What the Ladies Have Been up to...

Yay!

I have tomorrow off! Yay!

My mom and her friends are coming to visit this weekend! Double Yay!

There are crafts fairs, garlic festivals, and alpaca farms to see! Triple Yay!

And...PAMMY'S GONNA HAVE A GIRL!!!!!!!!!!! WAAHHOOOOOO!!!!

:)

Ugh.

Between Joe getting me tipsy last night (yes, it was entirely his fault), my sinuses going haywire, and sleeping in some odd position that is now causing me severe neck pain...

I feel like I'm falling apart today, one piece at a time. It's 8:07am - can I go home now?

Cruisin' with the Socks...

...and NO, they aren't done yet. I'm determined to get every inch out of this yarn, so the socks are still going - I'm almost to the cuff part, though.

Here's what I did for a few hours on Sunday...

And here's a link to the gallery, but be forewarned that there are a lot of scenery shots with me just playing with the new camera.

Oooh, Lookie!

Check out what we've been doing...

Of course, this means not much knitting this week. Last night I got a few good hours in at the knitting circle (and more while watching Kill Bill: Vol. 1, a personal favorite of mine). Today I spent most of my time moving large pieces of furniture (from guest bath to outside for Freecycling, from den-aka-master-bath-staging-area to guest bath), because the den is the 2nd guest bedroom, and right now it looks like a drywall factory exploded. And we have guests coming in 5 days or so.

Tomorrow I go on my knitting cruise, so hopefully I'll finish the socks!

Woohoo - I don't have to go into the &$*(#$@*& office!!!!!

Priorities

This is the first weekend in over a month I won't have to work. I got back from a Knitting Circle meet-up about 1.5 hours ago. I've been up since 4:30am, but I can't sleep. I have one athesmatic cat who also has a sinus infection, and another cat can't seem to pee in the litter box these days. I have a messy kitchen, and I've been fishing clean clothes out of laundry baskets for the last week. I have my mother and friends coming next weekend, and a gaggle of knitters coming 3 weeks after that. So what do I do now, at 11:30 on a Friday night?

Pour another glass of wine, pop a good movie in the DVD player, and knit some more.

Joe's Timing Sucks...

...or, This is for Amy! :)


So Joe went out of town this week, and he took the new snazzy camera. Trouble is, he also took all the batteries we had left. So the older camera (which is still a decent point-n-shoot, thankyouverymuch), which had very little life left in the batteries, was what I had to deal with last night.


And Amy mentioned that she was jonesing for a new post (well, those are my words, not hers).

Anyone want any veggies? Huh?

And a close-up of the Mutant Tomatoes of Death...

I was trying to get a picture of our FULL! freezer when the batteries gave out.

Then I felt something cold, wet, and weird on the back of my arm. Strain to look behind me - nothing. Start to clean out the cat box, feel the cold thing again. Check myself in the mirror, and it was...






Yeah. No picture. Thanks, Joe. >:P

It was the teeeeensiest weeeeeensiest slug - must have come off the corn when I was bagging it. I held him on my index finger while I frantically searched for camera batteries, but no such luck. He barely covered half the width of my fingernail, he was so teeeniney. I released him into the yard, where he'll probably die a tragic death, but at least in my mind he's got a second chance.

Tonight - I begin to paint the bathroom! But no pictures...

Party Clip

Let's see if this works...




ETA: The pictures are now up here. And yes, Joe and I have a thing for fire...

Progress! And Partying!

By Friday evening, I'd gotten done with almost all of the gusset increases on my Snarkalong socks. I really liked how the colors were pooling around the ankle - kinda makes them look a bit clowny, but the yellow and orange are so lovely and vibrant. They're very happy socks.

On the one day I could sleep in this weekend (Saturday), I woke up at 6:00am and couldn't get back to sleep. So I wandered down to the living room, popped some old favorites into the DVD player (Old School and Grosse Pointe Blank), and went to town on turning the heels. Got a few rows into the heel flap, got confused, sent out an SOS email to my knitting friends, then got back on track. By the time we got to E's birthday party Saturday afternoon, I was well on my way to the leg of one sock.

Congrats on becoming a teenager, E! Everything that happens in the next 5 years will be wonderful and horrible, all at the same time. You'll be glad you got through it, happy about where you ended up, but you'll never want to do it again. Ever.

