TechyGeekGirlKnits

We Apologize for The Delay...

2009-03-16T07:19:00.000-07:00

I'm trying my best to get out there and "live" my life, but I feel like I keep getting delayed.

Right now I'm literally sitting in the STL airport, waiting for a flight that has been delayed for 2 hours due to mechanical issues. I keep thinking of all the stuff I could have done this morning, rather than sitting here...waiting. But then I think that I have not had any "down" time for a couple of weeks and sitting and not doing, is not so bad!

Work has been crazy lately. I am scheduled to be working with the NC team in their office until at least mid-April. Work is getting slow and the company is taking action, so it's putting everyone on edge. While I'd like to think I'm "safe" for now, with the way things have been going, I can't say that with certainty...I don't think anyone can. All I can do is find as much work as I can, do the best work that I can and pray.

"Real Life" has not really been put on hold, though feels like it. This past weekend was "Shower Mania" weekend with a bridal shower for MA and a baby shower for Mrs. Dunnters. There were great women there and lots of fun!! Saturday was the bridal shower and the group ended up playing drinking games at the end of the night. For those keeping score...the age range was from 20ish to 50ish...!! Quite the group, and yet there was lots of laughing, dancing and WooHoo's all night long. Next weekend is a wedding in Miami with family, then a retreat weekend and another shower weekend. Rumor has it, I will have time in April...though that has not been confirmed!!

My dating life is still on hiatus and I'm ok with that. There are several guys that I talk to on a regular basis, which makes life interesting. We compare dating stories and talk about how crazy guys & girls are...we haven't solved the world's problems yet, but working on it! (no, not sure if I would actually date them seriously...it's all in the timing!) And of course I have been hanging out with wonderful women in NC and at home, so I'm in good hands. Yes, sometimes it's still lonely, but I am surrounded by great friends and family, so I know I am blessed.

Hopefully we will be back to "Our Regularly Scheduled Programming" soon. I could use a couple nights at home and some extra sleep!!

Don't Be An OBSTACLE

2009-02-25T19:17:00.001-08:00

My Tahoe trip was this past weekend. You may have remembered it from my birthday weekend in the fall. All expenses paid. (Airfare, transfer from the airport, 3 nights at the resort, 4 SPA TREATMENTS for EACH of us!) I had to cover meals, ski rentals, tips.

Linz went with me and I couldn't have asked for a more fun & exciting companion for this trip. She was gracious, and encouraging, and made me laugh - oh so hard. Those double-over-can't-catch-your-breath-I-think-Sailor-Jerry's-Rum-is-going-to-shoot-out-my-nose laughs. And yeah, what happens in Tahoe, should very well stay in Tahoe... :) Except for the $250 she won in Vegas...that can be used anywhere!

We stayed at the Squaw Creek Resort.

It was near the Squaw Valley ski village. It was the site of the 1960 Winter Olympics. There is a high camp...with a heated pool. Yep, that's a snow plow clearing the deck of snow!

And rumor has it, it's the best skiing in Tahoe. I would have to agree. The views were AMAZING!!

I got back to LIVING this weekend. I felt I had been drifting back to the sidelines, but this weekend dragged me back into the action. Faced some fears, tried something new very whole heartedly, soaked all the beauty and atmosphere in. Had some really good heart-to-hearts with friends - new & old, that put life in perspective and made me realize that I am not alone. And that I am truly blessed to have such wonderful people in my life. It was A-M-A-ZING!

I took a lesson, fell once on the first day, then proceeded to ski the rest of the day and all of the next. Oh yeah, I hurt. Couldn't hardly walk! But it was worth it. Oh, so worth it.

I do have to admit though, that I was getting annoyed with the "Snowboarders" a bit during the day. They would fall down, not get up, then become "Obstacles" on the slopes. For new skiiers (like me!!), that was not good. The sudden stops and just "hanging out" were getting to me. So I started telling everyone - "Don't Be An Obstacle". After saying that all day and thinking about it, it made sense not only on the slopes...but in life in general. Think about it!

The drive to South Tahoe was breathtaking and a little unnerving for those of us with height issues. (High points, not short stature...thank you very much!) And the gang enjoyed giving me a little bit of trouble for that - thanks!

This is Emerald Bay at dusk:

Playing at the casinos was fun. I collected my "tacky" magnets and played some slots. I think I won around $40 off my original $20...but kept on playing until it was gone.

I am so thankful for the opportunity to take this trip with the group I was with and have such a fabulous time. I am thankful that I live in a country where I can be in a beautiful place at the top of a mountain in little over 4 hours in a plane. I am thankful for great friends who I love dearly and would not have the same experiences without them. And mostly I am thankful that I have been able to fully experience and live through the "Winter of SWinters" and put my life back into perspective. I am truly blessed.

Next time though, I totally want to win a trip to the Carribean!!

Comfortably Numb?

2009-02-04T20:42:00.000-08:00

After several emotionally trying conversations this week, freak-outs from work, the awfully cold weather and just dealings with life in general, I came to the conclusion this afternoon that I just wanted to be NUMB!

Numb from the hurt, cattiness, stress, sad, scary, enemies, lonliness, "it's not you, it's me", fear, smothering, and all the negative stuff that seems to be hitting me this week.

But NUMB! means numb. Everything is numb.

So I would then be numb from the happy, excited, anticipation, love, friendship, cuddles, joy, confident, and all the good stuff that's out there too.

And I don't think I can give that up. Not even when I feel the worst, do I want to give up the good feelings....not even for a minute!

Thus I'm dealing. My mantra is back to "I will be ok. I will always be ok. I just don't know when OK will be." It has worked before...it shall work again!

I'm getting ready to start into the "busy" season - the "Winter of SWinters"! Linz & I take off for Tahoe in 2 weeks, then I spend a week in Tampa for ISPE, then a long weekend in Miami for a wedding, weekends for baby & bridal showers/bachelorette parties in Branson and a retreat weekend for church. And there may be some trips in there to NC for work, but not sure yet. I'm hoping that the weather gets warmer before I get to go there! Then MA gets married in May and my goal for this year is to participate in 3-4 triathlons this summer. It's gonna be busy.

On the dating front, my 8-ish month stint is coming to a close, I think. There are still some possibilities out there, but we'll see how it pans out. I met some great guys, some creepy guys, had some great meals, saw some fun places, had great conversation and learned a lot about myself along the way. There are traits that I am definitely looking for and many that I will not stand for. I am coming close to figuring out what I want...now he just needs to show up!! Truth be told though, I am ready to step back and take a breather for awhile. I would like to get myself throuh the next busy months and get myself back in order before I go there again.

Oh, and there's knitting too. Now that it's general knowledge that I'm going to be an AUNT! (HOW SUPER COOL IS THAT???) There is so much knitting to be done! I have some projects in the works, that will probably be airplane knitting for several trips. (Need to finish by mid- March....EEK!) I am so very excited for the addition to our family and wish the Dunnters all the love and support in the world!

Yes, I know it's been a couple of months since I've updated, but it's been crazy. And I found Facebook. I resisted for a long time, but I've been enjoying it. It's good to hear how friends from HS and college are doing and especially my family members. There are so many, all spread out, so it makes keeping up with them fun. Check it out!

Babies Put Me In the Christmas Mood

2008-12-15T16:03:00.000-08:00

I got a picture from a co-worker today:

This is Baby M from MI. His mom is a friend of mine that spent time in Switzerland with us. This little guy has more pictures from Europe before he was born, then most people do in their lifetime!

The sweater is this one. I am so happy that it fit at the right time and it looks fabulous on him!!

There is more baby knitting to be done and has been started. Must be kept on the DL though...dont' want to spill all my secret knitting early! But rest assured that "knitting season" is in full swing!

And how can you not be in the Christmas spirit with all the wee ones around?!?!

That's ZOOTINI...not Zuchini!

2008-11-17T19:24:00.000-08:00

A group of us "Partied for the Frogs" this weekend at Zootini at the St. Louis Zoo. The dress code was "Upscale hip with a 70's Flair...."

I believe we accomplished that:

Rick James made an appearance:

S-Diddy stole the show with a fabulous rendition of Sweet Caroline, that has been doomed to only legend, as it has been deemed way too amazing to share with the world. (for now...)

This may have to be an annual event!!

IWONIWONIWONIWONIWONIWONIWONIWON

2008-11-07T11:36:00.001-08:00

I won a trip to Squaw Creek Resort on Lake Tahoe from a radio station contest today.

The week did not start out well - was not happy with the election. (but that is for another day...)

My 36th birthday is Sunday.

The 35th year has treated me well. (See any of the posts from this year!)

Last year I bought myself boots. The year before a pair of running shoes and a YMCA membership.

I believe this year's gift is a bit better. And it doesn't cost me a cent!! (ok, just some taxes, but eh)

And I think I have someone special to go with too. But not sure. Still keeping this one under wraps for a bit...but looking good so far.

Now I just need to decide if I want to go skiing....or hiking!!

Excerpt From My Surreal Life

2008-10-21T19:47:00.000-07:00

My IM response to "He Who Does Not Deserve To Be Named" when asked why I would not go out with him again after he had blown me off and then showed up this weekend out of the blue after another 3 weeks. :

ok..bottom line:
I have no idea really what you want with me.
You started out everything acting as if you wanted a real relationship with me that would lead to something and I was following your lead that was where we were when you abruptly stopped talking to me almost 3 weeks ago.
Had you talked to me that following week and let me know what was going on...I may have been ok with everything
Now, I'm gunshy as to what to expect and scared I'm going to be sucked in and then pushed away.
I know what I want and I'm not sure if you can give it me.
I want stability.
I want someone who wants me and is willing to stick it out and see where this goes.
Someone who wants to talk to me, spend time with me and share their life with me
Who appreciates me for all that I am and still likes me and wants to be with me anyway.
Eventually, I would love to get married again and hopefully have kids, but I am willing to wait for the right person to come along. That is what I am working towards. And if it's not right, then that's fine. Lesson learned.
I'm talking to you now, because I was so smitten with you and loved talking to you. You made me feel important when we were together or when we chatted/talked
But it was the other times that drove me nuts.
The promises of calls that never came or saying that you would do something and not. I am not good at handling that - I need reassurance.
It's something I'm working through, but it's tough for me.
I apologize for leading you on the last couple of days - it's actually taken me awhile to come to terms with this. And it was not easy.

Oh, and I got advice from Life Sherpa from the STL Post Dispatch (last entry on page 3):

Blondengr: I dated a guy a couple of times and thought things were going well. After about 3 weeks, he totally bailed and wouldn't return calls or texts. Now another 3 weeks later and he started IM'ing me and wants to go out again. What gives? Why do guys think that after they bail, they can come back and act like all is "normal" again and that we won't be wary? (BTW - this guy is 38 and never married...)Blondengr

Life Sherpa: Because guys, quite often, can be idiots. Now that you have asked me the "what gives?" question, it's time to ask him the same thing. If he is not up front about the three-week absence, then he probably doesn't want to tell you he was seeing someone else at the time.Plus, 38 and never married? I hate to rag on a fellow guy, but what is the problem. He either is completely incapable of a commitment, or women have gotten tired of him before the altar came in view.

The weekend was full of very odd events that have been explained over the last couple of days - though are still completely surreal. Apparently there was a lot of drinking involved and people should not have been allowed to drive, let alone text or use a cell phone.

Fortunately I seem to have found someone stable and have been enjoying getting to know him over the last couple of weeks. Hopefully this will bring calm and balance to my life...

Finally, for those keeping score at home...I started a knitting project this week. I started a pair of Fuzzy Feet that will be a Christmas gift if I get them finished in time. I also had the pleasure of taking my friend Big-Z to Knitorious over the weekend and introduce her to their world of yarn and cool patterns. I believe this is a good sign - another one converted over the to the "Wool Side"!!

Don't You Just Love the Fall??

2008-10-07T20:20:00.000-07:00

A group from work chartered a bus to Hermann, MO on Sat. The weather was FABULOUS, as was the wine and the company, of course. Many a good time was had by all. And we have pictures to prove it:

Just arriving in Hermann:

During:

Before catching the bus for home:

Beautiful View:

I believe we need to make this an annual event.

It's Not Me....It's You

2008-09-30T18:37:00.000-07:00

Over the last couple of days, I've been pondering my reactions and "control" over a relationship that I have been in. (I don't like to see people trashed on blogs, so the identity will be kept to me) I realize that I had not been making the best decisions and I see that now. I was so hoping that I would have a chance to explain and redeem myself, but it does not seem to be the case. Apparently the other individual has decided to blow me off and I guess "hope" I fade away into the sunset. (Ok, so I don't know that for sure...but it really seems like that after 5 days of no talking...)

At first I felt incredibly guilty about the way I was acting and felt like it was all my fault. (ah, yes, the Golden Retriever is back!!) But the more time goes on, I am realizing that:

A) In adult relationships, people talk about what is bothering them and don't shut the other person out - if it's not working, say that. Allow for closure and move on. Blowing off the other person reminds me of high school.

B) This is eerily familiar to the end of my relationship with CFP - I was shut out and made to feel like it was all my fault, regardless of how much I tried to make it work or move on.

C) I deserve so much better than this - this persons does not deserve this much of my time and negative energy. I know I have my faults and I'm working through them (I have an appt on Friday!!). I want someone who will appreciate me for me and will respect me for that.

The biggest challenge of this whole thing has been figuring out how to meld my "Summer of Shannon" life in with a dating life. Since I tend to be "all in" in dating, but I was able to hone in on my independence and individuality during my Summer of Shannon, I found myself torn in how to handle all of this. (It is especially hard when they start out as "all in" too, but then slam on the brakes and then the door.) I still am not sure how to mix it all together, but I think I'm closer to finding the answers. Maybe I still have some honing in to do, but I feel like I'm getting closer with every relationship and holding out hope that someday, it will all come together. Until then, I'm learning and praying all I can.

On the positive side of all of it, I enjoyed being taken to nice places for dinner and was encouraged to "dress up" and look nice when we went out. Since I have been losing weight with my training, I have been able to buy new clothes and shoes! and have decided that I want to step it up a notch when it comes to work. I like dressing more professional and feel like I have gained a little more respect because of it. And that is not a bad thing. (I had someone ask me today if I had been on "What Not To Wear" and was living the "after" part of it...Had to laugh!!)

So I'm back to being just me. I am figuring out an outdoor workout schedule that will work with the shortening of days. Work has been crazy, but feeling encouraged, as I have not had to put in any overhead for being out of work this week - and I'm going to be traveling a little coming up. And it's Fall, which is the most kick-ass season of the year!! (ok, mostly because my birthday is coming up, but whatever...) There are 5k Runs to be run, wineries to visit, friends to have a drink with, God-daughters to spoil, family to hang out with and days to Thank God for putting me on this fabulous earth.

Normalcy

2008-09-28T06:14:00.000-07:00

I have this need for order in my life that I cannot get over. Everything must happen a certain way, at a certain time, in a certain place. (Surprisingly though, this does not apply to my house or desk, but I digress...)

I do not know where it came from or why it is worse than it used to be (or maybe I'm just realizing it more...). Problem is, I think it's starting to effect my life in a catastrophic way. I truly believe that I'm about to lose people important to me because of it. And I'm not sure what to do, other than pray and catch myself when I realize it.

So there is a lot of praying and soul searching going on. Hopefully I can "snap" out of it before the bottom falls out. Please keep me in mind...

The Fall (As in Autumn) of Shannon

2008-09-15T20:18:00.001-07:00

The Summer of Shannon is slowly coming to a close. The AC has been turned off. The top on the convertible has been up more than it has been down. The grass is FINALLY starting to not have to be mowed EVERY week. Etc...

It's been a good Summer. I found out who my really good friends are. I found out that my family (immediate & extended) really dig me. I got a cool car. Work finally clicks with me. My house finally is starting to look lived in and "grown up". I feel like my life is finally in order...I think.

The end of August was a whirlwind. I went to Iowa to visit my aunt and uncle in Davenport. It was a cool trip and luckily an easy drive. They live in the city, so we were close to everything. On Friday night we went down to the riverside and had dinner in this great outdoor cafe. It's hard to believe that this is the same Mississippi River! Saturday my aunt & I visited the Farmer's Market which was great - love the fresh fruit & veggies.

Then we met up with my uncle and rode bikes down to the river, took the ferry to the IL side for lunch and rode all over. The weather was beautiful and the ride was fabulous. On Sunday we got up and played golf. Again, beautiful weather, but I played terribly (not playing any more this year...). And the drive home was good.

Since then, I have have been hanging out with friends, I bought a new bike to race and train with and been meeting new people. I have had some dates too, which have been fun. Been to some great places and had fun. I think I may have met someone great with a lot of potential and it's going well so far, but I'm so afraid I'm going to revert to old ways and sabotage. I know,I know, I've come so far, learned so much and become a much better person...but it's so easy to go back to that familiar place and stay. So I'm trying harder to be better about it and not be so obsessive and planning and intense....but it's hard. (There is a lot of praying and late night texts to friends to help me through my insanity - thanks y'all.) For now, not going to divulge much more...need to see how this plays out.

I found out today that I may be going to MI for a couple of weeks for work. It's not my first choice, but it's work and they say MI is nice this time of year, so I probably won't be too bad. And I've never been there, so it will be a cool new place to check out. Of course they told me I won't find out until Thursday if I have to be there Monday, so this weekend may be interesting!

Still training for triathlons, though the season is pretty much over. I decided I would train through the Fall/Winter and then try to compete in one a month next year. It's a lofty goal, but I have plenty of time and a new bike! With a bell!! (that one is for you, Linz)

So here I am, easing into the Fall of Shannon, keeping on the path forged at the start of the Summer. It's been a little rocky at times, but mostly rather fun and I'm looking forward to the trail being blazed as I go.

2:31.00

2008-08-17T19:23:00.000-07:00

300 Yard Swim - 5:13 (minutes)
18 Mile Bike - 1:44
5K Run - 44 (minutes)

I got there early and was incredibly nervous about the transitions. Everyone I talked to was so great and helpful. And there were so many people who passed me (eek!) that gave encouragement as they passed.

I swam:

That was the easy part. I even passed 2 guys on the way through AND I ended up swimming faster than my seed time! Placed 4th in my agegroup for the swimming.

I biked:

There were a ton of hills and I lost my chain on about mile 9 of the bike.

I ran:

The first mile of the run was killer (more hills!) but got my stride by the 3rd mile.

Burst into tears when I realized my parents were there at the finish line: I FINISHED!!

My goal for the day was 2:30, so completely stoked that I was that close.

I placed 13 out 15 in my agegroup. I placed 74 out of 79 for women. (At least I was not last!)

Thanks to RayRay for coming and showing support. (and for a great breakfast!!)

I need a new bike more condusive for these races.

Now that I finished one, I know what I need to do for the next one.

I believe that officially I am now a "Triathlete"

Summer of Shannon - Update!

2008-08-06T20:12:00.001-07:00

When we last left our heroine, she was enjoying her new convertible and getting ready to start a new project at work....

4th of July weekend was fun and furious. My friend RayRay and I enjoyed the John Mayer concert (ran into T there, BTW - very strange encounter!) and then went to the Cubs/Cards game and then Ted Drewes on the 4th - very traditional STL! The rest of the weekend was spent golfing and swimming.

My cousin Zacky and his fiance Jules were in town over the weekend of the 10th, so swim party and dinner! They were stopping through while driving to FLA from Hawaii (no, there is no bridge there...) and I hadn't seen them in years. Their wedding is in Key West in March - another family wedding not to be missed!

I spent the weekend of the 17th - 20th in ATL with relatives. It was a great weekend with family. Lots of great food and drinks, golf, tennis and meatballs! I had such a great time with them and was so fortunate to be able to visit. I miss everyone down there and hopefully fate will change and they will all get to come "home" soon!

My tri-athlon had to be postponed. First, I dragged my feet a little too much and it was full by the time I tried to register. Second, I was suffering from shin splintz and probably would not have been able to make it as much as I wanted to. (And I didn't get to train as much as I needed to - see paragraph above!) And honestly, it was really hot that day - I ended up golfing and it was really freakin' hot that day. Very happy I didn't end up racing that day.

So I did sign up for another tri-athlon on the 17th of this month. The swim is a little shorter, but the bike ride is much longer! I did buy new shoes (thanks for the recommendation JimC & MA!) and that has helped my shins. I am training more than I was before, so hopefully I'll at least be able to finish! I did find out that the store that RayRay's fiance works at has a tent there that day and I've been TOLD that I'm hanging out with them after the race. Grrrreaaaat... Probably a bunch of cute, toned guys and I'm going to be a giant gooey mess after the race. Hopefully they will find that endearing!

In a moment of weakness last weekend, I signed up for the online dating scene again. I know, I totally was going to swear it off, but I got a little bored and lonely last weekend and wanted to try again! I'm not sure how it's going to go...if I'm disappointed again, then I'll be totally done with it - just not worth the hassle, heartbreak and $$. I was dating someone I met through RayRay early this summer, but he drove me crazy. Was a bit too immature and flaky for a 29.5 year old. (yeah, thanks for the 2am "booty calls"...when I'm in ATLANTA!!) Maybe someday when he figures it out, but definitely not any time soon. It's actually starting to drive me crazy - like there is no one out there, or there's a big red warning sign on my forward that repels anyone decent. Not sure what to think of that anymore.

The Summer of Shannon is winding down, but August is chocked full of excitement - it's not over yet! Party for MA & JimC this weekend, bridesmaid dress shopping and golf too. Tri-athlon next weekend - send me rest and lots of Carbs! Visiting my aunt & uncle in IA for a weekend. Sailing into Labor Day weekend - full speed ahead. Oh, and that project is in full swing at work and consuming time, but totally cool and keeping me busy. I've learned so much over the last year or so - totally worth it.

Continuing the Summer of Shannon

2008-07-01T06:42:00.000-07:00

About 3-4 months ago, on a trip home from Switzerland, when I was contemplating where I was in the Universe... I made the statement that my next car would be a convertible. I love them and since I was single and a wee bit sassy and not having to worry about car seats, so it just made sense.

Fast forward to last week, when I decided I had enough of my 17 mpg SUV (on a good day!) and wanted to get into a car that would get better gas mileage. I stopped into the local GM dealer in WashMo and started talking to them and see if they could work me a deal, as my SUV was not worth much at this point. I was looking at the G6 and new Malibu.

I get a call yesterday that they were not able to get a good deal on either of the vehicles I was looking at, but that they had a brand new (500miles) 2007 G6 Convertible on the lot that they may be able to make a deal for...but only if I was interested.

Um, ARE YOU SERIOUS???

I hadn't even LOOKED at the convertibles thinking they were too high. Turns out they were very anxious to make a deal to get rid of this one. The payments are a little bit higher than what I was paying, but the amount of gas savings offset it.

Thus this is what I brought home last night:

It's Cute and Sassy, heavy on the Sassy!

Apparently the Summer of Shannon has paid off!

To Whom It May Concern

2008-06-18T06:48:00.000-07:00

Would the person who keeps sending me newspaper articles about financial stuff ("J" from STL is all that is signed) please:

1) Identify yourself so I don't think I'm being stalked.

2) Stop sending me these articles.

While I appreciate the thought, I view financial issues personal, much like politics and religion and do not like to have people tell me what to do with mine. You do not know my situation and frankly, I find the assumption that you do, overstepping some boundaries.

Thank you.

Now I will return to the regularly scheduled "Summer of Shannon".

I Don't Think I'm Ok...At Least for Now...

2008-06-08T20:41:00.000-07:00

This Summer of Shannon is going to be harder than I thought. I'm one week in and I'm ready to completely jump off the side of my deck to the ground below. This is not going to be pretty.

Now I'm not one to back down from a challenge. Never have been - in fact, I come to seek them out at times.
Golf, no problem - shot a 111 today after not picking up a club in 8 months, including 3 parred holes.
Engineering School - got 2 degrees.
Striking out on my own to find new adventures - bring 'em on.
Rediscovering/figuring out who you are and dealing with the emotional stuff that goes along with it - hand me a drink...I'm going to sit this one out!

Being single sucks. There, I said it. And there is no shame in that. Lots of people feel that way. And no, I don't believe my married friends when they tell me how LUCKY I am to be single...sorry! I just came off a great, fun week in DC and weekend of doing all sorts of stuff and was sent into a tailspin because I feel like someone has blown me off and no clue why. And I just wanted to share fun DC and weekend stories with someone, but I came home to an empty house. Again. (yeah, pups just can't appreciate your stories as much) And my new awning collapsed today and I think it's broken and I don't have anyone here to help me with it. And I just feel like crying...

So yeah, I know, I need to deal with this. And figure this out. And get to the point where this doesn't bother me. And, And, And... And this is not easy for me. I feel like I want to make changes and I don't have a clue where to start. I think I have an idea, but then I go into a tizzy and get all flustered and freak out again. Apparently there is no rule book on this one, so I'm on my own....!

I don't think there is anything wrong with me, honest. (really, you can stop laughing now...) Even after the divorce, when everyone told me "You are going to be Ok", I agreed with them. My response was always: "I know I'm going to be Ok. I just don't know when Ok will be". I don't think I'm there yet - at least not 100%. But I don't know how to get there...yet, either. (so any suggestions would be great!!)

