Safe and Sound for the weekend in Boston

I have arrived and we have a plan. The plan is to go with the flow. Below are my current Ravelry stats and by the time I get home, I might just be close to getting an invitation!

Found you!
You signed up on July 22, 2007
You are #19479 on the list.
4415 people are ahead of you in line.
14706 people are behind you in line.
43% of the list has been invited so far

Later chicas!

eb,ifly...

One. More. Day.

I *so* want to call in sick today. Of course, that would disqualify my PTO for Saturday, and quite frankly, I have planning the maximization of PTO down to a science.So, I have to go in to work today. But this time tomorrow, I will be sitting on the runway awaiting take-off.

I am off to Boston for the weekend. Woohoooooooooooooooooo...My bestest friend Kimi lives there. I have to try to remember to not call her that while I am there as it might get me smacked. I finally get to meet her gf of 6 or so years. I haven;t seen Kim since she was here for our wedding 2 years ago. I would post a pic from then, but ahem...they are all history on the damned fried hard drive. Wah. I will try to remember to take plenty more this weekend.

Transcontinental, 1:30 a.m.

I really like that song. I like Vienna Teng in general, but that might just be my favorite song of hers. At least my favorite of the ones I have heard. I was going to post about it earlier this morning. Way earlier.

I got up at to pee 1 a.m. and my nape was saturated. I had been laying there not really sleeping since about 11:30 when we went to bed, so I decided to stay up and run with it. It could mean some insomnia is settling in and it could be just an anomaly. Let's hope for the latter. I was up til nearly 5 and took the time to work on my latest top secret project. It is slower going than I would like and I need to kick my butt into gear.

I also need to work on my retablo for the Lawndale's Dia de los Muertos fest. I see it in my brain and it is time to start bringing it to life. Today. Now.

Make your move

Just so there is no question, when the *bux mug comes down from the shelf and hits the micro, it's time for some Hot Tea(TM eb).

In other news, it has been decided that William will take custody of my sick iBook. It will be about 200 clams to buy and install a new hard drive, and there is zero possibility of recovery. Once the new drive is installed, he will basically have a new machine. That means I will need a new machine.

After a bit less than 3 years on the Mac, I, a computer commoner, see no advantage to staying on a Mac. I really like that I had no worries regarding viruses, but other than that I am unimpressed. The photo correction abilities suck, and other than writing, playing with my dad's vintage photos is what else I would want to do. Since I do that on our other computer anyway, a hard drive that totally craps out with no warning has no further appeal. Also, working on a windows machine again at work makes it more challenging being on a mac at home.

We're off to Dell.

In a month, he'll be 80

I try to keep this in mind every time my dad does something that seems a bit off. Or odd. Or even questionable. My dad has 80 years of memories swimming around in his noggin. And he is a storyteller and a character. It is not uncommon for him to tell a story seamlessly oonly for me to realize that the beginning of the story is 50 years ago (no, dad, I don't remember that man, I'm 42), and suddenly the subject of the story is the same, but we have shifter to az decade later. By the end of the story, we are talking about the same experience, but in the recent past. EB has witnessed this.

The doctor reassures him he doesn't have oldstimers disease, but if he did, would he remember what the doc has said?


I think my dad is a smart man. I am pretty sure he didn't finish the 6th grade because he had to go to work in his pop's store i Brooklyn. In spite of this, he worked as a mechanic in a government job for 30 years. After retiring from there, we owned a campground and in that small town in upstate NY, he was the judge for 17 years.

My dad has been a semi-professional photographer since he was 13 and someone gave him his first camera and help him set up a darkroom. He has a lot of cameras. A. Lot. Of. Cameras. Every time I see him, his digital camera is new. The last one I recall was 7 megapixel. He doesn't sell the previous ones. When I signed up for Ravelry, (only 7,773 people ahead of me currently) I asked him if he had a digital camera he could send me so we had a spare. He asked what I would be taking pics of, and I told him yarn, to put online. Lots of pics of yarn.

