Oh bother, what now...

The photos I posted won't open in new windows, they want to download! Aaaaaaahhhhh!

Wow, it's almost December!

Okay, so I had something else I was going to blog about, but it can wait till tomorrow.

We went to Lowe's this evening and got our Christmas tree! Yay! We usually get it Thanksgiving weekend, but we were busy.

I was wishing I had a camera phone...then it would look like I was just texting or something, not walking around Lowe's taking photos like a weirdo! :)

The tree we got:
though not the one I picked out... :(








Colin with the tree!









I think they were charging 13 something for these little baskets...I could make those!









We got some poinsettias, but not these:











They even had sparkles!









I thought this was cute:









What do you use these things for? They were probably about 6 inches across! Plastic of course...if they made something that big in glass I'd be more impressed.









And I could make these too, probably:









So we got a tree...we didn't get this...and I managed to refrain from disabling it in some way...

Sorry it's sideways, I didn't realize you couldn't rotate videos...

And to annoy you...

Ever since Rebecca posted this I've had that song stuck in my head! And I like the song, so it wasn't too bad, it could have been a song I hated.

However, since watching "Don't Forget The Lyrics" last night, I've had this song in my head...which I also like, but it does rather get stuck and cause a headache.

I Think I Love You* ~David Cassidy


And if you prefer a more modern version, check this one out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DuQ6802aUrA :)

Now do you have a song stuck in your head? Hee-hee-hee!

*Complete with lyrics in the "About this page"on the: YouTube page!

How annoying!

For some reason, in the comments page Blogger has changed the "other" option to "nickname". With the "other" you typed your name and put in your url if you were not a Blogger member. The nickname thing only lets you put in your name... it looks like other people are not happy with this either, and I hope that they change it back.
http://groups.google.com/group/blogger-help-howdoi

http://groups.google.com/group/blogger-help-troubleshoot

I can't even find anything where you can contact Blogger with complaints...it seems like they should have some sort of help address or something.

Most of my commenters don't have Blogger accounts, but right now the the only one who has a blog to link is Rebecca. But I still wish they would replace that option.

For my commenters, I guess just put in your name as usual! Use the "nickname" option. :)

She's so cool!

We were looking for Gracie, trying to figure out if she was outside still...and we found her in Colin's room on his beanbag chair! I'm surprised she'd like to sleep on it, it's vinyl and not soft or anything! Maybe the vinyl is warm? ...hot and sticky, normally!

Also, for some reason my comments aren't being emailed to me properly...there's a delay or something... I saw one just now when I signed in that was before two I posted earlier...I never got the email. I'll probably get it later tonight or something...that's what it did with the two earlier ones...I got one published notice long before the second one. Something must be messed up with Blogger.
It's not a big problem, I just need to remember to check my "Moderate Comments" page!

Ooof

Okay, so I shouldn't have finished up the eclair cake, even if no one else wanted it. Basically I had two good-sized helpings. And why? Because Dad said the fridge needed to get cleared out some, and to throw away the rest of the eclair cake if nobody wanted it...which I couldn't do. I don't seriously regret it because I love that stuff and it had gotten nice and soggy, but my stomach is reproving me, (gently and with no drastic effects) for having eaten all that!

Ah well, and I have a super-metabolism that makes most people worry that I don't eat much at all, so I'll be fine! :) I've tried to explain before that when I like something, I eat what I want, and if I don't like it so well, I only eat what I need, and it all balances out!

We had leftover chicken soup for lunch too...I made soup on Tuesday and there was enough for lunch yesterday and today. And a little bit leftover, so that if I do get sick like Mom and Colin (which I don't intend to) I can have it for lunch tomorrow!

Hmmm....that was a rather weird, oddly food-centric post...sorry about that.

I'm feeling old...

Yeah, I just came out to the kitchen and called my grandma about something; so I dial the phone and when Grandma answers I say "Hi, this is Grandma! ...I mean, ha-ha, oh dear, this is Natalie..." and then try to stop laughing so I can talk!