As I continue my quest, for OK, please continue to give your support...as I think I'm going to need as much as I get...

(Oh, and if you happen to have the Cliffs Notes for this...send it my way too!)

National WWII Memorial in Washington DC

2008-06-01T20:33:00.001-07:00

These are for you Grandpa Winters.
(Crew member of the USS Pelias stationed at Pearl Harbor, Dec 7, 1941)

I am so sorry that you were not able to see this.

We are proud of you.

And love you and miss you.

Video from the WWII Memorial is posted here.

The Summer of Shannon

2008-05-30T21:38:00.000-07:00

The other night while I was running, I decided that Summer 2008 would be the "Summer of Shannon"

Now, let me clarify a bit. (because it sounds a little conceited...)

The last couple of months away have lent myself to really look at what I've been doing with my life, how I've been acting/reacting and where I am going. I realized that I have been doing a lot of standing on the sidelines and watching life go by. Or standing there being a "Debbie Downer" or complaining about things, rather than doing something about it.

No more. That era is done. Things are going to change.

If Ican navigate myself through 4 airports in 3 different countries in a period of 24 hours, this should be easy. I've been self-sufficient in a country where English is NOT a primary language and have 1500 pictures to prove it. And I drove on the German Autobahn with no speed limit...

So the plan is to get back to the point where I am happy with myself again. It's been a while and I've come a long way...just a few more things to get through and we're there.

I want to get in touch with friends and spend more time with them. I keep saying that and have every intention of it, but "time" gets in the way. This week I went out with several groups of friends and had a blast. I need to just do it more often! The same thing with my family. I have 3 sibs and 3 in-laws that live in town - get to know them better!

And I would love to explore the US more. I saw 4 countries in 4 weeks...there is nothing that says I have to stay in MO for the summer. There are so many cute towns and cool places to visit just in the Midwest! And relatives in many of them, so even more opportunities for visits!

My house needs some work. I have a guy mowing the lawn, so I should have more time to plant flowers, work on the deck and finish some of the rooms inside. There are some more touches that can be made - let's get it going!

Me. I started on my quest to lose weight a year ago and successfully lost 15 lbs. It's not enough. I still am not in the shape I want to be in. So I think I'm going to make some goals. There is a mini-Triathalon in Kirkwood on July 27. It will be tough, but I think I'm up for it. I just need to make the commitments and train for it. It's doable. I have a lot of support. (though no one has stepped up to do it with me...) And I just bought a new pair of shoes and running gear. I think I am up for the challenge and my health (and hopefully the sexy -skinny me) will be better for it!

And if it ends up that someone wants to be part of my life, then all the better. They say that you have to be happy with you before you can be happy with someone else. I finally see what they are talking about, I think. It's tough (6 people in my office are engaged right now!) and I have met some great people as of late (one of which I would love to get to know better!). But it's not in my control. I have to trust that all will work out the way God intended it. All I have control over is my actions and reactions and I'm trying to do better there too.

So there it is. The plan. A list if you will. (are you surprised Kerin?)

The Summer of Shannon has begun...

Feels Like Coming Home

2008-05-21T12:52:00.000-07:00

I'm all packed. Finally. Wasn't sure there for a while, but I emptied everything out and repacked it. Still not sure how I'm going to make it to the Zurich airport with 2 checked and 2 carry on bags, but we'll see! And I'm sure I'll be paying extra for weight too... Oh well!

I'm sitting here thinking about going to bed and getting antsy to talk to someone, anyone! I've been an emotional trainwreck this week and it's finally catching up with me. I'm going to miss being here, but I am truly ready to go home. (I actually started a list of things I liked/disliked about being here...for a later date!)

The travel is the toughest part about going home. I am so excited to go, but so dread the long flight, bad food, layover, weather, flying, etc. If they ever perfect "beaming" a la StarTrek, I'm so there! I'm anxious to get there, but have to go through this to get there...

Anyway, I'm looking forward to the Summer in STL. (I know I keep saying that, but it's so true!) I have no clue what I am doing or whatever, but it's home!!!

So I better get to bed, in case I have the screaming kids or perpetual hitter with the cold by me tomorrow. See you on the flip side...

There Are No Kanagroos In Austria

2008-05-18T10:13:00.000-07:00

Just got back from Salzburg, Austria a little bit ago. It was absolutely fantastic! We drove up Friday afternoon and left about 10am this morning. The drive was about 6 hours, but the view was spectacular, as always. And we packed a TON of stuff in the 2 days were were there.

We stayed in a Bed & Breakfast in Salzburg:

It was a little off the beaten path, but it was just right for us. All 5 of us were able to sleep comfortably and the room was rather reasonable for the area. In order to get to the main part of the city, we had to walk down the street, up/down a hill, then through this tunnel:

which had a section for car traffic, then a separate pathway for foot and bike traffic. And there was a parking garage built right into it!

The first night we had dinner outside at a cafe that sat in front of Mozart's birthplace:

The food and bier was great and we totally lucked out on the weather. We even had apple struedel for dessert!

Saturday morning, we woke up and walked back into the city and found the information center which was across from the Residence Fountain that sits in Residenzplatz:

We also walked back to see Mozartplatz and the Mozart statue:

We then walked through the plaza of the Cathedral:

in order to get to the funicular to reach the Hohensalzburg Fortress (shown above Neptune's Fountain):

It was fun walking through the Fortress and seeing the view of the city. The sky was a little overcast, but not too bad for taking pictures.

After that, we walked over to Mirabell Garden. (Part of "The Sound of Music" was filmed there too):

And we visited the Bastion or Dwarves Garden:

Then had lunch in a little cafe along the Salzach River:

For the afternoon, we took a bus up to Untersberg to take the cable tram up to the top of the mountain:

It started raining right as we were getting up to the top, so the visibility was almost nothing. So we just took a couple of pictures and took the same tram down the mountain.

On the bus back to Salzburg, we stopped at the Hellbrun Gardens with the Trick Fountains. It was a guided tour through the garden. All of the features were built in the 17th century and are completely powered by water!

The Arch Bishop's Table:

The Mechanical Theater:

(I downloaded some of the motion fountains to my YOUTUBE account.)

We saw the Pavillion from "The Sound of Music":

and a beautiful flower garden:

After going back to the room for showers and some rest, we headed out to the Augustiner Braustubl. (St. Augustine Abbey Brewhouse):

It was great. Upstairs were there stands of all sorts of different foods for sale. We found cheeseburgers and fries!

Then downstairs was the brewhouse and you paid for what size you wanted. Grabbed a mug off the shelf:

Washed it out in ice cold water:

Then had the server pour it directly from the barrel that had been tapped. (Not actual size!)

After dinner we went outside to sit in the biergarten. It was a beautiful evening and the bier was cold and easy going down!

We rode the bus back home and crashed after that - it had been a long day!

We left at about 10am on Sunday and got to Basel at about 4pm. It was a long weekend, but absolutely fabulous! (Thanks Jill for planning & driving!)

I leave Basel for good on Thursday this week. I'm ready to get home and enjoy the summer in STL. I will start packing tonight and I'm a little nervous I'm going to forget something. Luckily there is still a group staying here, so if I need more chocolate or cookies, they can bring them home for me!

Whirlwind Switzerland Tour - Part II

2008-05-11T14:29:00.001-07:00

Today was the second half of the "Europe" tour, since we had the car for the entire weekend. I did not drive today, which was a good thing. It got a little dicey in the mountains and I was OK being navigator. (though not a really good one...)

Captain Komo:

Our first stop was in Zermatt. This is one of the southernmost points in Switzerland, right next to the Italian border. A group of us actually went down there earlier this year, but we traveled by train. (Pictures from that trip are here)

In order to get to the valley where Zermatt is, we had to take the train. But it's a train where you drive onto the railcars:

And then ride in your car, on the train through the tunnel. It looks like this when we were riding: Completely pitch black!!

It was pretty exciting going by car, as we could drive all the way into the town of Tasch, then catch the 10 minute train shuttle into the town. Once we got through the pass, we had to drive down the rest of the way into the valley. The view down the mountain was spectactular!

Unfortunately, a storm was rolling in, so the mountain was mostly blocked by clouds. Here is what is looked like today:

You can just make out the peak of it through the clouds. And as we were finishing up pictures, it started to just pour rain, so it was a good thing that we did not try to go up to the top again.

After leaving Zermatt, we headed north to Luzern. I had not seen it at all and wanted to see a couple of the sites there. Chris had printed out maps and after some guessing and back-tracking, we ended up on what appeared to be the right road to get out of the valley and on our way. That is until we came to the road closed sign on the pass. It ended up we had to go "through" the mountain on the other side to get back out again, so we loaded onto the train and rode it again. It was a bit longer trip this time, but interesting nonetheless.

This pass dumped us out a little higher in the mountains and it was noticeable change from the other mountainous areas we had been in. The houses were made of stone, not wood, there was much more snow and hardly any trees. And we had to go down the mountain further to get to the highway. The scene again was breathtaking:

We made it into Luzern at about 6pm, which gave us just enough time to see the sites that we wanted to see. Luckily it has been staying light here until after 9, so we had plenty of time.

We saw the Lion of Luzern monument. (Called: Lõwendenkmal in German)

And as my friend Lindsey said (quoted loosely...) "I do not believe that I have ever seen stone cry". It was amazing and very moving. And the longer you stand and look at it, the more details are picked up in it. Truly a site to see if you get the chance.

I also wanted to see the bridge over the lake/river in the old section of the town. It was built back in the 1400's and still had paintings from the 1700's in it. It was very pretty and the flowers were out along it too.

Last, but not least is Mount Pilatus, which is a backdrop to the town. It was impressive as well:

We got home at about 9pm and returned the car with over 1200 km additional on it! It was an exhausting, but fabulous weekend. (and I have over 270 pictures from the weekend to prove it!)

Whirlwind Europe Tour 08 - Part I

2008-05-10T13:47:00.000-07:00

Just got in from "Castling" outside of Fussen, Germany. We visited the Neuschwanstein Castle which is the basis for the Disney Cinderella Castle. The walk up was about 30 minutes up hill, but the day was gorgeous, as was the scenery. The inside was magnificent as well and totally worth it. I was very pleased with the pictures with my new camera. I took a bunch and played with all the settings!

Pictures are below. I am incredibly tired and Part II starts tomorrow at 8am and I still want to shower before bed. I'll try to post pix from tomorrow when we get home...

Is it the "Cubs Curse"?

2008-05-07T14:28:00.000-07:00

Greetings from Basel. It's Wednesday night. I was supposed to be here Tuesday morning, but was delayed about 8 hours. I think it was the Cubs Curse....you be the judge!

So this all started late last week, when I was joking with my friend JR who is a die-hard Cubs fan over the Cards/Cubs games this past weekend. A wager was set over the outcome of the series. (ok, it got a little racy towards the end, but it was a good bet!)

After splitting the series and a nail-biter mid-way through the 5th, the Cards handily won the series, thus I won the bet. (thank goodness - see the note above!) My parents were at the game and I stayed at their house and watched it on TV, Life was good.

Come Monday morning, I was scheduled to leave for my last trip to Basel on this project. The sun was shining, not a cloud in the sky. I got up, went running, ate a good breakfast, MA took me to the airport, Life Is Good, right...yeah, not so fast...

My flight to NYC was great. No major turbulence, sunny skies, got in on time, etc. I was able to enjoy a nice lunch, catch up with some friends online, etc. All was well.

I got my flight to Zurich. I was in a row to myself, though surrounded by about 20 kids under the age of 12. (turns out a lot of families were headed to Tel Aviv via Zurich for the 60th anniversary of Israel this week...) I figured they would settle down after the meal and it got dark, so that was fine.

Until we sat there for an HOUR after the time we were supposed to take off.
Then they had us get off the plane due to maintenance.
Then 15 minutes later, they cancelled the flight.

At this time, I was on the phone with JR, who reminded me that because I had won the bet, that the Cubs Curse was out to get me. Apparently I had upset the universe and it was "righting" itself at that time. This was NOT a good sign of things to come!

Since I have Platinum status on AA, I was able to get in that ticket line and get rerouted through London to Zurich that night, instead of having to wait 24 hours for the same flight, the next day. The trick was that I had to get my luggage, which was stuck in customs to British Airways 1 hour before departure, or they would not let me or my luggage fly! I made that by about 10 minutes and got on the flight. It was completely full, but I liked it better than AA - individual screens on the seats, they give you masks and socks,etc and the alcohol was complimentry! The flight was a tad bit shorter too, and I got to hang out in the infamous new Terminal 5, which was cool, even though I was a mess and everything was uber expensive! (I got some magnets and Westie stuff though...)

I finally got to Zurich at about 2:30 in the afternoon and to my apartment in Basel at about 6. It was a long 2 days and I was ready to shower, eat & crash. I did arrive with all my luggage, so I was ahead of the game in some respects...

So, yeah, I think it was the universe getting back at me for betting against the Cubs. Still don't regret the bet and have every intention of collecting on that bet. (Hey JR - not kidding about dessert too for this one!)

And there is a good chance that I'll make it again 3 more times this year, when the Cards/Cubs play again. I think I'll take that chance....Feeling good about my boys this year!!

Lighten Up Already, Will Ya??

2008-05-04T17:26:00.000-07:00

It came to my attention this week that I was being such a "Debbie Downer" on my last trip to Switzerland. (Really, this came to me all by myself...though a couple of trusted friends did not argue with me when I said it!).

To those of you who that effected - I apologize profusely. That was not my intent, nor do I have a clue what caused that, though I could probably come up with some good guesses. Needless to say, about 24 hours back at home kicked that, and I think for good.

This week has been fun. I have been able to catch up with some friends I haven't seen in a while, ate Mexican a couple times, saw a great Cardinal's game, made a great bet on the Cards/Cubs games and WON!, ran a 5k in 38 minutes and found someone to mow my lawn. I was a little bummed that I would not be going back over during the Summer, but after getting a little taste of Summer in da 'Lou, I AM happy to be coming home. There will be a lot going on here and I'm excited to be able to be part of it. LIFE IS GOOD!

I've come to some revelations about myself lately too. Like, I need to make sure that I'm happy with me and what I'm doing. AND focus on making sure that I don't take myself too seriously. I think it's been coming out in all the wrong places and is not working for me. There are so many parts of my life I can control - I need to focus on that. Worrying about the stuff I cannot control will not get me anywhere and is not worth the effort, really!! (um, Duh! - Yeah, I know...)

I want to travel more and see family/friends I have not seen in a while (This is your warning - I may be heading your way!!). I have work that needs to be done to the house that I would love to get to and keep running and hopefully swimming more. (Sounds like I'll be busy this summer!!)

Tomorrow I go back to Basel for my last trip this round. (Not sure if I'll go back later - I'm on the "maybe" list and will find out over the next months.) This will be a relatively short trip - only about 17 days vs. the 30 days I was last time. It will go fast and be fun. We have a couple of weekend trips planned to Austria and Germany, so it will be good.

To all of you I did not get to see this week, I will be back at the end of May and I look forward to seeing you soon!!

"The King" in Zurich

2008-04-20T12:23:00.000-07:00

Just got back from Zurich a little bit ago. I went with Heather J and some of her friends. It was fun. We took the "fast" train down there, then took a lunch boat ride around Lake Zurich. It was a little chilly and overcast, but beautiful. The mountains are at the southern end of the lake, which give a magnificent view. (but, truth be told...I prefer Lake Geneva!!)

After the boat ride, we walked over to the museum along the Limmant River. The weather warmed up considerably by then, so it was a lovely walk.

The King Tut exhibit was interesting. It took about 2 hours to go through and we got the Audio tour too, which helped. Most of the displays were written in German, as well as the movies that were shown. I was rather disappointed that the exhibit was just copies of the actual items that were found in the tomb. It was neat to see the history and some of the items though.

After the exhibit, we headed for home. The group was going to stay for dinner, but it was already getting late and we wouldn't be back until way after 10. I actually fell asleep on the train on the way home, so leaving early was a good idea.

I fly home on Friday and will be home for a little over a week. I'm excited to go home, but I've been getitng used to being here. I do feel that I'm getting a little spent over here, so the break will be nice. Still have a bad case of Spring Fever though...

The Blind Cow, Irish Pub & Dijon, France

2008-04-13T01:30:00.000-07:00

I had quite the eating experience on Friday night. A group of 15 of us ate at a restaurant in Basel called Blindkuh, which is translated to "The Blind Cow". It is a restaurant that you eat in complete darkness, in order to give you the experience as if you were visually impaired. They lead you into the completely dark restaurant in a line and sit you at the table. The menu was given to us before we entered, but we order from our visually impaired waitress, Frainy, who was wonderful for putting up with us! I sat between two of the UK Boys who were a riot. Before we even got our drinks, they had taken all the silverware and glasses and moved them to one end of the table! I ended up eating the "Menu Surprise" for dinner, which included soup, a main course of meat, potatoes and vegetables and dessert. It was strange trying to eat, as honestly, I used my fingers a couple of times to figure out where all the food was! The meat was odd - beefy, but gamey. (The meat turned out to be Black Wildebeast, but they would not tell us until after the meal was over.) Towards the end of the meal though, members of our group decided to change shirts with each other. Most of the guys ended up in the girls' shirts, which was a riot. We got pictures, but I was threatened if I post them!! It was a cool experience, though I don't know if I would ever want to do it again....

After dinner, our group went to the Irish pub that we usually hang out in. A couple of us had stopped for a bier on the way and someone had brought an empty bottle into the bar, to throw it away (open containers are allowed). After everyone had gotten their biers and sat down, the owner came over, picked up one of the bottles and threw us all out - without letting anyone explain. (biers are 10CHF/each and everyone had at least one!) I got about 2/3 of my Guiness finished before leaving. Tony K, the only true Irishman with our group and probably the only one in the bar, tried to reason with the owner, but he would have none of it and Tony called him every name in the book. Needless to say, we'll be finding a new place to spend all of our money at in the future!

Yesterday a group of 11 of us drove to Dijon, France for the day. The weather was mostly sunny and in the 50's for the day, so it was good for walking around around. (I think we walked between 3-5 miles total!!) It was a pretty town and there were a lot of neat old Catholic churches:

St. Benigne

Notre Dame (notice all the Gargoyles on the front of it - there are a ton of them all over this church!)

St. Michel

They were all beautiful and had gorgeous artwork, tapestries, stone and woodwork and stained glass windows in each (I took another 100 pictures in all, so I have more with the details in them!). I found it refreshing to be in a Catholic church again too, so much so, that I found an English-speaking Catholic church to attend tonight in Basel!!

We also walked up in the Tour la Philippe Le Bon at the Palais Des Etats - all 317 circular steps of it!! The view was amazing and you could see all of Dijon and beyond.

The view was amazing and seeing all of the churches and various architectural styles was pretty cool. I have a 360 degree video here. The palace was impressive too:

Of course we could not stop in Dijon without buying mustard, so we bought some at Boutique Maille, which shows that it's been in existence since 1747! The mustard was more spicey and flavorful than the Dijon mustards I have had at home. It came in a little crock with a cork, after being dispensed from a TAP in the store - that was so cool! I ended up buying 2 jars, as two of them were absolutely fabulous! (Now I need to find some good pretzels or brats and we are in business!!)

We stopped for afternoon drinks at this outdoor cafe (which is pretty famous and all all the touristy stuff):

I did find a pretty bracelet in shop along a side street in town too. It was a colorful glass bracelet from a designer in Paris. Ok, so it was a little pricier than I would pay normally, but absolutely fabulous and how cool is it to say "I got it in France" when someone asks!!

Most of the streets looked like this:

There is a replica of the Arch de la Triomphe in Dijon too:

The white things in the middle of the flowers are ping-pong balls on stakes that I guess are supposed to look "cool" when lit up at night...

After a day of walking the town, we had dinner at the Les Halles de Bistro for dinner. It was really good and not as expensive as I would have guessed for all of us. (France was not as expensive as Switzerland!) We ended up leaving Dijon at about 9:30 and got back to Basel at about 12:30 and caught the tram home. It was a long but really fun day in France!!

Today it's supposed to be about 65 and mostly sunny today, so I think I'm going to take a book and a bottle of water out along the Rhine to read, then catch church and maybe dinner with the group tonight. I'm looking forward to a lazy day here, as it's been a crazy week and weekend thus far!!

Next weekend is my last on this Basel trip, so I'm hoping to "shop Basel" and explore the town. Hopefully the weather will cooperate with me too!!

Lake Geneva Trip with Commentary

2008-04-06T11:11:00.000-07:00

***Just a note: I posted a bunch of pictures from this trip yesterday, so scroll down to see them. I will add some more pictures as I go here too...

So some of you may know that I have been suffering a case of homesickness the last couple of weeks. It actually started before I left and continued into this week. It was bad and I did everything I could to combat it, but it was tough. Finally on Thursday this week, I was able to kick it - kick it hard and I've been good ever since!! I think planning this trip helped me get over it...

We met bright and early on Saturday morning at the train station to take the 6:01 train from Basel to Speiz. There were 7 of us in our group, which was a good size. The rest of the team went skiing, as it was the last weekend really of ski season. We bought 1st class tickets this time, so that we could access better seating later in the trip. 1st class was nice - plushier seats that reclined and not as many people. Not sure if it was worth the extra 27CHF in general, but it was nice.

In Speiz we boarded the Golden Pass train (special scenic route/line) on our way to Montreux. The first leg of the trip was Ok, but after changing trains again, the second leg proved to be breathtaking. We traveled through the Alps on the way to the lake and it was AMAZING to come over the top of the mountain and see the lake surrounded by the French Alps on the other side. Words cannot even begin to describe the scene:

Once in Montreux, we walked around a bit, to get a feel for where we were. Down from the boat launch and tourism center, we saw the Freddie Mercury memorial.

Apparently at some point in time he moved to Montreux and worked in Mountain Music Studios which is located there. While not a Queen fan, it was one of those "must sees", as we came that way and seeing all the "touristy" things is just fun.

From there, we walked about 1.5 miles along the lake to Le Chateau de Chillon (the castle). The walk was beautiful, as the weather was in the 60s and sunny. It was so incredible to walk along the lake with palm trees and look across and see the Alps!

There were a ton of sailboats along the shores and we imagined that the houses and apartments along there too were probably pretty pricey, but well worth it.

There were some great views as we came up on the castle and I took a ton of pictures. The view of the castle, lake and mountains in the background was spectacular and I just couldn't get over seeing it.

Since we opted for the walk, rather than the boat ride, we had about 45 minutes to spare waiting for part of our group. There was a courtyard outside the entrance with chairs along the lake, so we relaxed with an ice cream and sat for awhile. (I even got sunburned on my face!) We loved taking pictures with our feet up on the stone wall, next to a beer overlooking the lake and mountains.

The castle tour was great. It was self-guided, so we wandered all over looking at everything. Again, I took a ton of pictures, though my favorite were of the mountains through the windows -

there was just something about looking through those historical windows out over the lake to the mountains. The history of the site dates back to the 17th & 18th century BC, though the castle itself was built (or at least started) around 1005 AD. There is a lot of history with it, as it was mainly a prison. And there is fabulous artwork and interesting facets of the building which were really impressive. I am very happy that I opted to buy the 2GB card for my camera, as I took pictures of EVERYTHING! (now I need a new battery though, as it ran out first!)

After the tour of the castle, I purchased a "tacky" magnet and the little history book of the castle, along with a 2-pack of wine as souvenirs. One of the bottles will probably make it home, though the other will be enjoyed here. We took the bus back into Montreux, as most of us were tired of walking and "hung out" for the 5:15 boat to Lausanne.

The boat to Lausanne was really cool. We started out sitting outside upstairs (1st class ticket!), but once the sun went in, it got chilly fast and we ended up inside. I still took a bunch of pictures from outside though.

All along the lake are vineyards built into the sides of the mountain. (see picture 7 in the previous post) We were marveling at the ability to be able to plant them like that and how tough it must be to harvest!!

We landed in Lausanne and decided to eat dinner, as most of us were pretty hungry and tired. After dinner, we caught the tram to the train station and made the train home with time to spare. Luckily it was a 'fast' train, so after a switch in Bern, it took us a little over 2 hours to get home total. We had been gone for over 16 hours, but the day seem to fly by really.

I was really impressed with Lausanne and may have to go back soon. We really spent no time there, but from what I could see, it was beautiful.

It looks like I'm going to be here for most of May and most of June. The Eurocup 2008 is coming to Basel, so June will be crazy, but fun! More on that later...

Montreux & Le Chateau de Chillon on Lake Geneva

2008-04-05T15:01:00.000-07:00

Just got back. Took over 260 pictures. Totally spent, so no stories today - Only pictures. (I'll fill you in later...)

Enjoy the breathtaking beauty.... (It's a bit different than Lake Geneva in Wisconsin!!)

Spring Fever - Basel Style

2008-03-30T12:01:00.000-07:00

I'm back in Switzerland for 5 weeks. Well actually, for 4 more weeks...the first week has been a whirlwind!

