corvikate

This idea was stolen from Schmutzie, who stole it from someone else.

A - AVAILABLE: My availability is low, between sewing class, AA meetings, and old people.

B - BIRTHDAY: 20 October 1962. My 30-year high school reunion is coming up this year. Jesus.

C - CRUSHING ON: my husband - oh so yummy

D - DRINK YOU LAST HAD: Diet Pepsi Lime. It's not bad. (Last alcoholic drink I had was a vodka & tonic, in 1986. Don't miss it at all.)

E - EASIEST PERSON TO TALK TO: Jude (my sponsor)

F - FAVORITE SONG: oh, man, too many to count, but one that I have loved for a very long time is "How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You)" by James Taylor. I think it came out in 1975.

G - GUMMY BEARS OR GUMMY WORMS: Bears.

H - HOMETOWN: I was born in Tucson, Arizona, but I think of Syracuse, New York as my hometown. I wish I lived in DC again.

I - IN LOVE WITH: my husband. We were made for each other.

J - JUGGLE: Not at all.

K - KILLED SOMEONE: No, not yet. (No immediate plans.)

L - LONGEST CAR RIDE: I rode a bus from Tucson to Syracuse when I was 18, about 60 hours. Diesel fumes still make me sick. I drove from Virginia to Idaho in 1989, and back. A much better experience, and not just because I was sober.

M- MILKSHAKE FLAVOR: Chocolate malted.

N - NUMBER OF SIBLINGS: One half sister, three step brothers.

O - ONE WISH: To find a career path that I enjoy.

P - PERSON YOU TALKED TO LAST: Mom.

Q - QUESTIONABLE LIKE: Conversation hearts and candy corn. (Not together, that would be weird.)

R - REASON TO SMILE: Dolly the dog playing with Noel the cat. Pets are a 1000 times more entertaining than tv. My favorite band, XTC.

S - SONG YOU LAST HEARD: Love Alive, by Heart. I am a child of the 70s.

T - TIME YOU WOKE UP: 6:45 am. (After the dog woke me up to go out at 3:45 am. Not good.)

U - UNDERWEAR COLOR: beige.

V - VALUES: Yellow Dog Democrat left wing liberal bleeding heart.

W - WORST HABIT: Biting my fingers around my nails.

X - X-RAYS YOU’VE HAD: teeth, neck, hips, back.

Y - YOYOS: Never could operate one.

Z - ZODIAC SIGN: Libra. Why? You want to debate?

So, last fall, someone in our SCA group suggested that we put on a lunch fundraiser at an event in February. I said I would help if I wasn't the only person doing the work, as happened last February. The group agreed to host this fundraiser. Discussion ensued.

Earlier this week, the seneschal (who is more or less in charge) asked me to take the lead on organizing this. (He and his wife are making a vegetarian dish, and she will help work the booth.) He is a good friend, and needs the help, so I agreed. I sent out an email asking what the other group members were planning to do to help. There have been exactly zero responses, including the person whose suggestion it was in the first place. Awesome. I agreed to do this and I will, but in the future, these people can kiss my ass and call it coffeecake. I may learn slowly, but I do learn eventually.

---

Last year at this February event, as in just about every year, I was freezing cold all day. I have always tried to wear period-appropriate garb, and for a Viking event, that means a long muslin underdress and an apron dress (with some type of wool wrap around me because, brr!). Last year, I looked around and noticed that some women were wearing men's clothing - wool pants and short tunics. It occurred to me that I really don't have to adhere to authenticity - it's not even my hobby, after all. I already have black fleece pants and I bought some gray-blue fleece to make myself a warmer tunic. I am also making a new underdress, as the old one is stained and worn. Technically, that's accurate for medieval garb, but I'm sick of it so I'm making a new one, just like the old one, but without the stains and fraying. I will take the women's clothing to change into for the feast, and wear the men's clothing during the day so I am not a miserable hag all day between the working and the freezing and the self-pity.

So that's two tunics to sew and a LOT of food to prepare and a good amount of planning to do. This ought to be a busy week.