Back to the socks...I knew the best thing for me to do while drinking wine was to just stick to the easy stuff (going round and round and round with the ribbed garter stitch). Well, I was 3 rows into the leg when I realized I was still doing the back of the leg in st stitch (much like the bottom of the foot), rather than starting the pattern all around the leg. D'oh! Tinked back, had some more wine, and kept on truckin'. At some point I certainly had to stop knitting (what with all the wine), but considering how bad it could have been, I think I got off easy by only losing 1 needle near the fire.

I had to get up early this morning to work (booo! hissss!), but now I'm back, will wind down with the 2nd heel flap, and then start helping Joe with the painting.

Oh, didn't I tell you? Joe finished sanding the drywall Friday night...

The bathroom is looking awesome! Joe, however, wasn't loooking his best...

Today Joe is priming so we can put up the shower walls, paint, and refinish the floors. I, however, am taking a break while doing laundry and freezer-diving for dinner. I think there's a chicken-and-swiss-chard-enchilada-lasagna in there somewhere...

LOLme

This? Totally me.

GMD Hangover...Again...

As with every General Montgomery Day, much fun is had, many drinks are consumed, and many heads ache the next day - and not just because of booze. The entire day - sunshine, noises, crowds - everything overwhelms to the point of utter exhaustion. Combine that with the fact that I normally have to go into the office on the Sunday after GMD, and I'm reduced to a puddle of flesh, barely able to string words together and make sense, much less be interesting. So I leave you with mostly pictures. But oh, the fun...

The porch was Party Central for GMD - or "Beth Day" as my friends have now named it.

As Joe likes to say, "It's like putting a nice dress on an ugly woman."

Coworkers with bikes. Now if only I could work with THEM on Sunday, I wouldn't mind it so much.

Neighbor kids.

Matt - aka our-friend-with-a-pool. Also a coworker I never mind spending time with.

Vonya - our neighbor's smart dog. Not a coworker.


This was the scene outside our house when our last guests were trying to leave (around 11ish). I have no idea what the deal was, but 4+ state police, at least one Village cop, one ambulance, and a couple of folks who looked really involved were questioning a very belligerent drunk who had blood on his shirt. Lots of yelling, lots of worried people, Paula and I swear we heard "car bomb" said more than once, although we were both a weeeee bit tipsy, and then just as suddenly everyone left - no arrests or anything. It's just not General Montgomery Day without some drunk-vs-cop action blocking your driveway.

I'm done now. I think I'll think about doing laundry for a while. Maybe think about knitting. But thinking is just about all I can do. Action just isn't in the cards right now. I'm soooooo going to be last in the Snarktember Sock-a-long.

200 Posts, One-Year-Plus, and Again with the Tomatoes...

Yup. Just realized I started blogging here last August, 200 posts ago. Wow, I'm wordy. I'll just leave you with tonight's tomatoes, which are rapidly becoming sauce at this very moment.

Here are those same tomatoes, after about an hour simmering with sauteed onion, garlic, peppers, carrots, celery, and basil...


So, yeah. Anyone who visits within the next year will be served some kind of Italian dish. With lots of tomato sauce.

Movin' Right Along...

(Dug-a-dun...dug-a-dun...)



Yes, ever since I thought that I'm "moving right along" on these socks, lo-and-behold this song has been in my head. So I must share it with you. Ahhh, the joy of Muppets. In a Studebaker.

Lest I get distracted from the progress that IS being made, here is a picture of my wonderful hubby as he begins work on the ceiling with this cute little contraption...

This doohickey holds the drywall boards so you can put them up on the ceiling without killing your arms. Yay, inventions! The bathroom really IS coming along. Schweeeet!

I got some good progress done on the socks today (and hopefully tonight, if I don't feel too guilty that Joe is wrestling with a modified construction-grade easel while I knit). I met a knitting friend Thora for lunch today, and we'll hopefully make it a frequent thing. You see, Thora is a local knitter who had the ingenious idea to start a knitting circle at a local cafe. At the first meet-up, about 12 knitters came! We had such a grand time. And - small world - Thora works about 200 yards from me. Right now there aren't many great places to hang out for lunch, knitting, but we're making do. It was such a nice break from the hectic budgeting season I'm in right now. Thanks, Thora!

