knit knit knit

I have been working on the baby blanket and making pretty good progess. I am more than half done and it gets easier and quicker with each row since it is knit corner to corner. I like the color and the pattern but I am a bit bored with all the garter stitch. Next one will definitly have a bit more to the pattern and I will have to start a bit earlier before the baby is due. I have about 28 days to finish and get this one to some parents- to- be!

Redefining adulthood...really?

A few months after moving to Texas, in the fall of 2002, I went to see Sigur Ros in Austin with a friend. It was a great show but even more enthralling than finally seeing music that was very important to me LIVE was how the environment of the show made me feel. There were other kids with messy hair, jeans, too small-too old old t-shirts and fantastic shoes. There they were! They had been hiding there the whole time. I always had my small groups of friends who were pretty similar but in this one place- there were hundreds of them! Of course, this brings up a whole different issue of whether finding your cultural niche is comforting or disturbing as you aren't quite as unique as you might have thought. But that is besides the point for now...

I think about this a episode a lot with where I am fitting in due to a lot of aspects of my every day life. I'm a 25 yr old who technically has never been out of school yet actually teaches college students, owns a house and was never really taken seriously by my realtor, and has to go out of my way to wear anything other than a t-shirt.....but could my currant cultural niche really be 'redifining adulthood'?

In the past week I have stumbled over a few articles that are somewhat defining of my lifestyle. The most interesting is here. It is all about yupsters, or as they call them grups. Living like adults but having the cultural niche of much younger people. Same music, style of dressing, and the breakdown of any sort of generation gap. I don't agree with all of the article such as "the ongoing rock star–ification of America" - my worn in jeans from actually wearing them- not bought that way! It also spends a lot of space addressing the new parenting style for this group of people which isn't really relevant to me right now either. Still, it is a pretty weird experiance to read an article that nails your typical wardrobe, what you listen to, who you would aspire to be and even your secret shame (having Kelly Clarkson's whole album or H&M)

This article has a happy ending and resolves itself as a generation that is retaining passion for the things you love and not compromising as you' grow up'. It sounds like a pretty good place to fit in...

springtime in the yard

V's trip passed uneventfully for me and the pets. I took more time than expected to feed everyone which left less time for ummmmm- blogging!

Since he's been back we have been planning for spring. We did all our planting and started prepping the yard for all the little guys. A few have already braved the weather to beautify our space...

I just hope this guy doesn't foil our plans for green beans and peppers. He did a major amount of damage to V's tomatoes last year. He would even eat half of them and leave them sitting on the fence to taunt him.

too much of a good thing?

Last night I had my last dance class for this session. Since I missed lst week I decided I would make up another class and take 3 instead of my usual 2 classes. After a 2 week break, stomach flu, and not a lot of dinner I danced from 6:30 till 10:45. My legs want to fall off today. By the third class I was beat and hanging in the back despite being tolld to 'change rows!!' for fear of passing out while in FRONT of the class. Because if you pass out and are standing in the back- odds are no one will notice right? uh, yeah. I made it through by hanging near Grandma Grace. She may be a grandma but she can shake it! And has no qualms about exclaming "Oh Shit!" when the stetches get a little too ridiculous. Now I have to see if I have the time and money to afford the next 5 weeks of class but this past session has been good. As long as I only do 2 classes.

V went out to the field today. Me and the pets to run the house! I'll keep you posted on their adventures and what they think they can get away with while he is gone!

Cool stolen music related game...

Alright, I stole this from Hamster_grrl. Seemed like fun. It makes me sound like I listen to more Ani than I do though. I like her and all but I only own 2 albums and of all my 4340 songs, she shown up twice?? I think my music maker has a weird shuffle and it must be a mathematical thing to be 'random' and it all differs based on what song you start it on. If I start it on one of my favorites- Such Great Heights by Postal Service covered by Iron and Wine, here are my results...

Instructions:Go to your music player of choice and put it on shuffle. Say the following questions aloud, and press play. Use the song title as the answer to the question. NO CHEATING.

How does the world see you?
Nowhere Man by The Beatles
Gee, way to start off on quite a bleak note. Is this some kind of commentary on my having been in school for the past 20 years?
Will I have a happy life?
Flood Waters by Ani Difranco (instrumental, acoustic little thing)
Can we take that as floods of happiness?
What do my friends really think of me?
Stay Together by N*E*R*D
Sounds good friends!
Do people secretly lust after me?
Back To The Life by Spoon
How can I make myself happy?
Ringing The Bells For Jim by Johnny Cash
What should I do with my life?
Communist Daughter by Neutral Milk Hotel
I DO like Cuba a but too much (ask V and my watching of the World Baseball Classic this past week!)
Will I ever have children?
Bust by Outkast
What is some good advice for me?
Drink To Me by Johnny Cash
I can support that!
How will I be remembered?
Jealous Guy by John Lennon covered by Elliott Smith
Let's hope not shall we!!
What is my signature dancing song?
That Was My Love by Ani Difranco (another instrumental, acoustic little thing)
What do I think my current theme song is?
Accidentally by Owen (yet another instrumental, acoustic thing)
What does everyone else think my current theme song is?
No Surprises by Radiohead
HA! this one and the last one are opposites...funny how that worked out...
What song will play at my funeral?
On Fire by Sebedoh
What type of men/women do you like?
Men: Straight Street by the Fiery Furnaces
Umm, that makes sense
Women: Michelle by the Beatles
I'm picky aren't I?

things to look forward to...

