Dainty Kitty

Now That I'm Back at Work....

Now that I'm back at work I'm finding that I'm overflowing with things to blog about.  I just want to go home and take a photo of the giant bare space above my couch because my mom and I are rearranging the living room tomorrow and I'm finally going to start filling that space (I've lived in my apartment for nearly two years and have never hung a thing there - I wanted a giant mirror or an old door but never came across either [or spent much time looking for that matter]).   

I also want to take a picture of the tiny painting I found that a thrift store on Sunday for ninety-nine cents.  It won't go over the couch but I already know where I'm going to put it.    It makes me so sad to see someone's artwork on the shelves of a thrift store (even though it's good for me).  Whoever painted this one actually went to the trouble to have it framed at Hobby Lobby. 

I finally want to post about my trip, too. 

But that'll have to wait.  I'm going to Cafe Therapy downtown to meet up with some fellow knitters tonight after work.  Finally! A group that meets somewhere where alcohol is served!  Although, I'm to the toes of my first sock so maybe I should stick with one glass of shiraz...

Until then - isn't this ribbon pinecone cute?  Now that fall is finally coming to Ohio, I might spend an afternoon making some of these to put on Christmas packages. 

Side note because I'm pretty excited about the sudden change in the weather: we're going to Fulton Farm this weekend.  Hayrides!  Pumpkins!  Apple cider!  Oh my!

Vacation Lag - A Bit of Whining

Gah, I can't believe I'm physically and emotionally depressed over being home and having to return to work tomorrow.  We're supposed to go to a birthday party for friends of ours (the husband and wife - they share the same birthday - with the brilliant little boys) at six-thirty and the idea of going just about brings me to tears.  I just got off the phone with Jake who - after I went back and forth about whether or not I wanted to do something before hand - finally said he would just pick me up at six.  He let me off the hook for the whole thing but I'd be a pretty terrible girlfriend if I didn't go with him, I think. 

On any other day I'd probably want to go - I mean, it's a dessert party for Pete's sake, with a yet to be seen array of delectable sweets.  Not today, though.  I mustered up just enough oomph to shower and run out to Joann's with my Columbus Day 50% off coupon to pick up a crochet book I wanted then I was back on the couch, alternately napping with Mina and reading The Gates of the Alamo.  I think Jake was surprised to see me reading a western.  I'm a sucker for a western/romance with a lot of war and such thrown in.  I can't read straight romance but if there's dust and horses and Native Americans...I'm all about it.  Lonesome Dove is one of my absolute favorite books. 

I digress.  I feel like I should get off my rump and meet him out for coffee or something to kick start the evening.  It's amazingly hot outside, though, and the idea of drinking coffee, even in an air conditioned shop, doesn't really appeal.  Or maybe I should take myself out to dinner - I'll need a solid base for all that sugar, after all.  I could go for a tall beer and some chicken wings but really don't want to go alone because reading at a Buffalo Wild Wings is just silly.  I could play trivia, though...or I could just call Jake and tell him to come over early....

Regardless, I really do have to go back to work tomorrow.  Meh.

Home Again

I have lots of pictures to post and things to say but every time I start, even though I think about it bit by bit, I get overwhelmed. 

It was certainly the vacation I needed.  By Friday night I was ready to be home...but not ready to leave.   I don't think I found all of the answers I was looking for but I do think I found a few and came across other things I hadn't thought of at all.  Anyway, tomorrow - views, books, seafood and yarn stores.

For now - my feet.   Just because I liked the way the waves rushed over and around them. 

I Heart Nashville

I could have ended my vacation after our night in Nashville - I had that much fun!  After walking up and down Broadway, devouring a pulled pork sandwich topped with slaw and a slurping a locally brewed beer called Yazoo Pale Ale, we stopped in a little honky tonk called Robert's Western World.  We were trying to pick a place and the band was playing one of my favorite songs, "Kawliga" (click to hear about that poor old wooden head [sidenote:  my granny had a Boxcar Willie album and I asked her to play this song so many times you could probably tell exactly where the song was located on the album]) so we went inside.  What a great little bar!  I mean, really, how can you go wrong with a bar that sells fried bologna sandwiches and a bag of chips for three-fifty?  Add a Miller High Life (two bucks before six and only a two-fifty after six) and you've got a first class meal (I used to love my granny's fried bologna sandwiches, too)!

Anyway, the music was great, we drank MHL all night (which cracks me up), my mom got a little drunk (that's rare) and I danced all night with a sweet redneck from West Virginia named Ray.  He made my one night in Nashville so much fun (and the guy sitting next to us had a boy crush on him [and even bought him a shot at one point] because he looked like the lead singer of Lynyrd Skynyrd. Now I know how to two step...I think.  Anyway, a night in Nashville is not the time to break in a new pair of shoes...and if I could dance like that every night I'd be stick skinny.

