Smart Cookie

Mom, even though she claimed to not know what I was talking about in my last post, had a very good idea for Nablopomo. Instead of one theme, I'll have one theme for each day of the week! A rotating theme list. It sounds fun and organized. So we already have some good ideas, but I still need more to get seven! So far we have...

Maniac Monday: Talk about productive things I do (hopefully this will inspire me to actually do productive things so I can talk about them
Teaching Tuesday: School stuff
Wednesday:
Thursday:
Fibre Fridays: Fibre stuff
Spike Saturdays: Spike stories
Sappy Sundays: Using Julia's idea to talk about family... just tweaking it a little.

I need something for Wednesday and Thursday. Ideas?

Spike is exhausted by all this. It's hard being a kitty. I mean, today he got brushed AND he ran after treats. Tiring!

Isn't it hilarious that he uses the window ledge as a shelf for his cheek?

I Need a Theme for November

I'm doing nablopomo again and their theme is that there is no theme. Which is lame! I need a theme! Well, it's not lame. It's their call and all. But I need all of you to suggest some themes okay? Mom? Beetnsy? Alyria? Jenn? Ju? Hilary? Erin? Kipper? EVERYONE ELSE??? I had to stop linking. That just ate up some much time and I already started this blog post over an hour ago (two phone calls). I am imploring you to suggest something. I'm at my wits end. I do not have a single creative thought in my head right now.

I'm going to blame the frosted sugar cookies.

Switching things up now.

Remember how I said last post (you were paying attention right?) how my dear Jodi came up to visit? She's the one who got married in May. And holy crap I cannot find any blog posts related to that. Did I not blog about Jodi's wedding? AUGH!

And also, while looking I clicked on May 2008 instead of 2009 and came across the Mal posts and then went over to Jenn's blog and read the comments on this post and started to cry out of happiness. Yeah. It's now even longer since I started this post.

Okay... back on topic! Jodi came to see me! We did everything! We went to chocolate buffet with all our high school friends, and a dinner party with my new Vancouver friends, went shopping on Main where Jodi spent a lot of money, and ate some gosh darn good food all around. We also bought umbrellas which was appropriate since it POURED like crazy while she was here. Mine is a dark dark blue with light blue tulips on it and Jodi's umbrella is covered in frogs.


Here's Jodi all dressed up for the fancy dinner but it turned out you could go there in ratty jeans and a t-shirt with a wolf on it (not three wolves, but nevertheless). Ain't she a cutie? I am so putting wedding photos on here!
I took her to Solly's and forgot to tell her to ask for 'easy' cream cheese or this is what happens. Is there anyone who can eat the normal amount of cream cheese they put on their bagels?
We played a lot of games but at this point Spike decided that I wasn't allowed to play anymore since my pieces were sitting in the box, which was his rightful property.

He's always so happy when there is an extra lap around.

We had a great time. I've very blessed with my friends.

Speaking of friends... THEMES!!! Tell me what to do every day of November? Yes? Thank you.

I'm Spoiled Rotten

but seriously, I'd be happy with a hug. It's true! Mmmm... hugs. I love them. I love them so much that just last week I wasn't focusing and someone I love gave me a hug and it was so awesome I got pretty teary.

The other day I had an hour to kill at HMV before a dinner so I decided to start looking for Xmas presents. Besides finding out that DVD collections of TV shows from the 60-80s are freakishly expensive, I realized I needed to make a list for me because I wanted others to have made lists for themselves. I'm kinda tired so I don't care that my sentences are convoluted right now. I like to make my readers *work* for comprehension.

Anyhoo, here is a short list of xmas ideas (and I'm basically talking about my immediate family but it's always fun to share these things as well so you can say 'omzg I want that too!' next time you see me and then after Xmas you can ask to borrow it~ maybe). I'll link to it over there as well because I'll add as time goes on. I never remember everything.

Books:
*Amigurumi Knits
*Cat Bordhi's Sock Book
*The Yarn Harlots Never Not Knitting
*eta: Respect the Spindle by Abby Franquemont

Yarn:
*Socks That Rock
*SeeJayneKnit stitch markers
*Ugh... I cannot find a proper link for these but ThreeBagsFull is selling them~ the case of interchangeable hiya hiya needles.
*Subscription to Interweave Knits
*any yarn really

DVDS:
*Project Runway Season One
*Amercia's Next Top Model Season One

Other:
*Really nice pens
*Stationary that has matching envelopes
*Giant kitty scratching post
*Hand made ceramic mugs
*Cool printed fabric
*Neat pendants
*Big earrings
*DS games like Cooking Mama 3, Cake Mania, The New Super Mario Bros., or anyone that involves Spiderman.
*Boardgames to play with groups of people (things in a box is a good example)

Wheeeeee! And now you have to do it too. Thanks.

