Terrible Horrible No Good Very Bad Day.

Bruce,

I think it might be the heat, or maybe the Blue Moon, but it's not my finest hour.

• I woke up 8 minutes after I was planning on getting to work, because my alarm just stopped working
• My hair is doing this thing, where it is limp and gross in some parts but puffy and horrible in other parts
• While I was pulling into the parking lot at work, the Old Man who hangs out at my work stepped right in front of my car, blocking me from entering the parking space. He then pretended for a full minute that I was not there. Not being in the best of moods, I lost my temper, which I regret. He may be a horrible person who accuses me of giving women something called "human pesticide," but he is still probably some body's grandpa and does not really deserve me yelling "move you fucking dick" at him and leaning on the horn
• I left work to run errands, and got about 5 miles away when I realized that I didn't bring my wallet OR the bank deposit, thus negating my entire trip
• I had to scrub chalk drawings off our parking lot with a broom
• I forgot to put sunscreen on today, so I have a farmer's-tan sunburn on my left arm from driving (so sexy).
• I'm moving, uh, TOMORROW and all weekend, and I still haven't packed half of my shit.

So, yeah. Bad day. While I was in the car, i decided to cheer myself up by playing my Stevie Wonder CD, even though it always skips in the middle of "For Once In My Life" because even half of that song cheers me up. And do you know what? It didn't skip! It's a magical self-healing Stevie Wonder CD!!! Hallelujah, amen.

All in all, I guess things aren't that bad. This time next week, I hope to have all my shit together at the new place. And then, I'll be in Columbus next weekend to help Karida out with the Knitter's Connection...and after that, Comfest! I also hope to see everyone ever at Comfest. It is totally worth driving for, you out of towners! Good friends+giant beer+puppies+good food+good music= Comfest.

-K Brax

oh look out

Brax,
I'm watching this celebrity impersonator show right now. The Britney Spears girl CANNOT sing. I mean can't carry a tune. The Celine Dion lady is ALMOST as bad as the real Celine Dion. And, they didn't like the Cher impersonator, but she was awesome! They were like, "just because you are impersonating a singer doesn't mean you can sing." Apparently they don't know that the real Cher can't sing.

This is too bad, this is a shame. Because I am going to end up liking this show. Oh no.

Anyway, Alena came to visit me this week. This is what we looked like circa 2 AM on Tuesday mornin'...

Crazy Fun Times! Wish you were here! I look pretty happy and energetic there, but that is not what I looked like 5 hours later when my alarm went off. Oh, it was bad.

I know what you mean about things working out sometimes. I was so worried about this summer being the freaking worst. But now I have this new jorb which seems like it's going to be a great fit for me, and my buddies are keeping my pretty busy and the weather is toasty and the cats are fuzzy. And here I am, eatin' grapes in my underwear and watching reality TV. What more can a girl want?

Bruce

P.P.S.

Oh my god, the D.H. In about 2 months, we are going to KNOW, man. I'm not sure I'm ready. And Martin the Warrior is the saddest book ever. It was probably the only Redwall book I've ever cried while reading.

Why am I single again?

Beware: Introspective

Brucie,

Oscar escaped today!! What the hell Oscar, am I not feeding you enough? I have probably let the boys out onto the porch about a million times. I always put up a little barrier so that they can't leave the porch and go down the fire escape. Well, apparently, Oscar found a way. I was in my living room packing almost the whole time they were out there, until I went into the bedroom for five minutes, and came back out to Freddie freaking out on the porch!

I panicked. I panicked the way that normal people panic about a lost child at the county fair. I ran around the house looking for him, and then I ran up and down the fire escape, checking other people's porches and the ground behind the building, but I didn't see him anywhere! So, I decided to do the ol' lost cat standby, and shake a bag of treats on my porch. And who should come sauntering up but good old Oscar. Treats? Awesome.

So...yeah. If he's not slamming his own foot in the window and costing me $200 at the e-vets, he's running away off the porch. Bastard cat! Also, it's a good thing I'm moving soon. My neighbors all think I'm a crazed pajama-wearing cat lady who prowls their porches shaking a bag of cat treats.

