Food for Thought

James and I just arrived home from seeing his friend Marshall perform in his band, Funk-o-tron, on the patio of a little bar in southwest Fort Worth. We had a nice time visiting with him before they went on, even while we were all sweating like crazy in the heat. I tried to make the most of my time by knitting on my sock during the show, and I actually made some progress. It will still probably be at least another month before I finish, though, at the rate I've been going.

Last weekend, I didn't knit a stitch. I helped Sara address her wedding invitations on Saturday, and then I helped throw her a bridal shower on Sunday at her future MIL's house. It was pretty successful (and Sara received not one; not two; but THREE sets of sheets), but I forgot to bring my camera, so I have no pictures.

I did set up my chocolate fountain for the second (and probably last) time, and it doesn't seem to work too well. People seemed to enjoy the melted chocolate, but the "fountain" capability isn't really there. I had brought pretzels, strawberries, and marshmallows to dip in the chocolate, but when all was said and done, I could hardly tell anything had been eaten. I gave the pretzels to Amber, and James and I managed to eat all the strawberries this week, but I still had a full bag of marshmallows sitting on the counter yesterday.

In the past when I have found myself with a full bag of marshmallows (usually after a camping trip when exactly four marshmallows have been eaten for the requisite s'mores), I end up throwing it away after I get tired of looking at it for a few weeks. Today, however, inspiration struck as James and I were leaving Fuddrucker's and admiring the sweet treats in the display case; among the cookies were some giant Rice Krispies Treats. Yum.

Normally, this would not be enough for me to decide to make something so incredibly bad (unhealthy) at home, but James and I went to see Julie & Julia last night at the movies, which I think influenced me. (Warning: do not see on an empty stomach!) There was so much delicious food being made in the movie that it actually made me think that I might want to cook something. Of course, I came to my senses and realized that I'd never choose cooking over knitting, but homemade food was still on my mind when I saw those Rice Krispies Treats...and then remembered that I already one of the two main ingredients at home: marshmallows.

Before I knew it, I had convinced James to go buy a box of Rice Krispies. I could lie and say that I made the treats (simple as they are, I know you'd be impressed, right?), but, of course, James made the treats. He even broke one of our wooden spoons in half while trying to mix the Rice Krispies with the melted marshmallows.

So, now you know what I had for dinner.

Thank you, James

For:

1. Taking my car to be fixed on Monday. It's so nice to not have all those lights on the dashboard glaring at me every day.
2. Cooking dinner four nights this week and making pasta for me to take to work for lunch. I'm not sure what I would be eating otherwise.
3. Making me French toast for breakfast this morning. It was very, very good. I needed a break from the granola.
4. Running and unloading the dishwasher before I even had a chance to notice it was full. When I asked if it were full yet, you could have at least told me it was empty instead of shrugging and waiting for me to open it and see that it was empty.
5. Not making me sit through that DVD you wanted to watch last night. (Actually, you probably only turned it off because I kept interrupting you, but thanks anyway.)

A Lot of Not Much

Things have been very quiet since our trip to the Frio River a few weeks ago, and I'm absolutely loving it. It has been so nice to just spend the weekends at home catching up on our Netflix and replenishing my supply of clean clothes. I still haven't been knitting too much, though, and tomorrow will be the one month mark for the pair (well, so far, just one) of socks I'm working on. They don't look much different than last week:

I finished the lacy shawl/wrap that I worked on primarily over July 4th weekend and the following weekend camping, but that comes easy when you're stuck in a car for a total of twenty hours. I still need to get some wires so I can block it out and make it look really lacy, and some buttons to put on one of the ends (so you can button it in different ways...I'll demonstrate when I finish), but right now it's sitting in a pile on my desk. This is how it looked last weekend when I finally bound off the stitches and took a quick picture to put on Ravelry:

I'm still making progress on the wedding afghan for Sara and Brandon, but I don't think I'll have it done for Sara's shower next Sunday. I'm just a little over halfway finished, but I'm not putting up any pictures of it until I give it to them.

Speaking of Sara's bridal shower, I am co-hosting it with her future mother-in-law next Sunday, and I'm pretty excited about it. Next weekend will be almost completely devoted to Sara's wedding since we are designing, printing, and addressing her invitations next Saturday. I don't get much girl time with my two best friends, so I am really looking forward to this even though I suspect it will be hectic.

Now it's off to the grocery store and then to my knitting group. With next weekend's plans in mind, I'm guessing I should have more exciting things to talk about next Sunday.

Rio Frio Trip

Every summer for the past few years, James and I have gotten together with our friends Sara and Brandon (and usually various others) to go tubing down the Guadalupe or Comal River in New Braunfels, Texas. We always have a good time, but we decided we wanted a change of scenery this year, so we opted for the Frio River, which is a couple of hours west of where we usually go.

We saw this not too far into our trip down I-35:

Once we started getting closer, the landscape changed drastically. It was lots of green rolling hills that were practically the size of small mountains.

We even drove through Utopia, where we stopped for gas on the way back home.

I didn't take many pictures while we were there, unfortunately, because we spent most of our time in the water and my camera is not water-proof. We stayed at Garner State Park, which is by far the largest and busiest state park I've ever been too. When we arrived, we had to take a number to wait to check in, and the door going into the part of the building with the check-in counters would only unlock briefly to let the next person in.

I cannot even begin to describe how very, very hot it was. It was easily over 100 degrees, and we quickly made the decision to walk down to the river to get in the water. The river was a short walk from our campsite, and though the river was pretty shallow, we found a spot deep enough to sit down and have the water up to our chests. We stayed there until dark, when it had cooled down enough to no longer be sweltering. That night we had the typical hot dogs, with the special treat of James' rum punch and Jason's peach cobbler made in a dutch oven. The cobbler was so good it has convinced me that a cast iron dutch oven is a camping necessity, and I hope to get one before we go camping again.

The next day, we drove to the tube rental place and were surprised to see that it was pretty empty. It was very unlike New Braunfels, but we didn't think much about it and proceeded to pay for our tube rentals. An employee asked Sara if we were tubing and told her that the river was very, very low. I questioned the cashier about it, and she responded, "yeah, it's pretty low...we're actually not recommending tubing right now." Hmmm, wouldn't it have been better for her to tell us before some of us had paid? She refunded Jason and Jill, who had just paid, and we discussed what to do instead.

We decided to look for a place along the river where we could just hang out in the water, and we ended up finding the perfect spot at the second river crossing we came to. The water was deep enough at some parts where we couldn't touch bottom (though we could easily see it in the very clear water) and shallow enough closer to the shore where we could just sit in the water. We stayed there for several hours before deciding we were ready to go, partly because some of us were getting cold. As we clearly discovered upon arriving back at our campsite, we were delusional--it was still blistering hot out of the water, and I think we all immediately wished we hadn't left.

