go. to. sleep.

tonight was one of those nights when i had a billion things to do and the girls would NOT go to sleep. they were both soooo tired, but kept coming up with excuses to get out of bed and shout something at me down the stairs.

my newest tactic is to keep telling them i'll be up as soon as i finish XXX, but they need to be in bed for me to start the clock, as it were. tonight i only had to do it once, but i have had a few nights where it went on and on and on and on...

i am a yarn ho.

yes, i did place an yarn order. now begins the game of trying to get home before brian to sneak it into the house. shhhh...don't tell. and let me tell you that usps tracking numbers are useless.

i went to a new yarn store in the area today-what a disappointment! i was hoping for some cool stuff that i can only find on the internet, what i got was not much of anything, and what was there wasn't too impressive. it made me think that i am a yarn snob, but the truth is, i would rather spend a little more to get something nice then fart around with crappy yarn.

geeking out on knitting talk

i am dangerously close to ordering some yarn from this cool new yarn site, one planet yarn and fiber. they've got some great stuff and reasonable prices PLUS they just sent me a discount code. DANGER DANGER WILL ROBINSON! i'm supposed to be working from my stash at the moment, but i ask you, how can i pass up 900 yards of lace weight merino for only $16?

in other knitting news, i'm at the heel of rory's second sock. those kid socks certainly go quickly. i've been bringing them to dartmouth hockey games as something to work on. alix's pair will be even faster since her feet are smaller. then i hope to try and finish a pair of socks for me, currently languishing at the toe decreases of the first sock. problem is, these socks will be hand wash only, and i'm jonesing to make myself another pair that i can throw in the washer.

more rain? really?

we've had one little bit of snow earlier in the month, but mostly rain. and rain is predicted for later this week around these parts. at this point, i WANT the snow-it always makes everything so pretty-november is a fairly brown month outside.

the ground is definitely frozen, so it should stick when it finally comes, but who knows when it will come...

i've created a monster

brian is being a TOTAL computer hog lately. not usually something he will do but here it is nearly 6:30 pm and this is the first itme i've been allowed on the computer today. i was going to try and get some work done today but i don't know if i have it in me at this point. i'm *this close* to popping a video in this baby and grabbing my knitting.

third strike

i forgot AGAIN! well, actually, i remembered at about 1 am this morning that i forgot to post yesterday. oh well. at least i'm remembering that i'm forgetting.

posting (almost) every day has made me think about it a lot more-i don't have to make some beautiful witty lengthy piece. a line or two or a picture will do.

plus the problem is that brian has been a computer hog lately. we downloaded adobe photoshop one month trial so he could try it out for something and now i think he;s trying to finish the whole thing before the trial runs out so he/we don't have to buy the whole full version. even tho we can get it for fairly cheap through the college. whatever.

okay, going to try and do some work for a bit now that i've got the computer to myself!

date night

brian's out with rory at a hockey game, alix and i are having fun with the computer and about to go upstairs to watch cinderella. hope you're having a fun night too!

be thankful

i am thankful for my life, and my family, through good times and bad.

enjoy your day, whether or not it's a holiday for you and be thankful.

al little more about drinking the kool aid

the responses i get after telling people that we bought a minivan have pretty much fallen into 2 categories:

those that say "you didn't seem like minivan kind of people"

and

those that say "yeah, i resisted for a long time too and now i don't know how i got along without it"

the minivan is surprisingly manuverable and when i went to get groceries today, it was sheer joy to be able to press a button on the remote and have the door open on its own.

every time i lock the doors with the remote, i think of a scene from six feet under in which david and keith are talking about how they first noticed one another and david says something like "i loved the way you locked your car door with the remote looking so tough like 'fuck you car! you're locked!'"

oops i did it again

forgot to post yesterday. mondays used to be a day for catch up and now they are a day for chaos. i have to say, i've been doing much better with the posting every day than i thought i would!

we drank the kool-aid and bought a minivan yesterday. we are now the proud owners of a dark grey green 2003 honda odyssey. the kids are BESIDE themselves. pictures to come

on top of that, i was trying to organize the thanksgiving dinner thing a bit. figure out who's bringing what and what i need to buy at the store today so i don't have to go back tomorrow ro make an emergency run to dan and whit's on thursday morning. and make a schedule of cooking and baking so i can get everything done on time and on the table while it's still warm. i can tell you i will be sending brian to paly hockey that day because otherwise he will probably drive me nuts.

hood ornament

burgundy region, france, sept 2007

one more thing

self portrait (pre-blackeye), ligny-le-chatel, france. sept 2007

a few random things

six feet under is totally addictive.

it's clementine season-get ready for the post holidays scurvy.

single malt scotch is good.

laundry never ends.

if you put your mind to it, you can do anything.

"I have no regrets on anything."

this week's featured storycorps clip is two friends of mine talking with their father, who has alzheimers disease. it is a very touching piece and i tear up when i listen to it.

knitting inertia

i'm really really trying not to start a new knitting project right now, but i'm feeling the pull.

i've been working on a lace shawl, but i stupidly picked one that is made with a cobwebby-like mohair and silk yarn and it's very ssssslllllooooowwwww going. so i may have to put it away for now and do something mindless. of course, i have a couple of mindless things in progress (socks, shawl in the round, etc) that would be great to finish, but no, i'm looking through my yarn and trying to find a new additional mindless thing to knit and then lose interest in before it's finished.

i'm such a dork. it's a good thing i haven't attempted a sweater yet-i would NEVER get it done.

more car talk

after a period of mis-communication about what kind of car we each want/need, we have settled, at least for now, on a minivan. specifically a sienna or an odyssey, a couple years old with relatively low mileage (in a perfect world).

i am so turning into the proverbial soccer mom.

