Who stole the sun?

We sat here for a few hours on our last day.

The stall where I bought my knock-off Coach bag for super cheap. They don't do the knock-offs the illegal way. They have no illegal labels on the bags, so it's all legal for them. But the vendors are doing horrible business right now, no one is really buying anything, and there aren't enough tourists, so they are discounting even more than they usually would thru bargaining. Needless to say I got an even cheaper deal on a cheap deal.

Look close, Santa and Mrs in the yard. With palm trees. And a Xmas tree done up.

Some stalls in China Town. We only took the trolley thru, (trolleys were everywhere and an awesome deal for tourist riding) because they were recently infested with rats. This was disappointing because we had wanted to go thru, but we were afraid to be stuck with no where to eat at because of the rats, so we just drove thru.

Worlds largest Hawaiian shirt. Really.

Me and Obama!

One of many sunsets. Sunsets only last about 5 min, so be quick!

The street outside our hotel. The hotel was fantastic, the Hawaii Prince, I highly recommend. A lot of business people, and because it was a 2 block walk to the beach, not a lot of kids. Some other hotels were literally swarming with kids, so this was good for us.

WTF! It's soooo cold here! Why do I live in MN?

Just a few pics of the trip to tide you all over until I get my mojo back from the trip. The flight back was complete hell. We spent 9 hours in the airport for a delayed flight, then another 8 hours on the plane home. I almost hurt a small child for kicking my seat relentlessly, which I don't think I would have felt too badly about.

Found

I found the phone charger. Now if I could just remember to keep the phone charged, we're in business.

I leave for Hawaii on Saturday. YAY! I have nothing packed, but I do "think" I know what knitting I'm bringing. Probably my entrelac and something else. Not sure what the "else" is. But I'm sure I'll find something other than the huge Monster afghan I'm still working on. Every time I get out the afghan, Eric says, "that's BIG". Yep. And we're only 1/2 thru baby. Not sure this sucker is going to be given to anyone.

Eric says he bought my present weeks ago. Well, then why the hell isn't it wrapped and under the tree so I can shake it and guess? I freely admit I am completely obnoxious when it comes to Christmas. I don't believe in any of the churchy stuff, but I love giving and getting presents. So much it makes me stupid. I have to open all of my presents on Xmas eve, and then I look for more on Xmas day like when I was a kid and on Xmas day my mom put the "Santa" gifts under the tree. Every year since I left home I've felt like I should still get "Santa" presents under the tree on Xmas day.

Now I feel old.

Phone charger?

Has anyone seen a phone charger? It will be the second one lost to Dexter. I had it yesterday, unplugged to plug something else in. Now it's gone. GONE I TELL YOU!
Stupid cat. Or smart cat. Whichever

Cold!!!!

I keep forgetting to set the thermostat, so I came home today and cranked the heat and found Dexter here:

He's the one on the floor. If you look close you can see his head is tucked under the shelf right by the floor vent.
He was chilly!

Photo of my photo

I got the photo I ordered from Etsy. I couldn't be happier!

Officially Off Duty

I am off. No more Mrs. Nicey nicey. I am not "on" for anyone anymore. Not today, and probably not for the rest of the weekend. I am done being "correct" and saying the "correct worky work" thing. If you bitch at me I will give it back to you from now until 7am Monday. I will not placate you or try to smooth things over. I will not hold your hand and explain that you need Adobe to open a file even though you should have had Adobe installed 17 years ago. I will not spend 45 min on the phone discussing a contract that doesn't exist yet. No special favors. No direct phone calls. No skipping lunch for meetings to discuss shit no one has any answers for.
I am officially off duty. I am listening to KMFDM and any other bad ass loud ass music that fits my fancy and has as many swear words as possible, hopefully including the really nasty ones. I am going to sleep until 11 or 12, and if you call me asking for a donation to such and such, I will tell you to fuck right the fuck off and not feel bad at all.
Yes. I need a vacation.

New cat furniture, only took 1/2 hour and 2 beers to put together.

I think they might like it!

I have to admit, I was a bit scared though when I saw the box. We got it from http://www.mycatsheaven.com/, and it shipped really fast. Very happy!

I hope my husband doesn't mind....

But I bought a photo print from another artist.
I had to. It was calling to me. A fellow Ravelry person also does photography, and she has some really nice stuff that I like. I am not a critic like Eric. I don't know if he's going to think it sucks. But I really love it.
I'll post a pic when I get it here!

Entrelac Success!

Entrelac

Dexter with catnip fishey

I spent Friday afternoon at the Knitter's Palette in Lakeville with the incredibly awesome group of knitters there, and got some expert advice on my entrelac, thank goodness. I had printed out some of the directions I got links to, but still needed help at a few spots. I have to say I am now trucking along with my entrelac. No idea what it is going to be, but it's sure fun anyway!

