Natalie :: Knits and Other Essential Bits

Somebody in this house marked a dog

2010-02-10T11:24:00.004-05:00

Yesterday, in the middle of a snowstorm, somebody in the house took the girls for a walk and met up with their doggy friend - "Queen Mega Mouse-Snacker"

In the middle of a two hour walk, this person had to pee. So this person went off trail and into the bushes.

The dogs all followed, of course, because being dogs... everything is their business and they need to know what's going on at all times.

Queen Mega Mouse Snacker apparently has never seen a person pee before and may have gone closer to inspect.

Somebody in this house was evidently taken by surprise and didn't manage to stop the flow fast enough.

Yes, somebody in this house peed on a dog.

And it froze.

Somebody in this house may or may not have somehow, sorta, kinda, forgotten to inform the owner.

FO: Cowl aka neckwarmer that is not a headband

2010-02-01T12:26:00.004-05:00

I made so many cowls for Christmas that I was really bad about noting down any details. Okay..basically, my fingers were too busy to pick up a pen and my basement is still a jumbled disaster of craft supplies, yarn labels and piles of gifts slated for re-gifting. (Seriously? A snowman night light? Why would anybody pay for this?)

This particular one is a simple ribbed neckwarmer I made for R. I also made about three other ones this year. The pattern is easily adaptable to any yarn or needle size.

I used Mission Falls - Superwash Merino Wool. Love this stuff! Super soft and squishy and not itchy at all!

Needle Size: US 8 - 16" circs
Cast on about 88 sts
K2 P2 until you run out of yarn or you feel the tube is long enough.
Bind off in pattern.

These are good to have around in your emergency gifting pile. So far, the cowl is doing it's job nicely and keep R's neck warm. As a far as I know, my dad is still wearing his over his ears :: here ::

The doggy faces I love

2010-01-19T12:24:00.001-05:00

Dayna

Nori:

Wanna see something that is totally cool to us and probably not so, to you?

Put our names in alphabetical order. Whenever I ask people to do this, it's evidently a very confusing request, so I'll do it for you:

Dayna, Natalie, Nori, Risto

Now take the first two letters of each name and place them in the same order.

DA
NA
NO
RI

What do you get?

Pretty flukey, huh?

"I'm Sleepy Because... "

2010-01-18T15:32:00.001-05:00

Let's play a game, shall we?

Finish this sentence: "I am sleepy because ..."

I'll start first.

I am sleepy because you woke up in the middle of Tuesday night yelling "Augggggh!".

I am sleepy because you woke us both up in the middle of Thursday night dancing in your sleep, twirling your finger and yelling "Whooo! Whoooo!"

I am sleepy because you woke us up last night laughing....

This is not a good habit for you.

FO: Iron On Transfer Onesie

2010-01-11T13:24:00.001-05:00

I decided early on that our nephew needed a onesie depicting his dad's favourite phrase.

Especially since he's about to start figuring out this thing called walking.

It was a huge hit. I just hope it fits him because he's big for a 9 month old.

FO: Twill Blanket

2010-01-08T11:18:00.001-05:00

This is the blanket that I squeaked in before the end of the year.

This is the blanket that made me realize it is entirely possible to start and finish a blanket in 2.5 days.

This is also the blanket that made the cracks in my sanity a little wider.

The timeline sorta went like this:

Thursday evening:

I made up my mind that R's mom absolutely had to have a woven blanket for Christmas. I chose my colours.

Friday evening:

I measured out the warp.

Saturday evening:

I threaded the loom

If I didn't have to eat, sleep, use the washroom, go to work, or do some last minute christmas shopping, it would have looked like this by Sunday evening. As it was, I didn't actually finish this until the Tuesday evening before Christmas.

Between the selvedges and the quality of the finished fabric, this is definitely the best one I've completed so far.

We almost kept it for ourselves.

(** Not sure if anybody is actually interested in all the weaving details like the draft or the tie-up. If you are, just let me know and I'll post those deets.)

Vindicated!

2010-01-07T23:53:00.005-05:00

All my years of guilt for never becoming the perfect doctor-child that my parents wanted their first born to be have been completely erased by this one simple text message I received from my sister on New Year's Eve:

Dad just called me. Aunt P is constipated.

I love my aunt, but I'm really glad I'm not the one that suffered through four years of medical school to discuss manual disimpaction with her because my dad decided I was the one qualified to deal with it.

Resurfacing

2010-01-01T23:14:00.003-05:00

Christmas 2009 has now passed in a hazy flurry of sewing, knitting, wrapping, weaving, packing, unpacking, eating and more eating. I don't even know where to begin. I feel like I'm in that part of a movie where everything is really noisy and screechy and then the next scene cuts to complete silence.

Yes. This is what I'm talking about. Let's just savor this moment of silence and stare at the pretty bird ornament.

It's been a week since we've been back home and I haven't managed to make myself do much of anything except slug it out on the couch. I blame this mostly on the purgatory that is trying to will yourself asleep because your body demands it but is f$%@-ing impossible because your brain is trying to decide between a) not breathing and suffocating or b) breathing and suffocating from the mothball fumes that are embedded in the duvets and pillows that your parents have unearthed from storage to cover the 14 people (not) sleeping in the house. But let me not speak of this anymore because every time I think about it, I hold my breath, forget to exhale and start to see spots.

R and I actually had friends come over for New Year's Eve and didn't cancel on them at the last minute. (We kinda invited them at the last minute, so I guess it would have seemed odd, even for us, to cancel immediately.) But...it was an awesome evening. Exactly the sort of fun, low-key event we were aiming for. Plus we got to hear a "dad-walking-in-on-sexytimes/penis-through-the-crocheted-afghan" story that is now going down as the most unbeatable amazing i'msohappyithappenedtoyoursister cringe story ever. I laughed so hard, I almost peed.

All the handmade gifting I did this year went over pretty well. Except for the hat I made for my dad. He seemed to like it, then I caught him trying to hock it to my cousin's wife - for her son. I may have made the hat a bit small for the old noggin.

Pictures to come. I haven't managed to upload anything yet and I'm afraid I was too busy with everything going on to take more pictures of my FO's. Ah well. Time to move on and start planning for 2010 anyways.

Happy New Year, everybody!

Plotting

2009-12-22T16:20:00.001-05:00

Next year, people are getting yellow post-it notes and a Bic pen.

Sleep is Entirely for the Weak.

2009-12-21T11:36:00.002-05:00

You know when you sorta, kinda have an idea of what you want to make for someone? Then you waffle. Then you waffle a bit more. Then you can't decide on yarn or a pattern. Then when you have the pattern, you don't have the needles. Then when you get all the materials, you decide that the person would like something better? Then when you actually have your shit together, it's five days before Christmas?

Yeah.

*felt beads*

OR ... you finish knitting a cowl or hat and then you look at it and think "Man, that looks really pathetic. We better go get them something else".

I lament the fact that I can't just give someone one thing. One?

Not possible.

*i'm trying to be soothing and calm*

So I totally ran out of time on this handmade christmas thing, but I gave it a good go.

Final tally:

- two hats
- five cowls for girls
- three cowls for guys
- one handwoven blanket for my mom, a second one WILL. BE. done by tomorrow evening
- homemade granola
- two pairs of fingerless mitts
- one flower brooch

(Now that I have tallied this, it looks a little sad. That's IT?)

I still have to do:
- applique on a tshirt
- sew up a couple of stuffies
- three cowls for girls (two can wait until the 25th)
- three cowls for guys (not due until the 25th)
- one pair of armwarmers (not due until the 27th)

I did not manage to:
- knit socks for my sister's boyfriend, even though he asked super nicely and it's the only thing he wants
- knit socks for R, even though he really needs another pair
- weave a blanket for my sister or my dad
- finish the rag quilt for R (didn't buy enough fabric for the border and no matter how I do the math, I will need to buy more fabric for the f*$@ border)

However, I did find out that it is entirely possible to measure out a warp, thread 432 ends through heddles and reed, and weave 3/4 of a blanket between Friday evening and Sunday evening - while making granola and completing a cowl from start to finish.**

** Please note: it is not enough time to simultaneously make breakfast, clean, make dinner, do groceries or walk the dogs. You will also feel dehydrated and a little wonky from lack of sleep and a steady diet of chocolate and sugared dried mango.

Twelve Days 'til Christmas?

2009-12-14T19:41:00.003-05:00

I know I work better under pressure but whoa ... how on earth did this weekend get away from me?

All I managed to accomplish was knit two cowls. Whatever. Two FO's. Big Whoop. Don't even bother with the positive encouragement. I've still got about a gazillion to go.

This was my day yesterday:

Wake up
Shove a croissant into my mouth
Take the girls for a walk.
Come home.
Take R to his exam (personally, I think exams on Sundays should be banned)
Come home.
Make a tea.
Shove a croissant into my mouth.
Finish tea.
Leash up the girls.
Walk to R's building where he is writing his final.
Walk home.

It's freakin' 6:30pm.

Did every minute task I did, take two hours?

Sometimes, I really wish my girls were little elves with beards.

I went. I gave. I remained standing.

2009-12-11T15:28:00.001-05:00

I'm a pint of blood lighter. (Actually, two pints..since I've now donated blood twice. Okay...both statements are technically incorrect since my body has now replenished itself. Where was I going with this? Evidently, nowhere.)

No fainting... which is awesome. Because another girl almost did black out and now whenever I happen to see her on campus, I think "OOH, that's the girl that (almost) fainted."

I brought my book "Spin Control" with me to check out while I was waiting. I actually didn't get very far in it because it only took me nine minutes to fill the bag.

I guess...from wherever she was viewing it from, the nurse felt compelled to ask "Are you going to be a dentist?"

Maybe the photos of pre-drafting fleece made her think of floss?

I think we missed the fall harvest...

2009-12-08T08:56:00.001-05:00

Seeing as there is a little sprinkling of snow on the ground now.

This is the result of our gardening efforts this year. Not quite bountiful, but it's pretty damn cute.

First he was green, then he turned red. Our Christmas Pepper.
Except I don't think he'll last that long.

I sorta don't want to eat him. I kinda want to see if he'll turn orange next.

They've Skipped Over the Ring and Now They're All About "Productivity"

2009-12-07T10:28:00.006-05:00

A few years ago, at my cousin Jen's wedding reception, her father (my Uncle Hubes) made a speech. I tried to coach him before hand on nice things he could say but the speech basically wound up talking about their future "productivity" as a couple. His word used at the wedding. Not mine. I think it was around this point when Jen grabbed the microphone from his hand, gave him a kiss on the cheek and thanked him for the speech which had everybody writhing in their seats. Then we all wrestled him to the ground before he could say another word.

It's now just part of our family history. "Remember when... "

Anyways, I sent out my email to the entire family about Christmas in Toronto. It was either doing it immediately or suffer through a constant barrage of calls and emails from my parents and my sister asking if I'd done it yet. Not that my sister cared, they would have just bombarded her with emails and calls as well, and then she'd pass them along. Here it is:

From: Nat

To: Clan

Subject: Family Christmas 2009

Hi everybody!

Happy December 3rd!

We're all very excited again to have (most of the) Wu family over for Christmas in Markham.

I only wish more of the Texan cousins can come too this year! (Hint hint!) There's lots of second cousins we haven't met yet! Plus Daniel and Michelle might find them more entertaining than us big kids. All we do these days is sit around and talk. It's not too late to book tickets to Toronto!!!!

Speaking of which: I also wanted to let everybody know that Gaston, Suzie and Zachary welcomed a new baby boy into their home named Xavier on November 22nd! The family is doing well. We can't wait to meet him. I think we'll have to plan a trip to Montreal for a visit in the new year.

So! Our traditional Christmas Kris Kringle Exchange. I think we might have some new players this year too. I can't remember if Cecilia and Jared have ever participated together. Cecilia, is Jared ready for this?

Disclaimer: This gift exchange will be in lieu of presents for all of the adults in the family. However, please bring a small gift for the kids! (Kids, in this instance mean: anyone under the age of 12)

Once again, as a refresher, these are the rules.

1. Participation is optional but subject to large amounts of peer pressure.

2. In order to participate in the gift exchange, bring ONE gift of approximately $25-$30 in value that others in the Wu family will want to barter/exchange/cajole/pry out of someone else's hands and/or sneakily steal. Watching this is pretty much half the fun.

3. The best gifts are ones that everybody wants. The challenge is to find the most universally appealing, useful*, gift that will divide the clan into strategic teams plotting to steal it away from each other. (Within rule #2) Please be aware that gift cards purchased in one country may not be usable in another country!

4. Make sure the gift is cleverly wrapped! (or at least make sure it's in a gift bag/box where the contents are concealed) Auntie Ling will peek otherwise and probably so will Uncle Tommy. Uncle Ken will likely shake it, so fragile items need to be wrapped with care.

5. It's all about strategy and random draw for gift selection. However, that doesn't mean that gifts can't be stolen! Full body contact is allowed if you feel like tackling someone down. We have plenty of doctors in the family that can now attend to injuries sustained during the game. (And a lawyer to handle issues of liability.)

6. Gifts are fair game for being poached, but will be retired after being stolen 3 times. As Aunt Cathy once wisely said "Don't love it too much otherwise, people will take it away from you!" Again, strategy is very key. You can laugh silently into your cha siu bao later after you've won the present of your heart's desire.

We hope to see you all in Markham on December 25th!

RSVP to Uncle #8 at email@rogers.com (905.471.1977)

See you soon!
Love,
Natalie

(*see how I cleverly followed my father's wishes? I'm so good.)
____________

About five seconds after I hit send, I get this email from my sister:

To: Nat

From: Mel

That's the wrong phone number haha

____________

Then Hubes wrote:

From: Hubert

To: Clan

Dear Natalie,

Thanks for the warm invitation and we are looking forward to coming up in a couple of weeks!

I love your idea of giving gift to the kids. Someday, we should, perhaps, evolve this practice to include gifts for elders, signaling the transition of the baton to the young, wonderful, prosperous, and responsible generation -J.

With Love,
Uncle Hubert

__________

From: Nat

To: Clan

I have a brand new magnifying glass wrapped up for you already! :o)

_________

From: Hubert

To: Clan

Dear Natalie,

Thanks and I am greatly satisfied to have such a useful gift so that I can watch more clearly what is going on. Some other elders would like, perhaps, more little ones running around though -J

With love,
Uncle Hubert

_________

From: Nat

To: Clan

As your very accommodating niece, there actually will be another little one running around this Christmas.

I'm happy to introduce you to our newest little one, Dayna. SURPRISE!!!
See attached picture!

Love,
Natalie

____________

From: Hubert

To: Clan

Perhaps, some elders would prefer to have more future tax payers to finance our retirements instead-J.

With love,

Uncle Hubert

So I was wrong. Clearly, they've given up on having any more weddings. It's just more delay. And our years of schooling and slaving at our careers is of no importance. It all comes down to who has the best child bearing hips and the fact they just want us to get on with it already.

Just in case...

2009-12-06T23:54:00.003-05:00

...anybody else had to look up the word "hirsute", like I did.

hir·sute (hûrst, hîr-, hr-st)
adj.
1. Covered with hair; hairy.
2. Botany Covered with stiff or coarse hairs.
[Latin hirstus, hairy, bristly.]

Totally not what I expected it to mean.

However, at least I can now say that the one with the big white woolly patch down the middle is the best representation.

Felt Stones

2009-12-03T00:50:00.000-05:00

December is a whirl wind.

Just a reminder to find a few moments of quiet and solitude.

In anticipation of a huge family Christmas, I'm already looking forward to when it's just the four of us again.

