A Better Post

Moving on from the ugly things that happen in life...

Monday will be my 17th wedding anniversary. 17 years. They've really flown by. Yesterday, I was blonde, skinny, physically fit and majorly in love with this guy I met. This guy was blonde, fit, muscular, majorly in love with me and had all of his teeth. The only part of these statements that is still true is that this guy is still blonde. Oh yeah, and the love part! And I'm very thankful for that part. 17 years. Whodathunk?

And it's a 3-day weekend! This is doubleplusgood!

What's on your agenda? They claim it will become ungawdly hot here, so we likely won't be going anywhere unless the word 'beach' is involved. Yoda ran out the door again tonight and I had to chase her down the street. That's as much physical activity in this heat that I intend to have. We've been having some gnarly lightening storms with this lovely weather and yesterday the thunder was so loud that I thought the roof was being blown off the house.

I think I'm going to try to buckle down and get that Christmas list made so I can get organized with the crochet projects. Lately I've been flitting to and fro, kind of stabbing at things. If I'm going to get much done, I need to discipline myself with a little order and a neatly typed list. And of course, take yarn inventory. I'm quite certain I'll need more ~ LOL!

Segue...

As I wander from site to site and group to group, I repeatedly see questions regarding the availability of a crochet charting program. There is only one that I know of, and it's pretty limited and not very user-friendly. Now, I got to thinking that I haven't endured medical device labeling and IT projects for nothing, so I contacted one of my developer friends and dangled a carrot via IM (as he's out of the country at the moment.) Lo' and behold, I got a nibble! While I'm waiting for him land stateside, I thought I would post a quick survey to see what kind of real interest is out there and what folks would look for in a crochet charting program. So if you're interested, please participate in my survey!


Click Here to take survey

Have a wonderful weekend! And remember, no laboring allowed!

A Bad Day

It all started out as a typical Saturday morning. My husband decided to check out a new fishing hole nestled in the San Bernardino mountains, I was thinking of going to see Mr. Bean's Holiday and maybe get a few crochet stitches in. Then he came home unexpectedly.

His fishing trip was cut short due to him getting robbed. He was held at knife-point and gun-point while they took what money he had, his cell phone, gasoline card and some items out of his van. They then threw his keys into the woods and took off. The only reason he survived the attack is because he let them have whatever they wanted. Please take that as a lesson. It took him several hours, but he managed to find his keys and make his way home. Needless to say, he is quite shaken and I've been on the verge of throwing up ever since.

The reports have been filed and the calls to cancel accounts and cards have been made. One never knows what will happen from one day to the next. We take so much for granted. Please take the time today to tell those close to you how much they mean to you. Kiss them, hug them and hold them tight.

The only consolation I have is knowing that these people always get paid back whether it happens here or at the end.

I likely will not be on line for the remainder of the weekend. We're just going to spend the rest of this weekend appreciating each other's company and thanking God for his protection.

Love you all! ~ Mini

Rated G

I found this on another blog. I'm quite proud that my blog is rated G considering what an old crusty lady I am turning into!

The Past Week

Hi All! As some of you know, I've been off work for the past week. We didn't have any plans, this was simply a week off for me to decompress - do whatever I felt like each morning I woke up. It's my favorite kind of vacation, short of spending the whole time off at the beach.

For the most part, I piddlefarted around. I made a mini Martha poncho for my girlfriend Gretchen's little girl, Elisabeth. She's working on 19 months on this planet. She makes it a better place.


Poncho On


Poncho off


Angelic face

So we didn't get a pic of her in her poncho to share with you all. I didn't blame her. It was hot and humid. And you know how little ones hate clothes anyway (run naked, run free!)

So anyway, Gretchen lives just a block or so away from the beach in Oceanside. I'm so jealous! Her mom graciously babysat while we went for a stroll on the pier and grabbed a bite to eat.



They've re-done the pier as part of an overall community improvement project. Everything is so nice and new and bright!



Does this look like the stereotypical California beach or what?
I wish they all could be California girls... owwmm do be do wop, owwmm do be do wop...



A Ruby's Diner has been built at the end of the pier. We grabbed lunch there. It was nice to be surrounded by the ocean while we ate. So very relaxing.
Here we come on the run with a burger and a bun...



