By PDMACpayday loans
My Hero
(I love this picture. I figured out why Rob picked out such bold colors for “his” rooms in the house, they make great backgrounds!)
Reverse Flash, the man of my dreams, has been a busy boy. Not only is he struggling to save The Bookish Girl, he’s also off trying to rescue kittens in the rain/cold/sleet while walking uphill in 8ft deep snow drifts. Both ways! We almost had one on Wednesday. The little bugger ran the only direction we didn’t have covered.
We had a dramatic rescue this past summer. We had our friends Erin and Kurt over for a grill out. Around midnight we walked them to the front door with our dogs in tow. As we exited the house we spotted mama cat walking down the street. Now, both of the dogs are fascinated with cats and REALLY enjoy chasing them down. Not their greatest quality but one that is difficult to train out as at least one of them is part hound. Before we could corral her back into the house Rya (hound woman) chased the mama and spooked the babies who, unbeknownst to us, were hiding under a parked car. The kitties ran down the street along the curb only to be greeted by a storm drain….which one fell into. It takes us awhile to figure out what’s going on. At this point we realize that there is a kitten in the catchbasin, drowning and crying.
It sucked.
I ran up to the house to get the dogs in, grabbed a flashlight and ran out. And what before my eyes should appear? Rob’s legs sticking out of the storm drain. On either end of those legs were Erin and Kurt. The three of them had used their super-human adrenaline strength to pull off the catch basin grate and Rob was hanging head first trying to grab the kitten.
The catch? He couldn’t see. It was pitch black. We screamed to him….LEFT, RIGHT…directing him toward the scared drowning kitty (who thinks we’re going to eat him.) The second catch, we have an illicit connection in our storm drain system, illicit connection = sewage. All’s well that ends well, we caught the kitten and eventually we all recovered emotionally. However, I think we were so thrown off by the whole thing that we didn’t quite know what to do with him (and the other kitten still hiding.) We ended up letting them go, we knew their mother was near.
As winter approaches the idea of kittens outside gets a bit scary. As I mentioned yesterday, there is one in particular who we think is without its mama. My husband, the greatest man in the world, managed to catch it yesterday!
Ain’t he cute?! He went directly to the humane society and was immediately greeted by warm hands. He wasn’t scared of people and will likely be adopted soon. However, we think we may know the source of this kitten’s genes….
This is the face that our cat Kumar made when I questioned him about his sex life. Now you tell me, how in the world does an indoor cat with zero access to the rough city streets sire a kitty like this?! We’ll give him the benefit of the doubt. For now anyway…I think his look screams guilt!
In knitting news….Dad’s scarf is just about half done. We had knitting night last night. This is a horrible picture of Kris and Barbara (the only one I took that wasn’t blurry), my knitters in crime.
I adore our weekly meetings…they are hilarious and fun. And best of all, I received my first gift of the season. Kris gave me the bestest present ever! I decided I’m going to do one pattern a day. Who’s with me?!
*I don’t quite have this quote right but does anyone know where it’s from?!
Check it out!
This is Juli*, of my 100 list #72-74 fame. She learned to knit over Thanksgiving! I can’t tell you how cool this is. My friends Emily (the drunk license checker) and Allie (Gus’s Mom) have also learned to knit. We also have an expert knitter in the crowd, Ms Marne. This means one thing and one thing only – our Annual Beaver Reunions (see #32-38 on the 100 List) will be knit-tastic!
I haven’t been knitting. I’m just about at the end of the Kite Runner (link on the sidebar.) I’m a crazy person at the end of books. It’s hard for me to do anything but read. This one left me feeling blech in the beginning. It’s turning out to be a fabulous story. Has anyone read it yet?
So, I need some advice here. I’m just about done with my time as a bookseller at my local independent bookstore. I love working there but the time commitment is driving me bonkers. I’d like to take advantage of the last days of my discount and get a bunch of knitting books. Recognizing that I’m po’ and must get the most bang for my buck are there any essentials out there I should invest in?
*Juli just moved to Colorado, the Boulder/Denver area. Are there any friendly knitters out that way? She’s really cool, I swear.
Greetings from the face of the earth…
I’ve been knitting. It has been keeping me relaxed, sane, and on my way to nirvana. Life is happening over here and I’m not stopping it. No sir-ree Bob. Now if only I could tell you all about it. Alas, the one limitation of the internet – you never know who’s a-reading.
On to bigger and better things:
End of the year book lists.
The first is from the Boston Phoenix, they do a fabulous job of noticing some new/newer short story authors. I love the short story. I haven’t read them as much as I used to but will argue their literary significance to the death. Secondly, Ron Charles of the Christian Science Monitor reviews some great books of the year. I love reading his reviews and have never been disappointed.