His answer was an easy yes, surprising a little that it was easy, and he said he would work on getting it mailed out. So this morning, there is an email from him with the subject "birthday". It said:

"11 day of september is the day the twin towers went down. have a nice day will try to find right cords for camera after the wedding this week. i am trying to get ready for winter. inspector wilson scotland yard."

Here's what I surmise. He remembers I have a birthday soon, hence the subject. He then remembers what else happened on Sept 11. Then he has a flash of the camera conversation, sees it sitting on the desk next to the computer and realizes he has not yet sent it. Someone is getting married. Someone I know? Someone he is performing a wedding for? A wedding they are attending? And of course, it often snows on my bday up there. He always had to get the woodstove going for my parties in the game room at the campground so we wouldn't freeze our asses off.

Then there is the signature. That would be my father's clever secret identity so no one can access his personal info. Clever, yes. But not so clever that he knows to use it when setting up the account. When the setup asked for his name he used his real name. So his name appears in all the from lines on every email he sends. That email took him about 8 minutes to type, too. Chatting with my dad is ideal for multi tasking. No need to ever say brb because he is still typing his reply to your q when you return from peeing, or making a sandwich, etc.

I am glad he uses the technology at all, but his emails are often a little cryptic. I like it though, if nothing else for the adventure through my memories that they send me on.

It's official...

Someone write the eulogy...


more later.

ps...you all don't need to wait for a Weese Tip-o-day (tm) to go do a full back up do you?

Let's take a collective cleansing breath...

...in the hope that the Technology Goddess might be appeased. I think my laptop hard drive is fucked. We have an appointment tomorrow night at 6 pm at the Apple Genius Bar.

It's all good.
Really.

Not to give you any ideas, but it *is* about hot tea, right?

The _______ Hotel is one of ________’s most distinctive and beautiful landmarks. Built in 1908 at the height of British influence in ______, the _______ is a fine example of late Victorian colonial architecture, and has been carefully restored to its full grandeur. Walk through the lobbies and main halls to admire the lofty and intricately carved mahogany ceilings. Many of the hotel’s original fixtures are still present, including 12 massive and ornate chandeliers.

For many visitors the _______ is synonymous with afternoon tea. The chef has taken the British tradition of tea time and raised it to an art form that is enjoyed by over 100,000 people each year. Tea includes small sandwiches of smoked salmon and cream cheese, carrot and ginger, egg salad and cucumber; then on to fresh scones, homemade preserves and thick jersey cream. A selection of fresh pastries rounds out the meal. All are of course accompanied by _______ blend tea, served in Royal Doultan china. Past diners have included Queen Elizabeth II, Harrison Ford, Barbara Striesand, and John Travolta, to name just a few. Dress is "smart casual" with no torn jeans, short shorts, or jogging suits.

Max and Anna

Max and Anna
Originally uploaded by queenmaxine

This is a transparency print of a photo my dad took of his parents about 50 years ago. The transparency is coated in ModPodge then painted on the reverse side with acrylics. The top side can also be further embellished for a highlighting effect, but I ran out of time for that. I used a Japanese paper for the background.

Tragic

Inhale...2...3...4...sigh.............

I dropped Will off at school and went to the Lawndale to pick up our tins for this year's Dia de las Muertos. The tins are gone. This is tragedy part one.

I found great consolation in a small serving of Brownie Supreme ice cream from the Chocolate Bar.

I felt so much better after my ice cream, yes, it was *that* good, that I decided to go visit my painting at Cafe Artiste. It's GONE. Tragedy, part two.

Someone is very lucky as the price dropped from 800 clams to 600, and the y own a very lovely piece of art.

Okay, I am over it.

The worker bee at the Lawndale did say it was okay to reuse tins from previous years, so I think we will be in business, and we are alsoo on the waiting list should they decide to get more tins as they did last year. I am going to do another of my father's pictures similar to last year's entry which I will post in a minute. my tin sold last year, so I am going with that general themGFB has one I did in memory of her cat Spooky, but I know I have at least two that can be recycled. If Will is lucky, three. I was shocked they were gone as I thought I was going early this year to pick them up. The worker bee said he doesn't remember them ever going so fast.

