their right to have a say over medical treatment of and visitation with a very ill or injured spouse. Their right to have community property, and inheritance rights. These are the things that will change. Which of these things threaten your marriage? Which of them threaten the "sanctity" of marriage? I don't feel threatened.

I wish people could see it that way. Instead they have a knee-jerk reaction. Well, let me tell you, there are many people I don't want to have sex with (and I'm sure I'm not on hardly anyone's short list, either), and many many many people I don't want to watch do it either. And not all of them - by a long shot - are gay, or lesbian. What happens between two competent, consenting adults in private can be kept private, and I'll be fine with that.

Instead, talk about what is REALLY going to change. Make your decision based on that.

Thursday, December 18, 2008

for trekies like me

I just saw a bit of sad news: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081218/ap_en_ce/obit_roddenberry links to the article. Majel Barret Roddenberry who played Nurse Chapel, L'waxanna (spelling?) Troi, and gave voice to the computers on the Star Trek space fleet, died today.

She has been a part of every version of Star Trek, from the first pilot, to the most recent movie. She is as much or more of a Star Trek icon as anyone in the original cast, and I really enjoyed her recurring role as Deanna Troi's mother on Next Generation. I wish her family peace.

Wednesday, December 17, 2008

receive Christmas cheer

Some friends of ours dropped by this evening with a very unexpected gift of holiday cheer. They brought us a nice box of home-made goodies that is really nice, really nice of them, and really unexpected. It was truly a gift of holiday cheer. It put me in better spirits than even my own crafting has done (and that's saying something). Being thought of by them has been one of the best gifts! Thank you, Peter and Susan! I'm surprised, touched, and definitely more cheerful now.

I am really going to have to be careful around that box, it has so many different yummy treats inside. But I don't feel deprived, because I'm not supposed to eat them. I most certainly will taste things. I also feel happy with myself because I know that will be enough for me. Truly a special gift all they way around.

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

stress

Its stress. End of the school year stress. Even though I don't have to give finals (although some kids are taking their finals in my room), or average grades, I still have end of the semester stress. My eye twitches. Argh that drives me up a wall. Tonight, the back of my neck is so tight that it is giving me a headache. And I'm tired. And obviously, I'm complainy. So, before I do further harm, let me sign off for the evening.

Monday, December 15, 2008

procrastination

We all know what it is. I do it more than some, and less than others, I suppose. It can be a respite from toil, or a passive aggressive way to make others do your work for you.

Right now, my "I'll do it tomorrow" projects include getting packages and cards ready to mail, and writing checks for the bills, and similarly getting them ready to mail. They won't do themselves, you know. I'll have to do them. (trying to talk myself into action, you know) But, they will still be here tomorrow, and perhaps I'll be a little bit more inspired. To, you know, work.

Still, I have had inspiration on the crafting front, just like you figured all along. I finished the fire dragon's egg and started on lacy dragon. Its for my friend's daughter who WILL actually play with a Barbie...

Sunday, December 14, 2008

finish

Well, I'm late so I don't want to write much. I want to get to sleep. OK, I do want to write more than I should if I want to get to sleep sooner.

It was a good day for working on Christmas. I got some send-out-with-the-Christmas-cards gifts made. I had them made, but the idea was mine. Thanks to the helpful person at the copy center, who was willing to stretch a bit, and try something she had not done before.

I also finished a scarf/shawl I was knitting. That is what has kept me up later than normal. I knew I could finish it tonight, and I REALLY wanted to get done with it. It was a nice, manageable project, and I may make more, but AFTER the holidays are over. Then again, it is a cool weather type gift, so not much after the holidays...

Now for the wrapping. I haven't gotten to that yet, nor the Christmas cards. Yes, I know I better get on it. In the next couple of days, I promise. But now, to bed. I'm finished.

