Sunday, December 28

Game Day

Game Day

On Polaroid.

In the New York Times: The Polaroid: Imperfect, Yet Magical

Mourning the death of Polaroid instant film and its accidental masterpieces.

Wednesday, December 24

Happy Holidays!



Have fun!

All I want for Christmas

is a good night of sleep. Seriously! This week has been bad in the sleep department and I have no idea why. I don't feel particularly stressed out, but maybe I am, I don't know. Last night I tossed and turned and turned and tossed. The cats started rustling around early, insisting that they wanted to go out. Usually they get up at 4:30 or 5:00 so I figured it was around that time. I finally gave in and got up to let them out even though it was like FIVE DEGREES outside. They won't go out during the day when the sun is shining, but they'll go out during the coldest part of the morning? Go figure. I don't know what they hell they have to do at 4:30 in the morning that is so damn important. Anyway, I decided that I might as well stay up...until I got into the kitchen and saw that it was actually only 4:15. Good grief! Of course I had to wait for the cats to come home before I could go back to bed because I didn't want them to be stuck outside for hours. They came in around 5:00 and I got to doze for about another hour. I'm hoping that I sleep well tonight, but I didn't sleep last Christmas Eve so there's no telling.

I think I may have to wimp out of running today as the temperature is something like 15 feels like 3 degrees! I love the snow, but I am not psyched about my running schedule getting thrown off. Oh well.

Later this afternoon, we're heading over to my folks' house to help dad put out the farolitos. When it gets dark, dad usually builds a luminaria (bonfire) and people carol around the light and warmth. It's a nice tradition. We'll probably do the Canyon Road walk again too since my sister will be here and she's never been on the Christmas Eve walk before (despite the fact that my parents have lived here since the 70's). Here are the photos from last year.

Tuesday, December 23

I love the snow cat.

Alternate title: My Husband Rules!

snow cat (w/ scarf)

Meet the Fred the Snow Cat, named for Princess Fred in Pittsburgh.



How can you not love the Snow Cat?



The artist and his work. Awesome!

Best Christmas present ever!

Cat tracks in the snow.

Another snow day!

Rocky ventured out in chest deep snow this morning but only made it as far as underneath my car. Later, he wanted to go out the back door so I opened it for him. I could barely get the screen door open with all the snow piled up, but he went on out and found himself in snow even deeper than his chest. He could hardly move, but he tromped around a bit before coming back in. Such a crazy cat. He's a hoot to watch in the snow.

Monday, December 22

Hippo.



I've been tired today.

Sunday, December 21

Saturday, December 20

Bottle caps, anyone?

yes, we drink a lot of beer.

This is probably about a year's worth of bottle caps, more or less. They do get thrown away sometimes. We save them for my mother-in-law and uncle-in-law because they both collect them. They must have garbage bags full from us alone. We drink a lot of beer.

Dinner at India Palace last night was excellent. Not quite as good as the place I used to frequent in Pittsburgh (sadly, I can't even remember the name of that place), but pretty damn close. They even had paneer pakora! Yum! And I got to have my beloved matar paneer. Glad to know that we can get good Indian food here. Santa Fe is full of excellent restaurants, but not a whole lot of ethnic choices. Anyway, the company was quite enjoyable too. I got to check out the Canon EOS 50D which is a monster compared to my XSi. It blew my mind.

The sun is just starting to come up over the houses now and I need to get motivated to run soon. These "18 feels like 10 degrees" are not my favorite. Brrrrrr! I need to focus on knitting today since I haven't been able to get much done all week. Later, mom and dad are coming over for dinner so dad can watch the Cowboys vs. Ravens game. And then more football tomorrow with our game vs. the Titans. See you on Game Day.

Friday, December 19

Finished. Well, kind of.



I'm really pleased with the way this turned out. The Pola was blown up to 8x8 and I think it looks super nice framed. I wish I could have more photos framed, but good lord, it costs an arm and a leg! This piece is a holiday gift for Meg & Shannon, my sister-in-law and husband.



And this is the second felted bag that I mentioned last week. I love it and hope other people do as well! I winged the pattern and it worked out perfectly. I dropped this bag and two others off at a shop this morning so here's hoping that they sell!! I want an excuse to make more. Felting really is a lot of fun.

It's been a crazy week, too much to do in too little time and a little bit of overbooking ourselves. I haven't gotten nearly as much knitting done as I had hoped, but it's okay, there's still a few more days to bust it out. All-in-all, things are going pretty well.

