No Skein No Gain

HGTV bound...almost - so close....

2008-01-26T19:09:00.000-08:00

Tuesday, I get an email from some lady at Pie Town Productions telling me she's interested in my relocation story and wants me to call her.....so I do...because I don't know who the hell she is, but she peaked my interest. As I was dialing, I realized that back in November, I had applied for HGTV's House Hunters and then completely forgot about it.

I called this lady, who happened to be a producer for the show and she was really interested in our situation and she wanted us to send in audition tapes. She was really excited to spin our story - Brad in MA, me in a hotel, us going from a high cost of living to finding a home in the south with the same price range. The catch was that she only had two episodes left to film and 5 other producers trying to fill the spots too. So we had to be quick. She mailed me all the forms I had to sign and all the rules that we had to follow and what she needed on the audition tape that Brad and I would have to submit in the next day. I called my realtor, asked if he had a camera, called Brad to tell him to get a camera and we were off.....

The next day, got another email from the lady....the other producers already had tapes in their hands....and it wasn't worth me wasting the energy to make the audition tape b/c they were submitting the other tapes that day.

Bummer....I really wanted to be on House Hunters....

A little MA ink and a trip to CT

2008-01-13T09:51:00.001-08:00

I made it back to Boston airport around 9:00 on Friday evening and settled in Friday night for some much needed rest for a busy day on Saturday.

Saturday morning, we headed out to Mandrake Tattoo around noon for our appointment. Yes - we got inked. When we were in Ireland last year, my husband found this Celtic Love Cross that he fell in love with. We wanted to do something to remember our time here in MA before we moved away, so we decided to get a tattoo...not only a tattoo...matching tattoos in the same location. I hope that this doesn't doom us for divorce now!

Brad went first and for some reason, I didn't think it was going to hurt as bad as they say...(this is my 3rd tattoo, but I got my last tattoo about 8 years ago)...and Brad seemed to get through it okay. It only took an hour for his to be finished and then it was my turn. It sucked...it hurt, it was painful, but I sucked it up until I left the shop and then whined like a little girl afterward. Two hours and $180 later, Brad and I left Mandrake Tattoo branded and happy. I think they turned out quite nice.

Brad:

Jen:

We headed home for about half an hour and then headed south to CT to visit some friends. Brad and I are officially moving to GA the first week of February and figured this would be our last chance to visit Jen and Patricia.

I was so excited to get to Jen's because I have not seen her daughter, Crazy Natters, in so long. She had grown so much. Crazy Natters is the first baby we've been around and have been able to watch grow up. Brad absolutely adores this child and she in turn, adores Brad. Most of the night she kept saying, Bwad...Bwad...and point to the garage where Brad and Kevin would occasionally hang out. It was too cute.

We then headed over to Patricia's house. Patricia just moved into her first new home after moving from her apartment in Mansfield and it was beautiful! We drank, smoked, ate pizza, played guitar hero and then headed back to Jen and Kevin's to "watch the game." I say that with quotes, b/c I don't actually remember watching the game...but more the group as we started talking about politics. Fun times!!!

Please note my husband in the far left with his hand against the wall...he's practicing to be a JC Penney model...as Jen mentioned last night!!
We ended up leaving CT around midnight for a two hour drive home. It was a great weekend and I'm sad to see it go by so quickly. We do have another showing today at 4:00...the real estate business is finally picking back up and we've had a total of 3...yes 3...showings at our place since we put it on the market!!

I'll be working for 3 days out of the Mansfield office and then Brad and I will head down to GA on Wednesday night to do some househunting. Very exciting...

And...on January 28th...I bought tickets to see David Copperfield...I've wanted to see him since I was a little girl. Brad isn't going to be able to join me as the show is in Augusta and Brad won't move down until the first week of February, but this was one that I didn't think he would mind to miss....and it will be a much needed girl's night out with my new friends in Augusta!

A day in the hotel room

2008-01-08T16:17:00.000-08:00

Picture a girl...hiking in the mountains of the wilderness, then falling into a cave and being stuck there for days on end....enter Jennifer:

It's going on the 8th day here in the cave (hotel).....just kidding. I intro'd that for dramatic effect...

It is my 8th day here in Augusta since New Year's and I've done well to keep myself busy. I decided to stay in Augusta over the weekend rather than driving 5 hours to my mom's house. I joined the World Poker Tour Amateur Poker League here in Northern Georgia that plays at a different venue every night except Friday nights. I have made some new friends...although they'll never compare to the friends that I've made in my first league in New England!

The league here is pretty good, very serious since it is a national league. I have played almost every night. If I had a dollar for everytime someone asked if I was moving here b/c I or my husband was in the military...I'd be a rich woman!

Tonight, the venue listed for the league cancelled, so I'm stuck at the hotel...

Friday night, I went out with some girls from work for some much needed margarita's and social life! The biggest difference in the bars here is that you can smoke in them...which was really cool at first...until I realized after being a smoker in New England for 2 years...I don't like indoor smoke....indoor bar smoke! And I do smoke much more when allowed to smoke with my drink at the table! I think I smoked my body weight in cigarrettes!

I've started working on another 8 hour baby blanket by Plymouth Yarn...and am halfway through. Cooper was born in October....and still doesn't have a baby blanket! My goal is to finish it this week and ship it before I head back to MA, but I tend to set goals outside my reach. I've been toting an unfinished pair of socks with me to Augusta, GA every trip...and never get around to working on it...although I did manage to completely tear the sock out once I got to the heel....

With all the travel and move...It's safe to say...knitting has taken a back seat. I think it took a back seat a long time ago, I just didn't want to admit it. For me...I have to be in a happy place...in my head at least. I have to be calm, relaxed and not have anything "pending" as my friend patricia would say.

I did spend a little bit on my Ravelry account. I added a few pictures...and realized that I have been knitting for almost 2 years!! WOW...that long....? I hate how I started knitting, but glad that I did start...and was lucky that Crazy Natters Mom and Patricia were around for some knitting support!!

A Ravelry Newbie

2007-12-30T16:53:00.000-08:00

A few months ago, I was finally invited to Ravelry.

With all the new stuff going on with preparing for the move and traveling back and forth between GA and MA, I haven't had any time to set it up and upload things to it. Well, actually I have had time, but have chosen to relish in the fact that I've been home with the hubby for a few weeks. So, tonight I've decided to dabble in it and have decided, I am going to have to dedicate some real time to it! I will be back in GA on the second of January and will have a few weeks to myself...alone...in a hotel and will hopefully muster up the strength to dabble some more!

As far as my holidays went - fantastic! We did nothing!! We did NO family stuff this year, which I love my family...but with all the travel, did not want to spend the holidays traveling more...

We cooked, painted, shopped....lounged...ate.....and lounged some more!

All to gear up for more away time from the hubby until he gets moved into temp housing with me!!

Christmas Cookie Fest 2007

2007-12-02T13:31:00.000-08:00

This weekend was pretty uneventful, by choice. Being in Augusta has managed to make work life happy, but home life lonely, so we just wanted to hang out.

We took my car yesterday to have the stereo replaced since it was faulty, grabbed lunch at Panera and then grabbed a quick movie to kill time waiting for my car. We watched Hitman, which was entertaining, but not an Oscar winning movie!

Today, we got up, baked some mini muffins (this was Brad's idea as he excitedly brought the mini muffin pan to the shopping cart a few weeks ago) and just hunkered down for some lounging. By noon, I had a small case of cabin fever and as we pondered dinner, realized we needed some fixins for our Turkey Burger meal we had planned.

Once we got to the grocery store, I thought it would be fun to grab a cookie magazine and bake some cookies. And thus, Christmas Cookie Fest 2007 began. Brad picked out the two types of cookies that he wanted to bake and we were off through the aisles yelling out ingredients that we needed. Other shoppers were smiling and helping us find the baking soda, the unsweetened chocolate and other ingredients as I'm sure we looked like the novice bakers that we are!!

When we got home, we started right away. We bought Betty Crocker's Holiday Cookies magazine and decided to make Fiesta Fudge Cookies and Confetti Chocolate-Oatmeal Cookies.

We had fun baking these cookies and have decided that beginning this year...this is something we are going to do every year gonig forward. It was a lot of fun and for our first attempt, the cookies looked pretty damn close to the pictures!!

I posted the recipe on my Myspace private blog, so if you'd like them, shoot me a note and I can email them to you, or sign up for a myspace account and look me up!

We had a lot of fun baking these. I told Brad, first it starts out with mini muffins, then we move on to homemade cookies. Next will be the cakes and we'll end up having our own dessert place!

A new way to celebrate Turkey Day

2007-11-28T19:32:00.000-08:00

Thursday, November 22, 2007

A new way to celebrate Turkey Day

So Monday, the 19th, was my first official day working in Augusta. This was kind of a short week since the holidays, but my new manager was going to be starting on Monday, so I wanted to be there when she started. It was an overwhelming and interesting week. I started the week off by traveling on Sunday and by flying back on Wednesday, only the busiest travel day of the year...but all was well and I made it back okay.

