SockTart

That was my question last night upon looking at the bar tab from FATS (apparently “crown float” is how they classify a drink such as a “Black & Tan”.  I’m still a little disturbed that my Guinness came from a can.  Heathens).

We’d been invited out by Dale & Morgan, and so spent the evening having yummy food, drinking yummy drinks, and screaming at each other over the speakers.  Bars are definitely not conducive to the one thing that is their purpose: Socializing.  The only other downfall we seemed to see?  Tyler has pointed out that here in Canada, a Pint is not a Pint.  He’s looking for his standard UK Pint, that he gets in the pub.  We don’t have that.  Maybe our favourite Microbiologist (at least the one in The Family) needs to start his own pub?  Pints with a PhD.  There ya go.  He can tell you all about the bacteria in your glass, and why it’s important not to use antibacterials while you’re chugging it all down.

A point in favour for FATS?  I requested the Mushroom Swiss burger without the bun…and the waitress didn’t even blink.  They even gave me extra salad.  Booyeah.

The Sock also made it to the pub, at least until they turned down the lights.  Morgan snatched it out of my hands to inspect it, then tried to start knitting away merrily in her tipsiness.  I practically screeched at her to stop, I’m afraid.  I was in the middle of turning the heel.  Thank goodness I was able to frog back and repair because it threw me off balance to the point that I mucked up a little farther down.  It’s all good now.  The first Hedera is getting closer to done.  It’s very pretty too. There’s just one part of the heel flap/gusset that I don’t like, and will need to find a way to tighten up.  Hrmf.

Robin’s socks are also done.  I decided to get that right out of the way on Thursday/Friday.  By the time he woke up on Friday afternoon, he had new socks.  He’s happy they’re done…but sad that it’s too hot to wear them.  I’m sure that come the Fall he will be begging for more socks

No Karazhan raid this weekend due to the aformentioned trip to the bar.  I’ve been told that I need to appear online more often.  While fun, this may impede my sock progress (grin).  We’ll see what happens :)  I think that our guild leadership just wants a little Shadow Priestie lovin’.  Mana battery my left buttock

Things I’m thinking of in no particular order:

- Why the hell do I keep hearing Chris Issac’s “Wicked Game” all over the place?  Hello, folks, this is NOT a new song!

- I’m thinking of frogging back the Monkey sock (still not finished) and doing them in a size larger needle.  That is, if I decide to use that particular yarn for it.  I’m still not sure I want to inflict that atrocity on my SiL or my Mum, both of whom have larger feet than I.  I mean…I want Mum’s socks to be unique, but tastefully so.  Kinda.  The colours are kinda the sort of colours that I envision Shawn wearing, but I’m not sure she’d want ‘em either.  Tell you what, Shawn…if you’re reading this?  Take a look at the picture posted the other day and let me know if you’d be willing to entertain letting that particular colour/pattern of sock into your house.  Thanks!

- I played with the Swift last night.  Got my Jaywalker yarn prepped for finishing The Second Sock (there is a perverse part of me that is thinking of actually frogging back sock #1 as well, and just doing both from the cuff down because I’ve now figured out the much vaunted Heel Flap).  Might actually fix that flashing / pooling issue.

- Also wound the yarn for Robin’s Second Pair of Socks into balls last night.  I have a feeling it’s a variegated pattern, which will work well for my purposes.  I’m thinking of actually doing an actual pattern.  Aren’t I just a smartie?  I think I’m addicted to using my swift.

- Rumour has it that Mum & Dad will be delivering some furniture to the house today.  With any luck, we’ll get the Rec Room cleaned, and be able to bring The Couch Of Holding to our downstairs.  It is THE most comfy couch EVAR.  Grown men easily succumb to Napping when around this couch.  It is one of the few sofas I know of that will easily accommodate the napping of a man 6′5″ or taller.  The sofa is mighty.  Worship the sofa.

