From the Fitting Room

Tomorrow, I'm going to a party.
So today, I went shopping.

My wardrobe pretty much consists of "teacher clothes", "camp counselor clothes", and jeans. I've got cotton cardigans in a variety of colors. I've got a billion t-shirts. I have a decent little collection of button downs or shells to wear under cardigans. I've got fleece top layers. And I have jeans. Tons of jeans, most of which seem to be too big for me, since I always buy jeans when I am in the states and I'm usually eating a lot while I'm in the states.
I'm okay with my wardrobe. Except for when I have a party to go to. Then I wish I had something a little more trendy. I don't want to wear my almost-2-sizes-too-big jeans and an Old Navy fleece to a club in the city. I want to wear a purple mini dress, grey tights, black boots and a long strand of grey pearls. Unfortunately, I only have the tights and boots, I don't know where the nearest fabric store is, and my aunt who would be able to help me make my party dress is about 4,000 miles away.
So I had to go shopping.
I don't hate shopping, but I don't love it. I'd rather shop for yarn, books, or scrapbook supplies--things you don't have to try on. I hate trying clothes on. It's hard to find things that fit me right, and sometimes, I don't even know what the item is supposed to be. I tried on something purple today and I still don't know if it was a shirt or a dress. It was shapeless and pretty much transparent, so I put it back on the rack.
Since there were no suitable purple dresses to be found in town, I ended up changing my "vision"-- black top (that I already have), skinny jeans (don't have), black boots (have) and a long purple necklace (don't have). And so began the search for skinny jeans. Let me tell you that when you've been wearing almost-2-sizes-too-big jeans for a long long time, you feel a bit ridiculous trying on skinny jeans. I ended up buying a pair of the same jeans in each of two sizes, so I could make my decision about which to wear at the very last minute. And I might even keep them both, because the bigger size doesn't actually have the "skinny" fit, so I can see them becoming just another "regular" pair of jeans for me. Best of all, the jeans are grey! I was just wishing that I had some grey jeans the other day. And second-best of all, this clothes shopping should be just fine to hold me over for a while so I can save my shopping energy for other things-- like Christmas decorations!

Coming up for air

what have I been doing in the past... I don't even know how long it's been... since I last blogged??

Girl Scouts--to include a weekend trip w/5 tweens to Germany
Yuletide Bazaar committee-ing
reorganizing my scrapbooks
knitting
printing saved recipes & filing in a binder
looking at yarn online
tutoring
harvesting my cherry tomatoes and planning next years "crops"
buying plane tickets to Poland (but not researching hotels...need to get on that!)
catching up on Gossip Girl episodes
reading
running, but not as much as I'd like to

In all of September, there was ONE day that I didn't have anything on my calendar.
I'm going to make a conscious effort to blog more in October!

Thursday 13: Easter

I opened up a "New Post" window last week, wrote a few paragraphs about what we've been eating since my oven's on the fritz (is that the right expression?) and never finished/posted it. A few days ago, I opened up another "New Post" window and didn't even manage to get anything written.
Since it's Thursday, I'm going to force myself to sit here until I crank out some list of 13. Might be things I need to do before Easter. Hopefully, there's not 13 of those and so I'll end up adding other Easter things to the list.

