Time For New Adventures

I feel like I took a big adult step today. Granted, I have been an adult for quite some time, but some days it felt like I was just playing at being a grown up.
My old Dodge has now been retired. I thought I'd be a little more emotional. Not over the actual retiring of the truck, but what the truck represented. It was my first vehicle that I purchased with my ex-husband. It did have a lot of memories with all the little adventures we experienced. Now I'm more relieved than anything for a few reasons. The first is I do not have to worry about being stranded on the side of the road. The second is that I'm happy I can start a whole new bunch of memories and adventures. I feel like a weight has been lifted from my shoulders. It was the last major tie to a part of my past.

I made a few attempts to take pictures to share with you all, but apparently my camera has retreated into vampire mode. I'm trying to fix that.

The camera does not like daylight.


It does look pretty bad ass eh?

The first vehicle that I have acquired on my own. I am thrilled!! I did have a very awesome friend negotiate the deal for me. I'm the first to admit my negotiation tactics are very poor. I'm happy with the outcome. I haven't stopped grinning since I had the keys placed in my hand.

Just thought I'd share that with you all. I'm off to watch the hockey game. Have a great week end.

Happy Thanksgiving

It is our Canadian thanksgiving this week end. Some of us are sweating in our kitchens trying to out do what Mom always made look simple. Some of us are drooling in anticipation of someone else' kitchen adventures. Others are rather low key. They have their video's or games picked up for the awesome long week end and looking forward to just trying to decompress. Whatever you are up to this week end, I hope it is everything you expect and more.
In a few hours I'm off to visit with my parents. They are actually in their camper staying not to far from where I live. Their camper is actually quite a nice set up. It has more space than most apartments I've seen. Hopefully I can take some very cool scenery pictures. The leaves this year have the most colour change than we have seen in a very long time. They have actually just started to really change around my place. This is another reason why I love my country. You can't capture these true colours on canvas, although we keep trying.
I've been lying low since I felt so under the weather this week. I've just been watching television and hanging out with the fuzzies. They are great company. We watched the hockey games, and whatever movies came on television. I have to replace the speaker set for my pc. Apparently they have had a fallen out and my computer will no longer recognize my speakers. I have had to write down the shows that I really want to watch for when I find speakers that are compatible. I just have one episode left of The United States of Tara and its killing me I can't watch it. argghhh.
At least hockey is back! Even Rebel is right into it:

It is a little blurry, but Leafs just scored on the Senators for the fourth time.

Napoleon couldn't care less:


While I watch television, I just can't sit there and absorb whatever is going on. I have to be moving or thinking. So I worked on my painting:

February is coming along nicely if I do say so myself.

I knit on a pair of socks that I started during the Sock Knitters Pentathlon from 2008! They are called Summer Olympic Socks. I just never finished them. Then I started to go through that personal stuff. I must have just tucked everything away into boxes. I found these unfinished relics in a box with some comic books. At least I had some system to my madness, all my favourite things in a box together.

Now I can move the dial on the progress tab in my Ravelry projects.

Speaking of Ravelry projects...how is that for a segue? This is the reason why I started to create my own little patterns:

Just not enough strength to try and get my pattern out from under Rebel. He is a really big cat with a thing for paper. I find it best not to argue. Eventually he eventually he gets hunger and moves.
Napoleon just makes it difficult for me to find my yarn:


That is all that is happening in my little world at the moment. When I get back, maybe I can share some autumn pictures with you all.
Happy Thanksgiving!

New Pattern :)

I haven't been feeling well this week. I encountered some small creature who had the sniffles and now I feel like Death warmed over. Not a pleasant feeling. I am pleased to say that I have kept a meal down and have been upright for three hours. This is progress.
During those three hours I have watched the Leafs win their season opener against the Habs and post my finished sock pattern, Crossed, on Ravelry.

I still feel kind of gross. I think I passed my cold along to Rebel. He is more cantankerous than usual today. I think I'll just take my cold meds, grab my book and tuck myself in. Night everyone.

