Camping fun again
This weekend I am hostessing another huge campout for about 25 friends. This time it's at New Brighton State Beach in Santa Cruz. I'm very excited about it. I have camped alone about a gazillion times in the last few months, but this is the first time I have camped with anyone since the Monterey camping trip I hostessed in February. Next weekend I'm camping down in Carpinteria again with a girlfriend. We are going to get massages and go wine tasting on the drive down, and eat and shop in Santa Barbara. How much fun is that going to be? a LOT I hope!
I knitted out by the water today when I got home. I just adore living near the ocean!
Darling far think thunderflower
Guess where I got that title from? Yep, a home refi spam.
I painted some furniture late last night (cabinet, chair). I thought I managed to stay relatively clean in the process, but when I got to work this morning I discovered a whole splotch of paint on the top of my foot. Mr. Bubble was not looking out for me in the shower. I have a lot more furniture to paint (bed, desk, nightstand), so hopefully this isn't going to be a recurring theme in my wardrobe this week.
I mailed a little package off to my Secret Pal this morning, and over the weekend I got an email from my spoiler letting me know she'll be getting something to me when she gets back from vacation in a few days. Woohoo!
There really isn't anything more to report that that, so I am going to fly. I'm going to eat some mac n'cheese (something I RARELY eat) and go to bed. I'm very tired!
Idiotic algebraic cannonball
Another great spam title. Its almost like a real saying. Almost.
Anyone read Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris? I just finished it
last night and as always with David Sedaris, I laughed until I cried.
He and Augusten Burroughs are two of my favorite memoirists. I highly
recommend them.
So you know how yesterday I was complaining about my up at 530 routine?
Well, in a few weeks it will be even worse. Work will be STARTING at
5. That's AM. Fortunately that will be a conference call start, and I
can roll out of bed at 4:59 to do it. But still. 5am. Thank god for
the auto-brew feature on the coffee pot.
There is always the possibility of this project getting cancelled, but
that would suck worse, because then my client would not have any work
for me to do, and that means they would not be paying me. So I will
look on the bright side of this- I will be done working and be out on
the beach or my surfboard everyday by 1:00 or so.
Yeah for me!!
+kac
5:30 sucks
Its getting old, this getting up at 5:30am. I can't wait till the
weekend and I can sleep in a bit. 730am sounds completely decadent
right now.
+kac
cart roll thumper
For lack of a better title I resorted to using spam for a little inspiration. It isn't even a good one, really. I just picked it because it used the word thumper.
I haven't knitted in days, but I have been carrying around a ribby cardi sleeve in my purse for ages. I thought I would have a chance to pull it out and work on it tonight, but after work I stopped in Los Gatos to do the trail on St. Joseph's Hill with Blayssa, and then we got dinner, and the next thing I knew it was 9:00 when I got home. I just flopped in a chair and plotted my weekend crafty activities- painting some furniture and changing drawer pulls, and working on ribby cardi. Painting will be done at night, knitting will be done during the day at the beach.
Hey- it is a 3 day weekend this week, isn't it?
Did I mention that I took a cooking class? Well, I did. I took a cooking class and I learned to make a whole meal. Gosh it was easy. I always think cooking is hard. I guess some things are hard. But anyway, I am invited to a dinner party on Saturday night that a girlfriend and her hubby are hosting, and I am going to bring one of the things I learned to make. It'll make a grand hors d'ouvre. I have a backup plan in case I mess it up. I'm bringing flowers.
Time for bed- I have to get up in about 9 minutes or so. Well, not literally. But 5:30 will be here in no time flat, I'm sure.
Morning Call
Here I am at 5:30 AM, first morning in my new place, having a cup of coffee, and getting ready to walk down to start the day with a look at the ocean. Woohoo! I didn't sleep very well last night despite being exhausted, though. I'm not used to all the new noises of this place yet so every time the heater or the fridge kicked on I woke up. They're not loud, just different from the sounds I'm used to from the last place I lived. Then at one point when I got up to go potty, I ran into the corner of a wall because I forgot where it was. LOL. I should have left a nightlight on for myself.
Time to run down to the water. Ya'll have a good one!
