Interesting week. I've been fighing a migrane all week, and it doesn't look like it will be much better tomorrow. I'm on deadline with one web site (that's my "real job") and a directory that I still don't have all the ads for. Yeah, like that will be ready for print a week from now!

The little one went to a theatrical make-up class. She was the only one there!! I think that's just crazy! But she had a good time. Can you tell?

Tuesday NaNoWriMo kicks off, so I'll be writing my 50,000 words -- I hope! This is the first year I'll be participating. Hope to do it. I've been doing research on my characters and at least one set of problems that I know she's going to face. I plan to post my word totals here at least once a week.

Finished the Magic Stripes socks last night. Now on to the HP scarf. The scarf is a K1, P1 pattern for the ENTIRE THING! I just hope I don't lose count!

I really think I want to crochet some slippers at the same time. Or maybe the bag I saw the other day. I also want to try the Getaway satchel from the Fall 2005 Interweave Knits magazine. A knitting list I'm on is doing that as an exchange, but I don't think I'll participate. Too much other stuff going on to knit on a deadline right now.

Trucked the little out in some really yucky weather to do a few geocaches today. One of the best things about home schooling is going all year long, I think. Then I don't feel bad about taking a "slack day" like today. Although, we did get a work out! We did a ton of walking to find the 2 caches. And the weather STUNK. It was cold and rainy in the Black Hills. Welcome to October in South Dakota.

On the knitting front, I'm finishing my magic stripes socks (See October 9 post). One is totally done and I've turned the heel on the other. I'll probably have it finished this weekend. I guess I'll do that scraf next.

I'm participating in NaNoWriMo next month. I'll keep a tab of word count on here if anyone is interested.

Next knitting project? A scarf for my daughter. She wants it in "Slytherin" colors. Why? Because she wants a HP scarf that is different from everyone else's and that you have to KNOW is a Harry Potter one. She decided that only those who KNOW the books or movies would get the color scheme. Odd child! ;)

Well, I'm back! Spent the week at the state OES Grand Chapter. Very interesting. Did manage to finish one sock and got a really good start on the other one. Didn't get much "real work" done, though.

Spent most of yesterday morning adding old home school stuff to e-bay. It took most of the morning. I have 3 auctions going right now and 11 more starting on Saturday. Man, that took a long time! Almost every one has a picture of the book I'm selling, which I know took more time, but wow!!! Anyway, you can check out my auctions. My e-bay ID is "jenbin822".

Hey, I thought this was pretty interesting! I'm not sure I would call myself a "Guru" though. I still think of myself as a beginner, but the rest of it may be true!


You appear to be a Knitting Guru. You love knitting
and do it all the time. While finishing a piece
is the plan, you still love the process, and
can't imagine a day going by without giving
some time to your yarn. Packing for vacation
involves leaving ample space for the stash and
supplies. It can be hard to tell where the yarn
ends and you begin.
http://marniemaclean.com


What Kind of Knitter Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

Thought I'd share this cool yarn with you. It's called "Magic Stripes" by Lion Brand. Very thin, but it knits up beautifully, as you can see in the second picture. I'm doing a pair of socks for myself. It amazes me that the yarn can look like that to start with and honestly knit up in rows!

Anyway, the socks will be a bit thin, but that's OK. I still think they'll be pretty!

We had a game night at our house last week. We actually try to do that once a month. Hey, my daughter is already 12. She won't be in my home forever! I need -- and want -- to make the most of the little time we have now!

Anyway, we played the Harry Potter version of Scene It! The Scene It! games are so much fun! They are movie-based, DVD and board games. You answer questions related to movie clips (in this case, all Harry Potter movies) or about the sets, actors, directors... movie stuff. Now, reading the books doesn't help at all. As you can see, I got stomped. Yep, my daughter beat the socks off me!!!

I guess I'll have to watch the movies more often!

Well, after knitting that huge heavy sweater -- which got done just in time, it turns out! -- I wanted a quick project. So, I took the same pattern book ("Campus Knits" by Leisure Arts) and found this cell phone cover. It's made with Lion Brand's Homespun yarn and is so soft.

The most trouble I had with it was the buttons. I had to find some that looked good, but had holes large enough for the yarn needle to pass through. I guess that button collection my darling hubby has been eyeing suspiciously is good for something!

It came! There's snow on the ground. Looks pretty, except I have to drive in it today.... Oh well! Hey, at least there isn't a LOT of snow, just a mild dusting.

Hey, I finally finished my hoodie!!! I'm so glad. I think it came out really well. And we're supposed to have like 3 inches of snow by the time we wake up in the morning. One nice, WARM sweater will come in handy then! So here are a couple of pictures of my new sweater! Yeah!!

If you're interested, the pattern came from Leisure Arts "Campus Knits" book and was done in Lion Brand's Thick and Quick Wool Ease yarn. And yes, blue is my favorite color, followed by green -- hence the color choice for this one.

Ok, I'm still venting! Do you have any idea how many times I've been told "You? Got a tattoo?" Do these people really think they know me? Geez. To me, the funniest part is that these people who are telling me this really don't know me. They may know ONE part of my life, but these aren't the people who talk to me regularly. These aren't the people who ask about my life. They are the ones who talk to me once or twice a year because they must.

If you want to know someone, ASK about them! Find out what books they like. What kind of pizza do they prefer? How often do they change their hair color or the ring tones on their cell phones? Don't assume that because you share some DNA that you know them. Or because they married someone you share DNA with. Don't think that just because you send a birthday card once a year you can imagine what that person thinks.

I spent a long time being a mom. I'm not regreting a moment of it!! But I did put a lot of my own wants and desires aside to be the best mom I could. That included curbing some of my "party girl" ways so that I could be a good example for my daughter. Now that she's older, I'm able to do some of the things I often thought "what if"... like get a tattoo on my ankle.

And even more important then actually getting to know someone? Simple. If you can't be polite, just shut up.

Dang! What is with spammers??? Not even a blog is safe. Grrrrrrrrrr..........

Hmm... so my family of origin isn't sure if I'm kidding about my new body art or not. Interesting. I was told that I was more "Jesus Crunchy" than my sister. I think I'll take that as a compliment!

The tattoo was my big excitement for this weekend. I hope to get some more geocaching done this week. I have found most of the clues to a multi-cache on Dinosaur Hill in Rapid City and just have to go do the last one to find it. My daughter isn't excited about it, so either I'll have to drag her along or go alone. The problem is finding a TIME to go alone what with gas the price it is. We try to make as few trips as possible!

Oh, read a great book the other day. "The Kitchen Boy" was some fantastic historical fiction about the death of Russia's last czar. Very good reading!

Have finished the sleeves on my hoodie. Will start the "hood" tonight or tomorrow. I should have the thing done by next week if all goes well and I don't have to frog much.

Well, I did it.... I can't believe it, but I did. I went in for a price quote and left with 2 dolphins and a cross. I really like it. I'm a little nervous still. What if I regret it later? Oh well, not much I can do about that NOW, is there?

Writing update: only about 53,000 more words until my first novel is done!!! YIKES! (That will get me to about 65,000 words, which is an average-length novel.)

I am planning on writing a mystery for National Novel Writers Month. That's 50,000 words in the month of November. I think I have the gist of the mystery down. Now to decide how to write 1,667 words every day!