Just a Few Thoughts.....

Hello everyone. Hope you are all well. I am doing much better now. I have suffered from some withdrawal these past few days. I lost my Internet. Well, I didn't actually misplace it, I just wasn't on friendly terms any more. I couldn't believe how lost I felt. Hubby has found a new p.c. for us. I am really having a great time trying to figure out all the new little gizmos. As I was stumbling around my new toy, I realized how much I really missed it. It was not the actual computer I was missing, but the things it allows me to do.

Today, when hubby came home from work, he noticed how my mood was so drastically different. I was a bit upset because I missed all of my friends. He came to the conclusion (with which I totally agree), that all this chatting on the net has really made me come out of my shell. Before the net, I was very shy. I dreaded going anywhere new. I would have these little breakdowns just as I was leaving home. I would get these second thoughts like: what if they really don't want me there and they just invited me to be polite? what if they really don't like me? All these silly little threads just kept nagging away at my brain. It is positively ridiculous these thought patterns. Of course these people like me. Of course they want me there. If they didn't like me, or didn't invite me, they would never have botherer to talk with me in the first place. In the back of my mind, I knew these questions were completely without merit. I just needed to boost my esteem.

Now, I have very little anxiety leaving my safety bubble. I still get a little hesitant, but nowhere near what I was experiencing prior the acquisition of our net. Now, someone will say: hey! come on over, let's do something fun. I now think alright! Let's do it!

I think the change occurred when I was chatting online with all these different strangers. This didn't even come easily. I only started to talk with them because hubby knows my weakness for card games. He absolutely detests card games. They are the most boring, long, drawn out means of fun he has ever experienced. He only plays with me to make me happy. One day, he found this gaming site for me. He showed me this is where I could play cards with people who actually enjoyed these type of games. What a novel idea. I started playing immediately. Before long, I was chatting up a storm with perfect strangers. What is even better, these strangers became my friends. I love this concept. Here are people who have never seen me or heard my voice, yet they still like me. They like me for who I am, my personality. (Wasn't that a line in Bridgit Jones's diary?) I love it. That is, in my opinion, the true definition of a friend. Here I am four years later, and still talking with these wonderful people.

I had no clue that the Internet would affect me in such a way. Before I would tease all my friends about finding people online. Those people, I would say, are strange, freaky people, living in their parent's basements. Now, here I am. I am one of those strange, freaky people chatting on the net. What an amazing concept.

The sad part of my new PC is that I do not have all my music files and pictures of my family and crafts and other miscellaneous things. I may have to start from scratch to get some of those items returned. It was suggested to me that I get one of those thingies that will extract my information from the old PC and transfer it to the new one. I hope this is possible. I really do not like being without my music. It helps to keep my typing moving along. I guess you can say, I type to a beat.

Has anyone else noticed how touchy people were this week? I think it is the weather change. It was a really mild winter up until the end of this week. All of sudden the true winter made an appearance. I personally have a massive head ache. I can't seem to get rid of the pressure. It is starting to annoy me.

Since, I have to download all of my stuff, I have no pictures to share with you all. I'm sorry for being so long winded, but I was without my fix. I will show you all progress on my knitting as soon as I can.

Have a great night and take care of yourselves.

And So My Night is Shaping Up...

I think I will really like Monday night T.V. I get to watch a few of my favourite shows: Big Bang Theory and Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles. Did I mention I'm a bit of a geek?
I did some serious knitting as well tonight:



The Dead Kitty Scarf is shaping up wonderfully. I found the chart for the kitty here


This is my inspiration for this piece:

Brian and Rebel cuddling:



Napoleon sulking after a bit of discipline for doing something he shouldn't have. By discipline, I mean, me taking him off the baker's rake and Napoleon running around only to get back up onto forbidden baker's rake. Tomorrow, I will be investing in some sort of contraption that squirts water. I think that is referred to as hydro aversion therapy. At this point, anything is worth a shot. The lovely little creature likes to climb the rake around 300am and knock whatever he can unto the floor. The nosier, the better.



There is nothing going on at this point. So I will say to you all good night :)

Welcome To The Family Eco

I now have a pair of anklet socks! They turned out as I had hoped they would, fitting just the way I like: very close to my feet. I do not enjoy baggy socks. They get sucked to the sole of my shoes too easily.


These are my happy feet in their new anklet socks.



Looks decent with my jeans. I'm glad I made them. They will become my lazy Sunday socks!