Organizing a Family Christmas

2009-12-02T11:54:00.003-05:00

For some reason, my family always ends up hosting Christmas for my dad's side of the family. You've heard me talk about this before. My parents are major stress balls for about 10 days straight. The house is packed with people. The stove is on constantly and we're always eating. Every year, we do that Kris Kringle thing. Speaking of which, I'm about to compose my annual email out to the clan advising them of the rules again this year. Hopefully, this year people will finally understand that when I talk about "Kris Kringle", I'm not actually referring to R or a new boyfriend of my sister's that they haven't met yet.

I send out the same email every year asking people to only bring one present under $25. It never works because I come from a family who seem to have a genetic disregard for playing by the rules anyways. So we all end up going crazy buying presents for everybody else to make sure we've covered our bases and nobody's feelings are hurt.

For the few days leading up to Christmas, there will be some major discussion again (like last year) about etiquette and protocol with regards to lucky money because some people will see us in the "no ring" category and others will see us in the "not technically hitched, but close enough" category. At least this year, the non-subtle, euphemistic ring finger waggling action will be evenly targeted to R, my sister's boyfriend and my engaged-for-three-years cousin Ang.

Anyways, back to my email. My dad has me send it out every year on behalf of him and my mom. This year, my dad (via my sister) has asked that I add the following helpful guideline to my email:

"Please choose gifts that others would consider useful."

He wants me to stress "consider", so at least people are reminded to think about it.

How I know I'm a freakin' awesome girlfriend

2009-12-01T11:09:00.000-05:00

See that?

It's a crusty loaf of bread.

AND.... I made it. ME. In a dutch oven. (Actually, technically what we have is called a french oven.)

Sounds more impressive than it really is. Because when you get right down to it... it's another "just add water" recipe. The recipe is that super easy No Knead Recipe going around the blog-verse. Of course, with my tendency to over - think and over-analyze things, I had a few issues and challenges.

"active dry yeast"
Okay... I had bread machine yeast. Is that active dry yeast? It didn't really say on the jar I had, but since it was the only yeast I had, I had no choice but to use it. That was an easy deliberation.

"warm room temperature, about 70 degrees."
What does 70 degrees translate to? Because where I come from, the house is always around 17 degrees. I had a feeling that 17 degrees is colder than the bread would like to be resting at. So I stuck it in the oven.

"what do you mean you stuck it in the oven?"
As R pointed out, I could have melted my melamine mixing bowl. Shit. Didn't think of that.

"The dough is ready when its surface is dotted with bubbles."
The first time I made this bread. No bubbles. I thought a lot about the fact that there were no bubbles. I have no idea why there were no bubbles. The second time I made this bread, there were so many bubbles - it scared the crap out of me after I saw it breathing on its own out of the corner of my eye.

"When it's ready, the dough will have doubled in size and will not readily spring back when poked with a finger."
Um. It looks the same to me. Poked it a few times. Absolutely could not tell if it "readily" sprung (sprung? sprang?) back.

"At least 20 minutes before the dough is ready"
aka "At least three hours after you've forgotten about it"

"heat oven to 475 degrees."
Shit. My new, very precious, dutch oven has a heating maximum of 375 degrees. Fuck. An hour of googling later (Google, how i love thee) I realized that I had racially profiled my little pot incorrectly. He's FRENCH. Not Dutch! French ones have a [insert more technical term here that is not "plastic"] handle at the top which prevent you from heating it in the oven more than 375 degrees, unless you want to kill everybody in your house with toxic fumes as the handle melts and causes world-wide catastrophe. At least, that's pretty much the implications I took away with me when R told me not to heat it beyond 375 degrees. So I improvised. I stuck the oven in at 375 degrees for around 40 minutes, then I took the lid off and blasted it for another 15 minutes at 475 degrees.

I'm so clever.

On another note, if you want to double the recipe - don't forget to double the flour too. Just a friendly reminder ... I know most people wouldn't need this reminder... but some people might find it helpful.

Sometimes I am a bad girlfriend

2009-11-30T13:49:00.003-05:00

Me: Go to my blog!

R: Only if you tell me what my last blog was about

Me: ....

Dayna

2009-11-29T23:15:00.003-05:00

A little belated happy birthday to our household goof ball (there is stiff competition here for that title). We absolutely love how manic she looks when her lips get stuck on her teeth. It's one of our favourite things about her. Although, this picture reminds of having a child who refuses to smile for pictures.

"Smile pretty for the camera, honey!! CHEEESE!!"

And then you get this:

She is SO good. We're so unbelievably lucky to have her in our life. You have no idea how hard this is for her:

Don't worry, I wasn't completely heartless. She got to play with it.

Finally had the time to upload some pictures, so you'll see me around again, at least for the next little while. I've been up to a lot of different projects and one big one in the works for 2010. Super excited.

"She did the Poo Twice" Revisited

2009-11-28T00:13:00.002-05:00

My parents came home to find a guilty looking Tora and an entire raw chicken missing from the counter.

Dudes, it's Def Con 5 in the house.

DEFecation CONcern Level 5.

Tora's on 48 hour Poop Watch.

How do you interpret this?

2009-11-03T14:17:00.004-05:00

R recently stumbled upon this super-dense, firmly packed mini loaf of pumpernickel bread at the grocery store. He loves it. It's become a daily staple and he rations it out to himself.

It's 90 calories for a super thin slice. Made with all natural ingredients, no preservatives and yet claims to have a long shelf life. (I won't dwell on this because then he won't eat it anymore)

Anyways, what absolutely kills me about this tiny loaf of bread is the packaging.

*ganked from the german deli website*

What does this say to you?

Pumpernickel is an essential ingredient to a romantic night in? Nick Pumps Her? (Sorry, I couldn't resist) A good source of fibre is the secret to eternal youth and a hot, steamy relationship?

Someone enlighten me.

At any rate, at 5 g of fibre per 55g slice, this is a high-five to carbs and bye-bye to Atkins.

Hand Washing

2009-10-30T10:40:00.006-04:00

I don't know about where you work, but where I work, they've installed paper towel dispensers as an option for people who don't want to use the already there hand blowers. They're providing personal bottles of hand sanitizers at every desk (for some reason, they skipped my desk). There are hand sanitizer dispensers at every entrance. We are told that there are masks and latex gloves available for each unit, if needed.

...and there are signs every where on the proper way to wash your hands.

Step 1. Grab paper towel (hence the newly installed dispensers)
Step 2. Turn on water tap WITH the paper towel.
Step 3. Wet hands with warm running water (not standing water) and make a soapy lather. Be careful not to wash the lather away so create the lather away from the running water. Rub soap on the front and back of your hands, as well as between your fingers and under your nails. Must do this for at least 15 seconds.
Step 4. Rinse your hands under the still running warm water (probably steaming hot right now - Question: Do I pick up the paper towel with my soapy hands to adjust the water taps? What happens if I accidentally pick up the side of the paper towel that I used to turn on the water taps in the first place? I guess, I'll need to repeat step 3 and request an extension to my 15 minute break because this is taking a really long time.)
Step 5. Pat hands dry with a paper towel. (The SAME paper towel or a different one? If it's the same one, it's been sitting on the counter among all the nasty counter water and other paper towels. Okay. Different one)
Step 6. Turn off water using same paper towel and dispose in a proper receptacle.

My thoughts:

1. Seeing as this is all being done to preserve our health and live long healthy lives - what are we doing to ensure that Mother Nature is also going to live a long healthy life? Because the way I see it, that water tap has been running for at least three or four unnecessary minutes - longer, if you run into paper towel difficulties. As for all of those paper towels - are we planting more trees? Recycling more? What?

2. Why can't we air dry our hands and flap them around? Sure, you might piss off your co-worker if you enthusiastically flap your wet hands in their face, but we can use a bar of soap to write on the mirror and advise people not to do that. Personally, I use the flap method and if my hands are still damp, I use my fingers to pat down my frizzy hair.

3. If everybody else is going to use paper towels to turn the water taps on or off, I'm willing to take the risk and NOT use the paper towels to turn the water taps on or off.

4. Why are you leaving your used paper towel on the counter? Why?

5. I don't think all of this hand washing is going to prevent you from turning into a blood thirsty vomiting zombie.

6. Are these signs in the men's bathroom? Because some of these guys are in and out of there so fast, there is no way they're doing Step 3 and Step 4. Actually, I'm wondering if they're even doing #1 in the bathroom or if they just went in for a quick scan of the facilities.

7. As a community, since we are so actively trying to get people to wash their hands properly, I really think some effort needs to be put in place to get people to:

a) not pee on the toilet seat or;

b) if you can't manage to contain your pee to the toilet bowl, then some mechanism needs to be implemented to shame the person who left pee on the seat and is now standing in front of the sink using five minutes of running water and 10 paper towels to wash their hands.

When you don't have cable and don't listen to the radio.

2009-10-28T11:09:00.004-04:00

Everybody's freaking out about H1N1 these days. So I hear. Lots of pandemic planning going on. Lots of meetings on what to do if everybody got sick at the same time.

It's all I can do in these meetings not to voice my concerns over all of this "preparedness". So I'll get it out of my system here.

My real concern is this - if the entire town turned into raging, blood-thirsty zombies with a viral infection that is transmitted through projectile vomiting - it's quite likely that R and I will have no freakin' clue until I start my morning walk to work and wonder where everybody is.

Her Poop Has Consumed The Family.

2009-10-21T11:20:00.002-04:00

My parents are watching my sister's boyfriend's family's dog for a few months.

Tora is the sweetest german shepherd on the planet.

Perhaps a little too sweet.

My dad sent this picture along in an email with the subject line "Keep the sun off my face".

We are now receiving detailed reports on Tora's bowel movements and food intake. I doubt my sister's boyfriend was ever so in tune with her stools. Between three dogs, we can talk poop like never before!

Edit: I concur. Hats on dogs is abuse... especially the china-visor variety. We've been trying to break my mom of wearing that thing for years.

Really REALLY want this Book

2009-10-16T09:54:00.003-04:00

Anybody know how to subliminally embed "You're an Idiot" into an email? I want to match one cheap shot with another.

I need to realize the truth about him.

2009-10-07T10:09:00.005-04:00

The problem is, I keep forgetting. I had purchased a bunch of snacks from Bulk Barn on Sunday. Our usual haul includes raw peanuts, trail mix and raisins for R and my sour apple o's, bits 'n bites and bbq corn nuts.

This time I included a huge bag of chocolate as well for some thank you gifts for work.

I naively believed that R wouldn't touch them. I'm not sure why. Perhaps, I was foolish to believe that the bag of chocolate covered ginger I gave him on Saturday would suffice.

R: Those chocolate things you bought from Bulk Barn are AWESOME.

N: YOU ATE SOME?

R: Yeah!

N: YOU ATE SOME?!

R: Yeah, they're AWESOME!

N: You weren't supposed to eat them!

R: C'mon. You know I have to. It's there. I have to eat them.

N: I don't know why.... It just didn't occur to me that you would.

~~ Fast Forward to Sunday Night at about 12:30am ~~

R: ZING! ZRRRP! BLAGGGH! LAAAAAA!

N: go to sleep

R: YORRRRRRLLLG! ZRRRIIPPP!!! FWEEEETT!

N: go to sleep

R: BBRRZIP!

N: ZZzzzzzz

~~~ Fast Forward to Monday a.m. ~~~

N: How are you feeling?

R: SO tired.

N: Aww.

~~~ Fast Forward to Monday afternoon ~~~

R: What was in those chocolates?

N: Coffee beans. Didn't you know?

R: NO.

N: How many did you eat?

R: HANDFULS.

Oy. Serves him right.

Why I snort when people say they want me to play Pachebel's Canon in D at their wedding

2009-09-27T15:06:00.005-04:00

Probably the last person on the planet to see this youtube video. Oh no, wait. That might be you.

I could rant about cookie cutter weddings but this guy is much funnier and he won't offend all of my remaining friends who did walk down the aisle to Pachelbel's Canon in D.

Check out this video :: here ::

Out of the Dye Pot

2009-09-17T19:49:00.000-04:00

Kool Aid Dyed: Strawberry & Cherry flavours: first hand spun

Gaywool Dyes:

I could do this aaalll day.

Anybody wanna come over and play?

From the Ladies

2009-09-12T09:39:00.000-04:00

I hear it's a special day today!

I'm a little excited about it.

So excited, I can barely contain myself. The anticipation of it has been killing me.

It makes me want to bite something.

This fits in my mouth better though.

I know what today is. Chill out for a second and I'll tell you.

H.A.P.P.Y B.I.R.T.H.D.A.Y to the One who gives us lots of hugs, kisses and scratches!!!!!

We love you!

4 lbs of Lavender doesn't really evoke a sense of peace and relaxation.

2009-09-09T20:55:00.005-04:00

Unfortunately, I'm not one to have lots of stories of a summer vacation visiting exotic locations or hanging by a beach house or relaxing in front of cozy campfires. In fact, I can barely come to terms with the fact that it's well into September already and R is about to start classes tomorrow. I spent a quiet but hectic June, July and August secluded in a test lab at work. (I am happy to say that we'll likely be making our deadline on the 17th of September though!). I've promised myself a long christmas vacation this year. I think I'm about seven years overdue for one.

Anyways, at the beginning of the summer, I was commissioned to make 200 lavender sachets for a company I used to work for, to give away at a women's convention that is happening this week. I pretty much had all of my materials in place back in July, but due to circumstances that sucked some major arseness, I didn't get the tags I needed until a couple of weeks ago. So over the last long weekend of the summer, I had no choice but to hunch over the sewing machine and get the job done. I drafted anybody who didn't have four paws to help.

R was my main source of sweat shop labour - he didn't get paid and he was only allowed three unscheduled pee breaks. Clearly, he needs a better union rep. Dayna only managed to halt operations once, despite the fact that she developed a neat trick for stepping on the foot pedal of the sewing machine.

I used a variety of pre-cut quilting squares. The brilliance of this decision continues to amaze me. The outcome was amazingly colourful AND I didn't have the urge to chuck my rotary cutter out the window. My cousins came over to help for a few hours, and the younger one spent considerable time picking her favourite two patterns for a couple of sample sachets of her own. This seriously impacted quality control, but I guess you can't really complain when labour is free. I asked her to count how many squares I had and it went something like this:

S: 22... 23...24... 44

25!!!

S: Right. 25 ... 26....

Then:

S: 36 ..37 ... 38 ... 39 ... 99...

40!!!!!

love it.

I will probably throw a few of these into a shop soon. They're too cute.

Ugh.

2009-08-10T20:37:00.005-04:00

Hi. It's miserable here. I spent the entire weekend a walking zombie or conked out on the couch. Benadryl and my system don't function well together.

I seriously look like I have the mumps. The mosquitos in the area LOVE me. Unfortunately, I'm reacting really badly to them. I may have to saran wrap the boobs before I get a bite in the area, otherwise I will be doing some obscene dance in public to get rid of the itch.

On another note, it's so hot we'll probably get malaria just by opening the door.

(I'll be less cranky when I'm less itchy...and yes, I can't wait for winter.)

Next!

2009-08-04T21:58:00.002-04:00

Can't have a naked loom hanging about.

I'm not exactly sure what this blanket will look like. It's going to be a bit of an experiment.

Who Takes After Who?

2009-07-31T10:07:00.005-04:00

R: "...I find myself impelled mentally then bodily from slumber, stimulated to deliberate on some concept in the hope of refining my comprehension to some small degree before my freshly acquired insight should evaporate. I marvel at the depth of our annals, the broad spectrum of human knowledge, and must discover the unitary truths therein."

Nat: "...mmm. yarn. Oh..yarn...and... yarn. hmm?"

Nori: "SQUIRREL! RABBIT! Oh. Mommy's got that look on her face. From the way her arm has locked and her feet are planted, I better not pull on the leash right now. She might get mad. But she's smiling. I love when Mommy smiles. I will wag my tail."