Saturday, December 13, 2008

two words

I have two words for you tonight. Smoked meat. Yep. We've been enjoying smoked meat around here, thanks to Carl and Alton Brown. You see, Carl watched an episode of Good Eats where Alton makes a meat smoker out of some terra cotta pots and an electric hot plate. It didn't seem too complicated, so Carl got to thinking about how he could do something like that on a smaller budget. He was thinking that smoked turkey sounded awfully good for Thanksgiving.

After some though and experimentation, he found that if he put two of the hot plates in his charcoal grill (after cleaning out any charcoal leftovers) and a small metal pan on each burner for wood chips, that he could smoke meat quite nicely.

The first meat he smoked was a boston butt. He brined it and the made a rub, like Alton had done in the above mentioned episode. It came out fabulous. Then the turkey. Oh my goodness. It rained on Thanksgiving, so the temperature in the smoker was a little lower than the previous time, so we put the turkey in the oven for an hour or so, just to make sure the internal temperature reached the safe zone. I do recommend a probe thermometer for this process. Its good to be safe with your meat. The turkey was very tasty, and moist and tender.

Since then, we've had smoked brisket and just last week Carl smoked some polska kilbasa sausages out there. wow. Today he was busy smoking meat again, this time for Christmas gifts. We made deliveries this evening on the way to gaming.

Smoked meat. yum. I'm just saying...

Thursday, December 11, 2008

just thursday

Which means its not Friday yet. Its been a busy week, but in a good kind of way, nothing disastrous looming. Still, I could stand for tomorrow to be Saturday. Then again, I have a good bit to accomplish on Saturday, including getting some things prepared and then packaged and mailed. It is times like these that a staff would come in handy. I'm just sayin'.

I also keep getting distracted... look, something yarny.

I can feel the holidays creeping up. Last night, all my dreams had Christmas music for sound tracks. At least they were ones I could sing along with...

Have a good weekend everyone.

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

give the people what they want





OK, here is a photo phrenzy of crafting wonderfulness.

First, the Jayne hat, as featured on and copied from the series, Firefly. This is my first go at knitting in a very long time. It is double strands of worsted weight yarn done on circular needles.

I have another knitting project lined up, and that is a little shawl. I learned how to make it today at school, and it should go pretty quick. Maybe even in time for Christmas gifts.

Next up are a few pictures of dragons. I took some individually, but held the camera too close and the focus was bad. The group pictures turned out clearer. OK... so, putting the pictures where I want them is evidently NOT going to happen... so...

After I took pictures, I finished eyes and mouths on the babies that didn't have them yet. The red one is my latest one. Can you tell he is a fire dragon? His wings are made with 2 strands of yarn and I like the extra body that gives them. Notice the similarity in the colors of the Jayne hat? wonder how that happened...

So, anyway, there they all are...

Tuesday, December 9, 2008

fun, fun, fun

You know, I'm having so much fun with yarn, I can hardly stand it! I keep thinking of more things I can make for people. I don't think I'll have time to create them all, so I will try to finish what is on my plate, so to speak, at the moment, and then move on to other projects after the holidays. Its kind of like that stack of books, in a way. Comforting to know I have another project waiting in the wings. Just because I finish something doesn't mean I have to stop! I'm also not working on any one big thing, but a lot of smaller things, so they go pretty fast. All my Jayne (you know, from Firefly) hat needs now is a tassel. Wow does it need a tassel. Its been a really long time since I knitted anything, and I think it turned out OK.

I'm playing with the dragons, more, too. Experimenting with some variegated threads. I always like the way variegated threads look on the skein. I'm often disappointed in how the colors pool though. Its rather frustrating. I'm mixing some with rows of a solid in the color scheme, and it looks pretty cool on these. Hey, at least _I_ like it, and since I'm the one making them, and no one gets to make much in the way of a request, it goes how I like it. Anyway, I'm also experimenting with some decorative stitching on them as well. Nothing too fancy, and definitely NOT lacy, but still, variety adds interest for the crafter.

I hope to actually take a moment or two and take some pictures soon to post. In the mean-time, I'm having Waayyyy too much fun with it.