It didn't take long for us to all walk back down to the river near our campsite and reclaim the spot we'd occupied the night before. It was amazing to me how secluded this particular part of the river was. Aside from a father and son rearranging rocks, we couldn't see any other people from where we were sitting. The Guadalupe and Comal Rivers are usually so crowded that you can't help but be completely surrounded by people at all times. And by "people," I mean mostly drunk college students.

We went out to eat dinner that night at a little place called The Feed Lot in Leakey. It was about as glamourous as it sounds, but the chicken fried steak was very, very good. In fact, it had been featured in Texas Monthly at some point as we saw the article from it inside on the wall. The owner was an older guy wearing denim overalls who walked around and chatted with everyone.

This is probably a good place to mention that James and I have been eating a lot of beef lately. We still haven't cooked any meat (other than seafood/fish) at home this year, but I have been craving hamburgers constantly. Whataburger, specifically, and I blame it on commercials. I never thought I cared much for hamburgers, but I am clearly convinced that I was very, very wrong. I love hamburgers. On the way home the next day, we all stopped and had Mighty Fine burgers for lunch in Round Rock. The burgers fit their description pretty well, I think. Check them out if you're ever in the area.

Here is a picture from our campsite of some sap that had seeped out of one of the trees. Kinda pretty, huh?

Where I've Been...

As someone just let me know, it's been nearly a month since my last blog entry. I think my new job is mostly to blame for that.

I like my new job, but I don't like how much more time it takes up. I never get home until after 6:00pm (compared to getting home a little after 4:00pm at the last job) and sometimes it's even later. Needless to say, this has been hard for me to get used to, and my blogging hasn't been the only thing to suffer. I have stopped keeping up with blogs and columns I used to read regularly, and my knitting is pretty much ignored from Monday until Friday. Also to blame is the fact that I have been busy during the last several weekends, which has forced me to deal with laundry, pest control (a whole other blog entry there!), packing/unpacking, and other responsibilities during my decreased weeknight time. It has been very hectic, but now that things are slowing down I plan to make more time for myself. And the blog.

So, basically, this is just a tiny blog to let you know I'll be back. I need to take some pictures and write up some other stuff for separate entries, and I should finally have time to do that today. Yay for a day at home!

What a Difference a Frame Makes

Two weeks ago, James and I finally took our college diplomas to get them matted and framed. They had been propped up against the TV cabinet for months, but I finally decided (with a 60% off coupon in hand) that it was time to have it done. Before the months-long stint in the living room, the diplomas had been stashed in a closet ever since their receipts, roughly three years ago (for mine) and two and half years ago (for James's).

I knew they would look good, but until we picked them up last weekend, I had no idea just how good they would look. We hung them in the bedroom over our desk. Maybe one day we can hang them in our home office or study. It amazes me how good it feels to have finally done something that I've put off for so long. Maybe I'll feel the same if I organize the camping gear?

In other news, I've hardly knitted or crocheted at all this week. I feel like there's so little time left in the day now that I have to commute between 1.5 and 2 hours each day and I no longer get to spend lunch at home.

How I Spent My Summer Vacation

I know, it may seem a little early for this post. And, if you know me, you are probably wondering 'what vacation?'

Well, though I didn't really know it at the time, I had a two and a half week vacation that ended on Wednesday of this past week. It could also be known as unemployment.

In addition to the typical job hunting and interviews, I was also able to enjoy myself a little (which was really just enough to balance out all the stress I was trying not to feel) by lounging by the pool, sleeping in, and-of course-knitting.

With all the extra knitting time, I was able to knit not one, but TWO pairs of socks. And let's not forget the Mario goodies I crocheted during this time. I feel pretty accomplished, and both pairs of socks turned out great (aside from pooling issues, anyway). In fact, the pair of socks for myself was started on last Saturday (I had started Friday night, but ended up ripping it out and starting over on Saturday when I realized they'd be too small.) and finished on Thursday. That is primarily because I knitted almost constantly on Monday and Tuesday since I didn't have to look for a job those days.

Aren't they nice?

The ones on the left are the Spring Forward pattern from Knitty Summer 2008 using the Araucania Ranco Multy that James bought for me in Austin at Hill Country Weavers while I was in New Mexico over Memorial Day. Strangely enough, the socks on the right are also made from yarn (ShibuiKnits) that I bought at the same LYS during a trip to Austin last year over Labor Day weekend. The pattern is Double Basket Weave from More Sensational Socks by Charlene Schurch. I had to use some leftover KnitPicks sock yarn for the toes on James's socks because I was going to run out of the brown.

Once Upon a Time...

I used to talk about stuff that wasn't knitting related. Shall I give that another shot?

I started my new job today. It went pretty well after I got over having to wake up at 3:30am in order to arrive in Fort Worth at 5:00am for new hire orientation. I should say it went well until 9:00am, anyway, when there was confusion as to where I should be and what I should be doing. It didn't help that my new boss was out today (and will be tomorrow and Friday, also).

My co-workers are super nice, and they were very helpful in getting me acclimated to my new surroundings. There wasn't much I could do today because of the confusion, so I left at 1pm. Don't worry, my boss had given me permission (by phone) to leave at noon, but I stayed an extra hour to prove I was committed. I was starving and had a massive headache (likely from not eating or drinking since 3:45am), so I stopped at Whataburger, inhaled a hamburger and french fries, and arrived home where I immediately crashed. James woke me up when he got home and it took me an hour to tell him about my day.

One thing I have noticed about myself is that I don't feel the same anxiety/excitement about starting a new job that I remember feeling before. It reminds me of how when I was in grade school, I would feel a pang of panic/excitement on the first day of school every year. Butterflies in the stomach and all that. In high school, it was still there faintly, but by the time I was in college, it didn't faze me at all, which, ironically seems like it would be the most likely time to feel anxious. It's as though with each job I have felt increasingly at ease, and with this job in particular, I wasn't nervous at all. It makes me wonder whether this is part of getting older or just being comfortable in situations which are no longer new or unique to me or something else.

I also feel this way about traveling to new places, and James and I have discussed this at length before. My first time on a plane was a trip to NYC with my best friend (and he-who-shall-not-be-named). I was twenty-one. It was very exciting and surreal, and I couldn't sleep for days before. During my trip to Great Britain a year later, I had much the same feelings. Now, though, after having been many places and on many planes in the last few years (for business and pleasure), I no longer feel the same anticipation and excitement I used to feel. And now, I'm thinking maybe I never will again. The newness has worn off.

To be fair, it's not that I haven't enjoyed my trips (because I have enjoyed every single one immensely). It's just that butterflies-in-the-stomach feeling is no longer there. I kind of miss it. I wonder if it will ever return?

Mario Madness

The last swap package that I volunteered to make finally arrived at its destination yesterday, so now I can talk about it!

The swap was the Old School Game Consoles Swap, and my recipient happened to be a Mario fan--like myself--so I had a lot of fun researching what I wanted to make. Unlike myself, my recipient (Lumenia on Ravelry) loves to bake, so I thought it would be appropriate to make baking related items. Plus, it's summer, and not many people will get much use out of a hat, scarf, or mittens (other popular knitted items) for a while.

