End radio silence

Recently I got hit with a pretty nasty head cold, sinus issues that left me seriously dizzy and disoriented, and a migraine to top it all. My whine and snark/snappy levels were out of whack and so I thought it best to just step away from the laptop at least in the blogging sense. Twitter is easier to be nicer or rather it’s easier to see when you are being crankypants much easier. Now if I could only remember to spellcheck on that thng tihng thing.

The one thing that is aggravating, yet totally out of my control, was the time lost for my current knitting project, or WIP for those in the loop…. knit…. purl…. cast on… ok now I’m done. If I am making something for myself and I am not feeling well, I keep going. If it is for someone else, which is a good 90% of the time, I stop. Besides getting it all germy, if I mess up a portion or manage to severely skip a section or accidentally slide ribbing over an inch I’m on my own deadline. Frogging knitting ,while needed at times, is really disheartening to watch all your effort literally unravel.

Darth Husband suggested using one of our Groupon’s for BBQ today. For now, a cup of tea, Netflix or Hulu and that WIP is on the plan.

Wordless Wednesday

Surprise! Now go change… into what?

Darth Husband tried to surprise me last night with a trip to the movies. I say tried because I am one of those pain in the butt people who ask too many questions.  He said that I needed to go change because we were going out. This is where it started.

Where? Out. What should I wear -what are you wearing? Jeans/tshirt. Too hot for jeans. Why don’t you wear one of your jean skirts? Both are gross and need to be washed… and onward it went along ping ponging between us til he told me we were going t the movies. THEN it was easier – capris/fitted t/SOCKS and gym shoes. No cold legs, feet, or shoulders due to bad option selection.

I know it drives him crazy when I do that but it is one of those things that makes sense in my head. Depending on the location and situation, the selection process changes. Do I need a hoodie? Should I be wearing better shoes – or will I end up standing for a Blackhawks game in its entirety in heeled boots. Which friend’s house are we going to – the one w the air conditioning always on full blast or the one w the kittens that will tear up a nicer shirt?

I think it is because of my being somewhat of a planner. I do like to always have an idea of a plan B for things of a larger scale as well. Do I get stuck at times? Of course. Is it a bit of a personal safety net? Sure. Does this make me a PITA at times? Definitely.

 He has managed to surprise me a few times over the years so I do give him credit for that. I know that it’s hard. Maybe one of these days he’ll just mention something about how there’s an outfit ready for me and that we need to be out of the house in 45 mins.  That would be sweet though that means I need to seriously attack my closet.

But that’s a story for another day.

P.S. We saw Captain America. It was good but I wasn’t wow-ed. I haven’t read those particular comics and so that probably had something to do with it.

Are you someone who can be surprised or do you need to figure out what is going on?

Foto fursday: The nose knows

One month til Rex Manning day… or not

While channelling my inner Lucas today (the pondering part, no desire to take a bank deposit to Atlantic City – MAJOR imaginary cookie points in you know what I am talking about and post in the comments) I had one of those “what day is today” moments. 

Check phone… July 19th… EEEEEP! One month to HLS!

As a result here is a partial list of “things I plan to keep in mind/remember/do/not do for this year’s HLS.”

• Business cards are a great idea. Business cards you make yourself are a great idea. Making 100+ business cards out of scrapbook paper the two nights before is not a great idea. Even with the paper cutter guide helping, you will end up with some verrry crooked or off-centered which bugs me. I “blame” the graphic designer/artist part of me for that. Others will still end up really cute. Soooo this year I’m rocking ordered cards from VistaPrint. They are also really cute.
• The successful result of making a packing list is even better when you actually use it more than once. This year I can’t call Darth Husband and have him run something downtown if it is more major just a toothbrush. While I did forget that last year, I just went to the nearby Walgreens and picked one up.  Extra toothbrushes are always handy.
• Two words: Swag bag. Two more words… make that five: extra space in checked luggage.
• Babbling like a goofball due to forgetting someone’s real name isn’t happening again. I’ll probably answer to Can’t Survive on Yarn Alone or yarnalone so there is a pretty good chance someone else will respond to their blog name/twitter handle. Plus I am “guilty” of searching for people by asking if they have seen their online handle. If you don’t believe me just ask Black Cat Kitchen and A Girl and Her Mutt.
• Luckily there is no time management session so I won’t repeat last year’s adventure of losing my phone and as a result being late to the time management session. Racing back to the hotel room to dump out ALL my bags and then finding it underneath a table from before added to the “excitement.”
• Take more pictures especially group shot/general people photos is a must. I have some from last year but not too many.

I know there will be more to add in the days ahead but I think that’s a good start for my second blogger conference.

What is something that you try or try not to do at blogger conferences?

Waffle Waffle CUPCAKE!

I am proud, and maybe sometimes overly proud to some, that when I got married I wasn’t a bridezilla. We didn’t want nor need some of the details others had for theirs. That also carried to the shower which wasn’t even held at some fancy place. A church hall with catered food and a lot of laughs worked PERFECTLY. While I know others truly want and/or need it to be more formal, it is a definite great deal when it is nice place yet still laid back.

This weekend was my cousin and his future wife’s shower and they had a place like that. The best part though was there was a buffet, a breakfast/brunch style buffet.

