Knit and the City

Doesn't the title say it all? I'm a 30 something knitter on the West Coast. Expect to read about my life with the guy, two ex-racing greyhounds and a couple of crazy cats!

7/31/2003

If your neighbours are splitting up and they sold their house, why is the husband over asking me to loan him $40? My neighbourhood is going to hell in a handcart. It's gotta be the heat. Do I feel older today? Not really, I actually feel like I'm a boring, lame ass person. I should have gotten together with someone on my birthday. But if I had I would've missed a call from one of my dear friends. And it was worth being a homebody just to be there when he called. Hi, Bratty! I do feel a little left out. Neither of my dads called. And my 'real' brother didn't call either. I've had a little pity party and I feel better now. My 'real' stupid brother called today. He wonders why I have his number tagged on my cell to play 'The Buffoon". Helllooooo?! Oh-My-God. I got a Patternworks catalouge today. If anyone out there is responsible for that. Thank You! The guy quipped that he actually has to go out to get his fix of music gear or books, whereas my dealer delivers...yeeesssss! I'm really liking the Handicrafter Cami. Sure it's like knitting with string but that's what I did when I was a kid so it's like a trip back in time. Who am I kidding. In this heat it sticks to my hands like crazy! But I am really thinking it's gonna be cool. We'll be off again tomorrow to the island to finish the roof and build a bed. That's all we have planned this trip. Hell, I could finish that in less than a day! As long as the guy doesn't get in the way. Bwaaaa! I packed the digicam! Thank you, boss! We'll be back Tuesday night and as long as there are no more Blogger breakdowns we should be in good form! Amazing Race tonight. Can't wait! I've also gotten hooked on Paradise Hotel. Good Lord it's trashy! But I love it and loathe it at the same time. I think I'm hooked because no one has any idea what they're playing for! Million Bucks? Permanent free hotel room? STD? Sorry, that was going too far. New trick. Sarah gets up at 5am. Does her little song and dance and woof to go out. The guy gets up and goes to let her out. But Sarah has just deaked him out and stolen his spot on the bed. I'd never do something like that!

7/30/2003

Happy Birthday to me! And for all of you wishing to leave birthday wishes on my comments link, we are experiencing technical difficulties, please resend your goodwill telepathically! Thanks! Started my ChicKami. I like the beige Handicrafter I'm using. It has blobs of colour along the yarn. Rather than getting the stripeyness of some of the variegated yarns I just get a dot here and there of colour. Pretty cool. Have to have more than 2 rows done before I take a pic. I love my job and I love my clients. Today I got to wear a tiara all day! No diamonds, just plastic rubies. Funny thing was that no one really questioned or commented on it. I must have worn it well. Har har. I also received a bottle of 1995 Dom Perignon! Can you believe it? What am I gonna do with that? I'm afraid to drink it! And we got cheesecake! Life is sooo good. My favourite thing today was the card I got from one of my co-workers. It says "I love working with you" and inside "Sometimes I forget I'm in Hell!" It sums up the frustrations we've all been having with those missing hamsters! Laughed my heinie off. Well, not quite off as it was so hot today I was experiencing butt sweat. Eeeeewwww. Yup, you heard it here. I just complained about the hot weather. I need to go get a cool beverage and flake out. No big birthday night for me. The guy's working. Awwwwwww. Here's me having some time in the yard. Please ignore the morning glory that's overtaking everything. Anyone got any suggestions for getting rid of it? Chemical Free? I'm sure my dogs get enough of a high from huffing butt, I don't think they need anything stronger!

7/29/2003

Look! I did a button! Now if I could get the comment thingy to work. Hm. Scorcher today! Faaaaahbulous! I'm starting my ChicKami without a swatch. Please remind me at the end of my project when I bitch that it's not quite right. I have nothing else to say. Well I do, I just seem to be distracted by setting up the comments. 'Mothership, I hear you loud and clear. Starting hypnosis in 3...2...1...now!'

