The Last MMP of 2008 - What's your resolution?

[tarragon918]

morning all - up and caffeinated here.

{{{{{{{{{SpazCat}}}}}}}}}, sorry that your visit has been unhappy. We're still here for you, though.

I am so confused as to what day it is! And like Rosie, my sleep schedule is all messed up (yes, I got up in the middle of the night too ... unable to sleep) and while I'll be glad to get back to work on Monday (I can't believe I just admitted that!), am also wondering just how I'll be able to cope with a normal, 5-day week! Ah, why can't I have Jeannie or Samantha power and not have to work?! lol

Woo hoo, first on 6! :)

[anyrose]

I'd rather have Samantha's powers

[SpazCat]

Thanks for the hugs. Mountain Friend and I had A Talk after he got home, so we went out. New Guy came too. :rolleyes: We froze his ass off giving him the midnight tour of Asheville, though. I laughed mercilessly.

I'm taking off to explore some trails today to give them some time to make out --again. (*heavy sigh* MEN) NG's working this afternoon, so MF is mine.

The good thing is MF's uncle has the number of many HNIC's in regards to education in this area. The bad thing is I may have to go back to high school teaching. The good thing is with a Master's degree I'll have access to a higher pay grade and employment in private schools. Also I've been panic attack free for over a year, so I think I can handle it better. I'd still prefer teaching composition/ESL in a community college though. Or archiving. One must take what one can get in these harsh economic times. I'm just glad I Know People.

Shadow, that voicemail fiasco is...dayum. At least you're guaranteed some entertainment next week. FCM, are you sure you didn't get Houdini reincarnated as a cat? Yarnies, I have no idea what any of you are talking about *hugs embroidery materials*. Bobbio, I eagerly await your story. Rest of you, have a good Caturday!

[swampbear]

Howdy Y'all! I've been productive. I made brekkies (link sausages and pancakes), made cheesestraws for tonight's Epiphany party at a church member's house, and made a corn casserole and two gallons of tea for brunch after church tomorrow. Tomorrow is the annual Parish meeting in which we elect new Vestry members and other stuff. I was asked to run for Vestry but declined. What with a still newish work gig and all, I don't wanna take on sump'n else right now.

Last night, ol' y'all know who got his breakfast birthday supper. This was followed by quality hot tub time with champagne. Then I gave him his birthday "present." ;)

Oh, and last load of laundry is about to come out of the dryer. Yay me! Soon it shall be nappypoo time methinks.

Hugs, yays, boos, awws, trouts etc.

[gardentraveler]

Good morning! I, too, woke up in the middle of the night, listened to something interesting on the radio, came over to the computer and found the broadcast because I missed who they were talking to (it was the Governor of the Bank of Canada, one of Carrie Gracie's best interviews of 2008 (http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p001w1zk), according to her; it's the second interview in the broadcast, I think). Fell asleep again and woke up just in time to hear a really cool story on Weekend Edition about a partnership between the Baltimore Symphony and Harriet Tubman Elementary. Here's the blog link with video (http://www.npr.org/blogs/sundaysoapbox/2009/01/the_orchkids.html) and here's the link where you can hear the broadcast (http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=98957809). Warning: extremely warm and fuzzy story.

Wow, sleeptexting...there's a new one! Grandboy sounds like lots of fun.

Shadow, sounds like you have the best possible attitude towards your work situation. I'm still hoping they know what's good for them and keep you on. Anyway, I always love your knitting stories and pictures (everyone's, really). You're creating some beautiful stuff.

Thanks for the recipe link, Muppet. Sounds yummy. I've added it to the blog, including a link to your post for the modifications.

Need to get going on my day. Want to go to Joann's, Trader Joe's, Home Depot and several other places I can't think of right now.

Then I'll be coming home to work on house stuff. Need to finish re-organizing the office (got close, but not quite done before Mom's visit).

Back after a bit.

Hugs to those I missed.

GT

[FairyChatMom]

Busy morning - we've been to the dump, so the house is mostly trash-free now. The kids actually got underway just before 8, and she called about 40 minutes ago - they'd just crossed into South Carolina.

