FiredUpFairy Knits

Saturday Fun

2009-03-08T09:52:00.004-05:00

We took Ant to Fossil Feat Tampa Bay yesterday. I thought it'd be a stretch, but possibly something he'd enjoy. Whew, did we underestimate him!! He spent so much time looking at all the different fossils, rocks and minerals. His favorite was the kids dig, a large sandbox filled with all types of fossils. The best part was that there was a table with paleontologists sitting there to identify the children's fossils for them. The man that Ant was sitting with seemed rather impressed w/ some of his finds. Ant managed to dig up a piece of ivory mammoth tusk, a leg bone from a giant giraffe, as well as an unusually large stingray barb. There were also tons of turtle shell pieces and rib bones from dugong (a relative of the manatee).

We came home to throw the football around the yard. I must say that playing quarterback the whole time has given me quite a sore shoulder this morning! And of course, since I'm out in the yard, and I'm anal like this, I had to pull up weeds wherever I found them. Look at these feet, people!! The sad thing is that this is with socks and sneakers!

I just finished the Rag Bath Mat last night. This photo is prior to casting off and adding fringe, but at least you get the point.

I've also still got Crown Mountain Fiber, I've Got You Babe, on the bobbin. I need to at least finish 4oz so that I can free up the wheel for the CJ Kopek roving that's coming for the March spin-a-long.

Here's the startings of my second Nanner sock. It's coming slowly since I have so much on the needles. I'm also still working on Mystic Ice. At this point, I'm halfway through clue 5. Only one more clue after that. At this rate, it will be done at summer time~ DOH!

Bad Blogger!

2009-03-02T16:45:00.004-05:00

No cookie for me!! I said I was going to be more diligent w/ my blog, but alas, I've resorted to my old ways again! If I would post more regularly, my posts wouldn't be sooooo long! Duh!

Acupuncture has been going well. I'm rounding out my first month of treatment including both acupuncture and herbs. I don't expect to be preggers this first month. But, I can tell you that I am feeling great! I've had much more energy and I think I've been more happy and peaceful. Yippee! And while the herbs aren't delicious, the more I drink them, the more I learn to ignore the "bleh". In fact, I'm drinking my Yang herbs now!

In family news, Anthony just competed in his county's Prince & Princess pageant. Each 2nd grade class in the county votes on one boy and girl to represent their class in the competition. They get dressed to the nine's in tuxes and ballgowns, come out waving, bowing/curtsying, and then answer an interview question. Our lil' man was so handsome!

Yesterday, we hit the spring sale at Lowe's garden department. We purchased a flat of impatiens to plant around one of our oak trees in the back yard. If those work out, we'll be going back for more. We also planted pink and white kamachoes in the front yard. Citrus trees were on sale and I just HAD to have some! We picked up a Meyer lemon, Key lime, and tangelo trees. They smell sooooo sweet!

I have been knitting and spinning quite a bit, but not enough to get anything done! I've had quite the urge to be working on all of those things. The problem is I can only do one thing at a time! If only I had octopus arms! It would make things so much easier! What have I been working on??

Mystic Ice~ this is not an updated picture. This was somewhere in clue 4, I'm now on Clue 5!

Drop Stitch Scarf~ knit w/ vintage Lime n' Violet, from their etsy shop

Not pictured... Rag Bath Mat. I'm knitting this out of cheap twin sheets I bought at WallyWorld.
Also, my 2nd Nanner Sock. I started those EONS ago. Finished sock #1 a couple weeks ago after deciding I needed something new to work on. Now #2 sits neglected somewhere.

Smellies for Sale!

2009-02-16T08:23:00.005-05:00

It's really time I filtered out my ever growing smellies collection. US Addresses only, please. Shipping will be $3 for all imp orders and $4 for any bottles. I accept paypal.

BPAL Bottles $15
*between bottle's shoulder and top of label*
The Ghastly Garden (LE 2007)
Archangel Winter (LE 2007)
Diwali (LE 2007)

Possets 6ml Bottles $8
*full bottles*
Madame X (label has slight oil damage)
Bottled Happiness LE
Libby LE

Violette Market (Vintage Violette Market) $10
*full 5oz bottles*
Beatnik
Daisy
Dark Fruit
Fairy Floss
Salty Dog
Lola (LE)

BPAL GC Imps $2 unless otherwise noted
Al Azif
Anathema
~~Baobhan Sith $1~~
Black Phoenix $1
Dee
Delight
Djinn
Dove's Heart
Grandmother of Ghosts
~~Hemlock~~
Kyoto
~~La Belle Dame Sans Merci~~
La Petit Mort $1
Lilith
Lilium Inter Spinas
Loviatar
Lyonesse
Malice
Manhattan
Megaerea
Midnight Kiss
Nephilim
Nero
Nosferatu
Omen
~~Pele~~
~~Regan~~
Squirting Cucumber
~~The Doormouse~~
The Mock Turtle's Lesson
The Temptation
The Unicorn

BPAL Imps LE Decants $3
On Darkness
Lines Written Among the Euganean Sea
The Piper at the Gates of Dawn
The Sea Rat
Fire Phoenix
Water Phoenix
Metal Phoenix

Possets Possettes $1.75
Fluoxetine
Giddy
Midnight Mass at Old St. Mary's
Simulated Cupid $1 (label damage)
Perpetual Motion Machine
Maggie
Black Lamp
Strawberry Heart
Flossing
Indigo
Silver Carnation

Traditional Chinese Medicine

2009-02-05T16:13:00.002-05:00

**WARNING** This post may contain excessively girly information!

So, if you read my previous post, you saw I was looking into practitioners of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). I had my first visit yesterday, with a doctor who's office I pass on my way home. It was a quaint, quiet office. Very clean and smelling of incense. But not a strong, patchouli type smell or what my husband would call a "hippy" smell. There was only one elderly gentleman in the waiting room and he was waiting for his wife.

I didn't have to wait long before the doctor took me back to her office. She was extremely nice and very thorough. I can't even begin to tell you all the questions she asked! Some of which you probably don't even want to know, believe me! After going through a very detailed interview about various aspects of my health history, she took my blook pressure. I'm used to the cuffs they put around your arms, but she had a much smaller cuff that goes around the wrist. It was electronic and reminded me of a heart rate monitor. I didn't like her machine AT ALL! My blood pressure has always been on the low side of normal, but not here. She took readings on both wrists and both gave extremely high numbers, like 167/110. HOLY COW! That's not like me at all. She assured me that it happens to many people, including a priest she sees.

After that she looked at my tongue and took pulse rates from several places on both my wrists. In TCM, the tongue can tell a lot about someone. I was familiar with this because of the books I'm reading. TCM is all about balancing your body's internal climate and the five organ systems which are: kidney, liver, heart, spleen, and blood. You don't want your body to run too hot or too cold. You don't want you chi to be stagnant, deficient, or excessive.

My dr. could tell by my tongue and the respnses I gave during the interview, that my body tends to run warm. She explained that when she took my pulse, she was actually taking the pulse of each of the different systems. I, most definitely, have a deficiency in my kidney system. This is the system that is responsible for reproduction and life. But, she then told me that all of my pulses are slow for being as young as I am. Surprise! Even in the practice of TCM, my body is out of whack! We need to strengthen all of my systems, most importantly the kidney, in order to make my body strong enough to carry an egg. My body is not ready to be pregnant because it's not strong enough. I also need to get my blood flowing better. When I start menstruation, it lasts for literally like a day and a half, maybe two at best. I know this is not normal. And I've had a gut feeling all along that I probably won't get pregnant until that gets fixed. This is my dr's goal!

We then went into the acupuncture room. I've had acupuncture before, so I wasn't too worried about it. She stuck me w/ about 14-18 needles. The one that I felt the most was on the bottom, side of my right ankle. When she stuck that one, I actually said. "Oh!". She told me that spot's a kidney spot. The ones that I feel most are responses to the systems that need the most help. Interesting! She placed a heat lamp over my abdomen, turned on relaxing music, turned off the lights, and left me to relax. Which of course, I could not do. I was too busy thinking of all the different things she was telling me and whether my responses to her questions were sufficient enough. Before I knew it, she was back in the room. Luckily, it was only to stimulate the needles and leave me there to relax some more. This time, I actually nodded off.

Before I left, she mixed up a bottle of herbs for me. She created a powder with 8 different Chinese herbs. I have to mix this with 4 oz of hot water and drink it three times a day before meals. It looks like crap! It doesn't taste awful, but it's certainly not pleasant! It has the same taste as an herbal suppliment pill, except much, much stronger! It helps to plug my nose, but as soon as I let go and breathe, I still get the smell and feel the taste in my mouth. The herbs are supposed to help me bleed better, shed my endometrium lining, and then rebuild it. She directed me to eat hot (temp, not necessarily spicy) foods while I'm on my period to also help blood flow. After that, I need to eat lots of fuits, but no refrigerated. I also need to stay away from fatty meats.

I go back to see her in about a week and a half. We need to figure out when exactly I ovulate, which is not an easy thing for me since my body is so kooky. Once we get that figured out, I'll have to come in for more acupuncture and different herbs. I feel hopeful talking to her. It also helps that I've been reading about it and know someone who's gone through the same process with successful results. If anything, I'm sure all the acupuncture and herbs will renew my body and give me a sense of energy, health and wellbeing. How can I lose??

Caching

2009-02-01T12:26:00.004-05:00

We headed out to the Flatwoods bike trails yesterday for some caching fun. We only managed about 7 caches before we had to head back. There were still a good 6 or so left, but Randy's sick and he was out of water and suffering dearly.

While hitting up one of the caches, we heard a rustling in the distance. Turned out to be a lil' armadillo. But this bugger was not shy at all! Usually they scurry away when people are near. Not this guy. He walked right over Ant's shoes and was so uninterested in us that we were able to actually touch him! We were suprised that his armor is not exactly as hard as you'd think. His face was rather rat like and he had massive claws. It was pretty neat to be so close.

Unfortunately, our fun w/ the armadillo would soon turn to worry. We were distracted by him and then a nearby, dried up, pond. When we tried to find our way back to the trail, we couldn't. We walked back and forth, round and round. At one point we ended up near a fence behind a neighborhood. This was entirely wrong as we'd seen no neighborhood on our way in. Randy was getting frustrated and I was trying to stay calm. Afterall, we had Ant with us and we couldn't very well let him think we were lost in the woods. After about twenty minutes, or maybe longer, we finally got back on track. It was a bit scary for awhile there. But, I knew we'd manage to find our way out.

Trying Again

2009-01-31T10:56:00.002-05:00

Many people know my struggles w/ fertility. We've been trying to conceive for two years now, to no avail. I was seeing a fertility specialist, but didn't get anywhere. He was not the kindest of men, nor did he share much information with me. The staff seemed incompetent and I was scared just sitting in one of their offices because of the area and the clientele. Apparently, the accepted any and all forms of insurance. Another issues, my insurance doesn't cover anything under the "fertility/infertility" umbrella, so I was paying completely out of pocket. The whole process became an impersonal, scheduled chore. So, last March when we decided to start looking for a house, I decided to stop seeing the specialist.

When you're trying to get pregnant, everyone in the world has opinions and suggestions. I can't tell you how many times I've heard, "It will happen when it's meant to be", "As soon as you stop trying and forget about it, you'll get pregnant", "Don't think about it". It really gets quite frustrating. Not to mention that it seems to also be the time when all of your friends seem to get knocked up accidentally. It's not that you're not happy for them, because you really truly are ecstatic, it's that you're haunted w/ thoughts like "why not me? what's wrong with me?"

Since we were purchasing our first house and I was starting a new job I did have a glimmer in my mind. Everyone says you'll get pregnant when you stop worrying about it. Well, now I have two new things to worry about: House, Work. How inconvenient would it be if I got pregnant when I started a new job and needed extra money to make a new mortgage payment?? How inconvenient and yet PERFECT!!!! This would serve as the perfect distraction and thus I'd get pregnant, like magic!

NOT! This is indeed not how it worked out.

Back in the fall, a former coworker of mine informed me that her daughter had finally got pregnant. She'd been trying with no luck as well. She had even gone through several rounds of IVF. My friend gave me the titles of two books her daughter recommended, both of which are about how traditional Chinese medicine helps with infertility. They get into the internal weather of your body and how to create balance through the systems using diet, herbs, acupuncture, and exercise. I read most of one of the books. It seemed very interesting, until I got to the foods suggested. They were a bit extreme and out there for me. Many of which I wouldn't even know where to find. So, I put it down.