Dayna: "SHAPES! LOVE! What's that! LOVE! SHAPES! ATTAACKK!!! MUST. GET. THERE. No. THERE!. No. THERE!! Heeeeyaaarggaauuunnhh...... hmm?"

FO: Joaquin Cardigan

2009-07-30T09:36:00.000-04:00

There has been knitting. Just not many good photos taken and uploaded to the computer. (Takes too long) Plus these ones are a little dim. Ah well.

I finished this sweater for Joaquin back in May, I think.

Pattern:: Felix Cardigan :: here ::
Yarn: Rowan CashCotton
Colour: Blue & White (2 skeins of Blue in order to have one ball doing the edging)
Modifications: I actually made this more difficult for myself by deciding to knit in stripes with the blue border. The skeins kept tangling up with each other. The whole time, I was thinking that there just has to be a smarter way of doing this, but I never figured it out.
Comments: Awesome top down, seamless construction conquered my fear of knitting sweaters. Although, I'm not sure I'm ready to try one for the big boy.

...and because I can't resist, here is Joaquin at four months:

In which we explore the equivalent of "tinking" while weaving

2009-07-28T12:21:00.003-04:00

Dear Tan;

You're right. I did not credit you the lines of weaving you did on the log cabin. This is why. Make sure your BigGirlPanties are pulled up, 'k?

In the knitting world, there is a saying called "frogging". It often comes into play when you are:

a) knitting and drinking
b) knitting (at least, attempting to knit) and playing tug 'o war with Dayna
c) knitting and not paying attention to the documentary R is watching until you hear the words "radical lesbian nuns"
d) knitting and watching an episode of SYTYCD auditions
e) knitting and realize that you've completly arsed up what you were doing for the past two hours of your life.

So you call your rugged, good looking boyfriend over to take hold of one end of the yarn and tell him to pull. And he says "Pull?!" and you reassure him that you did indeed mean pull. Then you watch him enthusiastically rip out row after row of stitches that you've spent the last two hours of your life knitting. (Get it? "rip it rip it").

Alternately, the slower way of undoing your work in knitting is called "TINK-ing". It means to painstakingly undo your work stitch by stitch by stitch. I believe the term was coined by someone's clever husband who noticed that "tink" is "knit" spelled backwards. There's a popular stitch 'n bitch in Toronto who meet at the Spotted Dick and their awesome tagline is "Knit. Drink. Tink". As you can see, it's acceptable to knit & drink - with the understanding that you might have to tink as well.

On the evening of 13 May 2009, you were visiting R and I in London. It was a night of great company, fascinating conversation, a meal that I can't believe you put into your mouth due to the amount of honey & Sriracha sauce you put on it, and drinking. As you will recall, there was even a little weaving (not "looming") because you were curious about the loom.

I showed you the basics and you exuberantly wove a row or two. I believe you said "wow" more than once. Then we were distracted by more interesting topics like hair transplants, world travel and the fact that we now allow Nori & Dayna on the couch. I believe you and R even watched a documentary but not the one about the "radical lesbian nuns".

To sum up the evening, there was:
a) weaving
b) dogs
c) a documentary
d) interesting conversation
e) good company
f) drinking
e) drinking and weaving

There's no easy way to say this, my friend. There is also no redeeming social value for it either, but...

The rows that you did, you did with an enthusiasm that would make any teacher proud. You TAN'd it. Unfortunately,the rows were...um... Tan'd under the influence and you didn't actually weave the full length of the blanket in some spots and you caught threads that you weren't supposed to. It happens.

Because I'm OCD, I had to NAT it back. (Okay, I was trying to be clever, but it didn't quite work out)

But at least a good time was had by all. Ihopeyouaren'tsad.

Please visit us again soon once you're over being traumatized by this post.

Yours,
Natalie

P.S. Did your dad find the answers he was looking for from your most holy and respected Quach ancestors?

P.S. #2: Has his hair grown back yet?

Too bad I can't take out an RESP for this...

2009-07-27T15:10:00.001-04:00

Where's the ruby slippers to take me to Kansas City, when I need 'em?

Yarn and Felt SCHOOL. This is homework I wouldn't mind doing.

Check it out :: here ::

If you're going. I'm SO jealous.

Shaking things loose and keeping it regular

2009-07-24T15:46:00.005-04:00

"What are you going to do about it?" as she writes P-O-O across her music book page with yellow highlighter.

"It's your music book, you can do whatever you want", I replied with only slight hesitation.

"I like Pooh."

The bear? Then you need an "h" on the end of that, sweetie.

The next time I give her a yellow highlighter to highlight the time signature, the dynamics and the repeat sign, she says:

"YOU KNOW WHAT THAT MEANS!!!"

P - O - O - H

... once she got that out of her system, the time signature, the dynamics and the repeat sign were all noted correctly.

"One of the basic principles of Taoism is P'U, the Uncarved Block. The essence of the Uncarved Block is that things in their original simplicity contain their own natural power, power that is easily spoiled and lost when that simplicity is changed. This principle applies not only to things, but to people as well. Or Bears. Which brings us to Pooh, the very Epitome of the Uncarved Block. When you discard arrogance, complexity, and a few, other things that get in the way, sooner or later you will discover that simple, childlike, and mysterious secret known to those of the Uncarved Block: Life is Fun."

~ Excerpt from :: here :: Credit to Justin Valentin

Ultimate Compilation of Asian Mom & Pop Humour

2009-07-23T13:19:00.004-04:00

From all of us ungrateful, wretched, first-generation children.

My Dad is a Fob

My Mom is a Fob

I have to admit, I cringed more than a little and laughed out loud at a few of these!

*found via Tan

I know it's July...but I finished another blanket.

2009-07-22T12:29:00.000-04:00

Went from this:

To this:

It grew a bit longer than I initially intended it to be. I let it languish on the loom for awhile but once I got started, it didn't take me long to finish. I just like having the loom dressed and ready with an ongoing project.

It makes a cozy wrap to snuggle under when watching movies like: Anne of Green Gables or In Search of the Castaways or Seven Brides for Seven Brothers !!!

I've been making R watch all of my old childhood favourites. He really missed out as a kid.

Once I was able to coordinate the collective attention spans of my parents for them to focus on the loom, their reactions were typical. My mom can't wait for me to make her a blanket and is tempted to try a project for herself (but likely never will). My dad keeps telling me that there must be machines that do this and I really need to get it motorized. Doing it "this way" is too time consuming and slow.

Sometimes I think he wonders if I'm actually his child.

Stuck

2009-07-20T13:30:00.000-04:00

It's a good thing I didn't take the handmade pledge this year like I was going to. Oy. I am seriously stuck for ideas, people!

My sister's graduation ... handmade failure.
Father's Day ...ditto.
My mom's birthday ...bombed.

I did redeem myself for Jane's birthday and R's sister's birthday this past weekend. Unfortunately, we have a wedding coming up this weekend, R's dad's birthday is in a few weeks AND my sister's birthday is also coming up. What to do? What to do?

I still want to take the Handmade Pledge but my family is not really a handmade type of family. I was wondering what happened to The Bainbridge Scarf I made for my mom last year:

Me: I don't know what to get you for Mother's Day.

Mom: I'm so eeeasssy!

Me: No, you're not!

Mom: Yah!

Me: No. You never like anything. What happened to the scarf I made you?

Mom: I WEAR IT.

Me: What does it look like?

Mom: What scarf?

Me: The one I gave you for Mother's Day.

Mom: It's too hot to wear scarf.

Me: I know. But you don't even know what scarf I'm talking about.

Mom: Yes, I do. It's in the closet.

Me: What colour is it?

Mom: What scarf?

My mom has been doing a lot of purging and her friends have been raiding our closets for stuff they want to send to their families. She told me that she saved some old Fantasy Art folders of mine because she thought they were "my precious"...but I suspect the scarf is probably on its way to some family in the Philippines.

Berry Gluttons

2009-07-17T19:44:00.004-04:00

We've totally taken advantage of the farmer's markets over the past few weekends. It's our favourite thing now.

The first weekend we went, we bought three containers of strawberries, two pints of blackberries, two containers of blueberries and two containers of raspberries. I had it in the back of my mind to take some into work every day.

GONE. BY. MONDAY.

We seriously can't get enough. It's so yummy.

Look what the girls found on the weekend.

2009-07-14T09:38:00.004-04:00

The first time I saw the bones of a dead fish, I was convinced we had discovered the remains of some prehistoric fish species due to the ginormous teeth coming out of its head. Never mind the fact that we were just on the outskirts of Burlington, ON.

But this... this has to be a dinosaur.... or dragon.

Lunch, anyone?

Tour De Fleece

2009-06-23T10:08:00.004-04:00

I seriously love how creative fibre folks are. I love the quirky fun that comes out of blogs, Ravelry and Craftster. This time I'm talking about the Tour de Fleece.

What is this Tour de Fleece? It is basically a spin-a-long coinciding with the Tour de France. The first Tour de Fleece was in 2006 (starting from the creative brain :: here :: ) and there were 16 spinners participating. Last year, there were over 400 spinners joining in on the fun. Dude. Can you imagine? Are there even that many cyclists in the Tour de France?

As I commit myself to this, I have to laugh. I've only ever watched the Tour de France once when I was hanging out with Mr. Ossi last year. Since we don't have cable - I can't actually watch the Tour de France (ZZZzzz) but I can still "spin-a-long".

Tour de Fleece 2009 starts July 4th and runs until July 26. The main goal is to set personal challenges and spin every day. I joined the Rookie team since it's my first year participating and my first year spinning. I also joined Team Lantern Rouge. These are the cyclists who form a little group at the back known as the "lanterne rouge"....the underdogs. My kind of group.

Rav Group for the Tour de Fleece is :: here :: The team names that are popping up are making me laugh. Flickr pool is :: here :: Both are amazing sources of inspiration and encouragement.

My goal for this challenge?
: Spin for at least 30 minutes every day
: Spin and ply at least 12 oz of fibre by the end of the Tour.

My prize after this challenge?
: I get to buy more fleece

Hey Mar...you going to give that spindle of yours a work out too?

It's In You to Give.

2009-06-22T15:33:00.005-04:00

That's one of my favourite advertising tag lines ever! It's for the Canadian Blood Services.

I've always wanted to be a regular donor. I really don't know what's prevented me from doing it all these years. I'm healthy. I've got a strong immune system. I go to my annual physical once a year. My parents feed me red meat whenever they see me and think I look anemic. I eat spinach. I haven't travelled anywhere further than Toronto, so I shouldn't have been exposed to malaria recently. There has never been any symptoms that I'm prone to anemia and my strongest drug to date is an Advil.

I SHOULD be a regular donor.

I guess it's just been laziness but I never got around to researching where the clinics are and their hours. Here in my current position, the people in the office regular donate and there is a blood donor clinic conveniently located about 5 minutes from our building. So I really don't have an excuse not to pump some out for the peeps.

Today, on my lunch hour, I happened to walk past the girl sitting at the clinic table. I thought I'd ask for more information. She asked me if I wanted to see what my blood type was. That sounded cool so I sat down.

And immediately felt woozy.

Dude. Nothing's come near me that is sharper than the pen and form I need to fill out.

R's always said "Mind over Matter". So I told Self to stop being such a wuss. Besides, I've had plenty of blood taken in the past and never had a problem.

Just as she was telling another girl that the prick for blood type testing "hurt" more than the needle for blood donating, she stapled the side of my middle finger.

FRACK.

ChirpyNurseLady: That wasn't so bad was it?

I felt like I had to say no. So I said it was fine.

She took three drops of blood and put each one in a tray that held columns of blue, yellow and clear liquid. Depending on how the blood clotted in that liquid, she was able to tell my blood type. SO COOL.

She said that I'm a B positive. She also said that since less than 8% of the population had this blood type, I really should go and donate some blood today. I may have looked a bit pale so she said that they had plenty of cookies and juice.

While I did NOT faint, I had a feeling that the coffee, trail mix, muesli and carrots currently sustaining my system would not make me a good candidate to be a donor today. Plus, what good are cookies and juice AFTER you've collapsed in a humiliating heap in the middle of the room?

Maybe I better do it tomorrow.

BUT...

If less than 8% of this population has this blood type, then if anything ever happened to me, they'd be madly scrambling for some of it. There could be a shortage. You'd think.

Maybe.

In any case, I just discovered a huge deficit in my karma quota.

I should really do it today.

I was reading their information pamphlet and was amused to discover that those of us with Blood Type B are prone to:

- be full of ideas

- have diverse interests

- sleuthing (detective work)

- be persuasive

- be a great sleeper

- be emotional

- be candid

...and "can probably make good decisions"

Karma-on-hold, I snuck out of the building because she was watching me walk away and was expecting me to go straight down to the clinic.

I think I can probably go donate some blood tomorrow.

After I eat a steak or something.

$100,000 piece of paper

2009-06-04T16:02:00.003-04:00

My little sister is officially an M.D.!

So freakin' proud of her.

Pictures, Family commentary and Update later.

Too pooped at the moment.

The actual conversation we had about gardening

2009-06-02T11:18:00.003-04:00

As an addendum to my previous post, I thought I'd record the conversation we had about not having a garden this year.

circa: 16 may 2009

The first thing we needed in order to start our square foot garden was a wood box. We didn't have a bottomless wood box, so we had to plan a trip out to the hardware store....and then the nursery for seeds and soil ...and this and that and that and this.

R: We need to get a saw.

N: We don't have a saw?

R: No.

N: Can't they cut the wood for you at the store?

R: Only you know these things. You know things that nobody knows.
*or some paraphase of what he actually said*

N: Should we go to Home Depot?

....

N: Want to stay home and read?

R: Okay.

I really did pass first year Botany with an A.

2009-05-31T12:26:00.006-04:00

We nixed the idea of a garden.

Did I mention that we were looking into square foot gardening? Check it out :: here :: From what I can tell, you build square boxes, divvy it up into square sections and you magically grow awesome veggies ...and fruit? Not sure about the fruit...but hell, why not. Yes. You magically grow awesome fruits and veggies allll summer.

*Nobody will listen to me anyways by the time they finish reading this.*

I was filled with fantasies about walking into the backyard and picking out veggies for our dinner salad every night. Apparently with this method, you don't really need to weed. (Don't quote me on that.) We were going to be all cool, green and eco-y this year with our backyard. I was thinking that we would save all this money and cut our grocery bill by 20% (okay, I made up that number) by growing our own fruits and veggies. Nevermind the fact that we buy two zucchinis and three tomatoes every week versus the 8 apples and 6 bananas that would be impossible for us to grow this summer...and that I've let salad mix compost IN our fridge more times than R would like to acknowledge

Numbers aside, reality tried to hint at me after I spent two weeks admiring the blooming magnolias in our neighbourhood. I even took pictures of them with my Blackberry. I even marveled and GUSHED at the one growing in our neighbour's backyard while he stared at me - no doubt slightly uncomfortable by my sudden and unexpected enthusiasm for his magnolia tree. I forced R into a conversation about how much I loved magnolias, how they were Jane's favourite tree but that I didn't think I would like to have one because they bloom for two seconds and then get messy afterwards.

Then one Saturday, a few weeks ago, I walked to the back of OUR yard and around the corner.

No freakin' shit.

We own one.

Then I did the same thing last weekend. We were walking down the street with the girls and I made R stop and smell a lilac tree (bush?). He had a cold, so I practically shoved a bloom up his nose because I really wanted him to smell how yummy it was. That afternoon, I walked to the back of our yard...

... and yeah... we own a lilac bush (tree?) too.

We also have some funky looking tulips ....

