Batten Down The Hatches!

We can't whine about having to drive on snowy roads because we only have a mile or so of road, and there isn't anywhere to go in Frenchboro.

What we DO have to whine about, however, is this:

Gusts up to 55! That should be fun!

(And that is total crap that Wednesday's seas will be 2-4. Nice try, guys.
Clearly The Big Guy has gotten to the People At Noaa.)

Fortunately, it's warm (actually, it's hot- I keep opening the patio door) in my house, we've got more food than we can eat leftover from the Christmas Extravaganza (I'm going to have to freeze the baked stuff shrimp as there is NO WAY we can eat it all), and we have plenty of new toys to keep us occupied.

So, this is what it's like to be a bum! I could get used to this, hanging with my peeps all day!

I hope you all got a Snow Day out of this Blizzard, and are safely at home doing the same!

Am I the only one who wants to thump her chest today?

This is the closest I can get to keeping them safe; keeping them warm.

Adventures in Paradise

And In The Wild:

Adventures in Paradise!

picture by Shanti, Adventures in Paradise

I love his huge smile.

Enjoy guys, consider yourselves hugged.

Happy Merry!

John Belushi

Yesterday, a friend posted a random comment on Facebook about a Joe Cocker song, which led me to this clip of and old Saturday Night Live skit. (And an afternoon of You Tube surfing for those old skits. Gilda. Chevy. Dan. John. Lorraine. THE BEST!)
God, I miss those guys.




Did he nail it? YOU be the judge!




My kids watched this with me, and were both befuddled as to the lyrics. "But WHY is he singing about wonder bread? And liver??"
Drugs, Honey. That is why we know now NOT to take drugs. Back then, they didn't know how bad it was for you.
And then I listed off a few people we know in real life who are burnouts, and The Things nodded their full understanding.

Let's hope the lesson sticks.

In the meantime, I will lament the loss of some of my favorite comics.
FYI, Joe Cocker is still among us!

Bursting With Pride: Shanti's Tale

   Once upon a time there was a little girl named Shanti. Shanti grew up and joined the US Navy. She toiled long and hard, was sent to amazing places, and lived aboard ships for months at a time.
Ships. Giant Navy ships. With hundreds of other sailors. For months at a time.
And Shanti loved every minute of it.

She worked her way through the ship's ranks, earning the respect of her peers and her Commanding Officers.

I would like to share with you where she is today:

picture from Shanti's blog, Adventures In Paradise

That's Shanti, sitting in the CAPTAIN'S CHAIR OF THE USS DECATUR!


Dudes, I'm all proud of myself for getting through the day without eating one of my neighbors, and getting dinner on the table at a reasonable time.

She's the COMMANDING OFFICER OF THE USS DECATUR.

I can't even begin to imagine how she feels.
And her Mom, Lynn,  was there for the ceremony- how fabulous is that??!!??

Shanti is chronicling what she can of her current deployment to the Persian Gulf on her blog. The pictures are amazing, and the USS DECATUR is astounding.

We outfitted Shanti's entire crew with wool hats for christmas this year, and are looking to cover the heads of far more sailors next year.

This was a ginormous undertaking, with more donations of time, energy, and monetary resources than you would think.

My great thanks to Lynne for organizing this monumental effort, DHL for donating the shipping costs, Shanti's Dad for providing transportation for one leg of the journey, and of course, to the hundreds of knitters who made hats, stores who donated yarn, Signature Needle Arts (yup- I bought a pair for myself, partly to show my appreciation to Cathy for her generous donation of support, and mostly partly out of pure selfishness), the many school children who made cards and sent letters, and all the volunteers who helped pack all the gifts up for shipping.
Whew!

Shanti, words cannot describe how proud and honored I am to have you in our country's service.
Give 'em Hell, Girl!

Enjoy!

I dig this out every year...and I would love to credit the author, but, alas, I came across it in a random email about 10 years ago, and have no way of knowing from whence it came.

