I am one of those Melodramatic fools Neurotic to the bone

Weak, thinning bone. That's what the doctor tells me anyway. I have to go for a bone density test Monday to see how weak and thin - I'll keep you posted.

On to much more interesting news - last night was my SnB nite - I swear I get less knitting done on knit night then any other - lots of laughing and talking, but not much knitting. Last night included my second most favorite thing - shopping! Lookie what I bought from Susan:


Pardon the crappy photography - I took these this morning in a rush. Aren't they gorgeous? I love Susan's designs, and you too gentle reader can own your own gorgeous pieces - visit her etsy shop She is running a free shipping special this month, so you can get great earrings and save money - buy 2 pair! It is worth it to see how beautifully she packages her designs when she ships them out.

The purple stone earrings are a perfect match for my Sundara sweater, look:
(again, sorry for the crappy picture)
Just a glimpse of the finished sweater - you can see the whole thing Saturday at Rhinebeck. I should be pretty easy to spot in those amazing colors.

See some of you there!

Good manners and bad breath get you nowhere

I have fallen victim to the blogger funk that is going around, I just really haven't had anything to say.

Fall does that to me - it is my favorite time of the year, but it makes me very introspective, and somewhat antisocial. I spend a lot of time thinking, not talking or blogging.

This however should be a very social weekend, my friend Carolyn and I and another girlfriend are driving up to Rhinebeck Saturday, where we will meet up with other members of the LIC SnB. I had originally planned on taking David's car and driving up a whole group, but he and the boys will be camping this weekend, so I have drastically less room in my car to fit people. A classic case of autoclaustrophobia.

I have to go back to the Dr. tonight - I thought the xrays came back ok, I guess not - he wants to see me tonight. I am still having pain in my hip, so hopefully he will be able to identify the problem and we can fix it. I am tired of limping around.

I will be wearing Melissa's Sundara pattern to Rhinebeck on Sunday - I just have to finish sewing the seams.

See everyone there!

And I'm thinking about A brand new hope

The one I've never known Cause now I know It's all that I wanted

Today is my 3 year Blogiversary. When I started this blog, I didn't think it would last 3 months and now 3 years have passed. Amazing.

Thanks for all the kind messages and good thoughts for my injured hip. The drugs from the Doctor are helping and I will get the results of the xrays today.

David is home and starting his first day on the new job - I hope all goes well.

This was a lovely weekend, David and I spent all day Saturday and Sunday together and Sunday night has become Scrabble night at Carolyn's, who by the way is an gracious hostess and an amazing cook - last night's apple pie was to die for!

I am also looking forward to Tuesday's SnB - I really missed everyone last week. It felt like something was missing all week - it's crazy how much I enjoy spending time with these people.

Oh and Rhinebeck - 11 days and counting!!

To hell with you and all your friends, to hell with you and all your friends

Bah! David just called, he is not coming home tmrw - he won't be home till Friday night. I am really tired of his not being home - I miss him.

On top of that, I hurt my hip and am in a lot of pain, I am afraid it might be arthritis. I have a doctors apt. tmrw, but in the meantime I am a cranky, depressed bitch right now.

On a knitting note, I finished Melissa's test sweater, at least the knitting is done - I still need to do the finishing and block it, but my hip hurt too much to crawl around on the floor to pin it out. I also started the Shetland Triangle from Wrap Style - Maritza and I are doing a KAL - although I haven't really communicated with her yet (- see above re: depressed bitch)

There's a stain on my notebook, Where your coffee cup was

Just as someone else I know, I was anxiously awaiting this weekend, my bestest bud, Marilyn was meeting me for our supposed to be monthly girls day out. This time she was coming into Queens, and I decided we would go somewhere different. We usually go to Forest Hills and I was tired of the same old sameold, instead we had a wonderful brunch at Cafe Henri in LIC, we split a goat cheese and mushroom and a chocolate banana crepe. It was yummy! Then we walked around the neighborhood - going in and out of shops - I found this at a second hand store:



and these:


I love the black rose button.

Then we drove back to my neighborhood and I finally got a chance to visit the Atlas Park Mall, it is really weird, like stepping into a suburban mall dream sequence. It did not feel like Glendale at all. Some interesting stores though, saw a fabulous pair of brown suede boots I would kill for and lots of fall fashions. I love fall and can't wait for the cool weather to finally get here.

A few weeks ago I filled out a survey from Senseo on their coffee maker - when we were in Paris a few years ago the apt we stayed in had one of these and I fell in love with the coffee! I even wrote the company when we came home to see if it was available in the states. It was not at the time so I forgot about it - Then I received this email questionnaire, if I qualified they would send me a free coffee maker, so I filled it out and guess what - I got my coffee maker yesterday! I am so excited - I got the coffee maker and a box of coffee pods. I am going to bring it to work and put it in my office - finally one perfect cup of coffee whenever I want.

David left this morning for his last week in Albany - neither of us can wait till this is over. Next Sunday he leaves for 2 weeks in Atlanta and then he finally starts work in the Bronx. It will be so wonderful not to have him gone any more.

A pretty face but you do so carry on and on and on and on and on

Progress is coming along nicely on the test sweater - I finally got to the split, it felt like those 9 inches of knitting took forever and no matter how many rows I knit it never seemed to grow. Every time I measured it on Tuesday night it was still 8", some kind of weird inverse length to yarn ratio or sumthin'. But last night I finally reached the required and elusive 9" and joined the second ball of yarn and moved along swimmingly after that - did about 2 more inches when I realized that I had crossed the yarn and was knitting from the wrong ball - damn.rip.curse.rip. reknit. After all that this is what I had:

I am so loving the way the yarn is pooling and stripping. It makes me very happy.