1. Go to the Commissary- I bought almost all of my ingredients for a friend's grits recipe that I'll be making. Still need eggs and all of the ingredients for the fruit salad and stuffed French toast that I'm making.
2. Go to Tesco/Sainsbury- If I haven't mentioned it before, I love my town. Lots of positives about living "all the way in Thetford". (People act like I live on the moon! It's 17 miles from base, people! Branch out a little!) One (two?) of the pluses about living here is that I've got two "super stores" in town. Groceries, clothes, magazines, dishes, etc. All within 2 miles of my house. I need to check and see if they have Marscapone (sp?) cheese for my stuffed French toast. The Commissary won't have it and if they do, it will be costly. Better to buy the stuff imported from Europe in, well, "Europe". Our latest discovery is Nutella on crumpets, both of which are far less expensive on the local economy than on base. Besides Marscapone cheese, I need to get some of those big hollow chocolate Easter eggs filled with smaller chocolates. Need those. Need those badly.
3. Go to the BX. I want one of those griddle pans that goes over 2 burners at once. I'm not waiting for a Pampered Chef party anymore, because that's an expensive item and I only like to buy the expensive items when I really LOVE the person hosting the party. Ideally, I will acquire this pan before Sunday morning, and since nobody I really LOVE is hosting a PC party before Sunday morning, I'll probably save half of my money and buy a pan of similar quality without having to pay for shipping. IF the BX has one. If not... I guess I'll just go back to Tesco/Sainsbury and check.
4. Make an Easter Egg Parfait. I have a big clear vase thing near my fireplace and I decided to fill it up with plastic Easter eggs. Unfortunately, I only had 4. And the vase is big. I bought the last 5 bags of tiny Easter eggs from the BXtra yesterday. I might have had enough eggs to fill the vase to the top had I not practically been accosted by a woman who made me give her 3 bags of eggs. Because she has little kids and she NEEDS eggs to fill. Not my problem, lady. Besides #1-the only thing that can fit in the eggs is like ONE Hershey Kiss. And besides #2- depending on how little your kids are, you might be able to order plastic eggs online and trick them into believing that Easter is actually NEXT week.
Oh, so anyway, since my eggs do not fill my vase completely, I have decided to make a "parfait" layering plastic eggs and Easter grass. It's going to be beautiful.
5. Punch out a bunch of scalloped circles and string them together. I need an Easter garland. I wanted to make one like this, but the commissary only had pink bunny peeps and yellow chick peeps and I want my garland to be made of yellow BUNNY peeps. Besides, I don't have any spray polyurethane. I can't figure out why not.
6. Hide the good Easter candy and fill the candy dish up with the regular Easter candy. My mom sent us the most delicious Chocolate Malt Balls and Chocolate Covered Raisins in the world and we're having company on Sunday. I can't risk having to share those things. So they must be hidden.
7. Make some cute Easter bag toppers. One year, I invited a few friends over for Easter and I got the bright idea to give them each a "grown up" version of an Easter basket. I decorated and filled Frappuccino bottles. But first, I had to empty the Frappuccino bottles.  I absolutely detest coffee. But I also absolutely detest pouring money down the drain. So I drank every one of those dumb Frappuccinos. And gave myself a tummy ache. Now I am much smarter and rather than forcing myself to down nearly 98 ounces of what tastes to me like poisonous dirt, I'm just going to stick some candies in a plastic bag, decorate a bag topper, staple that thing on and call it an Easter basket.
8. Color Easter eggs. I must do this every year. Well, I didn't do it last year and that meant no egg salad sandwiches. So I must do this every year from now on.
9. Put out my Easter towels. I got a new one in a package from my Auntie. So now I have 2.
10. (If I use my time wisely, maybe just maybe I'll be able to...) Knit a pair of bunny booties or a bunny hat. Because a baby is coming to my house for Easter. And I want it to look like a bunny.
11. Prepare my house for company. Or get David to do it. Vacuum, dishes, dust, sweep...all of the things I despise!
12. Make some nests out of Chow Mein noodles. I think they are adorable. And I got some perfect chocolate eggs for inside.
13. Stick some cotton balls on the backs of my sock bunnies. I saw this cute idea in a magazine and spent last Saturday pouring rice all over the living room floor (hence the need to vacuum now) while making my own sock bunnies. I've got 5 little bunnies sitting on my mantle, but they all feel a little self-conscious every time they see a cute little cotton-tailed bunny hop around in the back yard. They need cute little cotton tails too.

Heh, well, turns out there ARE 13 things I need to do in the next 3 days. Luckily I work best under pressure.

Countdown!

There are a few things I'm counting down to...David's return (though I'm still waiting to hear when that might be), Survivor!!!! (tomorrow!), The Winter Olympics (and the Ravelympics...completing a whole knitting project in between the opening & closing ceremonies)
But...my favorite (favourite?) Countdown is still the one that comes on each day on E4.
I've been recording it everyday and watching when I get a chance, and I'm really improving at the math. I mean, maths. :)
In an episode I was watching today, I impressed myself with a group of difficult letters by being smart enough to use the British spelling and get a 6 letter word instead of a 5:
MOULDS
Unfortunately, my brain was stuck in American-mode in the next grouping of letters when I only found the word "enables" for 7 instead of
PENALISE
which I would normally spell penalize.
And, much to my amazement, I knew (guessed) the definition of "snollygoster" and Rachel Riley didn't. So I'm smarter than Rachel Riley.......until the next numbers round. :) 

Thursday Thirteen: To Work or Not to Work

Last week, I was really bored. I became fascinated with the idea of working once again. I thought, wouldn't life be grand if I had a job and if it was on the same base that D's job will be on and we could ride together and then maybe he wouldn't complain about spending an hour a day driving back and forth to work. Because I would be there, and who could possibly complain about spending an extra hour a day confined in a car with me??
So, on Thursday, I turned in an application packet at HRO. Let me tell you one of the biggest downfalls of being a military spouse stationed overseas. Job opportunities. Basically the only thing at HRO that I was remotely interested in (and only, as I announced at my job interview, as a last resort) was working in the youth programs... youth center or child development center. I opted for the CDC because the youth center hours are a little weird since youth are at school during the day. The CDC is like a day care--for the younger, non-school-age children. So I interviewed on Monday and they've been in touch with my references, who have filled me in on how those phone calls went. (Always list references who will serve as your spies. Always.) According to my references, I will most certainly be offered the job.
But now I'm not sure that I want it....which brings me to my list of Thirteen.

1. - I am a teacher. I like many things about  being a teacher...poems & drawings delivered to my desk daily, going to meetings with other teachers, rearranging my classroom, seeing a child who came in to 1st grade knowing how to read  "that cat is fat" leave 1st grade reading like a maniac, kid handwriting (if kid handwriting and inventive spelling do not make your heart melt, then I'm pretty sure you're not human). But I won't lie. I also love three VIPs (very important perks) of being a teacher: Spring Break, Summer Break, Christmas Break. The CDC doesn't get those.