Other than chasing after cats, I've been packing for the move. I think packing actually isn't that bad. You get to have a glass of wine, turn on some number one summer jams, and reflect on everything you're wrapping up. I like looking at the pictures the best. Today, I keep thinking about last year on Memorial Day. I drove out to D.C. with Tyler to visit you and Matt, and my car overheated on the way. I also remember being at the breaking point with my job in Columbus. I started pricing apartments out in D.C., and was planning to just up and move with no prospects, just because I hated my life so much. And then a week later, I got offered this really great job which I have now. It was pretty serendipitous.

I sometimes think about what would have happened if I hadn't been offered this job. For example, what would it be like if I had moved out there like I was planning to? I would probably have a much better social life than I do now. However, I would also probably be working 2 jobs in a really expensive city instead of working 1 job in a moderately-priced city. Sometimes I get really frustrated with Toledo. I hate this city, I don't really fit in with anyone I've met, there are a billion hot dog restaurants, and I feel like by moving up here, I chose my career over being close to the people I care about. But then again, I really do love my job. And I'm starting to get good at it. I feel like, after I do this for awhile, I could open and run any business I want. it's a far cry from what I thought I'd be doing in high school, but I think I'm oddly suited for it. I know I don't plan on living here forever, but I think it was the right choice. Things happen for a reason.

Happy Memorial Day!

Brax

Memorial Day

Brax,

Tomorrow is Memorial Day. This means lots of things to lots of people. When I was a kid it meant that we got to ride in the antique fire truck with my papa in the Ross Memorial Day Parade. That would be followed by your dad saying some stuff in the graveyard while we peered through the doors of the mausoleums. Then hot dogs!!

Today there was a big concert on the national mall, and Micah and I thought we might go to it and cheezball it up, but then there was thunder, and lightening, and driving rain, and hail, and we decided to cheezball it from our respective apartments. Around here it is pretty much impossible to avoid reflecting on the intended meaning of Memorial Day, so I reflected. And knitted.

Here is what I worked on:

The Tubey! She is so dark! Her glory is obscured by bad photography. But you get the idea, she is pretty and fuzzy. Your shrug is great...I am so jealous of how you finish projects whereas I constantly accrue new ones while finishing an average of 1 in 10.

So here are some outtakes from our photo shoot this afternoon:
Honey is a handsome boy, and a good model, but he does not take direction terribly well. Eventually I had to give him his catnip sock and let Sister, also known as "The Face," take over for the final shot, which you see permanently installed on our template.

LYLAS,
Bruce

P.S. HP and the DH in 53 days? Oh my God, Brax, I don't know what to do.

P.P.S. I am reading Martin the Warrior and I am about 75% through with it and I can tell it is going to be bad, I can see the terrible plot twist coming. Oh no!

Not your mama's knitting blog post

Hey One-Job Bruce,

I couldn't agree with you more on the whole "not your mama's" movement. That phrase is to knitting what PETA is to progressive activism.

I also think people should STOP writing knitting books all about lingerie. I can't think of anything I want to do less than buy a shitload of mohair and then re-size the pattern so that it fits over my ass. If I'm going to spend all that time knitting a garment, it had better be something that someone other than myself will see. And while I appreciate the novelty of being able to knit underwear on the same level that I appreciate the novelty of knitted ipod covers and dog sweaters, I just don't think there's very many knitters out there who want to knit their own sexy underwear. Not enough, anyway, to warrent the 5 or so books that have come out already.

Two toned shrug! Finito!

...Clearly, I didn't have as much luck with the "backwards" pictrues as last time. This is due in no small part to my god-awful hair.

Also, by "finito," I mean "I still need to seam and weave in ends." Let's face it, I'll probably do some sort of safety pinning action and wear it anyway.

I get the keys to my new place on Friday! I'm excited for the new place, but I'm of course not excited about the actual move. Does anyone want to come to my house and pack and move for me? For a case of PBR? How did I end up with all of this CRAP? I have a whole box of just cookbooks and sheet music. I haven't cooked from a recipe that didn't involve "boil water add contents of spice pack" in perhaps as long as it's been since I attempted the Mendelssohn violin concerto. Maybe this is the universe telling me I should learn to cook and practice more often. And I guess the universe has a point...just after next week, okay?

