I love this commercial...

I'm so proud...

Although I'm not entirely sure he deserved it, Rocky did graduate from Puppy Training class last week. This is the picture the instructor got of him looking oh so happy and adorable in his graduation cap:

This, of course, is him trying to flip the hat off his head. He was not real thrilled about wearing it.



I think he's going to miss going to class, so after the holidays, I think I'm going to enroll him in the intermediate training.

Hope everyone had a good weekend!

I'm a pumpkin head!

I'm posting a most ridiculous picture of myself, because I am very proud of the fact that I was able knit a hat for the very first time.

Thanks to Crazy Aunt Purl for this hat recipe. It was way easier than I thought, and so much fun to do! Follow the link if you want to make one of your very own and be a pumpkin head like me! (Come on, you know you want to...)

Playing Catch Up

You'll notice that I removed some links from my sidebar. Since we finished Library 2.0 over a year ago, I haven't used much of the links I added. Gone are technorati (which I never really got), LibraryThing (since I now use GoodReads and like it much better), and some other links to web pages that I never actually used. Surprising even myself, I left my link for del.i.cious (did I spell it right - do I care - it's a stupid name), because I actually do occasionally use it.



So, I may not post as much as I (or my few readers) would like, but I am proud of the fact that I do post at least once every month. It is always my intention to post much more often, but never seem to get around to it. And, I also appear to have completely given up on Library 2.1. Perhaps I'll get back to it someday.



The one thing I haven't given up on is my knitting! Yeah! I just finished an adorable pink blanket for my friends new baby - which will be shipping out on Monday (none too soon since she's now almost 2 1/2 months old). I also made my very first hat - which came out quite well, if I do say so myself. Stay tuned for pictures to hopefully be coming soon. And now I'm working on a sweater. I think I'm in over me head a little with this one, I'll know soon enough. I can't get enough of knitting. Wherever I am, and whatever else I'm doing, I always think "I wish I was at home knitting." And yeah to me for venturing away from all things square/rectangular!



So that's about all. Oh yeah, and I bit the bullet, succumbed to peer pressure and finally joined Facebook. I know in a previous post, I said I would never do it, but I found out that a bunch of my Colombia cousins are on, plus some Aunts and various other friends and relatives. I'm not sure it really has improved my contact with any of them. For instance, I found one of my best friends from high school on Facebook (whom I haven't seen or talked to in about 8 years), so I added her as a friend, and she confirmed me as her friend - but we haven't actually exchanged any messages! All I've gained is the knowledge that she is still alive. Which is a good thing in itself.

So I've rambled on long enough. Cheers y'all!

Chaos at Spiderwick House (As Usual)

This is what happens when Puppy gets big enough to jump on the bed himself - and suprises himself when he manages to do it!





You'll notice that H.R.H. Gypsy was also very suprised - and much less amused about it than hubby and I were. This is after all her room - and her bed. We thought it was hilarious. The spitting cat had a much different opinion. The evil beast had invaded her domain and she felt he must pay. Fortunately everyone made it out alive and unscathed.

Everyone enjoy your weekend! I leave you with this very funny YouTube video. Some people have just overly active imaginations and way too much time on their hands.

