Houseboating last weekend was awesome as always! I didn’t take many pics because the landscape really hasn’t changed, plus it was rainy and/or overcast for most of the trip this time. The weather has been better, but trust me, none of us cared. We made the best of it and still had a ball. Shawn & I finally decided that we are equals when it comes to drunken Scattergories. So the grudge match is finally over and we can all rest easy. Pics are over at my Flickr, and here’s a video that I LOVE. Casey & Mike are singing along with 90’s on 9 and it’s so great. You’ll love it. Click here: Just a Dream. NSFW because Mikey says a naughty at the end. I know, I’m disappointed, too. I would have loved to embed it BTW, but Flickr and Wordpress can’t seem to play nice. I am having some kind of ongoing issue with uploading stuff to Wordpress. Super frustrating! Grrrr.

The week went by super fast since we didn’t get home until late Monday night, then Mike had Tuesday off. That left me only 2 days to get all of my usual stuff done before Friday!! So I was pretty busy with chores & such. We had another busy weekend, too. Sunday we had the latest edition of Crappy Movie Sunday – the dance classic Breakin’. Our rehash will be on the CMS blog in a day or 2. After the movie we grilled some yummy ribs (that Clovis made) and some burgers. It was quite a fiesta! We had a full house and tons of yummy eats. After we ate, the whole gang, except for Mike & I, headed downstairs to watch the big Lost finale. I’m not caught up yet and Mike has no interest, so we went to the man cave and had a romantic date watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer. We’re about halfway through season 2 and it’s really starting to get good. As for Lost, I’m about 2/3 of the way through season 3. Man, is it a crazy and intense show.

My friend Dawn has convinced me that I need to sign up for Netflix so I can get all the sweet TV shows streaming. You know I love television, so it was pretty easy to sway me. As soon as I finish season 3 of Lost, I am going to sign up for the 2 week trial thingy and get rolling on season 4. I can’t wait to get a look at hat my options will be!! I’m really really excited about this.

I freaking love Polaroid. Instant cameras & film are the coolest. I could not be more geeked to hear this. I have had 2 Polaroid cameras for a while. I have a pink & gray one that I bought shortly before the film disappeared. Not new, of course. It’s totally retro, I’m thinking 80’s. How could I resist a sassy pink camera? It actually still has the last pack of film I could get my hands on in it, with a few shots left that I’ve been saving for a VERY special occasion. I also have a glittery blue i-Zone camera. This is probably the coolest camera I’ve ever owned. It takes a tiny photo – 1.5 x 1 inches – and the little photo has a sticky back. I bought this camera in the late 90’s when it came out, and I had a blast with it. I still have one pack of sticker film left (12 pics!!)for this baby, and again, I’m waiting for something incredible to happen so I can take tiny photos of it. The film is long expired, of course, as I’m sure the film in my pink camera is. But it’s all I’ve got!! Here is a sample of just a few i-Zone photos I’ve taken. These are just some of my favorites that I’ve scanned. I have lots more.

Mike & I happened to pop into Goodwill last night to kick around and see what was shaking, and I managed to find an awesome forest green Polaroid camera for $6!! It is definitely newer than Pinky – I’d say late 90’s as a shot in the dark. It’s super cute and I can’t freaking wait to get my mitts on some Polaroid film to make it go!!

I’ve scoured the internet to find out if they will also be making film for the i-Zone, but couldn’t find an anwer. I emailed the Impossible folks, but it may be a while before I hear anything back. But, really, here’s hoping. For now, the fact that they are making the 600 film makes me giddy.

Here are my cameras, left to right: Pinky, Glitzy (i-Zone), and new to my pack, Evergreen (this photo doesn’t really show off her super cute green color, but take my word for it). Also, my last pack of sticky i-Zone film.

I know these are suckwad pics, they were quickies with my phone in awful lighting. Anyway, I bought this BA little tea pot for Mike last week for him to make tea at work. His tea gets cold before the second cup, so I told him to bring it home and I’d make him a cozy to keep the tea warm. Viola! And I even used some of the leftover yarn from his Sackboy. I thought it would be kind of neat to needle felt a leaf on there, but I ran out of time. I might have him bring it home again this weekend.

