Blue Moon

Just for Kate!  (Even though it is very, very cold out there!)

A Very White Christmas!

Hope everyone has had a safe and happy holiday!

It's Business Time!

Yes, here I am stealing Flight of the Conchords song titles now.  Check out my new business cards!

The color isn't quite right, but you get the idea anyway.  I'd forgotten that I'd ordered them, so it was a nice surprise when I came home from work today!  (I also got a Vogue--by the way, who subscribed me to Vogue?!--and a toy racing trailer from my job.  No cab, just the trailer!  They always send the oddest gifts for holidays!)

Oh Christmas Tree!

 

Our tree is finally not only in the house, but decorated!  My mom wanted to do a red, white and metallic color scheme this year--colors we have plenty of. 
One of my favorite ornaments is the one pictured on the right.  (Hard to see it, but it's got red reindeer on it.  It's from an antique shop in Ottumwa.)

Currently

Also, I am wresting with a hank of yarn.  The second for the day that I have managed to turn into a completely tangled disaster.  That is 137 yards of wool x 2.  I don't know how I do it!
I am grateful, at least, that it finally got delivered today.  I like KnitPicks' selection, but they sure aren't quick about getting orders out.

The Forest for the Trees

How do you like my new bundt pan?  Hy-Vee sends out their magazine Seasons, and in the most recent issue was a cake made using this pan.  I think it's a pretty fantastic idea, and so I had to of course by the pan for it while I was at the store today!  I'm pretty excited about baking a couple of cakes this Christmas. 

(Today I also bought a couple of things while out at an antique shop with my mom: a medium-sized, green kerosene lantern, and a Buzzy Bee!  The lantern I suppose I will add to my collection of tin candle lanterns, but I don't really have a specific plan for the Buzzy Bee...I was really just surprised to have stumbled upon it!)

Mostly though?  I'm just very glad that Black Friday is over and done with! 

Bibliophiles Anonymous

Spoils from the book fair today.  Filling a bag was $3.

There's some good stuff in there too: mostly mysteries (P.D. James was abundant today), an A.S. Byatt novel, Sophie's World, a few from the Russians, The Bone People by Keri Hulme (probably the first New Zealand novel I ever read), a copy of Kon-Tiki (which has spent a year on my Amazon wishlist), and some English major nerd stuff.  Like a very lovely looking copy of Joyce's Ulysses that I will most likely never, ever in a thousand years even try to read.  I went a little nuts.  Between my mom and I, we got three bags full.  So now my room looks like this:

Most of the books on the middle shelf I have not yet read.  Same with the small pile next to my bed.  Oh, and there are still several boxes of books in our garage I need to go through.

I think it's safe to say I should stay away from bookstores until, oh, several years from now!

A man walks down the street in that hat, people know he's not afraid of anything.

Cunning, ain't it?

Two down, one to go!  Already considering yarns and patterns for my next project.  Especially after I realized that each hat took me only a few hours of actual knitting...not that you can tell, being I started these in January and all!

New Frames

Never had frames with an authenticity certification card before.

Finished!

One cunning hat down, two to go! 
I'd take a photo, but my camera has not magically decided to start working yet.  And...I still have not done anything to rectify the situation.

I have at least worked on some other projects, as you can see!

Things Recently Found Online

After reading this article, and mourning the fact that my beloved Kashi is actually owned by Kellogg's, it's nice to know that there are things like this to cheer me up:

From this Etsy store.  I admire the effort put into painting them, but really?  Edward and Bella painted on shoes?  What a waste of a decent pair of shoes!  At least they aren't Converse like some of the others.  Yes, there are others.
Oh, so I bought some New Moon chocolate.  Yeah.  Shall we talk about that, please? 

Another Saturday Night

Frames search is going successfully online.  Locally?  Not really.  I like a lot of frames from different designers, but the place I have to go for my exam carries a very slim selection.  And unlike the place in Ottumwa, I apparently can't get them to order demos in for me to try.  So...I'm not entirely sure where to go from here yet.  Unless someone knows of a frame site that will let you order and then return just frames?

I "found" a number of photos on my computer from Australia that are awesome.  I am in love with the top one quite a bit for some reason.

Devonport, Tasmania.  It's a drive-in booze shop.

Cradle Mountain National Park, Tasmania.  Tasmania has 19 of Australia's National Parks, amounting to about 21% of the island's land.  If it hadn't been such a dreary day, maybe I'd have better photos of the mountain itself.

This one is actually New Zealand.  I may have posted it before, but it's sort of awesome.  Taken in the Catlins, South Island.

Going to order more prints tomorrow, just trying to find a new site.  I have no beef with Snapfish, but if I can pay about the same amount and have them printed by a company dedicated to professional printing, well, I think that's a no-brainer.

