Last year, a knitter that I deem to be awesome, attempted a pattern that bested her.  She attempted to knit a baby sweater.  Yes, a baby sweater bested her.  What you have to know, though, is that Dale of Norway, while designing absolutely stunning sweaters, is knitting for the extremely advanced knitter.  The Harlot just knit one that you can see here…take a look at that colorwork.  Like I said, stunning.  But this darling little baby sweater…?  Not so complicated…or so it seemed.

I believe that said knitter cast on several times…frogged tons of times…ended up with a fabric that was alarmingly disproportional.  So the whole thing got frogged and I thought “well, that was that.  I’ll never try Dale of Norway…no way, man….never.  If ____ can’t do it, I sure as *(&^% can’t.”

Imagine my surprise when, at knitting lunch yesterday (oops…does this give away the identity?), said knitter came with a new version of this baby sweater.  2″ into the pattern and all was looking good.  Seriously…dudes…that is bravery in knitting.  You Go _____!  You CAN best that pattern!

Oh, and guess what?  This is post #195!  Only 5 more to go!

So, perhaps now is the time for me to come up with a contest aka Jane.  Hm….what should I do?

Rules for contest:

1.  For this post and the next three (post #s 195-199), you get 3 points if you leave a comment letting me know the name of your favorite charity.

2.  If you mention this blog on Facebook, you get 1 point.  Be sure to @Tonja Brice so that I can plain(This one has to be low because not everyone has a FB account.) (you also have to leave a comment with your favorite charity)

3.  If you bring me a coke in the middle of the day for no apparent reason, 1 point. (Again, low because not everyone can do this physically.) (you also have to leave a comment with your favorite charity)

4.  If you get a friend who has never commented on this blog before to read and leave a comment, newbie gets 10 points and you get 5.  Be sure the newbie’s comment has your name in it, otherwise I might not know who gets the credit.

Prize?  Yes, since this is a contest, there will be a prize.  I will donate $100 to your favorite charity in your name.  Plus an audio/paper book of your choice in April.  How are those apples?

(and I just lost my last post…one that was in process for two days…so I’m not really happy right now.)

Last week was a horrible one, one that I hope to not repeat again for some time.  I seem to be experiencing “the winter blahs” (some would say “blues” but that doesn’t quite fit..).  I’ve been exhausted and far too busy.  I took a mental health day off on Wedensday so that I could write my paper for my Quad A class.  Needless to say that I procrastinated and lollygagged enough that I didn’t completely finish until about an hour before the final on Thursday.  The final, on the other hand, was extremely…uh…shall we say…easy?  I was done in 20 minutes (100 mc and t/f questions).  Probably a record for me.  But at least that class is over.

I also had a couple of new house guests move in.  I’m going to be taking care of my friend Kim’s two cats for a while.  She brought them over on Monday night.  Here is where Cimba ended up for a few hours…

and this is where Saboo likes to hang out…listening to church chistory and reading a commentary on the book of Acts.

Saboo, when he is feeling really, uh, rejected, and starts to “beg” for some loving, this is what he does.

(in case you can’t tell, he is rolling around on the floor in front of me meowing)

Cimba, bless her little heart, has a knee problem and can’t jump very high.  After I got my new mattresses yesterday, she failed in her first attempt at jumping on the bed.  Yesterday, I caught her trying to jump up on the counter in the pantry.  It was hilarious, to say the least.  These last pictures are of her attempting this.  She must have sat here staring at the counter for at least 5 minutes before her first attempt.

This is her gearing up for her first attempt:

The problem she has is that her hind legs never seem to leave the floor.  So she gears up to jump, she springs up, but her front end is the only thing that moves.  I know I’m not describing it as funny as it actually was, but take my word for it, it was hilarious.  She would sit there and contemplate the jump, wind up her rear end, and then just reach up and place both paws on the counter.

In other news, I was a little adventurous on Saturday.  I made these:

Two Panera-style egg souffles.  They were okay, for a first attempt.  The weren’t as flavorful as I had hoped, but not bad for having no recipe.

Yes, I realize that I am little more than 3 months into my “home ownership faze of life” and I’m starting to fail.  But, please forgive me, you don’t live where I do.  It started snowing again last night/early this morning and I didn’t shovel the front walk this morning.  *gasp*  Yes, (head hanging low), I hear your collective gasps.  So instead of dwelling on my failures, I’d rather focus on my successes.  Here is an updated picture of the Kalenchoe plant with new flowers on them.  (Granted this image was taken on the 14th, but there are even more flowers on it today…trust me here.)