Oh, and I decided to call about the juicer. I sort of look at it this way – if a car has a recall, it doesn’t matter if you are the first or the 10th owner, they are still obligated to repair it. And they didn;t ask me ANY questions at all except for the codes at the bottom of the unit. They are sending me a letter which will offer me a cash refund or a replacement juicer and I can choose. It should be here in a few days. I asked what I should do with the juicer and she said DO NOT use it, discard it.

Speaking of small appliances, I have been continuing to make juice just about every day. I even made a cucumber toner for my face using real cucumber juice! It’s awesome. If you want the recipe, comment or email me. You don’t have to have a juicer either, you can do it with a blender.

Yesterday I met up with the ZPDK peeps for knitting and coffee. It was a blast! I had a great time, and I even managed to finish a sock, which is awesome. I loooove this colorway, this sock turned out so beautiful. I bought this sock yarn by the pound at Stitches Midwest in August. It’s a superwash merino, and I think I paid about $15 for around 250 grams. That’s enough for about 3 pairs of socks, so it was definitely a bargain. It could be a tad bit softer, but I think once I run them through the washer & dryer, they will be awesome. I call them Forbidden Forest, because the colors definitely look foresty and also, I heart HP. Anyway, here’s the first sock, still need to make the mate:

Also, I changed my theme, and I like this one a lot. Very crisp & clean. I am feeling pretty BA because I changed it all by myself! I hope you dig it too.

Last night we met up with Mike’s boss and a friend of his at Gallagher’s. I converted another person to the Beer Society, so now there are even more people for me to have beers with!We had a nice time, and I got to try some more beers too. I got Mike’s boss to try #9, and of course, he loved it. Woot! One of the beers I had last night was Orange Blossom Ale. It’s brewed in Florida, and it was very tasty. Check the link on the right sidebar to see what I had and how I rated it. I am up to 19! Only 106 beers to go!! It’s still early in the game, so I am taking suggestions – what beers should I try? Comment or email me.

I got up this morning, made some coffee and a yummy brekkie of Trish McMuffins, and relaxed while Mikey slept in. After that I decided to get started on dinner which was a crock pot feast called Beef & Potato Casserole. I browned the meat, washed potatoes and peeled the carrots, then diced them up along with an onion. The recipe calls for tomato juice, so I even made fresh tomato juice with the juicer. I put everything in the crock and started it up. About 30 minutes later I heard a loud POP that sounded like a gunshot. I went into the kitchen and found this:

I have no idea how this happened, but my crock pot is ruined, along with my super fab dinner! How sad and disappointing. I am going to look online and see if I can find a replacement lid, because I’m pretty sure the crock itself is fine. Anyway, this is very frustrating. I guess we will be ordering sammiches or pizza or something for dinner.

I’ve been rocking the Wii Fit Plus for about a week now, and I am feeling the burn in my abs and thighs. I did these lunges a few times and everytime I tried to sit down I cried out a little. Not cool, but very cool at the same time. I am also trying to make friends with my elliptical machine. We were close for a while, but then we drifted apart. I am rocking the rebounder too. I am trying to vary it up to keep things interesting - so far, so good.

I am not very good at being out of work. I feel like a big useless lump. I am keeping busy around the house by cleaning and doing chores, but it just isn;t the same. I am looking for work every day but haven’t seen too much that interests me AND I am qualified for. I have applied for a couple of things that sound really cool, but have yet to hear back from anyone, which is frustrating too. Uggh. I just don’t really know what to do with myself. I don’t like this feeling at all. Mike has been super-supportive, which is great. He keeps asking me what I would do if I didn;t need money and could do anything I wanted to do. The problem is I have no idea. I’m not sure I want to continue doing what I have done for the last decade, but if I don’t, that leaves me with no experience in anything else. I’m frustrated and unsure and losing confidence in myself. Oh, and I am also bored to tears, which doesn;t help either.

I got another new cell phone last week. So far it seems to be working pretty well. I did lose all of my contacts again though, so if you haven’t heard from me in the last several days, text me and let me know who you are so I can save your number! It totally sucks picking up my phone to call or text someone and then realizing I don’t have their stupid number anymore!!

