I'm Outta Here

I got my new car. Check it out!! So cute. My favorite thing about my new car is that the "Check Engine" light is not on. My 2nd favorite things is the new car smell. And my 3rd favorite thing is the hook up for my iPod.


Ben and I are off to Ohio for Christmas. It's supposed to warm up so all the snow will melt - so much for a white Christmas. But the weathermen in Ohio never really know what they are talking about so who knows - anything is possible. I can't wait to see my sisters!!

Lots of reruns on tv. Sooo boring. Survivor is over, Apprentice is over, Lost reruns til mid-Jan. The people I like never seem to win. I was rooting for Steph and the gal on crutches. I've been watching lots of PBS and Netflix. My new guilty pleasure is a show called Joan of Arcadia that got cancelled last year. And I watched Crash last night. Definitely not a feel-good flick, but one of the best movies I've ever seen. During my vacation I want to see Rent and Syriana and maybe the Family Stone. And I need to get crackin' on reading our bookclub book Middlesex.

Knitting update - Baby booties with that pretty pink yarn were a disaster. The first one turned out big enough for a baby dinosaur. The second one would fit a kitten. The third one??? Just right. I must learn how to gauge better!! I'm so excited for Christmas to give the gifts I've been working on for months.

Merry Christmas everyone. I hope you all get to see family and that Santa is generous!!

Shop til you drop

I'm done Christmas shopping and as usual I bought too much. It's just so fun to pick out that perfect gift. Now I can't wait to give them all away!!

Busy finishing up knitting projects for gifts - slippers, scarves, hats.... Now I bought fuzzy soft pink yarn to do some baby booties for my niece-to-be due in March. I think after the holiday knitting is done I might tackle my first sweater. I found these super cool circular knitting tags. Check them out: http://www.nancysknitknacks.com/id_tags.htm

Did any of you knitters out there get a mysterious magazine in the mail called Knit Simple? It is a new magazine and I got their premier issue. Not sure if it was a promotion or an early christmas gift from a stranger. Thought maybe it was from a mailing list from Fiber Factory or something.... Anyways they had great articles and patterns. http://www.knitsimplemag.com/

Work decided to shut down between Christmas and New Years so I have more time off than anticipated. But it sucks to have to take 3 forced vacation days - I'd rather save them up to visit family or lay on the beach somewhere. Ben and I are looking forward to going to Ohio for Christmas. Seems like there will be snow.

I got an email to this link yesterday and it is hillarious and a little scarey that it might come true. It's about the future of the internet and our "connected" society. A guy orders a meat pizza and his health insurance rates automatically go up. I guess there are consequences to each decision we make. http://www.adcritic.com/interactive/view.php?id=5927

We are going to Rocky Pointe for New Year's weekend. Lucky us have friends who bought a beach front condo there and they invited us to spend the weekend with them! Check this place out - it's amazing. http://www.lpsgc.com/

Merry Christmas everyone!!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

We put up our Christmas tree last night. I love the fake tree with lights on it - so efficient. Such a great investment. I've started some holiday shopping online, but still need a day to hit the mall to finish up. It seems easy this year.

Our Thanksgiving weekend trip to Flagstaff was lots of fun. We got to see Mars through a telescope which was amazing in theory, but really not impressive, just a red dot. We had a fantastic dinner at San Felipes and did some shopping and museums. The highlight was getting to wear my favorite pink scarf and getting a compliment on how cute it was and I could respond: Thanks I made it myself!! Always nice to get back to Phoenix and more sunshine.

THEY CANCELLED ALIAS...... What will I do?? I guess withough Vaughn there was no point. But I blame that darn Ben Affleck for this. It's all his fault. Or maybe it is somehow J-Lo's fault?? Thank goodness for Lost and Veronica Mars or I'd really be writing some "strongly worded letters" with Julie to the executives at ABC.

Kelly and I took a fun magic mobius scarf class and I've been knitting lots of Christmas presents. Can't post photos or you'd all know what you are getting for gifts. Hehehehe.... My knitting story for the month is: I was working on some felted slippers for one of my sisters and I got a work phone call. So I stepped aside to do some phone testing. Next thing I know Gus is eating the yarn connected to the slippers. I was sooo pissed. Anyways so I managed to salvage the project and Ben said, don't worry at least it will be felted. I was sooo impressed that my guy knows what felting is and why that is so wonderful because it erases all the mistakes!!!

Still reading Harry Potter - noone is dead yet. Light at end of tunnel only about 100 pages to go... Need to get started on Middlesex because that is our next bookclub selection.

What do you think of my new car? You can vote on the color you think I should purchase - I have it narrowed down to red, silver, or white. It even has a connection for my iPod. I told Ben to put a ribbon on it for Christmas!! http://direct.automobiles.honda.com/models/model_overview.asp?ModelName=Civic+Sedan&bhcp=1&BrowserDetected=True

This is an article describing the video gaiming sub-culture that Ben lives in. His MMORPG is World of WarCraft. Read this and you'll understand what he means by "power leveling" or "farming for gold". Enjoy.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5032947

TGIF

Last weekend we went to a hot air balloon festival in Chandler at Tumbleweed Park. It was so cool to see the fun ballons glow at dusk.

Ahh it's Friday. And almost Thanksgiving. Ben and I decided to go to Flagstaff after Thanksgiving for a few days to get out of town. We are planning to go to the Lowell Observatory where Pluto was discovered in 1930. Anyone have other ideas on where to go or what to do in Flagstaff? I'm so excited to go on a road trip with my favorite guy. No tivo, no video games, no errands....

I'm finally getting into Harry Potter's latest book. It was a slow first 200 pages for me. I'm hoping to finish it up in the next week or so!

Tomorrow I have to get up super early for the American Cancer Society Making Strides walk at Tempe Town Lake. It's always fun after you are there, but right now sleeping in sounds like more fun.


I finished my beautiful green knitting bag. It is lovely and looks just like the picture on the pattern. It's my favorite thing I've ever made. I'm also working on some Christmas gifts: scarves and hats and socks. And I bought the wool to start some more felted clog slippers. I'm taking a class tomorrow at Fiber Factory on how to knit a mobius scarf. I bought some yarn, but I'm not sure if I like it yet.

My favorite TV shows right now are Gilmore Girls, Grey's Anatomy, Veronica Mars, Lost, West Wing, and Comander in Chief. I've been disappointed in Alias and Desparate Housewives so far this season. As for reality tv, Ben and I have been enjoying Survivor and I still am a sucker for the Apprentice.

Gus LOVES the pink My Little Pony in our toybox. It's hillarious to watch him cuddle with it.

Felted magic mobius basket

Look how cute my striped felted basket turned out!



I ordered yarn online for the first time. Yes, that is a bad habit. Ahhh, when Julie said this is a cheap hobby she sure was wrong! hehehehe

Does anyone out there just hate Judge Alito as much as I do? Voting for spousal consent to get an abortion - please.... are we living in the dark ages where women were considered her husband's property?? Eeek... It gets me fired up and wanting to donate even more time and money to Planned Parenthood.

Movies I want to see: Prime and North Country

Book I finally started that has been on my shelf for a month: Harry Potter

House projects - well the hole in our stucco is finally fixed and now we are going to paint to house, but wait there is more.... before we paint we are going to fix the rotten wood on the back patio. And by we of course I mean we are going to pay someone to fix it.

And the most exciting news, I bought a new phone. There was nothing wrong with my old Kyocera phone, but I was bored and looking for a new project. So check out my latest piece of technology fun.
It's a phone, palm pilot PDA, camera, mp3 player, and I haven't read all the directions yet but I think it might even make dinner.

Truth or dare

I'd always pick truth over the dare. Much easier. I've always been a bit of a chicken when it comes to dares or anything I'm not familiar with.

I'm scared to see who Bush pickes to replace Harriet Miers as the next supreme court nominee. If she isn't conservative enough I don't know who is.

I'm totally addicted to knitting books. I just can't get enough. They all look like so much fun and I love expanding my knitting library.

I'm officially been on the South Beach Diet for almost 2 weeks. Crazy that it really does rid my cravings for the carbs. I cheated twice to eat Mexican food - nothing can cure that craving for me. But I am really getting into eating breakfast and having snacks between meals. Who knew??? I think the hardest thing to give up is cold draft beer. Now if I could only drag myself to the gym..... ok one thing at a time.

Just found out we don't have mold - such a relief. We had some pipes inside the walls of our house break and now we have a big hole in the stucco on the side of our house. Ahh the joy of homeownership....

Slippers complete!

I finished my felted slippers. Look how cute. Now everyone in my family wants a pair so I better get my fingers busy.

Books Update
One True Thing - This is our bookclub book for November. It was a fun read and I'm really looking forward to the discussion since there will be lots to talk about the relationships between mothers and daughters and our roles in society.

Oprah's new pick - A Million Pieces is about a guy recovering from alcohol and drug addiction. Kinda hard to read, but definitely interesting.

Movies - In Her Shoes was better than the book. Definitely a tear jerker.

I still can't believe Vaughn is dead on Alias - hard to even watch right now.

Well I'm ready for a weekend after entertaining our sales guys all week. It was my job to plan the entire training event including content and ammentities. I do love planning! We did take a fun jeep tour in the desert last night for sunset. It's hard being the only woman with a group of men from Korea, Japan, China, Germany, Sweden, and the US all week. I'm exhausted, drained. I want to girl talk and get my nails done!

Traveled to Ohio last weekend to see my family. Tyler just had her tonsils out and was still recouperating and I got to help Courtney work on her townhouse a bit & spend some money on furniture!!

Goin' to OHIO

I'm on my way to Columbus tomorrow to see my family. You'd think after 10 years of living in Arizona, I wouldn't miss them so much. But I can't wait to see Tyler who just had her tonsils out and is having a tough recovery. And to see Courtney and help her pick out paint colors and flooring for her townhouse. And to see Mom and just get a hug. And to see Dad so that my eyes can see how he is really doing.

To the left you see a few of my main gals and I at a 70's bash. I still don't think wine sounds like a good idea after that night. But it was fun to see everyone.

I finally got my books from Amazon - lots of creative knitting ideas. Gifts to come!! I also finished felting my clogs - they are so perfect. In Ben's words "It's the first thing you've made that looks like you bought it at the store!!!!" Nice.

With all the great tv shows on, I've had a hard time reading lately. I'm going to take our bookclub book "One True Thing" on the plane tomorrow and it seems like a quick read so far. As for tv this season here are my observations.

Vaughn is dead - what the hell where they thinking...... It seems to call for drastic measures and under normal circumstances I'd be boycotting, but I just love Alias so much. Tough call.


Survivor and Lost have been interesting and shows I'm looking forward to.

So far I've been disappointed in Gilmore Girls, Veronica Mars and Desparate Housewives. So - so plots.

My work was busy today. The first time in ages where I didn't watch the clock. Ahhh.....

In the photo you will see my favorite kids. Nora (my niece) is on the left and Tanner (who might as well be my nephew because I love him that much) is on the right.

Well, I'm off to the Buckeye State. Weather will range from 40-80 degrees while I am there - what in the heck to pack. Luckily I have sisters to share shoes, socks and jackets with!

Multitasking

I think variety really is the spice of life. My mom says she thinks I have attention deficit disorder. But I know I just get bored easily. I have a stack of books at home and no desire to pick any of them up right now. I really want to read Harry Potter but it's just so darn big. Especially with all the new tv shows on... I've been glued to the set for Lost, Desparate Housewives, and counting down the hours til Alias this Thursday.

I'm so impatient. I ordered books from Amazon on Sept 15th and they still aren't here. Ahhhh.... damn that super saving shipping.

Ben and I were bored last night and couldn't think of anything to do other than drink beer. We really need to get a hobby. I bet all of you out there with kids wish you had this problem - tired of having too much time for drinking beer.....

Look how cute my niece Nora is. Here she is with my mother-in-law Tricia. The background is my kitchen.













Here are my latest knitting projects. Hats for Christmas gifts and the pre-felted version of my felted clogs/slippers project. I included what the final product is supposed to look like after I felt them by throwing them in the washing machine!

September is my birthday month

Books I've Read Lately
The Inn at Lake Devine - a cute, quick read about a girl who is upset that her Jewish family is not welcome at a vacation property

Women of the Silk - an amazing coming of age story set in rural China about a daughter who was sold into the silk factories to make money for her starving family

Movies & TV Update
Forgotten - movie with Julianne Moore - interesting theme that a mother cannot be made to forget the bond she had with her son

National Treasure & My Boss's Daughter were terrible, unwatchable, bad, bad, bad movies

Reunion - a new tv show that has mystery and interesting characters, seems like each episode will focus on a different year leading up from 1986 to the present day when one of the six friends is murdered

I'm looking forward to the season premier of Gilmore Girls tonight and the new season of Survivor starting this Thursday!!


Why September rocks
my birthday month
tv shows start back up
weather cools off below 100 degrees
presents
excuse to eat out and celebrate

Favorite Websites
http://www.dailyom.com/
http://www.azcentral.com/
http://www.eonline.com/Gossip/Kristin/index.html
http://www.readinggroupguides.com/index.asp
http://www.npgmusicclub.com/home.html
http://www2.oprah.com/index.jhtml
http://www.ppfa.org/pp2/can/;jsessionid=BB43F9A66293E1C8C6267A018605877F

List of sevens

7 things you plan to do before you die
1. go back to Italy
2. go to Greece
3. hike to the bottom of the Grand Canyon (notice I don’t say and back out!)
4. own my own business
5. live near my sisters
6. go to all 50 states
7. write a book

7 things you can do
1. play the piano
2. school – any subject except spelling and foreign languages
3. talk in front of groups of people
4. organize anything
5. knit
6. write
7. debate and discuss

7 things you can’t do
1. draw or paint
2. fix cars
3. be mediocre at something
4. relax
5. run a mile
6. use chopsticks
7. eat bugs for money like on fear factor or survivor

7 people you would invite to dinner
1. Hillary Clinton
2. Madeleine Albright
3. Oprah
4. Elizabeth Dole
5. Jennifer Garner
6. Ayn Rand
7. Eleanor Roosevelt

7 celebrity crushes
1. Pierce Brosnan - 007
2. Michael Vartan from Alias
3. Bruce Willis
4. Jared Leto
5. Logan from Gilmore Girls
6. George Clooney
7. Rob Lowe

7 favorite restaurants
1. Pita Jungle
2. Teakwoods
3. Rigatonys
4. The Keg
5. Blue Adobe Grill
6. Gecko Grill
7. Wildflower Bread Co

August goes by so fast

It's almost Labor Day already. Where did the summer go. I want to see the leaves change colors. And I want to where a sweater or open the windows. I think I'll book a ticket to Columbus to see my sisters soon!

Book Update
Power of the Dog by Thomas Savage - we read this one for bookclub this month. I found it really boring. Similar to Peace Like a River. All the disfunctional male characters. But the ending was good and I think it will make a good discussion. It was written in the 60s and I guess was fairly controversial due to the homosexual undertones.

I finished Oh My Stars and it was such a fun read. I really enjoy all of this author's books. Great characters and redeeming story.

I also read The Charm School, a mystery adventure by DeVille (or something like that). It was a page turner set during the Cold War with US spies in the USSR trying to solve mysteries of a Soviet school teaching people to act like Americans to come be spies in our country. Reminded me of a good Tom Clancy or Grishim.


TV Update
Six Feet Under - I'm still on the 1st season but what an interesting show. I think the characters are so amazing and raw.

Joan of Arcadia - also rented this show's 1st season DVDs from Netflix. Cute concept, God appears to this teen in various forms.

I've also heard people rave about the tv show The Office, so I added it to my Tivo, tried to watch a few episodes but it cuts a little too close to my real life career so I just couldn't find the humor in it.

Automobiles Suck
So I think someone is trying to send me a sign or maybe I'm jinxed! My car has died on my 3 times in the last week - once a battery, once a corroded connection, and lastly a flat tire. Ahhh... I hate cars. Of course anytime my car is broken I start thinking that I need a new one. But new cars are sooo expensive. I wanted to get an Accord, but Ben has one and it would sure be dumb to have 2 of them in the garage! The cars that made my final list are:
2005 Honda Civic Sedan EX
2005 Toyota Camry XLE V6
2005 Honda CRV
or the practical choice - to keep my Malibu which has no car payment and only 44,000 miles!!

Career/Meaning of Life
I've been thinking alot about alternative careers that may be more rewarding. Somehow I'd love to find a job that including writing, organizing, helping people, and interacting with people. Some of my girlfriends and I dream of opening a community space that would be a yarn store, yoga studio, meeting place, and creative gathering place. Ahhh, if only I could figure out how to make money off of these ideas.

Week with mom

Life Update
My mom was here for a week and left on Sunday. We had lots of fun swimming, shopping, watching movies and eating out.

Our refrigerator went out. Everything is packed in coolers in the kitchen. Total chaos. Of course the 5-year warranty expired in May. Ahh the joys of home ownership. And words of wisdom - frozen pizzas that say do not thaw before cooking - they mean it!

Reading Update
Five People you Meet in Heaven - I think I'm the last person on the planet to read this one. I just thought Tuesdays with Morie was sooo cheesy. But this one was interesting, thought provoking and inspirational. All of our lives are inter-related and we have meaning beyond what we know. Somehow that is very comforting to me.


What's Wrong with Kansas? - I'm still trying to figure out how Bush won Ohio so I figured this book might shed some light on the conservative movement winning the hearts of the Midwest. It was an interesting take on two types of conservatives - one the traditional rich, white, corporate type and the other is more NASCAR, more uneducated, more religious, and more afraid. This group is so interesting because they are truly voting against their own self-interest to support some a party that is spouting a greater moral good, yet only supporting the rich and powerful. The book also talks about some of the mistakes Democrats have made in allowing the Republicans take ownership of traditional values. It seems to me the Republican party does not represent the working class and got most of their votes by exploiting their anger and fear on issues like gun control, abortions, gay marriage, flag burning, patriotism and war on terror, and religion. That's the end of my rant, but the book was enlightening.



Just started the new book by Lorna Landvik - she wrote one of my favorites called Angry Housewives Eating Bon Bons. Her new book is called Oh My Stars and it's great so far. A little lighter reading than my previous one!

Movies Update
Wedding Crashers - hilarious
After the Sunset - Pierce Bronson and Salma Heyek.... nice
Upside of Anger - totally depressing but a good story
Miss Congeniality 2 - exactly what you expect

TV Update
Well only 5 more weeks until new Alias and Lost episodes.... Light at the end of the tunnel. The spoilers say a major character is going to be killed in Alias and we will all be devastated. If it is Vaughn, I just don't know how I will keep watching! I've been watching Veronica Mars reruns this summer and would highly recommend that show - it's adorable.