And now I can't stop giggling about it. I stop and then I think of it and start cracking up again!
So maybe I'm not feeling old, just feeling like my brain's going. Mom and Colin aren't making much sense because they're sick, but I'm feeling fine, so I'm not sure what my problem is! :D

I just noticed something

We just watched "A Charlie Brown Christmas", and I just noticed that some of the music was what I thought was "Maryland My Maryland"...which it apparently is, but it's also "O Tannenbaum" which I never heard the tune for! In fact, here's a Wikipedia article about it: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/O_Tannenbaum

I'd heard "Maryland My Maryland" when watching the Preakness stakes horse race which is in Maryland. So I was sitting here, trying to figure out what the music was, and when I figured it out, wondering why they were playing that! :)

So, that's my random fact for tonight!

Knitting and more

My Christmas knitting is progressing at a good rate, I have half of one thing done! I'm still deciding on some items, but I'm planning to keep working on what I have set, while debating other things...did that make sense? I'm sort of talking in code because some of the recipients read this blog, so I can't very well blurt out exactly what they're getting!

In finished knitting, my aunt sent me a photo of the sweater I knit for my little cousin!

It's a little hooded sweater, made with an acrylic/wool blend. It should be nice and warm.

I was working on a sweater for myself, from this pattern, but it's on hold until I finish my Christmas knitting, plus I have a feeling it may not be working right. I know I made some mistakes on the border that goes down the front of the sweater, but I'm also worried that the yarn I'm using is too stiff and the sweater isn't going to drape right. But I'll just have to worry about that later!

I went to the dentist today to get my teeth cleaned. I flossed this morning, I'm afraid I'm not in the habit of flossing regularly at all, so of course my mouth was sore. Then she poked and scraped and "measured" my gums...some new thing that she said they started in February, and told me that with the numbers I had I just needed to floss more and use some sort of mouthwash.
When Dad went in a few weeks ago, they thought his were bad enough to do the special treatment they have where they apply some sort of slow-release antibiotic. Which he didn't have them do, because it's ridiculously expensive, and they said he could just floss and use antibacterial mouthwash...which is a lot cheaper!
Personally, I don't think the measuring thing was accurate on me because my gums were sore from flossing this morning...I have a feeling the hygienist is going to be really shocked at how much better they'll be if I just floss...
Can you tell I'm rather sceptical of dentists? :) I will floss, I know I should be, but seriously, people survived for years without having things to measure their gums and such!

Anyway, I've got that done, and my teeth are nice and clean (and sore) and I don't have to go back till July.
Oh, and the toothpaste/polish stuff they used tasted like chocolate! I thought I was imagining it until she asked me how I liked the taste!

It was such a gloomy day to be out today, too. It was cloudy, and drizzling, and foggy...at least it wasn't too cold.

What I did today

• Tried to sleep, while cats fought and computers turned on and made noise
• Got up way too early...I only got 6 hours of sleep
• Went to church, only stayed awake because my back was hurting horribly
• Started coughing during the singing because my voice gave out suddenly!
  
• Came home and had a delicious lunch of tacos and eclair cake*...lovely!
• Played one last game of "Apples to Apples" with my cousins
• Said goodbye to my cousins...hugs all around...froze while waving goodbye to them
• Came inside, dumped the stuff off my bed, and crashed for a much-needed two hour nap
• Woke up in time to get ready for evening church
• Went to church
• Came home, and now I think I'm going to go eat something...in a little while at least, I'm not really hungry right now

*Although the eclair cake didn't taste the same as it does at camp, so they must make it differently

This is the song that I can't really sing and I think basically ended up yelling, very flat, from the back of my throat...but we had a bunch of fun, and did better on some other songs!
This isn't really a video, since some one just put a picture of Jars of Clay in there and put the music in the background, but anyway...

Dead Man (Carry Me)

Mmm...coffee!

We went to Starbucks and got coffee this evening. Well, we three girls got coffee and my cousin Jim got hot chocolate...but anyway...

We stopped at the grocery store first and picked up some shredded cheese for with tomorrow's lunch. I picked up one bag of cheese, and then got up to the checkout and realized that maybe Mom had told me to get two...so I had to call her and ask, and she did want two, so I had to go get another one, and I felt like an idiot! I mean, it was weird enough, the four of us coming in and buying some cheese, but then I had to mess it up...ugh.

So then we were going to go to this Christian coffee shop, Moby's, that's nearby us. But when we got there, we couldn't figure out what to order, because all the drinks had names like "Divine Mocha" and "Heavenly White Mocha", and they didn't have frappuccinos which is what I wanted. It was nice that it was a Christian place, but it kind of seemed like everyone knew each other and we were outsiders, and intruding on their little cliques or something. Plus there weren't enough seats anywhere, so that we could sit together. So we went to Starbucks and sat and talked for an hour, which was fun!

