I love these things!

TEN random things you might not know about me.
1: I lived with my grandma when I was a teenager
2: I used to pray and beg to be sent to boarding school
3: I have 2 estranged step-brothers, and I am glad they're that way.
4: I believe my grandma's house is haunted
5: Once I went to a fancy luncheon with my grandma and her friend and I wasn't wearing a top under my ski jacket... so I had to stay in the jacket the whole time--- it was sweltering!
6: When I was pregnant it freaked me out and I felt like I was carrying an alien
7: If I weren't so heavy I would probably have been a complete slut in high school.
8: Sometimes I wish I was single and childless. But not for long.
9: Once in the 8th grade I wrote a mean poem and signed another girl's name to it and passed it around class. The teacher intercepted it and started asking the girl all sorts of questions.
10: I don't really regret leaving NECI as quickly as I did, and am actually glad I didn't end up as a chef.

NINE places I’ve visited
1: Thurso, Scotland which is almost the northernmost point (John O Groats is, I think)
2: Carlsbad Caverns, New Mexico
3: London, England
4: Stratford-Upon-Avon, but I didn't do anything Shakespeare related
5: Mexico
6: San Antonio, Texas
7: Roswell, New Mexico
8: Cape Canaveral, FL
9: Portland, Oregon

EIGHT ways to win my heart
1: Sing
2: Make me laugh
3: Have an awesome voice
4: Talk to me
5: Have a dream or some ambition
6: Have a backbone
7: Eat my food; even if you have to pretend to like it
8. Don't sweat the small stuff; Like money

SEVEN things I want to do before I die
1: Skydive or Bunjee Jump
2: Go to Nepal
3: Publish something I have written
4: Grow as a person
5: Make a croquembouche
6: Be debt free
7: Have an inn or bed and breakfast

SIX things I’m afraid of
1: Losing the people I love
2: Disappointing the people I love
3: Not trying
4: Tunnels
5: Needles
6: Snakes

FIVE things I don’t like
1: pickled onion chips
2: people who accept that being bullied is an ok reason to do something morally wrong, like killing a kid or taking a weapon to a crowd of people
3: PEOPLE. WHO. LEAVE. THEIR. KIDS. IN. CARS.
4: spiders!
5: losing my dsl connection

FOUR ways to turn me off
1: make nauseating quips during or after sex, like in American Beauty when Annette Benning says, "I guess I just had the ROYAL treatment." Yuck!
2: be two-faced
3: be lazy
4: not be able to take a joke

THREE things I do everyday
1: Wish I had more time to sleep
2: Hug my daughter
3: Check my email, obsessively

TWO things that make me happy
1: Laying down on the couch with Barry
2: Warm sheets

ONE thing on my mind right now
1: When's the dayquil gonna kick in?!

I've painted myself in a corner. I absolutely must go to school tomorrow. Only 3 more days of each class left. Yesterday afternoon I was feeling sorry for myself and depressed and in hibernation mode. But it was looking up.

Only one problem. I had a tickle in my throat. A little hoarseness. And now.

Fast moving black death. I swear I hate colds like you would not believe. They don't just come on slowly with me. You know, a sniffle hear, a cough there, and after a week or so you're hacking. OH NO. It's a tickle in the morning, hoarse by evening, and then somewhere in the middle of the night you feel like death warmed over.

I took Foxy to bed last night and was happy. He's still nice and warm (pictures to come) but god I feel awful. I can breathe through my nose just fine by my throat is so inflamed it's causing me breathing problems. I feel like swearing in my creaky-ass voice. But can't be bothered.

Also, Megan must have gotten up to go potty awhile ago cuz her bedtime cd is on again and it's about 45 minutes through. "How The Leopard Got His Spots" from Rudyard Kipling's "Just So Stories." I really need to burn the second disc, I know all of this one by heart.

ttyl

ooooh. knitting. I'm 1/2 through a pair of fingerless mitts from Weekend Knitting in some Lana's Laces Worsted (I think) that I got in a swap. The finished mitt is lovely and I never get tired of looking at a properly knitted garter stitch. This after years of poorly knitted garter stitch... on my part. When you don't have rowing out and the tension is all even and stuff... it's like magic. You start to think, "hey yeah. this knitting thing is awesome" I've only been knitting for 13-14 years... but I think I am finally getting to where my knitting is really pretty.