The flight over was not good. It was full - absolutely no empty seats on the long flight. I did have 2 colleagues flying with me, so that was fun, but we all sat in different areas. The woman sitting next to me spoke German and had a cold. Since it was the night flight, I thought - no problem, I'll get to sleep it will be a great flight. Yeah, not so much. She took the armrest and then proceeded to drape her arm over into my seat, so I was left leaning over into the aisle. And she proceeded to hit me all night! And when I told her to please stop, she called me a "rude, impolite American". So I only got about 2 hours of sleep on the flight, which did NOT make me a happy camper for the start of the week. By Thursday, I had finally gotten so tired, that I crashed early. 7:30pm, to be exact and slept 11 hours!! (love the shutters on my windows - midday it's still dark in my apartment!)

Friday night, I went out with the group that was left and not going skiing on Saturday. We actually ran into a bunch of the guys from the other engineering company we are working with that are from the UK. It's the guys we usually hang out with, so it was fun. I may have a fleece from Ireland being shipped directly home, for the purchase of a Columbia jacket and some Peanut Butter Oreos for one of the guys. I find that to be a fair trade! So we drank Unzer blonde biers and then headed off to find the rest of our group that was supposed to be at another club dancing. Instead, we ended up in another bar and drinking Mojitos with Swiss doctors and businessmen. It was crazy and I don't remember a whole lot about the rest of the night...though I did make it home. And I ended up sleeping all day Saturday, as I had just a little too much fun....

Sunday I felt much better and met the group for lunch and then a couple of us went over to the Munster church in Basel.

It is an absolutely spectacular church and the architecture and stained glass windows.

I took almost 100 pictures during the visit. We climbed up to the top of the bell tower too, which involved climbing up about 300 steps - metal, wooden, thin stone spiral steps...it was pretty dicey towards the top, but I was pretty proud of myself for making it to the top. The view was SPECTACULAR!!!

We could see the mountains in Germany and France, with the snow still on them, while it was 65 and sunny in Basel. Absolutely gorgeous day.

After the Munster, we wandered over through the botanical garden. Most of the flowers are not yet in bloom, though the daffodils and some of the tulips were up.

We are definitely planning a return trip back.

After this weekend, I have the worst case of Spring Fever and it's not going to be getting any better as we get into April!!

I'm All A-"Twitter"

2008-03-23T20:34:00.000-07:00

A friend of mine who is much more tech-geeky than I introduced me to Twitter.com this weekend. I didn't think I would like it, but I'm really digging it now!

It's not really user friendly at first, but once you get the hang of it, it's acutally pretty cool.

It's a cross between IM and Blogging and I have been able to link it to my blog. (see right)

I will be updating my blog as I'm gone over the next couple of weeks, but will probably be "Twittering" as I go too for short updates.

Keep an eye out for it and join if you want to.... All the cool kids are doing it.

(ok, maybe just the geekiest...but they are still cool!)

Home

2008-03-20T19:37:00.000-07:00

The term "home" has been relative to me lately. Though I've spent the last two weeks at home, in Missouri, in the house that I actually pay a mortgage for, I've found myself referring to "going home" as in to Switzerland.

It's been strange. I almost feel like I'm back in college. You go away from home, spend your time living and working somewhere else temporarily with a bunch of people you see all the time. Then you come home every so often to get your haircut, catch up with friends, see Mom & Dad, do laundry, eat greasy hamburgers and Taco Bell, and ship off again in a week or so. Since I've been back it the US for 2 weeks, it's almost been like Spring Break. (ok, except for actually having to get up and work every day....)

This has been a good trip back. And it's gone fast. But then it has not been long enough. I landed on a Friday night and it was freezing. Spent time with Mom & Dad, crashed, then got up early to go with MA, Mom & MA's future MIL to go look at wedding dresses. It was fun and I actually stayed awake....with some caffeinated help! I am genuinely happy for MA and I'm thrilled to be able to be a part of this event. (Not that I shouldn't be, but there was a time in the not-so-distant past where this would upset me - see previous posts from 05-06...) Now I'm getting ready to pack up and it's sunny and 65 here - welcome to MO!

I have been able to catch up with lots of old friends and neighbors that I feel like I neglect when I'm gone. (I promise I'm not - call, e-mail, chat, etc....I miss you all!) I also found out some things about some people that I thought were friends, but not so much. It's been hard and a tough process, but looking forward to moving on. Time and space will help through that.

I met some new friends that I hope will continue to be friends through trips and distances. (Hey J - Had a blast and loved the "beer tour". Next up - baseball games!) I saw new baby lambs and caught up with some friends that I hadn't seen in a while. I got to celebrate St Pat's in a traditional Irish way with good friends, good music and great beer! I caught up with church friends and even able to "torture" (but in a good way) my swimming kids who I also miss. I even got to do some project work in the field I love....boy do I miss that a lot!

I've been learning a lot about myself while I've been over there. I'm not sure if I'm looking at stuff from a new perspective, or I'm maturing as I'm there or if it's just hitting me all of a sudden. I find myself being quieter and thinking more before I speak. And listening more - not just hearing, but listening...and not thinking too far ahead of the conversation. Plus I've been working on being OK by myself. When I first got over there, I was paranoid of being left out or forgotten or getting lost, etc. As I've been there, I guess my confidence has increased or I'm getting used to my surroundings, or something, but I'm getting to be Ok with spending time alone - in fact there are some days that I really crave it. (Though I do call back to the US many nights to talk to poeple here though!) I'm starting to not let the little things bother me and just focus on the important stuff.

And the job has been really cool, as I've been learning so much about our industry and how the company works. We have such a great team of people over there, that it's amazing to be around some of the smartest, top engineers in the field and they are ready to impart their knowledge on you AND make sure you understand it - how cool is that? (yeah, I'm a geek - no surprise...it's in the title)

Now I have mixed feelings about going back to my Swiss home. I'm looking forward to going back and experiencing spring there as I have a feeling that it's going to be a blast eating outside, spending time on the river and seeing all the great sites. And I'm looking forward to learning more about me and getting to be really comfortable with me, which is a challenge I'm really trying to focus on as of late.

Yet there is a part of me that's ready to be at my MO home. I want to plant flowers and golf and hang out on the deck and visit my girlies in Chicago and watch the NCAA BB tourney and hang out with friends for lunch. But I know that time will come - soon. Five weeks will go quick and I'll be home - maybe for good, or at least awhile. And I have stuff planned for the time I'm home, so I'm excited. And the weather should be better by then. (And hopefully no tornados by then!)

So until then. Home will be where I am - with good thoughts going out to all the people/places/pups that are not with me. They will be missed, but never too far away!

No Place Like.....GNOMES?

2008-03-13T20:08:00.000-07:00

I'm home from spending 3 weeks in Switzerland. It didn't feel like 3 weeks at all, in fact, I almost forgot that I was going home there towards the end!

One of the coolest things that I think has made the trips better is getting an apartment. I got a studio apartment that really feels like a 1 bedroom. The "living/sleeping" part is about as big as my living room here, so I have a ton of space. And I love having a kitchen and can't wait to make cookies. Oh, and we outfitted it at IKEA too! Gotta love that...

And the best part of my apartment is the fact that it's on the Rhein. Like walk out my front door, turn right, walk 20 steps, get wet, close to the Rhine. And with the weather getting warmer, it will be great to sit out along there. (I don't have a river view though, but it doesn't really matter...) Here's what I see in the morning:

After a trip to IKEA and just wandering around Basel, the group went to MUBA which was down the street from the hotel we were all staying in. This was the home show and it was HUGE. In one upstairs section was the wine and cheese tasting area. Imagine 50 booths for wine tasting from all over Europe, but the atmosphere reminds you of a Used Car lot (so, you want the leather interior AND the free undercoating...). The wine was fabulous and I decided that I like the Italian reds and German whites the best. And we were there on the last day and were by the booth that a colleague had bought cases from earlier in the week, so we got a bunch of samples AND 13 bottles to "take home", as they were opened. So that night we enjoyed wine and pizza on the patio (it was 65 that night!!). How European is that!!

Wine, arranged by country:

And there was some US Country band playing there. They had no European accents, so we figured they were legit.

The next weekend I got to move in and went back to IKEA for more stuff! (love that place...) And went grocery shopping, as nothing is open past 6 during the week!

On Sunday, a group of us went to Davos-Klosters to ski. Apparently the Royal Family skis here on a regular basis and the consensus from the group was that this was the best skiing they've done since being over there. Since I don't ski, nor have any desire to ski, a colleague of mine - Chris and I went sledding instead. (Or Sledging, as they call it!) It was a BLAST. A 2 mile run down the side of a mountain on a sled. Wooden sled using your feet to steer and stop. And there are bumps and moguls and no fencing along those 15 ft drops. It was so much fun. I would flip off the sled and end up laughing so hard. At the end of the day and 5 runs later, I felt like I had been chewed up by a shredder and my legs looked like someone had taken an aluminum bat to them - thank God for Celebrex! I did end up hitting Chris once - he wiped out and I couldn't stop in time. And I wiped out good and proper and my sled took me out, leaving a bruise the size of a softball right above my knee. It was so worth it though and I would totally do it again. I sledded the Alps. Oh and I got a video of part of the run here. (I dropped the camera about half way - I didn't wipe out)

Picture from the top of the Mountain. We did not sled from that high up. We were only half way up. And yes, those are clouds DOWN there.

Another picture from the top of the mountain. The sky color was amazing that day.

Here is a picture of the sled run about half-way down.

My next trip is in another week or so and I'll be gone for 5 weeks this time. It seems like a long time, but I know it will fly by. And I would rather spend this part of the year over there than here with all the severe storms and tornados! Oh, and it's been warmer there than here, so I cannot complain about that either!

By the way...I found Gnomes off of the #2 Tram:

Alone...but Not Lonely

2008-02-10T18:40:00.000-08:00

Alone is a funny word. At first glance, it comes across as negative. As in our society, in can be bad to be alone, sit alone, walk alone, be alone. But it can be positive too - you may stand alone, work alone or live alone. See, same word, different connotation.

I've been thinking a lot about alone lately. I feel like I'm alone too much these days, but on some days, I feel like I need to be alone. It's odd actually.

This past trip I travelled by myself - alone if you will. But I did not get lonely. I actually had a great time. It seems that when I travel by myself, I get to meet all sorts of great people. During a 4 hour delay for the Zurich flight in NYC, I found myself talking to 2 guys from Tulsa on their way to Lichtenstein for work. And on the way back, I found myself on the same route from Zurich to STL with 3 guys from Boeing who were also chatty. When I travel with others, I don't get to meet other people.

So back to alone. Work is interesting. We have breakfast, work, have lunch, work more, and go to dinner with the same people from our team every day while we are there. Don't get me wrong, it's a great team, but after 2 weeks, you want to be alone. For awhile. And some days, when people or you are crabby or had a stressful day, you want to be alone - for a long time.

But then I get lonely. (lonely is different than alone) And I want to talk to people, so I like to call home. And see how life on the other side of the world is going. And I love to hear about the "nothing" going on here and how STL is doing and everything else. And then I don't feel so lonely, even when I'm alone.

I've decided to take a break from the dating thing and be alone. This has been an interesting decision, but I think it's for the best right now. I've met some great people and some not so great people online, so I think I want to take that break and see what happens. It seems the guys I'm meeting either don't really want to date me, or are obsessed with me or just want to be friends, which is OK too. I don't think I'm that picky, but it's just not worth the hassle and heartbreak to me right now. It will be worth it again at some time in the future and maybe soon...

Now don't get me wrong - sometimes it sucks being alone, but I'm not lonely right now. I have great friends and I'm enjoying the travel. Though I hate coming home to an empty house and not having anyone special to miss me, I know that it will not be forever. It can't be. I can't believe that. I've had it before and it has to happen again - it must. I just don't know when and that's hard for me to accept, being the control freak that I am. But I have to let it go and let God show me the way on this one. I have put my trust in him for so much other stuff, that I have to let him have this one too.

So here I am alone. It's a good alone. I have my pups and a pile of laundry and a list of people to see this week. And I had dinner with my family last night. And I talked to friends on the phone while in the airport yesterday after 10 hours of really no interaction with anyone. And it's good. I have a good life, a good job, a fabulous family and friends.

And the other thing that I've learned is that you are never alone as long as you are loved. And there are lots of people and God on that list, so I know that being alone is the least of my worries.

Morning over the Rhein

2008-02-07T14:52:00.001-08:00

I took these the other morning when I got in early, out the windows in our building. I am fortunate to have my desk right next to the windows, so on sunny days, I get to see this:

(Switzerland, Germany & France come together about 10 minutes walk down going this way)

Usually the river is much more "choppy" and full of barge traffic.

It was a calming effect to see everything so "quiet" and peaceful.

And if you look really close, you can see the mountains in France and Germany in the background.

Drive-By Swiss Update

2008-02-04T12:46:00.000-08:00

Friday night I was out with this crowd until 2am at Bar Rouge on the 31st floor of the Basel Ramada. It's the 2nd tallest building in Switzerland. We were able to bring "Sexy Back", along with a lovely selection of dance favorites from the 70's, 80's & 90's. Us Americans were very easy to spot in the crowd and the bouncers kept a close eye on us all night.

I also used the facilities in Bar Rouge, on the 30th floor and snapped this lovely shot. Yes, that's a full length window over looking the city and an eerie reflection of me taking a picture. Good thing I took the picture AFTER I was finished...

On Saturday, we checked out a local skating rink for an afternoon of ice skating outside in the sun. It was still chilly, but not too bad. I was even able to skate backwards for a bit...

On Sunday we travelled down to Zermatt. It is almost directly south of Basel on the other end of Switzerland, right on the border with Italy. On the 3.5 hour train ride down we saw lots of mountains and lakes by Thun:

We saw the town of Zermatt:

And we saw the Matterhorn. It's amazing. While the pictures are beautiful, it does not give it justice for seeing it in person. It was absolutely breathtaking!

We saw other Swiss Alps from Gornergrat, which was at the top of one of the peaks near the Matterhorn. It sits 3100 meters (1.9 miles) above sea level. It was about 16 degrees F up there too, with about a 20mph wind that kicked up. We even walked up the ramp to the upper observation deck and I wiped out on the icy pavement and banged up my knee. (That's gonna leave a mark!)

The clouds rolled in after lunch and "stuck" to the peak of the mountain, but we were able to take plenty of pictures before then.

On the way back down the 5 mile ride on the mountain, several of us decided to try sledding. It was about a 3/4 mile track down the mountain. The trail was like a ski run and it ran fast. I was in jeans and Nike's with knitted gloves, careening down the mountain on a sled that required me using my FEET to steer - BRILLIANT!! I laughed the entire time, when I was not screaming for dear life. This is on the list of "to do's" again very soon!! (the run is along the tracks in this spot)

Late Sunday night after a full day of sun, snow and sledding, I headed home for a hot bath and to watch the first 30 minutes of the SuperBowl here:

It was a full weekend and I have about 150 pictures in all and about another 100 from the last weekend here. I'm already starting to plan my next weekends back here and what we can do.

See you this weekend in St. Lou...

Back Log

2008-01-29T12:25:00.000-08:00

I am going to post back to back, as I have pictures from my last trip, though I am already into my next trip. Bear with me and read on...

During the Sunday of my last trip, I went with two of my colleagues to the Roman ruins just southeast of Basel. The area is called August Raurica and it is really facinating. The settlement dates back to around 60AD and there was a settlement there for several hundred years. Eventually, there was an earthquake and the town was destroyed and eventually buried. The townspeople moved the city closer to the river in subsequent years. In 1961, while digging for construction of homes, they came across the remains of the first town and started excavating. The area that is on display now opened in 1995. (You can read this on the website, if you can read German. I think that my facts are close to correct, based on the tour we took. But don't quote me on any of it!)

So here are pictures from there:

This is the ampitheater that is directly across from the museum. You can tell that they have done a lot of work on it to make it functional - it's pretty obvious that there are new bricks there. They hold concerts here in the Spring/Summer.

This is a wall display of a mosaic tile floor that was found. This is actually about 8ft wide and about 12ft tall. The description also said that there was about another 2-3 ft of tile around the edges depicting "battle pictures" of the top Gladiators at the time. The tiles were about 1/2" squre each.

Ok, so I took this one because it's so strange. Hopefully you can figure out the scenario...

This is the bathhouse for the town, which is pretty impressive in the sheer size of this. I would LOVE a bathroom this big!

We also went to see the Tinguely Fountain in Basel that day and took lots of pictures.

All the pieces are mechanical and move water, so it's pretty interesting to see. I also have video here that I took.

That's it for the "touristy" things from trip 1. It was a whirlwind trip complete with a mental breakdown, but I survived. The subsequent trip home was also whirlwind and drove me and I think everyone else crazy, but I'm back. And I'll tell you more about trip 2 thus far and share more pictures soon....

Vogel Gryff Day in Basel

2008-01-13T10:56:00.000-08:00

I have 2 days of pictures, so I'm going to put up two posts. Make sure you check out both of them.

Saturday was Vogel Gryff Day (or here) in Basel. According to several websites: Rafting the wild man around 10.30 pm; landing in Little Klingental 11 hours, dance on the Middle Rhine bridge 12 hours. Dancing in the afternoon and evening, according to the program. Free night in the restaurants. (Personally, the entire thing reminded me of the Veiled Prophet Society in STL)

Here is a video of the "Wild Man" on the raft:

Here is a picture that is a little clearer:

Here is me with our PM Jeff along the Rhein:

Then we walked around Basel and this is what a typical Saturday afternoon looks like:

While out and about, I found some more yarn at a store that had a great selection. It was in the middle of a department store, but the prices for yarn from Italy & France were tough to beat. I have already added it to Ravelry (blondengr) and I'll get pictures of it soon.

After that I went back to the hotel and slept for 2 hours! Then we went out for "Scaffolding Pizza" or at Bear Roma. (All the places are referenced by something other than their real names, in order to remember them!) It was good pizza, though it was not cut - need to bring a pizza cutter...

More adventures on Sunday....

Greetings from Switzerland

2008-01-09T14:55:00.000-08:00

I am not doing well on learning German, so I'm not even going to attempt it!

So I'm going to post some pictures instead:This is during our landing at JFK airport in NYC. It's not very good, but you can make out the city AND the SMOG....

This is my room - taken from the door and then towards the door. And yes, that is the bathroom - at least I don't have to share, like in some hotels in Europe.

And this is the section of hair burned to the curling iron that I singed off this morning. (Luckily my hair is layered enough that it's not noticeable - at least I didn't start at the top of my head on that piece...)Apparently not only do you have to use the adapters, but you have to watch the voltage too. Curling irons, clothes irons and blow dryers get hotter over here. Needless to say, I'm down one curling iron and one clothes iron. I figured out the blow dryer in time...

Our office actually overlooks the Rhine River and I'm waiting for a better day to get pictures. I'll try to have more of the city and people later this week.

It's after midnight here....goodnight!

Happy New Year!!

2008-01-01T16:25:00.001-08:00

Happy 2008!

First off, CONGRATULATIONS to my sister MA on getting engaged last night. Her fiance' is a great guy and will be a great addition to the family.

I decided to call it quits with BW this week. I felt like I was working too hard too early on and was feeling like I wasn't being made a high enough priority. In addition, my family was not happy with the fact that I was "stood" up on Christmas Eve - it's hard to make up that ground with the group. (Of course the last time I ignored my family's feelings, I ended up divorced, so it's hard to argue with that logic.) So I'm keeping my options open and hoping to meet new people.

Switzerland is in 6 days and counting. I have not started packing, though I have gotten most of the "travel" stuff already. That will be a project for this weekend...

I did get some Christmas knitting finished, but pictures are still on the camera. I'll post them when I can.

Keep checking back on the blog for updates from Switzerland. I'll be posting pictures and stories of our adventures over there.

Merry Christmas!!

2007-12-26T16:16:00.000-08:00

Get Your Updates Here

2007-12-17T19:05:00.000-08:00

Just a couple of updates for your viewing pleasure...

I updated my Blog picture. It's from the party over the weekend and it shows off my sassy new haircut. (BW says I have evil eyes, as I try to keep them open when my picture is taken - I have a tendency to squint. He says it's cute, so we'll see)

Other projects that have been in progress/completed:
Stocking for my newest SIL Stacy:

I made Matt's about 20 years ago and I'm impressed that they are pretty similar. I cannot say the same for some of the others I have made! My great-grandmother MaMoo made stockings for the other 4 of us before she died, so Mom asked me to make Matt's for him, as I was his god-mother. (or at least that's what I was told) I've been the designated "stocking maker" since then.
I finished another baby sweater:

Pattern: Baby Pullover from Knitting Pure & Simple

Yarn: Blue Sky Cotton (I think)

Recipient: No clue now. I originally made it for the son of my project manager in NC, but he was born in July and was a big kid, so not sure if this will fit him now. It may go to another cute little guy who was born recently. (Of the 7 people who were pregnant early this year, I think 4 of them had boys...)

I don't have pictures of the green roving I spun, but I'll post when I ply it with another shade of green. No Christmas knitting this year...not. enough. time...

I will have lots of travel knitting going on though and I've already hinted to the girls that I was going to teach them how to knit. Oh sure, they know the knit stitch, but they have no clue what other fun adventures await them with the PURL stitch....bwwwaaaaa!!!

OMG It Snowed In St. Louis - A LOT!!

2007-12-16T15:28:00.000-08:00

It snowed in STL this weekend. In fact, they are calling it the largest snowfall in December EVER or something like that. Saturday was an exciting day though...

So Friday night it was cold and they were talking snow. Sure, it's been raining all week and it's the first day we've seen the sun in 10 days, but whatever. Overnight though, it snowed out my way about 2 inches - enough to cover the driveway and put a good amount on the deck. Since our Christmas party for work was that night, I went ahead and shoveled early, in case it kept snowing, so I could get out of the driveway. It snowed off and on for the rest of the day, but nothing really bad, that I could tell.

Saturday afternoon I found out that BW had a terrible head cold. He also was shocked that it had snowed so much overnight - he was so cute - this was his first snowstorm, since he's lived the last 30+ years in CA. He was freaked out about it and I was like - yeah, been driving in it for 20 years - no big deal! It ended up that he didn't feel up to going to the party with me, which I don't blame him for - I hate getting out my PJ's when I have that bad of a cold! Cocktail hour for the party was at 6:30, so I left the house at 5:05, in case there was some issue with the roads. I had been all over WashMO that afternoon and it was really wet, but didn't see much ice or slush, so I figured it was OK. (Sure, whatever...)

It took me about 20 minutes to get out to the interstate, when it usually takes me 10. It was snowing, but it wasn't really sticking. Traffic was going pretty slow and I knew I'd be Ok on time. By the time I made it to the interstate, the snow was coming down harder AND sticking to the road. Traffic of course slowed down and I have 4WD, so I took my time. About 10 miles into my 35 mile trek, there was an accident, on a hill, with lots of semis out there. And lots of non-4WD vehicles out there, on the hills and the road getting pretty covered up by now. At this point I called Mom to let her know that there was a good chance that I was going to be staying at their house that night, as I knew it was going to get worse as the evening went on. So after we got out of the stopped/slowed traffic for the accident, traffic moved pretty slow and there was only 2 lanes of traffic over the 4 lanes - you couldn't even see the lines on the highway! Oh, and I was going 40mph max and was being passed by little Taurus' and minivans as if I was standing still! (See you in the ditch!!) As I made it through the next major town, traffic slowed down for the snow plows going. It was OK to drive behind them, but they were pokey!! But of course there was the one guy in a Taurus that rode the shoulder all the way up to pass the snowplow - idiot!! After the snowplows pulled off and allowed traffic to pass, the pavement went back to just being wet with snow blowing. Which also meant all the semis blowing past me with crap blowing all over my windsheild - NICE!! It only took 50 minutes to go the same distance it usually takes 20 minutes....

I made it to the party in time and parked in the lot. I had cute shoes on and it was semi-formal, so it was fun to see everyone. Based on the number of empty spots, about 20 people had not made it in, which was less than I thought, honestly. Dinner and dancing was fun. Since I had come solo, I hung with some of the other "singles" and "not-married yets". It was fun and we had a great time. (Me with Z & Ray)

The DJ was TKO Dj's, which was started when I was in high school by people I used to know, but I didn't recognize him - that would have been really strange!

By the time we got out of there, it had been snowing all night and was still coming down. All of our cars were completely covered and there was about 5 inches of snow on the street. It was not fun trying to get back to the car, though I have to give Kudo's to Ray's man, as he made me get in the car and cleaned it off for me! (He's a keeper Ray!!) I called Mom and told her that I was on my way out there, as there was no way I was going to make it to my home in a decent amount of time.

It ended up taking me an hour to get out to my parents' house. It would take probably around 30 minutes on a normal night. Traffic was AWFUL and the roads were just as bad. There was no asphalt to be seen - all of it was slushy snow. I now get why MODOT wanted everyone to stay off the roads! A couple of observations while driving though:

* Semis get mad when you are going only 40 through this stuff and blow past you completely pissy. Then they start to lose traction and the backend starts slipping. Gee, cooincidence? That is why I stay as far away from you as possible! Not to mention all the crap you blow up on my car. I get that you are vital to the US economy, but just because you weigh a hell of a lot more than me does NOT make you immune to ice.

* People in Lincoln Continentals going 20 in the "middle" lane of the highway with their Hazard lights on should NOT be driving on the highway. I cannot tell you how many people almost hit that guy!