-Brax

Phrases that must leave the crafty vocabulary

Brax,
I guess this would be an opinion piece.

Here are the dudes who need to leave and never come back:

1. Knitwit

2. Knit Happens

3. Not Your Mama's...whatever. Not your mama's woolwash, not your mama's cross stitch, not your mama's lace knitting, not your mama's quilting, not your mama's tea cozy. Anything with the phrase "Not your mama's/mother's/grandmother's" needs to stop.

4. Friends don't let friends knit drunk (that phrase is a slap in the face to the writers and readers of this blog)

Furthermore, I am sad to say that although the skull and crossbones with the knitting needles under it is really cute, the whole skull and crossbones/pirate thing is now totally out of control. It has been completely hijacked and is no longer an emblem of counterculture. So I really think we should stop using it for a couple of years. Eventually Ralph Lauren and Target will hijack something else, like, um....I don't know. Tight plaid pants with band patches for butt-flaps? That would be OK, they can have that one. And then maybe we can have the skull and crossbones back.

I'm just sayin'.
Bruce

turn and face the rain d-d-douchebag

Brax,

Ohio was so fun! It was so great to see you. Thanks so much for driving down to see us. I feel so much better. (You might recall that I was totally exhausted and burnt out before the ol' vacation.) My favorite parts of the vacation:

1) Seeing everyone, both the Country Mice and the City Mice. Country Mouse: Tammy is the best for hatching a brilliant cook-out plan so that we could see all the Country Mice at once. City Mouse: KT is the best for having every jerk in town over to her house all weekend to carry on and drink and act bad. (Admittedly, the line between Country Mouse and City Mouse in Ohio is at best blurry.)

2) Meeting the pony. I am sorry that you didn't get to meet her too, because she is beautiful. Apparently she is only living there temporarily to keep Milton company. Soon they are going to get 1 or 2 miniature donkeys to be Milton's friends, and then Shelby will go home to the Watson's farm. It's great to have the kind of farm where they buy extra livestock so the animals aren't lonely.

3) Richard's by-god Pizza. Oh man, veggie hoagie, cheese pizza, I wish I had you here right now.

4) Being in the country. Woods! Trees! Wildlife! Flowers! I took some quality walks, I can tell you.

5) When I dropped the light on Matt's head.

...AND, of course, while I was there I got an unexpected call about a job, which turned into 2 unexpected phone interviews, which turned into an offer. And now I have a new job! I said my goodbyes to the ANA folks, who I will miss. And I put in my notice at the LYS today, and of course they were the nicest about it and said I can still be a teacher and they are happy for me.

Just call me One-Job-Bruce!

So some of my anxiety about the Husband's 2 month absence is gone. I was really worried that I would have a long job search, and sit alone in my house all day watching Days of Our Lives and trolling Idealist.org in mounting despair. And then end up waiting tables. So yeah, having an exciting new job to keep my busy is good. Also I am having lots of visitors.

I've been knitting on tubey like a madwoman. I am going to have sweaters this winter, dammit!

OK, it is totally lunchtime.
Bruce

The winos visit the country, with pictures

L. Bruce,

Here are the pictures I promised from our mini-break. The first night, the Night That Will Live in Infamy, produced about 25 pictures, almsot none of which are acceptable for public viewing. (Think eyes half closed, failed self portraits of our necks, dancing, no flash, etc.)

Nevertheless, here we are next to all of our "empties," after we had to switch to your dad's beer. Did we ever replace that? Oh well, it was probably from Thanksgiving anyway. Say what you want about us, we can hold our wine like nobody's business.

The next day, we went to a picnic at Libby's grandparent's house. We put a bottle of wine in a beer cozy. Thank you, Watson Gravel!

This is one of my favorite pictures from the trip.

On Tuesday we went to Honey, a restaurant in Cincinnati with delicious food and wine. I wonder why we like it so much? Here is Libby's great aunt Jean and her cousin Tammy.

And here is me listening to Libby's grandmother, Ruth. You do a lot of listening when Ruth is around.