I was going to do a list of the best books that I’ve read in 2004 but I only started keeping track this summer. How in the world such an obvious OCD task escaped my routine is beyond me. The fringe on the carpet* is perfectly straight, but I have no idea what books I read in the beginning of this year. Of the ones I remember, The Bone People by Keri Hulme is up there (link on the sidebar.) I’m still trying to process that book. The characters live with you. They are incredibly well developed. In fact, I can think of few other books that do this as well as Hulme. There are three main characters: a child, a woman, and the child’s father. Some of them take part in some despicable acts. However, at the end of the day – as a reader I still liked them. This aspect of the novel, coupled with the unique prose, has left me still thinking and longing for more. I highly recommend it. Be aware that it is a challenging read, emotionally and physically.
* well, it would be straight if I had fringe on my carpet.
Banff, the sweater that could kill
(dun, dun, dun, duh…)
While Culina lies in wait The Bookish Girl wallows in the misery that is another four years with President Bush. Unable to face any intelligent mathematics, schematics and/or measurement she throws caution to the wind and pushes on with her knitting with no real plan in mind. This is her first mistake.
She is carefree and barefoot in her adventures (her husband, Reverse Flash, continues to hide her aimless shoes.) As she finishes up the back of the sweater, thus completing the third piece of the puzzle, she remembers that a local yarn store carries the exact yarn she’s missing. She slowly curbs her enthusiasm with the reality of working with a second dye lot. This would be no small obstacle, but armed with her knitting books she would persevere. The important thing is that SHE WAS IN REACH OF MORE YARN. The sweater would be conquered and completed. It was an ah-ha moment that gave her the confidence to cast on and begin the front, the forth and final piece of the puzzle. This was her second, almost fatal mistake.
The following weekend The Bookish Girl rushes (as fast as one can with a husband called Reverse Flash (the slowest man in the word)) to her local yarn store, The Snow Goose. She fights the blue hairs and carefully chooses three skeins of variegated loveliness. How lucky she is. How fortunate. She compares the yarn to a completed piece of Banff. Ahhh, love at first sight. The dye lot is off, but Banff (and the Bookish Girl) will survive. Her care is paid off when she examines the hank to be sure the color is even throughout. The plastic card is brought out, her signature is procured and she gloats at her good fortune, the third time’s a charm. The fatal mistake had been made; never ever gloat in the eyes of Banff because SHE WILL WIN.
Back at the ranch, Reverse Flash, worn out by The Bookish Girls speed and resolve lies down for a nap. When he awakes he sees this:
With this lying two feet from her outstretched hand.
“Bookish Girl…noooooooo.”
Now, Reverse Flash may be slow, but he ain’t no dumbwit. He immediately sees that the yarn, while the same color, has different labels. Upon further inspection he realizes that the yarn his beloved has been knitting with is label “Chunky” and this nomenclature is curiously missing from the Stupid Snow Goose purchased yarn. While he’s not sure exactly what this means, he slowly realizes that his literacy minded love has been foiled by Banff. He pictures her happy with Banff. He knows he can save her. He pleads to the yarn Goddess as he dons his Bookish Girl Hand Knit Sweater (its small nature accentuates his rippling biceps), “Give me direction oh Great One.â€
Will the Goddess reply? Will Reverse Flash be able to “spring†into action? And where are The Bookish Girl’s shoes?
All of this and more will be answered in the next episode of
(dun, dun, dun, daaaaa)
*no animals, yarn, or humans where harmed in the production of this episode.
Gotta work off the sugar headache…
1. I’m not a joiner but Elisa inspired me this morning.
2. This is the second 100 list that I’ve done, the first was done this past summer.
3. I am very interested to see how they compare.
4. I have a horrible sugar headache this morning
5. I combated it by having more sugar
6. I think I have a problem
7. I am 28 years old
8. I was married when I was 28
9. I moved to Boston in 2001
10. I have lived in Georgia, Ohio, New York, Massachusetts, Virginia and Texas
11. I was born in Texas and moved from there when I was 1
12. I went to undergraduate school in Ohio and graduate school in Georgia
13. I hated living in Georgia
14. I love that I lived there
15. I met my husband at a dog park in Georgia
16. He was a bit goofy
17. He still is
18. I love this about him
19. I am complicated
20. As an adult I am finally learning to accept myself
21. This has been a long journey
22. My husband has helped me reach this goal faster
23. He loves me unconditionally, except when I don’t rinse off my dishes before I put them in the sink, then he hates me.
