Thursday, December 31

Wednesday, December 30

I can't believe tomorrow

is the last day of the year. Of the decade. Crazy. I also can't get over the fact that I will be starting a new decade of age as I turn 40 in 2010. I know, I know, it's 9 months off, but it's on my mind. FORTY. It doesn't upset me, it is just strange. I remember when my dad turned 40 and my mom threw him a surprise birthday party. They were grown ups. I still don't really feel like a grown up. Which is okay, I guess.

Anyway, I'm not really good at end of the year posts. Last year I wrote that I felt pretty neutral about 2008 and I guess I feel the same about 2009. It wasn't a bad year by any means, but it doesn't stand out as a great year either. (And sadly, I only accomplished one thing on the list I made at the beginning of the year, the knitting one. Didn't even manage to get my ass to the eye doctor.) I feel pretty good about what I've accomplished with my little knitting business, but I also regret not doing a whole lot more. My approach to having a craft business is way too timid. I need to work on that. That said, I'm also really surprised that so many things sold at the shop over the course of the year. That feels really good.

I don't know, I guess I spent most of 2009 at home. Knitting. And watching A LOT of crime shows. We didn't travel enough and we hardly hiked at all. But the trip we did take was loads of fun. I'm glad we got to drive to the beach. It was a nice adventure.

And oh oh oh! We had lots of visitors throughout the year which was a lot of fun. We had a blast with CC and Dana in July and while we didn't have enough time with Sheryl and Rebby, the Earthship experience was amazing. So maybe not enough vacations, but definitely some great staycations!

So the highlights of 2009? Winning the SuperBowl! Our anniversary dinner at Terra. Caroline's high school graduation. CC and Dana coming out to Santa Fe. Mom's 70th birthday party. Sheryl and Rebby (and sisters) visiting and taking us to the Phoenix Earthship. Road trip to South Carolina with a stop in Winston along the way. And knitting. Knitting all the time and getting excited about new ideas and selling things.

We're spending New Year's Eve with my sister and boyfriend. I'm really looking forward to it. I couldn't tell you the last time I was with my sister on NYE. I've racked my brain and I seriously can't remember a NYE with my sister. I guess it must have been back when she still lived at home. (She's almost 10 years older than me.) So it's been awhile. Tomorrow is going to be fun.

Happy New Year to all! Have fun and be safe in your celebrations.

Monday, December 28

Tuesday, December 22

I do like poinsettias.



My dad always buys my mom the most gorgeous poinsettias for the holidays. So very red and lovely.

My funny little poinsettias didn't bloom until the spring. I don't know what they'll do this season. One has a few red leaves, but it's not really in bloom. They're just confused.

Monday, December 21

Woo-hoo and Phew!

We won, we won, we finally won! But good lord, it was so heartbreaking to watch the Steelers lose the lead in the fourth quarter. Please, no, not again. And our defense? Still not happy with them. At all. But Ben looked good. (Imagine how much better he would look with a stronger offensive line!) And after that unbelievable on sides kick, I actually still had hope since there were a little over two minutes left and we all know what Ben is capable of doing in that situation. And it all worked out. That catch by Mike Wallace was the SuperBowl all over again. He reminds me so much of Holmes as a rookie and, well, with the catch last night, methinks he is going to definitely be a great asset for the Steelers in years to come. I know our play off chances are super slim, but I'm just happy to have a win.

Today I had to run some errands for Santa. It went pretty smoothly, but I couldn't believe the amount of traffic. Ugh. Makes me glad that I do most of my shopping from home. Later, after lunch and some laundry, I started yet another bag. My favorite thing to do. Now I am taking a break for this, some banking and dinner making. Tomorrow I have to get groceries and then there will be more knitting. Wednesday I have to make natillas and scalloped potatoes for Christmas festivities. And Thursday we'll head on over to my folks' house for the usual farolitos and what not. I can't believe that Christmas is Friday. And that the end of the year is so near. The end of a decade no less.

Happy Winter Solstice!

Words To Shoot By.

Tradition.

Recently my friend Steph Parke asked me to be a part of her photo collaboration blog Words To Shoot By. Steph is an awesome photographer (check out her Flickr stream) and I was delighted to be invited to participate. All of the photographers involved are incredibly talented and you should definitely check out the blog as well as the links. The word for today is "tradition" and you can see my submission above. I actually haven't been taking many photographs lately so this project is definitely a bit of inspiration and a kick in the pants. Yay!

Sunday, December 20

Oh yeah, and I got a hair cut too!

Nothing but sunshine in Santa Fe.

I'm rather jealous of all the snow that the eastern part of the country got. I like big snowstorms! But here it's all sunshine. There's not even any snow in the forecast for the week. (And don't get me wrong, I'm all about sunshine too, but this time of year a good snow day is nice too.)

I had hoped to sleep in a bit this weekend, so of course I was up at six both mornings. Sigh. Oh well, at least I have more time to get stuff done.

