Life's lessons

A few months ago my parents, I, and Jubilee went on a trip to Gatlinburg. While we were there, we visited with a former pastor and his family that were in a nearby city. It had been a couple of years since they had seen me and Jubi. I think they were quite surprised by the changes in me (i.e. facial piercings) even though I'm sure they were briefed over the phone as to what to expect.

The pastor's daughter is now 13 and acting the typical teenage girl. I took up for her in some areas and in others I sided with the parents. This earned me no love when they argued over a jacket from the label Billabong and her dad was positive that it is "drug influenced".
Finally, he asked me what kind of message I was hoping to give to my daughter with the way I was acting/looking (not a quote but the basic message). I told him that I want her to "keep an open mind and that, just because a person looks a certain way, doesn't mean they are not a Christian."

I remember, when I went away to Lee University, I had planned on getting in with the worst crowd I could find and having as much fun as possible. I saw 2 girls across the hall from me that looked like the ticket. One had blue hair and some serious black eyeliner and the other had near-black hair with some serious eye make-up as well. Turns out I found some major Christians instead. They helped me get in touch with the Holy Spirit which is something all my years at church could never help me with. Isn't that odd?

I learned that you can never judge the level of a person's spirituality just by looking at their appearance.

where does she get that?

a couple of weeks ago jubilee touched my sister's candy jar and fell off of its precarious perch. the mess didn't occur right away. it was more subtle. more like she scooted it just a little and half an hour later it fell off of where it was (the top of the printer) due the vibrations.

my sister asked her if she touched it and jubilee admitted it. kristen was picking up the candy off the floor and jubilee came out with "i'm sorry, nanu. i'm ashamed of myself."

it was pitiful. where did she even get that?!? i never say anything like that to her. i never tell her she should be ashamed of herself or that i'm ashamed of her. that's just wrong. that's something you say to a dog.

it happened again last week. i picked her up from daycare and she told me she spilled her milk. i said "that's a shame" and she said "yes, mommy. i'm ashamed of myself." i told her to never be ashamed of herself and then told her it was "a pity" that she spilled her milk.

i want to know who has been talking to my daughter that way. there is no way she just came up with that on her own. if i find out it was one of the teachers at daycare, they might be meeting the open side of my palm because no child should ever hear those words.

what was that in my pantry?

It was a few months ago and I was getting ready to make one of my super delicious Key Lime pies. They only have about 5 ingredients and Eagle Brand Milk (sweetened condensed milk) is one of them. We only had 1 can in the pantry and I pulled it out and told mom it was the last can and she said "We're finally going to use the last can?". It was shocking. We had had so many in there at one point it was ridiculous. So I opened up the can and the "milk" didn't act like it should. It was sluggish and very thick. It was also slightly darker than it's supposed to be. I showed mom and she said it was fine but I was dubious about it. I showed dad and he said he didn't think so and got a dab on his finger for a taste and declared it "no good". I got a taste too and agreed. Eagle Brand is supposed to be very light in color and very thin, almost like regular milk. This stuff looked like wood glue. I probably should have noted the thin layer of dust on all over the top but I was in baking mode.

I was not happy at the thought of having to stop everything mid-pie and go to the store, but the pie had to be made. So I left mom babysitting the pie shell and to the store I went. (We did note afterwards that the expiration date on the can was from 2005.) This is proof that Eagle Brand Milk can and does go bad.

The moral of the story is: If you're getting ready to cook something with ingredients you haven't used in a while, check and make sure they're still good or else you'll end up going to store right smack in the middle of the process which is a pain in the hieney.

Happy Halloween

Click on the provided link to play Hangman Halloween style!

Nashville Drivers

I have a 20 minute commute. It's terrible. Merging with traffic in this city will darn-near kill you. I have friends who moved here from other states and they complain to me that no one in Nashville is capable of driving. No kidding.

One of my roommates in college had lived in CA prior to living in TN and had had to take her driving exam there. Part of the test was merging onto and driving on the interstate. We really should make that part of the exam here. I don't think that Nashville drivers understand the concept of the "gas pedal" and it's one and only use in conjunction with getting onto the interstate in order to facilitate driving while saving your life.

