The weather outside is NOT frightful

It is ridiculously nice and warm out today. 64 degrees (Fahrenheit) outside and it's 3 days after Christmas! Very weird. I wonder if this is some kind of record.

The cats are thrilled and they've been out in the backyard for over an hour. I'm concerned Bogart won't be back until it's very late. He's probably prowling around, reminding all the other cats on the street that he's still in charge!

I got some nice Christmas gifts, plus the sweetest package from Christine, who took Blakely the cat -- Freaking GORGEOUS Malabrigo, a skein of sock yarn that matches Blakely's fur, 2 knitting related books that I've been wanting for a long while, some pretty stationery, and a sweet card thanking me for giving the cat to her.



So sweet of her! As for other gifts, John procrastinated his Christmas shopping so much that all I actually got on Christmas day from him was a video game (albeit a cool one), but he came with me to the knitting store and ordered me a yarn swift and ball winder. So YAY!! No more winding balls by hand!

Sicky Sickerson

I've been sick. Started yesterday. I'm exhausted and I have a sore throat and I don't want to MOVE! But I know John will be cranky if he comes home and there's no seltzer and grape juice in the house. I might just go to the grocery store in my sweatpants. Is that just too freaking lazy?

I've been lying around working on knitting Christmas presents and watching bad movies. Last night it was "Jumanji", today it's "Batman Forever". Seriously cheesy, but just what I need since I can't concentrate on any complicated plots at the moment. I love Doctor Who but the old Tom Baker shows have such convoluted plot lines, I really need to be 100% awake to watch them!

Turkey Day!

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

My parents and I are in Boston visiting my Grandma. She's in assisted living now and she keeps saying she's moving back to her apartment. But she CAN'T... Ugh. I'm not going into it again.

Baby Bogart

My poor Bogart is injured. He went outside on Tuesday and came back with this icky bruise on the inside of his back leg. It's a very awkward spot to see clearly. It looked like he'd been bitten.

I brought him in to the vet yesterday at 11 am, and the vet shaved the area and immediately it started to bleed. He looked concerned and said that he didn't think it was a bite, it looked more like a bad scratch, and that it wasn't just a couple days old, because of the scab that fell off. So they had to keep him for several hours to sedate him and treat the wound, and gave him 6 or 7 stitches. So I had to sign a hospitalization form in case of emergency with the anesthesia, which really upset me. And then I went home without Bogart.

John had to go to California for the weekend for a funeral, and he misplaced his wallet, so he wanted to borrow my debit card. I gave it to him without thinking there would be a problem. I'd gotten a bunch of cash out for myself for the weekend. But then I went back to the vet at 7 pm to pick up Bogart, opened up my wallet, and said "OH SHIT." No way to pay. Oh boy... After much freaking out, I ended up giving them $200 cash (leaving me with just enough money for a car home) and then went back today to pay the rest via check.

When I picked him up from the vet, they told me about the medications, and said that because of his stitches, he's not allowed to JUMP high for the next 2 days. Um. That's difficult. He likes to get on top of the kitchen cabinets! And be on the very top of the cat tree. So I have to keep the poor boy locked in the bedroom. I hung out with him for a while and let him sit on the bed with me for about an hour. He's being very affectionate, which is TOTALLY not him! It's like he's saying "Momma my leg hurts, you pet me and make it better!"

To make matters worse, I got a cone to put on his head, so he won't chew on his stitches, and it won't go on his head!! I think it's just too small. I don't know what the hell to do.

It goes without saying - His outside privileges have been revoked, as well as Duncan's and Tasty Paws's. The other two will be fine without going out, but Bogart thinks he's the king of the block, so I know he'll start getting cabin-fever in about a week.

Don't ask...

I am so utterly exhausted right now. I was up ALL NIGHT. Seriously, I didn't go to sleep until 9 am and then only slept until noon. And all I was doing was bumming around the internet and watching ANTM on YouTube.

What the heck is wrong with me?? ...I need a job. Seriously. I need something to keep me on a routine.

"I'm gonna throw you in my DeLorean and gun it to 88."

Oh crap. I just heard about NaBloPoMo... If I had known about it in more advance, I totally would have done it, but I guess I missed the boat. I'm late with everything "fashionable".

