Sunrise this morning....

Spoiled....

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Originally uploaded by bean counting knitter

I walked in the door tonight to this...... I felt so spoiled.

An evening of gross

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Originally uploaded by bean counting knitter

Ever wonder what trace germs are on the money in your pocket or in your hand? I had this $5 bill in my pocket this evening and it took a nose dive into the toilet. I was left with the decision to flush it or pull it out. Well I went after it. I proceeded to scrub the bill along with my hands. I still feel like I need to have a scalding shower though.

Later when I arrived home I discovered my angel kitty Kiki puked on our kitchen table. Now you will never, well 99.9% of the time, never see her on any of our counters/tables. She only does this when we are not home but normally there isn't proof. Today she left proof. I know it was her because of the black fur ball tucked nicely into the puke (see the upper portion of the pile).

Why am I sharing this with you? Well in the name of transparency I don't want you to feel left out! Hey I have to share this crap with someone so why not you?

Life Altering.....

Have you ever participated in something where you know it is going to have a profound impact on you for the rest of your life? I am currently participating in something that I feel will be life altering for me. I can't talk about it just yet but I can feel my "alert level" is elevated and there is really nothing I can do to stop this process and how it will change me. It isn't good or bad it just is what it is. I know stop with the Cryptoquip as my husband likes to say. :-) All in good time I will share with you. I promise!

Speaking of my husband. He is in DC this week starting his new job. This is an exciting time for him as he embarks on the next phase of his career. Congratulations baby! I just love this pic of him taken last week at our favorite Chinese place.


On knitting news I have a few things to share.

Back in November of 2007 I participated in a swap. As part of the swap packaged I received this mug from Darcy. It didn't take me very long to fill it with DPN's and crochet hooks.



Remember the Calvary that arrived in April? I purchased another handmade case from Sarah of Sarahkincheloe Etsy Shop which I totally love like the circular case.


It is a pretty pink and holds all my wonderful DPNs and crochet hooks in a nice roll.

Our next door neighbor is expecting a baby girl in July. I knit up these cute Baby Bib O' Love for her and baby. I realized after I took the pictures the coral bib is bottom side up but hey you get the idea.

These are Eunice socks by Cookie A.

So the life altering "thing" I mentioned above is leaving me a lot of time where I can knit something very simple. I picked the Pinwheel blanket.

Don't Do This!

Husband 1.0

I normally read and delete jokes but this is cute. Jimmy is totally excluded cuz he has never run Husband 1.0. ;-)


INSTALLING HUSBAND 1.0

Dear Tech Support:

Last year I upgraded from Boyfriend 5.0 to Husband 1.0 and noticed a distinct slow down in overall system performance, particularly in the flower and jewelry applications, which operated flawlessly under Boyfriend 5.0.

Additionally, Husband 1.0 uninstalled many other valuable programs such as Romance 9.5 and Personal Attention 6.5, and then installed undesirable programs such as NBA 5.0, NFL 3.0 and Golf Clubs 4.1.

Conversation 8.0 no longer runs, and Housecleaning 2.6 simply crashes the system!

I have tried running Nagging 5.3 to fix these problems, but to no avail.

What can I do?

Signed,
Desperate!


Dear Desperate!:

First, keep in mind, Boyfriend 5.0 is an entertainment package, while Husband 1.0 is an operating system.

Please enter command: ithoughtyoulovedme. html and try to download Tears 6.2 and don't forget to install the Guilt 3.0 update.

If these applications work as designed, Husband 1.0 should then automatically run the applications Jewelry 2.0 and Flowers 3.5.

Remember, however, that overuse of these applications can cause Husband 1.0 to default to Grumpy Silence 2.5, Happy Hour 7.0 or Beer 6.1.


Whatever you do, DO NOT under any circumstances install Mother-In-Law1. 0 It will run a virus in the background that will eventually seize control of all your system resources.

Additionally, please don't attempt to reinstall the Boyfriend5.0 program. This is an unsupported application that will crash Husband 1.0.

