(Huge Sigh of Relief) Finally Finished

Okay self, repeat after me:

I do solemnly swear that I will never attempt to knit another pair of socks with a yarn weight of less than DK. So help me (insert whatever deity you worship here).

Egad.

After looking at poor little sock #1 for about a week, I cleared the decks and did nothing except knit for four days when I had extra time. I knew that if I didn’t get it done soon, poor little sock #1 would be an orphan.

I now have a great pair of socks in a colorway that I love, and two thumbs that are swearing at me as I speak write this post. I think because the yarn was so thin, I was death gripping the needles in order to control it. Doesn’t matter — I won’t be making another pair. But here they are…….

And also here….. The color is a little freaky in this pic. The colors in the pic above are more accurate.

Photo Hunt #108: Time

Sorry it took so long to get this post up. When I read the prompt, I knew exactly the picture that I wanted but it took awhile to find it. Here it is.

This a picture of my grandparent’s 45th wedding anniversary, which I think was around 1967 or so. I’m glad they had this party because my grandfather died before their fiftieth. The resolution isn’t great, but hey, it’s an old picture after all.

Do you see the clock on the wall? Grandpa said it was a 31 day clock. It bonged on the hour and half hour. There were numbers around the edge of the clock counting off the days of the month. As I recall, the pendulum was gold colored and had a round pattern on it.

The story of how he got the clock — the barbershop Grandpa frequented was in Fort Covington, a little town a few miles down the road. There were two barbers — one loved the clock and wouldn’t part with it, the other hated it and would sell it in a New York minute. Grandpa waited until the clock-hater was there alone and bought it from him for a minuscule amount of money. He was a savvy old Scot, let me tell you.

St. Patrick’s Day Cactus

This poor Christmas Cactus has no sense of what it is or when it’s supposed to bloom. It bloomed on/about Halloween, then again on/about mid March. Very pretty but obviously confused.

Here’s another pic of it from another angle. I’ve had this cactus about 15 years and the lady that I inherited it from said she had had it for about ten herself. I didn’t know a Christmas Cactus could live that long!!

Blog Talkers #69 Annoyed

Annoyed. What annoys you? What do you do that annoys other people? Are you quick to lose your temper? How often do you get annoyed? Do you have a short fuse? Tell us about the last time you were annoyed - REALLY annoyed.

I would have to say that I am most annoyed by rude people — and as we all know, there is no shortage of that particular organism these days. It’s hard to get through a day without interacting with one of these dysfunctional half wits.

And although these <insert favorite derogatory name here> are in great supply, they’re not the ones that I mean.

You see, most of the rudies that you come in contact with are hit and run — they might bump into you and not say excuse me, cut in front of you in line, jump into the cab that you just hailed, etc. Boom and they’re gone.

The ones that really burn my biscuits are the ones that will stand in front of a cashier or waitress or in our case, a receptionist in a doctor’s office, and will belittle and badger that poor person. And then will continue to do it when it’s clear that the problem has been resolved. Because, you see, most people who are in a position of customer service have this huge target on their chest that rudies just love to nail. They know that this poor person really needs this job, because let’s face it, nobody wants to treated like pond scum just for the heck of it.

So these bullies feel safe in thrashing the little guys and rationalize it by saying that they were not feeling well, upset at something else, stressed out, etc. There’s always a reason with these cowards, which doesn’t cut it with me. And when I get really annoyed (for instance, like I did at Wal*Mart a week or so ago) because a bully was taking out some aggression on some poor teenager cashier, I will sometimes often, usually say something to the effect of, “she doesn’t know the price of everything in this store, take it easy on her” or my favorite “would you want somebody to talk to your kids that way if they worked here?”

That’s another good thing about getting older — I say what I feel that I should say, and I feel better trying to help a younger person because I’ve been there, too. Most meanies won’t argue with somebody challenging them. Once a bully, always a bully, right?  Give it a thought the next time you see one in action and have a care for the little guy.

Photo Hunt Twist(ed)

Check out this rock — it came out of a stone wall that Sweet Baboo was rebuilding. If anybody knows what might have happened to create the shape of this rock, please let me know. We have been scratching our heads trying to figure it out. The best we can come up with is that it somehow became twisted while it was molten and then cooled. But that’s just a guess, not being any kind of geologist.

Friday Fill-In #67

1. I love springtime in the springtime!! Oh and also in Connecticut
2. Eggs and toast are foods I love to eat for breakfast. Probably not overly good for the arteries, but there you have it.
3. It seems I’m always searching for the right words to either say or write. A thesaurus is my closest friend.
4. A nice hot cup of coffee with crackers, cream cheese, and jelly is a great way to end the day. Oh wait, that’s the end of a work day. Make that hot cocoa and cheese curls instead.
5. I think I need to get myself back to the gym.
6. Focus and direction is what I’ve been craving lately. Somebody needs to tell me what to do!!
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I’m looking forward to spending some time with Sweet Baboo, tomorrow my plans include some housework and straigtening up, and Sunday, I want to relax and watch a few videos that have been stacking up.

