Festive Tiki Cups

I found these at the grocery store a couple years ago for $1.99. The Things like them. And when they demanded wine glasses on Thanksgiving, but I balked at giving them fragile glass, these were an acceptable substitute. And somewhere, probably China, somebody's job is to make these things.

Thanksgiving

Hope you enjoyed your Thanksgiving weekend!

Twenty

Aren't these nice fall-ish colors? Happy Thanksgiving!

Tickets

I just bought tickets to see Taj Mahal in San Francisco. Yay! I have no life and I never get to go to concerts, so I'm excited about this.

Gift Ideas that Give Twice

Around the corner from my office is a staff lounge room. I go in there periodically to use the microwave. While I'm waiting for my soup to heat, I like to peruse the interesting stack of literature that has accumulated on a table in there. There's a copy of an obscure medical journal, several New Yorkers, and--my favorite--acouple of romance novels. Recently, though, I noticed an interesting new magazine called GOOD. And thanks to Virgin Mobile, I learned this morning that if you subscribe now, 100% of the subscription cost ($20/yr) will be donated to your choice of 1 of 12 worthy causes. Here's the link. Sounds to me like a great gift idea, for yourself or someone else. Sorry, Canadians--you have to pay an extra $10 shipping. But at least you're paying it measly, nearly-worthless, greenbacks.

I think I posted this last year, but there are also some great things at The Hunger Site and its sister sites. Also, if you're planning some online shopping you might want to check out iGive. It has lots of major retailers, and they'll donate a portion of your purchase price to a charity of your choice.

There. Now go forth and shop. I'm already almost done--Hanukkah begins December 4 this year!

Lizzie

Robin asked what the deal is with these squares. Angela's knitting them, too. So is Emily in France. Robin, they're parts of the Lizard Ridge afghan, affectionately known by some as Lizzie. You're supposed to knit 24 squares, and then you sew them together. The yarn, Noro Kureyon, is amazingly gorgeous. I've been working on Lizzie in between larger projects, and I now have my 20th square on the needles. I hope to finish sometime this century.

Nineteen

Sorry I haven't been posting the colorway numbers. I've been really disorganized about them, and have been basically throwing them into a pile. So I know which ones I've used, but don't know which is which. Anyway, of course I like this one, too.

Sssshhhhh!

Don't tell Thing 1, but I had to share with you this note I found tucked in her backpack. Apparently she intends to bring it to school on Monday.

Dear Troy,
I love you. Did Aurora already tell you? Anyway, my mom, when me and her
were watching you do the g in cursive after I did the d in cursive she said she
thought you were cute to. (I told her I loved you.)
Love,
[Here, she just signed her initials]

T1 one brought home a video her teacher made of the kids practicing their cursive. And it's true--I did say Troy is cute. He is.

I'm thinking, though, that very few 8-year-old boys would be pleased to discover a classmate is in love with them and her mother thinks they're cute. I haven't decided whether to reveal to T1 that I read the note, and try to discourage her from giving it to him, or to remain silent and let her face her first heartbreak. Maybe we'll just have a general discussion about 8-year-old boys and their typical disinterest in romance.

Stolen Meme

I stole this from Knatolee.

Rules:
A. Each player lists 8 facts/habits about themselves.
B. The rules of the game are posted at the beginning before those facts/habits are listed.
C. At the end of the post, the player then tags 8 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know that they have been tagged and asking them to read your blog.
Eight facts/habits about me:

1. My very first real job was at McDonald's. I still have a small scar on one arm from a hot french-fry basket.
2. I like being barefoot and almost always kick off my shoes as soon as I get home.
3. I'm allergic to grass and bamboo, and touching them gives me a rash. But bamboo knitting needles don't bother me. :-)
4. I am a member of the Nebraska State Bar. I went to grad school/law school in Nebraska.
5. We bought our first house when we lived in Lincoln, in 1989. It was 100 years old and cost $26,500.
6. I met Hubby in high school, when I was 15 years old.
7. The moment I realized I was probably pregnant with Thing 2, I was standing in a square in Karlovy Vary, in the Czech Republic. But because "pregnancy test" wasn't in my Czech-English pocket dictionary, I couldn't confirm her existence until I returned home.
8. I am a terrible singer.

If you're reading this, consider yourself tagged. :-)

Many FOs!

Look how productive I was yesterday! First off, I finished the Habu Textiles Kusha Kusha scarf. I like how it turned out--looks like something someone would wear to art school. Most of the scarf is knitted with a strand of thin merino and a strand of silk/stainless steel, but the final part is just the silk/stainless steel. And it's lightly felted, too. You can sort of scrunch and pull it into different shapes.

I also finished block #18 of Lizard Ridge. Take a look at this colorway!

