Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category

Didn’t Mean

July 6, 2009

To leave y’all hanging but it’s been a hectice few days, spent mostly preparing for our trip to France (we leave tomorrow at 8:15 am). And if there are any would-be burglars reading my blog, we’ve got a house sitter, a security system, and some very protective neighbors!

Never fear! Despite being gone for a good while, I plan to blog and send photos to my Flickr as frequently as I can (I even put a data plan on my phone so I have internet in France! Bit please don’t text cuz it’s 50 cents per text! Yikes!).

I’m a bit anxious about the flight as we have a 2 hour layover in Boston. Additionally the flight is full from LAX to Boston so no seat for Oliver. From Boston to Paris it looks like there’s a good chance we’ll have an extra seat, so cross your fingers for Daddy’s and Papa’s sanity!

A bientot!

At The Stoplight

June 27, 2009

Yesterday as Oliver and I were sitting at a stoplight, on our way to Makende’s end-of-the-year school program, I noticed a car next to us with all it’s windows open (mostly because my windows were open and my innards were jiggling from the bass coming from that car!).

I looked over and there were four women in the car, looking over at Oliver (in the backseat in his carseat) and I.

As I made eye contact, one of them said, “Your son is so cute!” and they all oohed and ahhed (rightly so, I might add!).

I leaned out the window and said, “He takes after his Papa,” to which someone replied, “I know that’s right; you’re fine!”

I leaned out the window again and said, “Oh I’m not his papa, I’m his Daddy” and pulled away as the light turned green, leaving them all a bit confused-looking.

First Step

April 24, 2009

I can’t post a full entry because I’m nursing (in the sense I’m taking care of, not giving a boob to!) my son whose canines decided to come in full force.

Anyway, I toon the first step towards Plan C today: I have my reseller’s permit which means I can by wholesale! Woot!

More in Plan C later this weekend.

In Love (again!)

June 1, 2007

Since I’ve been a blog reader (for what, 3 or 4 months, prior to that I didn’t even really know what a blog was!) I’ve heard about Etsy but didn’t really know what it was and for whatever reason never clicked through when a link was provided. I did today.

OH.MY.GAWD! I’m in love with Etsy! It’s like a better version of the unnamed auction site for hand-crafted items. LOVE IT! There’s cute baby stuff and beautiful jewelry and jewelry for men and homemade cookies!

So what I’m thinking is that I can sell my cookies:

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stars.jpg

stockings.jpg

appleteacher.jpg

bemine.jpg

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staryou.jpg

xmastreecandles.jpg

xmastreecookie.jpg

 

 

Or it will be an excuse to make stuff that looks fun but that I don’t make because I think, “Who would I ever give that to?”

And even if I never sell anything on Etsy, it’s just so much fun to look at all the creativity! I love you Etsy!

Oh, I started the Adoption Application Packet.  It’s scary.

I Don’t Know Where To Begin

April 26, 2007

Which of course, means, I likely won’t know when to end… So prepare for a long, rambling one…

My friends who read this blog will laugh hysterically at the gross understatement I’m about to make. I’m a procrastinator. I can admit it. I wait until the last minute to do EVERYTHING. I’m not just talking about when I was in college I’d procrastinate on projects and papers. I seriously procrastinate on everything. I procrastinate at work. I procrastinate at home. I procrastinate when I bake (which is why I’m baking cakes at 8:30 pm when all y’all are watching TV or something.). I procrastinate when I knit (refer to Cleo and the fact that I’m knitting her AFTER the trip on which I was planning to give her to the lucky recipient). I even procrastinate on writing my blog. Add to that a good dose of impulsiveness (for example, saying three days before leaving for Thailand, let’s knit a freaking wrap that uses 4 (FOUR) HUGE skeins of yarn! A wrap in 12 days? No problem…) and you’ve got yourself a recipe for disaster. Or at least some flying-by-the-seat-of-your-pants fun.