Here are some photos I swiped from their website (believe it or not I didn't carry my camera downtown - I could have kicked myself) - Riley was our super cute waitress and The Don Kelley Band was playing that night.  Oh, and we sat right in front of those boots. 

Socks, Moral Dilemmas & Stitch Markers

It's rained here most of the day but it was finally clear enough to take photos of my first sock in progress.  Hooray for the sock yarn Kim sent - the kick in the arse that I needed to finally give sock making a try!
I only have a few minutes - Jake's coming over for dinner and the season premiere of The Office here in just a little bit.  Of course, we had to have a bit of an argument.  He mentioned that the next book in the series he's reading isn't available for him to pick up at the library so he might have to spend a couple of hours at a bookstore, reading.  I said that I couldn't imagine reading a book at a bookstore only to put it back on the shelf and not purchase anything.  He seems to think that because they have comfy chairs, this is okay.  Especially if it's a big chain bookstore.  He wouldn't do it at a smaller, locally owned store which just astounds me.  I asked what the difference was and added, "Oh, you want to 'stick it to the man,' right?"   Really, some times I think book smarts totally leave no room in person's mind for common sense.   He then said that he would ask his friends on the forum what they thought.  I shot that down because what you really need to do is ask employees of a large chain bookstore what they thought about it.  He went into something about a poll of employees because one opinion wouldn't do... which was my point exactly.  Then I said something about how going to the forums for an opinion isn't always the solution.   Anyway, long story short, he got off the phone pretty quickly.   Gah, I swear.  What do you all think about reading a book in a book store?  And I don't mean perusing a new book of knitting patterns.  I mean sitting down with a novel and reading it.  Not just a sample to see if you like it (I always read the first page)...just reading.  And the next time I'm at a Barnes & Noble, I'm going to ask an employee for sure. 

Anyway, great way to leave things before your boyfriend comes over because you're leaving for a week.

To close on a cute, happy note here are the stitch markers I received from Better Bead It! Designs and how cute are they?!  Finally!  Cute crochet stitch markers!

I'm so ready to sink my feet in the sand!  And my dad is bringing his laptop (the condo has internet access) so I can keep up with my blogs - yay!   

Pre-Vacay Crunch Time

Lots to do before leaving for Nashville and Destin, Florida on Friday.  Jake and I met for hot apple cider (delicious) and a bit of reading (I found a new author I like quite a bit, Rite Ciresi - I finished Blue Italian last night and am going to pick up at least one more of hers to take on vacay) last night and I made a list of things to pack and things to do (I took tomorrow off to get ready - I always have to have the day before to get organized and the day after to re-cooperate).  I love making lists - I love columns and crossing things off and feeling accomplished.  I also seem to like parenthetical phrases....

I have pictures to hopefully take and post before I leave - I started my first sock and I also received some really cute crochet stitch markers in the mail the other day. 

Ah I hope the work day flies by today. 

If anyone would like a postcard from sunny Destin, Florida, send me your address - sushichickATgmailDOT com.  :-)

The Prize Winner of Dayton, Ohio

Awesome, isn't it?  A knitting tote, a knit bias scarf, frilly armwarmers, stitch markers, sock yarn, posties 'cause E is for Emily (or Excellent - whatever), strawberry black tea (I love strawberries and can't wait to try it), Morehouse Farm - Merino Knits by Margrit Lohrer and Knitorama by Rachael Matthews.  Both books are awesome but about Knitorama she said, "The only thing I made a conscious match to was the Knitorama book; that seemed like you."  Totally!  Such cute kitschy patterns - I can't wait to try a few of them out.

A close up of the scarf and tote.

Kitty stitch markers for Dainty Kitty.

So, again, a bazillion thanks to Kim for running such a fun contest and putting together such a great prize package.  And smooches to Alan for being so damned handsome! 

(She sent the photo with her note - isn't that cute?)

Great Mail!

Egads I got the best prize package EVER in the mail today!  My prize from Kim of Hand Eye Crafts for winning the Knitter's Hunk contest!  The goodies were never ending!  Our mail carrier, Donna, even stuck around to see the booty and even she was overwhelmed by the amazing gifts included in the package (and boy was it more fun to open with someone around to get excited about it with me).

Pictures when I get home (as long as the sun sticks around), I hope.  I complained to Jake that he goes out to dinner with the (female) freind he was having coffee with last night so he's taking me out for Thai tonight.  He's even picking me up (about an hour and a half earlier than we normally get together which is really something)!  I feel like I should wear a dress or something. 

I wonder if he's going to try to kiss me when he drops me off at the end of the night....hee hee!

Then we're going for coffee and a bit of reading and crocheting.  I'm almost finished with my first scarf from the Mr. Funky book (the one that I finished and then frogged) - one more row and a few more flowers on the petals and I'm done.  Should be a really nice night.   We need it.  Or at least I need it. 

Spinning, Crocheted Cuffs and Unexpected Mental Vomiting

Here are the first few feet of my laughable first spinning attempt using Spin to Knit by Shannon Okey. 

