Kool Aid Crazy!! And a Random Wrap up!

I have turned into a massive Kool Aid Junkie. I search every place I go to see what new flavors I might find. I scour the shelves for more and more packages. I scared the nice checkout lady at Meijer's when I bought 20 packs all at once. Do I want all this Kool Aid to drink? No way. I need it to dye more yarn!! Yarn that I have no idea what I'm going to make with it. Yarn that may never move beyond it's neatly wound center pull ball. But still, I need to dye more yarn.

Monday, I went on a massive Kool Aid hunt. I searched Target (which does not carry Kool Aid by the way), Meijer (the mecca of Kool Aid flavors), Walgreens (another non-Kool Aid market), and another Kroger store (which had only the basic flavors). Meijer is by far the Kool-Aid Hook up. They had an entire display of Kool Aid with flavors I had seen no where else (although the most wonderful Pina Pineapple was missing). I finally found some blue flavors--Berry Blue and Blue Raspberry Lemonade--as well as some more interesting ones--Maderine Tangerine, Soarin' Strawberry Lemonade, and Watermelon Cherry. They also had some Lemon Lime, Cherry, Orange, Grape, Strawberry, and the ever popular Tropical Punch along with some unhelpful "invisible" flavors (clear drinks with fruity flavors--not good for dyeing yarn).

I made a trip to the new Wal-Mart Neighborhood Market last night since I needed to get some milk and looked at their Kool Aid selection, but they didn't have much variety. I'm hoping that if I pay a visit to the Meijer out in Hamburg they might have more fun flavors for me to play with.

I haven't yet had the chance to try out the new flavors I found. I'm planning to give it a try on Saturday so we'll see how it goes. I may not get to take pictures, though, since I don't have a digital camera here. Oh well.....

Now to wrap up some unfinished business.

1.) The Amazing Race Wrap up.....

Really, after the double episode, I found myself totally bored with the whole thing. I watched until the end, I really did, but I just didn't care anymore. In the end, it was the Boobs that won it all. The Beauty Queens (Dustin and Kandice) took second with Charla and Mirna coming in third. Maybe it was the utter lack of teams I cared about that made me not care. Danny and Oswald did make it to the final four, but after they were Philliminated I had no one to cheer for.

2.) My Bracket Wrap up.....

I didn't win the pool. I didn't even come close despite the fact that I picked Florida to win it all (again!). I just missed too many games in the second weekend to overcome. Oh well, maybe next year UK will stick around for more than two games. Hear that Billy G? We want more than just a one weekend engagement next year in March.

3.) 3K / 5K Racing...

The 3K I ran back on St. Patrick's Day (yes, that long ago) went well. I finished with an official time of 18:41 and placed 6th in my age category. And, most importantly, I ran the entire thing without freezing to death! I've been running pretty steadily since and I can now do about 3.5 miles at a time so I'm ready to tackle a 5K. First up is the Fancy Farm Picnic Run on August 3rd and then Sarah (from work) and I are going to do the Midsummer Night's Run on August 11th. Hopefully both will go well. Hopefully I won't die.

4.) That Stupid Committee update....

I just had to get this most lovely pic of Kyle up here one more time since the Committee that had no end finally ended!! We hired the most wonderful Associate Pastor ever Diane Baldwin back in the spring and she officially started the Sunday after Easter. We couldn't be happier with our choice! And I'm glad to finally be done with that committee, although Kyle wants to make me an elder this fall and so I'll have to serve on Session. Just say No Kimmy, just say No.

5.) Scopeman update....

Really, here there is nothing to update. Haven't seen him much this year so far. He stopped by once in February just as I was getting ready to go to the gym and we chatted for a second, and then I saw him the other day, but he paid very little attention to me. Apparently we can talk once a year at the Christmas party and that's that. Oh well.

6.) Knitting WIPS Updates....

