Still Kickin'

I have a cold and it sucks and I took a half day at work to come home and sleep. That was nice. I have discovered that I am a knitter. I like to knit, I find it relaxing and fulfilling to make something that I could just as easily buy. I have just started on a shawl to wear around the house when I am cold (which is often when I am healthy, not so much this week). I a making it out of the prodigious amount of yarn that I have leftover from the afghan that I finished last year. Very exciting stuff, first project on circulars and all. I'm kinda sad that being sick usually means being dizzy or easily made dizzy, which does not lend itself to knitting. So I only got three or four rows done yesterday, and nothin' today. Hopefully tomorrow will be better on the head functioning properly front.
I have also found that making my own knit goods can cost quite a bit more than buying them. Which boils down to...I will purchase some sweaters from LLBean and save the knitting money for the baby and two weddings that other people are having next year and that I would like to knit gifts for. And I will take a class on how to knit socks. I am really looking forward to this, it sounds like a lot of fun. I have been reading knitting blogs lately, and there are lots of folks who knit socks because they are small, a nice break between larger projects and easy to take with.

Work has been busy with State Fair prep. If you go the the Fair, look for the MN Bound log cabin, thems my peeps. I'll be working there the 3-9 shifts of AUG 29 & 30, and the morning (9-3) of labor day if you want to say hi.

The River Challenge was fun, Tiring, and hippies should not necessarily be allowed to make the menu (Not a fan of Sunday's lunch), but fun. I got blisters in places (the palm of my right hand) that have never been blistered before. And REALLY big boats that don't slow down when they see 200 canoes and kayaks are jerks. But they were really only prevelant in the last stage. Good times, and I know that I can steer a canoe at least as well as James, if not better. We are both looking forward to the BWCA trip in a couple of weeks, It'll be nice to be in the woods rather than at work.

Harry Potter (no spoilers)

I read HP7 straight through, no real break, about 11 hours. Oh I cried in the last quarter. I felt awful still today. I have never had a book that affected me so. I feel profoundly emotionally raw. And I'm not just mourning for the characters that died (but how it hurt. No, not that one, please) but also for the ones that lived, like I've lost a dear friend. I have never in all my life felt so sad at the end of a book, series or not. I think that is a testament to the power of the writing and the grip of the story. Maybe I am too easily lost in a fictional world, maybe I need to get a life, but the end of Harry Potter is much harder to deal with than I expected it would be. At the same time, I am satisfied with the ending. JKR did what had to be done. It all makes sense. There are no loose ends. The only thing I wonder, and maybe I just missed it, is that she said there would be someone who comes to magic late in life, that the magic didn't show in until adulthood, and I didn't see that.

In other news of the weekend, while waiting for HP7 to get here from Amazon, we went to REI and got our very own paddles and tent. The tent is an REI Taj 3, and I am very excited. They let us set it up in the store so we could see how it went together and how roomy it is. It goes together super easily, and is definetly roomy enough for us and all our stuff. It even has an attic, a stretchy peice of netting across the top, under the netting "skylight" which will be handy for small, easily lost things. It also has several pockets on the inside, and two doors, each with it's own vestibule. I also got what I think will be a great pair of canoeing shoes from L.L.Bean. I think they will work out really well. I am not worried about the traction, even though the lady at REI said "you're not wearing those to the Boundary Waters are you?" They should dry quickly, be comfy both while in the boat and portaging, and they're cute. I might get another pair just 'cause I like 'em. And they come in red (I got the blue ones).

All in all, a Saturday well spent. Today, we went and tried a frozen custard place in Excelsior called Adele's. Pretty good all around. I enjoyed my chili cheese dog and James liked his BBQ pork sandwich and vanilla shake. The custard wasn't quite as good as the shake for some reason, and we agreed that Liberty frozen custard in MPLS has a better plain vanilla cone. He found one more custard place not far from here that we will try next weekend.

Thanks to Liz, I have learned how to change the background of my blog and I am happy and ready to be more adventurous in the future. Not much time to write now. Be sure to check out the links for the Mississippi River Challenge over on the right if you haven't already. More later, tell me what you think of the color choices. I am thinking of trying a background photo in the near future, but not this weekend, busy finding out if Harry lives or not.

Progress?

So this is where I left off re-finishing my desk, probably about 8 years ago. Yes, I am slow in finishing projects. I think its genetic. Anyway, the back and sides were also partially done. After about 4 hours of work yesterday, I think the sides, back and the left side of the inside may be ready for sanding. I hope on Wednesday to finish the inside and base, and get a start on the details between the drawers, and the trim (which is not pictured as it is currently detached from the desk) That is where the dremel will come in I think. Thanks again to the in-laws for that.

