Giving thanks

I was just going to post a quick happy thanksgiving to everyone but I read this in the Times today and it touched me deeply. So I decided to share it with all of you.

Giving Thanks to Heroes

Today among the numerous things I'm thankful for I will be thankful for those who fight oppression for themselves and others.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Don't faint...

I actually finished something. The NYC street hat for Rinaldo:

Quick, easy, great yarn. I'm very pleased. I've been carrying around the two socks on one circ for the past couple days. I'm about 1/2 inch away from the heel but I haven't had the urge to pull them out.

I think I'm going to pick up Jeannie if I can get the damn socks done. Of course there's also the Perry the Platypus that I didn't get done for Ian's birthday. Avery has also put in a request for a Bizenghast character as a Christmas gift for his cousin. It being late November we'll see if I get anything else done for anyone, lol!

Counting down until Thanksgiving...

What have you read?

This one's easy, bold the books you’ve read, italicize the ones you want to read, leave the ones blank that you have no interest in. I've added in an asterisk for everything I started but didn't finish.

Consider all of you tagged.

1. The Da Vinci Code (Dan Brown)
2. Pride and Prejudice (Jane Austen)
3. To Kill A Mockingbird (Harper Lee)
4. Gone With The Wind (Margaret Mitchell)
5. The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King (Tolkien)
6. The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring (Tolkien)
7. The Lord of the Rings: Two Towers (Tolkien)
8. Anne of Green Gables (L.M. Montgomery)
9. Outlander (Diana Gabaldon)
10. A Fine Balance (Rohinton Mistry)
11. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Rowling)
12. Angels and Demons (Dan Brown)
13. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Rowling)
14. A Prayer for Owen Meany (John Irving)
15. Memoirs of a Geisha (Arthur Golden)
16. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (Rowling)
17. Fall on Your Knees (Ann-Marie MacDonald)
18. The Stand (Stephen King)
19. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Rowling)
20. Jane Eyre (Charlotte Bronte)
21. The Hobbit (Tolkien)*
22. The Catcher in the Rye(J.D. Salinger)
23. Little Women (Louisa May Alcott)
24. The Lovely Bones (Alice Sebold)
25. Life of Pi
26. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (Douglas Adams)
27. Wuthering Heights (Emily Bronte)
28. The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe (C. S. Lewis)
29. East of Eden (John Steinbeck) *
30. Tuesdays with Morrie (Mitch Albom)
31. Dune (Frank Herbert)
32. The Notebook (Nicholas Sparks)
33. Atlas Shrugged (Ayn Rand)
34. 1984 (Orwell)
35. The Mists of Avalon (Marion Zimmer Bradley)
36. The Pillars of the Earth (Ken Follett)
37. The Power of One (Bryce Courtenay)
38. I Know This Much is True (Wally Lamb)
39. The Red Tent (Anita Diamant)
40. The Alchemist (Paulo Coelho)
41. The Clan of the Cave Bear (Jean M. Auel)*
42. The Kite Runner(Khaled Hosseini)
43. Confessions of a Shopaholic (Sophie Kinsella)
44. The Five People You Meet In Heaven (Mitch Albom)
45. Bible*
46. Anna Karenina (Tolstoy)
47. The Count of Monte Cristo (Alexandre Dumas)
48. Angela’s Ashes (Frank McCourt)
49. The Grapes of Wrath (John Steinbeck)
50. She’s Come Undone (Wally Lamb)
51. The Poisonwood Bible (Barbara Kingsolver)
52. A Tale of Two Cities (Dickens)
53. Ender’s Game (Orson Scott Card)
54. Great Expectations (Dickens)
55. The Great Gatsby (Fitzgerald)
56. The Stone Angel (Margaret Laurence)
57. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Rowling)
58. The Thorn Birds (Colleen McCullough)
59. The Handmaid’s Tale (Margaret Atwood)
60. The Time Traveller’s Wife (Audrey Niffenegger)
61. Crime and Punishment (Fyodor Dostoyevsky)
62. The Fountainhead (Ayn Rand)
63. War and Peace (Tolstoy)
64 - Interview With the Vampire
65. Fifth Business (Robertson Davis)
66. One Hundred Years Of Solitude (Gabriel Garcia Marquez)*
67. The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants (Ann Brashares)
68. Catch-22 (Joseph Heller)
69. Les Miserables (Hugo)
70. The Little Prince (Antoine de Saint-Exupery)
71. Bridget Jones’ Diary (Fielding)
72. Love in the Time of Cholera (Marquez)
73. Shogun (James Clavell)
74. The English Patient (Michael Ondaatje)
75. The Secret Garden (Frances Hodgson Burnett)
76. The Summer Tree (Guy Gavriel Kay)
77. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (Betty Smith)
78. The World According To Garp (John Irving)
79. The Diviners (Margaret Laurence)
80. Charlotte’s Web (E.B. White)
81. Not Wanted On The Voyage (Timothy Findley)
82. Of Mice And Men (Steinbeck)
83. Rebecca (Daphne DuMaurier)
84. Wizard’s First Rule (Terry Goodkind)
85. Emma (Jane Austen)
86. Watership Down(Richard Adams)
87. Brave New World (Aldous Huxley)*
88. The Stone Diaries (Carol Shields)
89. Blindness (Jose Saramago)
90. Kane and Abel (Jeffrey Archer)
91.The Skin of the Lion (Ondaatje)
92. Lord of the Flies (Golding)
93. The Good Earth (Pearl S. Buck)
94. The Secret Life of Bees (Sue Monk Kidd)
95. The Bourne Identity (Robert Ludlum)
96. The Outsiders (S.E. Hinton)
97. White Oleander (Janet Fitch)
98. A Woman of Substance (Barbara Taylor Bradford)*
99. The Celestine Prophecy (James Redfield)
100. Ulysses (James Joyce)