This afternoon we all went on a walk up to the church playground on the corner, and we all froze, and had to come home and thaw! and after we thawed, Rebecca, and Andrea, and I were playing guitar and trying to sing...well, Rebecca was playing guitar and we were all trying to sing! Unsuccessfully... and I really stressed my voice, and felt like I was losing it...my voice that is... So we gave up on that and went out and made brownies for tonight and eclair cake for tomorrow, and messed up the recipe on the eclair cake, but I think we got it fixed so it will work fine!

Then I tried to play Rebecca's guitar...very unsuccessfully, because I of course can't play electric guitar any better than acoustic and I had no idea electric guitars were so heavy...

Then we ate pizza and went to Starbucks...and didn't I wrap that up very properly...mentioning what I started out the post with? At least, I think that's what you're supposed to do when you're writing an article and stuff like that...which I'm not good at...which was part of our discussion at Starbucks...and I think I'd better go to bed now, since I just messed up the nice neat ending on my post...Good night! :) I had too much caffeine...

Bring on the insanity!

My cousins are here...yay! So this weekend should be pretty crazy! So they came this afternoon, we had another Thanksgiving dinner, and now we are all stuffed and playing Taboo. Or trying to! I'm trying to blog! I have to keep guessing things... oh yeah, that is kind of the point of the game. :)

I'm not sure what we're going to do tomorrow, but at some point it will probably involve guitar playing...playing Jars of Clay songs! And "singing"...and that's in quotes because I rather doubt our singing abilities! :)

I'd better wrap this up, I'm not making any sense. Hopefully I'll have something more interesting tomorrow!

Cat food?

This is one of our neighborhood cats, Lucy, hunting down the burnt cookies! She wasn't very easy to videotape: as soon as she'd see me, she'd have to come rub against me. I have two more videos of her that I'll probably post over this weekend!


My cousins are coming tomorrow, so we're really celebrating Thanksgiving tomorrow evening. We did go next door to my grandparent's today and had a turkey dinner. We're having ham tomorrow, but my grandma wanted to have turkey too!

So we've been cooking and cleaning today...and probably will be tomorrow morning too! I went to the grocery store this morning to get some last-minute things. For some reason I found it really fun to be out when almost everyone else is home eating or cooking! There were a few other people at the store, obviously getting things for dinner today, but the store was really the least busy I'd ever seen it! ...so I don't know why the guy bagging the groceries couldn't have taken just a little bit more time, and not put the cans of beans on top of the onions, and the marshmallows squished next to the corn flakes...but I digress. :) I much prefer to bag the groceries myself, but when you're in charge of paying for them and such, it isn't really possible. I wonder if they still have you bag your own groceries up north? They didn't use to bag your groceries at grocery stores in Illinois...they probably do everywhere now. I know they did in Oregon...

Mmm...Mom's making potatoes for tomorrow that have cream cheese and sour cream, and I don't know what all else, but they're really, really, really good! :P

It is...

a leak from these that burned:
They have jam in the center, almost all of them leaked out onto the pan...the last batch I put in had plain cookies and big patches of jam. The cookies and the jam burnt... I put them out on the patio because it was smelling up the house and a neighborhood cat thought I was bringing her something to eat...I've got a video of her that I'll post tomorrow...









I picked one of the patches off the cookie sheet to see what it looked like and was surprised to find that it looked pretty cool when I held it up to the light. So that's what that was...so Uncle Jim was the closest...good eye for the burnt fruit! Rebecca and Alice were very close in recognizing that it was some dessert gone wrong, but I think John's answer was the most creative...although if that was a piece off of my car, I would probably not be calmly blogging! :)

That was part of the batch of cookie dough I made...I was going to make half with jam and cut out the other half, but these didn't turn out so good, so I gave up on them and just cut the rest out today. Those were the nicest ones I ended up with...not good!

However, these are the ones I made today:

























I'm having trouble getting those pictures arranged properly... Anyway, pumpkins and cats and some squares for variety! :) The cats kind of look like they needed mouths or noses or something...oh well. They'll taste good either way.
Then I put the leftover green icing on some pumpkin cookies that didn't look as well, and ended up with an alien cookie...weird...





And now I think I'll go do this:









Good night!

What is it?

I don't really expect anyone to get this, but you could offer some interesting guesses!