I am feeling really lousy today, so I am planning to go home snuggle under the blanky and knit a few more rows. Once I get past the sleeves I will be finished in no time. Which is good, because I have to start swatching for the International Scarf Exchange. I have been contacted by the knitter making my scarf and I have contacted the person I am knitting for - I just need to decide on the pattern and yarn. I have narrowed it down to 2 patterns - the swallowtail or the Shetland Triangle from Wrap Style - Both are by Evelyn Clark. The yarn is either Knit Picks Alpaca Cloud in grape, or some lovely fingering wt I bought from Red Bird Knits in a pinky purpley color.

I also really want to finish the LUG - the weather is getting cooler and I so want to wear this now.

The coolest water bottle ever:

Thank you Jolie

I want a New Toy (oh ay oh), to keep my head expanding

I want a New Toy (oh ay oh), nothing too demanding

Well, at least she's pretty:

It was time to turn in my phone and get my new in 2 from Verizon- I couldn't resist this little beauty and its Chocolate! I hate carrying around my phone and notIpod around so I thought this would be cool. They don't tell you that you need to buy may accessories to use it as a music player - accessories that will cost me more than the phone did, but

I heart it, the sound is amazing - it takes great pictures and it's cute. I am happy happy.

I was trying to explain my redecorating plans to a friend but she wasn't seeing it so I am posting pictures to help her visualize what I am planning

My inspiration

my paint swatches:

some additions:


Things are moving along on the test knitting - I did a few more rows last night and should be done with the sleeves by this weekend - if not sooner. A few people commented on the pooling the yarn is doing - normally I don't like pooling, but I think it is really cool in this pattern - it looks right and everyone who see's it agrees. I love the way it is working up - I think it is gorgeous!

Do you have the time To listen to me whine

About nothing and everything All at once

David just left for Albany again -I really can't wait for this training to be over - I hate his being gone all week, its lonely and I miss him. Thursday I took Amtrak to Albany, he met me at the train station and we went out to dinner - Olive Garden, of course. We had a lovely time, and this hotel is much better than the last one. He has a suite with a little kitchen - I made him buy food to keep in his room, so that he is not eating fast food for every meal. Friday he had class so I spent the morning on my laptop in Starbucks and the afternoon at the Mall and Barnes & Noble. I spent all the overtime money I earned in Jersey last week but it was worth it - I bought cute shoes in payless, 2 fantastic bras in Lane Bryant - I wear a 38 DD and it is very hard to find bras that fit and are really supportive without looking matronly , so I was thrilled to find all these great bras in LB - pretty, sexy and full support -I will definitely buy my bras there from now on! I also picked up 2 CD's, My Chemical Romance and Taking Back Sunday and I spent $$ in CVS - I am a lipstick whore - can't resist buying new lipstick as well as hair care products - I spend a fortune on hair care. Funny how my hair never looks it.

We picked the boys up on the way back on Saturday - it was too bad the weather was so awful - we were stuck in the house all day. The boys are excited about starting HS tmrw. I really hope they like it and do well. I hated HS, so I try not to pass my negativity on to them - David loved HS, so hopefully they will too.

Yesterday, we took a ride to home depot for some washers, we have a leak in the bathroom. While we were there, we picked out some of the stuff we will be needing to refurnish our apt. We found a ceiling fan we liked for the living room, and I picked out paint for the living room, kitchen and hallway.

The best part of taking the train on Thursday was all the time I had to knit - I got a lot done on the test pattern:



I have done more since and I hope to be up to the spilt by the time I get to LIC SnB tmrw night. It's been weeks since I was there and I am really looking forward to getting back, but it will be different now that Maritza is gone - she should be settling in to her new home, but I am really going to miss her!

One last look at the yarn:

Hangin' round downtown by myself

And I had too much caffeine And I was thinkin' 'bout myself

Now that I have finally caught up on my sleep I am ready to go back to work and start all over again. Last week in Jersey was actually much better than expected, even though the training was intense, everyone seemed to find it valuable. This was the most fun I have ever had on a business trip, though I am getting too old to stay up late drinking everynight.

I didn't get as much knitting done as I would have liked ( knitting and caffeine don't mix ) I still managed to do more than I thought. I will post pictures soon.

David left for Albany again tonight. I have Thursday and Friday off this week, so I am planning to take Amtrak up on Thurs and drive back with him on Friday. So far he likes the training and is enjoying the work. He called me little while ago to ask me if I would go to parent orientation at the HS Tuesday night for the boys. I told him I would, this way we know what is going on with the kids now that they have started HS. But it means I will miss LIC SnB, which I am really not happy about - I was looking forward to seeing everyone, especially since I missed last weeks meeting. This will also be Maritza's last Tuesday in NY, she is leaving for Cambridge at the end of the week. I hate to miss it, but David would really like one of us at the school and it is important that we are involved in the boys education so I will have to miss it.

Speaking of Maritza, she just open her own Etsy shop, check it out!

City of the dead At the end of another lost highway

Signs misleading to nowhere

Yes I got lost on the way to Somerset on Sunday. I always get lost in NJ - I swear this state has something against me. My 1 hour drive (ha - even without getting lost it would have taken me more than an hour) took 2 1/2 hours. But I arrived safely and have been working ever since.

I will miss the LIC SnB tmrw - that is what I really regret, but at least David is gone this week too so I am not home alone.

I have finished about 10" on the Sundara Pattern, so I will have progress shots soon. I am liking it more and more as it is knitting up!

I can't wait to get home on Friday though, living out of a suitcase lost it's appeal awhile ago. I am "overly caffeinated" tonight so if I am not making much sense, blame the beer.

Later.......