31 January 2008

Happy Birthday...

Rozzilyn!!

You are 11 years old today...I just talked to you, and you said that you didn't feel 11...

I personally am amazed that you are 11...because that must mean, like you...I am also 11 years older...and it seems like it was last week that I was pushing you in the swing in the tree in my front yard, and that I was taking you to the drinking fountain for the first time...or we were spending the afternoon walking up and down the front steps, because it was so fun for you to do...

Now, you are telling
jokes and displaying a wonderful sense of humor, writing and illustrating your own books and comics...you are out knitting everyone in this family...making up new patterns and creations and dreaming up new stitches out of the blue. You are smart smart smart...and are doing well with your schooling! You love all things Vintage Barbie...have a million purses...love to paint your nails...and still bring your doll Madison with you wherever we go...You are in that in between age (that's what everyone used to tell me at your age) This year for Christmas, you made and wrapped presents for all of your dolls and other imaginary people in your life...it was touching to watch...And, yet you're not too old to run up and hug me every time I see you...I like that...even though you're almost as tall as I am, and pretty soon you'll probably just be patting me on my head. Every time I spend any time with you lately, you usually have me laughing at something you say...and I enjoy the time I spend with you more and more (if that's possible) because you bring such laughter and love into my life!

When I asked you if you felt older today, the answer was NO...And, I think while you may look older than you once did, I'm happy that you still feel young...you'll probably find that as time goes on, you'll still feel young (which is good, because that means the rest of us can get younger with you!)

Happy Birthday Rozzilyn...I love you!!

30 January 2008

Oh Knit...


Lookie what I got...

A brand new pair of leg warmers...courtesy of my mother! All electric colors...lime green, orange, purple and black...


We've been having
bucket-fulls of weather here in Arizona for the last few days, so it was hard for me to snap a picture of these before I put them on this morning because of the cloudy lighting...

So, you will have to do this rather silly photo...

Of me...

Wearing them...

In the shop...

Because I do. not. want. to. take. them. off.

Ever.

They're doing a bang up job keeping my legs warm under my pants...

Thank you MOM!!

29 January 2008

Road Trip...


On Saturday, Rich called me up out of the blue (but not really, because we talk a lot on the phone...when we're not in each other's actual presence, which is marvelous) and asked me if I wanted to ride along on a drive...

Let's see:

  • Good music?
  • Good conversation?
  • Good photo opportunities?
  • Beautiful Arizona?
  • Beautiful people?

Well, between all the good and the beautiful...it seemed like the best thing going for my Saturday...We met at the shop, because I happened to be teaching my mother iPod basics so that she could continue to have groovy tunes in the store...and we were off...

It's wonderful to travel anywhere with Rich, because we happen to have most of the same food allergies...in the car there is usually no less than 3 full water bottles, a package of rice cakes, nuts of some sort, rice snacks, some kind of chips, a baggie of cereal...something sugary...really, you gotta' love a man who packs good road snacks...Not to mention lotion for the hands and lip stuff (you tend to get chappy in Arizona) Kleenex, at least 3 cameras (2 of his, 1 of mine) 2 iPods (one for each of us...we have a few different music choices on each) 2 cell phones, the Ham Radio set up, and probably various other things I have yet discovered that he carries with him...

Mobile wise? We're probably just about ready for anything...
Either that, or traveling with us is quite like traveling with someones grandma.



The other day when we were out at Skull Valley and various other parts known and unknown, I had mentioned that, "I love that really cool town...you know? Out there...um...that one you get to before you go down that BIG hill? Hmmmm...I don't quite remember what it's called...but there are the greatest trees...." and then I launched into some fantasy where I was totally self sufficient and lived off the land...and I didn't check, but Rich may have been rolling his eyes, either at the fact:

  1. That I have lived in Arizona most of my life and I still don't remember what towns are named
  2. Or that there are trees "somewhere in the distance"
  3. Or that I just launched into some other fantasy



(but, he probably wasn't because he's really not like that)

And...lo and behold...guess where we went Saturday? To that really cool town!

Now...

Either he listened
to me and wanted to surprise me by taking me somewhere I really love, or he wanted to go back to the crazy switchbacked mountain that eventually led him to discover me...um, I mean Prescott...Whatever the case...there we were...singing along to music and doing the required road trip car dancing (you gotta' love a guy who really knows how to dance) All the way through Peeples Valley and Yarnell...right down the hill...to the turn off for California (See? I got some of the names..and I think they are in order as well)


So, this drive brought back a million memories to me...Early mornings jumping in the car (about 5 am...I'm a get up and travel early kind of gal) to drive to California...where my sister now lives...and quite a lot of my family, including my father still live...




Disneyland, Knott's Berry Farm, insane thrift stores and the beach...

There was a part of me that half expected to end the day at dinner with my father and a quick dip of the toes in the cold cold winter ocean. But, Rich needed to work the next day, and I was going to Phoenix with mom and Rozz...so the ocean will have to wait until another day...

sigh.









I did get to
see the elephant that is painted on a random rock on the switchbacks of the highway...and I did get to see the large frog rock that someone has painted in the middle of the desert...I got to see a really wonderful copse of desert plants (Joshua tree, saguaro, Palo Verde, and Ocotillo) and the inside of a Texaco restroom (all that water, you know)

I also think there were large parts of both of us that wanted to keep on driving, I know that bouncy look that Rich gets now when we're gearing up to head out in the car...and the abandon we both feel when we get all road trip singy and put our heads back to belt out a tune...and the giggly anticipation of what's right around the next corner...

But, you can bet that there is a longer road trip planned in the near future for sure...

You can not let all the singing and good snacks go to waste you know...

28 January 2008

Shop Till' You Drop...

...OR...

Until 3:00...


Whichever Comes First!

Sunday was spent on the road with my mom and Rozzie...it was my mother's birthday present to her...to jet down to the Scottsdale Fashion Square to check out a few shops, then to Whole Foods for lunch and to IKEA...

