flickr faves

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.

Game Day (Thursday Night)

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

Let's go Steelers!

The Finished Scarf.

Made for my father-in-law.

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.

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!

It was seven years ago today

that Will and I first met!



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.

Game Day

flickr faves

1. After The Fall, 2. film: spot, 3. now how do i get down, 4. Untitled, 5. Untitled, 6. .1000., 7. Untitled, 8. Fog, 9. llama, 10. Wet Leaf (Oct. 5), 11. king of his castle, 12. sweet signage

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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.

fortune

Game Day

Go Steelers!

flickr faves

1. Drive In (Sept. 19), 2. 3/5, 3. sink, 4. the swan is long, 5. Here, 6. smosch, 7. Untitled, 8. A respite, 9. Untitled, 10. Untitled, 11. Untitled, 12. Untitled

Created with fds flickr toys.

I ordered some prints

of a couple of Polaroid shots and they arrived today.



Not totally in love with the quality. I mean, I realize Polaroid shots have a certain fuzziness to them, but I'm not crazy about the paper they were printed on.



I'm not sure what my options are as I can't print high quality prints at home. I am thinking it may be my scanning that is causing some problems. I don't know. I'm not good at this whole printing thing.

Last year I gave my dad a Katrina calendar and he loved it so I made another one for 2009. It turned out well.



Oh and the felting of the knit bag went pretty well. I'll post a shot of it once it dries.

A chilly morning.

My Google homepage tells me that it is 8 degrees outside which I know is not true. I don't know why the Google weather is always way off. It's more like 19 degrees which is still pretty damn cold. I need to get myself psyched up to go running in a few minutes here.

Also, I am really bummed to see that Proposition No. 8 passed in California. So sad that people are okay with amending their state constitution to include discrimination.

Knitting, chili and a 10 minute blizzard.

This morning as I drove to the post office, the wind was blowing like crazy and a few white specks seemed to be falling from the sky. I went inside for five minutes and when I got back outside, a blizzard had begun. Seriously. Snow blowing everywhere, low visibility and cold as heck. It was crazy. And kind of fun. Ten minutes later, it was over.

It's been windy as hell all day though and freezing cold. Low tonight is supposed to be around 18 degrees. Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!

I've been spending most of my time knitting. I'm sort of obsessed with making baby stuff right now. No, not for us, for Will's sister! She's having a baby boy in March. Making baby hats is so much fun! I can finish one in 3 or 4 hours so it's instant gratification. And the hats are so tiny and cute! I've made three so far and might make one more. Not that the kid needs so many hats, I just can't resist.



The one on the left is the Baby Hat from One Skein and the one on the right is the Umbilical Cord Hat from Stitch-n-Bitch.

I also plan to make a bunch of simple bibs. I've made one so far using the Baby Bib O' Love pattern from Mason-Dixon Knitting.



Simple and cute. I might add some embroidery or a felted patch or something. There's a simple pattern for burping cloths too so I'll make a few of those as well.

Who knew that knitting for babies was so much fun?!

I've also been trying to do more of the cooking now that I am not working. (And Will is working like crazy! De-install/installs always require working for a couple of weeks straight.) It's not that I don't like cooking...well, okay, it's not my favorite thing to do. But I can do it and I'm not half bad at it so I am cooking. For my busy husband. (He usually does most of the cooking.) Anyway, yesterday I made one of my old stand-bys that we haven't had in a long time. Indonesian Peanut Chicken from one of my Betty Crocker cook books. Easy and pretty damn tasty. I mean, how can you go wrong with peanut butter?



Today I made a pot of chili. Will makes excellent chili so I followed his directions which hopefully means I currently have an excellent pot of chili on the stove. We shall see.

Tomorrow...a morning run in the freezing cold, a first attempt at felting a little handbag and leftover chili.

Yes!

[Image from Keri Smith]

Our defense last night was stellar.

I have to admit, that even though I didn't put too much in the NFL stat posted yesterday, I did breathe an extra sigh of relief when the Steelers won last night.

And just so you don't think I am nuts, the stat was mentioned in the Washington Post as well. [Link swiped from dangerousmeta.]