In summary, Husband 1.0 is a great program, but it does have limited memory and cannot learn new applications quickly. You might consider buying additional software to improve memory and performance. We recommend Cooking 3.0 and Hot Lingerie 7.7.

Good luck!
Tech Support

Freaked out.....

I was just checking my email and noticed my spam folder has an item count of 666...... ewwwwwwwww

Full Blown Spring Fever Baby....

Yep! I knew it wouldn't take much and boy oh boy mother nature did not disappoint. Yesterday was in the seventies here. WOW it was so nice. I believe I may experience a huge nasty mood swing if it snows again this season.

Jimmy and I went for a walk at Homestead Park yesterday morning. It was nice to be outside without 5 layers of clothing. Here are a couple pictures taken during our walk.




Friday I received a Knitpicks yarn order. There is some Cotlin yarn to make the Slinky-Rib sweater for spring/summer from Wendy of Knit and Tonic. There is sock yarn, Essential Kettle Dyed, for four pairs of socks and some stitch markers.


Kristie asked if I wanted to knit the SKA March Mystery Sock along with her. Clue one was published last Sunday and clue two today. I cast on, not once but twice, to start these socks yesterday. My first attempt went south pretty quickly but my second try is going pretty darn well. I am using Frog Tree Alpaca yarn for these lovelies. I have seen some pictures of finished clue one and it is soooooo pretty. Here is my cuff of sock 1 with the first lace repeat complete. I think I will knit a total of two repeats for the cuff and cast on the second sock since I want to have them both through clue one before I start clue two.

Attempt one:


Second cast on..


This morning I finally couldn't stand it any longer. I had to cast on the bedroom blanket for Jimmy. I really love Mission Falls 1824 Wool! Soooooooo soft and buttery. A pleasure to knit with for sure.


So in an attempt to regulate our Poo's glucose levels the Vet asked if we would be willing to test his blood regularly. On Friday we received his meter. Yesterday we attempted to take a reading but didn't not have success because the reading said we didn't haven enough blood. Poo was pretty pissed off at us after we stuck him 4 times to get blood. So we will try again today. I have been in contact with the Vet and she is going to contact her Vet friend who has done these tests on another kitty to get us some pointers. Here is his new meter.

Kreativ Blogger Awards

So Ria of Short Attention Span Theater has given me a Kreative Blogger Award Nomination which is a nice surprise. Thank you Ria. You can read about it here.

Now it is my turn to give out some Kreative Blogger Award Nominations. (BTW These nominations are in no particular order other than the random scrolling down my blog roll.)

1. Molly of Mollylouhoo ~ Molly gives me lots of inspiration and I enjoy watching her projects come to life. I love that her blog is honest and refreshing. The kitty pictures and stories are the best!

2. Julane of Courses and Wales ~ I am so enjoying watching Julane create something from nothing. Watching the Diamond Brocade birth was amazingly inspiring. I enjoyed the birthing of all the Sheldon's for Christmas gifts last year and am looking forward to the Hedgies.

3. Krisie of Fiber Funktastic ~ Knitting, knitting and more knitting. I get excited when Kristie's blog pops up to the top of my blog roll because I know that more than likely she will be enabling me for something else. I look up to Kristie's knitting because she is fearless. She isn't afraid to modify and go with it and this is a huge confidence booster for me.

4. Amanda of Mayfly ~ Like her amazing mom, Amanda, is such a beautiful soul. Her posts are thought provoking for me. I read her Smoke on the Water posting and about three weeks later heard the Deep Purple song. The song triggered my brain back to her posting with the connection.

5.Heather of Dizzy Spinster ~ Heather is a very well traveled lady. I love that her knitting and many of her projects are defined by where they have traveled too. I love reading about the many travels and looking at the pictures.

6. Rachel of Living [Abundantly] in the Present ~ Rachel is one spacial young lady. She recently graduated from high school and is spending something like 8 months over in Amsterdam. I think her official task while there is to nanny for some lovely children. Reading her blog is very inspiring to me on a spiritual level. She is much wiser than her young years on this earth. I can't wait until she gets back to C-bus so we can see her at Nazzy's.

