Graduation

I am off to my niece's college graduation this weekend. She is graduating from East Carolina University with a BS in Physical Therapy. Congratulations Courtney! You do us all proud!

Baby Blankets phase 2

Just when I thought it was safe to go back into the water! I thought I had made it through all of the "its time to have babies" women and the "I'm gonna be a grandma" crowd at work and I could lay off the baby blankets for a while. Wrong. I had an ex-supervisor email me and ask me to make a baby blanket for one of her co-workers and if I could have it done by the 21st (yes, of December). And oh, by the way, could you have another done by mid February? Of course, being the push over that I am, I said yes. I informed her that since I had just finished Christmas I would have some free time and I would make her a couple of baby blankets. Actually, I had been wanting to try a couple of different yarns, gauges and hooks. I just needed a good excuse. Now this was actually about a week and a half ago. I have already finished one. I used one of the huge hooks (size p for those of you in the know) and some of the thickest, softest yarn I have ever come across. It almost crocheted itself, it was that quick. It took 2 days; about 6 hours total. I almost feel guilty giving it away. The second one is making up for it, however. On the second, I am using an afghan hook (a very long crochet hook). It is turning out to be a beautiful blanket, but is taking a lot longer than I had thought. Partly because it is a new stitch pattern, which I am getting a little faster at. I was hoping to have them both done by the middle of this week, but I don't think its gonna happen. Liz is just gonna have to make two trips to pick them up.
I may get a camera for Christmas. If so, I may have pictures up of the second blanket. We will see.

Back Amongst The Living

I had a really bad ending to a great night last Wednesday. As usual, I was out watching Hercules Mulligan with the great Marquise at the Cary Hibernian. We did our usual, I was there on time, she was late, I ordered and ate before she arrived, she ordered and ate throughout the evening, we both drank. Now I admit it, I drank a little more than I usually do, but just a little. (the Hercs were great, as usual) When I got home that evening, I was feeling a little queasy. I figured, it was just that "little bit" of extra Guinness. Well, it wasn't. At 1am all hell broke loose. The bathroom and I became close friends. If you haven't guessed by now, I got food poisoning. I know it was from dinner, and I also know it wasn't something rampant in the restaurant because the Marquise had the same meal as I did and she did not get sick. I was lucky, however. I only had to go through 24 hrs of hell and another 24 of purgatory before I started feeling better. Unlike the Marquise who went through about 36 hours of hell and another 3-4 days of purgatory when she underwent her gustatory dilemma earlier this year. It had been many years since the last time I had food poisoning and I had forgotten how horrible it makes you feel. Everything hurts. You don't want to move, but you have to get up every "so often" and make a bathroom run. Once all the fireworks stop and you think you are on the road to improvement, your GI tract reminds you it is still not happy every time you drink a glass of anything more filling than air. And then comes round 2 and you get to start all over again! YIPEE!

Well, my bacterial experiments are over, hopefully for another 20 or so years.

Rollergirls season ender

The great Marquise and I went to see the Carolina Rollergirls last bout of the season out at Dorton Arena last night. It was only the second game of the season that we were able to see (the first was the season opener) and oh what a game. The bout was against the Kansas City Roller Warriors who were last season's champs. We had a great first period and we were up by about 30 points at one time. Kansas City, however was not fazed at all. Over the next 2 periods, they gradually whittled away our lead to nothing. At the end of the game, we won by 1 point. I thought Dorton was gonna come crashing down with all the yelling.

There were some noticeable differences in the game. Namely, the refs were calling A LOT more fouls. It was not unusual to see 2 or even 3 girls sitting in the penalty box at any given time. From what I could gather, most of the fouls were about elbowing. There were a couple of instances where I think the refs went a bit overboard and really complicated the bout unnecessarily. There were a couple of occasions where it seemed that no one knew what was going on. However, given the emotions on the floor, it probably was a good thing the refs were so strict on this bout, otherwise, there surely would have been bloodshed before the bout was over.

One question though.... who/what was the rollergirl cowboy/mascot/cheerleader? And more importantly, who designed his outfit/costume?

Christmas is done (almost)

I am just about done with Christmas. All the ornaments are made. The crocheted snowflakes turned out great. I have to get some in the mail to my other two brothers. My younger brother and his wife got theirs over the Thanksgiving holiday. His wife was definitely excited about getting them. She does,however, tend to get a bit excited about Christmas. I finished the fire place screen for my Mom. It was not exactly how I wanted it to be, but it was still really nice looking. I guess like any other "artist" (there's a stretch) I am usually not satisfied with my work. I can usually see ways that it could have been better. "If I had only done........" However, at some time, I just have to say "Uncle!" and finish up.

Now comes the really fun part. Clean Up!!!!! My room is a mess. It looks like a cross between Martha Stewart and Pigpen invaded. I have craft stuff all over the place. I am not sure where it is all gonna go. I realize most of it was already here, but I'm not sure where it all calls home! I guess I'll hafta reorganize as I clean. Yeah, my 2 very favoritest things to do; clean AND reorganize. ALICE, where are you!

I can now get back to my list of things to do/try/learn. I have definitely let it slide lately.

Raleigh Kodiaks Rugby and Hercules Mulligan

OK folks, my favorite rugby team, the Raleigh Kodiaks, is playing this weekend. They are just returning from a back to back victory in Nashville! (sorry, but waaaay to far for this fan, I missed the games). Yes, believe it or not, they played two games on the same day, with about a 20 minute break between. They are better men than I. They are playing this Saturday at 1p at the Raleigh Rugby League pitch off Poole Rd. I hope I got that right. Anyone in the area should try to make it out there.

It's also that time of the fortnight again. It's time for the Hercs to play at the Cary Hibernian. It is this Wednesday. The festivities start at 8p and stop somewhere around 10p. Come early and grab a bite to eat. I recommend their burgers, no salt on the fries.

Baby Blankets and Christmas Ornaments II

Well, the good news. I finished the baby blanket! (cheers from the masses) I finished up just in time. I finished on Monday and the baby shower was on Tuesday. I guess as long as you finish before the deadline, everything is good.

Now the bad news. The Christmas ornament idea I had flopped. Really, really flopped. I had this wonderful idea of draining some eggs and painting them and then decorating them. Something like Faberge eggs. The two test eggs I tried turned out horrible. I could not get a nice smooth finish with the paints. I tried a couple of different types of "finishes" and they turned out even worse. I ended up throwing those eggs out and coming up with a different idea. I am now crocheting snowflake ornaments. I am using cotton thread, about twice the size of sewing thread and a teeny, tiny crochet hook. They are coming along OK, but I may be blind and have carpal tunnel before I am finished.