Pages

Monday, December 31, 2007

Resolutions vs Openness

I don't typically like the term "New Years Resolution". This usually reminds me of all of the things I had on my list last year that didn't get accomplished.

This year, things feel different. It's not that I am making resolutions. I am excited about 2008. I feel much more open to good things coming in to my life. I have been proactive in the last few days of this year to plan for some of those things that will not only make my life less complicated but let me truly live the life I want for me.

In recent months I have shed some heavy burdens in the form of unhealthy people in my life. It's sad and hard because these people I am related to (by marriage). I do hope eventually there is a reconciliation of some kind. I do know that I will never lower my standards and accept less than what I am worth again.

I have a renewed sense of purpose and drive that was lacking in all of 2007. I don't even necessarily think it has to do with the turning of a new year. Just that I finally feel in the right place at the right time. The stars are aligning and it's looking really darn good!

To all of you I hope the new year brings with it your right place and right tiime. Be safe and happy new year!

Wednesday, December 19, 2007

I am pathetic

I should be flogged with a wet noodle. I should be witness to excruciating hours of grade school Christmas pageants. I should be....well, you get the idea.

I am a bad blogger. Truly I have been - well busy to say the least. Work has been completely all consuming. 50+ hours a week come and go and it's all GAP's fault! My company does digital media experiences and we recently rolled out The GAP. It's been almost all I have been working on and it's almost complete. So, the next time you walk by The GAP at your local mall - think briefly of me and my spreadsheets.

I have not knitted. I have not exercised. I have not slept - much. Thank God for chocolate and caffeine (and our new espresso maker which significantly reduces the amount of money Starbucks get's from me every month)!

I am ready for Christmas and I have been spending a lot of time sleeping. Here in the Pacific Northwest we don't often get much of the white stuff that stays for any length of time. December first my hubby and I were shopping at the mall (if you know me at all you know that took tremendous strength) and when we went outside Starbucks (this IS Seattle) it was coming down in great big white fluffy bits! It lasted a day.

My weight loss efforts for this year have kind of flown out the window for now but stay tuned. Hubby and I got a free Nordic Track and when the tree goes we are setting that thing up in a permanent place to use!

Sunday, November 25, 2007

Go Cougs!

Yesterday was the 100th football game between my school the Washington State Cougars and the University of Washington Huskies. It's called the Apple Cup and it's the cross state rivalry. One of the best college football games I have ever watched and we won.

Cougs 42
Huskies 35

GO COUGS!


Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket

Monday, November 19, 2007

More Celebreties

One of my all time favorite authors is Clive Cussler. If you have seen the movie Sahara, it was based on his action adventure book by the same name. He has been writing for almost 40 years and I have read every one of his books. I was lucky enough to meet him at a book signing at my local Third Place Books last week. There are no words....


I work at a pretty cool company. We get to have up and coming along with established music artists in our offices all the time. A couple of weeks ago I was able to listen to the music of Chris Thomas King in person. For those of you who have seen Oh Brother Where Art Thou and Ray you will know who I am talking about. It was great! He was wonderful and modest person and his music was just great! Go check out his new CD.



Well folks, that is all for now. Lady E is still coming along slowly
. With the holidays there is not a lot of time for knitting etc.






Monday, October 29, 2007

Lady E Progress

I have been working diligently on Lady E. I hope to have her finished by Thanksgiving. This is 16 rows plus the base triangles. There is a total of 56 rows according to the pattern. I believe I am on my 4th or 5th skein of yarn. It takes me about an hour to work one row. I am thinking of making a scarf using this pattern of entrelac as a gift but with three base triangles to start. I really am loving this pattern.




Sunday, October 28, 2007

TBOZ is a Wrap!

This past Saturday night TBOZ (The Book of Zombie) cast and crew had their wrap party. Naturally it was a costume party. Now that the official production is "in the can" as they say. It's down to editing and hopefully we will have one great movie to premier in a few months!

Chris Barron (sound) had a small accident. We keep telling him he shouldn't play with matches.

Katy (special effects makeup) came as a Demon from Buffy.

Here is my honey (sound/producer) without his mask. He was an evil jester.


Cortesi (senior executive producer) had a dog that just would not leave him alone. It even had "humping action". He won for most funny costume.

Dave (Director of Photography) and Brian (Lead male actor) goofing around.

Paul (director/producer) as Indiana Jones and his wife Kassy as the best mummy I have ever seen.

Dave (director of photography) with his wife Leah (production assistant). Her costume was an imprmptu spider. She hosted the party and put this costume together at the last minute!