Fall colors

Orange:Colin arranged these pumpkins on the bench the other day...they seem to be in order by size. I believe he said that he put them out there for wild animals to eat...like possums.
Hmm...they're still there, so I guess either the possums haven't been around, or they don't like small pumpkins. Actually, I don't know if a possum could climb up on the bench or not? I know we have them around here; they like the apple peelings that we've set out on the patio before taking to the compost.

Red:I got my nails done out in Oregon...my fingernails chipped in about a week (which is longer than a home-manicure) but my toenails are still a pretty red color, and shiny...they're painted "I'm not really a waitress" (who comes up with these names?) that Claudia mentioned a while back. I didn't pick it on purpose, I just picked out a red I liked and then looked at the name..."Oh weird, I've heard of this one!"

More red:I finished my gloves! Yay! Sorry for the rather blurry picture...I must be fidget even when I think I'm holding still...because the camera was on my dresser, so I'm the only thing that could have been moving! No wonder I have problems when I hold the camera! Anyway, they're done, and my stuffed zebra helped me with the photo shoot (maybe he was wiggling?) (Good grief, I sound like a little kid...)

Brown:Aren't these adorable? I love them, but I'm not sure if could eat them or not! Although if they were good enough chocolate I'd eat them! :) I can't figure out how big they are exactly...they can't be very big and yet you only get three of them for about ten dollars. They are so cute though... You can get them here.

Seven things meme

I've been tagged by Comfortably Crazy for a NaBloPoMo meme. "Tell seven random or weird things about yourself"...hmm...shouldn't be too hard! I could probably put down some things that I think are normal and some people might find them weird...

1. I have a fear of old buildings, especially ones that are kept as museums. It gives me this feeling like they were just deserted for some reason!

2. I have a fear of chairs collapsing under me...which I shouldn't because I'm not that heavy.

3. I can be hot all summer, but as soon as it's fall, even if it's not really that cold out, I'm freezing!

4. I can't stand to stand by and watch someone do something if I think I could do it better or faster myself!

5. I've never read a Harry Potter book...

6. I don't have girly handwriting...in fact my handwriting's awful unless I write really slowly!

7. I don't like to talk a lot sometimes, because I'm afraid I'll bore people

I can't believe that's all I came up with! I'm sure all my friends could come up with weird things about me though!

Here are the rules:

1- Link to the person that tagged you and post the rules on your blog.

2- Share 7 random and or weird things about yourself.

3- Tag 7 random people at the end of your post and include links to their blogs.

4- Let each person know that they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

I'm tagging:
A Kitten Knits
Temp Blog Title
Joe Jon's Weblog
Stitching Scientist
Life in Forsyth
The Cat in the Adage
I Should Be Folding Laundry

Reality TV

So we do watch some reality TV...not the really cheesy shows, but we've been watching "The Next Great American Band". Well...some people may think that's cheesy! :)

Anyway, we watched it last night. It's down to seven bands now...they've managed to get rid of most of the really annoying bands. Except for Light of Doom, those kids really, really, need to go...very soon!

I like Tres Bien, Dot Dot Dot, and The Clark Brothers.
The blonde guy in Tres Bien(I don't know what his name is) looks like Ellen Degeneres... Rebecca and I said that, but they even mentioned that on the show last night!

And Adam (he really doesn't look like an Adam) in Dot Dot Dot...looks kind of creepy, but he can really sing pretty well. In fact, all of their band is a little weird... He seems to have managed to calm down after the judges told him he was a hyperactive, emo leprechaun! I love that phrase...it was perfect! :)

Of the ones I like, the Clark Brothers are probably the most normal!

So I like those three bands best, but unfortunately only one can win... as long as it's not those kids I won't mind too much...

There are videos on the website, so check it out!

What...how?

Okay, I find this really weird and utterly hilarious...my hair has been Southernized. (Blogger is telling me that's not a word...I know it's not a word, but it totally describes what's been done to my hair.)

I got my hair cut when I was out in Oregon...she cut it in layers and texturized it and such. It looked really cool, a different style that I hadn't seen around here much. Okay, that was Hairmasters; the closest one is in Virginia or South Carolina, so no go on that. So after much thinking I decided to just go to Fantastic Sam's. I was thinking about going to a more expensive place that might do a better job, but I decided that on my budget I was just going to have to go with getting it cut at Fantastic Sam's or Great Clips and being happy with how it turned out. I chose F. Sam's because I had a coupon...cool.

