Tired

Boy, I am tired, I am tired of the cold weather. I am also tired of having a cold for the past
week. It sure takes its toll on getting things done, the energy is just gone.
But, the good thing is that I received these wonderful tea themed gifts from
my friends in the Ravelry Pin Cushion Group-Karen, Dawn, and Monica. I have
been drinking a lot of tea and taking a lot of cold medicine. I am hoping to
finish up my last couple of swaps and get everything in the mail this week, a
bit late, but only by a week.

Snow in South Carolina

We had about 3" of snow Friday night Feb. 12th. It made for some tricky driving since they don't salt or treat the roads and there are some pretty steep hills.
It was melted by Saturday afternoon when the temps reached about 45 degrees.
We are looking at some crummy weather again Sunday evening.

Catching Up

Haven't written much lately. In December we had our knitting group Christmas Party.
A great time was had by all at Robyn's house. The gift exchange worked out so well.
Everyone is so creative. Sarah embroidered the most beautiful picture which I have hanging in the hall.

Las Vegas 2009

What a great time we had!!!!! Lots of laughter and winning and eating. We stayed at the Imperial Palace the first night. I like their buffet-not too much food to choose from and lots of yummy desserts. The next three nights were at the Bellagio very roomy and push button draperies and sheers. The next three evenings were at Cesaer's Palace in the Augustus tower which is brand new and it certainly was palacial. The room had a couch and table with chairs and a very roomy bathroom with whirlpool tub. I enjoyed eating from their food court which has delicious wraps and excellent lobster bisque. Had a great time downtown and just the whole week made my whole year.

Changes Again

Well here we go again I guess. John is taking a new job which at least
won't require the constant travel he had before. I hope this one
works. Lisa has decided to go back to school and work part-time. I
hope her car lasts. I'm glad that she wants to get into a good field-
pharmacy. With all the baby boomers, it should be growing. Chuck
keeps looking at getting a house, something foreclosed on and cheap.

Steve seems to be settled. He has a new roommate and some budget goals
which I hope he can stick with.

I've been cleaning and pricing to hopefully be able to take to the Pickens
flea market and sell. I would like to continue to get rid of everything
that we don't need and haven't used in the past year or two.

I've been knitting a summer top-Simplicity from Verena Summer 2009. Need to
finish before summer ends, although it can also be a vest. The fall issue
is due out in Sept. and I would like to make a cardigan. Looking at the
German preview option, I think that I am going to make the one that was in
last year's issue.

Jockey Lot

WOW!! I sure have a lot of stuff! I have slowly, very slowly been trying to get
rid of the rest of the items that I don't need. I have been going through and
pricing and boxing up everything that I want to take to the Pickens Flea Market
or Jockey Lot as it is known down here. Porcelain dolls, tupperware, books,
vhs tapes, stereo stuff, just a lot of things that I don't need and want
anymore. I hope I can get most of this sold. It isn't worth putting on ebay.
It is nickel and dime type things and items that have pages and pages on ebay
and chances are won't sell.

I hope that the kids don't spend a lot of time and energy buying up material
goods that they will just have to dispose of down the road. Some of my items
were given to me, but in such small quarters, where am I to put them? I
wish that I had been able to eliminate this stuff before we moved. Oh well
too late now, but before we move again, I want to thin all the boxes out of the
garage. Most of what I have will never be used again.

I am working on my knitting too. No more adding to the yarn and fabric stash.
I actually have enough yarn for 10 pair of socks, some cotton tops, and a wool
cardigan. I also have fabrics for a suit, tops, nightgown, and the most beautiful
fabrics from South Korea and Saudi Arabia. I have been looking at Vogue magazine
for patterns to use what I have. I really like the patterns that include a top,
jacket, pants, skirt, dress-multiple pieces that I can mix and match. I have
been whittling out the old clothes that I have in my closet along with the too
small items from years ago. Maybe I will eventually get some of this accomplished,
but one step at a time. So, we'll see how the flea market goes and putting a few
items on ebay and getting my etsy shop started, maybe that will clear out and make
room to organize my crafting.

A View, A Waterfall, and A Tunnel

John had taken a vacation day for fishing, but I was off from work so Monday April 27th we decided to take a ride. First stop was Stumphouse Tunnel and Issoqueena Falls. We didn't have a flashlight so didn't venture too far into the tunnel. The falls were quite beautiful and since we have had rain recently, there was plenty of water. The place we actually were headed to was Woody Gap in Ga. It is 3000 ft. up and offers a spectacular view.