...and some lily of the valley's ...

There's a few random bushes as well. Most of which have either been trampled down, dug out or stripped bare of any greenery due to the combined efforts of the girls. Actually, I can't blame it all on the girls. I pulled an entire plant out the other day when I was trying to get all the brown stalks off. So I made ONE hole. The rest of them belong to Dayna and Nori's dirt-flying competitions.

Reality then whacked me upside the head when we spent a few hours raking up all the dead leaves left over from the fall. I was giving myself the heebie-jeebies every time I lifted a pile of leaves to reveal the wet underside and all the icky, crawly things went scurrying everywhere. The first time I shrieked, R just looked up and said very patiently: "It's nature." That's just ...icky. NATURE is when we were walking in the ravine and we saw two hawks tearing apart a groundhog.

Fast forward to mother's day weekend and I was trying to help by cleaning out the leaves in our back stairwell and I ended up shrieking "TOO MANY LEGS! TOO MANY LEGS!". A pathetically obvious attempt for R to come and rescue me. Finally, I gave up (since he was clearly not coming) and ran squealing into the backyard and danced around to stop my skin crawling. Mr. Ossi just looked at me - not much fazes him - while R said to me: "I THOUGHT I heard some funny noises. Was that you?" Not much fazes him either.

Of course it was ME! That was not the romantic response I was looking for.

This is coming from the man who spent a week laughing about the time that I went to Blue Mountain, saw flies in our room and told the front desk that there were 12 flies in our room. TWELVE. She was also quite unsympathetic and told me "Welcome to the country." And then firmly assured me that although they keep spare towels, toothbrushes and shampoos for their guests, they did not have any fly swatters. Not exactly the romantic or helpful response there either. We were clearly not on the same frequency. R was highly amused that it bothered me enough to report it and that I had to report the exact number of them.

Anyways, country crap aside, there's really no way we would realistically devote the time and energy to nuturing a garden this summer. It's definitely on the list for next year. Someone just needs to invent a bug free garden, is all.

As a compromise I'm going to try and buy local at the farmer's markets which are starting to pop up in and around London. We made this decision about two weeks ago and have yet to visit one of the big ones. We seem to keep missing them. We've tried the small one downtown but it's mostly herb or tomato plants, bison and some rhubarb at the moment. I've come to the realization that buying local also implies that you know how to cook meals that involve more than "just add water". My staple.

I barely shake 'n bake chicken. What the heck would I do with a bison?

... and seriously, if someone asked you right now, what a rhubarb looked like... would you be able to describe it? Just sayin'.

Found

2009-05-27T21:39:00.005-04:00

Yep. I'm still kicking around.

We've been keeping busy. I've got a bunch of half typed up blog posts sitting in my file. Partly to blame is the fact that it takes so flippin' long to launch my iPhoto and upload photos from the camera. For the most part however, everything is very much stewing within the cesspool of my brain. I think it's a combo-case of start - itis and indecisiveness. I know I'm not making much sense but let's just say that I've been toying with the idea of selling my crafts either on Etsy or have R build me a shop under a personal domain.

When I started teaching a few weeks ago, I was all fired up to teach crafting classes as well. I had awesome (to me) workshops and craft kits planned out. I put everything together (and had a whole ton of fun doing it) and then stalled. This is not surprising. Whenever I used to play "office" or "teacher" as a kid, I just liked setting everything up - I didn't actually spend much time playing the game. Anyways, the one major roadblock to all of this? I really hate marketing myself. Plus I weighed the teaching time against the personal crafting time and I thought: "Meh". There are other reasons as well, but for now I have my piano/theatre arts/craft studio shelved until another time.

So yeah, lots of waffling. Sell stuff online? Or teach workshops? Or both?

.... Or neither?

I'm still teaching piano though (grand roster of one student) and I'm really enjoying it. I've also fallen back in love with playing regularly again.... which is another something that has cut into my crafting and blogging time. The list of songs I want to learn and re-learn keeps growing every time I sit on the bench. I'm incredibly rusty and it's a bit painful to hear since I know how I used to be able to play the pieces... 10 years ago. Ouch. But it's still awesome.

There's been lots of knitting going on still and a bit of weaving. R and I have also had a few guests over too! So unusual for our normal hermit-like tendencies. Here's our favourite guy who came to visit over the long weekend.

It's amazing how one little man can exhaust four adults. Apparently, he's what people call an "altitude" baby. Pretty much, one of us had to be standing (absolutely NO sitting) around and dancing the entire weekend.

Yeah...that picture pretty much sums us up.

Anyways, lots on the list for the summer. It's going to be a good one!

Big Bertha & Mr. Beat

2009-04-26T19:56:00.003-04:00

No more standing in the corner collecting dust (and bearing the brunt of an obvious ebay obsession for knick-knacky owl figurines) for this big lady. She's coming out of retirement! She's a bit weathered and worn but there's still juice in her.

I think playing with some enthusiastic kids will breathe some life back into her.

This steadfast guy has finally found his lady.

Oh, but WOW...does the lady EVER need to be tuned before she starts singing.

Happy Belated Anniversary to Me!

2009-04-20T09:13:00.008-04:00

So my four year blog anniversary came and went very quietly. I toyed with the idea of doing a giveaway but given the eclectic collection of people who read this blog just for my postings about my parents, there really wasn't anything I could give to a "winner" even if I could get you guys to delurk and make a smarmy comment.

What I did do was spend some time going through my archives. Unlike most of the blogs I read, I don't have a focus for this one. I used to think I had to make it about one thing or another but then I realized I've never done just one thing. Ever. And really, my target audience is me. Anyways, I loved going through my old posts and reliving my theatre work, remembering Nori as a puppy, and all these anecdotes about my family that I never want to forget.

I pulled a list of some of my favourite blog entries together.

This was the time I almost developed multiple personalities because science hadn't perfected cloning humans in time for one of my theatre shows :: here ::

Then there was the time when Nori was on speed and went through withdrawal for three days. :: here ::

What amuses me to no end is that Dayna is truly THE second child. I used to know the consistency, density and viscosity of Every. Single. One. of Nori's poops. Now... I couldn't even tell you if either of them did their morning business. We (okay, just me) freaked out over everything Nori did or didn't do. Last night, I heard some painful sounding yelps of the Dayna-variety...but did I rush upstairs to go see what was wrong? Nope. I was in the middle of crafting and I didn't hear my name being bellowed so I figured everything was fine. Terrible. (Dayna caught her tail in the door but she's cool. That's another thing we've had to get used to ...a dog with a tail that thumps into things.)

Anyways... I digress again. R and I often talk about how much fun we had at my cousin Jen's wedding a couple of summer's ago. It was such a fun weekend away for us and we missed most of the family drama but it was awesome hearing about it afterwards. It cracks me up how much they worried about R (aka "Rostol") being my boyfriend given the initial sleeping arrangements prior to the wedding. :: here ::

Then there was the progress made when my parents finally realized there was nothing they could do about us living in sin - already a cult favourite :: here ::

Well, despite all that HAS changed in the past year with R going back to school and our move to a new city, our relationships really hasn't evolved that much from this :: here ::

On a crafting note, I've definitely noticed that the more I do, the more I want to do. (Ya think?!?) My projects from four years ago seem so juvenile to me now but I was pretty happy with them back then. I spent the weekend working on a bunch of new things.

I'm REALLY happy with the way they turned out. I wonder what I'll think about them four years from now?

GRED

2009-04-16T08:02:00.001-04:00

The beginning stages of my grey & red blanket.

Warp's done. It was starting to bother me that I had a nekkid loom.

I'm exploring a new-to-me weave pattern called Log Cabin. I'm dying to see how the colours play out.

I teach music ...and repeatable phrases

2009-04-15T12:34:00.005-04:00

I started teaching piano lessons way back when I was around 15 or 16. Ironically, they were the children of some of my high school music teachers. Then word got around and my roster expanded. When I finished high school, I moved to Guelph for my undergraduate and I taught through most of those years as well, with the Ontario Conservatory of Music in Guelph, since I didn't have a piano of my own back then.

Teaching for a studio was really convenient but I was limited in the sort of pedagogy that I wanted to explore as a music teacher despite my lack of formal training in that area. Teaching at home, I turned my parent's house upside down playing Music Note Bowling Down the Front Stairs. Trust me, students learn their musical alphabet really fast playing this game.

Once I moved back to Toronto, the teaching got pushed aside with all of my theatre work but it's always been in the back of mind. So I'm really excited now to start teaching again.

I had my first lesson with a student last week. She lives across the street (next door to Tango) and her mom just jumped at the chance when she heard I wanted to get back into teaching. The lesson went really well. I'm not sure who had more fun. Me or Rebecca. At any rate, the feedback was very positive and enthusiastic.

On Saturday, we ended up going for a dogwalk with my mom, my sister, Tango, Tango's dad and Rebecca and her mom. In all my years of teaching, it has been extremely rare for me to bump into a student outside of a lesson, the class or theatre. Clearly I need to do a little more filtering from now on. (Although, in general, R has warned me about my tendency to blurt things out without looking around to see who is within earshot)

During the walk, Dayna took two poops within five minutes of each other and my mom made a comment about it.

I called over my shoulder with: "Yeah.. Dayna's a double dumper."

Then I hear:

"Mom! What's a double dumper?"

oops.

Last Minute Gifts

2009-04-14T07:59:00.004-04:00

R and I don't go to many birthday parties anymore, but we found ourselves agreeing to attend one a few weeks ago. R boycotts shopping for the sake of gift-giving in general but I hate showing up empty-handed. So we always try to compromise and pass along a bottle of wine or I try to make something.

This time around, I was really stuck for something. A couple of hours before the party, I grabbed an empty moleskin notebook and some fabric scraps and pieced out this baby.

The idea comes from the book "Last Minute Patchwork & Quilted Gifts" by Joelle Hoverson.

I love the way this turned out and have ideas for embellishing more notebooks in the future.

...added a fancy pen et voila! Good to go.

This is my problem

2009-04-13T13:09:00.003-04:00

"The irony of multitasking is that it's exhausting: when you're doing two or three things simultaneously, you use more energy than the sum of energy required to do each task independently. You're also cheating yourself because you're not doing anything excellently. You're compromising your virtuosity. In the words of T. S. Elliot, you're 'distracted from distractions by distractions'."

~ Twyla Tharp, "The Creative Habit: Learn It and Use It For Life"

...although, I am doing most things rather excellently.

:: I'm 75% done warping the loom for my next big project.
:: I'm planning another weaving project on a small Dorothy loom I picked up off of Craigslist over the weekend.
:: I knit another baby sweater and just need to sew on buttons.
:: I'm planning out activities and lesson plans for my new creativenture. (Surprise! I'm going back to teaching piano again! My new-to-me 100 year old FREE piano is getting delivered today. Just FYI, when you ask the universe for a free piano, it's actually not that hard to come by.)
:: I've got a new quilt project planned out and just need to start cutting.
:: I turned the heel on another sock that I'm working on.

So everything is going rather excellently.... Just nothing that involves putting away laundry, cleaning the gunk in the back corner of the fridge or gardening.

25 Random Crotchety Things You Never Wanted to Know About Me

2009-04-07T14:17:00.013-04:00

Okay. It's been quiet around here. There are a few reasons for this:

1. My dad's in Nova Scotia for six weeks and is too busy to call or email.

2. My sister has been hanging out with (*cough* babysitting *cough*) our mom on weekends and keeps me up-to-date on things there; but other than a "We bedazzled our cell phones together today at PMall. Mom wanted a playboy bunny on hers, but I talked her into getting Hello Kitty instead" text message, there's no blog fodder there either....

3. Other than work, dogs and the fact that I need to give R another haircut - things are pretty same old. I figure that I can only show you so many dog pictures before people's tolerance quotas are done and they delete me from their blog feeder.

4. I'm in planning mode. Everything is working its way around my brain.

5. I don't have a fifth reason.

So I'm taking the easy route and doing a meme instead. This has made its way around Facebook several times.

***

Once you've been tagged, you are supposed to write a note with 25 random things, facts, habits, or goals about you. At the end, choose 25 people to be tagged....blah blah blah... if you're reading this...consider yourself tagged ... blah blah blah .... But no pressure.

Here goes:

1. I like to jump on the band wagon. Duh. Clearly.

2. I was born to parents whose views on drawing and singing were akin to fencing or scuba diving: pleasurable enough talents if one had them, but not practical enough to necessitate the effort of acquiring them.

3. I really wish I could draw and sing well. Oh, I sing... all the time ... I just don't sing well.

4. I like to figure things out for myself . Sometimes it takes me awhile to figure things out for myself. Sometimes people don't have time to wait for me to figure things out for myself.

5. I love montages in movies. Especially if they're "training" ones or if people are preparing to do something really cool like learning to become an assassin. R thinks this is funny.

6. I like to play god and kill spiders. R's all zen about it and likes to let them go free outside in -30 degree weather. We have disagreed on our personal preferences for handling this issue.

6.1. If he doesn't come immediately when I shriek his name to let him know that there is a spider on the wall, he knows that it has been sentenced to an immediate death penalty by mere fact of its existence in my space. R and I may go to war on this issue. I accept this.

7. I have at least one good laugh every single day of my life.

8. I wish someone would invent a particle accelerator transmitter device for me.

9. I really want to learn how to play the cello - only so that I can play - Bach's Concerto in C - even though it's really cliche.

9.1. Cliches annoy me... overlooking the above noted one.

10. I don't have hobbies, I have obsessions.

11. Sometimes I have to mentally tell myself to shut up.

12. If I had the opportunity to go colonize another planet, I would go. Even though I have yet to cross the ocean.

13. I really wish I could do fake accents... but I don't have an ear for languages.

14. I like to write pseudo-smarmy things to make myself laugh.

14.1. I often use the backspace key on my keyboard.

15. I have a good rapport with photocopiers. No need to call Xerox!

16. I want to live in the Arctic and visit Africa.

17. I think I need to say "thank you" more.

18. I was toying with the idea of being a vet until I took organic chemistry, physics, microbiology, pathology and calculus in one semester.

19. It's difficult for me to find a good book to read. I'm not sure why, but I suspect it might have to do with the number of blogs in my blog feed.

20. As a child, I had problems finishing a juice box. I used to have problems finishing a whole can of coke. Then someone introduced me to rum.

20.1. I really do need to drink more fluids.

21. I am not a sale shopper.

22. I believe that it is unnecessary for people to use the words "whilst" and "amongst". I will openly mock you, if you do.

23. In conversation with strangers, I use the word "we" a lot...even though there is no point of reference for the "we".

24. My knee jerk reaction is to say "no"... i blame my parents. R openly mocks me when I do this.

25. My mother once told me that twins run in the family and that I might bear twins. I felt special. If I hear another woman tell me that they'll probably have twins because "twins run in my family", I will punch her in the head. Twins evidently run in everybody's family. Doesn't mean you're going to push out two.

Bonus:

26. I went through a phase where I was obsessed with mysteries, clues, ciphers, and secret codes. My local libraries had books about fingerprinting, making disguises, how to spot fakes and forgeries and figuring out clues. I made my own fingerprint dusting kit and almost burnt down the kitchen experimenting with making my invisible writing (lemon juice formula) reappear over a candle. My cousin Angela and I spent a few weeks one summer investigating our older cousin because we suspected he was smoking. We collected evidence (cigarette butts and ashes), dusted his windowsill for fingerprints and slyly inspected between his fingers to see if they were yellowed. [If by "sly", you envision us grabbing his hand and blatantly peering at them for no reason that we could provide.] We came to the conclusion that yep, he was smoking. Then promptly forgot about the evidence we had hidden under a bunch of towels in the linen closet.

There... you just read through 26 things you didn't really want to know about me.