---

The ice has been melting steadily all week, and we are down to a few sad patches here and there. The forecast calls for "wintry mix" on Saturday, but the high will be in the low 40s, so I'm not too worked up over it. David should return from training on Saturday night. I plan to go take the old people out for lunch on Saturday, for their respective birthdays which fall next week. Wally will be 82 on the 8th, and Doris will be 83 on the 14th. I ordered roses for Doris's birthday back in January. It's more expensive at Valentine's Day, but Wally insists. I placed the order for him last year, too. He's not really in a position to do it.

Our church's Boy Scout Troop is having a barbecue plate sale this Saturday. I bought 3 tickets last month. If I thought it would keep, I'd take it out to the in-laws, but instead I will bring some home for dinner. No cooking or cleaning = more time to sew.

Yesterday's sleet and slush continued into the afternoon. I took Dolly for a walk over to my office - it's a mile one-way, and I needed a file on my office computer. A two mile walk is a good hike for us, and it was fun to be out. The slush froze solid and smooth in the afternoon. The street, driveway, even the yard was a solid sheet of ice. If I had skates, I could have skated on my driveway today. Even the dog was skidding around. (She was also eating sunflower seeds off the ground around the birdfeeder, as I discovered at 6 am when she barfed them all back up on the bedroom carpet. Stupid dog. She doesn't get to go out by herself today.)

This morning I went through my dresser and closet, and put some things aside for the Goodwill. The sun came out and the temperature rose above freezing, so I went out and cleaned off the car. If it's dry when the sun goes down, there won't be so much ice to clean off in the morning. Work has already declared a two hour delay for Monday. I had a whack at the driveway, but the back third of it is still solid. I got as much as I could, and scattered some of the slushy mess onto the ice so there might at least be something on the surface for traction.

This is one occasion when I am glad not to have rain gutters. The roof has the same glaze as everything else, and the ice has been melting steadily all day. So far, no avalanches. I have my fingers crossed. The power went out briefly but returned right away. Whew.

I took Dolly around the block, mostly to see how the roads look, and they are patchy. Clear in sunny areas, icy in the shade. I have not even considered driving anywhere in this mess. I can drive in snow, and in fact, I rather enjoy snow driving sometimes, but this is ice. A whole different experience, and as I do not have chains for my tires, I'm staying home. If the roads are still ugly tomorrow, I may just walk to the office. I am fortunate to have that option.

The one unfortunate thing about this weekend is that I did not get milk and eggs before the storm hit, so I have not been able to make brownies. Foo. I shall console myself with chocolate pudding, instead.

No travel for me. We don't plow here, we just wait for it to melt. Sunday afternoon, the roads will be dry.

Snow day! Snow day! Stay at home and do whatever I want day! WOOT!

Another few hours at work and I'm FREE! Well, for the weekend, anyway. And not free of obligation - I need to go visit the in-laws on Saturday and go see my folks on Sunday, and tonight I'm going to dinner with a friend. Hmm. Never mind.

There is some slight possibility of the dreaded Winter Weather tomorrow. I expect people will be filling their gas tanks and buying out all the milk and bread in the stores tonight. We've had repeated discussions at work about the Inclement Weather policy, etc. Now, in fairness, it has only been 10 years since the snowstorm that brought 24" of snow to central NC overnight, and closed pretty much everything for a week. (I was in Mebane, and I was the only person in my town that shoveled the walk. Daddy'd be proud.) It's been 7 years since the ice storm that knocked out power all over Durham for a week. So I suppose it's possible that we might have Wintry Mix (TM) tomorrow. It's just more likely that we'll get some rain and chilly weather and go on with our lives.

If I do get to go see my in-laws tomorrow, I'll go to the women's meeting in Aberdeen first. I went once, but haven't made it back. It was good, but it's an hour's drive one way, plus the meeting. Taking three hours to go a meeting on Saturday morning is a little much. If I'm already going out there anyway, it gives me a little boost to have a meeting under my belt before I see them.

At the suggestion of my aunt, I will see if Best Buy has a device to go over the laptop screen to magnify the screen for Wally. He also needs a mouse, to get around the touchpad. People with disabilities use computers all the time, I just need to get the right assistive devices. He has the willingness, that's for sure. He doesn't give up easily, not at all. Wally's amazing.

A friend in California that I've never met is in the hospital with complications in her pregnancy. I've been reading her work for 12 years, and I feel like I know her. I hope she's okay. There are a lot of other people in this country and others who are also waiting to hear and hoping for the best.