Spinning is hard! Of course, it's all uneven but I think that's pretty normal for a first try.  At least I hope it is!  Actually, rather than getting big lumps, I had more trouble not letting it get super skinny.  The book helped a lot.  The websites I looked at said nothing about drafting  the fiber first and - holy cow - that makes a huge difference.  Luckily I have a ton of this blue stuff to practice with. 

The book doesn't tell you how to take it off the spindle without untwisting it so I'm going to do some more searching online and if I can't find anything I'll bet an email to my spinning expert friend, Delly Bean will solve the problem. 

I finished this Crochet Cuff last night in order to feel like I was getting something done.  I know it just kind of looks like a knot of yarn but it's rather pretty in real life.  The blue ribbon yarn was my very first Expensive Skein which I bought in Sanibel Island a few years ago.  My plan is to put a lot of time into the Hep Cat from the Doherty book tonight but I'm having problems with my inability to sit still or work on one project for more than a few minutes. 

I had loose plans to go drinking with a coworker tonight but it fell through.  Jake's having coffee with a friend.  I'm about to go mad, I'm so tired of coming home every night and staying here.  I need to get out more often.  I was talking to Jake about this in an email today, "Although, as usual, I have the itch to do something.  I don't know what's up with that."  He wrote, "I don't know.  Maybe you're on the verge of becoming another person; silly as that sounds, it happens."  And I replied, "Yeah, I know what you mean.  I wish I could move right now.  Not out of the city - just somewhere else.  Isn't that weird?  I've been thinking about it a lot recently."

And I have - although this confession was kind of the first time I put it all together.  I really do need some sort of fresh start.  I'm realizing that I'm, very slowly, becoming who I want to be even though I'm not really sure who that is.  I just think that maybe thirty-three is going to be a good year for me.  We'll see. 

My friend Aimee, of Vibrance Fitness & Nutrition, recently wrote something in her newsletter that really struck a chord with me, "Fall is a notable season for me.  Years of new school supplies and classes coupled with my birthday have always given autumn more a feeling of new beginnings than January does...September is naturally a time of transition, and with my birthday smack in the middle of it I can't help but stop and reflect at the events of the year and look ahead to what I can create in the coming twelve months."   

Yeah, I get that.

Welcome to My Disjointed Thoughts

I've only ever made cheese dip in my slow cooker but this morning I tossed my precut onions, green peppers, garlic, spices and cider vinegar in with kidney beans, pinto beans, chickpeas and crushed tomatoes and left it to stew all day.  Instead of being excited about the wonderful smell that will greet me as I walk through the door, I have the nagging, absolutely silly paranoid feeling that my apartment building is on fire as I type this. 

Well, at least the standing water in my kitchen sink might prevent the fire from spreading throughout the entire building.  I dropped a shot glass into the garbage disposal a week or so ago and it was, of course, running.  The shot glass - thankfully not one of my nicer ones - shattered into a million pieces.  Since it was my fault and I'm also more than a bit paranoid about having strangers in my apartment ever since the February Drywall Incident (when it seemed I could never tell when strangers were going to be in my apartment)...I never called to have it fixed.  I dug out all of the glass (or at least as much as I could feel/let cut my hand) and was very careful about not getting any food in the sink but I failed miserably, I guess - now it's clogged.  I would have called eventually but, seriously, even though I know the maintenance person I'm still incredibly uncomfortable.  She was in on Friday to (finally) hang my blinds (which have been down since the February Drywall Incident) and I wasn't given any notice.  Gah, I hate that.  Thankfully, my usual pit of a craft room was actually clean. 

How's this for coincidence?  A few weeks ago one of the guys that works at the video store next to my complex asked if "we" lived in said apartment complex.  Well, not "we" but, yes, "me."  Turns out he lives there, too, which really isn't all that weird.  What's funny is that we discovered that I went to high school with his older sister and he went to the same school three years later with my brother. 

Anyway, there was a thought process that linked the last two paragraphs but  I can't remember for the life of me what it is.

We're finishing Battlestar Galactica (we started with the miniseries) tonight over chili and asiago cheese bread.  I really didn't think I'd like Battlestar (sorry, Delly) but I found that I did.  I could do without any of the awkward/unneeded sex scenes (I've heard that gets better - right now it's just irritating and I'm certainly no prude) but that's my only complaint.  I've been crocheting or knitting while we watch television for the past few weeks but I took a break to actually cuddle and pay full attention because I think Jake kind of misses that.  I have a lot of trouble sitting still through a movie or even a television show.  I have to have a magazine or book to read during the commercials and slow parts (unless it's a good commercial like the Mastercard one with the three little boys dancing to "We've Got the Funk) and my hands need to be busy doing something.  I've found I have a shorter attention span the older I get.  Sometimes I can't even finish a book and have to stick to magazines and short story anthologies for a period of time. 

Speaking of books - I'm going on vacation soon and need some car/beach reading.  Any suggestions?