48 Stoopid Things You Don't Care About ...

... so why am I doing this? I don't know. 'Cause I'm busy staying up too late 'cause no one is here to tell me to go to bed. (stoopid me :slaps head:)

48 Things You Could Care Less About

1. FIRST NAME? Julie

2. WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE? My grandfather was hoping I'd be a boy. He wanted me to be named "Johnny" (or should I say "Yonny?" He was Swedish.) Anyway, my first name ended up being Julie ("Yoolie"), but my middle name is the same as my Mom's, and she got hers from her Dad! No ... I won't tell you what it is.

3. WHEN DID YOU LAST CRY? Hmmm ... last week? No wait ... earlier this evening. I was watching "The Horse Whisperer" w/ DD. That scene where Grace is getting re-acquainted w/ Pilgrim gets me every time.

4. DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING? Usually.

5. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE LUNCHMEAT? Pastrami

6. IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOU? Yes, but I think I would get mad at me occasionally.

7. DO YOU HAVE A JOURNAL? You're reading it.

8. DO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR TONSILS? Yes, and my appendix, too.

9. WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP? Uh-uh

10. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CEREAL? A big bowl of oatmeal w/ brown sugar, cinnamon & chopped pecans.

11. DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF? No.

12. DO YOU THINK YOU ARE STRONG? Mentally or physically? Hmmm ... I'd like to *think* I'm pretty tough mentally (or emotionally), and I think I can be physically strong when I need to be.

13. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE ICE CREAM FLAVOR? That's a hard one -- I like just about any kind of ice cream as long as it has chocolate in it.

14. SHOE SIZE? 9.5 - 10

15. RED OR PINK? Red.

16. WHAT IS THE LEAST FAVORITE THING ABOUT YOURSELF? I'm too impatient with my children; I talk too much.

17. WHO DO YOU MISS THE MOST? My youth.

18. DO YOU WANT EVERYONE TO SEND THIS BACK TO YOU? No.

19. WHAT COLOR PANTS, SHIRT AND SHOES ARE YOU WEARING? Embarrassingly, black pants w/a navy blue sweatshirt and old beat up tan-colored slippers -- Couch Wear.

20. LAST THING YOU ATE? Popcorn

21. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW? Iron Chef on TV.

22. IF YOU WERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOR WOULD YOU BE? Some shade of reddish orange, probably.

23. FAVORITE SMELL? Lavendar or fresh coffee or hot popcorn or bread baking in the oven.

24. WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE? My DH.

25. THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE YOU ARE ATTRACTED TO? Their level of energy and/or happiness.

26. DO YOU LIKE THE PERSON you stole THIS from? Absolutely!! Got it from Miss Andrea!

27. FAVORITE DRINK? Diet Coke ... with a little rum or coffee or iced tea, but mostly I drink water.

28. FAVORITE SPORT? Baseball! Go Cubs! (stop laughing!!)

29. EYE COLOR? Dark brown

30. HAT SIZE? Why would I know this??

31. DO YOU WEAR CONTACTS? I used to ... I had laser surgery about 5 years ago.

32. FAVORITE FOOD? I like lots of different foods. It kind of depends on my mood. Right now a really fresh field green salad would be good.

33. SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDINGS? Happy endings.

34. IF YOU COULD LIVE ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD WHERE WOULD THAT BE? I don't think I've been enough places to answer this. I would like to visit some places to find out,though: Hawaii, Australia, Sweden, Idaho, etc.

35. SUMMER OR WINTER? Summer

36. HUGS OR KISSES? Hugs.

37. FAVORITE DESSERT? See #32 ... depends on my mood, but usually it has to have chocolate. On those rare occasions where I'm not in the mood for chocolate, something with lemon usually wins me over.

38. WHO IS MOST LIKELY TO RESPOND? I have no idea.

39. LEAST LIKELY TO RESPOND? See #38

40. WHAT BOOKS ARE YOU READING? Help for the Harried Homeschooler: A Practical Guide to Balancing Your Child's Education with the Rest of Your Life

41. WHAT’S ON YOUR MOUSE PAD? I don't have a mouse pad.

42. WHAT DID YOU WATCH LAST NIGHT ON TV? Good Eats

43. FAVORITE SOUNDS? My children laughing

44. ROLLING STONE OR BEATLES? The Beatles hands down!

45. THE FURTHEST YOU’VE BEEN FROM HOME? St. Maarten

46. WHAT’S YOUR SPECIAL TALENT? I was going to say "singing," but I really think it would have to be the ability to teach myself just about anything I set my mind to.

47. WHERE WERE YOU BORN? Illinois

48. WHO SENT THIS TO YOU? No one ... I took it upon myself to swipe it from Andrea's blog.

Sunday, Sunday

Nothing too terribly exciting going on in the DotFamily Home this weekend. DH and DS spent the morning doing a Roadside Clean-up with the Boy Scouts yesterday, and then the whole family participated in a Stranger Danger event at the Dojang where the DotKids take TaeKwonDo. This was fun!! We had a neighbor child with us, and when DH had to step out to take a phone call I became the target for all three children!!! Ouch.