Work has been hopping here lately, and home hasn't been much better - meeting on Monday and Wednesday, sewing class on Tuesday, zoom zoom. I just have too much going on, that's all there is to it. There are worse fates, but I'd like to have one evening where I could just put my feet up and knit/veg/watch the tube. Don't know when that will be - I guess I'll have to add it to my schedule.

Earlier this month, one of the bloggers I read (Mason Dixon Knitting) was extolling the virtues of getting enough sleep. They've moved on to new topics, luckily, because I was getting downright envious. I had a dentist appointment yesterday that ate up 3 hours of my time, so I've been going in early trying to make it up without having to use leave. (I'm back down to one day of leave. "Earn it and burn it" is not how I want to operate, but that's what it amounts to.)

Tired, with heartburn. Okay. I will leave you with the weekly newspaper's headline, which has given me much joy and mirth today:

"A Legacy of Excellance"

bwah ha ha ha! woo! too much! ~wiping away tears of laughter~

Man, these are so CUTE. Note the quarter, for scale. These things are so cute they make my ovaries cramp up.

I made a new type of baby hat, but it turned out more toddler-sized. I'll see if my cousin's little girl Ellie can wear it. I still have another baby to knit for - my office mate is due in April.

(You can see here how the "complete unfinished objects" plan is going. Babies keep arriving, needing handknits.)

I've been working on a color work hat for David (Tepes, a pattern I sent to him as joke which he loved and wanted. Oops). Color work is kicking my butt - I must have ripped that sucker out a dozen times now. But, it's one of the UFOs so I am working on it. And practicing my cussing.

Instead of many other things I could have done, yesterday I spent the bulk of the day organizing the laundry room. That's where the catbox lives. Sadly, it's also where all my sewing and knitting stuff lives, too. I put in another shelving unit and got things neatened up considerably. I also had to face the fact that I have achieved SABLE: Stash Acquisition Beyond Life Expectancy. Maybe not my entire life expectancy, but I have years' worth of projects, some started, others just parked in bags with yarn and instructions. I do not need to purchase any more yarn.

I repeat, I do not need to purchase any more yarn. I probably will, but I will attempt some self restraint this year. (Except for wool festivals, of course.)

Naturally, I went out last night and bought a skein of Paton's SWS to finish a pair of mittens. I ran out at the fingers of the second mitten. I can't just leave it undone! (It's easy to see how this SABLE occurred.)

And now I'm back to work, with no holidays in sight until Good Friday. I've been spoiled by the winter holiday season. Sigh.

Man, it was about 65F today. Of course, there were periods of heavy rain and thunder interspersed with calm, but the warmth was really nice. It's still about 57F at midnight.

I spent about 3 hours with the in-laws yesterday, talking to the internet provider on the phone to get Wally on email and walking him through sending emails. This plan has major flaws: he can't remember how to use the laptop form one time to the next, and more importantly, he can't see it to use when it's set up for him. (I set the fonts to 16pt Times New Roman.) David sent an email to Wally so he could send one back. Wally replied with 3 sentences: this took 20 minutes, with a lot of my help. In fairness, the touchpad on the laptop is highly sensitive, so if he touches it while typing, it moves the cursor, and then he has to go looking for it. Not so easy with macular degeneration. I'll see if hooking up a regular mouse helps that problem.

I know his kids meant well when they suggested he get a computer, but doesn't paper-and-pencil snail mail sound like a better plan? I don't think Wally has dementia, I think he has so much stress he can barely function. Anyway, he's taking a basic computer course at the local community college, so if you are of a mind, you can pray for that instructor.

Tonight, David and I went to hear Jonathan Byrd play in Aberdeen with Johnny Waken and Paul Ford. I've been going to see him since he first started out in 2001, and he has really grown and developed as a songwriter, both lyrically and musically. His latest recording, The Law and the Lonesome, is really really good. The title track and others (I like Coyote, too) can be found on his Myspace page. Absolutely worth a listen, and you can check his concert listings to see if he'll be in your area this year.

Tomorrow I will make some chili, and work on the persona pentathlon stuff. I asked for help, and the Other David started me on making a wooden comb. (Perfect and practical, and I would never have thought of it.) I got the bulk of the cut out work done, now it needs finishing.

