Peer Pressure

1. Do you like blue cheese? No
2. Have you ever smoked? No... my allergies have a fit if I get near cigarette smoke
3. Do you own a gun? Nope
4. What flavor of Kool-Aid was your favorite? Tropical Punch
5. Do you get nervous before a doctor appointment? Only if a needle will be involved
6. What do you think of hot dogs? They're good wrapped up in a tortilla with a little bit of cheddar cheese and nuked in the microwave
7. Favorite Christmas movie? How the Grinch Stole Christmas

8. What do you prefer to drink in the morning? Tea, preferably caffeinated
9. Can you do push ups? I can lower myself down from the plank position in yoga--is that close enough?
10. What's your favorite piece of jewelry? My "Sweet Sixteen" emerald ring from my parents
11. Favorite hobby? knitting
12. Do you have A.D.D.? I didn't when I was younger... oh, look at the squirrel!
13. What's one trait you dislike about yourself? My ability to become an incredibly unpleasant person when I am tired, hungry, or stressed (avoid me if I'm all three...)
14. Middle name? Jeanette
15. Name 3 thoughts at this exact moment.
a. My hands are cold.
b. Is my cell phone done charging yet?
c. Maybe I should play some Dr. Mario when I'm done with this...
16. Name 3 beverages you regularly drink? Water, Tea, Apple Juice
17. Current worry: Am I ever going to be healthy again?
18. Favorite place to be? Curled up on the couch watching movies with Dave
19. Who will you bring in the New Year with? See above ;-)
20. Where would you like to go? Puerto Rico
21. Name three people who will complete this? HistoryDiva and LibraryDiva already did, and Julie doesn't post very often, so I have no idea
22. Do you own slippers? Yes, but I usually run around in socks instead
23. What color is your shirt? Maroon
24. Do you like sleeping on satin sheets? I prefer cotton sheets
25. Can you whistle? Not very well
26. Would you be a pirate? Only if they all looked like Johnny Depp and Orlando Bloom

27. What songs do you sing in the shower? I rarely sing in the shower
28. Favorite Girl's Name? Susanna Inez
29. Favorite boy's name? Samuel Benjamin
30. What's in your pocket right now? No pockets right now
31. Last thing that made you laugh? Playing with my friend's two foster daughters
32. Best bed sheets as a child? They were always boring solid colors like blue or yellow
33. Worst injury you've ever had? I fell backwards out of a shopping cart when I was 3 years old and cracked my skull
34. Do you love where you live? Yes!
35. How many TV's do you have in your house? 2
36. Who is your loudest friend? On the phone it is definitely Melba... good thing she doesn't read my blog!
37. How many dogs do you have? I have a brother dog (Ralph) and two niece puppies (Booger and Layla), but sadly, I do not have a dog of my own.
38. Does someone have a crush on you? Does it count if I'm already dating him? :-D
39. What is your favorite book? The Neverending Story
40. What is your favorite candy? Jelly Bellys (except for the black ones)
41. What is your favorite sports team? Team USA in the Olympics
42. What song do you want played at your funeral? Haven't thought that far ahead...

The Morning Before

'Twas the morning before Christmas
And all through her home
Karen was attempting to knit
And (at the same time) think up this poem...

These presents for the ladies at Mencom only needed to have ends woven in, so I did manage to finish them (though they didn't get washed...)

This isn't even close to the 18" needed to finish Dave's hat (see picture in book for model).

Mom's tote bag is only about 2" long, and Mary's scarf hasn't even been started, so these will be wrapped up for them (needles & all). At least I'll have something to do after all of the presents are opened tomorrow!

Ah, my pretty tree... and look at all the presents! Pretty amazing considering that I live alone!

Christmas in Diva-stan

LibraryDiva and HistoryDiva model their striped Christmas scarves (HD picked up the yarn from a dollar store in West Virginia) and their new hand-knit dishrags. LD has a box stitch and a moss stitch dishcloth; HD has two embossed daisy dishcloths modified from a Creative Knitting pattern (May 2008 issue).

Mistoffelees snuggles up to the box of my new serving bakeware from HD.

Truffle guards the Christmas tree with her laser vision.

A Humble Gathering

When I first left teaching, I became the leader of the Young Adult group at my local parish. A year ago, I decided to switch to a church closer to my new home. I started to miss the community at my old church, and have recently started going back there for Mass and renewing my old friendships. To this end, I offered my home for the "Humble Hearts" young adult group Christmas party.


My friend B is a foster mother. The crab puppet was just one of the many fun toys we used to entertain her girls.