I ran into this former coworker again yesterday. Her daughter is due at the first of April and also mentioned that I should call her. My friend said that her daughter swore by the woman she saw. During her first visit, the Dr. placed a finger on her forhead and one on her abdomen. She then asked if the girl was in the water a lot because she has a cold womb. Turns out that she is always in the water, has been on the swim team and is an avid scuba diver. She received acupuncture and herbs from the dr. and continued to see her for 3 months. She had the girl rubbing castor oil on her tummy to help warm it up and she was drinking a tonic nightly. When my friend's daughter went in during the third month, the dr. told her that was the month she'd get pregnant. Sure enough she did.

This had intrigued me yet again. I explained to my friend that I had seen an acupuncturist once, but he wanted me to come a few times a week for several months. At $70 a visit, that was way too much for me to afford. But, when I heard her daughter only went every other week, I decided to look into it again. Last night I spent quite a bit of time online researching local acupuncturists and practioners of traditional chinese medicine. I found one in South Tampa who seemed promising. There was an article in the paper about her and also a story on one of the news stations. I also found another which is located much closer, near work, and slightly less money. Both doctors emailed me back within twelve hours of my email to them. I think I'm going to try the doctor who's closer first because it's more convenient and slightly less money. I've asked to book an appt. for next week. I'll see how I feel after my initial consultation and acupuncture treatment. If I get a good read from her, I'll continue to see her. Her website does say that she specializes in women's health, which makes me feel good. If it all doesn't work out, I'll visit the other practitioner in S. Tampa.

Here's to crossing our fingers and hoping all goes well. I've also decided to start making healthier choices. Not necessarily to aid in conception, but because I'd really like to slim down my figure like it used to be. I've cut out soda's and most of my snacks. Meals this week have consisted of fruit and hard boiled egg whites for breakfast w/ my morning coffee, mixed nuts for snack, yogurt and lunch meat for lunch, maybe another piece of fruit for snack, and then whatever Randy makes for dinner (it's always something healthy). We've been taking the dogs on long walks and I even dusted off the treadmill. Today we'll go geocaching which helps get in many miles of walking while having a blast at the same time. I know I can do this, I used to be a personal trainer afterall. It's just a matter of being disciplined enough to stick with it.

Lazy Sunday

2009-01-25T13:49:00.002-05:00

I'm still combating this damn sickness of mine. My poor head has been so clogged. It truly is a wonder how my body can produce so much mucus! But, anyway.....

We've had a rather laid back weekend. We were planning on attending another Pits Pound the Pavement walk on Saturday. This one was to be held near Macdill Air Force Base in recognition of the troops. Unfortunately though, with my cold still persisting, I didn't want to go out there and walk w/ a cough and runny nose. Also, the Gasparilla Children's Parade was taking place nearby at the same time and we feared traffic would be a bear. Instead, Randy came w/ me to his sister's salon while I got my nails done and then we went driving around to different shops. Had a rather filling lunch at Vallarta's, played w/ the puppy's at the puppy store and checked out Pier 1's latest sale. By the time we got home, I apparently needed a nap. I sat on the couch in an attempt to read my book, Dead to the World, one of the Southern Vampire series, but only managed to fall asleep. Later that night, we hit Borders for chai tea lattes and the chinese ssotre for take out. Then we sat around some more watching The DaVinci Code. An overall relaxing day.

Today, I'm home alone. Got the house all to myself. Randy was meeting up w/ Ant and Ant's grandfather to head out to the NFL Experience. That was pretty much going to be an all day affair. I'm going to enjoy the quiet while it's here. I started by watching The Grudge 2 on cable. I watched the whole thing, but I really can't tell you what it's about. I didn't get it at all. Perhaps that's because I never saw the first one. Oh well. Once that was finished, I took Janie and Roxy for a nice long walk. One would think that when you're almost home after a 3.5mi walk that your dogs would be nice and pooped, right?? Well, apparently NOT! We were so close to the turn for our street when I noticed one of our neighbors w/ her French bulldog. Janie and Roxy both went nuts pulling, Janie especially! I've never been yanked so hard! It was quite embarassing. Luckily the neighbor was really nice and didn't mind. Randy and the girls have met her before, so she had an idea who I was. Still, damn dogs, I couldn't believe it. I'm so glad I didn't decide to put on my rollerblades.

So now, I've gone to the grocery store, started laundry, and have dishes in the dishwasher. Only thing left to do~ sit on my ass and knit!

I have an excuse....

2009-01-22T17:22:00.002-05:00

I know one of my goals was to blog more. But, seriously, I have an excuse!

I was having issues w/ my iBook. The battery/charging icon was alternating back and forth between the two and my monitor was flashing. Then on random occasions the whole dang thing would just shut off. We believed that maybe the power adapter cord was loose and jiggly. We would daily try finagling the cord just so, wrapping it around the laptop, nearby coasters, or whatever else we could manage to place the cord just right to make a secure connection. It was bad enough that I even ordered a new Macally power adapter from amazon. Wouldn't you know, same damn problems. I did some investigating online and concluded that it was the DC-in board, which is where the adpater plugs into the acutal laptop. There is a rather detailed, picture by picture, tutorial on repairing it yourself on ifixit.com and the part online is only $35. But, I couldn't bare try disecting my laptop. With my luck, it would surely result in disaster. I ended up taking it to the Genius Bar at our local Apple store. They had to order the part, which came two days later and they had my laptop back to me two days after that. I was quite impressed. AThe whole repair was $100, most of that labor, which I expected because I read how much of a pain it is to take apart these laptops. So, that was last week.....

Then I was hit with the ICK! Last Friday I could tell I was coming down with something. I was exhausted, achey, and extremely congested. Didn't stop me from seeing Hotel for Dogs (funny movie, btw, cute!) and visiting the horse track w/ coworkers again (but only for a short time). I got worse as the weekend and the new week went on. Yesterday my ears started to feel funny. When I tilted my head to the right, I could feel pressure moving in my ear, in the same manner as water in a bottle would shift when tilted. At that point I decided to make an appointment for the doctor. This morning, I woke up feeling somewhat normal and considered cancelling my appt. Tara, though, being the concerened BFF that she is, insisted that I keep my appointment. Luckily I did. I feel like crap because I for good reason~ sinus infection as well as double ear infections! I am now under orders to take an antibiotic, mucinex, nasal spray, and use the neti pot!!! Could it get any worse?? Well, yeah, I guess it could have had I not gone in when I did.

So, that's what's going on. My knitting has gone on the wayside since Christmas. I'm still stuck on Clue 3 (or is it 4) or my Mystic Ice. Not because it's hard. Just because its taking longer and longer to finish each row! I'm also going to frog my Mystic Earth. It's been hibernating and I already have a rectangular stole in a similar color green. I needed something a little simpler and quicker to work on, so last night I cast on a drop stitch scarf using old Lime and Violet sock yarn from back when they only had an etsy.com shop.

This weekend we're supposed to attend another Pits Pound the Pavement dog walk. It's to be held outside the airforce base to support our troops. I'll have to see how I'm feeling by then though. Right now, I don't even want to think about it.

On that note, I'm off to do some mindless knitting.

Goodbye 08, hello 09

2009-01-08T17:00:00.003-05:00

Holy Cow! What's wrong with my blogging?!? Have I been a slacker or what? Perhaps my new year's resolution should be to blog more. No promises.

2008 has come to a close and I must say that the year proved to be successful:

After ten years of teaching at the same school, I finally got a new job. My BFF and I left together and are continuing to do our thing at the new school We absolutely love it! While it was hard to leave our other friends behind, our new friends have been fabulous and we already feel like we've been there forever.
This summer, Randy and I bought our first house. The whole process was an exhausting roller coaster and it's been quite a bit of work, but we are HOME!
Our family grew! No, I'm still not pregnant. But, we did rescue/adopt our pitbull Janie. She's brought great love and joy to the rest of us. Roxy took a bit to adjust, but loves her big sister all the same. Roxy is the adorable lil' sister trying to keep up w/ Janie while running through the yard. Too Cute!
In July, I was able to visit our nation's capitol as part of a social studies training program through the school system. It was a short, and jam packed visit, but I loved D.C.

So, what are we aiming for in 2009???

I'm hoping to get my etsy shop back up and running. I still have skeins of yarn here that need to be listed. I'd also like to start dying roving top for you spinners out there.
Speaking of spinning.... I'd like to dust off my wheel and get back to my neglected fibers.
We'll continue to try conceiving. Hopefully those efforts will soon pay off. I'm thinking the time is right since we now have a house and I have the new job.
Home, Home, Home. There are still many things we need to get done around our house and yard. That list is too long, so I won't go there.
Be positive and appreciative. 'nuff said

So, that's a start. I think it's a good start. If I do blog more frequently, as intended, we'll be able to see how much progress I'm making on the list. For now, at least it's in black and white.

Got extra Xmas Money??

2008-12-26T21:07:00.001-05:00

Wyrding Studios is having a great end of the year sale

Happy Thanksgiving!

2008-11-27T09:42:00.003-05:00

I'm thankfull for all of my family and friends. We're lucky to have it as well as we do, even when it seems we don't. On this day be grateful for all you have!

Ooooh!

2008-11-16T09:51:00.001-05:00

Modish Blog has posted about their November Give Away. The prize is $778 worth of homemade goodies! You should go and check it out.

Finished Central Park Hoodie

2008-11-09T16:29:00.007-05:00

Made w/ Cascade 220 Heathers in Shire (I believe), which I purchased through Webs. I absolutely love it! It took under a month and a half, which may seem long to others, but for me, that's quite speedy! The cables helped to keep it an interesting knit, while the threat of cold weather helped to motivate me even more.

But wait, there's more! Here is my, almost finished, clue 1 for Mystic Earth. This project has been put on the wayside due to my CPH. I also just signed up for Mystic Ice and happened to buy the yarn for that as well. Since winter is coming, I have a feeling, I'll be putting Earth away again so I can work on Ice to have this season.

Whoa! It's been forever!

2008-10-09T17:05:00.003-05:00

Almost 2 months since my last post~ EEKS! I'm such a slacker.

This is going to be a quick update.

Work~ Tara and I are LOVING the new school! Our teammates are great, the administration is over the top organized, and the parents are helpful! The students are fun, full of personality.

Home~ We are mostly, but not entirely, settled in the house. I still can't figure out what all the crap on the tile floors is, or how to scrub it off. The best I can manage is using a scrub brush and acetone. But it's a lot of work and it takes forever! I bought a Shark Steam Mop thinking that would help, but it really didn't. I'll have to check Home Depot's rental rates because they have those heavy duty floor scrubbers.

Family~ All's well. Nothing new to report. Ant's birthday is in two weeks. He's going to be 8! I can't believe it. Not sure what we're doing for him because he's got a football game in his hometown (2hrs away) that Saturday morning.

Knitting~ I've started a Central Park Hoodie with Cascade 220 Heathers in a gorgeous green. I've finished the back, the left side, and am almost done with the right side. I've also cast on the Mystic Earth stole. That one's slow progress though. Trying to get CPH done before FL's version of cold weather comes and goes in the blink of an eye.

Dogs~ Roxy is still as goofy as ever. Janie, the pitbull, is simply wonderful and well behaved. They get along like sisters. Very well for the most part, but occasionally Roxy can be a bit of an instigator.

Loooong Day!

2008-08-15T20:24:00.003-05:00

It has been quite a day! Today we had the school's Meet n' Greet. I was at work for 12+ hours and I'm pooped. I've gotta say, the parents I met seemed really, really nice! Now, it could just be that they were on their best behavior. We'll have to see how their attitudes change once we get into the school year.

So I come home to find my house a DISASTER! We decided since we had 30 days from closing on our house to actually move in that we would take our time. A little bit here, a little bit there. Well, now we have to be out in a week and both of us work regular jobs which leaves very little time to do the actual moving. Randy took a bunch of stuff over during the week and today he took over the dining table among other things. Unfortunately, our dining table has been the dumping grounds for things lately and without the table, those things are now dumped all over the place! What a cluttered mess!

It looks like we're going to be moving all the major pieces this weekend. The floor guys come tomorrow to lay down our laminate, then we'll be pretty much ready to go.