The week sort of flew by, as usual. I was mostly busy with knitting, although I did do some running around as well. And I worked at the shop one day. I've been having a hard time getting anything done at home because all I want to do is knit. Knit, knit, knit. I'm still obsessed with stripes which is fun. I like finding colors to mix and trying to use all my leftover bits for a bag. I'm down to the last dregs of the huge yarn order I made in October. Only a few colors left. But no worries, I just made another huge order. HUGE. It's going to be crazy, I think. It's a little overwhelming to have so many choices, but it'll be good. Lots more stripes and new colors to use. And Rocky is going to be able to burrow in for awhile. I keep telling myself that I am going to take a week off of knitting so that I can work on some other projects, but it just ain't happening. Maybe after Christmas. I have some books that I need to study so I can learn some new techniques. And I still have to get the damn Etsy up. I am kicking myself for missing the holiday season, but oh well, it'll happen when it happens. I'm excited about getting it going and selling some things directly.

I haven't played with the Wii in over a week. There's just no time. And it kind of messes me up which is a drag. Last Saturday night we went out with a good friend of mine who was in town for a few days, and after some beers and pizza, we came back here to Wii it up. The bowling is great fun, but something about the way I throw causes me to get this weird hip pain so I'm not so keen to have it happen again. Last night my folks came over for dinner so my dad could watch the Cowboys game. (Still can't believe they beat the Saints!) They got a bowling game going before dinner and I stayed out of it. No fun. But I love that my parents actually like playing the games! My mom LOVES the bowling. And she rocks at it. I haven't even been back on the WiiFit since I've just been running outside. I am sure it is going to scold me next time I turn it on.

Today I plan to do a bit of cleaning, felt some bags and then it'll be time for Steelers football. Which sadly I am not that excited about. Don't get me wrong, I am not a fair weather fan. I know one has to take the bad with the good. I love the Steelers and will always love the Steelers, but I am kind of done with them this season. It'd be nice if they would at least win out the rest of the season, but I'm not going to hold my breath. It sort of seems like they don't care which I guess makes me not care. At this point I am looking forward to off-season changes and what not and a fresh start in fall 2010.

Well, enough of my babble! I'm off to shower and get things going. Happy Sunday!

Saturday, December 19

flickr faves

It's been awhile since I've posted Friday flickr faves. Here are some for Saturday!

12/19/2009

1. Untitled, 2. 52/365, 3. Untitled, 4. Untitled, 5. Untitled, 6. Untitled, 7. Untitled, 8. Untitled, 9. Offenbach, 10. swan, 11. sunlit, 12. A Lone Tree, 13. spruce, 14. sunday night football, 15. I'm Not Done, 16. Lazy Days of Summer, 17. Untitled, 18. time to go out, 19. Untitled, 20. Crocodile, 21. the mind is restless and difficult to restrain, but it is subdued by practice. ~bhagavad gita, 22. Untitled, 23. IMG_2057, 24. IMG_2138, 25. IMG_2224

Created with fds flickr toys.

Tuesday, December 15

Stripes and more stripes.









Okay, one with no stripes. I know I owe you a bit more of an update, but I'm just super busy right now. Knitting and running errands and taking care of holiday related things. There just isn't enough time in a day.

Thursday, December 10

I fought back today.

Okay, so I should have gone running today, but I decided to tackle the WiiFit again. It went better than yesterday, although my balance still kind of sucks and I seriously have no coordination. Nonetheless, I do the stretches and what not so it is still a work out whether the sensor thinks I am doing well or not. And now I am so incredibly sore, it hurts to do just about anything. Apparently one should do these things in moderation. But not me, I pushed it to 59 minutes today. Those strengthening stretches seem so innocent, but man, they have a painful aftermath. But it's good. Running is great for me, but I think it's good for me to be stretching and strengthening some new areas. We'll see how long it lasts though.

As for the rest of the day, I did a bit of cleaning and then finished up a bag and knit up some bowls. We watched Julie & Julia which was cute. I particularly enjoyed the Julia parts with Meryl Streep. She rocks. On the other side, I think I vaguely remember coming across the Julie/Julia Project blog back in 2002, but I never followed it. I don't think I could ever cook that much. Unlike Julie & Julia, I love to eat but do not like to cook. I would much rather have someone cook for me. And luckily, I have someone who doesn't mind cooking for me. I told him he needs to try some of Julia's recipes. I don't think he appreciated that suggestion.

And tonight, football. Which I am halfway dreading because three days is not long enough to recover from the anger over the last loss. I probably shouldn't admit this, but I am halfway embarrassed to even wear my Steelers gear to the bar. (We're going out tonight.) I mean, four losses in a row? Two of them to two of the worst teams in the league? Ugggghhhh. Let's get a win tonight and salvage a tiny bit of dignity. Please.

Wednesday, December 9

The Wii kicked my ass.

Things are busy around here. If we're not busy being busy, we're busy slacking off.