I apologize to everyone who has visited my blog over the last few days. I am very sorry for the assault on y our senses. I am going through growing pains with my blog and attempting to spruce it up for the holidays. :)

In other news... I shipped off yet another month's contribution to The Sampler (www.homeofthesampler.com) I will have pics soon, but I sent bookmarks, gift tag sets, and some holiday stitch markers. I think the snowflake stitchmarkers were awesome.

I just got done making 20+ glass penguin stitch markers. They are so cute. I want to arrange them like the cuddling penguins from March of the Penguins... and take a picture. MOTP was an adorable movie, heartbreaking in some parts. I cried buckets and laughed plenty too, which is awesome for a documentary. One of the best parts (I thought) was when a tubby penguin dives in the water and gets stuck! hahaha. They are so cute.

Anyhow, on top of ALL of my other maladies here comes a cold. I have crap luck. So it's off to bed early with me. Ta ta.

Ack. I am so sick of school right now I just wish it were over. I don't even want to register, but I know myself. If I take a semester off it will turn into two... if only we had a FREAKING INTERSESSION this year. But oh no, my college decided to remove intersession and have 2 summer sessions and then halfway through fall changed it to 1 summer session. IT SUCKS. I could totally use 3 weeks of December and 2-3 weeks of January as a little break, a breather. But oh no. I am out December 8 and back Jan 3. Talk about crappy timing.

Anyhow I was working on a story for class about knitting but I don't think it will be turned in. Here's why: shortly after reading it to my sister she said I needed to get laid "or something". The passage in question--

The kind of needle you choose alters the rhythm and the method of which you knit, it subtly changes the way the yarn grasps and slides down the shaft of the needle, and the way the needle thrusts its way through the open part of a stitch—bent on creating a new stitch.

*sigh* it's not that pornographic. But the story isn't all that interesting anyways. I just don't feel like doing anything lately. The weekend was spent in my two favorite places in the whole-wide-world(of my house, that is). Bed and the couch. Couch and my bed. I haven't had this much horizontal time since I was on Prozac.

BUT today I did get all excited (especially with my SP6 package thankyouthankyouthankyou) when I went on iTunes and saw they had an iTunes Essential playlist with such thrilling songs as "A Co-dependent Christmas," "I'll be Stone For Christmas," and my personal favorite, "Please Daddy, Don't Get Drunk This Christmas." For the first time in weeks I was almost coaxed out of my bah humbug mood.

Bah humbug!

ttyl

angela

*edited because I'm a dork*

I haven't even sent out my final package for the SP6 round and I just recieved my last one from Adele over at http://adelelivedbackwards.blogspot.com/ she has been such an excellent SP! Roving from hello yarn, the new pattern a day calendar, a book by Jess Hutchinson (gosh how adorable) candies galore!! and in my final package some absolutely GORGEOUS yarn that I have no idea what to do with yet but touch and stroke... plus she has been more than kind to my daughter, fueling her with chocolate ghosties*, candies, and in the last package stickers and a handmade SOCK MONKEY!!! Megan promptly named the monkey "sockie," in a fit of originality. :) *(the ghosties were from my Knitty SP5)* Pictures below:

The yarn is sooo pretty.

The Christmas Mouse has found a home (for the time being)

Megan says THANK YOU!!

And now, a meme, the best kind of game. I love answering questions...