FCD has been futzing in the garage/shop again, and I've got a load of towels in the dryer and miscellaneous stuff in the washer. I'm going back downstair to clean up some more.

Oh yeah, idiot Cleo spent the night in the laundry room. She must have followed one of us into the back of the basement and got shut in back there. Stoopit cat.

Well, off to be productive. Go me.

[Taters]

Good morning one and all. I'm up and the coffee is brewing.

We need to dash out and buy birthday presents for my daughter today. Her birthday is tomorrow. Unfortunately, she has to work tomorrow, so we'll take her to breakfast, brunch, or lunch. It's her call.

Tonight, we're going to a friend's house to celebrate her birthday and play 99. We've gotten her and some other friends hooked on the game.

Other than that, not much going on.

Hugs and smooches to all.

[Dolores Reborn]

It's still barely morning here!

I slept much better last night - bed at 9:30, up at 6:00. Mr Rebo got up at 3:15! Around 6:30 he starts talking about breakfast - I just kinda looked at him. He made breakfast! Sausage and french toast, yum!

Then I took the idgits to the park. They had a blast as usual! Home and bathed the mutts, then I put the prime rib bones in the oven to brown for stock. They're smelling so good! I was gonna make soup today, but all the recipes and Dopers say cook the stock for 8 hours or more, then cool and skim the fat. So I'll do that, and we'll have something else tonight. I'm thinking Mexican...

Happy Birthday, Tatertot!

Have a great day, Mumpers!

[SmartAleq]

Gnrflrmph! Yeah, I said it! :p

I have 9.5 lbs of garlic roasting in da oven--first thing in the morning, I think we're clinically insane that we think that's a cool thing. I have to get it all baked, grunched and freezing before 1400 when Himself starts work. We have another laptop coming in for a build today as well, guess when it rains it pours!

Speaking of which, we've been having all kinds of flooding around here from Johnson Creek--this video (http://www.kgw.com/video/index.html?nvid=318100&shu=1) was shot about a mile from my house. What you can't see in the video is that behind the guy standing in the flood is a nice little hill that raises the level of Foster about 30-40 feet and runs north and east, diverting the floodwater around the base of the hill. I'm on a shoulder of that hill, just a tad higher than the neighborhoods that are flooding all over the place just to the north and west of me. Trippy--I tried to drive down Harold St but it was closed for about a mile due to a small stream turning the street into a mini-river. Several other areas are underwater but they're mostly spots that do this on a regular basis and people are used to it. It's a trip...

Speaking of flooding and related issues, our stacked washer/dryer appears to have given up the ghost--bearing seized in the washer. We're looking at replacing it and I've been doing some pricing out but what neither of us wants to deal with is that the laundry really needs to be replumbed, and what's really fun about my house is that there's no way to shut off the water to just a part of the house, nor is there an outside stopcock on the main to shut it off--it has to be turned off at the street with the big key thingy. So doing any sort of plumbing means the whole house is without water for the duration. We're trying to figure out a way to build the entire piece, feed it up through the roof and just cut and butt the main pipe to the laundry room to minimize the time the water's out. Stoopit appliances...

We shoulda seen it coming, GT, he talks in his sleep all the time so texting is just a natural progression of sorts!

Whew, the garlic is making my eyes water--ouch, but at the same time, neat! :D

:smack: <---us wiping garlic tears!

[Mama Tiger]

Howdy, all. I slept a little better -- not good, but better. But at least I do feel more human today.

Maybe you should put an extra litter box and water bowl back in the laundry room, just in case, FCM. With those two cats, it sounds like a good idea. Especially Taz's ability to sneak around everywhere and anywhere -- he's quite the cat!

Not much going on here today except I actually have some work I need to do. So Rosie's sig to everybody,, and I'll be back eventually when I get sick of the whining. I did ten pages of this depo last night and could tell it's going to be one long whine. Oh, goodie. :rolleyes:

[FairyChatMom]

MamaTigs - the kids will be home tonight, which means Cleo ceases to be my problem. ;) Anyway, it was just one of those things, and she's such a fat baby, it's not like she starved to death, altho she did pee on some bubblewrap.