+kac
Hey
I was going to write this huge blog post tonight, about knitting (can
you believe it) for the first time in ages. My gal pal had a
boyfriend-related emotional emergency though, and I was called to duty
to man battlestations at the Crying Towel and the Wine Bottle. It was
the least that I could do, seeing as how she's been performing the same
service for me on a *regular/ongoing/ frequent* basis ever since my
huge boyfriend trauma last August (yes, that was a long time ago, but
these things take time to heal and they refuse to be rushed, dammit. If
I knew how to make it better faster, I'd certainly pass along the
secret.).
I guess now we can both wail and cry and moan and carry on like soap
opera queens together.
Heehee- we'll get to have some of our crying fests in my new place in Santa Cruz now. That's going to be great. We can go to Marini's candy store and load up on saltwater taffy and fudge to take back to my place to eat while we wallow in the pieces of our broken hearts.
+kac
Kackie's Dream House
I have this giant box of home decor pictures I have been cutting out of
magazine and catalogs for *years.* I also have pictures I took myself
or I cut out of real estate adds, and gardening ideas, and a whole
notebook full of details I have seen in some house or other, like a
creative power outlet setup or something. Its also got paint samples,
fabric swatches, and random home improvement brochures and samples of
wood finishes, Trex decking, appliance ads, and architects and builders
business cards. I call the whole shebang Kackie's Dream House.
I've been sorting though it to find ideas for decorating my new place,
and found a couple of really great things. I still can't decide on a
colorway though. I think I will go peruse the Kaffe Fassett fabrics at
Red Robin on Portola to get some inspiration in that regard. I always
get about 12 big bright ideas from his fabrics. They really just knock
my socks off with their intensity and colors and patterns. I always
want to take up quilting when I see them. Funny though, I'm not as
excited about his knitting work. Nothing wrong with it- it's just his
fabrics really WOW me in a very visceral way.
I can't believe I just said that about fabric. I am cuckoo, I guess.
+kac
Tired
I am so excited about Santa Cruz I can't stand it! I realized tonight
that this time next week I'll be able to pick up a chicken sandwich from
Gayle's Bakery in Capitola (across from The Yarn Place) on the way home
from work and eat it while I change into play clothes to go hang out by/
in the ocean. I CAN'T WAIT!
It will be kind of like playing house a little, since I haven't had a
place all by myself in 4.5 years. I will have a little adjustment
period for that, probably. But it will be good. Very very good.
I got a condolence card in the mail today from the vet that euthanized
Cary Grant. He wrote a very long and very personal note to me in it
(personal meaning it was very specific about situation that happened
with Cary). That was very nice, I thought. I like a vet with a good
bedside manner. A few years ago my dog had to be euthanized and
although another vet at the practice was on duty when the time came to
do it, my own vet saw that it had happened and called me up the very
next day to offer his sympathies.
Its funny+ here I am thinking only about how I feel, but it must be
really hard emotionally to be a vet and lose a patient. They probably
see a lot more stuff that they just don't want to see or hear about from
a trauma/ disease perspective, and yet its been brought to them to fix
(as long as it doesn't cost more than the owner can spend). That's got
to be a tough tough job. I know I couldn't do it. I admire my brother
who's a vet tech for doing what he does. Some of the stuff he
tells me is just crazy, and I don't know how he can do it.
Ok, I started off this post with the idea I was tired, and I still am so
I better go. I want to try to work a couple of rows on some WIP or
other as a bedtime meditation project.
+kac
SP8 Questionnaire
Today is the first day of Secret Pal 8. Woohoo! I just dropped a note to my spoilee to say hey, and now I'm posting my questionnaire for my spoiler.
1. What is/are your favorite yarn/s to knit with? What fibers do you absolutely *not* like?
I like wool the best, but I also like camelhair and mohair. Cotton and ribbon yarns, eeh, not so much.
2. What do you use to store your needles/hooks in?
Straights and dpns are in a couple of tall polka dotted aluminum cannisters, circulars are in a blue plastic coupon organizer folder thing.