Well, that's how it would have worked out if we had enough time anyway...

Rozz decided she'd like
to check out a Toys R Us while we were down there as well, so we located one and went after lunch and Whole Foods and the mall...and we were running out of time. I realized that I was trying to be upset we weren't going to get to IKEA, but I realized something even more important...

Who cares?

Spending fun time with people you love, eating good food...that's a heck of a lot more fun. My mother made the comment, "well, it's pretty weird when going to a food store is more exciting than going to a mall" She's totally right you know, going out for good food and buying food to eat later happened to be more inticing. I noticed how drained, overstimulated and spaced out I was when I went down to Phoenix with Rich last weekend...and I thought maybe it was a one time thing...but, after this weekend, and then reflecting on my whole "shopping experience" during the holidays...I am coming to the conclusion that something is changing.

Now, does this mean I will never want to go into an Anthropologie or Sephora again? Or a mall? Probably not...but I think it will have to be in small doses (and heavens, things out there are expensive...it's quite shocking really.) I mean, how many really pricey items of clothing, make-up or perfume do I need? Things I will probably get tired of just as fast as I always do. What have I possibly done in my life to warrant treating myself that well all the time? ...I mean, the only things I could be excited enough to buy were a package of rice cakes and a package of chips at Whole Foods and a birthday present for Rozzie at the Toy Store...

Did I have a great time
with my mom and Rozzie? Oh yes! Did we talk about maybe going down to IKEA only in the future? Yes we certainly did. But, some of the most funnest times of Sunday consisted of eating lunch, being in the toy store...and driving home in the crazy downpour of rain that was Arizona...it was pouring, drizzling, foggy...and there were impromptu waterfalls all over the place! The washes and rivers were raging and full...I was dying to pull the car over and shoot some pictures. By the time I got home, I was exhausted and buzzing...and it took me a couple of hours to calm down and relax...

There's got to be some sort of vitamin I can take for this right?

It was good fun, but there is something really satisfying about driving into town after a long day and breathing a sigh of relief that the whole world hasn't turned into apartments and strip malls...

Sigh.

25 January 2008

Musings...


Ok y'all.

I've about been a basket case (or bucket case as a friend once said to me..."oh, my life's so stressful...I'm just a bucket case!" Which had me rolling on the floor, it's got to be that bad if you can't remember the words to a saying right?) So, I've about been a bucket case since Christmas. Without going into any major details, because a lot of it has to do with me and my healing...or struggling, or hanging onto the edge of the precipice by naught but my fingernails (which if you've seen me isn't saying much, because I can not grow fingernails to save my life...I am a failure as a woman in that particular area, and would go "get them done" except I can't even begin to imagine the chemicals they put in that and what it would do to my body if I absorbed it through my nail bed...it's only horrible regular polish on the nubs for me thankyouverymuch)

I don't know if I've just let go and stepped off the ledge again, or found a more stable place to stand for a little while...but communications have been better within my own head, which has eased the tension in me (which is where it was in the first place...and no, I don't hear voices in my head...I just happen to really think about things a lot and I am trying to DO life differently) Perhaps it was a simple a-ha moment in therapy? OR the realization that Winter-time is not my favorite time of year and it's kicking my ass. Whatever the case, I haven't felt like myself, and I do now...a little more (baby steps Bob) So, I thought I'd share the other things that have been going on around here as of late...

*I have decided to start a Candida Cleanse to wash that Candida right out of my intestines (catchy don't you think? Well, what do you expect...one of my degrees is in advertising) It just so happened that this cleanse has coincided with another monthly thing...which about put my body over the edge Tuesday...But, I feel great today...it could be the effects of the full moon talking, it could be the fact that I am cleansing my body and ridding it of further allergins...whatever the case? It may not last (I'm not trying to be negative, it's just that usually with a cleanse, there are stages of out out damned _____ insert whatever you're cleansing) I am trying to embrace the "I feel good" in the moment...work with me here.

*I also happen to have upon my face, the largest zit known to man...it is HUGE. Whatthehell? I thought acne was an adolescent thing, I mean, these are the things we are led to believe...although, my mother was complaining about it (herself not me...that would be rude...funny, but rude) so, I'm sure clear skin must be genetic.

Oh Pooh...

I know I'm not supposed to be picking at it, but let's just put it this way: If you colored it brown? I'd look like Marilyn Monroe (in the fact that it would look like a beauty mark, not that I'd be admired by millions of people) Thank God I am no longer a teenager, and live under the delusion that I could try and leave the house with some sort of concealer on it, thus making it a huge bumpy red spot with a bunch of crusty tan stuff flaking off of it all day...cause' that's really sneaky...no one ever notices that.

Nope.
Never.

*My friend Jen is in town. She's a wonderful girl...and is here for her yearly visit to the family that has decided to move out here...right around the time she met a wonderful guy and decided to fall in love and move away. Isn't that just life? Anyway, we have these fun little rituals whenever she's in town, like dinner and a hike...she spends the night in the Sock Monkey guest room (it's not just for sock monkey's anymore) and we play catch up. She has alerted me to the fact that she has an etsy shop...and I just love her little creations so very much, I thought I'd share them with you. She is a very magical person and I love the time I get to spend with her...she reminds me of the magic in life (or rather, when I had it...not that I won't have it again, or I don't have it now, it was just different way back when...oh whatever.)

* I have totally and completely fallen in love...

With a new water bottle. Oh joy...Rich's family sent him one for the holidays and he just sprung it on me on our trip to Phoenix. I was all, "dude...hahahaha...are you sucking water out of that bottle from a straw and one of those rubber things? That really looks like a baby bottle!" Then I got all jealous when I realized that it has got to be a hell of a lot easier to pop the top back and drink through a straw than it is to have to screw the top off and almost drown every time you take a drink (which is what I always do...either that, or take an impromptu shower on the front of whatever I'm wearing) So, I started to feel all small about it, and had to cross my arms a little bit...

