November Wrap Up!

I looked out the window into the backyard the other day and found this:

Oh, my crazy Frito. He misses the summer hammock and has decided that the wheelbarrow is a good substitute.

In other dog news, today is my LAST day puppy sitting and I could not be happier!!! While he sure is cute, he is a pain in the butt. His refusal to sleep has really disrupted my schedule, and I don't deal well with having my sleep interrupted.

As far as knitting goes, I have started and finished a hat out of the book Hat Heads.

It turned out a bit smaller than I like my hats, so I will be knitting myself another hat with larger needles. This hat is a sample for a class I'm going to be teaching at the shop, so it wasn't a huge deal that it didn't fit. The class is going to be for beginning knitters who want to learn how to knit in the round and do simple color work. Considering this hat took me three days to finish, I think it is a very do-able beginning project.

I hope everyone had a nice holiday weekend! We got a fair amount of snow, so I am hoping to get Snickers his skijoring gear this week so we can go out this weekend... here's to hoping I don't break anything! :)

Happy Thanksgiving!

First off, Happy Thanksgiving! I hope you have somewhere to enjoy this holiday, and people to share it with. I will be spending it with my parents and my in-laws... sadly W is still out hunting and won't return until tomorrow night... let's hope he returns with a deer in tow!

The other night I was watching the Biggest Loser (because it is too hard to knit, spin, or sew with the puppy.  He is obsessed with yarn and has stepped on my sewing machine pedal a few too many times to make it fun anymore.) and one of the ladies on there had something pretty interesting to say. She was talking about how a mother/wife is supposed to be the caregiver of the family and how she has given so much of herself to everyone else that she lost who she was. She didn't know who she was or where she was going anymore. While at the ranch, she had realized that you have to take care of yourself to take care of other people.  You need to put yourself first... because when you take care of yourself, you have so much more to give.

This really spoke to me. Last year, when I was teaching, I felt like I was losing myself. I spent so much time working, worrying about work, and being upset about work that I didn't have a lot of time to do the things that I loved. Once I made the decision to not go back to teaching, I felt like a weight had been lifted off of me. I started to realize that I was in charge of the direction my life was going to go, and I wanted it to go differently. I started sewing, knitting, and picked up spinning. I found myself again. I have been struggling with the idea of having a family, as I don't want to lose myself again. I know what it is like to be unhappy with your life and how it feels to not have time to do the things that you love. I can  not have that happen, as I don't want to be that person.

I'm very lucky that I have a very supportive husband who always stands by my side and helps me make good decisions. He has told me that he will make sure that I will always have time for myself and will help me out when I need it. My husband is so supportive, he is out trying to kill a deer to feed me through the summer! :)

Again, Happy Thanksgiving. And count your blessings, because I am counting mine.

Color

Color plays a pretty big aspect in my life. Between working in a quilt shop, quilting, knitting, spinning, dyeing, etc... I think about color a lot. I think about what colors work together, what colors I like, what colors I want in my room... it's a lot of thinking.

One place that I never expected to think about color was eating...

This summer W and I started to change our diet. We knew that we should eat better, and since we were thinking about starting a family, we wanted to get ourselves healthy to set a good example.  We started eating at home almost exclusively and we joined Full Circle Farms, which is Community Supported Agriculture.  What that means is that every other week we get a box full of fresh, organic fruits and vegetables.

W is much better at meals than I am, so he does most of the cooking. There are a few things that I cook... tacos, enchiladas, and spaghetti are my "things". Everything else, I rely on him for. I may help him do the cooking, but he decides what to have and I am thankful for that. It is amazing how different our plates started to look when we changed our diet.  They were so full of color!

Plates that were typically full of browns and whites, were now speckled with green, orange, and sometimes even purple! And I loved every second of it.  I can tell when my meals aren't as healthy as they should be, because they look monochromatic and dull.  Like when I have pancakes and sausage for breakfast, I can tell that I better have orange juice and walk the dogs a few extra blocks!

I am glad that my plates are more colorful now... they are not only more interesting to look at, but healthier and delicious!

Black Friday

So how many of you brave the retail world for Black Friday?? I always do... I'm crazy. I get up at 4am, wait in line, etc. etc.  I normally have one "big" item that I need to get on Black Friday.  This year, I don't really have too much on my "need" list, as I actually already have most of my holiday shopping done. So I will just be on the lookout for great deals on things that I might want, such as some new clothes and DVDs. W teases me that Black Friday is my favorite holiday, next to my birthday....

Still puppy sitting.  The second night went well.  I think he was so tired from not sleeping the previous night that he went right to sleep.  Last night, he whined for about 45 mins before finally conking out. He gets up earlier than my other dogs, which is a pain. I don't like being up at 7am if I don't need to be.