2. - That whole carpooling to work with my husband thing....yeah....that wouldn't work! Because the place has kooky hours. Not really kooky, I suppose...not like 3rd shift or anything...but hours that wouldn't really mesh well with the hours that D will be working. If there were an hour or two leeway either way, the one who had to wait could go to the gym etc. But 4 hours a day at the gym? Not for me. There are 3 shifts, something like 6-12, 9-4 and 12-6. David would be working probably 7-4, so you see how only one shift would work in my carpooling plan.

3. + If I could get in on that 9-4 shift and should the stars align just so so that it would be the one I always work, then carpooling would work AND I'd get a lot of knitting done in the car. Always important to consider how your job will positively effect your hobbies.

4. + Before my interview, I was sent to observe in one of the 3-5 year old rooms, where little Shannon came up to me and asked if I liked her hair bows. When I said yes, she hugged me, kissed my cheek and said, "I love you and you are my best friend." That was after 15 minutes of being in the room. Imagine all the love if I worked there every day!

5. - I know you're not supposed to ask in a job interview how much vacation time you would get, so I didn't. But one of the interviewers did bring it up...... he mentioned that other than a doctor's appointment or something, no leave is granted during your first 3 months. And after that, they send around a binder and you request your leave time in the order in which you were hired. So, I'd be last.

6. - More on the vacation time thing-- The way D and I look at it, we are here overseas, possibly only for 3 more years. There's a chance we could go somewhere else in Europe or the Pacific after this, but there's also a chance we could end up in Ohio or Florida or North Dakota or New Mexico. We just don't know. So there's sort of a sense of urgency in being here...this could be our last hurrah overseas. We never know. So we want to do and see the places that are tops on our list (perhaps next Thursday's Thirteen?) while we have the opportunity. It would be much easier to do that if we're only juggling around one person's leave schedule.

7. - I'm noticing that vacation time is really an issue for me! People might want to come and visit us while we're here, and say D is going to be at work during the week, I could entertain our visitors locally, trips to London, Cambridge, and other little day trips in the local area. On the weekend we could do a further out trip, like Oxford or the Cotswolds or Canterbury or something. But would I want to use all of my leave days to go to London & Cambridge? No.

8. - Last point (I think) about the time off... Sometimes at work, D will get a "goal day" or "family day" off. So, for instance, the day after Thanksgiving, Superbowl Monday, perhaps the Friday before Memorial Day. That gives us a nice long weekend during which we could do some traveling. But on goal days, the day care is still open. So if I still had to work, we'd be wasting a long weekend opportunity for a little road trip.

9. + Money, money, money. But also - because, really, it's not that much! It would be nice to contribute with a supplemental income...but if we could put a dollar amount on the missed travel opportunities, I seriously doubt that the amount I'd make at the day care (starting out for the first 2 months with a "guaranteed 0-20 hours a week") would come close.  Even so, we typically bank all that I make and since I've not been working, the savings account hasn't been as exciting to watch as it used to be!

10. - Because the scheduling isn't regular, there may be conflicts with my Girl Scout volunteering, and I like working with the Girl Scouts! I asked at my interview and they didn't seem at all supportive. I got the old, "if we worked around your schedule, then we'd have to work around everyone else's if they said they had something they wanted to do," speech. And then they asked, "how long are you committed to that?" Which kind of threw me...the military culture really promotes volunteerism...all I would need for Girl Scouts is one day a week that I'm either not put on the schedule or put on the earliest shift.

11. - It's not really what I want to do. We're fortunate to be in a position where I don't HAVE to take a last resort job. I know my husband has a stable job and his company isn't shutting down anytime soon. We live well within our means and have a responsible savings plan. So, if I want to hold out for a teaching job, even if I won't ever get one until we get back to the states, I have that luxury.

12. - It's not really what I want to do, and it wouldn't have an impact on my future. If I were offered a teaching job, I would snap it up in a heartbeat. Even if it was teaching 4th grade or 5th grade when what I really want to teach is 2nd, 1st or 3rd. But it would get me in the system and perhaps I could slide into another grade the next year. It would count toward my years of experience and bump me up on the pay scale and also count toward my years to retirement. (I'm pretty sure in Indiana, your eligibility for retirement is determined by the sum of your age and your years of teaching). The day care center wouldn't benefit me in any of those ways. 

13. + It's not permanent. I could take the job, see if the schedule works out for me, etc. and if it doesn't, I could leave the position. I don't LOVE quitting jobs, but I've done it before...and I have a feeling that a lot of people do quit this particular job. I've heard from a lot of people that they quit after a few months. Most recently, I spoke to a woman who shattered that record...she quit after one day!

So, that's 4 positive points and 9 negative points. I'm sure you can see where I'm leaning...
One other point to make, though, is that when I was in Okinawa, I thought I would NEVER get a job on base. Immediately after accepting a low-paying, long-commute, not-recognized-as-experience-for-pay-or-retirement-purposes job at a school off base, the phone calls started rolling in from the on-base schools. So maybe I need to accept this job so I'll get offered the one I really want?? My dad says "it's easier to get a job when you have a job."