I almost grabbed myself one when we were at REI, but waited till' we got home (that way I could totally torture myself about it...thus justify the purchase of another water bottle) I dashed up to Manzaneta Outdoors before our drive on Sunday, and then proceeded to have a mini-meltdown over my color choice...but decided to go with pink, cause all the other one I have are pink (even though my favorite color is red, so I have no idea what that's about) Although? there was this really great gold color that totally would have matched Honey with a flying/fire tribal skull thing on it that said, "Hydrate or Die" (Which about made me crack up because it was all serious...I'm not a terribly serious hiker, or hydrator, and I can't quite picture myself walking up to someone on a trail, get all up in their face and scream, "hydrate or die!!" I could, however, see myself yelling it as I jumped out of a plane...) I understand the importance of remembering to drink water in Arizona and the importance of water for all living life...but, I don't particularly want to be all tough about it...Of course, I am considering purchasing it because of the skull and whatnot, and skulls are cool!! That's what the young kids like nowdays anyway...

(that and concealer)

24 January 2008

Happy Birthday....


To the woman who has most influenced my life (even before I knew it...why are we always the last to know?)

My Mother.


My mother
taught me how to sing, embroider, sew, knit, bake, cook (and then bake and cook with alternative ingredients) meditate, and quilt. My mother has always struggled with her own creativity (which I did not know until I was an adult...but who seemed to be always prolifically creative) and never put a damper on our creativity...but always nurtured it with joy and excitement, and love.

My mother
has always listened with a good ear, and has dolled out amazing advice and wisdom...as seemingly everything that could happen to a person has happened to her one time or another. She has taught me how to listen, and search for answers, she has taught me the art of empathy (of which I practice daily and still struggle) My mother knows me better than anyone else on this planet and truly sees me for who I am...even before I do. She has impacted my life in ways I may never know...

My mother was a spontaneous woman who grabbed us many summer days when I was a child, ran to get a bucket of chicken (back when she wasn't eating raw food...cause a bucket of raw chicken may not be too good to eat on a picnic) more foods, our friends...and piled us all in the car so we could run to Sedona and play in the water all day long...Those were amazing lazy and joyful days (this is back when it was free to park all day and free to do almost everything) Before that, we all used to pile in the car and go to the beach or the park...

My mother
has supported every dream or whim I have had. Be it music, art or school...by finding lessons, equipment or various supplies...and, when I changed my major in the last 2 years of college, she was nervous, but stood by and cheered me on as I followed yet another passion, and smiled huge as I kicked ass. She helped me start Snap Snap in 1995...she has always been an amazing cheerleader for me.

My mother has overcome a lot of her family stories, changed them and then made new better ones...She has not let anything in her life hold her back from trying...My mother and I both have struggled head on with some of these challenges side by side like true warriors, only to come out the other side battered and bruised, but stronger and with even more love. We have faced painful things together and alone...we learned how to hug each other when I was in college...

My mother is never afraid to try new things (and if she is, she doesn't show it) not, only that? The woman learns everything she can about a subject...and then shares that knowledge freely...she is both courageous jumping out in the front-lines of new things like a true leader, and when something isn't working? She just figures it out...and doesn't stop searching until she has the answers...She's also not afraid to support us when we try new things.

My mother is a voracious reader and lover of all things in print...there are books laying about her house everywhere, there always has been...shelves, boxes and stacks of books...There are papers and notes...I love to read, but she reads a lot more than I do...But you know what? She's never afraid to share a good book...although, there have been many times when there were the 3 girls living at home, and all reading the same books...so, there was hiding and hijacking of said books. The library has sometimes been a second home to us. She read out loud to all of us as children, and the other day, I was over and she was reading yet again from another book to me outloud...it's hard to concentrate though, because the sound of her voice being used that way always relaxes me.

My mother
also has a wonderful sense of humor...we are more often than not, laughing uproariously about one thing or another...We make jokes and are totally silly and ridiculous...we talk A LOT...it's next to impossible to get a word in edgewise when we all get together...but, it's fun to try. We are master story tellers when any of us eventually get the floor....Humor is the perfect mechanism for a butt in during those conversations, and is wielded with an experienced hand by everyone in the family...I don't know if we could ever go on tour as a musical group...but we could certainly go on tour as a comedy troupe...

Happy Birthday Mother...

Cheers...

To an amazing teacher, mother and human being...


It's weird that she's only 29 (again)

I love you...

23 January 2008

Cows...Cows...Cows...Cows...

On Sunday, Rich and I went out for a little drive along the back roads of Prescott...

We ran down
to Skull Valley, a little town not too far from here...




I figured that outdoor bathtub must be the public baths...

The front yard bathtub...Arizona's swimming pool...

hahahaha...
(somebody stop me)


And, then out a back road to the far end of Williamson's Valley...out to the Las Vegas Ranch...which apparently is one of the only really big intact ranches we have left out here in this area (I have it on good authority from my mother) One that hasn't quite succumbed to the gated communities and McMansions that are popping up all around...

We saw cows...cows, cows, cows...

Now, one wouldn't think that seeing a herd of cows would be quite that big of a deal...but seeing any wild life is always exciting. Even though cows aren't generally that wild...the all just stopped what they were doing (which was eating) and started to cluster together, while staring at us.



See?
Not too wild.

It was a fun and beautiful day, and I once again saw parts of Arizona...and views I've never seen before.

I know, how long have I lived here?!?!?

22 January 2008

Can You Hear Me Now...

As I said yesterday, Rich and I went down to The Valley on Saturday...I was riding along as he had some fun errands to do, and I desperately needed a break from town (lately Rich and I haven't had the same days off, or if we do, we're both too exhausted to go anywhere...so, this was the perfect day for a trip)

Now, Rich is a HAM radio person, which I did not know before I met him, and doesn't make too much difference to me now (you know? Just in case I was supposed to be scared or weirded out or something?) The Ham Radio Outlet was the first stop on our little journey (Followed by the Mac store, REI, and Whole Foods...all drool worthy to me) so he could pick up some supplies that he doesn't have in AZ with him. The store was full of gadgets and things I've never seen before, or if I have, I didn't pay any attention to because I had no idea what I was looking at.