I hate it when that happens

It's like poor TV shows it doesn't matter. My expectations of Friends is pretty low so it's hard for them to piss me off enough that I'll stop watching because hey, it's not like I'm invested in the characters or that I'll be surprised if there's a major glitch or something. Whatever.

However, when it's a TV show you do like, the little things matter. So that's why I'm not going to even bother finished the first disc of the second season of Ugly Betty. I loved Season one so much. Everything about it~ the characters, the relationships, the story lines, the colours, the sets... but the end of the season you started to see some cracks... mostly an overdone story line with waaaay too much going on but you know, you dealt. A lot does happen but it made it fun. It got a little annoying. It made you say 'huh' and not a good 'huh'. But anyhoo, I just watched the first season again with my friend Jodi (I have pictures of our bloody fantastic four days together (why hello chocolate buffet) but that'll be another post). We decided last night to get the first disc of season two.

Bah. I mean, outside of an even weirder storyline and the introduction of pretty useless new characters, and carrying on storylines that annoyed me in the first place... what the hell is with Betty's moral conscious? With Buffy you could see her struggle to make her decisions and when she messed up they were believeable mess-ups that were consistent with her character. And she was so moral and awesome! I have the book to prove it! But Betty! AUGH!!!!!

She is supposedly so so so moral but she does horrible things for her job, which in the second season includes breaking and entering in order to steal something for her boss! But this is the kicker... she's supposedly so moral that she gets all *dramatic* when she has to choose between telling her boss that Wilamena is having an affair and HER FATHER GETTING A VISA FOR AMERICA. Oh I'm sorry but what? How is that even remotely the same page? Her father is stuck in Mexico and wants to come home and Wilemena is all like 'don't say anything and he'll be back in three days' and Betty is confused? I think that's pretty stupid.

The killer though was when Betty stands in front of her writing class, and despite all ready having a bachelors or something from a college, she plagurizes a story! Everyone knows how horrible that is, and even if you don't think it's horrible, you certaintly don't do it in a way where you are certain to be caught! And we're suppose to believe she's this moral person? I turned it off. I could not take another episode of Betty's inconsistent angst.

And now I'm ticked because I liked that show!

This is for everyone who wonders what I do at my knitting group on Thursday nights. We play 'Dress Up the Nellum'.
It's a good time. Come join us and maybe we'll do the same to you. If you're lucky.

Yeah that last entry was kinda depressing

So here's a happy one! Mostly pictures because I could actually go on about how hard it is to come home sometimes after the holidays. Frankly I think there is a big strip of BC that could be moved elsewhere so the lower mainland and the Okanagan were a lot closer together.

Anyhoo...

here's Malcolm playing with the wooden pots and pans I bought him. He is so smart. Look at that baby. This is just him playing~ no prompting whatsoever. I know. I know.




Thanksgiving lunch! Here's my adorable Grandma...
my Uncle Ray and my Grandpa (my camera asked me...'did someone blink?' after I took this shot which was hilarious! Didn't even know it could do that.)...
Dad's birthday cake!
An impromptu family photo missing some people but hey... baby belly!
And this shot is hilarious because Grandma is teeny and she got two pieces of dessert which meant I had to help her out. Hard job.
Malcolm had a very busy weekend so he took some crash naps here and there.
Oh and on Sunday we went hiking! Well, more of a trail but it was very enjoyable.





There were more pictures (many more of Mal too imagine that). Some things I didn't capture was Julia, Jason, Dad and I shopping for his birthday present at the mall, Mom making the most awesome dairy-free beef strongonoff (how do you spell that?) ever, going yarn shopping with Mom and having a totally incompetent sales lady who didn't know yarn and then charged us for three imaginary 10$ skeins of yarns, visiting friends of the family on their GORGEOUS land on the outskirts of town, Jodi and I talking Mal for a nice long walk, and then walking home after we couldn't figure out how to get the stroller and us in the car, hanging out at Jim and Jenns, and all those good times.
Hope you had an equally freaking awesome long weekend as well. Super hugs!

Stoopid

I still, despite being lactose intolerant for three years, am amazed how food can impact my emotions and feelings. It's so bizarre that eating can alter how I feel about me.

For instance, today I have had chocolate cake (there was a birthday in my K class), cheese and broccoli bites, and then for dinner I had a vegetarian monte-cristo (cheese and egg). And now? Now I feel horrid.

