Cloistered

I have been home a lot lately. In some ways this is lovely, in others its getting old. See I've been almost constantly sick since Christmas. I have officially been coughing for about a month now. Some days worse than others. (I've been to the doc and there is no walking pneumonia, don't panic, Dad.) So I've been working from home a bunch, and of course entertaining myself in the home as well...
So I knit this hat a wee bit ago, and it was really pretty, but unfortunately it fit me like this...

So I knit another!

And I still love it and the yarn is wonderful and soft and squooshy. But now I need to find someone to adopt the first hat and give it a loving home. Anyone out there have a slightly larger than normal head (or whopping loads of hair) and love the color olive green? I'm thinkin' women only, its a bit twee for the menfolk! Did I mention how squooshy it was?

And speaking of guestimating sizes, here's the result of trying to cram a large log into a small wood stove. Yep, that's an exposed burning log hanging out into my living room. Good thing the fire was hot and it burned it down to a feasible size in minutes flat.

And one more noggin: the cheese covered, noodle bespattered, perfectly round one of my Tankster.

And while home these days I have been volunteering with the Obama campaign, which means calling registered dems and independents. Its a bit scary for me to phone total strangers, but it hasn't been nearly as bad as I thought it could be. I try not to call during dinner hours and am achingly polite, and for the most part almost everyone else has been polite too. I don't think I've changed anyone's mind, but I have given lots of good general voting info, such as "yes, independents can vote in this year's California Democratic primary." And "yes, it is too late to get a absentee ballot, but if you can make it to the parking lot an attendant can come out and you can vote from your car."

I know very well that he might not win, but as of today we have about a 50-50 chance! But it feels good to be involved in the political process, and be backing a candidate that I actually feel good about. It has taken a while to revive any political hope at after the last (zillion?) years of election fiascos. We have less than a week until the (horrendously named) Super Duper Tuesday. So at least this part is relatively quick.

Wishing y'all warm hats, cracklin' fires, cheesy babies and political hope.

Look, winter! It's About Time!

We finally had our first snow day yesterday (continuing today!) and Tankster loved it! There was much romping, rolling, crawling, and tongue-snowflake catching...





It's Thursday again, so its a pretty big day, as I try to get a full day o' work, then drive an almost unreasonable distance (with two major road construction jams) to struggle into full body armor, to play a fast, furious, and sometimes scary game of co-ed hockey, then drive the same almost unreasonable distance home just in time to miss Tankster's bedtime ritual, scrounge some food, clean up and get ready to start again tomorrow. Thank goodness The Hub is so supportive of my ridiculous adventures!

Edited to add: The storm ended up way too ferocious for any extended driving, so I had plenty of time to futz around on the internet today. And I have to add that this is awesome!

No Wonder We Got On Different Trains...

So lovely little Heath Ledger has died. This is going to sound completely mental, but I shirt you not, I had a dream that he and I were hanging out (in the subway if you must know) the night before he died. Just chatting and waiting for the train, there might have been the teeniest bit of flirting, or that might have been wishful thinking on my part.

Yeah, I thought he was a babe, but I had no idea we were connected on such a metaphysical, dream-worthy, level. And just because that last picture of him on the above link is so gawdawful I'd like to leave on this note of period piece hottness...

Worth A Thousand...

Its super late and I have a HUGE day tomorrow, but I just gotta post some boasty photys!


Lion washcloth for one of the new babies, from Knitty.

A belated, as yet undelivered gift, from slippedstitch's non-pattern.

Up till now secret Christmas gifts, from here.

My first lace knitting project, from Knitty again.

Sorry to boast and run, but ack!

But I Love The Smell Of Rosemary!

For those of you who don't know me that well yet, I have horrendous vision. Like can't-see-the-big-E-on-the-eye-chart bad. (Fortunately this means I never lose my glasses, as they are always within arm's reach of where I fell asleep...) So to compensate for this faulty faculty (in some odd way) I instead have this thing about smells. For instance, the random shower gel that my husband bought at the grocery store unfortunately (VERY unfortunately) smells exactly like the floor cleaner that I used extensively for those memorable two weeks when our dog had uncontrollable diarrhea, four years ago. Four. Years. Ago. Yeah, its a gift.

So my latest smell-o-venture also involves the shower. (Odd, that.) I recently bought some organic herbal shampoo. Save the world! Clean your hair! But, of course, forgot to giver 'er the old sniff test there in the organic toiletries aisle. So I toddle home, grab the random generic Citrus Lift conditioner from the back of the linen cabinet and blithely proceed to mix the most offensive mane miasma imaginable. Organic herbal rosemary shampoo + sweet pink Citrus Lift conditioner = gag inducing cranial cloud o' fruit flavored cat antibiotic. You know, like that stuff I had to forcibly administer down the Molly Maw while her neck abscess drained four months ago. Exact smell clone! Don't even get me started on why anyone would flavor a cat antibiotic with fruit flavors... (But would fish flavor smell any better?)

Note to self: Buy different shampoo. A.S.A.P.

Hippo Gnu Dear!

I just wanted to wish y'all a happy new year and let you in on the best new years that I've ever had. I think that I've always had disappointing NYE's because it is the end of the holidays (which I LOVE LOVE LOVE) and I feel the need to squeeze, milk, and cram in all the rest of my winter fun in before the post-holiday blues set in. Augh, the pressure!

But this year we planned to go low key. Really, really low key. So new years eve passed with some pleasant knitting, a new-to-us episode of Gilmore Girls, and some marital snuggling. New Years Day found us meeting up with a group of new friends (all with kids) for a mellow hike along the river. We walked, we chatted, and we snacked. All with pleasant weather and wonderful people. Then we toddled on home to play with Tank Boy's new train set in front of the Christmas tree. Molly cat even joined us for a cuddle on the carpet.

It was a crazy feeling of being exactly where I needed to be. Here's to that kind of peace all year!