Everyone in the store
was super nice, but it was like they were speaking some strange language that I've never heard before, pointing at things (expensive things) and jabbering on and on...I would like to say that I learned a lot, but honestly? It was more complicated than that...at one point Rich and the man who was helping us introduced themselves to each other using all sorts of numbers and letters...with big smiles on their faces and lots of shaking of hands.

I could not help but join all the smiling because of the sheer enthusiasm of the people both shopping in the store, and the salespeople (yet, in the back of my mind, I did wonder to myself how many girls with knee socks and skirts and glittery lip gloss they see in their establishment?)

And, as Rich had to
run out to the car and get his radio at one point our salesman leaned over the counter and whispered conspiratorially to me, "it's so nice you support him in this..." and gave me a little wink...and I'm sure if he'd been standing closer to me, I would have received a little elbow nudge as well...

I smiled nervously, rolled my eyes internally and thought, "do I have a choice?"

This hobby of his is
something he was into before he met me...I figure it's grandfathered in to his whole personality. Plus? I know how it feels to have a hobby that I totally love...the feeling I get when it takes over my mind...how good it makes me feel and how much I smile...then want to tell everyone about it! I also love to see those around me totally taken with their own hobbies...it makes me happy (especially when Rich tells me if we're out on our long far-away drives we'll always be able to be connected...even if we have no cell reception...can you hear me now? Yup.) Even if it meant that Rich went on for some blocks as we drove away, about all sorts of things and I hardly had any idea what he was talking about...(There seems to be a ton you need to know to be a HAM radio operator)

But...It was worth watching him bounce up and down on the car seat in total bliss...

21 January 2008

The Taste That Will Melt Your Butter...


On Saturday, Rich and I went down to The Valley for a little play day...

In a parking lot
of one of our stops...I happened to glance out the window of the Nissan, only to be greeted by this truck...

Bimbo Baked Goods...

ahhhh...

ummm...

Really?

Bimbo?

This, as our researched proved,
is a bakery company based in Mexico, and apparently was founded in 1945 or thereabouts (and is now crossing borders everywhere...not my choice of words...it's on their site) and according to them, they based their name on the Italian word for small boy...I'm thinking that was before the word Bimbo became popular in our culture as: an attractive but empty-headed young woman, one perceived as a willing sex object...

Which is making me now wonder why I was so eager to jump out of the truck after Rich came to a dead stop and pose for this picture?

Well no matter...
one will do no end of silly posing for something blogworthy.

Thank goodness I have my own personal photographer at my beck and call (he just doesn't know that..wink wink)

Perhaps Bimbo is not quite the word for me...

Maybe more like Cheese-Ball?

18 January 2008

Depression

(no, I'm not talking about the current state of the economy)

(or, of my current mental state...although, I could be, as I have had a struggley sort of week...starting with therapy on Wed. working through issues by crying a lot, starting my Thursday morning off watching a touching story about Capuchin Monkeys as assistant animals to parapalegics and crying about all the beauty in the world, and then coming to work this morning, getting the cleaning CD stuck in the CD player patting myself on the back when I coaxed it out (finally) and then finding out, that it refuses to play any CD's now...making me ponder my choices because it's about impossible to find a multi CD player...so, I may end up bringing the Nano to work to play all the groovy tunes or my own stereo from home which still has a sort of working CD player...until then, it will be a Radio flashback weekend at Snap Snap)

Breathe.

But, what I'm really talking about (because I am confident that I will make it through my current state and make the right decisions one way or another) is Chili.

Yes, Chili...

I was driving to Oh Knit the other evening using Gurley St. the main drag here in our quaint town, and passed the new Bar-B-Q joint...weirdly named Porky's. Now, I'm not a big eat bar-b-q'd meat out at a restaurant, and I am a little worried about eating at this particular establishment because of the movie Porky's from the 80's. You know the one? A teenage flick with gratuitous naughty bits sprinkled throughout it? Anyway, it's not necessarily one you need to pick up if you missed it the first time around (although, there are people out there calling it a raunchy classic..wow...there's a claim to fame for you, and I do believe it had a sequel to it as well) but let's just say there was a scene where someone was looking at girls through a hole in the bathroom wall...so, I always think as I drive by this place,

"well...it looks interesting, but I don't know how comfortable I would feel using the restroom there..."

(because apparently with everything else going on...these are the things I choose to think about)

Well, the other day, as I was driving by...there was a sign in the window that said:

Depression Chili $2 a Bowl!!

Which made me wonder...

Is this the sign of current economic times?

I mean, what would be in depression chili...really cheap meat? Horse? Fatty beef? No meat at all...only beans?

or is it a more insidious sign of the times...playing on people's current mental states?

Is it full of Prozac?

17 January 2008

Baby...It's Cold Outside...


Brrrrr...

Did you know
that it didn't get above 35 here today (yesterday) ?! It didn't...I know, I live in Arizona, and I should be thanking my lucky stars that along with the cold weather, there's no snow on the ground.

Well...there IS...just so you know. Snow...

It's on the mountains surrounding us, and in the bits or earth that don't see the sun...and it snowed over a week ago. It's not interrupting any driving or causing any accidents (I don't think, although there are a few slippery spots around town from large puddles of water freezing) But, it is making the cat and I scramble for spots of sunlight around the house...


Mostly because I got the gas bill the other day...

and I almost fainted dead away,

onto the floor...

(they should post a warning on the envelopes or something)

I am usually heard exclaiming all throughout the winter time "I pay this kind of money to be cold?!?!