I've beat more of the back corner of the basement into submission. I'll go down again in a little while and do some more. I can only take so much before I have to quit. But I'm getting closer to done. There's one table that needs to be cleared and wiped down so I can stack stuff on it - electrical, painting, and boat stuff, to be specific. And once that's done, I can set about organizing and setting up my studio.

There's almost light at the end of the tunnel...

[ems]

Busy day today - I have walked miles. I went to the new apartment and measured for curtains etc. The only issue I am having is that it STINKS of smoke :( I had windows open for an hour and that helped a little

There is nothing I can do - can't paint etc - so I just have to live with it :(

I am cleaning tomorrow so hopefully that and having the wondows open all day will help.

[Taters]

How long do you have to live in France, ems? It obviously sucks being away from your husband, but wow, what a cool place to have to live for work.

My son is such a smart-ass. The phone rang and he answered it by saying, "Justice League, how may I help you?". Thank goodness it was a good friend of ours on the other end.

I'm waiting for Mr. Taters to hurry up and get cleaned up so we can head out to the stores for my daughter's birthday presents. Additionally, we need to pick up a bottle of bubbly for our friend's birthday tonight. She luuuurves champagne.

[swampbear]

What to do for dindin... hmmmm...... I say grab a burger on the way to the partay. Sounds like a winnah to me!

It's warmish here. Too warmish for a jacket. I am considerin' a shortsleeve pullover shirt for this evenin'. Maybe my green St. Pat's shirt. It's green with the church logo on it. It's really warm enough to wear it even. Such is the drama of my life... what to wear to a partay! :D

[gardentraveler]

I'm back! (You missed me, right?)

Got some movies on sale at B&N (Persuasion, To Catch a Thief and Audrey Hepburn's version of Funny Face), got all the wrong hardware at Lowe's (need shorter wood screws, for one). Bought out TJ's. Didn't get tortillas at the Mexican grocery because they were out of them and the delivery was late (I went back a second time and still no tortillas). Boo. Got buttons and other assorted stuff on sale at Joann's. Yay!

Now it's back out to get the correct hardware.

Back shortly. I think I'll have a movie marathon and button-sewing party tonight.
Fun, no?

GT

[FairyChatMom]

Bad Chinese for supper. We were going to get a headlight for FCD's car and pick up his prescription. Well, we forgot to write down what headlight he needed, and the pharmacy closed at 6 (we got there at 6:20) Oh well, we can go back tomorrow.

The kids ran into stop-n-go traffic in North Carolina - they should be in Virginia by now, and if all goes well, they'll be home by 9. I hope. So I need to go down to their bedroom and drape wrapping paper over the bed. We found out they got a pillow-top topper from his mother - that's kinda unnecessary with the new bed - I hope they can return it.

Chill mode till they get here. Ice cream in a little while. Can't believe I have to go back to work on Monday...

[gardentraveler]

Hope the kids are home soon, FCM.

Back from Home Depot and have successfully repaired chairs. Yay! I still have to glue 2 of them, but that's not going to happen today.

Also found a nice chest to go in the living room and hold albums with DVDs. There's extra room, so I think I'm going to hide a little tool chest in there. I hate having to go downstairs to find tools. Eventually there will be a little cabinet there instead, but I keep looking for something that will fit in that spot and go with everything else and have been unsuccessful. The chest will be used for games and puzzles and such, I think, long term. Maybe even short term....

Now I'm considering whether to start sewing buttons. Sounds quite exciting doesn't it?

GT

[dogbutler]

I knocked off work early :eek:, and went to Mass and got deheathenated :dubious:. I'm broiling a chipolte Tabasco marinated poke chop, with southwestern hash browns and corn, black beans and peppers. Hulu tonight.

[FairyChatMom]

They're back in Merrylande - they should get to the house in the next 20 minutes or so. 13.5 hours for what should have been 11. Guess traffic really did sucketh.

Glad their trek is about done. I worry when they're on the road.

[swampbear]

Yay for the younguns bein' home MOOOOOOM! Ummm... I don't remember... just why is their bed bein' giftwrapped? I mean, that's strange, even for you. :p

Ok, we epiphany partayed. A good time was had by all. Much numminest in the hors d'oeuvres dept. One especially good one... red and white seedless grapes that were rolled in a mixture of bleu and cream cheese (melt 4 oz of bleu and cream cheese together and allow to cool for about ten minutes as I was told) and then rolled in crushed pecans. They were...