Last week we started talking about getting a Wii. I got it in my head that it might be a good way to exercise indoors when it is too cold to run. So after deciding that we should think about it until after the holidays, we went out and bought one yesterday.

We had a hard time getting the remotes to work at first and I was ready to take the damn thing back to the store. But we got it worked out eventually. Then I set up the WiiFit which I was pretty excited about until it told me that I have a WiiFit age of 55. 55? Come on! But it's all about balance on that damn board thing and I don't have very good balance. At all. Or coordination. Which is why I have never liked aerobics and things like that. Which is why I run. Outside.

The weight/BMI results seem pretty right on though. We added the cats too, of course, and their weight results matched the results from the vet. Sadly they are not allowed to do training with WiiFit. They are both bored to tears from being inside so much lately and could do with some extra stimulation.

Next up, bowling! Loads of fun, but good god, I can't even lift my right arm today. Apparently I am a little too realistic when throwing the ball. But it's fun. I'm not really a video game kind of gal, but the sports stuff is entertaining. And my one video game love is Super Mario Brothers and so that's the one I got and yes, it is addictive. I spent a good part of the evening playing it. And while I was drinking my tea this morning.

So yeah, it's great to have this thing that is a total time suck in our living room. It was 9 degrees this morning so I decided to work out with WiiFit and it took 90 minutes to do a 45 minute work out because they have so much damn crap to tell you and press "A" and on and on. Annoying. I did quite a few of the strength exercises, a few yoga things and a lot of the aerobics stuff. My favorite by far. The hula hoop thing is great, but of course I can't catch any of the hoops they throw at me. I love the running. Big surprise there. And the boxing was fun too. I suck at the step thing though. And some of the results are frustrating. For example, on one stretch I finished too quickly and put my foot down before I was supposed to and it said I hadn't done anything at all. Yeah, right. All in all it is not as satisfying as running outside, but let me tell you, I have been crippled for a good part of the day. Apparently I have a lot of muscles that I never use!

I would love to get into the yoga stuff, but it's hard to concentrate and breathe when you are trying to see what you are supposed to be doing while balancing on a stupid board. I'll keep trying, but I don't have much hope in that department. I'm kind of interested in the other work out thing they have, Active, or something like that, because it doesn't involve the balance board. We'll see though. I have to remember that this is something I will only do when I can't run outside.

I did knit all day today and finished up another bag. I have four ready to felt. I feel like a dumb ass for not having an Etsy up yet as I keep getting inquiries about my work. Must get that done. Too late for holiday shopping, but still. Get it done.

Anyway, it's Wii and knitting and movies. Come on over and bowl with us sometime!

Sunday, December 6

And a few more.







I have three more ready to felt and lots more new ideas! Productivity is pretty good these days, although I did play hooky yesterday and went over to my mom and dad's house to check out the new computer. Sales are picking up a little bit too. Three bags sold at the shop, two special orders are done and there was one surprise sale via the internet. Yay!

Wednesday, December 2

A little showcase of what I've been doing.



Bright red.

Bright yellow.



Rainbow.

Lattice.

And there's lots more! I'm thisclose to being ready to put some bowls up on Etsy, just need to work on my photos. I am not good at merchandising type photos. Really into stripes lately, as you might notice. Stripes are fun.

I almost bought a fish today. But then I didn't.

Monday, November 30

I really want a fish.

Dudley came for a visit too.

I've wanted to get a beta fish for as long as I can remember, but I always talk myself out of it. We do have two cats after all. I suspect Simon might enjoying fishing if given the opportunity.

That's Dudley up there in the photo. He belongs to my niece, Cassidy, and he visited his Grandma and Pa's house for Thanksgiving. He hung out by a photo of my mom's irises on a high shelf in the old butler's pantry at my parents' house to avoid being knocked over by the somewhat hyper chocolate lab, Katrina. (Who, for the record, knocked my dad over when we arrived for Thanksgiving Eve dinner. Luckily he fell onto her bed so his landing was cushioned. I'm mad at her though. She's been knocking my parents over a lot lately and it worries me. They're in good shape, but they're not spring chickens anymore.) I think he liked the view. On Thanksgiving morning, I got up on chair to look at him and take some photos. He freaked me out by staring at me and making his eyes bulge out. The Polaroid shutter scared him. Sorry Dudley! The whole staring at me thing threw me off, but eventually I determined that no one had fed him so he was probably trying to communicate his need to eat. Not so different from the cats.

My other niece, Caroline, also has a beta fish, but she left him at home. After traveling with her from Las Cruces, I guess he didn't feel up for the drive to Santa Fe. His name is Patrick. I have never met him. Apparently he is half the size of Dudley.

Anyway, I figure if my nieces can keep fish alive, I can too. I just need to figure out a good spot for the fish bowl. I've already got some names picked out. Heath or Mewelde.

I'll keep you posted.

Thursday, November 26

Tuesday, November 24

I got my hair cut a few weeks ago.