(click on the image to embiggen it)

Nice, huh?  Yeah, I think so too.  Now, I have a surprise for you.  I was in knitting group a few weeks ago and I mentioned an old stuffed animal that I’ve had since I don’t know when (Mom, any ideas?) that is a pajama holder.  This is my hippo.

This is my hippo’s mouth.

This is my hippo eating my black scarf…chomp…chomp…chomp….

And this is what the hippo looks like when it is sitting happily with a full belly.

Cute, eh?  Yeah, I think so too, which is why I’ve hung onto it for 30+ years.  Now I just wish I could find something similar to give my nieces….

Finally, I have some pictures of Lake Forest Beach that I took on Saturday.  This is just eye candy for you.

Have a lovely day!

Occasionally I have some really vivid dreams – dreams whose imagery stay with me for a long time.  I can still remember a dream I had as a child in grade school of a very large chicken (larger, in fact than the Big Chicken) who was stomping around Tucson killing people who weren’t standing on the mountains.  Strange, but there it is.  I also remember a prolific dream I had my freshman year in college.  The night before my English class got back our graded essays, I dreamed that I received a D-.  My original grade was an F, but it was changed to a D-.  I have had other dreams that have been prolific as well, rare, but they have happened.

So imagine my surprise when I dreamed that the seller’s bank accepted my offer.  Lest you think that this dream was planned, I must inform you, dear reader, that this little bit of information did not in any way, shape or form actually fit into the storyline of my dream – nope, it was a complete random fact.  I’m not really sure what to make of this.

In other news, I am going to become a foster cat-mama again.  My friend Kim is doing what I did last fall and is moving out of her apartment and into some one’s home for a few months until she can get her bearings in the high-unemployment economy.  The cats names are Saboo (male, 12 yrs?) and Cimba (female, 11 yrs?).  I know that this WILL be a temporary thing as Kim loves her cats and will come and visit them (often, I hope).  She is also going to cat-sit for me while I’m on my 9 state tour in March.  Strange, eh?  She’s going to cat-sit her cats at my house.

In still other news, my kalanchoe has a few new buds, which I took a picture of, but totally forgot to bring the USB cable for my computer, so you will have to wait until tomorrow, dear reader.  In the meantime, feast your eyes on this:

This is the street in front of my parent’s house in Northwest Atlanta.  Mom said they had about 3-4 inches of snow with still a little more to come (today, I think).  Very unusual.

And this is niece #1, Miss O, who lost her first tooth over the weekend (she’ll be 5 in April):

And to keep things fair, here is a pic of Gabby.  Bless her heart, my parents have given her some doozy nicknames: Sherman the Tank (because she is a little hefty) and this one, Grabby Gabby because she always wants to insist on doing the things that you are, in this case, eating breakfast with my Dad.

The good news is that I am alive and well, even if my back and left knee are broken.  I had decided to work from home yesterday and did absolutely no plowing/shoveling, so imagine how much work there was for me today.  TONS!  Here is a view out my front window during the snowstorm.  I know it doesn’t look like much, but it was like this all day…ALL day yesterday.

My neighbors have this nice little table/chair set in the front of their house.  Picnic anyone?

This was my driveway this morning.  Keep in mind that this is the straight part of the driveway, there is more behind where I’m standing.  I had shovelled up to this point and needed a water break.  Then I decided to grab my camera and document the situation, you know, for posterity and so that you all don’t think I’ve exaggerated the conditions at all.  The “shovel” part of this snow shovel is 12 inches – and it is buried at least 3 inches.  That’s about a 15″ pile up in my driveway – most of which needed to be moved before I would be able to get my car out.  I figure that I can drive through about 5 inches without shoveling, but it is still a lot of shoveling to do.

This is me in the front after I was done.  I decided to pose for you so that you could see the perspective.  My neighbor happened to be leaving and she graciously took the picture for me.  While I was out here, though, my other neighbor came home (I’m guessing that he works nights and was just now getting home) and after I had returned to the house to take a shower, he came by with his snow blower and finished cleaning up the driveway.  All that work for nearly nothing!

So then I get to work and the conversation is all about the earthquake.  Here is a screen print from the NBC station here today:

Apparently it was a 3.8 and I felt nothing.  Probably a good thing.  This is the second earthquake in Northern Illinois since I moved here 9 years ago.