I mean, ever since the local gas company got bought out 3 years ago by a new company...all that the bills have done is go up. I think they were under investigation at one point because of the hikes in our bills, but I have no idea what happened about that...I just try to pay my bill and not sustain any injuries when I faint (cause' of the no health insurance/no cash paying patients thing)

That, and the cat and I are knocking each other off various pieces of sunny furniture in the attempt to stay warm...You see, I made the declaration that the heat will not go above 60 anymore.

It's not like I'm at all extravagant with my heat anyway here...which is why I gasp at the bills during the winter months. Usually, when I'm home, I turn the heat up to 65 and whenever I step out of the house for a long period of time, I turn the heat down to 60...

Which must make my mother giggle to no end because we always wanted her to turn up the heat when we were kids...and now I hear her voice run through my head, "if you're cold...go put on more clothes!!" and I swear she kept the house warmer that I do now...we just didn't know how good we had it then. Plus, I love to sleep in a cooler house...

Because, it's easier to warm up a cold body than cool down a hot one...

Which is why, if you care to stop by any time now, you will see me in:

Morning:
PJ's, chenille socks, Ugg boots, Chenille robe, clutching a cup of hot decaf

Evening: PJ's, chenille socks, Ugg boots, fleece pullover, clutching a cup of hot tea

I see now, the only thing missing from the above wardrobes is a comfy wool hat...and I did make a sock monkey hat...so I may have to break that out soon. Lately, I've been making Meena come to bed with me early and snuggle up next to me so we can share body heat and burrow down in the flannel sheets and feather pillows and comforters (and the wool blanket) that is, when I'm not making her sit on my lap...

I also came home and cheated a bit after work today, because it's supposed to be between 11 and 17 tonight...

I turned the heat to 62...

How decadent of me...

I'm going to bed early though...so, it won't be on for long...I am thinking that I need to get a headlamp so that I can read under the covers...it's much warmer under there.

16 January 2008

Gush, Gush, Gush...



Thank you for the leg warmer love..

But, if I was to come
completely clean here, I couldn't express how easy leg warmers are to make. They go pretty fast, and if you get the right yarn?

Forget it...

You'll never want to take them off.

Then again,
it's only supposed to get up to 44 degrees today, so that might actually be a good idea. I am thinking about wearing my Ugg boots to work already...and truly? I'm wondering if the leg warmers will fit underneath the Uggs, and then if that mess will all fit underneath my pants as well?

gush gush gush...

I would also like you to know that I am a quarter of the way through the next pair I am making...and worked on them diligently at Oh Knit last night with my mom and Rozz (Rozz is working on a flag for her birthday, and Mom is working on a pair of leg warmers for Rozz)

The stripes on the new one's are
a little bolder with no other pattern, and I adore the colors on these as well (although, I try not to buy yarn I hate) I am making them a little bigger around, because I thought the pattern the yarn made was too stretched out when I put the first ones I made on, which is kind of weird because I have really skinny calves (For instance: Someone once asked me "...are those your legs or are you riding on a chicken?") Plus? I am liking to wear them over leggings so they don't fall down all day (I was wearing them over some skull and cross bone patterned ones yesterday as a matter of fact...I'm so groovy...rolling my eyes at me...) and it's really just another extra comfortable layer under skirts to keep me warm...

gush gush gush...

15 January 2008

My legs...


Under Wraps...

Finally warm...and stylishly perfect for under my winter skirts

(and pants for that matter)

I adore these so very much...and they were an easy project for me to complete in less than a week. You see, my mother made herself a pair of striped leg warmers before the holidays as a project to use up her leftover skeins of yarn. I immediately fell for them in a big way...

And, as we all know...
It's terribly awkward to have a crush on your mother's calves.

So, she totally inspired me
to make my own (that, and a case of horrible jealousy, which found me constantly checking under whatever she was wearing to see if she had them on...sly glances each time she crossed her legs was making me look like a Peeping-Tom) and we all know that I have skeins of various yarn in a basket in the studio perfect for striping any project...but, going with my mother's experience when knitting these leg warmers, she said she'd much rather use self striping yarn...so, that is what I got, (saving the skeins for wool tanks...now that I'm more confident in reading patterns that is) And surprisingly? I sort of figured out the pattern the yarn made and was able to make them mostly match each other...

And these are what I came up with...and wore for a premier to Megan's house at our little dinner party last Saturday night, where I stopped conversation when I walked into the room...

OK, to be fair...I think it was because I'd just walked in, and everyone wanted to say hello. Megan's mother first noticed the leg warmers, and mistook them for knee socks...which we both agreed was really fun because they are different from the more traditional baggy 70's leg warmers...

And those colors?

swoon...

The fun kicky pattern?

swoon worthy yet again...




They match so many of my clothes (and shoes)...and they're going to be so much fun to wear...I'm going to have to think of excuses not to wear them every day...

Then again...


Why should I?

Oh...well...um...

Because I've already started another pair in a different set of colors and stripes?

And um...well...

Because I have another skein of yarn in the waiting...and am jonesing to go back to the yarn store for even more in this particular self striping pattern?

Oh, inspiration...


you are a tricky one indeed.


14 January 2008

Rest...


Relaxation...

Medication...

(I feel like Cajun Man...)

Home made creamy broccoli soup...

But, those were the themes that were prevalent in this the second weekend of the new year. There is a flu going around Prescott (and from what I can tell through blogland...the rest of the world)

I didn't have any
crazy symptoms during the week (maybe a few sniffles) But...I noticed that I was really tired. And quite out of it as well (see? I thought I was doing well, but had at least one mix-up where I confused 8:30 PM with 8:30 AM and missed a good friend's public presentation of which I was looking forward to) And, then on Thursday...I woke up at 9...

yes, 9...

That is not normal at all for me. It raised flags...(and, now I'm having weird vivid dreams of being late everywhere, or not even showing up...so, when I am sleeping...I am waking up scared and exhausted)

And wait...this girl is allergic to most medications right? True enough...but, my family has found some wonderful things to use for alternatives, and are so good...most of the people I know now take them as well.