Have you ever...?

smoked a cigar - no
crashed a friend’s car - does my mom's count?
stolen a car - no
been in love - yes
been dumped - yes
dumped someone - yes
taken shots of alcohol - yes
been fired – not really
been in a fist fight - plenty of times in my head
snuck out of a/your house - ohhh yeah!
had feelings for someone who didn’t have them back- yep.
been arrested - no
made out with a stranger - *blush* yes
gone on a blind date - yes
lied to a friend - yes
had a crush on a teacher- yes *more than once*
seen someone die - yes. It's not fun
been on a plane - yes
thrown up in a bar - no but thrown up after the bar?!
miss someone right now - yes-- my husband.
laid on your back and watched cloud shapes go by - yes, more than you'd think
made a snow angel - yes
played dress up - yes
cheated while playing a game - yes, usually with my dh
been lonely - YES alot YES
fallen asleep at work/school - sometimes constantly
used a fake id - no
felt an earthquake - too many
touched a snake - yes
run a red light - yes
had detention - no
been in a car accident - yes
hated the way you look - yes
been lost - yes, and I hate it. I get extreme separation anxiety. Scary
been to the opposite side of the country - several times and back again
felt like dying - :( yes. too many times
cried yourself to sleep - yes
played cops and robbers - yes
karaoke - I've never had the guts. The last time I almost did it I was gonna sing Baby Got Back...
done something you told yourself you wouldn’t - yes, usually involving sex, money or both
laughed till some kind of beverage came out of your nose - oh god, yes. milk is the worst
caught a snowflake on your tongue - yes
kissed in the rain - no. this makes me sad for some reason.
sang in the shower - yes
made love in a park - *blush* well it was autumn so not many people were there...
had a dream that you married someone - yes
glued your hand to something - yes
got your tongue stuck to a flag pole - no
worn the opposite sex’s clothes - yes and I stuffed my pants with my dad's tube socks. I was well hung.
been a cheerleader – no
sat on a roof top - yes
talked on the phone all night - YES!
ever too scared to watch scary movies alone – NOPE!
played chicken fight - no
been pushed into a pool with all your clothes on - no
been told you’re hot by a complete stranger - no
broken a bone - no
dipped snuff - ew. no
lived overseas - yes. In London, I miss it
ever passed out/fainted - no
blown bubbles in the wintertime - no... but now I want to!!

Also, please click HERE for the recipe to the chipotle cheddar cheesecake

So it's 16 days until I have surgery. I'm having the gastric bypas with a silastic ring surgery. Cuz you know, I'm fat. And I am freaking out. I told my sister if I died I wanted to give her my heart and lungs, but she doesn't think we'd be a match. I feel like an asshole for being able to go in and have elective surgery at what seems like a whim when she is a possible candidate for transplanted organs. It's Christmas time and I am prickly about Christmas. evil prickly. Who cares? I think this may have more to do with the fact that I am spending my birthday in an empty hotel room in Longbeach, BY MY FREAKING SELF, the night before my surgery (let me state that this was MY idea before anyone casts aspersions on my family) than it does with me not being in the mood for Christmas. Oh sure, there's the trees and the presents and the lights and the sparkle. Yay sparkle. Yay giving. But there's also a big scary world of I DONT KNOW exactly how I will be after the surgery food and even mobility wise. I am straight-up scared S--TLESS that even though I am down for a laproscopic surgery they will end up having to give me the open version and I will be in a huge ammount of pain.

Megan walking around telling me that she is going to be worried about me DOES NOT HELP. Little kids, especially one who channels her dead great grandmother (who's not even related by blood) on a regular basis*I will talk about this again sometime, showing worry, freak me out. I want to look at her and say, "what do you know baby?" Like she's one of the cute kids on Medium.

So I decided to write a letter to my husband. Here's a brief excerpt, sorry I clipped all the majorly naughty bits out, you'll have to read my porno blog for that, hahaha just kidding:

I am scared out of my mind about this stupid, retarded, expensive, ridiculous surgery. Scared that it won't work. Scared that I LET myself be fat for the rest of my life because it would keep the status quo; I wouldn't be rocking the boat. I know what to expect when I leave the house fat; I don't have to worry about people looking at me appreciatively or talking to me in any other way than they do already. I can hide my fear of things behind the simple excuse of "I'm to big to do that". What will I do without my excuse?

And even though I am scared, I want to be thinner to be thinner. I am tired of being tired, I am tired of not caring, I am tired of being out of breath, and I am tired of slip on shoes because I can't bend over to wear my tennis shoes. I am so f--king tired of everything. Some days I am even tired of eating. What will life be like when I am not tired? When I have energy and sparkle?