* Apparently having a big SUV with TX plates allows you to tailgate, weave traffic and speed through ice & snow. I did not know that preveiously....

I got to my parents OK and ended up watching part of a movie with my youngest brother Matty. I had to laugh though, as there were 3 kids with sleds walking through my parent's yard at about midnight last night. Apparently that's the best time to sled out that way. They ended up getting over 8" - I think we got 4-5" out here in WashMO.

I did make it home this morning, though the roads were not much better. I've been "holed" up in the house all day, but getting stuff done. Alas, no knitting as of yet, but I probably will pull something out this evening after dinner. Christmas shopping is still not finished, especially for BW, who is turning out to be tough to shop for, as he's incredibly picky!! I finally got an idea for Dad and I just need to get a book for Little A and something cute for Little E. Other than that, I'm actually good to go.

Our flight to Switzerland is the first week of Jan and I still have a ton of stuff to get before then. I have a list started, but decided to not stress about that until AFTER Christmas, as I will have time then. It's going to be fun and exciting, though still a little apprehensive about the flight. Luckily I'm flying with 3 or 5 of my co-workers, so that will help. I may be taking Nyquil to help me sleep...

Pix of the snow:

THIS Girl

2007-12-12T19:23:00.000-08:00

Apparently THAT girl upset a certain someone last night in her phone calling efforts. Thus, all day, due to a quick stern e-mail and no other communication until 8:30pm, I was totally not myself at all today. Of course I LOVE to jump to the worst conclusion, so there was I for most of the day.

So I'm back to being THIS girl. I was able to explain the source of some of my anxiety and was understood. I'm still working through the issues with the distance stuff, but I get more confident in myself every day. I'm going to have to get better at this if I'm going to be in Switzerland for up to 6 months. I still think that will be easier for me, as I will be gone too, but we'll see! I'm defining a lot of who I am for me too, which has been such a growth process for me. And of course the prayers for peace worked too, as I feel much better about everything now.

This weekend is a family party for BW and the company party for CRB. Both should be a really great time, if I can ever figure out what to wear! Perhaps some shopping is in order again tomorrow night...

And I'm seriously considering writing a book on my (mis)adventures as THAT girl....

THAT Girl

2007-12-11T18:18:00.000-08:00

My goal this week is NOT be THAT girl.

You know THAT girl.

You've seen THAT girl.

Hell, I'm sure a bunch of you have BEEN THAT girl.

The girl that completely loses it over a guy and acts completely irrationally. Calls a gazillion times, texts incessantly, drives by the house - in a familiar car - with a sign for that individual taped to the back of it. You KNOW what I'm talking about. I do NOT want to be THAT girl.

Yet I became THAT girl over the weekend. Over something I knew was going to happen and I had prepared myself for it. But I couldn't stop myself. I started working myself up on Friday night anticipating the worst and then by the time it came to deal with it, I had worked myself into a frenzy and laid in to him over it. Yep, THAT girl cometh. And as soon as I was able to get out all of my frenzied thoughts, the rational part came through and I couldn't argue much. I sounded like a whiny girlfriend and everything that I pride myself on NOT being, I was - in full force. So I got through the weekend with a couple of projects and talking to lots of friends and I survived. THAT girl had been squashed....for a bit.

So for some reason, the irrational thoughts started gurgling again on Monday. I have no clue if it was unresolved stuff or just me having a moment. I got nothing! But here I was BEING THAT girl. Oh yeah, multiple text messages, phone calls, the whole bit. It was CRAZY! I was crazy. I even got a phone message saying what was going on and still couldn't handle it. WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH ME?? Are you serious? A smart, sassy, cute, fun, alpha chick is acting like this? You have got to be kidding me!! This is not normal...or is it? This is not logical....or is it? What are the rules on this? Based on where we are in the relationship x things that have been said/ things that have been implied = Should I be thinking/feeling/acting this way? Am I really that screwed up from all the stupid things that have happened to me in the past? Did all those past relationships doom me from every being happy? Am I ever going to have something normal? Again, what is normal? Do I cling too much? Why the hell am I so insecure? Do I rely on someone else too much to make me happy? What makes ME happy? Do I really need someone in my life, or Do I really want someone in my life? How is that different? How should I be acting? Do I really have time to be dwelling on this so much??? (Can you tell I'm an engineer? Loves to analyze...)

Thus today, my goal, seriously, was to NOT be THAT girl. I was going to play it cool. I was going to be collected. I was going to not e-mail/text/call today. I told the people close to me my plan and they agreed THAT girl was not cool and "Chill" Shannon was much more pleasant, which was good to know. And it worked. I did good. No irrational behavior, just 2 e-mails updating on travel plans to Switzerland - 8 hours apart. I did text at 4:30 before leaving work and got a phone call on my way out the door. And we chatted for 10 minutes or so. Then something was said during that phone call. I caught it and jokingly brought it up and got a satisfactory answer as to what was going on. "All is OK" I thought and let it go. I went to the Christmas Tree lot to work and didn't think anything of it. So I sent a text message that didn't get returned, so the wheels started turning. Not much, but just enough to get out of park. Then on the way home, I started my thinking. And churning. And assuming. And jumping to conclusions. And rationalizing. Myself. Into a frenzy. Again. Damnit!

Instead of being THAT girl and going on the attack, I was much smarter. I called in reinforcements. My first conversation yielded a "This is no big deal to him. I would trust him and let it go. You are worrying because you like him so much and want to see this work. You have no reason not to think anything different." I could live with that. It made sense. It was rational and logical. Good plan.

That didn't last long, so I called in another opinion. She knew what I was feeling and told me to embrace it. And that I was not crazy or irrational, though still feeling that way. She said to really look at it and figure out how I was feeling. Obviously there are some feelings out there that need to be addressed and dealt with. And by the end of the conversation, I was feeling more confident that all was OK. And I started this blog entry. I just needed to get it out on "paper" and look at it and see how irrational or maybe rational I was being.

Of course I had a THAT girl flash and made a phone call. And he was still where he said he would be and the first thing he said was "Sweetheart, I'm still at XX, is everything OK?" That pretty much answered the questions I had. So,y eah, so I wanted to bring it up, but didn't want to interupt and then really kind of felt stupid for even thinking that, so I back pedaled out of it and promised him all was Ok and that I would talk to him tomorrow. (Of course he hates it when I bring something up, then don't go into it, so I'll have to work to get that smoothed over.) I will probably still talk about it with him, but probably not until the weekend when I see him.

So THAT girl got the answer I wanted, but now I have REALLY have to NOT be THAT girl for the rest of the week. Damnit. I need to start trusting my instincts better. I know this is a growth thing for me, but alright already!! (I've been praying for peace about all of this, this week, but I need some trust and some wisdom and guidance too and maybe some grace....)

Yep, for those of you still with us after the commentary, I did mention that the Switzerland trip was still a go. In fact, I booked flights for my first trip today. I'm out for 2 weeks, home for 1, out for 2 weeks, home for 1, then out for 3 weeks through the end of February. I know that Switzerland in the Winter does not sound like fun, but I would take snow and ick there over being here any day. Especially with no traffic to deal with! The traveling will be tough with a quick turnaround time and we'll have some time for sightseeing, but I think it will be so worth it. And what's more, some of the girls on the team found a yarn store in Basel for me and already went into it. They said it had a lot of stuff and its colorful (no word on soft or luxurious - Muggles!), so I'll have more to report on that. In the meantime, I have projects that need to be done on the plane and on the weekends, so an extra bag to stash projects will be going too...

I have done some spinning. I finally got brave enough and spun some of the roving I got at the STL Weaver's guild sale. It actually spun up pretty nice and I was really proud of myself for keeping the strand pretty consistent and actually pretty thin. I think I will spin up another color of the same stuff, to draft it them together for some really cool yarn, that I have no clue what I will do with!

I love my wheel. Not only was it a bargain, but it works great. I'm thinking that any issues I have with it is all operator error. It's seen a lot of wool over the years and she knows what she's doing. I named her Cecelia right after I got it. It's from the song, but it seemed to fit. I was thinking of an older name, a little sassy, with lots of class. Worldly in her ways, but practical. A little like me, but a whole lot more wiser. I think she and I will learn a lot from each other in the years to come...

Terrible Tuesday

2007-11-28T08:49:00.001-08:00

My mood yesterday was best described in an e-mail to BW as such:

'Having a "want to pull my hair out, throw someone under a bus, scream at the top of my lungs, cry in a corner" type of day... '

Yep, it was that kind of day and that about covered it.

But it got better and today is going great. Just wanted to capture the essence and I thought the statement was appropriate.

Post Holiday Blahs

2007-11-25T13:24:00.000-08:00

I hate this day. The last day of a long weekend and I'm at home catching up on stuff that didn't get done over the weekend and getting ready for the next week. What I really want to do is still hang out with friends and family like I did the rest of the weekend, but they have all gone or have their own stuff to do. I don't feel depressed, more like BLAH.... (and the grey/cold weather outside is doing NOTHING to help that!)

The holiday weekend was really fun. I left at a decent time on Weds and was able to get my pies made in plenty of time to relax that evening. It was threatening to snow/sleet/rain that night, so I was more than happy to stay in. Thursday I spent the morning at my parents' house and then went over to BW's that evening. (that is going well- more on that later) We hung out with his aunts and uncles and even played some dominoes. Friday I met BW and his parents for lunch, then we did some running around for a little bit. We were able to avoid the mall, but not the traffic! That afternoon/evening, we watched movies and had dinner. Very fun and relaxing. Saturday I got stuff done around the house and then ran into Chesterfield to do a little shopping. I am mostly looking for ideas at this point, as I haven't really thought too much about gifts yet! I then met BW and his parents for dinner that night while I was "in town". It was fun and really great to be able to spend so much time with him this weekend.

Ok, the straight skinny is that BW and I have come to an agreement. I promise to not freak out about every little thing, he promises to call more and keep me more in the loop. Neither one of us wanted to pull the trigger and end it, so this is worth a shot. It sounds like a fair deal and as my cousin says - a very "adult" approach to the whole thing. Don't get me wrong, it's tough some days, especially during the "fun" times of the month, but I get it. I bought a book the other day called "Big Girls Don't Whine: Getting on With the Great Life That God Intends". It talks a lot about getting beyond the past and working towards healthy relationships, which is sooo helpful for me. I am a big proponent of "If you always do what you've always done, you'll always get what you've always got". And I'm to the point that I see a pattern in my relationships and it's Not. Working. At. All. So I'm trying to approach this differently and see what happens. I have no idea what's going to happen and I'm trying really hard not to think that far ahead. I know I really like him and I'm pretty sure he likes me too. I enjoy the time we spend together and we have a good time. He has a lot going on in his life right now, and I really do too. I'm just reminding myself to breathe and to go with it. As Kerin said again "Your goal in life is to be happy - always strive for that". It's a lofty goal, but I'm up for the challenge.

As for travel- nothing is set yet for any trips. They are saying that we are still in the running for China, but as of Weds, no word yet. While it would be a really cool trip to take, I don't really want to go right before Christmas and definitely not the week they are tagging, as it's our company Christmas party and a family party for BW's family and we are supposed to go to both. Switzerland is still up in the air too, though rumor has it I'm tagged for after Christmas. No word on pupsitting yet - that will be a big deal if that doesn't come through.

On the fiber front, I actually have been doing some work, though no spinning yet. It's as if I'm almost "scared" to try to spin any of the new stuff I bought, even though I KNOW that's completely crazy. Brodie found part of it and said it tasted fine, so that's good. I did finally finish the baby sweater for my "boss" in NC who's son was born in July. I don't think it will fit him, so I may end up sending him something else and give that sweater to someone else. My cousin Brianna and her husband had a baby this past Weds as did my neighbors a month ago, so I have a couple of them to get going on! I did finish my SIL's stocking for this year, so that counts on the "crafty-non-fiber front". Other than that, not sure what other Christmas knitting I'll get done this year. I may make BW a hat, as he's freaking out over the cold, but we'll see.

Ok, I have to admit after writing this I feel a little less Blah than I did before. I guess all is good in the universe after all....

PS - Who knew that the Mizzou Tigers would be #1 this year!!!

PPS - Then again, perhaps the univers is getting me back, again. I got a ticket this weekend - 18 over the limit. (EEK! Thanks Mom for giving me those genes!!) It's been almost EXACTLY 2 years since I got the last one!!

Where in the world??

2007-11-16T06:18:00.000-08:00

I found out this morning that if I don't end up going to Switzerland, then I'm going to be sent to China for a job over there. Either way, it looks like I will be in another country sometime in the next month!

UPDATE as of 1PM Today: Looks like I'm going to mainland China for 8 days around Mid-December and Switzerland starting in January. Looks like toys with extra lead paint for Christmas instead of watches this year!

35

2007-11-13T21:06:00.000-08:00

I turned 35 on Friday. I keep hearing how "young" I am (In my field, Young = Doesn't Have A Clue, so that statement drives me crazy!!), but I don't feel young. But I don't feel that old either. Actually, I feel just right. Though I don't know how "right" is supposed to feel.

I was OK with turning 30. I had just gotten married, bought a house, job was good, etc - life was going "as planned". 31 was good too - more of the same. By the time I got to 32, the bottom was starting to fall out, as that was the year I kicked my ex - Mr. CFP out. (I truly can't remember what I did that year either!) 33 was better - I was able to come up with at least 33 things that I had learned that year. 34 was good too, as I had a lot to do and someone to share that weekend with.

So 35 has hit me hard this year. I realize that I am blessed with my health, great family, wonderful friends, my lasting faith, a great job, a house, etc. But I keep looking at where I am now and wondering "what the hell am I doing! this is soooo not where I envisioned myself to be right now!!!" I liked being a wife and still want to be that again someday. I still would love to have kids, but that seems to be drifting further and further away from reach. I have the possibility to travel Europe soon, which is the chance of a lifetime, but would I trade all of that to be a stay home mom volunteering at school?? Sometimes I think "Yes, I would take that trade in a heartbeat". Am I crazy to be thinking all of these things right now???

I know I have a lot to be thankful for and that there is a purpose in my life and where I am right now is where God intends me to be, but the lack of knowledge of where I'm going is bugging me to no end. I get that I'm a control freak and I need to know the plan, but this is one I'm going to have to trust in. (And I'm having lots of trouble with trust these days...) It's hard and driving me crazy, so bear with me.

My birthday weekend was good. BW took me to dinner, along with bringing a dozen pink roses and sending me an e-gift card to ChristianBook.com, as I had been asking about everyone I knew for ideas of books to read lately. (So T called while I was getting ready to go to dinner - very awkward conversation! especially since I didn't look at the caller ID....) On Sunday I took BW with me to my parents' house for brunch for my birthday. Both my parents mentioned that they thought he was nice (traditionally, they don't say anything if they are not impressed) and my mother said he had a great sense of humor. Yeah, so, that was the last time I heard from him, or actually that evening was. It's now Tuesday night and besides an 8 word e-mail reply to some stupid question I sent, I haven't heard a word - and I only left one message since, last night. I know, I have a tendency to be "clingy" and I get that (see my past...), but logic (ok, MY logic) says that if you miss someone and care for someone like you say you do, don't you want to talk to them when you are 300 miles away? At least to see how they are doing? Seriously, what am I missing here?? I don't get it and I'm not sure what to do. I can't imagine being blown off completely without a word, but I may be in for just that! It just sucks and I feel awful - especially since I was so cautious at the beginning and tried so hard not to "fall" too hard until I felt comfortable. It's hard to say if I'm more upset with him or with me at this point!! Or maybe everything will be fine, but I'm having a hard time trusting that right now. Perhaps that job in Switzerland has come at a good time! (It hasn't been confirmed yet, but it looks pretty promising...)

Ok, so on the fiber front, I found a hookup out this way for fiber - Heaven Sent Homespun. I blew the rest of my budget from my bonus on 3 dyed rovings that she had. They are wool and wool/rayon blend, which should be exciting to spin. When I have time. (I'll post pictures soon!)

And a special "shout out" to everyone who wished me a "Happy Birthday" this year. Your thoughts and prayers are so important to me - it's so good to know that I'm am so loved and so blessed. Thank you.

Wonderful Women Weekend

2007-11-04T14:56:00.000-08:00

I just got back from a Ladies CRHP (pronounced CHIRP) retreat at my local Catholic Church. It was very powerful and exactly what I needed right now in my life. My faith has always been pretty strong, but sometimes I need some "reigning" back on track in my life and this weekend provided it. It was empowering to me too, as I walked in the door yesterday morning, not knowing a single person there. Literally. In fact I was shocked when a couple of the ladies greeted me with a "Hi Shannon" when I got there - I thought I was the last one. "No," they said " You were the only one that no one knew!" At the end of the weekend, I can honestly say that I now have 25 new friends in the church and I love it. I have never been afraid to walk into a situation by myself, as I always know that I will walk out gaining so much. How many of us have always relied on being there with someone else to "help" us through? And then ended up only being with them the entire time and not branching out? Did that really help you grow in that situation? Really? Try it all by yourself sometime and see how that works for you....

So one of the most powerful things I heard this weekend was something to the effect of: "The same Holy Spirit that rose Jesus from the dead is alive in our hearts and in our lives today!" Think about that. Seriously. How awesome and amazing is that?? If it's powerful enough to do that, imagine what it can do in our lives!!

Ok, those of you who know me well, know I don't usually throw my religion out there for anyone, so this is a stretch for me. I just had such a great weekend that I needed to throw that out there....

In addition to meeting lots of great new women, I got to spend some time with some other fabulous women this weekend - The Fiber Warriors! (They are Knitters, Spinners and Weavers - I wouldn't mess with them!) Friday night was the STL Weaving Guild sale, so we got together at Robin's for dinner and then to go to the sale. Enabler Anna was there, as was MaryAnn and Sandy, who is a non-fiber woman, but was incredibly interested in the weaving stuff, so there may be a future convert in our midst! The sale was fabulous as always and there was some really wonderful items for sale. The weaving items seemed to be more numerous than in years past, but no less beautiful. If I had the time and money, I would totally get into that, as it was absolutely amazing!! There was fiber for sale too, so I spent part of my "allowance" on about 6 packages of fiber to spin. I have no idea if any of it will really be knit into something, but it will be fun to spin. I have a connection at another sale in Union next weekend, so the rest of the allowance will go towards that. Now I just have to find some time to spin!

Here I am at the end of the "women's weekend", I'm getting ready to take a nap, as I am wiped out. The pups are still at the sitter and I'll get them tomorrow. BW called me from the airport in Tampa on his way back from visiting a cousin and his wife. He's going to drive back to TN tomorrow, so he asked me to come and see him tonight. I get to meet his parents tonight, so that will be interesting. (I think he'll meet mine this weekend - equally as interesting) I was supposed to go with him on this trip, but I am actually glad I did not. While I would have loved to be in FL in Nov, I am really happy I was able to spend lots of time with "old" girlfriends and meet new girlfriends. It was exactly what I needed right now and I am so blessed to have had the opportunity for both. But admittedly I missed him this week/end, so it will be good to see him before he goes back to work. And I think I am going to take a half day on Friday for my birthday and he's coming back earlier that day, so that should be fun.

Sunday Times

2007-10-28T11:16:00.000-07:00

Just catching up on some stuff around the house after a long and stressful week. It seems like most of them are getting to be like that. Either I'm getting old and not able to deal with it like I used to, or it's really getting to be more stressful. Not sure which it is - it seems to change daily.

I did get some spinning in this week, finally. It took some patience and the manual from Ashford to get it started. I had some fiber left over from the Weaving Dept. when I took it in for it's "hug" and was able to spin some of that. It's pretty rough, but at least I know I can do it. Now, just need more time for practice!

I've been knitting some too. With the holidays less than 2 months away, I've been trying to realistically think what I can actually knit for gifts this year. It's not looking good, but I'm still plugging away... This is a scarf out of Blizzard which is so incredibly soft and chunky. I love using this stuff and it makes great items. I'm doing Laurie's Magic Scarf pattern, which is a snap and gives it a great texture, without being overbearing.

This weekend coming up is the St. Louis Weaving Guild Fiber Sale, so I'll be able to stock up on some fiber. I have some money set aside from my bonus that I bought the wheel, so I can splurge a little bit. Of course I'm going with "enabler Anna", Robin, Jenn and other Spinner/Knitters, so there's a good change the budget can be blown. I'm hoping not, but it will be a good chance to see!

As of Wednesday this week, I was going to be heading to Switzerland for work next weekend. (That would have put it at the 4th thing I could have been doing next weekend!) I was already to go and was expecting my passport and everything, but the PM's I am doing work for right now went the office manager and whined that I had too much to do here and I was told I couldn't go. I decided this was not a battle I wanted to pick, as I'm slated to work on the next phase of the Switzerland project and it's supposed to last a while. The travel will be hard - it's like an 8 hour flight, but the opportunity is once in a lifetime. We'll see how that goes.

Ok, so on the guy front, as most of you are curious...BW (roses, Memphis, etc.) is still here and doing well. We've seen each other the last couple of weekends he's been home and it's been really good. Last weekend I was told that I was at "girlfriend" status, which put me at ease a bit. It takes away a lot of the uncertainty gives a level of comfort, though we are still it the "get to know you" stage. He asked me to go to FL with him to visit his cousin next weekend, but we couldn't get a good rate on plane tickets. We are hoping that he can find a job in STL after the first of the year too! My dad asked yesterday if I was going to introduce him to the family soon, so we'll look at doing that maybe over my birthday weekend next week. Of course my family, while a great group, can be intimidating in shear numbers. Could be interesting...

(ok, so BW and I were driving from dinner to a movie the other night and were cut off by T on the road. Talk about weird!)

Home Again

2007-10-14T15:26:00.000-07:00

So I was in 4 states this week and I'm finally home.

I was in The Poconos in PA early this week for a vendor visit. It was fun, but the layovers in Cleveland were awful. I had decent layovers, but I couldn't bring myself to pay $10 for 2 hours on the internet...

This past weekend I was in Tulsa, for TU's homecoming. It was so much fun. Of course it helped that the university paid for me to go down there since I'm on the National Alumni Board. The weekend was a whirlwind of events, meeting people, partying and trying to find time to sleep, let alone work. I ran into some great people that I haven't seen in over 10 years and that was fun. No good stories to tell though.

And no knitting or spinning either. I didn't bring either on the trips, so no progress. It hasn't been cold enough here, so I'm having a hard time getting inspired for either. The Weaving Guild sale is coming up soon, so I'll have to get inspired for and after that!

As for the happenings with guys - I'm out trying the online dating thing again. It's tough and it sucks. I know I'm ok by myself, but it would be fun to find someone to hang out with too. I met a guy who consults and travels during the week (roses), but still haven't decided on him though. He is totally interested in me when I see him, but then when he travels, it's like I don't exist. (Frustrating!) I'm not trying too hard, so I'm not going to get stressed out about it. (I did come across T's profile on a site though - the picture he posted is one I took!)

Boys are still idiots!

Never Mind

2007-10-03T06:35:00.001-07:00

Maybe not so cool and not so much a keeper....

Boys can be such idiots sometimes....

So That's What That's Like

2007-09-30T12:26:00.000-07:00

I had a date last night and he brought me these:

He's a great guy. And I think he might be a keeper....!

Walking in Memphis

2007-09-26T16:06:00.000-07:00

I'm in Memphis this week for a class on tablet technology. We are going through all the science of making tablets, from formulation through tablet coating. It's actually quite fascinating, if you are into that kind of thing. It's at the Univ. of Tenn - Memphis and can give you more information if you want it....

Ok, so really the best part of the trip has been BEING in Memphis. I mean, I'm staying at the Double Tree Downtown, which is literally 2 blocks off of Beale Street and across the street from The Peabody. Oh, and I overlook the Memphis Cardinals Stadium:

It almost looks like a mini version of Busch Stadium.

Here's the view from the other window facing East. (I'm on the top floor, too)

Yeah, that's the Greyhound Station in the front, but the view down Union is great!

On Monday, we went to Blues City Cafe for ribs that were amazing. We also sampled some music around Beale Street and drank "Big Ass Beers". Gotta love a place where open containers are legal on the street! I saw the "ducks" at the Peabody, though in the Duck Palace on the roof. I don't think I'll make the parade through the lobby this week...

Today was our "long" class day. We had 4 labs today, so lots of time on our feet. We got out a little early and I had a chance to go see Sun Records, but I was too beat to do it, so I came back to catch up on e-mail and crash for a bit.

Two more days to go!

The Further Adventures of Bargain Hunting

2007-09-22T15:34:00.000-07:00

A little change in plans today.

I got an e-mail from the lady I contacted early this week about an ad I saw on some "craigslist" type list for spinning wheels. It said they had a Louet and a wheel from New Zealand. The phone number was local for me, so I figured what the heck.

I didn't hear back after a day or two, so I called the Weaving Dept. and ordered my Traveler.

Last night I got an e-mail back. Today I made a phone call, made the trip over and made a deal for this:

I also got this:

And this:

For the bargain basement price of $160 cash!!! (Go ahead, look on E-bay and see what they are going for, I'll wait.) Yes, I saved a bunch of my bonus budget I had set aside for a spinning wheel!The woman was a spinner and had inherited a wheel (I'm thinking mine) and a giant weaving loom from a friend of hers. This woman had fallen ill and was unable to work with this anymore, so was getting rid of it. I did get a chance to say "hi" to her and thank her for the wheel. I assured her that it was going to a good home and would be used and loved. I think she was OK with that.