Next, I got tired of taking pictures, so I handed the camera off to Barb. Barb took about 20 pictures of the group. They all came out like this:

I love that place so much. Everyone teased me for getting red wine when it was 85 degrees outside, but my wine was delicious! Best wine I ever had...it smelled like flowers.

I came home on Thursday night after an exhausting day of meetings in Columbus, and I worked a lot on my shrug. So far, I have finished the sleeves and back, and I started seaming the sleeves. I just need to do the orange ribbing around the body and I'll be set! It will probably take me awhile though, because it involves picking up stitches. I've set aside projects with way less picked-up stitches, I tell you what.

This is the back.

It was lovely to see you! I wish I could have joined you in Columbus, but I needed some serious down time. This weekend, I'm mostly listening to Tegan and Sarah and watching Breakfast at Tiffany's...but I will be fine.

Safe trip back!
Karen

I was born one morning when the sun didn't shine, I picked up my shovel and walked to the line...

Bruce,

Thank you for a lovely time this weekend! I especially enjoyed Sunday night. I am equally sure that the 10 people we drunk dialed enjoyed Sunday night as well. That was a special treat! Usually you have to wait until Thanksgiving to be sung to. I am still amazed that we know 10 people, let alone 10 songs to sing them at 2am.

That always seems to happen when we haven't seen each other in awhile. The wine starts flowing, and we just have the craziest stupidest drunken good time. It is awesome! However, to the D.C. contingency, I hope to convey (someday) that I am not a crazy drunkface most of the time. It's just that the Bruce and I probably haven't seen each other for a few months.

Aside from Sunday night, my week has been TOTAL crap. I miss everyone, but I'm glad to be back in the home city, and able to put up my feet and do some serious knitting, tv watching, and petting of cats. Perhaps under some blankets. Yes, I think I would like to conduct my life under a blanket right now. I have recently started the two-tone ribbed shrug from Fitted Knits. It is what everyone starts with, I think, because it is classified as "supereasy." I love that book, and I'll be jammin' on it for awhile. After this, I'm planning on knitting the mohair wrap guy, and then maybe the sweater guy on the cover of the book.

The shrug got off to quite a rocky start, because I tried to knit it using mission 1824. I had some extra lying around, and I really wanted it to be superwash, but the yarn was just too by-god big! I did the swatch like a good knitter, chose my needles (2 sizes smaller than the pattern, thank you), but still I ended up with a very large, dense disaster. I just abandoned it. Seriously, it is laying on the floor in my living room right now. I decided to get some professional help and I picked out some beautiful, soft as hell cotton-rayon blend yarn at the yarn store: Touche by Berroco. Thanks Fiberworks! I am a yarn spaz! Also, cotton=machine wash. (For me, anyway. I'm sure there are plenty of people who would still hand wash their knits. Pshhht.) I'm knitting the "body" of the shrug in an off white and the ribbing in a pumpkin orangey color.

Pictures soon! As soon as I can get batteries for my camera.

See you in a month at Comfest!!
Love,
Brax

Wow!

Brax,
Today there is a big Washington Post expose on worker compensation for American nuclear weapons workers who have cancer. Whaaaaa? OK, it's not an expose for those of us who have been working on the issue, but it is to a lot of other people. I have to say I am a little irritated, because if your experience with this issue was limited to just reading that article, you would have nary an inkling that grassroots have been working on this for years at every site and nationally. But I think there is an old saying about a gift horse and a mouth, or a baby and some bathwater, or something like that that probably applies. The important part is, people are being treated abominably and the Post is bringing national attention to it. We even got a little OH..........IO! shout out.

Did I ever tell you that when I was a kid, I thought "abominable" meant alive or animate, because of the Abominable Snowman? The outstanding feature to me of the Abominable Snowman was that he was an ALIVE snowman, not that he was a meanie. So, for example, if someone were to say "How is your Grandma's pneumonia?" I would respond, "She is very sick, but at least she is still abominable."