There is one teensy problem now, though...I forgot to take pictures of most of the items in the package. I had everything ready to go except for one item I ordered on Etsy, so as soon as I got that, I just quickly packed everything up and sent it off. The one item I was waiting on was a shot glass with a frosted image of the Mario invincibility star on it. Other items included: Mario coin refrigerator magnets, a skein of Noro Kureyon yarn, some Pepperidge Farm Snickerdoodle cookies, and a set of crocheted Mario Mushroom Potholders/Hot pads and a crocheted Mario Invincibility Star Oven Mitt.

I first attempted to knit the potholders, but knitting intarsia with cotton yarn is impossible. Really, if someone can prove to me that it's not, I'd love to see your proof. I just can't believe it after my experience.

Crocheting was much, much easier, but of course, the way that crochet stitches are formed means that you can't get lines that are as clean as with something that's knitted. I do think all the designs are recognizable, though, so I'm happy with it.

Surprise!

I have been waiting for a package to come in the mail that contains a small item that will go into the swap package I am currently working on. I ordered this item before I was unemployed, and it is partially the reason I am still going to make the package instead of bowing out.

Anyway, yesterday, as usual, I went to check the mail and there was a package! I had been a little worried about the item, so I felt relieved until I saw how large the package was. Surely the item I was waiting on would be in a much, much smaller package? I didn't recognize the return address, so I hoped it was the Etsy seller after all and that she just used more packaging than necessary.

When I got inside the apartment, I ripped it open and immediately saw a knitted item inside. I felt a pang as I thought that it was a traveling scarf that had been misdirected to me somehow, but I quickly realized it was not a scarf after all. It was a knitted bag, and some other items: a little notebook, a card, two bookmarks (one knitted and one with beads) and some very, very cute stitch markers.

This package was entirely unexpected, and that made it so much better! So, why was this sent to me, you ask?

It was sent to me from slightlygeeky (Ravelry name) to thank me for stepping up to make an angel package for the Children's Book Swap (remember Bunnicula?). She was the participant who was originally supposed to send a package to the person I ended up making the replacement package for. Now it's all square since everyone made and received a package.

Leaving New Mexico on Memorial Day

We lingered until 11:00am at the hotel to rest since we only had a few things left on our must-do list before we had to head to the airport at 3:30pm. Amber took a nap. I knitted. Then we went on our way.

Our first stop was at the Rio Grande Valley State Park, where we checked out the very interesting visitor center before walking down a short trail to the bank of the Rio Grande. We saw a lot of striped lizards, but not much else in the way of wildlife. Unlike most of Albuquerque, there are a lot of trees along the river, but it still didn't keep me from getting hot on what had been our sunniest day there. Near the entrance to the trail was a very strange fence that both Amber and James (when he saw the picture) said looked like it was from a war zone.

When we left the park, we started to drive towards one of the two stores on Amber's list for the day. This store, Jackalope, was very cool. Amber got some weird slipper shoes that resembled a woven straw basket or hat in construction and material, and we admired the many different imported items from around the world. They had a lot of beads and rocks and necklaces, and I wished that I had the desire to make jewelry. They also sold furniture. The store was like a more exotic, cheaper World Market.

We next went downtown to Skip Maisel's, a store that specialized in items hand-crafted by Native Americans, such as jewelry, pottery, weavings, paintings, kachinas, and much more. Some of the stuff was downright creepy, though. Amber bought a few souvenirs here, including a necklace made from painted corn kernels. As Amber was paying for her purchases, we noticed a little flyer for a restaurant down the street, and we decided to go eat there afterwards.

As I walked into the restaurant, the odor of elementary school spaghetti grudgingly filled my stuffy nose. Nothing on the menu looked appetizing, so Amber was gracious enough to allow us to go somewhere else. We ended up at a bar down the street (The Library), and I had a delicious meal of a grilled cheese sandwich and french fries. We finished up just in time to head off towards the airport.

We stopped at a gas station to refill the rental car and spotted a panaderia across the street. The lady inside didn't speak English, but we had no trouble obtaining cookies and other sweets to take with us on the plane and back to Amber's friends. My cookie was delicious, but it was too big for my appetite. I let James finish it off when I got home.

Unfortunately, our flight was delayed almost an hour due to a broken seat on the plane that had been fixed in the morning but had consequently made all following flights for that particular plane late all day long. One lady waiting with us for the flight was particularly vocal about the hardship she was enduring and called every single contact in her phone to relay the same story about how irritated she was that the airline (possibly) wouldn't hold the plane of her connecting flight to wait on her. See, it was clear to her that since she was being inconvenienced by the malfunctioning seat that every person on her unaffected connecting flight should also be inconvenienced by having to delay their flight to accommodate her. Silly airline--shouldn't they realize that it is unreasonable not to delay every single connecting flight so that no one misses a flight. Who cares if everyone is an hour late? (Rant over)

I was exhausted when we landed in Dallas where James was already waiting to pick us up. When we got home, I inquired about the cupcakes from Austin that I had been promised. Unfortunately, it turns out that the cupcake trailer is closed on Mondays. Instead, James had brought me something from the place next door to the cupcake trailer. Something even better than a cupcake. It was yarn. Beautiful yarn.

He handed me a bag containing two skeins of Koigu sock yarn in a very pretty color, which made me thankful I hadn't ended up getting the Koigu I saw at Village Wools, and a very colorful, pretty skein of soft Araucania. I have no idea why he has been skeptical of getting yarn presents for me before because I really adore what he picked out. It may just be that it's hard to go wrong when buying any yarn for a knitter.

It's a good thing that I'm now so well stocked on yarn because it may be a long time before I can buy any more. That's because I got laid off from my job yesterday. Wish me luck in searching for a new one!

A Day in Santa Fe

I, of course, woke up early on Sunday morning, and had showered, eaten breakfast, and was fully dressed and ready to leave before Amber awakened. As I waited on her, I knitted, and I continued knitting most of the time we were in the car that day. I got a lot of my second Easter sock done during this trip.

We took the scenic route to Santa Fe, called the Turquoise Trail, and drove up to the crest of the Sandia Mountains. The city of Albuquerque is at about 5,000 feet above sea level (Dallas is around 500 feet) and the crest is at about 10,000 feet. I can't help but wonder if my constantly stuffy head and nose and becoming winded more quickly than usual had anything to do with the elevation because both conditions seem to have returned to normal since I've been home. Anyway, the drive up was beautiful and I noticed that the trees became more and more plentiful the higher we got, and that the smell of fir and pine trees became stronger and stronger.

