Saturday, December 30, 2006

6 Wierd Things About Me

MidwifeKnits
Only 6? Wow that will be hard to narrow down. But here're a few off the top of my head.....

“THE RULES:Each player of this game starts with the ‘6 weird things about you.’ People who get tagged need to write a blog of their own 6 weird things as well as state this rule clearly. In the end, you need to choose 6 people to be tagged and list their names. Don’t forget to leave a comment that says ‘you are tagged’ in their comments and tell them to read your blog.”

Only 6?

1. I sometimes think I have ESP but it’s probably just the ability to read people’s body language and the surrounding situations very well. I still believe that some people are extra “sensitive” and really do have ESP.
2. I love avocados and try to eat them every single day, which in Alaska is really weird..
3. I love the entire birth process, including the smell of amniotic fluid. It reminds me of the sea. And I can still smell it for several hours after a birth. It does something to my brain chemistry and makes me feel almost euphoric; and sometimes I don't know when to shut up talking about it..like at restaurants...but I've gotten better over the years.
4. I am a keen bargain hunter and thrift store shopper. I have been known to show my tattoo to get a reduced price in flea markets. (It’s a small rose on my right shoulder)
5. I have worked as a organ/tissue procurement technician for organ/tissue donors (i.e. removed organs/tissues from the immediately/recently deceased…very respectfully).
6. I have very eclectic tastes in reading but many people think I’m very academic and find it weird that I love reading “supernatural sex trash” a’ la Laurel K. Hamilton
7. Bonus: I collect old sock monkeys.

And I think everyone else I "know" or actually talke with blogwise has been slapped with this one so I won't be passing it along. Such is life.

Thursday, December 28, 2006

Thursday

MidwifeKnits
We had a wind and snow storm last night. We lost power at around 8pm and it didn't come back until around 4 this morning. Lit lots of candles. Grandma Clara used her handy dandy windup power flashlight to see by. DD and her best friend drew their "Dream Barn" by candlelight and told stories about what their (horsey) lives were going to be like in the future. We all decided they'd better both marry corporate attorneys or CEOs because unless Ed McMahon and his group show up on the doorstep...they may want to scale back a bit. But it's important to dream big! DH played all the National Geographic video podcasts he'd downloaded earlier (on his Ipod) and then played music until he fell asleep. I knitted as usual...but it was a little bit slower going by candlelight. What am I knitting you ask?




Here's a little show and tell-Peapod by Kate Gilbert from IWK Smmer 06! Darling pattern...but I couldn't get the super cute bottom ribbing to do what the pattern said..so I improvised and did just plain old K3P2 ribbing. But everything else seems to be working out ok. The lace leaf pattern is easy to follow (come on..it's only over 15 stitches..no repeat...even in my post Kiri trauma, I can handle that!)

It's a gift for a very sweet lady that I've "met" through a knitting chat room over the past few years. I've started 3 other baby sweaters-the first came to within 3 rows of completion and I hated it and ripped it out. The second..too bulky, ripped out after about 6 inches, the third...enh..after the back and one front panel...just wasn't feeling the love...rip rip rip. So Yesterday I took a little "me" time and did some shopping for things like...light bulbs, toilet cleaner, you know all those really important things...and on my way back from Wallyworld...I saw a sign...The Tangled Skein...huh? Total rubberneck...and made a bat turn into the parking lot of a nondescript yellow prefab house....my heart beating faster...I saw an OPEN sign...I went in...HOORAY! A new (just 2 weeks old!) LYS less than 15 minutes away from my house. I am soooo excited. There hasn't been a LYS in 4 years since Heidi (of Heidi's Yarns) passed away...and that store really catered to the machine knitter instead. But I digress. The Tangled Skein (go yarn wild...with a picture of a moose with yarn all arouond his antlers) had lots of Lopi, Cascade, Brown Sheep...a few cottons...some Noro...and some novelties. Lots of needles, Several books. Comfy chairs. Friendly owner. She kept pushing me to take some classes. (no thank you). I asked about a knitting group for nights/weekends.. she was hesitant (hours are 9-5 Tues through Fri, 10-6 Sat) but said she might be willing to make the space available. She did say that several ladies have been showing up and hanging around working on projects a few afternoons every week. I'm just happy that I no longer HAVE to drive to Anchorage or Palmer to get my tactile yarn fixes!

