Monday, December 21, 2009

An Early Christmas Gift

This is an early gift left to us by our cat, the "Queen of Speds". She loves shiny things, and not just to play with.

Festive, isn't it? Martha Stewart would be proud...

Friday, November 20, 2009

Photo Friday: Vehicle


Keyed Up, originally uploaded by CraftyGuy.

I took this photo over two years ago, and had messed around with the brightness and saturation to come up with what I thought was pretty cool (and still do).

Since this week's Photo Friday theme is "Vehicle", I thought I would dig this up and share it.

Monday, November 16, 2009

Scrap-ghan

Just checking in quick tonight to let all y’all (“all y’all” is the plural of “y’all”) know that the patchwork scrap-ghan I had working on is finally done!  The hard part was piecing together all the squares (well, rectangles, but you know what I mean), but I think it was worth it.  Ran it through the gentle cycle with some Woolite and a low-temp dry cycle, and it’s ready to donate!

downsize

Sunday, November 15, 2009

On the Mend

I’m finally feeling better – well enough to return to work.  Of course, I will likely just be working from home tomorrow since, despite feeling better, I do still get into the occasional coughing fit which could be a bit disconcerting to some.  So technically it’s one more day at home.

I normally don’t mind being at home, actually prefer it most of the time.  But I’m very prone to going stir-crazy when confined and have little to do other than watch TV or poke around on Facebook (both fine activities, in relatively small amounts). Fortunately, I managed to dig up the “scrap-ghan” I started working on last year but never finished (due to that whole “ice storm/power outage/being out of the house for six months” thing), and am working on completing it.  I should have it done either tomorrow evening or Tuesday.  Once it is done, I plan on donating it to a local halfway house.

It’s good to be feeling better, and feels better to be doing good.

Saturday, November 14, 2009

And We’re Back

Lest anyone think that I ditched this whole NaBloPoMo thing less than two weeks into it, rest assured I didn’t.

I was home from work Wednesday with the intention of running the errands for Patti as she was feeling under the weather.  But, best-laid plans being what they are, before the day was out I had a fever of my very own. And not to be outdone, it was over 102! I like it warm, but that’s a bit much…

Today is the first day I’ve felt at least semi-functioning, so back to blogging I go.  Since the first of the month, my blog attempts have largely been – admittedly – at bit on the feeble side.  A sentence here, a link there, a YouTube video tossed in for good measure.  I can’t promise the rest of the month will fully be more substantial than that, but I think I might be actually be gaining a little more momentum on the blogging front now.

That is, if I can squeeze it in between coughs…

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

One Oh Two What?

That’s not a temperature, that’s a radio station!

Feh.

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

The 11:15 News

Lessee…

Patti’s is feeling less then under the weather and is in dire need of lots of rest, and I’m exhausted, yet presently the healthier of the two of us.

The kids have the day off from school, but Bethanie and Thomas will need to be up early enough to get ready for a Veterans Day function in the morning (Bethanie is in marching band, and Thomas is in Boy Scouts).  I will be working from home tomorrow so that Dad’s Taxi can handle the driving around (so that Patti can rest). MJ (and hopefully Patti) will be sleeping in tomorrow.

Angel is being her typical chowder-head self.

And that’s the news.

Monday, November 09, 2009

Funny, but Wrong… but Funny!

Don’t get me wrong – I like the Food Network, really!

But this website is just too freakin’ hilarious – foodnetworkhumor.com.

You can thank (or scream at) me later.

Sunday, November 08, 2009

My Day in 14 Words

Awake. Coffee. Church. Gas. Mall. Home. Lunch. Football. Online. Dinner. Crochet. TV. Blog. Goodnight.

Saturday, November 07, 2009

My Latest Project

I haven’t crocheted in nearly a year, mainly because I find myself just too dang busy.  But I was recently motivated to make this toque (winter hat, for those unfamiliar with the word) for myself.  The motivation came from the increasingly cold weather lately – since I have decided to keep my head shaved all the time, I needed a way to keep the noggin’ warm.

Anyhow I came across this pattern via ravelry.com and threw it together in about 3 hours (which is fast for me).  Other than scarves, this is my first clothing type crochet project, so I am especially proud of having made this!

toque1

Friday, November 06, 2009

A Cappella, 80s-Style

I love music from the ‘80s (1980’s, smart-a**!), and I love a cappella.  And I also love things done with creative spin.

Put that all together, and what do you end up with?  How about a couple of these gems on YouTube for starters – the minds behind these are brilliant!

 

Thursday, November 05, 2009

Blah

I’m exhausted, and I really don’t feel like blogging tonight.  However, I want to get back into the habit of regular blogging and foisting my random brain-dumps on an unsuspecting public.  That is why I am posting tonight, even if it is only for the purpose of saying that I am not posting tonight.

(How’s that for a contradiction?)

Wednesday, November 04, 2009

Wheel of Blogger 2009

I haven’t poked around other people’s blogs lately (with only a couple of exceptions), but with November being NaBloPoMo and all, there could very well be a lot of activity to check out.

