Another Year in Review - 2014

Wow - 2014 was quite a year. I left New England for warmer temperatures here in North Carolina. While I will always have snow in my heart, I just don't want to deal with it underfoot any more! Plus, my dad is here, and we have a lot of catching up to do. It has been such a blessing to spend time with him and get to know my brothers and sister-in-law and niece and nephews.

And I bought a house. Never ever EVER thought I would be able to do that - have a place of my own. It's smallish but I love it and it fits me perfectly. Louie and Lucie have settled in really well, and they love the windows that look out onto their new world. The huge backyard usually has at least a few birds in it to give the catties some entertainment.

My street is surrounded by fields of cotton, sweet potatoes, soybeans, corn, even sunflowers. And the donkey is the third most popular form of transportation around here, after the car/truck and the golfcart. It's really quiet all day and at night, except when the local custom is to shoot off fireworks at all hours - 4th of July and New Year's Eve so far. And, you can see the stars  at night.

I was so lucky to be able to take my job with me here, and I work exclusively at home. My toughest commute is when I wrap my toes around the couch leg on the way into the office - which I manage to do frequently. Working at home has reduced my expenses considerably, and when you add that my mortgage is much less than rent used to be, that's icing on the cake!

A Year in Review, in a Page or Less

Wow. It has been almost a year since I last updated this blog. I think it's mostly because I can blurt out my thoughts in 140 characters or less, or perhaps a bit more, in Facebook and Twitter - and be done with it. But today, as the last day of 2010, seems to be a good time to look and forward. Just a little bit of sentimentality will pervade, I promise - and it's only the Bailey's Caramel talking.

Looking Back at 2010

It was a scary, sad year for so many, but in the end, since this is my blog, I can only look at it through my eyes and recognize that I have been so lucky. Still have a job, a home, two great kitties and a husband. Making decent $$, enough to give to others when needed. And it feels so good to be needed, doesn't it?

It's hard to see the struggles of so many others - strangers and friends alike - and not be able to do more. And since I am not of the religious sort, I can't even offer to send a prayer their way. Is trying to make them laugh a decent substitute? Hopefully. I'll always play the clown when called upon. And in small ways, I hope I helped to make life a little more pleasant for at least a few folks this year.

Lost a few people - my dad and my mother-in-law died within days of each other. They had both been dealing with health issues for a long time, and it was simply time for them to go. To be brutally honest with myself, I can't say I miss my dad - and I am more sad about that fact than the fact that he is gone. I wonder if he has been given the opportunity, wherever he is, to look back at his life and realize how much he just pissed away with all that beer. He left three very scarred children who are old enough to move on already and get over it, but I don't really think we have, yet. Maybe now that he is gone physically as well as emotionally....

A good friend has been struggling with a serious illness this year as well, and it hurts my heart to think of it. She's fighting so hard, and her family has been so strong too - she can't help but beat it. But I'm thinking there are still lots of lonely hours in hospital beds and anxious waitings for test results to get thru until she sees the end of it.

Had my own medical issues, but without going into vivid detail, my "lady bits" are behaving quite well now, and my knee is back to about 85% - I am satisfied with that!  Have had to admit that if I didn't have the problems with the knee, I would have never begun to get back to the gym and try to get rid of the excess tonnage. My doctor put me on meds for HBP and for diabetes, both of which I intend to stop by the end of 2011. Watch me melt away, nag me if I don't. Seriously.

Work has been challenging but rewarding - most of what I do is behind the scenes but I think it's appreciated. Sometimes...

Louie is thriving - what a pain in the arse he can be, but most of the time he cures what ails me. The little brat is the most lovable cat I have ever had - and since that includes Abby, that's saying something.

So what's ahead in 2011? Dunno. I can predict a lot of gym sweat, a lot of protein shakes, and hopefully, a mini-reunion with some of my college peeps in DC this October. SPA 2011 is coming up in February, of course - looking forward to several days with the fibah lovahs in Freeport, ME. Will have much to report then.

For now, peace out. Be safe tonight - if you are drinking in the New Year, don't get behind the wheel, k?

-L

Sir Louis the Handsome, at 4 months.

It's time for a fresh dose of kitty.

he thinks he's a very special boy, as you can tell from his precious little pose.

he's even a little bigger than this, now.

send him happy thoughts - he is scheduled for a certain "procedure" on Monday!