In other news this week, I finally found the Splendid Table podcast, which has apparently been going for quite a while, but I was to silly to spend the 6 seconds to find. I love Lynne Rossetto-Kasper. Her voice is so pleasant to listen to, and she knows so much about so many kinds of food! And she's local! And being local means that if she can get it at the grocery store, so can I. I have found podcasts to be one of the best things ever, as I frequently forget or am not home to listen to the shows when they are broadcast on the weekends. Wait, Wait Don't Tell Me! and This American Life are great ways to spend the commute. A weekends worth of podcasts plus a couple of episodes of Fresh Air get me through the whole week of driving. Thank goodness for NPR. (And also MPR, which while only one of these shows is produced here, still makes it possible for me to actually here them all on the radio when I remember.)

Last weekend we had a nice time with James' parents, who came up and stayed with us. On Saturday we went to the MIA and looked at their collection of Chinese artifacts, most of which were donated by the Dayton family. We also looked at their Impressionist galleries. We skipped most of the rest because it is just so much to see.
On Sunday we went to Picasso and American Art at the Walker. It was a really interesting exhibit. And big. They had about 140 pieces on view. I discovered that I actually do like Jackson Pollack and Jasper Johns. It is hard to tell if you really like an artist's work from one or two pieces in a book somewhere. But they had about 10 of each and I liked them all, though of course some more than others. There is a Jasper Johns in the regular galleries too, but I don't like it as well as the ones they had in the Picasso show.
Last night we had dinner at Saji-ya for James' birthday. I had a sushi platter for the first time ever. I really like sushi, but I am usually a little nervous about making a meal of it because I find the texture of certain fish really disgusting. Apparently yellow-fin tuna is not one I like, as it was the only thing on my plate that I didn't enjoy.
I really need to get going on re-finishing my desk, but I am worried that the humid weather will make things difficult, like getting the stain or sealant or whatever I decide to use to dry. Hopefully the humidity won't affect the stripping process too much, I would like to start in on that this weekend at the latest. I figure if I go at it for two solid days I should at the very least be able to get it stripped. There are some pretty fussy details so that's why I am giving two days for stripping. If I do manage to get it stripped this weekend, maybe I can finish it Wednesday, as I don't have to work on the Fourth of July.

Almost 30!

Not much news to report. I'm looking forward to the birthday fest on Saturday. Right now I am re-reading the Harry Potter books in anticipation of book 7 coming out July 21. I know I still have an month and a half, but I just couldn't wait to get started on the refresher that I do before every new release. I sped through 1-3 as usual, but book 4 is feeling longer than I remember, so I sill take a break to read Killing Pablo before I tackle book 5. I will probably take another short break between 5 & 6, which will hopefully end me up with just enough time to catch up on National Geographics before Amazon delivers book 7. Yes, I pre-ordered it a month ago. In other exciting news, the new Buffy comic (#4) comes out today. I will get it either today or tomorrow. I love the Buffy. I am nerd hear me roar.

Well hello again!

I can, should I choose, post while at work. Which is what I am doing now. I have a one hour lunch break that they insist I take all of, and that I have some trouble filling. So you may be hearing from me more in the future. We shall see. Oriental rice crackers from Trader Joe's are definitely in my top five favorite snacks of all time. They are incredibly addictive and I could easily eat an entire bag in a sitting given the opportunity. Luckily, they are also a bit on the filling side, so if I were to eat an entire bag, I might explode as a result. Not much actual news to report, I put in two more mum plants yesterday. I think the side garden is now done, as long as the one mum that hasn't yet come back from last year shows up. I am hoping to work on the shade garden next weekend. A particular variety of pulmonaria seems to work best, so I am planning to put several more in and hopefully fill up the space. Right now we have a square garden with a diagonal of plants that do well and pretty much nothing else. Two of the three hostas are working on coming back, but they never seem to fill out the way I hope they will. We will see what I can come up with to grow back there in the shade.

Ta Daa!

To the amazement and wonder of all, I finished a project in a reasonable amount of time! I finished this sweater Easter morning, and was able to wear it to the big family gathering. It fits just right, and is very soft and warm. Next year I will make more, with different shapes and patterns and yarns.