I had a pretty low-key Halloween this year. I didn't dress up, for the first time in a LONG time... I think the last time I skipped a costume was the semester that I tried to go back to Bard, and I was all depressed and holed up in my room. Anyway, on this Halloween, Abby came over and we watched scary movies - "Halloween" and "An American Werewolf in London". I had bought a whole bunch of candy, but unfortunately there wasn't a single trick-or-treater! I don't get it. There are plenty of kids in the area. I guess it's too sketchy of a neighborhood and parents don't want their kids knocking on strangers' doors. Sigh... I can't wait to move to a better neighborhood. Preferably where take-out options aren't limited to greasy fried chicken or MSG-filled Chinese food. I should start looking at Astoria apartments again.

I watched "Knocked Up" the other night -- SUCH a funny, cute movie. It really made me want a baby! I know, I know. But I know I'm not the only one it affected that way!

Rain, rain, don't go away...

It's such a rainy, chilly, gray day and I just want to curl up and watch scary movies and knit... But I have stupid chores to do. I really, really don't want to go out and get the dry-cleaning. I'll go when the rain stops.

Of course, now the sound of the raindrops stop. Dammit!

I'll just get it tomorrow. I just looked next to me, and some cat apparently threw up ALL over the coffee table during the night. Great. Just great.

Rhinebeck!

Rhinebeck Sheep & Wool Festival was this weekend, and it was great fun.



I stayed with Beth(aroopie) and had a lot of fun with her and the other ladies. All together, we got a TON of yarn and fiber!



More pictures here!

HE'S BACK!!

I got a call less than an hour ago from a wonderful woman who saw the "lost" signs that my bf put up, and said she had him in her house. Apparently he crawled in her window on Friday or Saturday, and she didn't even notice at first because there was construction going on in her house. She was only 4 houses down from us, so I went right over and there he was, in a cage, yowling and squeaking, all freaked out. Poor baby. He's a little antsy but thrilled to be home. I'm SO RELIEVED!

Sleep Deprived and Sad

The last day or two has been extremely stressful. Trying to get work done and pulled an all-nighter last night. I just took a nap and I'm so out of it, I feel almost drugged. I'm not even going to get into all the damn complications of the work.

Tasty Paws has been missing. John said the last time he saw him was Friday afternoon before he came to meet me in Long Island. We came home last night and haven't seen him. It is NOT normal for him to be gone this long. He comes in to eat and usually likes to sleep on our bed with us. He's such a sweet boy. And John is so attached to him, he's like his baby. I don't know what to do, and the more time that passes, the more I worry. Best case scenario, someone took him in, and hopefully when we put signs up tomorrow, someone will call us to say they have him.



I am SUCH a mess and I can't remember the last time I felt this drained.

"Les Misbarack"

I love this video so, so much. I don't know if they're actors or real Obama campaign workers -- I THINK they're real campaign workers, but I'm not sure. Nonetheless, it is freaking brilliant.



Viva la revolucion!

Commercials are stupid.

This ad is so creepy. Therefore I must share it with the rest of you:



Also, John showed me this great commercial from when he was a kid, about poison control...



I've been singing it all day! Okay, now I have to go knit swatches...

Stupid banks.

My bank got bought out. Details here. This sucks. I really liked Washington Mutual. Then again, any bank is better than the one I had before, Apple Bank. They were AWFUL. I mean, totally incompetent.

This economic disaster thing sucks the big one.

I had my 2nd crochet class last night! Unfortunately there are only 2, but I learned a bit -- I'm still a total newbie, but I'm psyched about learning more. And I'm looking into taking a class that can make me a Certified knitting instructor, which I'm very excited about. I'm waiting to hear about if the class is full yet -- Hopefully not, in which case I'll be taking it in about 3 weeks.

Water, water, everywhere...

I saw a rather distressing documentary today with my mother. It was called "Flow: For Love of Water". Watch the trailer:



I'm going to a crochet class tomorrow! I'm very excited. Finally I'm going to learn to crochet!

The neverending baby blanket

I started this entrelac baby blanket back in June, for Andy (Doug's baby), and I'm still knitting it. It's only about a third done. Granted, I've taken a few breaks from it -- some of those breaks were a week or 2 long -- But it's taking freaking forever!

Now Brenda told me that she's going to Florida the first weekend of October, to see Doug and family, and I'm wondering: Can I get the blanket done in time? If I make a push and work on it every day, could I really get it done?