So...I went there this morning and got it cut. The guy looked at the pictures I'd taken right after I got it cut in Oregon, said he'd trim it up for me, a half-inch or so, and texturize it. So he did that, and it certainly looked like he did the same way the girl did it in OR. But when I got home and dried and styled it, it somehow has this poofy-ish, Southern thing going on...I really don't know how to describe it other than that...it looks sort of like the way a southern news-anchor would wear her hair, or something.

What I'm wondering, is how on earth did he do that?! The only thing I can think of that he may have done different is he may have texturized it further up then it was before. He asked if she'd just done it on the ends, and I said she hadn't, but maybe "ends" are further up than I think! :) It just cracks me up that I get it cut down here, and my "west-coast" layers turn into "Southern layers"!

"Listen!.. I'm a Northerner, my hair needs a different cut!"...anyway, I think if I mess with it enough, maybe put a bunch of conditioner on it, it will calm down. After it grows a bit it should be better too. Altogether I'm happy with it, it's just kind of weird!

I'm glad I had time to get it done today though...we had a bunch of grocery shopping to do today too. My cousins are coming the weekend after Thanksgiving, so we had to get a bunch of stuff. I took Dad to work this morning so could do it all today so that we wouldn't have to go everywhere tomorrow when it's busy.

If I had something to post about...

...I've forgotten it! I really think I had something to blog about...in fact I was saving something for when I didn't have anything to writ, and now I've forgotten it. So instead, I will share a video I have been saving for just such an occasion... and who doesn't need some penguins in the middle of the week? So...

Do Penguins Fly?

Gracie says...

...pandas make good pillows!








So I went to the soap making class at the library last night. The lady was a local soap maker, her website is: http://www.longfamilyfarmsoaps.com/

It was very interesting. I've read a lot about soap making, but it really helps to see someone actually make some soap. It also made me realize that I probably don't have the budget right now to make soap! She said we could email her for a list of her suppliers though, so I'll probably do that, and look into how much it would cost at the least. The thing is that you have to buy basic supplies, so you have the cost of that before you ever even know if it's definitely something you want to do.
I would certainly need to do a lot of research and saving before I could start something like that, and even then I'm not sure I'd have time.

Everyone in the class gets one of the bars of soap she made last night, which is nice! It was a mint soap in the shape of a gift box...very cute!

Blogger says that "soapmaking" should be two words...I don't really know!

In other news...people keep getting blogs! :) Mom has one now: http://catintheadage.blogspot.com/

She started out with a Wordpress one, but neither of us could figure it out...so it's going to be Blogger! Because if neither of us know how to use it, we're sunk...unless Dad has time to help us! The thing is, we're both fairly good at computer stuff, but totally don't understand html.

So, another blog for my readers to go read!

New look

As you might have noticed, I've been changing some stuff on the blog. Blogger has so many easy ways to add stuff now, so I can change stuff that I've wanted to mess with for long time.

Like the picture in the header...I've had that sitting in a folder on the computer for probably a year, because I couldn't figure out how to put in the header. Well, Blogger has a way to do that now...so I was able to put it in!

Other than that, I've mostly been updating my blogs list on the side and changing some colors for fall. That's one thing that I found annoying...on the Blogger colors & fonts page, it will only show you colors that are either in your blog, or will go with your blog. What it thinks will go with your blog, that is. When I was trying to change the background color, I had picked out one color that showed up with my original settings, but then I changed some other stuff and I couldn't find it again. I think they need to set it up so that all the possible colors are shown. I was able to find some color charts online that I ended up using to find out the code for what I wanted.

These sites were ones that I found particularly helpful:
http://www.december.com/html/spec/color.html
http://tips-for-new-bloggers.blogspot.com/2007/02/hexadecimal-html-color-codes-and-names.html
http://html-color-codes.com/
http://www.webmonkey.com/reference/color_codes/
http://www.pitt.edu/%7Enisg/cis/web/cgi/rgb.html

I'm not done with updating my blog list, I need to get it divided up into some different categories... if I can figure out how to do that. There used to be an "add page element" button on my template, but it doesn't seem to be there anymore...maybe I added too many elements?
I need a crafting section, and a friends and relatives section, or something!