TEH YUM!!!

One other thing was a crab mousse. To which I said....

"Hmmmm... interestin' cause I always thought moose tasted like chocolate."


:D


Hey, it got a laugh. That's all I ask.

[Mahna Mahna]

Played slug all day. I think the donwannas are setting in, what with just one day left of vacation before I have to drag my ass back into work and still no sugar daddy on the horizon. Sigh.

We used up the last of the NYE champagne to make shrimp pasta, and then had ourselves a nice little Dexter mini-marathon. Tomorrow I shall do a thorough housecleaning and perhaps some laundry, since it's my last chance to get some real productive stuff done around the house before work starts up again. In fact, if I feel really really inspired, I might also make some muffins to bring to work, because I've decided to cut back on my danishes-for-breakfast addiction.... we shall see how long that lasts.

Glad the kiddoes made it home in one piece, FCM. Hope daughter is pleased with her ladybug washcloth!

swampus, I'm totally going to have to try out that grape appetizer next time I'm hosting a dinner. It sounds delicious and easy (my two favourite things in a foodstuff).

[Dolores Reborn]

Hi!

I ended up making Sirloin Stroganoff for dindin. Very tender and yummy. The beef stock smells so good! It's in the fridge awaiting soupy goodness.

I just got through watching Scrooged. I cried at the end when they all sing "Put a Little Love in Your Heart." I'm such a sappy old fart! ;)

FCM, I'm glad the chillun made it home in one piece. Give 'em a hug for us! ;)

See y'all in the mornin'.

[The Blue-Sighted Shadow]

Pretty yarn, Shadow! Which dark green did you get, Cypress or Sherwood Forest? I like them both; actually I like all the colors. Just out of curiosity, how does the yarn compare to Misti alpaca? Not quite an equal comparison since Misti is alpaca and this is alpaca/merino, but I've been pleased with all the other Elann yarns I've bought so if I'm in the market for laceweight any time in the future, it would be nice to know. Although currently I've got 6 oz (1800 yards total) of Blackberry Ridge merino/silk laceweight to use for my niece's wedding shawl, and it would be hard to find a laceweight that's lovelier. Feels like pure heaven.

I'm using Sherwood Forest. I couldn't resist its siren song, so I cast on today. I quickly decided that I was not doing endless rows of seed stitch, so I'm just using garter for the border. I never used Misti Alpaca, in fact, this is my first project with laceweight. I think the Misti has more of a halo. So far, I can say that the yarn is nicely plied and isn't splitty at all. It's very easy to work with. I'm less pleased with the KP Harmony 3 circ I'm using, because it's snagging the yarn at the join. It's not harming the yarn, just slowing me down. The only downside to using alpaca is that Skunk loves alpaca and must be in my lap when I am knitting with it. If it's silk alpaca, he'll lay on the yarn itself and drool.

I organized my needle drawer and entered all my needles into Ravelry. I have an amazing number of needles. I don't know why I have 3 sets of 35s, though. The 50s really blow my mind, though. I used to knit with those! I knit and sold tons of scarves on the 50s and 35s. I also have a lot of DPNs, which is surprising, because I'd much rather use 2 circs or Magic Loop instead.

The voicemail saga, part II: We received another voicemail, a mea culpa for the first one. The MP intended to "send the message out next week with the same level of transparency" as the original message. Bwahahaha! Right. She went over in detail what the plan is, which just highlighted what a politicized clusterfuck it will be. Oh, did I forget to mention that the layoff only affects admin assistants and IT? It's generally a bad idea to piss off either group en masse, but both at the same time? Woo boy. I expect most will remain professional, but with a 20-25% RIF, I expect someone will lose it. The reason I'm probably SOL is that my position is classed as an assistant and was a special exemption on the whim of the MP who retired on Friday. (Yes, our new MP screwed up before her first day, this coming Monday.)

[FairyChatMom]

swampster - I thought I'd mentioned it earlier - we bought the kids a real mattress. They were sleeping on the bed that the previous owners had left behind and which we'd used as a guest bed for the last 4 years. They'd expressed threats of stealing the new replacement guest bed we bought, so to protect it... ;) Anyway, they were much pleased.