15 tiers of entrelac to go. If I work my butt off, I think I could knit half a tier per day. That's 30 days. No. I can't do it. Seriously. I mean, if I was going to work on the thing 8 hours a day, I could probably swing it, but I am NOT willing to do that! My hands will ache and just... poo. Oh well. I guess it will have to be a Christmas gift.

I'm hoping to hear back soon about freelance knitting. Veryyyy anxious. I really want to be able to do this. Everyone send "CALL ME!" vibes!!

We're Back!

...Well, we've been back for a week. But we've been recovering from jet-lag, unpacking, etc... So I just got around to posting pictures. I did it on Photobucket which isn't nearly as good as Flickr, but my Flickr account is nearly full, so I couldn't use it. Anyway... check out my pictures! I wish I could have taken more, but the memory card on my camera got filled up so fast!



It was really beautiful in Kauai. The weather was amazing - Warm but rarely uncomfortably so, occasionally rainy but almost never for more than 10 minutes. We were careful to put sunscreen on every day, since both John and I do not tan - We ONLY burn. So I started to get in the habit of swimming at sunset, which was really cool. It was awesome to sit in the water and watch the sun set over the mountains (or "Puff" the dragon)!

Kaui Hawaii!

We're going to Hawaii tomorrow!! This time tomorrow, I'll be... Well, actually I'll be in the Los Angeles airport, waiting for my layover, but nonetheless, I'll be on my way to Hawaii. :)

John really tried to pull one over on me. I thought he wasn't coming on this trip. Since he got his city job, we figured he wouldn't be able to come on the trip. Since it takes a while to build up vacation time, he asked about it, but figured it was unlikely. He asked about it WEEKS ago, but he still hadn't got an answer... Until about a week ago. They said yes! He told his mother and told her to keep it a secret from me -- He wanted to surprise me. Except, I was talking to his mother on Tuesday evening, and she accidentally let it slip. I said I would try to keep it a secret, and pretend like I didn't know... But Wednesday morning I cracked and told him I knew. We ended up having a good laugh about it, and it was all good.

I'm doing laundry now so I can finish up packing. I cleaned up the kitchen and the laundry room today. Both of them were gross. I can't believe what slobs John and Michael are... The laundry room had dryer lint all over the floor. Just covered the floor, especially so in one corner where it was piled like 2 feet high coming out of the tiny trash bin. Yuuuuuuck.

Leaving... on a jet plane

Well, more like in a moving truck tomorrow, only going about 8 miles away, and staying in Brooklyn... But I am ALL packed. Thank goodness. I hate packing. My hands are all achy and it hurts to knit! Woes is me!

I've been in this apartment for just under a year now. It's mostly been good. My roommate is a sweet girl, I want to stay friends with her. The neighborhood is nice, even though it's far from everything else in the city, it has all the amenities and then some. The view of the Verrazano Bridge is nice. I should have walked down to the overpass more often and sat by the river. I only did that ONCE. And it's been great to be right around the corner from the subway. I don't even have to cross the street to get there!

What I will be THRILLED to get away from? The roaches are number ONE. The uneven, warped floors. The terrible ventilation (there's no such thing as a cross-breeze in this apartment). The lack of a living room or any real place to sit and eat (99% of my meals have been eaten while sitting in bed). The unfriendly, sometimes creepy neighbors. The shower that doesn't drain properly.

And you know what? John's place in Bed-Stuy has NONE of those problems. It is far from the subway, and there's hardly any place to eat near him except the cafe around the corner (which closes at 5pm)... But it won't be so bad. And it's only temporary while we look for a new place. I'm hoping we can find some place nice in Astoria or in that area.

Yarny JOB!

I am psyched because I have an interview on Wednesday at Lion Brand Yarn!! The position is an Office Assistant, and it would entail a lot of things I have experience with, plus I would also be helping with photo shoots... Which I'm sure would mean photo shoots of YARN... I am so excited! I can't remember the last time I wanted something this badly!

