let the moving begin

OK so I have begun moving things to my new place. I took two loads over yesterday and 4 loads over today. I drive a small car and I haven't cleaned out my trunk so they have been small loads so far. I moved a piece of furniture over today.
The painters are still working on it so I feel a little limited in what I can bring over just yet because I do not want to be in the way.
I have to set daily goals of what I want to move so that I can be sure to get everything done. So I think tomorrow I will move some boxes and my coffee table.

visions of knitting dance in my head

Last night I had visions of all the scarves I was going to finish with four hours of uninterupted knitting time. I was baby sitting but the kids were supposed to be in bed by the time I got there.
This was not the case and in the changing of the guard I had two pretty awake kids on my hands at 10:30.
It was kind of shocking to me that two baby sitters couldn't get at least one of the kids in bed especially since one goes to bed earlier than the other one.
I got the littlest one to sleep pretty quickly and then was watching a movie with the 4 year old. I thought I would pull out the knitting then since the Land Before Time doesn't really require all of my attention. Wow was he ever facinated with the yarn. I knit probably about 5-10 rows the whole night with 10.5 needles and eyelash yarn. Oh well.
But on the positive side I am very close to finishing my Raggedy Ann cross stitch. It is the outlining phase and then I will be done. In time for Christmas.

packing

So I have today off, well so far I haven't been called for any temp assignments, so I am working on packing.
The packing has been going well so far. I am still trying to get rid of stuff. It has been really easy for me to get rid of my dolls and pez and stuff but now I am trying to get rid of books. Getting rid of books is a much harder thing for me to do. I feel more connected to them so it is harder for me to part with them. I lived by a Barnes and Noble for a couple years so I have a lot of books. Fortunately I found living in the city that I am closer to the library than I am to a Barnes and Noble.
Sometimes the libraby is kind of tough because you might have to wait for a long time until the book becomes available. That is another reason that I have a lot of books, because when it comes to what I want to read I don't always want to wait for weeks on end.
Now I am trying to decide which books I am willing to part with.

Job for a day

OK so I love taking on little random temporary assignments and gigs. I mean sometimes by the end of the day I am so glad that the job of the day is not my regular full time life. Other gigs I am like OK that was kind of cool.
I like my regular job but it leaves a lot of free hours sometimes and they happen to be the hours that most of the rest of the world is working. This leaves me thinking ah-ha I should be using this free time to make a little extra money. Especially with the condo buying. I guess it is kind of scary to give up all that money that I saved up over the last year. Even if it is for that purpose because I thought I would have longer to save and would have more money.
I was going through stuff last week and I realized how much useless stuff I collect. Anyway the really great thing about moving is the opportunity to go through and look at some of my little collections and decide to get rid of them or keep them. The dolls are going, as are the pez dispensers and those will hopefully be followed by the happy meal toys. I don't have a lot of anything of these things and so that is why I think it is best to get rid of them now when I want the money.

Holiday cards

This is one of the shots that I was hoping would be on my holiday card. Lucy looks kind of mad in this one so I am buying boxed cards as back up. I haven't given up on the idea that the cats should do a holiday card together but I can't wait until it is convenient for them either because that may take a while.
I can't wait until we start Secret Santa at work. I have a while to wait since I don't think it starts until 2 weeks before Christmas so you do 2 weeks of little gifts and clues and then at the end you do one big gift.
At work we also adopt a family. Everyone kicks in some money and we split it up between the family members. Some people make scarves and blankets too. One of the best things is when we all get together to wrap the presents. It is so amazing to see everyone wrapping presents and assembling bikes. It is no wonder that Santa does what he does cause all that giving and wrapping and joy really makes you feel good.