Muppet, not only did she like the dishcloth, she wants to learn how to make some herself, so we can have some quality mother/daughter time with yarn and needles. I foresee a lot of pattern printing. In fact, getting a binder or folder would probably be a good idea.

I forced myself to get up at 5:30, since I have to drag myself out at 5 tomorrow. The rest of the household is asleep, despite daughter's vow to be up by 6 herself. Yeah. Right. :p heck, even Bernie hasn't budged. It's cold out, and chilly in, even tho I bumped the heat up to 65.

I've got a loaf of french bread so we can have french toast for breakfast. I'd originally intended to make the french toast casserole, but I just didn't feel like it. Plus it's difficult to plan it when you have a household of slugs who refuse to get out of bed. So I decided to make it easy on myself.

No idea what today will hold. Daughter said she needs to get some groceries - I'm guessing she means for her lunches. And I need to get the headlight and the meds, so maybe she and I will go together. I'm hoping against hope that FCD will take a break, since he's apparently strained his back and is in pain. Of course, he's been in pain for 3 days... men!! :rolleyes:

Let the caffeination continue.

[swampbear]

Good Mornin' Y'all! Up and caffienatin' here. Had a few of those grape thingys as a prebrekkie snack. MMMMMMMMM......... Yes I did bring some home. They were forced, forced I say, upon me. :D

It's gloomy out. I think it may be rainy and warmish all day today.

OK, more caffienation must happen. Plus sump'n brekkie like and purtification for churchification.

Later Y'all!

[anyrose]

those grape thingys sound sort of good, but I'd like to find a viable sub for the bleu - can't stand the stuff.
Peapod's coming this morning - Yay! Fresh veggies and soup! (I ran out Thursday)

[Dolores Reborn]

Good morning!

Boniva is annoying, lemme tell you. You have to take it when you first get up. No coffee for an HOUR! No nothing, just water! And you can't go back to bed for an hour, because you have to be VERTICAL. Seven more minutes for me. I'm cranky with no coffee. :mad:

Grocery shopping and the rest of the laundry for me today. And clean the mirror and counter in my bathroom.

Mr Rebo has already left the house to gather stuff. He's building a new slab for our new air conditioning unit we're getting this month. He already built the frame and laid the rebar - he has to go get a bigger wheelbarrow and some concrete to mix up.

We had a record high temperature yesterday. 83°! Cold front coming in tonight or tomorrow, and back into the 40's and 50's.

Three minutes. See ya!

[criminey.jicket]

I'm sorry, I just can't do it, Mumpers. My head is vaguely swimmy from weaning off medication and my concentration is off, to say the least. I'm just not able to honor the spirit of Mumpership and keep up with all y'alls just now.

If anyone's remembered my last post, Christmas at the resort was extremely windy, cold (Arctic outflow, anyone?) and snowy. We measured 15" of snow on the deck behind the staff kitchen. Mr. J spent a large part of the week shovelling snow between a retaining wall and the tent pavilion covering the tennis court to prevent the panels from blowing out.

By the time I got my camera out, aimed and was ready for a shot, the lens was plastered with bigass snowflakes. All of the gorgeous, extensive landscaping was under snow. :(

We did get in a soak in the mineral spa, and we played some simulator golf. I did have fun in the big kitchen and rooting around in the pantries. The dogs were adorable, sweet and fun to be around.

New Year's Eve and New Year's Day were a blast with our friends, lots of food, games and cocktails--a happy, welcome start to 2009.

(Swimmy head, for sure. This post took more than 20 minutes to compose!)

[gardentraveler]

Don't worry about keeping up, cj (I'm forgetting your nickname right now; you have one, right?). We all vary in degrees of being able to keep up. Sorry your vacation was so snowy. Seems like that was par for the course for people who don't usually expect snow during the holidays.

Glad the kids liked the mattress, FCM.

I stayed up fairly late, but slept in till almost 8:30. Am still deciding what time to go to church.