Lovely, long weekend

I love holidays. Especially minor ones like Labor Day. Of course I love Thanksgiving and Christmas as well, but with Labor Day I get all the excitement of seeing my family without the added pressures of making a big fancy dinner or buying lots of presents. This past Sunday, hubby and I got to hang out with my family and then on Monday we got to hang out with his. No big deal, just burgers and dogs on the grill and sitting around and visiting. Of course, there was much more sitting around with his family than mine. See, as you all may have figured out, I have this puppy. We took him with us to visit my folks and if the long car ride wasn't enough, my cousin has a new puppy as well. His puppy, Charlie, is very used to playing with other puppies quite aggressively (all in good fun). Rocky, not so much. Poor Rocky was terrorized by Charlie, who kept jumping on him and biting him on the face and the ears, and grabbing him by the collar and trying to pull him around. Now, Rocky out-weighs Charlie by about 20 pounds, but the poor boy doesn't have an aggressive bone in his body, and he just basically rolled over and let Charlie chew on him! He did give it back a little, but he spent on awful lot of time on his back! So I spent a lot of time chasing the dogs around and breaking up the fun when it was getting a little too rough. Rocky crashed on the way home and basically slept for the next 24 hours. (The doggy Tryptophan might have had something to do with that as well - yes we drugged our dog). All in all, it was a great day. I love getting to visit with my family. I know I only live 1 1/2 hours away, but sometimes it feels like more. I miss seeing my parents and my brother all the time. It's always great to see all my cousins too - especially Jeff and Amy who made the trip down from New York with Charlie. I hope you all had a good holiday weekend!

It's a dog's life...

Happy Dog!



Sleepy Dog!



Playful Dog!



And in case anyone was worried she was being neglected: one of her highness on her throne!

A Word to the Wise...

'cause I'm apparently too stupid to know any better:



Never pick up a cat during a dog/cat fight. Just so you know...

The Reason I Never Post Anymore

I know it's been ages since I've last posted a message. But, I have very good reasons - see the following:

I think his paws were cold!

I have the cutest dog in the world - and no one can tell me otherwise!

Introducing Rocky!

Meet the newest love in my life:

Help a Creatively Challenged Girl Out...

Anyone have any thoughts on good puppy names?

Update

Only 76 hours till I pick up Puppy!!!!!


Oh yeah, and I got weighed-in yesterday. Week 2, I lost 3 pounds.

Since you asked for details...

OK, since I was accused of shoddy blogging, here are some details about my new puppy.

I'll be picking him up on Saturday, and he will be the ripe old age of 6 1/2 weeks. He is a Chesapeake Bay Retriever, and just about the cutest thing you have ever seen in your life. And, no, I'm not biased. When he gets to be full grown, if he's like his daddy, he will be around 100 - 110 pounds. He's light brown, and his fur is already starting to curl a little bit.

I got to meet him this past Saturday, but since it was a surprise, I did not have my camera with me, so I don't have any pictures just yet. But don't you all worry, I will take about a thousand pictures this weekend, when we bring him home. I can't wait!!!

HAPPY SUNDAY

I'M GETTING A PUPPY!!!!

And you all thought I was so sweet...

You Are 36% Evil

A bit of evil lurks in your heart, but you hide it well. In some ways, you are the most dangerous kind of evil.

How Evil Are You?

I'm such a loser (hopefully)

The Y-town Community Cup is well under way, and I have joined the Biggest Loser team as an alternate. I had my first weigh-in yesterday - which wasn't as horrible as one may imagine. The woman weighing me was very discreet and professional and I wasn't as horrified by the number as I could have been considering I ate everything in sight for the 4 days preceding my weigh in. After signing up last Wednesday, I figured it was my last chance to really eat whatever I wanted.

About two years ago, in an attempt to help my eating habits, my best friend and I decided to keep food journals. Every week we e-mail each other what we ate the preceding week. Now, all kinds of weight loss gurus will tell you that this is one of the best ways to control your habits. Not for us. Perhaps because we are not judgemental of one another, we just go ahead and eat whatever the heck we want and then write it down. This method has not been very effective, so, I was thinking about food journaling on this blog. Perhaps I will be more mortified by what perfect strangers think about my eating habits and I will hesitate before putting food in my mouth that I don't want to record. Of course, my few limited readers may not care what the heck I do and may not want to read my blog if it's listing food, so I'm undecided at the moment.