I also spent part of today making more catnip fishes for the boys. I planned on making 10 or so, but only got 4 out before my sewing machine ticked me off. It has the bobbin that opens underneath with the 4 or so parts to it that seem to continuously jam on me. It's a Singer model I got about 6 or more years ago, so I asked for an upgrade for Xmas. I picked out a nice Brother machine that had great reviews on Amazon, a drop in bobbin with auto winder, 1 step button hole, and a few other extras I now want. I have fabric and everything for a nice curtain for the mudroom, but the machine frustrates me so much, and cleaning and taking it apart doesn't help.

Dexter and Itchy both love the fishes though, so I will certainly be finishing off the rest of them!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Another thanksgiving chicken with Eric and the cats, only one more cat to add to the thankfullness this year.
I am thankful for Malabrigo, Knit Picks Options, wool winders, swifts, stitch markers, needle caps, Jordanna Paige knitting bags, rosewood needles, and boxes that close so that cats can't make away with your sheep covered tape measure.

I am not alone

Even though I don't get the regular comments that other bloggers of note do, it would seem that I am not alone in the world of knitting/cat/whatever bloggers and people DO read me. Case in point, blog about needing help, and you get wonderful people replying to you. Suzygirl & Holly have both given me wonderful links to explore for the world of entrelac.
If only I could count to 7 now, I will be on my way.

Ahem.. help?

I know someone out there has tried entrelac. I know I am not the first person to rip it out 4 times, throw it aside, and say "uh.... crap..". It can't be that freaking hard. What the freak am I missing?
Actually, I think it's that I can't count. And that I have never seen what it's supposed to look like, just the finished piece. If someone could just tell me about that first part where you think it's wrong, it's probably wrong, but might be right, I would appreciate it.

Is it my bumper sticker?

Lantern Moon project bag

Yarn for entrelac scarf

Dream in color "starry"

Doohickey

Today I had the day off from work and decided to head down to Lakeville to pick up the doohickey (Scotch tension knob) that had come in for me. While on 35 south, I ran into traffic of the kind that makes you wonder if you had just been teleported to LA or New York city or something. And of course every time I get on that particular stretch of highway I forget that my exit is on the left, not the right. So I have to merge. 2 whole lanes. in traffic. Standstill traffic. No one lets me in. (Well, no one ever lets anyone merge in MN, but I take it personally). It dawns on me as I sit stalling my lane from moving the 4 inches a minute with my blinker on watching driver after driver not even look at me while not letting me in, that it could be my OH so leftist bumper sticker. Eh, oh well.....Maybe as retribution I'll let EVERYONE IN FRONT OF ME IN to get back at those jerks.

I did eventually get to the Knitter's Pallette though. While there I got my doohickey, some lovely Dream in Color Starry that has actual silver flecks in it (ooooooh sparkly socks are coming!) and some other yarn to try entrelac with. Oh, and I picked up a project bag/cube that Lantern Moon just came out with. A bit of a splurge, but I love everything that Lantern Moon makes, I feel like all of their products are little luxuries, (like the rosewood needles I love) so I got one.

All in all a very lovely day. Especially when 4 people in the store exclaimed "Your'e Mulderknitter!". That was fun.

Is Mulder's diabetes a big deal?

I was at knitting night tonight, and again, I got a reaction to having to leave to give Mulder his shot that I'm not used to. People seemed amazed that I have a diabetic cat that I give shots to twice a day, and that it's ok with both me and Mulder.
I've had this reaction before, but secondhand, from coworkers of Eric's, so not usually am I confronted with someone that thinks it's unusual for me to devote so much to my cat. According to him, a lot of them would have put him down, which is ridiculous to me.
Really, it's been 2 years. And while it kinda sucks to have to make sure I'm home around his shot time (it doesn't have to be specific) it's not so bad really. And he's my guy. How could I not?
So is this really weird, or are other people making a big deal out of normal cat ownership behavior? Do you do something special for your cat?

Cat butt alert!

I've been spinning for the last few days and got out yesterday this lovely BFL that I got on my trip to my Moms for her birthday. Never tried BFL, and if I could get my tension knob to work right I'm sure it would be great.

You know how you spin and sometimes some of the fiber doesn't want to spin, so you just take that small piece and set it aside and keep going? Well, I was doing that, didn't realize Dexter was watching alertly, looked next to me and saw the last of the purple fuzz going down the throat. It wasn't much, and it wasn't spun so I don't think it will hurt him, but I did alert the DH that if he sees purple fuzz coming out of Dexter's butt it's just some wool. No worries.