SPA 2010 is Almost Here

Just added some new entries to the NETA blog (http://netafiberforum.blogspot.com/), including one about the upcoming SPA  weekend in Freeport, ME. I am SO there.

Sleepin Around...

When he isn't doing windsprints like his arse is on fire, Louie is quite a lazy boy. And the transition from one state to the other (frenetics to coma) can be a matter of seconds.

Meet Louie, a.k.a. The Demon in Kitty Pants

If you are a FaceBook friend, you can totally ignore this post. You are probably quite sick and tired of hearing about my boy, anyway.

So for the uninitiated. Two weeks ago, Mark was going to a friend's house to get some firewood. It was a cold, rainy, raw Sunday morning. He noticed what looked like a rat on the side of the road, and then realized it was actually a kitten. A very wet, shivering, sad little kitten. He called me to ask if he should try to pick it up - dumbest question EVER!  So he got out of the truck, expecting the poor thing to bolt, but it actually started walking towards him.

Got him home, through a warm bath with some flea shampoo, and after many snuggles and some food, he settled on neck and just crashed with exhaustion.

Didn't know for sure that he was a boy until his first trip to the vet the next morning. The vet gave him a clean bill of health, although we were all concerned about his weight - you could feel every bone in his body. His first weigh in - .8 lbs.

So, Louie has joined Abby and Puddy, much to their initial dismay and annoyance. He is eating like a horse, and plays constantly. The girls are beginning to want to play with him and check him out. With Abby, who I have had since she was his age, it's going a little slower. But Puddy has had five litters of her own, so one more little cretin hasn't bothered her much.

He had his second vet visit today - up to 1.6lbs, and he had his first shot. Luckily it was busy, so the technician didn't have a chance to grab my little guy and run out back with him like last time. Apparently she falls in wuv with all the kitties. Can't blame her much.

It's a (Re)Start

Last year at Revival, my first attempt to spindle spin failed miserably. Couldn't do it, and I hate to fail. Having Donna nearby spinning like a veteran after just starting out too didn't do my fragile ego any favors either. So my spindle and stuff to spin just sat in a tub, alone and lonely. Bought more top, of course - Sereknity's colors are just too freaking enticing. But there it ended.

This year at Revival, took a class from Barbara Clorite-Ventura. It wasn't called Spinning for Totally Uncoordinated Boobs, but it may as well have been, at least in my case. But, got out of class with a handmade spindle and a little clot of spun and plied mess. It had the right to be a mess - three different kinds of wool went into it, as we tried them out during class. Pencil roving was easy, rolag not much harder, then some top.

So en-bravened (not a word, but should be), emboldened and empowered, I attacked a bat of Monkey Farts, purchased from Spunky Eclectic with a beautiful spindle a few SPAs ago.

Filled that sucker. Now, I am trying to ply it. That isn't going well - I have to figure out how not to fight with a snangled tarl of twisty full-of-spinny-energy single ply. I will whip it into submission.

Plans are to whip up a Monkey Farts hat for the DH - trust me, it is maddeningly appropriate.

That's my Girl....

This is Miss Jessica daSilva, with her new squeeze (on the left, playing the gee-tar) singing at a Festival in Vermont a few weekends ago.

Last time I heard her sing, I was really glad for her that she was such a talented artist...

But things change!

The Easter Bunny HATES You.

This just makes me giggle.

Rich Kirkland, the traffic guy on my radio station (wxrv, 92.5 - the river) made this video for a colleague's going away party. He is now my hero.

Spa 2009 - OK, I spoke too soon.

So how do you like my Amanda hat? Nice, huh? Almost done, looking good, right?

But now what do you think of it?

Apparently, I had a little too much Johnny Walker last night. And in the cold, bright, unfeeling and downright cruel light of day, I saw the results.

Before you scream - YOU JUST WANTED TO FROG SOMETHING - ADMIT IT!!!

I really did try to save it. The damage was just too extensive. Apparently, JWB allows me to knit really quickly, but really stupidly.

SPA 2009 - So Good, So Far

I have to keep telling myself I deserve this. Because it's getting better to be me every minute. The beds here at the Hilton are the most comfortable I have ever slept in - and I have trouble sleeping so it's definitely an issue.