I was quite excited today when I opened the mail and found a $285 restitution check from the Jailbird! Whoo hoo! I do think this money will be used to adopt a doggy!! Randy told Ant I'd take him to the Humane Society tomorrow. And he did tell me that we could get another doggy when we moved. Sounds to me like this is just perfect timing. He knows better than to send me alone to any place where I could get a dog! I think that's just silently giving me permission to adopt :o)

Alright! I'm off to finish that glass of wine now!

New School Year!!

2008-08-10T07:50:00.002-05:00

Woo Hoo! I went back to work, grudgingly, on Friday. With everything going on at the house, it's hard to pull myself away (even tho' you'd think I'd want to by now!). It's okay though, because after 8 years of being at the same school, I've finally decided to move on!

I was very nervous about starting over again. Luckily, my BFF/partner in crime, T, was coming with me. This whole thing was her idea, she twisted my arm. Another friend of ours had started at this school last year, so she kept putting the bug in our ears. T and I took her advice, interviewed together, and were hired on the spot. So, at least I know two other people in the building!

The school is only two years old so everything is brand new. It is absolutely huge compared to my last school. The resources that they have are to die for and everything is SO organized! I wont even get started about everything their PTA does (or the fact that their PTA even has their own room to work out of)! We came from a Title I school which means that the majority of our students were on free/reduced lunch, very low socio-economically. We got extra funding for more support personell and also resources. But still, this new school has just as much, if not more. Our old school had a handfull of parents that were involved. PTA was litterally like 6 parents (that might be pushing it!). So this is a huge change for us. A welcoming change, as you can imagine.

T and I eased right in with our teammates. They are all about our age and they're funny! Our team was giggling and making jokes throughout our 3 1/2 hour meeting Friday. I loved it. We didn't feel uncomfortable. We didn't feel like we don't belong. It was simply wonderful.

I did feel behind tho' because most teachers had been in during the summer to work on their rooms. This was my very first day back and I was feeling the pressure. I still had to unpack all of my boxes that I brought from the last school. So, I spent my few meetingless hours unpacking and organizing. Then I ran into a problem. I realized all my boxes were empty and I was still missing many things~ crayons, markers, hole punchers, drawer tray organizer, a large 3 drawer roller cart! Uh-Oh! Panic mode. We looked everywhere and just couldn't find it. Luckily this school is so stocked w/ supplies that all I have to do is ask. But still, I'd like to find my things. I sent out an email to see if something ended up in someone else's room (it had happened to a few teahcers already). This morning I saw that one of the other 5th grade teachers has a roller cart in her room that she knows isn't hers; I'm thinking it's most likely mine.

This weekend, I picked up some jungle print fabric to put on our ginormous wall-o-bulletin board. Seriously, this thing is floor-to-ceiling, the length of an entire wall! Our theme this year is Wild About Learning. We had done this theme at my old school, so I really thought I had more stuff to use. Sadly, all I can find is a border. I'll have to go shopping again.

Anyway, it looks like we're off to a great start to the new year! I'm actually excited! It's been a long time since I could say that!

house is getting there

2008-08-10T07:42:00.002-05:00

I'm super tired, so this won't be much but a list of things again.
Added to our finished list:

* all of the painting is done! and that includes EVERYTHING!
* carpets installed in Ant's room & craft studio
* fish fabric for curtains in Ant's room
* blinds for the 5 windows in the "party room"
* back door in "party room" is replaced
* dining floor mopped (still trying to get a layer of what we think is sealer off of it)
* new fridge
* new washer/dryer
* new lawn mower

It seems like a short list, and I'm really racking my brain here. But, believe me, it's been soooo much work!! We started moving things over yesterday. Slowly, we'll get there. We have just under two weeks to get it all done before we get kicked out of our townhouse.

well.....

2008-07-31T08:30:00.002-05:00

I was planning a photo update of knitting (or lack there of), but realized that my camera is sitting in the new house waiting for charged batteries. So, no knitting today.

We've been working our asses of in the new house. Things we've done:
* Ripped up all flooring except the tiled kitchen/dining/addition
* Primed the addition and hall bath
* Painted the addition/dining ~ Coconut Creme yellow
* Painted Ant's room~ Waterfountain (pale blue) top/ Ultra Marine (bright blue) bottom
* Painted living space/halls ~ Caribbean Walk
* Attacked wallpaper we didn't know existed in the kitchen (still need to finish)
* Spent 3 days attacking the wallpaper border covered in layers of paint in my craft studio
* Replaced locks/knobs
* Cleaned toilets
* Purchased laminate floors (need to be picked up)
* Ordered eco-friendly carpet (made from corn) for the other two bedrooms

Our carpets were supposed to be paid for by the bank due to the flooding we found at our final walk through. Well, the stupid listing agent who was in charge of that did NOT have her act together. The money had to be paid to Home Depot, not us. She claimed the bank needed to see photos of the carpet work done before they would pay. Home depot can't even order the carpet until they are paid! Catch 22, people! We went back and forth with her. She was talking in circles. She'd act all sweet and kind and then turn all bitchy in a flash. I got our realtor involved and she really put the pressure on the other agent. Then the crazy woman would call Randy and give him a completely different story than she told me or our realtor. Ooooooh. She was too much. Even sent me a super long email about how there are no bad guys, we need to act professional, blah blah blah, she's on our side (even tho' she told randy 5 other people were interested in our house), all woe is my, i'm working so hard, blah blah blah. WHAT-EV-ER!

Yesterday she called and we finally got our check, paid to Home Depot. And, rather than being for the original $885, the check was for the ENTIRE amount of our carpet bill. Woo Hoo! That does not change my attitude toward her. When I met her at HD, she was all bubbly and sweet, giving me hugs. She acted like everything was a big joke and even played down the coversation she had w/ our realtor like they were best pals. I forced the kindness and rejoiced when I got my receipt and she was long gone! Happy to not have to deal with her EVER again!

So, there's the update. I go back to work next Friday. I'd like to be excited about that, but we're so busy at the house that the thought is only causing me more stress.

We Did It!

2008-07-21T20:27:00.002-05:00

We're finally homeowners! I was beginning to lose hope. I was in DC all week. Every time Randy called me it was a different issue.

It started w/ a voice mail from the insurance agent saying that our policy was denied because of the age of our hot water heater. We got that all fixed and ended up w/ a better policy for less money. Hurdle one cleared!

Friday, our realtor calls Randy and explains that we're missing the HUD-1 closing statement. She emails me an addendum w/ a closing date extension "just in case". Phone calls back and forth, the statement was coming from Miami, not here in Tampa and supposedly their system had gone down around 3pm. We did finally get our closing statement mid Saturday afternoon.

Sunday evening, we have our final walk through. OMG! HELL! Randy was checking the back yard while Ant and I went w/ our realtor inside. Our first though was that it was awfully cool and something sounded as though it were running when our electricity should haved been shut off the last day of June! Ant takes one step in the hall and we found a 1/4" of water all througout the hall and in the bedrooms, the bathroom was even worse! The hot water heater busted! Since it's on well water and the electric was on, the water kept pumping! We were aghast! We didn't even have 24hrs to close and here we are w/ a flood!

Many, many phone calls today. We were supposed to close at 11:30 am. That was NOT going to happen. The seller (Countrywide bank) came back w/ an offer~ replace the hot water tank, have everything cleaned and dried up, pull up all the floors, and throw in a home warranty covering all appliances/pipes/ac. Our agent explained that they really wanted to close today so we tried to push our luck. We retorted by asking that they also add the $2k that they overestimated for closing costs so that we could replace the floors. Got a call a few hours later and they agreed.

Oh, but that was not the end of course... We then get a phone call saying the lender is not going to approve of us getting not only our $2k deposit, but an additional $2k for the floors. Option #2, lower the cost of the house by that amount. Okay, fine. Minutes later, another phone call. Nope that's not going to work. Since it's an FHA loan, all the paper work would have to be redone and ran through FHA. That would take at least a week. Option #3~ be given a credit for said amount to use through a contractor to replace floors. FINE, ets just get this done!

We get to closing and had to wait for all the extra addendums and a new closing statement. We were surprised to see that our realtor and the title co. rep were the only other people there. The seller's agent was not there, nor was our lending agent. Then we run into another problem. They overestimated the damage of the floors, they'll only reimburse us $885. Sheesh. One thing after another.

We get everything signed, leave, end up at the house which is a good 3o min from the title company, to check up on the cleaning/water heater process, and then the phone rings again!! We had to turn around and go back, they had just gotten the updated HUD statement and had to sign all the new ones. Grrrrr....

But, it's over. We're all signed. The flooded mess is being taken care of and we're moving on! We're happy that they're replacing the water heater and giving us money for the floor, even if it's not the amount we'd asked for. We were already going to replace both of these things immediately anyway, now we don't have to spend the money on it. Always a good thing!!

Tomorrow And and I will go measure and start primering the rooms that weren't affected by the flooding. We went to Home Depot (where are floor credit is) and looked at carpet for two of the rooms. I found an eco-friendly yarn that wasn't overpriced and I think we'll go with that~ GO GREEN! Our room and the living/dining area will be wood laminate. We brought home bamboo samples only to find that the ones we liked and could afford were too easily scratched. Also, it needed the glue which in and of itself is quite $$$. The wood laminate just seems more realistic, even though it's not as eco friendly. I tried.

There will be before and after shots at some point, so keep your eyes out.

Los Pantalones de Muertos

2008-07-11T15:11:00.002-05:00

Oh sheesh! I thought I could pretend to be a sewer (as I unknowingly plurked yesterday). Seamstress would be the correct word, but based on my sewing skills, I really am more of a sewer than a seamstress. This 1hr pattern took me, oh, 6 hours. A good chunk of that was spent ripping out seams! I was moving along so smoothly and only had hems to finish, when I help them up to find that somehow, my patners were completely ass backwards! I have no idea what I did wrong. It was a horrible debacle! After ripping out all seems but the crotch, I managed to turn myself rightside up again. The pants are huge on the account of my not preshrinking and the suggestion of my mom to go up a size to allow shrinkage. I'm pretty sure I could fit an elephant calf in here. Anyway, here they are in all their glory. I'm going to try again in the next size under.

She's Crafty!

2008-07-07T13:50:00.005-05:00

Here's just a quick update on some of my projects.

First up, two FO's:
A pair of Monkeys using YP Patina and a pair of Anastasia socks using YP Icicle. The Anastasia's were my first pair of toe-ups! I loved it!!

Next, my fabric haul from Jo-Ann's. I decided that I wanted to try to sew something w/ the sewing machine other than last Christmas's Dammit Dolls. I picked up these three fabrics:

The two on the left will be pj pants and the far right will be the apron, also on the right.

My Wordle

2008-07-06T21:57:00.002-05:00

Our Weekend, in a Quicky

2008-07-06T17:08:00.006-05:00

Randy dropped Ant off with his mother on Thursday, so we had the rest of the weekend to ourselves. And boy, did we stay busy!

We didn't have any big 4th of July plans. We could have seen my brother perform at Tampa Improv, but didn't want to fight with the crazy crowds and drunken tomfoolery. Instead, we took Roxy to the dog beach at Davis Island. She had an absolute blast! Two hours of running, swimming, romping with the big dawgs and playing fetch. She's a natural in the water.

Later we decided to head out to Honeymoon Island, catch a good tide, and try for some late afternoon fishing. This proved to be a terrible idea. I guess we didn't take into account the holiday weekend and the fact that the beaches are insane this time of year! We left empty handed. And after being at the beach twice in one day, we were cooked.

Saturday~ I was excited because we were taking the kayaks out for the first time this year. I have no idea what we were waiting for! We went to Weedon Island and checked out their 4 mile canoe trail. It was absolutely beautiful! We brought our fishing poles and saw the fish, but just couldn't seem to catch any of them. Much of the trail is down tunnels formed where the cypress trees formed canopies. Many of the tunnels are so narrow, we had to take apart our paddles and use only half. When we had gotten to the 1 mile marker, the skies grew dark and there was quite a bit of booming thunder. I'll admit, I was a bit scared being in the water with the paddle and our fishing poles~ seems like a good lightning target to me. I felt safer when we were inside the mangrove tunnels, but there was still quite a bit of open water. Luckily, the clouds and thunder blew by without so much as a drop of rain. Then the sun came out full force. Being the smart Floridians we are, we had no sunscreen, add to that the burn we had from Friday, and you have two extra crispy beet red morons!