Sunday Shuffle

Haunted - Evanescence
Why Do You Love Me - Garbage
Ooh My Love - Stevie Nicks
Dirty Great Monster - Duran Duran
But It's Better If You Do - Panic at the Disco
Django - Buckingham Nicks
Closer to You - Liz Phair
Killing the Blues - Robert Plant and Alison Krauss
American Idiot - Green Day
Naked City - Kiss
In the Beginning - Motley Crue

I blew it

It's been a bit crazy in the last few days. In the end it was all for the good but I've been kind of on a roller coaster emotionally and this caused me to blow it on my NoBloMoPo. Thursday was parent teacher conferences which always throws me into an anxious state, typically needlessly but I can't seem to help it. On Tuesday we received an e-mail from the store director that there was a mandatory manager's meeting on Thursday morning. With all the issues going on at work this was ominous.

Now that it's done I can say that the University was looking into leasing our store to an outside company. While this wouldn't be the end of the world by any stretch it would be a radical shift in our store and could lead to loss of benefits, job security and a more corporate and less innovative and independent workplace.

I am pleased to say that after hiring an independent consulting firm to assess us it was decided the University would keep us. Yay us! We get a bright shiny new store for our trouble too. They are combining my store and one of the branch stores into one so changes will be coming anyway but at least we control it. I'm excited, invirgorated and scared all at once. It's going to be an interesting 13 months.

Both boys had excellent reports from their teachers, so that worry was needless as usual. Last night I had a really good night's sleep and my focus seems to have improved already. It's funny how removing that sword that's been hanging over your head for months can really improve your spirits.

I'm going to continue to try to blog each day for the rest of the month. I've been enjoying it and I think that the extenuating circumstances this week are a good excuse to have missed a couple posts. It's a creative exercise right? There is no failing.

I'm off early tomorrow morning to take Avery to a high school interview and then to take him see Twilight. Hope you all enjoy your Saturday!