Much knitting was done last evening while watching the MLB play-off game between the Cardinals and Mets. I finally found out what the Karaoke Mermaid -- which has been sitting in my stash for a good long while -- wants to be. It wants to be Alison's Scarf by Annie Modesitt (previous link is a PDF file, btw). I got through the i-cord cast-on (how cool is that?) and 4 repeats of the lace & cable chart. I was doubtful at first, but it's beginning to shape up.

In the midst of the scarf, I was leafing through The Knitters Bible when I became distracted by a pattern for a placemat & coaster. So, I knit the coaster. There was something about the stitch pattern that drew me in.

Well, I must get back to my meal planning for the week. I'm not crazy about doing it, nor do I enjoy the grocery shopping that results from it, but the DotFamily must eat.

Balancing Act

I don't have much to write today, but I did want to post a bad picture of the snow that fell yesterday and comment on how much I'm enjoying Brenda Dayne's Cast-On podcast (see the link in my sidebar). I *love* the music she includes in her podcast, and I think I'm going to have to go surf the Podsafe Music Network to see what I can find.

Secondly, I'm having such a horrible time trying to balance life these days. There's so much to be done and not enough time to do it all. Sometimes I feel like I'm the only person in the world who doesn't surrender everything I love doing to try & get all the "stuff" done that I should be getting done. What kind of lesson would I be teaching my children by working all the time and never stopping to enjoy the blessings in our life? Does God really wants us all wrapped up in the busy-ness of this man-made turmoil or does he want us to lead a more simply life and enjoy it? I think I know the answer to this.

I can't surrender the joys in my life in order to finish doing the things that will never be finished. I choose instead to take a small part of every day (sometimes a larger part) to enjoy life. I wish the same for the rest of you.

That said, I do have to go run in circles and prepare for incoming relatives. Being a good hostess is one of the joys of my life. ;-)

A Post With No Name

I've been looking for a good podcast to listen to while I'm sitting doing things that require something to listen to - fixing my hair & face in the morning; knitting; ironing; eating; paying bills. I think I've found it: Brenda Dayne's "Cast-On"

Now, let me qualify that by saying that I'm only on the first episode. But I got there after listening to 1-1/2 episodes of Lime & Violet, and ... well ... there's just a world of difference betwen the two. Now, don't get me wrong. I have a feeling I would get along just find w/ L&V in person, but Miss Violet's voice sounds just like MINE when I hear it recorded, and it's bugging me. You know how that goes, don't you? Or am I the only one who doesn't like to listen to my own voice?

And I have a little aside here. For some reason Blogger is only allowing me to type like Capt. James T. Kirk talks: in fits and spurts.

Whew ... I just shut down Firefox & everything else, and now I can type smoothly.

OK .. Back to Brenda Dayne. First of all, she intersperses fabulous music in her podcast. I'm getting happy feet. Secondly, her voice was made for this, and I have a feeling -- without knowing much about her -- that she's done broadcast work before. She's very soothing, and the difference between L&V's Valley Girl exclamations and Brenda Dayne's smooth baritone ... well ... it's like Red Bull to chamomile.

All of this podcasting lately has me curious about the process and what's involved. I want to try it, but, really, I'm not even sure what the focus would be, and even if I *did* find a focus, do I really want to open myself up to that? I'm just not sure I would have enough to say. And, quite frankly, I just don't have the TIME!

Moving on now to the knitting front ... I've actually finished up a few things here lately. On the recent drive to CO, I finished up my first Möbius Cowl (a la Cat Bordhi) using some Schaeffer hand-painted yarn. I also knit up a little cell-phone pocket to hang from a belt loop. This is the first thing I've just ... uh ... wung. I don't know if I can even duplicate the pattern, 'cause really, I was just knitting along at 80 mph and voila, I had a cell phone pocket!

While we were in CO, I started the Saturday Market Bag w/ the attached pocket for storage.

And I'm still plugging away on DD's Pomsquad Socks (w/out the pom) and a pair of socks from Cat Bordhi's Socks Soar on Two Circular Needles: a Manual of Elegant Knitting Techniques and Patterns.

I've yet to take any pictures of any of this. Hopefully, I can amend this post with pictures later.

One of the kids is up ... the other is still sleeping. Guess I need to get things rolling around here!! Thanks for stopping by.

My Knitting Comes Home

I was helping Dad go through some of Mom's things, and we ran across the shawl I gave her last year for Christmas & the Sophie Bag I gave her in the Spring.

We decided they would come back home with me. I'm not quite sure what I'll do with them yet. Perhaps I'll find someone who can appreciate them; perhaps that will be me.

The circle of life ...

Three weeks ago my family and I returned from visiting my parents & sister's family in Colorado.

Two weeks ago my sister called to tell me my Mom was in the hospital.

One week ago my Dad called to say Mom's condition was not improving.

Last Wednesday, the call came that she had passed on to eternity.

There are times when you know that the passing of a loved one is a blessing. Mom's health hasn't been good for a long time, and we are really just very grateful that she was allowed to pass quickly and peacefully. I am also grateful that God gave us the gift of that last visit three weeks ago.

Tomorrow, we will have the funeral and the grieving process will move into the next phase. Prayers for my Dad are appreciated. He's spent a great deal of time over the past several years being a "care giver." Now he's going to have time on his hands that hopefully he will be able to fill with things that he's missed doing.

And perhaps my next post will be filled with lovely pictures of knitted items and witty banter about something that doesn't really matter.

Now, go hug your family.