7. Jimmy of What is all the ranting about ~ OK so I know he is my husband but he is also very inspiring for me. He is my counterbalance in this life. Keeps me grounded. I love you honey.

These nominations are in no particular order other than the random scrolling down my blog roll.

Official Rules: Here are the official rules:
1. Copy the award to your site
2. Link to the person from whom you received the award
3. Nominate 7 other bloggers
4. Link to those on your blog
5. Leave a message on the blogs you nominated.

Seed time again.... :-)

It is that time of year again. I received my herb and veggie seed order from Harris Seed last week. This year I am going to attempt to sprout tomato plant seedlings rather than buy the seedlings at the garden store. I have offered to start some seedlings for a friend of ours too. I will have a bunch of seeds left over so if there is anyone interested in starting some seedlings let me know and I will send you some of the leftover seeds to try yourself. :-)


I plan to grow the old standards again this year. Basil, Catnip, Parsley, Oregano, and Cilantro. For Christmas, Tami gave Poo and Kiki some Catnip seeds sent from Jasmine's GrandPaw so I will be planting those too.


This is the pile of Mission Falls I have acquired that will be used towards the bed blanket project. I can't wait to get this started.

Below were the amazing chocolates Jimmy picked up while we were at Katzinger's on V-Day. They were so good.















This was over the weekend of my foot in the first Woodsmoke. I will take a picture over lunch today since I have both socks back on the circular and working the foot on both together. Major progress made on these socks over the weekend.

Proofed?

I finished two knitted objects last week. I finished the Suzie Hoodie. I don't have FO pictures to share with you right now. I deliberately knit this jacket down a size from my current size. So now the HARD work is to begin of loosing a size so that I can enjoy this knit. I may take some pictures of it hanging so you can see how awesome this knit is. I am tickled with the cable and construction of this garment. Stay tuned....

I also finished these socks. I cast these socks on to kill two birds with one stone. I wanted to be reacquainted with 2 socks at a time on one circular and to knit something for a gift. I think they will be nice and toasty once they are blocked to the feet of the recipient.


Heather and Kristie came by Saturday for knitting and movies.



Kiki decided Heather's project made a comfy bed to rest in while Poo stood guard.


Poo at the vet. He had already had his blood drawn and was ready to get out of dodge. His glucose levels are lower than the vet would like so they called me this morning and reduced his dose. YEAH!

So Jimmy and I went to Hooters for lunch the other day. I ordered a Killian's and got proofed. HAHAHAHA

Adventures and 25% off sock yarn? GASP! What a day....

So mid week I received an email from Knitters Merc notifying of a glorious 25% off sock yarn sale this weekend. Yoza.... Kristie and I modified our Saturday plans to include a trip to The Merc, as it is affectionately known around these parts. I picked up some Regia Silk in a very subtle grey and some reinforcing thread for the heals and toes.

I am going to be doing a knit-along with Molly in which we will knit the Komet socks together. I plan to knit mine two at a time on a 47" circular needle. I am going to cheat a little. I am going to knit the cuffs separately on DPN's and then slide them to the long circular to knit the rest of the sock body.


After The Merc we were going to head to Zen-Cha for tea and dumplings, gab, and knit. While in route we decided to ditch her car and ride down High Street together but then we realized there was another yarn shop between us and Zen-Cha. In we went to fondle more yarn. I scored more sock yarn ~ Frog Tree in oooooooooooh so soft Alpaca. Ok so this picture is really bad. It is a green yarn but for the life of me I can't get a good picture of it. This picture was the best. I took 25+ pictures of this yarn in different areas of my house at different times of day and this is all I have folks.



Zen-Cha was serving brunch and we couldn't get dumplings until 2 by which time were were long gone on the next stop of our adventure. BUT check out these Maui pancakes I ordered. OMG these were heavenly. There was fresh pineapple, mango, papaya and kiwi with this amazing mango syrup. Kristie will be sharing pictures of her lovely waffles so check out her blog soon. My tea is over on the right with a tealight burning under the pot to keep it toasty warm. It was a black tea with slices of oranges and honey. AMAZINGLY good! I highly recommend Zen-Cha.

