Swap

Kinda funny sounding word, eh? My group's swap is underway. I'm excited about the thought of getting a package filled with goodies, but not as stoked as I thought I would be. Maybe it's because some have a "gimme...I want..." mentality that's turning me off. For me it's more about the unknown. Plus, I'm too preoccupied with my package to my spoilee. :) The options are endless and $20 budget is so limiting. I already know I will go over, the question is how much.

Anyway, I'm excited. Buying loot for others is just as fun. Buying her yarn will be difficult (no, I'm not telling why!!!) Not being creative, I'm having some difficulty coming up with other stuff for her box. Well, at least given the dollar-limit.

I am very excited about the coupon/yarn swap I'm in too. Coupons! I put in a request for Zyrtec. Ha!

Summer knitting:
spoilee
charity hat(s)
a monkey or two or five
maybe another sweater for piglet

Cat Caste

Me: How many humans does it take to keep Angel and Davis happy?
QE: We haven't found out yet.
Me: Is having cats worth it?
QE: YEAH! They love us.

Beautifully Imperfect

Just signed up for the fall CSA. Here's what we're projected to get:

acorn squash, apples, arugula, beans, bok choi, broccoli, cabbage, carrots, garlic greens, head and loose leaf lettuces, herbs, leafy greens, peas, potatoes, pumpkins, radishes, sweet potatoes, swiss chard, tatsoi, winter squash

I can't wait to plan our Thanksgiving meal around the goodies! I never thought it possible to actually love vegetables: to admire their beauty, adore each bump, appreciate every crinkly leaf. My only complaint so far is that we didn't get enough garlic with last week's share. After price-checking each haul with the stores, I think we got a great deal. Sure we might not have ever chosen to buy turnip or cabbage, but we're expanding our veggie horizons. Imagine, a vegetarian actually eating vegetables! (QE isn't a full vegetarian--he goes on fish benders. I should send him to rehab. HA!)

Foxy Foxy!

QE saw a fox in our backyard the other morning. I got there in time only to see our visitor scampering away. He wasn't as orange as I expected. Big tail. QE says we like foxes because they eat rodents. Poor mousies! I hope the fox didn't find the bunny nest in our yard. One night a week or so ago, I saw a prairie dog (ok, probably a groundhog or gopher) sitting right by the curb on our street.

Happy Birthday to...

George Michael! Who turns 45 today. I took today off from work just to celebrate.

Ok, not really. I planned on taking a few hours off for an appt and it kinda spun out of control from there. Despite the major running around, I absolutely LOVE having a day off. I asked the Nazi Dementor about working part-time and he flatly said no. A-hole wasn't even open to discussing what I had in mind--no talk about # hours, pay, logistics, nothing. "Can I work part-time?" --"No. End of discussion." My predecessor started out as full-time and went AWOL. As in showing up less than 40 hours in a MONTH. WTF I think I'll consider working a four-day workweek and taking a day off anyway. If he wants me to put in 40 hours, I'll put in 40. Go f yourself now, eh? I've digressed...this wasn't supposed to be a rant or vent (amazing how this particular company brings out all my rage)

I shared breakfast with Cara this morning. She enjoys having me around for bfast and acts especially excited on Fridays. How does she know when it's Friday anyway?? Mon-Thurs, she will circle around me as I cram stuff into my work bag. It took me a while to figure it out, but she waits for me to give her some of my bfast even as I am running out the door. So I will pick off some english muffin or waffle for her as I rush out. I eat bfast at home on Fridays. She sits and waits for me at the coffee table.

I picked up my first Polyface buying club order today. So awesome. The entire experience only took 5-10 minutes, but there's something cool about the community gathering around to pick up their food from a local farmer. Someone had a van full of snotty kids. Breeders. One threw a metal Hot Wheels-type of car at me while several others were running around the parking lot. Theoretically, it's fine to run around. Probably ill-advised given the number of cars going in and out.

Going to Trader Joe's on a weekday mid-day is probably like going to a playground--kids hanging off carts like monkeys in a cage. Oh my. It's days like this that I am so glad we chose not to have children. I hope my piglet does not turn like like the beasts I encountered today. He's got good parents who will teach and discipline him. Obviously not all kids are devils. But well-behaved ones are becoming rare. Just like SAHMs. Correlation????

My Boy

My piglet is so adorable. Sure, I know he's not really mine, but I'm thankful papa and mama piggies let me call their piglet "mine". I am still tickled that my dorky brother can produce such a perfect little being. :) I give full credit to my SIL. Ha! I can stare at piglet's picture all day. I got to see him via webcam this morning. What a great way to start the week. Piglet has gotten so big! He's long and lean with a big ol' melon head. And he's got two little teethies on the bottom! I love little rat teeth! Papa pig reports that he's very smart and full of personality. My little piglet. Is it weird for me to be so attached and devoted to a child that's not my own? I think so. Can't really explain it though. I hope to be the best aunt possible--to be his confidante, his friend, his guardian, and most importantly, his favorite. :) Maybe I should decorate my knitting room to be "his room" for when he visits. That's got to be worth a few bribe points, eh? Oh piglet!