7/28/2003

This deserves more applause than me completing my Hippy. This is the yarn I received in the mail from Terri as a GIANT surprise and just in time for my birthday. Which is Wednesday the 30th, should anyone else be curious. I'll be 34. I really liked 33. Symetrical, strange as I feel I'm an asymetrical personality. Maybe it's because all the time I was in elementary school I never knew how old my mother was. I always told everyone that she was 33. Now I'm going to pass my mommy. Hm. God Bless Bob Hope. I've always loved the musicals of the 40's and 50's. I do believe that I must be somehow reincarnated or some life connection something as I feel so strongly towards the fashion, architecture and the films of these times. If I was there as myself now I'd probably be regarded as the well-dressed town freak. I don't think I'd fit into the housewife thing. But then again...I'd have a lot of time to knit! Call up the Doc! I need to get Back to the Future! Lovely day at work today. Even with Big B being contrary to anything and everything I said or did. I think he was just doing it to make me crazy. He was doing a very good job. But it was fun crazy. Does that make sense to anyone? Okay, okay, enough with the waiting. This is before I wove in the ends and added my cording. I took up the neckline 3 inches as it was right at nip level. Sure, if I had my Victoria's Secret Miracle Bra on I'd be stopping traffic. But then again, I'd never be let out of the bedroom. Bwaaa! Since I did raglan sleeves it totally changed the look of the top of the sweater. I tried to get pics after I was done but self portraits really suck. I'm very happy with how it turned out and I love the colour. I think I have just enough yarn left to squeeze out a ChicKami. We shall see. I start the first ChicKami in the Handicrafter Cotton tonight. I treated myself to the appropriate sized circular needles. And I didn't splurge for Addi Turbos. After all I want to buy property. I can't be throwing money away on needles. Mind you, halfway through this next project I'll be cursing myself for not spending the extra money. Oh yes, you want to see this? My hair diva is sooo faboo! I'm gonna go start my next project! WooHoo!

7/27/2003

I FINISHED MY HIPPY!!!!!!!!! By my self imposed deadline. Hot Damn. am I good or what?! Photos tomorrow. I made drunken chicken tonight on the BBQ. That's where you impale the whole chicken on a half full can or beer. Then massage the outside with olive oil and pat on your favourite seasoning. Toss on the BBQ and roast till done. Oh-My-God...it was pure culinary heaven. You gotta try it! That's all that's new. Sad life I lead.

I FINISHED MY HIPPY!!!!!!!!!

I FINISHED MY HIPPY!!!!!!!!!

7/26/2003

Isn't Saturday supposed to be a sleep in day? Not for this chick. It was new hair day. Usually my faboo hair diva books me for noon but for some reason this time it was 8:45AM! Remember I have to drive 30 kms to get there! So it was kinda up at the usual time today. I tried to have a nap in the afternoon but it wasn't working. So I... FINISHED THE SLEEVES OF MY HIPPY! Gobsmacked. I think it's an appropriate use of the word. It explains how I feel. A good ol' Homie 'WooHoo' would work well in this situation also. Now I'm trying to master I-cord. It's a little wavy but as I go along it's getting more even. Remember to pull that stitch taut! Another super score from the Women In Need store beside the hairdresser. 12 balls of super fat Purple bumpy yarn with threads of orange, yellow and blue and green through it. And a set of 7.5 mm dpn's, 7.5 mm regular needles and a set of 6.5 mm needles. I got out of there for under $20! I think I'll use it to make a sweater for my friend's girl for Christmas who LOVES purple. Another beautiful day here in the city. Starting to get a little hazy with no rain or wind to move it around. I love it. And it's Indy weekend. I can hear the race cars from my house, whining and buzzing. It's pretty neat to think there are cars zipping along at 180 kph. Then again with all the steet racing here it probably happens everyday. No one hears about it until someone kills some one else. Confirmed 'hamster down' at work today. I can't tell if she's just stupid or smokes too much dope or is just a lazy ass. What to do, what to do? I'm going to work on my I-cord. That's what I'm going to do. How do they sleep like that?