Ashley (catering/producer) as Mrs. Torrance from the Shining (runner up for most creative costume) and Jenn (makeup/special effects) as the ghost of Marie Antoinette. She won for best creative costume.


Vanessa (costume) as a storey book girl and I (costume/producer) as a spider witch (tied with Ashley for runner up as most creative costume). We had had a few when this photo was taken.

Paul (producer/director), Scott (producer/director) and Erik (writer/director/producer).


Mr. and Mrs. Torrance from The Shining (Ashley & Erik).












Monday, October 22, 2007

Happy Birthday Connor

My bonus son's 12th birthday was on the 11th. Yesterday we took him, his sister and two friends indoor rock climbing at Vertical World for his birthday party. Lately he is in to goulish things like skulls and zombies. My hubby found the perfect skull cake to celebrate with.


Connor climbed up this wall pretty quickly. He stopped long enough for a photo op. I LOVE this photo of him!


This wall is pretty challenging and Connor tried this right before time was up. He was already pretty tired so didn't make it all the way but that is a challenge for next time.

Alex (his sister) loves climbing too. Weather it's free climbing or with a rope. Here she is chimney climbing up the wall.

LOVE this photo of Alex and her dad.






Wednesday, October 17, 2007

My Thumb Is Numb

I couldn't resist, I had to post a progress photo. I got 5 tiers done today and my right thumb is a little numb from holding on to the needle the way I do. (Notice the book it's sitting on). Still loving it!


Tuesday, October 16, 2007

It Looks Like The Picture (Lady E Progress)

After much ripping out and restarting I finally have gotten the hang of the Lady E. I am really enjoying knitting this! The photo below are the base triangles which form the first edge of the wrap. Hard to believe as they look like a string of marine signal flags. Once you get a couple tiers done the the magic starts.

This photo was taken in the lobby of my building at work. I really liked the stone hearth for my backdrop.


This is a terrible photo. I was having problems with the light in the room. Essentially this is Tier 1.

Here is a detail of Tier 1 since the above photo does not give it justice.


Here is Tier 2 complete. I am further along than this but wanted to show the progression.

I will update when I have significantly more done. For now I must say I am loving the colors in this yarn! Initially I was a little concerned. I started with a teal color at the end of a skein the first time around. I think picking a different skein that started with a color I liked better has helped.
This is Noro Silk Garden color # 213. Colors you don't see that are also in the skein are light and dark grey, some darker blue and forest green.
I am loving this pattern so much I am thinking about making a scarf to go with a hat and some fetching gloves I made. I would start with three base triangels to make the scarf more manageable.


Sunday, October 7, 2007

Fall Leaves

Today we took advantage of the lack of rain to go to Jennings Park and take some family photos. This is where my husband and I got our engagement photos taken. Alex was really tired so she opted to stay home but we got some cool ones of everyone else.

In the photo above I am wearing a scarf I wore in my wedding. It matches the tartan of my hubby's kilt.

Chris is walking the dog by the same pond. The kilt he is wearing he wore in our wedding. The tartan is Muire (moore) after his mom's side of the family. He is dressed down today from a dress "uniform" of Gillie Brogues (shoes), hose (socks) and a Prince Charlie jacket. He is wearing a sporran which we jokingly call his "man purse" and a British Military sweater. Even BJ's sweater coordinates.

Connor tried really hard to get in to this tree.


Saturday, October 6, 2007

Distractions from Lady E

My Lady E is resting. I had to rip it out as I messed up, I tried to tink it but made it worse. While I took a time out I painted my dining room.

Below is a photo of the new olive green wall with Lord Oliver perched on the bar lamp. We named him Lord Oliver without even thinking about the wall color. He is a Halloween decoration. I kind of like him though. He may stick around through the winter. Very Harry Potter.

The green is a little more intense in the photo compared to in person.


However, when compared to this next picture where I have a little of the kitchen red wall next to it. The wall looks Kelly green. Wild.

I'm really happy with the color and will have to paint a second coat throughout the next week before I take the tape off my crown molding.
Next up, pumpkin color living room walls. Can you see a fall color theme here? Also, better photos to come later when I have my curtains done and you can see the dental molding.




Thursday, October 4, 2007

100 Films

Stolen from Yvonne

The AFI released its Top 100 American films; ones in orage are the onesI’ve seen. What have you seen?