I am going to be alone forever because I am unlovable. I hate everything I have knit. I am too incompetent to teach. I can't make unit plans. I am unhealthy. I have stoopid hair. I blah blah blah blah. All of these things are untrue and just all around really ignorant thoughts of me to have but never the less, here I am! Sitting on my couch~ berating myself over the stupidest of things. I also decided my toenails are ugly and I'm a bad person for not hemming my jeans. Seriously. I nearly made myself cry when I realized I hadn't unplugged my phone charger from yesterday because I was a bad environmentalist.

How it is that this is because of dairy? How can one thing make me so unreasonable and lame? I always heard people talk about the connection between food and, well, everything, but I still get blown away by how powerful that connection can be. That food can impact who you are. Freaky.

In order to get out of my funk I'm going to go to knitting and hope my friends don't make me leave for being a poo. And I brushed the Spike until he decided it was time to bite me. And I'm going to eat a banana to try to counteract some of this bad dairy mojo.

Oh the Evil Spikester.

Why Hi Everybody!

I had a very busy day yesterday- saw Kipper, Nina, Ryan, Tracy, Essie, Jenn, Sara, Christina, Caitlin, Julia, Ryan, Jess, and Lisa. Not all at once of course. I was out of the house from 8am to 11pm. I bought a nice bag of veggies from the market (and of course another brownie from Veganmania). I played cards, had bubble tea, bought some yarn, and got lots of hugs. It's all good.

Otherwise than that I started teaching this week. My job is super hard and teachers are under appreciated but I wouldn't trade it for anything. It's where I want to be.

And here are some fuzzy pictures of the Beast which felted Like A Dream. No struggles, no pulling, no hand-felting~ just popped it in a pillow case, threw it in a top loader with a few towels (they did get a colour change), and without knowingly had it on delicate. Regardless, perfection! I have some beautiful pink satin/silk to line it but I couldn't photograph the colour in my night-time apartment. Try again soon. I also can't seem to find bag feet. Stupid fabricland. I will try to get some better photos right soon.

The front (which kinda is that fuzzy):
The side (those are the loops for the handles fyi) (aka: Yarnpiggy's Pasties):
The inside (knitting the fair isle loose paid off nicely):I'm pretty sure the Beast could hold water and withstand a grizzly attack.
I don't know about you but I'm going to bed.

Sweet dreams!

I fell down in a bookstore

So~ you think this is an ordinary table?
BUT YOU'RE WRONG!!!

From top left clockwise ...

All The World by Liz Scanlon (beautiful and good for all grades)

Can You Say Peace? by Karen Katz (awesome activities could be done with this book)

The Peace Book by Todd Parr (you can't help but tilt your head to the side and say 'nnt' when reading this) (nnt being the sound that you make when you click your tongue off the back of your front teeth)

Peaceful Heroes by Jonah Winter (older students for sure but a great mix of everyone being heroes from all over for all different causes)

The Lion and the Mouse illustrated by Jerry Pinkney (o.m.g.)

Shades of People by Sheila Kelly and Shelly Rotner (freaking kick ass photographs)

Bears on Chairs by Shirley Parenteau (I need to find bears so this can be acted out while read) (like I need to find these bears tomorrow)

They are for two different units on Peace~ primary (general) and intermediate (social justice/fine arts).

If all goes well, I hope that Bears on Chairs will have a special place in my heart. I'm really hoping that it will be the first book I read to kindergartners on their first day of school. Is that epic or WHAT?!??!

Artwork

Finished knitting the beast. All in all it didn't take that long~ I think if I had stuck to it it would have only taken two weeks. Big needles and holding two strands of cascade makes knitting FLY! The bag is huge and I take it for a proper felting on Monday.

I really hope that I stick to finishing this bag and not just let it languish now that I'm done knitting. It needs a lot of work still: felting, plastic canvas along the bottom, bag feet, lining, zipper, and handles.

Good thing it's pretty.
In other news, here's my friend Kat!
Oh no! Where did she go?!?!?!?!
I think one of the reasons I like fair isle is because it reminds me of tattoos and the such. Especially the beast. Wouldn't that design be awesome as a sleeve tattoo? I know right?

This is my latest one. It's a little impulsive but I just needed to get something done while waiting for the planned tattoo. It's also only 24 hours old as of right now. It's on my right hip and is much smaller than this photo makes it out to be. I like to explain most of my tattoos~ I talk and talk about their meaning and what they represent but this one is pretty self-explanatory.