But I've been industrious. I'm stuck on my dinosaur computer again while my laptop is being fixed and was frustrated by being stuck on IE. Decided to try reinstalling Firefox (it had stopped loading). Wasn't able to load 3.0.whateverthey'reup to, but the last version of 2 works and is much faster than IE on this machine. So far, at least. It's much less frustrating.

Now I'm going to get a grocery list together and do some laundry. Quite exciting, no?

How can it already be Sunday???

GT

[gardentraveler]

Friend called just now, with a dinner invitation. So: church, go feed fish and bring in yesterday's mail at local best friend's, go grocery shopping, do some clean up. If time permits, start laundry.

GT

[Mahna Mahna]

I've just gotten the news that one of my girlfriends from uni is now officially a mother... her little girl was born at 6am this morning, and everyone is doing well (albeit exhausted, since her labour started around 2pm yesterday). So I guess my project for today is to crochet up some booties and a cap to go with the blankie I gave them as a shower gift, so that I have something to bring when I go for a visit later this week. Hurray for babies! *

Once that's done, I suppose I should at least vacuum the house. The dust bunnies have gotten so big that I worry they may be on the verge of developing sentient thought... and there's enough of them that they could very well stage a coup if I don't nip this in the bud.

* Especially babies that aren't mine. :)

[Mama Tiger]

Morning, all. Or afternoon. Or whatever. I've been up for a long time, just haven't been exactly ambitious thus far. I'm trying to pretend I don't have to face several more hours of listening to The Whiner's deposition. Oy.

It's another pretty day here, although chilly. Papa Tigs took the Idiots out for another run this morning, and they're both now half-dead doggies. Apparently he wore them out. :) Say along with me, though: "A tired doggie is a happy doggie!"

You listed all your needles on Ravelry, Shadow? You're far more organized than I am; I haven't even got a clue what needles I have. I gave away piles of old crappy aluminum needles that I'd been moving around for too many years, but found a few pairs of straights that I'm using again, one of which reminds me of Inox but has different end caps and has no manufacturer's name anywhere that I could find. Very odd. But they're nice 14" 4mm needles, so that's all that matters.

I've decided I'm definitely a DP person, though -- I tried socks on circulars and just hated it. So it's back to the DPs for me. If I can ever get back to socks, that is.

That saga of the voicemail is wonderful. What a way to start off one's tenure as MP! Hee! I do hope they don't lay you off, though; fingers crossed for you.

Sounds like everyone has a normal Sunday planned. Don't have too much fun; I'll try not to, too. :rolleyes:

[ems]

Back from scrubbing the new apt - clean bathroom & kitchen, scrubbed floors and dusted. Rolled up a nasty stinky hallway carpet that I am going to check to see if I can throw away (it stinks of cigarette smoke) if not is is going in the storage cave.

I washed a dirty mark off the wall and now I need to wash all the walls there are now 3 clean patches on the walls and the nasty nictotine needs to go so that is my plan for next weekend already. Just need to buy a step ladder, cleaning supplies, gloves and cloths! I will remove the nasty stink!

Off to shower then eat my (hopefully) last microwave supper! I will also have to finish up the bottle of wine in the fridge as well.....not worth carrying a partial bottle to the new place!

ETA: Taters I will be here at least a year possibly longer. It all depends on how me and the hubby do being apart..........

[Taters]

Good morning everyone. I'm up and waiting for the family to get up so we can go to breakfast. We're taking our daughter to breakfast her birthday, in lieu of taking her to dinner because she has to work today.

I'm glad the kiddos made it home safely, FCM.

We had a great time at our friend's house last night. We didn't win any money this time, but we still had a great time.

I should finish getting myself cleaned up. I've managed to take a shower and get dressed, but I still need to dry my hair and what not.

Blue, I sure hope you're able to hang on to your job. My fingers are crossed for you.

[whiterabbit]

vrooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooom

Hi. It's freaking cold here today. -2F, and I have to go to work soon! Brrrr!

Nothing of note happening.

vrooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooom

[FairyChatMom]

ems - my sweetie and I lived apart for about 2 years, but we'd been married something like 18 or 19 years at the time, and I was able to fly up to visit him every month or so. You, as I recall, are a newlywed. I don't envy you at all. Hope you'll be able to have frequent visits.