Not that you can really tell here, but I had my stylist take off 3 or 4 inches. My head was just feeling too heavy. I was super tempted to go back to a pixie cut, but I decided that might be too drastic. But maybe next time. Much as I love wearing braids, I am getting kind of tired of having long hair.

Yesterday was not as productive as I had hoped. I got sidetracked helping my parents with some stuff and it took much longer than I expected. (Not complaining, just saying.) Felting also took forever and was completely stressful. Knitting is so relaxing, but the felting part makes me crazy. Things never quite come out how I expect and usually it all ends up being fine, but when things are still wet, it's hard to tell and I have a tendency to get upset and think I have ruined everything. I use the same type of yarn most of the time and it still blows my mind how differently the same patterns turn out. I guess maybe it has something to do with the dyes in the yarn. I try to felt things in batches because I hate wasting water for one bag or a couple of flowers. It's also uses up our electricity, running the washing machine for so long. But when I do a bunch of things at a time, it's hard to keep an eye on the clock and sometimes that leads to the overfelting of things. Because I'll be wringing out and shaping one piece and totally forget that I was supposed to stop the machine after 3 minutes. So. Maybe I have to be more wasteful to make the whole process run more smoothly.

Today I think I am just going to knit. Will is going to be cooking for a good part of the day so I figure I might as well put off the cleaning until tomorrow. So it should be a relatively stress free day! Yay!

Monday, November 23

Football and stuff.

One good thing came out of yesterday. No, two. The Bengals lost to the Raiders. This brought much glee and shouting to the house after sitting around with long faces because the Steelers lost to the Chiefs. Quite the embarrassing loss. But misery loves company and now instead of feeling disgusted with the Steelers, I can make fun of the Bengals. I'll take what I can get. And I really, really hope that Ben's head is okay. That one does not need anymore concussions in his life.

The other good thing is that I knit 4 baby hats while watching all the football games. That's getting some work done.

Today begins some of the prep for Thanksgiving and all of the excitement. Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday as it is the one holiday that I get to see both my siblings and their families. (Although this year we will be missing Leja, my oldest niece.) There is always much laughter and the kids are endlessly entertaining. I can't wait.

But first, there is much work to be done. Today after I run, I have errands to get done, some felting to bust out, laundry and other chores around the house, and maybe one more baby hat. I guess it doesn't sound like much, but trust me, it's going to consume most of the day. Felting always ends up taking way longer than I expect. The three bags I have to felt today are special orders and I am a bit nervous about how they are going to turn out!

Anyway, I gotta run now. Got a phone call that put me behind schedule.

Saturday, November 21

Friday, November 20

Tuesday, November 17

Eight years since the day we met.

And it's still so much fun! It's hard to pick a few favorites out of the 470 pictures I have in my Flickr set, but here's a random selection. Really every photo that I have of Will makes me smile. He truly is the best!

My love.

Created with fds flickr toys.

Monday, November 16

Read some old offline

archives from 2001 and good lord, I can't believe how often I used to write about sex.

I also babble incessantly in a very different way than I babble now. It was all rock shows and love and good friends and rock stars and love and boys and whoa. My life is so quiet these days, it's hard to imagine the "I went out the past four nights" life that I used to have. But ahhhh, such funny and good memories.

Here's an excerpt from November 14, 2001:

well, i can't get into blogger right now so i am writing this in an email to myself and i'll try to post it later. as if you need to know that little detail. this just must be A Tired And Late Week for me, because i am tired and late again this morning, and last night i did not drink mas cerveza and i put my booty in bed at the usual time. (get your mind out of the gutter - not that kind of booty - although, that would be a nice treat - i am just talking about the booty that i sit on every day, all day, at work etc. and perhaps your mind was not even in the gutter. i know mine was. yesterday, when i was riding home from work, i had a very eight-year old boy/beavis & butthead moment. i've been needing air in my tires for a couple of days and so i finally stopped on the way home. as i was riding up the hill, i was singing a little bike riding song about how happy my tires were to be filled w/ air and as i was doing this, i hear 'squeak squeak' and i think, 'oh, well i guess i need to lube my chain as well.' then i laughed. heh. i said lube. my chain. heh. lube my chain. i need to lube my chain. i probably shouldn't be sharing these things w/ you, should i?) but i still slept through my alarm. maybe i am just worn out from the past two weekends of partying like a rock star. i can't be too worn out though, because if you are keeping track of things, you know that this weekend is Another Big Weekend 'round here. friday night the johnsons big band is playing at the gallery and saturday is the Big Show at gooskis, starring crazee & heaven from brooklyn, the human brains, and the fabulous dirty faces. and the jBB are playing again on sunday. three nights straight of some of my favorite Rock Stars. what a lucky girl i am! thank god next week is a short week and i'll have four days to catch up on my sleep. speaking of - i can hardly believe that next week is thanksgiving! where the hell did this year go? it's been kind of a crappy year for me - well, not crappy, but hard - but i don't feel ready for it to be over. although i don't really know what 'being ready' for a year to end really means. don't have much of a choice in the matter, do i? nope.