It's probably a good thing that I"m not a therapist.

2009-03-30T11:23:00.003-04:00

R: I can't believe they have a baby!

N: I know!

R: Do you remember when Heli started gaining weight?

N: Uh. NO. (thinking to self that it's a rather odd question)

R: Really?

N: .... (conversation has failed to hold interest and mind flits elsewhere)

~~~ unknown amount of time passes ~~~

R: Hey... Don't you remember when Heli lived at that old apartment?

N: Yah... where the halls smelled like cat-pee.

R: And we stood on that corner after dinner and I made Heli let me draw a mustache on her face?

N: Oh yah.

R: So then you DO remember when Heli started to date Wayne.

N: Yah

R: So why did you say you didn't remember?

N: You never asked me if I remembered when Heli started to date Wayne

R: Yes I did! In the kitchen, this morning!

N: NO. You asked me whether I remembered when Heli started to gain WEIGHT!

R: So not only can you not TALK*...but you can't LISTEN either!

*reference to the "Frakken Groat" incident

FO :: Dog Walking Hat

2009-03-27T15:15:00.001-04:00

There has been a noticeable lack of crafting this week unfortunately. This is due to the number of ideas buzzing around my head and my need to find a used (not-too-crappy) piano for my next creativenture. Anyways, I won't get into it just now.

Thought I'd pop in and show you an overdue FO that's been waiting patiently to be blogged about.

Dayna is convinced these styrofoam heads are dangerous and are about to take over the world. You never know. She might be right.

Pattern: Modified Boyfriend Hat based on the pattern :: here ::
Yarn:: Mission Falls 1824 Wool under two skeins
Colour: Charcoal with the edging done in Black
Needles: US #7

Comments: This is the third time I've knit this particular hat. The other two were gifted over Christmas before I could snap pictures. It was my go-to hat pattern this year. Loved the smushiness of the Mission Falls wool. I got three hats out of five skeins with yarn left over.

Modification: For this particular hat, I ended up making a LOT of modifications just because I wasn't paying attention and ended up knitting the rib in 3 x 3 instead of 3 x 2. Therefore, I had to make up the decreases as I went along. This is what happens when you get cocky because you think you know what you're doing after knitting a pattern multiple times. The knitting gods have their own ways of inspiring humility in their followers.

So when the man of Nori's boyfriend had a birthday coming up, I knew what I wanted to make. I just didn't expect to make such a one of a kind item.

I have to share this picture with you. R took it at the park the other day and I love it!

When Tango decides he wants to eat something, let no man stand in his way of getting that tasty morsel in his mouth and into his stomach; whether it's a kleenex, a bone, a wing, a hamburger or the head of a dead fish or small rodent (...yes, these have all been found in the park) ... good luck trying to get him to drop it. On a cold winter's day, a man's ears can freeze during such an impasse.

Tango's lucky he's so damn cute.

*picture taken by Sanju*

Have a great weekend everybody!

UnIdentified Floppy Objects

2009-03-23T15:59:00.000-04:00

I've been dying to take pictures of Dayna's ears when she runs. From a distance, she looks like someone who has a toothache and then tied a towel around her head.

The girl doesn't stop moving. She just loves to run.

On Sunday, we took the girls out for a long walk and finally managed to snap some outdoor action shots.

I'm so glad she came to live with us. She's our clown girl.

Now I just need to record her snoring and then I'll have the complete pick-me-up package. Seriously, having a bad day? Come spend an hour with this one.

The First

2009-03-22T22:01:00.003-04:00

I can't even find the words to describe how much in smit we all are with this little guy.

FO :: Baby Bolero

2009-03-19T23:11:00.005-04:00

My first sweater! Kinda. If you can call a bolero, a sweater.

Think the colour white is okay for a newborn baby boy?

Pattern: Baby Bolero from the book 'One Skein' by Leigh Radford
Yarn:: Mission Falls Cotton - had a skein and a half in my stash leftover from a swap. There's still plenty left.
Colour: White
Needles: US #7

Comments: I did the modifications that a lot of people mentioned on Ravelry. I learned how to do a three-needle bind off for the shoulders so I wouldn't have to sew any seams and I picked up the stitches around the armholes for the sleeves. Easy Peasy. If anybody wants the mods I did, let me know and I can email it to you. Since it's for a boy, I didn't do the little motif on the back that the pattern calls for.

Which boy??

Why... little Joaquin was born 18 March 2009 at 6:48am. R's sister is happy and healthy and the new papa is euphoric, I'd say. As Tan pointed out, he's my nephew-in-common-law. They call me Natalie-tati in Finnish.

And I just have to share this picture with you. Look who takes after his Aunt Jane.

He makes up songs and I make up words.

2009-03-19T14:32:00.003-04:00

Last night I didn't feel like cooking since we had to leave for an obedience class with Dayna so R was left to do some scavenging in the kitchen for dinner. When we came back from the class, he was still hungry so he was poking around the fridge for something else to put in his mouth.

He inspected a white packaged square that has been in our fridge since at least the beginning of February. It was an unopened (not yet expired) package of goat cheese.

The next time I saw him, he was putting a croissant sandwich into his mouth and was happily eating away.

R: MMMM. Goat cheese and HONEY.

N: EW.

R: MMMMM.

N: That's frakken groat!

R: What did you say?

N: *laughing* nothing

R: WHAT did you just say?

N: That's freakin' GROSS!
*runs downstairs to the basement and hides*

Five minutes later, I was still downstairs. He was upstairs.
...and suddenly I heard him yell:

R: FRAAKKEN GROAT!!!!

I would like to state for the record that prior to this conversation, that package of goat cheese went flying across the kitchen and hit me in the back of the head after I refused to open it for him. So there.

Hitching our wagon to a star

2009-03-16T12:14:00.001-04:00

Last Sunday, I had the privilege of listening to my 14 year old cousin play a violin concerto with the Hamilton Symphony Orchestra. It was only a year ago that I was bursting with pride to see that she was concert mistress with her Youth Orchestra. And now this! (I never would have been this self-possessed and in control of my knees.)

To say that she played brilliantly would be an understatement. I know somebody took a video and once I get my hands on it, I'll post it for you to hear. She's flawless.

Concerto for Violin & Orchestra, op. 64 : Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy
1. Allegro molto appassionato

As you can see from the picture, we had primo seats in the auditorium - right in front of C and behind the conductor. Once, C's solo was over, all of her groupies noticeably relaxed. You could even say they became a little giddy. This is what happens when my mom gets giddy...

*audience is dead quiet*

Conductor: This next piece, "Adagio for Strings", is my all-time favourite piece composed for strings! I am so pleased to share this with you, this afternoon.

Mom: *loud, carrying voice* ThhhaaAANK YOU!

The woman was sitting so close to the conductor, she literally thought he was talking to her. Mel and I shot each other looks and snickered, while our friend, Lynn, whispered "Who BROUGHT her?!"

Seriously...the four year olds in the audience were better behaved.

We were all so proud of C, it was tough for us to hold back tears - but we managed to smile for the camera.

... and Mel found out last week that she got her top pick for residency next year. After a year of agonizing and deliberating, she finally chose Family Medicine. Now she'll get to be the Go-To-Girl for ALL of my family's individual aches, pains, minor twinges, random questions and general anxious concerns. More power to her.

I still laugh out loud when I think of the time Mel told a non-english speaking patient, in her broken chinese, that she was a doctor. What she really said, in Chinese, to this poor woman was: "I am a lion."

Twitterpated

2009-03-15T21:40:00.004-04:00

I used to live with a bunch of girls who frequently used the word "twitterpated" to describe our general flurried state of being. It was often accompanied by describing oneself as feeling "discombobulated". I think we thought we were cool for using words that had more than two syllables.

Anyways, this will probably become old in a few days but I'm twittering. Stalk me over to the side there.

FO:: feather & fan stroller blanket

2009-03-13T09:54:00.001-04:00

I was just trolling through my drafts and realized I never posted the FO for this project. Most of the details are now lost in the wastelands of the back of my mind since I worked on this sometime in early 2008.

I was having some fun with the photo shoot.

Pattern :: Organic Baby Wrapper :: here ::
Yarn: Vermont Organic Fiber Company O-Wool Balance (4 skeins)
Colour: Yellow
Needles: US #7

Comments: I didn't check my gauge so the blanket ended up a little a narrower than I would have liked. I would have otherwise added more pattern repeats to make it wider and longer. The yarn also had a lot of vegetable matter in it, so I was constantly picking out prickly bits while I was knitting with it. Is that what they mean by "organic"?

Here's Alexander being wrapped up in the blanket (and Pete doing his demonic impression of a dog knitting.. don't ask.)
Alexander is now around 8mths old and well on his way to becoming the most beautiful baby boy on the planet. If he can figure out how to get out of this seat, that is.

Careful when you embiggen this picture. His eyelashes might reach out and poke you in the eyes.

Big Sister Wisdom and a bit of SmackTalk

2009-03-12T08:16:00.001-04:00

Dear EveOfDestruction;

The People of the CrazyHouse may think that you're all cute and sweet, but I know better. I just need to get a few things off my hairy chest.

1. So I know it gives you immense pleasure when you jump on the couch when the People aren't looking. But FYI, it won't last long. THEY KNOW.

2. And for the record, I wouldn't get so cocky about the toy hogging thing either. First of all, they're MINE. I'm only sharing them with you because I have to. And just to speed things along, let me connect the dots for you. SheWhoSmellsPretty won't let EITHER of us play with them if you keep being a brat about taking them. So chill.

... which brings me to my next point.

3. EvilSpawn, I'm NOT here for your personal chewing pleasure. I'll admit, it's fun to throw you around the backyard. But dude, when I'm done...listen to the fangs. They'll tell you what you need to know. And that move you do... when you lie on your back and look like you're speedskating upside-down, while simultaneously sounding like a bear in heat... well, you kinda look like a dork.

4. I'm not sure how much registers in that puppy brain of yours, but do try to remember this ...

I run faster. I'm also stronger. And really... I know more than you do. I've been doing these moves for years. I rule your face!

I can whup your baby ass anytime I want to.

Now that we've got that clear, here's a few tips:

1. When you see the People and you're happy. Hold the pee IN. Otherwise, I won't be seen in public with you.

2. When SheWhoSmellsPretty looks at you and says "Nori", she means you. Not me. You'll learn soon enough to run over every time she opens her mouth on the off chance she does mean you but said the wrong name...again.

3. HeWhoRivalsUsForBestFermentedSalamiGas likes to hug. Be a dog. Deal with it.

Peace out,

Nori

Earth Hour 2009!

2009-03-10T09:31:00.007-04:00

We participated in last year's Earth Hour and ended up walking along Lake Ontario to view the effects of Earth Hour on the city of Toronto. Unfortunately, it was a little disappointing. Plus Nori gave us a collective heart attack when she jumped onto the ice and we all had visions of it collapsing out from under her. Anyways, I'm sure a lot of people participated last year, but the sun hadn't quite set yet and it didn't look like many of the businesses in the city's financial district were participating. So I didn't get the cool black-out I was hoping for. But you know...that's just my wishful thinking.

Be the voice of positive change in your world, sign up for Earth Hour and get your friends to do the same! You can access the link :: here ::

After a Walk in the Park...

2009-03-06T10:52:00.004-05:00

R sent me this email the other day depicting the effort required to wipe their feet:

R: "Hey Nori, go over there honey" *points towards the kitchen*

*Nori looks at me and comes over to stand in between Dayna and I*
"Here? Over here? Is this where you want me to go? Right in between you two?"

R: "Hey Dayna, come here honey"

*Dayna lunges for Nori*

"There? Near her face? Is that where you need me to be? If I continue to pull, then you'll let me free, so I'm going to pull a lot more just now"

It's going to be one of THOSE days.

2009-03-03T08:53:00.003-05:00

Slip on the Stairs (check)

Fall on Ass (check)

Bend Over, Straighten Up and Hit Head on Fireplace Mantle (check)

Walk to Work, Trip on Curb (check)

Take Winter Boots Off and Grab Shoes From Under the Desk (check)

Straighten Up and Hit Head Under the Desk (check)

Reconsider Going Downstairs for Morning Coffee ...

Yep

2009-03-01T21:51:00.002-05:00

--BlackBerry Msg --

To: Nat
From: Mel
Date: 1 March 2009

Can you make daddy a hat?
He's wearing a neckwarmer on his head.

FO :: Fingerless Mitts

2009-02-28T08:20:00.001-05:00

Much like everybody else, I've been on a bit of a fingerless mitt kick. If you haven't knit one yet, stop reading and go find a pattern or two. I find my snowboarding jacket a bit too short in the arm, so my fingerless mitts keep my wrists warm. I also love that they allow me to do things like change the song on my ipod and juggle my keys, dog leash, house keys and bag when I leave the house. It's extra warmth in the winter and they will be handy when the weather eventually turns milder.

I knit a pair for R, for myself and I was supposed to knit a pair for Mel and one for her man. Somehow it ended up being TWO for Mel and zip for her BF. I was already working on the Evangeline one for her and in picking out the pattern for G, she fell in love with the Toasty one too. (I am currently working on a pair for him)

::Details::
My second time doing this pattern. It's a great pattern and I love the finished results but I've decided that I'm just not a fan of cabling. Might have something to do with the three mitts in the picture.
Pattern: Evangeline :: here ::
Yarn: Cascade 220
Colourway: #8452 - summer sky heathers
Needles: US #7

Modifications: Yes, you do see three mitts there. I was 99% done the pair when I realized I made TWO...that's right... TWO left mitts. That was a neat moment in my life. OY. I never intend to revisit that feeling any time soon, but likely will since I'm inclined to do things like this often. But I am happy to report that one skein of Cascade 220 will yield three mitts... just not two full pairs. So if you or anybody else wants a mismatched left Evangeline mitt, let me know. I also did 12 rows of ribbing at the bottom, three pattern repeats, then the thumb hole, three pattern repeats and then about 15 rows of ribbing which will fold back.

:: Details ::
I did make a matching cowl and gave that to my dad for Christmas. Unfortunately there are no pictures and I recently saw my dad using the cowl as a headband instead.
Pattern: Maine Morning Mitts :: here ::
Yarn: Manos Del Uruguay
Needle: US #7

Modifications: My standard modification for fingerless mitt patterns. Extra ribbing (in pattern) at the top so that it can cover R's finger tips. He can fold it back if he needs to.

::Details::
Great pattern!! I can see why it's been so popular. It's super simple and basic. The cream one is for my sister and the grey one is mine. I'll likely do a few more of these.

Pattern: Toasty :: here ::
Yarn: Noro Cash Iroha in cream/natural and JoSharp SilkRoad DK in grey tweed
Needle: US #7

Modifications: None!

Now off to finish another pair!

My Office Sitcom

2009-02-26T14:23:00.005-05:00

There is this work-study student that helps out in my office. She's probably around 22 or 23 years old. In a sitcom, she'd be the bored receptionist filing her nails at her desk making random comments to a cued laugh track. Oh wait. That's her, in life, and the laugh track is ME.

English is clearly her second language but that's not the issue I have with her. It all started when she mistook me for another work-study student when I first came to work at the office. What irks me the most is her habit of putting her foot in her mouth WITHOUT REALIZING IT. I know. I know. You can argue that perhaps she does realize it. But I can tell you, she either has an excellent self-deluding mechanism or she has mastered the art of a complete mental check-out by 9 a.m. in the morning.

Yes.. I judge. Harshly, perhaps. But with lots of humour.

She definitely feels an affinity towards me because we're both asian. During Chinese New Year, she brought in some dumplings and I brought in some egg rolls. She said she knew *I* was the person who brought in the egg rolls because I was the only asian person in the office. The other work study student piped up "Hey! I'm south asian!" True.

Nobody seems to know what we are paying this girl to do in the office. Everytime I see her she's checking her email, doing homework, eating her lunch, playing on Instant Messenger or emailing from her yahoo account. To be fair, maybe she hasn't learned to seek out some work to do.

Although, I do know that she thinks she's supposed to get the mail. I was coming into the office from a meeting the other day and she was going down to the mail room. Suddenly, she stopped dead in her tracks when she saw me. Then rushed up in a panic to see what I was holding in my arms - which happened to be my notepad.

"DID YOU GET THE MAIL?"

"whaa-? no"

"Okay. I'll get the mail"

"Sure."

[end scene - camera focuses on N muttering under her breath - fade to commerical]

Today, she caught me knitting in the lunch room.

W: Oh!! I know how to... to...

Me: Knit? Crochet? Knit?!

W: Yes

Me: Cool

W: Are you making a ....a SOCK?!

Me: Yep. What do you knit?

W: Just scarves. But I forget how to start.

Me: You can look on the internet for instructions.

W: But it's so confusing to just look at pictures. Did your mom teach you?

Me: No, I learned through books and the internet.

W: Oh. I thought your mom teach you.

Me: No, she doesn't knit much. There are videos on the internet, you know.

W: Really? You can just search for them?

Me: Yep. If you need a refresher on anything.

W: Are you knitting for your kids?

Me: No. I don't have any kids.

W: You don't?! I thought you were married!

Me: Nope.

W: I thought someone said you had a husband!!

(She couldn't have been more confused than if I had told her I wasn't chinese. She was that sure of things. It was making her clutch her head in surprise)

Me: Husband. Boyfriend. They use it interchangeably around here.

W: Oh. *thinks for a minute* You're too young to have kids.

Me: No, not really. I'm older than I look. But my boyfriend is still in school and we're not ready to have kids right now.

W: Oh. So are you going to have kids in two years?

Me: *wondering where she got "two" from* Probably not.

W: NEVER?! FOREVER?!

Me: Not (never) forever..but just not in the immediate future.

W: How long have you been together?

Me: Five years. *still laughing at "never? forever?*

W: WOWOWowww. That's a long time. *in all seriousness* You should go see that movie "He's just not that into you!!"

Me: *narrowly holding in a snort* Oh, is that a good movie?

W: Yes! It has a lot of stars! My favourite is Jennifer Aniston. Her boyfriend and her are together for seven years and her friends tell her that he's not into her. So she goes home and asks him if he wants to marry her and he says no. Even though, they are the perfect couple.

Me: Do they realize in the end that her friends put her through some drama that is meaningless and that a piece of paper doesn't mean any more than what they already have?

*insert silence*

W: They get back together at the end because he proposes.

Me: Thought so.

W: It was so nice and sweet how he proposes.

Me: Aww. Sounds nice.

W: There's lots of good stuff in the movie. They talk a lot about guys and their bullshit.

Me: Yeah, there's no way I can get my boyfriend to see that movie. He hates stuff like that.

W: No.You should go see the movie with your girlfriends.

And the kicker...

W: It will make you think.

On an entirely unrelated note, I swear somebody told me that her contract with us ended two and a half weeks ago . . .

Mexican Fiesta Baby Shower

2009-02-23T18:57:00.013-05:00

Here are some highlights from the latest baby shower I worked on for the past few weeks.

The mommy-to-be is R's sister and we're super excited to meet the new baby who is due sometime next month. Wanna know a great way to give my parent's a simultaneous aneurism? Excitedly announce at the dinner table that R and I are going to be aunt and uncle. Deep silence ensued while my parents worked that one out in their heads. For that long, agonizing moment, they forgot that R had a sister.