7/25/2003

I knit during the Amazing Race last night. I purled a knit row. Craaaaap. No more knitting during suspenseful shows! I can't believe we have another week of Kelly and John. If my guy spoke to me like that I'd probably punch him in the mouth. Nice choice there, honey! So that means that yes, I did a few more rows on the infamous Hippy. I hope this ends soon! So I can start on a tank top before the summer's over. Then I'll have to make scarves and such for the silent auction for the food bank. And then it'll be Christmas! And then my brother's 40th! I may never get to knit for myself again! Freaky Friday at work. Hot and sticky weather. Slight ugh. Could have been hotter and not so humid. (Oh my gosh, did I just complain about the weather?) Very busy and we ran out of trucks this morning. If you need a rental longer than you originally planned, please let the rental company know. Then we can make alternate plans for the next days customers. Otherwise they get all snotty and yell. It kinda sucks. Only one person yelled and we were really only short for about 15 minutes. I found some trucks. I'm pretty handy that way. I try not to get all worked up. I also noticed today that the usual missing hamster is behaving strangely. It's almost like he packed a hamster this week. Is it because the other 'hamster down' is distracting me? I think not because someone else has noticed too. Very, very unusual. My Mai Tai isn't doing well. We sent him home today because he's still a wreck. Actually he went to the emergency room because he was having difficulty breathing. Doctor says it's just an anxiety attack. Poor kid. He doesn't want anyone at work to know what he's going through so I can't be very demonstrative towards him. Tai, Tai, Tai. Chin up! I gotta find him a supermodel. That will make him feel better. At least short term. Pizza tonight. Yum. I remember when I was in college my mom gave me $20 because I was broke. The next day she was at my apartment and opened my fridge. All that was in there were 2 pizzas. She was mad! "I gave you $20 and you bought pizza?!" Couldn't stay mad when I explained that pizza would feed me with the 4 major food groups for 4 days! New hair tomorrow....

7/24/2003

I recieved a special package today in the mail. In time for my birthday! I feel it needs a full coverage entry with pics so you'll just have to wait. Thank you Terri! I may have been one of these in a previous life. Well, not so stoned looking but...I came home from work this afternoon. Moved the reclining lawn chair to the sunny spot in the yard and promptly fell asleep. I love the sun! Terri will be the first to tell you that. I have to admit if I didn't have a/c at work I'd probably be pretty cranky. But I used to be a California Girl and I love to be toasty! All's calm at work today. Crazy calm, if that makes any sense. Everyone brought their hamster today. Even me. And not too much ribbing about the wrong fuel thingy I did. Phew. One of my young 'uns 'Mai Tai' had his longtime girlfriend pop the 'I think we need a break' talk. Now she doesn't even want to talk it through. He's a mess. He can't sleep. He feels nauseaous all the time. He can't think of anything else. Why does the guy never see it coming? I have to admit I may have to bitch slap this girl if I ever meet her. Mai Tai is adorable and kind and sweet and if I wasn't otherwise commited I may have a go at him myself! Forget the 14 year age difference! I'm progressing along nicely on the Hippy top. Ready and willing to finish it! I'll do a few more rows tonight but I'll have to put it down for the Amazing Race. Please boot John and Kelly, please boot John and Kelly, please boot John and Kelly. I have trouble remembering my increases and decreases when I'm watching something intently. Hell, I can't even remember to mark my rows! Love life. Peace out. See what a Will Smith Biography does to your life?