oh shit, guess who is sitting here babbling so much that it is now way past my shower time. uh yeah, that would be me. again. i zoned out big time on my run again. i left the house and then all of the sudden i was halfway through my run, thinking, 'how did i get here? am i running?' and as i became conscious of the fact that yes, i was running, i immediately became very sleepy and wanted to dive into a big pile of leaves, curl up into a ball and take a nap. mmmm....naps. and right now all i want to do is crawl back between my cozy flannel sheets and curl up w/ rocky, all nice and warm and sleepy w/ sweet thoughts drifting through my mind. but alas, i must shower and go to work. if i'm lucky, the day will fly by again and before i know it, i'll be taking the damn spanish test that has been hanging over my head for two weeks now. and then it will be thursday. i like thursdays.
posted @ 9:07 AM link to this


Little did I know what that Crazee and Heaven show would bring to my life!

Yesterday was an all-around

depressing day for football. The Steelers looked so bad and lost an important division game. AND Troy got hurt again. Although as Lamar Woodley said, "The season didn't end today...There's a lot of football left to be played." It ain't over until it's over, but nonetheless, a depressing game. My brother's Broncos lost, dad's Cowboys lost. Thankfully the Colts pulled it out at the end of the game and beat the Patriots. One bright spot to the football weekend.

We went to Bernalillo on Saturday to watch my nephews play soccer. That was fun even though we about froze to death. But between soccer and football, I didn't get any work done over the weekend which I feel a bit guilty about. I have A LOT to get done this weekend and on this Monday morning, it feels overwhelming.

One thing at a time, right?

Mondays are my chore day and I rarely look forward to the vacuuming and mopping that needs to be done. But both are on the agenda for today. Also the watering of indoor plants and laundry. Then, work.

But first, a nice run in the cold and sunshine.

Friday, November 13

Thursday, November 12

Wednesday.

Errands before lunch.

Sewing flower pins after lunch.

And then we both felt like getting out of the house. (Errands don't count.)

So we had a few beers at Marble Tap Room, then dinner at Cowgirl.

We should have come home for dinner. Cowgirl didn't make us sick as usual, but it just wasn't satisfying. It's so close to us, I wish we enjoyed it more.

And then home in time for Criminal Minds. Gavin Rossdale guest starred and the show opened with him doing a cover of "Love Will Tear Us Apart."

The beers and the dinner out kept me awake for quite some time last night. After sleeping better for a few weeks, I haven't been sleeping all that well again. AGAIN. Fall asleep fine but wake up at 1:00 or 2:00 in the morning and just lay there, awake. I don't like it. Even if the kitties are snuggling with me.

I wish sleep would be my friend.

Tuesday, November 10

Hi.

I haven't been feeling particularly bloggerly lately. Part of me wants to forget about this site and part of me wants to keep it going.

So.

I am going to try to write a bit daily again. Or every other day.

My days are all so much alike, sometimes I don't have anything to say at all. Basically, I get up and spend some time online, run, knit, eat lunch, and then knit some more. I usually take a break at four and then sometimes after dinner I knit some more.

It's not boring to me, but it's boring to write about.

I'm exhausted today. Monday Night Football will do that to me. Will made tempeh chili again and it was delicious. I had mine over Fritos. The game was stressful and exciting and WE WON! Now I am already stressed about Sunday's game which is kind of The Game of The Season at this point. It's a must win if we want any chance of taking our division.

Anyway. Football.

Today I felted for a good two hours and it was frustrating. Nothing ever comes out quite right and it makes me feel like throwing in the towel. Then things dry and it all seems better. But man, felting is tough for a perfectionist like me. It is just so unpredictable. Even using the same yarn, over and over, things do not come out the same. It drives me nuts. Some yarn of the same type that I always use, felts for crap and I have no idea why. It's not that I want things to come out identical, I just wish that things felted more consistently. Like that last batch of flowers came out beautifully and then this one didn't. For no apparent reason. I also probably shouldn't felt when I am overly exhausted.

Then I sat down and started sewing together the flower pins. Fun, fun.

And now, I am taking that break.

Tuesday, October 20

The drive, continued.

We left Jackson at about 8:00am, still heading east on I-40. We were jonesing for another audio book but had a hard time finding any. At one place they had a bunch of cheap ones and we ended up with Stephen King's The Colorado Kid. The characters spoke in heavy New England accents and we had a hard time understanding them sometimes. The story took some serious paying attention to really follow and while it passed the time, it wasn't all that enjoyable.

We drove through Tennessee, passing through Nashville and Knoxville, heading for a little place north of Winston-Salem. At the last minute, Will realized that instead of taking I-40 to Winston and then going north, we should take I-81 north to I-77 south to I-74 east and US-52 south. We had to backtrack a few miles the junction with I-81, but ultimately his smart thinking saved us at least an hour of driving. Nice! We rolled into our destination at about 6:30pm. It was so nice to have a welcoming, cozy house to sleep at instead of a motel. Our dear friend made us the best lasagna ever with salad and bread on the side. And a delicious apple tart for dessert. Good food, good conversation and a good night all around.