Got up early, and took myself out for breakfast. The hotel does an OK brekkie, but it is, after all, hotel food, and I prefer to give my money to someone other than Paris Hilton once in a while. And girlfriends, if you haven't found Sticky Buns yet, FIND IT. It's right on School Street, a block away. They have awesome breakfasts and lunch, and pastries to die for - including of course, sticky buns.

I sat there forever - no work to get to, no laundry to fold, no nothing to do - drank my cappucino (may never sleep again - that stuff has a STICK in it) and read some brain candy (Swan Song, by Robert McCammon). The eggs bennie was faboo, and they use sweet potatoes in their homefries - a nice touch. And, got a few nummies to take back to the room. Breakfast is all set for tomorrow.

And for the next hour or so, went to my favorite little shops in a loop back to the hotel. Crabtree and Evelyn was having an awesome sale, so I am set for shower gels for a while. Stopped and the British goods store and got some soaps, digestives, some oatmeal for Mark to try, preserves, and other little snackies. And finished the excursion at the wine and cheese store - some amazing Brie and some cracked pepper coated salami are in the fridge now, waiting for snack time!

The weather is gorgeous - warm, for winter in Maine. All the shops have their doors thrown open to get some fresh air, and everything is melting. Great day to get the shopping yayas out of my system!

Back in the room now, checking email and blogging, but downstairs soon to hang out with the fiber babes. Bunny slippers, here I come!

SPA 2009 - Thursday Night

It's finally here. Left work at 1:00, was checking into my room by 3:30.





And look what I found in the bathroom. It's a conspiracy. I know it.



My DH brings his soaps home from business trips. Yes, the clean, dry wrapped ones - I have no issue with that. What drives me nuts and makes me question his sanity is that he always brings home the USED ones too. He brings Ziplocs for that very purpose.

And I bust his cookies about it at every opportunity.

And now, lookit. Turns out Mr. Save-Everything-Cuz-The-Great-Depression-Might-Just-Come-Back was really just ahead of the curve.

Done and Done. What's Next.

Finshed the scarfy thingie for Cris. Can't prove it, because I forgot to get a picture of him in it. Asked him for one, won't hold my breath....

He said the colors were great, but he wanted the hairy things on the ends. Translation (Brazil-Man to plain English) is that he wants tassels.

He ain't getting tassels. Tassels are not for manly men. Suck it up, Cris!

It's Almost Done, I Promise!

Dear Cris,












You know that scarf I promised you for Christmas, and how I teased you with a two-foot-long piece of it? I know you are getting on in years, so the sense of urgency is not lost on me. This scarf has come with me

• to work
• to knitting group
• to wait for Chinese food takeout
• in traffic
• to Christmas dinner with the in-laws (which is why it might smell a little like prime rib - not a bad thing...)

and it is almost done. I am well into the last of four skeins (of Noro Silk Garden, for the knittahs reading this). It has been satisfying to watch the colors change from one to the next, and to see this scarf get longer and longer. But yeah, it's been long enough.

It's almost yours - I promise!

So Many Net Things to Do, So Little Time

Is anyone else feeling overwhelmed by all the ways we can communicate on the web? How do we stay current? Which ways are becoming obsolete, and are there better ways to do it?

If I add up all the things I do here on the web, it's a wonder I still have time to go to work:

Ravelry: my ID there is lmardennh (go figure)
Facebook AND MySpace
my website at www.laurinmarden.com (which is hopelessly out of date and in so much need of a facelift)
this blog
the NETA blog at http://netafiberforum.blogspot.com/
AND, if that weren't enough, a secret website I am building, about a long-held passion of mine, that will be announced soon - maybe.

Oy vay!

Truer Words....

I smell CHANGE!

And it smells goooooooood.....

End of an Era

I FINALLY have purged the living room of all furniture that was in place when I first moved in, about TEN years ago. Mark had the crap for at least that long before even meeting me, so we're talking 70's era. You know I am NOT exaggerating if you have ever tried to plunk your butt in the living room.

I finally told him that if all the people who say they are coming to Arts and Craps Day (the day after Thanksgiving) actually do show up, they can't shoehorn themselves into two cruddy chairs. And, if he didn't want to buy them, I would. And he would have no say in the matter.

That's the secret to living with a control freak. Take notes here - - threaten to take away their control of a situation!

Anyway, enuff kvetching.... here they are! Might just go take a NAP!!!!

I love the Fonz All Over Again.

http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/cc65ed650d