....24 hours from now, I will be in the old faithful Corolla, probably somewhere in West Virginia, begging Matt to stop for Pizza Hut and playing with my little magical music player, gearing the hell up to sit in the grass drunk with my dog, with Barb and Steve and Topher, and with your sweet self. We are going to have so much fun! For one thing there is a new pony, which I know is sad because of Silas colicking so bad and dying so young. But they had to get a new pony to keep Milton Burro company. Look at that face...that little guy needs a buddy.

So we can meet the new pony, Shelby. And also we can drink wine and eat food and git bit by mosquitoes and have jam sessions. Practice "Raised on Robbery" on your drive down, I want to try it out. Hooray!

See you...um, TOMORROW.

-Bruce

I am obnoxious.

Brucie,

There is a girl I work with who has some sort of glandular problem that causes her blood sugar to drop and spike rapidly throughout the day. She's got it under control for the most part, but a few times a week, her blood sugar drops really suddenly at work. When that happens, she gets really giggly and starts laughing a lot at stupid stuff. Suffice it to say, we work in a fairly somber environment where giggling is not always appreciated.

Unfortunately, I am naturally a very giggly person, so whenever she gets like that, it totally sets me off too. Today, I was at the front desk and I was complaining that my legs were splotchy and orange from self tanner, and she turned to me and said, "well, that's what you get for using that pumpkin juice!"

...a minute went by, crickets chirped, and then we both started laughing hysterically. Pumpkin juice! I'm laughing about it still.

This behavior reminded me of the time when you and Barb took me to see Paula Abdul in the sixth grade. I was obnoxiously giggly for the whole concert, and on the ride home when we got lost I was in hysterics. Barb commented that the drunk lady next to me must've spilled her beer in my coke. Nope! That is just who I am.

I'm sorry for you sometimes.

-Brax

Sheep and Wool and Fair Isle in the Round

Hey Brax!
Matt and I went to the Maryland sheep and wool festivle for a couple of hours this Sunday. Fun! We saw a llama:

And some alpacas:



Awwwwwwwwwwwwww. And that kid in the background rules.

Of course we saw some sheeps:




Those guys love each other. I know, let's EAT THEM. Seriously, this boy scout tried to sell me a lamb burger. They were only 4 dollars.

One other thing we saw was the sheep dog demonstration. I felt bad for the sheep because it is a rough line of work. Those were good dogs though.



So it was fun, and I didn't buy ANY yarn but I did buy a bracelet made out of a fork.


OK............
if you are a military budget analyst and you work in my building, do not continue reading this blog.....


...Here is the present I am knitting for my buddy who is about to move away to start a wonderful new life!

He is really into pirates, and he is moving to a cold climate. I took the fair isle chart from the Hello Yarn "We Call Them Pirates" hat, but I used Aurora 8 on a US 7 needle. It is written for a US 2 or something insane like that. US 2? Naw, dude. But Astrid helped me with the math, and I'm just doing three repeats instead of 4. So now I am to the decreases, and I'll be able to give it to him soon. I am so proud of it! Fair Isle in the round, she is fun. Much, much more fun than fair isle flat. Much.

Ok, it is about a zillion hours past my bed time. Goodnight, dude! Hope you got your apartment cleaned. You need a Dyson! We both really, really need a Dyson.

-Bruce

The past

Brax,
You just reminded me of a thing that is in the quote book from a couple of years ago.

Brax: OH NO OH NO OH NO OH NO OH NO!
KT: Has Karen been saying OH NO for the last 25 minutes?!?!

I will leave it to you to imagine the circumstances under which a thing like that not only gets said, but is considered funny enough to be written down.

Good luck cleaning!

Love,
Bruce

p.s. congratulations to Karida on getting herself all kinds of publicity! You are on the fast track to stardom, lady.

Oh no oh no oh no!!!!!

Bruce!

Why did I let it get to this point? My apartment is a disaster. It looks like the tornado actually touched down IN my apartment. And instead of cleaning and preparing for my parent's arrival tomorrow, I have instead been experimenting with new knitting projects, having some wine, and watching the Gilmore Girls. I always do this!!