The GSE is NutriBiotic...this is liquid grapefruit seed extract. I've been taking 8 drops in the morning and evening for some time now so that I can keep from being sick...it tastes horrible, but is absolutely amazing! It helps to prevent illness, but when you are ill...it runs sickness through your body quicker (and I take it as often as I want to then)

The oscillococcinum (I dare you to say that) is homeopathic and needs to be taken right at the start of the onset of symptoms...or it's too late and it won't be as effective.

I also take Emergen-C with MSM (for my joints) everyday anyway...

This was also a lot of the scene this week at the shop.

Instead of bringing the computer to work with me, I spent my downtime knitting...only I don't get too comfy at work, in PJ pants with gnomes on them...and set Junior Mints on my legs...but, you get the picture.

I finished a pair of legwarmers this week...which I was able to wear over to Megan's when I was invited to dinner...

So, it wasn't an entire weekend resting in the house...but I spent a lot of time watching favorite movies, relaxing...and occasionally napping. No errands, cleaning or running around for me...just trying to recover and keep this at bay.

With the occasional treat (a gluten free peanut butter cookie) to enjoy with my Cold Care and Echinacea tea...

And, while I've managed to chase away the worst (I think)...

I still feel exhausted...

and scared.

Damn restless sick - dream - sleep...

Looks like it's going
to be another week of carefully choosing any extra activities...and letting the rest go until another time...

11 January 2008

A Night Out With The Blue Moon (I mean...Man) Group...

Last night Rich and I went to see the Blue Man Group perform at Tim's Toyota Center out in Prescott Valley...

We started with a little something to eat, scoring a great place to park (believe me, it's nice to be able to take a 2 minute walk to the arena, and then virtually be able to pull our before most of the people) get to our good seats (up on the side of the arena close to the stage) to wait for the show to begin.

We had gotten there in plenty of time to relax and build up excitement...which one could say was dashed when a person in the row in front of us stood up. Rich was looking elsewhere, and I was looking towards the group in front of us...where a person suddenly stood up wearing low rise jeans. I turned to Rich with a horrified look on my face, gasping...and he immediately scanned the crowd and got a grim expression on his (this is before both of us collapsed in laughter...and neither of us with a camera in hand...cause I'd love to spread the joy...which is a rarity indeed, the camera, not the joy...I'm all about the joy) Much to my horror, not only were the jeans embroidered with the most ridiculous spray of flowers all over the back of them, immediately drawing your attention to the butt...but they were so very low rise, most of this persons butt was hanging out (Now, I am referring to this person as a "person" mostly because neither of us could tell whether or not this was a man or a woman...seriously) They were also not wearing any underwear (that we could tell, cause we weren't too interested in getting that much closer, then again...if they had turned around, perhaps the matter of gender would have been solved...ewwwww!) and looked as though they hadn't worked out in a while. This person sat back down before either of us could get the cameras on our phones working...and honestly?

It didn't help.

Both of us were worried for the sweet older couple who sat behind them...the woman was wearing pointy shoes, and I was worried that they would get stuck in the proverbial crack...and Rich was worried that if that person stood up again, it would be the scream heard round the world...before one or both of the elderly persons being carried out on a stretcher (Please People...this is a plea...fold your low rise jeans up and PUT THEM AWAY...it's become TOO MUCH!!) And all this is before the "real" show began...

The first person to come out on the actual stage was a DJ by the name of Mike Relm. He was really great...and had both of us dancing in our seats. Not only did he mix records, but he set them, and then controlled video clips...using, as I might point out (because Rich pointed it out to me rather excitedly) MY MacBook...well, not the one I actually own (it was safe at home...I think, who knows? Perhaps it enjoyed an evening out as well?) but the same black MacBook was sitting up there helping him out the whole time. Which made me wonder if I could finally learn how to spin records and go on tour with someone...or at least start a dance club...or maybe finally start PodCasting...

Then it was time to wait for the Blue Man Group to come out on stage...Rich got a bit squirmy and jumpy, looking at his watch every few moments...he knew what was coming. I've never seen the Blue Man Group (or I would have been more jumpy for sure) Their show was all about how to be a MegaSTAR...Not only was it funny, but had a great message all the way through (I searched through the video on YouTube, and there are ton's of really great examples of their performances) So...I was being thoroughly entertained while being asked to think and feel...the ultimate performance art for sure. I don't know what their history is...but, I have to say...if you ever get a chance to see them (as this was the first night of their present tour) I emphatically say GO!!! You won't regret it...They are funny and talented...the array of "instruments" they play is staggering, and the lights and the music, plus the message...it is just awe inspiring all the way through (I already want to go again...and am excited to look at their videos on YouTube)

Sometimes I forget in all the seriousness of my life (which has been taking over too much as of late) that I need to have fun...

And, this night out of unbridled fun is just what I needed!

10 January 2008

I Think I Can Just Use The Blade...


These are the words that I heard the doctor utter as he left the room while I was being all numbed up.

I went to the dermatologist for a quick appointment on Tuesday. I needed to have something removed from my skin...in an area of my body I'd rather not name here right now. I visited a dermatologist for the same reasons years ago, and couldn't for the life of me remember whom it was in town. You see...my family doesn't go to the doctor very often (we are lucky like that...I am also completely allergic to all antibiotics and a lot of other things, so I try to go as natural as possible...go team homeopathic!) and I asked my mother who my GG goes to when she needs things carved out of various parts of her body.

"someone with an Italian name"

OK. I searched the phone book and found him...made an appointment...and they could get me in at the end of the month. That was 4 weeks away folks, and this thing needed to be looked at...I was worried. You know, you hear everyone your whole life tell you to keep a watch on skin things, "If anything changes...the color, appearance, or size...you must immediately get to a doctor because it could be cancer...or something else equally as horrible" I mean...I've been led to believe this was a bit of an emergency, eh? Yet, in a whole month, I could be seen...important parts of my body could completely fall off by then. We got to the end of all the phone questions, and she asked for my insurance company. None. I'm sorry, but I have none. She said she was sorry, they didn't take cash patients.