It's cooooooold and overcast and ick here today. Daughter and I ran out early today and did a little shopping. I've got a couple of nice sirloins marinating for supper. I'll bake some N.O.T. also, and steam some veggies. What to do for dessert??? hmmmmm

<tiny little sob> can't believe my vacation is almost over. <another tiny little sob>

Oh yeah, I forgot - looks like there'll be enough students so I'll be able to take the ceramics class I wanted. Yay!

[Dolores Reborn]

I've got a humongous pot of veggie beef soup on with the stock I made yesterday. It smells so good!

FCM, I'm sobbing right along with you. I could totally be a lady of leisure...

[anyrose]

gt - who's up for the next few weeks? you haven't posted your sig in a while


some folks over at the disco feud are starting to bug me a little. They only know what they've read or seen in recent movies about the period (by recent I mean anything made after 1990) by 20-somethings whose parents barely survived it. I was there, drinking & dancing and watching a few of my friends destroy themselves with coke and unprotected sex. It wasn't as glamourous as the Gen-X'ers and younger seem to think.

[Mahna Mahna]

Please sign me up for the end-of-vacation sobfest. Tomorrow morning is going to be very very painful. :(

I spent all day being very housewifely. Christmas decorations have been taken down and put away in the storage space, enough fur and hair to clothe a Wookie has been vacuumed up, a metric assload of dishes has been washed and I even gave the bathroom a quick scrub. The house is now lovely and clean... yay!

We're thinking of grilling up some medianoche sandwiches on the panini press for din-din, possibly with some apple slaw on the side. I've also decided that I'm going to crack open a bottle of Boylan's birch bark, since vacuuming is hard work and I've earned a treat.

[swampbear]

Muppet I had no idea birch bark was a liquid. :D

I have churched, brunched, met, reported (outreach committee report for the year) and voted for vestry. Also I have napped.

I refuse to be productive today. No need to and don't wanna.

There's talk of goin' to that paragon of haute cuisine known as Three Squares Diner for dindin but that will entail puttin' on pants and a shirt. No, you pervs, I am not nekkid. I am wearin' a night shirt and my drawers. It just may be too much effort to dress is all.

[swampbear]

Forgot sump'n. BioRosie I would think any kind of cheese that has a fairly strong flavor would work with the grapes. I think some fresh parmesan would be nummy. Maybe even some sharp cheddar cause I like fruit and cheddar cheese together.

[Mahna Mahna]

:smack:

Birch beer.

And no, I haven't been drinking... not anything alcoholic, anyway.

[VunderBob]

Rugrat is back in Indiana. :(

Criminal court tomorrow, so I can testify about that shooting; then work Tuesday.

Is it Firday yet?

[dogbutler]

Howdy. I worked, I watched my friend play hockey, I'm cooking dinner(Parmesan pesto chicken, rosemary rice, spinach). Laundry and bathroom cleaning afterwards.

Muppet, I like birch beer.

"A tired doggie is a happy doggie!"
Nope. :p

[swampbear]

So I shouldn't try to ferment a bunch of birch bark now? :D

Dindin at the epicurean delight known as Three Squares Diner didn't happen. Neither one of us is especially hungry after a huge brunch today and besides the idea of gettin' dressed just did not appeal to me at all.

I think lyin' upon the bed and watchin' a movie would be a good thing.

[mmouse9799]

Evenin' I haven't been on vacation, but I can't believe tomorrow is Monday...

I taught Hawkeyeop's sister to knit this weekend. Go me. I got her a set of basic needles and two small skeins of cheap yarn to take back to Texas with her when she goes. Hopefully she'll keep it up; she could use the hobby... She needs a lot of reassurance though.

[The Blue-Sighted Shadow]

I was running errands this morning, stopped at a light and futzing with the radio. Whump! My incoherent thoughts went like this: "What was that? Did I drop the clutch? No, I still have my foot on the brake. Now what's wrong with the car? Hmm, the engine's still running..." I finally look in the rear view mirror and there's a Very Large Pickup Truck filling up the entire mirror, with a sheepish looking driver. My bumper has a black smudge on it but is otherwise ok. It felt like somebody smacked me in the kidney for half an hour after, but I feel fine now. I am glad that I was looking down when it happened, because I probably would have tensed up if I'd seen him coming.