7/23/2003

I want to buy a piece of recreational property. I know that my student loan is going to come back to haunt me. It has since been paid off but the bank likes to go back 9 years and look at those things. Those things being I was a student and had no money to pay the loan. I'm kicking myself now. I have to see the loan officer tomorrow. Wish me luck and strength to battle the system. My father had knee replacement surgery last week. I bet my brother 5 bucks he'd chicken out. He's been talking for years about having his knees done. Lo and behold the old man actually did it! I called him after the surgery and found out that a drugged out dad, who has to pee, and no nurse will respond to his call button, is damn funny! He somehow went down 2 pints of blood after the surgery and they couldn't find a leak anywhere. So I quipped that it must have gone to his head to fill the empty spot between his ears. He told me that was impossible that they had checked his head and there were no leaks. I asked if he was sure they had checked. He was very serious in telling me that they had (in a sing-songy kinda voice) and that he didn't understand my insisting that it had gone to his brain. It really sucks when you have to explain your jokes. But man did I giggle at him lamenting about the nurses not responding to his call button. I could hear him clicking it and clicking it. Cussing and such. He makes me laugh. I totally messed up and embarrassed myself at work today. I expect excellence of myself and those who work for me. I want people who will strive to be the best they can be and move on in life a better person. So today I checked in a crew cab pick up. The customer had dropped it off right in front of the pumps so all I had to do was check the mileage before I fueled it. So I punched in my fuel access code and all the other info and began to fuel it. It was taking a lot of fuel so I decided to take a walk around it and check for any damage while I was waiting for the fuel. As I was walking around it I was admiring it. Saying to myself that this was a nice looking truck. What is this one again? Duramax DIESEL! Ack! I'm putting unleaded into it!.. So 51 litres of unleaded went into it. I can't start it or I risk killing it. And it's parked right in front of the pumps in the middle of everything. I had to call a tow truck. And push it back 10 feet so it wasn't blocking the bay doors. I was so mad at myself. All of our trucks are supposed to have a big sticker right on the gas cap cover that says DIESEL FUEL ONLY in giant letters. This truck did not. It does now! My only defense is that I never started it in the first place. If I had I would have heard the engine and gone 'Diesel!' Cripes. I'm going to be ridiculed for weeks. Sometimes our house isn't big enough for all of us. The couch definitely isn't.

7/22/2003

Confirmed that there's a 'Hamster Down!' at work. How lazy can you be? You would be amazed. Makes me speechless! I swear that all of our customers meet at the Starbucks and then head down to the Budget together. We were nice and quiet getting stuff done when BAM! Slammed with customers in 5 ton trucks. We've been really busy so the lot's been empty. Now it is all full. Thank you nice customers! Appreciate you waiting in the line that stretched out onto the road! And creepy dude was in today. Doesn't come in often but, excuse me, don't you have a bathroom to poop in at home? Everytime you come to the office do you have to 'drop the kids off at the pool' and make the place reek of your nasty ass? Ugh, just freaking gross. Don't call me 'sweetie' on top of that. EEEWWW! Other than that it was a nice day. I'm setting a knitting goal. I may just finish my Hippy by the end of the week. As in Sunday night end of the week. I'll let you know how it goes. Way hot again today. Love it and I'm feeling slightly wilted. Hardest is at night when it's still hot. The heat seems to be affecting the neighbours. There's one family 2 doors up across the street that the Mom just screams at the kids. We call it the "Mad House" Yelling at the older kid to hold the younger brothers hand crossing the street and such. Um, the younger kid's got to be at least 10! They're an interesting bunch. Now, the neighbours directly across the street seem to have been affected (or infected) by the Mad People. They have 3 kids so far. Very close in age. Looking like 4,3 and 2. Seriously. I heard her this last week of heat, swearing and cussing out her kids at the top of her lungs! I don't see her very often but I caught a glimpse of her yesterday and it looks like #4 kid is almost here. I've never heard her yell at them before and I've never been so apalled at the language. Don't get me wrong, I can cuss like a sailor when appropriate and even at times that are inappropriate! Sheeesh! Parents wonder where their kids learned to talk like that. Granted I don't have kids but I am aware of the frustration they can create. I'm hoping my neighbour will take a 'time out'. How about a pic from the weekend. Hot Dog! It's either 'My name is Bond, Ella Bond." or "Ooo baby baby, b-baby baby!"