3. How long have you been knitting? Would you consider your skill level to be beginner, intermediate or advanced?
About 25 years, and I'm definitely an intermediate, due to lack of interest in/ attention span for trying anything advanced.
4. Do you have an Amazon or other online wish list?
No
5. What's your favorite scent? (for candles, bath products etc.)
I like coconut
6. Do you have a sweet tooth? Favorite candy?
YES!! Hershey bars!
7. What other crafts or Do-It-Yourself things do you like to do? Do you spin?
I sew. I don't spin.
8. What kind of music do you like? Can your computer/stereo play MP3s? (if your buddy wants to make you a CD)
I like oldies and old school R&B. I can do CDs and MP3s
9. What's your favorite color? Or--do you have a color family/season/palette you prefer? Any colors you just can't stand?
Orange is my favorite color, but I also like pink and red.
10. What is your family situation? Do you have any pets?
I am single, with one dog and one guinea pig.
11. Do you wear scarves, hats, mittens or ponchos?
Hats, scarves, and mittens. I am allergic to ponchos.
12. What is/are your favorite item/s to knit?
Anything felted.
13. What are you knitting right now?
Ribby cardi and the Elf Hat from Handknit Holidays.
14. Do you like to receive handmade gifts?
Yes!!!
15. Do you prefer straight or circular needles? Bamboo, aluminum, plastic?
Circulars, Addi turbos preferably. Inox express if turbos are not available.
16. Do you own a yarn winder and/or swift?
no
17. How did you learn to knit?
A lady in the neighborhood growing up taught me. My grandmother taught me to crochet.
18. How old is your oldest UFO?
About a year and half.
19. What is your favorite holiday?
My Birthday!
20. Is there anything that you collect?
Stamps
21. Any books, yarns, needles or patterns out there you are dying to get your hands on? What knitting magazine subscriptions do you have?
I always want more Cascade 220, but otherwise, my stash is so full there isn't even room for me to daydream!
22. Are there any new techniques you'd like to learn?
I'd like to try smoe nw BO and CO techniques, but I am so lazy I can't bring myself to just tryone out. I always feel like I have to do it in the context of a project.
23. Are you a sock knitter? What are your foot measurements?
I am not a sock knitter. I wear a size 8.5 shoe, if that helps.
24. When is your birthday? (mm/dd)
Kacktober 28! (the metric equivalent is 10/28)
Casket saw tuft
I can't think of a better headline myself, so I ripped one off from a spam I got today. I figured since I buried my guinea pig yesterday it was vaguely appropriate.
I'm still not believing the whole Cary Grant eyeball thing. Denial is a good word for it. Gosh that was wild and wierd and sad.
I didn't knit anything today, mostly I just started getting my crap together to move it over to Santa Cruz. I ordered a pepperoni pizza and plotted and packed. I can't wait ti have coffee by the ocean in the morning before work!
Cary isn't going to make it
The vet just called. Cary's eyeball had been pushed out of his head by a huge abscess. There are some super heroic measures that can be done, but they need to be done 2-3 times a day every day for like oh, weeks or months. Not a good quality of life. Sigh. So, I'm supposed to be thinking about doing that or having him euthanized, then call them back in an hour. I know the right thing to do is to have him put to sleep. I'm just sad about it. He was such a good little guy, and was full of sweetness and personality. I'm going to go have a little cry about it, and then let them know to put him to sleep.
I'll miss the little guy!
Not out of the woods yet
Cary and I got home from the emergency hospital at 1:45 am. I went to see Dr. Chuang, his regular vet first thing- we were waiting in the parking lot when they opened at 7 am. Tragically, Dr. Chuang is off today, so the vet clinic staff referred me to another hospital that has a vet that works on guinea pigs. I went there and we got to see the vet, who says they are soooo backed up already from emergency cases pouring in from sunday night that it will be 3:50 at the earliest he'd be able to do Cary's surgery. Removing an eyeball is called enucleation, in case you are wondering.
All the folks I talked to, including my brother who is a vet tech, say Cary will be fine, and he will recover from this without too much of a hitch. Domestic animals don't have many problems adapting to the loss of an eye. The only complicating factors they say are his age (he's 3.5 years old, kind of middle aged for a pig) and there is a risk of infection. Neither of these two things sounded like huge risks though. So, I left Cary there at the hospital and hopefully when I pick him up today he will be all fixed up.