I decided that I'd better get to work on my boss's scarf, seeing as how she's back in the office tomorrow. It's double stranded worsted on 19mm needles. It looks lovely and lacy. I'll take a picture when I'm finished. You can't beat knitting an inch every row!

[anyrose]

Forgot sump'n. BioRosie I would think any kind of cheese that has a fairly strong flavor would work with the grapes. I think some fresh parmesan would be nummy. Maybe even some sharp cheddar cause I like fruit and cheddar cheese together.
fruit & cheddar is teh yum!

[The Blue-Sighted Shadow]

Pictures:

Finished scarf (http://www.flickr.com/photos/12190567@N08/3169287216/in/photostream/)
Scarf with needles (http://www.flickr.com/photos/12190567@N08/3169287228/in/photostream/)
Scarf with the Forest Path stole (http://www.flickr.com/photos/12190567@N08/3169287232/in/photostream/)

I need to do one more in purple.

[gardentraveler]

Back from very pleasant dinner with friends. Lovely way to cap off a weekend, although I'm also in the corner sobbing with the rest of you.

I'd just like to say that I came --><-- this close to buying needles and yarn yesterday. But I decided that I needed to wait till I have my office and the basement organized again because there's a chance that I actually have needles somewhere. ETA: I blame all you Mumper knitters for my potential addiction!!!!!

I'm doing tomorrow's MMP, rosie and Dotty has the 19th because she was hoping to have pictures of the Australia trip organized by then (I think she's actually back on the 12th or so). I think that's all the people we have signed up, though. (We'll see in a moment when I post my sig.)

It also occurred to me that it's about time to start organizing for Valentine's Day, so I'll be sending an e-mail for permission momentarily as well.

Next MMP will be up later tonight. In a little while, I hope. (I'm still letting the idea gel.)

GT

[tarragon918]

Shadow, that scarf is gorgeous! Don't know if I could coordinate my hands for knitting, though - it's taken me a good 6 months to feel comfortable with the crochet hook.

I don't wanna go back to work tomorrow either! I wish there were some way I could work 4-6 hours a day and get paid for 8. LOL Wouldn't that be nice?!

I made a pot of split pea soup today, and instead of using ham hocks and ham, I used a smoked turkey wing. It turned out very good - I made it in the crock pot, actually. To start, of course, you need a package of dried split peas :smack:

1 large onion, diced
1-2 ribs of celery, diced
1-2 cloves of garlic, diced
1-2 carrots, grated

Saute the veggies in oil or use the cooking spray, until they're nicely browned. I added my seasoning to the veggies as they cooked: some salt-free lemon pepper and some Mrs. Dash table blend and a dash of sea salt. I washed the split peas first, then added the sauteed veggies and washed peas to the crock pot, and topped them with the smoked turkey wing, which I broke into pieces by the joint. Then I added about 7 cups of water to the crock pot, put the lid on and turned it on low. I thought I might have to add water, but 7 cups was enough. You can also take some of the soup out, blend it up then add it back in just before serving to have a creamier soup, but I didn't do that. We served the soup up with cornbread muffins, and boy was it good! Oh yes, it cooked on low for about 6 hours, then we turned it to warm until time to serve.

I've got several crochet projects going on right now, but no camera to take pics of any. LOL You just have to take my word for it on that. The most recent one is a variegated purple scarf for myself; I need something that will cover my head!

[SpazCat]

Drove six hours, got home, unpacked, surveyed what needs to be done, decided it can be put off until tomorrow.

*zzzzzzzzzz*

[Mahna Mahna]

tarra, please tell me you didn't make split pea soup without thyme and savory? Blasphemy, I say! My old French-Canadian grandmaman must be spinning in her grave to have her baby exposed to such a travesty of a soup. Shame! Shame on you!

(I'll forgive the smoked turkey, though, mostly because I've been known to use it as a kosher-friendly substitute for ham when the in-laws come over to eat)

[Sticks and Scones]

Gah. Please tell my exactly why I just watched The Children's Hour?

Well, I guess I should be heading off to bed. I had lots of comments to make but my brain must already be asleep. See you all in the next MMP!