Will had his first class last night and they were let out after just an hour. Today he is due to be out at 5, so I will post in case they are let out early and he calls. More later, maybe.

The line is long...

Have you heard about that little knitterly thing called Ravelry? I jumped in line on July 22. I am #19479 on the list. There are now more people behind me in line than there are ahead of me in line which is somehow comforting, but there are still eight thousand, nine hundred seventeen people in front of me in line.

The thing about it is, I am ot even sure it is something I will fully embrace once I am at the head of the line. But I think the resulting database will be worth the wait.

The picture is still a wee bit foggy.

August: the month of sports

Earlier this month, we went to see the Comets play at the Toyota Center. That was a first for me. The game was pretty good, they have hot cheerleaders, and the tims went by rather quickly because I was knitting. I think for basketball, it goes by quickly anyway.

We had an opportunity to see the Texans play the following day, but it was a preseason game and eb suggested we pass, so I still haven't been to a Texans game, but that isn't something you will see me crying over.

The day after that was the Astro's Stitch & Pitch game. I have been to a few Astro's game and I can actually follow baseball, so the knitting was a bonus, and we sat with the knitters. William went, and we had a ticket for Thomas as well, but he had forgotten and got tickets to go with his girlfriend, so I offered our extra ticket to Berrylicious(that's good friend Irene). We went and had a good time at the game. It was the celebration of Biggio's 3,000th hit, and there was a sell-out crowd. Craig Biggio has played his entire 20 year carreer with the Astro's, and he is the first Astro to join the 3,000 club, the 27th in baseball history, and at the time, was at 3,029, which ranked him number 20. That I know that much about baseball is too taxing on my brain on this lovely Sunday morning.

Yesterday, I went with my good friend Edna to see her son's first game at Blinn College. It was a football game, of course, the first I have ever been to. I know almost nothing about the game and couldn't follow for shit. Thankfully, Alexander is in the band, not on the field. I think his mother would have been having a heart attack if he were actually playing. I learned early enoughon that when the man in front of me got up, totally decked out in his Blinn Bucanner's paraphenalia, and raised his right hand with his pointer finger bent and shaped like a hook shouting "AAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrgghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh...", well, that was a good thing and we could cheer. He was definitely the unofficial (or maybe official) section leader.

Blinn College is about an hour from Houston. When we got there, we could park relatively close and did not have terribly far to walk. Then we hit the bleachers. It was 3 in the afternoon. Clear sunny sky. weather.com tells me the high was "96, feels like 106"....and yes I can vouch for the feels like 106 degrees part. We left Houston and it had been pouring, so I was half expecting to get to Brenham and have the game cancelled. I didn't have a single thought about being out in the hot sun in August. at 3pm. hey, sunscreen might be a good idea. Nope, none of those thoughts.

The bleacher seats were metal, my hoo hoo thought it was getting a spa treatment. Naturally, we got there about halfway through the first quarter and the bleachers were pretty packed. there were a few seats by the band, goodie, and near enough that Edna could talk to her son, oh, only about 27 rows up, and please, uunderstand this is a serious concern for uncoordinated bad ankle and currently bad knee me, no hand railing on the stairs!! We got up there easy enough, but seriously, I had no idea how I was going to get down. I considered oonching down on my but one stair at a time the best alternative.

Did I convey to you exactly how fucking hot it was? I sent a text message to eb who was on the road back from taking T to Syracuse. I think it said, "Omigod it's fucking hot here". It didn't occur to me that I had not told her what I was doing. She called me back and as I answered the phone, there was a big Argh going on (the section was in full swing by this point), and then we got cut off. EB called back a while later in the middle of the halftime show and I asked her if she could hear the band. Then I told her where I was and no that was not static on the line before.

The band had a break for most of the third quarter, so Alexander could sit and talk with us.