Felines Navidad 

project freeze

OK I am very proud of myself. I resisted the temptation to buy more yarn even though it was on sale. This is kind of hard to do cause I have all this babysitting money burning a hole in my pocket.
But I decided that the babysitting money has to be spent on me even if it just means putting it in the bank so that I have more money later down the road. Peace of mind when it comes to money is a great gift to give oneself.
I saw what I am going to make my reletives in NY. Well I think but I am not sure. There is this really cute fabric and I thought about making something for their cabins out of this fabric. But then they would get matching gifts and I don't want there to be any tension. But hey my sister and I got matching gifts all the time when we were kids so it really is the thought that counts.
I've been getting rid of everything I can think of on ebay these past couple weeks. I'll do anything not to have to move some of this stuff. Plus I hold on to way to much stuff and I need to cleanse and simplify.

scarves

The great thing about being addicted to making scarves is that I will have plenty of presents for people this year.
It isn't that I don't like to spend money on people. Buying yarn is spending money. I would rather give something that comes from me and that is useful.
The past couple years I have been giving PJ pants. This year it is going to be scarves and armbands.
I stock up on candles from Melaleuca throughout the year and those make good little gifts for people too. The only problem is that sometimes I get them and they smell so yummers that I forget that I bought them to give to people or at least to have on hand just in case I need a quick gift for someone.
I bought a first birthday present for my friend's baby and then realized that the bath time stuff I got him might not be right for his age. So instead I got him one of those soft squishy books. He is totally into board books so I might be on the lookout for one of those. I also think that all my friends with babys need the book I Love You Forever. I don't think that I Love You Forever comes in board book form.

Hola Gato

Hola gato 

This hat looks like a sombrero and it only took me a couple days to realize that it was the perfect sized sombrero for Snoop.
The plumber came and fixed my toilet and so that is a wonderful thing. Now I know how my cats feel when I change the litter box.
My scarf that I made and was pictured in an earlier post has gotten so many comments. I think cause it is so bright it really can't be missed.

A huge mess

Yesterday when I got home from work my bathroom had been flooding for five hours. There was water in my apartment, in the apartment below me and in the basement. I got to bed at like 1 am after cleaning my place, my neighbor's place and the basement. Now I'm just hanging out waiting for the plumber.
So this is the hat that I knit. I just kind of made it up and it is my first hat. It is kind of entertaining because it looks like a sombrero when it is sitting on a flat surface but when I wear it on my head it looks more like knit hat.


my knit sombrero 

Poor baby

Last night Lucy got stuck in the closet for maybe a half hour. She zoomed in when I wasn't looking and I closed the door. I went to bed ans she never came to bed. I heard her meow but I thought she was hunting her toy mouse or something. Then her meows got really quiet and I knew she was in trouble. I looked in the hallways first and finally looked in the closet. Poor kitty girl. But she is OK now.

my first hat

I finished my Jiffy Scarf and I decided today that what I need is a Jiffy hat. I started trying to make one up but I realized that I may have started it out too small. I've only knit two rows so it will not be hard to frog and start over.

Because I sew I am used to following patterns. I wouldn't just cut out something that looks like a collar I would use a pattern piece to make the collar or make up a pattern piece but I wouldn't just be free form or anything. I think that sewing has made me more of a pattern follower when it comes to knitting. I'll knit something from a pattern before I'll just sort of make something up.
I realized that it doesn't have to be like that with knitting. For some reason the simple act of tying fringe to the end of my new jiffy scarf made me realize this. It was like "cool I did my own thing, I added my own fringe rock on." Now I feel kind of like not always following a pattern but sort of making up my own things more.

I guess the intrasia in the armbands is sort of like making up my own pattern but I know how to do those so it isn't like blindly going into the adventure of making a hat.

There hasn't really been much time for me to blog this week. I have been so busy that on Monday night I just came home and crashed.
I am meeting with different realtors today. Today I am really thinking about the condo thing. Mostly cause there are some condos nearby where I already am and then I can stay close to where I am. I am kind of concerned that if I buy a house that I will have to buy a house in north Minneapolis and it won't matter what I tell my friends from the suburbs if I find something cute and on a nice street they won't come visit cause it is in North.
I only say this cause none of my friends who live in the suburbs have come to see the apartment I live in now.
There are some cute condos in my neighborhood so I am kind of thinking about those.