More stupid amounts of fun!

A member of Ravelry posted a few days ago that she had found a spinning wheel on Craigslist, but because she has never spun on a wheel, she wanted someone to go with her to look at it to make sure it was in working order. I took a look and it was the exact model as the one I own, and looked pretty decent to me. LALALALALALA of COURSE I will go on a trip to see a wheel and enable you in buying it! I don't know you, but you knit and use Ravelry, so you must be a friend I just haven't met yet!
Turned out to be the most lovely day to do so! Not all of you know, but I hate driving (especially on the freeway) with a sincere passion and will usually avoid it if I can. But since buying the VW it's gotten a bit better, and it was sunny and about 65 here today, and it was for fiber!
Turns out the wheel was an absolute bargain! The darn girl got out of her van and I thought, she needs this wheel. Right. NOW. The excitement was dripping off of her. The woman selling the wheel was moving and just didn't use it enough, and had never gotten any extras for it, so she was selling it for a great price. Read, if I were more evil I would've snatched that darn thing so fast no one would know it was me. I brought some wheel oil and she spun like mine never did in the beginning. Read, jealously seeping off of me. She took the fiber without even needing to draft, that's how lovely she was.
Why is the wheel a she? I don't know. Probably because she'll be temperamental and never spin that nicely again unless you oil her and speak softly.
The woman that I was actually testing the wheel for wanted to buy me lunch or something, but I really think that would've been like robbery. I can't have that much fun and ask for something in return!

I'm under attack

I finally got out some yarn to start another oddball pet blanket. Got about 3 inches in, set it down and walked away. Came back to yarn across the whole living room, in the water bowl (Mulder) and chewed in half (Dexter).
Good thing it was only my orange acrylic. Hold ur horses on the next blanket, it may be a while.

Paranormal Fun

If you know me even a bit, you know I love horror movies. I abhor the chic flick, I can't do comedy unless it's stand up, romance makes me want to crawl in a hole and die, but I do love horror. Any horror. I can usually find the good in most any horror flick. But the best are the ones that actually can scare me. Cuz it takes a bit to scare me, but when it does, I love it. So when I heard that people were actually being scared by the new movie Paranormal Activity, my heart went "thud" and I wanted to see it like a boy wants to see his new crush.
All I can say is it doesn't disappoint. I soooooooo don't want to give away the scariness, because that's the best part of the whole movie, but if you really like a genuine creepy scare, the kind that will have you leaving the hall light on at night, this is for you. There are parts that have me so creeped out I'm not sure I'll sleep thru the night without at least waking up and turning on the light to make sure. If I hear a sound for the next week, I'll think of this movie. The movie worked because it got into my brain and creeped me out in a real life kinda oh shit what if this really is how it is when I'm not looking kinda way.
My disclaimer... if you are not into scary shit, the kinda scary that makes you scared for a week when you get home.. movie not for you. If you like to feel creeped out for a week, rock on.

I DO NOT WANT TO BE SICK ANYMORE!

That is all for this post.
Move along now.

A bit behind

I am a bit behind on the xmas knitting. In fact, I forgot all about it until this week. oops. Luckily, I have a few things started. The pic is Aunt Dana's Russian Boots Pattern from the knitting calander my Mom gave me a few years back. They are being knit in Queensland Khatmandu Aran, which I thought I loved but I don't. It's not that I don't LIKE it, I just don't love it. The color is awesome, but the texture is kinda cottony and a bit stiff to knit with. I do have just enough to finish the slippers, and they are going to my Grandma. They are too small for me, which is how I measure feet. Too small for me is Grandma, just right is Mom, too big is Eric or other men. I dare ya to call me a perfectionist.

In other news, I think Dexter is part pony.

Heaven in my oven

I'm feeling better today, I've stopped convulsively sneezing at least. But I'm super tired. And want some comfort food. So I'm making an apple pie. Pure heaven! Can't wait till it's done!

I am not a good sick person

Ok, I can totally deal with being sick for a day, maybe 2. But this cold from hell that has been with me for 7 days now is really ticking me off. And not in the "oh, I feel miserable" sort of ticked off. Ticked off to the point of swearing like a sailor every time I sneeze (every 15 seconds or so), completely giving up on acting like a sick person and trying my level best to do normal healthy person things like the laundry and sweeping up the cat litter, then getting pissed because it exhausts me and sitting and bitching out loud to myself and the cats about how much I hate this. Today I managed the post office, the movie store, and the liquor store. I threw in some laundry, cleaned the poop boxes, and then sat. And sat.

Hard cider qualifies as Vitamin C, right?