A: Hey, guys, thanks for coming.
E: Of course baby, I told you I will come when I can for the home games. You want some chips? (we had nachos}
A: Sure, I know better than to ever turn down real food now.
E: What did you have to eat earlier?
A: (holding up the basket) Nachos.
E: Omigod, Alexander, you need to eat, let me go get you something.

So Alexander and I watched the game while Edna hoofed it down the stairs for the second time to get her boy some food. She was back about ten minutes later with a hot dog with chili and cheese and a gatorade. He ate. He was content.

E: So baby, I think it is too hot for me and Maxine and we will go now if that is okay.
A: Aw mom, I hoped we would go get dinner and hang out a little.
E: But it is so hot.
A: Well, okay. I understand. But I just miss you.
E: Okay, we'll stay.

We sat about 10 more minutes and then Edna told Alexander we would go to Starbucks and he could call when he was done. Frankly, I was surprised that Brenham has a Starbucks. Can you say small college town? So we went to Starbucks for about an hour and then when Alexander was fone, we got him and went to Applebee's for dinner. Salty, but good.

A: Where do you want to go eat?
M: We're just visiting, you should already know where all the good places are.
A: (Not really sure if I was kidding or if he could be a smartass as we just really met) But I have only been here a week!

We left my house around 2 and I was home again at 9. It was all in all a nice diversion for a Saturday afternoon. Connor had the opportunity to join us, but at 2 he was still sleeping and elected to stay in bed. William had to work, so it was a nice getaway for me.

Other things I appreciated while at Blinn: the game was at Spencer Stadium. Pretty basic as small colleges go I imagine. If I had a child there, I would have to head up the hand railing on the bleacher stairs fund raising committee. Everytrime I looked down at the field, I was expecting to see a goalie. NOw I know that football has no goalie, but it is my experience with school sports to see hockey or soccer, so it was a goalie I expected to see. Other than knowing there is no goalie and there are four quarters, I might need a football for dummies primer.

The cheerleaders were in front of our section the entire game, and most of you rterading this and knowing me realize this might be a draw. Well, not so much. Certainly they were all cutr. but very much children. During half time, the pom pom girls did a routine. Of the chearleader types, the pom pom girls were definitely the a line while the regular cheerleaders the b line. Is this the norm?

Let us not forget the featured twirler. She was really pretty awesome. Constantly twirling a baton the entire game and during the half time show she was juggling three twirling batons. The girl has some talent. Really.

I was totally surprised this morning to look in the mirror and see no sunburn. Not even pink. As I was in the shower, there was a light knock on the door. EB is home!! I was up early because I was taking Will driving in to the bagel store. He was going to get up on the big bad freeway. I think eb in the card made him a little nervous. We turned the corner and were on the feeder road and he was a wee bit close to the right curb. I need a new rim, but Will learned how to change the tire. We are all okay, and maybe the freeway will be on the agenda next Sunday. After changing the tire in the mall parking lot, we opted to go to Panera Bread instead since we were right there. Will is a little freaked out by it all, but we parent folked remained rather calm and unfazed. I think he was expecting someone to go off and when neither of us did, he was a bit in shock. He can shake it off at work and we will be back on the horse soon enough.

Also, eb brought me a box from the beautiful people. There is an an appreciation award citing me as a proud sponsor of the V Word bracket tourney. It is an awesome original watercolor from Weese's MAW(tm). Thanks so much!! I will post a pic as soon as the camera is revitalized form eb's journey.

This post has gotten way too long to edit, so typos be damned. Nap time.

Out of sync

This is how I am when eb is away. It isn't really something that can be changed, I have come to accept that it just is. That doesn't mean I like it.

At work yesterday, all day long I just was out of sync. I think it is in part because I am still in a training mode. I asked for a to-do list, but eb did not get around to it before leaving. At the end of the work day I was able to label myself unable to think for myself as far as work as eb's assistant goes. I did get some things accomplished, but it was a series of trips the long way around the barn. The learning curve, is very steep still. Very. Steep.