I did a lot my first week, including look at some really good real estate. I found the perfect home for us, however, it needs some interior work...new kitchen, new bathroom, new floors and new walls (its all 1950's wallpaper...even on the ceiling!) on two acres of land. It is a well built home, our realtor believes an architect was involved. It was built in 1950 and the woman just happened to pass away this week. She's been in a nursing home for quite a while, but I think that she was the original owner. There is an additional 17 acres of land behind the property, but that will be an option to buy once someone purchases the house. It would be a perfect home - 5 bedrooms, lots of room, great landscaping and just a great, well built house. However, it would need about 30,000 dollars worth of work, but all cosmetic. They are asking for 268,000, but the judge who is overseeing the property and trying to sell it is basically trying to get rid of it and our realtor thinks we could get away with 220,000. HOWEVER...let's face it, Brad and I are not handy fix it upper kind of people and we are seriously looking at taking a huge hit on our house in MA, losing all of our equity and potentially more. So, we have to look for something that would not need any additional money. I looked at 4 other homes, all either with lots of land and an old home, or wooded lots with a gorgeous new home. All within our price range...we'll see. Brad is coming down with me in Dec so he'll be able to help me better judge what will be our next future home.

I arrived home yesterday and today we went to Foxwoods to celebrate Thanksgiving. We decided to take this year and the holidays and make it our own. No family, just us. We've been apart so long, with my travels, that we just wanted to hang out. Besides, after we move back, we'll have all the family time in the world!

We decided to take some money and just go and have fun and DE-STRESS! We met Patricia and Darien and played poker for almost 10 hours. It was a lot of fun, although all of our money went back to the Indian community, which as Brad mentioned, is just a way for us to give back to those that created Thanksgiving Day for us in the first place!

I was totally bummed that we didn't win, but then again, we never win. But, we had set aside that money just for our gambling turkey day. Much to my surprise and ladies - I have to say - I have the best husband in the world...Brad had a bit of surprise for me. As we were leaving the casino, Brad told me he had been saving up a separate stash for a shopping spree for us...and only us. To buy clothes, shoes, whatever we needed. He had been saving up a little here and there, so it was almost like free money!! I was so excited! He had also meticulously cleaned the house for me Wed so I don't have a thing to do until I have to go back to Augusta on Monday.

Heaven.

My mom also kept with the new tradition and went to the casino on Thanksgiving in NC. Just like her daughter, she lost all of her gambling money as well. Like mother, like daughter.

We have movie day set aside for tomorrow - Black Friday, so we don't have to get out and face the crowds...I love my husband.

International Beerfest 2007

2007-11-28T19:30:00.000-08:00

Sunday, November 11, 2007

International Beerfest 2007

Saturday night, we attended America's Largest International Beerfest with some friends in Providence, RI. I was not really looking forward to the event because for whatever reason, I haven't really drunk a whole lot since we've moved to MA. I can honestly say, I've only been drunk maybe twice in the past two years. I suppose that means I'm growing up, but for a long while, I have no urge to drink...

We get to Providence fairly early and get a chance to stop by the food court at Providence Place to get a slice of pizza. Then we headed off to the festival.

Now there are lines, and there are Beerfest lines. There was a line to get your pre-purchased tickets from Will Call, there was a line to get your ID checked, there was a line to have your ticket scanned, there was a line to get to the escalator, there was a line to get ON the escalator, there was a line once you got off the escalator, there was a line to get into the ballroom that the beer festival was in and then there was a line at all the beer vendors that were there.

When you walk in, there is someone that gives you a dixie cup - holds about 5 oz of liquid. You stand in line at each vendor and they give you a little taste. We had everything from pumpkin beer, to IPA, to stouts, to light beer, to peach, blueberry, rasberry beer. The best part was watching everyone (including myself) slowly digress throughout the night. You wouldn't think that the small amounts of beer would do you in, but they do!! As soon as we got our beer sample from one vendor, we would immediately get in line for the next and before you knew it, everyone had sloppy eyes and walks!!

A few hours into it and I was done. I sat on the sidelines and people watched.

We left the beer festival around 9:00 (3 hours later) and headed to Dave and Busters for some late night gaming and more beer. As soon as I walked in and saw the crowds, I wanted to turn around and go home.

Not only did I hate the crowds at the beerfestival...I hate the bars now. The meat market bars anyway. I can handle a laid back pub anyday, but I'm so done with crowds. We stayed long enough to get a table, order some much needed appetizers, play a few games and then head out.

Everyone came back to our place and, of course, played Guitar Hero. I immediately went to be and about 3 hours later, Brad and the rest of the gang finally decided to call it quits.

So we're pretty tired today, but happy b/c this is my last week in MA for work, anyway.

A great day to be a New England Revolution!!

2007-11-28T19:28:00.000-08:00

Thursday, November 08, 2007

A great day to be a New England Revolution!!
Current mood: ecstatic

Tonight was the Eastern Conference Major League Soccer Championship hosted by the New England Revolution at home in Gillette stadium.

We decided that even though it was a school night (I just can't bring myself to call it a work night yet) that we would go and watch our boys take home the title. We got ourselves a little closer to midfield this time in section 110 on the fourth row and our seats were magnificent. It was a perfect New England November night, clear sky, and 30 something degrees. No rain, no wind...only the cold chill and some great soccer.

We played the Chicago Fire and what an exciting game. The Fire definitely outplayed us, however, toward the end of the first half (and Brad gone to the bathroom) Twellman scored a beautiful goal...a bicycle kick into the net! I peed my pants and banged my knee on the seat in front of me simultaneously as I jumped up and down in celebration with the rest of the crowd...literally...peed my pants a little....I spent the next 10 minutes rubbing the soon to be black and blue knee.

I must say, of all the sections in the stadium...we belong in the upper middle section. I'm not saying that because obviously they are great seats. I'm saying that because I've realized what the people are like in the various sections.

Endzone 1: The Fort - This is where a majority of the die hard season ticketed fans sit...or shall I say stand. They are the tireless group of fans that chant, clap and make noise the entire game. I love that we have that section - would never sit there....too tiring - I wouldn't make it a whole game.

Section 101-103: Older season ticket holders - Where our season tickets were...Older fans sit there to watch the game. Moderately priced seats, but no excitement - only older people there to sit and enjoy the game...quietly.

Endzone 2: CHEAP SEATS - this is where the cheapest tickets are and not to be discrimatory - this is where a lot of the Latino community sit and pretty much root AGAINST the Revs and American Soccer. No one really sits in their own seats....they just sit wherever they don't get booted out.

Mid section: TRUE BLUE soccer fans...and when I say true blue, I mean, can sit there with intensity, truly follow the game and make noise when necessary. I love this section. We were loud when we needed to be and focused on the game when it was necessary. I sat on the edge of my seat, literally, the whole second half. It was a fantastic game.

WE WON 1-nil!!! We stayed and watched the ceremony afterward and yelled and screamed with the stadium as the Revs took their 3rd Eastern Conference Championship...Let's pray for a National Championship...The Revs have gone on numerous occasions....but have yet to bring home the championship...Let this be the year!!!

And a move update:

1 appraisal and the moving company survey / visit down

1 more appraisal and two realtor meetings to go....tomorrow...almost done.

Next Friday is my last day at the office....It will shake down like this:

Week of Nov 19 - Augusta, GA
Week of Nov 26 - San Diego, CA
Week of Dec 3 - Orlando (Deland), FL
Week of Dec 12 - Augusta, GA
Week of Dec 19 - Augusta, GA
Week of Dec 26 - Back to MA for some vacation...I have 11 days to kill somehow between all of that and the end of the year!!!

We're hoping to move directly into a new home, but anticipating the temporary housing if needed by mid to the end of January.

The REVS are going to the Eastern Conference Championship

2007-11-28T19:26:00.000-08:00

Saturday, November 03, 2007

The REVS are going to the Eastern Conference Championship

Tonight, we bundled up in our winter gear...a few layers of shirts, pants, wool socks, gloves, hats, scarves and winter coats and headed to the Revolutions playoff game agains the New York Red Bulls. The remains of hurricane Noel swept through New England today, so not only did we have the cold November temperatures, but also wind and rain. Cold is one thing, but wet and cold is another!!

We upgraded our seats as this could have potentially been our last Revs game and we found ourselves on the second row at almost midfield.

We got to see all the action up close and it was so awesome to watch the game so close!! We could hear all the guys yelling at each other and actually see their faces!!!

The refs called a shitty game but in the end, the Revs came through 1-nil and will be playing in the Eastern Conference Championship this Thursday at Gilette Stadium again! We're going to head there again and hopefully watch the Revs win a spot into the National Championship!!!

Patricia and Darien’s Farewell Poker Game and Salem, MA

2007-11-28T19:21:00.000-08:00

Sunday, October 28, 2007

Patricia and Darien’s Farewell Poker Game and Salem, MA

Last night, we decided to throw Darien and Patricia a going away party...and also play a little poker!! Yesterday morning, we got up, ran errands and Patricia and D drove in from CT around 5:00. They brought their Guitar Hero guitar and Patricia and I were glued to the game pretty much until guests started showing up! We had a small group this time, about 10 or so people. We grilled out, played cards and just hung out. These will be one of those things I'll miss about MA. Our Patricia and D...and the rest of our poker buddies. Gideon Resort and Casino's poker tournaments have flourished and we will miss them!!