The Aunt Purl's Magic Scarf is still not done. In fact, I haven't even picked it up in months. I need to get back to work on it, but really, I just don't want to, although I do need those needles back. I have started yet another project, however. I am making a lap robe using the very fun Feather and Fan pattern. I started it to send as a Mother's Day gift to my Grandmother, but got about 1 1/2 skeins in (out of 5) and quit. I still pick it up every once in awhile, but it may or may not be done by Christmas.

My newest knitting obsession is Baby Stuff!! since everyone I know is Pregnant. It almost makes me scared to drink the water. So far I have finished two very adorable baby hats for my cousin Logan's little boy-to-be due the first part of July.

This one is done in UK blue and white (since it's never to early to be a wildcat fan) Lion Brand Microspun from the Karlchen pattern I found for free using Crafster. It's knit from the crown down (which is cool) and very easy. I used some size 7 DPNs for the whole thing rather than switch to circs half way through and I like the way it turned out. The Stripes are a simple 2 row white/3 rows blue pattern (although if I had it to do over again, I would make them thicker).

And this one is the hopelessly cute Umbilical Cord hat from Stitch N' Bitch done in a sort of Electric Blue Sugar and Cream yarn. (I refuse to put babies in nothing but pastels.)For this one, I used my size 7 16" circs until it got too small and then switched to DPNs. The I-cord is wider than it should be (8 stitches instead of 4) since I apparently can't read a pattern all that well, but it is cute none the less. I can see more of these on the way.

I also picked up the book Mason-Dixon Knitting from the Library in order to see the Log Cabin Blanket pattern (which I was going to make for another Baby that is one the way). I discovered, however, that there are many, many fun patterns in there and I may have to go buy the book so I have my own copy forever. I have made the Ball Band Dishrag and the Baby Genius Burp Cloth so far both out of Sugar and Cream Cotton Yarn with size 7 straight needles. The dish cloth I have a photo of, the Burp Cloth I just finished last night, so no pictures for you. Notice, I had not yet woven in the ends. Now, however, they are tucked safely away. I need to use it and wash it to see how it holds up before I go crazy and make more, but I want to make tons and tons of these. It was so simple and quick!! And I like quick.

My next project will be the Bibs from Mason Dixon and then, hopefully, the Modern Baby Blanket. I just need to do a few test swatches to make sure I can handle the Log Cabin style of knitting before I jump into that one.

7.) Last but not least, my TV Wrap Up....

Now that summer is here and good TV has gone away until fall, I am longing for the days when I at least had something good to watch on Thursday nights.

Ugly Betty ended very sadly with the possible death of Santos, Henry flying off to be with Charlie who he thinks is pregnant with his baby, but may be pregnant with the crazy dentist's baby instead, and Amanda and the Scottish lady locked in the "Love Dungeon" finding out that Amanda is actually Faye's daughter. Oh whatever will I do until Fall?

Supernatural ended well. No huge cliff hanger this year. The Yellow Eyed Demon is dead, shot by Dean with the last bullet from the Super Special Colt that doesn't always kill everything after a recently released from Hell Daddy Winchester distracted the YED for just a moment. Dean, however, has only one year to live after he traded his life to bring Sam back from the dead, so I'm assuming that will be the crux of next year's plot lines. The CW is showing reruns on both Thursday nights and Sunday night now, so they will get through the entire season before the new season starts (and I have something to watch anyway).

8.) I know, I said TV was the last thing, but I thought of something else....

The little sister is in Italy right now supposedly studying Italian. Check out her blog for more details, but I get the impression she is studying food, wine, and boys more than the language.....

Nine Degrees

9, that's what my computer is telling me that the current temperature is outside. This is Kentucky people!!! We don't do 9 degrees at 10:30 in the morning!! All this cold weather and snow really just needs to die. I'm ready for summer. But, alas, it seems that we are supposed to get even more snow this weekend. This is the payback for those 70 degree days in January.

It is Friday, however, so that is something. This week has been long, cold, and snowy. Just the way I like to end up my worst week of the year!! But it's over now, so all's good. I may have to rethink the whole denial strategy for next year, though, since apparently it didn't work as well as I thought it did. Jackie, our cleaning lady here at work (and incidentally the nicest person on the face of the planet) noticed that something was off. Funny how that works. The people I spend the most time with didn't notice a thing but the cleaning lady who I see maybe once or twice a day picked up on stuff. Oh well.