Feeling Lucky

Wow, I have health insurance!  I think it just kicked in how awesome that is to have after five years. 

Hopefully I will still feel so lucky in a few weeks.  I made an appointment finally to get my eyes checked.  It's been a couple of years, and I've been putting it off.  But when you have to hold things about six inches from your face to read them, it's usually a sign you need to give in and go.  My insurance company said they would cover the exam as part of the preventative portion of my insurance, and I can get discounts on frames and contacts.  (Crossing my fingers I don't get some random bill after them telling me this information...don't feel particularly trusting of insurance companies.)  I like this.  But now I have a couple of weeks to look online for frames I might want to try, and I'm not sure what I want.  I liked my Kate Spade frames I had before (even though they were too big and always sliding down my nose), but I have such a hard time finding stuff that'll look okay with my face.  (Interestingly enough, the frames I have now came from Wal-Mart.  I'm not sure where that fits in with this, but I just felt like throwing that tidbit of information out into the void!)

If anyone feels like sending some ideas my way, I will love you forever if I already don't!

Click Click

Have not yet tried looking into getting my camera fixed.  Instead, I went onto eBay to look at Holgas and TLRs.  Because another film camera will help me with my digital issue, of course!  I do not know where I've stored my old camera either, so I have not been taking any new photos.  I'm definitely a little frustrated.  I think I'm too hard on my cameras.

I finally got out my knitting yesterday, and decided to give the ol' earflaps a go on the Cunning Hats I started way back in January.  Except that I don't have straight needles, so instead, I am using some of my extra yarn (of which there is a lot) to start a new sunshine-y hat.  If anyone has been looking for a super-soft woolen yellow, orange, and red hat of a basic design...let's talk.  I think I can help you.

An Awful Lot of Rambling

I've been back a few days now from my latest excursion out east.  It was so lovely!  Laura's wedding was so beautiful and so very them, it was wonderful!  And a fantastic excuse to see everyone again!  I had a fabulous time.  Though, I'm disappointed that my camera decided to malfunction that afternoon.  (Speaking of, this afternoon I considered just saying "arvo" from now on, just because!)

I also spent a couple of days in D.C., staying with my cousin Ben and visited what museums I was able to fit in.  I feel as though I could have spent several more days there, but I did enjoy what I was able to see.  The William Eggleston exhibit at the Corcoran was so inspiring, and the Alan Bean paintings at the Air and Space Museum were really fantastic.  (And I saw my cousin Margaret, who lives in Boston, at the latter--and she was there with her nephew, Angus.  From Melbourne.  Talk about a Small World encounter!)  I also went to the International Spy Museum.  At first, I wasn't sure that it was worth the $18 I spent on admission, but after three hours of spy-related entertainment/history/etc., I don't have any regrets about it.  Don't worry though, I have not developed a desire to ever be a spy!

Flew/drove home on Wednesday, and then Thursday was my birthday.  I've been preparing myself for 28 for a few weeks now, so it wasn't such a shock.  I've never been apprehensive about going up a year, but this number was a bit intimidating somehow.  It was a good day though, did an awful lot of nothing, and then for dinner a few of my friends joined in the traditional lasagna and German chocolate cake meal. 

Now I'm back at work (yuck), and getting all sorts of excited for the Ken Burns National Parks films.  I'm prepping myself by watching the Discovery Channel's Wild Pacific series I recorded ages ago*.  Did you know there is a millipede in Fiji that can grow up to a foot long?  This makes me slightly less sad that I never made it there.  Gross.  (They talked about these right after eels, so that was not a good episode for me!)

One of the few photos I was able to take before my camera decided to do whatever it's doing.  The Howard Johnson may not have been great, but at least we weren't staying at the "M T  "!

*Which, you know I only did because there would be references to New Zealand, right?  Although in the end, it was only Kaikoura.  Beautiful Kaikoura, I wish I had spent more than one night there!

Really Greater! Really Better! Oh, What a Fair!

It's the Clay County Fair!  I've already gone once yesterday afternoon, and I'm going to go again tomorrow morning with Whitney.  It's exciting stuff!  Fried foods, people selling farming implements and made for TV goods, midway rides and animals.  And of course, ribbons!  Three blue, a red and a white if you're me.  (That's all five of my photos with one!)

There's also a 1930s race car with the fair museum, and since it's the Parker, my mom did a lot of work.  Which means I've been hearing a lot about it for some time now.

 And of course, the midway at night!

Tomorrow afternoon after I leave the fair, I'm headed to Omaha where I'll fly out to DC for Laura's wedding.  Not sure what I'll do with my few free days afterwards yet, but I'm so very, very glad to have eleven, yes eleven, days off work!

Busy Little Bee

Last weekend was Laura's bachelorette weekend in Minneapolis.  There were eight of us Cornellians, and it was so much fun!  It was like old times, but with more reminiscing and less alcohol.  And the best part is that it won't be that long until we see each other again.  Laura's wedding is only in two weeks from today!

As I was driving home, I called to let them know when I'd get in.  My mom informed me that my sister had decided (at 2:30 that morning) to drive back from Tulsa for a week.  So she's been here, and when neither one of us is working we've been hanging out.  On top of that, I've been trying to finalize travel plans (so tricky, and not even close to finished), work on my program for Kiwanis that was this last Wednesday, and this morning was spent getting some photos ready to enter in the photography competition at the Clay County Fair.

Deep breath!

On top of that I've been doing my usual 40-ish hours of work.  Work has been awful recently.  It's been so slow, and it seems like the few people who do come into the store are far more rude and unpleasant than usual.  And I'm not just imagining it, I took a poll yesterday of a few other people in other areas: we all agreed.  

I'm so grateful for this weekend off.

Townhall Meeting or: Who Let Out the Crazy?

Today Grassley had a town hall meeting at the courthouse.  I met Jon there.

This man went on for probably ten minutes before getting told to stop.  His topic of conversation?  I don't actually know.  There was a call to see Obama's birth certificate, and something about Obama having czars?  As long as I'm not the only one who didn't know what he was talking about...

There were lots of signs and flags present.

And this man gave a lot of non-answers and left me feeling as though I had wasted an hour of my time.  I wasn't surprised, but still disappointed.  Also in the lack of variety in question/statements in both subect matter and viewpoint.

Back Home

And back at work, unfortunately.  I'm really regretting not taking Friday off, especially after Thursday was such a long, and awful day.

The wedding was beautiful, it was great to see my Cornell friends again, and New York was great too.  Even though it was so hot and humid, I had a nice time exploring some new neighborhoods and spending time with Laura. 

Best Brooklyn sight:

Someone misses their forest friends, methinks!

Better than raspberries!

The first red tomato from our garden!

I still can't find my hat, though.

Yesterday there was an art fair up in Arnold's Park that my mom was participating in.  I love art fairs!  I particularly love the ones where I find a) not only things that I like but b) things that I can afford.  I love owning something that is handmade and totally unique, and knowing that it handmade and totally unique.  I ended up finding a print by this guy that I loved and bought (it's not in the gallery though, sorry) and a necklace by this woman--see the photo below:

<Rant>I was minding my mom's booth a couple of times, and once the woman in the next booth over came by to see how it was going.  I said she hadn't sold anything yet, the people seem to always want to buy less expensive stuff, like jewelry.  (Although to be honest, most of the jewelry at places like this I don't like.  It seems as though while people understand the theory behind jewelry making, they lack the creative abilities to put together something new and visually interesting, without being either over- or underwhelming.  I digress!)  Anyway, this woman, who sells jewelry, commented that people sometimes don't even want to spend $14 on a piece that she's spent two hours making.  Minus the cost of materials and such, she's making less than minimum wage on a piece like that!  I don't think people fully understand or appreciate this sometimes.   </Rant>.

In other news, I am apparently speaking at Kiwanis next month about New Zealand.  Never mind that public speaking of any sort is high on my list of "I don't think so!", I still have not copied most of my photos from the DVDs they are on to some sort of format that I can access.  I have a month to do this, and to figure out what exactly I am going to say.  I guess this is good, as I need some sort of impetus to order some new prints and get things framed.  This is bad, because I hate standing in front of a group of people and talking about stuff.  Also, if you have not yet visited my sister's blog about her ceramics, I urge you to do so!  She's working on some really neat stuff!

Works-in-Clay

My sister started a new blog about her ceramics.  I know some of you have seen her work before, and might appreciate seeing what she's been working on!

Another Outing.

Today we took the canoe out.  You know, the 80ish pound one, the one that is so much fun to carry.  I'm going to have bruises on my legs from trying to carry the stupid thing.

This afternoon turned rainy and grey.  My dad and I went to a Chinese restaurant in town, and I had wonton soup and tea.  It reminded me of being in Ketchikan, and going with one of the guys from the cannery to a Chinese place on Creek Street.  I kind of miss that place, and I kind of wish I'd been able to go back this summer.  I suppose there is always next summer, though.

Lots to do on my list, not getting much done.  My days off always go by far too quickly!

Free Time

Went kayaking with my dad yesterday.
I'd been looking forward to this weekend since my last weekend off, basically.  And of course, it went by way too fast.

Midnight Showing

Going to see Harry Potter at midnight tonight with some friends.  After the Transformers debacle where, at a quarter till, there almost no tickets left, we ordered them online this time round.  Good thing too, the first theatre was already full at about 5pm.

My only hope is that after six days of work & associated stress I can stay awake long enough!

A Weekend Away

Fourth of July up in Minneapolis:

Jenn and I on the light rail.  The first time, anyway!