After Darien won both the main poker game and the side match....and after everyone left, Patricia and I had to wait patiently for the Red Sox game to finish before we snuck in and raided the television and Guitar Hero!!! We are so into this game it is pathetic! Both of our husbands sat laughing and video-ing us as we dueled it out!!

The video is for our kids to watch mommy, when she actually had fun...apparently I am suppose to turn into a nagging, boring person after I have kids...

We stayed up until about 3:00 again playing until we all said our goodnights. Since Pachy and D moved last weekend into temporary housing, they shacked up with us for the evening.

This morning I was able to get up early enough to clean up from the party last night as well as get the floors cleaned and mopped...I'm meticulous about my hardwood floors....I just can't have dirty feet!!! We cooked a huge breakfast this morning and introduced biscuits and homemade gravy to Pachy...

We headed out to Salem, MA after breakfast as I've wanted to go there for Halloween now for a few years.....Boy....was I dissappointed. I was expecting some genuine Halloween stuff...and it was all covered by this touristy crap. Totally NOT what I was expecting. We ended up wandering around looking at the little booths set up...There was a ton of stuff going on for the holiday season...Salem, MA website...but it was hoaky....silly....not at all scary.... We eneded up going to a wax museum and through two haunted houses, but didn't really get anything from it. I had more fun at the Haunted House in Abington! And I learned nothing of the Witch Trials. I had to google it on my Blackberry on the way home and after reading about it....yes...remember....I'm bad with my history....am totally shocked that the town embraces Halloween with all the people that were hung...not burned...because of alleged witchcraft. I guess every town needs income and a lot of people head to Salem, just like us...to check it out!

We made the best of it and I always enjoy spending the day with Patricia and Darien. We parted ways around 5:00 and we headed to Fuddruckers for some much needed food. I had stuffed my face with Kettle Corn and candy all day and had the naseating sugar jitters!!!

Tomorrow...I'm off to Atlanta for a few days...

Neglecting the Knitting Blog

2007-11-28T19:20:00.000-08:00

We are officially moving back down south! I have officially started work already in Augusta, GA and will commute / fly back and forth from GA to MA until mid January. In the midst of all the excitement, I realize that I am still neglecting the knitting AND the knitting blog. So, I'm being lazy and just copying some posts from my private blog!!

Saturday, October 27, 2007

A week of rest, sushi, haunted houses, Bruins hockey, Red Sox baseball and Revolution soccer

It didn't FEEL like a busy week, but as I think back to all that we've done...maybe it WAS sort of a busy week.

I was home for the week again...(yea!) and it was wonderful! Tuesday night, Brad had a company bowling tournament, which freed me up for the night to clean, clean, clean. For those of you who don't know my secret pleasure...as long as it's on my terms....I love to clean. I like to sweep all the cracks and crevices of the house and pile all the junk from the floors up and see all the dirt I just cleaned up! I like to have things organized and clean. Now, there are parts of the house in my cleaning endeavors that I pretend to overlook - such as our desk...it is crammed with mail and papers...and I just won't bring myself to organizing it just yet. Our sock drawer is something else I won't bring myself to organize. I know that there are many unmatched socks in there and I just won't bring myself to throwing those lonely socks out. Anyway....

Thursday, Mark and I headed out for sushi with Julie at work. We went to Fresh Catch and had ourselves a shit load of sushi...This was an $20 lunch...I ate every piece that I could....$20...I don't like spending that much on myself...for lunch...Brad and I actually spend about that much on dinner for the both of us!!!

Thursday night, Brad had to go to a vendor demonstration at the Boston Bruins game and then was able to watch the game, from the Blackberry vendor's luxury box. I figured this was my chance to go to a haunted house. Brad's not a very Halloween spirit kind of person - actually, Halloween is his least favorite holiday. As for me...the chicken that I am...I sitll like to spook myself out for the occasion. Mark mentioned his friend worked at a Haunted house in Abington and would be able to get us in for free. Judging by the $16 admission fee and the flyer...it seemed like it would fun!

Mark came by...in his brand spankin' new sweet ride of a car, a fully loaded hybrid Altma....to pick me up and we headed out for dinner and a show. Dinner was eaten at a random place we passed by in Abinton, called the Great Chow and the show was the Barrett's Haunted Mansion. Mark's friend, Amy, met us outside on her stilts and full on costume and took us through the house. It was pretty darn good...I was impressed! With Amy working at the house (she's a chemist at our company and took the week off to work this haunted house), we got to hear how all the plans are done and how the house comes to be. We also got to meet a lot of the other workers of the house, including her scary clown husband! It was a great experience and I enjoyed watching all the volunteers and actors in full character, work the crowd. The kids....a different story. I don't know where these little pissy spoiled kids come from, but there were several times I wanted to smackakid....From what Amy filled us in on...the parents drop thier kids off at the haunted house each night and the parents go next door to the Ale House. So from 7:00 - 10:00, the kids have an instant babysitter called haunted house security. Here's a pic of me and Amy, who stayed in character pretty much the whole time we were there!

Wednesday and Thursday we were able to watch the Boston Red Sox beat the Colorado Rockies for two straight wins! I am totally not a baseball fan, but having the BoSox in the World Series, I want to be a part of the spirit! So I buckled down and watched game one and two with awe and amazement...those BoSox ARE good! If we had never moved here, I would never have the interest to watch the BoSox, but now, I know who Josh Beckett, Dice Kay, Mike Lowell, Big Pappi, Manni and many other players are...and I LIKE watching them play! I don't know...never was a big sports fan unless I had a passion for supporting them. UT football was really the only thing that I was rooting on there for a while. Now, I love my boys on the Revolutions team and now am starting to feel the same way for the Red Sox. I also got to see a Balk for the first time during Game 1. Something I never knew existed...for those of you that don't know...look it up and read about it. Who knew there were so many rules in baseball!!

We also got to see our Revs play in the semi finals against New York. Although it was a scoreless game, we look forward to New York coming to Gilette stadium and playing next week as we upgraded our seats to section 117 on the second row...which is oh so close to midfield! Can't wait to see my boys in action!!!

King Richard’s Fair

2007-10-31T12:35:00.000-07:00

Sunday, October 21, 2007

Last year, Brad wanted to go to King Richard's Renaissance fair. We didn't make it...this year, he made a point to bring it up again and ensure that we went.

I looked at it as $50...

We got up early today and went out for breakfast and then headed out to the fair, which is held each year in Carver, MA. Having never gone to one, I had no idea what to expect. And was I surprised...

I couldn't quit giggling when we walked up to the entrance and people were saying, "Why is thou no line herest...please moveth over to this line that hath no waiting." I don't know why, it just struck me funny that they were starting so soon.

I was honestly amazed at how quickly we entered into another dimension, another world. Here is this forest, with all of these little stores / booths...it was honestly a different world! We headed in and wanted to catch the jousting tournament, so we went over to Tournament Field. We got to cheer on our knight in green - I forgot his name - and he ended up winning the jousting match. Yea!

We then decided to wander around and I was truly amazed at how into this people were. I mean, not only were there employees dressed up, there were also visitors that dressed up. Hell, there was a costume rental booth set up when we walked into the forest! The further we got into the forest, the weirder the people got. I was very confused because at first, I got the whole Renaissance theme - you had your royalty and upper echelon folks, and then you had your gypsies and more common folk. But as we wandered further into the forest, I suddenly saw pirates, fairies, gothic people...I even saw a kid dressed up as a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle....and little girl with an old fashion asian kimono get up...What did we get ourselves in to?!

Then I understood it...and I reflected back to an episode of Gilmore Girls where Luke's sister and brother in law wandered around with this Renaissance fair and sold the jewelry that they made....the closer I looked, the more I saw them...they were all hippies!! All the people that were working the booths and were actually into this, were hippies that travel around freely and do this for a living. I thought about it for awhile and that wouldn't be a bad life. No corporate bullshit, no political puddles to wade through...you make your craft, you set it out and you let people look at it and buy it.

We then got hungry and headed over to buy a big turkey leg....this thing wasn't natural. I didn't take a picture of it due to fear of mockery...people were toting these things around like it was nothing....This wasn't a roasted turkey leg, it was a steriod mutant turkey leg....but we ate it anyway!

We then headed over to Hell's Mouth stage and watched the Aerial Angels which are HIgh Flying Artistry. That is a fancy way of saying chicks who climb up long pieces of cloth, wind themselves up and spin out of them...all set to music. It was pretty cool though and watching them do this was like watching the trapeze artists at a circus. You just watch and grimmace, waiting for one to fall.

We looked at all the booths that consisted of everything from handmade mugs, pewter goblets, jewelry, dragon statues, swords and weaponry to incense. It was quite interesting.

We wrapped up the day with some Irish music and a terribly cheesy magic show, stopped by to get a root beer float and some of the King's nuts....Roasted nuts that is. At the end, I turned out to be that five year old kid that ate too much sweets at the fair and slept for two hours when we got home.

The fair was a neat experience, even though it weirded me out. I don't like knowing if people are in costume because they work there or because they're just wearing them....like this guy...have NO CLUE if he was working or just wandering around with this get up...