I've been missing old friends in Pittsburgh recently and got to talk to one of them this afternoon. That was a nice treat. Now if only some of you would come visit us! Southwest has great deals sometimes! Tonight we're having dinner with friends here in town that we haven't seen for awhile and we're looking forward to it. We're going to an Indian restaurant which is pretty exciting because I don't think I've had Indian food since we left Pittsburgh!! Vegetable pakora and matar paneer, here I come.

Well, it's back to knitting until dinnertime. A happy weekend to you all. Stay warm!!

flickr faves

12/19/2008

1. morning accident, 2. non dir gatto, 3. Blah, blah, blah..., 4. Pompom, 5. Untitled, 6. Untitled, 7. Hic Sunt Leones, 8. *, 9. 17//365 : tiny toes, 10. tweet music, winter, 11. Untitled, 12. stained glass

Created with fds flickr toys.

Wednesday, December 17

I like my new owl.



I picked him up at Night and Day, a bedding and light store at Sanbusco. Even though the shop is a bedding and light store, they always have a really nice selection of little birdies. Little inexpensive birdies. I've purchased quite a few for my collection there. Right now all the holiday items are 50% off so I also bought a cute little blue bird ornament for $3.50. I love adding new birdies to my collection in the front windows.

The past few weeks, I've either been a day ahead or a day behind. This week I am a day ahead so I keep thinking it is Thursday. It doesn't really matter, it just confuses me a bit. Part of the fall out of being unemployed, I guess. I've also been getting up really early this week. I sleep okay through the night for the most part and then the one of the cats wakes me up between 4:00 and 5:00. Yesterday it was Rocky. Today it was Simon. They both went out at 5:15 and then I couldn't get back to sleep because I didn't want to sleep for hours more and leave the cats outside freezing to death. So I got up. And now after my cup of tea, I am still rather foggy with sleep. Which is probably why I am babbling here.

I am wondering what my run will be like this morning. All the snow started to melt yesterday afternoon and then it froze over night so I am guessing it is going to be nice and icy for me. Yesterday I ran through 6 to 8-inches of snow on the sidewalks and let me tell you, it was a work out. I only made it three miles and felt like I had run six. Today I am hoping I can at least make it for four miles. (I usually run five.)

Anyway, good morning and a happy Wednesday to you all!

Monday, December 15

Finally a good snowstorm!

yesterday

It's been snowing all day long and I love it! I love sunshine too, but it's wintertime and we were long overdue for a nice snowfall here in Santa Fe. Simon, on the other hand, is less than thrilled. He sits in the window and glares at the snow. He wants to go outside so badly, but he just can't tolerate the cold and snow. Rocky is a little tougher and actually enjoys playing in the snow sometimes. But mostly, with this kind of weather, they both stay in and nap. The downside being that they tend to bug in the middle of the night as they are stir crazy, want to go out and have forgotten that there is snow on the ground.

Will and I took a little walk to the railyard this afternoon and it was so nice to be out in the falling snow. We did the last of our holiday shopping. Now if only I could get all my knitting done! The weekend kind of got sucked up with shopping and then football on Sunday so I didn't get my usual knitting time in. I've done a bit today, but I have still have a scarf to finish, another cowl and two hats. We're actually going to bundle up again in a few minutes and have a nice, warm dinner at Tomasita's. Yum. Love being able to walk to my favorite New Mexican restaurant!!

On the knitting front, here is the felted handbag that I made for my mother-in-law:

For Sally

I'm pretty pleased with the way it turned out. The button loop is slightly off-centered, but hopefully it's one of those things that nobody but me notices. Hard to believe that it started out looking like this:

work in progress

I really dig this felting business.

And the cowl that I made for myself:



It's really soft and warm. I'm obsessed with cowls these days. I used this pattern which knits up super quick and boy, that Malabrigo Chunky is super nice yarn. Love it.



This is the beginnings of the Shalom Cardigan which is for me and which I had hoped to finish by Christmas Day, but it's just not going to happen. Oh well. Maybe I can get it done in time for New Year's Eve! Not that we even go out, but hey, at least I'll have a new sweater to wear.

Alright, I must go feed the kitties now as they have very hungry bellies and little else to do besides eat and sleep.

Stay warm!

Sunday, December 14

Game Day

Game Day

Nervous again. Big game today. Go Steelers!!

Thursday, December 11

What happens when I do my knitting in Simon's chair.