At least the Scrunchable scarf is coming along nicely.

The plague....

I have it.. the plague. If I die please distribute my yarn amongst my knitting friends. They will know the value and what to do with it.

In lighter news, the Malabrigo has been swatched 5 times and is now the Scrunchable Scarf from Ravelry. It was a Chevron pattern, 2x2 rib, slip stitch, then 2x2 rib again. The colors didn't look good on any of those swatches. It is much better now. I think. The fever may have deluded me.

New coat means more knitting

I was at Marshalls on Saturday and found myself and absolutely lovely new winter coat in a lovely chocolate brown color, so I have a new coat, which means new scarf, hat and mitten knitting time! As it turns out, that booooootiful skein of Malabrigo in Stonechat that Tracie gave me is the PERFECT match for the coat, with nice hints of pink but not too much pink. Luckily, I loved the colorway so much I picked up 2 more skeins of it when I was at Crafty Planet last time (such an enabler that Tracie is!) so I have enough for my new winter set. I will let you know what it is soon!

The little things

Sometimes it's the very small things that make me happy. Getting a higher score on Bejeweled than my aunt Julie. Enough gas in the car. Beer in the fridge. Clean litter boxes. Clean undies.
Today, the little thing is that Eric gets to take Itchy to the vet on Monday for his annual check up and shots. He finally gets to see and experience the drama that is Itchy AT THE VET. Good luck, and don't forget to have the tech do his nails!

Cowls.. the new obsession

That is the progress on my Log Cabin Blanket. 1/2 the way thru the 4th block, almost 1/3rd of the way done I think.

I sat down on Saturday and watched a few hours of TV and whipped out that lovely cowl. It's the Cherry Garcia pattern from Ravelry, made in .75 skeins of Cascade hand dyed Jewel.

I think the next one I make will be in the lovely Malabrigo in Stonechat that Tracie gave me as a gift!

Bees gone?

I think the bees might be gone. I shut the storm window that I think they were coming in from and none today. There was also a frost last night, so that might be it too.

Eric brought me home flowers last night, I haven't seen him since Monday, so the flowers were a lovely thing. He's been doing disgusting hours, working until 2 or 3 am, but I saw him this morning, but only for a few min. The clutch went out on his new car, so we have to get that fixed this weekend.

My yarn diet will be busted tomorrow, I have errands to run and Crafty Planet gave me another gift certificate for spending a hideous amount of $ there, and they have a coupon to celebrate their new baby, so how can I resist!

That's all the news for now, Dexter has new sparkly balls, so I got to type for a few secs.

Anyone know how to get rid of bees?

Because I haven't quite had enough, somehow bees are getting in the house. I'm doing a hunt, but I can't seem to figure out where they are coming from. Upstairs sewing room. Somewhere. I kill about 6 a day. Thankfully, they are small, somewhat stunned bees, so no stings yet. But I just know....

The good news is...

My Spring socks are turning out lovely.

Enough Already!

Still sick. Went to bed at 8:30, didn't even try to stay up for Grey's. Get a call at 6:15 this am from a coworker, she's locked out of the building at work and has gone home and isn't coming back. Get another call from another coworker. Yes, I know, I'm on my way. No problem, she's gone to get coffee. I get there and have to spend 1/2 hr on the phone with the security company to no avail, they can't unlock our doors. We get in thru another part of the building. Yay! But since coworker is gone, and I'm still sick, the day sucked like you wouldn't believe. I had 14 freaking voice mails when I got in, and it didn't stop. Maybe the weather is making everyone cranky.
Because I am sick, I rescheduled my psych appt, but the office didn't tell the dr. So I get home to a voice mail from her asking where I was. Great, go to call her, the phones don't work. Even better. Get on cell phone, call Qwest, phone won't get fixed till Saturday.
Meanwhile, cats have decided to be ultra needy because E hasn't been home. Can't keep any 1 off me at any given time. And because I'm not feeling good (read shitty) this sucks. I slept like crap last night because sick sleep isn't the best and I had weird sick person dreams all night.
I don't care if I'm sick anymore, I'm drinking beer, watching TV, and drinking more beer. I freaking earned it.

When I'm over the flu...

When I'm over the flu remind me to tell you about the window salesman that came over. I thought he was coming for an insulation estimate....
I caught whatever the heck is going around. Running a temp of some sort off an on, chills, achy, generally quite on the miserable side. So miserable in fact that knitting cannot hold me. That's pretty miserable I tell ya
At least E is out in Vegas for the weekend, so he doesn't have to bear my miserable crabbiness that is me when sick. When I'm sick I want to be alone. I sleep, get up, wander around because I don't know what to do with myself, whine, then sleep more. then I whine because I can't sleep.
I haven't heard anything on the Big Insurance Company taking over our jobs, but will post if/when I do.