I'm working on a new quilt (surprise!) with a teacher friend from school. We are making a few different quilts, all using the same fabric.  We spent all day Sunday ironing and cutting the fabric.  So far I have 12/75 blocks done for the first two quilts. The blocks are buggy barn stars, so they go together really quickly (no seams to match...) but because the blocks aren't just two colors (like normal) I have to lay each one out before I sew it so it is taking longer than normal. They look pretty amazing though.

I also still have a few sewing projects to complete for Christmas. I would post about them, but I have a sneaking suspicion that would ruin the surprise for the recipients. :)

Having the house to myself for the past few days has been kind of nice... I am allowed to leave fabric, ironing boards, yarn, etc, all over the house.  One BIG downside is I have to do all of my own cooking.  That is tough.  W is very good at coming up with meals. Me, I'm good at cooking mac and cheese. And, as much as I love mac and cheese, I can not wait for W to come home Friday night!!

Alright, back to doing more productive things.  Sorry for the random post.... I will try to be more coherent later. :)

Puppy Sitting

W and some of his friends have headed off to Hoona (a small island by our state's capital) to go deer hunting for Thanksgiving.  I have been charged with the task of puppy sitting a 12 week old husky mix named Bruschi (pronounced brewski, he is named after a football player) which I thought would be a fun task. Unfortunately, he and I have very different views on things... such as sleeping.  I believe it should be done at night, and he thinks that is for whining and carrying on.

I was really unhappy last night when he would not go to sleep.  And me telling him to be quiet was sending my dogs into fits, as they thought they were in trouble.  Frito got over it pretty quickly, but Snickers insisted on trying to lay right on top of me all night.  Finally, at 4:30, I gave up and slept on the couch.  I then got up for the day at 6, with a total of about 4.5 hours of sleep.

He sure is cute though when he isn't keeping me up....

Twilight Zone

Does anyone else ever have days that are just weird?? You don't know what made it weird... maybe it was the shirt you wore, or the way you tied your shoes... but the day was just off. Today was kind of a weird day.  I went to work at 10 (which I was almost late because my car did not want to unplug... it was so cold it was practically frozen... when I left my house it was -1*F) and it was super quiet.  Not much going on at work.  Helped a few people, cut some fabric, dreamed of making quilts... the usual. Then a lady came in and said she had received a message that her knitting class was cancelled. What class? Beginning Knitting. Why? The teacher was sick. Well, I'm standing there, dumbfounded because I am the teacher, and I'm clearly not sick... so she thinks that her husband took the message wrong and it was a class at another shop... but it was still weird.

Then later a lady checking out said to me, "You're Sally Henderson"... well, yes, I am (was, maiden name).  She was the mom of a friend I had in 6th grade.  I am very awkward in these situations.  I don't really know what the other person "wants" out of the talk... so I said how I stayed in AK and never left... married, have a house, never leaving.  Apparently her daughter is married and lives in TX now.  I guess I wasn't as awkward as I could have been.  I am just so bad at small talk. I'm the worst person to have at a party (unless I've had a glass or two of wine) that I don't know people at. I'm so socially weird.

Good thing I knit... I will always have something to talk about!

Speaking of knitting, my cowl is coming along quite nicely.  I'm almost to the second cable cross. I will then measure it and see how much further I have to knit. I really like it and I'm hoping that blocking will hide some of my problems (the edges of where I move from seed stitch to rib are a bit wonky)...

My dad's hat is almost done. I'm on the crown decreases and moving right along. If I didn't have to teach class tonight, I would definitely be finishing that up.  I still have some socks that I am hoping to finish by XMas and a few smaller quilts as well. I still have 5 weeks.  Never mind that some of these projects aren't even started.....

Frito's Three!

Our first dog, Frito, turned three today.  He is a big goofball.  He celebrated first by having a bully stick, and new squeaker balls. Then he enjoyed some bacon for breakfast. He also enjoyed a trip to the dog park, some dog ice cream, and having my SIL's dog, Harley, come over and play with him.  Overall, it was a great puppy day for him. I can't believe he is already three... I still remember potty training him and him being so smart that he would just squat and pretend to pee because then he would get a treat... now he uses his smarts to pretend he needs to go outside so he can steal out spot in bed. Oh, fun times. I enjoy the time I get to spend with my dogs, and I'm glad Frito had a good day.  Happy Birthday Frito!

Maybe...

I should hope for things more often on my blog... because IT SNOWED!! Not too much (only about 2-3 inches) but enough to make everything white! I was SOO excited when I left work on Sunday to snow. It was a great end to a long, work-filled weekend.