Strawberry Sundae

I love QE. Sure, he takes good care of us (meoow?) and has lots of letters after his name on business cards, but he also allows me to buy yarn without limit. tee hee... I joined a swap on Ravelry and my goodie box has to include at least one hank/skein/ball of yarn. Poor me, I have to buy yarn. But in addition to the swap, I wanted to buy some for myself. I mean, not fair to buy yarn for others and not myself, right? :) I asked QE how much I was allowed to spend. He said I could buy whatever I want but "try to use restraint". BWAH! Does he know who he's talking to?! I mean, have I ever done anything half-ass? Have I ever not obsessed about something? I thought it was cute that despite knowing I don't need yarn, he loves me enough to allow me to buy to my heart's content. (Have I ever mentioned how easy it is to buy using PayPal?!) It's definitely emotional buying. But I figure it's better emotional eating right?

One of the moderators of my swap also dyes yarn. She's having a sale and free shipping. Great service, great colors, great prices. She does custom jobs too. She's in San Diego and has SD Chargers colors too. Oy. :) I can't wait to get my yarn. We won't say how much I bought, but I did get this (strawberry sundae):

Fibers

Started a cute sweater for piglet. Golden yellow (creme brulee!) with red (pomegranate) and light green (honeydew) scoops. Those are the actual names of the yarn colors. Yum! No stripes on the sleeves for my piggy though.

I need to buy yarn. LYS needs to have a crazy summer sale already. Probably won't happen til July or August. I will take a day off again despite not having leave. And this time I will buy yarn in quantities no less than 1000 yards to ensure I have enough for yet-unknown projects. I'm thinking of selling some of my yarn if I can't figure out what to do with it. Or maybe someone needs to have a baby girl soon. Doubtful that a mom would appreciate an alpaca silk sweater though--expecting her to handwash the garment would be quite inconsiderate of me.

Happy Place

QE thought I was a nerd for getting excited about this. I think such beauty deserves our admiration and love.
We've been to our Wegmans three times in one week. And that's with restraint. It's our new hang out. Nothing to do? Let's go to Wegmans. What's for breakfast? Let's go to Wegmans. I didn't think anything could replace Target as our default. QE teased me all weekend. Every time he asked, with no intention of taking me, if I wanted to go I said yes. WAH! So mean! What I find amusing is all those snobs from up "north" who used to scoff at our po-dunk county are now flocking to our store. They should visit "their" store in Fairfax and leave our newer-bigger-brighter store to us losers. I think we might be going again tonight. This will probably end my TJ visits too.

Tommy

Such a quick knit. I'm tempted to make more. Would that be a flock? Herd? Clutch? Brood? Pride! Pack! Yup, turtles are bad asses and form a pack. :)

Ample

Got my Ravelry t-shirt the other night. It is thinner than most tees and I would have scoffed if I saw it in a store. I've never experienced American Apparel before (so much for made in USA--it felt more like made in India or Turkey). The good news is the shirt fits. But I think that has more to do with it being stretchy vs me slimming down. It's not skin-tight but QE says I can't wear it out of the house bc it showcases my girls. He couldn't quit staring. Very funny.

Almost finished with my turtle. I think I'll name him Tommy.

Busy Bee

Here's some of my Ravelry loot. Note it's "some". heh heh...the too-small t-shirt is on its way. I also bought some yarn from a Raveler--there will be no evidence of that though. Ever. "Some" yarn is also on the way from Knit Picks. None is strictly for me. Sweater for piglet, monkey hats, and a few other small projects. I think that's all the goodies I have outstanding. Maybe. I hope. :)

I finished two bee hats and more than a dozen cupcakes. Loved the Rowan cotton. I was especially proud of knitting gauge without a swatch. Amazing things happen when using the yarn and needles called for in a pattern. Ok, the bee hat pattern was my own, but still. Very neat. And jogless joining of colors! I learned this on Kate, but I'm still tickled by how it works. Yep, I'm a dork.


The evil green onions and napa cabbage got sent to Grandpa Goo. The big white onion bulbs mocked me as I packed them up. Who knew green onions could be so darn big? They looked nothing like the puny things at grocery stores. The first thing my dad said was, "wow, what a great scent." Oh.BARF



We gave up the napa only because it was so darn big. It was very nice though. I guess we could have kept it, but sharing our bounty with dad was cool.