And at the same time , god, at the same time I want to be thinner, flatter. I want to be able to have you hold me and pull me to you and make me feel as if I were a part of you. I want you to be able to stand up straight and hug me, not bend so your body conforms to the slant of my belly to my chest. I want to discover my body with you. More than anything I want to be able to have you hold me and have the physical representation of our love, ok yeah whatever, sex, be what it should be and not a stilted stuttered production that it sometimes is.

So that's that then. Goodnite.

Dear TedE is knitting himself a scarf to keep himself warm on his upcoming trip to Secret Pal Land. He hasn't decided if he wants a different hat or not.



And now he's done with his little keyhole scarf... he just needs to put some tassels on it and weave in the ends. However, he will have to wait for a bit because his helper (me) is tired!

I hope everyone had a marvelous Thanksgiving!! I leave you with one more photo... a picture of my Chipoltle Cheddar Cheesecake from a magazine (I'll edit later). It was a big hit... I liked the taste, but it was a little spicy for me *note: I used 4 chiles instead of the 1 recommended in the recipe, however, my family loves spicy food. It makes an AWESOME change from the usual cheeseball n' crackers.

This puppy was miiiighty tasty. YUM!

Such a delicious treat.

I love Thanksgiving. Call me ignorant, but I don't really go for the whole "white guilt" thing; whether it applies to feeling guilty for the slavery of any race or the decimation of the Native Americans. I think political correctness has gone WAY WAY WAY too far. Just to mention a few things; Native Americans and Africans were not the only persecuted people in the early parts of our country's life. Except for hardcore English people almost everyone else was looked down upon-- the Irish, the Polish, the Swedes. But unless everyone everywhere feels guilty for the crimes that their civilization placed upon other civilizations, I think it's unfair to hold the "white" people responsible for everything. So. Today I am going to enjoy the "ritualized killing and eating of an animal (along) with pie" to quote Anya from Buffy. And I am going to have a damn good time doing it too, because I will be spending the day with my family and being happy.

Recently my college paper had an article about the "National Day of Mourning" otherwise known as Thanksgiving. It made me really, really mad. Thanksgiving isn't just a commercialized holiday that is merely a reason to stuff our faces and sell reddi whip. It's a day when people travel hundred of miles to be with their families, and maybe there are family spats and arguements, but in the end, they are still somewhere they are loved. Around the country people are gathering and giving thanks for their lives. That means something to me.

Personally, I am greatful that I am home and that my family is all around me. I am looking forward to this evening's dinner, and the afternoon's activities. I spent the morning in my bed with my husband and my daughter chatting and catching up. Megan put on her ridiculous paper pilgrim hat and then regaled us with the songs she needs to practice for the Christmas program at her school. Barry attempted to sing Silent Night. It was wonderful.

I'll leave you with a cute picture of megan, and I will have more pictures later, especially of the Chipoltle Cheddar Cheesecake that I made last night for the festivities. It's more of an appetizer.

and finally, the timeline of Thanksgiving: Thanksgiving Timeline

One more finally; Thank you to my Secret Pals and the people who read my blog--- I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving!!

I woke this morning from a dream that started out inocuous enough--- I was house sitting for my inlaws and I could NOT get the damn television to work properly. The satellite wouldn't lock on to the signal and I kept thinking, "You should know how to do this already. Your family has been doing this for twenty years, think you idiot!" So I gave up and went into the kitchen to do dishes.
My mother-in-law showed up as I was frantically cleaning up the kitchen, and when I turned to say hello to her, instead of finding my father-in-law standing behind her there was my grandpa Boyd. He took me into the bathroom because the cistern was leaking and I had to help him lift it to reseat it. (I'm not a plumber, but this made sense in dreamland) Then we were both down on our knees mopping up the mess together (another miracle of dreamland in my case)(the bending over, not the cleaning). As we mopped up the nasty water, dust, and cat hair we talked to eachother, not really saying anything that I can recall. At some point I noticed that he was separating what looked like the seeds of a dandelion from the rest of the mess. I asked him and he said he was saving them. But, at the moment he turned to tell me, his breath sent the seeds soaring into the air and they floated away high above us on the gust of his breath.