We came home to our wonderful dog Lando who took a nap on the couch aside from mine and had a great nappy time...yes - I might have planted the stuffed animal there for entertainment and picture value.

A fun filled evening

2007-10-31T12:33:00.000-07:00

Sunday, October 14, 2007

We had originally made plans with the Brennan's and Castillo's to go to King Richard's Renaissance Fair yesterday, but of course, our plans fell through. So, instead, we took them to the last regular season Revs game. We gave our season tickets away and bought tickets on the other end of the field as it was the only place that had 8 seats together (Darien and Patricia brought along Gaby and Juan from Nantucket). It was a super chilly night so we all had to bundle up for the game! As we were tailgating, the soccer club brought out the Lamar Hunt Open Cup trophy that the Revs won two weeks ago...it was amazing to feel the energy around the trophy as it is the first championship the Revs have EVER won!!

We had a great night being silly, tail gating and watching the game (although the Revs lost to Columbus FC). We even spent a little time jamming with the Midnight Riders in the stadium before we left. I hate that the pictures of Patricia, Brad and Jen were blurry! The picture of us tailgating wtih the Revs Minute Men also came out blurry....

Look at the company sign in the background....

We then headed home to finish off the tons of beer we bought. Brad and I had to introduce our friends to our latest obsession (or at least mine) and us....and we stayed up until 3:30 playing GUITAR HERO!!! We had so much fun that we didn't realize how late it was. We played, we sang, we danced and we enjoyed the company of each other. Kevin and Darien, who are also musicians, provided us with some real life acoustic guitar and percussion back up during our play!!

Jenn and Patricia are two of the closest friends I have in New England. Jenn used to work in Mansfield until she was promoted to North Haven, CT. She has now moved about 2 hours away and we don't see them as frequently as we would like. Jenn's little girl (CRAZY NATTERS), is the first baby that Brad and I have watched grow from a newborn to a funny, cute and smart toddler who is now approaching 2 years of age! Brad and Jenn's husband Kevin, get along like two peas in a pod. We often joke about the lack of absence of these two when we get together, because they like to go off and have random boy talk by themselves...

Patricia and Darien, we met during our stay in temporary housing when we first moved here. They had also moved up here during the same time from the Dominican Republic. I work with Patricia and we were both staying in the same hotel. Not having any friends up here and our spouses driving us looney in the hotel, we all used to hang out together in each other's hotel rooms for company. We used to party in those hotel rooms...for almost two months straight. Patricia might be my female soul mate - my little big sister (she's younger than me, but gives me advice like a big sister.) Brad and her husband, Darien get along quite well too, so it is amazing how we've all connected together...it is rare that you can find a friend who has a husband that your husband also likes.

So, these people, are one of the two reasons we are going to hate leaving New England, if the time ever comes. They have become an extension of me and I will miss them dearly.

Now, Patricia has decided to join Jenn in North Haven and will also be moving next weekend to CT. I am so sad. Eventually, I will leave and my fears that I will never see these awesome girls again, haunts me....In a whole lifetime...you are considered lucky that you find one person as amazing as these...and I have managed to find two. We say that we will make plans to see each other, but with work and family, who knows what will happen. But deep down in my heart, I know that we will continue to keep in touch, no matter how many miles are put between us!

Jenn and Kevin stayed the night with us and we shared our new Sunday morning ritual with them...a Box of Joe from Dunkin'. Another thing we will miss about New England...

Galway, Ireland

2007-10-31T12:32:00.001-07:00

Tuesday, October 09, 2007

This morning, I found it VERY hard to get out of bed. In my apartment, there are no TV's in the bedroom and I could not fall asleep in the big comfy bed...I had to drag my banky upstairs on the leather loveseat and watch TV until I passed out...I even took one of my prescription sleeping pills...and I think that may have been what done the trick.

I met the driver this morning and he took me to the site. Training went well and we were able to finish early enough.

And...thanks to my good looks and charm...I managed to con someone into taking me to the Cliffs of Moher...which was no small drive. It was an hour and a half drive through typical narrow and curvy roads, but the views were spectacular. It had been down pouring rain earlier today, but God managed to clear up the sky for a gorgeous evening at the Cliffs....

And it wasn't my charm and good looks that got me the trip there...it was really a friend from the Athlone facility that I guilted into taking me...."This may be my last trip to Ireland (blink, blink...sad face...blink, blink)"

And check out the pics...they don't do it justice and I've only attached a few of the gazillion pictures I took!

We got a little lost coming back down, but made it back to meet a few ladies for a late dinner. We ended up walking down to the city centre of Galway and having a lovely dinner at a pub. I had a "gorgeous" dinner (as they say when referring to food) and then we had a nice stroll back to the hotel.

Now, it is after midnight and I'm exhausted. I don't really plan on doing much else in Galway while I'm here...I may go out to a pub one night for some live Irish music, but is is Not going to compare to the Tullamore pub and their Irish music...the bar was set high...

Till next time...

Posts from my other blog

2007-10-31T12:30:00.000-07:00

Since my other blog is a private blog, I've decided to share some of those and start copying my posts on the knitting blog as well...so I don't seem so boring...I actually do stuff!!

Sunday October 7, 2007

Sunrises, Plymouth, Guitar Hero and Breakfast

...Are all the things that we did this weekend!

I might have the greatest husband in the world. He has been absolutely wonderful dealing with this travel thing and me not being around. We spent last weekend just hanging out together. He helped me make breakfast and we just truly spent some quality time together.

This weekend, he planned a trip to Plymouth beach to watch the sunrise. So, Saturday morning, we got up at 5:00 am and packed up Lando and some stuff and headed out to the beach. Unfortunately, it was cloudy and we didn't get ot see a clear sunrise, but it did give us the opportunity to get Lando out and play on the beach. But the colors were gorgeous, with the dark grey contrast of the clouds.

We also realized that as big and tough as Lando is...he's a big chicken. He was terrified of the small crashing waves of the beach and really just wanted to sniff around the beach. He wasn't really even interested in running around.

We then packed up and just drove around Plymouth. We stopped by Plymouth Rock again, so I could take a quick picture of the sad little Plymouth Rock and Lando waited patiently for me to return. You can see how small the rock is with the footprints next to it...

We then started to head back and then we came across the Monument of our Forefathers, or something like that. It was really BIG, so we decided to stop and check it out. That tiny orange thing is Brad...

Then we headed back for a little nappy time...Lando truly loves riding in the car and I get a lot of enjoyment watching the other drivers stare at Lando with his head sticking out of the window and his cheeks flapping in the wind!!

We then went to our favorite place in Mass to eat...Cracker Barrell and headed to the mall to walk off all the unnecessary food we just inhaled...

My nephew's birthday was yesterday, so we stopped by EB Games to get him a gift...while were there...we bought us a little something...Guitar Hero. We got home and immediately put it into the PS2 and I played ALL NIGHT...My wrist is sore from playing it so much. This is my new favorite obsession...at least for a little while.

This morning, Brad woke up before me...(I couldn't get to sleep last night b/c my wrist was hurting so much!) and when I woke up, he had gone to Dunkin' and gotten a Jug of Coffee and then went to the grocery store and bought breakfast supplies. I woke up to the smell of bacon, eggs and biscuits cooking in the kitchen. It has been a wonderful weekend.

I leave in a few hours to head to Galway, Ireland. After this trip, my tour of Ireland will be complete as I will have seen each part of Ireland, West (Galway), North (Belfast), South (Cork), East (Dublin) and most things in between. I'm a little excited about going as I'll arrive Monday morning into Shannon at 6:30 am and will have the day to play in Galway...but I'm a little sad that I'm going alone. The last time I was in Ireland, Brad tagged along and it was great...we had the best time. Guess I'll have to entertain myself...I'm currently looking for double decker bus tours for Monday morning.

Till tomorrow...I'll be writing from Ireland...

Where have I been?

2007-10-10T14:12:00.000-07:00

Well - on the knitting front, there hasn't been much going on. I decided to put down the needles for a while to get some much needed reading done.

One book in particular that I have enjoyed reading...Blue Like Jazz...forgot the author, but highly recommend it for anyone searching for that God book....God finally talked to me the other day...after reading this book. I'm a changed woman.

I've been lazy with knitting...I have so many projects to do...I see it sitting there, calling out my name...telling me to come over and just rub the yarn...it might make me want to pick it up...but no...I fight the urge.

I did pick up my paint brush...for the first time. My husband bought me a painting set for Christmas last year as I was finding my "artistic" side...BTW - I have no artistic side....

After finishing the book, Blue Like Jazz, I was on a plane and looked out the window and had my conversation with God. The next day, the mood struck to capture that memory and alas, my first painting...it is called, Airplane Window...

I know, I'm a beginner, and the painting doesn't sit well with me...I'm going to go back and fill in more clouds and the moon....I'm not really a pink girl...but I just felt the urge to paint it.

So, the knitter has taken a break from the knitting....just to explore some other hobbies and get some soul searching out of the way...

Knitting pause to brag on my husband!