Garfield: "You have a party, and all I get is a crust of bread? For shame! I'm going back up to bed!"

What Lies Beneath

I am hosting the Christmas party for young adult group from church tonight. In an effort to create more space for socializing, I turned the couch so that it is not longer a divider between the living room and dining room.

I was planning to vacuum, but I didn't count on it being a necessity. Left behind at the foot of the former resting place of the couch was a line of hundreds of dead potato bugs. I do not understand why these roly poly insects decided that they must enter my house and die, but they did, and apparently under the couch was a faorite spot to do so.

This is almost as insane as the ladybug invasion when I shared an apartment with HistoryDiva...

Caller 14!

This past Saturday I was actually in the mood to clean house, so I donned my workout clothes and began the rounds. In order to motivate myself, I turned the radio on both upstairs and downstairs so I could listen wherever I was currently working.

My favorite radio station, 104.7 The Fish, was giving away tickets to Cirque Dreams (the American version of Cirque du Soleil). I was folding my laundry when the ticket window opened, so I figured why not call in? To my surprise, the phone started ringing instead of going directly to the busy signal. When someone answered, telling me that I was caller 14 and that I had just won tickets, I was a bit shocked. When they played back my reaction on the radio, there were a lot of Really?s and No way!s and other assorted exclamations of astonishment.

So now I have a date with my daddy to see Cirque Dreams at the end of the month!

From the Cirque Dreams Jungle Fantasy website:

Direct from Broadway, CIRQUE DREAMS JUNGLE FANTASY is an exotic encounter inspired by nature’s unpredictable creations that are brought to life by an international cast of 25 soaring aerialists, spine-bending contortionists, acrobats, jugglers and musicians.

The astounding feats performed in this action packed Cirque Dream are enhanced with over 150 spectacular costumes and set in a fantastical jungle ignited by striking visual effects. From the breathtaking aerial ballet of butterflies to the balancing giraffes, gigantic flowers and trees, this world-class explosion of athleticism, theatre and imagination will exhilarate and entertain audiences of all ages.

Fetch!

All Layla wants for Christmas is a fetching machine !

Thanks to Layla's mama for this hillarious PeoplePets article!

What the Dog Brought Home...

I had seen this forwarded around before, but had not blogged about it till now. Isn't the beagle cute? It looks just like Ralph! Oh, and the fawn is cute, too...

A fawn followed this beagle home -- right through the doggie door -- in the Bittinger, MD area. The owner came home to find the visitor had made himself right at home. This hit the 6 o'clock news big time!

Thank you for forwarding, LibraryDiva!

Tis The Season

The weekend after Thanksgiving, I trudged upstairs to the attic to bring down all of the Christmas decorations. That same weekend, I started feeling a little under the weather. I managed to get the Nativity scene set up (no baby Jesus till Christmas...), but that was about it for the weekend.


During the week, I started to feel worse--coughing fits, constant nose-blowing, and a general feeling of "ick." All I got accomplished on the decorating front was unpacking all of the ornaments and piling them on my dining room table.

After taking two sick days at the end of the week, I finally broke down and went to see the doctor. The diagnosis: I had walking pneumonia!

The good news was that the prescription meds would have me feeling much better much quicker! So this past Sunday, I was finally able to finish setting up the Christmas tree.

I fluffed all of the wiry artificial branches, then added the lights. Finally, all of the ornaments which had been adorning the table were tranferred to the tree. Ta-da! It's officially my second Christmastime in my house...

Hamsters in Space

Yes, I save random cute pictures of hamsters that I find online. Remember, I'm the H.O.P.S.F. (Hamster Owning Patrick Stewart Fan), so this is acceptable behavior...

EARLY YEARS OF HAMSTER SPACE TRAVEL

FIRST HAMMIE SPACE FLIGHT

DEVELOPMENT OF SPACE WEAPONS

SOMETHING GOES WRONG

THE HAMMIE POPULATION REACTS

Let It Snow!

It's the first snow of the season! I feel like I've been working inside of a snow globe all day. Check out the view from my windows...

FRONT WINDOW

SIDE WINDOW

Look! A Squirrel!

As an alumni of Alpha Gamma Delta, I am easily distracted when I find random squirrels...

Just Julie

A picture is worth a thousand words...

I can't say too much, though. I've got my own OCD tendencies...

Cooties

Happy Friday Eve! Here's a funny video to entertain you...

Best Friends & Baby Sisters

This is dedicated to my best friend and her husband. They dated for eight years before they got married. My youngest sister and her boyfriend are trying to match that--they have five years so far!


I should probably email the person who created this graph and tell them it should be 4+ years at the top of the timeline (with an arrow to infinity) if you start dating in your teens...