The view from the top was disappointing, to say the least, because the crest was completely enveloped in a cloud. We could see absolutely nothing beyond the thick white fog, and I was disappointed to not even find a picture of the typical view somewhere in the gift shop. The temperature at the top was drastically lower than at the base, and I felt silly (and cold!) in my flip flops. There is also a tram that goes to the crest from the other side, though I think at a different point. Neither Amber nor I were keen on the idea of riding the tram, and we ended up not seeing it during our trip.

The scenery along the Turquoise Trail was beautiful but very different from what I am used to seeing. No grass, no trees--just shrubs and cacti. We stopped in a little artsy town called Madrid and walked around looking at all the little shops. The town was jam-packed with visitors, most of who had arrived on their motorcycles. Amber became very excited when she found out that the movie Wild Hogs was filmed there. We ate lunch at the Mine Shaft Tavern (so named because the town was originally a coal-mining town before becoming a ghost town and then, finally, a settlement for artists and tourism), and I gave New Mexican enchiladas another try. This time I opted for the red chile, and it was great! Amber had her enchiladas sin chile, and I think she enjoyed them best that way.

It was pretty dreary and cold when we arrived in Santa Fe, so we first stopped in at a little coffee shop where we found a handy map of downtown. We decided to park closer to the things we wanted to see, and I was worried we would end up parking even further away when I saw how crowded downtown was. We really lucked out and ended up seeing someone leave a really great parking spot right in front of us.

Very close to where we parked, there was a little craft fair where we stopped to browse. Immediately, a tent full of handspun yarn and scarves and wraps knitted from the handspun caught my eye. I was disappointed to discover that the beautiful, but coarse-feeling, bulky yarn was around $60 for about 30 yards. Ouch! A little further down in a different booth, a second display of hanks grabbed my attention. These were made of buffalo/wool blend and naturally brown. I excitedly purchased a skein of the bulky handspun yarn (30 yards) for $15! I think it even smells a little like buffalo...I couldn't get Amber to smell it.

There is a lot more to see in Santa Fe than to talk about, so I recommend looking at all my pictures. We saw the Cathedral of St. Francis of Assisi (shown below) and the smaller Loretto Chapel. Though we couldn't go inside due to a wedding taking place, I bought a postcard that shows the miraculous staircase inside. I remember seeing an episode on Unsolved Mysteries (which I frequently watched as a kid) about the staircase, and it was cool to see the location of it.

We also saw the Plaza of the Governors where we heard/saw a Mariachi band and dancing briefly as part of the celebration for the grand opening of the brand new museum across the street--the New Mexico Museum of History. We we able to go inside the museum for free because it was opening day. Afterwards, we found the oldest active church in the US, and the oldest house in ... the building was clearly not modern stucco because there was bits of hay and rock in texture. Maybe adobe?

The pizzeria (The Upper Crust) next to the oldest church smelled fantastic, and it didn't take long for us to decide to eat there. I remarked to Amber that I didn't want to have Mexican food (again), and she agreed. I had to make her repeat herself because she has always claimed to love Mexican food so much that she can eat it for every meal. Maybe that only applies to tex-mex. Amber and I each had a calzone--mine was stuffed with spinach, pesto, cheese, and tomatoes. Yum!

The state capital was the last thing we saw before we headed back to Albuquerque. I wasn't as interested as Amber, so I took pictures of pretty flowers instead.

The drive back to Albuquerque along 25 was beautiful but not as mountainous (to the west, anyway) as the drive up had been. I liked how flat and treeless it was because you could see so far away. While it wasn't raining on us, you could clearly see that it was raining off in the distance.

I was about to link to my uploaded photo album for the trip, but Facebook apparently did not save my pictures last night! Maybe tomorrow...

Arrival in Albuquerque

I just spent the last three days in New Mexico with my best friend, Amber. I met Amber in 1989 when I was five years old, and we have now known each other for nearly twenty years and have been great friends for almost all of that time. We both love to travel, but we haven't traveled together very often, so the twenty-year mark seemed like a good time to take a trip together. New Mexico turned out to be a great choice.

Getting to Albuquerque was very uneventful. After some minor irritation with the rental car agent, Amber and I were on our way. Luckily for me, Amber had volunteered to drive our rental car, which was a silver Dodge Nitro. Although we had reserved and paid for a compact car, we were given this small SUV which thrilled Amber. She just couldn't believe that they would give us something other than the tiniest car (which, I pointed out, were probably all rented out). I found this very amusing because I am almost never given the car type I reserve and was just thankful they didn't try to give us a minivan.

Because it was too soon to check in to our hotel, we drove around Albuquerque and quickly encountered downtown, old town, and a little Mexican place called "Garcia's" where we ate lunch. Amber and I both had enchiladas and sopapillas. New Mexican enchiladas are different from what you usually get in Texas. Instead of rolled up tortillas, they are flat, stacked tortillas with cheese (or other filling) between the tortillas. Also, you specify whether you want "red chile" or "green chile" on them. Amber opted for red, and I for green. It was pretty good, but I prefer the rolled up tortillas smothered in sour cream sauce that I can get at home.

After we located our hotel (and it still wasn't time to check in), we went to the Petroglyph National Monument. Petro = rock and glyph=symbol/picture, so naturally we found many drawings on big rocks as we walked along the trail. We also saw some more recent markings, which didn't appear much different than the old ones in quality (only the content, e.g. "M+B"). This makes me skeptical about the age/origins of the other drawings we saw because there is really no way to prevent other people from making their own petroglyphs. Supposedly, the original drawings were made by Native Americans long, long ago.

As we started to leave the rocks, it started to rain. During the entire trip, the weather was constantly changing. One moment, it would be hot and sunny; the next it would be cloudy and cool; and before you knew it, huge raindrops that landed with a "thud" would be pounding on your head or roof of your car. I don't think I've ever put on and taken off a jacket so many times in a day.

I won't get into the details of how difficult it was to find the correct route to our hotel, but it did take three tries down three separate roads (all on the same exit with the same name) before we figured out how to get there. Once settled in our hotel room, we devised our plan for the rest of the day: shopping.

Albuquerque is much, much smaller than I imagined. There are basically two highways--25, which runs north and south; and 40, which runs east and west. We didn't even have a proper map, but we had almost no problems getting anywhere we wanted to go. Our first stop was Village Wools, a local yarn store. Before the trip, I had been thinking I would purchase Fiesta yarn as my souvenir yarn since it is actually produced in Albuquerque, but none of the colors in stock really attracted me. I also saw some lovely Koigu, which I have had on my mental wishlist for a long time, but I decided I'd rather get colors more reminiscent of New Mexico. After inspecting the rest of the store rather thoroughly, I settled on some Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock in purple, turquoise, and gray. The colors definitely reminded me of much of the New Mexican jewelry I had seen in Old Town. Amber even bought some sock yarn under the condition that I would make her some socks from it. Her color choice was more reminiscent of the stucco buildings and bare desert ground.