Well, it's after midnight, and I must get some sleep.

We got back on Wednesday night. How I hate air travel. Yesterday at work involved some last minute rescues and a bunch of juggling. Awesome. I did get to a meeting last night, which was a mercy. I saw a friend who had been assigned to Colorado three years ago, but is in town for training. Sad news - his marriage is over, and he's struggling to get equal time with his two young sons. He's not giving up, but it is hard.

When we were in Chicago, we got to go to the Art Institute. We were hoping for the armor display, but most of it was in storage. We did see what was there, as well as some interesting Islamic art, medieval art, and later works. I know very little about art, but I can still enjoy it for its appearance. Landscape art, Degas dancers, iconography, bring it on.

The kids are doing as well as teens can. The boy is thoughtless and sometimes mean, and it disturbs me. I hope he can stay out of jail until he re-discovers his damn common sense. Gah.

I'm still up to my neck at work, so off I go.

In Chicago (Mundelein, actually, northwest of the city) and it is some kind of cold out there. It might have gotten up to 20F today, but it was sure as heck 10F when we left the restaurant tonight. Holy crow.

The flights were uneventful. Security did not pay any attention to anything we brought. The roads are blessedly clear of snow & ice. The kids are fine, and beautiful, and we're glad to see them. However, I woke up at 2:30 am and we got up at 4, and it's now about 10 pm EDT, so I am out of steam.

Well, despite all the media hype yesterday, the snow failed to appear. Thank goodness. It makes people crazy. I woke up at 4 am, I'm sorry to say, so I got out and walked the dogs this morning in the pitch dark. Two miles, not bad! Walking them down the middle of the road really helps. I never had to do that with Dolly, but two dogs are a lot more work than one, and anything that helps I will gladly try.

I'm at work, dealing with all the things I have procrastinated on, as well as the several new things that magically appear every time I'm about to go out of town for a couple of days. I'm terribly distracted - my mind is on our upcoming travel. I don't mind flying, but I detest airports, and it's only gotten worse over the past decade. At this point, we are resigned to being herded like sheep though security checkpoints, removing our shoes and submitting to pat downs.

Just let me take some kind of fiber project, for the love of God, so I don't go ballistic in the lounge. I'm thinking plastic or bamboo needles might escape attention. (And if not, it won't hurt my feelings to give them up.) I have a first cousin twice removed (my closest cousin's granddaughter) on the way who will need an apple hat next month. Being born in New York state in February practically demands handknits, don't you think?

I made 60 copies of a 400 page manual for a class - ran the copier at 3000 rpms and filled notebook binders one after the next. Man. Good thing I got that biology degree.

Ever wake up and think, "Holy crap, I am wasting my life."? Happens to me a lot.

I started my day with two hours in the dentist's chair, getting a "deep clean and scaling." It was just as awful as it sounds. My gums are still sore.

My haircut was not painful, though the guy still has no idea how I wear my hair. I always have to go home and re-style it after he's done. At least the cut is good.

After the morning's adrenaline rush (oh how I hate getting novocaine), I've been tired all day. Off to bed with me!

I'm in a foul, foul mood. Here's a pretty picture for you:


Told ya it was cold.

I think I just have a bad case of January. Of course, tomorrow starts with a dentist appointment, so anything after that ought to be an improvement, right? Oh, I do have a hair appointment in the afternoon. Don't want to look like a cow-licked mop when we go to Chicago. (Brr.)

Attention conservation notice: blather about weather and what we had for supper.

Still cold here. We are so spoiled in this area - it rarely stays cold long, but we are set for a full week of temperatures right around freezing. It is amusing to come out and find the dogs' water dish frozen solid each morning. It is not as amusing to have to accompany them outside and encourage the younger dog to pee and get it over with. He has a fine warm fur coat: I do not.

Work has suddenly geared up in a big way. Nothing I can't handle, just a sea change from last week, when I was having trouble filling my time at all. Lucky for me there's always the internet.

This morning before work, I made a beef stew and put it in the oven at 200F to slow cook all day. I have a crock pot, but the "low" setting is nothing of the sort, so it can't be left alone all day. It sure was nice to come home to a hot supper, with nothing more to do than fix a salad.