1. Citizen Kane
2. The Godfather
3. Casablanca
4. Raging Bull
5. Singin’ in the Rain (fell asleep)
6. Gone with the Wind
7. Lawrence of Arabia
8. Schindler’s List
9. Vertigo (in my Netflix queue)
10. The Wizard of Oz
11. City Lights
12. The Searchers
13. Star Wars
14. Psycho
15. 2001: A Space Odyssey
16. Sunset Boulevard
17. The Graduate (in my Netflix quwuw)
18. The General
19. On the Waterfront (in my Netflix queue)
20. It’s a Wonderful Life (in my Netflix queue)
21. Chinatown
22. Some Like It Hot
23. The Grapes of Wrath
24. E.T.
25. To Kill a Mockingbird
26. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (in my Netflix queue)
27. High Noon
28. All About Eve (in my Netflix queue)
29. Double Indemnity
30. Apocalypse Now
31. The Maltese Falcon (fell asleep, just couldn't get in to it)
32. The Godfather Part II
33. One Flew Over the Cuckoo Nest
34. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
35. Annie Hall (in my Netflix queue)
36. The Bridge on the River Kwai
37. The Best Years of Our Lives
38. The Treasure of the Sierra Madre
39. Dr. Strangelove
40. The Sound of Music
41. King Kong
42. Bonnie and Clyde
43. Midnight Cowboy
44. The Philadelphia Story
45. Shane
46. It Happened One Night
47. A Streetcar Named Desire
48. Rear Window (fell asleep but liked what I saw - see a trend here?)
49. Intolerance
50. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
51. West Side Story
52. Taxi Driver
53. The Deer Hunter
54. M*A*S*H
55. North by Northwest (in my Netflix queue)
56. Jaws
57. Rocky
58. The Gold Rush
59. Nashville
60. Duck Soup
61. Sullivan’s Travels
62. American Graffiti
63. Cabaret
64. Network
65. The African Queen
66. Raiders of the Lost Ark
67. Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (in my Netflix queue)
68. Unforgiven
69. Tootsie
70. A Clockwork Orange
71. Saving Private Ryan
72. The Shawshank Redemption
73. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
74. The Silence of the Lambs
75. In the Heat of the Night
76. Forrest Gump
77. All the President’s Men
78. Modern Times
79. The Wild Bunch
80. The Apartment
81. Spartacus
82. Sunrise
83. Titanic
84. Easy Rider
85. A Night at the Opera
86. Platoon
87. 12 Angry Men
88. Bringing Up Baby
89. The Sixth Sense
90. Swing Time
91. Sophie’s Choice
92. Goodfellas
93. The French Connection
94. Pulp Fiction (didn't really get it)
95. The Last Picture Show
96. Do the Right Thing
97. Blade Runner (hubby owns it and one day I will watch it)
98. Yankee Doodle Dandy
99. Toy Story
100. Ben-Hur

Wednesday, September 26, 2007

Has this ever happened to you?

I carpool with my hubby and three days a week he works an hour later. I amuse myself in the car with knitting or reading. As it happens yesterday I was intense on finishing this sock so I could wear them today. Darn if I didn't break the needle of these DPN's.

I bought the needles last summer to knit my first pair of socks on. Admittedly I'm not completely distraught as I really wanted new ones and now I can get them.

I tried knitting with them and it's working so far. I had already turned the heel and am in the home stretch at least.



Sunday, September 23, 2007

Home Ownership

If you are ever lucky enough to own a home of your own - beware - improvements can take your hard earned money and your sanity.

A few weeks ago I posted I had completed one coat of paint on the kitchen walls. The ceiling is now painted as well. The entire room still needs a second coat of paint. Cool thing is we will probably get away with one gallon for the entire room! Aside from that, hubby and I went shopping today for kitchen accessories. It made us giddy.

We bought a bathroom soap dispenser to house the dish soap. Try to ignore the glass to the left of it. That is where we currently house our cell phone chargers - hideous I know.

Now, let me tell you how excited I can get about a garbage can. It has one of those nifty little foot pedals so you don't have to actually touch the lid. Also, when it closes, it goes slowly so as not to harm your ears with the ringing of a slamming garbage lid. Simple minds...simple pleasures.

The last thing we are going to do (before new cabinets and counter tops in a year) is stainless switch plate and outlet covers. We are also going to turn the dead space over the cabinets on the sink side in to wine storage with criss - crossed pieces of wood painted in the wall color so it blends in.
Bed, Bath & Beyond is almost the happiest place on earth - second only to Home Depot!

Sunday, September 16, 2007

Getting in to the spirit

Our wrap party for the film is going to be a costume party since the film is set in October. Since I am the costume designer for the film I suppose I need to have a stellar costume. I have always wanted to be a witch and never gotten the chance so I came up with an original twist (I hope) on a traditional costume.