So the next 2 weeks are going to be kind of stressful. I have to move out of my apartment before I leave for Hawaii on the 15th, because I didn't tell Kristtel that I needed until the end of September to move out -- And she already found someone for September 1. It was my fault, I first told her I'd be out by the end of August, and I wasn't thinking that I'll be in Hawaii until August 30th.... So I'm going to move in with John into his Bed-Stuy apartment for a month or two, and we're going to look for something new (maybe in Astoria). I wish I didn't have to live in the Bed-Stuy apartment. It's way too far from the subway, and I'm not crazy about the neighborhood. Besides the safety issues, there's just one crummy Key Food, and no restaurants or any where nice to go.

Anyway, I'll be doing lots of packing in the next couple of days. Obviously I was going to have to pack eventually, I just wish it wasn't so squished into such a short period of time. We're going to get a truck on Friday/Saturday, possibly from Penske? I have to look into it.

Awww...

Beth called me a "Raveler with a heart of gold"! I'm touched. :-)

We gave Mary the kitty away to Beth this morning (ok, yesterday morning -- Don't ask why I'm still up at 4:45am)... Beth and her hubby seem like really cool people. And it seems like we have a lot in common. Not only are we both Eddie Izzard fans, but it turned out we went to his show on the same night in March!! So funny. Also, we are both total Buffy/Angel fans. Which is why she is re-naming Mary... to Willow. Which I got SUCH a kick out of!

I'm going to miss little Mary. She's the most affectionate cat I have EVER had.

I love this! Cast yourself.

Send a JibJab Sendables® eCard Today!

Babies babies babies!

So John started his job last Monday. He's on a probation period for the first year, but July 7, 2009 will be his first day as a "union" member working for the city, and that will mean real stability. So yesterday he said "If you're 40 pounds lighter by July 7 of next year, we're taking that birth control patch off, and trying for a baby." (Being 40 pounds lighter is my goal).

I asked, "What if I lose 40 pounds before then?"

He replied, "Then we can talk about getting married before then. But we'll try for a baby once I'm off probation."

WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!

DPNs, I have defeated you!

I'm so proud of myself! I have totally mastered DPNs! I'm knitting a secret project (for a swap on Ravelry) that is much simpler on DPNs, and I totally jumped in with no problem. This is my 3rd time using them and I'm finally comfortable with them.

In case you have no idea what I'm talking about, DPNs = Double-Pointed Needles. Knitting with them is kind of like trying to use 4 (sometimes 5) chopsticks at once! This means I'm finally ready to conquer SOCKS!

I hung out with Abby and she helped me with the embroidery part of the project. I suck at sewing, so it was a relief to have her do that part for me! Thanks Abs!

Damn it.

What do you do when you have a party, and a friend brings someone you don't like?

All this guy can talk about is how "dope" his rapping is and how his metal band is going to kick ass once they get a gig. Normally I think musicians are great people... But this guy is just a boring, drunk moron. He went on my computer and brought up his MySpace page so we could hear his music... Now, I think I have a pretty varied taste of music, but this stuff bites. And he can't stop talking about how awesome it is.

Hopefully he won't stay all evening...

Sadness

My great-uncle Bob passed away last Sunday. It was so long ago since I'd seen him, something like 15 years. I didn't spend much time with him, but he would sometimes call my mom and start chatting with me -- I can hear his voice, in the sweet Minnesota accent: "Hey, Lulu, it's yer uncle Bob." We couldn't go to the funeral because last-minute airfare was a fortune, and we didn't qualify for a "grievance discount" because we're not immediate family. My mom's cousin Fran; Bob's daughter, sent us the eulogy. It was really nice and spoke about what a kind, friendly man he was, and this was the last paragraph:

After a two-week decline in the hospital, he yearned to be reunited to his beloved wife. Last Saturday he returned to the Veteran’s Home for one last time—happily residing with Betty once again. The next day during the late morning while sleeping in his bed, he simply stopped breathing. He passed away like we all pray we ourselves go—no long fight with cancer, no painful disease, no suffering—he simply stopped breathing and quietly slipped away. It was Father’s Day, and he returned to his Father in heaven.

I'm in tears now. I suppose partly because he passed away in such a gentle way, the way we all want to. I'm not a religious person by any means, but I hope Bob is in a special place now.

Frustrated...

God F$%^$ing dammit... I just logged into my LiveJournal account and my photo galleries are GONE. TONS of pictures, disappeared. My paid account lapsed and I didn't get notice, because it was attached to my old email address, which I don't even remember the password for. ARRRRGH...