24. I am a neat freak
25. I love to be organized
26. Clutter sometimes takes over my life
27. I have amazing friends
28. I have had the same best friends since the 7th grade
29. We are separated by distance and sometimes never talk but the thought of them makes my heart warm
30. It took me a bit to settle in to college
31. I missed home
32. I made some fabulous friends there
33. We call ourselves the Beavers
34. This is not meant to be pornographic, it refers to Beaver Clever
35. We have a monthly Beaver award. For whoever is the biggest dork of the month
36. I win it a lot
37. It took me many months to prepare Rob (my husband) to meet the Beavers
38. They are a bit overwhelming
39. My family is crazy
40. For real
41. I love to be with my parents
42. They argue a lot when they drive in the car
43. Secretly, they enjoy it. Not secretly, we don’t
44. They are excellent role models. Both in life and in their marriage
45. I strive to make them proud
46. I know I have and they tell me often
47. My dad can do anything
48. My mom is the strongest woman I know
49. They did the best they could in raising us
50. It is difficult for me to understand my brother
51. I am working on this
52. He is mentally ill and has improved his life dramatically since seeking help
53. It was hard to grow up with him as a sibling
54. I often felt ignored
55. I think I try to make up for his faults by over achieving
56. I don’t want my parents to think that they’ve failed
57. I used to defend him when I was little
58. When we were young I was often the only one who could understand what he was saying (he used to have a speech impediment)
59. Most of my family suffers from depression
60. We’re all very open about this
61. My sister often challenges us to be more open about it
62. It’s interesting what genetics can do to you
63. I’m missing my eye teeth and I have no wisdom teeth
64. I inherited this from my maternal grandfather
65. He was an alcoholic
66. Apparently the missing teeth mean that I’m further evolved
67. So there.
68. I believe that everyone is special and different
69. These difference should be celebrated
70. I hate ignorance or uninformed opinions
71. I try really hard to see both sides of a story
72. My best friend Juli was really good at teaching me this
73. Juli is really funny. She once farted in front of a cop after being pulled over. He asked to see her registration. When she reached over to pull it out she farted. He didn’t give her a ticket.
74. She tells this story a lot. To anyone. She is not shameful about her foibles
75. I love this about her and I have learned to adopt the same policy
76. Everyone makes mistakes
77. There isn’t one person who hasn’t tripped in public at one point in time
78. I really hate it when people don’t take responsibility for themselves and their actions
79. Or when people judge others for something they do themselves.
80. I can’t wait to have children
81. My husband is 13 years older than me but looks and acts like a 20 year old
82. We better hurry or he’ll be an old man before the kid is 20.
83. I am nervous to raise children
84. There is so much to screw up
85. Rob won’t have kids while we live in Boston
86. He says city life is too hectic
87. We are poor
88. We live in a marginal neighborhood
89. This is okay with me most of the time
90. The Boston Police do not respond to our calls
91. This is not okay with me and makes me very angry
92. My husband was mugged at gun point on our street
93. It was very traumatic and only a month after we had purchased our house
94. In that same period of time I was electrocuted by our washing machine, my car was broken into, we discovered our house was wired to kill us and/or burn down, I lost my engagement ring (which was my husband’s mother’s wedding band), our washing machine broke and the company refused to honor our warranty, our cat got sick, our dog got sick, we were in a car accident, and we were married.
95. It was an interesting year
96. We are glad it’s over
97. I love to knit
98. I get obsessed with things
99. I love to read and now, I love to knit
100. I am a perfectionist
101. Knitting enables me to continue to be a perfectionist
102. I’m in love with my dog
103. She’s the funniest person I know
104. Unfortunately, she is not as amused by me
105. I like to talk
106. And therefore, I have to cut myself off here
Thanks for reading! That was fun. I definitely feel a bit weird putting this out there. What’s the opposite of voyeurism? Exhibitionism? Hmmm, interesting.
Start Me Up
Whew. So far today I have had a huge cup of coffee, two and a half donuts and two cans of sugarfied soda. I am wired for fun. How I allowed myself to consume such things? Don’t ask, because really, I have no idea how it happened – it just did. Sometimes it’s better to not ask such questions of yourself.
I am unable to focus on anything. However, according to Sugar.org sugar does not cause hyperactivity:
The belief that sugar consumption causes hyperactivity – or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) – is one of the most common and pervasive of all sugar myths, despite literally dozens of studies refuting any connection between the two.
After examining all available scientific evidence, the Food and Drug Administration’s Sugars Task Force concluded in 1986 that there is no evidence sugar consumption causes behavioral changes in normal children or adults. More recent studies have confirmed this finding, including one that found that sugar might actually induce a calming effect.
The American Academy of Pediatrics reports, “Reducing or eliminating sugar to treat ADHD has widespread support among lay persons and in the lay press. However, controlled trials have not shown that the ingestion of sugar has an effect on activity or aggression in normal or hyperactive children.” (American Family Physician, Sept. 2001)
So why has this myth persisted? Because, say some, parents still believe sugar makes their kids hyperactive. A study published in the Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology found that parents who think their child’s behavior is affected by sugar are more likely to perceive their children as hyperactive when they’ve been led to believe their child has just consumed a sugary drink.
Kerstin, I did it…I did a blockquote!
My ode to sugar and my response to Sugar.org (and also to contribute to my weekly goal of introducing a new “the hell that is a song that stuck in your head”):
(Don’t read too far down in the lyrics ’cause all those things your parents accused rock-and-roll of being, yeah…well this song proves that they are true. It also proves that this song really isn’t about sugar. *gasp*.)
Have these “researchers” (if that’s what they call themselves,) never been on a plane with a 3-year and their mother who feeds the kid candy to keep it quiet?! Yah, well I have. And it is counter-productive…. sugar does make 3-year olds stuck in planes more hyper.
It’s a drug I tell yah.
Hmmm, I think I’ll go home and make some cookies.