So while I was there, I did pick up the new KnitScene...Am I the last person to peruse this 'zine? Found at least 3 patterns worth making...and found the "Deconstructed, fulled mohair shawl...interesting and attractive in a weird sort of way...I think I would wear that..Loved the man's yellow elbow patch sweater! And loved the fitted jacket with puff sleeves by Stefanie Japel (Glampyre). There was also an interview with Euny Jang (SeeEunyKnit). (All this read and reviewed by candlelight). But my favorite is the sweater blouse made from Bamboo...Knitting..easy peasy...construction..very dressmaker. We're talking pleating knitted fabric to fit the front sections, and gathering knitted fabric in the back...but it seems very flattering and wearable...I'm thinking Elann.com Sonata...or maybe even a silk blend. I keep looking at it which means it will be on the needles at some point. I also purchased yarn (Cascade 220 superwash) in a great tweedy sort of foresty olivey green for the Peapod. It feels wonderful and is knitting up like a dream...but at $9.90 for 220 yds, I'm hoping Elann.com comes out with some superwash wool soon.


I'm knitting with one of my favorite prezzies...my Knitpicks Options. OK...I love them...totally. Easy to use. Convenient. Almost as slick as Addi Turbos..and I really like the pointy tips. Not too impressed with the cheesy zipper case..this could be improved, but overall for the price and the needles and the non-twisty cables (no memory...wow) this is my new favorite toy of the year!

Saw the new Rocky movie with DH night before last. Sly's getting old just like us...we remembered seeing the first Rocky. This was kind of sentimental, but overall a really enjoyable movie. And man..for a 61 year old guy...Sly's not looking too bad with the shirt off!

DDs friend Denyse stopped by and loves her new Churro!

Today will be spent cleaning house and taking the Grandma Clara clear across to the OTHER side of Anchorage to Michael's. She wants to see what's on sale and I promised to take her on two shopping trips while I'm off for a while. I have to take her to the 5th Avenue Mall sometime before next Wednesday for new shoes. She hasn't bought new shoes in five years and her SASs are running down at the heels. She's reluctant because she doesn't like to spend that much money on shoes...cuts into the craft budget you know....but it's time and I'm standing firm on this!

I saw that Alice T is doing another Salt Spring Island retreat June 24-July 1.........I need to decide very soon if that will be on the agenda. The annual American College of NurseMidwives meeting is at the end of May in Chicago, and there is a fetal monitoring/documentation/litigation prevention course in Las Vegas in February. My company will pay for either the Chicago or the Las Vegas trip...and with the Las Vegas trip I can take DH...but if DH goes, will have to get a granny sitter for several days. Decisions Decisions! But if I take DH in Feb...I will feel a lot less guilty going to Salt Spring in June...see how my devious mind works! Any other elannite/bloggers planning a SaltSpring trip?

Well am off now to be a domestic goddess. Will post Peapod pics as it gets nearer to completion!

Tuesday, December 26, 2006

Christmas Spirit

A little photo montage from the past few days.























Wednesday, December 20, 2006

Holiday Meme

MidwifeKnits
1. Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate? Hot Chocolate..with marshmallows or whipped cream and chocolate sprinkles!

2. Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree? wrap wrap wrap wrap everything!

3. Colored lights on tree/house or white? house: coloured. Tree: Big honkin old fashioned C9 multicolor lights outside and white lights on the tree.

4. Do you hang mistletoe? that would entail remembering where it was when i put it away last time, or remembering to buy more every year. No.