I told him about Polyface and now he's interested in some goodies. As a former chef, he has a weird snobbery about previously frozen meat. I'm not fond of it either, but I understand why Polyface does it. It didn't affect the flavor or texture presumably because it was properly packaged and handled. Meant to give him some eggs today too but forgot. Once he tastes these I'm hoping he won't buy Eggland's Best anymore. "But they are cage-free and have EB stamped on each egg!" I used to believe in the stamp too, til I realized the gub'ment is out to get me. :)

Oh. In planning for Father's Day, Dad said we shouldn't bother going out to eat since I'm "still" vegetarian and there's nothing I can eat. (still cracks me up) I told him that's my problem and can find something regardless of where we go. He finally relented. Plans for lunch on Sunday for now.

CSA Week 2

sugar snap peas--soooo good, even raw!
asparagus
oregano--never had fresh before! wow!!! The leaves are a bit fuzzy.
napa cabbage
kohlrabi--purple this time
garlic scapes
green onions--so big and so gross...totally getting dropped off at Em's
green and yellow squash--QE said they were perfectly smooth and flawless
broccoli--never seen such beautifully tight green buds before. Wish we got more of this. Only one tiny head. :(
radishes

We had the sugar snap peas with squash and oregano for dinner last night. With produce like this, I could totally go vegan. The squash were smaller than the 8-inchers at the store, but they were firmer, crisper and just had this different essence about it. The peas were awesome. Crisp and slightly sweet raw. QE didn't like it, but I was quite intrigued by it. I didn't know we could eat it raw and assumed it would be bitter. Man, with such goodies, I'm not sure I can ever go back to veggies at the grocery store. I am afraid I'll get spoiled by these fresh (and expensive) produce. We would never buy so much veggies on our own, so this CSA is a good thing. I was hoping for more turnips. Those rock on the grill. Kohlrabi was good on the grill too, but turnips are so much cuter and tastier. My only complaint would be that we don't get a lot of anything. It's just a sampling. Perfect amounts for two people, but I totally would have traded for more broccoli or sugar snap peas. Those darn onions are a monstrosity. Gyah. I would have preferred yellow onion instead of the nasty green stuff. Just having that in my fridge upsets me. :)

Not sure how to say this...

but I think I love my Goo more than I love George. Sure, Robby is dead weight, but hearing John still makes my heart skip a beat. George will always have a place in my heart, but Goo Goo Dolls rock my world.

Oh, and if I was John, I would decline the Songwriter Hall of Fame's loser award...he's getting some award not for going into the HoF, but Starlight recognition...for up and coming, bright young talent. WHAT A CROCK. He's been in the business for 20+ years. How's that for up and coming. Alicia Keys, John Legend, John Mayer, Rob Thomas have all received this award in past years. Not knocking any of them at all. They are all very good. But John's been writing songs long before most of them. He and Rob Thomas made it big in the mid-90s. I'm fairly certain the others were still relatively obscure. John, take your award, pack it in some cat poo and ship it back to the No Talent Ass Clowns at the SHoF. (hee hee...I've been looking for an opportunity to use that line from Office Space!)

Obsessive Stalking

My Ravelry addiction paid off. I ordered the organic veggie bag and the pint glasses. Probably doesn't mean much to non-Ravelers but I'll share pics when I receive my goodies. :) The loot was sold out within hours in May. They reordered and just got them in. We won't talk about the frequency of my stalking, ok? My favorite feature is on the forums. If you write "cake", a little slice of cake will show up next to the word. Easily amused, I know.

ETA: (I don't know what this means, except Ravelers do this on their posts. I know it has to do with adding stuff after the original post though. hahaha) Anyway, the BEST part about shopping on Ravelry is that you pay by PayPal. No whipping out credit cards necessary! How much easier can it be?! Online shopping is so wonderful. I think QE needs to take up a second job. HA!

Retrospective

QE and I celebrated our 8th wedding anniversary last week. Although it sounds like a long time, we both agree it doesn't seem like it's been that long. I've known QE for a very long time and it's reassuring to have the same mate in my life all these years, who knew me way back when and still love, accept and LIKE me now. In addition to gaining "a few" (ahem, times ten) pounds, I have evolved over the years...probably not all for the best. He still loves and cherishes me like the day we married. My mom says we still behave like we're newlyweds. :)

The other constant person in most of my adult life is Em. I've known Em for what seems like a lifetime. She knew me when I was still a teenager. WTF Em watched me transform from a naive, nice, sweet girl into the mean, cruel, and cynical bitch I am today. And yet she stuck by me through all of the drama and joys. Em came to visit me for lunch on Friday. It was awesome catching up and seeing her. She looks very happy and glows. (oh barf, right???) Em grounds me, calms me. She's one of the few people who knows the real me. Most of my anger and hostility isn't ill-will as much as sarcasm, I think. It's my coping mechanism, bracing for the next screw-over I will experience. Em understands that and lets me unleash the worst in myself and manages to overlook and forgive my flaws. That is true love.

