Happy November!

I'm still recovering from the weekend. I'd planned to veg on the couch a bit this am before starting work but the leaf elephant came roaring down the street at 7:30 (sheesh!). I'm not awake enough to work yet, so I decided to blog. I will edit this entry later today to include pictures - in case anyone cares.

The tween Halloween party on Friday was just fine. There was one girl of questionable intentions who came and wore a red vinyl devil girl costume complete with plunging neckline and a skirt that was so short that she err, needed an additional hairdo. How does a mom let her daughter out of the house like that? Call me a prude but I thought for a 12 year old, it was highly inappropriate.

Anyhoo, my parents and my GMa made it up to the mountains just fine. The weather was perfect - sunny and warm all weekend! They loved our new house. I cooked like a fiend for "Thanksgiving" and we ate like there was no tomorrow. Gma brought me one of her world famous homemade pineapple cakes for my birthday. I'm her favorite(she says puffing her chest out) and Gma hasn't made one of these cakes for mom, my aunt and uncle, her sisters or anyone else in a couple of years. Needless to say, they've going to put a hit out on me. Gma is 84 so her homemade goodies are more precious than gold. I will be freezing what's left of this cake so that I can nibble on it periodically AND to keep me on WW Core program.

Gma is also the incredible woman who gave me my entre into the world of fiber arts. She came into it for practical reasons, as did most women of her era. But over the years she sewed and created for pleasure and fun and passed that love down to me. What's interesting is she admits that she never learned how to knit and is actually fascinated by my ability to do so. I'm so glad that I've had her in my life as long as I have :)

I'm still savoring my birthday swag. Moola and a hot/cold water cooler (WTF?) from Mom and Dad (they instructed me to "show them" what I bought for myself because I notoriously spend money that they give me on the boys), homemade watermelon rind pickle and pineapple cake from Gma, some goodies from Williams Sonoma from my friend Cheryl, Costa Rican Salsa Lizano from my friend Adri (this stuff is like gold in my house), great fridge magnets from my friend Ellen and a very generous GC to Ann Taylor from DH and DSSS. I also received an overwhelming number of e-cards from fellow bloggers and fiber RAOKers. Thank you to everyone for your good wishes. I hope to spend at least another 35 years on this planet surrounded by caring friends and family.

I did manage to squeeze a couple of hours of knitting in over the weekend. I was able to make significant progress on Houndstooth after my parents left but am running out of yarn - yikes! I didn't knit on "Moon" but I now know that she's going to Gma. Her legs get cold more often than not and "Moon" has lots of mohair to keep her warm. I was able to whip up a quick knit this weekend - the Kittyville hat from Stitch 'N Bitch. I was supposed to be knitting the Mystery Kit from Martheme's Inspirations Yarn but I couldn't resist pairing a couple of yarns together to do something quick and different. I tend to look dorky in hats and have no plans to show you what I look like in it. I was able to get DH to pose in it though. I agree that we both look dorky in hats and this will be a holiday gift :)

So, what can I spend my birthday moola on. I, of course, will blow it all on fiber and knitting related items but there are so many choices. I don't "need" a ton of yarn though I've already ordered a couple of "samples" from the boys at Threadbear when I placed my order yesterday for more Cascade 220. Rob almost talked me into a couple of new Classic Elite cashmere yarns called Forbidden and
Indulge. I'm holding out for now but might get some eventually because I LOVE cashmere! I've decided to invoke the spinning spirits to move me to spin wool. I really want a spinning wheel but realized very quickly that its quite an investment right now especially seeing that I've done very little spinning. I'll start small with a good quality spindle and some yummy roving and see if this is something I'm "meant" to do. I'm relying on all of you spinning godesses to be good enablers and direct me to the yummiest spinning goodies that I can find. My happiness depends on it!

I leave you all with my personality test results courtesy of Wendy. I'm a hippie! Of the 50761 people who have taken this quiz since tracking began (8/17/2004), 10.8 % are this type. Want to test your personality? Check it out here: 20 questions to a better personality quiz