The NaBloPoMo site (hosted by Ning) has a “randomizer” feature, that will take you to a random blog page.  This can be fun, educational, surprising, or even shocking at times.  I had run through a few of them a couple of years ago and blogged about it, and thought it might be fun to try it again.  So here for your dining and dancing pleasure is some samplings from another round of “Wheel of Blogger”.

1. "Brainella the Librarian”. Today’s entry brings a delightful love letter to something near and dear to me: the Starbucks “red cup”.  You know, those special holiday flavors that ‘bucks offers each year (my favorite is eggnog).

2. “Teacher Anonymous”. Here we have a post regarding a particularly good (in the opinion of the blogger – I would like to try it myself sometime) recipe for a cinnamon lamb stew.  It looks really good.

3. “Eat Play Love”. The post du jour is about being a Yankees fan.  As tempted as I am to say something really snarky at this point, I won’t.  This post was specially about remembrances of a father and his love for the Yankees.  Kudos for that, even if it is the Yankees.

4. “Clutch Cargo Lips”.  Differences in towel folding methodologies.

5. “Threads of Light”. Wonderful photography here.  I will be visiting this blog often.

6. “The Anonymous Adventures of Us”.  A nice little slice o’ life.

Good stuff all around.  I might revisit this treasure trove that is the Randomizer later on this month as well.

Tuesday, November 03, 2009

A Quick One

Honestly, I’m tired and brain-fried, and really don’t want to do a blog post tonight.  But I am going to post *something*, so I’d thought I’d share a joke sent to me in email today (thanks, Dave!)

John Bradford, a Dublin University student, was on the side of the road hitchhiking on a very dark night and in the midst of a storm. No cars were traveling that night.

The storm was so strong he could hardly see a few feet ahead of him.

Suddenly, he saw a car slowly coming towards him and stop. John, desperate for shelter and without thinking about it, got into the car and closed the door.... only to realize there was nobody behind the wheel and the engine wasn't on!!

The car started moving slowly. John looked at the road ahead and saw a curve approaching. Scared, he started to pray, begging for his life.

Then, just before the car hit the curve, a hand appeared through the window and turned the wheel. John, paralyzed with terror, watched as the hand repeatedly came through the window, but never touched or harmed him.

Shortly thereafter John saw the lights of a pub appear down the road. So, gathering strength, he jumped out of the car and ran to the pub.

Wet and out of breath, he rushed inside and started telling everybody about the horrible experience he had just had. A silence enveloped the pub when everybody realized he was crying and....wasn't drunk.

Suddenly the door opened and two other people walked in from the stormy night. They, like John, were also soaked and out of breath.

Looking around, and seeing John Bradford sobbing at the bar, one said to the other...”Look Paddy...there's that freakin' idiot that got in the car while we were pushin' it.”

Monday, November 02, 2009

Old and Stuffy? I Don’t Think So!

Anyone who’s known me over the past 7 or 8 years knows that other than photography and yarn crafts, my other major hobby is barbershop.

“Isn’t that just a bunch a old guys dressed up in striped vests and straw hats singing old songs really badly?”

Uhm, no – not even close…

Barbershop harmony – for those who don’t know (and a good deal of my Facebook contacts do know – a big “hello” to them via the RSS feed from this blog to Facebook!) consists of 4 parts sung a cappella (without instrumental accompaniment): the melody is sung by lead, with the tenor harmonizing above, the bass below, and the baritone filling the remaining fourth notes of each chord.  The resulting sound is quite amazing, I assure you; if the tuning is just right (I won’t go into the physics of this), one or more overtones can be produced, creating what is often called “lock and ring”.  If you have heard this before, you know that it’s really awesome.

Barbershop isn’t just quartets, either.  There are many, many choruses out there singing in this musical style as well.  Better than explaining this though, would be to offer a demonstration.  Here, for your viewing and listening pleasure, is the 2009 Barbershop Harmony Society International champions (yes – there is an annual convention/competition) – the Ambassadors of Harmony from St. Charles, MO.

This is so NOT old and stuffy!  In fact, it’s freaking cool!

Sunday, November 01, 2009

And We’re Off… Again

Today is the first of November, and you know what that means.  Yup, you got it – it’s time for NaBloPoMo (NAtional BLOg POsting MOnth) again.  It’s my annual attempt to jumpstart my regular blogging which I somehow allow to languish the other 11 months of the year.

What can I say?  I get my time so filled up with so many things (that is, whatever time is left after the kids have had their pick), that I end up complaining about how busy I am.

But here I am again, giving it another go.

I’ll cut it short for today, lest I injure myself by over-taxing those blogging muscles that I’ve let atrophy over the past several months.

Wish me luck…

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Random Thought #37

Do you know how totally cool it is to have a refrigerator and a computer in the same room?

Friday, July 17, 2009

I'm Still Here - I Swear!

I'm still here... really! We're back in the house now, and between getting unpacked, work (a bigger pain in the ass than usual lately), and various other sundry things, I've been too busy to blog!

But sit tight though, I will be back on here on a more regular basis soon enough!

Thursday, February 05, 2009

Still Here, Really I Am!

Sorry it's been so long since I've blogged - it has been utterly crazy around here!

We're still not back in the house yet - likely not until April at the earliest, and that might be pushing it a bit. I will explain this all when I blog next, but for now rest assured that we're okay.