Then I woke up. I was just warm all over and happy.

man.

this SPing thing isn't all it's cracked up to be. sniffle. Oh, I am about to unveil myself as someone's KnittySP5, and I am sure they loved all their stuff. I have been spoiling my SP6 with little treats. And my Holiday SP (even though I haven't heard from her) is sure to have loved what I mailed her as a preview. (lovely lovely manos... ooh have I given myself away?)

BUT I have been a bad bad bad bad SP reciever.

First I got my SPs mixed up. Both of them has been awesome but one has been sneaky mailing me stuff from hither and yon, and the other has been just as amazing. Then I went and got another SP who was amazing ASTOUNDING INCREDIBLE! Oops, sorry with the effusive love.

And what did I do? Did I say THANK YOU? at any time? Did I post my goodies like the dutiful SP I should be? no no no, I didn't.

So here for all of you to see is some awesome SP swag.

Starting with my awesome Knitty SP 5 sp:

she hand spun the red yarn, it has little glittery bits-- awesome. The grape and orange yarn is handspun from a yarn, I must figure out something to do with it. The sheep bookmark is adorable and the magnetized pattern holder is ingenious. Perfect for Rogue I think.

Moving next to my amazing SP6 sp:

This looks interesting, it's set in mideval Spain. She has also sent me the Jess Hutchinson book and the Knitting Pattern a Day calendar that I griped about a couple of posts ago where the mail man just LEFT it on my porch like an idiot. Also she sent the grape and green roving from Hello Yarn-- I love helloyarn's website.

And finishing with my Knittyboard Holiday SP who made me scream!

Ah my holiday sp. You freaked me out a little with how on target your stuff was.
The Tummy Trilogy book is riveting, but really, lets just skip right to the good stuff. My sister opened the package for me as we were driving somewhere. "So what's in it?" I said as she tore into my package with glee. She began to rattle off contents starting with the yarn, the tummy book, and maple candy. Then she got to "The Knitted Rug" and I screamed! I was soo happy! This book is awesome and somehow I have managed to restrain myself from getting it-- so thank you thank you t hank you! And she sent some printed out Aussie Jean toy patterns which is funny because I love Aussie Jean and toys in general but also because I bought one of her patterns for one of MY SPs (then forgot to print it out lol).

So there you go. I have been a bad person, but to all my SP's

Thank You Thank You Thank You Thank You Thank You Thank You Thank You

My SPs rock. :)

On Monday my SP sent me an awesome package that had some toy patterns, some xmas yarn, THE KNITTED RUG! OMGOMGOMGOMG THANK YOU and a foodie book--The Tummy Trilogy!!!! How freaking awesome? Oh don't forget the maple candy either!

Today I got my book swap stuff; I did a book n craft swap over on craftster--- so much fun. I got an anthology of short fiction about work, a book bag that had a quote embroidered on it, and a nifty little tin that was decoupaged with the pages of Tom Jones! I was much pleased. A little guilty since all I sent was Holidays on Ice (one of THE best holiday books) a scrappybooky book mark, and something else--- oh I burned a cd of A Very Special This American Life David Sedaris Christmas. I LOVE DAVID SEDARIS. It's a shame he's gay cuz it would be awesome to be married to him... we could cat it up good n' proper. That said, the pervert(husbeast) is often quite catty enough for the both of us.

I still feel crappy with the teeth. :( Boo me. BUT I did some retail therapy today and feel a bit better. lol.

oooh my teeth!

Ladies, it is both a blessing and a curse that my dentist looks like a young, slightly less bulky Vin Diesel. A blessing for the obvious reasons... picture me, laid out on a dentist's torture table chair thing, squirming in pain and then, in walks V. Diesel DDS... oh mama. He's all smiles and 100% of his attention is on yours truly. I melted, I swear I did. He's all whispers and gentleness asking me to open my mouth as he probes its depths with his fingers... and there I am breathless thinking the pain has finally caused me to go off the deep end.