I was looking in a closet today and stumbled upon an old school set of Fashion Plates! Oh my goodness, do they take me back! I spent many an hour playing with them as a kid, and I was convinced that I wanted to be a fashion designer. I can’t remember if that was before or after my dreams of being a Solid Gold Dancer. Anyway, Mike’s mom told me I could have these! So awesome! I wish I had a scanner so I could show you the amazing outfit I made! I promise I’ll post it as soon as I get home. It will change the world.

I’m not sure if you are aware of this, but I have a real problem with lists and keeping things organized. I generally use notebooks, but my notebooks usually look like a wreck and have papers falling out of them and paper clips and sticky notes everywhere. I was looking through one of pops’ catalogs last night and stumbled across this genius notebook system, where the pages connect to these little discs, but you can also take the pages out and rearrange them as needed. They also carry a million different kinds of refill sheets (everything from lined paper to task lists to recipe cards) that are punched to fit on these little discs. And then there are dividers, pocket pages, fancy leather covers, and more. They had a starter set for $40, and I was totally ready to buy it, along with the special punch so you can add any kind of paper to your notebook, since the refills are a fortune. I was talking to pops, and he busted out this old binder style planner that he used to use about 15 years ago. It’s a 6 ring binder, but he also has the punch for it, and he gave me all of it. I am beyond excited!! I have made lists for all of the tabbed sections I will need (I told you I have a problem), including what types of pages I need for each section. I found a site online that offers free downloadable page templates for almost any standard size, and I am so excited to get my new fancy pants notebook system going! I have many plans and ideas which I have written down in my old ghetto notebook, and I just need to go out and get a few supplies like some colored papers, cardstock, etc to jazz it up.

Oh, and I finally saw New Moon on Friday night with Mike. I liked it much better than Twilight that’s for sure. I must say, seeing Jacob Black in the flesh in this movie made me seriously rething the whole Team Edward thing. First of all, he is WAY hotter then Edward (in the movies at least), and he is actually a really good actor. I think if Rob Pattinson was trapped in a paper bag and had no choice but to act his way out, he might end up starving to death in a paper bag, if you know what I’m saying. But then again, this particular book sort of painted Edward as a villain anyway. But I sure don’t remember Jacob seeming quite so appealing when I read the book. And I still can’t stand Kristen Stewart, and I think they sh0ould have picked someone else to be Bella. But I also think Bella is a total idiot, so maybe I wouldn’t like anyone playing her because I don’t even like the character. Who can say?

Well that’s it for me. It’s late and I am going to throw on some TNG and hope for sleep. I don’t have much hope since I’m alone without Mike and my kitties, but here goes.

Just made this yesterday! I like it, the colors and texture are beautiful. It’s aysemmetrical and very unique.

The weekend was kind of a haze of shopping and hanging with friends. Friday afternoon our friends Garnett and Pat stopped by and brought tiny little Aspen with them. She is so cute. She has this tiny little munchkin voice that is just adorable. She really liked Nemo, and she even got to pet Buffy! Buffy wasn’t overly excited about the small fry, but she didn’t run away, so thanks again Kitty Prozac! Saturday I shopped with my mom & sis. We also had the litte monster, Noah, with us. He cracks me up. He talks like he’s 40 years old, and it is so funny. He was telling me a story and I told him I thought it was funny, and he said “I must admit, I thought it was funny, too, Aunt Kitty”. I must admit?? Who even says that? Definitely not too many 6 year olds! Saturday night we caught up with Becky again, and had another wonderful time hanging out with her. She left for Florida this morning and I miss her already!! She and my BFF-OMG Amber are coming at Christmas and I can’t wait. Amber is going to cooking school and she promised to teach me to bake cherry scones! Also on Saturday night, we ran into an old friend, Clovis. It turns out that he lives right down the street from us! Hopefully we will be seeing more of Clovis now that we are aware of his proximity.

Sunday evening, Mike & I headed out to the Best Buy private sale event. Mike got a new computer that he has had his eye on, and I got a new netbook. We also scored several Christmas presents, and earned triple reward points on everything. Plus, they had free soda!