Kristie and I left Zen-Cha and headed to World Market where we bought tea, coffee and other wonderful things. We decided we hadn't had enough knitting and gabbing so we went to Cup-o-Joe where Audra met us for a bit to knit and gab. By then Jimmy was sending out S.O.S. messages so we met up with him later to have dinner at Hunan House which was another amazing meal! Yesterday was pretty amazing.

Other news.... I realized early January, actually I think I was in denial prior to January, that I hadn't had my hair cut since the second week of January 2008. So I went a week or so ago and got the mop cut. Here is a very fuzzy picture of the new hairdo.


I am on the final phase, the hood, of my Susie Hoodie. I can't wait to finish this and I think it will be sometime this week when I should be in the soak and block phase. Yippie!



So today is the final day of the Pro Football season. Very sad! Go Cardinals.......

Merry Christmas
to you and your family
from
Jimmy
Catherine
Poo
&
Kiki

Cleveland mistake Body taken to impound lot after fatal crash

This is just incredible and I had to share it with you.

Cleveland mistake

Body taken to impound lot after fatal crash

Wednesday, December 17, 2008 3:06 AM

FROM THE PLAIN DEALER VIA AP

CLEVELAND -- A man who was killed in a car crash was left in the crumpled vehicle when it was towed away, and the body wasn't discovered until family members found it two days later, police said.

An officer who handled the crash failed to check the vehicle before it was towed, said Martin Flask, Cleveland's safety director. The police department is reviewing the case.

Emil Azzam, 50, of Lakewood, died instantly of head and neck injuries when his car crashed Friday on a snowy road, the Cuyahoga County coroner ruled.

The car was not far from a multivehicle accident, and witnesses had described Azzam's car as an abandoned vehicle, police said.

But the family said paramedics found the phone number of a friend of Azzam's in the car and notified him of the crash. The family rushed to the hospital that the paramedic had mentioned to the friend, but Azzam never arrived, said Victoria Green, his sister-in-law.

"It was like he vanished from Earth," she said. "We had been searching for him for two days."

Relatives are outraged and will sue the city, said John Lemieux, their attorney.

Police did not return a phone call yesterday seeking a response to the family's account.

Dennis Allen, co-owner of Parma Towing, said the company was asked to perform an emergency tow so the road could be cleared. He wouldn't say whether the driver looked in the car before it was towed.

Lemieux said an insurance adjuster also arrived at the accident scene Friday and saw Azzam in the car. He said no medical care was attempted because Azzam was dead, but the insurance adjuster did tell rescuers about the body.

Azzam's family filed a missing person report, traced his vehicle to the impounded-car lot and found the body Sunday. A burned-out cigarette was still in his hand, his family said.

Amazing..... to me anyway!

Happy Thanksgiving ~ Things I am grateful for....

It is that time again where I reflect on those things I am grateful for in my life. I am looking forward to spending time with family coming from New York tomorrow and close friends. Thanksgiving for me is a time to reflect and relax. Life gets out of control and it allows me a time to slow down and catch my breath.

This year has had many lows but there have been highs too. I am reminded this is part of being human and that gives me comfort. I am grateful for the comfort of living in the present, here and now.

I wish everyone a very Happy Thanksgiving.

Really Snow?

Important business first. On 11/14/08 Poo's glucose level was over 450+ which is well over double what is normal. On Saturday we had him back to the vet and it was 356. Woohoo! It is down around 100 points in just a week. The reduced steroid dose and new diet is working. Thank goodness.

So recently Jasmine, pictured here with her human Tami, introduced Poo and Kiki to milk jug rings.

Poo loves anything to do with milk. He has been running around the house with these things in his mouth meowing like crazy. We have found them in our bed. The other day I found this one in his food bowl. Poo has also learned to fetch these things. Jasmine fetches them too!


Kiki says the heck with fetching.... Let me in the library so I can read Damn IT!


Mom's cables are done! She received the sweater on Saturday and says it fits. I can't wait for her to sew on the buttons and send me pictures of her wearing it! Poo wanted to wear it because baby it is getting cold outside and they shaved me!