Lovely Week End

I had a very nice week end. Nothing exciting happened. Just finished a few projects and learned how to make Pad Thai. Yes. More experiences in the kitchen.
I made a few toques!

This one is for my Mom to give to a neighbourhood boy who is helping my parents with a few things around their home.


This is one I am most proud of:

I look a bit like an elf there.

It is a Transformer Toque that I designed myself!

There will be a pattern to follow.

I had a craving for noodles yesterday. I searched online for an easy recipe. This one by Chez Pim was the most helpful.

I started out with these ingredients:

Noodles, a small Spanish onion, fish sauce, chili sauce, cilantro, lime, chicken, garlic power, brown sugar, vegetable oil and an egg. Sadly, I couldn't find tofu or tamarind. Next time, I'll make a special trip to find those ingredients. Grocery shopping for me is always like a treasure hunt. If you ever come across me, I'm the one muttering under my breath weird little chants.

You start by doing the prep work. You soak the noodles until they are flexible. As they are soaking, you start mixing up your sauce and heating up your wok really, really hot. By the time the fire alarm goes off, it's ready. Yes. I met my neighbours again. My sauce for this time around involved a generous pour of fish sauce, chili sauce, brown sugar, lime juice and 1/3 cup of water. I mixed that up so everything is all blended and the sugar is practically dissolved. Then I poured in my oil in three really generous tablespoons. I toss in my chopped onions. I don't really like a lot of onion, so they always go in before everything else so their flavour is in the oil. By the time the rest of the ingredients go in, they are barely there. Then I toss in my chopped up chicken with garlic powder and three tablespoons of the sauce. Once that is halfway cooked,I take the noodles out of the water and pat them dry. Then they get tossed in. I stir everything around and then move everything to the side. At this point, I cracked the egg and let it sit for a moment. Then I stir like mad again so everything is nice and blended. Last, I pour in the sauce. I keep stirring until everything is all meshed together.

The end result looks like this:

It tasted really awesome. This kitchen concept might not be so scary after all. Night everyone :)

I'm Kinda Lost

I've recently found myself in a bit of trouble with my little blog. I come on here just to babble on, vent about whatever is bothering me and share a thing or two. Well, I made some comments the other day about stuff going on at work. I have since discovered that those people I made comments about have read my little rant. I was approached by a supervisor to maybe apologize or explain the situation. I'm not sure how I feel about that. On one side, if it was me and I read those words, it would feel like a slap in the face. When put that way, yes, I would apologize. From my own perspective, I feel a little upset that I have to mix my work and personal life. I have been very careful about keeping those things separate. No one had a clue that I was going through a separation until I needed a form filled out and change of address. I do not really want to censor myself. The whole point for me was mentioned above. I just want to go all emo. Have it all expressed and then forget about it. It's selfish of me I know. I'll have to think about this some more.
Aw well. Tomorrow is another day. Happy Monday everyone.

I've Been Busy

I looked at my calendar today and realized I might need to get out more. I have marked on it all the premieres of shows I wanted to make sure I didn't miss. I take solace in the fact that I don't just sit and watch television. I actually work a fair bit on my little projects. Since I no longer have the hardcore cable and switched to basic, I watch a lot of my shows online. I believe I have mentioned this many times. What is sort of funny, not haha, but weird funny, is that I have only really had a computer for about five years. In the grand scheme of things, that is really not a terribly long time. It has become such a huge part of my life. I have to be very careful. In a heartbeat, I can easily become that crazy cat lady that never leaves her apartment. Since being on my own, I've decided to make a few changes to my lifestyle. It is shows too:


When I first moved in my little apartment, I purchased some new jeans. They were a size 34-35ish. I can't really remember and the little numbers have worn off. I weighed in at 170lbs. Now, my jeans are a 29-30 and I'm weighing in at 135lbs. I am thrilled.


