Only A Few Hours Left

It seems so strange to my that we have only a few hours left before 2010 comes to an end. Every year I like to look back and see how things went for the year. One good thing I still have my job, and I am not homeless. The first half of the year I was very good about going to the gym but after June things went down hill and I did not go as much. I did not make it at all this month. I received my letter about renewing my membership this week. I think I will renew and make myself go I need to lose weight and get healthy. I have lost some weight I think? If I have my calculations correct I have read 22 books and 11 have been yarn, knit, or crochet related. My knit and crochet remain about the same. Could be better than I think. If I have my totals correct I have knit 34 dishcloths, 11 baby washcloths, 4 scarves. On the crochet front half a scarf, 2 star afghan, 1 shell afghan. Sadly the socks that I have been attempting to finish since I took a sock class in 2009 did not make it off the UFO list. Well it could happen next year. A few road trips. 1 two see a waterfall, a great flea market/vegetable market. 2 open barns. I got the chance to pet an Alpaca and a llama. So not a bad year still no more money than I had last year, we will see what happens in the new year. A bottle of champagne in the refrigerator waiting for the ball to drop.

Another Wonderful Long Weekend

Today was a very long day and it marked the end of my working year. You know a person can get use to a three day work week and get paid for five. This week and last week. My daughter thinks I should keep the scarf the same. This is just a quick post to tell everybody to have a great weekend and a happy New Year. Tomorrow I will post my crafting year in review.

Last Tuesday of The Year

Well we had a 2 hour delay due to the weather and the office opened at 10:00 am. Even with the late start it was a very long day. I had afternoon inquiry, this means any client with questions about their case can come in and ask and it is your job as the inquiry person to try and answer the question. It was a very steady stream of people this afternoon. So I was very busy and I did not get a case processed. So tomorrow morning and for the rest of the day I have to try and get cases opened and some cases processed. Only two processing day's left in the year. Still working on the new scarf but I am thinking about ripping it out. I have four row's per color and the pattern only has two. I think maybe the scarf would look better with two rows of each color. Maybe I'll wait until my Daughter comes through if she does over the weekend to ask her what she thinks. This is what I love about North Carolina weather snow this past weekend and almost 60 degrees this coming weekend! I finally finished and gave Karen her scarf a few weeks ago. Karen my friend at work gave Cece to Kendra. I wanted to give her a scarf an because I am lazy it took a while for me to finish the scarf. I am posting a picture of Karen modeling the scarf. The picture really does not show the details of the scarf very well, but it is the best I could get. The pattern is from Crazy Aunt Purls Drunk, Divorced, and Covered in Cat Hair by Lori Perry. It is the Magic Scarf. The yarn is Patons Classic Wool the color Gray.

The long weekend is over.

I have had a nice long weekend. It is coming to a close. It is back to work tomorrow but only for 3 days. I dread tomorrow because the office was closed on Friday and on Monday so people will come into the office tomorrow in large number's I am trying to prepare myself. Most of the time I get these days off. This year I lost my mind and did not ask in time to get the days off. Next year I won't let this happen again. Slept late today then made my way to Sally's Beauty Supply to get a new blow dryer, and hair roller. I am trying to go natural, note the word try. Maybe I should say semi natural . This means I am trying to grow out my relaxer, I have not had a relaxer since I think May or June? This means my hair has not been straighten with chemicals since then. I did start letting my Mother straighten my hair with a pressing comb in October this is why I say I am going semi natural. Natural would mean leaving my hair kinky. the ease of care depends on how easy it is to take care of your hair. So after I washed my hair I gave my self a deep conditioning treatment then my Mother blow dried and pressed my hair. This is a form of straighting the hair. This means you use a pressing oil and a hot comb to straighten the hair. If you are interested in the process you might be able to look it up on YouTube I am not sure. I added a few rows to my scarf today and I plan to read a little tonight right before bed. I am posting a picture of my Daughter trying to knit a dishcloth. She would not look up so I could get a good shoot of her face. Only 5 days left until the new year.

The Day After Christmas

Well it was a lovely day after Christmas. Last night we watched it snow late into the morning. Around 2:30 we went to bed. I think later on it started to snow again. I received a 5:00am call from my daughter she was coming back from taking her boyfriend to work we had a conversation about her drive and then off the phone. Slept late got up and made my way to the store. I could tell that it had continued to snow during the night. So all the grass was covered with snow when I got up this morning, that is good for my little corner of North Carolina. It was the first time in a very long time that it has snowed in NC on Christmas Day. Today the snow continued for a few hours after 12:00 the roads are clear and I don't think people will have any problems traveling. I am so happy that our office is closed tomorrow. So only a 3 day work week ahead. Our office is closed on Friday for New Years Day. I cast on a scarf yesterday. My Daughter gave me some yarn from Lionbrand Hometown USA the pattern is on the back to the yarn band. It is a ribbed scarf. She gave me 2 skeins of Monterey Lime and 2 Detroit Blue. I think this will make a great scarf! . I am posting a picture of the Christmas Snow. It is the first Christmas Snow in a very long time.