Adventures in House Hunting

I met with a realtor yesterday and we looked at a couple places during my break. There is this single family one bedroom home in an awesome neighborhood and it could work except that it slants. It seemed like there were places where it seemed to dramatically slant. I figure I can rip up the smelly carpet and stuff like that but with the slant I'm just not sure. But it had an awesome front yard and a deck all the way around the house.
I need to think about it some more and make the decision about what is most important to me. I love my neighborhood and I am close to my friends and I love being able to walk to coffee and have independent businesses around me.
I am trying to take all of my hours spent watching Home Makeover and use that when I look at houses but I want to make sure that after I make my mortage payment every month I can still afford buy paint or whatever to make my house a home.

I started a scarf with the Jiffy Quick and Thick. It is totally cute. It was inspired by Melinda's Quick and Thick scarf. I was giving her a refresher course on how to cast on and knit and stuff and I realized that I was not done with the Jiffy Quick and Thick yarn. So I started a new scarf. My socks are still sitting unfinished but they are coming along nicely.
I noticed a two person stitch and bitch going on at my coffee shop last weekend and they were there today too. I thought about bringing the fixings for my sister's arm bands but I didn't. Mostly cause I'll have enough time to knit today and I want to make my project last.
And then there is Raggedy Ann who seemed to be staring at me with her button eyes yesterday saying "Work on me, Christmas is coming soon." So I did a little work on her too. I got one color finished on her.

Long Tall Snoop

Snoop has not been the featured cat here in a couple days. Yesterday his front half was sitting in Lucy's cat bed and his back half had no chance of being in. This doesn't work cause Snoop is the size of her. Snoop's cat bed is extra large.

"I said 'extra tall cat bed, extra tall'" 

Lucy's Jiffy cat bed

OK here it is. After months of waiting and being jealous of Snoop's cat bed Lucy has her own cat bed. Hers is really cute.
I will defenitly be making some scarves out of this.
I may even make one for myself but that means replacing the mustard colored scarf that Brook gave me years ago. It is my favorite because it never gets lost. I have lost numerous scarves over the years but this one has stuck with me like glue.

Lucy's new cat bed 

Approved

I actually got approved for a home loan. So now I need to try to decide on a real estate person.
I am a little confused about the mathematics that actually think that I can afford the mortgage payments. I think I may need to see what I can do at that level to get my payments lower or shop at a lower level. I mean it shows my credit card, student loan and car loan but it doesn't show stuff like how much I pay for health insurance or whatever. Let me tell you that there will be no "fun money" in my account if I get a house.
Lucy's cat bed will be done tonight so I will post pictures of that tomorrow.
For those lucky enough to be on a snail mail list there are some cute Halloween cards coming your way with a kitty that looks like Lucy would look if she would wear a witch has and sit on a pumpkin, she won't so these card will have to do.
OK off to job number 2

In a Jiffy

Oh how I love the Lion Brand Yarn Jiffy Quick and Thick. I have knit up the bottom of Lucy's cat bed in no time at all. Now all I have to do is the walls of the cat bed and then Lucy will have her own bed. I think I may have to buy more of this for Christmas presents.
It is so fabulous to knit with the thick yarn and the huge needles finish things so quickly. I have found my new fix, being such a results oriented knitter and being so eager to share my knitting with all my friends and family. It is so great that it knits up in such a Jiffy. Ok yeah I'm a geek.
Now it is cold both cats have joined me in my bed. They have totally taken over the part of the bed where I like to sleep and are pushing me over to the side without the feather pillows. And they are not sleeping by my feet where but by my torso and head so that I end up moving over to the side of the bed with the less desireable pillows. There really is only one remedy to this problem and that is to buy more feather pillows.
I spent most of yesterday working on my Raggedy Ann cross stitch for my friends mom. With the weather being so cold it is a reminder that Rocktober is just two short months away from Christmas which means I have to finish this cross stitch. She looks more like Raggedy Ann and less like a possessed rag doll because I made a point to fill in her eyes. I like to work by color, trying to get one color out of the way at a time. The current color is blue.


lucy checking out her cat bed 

Real estate

So the price of houses is just high enough that I can not actually afford to buy a house in a place where I would want to live. I tried to do some math but then realized that I forgot to figure in the fact that "the man" would take a portion of my income so that buying might not be a realistic option. I am not sure though, I'll have to see.
But I learned that I have a rockin credit score for someone my age. This is mostly cause I couldn't get approved for anything in my college and post college years because someone stole my itendity to open a phone line. I got that removed though because how could I have had a phone number in Michigan when I lived in Iowa.

I completed a couple armbands for my friend Molly this week. They are really cool although I may take a day or two or three off from knitting just to give my hands a break.

Sexy MoFo armbands 

Lucy's bed

Even though Lucy is content to sleep on my bed and in her world it is probably me who is allowed to sleep in HER bed. I finally came up with a solution for the Lucy cat bed that doesn't involve eyelash yarn. It does involve super thick yarn and huge needles so hopefully it will knit up quick, maybe even next weekend.
For now I have to focus- on armbands. One of my coworkers is paying me to make her arm bands so that rocks. I'm down with getting money to make armbands.

Met with a mortgage person today and I have decided that I need to win the lottery. The Powerball is back down to 10 million and I did not win so I guess my higher power thinks I still have things to learn.

I hear a lot of lottery winners go bankrupt but I would like to say that I would not be one of those lottery winners. I would put it all in a bank account and just live off the interest for the rest of my life. I could do a lot on the intrest of a heafty Powerball jackpot. I did not win though so I will have to wait and see if I can prove that in my lifetime.

Busy Girl

I have been so busy that I haven't had much time to write something fun on here.
My new obsession is the thought that I should buy a house. I have to see how much I can get approved for but there is a house in my boss's hood that is super cheap. So I am hoping that the mortgage people will be like oh yeah you can afford that house. And I hope that no one else buys it before I can get approved and stuff. If I can't have that house I might be more content with a condo but I guess we will have to see.
Today I did Pilates. Also known as Pet the Snoopilates because Snoop thinks that I want to pet him whenever I am doing pilates. So it is like stretch, reach and pet the Snoop.
Pictured below is one of the wristbands I made for Brook. It says Punk. But the kind of cool thing is that someone else saw me making them and she wants to pay me to make ones that say "MoFo" on them. That is pretty cool.


Brook's "Punk" wristband 

Galactic Pizza

I saw a Galactic Pizza delivery driver today. This totally made my day. It is this pizza place but they deliver driving these cute little electric cars and wearing superhero costumes. They don't dress up as Superman or spiderman or whatever. There are their own superheroes like Galactic Girl and the Space Cowboy. I think I saw Galaticus cause whoever was driving the cute litte electric car was wearing a helmet like Galaticus does.
I got home from work today and there are those real estate locks on all of our apartments. It isn't suprisig or anything but all of the sudden I am thinking I need to sort/pack/throw away stuff. I have been slowly selling of this box of my dad's old books on ebay but now I am thinking I am ust going to have to take what I can get for them at the used bookstore because I just don't have the time to sell them right now.
Anyway I finished a pair of armbands for myself and I am going to begin working on a pair of arm bands that say "Punk" and "Rock" for my friend Brook. She is the one who gave me loads black and purple yarn that are perfect for doing that kind of thing with.
Although I am feeling this overwhelming pressure start re-packing my life up I need to sleep so I can get up and work tomorrow.

Bush is whack--- Take the White House back!
That was the best yard sign I saw in my neighborhood. I love it cause it uses the word whack. Signs that use the word whack pretty much rock. I wonder if Shrub would be able to use the word "whack" in a sentence.
So here is a cute picture of my cats. They are totally socially aware. Every morning they clean off a yogurt lid to send in to the Breast cancer foundation. There was a commercial this year when the pink Yoplait lids hit the shelves where the women were all licking off the lids of the yogurt. The commercial said something like Together we can lick breast cancer. Snoop and Lucy are totally helping the cause. They have collected more than 20 lids.

Snoop and Lucy fight breast cancer 

Laundry

My fortune from lunch today was pretty good. "You are an angel. Beware of those who collect feathers."
I have been making a little progress on my socks this week although my big project of the week has been pad stitching the lapels on these tuxedo like tap outfits.
I usually like to knit at the laundromat because I go to this no-frills laundromat. By no frills I mean no Ms. Pac Man, or touchscreen video games or TV or anything else. But of the several laundromats I have visited this one has good washers that actually get my clothes clean. I can usually get one armband done at the laundromat but today I totally forgot to bring any knitting. I didn't even bring any books about knitting so that I could read about fun projects that I want to do.

Lucy is mad

Apparently Lucy is mad. Lucy is my little girl cat who really has no problem letting me know how she is feeling.
Today she was mad so she came over while I was doing Tae Bo and pooped on this little door mat. She chose a spot just out of the way of all the Tae Bo kicking and stuff but still close enough to be right in front of me. She then hung out by her "present" for me until I noticed what she had done.
I think she is mad cause I have been working a lot and not sitting at home watching Top Model with her.
She also left one of her mouse toys in my shoes. This is a common practice when I am really busy. She finds the shoes I seem to be wearing a lot and leaves a toy mouse in them so that when I try to put on my shoes they are too small.

The other night I was taking a picture of my stargazer lily and the cats wanted to get in on all the action too so here is Snoop with the flower.


The Sweetest Snoop 

my apartment

There is so much to love about my apartment that I am just kind of hoping that my higher power kicks in so that I can stay here longer.
There is so much to love about this place. There are 13 windows and I love every one of them for their different views.
There are these 30's style arches and super high ceilings and these awesome wood beams on the ceiling in the dining room.
There is a dining room. Unlike in other apartments where you can't really tell where the dining room ends and the living room begins.
There is also a rockin little sunroom where I read and write and chill.
My kitchen also rocks. There are more cabinets than I have ever had in my life and they go up really high. I can be slightly decadant and not even use all of them. And there is this great energy in the kitchen that makes me want to cook. I have totally realized that just cause I'm single doesn't mean I have to eat TV dinners every night. That cooking for myself is a fun creative way to take care of myself.
My friend Barb said that when things change it means that you have passed a test and whatever. I have learned from this apartment that I am a total city mouse. I thought I was a suburb mouse but now that I live in the city I can't imagine moving back to one of those apartments in the suburbs that are all the same and have 4 windows in the whole place.
Also I love sidewalks and parks and biking in the city. I love my neighborhood coffee shop with its free range coffee and I have even been trying to go to church sometimes.
I also have friends in the neighborhood and I really like being close to them.
So I know that everything will work out and the process of selling will take time so I am going to enjoy every second of it.

bad news

OK so the best thing that happened to me in the past year was getting hooked up with this totally awesome apartment. My landlord rocks mostly because he has different values than the typical American values of making more money than one could ever spend in their lives. Anyway I found out today that he wants to sell the building. This sucks cause I have no desire to move. I hate moving, the only way that I wanted to move out of this place was if I was moving to a house. I don't think I can afford that just yet.
Also the low rent has been a really awesome way for me to pay off some debt and keep working in theater. I used to work every free day/evening whatever and thanks to this awesome place I have actually managed to have some days off when I am not working at two differnt theaters.
I feel like it is my fault for having a leaky roof. Like the leaky roof was the straw that broke the camel's back and now everything is going to suck.
I think the worst thing is knowing that my life is somehow going to change (moving, higher rent, whatever) but not being able to plan for it. I really like to plan for things and I like to be in control. I am not in control because this isn't really my decision. So that is how it is going to be.

Cat Bed

This isn't about a project I am currently working on or one I have just finished but it is one I look forward to seeing get used. This spring I knit up the kitty bed from the book Stitch n Bitch. The day I brought the kitty bed home was also the day that I got my dining room chairs so Snoop and Lucy were more interested in that than the cat bed.
The bed sat mostly unused for the summer. I mean really if you were a fur person would you want to sit around in fun fur/wool-ease kitty bed in the middle of summer, probably not. The weather was wacky this summer with some nights falling into the 40's and let me tell you the kitty bed was much appreciated on those chilly days and nights.
The first time I saw Snoop actually use the kitty bed I was so excited I took a picture.
I am enjoying all the warm weather that September seems to have brought us but I am also looking forward to seeing my Snoop curled up in the kitty bed in the little spot underneath the little round table.
Lucy's cat bed will require more thought since she is a hardcore mouser and she treats the balls of fun fur as giant mice. She is brutal and I have to take extra care with balls of fun fur so she doesn't "kill" them. I am not sure that a cat bed that looks like a giant mouse to her would be the thing.
So check out Snoop.

Snoop's bed 

Alternate Exit

Today at work we had to sit through an hour long training on Fire Evacuation. This is important because we work in what the fire department calls an "Assembly Venue". This includes restaurants, theaters, sports stadiums, libraries, movie theaters. Basically places where people assemble.
One of the things that happens is that all these people come in through a main entrance but in an emergency it may not be possible for everyone to leave through one entrance quickly. That is why it is important for all employees to be aware of alternate exits.
At the end of the training my friend and I got up and exited out one of the "alternate exits". Everyone else got up went out the "main entrance". Barb and I got back to work a whole two minutes faster than everyone else. In a real crisis we would totally rock and would have to lead people to safety.

The last official weekend of summer

I had the most awesome weekend. It was one of those weekends that makes you wish is was the beginning of summer with three months of warm days ahead. Those weekends at the end of summer where you feel as though you are stealing time because you have been given such awesome weather and such beautiful experiences.
I went up north with my friend Peter this weekend. We built campfires, made S'mores, rode bikes, breathed fresh air, saw all the stars you never see in the city and spent most of Saturday on the lake.
Thanks to Peter's awesome fish finder and some rockin' minnows that gave their lives for the cause, my skills with the fishing pole and Peter's quick reflexes with the net we were able to have a little fish fry on Saturday night. And I even got to take some leftovers home for my kitties.
Check out dinner in the pic below.

Catch of the day 

It's raining in my apartment

Two days ago I woke up in the wee hours of the morning and when I stepped out of bed I stepped in a puddle. I thought that was weird but was more interested in getting back to sleep before my alarm went off. When my alarm went off 45 minutes later I turned on the lights and realized that my ceiling was leaking.
Since I live on the top floor this means that the roof is probably leaking. I have no idea how the fixing of this is going. When I came home today I did not have a new ceiling so I will have to update this progress later.
On Knitting
Tomorrow is pay day and I am fighting the urge to head to the knitting store. I realized that I messed up on this blanket I was knitting and I need something to do while the blanket sits in its knitting bag and thinks about what it has done. I can't bring myself to frog the blanket cause I'm afraid I won't want to work on it again. Plus I saw stuff that I want to make more.

Sunday baking

I have been raving on about these half-moon cookies from the bakery in my mom's home town forever. I was able to get the recipie off the internet and decided that today would be the day to make them so I could share them at work tomorrow.
They have some flaws because I made them in my kitchen and not a bakery with awesome cooling racks. Also I figured out the process myself from the recipie as opposed to having it passed down to me from a seasoned bakery pro. But they look like they would be good and they have buttercream frosting on them. I'm pretty sure that I could put buttercream frosting on cardboard and people at work would not complain.
Check out their picture on the previous post.

Half moon cookies 

Just starting out on my socks. 

knitting socks

My current knitting project is socks. So far this has been a slow going process. Mostly because I have frogged them three times since I started.
Although I have been knitting for less than a year I have become somewhat results oriented. I think I just really like the feeling of satisfaction that I get from actually finishing something. This doesn't happen with my at home sewing projects- mostly because I finish enough costumes at work that it isn't really that big a thrill for me to come home and turn out a pair of pj bottoms in an evening. Knitting a cute little fun fur scarf on a Saturday gives me that.
Even though I know my sisters love getting their cute flannel PJ bottoms for Christmas knitting has also opened up a whole new realm for me as far as Christmas presents go. I'm excited because this year I can give something different than the PJ bottoms that have become so mundane to me.
As I'm knitting these socks though I am getting the feeling that I will be at this for a while. I try to keep my unfinished projects to a minimum so I am not sure what this means for the Christmas present cache.