Poor baby. It looks so awful, but it doesn't seem like he is in any kind of pain. Thank God. He doesn't flinch or do anything when that eye is being examined, but he sure did get bent out of shape when he got a little antibiotic injection in the butt. And thank God he doesn't understand how horrifying it is to have your eyeball hanging out of the socket.
some folks I know think I am being wierd staying up all night with the pig and bringing him to three vets and leaving all sorts of $$$ behind. My brother assures me people coming into the clinic where he works do the same thing. They've even done surgery for someone's pet chicken that was attacked by a dog. Yeah for animal lovers!
I've been spending the time in the waiting room mentally decorating my new place, and planning my new little garden. That's been kind of fun. I cant wait to get started on it! I also can't wait to have a well pig.
Ugg
4 hours later, I am still at the vet. Cary's eyeball is a goner. He'll
have it removed by his regular vet in the AM. He seems to be ok
otherwise, not even in discomfort really. A little lethargic, but since
he got some fluid and baby food he's perked up . I have no idea what
caused his eyeball to blow up. The vet said she couldn't find any sign
of physical trauma, and sometimes this is caused by a tumor. Whatever
it is, it's really gross and hollywood special-effectish. My poor
pig!
+kac
What Would Jesus Do?
The woman sitting next to me has a trippy disco version of Handel's
Messiah as her ring tone on her cell phone. Another woman waiting here
in the emergency vet clinic thinks it is great music, and very
inspirational for the situation. They are now praying together, loudly,
and asking Jesus to come and guide the vets in making the best decisons
for their pets, and show them the way to everlasting life. I don't know
if they mean everlasting life for themselves, the vets, or the pets.
Ever notice how people carry on conversations with Jesus like he is
right there? Except that they always use a wierd tone of voice that you
would never actually use to address another human? And they use terms of
endearment that you would never use with someone you are not dating.
Dear sweet Jesus. My beloved Jesus. Light of my life, jesus.
The best part of this is that the receptionist just announced- at the
end of the prayer- that she's had tp pee for the last 3 hours and THANK
GOD she finally has a chance to go. I can tell by the way she said it
(and so can the prayer group ladies) that she's not a Real Christian.
hee hee.
I'm not one either. Real, fake, or otherwise.
+kac
Cary Grant is sick!
I got home from Santa Cruz tonight to discover one of my guinea pigs is
sick. Cary Grant's eyeball looks like it was replaced with a big red
marble. It was fin Friday when I left. We're at the emergency clinic
right now. It looks so bad I can hardly bear to see it. He's fairly
lethargic too, and sneezing a bit. Which makes me worry he's gotten
pneumonia as a secondary infection from this, and it's just something
that guinea pigs get when their imune systems are otherwise
compromised. Cary's definitely is compromised.
Cary's a real trooper, and I hope he'll pull through this. Its so bad
though, I worry he might not.
+kac
What's better than winning the lottery?
Well, you know how the other day I said I should just move to Santa
Cruz? Well, guess what- I am!!!! I just rented a place, 2 seconds
ago. It's in Pleasure Point, about 1 block from the ocean, off 37th
avenue. Its the cutest little detached studio in someone's adorable
backyard, with a hot tub and a place for my surfboard and everything.
Woohoo!!
I can hardly see straight, I am so excited. The place is mine as of
next weekend. I can't believe I am actually going to be a Santa Cruz
resident. I feel like I died and went to heaven. I'm going to be able
to get up and surf in the morning before work, or just fix a cup of
coffee and walk around the corner to sit on a bench and look at the
ocean like old people in Miami do and plan my day. Ditto the
afternoon. I am absolutely positively thrilled. THRILLED!!!
And now I must go. I want to go to an antique shop and the The Yarn
Place before I go to the beach.
