yay.

I'm thirty. Remember when you were a child and 30 was older than you could comprehend?

My celebration started wonderfully with a phone call from my area manager (at 8:09) asking me to please come in and do the year end cleaning of my bus. I then got to open the second and third cards in a series from Mathboy (his family motto is "Nothing in Moderation") and listen to lots of moaning and complaining from him that the boss lady had had the nerve to call before nine and ruin all of his scheming and planning to start my day with a smile. Evidently there was meant to be singing and flaming brownies.
Now I'm off to spend my birthday detailing my bus (which I had planned on doing anyways), feeling ill (still running a low grade fever), and, hopefully, going to the doctor's office to see if she can figure out what my problem is.

Still Alive

(edited to try to repair the odd spacing and ask what bloggers problem is with spaces and pictures.)

Long overdue post with PICTURES!

Firstly . . . about two weeks ago, I met up with Alyson, Chris, Kelly, Phoebe, and Valerie (no that link's not a mistake, Valerie is one of the brains behind Yarn4Socks) at Knit'n'Knibble in Tampa. From there we went to dinner (well, Alyson, Kelly, Phoebe, Valerie and I) at Pane Rustica which was delicious, reasonably priced, and under lit. Our third, and final stop, was a nearby Barnes and Noble where we chased away an older woman (who was so deeply ensconced in her cozy chair that she'd actually brought a blanket from home) by being unruly and giggly. Well jeez. What else can you expect from a gaggle of knitters?

From left to right: Me, Valerie, Alyson, and Kelly.

Photo credit goes to Valerie's very patient husband Reuben.

The following Sunday was our usual knit-out at (lately) Jason's Deli where Sandy was kind enough to model her clap-in-progress. Incidentally, I'm working on one in the same colour (because I abandoned put the SWS one on hold). The yarn is Lionbrand Microspun in Lilac. Because of course periwinkle blue is the first colour I think of when I think of lilacs. *sigh* Anyways.

The monkeys were completed in plenty of time to be gifted to my mother in law this last Sunday but on Friday I decided to make something else to go with them.

Any guesses what?

Here's a hint (Mathboy made this part)

Oh! Saturday we picked up The Deathly Hallows and I read it on Monday. Like Kelly, I devoured it in about 5 hours. My problem now? Mathboy won't read it until he's finished the series he's reading right now . . . and he wants to read the first six in the Potter series before he reads book seven. *sigh* Keeping mum about it for goodness knows how long is liable to kill me.

Lastly, here's the evil large green bug who's been munching on my roses. Anyone know what it is?

I'm off now to consume large amounts of orange juice, ruby red grapefruit juice, and soup in an effort to combat whatever the heck it is that's been inflicting a fever and headache on me so that I feel somewhat human tomorrow (not feeling one's mortality on one's birthday is kind of a nice thing) and on our trip to Virginia Friday.

Ravelry

So I toddled over to Ravelry to see where I am on the list . . . .

Found you!

• You signed up on July 3, 2007


• You are #13011 on the list.


• 7143 people are ahead of you in line.


• 4187 people are behind you in line.


• 32% of the list has been invited so far

*sigh*

Graft and re-Graft

Ordinarily, I wouldn't feel the need to point out the silly things that I decorate my blog with but LOOK! It's a skinny cute little knitting me (with pointy ears! )! If you want your own cute little knitting you, head on over to www.meez.com and join. In the space where it asks who referred you, type cornssss (note the fourth s) and you'll get five free coinz to deck yourself out (can't get the knitting or the wedding ring without coinz). In the interest of full disclosure, I also get coinz for any references that join up . . . but they're of no use in the real world. Also, Kelly? They've got Hairspray outfits! I'm ashamed to admit that I could easily send hours in there messing around and playing dollies.

On to the knitting content. I finished monkey 1, did something that I was calling kitchenering, and decided that it looked absolutely horrible. There are no pictures because it was very very bad, however, I do have witnesses to the badness.

Last night found me on the couch, muttering and grumbling as I returned to this point:

Once I got back to the start, I ran the video found here, watched it maybe three or four times, gritted my teeth and settled in to graft my little heart out. In the end, I did this:

I could only be more pleased if it'd looked like this on the first try.

And so, I'm proud to present Monkey 1.

The cool sock blocker is a bent-out-of-shape coat hanger. I found the tutorial here thanks to this post of Kristy's.

Tonight you'll find me on the couch doing this:

and watching Mike Rowe play with reptiles on Dirty Jobs.

Incidentally, Monkey 2 came to the immigration offices with me yesterday and evidently the size 2 bamboos she's on were not deemed nearly as dangerous as the zeros that Boudica was on. No chin poking test this time (the last time I was at the immigration offices, the screener checked to see how dangerous my needles were by stabbing himself in the chin repeatedly with them.) and while I was able to while away my time without getting bored, all of the knitting I did got frogged thanks to a ginormous error made as soon as I got there. I got my new stamp and so I'm good to go for another year. Next year at this time, I'll be able to apply for my long term (ten year) green card. Woot!

Monkey Passion

On Tuesday, the monkey sock and I went to its place of conception. I'm only about three or four inches away from the toe and rather pleased with myself.

Here's Monkey enjoying the music and lights.
























Today, Mathboy and I went for a stroll around our wildly overgrown back yard and found this lovely little fellow and his entire family and all of their friends attempting to overthrow our backyard. I really need to get out there and mow. In case you're curious, that's a purple passion flower

Mean spiritedness?

I'm a horrible person. Mathboy and I received a wedding invitation from one of his cousins today. This will be her third wedding and I'm just aggravated by the whole thing. You see, the invitation included two things that should not normally be included in a wedding invitation:

1) Registry cards directing us to the places where they've registered for a heck of a lot of stuff for two people who are evidently already cohabiting . . . one of whom, as I mentioned, has already been around the block twice.

2) What amounts to a coming out announcement. We had no inkling that Cuz was a lesbian but it was made plain in the invitation that entreated us to join in celebrating the marriage of so-and-so's daughter to so-and-so's daughter.

Bah. I don't think I'm a homophobe . . . but maybe I am. Maybe I'm reacting in this manner merely because I think that homosexuality is wrong. I don't dislike gays and lesbians. I grew up with an honorary uncle who was quite gay, one of my childhood friends came out about five years ago, I had a friend who had two mommies, Mathboy has an aunt who came out 15-20 years ago . . . I like most of these people (the exception is the former friend who decided that people disliked her because she was gay and not because she was a raging bitch) and all are welcome in my home. I just happen to think that the lifestyle is wrong. I also think that illicit drug use and cigarette smoking are wrong and yes, I know that habits/addictions are chosen and many would argue that homosexuality isn't. I don't really want to go there.

Anyways. As long as you're not harming anyone else, I really don't care what you do. How does all of this circle around to Cuz and her partner? Well, sending an invitation to a same sex wedding without giving any of the family (including elderly and conservative grandparents) any idea that you lean in that direction, or are even involved with anyone, kind of smacks of confrontationality (is that even a word?) I'm probably particularly irked because we've tried to keep the lines of communication open but any contact, including Christmas cards and wedding invitations from our end go ignored and unanswered.
What do you all think? Am I just being an uptight, judgy, right wing bitch?

Edited to Add: Mathboy tells me that I am, in fact, a homophobe . . . but he also says that I can't help it. My contention is that I can dislike a behaviour or action without disliking the person.

Happy Independence Day!

With malice towards none...With charity for all; With firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in; to bind up the nation's wounds; to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow and his orphan-- to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves, and with all nations.

~Abraham Lincoln, March 4, 1865

Happy Canada Day!

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