And all of that was just to tell you, I have so much to tell all y’all and I have no plan. I don’t even have an outline. Or a list. It’s all been gurgling around in my head for the last couple of days. And here it comes. Digital diarrhea…

Speaking of inappropriate comments: My school (which I adore more and more each day, now that I’m a counselor and not a teacher) just went through our accreditation process. It was a loooong process with many inane steps and hoops. The year-and-a-half process culminated this week when the three member Visiting Committee (VC) arrived on Sunday for a three day examination of our campus. They were mostly interested in seeing what’s happening in our classrooms (but that didn’t stop us from tidying up the storage rooms and all, you know, just in case we would be deemed ineffective educators because we had week old donuts on the counter), but there were several points over the three days when I had to meet with them as a member of various committees. So after 3 long days of living in a fishbowl, we’re in the last meeting of their visit. It’s the three members of the VC, our principal, our vice-principal, and myself. We were getting rave reviews from them about how obvious it is that our teachers are committed to our students, that they were able to see that our teachers work beyond their contractual commitments, and about the overwhelming sense of collegiality that they witnessed. It was at this point that I began to slip in a comment about being new to the school and how when I was at my former school in LAUSD…

And I wasn’t able to finish my sentence.

One member of the VC literally started yelling at me about how she had spent her whole career in LAUSD and it was her home and how dare I and it was her home and and and… At one point I vaguely remember her head spinning around three times and green vomit coming out. I can’t quite remember all the details because I was in such a state of shock that the only thoughts in my mind were: 1) Oh.My.Freaking.God, there goes our accreditation, and 2) At least it’s a good time to be looking for a counseling job.

Don’t worry, it ended well. We got our accreditation. And I still have my job. Which is great, because I really love it.

ICN: Yes, there is actually a cake in the works. Well, two actually. The first is an engagement cake. It’s more of a challenge than I thought it was going to be. The Bride-To-Be didn’t want icing. Just cake. No.Icing.Just.Cake. Which, if you’ve seen my cakes, would just be a downright shame. The icing is the fun part. So, after I explained that the icing is the ‘mortar’ that holds the cake ‘bricks’ together and that without it, it would be a big old pile of cake ‘bricks’ waiting to fall over, she relented. So now there’s mortar. And it’s all covered in chocolate fondant. And tomorrow morning the chocolate fondant will be covered with multi-colored daisy-type flowers.

The second cake is for a friend who is having her 29th bday party on Saturday night at a bowling alley! A bowling alley! I can’t wait. I own a bowling ball and a pair of bowling shoes. See for yourself! Gimme a break; I’m from Milwaukee. You know, Schlemeel, schlemazel, hasenfeffer incorporated. Unfortunately, I think having to carry a cake and a bowling bag, AND look cute isn’t all going to happen. So I guess maybe I’ll end up renting some. Or maybe I’ll just concentrate on looking cute…

IKN: I haven’t had time to knit, so there’s not much news! I’ve done a couple of rows on my Monsoon socks and a few rows on Cleo. (Right now I can stand the sight of her, so it’s been a battle to pick her up and work on her. And my friend in Bangkok said it got HOTTER (imagine?! hotter than it was when I was there, egads!), so I’m thinking she won’t have the need for a wrap anytime soon.) And to add some stress to the whole deal, what arrived today?! My next installment from the Socks That Rock Club. Unfortunately, I don’t think I’ll be using the “Knee High To A Grasshopper” pattern as it’s described as “lace beauties” that are “Open and stretchy with a sexy seam up the back.” I’m comfortable with my sexuality, I’m not suicidal.

So I’ll be looking for a pattern for this lovely yarn. One that doesn’t have a sexy seam up the back.

Finally, I hate to end my post on a sombre note, but I think it will be good for me to talk about it. Loss is never easy to talk about. Especially when that loss involves a vital relationship in one’s life. Unfortunately, I have to come to terms with the fact that I will soon be losing one of the most important relationships in my life. I’m hoping that by talking about it now, in preparation for when that day does come, it will make it easier for me to deal with. At this point I can’t imagine living my life without this relationship; it’s become such an integral part of my day-to-day life. But I guess, as they say, all good things must come to an end.

I just hope, that when the day does come, my Palm Treo 650 doesn’t suffer as I will be suffering and that it goes to that junk heap in the sky quickly and with little pain.

Happy Earth Day!