Oh really?

Nope. And, they had absolutely no recommendations for another doctor here in town. Well, I find this fascinating. I have never been refused medical treatment because I have cash and, it makes me wonder why? The only reason I could come up with was that so the office could over bill insurance companies (which could be why we're in the shape we're in with the medical community in this nation) But...I'm open to any other theories you may have.

As it was, the new place I called got me an appointment in less than 3 business days. Now I didn't have to worry about any body parts falling off...well, only the one my Doctor proceeded to remove at any rate. And, if you count being numbed and hacked at with first scissors (until he said, "nope...hand me the blade, and give me some traction!" ugh. Mental note to self...wear iPod when getting things removed from body) and then sawed at with a razor blade fun...

I had a great time!

09 January 2008

You Are A Shining Purl...


(see that? Purl instead of pearl...clever aren't I?)

And clever a girl still to have finally finished my knitted scarf project...

mostly.

I mostly finished it. OK, I have to knit 3 more red roses, and I need to block this thing to keep it from rolling up (even though I slipped a stitch on each row before I began which is supposed to help, the thing is still damned curly...) Or I shall rename it as a Neck Tube.

UM. NO.

It took me an entire year to knit this...OK, to be fair, I started it at the end of winter last winter, put it down when it got warm, and got out of the habit of knitting in the 90 degree heat...only to pick it up again and finish it (because to be honest? I was bored with it, and have felt the need to start a new project)

And, last night was Oh Knit with my mother and Rozz, and I desperately needed a new project, lest I die of boredom. I also needed some new yarn...Yes, I know I have an entire basket of yarn sitting in my studio, but one skeins of each color, and nothing quite perfectly suited for what I have in mind. I ran to JoAnn's early in the AM to exchange a set of the wrong sized double pointed needles for the right size, only to be told that without a receipt, they would only give me half credit. What the hell does that mean? They were exactly the same, I just bought the wrong size (I already had that size) and needed a different size...gawds. The craft store is thwarting my every knitting effort. If they weren't the only craft store that sells material in town I would have told them what for.

Damned Fools.

I got the right size needles regardless, and kept the other ones to give to Mom, as I owed her for watching the shop for an hour whilst I went to the Doctor to get all cut up...When I returned to Snap Snap, we all ran down to the yarn store right down the street so I could have her expert advice on some yarn (and a cookie...we had a cookie too, well, Rozz and I did...hey, I was playing hooky from the shop, what do you expect?) I had also gone to another local yarn store earlier in the day, and stood around in a complete panic because I could not for the life of me stop staring at all the pretty colors and find what I needed.

Yarn drama.

It's embarrassing.

I'm like a raven...I stand around staring at all the pretty shiny and get totally and completely excited...followed by overstimulated...then confused...and finally despair, before I walk out. With absolutely nothing in my hand except the car keys that are now dripping with sweat.

Looking for yarn should not be that traumatic, I am a grown woman for cripes sake.

But, then again, I usually have only a slight idea of what I'm making and hardly any experience to back it up (I am a fly by the seat of your pants crafter) and I usually want to buy my supplies right now...and I quite often only have 20 minutes before I have to be somewhere else (cause Rich came down for a quick visit, and I wasn't where I was supposed to be...)

So, I need:

Time.

and a clue...

time and a clue...

Oh, and money...

Lots and lots of money. Buckets and bagfuls of money...Because good yard is very expensive. Unless you like the feel of acrylic against your skin.

Then it's just time and a clue.

08 January 2008

Dusting The Shadows...

In lieu of making New Year's resolutions...I took the easy way out, and treated the end of the year like every other day...only with more going out to parties and drinking champagne.

I decided I would not start the New Year out with the thought of depriving myself of anything during 2008. I would, instead, try to improve on what I already have, and take a good long look at the parts of me that may need improvement, so that I may finally bring to me the things I truly want in life. The things that I have been secretly thinking of and wishing for...my entire life. Stopping to examine the shadow parts, the painful things that I have so long buried deep within, hiding them from myself and the rest of life (although, in my experience...those around us often shed light on those shadows, and help us see what we've been missing) I'm wanting to take time to pause, and try to see who I am, and what I am doing to stand in the way of having what I want...and then trying not to sabotage my chances, thus turning into my own worst enemy. I'm just having a hard time slowing down enough to see...

Maybe I don't want to. Perhaps I'm scared? But, I'm tired of being scared.

It's hard to change what you can't or won't see...and sometimes it's hard to change it once you face it. So, I decided to do what any red-blooded American girl in therapy would do...I decided to go on an organizing and cleaning binge in my Kitchen...

The kitchen has been sorely neglected...things getting all covered in flour from all the baking...things and stuffs piling up in the corners and in all the spare places...almost every blank space piled with something...and things spilling out of the cupboards and drawers (Which is terribly sad, as I painted the cupboard under my sink to match the rest of the kitchen cupboards at one point, and you couldn't even see it...what with all the things in there.)

I started under
the sink, clearing out all the cleaning agents, taking some to the shop, dividing others between the bathroom and the laundry...placing the rest in their places under the sink...a few in the nifty new chrome slide-out basket I got at the Hardware (I'm saving up for the trash can) after scrubbing it all out down there...including the insides of the doors...

It is sparkly clean...and I discovered that I have a lot of dish washing liquid (who knew?) and silver polish...Lot's of it. I have no idea why. I don't use silver polish all that often, yet I have 2 bottles of it...perhaps I will take in silver to polish in the new year...you know, more ways to distract myself from change?

And, I certainly couldn't stop there...why I don't know, but I just couldn't (honestly, I did not have organize on any resolution list...that's never on any list) I tackled the dinette space in the far end of the kitchen...otherwise known as the ultimate catch all. I have never actually eaten a meal at my kitchen table, there was too much crap stored under it (and no place for your feet...which means I had to try to make the tablecloth long in the front so that that wasn't so noticeable) I've used it for a buffet, a storage area, and a place to display my collection of vintage table cloths...and even though there is a vintage cake/pie carrier on one of the chairs...I am confident that I can move it on short notice in case I want to have dinner on the fly...

