Summer Vacation 2008

Today is the first day of our summer vacation. Nothing much blog-worthy today, we're just driving north to Sioux Falls, SD. Later in the week we'll visit Mt. Rushmore and Yellowstone National Park... lots of pictures later!

Now I'm "It"

My friend Chelle tagged me (by name) with another blogosphere MEME!

1. What was I doing 10 years ago? Let's see, Hunter was just a baby then, so I was probably changing a diaper or something. Also, I was working as a programmer for a bill review software company in Newport Beach, CA.

2. What are 5 things on my to-do list today? Ship out two customer jobs (done); balance the checkbook (not done); knit on Angelina (done); get a photo of my finished Fitted Tee (not done); go to bed early because I stayed up too late watching the Lakers last night (soon).

3. Snacks I enjoy: Potato chips, probably too much so. Fruit-flavored yogurt. Peanuts. Cheez-its.

4. Places I’ve lived: Various communities in Los Angeles and Orange counties in CA; west-central MO. Yes, it was a bit of a change.

5. Things I’d do if I were a billionaire: Finish the dome. Quit my day job and do the yarn thing just for fun. Buy a pro sports team.

I won't tag you, you'll have to self-tag if you want to pick up the thread. Link your blog in comments so I can take a peek at your list. :-)

Talia vest finished

Pattern: Talia
Yarn: Dome Hill Yarns Worsted in Caramel Latte
Needles: 9

I tried it on for the pictures and Ali said, "Mom, it's prettiful! You look skinny in that!" Music to my ears :-)

On the road again

This will be a pic-less post, since I don't have the camera with me... I've been travelling, some business, some pleasure. For the first half of the week, I was at the National Postal Forum, which is only interesting if you happen to work in the direct mail industry, but I learned a ton of cool and important stuff about the changing regulations that the USPS keeps throwing at us. If you know what "intelligent mail barcode" means, then you know what I'm talking about. There were plenty of interesting events at the conference too -- the featured speaker for the Wednesday session was Chris Gardner, who was billed as an "motivational speaker," but it wouldn't have been too far off the mark to list him as a comedian. (The first thing he said after he was introduced was, "I gotta tell you guys straight up... Will Smith ain't comin'.") Then, at the closing reception, we got Big Bad Voodoo Daddy! Man, they rocked the joint too!

Now I'm hanging with Boo for a couple of days, not really doing much at all but having a nice relaxing visit. There's a yarn store not too far from her place that I'm planning to check out today... I didn't bring near enough yarn to work on for this trip & I'm at a standstill on both Talia & the Fitted Tee, quelle horreur! I'll have to see what I can do to remedy this terrible situation. :-)

Talia KAL

My latest project is Talia in my very own Caramel Latte colorway. We're doing a knit-along in the Got Vests group. I'm about a quarter of the way through it -- it's knitting up fast!

Six Quirky Things About Me

Yet another silly blog meme -- I was tagged by Chelle with this one.

1. When I am watching TV, the volume must be an even number. I have no idea why, but it makes me uncomfortable when the little slider doohickey at the bottom of the screen lands on an odd number -- never mind that it's going to disappear in a few seconds. My family thinks it is hilarious to "accidentally" leave it on an odd number & watch me fidget.

2. When I am walking or climbing stairs, I always count my steps in groups of eight. I think this is a leftover from my music days, when one had to precisely count the specified measures of rest and know exactly when to enter after the rest. Also, everything in marching band is done on a count of eight.

3. All the cats I have ever had, and will ever have, are girl kitties. I don't like boy kitties.

4. I find it kind of ironic that so much of my life has revolved around color -- I'm a former artist, and now apparently an up-and-coming indy dyer -- yet I am married to someone who is profoundly colorblind. It makes for some pretty funny conversations sometimes. "Honey, hand me that green book." "That's not green, it's red."

5. Foodwise, I will try anything once. My List Of Weird Things I Have Eaten is pretty long: shark, grubs, octopus, grasshoppers, rattlesnake...

6. I still try to avoid stepping on the cracks and/or lines on sidewalks. Maternal vertebral columns are always safe around me.

Swapping on a Budget

Wow, I got a box today! What is it?

It's my package from my Swap on a Budget partner, Danielle... She is a spoiler extraordinaire! She outdid herself with figuring out just the kind of gifts would make me feel great. * Not one, but two, beautiful knitted dishcloths, which I use all the time & never have enough of * A colorful journal (perfect purse sized) * A skein of Cotton Fleece in "Raging Purple" (I think it looks like Laker purple, LOL) * Two skeins of Patons Classic merino in a gorgeous rich mahogany color * Two spicy-scented candles in travel tins, which is something I love to take with me when I have to travel on business (makes hotel rooms much nicer) * A couple of cable needles, because she must have read on my blog that I love cable projects * A souvenir refrigerator magnet from her home town (Fort Wayne, IN) because I collect the things * A pretty little tin full of goodies -- some beautiful beaded stitch markers, and a charm bracelet. The bracelet is where her blog-stalking skills really come to the fore. The charms are two kittys (for Friday & Pyewacket); an "I (heart) 2 Knit"; and "I (heart) Beads" {both of those dead on, natch}; a charm of the famous arch from her childhood home of St. Louis (since I live in central MO now); and a little enamelled football charm (for my football days' sake.) I love it.

Thank you, Danielle, I feel very spoiled! Actually, upon reconsideration, I think the Cotton Fleece is Quake purple. :-)