7/21/2003

Holy Hot, Batman! And I love it. Sure, I lost about 5 pounds in sweat today and burnt my heinie on the leather car seats at work, but I'll take this over anything. Stopped by the office on Sunday and we have a confirmed 'hamster down!' I put out an APB and I hope that we can talk this one away from the edge. I'm feeling like it's gonna jump if it already hasn't. After all, if you have all the info right there to close a contract correctly, why do you not use it? I feel like a 3 year old. Why? Why? Why? 'nuff said. I taped Trading Spaces Family last night because I had a work shmoozy thingy to go to. It was okay. The shmoozy thingy, that is, but I got through the whole show to the reveal and shhhhhhhhhh....snow. I didn't tape long enough. Cripes! Anyone know if they liked it? It was Vern so I don't think they hated it. I was so choked at myself. Sheesh. I'm up to the sleeve decreases on my Hippy. I always think I'll get so much more done than I do. Life just gets in the way of my knitting. Hey, maybe I won the lottery and I'll never want for knitting time or supplies again! Ahhh, what a dream. Dishes, yet another part of life, are calling me.

7/19/2003

Another possible 'hamster down' at work. Not the usual one. Hmmm...this could be bad to worse. I better nip this one in the bud. I was supposed to go out with the girls last night. I got home late from work and totally forgot. I remembered around 8pm. I was supposed to meet them at 4:30. Ooops. I hope they'll forgive me. Today was a lovely day. Kinda cloudy and muggy but nice. The guy and I ended up heading down to English Bay. We had lunch at Pepita's and watched the world go by. Then we drove over to Robson street for some shopping! My guy is the best guy. It's not just your birthday, he believes in birthday month! That means all month you get spoiled rotten. I love that man of mine. He bought me a white linen shirt and a couple pairs of khaki shorts. The guy bought me the shorts because he killed my work shorts last week when he did the laundry. I thought he would know about the whole light coloured load, dark coloured load thing. He knows now! It's been such a great lazy day. The guy is on the couch having a snooze and watching football. He swears he can do both. Strange species goings on around here. Buddy, our 7 year old kitty has started to sleep on the dogs' beds. She usually steers clear of them and will have nothing to do with the dogs except the occasional ear lick. She's been hogging a bed a couple nights a week! Which means that one dog is in bed with us hogging the duvet. It's kinda cute to see Bud all curled up right in the middle of a giant bed. I'll see if I can catch her at it and get a pic. I have to say thanks to Terri and to Sandy for adding lil ol' me as links on their blogs! I am very flattered that you read. Now I have 3 people that I know read my blog. WooHoo! I tried to explain to the guy today how Blogger works and what it does. He's very confused now. As am I. I have actually been knitting! I probably have ove half the sleeves done. I read a good idea over at Another Knitting Blog a while ago and tried it on this project. I'm knitting both sleeves at the same time! As I've gone along I've safety pinned them together in the middle. That doesn't make sense without a picture, does it? I'll post a pic of that on Monday too. Too much content, too much content, I know. Hope you had a nice read.

7/18/2003

Good Lord, now I can't make all the uploads I tried go away. Just read the following post. Go no further! Or suffer repetitive blogger hell!

