Ooh baby it's cold outside....

...and inside. Why you ask?
We ran out of oil. And they can't deliver more until Wednesday.
How did this happen?
Simple....my wonderful husband was in the hospital. He's the oil guru. He & the furnace have this relationship that I don't understand. I don't even go IN the basement. I don't even know what the furnace looks like, never mind how to tell if there's any oil left in it.
Oops. Big time. It got cold in here this afternoon & he took a gander @ the fuel gauge. Then I got the phone call while on my way to a meeting. Here's how that went:
"Hey hon"
"Hi honey"
"Hon...umm...we ran out of oil"
"Oil?" (here's where I'm praying he means Crisco or something. God must have been listening to his iPod instead of me at this point)
"Yeah. I called all over & the soonest I can get someone is Wednesday."
"Wonderful. How cold is it in the house?"
"I can still feel my toes" (this is a plus until I remember that I'm the one with perpetually cold feet)
"Well, guess we'll have to stick it out, maybe pick up some space heaters or something" (this is the part in a sit com where you'd hear the canned laughter. You'll see why in a minute)
"OK hon. Look honey I'm real sorry"
"Sweetie, it's ok, you were in the hospital" (and I'm not mad @ him, truly. Not now anyway. My feet still have feeling in them. My nose is a different story)
"Oh and hon?"
"Yes dear?"
"The cheapest I could get the oil was $1.97 a gallon. OK, have a good meeting. I loooovvveee you"
And so off I go to my meeting. One that was hot, crowded & tiring. I should have savored the heat while I had it, I know. To top it all off I made the supreme mistake of wearing the shoes from Hell. 10 hours in them made me feel like one of those women in China with the bound feet. I make my break for it & am working my way home by 7:30 PM.
I hit WalMart first, incorrectly assuming that, since they're WalMart they would have small heaters. Wal Mart is ...well they're WALMART for Chrissakes. They have EVERYTHING.
Wal Mart disappointed me. As did K Mart, Tractor Supply Co, Ollies, Big Lots & Kuzan's Hardware. By now, my feet are screaming at me, I'm starving (oh, by the way, have I mentioned that I'm on a fucking DIET, too??? Yeah....diet. I'm a masochist, I know) & for some reason my right arm is killing me (I think from the scarf that I had to frog last night). Plus now I gotta go home where it's cold & there's no hot water. And if that weren't bad enough....I have cramps.
So, here we are...just chillin'.

Thank you Secret Pal :-)

A big "THANK YOU" to my Crochetville Secret Pal. I've gotten e-cards that have really brightened my day & yesterday got a great package in the mail. The latest issue of Crochet World and some adorable note cards ... they have a silhouette of a woman knitting on them. I love all of my goodies. Thank you Secret Pal, whoever you are!!!

Just Keep Knitting, Knitting, Knitting

So, I took this knitting clas after Christmas. I always wanted to learn how & had sort of an idea so Mom got me a lesson as a Christmas gift. I learned the basics (although the teacher only had 2 years of experience herself) and was able to make this>>>>

I'm thinking I'll felt it and either make a needle case out of it or perhaps a little bag or something. For a 1st attempt, not too bad. Thank God felting hides mistakes.

So then I decide that just doing the garter stitch is getting boring. Kinda like doing row upon row of single crochet ... I need variety. So, I head to A.C. Moore. The woman who handles their yarn department is an amazing knitter (she taught me 3 minutes flat how to hold the yarn in my LEFT hand instead of my right. BIG difference for me as I've been crocheting for 30 years & have ALWAYS held the yarn in my left hand) and she teaches all knids of knitting classes. Took that class yesterday & it was WONDERFUL. She was thorough, patient, detailed ... really went beyond what I had learned in Class #1. I'm now able to knit, purl, bind off & increase just a little bit. I even know how to correct a missed stitch. I feel invincible.....sorta. Her best advice was to just keep knitting, knitting, knitting - keep doing it over & over again. So that's what I'm doing & am working on my 1st official knitting project. To be safe, I'm making a knitted scarf again in garter but no details as it's for my secret pal over on Crochetville. I think she'll like it...the colors are wayyy cool. Let's hope the cold weather holds, though...it's gonna be WARM.

In Sickness & In Health

DH & I are only married 8 months ... he's my very heart & soul...and this past week we had the 1st true test of what those vows meant. Last Friday he was complaining of abdominal pain. Man that he is, he kept it from me just how MUCH pain he was truly in. Saturday was Tishy's Sweet 16 party & no way was he going to ruin it. The man stoically made it through the party preparations & the party itself, driving people home afterward & unloading all the leftovers. By Sunday morning, though, he was even worse so off to the ER we went. 13 HOURS later they admitted him. For a day & a half we heard words like "pancreatic mass" & "tumor" ....we were scared...terrified. The kids had never been without either parent before (their mother lives 2 hours away-DH has custody of both) & it was the 1st time he & I had ever faced something like this as a couple. The kids dealt OK w/it although Tishy was puking her guts up for 5 days from anxiety. My Buddy was nearing the "when is Daddy coming home" whining stage & I was just plain old scared. Final diagnosis? Sphincter of Oddi dysfunction as well as Retroperitoneal Fibrosis . Both sound ominous, horrible, etc but...not so bad it turns out. They did a teeny bit of cutting to correct the sphincter issue & a some steroids for the fibrosis. He's home, feeling better & going back to work tonight.
The good thing that came out of all of this is that we're ALL now eating healthy. We made a commitment to get rid of the junk, eat less, excercise more...all that good stuff. DH is pre-diabetic, I've got high BP, we're both in the obese category ....and I don't wanna die. So, here we are...trying to keep living. Wish us luck.

Go Steelers!!

Our office mascot is Gert. Gert is a huge Steelers fan & her owner (Lori, who sits next to me & makes sure Gert's outfit is appropriate for the season) told me she had no Steelers attire. I whipped this little outfit up last night. I thought the hat was a little Harry Potter-ish but everyone else got a giggle out of it. It's hard to tell in this photo but Gert is a mini-she's barely 7" tall. That hat was a killer to make near the end. She's ready for Super Bowl Sunday!!

My Husband, the Yarn Enabler

I'm married to the most wonderful guy. On Monday, he took me out to lunch & then for ice cream just 'cuz. I then had a horrid day @ work & was a whole lotta grumpy when I got home. My mood changed the minute I walked into the living room & saw this.....




all for me :-). My yarns have been scattered all over the house-in plastic bags, totes, in closets & under beds. I just had nowhere to put it all & like any good addict, always wound up buying yarn I already had just because I couldn't find what I needed. He apparently has been looking for just the right thing for a while now & found this at Target. My sister now calls him "yarn enabler".

I've cleaned a bit & now it's looking MUCH nicer




Not only that, but now I can actually see and USE all my Longaberger baskets.

I was able to de-stash some because of the giant yarn clean up- I posted over at Crochetville that I had some yarns to swap & got some fast responses! JimmieLu & I worked out a great trade for most of it. I'm thrilled about it & can hardly wait to mail it all off to her....it'll be like Christmas, only with yarn :-)