After I picked it up, I drove out to Weaving Dept. and had "the other" Nancy look at it. She was so jealous and impressed that I was able to get a hold of wheel in such great condition for so cheap! She said it was probably at least 80 years old and had most of the original pieces on it. She tightened everything up, showed me where to oil and got it going. It was fun to see her go through it and get it spinning and it did great.

I did feel bad about putting in an order, then canceling it, but they assured me that they will use the traveler. Before I left though, I bought a new single drive flyer and Mother of All with bobbins from them, along with a Niddy Noddy, so I did still spend money with them. Then I went out to buy stain and the other little parts to help keep her together.

I have about $175 left in my "start spinning" budget now, so plenty of funds to buy fiber!! The Weaving Guild show is coming up in November and E-bay is a good friend of mine, so we'll start trolling soon.

The couple is still looking at letting the Louet wheel and the weaving stuff go too. The wheel looks a couple of years old and is priced at $150. They also had a bunch of drop spindles and bobbins that looked antique. If you want to be put in contact with them, please let me know.

I'll be cleaning with Murphy's Oil Soap tonight and off to TN tomorrow, so spinning will have to wait a week. It's so worth the wait with the adventure I had today! (In a rental car from work, no less!!)

It's On Order

2007-09-19T19:28:00.000-07:00

I did it.

I ordered a spinning wheel. It's the Ashford Traveler, Double Drive, Double Treadle, Finished.

I didn't think I would like spinning so much, but I do. And I've been waiting for some extra money to come my way to get one...and it did.

So I called Weaving Dept. today, talked to Nancy and put in the order.

Then I talked to Anna. Yep, that Anna. ENABLER ANNA. She struck again. I had lunch with her this week and she got me talking about needing a Woolee Winder, and where to get good fiber and how it's so much more fun to spin in the Winter. She did it. She turned me from a knitter, to a spinner/knitter.

It is supposed to be here in 10 days and I can't wait. Fortunately I have a training class in Memphis next week, so I will be otherwise occupied next week.

It's this one:

Apparently resistance is futile...

CNTL-ALT-DEL

2007-09-15T12:44:00.000-07:00

RESET.

I've been feeling way out of sorts lately with work, home, relationships, family and life in general. I do have to say that I've gotten to the point where I start to realize that before it totally spirals out of control. Usually I am able to stop it or at least change course so the big trainwreck doesn't hit!

This is what I've been doing since about July of this year. I have really been reflecting on my life - where I am, where I'm going, what the hell I want to be doing, going, etc. So I've decided to RESET it all.

No, wait, don't freak out - I haven't decided to move to some remote island in the South Pacific (though Winter is coming...). I have really tried to make sure that I know what's going on and making stuff for changes as needed.

The biggest thing is that I decided my relationship with T was going nowhere, slowly. We had gotten to the point where we were dating just like a year ago and he had no desire to move on past that. I was still the "weekend girlfriend", though I did have one night a week too, if I was lucky! He always says that he wants a relationship, but his actions say such the opposite. I was tired of dealing with it and feeling like I was really unimportant in his world, so I ended it. I feel better and honestly, I don't miss it a lot. (I miss having someone to do stuff with, but not really him as much...) I'm doing good and feeling really OK with it.

I also started getting excited about being home more and seeing my neighbors more. They are all so cool and I have missed seeing them. I'm looking forward to hanging out with them more in the future.

Oh, and I'm still knitting...I promise. I started a scarf a la Crazy Aunt Purl's Magic Scarf or giant seed stitch. I am doing it in Blizzard, an Alpaca mix and its' so fuzzy and soft - just love it! And I almost finished the red baby sweater - it needs to get in the mail before it starts getting cold in NC!

As for work, I'm finally am "getting it". It's been a transition and it's been tough and a little bit of a blow to the ego, but I'm hanging in. I am hearing from colleagues that it's tough and everyone goes through it, but if you are willing to put in the work, you make it through. I've never really backed down from a challenge, so I'm game. Good thing, as I really dont' want to job search right now!

And the blogging.... I'd love to promise that I'll blog every day, but that's not realistic. I did get the Internet back at home, so I can work more there. That will help get me back into blogging, I hope. So, no promises, but check back often...

How Far Will You Go For Yarn?

2007-06-04T18:15:00.000-07:00

Seriously, how far are you willing to go for yarn?

Lately I have been traveling for work - I've been in NC and in Philly over the last couple of months. I love to venture out and explore new places, so of course I found the yarn stores out there...

So here is the result of my company sponsored yarn store "crawl" along the eastern seaboard...(Too bad I can't figure out how to expense the yarn yet!)

First up, Great Yarns. in Raleigh, NC. The first time I tried to go here, they weren't very nice to me (it was 5:58 and they close at 6) and wouldn't let me in the store. I gave them the benefit of the doubt and went back a second time. The store is Ok, though I wasn't overly excited about their selection. I did find the great Baby Pullover sweater pattern here and a great Encore Chunky yarn in "Carolina Blue" (think UNC Chapel Hill colors) This is the finished sweater that went to T's nephew Little J.

Next up was a store about an hour SW of Raleigh in Southern Pines, NC called Bella Filati. I really drove down there to visit the Pinehurst golf course, but this store was "on the way". It was a bit of a drive, but it was SOOO worth it. (Yeah, I stopped there first and did actually visit the golf course) This store was beautiful and had FABULOUS yarn. There was a knit night that night too, but I had forgotten my project, but had a great time shopping and talking with the other knitters. They even have a great online store. I may even visit it again this week. I bought some Blue Sky Cotton in a bright red for a baby sweater (the son of a Rutgers grad) and some Malbridgo, which was heavenly and PINK...I know, what a surprise.

So, next up was Philadelphia. I wasn't even thinking about yarn shopping, until Jenn, who is well versed on "Yarn Traveling" told me that I HAD to go visit Loop in downtown Philly. I wasn't planning on having any time, but my flight was at 6:30pm and we were finished at 1pm and the earlier flights were booked... Thus, it was on to LOOP!

They had some great yarns too. There was a whole wall of Koigu which was amazing and gorgeous. I was rather overwhelmed by the whole store, so I asked for some recommendations. I was led to a great yarn from Sheep Shop Yarn Company - it's 30% silk and 70% wool. There was a great shell on display in the window made out of the yarn, that I was then determined to make immediately! (ok, so the yarn cost in excess of 4x that I would pay for it in a store, but that's so NOT the point!) Oh, and the bag was a party favor from their anniversary party.

I did find Rosie's Yarn Cellar, but couldn't find a space to park for blocks. Ok, there were a couple that opened up, but I was in a bigger car than I'm used to and never did pass parallel parking for my driver's test, so didn't want to risk it. Maybe next trip...

Last week I was back in Philly, but about an hour west of the city and had an early night and was totally ready to get away from "Jr." that I had been working together all week. I came back to the hotel to change shoes, checked the websites for yarns near Exton, PA, found FrouFrou was open until 7 and hit the road for some Yarn Therapy!! (I was on the phone with T at the time and told him that I had to go, in order to get to the store on time!!) It is a cute store that had a lot of yarn on SALE. I found some Noro Silk Garden Lite, some Cascade 220 for baby sweaters and some really cool Tahki wool from Ireland. It was all 15% off and I actually had about 6 more skeins picked out at the time, but had to contain myself.

Next up, I go to Athens GA next week and I'm already scouting for stores. Any suggestions?

After that, I'm back in NC for a week, then home to STL for the summer. I'm looking forward to a STL yarn crawl!

Ok, so really, how far have you been willing to go for yarn??

Peer Pressure

2007-05-31T19:25:00.000-07:00

Ok, it's not that I don't want to blog, it's just that I never remember to do it. It's not from a lack of stuff to do (I've been in Philly the last 2 weeks and I have 4 more weeks of travel in 3 different cities to go!) or lack of knitting. (I finished 2 sweaters, a scarf and have done a BUNCH of shopping during my travels...)

Believe it or not, I have a ton of pictures and stores to share with you, but I don't have my normal computer and my memory stick isn't working right now. So, I promise next week while I'm holed up in Raleigh, I'll share those with you.

In the meantime, I'll answer my questions from Jenn, who I'm sure thinks I totally forgot her, but didn't - I promise. It's a meme that you asked to be tag and then the blogger gives you a list of questions to answer on your blog. I've been pondering Jenn's questions for me for a while, so I hope they live up to the "hype".... Here goes:

1) You work in a male-dominated industry, right? What's been the BEST part about being "the girl" at work?
It's a very male-dominated field and I'm reminded of it all the time. The guys love that I wear pink, am girly (ok, girlier than most of my female co-workers) and am a natural blonde! My favorite part about being "the girl" at work is that I can talk shop, sports, golf, etc. with the guys, but can also give them advice about their wives, sisters, mom's, etc. I like that I am able to see the black and white of a situation, but I can see the "fuzzy grey" too. I am able to approach situations as a "person" and not as an "engineer" all the time - being nice and working with people really can get you far most of the time and the guys just don't get that!!

2) You've been traveling a lot lately. Are you the type to explore where you are, or to head straight back to the hotel room?
Well, I've visited 4 yarn stores in 4 different cities in the last 4 weeks, so that should tell you something. Actually, my schedule is usually hang out at the hotel on Mondays to unpack and crash, then I run around the rest of the nights doing stuff. I love to find neat places to go, whether it be a neat area, cool shopping, a kickass yarn store or even really great historical places. I love exploring new cities and it gives me something fun to do while traveling by myself. Just give me a rental car, a map and an idea of where to go and I'm off!!

3) What is your favorite thing to knit? Is there anything out there that you'd like to do but don't think you could?
Right now my favorite thing to knit is baby sweaters. I found a great pattern that is knit top down with NO SEAMING with worsted weight yarn. It's the easiest thing to make ever and the recipiants LOVE them. (No, they are not for me, but it seems that everyone I know is pregnant right now!) I also love to knit scarves or anything with thick chunky yarn - it's so easy to knit and comes in great colors. As for stuff I'd like to do...I don't think I'd have the patience to knit lace, nor do I know who/what I would make that for - I'm not a fan of shawls or blankets. I would also like to knit sox, but haven't gotten through about 2 inches of one yet. I did buy the book on knitting sox on 2 circs to see if that would be easier, so we'll see about that!

4) If you could do anything in the world, time and money no object, what would it be?
I am going to approach this like I do the "Lottery Game", where you imagine what you would do if you won the lottery... First I would pay everything off and buy a new car for me - don't know what kind, but probably a convertible. I wouldn't quit my job, but I would go to 'as needed'. Then I would buy a new building for the Delta Gamma Center in St Louis, as they have been trying to buy one for a while. (It's a neat organization...). I would give money to the Delta Gamma Foundation, to the University of Tulsa and to Catholic Charities. I would give each of my siblings and parents money and I would set up a college fund for my goddaughter. THEN, I would travel to Europe , especially Ireland and Italy and maybe Australia. Once at home, I would like to start a new business, probably "yarn related". I don't want to open a store, but I do have an inkling of an idea for a different kind of business. I would also like to set up a trust to help people, but I'm not sure how or what that would entail. Oh, and I would buy a house closer to STL, so I don't have to drive forever to get home at night!

5) If you could go back to one moment in your life, and make a different decision, would you? What was it?
Ever since the divorce, I have always gone back to one decision (0r at least one moment where the decision was pretty apparent and I remember it vividly) where I choice to continue down that path, when I should have stopped myself then. My mom told me about a month before the wedding that if I wanted to back out of the wedding, it would be OK and that they wouldn't be mad and would support me in the decision. At the time, I was pretty offended by that statment and was shocked that it was said to me. In retrospect, it was so apparent to me and I totally should have thought that through. I'm not sure where my life would be if I did, but I probably would be living in St Louis now, not be in so much debt, though maybe still working for the same company. I did learn a lot about myself and about people in general, so I can't totally regret that decision.

Ok, more later next week, I promise. I have lots of pix of great yarns and NASCAR sites...

Resurface

2007-02-27T18:32:00.000-08:00

Yeah, yeah, yeah...I know it's been forever or four months since I've posted, but I have a good excuse. Kind of. Um, you probably don't want to hear it, so I won't bore you to tears.

So when we last left our heroine, she was getting ready to celebrate a birthday. I survived birthday 34 and had a great "birthday week". T gave me a pink Razr phone and we had dinner at this very nice Italian restaurant for dinner. For his birthday, T got satellite radio and a kick-ass party for his 40th! I have pictures, but I'll post them later. (Keep reading...you'll see why...) Oh, and Lucinda won the lucky prize drawing for some stash yarn - let me know where to send it! (It was great for her to come by T's party too!)

Thanksgiving and Christmas were both fun - busy going to both families. Santa and Uncle T got the nephews an air hockey table for Christmas and "Ms. Claus" aka Techygeekgirl got to put it together with some help. They loved it, so it was well worth the two hours and 300 screws! T got me a pink iPod for Christmas, which I absolutely love and use all the time. (pretty eclectic music going on though...) I didn't finish my Christmas knitting of the scarf for Kerin or the sweater for Little A. I did get hats made for all of T's nieces & nephews though.

We went to my cousin Katie's wedding over New Year's weekend which was fun. It's been a while since we've had the ENTIRE family together (there's over 50 of us now!!). On New Year's Eve, we attended the party at Busch Stadium for the Mark Munsell Foundation. (Mark's wife Jill is a DG sister of mine and I was at their wedding, so it's dear to me - a great organization!) There was over 1000 people there and a great band - Glorious Blue. We'll be back next year!

2007 has started well. We have had a couple of decent snows this year, which has made the crazy cold weather worthwhile. I haven't had to shovel much, so that's good. Valentine's Day was fun - we went to a great Greek Tapas restaurant in U City called Momo's. It was so tasty....we'll be going back again soon. I got a putter from T too. It wasn't very romantic, but incredibly thoughtful!! Now I just need to get my

I am still with the same consulting company as a pharmaceutical packaging/process engineer. They have gotten me all Techy-geeked out though! I have a laptop and a Treo for work, then with my iPod and Razr phone, I am a walking Radio Shack!

I was assigned to a chemical company in STL for a while as a staff engineer, but I was able to be reassigned to another project involving packaging. It's for a company in NC. I was scheduled to travel to Raleigh-Durham every week for 4 months to work on this project. This week is Week 2 of the project and I'm only staying through Weds. (Most of the tasks I need to do won't be ready until late March or can be done from the home office, so I'm going to work there for a couple of weeks.)

Raleigh is a great town. I went out exploring last week and saw Duke (worry, it makes Wash U look like a community college!) and I saw where the Durham Bulls play AAA baseball for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. I also found all the great malls and some really cool places to eat. I like to find the local places and stay away from the chains.

I also got to drive to SC to visit the integrator for the packaging line - that was an adventure! I definitely like NC better than SC. To get there I had to drive west through Charlotte and then south to Duncan, SC that is between Greenville & Spartanburg. On the way I saw:

- Lowe's Motor Speedway (only sits 100,000 NASCAR fans - it's so FREAKING huge - that's a big part of Waffle House Nation!)
- Dale Earnhart Blvd. (got a picture too!)
- Bass Pro Shop
-Lots of Waffle Houses AND Mr. Waffles(there were 2 Waffle Houses at the exit where I was visting - one on each side of the highway!)
-4 Harley Davidson Dealerships
- Wendy's - they have vanilla Frosty's AND breakfast now. They are soooo missed in STL!

It was a long trip, but it was fun to see new places.

I have found a couple of yarn stores in Raleigh, though I haven't gotten a good impression of them yet. I visited the one store last week right at closing time and the ladies in there were pretty curt with me, even though I told them I was from out of town and had sought them out. I didn't expect them to stay open for hours for me, but at least say "That's great and we're really sorry we are closing now. We would love to have you come back and see us during our regular hours." NOT: "Yeah, that's great that you are from out of town, but we're closed. We've been here since 9:30am and we're tired. Look up our website if you want to know anything about the store." I think I'll give them the benefit of the doubt and chalk it up to a long day, as the store looks like they carry some great stuff. If they are rude to me again though, I'm not going back. The other store was in an old house in Cary, NC (suburb of Raleigh) and I might try them again. I'll be venturing to other locations such as New Bern, NC, Minneapolis, Philadelphia and Athens, GA.

I am getting some knitting done while I'm travelling. I finished Kerin's scarf and almost finished Little A's sweater - only the sleeves are left. I finished knitting the sweater for T's new nephew, now I have to block and seam it. And I'm almost finished a scarf for me to match my green coat. Next up is a pair of booties for a friend of T's.

So the pictures are either on my camera or on my computer at home, so can't download them yet. I promise I"ll get them going ASAP.

And I promise I'll update more often than every 4 months!

Did Someone Mention Presents?

2006-11-08T19:01:00.000-08:00

Just a friendly reminder to post a comment to the blog in order to be in the drawing for something cool out of my stash... I had said by tomorrow, but I'm going to extend it to Monday, as I'm going to be a little busy until then, with birthday festivities for me, T and another friend of his this weekend. (Ever notice that there are lots of birthdays right around now?? Ever notice that 9 months before this is February...Coincidence?!?)

Ok, so the spinning is going better. I actually bought some wool while at the Weaver's Guild sale last weekend during a girls night out with Robin, Anna, Jen and 2 Barbs. (Thanks for having me over, it was a blast!) I got some nice wool for $4 a bag and a bag of Merino/Angora for $10. We ran into Carol too (my spinning instructor) who was asking me how it was going. I had to be honest, I was getting frustrated with it and wasn't sure if it was going to be a go or not. I did go to class on Saturday morning, as a make-up for the MU game weekend. I ended up trying another wheel - an Ashford Traveller, to see if I liked the double treadle and a smaller wheel. I also decided to try spinning the wool I bought Friday night, instead of fighting with the scrap batting that they had given me. It spun like a dream and I got through the entire bag! I even plied it, though it didn't turn out that great, as I had super-energized strands! Of course during the class I got a call from Anna asking me to go back to the sale to pick up 2 more bags of roving that she bought, which was gorgeous. Hmmm, let me see....just finished spinning/plying decent wool and loved it and you want me to GO BACK to the sale where they are selling roving?? Gee, twist my arm! Of course before I left, I paid $25 to rent the Traveller for a month to try it out, with a promise of a discount and downpayment towards it, if I decide to keep it. And as I was leaving, I ran into Cindy, who helped me carry out the wheel. She hasn't tried the spinning yet...but trust me, it's just a matter of time! I found the roving for Anna at the sale and picked up 4 more bags of the $4 for me! I spun another bag of it at T's over the weekend and even plied it. He was pretty impressed with it and kept asking me how it all worked. Luckily Carol explained the workings of the wheel before I started, so I could explain it to him...(Yep, she's a techygeekgirl alright!)

So tomorrow night T is taking me to Paul Manno's in Chesterfield for dinner for my birthday. We have tried to get in there a couple of times, but you need reservations, even during the week. He called me tonight to tell me that he is getting me a pink Razr phone for my birthday too. I've been eyeing them for a while and my contract just came up. I was talking about an I-pod too, but this will probably be more useful. And he gets a discount on part of it for being an ATT employee, so that helps.

For his birthday, I got him satellite radio for his car. It was quite the ordeal to pick out the unit and then find someone who actually sold it. We ended up finding it at American and talked the sales guy down the Best Buy price WITH installation. I can't complain...the unit had been returned (they are discontinued now), so I got the warranty on it - I'm sure it will be fine. (and you thought I was Techy - you should have seen him trying to pick out a receiver!)

Saturday is T's party at Fox & Hound. (come on out if you are in the neighborhood!) It started as a surprise, but I can't keep secrets and actually needed information from him, so I told him. He keeps joking with me that it's actually a party for my birthday, disguised as his...Ok, so maybe there is SOME truth to that, but not much! Sunday is birthdays with the family. Since our birthdays are 3 days apart, we get to split time. My mom called dinner on Sunday first, so we are going to try to work it out to get together with his family for brunch on Sunday. His nephew's birthday is Saturday too, so it's a group thing.

So I'm excited it's my birthday, but I'm as upset as I was last year. I've come so far since then and it's been a good year. I have great friends and family around me, so I am very blessed! (Thanks to all of you out there...you mean a lot to me!)

Happy Halloween

2006-10-30T21:18:00.000-08:00

THAT'S A WINNER!!

2006-10-27T21:32:00.000-07:00

Cardinals win in 5, Baby!!!

At Home!!

First Time since 1982!!!

Congratulations!!

I would have loved to be downtown for this, but annoying drunk crowds tend to freak me out!

T's down there somewhere with "the boys"...I've gotten 4 phone calls tonight from various locations. Definitely a lot of celebrating going on! What a season!!!

Is "Blogiversary" Really A Word?

2006-10-27T17:59:00.000-07:00

Because I just don't remember learning that one on Sesame Street....But I digress.

So tomorrow is my 1st "Blogiversary". No, I can't believe it's been a year and I can't believe I have knitted as much as I have, or rather amassed as much of a stash as I have!

In honor of my 1st Blogiversary, let's have a contest, shall we?? How about I put the names of all the people who comment on my blog between now and Nov. 9 in a hat (probably off the Knifty Knitter) and I'll give you something from the stash. (it's extensive, so it'll be good! It's grown a bunch since that picture!) Why the 9th? That's my actual birthday, which in my world is a holiday, so I should give gifts! So feel free to comment at will - compliments, criticisms, tell me I'm crazy, go crazy for the Cardinals, etc.!

It's sports night here at Chez Westie. I could have gone out with my brother, SIL and my uncle who was in town for the World Series from Vegas, but I didn't want to stay in "the city" too long tonight - it makes a REALLY long day. And I needed to finish up some work and I'll be gone the rest of the weekend, so I'm getting ready to work on a knitting project(there are SOOOO many to choose from) and flipping between the World Series (GO CARDS!!) and the Tulsa Football game. As of 8pm, the Cards are winnging in the 3rd and TU is losing 13-3 at home vs. UTEP. It's fun watching TU - I used to play Intramural soccer and flag football on that field....many a great game was watched on that field too!

Tomorrow is day 2 of spinning and it should be interesting...this will make or break my future as a spiner. If I hate it, then I just saved myself over $300...if not, there goes another hobby!! I'll keep ya posted!

PS - Stuff with T is fine...I just need to breathe and keep perspective. All is Ok - I just need to remember that it's about ME too - I need to take breaks for myself and RELAX - all will fall into place fine. And he ASKED me to lunch today which was great and very sweet. I know, I know...he's a keeper....no matter how goofy he is!!!

Waiting To Exhale

2006-10-26T18:56:00.000-07:00

So I'm having some trouble adjusting. Yes, I really like my job and I like working in St. Louis and all, but I just feeling like I'm not settled yet.

Now I'm all about change, so I'm not fighting that, it's just that I still feel like I'm not in control and everything is not as it should be. I know better and know everything is OK, I just am letting the littlest things bug me, which is driving me crazy! I feel most sorry for T - he's such a great guy and a good sport, but I end up taking stuff out on him, which is so uncool and unfair! During a conversation with Anna last week, we decided that T's name should be: "Poor T....I know!" (This goes with "Poor Wayne...My ASS!" and "Poor Roger...He's Fine", but that's for another post)

I'm getting upset when he is going out with his friends! I never used to be like that with him...it really didn't bother me - we don't have to spend ever minute together and that's great. Lately though, it's just setting me off and I'm not exactly sure why, though I have some pretty good guesses. One is that I am adjusting to the new job and drive, etc. and I'm not doing the things I used to do as much. Since I'm not really working in the office as much, I'm not hanging out with friends at work. I haven't seen much of my ATI friends and it's been so cold that the neighbors haven't really been out too much. I'm really slacking in the workout department and I feel like I'm slacking in the household department. (Not to mention the knitting - eek, less than 2 months to Christmas!)

Bottom line is that I think I'm not adjusting as well to the changes as I should be and I'm taking it out on him, instead of doing something about it. At least I'm realizing it sooner than later and hopefully I can make the necessary adjustments before it's too late. (Today is our 8-month anniversary and I truly couldn't be happier about that!)

Now that all of that is out....I actually feel much better. (T, if you are reading this - I'm sorry and please bear with me - it will all even out soon, I promise!)

Let's continue with our regularly scheduled blog, shall we!...

Currently I'm watching the Cards in the World Series. It's the top of the 6th and they are losing 3-2. My dad and uncle are at the game tonight. My parents went on Tuesday night too. (They paid a bunch for tickets, but they deserve to go - they are big fans and have never gone - and they aren't paying for college anymore!) Good thing they won, as we were not going to let them go tonight - the Cards lost every playoff game they attended! Dad says it's Mom, but I'm not so sure, especially if they lose tonight! It's been fun watching them play, especially since I still can't believe they are actually playing AND contending. They need to cinch tomorrow night in St. Louis! Edited at 11:30pm - CARDS WIN - THAT'S 3 GAMES BABY!!! 1 MORE TO GO!!!