He talks a little about what may be causing my pain and it's strange because I am not feeling anything... just a slightly woozy proximity high and a teensy tiny (miniscule) ammount of guilt that "Holy cow he's touching me and damn, I forgot I have a husband...but oh baby look at those eyes!!!" is running through my head. He taps my teeth and miraculously I can't feel it.

Of course, as soon as he left I was in pain again. I have a mild infection and my wisdom tooth is making another push. I need 2 extractions once the infection clears up. (I could go for a root canal on one with a crown lengthening but it's a back tooth and like $1000. hahaha no way)

Angela

PS
The whole vin diesel thing is so true and that was before I got on the vicodin. When I got home on vicodin I was feeling better until it wore off. This is part of a message to a friend, still on the dregs of the lovely v.

[21:03] k_diva: ow! like omg. I was just laying in bed, asleep in a vicodin haze and I fell in a rocket-fast plummet straight from my high and into pain

[21:04] k_diva: there wasn't a slow curve out of my painkiller induced trip to the land of La La, instead it was a screeching halt and a rather rude, somewhat confusing "Get off!" as if I'd been hauled from a fun house ride and shouted at before being deposited right back in the front again. ow

YAY!

All night long yesterday and for the larger part of today I have been battling the toothache from hell. BUT! When I got to the knittyboard, would you believe it? IM NOT THE ONLY ONE!! Not that I wish ill on anyone, but it is certainly some kind of comforting to know that I'm not all by myself in this.

I am making an emergency dr's appt w/ the denist tomorrow, even if I have to miss class!!

Angela

PS
Super SP Swag coming soon!!

"This is a day made for fun and frivolity, angela, not one in which you are likely to get much of your chores done. Try as you might to focus on the task at hand, everywhere you turn there are distractions. Your email pen pals could be sending you jokes and notes, and your friends could be bugging you to join them for an outing of some sort. You may as well give in..."

I'd say that's permission to goof off if I ever saw it!! (my horoscope for tomorrow)

Yep, now I too have been waylaid by the "cooties" that are floating around. I have a perpetual head and body ache that won't go away. My brain is all fuzzy, and I'm having more than a little difficulty holding one train of thought. It's effecting my work. Too many "yeahs" and customers just hang up on you.

So I am all wierd at the moment. I want to listen to rich voiced men crooning promises of love into my ear. If I could find my headphones I'd be laying down, listening to my iPod and ignoring the world. But I can't and I can't even find my darn FM tuner thingy that transmits from my iPod to my stereo... very lovely. I need to remind myself to add "THINGS FOR MY iPOD" to my list of Christmas goodies for the pervert to get me.

Also, it's come to my attention that some people may not realize that the pervert is my husband. Yes, yes he's my husband. And he knows I call him that. :) Um, yeah. His website is over at http://lostgotham.net so go there and check out the trailer to his first movie. Remember it's a rough rough trailer, and he really only put it up for his friends, but I am so freaking proud and amazed to see all of our hard work this summer put into something coherent that I can't resist. So please, go look! And then come tell me what you thought (even if it's not positive).

In knitting news... I picked up Rogue and did a row. I picked up the amazing cat barf scarf and knit about six more inches of it. I knit on a square for the afghan group. I knit a round of a toy for a SP. and I made 4 stitch markers. I'm not really in the knitting mood, but I am unearthing my scarf kit from eons ago and starting that. It's going to be fabulous. I know it.

ttfn

oh. wait. I need some recommendations! I have these songs on my "Go Away" playlist that I am listening to. Can anyone tell me any more songs that I should have here? They are all similar, slow to moderately paced, all by men, and kind of on the sappy side.

1. Colorblind - Counting Crows
2. Lullabye - Billy Joel
3. Book of Love - Peter Gabriel
4. 2 out of 3 (ain't bad) - Meatloaf
5. Wonderful Tonight - Eric Clapton
6. Unwell - Matchbox 20
7. To Make You Feel My Love - Garth Brooks
8. Collide - Howie Day
9. Your Body Is A Wonderland - John Mayer
10. She Will Be Loved - Maroon 5
11. She's The One - Robbie Williams
12. Why Georgia - John Mayer
13. If You're Gone - Matchbox 20
14. Everything - Lifehouse

The order is completely random. Any suggestions?