July 18th, 2003 Blogger Control Queen Christine is on the case again! There were some conflicts with my BlogBack stuff. No one ever comments so I think it's not a giant loss. I'll try again with another comment thingy. Any suggestions? Freaky Friday at work today. Are we sure it's not the 13th? 3 Jettas broke down today. And , of course, they all want their Jettas back. So I have a little rule at the office. If you don't take care of your Jetta and you break it, you get a Hyundai instead. No Jetta for you! So far I've dinged 3 people with "Jetta Neglect". Tee Hee! Ah...the power. I'm going to pose a question. If your credit card is maxed out, and you have no credit available, should you still be able to rent a car? Can I pose a couple 'what if's'? How will we collect for your parking ticket that comes in the mail a month later? How will we pay for the repair if your car is vandalized and all the windows are smashed out? How will we get reimbursed if you forgot to fill up the tank before you returned? Am I supposed to give you a $50,000 truck because you look like a nice person? Just because you couldn't resist that new pair of shoes and maxed out your card do not call every person in the office a f**cking bitch and scream and swear at us while we try to explain patiently why we need credit. If we tell you the manager isn't in the office and will be back in the afternoon, please do not accuse us of lying. I think if he was there we'd rather have you cuss him out. Really. I'm sorry you're embarrased that you've been exposed. Get a grip, woman. And grow up. I was totally choked that Kelly and John didn't get booted off Amazing Race. What? Non-elimination round? Give me a break. There's always next week! My stupid cold is still hanging on. Stuffy head, foggy brain, sniffles and a nice cough. I'm resting all weekend. The Vancouver Folk Festival is in town and Ani DiFranco is playing Sunday night. I have backstage passes. I may see how I feel on Sunday. Let's see if this will publish. July 17th, 2003 Got another message from BloggerControl. My dear friend Christine has looked into it again. WooHoo if it works! I kees you! Mwaa! Mwaa! Mwaa! Big boss meeting went very well. And very late. Very tired today but I did manage to drag my heinie out of bed. Car stolen from work. Right in front of the doors. Granted the guy left the keys in it but it's pretty ballsy. I'm sure it will be used for a couple B&E's then dumped somewhere. Add another hour to my pile of crap. Sigh. My cold still hasn't gone away. I'm still stuffed up and I have a terrible, deep, chesty cough. Niiiice. This weekend I'm going to rest up and do nothing but knit. And go to a big, shmoozy, work thing. Well, I'm dying to see if this works July 16th, 2003 What's this now? Like day 6 or 8? Jeezus! Meeting with the big boss tonight. The owner. I have a list and I shall stick to it. And my dearest CW will be joining us. CW has been in the company almost as long as the big boss. She'a a riot. We think along very similar lines and often finish each others sentences. That can freak people out but we make the best of it. Should be an enjoyable evening. The guy is bugging me about blogging. 'Honey, no one's going to read that today.' I had to tell him that if I didn't write about today it would get lost in the jumble that are my brain cells. 'Oh, pity.' He's a laugh a minute. I have to hop in the shower. I realize that the reason why I got those cool shoes so cheap is that they're all man made. Quite an accomplishment! But now my feet smell. Ewwww. They call them stinky feet! July 15th, 2003 UPDATE Well, that was a bit premature. Always check that it works before you blab about it in your blog. C'mon Christine! Don't let me down! July 15th, 2003 UPDATE Christine @ Blogger is my newest, bestest friend. They do employ folks to look at problems! And you heard it from me, Ande. Not some friend's, brother's, sister's, boyfriend's, cousin on his mothers side. Cheers for Christine! July 15th, 2003 Give me a freakin' break. I've changed all my passwords but it still won't publish. I'm giving it till Wednesday then I'm going to ask for a refund. It was a wonderful day at work today! Seriously. Everyone there had a hamster on board and there were NO NEW ACCIDENTS! WTF? Happy, happy day! I'm about 1/2 way through my Hippy sleeves! I was thinking of taking a little break today and doing some French knitting for the cords that I have to attach. I'll do a sample and try some I-cord too. I also actually bought yarn for my ChicKami and I'm itching to get on it. I cheaped out and got some Handicrafter cotton