That brings us to today. We had asked my brother and his wife, my bf Tara and her husband to come to the dog beach. My brother had "too much to do", I think he was just blowing us off. But
Tara and Danny were game. Tara's got a Boston terrier, Booker. Booker is older than Roxy and she (or Ant) usually tires him out easily. It was also Booker's first beach trip! They brought my goddaughter Elena for her first beach trip too. Tara and Danny did not listen to me and weren't dressed for the beach! Tara had told me that Booker is afraid of the water and they have to force him in the pool. Well, all it took was one toss of the tennis ball and Booker was off! We couldn't believe it! Roxy came and went since she likes to see what the other dogs are up to. Booker was nonstop fetchmaster! He has a tiny little mouth and it took some work to grab the ball. At one point he was hitting it and hitting it but just couldn't grab it. What he did get was too many gulps of water. Danny and I watched him go down and then he didn't come up! His whole body was limp and his head was not coming up this time. Danny had to grab him and pull him out. Booker had a time out, he was a little dazed and confused, but ten minutes later he was back in the water looking for more tennis balls. What a trooper! Book really impressed us today! Then, typical Florida weather, the skies grew black, thunder rumbled, and lightning flashed. We had to call it a day.

My Inner Farmgirl....

2008-07-01T20:30:00.002-05:00

Since it's summer vacation, I seem to have quite a bit of time on my hands. How to fill that time? Of course knitting and spinning... but then there's Plurk~ a microblog/social networking website. Through Plurk, Miss Violet started a group called The Plurkette Hencircle a chapter of the Farmgirl Sisterhood. People who know me personally may be reading this and thinking, "what the heck is she doing now?"

I have been in Tampa for a very long time, 26 years long. And while there are some small farms in the area, and even larger farms in other parts of the state, I have never been much of a farm girl. Not necessarily a city girl, either... more like a product of suburbia. I was a brownie as a child, but only for a year.My mom has always been uber-crafty and she's alway had a green thumb. Dad, well, he can cook like nobody's business and he's pretty handy with power tools. Me?? well...

I'm quasi-crafty like mom. I can't cook, but I can bake a helluva dessert. My thumb is some shade between green and brown. Since I've been living in various apartments for the past decade, there really hasn't been much room for me to grow anything other than your herbs and small flowers. BUT... we're getting a house which sits on over 1/3 acre, which is quite a chunk of land around here! My goal is to plant a vegetable & herb garden and make dishes from the plants I grow. I also have a sewing machine which only saw the light of day at Christmas time, and I'd like to put that to work. I'm always interested in making things for myself, but don't often put my interest into action. I'm hoping through the sisterhood, this will all change!

House Update

2008-06-30T20:52:00.002-05:00

We met with the mortgage guy last Monday. Thursday, we found out he's no longer working for the company~ WTF?!?!?! Okay, so that just totally threw me! Just when I was starting to feel comfortable and more at ease with everything~ boom!

Prior to this, we had all of our inspections done. These all turned out great. We have no major issues at all and several of the people who came out told us that we got a helluva deal on our house considering the amount of land and the neighborhood it's in.

Thankfully, people at the mortgage company were on top of things. Turns out the girl in charge is actually an old friend from high school (i hadn't seen her since then). Today we met with the new guy assigned to our file. I immediately told him, "You're job today is to make sure I'm feeling comfortable about all of this by the time I leave." And sure enough, he did.

If everything goes according to plan, we'll be closing 3 weeks from today! **crosses fingers**

COMPLETE!

2008-06-25T10:25:00.002-05:00

BYOB from knitty.com
Made w/ Sugar n' Cream
The seed stitch was rather monotonous and boring for me, but I love the finished product.

Happy Birthday, Roxy!!

2008-06-25T10:22:00.002-05:00

Today our baby is 1 year old!!

Grown Up Day

2008-06-23T08:00:00.001-05:00

Today we have to run around and get things done. There's a bed we want to look at at Pier 1: http://ping.fm/vcrui

I also need to call a new woman about home owners insurance to see if she can beat my previous quote. Then this afternoon we're meeting w/ the mortgage broker to sign paperwork.

A Yarny Update

2008-06-20T12:30:00.003-05:00

Here's what I've been working on....

Funky Carolina roving from The Sweet Sheep

On the bobbin now, Crown Mountain Farms sock hop roving in It Takes Two

BYOB from knitty.com

And one monkey sock using Yarn Pirate Booty Club~ Patina

We Got It!!

2008-06-17T15:29:00.002-05:00

The bank signed our contract!! Finally!! Now it's time to schedule inspections!!

Come Join Me

2008-06-16T08:10:00.001-05:00

over on plurk. it's a fabulous way to stay in touch with your friends in a twitter like fashion, only better!

Hint of Possibility

2008-06-13T19:29:00.002-05:00

This could be it. We found yet another house. Happens to be on the same street as the very first contract we offered. It's an older house, but it's super cute, has a lot of potential and sits on 1/3 of an acre. We put in an offer Wednesday, got a counter yesterday. Signed the counter contract and received a 16pg blah-blah-blah addendum today. It took awhile to go through all that paper work, but we initialed, signed and faxed back. Our realtor says that the majority of the time the bank sends these addendums that they will sign it and it's a done deal. Unfortunately it was late on a Friday afternoon that we signed, so we won't hear anything until Monday now. ***Crosses Fingers*** our search may finally be over. The good thing~ the bank is contributing $14k in closing and escrow. And the house is $20k less that what we've been looking at. Mind you, there is a lot of elbow grease to put into it. But that's what will make it "ours", right??

on the knitting front... still working on Monkey sock #2, and also Bee Fields. BUT, i cast on for Knitty's BYOB last night. Its strange working with a larger yarn. It's been awhile

well....

2008-06-08T16:49:00.002-05:00

house hunting was only semi-productive.

A New Waste of Time

2008-06-08T12:09:00.001-05:00

.... Guitar Hero! We bought it last night and haven't stopped playing. It is now after 1pm and we're still in our pj's from this morning, rocking out. I guess I know how we'll be spending our summer ;o)

more house shopping today, 3pm

UGH!

2008-06-05T19:36:00.002-05:00

Third time is NOT a charm. Bank rejected our offer~ TWICE! Their counter was $10k more than the asking price! What the flippin' hell is going on????

No Details.....

2008-06-01T19:11:00.001-05:00

don't want to jinx it, but hopefully third time really is a charm.

Pardon My French

2008-05-29T19:12:00.002-05:00

House hunting fucking sucks!!!
The house that both our realtor and the seller's realtor were sure we had is now out the freakin' window!! This is the 4th house that has been swiped away! We got a call today that apparently there's a new law that prevents an FHA house from being listed for 90 days and then it has to be owned by a national bank. The house has to go off market for 90 days. They aren't even allowed to hold our offer for that time! In the meantime, they're going to repaint and recarpet.. so you know when the 90 days is up that the price will also go up. We can afford it now, but not if it goes any higher. Our realtor looked up the title and apparently there are 3 different names on it, which in itself is sketchy. We were soooo in love with this house! Even my parents drove out to see it and were excited for us. I simply can't believe this is happening! For it to be a "buyer's market" we sure aren't experiencing any luck.

Simply stated...
It FUCKING SUCKS!

Almost Home

2008-05-27T19:09:00.002-05:00

We put an offer on a house we found on Friday. 4br/2ba/2car garage just shy of 1700 sqft. Randy loved it so much, he told the realtor we wanted to put an offer right there, without even talking to me first. He said he knew he was home as soon as we turned down the street, and even more so when we pulled into the driveway. Anthony also loves it. I asked him if he had his room picked out and he told me yeah... as he started walking to the master bedroom! HA think again!

We drove back to the realtor's office that afternoon and made up our contract for the offer. We had to wait because of the holiday weekend, but heard back before 10am this morning. They pretty much accepted our offer, but in order for them to pay for the down payment, they upped the price. In the end, with all they're contributing, it still brings it back down to the asking price. We revamped the contract and mailed it back this afternoon. The realtor said they'll probably come back with another offer on the mortgage, trying to beat Regions deal. We'd love for them to at least come at us with a lower interest rate. Whatever saves us money~ we don't care!

So, tomorrow we should get our final word! Keep your fingers crossed. We'd be closing at the end of June :o) I'm soooo excited!

A lil' update

2008-05-22T16:23:00.002-05:00

Still no house yet. We removed our offer on the one house. Our realtor is convinced that the seller won't be approved for his short sale because you have to prove that you have absolutely no assets whatsoever, but he owns 3 other houses! Plus, someone else had put in an offer higher than ours. We don't think anyone will end up with the house since it most likely won't be approved.

Then, we found another house that we loved! It was farther away, but it was almost 1900 sqft. in a great neighborhood! It was on a cul-de-sac surrounded by larger houses all that were very nicely landscaped. It needed some work (floors, paints, kitchen counters), but would totally be worth it in the end! We were all set to make an offer on Monday when we found out from our realtor that someone had put one in on Friday and was approved.

So, that makes 3 houses that were swiped from us. Who says the market sucks?? Apparently some people out there have money they want to spend!

On the knitting front, I finished my toe-up Anastasia socks with Yarn Pirate's Ice Princess. I just got my last shipment of yarn pirate booty. I was feeling guilty spending the money when we're trying to get a house. So, I'm taking a break. But, this last shipment, Patina, is GORGEOUS!!! I've already cast-on a pair of Monkey socks with it! And I'm still slaving away on the Bee Fields shawl. That one is a slow work in progress.

So, that's the update! Hope everyone has a fabulous Memorial weekend!

Ta-da!

2008-05-02T17:05:00.003-05:00

Here it is~ Mystic Lights! Knit with Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock in Flames. It's still blocking in the photo, but at least you get the big picture :o)
Now, I've resurrected the Bee Fields shawl that I started e-o-n-s ago!

Picking UP

2008-05-02T08:09:00.002-05:00

I finally finished my Mystic Lights shawl. It's upstairs blocking as I type. Unfortunately, I think my yarn, while it does very much resemble fire, is too busy for the pattern. I kept on trucking anyway. I'll try to get photos up soon. Now that that's off the needles, I can finish my second Anastasia sock (my first pair of toe-ups!) and also the topsecretproject of which I cannot disclose until mid-May.

We put in an offer on a house that we LOVE! The sucky part is that it's a short sale, which happens prior to the house going into foreclosure. The seller has a lawyer to help expedite the process, which could normally take more than a month!! Apparently this guy got greedy and bought up a bunch of properties. He has two mortgages on this house and obviously got in over his head. So ultimately it's not up to him to take the offer, but those banks he owes. Our realtor put in the contract that we'd like to hear back by May 2, TODAY, but that would be unlikely. So, she also put in a 20 day period. She called the other day to let us know she hadn't heard anything yet that if she didn't get any calls she would call the other realtor today to find out what's going on. Keep Your Fingers Crossed!!!

Off the Radar

2008-04-27T10:40:00.002-05:00

I haven't been blogging much lately.
That's because house hunting has made me obsessive.
In fact, I haven't found a geocache in WEEKS!
I was doing great on my knitting but even that has s-l-o-w-e-d to a turtle-like pace.

Ugh! I'm ready to find a house and call it quits! This is way stressful!

The good thing is that we found 4 houses that we're interested in while we were out with the realtor yesterday!! One of which Randy and I are discussing putting in an offer. **crosses fingers** He has to call our mortgage man and have him crunch numbers for us.

Freakin' A

2008-04-13T08:25:00.001-05:00

House Hunting Sucks.

That's all I'm saying.

Oh, and it's SCARY!

That's it.

Let Me Clarify

2008-04-06T10:27:00.002-05:00

My last post was a bit cryptic, but I have to say that it has nothing to do with pregnancy~ I'm still not pregnant. I wish, but no.

I will add though that I was putting off said change because I was trying to get pregnant. I have a funny feeling that when said change takes place this fall (which is a big hint!), I will end up pregnant within the next year.

On top of the big change, we've also decided to start house hunting since our lease is up in June. This will add more to the already interesting mix. Maybe once these things happen, the baby will happen too :o)

i've been secretive because i'm not sure who reads my blog. it's quite possible that students of mine, who happen to know that my geocaching and yarn business are both under FiredUpFairy, could stumble upon this.