So after work, I had to take Will to Strarbucks for his followup interview. They told him they would let him know something by Wednesday, but then they called him back last night. He will give Quizno's notice tomorrow and he will begin at the star next Wednesday. Woohoo.

We then went to the central HCC campus so we would know where the hell he was being dropped for class on Mon and Tues starting next week. I am comfortable navigating on some streets downtown, but it was a challenge locating the right places. The buildings for class, not really a problem. The bookstore? 6 or so times around the block. You'd think that the bookstore might say so on the side of the building in big letters. Umm, no. After the third time around the block, I knew what building it was for sure, but then traffic diverted me up a block or so, and I got a wee bit turned around. We had a full tank of gas and no other agenda, so Will finally was able to drop $145 on two text books. Woo.

Then, we headed to Cafe Artiste for some dinner and to just decompress, though admittedly, I was able to remain pretty chill and not too frustrated. We both had shrimp po-boys which were muy excellente. On the way out the door, I saw a painting that I absolutely must own. The artist is Sheng Kuan Chung. It might be the solo monk depicted here, if not it is similar. I want it. I am tempted to drop it on Visa. I will wait to see if eb likes it as well.

Today at work, I am feeling a little more as if I am working as if eb were here. Still not at peak, but better than yuesterday. Way better.

500 years of women in art

That was a title in the off topic section of my favored knitting forum. Then there was the following link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nUDIoN-_Hxs

Yummy.

Seven Whole Hours

DO you know how long it has been since I have gotten seven whole hours of sleep? O. Mi. God. i might not know how to act today. It is so nice to wake up, however early, and have gotten a restful night of sleep. i htink I must have remained on my back the entire night as well, because it is not aching. All around feel good to start the day. What a concept. Dare I hope for more of the same?

My addiction was the cause of my demise.

That is a direct quote from my son Connor(16.87 years). I got a call last night and the caller ID on my cell showed it to be from my wasband. If you know my history at all, you know this can't be a good thing. After saying a cautious hello, I discover I am talking with C.

C: Hi mamaa...
M: Hey, baby...How's it going? You are still coming next week?
C: all is well, yes, still coming.

Lightbulb shines brightly...

M: Why are you on your father's phone?

Long pause...

C: History repeats itself. My addiction is the cause of my demise. I am writing a book and that is the beginning.

He was cracking me up. Really. Last year about this time he all of a sudden had caused us to have a $700 phone bill. Of course his line was cut off imediately and that was basically his xmas present. Then when xmas came and he was traveling here for the holiday, I reinstated his phone so he would have it for emergency use and he did good for a while again. EB monitored the line more closely and the minute there was a deviation we dropped him again, this time permanently.

Soon enough, his dad added him to his plan as he had gotten quite used to C having a phone. So now he sees his son's addiction for what it is...the boy should have a phone implant, he is on it that much.

In other news...I was actually two full days without knitting. That was so tragic, that I picked up some yarn and knit eb a skull hat. Mostly done in one day. I will try to get pics of the skull hat series up in the next day or so. I have knit four of them so far. I am also knitting a scarf for myself, the Montego Bay scarf from the summer issue of Interweave Knits, and I am making another My So Called Scarf for a xmas gift for someone.

Surprise planning continues. A commitment has been made. We are going. Somewhere. For our 10th anniversary. Woohoo.

The new job situation seems to be working out just fine.

I am about halfway through HP 7.

Knit? Read? I have to choose?

A day without knitting

How sad is that. I knit not a single stitch yesterday. I did, of course, think about knitting, and I bought tickets via the phone from one of my local yarn stores for the Astros stitch and pitch on August 12th, but it's not the same.

No bamboo knitting needles warmed by my touch. No luscious fiber coursing through my fingers. No glorious fabric miraculously being produced by my own two hands. A day sans tricoter doesn't happen very often around here.