in beige with the multi colour splotches on it. The guage is a little different so it will force me to do a swatch. Yeah, right. July 14th, 2003 Good Lord, this is quite a fiasco. I've tried everything. As I lamented to Terri I'm not a computer whiz but I don't think I'm that dumb either. I wonder if they'll give me my $50 US back? Since I can't get this to go I'll just keep posting here and then have a MONSTER blog to post if it ever works again. Keee-rist. I've decided I need to hire a part time admin person at the office. There is no way I can do all those accident files as well as all the other fabulous things I'm supposed to do. Like take reservations, check advance bookings. make sure the staff are happy, get out of the office to the movie sets, call coordinators to make sure we have the right product, lunch with stars, you know, those important things! Now I understand the owner wants me to take over the whole office. Uh, no...I signed on to be the next movie mogul, not the next office manager. I don't want to babysit. If I take over be prepared for an awakening. I expect everyone to be accountable. No lame ass excuses from the young 'uns! I run a tight ship! I expect to be called 'Mistress'..oh..wait..ahem..excuse me..I got a little carried away there. I am going to ask for a raise. I believe I'll get it. Gotta stay confident! Should I wear the low cut blouse and the Victoria's Secret? Too Much? Bwaa! Our friends from Taiwan were visiting earlier in the year and they made a little video. I must get the upload thing to work. It's so cute to see my pooper Sarah going bonkers on the bed. It's a goal. If I get it up there will be a GRAND announcement. I've managed to catch a bit of a cold from my vacation. I think I just worked myself too hard and couldn't get a good night's sleep on my parents air matress. I think the matress works for them because there's only about 30 pounds difference between the two. (Please, no one tell Mom I said that!) The guy and I have about 100 pounds difference. So when he gets in bed it's like sleeping on a beach ball! You have to keep in the middle otherwise you'll roll off the edge. It's a challenge. If he moves you have to hang on or else he'll bounce you out. Kinda like the double bounce on the trampoline. He's definitley worth hanging on to. Snicker snicker. I hope this is fixed soon. July 13th, 2003 Day Five, denying my login at publish. Uh....I got this far didn't I? I'm trying to get Blogger Support help but...do they really employ people to look at that stuff? July 12th, 2003 Day Four, still no luck. July 11th, 2003 I've been trying to get this to upload for 3 days. What the heck is goin' on! July 9th, 2003 I'm baaaaacck! Didja miss me? Another exhausting 'holiday'. But we're so far along on the cabin! First day we loaded in 2100 feet of lumber from the road into the lot. About 60 feet. Then we made a proper wood pile and spaced out all the freshly milled wood so it would dry out and stay nice and straight. That only took about 7 hours! I calculate that we loaded just under 2 TONS of lumber! Two freaking tons! No board was less than 18 feet. That's what you get out of a 200 year old cedar that squashed your cookhouse. After we finished there we hit the beach and I promptly fell asleep. The guy was kind enough to poke me to roll over before I burnt to a crisp. Awwww. Also got the side porch roof on and the driftwood log posts up. It looks really cool! Also got half the cabin shingled. I'm a handy girl. Are you wondering why there are no pictures of all this great accomplishment? I forgot the digicam at work. By the time I realized I forgot the office was closed. We left too early in the morning for me to zip down and get it. So I figured I'd just buy some film and batteries for my regular camera. So far I'm in for $35. By the time I get through the 3 rolls of film and develop those pics it should be somewhere around $70-$75! Sigh. I will not do that again! I got a couple rows of my Hippy done on the ferry but no real knitting. I bought the ChicKami pattern today and we'll see if it inspires me to finish my Hippy so I can start the cami. Could happen. Work was mental when I got back. Wait a minute. It's almost always mental! So I guess it was really normal. 8 more accident files but just small stuff. Scrape here, scrape there and a totalled Suburban that was used in a stunt that went terribly awry. No one seriously injured. Just a couple bruises and a broken ankle. I don't think that stunt man is still employed. Just a small $53,000 mistake. Here's a pic! Wooden thongs. Five bucks. Leuk, hoor?

