Objects on blog are not as crafty as they appear

I finished the monkey burp cloths for my little monkey. Ironically he is not spitting up as much as he used to (and by me writing that I have guaranteed projectile vomit for the next week).

I did get to make it to the last sewing class, so here is my tote. I love how it looks! It is on the flimsy side since I haven't put in a base and was too lazy and cheap to go buy thicker interfacing.

I know you are wondering what I am using my tote for. It's storing my current knitting project, knitting a hat. I'm trying double pointed needles to knit on the round for the first time. Getting it started seems to be the hard part. I started it over like three times.


Here is a photo cap for you. Chris, you should get this so let others try first :)

Something to Smile About

Here are some things that made me smile this week.

1) Bunny prints in the snow. You can see where the little guy stopped to eat, went exploring (the fire pit!) and took off. It's very cute.

2) Chuck Norris Tributes

3) A radio station that changed it's format and is now playing everything I loved in college (and some from high school). On one hand it makes me feel a little dated that the 90's rock gets it's own station (as opposed to '80s, 90s and now) but it sure does make me smile.

4) I'm getting decent at knitting scarves and I like it! Here is one with a little hole to pull the scarf through. Chris wants a hat and a sweater, both which scare me to try. But by golly, try I will!
5) The sewing class took too long, so a third meeting was scheduled. But I won't be able to make it. So my tote sits unfinished. I will try to finish it, but I was distracted by making these burp cloths. The aren't the fanciest things in the world but I am incredibly proud of myself for putting these together. These have letters of the alphabet and I have a few more to make with cute little monkeys.

Oh My!

I was going to log on and blog about Sock Wars (like the war game in college, but with yarn) and how I heart my bread maker but Ainsley Was Almost Eaten! SERIOUSLY! Carried away to never be seen again! I know I use to many exclamation points, but it is entirely necessary to convey my point here!

I just put all of the ingredients for Cheesy Potato Bread in the bread maker and was about to plug it in when I heard a bang from the back room. It was very reminiscent of when a bird ran into the window and died. So I thought 'oh, nuts' and headed back there, just in time to see through the back door a big bird swoop away to a nearby tree. And I see it's the hawk (I'm assuming hawk, but some large hunting bird) land in the tree in the back yard.

I saw this hawk a couple of weeks ago perched on the fence just hanging out, it flew away when I tried to get a picture for Chris, who is highly fascinated by the hawks we see when driving. So I try to get a picture this time, but the camera went fritzy again and it didn't turn out well. Then it flew away.

Then it clicks that the hawk flew into the window and Ainsley is back there. So I walk back and Ainsley is curled up on top of the love seat by the window. And right above her on the window are a couple of smears where a hawk hit the window.

Poor Ainsley has no clue she was nearly swooped away. I'll still give her a couple of kitty treats though.

PS - any suggestions on how to shrink the giant picture would be appreciated.

Adventures in Houseliving

First Story:

The house was attacked by a giant spider! Ok, so I actually found it in the corner of the basement, but it was a big spider. If my studly husband were home I would sic him on it and he would argue that spiders are good luck. If he's not home I will usually step up and take care of business. But this thing had to be related to Aragog. So I vetoed squishing it (that is a lot of ick) and I wasn't going to attempt to transport it outside. I calmly walked upstairs, got a glass from the cabinet and placed said glass over the spider. It glared at me and gnashed it's fangs.

Since I was doing laundry, I had to look at the little guy every time I went downstairs. Min followed me down and after a little exploring she found a new friend. She was very confused about the glass covering it and kept patting at it. Then she would look at me and meow. She finally came over and was rubbing against my leg. I told her "Tough noogies" and walked away.

Later I found the glass pushed onto a crack and the spider was no where to be found. I'm going to go with the theory and Min helped to smuggle her new many-legged friend to freedom.

Story Two:

Game Night was Saturday! It was so great to have people visit, thank you to all who came!

Truth be told I've been feeling a little down lately. I'm stuck indoors with the lousy weather and the only talking I have some days is with Xander, who is not yet a conversational wiz. So it was great to relax with friends.

So I think everyone had a merry time, there was great food and fun games. We played a new one called The Last Word, and we won't discuss just how bad I was at it. And the boys vs girls Cranium match was fun as always (girls ruled, but I didn't have to tell you that).