Off-Broadway adventures

I took Maribel to see Rock of Ages on Sunday. It's sort of a Mamma Mia for the hair metal set; of which Maribel and I are lifetime members. We loved the first act. It was funny, the actors were great and the stereotypes from the 80s were dead on. We went into intermission and that's when the excitement started.

As the intermission was winding down. The band came back on stage, then the ushers starting asking people to leave, row by row. It seems the smoke alarm had gone off. We got outside just in time to see these arrive:



Most people exited to the right, Bel and I exited to the left and ran right into the cast. Constantine Maroulis (of American Idol fame) was sitting there bundled up in his hoodie. I'm not a huge fan of his, although he definitely won me over by the end of show, so I wasn't that excited. No my interest was held by the Nikki Sixx look alike in the show:
the guy in the glasses was in the show as well

His name is Will Swenson and he was super hot on stage, kinda cute off as well.

After about 45 minutes in the freezing cold we see this:
Turns out the haze machine set off the alarms. Oddly enough Bel made a comment to that effect when we were being evacuated. We returned to watch a much delayed second act but enjoyed ourselves all the same. Lots of laughs, singing and nostalgia. I highly recommend it.

Here's a video, it's basically a commercial for it but it catches some of the fun:

Monday Meme

Stolen from Allison at some point this past summer:

Accent: yes but only when I'm with people I'm comfortable with

Breakfast or no breakfast: breakfast

Chore I don't care for: unloading the dishwasher

Dog or cat: cat

Essential electronics: my ipod

Favorite cologne: light body sprays, vanilla is a current favorite

Gold or silver: silver

Handbag I carry most often: a laptop bag I use as a purse

Insomnia: no

Job Title: Text Department Manager

Kids: yup 2

Living arrangements: me, the husband, kids and 2 cats in a house

Most admirable trait: loyalty

Naughtiest childhood behavior: lying

Overnight hospital stay: having my kids

Phobias: fear of the movie The Exorcist

Quote: "If life gives you lemons, make apple juice and let the world wonder how the hell you did it." - Avery Mathews (it's his current philosophy of life)

Reason to smile: my youngest

Siblings: none

Time I wake up: 6:30 most days

Unusual skill or talent: nothing unusual

Vegetable I refuse to eat: most of them

Worst habit: procrastination

X-rays: none

Yummy stuff: pumpkin pie

Zoo animal I like most: zebras

Sunday Shuffle

Rebel Rock Me - The Pretenders
And I Love Her - The Beatles
How Many Women - Chess Original Broadway Soundtrack
Temporary One - Fleetwood Mac
Buffy the Vampire Slayer - Nerf Herder
U Still Got It - Jamie Foxx
Suspension without Suspense - No Doubt
When the Time Comes - A Moti Sol
Walking Along - Green Day
Black Coffee in Bed - Squeeze

Not in the least bit surprising

I told you Saturday nights were going to be the hardest night to blog. Nothing goes on to speak of. It was a rainy day. I actually got to sit under a blanket most of the day, knit and catch up with shows on my Ipod. Good for me, boring for you.

I was looking through my unpublished posts and found this test I did awhile back. I can't recall who I stole it from.

18 As a 1930s wife, I am Very Poor (Failure) Take the test!

I would be ashamed if I scored any higher.

Me and James

Today I initiated Avery into one of my own personal traditions. Whenever a new James Bond film comes out I always see it on opening weekend. This tradition dates back to 1983 and Octopussy. Just so you understand my absolute unconditional love for James I still love Octopussy. I realize that gets me stoned in some circles.

I remember watching 007 movies on ABC when I was a kid. It was always a special event movie, on Sunday nights. Better still it always had a parental advisory warning which made it that much more attractive to me. Of course those old Bond films are completely tame by today's standards. Back the I felt like I was getting away with something when I watched them. My parents were extremely permissive.