- I forgotted my headphones at home.  I wanted to listen to some Lime & Violet podcastage during my lunch hour (I’m getting caught up.  I’m on episode 6.  Feh).  The iPod is in the car, and the headphones…I THINK they’re in The Basement of Doom at home.  Next time I shall have to remember my headphones. Then I wouldn’t be subjected to my workplace playing Chris Issac over and over.

Now…Robin has often mentioned to me that he feels he should have a hobby (other than WoW, urban poetry, or remarking on my miniscule yarn stash as “oh my god, it’s taking over the house!”)

Well.  I think I’ve found just the thing for him.  After all, earlier today he remarked to me that we should be saving up for a new digital camera that will actually take printable photos (as in: has enough pixels per inch that we can take the flash disc in to Black’s and actually have prints made).

Thing is…the person in the article…uhm…well….yeah.  That’s Robin.  Down to wanting to know if there is acid-lite paper.

I will not point out the fact that his Grandmother scrapbooks, and that we inherited a lovely book stuffed with family photos that was originally supposed to be all about his brother until Grandma realized that maybe Robin and his Significant Other might want a book too, particularly one that shows all the embarassing pictures of his youth that most grandmothers collect (and most young men wish they’d burned as soon as Grandma brought them over to the house to show Mum & Dad).

But yeah.  He has photos, I have some photos…we’d like to have more photos, particularly of our life together.  Scraptarding may just be in our future.

Oh!  Should really mention…The Evil Palace of Yarn Goodness got some shipments in this week…and so I dragged Robin down there today so that I could spend some money on my favourite brand of frivolity.  I came away with 4 skeins of Artyarns Supermerino (two of my own colour choice, two of Robin’s colour choice - the object being 2 pairs of socks) and some really cool Tofutsies in a cherry pink-and-white twist colour.

They’re also now carrying some of the much-needed tools of the knitter’s trade.  I walked away with a swift.  They practically had to pry the ball winder out of my arms.  Robin now claims to have ideas as to what to get me for Yule.

You don’t want to know what I’ve found to be the best substitution for a ball winder.  No.  I’m serious.  You really don’t.

Okay….now some folks may have been reading my blog and thinking that The Other Half, the Man of My Dreams, my Honey, Sweetie and Snugglebunny is a harsh taskmaster to a free-thinking individual.

Only kinda-sorta.  You see, this is part of the reason why I love him so much.  He’s able to pull my head down from the clouds when it starts to drift.  He’s able to curb most of my impulsiveness.  He understands the value of saving for a rainy day, and knows when it’s pouring (even on a bright and sunny day).  He realizes that there are times when he needs to leave me alone to knit, and when I need to be dragged off to a Warcrack raid with 8 or 9 other people (hijinks and merriment ensue).  He knows when I need a glass of wine, and when I’ve had enough.  In short…he’s the perfect mature foil for me when I’m an immature flake.

Now…when you come to realize that there are times when we switch roles and I’m the stern Voice of Reason…the one who gets to veto 7 Impossible Things Per Day…then you’ll understand why we haven’t had children yet.  (why yes, we are an Aquarian and a Gemini…)

My hand is doing a lot better today. They let me use some banked time at work yesterday, so I came home and watched some TV and read the ‘net for awhile, until most of the stinging subsided. Today, it’s just tender when the burn/scald is actually touched with some sort of pressure. This means I can knit again! The float of yarn against that hand isn’t enough to hurt me unless I have absolutely NO slack.

So Robin’s socks are growing again. If they were MY socks, I’d be thinking of turning the heel, but as they need to fit a size 11 man’s foot, this isn’t happening for another inch or two. I’m really quite appreciating the two-socks on two-circs method.

This afternoon we’re apparently doing a little shopping, and at some point this weekend we’re doing some spring cleaning. It’s rather grey outside, so I’m not sure whether I’ll get to do any gardening. It’s such a drab day, in fact, that I’ve been yearning for some sunny, banana-yellow yarn…and I’m SO not a fan of yellow! I guess we’ll see how the day shapes up.

So…I scalded my right hand. I was taking plastic wrap off the veggies I’d been cooking. Stoopid me, I didn’t use a long knife to pierce the plastic wrap.