Not to be confused with a fly in my dinner.

Or eating dinner with a fly.

I felt so great after clearing out this space (vacuumed and scrubbed) I proceeded to clean, clear off and polish the counter tops...wash all the dishes, do 4 loads of laundry (including the kitchen rugs) and fold and put all of that away (including the 2 from last week) washing and changing the sheets on the bed...dusted and polished some wood furniture...and fed and watered the plants (and the cat...but, that's a given)

The kitchen feels and looks so different...so very good. It was easier than I thought, which makes me wonder why I haven't done it sooner? I want to cook, bake and create in there...I actually smiled when I walked in to pour my morning juice and coffee...I find excuses to go in there now.

I'm wondering if it will feel like this in my life, in my mind and body when I face my personal shadows...all the dust and clutter? Now that I've been brave enough to face those parts of the kitchen, maybe I can be brave enough to face those parts of myself.

I wonder what the before and after pictures will look like of that?

07 January 2008

Saturday Night...


...was an impromptu-ish craft night at Arthur's sister's house.

It had been rainy and cold all day, and I had been out dashing around here and there, to deliver some liquids to a housebound Puffs Plus user, lunch with a friend, an afternoon movie (in the house) and a little run by the local hardware for a special gift for my kitchen (as it was sorely neglected during the holiday rush) then a dash and grab to collect Arthur and a drive out to countryside for some heavy duty creating...

Well, after a good dinner of course.

Of course.

Our first project, while waiting for dinner to bake up, was a fleece blanket for Arthur to take home...I've seen these made, and haven't done them myself, so I was interested in trying it. Super easy...and really cute in the end (of course, the dark brown fleece with embroidered dandelions against a wonderful turquoise was a great color combo...Arthur knows how to pick them)



Then onto his own design and creation: Hazelnut balls. We first wrapped styrofoam balls in aluminum foil (this is so if you want to spray paint them later, the styrofoam doesn't melt from the spray paint...I mean, you could use styrofoam that you could spray paint to begin with, but we couldn't find any...) And then, we hot glued the hazelnuts to the balls, starting in the center and then working around the center in a circle until the entire ball was covered.

I have a few small gaps in mine...it's not as easy as it looks, I mean, there was several times I had to stop and look for a certain sized nut, so as not to have a huge gap...

I also did not spray
paint mine, as we didn't have any spray paint, and I kind of like the natural look. Arthur says they look really great in metallic colors...I can imagine they would.

They are quite heavy when you get done...and apparently when the nuts dry out a bit, they make great rattles.

Ah...nut ball rattles.

Mine also has a few
strings of hot glue that I still need to pick off. I also hot glued my fingers to various things, including themselves a couple of times...and then burned them. So that was fun.

If only we were using super glue...

I could have a hazelnut ball hand.

(and yes, I am chuckling to myself everytime I use the phrase hazelnut balls...)

(because I'm 12)


Then onto glitter tinsel holiday trees...which Arthur had never made personally but apparently ran a craft class at one point and exclaimed, "if 12 year old girls can do it...so can we!!" (I mean, seeing as the two of us were already giggling about the phrase hazelnut balls, I for one felt pretty confident)




For this project, you start with a styrofoam cone, and then some garland. We happened to score on all this garland after Christmas at Target for 75% off...and paid something like .75 cents for it. Arthur said they look great in maribu as well...

So, you start by hot gluing
the end of your garland to the bottom of the cone, and to your finger... (oh, wait...that was just me...plus, the addition of one or more of your fingers tends to make this project a little bulky) and then wind the garland up the cone, stopping to glue it ever so often...and the trick here is to hold the garland in place (or it will come loose and rip the green off your cone, and also giving you yet another opportunity to glue something to your fingers) ...Of course, it's really up to you...for instance, with all of the nuts that I glued to my hand during the hazelnut ball craft, the tinsel did lend a bit more festive air (and to be fair, it covered up the burn marks)


I used silver and red...and it kind of goes with the Valentine-ish theme I got going on the mantle, although, I think it will soon find it's place to the Christmas box, as I have never heard of a Traditional Festive Valentine's Day Tree (notice the attractive strings of hot glue on this also...There's something you've got to be able to use those for right? A festive Holiday spiderweb of some sort perhaps?)

Hey...I figure I just got a jump on next year's handmade holiday decorating!!

(yay me.)





At the end of the night, we finished by making little fleece throws for our cats. We're all owned by cats...and with that comes the problem of fur on the furniture, not to mention the perfect place for the cats to snuggle up during the cold winter months, and they all seem to like a fleecy place to lay their weary heads (cause they do so much during the day)

Meena loved hers, I put it in the bed on top of the covers and she curled up on it all night...all happy. At least I won't get too much fur on the bed, and these being washable are really a great idea for chairs and the backs of couches and whatnot...I think anyway.

Arthur's sister is quite an accomplished crafter and quilter (which I did not know) and she runs a craft class for her church...Arthur is a landscape architect, so he is mucho creative with plants and organic materials, and is always working on some fabulous display for work...I'm not sure how I fit in there, but I'm pretty creative in my own right. It was a good last night with Arthur for sure.

Arthur left early this morning. I am sad. We're not in constant contact during our times apart, and it's always hard for me when he goes, because I realize how much I miss not having him close and how very lucky I am to have him in my life. We said good-bye on the phone. It was a 2 minute conversation at best...I had to get off before I started sobbing (I did that alone instead) and I'm not sure how he felt...but, the last time we said good-bye in person, we were both a little weepy. Of course, I know we both have our own lives we've carved out for ourselves, and I know I'll see him again soon, as our 20 year high school reunion is coming up this year...but, it's just filling up those hours in between.

Maybe peeling the hot glue strands from my projects...

and from my fingers...

That's a start.

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