Food Swap

This is a collage of the gifts that I received from the mini food swap that I did with some friends on Ravelry.
The pie slices are divine and I love the radish, it is so unique. I have really had so much fun exchanging
with fellow needle workers all over the world. It seems that I am at the start of a collection of pie slices.
Of course, they are calorie free-YEAH! I am trying to finish up some of my UFO's this week. John is
in Maine working, so I hope to maybe get caught up with sewing and cleaning out more of my stuff.
I do have to work until 11 at night most of this week. I don't mind the 6 AM start times because I get
home with lots of time to relax and make dinner, wash, clean, knit, ect. Going in at 2 just kind of makes
for a long night especially since I usually start dozing off around 10 PM, but being at work won't allow
me that luxury. Oh well, that is retail for you.

Merry Christmas

Had a relaxing Christmas day. Spoke with the kids and moms-everyone was taking it easy.
We tried going to the local movie theater to see Valkyrie. This is an older and rather small
place with 7 or 8 little, and I mean little theaters. Nothing like The Lennox, or Movies 12,
or Easton. Anyways, the line was just about out the door and the girls at the ticket/snack
bar were a bit frazzled. The lady that takes your money also tears the ticket and in you
go. The line (yes one line) for the snacks was even longer. The theater was extremely dark.
No aisle lights or anything. You have to use your cell phone glow to find your way without
sitting on someone, or falling down. Got in our seats and watched the previews.

The movie starts except that it has been put in the projector backwards. It was like looking
at it through a mirror. John got up and went to let them know at the ticket area. The
girls had just finished burning popcorn and filling the lobby with smoke and the putrid smell
of burnt popcorn. John comes back in and you can smell the popcorn in the theater. There
is someone trying to fix the movie, but without any luck. We decide to bag it and leave.

While John gets the car, I go to get a refund. They can't do that! Whatever! A couple that had been waiting in line bought the tickets from me. I hope they got to see it. While I was trying to get my refund, a lady from Marley and Me also said that the movie wasn't working right.
Sounds like the keystone kops. Guess we'll have to go to the larger theater in Anderson the
next time.

That's ok, we ended up coming home and I made cupcakes from the Magnolia Bakery cookbook.
It is the bakery from Sex and the City. They were yummy and very sweet. A good end to a frustrating afternoon.

Knitting Christmas Party

Here are the group of ladies that get together every Tuesday night at
Piddlin' Patch in Seneca. Linda and I are newbies to the group. Had a
wonderful Christmas dinner at Robyn's house. I hope to have to work
less Tuesday nights, so that I can be a regular.

Porcelain Doll

I made a dress for a reproduction porcelain doll for a customer I met at work. I guess it is for a bazaar at the local Catholic Church. It has been a long time since I've made anything. Probably 4 years or so. I should get back to doing some sewing. I have all kinds
of really nice fabrics for clothes. I wish I had a bigger space for all my crafts to be able to
organize it all. Today, it is cold and rainy and I am fighting off getting any sicker than I am.
John was sick from Friday until Monday and is still coughing and congested. I felt it coming on and have been taking Nyquil, Dayquil, ect. I was hoping to finish up my pincushion and swap stuff, but instead have just relaxed on the couch and watched tv. I am off again Monday and Tuesday, so I hope to get to Anderson and shop and get everything finished up and into the mail.
Being sick really drains the energy out of you.

Cold

Cold weather has arrived! 36 degrees here at 8:30pm but no snow. I guess they've had an inch in Columbus and I haven't spoken to anyone in Cleveland. Gas is down to $1.86.9 much better than the almost $4 this summer. Dot is doing well. She has been eating, not gaining weight, but she also has fainted after getting excited.

I have been making tawashi for Christmas gifts. They are quick and easy and trying to decipher the Japanese makes it a bit of a challenge. No knitting tonight at Piddlin' Patch. I hope Sara's husband is doing better-he had a back injury. I wish that I was off every Tuesday night to be able to go there to knit, crochet, and talk. The meetings in Anderson are a bit of a drive.

I do also need to get moving on getting my pincushion and ornaments out in the mail. Since I work every night the rest of this week, I will get moving on getting everything in the mail that I should be mailing. I gave up on knitting my cable sweater for now. How do people do it? One knitter on Ravelry already has hers done and she is wearing it. I frogged the waistband after 5 tries and decided on starting on the bottom panel. I sure wish that the Winter issue would come out for Verena. I really would like to make a pretty cardigan. I don't have one that is wool and fashionable. I do have some that I can make if there isn't one in the next issue worth making.