+kac
Camping day 1
I am camping at the KOA campground in Santa Cruz today. I've never
stayed here before, but they were giving away a free night of camping so
I figured what the heck? For free its a great deal. For the $65 a
night they regularly charge, it's not such a great deal for me and the
Santa Maria. If, however you have a real RV and/ or a bunch of kids,
this place is great. It really reminds me of what it was like at the
camp we had at the lake growing up.
Tomorrow I am camping at the usual place I go. It only has 5 spaces, it
has a hot tub and pool, laundry, great bathrooms, quiet, lots of
privacy, it's not out in the boonies. I can get to a sushi place and a
Starbucks from there in 2 minutes.
I did the two earflaps for my elf hat tonight. It took no time at all
to do that. I'd have done more but I actually had to do some real
work. It wasn't the most exciting thing to do on a Friday night, but at
least I was able to do it by the campfire.
Tomorrow I have more work to do again, but I plan to get a bunch of
knitting done too. Unless I come up with a better idea, anyway...
+kac
My yearbook picture
Not that anyone really cares, but here's yet another picture of me from high school It's
my senior year book picture. Someone scanned and posted the relevant pages from the 1986 yearbooks for my school and the boys school that is having their reunion with my school (I went to an all girls school, in case you were wondering.) I'm in the top row, last one on the right.
1) Apparently I won some sort of award when I was a freshman. At least that was the year book says. I have no recollection of that.
2) I also can't believe my hair is that dark. That's my real hair color, and it's been soooo long since I had it that color it's like its not even mine anymore. I had a failed experiment with bringing back my real color a couple of years ago. Despite the fact that I even did the whole highlight thing to give it "depth and texture" I looked like I was trying to be a goth girl and everyone remarked on it in the format of "Uh, did you do something to your hair?" It lasted 3 long and increasingly miserable weeks and then I had it killed.
Note- there is nothing wrong with being a goth girl. I'd like it noted that if I was trying to be all goth I'd go for a little more drama, and my highlights would have been hot pink or bright red. Or both.
Elf cap swatch
Hey- I just swatched the groovy colinette yarn my SP7 spoiler gave me.
It is PERFECT for the elf cap in Handknit Holidays, on size 13 dpns.
I'll have a new hat this weekend.
No, I'm not done wit Ribbi Cardi, but I needed to see something other
than eggplant purple for a while. I'm still super-motivated to finish
iit up. Mostly because there are no cardigans in the stores right now
and I need to replace the ones I own due to their shabby state...
+kac
What a nice day
I had such a great day. Nothing in particular happened, it just was
great. Maybe it was because I started the day at the beach? Whatever
it was, it was awesome. Work was good, traffic was ok, I worked on a
few WIPS, and hemmed some pants. I'd givie it an A+++.
I'm camping in santa cruz all weekend. I should really just move there,
with as much time as I spend there and how much I love it and all.
+kac
I'm allergic
I got this great wool blanket at ikea. Its soft, its cheap, its cute.
Its also highly irritating to my eyeballs. My eyes water like Victoria
Falls when I'm withing 4 feet of it. Guess where I am? Camping in
Santa Cruz with that blanket. Its cold so I have to use it, dammit. I
am about to go dig around for a benadryl or claritin or something. I'm
almost out of kleenex!
+kac
Camping tomorrow
I am going to camp at the beach in santa cruz after work tomorrow
night. I'm very excited. This means I can end my day at my favorite
place, and start the next day before work at my favorite place. And I'm
going to knit myself silly while I'm there. Yeah!
Oh, I failed to mention that I got my first note from my secret pal the
other day. Woohoo!
+kac
i didn't knit today at all.
I didn't knit at all today. I sure did think a lot about it though. For some reason I really want to knit a felted purse. It'll pass though. By this time tomorrow that urge will have come and gone and been totally forgotten.
Time for bed- this up at 5:30 thing is really getting old.
more high school memories
More exciting high school memories are popping up over on the webpage for my 20 year reunion. Here's a picture of
J.R. McCauley, the boy that literally made me weak in the knees (he's the one in the front of the pic). I swear I could hardly speak two words of any sense around him, I thought he was so hot. I hope he comes to the reunion. I'd love to see how cute he is now. He was the kind of cute that you KNOW is going to look even better when he's 38...
