Randomness

* I won! I won! nah-na-na-na

* Relationship wisdom

* I'd like to knit this or this.

* HG and I are going here soon.



In other news:

This morning, I got a call from my little 'bro Aaron who is a Marine, and is deploying for Iraq in less than 30 minutes from now. He was in good spirits, and talked about "when he comes home". He's also stoked now that I had bought him a personal dvd player to take with him, and I promised I would send over DVD's once he gets situated. I'm not sad, as he elected to do this, and in all reality, I think the Marines in general have been good for him. I am, however, concerned but I imagine everyone who has friends/family in the military feel this way though.

And We'll keep on fighting till the end, for we are the champions, we are the champions...of the world.

Dear Sox,

Thank you for winning the World series in a sweep. It might have been a little more exciting if you had lost last nights game and had to play and win in Boston again.

However, then it would have been another week of late nights.
Thank you, now we can sleep.

Sincerely,
sleepless in NH

Webs

A couple of the UV knitting group ladies (and I) took a trip down to Webs in Northampton Saturday. Unfortunately the weather sucked, making the roads hazardous and the store full. We had lunch at the Korean Restaurant, which again was delicious, and I resisted the urge to use a spoon instead of the chopsticks. I managed, but not without flinging some food around. We also accompanied VTgirl as she stocked up on some staples at the Korean Grocery next door. I found some interesting (*cough* weird *cough*) foods, but also some yummy looking deserts.

Webs, as usual was overwhelming with possibilities. I love going because I look at their pre-made samples and think, "hey I can do this"....and buy and buy. It's a good sales tactic on their part. In usual Angela style, I fondled and pet a variety of yarns, added them to my basket, only to put them back in trade for something else. I ended up being conservative, and buying yarn for a(nother) sweater for little Anna, and some more masculine sock yarn, in my ever present determination to get HG to wear a pair. I bought a couple other things, not yarn, and called it good.

The drive proved to be even worst coming home, as the rain increased to the point of being dangerous, as was proven by the vehicles we saw off the road. One of which seemed to have burst into flames. Luckily it appeared that the driver had been able to get out of the car. Conversation was great, with varying topics and view points, which made for a speedy ride there and back.

At home, HG asked how the trip had gone. I showed him the yarn for Anna's sweater, to which he replied... "what happened to the Yoda sweater?" shortly before I kicked him in the knee cap. I showed him the boyish sock yarn, to which he laughed and said "you think so, huh?" to which I batted my eyes and said "you wouldn't wear a pair if I made them special for you?"
I spent the evening trying to knit as fast as I could on the cable sweater so I could get started on a new project. I was knitting so fast (haha) that I completely forgot a row of cable.... and had to rip back. I was muttering "m-effer" and stopped knitting shortly after.

Maybe tonight I can finish the scarf.... sweater or socks? sweater or socks? Hmm... maybe I should figure out what went wrong with the Yoda sweater...mostly just to shut HG up :-)

No pressure, but...

Stopped in to a local Jewelry store to get some ideas on wedding bands...(ok well really more to find one to match or compliment MY engagement ring)

Store #1 (Dutilles) Was great, they showed me various bands, and then sketched up what I was describing, with and without stones, and priced it for me as well. Never pressured, never tried to sell me on a ring, it was great. They did not have anything in stock that I liked as it was, and to have my band designed would take about 4-6 weeks because of their backlog. Ok, good to know, but thought I would check out the other Jewelers in the area.

Went to Store #2 (remain nameless since they sucked) I walked in, there were 3 people "working". One of the girls said hello, and simultaneously continued a conversation with girl 2. These girls were probably early 20's, but they giggled like school girls. The third person was a male, who looked like he was arranging jewelry. Aside from the initial Hello, no one said anything to me as I wander the store. Not a friggen word. I did see a band that I was interested in, but the lack of retail interest on the part of the employees made me walk out. I won't be returning. (If they had been busy, and hadn't had the chance to greet me, that would be one thing, but to be there carrying on a high school conversation, or arrange jewelery... yeah no thanks.)