After getting my yarn fix, we drove to a Native American Gallery/Shop called Ben Muir. I bought three pairs of earrings for myself and a Kachina doll for James. Everything there was very beautiful, and Amber and I both had a difficult time settling on which earrings we liked the best. The place was on the edge of town, and there were buffalo across the driveway. Across the street was the Sandia Resort (and Casino?), and we drove a little ways up the road towards the Sandia Mountains and Cibola National Park. We took some pictures of the beautiful scenery before driving back towards town.

Our last stop was at Trader Joe's. I have heard so much about this grocery store and how great it is (via internet forums) that I decided it was one of the places I absolutely had to visit in New Mexico so I could see for myself what the big deal is. Although smaller than I imagined, I was very impressed by all the interesting food and the affordable prices. After one visit to Whole Foods in which James and I spent a ridiculous amount of money, I had decided it wasn't worth the drive (twenty minutes) or expense to shop there. If Dallas had a Trader Joe's, however, I think I would definitely shop there. I got some spicy lime trail mix and some crunchy chip-like green beans for James. I didn't find anything appealing for myself that would fit the specifications of being compact enough to bring home, no refrigeration required, and not more than $5. At least now I know what the big deal is, though. Amber really liked the store, too.

I neglected to mention that I slept for about four fitful hours the night before and about six fitful hours the night before that. I was exhausted when we left Trader Joe's. And starving. Amber felt the same, but to a lesser degree, I think, so we headed towards the hotel and looked for a place to eat. I requested that we didn't have Mexican food and Amber requested that we not eat at a national chain restaurant, so we stopped at Blake's Lotaburger. It was the only meat I ate during the trip, and it was very good. Earlier in the day, Amber and I had both been discussing how we missed eating hamburgers more than any other meat, so it seemed fitting. I especially liked their slogan: If you are what you eat, you are awesome.

I crashed pretty soon after eating, bringing my first day to a close.

In order to not overwhelm my readers (who have likely already stopped reading this post by now anyway), I will write up the rest in a separate blog entry or two. I haven't weeded through and uploaded pictures, but a link for those will follow in a later entry, too.

Traveling Scarf is Traveling No More

I have had a fantastic time being a part of our traveling scarf group since last August. I originally joined because a friend in my knitting group was participating in one, and it sounded like a such a neat idea. I know I have explained this before, but I'll do it one last time...

In our group of about twelve knitters, all scattered across the country, we each knitted a little starting piece of a scarf (about 4-6 inches). We then sent this section to the next person in the "circle" and in turn, we received one from the person before us in the circle. We continued to knit on each scarf we received, making the scarf a little longer, and then sending it to the next person. By the time the scarf has traveled all the way through the circle and is sent back home to its owner, it is a full-length scarf, usually made of many different yarns and patterns, each chosen by the person who knit each particular section. It is also common to send along a little notebook so that the knitters can write notes in it, and we keep in touch on the Ravelry forums throughout the entire process. It's a neat way to meet some interesting knitters.

My first scarf with our group came home in December, and we started Round #2 in January. For Round #2, we were a little more particular about fiber type (only natural, non-animal fibers, such as cotton) and color (only green or purple). I went a step further and asked that my scarf be only purple and that it all be done in openwork/lace stitches. The result is even nicer than I had expected, especially after blocking. I wish I had taken a "before" picture of it so you could see the difference, but here is the final result.

Though I have tremendously enjoyed this experience, I have decided that I'm not going to do another traveling scarf--at least for a very long time. For the last two months or so, I've gradually been feeling less and less interested in working on the scarves since the novelty has worn off. Add to that the insane amount of postage I've spent and the time and money I've spent on other swaps, and I really just feel like I need to take a break from it all.

Except...I volunteered to make another angel package this morning. Why is it so hard to resist?

Bunnicula Swap

Wow, the USPS has floored me (in a good way this time) by getting my swap package to the recipient practically the next day! She received the package yesterday before lunch, and I hadn't even dropped it at the post office until Saturday afternoon.

The package was for the Children's Books Swap ran by the Odd Duck Swap Group on Ravelry. Ladymay's (her Ravelry name) original partner had bailed on the swap after she'd already received a package for it (as this particular person had done with a few other swaps) so I volunteered to make ladymay's package.

After a little sleuthing, I decided to theme the package specifically around the children's book series about the "vampire" bunny, Bunnicula. I had remembered seeing a Bunnicula cartoon when I was a kid, but I have never read (nor even knew about) the Bunnicula books. Ladymay, like myself, has a pet bunny, and she is also a fan of vampires, so it seemed like a good choice from her list of favorite kids' books.

For the package, I knitted a Bunnicula from a pattern where you basically make a bunny out of a knitted square. It's pretty clever, and I'm mostly pleased with how it turned out. I kinda messed up the placement of the widow's peak in relation to his ears, but I am otherwise satisfied.

I also knitted two "veggie victims"--a tomato and celery with fang marks. In the books, Bunnicula sucks the juice out of vegetables instead of eating them. Other items I included: two of the Bunnicula books, a handmade bookmark, a bunny treat for her bunny, some handmade bunny stitch markers from an Etsy seller, and two skeins of green silk-wool blend yarn.

Commitments

For the past few weeks, I have been devoting pretty much all of my knitting and crocheting time to making things for other people. Things that I volunteered to make, and therefore feel committed to actually making. I enjoy doing this, but I felt really stressed about all the stuff last week, so I tried really, really hard to get all caught up this weekend. I finally feel much better, and I am even contemplating starting something new for myself once I finish the blanket I'm crocheting.

So here's a rundown of what I've been knitting. Much of it is kinda surprise/secret-oriented, so I haven't been blogging it.

Traveling Scarves: I finished knitting the last one for the group and mailed it home to its owner this morning. Mine, which returned home to me last week, was washed and blocked yesterday. I will take pictures once it's dry.

Swap Package: I finished up everything for my Children's Book Swap and mailed it off to the recipient on Saturday. I will post pictures and details once she gets it.

Super-Secret Project: I had to buy needles in the correct size to work on this, so I did that yesterday. I am about 75% done (hope to finish tonight). It will be a long time before I can talk about this one, so I hope I don't forget.

Baby Stuff for Donation: I have made two hats, and I'm currently crocheting a blanket. I'm about 60% done with the blanket. I have a lot of baby yarn stash, so I thought I would use up as much as I could in order to give to a friend who is collecting items for donation. I'm not sure how much I'll be able to get done before she's finished collecting, but since I didn't commit to a certain amount (or any amount,actually) I don't feel as pressured about this one.

Wedding Afghan: Okay, so I haven't even started this, but it has been on my mind. I volunteered to make this for my friends who are getting married in September, and I am anxious to start because I know it will take a long time. They have sorta narrowed down the patterns they like. No yarn has been purchased yet.

In addition to working on these items, I also made another sundress (same fabric, just knee-length, so I feel a picture would be redundant), and I gave the first one to Sara. I cut the fabric for the other two and ironed the fabric for one of them. My goal is to have them both finished by the end of May. That should be easy.