2007-09-12T17:11:00.000-07:00

He went from a zero to a hero in a matter of 4 hours! So last Thursday was my four year anniversary...Needless to say - I'm not the one in the relationship that dwells a whole lot on dates...and actually forgot about the anniversary thing until the day before!! I forgot about it so much that I scheduled a flight home to visit my mom...on my anniversary!

So, while I was at work, getting things prepared to leave for my flight later on that day - I get a phone call from the florist telling me I have a delivery at the front office and to come an pick it up. I went to the front, shaking my head, b/c Brad really knew he didn't have send me flowers...and to my surprise, I got a small basket of FAKE, silk, ugly flowers...They're really not as big as they seem in the photo.

I was so embarrassed that I took the card off and stuck the thing in my desk b/c I didn't want anyone asking me what it was! I know - I'm an ass, but come on - you would have done the same. I kindly sent Brad and email to tell him, it was a really sweet thought and he really didn't have to...I mean...really didn't have to. No reply from him.

Then about an hour later, I got another phone call from the same florist with the same request - come to the front and pick up a delivery. Shaking my head - I thought, "Jen, you're an ass. You made your husband feel bad from that damn email." When I saw the flowers, they were gorgeous. Nothing spectacular, but that's how we roll - we're common folks. I approved and instantly sent him another email telling him how I loved the flowers and he really didn't have to. No reply.

Then another hour went by and I got another call, same florist, same message - pick up your delivery at the front office. I walked up smiling, thinking I might have the most wonderful husband in the world and saw another gorgeous flower arrangement. This time, bigger than the last and with Asiatic Lillies - we had those in our wedding!

This time, before the florsit left, he asked, "When's your lunch hour, because I get off at 1:00 and you have one more coming." Big Smiles....all teeth....no eyes....all cheeks.

At 1:00, I received my last boquet and a note attached that said something to the effect of, "Just like the floral selections today, each year that goes by gets better and better."

Four years of marriage and 3 and 1/2 good boquets...the first one was just a dudd and Brad knew how I would react to the first delivery! Exactly like I did.

So my cubicle has been turning the office into a funeral home-esque atmosphere, but I have gotten SO MANY compliments!! Women - have your men read this blog...I got one of them good uns! I'm going to hang on to him!!

West Coast vs East Coast

2007-08-24T19:42:00.000-07:00

Okay - no actual knitting content...my myspace blog is down and I'm in the mood to write...or ramble really....since it's 11:00 pm here, but my body thinks it is 8:00...

I spent this week in San Diego as I had some business to attend to in Mexico this week. I flew back to Boston today after just getting used to the time difference. I love California. I'm a southern girl. I'm a little soft around the edges. So adjusting to living in Mass has been difficult - I've finally adjusted, but know I don't belong here. I plan on moving back down south as soon as the opportunity presents itself, but am glad to say I've lived in New England. One of the biggest things I'll miss is my New England Revolution soccer team. We have season tickets and I love watching those boys play...I'll always be a Revs fan.

But California is different. The West Coast is more...inviting for a better word. Maybe it's because I haven't spent a whole lot of time there, but the pace - although fast, is inviting. I will say that in San Diego - most everyone there is beautiful. As I stood outside my hotel on 6th and Broadway in downtown, smoking my cigarette in between working and watching TV in my tee shirt and adidas shorts, I couldn't help but feel like one of the bums wandering around downtown. Everyone in the city is dressed chic and is just beautiful...except the bums...and I was one of them! I had great sushi every night from a place called RA Sushi. Talk about trendy. The food was great (I had sushi every night except one - the day that I had sushi for lunch) but that place is ultra trendy and this country girl felt out of place, but people were nice. The pretty people talk to you there!

There is a fabulous yarn store in San Diego, only been there a few times and keep meaning to go back, but can't seem to get back across the border in time to make it.

Today on my way to the airport in San Diego, I was waiting for valet to bring my car around. As I was waiting, having my cigarrette, I noticed a man waiting for a cab. With San Diego bringing out my old southern roots, I kindly asked the man if he was heading to the airport. He said yes and I offered to drive him there since I had a car and was heading there myself. I made sure to ask if he was a crazy person before letting him in the car. On the way to the airport, I found out all kinds of interesting stuff about this guy. HE'S FROM TENNESSEE TOO! He played college football for Vandy! He now works for Southwest while he's getting his masters and he was in San Diego for their annual Spirit party. (I wished I had met him the night before...I could have at least gotten out to see the city.) It was just an amazing thing to meet a random person, someone that you may have never met before and catch a tiny glimpse into their lives. Now - I do realize that he could have been filling me with a bunch of crap, but it entertained me until we parted ways at the airport terminal. I have met so many interesting people with my traveling job...people that I have become true friends with. Although this man wasn't one of those true friends, he was my entertainment in San Diego and it made my morning so much more interesting than the lonely, quiet drives back to the airport.

I hate talking at airports and on airplanes. I used to love it...until I found out that when you're on a plane...and you're done talking...there's not a whole lot you can do when the other person isn't done talking. Enter IPOD and knitting...this has been a pretty good deterrent for the most part. Every now and then, I'll end up sitting next to a knitter on a plane with no knitting project and we'll talk about knitting which is great....

Hmmm....I had a thought....

I do travel almost every week - I looked at my calendar and have been traveling for the past 8 weeks...I should try to find some other bloggers to go and knit with...

Next time I'm in San Diego, I'll post it!

I'm in Boulder, CO next week...any knitters out there that want to meet up and knit? I have a pair of socks I can't seem to finish...the motivation would help!

To read...or To knit

2007-08-21T20:41:00.000-07:00

I don't know how many of you other knitters out there face this dilemma...you have a knitting project you have to complete (or several) and you have a book that you are dying to read....how do you pick?

I was on a 6 hour flight Monday...in the middle seat...and I brought my socks from the previous post that I can't seem to finish...and Harry Potter....I have been saving the book for a moment that I knew I could dedicate some serious time and what better time than a six hour flight?!

Being in the middle seat, between to older gentlemen that refuse to give up the armrests...I decided reading might be the best option...with knitting I need my elbow space.

In and out of sleepy time, I got quite a bit of reading into the book - WHICH I'M IN LOVE WITH...but wimpering with each page b/c I know it will be the last book....

But then my poor socks are calling my name saying, "Just the foot and toe...that's all that's left and I can be complete...come on...Harry can wait....I need to be finished so I can go to Rhonda for her birthday that was last April....you''ll see her in a month and I really need to get finished...Rhonda also wanted that felted purse that you're only halfway finished with...Harry can wait...J....do it....put down the book...quit working....and pick up the damn needles..."

Does anyones else's project harass them like this?

WHY GOD,.,,,WHY?

2007-08-15T13:01:00.000-07:00

Why, God, why cannot I not seem to finish these socks?! Please, God - give me strength to finish.

It has been a good week as I have been surrounded by good people this week. Work is going well now and my life is back to normal. Isn't it funny how one small thing in your life can completely knock it off balance?! I tell you - my faith and prayer have come through with this whole work thing. I've prayed so hard and the praying worked...that whole mustard seed story in the bible...I used to have a pin with a mustard seed when I was little to remind me. It's funny how we get older and forget those simple things and sometimes get to a point where we question our faith...

Just got to get on track with knitting!!! Have you ever wanted to knit SO much and you had so many projects on the needles and in your head that it just bogged all of your knitting down altogether?!

On the needles: 3 pairs of socks, a baby blanket, fingerless mittens (for next winter), a felted purse, and a scarf....ew - and a partridge in a pear tree...I used to think that song said bear tree...what's a bear tree?!

Why yes, actually, I have been working out!

2007-07-21T15:51:00.000-07:00

Not really - I just put that in there because I have managed to break two of my DPN's in the past few weeks! It made me feel like of Mice and Men when Lenny squeezes the mouse to hard and kills it...(Did I get the name right?)

I have 3 socks on the needles - two of which I broke the needles to and one I started on my trip this past week to Nebraska. I am using some Cashmerino I picked up in Newport, RI last year. They are going to be mine...all mine - just to wear around the house and make my feet happy. I have completely screwed up the pattern on this as the holes are not in the order they are suppose to be in. My flight was grounded in Chicago and I was knitting while watching people at the airport at 11:00 at night and realized...yeah - I'm not doing it right...oh well. I'm NOT tearing it out...I'll just get over it!!

Patricia and I headed out to Dee's Nimble Needles and Yarn in Walpole, MA. Our LYS is on some crazy summer hours and is NEVER open and the selection of yarn there doesn't really excite me. So we ended up staying for quite a while at Dee's and met a sleuth of wonderful knitters! Designers and such that have their patterns published - so I volunteered to test out any patterns for the sake of yarn! I love this yarn store and Patricia and I will definitely head back next Friday, just to sit and knit with these wonderful ladies! I bought more DPN's to replace the needles I managed to break and ended up with a huge stash of yarn. At the end, I had to re-evaluate and put some stuff back. I bought yarn to start on Wendy's baby blanket. I'm going to use a pattern from Jennifer's baby book she let me borrow. It just so happened that Dee just got a new shipment (still in the box) of Claudia's Hand Painted Yarn - MY FAVORITE - and I was able to rummage through all the new colors...while trying to contain the drool. I managed to narrow it down to two skeins and left without breaking the bank!

