CurrentlyPurring's Xanga

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Wed, 10 Sep 2008 23:29:26 GMT

Well, I went ahead and did it. Just thinking about how much I wanted both of my blogs in one place got me fiddling around with replacing this one. Check the new digs out at Currently Purring. I've already come up with a knitting emergency that I need help with. I can't decide between two baby blankets and I need to get started on this project soon. Check it out and let me know which one you like better.

Ready

Wed, 10 Sep 2008 18:11:27 GMT

I am now ready for the triplets to come visit. Does that mean the boxes are all unpacked and I have space for them to all come and stay with me? No, not at all. There are still boxes everywhere and there are probably knives lying around everywhere or something just as tragically dangerous. But I miss them and I need them. John and Kate Plus 8 just don't cut it any more. Sure there's more of them, but they are not my triplets. On top of that I have discovered the Strong National Museum. It is a couple hours away, but I figure since they are coming all the way from Arkansas, it will be worth it. They have the National Toy Hall of Fame, a butterfly garden, and a carousel. That's something for each of them, and of course for me there is ... Sesame Street!

Of course if that's not enough we could check out Niagra Falls while we're in the area.

I also think I'm ready to move on from xanga. I'm getting sick of the constant survey stuff and the features don't really appeal to me much anymore. Keep your eyes open for a new location.

Impromtu Day

Sun, 31 Aug 2008 19:53:34 GMT

My brother and his friends took an impromptu trip to the city this weekend so I got to spend an impromptu day with him yesterday. We had some great jambalaya at a Louisianan restaurant in Hoboken. Then we took the ferry over to down town. In our excitement, we all rented bicycles. We biked up along the river, around central park, and back down to the ferry. It was so much fun and coasting on the bikes sure helped with yesterday's humidity, but I'm not sure I was prepped for 2 hours of bicycling. So take this as your warning friends: when you visit, you can never be sure of what physical endevors we'll expect of you. It was great to get to see Cody, and I got to meet his new girlfriend. She seems sweet, and we've got a date to go ice skating at Rockafeller Center so he better stay with her until Christmas.

Completely unrelated fun stuff:

I bought the tickets today for Hubby and I to go to my first StitchnPitch. It's the Mets v Cubs so I'm excited. I may have to teach him how to knit garterstitch dishcloths or something so he doesn't feel left out.

If you are looking for something cute, useful, and handmade, then you should check out the Ernie Eyeglass Holder. (I'm linking this almost as much for myself as I am for you )

Spam

Mon, 11 Aug 2008 17:37:59 GMT

Just an announcement: UCA has blocked my e-mails. They are returning to me as undeliverable spam. I don't know how long they've been having this problem, but I'll look into getting it fixed.

Ball of Wool

Mon, 11 Aug 2008 17:22:06 GMT

Counting to 4

Fri, 25 Jul 2008 16:34:26 GMT

I'll bet The Count has a new love of his life:

Pay it forward

Sun, 20 Jul 2008 19:31:40 GMT

Have I been inspired by Haley Joel Osment's cuteness and innocence? Maybe. The cause is unimportant. What is important is that I have signed up for a Pay It Forward Exchange. My gift has come, and it is fantastic! Check it out:

It is a hand knit New York dishcloth to help me fight grime in the big city ;). This was made for me by the Secret Knitter, and he did a fantastic job. I haven't taken the opportunity to use it yet. Last night was the hubby's turn to do dishes, and he's more of a sponge kind of guy. Odd as it seems, I am looking forward to trying it out. People rave about hand knit dish clothes, and the fact that there is any aspect of dish washing to rave about intrigues me so I'm pumped.

Now it is my turn to spread the love. Leave a note in my comments to play along with me. Here is how it is going to work. You leave me a comment and I will make something special just for you. When you receive it you have to pay it forward to 3 other people. Not a knitter? Not a problem. You just do whatever it is that you do. Write them a song or some poetry, paint a picture or draw a cartoon. You know what it is that you like to do better than me, so I'll trust you to make that call. You do have the deadline of one year to get it done, but that won't be too hard. I promise.

Happy Fourth!

Sat, 05 Jul 2008 17:12:08 GMT

We had a fantastic holiday! We were planning on going to the NYC fireworks, since it was our first year in the area. Then we found out that they are done over on the East river. It seemed awfully patriotic to go see the fireworks at the Statue of Liberty, so we decided to check out what Jersey was doing. Sure enough, there were fireworks at Liberty State Park.

The website suggested we get there around noon, but sitting in the damp weather for 9 hours didn't sound like too much fun. We waited and got there around 5. We managed to find ourselves a park bench to sit on and people watch while the music played. I got a lot of knitting done as well.

Though my knitting came to a complete halt when I got a visitor. It was bizarre. This bee flew right up to me (insert pun about a bee line here) and landed on my fingers. It walked all over my hands like it was looking for something and then without finding it (I'm assuming) it flew off.

It could have only been there for 20 seconds, but it felt like an eternity and my fingers tingled for the next hour.

Eventually, after a misstart and some stalling by the mayor the fireworks came.

Not long after they started, the East River fireworks started right behind us, and they perfect because we had the city skyline between us and them. The hubby and I moved off the bridge and down to the park so we could try to watch them both

(Sorry none of the East River pictures turned out any better than this, but they were a great sight to see)

It's Official...

Thu, 03 Jul 2008 16:12:01 GMT

... and I've got the documents to prove it.

Now I just need to find that purple folder thing that Lu handed me back in May.

Music

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 21:32:43 GMT

A few years ago something happened that somehow took the music out of my life. I use to have music playing all the time from my computer speakers. Then a couple things happened. First, I started playing video games online. Pandora and iTunes slow things down when you are playing online so I pretty much stopped listening when I was in the computer area. Secondly, i got married and moved into a living space that was more than just a bed and a desk in one room. My computer speakers aren't really enough to fill my whole world with music anymore. A coupe years ago my hubby gave me an iPod which did wonders to bring music (and podcasts) into my life, but there was still a problem. The earbuds that brought me music, news, workouts, and audio books also blocked him out. I'd be listening to something while I was cooking and he would come in and have a half of a conversation with me before he realized I couldn't hear him. So I stopped listening to it as often. But have no fear! I now have the joy of music again. For my birthday he gave me a speaker for my iPod so we can share music and each other.

This new access to music has made me a little more dedicated to getting all of our cds put on my iPod. I spent all of yesterday sitting at my computer uploading all of our music to my iTunes so I can sync it up with my iPod. The last time I was this obsessive about it was when we were putting together the music cds for our wedding, and then I passed over most of the good stuff in favor of the mushy stuff that was more setting appropriate. How did I keep myself from going nuts watching the little importing progress bar? Your guessed it: knitting!

I got half way through my Marialis End to End scarf from 101 Designer One Skein Wonders. I was fully prepared for this to be my faith in blocking project, but with one of my two skeins of yarn already gone. it is only 14 inches long.

I think it is time to accept that I just don't have enough yarn for that beauty. I think instead of the scarf I might make myself a matching hat and fingerless glove set. We'll see. Saddened by that disappointment, I had to work with something else. I moved away from the soft black alpaca to some slick green cotton.

This is the beginning of the bottom of my Gilmore Vest. I wanted to work this pattern next because I had enough yarn for it in my stash, and it is a pretty straight forward pattern. This is going to be my first attempt at doing my own knitting math and body shaping.