5. When do you put your decorations up? anytime between December 15th and Christmas eve..but usually around the 15th. NOT BEFORE because I'm scroogey that way.

6.What is your favorite holiday dish? Scotch eggs with honey mustard. Only make them for Christmas morning. And prime rib.

7. Favorite Holiday memory as a child: my first bike. A purple glittery stingray with banana seat. And driving waaaaay out in the country to my Grandma Lynnie's. All of us grandkids would sleep on pallets on the floor out on the enclosed porch with propane heaters set up. There were usually at least 10 or 12 cousins and we'd chatter away.

8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa? I was 8. It was awful. I was totally crushed. (But I truly believed I could fly if I wished and thought hard enough-until three days later, and I ran down the hall and tried to launch myself through the window-i broke my nose hitting the window ledge.) It was a rough year.

9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? Nope...make everyone wait until Christmas morning!

10. How do you decorate your Christmas Tree? with white lights and lots and lots and lots of funky old ornaments, many handmade, and glittery glass balls now that DD is past the breakable/danger stage.

11. Snow! Love it or Dread it? pulease...i live in Alaska for crying out loud. Love it..until about March...then I'm ready for green grass.

12. Can you ice skate? But of course! Can't everyone?

13.Do you remember your favorite gift? As a child, the first bike. As an adult, the life size plastic torso with all organs and removable 32 week size fetus.....hey I'm a midwife and I use it daily at my office!

14.What's the most important thing about the Holidays for you? trying to keep a cheerful disposition when the frantically greedy grabby hordes of shoppers, family, coworkers etc start getting to me. Ideally, Christmas would be a time of restraint on the giftiness with much more focus on spending quality time with the people i love.

15. What is your favorite Holiday Dessert? Divinity.

16. What is your favorite holiday tradition? Sitting down for Christmas dinner with the people I love.

17.What tops your tree? A homemade twig star, spray painted gold.

18. Which do you prefer giving or receiving? Giving. I usually feel uncomfortable and awkward receiving.

19. What is your favorite Christmas song? Deck the Halls

20. Candy Canes? Love them...on the tree and in my tummy! I love peppermint!

Cleaning House

MidwifeKnits
Aaaaahhhh... a nice clean new look to the old blog. I'll probably change it again in the next couple of months, but with all the new snow we've had, thought I'd change it to a cleaner, more streamlined version. OK, so I copycatted some of the other folks' blogs that I like the look of...but it's not like there are hundreds and hundreds of different freebie formats in blogger eh? AND...best of all...the Links are working! Hooray! I feel like the master of HTML...ok...at least a little bit. But that is a New Year's Resolution...learn and understand what i'm doing with code :)
Aaaaaaannnndd.....i was able to resize a photo for my profile...not that it's flattering or anything, but I feel like I've accomplished something this evening!

Saturday, December 09, 2006

Catching up

MidwifeKnits
I have been sick with some supervirus since a week ago Friday. Spent most of the day last Sat. in bed, felt better enough to go to work on Monday, but by Monday night was totally down for the count. How can a person get sick during the busiest time of the year? But i did manage to get a little knitting done in between swigs of nyquil and squirts of Afrin. Four...yeah, count em...four churros. Three in Lornas Laces superwash and one in Paton's Decor (a solid and variagated combined). But now only 3 slippers and one fingerless mitt to go and the giftees are finished.

DH flew up to St. Mary's Alaska on Wednesday with the 50th anniversary of the AK AirNat'l Guard's Operation Santa Claus. This mission is a holiday tradition for our family and distributes toys and Christmas gifts to children in rural villages (not on the road system) all across Alaska. The celebration features Santa and Mrs. Claus, food, presents, and lots of singing. Cultural influences include the addition of Native Dancing and Drumming. One attendee remembers being an awestruck 9 year old with the first Operation Santa Claus. His story brought tears to everyone's eyes. It just shows you that the gift is in the giving, and you never know how far or for how long the ripples continue.