The landmark Spoonbridge and Cherry, framed view.

Watching about two dozen fireworks shows from the Mall of America parking ramp.

It was a nice weekend off, if you forget the fact that I can't go anywhere without getting lost.  It was far too short though, I'm looking forward to a longer break in the next month or so.  And preferably one that doesn't involve me trying to drive anywhere or play tour guide!

Work has been work...which is to say full of crazy, rumors and drama.  Always a good time.

Homegrown

Strange Times

What a weird week this last one has been.  Besides the rising number of celebrity deaths, I mean.  Among other things, it seems like it went by really fast, and the last few days I've been stuck on "Thursday" at work.  (And today it was Tuesday, I'm not sure why that is.)  On last actual Tuesday, I hit my head at work.  Yeah, I know, I've got talent.  (I've had workman's comp three separate times now.)  There's nothing wrong with my noggin' that wasn't wrong before, but I may continue to have headaches for a few more days.

I've been a little bit more social than usual, too.  Tuesday night (with a giant lump on my head) I went to the midnight showing of Transformers with TJ.  At a quarter til, both theatres were bascially full, so we didn't sit next to each other.  Probably to his relief, as I had never seen anything Transformers-related before and would have been very, very tempted to ask questions!  And if I did, he would have been very, very tempted to strangle me.  Thursday night I hung out with Whitney, wearing old dresses and taking photos.  (An activity that shall be repeated in the future, much to my enjoyment!)

This coming weekend, I'll be up in Minneapolis with my friend Jenn celebrating my first fourth of July in about four years.  I have no idea what we are doing yet, but I'm sure it will be entertaining!  If nothing else, I can spend the entire weekend listening to a Canadian making fun of me for being American.  On, you know, an American holiday.

New Meaning to "Moving House"!

Um, Hi!

I guess I must've been busy or something, because I haven't written anything recently.  I feel as though I spend all of my time at work.  Not true, but I don't do much else.  Last Friday, I hung out with Whitney again and we rode bikes around town.  It was like being a kid again, just going wherever we felt like, stopping to take photos of random things.  She had fun too, and I think we will probably do more of that!  She is also a knitting Browncoat, and I'm going to teach her to use circular needles so that she can knit her own Cunning Hat.  Meanwhile, I promise, I will finish mine that I've started!

This weekend was Flagfest, but I had to work so I missed most of it.  Saw part of the parade (a benefit to living where we do, I guess) and persuaded Ryan to let me leave for a little bit on Sunday so that I could go to Living History day at the Parker Museum, so I don't feel as like I missed much. 

And I have some fun stuff to look forward to.  In addition to everything else planned for the summer, my friend Jenn called me today and is hoping to fly down over the 4th of July weekend.  (I'm going to spend my first Fourth in four years with Canadians--nice!)  I just wish that it would warm up and that the sun would come out more often!

In the WIld

I suppose that "wild" is relative and Iowa may not qualify quite so much!

Grass at Kettleson Hogsback, near Spirit Lake.

Whitney, hunting for mushrooms outside of Peterson.  We didn't last long, and she's making this face because of all the itch weed she just walked through.  We didn't find any morels either.  Plus, there were tons of bugs flying around our heads.

I had a dream.

Last night I dreamt that some more of my hair turned gray and I had a streak of it.  And I was happy, because then people stopped thinking I was 18 (or younger, apparently) and took me a little more seriously.

Live Long and Prosper: The Party Version!

My sister left to move to Tulsa on Monday, but before she did, there was a going away party for her.  It was mostly people that she worked with, but it was at Melanie and Stephan's house, so I went to.  It was fun.  Cake, drinks, Rock Band...

 

Stephanie with her cake, which you will note, does not say "Get Trek".

 

Melanie making a very delicious Rhubarb & Rosemary daiquiri.  I have the recipe!

Stephan drumming away.

I'm sure that Stephanie will like Tulsa, but it sure is different without her here!

Live Long and Prosper

These are some of the people I hung out with in high school.  I don't know if you can tell this, but uh, we like Star Trek.  Just a little bit*.  (Speaking of, went for the third time last night.  Srsly.  I'm done for now, I think!)

Other things that have been/are happening around here:
My brother now has his bachelor's degree in Chemistry.  He's still at school, doing another year getting an education master's.
Bought my mom some plants at Menards and helped her plant them on Sunday for Mother's Day.  It's not really my garden, but I'm excited anyway!
My sister is moving to Tulsa next week.  I'm happy for her to be doing something new, but sad because I'm going to miss her.  I will have to start getting various co-workers of mine to hang out with me.

I like this photo I took of Sky, with her Monocle!

*Note that Stephanie and I are wearing her ST necklaces: she's got the Enterprise, I've got on a phaser.