April 22, 2007

I just finished watching a forwarded video that is the most powerful message I’ve seen in quite a while. I’m posting it here to share with you, in honor of Earth Day (Wow, that almost sounded convincing, didn’t it? Could you tell I’m crazy busy trying to make boeuf bourguignon for 12?!)

Make your influence positive.

Lions and Tigers and… Sugar Flowers!

February 18, 2007

I had the most LOVELY day! I spent it with my two ‘nieces’. They’re the adopted daughters of our best friends. Amazing little children who flew halfway around the world to fill our lives with happiness and laughter. They’re amazing. (Quick, pass an aspirin, I feel a uterine ache coming on again, dammit!)

We took them to the Los Angeles County Zoo, which despite the construction, was quite pleasant. Unfortunately we got there around 3:30 (you try hurrying a 3-year old and a 5-year old, both girls, and see how successful YOU are!) and had to do a dash around the zoo. Apparently 4pm is bedtime, or at least cage-time, for many of the animals there. My favorite was:

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Oh, and don’t forget the monkey on my back:

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(Please ignor the nose hairs.  I was holding the camera and pointing it up at us while we were walking.)

I also spent a few hours before picking up the girls working on my sugar orchids for the upcoming 60th birthday cake. I must say, they’ve improved significantly!

Here’s a shot of the so far uncolored and unassembled Cattleyas:

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And a shot of the uncolored moth orchids:
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Now I need to figure out how to make bamboo out of sugar!

Hello world!

January 26, 2007

So what does one write for one’s debut in one’s blog? This is stressing me out! Not that anyone is actually going to read it, but what if? It’s like when I write in my (paper) diary. I’m always afraid that what I write will be read by someone and then said someone will know exactly how freaking crazy, scared, annoying, and utterly stupid I really am. So I’ll just do what I do in my diary: I’ll write pretending like someone may be checking my grammar and spelling but not seriously interested in the content.

So I’m on a knitting binge again. I tend to have a slightly compulsive personality. I don’t half-do things. I DO them. And I do them IMMEDIATELY. When I wanted to learn to decorate cakes on Friday? I spent Saturday traversing the fine city of LA looking for cake decorating stores for cake decorating supplies. Wait for UPS? Why? When I can drive around the flipping city…

Back to knitting… So I taught myself how to knit about 8 years ago when I was on break from grad school. I went to ExploitMart and got a Learn-To-Knit kit, the appropriate amount (like 20 skeins!) of crappy acrylic yarn for a CABLED AFGHAN (not only do I do it immediately, I do it LARGE!). I then proceeded to spend until 3 or 4 in the morning casting-on, knitting, and subsequently ripping out the 12 or so stitches that were supposed to be a cable panel. I remember going to bed thinking, “WTF did I just get myself into?!”

(Yah, you’ll soon realize that my theory on recounting stories is that more is more…)

Anyway, that was eight years ago. I went through a spurt where I was borderline obsessed (like ‘one more rowing’ until the wee hours of the morning, then showering and going to work obsessed). Then let it fall to the wayside. (In case you’re afraid my obsessive personality also fell to the wayside, have no fear. In that time I was obsessed with quilting, then fabric dying, then cake decorating.) Last Xmas I got some yummy Baby Alpaca, bought a bit more, and decided to make myself (gasp! Yes, he’s knitting for HIMSELF!) the Cambridge Jacket from Interweave Knits (Summer 2006). At the same time I found The Yarn Harlot (bowing lowly, I’m not worthy). And in my usual compulsive, obsessive (not to be confused with obsessive-compulsive!) manner, decided I MUST read YH from the beginning to the end. When last I left the Harlot, it was January 2006, so I’m getting closer to reality (at which point I’ll probably tire of her and stop reading!).

So on my needles right now is the aforementioned Cambridge Jacket, a French Market Bag, and a pair of toe-up sock on two circs. Well, at least that’s all that’s not crammed in the closet and have seen the light of day recently.

After going to the Original Farmer’s Market for the WeHo SNB last night, and finding out that EVERYONE had blogs (and being such a copy cat!), I decided to start my own.

Not that anyone is going to read this. Although hopefully someone will stop in occasionally to edit it for me…