I'm determined to do well with this. I always say I'm going to lose weight, but it never actually happens. But, since I don't want to let my team down, this is my motivation

I Succumb to Peer Pressure...

from Evilibrarian and went to find out what kind of nerd I am. I pretty much knew this before the quiz:

What Be Your Nerd Type? Your Result: Drama Nerd You sure do love the spotlight and probably have a very out-going and loud personality. Or not. That's just a stereotype, of course. Participation in the theatre is something to be very proud of. Whether you have a great voice for musicals, or astounding skills for dramas/comedies; keep up the good work. We need more entertainment these days that isn't television and video games (not that these things are bad, necessarily.)
Literature Nerd
Science/Math Nerd
Social Nerd
Gamer/Computer Nerd
Artistic Nerd
Musician
Anime Nerd

Having fun, learning, and helping the world...

I'm throwing up a link in the sidebar to the website www.FreeRice.org. It's a vocabulary quiz, and everytime you get a word right the sponsers of the website donate 20 grains of rice through the UN World Food Program. I found out about this through People magazine of all places. It's pretty easy and a great way to kill some time. I heartily recommend checking it out. Just this morning I managed to donate over 5000 grains of rice and I learned some new words in the process!

Imagine the Twilight Zone theme in your head...

UPDATE: APRIL FOOLS!

It's official: we have ghosts in our new house. There have been some weird things happening lately - in particular stuff moving to different places that neither hubby nor I were doing. I thought with my own absentmindedness I was misplacing stuff, but apparently it's not me. The straw that broke the camel's back was when I got up last week and all the cupboard doors in the kitchen were open. It's bad enough I have to have a ghost, but he's so cliche. Anyway, a friend of mine from Cleveland is an expert in paranormal activities, and he came over the other day to check out the house and he did find the presence of at least one spirit. Apparently, this spirit is also fixated on my cat which explains some of her bizarre behavior. Since he's rather harmless at the moment, and not waking us up in the middle of the night or anything - we're just going to ignore him and see if he gets bored. Never a dull moment as they say!

But wait, where's Babe the Big Blue Ox?

It was a sad day at Spiderwick House yesterday. This winter was rough on our trees, and one of them uprooted itself from the very soggy ground and was leaning against the fence. We thought about pulling it back and staking it to hold it up and see if the roots would grab again, but the yard was much too soggy to hold the stakes. We're not even sure this would have saved the tree. So, we had to cut down a perfectly healthy tree. This was very sad to me and hubby, plus this tree provided lovely privacy from our neighbor, whom we've never met, but there's a lot of curious activity over there. We were also told she loves to "party (wink, wink, nudge, nudge)." Not really our thing.

Oooh, my very own Paul Bunyon - I think I'm in love

Thing #38 - Comics

I read comics I don't create them. I have enough hobbies thank you very much. I know they're there - 'nuff said.

#37 Music

Ok, did the music thing - went with Pandora - only because that's what most people seem to use and I'm lazy and don't want to try both. Since I'm in an environment where I can't play the music outloud, I can't really test this out right now. I did type in my favorite band - Flogging Molly - and checked out their recommendations. I thought it was interesting how they search on criteria such as acoustics, instruments and such. I'll check this out more when I'm elsewhere - but for now I can say it's all good.

It's always all good when I can get rowdy-Irish-punk-rock-folk music anywhere, anytime.

#36 - Photo Editing

Well, I'm back on the track of Library 2.1. I haven't done any of these little "lessons" since last November, but I thought I would try a few tonight. As I was checking out the different on line photo editing sites but I only tried a couple - the ones that don't require registrations - I don't want to register for any more websites. As I sat and waited for sites to load, I remembered trying these a while back and not being very pleased. Sure 'nough, the first one I tried was Fauxto (which I believe is now called Splashup) because it's supposed to be so fantastic - guess what - it doesn't work. At least not for me. It will not open any photo I have stored on my MightyDrive. I remembered it happening a few months back - and it happened again today.

So, I moved on to Pixenate, which I had tried before. I remember actually being able to open photos this time, but for the life of me, I can not get rid of any red eye in any photo. And isn't that one of the major reasons people want to edit their pictures? I was able to use some of the other tools with ease - but the red eye thing is pissing me off - I have a great picture of me and my cat- but I look totally demented (quiet in the peanut gallery).