Last time they visited, I had barely gotten my laundry into the washer and was in the middle of vacuuming when they knocked on the door. They arrived at 5pm after a 12 hour drive in which they blew a tire. That is how early they get up, and how prepared my Dad always is for things like flat tires (he always insists on a full sized spare). I spent the evening folding copius amounts of laundry while watching Mash with my parents. This time, my little brother is coming too. That means that my parents will take my bed, and my brother and I will fight over the couch, and the loser gets my sleeping bag. It will be "Survivor" Toledo!

Also, I think my vacuum cleaner has stopped working. It has ceased to pick up the pieces of cardboard that are stuck in the carpet from Fred's scratchy board, and also the great tufts of Fred's fur that embedded themselves in my carpet from the many cat fights (obviously, this is fate telling me to go buy a Dyson).

In moving news, I had a guy from the moving company come by my apartment for an estimate. He was a good sport about Oscar immediately prancing up and weaving a figure-8 around his ankles for the entire visit, but he seemed appalled at the amount of crap I have, and suggested that the move might take up to 5 hours, costing me upwards of $400. Hi, I am not made of money. He also suggested that I could shave about $100 off of that cost if I moved most of the smaller boxes by myself in my car. Hmmmm.... made of money or not, I think I might be willing to pay that extra $100 to avoid moving thousands of boxes of books and knitting patterns and kitchen utensils by myself to my new third floor apartment. Damn! This is why people make friends, Karen. It seems my impenetrable shield of lonliness has failed me for the first time.

I guess I'd better go clean or something.

Later Gator,
Brax

Hangover

You're the meaning in my life. You're the inspiration.

You bring feeling to my life. You're the inspiration.

I wanna have you near me!
I wanna have you hear me sayin'

No one needs you more than I need you!

Goodtimes

Brucie,

I have something to confess. I'm watching American Idol right now. My favorite part is where the judges make comments. Paula Abdul is pretty awesome, because I'm pretty sure she's always drunk. Also, she never says a bad thing about somebody, but you can tell if she didn't like a performance because she starts out by saying, "You...you are SO beautiful." I know you hate it because you think the "funny" auditions are mean, but seriously...once you've watched it a few times, it's SO addictive.

I always prefer my Top Model though. Here is the clapotis for my mom. Finito!


Also, here's me wearing it. Oops! Where is half of my face? Part of the fun of our blog is my poor picture-taking skills. At least I didn't use my cell phone this time.

I can't wait to see you Sunday! We will have to eat some food, drink some wine, and sing some songs.

-Mad Brax Beyond Thunderdome

Buy your veggies open air style

Brax,

this is a little belated, but I had a busy week!

Last sunday, I slept in, and when I woke up it was a gorgeous day. The Husband was on the rooftop terrace (i.e. the painted garage roof bordered by rusted chain link fence) and he had made the coffee. I joined him. Lovely! After a leisurely cup of coffee and a long discussion about why Christians are always telling people not to have sex (lots of theories, none definitive, maybe we'll figure it out next week) we decided to go down to Eastern Market for our fruit and veggible needs, plus I was in the mood to peruse the stalls.

It was so warm! I got to wear a skirt and my new shoes and a little summer top. All the girls were all cute in their summer clothes. I got me a sandwich and we sat in the grass to eat and watch all the people and pet all the dogs, and then we shopped. And I am telling you, did I ever buy me a skirt! Plus a new tablecloth from the husband of the vintage linens lady (the vintage linens lady couldn't make it that day), and some potatoes and fresh bread and apples and onions. This is how we have been buying our fruits and veggies almost every week since we moved here. Here is a picture Josh took of me shopping at eastern market back in March:

And here is Eastern Market 12 hours after I had my sandwich on the grass:



And here is Eastern Market now:

(I was going to take my own pictures but I figured, wrongly, that I would be able to borrow some from the newspaper. Here are some more pictures.)

Sad sad sad sad sad sad. Capitol Hill is SAD.

The Eastern Market neighborhood is a neighborhood that has been often scorned. For a long time it was a very very iffy neighborhood. And now it is a really cute neighborhood that is not quite gentrified yet. It will be in a few years, don't get me wrong. But right now it's a lot of different types of regular low and middle and even high income people who are all sort of fierce about this neighborhood. Southeast Capitol Hill! Holla! And the Market is the hub. It is what makes this spot awesome. The morning after the fire, we all stood there staring. Nobody knew what to do. I saw Ellie on the street, and we just hugged each other, cause that was what it felt like. On the up side, a vast, energetic

community effort has come together almost over night. Right on! The open air market will be able to keep operating. The inside stuff....well, they will rebuild ASAP.