A Heavy Load

Foster had an interesting drive to work today. He had to pick up a bunch of stuff from the printer and then drive on back roads all the way here so that nothing would go flying. The pile of boxed paper and envelopes was taller than me, and the poor truck was practically scraping its tail on the ground.

We managed to get everything in rather quickly, but now I'm worried that the trailer floor might give out under all of the weight. Foster says that if a tornado comes through, at least the trailer will be too heavy to blow away!

Darth Vader

Here are a pair of Star Wars funnies to brighten your Monday!

Why I Don't Have A Cat

Well, the allergies have something to do with it, too...

My First Thrashers Game

I was expecting a quiet Sunday evening of laundry and catching up on my stack of DVDs from the library. Instead, I get a phone call from Dave with the offer of a ticket to the Thrashers game. He wants to convert me into a hockey fan, and I don't think it's going to be too difficult...

Zambonis are so cool!

A tricycle race--on ice!

I had to get at least one pic of the actual game...

Happy Halloween!

Ralph would like to wish everyone a very happy Halloween and requests that you bring him any Skittles or jelly beans you may acquire. He has even come up with a few costumes with a little help from his *loving* family.

How's the reception for the DirectTV, Ralphie?

Who ordered the beagle martini?

I know it's almost cruel to make fun of my poor brother dog, but I even had Dad laughing at these pictures!

Happiness

This would be Layla if it was a ball in her mouth...

"True happiness consists not in the multitude of friends, but in their worth and choice."

Ben Johnson

Dear Abby

DEAR ABBY: "Curious in the Sunbelt" (July 16) asked you if it was inconsiderate to knit or crochet while attending a meeting or other gathering. (You said it was.) While it may seem that someone can't give undivided attention to a speaker while doing something with his/her hands, that person might have Attention Deficit Disorder or be a "kinesthetic" learner. While most people absorb information through seeing and hearing, some actually need to keep their hands occupied in order to listen. Literature on "multiple intelligences" and other learning theories support this view -- and as a former classroom teacher and current psychotherapist, I have personal experience about this reality. As long as the individual is quiet and not terribly distracting, consider this behavior a better alternative than constant fidgeting. -- JAELLINE JAFFE, Ph.D., SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA

DEAR DR. JAFFE: Thank you for your professional expertise regarding learning theories. I also heard from a pilot who knits while flying an airplane and a woman who pointed out that if knitting was good enough for Eleanor Roosevelt during United Nations Security Council meetings, it was good enough for her. Most readers agreed that if the individual is not disruptive to others, then what's the harm? I stand corrected.

Famous Fox 5 Photographs

After posting the Fall photographs I took at work to this blog, I submitted my two favorites to the Fox 5 online album. The next morning, I received the following email...

Thank you for posting your picture to our online gallery. We're planning on using it on the air this afternoon (Thursday) around 6:30, during main weather. Thanks again.

I squealed, then proceeded to email everyone that I have an address for in the Atlanta area. Here are some of the words of praise for the two photographs I submitted:

• That’s great Karen--hopefully I can catch it! --K.R.
  
• Way to go, Karen. This is terrific. --D.W.


• Great work Karen! Those pictures look amazing! --A.J.


• Thanks Karen! What a good idea... --J.A.
  
• Kudos… the photos are fantastic. Great work. --C.E.


• Very cool. I like the picture of the lake the best! --G.B.


• Wow. Your photos are beautiful and what an honor to be selected! --C.N.


• That is SO cool! Wow! That lake one is GORGEOUS! That is frame-worthy! --M.S.


• Wow! What great pictures! --J.W.


• CONGRATS!!!!!! Both pictures are beautiful. --J.A.


• They’re both beautiful shots. Congratulations! --S.S.


• Very cool :):) --J.M.


• Wow! Both are just beautiful – maybe they will use both! --M.B.


• Sweet, you'll have to tell me which one they use. --D.S.


• Awesome! --M.P.


• Wow…pretty nice Karen… --P.P.


• OOOh Exciting! You're camera is famous!! :) Congrats! --M.B.


• Ooh, Karen - nice work! I see photography in your future! --H.D.


• Wow! cool beans! --J.P.


• Those are awesome pics:) --J.K.


• Cool! Which one did they use? I didn't see the email until it was too late to watch! --R.J.


• Wow, really pretty! --K.V.


• That is totally awesome! I'm sorry I missed it... --A.H.

For the record, they did chose the second photograph with the fall colors reflecting off of the misty morning lake.

Fall Colors

How awesome is it that I get views like this at work?