Here's Ghetto Kitty, inspecting my toes for any loose stitches. He loves to enjoy late summer evenings on the porch while the sun sets - I can't say as I blame him.

On a totally different topic - I wanted to express my gratitude for, and brag about, our neighbor Hal. Hal invited us over for wine and cheese on Monday night - he had some opera friends coming over and wanted to just hang out for a while. Well, the NYC folks couldn't make it, but their loss was our (and our neighbors') gain. Wine and cheese turned into wine and dinner (HOMEMADE Eggplant Parmesan, with local tomatoes, eggplants, etc, wonderful broccoli, HOMEMADE garlic dressing on the fresh salad, and local bakery seven grain bread), which then turned into dessert (fresh peaches and local vanilla ice cream, doused in very strong rum), and then after dinner drinks (bourbon, anyone?). I think I'm in love with Hal. He sent us all home with leftovers, and they were even better the next day. When you knitta ladies are up in October, I truly hope you can meet our wonderful neighbor. He has such amazing stories, and he has The Smartest Dog Ever.

That's about enough for me now. I'm a long-winded soul tonight. This weekend is our General Montgomery Day celebration - there are sure to be plenty more stories, mostly about drinking and smoking cigars on the porch. And knitting, of course...

Just Knittin' Along...

I must admit, I'm a bit pleased. Even after taking out the foot rows I'd done and starting over with a smaller toe, I'm going faster than I thought I would. Ask me in a week when I have cracks in my fingers and no housework done...but for now all is well. Took the socks to a party last night - got a good bit done before it started getting dark. Although, I have to confess - there was one pattern row that I had to redo FOUR TIMES. Chalk it up to the 4+ beers I'd had. But I successfully tinked and got back on track...eventually. It was a k2p2 row for 2 needles, and I started just k all the way across. D'oh! Tink back. Thought I was at the 2nd needle, which starts as p2k2. Nope - I was at the first needle, and now totally off pattern. D'oh! Started with k2 then forgot about the pattern altogether. D'oh! You get the idea.

Of course, all this is going on with me just mumbling to myself, also participating in the conversation in Matt's backyard, all the while Joe leaning over and asking, "Did you have to frog it? Did you screw up?" what seemed like every 5 minutes.

Believe it or not, I didn't find any booboos when I saw the socks in the light of day this morning. Dobby evidently didn't either.

Had to go into the office around 9 but got back around 1. Yay! Tonight going over to Neighbor Hal's house for wine and cheese with his opera singer friends.

Hope you have had a lovely weekend, and I wish all of you productive knitting (except for Sharon, you speed demon, you...lol).

And...We're Off!!!

Thus begins the Snarktember Sock-a-long...

I woke up around 4am (for NO apparent reason) then stumbled downstairs for some premium knitting time. Started my first toe no problem (just needed a little tightening) and got a few rounds into the pattern before starting sock #2. This will be the first time I've done two at once, and I kinda like it. Of course, no early-morning knitting session would be complete without kitty entertainment. Dobby thought that the Snarkalong was worthy enough for sacrifice...Mousie #2007-06 is now resting in peace, but not before Dobbster kept following me with his mouth full, "Hey, Mom - look what I brung ya" or something to that effect.

This should be a productive weekend around the house (when I'm not knitting), finishing up with beer and swimming at Matt's house Sunday night, then me going into the office on Monday (yes, I get to work on Monday - joy).

Happy weekend, everyone!

Ahhhh...My Precious...

...aka The Post Of a Lunchtime Trip to The LYS for Some Decent US1 Circulars That Resulted In...

Yes...yes, ladies and gentlemen. I, Betharoopie, am now the proud owner of some addi Turbos (cue Brenda's pssshhaaaooowwwwnnnn sound effect here - for non-Cast-On-listeners, it's very lightsaber-y). Well, that and some more Mountain Colors sock yarn (Burgundy above, Deep Grape below - this pic does the colors absofrellinlutely no good). I'm hoping to make Joe some nice cabled socks that he will actually wear.