That ramp . . . You know the one that gets you onto the interstate. It's commonly referred to as the "on ramp". Well here's a news flash. I took driver's ed and it's actual technical name is the "acceleration ramp". So, people, please accelerate for the love of all that is good and holy. Driving 30 mph onto the interstate while trying to merge into traffic that is going 65 mph will only end up getting someone seriously injured.

Another issue is the "off ramp" or "deceleration ramp". That means brakage but it does not mean hit the brakes 2 miles before you get off. You slow down when you actually get onto the ramp. Not when you start to contemplate the ramp or start to visualize the ramp or even when you see the ramp on the horizon. You are the people who make traffic stop for no reason at all. They should make a whole different interstate for people like you that has pretty flashing blue lights all along the side lanes just for you to goggle at.

My final pet-peeve. Turning. You slow down at the start of a turn and then accelerate at the half-way point. This ensures that you are actually able to make the turn. Slow down and then give it gas. If you want to turn, commit to it. Make the turn. If you aren't sure about it, then keep driving. And for those of you making left turns, make sure your entire vehicle is in the turn lane. I don't want to have to worry about edging around you and will I be squeezing someone in the other lane because of your incompetence and poor depth perception.

This is the end of your driving tutorial. Please read as often as needed.

more hats

I still have the gigantic stash of yarn and have decided that I really need to get rid of it. I have 4 of the picnic size ziploc bags full of yarn but unfortunately it is mostly 1 skein of color. When I had first started knitting, I went on a spree that turnd more into some kind of yarn orgy. I really can't make an actual project with just one skein and I'm afraid that many of these yarns are from discontinued die-lots. So I can just dive in and make small items. I have decided the best way I'm going to eliminate the excess is to make lots and lots of hats. They're fun and easy and I can just give them away.

My favorite hat pattern for the present is the cabled beanie from the Stitch Cafe (http://www.stitchcafe.com/freepatterns.html). I have had to adjust the pattern as it calls for chunky yarn and I don't have any of that. I have been knitting with size 8dpns and I added the cable pattern one more time for a cast on of 77. It makes a perfect fit for me. I also adjusted the length to 6.5" before beginning the decrease and I like that a lot better. I should add that the pattern, as written with 4 ply acrylic yarn of your choice makes a good hat for a toddler.

I have made 4 hats within the past 4 weeks. I made a purple hat for my daughter (picture to come later) and I make a hat for me with variegated yarn in shades of pink/red.


I also made an olive green hat for my friend David who flew in from AZ to visit with us at our 10 yr HS reunion. And last night I just finished a striped hat in cream, brown, blue, and green. I saw my sister coveting it so I might let her have it. It was only my 3rd experience with striping. I have to admit that I hate weaving all those ends in. It was very tedious but a very nice effect.

what kind of yarn are you?

What kind of yarn are you?

You are Acrylic.While you are very versatile, your plasticky countenance can be offputting. You are very good with children but can become a pill if left alone with them too long. You are very flexible but don't give in to manipulation.
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finally finished

I finally finished the Jubi-purse. Did I mention I got over-zealous? I have absolutely no sense of depth perception. No, seriously. I actually thought that a 12"x12"x6" bag was going to be the right size for a 3ft child. Silly me. She can almost participate in a potato sack race in this thing. She really does love it though because she can fill it up with toys and carry them from room to room.

I made the front, bottom, and back all as one piece and then made the sides and sewed them on with mattress stitch. The bottom was done in seed stitch so it would hold its shape and be really sturdy. Go me! I used to different types of baby yarn (white & white/rainbow). It looks fabulous. I have put on handles but don't have any pictures of that yet.

The top of the bag was really floppy from when I did my cast-off so I ended up having to crochet around the top. I used fuzzy pink yarn but you'll just have to see that later.

high school reunion

So here it is. Time for my 10 year high school reunion. Some of the people putting it together found a website to host the reunion and uploaded pictures from elementary, junior high, and high school. They uploaded this picture that was taken of the senior class together.

So, I was looking at this picture and thinking. Did I really spend 7 years with most of these people and I can't even name 20 of them? Really. There were only 86 in our senior class and 83 graduated. Why can I not remember any of these people? Was I that much of a recluse? I had classes with most of these people from 6th grade up and I can't name half of them. Have I had a head injury?