Today Brad and I headed out to Boston to get some information on sailing. We were waiting for a ride out on a sail boat to see if we would really want to invest our money in classes...but ended up getting impatient and left. We are going to head to Newport next weekend to check out sailing classes there as they are much cheaper! On the way back home we spotted a pretty cool ship and stopped in to check it out. Turns out - It's the USS Constitution! Who knew? They give free tours aboard the still commissioned ship. The guided tour was awesome and well worth the wait! We will plan on going out to Castle Island in South Boston soon based on this tour!

So, I leave you with a picture of the lovely USS Constitution on a cloudy day in Boston!

A Blue Knitter

2007-07-14T05:03:00.000-07:00

I had the pleasure of going back to St. Louis this past week. I am now at a point that I love going there for a couple of reasons, the casino is very close and it is cheap entertainment for me (poker room has $3/$6 limit tables and I can usually stay for about 6 hours with only $40!) and the new training supervisor at the site that I visit is totally awesome! We get along very well and I think that if I lived in St. Louis - we'd be great friends! So, while all the other St. Louis visitors that have to go to the site moan and groan, I'm usually the first to volunteer!

During my trip, I got back to knitting my sock. Since I broke the needle on the sock I was working on (Claudia's Hand Painted Yarn - my favorite) AND since I haven't had time to go to the LYS to pick up some new needles, I cast on some self striping yarn onto my size 2 needles.

Now - this yarn...I don't even know who makes this yarn...it is good yarn to work with...but the color, I cannot stand. That's the problem with me and buying self striping yarn...I think it's a good idea while it's in a ball, but when the colors and pattern start to emerge, I hate it. I started this sock out in a simple stockinette - I bought it in Knoxville to kill time while I was waiting on my nephew - hated the stockinette and tore it out. I was thumbing through my sock bible - Sensational Knitted Socks and found a Chevron pattern that I thought I'd try. It's bearable and I got all the way to the heel during my trip.

This pattern calls for a forethought heel and I need to sit and decipher what the directions are first before attempting. I've never done an afterthought heel, so this should be fun.

I am also in the need of some baby blanket patterns. I thought last year was the year of the baby boom for our friends, but it turns out...this year is. I have 3 friends, pregnant and in need of a blanket. Okay - maybe not in need of a blanket, but I think hand knit blankets are the best gifts for a first child. Especially a really soft one...

One girlfriend is due in two weeks - I think I'll be using The 8 Hour Baby Blanket by Plymouth Yarns, however her son's room is decked out in Buffalo Bills colors (red, white and blue) and I would love to be able to do something with those colors...

My other two girlfriends I still have time to kill...but I'll be making my way to the LYS for a buying frenzy of yarn and patterns for these gifts. I'm soliciting baby blanket suggestions and somewhat reasonable yarn suggestions (remember...I have 3 to do!) if anyone out there has any...

AND....

With all that has been going on...

I have been feeling extremely blue for the past few weeks. We have been slammed for the past four weeks straight with things to do that I don't know if I'm hitting exhaustion, depression, or what is going on. I've just been feeling a little empty for the past few weeks. I talked to my husband about it last night and he said that he has been feeling the same way. We have been so, so busy the past month that we haven't really had any us time...let alone...me time and I hope that is what it is...we are done with the plans and don't plan to make any more plans....for a while. But work has also been weighing heavily on my mind and I am not happy there. I am usually the one that loves my job, but for the past few months, I have been indifferent about my situation at work...could this be it? Who knows, but hopefully it will pass. This ist he last weekend of plans...we were going to go to Six Flags with a group of friends, however, that would have been the straw that broke this camel's back! We decided to postpone the trip to a time when school would be back in session and we would opt to go during the week! So, instead of the Six Flags adventure, we are heading to CT to visit a friend and have some dinner and just relax with good company. The crappy part is that it is 2 hours from us...but maybe this is what we need to turn our blue into whew and turn back into our normal selves. That's my venting for today...

I leave you with sunset at Martha's Vineyard from last weekend...

Lazy Knitter

2007-07-07T20:04:00.000-07:00

I haven't been blogging lately on this page as I haven't been knitting! We've had so much going on the past 4 weeks, that I have really saved the knitting for traveling. I have been in the office for the past 2 weeks so there hasn't been much knitting going on.

I have been working on another pair of socks for Rhonda - I swear she thinks I never sent her the first pair...and I managed to finish one on my last trip. I cast on the second pair, but last weekend when we were camping, I pulled it out to work on it a bit and ONE OF MY NEEDLES BROKE...gasp. I'm very sad. The other pair of socks I have on needles I tore out as I didn't really like the plain stockinette on the self striping yarn (and the pattern I was using called for all 5 needles when I got to the heel...I lost one, so I only have 4)....I took this unraveled sock with me to Boston on the 4th to work on it a bit while on the T - and got through the first couple of rows and realized it wasn't a k1p1 pattern...so I'll end up tearing that one out again...

I need to buy some yarn to make Wendy a baby blanket to match her Buffalo Bills themed room for her baby Nicholas due in a few weeks. Greg is a huge Bills fan...for their baby shower...their uber rich friends got Nicholas an autographed helmet by Doug Flutie...these guys know Flutie personally so Greg has his whole nursery in Bills stuff. They even special ordered a handmade baby crib blanket set...so I told them I would give them a baby blanket to match! Patricia and I took a trip to our LYS and she's closed for the week out on vacation...damn it! I also bought Wendy a sitting fee to a great photographer in Queensbury, NY so she can either go and have some beautiful belly picture before Nicholas arrives, or their first family pictures. They have been trying for so long and have had miscarriages after miscarriages - so this baby truly is a special baby!

Other than that...I've been a lazy knitter. I've mainly been blogging on my other site as we've had so much going on...In laws visiting, brothers visiting, camping in New Hampshire and soon Six Flags...I'll be traveling this upcoming week to St. Louis - so I'll be knitting a little on the plane. I love St. Louis because the casino is so close and I love their poker room! I typically can leave there break even after hours of poker - which beats sitting in my hotel room...and I've been getting the poker itch lately - so this trip comes just in time!!

I was tagged

2007-05-31T14:43:00.000-07:00

I was finally tagged - I've seen several bloggers I frequent get tagged and was beginning to think that no one loved me...until now!

So here's how it works if you haven't seen it yet...

Each person tagged gives 7 random facts about themselves. Those who are tagged need to write on their own blog those 7 facts as well as the rules of the game. You need to tag seven other people and list their names on your blog. Then you leave those you plan on tagging a note in their comments so they know that they have been tagged and to read your blog.

So - seven random facts...this is going to be hard.

1) I secretly like to pick my nose...only with a kleenex or tissue around (or something I can wipe the boogies on) - I like a good clean nostril. I guess it's no secret anymore.

2) I cry when I get really angry and then get mad that I've cried over it...and cry some more.

3) I LOVE Real World / Road Rules challenges. I used to be addicted to the shows years ago and wanted to be on the show during college, but never applied!!

4) I want to be a writer.

5) I was spit at by a group of people in downtown Greenville once as they were yelling at me to go back to my home country. The only thing was - they were making Mexican jokes and slurs - do I NOT look Asian enough?

6) I was a guest DJ on a local rock radio morning show in South Carolina before I moved to MA.

7) I used to have my tongue pierced.

Now the even tougher part - I have to tag seven other people...

I don't know seven other bloggers that I could pass this on to...does that mean I'll have bad luck for the rest of my life?

My socks, my book and Tom Hanks

2007-05-14T16:30:00.000-07:00

What do all three of those have in common? They are all stuck on an island somewhere and NOT where they are suppose to be! My socks and book are stuck on an island along with other FedEx packages undelivered...maybe one day Tom Hanks will arrive at Rhonda's doorstep and deliver them...damn - I forgot to put the angel wings on them!!

But yes, it is official, FedEx has lost my package. When they asked the value of the contents, I wanted to say - PRICELESS!!! How I loved those socks and how I loved that sock yarn...how I waited for the perfect pattern for them...oh well. Now I can go back to the yarn store in Norton and pick up the Black Walnut color again! I'll end up using the new Claudia's I purchased to re-knit socks for Rhonda again...sad, very sad....

A fix for the sock yarn junkie

2007-05-12T15:52:00.000-07:00

Today was a girls day out as my husband went to Motorcycle Rider Safety school for the entire day. I met Patricia and we headed out to the Yarn Shoppe in Norton, MA. The store had a sale going on, so I had to buy some Debbie Bliss Alpaca as she is going to discontinue it at her store. Pretty isn't it? This is going to be stash reserved especially for those last minute baby gifts that I'll need to knit in a pinch...

I also saw that she had a sale on sock yarn too and seeing as how I have never used self striping, saw that she had a good deal on Opal. I've never heard of this yarn before and I'm not too keen on the color, but thought I'd try it out.

And then I saw my favorite sock yarn, Claudia's Hand Painted Yarn. I wanted to pick up the Black Walnut color as my eyes were immediately drawn to those colors again, but since I had already bought and used that color, thought I should venture on to a different color. I was happy with my purchase. The pic is a little dark, but you get the idea...