D's Trip to England: The First Bump in the Road

Good thing I hadn't really had my heart set on David being home on Saturday.
We've encountered our first delay... a 24 hour one so far.
D called early this evening to confirm some travel details and said, "Well, I'll just talk to you when I see you, unless something changes and I won't make it on Saturday. Then I'll call you." We finished our conversation, hung up, and, 5 minutes later......he called back.
I said, "You again? Oh no..."

So, instead of Saturday, the earliest he'll be here now is Sunday. Not too bad. The latest would be Thursday or Friday, as he'd be able to hop on the plane going through Denmark instead of through the US. But we're hoping for Sunday. :(

I hope this is the only bump we encounter, but I won't be surprised if there's another before D finally makes it here! But as he said... we've made it through a YEAR...we can surely handle a few extra days!

Delicious

I know I mentioned recently that my Google Reader was just getting out of hand! I had "1000+" new blog posts to read and I am happy to report, I'm now sub-700. I'm in the 600s! Unfortunately, whenever I make a dent, more posts are added.

So I decided to remove several blogs from my subscriptions list. I hated to do it, but there were some that I just skimmed over and those just don't need to take up a part of my "busy" days. I'm currently busy sitting here blogging instead of cleaning up my kitchen, living room, front room, craft room, bedroom, bathrooms (all of which I want to have done by the time David gets here on Saturday. I feel like if I get all of that done, he WON'T get here on Saturday. Plus if I get it all done too early, I'll just have to do it all again before he gets here!)

Anyway, I still have plenty of blogs that I subscribe to. And I added more while I was taking some away. Ugh!
Most notably, I have subscribed to 4 or 5 "bento blogs" for over a year. I have a few bento boxes, rice molds, egg molds, cute picks and cutters. But I've never made a bento. And seeing daily posts from bento blogs wasn't getting me excited about making a bento. So I decided to cut them out of my Google Reader. But not from my life. Before removing them from Google Reader, I Delicioused them. Do you know delicious? If not, you NEED to. Delicious is sooooo much better than bookmarking or "adding to favorites". With delicious, you can tag your tags/bookmarks for easier searching. This is so good for me, because I go through phases where I bookmark a random topic...recently, "play kitchens". Why? I do not know. I have no need for a play kitchen, I have a real one. But for 3 nights straight, I was fascinated by search results for play kitchens. And now I can see all the ones I loved with just a few simple clicks in delicious. I have lots tags. I LOVE tags! I love delicious. The other fab-o thing about delcious is that, unlike regular bookmarks, you can access them on any computer. So say I'm at my friend's house and she says, "You know what I'm interested in? Play kitchens!" I can just sign onto delicious from her house and show her all of my favorite play kitchens. Very handy, that immediate access to play kitchen resources.
So, when I unsuscribed from all those blogs, I didn't want them to just fall off my radar. I mean, what if I decide to drag out my bento gear one day soon? I'd end up wasting half the day searching for my old bento sites.  So I tagged them appropriately in delicious: party, home, teaching, travel, blog, scrapbook, bento, etc.  And then, just for fun, I gave them all one more tag: "unsuscribed".

During the time it took me to write this blog entry, my Google Reader unread post increased by 3.

Two Arrivals

One is certain, one is not.

Friday: SURVIVOR! Season 20! Jeff Probst, JT, Colby will make me drool. Russell, James, Cirie will make me laugh. Parvati, Boston Rob, Coach will make me cringe. I CAN'T WAIT!!!!

Saturday: (hopefully!) DAVID! 12 months...over! Finally! (Hopefully!) David will be "home" "for good" (hopefully!) on Saturday. Sooooooo very weird to think that what we once counted down in months or weeks is now just days. Four of them. (hopefully!) We need planes & weather to cooperate!

A Quick & Tiny Change

A note to the actual humans (as opposed to spam-bots??) that read and comment here.... I decided to make a quick and tiny change to the commenting process here, and now you'll have to do a word verification. I've had to delete spam from my last 3 posts and it's just no fun! So, hopefully that extra step will deter them (but not you...you still comment away!) from posting their lame-o adverts on my blog.
Okay...I've got some errands to run and lunch to eat and a shower to take (but not one to prepare for...we've postponed the Rock Star shower until further notice!) .....