When the Redskins win their final home game before the presidential election, the incumbent party stays in office. When the Redskins lose their final home game before the election the incumbent party loses, except in 2004. Pretty simple, right? Steve Hirdt of the Elias Sports Bureau discovered it's happened precisely that way 16 of 17 times since 1940. Anything close to that exact is more than a trend and is certainly politically unbiased.

We can presume that Steelers in a romp means Obama in a landslide. You don't want to argue with numbers that overwhelming, do you? "Congratulations, Barack," Leftwich said, smiling and revealing his own preference.

When last night's game started off with a failed onside kick by the Steelers, my heart sank. And then when Ben threw an interception on the next drive, it sank again. The Redskins scored two field goals in the first 4 minutes of the game. And our offense looked totally weak. But man oh man, watching the defense play was incredible. They were ON. Big time. Seven sacks. Awesome pass coverage. They brought the Redskins offense to a complete halt. After the initial six point lead, the Redskins never scored again. It's no wonder that our defense is rated number one in the league.

Our offense, on the other hand, looked like crap until Leftwich replaced Big Ben in the second half. Leftwich! I am so not a fan of Leftwich. I never liked him when he was QB for the Jags and I wasn't thrilled when he became our back-up QB. But he got it going last night and I have to say, I'm warming up to him! (Thank god we don't have Brad Johnson!) If Ben ends up having to sit out a game, I think we'll be okay. And frankly, much as I love Big Ben, when he plays with an injury, his performance is usually sub-par and really only hurts the team.

Now that I've lost my entire audience with the football talk, I'll also mention that the polling stations don't seem to be overly crowded today. Ours is one block down the way and while I've seen people coming and going, there don't appear to be any lines. This doesn't mean people aren't voting, just that lots of us voted early!

Today is the day.

Please go out and VOTE!

Game Day

Now, let me preface this by saying that I don't actually believe that the outcome of tonight's football game will have any bearing on the election tomorrow.

But here's a little NFL stat for you. Historically, when the Redskins have a game at home before a big election and they win, the incumbent party wins the election. If they lose, the opposite party wins the election.

So LET'S GO STEELERS!!

(I find it fascinating that the NFL has stats for any imaginable situation.)

Fall 'Roid Week, Day Five!

1. it lit the streets with the sweetest glow, 2. Untitled, 3. accidentally | october 30. 2008, 4. red chair, 5. SALTY, 6. Blue and Red, 7. Grand Finale, 8. old school, 9. unmade bed, 10. back when, 11. day 328 : 365 • the pumpkin patch is..., 12. Give Me A Sign | 2008, 13. Untitled, 14. cachuma lake, 15. an orderly chaos, 16. Untitled, 17. Untitled, 18. Untitled, 19. Untitled, 20. friday:strange sky

Created with fds flickr toys.

Fall 'Roid Week, Day Four!

1. afternoon light, 2. Branch, 3. in our yard, 4. Untitled, 5. Untitled, 6. steps up, 7. guess what today is?, 8. Welcome to Paradise, 9. my spring, 10. 10/29/08, 11. Untitled, 12. I had to do it, 13. Balance 10.29.2008, 14. day 339 : 365 • pola love, 15. lone palm, 16. Untitled, 17. one of the nicest places in belgium, 18. Cowboy Kitty, 19. the last supper, 20. ocean stars , 21. sisters, 22. , 23. Untitled, 24. Untitled, 25. Untitled

Created with fds flickr toys.

Fall 'Roid Week, Day Three!

1. day 3, 2. pola #3 - and the leaves fall, 3. a morning..., 4. Day 3, 5. rebecca's not missing, 6. pier2, 7. good morning, ferris., 8. Untitled, 9. Yellow, 10. k.j.b., 11. Untitled, 12. giallo [ autumn mode ], 13. return to work, 14. shopping, 15. a day at the beach, 16. Untitled, 17. Untitled, 18. leaves & spokes

Created with fds flickr toys.

Today

I voted!

I don't think I've ever been so excited to vote in my life.

Yay!

Fall 'Roid Week, Day Two!