Then Pachy and I headed to buy some fabric. She recently purchased this great book on different curtain patterns and I am in desperate need of curtains. I only have these cheap Roman blinds I picked up at Ikea when we first moved into our house and they are getting on my nerves. We stopped at Joanne's and picked out a few yards of fabric that I, unfortunately, do not have any pics of. We're going to make them for my small kitchen window first to see if I like them, then replicate it for the rest of my windows. We didn't quite get finished with them as we indulged in some Hibachi for lunch...and a few drinks. Not to mention a couple of glasses of Bailey's back at her place...so we were a little distracted. I will head over tomorrow to finish up and will hopefully have the end result posted tomorrow!

The time of the baby makers and sock yarn obsessions

2007-05-11T19:59:00.000-07:00

Holy crap...everyone is having babies. And I'm not talking about a few people either...everybody!

I FINALLY finished Christa's blanket..s. I used two Ann Norling patterns. Her patterns are pretty easy and it takes a short time to memorize the pattern so I didn't have to lug the pattern with me on the flights.

Christa ended up having twins on us which made her knitted baby blanket, plural. I have been working on them since Christmas, sometimes not really being motivated to work on them. I get bored with things (reference knitting ADD post below) but finally was able to finish the last blanket on my trip this week to Mexico City. To be honest with you, I've only worked on those blankets during international flights...Both of them! I went to Mexico City, twice. I went to Ireland and the UK twice. All four trips, I had and finished Christa's blankets on...I think only because I had nothing else to do on the flight!

So those are ready to be washed and shipped to GA! Her twins were born a few months ago, but only weigh about 10lbs now, so the blankets will hopefully still be useful. I ditched the idea to make booties and hats instead of the blankets.

Well, now that those were done, I thought - yeah, no more babies. Then two of my friends notify me that they are too, in fact, pregnant. Although I could just knit them booties and a hat, I just think, to the non-knitter, a hand knitted baby blanket has a little bit more meaning. Don't you think? Maybe it's just me, but that's how I feel. Luckily, I have a 8 hour blanket pattern by Plymouth. I made this one for a girl at work and it turned out gorgeous. It does knit up pretty quickly, as you use two strands of Encore held together on size 10 needles.

TO TOP THIS OFF - I shipped the socks off to Rhonda along with my favorite book in the whole world...and FEDEX LOST THE PACKAGE!! I spent a whopping $45 to ship it overnight and two weeks later, still no package. I have to file a claim next week, but I'm utterly pissed that my first pair of socks and my favorite book have gone missing. Those two things are completely meaningless to anyone else that would happen to get them...why, God, why?

I have also procrastinated going to the LYS to pick up the overstitch yarn for Rhonda's purse. I've finished both sides of the purse and am waiting to do the gussett of the purse until I do the overstitch. I'm heading off for a girls day tomorrow with Patricia, while my husband goes off to motorcycle safety school for the weekend. His last attempt to hold onto his 20's as he prepares to buy his first motorcycle. SO - that leaves the day to me and Pachy. We're going to buy some material to make curtains - I have no idea how to sew, but she is going to teach me...and how hard can curtains be? If all else fails, I can buy the iron on strips to make the curtains, right?

Then we're heading off to the LYS to buy more yarn. I need more sock yarn...I'm addicted to sock yarn now. It's all I can think of...sock yarn, sock yarn, sock yarn.....I need to feed my addiction, only to procrastinate when I buy it. I just feel safe knowing that I have some. I'm a weirdo...please tell me there are other sock yarn weirdos out there...we can start a group. "Hi, I'm Jennifer and I have a sock yarn obsession." "Hi Jennifer."

Finished my first pair of socks!!

2007-04-27T18:15:00.000-07:00

My first PAIR of socks finished!! I've never been able to make it through two - after the first one, I would get bored, but I persevered! Now, I'm sad that I have to ship them off to my girlfriend. These socks are a hold me down until I am able to finish her purse, but of all people, she'll be the one to respect the "handwash" rules!

So, now I'm stuck with her purse to knit. I must make a quick run to the LYS to pick up some wool to do the overstitch pattern as I'm almost finished with knitting the front. It doesn't look like much, so I'm not posting any pictures - in fear that I'll realize I don't want to knit it anymore and I can't wait to felt it...Remember, I have knitting ADD...

Here are some pics of my babies since I have a new camera. I could just take pictures of my pets for hours on end!!

Knitting A-D-D!!!

2007-04-13T20:02:00.000-07:00

I have been feverishly knitting away the past few days as the knitting bug has finally bitten me again. We were in the UK for two weeks and I didn't get as much knitting finished as originally anticipated. I only brought Christa's baby blanket and just can't seem to get motivated to work on it. I think it's because I'm not too fond of the shade of blue. Her twins were born in February and with one blanket completed, I think the babies will outgrow the blankets before I can finish them. So I've decided to continue on with the baby blankets as many other friends have announced their pregnancies! I am going to whip Christa up a few baby hats and booties.

I also finished one of my socks! The gorgeous hand painted yarn pictured in a previous post has now become a sock! I'm going to cast the other one on tomorrow...hopefully!

I have also started a handbag - my first felting project! My best friend Rhonda gave me a subscription to KnitSimple with the understanding that I would knit her a handbag that she saw in another magazine she bought. Her birthday is 4/20, so I've got the handbag working for her and I'm going to give her the pair of socks mentioned above. I'm also giving her my favorite book - Marley and Me by John Grogan. She has a lab and I know she'll love the book. She has already mentioned it to her book club!

With that, I have also cast on some fingerless mittens from the knitty.com website - the fetching pattern for my girlfriend Jenny. I found some gorgeous cashmere blend yarn during a trip last year to San Diego and it is this beautiful pink color - her favorite!

So, you can see that I have multiple projects going on as I have progressed in my knitting. I start to become bored with a single project and have the urge to start new things! The death of a knitter, right? I'm never going to have a decent stash...

And to top everything off...my digital camera broke while we were in Ireland...I promise to post some pics as soon as we get it fixed or muster the justification to purchase a new one!!

Frogging the work

2007-03-03T19:56:00.000-08:00

I have been working on a few things here or there for the past month or so...Christa's second baby blanket for her twins, a pair of socks made from CashMerino I picked up in Newport, RI and the pair of socks made from the sock yarn I picked up in Tennessee.

I frogged all three of these projects pretty far into them - for those non-knitters, I unraveled them.

Christa's baby blanket - I tore it out while I was at the airport in Montreal. I noticed that I cast on way TOO many stitches as I got into the project 3 balls of yarn later and realized the baby blanket was way TOO wide! Since she's having twins, I wanted it to be the same size as the first one I knit and this one was very miscalculated. So I tore back all three balls of yarn. I got on the flight from Montreal to Newark (my connection to Providence) and realized I had nothing to do, so I figured I cast back on and try again. I got through the border on the blanket and just tore that back out tonight as I didn't like the pattern I picked out. I have finally settled on a pattern, the correct number of stitches to cast on, so hopefully, this is the last time time around. I don't know that the yarn can take too much more. Although I'm not a fan of acrylic yarn, this is some nice acrylic that I picked up at Ewe'll Love it in Nashua, NH.

Socks made from CashMerino - I bought this yarn back in the summer and decided with winter here, I wanted to make some nice cozy socks for myself. I have pulled it out several times and started on patterns and initially didn't like any of them so after tearing it out several times, I put it back. I finally picked a pattern from Sensational Socks and motivated myself to go at it. About 1/2 way through the leg, I realized that it was much too tight. (I have been to lazy to gauge my projects and I think this is the valuable lesson I'm learning!) So - I tore it out!

Socks made from yarn in Tenenssee - I got to the heel turn on my flight back from Ireland and totally screwed it up. I thought I'd wait to get home and unravel a few rows to fix it and ended up completely messing the pattern up and can't pick it back up - I can barely pick work back up on circulars, much less 4 Double Pointed Needles! So I frogged it too...

I can't seem to get out of the habit of ripping my work back out. My husband has said to me several times, if you would just keep working through it and not tear it out - you would have so many finished objects...(Okay - I through in the finished objects phrase...but fellow knitters understand!)

I am a bit of a perfectionist as you can probably tell. Any advice would be extremely helpful to get over this painful affliction that I have found in my knitting world!!

Made in the USA, Ireland, England and everywhere in between

2007-01-28T12:57:00.000-08:00

I have been absolutely horrible with keeping up with this blog...and this is only because I haven't been knitting. I know...I'm horrible. I think I just needed to get re-motivated after Christmas. It took me a good while to get re-motivated...especially after I had a loss in my knitting family...my sock.

In my previous post, I finished my first sock...singular...sock. It was a dorm sock made for Brad using the cozy Mission Falls superwash. I took it with me on my business trip to Oriskany Falls to knit on the other during the 5 hour drive up. I got quite a bit done on the other sock. Well - on the way back I dropped my credit card IN the door (long story) and had to take the rental car to a dealership so they could remove the door. Before I went in, I stashed the sock in the glove compartment so no one would laugh at my one big purple sock...well...hours later when I dropped the car off, you know the story...I forgot to take the sock out and now Enterprise has my sock captive. I haven't bothered calling and chalked it up to a sacrafice to the knitting gods...and I can use the other two balls of yarn for something else...maybe even a scarf for me!!