I was able to resize one photo and lighten it as I had not used flash for this particular shot. Here's the before and after:











Incidentally, does anyone else notice the disturbance in the after picture? Is my cat's tail possessed?

Awesome Prank...

Check this video out. I would have loved to have been part of this prank.

http://www.maniacworld.com/frozen-in-grand-central-station.html

Social Kittyworking?

I'm not a social networker - I don't have a myspace page, or facebook or friendster, or whatever else is out there. Nor do I really want one. I'm perfectly content with my little blog. However, her highness has decided that she must be part of the networking. So, now her highness has her very own catster page! Check her out and be sure to leave her a treat.

I lost my flash drive where all her pictures were stored so hopefully she'll be willing to have a few more taken - she does hate the papparazzi, but she's just too cute not to share with the world!

The end is nigh...

I am an unapologetic television watcher. I love tv. I have shows that I like to watch almost every night and this whole writers strike has been driving me crazy. As much as I like tv, I do not like reality tv, and have been very frustrated with the lack of new shows. I have to put up with that in the summer, I shouldn't have to deal with it in the winter as well. But behold, it looks as if the writers strike is over! I am very happy for myself, as a loyal viewer, but I'm also very happy for all the people who have been put out of work by this strike. For the writers, of course, but also for all the production and behind the scenes people who are involved in putting a show together. Let's hope this contract is resolved quickly, and that everyone gets back to work - and bring on the brain-killing television.

Miles and Miles...

It seems like miles and miles - of stockinette stitch that is. I've been working on the kitty tunnel off and on for the past month. Mostly off, because it seems like as soon as I start knitting, her royal highness jumps on top of the tunnel and goes to sleep, thus preventing me from doing anything other than my best interpretation of a cat bed. This is what I've got so far - it's a few inches shy of 3 feet, so I'm almost 3/4 of the way there. If only her royal highness would understand that the sooner I finish, the sooner she has a new toy.



"My people's house is cold so I must lay in front of the only heat source available in the kitchen because I must be warm."

It snowed this morning...

Serious stuff
I had been ignoring Library 2.0 for awhile now. Other than checking Unshelved through my Bloglines account, I haven't been doing much with the different applications I learned. However, while out here at the "different library branch," with not much library related work to do (I was supposed to be off today and called in at the last minute and all my work is at "home branch"), I decided to go through some of my other bloglines accounts. As I was checking the RSS feed for the Librarians' Internet Index, I started stumbling on some websites that I would like to save, but how could I do that, not being on my own computer at home. It suddenly dawned on me that I could use my del.icio.us account (incidentally, I still think the name is stupid and not at all indicative of what it actually does). Easily and conveniently from this here blog, I jumped to my account and started adding more websites. Not such a waste of time after all. Now I'll never lose the website for the State Fair recipes. Yee-haw!

Contintuation of the saga
I'm sure you are all dying to know the status of my garage situation (because I know you all are endlessly fascinated with my personal life). The deadline for Mr. and Mrs. Previous Owner to remove their belongings has come and gone. Unfortunately, they did not get notice of this deadline until 2 days after the deadline had passed. All hail the glory of the postal service. So, once again, we are contacting an attorney to find out what we can legally do. In the meantime, I found a taker for the 2,000 mason jars. Anyone have a need for a globe? This I discovered in the garage just a few days ago.

The good and the bad
Not doing so well on the New Year's Resolutions - there are currently dirty dishes in my kitchen sink (failing the resolution to be a better housekeeper). I only cooked twice last week (in my defense the chicken paprikash lasted for three days). On the plus side, the kitty tunnel measures almost three feet - hitting the home stretch!

Until next time
Stay warm, everybody! I'm still trying to thaw out my feet four hours after I cleaned the snow of my car (grumble, grumble... crap in my garage...no room for my car...a plague on the new house of Mr and Mrs. Previous Owner)

And the winners are...