1. Untitled, 2. morning kitchen, 3. Untitled, 4. Untitled, 5. yes darling, 6. Feeling small, 7. Untitled, 8. Are you coming home tonight?, 9. Untitled, 10. village - a - roid, 11. Untitled, 12. Untitled, 13. Lonely At the Top, 14. Soft white socks, 15. hello dollies, 16. birds on a wire

Created with fds flickr toys.

Fall 'Roid Week, Day One!

1. monday, 2. polaroid week is on!, 3. Untitled, 4. shore., 5. pegs, 6. Untitled, 7. Flying, 8. My Girls, 9. Communication is So Complicated | 2008, 10. decisions, 11. An apartment in Paris, 12. an oldie, 13. Untitled, 14. devil deer, 15. tomorrow is another day

Created with fds flickr toys.

Feeling blue.

On a happy note, Fall 'Roid Week started today. Yay Polaroid! I'll be posting my faves from the pool all week.

As for feeling blue, I don't know, I guess it's still fall out from the whole job mess. I do believe that the change is for the best and I'm feeling mostly optimistic about the situation, but nonetheless, there are some raw feelings there. Part of me hasn't gotten over being shocked. Another not so nice part of me keeps chanting, "LOSER" inside my head. And the fact that I have to go to back to work tomorrow has me feeling a bit weird too. My boss and I are okay, but, I don't know. It's just an odd situation.

And actually, for being someone who has a tendency to ruminate about things quite a bit, I'm doing a pretty good job of not constantly thinking about what happened. A pretty good job. Random thoughts sneak in though. Particularly when I wake up in the middle of the night. It's like, "oh yeah, I don't have a job anymore." Which sometimes leads to an evaluation of my entire life and all the things that I feel stupid about or could have done differently or feel that I failed at or whatever. Not real productive, let me tell you.

But mostly I am good. Just putting one foot in the front of the other. Perusing all the job postings that I know about for Santa Fe. Making lists of things that I'd love to accomplish while I have more time. Knitting. Lots and lots of knitting. And taking pictures. I am thinking I am going to have pull out the digital camera more often now since getting film processed gets expensive when one doesn't have a steady income. It's not like my film experiments have been particularly stellar anyhow.

Anyway.

It's all okay. I'm just blue today. (And there are some football blues in there too. Our loss yesterday was so disappointing.)

Well, I'm off to dine on chicken pot pie and watch Sex and the City.

Take some Polaroid pictures this week!!

Game Day

I'm nervous.

flickr faves

1. L.A.Fair4-680-9-21-08, 2. we weren't always friends, 3. Untitled, 4. Untitled, 5. ora mi disabituo pure di me stessa, 6. sky rocket in flight, 7. about to sneeze, 8. Window, 9. september quilt, 10. Alicanto bird siblings, 11. Untitled, 12. 261 (market)

Created with fds flickr toys.

A little bit chilly.

Last night it dropped down to 20 degrees or so. Brrrrr! I was wide awake until after 3:00 AM and the house got so chilly, that the heater actually came on! (It was set on 50 degrees or so.)

After the day that I had yesterday - which I am not going to discuss here because there's only so much I want to say about work - I was not in the least bit surprised that I couldn't sleep. My head just wouldn't stop. I finally got up and watched a fairly crappy movie on cable called Broken. If you can't sleep, go ahead and watch it, otherwise, I'd say don't bother.

As for work, suffice it to say that after Wednesday of next week, I will officially be unemployed. A bit unexpected to say the least, but ultimately I think it's for the best. Besides, I did say I needed something to change. Well, here it is.

The weather warmed up a bit this afternoon so I spent some time in the yard, clearing out the rest of the garden. My zinnias finally bit the dust with the freezing temperatures of last night. It felt good to be out in the sun. Then I knit up an hand-warmer pattern from Weekend Knitting. I only made one so far and it's slightly too big on me so I think I'm going to adjust the pattern a bit and make two smaller ones. My hands are so damn small, it's always hard to find anything that fits right.

This evening it's going to be chicken tacos and a few more episodes of The Wire.

Be careful what you wish for.

You might end up without any job at all.

On Autumn.

Things to love about autumn:

The colors of the leaves and
the deep blue skies.