Catching Up

 It seems like a while since I've written on this blog...
but I've been busy. Sort of.
Busy planning a baby shower that may or may not go on as scheduled, as the baby was born early and is in the hospital.
Busy decorating (or not) for a baby shower for which the decorations have never arrived. Even though they were shipped 40 days ago. (and therefore also busy finding the appropriate wording to request store credit from the place that shipped them... I know it's not their fault if it's lost in the mail, but it's not my fault either!)
Busy sitting on the couch and watching American Idol, Nip/Tuck, the Big Bang Theory, Modern Family, and Cycle 13 of America's Next Top Model, when the "short" models were given a chance.
Busy catching up on sleep after last weekend's Virtual Crop at ScrapVillage.
Busy choosing knitting projects, starting some and frogging. Just can't find something I want to work on right now!
Busy cleaning up my house, because David will be here in 20 days and he is slightly less tolerant (or oblivious?) to messes than I am. And also because it's possible that I'm hosting a baby shower here on Sunday. But I've only gotten one RSVP, and it was a "not coming" anyway, so maybe I don't have to have the place that clean after all!
Busy trying to catch up on the blogs to which I subscribe in Google Reader. This morning I had 1000+ unread posts, and now I'm down to 362. I start off by "speed-reading" (which is really just looking at the pictures as I scroll through) the ones I don't really care about reading. Which kind of makes me think I don't really need to subscribe to them.
Busy planning some meals for February... I doubt D will be keen on my new rotation of Triscuits, salad, ramen noodles & Christmas cookies.
And, most excitingly, busy with my new volunteer gig with the Girl Scouts. My first meeting was on Thursday and I was there from about 3 until almost 9! I'm with a small troop of Cadettes, 6th-8th grade, and I'm already booked for the first two Saturdays after David gets back. Oops. And I'm waiting to find out when I'll be put on the cookie sales schedule!

Blog-break over!

I disappeared kind of suddenly there, didn't I?
After my busy day of baking cookies, I had a busy day of finishing the preparations for my party (including finishing up 6 pairs of mini-mittens as party favors!) on the 13th. The days following the cookie party were a whirlwind of cleaning, packing, and to-do lists. I left at 0130 (local) on the 16th and arrived in Greenland at 1445 (local) on the 17th. You can try to figure out the time difference or just come back in a day or two to find out how long I traveled! I just got back yesterday... my house was freezing! Today I went and picked up a whole lot of mail and got a new tire put on my car because it was shaking like crazy. And now I have lots to do...unpacking, laundry, new brake pads, baby-shower prep, clean-up, mailing out Christmas presents..... and blogging!


Because it (*might*) hold me accountable... I'll make a quick list of blog posts I hope to write this week.
1. Cookie party
2. Traveling for almost 2 days straight
3. Greenland
4. Christmas
5. Storm Dancing
6. New Years
7. Home Again
7. January Goals

In the meantime, check out my "places I've been" map... I've now been to every country in North America!




Visited Countries Map from TravelBlog

(Actually, I don't know if this image is working...but it's too late to tinker with it right now. Just trust me...all of North America is colored in!)

Flashback!

I wanted to post a Christmas card here today, because it's SITSmas!! SITS is a fun community of bloggers who love to comment & get comments (and find "new" blogs to read!)...if you're one of those bloggers but don't know about SITS, head on over and check it out!

Our trip to Australia seems SOOOOOOOOOOOO long ago! I guess it was almost a year and a half ago, but so much has changed since then! And who knows what will change between this year's Christmas card (which I'm not posting here since I haven't mailed them out yet!) and next year's!?!

Since last year's card:

We left Okinawa :(

We spent a month (D) or two (me) in the states

D moved to Greenland

I moved to England

Before next year's card:

I'll send out this year's card

D's moving to England

We'll have to buy a car

I hope I'll get a job

Maybe we'll have some visitors

And who knows what else 2010 will bring?

If you want to read more about 2008's trip to Australia, click here!

December Goals

Better late than never:

1. Run. It's becoming harder & harder to get motivated to run. The sun is stubborn. The rain and wind are persistent. I never know what to wear... long sleeves over long sleeves or long sleeves over short sleeves? Jacket or no jacket? Lightweight long sleeves or something more substantial? Shorts, tights or windpants? Headband/earwarmer, stocking cap or baseball-style hat? Usually by the time I've figured out what to wear, the weather has changed and I have to start over. 

2. Knit. Yay, I should have quite a bit of time for knitting this month! I'm going to visit David and he says I'm going to be really bored. So that means that before I go, I need to choose a couple of projects to take with me. Maybe one big project and one small? Or one big and two small? Even before that, though, I need to make 4 more pairs of mini-mittens as favors for my cookie exchange.

3. Stay up-to-date with my baby shower planning time line. I have it all planned out in a huge Excel file. So as long as I keep meeting the deadlines, the shower will be a success! Oh, and one of the things on the list happens to be a knitting project...so I can knock out two goals with one stone!


4. Clean the house. I'm having company on Sunday! And since I leave shortly thereafter, I shouldn't have too much time to make the house messy before my trip, so it will be nice and clean when I get back too.


5. Finalize travel plans. Good thing I'm writing this goal post... because I just realized that I haven't booked the final leg of my return flight yet!

6. Read. I still haven't finished The Know-It-All, just about 20 pages to go. I also checked out a Joyce Carol Oates book, Little Bird of Heaven. And I have The Summer Kitchen on loan from a friend so I need to read that too. Plus, I still haven't read Dewey, which I bought over the summer! I'll get some reading done on my trip as well though.

7. Mail stuff. I think my Christmas cards & presents (very few presents!) are going to be late. But, better late than never!

To Do

 Yeah right. I wish that was all there was on my pre-Dublin to-do list. The rest wouldn't fit on the post-it. What the heck did I do all day???


Even though it's not Tuesday, I had some time to waste, so I figured I'd participate late. Or early. You know, instead of doing the things I need to do. Makes perfect sense. 