Today, the stove is being fixed. Bright and early (anytime before work), Mario is here to see what he can do to prevent the stove from flipping the breaker every time we use more than two burners or the broiler. This has been going on since the stove was installed a few years ago, but I have been dealing with it. Now that The Chef has moved home, it could become a more serious concern.

Tuesday night we had chicken stuffed with spinach with a side of pasta in a brownn butter sauce with pine nuts and garlic. The chicken was topped with a tomato reduction and was very tasty. Let's nnot forget the apple crisp with vanilla ice cream for dessert.

Wednesday night was mile high meatloaf sandwiches. This is an open faced meatloaf sandwich with creamy mashed potatoes and fried onions and gravy. We also had a salad of baby spinach and bananas, strawberries and walnuts with a sweet dressing.

Last night was leftover meatloaf with pasta topped with sauce and pinenuts.

We need to have The Chef study up on portion control or we soon won't be able to go out the door.

Just plain criminal

Working with eb again has been a relatively smooth transition. There is but one woman there who worked there when I was previosly employed there who has not said a single word to me. Not. One. Word. No need to give her the benefit of the doubt. The woman I thought would react in this way has been totally pleasant. Mostly, it's all good.

On most days, eb and I think of Weese and we car pool. It's really funny when eb looks at me over her shoulder and tells me I can get going any time and that she is almost ready to go too. Umm...how are you getting home, sweetness? Then we chuckle and I bet that makes silent woman down the hall cringe.

Yesterday, I even remembered to bring my lunch so I could work straight through, thus maximizing my hours. I brought a banana, some cherries, a stash of mini candy bars, and a fluffernutter sammich. I was so looking forward to the fluffernutter being perfect and then, the criminal part. As I picked it up out of the bag, half my fluff was in the bottom of my ziplock bag. Thank goodness it was a ziplock or else we would have had marshmallow fluff on everything.

Wednesday tip-o-day: Always! Always store your fluffernutter sammiches flat.

release

I am well n to being adjusted to my new work situation. I am currently three days a week at jcp and I am starting to realize, as everything eases into a new image, just how much that place was stressing me out. By the end of the month, I will be just Wednesday and Saturday there, and I think that will be totally acceptable in the terms of energy balance. It is hard to totally give up the discount and the savings for getting my hair and nails done. I can see a day where I might choose that, but not in the next 6 months at minimum. Time will tell.

The new job is going well, I think. My new boss is very touchy feely and well, we all know I like that. She calls me babe all the time, and while I don't mind, I have to wonder if the bossman whose office is adjacent has any objection. And she is is also very gracious with the help when I have no idea what thew fuck I am doing. But when she explains it slow enough for me to write a few things down, I get it quick enough to recover, or so it seems. I think by the time the August issues are put to bed, I might be on my way. By the way, if you haven't followed, my new boss is eb.

So as my new schedule settles around me, there is still plenty of knitting to be done. And surprise contemplation. I am at the point where I need to commit and I went back to the planning site to see if there was more info. It seems that the particulars have changed a bit, just enough that I might have to give it up and consult with eb before committing. Drat. I think I will go knit and meditate on it until she wakes up this morning.

Recap

So we did not jet to the island yesterday. As has been the norm lately, we had some wicked thunderstorms in the area. I drove through them on the way home from the yarn store and bagel shop. I think traffic on the freeway was slowed to about 30 mph.

Just before my exit it had let up a little and I was not sure which way it was going. I got home to a dry driveway and figured it was headed our way. I hurriedly shuttled the dogs out the door to pee and the thunder made all three of them come sit at my feet on the patio. I got up and went and stood in the middle of the yard and all three followed and peed. I saw that Sawyer has a wicked rash in the crease of one of his hind legs. Attractive. I think he will have to go to the vet. Yippee.

So we did not go to Galveston. Also, Lilli Munster did not get transformed from a dustmop Chewbacca looking doll to a snauser. Her grandmama, Angela, had her brother and parents donme recently in a snauser cut and they were all so cute, I think I might give it a go. I will drop her this morning.

Not much else going on here today. Some laundry and some cleaning. Woohoo.