Update on my Life

Last Sunday, September 23rd, Jeff wanted to go do the pottery painting thing that I had done on that Friday. So, off we went... He painted Tink's cat bowl and started one for Pepper. I had to finish Pepper's though. Jeff's love really shows through for Tink, but sometimes, I think he just tolerates Pepper. It's funny though that I picked Tink and he Pepper when we got them in June. They are almost 5 months old now, and they are really growing into their personalities.
This is me painting coasters for the house and a gnome for my Secret Pal. shhhhh.... As you can see, I just came from my yarn group in Elk Grove from the bag to the right next to my poncho. :) We had fun, but it was nice to get home and chill... This is me below laying on the couch... Pepper is curled up in front of me, but Tink likes the covert places.... Every time I am laying somewhere, they claim their spot. Currently, Pepper is curled up on my chest on the recliner with Tink laying next to my leg... It makes one not want to get up.
I have some knitting to get done today and some chores to do. Jeff is still very sick, and I have to get him some medicine. :)

Jeff and I out with friends... It was a great night. We hung out with Bill, Stacy and Karlie (Stacy's daughter) playing board games and drinking a bit. It had been a long time since I had been drinking. So, I was quite happy by time we took this on our way out the door. lol

When I got home and put on my pjs, I was thinking of blogging when Jeff gave me presents. :) I'm so loved.

Please vote for me!!!

My favorite Ohio yarn store is having a contest, and my picture above is in it. If you go to http://www.fiberge.com/servlet/StoreFront, there is a picture of me in front of a car accident art display. Please consider clicking the vote button below it and sending the email to the site voting for me. You don’t have to even say anything since it puts my pic name in the subject line.

Please and thank you!!!

A girl needs yarn after all...

Silent Sleepy Saturday and Sunday

Pay It Forward

It’s the Pay It Forward Exchange.

It’s based of the concept of the movie “Pay it Forward” where acts or deeds of kindness are done without expecting something in return, just passing it on, with hope that the recipients of the acts of kindness are passed on.

Here is how it works.
I will make and send a handmade gift to the first 3 people who leave a comment to this post on my blog requesting to join this PIF exchange. I do not know what that gift will be yet, and it won’t be sent this month, probably not next month, but it will be sent (within 6 months) and that’s a promise! What YOU have to do in return, then, is pay it forward by making the same promise on your blog.

Remember, it's the first THREE who comment on the blog that they want to participate in the PAY IT FORWARD exchange.

QuidditchTrivia for Round 1

1. Who is the Hogwarts teacher that Voldermort performed the Avada Kedavra curse on in Deathly Hallows?


b. Charity Burbage



2. Who replaces the Muggles studies teacher in Deathly Hallows?


c. Alecto Carrow

3. When Harry meets Mr. Olivander for the first time, which wand law is introduced?

c. The wand chooses the wizard.

4. According to Mr. Ollivander, what is not necessary to take true possession of another wizard's wand?

a.to kill the owner

5. If you know anything about Harry Potter, you will know that Harry's Patronus is a stag. But what is his best friend Ron Weasley's Patronus?

d. Jack Russell Terrier


6. Now for the third member of the trio. What form does Hermione Granger's Patronus take?

a. Otter


7. What did Mrs. Wealey make to eat the first night that Harry arrived at Grimmauld Place?

a. Stew

8. In book 5, at the start of term feast, what is Ron eating when trying to talk to Nearly Headless Nick?

c. Roast potato (almost indecently)

9. A half-giant called Rubeus Hagrid takes you to Diagon Alley for the first time. To get there, you go into the courtyard of a pub called the Leaky Cauldron. There, Hagrid taps a certain brick on the courtyard wall three times with his pink umbrella, revealing the entrance to Diagon Alley. As he decides which brick to tap, he mutters instructions to himself. What instructions does he mutter?

b. ‘Three up... two across

10. The first place you go in Diagon Alley is Gringotts bank, where you can withdraw money from your vault and Hagrid can withdraw a top-secret package from Vault No. 713 on Dumbledore’s orders. On the second set of doors leading into the bank you notice a poem written. These are the first two lines:Enter, stranger, but take heedOf what awaits the sin of greed,What is the next line?

d. ‘For those who take, but do not earn

Picture Posts for Harry Potter Swap

My Secret Pal is the greatest!!! The best... Yes, I'm blessed!

I came home beat. Just plain whooped... Picked up the mail and walked in. I saw that orangey little card from the postman and ran back out to the door. My post office closes at 7pm, and it was only 5:30pm. I flew there rush hour traffic and all, and I picked up 2 packages. Lucily, the first one was there because I had to restrain from opening the pal one. I need to photograph the package as it came so the shredded after photo wouldn't freak my pal out thinking the mail system wasn't great. So, please enjoy the barrage of photos with cute side notes...

I wanted to open it right away, but it insisting on napping... I patiently awaited it's calling to be freed from it's postal container. Travel is hard though, and the yarn needed it's rest.

Finally, I heard the box stir. Oh, I can barely contain myself. Sadly, the yarn inside told me of it's hunger for Taco Bell. So, I sat patiently while they nourished themselves. Who would have thought that the yarn would enjoy Mountain Dew? I love it. My pal must have picked the perfect fiber for me.