Possible Big Insurance Smackdown

So, the whole mess of my job is a big long complicated Corporate Saga, so I won't go into the minutia. Essentially certain people at Big Insurance Company that we've partnered with for 15 or so years tried to steal all of our providers from under our noses. CEO of said Insurance Company, and CEO of our company had no idea this was going on until someone called us and told us that this had happened. CEO of Big Insurance, CEO and CFO of our company and others held an emergency meeting yesterday of which the results are still unknown. I do know that CEO of Big Insurance company is quite pissed that these certain people did this, and I do know that our CEO is furious. Millions of dollars are on the table here, including the jobs of everyone in my company and the mental health care of each person that has said Big Insurance as their health insurance. And all because a few certain people decided to try to steal our company's business from us.

Any ideas?

If anyone has any ideas on what someone does when the last 8 1/2 years of their career are being trashed by a Big Insurance Company, let me know. Until then, I'll be quietly or not so quietly freaking out.

A call for Outlander books!

I'm about halfway thru the Outlander book #1, so today I went on a hunt for the rest of the series. Because I can see that stopping after the first is not going to be an option. Turns out the B & N in Brooklyn Park is closed, so I hit the Half price books in crystal, which only had book #5. They gave me the # to the St Louis park store, which had book #2. I drove out there, which by the way is a big "yay me" because I never just get on the highway and drive to a place I don't know how to get to, and they had the book with minimal spine damage that they gave me for FREE!
So if you have books 3 or 4, let me know, I would love to borrow them. And don't try to explain the book to your husband. You just sound dumb.

I got nuthin and I like it

Nuthin going on this weekend here. I like it. Might spin a bit, got some lovely stuff to work with. Might not. I am not pressuring me. I might just drink some beer and knit and watch some TV.
Speaking of TV, I heard some people say they weren't so impressed with Thursday's Grey's Anatomy premerie, but I was totally impressed. I liked how they made everything seem normal, but not-so-normal at the same time. I am so in love with that show.

Almost time to relax

Just one more day, and we can all hang out like this

I haven't been doing much of anything really, still working on my Oddball Leader blanket, the ginourmous log cabin blanket that might just take until I die to complete, a simple 2x2 scarf, and I added some socks for fun. The socks are actually pretty great, it's the Spring Forward pattern that the Yarn Harlot just posted about, SpringForward it was in my list on Ravelry, and I have this great yarn from Knit Picks, Essential sock yarn in Glacial which is of course discontinued because I got it in their last sale. It's a nice pale green, kinda like what ice/snow looks like in dim light. I had been holding onto the yarn waiting for a good pattern, and this is it!

What I want for xmas

Coolest cat tree ever

I finally love a sweater!

I finally made a sweater that I love to pieces! It is the Waterford Cardigan (free on Ravelry) from Lion Brand. You are supposed to use super chunky yarn, but I decided to make it with bulky yarn, but make a size medium instead of small. I also made the arms a size small so they wouldn't hang too much. Voila! wonderful knit! I used Knit Picks WOTA chunky in navy, about 5 balls, but not sure really because it was from a frogged sweater. It just needs a few buttons and she's done! I already have the yarn out for the next one!

The cats are doing fine. Thanks Yarncharmer for asking! Mulder still doesn't like Dexter, but Dexter really doesn't care. Dex is finally learning to just stay away from Mulder. The only time this is a problem is feeding time. Otherwise Itchy and Dex play and fight and sleep and lick each other and it's incredibly cute and funny. Dex also likes to come in and eat my hair while I'm sleeping. That isn't so cute or funny. One time he attacked my entire head with all 4 ginormous paws. That sucked. I don't know where his paws came from, but they are clearly not of the cat variety. More lion variety. HUGE. Thank goodness his previous owners taught him to not use his claws, that would suck more.

Just waiting on some cooler weather to wear my sweater now!

Weekend Update

Just an update on my weekend. Had tons of fun with mom in Steven's Point, shopping, champagne and birthday stuff. I took pics of the Doc Marten's I found at a thrift store for 15$ that actually fit me! On the way there I stopped at Color Connection just outside of Hudson, had a fit of fun there, the women were lovely, kind, and sooooo welcoming. I wanted to move into the store. I got a niddy noddy, and lots of other goodies that I shouldn't have but couldn't help myself. Heck, when will I ever get back there? Really, if you are heading out of town to the east, you need to check these girls out. It's just 10 miles east of Hudson, and about 2 more miles to the north-ish. I found them thru a search on Ravelry. The pic of yarn is just one of the goodies I bought there, because I can't leave you without a pic of yarn!