Did anyone else watch the new Terminator show on television tonight? OMG!!! This is the reason why I love my t.v. This show rocked. It moved fast and had a lot of action. I loved how it complimented the movies. You know, I always was curious about how Sarah Connor felt about her situation. Apparently it is a two night premier. I will have to remember to watch it tomorrow night. I have a posted a sticky to my television. :)
Hope everyone had a great week end. I am wishing we had three day week ends. If that ever became the case, then I am sure I would wish for four day week end and so on and so forth.
Have a great night everyone.

And on a Happier Note....

I don't know about all of you, but, I seriously hate paperwork. I realize hate is a very strong word. It fits my situation. Since we have had a new employer, they are trying to mix both worlds into a more cohesive unit. This means, more paperwork. The current task I must undertake is to complete a bunch of forms of my work history and past residences. Oh Good Lord. Do you remember your address seven years ago? I can only remember parts. Mainly the city and province. I needed assistance for this task. My first lifeline was hubby. He was helpful. He was able to supply with me details of streets and years. Excellent.
Unfortunately, I had to call.....my parents.
I really do love these people, but they make you work for their info. (Ask the poor young man making minimum wage at a store oh whom mom requested he take apart packaging to ensure that all the parts were there.) My step-dad answered the phone. OK, not a problem. I'm sure he will know some of the stuff I need. I asked him if he remembered the postal code from our little corner house. He answered in the affirmative. Excellent. Things are looking up. I may be able to avoid a very unhappy email from the boss tomorrow. I will have something on her desk on time, for once. Good, good. I should have been more specific with my question. For instance: Can you please tell me the postal code of our little house on the corner? Hindsight, as they say is 20-20. Dad proceeded to tell me of their excursion to the store to return to the too small jeans we procured for him for Christmas. He also went on to say he got a real bitchin' hat, (OK, my words, not his). It is one of those fur lined little numbers with ear flaps. As well, he took my mom to a very nice lunch at The Zellers. Not to knock Zellers. I go there quite often. They have an excellent selection of video games and DVDs. (Just a side note: they are in cahoots with Hudson Bay Company and Home Outfitters). I'm sure mom would love to go to a restaurant with table cloths at some point. (Before you all get upset with me, I take her to dinner, often, to places that have real silverware and table cloths. Oh my.)
Finally, he was able to provide me with the postal code about 45 minutes into the conversation. The phone was then passed over to my mom, who continued to tell me the complete address history of my entire life from birth to present with phone numbers. Impressive? Oh yes. But wait! There is more. Oh yes. She also was able to tell me of our neighbours and the little friends on my street, even the odd one who liked her shoes. (This particular little friend was a boy. If I haven't already, I will one day tell you of our very detailed conversation of Ru-Paul.) However, I do have my deadline.
At the end of our conversation, (although this is a loose term because a conversation would imply that were there two people involved) I had the information I required. Thank you mom and dad. I really do appreciate all the care and attention you put into absolutely everything you do, even if I do poke fun. :)

On a happier note:
Here are some pics of my sock:



This is a close up of my heal. Literally, this is MY heal. :) I am currently trying to find a new way to complete heals. I am proudly self-taught. I would however, like to know a few other methods, just for variety.



This is one of two socks to be completed. Yes, this is also my foot. hehe.
It is actually a bit tight, however, I am very OK with this feeling. It means that my sock will not slip into my shoe. This will avoid those awkward moments when I have to remove my sneaker to search for my missing sock. This usually occurs in crowded department stores. Perhaps, I am a bit touchy in these situations?
Oh well, onto sock number two. I refuse to suffer from second sock syndrome. My friend has shown me a method that knits two socks together on two circular needles. Let me tell you, this is boss. I love how it works. I can't wait to try it myself. I just need to acquire these needles. This means waking up Saturday morning. I don't usually see these mornings unless I am attending some sort of special event. I am considering this a special event. I will have two circulars for the means of which to avoid second sock syndrome. Wish me luck. Morning is not really a friend of mine.
Have a good night everyone. :)

At Last....

Yes!!!
It is finally complete.
I have just finished Hubby's sweater.
I absolutely love it.
I didn't even want to stop working on it for a break. It was like an obsession. The only time I truly walked away from the needles was when I was sadly out of yarn. Even then, the only thing preventing me from continuing was that the store was not open at 300am. (OK, I can understand why. Not everyone suffers from insomnia).
I would love to show all of you Hubby proudly wearing his new sweater.
Hope you all like:



Fierce looking, isn't he?



I love how the flecks of cream mixed in the black go with the cream of the skull. That truly unintentional.

That is all from me for now. Hope you all have a wonderful night! :)

I Have A Plan!!