How's that for dull? Holy crap. I'd better go read some feminist blogs and get my blood pressure up before I write again!

Cold here. I went out to walk the dogs this morning and hoo boy, was it brisk. I dress for the weather, so it wasn't too bad, and of course, the labs love this weather.

Tonight we bought airline tickets for our upcoming mini-trip to Chicago next week. We're going to see the kids* and show support for the oldest, who is going through some teenage stupidity. I've wanted to see Chicago for some time, but I would not have picked January if I had a choice. Hey, maybe I'll get to drive on the highway in the snow, I haven't had that excitement in a while. (At least they know how to clear the roads there.) The kids are actually in Mundelein, which is about 30 minutes northwest of Chicago.

(Terry says Chicago was founded by two New Yorkers who said, "We like the crime, we like the filth, but it's just not cold enough. Let's go west!") I like cities, myself, but we will only be there for a day or two, so we won't have time to see much.

Hmph. It's a good thing I love those little buggers.

(*I have two stepkids who live with their mom. I love them, they love me, and I get along well with their mom. I can't tell you what a relief that is.)

There's an SCA event coming up, the Persona Pentathlon. I normally don't participate in SCA events, having just about no interest, but our friend Andras asked me to compete. SIGH. I'd do anything for that guy, so here I am. David's doing it too. So the blasted thing is the first weekend in March, which gives me two months to make five things that a medieval person would make, one each in five categories. Tonight we went over to our friends' house, and came away with several books to get ideas on what to do. Cooking and needlecraft shouldn't be too bad - a small project is acceptable, so I don't need to make a full costume or full meal. Metalworking is not something I'd ever planned to try, nor making buttons out of bone. The last category is for art or music - either performing, or writing poetry, or writing a research paper (!). SIGH. Well, Andras and his wife stand ready to help.

We finished assembling the grill this afternoon - it took a lot longer and was more difficult than expected, but we finally emerged victorious, and had grilled salmon for dinner. Good stuff.

The weather has turned cold here - it didn't get much about freezing all day. I know that 32F is not that cold for the folks in the north. I've grown soft now that I've lived in the south half my life. I don't miss snow at all. We are so used to mild weather, it's really a shock. I got out my big down jacket - not flattering but warm as toast. I am not looking forward to walking the dogs tomorrow!

Walked the dogs this morning, then went to see my folks and Aunt Jean for lynch - Mom made black eyed peas and collard greens, cornbread and ham, and I only had two servings, as I am trying to be less greedy. YUM.

Mom and Phil got us a big ol' gas grill for Christmas, so we loaded that in the back of the car, to bring home. (We couldn't do it on Christmas because we had the dogs with us.)

When we tried to leave, I discovered that I had locked my keys in the car. AAA Plus to the rescue! The guy was there in less than half an hour, and once he got it unlocked, I found my keys where they had fallen by the back seat. David talked to him for some time, as he was intelligent and ambitious, and David's always recruiting for the Army.

Now we are home and we and the doggies have had our suppers. We're going to start working on grill assembly tonight. It's too chilly to work on it outside, so we'll get the base of the thing assembled in here, then finish it tomorrow.

Not a bad first day of the year.

We got the banking errand done yesterday. It took the very patient and kind young lady an hour to get us through the process. We were not able to find a coat for my mother in-law, as the selection at that store was very limited. I did stop at the yarn store, and they offered to wind my 400 yard skein of yarn for me. I now have an $18 ball of knot. I have never, ever seen a worse tangle. I spent about three hours on it last night. I don't really want to drive back there to return it but I don't know if I'll ever get it undone. Sigh.

My New Year's resolution is to work on UFOs - unfinished objects. I have a very large number of projects that I started and abandoned for one reason or another. Remarkably large, actually. As far as that goes, I could knit out of my stash for some time without any trouble at all. I was looking at sock yarn yesterday until I recalled the Rubbermaid TUB of sock yarn currently in my stash. Ahem. And that does not count the 3 pairs of UFO socks people are waiting for. Just today, I looked down at my sweater and thought, I bet I could do that colorwork, when I recalled the colorwork hat I promised David well over a year ago. Right.

I'm a project magpie - I see a shiny new thing and I drop the one I'm holding.