I, at last, was given permission to open the box. I sat the items fresh out of the box for the first photo op. The yarn is inside this AMAZING ABSOLUTELY FABULOUS AND PERFECT BAG FOR ME ALL ME (MY PRECIOUS) bag preparing for our first touch. I imagine she's a bit shy.

My mama raised me right, and yes, I read the card first. :) I love this style though. My mama is always sending me these, and they are my FAVORITE!!!

Tink and Pepper were quite surprised to see that there were presents for them as well. Tink quickly claimed the blue one, and Pepper ran off with the pink. They are still playing with them.

My pal bought me Junior Mints, which I love. I was very tempted to stop there, but the yarn hadn't emerged yet. So, I was strong. I sat the box down.

HOW FREAKING PERFECT ARE THESE COLORS????? I thought for the first five minutes I had it out... What would I make? Gloves? A hat??? I know, a scarf! It feels amazing, and I don't own a warm scarf for me. So, for now, that is the plan. We'll see. The yarn might change her mind.

Midnight Pomegranate is my current favorit Bath and Body Works scent. I love it, and here is the bag again. How freakin' cool is it??? I love it, Pal!!!

Oh, and Pal!!! I love love love buttons. I have a bunch, and they are on my Beatles knitting bag. This rocks!

Finally, there was this gorgeous smelling soap and lip gloss. Shhh... I have a lip gloss. I have a ton of it, and I immediately put this on. I'm officially spoiled. Thank you, Secret Pal.

The box is on it's way....

I hope she doesn't read this.

Here is my secret pal box. I'm headed to FedEx to mail it tonight.

Shhh.... It's for my Secret Pal!!!!

F'd Up Friday

So, I'm not having a good day. Work seemed like it lasted forever, and I even left an hour early. I came home to a headache, and it's only gone down hill from there. After being really pushed one insult too far, I decided to finish knitting Fetching. These were supposed to be for me, but guess what? I don't like them. AND as if that weren't enough, I somehow knitted one about a half inch longer than the other. UGH!!! So, I should fix it, but for now, it's on punishment. They shall go in the Christmas pile. I will probably give them to my mom. I had made her a pair of the same yarn in a different colorway. These I double stranded; so, they might be more durable for her to use for work. Plus, she's my mom. Maybe she'll overlook the extra few rows... (Yes, I will fix them before she gets them. Who knows? I might like them by then. Not likely!) I did like the colorway though. I bought two skeins from Three Bags Full in Northbrook, IL. They were 30% off; so, I paid less than $15 for both skeins. I will probably make another pair single stranded to see if I like that better. This pair only took 1 skein. I was very impressed. :) Maybe I'll go pick up three more skeins if there is any left and use this to make the turtleneck shrug. Though, I don't know if the multi-color stranding really would work for that without being a bit too much. As you can tell, I'm blessed up top, and I don't need to draw any more attention there as it is. We'll see.










One piece of good news, on Wednesday, my swift and ball winder finally arrived. I'm in my pjs have fun winding anything I can get my hands on, and Jeff thought it would be funny to take my picture. (Can you tell how amused I am?)

Well, I'm off to start a Christmas scarf for Jeff's step-mom. Might as well do something productive while staring at the tv for the rest of the night.

Wannabe Yarnstar

Long weekends are my favorite. I love how you realize that there is an extra day where you can do absolutely anything you want. So, Saturday, Jeff decided that I should be a YarnStar!!! :) How cute is this headband? Jeff and I went to downtown Highland Park to walk around. (Have I mentioned how much I love just walking around?) Cute little stores with their neat things for sell... We stumbled upon a tee shirt deli. You can have anything made up. There was a headband with "Rockstar" on it. He asked to change it, and lucky me, I have a headband that not only fits, but it rocks!!!!

After running around all day, we went home. We were meeting Bill and Stacy, his new girlfriend, for dinner in Long Grove. It's another small historical city that has amazing stores. There is also a great yarn store there, "I'd Rather Be Knitting". Since I still had my headband on, I posed with the kitties. Here is Tink and me. As you can tell, he's a YarnStar, too. He is the more vocal of the two. Tink is out for world domination. He just has to figure out how to get Jeff to do his bidding, and then, he'll be golden. He already has Jeff wrapped around his paws. He is just adorable and spunky. Well, we can't resist him. He gets all he wants from us. While they are both just under 4 months, it's easy to see that Tink is the ring leader, but I imagine if Pepper grows into the size he should that might just change one day. I know that it is normal for cats to establish dominance before the fights stop, but I wonder how that works out if they are both from the same litter.

Pepper is more laid back chill than Tink. He is just happy that I pick him up and cuddle with him. When Jeff and I picked up the kitties, I originally picked Tink and Jeff picked Pepper. As you can tell, cats pick their owns. Tink is close to both of us, but Pepper prefers me. I'm sure the love us both, but that'w where we currently stand.

So, we hung out at home and then, rushed to get ready. Long Grove isn't far away, and it didn't take long to get there. Bill and Stacy were already there with Karly, Stacy's daughter. We ate an amazing dinner and ended up at The Putting Edge for a game of black light mini golf. For the record, I won!!!! :) Maybe I am a YarnStar. :)

I did have a few glasses of wine, and Jeff snapped this picture of me for evidence I imagine. You can see that the wine was flowing that night.

To finish off the update, this is where I currently stand with knitting...

I now have 3 WiPs going on. Jeff's Gloves, Candy's Big Bad Baby Blanket and Fetching for when the baby blanket numbs my brain...