It's Almost Christmas

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas. The tree is up - white lights, red ornaments, white poinsettias sprinkled in and the LED Angel on top of the tree. Stockings hung on the entertainment center, table cloth on the dining room table, red bear in the chair and a Maxine pillow on the love seat.

Most presents have been bought and now need to be wrapped! Cards were mailed. Candle holders on the bar with the new LED tea lights.

Last night, a nice cup of Williams Sonoma "Real" Hot Chocolate. Yummo.

August 8th - Already August???

Whew - it has been a busy year already and now it is the second Saturday of August??? Where has the time gone? I have soooo many things to update everyone on - I think I will break them into sections.

I. Knitting - took another two classes. The Beyond Basics with one of the women from my Intro Class. We went over some of the more complicated increases and decreases and have learned how to cable. I also took a class for a shrug called a Mobius Wrap. I will let you know how that one comes out because it is taking a leap of faith to work on it.

II. School starts back soon! This is tax free weekend here so I will buy some supplies tomorrow to donate for the school drive. Also, time to find new lunch boxes or thermoses, etc. since the sales are on. :)

III. Social life - been very social lately. This week was quiet since I had to go out of town for work. I do think I am going to the B-52s this week and Michael Franti this month. I have a dinner penciled in for Wednesday, drinks with friends on Thursday and dancing on Saturday. Went to the Nickelback concert on July 31st - it was great but soggy.

IV. Work - went to Minneapolis this week. We had good weather and the hotel was two blocks from the Mississippi River. I know, I didn't realize the Minn was on the Mississippi.

V. Books - reading the Sookie Stackhouse series by Charlaine Harris. The books are the jumping off point for the True Blood series on HBO.

VI. Vacation - need one. Will get one the first week of September.

VII. Family - had dinner with my twin nephews last week. They are being potty trained and I brought them bribery gifts which did not work! :) It was a nice dinner with drinks on the deck and the boys entertaining us and flirting with Miss Kim.

VIII. Award for the Most Thoughtful Man: Last Saturday, the Man ran errands for me. He found a case for the twins matchbox cars, the water filter for my fridge and bought me Knitting Needles in the right size!! I did not ask him to do that - he remembered and went to two different craft stores to find them. And took me to the airport at 6 AM this week!!!!

July 26th, Sunday Afternoon

Wow - I had an awesome time last night at a friend's house. We had planned to have dinner when we were out last Saturday. It all came together last night - we had 7 adults and 8 children (yes, we were outnumbered but we could bribe the 4-yr old!) We grilled filets, chicken thighs, asparagus, zucchini and yellow squash outside on the grill. The kids had hot dogs and made their own mini pizzas. Good friends, old and new, and lots of laughs.

Friday night I went to see "The Ugly Truth". Cute. Don't have to do much thinking. :)

Last week I went to see "My Sister's Keeper". Warning - it is a tear jerker and they changed the ending! Good movie but take lots of tissue.

Happy July 5th

Wow - it's the first Sunday morning of July and I am enjoying my second cup of coffee - Gevallia Breakfast Blend with Organic Half & Half. Life is good except that I still have one of those dull headaches that won't come on strong but it won't go away either. But enough bitching, let's get to the good stuff!

Friday night we went to Pops in the Park. Mom and Garry went along with Robin (from Jax), Rich (my neighbor) and 6 other single women with 4 children. May I say Rich is a lucky guy! Rich went out early (7:15 AM) to put out our tarp and he wasn't quite early enough! I guess with so many folks stay-cationing, you look for cheap entertainment. Anywho, Rich did get a spot that was absolutely awesome for the Fireworks Show. The weather had cooled off so it was pleasant all snuggled on the tarp and we had way tooooo much food and wine. My friend Debra brought home made sangria, Rich fixed guacamole, Colleen made brownies and I had gone to Price's Fried Chicken Coop. Life is Good! (We had 10 adults and 4 children on a 10' X 12' tarp!!!)

Last night, I went to our friend Pete's house for a nice cookout. I had gone to the farmer's market yesterday and went a little overboard. Fresh zucchini, asparagus, heirloom tomatoes and corn on the cob! Pete had two pork loins to grill, we marinated the zuchs and aspergrass in olive oil and balsamic vinegar, roasted potatoes with butter and sliced tomatoes. We ate on the deck - one of the last few evenings where you don't sweat at 9 PM!! I learned (again) how to play gin rummy.

And we had yellow cake with chocolate frosting - it was America's 233rd Birthday by the way (although she doesn't look a day over 150!)

I hope everyone had a pleasant and safe Holiday!

June is almost over!

Wow - it has been quite a month and quite a bit since I blogged. I have been busy at work and then busy at home! I finished my beginning knitting class and knitted a hat "in the round". I am working on another.

I have been the our symphony Pops in the Park two weekends in a row. Good friends, good music, good times. A friend from Jax who moved to W Va came into town to visit and I met her and some others out for dinner Thursday. Wednesday was my HOA board meeting. Tuesday was a massage. Sunday was Pops in the Park. Saturday night was dinner with The Boy and I had run a bunch of errands Saturday morning which started with meeting a new friend for Coffee. I seem to remember that the previous week was just as busy!!!

More later.

Practice Makes Me Crazy

Ok - so someone who shall remain nameless suggested that I post some of my yarn projects on my blog as I work on them. That said, I will post some of the ones I still have.

I am taking a knitting class because some things I just can't get from a book and my G-ma did not knit, she crocheted.

Here is the first official project from class. It is a dishcloth and the teacher and another student have been trying to convince me that once I use said dishcloth, I will never find a better dishcloth again. It is made from 100% cotton thread and can be tossed in the washer, it will hold up for years, it will scrub your dishes clean with the little nubbies, yada, yada, yada. Still not convinced since I have worked so hard on this thing, do I really want to clean my dishes with it? I will keep you posted.

This is a crocheted baby blanket that I finally finished last week. It already has a fraternal twin that has been gifted so this will go to the same home this year so that each boy has a blanket to snuggle with. It is warm and smaller than the first one but alas, I didn't take pictures of it but since I have access, I may still.

The last one is a star that I actually followed the pattern. I have since modified the pattern because I wanted a five point star instead of the 8 point. I may actually try this again with a 6 point star so that I can say I crocheted the Star of David for a friend. I am also planning a Prayer Shawl for a friend who seems to be having difficulties this year and needs a long distance hug.

Yoga Sisters Weekend

Whew - another busy weekend. Friday night I went with my neighbor to the Common Market which is in the neighborhood within walking distance. I met one of his friends from out of town and then some more friends from his high school. I left there with a bottle of wine in a brown paper bag. Consensus is that since the bottle was not open, I was more white trash than red neck. Good to know.

Saturday, I went to our Yoga Sisters Slumber Party. I spent the evening with two of my sisters from my yoga teacher training. We made Sangria , ate Doritos's and had a wonderful Greek Salad with Orzo and a Green Salad with strawberries and almonds. Yummy. Next morning we had good coffee and warm carrot bread with cream cheese.

Sunday, I went with my neighbors and his friends to Cabo Fish Tacos for a good dinner. Yum, again. We hung out there for awhile and then went to the Gin Mill. Cheap beer and good conversation - what could be better?

Oh yeah, around midnight, My Sweetie came by and we went to the 24 hour diner for breakfast and conversation. I had a good cup of coffee and pleasant conversation with a handsome man. What could be better?