I respect the fact that Sean Connery is the best Bond, but Roger Moore is my Bond. Suave, debonair, charming. Kicking ass in a tux without so much as a wrinkle to show for it. Although I will admit that On Her Majesty's Secret Service is my favorite movie with poor unappreciated George Lazenby. That being said I am enjoying Daniel Craig's reinvention of the character. I think it was smart to go back to the beginning. It doesn't detract from any of the previous portrayals. It obviously just took him a long to time to become the polished rogue he evolved into. He was a rough and ready killer to start with and I can accept that.

Casino Royale is the first James Bond Avery ever saw. I think it's important he have "his" own Bond. Now we'll start watching the older ones in order so he can appreciate all the fun being a spy can be.

I enjoyed the new one but I won't ever recommend them. I'm not picky when it comes to Bond. As long as there's action, some charm and a hot spy in a tux I'm good. Daniel Craig gave me that in Quantum of Solace. Story? Are there ever really stories in 007 films? If you're a fan you'll probably enjoy it; if you're not you probably won't. It's that simple.

My day in pictures

I didn't actually take many pictures on today's school trip to the zoo with Ian's class. Child wrangling takes precedence to my photo-journalistic illusions. Here a few of the ones I did take:





The trip ended abruptly when it started to pour. I had fun anyway. I love the zoo!

What I Watch Wednesdays

A few weeks back while Maribel and I were spending so much time to together she mentioned that I should watch the Rachel Maddow Show. Here I am today completely addicted to the show and ready to quit my job and become Rachel's personal stalker.

One of my co-workers pointed out that when liberals have their shows they tend to have a way better sense of humor than the conservatives seem to. It's her sense of humor that won me over and keeps me tuning in. I'm particularly enjoying the Lame Duck Watch - Quackatude which reports on dear George W's activities for the day.

The show is far more serious than say a Daily Show or Colbert Report, which are true satire. Rachel Maddow is reporting real news it just has a very, very liberal bias and a snarky touch. I'm sure you can see why I enjoy it. If that's your cup of tea as well you should definitely check it out.

Holy fiber Batman, it's a knitting post!

I had planned on taking pictures of all my wips and showing my progress but I overslept this morning. It's amazing how easy it is to do that when you're the only one leaving the house. Rinaldo took the day off to stay home with the boys, lucky him. Of course I probably would have woken up an hour earlier if I had to stay home since Ian doesn't like wasting a moment of daylight on sleep. Whose kid is he again?

As for the works in progress inventory here's how it shapes up:

Jeanie - is still out there. I haven't touched it since I realized it wouldn't be ready for my cruise. You may recall I did Swallowtail instead.

Seascape Stole - which I renamed The Stole in the Fireplace for the Who Knits Ravelympics team. Also sitting. I finished the first chart found a mistake got depressed about it and tossed it to the basket. I think I may pull it out. I have a sweet 16 to attend at the end of the month and it could work for my outfit. The question is do I drive myself insane and frog back to fix the mistake? I hate frogging Kidsilk Haze. Or do I suck it up and move on knowing it will be lovely anyway. When is comes to things for myself I'm not a stickler for perfection but this was fairly big. I'll pull it out and evaluate.

Nutkin socks - one of which is complete. I wasn't crazy about the cuff and I promptly misplaced the pattern. It has since been found so I'd like to get the other one done by the end of the year.

Smallville socks - which I'm using my hand-dyed sock blank for. They're moving along but at a snail's pace. I'm about to turn the heel so I'm hoping it will pick up from there.

Saartje's Booties just need buttons, which is sad and pathetic in and of itself.

NYC Street Cap - I made one of these years ago for Rinaldo and it was his favorite hat ever. Ian took it to preschool one day and it never came home. We were in Michael's and found some Caron's Soft Shadow that he loved and so I decided to finally replace it. That I have a picture of:



It's just about ready for the decreases and then I pick up the edge and knit the hat again, so it's doubled. It will be thicker than the one I made previously since it was in DK but he likes to be warm so I don't think it's a problem.