(Day 3 - 9/12 hours)

The next morning, after a little breakfast with our friend, we headed to Winston-Salem and Krankies. That place - the Wherehouse - never ceases to amaze me. We hadn't been there in about three years and it's incredible to see how much they have done since then. Krankies has expanded. There's a bakery in the basement. A garden in progress outside. And they have their very own chickens. It is such a wonderful place and it always feels so comfortable to be there. We got to see a lot of the folks that we know, just sitting outside drinking tea and coffee, catching up. A lovely, lovely time. I just wish we had more time to spend there.

We headed out just after 2:00pm. The drive was uneventful and went by quickly, just how I like it to be. We arrived at the beach house in Isle of Palms, the same one as last year, a bit after 6:00. Just in time to join Will's folks and some family friends for dinner. We ate at The Mustard Seed in Mt. Pleasant. A very friendly place with good but not fabulous food. I tried the crab cake special and was a bit disappointed as they were the mushy kind and I prefer the crisper kind. The key lime pie was delicious though.

And that was that. We were finally at the beach.

(Day 4 - 5 hours)

Thursday, October 15

The drive.

We decided to leave a day earlier than originally planned so that we wouldn't have to have crazy long days of driving. We also decided that since we had some extra time, we wouldn't stress out about leaving at the crack of dawn. A good idea. We ended up hitting the road at about 11:00am and had a pleasant drive through eastern New Mexico and Texas on I-40. We wanted to stop at around dinnertime so based on that and the fact that the Tom Tom (borrowed from my dad) assured us that the Elk City exit had motels, we stopped there.

Plenty of chain motels to choose from but they all looked so run down. We wanted to eat first so we picked a diner listed on the Tom Tom, followed the directions and no diner! Picked a second place and found a burned out building. Thanks Tom Tom! We decided to drive down to the next exit of Elk City to see what we could see. Not much. No restaurants besides fast food. And more seedy looking motels. We drove around some more to no avail. Finally found sort of a main drag with more motels and fast food. We couldn't believe there were not any non-fast food restaurants. There had to be something. Finally we stumbled upon Ed's Katy Diner. It was open and not a burned out building. A good start. And by this time we were starved.

The building was an old train depot but other than it's history, the place didn't have all that much character. We sat in a booth where we could watch the Monday Night Football game. Ordered some Coronas because that was the only "good" beer they served. Will spotted chicken fried steak on the menu, one of my favorites. So I ordered that and he got the fried catfish platter. Neither dish was remarkable, but it was a helluvalot better than eating at Sonic.

After dinner, we had to make a motel decision. We were near a Best Western so decided to stay there just so we wouldn't have to drive around anymore. We didn't ask the room price beforehand so were a bit shocked to find that it was going to be over a hundred dollars. We never pay that much for road motels and felt kind of ripped off. Because let me tell you, it was not a luxury motel. A nice big room, yes, and relatively clean, but the sheets were the scratchiest sheets we have ever slept on. It was like sleeping on sandpaper. Awful. We made it out of there by 8:00 the next morning with not a lot of love for Elk City, Oklahoma.

(Day 1 - 7 hours)

One of the truck stops that we stopped at had a bunch of audio books so we ended up buying one. Stuart Woods Hothouse Orchid. I don't read his books, but I figured that a mainstream type thriller would be perfectly fine to listen to in the car. Much like all the crime shows I watch on television. And I was correct. Between the listening and the knitting, the drive went by quickly that day. Oklahoma, Arkansas and into Tennessee. That's when it got ugly. Well actually I guess we were still in Arkansas. West Memphis, Arkansas. It was five o'clock and there was construction going. Traffic came to a dead stop. We must have already finished the audio book otherwise that would have distracted me. I tried to focus on crocheting, but the whole not moving thing and being surrounded by big trucks started to freak me out. (Note: Traffic jams make me have panic attacks.) It was not fun. My mind started racing, trying to figure out how I could escape, get out, move, something. Anything. But no. We would reach a point of movement only to hit another dead stop. Again and again. It took us an hour to get to the other side. And by then, both of us were in bad moods. My panic is silent but Will knows that I am stressed out which in turns stressed him out and, well, you get the picture. Not fun.

But we made it. We arrived in Jackson, our destination for the evening, at around 7:00. Based on the unreliable Tom Tom, we had picked out a BBQ place for dinner. It was there. And it wasn't a burned out building. But they closed at 7:00. Foiled again! Will was super bummed because this place (which I can't remember the name of) looked like the real deal. We backtracked toward the interstate and ended up having BBQ pulled pork sandwiches at some sports bar and restaurant. It wasn't bad. And they served beer which was much needed at that point. But it wasn't the real deal. We stayed at a Ramada Inn that night and not only was it super cheap, the sheets were soft. Heavenly after a long day on the road.