Well, I think 90% of the pictures I have on cd. I'm pretty sure. So, okay, calming down. But it's still frustrating...

My Mom drove me home from dinner tonight and tried out the Wii Fit. She is in SUCH good shape. Her BMI is like 21.7, or something. I'm jealous! Need to lose weight...

I'm going to go watch Buffy and work on knitting my market bag... *Sigh*

Wii Fit... And the job for John!!

So, the city investigative job that John has been waiting and waiting to hear about (and was really starting to doubt he would get it) finally called... And he GOT IT!! He is thrilled and has been telling everyone. He starts training on July 7th.

Unfortunately, this means probably no Hawaii trip in August. :-( We'll have to see, maybe he'll be able to get time off between training and starting the actual job, but it seems unlikely.

In other news, I have been working my ass off on the Wii Fit for the past week. I've only missed one day (Monday), and made up for it by working out for an hour and a half yesterday! Still haven't lost any weight, but that probably has something to do with the big dinners I had Sunday and Monday night.

I'm about to start this blanket for John's nephew Andy, who's just a month old. It's okay to give them a blankie in August, right??

Air Conditioning and The Boy.

I have a problem. John doesn't believe in air conditioning.

We don't actually live together, but we're always at each other's apartments, and it's rare that we spend more than one night apart. At his place, it's bearable, because somehow his apartment stays relatively cool. And he has a fan in the window. And besides, it's his place -- I can't really demand that he get an AC just for me.

My place is a different story. I live in a kind of crummy, pre-war apartment building, that gets UNBEARABLY hot. So I installed my AC a couple weeks ago (well, actually he did it for me, because it's a big heavy thing). Now, I know we are going through an energy crisis. Plus, my roommate and I are totally broke, and can't afford an expensive electric bill. So even though I'd LIKE to keep the AC at 72 all the time, I can't. I think 79 is a good temperature, and I put it on "Power Saver" when we go to bed, which regulates the temperature of the room and goes off when the room goes above 79. And with this, he gets COLD. I just don't get it.

The one thing I miss about the apartment I lived in last summer was the air conditioning. My landlord was ripping me off on the rent, but everything was included - So I would set the timer on my AC to go on an hour before I got home from work, at like 65 F, and I would come back home and open the door to my room... And it was like a nice cool refrigerator. Mmmm.

Am I never going to get that again?? What am I supposed to do when I move back in with John?

Photography and yarn

Note to self: Design a knitted camera.

I woke up this morning and found myself bitten by the photography bug. I might even want to go back to school for it, at least take a continuing ed course.

I'm going to go through all my photos and find 15-20 to make a portfolio with.

I'm using this yarn to knit the Dream Swatch Head Wrap (warning: PDF). It should be very pretty and soft!

When Sushi Goes Bad

John is such a dunce sometimes. We went grocery shopping tonight, around 10 pm (already a bad idea to grocery shop so late). He thought it would be a great idea to get a big platter of sushi from the fish department. Not the fresh fish, over the counter department, but the pre-packaged, it's-been-sitting-there-for-days fish department.

"Sweetie," I said. "I think that's going to be gross. Supermarket sushi is never good."
"It looks good," he said. "And it's only 20 dollars!"

...Guess whose cats had a feast tonight?

Yeah, don't go grocery shopping late at night, when you're hungry.

John and I have been getting into a routine out here in Long Island. It's not a bad routine per se, but it's the same every night, no doubt. He watches Adult Swim while I go on the internet or play The Sims 2 until 2 or 3 am. He falls asleep on the sofa with the TV on around midnight (and I'm not allowed to turn the TV off). Around 3 am, I wake him up and we go to bed. Half the time he decides we should sleep with our heads at the end of the bed. And you really can't argue with John when he's half-asleep. I mean, really, you can't. It's impossible. He's like a 5-year-old.

I leave you with this adorableness... This baby plays tennis better than my dad!

A New Beginning

Greetings to all!

Well, the end of an era, and the beginning of a new one. Goodbye LiveJournal, Hello Blogger!
My LJ was getting ignored and my only real use for it was the photo gallery there, so I decided it was time to start a brand new blog. Mostly devoted to knitting, but I'm sure I'll end up talking about John (the boyfriend), family (they're mostly crazy), and various other things.

Current knitting project: Knitted Sushi (For Mom's birthday)