What

a

smart

idea.

I

love

waffles.

There were waffles, a customizable omelet station, and a section with misc items like bacon, sausage, this amazing potato/onion/red pepper combo that I must figure out, and fruit. Plus if you wanted a salad, it was there too. I probably could have eaten the entire platter of waffles. They were amazing.  However, since taking a food coma nap was not an option I decided against that and make a combo plate of this and that. It was smart though since I had to save room for a cupcake.

I don’t care who says cupcakes are trendy or they are not trendy. I think cupcakes are always a great idea. They had an assortment of various kinds. I was zeroed in on one kind from the start. It had an ity bity little carrot on top: carrot cake with cream cheese frosting. YUM! The frosting was a bit sweet but more so an “eat slower” rather than a “my teeth hurt.”

Overall the shower was very cute. You could tell the future Mr. and Mrs. were happy which in the end is the most important thing.

When galloping kitties attack

There are nights that I sleep so well and wake up cheerful and refreshed.  Then there are the nights that I wake up with scratches on my legs or ankles and cat hair stuck to my skin (more so than normal of course.) Make that wake up the final wake up and that is the best option.  You need to add the “ok what is being messed with and if it falls will it break” wake up.

My cats enjoy channeling racehorses.  If there could be a werewolf cat but instead of a wolf they turn into some sort of cat/horse hybrid, it would be them. 20 odd total pounds of meowing ferocity tearing through the house can be quite unnerving.  They also will run you down and crash into your feet/legs/ankles/anything.  Bond, though being the smaller of the two purrbuckets, will be the one to almost take you out the most.  His small size makes the kitty blur factor much much higher.

This is also the case when I am sleeping.  I think they get more joy out of waking me up and/or causing mischief when I am sleeping.  There are specific routines that I think they have created and follow on a somewhat random schedule.

• Hey let’s kitty yodel (Frankie mostly) for extra food until Momma gets so annoyed I can get a whole FIVE more kernels
• Hey let’s bang into things in the kitchen until Momma comes downstairs.
• Routine above + knocking things over/off counter/off table
• Both routines above + knocking off something totally random that will result in Momma tearing down the stairs because she has NO idea what that was – aka a box of toothpicks off the fridge makes a really unnerving noise in the middle of the night
• Hey let’s do laps up and down the stairs
• Routine above + all the way into the living room so a crash into the blinds can be included
• Hey let’s do laps around the bedroom
• Routine above + including up on the bed and over Momma’s legs/feet – aka the scratches
• Both above including pounce on pillows/headboard
• Hey let’s find anything plastic in the room and chew on it… REALLY loudly

Please do keep in mind that I abso love my cats.  I don’t know what I would do without them other than finally be able to keep knickknacks out from behind glass doors.  They just go so kooky sometimes.

If you have cats, do they like to be mischevious especially at night?  What about other pets - do you have to deal with the we’re-gonna-go-bonkers moments as well?

Foto Fursday: Tiny calico editon

Wordless Wednesday

Don’t yell at the sandwich girl

I went out for lunch today since the entire bag of popcorn and a yogurt were not going to tide me over at all.  While part of me was tempting to make a second bag, I know it would still leave me becoming Mrs. Grumblepants on the train. If I have  a normal-ish smaller breakfast, like todays Naked Juice Orange Carrot and a blueberry muffin,  a decent size lunch plus a smallish snack works pretty well. Safe to say I will not forget my lunch tomorrow.

I ended up at Jimmy Johns after hunting down a team giving free samples of  FRS which is supposedly an all natural energy drink or so says the label on the cans. Nonetheless, it was a free sample and I’ll try it.  If I hate it then it will just be thrown out. That particular JJ wasn’t crowded which made me extremely happy.  There was one person ahead of me.  It should only be a short wait for my Beach Club and then I’d be on my merry way. (Too much Top Gear watching has me saying “merry” now.)

Then it all goes downhill… for the poor people behind the counter. I always say be nice to people who are dealing with your food even when you are unhappy. They. Have. Your. Food.

The woman ahead of me took a bit of time. She asked pretty much the same question rephrased several times. Ok, that isn’t too shocking. I see it often and I’ve asked questions, though different ones before. Then she told the girl HOW to make her sandwich as in the order of items to be added. Then she started screech/sputtering about the GREEN STUFF!!!! WHAT is THAT green stuff!?!?!?!?!

Sprouts.

What????

The green stuff is sprouts.

Oh ok.

If I could have done the #facepalm without making the staff laugh I probably would have though Angry Sprout Lady might have turned on me.  She also told them the right way to cut her pickle and that she wanted the sandwich cut in half. I think after three pickle comments and a good five times with the cutting instructions, they got it.

The thing is, the staff stayed cool throughout the entire thing. I was tempted to tell her to let them do their job but again Angry Sprout Lady might have turned on me.  There are probably tons of people that yell and throw a fit about their sandwiches and so they are used to it. Now the lady stopping to order another sandwich after getting, yet not eating her first one, was another thing though.

That was a sign it was time to leave, especially when she agreed again to sprouts.

Have you ever seen people being rude to people in the food industry for ridiculous reasons?