So V and I have been home from school and work the past two days (3 for him) with the stomach flu. He has a much worse case than I do but neither of us are quite up to speed. Being sick is boring. I have been trying to work on the baby blanket but it is uncomfortable to sit up for too long. Eating is limited to toast and jello with lots of giner ale. I am so hungry and wanting things that are yummy that I have been watching too much Food Network (weird choice for a victim of stomach flu but it is better than other crap on tv). It really makes me appreciate the great foods that currently I can't have. Some of the things I am looking forward to and really want to eat RIGHT NOW...
Pancakes with chocolate chips
Broccoli
Green Beans
Chocolate covered strawberries
Peaches
Fruit smoothies
Homemade fetticinni alfredo
Beer broiled brats
Homemade cheese burgers with the buns toasted on the top part of the grill
Corn on the cob
Breakfast sandwich
Twice baked potatoes
Mashed sweet potatoes
Pesto
Smoked gouda with sundried tomatoes
Steak
And finally, a Shamrock Shake for St. Patricks Day tomorrow!!!
And V wants caramel corn, fried shrimp, chicken nuggets, a big hoagie, Panda Paws ice cream, and a fried fish sandwich.

Well, I better get going. I think the Jello is ready and I even have a choice between cherry and strawberry flavored!

things to look forward to...

So V and I have been home from school and work the past two days (3 for him) with the stomach flu. He has a much worse case than I do but neither of us are quite up to speed. Being sick is boring. I have been trying to work on the baby blanket but it is uncomfortable to sit up for too long. Eating is limited to toast and jello with lots of giner ale. I am so hungry and wanting things that are yummy that I have been watching too much Food Network (weird choice for a victim of stomach flu but it is better than other crap on tv). It really makes me appreciate the great foods that currently I can't have. Some of the things I am looking forward to and really want to eat RIGHT NOW...
Pancakes with chocolate chips
Broccoli
Green Beans
Chocolate covered strawberries
Peaches
Fruit smoothies
Homemade fetticinni alfredo
Beer broiled brats
Homemade cheese burgers with the buns toasted on the top part of the grill
Corn on the cob
Breakfast sandwich
Twice baked potatoes
Mashed sweet potatoes
Pesto
Smoked gouda with sundried tomatoes
Steak
And finally, a Shamrock Shake for St. Patricks Day tomorrow!!!
And V wants caramel corn, fried shrimp, chicken nuggets, a big hoagie, Panda Paws ice cream, and a fried fish sandwich.

Well, I better get going. I think the Jello is ready and I even have a choice between cherry and strawberry flavored!

one good drink, one bad drink...

I had a craving for a margartia yesterday. A GOOD morgarita- not a watered down, too sweet, not strong margarita from a bar. So, taking a recipe from a friend of V we gathered all of our ingrediants and as we sipped our drinks we realized what it was......THE INFAMOUS MEXICAN MATINI!!! Our first date involved mexican at Trudy's in Austin. They have an amazing drink there and it is the best margaritas you can ever have. Here is our version:
1 part Tequila
1 part Cointreau
1 part lime juice

Watch out- they are stong!! But they taste SO good.....

Well, tonight we ran out of lime juice and so tried another recipe from the Bartenders Guide. It was bad. I don't know why we even tried it: 1 part tequila, 1 part Kaluha. Yuck!

Two knitting related things: 1) I just saw Lisa Loeb learning to knit at The Point in NYC on her E! show! I love her and knitting. And now she knits too!
2) We went bowling on Friday to celebrate Sneks' friends visiting. On the lane next to us was a kid with a CoolBoysKnit.com shirt. I know that the boy who runs that site (and who has had designs in Knitty) lives in my city but I couldn't tell if it was him or not so I didn't say anything. Either way it was cool to see a kid with the pro-knitting shirt out and about!

Well, back to resting and recovering from my migraine today. It was a bad one and I even had to abandon my research plans for the day and have V drive me home from school. Luckily I am feeling better now...just in time for sleep!

update-a-rooney!

So pics finally get caght up!!! Tonight we had an awesome spicy pasta dish. It was my first foray into cooking sans recipe and it actually turned out really well! Homemade pasta is always good...Here is the process when I made some last month...

I am in full knit mode too- baby blanket in progress for a sassy baby girl due next month! And the Umbilical Cord Hat from SnB made and gifted without even a pic. I hope it fits!

Last weekend I finally got some house work done- below is the breakfast nook that FINALLY has two coats of paint on the window sills!

The next big project is new floors in the bedroom. I constantly am afraid I am going to fall through one place or another and actually have with some spikey heels on. Below is the sample of the main floor and the border. We haven't decided on the border yet for sure- It is a chocolately brown if you can't tell from the pic. Pretty dark but might go nicely with the exposed brick and soon-to-be slate blue walls....What do you think?

Technical difficulties...

The ol' wireless is busted at home so here are some old pics of the animals to keep you entertained until I can get new pics online. V set up a whole new router yesterday so it should be fixed tonight after work. Not having internet on my computer for 4 days made me also feel like I was in a laundry basket prison...