On Thursday I was missing the Lornas Laces camo-colored number. Look what was next to the couchhound in the dog's den! Do you think she was trying to tell me something?




And lastly, DD had her first high school dance-"the snowball"-Saturday night. She met a group of kids there. She was really really nervous. In her fancy dress,I can see glimpses of the woman she is becoming. When she got home, she was just vibrating and said that she'd never had such a good time. We talked the next day about it and she said she'd been really nervous because she'd never "danced" before with anyone except me and dad and she was afraid of looking like a dork. And she'd never slow danced with anyone and wasn't sure where/how to put her hands/arms..."but mom, it just all came together naturally and felt comfortable"..."and I just took my shoes off and got out on the dance floor with my friends and did what they did and it was a blast"....."i can't believe how hardly any of the guys would get up and dance"....and then "I'll probably be one of those girls who likes going out to parties to dance a lot when I get older"....
It was so special to see her and listen to her and relive a little of that lost magic from before we were all grownup.

Sunday, December 03, 2006

Goodbye Turkey

MidwifeKnits
No my boss didn't quit (well, yeah she did....but this posting is not in reference to that!....)
I will try to post a few pics later on...depends on blogger...moody thing she is, eh?

Tonight's dinner was the last of our Thanksgiving Turkey...and the family was tired of the usual leftover turkey menu...turkey sandwiches, open face sandwiches, turkey tetrazzini, turkey wild rice soup..you know..the usual...we wanted something fresh..different..that didn't make us think of turkey. And because it has been extremely busy in the midwifery world lately, i haven't been grocery shopping since the Tuesday before TurkeyDay..except for milk of course.

So here is a little recipe I whipped up for dinner tonight. DH LOVED it! DD gave it the "enh", and Grandma Clara...well, i don't think she quite knew what to make of it. Me...I thoroughly enjoyed it, and thought of more ways to alter this non-traditional turkey recipe that I'll just call...Goodbye Turkey

Ingredients:
1 Tbsp Olive Oil
1 large onion-chopped
1 clove garlic-chopped
1# sweet potatoes (raw, peeled and cubed)
2 cups beef broth
1 cup chunky peanut butter
2 cans diced tomatoes (liquid included)
2 cups cubed/chunked cooked turkey
2 Tbsp chili powder
2 Tbsp fresh chopped cilantro
Chopped green onion
Chopped peanuts
Sweet Asian Chili Sauce (I use Maie Ploy brand)

Saute' onion and garlic in olive oil until onion is translucent, add broth, bring to boil, add sweet potatoes and tomatoes, boil for about 10 minutes, until potatoes are fork tender, add turkey, peanut butter and chili powder. Simmer an additional 10 minutes. Salt to taste. Sprinkle cilantro on top.

Serve over hot jasmine rice, garnish with chopped green onion, chopped peanut and sweet asian chili sauce.

Kind of Thai...but minus the chili sauce and add some black beans and you're headed to jamaica mon!

Now on the knitting front...the coffeebean brown sweater has a back and two sleeves and is on hold until the holiday gift knitting is under better control. Poor B&B is still pinned out on the carpet in the back bedroom. Seeing Bri's B&B on the elann.com chatsite is inspirational, but we must churn out the gifties first! Sparks are flying from the needles these days. I have 4 churros, 2 sets of fingerless mitts, 1 scarf, and 2 pairs of felted slippers to finish...of this 2 churros, 1 1/2 pairs (i.e. 3 finished mitts) of fingerless mitts, and 1 slipper completed.
The hats are churros of course, because i can do them blindfolded in my sleep and in any gauge now...but...i didn't have the 'right colors' of machine safe fiber for the intended recipients...and i KNOW they will machine wash.
So...i had to visit my favorite lil LYS.....and do a lil.....yarn haul.....it was all Lorna's Laces...all superwash wool...yummy soft handyed stuff.. see? And see how "artisticly" they all combine with their future polar fleece linings!



Wish I had more to show you, maybe a little B&B later this week...we'll see!