Steve has been applying at work to move up. I sure hope he gets something and can get his degree in the next couple of years. Chuck has been doing fine. He is also looking for a new job that naturally pays more and is maybe more in line with his schooling. Lisa is I hope looking for a permanent type job. I know it is hard to do. Like I should talk-still at Lowe's for almost 12 years. I sure wish that I had moved forward to something more office-like especially since Columbus has so many employers. I suppose it worked out-with so many Lowe's stores, I was able to transfer and not lose anything.

I need to get moving on my to do list. It is not happening. I just don't have the motivation. Well, off to do something-like watch TV.

Additional Pictures from Las Vegas 2008

Here are other pics from our trip. We stayed at a suite at the Mirage. That was the best.
Went to the old section and saw the laser light show, played some at the Golden Nugget and
Binion's.

Vacation to Las Vegas October 2008

Had a fantastic vacation with my Mom, Janice, and Ed to Las Vegas. Lots of fun, food, and lights.
Ed won a progressive jackpot playing video poker. I won $200 on a penny machine one morning at the Mirage. It was an Irish themed video game. That was really great-cashed out-and continued playing. Ma did great on the Magic Lantern game. The gelatto at the Bellagio was again delicious. We went to Fashion Show Mall, Ma found a Bare Escentuals store to buy some makeup. All in all a great time. I am saving my pennies for next year.

Good Intentions

It seems that I have good intentions and I make lots of "to do" lists, but they don't appear to get done.
Or it takes me a lot longer to do what I would like. I am still working on my pillow, but there is a light
at the end of the tunnel for that project I think. I have finished a pincushion, although the original
intention was to make a sachet. With having joined the pincushion swap on Ravelry, it did get me
thinking and changing it from a sachet to a pincushion.

The pincushions in Piecework magazine were just exquisite. I wish I could come up with ideas and
inspirations like those. I'm not sure how someone develops that kind of mind or if it is at all possible.
Maybe my mind is still cluttered with all the things that I want to do or should be doing. I have boxes
of stuff that should go on ebay, strange and exhausting hours at work, worrying about the kids and
how they are getting along, trying to stay on track with our budget, and living far away from everyone
and everything. I suppose that could stifle an imagination.

I purchase lots of knitting magazines, yet have only made a couple of things out of them. I wonder
how many people do that. I am trying to narrow it down to subscribing to one magazine that seems to
feature more items that appeal to me.

I have decided that Vogue Knitting is a little over the top for me and my skills.
Knit 1 is a bit too young. Knit Simple seems to be Ok, maybe a little too simple-I
am not sure yet. I do like IK, although the last issue had everything very similar
and the one prior to that one was almost all jackets and hoodies. I bought the
premier issue of Verena. I did like several designs in that issue.

I do like Knitscene, that is one that I will buy each time it comes out. I suppose that just
getting that magazine twice a year gives me plenty to make, since I barely knit one item a
year. Having 50 designs in a magazine published 4 times a year is probably overkill and
I would have to live 20 lifetimes to make just a few designs from any of the ones I currently
own let alone all the ones yet to be published. Oh well, I will get to completing some of my
current small projects and maybe get the inspiration and will to make something new.

Crafting

Went to the local Walmart and found that they have gotten rid of all of their fabrics and associated notions. Now it will be a 30 minute drive to get anything. I guess I will have to start doing most of my purchasing online. I checked out the fabrics at Hobby Lobby and Hancock, neither were very good in quality. When I go up to Ohio, I will get some Kaffe Fassett and Amy Butler fat quarters from Quilt Trends and I hope Carol's Fabrics is still in Brunswick, because I will stop there also. I hope to get some yarns at Yarnmarket or at least get to feel and see them and then order online later.

Well, time for work. Hopefully there is more than just myself working today. Yesterday was a mess. I was the only one in flooring, the carpet cutting machine wasn't working much, and there were a ton of returns. I never got around to cleaning up before I left. They are so disorganized, but it sounds like just about all retailers. They cannot find good help that can pass the drug test and/or the background check. It is sure a sorry state of affairs.

Excesses, ect.

It seems that we have an excess of stuff. I look back to everything that I had to sell before we moved and all the money that was invested in those things and I have now become much more frugal and a minimalist. I know it is bad to think back, it just is depressing, but I hope that I can learn from what I had done in the past. It is very difficult to not try to "keep up with the Jones". It must be a human trait.

I am trying not to aquire too large of a stash of anything. I do have fabrics that I have saved for probably 20 years to make something. I kept buying patterns to transform the fabrics into something stylish, but haven't done it yet. I have just set up the sewing machine recently and gotten a new foot petal to actually make the thing work.