Oh Yeah!

2008-03-27T20:41:00.001-05:00

A change is comin', baby!
whoo hoo!

It's been awhile.....

2008-03-11T18:12:00.002-05:00

nothing really new to report.

my belly issues~ gone! of course, the day after the dr's visit, i felt perfectly fine. all my tests also came back normal~ as i figured they would.

you may be asking, "where's the knitting?" "has she lost her mojo?"
well, no. after frogging the Mystic Waters Shawl, i decided to save up my knitting for Mystic Light. i thought that maybe if i resisted the urge to pick up my needles, i could attack M.L. with a vengeance and perhaps actually keep up with the clues.

i did finish the swatch. it's Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock in Flames. the left two pattern repeats are on size 5 needles, the two right side are size 6.

i've been all about trying to shed my somewhat negative, perhaps sarcastic and bitter ,attitude toward life. when Oprah first announced Eckhart Tolle's book, A New Earth, i quickly ran out to buy it. what an awakening indeed! reading it has really opened my eyes to the fact that my attitude is having detrimental effects on many aspects of my life. i won't get all deep and philosophical, but i strongly URGE you to pick up the book and give it a read. the webinars that Oprah and Tolle every monday night are phenomenal!

my brother and his wife were raving about the movie The Secret. they were so amped by it, i had to get it for myself. it's all about using the Law of Attraction to get what you want out of life. we haven't watched it yet, but i have been listening to a podcast called Law of Attraction Tips, and it's really quite interesting.

anywhoo.... i'm hungry for some mango ice cream. off i go!

belly update

2008-03-01T17:41:00.002-05:00

I finally sucked it up and went to the doctor. Unfortunately, she couldn't give me any answers because the pain wasn't in one specific place. So now I have to have a whole gamut of tests: gall bladder ultrasound, abdominal xrays, bloodwork. And since my mom was diagnosed with colon cancer a couple years ago, I have to do some gross stuff I won't discuss here.

Of course, now I feel fine! But everyone keeps telling me I still need to go for the tests. Argh!

Belly Achin'

2008-02-26T18:15:00.001-05:00

no, not complaining, actual belly aching!

My stomach has been bothering me for about a week now. I can't quite nail down the pain. It's a dull ache in my upper and lower abdomen and seems to move around. It hurts more when I walk or move. I feel like I need to poo or pass gas, but it's neither and I'm not constipated. I went on WebMD, I know I shoudn't,but I did, and now I'm wondering if it's appendicitis.

I'm guessing I should call the doctor tomorrow. I was planning on finding a new doctor, but perhaps I should wait until I get this checked out. Just in case.

It's Finished!!

2008-02-14T21:44:00.002-05:00

Randy's Santa Fe Hoodie from Knit 2 Together.
It needs to stretch out a bit, but it works.
Nevermind his UniBomber appearance in the photo. He's a dork!

Infertility Update

2008-02-13T10:39:00.003-05:00

The woman from the dr's office finally called me back yesterday. She said she called Humana twice to get information, because according to her, you could get one answer from one person and a completely different answer from someone else. Unfortunately, the information she received was the same as what I was told on Friday~ NO infertility coverage.

So today's sonogram cost me $150. If it comes to spending about that much each month, I can probably handle it. It just sucked this month because of the new tires on the jeep.

What did the sonogram have to say? Well, according to the dr. my ovaries are very close together as opposed to being on opposite sides. He says in the grand scheme of things, it really isn't of importance. Okay, if you say so. He says I have two good size eggs one on the left and one on the right. Possibly a third smaller egg. He explained that ideally he'd like to see 3-5 good size eggs. But then we ran into a problem. Something was showing up on the sonogram that he couldn't make out.

He couldn't tell if it was a cyst at the end of my tube or something wrong with the tube. If you read my previous post, you probably saw that according to the pathology from the surgery to remove an ovarian cyst, a piece of my fallopian tube as also removed. This was news to me and didn't quite make sense since an HSG showed both my tubes open and functioning.

The dr. wrote a prescription for blood work that I have to have done next week. This will determine if indeed I ovulated. Then I have to wait and see what happens. If I get a period, I have to call and he may prescribe 150mg of Clomid (up from the current 100). If I don't get a period, I need to come in for a prego test.

We're all keeping our fingers crossed. We'll see what happens. Dr did say we need to get busy the rest of this week and this weekend. Perfect timing for Valentine's day :o)

Fire Update

2008-02-10T21:21:00.000-05:00

About an hour and a half ago Randy walked me outside to show me the ominous orange glow above a portion of the woods. You could also see very small fires at the bottoms of the trees right in front of the lake. Our house smells like smoke, which I'm sure will give me a headache by the time I get up tomorrow. And I'll probably go into work reeking of smoke. I just went out to my car and it's incredibly smoky and stinky out. I'm pretty sure I heard the distinct rumble of a helicopter in the distance. I wanted to go toward the lake for a better view, but it's way too dark out and who knows what critters are out in the woods this late.

Insurance Sucks!

2008-02-10T18:28:00.000-05:00

When I first started going to this new dr.'s office for my infertility woes, the office manager said she would call Humana to see what would be covered, before I made an appointment with the specialist. Surprisingly, I was told that everything. I should have known it couldn't be that easy. Friday, after the $530 tire spree, I come home to find a bill from Humana for $116 for my last dr's visit. I called to find out they don't cover ANY infertility visits/treatments. I was advised to write a repeal since I was misinformed. I called the dr's office but couldn't get much info (especially at 4:30 on a Friday). The woman told me she'd get in touch with some other woman and call me back on Monday. I have an appointment on Wednesday for a sonogram to see if I have any follicles. It'd be nice to know that I'm covered. But, I guess this is a reality I'm going to have to deal with. Most insurance don't cover infertility. It's a matter of, "How much do you want this?" Am I willing to spend money to go in and out of the dr's office? I guess I'll have to see how involve this ends up being.

I hate insurance! I have the worst luck ever!

On the knittin front.....

2008-02-10T18:24:00.000-05:00

I finished the body of Randy's Santa Fe hoodie. It's all pieced together and I only have the hood left to complete, well, and ends to weave.

Oh, but there was tragedy today! Late last night I attempted to work on my Mystic Waters. Don't know what happened, but I was off with the first row of Chart D. I couldn't figure out how to fix it, but still ended up with the correct amount of stitches. I left it over night and started again today. This time row two was also off. I tried to frog it back a few rows, but the yarn was getting stuck on my needles and wouldn't move very easily. I fought with it for a couple hours and got so frustrated I just frogged the hole damn thing. Oh yes, there were tears! Lots of tears! I told myself I'd just work on Randy's sweater and pick that back up after Mystic Lights. Maybe I need a fresh start anyway.

Holy Smokes!

2008-02-10T18:14:00.000-05:00

I love living on a nature preserve~ it's serene, there's lots of wildlife, beautiful trees and lakes. However, tonight I realize it has one major drawback.

We were driving home from dinner when a fire truck drove around us. We watched it drive down the street toward our complex and we were confused because there's a fire station literally right next to us. The only reason for another truck to come is if it's something major. Then we became extra concerned as we realized that truck, as well as another, were pulling into our complex! There was smoke blowing around and it smelled pretty bad.

The trucks all drove to the left, we live to the right. However, the closer we got to our house, the darker the smoke seemed. We pulled in and decided to walk to the lake across the street. This is what we saw~

As we stood watching, the smoke got heavier. The fire is about 2-300 yards away from our house. The scary thing is that there's no direct path for the trucks to take back there. There are foot trails, but that's about it. We've seen some trucks with plows coming down our street, but haven't seen any action. Those woods are dense, and with the exception of the trees close to the lake, very dry! We'll be keeping our eyes out to see what happens. Randy's actually fishing now, so I'm hoping he'll be nosy while he's out there.

UGH!!!!

2008-02-08T12:41:00.000-05:00

I had just pulled into a parking spot to start the hunt for the first cache of the day when Randy called to see if I had taken my car for an oil change. I had forgotten that I said I'd do that with my free day off~ DAMN! So, feeling guilty, I left the cache spot, with no search, and left for the auto shop. I walked in asking for an oil change and rotate/balance my tires. $40. Of course, things can't be that easy! The guy comes out telling me I need to replace my tires, and my wipers. The price of tires started at $465 and went up from there! Being cheap, I said I'd take those tires and said don't even bother with the wipers. I can get those at Walmart. Then he said, "oh, let me check your brakes". I said "oh, no you don't! I'm not getting any brake work done. Not today!" I understand it's not his fault. But when you walk in thinking you'd be in and out and spend $40 and find it's really going to be an all day affair and costing 10x that~ it makes you ANGRY!

so I walked to my parents' house where I am no waiting for the car to finish.

oh yes, nothing like spending bookoo bucks!

Hoodie Update

2008-02-07T22:27:00.000-05:00

I just finished the pocket of Randy's Santa Fe hoodie from Knit 2 Together. Now I have to block and finish it so I can start on the actual hood. It might actually be possible for me to finish this by V-day!

Been Awhile

2008-02-05T20:22:00.000-05:00

since I've posted. so here we go.

what's new? a whole lot... of N-O-T-H-I-N-G!

work has really been getting to me lately and i feel the need for change coming on. i can't exactly get into details for the various reasons of suckiness (wouldn't want a student to stumble upon my blog) or a co-worker (no, tara, not you~ you know the volumes of suckiness first hand!). so, i'll just leave it at that.

medically~ i'm still dealing with my w/ crap. when i last saw the doctor, and he FINALLY had my previous medical records, he told me that according to the pathology report, while they were working on my ovarian cyst, they removed a piece of my fallopian tube!. um, WHAT?!? this is news to me! i asked if it was intentional or accidental. he couldn't figure it out by the report. YIKES! however, a month prior, i had an HSG done, which showed that the dye moved freely through both tubes, so they're open and normal. Sheesh! can't i catch a break? so now, i'm on double my previous dose of clomid (now 100mg) which is making me CRABBY! i go back next week for a sonogram to see if i have any follicles.

on the knitting front... well, more of nothing. i did finish and block Secret of the Stole. Mystic Waters is still on the needles, still on clue 2~ S.A.D.
Randy's sweater is moving along. i'm on the raglan shaping of the second sleeve, which means i only have the pocket and hoodie left, and then the joy of sewing it together. Yippie!

i'm sensing quite a bit of sarcasm on my side. probably the extra hormones from my meds. oh-di-well

we have been getting a lot of geocaches done. that's been fun. this weekend we hiked probably close to 5 miles (i forgot to reset the trip computer). last week we hiked a total of 8, yup 8!, miles!!! with ant in tow! he was quite the trooper. and to top it off, it rained on us and there were lost areas under soggy muddy flooding. FUN! and this time, i'm not being sarcastic!

well, that about sums it up folks.
g'night :o)

What's With The Bugs?!?!?

2008-01-19T21:53:00.000-05:00

So, first it was the fat, hairy spider that landed on my face on our first letterboxing trek.

Then it was the popping tick that I pulled off Roxy~ Eeew!

Today, I'm pulling out a left over bagged ball of Zephyr from my knitting bag and find something slimey land into my hand. I'm looking at it closely, thinking it kinda looks like a large, sliced kalamata olive and what the hell would it be doing in my knitting?!? It still skeeves me out since I really have no idea. I'm just about to drop it into Randy's palm while exclaiming "Ew, its slimey!" when Randy pulls away from me. I fling it into the kitchen sink where he informs me its a SLUG!! what the freak?!?! what in the world is a slug hanging around my knitting bag for?!?!? Oh my god, it was so gross! I'm really not afraid of bugs, but it's entirely different when you come in contact at the most unlikeliest of places!

Of course, Randy took the opportunity to share with Ant what happens when you dump salt on a slug. Oh, family times!

CFLLB Winter Gathering '08

2008-01-13T11:34:00.000-05:00

We drove out to Moss Park in Orlando yesterday for the gathering. We had an absolute blast! It was so great hanging out with other people and families that also letterbox. We learned a lot of the ropes that are involved with these gatherings and will be better prepared next time.

I got several personal travelers,but didn't realize I should have printed out the clues and brought them with me. People that carry PT's don't exactly tell you what you're supposed to do~ you just need to figure it out. Sometimes it's as easy as asking a question. Other times you have to perform a feat or answer a riddle. I had answers to many clues that I had previously researched, but could have done much better. oh well, now we know for next time.