The theme was a Mexican Fiesta and I volunteered to take care of the favours and decorations for the party. No way was I going to be responsible for poisoning a guest list of 60 people. I work much better with glue and paper.

Originally, we were going to do a jungle theme because the momma wants to decorate the baby room as such. However, I stupidly thought that I would find more stuff going with a fiesta theme. Newp. Michael's had jungle wall decals with parachuting monkeys, safari felt shapes, animal wood shapes, plastic animal figures - you name it. Monkeys everywhere. Do you think I could find a sombrero or chili pepper lights in London? Ha! I bitched to everybody who would listen how much I missed having easy lunchtime access to Kensington Market and Chinatown. At times like these, I even miss IKEA. As it turns out, a good friend of mine called a dozen places in Toronto trying to source out these tacky things only to find out that they no longer stock chili pepper lights because these are not CSA approved. It was difficult, but I had to let go of the obsession.

My first brainstorm was to buy a bunch of mini cactuses as favours. Unfortunately, they're not really in season and they cost at least $2.50 to $2.99 each. Totally not in my budget for the number of people coming. Then I thought of doing up packages of salsa/hot sauce, mojito mix or spicy popcorn mix... but I didn't want to go to all the trouble and expense if people were going to just let it sit in their cupboards. I decided to go to a local nursery to check out their selection of cacti and succulents anyways and I ended up having the epiphany that I'd been waiting for. I love when I have these!

I knew that I wanted to make mini pinatas weeks ago, hence all the balloons that got blown up. So I spent (you really don't want to know how many) hours making tissue paper pinata bases.

[Tip:: I used 2 parts glue to 1 part water. The thicker it was, the faster it dried. If it was too watery, it just ripped the tissue paper. Believe me, you don't have time for the tissue paper to rip and get stuck to everything except the balloon.]

Here's the packaged product. After 45 balloon pinatas, I realized I left the opening way too big to close up with tissue paper alone. But I needed it that big in order to get everything inside. You better believe that at three in the morning, I was not happy when I realized this. After a significant amount of stewing, I let go of my initial ideas and improvised. I'm really happy with the finished display.

I varied the colours based on the tissue paper I had on hand. There really wasn't a specific colour theme again. I've discovered that I can't pick one or three colours and go with it. At least, this time around I just wanted everything to be colourfull and it worked well with the theme of a fiesta.

Wanna see the goods inside? I know you do.

At the nursery, I picked up a few packages of seeds for tomato, jalapeno and sweet pepper plants. I used a ceramic baby foot mold I picked up at Michael's to create plantable seed papers. You can also find them :: here :: I blended some paper in our blender with water, strained it and plopped the mess on top of the mold. I layered on about 7 or 8 seeds. Then plopped another layer of paper mess on top. (Plopping is a very key technique. I'm not even kidding - if you don't plop it on the mold in one lump, it won't bind when it dries.) Then, I pressed the water out with a sponge and dried it with my embossing gun. Ideally, I should have just let it sit and dry before taking it out of the mold but I didn't have the time. I have no idea if the seeds will germinate now that they've been blasted with concentrated heat for two minutes. Oh well. I never said I had a green thumb.

Lastly, I packaged up some potting soil and placed it in one of those biodegradable pots that can be planted when you're ready to transfer the plant outside. I included planting & harvesting instructions and a recipe for either a tomato salsa, jalapeno salsa or greek salad. While I was gluing the recipes to the card stock, I realized I should have typed up a recipe for some sort of sweet pepper mexican dish. Too late. Aish. Greek Salad...seriously, what was I thinking?

Other side projects included :

Mexican Mustaches as an ice breaker for the party guests. I LOVE these.

*R and my dad indulging my whimsy*

Turning a Curious George pinata into Jorge the Curious Mexican.

Felt garland.

Succulents wrapped in tissue paper for room accents.

A baby name banner.

Fake flowers on colourful tea towels for a more festive feel.

And I finished the blanket...

I can't wait to do another fiesta themed shower. Pinatas are awesome. They're especially awesome when you crush them with your hands and the glue-y paper crackles while it crunches. It's better than popping bubble wrap.

Weaving in Time.

2009-02-17T08:55:00.001-05:00

I'm not a weaving machine. I take things slow and easy. I fuss and scrutinize over the selvedge edge. I don't even get into a rhythm. I just do a few rows and then wander away. Come back. Do another couple of rows. Wander away.

It's very therapeutic.

I was amazed when I realized this weekend that I"m almost done. (And also in time for this to be gifted to its recipient. When does that happen in knitting for me? Never.)

Is it bad that I'm already thinking about getting a second loom? A different, smaller one - a rigid heddle for those of you who are familiar with looms.

As soon as he reads that sentence, R's going to wave the property tax bill at me.

I can tell.

Dog Love

2009-02-14T10:35:00.003-05:00

I wanted to add some dog love to all of the cute valentine's crafts I've been seeing all week in my blog reader. Don't forget to hug and kiss your pets today! (and everyday!). If everybody had a dog as a teacher - we'd all be better people for it. We'd learn to love more, play more, run more, sleep more, dance more and appreciate the simple things in life...more.

Here is my adapted recipe for PeanutButter and Apple cookies. You should make a batch for the pooch in your life. (Although, I actually had to divvy up this batch so that R wouldn't eat them all. He covers it with honey and eats three before you blink.)

This recipe doesn't seem to require exact measurements. I barely measure. The best thing about baking for dogs is that they'll eat just about anything (or at least, mine do) so you really can't mess up.

1 1/2 cups - whole wheat flour
2 or 3 generous spoonfuls of wheat germ (optional)
1/2 cup - all purpose flour
1 tablespoon - baking powder
1 generous cup - all natural peanut butter (chunky or smooth - R prefers brands that contain ONLY peanuts, no added salt - so that's what I had on hand)
A few glops of all natural, no sugar added, applesauce
3/4 cup - skim milk
honey
cookie cutter in the shape of your choice

Preheat oven to 400F.

1. Mix dry ingredients together in a medium bowl
2. Mix peanut butter and milk together in another bowl. Work it with a fork until it's all smooth. It will get there. Add the generous glops of applesauce to the wet mixture and mix it up again.
3. Pour the wet stuff into the dry stuff and mix.
4. Get your hands in there and knead until it forms a dough. It doesn't take too long.
5. On a floured surface, spread out dough and roll out until it's about 1/4" thick. I don't own a rolling pin, so I used a water bottle. It worked.
6. Using your cookie cutter, cut out the shapes and plop them onto a foil lined baking sheet.
7. Drizzle with honey. Use as much or as little as you want.

Depending on your oven, bake for 15 - 20 minutes until golden brown and firm-ish to the touch.
Keep biscuits in the fridge. I really don't know how long they last.

* You could use more or less applesauce or grate half an apple into it, maybe add some cinnamon and R has requested that I use more peanut butter next time around.

Have a fantastic day!

Imaginative, Misinformed and Prone to Panic

2009-02-13T08:34:00.000-05:00

My sister and her BF came over for a visit this past weekend. It was awesome to see them and hang out for a bit. While we were chatting, Mel recapped a conversation she had with our dad a few years ago. I had forgotten this story and I find it hilarious so I must blog about it. Then I can forget about it and dig it up again five years from now. (Which is really the main reason why I post so much about my family - so I can remember it for later)

A few years ago, my sister was in her salsa dancing phase or "social dancing' as my parents called it. They wouldn't know what "clubbing" meant even if it hit them over the head with a strobe light. My sister was taking salsa lessons and my dad was concerned about the partnering situation.

At one point in time, my mom used to take a lot of "line dancing" classes. I always thought my parents were just really into country music (my dad and his "Shan-ya Twane" cds) but then after I accompanied them to a class, it turned out that they learn all the ballroom dances - waltz, cha cha, salsa etc. - without partners. They line up in multiple rows all facing the instructor at the front. Then she would do a few moves and repeat as necessary. The class would mimic the instructor and eventually, they'd have a whole routine - but without actual partners.

My parents didn't think anything of Mel's salsa lessons until they found out that she wasn't in fact, line dancing. Nope. She was actually practicing in a class (read: seedy underground club) with a partner. There was touching of another human being involved. Imagine that!

And he did.

Initially, he was worried about Mel getting AIDS from holding hands with strangers. *snort*

I'll wait until you stop laughing.

Okay?

I wouldn't even say he was worried. It was something he just tossed out of his mouth without really thinking about it. Mel, of course, scoffed at this.

Perhaps my dad felt that my sister dismissed this notion a little too lightly - or perhaps he just really wanted to impart a sense of caution about the situation she was putting herself in - or more likely, get her to quit and try a new hobby (ie. line dancing).

Dad: You have to be careful. There might be sexual predators in the class.

Mel: Oh. (I think she may have been a bit shocked by his sudden use of the word "sexual". I know I was.) Well, sometimes you don't get partnered with a guy. It depends.

Dad: What do you mean?

(At this point, Mel thought she was in the clear. End conversation. Move on.)

Mel: The class isn't split evenly. You can get partnered with whomever. It could be a girl.

Mel clearly hadn't considered all the possibilities of danger and it really was of huge importance to him that we avoid "complex" (one of his favourite words of all time) situations , so he bellowed at her:

"There could be LESBIAN SEXUAL PREDATORS!!!!!!!"

Quite likely - the best, most unexpected, punch line that he's ever come up with.

Let me also not forget that when I was 17, my mom told me that you can get breast cancer from having sex.

Little One

2009-02-10T22:46:00.002-05:00

Dayna :: Hound Mix

5.5 mths old

Adopted through ARF Ontario :: here ::

This is Why I Need 34 Hour Days

2009-02-09T21:10:00.002-05:00

...well, one of the many reasons why...

Yes. Empty Bobbins. I must remedy that. Unfortunately, there is that human weakness of needing to sleep. Maybe I should consider focusing my energies on bending the time/space continuum first and then everything else.

After a week of sanding and staining (and sanding and staining and varnishing and sanding) and finishing - she's finally ready to go! I was so antsy to get her set up that it was almost torturous waiting between coats to dry and having to layer on yet another coat. By Sunday morning I had some spare time because I was up so flippin' early (details to come later) so I was able to sit down and assemble her. It only took me about 15 minutes to put her together. Ironically, I only managed something like 10 minutes of actual spinning this weekend. And now she sits... waiting patiently...

Gratuitous shot just because I think she's pretty.

Make: S75 Double Treadle - Louet
Details: stained in "Varathane - Walnut" - I used the gel stain (which I highly recommend - super easy and not that messy) - finished in Varathane - Diamond Polyurethane semi gloss.

Just when you think you've got it all figured out.

2009-02-08T12:39:00.002-05:00

Dear Nori;

Life as you know it will never be the same again.

love,
Mama

::Edited to add::

*wink*

Sisterhood of Crafts with Vices

2009-02-03T20:06:00.013-05:00

I had a crafty retreat this past weekend with a few girlfriends. No structure. Just lots of food, movies, girly chatter, and sangria fueling our inspiration. I rearranged my basement workshop and absolutely loved having people over using the space. I normally spend my weekends working on some project or another, so it was awesome having these quirky gals over for the company. I was joined on Friday night by blogless Heather, Inge, Sue and blogless Laura.

Unfortunately, I didn't get the camera out fast enough to capture Friday night's orgy of crafting and eating. I was too excited. From what I recall, I was speaking in exclamation points all night and it was one giant Show 'N Tell. As I was laying out the smorgasboard of food, Inge made sangria. Hello! I think it needs to become a dietary staple around here.

For the most part, I just fluttered around checking things out. There were scrapbooking magazines to flip through, cool gadgets and doo-dads to inspect and lots of catching up with people. It was therapeutic just being able to share, trade ideas, laugh and talk. The girls discovered my 1" button press early on and it got a steady workout during the night. About the only thing I really accomplished was turning a heel on a sock and part of this secret project for later. I almost squeezed my brains through my ears trying to get these blown up:

Nori had no idea why I was doing this, or really, WHAT I was doing... and it kept freaking her out. Balloons are evidently yet another thing on her black list of "EXTREME DANGER. FIGHT OR FLIGHT".

On Saturday, the group dwindled down to just me, Inge and Heather. I was completely overstimulated, as Heather pointed out, and didn't get much sleep...but WHO CARES? I didn't get out of my pajamas until it was time for dinner. After a monster breakfast, I decided my brains could handle additional trauma and spent the rest of the weekend staining my new toy. Inge and Heather would periodically call out to ensure that I hadn't passed out from inhaling all the toxic fumes. (Sneak peek!! I'm almost done!!!)

Inge was a power house scrapbooking ninja and was really close to accomplishing her goal of 20 scrapbook pages. Here she is working on a starbucks travel mug insert. Super cute! Besides the importance of sangria and bellinis in our daily life, Inge also imparted this bit of wisdom: "Everything looks better with a little glitter." Very key. In turn, Inge discovered hot water bottles at 3am.

Heather finished a whack of cards which were her goal for the weekend. (Sorry, H! I didn't get a picture of them!) We finally got ourselves mobilized on Saturday night and headed to the mall for some dinner. The shopping got thrown in at the last minute while we waited for our table at Milestones. The girls tried on some clothes and shoes while I embraced my inner "crotchety old lady" and tried to restrain myself from laying the smack down on some teenagers. In cahoots with Heather, Inge's hubby, discovered where we were going for dinner and ordered us a bottle of wine to celebrate Inge's birthday. We also ordered a round of bellinis to start us off which almost finished me off for the rest of the evening due to the overwhelming brain freeze I suffered after my first enthusiastic slurp.

And as for R...he was a saint as usual. After everybody left, we had this enlightening conversation:

R: Do you know what the most expensive thing is about having a bunch of girls over?

N: No, what?

R: Toilet paper.

When I first moved in with R, he once tactfully asked me how many squares of toilet paper I used because he couldn't believe how fast we were (read: I was) going through his TP stash. Up until that point, it never occurred to me to count. I think I said "4".

As R has also pointed out many times now... I lied.

You might as well just put a bullet through my head

2009-01-29T10:18:00.004-05:00

My parents and my sis are in Vancouver for a few days. The last time they went away, they brought back some souvenir-Chicago yarn for me. I thought I could put in a request for some souvenir-Vancouver yarn this time around.

------Original Message------

From: Natalie
To: Mel
Subject: Three Bags Full (if you guys happen to walk past it!)

three bags full knit shop
4458 main Street, vancouver, bc
canada v5v 3r3
604-874-wool (9665)

hours
monday-saturday 11-6 (closed tuesdays)
sunday 12-5

If they have Malabrigo Worsted Weight - see if you can pick up one skein of Pearl (white) or Olive and something in a colour you'd like for a cowl.

And a skein of Cascade 220 in a colour you think C and S will like.

------Original Message------

To: Natalie
From: Melinda
Subject: Re: Three Bags Full (if you guys happen to walk past it!)

Mom refuses to buy you more yarn hahaha

Simple Something

2009-01-28T12:30:00.001-05:00

I needed to make myself something that would hold threads and scraps of fibre that I would otherwise brush off my lap and onto the floor. I've been meaning to sew a thread catcher but haven't had the chance yet.

This weekend, I grabbed a jar I had handy and it did the trick. I just happened to have some rub-on transfers in my stash so I thought I'd spiff up my new thread holder. It was instant magic and now I want to use rub-ons on everything. There's a sex joke in there somewhere.

Email me if you don't have the supplies handy and I can put together a kit for you.
You'll want to rub-on everything in sight too.

Tết Nguyên Đán!!

2009-01-27T15:39:00.001-05:00

"Tết" is the Vietnamese New Year which seems to get overshadowed by Chinese New Year every year. So I thought I'd give a shout-out to my viet roots by association.

This year, we missed out on the usual family festivities which was mainly a big family dinner. My parents said that there were some lucky money envelopes for us (also including Nori!) which is always welcome. Hilariously, most of our relatives are confused by the lack of protocol for our living-in-sin cohabitation. As you may not recall from a previous post :: here ::, lucky money is given to all the unmarried people in the family. This year, there was definitely some etiquette issues cropping up about whether I was eligible to receive lucky money envelopes at Christmas - complicated by the fact that my relatives can't keep my name differentiated from my sister's name.

| Rewind to Christmas 2008 |

Uncle T has just given out all the presents and red envelopes.

Aunt Anna: Did you give out my lai-see*? (*cantonese for lucky money packets)

Uncle T: *starts patting his chest pockets to see if he missed any* Yes, I think so!

Aunt Anna: Are you sure? I didn't get thanked by Melinda.

Uncle T: Hey!

I turn around

Uncle T: *struggles for a bit to make the word come out* Wing-yee**!! How come you didn't thank Auntie Anna??

{** MY chinese name is "wing yee". My sister's chinese name is "wing sum"}

I immediately looked over and said "Thank you, Auntie Anna!!" Just figuring that we had to keep thanking people because we hadn't hit our quota. It's something we were frequently told to do as children.

"Did you thank your auntie or uncle?" Yes.
Thank them again so I can hear it and they can see that I have well-behaved, obedient children!

It's the same thing with hellos. If we ever entered a restaurant before our parents, we would say hello to everybody there.... Our parents would then come in and ask us if we said hello. Even if we said yes, we had to greet everybody all over again. Then everybody would pretend that we hadn't JUST said hello and marvel at what well-behaved, obedient (robotic) children we were. Try doing this as a teenager without rolling your eyes.

Okay, rant over.... back to Christmas...

I couldn't help but notice Auntie Anna giving Uncle T a LOOK to shut him up while I was trying to thank her, but it was too late. He had everybody's attention - especially mine. He said that Auntie Anna gave us lucky money but we didn't thank her for it. (*HORRORS*)I checked my pile of lucky envelopes and didn't see one from Auntie Anna. Mel didn't either. Uncle T suggested that she go check to make sure that she didn't leave them somewhere. She finds the one for Mel in her purse immediately; then runs upstairs and disappears for a few minutes and comes back to give me one too.

Clearly, she thought I had outgrown my lucky money status but was coerced into giving me one anyways thanks to diplomatic Uncle T.

Awwwkwaarrd.

But ...prosperous.

Which reminds me, I checked out my horoscope to see how people born in the Year of the Snake fared in the Year of the Ox. Nothing exciting. Pretty much the usual sort of non-committal blather about not tipping the balance either way or risk angering the luck gods in career, health, money and love. (Apparently the top four things to be concerned about in life.) Last year wasn't supposed to be that great, but it turned out awesome. I think this year is predicted to be a good one for Snakes since I haven't received a panicked call from my mom about carrying jade charms to ward off evil spirits and bad luck.

Good. Because I've got plans and things to do.

My dad sent me this email yesterday. It made me laugh at the end because it reminded me of the phone messages he used to leave on our machines.