I stand up for a minute and immediately lose my spot. This chair used to be Rocky's chair but recently Simon has claimed it. Not sure how that works, but he gets very annoyed if anyone is sitting in it when he wants to nap. But he does love to lay on my yarn. Too bad he can't help me knit.

The piece in this photo is now a felted handbag. I'll take a photo of the finished project eventually. It is currently drying and then needs a little flair added to it. I'm quite pleased with the way it turned out as it was something of an experiment. Knit up really quickly too, always a plus. Right now I have a sweater for myself on my needles, but I still need to finish up holiday gifts as well so I'm probably going to start a couple more projects in the next few days. I can't believe Christmas is only two weeks away. Ack!

Last night we met some new friends at Blue Corn for beers and food which so far has been the highlight of the week. Today, on the other hand, has not been a pleasant day. I've been having computer problems again and after I got a blue screen, my mood went to shit. I restarted it and it's been okay, but I feel like it is living on borrowed time. Well, this computer has always been on borrowed time, but it's been okay for nine months or so. But no more. It's something that I don't really want to be dealing with at the moment. I don't know what kind of replacement to get. Desktop or laptop? PC or Mac? I spent most of my morning reading reviews and pricing computers. Not exactly a waste of time, but I didn't run and I don't know, the whole thing just threw my day off.

So what do you think about Mac vs. PC? (Garret, I am going to have to pick your brain soon!)

Anyway, I best go start dinner before it gets too late. I am so easily distracted these days.

--

Tuesday, December 9

It snowed a little bit today.

Not much, but still, it was a nice change of pace considering that it's December! The warmer than usual weather is...well, warm, but it throws me off too. There should be snow this time of year. I was happy to run in the falling snow this morning. Even when it's cold, running in the snow just makes me smile.

Later in the morning, we took a bunch of stuff to the frame shop and picked out frames and mats. That was kind of exciting, though I have to say that it's a good thing Will has an excellent eye for that sort of thing because I don't. A couple of items are holiday gifts, but mostly it was prints that we've had laying around forever, waiting to be framed properly. So we can check that off our list.

And then there was knitting and wasting of time on the internet and what not. Now Will and the cats have all gathered in the room with me so I guess that means I need to end this post. It's hard to blog when there's not much to report. I just wanted to say hi.

Hi.

Sunday, December 7

Saturday, December 6

flickr faves

I have to admit that I thought yesterday was Thursday and did not post any of my usual Friday stuff. So here are some faves, a day late.

12/6/08

1. morning sun, 2. hang on, 3. Glowing, 4. BBF_Enoshima_028, 5. Natura debut, 6. tesoro, quanti ricordi...doppi ricordi...ricordi coi fiocchi, 7. are you ready?, 8. Untitled, 9. Untitled, 10. Rescue Mission, 11. Untitled, 12. red

Created with fds flickr toys.

Thursday, December 4

It has not been a good week for sleep.



And the above photo has nothing to do with this post. I just like it.

Will was in Miami for three nights and boy, it was just way too quiet around here without him. Not to mention that I don't sleep well when he's gone. Well, I don't sleep well EVER, and even worse when he is gone. The first night I was okay. The second night I was awake half the night, although that was more the fault of football Sunday than anything else. But Monday night...I woke up at two and could not get back to sleep. And even though I very rationally knew that there was no one in the house besides me and the cats, I got myself nice and scared, straining my ears for the slightest noise. Then my thoughts started drifting to random CSI: and other crime show episodes, and let me just say, I watch entirely too much of that shit. Both the cats were on the bed with me, sleeping like babies. They obviously don't watch crime shows.

On Tuesday, Will was back and I *still* didn't sleep. No idea what that was about, but I couldn't fall asleep and then when I did fall asleep, I didn't stay asleep for long. I haven't had such a bad week of sleep in awhile. No fun.

Last night I finally slept better. I found myself dreaming about the PolaPremium website and new Polaroid films. I can't quite recall what the new films were called in my dream, but they were weird names. Certainly not Blue, Sepia and Chocolate. I woke up at 4:45 with Simon, let him outside, and after 15 minutes of trying to get back to sleep, I gave up and got up. I had to make sure that I hadn't missed any new Polaroid film! Heh. I'm joking.

This week, like last week, and probably next week, I've been spending most of my time knitting. I am almost done with holiday gifts. Almost. It would help if I didn't keep adding to my list. It would also help if I somehow miraculously got paid for sitting around and knitting all day. I'm also almost done with all of my recorded Miami Vice episodes. I've probably seen most of the series at this point, but since Sleuth doesn't really show them in order, I think there are some holes. For example, I never saw the one that Andrew from Home is in.