There were also Hide n' Seek boxes which were hidden right under our noses. Like literally hidden amongst the food! Some were passed to me without my even knowing it! Absolutely crazy! You just never know where you'll find a box!

The people there were very friendly and outgoing. We felt like a welcomed part of the group. Even Anthony had a great time since there were tons of kids there. There were a few other newbies there as well as people who have been letterboxing for many, many years! We'll definitely be going to the gathering in April as well.

Back to the Grind!

2008-01-07T18:33:00.000-05:00

After being off for two weeks, sadly I have to return to work tomorrow! I'm not too happy about it! I got used to having all day to trek around town searching for letterboxes and caches. Now what?!? ARgh! I'm sure I'll have a rough night trying to sleep~ it always happens when I have to return to work from a break. I worry about missing the alarm clock or it simply not going off at all.

Oh well, what can you do?!?

CFLB

2008-01-03T23:13:00.001-05:00

stands for Central Florida Letter Boxers!
We've joined the group and are going to attend their Winter Gathering which is at Moss Park in Orlando next Saturday. We can't wait! Tons of personal travelers, boxes, and cooties to catch! Should be lots of fun~ the boys are excited!

My New Crack!

2008-01-03T22:56:00.000-05:00

Geocaching is quickly becoming a second addiction with letterboxing. What's nice is that there are a bagillion more caches than there are letterboxes. Although, I have to admit it's much trickier than letterboxing, and you don't get any cool stamps to log. The first day we went out was pretty difficult. Many caches are micros. Could be anything from small metal bison tubes to 35mm film canister. Of course all the ones that are super close to our house are of the micro type. We found the first one right away which gave us a false sense of "WeCanDoThis!" We couldn't find any of the rest after that! We had to go home and download new coordinates for slightly larger caches located in Lake Park. Of the 4 sets of coords, we found 3. Not bad. This was Monday.

Yesterday, Ant and I went out. He was quite a trooper considering the cold weather. We hiked down the Upper Tampa Bay Trail to our first locale which was a bust. Moved to the second one which we must have been on top of but still couldn't find. Backtracked for a 3rd which was really off the trail. We got to a point in the woods where we'd have to cross a wooden plank over the creek. Ant didn't like this too much, so we decided to nix it. We went box to spot #1 where a little more thinking put us in the tree we started but in the right place and VOILA! we got one. We found one more on the trail that day. Then we headed behind a local gas station. We were trying to be stealth and inconspicuous as a pizza delivery boy was getting in his car. He has obviously seen other cachers because he told us we were warm and needed to look down! Great hint! We found another. We went to 4 more locations~ only finding 2 caches. But we did pick up another geo-coing along the way.

Surprisingly, Ant asked me if it was too cold to go geocaching today! I asked if he really wanted to and he said yeah! So, off we went. We found 3 (all of which were really easy!) but we had been out searching for 5 others as well :o( At one spot, I think we were on the wrong side of the fence (i'm gonna try again tomorrow). Another one was in the woods behind a strip plaza. It was laden with trash and I had busted my ass back there at one point. I felt nervous having Ant back there so we left. One was at a Walgreens and I'm sure we were in the right spot, but couldn't find it. Didn't help that someone parked and sat in their car right next to us. We headed for a cache next to Sonny's, where unfortunately, 2 police cars were parked nearby~ not getting in trouble with the law while hanging out with my 7yo!

When Randy got home, we headed out and found 5 more (not the 5 we were looking for earlier). 8 for the day! not bad!

Tomorrow I'm going out to hit the trail again. There are 9 at various points on the trail. I figure it'll be a good way to get some fresh air and exercise. If I get an early enough start, I can also try some of the places we missed in the past couple days. Some of which we were so close to it pisses me off!

Addicting! Very addicting!

Hi Ho, Hi Ho

2007-12-31T11:27:00.000-05:00

Geocaching we will go!

Uploaded 10 waypoints to my GPS~ all within a 2 mile radius! Whoo hoo!
Hopefully the weather will hold out for us today!

New Year's Plans?? We're heading over to Tara and Danny's, where I'm convinced we'll convert them into letterboxer/geocachers with little effort!!

Happy New Year's to you!! Everyone be safe out there tonight!

Got a New Toy!!!

2007-12-30T23:28:00.000-05:00

Garmin eTrex Legend GPS system!! Whoo hoo!
Sadly Garmin doesn't work well with Mac. Stupid fools! However, after many many hours of screwing around and googling, I found a way to load geocaches from geocache.com onto my Garmin. There are at least 5 caches within a half mile from our house. And our local park, just a couple miles down the road... 12!!!
I can't wait to go out for them!!

On the Letterboxing note.....
We were quite successful in Spring Hill. Found a total of ten boxes!! One of them had a hitchiker and one was a bonus box with 2 stamps! Great day!! When we got to one of the parks and found our first box, the log was stamped from someone else for today! We looked all over, hoping to run into them, but never saw them. When I went onto atlasquest to log our finds, I noticed those same people also went to our first stop. It's a shame we didn't catch each other and do an exchange.

Secret of the Stole

2007-12-30T00:41:00.000-05:00

is FINAllY off the needles!
hoo-freakin'-rah!
can't block until ant goes back home and i can use his bed.

Have you noticed......

2007-12-29T19:19:00.000-05:00

more blog posts~ holy cow!
I'm trying to make a more conscious effort to blog more! No need to write a novel of a post trying to catch up on everything if I wold just blog more to begin with! So there you have it.

Spring Hill, here we come

2007-12-29T19:15:00.001-05:00

Found a park in Spring Hill with 9, yeah, you got it, 9 letter boxes!!
Also, along the way is another stop that is the second of a set of 3 stamps~ Gator's Nest #2. We'll be picking that up as well, since we got #1 the other day. Ant's super stoked!

When we have a little extra spending money, we're going to look at GPS's to get started in geocaching. Even more fun!! I was on geocaching.com for giggles and found a TON in our area!

Roxy Update

2007-12-29T19:06:00.000-05:00

All is well and happy now that our baby is back home again!!

Even better was the fact that the vet's bill was a good $100 less than originally quoted! Whoo hoo! That celebration was short lived though. When I was sitting with her this afternoon, I happened to notice a dark bump in her fur under her collar. Ruh-roh! We have our first tick folks. Not okay! I guess that's what happens when you bring your dog traipsing through the woods for three days in search of letterboxes! We went out immediately to purchase some Frontline for her. And a nifty tick remover~ not that we needed it after that. I used my nails and with a great deal of effort yanked that mother out! It disgusted me beyond belief!!

Because of the surgery, Roxy won't be able to take any extended walks for awhile. No letterboxing for her :o(

Poor Roxy

2007-12-28T19:01:00.000-05:00

Merry Christmas to her, she got a trip to the vet today to be fixed. They also found that they needed to fix an umbilical hernia she had when she was born. Thankfully that bill is covered by the puppy place where we purchased her. She also needed a second follow up shot to a shot she received a month ago. In the end, its a $430 present! We pick her up tomorrow. I'm sure she'll be fine, but she won't be the same for awhile.

Ant told Randy tonight that he doesn't like Roxy being gone.

Frogs and Hitchhikers, oh my!

2007-12-28T18:08:00.001-05:00

I haven't been able to post about my knitting because, well, I haven't been knitting!

I have, however, been a letterboxing maniac!!! Randy and I went out on Wednesday and hit up two parks. One we had been to previously, but Randy hadn't made a stamp at that point and neither of us had journals. Lucky for him, I bought him a stamp carving kit from stampeaz.com for Christmas and a nice leather journal!

We went back and got the first two stamps then found a third in the same park. We left there and headed a couple miles up the road to the next park. These two boxes proved to be a little more difficult. We were off in the woods looking for an uprooted tree, but ended up in a broken tree by accident. We searched for a good ten minutes before I said lets move on. We were supposed to be around pine trees, of which I saw none! Sure enough, a couple minutes down the trail were pine trees and the uprooted tree we were searching for!! There was a second box that went with this one. It led us up a hill through this teeny tiny path. It was difficult because it was walled by bushes and roots were protruding from every which way! when we got to the top of the hill, we found ourselves at the top of a cliff overlooking the trees and in the distance was a big lake. It was GORGEOUS!!!! Not only that, but we found our first hitchiker there! All the way from New Hampshire!!

After that we headed to a park clear on the other side of town. We were looking for the statue of the man for whom the park is named. We walked, and walked, and walked and couldn't find it anywhere! We were at it for well over an hour and walked every inch of the park. Finally we had to leave because it was just too dark. We were both perturbed and Randy really didn't want to quit. So, we drove around the outer perimeter of the park, along the main highways, and lo and behold, there was the elusive statue. Needless to say we made it a point to go back the next day. When we did finally find the box, which was cleverly hidden inside a locked wooden box, nailed to a tree and labled "Entomology Study", we were surprised to find a trio of frogs hopping around with the goodies!

Since we were driving out to Bartow to pick up Ant, I found three boxes that were in the area for us to search. We found the first park with no problem, but unfortunately it was a total bust. We were in the exact spot for the clue, there really was no mistaking it. We dug around, we searched under and inside wooden poles, I even climbed to the bottom of a creek that was below the bridge we were at~ NOTHING! We had a woman and her daughter curiously approach us to find out what we were looking for. When we explained the whole letterboxing concept, she was quite interested. Too bad she didn't get to witness a find~ i did feel like we were under pressure with her watching.

We left park number one, feeling jipped. We found the second location quite easily~ too easy really, no challenge. We drove around in circles looking for the trail with the third box. We asked Ant's grandmother to point us in the right direction. Apparently we just needed to head further north of where we were. Ant was quite excited about the idea of finding these boxes. We finally arrived at the trail, hiked about a half mile and into the tree we went. What sucked was discovering that the shrubbery surrounding this tree was filled with sandspurs!! We were all covered. And poor, poor Roxy!!! We've taken her with us the past few days. This time she was an absolute mess! All those sandspurs stuck in her long hair and in between the pads of her paws. It was a disaster!!!

Ant had a blast so we attempted one more find at a rest stop off the interstate just a bit farther north than where we live. Unfortunately the picnic area that we needed to get into was closed at dusk. We must have just missed it since the sun was just starting to go down when we got there.

Today we took Anthony out, again. Randy carved him his own ant stamp and we picked up a small notebook last night. We headed out to Tarpon Springs for a blue diamond box. We were in the exact place that we needed to be. Dug through all sorts of plants in front of an abandoned church right out at the intersection of two fairly busy streets. We were concerned someone would yell at us, especially since a realtor was showing a house just a couple doors down. We never got in trouble, but we never found the box either. We were there for like half an hour.

From there we headed to a nearby park where there was definitely one stamp, and a questionable second box. The questionable box had been reported missing but the owner seemed to think people were in the wrong place. We were definitely in the right place and it was indeed missing! The other box we found no problem.

We rounded out the afternoon in a hoity toity residential part of town where there were three more boxes. Two of the stamps were lame cheesy leaves, with a 50cent price tag still on the back. They weren't very well hidden either. The third was a much better stamp and a slightly more difficult hike (though calling it a hike would be exaggerating). Ant's gotten quite into the letter boxing experience! We're going out again this weekend! Can't wait!!!

Belated Christmas Update

2007-12-28T17:52:00.000-05:00

As usual, I've been a very bad blogger!!

I had to work like a mad woman on speed, but my procrastinating slackass self managed to get all of my handmade Christmas items completed on time!! Of course, I failed to take pictures though~ DOH!

I made Dammit Dolls for my friends and family but reworked the poem to fit their personalities. I made Teacher Dammit Dolls for coworkers, Bucs Dammit Dolls for the guys, and a very special Fishing Dammit Doll for Randy. They were a huge hit!

I also made magnets from flat clear magnets for an elite group of friends. Christmas themed for a couple friends, cutesy pink ones for Tara, flowers for mom and vintage pinup girls for Yoly.

I was also working on jewelry from polyshrink, but only managed to get one solitary butterfly necklace made for Tara. I attempted a pin for my mom. I was to say "CRAFTY" and then dangling from that were going to be a hot glue gun, needle&thread, and scissors. This went horribly wrong the first time. It didn't shrink nearly enough and then ended up all wavy. I ran out of time before I could try again. Oh, well. Maybe mother's day.