(Day 2 - 10 hours)

To be continued.

And P.S. I know this isn't all that interesting, but I am so bad at actually writing in a real journal these days, I like to at least recap here so I can remember things. I am sorry if it is way too long-winded.

Wednesday, October 14

This really stinks.

Aaron Smith out for the season. Not only is he Will's favorite player, he is a crucial part of our defense.

The last time the Steelers played without Smith, 33, for an extended period, their rush defense all but collapsed.

Not good, especially since our defense hasn't exactly been in top form this season. The loss of Smith is huge.

On the bright side, Troy will be back soon. This Sunday, I think.

Tuesday, October 13

Home sweet home.

And oh so busy. So busy. I've had a post floating around my head for a few days now, but it just isn't going to happen. I don't have time for the internet. I have time for flowers, felted and the real ones outside. (Meaning that I need to crochet and garden.)

But a quick check in here nonetheless. I should do this in the mornings when my brain is more awake. Evenings have been kicking my ass lately.

Our trip was a lot of fun. Getting home was nice too. No matter how fun it is to visit other places, it's always a relief to get home. To our kitties. Our own bed. Our own bathrooms. And perhaps not the cleanest house, but at least I know where the dirt came from unlike the not so clean motel we stayed at in Amarillo.

One day soon maybe I will tell you about the drive. We discovered that we love listening to audio books. Crime thrillers, natch. We also discovered that it's slim pickings between Amarillo and Oklahoma City. Stay in Elk City if you're in a pinch. The other options were frightening. Horror movie material.

And the beach was wonderful. How could it not be? It's the beach! Ocean! Seagulls! Pelicans! Egrets! Sandpipers! And lots of other birds that I can't name. Also, dolphins! And starfish! Seashells! Sand! And good lord, the food. We had some good food while we were away.

It was also much fun to hang out with Will's family. I got to meet our new nephew, Jake, for the first time. He's six months old. And boy, what a cutie. He is endlessly entertaining. We bought him his first Steelers t-shirt while we were there. He's been instructed that he needs to wear it every Sunday (or whatever day our game is) for the rest of football season. We also got to change a very poopy diaper the one night we babysat while everyone else when out. He managed to get it all the way up his back. Nice!

There's oh so much more to tell, but time is limited. I have to get back to work. I also have pictures of birds and seashells and babies, but they might not show up for awhile. We have company arriving on Friday night and that throws another twist into the whole being busy thing.

Anyway.

It's all good.

Saturday, September 26

Good morning.

And a good morning it is! When I woke up and looked at the clock, it was 5:00am. Amazing. I actually slept through the night. Simon did too. Sweetness.

It's been a super busy week, but I've just about got everything on my list crossed out. I have to do laundry and finish packing, but mostly I am good to go. We're really looking forward to getting away for a little awhile. It's a much needed vacation.

I do have to work while we are gone, but I don't consider knitting to be all that intrusive. My things have been selling like mad at the shop on Canyon Road. The flowers just about sold out so I took a new batch in on Thursday and on Friday afternoon, I got an email from Leslie saying that she had already sold nine. Nine! I guess the fall weather brings the need for handmade felted flowers. The baby hats are starting to sell too. It's all pretty exciting. So I want to knit as much as I can on the road so I can have stock ready to go when we get back.

Our cat and house sitter is coming over this morning so we can show him the ropes and give him detailed instructions about the care and feeding of the cats. Hopefully they don't drive him nuts. My theory is that they will actually behave better with him than they do with us. They know they can take advantage of us. A new person, well, that might be risky. I'm sure that they'll ultimately be thrilled to have someone around all the time to cater to their every need. Because Luis is pretty much going to be here 24/7. He's remodeling my bathroom while he is here. Not a bad deal, right?

I'm still on the fence about what cameras are going with me. The for sure ones are the Holga (of course), Polaroid Spectra (I only have five packs of Spectra film left and then that's it), Polaroid One Step Plus and the point and shoot digital. The Pentax K1000 is most likely going as well. And I have the digital SLR packed, but I can't decide if I should take it or not. Between my suitcase of clothing, my knitting bag, my non-digital camera bag and my bag of beach stuff, I have a lot of crap to lug across the country. Do I really need to add one more camera bag? We shall see.

Anyway, I best stop dilly dallying on the computer and get showered and ready for the day. Hope you all have a fabulous weekend!

Tuesday, September 22

Hello Autumn.

I am not ready for you yet! 32 degrees this morning. Are you serious? Now in addition to the four million other things I have to do today, I have to pick all the tomatoes and peppers because it might freeze tonight. And I have to dig out my warmer running clothes. I wore shorts and a t-shirt yesterday. But did I mention, it's 32 degrees this morning? Time to find the winter gear.

Not. Ready.

