The Road to Photoshop

Ok - so this is my first attempt at fiddling with Photoshop. I kind of like it. I think I'll go back and fiddle with it a little more, make it a little more - whatever it is that makes it look different - and take care of some of the shadows at the bottom.

This is the Tower of Terror at Disneyworld. Disneyworld. It really is magic. But that's another post.

Must. replace. the. ancient. pc. at. home.

I'm in a bit of a pickle. Need to do the taxes to buy a new pc. Can load the tax software on the old pc. What to do . . .

Hey, I gotta go. Maybe I'll actually get a little knitting done tonight!

A Display of Words

(laptop died - no posts lately. so sorry.)

HOPE

DREAM

LIVE LOVE LAUGH

SMILE

NO!!!!

You know those word signs that have reproduced exponentially? (I love that word. Exponentially. But if somehting happens exponentially, it always seems bad, huh? Like, the # of flu cases multiplied exponentially. Or, the number of Grackles and their associated gut-choking droppings has increased exponentially. But why can't I lose weight exponentially? Or reduce my wrinkles exponentially? Or get Thing 2 to do his homework exponentially? Oh, I digress - exponentially. Back to the subject at hand.)

You know those . . .?

And they're everywhere. They're in every goo-gah store in town. Every import store. (Import stores - but they're all in English...) Antique malls (but they're not antiques...). Department stores. EVERYWHERE!

I hereby promise to argue with those big signs telling me to live love laugh. I do already! And I dream! Every night. In color. Exponentially.

HOPE. Uh-uh.
SMILE. Why? The latest SMILE sign I saw was in the office of someone who FROWNS all the time. Guess she needs a reminder, huh?

Stop it already with the WORDS, will ya? Or at least say something else, like YOU NEED TO READ MORE (thanks, Dr. Foley). Or SMIRK. Or PONTIFICATE. Or EXPONENTIAL. LY. Ooo, I like that one.

Well, there is one I like, that I saw on a Norwegian blogger's site. JUL. Just that. Norwegian for Christmas. So pretty. Not telling me to do something. Just hey, it's Christmas, you like Christmas?

Pitiful bit of knitting

Well, I said this was going to be about knitting. No knitting yet, huh. Ok, here's a little. Very little, but it'll have to do. I've just been really unproductive the past few days.



This is one poor little Ballband dishcloth, pattern courtesy of Mason-Dixon Knitting, of course. The Ballband dishcloths are particularly thick when you use them. I love these things. I'm looking forward to trying them with the Peaches & Cream stripes. I'll conjur up the energy to post a few more knitting photos tomorrow.

I need a Sven

I have great husband (hereinafter referred to as KISH - Knight in Shining Armor). I'm blessed to have my Mom here since my Dad passed away. She's a big help. But I need a Sven.

I don't want the phone. That would require some initiative on my part. Just think. A Sven following you around all the time, reminding you. Get the oil changed. Almost out of tp. Do you think you should eat those chips?

Better yet, Sven following around my kids (hereafter referred to as Thing 1 and Thing 2). Put your homework in your backpack. Pick up your socks. Don't clip your toenails in the den. Clean off the bathroom counter. It's 15 minutes to curfew, better scoot along home. Get up. Go to bed. You get the picture.

Oh. Um, I do all that. Yeah, but Sven is cool. He has a sweet accent and hands out warm sweaters when it's cold. And he's so dang cheerful! Imagine all that cheerfulness following you around. And that accent - who doesn't love a Swedish accent? How could we possibly argue with that?

Where can I get a Sven?

Hey, Baby, It's about time it was cold outside!

We just don't get enough cold weather in this part of the country. But last night, sitting on the bleachers at the soccer game, I was wantin' a little of this:

Just a little, though. Don't like hot weather. Hey, Maine, send a little our way...

It's a brand new year and I have no resolutions - what does that mean?

First, I hope you had a very, very Merry Christmas, or a blessed whatever other holiday you celebrate. We did. I still haven't figured out how something that takes so long to pull together disappears like poof!

I know Christmas is not about the preparations. Not supposed to be, anyway. It's really about the birth of the Saviour, the most controversial person to ever walk the face of the earth. A birth that changed the course of life forever. And I'm glad to be able to celebrate it in freedom.

But we (people, not me. Not just me, anyway) have made it so much more. I'm still itching from the hair shirt I've worn as punishment for not getting all my baking done. Made the shortbread. Made the Christmas sugar cookies. Made 2 pies. Made the brandy balls. (Boy, did they disappear fast.) Biscotti - not yet. Gingerbread men - nope. But this weekend, I'll get back to it. And the shopping. Ugh. I do not like to shop early. That's no fun! It's not Christmas if I don't get to race for a parking space, is it? (And it's a good thing the last battle was in the parking lot of the Christian bookstore, that's all I have to say for that one.)

The wrapping. Now, I love to wrap at Christmas. So I save it all up for one night, and I wrap. And wrap. And listen to Christmas music. And drink coffee. And wrap. I love to wrap. And it ends up like this.

And looking for stocking stuffers. Yeah, I could do that all year so I wouldn't have to worry about it at Christmas, but, um, I forget about things if I buy them too early. And if I remember them, I can't remember where I put them. Yup. I'm a total scatter brain. (I drove part way to work one day with my purse on the back bumper of my car. Some yard crew guys in the next lane caught my attention and motioned to the back of the car. Purse was still there when I pulled over. I have no idea. When my kids were babies I had a fear of leaving them on the trunk in their car seats. I'd turn around and check the backseat several times just make sure they were there. And I did actually lock my daughter in the car when she was about 2 years old. Unfortunately, she was strapped in her car seat in the middle of the back seat, so she couldn't unlock the door. I got help from a neighbor who was a poilce officer, though, so she was safe and out in no time.)

So back to Christmas. I love Christmas. I'm going to miss the decorations. I loved our tree, especially at night.

Anyway, I decided that today would be the official kickoff for my first blog. I really have no idea what I'm doing. I'd LUV to have something beautiful and hilarious and inspiring and funny and witty and funny. But what I think I'll do is just, whatever comes to mind.

This is supposed to be about knitting. This is a hat I finished Christmas day for a great-nephew of my husband's.

And some of it will be. About knitting, that is. The problem with that is that I'm a reeeealy slow knitter, so day after day of a wee bit of progress would be - not funny or beautiful or inspiring. Unless it inspired you to get off your dead tookus and get knitting. So I'll share some knitting, and maybe beg for sympathy as I ponder my obvious shortcomings as a human and a parent, as far as my 16-yr old daughter is concerned. And I'll try to improve my photography with my new little camera as I dream of that Nikon D80 that's not mine. Yet.

Oh, and any bloggint tips are more than welcome, 'cause this blogging thing is a little harder than I thought it was going to be. Or maybe it's just me.