Speaking of sports, T & I took his brother Mark to the Mizzou Homecoming game last weekend. The game was great, but we left about 1/2 way through the 3rd quarter. Most everyone else had left at that time too - it poured from the second play of the game, until we got to about the Kingdom City exit. I haven't been that wet (while fully clothed) in a long time - my hair was DRIPPING wet in the car! Thank goodness we took the Volvo with the heated seats... The game was good though and it was fun other than the rain. It's been fun watching them this year, as I didn't go to a big football school. Now TU is doing well this year too, so football is good to watch all over!

Saturday night we are going to a Halloween party. I haven't been to a costume party since college, so I'm not sure what to dress up as. T and I are going costume shopping on Sat, though he called tonight to say that he already got a costume - he's going as a member of DEVO, which came up in a conversation over the weekend, which he didn't remember until I mentioned it. I'd have to say it's creative and quite retro! He suggested that I go as a "Queen Bee" - black & yellow stripes with a tiara. Now I'm all about tiaras, so we may have a winner! Just to put it together... (yes, I'll have pictures)

Ok, here's the skinny on the spinning. I can't spindle spin to save my life. (Sorry, Blogger is being crabby about pix tonight!) I have trouble getting the spindle starting, then getting the right amout of fleece going and not pinching it all too hard. Apparently I am twisting it too much and causing it to "double up" on the spindle. I didn't make the class this past weekend because of the MU game, so this weekend is the start of using the wheel. I'm excited to try it, as I hear it's much different than the spindle. That's good, as I suck at the spindle! And since I missed a week, Carol is going to have a make-up class for me on the 4th to go over it. We'll see how it goes - at least I can say that I tried it!

Christmas knitting is still going, though SLOWLY! I'm almost finished with the one side of the baby kimono sweater, but I think it may be too long in the front in order to get to the right number of stitches. It will be close though. It's such an easy knit, which is good. And I started the sweater for Little A, but I'm not sure if I have the gauge right. It might be a little big for her, but she's growing fast. I'm sure she'll love the colors too. (Pictures soon - didn't get them taken this round)

Spinning My Wheels

2006-10-13T16:33:00.000-07:00

So I start spinning glass tomorrow. That would be yarn spinning, not that aerobic crap. (T does it and is good at it - I don't think I have the knees for it)

Anyhoo....from what I hear, you either love it or you hate it, so it should be an adventure. I'm not sure if my analytical mind can handle something soooo crafty, but we'll see. Hey, it was on my MEME list last year of "Things I Want To Do Before I Die", so I need to at least try it. I know, I've got time, but might as well get it over with. Oh, and it's at Meyer's House in Historic Florissant, so it will be a hike.

Oh, and I have to tell you...My cousin Kerin (Little A & Little E's mom) won this national teaching award this week. She was on the TV news in Chicago and all over the paper. The funny thing is that I caught the article about the STL winners and it mentioned that it was going to Chicago & Glen Ellyn to give awards there next. For some reason I had a sneaky suspicion that it might be Kerin and I knew it as soon as I saw her e-mail. CONGRATULATIONS KERIN!!

Ok, TOTALLY FREAKY...now if I can just channel that for MY benefit...

(Yes, for those of you keeping score at home...this is my 3rd post this week - so blah!!)

FORE!!!

2006-10-09T20:56:00.000-07:00

Here are some pix from T & I golfing at Gateway National yesterday. It's located just over the river in IL and is right next to the Gateway motor speedway. The day, view and course were spectacular and being a Sunday, we got to hear the motors from the drag races all day!

Just look at that form and those views!

I shot a 98 and T shot a 99 for the day. We played AWFUL on the front 9, but improved drastically on the back 9. I'm not sure if golf is fun again, but playing on days like this sure make it tolerable again!

Oh, and T wanted to make sure that I got this picture in to...In fact, I believe he wanted me to make sure I told you "Hey Everyone....Come see how good looking I am!"

Coming Up for Air!

2006-10-06T18:26:00.000-07:00

Hi, cute, blonde slacker blogger here. Blah, Blah, Blah...I know I have a ton of excuses and you don't want to hear them, but I promise I have some good stuff...

So I started the new job a couple of weeks ago and I LOVE IT! I love being in St. Louis, I love being in a group of 15 engineers where 8 of us are WOMEN, I love doing REAL engineering work again, I love working and NOT having someone micromanaging me or looking over my shoulder and I love that I have a big cubicle WITH a WINDOW! Yes, there are things I DON'T love, like the drive and being away from home so long, but I figure if all works out I will be able to move closer. And I found out yesterday that I'm getting a company phone and most likely going to take over as the project manager on a job at a local company, so that's cool. I've been a little nervous as I go along with this, but I keep reminding myself that I CAN DO THIS...I've been doing this for years and they truly wouldn't have hired me if they didn't think I could do it!

On the social side....We went to my cousin Lisa's wedding over Labor Day. It was such a blast! Our family weddings are such a great time. We all love to dance and party (woohoo, open bar!) and all get a long well, so it's always a great time! (Ok, T's request for "Kung Fu" fighting was not taken well, but other than that, they loved him and he had a great time!) And the wedding itself was really pretty. Lisa's dress was gorgeous and apparently my uncle Bob had picked it out because it looked like the "whipped cream" girl on the cover of a Herb Alpert record from the 60's!! (Try explaining that to your grandkids!!) The girly's were the cutest flower girls and we got a kick out of Little A waving at everyone down the aisle! Here are a couple of pix from the wedding:

We've been golfing a bunch and going all over the place. A couple of weeks ago we went over Fairmont Park for the horse races. I lost about as much money as T won, which means that I have to bet like he does from now on! We went down to see the MU game against Ole Miss and that was great. I did miss the fact that I didn't go to a bigger school with a great football team, but TU has been holding their own lately too! In fact, we went to the "Watch Party" for the Alumni Group to watch their OT victory over Navy - what a great game!

Last weekend I went to the Toby Keith concert with a friend of mine. It was so much fun. We had VIP parking about 20 spaces FROM THE GATE! And then our VIP bands got us free food in the VIP tent and our hosts bought us drinks all night. Our seats were in the VIP boxes right behind the floor seats and they were AWESOME! EDITED BY REQUEST TO INCLUDE: It was totally awesome. Hell, he even dropped money all over the people in front of us when he first came out. How awesome is that. And how about Willie Nelson on the big screen. Straight from jail, we were sure. And the opening act, Joe Nichols, was awesome too. Although we weren't sure we knew any of his songs when we got there I think we sang every one. The weather was awesome and it was great company - at least I thought so. (The original post was abbreviated, as a certain "queen" may find out and throw a fit - just don't tell her who I got the tickets from, OK!....all the above is true as written - and then some!) I would include pix, but they are not uploading for some reason...I'll try again soon!

Ok, So here's the skinny about the knitting... I do actually knit when I'm not feeling guilty about keeping the house clean, working out, spending time with family/friends, blogging, etc.! THE SIL scarf is done and given! I ended up doing a garter stitch with a cute varigated pink chunky yarn and it turned out really cute.

I also have been working on the baby kimono from Mason-Dixon knitting and I'm up to the first sleeve. It's such an easy knit and may be the "baby sweater" pattern of choice! I may do some booties too, if I can find an easy pattern. Next up is the sweater for Little A for Christmas. I have the yarn picked out and actually need to START it. The pattern looks easy, so I'm not too worried that it LESS THAN 3 MONTHS TO CHRISTMAS...

Better get back to the knitting!

I Am Outta Here....

2006-09-01T06:34:00.000-07:00

So I put in my notice for my job last week. It was a really tough decision, as I really love the people out there, but I have been wanting to get back to working in STL for some time. The drive is going to be about the same, but at least I'm closer to T, my family, my meetings and great golf. I have one more week to go, though it's a holiday week, so not too much going to go on then....

I have been working in the knitting realm. My SIL's scarf is finally about 1/2 finished AND I like it AND it will be long enough...FINALLY! I also visited a LYS twice this week to find yarn for a bag for my aunt for Christmas (Yes, I really did just say that word....out loud!) and to start looking for yarn for my god-daughter's sweater. I am finding that I need really bulky stuff that I may have to mail-order, go to the really good LYS or get the Jiffy quick stuff, which I'm trying to avoid the 100% acrylic but it has cute colors. It should be an easy knit - she's only 3 and have a couple of months, so we'll keep looking. I also have to start working on the hats for T's nephews, but those will be a snap on the Knifty Knitter. (still love it for hats!)

This weekend we are off to a wedding in Bloomington, Il. Should be fun with all the family there. (there are over 45 of us in my mom's immediate family - brother/sister/kids) It's always a good party and this should be no exception. Only downfall is that it's at 4:30 this afternoon, so we need to be on the road by noon. I already told T he was driving, so I can work on my projects - what a good sport! (And just an aside...I told him I wanted to knit him something - I acutally had a sweater picked out - but he told me he didn't really wear sweaters, and he didn't like high sox. I suggested maybe slipper sox, but can't find a men's pattern - any suggestions?? Yes, I'm aware of the "boyfriend curse", but he great care of me when I had a really bad case of the stomach flu, so I'm pretty sure I'm safe....just sayin'....)

So I'm in glide mode for the next week or so...I know I should have taken some time off, but we are out of town this weekend and next for the MU football game. (yep, even bought a shirt to wear!) And I need to find some time to go shopping for work clothes, as I am now going to be working in a professional office. I keep feeling like this is my first "real adult" job, since this is the first time I'll ever be able to wear nice clothes, jewelry and shoes that aren't closed toe! Oh, she grows up so fast...

Seriously, Has It Been A Year?

2006-08-02T08:34:00.000-07:00

Yep, it's been a year since I learned how to knit. In fact, it was the 30th of July last year that Anna & Robin took me to the yarn store in St. Charles. I bought 2 skeins of Cascade 220 and 2 skeins of baby alpaca. And I've only used one of those since then!

Here's a recap of all that I've finished since last year. I'll try to remember yarns & patterns, but don't hurt me if I don't right away....

My first project was a cute little bag that I started while in classes at Knitorious. Beth was my instructor and she was great! (She recently move to Cincinnati, so she'll be missed!) It's the Fabulous Felt Tote from Fiber Trends. The yarn is a Cascade 22o in shades of brown and then there is a confetti that went along with it at the top.

I then decided to join the "Fuzzy Feet Along" and made a pair of Fuzzy Feet out of Plymouth Chunky. The pattern is from Knitty.com. The FF's went to my friend Shauna for Christmas.

After that I made scarves for my cousin's girls out of Purple Homespun and Patton's Melody in Fun N Games.

I made scarves for my sister and my brother's girlfriend for Christmas out of various Pink colored yarn from Rowan in Big Print.

Right before Christmas, Anna & discovered the "magic" of the Knifty Knitter and I vowed I would never make a hat on needles again...I made hats out of Jelli Beenz yarn for every kid I know! (And I bought more yarn for more hats for T's nieces & nephews this year!) I also made a hat for my brother Matty out of Reynold's Blizzard yarn in Sage Green.

In the spring I finished the sheep for Shauna's kids. They were made from Cascade 220 from a pattern in Encyclopedia of Knitting by Donna Kooler. They loved them!

Just this past couple of weeks I finished the Sophie Bag . It's made out of the Cascade 220 I bought the first time I went yarn shopping with Robin & Anna. See, I do use yarn out of my stash!

I also finished another scarf in Iceland Rose that was going to be for my SIL, but I ran out of yarn and couldn't find any more locally. It's way too short (thus Brodie as a reference), so it's going to a niece for Christmas.

So...there's the list of FINISHED OBJECTS.....How about the list of UNFINISHED OBJECTS....
(note that the list is about the same if not LONGER!)

Let's start with the Fiber Trends Snow Country Felted Mittens in Outback Wool from Plymouth.
How about the Irish Hiking Scarf in Misti Alpaca - I'm into the 2nds skein, but it hasn't seen daylight since well before the last snowfall!

Or how about the infamous Olympic Socks that never really got out of the starting block!

Then there are the Socks That Rock that have had the pattern changed SEVERAL times and is about to be changed to the Yarn Harlot pattern.

Here's the scarf I started for myself in Debbi Bliss SOHO. It's just a basic 2k/2p rib stitch.

How about the Baby Surprise jacket in Knitpicks Shine Worsted, Grass color. I still haven't a clue if I'm making it right, but I think it's going to be a frogged project and I'll make another one using another pattern.

And to finish it off, here is the scarf for my SIL in progress. I went with another yarn and a basic garter stitch, as the stockinette was curling on me. And incidentally, I frogged it this morning and started over on it while waiting for my car, as I thought it was too wide. I'm hoping to have it done by Christmas!

Thanks Anna and Robin for teaching me to knit. (I can't be mad at them - they have pointy sticks AND they know how to use them!)

Time to Breathe

2006-07-24T09:13:00.000-07:00

I'm acutally getting some time to regroup this week. T's in Colorado with a friend of his this week doing "guy" stuff, so I get to catch up on some stuff this week.

***Now don't get me wrong, I miss him terribly and love spending time with him, so that's not even an issue. It's just that there has been so much going on with family, friends, work, hobbies, etc. that I feel like I've been a huge slacker and not been able to spend the time doing some of the things I need to do....Like:

Blogging: First of all, I'm working to get over the thought that I HAVE to include pictures in every post. They're great and all, but not really worth procrastinating over. I have actually been working on some knitting and decided to actually FINISH some of my objects out there, so there is hope. (My next post will include some pix of said objects...there are a couple of them out there!)

Knitting: It's actually 5 months from tomorrow until Christmas (YIKES!) and I have a bunch of projects I want to finish by then. And my stash seems to grow and the projects seem to not! Time to start really working on them and finding time to get them done. It's a perfect thing to do while watching "Grey's Anatomy" & Football in the Fall!

Scrapbooking: Yes, I actually count this as a hobby and have enough stuff in the basement to prove it. I actually need to clean that out, streamline some, e-Bay some and get it re-organized. I need to get back into the CTMH stuff too - it's been too long and I need to put some more effort into it. There are some great projects out there and I need to get them going!

Organizing: While I count myself among one of the more orgainzed people on the planet, you would never know it if you looked in my house. I still have stuff stashed EVERYWHERE from when I moved in and it needs to be sorted an put away. My office looks like a "war zone" and needs the most immediate help at this point! There is also some work that needs to be done to the house that has been waiting, but that may be a later in the Fall/Winter project.

Working Out: I have been a major slacker this summer and it needs to quit! Too many margaritas and great Mexican has been my downfall. We are even visiting a nutritionist, so you would think I'd be a little better about the accountability. So this week I've decided to jump start the workout again and get the momentum going...those 20+ pounds aren't going to just fall off by themselves!

Catching Up: I actually do a pretty good job of keeping up with everyone, though I don't feel like I spend enough time on it. (There are some reasons for it that I suspect is with me, but that's for another time.) Anyway, I got to spend some time with my neighbors this weekend and last night and had a blast and look forward to catching up with more people soon. In fact, I'm going to visit my cousin and her family this weekend in Chicago which will be fun and a great time!

Ok, so it's sounds like I'm turning over a "new leaf". Maybe not completely, as I really enjoy my life and all the things in it, but I think I'm to a point where everything is settling down now and I can get a little better organized with my time and spend more time doing more of the things I enjoy!

PS - For those of you who have heard about the storms up here, our family thankfully came out OK. I think I lost power for about 20 minutes and T had some branches come down. I heard that MA lost power for a bit and maybe Dave, but no one suffered any great loss or hardship. Thanks for your thoughts and please keep all those who are still without power and are suffering in your thoughts & prayers.

Twice....In the Same Week!

2006-06-15T17:17:00.000-07:00

Yes, you may check your calendars to confirm...Go ahead, I'll wait. And you may want to pull up a comfy chair and a nice cool, fruity drink, as this may be a while....

So I am enjoying a quiet evening at home, which of course is both rare and well, not very quiet at all. I am actually procrastinating finishing the laundry and going through mail, so this may be a long one! I was under the impression that things were supposed to get quieter during the Summer - I guess someone lost that memo somewhere!

Anywhoo, Let's recap the last couple of month, shall we?

The wedding in KC was a blast. It was actually a great weekend and we had a fabulous time. Friday night T & I ate great BBQ and then hung out at a sports bar and watched the Cards game. It was actually fun cheering the Redbirds in KC, as the Royals were in the middle of losing their 11th straight game! After that, we went back to the hotel and met up with some of T's friends and the wedding party at the bar. Of course there was lots of drinking and a lot of this all night (and all weekend, for that matter!):

Yep, that's a bunch of 30-somethings acting 19. It was pretty much the theme of the weekend! But I loved Dan's (the groom in green) shirt:

The wedding was fun, though more of the same and a little "Air Guitar" thrown in too. (Come on, you remember the 80's, don't you??):

After the wedding, someone convinced the bar manager in the hotel to stay open an extra hour and then a bunch of us hung out on the back entrance patio until way after 2am to drink more and sing STYX and other great hits of the 70's & 80's. Needless to say it was a long trip home on Sunday....

I did manage to get a couple of decent pictures of me in there too:

The Tulsa trip in May was fun too. I was able to meet with the Alumni office at TU and get a feel for what we are going to be doing next year with the St. Louis Alumni group. It's going to be hard work, but I think it will be fun and exciting. After all the meetings, I found this great yarn store in town - LOOPS that was having a 30% off sale on feltable yarns - hello, did you know I was coming or what?? I found some great yarn (Debbie Bliss SOHO #1) for a scarf for ME and I found the Harlot's latest book, finally! T flew in on Friday night and we "played" in Tulsa for the weekend. We ate a really cool Irish pub down on Cherry Street, which I think used to be where Chimi's was when I was at TU. On Saturday we played golf at a really great course in Sappulpa - Clary Fields. It was a very nice course and even though it was 94 degrees out, we really didn't get hot and there was a breeze. (I think it's that "dry heat" thing...) That night we ate at a great Mexican place (of course) named Senior Tequilla's in Brookside and had FABULOUS Margaritas.

I took T to campus on Sunday before leaving and was so impressed with it. I can't believe how much it's changed!! There used to be an Arby's where this now stands:

And this view has changed drastically:

That's a bonfire pit in the center of the "U" and that's the new fitness center, softball field, track/soccer field, and tennis complex across Delaware. (There were townhouses and and other houses there before. Great parties were had there!)

Other than that, we have been busy going to Rib America downtown. (great bands, scary crowds!) We went to Taste of Clayton (better bands, MUCH better crowd), which was great, though I wasn't feeling good when we go there and I got sick afterwards that night, but NOT from anything I ate there!!

T & I have been playing a bit of golf lately too, though he's been playing more than me and gets to the range more than I do. I did buy pink clubs and the deal was that we had to play more. Luckily T is holding up his end of the bargain. Here are my clubs.

Yes, the bag and covers are VERY PINK, but the clubs themselves are grey graphite, with some pink accent on the club heads. I LOVE playing with them and can see an improvement in my game. T actually will hit them sometimes too at the range to warm up. Hey, at least I don't have to worry about one of the guys walking off with them either!
And these are the golf balls that I have found and absolutely love.

Yes, they come in white, but why play with white golf balls, when they come in such great colors. (and anyone who knows/met/seen/heard of me knows how I feel about color!)

I spent last weekend in Chicago on a whirlwind trip with the family. Matty graduated from DePaul on Sunday, so we went up to party with him on Saturday and watch him walk on Sunday. It was a great time. (T couldn't make the trip, though enjoyed the RUSH tribute band at Pop's Sat night - sorry I missed that!) The party was fun, as my cousin Kerin and her husband came out, as did all of my dad's siblings and some of their kids. It was a traditional "Winters" party and all that it entails! (The customary Shannon & Kerin picture!)

Graduation wasn't until 3:30, so after brunch we hung out at IKEA. It was neat, but I don't get all the hype. It's definitely a list store though!

Matty's the last one to graduate college, so it's the end of an era! Graduation wasn't over until after 6:30 and I ended up riding back with Mom & Dad, so we took Matt to dinner, then home afterwards.

When all was said and done, we ended up leaving downtown at 9:30PM on Sunday night! About an hour into the trip, Mom started calling everyone to make sure they were doing Ok. Tim & Diane ended up going back to IKEA and leaving about the same time we did from downtown. Dave & Stacy had to pick up a car at her uncle's and were getting tired driving through eastern IL (I would too...) Alison & Jim missed the exit to 55 in Bloomington and were heading to Champaign, so we had to get them coming back. We ended up meeting Dave & Stacy in Springfield and drove the rest of the way back with Stacy in the new Denali that was TOTALLY decked out. I think I bored her to tears talking about who knows what, but I made a conscious effort NOT to look at the clock!! What was funny was that all of us arrived back at home around the same time, as Mom's phone rang 3 times within 10 minutes of us getting back to their house at 2:30AM!! I didn't get home until 8am on Monday, as Dad brought me the rest of the way. Needless to say, a 3 hour nap was on the agenda for Monday and it was back to bed for me.

So amid all this drama and excitement, I have actually gotten some knitting done! The Sophie bag out of Cascade 220 Quatro in 9439 is about done and it's earmarked for the girl who lives behind me as an 8th grade graduation gift. It's unique and I think she will like it. I just have to finish the I-Cord handles and felt...

I worked on my sock on the way back from Tulsa, but 44 was tough to knit on. I have the ribbing at the top done and now on to the body. Actually I've been having some pain in my last 2 fingers of my right hand too when I use the skinny needles and sometimes when I golf, so I need to see what's up with that too...

I picked out a pattern for a scarf and did some "Stash Diving" for Rhubarb colored yarn for my SIL's 30th birthday next week. I told her I was going to make something, so it's not much of a surprise. The surprise will be if I can make it before "scarf" season or not!

Ok, so I think that wraps it up for me for now. I hope that answered all the questions for you over my life the last month or so! Coming up is more golf, of course, a wedding this weekend, Father's Day festivities, pups to the groomer, the 20th Anniversary party for my parent's company, T goes to CO for a week and I am hoping to get a sock knit in there sometime. I'll try to keep you posted....

SHE LIVES!!!

2006-06-13T12:28:00.000-07:00

Yes....I am still alive. Though it was a little "touch and go" last week with my stomach flu/food poisoning bout, but I survived.

So this is going to be short, as I only have a few minutes. I just wanted to let everyone know that I was still here....

Actually been working on some projects too. The Sophie bag is almost finished and I have a recipient picked out for it too. The socks are started, but I'm having some hand soreness issues with the little needles, so we'll look at those some more soon. And I committed to make my god-daughter a cardigan for Christmas, so I will be looking at that soon. Yes, I know it's over 6 months until Christmas, but do you know how fast that's going to go!

Ok, so I will leave it at this and promise to have more written and pictures to post. As promised, I still have to post KC pix from 2 months ago, pix from Matty's graduation in Chicago from this weekend and of course my pink golf clubs for Anna. (still playing Ok with them- perhaps it's the color!)

Oh, and I found out this weekend, when seeing a ton of my extended family, that they all keep up with me on my blog, so now I'm under pressure to keep it up. (I promise I'll be better Hyla....)

Once A Slacker...

2006-05-17T15:12:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I still haven't posted like I said I would...still busy!

Doing what you ask?

Finishing these:

And hanging out with family/friends on Cinco de Mayo....

This weekend I'm off to Tulsa to visit the University for the Alumni Group and 'play'! Actually T's going to join me for the weekend and we are going to hit a round of golf and eat good Mexican. Did I mention I got pink golf clubs?? (I know, you are as shocked as I am...)

More pix to come of Tulsa, the KC Wedding & maybe my golf score...

Just A Game of Cards (Redbirds, if you will)

2006-05-04T21:11:00.000-07:00

Since I've been a huge slacker lately, and not just in blogging, I decided I would try to pick everything back up, though taking baby steps, not quite giant ones...

So, I am posting the pictures and commentary on the St. Louis Cardinal's Opening Day (April 10) and the game we went to last week (April 27). I figure if I do this in chunks, everyone will get caught up and I won't freak out and be overwhelmed!

Anyway, April 10 was the Cardinal's home opener. This was a HUGE deal, as it was the opening of the new stadium too. Tim & I decided to head downtown to hang out for the day and see if we could maybe get a hold of some tickets. We ended up walking around downtown and to the stadium - very cool!!

There were tickets to be bought off the street, but they were asking WAY too much for them - $250 EACH for BLEACHER seats. And that was after the first pitch of the game. We decided that was WAY to expensive and opted to watch the game from Mike Shannon's (great name) across the street. It was really wild though, because it's across the street from the stadium, so you can hear the roar of the crowd when something happens, then it was broadcasted over the radio that was dubbed in, then you could watch it on TV...it was like having a premonition! At about the 8th inning, we decided to walk over the stadium and see if they had opened the gates yet. They weren't, but we could stand outside the centerfield fence and they broadcast the game over speakers outside, so we could still hear what was going on. The gates opened at the end of the game, so we were able to "sneak" in and walk around the stadium. We went over to the seats that Tim's friend has and took lots of pictures of the park. I LOVE IT!

Afterwards, we went over to Patty O's and then to Al Hrabosky's and ended up running into Tim's friend Carter.

I had to laugh, as I was pointing out this crazy guy on the table across the tent from us and it ended up being Carter! He took some great pictures of Opening Day too, including a pretty good one of us:

It was a long day, but it was so much fun. I actually got a little sun and was able to say I was downtown for the opening of the NEW Busch Stadium.

Last week we went to the Cards/Nationals game with my brother Tim and his wife Diane.