I’ve spent the evening trying to get over the burning sensation. I have a cool glass of water to dunk my fingers in, and a cold gel pack. I’ve taken Advil.

My fingers hurt like a son of a bitch. It’s taken me about 10 minutes to write this much.

So much for knitting for the next couple of days

Hokay.

I’ve just gone through and turned off comments and pings on old posts.
I’ve also gone through and deleted a ton of porn and car spam from trackbacks & pings.

About once a week I’m going to go through and close commenting and pings. Spam will be deleted as soon as I can get to it.

Really, I’m just tired of the spam. I didn’t want to do it, but now one needs to be registered to comment, and I think I turned on the option for the admin to approve all comments. Since I don’t get a ton of traffic, this isn’t a big deal, really. It’s just annoying.

Just another update. 12 pounds have departed my hefty frame. I’m getting curves back. Well…the right curves, at least. We dug out one of my old corsets this weekend, and it fit OK. It may be too small for me fairly soon. We’ll see what happens once I get rid of another 13 pounds.

My knees don’t hurt as much. I don’t gasp for breath as much when I climb stairs. I have a higher activity level.

I actually eat breakfast. And when I go without food for a long time (ie: miss supper), I pay for it in droves…I don’t just get tummy rumbles, I start to feel nauseous (eggs with cream cheese! Bland! Stat!)

All-in-all, I’m doing well. Clothing is draping better, and soon I should be able to start pulling some of my old jeans and such out of drawers and storage boxes and into use. Once that happens, the bigger stuff goes out of my house. Not going back to that size.

Whee!

A little folk humour there, but so true. And I’m not talking from a standpoint of pure vanity.

I cut my sugar intake again. I’m back on track with Atkins induction, and it’s working. My energy level has skyrocketed, my body is using its natural furnace-like abilities to burn fat off, and I’m dropping pounds. I can actually feel it.

I’m down 8 pounds at the moment. I’m a very happy young lady. Some of that is water weight, yes…usually the first whoosh of weight loss (which was a very quick 5 pounds). The last 3 pounds took a tiny bit longer. That’s fat, and I have a feeling I know where it came from.

So…progress. I’m drinking 2 litres or more of water each day, and getting more active. I’m also steering clear of the sugarbombs in our office…we have “Healthy Snack” day (Yoghurt, apples, oranges, bananas, granola bars) twice a week on Tuesday and Thursday, and “Snack Day” on Mondays (Baked goods ie: muffins, croissants, danishes, scones, etc). Unfortunately, the fruit is too high on the Glycemic Index for me, and the baked goods are all made with refined sugar and flour. No goodies for me. I go to my lunch bag and get a piece of cheese.

It hasn’t been easy, but I’m doing it. 8 pounds and about 5 inches down. w00t!

It is very snowy outside. I got home from work, put the car in the garage, dropped my bag inside the door, and proceeded to put on mitts and a toque. Grabbed the shovel. Began the chore that is “shovelling the walks”.

Shovelling the walks isn’t generally a difficult task. However…we have had quite a lot of snow recently. Enough that when I got out of the car to open the garage door, my shoe was pretty well buried in the stuff. So not only did I have to dig a nice little trench down the side of our driveway (our walk) down to the sidewalk, but also over the driveway and down to the neighbour’s walk.

In the past couple of weeks, I’ve been finding that our sidewalk has been shovelled along with the neighbour’s. Every so often, I return the favour. It doesn’t look like our neighbour has been home for a couple of days, so I shovelled the walk.

I still greatly dislike our Mail Carrier. Bozo will deliberately walk across our lawn. There is a pile of snow practically up to the knee on that side of the walk…and still Sir Tardlet plows right on through. I SHOVEL THESE WALKS FOR A REASON!!! It’s NOT just because shovelling snow is a good workout!

But yeah. Walks are now shovelled. I be one tired muffin. And I’m not sure what I want for dinner. Gah.

Oh…and the streets are yucky. If you have the misfortune to have to be driving on them, please drive slowly and with extra caution. The guy you avoid plowing into at a sudden red light will appreciate it.