Not too much else is going on.  I joined my first KAL (Knit-A-Long).  It is with DaniDo Crafty and it is her Brisk Cowl (rav link).  I am into the pattern and LOVING it. I'm not a huge fan of seed stitch, but this has enough to look nice without being too annoying. I'm using some yarn dyed by my friend over at Northern Lights Fiber Co and I am really happy with how it is turning out. I hope to be done with the cowl by the end of the month... (setting my end date far out, as I am working on gift knitting at the same time)

I am knitting a hat for my dad out of the Hats On! book and it is amazing. I love colorwork! It is simple, but has very dramatic results!! I also just ordered the book Hat Heads and can not wait to knit myself a hat.

Alright, off to find some food before I have to teach knitting class.  Happy (early) Veterans Day!

At the Risk of Revolt...

I WANT SNOW!!!!

This is CRAZY town. I live in ALASKA. I like love snow. (Like my new use of strike-thru text...I'm fancy) And I thought that all of this climate change was going to work in my favor... bringing me more snow.... but here it is. November 7th, and not a flake on the ground.

A few practical reasons I would like snow:
* I can not see in the dark. I have terrible vision, and the night only makes it worse.  When there is snow, I can see because all of the light is reflecting... I actually rarely think it is "dark" in the winter...
*It is much prettier.  (Ok, that may not be practical... but it is)
*Ok, I really only had the first reason.

I want snow. I want to take the dogs out skiing. I want to wake up to a winter wonderland. My dogs love snow... they are hot... please... SNOW.

Moose!

Moose have been very fond of my porch lately.  Earlier this month, I had some moose come eat the leftovers of my garden, and a few days ago we had a HUGE bull moose come and eat both of our Halloween pumpkins.  It was quite exciting.  After eating all of the pumpkins, he laid down and took a nap in the yard.  Eventually he wandered off into the night.  Luckily, we didn't have anywhere to go as he was literally two feet from my front door....

Halloween Wrap Up.

It is November... Halloween is officially over. So I figured I should post a few pictures of the party we had.   I am only posting pictures of the food, as there aren't very many (or any...) good pictures of the people there. Apparently the person in charge of the camera was a bit tipsy...

This is a picture of the food that I made.  There was taco dip, cinnamon crisps, pigs in a blanket (not pictured), and the highlight of the party, the sea monster sandwich.

It wound up being a pretty fun party. We hung out at the house and gave out candy to the few trick-or-treaters that came by and then walked to go neon bowling.  W and I didn't stay at the bowling alley too long, as he decided that he was going to walk home because he didn't feel well.  He was convinced that he could do it alone, but I went with him.  On the way home, W called our good buddy J probably 3 different times, telling him how scared he was and that he didn't know where he was.... J thought it was funny to tell W that Snickers turned into a zombie... it was quite a walk. Luckily, we all made it home safely, and there were no dog zombies waiting for us.

Poor Snickers though... he hurt one of the nails on his right paw pretty badly (not really too sure what happened, we trimmed his nails, and accidently clipped one too far, but it wasn't this one...) and now is hobbling around on 3 legs. Yesterday he was just limping, and I thought he was being a baby about the claw we trimmed too closely (which was his dew claw, so not really too relevant to his walking)... then this morning I saw he had another injured nail and I felt bad for calling him a baby. I tried to take him walking today and he made it to the corner before he laid down and couldn't go any further.  Luckily, I was able to coax him home and now he is laying on the couch... I made him some beef rice for lunch. I feel bad for him. He can't do anything like he is used to doing. I hope he heals soon!!

Dog Food

I have two big dogs. They eat a lot of dog food.  I am constantly looking for ways to save money on things I have to buy consistently.  I buy my bread at a discount store, I clip coupons, I search sales fliers... I am a saving freak.  I stock up on things when they are on sale (like when Carrs had a buy two pasta sauces, get two boxes of pasta free, I went pasta crazy....) and dog food is a major expense.  The dog food we buy is $1/lb and I am always on the look out for a sale.  Sunday morning we went to Target to stock up on candy (50% off!) and I wanted to run and check the price on dog food, as I do every time I am there.  Much to my surprise, it wasn't on sale, it was on CLEARANCE! The dog food we buy was 75% off! Why? Well, probably because they are discontinuing the size bag (20lb, which is silly... with large breed dog food, that disappears in a day!) or they are changing the packaging. So that is how I ended up with a truck that looked like this.

After a trip to both Target stores, we wound up with 19 bags of dog food of various sizes (6 of them were about 8 lbs, the rest were 20 lb bags).  The bags that were typically $25 were $6. Amazing. I'm hoping this lasts through the winter...