I've completed 9 projects this year. Should I through some miracle complete all of these by December 31st that will bring me up to a whopping 15. Pretty sad after last year's total of 31. Nothing has excited me this year. No project has moved me or inspired me. Of course it may just be all the sturm und drang of the year overall that has contributed to this malaise. I'll keep chugging along. Hopefully my mojo will find me again.

Monday is for memes

I grabbed this from Dr. Girlfriend, it's got a bit of a professorial theme to it so I just answered those questions to suit me.

The “Favorites” Meme

1.Political show – Meet the Press

2. Picnic food – chicken wings

3. Mixed drink – jack daniels and coke

4. U.S. President – John Adams

5. Kind of student to teach – I don't teach but on the rare occasion that I do I like enthusiastic students.

6. Hobby you do or wish you still did – Knitting, what else

7. Sports commentator – John McEnroe

8. Sport to watch on TV – Hockey, what else?

9. Animal to have as a pet – Cat, although I desperately, desperately want a dog. Other women my age have baby fever, I have dog fever.

10. Halloween costume you have worn – a trampy witch, I actually wore it in the Village Halloween parade when I was about 18. My friend was a hooker so I looked conservative.

11. Kind of dessert – brownie sundae

12. Comic strip – Boondocks

13. Style or make of footwear – high heeled black boots

14. Ice cream flavor – Mint chocolate chip.

15. College or university president – L. Jay Oliva not that anyone outside of NYU cares.

16. Internet news source – NY Times

17. Vacation spot – Iceland

18. Wine – used to be blush but now it's reds.

19. Way to waste time instead of working – plurk baby!

20. Student excuse for late work –I never come up with any good ones.

21. Reality show – there is not one reality show that I like, not one.

22. Jewelry on a man – earrings

23. Pizza topping – pepperoni

24. Children's movie – Princess Bride

25. Celebrity you wish would retire – Oprah, she's a good woman but no one person should have that much power over people's minds.

What I'm listening to

There's much to be done on Sundays so this will be my random Ipod shuffling post day. I tell you this so you know which days to ignore on Bloglines or Google Reader if you're so inclined.

Mean - Pink
La Isla Bonita - Madonna
Heart of Stone - The Rolling Stones
Rage - Heart
Explain it to Me - Liz Phair
Gallows Pole - Led Zeppelin
Think About You - G'n'R
The Beast and the Dragon - Spoon
Intermission - Panic at the Disco
Silent Night - Sarah McLachlin

Enjoy the last day of the weekend!

Weekends are the hardest

Man coming up with something worthwhile to say on a Saturday night is my biggest challenge yet. I did take the boys to go see Madagascar 2 today. It was a lot of fun. Just as funny as the first. In fact I think the pacing was a little better. The first one loses my interest after awhile and this one didn't.

One of the great joys in life is randomly shopping in a bookstore and finding that there is a new book in a favorite series. Being a bookseller it doesn't happen to me all that much but today I had that pleasure. One of my guilty pleasures, the Bewitching Mysteries by Maggie Alt, had just come out with a new book, No Rest for the Wiccan. It's a light frothy series; just the kind of thing I was in the mood for.

Tomorrow, amazingly, I am going to start Christmas shopping. Best Buy has some sales I can't resist and I figured this year I really need to shop the sales. It's a small start but I do believe it's the earliest I've ever actively started shopping for the holidays. Yesterday I was bitching because they were playing Christmas carols in McDonald's yet here I am going along with the artificial lengthening of the holiday season. Oh well a sale's a sale, right?

Time to finally watch the last two episodes of New Amsterdam on my DVR. It's really sad how long they've been sitting there waiting. I think it's because I'm still depressed about it's cancellation. I didn't want to watch them and know that there will never be anymore.

Night all.

Scary

I've been running around all day so you're getting a drive by post. I've been saving a link for just such an occasion.