And it may just be my disturbed sense of humor, but I think they get funnier every year!


CHRISTMAS CAROLS FOR THE PSYCHOLOGICALLY CHALLENGED


1) Schizophrenia---- Do You Hear What I Hear, the Voices, the Voices?

2) Amnesia-- I Don't Remember If I'll be Home for Christmas

3) Narcissistic-- Hark the Herald Angels Sing About Me

4) Manic-- Deck The Halls And Walls And House And Lawn And Streets And
Stores And Office And Town And Cars And Buses And Trucks And Trees And
Fire Hydrants And...........

5) Multiple Personality Disorder----We Three Queens Disoriented Are

6) Paranoid---Santa Claus Is Coming To Get Us

7) Borderline Personality Disorder--- You Better Watch Out, You Better
not Shout, I'm Gonna Cry, and I'll not Tell You Why

8) Full Personality Disorder--- Thoughts of Roasting You On an Open Fire

9) Obsessive Compulsive Disorder---Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells Jingle
Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle
Bells, Jingle Blls, Jingle Bells

10) Agoraphobia---I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day But Wouldn't Leave
My House

11) Senile Dementia---Walking In a Winter Wonderland Miles from My House
in My Slippers and Robe

12) Oppositional Defiant Disorder---I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus So I
Burned Down the House

13) Social Anxiety Disorder---Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas
While I Sit Here and Hyperventilate

14) Attention Deficit Disorder--We Wish You......Hey Look!! It's
Snowing!!!


p.s. I can place myself in 7 of the 14 categories on any given day. So much fun!

Cute Things

The stilettos came. I have no words.

They are...they're...just....gorgeous!

And, sniff, I only got to hold them in my hot little hands for a moment, when I realized they are 4 inches and my Options are 5 inches and I never thought to measure because they looked like they could be 4 inches...
and they don't fit in my hand.

I could probably get used to the inch less...maybe.  (Ladies, do I even have to make the joke??)

So. I emailed. Can we switch these out?
Absolutely. Get new ones out to you in short order.
Awesome!


In the meantime I am distracting myself making super-cute things like this:



My kingdom for a red pompom! We scoured the house; no red yarn, no pompoms we could steal off something else. I had to send it off pompom-less. So sad.


To go on a super-cut thing like this:




Guess which one I wanted to keep.

It's that time again...

     Last night I went to bed rather late. I was tired. (I'm re-writing a pattern. Why? Because I liked the pattern, but it's an adult size, and I need it to fit a kid. And to add insult to injury, it calls for fingering weight yarn, and I want to use worsted. So, really, I'm writing a pattern. Just nod your head and pass me that wine bottle and nobody will get hurt.)

   So it was late. I was frustrated, I had just found out that I cannot count to ten, a fact I've lived my entire life not realizing (but yarn does not lie. Oh No. It does not.).

I found myself in the kitchen. (This is nothing new. I'm like a  homing pigeon.)
I couldn't remember why I went to the kitchen, so I browsed around a bit. Out of sheer habit, I started to make a cup of coffee. It was 3am. I had no intention of pulling an all-nighter, so I didn't need coffee.

While putting away all the coffee paraphernalia, I spilled sugar on the counter.

Now brace yourselves, because this is highly unusual for me:
     I left it there.

I did. I walked away. I was so tired I was stumbling, and I hadn't reached that place in the pattern that I wanted to (failure...), and I couldn't think or see...so I just went to bed.

This morning, I came downstairs to find the kids hunting for something. The pillows on the couch were overturned, a laundry basket had been rifled (grrrr), and they were both attacking the bookcases with gusto.

Fearing multi-legged critters that would facilitate the hasty hiring of a U-Haul, I screamed, "WHAT!!! WHAT IS IT??!!!! SHOULD WE CALL SOMEONE????!!!!!!!!"

Thing Two looked at me like I have six heads and said, all calm-like,
 "Henry's back. We're trying to find where he hid."



Oh, Game ON, my little ones.