So I started working on one of the two blankets for my cousin Stephanie that is expecting twin boys in February. I picked up some yarn in Nashua and some Ann Norling basic blanket patterns. I have been knitting on this blanket on and off for a while, but got a majority of it done on my current trip to Ireland. It has travelled all over Ireland with me this week and will be in England on Tuesday, where I hope to finish it! So, I'm thinking of sewing a small tag on it that says, "Made in the USA, Ireland, England and everywhere in between."

I also finally picked a sock pattern for my beautiful sock yarn I picked up in Tennessee over Christmas. I chose a simple baby cable ribbed pattern and have only started it. I hope to have at least one done by the time I make it back to MA on Friday afternoon. I will make sure I keep eveyone posted on the progress of these two projects over the next week.

I believe it's the Yarn Harlot that takes her knitted socks in progress with her on her travels and takes pictures of her socks next to a landmark to show the progression of her sock...that is a great idea, but I think I might be too lazy to actually do that!!

I will be traveling a lot more in the next few months and hope to get much more knitting done and many more posts up! I haven't been keeping current with mine or others for that matter!!!

If you would like to read my blog about my travels in general to Ireland and England, check out http://blog.myspace.com/jwpark123 This is my first trip to Ireland and there are many new "discoveries" since I've been on the road!

Addition to a Knitter's Chrismtas:

As I was reading my previous few blogs, I completely forgot to post one of my favorite gifts that I received over Christmas. Carrie actually made me needle holders for my DPN and I absolutely adored it! I'll have to wait to get home to take a picture of it, but I absoltuely loved it!

A knitter's Christmas

2006-12-30T20:20:00.000-08:00

I was totally stoked when Brad's parents came through with the Knit Picks Options Needle set! I was suprised to see that the needles were so sharp, but happy that now I have a set! I just need to get a set of Double Pointed Needles (DPN) now to complete my knitting supplies until I can find something else that I absolutely must have!!

I have already started using the Options needles on the project below for my mom. I really like them and they are comparable to the Addie's however I have found them to be a little more "slipperier" if that's a word! I mentioned the sharp, right?! I have already found myself wincing a time or two when I go to push my needle through with my finger!!

My best friend got me the gift that keeps on giving...a subscription to Vogue Knitting Knitsimple and an issue of Better Homes Knit It. She tried getting the subscription to Knit It, however, they are not in subscriptions yet.
She has already requested a few items from the Knit It magazine and the article about them was quite interesting. The article was called Mobius Magic and it's about a knitting innovator Cat Bordhi who basically came up with Mobius designs - a mobius strip is defined as only having one side, as the article describes it, takeing a narrow strip of paper and giving it a half twist and taping the ends together. If you draw on one side, you end up with a continuous line. So, my girlfriend found two handbags: A felted tapestry bag with beautiful vine embroidery and a mobius bag that is undescribable. But - this is great as it will give me incentive to learn new techniques especially felting!

And, of course, I had to check out the Local Yarn Stores in Knoxville and only found one, Loopville. It isn't very big, but the owner was "wicked" nice (a New England term) and very helpful! I spent about 30 minutes in there, when I finally made it up to the counter...I had originally stopped in to buy a new mitten pattern since the one I had was giving me "holey gussets" (see previous post), but since the ladies at the yarn store helped me resolve the "holeyness" I decided I could at least buy some yarn for my stash...so I'm at the counter and she rings up 4 skeins of the chenille and 2 skeins of this beautiful hand painted merino wool! It's Claudia Hand Painted Yarns Black Walnut and it's just gorgeous!! I decided these would be for a pair of socks that would be MINE...ALL MINE!!!! It's just waiting on the PERFECT sock pattern that I'll need to scope out in Sensational Knitted Socks by Charlene Schurch! So - 30 minutes, 6 skeins of yarn and $80 later, but husband rushes the yarn store just as she's telling me the price. I immediately apologize for spending the money and he says, "I don't care how much you spent, just hurry." What a great man!! Christmas time and he's not upset I blew money on some yarn!! We're not what you would call "free with our money," but then again who is?!

So now I'm on a mission to find some Jamieson's Shetland Heather and DK wool to start the felted tapestry bag, but now that I have this needle set and a few dpn that have nothing on them, I have to fight the urge to start multiple projects! I realize that there's nothing wrong with having multiple projects, but I tend to get overwhelmed...geez - I also have two baby blankets to knit for a set of twins my cousin is having...they're not due until February...so I have some time!

A knitter's Christmas

2006-12-29T19:14:00.000-08:00

We have returned from our Christmas vacation in Tennessee and amazingly enough, I got a lot of knitting "almost" done! On the plane from Providence to Detroit to Nashville, I started Brad's "dorm socks" or as I have dubbed them, Mountain Man Cabin Socks! It is made from Mission Falls superwash that I picked up at the Yarn Shoppe in Canada a few months ago and I used the Yankee Knitter Basic Sock Pattern with, 3 by 1 rib. Brad wanted a long sock to keep his legs warm so the one sock I've made so far has used two whole balls of yarn! I didn't finish the toe yet as I've never done a Kitchener Stitch and wanted to be at home to do it first rather than on the road.

I also started mittens for my girlfriend Rhonda to match her Danica entrelac scarf. I started these on Monday night, but my gusset was "holey" where I was increasing. I went to the Local Yarn Store (LYS), Loopville, in Knoxville, TN, where the owner so graciously helped me figure out why I was having the "holey" gusset. So, I had to rip the mitten back out and start all over! I didn't restart the mittens until Wednesday night and finished one...the other I started on our journey back to Nashville - 3 hours - and almost finished it. I didn't have anything to weave the ends in with, so I fessed up to Rhonda that I would have to ship her mittens to her when they were officially complete! I used the Starter Mittens pattern from Lion Brand website. I did find a few mistakes for anyone that may want to knit these mittens.

As I was home knitting, I found out my little mother used to knit and crochet! She helped knit the mittens above and then asked if I would knit her a scarf - which I would have never guessed she would have ever wanted! My mom is not the accessory lady! So when we scouted out Loopville, I was talking to the owner and saw a beautiful scarf made out of chenille. I've always heard that chenille is a knitter's nightmare and it is very difficult to knit with since it has no give. But this yarn was so soft and the colors suited my mom so well that I had to buy it and take my chances. Since the chenille doesn't show stitch definition, I decided to knit the scarf in a simple 1 x 1 rib pattern and I'm very pleased with it so far. It is made from Plymouth Sinsation and is just awesome to knit with. I've also been using one of my new Christmas gifts - the Options needles from knitpicks.

So - I've been very productive this vacation break and am looking forward to finishing these projects up to start new ones!!

Christmas Countdown

2006-12-23T19:20:00.000-08:00

As Christmas is nearing - I am slowly finishing my knitted Christmas gifts with a few that will be delayed. My 4 year old niece, Anna B, is all about the fashion and she's all about the pink. So rather than buying her toys, her parents said a scarf would be perfect. So, during a trip to Ewe'll Love It Yarn store in Nashua, NH, I found some beautiful Rowan Romance yarn in pink and immediately thought of Anna B. I used a Diagonal texture pattern out of The Harmony's Guide 440 more Knitted Stitches Volume 3 and my finished product looked like this.

I also knitted her another scarf with a matching hat and the same for a teddy bear for her. I used pink Baby Soft Lana Gatto yarn and Ann Norling's basic hat pattern for the hat. I used a waffle stitch pattern from the Knitted Stitches book and I think it turned out very cute!

I also finished my entrelac attempt of a scarf for my girlfriend Rhonda. That picture can be found on my MySpace blog - as I've written an entire blog about entrelac being the devil!!

AND - last but not least, I finished one of three baby blankets for some cousins that are expecting. Stephanie is expecting a girl, so I knit a small car seat blanket for her made out of some cotton fleece from Ewe'll Love It. It came highly recommended as a washable yarn, so I went with it. I originally bought 5 skeins, but after knitting for a few weeks on size 6 needles, I decided to make it a "car seat" blanket - the termed coined by my knitting master, Carrie! So I have 2 skeins left to go towards my stash! I also used a Brick and Garter Ann Norling pattern for the blanket.

As we are leaving tomorrow morning for Christmas in Tennessee, I plan to work on some mittens for Rhonda using a pattern from www.lionbrand.com. I won't see her until Thursday night, so I'll hopefully be able to finish them by then!!

As I'll be in the sticks of Tennessee with no internet access - my blog will be on hold until Friday when I'll be back. Hopefully I'll post the mittens to complete my Christmas knitted finished objects!

Happy Holidays everyone!!

First Time Blogger

2006-12-22T19:40:00.000-08:00

The ladies from the Myspace Stitch N Bitch group along with various others have inspired me to start my own blog! Seems like everyone is doing it, right? As I have moved into a new job at work that requires a lot of travel, I hope to be able to blog about projects I can complete while on the road as well as yarn stores that I will visit. Hope I am disciplined enough to actually keep up with this blog as well as knit enough to keep posting!!