Christmas treated me well! I was quite excited to get what I was hoping for~ a jewelry armoire. Woo hoo! My mom made took the cake by making me cry with one of her gifts. She had saved them for last and made one for both my brother and me. They were "create-your-own" calendars, but she had already done all the creating for us! Each month she scrapbooked using photos from our childhood that fit with that particular month. It was the best gift ev-ar!

So, yeah, Christmas was quite nice. Now we face the dreaded clean up! I'll be happy when dh finally gets all his stuff put away. At least 98% of mine is where it belongs. Clutter makes me crazy!

Species Identified

2007-12-18T16:44:00.000-05:00

Thanks to Chelsea the Yarn Geek directing me to whatsthatbug.com , I now know that the spider that hopped on me during our walk was a Golden Silk Orb Weaver.

It's not so harmful.....Good to know.

Found 2!!

2007-12-17T17:06:00.000-05:00

Letterboxes that is! We went for a quick hike through Lettuce Lake Park and found two letterboxes. They're actually a pair that go together. We had to rush because the park was closing in less than an hour, but we found them and made it back to the car in like 30 minutes. I did have a run in with a critter. I was putting one of the boxes back and felt something on my face. I brushed it off and saw what fell~ this bohemith monstrosity! It really freaked me out; and bugs don't normally get to me! I've never seen a spider like this before!

Letterboxing

2007-12-16T10:38:00.000-05:00

I think we are going to take up a new hobby, thanks to the latest LnV podcast. Randy got so into the idea of letterboxing that I think we may even go out today!! We went onto atlasquest.com and found a TON of letterboxes in our area. We're so stoaked! What a great way to get out of the house and get some exercise~ with Roxy too! We can even take Anthony along, he'd get a kick out of a "treasure" hunt! I ordered a stamp carving kit for Randy for Christmas. Don't think it will get here in time, but you never know.

Oh, yes! Another compulsive hobby to take up more of my little time!
Can't Wait!!

cookies are done

2007-12-09T10:55:00.000-05:00

Our craft group is having our second annual cookie exchange tomorrow night. I couldn't decide on just one recipe, so I made two. They're super delicious, I have to admit. The recipes were found on Kraft foods web site and were really easy to make!

3 dozen Citrus White Chocolate Macaroons~ mmmmmm.....

4 dozen Chew Chocolate Chunk~ chocolatey goodness!

then there's beef stew in the crock pot. nothing fancy, just a bag of Marie Callendars from the frozen foods aisle

Cliche' Family Photo

2007-12-08T18:36:00.000-05:00

Of course, it's the holiday, and I just had to! It took sev-er-al shots! sadly, i own no tripod. and roxy was just a little rambunctious!

i have been a busy bee!

2007-12-08T18:21:00.000-05:00

i've been so busy at work, and then coming home to work on Christmas crafts that i'm hardly ever on the computer anymore. that really makes me a bad blogger. i can't really mention what i've been working on as my best friend, tara, might be lurking my blog. she tries really hard to get me to slip on hints, but i'm solid like a rock! here are some photos of my last dye batch. i need to order new yarn blanks, i'm totally out! but since it's also Christmas time, i don't have much money to spare.

and hmmm..... what could this be??? i'm not tellin'!

The Simpsons~

2007-11-26T19:11:00.000-05:00

I sure do love The Simpsons! I don't care for Family Guy, but gimme the Simpsons anytime. So I'm watching one of the reruns they play nightly and it happens to be one I haven't seen. Homer can't sleep and starts taking "Nappien" which has crazy side effects. He starts doing things in his sleep that he can't recall the next day. I am cracking up inside because this is SOOO true of Ambien!

I went through a terrible insomnia spell for about 2 years. It was absolutely awful! I tried it all: exerise, hot tea, warm milk, calcium&magnesium supplements, melatonin, kava kava, relaxation exercises, Tylenol PM. I finally resorted to seeing the doctor.

The first pill she put me on was Lunesta. It worked, but had the unfortunate effect of leaving an absolutely horrible taste in my mouth. The entire next day it was as though I had beens sucking on a penny. No matter what I ate or drank, it wouldn't go away. After that, we tried Ambien. It worked like a charm. However, there would be many days where my husband would ask me, "Do you remember doing/saying.... last night?" I carried on full conversations, ground my teeth to the point where it'd wake up my husband, and perform such acts as will not be repeated in public. And I seriously HAD NO CLUE!!!!

Crazy. Needless to say, I stopped taking the Ambien. Luckily that was the only rx that I had such a reaction. Happily, I've been insomnia free for about 5 months now. I hope I'm not jinxing myself!

I'm a Considerate Inventor...

2007-11-23T14:09:00.000-05:00

that sounds about right. I found stumbled on this test on Miss Violet's blog. interesting

Considerate Inventor

Black Friday~

2007-11-23T09:19:00.000-05:00

I wish I had my camera handy last night. We had a delicious dinner at my family's house and were sufficiently stuffed and exhaustedly watching tv at our own house by 6pm. Both my husband and Roxy were passed out on the floor all stretched out in strange angles. Randy even had one of our blankets pulled over his head. It was really quite a sight. Thankfully he moved up to the extra room to sleep around 8pm. He needed all the rest he could manage since he gets up to brave the shopping today!

And it paid off! I had my eye on my own 18v Black n' Decker drill and also a sewing machine that Kmart had on sale for $65. I know, it's Kmart and it's cheap, but I'm not exactly experienced when it comes to using a sewing machine. A few years back my mom bought me a Sewing Genie (yup, as seen on TV). And I managed to sew two Spiderman pillows for Ant. But, damn did it suck!!! It kept kicking back on me and eating my fabric. It was an absolute nightmare!! Mom keeps telling me it'd probably be great to use on paper for scrapbooking and cards and the such. Anyway. I figure this will be a good way to get my toes wet. I've seen tons of Amy Butler patterns that I just love.

Randy also found a few gifts we were looking for Ant~ the Robodino (i'm sure it has an actual name, but I can't remember). The Hornet which is a remote control futuristic looking hornet that really flies, a gaming chair, and also some old school anniversary edition GI Joes.

Right now he's picking up out Christmas tree which has been stored in my parents' attic. I'm quite excited about it because its new! We bought it after Christmas last year when they were nice and CHEAP! Yeah, folks, we have a fake tree. I know, I know, spare me the lecture. I grew up with artificial trees and find them quite conveniently hassle free! Don't know if we'll get to decorating it today though, seeing as how the Halloween decor is still in a pile waiting to be re-boxed and stored!

Well, enough for now! I've gotta get some caffeine~ my head is starting to ache!

Act Like a Tomato... Catchup!

2007-11-22T08:21:00.000-05:00

I know, I'm not keeping my blog very well updated. I must say, there really hasn't been a whole lot going on. We are adjusting to life with Roxy, she seems to have cauaght on to going potty outside and hasn't had any accidents since her first weekend home. I've learned to ignore her for a few minutes when I come home so that she doesn't excitedly leak on the carpet :o) Things are pretty good, I must say. She is still trying to pull ahead on her leash, and doesn't play nicely with small dogs, but we're working on that and start puppy classes Monday night.

On the knitting front.
I'm still working on both Secret of the Stole and Mystic Waters. I'm on clue 6 of S.S. I started to fall behind when my new yarn~ Lisa Souza lace weight in Sea Glas~ for Mystic Waters arrived. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this yarn!! I'm not very far in M.W, either maybe (probably not quite) halfway through clue 2.

The lone Jaywalker sock is hibernating in my knitting bag on the floor in a corner. Pathetic, I know.

On top of my slacker progress, I'm suffering from starteritis and really want to cast on something new, in a heavier weight than lace. I think I've just been around too much fine yarn. I ordered Wool of the Andes bulky to make the Santa Cruz pullover from Knit 2 Together. It's the only sweater Randy has ever been excited about and asked me to make, and the deciding factor in buying the book.

I have 4 skeins of Malabrigo worsted in Little Lovely that was going to be a Clapotis, but I'm now considering using it for Wicked. I think it may be just a little too thick for a Clap. However, I'm not touching it because I need to remember that I have yarn on the way for Randy's sweater. And, let's face it people, in Florida, if you blink long enough, you miss sweater-weather!

I dyed up the last 4 skeins of yarn yesterday, one of which will be going to my Hand Dyed Swap partner. I couldn't get the yardage right on these. I keep notes on Stickes (the program, no the paper) on my computer. I had a note that read, "4 oz= 462yards). I wound off said yardage weighed it and it was 4.1 oz. I went down a few yards and ended up at 4.25 yards! The remaining 2 were also 4.25 and 4.15 yds. I know the scale is accurate because I had also used it to weigh out dyes. I then ended up with a very teeny skein of maybe 100 ft. What the heck am I supposed to do with that???

Alrighty-itey~

here's to gorging ourselves on turkey, potatoes and PIE, PIE, PIE! Hope you enjoy your turkey day with your family and loved ones. I know I have a lot to be grateful for! How about you?

Our Baby!

2007-11-08T18:40:00.000-05:00

Meet Roxy!
my hubby finally caved this Saturday and agreed to let us get a puppy! we drove around ALL day to virtually every puppy store in a 15 mile radius, even to the huge pet adoption going coincidentally going on at the fair grounds that same day. we finally found our baby at the end of the day (back at a store we had already been to earlier!).

Roxy, f.k.a. Speckles (i wasn't too keen on the name),a cocker spaniel, was the oldest puppy there, born 6/25 so she was marked down rather low. she is too stinkin' adorable and super, super sweet! she had her first vet visit Tuesday where we learned she has giardia (a common intestinal parasite) which is causing her to have mushy poo. so she's on meds for that. we're crating her at night and while we're at work and she's doing very well! she's only had a few accidents in the house (like 3 since last Saturday) so potty training is going well, too!

Randy had originally said that this puppy is all mine and Ant's (well, mostly mine since Ant's only here on the weekends). however, i'm considering that a big, fat lie! he's been all over our puppy! he takes her out and plays with her all the time! it's too funny!

We're all very happy, and for now, my longing for a baby can be put on the back burner :o)

bad blogger

2007-11-01T16:56:00.000-05:00

i know, i've been distant lately. i've been so swamped with work and such that i haven't blogged in eons. there really hasn't been much to blog about.

randy was almost gator bait~ we took the kayaks out on the river sunday. lots of gators were out. randy was foolishly getting close to one on a log for a photo, when an unseen gator got spooked and jumped in the water thrashing his tail. it scared the bejeezus out of both of us. but it was quite funny.

secret of the stole~ is moving along quite smoothly! i'm 8 rows away from completing clue 4. sadly, i only have photos from clue 1. i know, i suck! i'm loving the copper beads on my Basil green Zephyr yarn.

mystic waters shawl~ frogged! i was halfway through chart b. love the pattern, love the yarn, don't love the pattern in the yarn. i ordered SanFransisco from handpaintedyarn.com. i think it was a bit on the dark side (muah hahahaha) for the pattern. all the details were lost. so i'm waiting on a freshly dyed skein of Lisa Souza lace weight in Sea Glass

work~ SUCKS! but at least Tara comes back on Monday. and baby Elena~ ADORABLE!

i'm trying to get up some more yarn on my etsy shop. i have 3 more skeins that have been dyed for some time that need to be uploaded.

i'll have to post some photos of things. i've been such a slacker

eerrrieee......

2007-11-01T16:51:00.000-05:00

our house is very much resembling a scene from Hitchcock's The Birds. Suddenly hundreds of mockingbirds have swarmed the trees in our back and front yards creating quite a loud commotion. and when i say suddenly, i truly do mean out of no where. it's quite creepy and very noisy. i don't think i've seen anything like this. and acorns are falling into our front door.

oh, wait.....

oooh, this might be even creepier. they've all hushed. all at once.

strange, very, very strange

8 Random Things

2007-10-18T19:06:00.000-05:00

Oh yes, tag~ I'm it! Belle7171 got me!

okay, where to begin??

1. For some strange reason, gravity wouldn't allow me to balance on a two wheel bicycle until I was eight years old.

2. I still have an obsession with my pillow and find smelling it the most comforting thing in the world.

3. While in college, I was almost fired from Chili's for having a bad attitude and allegedly throwing knives at people.

4. I can hawk a loogie with the best of 'em and I'm an incessant burper! Lady-like, I know!

5. I got a letter for soccer in high school. It was a pity letter. I did a damn good job sitting the bench for 3 years! Although I did score a whopping 3 goals during that whole career~ one of which was offsides.