Monday, December 8, 2008

read, read, read

My stack of to-read books is getting taller. Ahhhhhh. I know, you thought I was going to complain. Not me, not when I have something to read. I only complain when I DON"t have something to read.

The newest additions? Well, Charlaine Harris was recommended by some friends, who promptly but a stack into my hands. They were the same ones who recommended the Dresden files books, which I am still enjoying. A teacher friend from school recommended the latest craze of Vampire books to me as fun, light reading. She lent me Twilight, by Stephanie Meyer. Yeah, you know the movie just came out. Probably won't watch it at the theater, but depending on how I like the book, I may get the DVD.

We actually got the tree up and decorated this evening, so our house is looking more festive, now. Kind of ... I don't know what... we have boxes and boxes and boxes of decorations, but only a 4.5 foot tree. Hmmmm. Yes, some purging is in order here. Some of my strings of lights are older than I am, and may not be safe any longer. Some of the glass is priceless - at least to me. Now that we can organize, that would seem a logical "next" on the list. But tomorrow. Not tonight. Tonight, I get at least another chapter.

Sunday, December 7, 2008

rest

This was a weekend of not enough sleep. I tend to stay up late on weekend evenings, and then enjoy a little sleeping in on the weekend mornings. Not to be had this weekend, however. Raine was not feeling well Saturday morning, and got me up early to tell me this. Of course, she's supposed to go get her mommy when she doesn't feel good, and she had a mile flu it seems, with a little vomiting and the runs, but was feeling better by the afternoon, thank goodness. Still, she got to bed much closer to her normal time instead of getting to stay up late like she usually does on Saturdays (partly so we can sleep in). Which means - of course - she got up closer to her usual time as well. At least she was feeling fine today, though. If I know what is good for me, I'll get myself to bed early tonight and make up for a little lost sleep though...

I've been making good progress in my holiday crafting. I've knitted most of my first hat. So far so good... It didn't take very long once I got the official one started. I practiced a few times before I started it though. It's been a while since I've knitted. I also got sidetracked with my crocheting by juggling balls. One of the threads I read on the Big Damn Knitters group on Ravelry was talking about them. They were talking about juggling geese, and several people shared patterns or pictures of chicks/ducklings for pattern ideas. The darn things were so cute it distracted me and I had to crochet a few. Now if only I knew someone who would like to juggle them... ha ha ha.

We still haven't put up our Christmas tree, though. I wanted to today, but it just didn't fit in. Hopefully tomorrow evening we can get the sucker out. Even if we just get the lights on tomorrow, we can put the trimmings on later. I did get my Christmas music out and listen to some, though. I did enjoy that.

Friday, December 5, 2008

children and games

SO, my five-year-old, Raine, sees us playing games all of the time. We do role-playing games most Saturdays, and board games when no one is ready or able to ref. We do computer games daily. She's hooked. We let her play Spore, and actually had to take it away because she wouldn't/couldn't concentrate on other stuff that she needed to, like school. OK, she's 5, she'll get better at it. We'll help her learn to balance things. I hope.

Anyway, Uncle Carl let her have a character on World of Warcraft. Now I know she isn't the only little kid with a character on one of these games. I'm sure many parents who play let their offspring have a character to run around a newbie zone with. We like to share our love of gaming, ya know. She picked out a Tauren, so she could look mean, and ran around smashing things with a hammer. Then I think Carl made a hunter orc character for her, instead. She heard us talking about getting gold, so she wants to get a lot of gold now. Carl asked her what she was going to use the gold for, and her reply was "to get girls." This amused him no end, of course, although he had to tell her that you couldn't get girls with gold in WoW. Of course she wanted to know... "boys?"

Thursday, December 4, 2008

feel festive

Today I read an article that talked about "tired" Christmas Music. You know, the songs that make you cringe when you hear them yet another time. I actually like Christmas music, but there are some songs that I could happily forget ever existed. None of those songs were on this author's list. Instead his article felt more like he had a list of songs he wanted to plug, and he was just trying to do it in what didn't seem so much like a plug. For every song on his list, he "suggested" a different one to play instead.