I wish I didn't get stressed so easily. I mean, it's just Stuff That Needs To Get Done. No reason to totally freak about it. And having a maxed out stressed level certainly doesn't make the day go any smoother. Everything that needs to get done is going to get done. It might not all happen today, but it'll happen this week. And that's okay.

Breathe.

I still can't believe it's going to freeze tonight. Good grief.

Friday, September 18

I can't believe how much rain we have gotten this week.

It's awesome. But also chilly and gray. It's so unusual to have two gray days in a row here. I'm not complaining, I'm just saying. It's like Pittsburgh. But not. Really.

My brain is at full speed lately and it is making it hard for me to get complete sentences out of my mouth. I'm not unfocused exactly, well, okay, maybe a little blurry. But not unfocused. If that makes sense.

I make lists to keep myself organized, but right now I have so many lists going on that my lists are disorganized and it is making me a little crazy. So I started some new clean lists today and it made me feel better.

Debating over cameras to take to the beach is making me go in circles. I just picked up my film pictures from the Earthship Adventure and boy howdy, let me tell you, they are way better than the digital shots. Maybe not all of them, but as a whole, they seem to be so much richer. But more costly. So what to do, what to do? Film or digital? A little of both perhaps.

That said, I also need to learn how to use the digital SLR to its fullest capacity. I think I am lazy about using it and so my pictures aren't as good. Or maybe I need to learn how to post-process more, but it's just not my thing. I'm mostly a straight out of the camera kind of gal.

I'm also realizing that I am going to have to get a good bit of work done while we are gone. And by work I mean knitting so it can't be all that bad, but let me tell you, last year at the beach, we did a whole lot of nothing. Nothing. And reading. Lots of reading. I figure I can at least get a lot done on the drive out there and then maybe just relax at the beach. We'll see.

A quick sleep update. I guess it's gotten a bit better? If you call waking up at 12:30am and then not until 4:30am better, well then, yeah, better. I would love to skip the 12:30am awakening and get a solid six hours of sleep. But you'll have to check with Simon on that one.

Okay, enough of my scattered brain.

flickr faves

9/18/2009

1. chiswick house walk 8, 2. peony, 3. ., 4. correzione, 5. french doors, 6. That tree, 7. san francisco, 8. blue, 9. Chowlion_xpro, 10. Salon der Dame, 11. Untitled, 12. Untitled, 13. Untitled, 14. Brightening the mood..., 15. Untitled, 16. Untitled

Created with fds flickr toys.

Thursday, September 17

Door.

Looking out one of the greenhouse doors.

I like it!

It's actually cold this morning.

Cold enough that I actually had to put on my fleece jacket when I got out of bed. And think about where I put my slippers when I packed away my winter stuff. I am not ready for fleece and slippers.

That said, I do love the crisp air in the mornings, drawing autumn closer and closer. And the golden yellow leaves that are starting to appear in the trees. I even got excited about the first appearance of snow on Santa Fe Baldy.

I just don't want to be COLD!

Wednesday, September 16

What have you been doing?

I've been knitting bowls and crocheting flowers to felt. Watching too many crime shows. Posting lots and lots of earthship photos. Just the digital for now.

East entrance.

Scanning earthship polas. And yesterday I dropped off four rolls of film to be processed. I also paid five bucks for a little strap for my Holga. I thought five bucks was a bit of a rip off, but oh well, I wanted the strap. We popped in the local yarn store too, but they didn't have either of the colors I need in stock. So I ordered them from a place online instead.

I've been eating a lot of tomatoes because they are turning ripe daily now. We give a lot of them away too. I've been running in the morning although I didn't go this morning because I overslept. My mileage has gone down lately as I find it difficult to run 5 miles when I haven't slept very much. It bothers me, but I keep telling myself that 3 miles (or 4 miles) a day is certainly better than no miles a day.

I've been fighting off mild depression and many negative thoughts. I chalk up most of both things to the lack of sleep. Some times it is hard to feel good when overly tired.

I've been thinking about what I am going to take to the beach this year. Too much probably.

I've been thinking about how I really need to change my routine. I knit most of the time which is awesome because I love to knit. But I am not doing some of the other things that I also love to do and I find that a bit frustrating. And there are some things that I want to learn, but I find that I have no time for that either. So I am doing one thing that I love but not the others and it all comes down to time management. I think. I spend too much time on the computer in the morning too. I am doing it right now.

I've been thinking about why it is that I am unable to connect with people. Again. It always makes me sad. It is better when I let go and accept that this is just how it is. How it's always been.

And of course I've been thinking about why I can't sleep well. Why, why, why? What it is going to take to break the cycle?

I've been trying to brush the mats out of Rocky's tail end, but he really doesn't want me to do it. I got one mat out the other night. I've also been noticing all the scabs he has on his head. That one just gets involved in too many fights.

It rained all during the night. The thunder growing distant and then loud loud loud again. And rain. All night. That rarely happens in Santa Fe. It was nice. (Simon many not have thought so though as he was outside.)

Time to get off the computer now. Hope you are doing lots of things you love to do.