Now, to decide what I should knit for myself....

Tweed Sweater Vest

I feel like I've slowed down a little with my knitting lately. It's not that I'm enjoying it any less; it's more that there are so many other things that I want to do that interfere with knitting time. Like camping. And festivals. (Two this month!) And trips. (Going to New Mexico in three weeks!) And while I do knit during parts of these events, I still do not knit as much as I would if I stayed at home.

I started some plain ribbed socks on Easter for my quick pick-up-and-knit project that I can take in the car with me easily whenever we go places. I've also been working on them at times when I know I don't have long to knit, such as during my lunch break. I finished the first one while we were camping last weekend, and maybe the second one will be finished in another month. They are very snug-fitting, which I like. I don't like it when the socks get looser during the day and start to feel saggy.

On Sunday, I finished the larger project I had been working on, which was a tweed sweater vest. I mostly like how it turned out, but it's a little tight around the armholes. I feel like it also turned out a little short even though I made it longer than the pattern called for. Since it's wool, I think it will stretch out to more pleasing dimensions, but I haven't tried it yet. It's a little warm to wear it, so I may just wait until the fall to attempt that. Anyway, here are a few pictures.

Since I got my lego swap package, I am officially not participating in any swaps now; however, I volunteered to be moderator of a Board Games and Card Games themed swap (going well so far, except for one minor mishap) and I volunteered to make an angel package for Children's Books themed swap. I went shopping and bought a lot of stuff for that package yesterday, but I won't talk about it here because the recipient knows who I am and I want to make sure it is a total surprise. I will post more (as usual) once she has the package, which will be before the month is out.

Can you believe it's May already?

One Cougar, Seven Fish, and a Rainstorm

The title pretty much sums up my weekend, but I think it also requires more details.

After loading up the car with camping gear on Friday afternoon, James and I left home to go camping for the weekend with my parents and siblings. There was a little confusion about getting to Lake Tawakoni State Park because I had neglected (for possibly the first time ever) to look up directions to the park. Less than a mile from home, James asked me if I had the directions. When I said no, he asked if we should return to get them. I said no again. I'm lucky we didn't get lost, or I would've felt like an idiot for saying that. With the help of Sara and Mandy by phone, we got to the campsite without a single wrong turn.

After setting up our tents, we all sat around talking by the glow of propane lanterns. Something moving beyond the tent pad caught my eye, and as I looked towards it, I saw a large tan cat (with a long tail) move silently behind my parents' tent. When I say large, I mean it was the size of a large dog or bigger. I freaked out (but didn't panic) and I told everyone that a mountain lion had just went behind their tent. It actually took a little while for me to convey that information, and by the time my dad went to investigate, there was no sign of it. My dad felt sure that I had seen a dog, and they proceeded to tease me about it. I never once doubted myself though--that was NOT a dog.

The next day when we had returned from fishing, my mom mentioned that they had seen tracks that looked like they could've belonged to a cougar. My dad was skeptical, so they went together to look at the tracks, and I asked my dad to take a picture on his phone so I could see. I finally felt validated when they returned with the picture, which showed a paw print about the width of dollar bill. Everyone seemed more inclined to believe me after that. After doing some internet research this morning, I now think the track was actually from a dog. However, I am now even more certain that I saw a mountain lion because I found out that they have been sighted in that area before. Most of my disbelief at what I had seen stemmed from not thinking that they inhabited that area.

So, yeah, fishing...

I woke up at 6am on Saturday to go fishing with my dad, my brother, James and our fishing guide. The weather was absolutely perfect, which was fortunate since the forecast had predicted rain. It was very overcast, warm enough for shorts, and cool enough to comfortably wear a thin sweatshirt. I have rarely been fishing since I was a little kid, so I didn't expect to catch many fish (if any). And I really didn't expect to have much fun trying, either. You might be wondering why I even went in the first place, huh? Regardless of why I went, I ended up having a really great time. It turns out that trying to catch fish is pretty fun. And it turns out that actually feeling a fish tug on your line is even more fun. And, reeling the fish in and seeing what you've got--that might be the most fun part. Granted, I think the reeling in part is only fun when you've caught the fish in the first place. It's annoying to be offered a "pity reel-in" by someone catching a lot of fish while you're having a dry spell. It feels similar to when someone is obviously letting you win a game of checkers after they've beaten you ten times in a row. I like to win fair and square or not at all.

My brother, Steven, caught the most fish. I caught seven. James caught five or six. My dad didn't keep count, but (according to Steven), he didn't catch as many as Steven did. James and I both had fun and agree that it's something we could do about every other year or so.

When we were back at our campsite that afternoon, my grandparents came over to visit for a while. Because of the predicted rain, James and I had bought a canopy to sit under to stay dry, and my mom and sister had assembled it while we were fishing. It certainly came in handy once it started to rain (and thunder), and my grandparents very smartly decided that they should leave before it got worse.

It definitely got worse. Much worse.

For a while the rain came and went and we managed to cook hamburgers and hot dogs over the campfire. Just as were we eating, the rain starting coming down heavily and the thunder and lightning increased. Then, as if the pouring rain, lightning, and thunder weren't enough, the wind started blowing so fiercely that our canopy lifted off the ground and would've blown away if we weren't all holding it down. We sat in our vehicles a while deciding whether to stay or go, and my parents (whose tent had blown over and become filled with water) decided to leave, and my sister decided to stick it out with James and me. We all crawled into our tents as soon as it got dark, and though I stayed dry and warm, I slept terribly because of the constant fear of being washed away by a flood or being struck by lightening. (The cougar was the least of my fears by then!)

In the morning, the rain had pretty much ceased to be anything more than an intermittent drizzle, and we undertook the lengthy process of drying stuff off as much as possible before packing it up. My dad called us while we were driving home to tell us that the Cowboy's practice facility had collapsed during the storm on Saturday, which we later saw on our way home. I see that building every day, so it was very surreal to see it lying in a heap this morning. We also saw many, many access roads that were completely flooded between Greenville and Rockwall on I-30. It kinda scared me that we were camping while this stuff was happening. I plan to take rain warnings more seriously in the future, and I feel lucky that discomfort and muddy stuff was as much as we suffered. I really don't want to repeat this camping experience!

(Sorry I don't have pictures. I didn't have my camera with me most of the time, and the three pictures I did take are crap.)

Eternal Sushine Swap

A few weeks ago, I volunteered to make an angel package for a swap based on the movie Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. This is a very bizarre movie, but I happen to like it a lot. Even though I am not a Jim Carrey fan, I really like him in this movie, and as always, I love Kate Winslet. Charlie Kaufman helped write the screenplay, I think, and I am also a huge fan of all the movies he has had a hand in. So strange, funny, sad, and realistic all at once.