Merry Christmas

It is Christmas Day! I hope everyone has a great day. Christmas Eve was great I got up early and my Daughter, Mother, and I went to the nursing home to visit my Grandmother, she is of course my Daughter's Great Grandmother,and of course my Mother's Mother. She is 94 and seemed to be in a pretty good mood. After this we came back home and started cooking the double bash of Chili. I did all my chopping onions, peppers and garlic the day before. I don't have an original recipe. I love a recipe for chili that I found in a cookbook years ago. The cookbook is 365 Ways To Cook Hamburger And Other Ground Meats, Rick Rodgers, the recipe is # Red's Secret Ingredient Chili. The secret ingredient is a tall bottle of Mexican dark beer. The family loves it! My Daughter's boyfriend came and we all had a great time. We got up this morning opened presents and then my Daughter and her Boyfriend went to his parents house. My Mother and I have spent a quite day at home trying to find something to watch of tv. I am not sure why I pay for cable I can never find a good movie. I wanted to watch some of the old school Christmas movies but I can't find any to watch. We are under a winter storm advisory. So I hope we get the chance to see snow. I lost my dishcloth war. I did not get all the dishcloths my Mother wanted done. I did get enough done so that she can give each one two cloths apiece.

It is vacation time.

So I am off work until next Tuesday. I love it! I worked very hard this week to get as many case as I can processed. A nice long weekend is enough for me. I keep trying to get all my dishcloths knit but I think it is to late my Mother needs to settle for one or two dishcloths per person. No reading no scarf knitting. Trip to Siler City planned for tomorrow, So that we can go to the Piggly Wiggly. We are hoping to find some pig parts that are very important to our New Year's day dinner. The plan for tomorrow is to get up and start chopping the onions, garlic, red bell pepper, and jalapeno for the chili. I still need to pick up the hamburger and chili powder. I should be able to pick these up at the Pig. The family get together on Christmas Eve needs a good pot of chili.

Winter Begins

I set the alarm to wake up around 1:15 to see if I could see the lunar eclipse. So I got up put on my coat and went out my back door and looked up to nothing but clouds. You could not see the moon. I know I will live to see another lunar eclipse, but not a lunar eclipse during a the winter solstice. According to records today's eclipse was the first since the 1600's and the next will happen in 80 years. So I will not live to see this event again. Cast off a green dishcloth and cast on another green dishcloth. My Daughter and Cece arrived tonight and I gave her a refresher on how to cast on again and she is trying to help me with the rest of the dishcloths. Tomorrow is my last day of work for the week. I will return to work to work on Tuesday. One day I will finish these dishcloth and be able to knit a scarf again. It will be nice to spend a few days with my daughter. The things we ordered from ABC distributing arrived tonight and I have the things I ordered for my daughter in my closet. Well it is time to go to bed so I am off to bed. Still thinking about knitting dishcloths.

A Cloudy Night

It is getting cloudy. So this means I will not get to view the Lunar Eclipse. If I have all the information correct we will not see another total lunar eclipse during the winter solstice for another 80 years. The best viewing time will be at 1:30 am. All the weather people say the clouds are setting in and we will miss the eclipse. I love good lunar eclipse. I had the chance to see one when my daughter was about 10 or 9 I think. I can't remember if it was a total or partial. On the bright side I have only two working days left this week! Still working on my Mother's dishcloths. I have all six red dishcloths finished. Now I have cast on a green I have four green dishcloths left to knit. Also 4 mistletoe dishcloths left. My plan is to spend a little time reading right before bed. I am watching the Reginald Owen version of a Christmas Carol, I recorded it earlier. I Don't understand why no one seems to have the Alastair Sims version showing so far, or the Patrick Stewart version. Off to take a shower check the moon and do some reading.

A Three Day Work Week

All I need to do to make it through my work week is to keep thinking just three days. The office is closed on Friday and I requested Thursday. So this means lots of hard work for the three days I have to work this coming week. I will try to process as many cases as I possible can. I had a great afternoon, I went to my Daughter's Church for a Christmas program she sings in one of the choir's. It was a great program the choir sang and the praise danced of course danced, and someone read the Christmas story for the Bible. After the program my Mother and I made our way back home with a stop at Walmart. My Daughter plans to come here Tuesday night and stay I think through Christmas Morning. Then she will go with her boyfriend to his families house. I have 10 and a half of my Mother's dishcloths done. So still knitting dishcloths.

My Daughter and Me

I meet my daughter at A C Moore today. We went to Costco. I love Costco! The samples were great. To many people but still a great time at Costco. I brought Babybels, Oxiclean, Salmon, and Catfish fillet's. Then the plan was to go to Friendly Shopping Center because my daughter was not finished shopping for her boyfriend and his brother. We had to separate cars and left Costco to meet each other at Friendly. Well I thought we would meet at the Bread Company and my daughter thought we would meet at Macaroni Grill. So we spent an hour looking for each other. So after we found each other we went to Macaroni Grill and it was great. Then to Belk so that my daughter could shop. She found most of the things she wanted for her boyfriend and for his brother and his father. It was a great day. While we s shopped we had a few snow flurries and a great time together. After we separated she went on to do more shopping and I went home. I stopped by Books-a-Million to pick up a book I ordered. Then home Asheboro received a few more flurries than Greensboro. Another 15 dishcloths to for fill my Mother's order. We will see how things go. I am watching A Christmas Carol the Reginald Owen version. My favorite is the Alastair Sims version so far no one on tv has the Alastair Sims version . Still knitting dishcloth's.

A litte Snow, A little Sleet, A little Freezing Rain.

Today in North Carolina we had a mix of snow and freezing rain. I live almost in the middle of the state we had a tiny bit of snow and then freezing rain. Today for the first time since I have worked at my agency our office opened on a 2 hour delay! It was a great feeling not to worry about trying to get to work under icy conditions. It has always been the policy at my job to make your on decision about getting to work on time or not coming to work during hazardous weather. Yes only a few inches of snow or sleet is considered hazardous in this part of North Carolina. So today I did not have to worry about all of that and got to work at 10:00 without any trouble. Finished and started another dishcloth today. So I cm still pressing on with the dishcloth thing. I need more Dark Pine(green), and I think that will do it. I have to knit 4 more dishcloth in Mistletoe, and I have 4 balls of Mistletoe. You can get almost 2 dishcloths out of one ball of Sugar n Cream. I found a great pattern for a Christmas tree knit dishcloth pattern on Ravelry yesterday but it is to late to try this pattern this year. So sometime after the year year I plan to give it a shoot. I have plans to meet my Daughter in Greensboro go to Costco and then have lunch. Only 3 days of work next week!

North Carolina Weather

It is cold in North Carolina and tomorrow morning we have a chance for snow, sleet and freezing rain. It is suppose to start before daybreak tomorrow. Still knitting dishcloth's for my Mother and I am glad I still have almost a week to get them done. I don't think she plans to give the dishcloths on Christmas day. This is okay since people visit and give gift until the New Year. I am working a green Grandmother's Favorite Dishcloth. I decided to knit all Grandmother's Favorite Dishcloth they are quick and easy 12 more to go if I get 3 dishcloths for all 6 people she want to give dishcloths. Brought the Bisquick and Jimmy Dean Hot sausage because it is the Holidays and time for sausage balls! Pick up the Cheese last weekend. I love sausage balls. Only Three days of work next week a vacation day on Thursday, the office is closed on Friday and Monday for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. I am trying my best to get as many cases as I can processed by next Wednesday. Let us hope for the best.

What do you wish for?

Sometimes I wish I could tell people to kiss my natural black ass! It is not nice or polite but sometimes I feel this is something I would like to say. Just needed to get that off my chest. I had to rip out the dishcloth I have been working on for my December dishcloths are us swap partner. I have a backup cloth and I guess I will send it off this weekend. So that I can continue to knit the dishcloths for my Mother. I must admit I am tired and depressed this always happens at this time of the year. I took my car to another shop today and he told me the same thing as the rest $1500.00 to fix my car's problem with the heat and the air. This is to much money for me and I will have to live with the problem. The mechanic did tell me that all I needed to do was stick my hand under something in the car to switch the heat and the air and that's what I will need to do. I don't think my car is worth $1500.00 . This is to much for me to pay to get my car repaired. Never ever have I had this much money in my checking account and I never will. I live hand to mouth. Always have and I always will. Still working on my mothers dishcloths.

Still Knitting Dishcloths

Well I finished the dishcloth's for my Sister and told my Mother she needs to cut her order down on her order at the very least to two per person. The day's before Christmas are growing short. We shall see how things go. I am still working on my swap partner's dishcloth plan is to work on the swap partner dishcloth tomorrow and the rest of the week and put on a big push over the weekend to finish the dishcloths for my Mother. I think she will need to settle for two dishcloths per person. We shall see things go. Promise to keep you posted on the dishcloths.

Still knitting dishcloths

This is not a regular thing in NC winter is still a week away. We have snow flurries. My daughter came by to pick up the fur baby. I am trying to get ready for the week ahead. I am still knitting dishcloths. I have to dishcloths left to knit for my sister. One of the two I have on the needles now. I am watching Bama Belles on TLC. This is a strange show and I am not sure this show represents all southern woman. I was raised in the south and this was not my experience. Have a great week.

Costco!

Great day for a trip to Costco. So many people. Great sample's. The house is now well stocked with olive oil, chicken stock, cat food, and laundry detergent. I love Costco. Took the car to the shop yesterday and I have a temporary fix to my heating problem. To fix the problemwith the heat and be able to switch to air this summer will cost me $1500.00 my car is not worth that much. So this week I plan to take the car to another place to see if I can get the work done cheaper. I don't know what I will do if I can't . I can not afford to make a car payment and I live in NC and can't go without air conditioning when summer comes around again. Still working on the dishcloths for my Mother and Sister. Paid a visit to A C Moore today and All the holiday yarn was gone. I really wanted some to knit a few scarves. After this we made our way to Harris Teeter, I really like Harris Teeter and hate that Harris Teeter closed here in Asheboro several years ago. Walmart took it out I think. I am almost finished with dishcloth number 6 out of 8 for my sister. I need to have her dishcloths finished by Monday. So all of them are Grandmother's Favorite Dishcloth. It is a pattern that you can knit quickly. I have another week almost to to knit my mothers. Books-A-Million did not have the books I was looking for so I ordered one of the books of course it has a knitting theme and I should get it right before Christmas. Another year is almost over. That have I accomplished? I will let you know in the next few weeks if I feel like I have accomplished anything.

A Great Mid Week Break

After work today I made a trip to Hobby Lobby to pick up more yarn for my Mother and Sister's dishcloths. Brought a great set of Rosewood Travel Needles US size 7/ 4.50, they are very pretty and I had a 40% off coupon I could use. The needles are a great size for a dishcloth. After the trip to Hobby Lobby I drove to Greensboro to meet my Daughter to pick up every bodies Pampered Chef items. After she arrived and gave me the ordered we decided to go to OutBack Steakhouse, I really enjoyed the time I spent talking to my daughter. The meal was great. We had to appetizers Ahi Tuna and Cheese Artichoke Pizza, both really good. The Entree Steak slices on Focaccia Sandwich with cheese really good too and the dipping sauce. Still trying to find a simple dog sweater pattern and a co worker told me she would look through pattern books she think she remembers seeing a simple sweater. Added a few rows to my swap partners dishcloth at lunchtime today. I have to take the car to the shop tomorrow and if the repair is something I can get done while I wait I should get in good knitting time.

Planning a trip to Costco for Saturday

We need to restock. It is time to buy olive oil, sugar, chicken broth, sea salt, laundry detergent. Can't wait to try the samples. After Costco maybe a trip to A C Moore and Olive Garden. We shall see what happens I need to take the car to the shop, the heat does not seem to be working. On a bright sunny day this is not a problem, but it does create a problem when you are on you way to work at 7:40 am and it is 19 degrees. Progressed to row 16 for my dishcloth swap partner. I keep getting the overwhelming need to cast on a scarf and I can't I have to many dishcloths to knit. Tomorrow after work I will pick up a few balls of green cotton and few more red, and Christmas mix. The end of the year approaches. So many things to do so little time.

I would love to skip Monday's

The day was long and hard. I wish I could skip Monday's. After a long day at work I came home to sit in front of the tv. Then watched The View and Dr Phil. I have cast on a dishcloth for my dishcloths ar us swap partner. I received a very pretty dishcloth from my swap partner today . I am not as fast as she is so I her dishcloth will get mailed next week. I am searching for a dog sweater pattern. A very easy pattern. My fur grandchild needs a sweater. The pattern needs to be small for a chihuhua a small but not a toy. I have a pattern it is from 2008 knitting Calendar. The pattern name Howie's Knit-To-Fit Doggie Sweater. If you have tried this pattern please give me tips. It is cold in North Carolina it is the perfect time to pull out all the knit and crochet hats and scarves. I can't seem to find one of my favorite scarves. It is red and black self stripping scarf from a discontinued yarn. I still have a few skeins so I will be able to knit another scarf if I can find the pattern. My search for the pattern will start tomorrow. Cast off a Feather and Fan Dishcloth yesterday and I need to cast on another tomorrow. I think I need another set of US 7 needles. I have a 40% off coupon for Hobby Lobby I can use to get the needles. So many things to do so little time to do them.