DAMN IT!

i missed posting yesterday. it was a crazy day driving kids everywhere and brian was hogging the computer for most of the day and i totally forgot.

oh well-i'll try and make the rest of the days of the month. the 13th is bad luck anyway, right?

a picture for today's post

from our lovely time in france: somewhere in a fortified city in burgundy...

yikes ! post or perish

if i don't put something here now, i may not get a chance!

misc stuff...

i've resumed running after a short hiatus. so far, doing better than i thought i might. hoping to lose 10 pounds by new years by downsizing my portions and upping my exercise. wish me luck.

i'm now focused on purchasing a subaru forester to replace the outback. all the research i've done says it's safer AND more reliable than the outback or a few of the other cars brian has suggested. cross your fingers that we will be able to find one that is a few years old with low mileage at a good price.

we had a neighborhood gathering at our house last night-potluck and bofire. we have so much dessert at our house now that the losing 10 pounds by new years may prove difficult, even with portion control. whatever is left by monday is going to work with me.

now it's off to a 4 yerar old's birthday party...

it's friday!

hooray!

i never thought this week would be over. seriously.

on wed, i thought my brain might explode before the week was out, but here we are at the end of the week and i still have a fully intact brain. AND i got some major shit done at work, despite feeling like i didn't know where to start with the piles on my desk. they piles are considerably smaller now, so i'm feeling much better about it.

tonight we're having a bonfire with the neighborhoodies and got some other stuff planned for the weekend.

my goals this weekend: catch up on the damn laundry and take a bath. and maybe drink some wine. not necessarily in that order.

bleh 2.0

i had a great post composed in my head this morning about rory's fabulous outfit that she put together herself today. and then i got the first flu shot OF MY LIFE and now i feel like poop. so i'll try and be more creative tomorrow.

happy dance

for my kind, yesterday was a good day. i know not every one can say that and i know it's not good to glaot but i just have to get this out before i bust:

we win, we win, wewinwewinwewin! HUZZAH!
go bernie!

AND-rumsfeld is out.

what more could a liberal ask for?

just do it

today is election day-so please go and vote. it's important, no matter what your beliefs of political affiliation.

bleh

yesterday i was a tad cranky. i was definitely suffering from i-don't-ever-get-to-spend-time-in-the-house-by-myself syndrome. thankfully, brian took the kids out for a couple of hours and i got a long walk in and some cleaning.

i'm playing catch up today with laundry, folding and putting away clean clothes and once again, trying to arrange for travel to kosovo for work (not for me-for a few other folks).

i really don't want to work on my mondays at home, but it makes my week go easier at work if i try to get a little stuff done when i can, even when i'm not at work. and with this job, i have work that i can actually do at home, so i don't feel bad if i leave an hour early. i usually make it up (and then some) at home over the weekend or in the evenings.

as soon as i can, i'll try to post some halloween pics.

i'm feeling a little prickley today

meet my new pet-he fits my mood!

my 41 year old liver

last night i had a vodka gimlet before dinner with some cheese and crackers and 2 glasses of wine with dinner and i have a slight case of the cocktail flu today.

getting old sucks.

g00gle b0mb the election

more about this here

--AZ-Sen: Jon Kyl

--AZ-01: Rick Renzi

--AZ-05: J.D. Hayworth

--CA-04: John Doolittle

--CA-11: Richard Pombo

--CA-50: Brian Bilbray

--CO-04: Marilyn Musgrave

--CO-05: Doug Lamborn

--CO-07: Rick O'Donnell

--CT-04: Christopher Shays

--FL-13: Vernon Buchanan

--FL-16: Joe Negron

--FL-22: Clay Shaw

--ID-01: Bill Sali

--IL-06: Peter Roskam

--IL-10: Mark Kirk

--IL-14: Dennis Hastert

--IN-02: Chris Chocola

--IN-08: John Hostettler

--IA-01: Mike Whalen

--KS-02: Jim Ryun

--KY-03: Anne Northup

--KY-04: Geoff Davis

--MD-Sen: Michael Steele

--MN-01: Gil Gutknecht

--MN-06: Michele Bachmann

--MO-Sen: Jim Talent

--MT-Sen: Conrad Burns

--NV-03: Jon Porter

--NH-02: Charlie Bass

--NJ-07: Mike Ferguson

--NM-01: Heather Wilson

--NY-03: Peter King

--NY-20: John Sweeney

--NY-26: Tom Reynolds

--NY-29: Randy Kuhl

--NC-08: Robin Hayes

--NC-11: Charles Taylor

--OH-01: Steve Chabot

--OH-02: Jean Schmidt

--OH-15: Deborah Pryce

--OH-18: Joy Padgett

--PA-04: Melissa Hart

--PA-07: Curt Weldon

--PA-08: Mike Fitzpatrick

--PA-10: Don Sherwood

--RI-Sen: Lincoln Chafee

--TN-Sen: Bob Corker

--VA-Sen: George Allen

--VA-10: Frank Wolf

--WA-Sen: Mike McGavick

--WA-08: Dave Reichert

white lines

got our first snow last night. mother nature held out til november for the first time since we moved to vermont. and the rest of the week is supposed to be butt cold.

short post due to the fact that my eyes are dialte right now...

the wheels

so the problem with the subaru is not requiring an IMMEDIATE car replacement, but an eventual one.

now the head butting begins. brian want to find a late 90s volvo wagon for me to drive, but not one that's been driven on salted roads too much. i want a subaru that is a 2-4 years old. he says we don't need 4wd or awd. i want it for safety purposes.

in the meantime, i still really, really, really want to buy a digital slr camera too. you know, just to spend as much money as possible in a short amount of time.