Dinner beforehand at Michael's on Manchester in Maplewood was great. We sat in the seats that our parent's have this year. They are on the 1st base line and are the first row in the 2nd section back, so we didn't have to worry about people standing in front of us. Hopefully we'll get to go to more games!

Ok, so that's it for the Cards' games. Next up, I'll try to get pictures and stories from the KC wedding road trip from last weekend...Oh, and pictures of my favorite "tacky magnet" thus far!

Whoops, almost forgot...Sheep 2.0 is knit and actually in the process of drying after felting...Here's the pic pre-felt. Good thing this weekend is on the THIRD rodeo of the season....(see, I'm an equal-opportunity slacker!!)

And I joined the St Louis Knits!! Webring (see button in the side bar)- it's so much fun seeing everyone's blog in St. Louis!

Happy Cinco de Mayo everyone! I may even have some gratuitous Margarita-madness pix from tomorrow night too!

I Am Not Worthy....

2006-04-27T06:31:00.000-07:00

I met the Yarn Harlot last night. Yes, I am fully aware of the fact that many of you are either wondering "Has she totally lost it??", though the other half of you are saying "How cool is that" or "I am sooo jealous!". It's ok...I know.

Stephanie Pearl-McPhee was in town to give a talk and sign her newest book. First, I need to give "mad props" to Anna for scoping out seats and getting us in the FRONT ROW - she's such a groupie! (That's a picture FROM MY SEAT!) Edit: Check out the picture on Harlot's blog...that's Anna, Me and Robin sitting in the front row!!

Of course Stephanie said it was a little "crazy" for her to be there at 5 for a 7:00 presentation, but apparently she doesn't know Anna! I really love to read the Harlot's posts and most of the time I am laughing at my desk, so this was a great opportunity to hear her in person and laugh with lots of other Knitters that get it! I actually was laughing so hard that I was crying.

I got her second book signed, as I didn't bring the first one. And I haven't been able to find the new one locally, so I am probably going to have to order it online, and maybe HAVE to order more books too...darn!

So my favorite part of the evening was probably the Library staff and their underwhelming expectation of this event. They had maybe 60 chairs set up, which was WAY not enough - they were lined up all the way back in the stacks! (I know those Muggles were just freaking out about having that many Knitters in once place at one time!) The second part was the book signing, which was handled as if we were meeting Martha "Freakin'" Stewart. We were herded over by rows and the Library Rep. would "dismiss" you if you didn't have anything to be signed! It was quite humorous to see her try to corral the group. Luckily we all had projects to keep us occupied, so it was actually quite orderly!

Thus was my experience in meeting THE Harlot. (Yep, had a great time explaining this to Tim..my argument was that he talks 80's Rock and MU Sports, which I got nuthin', therefore this is just fine...)

Ok, so I know I've been a huge slacker this month and I truly apologize. I actually was going to wait to blog this event, but Anna & Robin were threatening me with sharp pointy sticks, so it was hard to wait... (see, and I included pictures too!)

Anywhoo, I have lots more to share from the whirlwind month of April, including a couple of Cards games, a wedding roadtrip to KC and fun things at work. Lots of pictures and lots of scoop, oh and a bit o'knitting, so stay tuned....

Going Once...Going Twice...SOLD!

2006-04-02T19:08:00.000-07:00

Saturday night was the auction for Marian Middle School that Mom co-chaired. I helped during the day putting together baskets, so I got a sneak-peak. Very cool stuff. Would have loved to have gotten a hold of some of the Cards' tickets, but they were outrageously high! I did end up with a cool Rams' basket of stuff and a Garden basket, complete with a $100 gift card to Home Depot (Thanks Dad!). It's going to go towards a table & chairs for the deck!

After the auction, we hung out at Nick's pub around the corner from the hall. It was a lot of fun, though very loud. I loved hanging out with my siblings, my parents, a cousin and my favorite St. Louis aunt & uncle - an interesting crowd, but a blast nonetheless!

Here are some pix from the evening...

Dave & Stacey

Shannon & Tim

Jim & MA

John & Betsy (MA's roommate & her boyfriend)

Aunt Alice, Cousin Jen & Uncle Mike

Is That All You Have For A Thursday??

2006-03-30T16:01:00.000-08:00

Now y'all know I am all about change. Regardless of what you've heard, I really like change and am always willing to try new things...No, seriously, I am! So this morning, when it was announced that our VP (I report under him and honestly, he's probably one of the hottest men I've ever met in real life - we're talking Brad Pitt, people,...but I digress) and one of the other senior managers are leaving the company. This is about a month after our CFO left for another opportunity too. So where does that leave all of us? Truthfully, we really don't have a clue yet, but ya know it's going to be exciting! And hopefully, I'll get to move around or try new things a bit, so we'll have to see what happens.

So March has flown by and we're dangerously approaching April. Last weekend was the DG Founder's Day luncheon which was fun, but long. The silent auction I chaired raised about $450, so that was good. I think I want to try to get items from other Alumnae chapters next year, but we'll see how that goes. I also got to meet Tim's sister and his parents last weekend, which was fun. I think I vaguely remember his sister at SJA, but that was a LONG time ago! He's actually positioned to win the NCAA pool for the Muncie Foundation, so YEAH, I get dinner soon! (I know, I lost the bet with him, of course, so I'll make a decent dinner one of these nights...though I keep threatening Chef Boyardee & canned peaches!)

This weekend is the auction for Marian Middle School that Mom is chairing downtown, so that will be fun. Dad bought the table, so I'll have money to spend on cool baskets and stuff! I would love to get a hold of Cards tickets, but I think they are going to be tough to get. I put together a basket of BBQ stuff that isn't too shabby, so we'll see. This weekend Tim gets to meet my parents and aunt & uncle, which should be interesting too! And I think we are going to golf range on Sunday, which I've been dying to do for awhile now.

Ah, the knitting. Well, honestly, I have actually been working on a couple of projects. Ok, so sheep 2.0 still needs a head and a tummy, but I still have 3 weeks to go for that deadline. (But I'm out of town that weekend, so I have a little less time!) I actually started the baby sweater for Cory's baby, which I need to get a move on, as Noah was born last weekend...Here's the Magic Baby Sweater in progress....I seriously have no clue if I'm doing this right, as the pattern is a wee bit confusing. (But it's been good to work on during the NCAA tourney!):

I'm also working on the Sophie bag as I have time. It's a no-brainer knit, so I've been working on it as I have some time...

Oh, and pups got haircuts this week, which they desperately needed, so before:

And after:

De-Puffed & De-Fluffed!

Happy St. Patrick's Day

2006-03-18T13:34:00.000-08:00

I spent St. Patrick's Day in Dogtown with Tim (date) and his friend Stacey and about 5,000 other drunk Irishmen (and wanna-be Irishmen!) yesterday!! It was a lot of fun and I definitely have to do that again! It was just a little cool, but the Crown & Coke, beer and lots of people definitely made up for it! It was a bit more tame than Mardi Gras, but fun nonetheless!!

Here are some pix from the parade (Shannon & Tim):

We also caught up with Alison at her house down there and Dave & Stacy were down there too. They were doing "Irish Car Bomb" shots that involved Guiness, Jamieson & Kaluha (they were out of Bailey's).:

Alison and I had a good conversation too, though will have to have it again once we are both sober...She's such a great sister and friend... and a cutie too....Can you tell we are sisters??:

So today I am moving slow and getting stuff done around the house. Tonight is a meet for the kids at the YMCA and I'm not sure what's going on after that. And for those you keeping score on the "dating scene", I think I'm going to see what happens with Tim for a while and take it from there - just enjoying the "here and now" and not worry about the future...yes, this REALLY IS different from past experiences because I have a great support system and I'm going into this open minded and carefully. We'll see how it goes!

Ok, so I'm going to end this weekend of Irish-ness with my favorite Irish Blessing. I actually always think of Grandma Winters (Margaret Armstrong) when I hear this, as it was on the mass card from her funeral and she was so into being Irish. (and I take after her a bit!) Here it is:

AN IRISH BLESSING
May the road rise up to meet you
May the wind be always at your back
May the sun shine warm upon your face
and the rain fall soft upon your fields
And until we meet again,
May God hold you in the palm of His hand.

Y'All Know I Should Be Taking A Nap Right Now...

2006-03-12T12:35:00.000-08:00

As I was up late last night with storms that blew through the area last night. Ever since I lived in OK & TX, I can't go to sleep until I know there is no "danger" in the area. One of my worst fears is not waking up in time to get to safety. Now that I live in Washington and get "river" effects on storms that blow through here, I am really aware of it. Call me wimpy - I don't care!

Anyway, so it's been a busy-crazy week this week, as usual. The weather has been fabulous too, though still haven't gotten to the golf range...still need to do that soon! Work has been about the same and we are getting busy. But I was able to give out more "Job Trainer" T-shirts and more people are being trained, so that's good. I also got to swim 4 nights this week, so I was hurting this weekend. One of my assistants on Weds has major Senior-itis and quit on me, so two of us will be coaching on Weds and I think I'm going to help with Pre-Comp swim too. It's an extra $6.50 a week!

This weekend was Roadtrip 2.0 with Cherie & Bill from work. This time Lisa joined us too, so it was fun. We went to a chocolate store about 30 miles south of Lebanon Mo called "Grandpa Joe's Chocolates". The chocolate was amazing and their samples were actual pieces, not just little bits!

The next stop was a little place called Little House Inn where we all had burgers and homemade fries and onion rings. A very close 2nd to Du Kum Inn in Sullivan!

Our last stop was at Laura Ingalls Wilder's house in Mansfield, MO. So I totally remember reading the books in like 4th or 5th grade and absolutely loved them. For some reason I had no idea that she had lived in MO for so long! The house was really neat - there was some really ingenuitive thoughts put into the design of this house. There was a giant pass through between the kitchen and dining room, so she didn't have to walk back & forth. There were storage boxes under the window seats in the kitchen, they added on to the house to accommodate the refridgerator and the counter tops were "Laura Height" as she was only 4'11". The rest of the house was absolutely beautiful too, as there were many exposed beams and picture windows.

There was also a 2nd house, that was only "discovered" in 2000 that they lived in too, which was really neat too. It was called Rock House and it was a mail order house from Sears that was custom. Again, lots of really neat features, such as drawers in the closets, built in "cubbies" in the walls and beautiful heavy solid wood doors. It was really cool to see and was more impressive than I thought it would be. If I have an opportunity to have daughters or nieces and they read the books, we will have to go back! (Yep, got a "tacky magnet" for my collection too!)

After that, we were going to go to some of the wineries in the area, but the one had a "Sorry, Out of Wine" sign on it and we couldn't find the other one. It actually worked out well, as we got home around 6 and the storms blew right through the area were were at about 7, so we would have been caught in the storms. We are talking about winery trips for RT 3.0...so stay tuned!

I did get some knitting done in the car. I opted for a "no brainer" project this trip, as we were going to be driving on some windy roads. The project this trip was a Sophie Bag out of Cascade Quatro #9439, which is a blue/green/purple wool. This is actually the first yarn I bought when I went shopping that first day with Anna & Robin, to actually work this pattern. It's rather funny to think I've done so many other projects, but still hadn't worked my first project yet! I really like this knit, as it is easy and it's quick. And it's a cute spring/Fall bag, so I'll use it, or I know who I'll give it to. I am still working on my Irish Hiking Scarf too, but it's not a good car trip project... Here they are, as of now:

So, on the dating scene....Yep, still out there. (I'm going to have to talk in code though, as my blog has been discovered...) Anyway, I had my dinner date last Saturday night at a really cool place in Eureka, called TJ Samuels.(He even picked me up AND brought me a beautiful white rose, that's still alive!) The food was wonderful and we sat out on the covered patio by the fireplace and talked until closing. (Are you sensing a theme here yet?) He came out on Weds night after swim team and swam with me for a little bit at the Y. It was fun to hang out and I got to give some pointers on his freestyle stroke...I'm thinking that he's going to feel the same when we play golf...waiting for me to take my 3 strokes to equal his first hit off the tee! Actually we are going to dinner tonight after practice, so that should be fun. I think I'm going to take off Friday to hang out in Dogtown with him and probably see my sister who just rented a house down there. I did talk to another guy from eHarmony Friday night for a little bit, but don't know if I'll hear from him again. Still really enjoying the attention and meeting new people.

Ok, I'm not really a HUGE basketball fan, but I LOVE the NCAA tournament. (Nope, TU is NOT going to make it this year...) My friend Jill sent me an invitation to join the pool to benefit the Foundation for her late husband, Mark Munsell. Should be fun to participate and will hopefully raise lots of money for a great cause. The pool is still open until Thursday, 30 min before tip-off of the first game, so please join if you are interested. You only compete against the others who join through there, so your odds are pretty good. It's only $10 and it's a great donation and some good entertainment too! (Ok, so I'm already talking some "smack" about the tourney...can y'all tell that I work with all guys that only talk sports, cars/trucks & boats?? I can at least talk a good game!)

I have to be at practice in an hour....should I nap for 30 minutes or knit and watch Championship basketball games.... Hmmmmm...

Yep, Have 'Em Talk To Me And I'll Get 'Em To Marry Ya!

2006-03-03T17:45:00.000-08:00

Well, I got an e-mail from Mr. CFP today. (Actually, I had e-mailed him yesterday because I needed his address for the paperwork for the Catholic Annulment.) He gave me his new address and then proceeded to tell me that the conversation we had in November "inspired" him to change his ways. And now he's stopped drinking, smoking, being a selfish bastard, etc. Oh, and he's getting married in 2 weeks to a woman with 2 sons. (Apparently he they had broken up when I got the phone call in November and after our chat, they got back together!)

Thus it is official - I'M DRIVING 'EM TO GET MARRIED!!! (I'm thinking this beats "Driving 'Em to be Gay", but I'm not sure) That's 2 of the 3 from the last year and a half (Cowboy Bob got married in Jan)...If the 3rd one gets married, I'm done! But he probably won't...I don't think he ever will, personally!

On a more positive note, I have a 2nd date tomorrow night, AND he's coming to pick me up. I'm rather excited about this and bought a new outfit. (Anna keeps reminding me that a fringe benefit to dating is getting fabulous new clothes!) He's fun to talk to and we have a good time together, so we'll see what happens. Still not worrying about it. And yes, I'm still keeping options open!

So on to the Knitting...After the traumatic Knitting Olympic experience , I'm easing back into the knitting scene. (But check out my "Jamaican Bobsled Spirit Award Button" - see, everyone is a winner!) I have just about finished the top side of Sheep 2.0. (The orange pin towards the top is where the tail goes...) I did have to buy another skein of Cascade 220, as I was running low as is. (Any extra will become felted dog bones for Brittany):

I've also finished the first skein of yarn for the Irish Walking Scarf. (It's supposedly for Alison's boyfriend, but I may keep it and do something else for him, as I really like it!) I really like the yarn (Misti Alpaca) and it's a fast knit, for cabling. Here's the first section. It's about 15 inches long. I am going to knit at least 3, probably 4 skeins.:

Next up is a baby sweater for a co-worker who's wife is due on the 20th using Knit Picks Shine in the color Grass. I have the pattern for the Magic Baby Sweater, but it's confusing to read. (Ok, so I was looking at it late the other night, in a dark room...) I've been told just to knit it and not ask questions (who me, not figure it out before hand? NEVER!), so I need to just go for it. It's all knit stitch, so it sounds like a rainy Sunday afternoon project to me!

I bought a couple of books this week too:

Knitting Vintage Socks by Nancy Bush - I see this title pop up all the time on Blogs and the results are great. Something from here is the destiny for my "failed" Olympic yarn.

The Gift Knitter by Tara Jon Manning - I thought this looked cute with presents for babies with "two legs or four". I don't know if my pups would wear any sweaters I knitted them, but they might surprise me!

I've been looking for the new Yarn Harlot book in St. Louis and can't find it yet. I may have to break down and order it online, but I would rather have it in hand when I purchase it. I loved the other two and can't wait to get my hands on the third one!

Just Call Me "Bode"...

2006-02-26T10:05:00.000-08:00

I decided over lunch on Friday that I was probably going to be the "Bode Miller" of the US Knitting Olympic Team - you know, lots of hype, great potential, didn't come through in the clutch... Case in point:

Here is the status of my project at noon on Sunday (aka - Closing Day!). Yes, that's my FIRST sock and no, it's not done. I don't know if it was the partying in the Olympic Village, the sprained ankle from the pick-up basketball game or perhaps ALL the interviews that I had to do, but I was not able to get any further...

And I have some major mistake going on - for some reason the bottom of the sock is now knitting a garter pattern, rather than stockinette, despite my best efforts to correct it. Also, the ribbing pattern is all off and it doesn't fit this size 8 foot.

What have I learned from little experience? Not much really, other than I have a lot going on and not enough time to dedicate to knitting. And when I do knit, I have to concentrate more on the project at hand and not so much on speed. Perhaps this being my first attempt to compete at the "senior" level (Only been knitting since Aug05) has something to do with it too.

At any rate, the sock is going to be completely frogged soon and the yarn put to something else - perhaps a less challenging pattern for socks. I did just order the Knitting Vintage Socks book by Nancy Bush and I understand there are some great patterns in there. Which is good, because I just ordered some Socks That Rock yarn and would like to know what I am doing before starting those!

Anywhoo...On the dating front, I have dinner tonight with one of my "matches" from eHarmony tonight. I kind of told him that I had a blog the other day, which I will probably regret someday. (And if that's you and you are reading this...DO NOT look at any other posts and forget that you have seen anything...trust me, it's NOT that exciting!) I was telling him about the Olympic Socks debacle and it kind of slipped out. So we'll see how that goes... I have learned though that you can learn a whole lot about someone by how they present their personal profile and what they list as their "Must Have's/Can't Stands" - if they require someone who is "more attractive than average", they are cocky jerks and need to be axed right away!

So, I'm going to go back to my sheep and Irish Walking Scarf projects for now...I will work on the socks once I recover from the shock of failing at the Knitting Olympics...At least this next time I will have 4 years to train for it...

Why We Miss You At Family Dinners...

2006-02-22T20:39:00.000-08:00

Got this letter from my brother Matt today after asking about the dates for his graduation:

Dear Family,

As you should want to know by now I am not planning on graduating at all. I have dropped out of school and am planning to move to Huntington Beach, California and write sitcoms for UPN. The first one is a highly anticipated teen romp entitled "The Deep End". It involves six sexy and unique lifeguards who work at the local public pool and their hardcased ex-coast guard boss. The series is just in its initial stages right now but looks pretty promising. And the people at UPN are really behind me. I think we might even get that kid from the movie Problem Child.

Just kidding.

Matt

So I guess he's figured out what do to with that Art Major....

PS - yes, sock 1.2 is still in process...finally finished the heel flap, but it's been a crazy/busy week...more pictures tomorrow...when I actually get some more done!

Oh, and I think I have a date with one of the guys from eHarmony this weekend...

KO In TIME Magazine!

2006-02-17T12:03:00.000-08:00

Hey look! The Knitting Olympics made it into TIME Magazine....

Thanks Joe!
Still doesn't make my socks go any faster though...

And I Even Got Flowers Today!

2006-02-14T15:34:00.000-08:00

Happy Valentine's Day! And for all of you keeping score at home, yes, I am having a good day!!

My day started with a page to the front office for these:

Note the sentiment on the card: "Love Dad". Apparently he sent them to us girls, though when I talked to Mom this afternoon, she hadn't gotten any....I hope for his sake he picks some up for her on the way home!

Then at lunch I picked up these that I bought for myself:

They are from the Gift Emporium in Sullivan and are hand-dipped and delicious! I just had to splurge a little for myself today!

And finally I got this from the group in Special Packaging at work. They had put these together a month ago and I kept joking with them that I wanted one, if it worked! (The soda is Love Potion #6!) So I guess I have to let them know if it does...

So on the eHarmony front...I have gotten to "open conversation" with one guy from St. Louis. He seems nice, though I haven't talked to him on the phone or in person yet, still through e-mail. Turns out his sister graduated from my high school 2 years before me...small world! We'll see how it goes. There is another guy that I am "talking" to also, but haven't heard from him for a couple of days, so we'll see. Anna called and yelled at me today, because I was talking to a guy who's occupation was "Federal Law Enforcement" - she told me to RUN, FAST and don't look back...too many issues could be there. So I ended conversation with him today...he was a bit odd anyway... I'll keep you posted on how it goes...it's actually kind of fun...I feel like "I'm passing notes in Study Hall."

Alright, the Knitting Olympics have begun and I made a fair effort at starting. See:

Seriously, I actually was working on sock 1.0 during the opening ceremonies and the lighting of the torch. Soon after though, I was frogging it, as I had too many stitches... somehow I had screwed up the twist part! (You can see that I used the yarn and wound it back up, right? That counts, right??)As of now I don't have anything going on, so I'm going to make another attempt...I mean there are mulitiple heats and average scores in the events, so I figure I'll be ok...just 10 days to go...many others have done more work with less time.

Oh, and I joined an olympic team - the Midwest Knitters. Seems like a good group, as most Midwesterners are, so I am in good company. And from the looks of it, many of them are off to a slow start as well....

But I did get a little work done on Sheep 2.0:

He has legs now, and I'm working up the body. The 25th will be pushing it, but definitely by the first rodeo on April 21!

Just going to add a picture of Brodie enjoying the 68 degree weather today....Come On Spring!

TAKE OUT THE COMMA!

2006-02-08T19:35:00.000-08:00

This statement is in regards to the statement that I have been hearing a lot lately:

"Don't worry, you'll meet somebody" in regards to dating.

As I have been informed by several people (namely Wayne, Anna & Alison, among others) is that the statment should ACTUALLY read:

"Don't worry. (Period....LONG PAUSE...New Sentence...) You'll meet somebody"

See the difference? Apparently there is one and I kept missing it. Seems my problem with dating is that I'm worrying too much about finding Mr. Right and not enjoying the process of meeting Mr. Right Now. Makes sense to me... Explains why I go from Ok to tears in 3 seconds flat! I'm worrying too much....snap out of it!

So in regards to that whole situation, I decided to be a doer, as I usually am, and join eHarmony.com. There, I said it, it's out in the open. I'm a little apprehensive about saying that in public, but there it is. Turns out I have met a couple of nice (and REALLY CUTE) guys through there and I only joined on Monday. I have figured out that I'm still searching for where I fit in and I needed a change in perspective....So here I am enjoying the process and hopefully getting to have some nice dinners and conversation to go along with it...

Back to the knitting....I got this e-mail today from Anna that apparently I'm a celebrity, as my name & Blog site was listed at Crazy Aunt Purl today. Turns out I responded to her blog question about the Knifty Knitter that was sent in from another adoring fan. (Ok, so Anna sometimes thinks that Purl is the CA version of me...just substitute dogs for cats and we are the same!) So, for all of you that have stumbled on this site from hers...the pix from the Knifty Knitter are here. I love those rings man...and I actually got the bar one too. Been working on a scarf on it for a while (the yarn is a Carron Soft ply in a tan...just something to try it out on...):

It's sooooo easy to use and I'll never make a hat without it again!

REVISED: For additional Knifty Knitter patterns look here and here. There is also a book out there that's here.

I have started Sheep 2.0:

This is the Tooshi end of the sheep - the pin is where the tail goes. I'm getting ready to bind off for the legs and yes, there are short rows involved. Information about it and pictures of Sheep 1.0 are listed here. This one will be in Cascade 220 in Natural, as I don't want them to be the same...I think the Princess will get the white one with a pink bandana, of course and Chaser X will get the beige one with a blue bandana...I was hoping to get them done by the PBR (yes, that's the Professional Bull Riding...insert comments here...)on the 25th, but the Olympics start Friday....

I got the yarn for my Olympic socks last week. It's Essential from Knit Picks in Burgundy. Isn't it so pretty!

And of course I had to buy $40 worth to get the free shipping , so that meant that I had to get new stash storage:

Not bad for only knitting for 6.5 months...

Don't forget....TAKE OUT THE COMMA!

How To Get Out Of Work Early On A Friday....Without Really Trying!

2006-02-03T13:35:00.000-08:00

1. Get excited and want to watch when the new engineer is getting ready to clean out a product supply pipe using a new method. (We're talking about sending a rubbery tube called a PIG that is 3" in diameter by about 6" long through a 3" diameter stainless steel pipe using 100 psi of air pressure - that's a whole lot of freakin' air pressure for you non-techy types!)

2. Get a little too close to said engineer (12' away!) and the 30 gallon waste bucket while he is releasing the air pressure on the pipe during cleaning and subsequently get SPRAYED head to toe with product when he opened the valve just a wee bit too much and the hose got away from him!

Enter Exhibit A:

This picture was taken AFTER I had wiped off my face and spit everything out of my mouth. (Thank God for Safety Glasses!) I was hit with a mixture of shaving cream, stainless steel cleaner and spray-on plaster - YUMMY! Of course the best part was that it was right before the operators went to break, so there was an audience. All I could do was laugh - why bother getting mad! And news travelled pretty quick, so everyone knew about it by the time I left. I have no clue if it will come out of my clothes...guess I'll start them soaking here pretty soon! It all came off my skin and out of my hair, so I don't have to worry about that...