While we waited to be seated, a seal came by to play beneath us. I took a bazillion pics, but this one was the best of the lot. I want his life. Well, at least until a shark comes along... but then again, Richard Dreyfus would save me!



The Oceanside Pier is one of the last few in California that still allows you to fish off of it.
Fish heads, fish heads, roly poly fish heads. Fish heads, fish heads, eat them up ~ yum!



The water was particularly clear and blue that day. In the distance, you see signs of (over) development. The 2 tallest buildings on the right are brand new beachfront condos.
As an American citizen you are entitled to... a heated kidney-shaped pool, a microwave oven...



After lunch, I asked Gretchen if we could go by her LYS. Although she's not a crocheter or knitter, she's a good sport. Unfortunately, they had gone out of business. I think it's this guy's fault. The guy that gives the surfing lessons. Hey You!

It was a lovely day at the beach visiting with one of my bestest friends. Then it was back home again where all the yarn is! I finally finished off the Solo afghan that has been staring at me for months. The pattern did not call for an edging, but to add tassels to the four corners. I knew that after a little wear or the first washing that tassels would become a knotted, matted mess as Solo is not a tightly spun yarn and it's very fuzzy. Plus I didn't like it without an edging after I had finished sewing the squares together. So I simply added 2 rows of hdc all around. I'm good with it!



Before I went visiting, I had started a matching Martha poncho for Gretchen so her and Elisabeth would be matchy-matchy mother/daughter. I know. Corny, but definitely cute. Unfortunately, the clock ran out and I didn't finish it in time. So I kicked it out today and will send it to her in the mail. It's not like it's cold yet anyway.



I made both ponchos with Homespun in Corinthian. Very bright and festive (and heavy.) Will definitely stand out on the beach when the little one decides to bolt down the shore ~ LOL!

Except for a sneak trip (or 2) to Michaels for (yet more) yarn, that about sums up my week off. It was sure nice while it lasted!!

From A Gentler Era

Before we worried about anything and everything...

Petco Park

Today started out to be just another day in the life of a wage slave. At about 10:15 I decided to take my morning coffee break and ran into the recruiter I've been working with. He was anxiously looking for takers for 3 extra baseball tickets he had left over from an outing that had been arranged for the summer interns. The only catch was they were for today and the limos were arriving at 10:45. So I quickly checked our workload, made a few calls in a half hour my minions and I were on our way to a Padres game LOL!


The New Petco Stadium. Yes. Petco.

Now the Padres kinda suck, but hey ~ it was a day away from skullduggery and it was in San Diego ~ the official Southern California home of perfect weather! We had a great time at the ballpark eating hotdogs and peanuts. And the Padres actually won (go figure?) In fact, it was a shut-out. All I can think of is that the Arizona Diamondbacks must have sent out their B team. Who cares? It made for a really nice day. The final score was 11-0.


See the ocean? Perfect weather!

So today was fun. Tomorrow will bring back meetings and emails laden with barcode questions. But I'm not going to think about that until tomorrow.

Mondays Suck

Not that I'm saying anything new. But some Mondays are worse than others. Mine started out at work with an email trail forwarded to me from Spain (oh no, what's their problem now?) Spain lately, has been a pain in the butt when it comes to barcodes and today was no exception. Now, they're threatening to cease tender due to the fact that our product label barcodes are not 13mm in height. Nope, they're not. They're 7mm and have been for the past 7 or 8 years and they've been buying our product all that time. So why is today different?! I have a meeting scheduled with GS1 tomorrow. Either the insanity will stop there or it will get worse. So if you find me selling yarn at our local swap meet, you know I went over the edge...

I promised to get back to you on the movies we watched yesterday, so here goes:

The Number 23. I liked it. It was twisted enough to appeal to my taste without going overboard. The dream sequences were Twin Peak-y in their style and I thought Jim Carrey did a great job in his dramatic role. For everyone? Definitely not. But if you're bored with the same-o, same-o, and have a taste for weird, it will probably float your boat. I watched the unrated version. Can't speak to the theatrical version.