I think if I had gotten to go to Miami with Will, I would have been looking for Crockett and Tubbs the whole time. And Horatio. I know, I am a total dork. Oh and Will was in Miami for work, lest you think he was laying out on the beach without me.

Moving on to football, I still clap my hands in delight everytime that I see highlights from the game last Sunday. I hope we can do the same against the Cowboys. Typically I am okay with the Cowboys since my dad is a long-time fan and I try to be supportive, but come Sunday, I will NOT be rooting for them. Not even a little bit. Yesterday our UPS man delivered a box and said,

"It's a good thing that you guys weren't here yesterday because I was flipping off your gnome."

He's a Cowboys fan. The Steelers gnome in our front window always pisses him off. He cracks me up.

Well, enough with my rambling. Hope you all are having a good week. It's almost the weekend!

Monday, December 1

Oh the sweet taste of victory!

Yesterday's game was the most satisfying Steelers game that I have seen in a long time. So happy to have crushed the Patriots.

Oh the joy felt seeing Matt Cassel fumble the ball, not just once, but twice! So much for the new Patriots pretty boy QB that the media gushed over all week long.

Next game up, the Cowboys. It should be another good game.

I am feeling a little bit rough today from all the snacks and beers consumed, but the sun is shining bright and I have much to do. I think it's going to be a good week.

Cheers!

Sunday, November 30

Game Day

Game Day

Game Day just isn't the same without Will.

Crossing my fingers that we can beat the Patriots. No, wait, I know we *can* beat the Patriots, I am crossing my fingers that we *do* beat the Patriots. To a pulp even.

Wednesday, November 26

happy happy!



Even when times are tough, I know that I am an extraordinarily lucky and really have nothing to complain about. That said, I am grateful to have a wonderful family, good friends and a roof over my head. I am also grateful to be meeting new friends and slowly but surely getting on with my life after the loss of my job. I'm still not sure what's going to happen, but I am hopeful all will work out for the best.

We're getting ready to head over to my folks house for our pre-Thanksgiving dinner of stir fry and cucumber salad. My sister and the teenage nieces are arriving this evening and they always bring crazy, entertaining energy and stories with them. Good times are ahead.

Whatever you do tomorrow, I hope it is a joyful day for you. Happy Thanksgiving!

The suspense is killing me.

PolaPremium.

Sunday, November 23

My new favorite hat!

my new favorite hat!

I love chunky yarn and I love cable stitches so when I saw this hat at Tutto last Saturday, I fell in love. Lucky for me, the pattern is free on Ravelry and I found the same yarn online. (I would have bought it at the store, but they did not have the red and I had to have the red.) I took a break from knitting holiday gifts and whipped this up while watching the Jets vs. Titans game this morning. Yea!

More things.







I'm really happy with the ways these photos turned out. More to come!

Friday, November 21

Things.



Today I spent some time taking polas of some of my statues and dolls. Things I collect. Or have collected at some point. Not exactly sure what moved me in this direction, but since I haven't been shooting much at all, it was nice to be behind the camera again. I've never been particularly good at taking pictures of objects so perhaps that's what moved me to do a photo shot with my collections. I'm actually pretty pleased with the outcome, although I have to say the original photos are much crisper than the scans.

I spent a good part of the day knitting, of course. I am working on a felted handbag for my mother-in-law. I finished the body of the bag and then discovered that I don't have the needles that I need for the straps. So it's going on the back burner until I get the right needles. Next up, hats hats and more hats!

Last night we actually went out to watch the Steelers game. It was good to be out considering how much time I spend at home, but it was frustrating too. I like to hear what's going on and the sound was way too low at the bar. And I had to keep a lid on all my cursing and Terrible Towel waving. Had we been at an actual sports bar, I probably would have felt okay being about loud, but we were at Rio Chama which shows the games but isn't really a sports bar. In fact, we saw at least six women with fur coats on while we were there. (And they were not there for the game.) Our waiter was a Packers fan and kind of an asshole. Not about the Steelers, just in general. He asked where we were all from and when Will said that I was from Santa Fe, the dude looked at me and said, "and you ADMIT that?" Kind of an atypical reaction, but whatever.

Tomorrow morning I am running the Turkey Trot or Fowl Day Run or some such thing with my dad. I'm so not into organized runs these days, but this is a "fun run" not a race, and I hate to disappoint my dad. So I'll be there. Plus the entry fee is actually a donation to the Salvation Army in the form of canned goods so that's cool.