In other news, the job is going well. Having evenings and weekends off is great. I can get a nice walk in before James gets home, and then actually cook dinner and accomplish random "things" in the evening. How exciting is that? We got a guest bed (did I say that before?), which just fits in the guest room as long as we don't try to put something like a dresser in with it. So if anyone would like to be a guest, there is now a bed for you to sleep in.

The big 30th birthday bash is scheduled for Saturday, June 9th. Details to follow.

Goodbye Kilgore Trout

Kurt Vonnegut died yesterday. I am very sad. I'm sure that large parts of my family are as well. I took a class on his writing from a good friend of his, and got to see him speak when I was in college. I don't really remember what he said, but I remember laughing, and I remember what he looked like. So goodbye Kilgore Trout, Wanda June, Billy Pilgrim and all the others. Mr. Vonnegut, you will be greatly missed.

A little news here and there

I post a lot more in my head than I do in reality. I'm always thinking of things to post while not at home. Anyway, on with the show.
All last week I got to spend at home burning up vacation time. It got off to a wonderful start when, first thing Monday morning, I was offered a job as the administrative assistant for the buyers at Love From Minnesota. You know, the gift store people. It sounds like everything I was looking for in a job except location. I will be much busier, work a regular business schedule, make a bit more money, and most importantly, be out of the mall! The only thing I wanted that it doesn't have is location. I will still be driving to Roseville everyday as the corporate office is across Fair view from Rosedale. Oh well. I spent Thursday with Jess touring the Hill House, having lunch at Cecil's and teaching her how to make manicotti. We both agreed that we should cook together more. The boys met us in time for dinner, which was great. We don't have people over very often, but I usually enjoy it when we do. Nick (Jess' boyfriend) thought it was hilarious that she was actually cooking. James' favorite part of the evening was having Jess bless the meal in Hebrew. Being next to Rosedale will be nice in that I can meet Jess for lunch and not actually have to go very far.
I spent the rest of my vacation working on my sweater until I got hit with a nasty allergy attack/head cold on Saturday. I finished the front and back, and I am almost done with the first sleeve, but once my eyes started watering, I just couldn't concentrate. I hope to finish it before it gets to warm out, so that I can wear it a couple of times this year.
This week it has been very hard to focus at work because I am so happy that Friday is my last day. It will be a long time (I hope) until I have to work past 5(ish) again. Yippee! I am looking forward to starting @ Love from MN on Monday, and will be sure to tell you how it goes on the actual blog, not just in my head.

So many things that have pictures to go with them!

First, if anyone can help me change the look of my blog without using blogger's templates, that would be neat. I may or may not be able to figure it out with help, but figuring it out on my own is just not working.

And now. . . The long awaited watch photo!

I still think it is ridiculously pretty. I really enjoy checking the time these days.

Last week Thursday we had a lot of snow dropped on us. (And also our neighbor Mark's antique tractor.) Luckily I had Friday off, so I didn't have to try to do anything. Instead I stayed home and put up the new curtains. The colors in the photo are a little off, the wall color translates as too something not good. The curtains basically match the couch. The mini blinds will come down as soon as we get the plastic off of the windows.

I have been watching the TV show Heroes this week trying to catch up. I have three episodes to go and then I will be caught up and have to wait 6 weeks for the next episode. Apparently the episode from this week makes it very upsetting to have to wait. I guess I will find out soon enough.

Here are some crazy cute kitty pictures to close the festivities. I am going to knit a sweater now. I will post a picture if I ever finish it.

Finally!

Unreleased Jimmy Page Guitar Riff To Be Retrieved From Secret Vault To Save Rock And Roll

Yeah for the outlet mall

Today gave us a rather succesfull trip to the outlet mall. Nikes for 10 bucks! I am very excited. James also got some much needed new shoes, but refuses to wear them until after yucky slush season is over. We ate lunch at a place called Space Alien Bar & Grill. Good burgers, not so good bloomin onion rip off. Not much else going on here. I am contemplating finishing some ongoing projects, but we'll have to wait and see what happens there.

Woo Hoo!

I finally got my new watch, and I am very excited about it. I haven't managed a good photo yet, but I am working on it. Today NPR's Fresh Air program was added as a podcast. That is also very exciting because it is one of my favorite NPR shows, and I very rarely get to listen to it. I love the way Terry Gross does interviews. She doesn't mess around or take shit from anyone. She reprimanded Gene Simmons after all. In other exciting news, one of my student loans is (finally and at long last) paid off. I think I will be totally done paying the other one off by the end of the year. Yeah!! I think I will try to change the look of my blog. I don't know how, but will try to learn. I apologize in advance for any unfortunate accidents that may occur.