The Summer is Closing Down

I'm in denial but a friend brought that up today. Booger. I enjoy (kinda) not knowing what day of the week it is. I'm soaking it all in~ taking long walks along the water, going to markets, painting and knitting, pretending I have money... it's all good.

I had a sad day today for a bit so I'm focused on the calming and, forgive the word, charmed things in my life right now.

I have an amazing family (friends included in this definition). Everyone wave at Sheena. She's the one who inspired me to paint again. Three cheers!
And see that wine we're drinking? Remember how I didn't buy any yarn at Gibsons? Remember this? That explains the 'I've Got Sunshine' from SeeJayneKnit. I've got mighty fine taste under the influence it would seem. The other yarn is the Yarntini from Sweet Shop that Meg stole from me so I had to go buy some. Yarn is happy and makes me stretch my toes in glee.
And I've got this cute cat guy here.

Gibson's Landing

Ah... I am sleep deprived still but what a fun time. Let's see here....

proof that I got up at 5 so I was downtown by 6 to catch the bus to catch the ferry. I don't know why I thought I had to be there so early. I think because I was paying to stay at a hotel I figured I should get as much as possible out of the trip. I'm glad I did.

One good shot of the ferry coming in. Thankfully I still like ferries. I had a less than pleasant time getting off this ferry. Turns out at Langdale you walk off a car level because they have no passenger walkway. I've always thought that under no circumstances should you get off on a car level~ like ever! So anyhoo I was lost on the ferry and a very nice woman told me I had to go down to level 2 (and I was like that's a CAR level and she said that's okay) so by the time I got down there I was the last person and the man yelled at me to hurry up cause all the cars had to wait for me. Thankfully I wasn't far behind everyone else but still. AUGH. I was worried that I hadn't been listening properly or something but I listened really hard on the way back and frankly you cannot hear the announcer properly through no fault of your own. The ferry is too loud to hear instructions so I stick my tongue out at them.
:P

Anyhoo I got to Gibsons and after a loop de loop bus ride got to the high school which made me very happy. I was super early but I made myself at home at a starbucks (Tim Horton's coffee? Oxymoron right there).
Afterwards I returned and spent a long time in the exhibition part which was amazing. I kept asking if I could take photos and the volunteers would nicely point to the signs that said 'no photography' and I would say 'I know but please?'. What amazing items. The quilts were to die for! And also... turns out there are two types of rug hooking. Michael's rug hooking and rug hooking that is awesome. I can't show you any photos of the awesome rug hooking but trust me. It's like... folded strips of long skinny fabric. So amazing.

After that I went over to the market which rocked my socks off. I had a brief and messy love affair with a Ladybug wheel but due to budget constraints and some issues with pedals I decided against. I solaced my broken heart with a turkish drop spindle and some fleece (80% BFL (heehee) and 20% silk~ I think). I spun while waiting for my friend Lara to arrive. I'm glad I didn't get the ladybug because I am now all over this. I want it. I will have one. When I have money. Oh it will be mine.

I also tried to figure out a way to get this table of Kauni home without the merchant seeing me. Lara arrived and Gibson's got even more fun! We even got to hang out with YarnPiggy and my friend Janet as well. I made lots of friends of all ages and sorts. Simone is a lovely young eight year old who just 'knew how to knit' and Doreen is a lovely older woman who spun paper and wove it into a purse. I know!

Lara is the most amazing crocheter and here she is displaying just one of her creations. This is crocheted! CROCHET!!!!
Do you see that camera too? I know. I know.

The following day Lara and I explored Gibson's Landing some more. I'm not overly familiar with BeachCombers but for all of you who are, here you go. We also went to an awesome bakery called WheatBerries and lots of other fun beautiful places.


The ferry ride home I braved the upper deck to get some nice photos and then quickly went back down since we all know how I feel about heights and water. Lara and I were pretty zonked by that point but it was a quick ferry ride home and we got the express bus into Vancouver. I never put my drop spindle down and actually had enough yarn to pull it off and test the handiness of a turkish drop spindle Saturday evening. Isn't that neat? A ready made ball when you are done.

And this is the other purchase made on Saturday... crochet thread! It's colour fast varigated #12 crochet thread from Romania. Very exciting. I'll post soon what I'm hoping to get done with it. Jenn... you may need to get me some more (Kelowna store). And for those of you observant enough to notice... I didn't get any knitting yarn! I know! Craziness. Well, hopefully I will be able to share with you why I did not get any knitting yarn while at Gibsons.

In other news, I'm going to bed.