Speaking of cuter-at-38, here's another lovely shot of
me and some folks at the End of Year Dance my senior year. We had the exciting theme "Surf Nicaragua," as Central American guerrilla warfare fairly exciting topic at that point in time. Second only to the Cold War, really.
The most interesting thing about this picture besides my serious Hebrew hair/ eyebrow combo and my sparkly bottom-only braces (how cool was I?) is that the girl in the left hand side, Liz O'Donnell, stole my date (not pictured) from me at the dance. She literally slipped right in between me and my date while we were dancing and made off with him before the end of the song. They left together and I saw them smooching in line at the movie theater when I went to see Top Gun a couple of days later. At the time I was seriously miffed at Liz, although in retrospect, I realized my date was clearly not all that interested in me if all it took was about 1.5 nanoseconds of someone else's attention to cause him to stray. Interestingly enough, I distictly remember not being the least bit sad about the boy running off (there wasn't a lot of chemistry in the air, and it was our first and only date), I was just irritated at the dramatic turn of events.
I'm not ashamed to admit that I would probably have run off with J.R. McCauley had he sashayed in between me and my date that night.
In knitting news, I got my SP8 assignment and she lives across town from me. How cool is that? And while we are on the topic of SP8, I will post my survey in the next day or so. I promise!
Oh- I got a really great craft book today- Crafty Chica's Art de la Soul: Glittery Ideas to Liven Up Your Life. There's a bunch of Dia de los Muertos crafts in it, including funky altars and white chocolate skulls. I'm not all that big on white chocolate, but I bet the same technology can be used with almond bark or that melty mint candy stuff they have on the cake decorating aisle at Michaels.
Crap damn, ya'll. It's almost 11pm and I have to haul my sad and sorry little butt out of the rack at 5:30am AGAIN tomorrow. Cripes. Sleep deprivation = cranky girl. Gotta go now. Later gators.
Whoa
Isnt it funny how certain songs can really transport you back in time?
I heard this Dusty Springfield song on the radio today that I hadn't
heard in a while. It's a song I associate with this boy I used to date
and MAN! It was like I was right *there*. It was sort of like having
my poor little heart handed to me on a plate afterwards though, seeing
as how that particular relationship didn't have a happily ever after
ending. :( still, it was damn awesome anyway.
+kac
It's going to happen tonight
I am now sitting down in my knitting chair with ribby cardi. I have no plans to get up till I finish the back and cast on a front piece. I'm really tired though. I may only finish the back.
Camping fun
Well, I didn't finish the back of ribby cardi yet. I have 15 rows left. I got all wrapped up in the excitement of putting another group camping trip together. I discovered that New Brighton State Beach had an available group campsite the first weekend in June, so I nabbed it and I'm planning a fun time for 24 folks. 25 counting me. Woohoo! I cant wait!
In other news, I got my hair done after work today. I was so ragged out from work that I could hardly see my hair when I looked in the mirror, all I saw was my face sliding off the bones of my head from being so tired. I had to do the neighborhood newsletter when I got home, but that was fun and easy and made me feel a little better. I'm still super tired though, and I have another 5am start to my day tomorrow, so off I go to bed. Maybe tomorrow I will get around the last part of the back of ribby cardi.
I'm so full!!
I just ate sushi at a new place, and not knowing how big the rolls were
I over ordered. And of course they were huge and really good and I ate
it all. And now I'm about to pop.
I'm going to finish the back of ribby cardi tonight I think. Yay! I am
very thrilled about how it is going- only 1 major frogging incident so
far. I hope I don't jinx myself by saying that...
+kac
What a weekend
I had a good weekend. It was relaxing, and fun, and I had a very nice
time. Got some knitting and reading and beach time in. No surfing
though. But still it really was an A+ weekend.
This is a lame post, I know. Lets see, what else can I say? Secret Pal
8 starts in 2 weeks. That's pretty exciting. I think I am going to
have an all-nighter at work tomorrow night, and that is pretty exciting
too, but not as much fun as SP8. Hmm. What else? Not much. I guess I
should just stop babbling and go back to Ribbi Cardi.....
+kac