Needless to say, I was excited to have the opportunity to do this package, and since my intended recipient most enjoyed the character of Clementine (Kate Winslet) in the movie, I had a fun time of picking out two (of many!) handmade items Clemetine wore in the movie that I though my recipient would also like. Of the many, many eclectic hand-knitted/crocheted items, I chose an orange beret and a very chunky pink scarf made from underspun wool. This website has pictures showing the originals from the movie (though you will have to search the pictures for them), and the items I made are shown below.

Since I only used one skein of the orange for the beret, I am sending her the second one in case she wants to make matching mitts or something. I am also sending along some other goodies that relate to the movie, such as erasers (since the main characters had parts of their memories erased) and chopsticks (there was a scene in a Chinese restaurant). I hope she likes it!

Well Worth the Trouble

On Friday, I received a notice in my mailbox to pick up a package at the post office. The notice said that the package would be there on 4/24 (Friday) after 5:00pm. This was some sort of trick because the package pick-up door closes at 5:00pm. Anyway, I went to the post office on Saturday morning a little after 11:00am (the package pick-up door closes at noon on Saturdays), and it was even crazier than usual. Both the line to the counter and the line for package pick-up were almost out the door, and I would estimate that there were about 30 people total. I wish I would've actually counted them. I definitely had time to do so.

After waiting about ten minutes, a postal worker came to the door to take our pick-up notices and then disappeared back behind the door for about ten more minutes. During this time more people came in and kept asking if we'd been helped yet. As someone who frequently picks up packages here (about once a month), I laughed inside at their impatience. Didn't they know you couldn't walk into this post office without spending at least thirty minutes?

Finally, the postal worker came back and called my name. He asked for my ID and then asked me to sign my notice, but as I looked over at the package he was about to give to me and glanced at the name on it because the package is much smaller than I expected, I read "Richard ..." Richard! I'm not Richard, so I pointed this out to the gentleman before I signed anything. "Oh," he tells me, "I couldn't find your package...they are still looking for it." I wasn't surprised, but I was a little disappointed.

After the postal worker gave Richard his package and some other people their certified letters, he once again collected notices and disappeared for about ten minutes. Upon his return, I looked at him questioningly, and he told me that they were still looking. I watched everyone get their packages and leave, and I watched the new batch hand over their notices. Finally, a lady at the counter called out my last name, and I knew it was bad news. (If they had my package, they would hand it out the door to me as usual.) She tells me that they cannot locate the package and that I should call on Monday after 9:00am when my carrier will be in. I see her write a note (presumably to my carrier) and I leave.

I called the post office yesterday morning at 9:30am, and I informed the person who answered of my situation. He put me on hold for a long time, and then a lady picked up. I again related the situation to her, and she informed me that I should have called between 7:00am and 9:00am and that I was too late. She advised me to call the next morning. I was frustrated, and after thinking on it, I thought it was possible (likely, even) that my carrier had received the note left for him, located my package, and put it in the correct location. Neither person I had spoken to in the morning had even checked for it, so I decided that I would call again after work.

This time when I relayed the information, the lady put me on hold to go look for the package. When she got back on the phone, she told me that yes, my package was there, so I immediately went back to the post office to pick it up. I again handed my notice to the postal worker and waited. When he returned, he had no package for me, and told me that he couldn't find it. I informed him that I had just called right before driving there, and the lady on the phone said my package was there. He nodded and handed the notice to another employee who I heard say that I had been there on Saturday and that my package was missing. At that, I peeped around the corner and told her that I had just called and that my package was apparently there. She looked surprised and disappeared.

About ten minutes later, my name was called at the counter, and I tried to swallow my disappointment as I walked over to where she was standing. Lo and behold! There was a packaged wrapped in pink plastic sitting in front of her with my name on it! She explained that my carrier misidentified this "parcel" as a "large envelope" and that's why they couldn't find it. Whatever. I was just glad to finally have it in my hands.

The package arrived for me all the way from the U.K. from my Lego Swap partner. Inside was this cute crocheted bag that looks like it could be made from Lego bricks.

See the cute button and stitch markers?

Inside of the bag were even more goodies: dried fruit (black cherries and strawberries), goat's milk soap shaped like Legos (great minds think alike--I got some Lego-shaped soap for my partner, too), a knitted washcloth and a crochet scrubbie (to use with the soap!), and a skein of Araucania sock yarn in the same color green as green Legos. Araucania is usually my go-to yarn for sending in swaps but I have actually never used any myself. Now I can!

Sunday Sewing

After getting frustrated with my current knitting project, I decided it was time to try sewing again. Remember that ridiculously expensive sundress fabric I bought a few months ago? I measured out and cut the fabric, and I think I must have been nuts to get two yards to make one sundress--I needed far less than one yard to make a single dress, so it looks like I will be making four dresses instead of two. That at least makes the cost ratio much better.

I couldn't start the actual sewing until I got a bobbin for my sewing machine. A few weeks ago I had went to the fabric store with the intention of buying bobbins for my sewing machine, but it turned out that bobbins come in many different sizes and forms, and I hadn't done adequate research to know which ones to get. When I returned to the store on Saturday, I was prepared with the specific bobbin number from my sewing machine's user manual; however, none of the bobbins had a number that was anywhere close to it, so, once again, I left without any bobbins. Yesterday, I was determined to get some bobbins, so I did some online research, and in the process, I found that my sewing machine was made in 1962 (!) and that I could order the correct bobbins online. Because bobbins are so cheap, I decided to just take the one I had out of my machine and bring it with me to the store to compare before resorting to online ordering. I ended up finding some very similar bobbins that listed a model number very close to mine, so I bought them for $1.50. They are perfect!

For me, the least fun part of sewing is setting up the thread. It took me twice as long to wind the bobbin and get the thread set up correctly as it did to sew the entire dress! This dress was so easy that I almost feel silly showing it off. All I did was to sew a hem around the bottom of the skirt (the top ruched part was already hemmed) and then sew the seam up the back. I like it a lot, but I'm thinking of making it shorter. Since I will end up with two dresses, I will probably make a short one and a long one for variety.

Not Meant to Be...

My plans upon departing work this afternoon included going to the DFW Fiberfest to browse the yarn selection there and to possibly make a few purchases.

For some reason, this was not meant to happen today.

First incident: Soon after I'm on my way I notice a sign up ahead saying that the middle (of three lanes) is closed. Since I was in the middle lane, I act proactively by getting into the left lane. Upon reaching the intersection, it turns out that it is actually the left lane that is closed (contrary to signage), not the middle lane, and I am forced to turn left at the intersection. I decide that I will take a right at the next major street going east again to get back to my original path, but no such street exists until I am so close to the freeway that I realize now the freeway will be the quickest route to my destination.

Second incident: As I approach the freeway, I don't see the usual freeway sign pointing 'East' or 'West' but rather a street sign with a street name. Since this name is not the name of the freeway, I don't turn, but then immediately realize that I should have as I am now driving over the freeway. Ugh. (I late notice that there are different signs at other points on this freeway. Either I didn't notice new, different sign or it hadn't been replaced yet.)