Find out more about Post-It Note Tuesday here.
Or, if you just want to make your own Post-It, go here.

My new substitute-favorite game show

I haven't seen my old pal Alex Trebek or heard that "thinking music" in ages. When David was here, we played Trivial Pursuit (Pop Culture Edition, and I WON!!!) and I didn't give all of my answers in the form of a question. I miss Jeopardy. I think my brain pistons aren't firing as rapidly as a direct result of not watching.
So, I must find something to take up for my daily dose of smart. I have the "Challenge" channel which airs a lot of game shows. I love game shows. But mostly, I love Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune. I was pretty excited when I saw that Wheel of Fortune was on, but when I watched it, I wondered why on earth the WoF set was so dated. Our Wheel of Fortune has come a long way since the 80s, but this one...well, hadn't. As I watch more and more "Challenge" channel, though, I think (or at least hope) that many of the shows are actually rebroadcasts from the 80s. The hair, the clothes, the glasses... wow.  Who Wants to Be a Millionaire seems to be new, but they ask questions about stuff I don't know. British stuff. One day, I was super excited because I got a question about English Geography right!!! Because they said "What county are Diss and King's Lynn in?" and I knew that because those names are on a sign that I pass nearly every time I drive away from my house. But that was not a typical occurrence, so I needed to find a game show that I could watch, play along with and have a chance at feeling good about myself afterwards.
And then, a couple of weeks ago, I found Countdown.  (again. I had seen just the end of it once before)
Oh, Countdown. It's on every weekday afternoon at 3:25, just five minutes before Jeopardy would be coming on at home, so that's got to be a good sign!
Here's how it goes: There are two contestants. Each "letters" round, one of the contestants asks for 9 letters by saying "consonant" or "vowel" and the letters are revealed one at a time. The players then have some time (30 seconds, maybe?) to find the longest word they can with the letters. I'm not exactly sure how the scoring works...sometimes only one gets points and sometimes both do. There is also a lady with a dictionary who tells you the longest or most interesting words that could be made with the letters. I love letter games, but I'm not that good at Countdown yet. If the point were to find as many words as possible, I'd really be something at this game. But it's not.
Today I was really excited to find an eight (!!!...usually I'm stuck with sixes, and sevens with the right letter combination) letter word from these letters:
E A I T T M N E S
I also found the longest word possible in this round:
T P O I F O I N T
But I did not fare as well with
R W S U A A I D P or R F R O E A L S J
(I won't tell you what I found, just in case you want to play along in the comments!)

There are also three "numbers" rounds in each game and this is where I really struggle. My math anxiety kicks in when the Countdown version of "think music" comes on.
For the numbers game, the contestant chooses 6 numbers by asking for "big" and "small". I think the available "big" numbers are 25, 50, 75, and 100. Then a target number is randomly selected and you have like three tenths of a second to use addition, subtraction, multiplication and division to make any or all of the six numbers (don't have to use them all, but can't use any of them more than once) equal the target number. The players try to reach the target number, or as close as possible.
It always stumps me. Except for the day when the target number was 108 and two of the numbers given were 100 and 8. I finished that one way before time was up.
Today I was SO proud of myself, because I solved a slightly more challenging numbers problem within the time limit.
The numbers were 5 small and one large (3, 9, 2, 5, 5, 100) and the target was 175.
Right away I saw what to do... again, I won't tell here in case you want to play along.
I was so excited that I drew stars all around my answer.
The next numbers challenge was to reach 336 using 9, 1, 9, 25, 50, 100.
I managed to get to 334, which was just as close as the contestants. The Vanna White of Countdown (Rachel Riley, who is apparently incredible at math) said she got to 335, but didn't show how.
And the final numbers challenge, the target was 167 and the numbers were 6, 3, 4, 75, 100, 25.
I got to 168 (and 166), and I was happy enough with myself for tying with the contestants. The Pat Sajak of Countdown (don't know his name) got 167 exactly. But he used division, and I just don't think I'm ready for that. :)

Guess who!

Guess who I was for Halloween!
Here's a few clues...
1. She can bake.
2. She loves to garden.
3. She has a tv show.
4. She has a doggie named Francesca.
5:

I was Martha Stewart! I really got into the part and spent much of the afternoon/evening making 60 popcorn balls to take to a Halloween party.

I didn't think I would carry the popcorn balls around all evening, so I decided that I needed another prop to really make it clear what I was dressed up as. I thought to myself, "What would Martha need?" and filled a basket with a cookbook, Martha Stewart magazine, garden shovel & gloves, pin cushion, knitting needles & yarn and a pattern book. Unfortunately, I didn't have a basket with a handle and this got heavy and uncomfortable pretty early on!

When I walked into the party, I still had my coat on, but the hostess shouted, "YAY! Martha Stewart's here!" And then everyone shouted "Martha Stewart!" They thought it was hilarious when I took off my coat and said, "That's what I dressed up as...Martha Stewart!" I (sort of) lived up to my name and prepared Pizza Rolls throughout the night. After all, I had my very own kitchen timer in my Martha basket!

Boo!

Happy Halloween!