back to work

OK so summer is over and I am back to work.
My friend Beth and I are currently working out before work everyday. We have been using the Tae Bo videos. This has provided some entertaining moments during work because sometimes when you talk about an exercise that you have done it requires you to act it out.
There are also the people who act as Billy Blank's areobics class on the tapes. The people in these videos serve as mine and Beth's virtual areobics class as well. We talk about the people we don't like, we talk about the people who are cool, and we talk about the people who do the exercises wrong.
I have been to classes at the gym but I never felt like I could talk about the people in class- mostly cause class was at 6 and at that time I'm really not up to noticing what people are doing wrong and who is cool and who isn't. I also have a tremendous respect for anyone who gets up that early to start their day doing hard core yoga. And I am bad at yoga because I'm short waisted so my body seems out of proportion to be doing some of the exercises and that keeps me from judging others. But my Tae Bo video buddies have made me miss the interaction of a real class it has become my ambition to become a little bit of a gym rat.

state fair- again

I returned to the state fair this weekend. I am actually doing everything in my power to not go one last time before it closes. Returning was actually a good thing since I missed the Fine Arts building on my first trip. This is an unexcusable oversight and is mostly due to the fact that I was consuming a food or beverage at the time we stopped at the fine arts building on the first day and they don't allow food or beverage in the fine arts building. By the time I was finished my fellow group members had seen the fine arts building. When I see the fine arts building I am amazed by the art people can make. The watercolors always impress me because of the amount of control some of the artists seem to have. I do not have nearly as much control over my watercolors as these people seem to have.
But I realize that I don't have to be a master at the fine arts because a couple buildings away from the fine arts are the creative activities. This is a category I have decided that I should begin entering. They have collecting, quilting, baking, needlepoint, latchhook, cross stitch, and my most recent skill- knitting. This gives me hope that if I never really become great at watercolor it won't matter because I will always have knitting.

The State Fair Diaries

This weekend was my annual trek to the Minnesota State Fair. My recommendation is go early, go often. We went early- 6 a.m. and were suprised to find there were still people who managed to get to MPR's Morning Show. We carried our bench to listen to Ann Reed sing songs about the state fair at about 6:45 we went in search of food on a stick.
There are some really wonderful things about the state fair. One of my favorite things is the hand outs. Like a kid at halloween I empty my state fair bag at the end of the day and count my magnets, pencils, post-its and recipies. My favorite free stuff from this year- a mini-fan from Toyota, a Spam magnet, a Camp Ebay t-shirt and (my overall favorite) a smelly thing for my car that smells like steak. Although not as useful I also got "Prince on a Stick" and "Garrison Keillor on a stick". These are fans actually made from local seed artist Lillian Colton's work.

This is me

I've wanted to do this for a while. Mostly because the most random and strange things happen in my life. I am sure that odd random things happen in other people's lives as well but perhaps not in the frequency that wierd things happen to me.
For example last spring I came home from work one night and on the stairs up to my apartment there was a baby ferret. I've never et a ferret so I was freaked out. My first thought was that someone had gotten more pet than they could handle and had dumped her in our building. The other option was that it belonged to one of my neighbors- I ruled out the little old lady who lives below me and I ruled out the lady next to me because she doesn't have pets so that left my friend Micheal. When I knocked he wasn't home. I tried to go to my apartment but everytime I came up the stairs the ferret would charge towards me. It was a little weird as I thought she would climb up me like I was a telephone pole. I finally made it to my apartment by reminding myself that I was bigger than the ferret. I also told myself that I was definitly more freaked out by the ferret than it was of me- this makes me feel safe because an animal who isn't experiencing fear is totally less likely to strike at me out of fear.
I finally made it to my apartment followed closely by the ferret. She nearly got in due to her inate ability to follow right up against my heels. She didn't get in but I wanted to make sure that she camped out in front of my neighbors door instead of mine. That way if she didn't belong to him he would have to take her in because she was outside his door and not mine. I set her up a box and water outside his door and it turns out she did belong to him.
Sadly she and her ferret friend escaped for good a couple weeks later.