I love my Palm Pre. I think it is so cool and fun and easy to use and awesome. But then it turned jinky. The screen keeps going out.  Fiurst it will flicker and weird lines show up, and then it goes black, and turns into a useless lump. This lasts anywhere from a few hours to a day at a time. Then it will snap back to life and work great for a while – but I never know for how long. There is nothing more frustrating than holding your phone while you hear it ringing, but not even being able to answer it. It sucks. Like bigtime. I took it in for service last week, but they told me it’s totally busted and I need a new one. So I had to wait several days for it to come in, and now it is, and I am picking it up tonight. I am so freaking excited I can’t even tell you! While I was at the service joint, I noticed they have PINK Pre cases, which I’ve never seen before. And you know I’ve looked. So I think I am going to score one of those too.

Ok, let’s talk TV. I sort of gave up on Dancing with the Stars, I haven’t watched it in 2 weeks! I am rooting for Kelly Osbourne, though. However, I think Mya will win. I’ve also been watching V with the boys. I’m liking it so far. I haven’t seen last night’s, so unless it royally sucked, I am saying thumbs up on V. Community continues to rock my face off, as does Glee. I watched last week’s Glee last night, and I loved loved loved Defying Gravity. Kurt is so awesome, I wanna smoosh him. That’s one of my favorite songs anyway, so I loved it. I am so behind on Vampire Diaries! I still haven’t seen last week’s yet, and I need my vampire fix. I might get to watch it tonight, but I have a zillion things to do before the show this weekend, so it might not happen.

Here are a few new knits. I’m trying to get photos taken of everything I don’t already have photos of. There will be more to come. The Emily Shawl is made from a wool/alpaca blend and 100% wool. Very soft and feminine. Next up, the How Now Brown Cowl? is a chucky and warm wool/acrylic blend with 2 button closure. Very elegant and exceedingly warm. The Isadora cowl is super soft, blue and white, and has a single button closure. Big ups if you actually get why I called it Isadora. Comment if you think you know the answer. And last (for now!), the Bonfire scarf. Very soft and has a lovely drape. I wasn’t crazy about this scarf when I first finished it, but the more I touch it, the more I have grown to love it. It has an amazing texture, and drapes so beautifully.

TTFN, kiddies. Hope you are having a great week!

Yesterday we had a guy come over to fix the fireplace in the living room. The flue lever was rusted and it was stuck on open. The guy had to run outside to his truck to get a tool, and while he was outside, Nemo decided to inspect his work by getting inside the fireplace. So for the rest of the day, our white kitty was running around with black stuff all over his fur. He looked like a dirty hobo cat. It was actually pretty amusing. And our flue is fixed, so bonus! The guy also filled all the holes made by the dirty woodpeckers. Apparently, at the peak of the roof on BOTH sides of the house, the damn peckers had built nests!! I’m over the woodpeckers, dude. We need a better solution to keep them away from our crib.

Last night, my girlfriend Laura came over and we had a great time working on our knitting and hanging out. We had a yummy dinner out, then came back here to work on our projects. We also talked a lot about WoW, since Laura plays as well. It was really fun, and I enjoyed having a “girl’s night” since my evenings are free now. She tried to teach me Continental knitting but I need to work on it. I am a pretty fast knitter the way I knit now (English style), but I think knitting Continental would be easier on my back & shoulders, so I am willing to give it a go. And maybe I can end up being ambi-knit-dextrous. Or something like that.

Speaking of knitting, I’ve gotten a couple of custom mitten orders this week, so yay for cashflow! I put one in the mail today and I have to start the next pair this evening. I think this might be the last year for custom mittens. I am just not enjoying making them as much as I used to. I need to find my “next big thing”. Any suggestions??

Today was Mike’s first Friday off as part of his new 4 day work week schedule. He slept in, and then we had a fun lunch date. It was kind of awesome since I don’t get lunches out too often. Tonight we are thinking of seeing a movie, and I also want to hit some secondhand furniture stores to look for a cute little chair for my office. Not like an office chair, but like a nice sitting chair. My office is also my yarnery, so I find myself sitting here sometimes sifting through pattern books looking for inspiration, winding yarn for a project, or even just knitting. So I’d like a little place that is not my desk chair to do these things in. So hopefully I can find something cute and in the budget (DIRT CHEAP). I am also looking for a jinky footstool that I can knit a cover for. I have a couple of ideas that would work with either a round or square footstool, so hopefully I can find something suitable. I might be able to bust out my humungo US 50 needles I got at Stitches Midwest for this project! We’ll see.