Crisp air in the mornings.

Oatmeal for breakfast.
(I've never liked oatmeal before.)

Kitty cats sleeping through the night
and
snuggling on the bed.

Football season.

Snow covered mountains.

Apples!

Knitting holiday gifts.

So yes, there are many things to love about this time of year, nonetheless, it tends to not be a good time of year for me. Autumn often brings on depression for me. And while it isn't as bad as it used to be, it is floating around and I've had some very bad days. It also seems to be the time of year that work starts to get me down. I find myself more and more discontent. Particularly because I felt this way at this job last autumn and nothing has changed. Something needs to change. I need to make a change.

But what?

I am frustrated.

Lucky, yes. But still frustrated.

(And the fact that I did not even get a call back for my potential dream job does not help the depression and frustration. Still trying to accept that it must not have been the Dream Job. Or maybe it was and I got passed by. These things still keep me awake at night.)

But.

Today is Wednesday. I am off tomorrow and then also have a three day weekend. AND next week is Fall 'Roid Week!

The gnome makes me very happy.

A burst of color.

Game Day

Will said, "I am going to pretend I am driving a truck."

So that's what he's doing.

Let's go Steelers!

flickr faves

1. black eyed susan, 2. Untitled, 3. Yokohama BW 07, 4. vintage film poppies, 5. solitude, 6. Untitled, 7. 250 (saguaro), 8. Untitled, 9. Drunk But Cute, 10. orange pony, 11. about to, 12. Pier To Happiness

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Bye Week (No Game Day)

Sometimes the bye week leaves us feeling lost, this week we needed the rest. Or perhaps more aptly, the Steelers needed the rest. Ben has been getting roughed up, Willie's on the mend along with a handful of others. Here's hoping the come back stronger than ever after two weeks off.

Of course we still watch football. Maybe not as intensely, but we always watch. This seems to be the season of a lot of upsets and a lot of "THIS TEAM is the BEST TEAM" and then that team loses. Personally I think all the upsets and what not make for a much more interesting football season than a season in which there is one powerhouse that blows out all the other teams. Redskins are tough this season, but they lost to the Rams today. Cowboys are supposed to be on top, but they've been struggling in the past couple of games. They should have blown out the Bengals and didn't. Right now the game against the Cardinals isn't over yet, but it's a nail-bitter. So are the Cowboys really IT? Methinks we can't decide such things just yet.

I'm already looking forward to next Sunday. We finally have a morning game which means breakfast burritos, sausage balls and Bloody Marys!

Golden.

flickr faves

1. Bird Strike, 2. skeeter is old., 3. Untitled, 4. Untitled, 5. the pool, 6. air., 7. sunflower, 8. Mueller Trail sunset, 9. edge of the earth., 10. view from here, 11. fantasy land, 12. capital

Created with fds flickr toys

*

I always take the same pictures.

Holga, Polaroid, Digital.

I'm feeling rather bland these days.

Our chipmunk friend.

Waiting (Game Day)

Too many night games this season.

It's hard to believe that it was only this past Monday that I was wearing shorts and a sleeveless shirt on Game Day. Autumn has finally arrived.

On the Big Tesuque Run.

My time, the rank I attain, my outward appearance -- all of these are secondary. For a runner like me, what's really important is reaching the goal I set for myself, under my own power, I give it everything I have, endure what needs enduring, and am able, in my own way, to be satisfied. From out of the failures and joys I always try to come away having grasped a concrete lesson. (It's got to be concrete, no matter how small it is.) And I hope that, over time, as one race follows another, in the end I'll reach a place I'm content with. Or maybe just catch a glimpse of it. (Yes, that's a more appropriate way of putting it.)

-- Haruki Murakami, from What I Talk About When I Talk About Running



Yesterday I completed the Big Tesuque Run, a 12-mile out and back trail run that begins at 10,000 feet and goes up to about 12,043 feet. Considering that I bettered my time from last year, I should be content, but I did not meet my personal goal and thus, I felt more failure than joy. (My goal being to run the whole way up and I was not able to do that.) But so it goes sometimes and perhaps I have learned something from the experience.