Normally, on Fridays I have a lot to say about my Thursday night marathon TV session. I did get to see Ugly Betty this week (which I missed last week) and Nashville Star, but once again WKYT decided that I didn't need to see Supernatural until 1:30am because of a High School Basketball game. It is one the DVR, though, so I will get to see it as soon as I get home tonight. Instead, I got to watch Grey's Anatomy for the first time in awhile. I had been recording it and a few Saturdays ago I caught up on all the back episodes (although I still haven't seen last week's episode) so I wasn't totally lost. The episode was okay. Not the greatest, and certainly not the worst. They keep trying to make me think that Meridith is going to die (which might actually get me interested in this show again), but that would be too good to be true. I do have to say that my favorite part of the episode was the end where Meridith "wakes up" to find the Bomb squad guy (Kyle Chandler) and Denny (Jeffrey Dean Morgan aka Papa Winchester) there with her. That was a nice and unexpected surprise. Gotta love me some Denny!!!

Ugly Betty was okay, but they just need to hurry up and get Betty and Henry together already. They are just too cute together, and I'm tired of Betty always getting shafted. Also, the Alex/Alexis story line is getting old, fast. I feel bad for the girl/guy but did you really think that the world would be okay with you dying and coming back as a girl? Come on. But Justin singing Hair Spray on the subway? Classic. That kid deserves an Emmy. Who doesn't love some Broadway show tunes on the subway?

Now, once I've had my weekly dose of Supernatural, my week will be complete.

Oh, and I've decide to run in a 3K they are having here in Lexington on St. Pat's day. I figure a 3K is a good warm up for my 5K that I'm going to do at some point. I looked on the race schedule, and it looks like they are going to have a 5K at the state park at home in May, so that might be a good choice. We'll have to see how it goes. I did go to the gym on Wednesday, and I'm sore as hell today, but I'm going to try and run some more today anyway. I'd forgotten how much better I feel after I run (during the running, not so much--I really just want to die--but after the running, I have this great sense of accomplishment.).

Hello February

So, it's February. Somehow this month just snuck up on me; I didn't have much of a chance to prepare. Prepare for what, you ask. Prepare for the worst month of the year.

Those of you who know me, know I hate February (or at least the first two weeks). Almost every horrible thing that has happened during my life has happened during February. My mom and my Granddad both died during February, one year apart (mom 2/9/03, Granddad 2/7/04). That's enough, but then we have to also go and add in Valentine's Day. Valentine's Day is the single most over-hyped holiday we have. It's sole purpose is to make money for the card/chocolate/floral industry and to remind those of us who are perpetually single on February 14th just how single we are. It ranks as one of my least favorite days of the year.

This year, however, karma has decided that just having February isn't enough, we have to add in more fun. First, we finally got that snow they've been talking about for weeks. It showed up this morning, surprising me (and the road crews, I think) with slick, snowy roads. I would have been a wonderful day to just stay home, watch TV, and knit but that was not to be. I had to come to work (which I could have skipped, since my boss is gone) and I had to go to the dentist.

Now, I'm not one to be scared of the dentist. Going to the dentist isn't one of my favorite activities, but I don't mind it all that much. However, I must have done something horrible to a dentist in another life because in the Dental Hygienist Lottery, I LOST! My dentist is great. I love her. She might possibly be the nicest person on the face of the planet. My Hygienist, however, is evil. She is, first and foremost, the slowest person on the face of the planet. Really. My turtle Dean moves faster than her. Then, she is the only hygienist I've ever visited that leaves me in pain after every visit. My gums will be swollen by lunch from all the poking and prodding and stabbing. I don't expect the visit to the dentist to be pleasant, but I don't expect it to be painful either. Oh well. I'm all done for the next six months. We should be thankful for small things I suppose.