And I brought home several ceramic FOs last night. I made plaques for the Things' rooms. T2 has an undersea theme, so she gets fish. T1 has a jungle, so she gets a flower. The spots in the flower and the top fish are actually bits of crushed colored glass (some of which used to be Hubby's beer bottles!), which were melted onto the clay during the final firing. I also quite like how the glaze turned out on the bottom fish. Very fishy, I think.

Here's my favorite thing I've made so far: a bowl that actually looks like a real bowl! Obviously, I threw this one on a wheel. I also like how the cobalt and white glazes turned out.

And finally, this little bowl/dish also came from the wheel. It looks like a cat dish to me, but my classmates suggested it'd make a good soap dish or pillar candle base.

Ah, sadness and woe

Text of card discovered on my bed last night:

Dear Dad & Mom,
Why do you keep grounding me? And by the way dad, [Thing
2] atcually started the throwing thing. Do you guys love me or not?
Love, Your daughter,
[Thing 1]
P.S. Did someone leave me on your doorstep or Did I come from your stomach?

The card also contains a four color illustration of four people in a house. The parents are frowning and telling a crying girl, "You are grounded for the rest of your life." Another girl is smiling and saying, "Yay. Tee hee." There are also four hearts, three of which have scribbles through the center, symbolizing heartlessness, perhaps, or broken hearts.

Lots of Stuff!

I have been remiss in my blogging, but this post helps make up for it. Prepare for lots of images!

I've signed up for another 8 weeks on ceramics, and last night I brought home some FOs.

The little bowl on the right is the very first thing I threw on the wheel. It's only slightly lopsided. I like the shape and how the glaze turned out. I'm not sure what to use it for. Condiments? Candy?

The thing on the left is an idea I had one day while knitting. I always end up with little pieces of yarn, which I place on the end table, but which inevitably end up on the floor. This vessel is for those little snips of yarn. Here's the other side of it:

And I often end up with an extra needle floating around, especially when I working on double points. They tend to roll away. So I made a place to stash them:

There's a matching hole on the other side, so I can just stick the needle(s) through.

Today I received a really wonderful package from Eve in Switzerland! Eve always sends me such nice things! Ruthie thinks so, too.

The calendar on the table is from the Barry Foundation. Eve made that really cute little bag. The yarn is one of my favorite colors, and it's a beautiful wool/cashmere blend. And Eve included some delicious-looking chocolate and other sweets. Thank you Eve!!

Finally, the California fuschia on my back patio looks gorgeous right now.

It's a little overgrown, but I won't let Hubby chop it back until it stops blooming. Not only do I like to look at it, but it's a hummer favorite. Although actually, the hummers seem to spend more time gaurding it than they do eating it. They hang out nearby, chirping loudly, and chasing away anyone else who gets near their treasure. I just saw one little guy go after some pigeons. Can you see him in the picture below, looking triumphant?

The Joy of Monday

I'm still working on that Habu scarf kit. Ten billion rows of stockinette using--I kid you not--stainless steel yarn. My orthopedic surgeon and physical therapist would be so pleased. Meanwhile, I've caught a case of the Creeping Crud. I spent most of the weekend in bed, but I don't have time to be sick this week.

I was informed that today is supposed to be Green Day, or something. So I guess I can gloat that in the past two months, we've generated more electricity with our solar panels than we've used. So the power company gave us a credit. They also charged us an $11 "customer fee" each month. I think that since we're selling them the electricity, we ought to charge them a customer fee. Anyway, the fog will settle in soon--we've already had some foggy mornings--and then we'll be back in the red for a while.

Meanwhile, the Things have been creatively inventing new ways to be naughty:
T2--fell asleep wearing a poky, scratchy tiara
T1--used up 1/2 bottle of shampoo doing an "experiment" in her bathtub
T2--smuggled a pen into her room and used it to scribble on her footstool
T1--made some sort of concoction involving crushed Smarties in water, which she spilled on her bedroom carpet
T2--fell asleep with a poky, scratchy giant plastic flower
T1--either accidentally got hit in the mouth while playing with boy friend at school, or else deliberately licked his hand. The stories differ.
T2--learned to use the computer mouse and messed up my email; also managed to find and attempt to play Yahoo games, even though she can't read yet
T1--during sewing lesson, when thread slipped out of needle, said, "Goddammit!"
T2--hid a rather bulky stuffed cat between her mattress and the support boards
T1--tortured T2 by refusing to let her help empty the dishwasher (!)
T2--tried to "rescue" a snail out of her sister's fish tank, because "snails don't like water." (Did you know those little guys actually can survive several hours in a dry plastic cup?)

Watch This

I saw a link to this video on Neatorama today. It's one of the funniest things I've seen in a long time. And after you watch the video, visit Mortified.