I am going to pick up some yarn when I head up to Columbus at the end of July. I will go to Yarnmarket which is actually an online company but you can go to their warehouse and touch all the yarn and buy it from what I've read on Ravelry in the Cap City Group. So I will invest a little bit, but at least these stashes can be transformed into something usable.

I have met up with Linda from Ravelry. We went to the Tikki Hut, a bar at the Keowee Marina. It was very pleasant. We hope to continue a knit together and maybe have others join us. It is close to home which makes it very convenient. The other knit along is over 30 minutes away and is usually around the time that the traffic is the heaviest, besides the fact with the new scheduling at work, I wouldn't get out in time to go unless it was my day off.

I have started on finishing my embroidered pillow which has been in progress since 1975 or so. I guess it is time to get it completed. Some of my projects just take a little more time than others.

Looking For Bar-B-Q

Well, yesterday was an adventure. We had seen No Reservations with Anthony Bourdain on the Travel Channel and he had been in SC trying out Bar-B-Q. Supposedly SC is one of the top states for Bar-B-Q. He was in Charleston and we are at the other end of the state, but there are plenty of places around or so we thought. It was a rainy day so nothing else to do outdoors and off we went. John was also checking out Pawn shops for a pistol. I checked online for any kind of ratings or recommendations for restaurants in the upstate. Found a few and jotted down the names and addresses. After about 4 hours, we found that all the pawn shops were either out of business or closed for the weekend-it must be some kind of blue-law or something. The sporting goods store was also gone. Now I know why they go out of business, because they are never open!

As for the restaurants. Two were closed, one was out of business, and the last one was out of ribs!
We ended up at a restaurant that we've dined at several times and got their ribs which are always superb. Got enough to take home for dinner on Sunday. I will have to call ahead and see exactly what the deal is on these places. Maybe they close up once the food is gone. I have no idea. I'll also check with the locals at work and get their opinion on where the best ones are.

I did pick up a Japanese-English dictionary to help me decifer my tawashi books and patterns that I've downloaded. I will also attempt to learn Japanese through a podcast or two that are ready to be downloaded. Lisa is taking Japanese this quarter at OSU. She can speak some French and pretty good Italian. I have trouble with English.

The fish is a tawashi or magic scrubber. I think that it is pretty close to the pattern. I am working on some from the Magic Scrubber #7. I suppose as long as it is close to what it should look like that is OK. I have ordered several other books and are awaiting their arrival. Next will be some yarn from my friends on Ravelry that have stores on Etsy. I haven't crocheted in ages, so I am relearning-not that I ever made anything significant. I do need to get back to my knitting though. I am not a knitting fanatic. I can only do a few rows at a time. The tawashi are a little quicker and smaller projects, so I am more apt to do those.

Right now though it is tax season and I only have about a week to get mine done and mailed in, so for today I guess I had better get moving and get the torture over with.

Being Gone 6 Months

It doesn't seem like it has been 6 months. I talk to friends and family up North just about everyday.
Thank goodness for cellphones and the internet. I do miss everyone, not so much the store, but the
people in it. I think that the store I am at is much busier and the managers less stressed out or so it
seems. The winters down here are much better. Only one snowy day, alot of frosty nights, but nothing
else. I have been knitting and trying my hand at crocheting again. I need to get back to putting
all the things that I've moved down and don't need on ebay. I would like to get a new sewing machine,
an exercise machine of some type , patio furniture, and living room furniture. That will take a lot of
selling in order to do some buying.

I have been working on learning Japanese diagrams for knitting and crocheting tawashi. It is a challange and
interesting. I would love to learn a new language, but I don't seem to have a knack for it, not like Lisa who
knows French and Italian and is taking Japanese next quarter at OSU. I took German years ago and have
tried to learn Spanish with podcast lessons. I couldn't afford to pay for the associated written material online.
I can say Hi and Bye. I did try learning a bit of Korean, since I have a sewing manual from there from my
friend Christopher who now lives in S. Korea and teaches at a boys school. I have some beautiful fabric that
he brought back years ago. I need to work on getting a sewing and craft area set up again to sew some
of it into clothing. With getting ready to move and moving and being a band mom for a number of years and working 50 hours a week, I just fell away from sewing. Now that I have a lot more time on my hands, I think
that's its time to get back into it.

Snow in SC

This is big news in South Carolina-SNOW!!!
Of course, they don't have salt trucks or
anything like that, so it can be worse. We
are supposed to have 1-3 inches and then
ice. I will get some more pictures when
it is daylight. These were taken at 9:30 PM
on January 16th 2008. Gosh, reminds me
of being in Columbus on Dec. 16th 2007 for
Christmas at Steve's-same thing-SNOW!