It was a tough run for me. I felt good that morning. I mean, I had my usual pre-race nerves, but nothing out of the ordinary. But within the first 100 yards of the race, I knew I was screwed. I felt dehydrated, my legs started cramping up and I couldn't get my breathing right. At one point I was close to hyperventilating. And mentally I could barely keep myself going. Numerous times I got so angry at myself that I was just going to turn around and go back. I mean, why bother walking up? (The runner's blues, perhaps, or hitting a giant mental wall while running a race...not quite sure how to describe it.) And I had some concern that I wouldn't be able to make it down. Every so often I would start to run, but my legs just couldn't keep it going. Shortly after the 3 mile marker, I was going to turn around, but then I saw the water station and thought that might help. And it did, a bit.

Anyway, I made it to the top and ran down the mountain at a pretty good clip considering that my legs still didn't feel right. I was running about 10-minute miles and a few times I thought my legs were going to buckle. Not to mention that at the top it was windy and cold. My hands were bright red and hurt. So uncomfortable. But I kept running. At that point, all I wanted to do was get down the mountain and be done.

I guess it's no small feat that I finished, but as a runner, walking during a race is just not something that I enjoy doing. My dad did much better than me, as expected. He finished at 2:20 or so and was fourth in his age group. I finished at 2:30, a few minutes faster than last year in spite of the sheer psychological torture!



We just went out for breakfast and saw that the mountains are covered in snow. Snow! No wonder it was freezing at the top of the mountain yesterday. And while I am not psyched about the cold weather, the snow covered mountains are quite a lovely sight.

flickr faves

1. Untitled, 2. Still, some thrills remebered do resemble thrills, 3. Puddle (August 25), 4. woman king, 5. Peeped, 6. Baltazar na carrinha, 7. Untitled, 8. turn around, 9. Peggy's Cove, 10. Untitled, 11. cow paths at dusk, 12. the gull

Created with fds flickr toys.

When I picked up the cats at the vet,

a lady with a small dog came in. She overheard the receptionist make the call to bring Simon and Rocky to the front.

"Those sound like two good names. What are they?"

"They're cats."

"And they're all checked out and healthy now?"

"They came in to get their teeth cleaned today."

"Oh, my poodle died here while he was having his teeth cleaned."

Good lord! I am glad I didn't hear that little bit until they were done with the procedure. Although the lady obviously still trusts the place if she was there with her other dog.

As it is, I am a little pissed and stressed because they gave Rocky too much fluid while he was under. He was supposed to get 60ml of fluid and he got 200ml! Not a lethal dose, but apparently something to be concerned about as they told us to keep a close eye on him for the next few days. He has a slight cough now, but other than that, he seems fine. The tooth extraction did not keep him from gulping down a bowl of dry food when he got home. There's not much that will keep Rocky from his food.

Oh and Simon ended up not having any teeth extracted. The two teeth that they intended to extract weren't actually there. Um, yeah.

I'm telling you, it's always something.

The cats cost us a small fortune today.

Last year when the cats went in for their yearly check-ups, the vet recommended that they both have their teeth cleaned within a year. It's not a cheap procedure so we've kind of been putting it off, but this week we decided to bite the bullet.

We were instructed not to feed them after 9:00PM the night before the appointment. Uh-oh. Not feeding Rocky leads to excessive whining. We were afraid. And I'd already spent four nights with poor sleep so one more would not be a good thing. So we fed them their early dinner last night and then high-tailed it over to my parents' house. I know, we're such wimps, but we have two bad cats and we thought that with empty bellies, they would be more than we could handle.

We got up early and came back home. Both of them were highly distressed over the lack of food. Poor things. Will dropped them off at the vet and since then, we've gotten three reports. Rocky went first. He had to have one tooth extracted but everything went well. The vet called again to report that he was awake and doing fine. Simon was up second. We just found out that he has to have two molars extracted. And guess what?! Each extraction makes the cost of the procedure go up. We're looking at a lot of money that is going to have to be paid out when I go pick them up this afternoon. Way more than we expected. Way more. It's insane. We don't even spend that much on our teeth. All I can say is that they damn well better have sparkling white clean teeth.

good morning.