Of course, this is after the Snarktember Sockalong that starts THIS SATURDAY. I'm furiously trying out my new mad skillz (and addi Turbos...pssshhaaaooowwwwnnnn) so I can participate in this competition for the most righteous of handspuns!

Note to self: lay off the caffeine so late in the day...

ANSWERS!

Only because 8 people will never respond, and I have no patience...

1) TRUE - I have played piano since I can remember. I've played recitals, weddings (ach, if we hear Pachelbel's Canon one more time, Pammy!), receptions, graduations, judged competitions, etc. But I *HATE* playing in front of people. I always have. Most days I play when I'm alone now. I love it, but I hate it...

2) PARTIALLY TRUE - Everything about that statement was pretty much true except for dating Alan Jackson's nephew. I had a major crush on him, and I hung out with them a lot (there were a lot of GT boys I had the hots for, let me tell ya), but he never paid me no mind. Don't know why, though...I'm such a catch... ;)

3) TRUE - Yes, Eric - they scheduled SATs on a UGA home game day. I called Pam's parents, and Sherrie answered. I was so very happy to have someone rescue me. Yes, it was a boneheaded move on the part of the test folks. Let's hope they learned from their mistakes.

4) TRUE - Yes, I just about took home a stranded kitty from Arkansas. At the time, I was flying the corporate jet (sounds impressive, but it wasn't), and I was thinking of how I'd get her on the plane. Fortunately there was a cat rescue group in Ashley County, where I was working, and I found out later a former coworker adopter her. The kitten later died of a disease, but she was happy until her final days.

5) FALSE - I should have known you Athens gals would have known that. Our school did have a wall knocked down from a tornado, but I think it was a weekend, and it was a wall that did nothing but shield a parking lot and say "Barnett Shoals" on the side.

6) TRUE - My dad and I raised white wyandotte bantams early on, then after he retired from his "day job" he started with different breeds. Here's something I found just tonight - he wrote this about a year before he died. He'd won a few awards at the national level, and people paid for chicks from his top-winning birds - from all over the country. One of these days I might share what his dear "chicken buddy" friend wrote about him in the publications. He was something.

7) I did meet Joe in a bowling alley parking lot - somewhere near the Dollar Theater on Buford Hwy in Atlanta. I thought he looked like Mario from Nintendo, and I thought it was odd he brought his own ball and shoes. I was totally infatuated with his friend, Neil. I found out soon enough what a hound dog Neil was, and at the mutual birthday bash (me, Pete, and Joe), Joe showed up with a white stuffed elephant (after I'd mentioned that the way to a girl's heart is through cute stuffed animals) and a card with a trumpet-and-sax-and-trombone-playing rabbit that said "I have the hornies for you." Tim was our wonderful designated driver while Joe first hit on me, then I totally tumbled for him. The rest is history...er...until he passed out and gave us the BEST party photos ever. ;)

Well, that's it. Thanks for reading my self-indulgent tirade.

Eight Random Things

Okay - I'm stealing this (tewtally) from Mistress Snark, and here are the rules...

RULES: We have to post these rules before we give you the facts. Players start with 8 random facts/habits about themselves. People who are tagged need to write their own blog post about their eight things and post these rules. At the end of your post, you need to choose eight people who get tagged and list their names. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they are tagged.

Let's just say I don't think eight people even read this, so - for what it's worth - it's just "out there."

1) I began piano lessons when I was four. I continued until I was in my early teens, when my teacher recommended I try another teacher to learn more (better! faster!). I had another instructor until I went to college, then I studied for a few semesters with the music professor. While I rejoice in Chopin and Rachmaninoff when I'm alone, I can barely play Chopsticks in front of others.

2) When I was in college in Atlanta, some buddies of mine from high school (all boys) went to Georgia Tech, and we did a lot of things together our first few years. Someone's roommate or suite-mate was Alan Jackson's nephew, and I had a major crush on him. When my friends moved off-campus, he was their housemate, and I was over there a lot. There was much drinking and much fun to be had. I dated AJ's nephew once or twice, but it just didn't work out.