Speaking of which, my cousin Rebecca now has a blog! Yay! :) She's still thinking of a blog name, so right now it's just: Temp Blog Title
That's basically what I started out with too! Temporary title till I think of something, anything!
So, go check out her blog too!

Anyway, I still have some work to do, but since it's easier now to change the colors and stuff, I may try to change stuff a bit depending on the season.

And now I need to go finish some chores. I'm going to some sort of soap-making class at the library this evening, so I need to get stuff done.

One down...

...one to go. Or 7, or 9, or however many more I end up making for other people! ...I made the mistake of bringing my knitting to church last night, and I got requests. But I've got one glove/mitt of mine done. I guess it's more of a mitt, because it doesn't have fingers at all. I still need to weave in the ends, so I suppose it's not completely done!

I looked around for some more patterns today. If I can knit with dpns and there are more fingerless glove patterns out there I'll definitely make some more! As long as the patterns call for worsted-weight or not much thinner than that, I'm good.

Mom asked me if I could make her some socks; I told her if she could find me a worsted-weight pattern I would! I'm still not up to very, very thin sock yarn, and dpns! My fingers are just too big to deal with that...even on straight needles my fingers cramp up terribly if I use thin yarn.

I like these ones for a fancier pattern: http://cidermoon.com/cm0125.html#

These ones are similar in pattern to what I'm making, but somehow split at the wrist, maybe, and then buttoned up: http://www.straw.com/cpy/patterns/mikado-buttonup-gloves.html

These are very long, but they have a cable pattern running down them: http://www.diynetwork.com/diy/na_knitting/article/0,2025,DIY_14141_4155601,00.html

These are made with bulky yarn, so they'd be even thicker: http://adventuresinlifeandknitting.blogspot.com/2007/09/good-news-and-more-good-news.html

These have some nice cable pattern too: http://knitty.com/ISSUEsummer06/PATTfetching.html
And they come in a guys' version: http://knitty.com/ISSUEspring07/PATTdashing.html

And these have fingers, plus you can come up with some sort of phrase that doesn't require more than eight letters and personalize them! http://knitty.com/ISSUEsummer06/PATTknucks.html

And a whole blog full of fingerless glove that people have knit: http://fallfingerlessmitts.blogspot.com/

Well, that's all for tonight...

Nothing

I have nothing to blog about...I really don't... So I guess I'll blog about nothing?

Uh, hmm... I went to a birthday party/game night last night...that was lots of fun!

A combination of taking Advil yesterday, and having drainage from a scratchy throat, and being in a hot, stuffy room this morning was not good... It was really hot in church this morning, and it didn't feel like there was any air moving at all. Plus I'd taken some Advil yesterday and that upsets my stomach sometimes, so it all combined to make me feel... not good! :) I was able to get some fresh air and eat something after church though, and that helped tremendously.

I should have mentioned that in the video I posted, the guy was singing "Ticket to Ride"...that's the title on the movie, but when you embed a video in a post, it doesn't show the YouTube title...

I'm almost done with the mitt/glove thing I'm working on...I have an inch left to the main part, and then I need to knit the thumb and that's all!

I've been running behind all day, so I think I'll go eat and go to bed! Oh, I did get to take a nap this afternoon.

Video Saturday

Okay, so I don't have much time on Saturdays to blog...does this count? :) I'm typing too! I've just been really busy today, and I'm getting ready to leave in about twenty minutes!

I found this through the Common Room. They have some other ones listed too, and they're all pretty funny! I just thought this one was pretty good...



You should check out the Riverdancing Violinist too...these guys are really very good musicians to be able to do this!

Fall is falling!

I got out and raked leaves yesterday! There are still a lot of leaves on the trees, but I've been getting out and raking them up before they blow away. I'm putting the leaves in trash bags with some fertilizer and lime and leaving them to compost over the winter.

The leaves are supposed to break down faster if they're in the sun, so I've been putting them at the edge of the backyard because it's sunny down there. Unfortunately, they're very visible down there...I can't think of anyplace else to put them though... I suppose when it starts getting even colder it won't matter one way or the other and I'll just put them somewhere hidden. I've got seven bags already, as you can see, filled up a 3 x 3 x 3 raised bed, and I'll probably still get another 2-4 bags! So that's pretty good. The more leaves I can get bagged, the more compost I'll have in the spring!