Spinning

I've been spinning the last 2 days. I felt guilty for having all this lovely fiber and not using it. Spinning so much my right leg hurts, but I got back in the mojo of it. Spun great mauve merino, then pulled out this stuff I've had for about 2 years, turns out the colors are great, but it's a "wool mix" and boy is it ever. Not really put together in any way that makes it easy to pull hanks out of, but I'm doing my best. I've got what's in the pic so far.

So now that I've been spinning, I get to stop by a spinning store on my way to my Mom's on friday. I'm just picking up a niddy noddy. I swear.

Funny Kitty Time

I caught Dexter doing something that Itchy does to Mulder, laying on the floor by the water bowl drinking with his paw while Mulder is standing there. I thought only Itchy did this, but apparently not so. Any ideas on why????? Is it trying to be friends?

And a nice moment with Itchy and Dexter in the window. I think Dexter looks kinda like the phantom of the opera, with the half mask.

Pink baby sweater rescued

Remember that pink baby sweater I was knitting when I was told it was a boy? and then she didn't want any sweater or anything at all? Well, I didn't rip out the sweater. I stuck it in a bag and saved it. A coworker is having a girl, so I finished it. Yay! Pink sweater is no longer doom filled to the bottom of a bag!

Hawaii!

I'm taking my mom to Hawaii! We are going Dec 26 - 30th! Honolulu here we come! She's always wanted to go to Hawaii, she turns 50 this year, and Hawaii is the 50th state and turns 50 this year too. We couldn't quite pull off her bday, so we're going later. Now I just have to find some sort of swim type thing to wear. The last time I tried on swimwear I cried and told the lady at Target they had the worst lighting ever in their dressing rooms. I'm hoping to keep it together a bit more this time. No promises.

I've also got a major case of knitting startitis. My new love, the Knitters Palette in Lakeville, was having an anniversary sale last weekend, 20% off all yarns and patterns, so I hit the road by myself and took a trip. So worth it. I could've spent all day there. The ladies were super lovely, and I met some Ravelers that I hadn't known before. Ravelry people are such a different breed of people. We go to Ravelry to connect with other knitters, so when we meet other knitters that are on Rav too, we instantly feel like they are our best friends ever. So much fun. I picked up lots of goodies that you will see in various stages of knitted items soon, I promise, including the fabled silky merino Malabrigo that I had thought only existed in the bowels of Ravelry, but no, it's in person and I'm knitting it! It's just not big enough yet to be pretty enough to photo. Oh, and some lovely Elsebeth Lavold silky wool that I bought 5 balls of and am kicking myself for not buying all of it. Oh, and some Malabrigo sock yarn in a mystical blue color. Oh, and the book Knit one Bead Too, because I'm trying to learn beading with knitting. Way pretty, but not so easy. Oh, and some other yarn too. I promise. Pics of knitted items.

ETA: No body fluids on the floor since Thursday of last week. Not sure if it was the Feliway plug in, the treats to entice to the pooper, or if Mulder got over his anxiety, but I'm taking it. I also have all new litter boxes that are open on the top, no covers. We had noticed no poo in the covered boxes, but now all are fully operational.

Ugh

We tried double sided tape on the floor where Mulder has been peeing, but nope. He pooped on the tape. Last night I got him to use the litter box by enticing with treats. It worked last night, but not today. So I got the air plug in Feliway, supposed to help, so we'll see.

I also got the 3rd season of Dexter, I plan to sit and not stress. Oh, and the phone is still wonky. Working on that now. I think.

Worse to Worser

Well, not quite for me. Mulder's insulin is being upped now. Not a UTI, so thinking is blood sugar was too high and causing too much urine.
What is worser is that a coworker just had a brain tumor removed, and is going to have to go thru chemo and radiation. I've known this girl for 6 or more years, and even though we haven't always been the best of buddies, I feel for her. I put together a learn to knit kit with all the essentials, 3 needle types, stitch n bitch book, 2 yarn choices, and a big fluffy wrap to cozy up in. She remarked once that she would like to learn how to make scarves, so I'm going to her house tomorrow to give her a lesson if she wants.
I don't do flowers for get well soon, I do yarn.