~~~~
Hi Natalie,

It is good. Learn as much as you can. Be sure you know the system well... I am sure you will.

Dinner was very good. We missed you all. We will make it up when you are in Toronto.

See you soon when we are back from Vancouver trip.

Happy the Year of OX. "GONG HEI FAT CHOI"

Love, Dad & Mom
(Kevin & Lucy Wong)*

~~~~

*Yes, he put their names in brackets under "Dad & Mom". Yes, I changed their real names.

FO :: Winter Ready Hat

2009-01-24T19:29:00.006-05:00

I have been meaning to post some knitting FO's lately. This is one of the few that I managed to take a picture of before it was gifted.

::Details::

Pattern: Free pattern from Jared Flood - Turn A Square Hat :: here ::
Yarn: Cascade 220 (Oatmeal colour) and Noro Silk Garden - Ermmm...colours, i lost the tag! It was a dark blue, turquoise, green, chartreuse-y colourway. I only used the blue bit of it. Still a good half of the ball left.
Needles: US #6 - 16" circs and US #7-16" circs

Modifications: None. It was a fast and easy pattern to whip up just before Christmas. If you need a great hat pattern, I totally recommend this one!

Comments: R finds it a bit itchy but super warm. At some point, I need to do a lining on the inside for him. It's already well-loved and well-worn, but seems to be holding up okay.

Sorry, I would make this post more interesting but I'm a bit brain dead. Case in point: This morning, I woke up thinking "two babies = twins, three babies = triplets, five babies = quintuplets... four babes....um... four babies....quartlets??" Clearly, not fluent in english without coffee or R's help (he had to fill in the blank).

If you can't find something to worry about - Stress about this.

2009-01-21T18:55:00.009-05:00

I've discovered my OCD. It's not cleaning (*insert pause for audible snort*- y'all know it'll never be cleaning), it's not popping bubble wrap, it's not even knitting "just one more row". Evidently, it's warping my loom.

Technically, it's threading heddles and sleying reeds. And yes... it is as violent as it sounds. To my eyes. They better invent a seeing-eye dog who can do this for me when I'm 80. However, this isn't the cause for concern. (I've spent hours squinting at ginormous budget spreadsheets at work and did more damage to my eyes in two years than in four years of undergrad. This is nothing.) After a few hours fussing with the warp; trying to get the tension even - simultaneously trying to figure out how this loom works - I was ready to thread the heddles.

It only took me a few hours to go from this:

To this:

Yessiree! That's over 400 threads! One through each of those little metal loops in a specific order according to pattern. After I was about halfway over, I realized I was left heavy. And nope, wasn't worried about that either. I just figured out how to remove the extra heddles on the left side of the loom on each of the harnesses. Probably wasn't supposed to do it that way, but oh well. Call me smug.

Once the threads were through the heddles, each and every one of them had to go through one of these little spaces in the reed. I had a special hook that would catch the thread and help me pull it through. My OCD? I couldn't just do one thread and leave it. Nope. I was compelled to sit there and keep going until my bladder was making major threats about emptying itself on the spot and my blood sugar dropped to the point where my hands were shaking and I couldn't effectively use them to thread anymore.

Seriously, I was so obsessed with doing this over the weekend, I completely neglected everything. If it weren't for R having people over, I probably wouldn't have bathed my person either. I stumbled into the netherworld of warping looms and I LOVED it. Thankfully, R understood and just let me WALLOW in it. He helped me when I needed another pair of hands. He walked Nori without me. He celebrated my successes and listened when I needed to think out loud. This couldn't have happened without him.

My beginner class was fantastic and everything she showed me how to do on a table loom, translated into how I would work a floor loom. But there are still significant differences that I needed to figure out by myself. All in all, I'm happy I didn't end up with the world's largest knot on my hands. But that wasn't the worrisome part either.

On Monday, my sister and I had this conversation over our blackberry's.

Mel: Mom and dad were SO worried that you bought yourself a loom. For some reason. They're so weird. haha

N: What? What did they say?

Mel: Nothing. They just asked about whether that loom was YOURS and if you bought one. In that stupid, panicked way of theirs.

N: I don't get it.

Mel: Yeah, maybe that's just their natural panicked faces.

Now really, what could they possibly come up with to freak out about? They already know I'm living in sin and they've got their coping mechanism in place for that. What else is there?

Just for fun - and to make sure my parents KNEW what a "loom" actually was and what it was FOR... I sent them a picture of it and all my dad said was:

"It is neat. Did you set it up?"

OY.

On an unrelated note, this is how the spinning went! My first skein!

What on earth is he talking about?

2009-01-20T13:24:00.003-05:00

------Original Message------
From: Daddy
To: Natalie
Subject: Freezing Rain in The Afternoon

Hi,

Freezing rain in the afternoon. Be careful. Check theweathernetwork for detail.

Dad

------Original Message------
From: Natalie
To: Daddy
Subject: Re: Freezing Rain in The Afternoon

It's fine over here. The weather is good right now.

-----Original Message-----
From: Daddy
To: Natalie
Subject: Re: Freezing Rain in The Afternoon

looking good. The storm stalked is following you with 2 hours gap.

Dad

It said feeling good and doing good job.

My craft area smells like barn

2009-01-14T18:23:00.003-05:00

Part of my spinning class homework was taking home a hunk of raw fleece in a bag and wash it.

The former sheep of my current fleece seems to have liked to:

a) poop
b) roll in mud
c) roll in hay
d) all of the above

Hands DOWN this is the least fun part of spinning.

I would take a picture of it soaking but I don't want to make anybody puke.

Excuse me, while I go gag.

Love As The Fur Flies

2009-01-07T20:03:00.004-05:00

Every day...

We strive...

To be...

Her best friend.

(Even though I did throw my sock at her at 3am this morning because she woke us up for the 3rd time ....cleaning herself.)

Neurons firing too rapidly for my body to respond

2009-01-03T21:46:00.004-05:00

Right hand trying to pinch the wool. Left hand trying to supply the wool. Right hand forgetting to pinch.

Crap.

Right foot trying to keep the wheel going. Left foot trying to help the right foot, but succeeding only in completely opposing it.

Crap.

Oh yeah.... I TOTALLY suck at this....

....but wow, it's addicting.

Holiday Photos

2009-01-02T11:35:00.007-05:00

Happy New Year!

If I ruled the universe, we would have the entire month of December off from work to get ready for the holidays. Although, I suppose then that the entire month would be a holiday and the chaos would just get pushed back six weeks. Anyways, if it were up to me, I'd spend December baking, crafting, shopping, decorating, visiting friends and family, singing carols, walking in the park with R and Nori, and hanging out by the fireplace.

But since a lot of that had to happen in a compressed amount of time, I'm just catching up with myself in 2009. You know me, late for everything. Unfortunately, I didn't manage to take any good pictures of the presents I made for people, so you'll just have to take my word for it that they turned out awesome.

At some point between 1am and 2am on some unknown date pre-Christmas, I decided I really needed to make a felt circle garland. So I made three.

I knit a little elf hat on the hopes that some little elves who needed clothes would come along and be so grateful that they would stay and help me with the stuff I had to do. No luck.

We never did get our Christmas Tree this year and we even failed in our attempt to get one at a boxing day sale simply because we couldn't bear the thought of going out and facing the crowds. I made some ornaments anyways and hung them up for fun. I love them so much, I might just keep them up year round.

We didn't get to hang up stocking on our mantles either, but I did manage to decorate them a little. My new red sequined tree and Seussical-like elf hat make me smile every time I see them. I don't want to put these away EITHER. I kinda like this festive feel to the living room.

...and then there's my lopsided little wool tree. I need to make him some new friends this year.

I'm super excited for all the crafting possibilities this year. I was thinking of making a goals list but decided I'd rather not pressure myself with something like that. So ... I'm just going to wing it and find joy in what I do manage to create this year. What's next? Not entirely sure yet... but that's the fun part.

What passes for romance & intelligent conversation around here

2008-12-16T15:04:00.002-05:00

"You are my laaadyyy. And I am your maannn. You are my laaadyyy. And I am your maannn. You are my laaadyyy. And I am your maannn. You are my laaadyyy. And I am your maannn."

Sung like the spawn of a never-ending "TickleMeElmo" and a tone deaf, robotic-Celine Dion on crack.

N: *screams* You're going to make me HOMOCIDAL!!!

R: HOMO-CIDAL!?! *laughs and points*

N: *falls down laughing* How do you say the real word?

R: ho - MI - cidal.

N: YES. THAT.

R: "You are my laaadyyy. And I am your maannn. You are my laaadyyy. And I am your maannn. You are my laaadyyy. And I am your maannn. You are my laaadyyy. And I am your maannn."

N: *screams*

In our own little world

2008-12-14T20:00:00.005-05:00

Preserved a little bit of the greenery outside before the ground froze and the snow fell.

It's so easy to let time swoop by and run us over. This is just another reminder to myself that spring will come again soon, to slow down ....and enjoy.

Savouring

2008-12-11T18:45:00.005-05:00

I've been trying to embrace the quiet moments. My days are busy with lots of noise and a constant stream of information flowing in and out. The silence between the words is what I've been craving. December should be enjoyed and not full to the brim of oppressing obligations. Lately, I've been trying to wrap up 2008 as much as possible and allowing myself to let go of things that I just won't have time to do.

We're adjusting well to Life in the new city. The snow is beautiful and we haven't tired of it. Even bought that shovel finally - notice the singularity in that. I should probably get another one before R dumps a pile of snow down the back of my neck as retribution. The house is cold despite what our gas bill says so I've been gravitating towards warm blankets, thick socks and heavy sweaters. I'm trying for a (mostly) handmade Christmas and to simplify the gifts this year. I don't know why I always feel like I have to get people more than one prezzie. Partly, it's fun for me because I usually have a few ideas of what people will like, but it's not necessary as R will remind me.

Nori is having an awesome time. She's still puppy-like whenever we go out to the park and there's snow for her to burrow into. She never minds the cold and is still going into the river no matter what the temperature is. Evidently, Elkhound paws are immune to frostbite. Just today, she found the remains of some small animal skull and decided that it would be good to roll on top of it. Repeatedly. Yum.

Nori has a new friend who lives across the street. This is Tango. So incredibly lovable and placid. Their favourite thing to do is taking toys away from each other. In this picture, Tango is practicing his highly effective "I'm taller than you" evasive maneuver.

I picked up a new hobby and now I'm in danger of falling down another dark path to complement it. (I've been bitten by the spinning bug! Good lord. I'm in trouble.) These are my beginner coasters and were woven on a LeClerc Dorothy Table Loom. I'm currently debating whether to purchase the table loom or to just go with a 36" floor loom which I can get at an incredible deal.

I've made six wonky coasters (unintentionally, of varying sizes) as my beginner project and now I'm working on a matching table runner. Learning how to weave has been a fantastic experience. I can't wait to explore this more in 2009 with different textiles, materials and projects.

I'm such a sucker for a new hobby.

We haven't even bought a shovel yet...

2008-10-29T10:33:00.013-04:00

5:00pm :: Walking home. Cold. Wet. Miserable. Major ugh.

6:30pm :: Walking Nori. Savouring the peace and solitude of the ravine. Small chunky flakes start to fall onto the Thames River. Ignore screams of the three girls smoking weed up ahead on the trail.

7:00pm :: Watching Nori run circles around a baying hound as huge chunky flakes start to fall. Laugh at her antics.

7:30pm :: Make dinner. Look outside kitchen window and say to self "I can't believe it's snowing!"

11:00pm :: Take Nori out for a pee. Say to self, "I can't believe it's STILL snowing!"

12:00pm :: Go to bed.

12:30pm :: Wonder how the pond is doing and whether we should be worried about the sump pump.

1:00am :: Say to self, "SHIT...the pond is still going. Oh well" Try to fall back asleep.

1:30am :: Power goes out.

1:32am :: Power comes back on.

2:30am :: Hear big crash. Raise head. See Nori raise head. R is snoring. Try to go back to sleep. Say to self, "I guess the sump pump emptied itself out? Maybe?"

2:45am :: Trying to sleep. Worry about the sump pump and envision dire consequences of flooding in the basement due to sump pump and the pond.

3:00am :: Can't sleep. Haul self out of bed to check things out. Walk past the kitchen window and think to self, "Wow. It's STILL snowing!"

3:01am :: Basement seems fine. Smells fishy but that's just Nori following me around (evidently she rolled in something disgusting on our walk).

3:03am :: Walk past the kitchen window and think to self, "Did we have that many leaves covering our window before?" (Realization that I'm incredibly vapid when thinking to myself. No need to be profound.)

3:05am :: Open the front door. Say out loud: "HO. LY. SHIT."