So in other news, I just bought a coffee which has been sitting baking on the warmer for at least 6 months (URRRRRRRRRRRRRGH IT IS DISGUSTING), and I am knitting a new project, which is a secret until next week when I give it to my good buddy who is moving far away. I promise to photograph it before I give it away though.

Buy your veggies open air style!

-Bruce

The wrath of god

Bruce,

On Tuesday we had some crazy weather! All day, it was rainy and cloudy, and the soap operas on TV all had big banners over them that said Severe Thunderstorm Warning. Personally, I was excited. Thunderstorms!! But then, somewhere around 4pm when we started to get busy at work, there was a big bulletin that interrupted Judge Joe Brown and said there was a Tornado Warning in Wood County. Wood county! That is about 10 miles south of us, and 2 out of 4 employees live there. Of course, they rushed off to get home. After we were done for the day, I drove home, and on the way, the skies just opened up. I did the most logical thing and pulled out my cell phone to start taking pictures of how rainy and dark it was (above). However, my cell phone camera did not capture the HAIL that started coming down.

Once I got home, I turned on the TV and there was a tornado warning for my county too! (For all you tornado-free jerkasses, that means a tornado has been spotted in your county.) And I kind of freaked out for a second. Because even though the sky had started to clear, I realized that I was perched precariously in a 2nd floor apartment with a giant sliding glass door. Not so condusive to tornado survival! Me and the cats and the noisy, violent neighbors upstairs could have spun off to Oz.

In other news, I've started the decreases on my Clapotis. Stupid 100% cotton, it's so freakin' heavy!! Also, I'm starting to become concerned that I didn't buy enough yarn, and I'm going to have to buy another giant hank so I can knit the final 10 rows or something. I always freak out about that, though...I'll probably be fine. I'm trying to think of a new project for when I'm done with the clap. I want to knit my dad something for father's day, but there aren't a lot of summery knits for men out there. I did have an idea for something, but it would involve colorwork and maybe be too weird and hard. I will keep you posted.

Love,

the Brax

p.s. -I have had "Friends in Low Places" stuck in my head since I woke up. I don't know why!!

and

I don't know what I did to make the background white! WHAT HAVE I DONE?

Whatchoo talking bout everyone

Brax,
I am officially utterly useless! I haven't done any work all week. You know this, because you know we gmail chatted for over 5 hours yesterday.

So last night we had Knit, Purl, Hurl, and it was, as usual, super fun. I got way drunker than usual, though. Whoops! I think it was necessary after last week. I think I still had some steam to blow off. And I had fun! I just hope I didn't piss anyone off by saying something insensitive or retarded. I didn't drop a single stitch so I couldn't have been too bad off. I was working on tubey. The ol' girl is coming along.

Someday I'll finish a project. Someday.

So I came to work today. I sort of stumbled in at 10 with an extra large coffee and my giant sunglasses and the dirty, dirty beats of JT in my headphones. There is a certain horrible glamour in coming to work hungover. You feel terrible, but you also feel accomplished because you pulled it together! You woke up and put on your high heels and combed your hair--maybe you even used some product! You have achieved a sacred balance of work and booze. Nice work, Bruce.

I am sorry about all your worries. Your car won't fall apart--you do not live in a TV show produced by John Cleese. You live in Toledo! An industry town. If your car falls apart, you can just call Detroit and they will come down and fix it. The important thing is to think of the positives here--you are going to have a nice new apartment! And your dad is going to have a new job in a new town. Big exciting things are happening all over. It's spring! Stuff is happening. It will alllllllll come together, just wait and see.

OMG, I can't wait to come visit! Husband will be done with his finals and I will be done with my whatnots and we will be able to really kick back. I hope you get your scheduling conflict worked out!

Give my regards to Eddie and Oscar.
Bruce