There are no words for these 3D Knit Dresses.

Thought I was going to miss a day, did you?

I had planned on doing a knitting post but I think by the time I get home I'll be too tired to do the whole picture thing. Oddly enough this posting a day thing has re-energized by blogging-love but not my knitting. What happens to Bronx Girl Knits when she doesn't actually want to talk about knitting anymore?

Ironically I'm heading out to knit with my Plurk buds this evening. I'm finally going to meet some of the kids I've been playing with for the past few months.

I also have a post percolating in my head. It may be a bit dark, overly emotional and quite possibly TMI but it's been rolling around in my head since last week. It's kind of demanding to be let out.

In the meantime I posted a little humor on Pink Raygun yesterday, my open letter to Joe Six Pack.

'night!

Wow

I don't even know where to start. It's been a very, very long time since I've felt this country in any way represented me. I am so far left at times that I can't even see the right with binoculars. In my defense I have always tried to recognize that I am personally not a good representative for the average American. I've said before that when I am voting for a president I vote for moderates as a rule. I figure a president should be able to represent an entire nation, not just little ole' me.

I didn't hop on the Obama bandwagon from the start. I loved Edwards (still do, I could care less who's sleeping with whom), and I like Hillary. I resigned myself when Obama won the nomination. Now its not that I had an issue with him personally. I liked him, his policies and felt that he would make a fine president. I just didn't think he could win.

Really. I'm a cynic and I wanted to vote for the person most likely to dislodge the republicans. When Obama was picked as the nominee I was disappointed I figured he would not be able to defeat McCain.

Then things happened. Sarah Palin alienated a good portion of the moderates in her party as well as independents, the economy tanked and Obama stayed focused, calm and composed. He was looking downright presidential.

I still didn't believe. Fairy tale endings don't happen in real life and good guys certainly don't win.

Yesterday I went to vote and it started to creep up on me. There were more people than ever at my polling place, many were obviously new voters. Everyone was smiling, happy and friendly. Now I do live in the Bronx; we all knew damn well we were voting for the same person but still there was something in the air.

People at work were predicting a landslide. I held tight, I didn't believe this country could pull it off. We're too polarized, too worried about the differences between us. Couldn't happen. I went to class. When I got home around 10:15, the husband told me, "we took Ohio".

We took Ohio. Suddenly I believed, hell, I fell hook line and sinker. I got Avery out of bed. You don't miss history if you have the opportunity to see it happen. At 11 pm on November 4th, 2008 it did.

President Barack Obama.

I was teary eyed but holding it together. I found McCain's speech to be touching and well spoken. I found myself wondering where he had been for the last 18 months, although I'm glad he was MIA. Still keeping it together. Then I saw Jesse Jackson crying and I lost it. What a journey he's had. From the marches, to MLK's death, to running himself, to this day. This amazing day.

Obama's speech took me the rest of the way. I was downright sobbing, the family had gone to bed and I do my best crying alone.

President Obama.

Damn that sounds good.

Election Day

I think this election is possibly the most important one that's been held in my voting life. Go vote, preferably the way I want you to but even if it's the other way vote. If, horror of horrors, Obama doesn't win at least I want it to be because more people voted for the other guy not because of some slight of hand.

Here's a pretty freakin' hilarious video. It is not work nor child friendly at least not the last 10 seconds or so of it:

See more Hayden Panettiere videos at Funny or Die

For less partisan entertainment, some music. Who remembers Arcadia? Roe, Maribel? What about you Gina? They were an offshoot of Duran Duran. Here's their ode to today:

Election Day - Arcadia


You got to love a song that has Simon LeBon singing, "pull my shirt off and pray", I can do that, no problem Simon.

I still resent the fact that Nick Rhodes is more beautiful than any woman I know.

Why are you still here? Go vote dammit!

Mondays are for Memes

If I'm posting everyday for a freakin' month you better get used to the memes.

