update-ish

i had a fun week. very unexpected. while the first week of my vacation was painfully boring and slow, the second week was equally fast and enjoyable. some mini-excursions with a surprise guest, including wine and fun food.

i also completed two more items on my "things to do on vacation" list...sort shoes and donate items. it wound up also allowing me to clean up my closet, which was juuuuust super. so, i had all these shoe boxes filled with...shoes. many of them i had not seen in ten years. really. the receipt was in the box with a date of 8/13/98. i remember my mom and i searched and searched for the perfect shoes to wear with a super cute dress for my friend's husband's commissioning in the marine corps. i have not worn the shoes since, i have not worn the dress since, and the couple divorced about 6 years ago. in total, i donated to goodwill...

* 11 pairs of shoes (yes, 11. includes a pair of sneakers in quite good condition)
* 1 pair boots (at least i THINK they were the ones i wanted to give away)
* 5 handbags (i used to like to go through the sale stuff at old navy)
* 1 pair rollerblades with wrist guards (i haven't used them since fall '99...i remember it well)
* 3 t-shirt dresses that just look weird on me now. haven't worn any of them in at least two years.

none of these items were helping me exist. in fact, they were taking up precious closet and karmic space. if you recall, i've spent the better part of the last, oh, 12 to 18 months or so getting rid of things through donation, freecycle, craigslist and such. i've been able to curb my spending and really reform my list of needs. just because the item is there in front of me does not mean i need it!

today (friday) was my last weekday day of vacation. baby nora and i went to the natural history museum and saw "dinosaurs 3d." nora and dolley also met on the floor.


here is nora again.


aw!

little dude i met on the beach

DSC05210.JPG
Originally uploaded by elandsman

i spent a day in florida after the board of directors meeting was over. i stayed with my neighbors...i suppose former neighbors...who used to live across the street from my parents. it was very nice to see them.

she blows glass now, and it's just the coolest hobby ever, i think.

i took a bunch of pics on the beach in order to make them into slides for prints. i took about 120 of them in 45 minutes, but only put 37 online. i don't know which i'm going to use yet. here's a little dude i met while walking. i wanted his shell, but he wanted it more. he won.

more pics soon....but probably not for another week because my final is on monday. if you want to look at a few more, you can go to this set on my flickr page.

cheppy chanukah!

candles 'n fried things 'n all.

so here's the scarf i gave to my boss's three year old daughter. i finished it and weaved in the ends an hour ago while sitting at my desk with my door open...and talking to my boss. (it's a little slow here thanks to the icky weather.)

he's going to get a pic of her wearing it. should be cute. i'll update then. i also gave her a "paint your own dreidel" kit that someone had given me a few years ago, for some reason. ages 3+.

here's a pic i took in lexington last week. tee-hee. (click on it if you can't read the text.)


off to the board meeting in florida tomorrow morning! let's see if i can take off at 6:30 as planned...

also...both pics here are from the iphone.

All the cool cats are doing it-blogging on the iPhone

i have little to report   except that I am in Kentucky until Friday. :)

taxidermists are our friends

i'll post AR pics when i get home tonight....if i get home. my 1235 flight was canceled and i'm waiting for a 335 to take me to o'hare, then eventually home. considering my luck at o'hare, i might finish up my crochet work here to make myself a pillow on which i may sleep tonight.

had i known that i'd be stuck here for an extra 3 hours, i probably would have gone to the clinton library for real, and not just looked around the lobby and pished in the bathroom. i did learn that FDR was the first president driven around in an armored car after the attack on pearl harbor. at the time, the only armored car the secret service could get right away had been confiscated from al capone in 1934. it was a black and green bulletproof 1928 341A cadillac town sedan weighing 9,000 pounds. here's the whole story.

free wifi in the airport at LIT. that's making this a smidge more tollerable.

*smidge.*

like the deer? he looks so real, it's almost like he wasn't shot in the woods while eating!

bill clinton is a rock star in arkansas

really.
he really is.
people LOVE him here in arkansas. i'm in hot springs for one more day. going to try to go to the clinton library tomorrow before i fly out from little rock. it's beastly hot here. i have to go to a party now. more free light beer!

so, jack at work thinks my simpsonized self is a little off. he thinks i'm more like this...


i'd say, on a humid day....

where i've been....so far

cute, huh?

Tourists fined for cycling nude in heat wave

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19914229/
Tourists fined for cycling nude in heat wave
Two Austrians, German stripped down in 104-degree scorcher

Reuters
Updated: 11:21 a.m. ET July 23, 2007

BELGRADE, Serbia - Two Austrians and a German were fined for cycling naked along the banks of the River Danube in Serbia where a heat wave has sent temperatures soaring.
“Police arrived after being alerted by passers-by,” said police spokesman Stevan Krstic in the northern city of Novi Sad.
Temperatures in Serbia and other parts of the Balkans have hovered stubbornly for the past week at around 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit).
The three men were brought to a magistrate on charges of disrupting public peace and order and were fined 10,000 dinars (125 euros) each.

i left detroit in a kia optima

that was strange. considering the motor city's history, i left in a foreign car. i also couldn't adjust the driver's seat back or my right side mirror. kind of an uncomfortable drive down here to toledo, ohio. additionally, there is a gentleman's club called "scarlett's" somewhere on the oh/mi border that serves top shelf liquor! billboards are the best way to advertise, the best.

last night i went to a mudhens game! name the celebrity who's picture/name is all over toledo (and the tv show he was on) and win a prize!