Premonition. Great concept, decent execution. Could have been better, but is certainly watchable. Worth a look-see.

We also watched...

Children of Men. Futuristic tale where all women in the world are sterile - all except for one who is pregnant. Recipe - 1 unlikely hero, stereotypical rebellious helpers with access to the underground and bad guys who want to kill the unborn child because they believe mankind should go extinct. I enjoyed this one, but was dismayed when watching the special features that they were attempting to tell a tale about global warming. BEGIN RANT: Like we don't get enough of this crap. Global warming is a theory people, and there is nothing we can do to affect change. We can be more responsible with our resources, be smarter about the fuels we use, give up the SUVs and live greener lives ~ and we should because it's the right thing to do as citizens of this planet ~ but even if everyone did their part, it's all a very small drop in the bucket. So thumbs up on the movie, thumbs down on the preaching based on theory. (Does anyone remember in the 70s how the scientists were warning us that we were entering an ice age?) END RANT.

The Astronaut Farmer. Little kids might like this. As for me, it was the dumbest movie I've seen in a while. It was flat and ludicrous on so many levels. So unless you're hurting for something to watch, I'd recommend passing this one by.

So that's it. My Monday and weekend movie reviews LOL. Hope your Monday was better and you got to catch a good movie this past weekend!

Sunday! Sunday! Sunday!

Nope, not monster truck races or WWF. Just a quiet Sunday at the old homestead. The day will involve dog bathing, movies and yarn as usual. On today's tube will be a selection of mind-benders:

• The Number 23
• Premonition

I'll let you know if they're any good or not ~ LOL.

I'll be working on my KAL to continue to hone those knitting skills and when my wrists get tired of that motion, I'll start on something for this month's CFL challenge.

Sandy's post on her blog reminded me that I had not yet done up my obligatory square for Krochet Krystal's daisy square pattern. Heavens to Mergatroid! Exit, Stage Left. So I worked up one real quick. These are used to create afghans for charity. If you are interested, you can get the details here.

I may work up another one later in different colors with a white background. This one doesn't float my boat too much, but I figured it can get lost amongst the other squares that she'll use.

The sewing bug is also starting to rear it's head. I haven't sewn anything in... well... I can't remember when. So in perusing the pattern sites, I ordered the following tote patterns:


McCall's M5823


Butterick B5006

I've got a chest drawer full of neat tapestry fabrics that I've picked up here and there which I can use to make these neat totes. The second pattern also includes a roll-up hook/needle case too :)

And that about sums it up for today. Have a great rest-of-the-weekend!

The Garden

The veggie garden is something that I leave for my husband to tend, for the most part. But this year our garden was quite fruitful, so I thought I'd share our gardening success with everyone. Kinda like when your relatives make you watch their vacation movies.


Watermelon & Cantaloupe

There's about 8 watermelons and 9 cantaloupes on the vines at this point. If I remember correctly, the watermelon are the small round seedless variety.


Cantaloupe

Just about ready!


Tomatoes


More Tomatoes!


... and Cherry Tomatoes too!

I'll be canning some maters as there are way too many for us to eat up before they go bad!


Corn

The corn is almost ready too. We'll yield about 20 ears.


Gourds

And just for fun, some gourds. About 11 of them. I'll make bird feeders and hanging planters out of them for the yard and patio.


Green Seedless Grapes

This vine produced big time last year, but I'm not sure how it will fare after our big freeze we had this winter. Time will tell.

You will note that there is no zucchini in our garden. That is because we hate zucchini and all of it's little squashy friends. You can grow it.


Yard Helper

Here's a couple of pics of other parts of the yard.


Bamboo

Alas, we now have neighbors directly behind us. It's a good thing my girlfriend Barbara overbought when she was landscaping her backyard and she was sweet enough to give us her extra bamboo plants. It's starting to fill out quite nicely, but will probably still be another year before we see a 'screen' benefit to shield us from the neighbor's back windows.


Assorted yard plants

And that be our veggie garden and a peek at our yard. We still have a lot of landscaping to do ~ like finish the fish pond ~ but it's getting there. I just have to keep that hubby motivated and moving LOL!!

The "Oinga Floinga" Hat

I believe this speaks for itself...