Well, hello again!

Happy new year all! Christmas was relatively uneventful. We went to KC to James' folks. His brother John got in later than expected, but got to stay a few extra days. Jeff wasn't able to get a flight until the 26th after his original flight was cancelled, so we didn't "do" Christmas until then.
Work has been hard to catch up on as all three of my part timers are not here for January. Amy is doing study abroad, Alyssa just came back for school this week and wants to get through the first week of class before she comes back to work, and Jenelle, who only works Sat. anyway, is working on her Master's degree this month. Luckily my manager's wife is kind of a floating office person for our district, so she helps out once a week. Hopefully I'll be all caught up by this time next week.
Still no exciting watch, apparently it is on back order until the end of the month. I did get a bunch of new Cd's though. JJ Cale & Eric Clapton's The Road to Escondido is very good. Cale is the one who actually wrote many of Clapton's big hits (Cocaine being my favorite) The other one that I really like is Gov't Mule's Deja Voodoo. Hard blues, think Allman Brothers or Stevie Ray Vaughn with some jam band thrown in. I'm still waiting on the new Zuton's album, apparently it was available in the US for about a week, during which I failed to buy it, so I had to get an import. Not a bad thing, just a little more expensive. I am also waiting for the soundtrack from the move The Good Thief. I saw the movie on IFC and throughout the movie is Bono's version of That's Life, which is incredible. I honestly don't remember the rest of the soundtrack that well, but it has gotten good reviews. Hopefully it will live up to them.

So Sleepy!

Aah the holidays in the land of retail. At the #1 mall destination in Minnesota. I am having fun, but I am oh so tired, and I still have 5 more 12 hour days to go. Now I know this may sound whiny to those of you who regularly work long days or are very active. But to pudgy, out of shape me, 12 hours on my feet is long, especially 5 in a row. But it will all be worth it. When I get 40+ hours of overtime on my next check I will be able to purchase a very nice swiss made watch that I have had my eye on. With money left over. Yay for overtime! I would post a picture of it, but I could not find one on the web. It would appear that it has been discontinued. Hopefully I will still be able to get it from the manufacturer, but if not, I can pay a little more and buy the one in our case at work. (Watch manufacturers generally sell watches to employees below cost to encourage them the wear the watches in the hopes of driving sales.) When I get it I will take a picture and post it because it is very pretty. I think I will go to bed now.

The Zoester

Here is a picture of the culprit of last evenings mischief. Annoying how something so cute could cause so much trouble. (She gets a stern talking to and several squirts from the water bottle just about every day.)

And here she is with her big sis. Zoe is a little bigger now, but still pretty much looks the same.

Stupid frickin cat

So I was gonna write a nice long post and tell about my new computer and how much Dell's customer sevice sucks and how excited I am that Margaret moved to Minneapolis (having family close is somehow nicer than having them far away even if you don't see them any more often than before), but the annoying (yes I know she's only 4-1/2 months old but still) kitten that is Zoe had to go and walk all over my keyboard and erase what I had written and I couldn't figure out how to get it back. It really pissed me off, even though rationally it shouldn't really have made me all that mad. Anyway, I just wanted you to know, that after not writing for so long I was finally going to and Zoe ruined it. So blame her. Thhhhhppppt. Arrrrgggghhh.

Times really haven't changed that much

We in America do not have government by the majority. We have government by the majority who participate. -Thomas Jefferson

As true today as it was back in the day. I hope that everyone votes in a few weeks here. I also hope that everyone takes enough of an interest in their local elections to learn enough about the candidates to make at least a quasi-informed decision. With so many seats up for grabs here, I am having trouble keeping up, but will take the opportunity of my day off today to do some research. So far I am leaning independant in most races. We shall see.

Pleasant Valley Sunday

Today we went to see the new Scorsese film The Departed. It was very good. right before we left for the theatre, we saw a review for it on TV where the guy said it had is three top movie annoyances: too long (2 1/2 hours), too much violence and too much swearing. At which point James and I looked at each other and said "that sounds like the requirements for a good movie in this house!" (Quentin Tarantino is in both of our top three favorite directors) And yes, there was A LOT of violence and swearing (mostly in the form of "fuck" and it's variations, which happens to be my favorite curse word.) A very good plot with dual moles in opposing organizations, and a couple of clever twists. Apparently it is based on a Hong Kong movie. James & I were wondering if maybe we needed to start watching more Hong Kong action flicks.

I had something else in mind to write about too, but I forgot what it was. I guess I'll post it when I remember what it is.