A few of my changes are to make sure I eat all my food groups. I'm not educated in the means of proteins, fats, cholesterol etc etc. All I know is that if I fail to eat all my food groups in a day, I am off balanced. So today for instance, I start with coffee. That does not really fit into a food group, but people's lives are saved if I'm caffeinated. I switch on my computer, (bit addicted yes I know), settle in with my knitting or drawing and watch some shows. Today I watched a few episodes of The United States of Tara. Wow. I love this program. When I start to feel snackish, I begin to think about breakfast. I has toast with peanut butter and fruit. I have never been a big breakfast person. It was always a fight to get anything into me before school. After my breakfast, I start to tidy up a bit. A few hours go by, I start to feel hungry again. I had a bowl of cereal. Depending on my mood it is either Lucky Charms or Cheerios. I can't help it. They are magically delicious. I went for a walk to pick up some groceries. The story is about 20 minutes away at a fairly brisk pace. For my lunch I made a toasted cheese, bacon and tomato sandwich. I finished my socks:


I am currently working on my pattern now. I'm stuck at the chart part. I have found a program online that helps, again with the computer. I just have to be patient and work through it methodically. Patience is not one of my main characteristics. Then I start thinking about my supper. Tonight I had angel hair pasta with some veggies tossed in, with some wine of course. I watch Criminal Minds and The Glades and worked on a toque for my mom. She would like one to give to one of the neighbourhood children who have been helping my parents with some outside tasks. When it is complete, I'll be sure to take a picture for you. I think it's rather cute.
If I get snacky, I help myself to a muffin, trail mix with dried fruit, popcorn, or whatever else I have on hand that I do not need to prepare. The only trick I can really offer is to just eat when you are hungry. You have to learn what your body asks. When you are hungry, eat. When you are full, stop. It sounds so simple but all these other emotions come into play. That bored phase. That one is the killer. Keep your mind active and it helps. That is why I have all my little projects on the go. My hands are constantly moving. If I'm not knitting, I am drawing or painting. I also read a lot. When I need more, I start playing my video games. Reading through what I did today, I realize that I'm not really that social. I do have a few friends. Sometimes I do wish I would go out more. I just have more things I need to work on. I do like how I am. I have lots of weird little quirks. I like those too. I have come to the realization that I shouldn't work from home. By going to work, allows me to go out and interact with people face to face. I am rather good at it. I enjoy reading people and trying to decipher what it is that they need. To be honest, I'm rarely wrong. That's probably why I like playing cards. To be a good card player, it is not the cards that win the game but the person holding them. Anyway, I'm rambling. The point I'm struggling to make is that I need my mind and body to be kept busy or I turn into veal.

Enough about food. Want to see my love seat?

All I have left to do is fasten it to the underside. Every time I went to do that this week end there was a fuzzy creature sleeping on the seat. With the full moon, the cats were absolutely insane this week end. When they finally went to sleep is when I just worked quietly.
I should get bonus points for level of difficulty enhanced by curious kitty:

I almost sewed him into the seat several times.

Napoleon has no fear of sharp objects if they are shiny.


We are quite pleased with ourselves!


In a very long nutshell, that is what I have been up to this week. I might not have made much sense during my little monologue. I have all these thoughts roaming around my head. I think faster than I can type. Sometimes I forget you can't read my brain. I leave details out. As long as I entertained. I do hope you all had a great week end. We will chat again soon. :)

So Much TV, So Little Time..

Not sure if it's sad or not, but on my calendar I have all the series premieres that I would like to watch marked down. I'm not sure when I turned into such a television junkie. There are worse vices I'm sure. I just finished watching the season finale of True Blood and last season's Weeds. Now there are all these new shows I want to check out, especially Lost Girl and a new version of Nikita.
While I'm watching all this television, I'm working on my sock pattern. I really like how it's been progressing:

I've started my second sock and hope to have the pattern up shortly.

Work has been weird. I don't really have another word for the situation.
I'm tuckered out. I'm going to slay monsters. I hope you are all enjoying your week ends.