I really do have a plan. As of late, I have been feeling a little lazy. I do not like this feeling. It does not sit well with me. When I feel like this, I start to think. When I start to think, I formulate a plan of action. It is action that I shall do.
I go back to "normal" work tomorrow. This means I go in at my ideal time of 930. I love this shift. I sleep so much better. I don't have that tired feeling all day. It is awesome.
Anyway, on with my plan: Hubby leaves way earlier than I do in the morning. What I was thinking was I wake up at his time, and get this: go on the elliptical machine that has been sitting in my office gathering dust. I will go on this machine, listening to my Ipod (named Fred) and reading books that I have purchased over the years and not yet had the chance to read. This is what I like to call win-win. I do not like seeing parts of my body wiggle. Some parts are supposed to wiggle. Other parts should not partake in this activity. Hopefully, I will tone up and feel that all those books will not feel neglected.
I had a great week-end. I visited with my friend. We ate some very excellent food and drank some very good booze. We also knitted and watched Crash. (Note to self, do not drink and try to do math.) I can't believe I had not seen this movie until yesterday. It is one of those that make you think about your frame of perception and human nature. It is a very excellent flick. I would highly recommend this movie to those of you who have been under a rock like I have been for a lengthy period of time.

I am also thrilled to report that I have been doing some very serious knitting. Hubby's sweater is turning out so good. I am very proud of myself. Let me show you how much progress I have made:

I am at the part where I start to sew the sleeves and the sides. I love this part.



I take great pride in making an invisible seam.

I also had to knit some panels for the underarms and the sides. Hubby has very big shoulders and my math skills are not very strong. (My guess is because of the excellent booze.) He likes to have a bit of room in the shoulder area so he does not feel like he would "incredible Hulk" the clothing. I am very alright with this preference. I do not like to repair as much as I like to sew. I avoid this action whenever possible.

I have also worked on my little ankle socks. I love working on socks when I want to watch something that requires a great deal of concentration. I prefer to just use a basic stockinette stitch and let the yarn do the work.



Which reminds me; let me show you some sock yarn I have acquired:



This one even has boots written right on the label.


I love the bright colours in these balls.
I purchased two balls because my intent is to make very long socks that show over the top of my boots. I am very cold all the time and there is nothing better than comfortably warm feet. Besides, the wool looks so good.

christmas with the kids errr cats

Good afternoon everyone,
I return to the living. At the start of my holidays I was struck down with a very nasty cold. I was actually in bed for two days. I think the cats were worried. Hubby might have been too. I sort of remember a mirror being held under me.
When I came to, we celebrated Christmas. I have just a few pics to share:

Here are Rebel and Napoleon investigating what Santa brought them:



Napoleon really digs it!


The trips from the cat nip. This I believe the kids call crashing:


Rebel has a cute way of playing with his toys. He just likes to lick them. You can always tell which are his toys, they are missing bellies and colouring on the parts he "plays" with.


No holiday is complete without some knitting. Here is the progress on Hubby's skully sweater. It is just flying off the needles. This is the sleeve:


We also made the trek to Mom's.
This is her cat Sneakers. We however have nick named him the princess. He hates to be touched by anyone except my step dad. He can rub his fur the wrong way, turn him upside down, flip him around and still get purring sounds.
If come anywhere near Sneakers with good intentions, he freaks and goes for your eyes. I like to live on the edge. I pick him up and tussle his fur. hehehe <<< evil laughter.


This is Buddy, a.k.a. the psycho kitty. Mom's way of explaining Buddy is : He just likes to kill". Every time we visit them, we are greeted on the front steps with a line of carcasses. This past visit was wings of various shapes and sizes. Buddy was at it again.



The creatures that manage to escape Buddy, are quite chubby. I think Mom injects their feed with bacon fat. You should see their hummingbirds. They are the size of golf balls. Have you ever seen a bird need to take a breather from making the voyage from the hydro line to the feeder?
I hadn't either, until I go to Mom's.


My parents wanted bird seed for Christmas. This is their favourite thing to do:


I think they name all the creatures that visit them as well.

I couldn't wait to get home to my own bed. My own pillow. My own little apartment where I do not need to wear shorts to be comfy. I have my own tv without all the cnn and weather network programming. I can watch my movies without weird little interruptions like: I wonder where they found those shoes? What are they saying now? Do you want to eat bacon in the morning? What is the price of gas in Toronto?
I love those demented little gnomes to death, even if they do look like they just escaped from some one's garden. A weekend is just the right amount of time to visit. That is more than enough time for them to tell me my hair is too red; I'm much too thin (although I like hearing this one:)); I need to have more calcium; Do I always wear those pants like that? Are you changing the oil regularly in the truck? Do you shower this long at home?
I know they mean well. That is why I just nod in the appropriate places and hold my tongue. I am very happy to be home. This is where all my toys are.
I hope you are all well. Enjoy all the New Year's festivities.