*just a note - if you haven't figured it out already, i don't have any prizes. just gratitude for reading my blog. thanks!

i brought the final pieces of lucas's sweater with me to ohio. i am now working on the collar, and i expect to be finished with it tonight, depending on my work schedule here. if not, then by the end of the week when i get home. after another 1/2" on the collar, i just have to sew up the arms, sides and pockets! no photo updates there, i left my camera at home. oops.

i also made up the "blood pillow" for my brother. this thing has been all over the interweb-er-do and so he wanted me to copy it for him. i didn't have a pattern or anything, it isn't really needed. i started by marking out squiggly lines.

this is as far as i got...

i ran out of fiberfill, so it's going to have to wait until the weekend. i still have about 3/4 yard of the fabric left. it's a lovely blood red color, but you can't really tell in the picture.

after these two projects are done, i'm going to take a crafting break until the 28th when i take the GRE again. just one part of it, not the whole thing. i'll still post, but just about stupid things, nothing craft-related. wish me luck!

rabbit is shedding like mad now. she doesn't like it when i help the process and gently pull out tufts of fur, but she's going to have to deal. better than her ingesting it, or having it wind up stuck to my eyeballs.


so, last week a friend came over for a few minutes and was pretty much surprised that my place is not as obsessively neat as was predicted. in fact, i was basically told i was messy! insanity! just so you know...

* most importantly, i know where everything is
* i have a hanging spot for my keys (how many of you have that? huh? i haven't said "where are my keys?" in a long time)
* i like organized piles and organized clutter (they're mobile)
* i vacuum every single day (rabbit fur!)
* bathroom counter is wiped up every day, whole room is thoroughly cleaned 2x a week (germs)
* i make my bed every day (thanks, mom)
* all of my crafts have their own designated area
* i keep my sink clean (except for right now 'cause my flight was canceled yesterday morning and i had to scramble to get a new one so i forgot to put my dishes away but other than that...)
* i generally keep my kitchen counter clear. i have only one.
* i have no bugs or mice or whatever (that's extreme, yes, but true)
* and finally, it's a work in progress. i already blogged last week about getting rid of things and my need to have less stuff. scroll down to see, if you'd like.

yeah.

off to work in toledo!

i felt happy while felting

took the train up and back for this most recent trip to new york. this was on the way back...

ooo pretty.

so dante's booties are felted now! i think they're going to be a bit too small, so i don't think i'll make that size. the next larger ones are the pink ones. they're both super cute. this weekend will be a big try-on weekend.
here they are in the washing machine.

i also made a SUPER DUPER POT HOLDER!!!!! it started out 12"x12" and is now 6"x7" so that's super! here they are...everything is still drying from last night.


i have been asked if i sell my creations...yes! i do! just drop me a note. custom colors and sizes available.

pretty NM pics and are you KIDDING ME?????

hello! i'm back.

first off, i had a fabo time in new mexico this past weekend! my traveling companion is the best.

and

and


we took hundreds of pictures!

i just dropped off three rolls of slide film at penn camera. they will be ready tomorrow after 5. (oh really? we'll see about that.) won't do me much good, though, because my slide printer finally arrived with the new 4x5" base after 6 weeks and it came WITHOUT DIRECTIONS!!!! HOW THE HELL AM I SUPPOSED TO PUT THIS THING TOGETHER? ARE YOU KIDDING ME? AND WHERE IS MY TRANSFER KIT? DUDES, THIS IS INSANE ALREADY!!! SEND ME MY STUFF!!!! plus, i was apparently "misquoted" and was charged $100 more than i was originally told. i complained, but they couldn't change it. plus, i didn't have it in writing, which doesn't surprise me. the girl i had been dealing with over there seems to be a huge idiot. she's supposed to call me back before the end of the day (PST) but i don't think i'll hear from her. i was told the directions and kit would be sent out first thing tomorrow, but i don't know if it will happen. i'm going to continue to call and harass them until i get my stuff.