No, I'm not talking about the Golden Globes (although, congrats to Johnny Depp and Sweeney Todd for their wins!). I'm talking about the ALA Youth Media Awards. Particularly, the Newbery and Caldecott Medals (considered the Oscars of the children's publishing world). Without further ado, the winners are...

Newbery Medal
Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! Voices from a Medieval Village by Laura Amy Schlitz (Candlewick)

Newbery Honors
Elijah of Buxton by Christopher Paul Curtis (Scholastic/Scholastic Press)
The Wednesday Wars by Gary D. Schmidt (Clarion)
Feathers by Jacqueline Woodson (Putnam/GP Putnam's Sons)

Caldecott Medal
The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick (Scholastic)

Caldecott Honors
Henry's Freedom Box: A True Story from the Underground Railroad, illustrated by Kadir Nelson, written by Ellen Levine (Scholastic/Scholastic Press)
First the Egg by Laura Vaccaro Seeger (Roaring Brook/Neal Porter)
The Wall: Growing Up Behind the Iron Curtain by Peter Sís (Farrar/Frances Foster)
Knuffle Bunny Too: A Case of Mistaken Identity by Mo Willems (Hyperion)

2009 May Hill Arbuthnot Honor Lecturer
Walter Dean Myers

Mildred L. Batchelder Award
VIZ Media, publisher of Brave Story, by Miyuki Miyabe, translated from the Japanese by Alexander O. Smith

Batchelder Honor Books
Milkweed Editions, publisher of The Cat: Or, How I Lost Eternity, by Jutta Richter, illustrated by Rotraut Susanne Berner, and translated from the German by Anna Brailovsky
Phaidon Press, publisher of Nicholas and the Gang, written by René Goscinny, illustrated by Jacques Sempé, and translated from the French by Anthea Bell

Pura Belpré Author Award
The Poet Slave of Cuba: A Biography of Juan Francisco Manzano by Margarita Engle, illustrated by Sean Qualls (Holt)

Belpré Author Honor Books
Frida: ¡Viva la vida! Long Live Life! by Carmen T. Bernier-Grand (Marshall Cavendish)
Martina the Beautiful Cockroach: A Cuban Folktale, retold by Carmen Agra Deedy, illustrated by Michael Austin (Peachtree)
Los Gatos Black on Halloween, written by Marisa Montes, illustrated by Yuyi Morales (Holt)

Pura Belpré Illustrator Award
Los Gatos Black on Halloween, illustrated by Yuyi Morales, written by Marisa Montes (Holt)

Belpré Illustrator Honor Books
My Name Is Gabito: The Life of Gabriel García Márquez/Me llamo Gabito: la vida de Gabriel García Márquez, illustrated by Raúl Colón, written by Monica Brown (Luna Rising)
My Colors, My World/Mis colores, mi mundo, written and illustrated by Maya Christina Gonzalez (Children's Book Press)

Andrew Carnegie Medal
Kevin Lafferty, producer, John Davis, executive producer, and Amy Palmer Robertson and Danielle Sterling, co-producers, of Jump In: Freestyle Edition

Theodor Seuss Geisel Award
There Is a Bird on Your Head! by Mo Willems (Hyperion)

Geisel Honor Books
First the Egg by Laura Vaccaro Seeger (Roaring Brook/Neal Porter)
Hello, Bumblebee Bat, written by Darrin Lunde, illustrated by Patricia J. Wynne (Charlesbridge)
Jazz Baby, written by Lisa Wheeler, illustrated by R. Gregory Christie (Harcourt)
Vulture View, written by April Pulley Sayre, illustrated by Steve Jenkins (Holt)