Don't worry Cory, I won't forget about this for a very long time!

From The Artistic End Of The Gene Pool....

2006-01-30T11:03:00.000-08:00

Just wanted to give some "props" to my youngest brother Matt (or Matty) who is finishing up his last year in college at DePaul in Chicago.

Here is his website.

As you can see, he got ALL the artistic genes in the family....

(Good job Matt....Love the work! You still need to paint something for my house...)

ROAD TRIP!!!

2006-01-29T20:23:00.000-08:00

First of all, thanks to all who commented on my last entry. I am doing better, though still working everyting out. I think writing it down and really taking a hard look at all that's going on right now is good... That and Anna said that there was something SERIOUSLY wrong with the Universe that day and all sorts of WACKY (that's putting it lightly!) things were happening to otherwise normal people all over the place that day, so I was not alone in what I was feeling...and it wasn't even a full moon or the 13th or anything!.....Ok, and that's all I'm going to say about that...

(Oh, and Crazy Aunt Purl used the same title for her blog entry yesterday that I had...but for the record, I used it FIRST!)

So yesterday I took a little road trip with Bill & Cherie to Lambert's Cafe in Sikeston, MO.

It was about a 2 hour trip and Bill drove, so I got some quality knitting in. We got there at the right time, as we didn't have to wait and sat right down. The food was wonderful! (Cracker Barrel has NOTHING on them....Southern Fried, real butter, accents, bow ties, throwed rolls and everything!) Yep, it's the home of the "Throwed Rolls" and we got caught in the crossfire, even though we were seated next to the wall. We decided that the "JV" Roll Throwing Team was on duty, as they couldn't hit any of their "targets" and I ended up with two hitting my feet and one skipping across my plate of mashed potatoes, then Cherie's plate, then hitting the wall! I didn't know a roll would EXPLODE like that! The workers were rather entertaining too, especially since we ended up sitting there for almost an hour after we ate...Hey it was a 2 hour drive...we were going to savor the atmosphere!

Since I am all for multi-tasking, I was able to ride in the back of the van and knit, while listening to good comedy CDs and enjoying good conversation....SHEEP 1 is complete except for the eyes...need to fine a place that sells cute black button eyes. Somehow one of the front legs were HUGE, but it turned out OK. As I have always said...."Felting cures all knitting mistakes..."

The pattern for the sheep is called "baa...baa...baa..." by Bev Galeskas from the book Encyclopedia of Knitting by Donna Kooler.

I can't find the tag from the brown/offwhite yarn, but the hooves & nose are Plymouth Galway Highland Heather in color #704. I may make the next one in a white, which is a Cascade 220 in natural...but I haven't decided yet. I made the body single ply, which I probably should have doubled it, but it turned out OK.

Before Felting:

After Felting & Stuffing:

Still haven't even printed out my pattern for the Knitting Olympics. I do still need to settle on a yarn too. I may "scuba" the stash and see what I come up with before committing myself to a LYS run. Not that I don't like to go, but...

My swim kids have a fun meet this weekend which should be interesting. They only run places and don't take times. This non-competitive, competitive swimming is crazy! It's definitely not a Rockwood or Parkway program out here! (though trying to recruit swimmers for Dad's team at Ursuline!)

Many more road trips are in discussion...I want to go to Chicago to see my girlies when it gets warmer and I have a standing invitation to visit my aunt & uncle in Davenport, IA. I'd like to go when my uncle's band The Bureaucats is playing, so I'll have to check the schedule. Plus, Cherie & Bill are talking about other places to go in MO to eat...(Keep swimming!) Then Anna is talking about road trips to yarn & spinning stores in MO....Sounds like the Spring & Summer are going to be busy....All I can say is:

ROAD TRIP!!!!!

Ch...Ch....Ch....Changes

2006-01-25T12:22:00.000-08:00

Do you remember when you were young and went away to camp or something and came back and felt like everything has changed....but realized that you had changed and everything else is still the same??

I feel like that right now. Actually I've been feeling like this since around Christmas.

I'm not quite sure what has triggered it, but I have been feeling like I've been in a state of "flux" for awhile now. I'm not sure what I want to do, who I want to talk to, what I want to spend my time doing, volunteering for what, etc....It's really kind of disturbing for a person who is a compulsive planner and knows what is going on 24/7!

They say that every person changes every 7 years...I'm about 5 years into my latest change....perhaps it's related!

So, any of you out there that I relate to on a regular basis....If I'm a little off, you now know why....it's not you....apparently it's me!

Geez...Alright I'll Post Already!

2006-01-22T12:40:00.000-08:00

I know I've been a slacker on my blog the last couple of weeks...But I've had good excuses!

Actually today is the first day I have actually had to sit down for a few minutes, yet I still have stuff to do today too! Since Jan 5, I have:

Made cards for my CTMH Open House
Held a CTMH Open House

Attended Dinner at my boss's house
Coached Swim Team
Practiced Master's Swimming (and swam or run/walked other times too!)
Set Up for the SJG Benefit Crop
Worked/Cleaned up the SJG Benefit Crop

Drove with MA & Mom to south Chicago (9 hours driving in 1 day!) to visit the Outlet mall (I get to navigate next time, as we really didn't have to see downtown Aurora on the way!)
Attended a Parish Council Meeting
Attended a DG Meeting
Attended a Tulsa Alumni Cocktail Party
Held a Scrapbooking crop at my house
Held a Gathering at a customer's house in Troy, Mo (first $1000 gathering!)
Started my CTMH website

Ok, so I know more people out there are busier than I am (but I don't have kids!) , but I rank right up there...

So, that being said though...that means that I haven't even TOUCHED my knitting in a couple of weeks...not good! The sheep has been started, but still has a bit to go.
(This is the "tooshie" end... the clip is where the tail will go) I would love to have them both done by the PBR on Feb. 25th, but I think that's going to be pushing it, with the Knitting Olympics coming up. Rodeo season starts March or April, so I have some time...

"The Knitting Olympics?" you say...Oh, yes, the Knitting Olympics!!! I've always DREAMED of being an Olympian and Lord knows I'll never make it there swimming. Stephanie Pearl-McPhee put out the challenge to all knitters to complete a project during the 16 Days of Glory, AKA The Winter Olympic Games. The project must be something challenging to each individual and completed during that time frame. Since I'm always up for a challenge, I joined in. I decided I would knit my first pair of socks. Of course Anna had to chime in that I could already knit in the round and have technically done socks before, so I needed to knit Cabled Socks. The pattern I came up with this pattern - Cable Twist Socks. (As if Cabled Socks weren't enough...I had to throw in the TWIST...I think I get extra degree of difficulty points in that...like snowboarding!)

So, that will be my February (at least from Feb 10 - Feb. 26). Apparently I am going to have to break the knitting speed barrier and figure out how to get them done. I haven't crossed that "knitting during meetings" line, but I'm starting to figure out ways to justify it...I think I can wrangle it, if I get creative!

Wish me luck and I welcome sponsors of my team - mainly chocolate and wine - they are legal in the competition!

PS - As for the picture...I'll see what I can come up with for a replacement...Right now I don't have many "self-portraits" that are good, so I may post the pups instead...

It's Been One Year...

2006-01-11T19:55:00.000-08:00

Since my divorce was final.

It feels strange to say that, especially since I never thought I would have made it to 1 week, let alone one year!

My life completely changed that day. Especially my name!

Sometimes it seems like it was for the worse, but most days I KNOW it was for the better.

I've learned a lot, done a lot, met a lot of people, cried some, laughed alot, partied maybe too much, grew up a bunch and cheered over everything.

It's been one HELL of a year.

Confessions Of A Swimming Princess

2006-01-05T20:23:00.000-08:00

I admit it....I am a swimming princess. Or as my parents like to say - "An oldest child that thinks that she's the ONLY child!" (yeah,whatever!) Anyway, I would call myself a swimming Diva, but I'm not that fast, so I'll settle for princess. Why, you ask, am I a self proclaimed princess? Because I prefer to swim in a lane by myself, or with other swimmers who can keep up AND know how to "circle swim" or share a lane. If they cannot do that, then I admit that I get a little crabby with them...I don't mean to, it's just that I don't like to work out longer than I have to and would like to get a decent workout!

With that being said, I started my Master's swimming program tonight. It was Ok, though I need to figure out a more challenging workout. (I was lapping the other 2 guys in the program...) I think I went around 2200 yards tonight, but I lost count in the middle of it. It was the 3rd time I swam this week , but I had run/walked last night and worked on shoulder weights, so I was a little sore. It's amazing what different muscle groups are used for swimming and running.

So I've been able to parlay another "hobby" into a job...or at least get my Y membership paid for. I was asked by the Aquatic director at the Y to coach kids competitive swimming on Weds nights from 6:45 to 8pm and it will get my membership paid for. Um, Yeah, hello, how can I say no to that? There are 2 high school kids that "coach" them now, but they need a little "adult" guidance to help them. It will be challenging, but fun! (I've already called Dad to get some advice on setting up workouts....)

This weekend is my Spring Catalog open house for Close To My Heart. I don't know how many people will be coming - I invited around 50 and I know a bunch will be by to see everything. I still have to make my sample cards and set up my display boards, but that's a project for tomorrow night. The ideas for cards/pages are "floating" around in my head...I just have to actually put them on paper! There are some really cool items out there, so the product really sells itself. The turn out should be good.

Oh yeah, and the knitting...I am still working on the Irish Hiking Scarf for Ali's boyfriend Jim. It's a tan Worsted Misti Alpaca (100% Baby Alpaca) and my first attempt at cabling. (It's much easier than I thought!) I only have 3 sets of stitches finished, but I see the cables, so that's a good sign! Only another 5 feet to go!!

My other project right now are the Fiber Trends Snow Country Felted Mittens in Outback Wool from Plymouth. The first one is complete and I have some of the ribbing of the cuff for the second one finished. They should be very cute when I felt them. Anna has finished her pair and they are cute. She had some advice on the thumbs which was good...thanks!

I had my neighbor Kara ask me to teach her to knit the other day. While I feel comfortable that I know what I am doing, I don't feel like I'm good enough to teach someone else how to - I've only been doing this since the end of July '05 and Robin, who's been doing this for YEARS taught me to start, then I took a class at Knitorious in August. (In knitting, I'm a serious Princess in Training...no where close to DIVA!) Anyway, Anna told me that I would be Ok teaching because 1: I have made a purse, 3 ribbed scarfs, fuzzy feet, mittens, a cabled scarf and hats 2: I just walked her husband Wayne through a majorly screwed up Excel worksheet AND he understands it (for the most part...if he doesn't touch anything!) and 3:I am actually employed as a training manager, so I have some "training" experience. It will be Ok and we'll have fun, or at the very least a very good excuse to get together over bottles of wine (like we need good excuses...please!)

Sometimes it's good to be the princess of some things...Now I must get some "beauty" rest....Ok, actually rest my sore body...

Briefcase Watch...Day 29

2006-01-05T09:11:00.000-08:00

I got a call yesterday that Dave's briefcase ended up in St. Paul, MN without a label on it. Sure, that's similar to Sullivan, MO! Anyway, they are going to treat it as a lost package and send it back to LL Bean.

The replacement shipped 12/29 and should be delivered to Dave's (in U. City) today or tomorrow, Lord willing!

I did get a $2o GC out of the deal, so I ordered a pair of snowflake slippers. Unfortunately they were shipped FedEx Smart Post to Sullivan, MO....so we'll see how long it takes for them to get here....

Poor little slippers....hope they packed a lunch...it could be a long trip!

And So It Begins....

2006-01-02T20:44:00.000-08:00

Welcome to 2006. I feel it's going to be a good year for me...it started out with a bang (I'll post some pictures soon...) and I see nothing but good things happening in the year to come!

As promised, I will post my lists of Resolutions (More Like Goals) and of Pet Peeves, just for Anna. (Ok, so it didn't take long to come up with those...) I like lists and like to thing the world is a bit more organized with there is a list involved.

So, here is my list of Resolutions, Or Rather Goals For 2006....

1. Be a better sister. (The phone works 2 ways, you know!)
2. Be a better friend. (I realized how much I was slacking in this dept. about 1/2 way through the year...I have come a long way, but still have a little bit to go.)
3. Be more patient. (This gets tougher as you get older...)
4. Exercise more & Eat better. (Those 20 lbs. aren't just going to fall off)
5. Pray more. (This seems to calm me and it's good for me too!)
6. Learn to knit a sweater. (I may only get a baby sweater done, but at least it will have sleeves!)
7. Know when I reach my limit on activities & commitments and choose the ones that I want to do. (NO is NOT a "bad" word... when used correctly)
8. Get to know ME better. (There's still some things I need to get comfortable with...)
9. Give more of myself to my work. (I feel like I've been holding back and I don't have any excuses not to anymore...this week off has revitalized me...I hope!)
10. Not rush into another relationship. (The holidays were TOUGH and I missed having someone around, but I need to be patient for the RIGHT someone. While Christmas was tough, New Year's was a BLAST because I was around great friends, who didn't care that I was single. I need to be totally comfortable with that before I do anything else. I am close, but need to be less anxious....BUT, I AM ready to start MEETING people, if the opportunity comes up!!)

Here is my list of Pet Peeves:

1. Bad Drivers (This encompasses alot and could be its own list)
2. Rude sales people/restaurant servers
3. Too many commercials on the radio
4. One-sided Media Reporting (Hey, some of us really are Conservative!)
5. Being hit on by married men
6. Being thought of as incompetent or haven't a clue because of my age/blonde hair/being female. (This is at work (sometimes) and in the "real world" - especially at Lowe's!)
7. Reality Television (why is your "real life" more exciting than mine??)
8. Telemarketers (Hello, do you know what the No Call List Is??)
9. Dogs in the back of pick-up trucks on city streets (slow on the farm is OK...zipping down Hwy 100...not so cool!)
10. High gas prices (There is no reason for oil companies to be making THAT much money!)

Here is to 2005 being better than 2006!

But I've Been On Vacation...

2005-12-30T10:09:00.000-08:00

So I've been slacking in the blogging department...but I've had a really good excuse! I've been SOOO busy this week doing, well, not much of anything, but still being busy!

Christmas was fun, though I had a meltdown...and I don't mean the chocolate for fudge type either. It really hit me that morning that I was single again and it bummed me out BIG TIME. (That and if I hear anymore about iPods, I'm going to scream) Of course as usual I was exagerating a bit on the melodrama and snapped out of it pretty quick...I'll be happy when all of the holidays are done and I can get back to "real life"....

Christmas Eve was fun...Matt did his best "Lounge Lizard" imitation which was quite entertaining.

And we opened gifts from each other and hung out for awhile. Everyone went to Midnight mass at Chaminade again this year...I didn't go because 1. I wouldn't get back to my house until after 2am & 2. I had to read at 10:45am mass at my church (which was entertaining with THE organist and the irredescent fiber optic flowers tucked behind the crucifix on the alter...at least the chaser lights weren't up this year!) On Christmas Day, Matt & I played Boggle and then got smoked by Mom in Scrabble. Yahtzee was a little better, though Matt threw a Yahtzee every game! Later when Ali & Jim came by, we played Loaded Questions which was a riot...Questions like: Rap Music makes me want to ______. And then the asker has to figure out who answered what. You must be creative to play this game!

Monday was swimming and returns to Target. I left the house at 4pm and walked right into the Service desk at Target and had it returned and on my way in 20 minutes. (The Home Cafe Pod coffee maker that Matt gave me had been used, so I exchanged it for a new one) Tuesday was house cleaning and then me and my neighbors had a progressive dinner which was a blast. It was fun to hang out with everyone and their kids and see everyone's house. The 4th house we went to is identical in layout to mine, but they have done so much to it that you wouldn't even KNOW it was the same - it's so cute too! So I got some great pix of everyone at my house and of my neighbor Joe, holding the basket, that would kill me if I knew I posted this picture of him carrying a basket. He aslo made the lighted gift block AND TIED THE BOW himself...

On Wednesday I met Dad for lunch and we went to the MAC. Yeah, I can see Ali having a wedding reception there someday...This place is BEAUTIFUL. And Dad ran into a couple of guys he knew and we kept saying we recognized people down there too...Anyway, one of the guys we ran into is a father of a kid Matt (21 - this is important!) went to high school with. So they were talking about the boys and school, etc. and I was introduced as "this is my daughter Shannon". The question from this gentleman was: "So where DO you go to school?" Answer: "10 years ago I graduated from TU..." I know I should be thankful that I look so young, but I hate being thought of as younger (happens at work ALL THE TIME) because most of my colleagues over the years equate young age to "inexperience and don't have a clue". Um, not true, thanks!

I made more hats on the Knifty Knitter this week...One for Matt and a couple for babies.

I love the chunky yarn on it...goes so fast and is so cute! I bought the "bar" version of it too to make scarfs and that on it...will have fun coming up with new projects! Made a trip to Knitorious while I was in the city and got a 25% discount on my purchase, so I stocked up. The stash is now in 2 baskets...Anna & Robin would be so proud! This afternoon Betsy and her daughter are going to stop by to do some stamping for a fund raiser for her trip to DC. I have my open house for the new CTMH Catalog next weekend, which should be fun. I think I am going to get a website through them too, so people can order without waiting for a party. We'll see how that goes...that will be a project for Monday probably!

Oh, and for those of you that noticed...that is the countdown for NEXT Christmas, to start those Knitting gift projects early! And that's a "diet" tracker for me...I joined the Master's Swimming program today, so we'll see how that goes....

Anna has made a suggestion that I make some lists for New Year's and they are in process and will be posted sometime this weekend! Until then...have a happy last couple of days of 2005!

Merry Christmas

2005-12-24T07:09:00.000-08:00

LLBean/FedEx Watch: No package yet...LLBean says it will be here today. I'm on the phone with the post office now and they still haven't seen it yet. They said to call back by noon... (The photo copy is ready if need be!)

The scarf was finished Thursday night and looks cute. I hope she likes it...it should go with her black coats...

The princess came over Thursday night to ice cookies. She is of the school of thought that "if some sprinkles are good....lots of sprinkles are better!) Her birthday was yesterday, so it was fun for her to come over and do that. Chaser X was sick, so he didn't get to decorate this year... (Let me know if you can identify any of these shapes...)

So I had lunch with Anna yesterday, who desperately needed a break from work...A couple of days off will be good for her. After lunch, we went to the yarn store - Chris'. Now that I know what I'm buying at the yarn store, it's really dangerous for us to go in there together! I did find yarn for the cabled scarf that I want to try, but we found some new gadgets....

I never thought in a million years that I would be interested in the loom knitting, but the hats from the Knifty Knitter are so cute and so easy, that I couldn't resist! I bought the looms at Michael's, but got the Plymouth Jelly Beenz yarn in red, blue, pink & purple because they had a sample there that was SOOO cute. Anna got the little one too and some Debbie Bliss cashmerino (I think) in baby pink to make some baby hats for gifts for friends. We also bought the pon-pom makers that were so cool too...

So I broke out the Knifty Knitter last night while watching TV at home...I just wanted to see if it was as easy as they said. After finally figuring out how to wrap the yarn and the correct tension, I set out to make a hat. 2 hours later, I was finished, complete with a pon-pom. I ended up making a second hat and starting on a third before going to bed last night. They are SOOO EASY TO MAKE! I don't know if I will ever knit a hat on needles again! The design is ribbed and has built in rim, so it can't be much easier than that!

In other news...I was watching the local CBS news last night and they were running a tag line for the stories coming up and I could have sworn I saw my aunt on it, but didn't hear the entire thing. My aunt and uncle are very active in an organization in St. Louis called Santa's Helpers that collects toys for needy kids, then delivers them on Christmas Day in a Santa suit. They were on the news last night because their house had been broken into and they stole some of the Santa gifts, along with electronics and valuables in the house. I hadn't even heard until then that it had happened and I had even talked to Alice that morning to get a recipe from her. So I got a hold of Mom & Dad and they were buying replacement gifts. I just talked to my uncle and he said that they have had an outpouring of donations of gifts, toys & money and so much that they were able to sponsor a family that wasn't referred until late yesterday afternoon! The people of St. Louis are soooo generous! (Just to note, the organization is having a "matching gift" drive right now for any new donations that come in for next year. For more information, click on the link above for the phone number.)

So I bid you Merry Christmas for the rest of the weekend. It will be fun to spend the days with family and friends and enjoying each other's company.

T-3+ Days and Counting...

2005-12-21T20:40:00.000-08:00

'Til Christmas... You know, that holiday that everyone seems to have gone insane over.

Like all the nutso people in line everywhere that are so freaked out that they aren't moving...Um, there are 20 people in line...it's going to be a little bit and none of the other lines are any better and it would be best if you CHILLED OUT and laughed about it as there's not much else you can do....

The wrapping is done. Well, most of it is done...I have a gift that is MIA. It shipped from LL Bean on the 12th and is somewhere between Hazelwood, MO and Sullivan, MO via the post office. (Is that not a recipe for disaster or what!) If it doesn't come tomorrow, I guess I will stop by the post office after I leave work and ask if they would call me if it comes in, as the plant is closed on Friday and Saturday. Worse comes to worst, I will give the recipient a picture of the gift and deliver it next week when I retrieve it from the USPS. LLBean says it should be here tomorrow, so I'm not giving up yet! All other gifts are done, though I ran out tonight for some last minute stuff and found tons of cute stuff I could have added...Alas, the finances does not allow, thank goodness!

So tomorrow afternoon is cookie decorating with the Princess. It was downgraded from an all day baking/decorating affair on Friday to decorating only on Thursday night. Chaser X is sick and Mom needs some time to clean, so this will be best. The cookies are made and icing ready to go! Today I took in my "world famous" (ok, ATI famous) sugar cookies to work. The recipe is NO secret and is here. I've even made the icing this year, which was sooo good and sooo easy in the KitchenAid mixer!

As for the knitting....Ah, the knitting. The latest score is one scarf dangerously close to completion and another one planned for my sister's boyfriend. I'm found a pattern for a cool cable knit scarf, so we will attempt. It doesn't look too tough...but ask me again after I start it! Mittens are still at the gusset and the hat is at the crown (top down), so no progress there. And incidentally I am planning on going to lunch and to the yarn shop with Anna on Friday, so there you go. And I don't really have a plan for that, other than worsted weight in a cream/khaki in about 300 yards. (No, really, no plan...)

So tomorrow is my last day of work for 2005. It will be the end of a good year. I have written and gotten 76 SOPs approved, which is more than 1 a week since I've been there. And I'm getting things changed, which is good too. I am looking forward to new changes in 2006. Hopefully my job will remain challenging and exciting. And I would love to meet great new people (especially potential dates - HINT) and expand my business and my social circles....

Anyway, to those of you who I know personally and for all of you that stop by on line....I wish you a joyous and safe holiday season...and I will be checking in next week...

She Has A Plan (But Seriously...Are Y'All Really That Surprised???)

2005-12-19T17:35:00.000-08:00

So some things while I was swimming tonight....

I really like swimming. I swam competitively from age 5 until 18 and I was kind of good...at least good enough to go to State a couple of years (on a relay team...). Since then I just use it as exercise.
This is good exercise...it works the WHOLE body, is low impact and gets the heart pumping. The best shape I ever was in was when I swam for Dad at SJA.
I joined the YMCA and pay $41 for the sole purpose of it having a pool. I could have joined other gyms for less, but I loved that they have a pool and it's hardly EVER crowded. I should be taking more advantage of it.
I know....I should start training to swim in the Master's meets! Everyone I know seems to be training for marathons and I can't run to save my life...shin splintz, slow, etc... but this is something to work towards and I can actually do it.

So that's the plan. I called Dad tonight and asked him to put together a workout for me to start training for the Master's. I may never ever swim in a meet, but the training will be beneficial. Right now I swim 2-3 nights a week for about 45 minutes and I go about 2000 yards (80 laps). Since the ultimate goal is ALWAYS to lose weight and tone up, this would be the way to go. And if I am working towards a goal other than losing weight, then I am more apt to get it accomplished...So that's the plan for now!

This weekend was fun, though I had nothing planned and did a lot. I'm just about ready for Christmas, though I'm just not into it this year. I don't know why, probably because it's just me and there really is no high drama like last year and I'm not expecting any "big" gifts or anything special (like big toys or jewelry, etc.) this year. It will be low-key at the Winters' and I will probably go see the Rodeo kids on Christmas. We aren't even doing a Nafziger Christmas because of the way the holidays fall, so that will be strange. I am looking forward to the week off afterwards though. I have some stuff planned, but I'm going to play it by ear. Probably see friends for lunch, maybe do some freelance for MoDOT and visit Dad at the shop.

So here's my Christmas countdown...1 scarf 2/3 done for Christmas Eve...3 types of cookies left to bake...1 pan of fudge to make...1 more gift to buy to send to Bloomington...5 gifts to wrap...1 gift coming in the mail hopefully by Christmas!...1 house to clean...and I think that's it. Not as much as some people, but still a busy week! And the Rodeo kids are coming over to bake & decorate cookies on Friday, so I need to have some ready by then...should be fun!

Do I have a plan to get the stuff done for the holidays? Surprisingly no...and it's really not bothering me too much...it will get done!

Happy Harley-Days

2005-12-13T19:56:00.000-08:00

This is how Santa gets around Franklin County.