Will's got a super busy day tomorrow so after the run, you can probably find me knitting on the couch all afternoon.

Hope you all have lovely weekends!

flickr faves

11/21/2008

1. Untitled, 2. shrouded in indian summer, 3. Lift self., 4. hello fall, 5. Afonso, 6. max in the garden, 7. Untitled, 8. two of us, 9. I heart this road., 10. Untitled, 11. Cougars Kill Cobras, 12. almost heart-shaped

Created with fds flickr toys.

Thursday, November 20

Game Day (Thursday Night)

Game Day

I *finally* got a foam finger! A dream come true.

Let's go Steelers!

The Finished Scarf.





Made for my father-in-law.

Wednesday, November 19

It's been unusually warm here.

So much so that it is hard to believe that we're more than halfway through November and Thanksgiving Day is next week! The warmer temperatures outside are nice, but sadly, it is still freezing inside. The past few days it has been warmer outside during the day than it is inside the house. It's kind of crazy. Today I sat on the front porch in the sun while I worked on some knitting. It made me extraordinarily sleepy for some reason.

Late this afternoon we took the kitties to the vet for their shots. They were less than thrilled as you can imagine. Nothing to report which is excellent. They are healthy and robust.

I *finally* finished a scarf that I have been working on since Hector was a pup and it feels so good. I'll post some pics tomorrow if I can take some decent ones. I find that I do not excel at taking pictures of my craft projects.

Hope you all are well. More soon.

Tuesday, November 18

I was so mortified

yesterday while shopping at Whole Foods. I was browsing the wine selections, trying to decide what to get to go with our dinner. Finally decided on a wine, pulled out the top bottle and *crash* *boom* *bang*. The four bottles on the rack below slipped out and hit the floor. Good lord! Everyone in the area was staring at me, of course. I had no idea what to do. I just stood there, face bright red I am sure, completely mortified that I had caused such a ruckus. Only two of the bottles broke, but still, wine was seeping everywhere. It was quite a mess. The woman who came out to take care of the disaster area was very nice and assured me that it had happened before and I shouldn't feel so bad. Man oh man though. Not a pleasant way to start the day. And then the damn wine wasn't even that good!

Monday, November 17

It was seven years ago today

that Will and I first met!

Seven years ago.

He was in town with Crazee & Heaven, playing a show at Gooski's. The band just happened to be staying with me. I thought Will was cute. Apparently he thought I was cute. And well, here we are in Santa Fe, seven years later! After the show, we stayed up half the night talking and watching The Song Remains The Same. Good times.

Happy Seven Year Meeting Anniversary baby! I am so glad that we met. You are the best. Always.

Sunday, November 16

Wednesday, November 12

Not much going on here.

Still knitting. A lot. Today, in addition to finishing up an adult hat, I took care of some loose ends. I finally knit the leaves for the baby apple hat.



Cute, right? This baby stuff is just killing me. Maybe I need to start making hats for the cats. Speaking of cats in hats, yesterday when I went to pick up cookies (wet food) for Rocky, I got sidetracked by the display of holiday wear for cats. I came THISCLOSE to buying reindeer antlers for Simon and a Santa hat for Rocky. Later I told Will about it and he said, "we're going back for those." The response to my comment that the cats would be super pissed if we try to put hats on them: "They keep us awake at night doing all kinds of crazy shit, I think they can handle a little bit of discomfort." We shall see.

I finally finished the felted handbag as well. The felting went great and the handbag has just been sitting on my desk, waiting for little red flowers to be attached. Done.



I'm pretty happy with this piece and plan to make some more with my own felted designs sewed on. Or buttons. (I didn't make the little flowers on this one.) It's just the perfect size for a night out. Keys, cell phone and a small wallet.



I've pretty much been avoiding football news this week because I still haven't recovered from our disappointing loss to the Colts. We should have won that game, but too many mistakes were made. I have no idea what to expect this weekend. Technically it should be a fairly easy win over the Chargers, but one never knows. Any given Sunday.

We're on the final season of The Wire. It's such a great television show. Right up there with Deadwood and Six Feet Under, at least in my book. It's going to be hard to let it go when we get to the end. But man, McNulty...he is SO BAD. So bad. I mean, I love his character. But. So bad. (We're on about episode three for those who have already watched the series.)

Anyway. Time to go heat up the manicotti from last night. Because yes, I am still cooking.