Oh, and just in case you are wondering, I didn't get to see Supernatural last night. According to my DVR, it was supposed to air at midnight, so I had made plans to stay up and watch it late. However, when I checked the schedule on the CWKYT website, they informed me that they weren't going to air Supernatural until 1:30am. At that point, I gave up, set the VCR and DVR and went to bed. It appears that I managed to record Supernatural (I did a quick check this morning) so I guess I can slip slide my way home and watch it this afternoon.

I did get to see Ugly Betty, though, and it was good. The Alex/Alexa story line should be interesting, and I don't know what they are going to do with Bradford being in jail, but I was pleased with the episode. And, can I just say, I want Henry and Betty to get together. They are just too cute, and Henry is so much better than Walter. (I'm sure those of you who don't watch this show are very confused right now, but hey....this is my blog, and if you want to know what the hell I'm talking about, watch the show!! It's worth it, I promise.)

I also watched Grey's Anatomy, since my 9 o'clock hour was free. It was okay. I still can't really get into it this season, but I'll keep trying for my sister's sake. Nashville Star was good too. All my favorites are still there, so I'm happy......

I really want to just go home and sit on the couch and watch TV and knit. My plan was to leave at lunch, but it looks like that won't happen now. Still, hopefully I can leave around 1 before the snow causes the world to explode. It's been snowing all morning, so I know this means that by rush hour this afternoon everything will be just crazy. Gotta Love Kentucky.

It's finally Friday

After the longest week in the history of the world (perhaps due to the fact that a good portion of my lab is only semi-speaking to me) (because that is mature and professional) it is finally Friday. Thank God!!

But, since today is Friday, that means yesterday was Thursday which means Ugly Betty!!! and Supernatural!!! and (I'm ashamed to admit this) Nashville Star. I haven't actually seen Ugly Betty yet since Jenny and went and watched the UK women lose in 2 OTs last night, but it's on the DVR and is on the slate for this weekend. I also missed the first 45 min of Supernatural (because of the 2OTs), and the DVR hates me again (I think it gets mad when it has to record Betty and SPN back to back) but I was smart this time and left the TV on channel 5 so that when I came in, it had been showing Supernatural the whole time and I could record it backwards. Me and the DVR are going to have to have some words about this.

I did get to see all of Supernatural, though, so that is good since it was one of the best episodes of the year. Really. It felt like I was watching an action movie because it was just go, go, go the whole hour. It was perhaps not the scariest episode the action and the humor more than made up for any lack of scare. And besides, who can not love hearing the word "mandroid" about fifteen times in an hour?

Nashville Star is my other (and newest) Thursday night obsession. It's the country version of American Idol, except that these guys are singer/songwriter/musicians instead of wannabe pop stars. I got sucked in on accident. The guys on the radio were talking about the show one morning, and so when Supernatural was over, I decided to just flip over and see what it was all about. I got hooked, and now I hate to miss it. Oh well. Right now my favorite is Angela Hacker with a close second being David St. Romain. It's a guilty pleasure, I know, but it's fun.

Southern-ese...and Yarn!

So I was having a discussion yesterday with Zel about certain things that we say here in Kentucky (which is part of the south as far as I can tell, although not the deep south) that don't make a lot of sense to people from other places (you Yanks and also foreigners).

The first one that came up was the phrase big ol' as in "Did you see that big ol' box over there?" or "That was one big ol' mess you got yourself into."

Then there was y'all which we take a lot of flack for, but really, every other language that I know of (read: Spanish, French, Italian) have a perfectly acceptable way of saying y'all. Why is it that we get such a hard time for this one? Really. Without y'all you wouldn't have the world's most redneck water tower ever which proclaims "Welcome to Florence Y'all."

And then we got to our favorite phrase (and one that I use a lot) which was bless his/her/their heart. This is really just a way for us here in the south to say something mean about someone without it sounding mean because bless his heart is never followed by (or preceded by) anything nice. "Bless his heart, he's not the brightest crayon in the box" or "Bless her heart, she has a great personality" or "He has a rather unfortunate nose, bless his heart." Really. This is just our way of trying not to sound mean when we are being mean. I guess it's a southern thing.

