4 day workweek!

I'm not very good at sharing, but I am happy to share my birthday with a free food holiday, and I would be doing a disservice to society if I did not inform you of chicken giveaways on July 11th (thanks Mom, for the link!). Thanks also to Mom for the early bday delivery of the Betsey fragrance gift set -- I smell DELICIOUS.

I will be 27 this year, something I had to think about earlier today when my DM asked me how old I was. This would be a good segway into the latest work debacle/career plateau, but let me cut it off there, and instead make a desperate plea for any leads on fabulous, well-paying jobs where one is appreciated for their creative talent and not criticized for their "inability" to "develop" someone who never should have been hired in the first place. Until a newer, better opportunity emerges, I will continue to take cleansing breaths to the mantra, "Do the absolute minimum required and get out of here on time at the end of the day". But enough on that.

Anakin's blankie is coming along so very nicely, and I promise to post pictures this week. Once I got through the first 20 rows (during which I wanted to quit about 78 times), the pattern was established and now I am trucking at an average of 8 minutes per 156-stitch row. This pace was discovered during a shameless watching of DVR'ed VH1 documentaries this weekend, during which I realized I could knock out a row per segment (unless Michael Ian Black was commentating, then I spent extra time laughing).

I won't go into the running details. Let's just say that every day, I think I have sweat more than humanly possible; the next day, I sweat a little more. Florida is beyond tropical, it's downright hell to exercise in. Snaps to Linds for the Bondi, at least my sweaty hair is out of my face instead of sticking to it.

Pics of WIPs will be posted soon. Look for lots of blog activity in July... I'm only working 15 days this month. :)

12 Shopping Days.

For those who are curious, here's a list of things I would like to have in my possession on or around July 11th.

Happy Shopping :)

Old McDeaneold.

Here is the latest addition to our farm family. Brewster the Rooster joined us last week, when he almost met his fate as some (horrible) woman was dropping him off in the "woods" near our house. Knowing he would make his way to a major road in a matter of minutes, Deane scooped him up and fashioned him a nice coop (it's amazing the amount of coop-making materials we have scattered throughout our TWO huge sheds). Brewster enjoyed his regular feedings of tap water and grass clippings for a few days before he flew the coop, quite literally. With no fences or fence parts restraining him, I thought he'd hightail it out of here, but so far he has not left our property. The cats and dogs pretty much ignore him as he clucks around contentedly. No loud wake up calls yet, but I did see him perched atop the fence at 5:00 this morning, meekly attempting a noise that sounded something like, "EEEHHH EH EH A DOOOOOO!" He's got a long way to go.


Since Brewster's cockadoodling wasn't quite up to wakeup par this morning, I needed some help getting going. The OTG list has been updated to songs that are girly and fun to sing at the top of your lungs. I'd recommend it -- better than a 5 hour energy shot chased with a sugar free RedBull.


In knitting-related news (isn't that what this blog is supposed to be about?), I am a v. difficult ten rows deep on Anakin's Linus replica blankie. I think I'm about out of the woods, though. Will post pics as soon as pattern is established.


I hope I end up blogging about some running by the end of this week. Think I might ask for an (air-conditioned) gym membership for my birthday.

Linus love.

I need to pick up the yarn for Anakin's blanket tomorrow to get started this weekend. I want to use baby boucle, which is a bit bulky, but I am worried about larger stitches and little ones trying to put tiny adorable fingers through the holes. Sport weight yarn will take soooooo long to knit, and history has proven that I am not a deadline knitter. I think the worry will win out, however, and I will go with the more lightweight, closer knit yarn. The good news is, I am trying to make a Linus replica, so the pattern is going to be pretty mindless. I am thinking a garter stitch border with a simple moss stich pattern throughout. I might make it up on my own, simply because I cannot possible wade through the options -- my ravelry search produced 843 pattern results. The one thing I know is, I do not want to end up saying, "I wish I had splurged on better yarn" when I am halfway through this project. Only the best for my new nephew... I might even ignore the clearance yarns!



On an unrealted note, I purchased the "Legally Blond" Original Broadway Cast Recording this morning, and I am in love. I forgot what a fan of musical theatre I am! If you love to sing at the top of your lungs, and if "Legally Blond" is within your top 15 favorite movies of all time, you will die for this soundtrack. If you are lucky enough to have a music-sharing relationship with me, I can send you a copy.




Beer Tour Round 2 tonight at Mellow! Have a great Friday!

Stowaway.

I must preface this story by saying -- if you told it to me, I wouldn't believe you. This is the stuff Disney movies are made of.