Store #3: I was greeted by a cute little old lady, who asked if I was looking for anything in particular, and then brought me to the correct room to look at bands. In that room was a young man, who began to pull out a couple trays of their bands for comparison. He was very polite, and when I did not see any bands that fit what I was looking for, he listened as I told him what I was looking for (shadow band, curved to fit stone, etc.). The little old lady was there the entire time, and suggested we check the other counter. We sat down and looked at a few...again nothing. The guy who had so politely listened, kept pulling out random bands, and when I would say "no that's not it" he would say "I know what you mean". (Not to stereotype, or offend, he was very feminine, and when he repeat this phrase, I wanted to giggle. But I didn't because it's not PC or polite.) Anyway, he obviously didn't know what I meant since he was pulling random bands, but then he asked the little old lady if perhaps there might be something in the Estate jewelery. So the little old lady and I walked across the hall to the estate jewelry, where she pull a band out that she thinks it nice. It's ok, but its much thicker than I would want, and really not my style, so I politely say "No, that's not what I had in mind".
Her response? "Put it on anyway I want to see how it looks." Hmm... are you shopping for a ring for yourself? I go ahead and humor the little old lady, put the band on, and it's way too thick of a band, and doesn't compliment my ring. (Like I had already figured) I say, "I think I want a narrower band, this isn't a comfortable fit." Her response? "Well put it back on, and hold it up to your shoulder and look in the mirror." Again, I humor her. Still don't like it, and am beginning to hate it. I again say, "No this isn't what I'm looking for." She finally drops it, and hands me another band, this one with no diamonds, but a pretty design. I like the design, but am not sure about the band width. I try it on, with my ring, and do like the combination. Little old lady chirps up "oh yes, that looks beautiful together, and we can sprinkle small diamonds along the band". I ignore the attempted up sell. Just then the guy from across the hall comes in with a thin platinum band that has a handful of tiny sparklers set in, that happens to bend out (or in) that he thought might fit up against my ring. I try it on, with the bend facing into my ring. He's right, it does fit nicely, and I think it compliments well. The little old lady? Right, she says oh the band should be facing the other way. I explain that I want the band to fit into my ring, not juxtapose out. Her? "Well turn it around and look at it." This isn't so cute anymore, but I humor her again and turn the band so the curve is facing away from my ring... I don't like it.
I do have the guy write down the bands & prices on his card so that I can think it over.

After he leaves to put the ring back in the case, the little old lady begins her sale.
her: "Well, not to pressure you, but gold is going up, so if you want the ring you really need to act fast."
me: Ok
her: Gold has gone up to about 98.something an ounce, so that ring is a steal at that price. The owner is going to go thru and mark up everything to reflect the gold price, because otherwise she'll loose money. She hasn't gotten to this room yet, but she's going to. You should bring your fiance back in tomorrow to look at the ring, and buy it this week.
me: um. ok. I'll keep that in mind.


Hmm... do I go with the great service, but have to wait 2 months, or do I go to #3 where there is a band I like (so no wait) but doesn't have the most stellar c service?

It's a bird, it's a plane, it's.....

Your results:
You are Spider-Man

Spider-Man 70% Supergirl 65% Robin 65% Superman 50% Green Lantern 50% Batman 45% Wonder Woman 45% Iron Man 45% The Flash 40% Catwoman 40% Hulk 30%

You are intelligent, witty, a bit geeky and have great power and responsibility.

Click here to take the "Which Superhero am I?" quiz...

Weedy Girl

Last weekend, I spent the day with my little sister Weedy girl. I'm sure you can see the family resemblance...hehe..

She's the youngest of 8, yes you read that right, and no they aren't Catholic. I think sometimes she gets lost in the shuffle of life because it's easy to forget she's only 10, when she's always hung around with her older siblings and their friends. She is 10. And sometimes she's 18. I've been lucky enough to be there from her birth, and remember how long we waited for her to start talking, to now forget there was a time when we were concerned she wasn't talking. I had no fear of falling asleep when I picked her up for a 2 and 1/2 hour drive, since she started jabbering away immediately. I had invited her to go on a kayaking excursion with me two weeks prior, which she had initially been hesitant to go on until I reassured her we would be in a tandem kayak, so I would be literally sitting right behind her. Once that little scare was out of the way, she was excited to spend the day together, reminding me inadvertently that I hadn't made the time to do that for a while. She asked me a couple of times, "just us right?" and I loved her even more for it.