Stronger than beer

I need something stronger than beer please.
Mulder's peeing escalated. We pulled up the carpet, mopped, scrubbed, and still, this morning I got up to pee across the hardwood floors. Slanted, across, of course because the house is a bit slanted. Worried all day, and finally from the advice of a number of Ravelers, took him to the vet. I got him in the carrier, which he then peed in, he peed on the tech, he peed on the vet, he peed on the ultrasound, he peed in the carrier on the floor which caused pee all over the floor, to which the WONDERFUL vet tech helped me by giving me some towels and walked me to my car and laid towels in the car so I wouldn't get pee all over in the car. LOVE HER! (found out her cat pees too)
So he probably has a UTI, which is commonly a reaction to stress. So he could have just been stressed out when it was the explosive diarrhea, but it then caused the UTI, which caused the peeing, which caused me to break into tears in the vets office.
Thankfully, if it's a UTI (I get the results friday) it's just a pill. And despite his current status, he really is a great pill taker.
In addition, I have had the lovely experience of having the asshole doctor from our neighboring office decide to inappropriately caress my arm and ask how I'm doing so close to my face I could smell his breath. So I filed a harassment complaint. This is not news, this is the same asshole that has already had a sexual harassment complaint against him, and there were witnesses. But seriously, give me a stupid break. Hopefully this will just result in him being banned from wandering into our side of the offices, and that will be the end of it. Because really, I'm not sure I can take much more before I lose it.

Still working on it

After 5 days with the cats, I can say we are still working on it. Mulder peed yesterday on the rug, right after I sprayed the "no mark" so not sure how much that is actually helping at all. Dexter took a ginourmous human sized poop yesterday, enough that it freaked out Eric, which is hard to do. We got another litter box that is open on the top, so he has his choice, and he's used it, we just think he might not be completely comfortable yet. Which is understandable, it's only been 2 1/2 weeks.
What's fun is the early morning/evening romps between Dexter and Itchy. It's sounds a bit like a herd of cattle running up and down the stairs, and sometimes I think Dexter goes into flight on the stairs. He loves the stairs. We're pretty sure the wrestling and fighting is playing, no blood quite yet. Even so, Mulder has drawn blood on Itchy, so it's not so worrisome. It's actually kinda relaxing seeing them play, because it's why we got Dexter in the first place, or so we tell ourselves.
Back to work tomorrow, but just a 3 day week. I got the tool cupboard cleaned out and found lots of stuff I didn't know we had, like 2 hammers, about 10,000 nails, 8,000 screws, some really huge screw type things, some tent spikes for a tent we don't have, 4 tape measures, 18 screwdrivers, 20 or so s hooks in various sizes, lots of rope don't ask why, and some stuff left over from our fish tank days. It's all pared down, and the tools that were in the junk drawer are now with the tools, and our junk drawer looks sadly empty after the emptying of about 800 various parts to things we no longer own.
Gotta go, Dexter is climbing the printer now

Still good

We're still good. I think Mulder is beginning to be ok. He drowned another new toy yesterday. about 5 times. It's this dumb snake that you pull the tail and it skitters across the floor. He likes it. Means to keep it as his own by claiming it in his bowl. Can't keep the darn thing dry. Fine by me if it means he's happy.

No body fluids for almost 2 days

It's been nearly 2 days with no body fluids in inappropriate places. I almost want to do a dance of joy, but the cats are all calm right now, so don't want to disturb the peace.
Mulder seems happier with me shutting the door to let him eat without kitty interuption. Note to self: let Mulder eat in peace.
I have friday, monday and tuesday off. I plan nothing. I plan to be responsible for nothing. After I hit the post office I am a free woman. I apologize to all my knitting friends waiting on packages from me, but the post office has seemed like an insurmountable obstacle the last few days. I will go tomorrow. The car will explode if I don't. After that, if you want me, come find me. I might answer, I might not. Dexter chewed thru the charger for my cell, so don't call that phone. And our house phone is acting like static is the new bread. So maybe not that either. And if you ring the doorbell I'll kick your ass for upsetting the cats, so don't do that either. Never mind, just email me if you need me. But I'm not promising anything.

I do still knit

Even though things have been crazy making, I'm still knitting. Sometimes just one stitch at a time, then running to catch disaster from happening or getting worse, but still knitting nonetheless. Isn't that what knitting is anyway? Just one stitch at a time?

I've finished a few things, a couple basic 2x2 scarves, a hat to match, a xmas sock for this year's charity, and have gotten 1 skein thru my Malabrigo shawl (for myself you can't have it). Not sure what I'm doing with the scarves and hats, the plan really is to make a bunch more and see if I can't sell a few to some coworkers or other's for xmas presents this year.

Yes, Mulder is still pissed at me. Yes, he peed on the floor again last night. Which was great, because he was marking and then Dexter decided he needed to re-mark and pooped the greatest stinkiest poop of all time on top of it. Rock out my house. But Mulder is eating, which is good, I've been closing the door the last few days to give him kitty reprieve while he eats, cuz that really stresses him out.