3:20a.m. :: After discussing situation with R, go outside to investigate damage. Investigation hampered by minimal vision due to wet snow falling on glasses.

3:22a.m. :: Spend a few moments appreciating the beauty of the moment.

3:23a.m. :: Walk out from under our tree.

3:24a.m. :: Watch branch fall right where I was standing moments before.

3:25a.m. :: Nori goes to inspect branch. Decide that it's too dangerous for us to be standing outside. Note that more branches have fallen on the wires connecting our house to the main hydro line. Feel concern.

3:26a.m. :: Unplug the pond. Appears to be fine.

3:45a.m. :: After reading the City of London website and learning about the local weed bylaws and lawn infractions, R convinces me to call the police. Call Non-emergency police hotline. Discuss with woman why she thought my call to her was pointless.

3:50a.m. :: Email pictures to co-workers and notify them I'll be late in the morning...with good reason.

3:55a.m. :: Power goes out

8:00a.m. :: Wake up. It's still snowing. View carnage and note that Nori's stick supply has managed to replenish itself.

We were going to get a pumpkin tonight and carve it. But unless, we figure out how to get that tree removed, we may not be participating in Hallowe'en this year.

R and I laughed this morning about how one of the big selling points for us to move to this house were the old trees in the neighbourhood. The destruction around us is incredible.

We lucked out though. *crosses fingers* A coworker told me that her friend had a tree fall on BOTH of the cars parked in her driveway. Oh.

I was just informed that the sump pump is completely independent of the pond.

oh.

Pointless worrying? Check.

Popping In

2008-10-21T23:16:00.006-04:00

I've lapsed into another blog silence by accident. Just busy settling into our new life here in a different city. It's been fun adjusting. There's been a lot of:

Unpacking
Exploring
Reorganizing
Meeting of the neighbours
Remembering to take the garbage out to the curb.
Not being able to sleep because you're wondering if the raccoons are going to throw your garbage around the street in anger because all they've found is empty soup cans and unwanted take out menus.
Debating whether or not we should rake the leaves because everybody else on our street has.
Deciding that the novelty of raking leaves has quickly lost its appeal seeing as the trees are still shedding and give up after making five neat piles in the backyard. (Note that after five minutes, piles have disappeared)
Ploughing down students on my way to work because clearly, my body is still programmed to walk at mach five toronto commuter pace.
Screaming at every single spider I see and scaring the be-jaysus out of Nori.

So ya know. The usual.

Anyways, hope you're enjoying the fall weather! We certainly are.

These days, R studies... while Nori tries to help him procrastinate

We've been enjoying our walks a lot more since Nori's been off leash for almost two months now. She's definitely enjoying this freedom to run and explore, but she's also become more obedient as a result. It's SO awesome. She continues her personal mission to destroy sticks, but you can't win them all. A girl has to have a few vices.

I haven't been doing much knitting these last few weeks but I have been collecting acorn caps.... cute, huh?

Things are good. (Miss ya!)

Everything Nice

2008-09-22T12:21:00.005-04:00

Along with "Sugar and Spice", comes a little bit of gluttony and a bombardment of those things which are considered cute and sweet. Thought I'd share a few of the decorations that I put together for a baby shower we had on Friday night. As always, I prefer creating decorations that can be reused by the mommy-to-be at a later time. I may or may not have gotten slightly carried away with this candy theme.

The washcloth lollipops were incredibly fun to make. Not an original idea of mine, but I figured out how to put it together on my own after seeing a few online. I used two washcloths, a baby spoon and some cellophane and curling ribbon. Love the way they turned out!

I purchased glass baby bottles and filled them with candy. Gumballs worked the best and I thought they looked the cutest.

We put candy necklaces around the wine glasses to carry on the theme.

More washcloth lolli's and a receiving blanket to make a decorative focal point.

I rolled washcloths and placed them in paper muffin cups with a bit of ribbon. They were supposed to be cupcakes but it didn't quite work out that way. They just ended up being weird petit-fours, so I went with it. I also rolled receiving blankets with cellophane to create giant colourful "candies".

Lastly, there were my swiss rolls! I rolled brown facecloths with white onesies to create these. I love how they turned out even though people weren't entirely sure WHAT they were called.

Unfortunately, I was stuck working with a lot of pink. A shade which, if it was on your face, you'd want to blot out with a lot of concealer. I didn't necessarily want to have a pink party. They just don't make girl stuff in awesome colours like cranberry red, deep blues, rich greens, warm oranges and chocolate browns. No. Pink it was. Unless you wanted to be stuck with sickly yellow, underbelly of a fish-green and washed-out blues as alternatives.

Dear Baby Designers:

There ARE other colours in the spectrum. Just wanted to put it out there.

Thank you.

They do this to themselves

2008-09-17T10:51:00.003-04:00

First there was the text messages.

Then there was the emails.

Then the missed phone calls and the voicemails.

When I finally picked up the phone, I got:

Dad: THE CENTRE OF IKE WILL BE HERE IN TWO HOURS!!

Me: I know, you already told me

Dad: Natalie?!!!!
(He TOTALLY forgot who he was calling to warn about the impending wrath of Ike)

Me: Yes. You called ME. Why are you screaming?

Dad: WHERE ARE YOU?

Me: Just about to get on the train in London.

Dad: You're in LONDON?

Me: Yes.

Dad: Oh. London. Okay. I thought you were in Toronto.

Me: I will be.

Dad: You better be careful, eh? The Centre of Ike will be here soon.

Me: I'll be fine.

Dad: No. It will be very windy.

Me: I'll be fine. Stop worrying. I'll call you when I'm in.

Dad: Okay.

*click*

Two seconds later I got a text message from my sister.

I just talked to dad. He kept saying "the centre of ike will be here in two hours!!"
Shut up about the centre of ike already. Holy ass.

New Stomping Grounds

2008-09-11T11:18:00.003-04:00

Meet PRINCESS WUSS when it comes to her initial encounter with the wet stuff.

Eventually, she got it over it. Clearly this one does not need wellies for wading. Although, she refuses to swim. That's pretty much about as deep as she goes.

After about two minutes, she decided that this was her kingdom and she had ownership on the river and all of its surrounding property.

~~~~
To: Nat

From: Risto

She puked at 6:30. Poor girl, probably something from the park last night.

"Hey! What is this? Better eat it to be safe."

Will somebody please pass the morphine?

2008-09-09T10:59:00.013-04:00

Since I can't seem to will myself to forget this ever happened, I'm hoping that the more people I tell, the more it will numb the memory and I'll stop cringing every time I think of it. Here's the dish....

The Wednesday before the Big Move, R and I ran around the city. We went to the lawyer, to get more crates for his records and then over to our parent's houses. I spent a few hours at my parent's place digging stuff out of the basement. I unearthed quite a few old gems from my university days and stuff that had been packed away before R and I first moved in together. At one point, I came across a book I received from some old roommates back in the day.

*circa summer of 2002*

Many years ago, when I lived with these two chickies, they gave me this book:

Yes. "The Complete Idiot's Guide to the Kama Sutra"

It was a gag gift. Clearly, I had packed it away and forgotten about it. So when I came across the book, I figured I should take it with me rather than risk discovery at the hands of my parents and I added it to my pile of stuff to take with me to London. Eventually, I moved the pile to the middle of the basement to lug upstairs and pack.

My parents came home with a friend and I surfaced to say hi. My dad went down to the basement to look for a tv antennae (don't ask) and I followed him a few minutes later to continue digging out more of my crap. I was at one end of the basement, when my dad started to head back upstairs and I heard him go:

"Oooh, what's this? The Complete Idiot's..."

Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!

I sprang across the room and said: "WHAT?!". My first instinct was to distract him. If I could have, I would have chucked something at his head.

I tried to be as casual as possible, but it likely came out extremely screechy. Plus, the way I leapt across boxes and came to a skidding stop next to him, was in complete contradiction to any sort of attempt at innocence or normalcy.

Shit. Fuck.
The complete idiot that I am, I somehow managed to put the book on TOP of the pile of stuff. There was just no way I could calmly snatch it out of his hands before he...

My dad opened the book. HE. OPENED. THE. GODDAMN. BOOK.

Then he said "Oh."

He closed the book, put it down and went upstairs. He might have mumbled something. I can't remember. At that point, I collapsed and damn-near sold my soul for a chance to erase what he just saw.

Are you flippin' kidding me?

As a family, we do not speak of such things. My parents happily go through life in denial and delusion. They will only let themselve think about whether Mel and I have enough food to sustain ourselves in the event of Armageddon. They enjoy deliberating whether the one dozen apples, four cans of soup, eight cobs of corn and bag of rice they gave us will be enough to last until they can see us again in a few days.

Now..

Sweet Mother of Murphy....

I just hope that he will be able to go back to thinking that R and I will be sleeping in separate rooms in London.

First Day of School

2008-09-08T10:22:00.001-04:00

Looking out from my office kitchen window a few weeks ago, I saw many excited first year med students lining up for their orientation packages. First year students look younger and weenier every year. Frosh Week on college & university campuses are always a bit of an adjustment after the quiet of the summer session. Campus is crawling with a sea of girls who don't know the meaning of "back-fat" yet, and boys who have yet to see the dull-side of a razor.

As I was making my coffee, I was first reminded of the day we moved my sister into residence at McMaster and then thought about my first day at UGuelph.

At UGuelph, my parents pulled up in front of my new residence. There was a huge hoard of upper year students cheering and waiting for the frosh to arrive. The moment we parked, they separated me from my parents and one person took me through the registration process. By the time I came back, that same hoard of students had opened the trunk, unloaded the car and all of my stuff was waiting for me in my new room being watched over by my parents. Because really, there was nothing for them to do. They were at a loss. For once, they couldn't be helpful and all they could do was smother me with really trite advice. It was the first of many times where my parents were no longer needed to hold my hand. They're still adjusting to that.

My sister's move-in day was a bit different. McMaster didn't have those helpful volunteers so my parents felt a bit better being able to move all of my sister's stuff into her new room by themselves. Although, guess who got stuck carrying my sister's new bar fridge? Aish. Afterwards, my sister went off to do her registration thing and my parents finished puttering and fussing in her room. After a few moments of useless rearranging, I think my dad was at a loss for something else to do and really feeling a need to contribute more to making my sister feel loved.

He disappeared.

My sister and I were standing outside her new building, when my dad reappeared with a strange girl in tow. He brought her over to us and then left immediately to go find my mom. He didn't introduce her. He just showed her to us. Mel and I are both social enough that we extended our hellos right away. I think we both just assumed that he had managed to find my sister's new roommate.

No. No.

Nothing like that.

Turns out, she wasn't Mel's new roomate.

Nope, she was just some random girl he came across,decided to bring over and shove towards his daughter. Evidently, he felt that Mel needed a new friend. Imagine what he'll do when it comes to finding Mel a husband.

(I never was very clear on how he managed to convince that girl to follow him. Clearly not one for street smarts. I don't think Mel and that girl ever developed any lasting friendship either.)

~~~~

For those of you who don't know yet, R has decided to go back to school for a second undergrad degree at Western. We're super excited. We spent the Labour Day weekend making the move to London and settling into our new home. That's a blog on its own.

When I toured the UWestern campus over the weekend with my parents, frosh students were moving in and upper year students were hyped up in colourful outfits. The really enthusiastic ones dyed themselves from head to toe in blue or purple. I was sure my parents would have some sort of comment about that. It's quite the sight seeing purple people walking around.

Nope. All my mom really wanted to point out to us:

"Look! A bus!"

They still have it in their heads that we've moved to some hole in the ground, in the middle of nowhere, 10 gazillion miles away from civilization. My dad and I also keep having conversations like this:

Dad: Are you going to Guelph this weekend?

Me: No.

Dad: No?!?!?!

Me: I'm going to London.

(I love doing that to him)

~~~~
So yes, I went to London this weekend. Took the train back to Toronto last night. This long distance relationship thing really sucks. R and I have been practically inseparable for the past five years.

However, R is starting his first full week of classes today and I can't be more happy for him.

He'll be the really hairy-looking, studious one. At the front of the class.