My original idea for today's post was an "October Round-up/Recap" (well, actually it wasn't an original idea because I saw it on someone else's blog) Anyway, since I'm having a bit of a Halloween emergency, I have to change gears. Maybe I'll post my un-original idea later.

So, today is Halloween and we are going to a Halloween party, which had originally been advertised as just a "party on Halloween," therefore making me believe that no costumes were necessary. And I was glad, because even though I had planned a great costume for this year (I was going to be a Survivor contestant and D would dress as Survivor host Jeff Probst), I didn't actually order a buff, buy a tiki torch, or fashion an immunity necklace.
However, yesterday I received word that it is, in fact, a costume party, and apparently there are repercussions for not wearing a costume.
Since I don't want to get pinched or eat spiders or whatever kind of punishment the hosts plan on inflicting on the un-costumed, I'm trying to come up with something I can throw together using found objects.

The ideas I'm throwing around right now are:
--Survivor Contestant-- still not ready to give this one up. I have the perfect bathing suit to wear, saw tiki torches on sale at the BX the other day, and I think we have some weird bone necklace thingy that D bought in South America. A buff...more of a problem. But I could probably do a cylinder of any kind of fabric and just print out a Survivor logo and double-stick-tape it on. Plus, Survivors don't have to shower before they leave the house, which really makes this my perfect costume.

--Teacher-- This one would be easy. Not much of a stretch at all...plenty of teacher clothes in the closet and teacher accessories galore are stored in the garage. I thought David could be a substitute teacher, complete with "kick me" sign on his back. And, possibly the best thing about dressing up as a teacher for Halloween is that maybe I could put people who are being naughty or just plain annoying in time out.

--Martha Stewart-- This one would also be easy to pull off...apron, cookbook, garden gloves, knitting project. Hmm...I could work on the second sleeve of my sweater as part of my costume and not be accused of being anti-social!!

--Clothesline-- Tie a rope around my waist. Tie a rope around D's waist. Hang some laundry in between us. Et voila! Halloween costume. But I'm not sure I want to be tied to David all night.

--Stood-up Prom Date-- I can't really be this, because I don't have a fancy dress here. Besides, I'd have to go buy a bunch of eye make-up just to smear it and make it look like I'd been crying all night.

Please cast your vote and help me choose what to wear tonight!

When I have nothing to say...

Since writing about blogging more, and getting some very nice and reassuring comments, I've come to type up an entry three times. And three times... nothing but crickets.
So, today, I will force myself to not leave until I have a post typed up and published. I can't make any promises and wish I didn't have to take responsibility for whatever I come up with.
.........
Someone on Facebook mentioned eating an Affy Tapple three days ago, and I've been thinking about them ever since. Even though Affy Tapples aren't the most delicious (or the most delicious looking) caramel apples out there, they are one of my personal signals of fall. I always begged for them when I saw that they had arrived at the grocery store. At the fair (or maybe the airport... I really want to say it was the airport, but really, who decided that a caramel apple on a stick was a great airport snack? I guess because it is on a stick so in theory it's easy to eat while moving, but those things are waaaaaay bigger than Affy Tapples, and it is already a challenge just to eat the little Affy Tapple neatly. Mine was usually sliced up. You have to take just the right sized and carefully placed bite or else the apple starts swinging around the stick while you're trying to eat or it's dangling by a little apple thread.) I don't even think it would make sense now to continue where I left off before the parentheses, so I'm just going to start that sentence over... At the fair (or maybe the airport...actually, I think they were at both) I saw these super beautiful and humongous caramel apples. Drizzled with chocolate over the caramel, or dipped halfway in dark chocolate and then rolled in nuts. They looked so tasty, but I didn't get one at the fair because it was raining and I didn't get one at the airport because I just don't think a giant caramel apple on a stick is the right thing for me to eat without silverware, while walking, or without the option of taking a shower in the next 8-12 hours.
I don't think they have Affy Tapples at the commissary. That's probably why, a few years ago, my friend Barbara (who coincidentally rode my bus in high school) and I decided to make our very own to share with her kids. We ended up eating most of the caramels plain and giving the kids plain ol' apples.
Maybe I'll give it another try this year... or maybe I'll just buy a tub of caramel dip and slice up some apples. No sticks necessary.
.........
So that's what I come up with when I've got nothin'... Affy Tapples.

Blogosophy

One of the 1,279 blogs (maybe not quite that many, but it feels like it!) I read is Tip Junkie. Tuesdays at Tip Junkie are kind of special, because they're open for audience participation. I love audience participation! On the cruise this summer, I was hoping and hoping that I would get randomly selected for audience participation (but I NEVER would've raised my hand to volunteer for it. Which was fine, because John, the very best cruise director, said that he wasn't going to pick someone who had his/her hand up. He wanted to pick a shrinking violet.) Anyway, I never got picked. But on Tuesdays, I have a chance to participate and I don't have to try to catch anyone's eye by making it obvious that I want to be chosen, whether that be by waving my hands in the air and screaming "Me, Me, ME!" or crossing my arms and not making eye contact and slinking down low in my chair. All I have to do is link my blog to Tip Junkie's!
So today's "Talk to Me Tuesday" asks, "Why do you blog?"