Me, I think bad music is just... bad music. There is no excuse to drag out Alvin and the Chipmunks just because the Album had "Christmas" in the title. Instead, drag out John Denver, and the Muppets! Ok, I'm being ironic, at least a bit. I know, JD et al is not critical masterpiece either, but it makes me cheery to listen to it. Yes, it does.

I like a lot of the old Christmas music as well (Ok, I'm not classifying the above as old, even though many people would). My folks had Fred Waring and the Pensylvanians. It was one of our Christmas staples, and when I found a cassette of one of the albums once, I bought it without hesitation. I wish I could find it on disk, but I'll probably have to search online and download it someday. They could sing AND they didn't do the same tired arrangements as everyone else.

One of my other favorites is the Chieftains Christmas Album, The Bells of Dublin. Some traditional happy stuff, and then there's "The St Steven's Day Murders" to spice things up a bit. So anyway, now that the Christmas countdown is on, we may as well drag out the holiday favorites one more time and start listening. Maybe it will make me feel like setting the tree up...

Wednesday, December 3, 2008

try to have a social life

Well, now that I have been crocheting, and I'm practicing up on my knitting to make a Jayne hat for Ron, I've been talking to people at work who are also crafters. Several women who I enjoy talking to, and share some common interests in science fiction, and other things, also happen to enjoy yarn. Its fun!

Last weekend after Thanksgiving, a few of us actually found/made time to meet and gab and craft stuff. I really enjoyed it. We got to show off what we were making, look at tools and yarn, and talk about lots of stuff, only some of which was remotely school related.

This evening, I was invited to the El Paso Crochet Guild (club? can't remember) meeting. There ws going to be stuff to make, and it sounded like fun. I decided to go. Uh huh. Well, I don't know what the snafu was, but I never saw the person I knew where I went. I never saw the other people crocheting. I (dope slap to my head) didn't give my friend my phone number, nor ask for hers to make sure we found each other. Doh! Well, I'm disappointed but not devistated. We'll try and do it again some time.

Now here is the thing about a social life. My social life is time away from my family. I love being with my family. I love having and being with friends. Ideally, the two mix, but not always. Ron's (and Carl's mostly, too) social life is tied to his computer, and people on the internet. I like some real people around. Like my family. Hmmm.... Well, lately, some socializing has been arranged and successfully carried through, and I've enjoyed it. I'll do more, although it will always be a kind of torn feeling that my family is missing me. (of course, that could all be my wishful thinking, lol)

Tuesday, December 2, 2008

check on your children

Here's something for your to-do list and mine. Check on your children. Not only does it help you know where they are and what they are doing, it is - occasionally - amusing.

This evening, when I checked on Raine in the bath tub, she offered - in her words - "nice fresh butt" for pinching. Yep amusing. Later, after pajamas and book reading and tucking in, I checked on her to make sure she was asleep. Hmmm... I couldn't tell. You see, she had her book tented over her face. Yep, sound asleep under it. Sometimes jokes (it was a joke book) are really exhausting.

My evening has been complete when my daughter makes me smile.

Monday, December 1, 2008

earthshattering?

I think not. I had fun getting yarn today, and a trio of new Christmas ornaments. Hobby Lobby had some very cool, organic stars in their ornaments earlier. They looked rather like starfish, the leggy kind. But the only ones OUR HL had were bright turquoise. I was hoping they had gotten in others, but instead the ones they had were now gone. boo. Anyway, if you check your local HL, and they have some, let me know... hmmm maybe I can look online for them.

I also got more yarn. Some for Ron's hat, and more for dragons. Had to branch out in colors a bit, just for variety. Trying a few variations on the egg designs, and having fun with them. So, essentially, more Christmas cheer for me.

Other than that, it was a pretty Monday kind of day, today.