“Hey, Mom, what the heck is this?” -Mayhem
“Well, Mayhem, it’s this nifty thing Jeanne got for me from the Minnesota State Fair – it lists all the places where I can find gluten-free food and beer today when I go to the Fair!” -me
“Oh, just imagine if they had one of those for all the best kitty food at the Fair! Mmmmm…. Tasty!” -Mayhem
A few weeks ago, MamaTulip bravely revealed the contents of her purse and I was mightily impressed at how, well, minimal it seemed. Because, um, my “purse” is actually a piece of carry-on luggage from REI… Generally, my sock knitting bag and a book are in the “purse,” too. No cats, though. Even I have limits! 😉
“Hey, May, get over here! I think something’s about to happen!” -Chaos
Clockwise from bottom left (you may want to click on the picture to make it larger), a small purple hairbrush, a shopping bag (the kind that folds up into a wee stuffsack), some pressed powder for blemish control (I think I bought that in 1997), and some backup UnPetroleum lip balms. Running out of lip balm? Eeep! Moving right along – hand lotion, my wallet, a small pink pouch with “feminine supplies” in it, a blue bookstand, my camera case (since I was obviously using the camera), iron pills, a GorillaPod (you can’t see it, since May is chewing on it), Neutrogena Oil-Free Sunblock, and my PDA (under Chaos’ head).
“Mwmph.” -Mayhem
“Oh, how I wish those feminine supplies weren’t in that little pouch. They are so much fun to rip apart!” -Chaos
Clockwise from the left below, a pen and notebook, my access badge for work, a java jacket from Kind Coffee in Estes Park, some bandaids, generic lactaid, more lip balm, lots of hair bands, earplugs (yellow case), a glasses cleaning cloth in a little case, Imitrex autoinjector for migraines, Swiss Army knife, more generic lactaid, my own java jacket, more “feminine supplies,” silk hankies hiding my blog card case and sunglasses case, a Red Tango pocket mirror, my cell phone case (the phone was charging), and a glasses strap (just in case I get really crazy active and skydive or something, I guess).
“I do love these little hair doodads! I wonder how many I can steal before Mom notices?” -Mayhem
Finally! A Bad Kitty notebook (from a bin at Target ages ago), my checkbook in its kitty cover (oh, she has key fobs in that same fabric right now!), a toothbrush and toothpaste, some pens and a Sharpie, Caribou Wintergreen HoofMints, more sunblock, and antiperspirant. Whew! Isn’t it fortunate that, for days that involve a lot of walking, I pull essentials out and toss them into a smaller bag?! When I shop, I pull my wallet out and just take that along.
“My goodness, big kitty. Do you think everyone has as much stuff in their bags as Mom does?” -Mayhem
“No wonder she goes to the chiropractor. Sheesh.” -Chaos
Ugh – the past two nights I’ve been awakened in the wee small hours by some very serious thunderstorms. Last night it was 70 mph wind, torrential rain, nonstop blinding lightning, and thunder that set off car alarms. Poor kitties – they are nervous wrecks!
Hockeymom’s having a contest – caption the (a-hem!) picture and you could win some of her hand-dyed yarn or roving. I think Tink or MamaTulip might have a lot of fun captioning this picture (hint: taken while tailgating before a Foreigner/Def Leppard/Styx show..) – maybe you could convince Hockeymom to come up with a non-knitting prize. 😉 Leave your captions by 6 pm, September 3.
Reading Update
Spare Change by Robert B. Parker. I’m not big on Parker’s Spenser mysteries, but I do enjoy the Sunny Randall mysteries. In this one, Sunny teams up with her father.
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J. K. Rowling. Yeah, I listened to it again. 🙂
Vineyard Stalker by Philip R. Craig. I love the J.W. Jackson Martha’s Vineyard mysteries, but sadly, they will soon come to an end, as Craig died earlier this year. According to his son Jamie, Craig left three completed mysteries (of which I assume Vineyard Stalker is one) and one incomplete mystery.
Knitting Update
Friday night I finished the 9-to-5 Socks (follow that link for yarn and pattern details). They took six days and I totally love them!
Although not as much as some around here do…
“Don’t make any sudden moves, Mom – I’d hate to have to hurt the socks.” -Chaos
“Because I really, really love these socks. How do I love them? Let me count the ways…” -Chaos
“Mmmm… purple stripey socks…” -Chaos
Congrats to Jeanne and Louise, whose socks won prizes at the Minnesota State Fair!! Jeanne even won a first place – yay, Jeanne!
Hee hee – this lolcats could almost be from my place, eh? Here’s another recent favorite… and this is definitely me when at work. Beware…
Reading Update
Bled Dry: A Tale of Vegas Vampires by Erin McCarthy. This light and steamy romance about the Vegas vampires is as fun as the first two books.
Lean Mean Thirteen by Janet Evanovich. What can I say – I love this series. People definitely fall into either the Morelli or the Ranger camp. How about you? Me? I’m a Ranger girl all the way. Mmmm…. Ranger… *fans self*
“Chicks dig us strong, dark, handsome, silent types. Why, yes, I do work for RangeMan in my spare time. How could you tell?” -Chaos
Cheryl is celebrating her blogiversary – leave a comment by midnight, August 23 (aka today!), telling her something about a knitter you know or admire. A randomly selected winner will receive a cool Cabled Sheep mug.
Jess is having a contest – tell her a vacation story, and you could win some gorgeous sock yarn. Leave your comments by midnight CDT, August 31.