The night before we were scheduled to go, I called to make sure she was all set to go, and see if I needed to bring any extra clothes or snacks. I should have known that she would have been packed for a week. (A couple years ago, she and part of her family were going to the Cape for a weekend, and she was sooo excited she packed her bag a week early. Her mom, kept asking "do you have everything ready?", and weedy would say "yeah mom, I've got everything." They arrived and she had her bathing suit, a towel, and a bag full of her stuffed animals. That was it, no other clothes or anything.)

So I'm on the phone with weedy, and the conversation goes a little like this:

me: Hi baby girl, I'm just calling to see if you're ready to go for tomorrow.

weedy: Yes, Ange I've got my clothes packed, and I got some snacks for us. Do you like raisins that are covered in yogurt? Cause I got some for us.

me: Oh, Ok. Yes I like yogurt covered raisins. I have an extra pair of sandals that will fit you, do you want me to bring them? Do you have a fleece packed too?

weedy: I've got some old sneakers I'm going to wear, and Ange? Know what I got? (me:what?) I bought this jacket with fleece on one side, and a wind breaker on the other side. So I can wear it either way. Oh and I got us some granola bars, some fruit cups, yogurt, some chips, water ...(etc...)

me: (laughing) Are you worried you're going to go hungry? That sounds like a lot of snacks, do you want me to bring a cooler for it all?

w: Oh no, Angie I got this bag that's a cooler, but it looks like a bag. It's really cool.

me: Oh, ok. Well I'll pick you up between 6:30 and 7 tomorrow morning, ok? (w:ok) Actually if you want to have your clothes ready, you can just sleep until I get there and when I wake you up you can get changed. (w: Ok!)

I get off the phone, chuckling at this cute little girl. The next day, I wake her up, and she decided to sleep in the clothes she was going to wear to save time :-) We head off and she's talking about cars, people, pets, and everything under the sun.

Then she decides to ask about HG & my wedding...

w: Have you and HG set a date yet?

me: no, not yet. Why did you want to be in it?

w: maybe.

me: well we are getting married on Halloween, and you can only be in the wedding if your dressed as a clown.

w:ok, but you have to be Santa, and wear the gray beard.

m: What? What will HG wear?

w: He'll be Cinderella in a big puffy dress

m: I don't know if he'll like that... what about mom & dad? What will they be?

w: Beauty and the beast...

I'm not saying who should be who here, but the little kid had me in stitches all the way down. It's almost a relief at times, to hang out with her, as you forget about any of the real world problems or concerns, and you get to see life thru the eyes of a 10 year old. We did the kayaking thing, we also made a stop at a pull of near a cool river, where we took the picture shown above. When we finally got home, she had completely worn me out, but my life felt a little lighter.

The gift kids can give, without ever knowing.

Pictures

The socks... finished :-) And no, I hadn't really set out to have two sets of the same color pattern, but that's how it worked out, which really is just fine since I'll likely gift a pair. Or maybe I'll keep them since they are my first... who knows.














My first work at cabling.... I should have used smaller needles. I thought I was grabbing 6's out of my bag, but it appears they are 8's. Does it take more yarn, or is it just my imagination?



Not show: The poor "Yoda sweater" that has long since been lost to the black hole that was my original knitting bag... I've since started using another knitting bag so that I don't have to feel the guilt vibes from Anna's sweater.

Does it make me a bad person?

I have to admit, with shame, that I like Paris Hilton's "Heiress" perfume.

Even if she's a trampin' ass ho'.

I luv prizes!!

For SP Contest: Favorites

Actor - Tommy Lee Jones (Paul walker for purely asthetic reasons )
Actress - Drew Barrymore
Animal - Liger
Band - Linkin Park (currently)
Book - Tuesdays with Morrie
Bubble Bath - Bath & Body Shop Cucumber Melon
Candy - Milk Chocolate
Color - Blue
Flower - Gerber Daisy
Food - Pasta
Lip Balm - Burts Bees
Lotion - Sunrise (from Avon discontinued :-( )
Movie - Ray
Song - Brown eyed girl
TV Show - CSI
Vacation Spot - Tropics (anywhere warm really)


* Actor/Actress/Band were the hardest ones for me. Really I like so many different things.

Finito

I finished my sock last night!! I'm so excited, two socks completed...
Pictures later.

My next project...a cable scarf, because, well it's fall, and I get cold easily, plus I've never done cables before and this looks like an easy introduction. I say "looks" but we'll see soon enough.