This morning, I left heinously early for work as I do 4 days a week. Around 6 am, I went out to my truck, DC in one hand, keys in the other. The kittens have taken to using the truck as their own personal jungle gym, and we have recently caught them playing in and around the tires on several occasions. This morning was no exception. In addition to honking profusely and revving the engine in neutral, I woke up Deane and he jumped up and down on the tailgate until all kittens were scared out from underneath. Just to be safe, I drove v. slowly down our road, giving them ample time to jump out and return to the safety of their yard.

I drive to work as I usually do (obeying the speed limit as I think to be reasonable, etc.). Around noon, I drove over to the bank to pick up a change order. When I had my window rolled down in the drive thru lane, I heard a series of squeaking noises. I was pretty sure something was wrong with the truck, so when I got back to the store, I listened again. More squeaking. Huh. I dropped the money off at the back door and then looked under my truck to see if I could tell what was going on (like I would actually be able to diagnose any sort of problem). Before my very eyes, meowing up a storm, was Baby Grey, perched atop my spare tire! I started screaming and crying hysterically, and one of the guys at work crawled under the truck and retrieved the crying baby. He (the kitten, not the guy) and I hightailed it across the street to PetSmart for Purina and Aquafina, me apologizing and crooning the entire time, cranking the AC as high as possible. Lots of horrible people in PetSmart thought I was a negligent mother and wanted to charge my 9 bucks for a cardboard box. I hated them all. I took Grey back to my office where he would have nothing to do with my (free, from my own stockroom) cardboard box, instead deciding to chow a ton of food, purr fanatically, and climb up my (once tweed, now destroyed) pants. I left him alone in their while I ran a quick errand to a neighboring store. He had a lot of fun when I was gone, and ended up sitting on my desk by the time I got back. All he wanted to do was purr and be pet, and he eventually settled down for a nap in a ball under my desk.

No one could believe this tiny creature had survived a 52 mile journey with speeds upwards of 80 mph, in addition to braving the insanely hot weather. It made me love him so much more (he was my favorite already...!) for making the trip -- I thought he really did want to spend the day with me at work! A few people at the store had expressed interest in having one of the new kittens, so I called one of my employees who lived nearby and I knew loved cats. She came in right away and picked up Grey. She has 2 indoor cats already, and they have millions of toys, beds, scratching pots, cat condos, and the like. I let her take Grey home to add to her cat club... reluctantly, but happily. I know he will live the good life as an inside cat. She even said she might name him Beall :)

Good luck in your new home, Baby Grey! We miss you already!

New Stuff!

I have been holding off on adding some new sidebars to the blog, thinking that eventually I would know how to do cool stuff like embed pictures of album covers. Sadly, I realized this talent is just not one I possess, so I just added plain boring text.

"On the needles..." is the same. Works in progress, or WIPs. This is about the only thing knitting-related.

"On the go..." The "On The Go" playlist feature is my favorite thing about my iPod. My On The Go lists always have to be 10 songs long; no more, no less. I'm really going out on a limb here and admitting to the world the contents of my iTunes library. My On The Go playlist changes pretty often, and while I'd like to say it is a recent, logical, themed depiction of my current mood and/or state of mind, it is usually a random collection of songs I forgot I have, but LOVE.

"On the web..." Duh. These are the websites I visit daily. You should, too.

I also want to add "On the bookshelf..." to tell y'all what I'm reading, but I refuse to do that until I know how to make the list be a picture of the book covers.

Enjoy!

Aunt Sis!

Yesterday I received some fabulous news that will take my knitting to a place it has never been before... BABY STUFF :)

My brother Michael and his girlfriend Kimberly will be welcoming Anakin Leonard Linus Smock on or around July 30th (Michael and I already dominate the month of July with birthdays, so I'm hoping he can hold off until August 1st...!)

I am so excited to be an AUNT and just as excited to know that Michael, Kimberly, Cloë (her daughter), and Anakin will be settling in Lexington, KY. This means more visits to the midwest, more DLO reunions, country concerts, wedding detail planning, and new nephew spoiling. Hurrah for multi-purpose trips!

I'm really suppressing the urge to post a sonogram picture, but I refuse to be that girl. I wouldn't even go there if this child was my own, as I can recall many a catty comment made (by me) regarding people who post pre-baby pics. I will assure you, however, that I can already tell he is utterly adorable.

My two brothers have always refered to me as "Sis", so of course Anakin will refer to me as "Aunt Sis" (according to Michael). I am knitting away furiously to finish my Colts square so I can start his blankie (a Peanuts-inspired Linus replica). Joey has already purchased him two hilarious t-shirts (my favorite reads, "Now that I'm safe... I'm pro-choice!"). This kid is going to have it all :)

Can't wait for you to get here, Anakin! And congratulations, Michael and Kimberly!