6. I am incredibly disgusted by wet paper. ANY kid of wet paper. Gives me the worst heebie-jeebies!

7. I LOVE sticking q-tips in my ears! and it's something I'm compulsive about. Gotta have that tickle!

8. Something else I'm compulsive about??? COUNTING! Yes, I count everything! At work, I count steps from my class to where ever I need to go. When the copier is on, I count the pulsing sounds it makes. Turn signal blinks. You name it. Perhaps that's also why I love knitting.

who to tag? who to tag?
Lotus Knits
Real Life Unscripted
The Chicks With Sticks
PurlyGirl
Wierdlings
YarnBallBoogie
YardGnomes

2007-10-09T20:15:00.000-05:00

way stressed, people, watch out! someone might just get hurt!

just saying.....

A Photo Post

2007-09-30T11:30:00.000-05:00

Last weekend, prior to visiting Tara, Danny & Elena in the hospital, I was busy dyeing up yarn. I needed to get a Halloween skein made for the Halloween Sock swap. I managed to get one more done that day before calling it quits. Two other skeins are in the oven right now. Today I have the fingers to prove I've been hard at work!

Ghastly Ghoul

Azurite

Oops! I guess there was a stinkin' hole !!

Baby!!

2007-09-22T21:13:00.000-05:00

yay! tara had baby elena tonight! 7lbs 1oz, 21". i don't have any real pictures yet since i haven't been to the hospital to see her. baby was finally born at 8:48pm and they began inducing her at 7:30am, so i'm sure she's EXHAUSTED!

and, just in time, i finished the baby blanket i've been working on. completed photos to come

CONGRATS, TARA & DANNY!!!
I'm so excited for you! You'll make a beautiful family!

Photos

2007-09-17T16:00:00.000-05:00

Here are photos of stuffs.... ant in his new, $5, jack skellington shirt, which goes great with his finally finished socks! yup, that's the yarn he dyed~ perhaps he should go in business with me!
also, a photo of my newly dyed red hair. i tend to do this when the seasons change. its pretty deep. i was planning on going with something a little more brown, but i just can't help going with those crazy hair colors that tap into the old punk rock girl inside

on the needles/bobbins and more

2007-09-14T18:54:00.001-05:00

off the needles!!!! mystery stole 3 knit w/ Jaggerspun Zephyr

still on the needles... Tara's baby blanket

on the Lendrum.... Morning Glories BFL by Funky Carolina for the Sweet Sheep Club

on the Babe... Artichoke Superfine Merino by Pigeon Roof Studios

A Few Quick Updates......

2007-09-09T16:08:00.000-05:00

First~ on the needles......
Still working on MS 3, though I'm SOOOO close to the end. Just another 30 rows or so. I've also still got Ant's socks and Tara's baby blanket on the needles. All mostly completed, but none yet finished. I've come to discover that I'm not so good at multi-project knitting. I do better when I've only got one or two things going.

On the wheel.....
gorgeous BFL in Morning Glories dyed by Funky Carolina for the Sweet Sheet Fiber Club. Between that and the new wheel, spinning is oh-so-addictive! i'm luvin' the Lendrum. Its spins like buttah!

Girly news.....
Went to my doc for my annual. She's referring me out to a reproductive endocrinologist to see what's going on. My spotting is either because I just can't get a period, or my body is trying to have a period, but the Clomid has thinned the uterine lining and all I'm getting is spotting now. I have my appointment scheduled for Thursday, however Humana sucks and I need a referral. I called my primary care early Friday morning and left a message on their referral line, and called again several hours later. The recording says that they'd return calls by the end of the business day~ I however received no such call. I will try again tomorrow, where I won't be quite as pleasant that no one called me back! Hopefully all will be taken care of before Thursday.

Work news...
Tara's doc told her she's lost too much weight and is to stressed to continue working. So, she's done a week earlier than she had planned. Her sub isn't so bad, but boy can she talk! I know it's only for 6-8 weeks, but I miss her terribly! It's just not the same without her.
And while I like the kids in my class this year, they're really sweet and kind... boy do they run their mouths nonstop! I've never had a class talk as much as they do!!! I'm really at my wits end. I've got to figure something out!!

Alrighty... off to knit some more!

Hopefully pics soon. My batteries are charging

YAY!!!!!

2007-08-31T19:33:00.000-05:00

saw the Incubus show last night and it was awesome~ as always!

surprisingly, i found out that i made the cut for merit pay and got a nice little bonus! most of it is going toward working off my credit card debt....... however, i did manage to spare a bit to buy a new WHEEL!!!!!! *****Squeeeeee***** i ordered a Lendrum folding wheel (complete), single treadle! i'm so excited!!!

i'm super tired now and need to go to bed!

My New Baby!

2007-08-21T17:29:00.001-05:00

Yup! that would be a Venus 11! And it's mine, all mine! and the best part~ it's PINK!!!!! A portion of the proceeds go toward breast cancer. I can't wait to get this girl on the water!!! Randy also picked up a kayak for himself, but I can't remember what kind. They were an absolute steal. Both kayaks are barely used (they were used for demos and magazine shoots) and together cost $660!!! You read that right $660 TOTAL for BOTH!!!! I'm sooo stoked. It's a shame Randy won't be home until late (the woman selling lives 2 hours away), otherwise I'd tell him lets hit the beach!

Weekend from HELL!

2007-08-19T16:51:00.000-05:00

Ugh! It so totally sucked!

Saturday~ got up at 7am, despite trying my hardest to sleep in. Randy and Ant went fishing at the butt crack of dawn and left me home to, ideally, get some rest. However, come 7, my mind was racing with all the things I had to get done so I just had to get out of bed. I started my laundry at 8:30 am and afterwards took a shower and got organized to mail out my yarn to Angela for the Hand Dyed Yarn Swap and also the book that Sam mailed back to me by mistake. I had also planned on going to Ross or Target to look for some new clothes for work. I figured I'd do this before heading to my SIL's work to get my nails done.

Randy and Ant came home as I was getting ready and decided to come with me. We went to the post office first where I mailed said packages. When we got back to the car, I noticed that the woman charged me for one too many bubbled mailers. Back in I went. We went to Target, with no major issues, and I left with four really cute outfits. No biggie. Got to SIL's work, was waxed and got my nails done, however she had no time to do my toes which look a little stained from having polish on them for so long before. We hit the shoe store on the way back in the elusive search for Sz 2 black low top converse for Ant. We finally found them and they were 1/2 off since I too bought some shoes. Lunch at Boston Market and then to the hair cutter's for Ant's back to school cut.

Let the fun begin!
We get back to the car to find it DEAD! completely out of the blue! Called AAA for a jump, but I accidentally told them Tampa, when really we were in Lutz. That set them about an hour behind and I had to call again with the correct address. We were sweating our butts off in the car in the swelter humid summer heat that we Floridians just LOVE. We got a jump, drove the 3 miles to the house and the car died AGAIN! ARGGGGG. I was not going to deal with calling AAA again. It would have to wait until morning.

We decided to still go to Stitch n' Pitch (in Randy's car sans air conditioning). Of course, since the windows were down, it had to pour! When we finally got to St. Pete, traffic was absolutely horrible. We drove around the city in circles because their designated parking lots were all full. The traffic cops were useless to say the least. We finally found parking in a business center, walk to the Dome looking for will call. We walked quite a ways to find the window only to be told that we had to go to a different gate. Got to said gate, gave the woman my id and she tells me there are no tickets!! We went back and forth for 10 minutes, me telling her where we're supposed to sit, her referencing my credit card, until finally she finds them. More walking to the appropriate entry gate. When all was said and done we probably walked more than 3/4 the way around the dome. Once we were there it wasn't bad. We had a good time and Ant got to show off his hand dyed yarn. We didn't stay too long though because he was super sleepy.

That brings us to today. Get up, call AAA to tow my car to an auto shop. The guy gets here and says lets try jumping it so you can just get the battery tested. Jumped it did and started working. I get in, worried, called randy "it's not going to just die on me, is it???" "No, it shouldn't". WRONG! We didn't make it out of the complex when it started to stutter. I called him and said I had to turn around and go back. Glad I did because as soon as we got to the house, it died entirely. Called AAA again and they sent the same man. GOOD! I hope he learned his lesson! He wouldn't have had to come back if he just towed it the first time!! Randy followed him to the shop. Turns out some people didn't show up and they only have 1 mechanic today. Won't get to my car until tomorrow.

We're not sure what it is. But, several times we heard the mechanism for the tailgate door click-click-clicking as though it were trying to unlock. And this is, like, nonstop. So whatever little motor that is back there, could be what's draining my battery. then again, what do i know?!?

Ant's sock

2007-08-19T11:45:00.001-05:00

Ant's sock
Originally uploaded by firedupfairy

This is sock #1 with Ant's own dyed yarn. He is soooo excited about it. I had him try it on Friday night and he didn't want to take it off... he told me "i'll take it off sooner or later" well, it was definitely later. Last night he put it back on and even slept with it!!! I better get crackin' on sock #2 so he can wear them both. He's just too cute!!

where's the knitting????

2007-08-15T18:26:00.000-05:00

on hiatus it seems. i've been sooooo busy getting my classroom unpacked, organized and prepared that i haven't gotten around to ANY of my knitting for days!! our school is in the process of remodeling and the construction is everywhere. our end of the school is being worked on now (and we're the last of it) so we've been booted out to portable trailers. since we **should** be moving back in the building by December, we have to really consider what's being unpacked and what's staying in boxes. Friday night is open house, so we have to be ready to roll by then. and the first day of school is monday. this is the first time, EVER, that we've started on a monday. usually it's like a wed. or thursday. it's crazy having to do REAL lesson plans for the first week of school!

on that note, i'm off to get more work done. hopefully i can pick up the needles later.... that is if i don't pass out on the computer

Ugh!

2007-08-09T17:29:00.000-05:00

alas, summer is officially over
***groans***
tomorrow we have to return to school (and really,, what's the point of going on friday??) . it's been under construction for remodeling, so my end of the school has been booted out of the building into portables. no one's even been allowed in the school yet because of all the work being done. who knows what we'll be in for tomorrow. i'm absolutely dreading the unpacking and re-settling. especially since we're going to have to do it again in December when we move back into the building.

and don't get me started on the kids coming in to fifth grade this year. those fourth grade teachers bitched and complained from day one last year. i'm SOOOO not looking forward to this year.

if only there was a way that i could afford to retire and sit at home and knit and dye all day long. yup, that sure would be nice!

speaking of which. i dyed up 4 more skeins yesterday. one of which will be sent to my Hand Dyed Sock Yarn Swap partner. the others will be going up on my etsy site. hopefully by the end of the weekend. there was no chance to photo them today because it's been cloudy. and well, tomorrow i go back to work and then saturday is tara's baby shower..... sooooo, hopefully sunday.

and then there's the baby blanket of doom. i modified the Deluxe Baby Blanket from Knitting for Baby. i made it longer and nixed the cashmere and opted for acrylic (yeah, cashmere for babies???). well, 300+ stitches and size 5 needles= drawn out torture! and i also have the socks for anthony and MS 3 on the needles. both of which have taken a back seat to the damn blanket. i feel incredibly guilty any time i work on anything that's not for the shower saturday. she will be getting Grow With ME (from knitty.com) and this will go in the gift bag on the needles, with the ball of yarn still attached.

and with that... i'm off to slave away.

hand dyed sock yarn swap

2007-08-06T15:15:00.001-05:00

hand dyed sock yarn swap
Originally uploaded by firedupfairy

I got my yarn today from Just Keep Knitting. And I must say, I gasped when I opened the package! The colors are just gorgeous! She did an awesome job! She also threw in a big pack of Gummy Peach Rings and Swedish Fish (i LOVE gummy candy!)

I still have to dye my yarn and mail it out. I'm thinking the dyeing will commence on Wednesday.

Grow With Me

2007-07-26T22:48:00.000-05:00

is done. well, it's been done... i just had to seam it and sew the straps
now, i'm hoping my best friend doesn't actually read my blog. i'm pretty sure she doesn't do blogs, so i should be safe.

New Hand Painted Yarn

2007-07-26T12:37:00.000-05:00

On My Etsy Shop! Check 'em out!!

sold:

MINE! to pretty to sell!