Story Three:

After everyone left Game Night, the wind really picked up and we even saw some lightening. The wind continued and the temperature dropped through Sunday. When we returned from church on Sunday morning the electricity was out. Which meant no heat. Disaster! Chris actually called up a friend to come over and explain how to properly work a wood-burning fireplace so we didn't burn the place down. So guess what we'll have at the next Game Night :)

The electric finally came back on about 4ish and the heater ran and ran, but would not get to above 57 degrees (for those concerned for Xander, we did turn on little heater to warm up his room). Seriously, it just kept running. I'm trying to sleep and can see the gas bill skyrocketing. I call in to our home warranty this morning to arrange someone to look at our heater and Chris decides to pull out the air filter. Within an hour and a half the temperature was up 5 degrees.

So today's lesson is if you buy a house, change the air filter.

And finally, a Name that Screen Cap - television edition.

Think about it

Check out the following link for pictures and information on what different families eat throughout the world:

What the World Eats

I think there are a lot of different things that can be observed from these pictures. The obvious is how much is spent on food each week on different parts of the world. At first I thought 'we are under what appears to be a US average', then I remembered that only two of us are paying to eat and the little guys is eating for free.

I also thought about types of food, both in the pictures and what we eat in our house. I should try to get more fresh foods instead of frozen foods. It's amazing how much fast food, pop and prepared foods some families had compared to fresh fruits and vegetables, meat and eggs others had.

This last time I noticed the rooms the families were in, I think the pictures were supposed to be taken in the kitchen or dining rooms. Some rooms were so empty, some had televisions and the one family was sitting outside.

It's just something to see how other people live.

A Rare Rant followed by Praise

I don't usually consider myself an opinionated person. Oh, I have opinions I just don't go around blathering on about them. I'm not a very eloquent speaker (and by using the word eloquent I prove myself wrong). Recently I read a book that made me form an opinion that I want to share but since no once else I know has read it, I have no one to blather my opinion to. I'm actually not too comfortable 'naming names' on my blog but, darn it, I feel like sharing.

So basically I am here to bore you with a book that you have not read. You can pretty much skim from here, get the point, roll your eyes at me and move on with your life.

To the point - the ending of "Confessor" by Terry Goodkind ticked me off. A little background for you follows: "Confessor" is the final book of a series called the Sword of Truth. Yes, it's a fantasy series (and I lose a few more readers). I'm a sucker for series because I always want to know what happens next. The first book had some violent scenes but I was otherwise entertained. I read the subsequent books and even bought one that I felt hit some good points about humanity. Well, after that book the serious takes those few points and turns them into long winded speeches and the speeches become not only 'this is what is good' but include 'this is what is bad.' And that is how the final book ends.

Basically the protagonist banishes everyone of faith because those people are haters and promote a culture of death. Ok, in the book that is true. But it was written in a way that feels like it not only represents our culture but our society is the result of the ending (the ending is the faith people are all banished to a new world without magic so they can reap what they sow).

I guess I feel like the author is saying that anyone who practices religion is evil. By making sacrifices I do not respect myself. By not having cable and giving that money to my church I am cultivating a hate culture. It just read like Goodkind has a huge religious chip on his shoulder and he just had to share. And his sharing was as subtle as a sledgehammer upside the head.

I'm glad I didn't buy the whole series.

Ok, the praise is for another series that I've read a couple of times. (a few people who may still be reading are totally expecting me to plug Wheel of Time) I don't know the name of the series, but there are three books about a woman named Kick written by Marne Davis Kellogg. Kick is a woman of a certain age, healthy weight and extravagent lifestyle (although I'm sure she'd disagree about the extravagence). She is also a world famous jewel thief known as the Shamrock Burglar.

The first book in the serious encompasses how Kick lives and how she gets out of the thieving business. The next two books are mysteries of her trying to catch other thieves. All of them describe a lifestyle that is almost hard to believe, with fancy food, fabulous hotels and of course wonderful jewelry.

There is just something about Kick's confidence, abilities, zest for life as well as the decadent world she lives in that I love. I feel more elegant just reading the books. Sure, they are a little 'chick lit' but we all can't enjoy "War and Peace."