I’m still giggling about all the drooling over Colin Firth on Monday! Good thing this is a virtual space, or I’d have a mop out right now.
I was glad to hear that from others who are feeling the blogging doldrums right now. It’s cloudy. It’s humid (but at least it’s cool!). The fog this morning is the thickest I’ve seen in years. It’s been raining enough for southeastern Minnesota to catch up all of its missing rain almost overnight – yikes! My company is in the process of being acquired. *sigh*
So, stupified by the cloudiness, imagine my delight at finding a dragonfly on my car Tuesday. Hello! That dragonfly, that’s an entire blog post! Woo-hoo! 😉
“Hmm, I wonder if dragonflies are tasty. How com you didn’t bring it home for me, Mom?!” -Mayhem
Recently, several friends noted that they would not be able to continue speaking to me if I did not watch Pride and Prejudice very, very soon. Since Jeanne loaned me the DVDs back in, um, March maybe, I could see why she’d want me to get this out of the way.
So Saturday night, I sat down with my latest sock project and a gluten-free beer and watched the miniseries.
“Hey May, Mom’s got the DVD player open – maybe we’ll get to watch our kitty DVD again!” -Chaos
“That is not our kitty DVD. Hmph.” -Mayhem
“I give this DVD one tongue out because it didn’t have enough cats or pigeons.” -Chaos
“Hmph.” -Mayhem
The kitties were unimpressed, but I enjoyed it (but oh, those sideburns – I hated them something fierce!) and am looking forward to watching Bridget Jones’s Diary again to catch all the allusions to Pride and Prejudice. (Scroll down to the “Trivia” section at the IMDB entry for Bridget Jones’s Diary to read about all of the references.)
It was a very long night, working the switch upgrade. Of course, things fell apart right at the last minute, too. I slept for about six hours, but still woke up feeling hungover. Then it turned out I couldn’t get into the laundry room to do laundry because some git had tried to drill out the lock (apparently hoping to score a few quarters). Off to the laundromat for the first time in, um, eight years? Or more? All in all, a very exhausting day. But today is another day, right?!
The latest edition of Yarnival is up at January One!
I’m told that poor Neatnik has been upset at the lack of Chaos pictures. Sorry, Neatnik!
Thanks to Janna for pointing out that May’s obsession reminded her of Mooch’s obsession with the Little Pink Sock.
“Hmph. I can’t believe you thought I would steal those stripey socks, Mayhem. Have you noticed that kitties don’t wear socks?!” -Chaos
“I know, big kitty, I know. I can’t understand what came over me! It seems absolutely crazy now.” -Mayhem
“Besides, it looks like Mom tossed the socks into the laundry bag, so they’re out of your reach for now.” -Chaos
*sniff* -Mayhem
“There, there, May-May – it’s ok. You’re just young and excitable.” -Chaos
This post is coming to you via the miracle of pre-publishing. As you read this, I hope to be snugly asleep in my bed, after having worked on a switch upgrade from midnight until 4 or 5 am. Do I have a wild life or what?! 😉
Have you seen the IKEA cat beds on Cute Overload?! They would so match my slippers, wouldn’t they?
Cara’s holding Spin Out 2007! By donating to Heifer International, you can be eligible for some absolutely amazing prizes – besides helping reduce hunger worldwide.
Julie’s participating in the Light the Night Walk to benefit the Leukemia and Lymphona Society in honor of her friend Betty. If you donate to support Julie’s effort, you will be entered in a prize drawing.
Reading Update
Dark Thirst by Sara Reinke. A little trashy, but a nice distracting read. Probably the only book (obviously intended to be a series, since it stopped in the middle of the action) about a deaf-mute vampire…
White Night: A Novel of the Dresden Files by Jim Butcher. Mmmm… Harry Dresden. Latest book. Tall, smart alecky, sexy wizard in Chicago. What else do you need to know?
Dead Sexy by Tate Hallaway. Witches and vampires and zombies in Madison, Wisconsin, oh my! This second Garnet Lacey book is an engaging read, too.
Death by Chick Lit by Lynn Harris. If this was supposed to be a spoof of chick lit, I’m not sure it succeeded very well. I found it to be a boring read…
Stripey Update
“You don’t think that big kitty’s going to try to steal my stripey socks, do you?!” -Mayhem
“He better not! These are my stripey socks! Mine!! All mine!” -Mayhem
“Now I’m really worried.” -Mayhem
“Really, really worried! I better hold on tight to my stripey socks so the big kitty can’t sneak up and take them.” -Mayhem
…because life is unpredictable. Many heartfelt thanks to all of you who have checked in on us here in the Twin Cities in the aftermath of the I-35W Mississippi bridge collapse. There are still people missing and we’re all kind of shellshocked. That bridge is just a few miles from where I live and I’ve been over it hundreds, if not thousands of times (although it isn’t part of my regular route). We aren’t famous for bridges in the Twin Cities, but since both the Mississippi and the Minnesota rivers cut through the metro area, we have a lot of bridges. I’ll be thinking about them a bit differently for a while.
“I’m glad I’ve never been over a bridge. How scary! I’m sending out nips and licks to those poor people.” -Mayhem
The Interstate 35W bridge over the Mississippi River collapsed during tonight’s evening rush hour. I didn’t even know what was happening until I got an email from Knitnana asking if I was ok…
Thank you to everyone who emailed me – I know that my family is ok, and I hope that my friends are, too. (Just talked to Jeanne, so I know she’s ok.)