Ten on Tuesday — Ten Favorite Actors/Actresses

1. Susan Sarandon — my favorites are Bull Durham, Thelma and Louise, and of course, Rocky Horror Picture Show (Let’s do the time warp again!!)
2. And speaking of Thelma and Louise, Geena Davis — I liked her in Beetlejuice, too.
3. Sissy Spacek — first saw her in Carrie, I think — and her portrayal of Loretta Lynn was amazing!
4. William Powell — love The Thin Man movies — his Nick Charles was the funniest and happiest drunk guy I ever watched!! I know, totally PI. The “wiseguy dialogue” is always a hoot to listen to.
5. And of course, Myrna Loy — her Nora Charles complemented Nick perfectly, and sometimes she even one-upped him.
6. Mandy Patinkin in The Princess Bride — I liked him much better in that than in Criminal Minds.
7. Tommy Lee Jones — I would watch him in anything, but especially “The Fugitive”.
8. George Hamilton in Zorro the Gay Blade — a person could hurt themselves watching that movie!
9. Meryl Streep — I think I first saw her in Sophie’s Choice — makes me cry every time I watch it.
10. And since I started with Susan Sarandon, Tim Robbins will round out my list. Also saw him first on Bull Durham I think, and loved his performance in The Shawshank Redemption. (Morgan Freeman’s too!)

Blog Talkers Talk #67

Be honest …

What is your most important goal in life? Why? (Please elaborate) How do you propose to get there? (Or how did you accomplish it). What sort of sacrifices will (or did) you have to make in order to achieve this goal? Once you’ve accomplished this goal, how will this change your life?

An interesting question with no one clear answer from me.

Depending on the time in my life, my important goals ranged from being married and happy (no, that didn’t happen, thank you very much for asking) or procuring a position that would enable me to have few money worries and let me be creative and happy with my work. (That actually did happen — it just took me 3 decades to find it.) At another point in my life, I was striving for Super Mom-dom — I wanted my daughter to have everything that I didn’t have growing up — and, again, no that didn’t happen either.

You see, I have this obsessive gene in my DNA that in a way sabotages my attempts to do something. I have had to give up many things that I initially enjoyed but ultimately hated because perfectionism would rear it’s ugly head and eat away at me until I would just toss whatever I was doing aside and run in the other direction. Screaming.

I spent forty years trying to please other people — or maybe a better way to phrase it is, I spent forty years trying to make other people like me. After that forty years ended, so did my marriage and a few years later, so did my totally unsuitable job. The next few years were devoted to raising a teenager, getting her through college, and finding my soulmate and building a life with him and the teenager.

So with all of this in mind, I would say that right now, my most important goal is to do all that I can to make sure that there is peace in my life and eluding the highs and lows that have been trying to take me over all my life. Finally taking care of myself has been long overdue and I’ve been happily just rolling along with no clear cut goal in front of me. Right now, it’s what I really want. I have a Sweet Baboo that loves me very much, we have a home together that is everything I ever wanted, the “teenager” has morphed into a Darling Daughter with a wonderful husband and adorable GrandDolly that I love with all my heart. Life is good. I’m not going to poke at it.

Unconscious Mutterings #270

1. Nutritious :: facts — I am quite addicted to reading them when grocery shopping
2. Graduate :: Mrs. Robinson
3. Tonight! :: West Side Story
4. Located :: Aha! Found you!!
5. Weapon :: Unnecessary
6. Jumper :: Red plaid (I had one when I was little)
7. Collectibles :: Dusties
8. Dennis :: The Menace
9. Hostile :: takeover
10. Vivid :: colors

Friday Fill-Ins #66

1. Tonight I saw some birds in my neighbors bushes doing what comes naturally!! Does that make me a voyeur?
2. Watching “Riverdance” makes me wanna dance! Not that I can dance like that mind you, but I wanna!
3. Splitting a few appetizers between friends is a great way to not eat them all yourself.
4. _____ is someone I’d like to get to know better. Sorry, I can’t think of anybody that I want to know better than I do already.
5. The smell of newly mowed grass reminds me so much of springtime!
6. GrandDolly fell on her little tushie but she had Pepere kiss her hand and that made it all better. No matter what she boo boo’s, you have to kiss her hand.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I’m looking forward to getting some prepping for work on Saturday done, tomorrow my plans include going to lunch with Darling Daughter and GrandDolly, and Sunday, I want to hang some laundry out on the clothesline! Providing that the weather cooperates. After all, this is New England.