Now, on to happier things.  In a matter of days (probably about 15 or so), this blog will have reached a milestone.  200 blog posts.  Yeah, that’s a lot.  Jane thinks that I should have a contest…give away something knitted or such, and while I am all for that, I don’t have time to knit something special for everyone.  So I will need to think about the contest rules and will let you all know what they are at post #195 (in four more posts).  Ideas?

No, this is not about “new math” – I’m writing to inform you that I have two additions to my home.  Two lovely plants (well, four, actually, but three of them are the same type of plant and are now in the same pot, so I’m treating them as one “unit”) – introducing the flowering kalanchoe, one red, one orange and one pink, and a pothos (very heardy, I’m told, and hopefully difficult to kill).

Now the trick will be to keep them alive.  So in order to facilitate the prudent watering of the plants, I will take pictures every Monday and post them here….just so that you all know whether or not I am keeping up with my “green” commitment.

Oh – YEY SAINTS!

And, lastly, I have a confession for today.  I went and saw a movie yesterday. *guilt* Even though I had not finished my homework, and even though I felt completely overwhelmed, I did it anyway.  There, I’ve confessed it, now I can move on.  Lee Ann and I watched Avatar in 3D and I must say that it was an excellent movie.  I was afraid that the 3Dness would be obnoxious, but it wasn’t – it was simply there to provide a depth to the movie, and it enhanced it nicely.  *sigh*  Okay, I feel better now.  Now I just need to get back to work.

Toodles

Have you ever had an experience where you’ve witnessed something, or received something, or did something that was so stinking absurd that all you could do is laugh uncontrollably?

So get this.  I used to subscribe to a video podcast about world cities.  It was a well produced podcast, lasted only 7-10 minutes and was somewhat interesting.  The problem that I ended up having with it was that it focused entirely on the high-end traveller, and well, let’s face it: I’ll never be a high-end traveller.  So I unsubscribed.  But not before I got curious at the producer’s product.  The producer was a “Fine Swiss Watchmaker company called Carl. F. Bucherer.  Little know fact about me – I love watches.  So I was curious.  And guess what?  They were having a contest – so I entered.  Now keep in mind that these watches range from $10,000 to $150,000 – completely, and in all other respects, out of my price range.  It was a whim.  I did this about a year ago and then promptly forgot about the whole thing.

Fast forward until Thursday.  I had received a mail pickup notice from my post office on Wednesday – from someone named Carl.  Name didn’t register at all and this piqued my curiosity.  So Thursday morning I took the little slip of paper to the post office and ended up having to pay – yes PAY – the remaining postage of $2.77.  Even had to go back out to the car because I didn’t have enough cash on me.  So anyway, after paying the postage I’m handed a very thick envelope….from, you guessed it, the Carl F. Bucherer company.

Dudes, they sent me their catalog.  Their catalog of $150,000 watches.  And I ended up having to PAY $2.77 in postage just to pick up the package.

Ha hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahhahahahahahahahahahah.

Yes, that’s me laughing histerically at the absurdity of it all.

(Just in case you’re wondering, they sent the catalog to my old apartment, which forwarded it to my old PO box who then forwarded it on to my new address.  I guess all that forwarding cost money.)

I’m not really any closer to getting a closing date for the house. *sigh*  My lawyer’s office left a message yesterday saying that the seller’s lawyer was having a small problem contacting the seller’s lender.  Don’t know if that is good or not..but it is what it is.

So, in other news, I just finished listening to an audio book that really was fantastic.  I would highly recommend this book (either in written form or in audio form).  I mistakenly downloaded the second book to listen to first, and while I had no problems with the context and situation of the 2 main characters, it would have helped a little to have read the first book first.

Here are the books in order:

I listened to the 2nd one, The Girl Who Played With Fire, and found the story quite compelling.  I’ll even admit to a gasp or two at certain spots and some verbal proclamations, which if anyone had heard me would have thought I was crazy, but that is the price of living alone sometimes, I suppose.  Anyway, these come highly recommended.