I can't deny this surprised me, one or two things are wrong but it is actually spookily accurate for the most part.

Your result for Are You a Jackie or a Marilyn? Or Someone Else? Mad Men-era Female Icon Quiz...

You Are a Marilyn!

You are a Marilyn -- "I am affectionate and skeptical."

Marilyns are responsible, trustworthy, and value loyalty to family, friends, groups, and causes. Their personalities range broadly from reserved and timid to outspoken and confrontative.

How to Get Along with Me

• * Be direct and clear


• * Listen to me carefully


• * Don't judge me for my anxiety


• * Work things through with me


• * Reassure me that everything is OK between us


• * Laugh and make jokes with me


• * Gently push me toward new experiences


• * Try not to overreact to my overreacting.

What I Like About Being a Marilyn

• * being committed and faithful to family and friends


• * being responsible and hardworking


• * being compassionate toward others


• * having intellect and wit


• * being a nonconformist


• * confronting danger bravely


• * being direct and assertive

What's Hard About Being a Marilyn

• * the constant push and pull involved in trying to make up my mind


• * procrastinating because of fear of failure; having little confidence in myself


• * fearing being abandoned or taken advantage of


• * exhausting myself by worrying and scanning for danger


• * wishing I had a rule book at work so I could do everything right


• * being too critical of myself when I haven't lived up to my expectations

Marilyns as Children Often

• * are friendly, likable, and dependable, and/or sarcastic, bossy, and stubborn


• * are anxious and hypervigilant; anticipate danger


• * form a team of "us against them" with a best friend or parent


• * look to groups or authorities to protect them and/or question authority and rebel


• * are neglected or abused, come from unpredictable or alcoholic families, and/or take on the fearfulness of an overly anxious parent

Marilyns as Parents

• * are often loving, nurturing, and have a strong sense of duty


• * are sometimes reluctant to give their children independence


• * worry more than most that their children will get hurt


• * sometimes have trouble saying no and setting boundaries

Take Are You a Jackie or a Marilyn? Or Someone Else? Mad Men-era Female Icon Quiz at HelloQuizzy

But where the hell is the knitting?

I still have yet to finish anything. Still working on the socks, cast on for a hat this weekend. Maybe I'll finish that. I'd kind of like to go back to the stole since I have a sweet 16 to attend at the end of the month and it would be really cool to wear for it.

We hung out with the a rat yesterday, if you have children you may know him as Chuck E Cheese. I have a rule about going to Chuck E's, there must be good adult companionship or I'm not going. Following that rule we drove out to Jersey yesterday to spend the day with my favorite Crazy Fiber Lady and her twins. The kids had a blast as did the grown ups. Only one picture was taken, since I left the camera home but this one was too good to resist:



I went over to spend some time with Maribel and her mom today. We just hung out and had some food while my children annoyed me. Nothing in particular but the boys and I are very sensitive to the change in daylight savings time so they're cranky and I'm bitchy so it's a fantastic combo. It didn't help my mood at all to discover when I got home that Hiro had attacked my socks in progress while I was out:



Damn cat.

NaBloPoMo

I miss blogging. I really do. Yet I can't seem to get back in the rhythm of it. I decided immersion was the ideal way to get back in the flow. I'm going to attempt to participate in NaBloPoMo. That means I'm going to attempt to post every day for the month of November. Crazy you say? Yup it is but what the hell.

It's been a really difficult week. Maribel's brother died on Wednesday. He'd been sick for awhile but the end came suddenly nonetheless. I've been trying all week to support Bel and her family but today before the burial it suddenly hit me, how much I would miss this man. How much of a brother he was to me. He was a man who loved with all his heart and I loved him deeply. He was the first of her brothers to really make me feel like family.

Thankfully I've had the week off so I could focus on everything going on. Class is going ok, work is still what it is. So all in all I've maintaining the status quo at the very least.

Sometimes that's the best you can hope for.