Another one, which is very common here in Kentucky (I have no idea about anywhere else) is the phrase I don't care to. Apparently in the rest of the world, this means "Hell no, I don't want to do that" but here, it means "I don't mind doing that at all." (Go figure, we're backwards.) For example, if someone asked you if you would mind watching their turtle over the holiday you would answer "I don't care to do that at all" if you were willing to do what they were asking. This is very confusing to people who don't know the system, since they tend to think you are being rude and very un-Southern by refusing to do something nice when you are asked. So, FYI, if you are in Kentucky and someone says to you "I don't care to" just smile and say thank you.

Moving on.....

I went back to Stitch Niche yesterday to buy MORE YARN! Yes, I can see that this is going to be a very expensive habit for me. But I decided that I wanted to try out Crazy Aunt Purl's Magic Scarf since as she says:

The basket weave/checkerboard scarf is probably my all-time favorite because it's easy and it looks great and I was so sure I was making crazy advanced knitting strides -- although, really, it's just knit and purl. It's so easy! Even though it looks complex! (I totally lied and told non-knitting friends this pattern was VERY complex and DIFFICULT knitting.

And since her patterns are written in a language I can understand, I thought I'd give it a shot. So, of course, this mean another trip to the LYS (since I may never be able to buy cheap yarn at Michael's or Joanne's ever again). I found wonderful multicolored 100% wool (I've also turned into a fiber snob) that is really soft and wasn't too expensive (only $12.00 for 150yds) to try out. I still can't figure out exactly how I want to work this up, but it should look pretty when I get it done. I may also go back and try to finish (read: frog and restart) my blue/white scarf that was my whole reason for getting into knitting in the first place since I was going to knit it flat and seam it up, but I liked knitting in the round so much that I think it would go faster if I just scraped the whole thing and started over. (Also, it's a little wide, so I think I'd like to make it thinner, and make it in Stockinette instead of garter, since when I started I had no idea about any of that.)

A side effect of my trip to the Yarn store was that I now what some Noro yarn (despite the fact that it is slightly expensive). I have no idea what I want to do with said yarn, but I want it. I must have it. I'm trying very hard to keep from going back to the yarn store today and buying some. I really don't need to, but I really want to. Oh well.

And...exciting...tonight we get all new episodes of both Ugly Betty and Supernatural which makes me happy. The previews for Supernatural looked very good (something about creepy dolls) and last week Ugly Betty ended with Amanda beating the crap out of Sophia in the elevator (which is always good TV) so I can't wait to see what happens this week. And, I plan on being home all evening so that I don't have to rely on the evil DVR to record things (which it doesn't do if it doesn't want to apparently) and I can work on my Magic Scarf. What fun!! Knitting and good TV. I love multi-tasking.

Oh, and I can't say much about my meeting at church last night except for Hallelujah!!

And, just in case anyone was wondering, there have been no Scopeman sightings yet, and no further email communications. Oh well. He will have to show up at some point.

And (last one I promise) Hi Jenny! Since you are (as far as I can tell) the only person that reads this. Isn't it sad that we live about 500 ft away from each other but I only get to see you about once a week?

Bored but Beautiful

Still no sign of the Scopeman.....

But in other news, I have ABSOLUTLY NOTHING going on at work between now and the Holidays. While I like to have my work spread out a bit so that I don't have a million things to do all in one day, this is too much.

I spent today watching episodes of Ugly Betty online--quality work right there, people. Ugly Betty is one of those shows that I love, but I don't know why I love it. Sure, it's funny, but not that funny. Maybe it's because of the blatant telenovela quality about it--it's just so over-the-top sometimes that you can't help but love it. I guess it's also possible that I just like it because, for once, it's nice to see the main character of a show be someone who looks like they might actually EAT SOMETHING every once in awhile. In fact, two of the three female characters that we are supposed to like are normal sized women. Take that you skinny models!!! Also, the guy that plays Daniel, Betty's womanizing boss, is really hot. Who wouldn't like to work for a guy that looks like this: