Heading to more Holidays

Last week I flew to Reno to help on a system conversion. I did manage to finish a lacey scarf on the plane ride over.


Well do you think I would have the opportunity to finish some of my knitting projects? No, instead went back to my other habit which knitting replaced: Blackjack. Hey - I was hot! For the 5 days there I won > $200; I consider that 2 knitting projects paid for :) Oh yeah....the system conversion was smooth and I felt like I helped out.

Came home and finished another project finally - I am distracted by many projects staying home since August.


I did have help keeping the pieces together while I sewed them...




Earlier I had a visitor and he/she actually came into my house and left poop pellets.


Both Freckles and Ditto were fine with this creature around, in fact it is larger than Ditto so they really couldn't do anything to scare it away. They were scared of this creature and the nerve of it coming into my house!




Meanwhile I received 3 offers to join Thanksgiving. I forgot I had one in August so blew that one off so I accepted another in Valencia. Had a 3rd offer in Fresno with more unfamiliar surroundings. I think I am ok with the choice this year. It will give me a chance to see Katy Gentry sober from Heroine addiction; last year's Thanksgiving dilema. (Thanksgiving 2007 with the cousins group - MacDonalds and Gentrys)

Rare Dinner Party

Last Saturday I hosted a dinner party at my house; which is rare for me to cook! There were 10 of us that were in my house that evening where I made chicken and beef enchaladas. For some reason I was suffering from a migraine Thursday and Friday so I was in bed most of those days preventing me from cleaning the place in stages for this event. Saturday morning, was fine and performed the Cinderella duties all morning, chopped and prepared the food all afternoon, showered and dressed ready in time for the first guest to arrive at 5 PM sharp! Exhaustion set in so I was not in the mood for knitting with the others that brought theirs. To my surprise, Beatriz brought not only Mexican rice but Chicken Mole and Chile Verde. A success for the dinner as we hung out, chatted then ate the wonderful apple pie that Lisa baked for us...yummy! I didn't take photos of the food but of the people who made my evening worth while.

Gloria and Flo


Stephanie, Beatriz and Candace





Lisa and Nancy Vargas


Preita who claims she needs chest scaffolding that night




....and Terry the miracle knitter




Thank you ladies for coming over :)

Monthly Update

It has been a month and realized I haven't posted anything here. Wow! Here is the latest...

Went on a couple lunch dates with Mark, the guy who only wants to date one woman at a time. I convinced him to meet me since meeting is not 'dating'. I am not sure if he is seeing/dating the other woman but I didn't ask. We are currently exchanging email and texting but nothing chemistry or combustion is happening. He has his life together but he seems not as confident in public as I thought he was. He waits for me to get out of my car before he goes into a restaurant. Usually people go into the place and wait for each other. The second lunch, I was waiting for him with a glass a wine. 10 minutes delinquent of our scheduled time, I went outside the place and then he came out of his vehicle. WTF!? I asked him why didn't he go into the place... no sigificant answer that made sense. I am not sure if I should be honored that he evolves his world around the appearance of someone or that I should move on to someone more confident. I think the latter is my choice.

Being home every day has made me too comfortable. Letting the girls out in the backyard with the beautiful butterflys has made Freckles a hunter. She killed this marvelous monarch right in front of the terracing.


Ended up knitting a couple hats: first one was a catalyst to make for a little girl's birthday present for the end of this month. I made it in one day and asked for the mailing address to send to her mother (who requested I make this). I believe her mother is avoiding the payment that she agreed to surrender...she has not contacted me back with a mailing address nor a time to pick the hat up. I plan on using this hat myself. Note to self: no more exchanges with this person who cannot follow through on commited requests. I am not a slave!! Here is the wooly hat.


Meanwhile..I have been spending waaay too much time at my LYS. But I am helping to sell a certain type/brand of yarn with my fininshed shawl projects :)

My friend Nina went in for a right mastectomy on October 30 and had an uneventful procedure. The easiest part is over..now comes the recovery: psychological and reconstruction stages. I am hoping she will follow her post-op education. That evening I found out that my best friend, Camille is learning how to knit. She brought in her practice swatch and was knitting. I didn't believe it was hers but she was actually making knit stitches! I am proud of her.

Made a hat for myself in one evening. I am now into making socks again; toe-up method. Before it was cuff down finishing toe so this is a challenge to make them in reverse.

As you can see...I need to get back to traveling on the road for work. They have not given me a true start date for my next anticipated assignemt in Bakersfield. There is really no work her in the West coast but they don't want to send me to another region like I was for Detroit > 2 years. Got my sabbatical approved and going on an African safari March 2009! Can't wait to be with wildlife again!! Until then, I will have to enjoy the wildlife in my own yard. Check out the hummingbird I caught picking at my bird of paradise.


Then there is this beautiful butterfly - check out the terrific markings!


Then there is the indoor wildlife: Freckles watching her prey/gift that she gives me daily for attention.

Life Spinning Around Me

Ok..so I signed up for yet another singles dating online thinking I will have some luck somehow with the male species. I think I was prompted since I joined Facebook. There are commercial ads such as > 40 singles, blah blah blah. Signed up but I will not pay for the monthly fees to email the bastards :P
I snagged a really cool guy last week and I acutally received a response back in my personal email! I swear - I am mystified on why men do not want to take the plunge to correspond with me when I open my self to contact me in email, etc. Mark, a single father/widower contacted me in email and it was terrific. Until I gave him my land phone, he tried to text message me to meet him for a drink last Friday night. Come to realize it was my land phone. Meanwhile, he received a text message from another lady asking him to meet for drinks. I know all this since I did queue him to call me after that past weekend to connect in person. He is a genuinly terrific guy, gregareous and positive for what he has been through - truly a winner. He did confess that he does not date many women at once so I missed out on my opportunity when he went out with the other lady for a drink instead of me. I am wondering how men think that one date makes him homogenous in the dating scene. Anyway...he said that he wants to date this women and see what happens but wants to keep in touch with me anyway. We did speak for 90 minutes with the circumstances as such. I am not sure if I am impressed or disappointed. I believe he is a people pleaser and I did miss out for not giving him my cell number to be text messaged. Mark states that things happen for a reason. Thinking about this, he states that I wasn't meant to meet him and it was a better deal for the woman who asked him instead. I missed out again - timing is and always has been bad for me when it comes to these relationships! This is the story of my life so I must be waiting for the Cinderella story to climax.

Still working from home this week waiting for a full-time project to start; next week I travel to Winona, MN - great time of the year to be there. I can wear my sweaters that I knitted finally over there. Since I am unable to solve the puzzle of obtaining a mate, I continue to enjoy the beauty around me as much as possible. My bird of paradise plants are blooming like crazy this year. Check out the spider on this one trying to get the sticky sap.


Hummingbirds do fly around these blooms but by the time I get my camera out, they are gone.

Here is Freckles with her typical provacative pose when she rests, yes - she is showing a nipple (click on the photo for close-up).

Happy Birthday to Me!

During my wonderful birthday celebration I didn't realize that yet again someone got a hold of my corp credit account (Diners MasterCard) and shopped accordingly:

Sep-20-2008 ROSS STORES #125 SAN FRANCISCO CA $ 176.72
Sep-20-2008 NORDSTROM #0427 Q18 SAN FRANCISCO CA $ 250.00
Sep-22-2008 RADIOSHACK COR00138552 SANTA ROSA CA $ 410.39
Sep-22-2008 SAFEWAY STORE00015628 SANTA ROSA CA $ 200.00
Sep-22-2008 SAFEWAY STORE00015628 SANTA ROSA CA $ 209.18

I traced it back from a phone call I made to a seedy Indian restaurant; they overcharged my card for a meal I had there the weekend before. That was my going away present for being up there one more time for the client. "Tandoor" restaurant charged me for the base and then again including my tip on the charge slip - those bastards!! I called them 9/12/08 and referred to the invoice # transaction and whalah! Fraudulent charges. No wonder our economy is the way it is. Diners closed the card, my work is aware of this event for the second time on their corporate card!!!


On a lighter note, I completely enjoyed my past weekend Knitting Retreat away with the knitting ladies of Ventura County (and one from Huntington Beach). We rented a huge house for the weekend (back in April) for this wonderful gathering. I wanted to be in a sleeping room where nobody snores since I am very light sleeper. Ended up in a room with 2 other twin beds. One night the latest person to join the group woke me up snoring, the second my other roomate. Both claim they didn't know they snore...LOL Anyway my feedback after the 2nd night is that if we were there a third night, I would be the one snoring. So instead of calling it the "no snoring room"; I call it the "part-time snoring room".

2 acronyms for knitting:
SABLE
Stash Accumulation Beyond Life Expectancy

SEX
Stash Enhancement eXpedition

Both very much in my real of this knitting addiction. I proceeded to buy even more yarn: Noro Blossom in Cambria. This is discontinued yarn that I thought I would never see any more of. So what do I do? Scoop! We enjoyed the different knitting skills that was brought to the table as we shared different techniques/idea, etc. The enthusiasm is great that we will get together again same time next year. Since Stephanie doesn't want to facilitate it again I volunteered for this undertaking next year.

Will Work for Quilts

Look what Flo has made me! How beautiful is this? This was the loving return of making the Blossom pullover top for her. I owe her big time. As you can see, I am not the only fan of this warm quilt. Ditto posing in this photo.



Freckles on the opposite corner. They both were originally laying close together until I had to get up and get the camera for the rare moment. All 3 of us love the quilt! Thanks Flo!

Knitting UFO with a Bonus

Work hiatus has allowed me to focus on my knitting mojo; not that I am asking to do nothing for work. Finished my Cherry Blossom pullover that took me 5 months to finish. Looks better on someone than on this hanger.

Meanwhile I knitted another Clapotis shawl wrap that is a perfect color match for the Cherry Blossom.



Just because I finished the Clapotis in less than 2 weeks, I rewarded myself by starting another "Champagne Leaf & Acorn" wrap with the same rayon yarn as the Clapotis. I am still working 4 project simultanesouly - will I ever learn to finish one at a time? No Way!


For the shawl wraps I am thinking of selling them in a local boutique specialty store in town. If one place doesn't like the idea of selling hand knitted items, then there are other means of marketing them.