Tonight is a quiet night though, which makes me so happy you have no idea. The last week or so have been so crazy I haven't been able to think, sleep, eat, or see straight. I really hope to get to bed early.

Let me add

I just need to add that Mulder is a man and he has been with me for 13+ years, and so he has figured out how to get my nerves in a bundle. Friday night he sat in front of the tv, looked at me, and peed.
I say this gets my nerves in a bundle because of his diabetes. Don't want his insulin/sugar to get whacky.
He does this because he's pissed. Very PISSED. He's realized that Dexter is staying (I think he didn't get it till now) and he's mad as hell. I know he's pissed at me because he looks at me when he pees. If he has an infection he tries to hide the pee, not make sure as shit I see him doing it. So don't tell me to go to the vet. I know my cat. He hates me right now.
He had my nerves so shot by Sunday that I cleaned nearly everything, vacuumed, dusted, and I'm thinking about spending the 2 days I have off next week cleaning out the basement. Oh, and some beer helped.

Crap

Now not only is there explosive diarrhea, but explosive vomit. Mulder seems to have nerves like me. We're ok for a bit, but then we have a convulsive fit. Denial, denial, denial, then ohcrapthissucksIwanttocrawlintoaholepleaseleavemethefuckalone.
It's my own fault. I let Dexter out too soon. Everything says to re-confine, but that would suck a lot. We're home all this weekend, so hopefully some snugs and new treats and more snugs will help.
On the plus, Dexter could care less.

Cat Poop Contest

I'm thinking of finding out if there is a contest out there for the amount of cat poop accumulated. I think I would win. Seriously, how much do cats need to poop? I don't poop that much, I don't think I know anyone that does. And if they do, gosh, that's a problem.

Take a look at the pic. We are getting there. Mulder is on the table, Dexter is on the chair, and if you look close you can see ears peeking in the window. All 3 in close proximity. Itchy has definitely warmed to Dexter, and Dexter back. Not so much hissy anymore. Mulder, on the other hand, is a question. He's playing it like he doesn't care, laying on the table and such, but the other night he had a wonderful episode of explosive diarrhea that he couldn't make it to the potty in time and left in a trail from the hall to under the bed. The vet said it's nerves. The vet that loves the crap out of Mulder and was actually examining Dexter at the time. She said to give it time. Fine. but no more explosive diarrhea for me please and thank you.

Oh, and if you have any ideas on how to pay attention to 3 attention hogging cats (no stand-offishness for us no sir) at the same time, please leave a post. Dexter is at this moment attacking the cursor on the screen.

I am knitting. I think. I cast on for a shawl 5 times. there are only 5 cast on stitches, but Itchy and Dexter thought it was great fun to chase the Malabrigo.

Yes, I bought more Malabrigo. Me and Crafty Planet have the understanding that if they buy Malabrigo, I will bring it home. And they had a new colorway. And I had a gift certificate for buying (not telling how much) a certain amount at their store. Not that I used that on yarn or anything. I bought the store t-shirt. Because I already own the sweatshirt. And the sweatshirt was worn 3 days this week and is dirty.

Gotta have SOMETHING to wear

Proof of Playing

Itchy and Dexter decided to play last night! What a relief that these 2 might get along together!

Just for clarification, it's Dexter on the outside, and Itchy inside the bag, you can see his tail!

And I just caught them hanging out together at the window!

More Dexter

Itchy doesn't really understand yet that Dexter would be a great playmate, so he's still avoiding him. things are getting better though. The first night, Itchy sat under the bed and hissed and growled at everything. We put Dex in the back room for the night and Itchy forgave us and snuggled in bed. Saturday was better, Itchy was curious but still not letting Dex get near. Today is even better, Itchy hasn't hissed tooo much, and Dex has decided that he lives here and we are his peoples and that darn hissing thing is just annoying and to be ignored. Dexter is playing like he's been here forever, loves to chase toys and run down the stairs 17 at a time. He had a good romp this morning, crashing into things and making a racket. He's understandably exhausted from his weekend adventure, and is completely konked out in the middle of the bed. This cat wasted no time making himself at home.

We had a great time at the shooting range on Sat for E's bday, I shot some but really just watched. It was loud and a lot of people, so a bit sensory overloading for me, but the guys brought their own 1, 2, or 3 guns apiece and had a grand time.

Meet Dexter

This is our new housemate, Dexter. He is 11 months old, came from the humane society where he was brought after a kid developed allergies to him. He's having a grand time eating and peeing in his new room for the night. He's already purring and telling me he wants to come out and meet Mulder and Itchy. Very gregarious already. He had a kitty brother in his last home, so I think this will work out well for Itchy. Heck, they match!