DSM, friends and my favorite model gets a new sweater

i spent a few days in iowa for work. i took these pics on the plane on the way back. i also took some in the airport at 630 in the am and was convinced i'd get cuffed, interrogated and put on several "lists." good thing no one paid attention...
i finally see some iowa farmland.

sorry, but this was just too freggin' awesome to pass up.

luke is getting a new sweater! he has outgrown this one so i am going to make a new one for him. his dad said that he enjoyed wearing the striped one, so i feel i've done well. i told him to keep it for their next kid, too.
for the next project, i have chosen a moss stitch sweater with collar in the cotton DK from Number Three. so far i've accomplished a lot after starting tuesday night!


a boxty update...they are headed to the arlington street people's assistance network soon, hopefully. i hope they will be enjoyed.

also to follow up...the music goes on! more music postings soon. i'm glad that won't end. :)

some pics from amsterdam...happy new year!

the last time i was in the netherlands, i noticed that bathrooms do not have hot water for hand washing, only cold. this is still pretty much the case. it didn't seem to be a big deal to my friends, just soap up and rinse. i did notice everywhere that that there was soap, which is not always the case here.

anyway, that was my big obsession on this trip. again.

here is the hat i worked on. my first cable project. this pic was taken on the plane on the way over...


if you think i did anything here besides take this picture, you and i have obviously never met. neon is pretty.


this is me...traveling 3500 miles for a new yarn shop, de afstap. that's me.


ah, canals are pretty. plus, they don't stink like they do in venice. a bonus.


more soon....

I AMsterdam!

i will post more tomorrow. just uploaded my pics from this past week visiting shosh in amsterdam! lots of fun. almost gave my mom a heart attack on the street. see what happens when you don't read my blog? you are surprised by a family member in a foreign city.

apparently, the dutch require a license to drive a shoe. would have been nice to know that ahead of time...

(we were here in the hague at the time)

and remember...

now i know that the #1, 2 and 5 trams stop here.

but yes, more tomorrow. do note the cable hat i am wearing. this trip did include, in fact, knitting. i started it while waiting for my first flight at DCA and finished it three days later. more on that tomorrow, as well.

PLUS...i just picked up a light box today! finally! plus, i got a coupon from another customer at the store! >dancing at desk< now i can check my slides much more easily.

return from iowa

so freggin' cold. so cold. i think it brought the cold west with me, because it was apparently around 65 the day before i landed. outside temp for my arrival? around 20. i'm a zombie now, but i wanted to post tonight before i begin an intense study of my inner eyelids.

i didn't knit at all while i was there. (WHAT????) tired hands for some reason.
thoughts....

maybe it was the cold.
maybe it was the corn.
maybe it was the pork on my plate at dinner last night that i had to gently avoid.

however, two nights before i left i set up the daylab jr and practiced printing a few slides i took a few years ago. i totally figured out what i had been doing wrong before! duh. i am re-energized now and am looking forward to trying new things! i went to cvs and bought a ton of candies to photograph....dropped off the film the night before i left but it still isn't back. when i handed the film to the kid at cvs he didn't understand why i didn't want prints.

"wait you don't want any prints?" asks he.
"it's slide film," says i.
"but you don't want prints?" repeated he.
"no. it's slide film. you don't make prints. you make slides," responded i.
"uh ok," mumbled he.

dude, just put it in the box. you don't take care of it anyway.

old cars, old houses and hoosiers

i am now in south bend, indiana for work.

first, necessity is the mother of invention. my hotel does not have shower caps. anywhere. i had to make my own out of the ice bucket plastic bag. yes, i still use shower caps. that's my creative exercise for the week.

tonight i went to the studebaker museum!


after that, we went here for dinner...tippecanoe place, the home of clement studebaker...

how well do you know me? why did this house make me nutty?

about the home...

By the 1870's, the Studebaker brothers were quite rich and enjoyed living well. Clement Studebaker, then president of the company, had many friends who had also struck it rich in the early days of America - Andrew Carnegie, Cyrus McCormick, John Wannamaker, and J.P. Morgan, to name a few. In 1886, Clem decided to build a home suitable to his position in life.

Tippecanoe Place, with four main levels totaling 40 rooms and 20 fireplaces, is the embodiment of everything great wealth in the late 1800's could suggest. The 26,000 square-foot mansion was designed by Henry Cobb and built by local craftsmen. Work on Tippecanoe Place was completed in 1889 at a total cost of $250,000.

The massive walls are made of local granite fieldstone, and the many broad porches are paved with tile and supported by stone pillars. A flight of stone steps at the main entrance leads into the mahogany paneled vestibule. The decorative carvings on the oval doorknobs exemplify the great attention to detail throughout the entire house.

The mansion, however, was to be more than simply a monument to the architecture and craftsmanship of the period. It would serve as the setting for many lavish parties, weddings, and balls.

Guests would arrive by carriage and enter through the west doors. They would board the elevator - one of the first in the country - and be whisked upstairs to freshen up. The formally clad ladies and gentlemen would then descend the Grand Staircase into the Reception Area. Then, as today, Tippecanoe Place was known for its hospitality and as a gracious setting for fine dining.

oklahoma update

ok so i am in oklahoma city for work. i forgot the pattern for the baby socks (on my kitchen counter, argh) i have been making over and over, but i am very proud to say that i don't need it anymore! i have been able to make two socks from memory! (yes, i have my computer and can easily get it, but i didn't have it on on the plane, ha!)

it was 106 here yesterday, too hot. i stayed in in the evening and watched tv and finished the second sock. i will start another one tonight, and hope to finishe the pair before i get home tomorrow. i have two flights, almost two hours each.