I hope I don't make an idiot out of myself at the reunion and introduce myself to someone's spouse like they were a classmate. Wish me luck!

new picture

hello everyone out there! I haven't put a new pic on in a while. just wanted to update my pic of Jubilee and let everyone see what I got me for my birthday. that's right. I got my lip pierced! Happy belated birthday to me!!

I am not cheese!*

*I preface this by saying it was not my smartest moment.

That having been said, I totally had a flashback the other day as I was walking into work. I was about to come in the front door when I saw a baby mouse run by. Now you're asking yourself what does that have to do with anything. . .

So it was a nice day around August 20th and I was minding my own business. I was out near the elevator lobby on the 5th floor when someone I work with caught my attention and said "There's a mouse over here". And thus it began. I walk over and see that the little critter is paralyzed with fright. I was feeling especially humanitarian so I decided I would pick the little guy up and take him outside. I imagined myself some kind of expert in rodents because we used to have 6 ferrets when I was a teenager. I went to grab Mr. Mouse right behind the head, thinking he would be unable to bite me. Wrong, wrong, wrong and again I emphatically say WRONG! The ungrateful little sucker bit me right on my finger. That having been done, I went for a more clinical approach, i.e. found a trash can, grabbed him by the tail and flung him in.

Right about the time I was "escorting" Stuart Little off the property someone made the observation "hey I think he ate some of that rat poison". Now I'm thinking "great!" I'm imagining his little rodent teeth were coated in poison which is now coarsing through my veins. I'm beginning to feel hot and clammy and my pulse is starting to race. I decide maybe I should see my Primary Care Doctor (PCP). I go back inside and tell my supervisor about my foolishness and he tries not to laugh at me and says in all his "30 years" here he has never heard of anything like this. So I call my PCP and they say I have to file a Workman's Comp claim since I got "injured" at work. I felt so stupid.

The saga continues. I have to call Workman's Comp and file a claim. The Claim's Rep laughs at me. Great. I laugh too because it's funny in a cosmically retarded kind of way because only I would really do something like this. I then have to fill out a report for my agency and the building I work in because it's a leased building. It comes down to "described the offender" and I write "mouse". What else am I supposed to write? I imagine even more people getting a kick out of that. I waste about a tank of gas driving from my work to my PCP (20 minute drive) then back to work to only be told I will have to take an antibiotic but that otherwise I'm fine. The mouse is not considered rabid since I "provoked" him.

The moral of the story is - if you see a mouse, keep walking.

Where have I been?

It has been crazy around here. I have gone back to school. I started in 3/2007. I am attending the online program at ITT-Tech and am working towards a second Bachelor's degree. I have now completed 2 quarters (which is what they work in) and am in the beginning of my 3rd. I have managed to keep a 4.0 so far.

It has been really hard working a full time job and going back to school full time. I go to school for 12 weeks and then get 1 week off. Jubilee is learning to adjust but she doesn't like it very much. She says "Mommy. You not do homework." She is hilarious and just turned 4 at the end of August. Her new favorite TV show is the Doodlebops. She was trying to tell a knock-knock joke today and just ended up shreiking with laughter rather than really telling any kind of joke.

I have been trying to keep up with my knitting and have two projects going on right now. I got overly-zealous and decided to knit Jubi a purse but the proportions are so big it's more like a beach bag. She really likes it though because she can fill it up with toys. Another thing I'm making is a baby hat for a girl at work who is due in November. I love knitting hats because they are super easy. I will post the pictures of the Jubi-purse when it's done. All I have left to do is put handles on it!!

I will however tantalize you with a project that I did in between which was a baby bunny hat. I had to find a willing model. Bedtime bear had to suffice. I found the hat pattern here

http://www.babycenter.com/0_bunny-beanie-pattern_1445260.bc?Ad=com.bc.common.AdInfo%40109b6913

The only problem I found with the hat was that the ears were very heavy and didn't want to stand up because they are double, but I guess it won't matter because babies generally lay down.

Stay tuned for more knitting excellence!

new pic

Thought y'all might want to see a new pic or two of me.