Third incident: Quickly deciding that the best course of action is to turn into a parking lot and drive through it to pull out at the opposite end directly onto the freeway access road and then make a u-turn to get going to right direction, I try to do so. As I pull onto the access road, it is empty except for one car, which should pass quickly and allow me to get over three lanes to make my u-turn. For some mysterious reason, this singular car slows way down so that it is driving right next to me instead of quickly passing me, and I am unable to slow down/speed up to get around it in enough time to make it to the u-turn lane. I end up in a lane going straight ahead, towards the direction I would be driving to go home. Sigh.

I give up. And now I'm home.

Maybe I'll try again tomorrow or Sunday.

Dinner and Dancing on Amber's Birthday

Last Saturday was my best friend Amber's birthday. You may recall that I knit some socks for her (they fit!) a couple of months ago. Anyway, she came to Dallas to celebrate her birthday with Sara and me, and we had a great time!

Sara's fiancee Brandon and I both recommended eating at Pappasito's Cantina (independently) because it is the best tex-mex food ever. James and I had taken my sister Mandy there for her birthday last year (my only prior visit), and I was really, really impressed with my fajitas. So much so, in fact, that I even broke down and got chicken AND beef fajitas this time, too. I don't feel too bad, though, because James got ribs and bacon-wrapped shrimp.

After eating a huge dinner, we drove into downtown Dallas and went to Sambuca, where the local Beatles cover band Hard Day's Night was playing. After standing in the bar area for a while (for there were no empty seats at the bar), we decided to ask for a table and figured we would have a little coffee and dessert. Our table ended up being one of those large 3-sided booth tables in an area behind the main dining room and it was completely secluded from the rest of the restaurant. I couldn't even see any other people in the place except for those at our table, so we felt very 'V.I.P.' The desserts and coffee were delicious, and I hear that the chilled Amaretto shots were pretty good, too. Our waiter was nice and took this picture of us.

This picture of Amber drinking her Amaretto shot is pretty hilarious because of the expression on Brandon and Sara's faces in the background. They look like they just dropped some poison into her drink and are eagerly awaiting her demise. We really didn't plan this photo, so that makes it even funnier.

The bathroom at Sambuca is pretty unusual because all of the walls are completely covered with mirrors. Even inside the stalls (eek!). We tried to take pictures (not in the stalls), but it was kinda dark, so they didn't turn out well. It was kinda cool and also kinda creepy.

After having our fill of Beatles songs, we left and went to the Mambo Cafe, where most of us were going to dance to Salsa and other Latin music in public for the first time. Amber was the only one who was not new to this, and to be honest, I was a little nervous. There was a live band playing out by the spotlit dance floor, and I was really enjoying the music, though not how sparsely populated and brightly lit the dancing area was. (I really didn't want to have any extra attention drawn to myself--being one of only a handful of non-Hispanic people and being a crappy dancer would already be drawing enough attention, I thought.)

When the band took a break, the lights went dim and more people went onto the floor. Good, right? No, not really...because now the music was weird Latin pop music and not Salsa. I couldn't really imagine dancing to that, so we sat back and waited for more appropriate music. Finally, one came on, so James and I went down to the floor and tried to do the steps Amber had shown us earlier...hmmm...it wasn't working so well. I was embarrassed and when the spotlights came on after just a couple of minutes, I quickly hustled off the floor with James and sat nearby while Amber danced with some of her friends from Waco.

I felt like I was in a catch-22 with the dancing situation because I wanted to dance to the band music in the dark, but that wasn't an option apparently, though those options were available separately. After a little while, I simply suggested dancing near the table where we were sitting (in the dark, far away from the dance floor and far away from most people in the club) and that seemed to work best. I felt like James and I finally did get the hang of it, and we had a lot of fun. In fact, there are rumors that we are all going again this coming Saturday, though to a different (dark, crowded, closer-to-home) place in Addison.

Thanks for getting us to experience this, Amber! It was a lot of fun!

What to Blog?

On Monday mornings, I nearly always have a clear idea for a blog entry, but today I am at a loss. This is even more unusual since I had a very fun, busy weekend involving the following:

• getting off work early on Friday and going to the Woolie Ewe
• knitting and laughing with my buddies at Starbucks
• having a positive shopping experience at Old Navy
• getting my new Ravelry T-shirt in the mail
• knitting and finishing 3 projects
• hanging out with my family for Easter
• eating way, way, way too much excellent food, including creamed asparagus, homemade mac-n-cheese, brownies, and boiled crawfish.

Maybe the problem is that there's too much to blog about for one entry. I can't make a decision to narrow it down, so I'm going to call this my blog entry for today since I hate skipping Mondays. Maybe I'll feel inspired later.

Slant Socks

I finished these up last Friday, but I was so busy over the weekend that I didn't have time to photograph them. I really like how they turned out (even the pooling!) and I love the symmetry. I had never done a toe as written for this pattern, and it was a little too cramped for me, so I will probably use my standard toe in the future. I wish I had made the socks a little taller (even though I did make them taller than the pattern called for), but I didn't want to run out of yarn. Since wearing them for half of today already, I must say that they are definitely the best-fitting socks I have made for myself. All of my other ones usually become too loose after a few hours.

This week has been pretty quiet, but this weekend will be very busy. I am going to the yarn store after work and then going to my knitting meetup tonight. Hopefully I will make it to the local farmer's market tomorrow morning (if I get up and out early enough) which will be following by grocery shopping, patio plant shopping, possibly a little fun (clothing and yarn) shopping, and then baking food to take to my grandparents' house for Easter Sunday. I'm sure I'll also try to relax at home since this will be our first Saturday at home in a month!

More Painting

We (my mom, sister, brother, James, and I) spent all day Saturday and most of Sunday continuing to help paint my parents' house. We didn't finish, but we were 99% done with the front of the house when James and I departed at 5pm on Sunday.

Before (but after scraping/prep):

After (except for windows, which need repair):

What's left? A lot of eaves and overhangs, trim for a few windows, and two gables. The rest of the house is brick, so I think one more weekend should get the job done. Especially since it has all been powerwashed already.
My dad also powerwashed the deck, which made it look a million times better. It still needs a little sanding and some water seal (or sealant?) and some paint on the rails, but it is still a major improvement.

He also knocked down the little dilapidated awning/overhang over the front porch and has plans for improvement.

The moment of the most excitement occurred when my mom yelled out that she had stepped on a nail. We all look at her foot, and there is a small block of wood attached to the bottom of her shoe by a nail that had been protruding from it. She asked me to pull it out, and after a gentle attempt, I said I couldn't (was unwilling) to do it (for fear of hurting her). Then, she clarified and said the tip of the nail had poked her toe, but the nail wasn't stuck in her foot, so I wrestled the nail out of the shoe and was very relieved. I also kept thinking of how I refused the tetanus shot I was offered last time I was at the doctor's office.