I've also gotten a lot done on one mitt:

I just have to make it however long I want it on my fingers, knit the thumb, and it will be done...then I have to make another one! :) I'm making them much longer than the pattern calls for. They are supposed to be 4 inches to the base of the thumb, but I made it 8 inches. I want it to cover enough so that if my sleeves slide up, my wrists aren't cold. I'm pretty happy with how this is turning out! And it's very fast!

I need a bigger pocket

Hoodies are pretty cool...mine just needs a bigger pocket in it!

In my left pocket...a skein of Red Heart Soft in Paprika. In my hands, an inch of Maine Morning Mitts from The Knitter's Book of Yarn. It's offered as a free pattern on knittersreview.com right now.

This is a very handy set-up...I can walk around and knit at the same time. Which is good for me, because I sometimes have problems sitting still...when I talk on the phone I have a tendency to walk all over the room. Also, the yarn in my pocket kind of acts as an armrest...pretty good deal!

I didn't think I could work with double-pointed needles, because the other thing I've tried them on was when I tried to make a sock. I think the combination of very fine sock yarn and four dpns combined to make it impossible! I kept getting ladders, or gaps, every time I switched to another needle. This is worsted-weight yarn, so I have a better grip on it and can pull it nice and tight at the ends.

Of course, the pattern's fairly simple at this point...hopefully I won't have trouble when I get to the fingers.

I'm feeling better today, by the way! :)

Blue

And a blog post... I'm afraid this isn't going to be very interesting. I don't feel like writing anything cheerful and hyper, or witty, or anything...in fact I just feel blah today. Blah, confused, depressed, and in need of a hug...but the hug won't help, I just know it won't...see what I mean?
I don't know what my problem is, I don't feel blah physically, just emotionally. If it was physically I'd take a nap, but for once I don't feel like taking a nap, I feel more like getting something, anything done. Which may be why I just ironed the clothes for Sunday, even though it's only Wednesday and I usually don't iron till Saturday...it was satisfactory to get those clothes done... to actually accomplish something by getting the wrinkles out.
I need to go Swiffer the floors...that sounds like fun...
I feel like making cookies, but I don't want cookies and there are still chocolate chip ones from yesterday.

Oh dear, I hope I get over this...I'm hoping prayer meeting tonight will help...getting out...talking to people.

I could sit down and knit I suppose. I probably should, it would be better than pacing around with nothing to do.

Sorry...the ellipses are out of control on this post...but that's how I feel. Sorry to be depressing!

Cookies!

I made chocolate chip cookies this afternoon.

I've been wanting chocolate chip cookies ever since my cousins and I watched an episode of Alton Brown's show on the Food network. He was making chocolate chip cookies three different ways...if it hadn't been around ten at night I probably would have made some right then! :)

Here's the recipe I used:
http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,1977,FOOD_9936_13617,00.html

I'm not sure that they turned out a whole lot different from my usual ones...I normally use the Nestle Toll House recipe. These were thicker and chewier, but it may just be because they're bigger.

Pet peeve

Well, it's not like it's serious or something, but just a little pet peeve I have. What is it with hedgehogs being mistaken for porcupines, or not mistaken, but called porcupines when they're obviously hedgehogs! :)

This happened first in a Bob the Builder video that my brother was watching. At some point in the video they were picking up trash and the "porcupines" come out and roll down a hill picking up trash on their prickles as they go. Oh, I found the the video on YouTube...you can find anything on there. Bob the Builder: Spring Clean

Then this morning I was reading the comics during breakfast as usual, and one of the comics made the same mistake...and it's obviously a hedgehog...


~The Fretful Porpentine

Of fish and sin...sort of! :)

So this evening after church, I walked back into the sanctuary just before we left and caught the tail end of a discussion about food.
When I got there, they were saying that saffron is expensive, but not if you buy it at the Hispanic market. Which we have one right down the road from us, so Mom was telling about when she had Dad go there to look for fish bouillon. They used to sell fish bouillon at the grocery store in the Hispanic aisle, but they either stopped making it, or just stopped carrying it at our grocery store.

So she wrote down what the package would say in Spanish: "caldo de pescado", so that he would be able to find it. As it turns out they had shrimp bouillon, not fish. The shrimp tastes even better, because we put it in clam chowder and it adds a nice seafood flavor and a pretty pink color. Anyway, my friend Jess (who speaks Spanish) mentioned that you would have to be careful not to say "caldo de pecado", because that translates to "sin broth"! :) Apparently the word for "fish" and "sin" are only one letter different!