I ordered something for my SP last week and it arrived promptly yesterday. At first I thought maybe they forgot to put the two items in the envelope because it seemed empty, but when I opened it up there indeed were the two items. Much smaller than I imagined, but exactly what she wanted :-) She received her last package two weeks before the end of September, and that would be the second package I've sent her so far. I have to space out the next package a little better, because the final package is due in December. The problem is I start getting all these things for her, and then I want to send them off instantly. Sort of what happens at Christmas too.
Which leads me into another segway... and to reiterate what another blog land friend is ranting about... Hallmark has their Christmas cards out already, and other department stores are already gearing up for it as well. WTF?
Ok but to be honest, I've thought about some of my crafty endeavors for Christmas gifts too. BUT I sort of think that's a little different since I have to think ahead in hopes of actually getting the gifts done BY Christmas. I mean, I'm not going to decide to knit a sweater for someone on December 20th, (although if I were to knit a sweater, chances are it would be for a yittle one) and think it's going to be done for Christmas. No, they had better be prepared to get that sweater next year on a sweltering summer day, so see, I sort of have to think ahead for that kind of thing.
That being said, I'm not going out buying all the Christmas cards and gifts for the fam damily yet. How super creepy would that be to be so efficient to have all the cards made out and sealed before Thanksgiving? Scratch that, before Halloween? I'm not sure I'm capable of handling that. You know, I bet there are some people who are that organized and do have all their cards ready to go long before Christmas. And I know there are people who have their Christmas shopping done by Thanksgiving (No, it's not me).
Wow. The levels of organization I can aspire to.

Let me tell you about a man named "Sshh"

I made a surprise trip to a local adult novelty store this weekend. If you know me, you know that's not my scene, so I couldn't tell you what drove me to decide to stop, but I did. And I lived to tell about it.

In stereotypical fashion, you have to ask to be let into the adult room portion that is hidden behind the facade of a normal store front. I went in (after being carded which didn't hurt my feelings) to a small back room with 3 guys standing around talking. I began to look around at the items on the wall, and giggled to myself at some of the "joke gifts" and grimace at the thought of other items. Sorry... but anal beads? Yeah not so much.

I've been thinking about this, and I've come realize the last time I was in an "adult" store was 2 years ago for gag gifts for a bachelorett, and 3 years before that for a couple gag birthday gifts for some guys I worked with at Gateway. Like I was saying, the adult shop isn't my style.



Anyway, as I am casually looking around, a very petite Asian girl comes in. By petite I mean that she barely came to my shoulder, and I'm short. She begins to meander around as well, and then proceeds to buy the largest "toy" I have ever seen in my life. And I am staring at her, without meaning to, simply because of the size shock. (Obviously I need to get out more)

A few minutes later, the door is unlocked again and another male enters the room, at this point it's just the shop owner, myself and now this guy. As soon as I see his face I recognize him, and am instantly filled with dread "Oh God, I just got busted in the porno shop" type of dread. I'm at the opposite side of the room, so I turn my back to him in hopes that I will be able to sneak out of the store without being recognized. It takes all of 4 seconds before that dream is stolen as I hear the guy say to my back, "Are you still going to the gym?".

Me: cough... what?



He proceeds to tell me about how he's fallen out of the Gym habit, and how he & his wife's schedules have changed...etc, etc. My cheeks are flushed. I keep trying to end the conversation so I can leave, but he's feeling social. He keeps chatting me up, and at some point we get to talk about motorcycles, which leads the shop owner to get in on the conversation as well. Mind you this entire time he's peruzing the shelf for some videos...and they weren't Disney videos. I can't get out of there fast enough, at this point I would agree to write him a check for my life savings just to get out of there. He asks the shop owner for a piece of paper, and writes his (and his wife's) tel number and gives me his wife's email address, saying that they are always looking for people to ride motorcycles with. I take the number, thank him, tell him I have to leave and agree when he says "Ok, I'll see you at the gym."



I rush out of the store, and into my car, where I sit and start laughing at the hilarity that is my luck.

Sunday, when HG is back from fishing, I tell him the story (while he laughs) and only then did it occur to wonder if he thought maybe we were swingers... I mean he didn't really give me their home number and email address just to go for a ride, right? That prospect makes HG laugh, and me too, while still contemplating changing my gym hours.