Below are photos as a teaser to my costume. The evil jester is part of Chris costume. I'm going to make a black dress with a petticoat of red silk and black netting that looks like spider webs. Black and red striped over the knee socks that I think I am going to knit myself, black witches shoes with big silver buckles and a choker that looks like a spider web. I am also going to attach a spider from the tip of my witches hat. I even bought a black and red wig!


My wig kinds of reminds me of cherry coke or something because of the color.

Not a great photo as far as color representation (the red looks too pink). The netting is the best I could find to represent spider webs. This is going to be edging on my petticoat and I will sew some fake plastic spiders to it so I hope it will look cool.



Saturday, September 15, 2007

Interurban Trail

Today we took our bikes out to test drive the Interurban Trail they have been constructing in our area. It's nicer that riding on sidewalks. We saw a lot of bikers, runners and dog walkers today. But boy, my but could use a break! We stopped at Central Market, our halfway point to get refreshments.
Chris, Alex and Connor on the trail.

Alex


Connor


Chris


Friday, September 14, 2007

Two Celebrities One Day

My company occasionally has musicians perform at our offices. We do in store music systems and music programming for large retail establishments. If you have ever been in a Starbucks, Old Navy, Steve & Barry's or Anthropologie (to name but a few) then you have heard our work.

Anyway, Michelle Shocked performed accoustically for us today. She has been in the music biz for 20 + years and has an absolutely wonderful voice. It was a thrill to meet her.

The other big news is I saw the Yarn Harlot! I was unfortunately not organized enough to purchase a copy of her new book in order to get it signed by her and I did not meet her in person. She was wonderful to listen to for an hour and next time she is here rest assured I will be more prepared! The photo below is the best I could get of her since she was standing in front of a black curtain which sucked the light from all my photos.

She of course took her sock photo which I desperately wanted to do of her but it was all I could do just to snap a photo of her that I could actually see.


I have temporarily put aside my Lady E in favor of an easy beginner sock pattern I could knit on and not concentrate too hard on while I listened to Stephanie and chatted with my new friends at the North End Knitters. I will be back with Lady E momentarily.

Sunday, September 9, 2007

Let's Go Fly A Kite

View of Mt. Rainier and Lake Washington from Magnuson park kite hill in Seattle.


After working on the film until early this morning my hubby and I finally tumbled in to bed at 5:30 AM, way later than expected. We slept most of the day and didn't really get out of bed until 4:00. Needless to say I did not paint the ceiling or get a second coat in the kitchen at all. That will be my after work project for this week.

There is a great park that used to be a naval base near the University of Washington. We loaded the kids and the dog in to the car and went there this afternoon. The weather was really nice and true to Indian Summer fashion the wind was a warm one. The park has a HUGE off leash area for dogs with a really generous fenced area just for small/shy dogs which BJ loves to run around in. There is also a kite flying hill.

There were Jazz musicians playing at the park today and we could hear them from the dog area. All in all, a very satisfying end to a late night. We finished it off with pizza from Pagliacci and a movie.

Chris and BJ on the kite hill.

Connor and his triangle kite.

Alex and her Dragon kite.

Saturday, September 8, 2007

A Girl and her Paint Brush

Mind you this is ONE coat of the three I will probably need to finish my kitchen and I have not painted the ceiling yet. The color is Pomegranite by Ralph Lauren.

The cabinets are not getting painted because I think that would be too much red and we are getting new cabinets and granite (I hope) counter tops next year. The cabinet color used to be the wall color (and still is in most of my house - but I am changing it), it really was a light mocha color...really. Just compared to the red it looks like nothing.

The black door you see in the hallway through the archway is going to be our headboard in our bedroom (obviously sitting lengthwise on the wall). We will get to it eventually.
Home improvements are fun but I am bushed!

Tier 1


I have completed tier 1 so far. I know, not much progress. I was so excited to complete this and I really wanted to show something after my struggle with the yarn purchase. I also bought Addi Turbo circular needles to knit this on.
It kind of looks like a bunch of flags strung together. I am a little further than this photo shows. I have started Tier 2 and done the left triangle which "straightens" out the curl of the yarn and makes a nice corner.
I am a little stuck on the rectangles. Technically I have two Lady E's going right now. I have a practise Lady E so I can make sure I understand what I am knitting before I do it for real on the real Lady E. Being a relatively new knitter I don't want to keep ripping out my nice yarn.
The color the ball started with is a teal/turquoise, then it went to green and black and now I am in to some grey. There is also some lime green and various shades of blue and green in the yarn.