So this was the sight first thing this morning. ACK!


I finished my scarf before leaving for the office. It is toasty warm.

Seeing stars...

I have been using the car trunk more for storing my things since a friend's car was broken into at The Mall at Tuttle Crossing last month. We are sure they were looking for a laptop since they took the laptop looking bag. What they got instead was her lace knitting project, social security card, and passport. Very sad!

Anyway this morning after an early appointment I went into the trunk to put my planner away in my bag. This is when it happened. The trunk lid flew down and hit me in the head. I saw stars and my vision when black for a few seconds. Now I have a nice little tiny bump and a lovely headache.

Now I can say I understand when someone says they saw stars. OUCHIE!!!!!!!

On a lighter note.... For those over 30!

My cousin Amy sent me this in an email today. The same cousin who as a child called me Cappy instead of Cathy (as my family calls me). This is so true. I remember the days of 8-track tapes! Thanks Amy....

When I was a kid, adults used to bore me to tears with their tedious diatribes about how hard things were. When they were growing up; what with walking twenty-five miles to school every morning

... Uphill...

BOTH ways

Yadda, yadda, yadda

And I remember promising myself that when I grew up, there was no way in hell I was going to lay a bunch of crap like that on kids about how hard I had it and how easy they've got it!

But now that... I'm over the ripe old age of thirty, I can't help but look around and notice the youth of today.

You've got it so easy! I mean, compared to my childhood, you live in a damn Utopia!

And I hate to say it but you kids today you don't know how good you've got it!

I mean, when I was a kid we didn't have the Internet. If we wanted to know something, We had to go to the damn library and look it up ourselves, in the card catalogue!!

There was no email!! We had to actually write somebody a letter, with a pen!

...Then you had to walk all the way across the street and put it in the mailbox and it would take like a week to get there!

There were no MP3's or Napsters! You wanted to steal music, you had to hitchhike to the damn record store and shoplift it yourself!

Or you had to wait around all day to tape it off the radio and the DJ'd usually talk over the beginning and @#*% it all up!

We didn't have fancy crap like call waiting! If you were on the phone and somebody else called they got a busy signal, that's it!

And we didn't have fancy caller ID either!
When the phone rang, you had no idea who it was! It could be your school,Your mom, your boss, your bookie, your drug dealer, a collections agent, you just didn't know!!! You had to pick it up and take your chances, mister!

We didn't have any fancy Sony Playstation video games with high-resolution 3-D graphics! We had the Atari 2600! with games like Space Invaders' and 'asteroids'. Your guy was a little square! You actually had to use your imagination!! And there were no multiple levels or screens, it was just one screen forever!

And you could never win. The game just kept getting harder and harder and faster and faster until you died! Just like LIFE!

Sure, we had cable television, but back then that was only m-net and there was no on screen menu and no remote
control!

You had to use a little book called a TV Guide to find out what was on! You were screwed when it came to channel surfing! You had to get off your ass and walk over to the TV to change the channel and there was no Cartoon Network either! You could only get cartoons on Saturday Morning. Do you hear what I'm saying!?! We had to wait ALL WEEK for cartoons, you spoiled little rat-bastards!

And we didn't have microwaves, if we wanted to heat something up we had to use the stove ... Imagine that!

If we wanted popcorn, we had to use that stupid Jiffy Pop thing and shake it over the stove forever like an idiot.

That's exactly what I'm talking about! You kids today have got it too easy. You're spoiled. You guys wouldn't have lasted five minutes back in 1980!

Regards,
The over 30 Crowd

---

Tonight's Important Sites To Watch

Very important links for tonight's political coverage:

http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/

http://www.techpresident.com/ecmap

http://www.techpresident.com/ecmap

http://www.pbs.org/vote2008/moreinfo/electionmaps.html

http://projects.washingtonpost.com/2008/pick-your-president/

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/arianna-huffington/im-ready-to-declare-a-win_b_140625.html

OMG I am trying to figure out what in place of politics when today is over?