I'm going to vegetarian hell. hahahaha I had sushi Saturday night (and a mildly cranky tummy), grilled Polyface steaks Sunday (no side effects), and made a Tuscan (Polyface) beef soup yesterday (snarky belly). I don't miss meat. Not the flavor, not the texture, nothing. That's not to say I hate it, I just don't care if I ever eat meat again or not. I assume I will probably eat animal flesh again at some point in my life, but I won't make an effort to do so, nor will I go along with it just because I am in a group setting.

There was a BS potluck at work on Friday and one person was asking about every dish. She explained she was vegetarian which got a few people flustered. I told her I was too and was considering going vegan. Holy tofu! I was kidding of course, but several people froze in shock and disbelief. I still can't figure out how my eating choices affects them. I should have brought a lasagna made with soy cheese and not tell them until after everyone ate...that would have freaked them out. HA!

I Love Adam Reid

My knitting queue is building rather quickly. I have become a Ravelry addict and find myself logging on about every 15 minutes. As a result, I see cute projects others have completed and want to knit them myself. Mostly baby stuff. My piglet is growing too quickly--I can't keep up with his size. His mom reports that he wears a 12 mos onesie--he's only 6 months old! He has a very long body so I'm not sure what size to knit for him anymore. I bought yarn yesterday. Rowan cotton for cupcakes (I'm the victim!). I also bought needles for the bee hats I have to make (poor me!).

Yesterday's haul also included an All-Clad MC2 casserole pot that is the perfect size for us at an awesome price (confirmed with numerous checks online). QE thinks I am a total dork for getting excited about cookware. It's made in USA! So pretty! I admit, I must have looked like a nerd clutching the display model close to my chest lest anyone snatch it from my hands. I also scored saucers for ten cents each! LOVE Crate & Barrel outlet! Last week I was near tears while admiring the half-sheet and square baking pans I bought online from Williams-Sonoma. Oh the beauty...the weight of the pans...made in USA by Chicago Metallic exclusively for W-S. I've eyed similar pans at Sur la Table by Chicago Metallic and those were not US-made. Does it really make a difference? Not sure. But at a minimum, it saves on freight and energy unless the pans were made in Alaska or Hawaii. Wah. So beautiful. I need to find a reason to buy the GoldTouch non-stick pans but I usually use parchment paper, so non-stick is unnecessary. America's Test Kitchen rated GoldTouch best non-stick too.

Woot on the Loot

Last night, QE greeted me in the garage cussing up a storm. It was like a little kid trying to fit as many cuss words into a sentence that barely made sense. He finally explained he was cussing for asparagus. :) We got some beautiful, tender asparagus. Even the fat ones were tender. Our CSA loot also included kale with red spines, kohlrabi, a specific variety of turnips, garlic scapes, and a dozen eggs. We now have five and half dozen eggs in the fridge. What the heck am I supposed to do with turnips and kohlrabi?! The turnips aren't big...cute little white balls, just like in those Mario video games. Two the size of tennis balls and a baby turnip.

Cat: (wo)Man-Do

Davis has moved past a mere hunger strike. Mealtime now involves me chasing him and carrying him to his room. And after all that, he still refuses to eat. A fresh can of food at room temperature gets snubbed. A gently warmed plate of food gets snubbed. A plate of food garnished with kibble gets snubbed. He will reluctantly eat a tiny bit if I sit with him while he eats.

Cara is addicted to Da Bird and is oblivious to her surroundings. She has slammed into our coffee table, tumbled head-over-tail, and run into walls just to get Da Bird. She has worked herself into a full dog-style pant with hanging tongue madness. And will continue to chase if I don't force her to take a break! Cara can easily destroy the toy in days--we try not to let her chew the feathers too much in hopes it lasts a week. So far it has. Ok, not really. That's a $5/week habit she's got there. I bought a knockoff with the same brown with white spots feathers, but she's not fooled. Grrr...it would save us $1/toy.

Angel is in full princess mode. She expects several brushing sessions per day. Let's clarify: for every time we're in the bathroom (a.m. getting ready for work and p.m. getting ready for bed) Angel expects several brushings. My bathroom routine is brush Angel, brush teeth, brush Angel, shower, put in contacts, brush Angel. PM: Brush Angel, brush teeth, brush Angel, take off eye makeup, brush Angel, wash face, brush Angel, slap on facial products, brush Angel.