I’ve been dreaming about the house again and all the things I would like to do.  This is potentially dangerous ground for me because the sale is still not guaranteed.  However, I don’t see how I can live in a place and not day dream about it.  The one area that really needs work is the bathroom.  The current owner retiled the floor and put in a new vanity, but didn’t do much else.  There are some really old, plastic-y (and tacky) tiles stuck to the wall – seriously, they are stick-on tiles – that WILL be replaced, preferably with subway tiles.  Then there is the issue of the window.  There is a full-sized window right in the middle of the wall, complete with all the original wood trim and everything.  The problem with the wood trim is that it is not water-proofed.  To get around this challenge, the current owner fashioned a shower curtain into a window curtain.  Now, this works to a degree.  The real problem comes when trying to take a shower and there is a little breeze going and the window curtain starts to sway…and stick to you.  The tub is rather narrow, so you have to stand close to the window…and, well, it just doesn’t work for me.  So that will be one of the first major enhancements I plan on making….later down the road after I save up for it, of course.

*updated to add*
Kate: I’m glad that you finally exited the movie, and if you had asked, I would have said, “duh” about the yarn amount.  Glad you didn’t ask.

I have a friend, Kate, who is stuck in her own rendition of Groundhog Day.  What you have to know is that Kate is an excellent knitter.  She has been knitting since she was, like, 2, and can whip up things that I could only dream of.  She created 2 golf club covers for her husband just off the top of her head – one lamb and one bear.  Amazing.  (BTW, her last name is lamb-bear (t) so it was a kind of pun…but it worked and he is happy and many people oogle them, including me even though I don’t golf.) With that said, how do you help a friend out of a movie?  I wish I could offer sage advice and zap her back.  (I do have to admit that really deep down, some sort of wicked sinister person in me, and I mean absolutely no disrespect to Kate, but I like seeing experienced knitters with problems.  It makes me feel a little less inept.  Just a little, though, ’cause Kate could knit circles and circles around me and while in her sleep and standing on her head with one arm tied behind her back.  Seriously, she is that good.)

I am also re-listening to an audio book (getting my money’s worth, thank you very much) and while I really love listening to audio books, something that I have done for nearly 15 years, there is no substitute for movies.  I love a good movie, whether made in 1940 or 2010, a good movie can transport me someplace new for a few hours like nothing else.  One of the *coolest* things about Waukegan is the revival of the Genessee Theater.  And, they have begun to play old movies in there.  Guess what’s playing this weekend?  North By Northwest with Cary Grant.  Oh what a heart throb he was!  Guess where I’ll be on Friday evening!

I am also collecting audio books for my wonderful, long, 9-state road trip coming up in March.  I plan on renting a car, driving to Louisiana (4 states), spend a few days, then drive to Atlanta (3 states but 2 new ones), spend a few days and then driving back to Illinois (3 states).  14 hours, 8 hours, 11 hours.  Total audio bliss, if you ask me.

You people!  I take one small break and you all freak out!  I got it from my Mom, I got it from Kate….calm down, just calm down people.  I’m still here.  I’m still alive.  And, more importantly, I’m still knitting.  First up, here is a project that I’m starting to work on.  It involves this:

and these:

Can you guess what it will be?  Here’s what it looks like right now:

And up close:

Still can’t guess?  I’ll give you another hint at the bottom of this post.  In the meantime, feast your eyes on this:

Yup!  Finally finished my iPod cast to wear around my neck.  Here’s another photo:

and another one:

It works really well too.  I made a small modification last night.  After wearing it around for a few days I struggled with the earplug cord and how it hung down too low and got in the way, so I made a small band that I sewed to the neck cord and will eventually put buttons on it, and then I’ll be able to “gather” up the cord and kind of buckle it in place.  It works well too.  Yey!

One of the reasons that I haven’t blogged lately is my knee has been really, really bothering me lately.  Most of you know that I’ve had 2 knee surgeries on my left knee and now I’m stuck with “really bad” arthritis that rears up its ugly head periodically.  Last Wednesday morning I got up at 3 am to go to the bathroom and the knee was fine, no problems.  Then I got up at my usual time of 5:30 and I could barely stand up.  I kid you not.  I don’t know what I did for 2 1/2 hours in my sleep to cause such pain, but whatever it was, it has been bad. 

Oh, I also did something unusual for me.  I baked cookies on Sunday to send to my Grandmother for her birthday.  Happy Birthday, Meme!  (I know she won’t read this, but maybe someone will tell her…)

So that’s about it.  Learning Greek adverbial participals and believe you me, they are not fun.

Here’s your last hint:  what I’m making will eventually go here: