Here And There

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11/29/2005

I'm thankful for:

1. *My boyfriend and family*
2. *That everyone above is safe, alive, has their house/belongings.*
3. A little neice that watches me getting ready in the bathroom mirror, sighs, then says "Aunt Lisa, you're pretty"
4. A little neice that randomly pauses from chatting or playing, says "love you" and gives me a hug multiple times in a weekend.
5. Books on tape
6. Dancing
7. Rain
8. A steady job
9. Down comforters
10. Dungeness crab**
11. The piggy that is now in my freezer
12. Sheep, wool, yarn
13. Oakland
14. That my brother has found what he was looking for
15. That my dad accidently called my long-time boyfriend his "son-in-law" while we were at a restaurant
16. Sweet potatoes, swiss chard, and squash
17. My green wool peacoat
18. Camille
19. Olive
20. That I have a job where I can come and go as I please as long as I get my work done AND wear whatever I want.


*Everyone says this, I always do, but I haven't been so aware of what that means until this year.

**I got one from the store on the way home yesterday. I was up to my elbows in juice and butter and halfway done before I realized that Cyrus was still on his first leg, gingerly snipping at the shell with scissors. "A lot of work for little reward", he says. Apparently, if you grow up in Alaska you become very spoiled. Yeah, it's not King Crab, but you know, that was 14.99 a pound, this was 3.99. Well, I'm not complaining. More for me.

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We ate. We Argued. We were thankful.

Thanksgiving. C and I drove the 10 or so hours through the night to Aurora, Oregon from Oakland, California. We listened to The Golden Compass by Phillip Pullman on tape. I tried not to, but slept most of the way.

Thanksgiving with the parents was pretty good. The rest of our family went to Three Sisters for thanksgiving which we all opted out of so I didnt see any of them. My youngest brother was on leave from the Navy. He is really loving the Navy and is learning a lot and is in no imminent danger of going to Iraq that I know of so maybe my initial freak out at his joining wasn't totally necessary. He loves being in uniform, and a part of something, and getting respect from our extended military family and I can't begrude him that. We don't have that in common but what does that matter.

Naturally my father drove me nuts. But there were no major arguments mostly because at a certain point its useless to argue with him so I didn't and let it go. Now that we are both adults someone has to act like one.

I had a great time with my mom and my neice. I used to think I was just biased but there can be no denying that my neice is just a really cool person. She is so sweet and thoughtful (at 6!) and is really never misbehaves. I'm sure that means when she becomes a teenager she will be a nighmare. But more power to her. She's really great, and so funny.. she rocks.

My mom is making Lemon Curd for gifts this year and has been collecting jars to put it in all year. Kyleigh and I painted them with dorky glass paint as a collaborative effort. It was fun and she impresses me with her drawing skills. She started school kind of late but she is making up for it with her enthusiasm for drawing and writing. She spent hours with Cyrus filling in this huge writing and learning workbook. She finished the entire thing.


We had a good dinner. The usual stuff. But this year we had three of my brother's chickens instead of a turkey. We also got a couple half gallon jars of beer from McMenniman's (local brewers in Oregon/Washington) You can bring your own jars, or they will give you one and you can take home beer, its cool.

I got to go to Fabric Depot which is the best fabric store ever. And they were having a 30% off everything sale. I got a big bag of stuff. It sucks there is not one like it in the Bay Area. Also went to Fred Meyer, another Northwest store I wish we had here.

They cats yelled at us for hours once we got back. They've learned a new trick while we were gone. They can now climb up on the counter and pry open the cupboard to get at their treats. I've since moved them to a new location, but in retalliation camille pulled down my bag of dried currants, chewed holes in the bag, presumably ate some, and left them on the kitchen floor for me to find. Lovely.

While we were gone my Elann order came. I got a bunch of Peruvian Highland Wool to make C a hat. It's suprisingly soft. I should be able to come up with a color combo with what I got. I'm thinking brown with a blue, green, or orange stripe. We'll see. I also got some Quecha and I will be getting more. It's nice stuff.

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11/23/2005

They're funny. I'm not.

I really have nothing to say today.
But I did read three blog posts that actually made me laugh out loud. So I'll share.*

Mimi Smartipants who is really always funny, but this was a good one.

All & Sundry

And Rabbitch winner 10 years running for best consistant use of the word "ass"

*(Although I don't know if you are supposed to do that - I'm painfully unaware of bogger etiquette -- leave me bitchy comments if its bad)

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11/21/2005

Rants and Ravings

Rant #1

Are you ever amazed by your own behavior? I amaze and disturb myself all the time. I have SO much to do right now and what did I do all day Sunday? Read my book and baked pumpkin bread. ( The Clan of the Cave Bear) Believe me, I enjoyed these few tasks immensely but, hello? All the stuff to do? Clean the filthy house, do laundry because I'm leaving for Oregon in three days, make the cat food we are days from running out of, knit on some of the christmas presents I have lined up? Nope. Not to mention things I'm actually getting paid for - the flyer, the brochure and the t-shirt design that all need to be finalized and sent out. Sheesh. Why am I so good at frustrating my own self!!? Its embarrassing that I don't have more control over myself.

Its just overwhelming and all these tasks require other little tasks and no matter how many bajillion lists I make to try to organize these things in my head, I'm at a stand still. And able to convince myself for a few hours that it's perfectly okay to sit here and read for just a little while, I'll get up and do my chores in a minute.

Anyway, I did have an awesome hike on Sunday morning. Its one of those fall mornings that are sunny and cool and feel really good on sweaty skin. My butt and calves are totally sore today. And best of all, I went with a friend and we chatted so much that I didn't even realize I was exercising, and also got lost. But what can you expect from walking and talking?

Now I'm at work and more stressed. And its all: "we have to take out this and this and this (all the interesting parts of your design), okay good. No, wait, this design is a little boring can we come up with a few more options?" Yeah. It's boring because you stripped it bare. Yes, I know it's my job to be creative and find a solution and make something out of nothing BUT I'M NOT FEELING CREATIVE RIGHT NOW!!. Okay, tantrum over.

But we are leaving on Wed. for the 11 hour drive to Oregon. I'm really looking forward to it. I checked out a book on tape. Philip Pullman's "The Golden Compass" which I love and know Cyrus will never actually read himself. So we will listen to it.

***
Rant #2

Am I the only one who finds it IMPOSSIBLE to knit for a boy? I would think I make good color choices, I do for the other things I knit. But I spent 1.5 hours in the yarn store and bought NOTHING because I could not decide on colors for Cyrus' stupid hat. Problem #1 (besides my indecision issue) is that most of the yarns, lets face it, are designed for women. In colors women, like myself, love. But not so much for boys. At least my boy. He is picky about his hats. He wants neutrals. He wants a fine gauge. Good Goddess. I think he's just going to get a new CD and a book on selling your art for Christmas. The knit hat is stressing me out too much.

***
Rave!

Okay. So I'm completely obsessed with (A.) Jane Austen and (B.) The BBC version of Pride and Prejudice. I'm one of those scary Jane Austen fans you hear about on NPR. Colin Firth will always be Mr. Darcy in my lustful eyes and I heart him.

So needless to say I was prepared to HATE the new adaption of Pride and Prejudice (I mean, Kiera Knightly?). My dance teacher invited me and fellow student Gail to go to see Harry Potter, but there was a computer mix up with the tickets so we opted to see Pride and Prejudice instead.

And, drum roll, I loved it. I couldn't help it. There were some irrtating parts (Its not that hard to make someone look like she is actually playing the piano, and Ms. Knightly's underbite to say the least) but on the whole I think they nailed it. They got that Jane Autsten-esqe dry humor and it was hilarious. They also did a good job of making it seem very real with the wardrobe and party scenes and such. Donald Sutherland stole the whole movie with his Mr. Bennett. I approve. The end.

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11/17/2005

Pictures, Crazy Boyfriends, and Life

Pictures of our weekend trip

***

I'm so busy at work. No blogging time. C is playing a show in LA tonight. The crazy man is driving there (6 hours) playing the show, then driving back and going to work tomorrow morning.

I will be working late, then maybe trying to get something done around the house. With holiday crafts and general life related chores to do my head is spinning. I don't know where to start. But unfortunatly I do know that watching netflix and eating crap are not the way to go about it.

Time to make more lists!!!

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11/15/2005

11/14/77

Happy Birthday to my favoritest person in the world.

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11/13/2005

Time Capsule E-mail

Neat. I'm thinking about doing it. What should I say to my 20-years-from-now-self?..... "I hope you are still alive?"

E-mail for thought. No?

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11/11/2005

The Citrus Paradisi or Giant Grapefruit Provides Much Entertainment

I ate a really big grapefruit from Whole Foods. (brewsky for scale:)

Unfortunately, besides being the biggest grapefruit I've ever eaten it was also the most tasteless. PLUS it didn't go so well with Pumpkin Ale. Go figure.

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11/10/2005

Why is My Boyfriend so Awesome?

Look what he got me for my knitting projects and yarn stash on eBay!

I think it's because he loves me. And it also may be that he is tired of chasing Camille around the house to retrieve my bungled up yarn. Thats the answer he gave but I could read between the lines.

Kitty inspected and approved. I was going on to C about what good taste my cats have until I looked around and saw that they found the box it came in equally if not more interesting.

Look how I can knit fuzzy feet in my chair without my yarn ball in my lap!


Speaking of Fuzzy Feet. Here is my progress on my first one. Heel turned.

I thought I should post it BEFORE I HAVE TO FROG IT back to BEFORE the heel because I knit one too many heel flap rows, ended up on the wrong side to start turning and didn't realize until I picked up all the stitches to start the foot that I was knitting in the round ON THE PURL SIDE. Um, problem. Sort of, unless I feel like purling for the rest of the sock. But guess what? I don't.


Its humbling considering this is my second pair of fuzzy feet. *Sigh*

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11/09/2005

I've been outed

C now knows I have a blog. I haven't told a single soul I have a blog since I started it. I knew C would find out sometime but I wanted see how long I could hold out telling. He didn't seem pissed that I didn't tell him. His dad found it Googling. (Hi Pat!) C's still forbidden to read it. I don't know why, it just seems like a good thing to forbid. (What if I need to complain about him someday? And I at least need to be able talk about stuff I'm making for him that supposed to be a surprise) I'm going to tell everyone else now though. I think part of the reason I didn't tell anyone was because I am HORRIBLE at keeping secrets so I wanted to at least see if I could keep my own. And I did!! Yay.

But now I need to delete the post where I list what I'm going to get everyone for Christmas! Hee Hee!

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Nothing but a little TART!

I made a tart.

A pear tart. And it is my new favorite dessert. This particular recipe embodies all my favorite things about food. Simple. Delicious. Easy. And is especially cool because you don't need any fancy pants tart dish or anything. And of course, the best part is all the HO jokes ya' get to make.

Recipe: Rustic Pear Tart.

Beware. The total amount of flour is separated in the ingredient list. You will have 2/3 c of flour total. I may actually use my own whole wheat pastry recipe next time. The walnut oil is a healthy substitute for tons of butter, but naturally, that makes it less flaky.

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11/08/2005

Self Portrait Tuesday

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Itty Bitey food

Tiny food. I. can't. get. over. it.

This is not new. Notmartha has apparently had this on her blog since Feb. but I never actually clicked on the links. Oh my god the mini hamburgers!! And salad!

I fear a mini cocktail party in my future.

***DON'T FORGET TO VOTE TODAY!!***

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11/03/2005

Californians, the voters box is callin' your name.

I just feel like I need to put this out somewhere even if no one actually reads this.

Californians. You. Must. Vote. On. Tuesday. (Or today if you have absentee)

Arnie scheduled this ridiculously expensive election to bypass regular lawmaking in the democratic controlled legislature in hopes that voter turn out will be low and his sneaky bills will pass. He is counting on us not to vote! So you must. This is more important than even the presidential election because every vote counts.

At least vote no on 73. OMG some of us may not be able to imagine that there are girls who have to fear every day for their safety from their parents but there absolutely are. It is the parents' job to open up dialog about sex and abortion NOT THE STATE. Some girls could be kicked out their home, beaten, forced to have a child they could not take care of, or even killed if they were forced to tell their parents. I'd rather help these girls do what they needed to do to be safe, and then educate my own daughter and make her feel comfortable talking to me than make laws to force them to tell. VOTE NO ON 73.

If you are confused about the initiatives (which was the goal) here are a few links:

Alternet.org voter guide

Working Assests Voter Guide

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11/02/2005

Sugar, Spice and All Things Nice (like deep fry).

For Samhain I made doughnuts. My mom used to make doughnuts every halloween. When we would get back from trick or treating with our booty and our hands frozen stiff, there would be doughnuts and hot cider waiting for us. It was very sweet. And since you should never make something as bad for you as doughnuts without an occasian, and all the other occasians have their own dessert halloween is the perfect time to do it. So I scrounged up Grammas spice doughnut recipe and gave it a shot.

I'll elaborate since my Gramma didn't. (also "t" means teaspoon):
•Take the dry ingredients and whisk them in a bowl. Take all the rest of the ingredients and mix them on medium for 3 minutes. Then with a spoon, fold the dry ingredients into the wet in 2 batches. It will be a little sticky. Place dough on floured surface and roll to about 1/2" thick. **I rolled mine to thin, dont go crazy it only takes a few rolls. Then cut them out with a doughnut cutter. (I had to go to Sur la Table to get mine. Which was a HUGE mistake according to my credit card. But if you have restraint in the face of all the neat cooking things or there is another kitchen store by you... they are only about 1$.)

•Place cut out holes and doughnuts on wax paper when done. Put a rack over a pan, or over lots of paper towels for your just fried doughnuts to cool.

•Heat oil to about 350 degrees. Grammas recipe says 375, yet I thought even 350 was too hot. It depends on your thermometor, the size of your doughnuts etc.

•Put your dough in a few at a time, turn once. Then place on rack to cool. You'll have to constantly adjust the heat to keep the oil at a good temp. If they are browning/burning too quickly but not done enough on the inside, reduce the heat. If they are taking too long to brown (subsequently absorbing a ton of oil) turn that bitch up! It should take no longer than 2 min per side. For the doughnut holes I just stirred them constantly for a few minutes. That seemed to get the roundest shape.

Mine came out a little brown/slightly dry because I'd rolled them too thin. But they were still so f*ing good a person could die. It's so worth it to make your own. I shook some in sugar and cinnamon, glazed some, and left some plain. Heaven comes straight out of the deep fryer. I've always suspected it.

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Isn't America a fascinating place?!

Anti-gay church protests at soldiers’ funerals

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11/01/2005

Halloweenies

So halloween was fun. We went to a fairly lame party but livened it up by buying prince from the host's itunes store with his password and dancing like maniacs. Which encouraged other people to dance.

I spent all afternoon playing with my clown make-up to find something good (or really just because it's fun to draw on your face)


















I ended up with this:

We were supposed to be scary clowns but I think cyrus was the only one who accomplished that.

Here are the rest of us

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