3) When I took the SATs, I drove to the UGA campus, parked in a perfectly legal parking zone, and proceeded to take the test. When I came out (many excruciating hours later), my car was blocked by MANY campers and RVs. It was Homecoming Game Day, and during football games most traffic laws in Athens were suspended. There was no way to get my car out. I begged the use of a tailgaiter's cell phone (they were big and expensive then) and called my friend's sister. My folks were out of town, and I don't remember where my friend was (probably taking the SATs as well), but her sister really saved me that day.

4) When I first started working full-time as an accountant, I traveled to Arkansas weekly for four months. One night, while picking up my takeout from the local restaurant, I saw some kids gathering near my car, laughing and throwing rocks. As I came closer, I realized they were torturing a kitten who was hiding near my front tire. I shooed away the kids, put the kitten in my rental car, drove to Wal-Mart for litter box, carrier, litter, and food, then sneaked into the side door of the hotel with the little sweetie. I kept her for a few days while trying to find a home for her - I ended up giving her to a local rescue group, and she was adopted by a friend/coworker there.

5) When I was eleven, our town was hit with a severe tornado one school day. I remember the sirens going off, the hands-on-back-of-head, kneeling position we all took under our desks. The freight train sound ripped through our cafeteria - just next to our classrooms in the fifth-grade wing. One janitor and two cafeteria workers were hurt very badly, but no children were injured. I still dream about the vibration of the walls and floors, all of us hiding underneath the desks and tables.

6) My father and I used to raise chickens "for show." At the time we had white wyandotte bantams, and they were such fun. I cleaned their feet and feathers, treated their beaks and combs for maximum sheen and color. We toured all over the southeast. When my father branched out into different breeds, he became nationally recognized for his chickens.

7) I met my husband in the parking lot of a bowling alley. I was living with my best friend's boyfriend, and he had a few classmates that wanted to join us one night. Joe had his own ball and shoes, and I was actually more impressed with his friend than I was with him. Mere weeks later, I was shown the light at my 21st birthday party, when Joe proceeded to hit on me with a vengeance. He passed out in our living room, but he made our 2nd date very memorable.

8) Of the above seven things, only five of them are true. One of them is partially true. One of them is an outright lie. Instead of tagging eight people, I’m going to ask you to guess in the comments about which ones are true, which one is partially true, and which one is completely false. After eight people have guessed, I’ll tell you which ones are which.

Secret's Out!

My Ravelry friends have already seen this, but due to my lazy ass not sending a simple package in the mail for almost a freakin' month, I've had to keep quiet about this post...

Ladies and Gentlemen - I now introduce to you....

HEDGIE MCFROGGERSON!!!! *

This little guy was created for my dear friend Jane who collects all things froggy. She is the reason behind the Adventure Frog pictures during our trip to San Francisco (a lovely traveling companion he was, I must add - didn't complain much and was good protection on the late-night subway, even though he was a bit of a ham). Knowing how shamefully prejudiced large groups of frogs can be, I knew Hedgie needed to be able to fit in. Like ET in the closet.

I think he'll do just fine, don't you?

Jane, Senor McFroggersons was sent with extra special hugs that he only gives out every so often. So whenever you need that little something, give Mr. Hedgie a squeeze and know it's from your friends.


* Middletown phone book not included

Drywall...and More Tomatoes!

Joe's been hard at work (like a mo-fo!), and this is starting to look like a freakin' bathroom, y'all!

Even though I haven't been able to help much with the installation (other than hefting the big pieces up over outlets and such), I do admit to much help carrying those bastards from the shop, to the porch, through the front door, to the upstairs den, through the currently-not-a-wall wall, into the bathroom. Props to Joe for working long days at the office only to come home to long days with endless drywall. My only hope (and prayer) is for a functional bathroom come October. It doesn't need a ceiling. It doesn't need paint. It needs a working toilet and shower. IN A MAJOR WAY.

On to other happy things...TOMATOES!

What you see here are tomatoes cooking (left), cooling (middle), and preparing to die (right). The majority of these toms are from LAST week - they lasted forever. I added a few weird ones (like the bazoomba yellow one on the right, as well as purples and greens) to make into sauce, because it just wasn't feasible that we'd eat them fresh anytime soon. I still have about 8 "sandwich type" tomatoes and a dozen golf-ball-sized ones ripening, and since we're having a wee block party this weekend, I thought I'd serve them then.

I kid you not. Our freezer is full. Tomatoes are taking over our home.