So, I started blogging just over 3 years ago...that's really hard to believe, especially because I haven't even made a year's worth of posts. But it looks like 2009 could be my bloggiest year yet.  I started my blog because a few of my friends at ScrapVillage had blogs and would write thinks like, "check my blog for pictures" or "you can read about it on my blog". And I decided that I wanted one too. Because, you know, the cool kids were doing it.
In the beginning, I thought that I might look at blogging as a way to tell my family and friends about where I was and what I was doing (I was in Japan at the time) without sending out mass e-mails. When I learned how to post pictures on my blog, I thought, "Oh goody, I can post pictures without clogging up anyone's e-mail box with big ol' files". Because I am sweet like that. (And remember, this was before Facebook made it possible to share every detail of my life with everyone I know, including the random girl that sat 4 rows behind me in math class one semester 14 years ago.) Well, it turns out that probably five or fewer friends or family members read this, and really I would've had time to write five personal e-mail messages.  But, by the time I realized this, my blogosophy (maybe I just make that term up...get it, like philosophy?) had started to change.
My blog had turned into a place where I could just talk about whatever I wanted to, regardless of whether there was someone who wanted to have that conversation with me. I tend to talk a lot. David told me that when we first started dating, he didn't really think he liked me because I talked too much. One of my running partners in Okinawa advertised me as "a human iPod" (podcast, not music). In high school, I said that I was considering becoming a dentist and my friend's mom said that would be a perfect profession for me because I could talk and talk and the patient couldn't a--talk back or b--get away. So, my blog is a place where I can talk as much as I want to, without getting a sore throat or watching your eyes glaze over. And you, dear readers, are free to "get away" or skip ahead when it starts to be too much. And I never have to know about it.
This year, I'm home alone, and when you are home alone, you can talk to yourself all the time and nobody looks at you funny. There have been a few times when I've been around others and accidentally talk to myself and get called on it. I just say, "it's the only time I can be sure anyone's listening." So, since I've been free to babble, I kind of got away from blogging. And also because I am home alone, unemployed, and tend to do the same 4 or 5 things every day (run, watch either Ugly Betty or Gossip Girl, knit, play on the internet, and read. Oh, and eat cereal. So 6 things.) I didn't really have all that much to talk about. But, then I found out that there are actually a few crazy people out there who like reading this blog.--some who have to love me because we are related, and some who I don't even know in real life but, for some reason, get a kick out of me! And so, I make it a point to think of something to blog about, even if it ends up being an entry about nothing. Because, you know what? It feels good to know that somewhere out there, someone might laugh or smile or think about something new or different because they read what I had to say.

Are you ready for some MITTENS?

I haven't heard that jingle in such a long time that I suppose I've forgotten the words. How does it go? Are you ready for some knitting?... No, that's not it. Are you ready for some pizza?... I don't think that's it either. I think it's coming to me... Are you ready for some football?!?! Oh, yeah, that's it.

I'm beginning to think that inviting David here during football season was not a very smart idea. David is a football nut. He is obsessed with football. Like, maybe needs to be medicated level of obsession. Now, don't get me wrong, I'm a sports fan and every morning, I check the MLB, NFL, NCAAF, and (eventually) NCAAB scores. (I skip NBA, because I'm just not into pro basketball. Maybe it's a curse of growing up near Chicago in the 90s. Nothing will ever top the three-peat and the repeat-the-three-peat.) I don't mind having football on all afternoon, but I don't really pay much attention to it. I have one team that I am a fan of, Da Bears!, and so I know a little bit about them. Other than that, I can match a few quarterbacks to their teams and tell you what colors some of them wear, and that's about it. David, on the other hand, is a super-huge NY Giants fan, but pays attention to all of the teams, knows about a lot of the players and could probably tell you the score of a game between 2 randomly selected teams that happened 3 weeks ago, right off the top of his head.
Unfortunately for David, we don't get any football games on our cable. Unfortunately for me, AFN (the Armed Forces Network) plays the games at the club on base. So, that's where we were last night, watching the Vikings and the Steelers. And that's where we'll be in about 3 hours, watching a rebroadcast of the Giants and the Cardinals. David is determined to not find out who won. I already know (I told you I check the scores every morning!). He's not going to be happy. Especially since he already agreed to go see The Time Traveler's Wife after the game, since it's playing at the base theater which happens to be right next to the club. Hopefully the theater sells Twizzlers, or else the whole afternoon will be a wash for David.

Anyway, I've kind of gotten sidetracked. This is why I usually wait until after I'm done writing to think of the title for my post.
So as D, Little J, and her hubby all watched the game, I did this:

Those are teeny-tiny mittens! My sweater is now too big to be considered portable knitting, so I decided at the last minute that I'd need another, smaller project to work on. And this is a pretty tiny project! They're about an inch and a half from cuff to fingertip, and I think they'd look adorable hanging on a Christmas tree or clipped to a garland with a bunch of other tiny knits. Thank goodness for football, which will give me an opportunity to make a nice little stockpile of these!