Odyssey Award
Jazz, Live Oak Media

Odyssey Honor Audiobooks
Bloody Jack: Being an Account of the Curious Adventures of Mary "Jacky" Faber, Ship's Boy, Listen & Live AudioDooby
Dooby Moo, Weston Woods/Scholastic
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Listening Library
Skulduggery Pleasant, HarperCollins AudioTreasure Island, Listening Library

Sibert Medal
The Wall: Growing Up Behind the Iron Curtain by Peter Sís (Farrar/Frances Foster)

Sibert Honor Books
Lightship by Brian Floca (Simon & Schuster/Richard Jackson)
Nic Bishop Spiders by Nic Bishop (Scholastic/Scholastic Nonfiction)

So what are your thoughts about these winners? I do know someone who will be very happy with the Caldecott winner (I'm looking at you Wizards Wireless!). I have to admit, I haven't even heard of the book that won the Newbery - I don't remember seeing any reviews of it, or seeing it on any Mock lists. This is fairly typical of the Newbery, though. They often recognize books that don't get a lot of attention. Let me know what you think of the winners.

spoiled, spoiled, spoiled

No, this post isn't about me (although if you ask some members of my family, they would say it is). No, I'm talking about the fur ball monster who has come to live with me, and who is currently forcing me to type this post with one hand because she's sleeping on my lap and I can't reach the keyboard. I sat down at the computer an hour ago to quickly check my e-mail, then I was going to move on to other household chores (see resolution #1), but up jumped the monster and she curled up and fell asleep. This is where the spoiled part comes in - I feel guilty kicking her off my lap. Even though there are a myriad of other places in my big house for her to sleep - I don't want to disturb her highness. I think it's the guilt from uprooting her from the home she's had for the last 3 1/2 years and bringing her here to to this new scary place, with strange noises like dryers buzzing and telephones ringing. Oh, if only people were this concerned about my mental well-being. I think in my next life, I am definitely coming back as a cat. But I would want to be owned and spoiled by me ... so how would that work?

Hooray for Internet Access!

After much trial and tribulation we now have internet access at home - yeah! Now I can actually do posts to my blog when not on breaks at work.

Baby Comes Home...

After 3 1/2 long years, my beautiful 9 pound furball has come home to live with me. I'd post a picture of her but she is currently hiding in a corner behind a bag of golf clubs. She's not so much wanting to come out and play. The kitty with the worst abandonment issues you could possibly imagine, is for the 3rd time having to figure out a new home. But, I'm quite happy to have her back with me. Hopefully, I'll soon be able to pick her up and hug her and love her. I hope she comes out long enough to eat her dinner tonight!

9 days and counting...

Lest you all think I'm joking, I have picture for you all of the current state of my garage. Mr. & Mrs. Previous Owner have yet to contact us about the removal of the rest of their items. I wait with bated breath for the 15th of January when I will finally, legally be able to throw out all their crap. Incidentally, if anyone out there cans their own food, I might be able to give you a good deal on about 4,000 mason jars in various sizes. You think I'm kidding...










This shot was taken from the doorway going into the kitchen. There's a wide enough walkway to get from the kitchen door, out of the garage, but that's about it. What you don't see is all the stuff that's on the shelves lining the garage walls, and the stuff that's leaning against the wall alongside where I'm standing.

And those of you who want to see a picture of the outside of the house:










This is a photo of the ornament, my very talented aunt made for Hubby and me for Christmas. This is exactly what our house looks like. She did such an awesome job!

Resolution updates...

The weight loss is going well ... of course, that could be because I have the stomach flu and haven't been able to eat anything for 2 days. An effective, but not very desirable method of weight loss. This of course negates resolution number 8, cook more - don't much feel like cooking if I'm not going to eat.

Finally, resolution number 7 is cruising right along. However, I've switched from knitting the kitty pi, to knitting a kitty tunnel. Infinitely easier project for someone just learning to knit in the round. I'll post pictures of my progress soon.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder...

Before we officially take it down, I wanted to share with you all the lovely light fixture that is currently hanging in my dining room:










The horseshoe is my favorite part...