7/03/2003

Whew, what a day! So busy! I felt like one of those runners at the Stock Exchange. My brother emailed me today to say he was going to visit the twins. My older sister's children that she gave up for adoption 16 plus years ago. My sister has since passed away and I've only seen the twins twice. Once, when they were babies and then again at my sister's funeral. The adoption was supposed to be an open one. Everyone was to get to know everyone. Not so. We were asked not to write or call. We respected their descision. Now that the children have reached the age of majority they've expressed an interest in meeting the 'other' family. My brother's nervous. So am I. I'm wondering what questions they may ask about their mom and how I should answer. My sister was an addict. Alcohol, drugs, you name it. She managed to cope for several years relatively clean and sober. It caught up with her at the end. She commited suicide. I was shocked when I heard the news but not surprised. I'd been expecting a call like that for a long time. Enough about that. I'll tell them the truth. That their Auntie Ande is crazy fun and that their mom loved them so very much. Getting ready to go away again. All the bags have to be packed and I have to adjust my swimsuit straps a bit. I ordered a 36 B but it's a little roomy. Why don't they sell a Baby B size? I'm not an A, more like an A+. Fitting would be so much better. Just a thought. My mind is scattered today. I won't bounce around here anymore. I'll see you next week Wednesday!

7/02/2003

I hold my breath if I'm watching the lottery numbers come on the news and I haven't bought a ticket. So far, so good. Not making much of a difference when I have a ticket though. Hm. Work was super busy and insane again. More folks wrecking their rentals. I'm sensing a trend. As I was leaving work today I saw the customers that had just been in the office come squealing around the corner in their newly rented car. Pedal to the metal they zoomed off up the street. Sigh. Please don't wreck it. I have enough work to do. Really. Getting ready to get outta here! I have to go get puppy food tomorrow or the dogs will have to hunt their own food while we're away. Snort. Have you ever done the freeze the chicken breast in a Ziploc bag with salad dressing? Tried it last time we went to the island. Holy Yum! We never do it at home because we live a block from the butchers and I don't have time or a microwave to defrost. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Last folks on earth to have a microwave or watch Titanic, that's us! How great was it to win the bid to host the Olympics in 2010? So great it brought tears to my eyes. Or maybe it was the realization that I'd have to hear the sappy Bryan Adams song from the bid video for 7 more years! Bryan! Stop with the shlock! Ack, ack, blech, cough...ack. Lame-o. I didn't take enough pics over the weekend so I'm going to search the vault. Ella. Having a ball. 2000.

7/01/2003

Never send a man alone to the home improvement store. He went for nails and 10 more pieces of cedar decking. Came home with a new patio umbrella (for the cabin deck because it's so sunny there now without all the trees) 34 pieces of decking and 10 boxes of nails. That's all he's telling me about. I'm sure there's more around here somewhere. I'll find out when he tries to fit it in the car on Friday morning. I can't wait to go away again. We have to get the main cabin up and running because by the time we get there again my folks will be up and we'll have nowhere to stay. So this trip we are going to get the chimney in, replace the crappy 1/2" plywood on the roof with 5/8", roof as much as we have shingles for, build an extension on the one side of the roof to cover the deck to the shower, load all our newly milled wood further into the lot, build a new bed and maybe a woodshed. Hmmmmm, now that it's in black and white I'm skeptical. We shall see. I helped out on the front counter at work today. Dealing with a lot of retail customers. I enjoy it a lot. I think I must be good at it because when a customer brought back his Jetta with the bumper out of whack. I got him to fill out his incident report and he didn't blow a hairy fit at all when I asked him about it. Most folks accuse the staff of lying about new damage. Nice, huh? Excuse me, I have better things to do than stand here and have you call me a liar. It hurts my feelings. I have a pretty thick skin on the outside but I do feel it when I'm accused of something like that. We really have way too much to do already without cooking up scams. Sarah's ankle seems to be fine now. All that ice and rest did her some good. I'm still keeping her from running around the yard like a looney. She has no sense. Tomorrow we find out if Vancouver gets the Olympics! I hope we do. Yes, I'm backing the bid. Call me what you will but I feel it's an honour to even be considered. Is there any TV I should be watching tonight? I'll have to ask Terri. She's a bit of a TV Queen. I hope she's not offended and removes my link from her blog! Har har har. I truly believe I have the best boyfriend ever. He just made popcorn and brought me my own bowl and is leaving me alone with the computer. Aaaawwwww.