The conversations we have at church!

Ouch...

I went hiking today with my friend Jess and her friend Anna. We went up to Hanging Rock. It was really nice up there, but the color wasn't as good as I would have expected. There were quite a few trees that were still green.

I'm probably going to be stiff tomorrow though, there was a lot of climbing up rock "steps" and steep trails!

It was lots of fun though, and I'm glad I actually had time this Saturday to go hiking!

Oh boy, I just remembered that I have to remake my bed before I can go to sleep tonight...I washed the sheets this morning...

NaBloPoMo

So I'm going to try to participate in NaBloPoMo, or National Blog Posting Month. All you have to do is post every day of November. That includes Saturdays and Sundays though, and that's what's going to get me...I don't usually have much time on weekends to blog. Maybe this will get me to stick to the plan I had of blogging more anyway! We'll see...

So, that means I have to come up with something to blog about everyday. Hmm...I think I can do that.

This was my lunch today:

We had leftover mashed potatoes from some meal earlier this week and leftover taco meat from last night. Mom suggested to Dad that he take this in his lunch, but he wasn't so sure about it.
I actually thought it sounded good, so I put it together for lunch today. It's mashed potatoes, with taco meat on top, some bacon bits and cheese sprinkled on top, and sour cream on that. It was really very good, especially since we have some chipotle red pepper that tastes like bacon, so I mixed a little more of it into the meat. Yummy!

So Dad let me try driving the stick-shift last night...yeah...that was...interesting. Let me just say that: 1. I don't know why they even make stick-shift cars, 2. I could probably drive one if I had to in an emergency, 3. I hate driving stick-shift. I kept stalling the car, couldn't keep from rolling down a hill, and my knee hurt by the time we got home, from pressing the clutch. The pedals seemed to be badly arranged. And shifting is not easy either. Dad said this car was a little harder than say, a Honda, but a lot easier than the Toyota Corona he used to have. Whatever...I certainly won't ever buy a stick-shift on purpose!

Thursday-11/1/07

Okay...so I didn't get around to posting yesterday! I did however get lots of schoolwork done, baked and iced a cake, went to the park with my grandparents and Colin, and got chores done...all without falling asleep. Then at church last night we watched a movie and I stayed awake only because I was too uncomfortable to fall asleep! If I'd been able to lean on anything I would definitely fallen asleep. I've seen this movie about Martin Luther probably 4 times now...and there are very few movies I can watch 4 times! It's interesting of course, but after you've seen it maybe two times, you start focusing more on how bad the movie quality is. It's black and white and very grainy...the new one may not be as deep theology-wise, but it's well done and if you get bored you can watch Jonathon Firth stomping around, or wonder why Martin Luther looks like he's about 20...well maybe a bit older...anyway...

And about the car, the loaner one that is... Dad got in on Tuesday when he dropped our car off, so Tuesday night he managed to break the car key. It already looked stressed in one spot, so it probably would have broken fairly soon anyway... not a very well-designed key. So we had a car that we couldn't drive and a broken key (the only one we had). So Dad called over to Lowe's Hardware to see if they could make a car key. The guy he talked to on the phone said they could try making it from the two halves, and it may or may not work. So Dad borrowed Grandma and Grandpa's car and went over there...apparently they can't make car keys, the other guy didn't know what he was talking about! Great. So then Dad called the guy who owns the shop and asked him if he had another key, fortunately he did! So Grandpa took Dad to work yesterday and Dad walked down and got the key from the guy (the shop is just down the street from work)....disaster averted. Of course Grandpa still had to bring Dad home, but he had time to do that yesterday, so that worked out well. So we have a car and a key, and Dad's going to show me how to drive it tonight. It won't be very much practice, but it will at least give me an idea of how to drive a stick-shift.

I've definitely gotten used to bigger car though...if I sat up straight in the back seat last night, I bumped my head on the roof...and I had just enough space for my legs! Our car, a '99 Ford Taurus, is very comfortable. Except for being so small, I'm sure this was a really nice car at some point. Right now it doesn't look like it's been waxed for years, there's a dent in the front, scratches somewhere else, the leather or vinyl seats are cracked, and it was allover kind of dirty. But it has a sunroof, CD player, power seats on the passenger side, and if it is leather it must have looked good at first! :)

I need to get back to work on my knitting and stuff... I'm working on a sweater, but I don't think I've even mentioned it on here!