Mixed emotions Monday

I have a lot to do in the next three days and am handicapped today and at least tomorrow by not having a car. Our younger son is using mine while he is having some mechanical work done to his. When we set this up last week, I didn't realize how jammed this week was going to become for me. I still would have loaned him my car but my angst would have begun earlier. Maybe it was good to not know in advance how the week would fill up.

I could use hubby's car but I hate driving it. I'll admit to all of you (but not to him) that I am milking this a bit and having him chauffeur me on errands that have to be run today and tomorrow including my hair appointment tomorrow morning. 

We have shopping to do for the cottage including a new bed for us. I am excited about this, but not about setting up the delivery. You'd think the cottage was on Mars when it comes to arranging delivery or service calls.

Wednesday will have me housebound with my grandson while hubby and older son tackle some jobs that for safety's sake definitely don't include the baby's assistance or curiosity.

My desktop computer is still on the sick and ailing list. I'd prefer it to be at the tech's so that I didn't have to look at and see it suffer. Oh wait...that is my reflection I am looking at....I am the one suffering. I am lucky to have other electronics available but at least 3 times a day I think of something on that hard drive that I can't access now. It's driving me crazy and that trip is getting shorter each day!

My knitting is suffering through all of this. I am working on something more challenging than recent projects and my focus isn't fine tuned. I bet I've knit and un-knit a total of 24 rows to get 14 good ones, and each row has over 220 stitches. Odd idea of fun and relaxation for some, eh?

For non-knitters, "frogged" means you've un-knit (sometimes savaged ripped out!) rows of knitting. You rip it, rip it, rip it which sounds like ribbet, ribbet, ribbet, the cry of a frog who may or may not knit.

But on a good note, because I really do prefer to see the good in each day, it is finally warm here in SE Michigan! I am wearing sandals and listening to birds outside my window. They are rather loud for such small creatures, aren't they?

The best smile of my day (so far) came from this picture of my grandson playing in his living room yesterday.

Car? What car? Computer virus? Huh? Knitting problems? Who cares! I'll have my hands on the Prince of Sweetness in 48 hours or less!

Everything is back in perspective now.

Stranger in a strange land

Ok, I'm not really living in a Robert Heinlein novel, but I do feel like I'm in a strange land here on hubby's computer. He doesn't use the same browser. His keyboard feels different (better!) His mouse has a limp (worse!) None of my favorites are bookmarked on his computer. Do I dare start finding them and saving them here?

* Sigh *

He wouldn't do that on mine so I guess I will follow his example.

Meanwhile, I wait for my computer to be exorcized. The tech working on it has contacted Symantec to see if anyone else has my particular set of problems and what they recommend.

Hmmm, maybe in honor of exorcisms, I'll make split pea soup for dinner. I'll spare you the picture of Linda Blair spewing soup in the scene from that 1973 movie. Not only would it gross you out, I'd have to explain to hubby why the photo was saved on his hard drive.

It ain't easy being a stranger in this strange land.

Woefully, aimlessly, pitifully lost without my addiction computer, I remain...

wait....

who am I again?

Viruses....again

Would it be impractical to look for local, state and national candidates whose platforms include hunting down creators of computer viruses and hanging them by their thumbs in wooded areas where bears live? By the way, they would have honey poured over them as an additional enticement to the bears.

Does it sound like I've given this a lot of thought? You bet I have. What else does one do when you can't use your own computer because of problems?

I am waiting to hear from the computer technician as to what needs to be done and why the antivirus he recommended and installed didn't catch this %$#& thing. As nice as being able to go online from my iPhone is, there is no comparison to having what I consider my real computer at my fingertips.

I will check in on your blogs as time and tiny keyboards permit. If you find a politician with the platform I am seeking, be sure to let me know. Until then, I am researching my constitutional right to bear arms, arm bears or arm myself with a bear, a pot of honey and go after virus makers. Even an ole softie like Winnie can only take so much....

One word or two?

An elderly couple, who were both widowed, had been going out with each other for a long time. Urged on by their friends, they decided it was finally time to get married.

Before the wedding, they went out to dinner and had a long conversation regarding how their marriage might work. They discussed finances, living arrangements and so on.

Finally, the old gentleman decided it was time to broach the subject of their physical relationship.
"How do you feel about sex?" he asked, rather tentatively.

"I would like it infrequently," she replied.

The old gentleman sat quietly for a moment, adjusted his glasses, leaned over towards her and whispered - "Is that one word or two?"

Isn't it odd that with each birthday I celebrate, the notion of what constitutes "elderly" gets to be a larger number?  I hope that along with health, my husband and I maintain our sense of humor. The smiling faces in each of the photos above are nice, but the laughter expressed in the last one, along with the physical closeness of the couple, really warms my heart.

Winning is a pleasant surprise

I entered my socks in a contest at my local yarn store and won in the category "best use of cables".

The sock pattern is Rosebud from Wendy Johnson's Toe-Up Socks for Everybody.  I used Ty-Dy Dots yarn by Knit One Crochet Too, color 762 Lavender.

My prize is a skein of Sockotta Limited sock yarn. Sockotta is made by Plymouth Yarn. The color number is 9842 and is perfect for me.

Whether you are a knitter, a baker, a poet, or excel in turning cartwheels, don't hesitate to enter a contest because you think your talent isn't good enough. You are probably your own worst critic. And besides, if everyone feels this way, you are sure to win the prize as the only entrant!

The prize isn't the trophy, gift card or ball of yarn anyway. The prize is in finishing your work, in my case this pair of socks.

Happy knitting, baking, poetry writing or whatever it is you do. You definitely won't have competition from me in cartwheels, but I'll gladly cheer you on.

Lemon Picker

Any of you have posts missing? According to Blogger, they hope to return all posts that were deleted yesterday.

I was going to follow up on my comments yesterday about the woman interviewed on Good Morning America who was giving her 8 year old daughter Botox injections. The story also aired on Night Line, and according to GMA this morning, thousands of people contacted them with 97% feeling the mother was wrong, very wrong.

Since it is Friday and I don't feel like being serious, especially if another post becomes lost, I thought I would share this joke with you. Don't take offense to the make of car or politics mentioned. There are many substitutes we could use, aren't there? 

The  woman applying for a job in a Florida lemon

grove seemed to be far too qualified for the job.

The foreman frowned and said, "I have to ask you this:

"Have you had any actual experience in picking lemons? 

"Well, as a matter of fact, I have!"

I've been divorced three times, owned 2 Chryslers,

and I voted for Obama."

I try not to be judgmental...

I try not to be judgmental. I have opinions but I don't share them, much less impose them on others very often. Sometimes I can't help myself though, and this is one of those times.

The 8 year old granddaughter of a friend was diagnosed with a form of leukemia two weeks ago. The specialist said they would take a wait and see approach as a number that they watch is low and her body may be fighting this well on its own. Forgive me for being vague, there is much I don't understand on this subject. Last night we learned that she is in the hospital and they will be starting chemo. Bill and I are feeling all the things you would expect us to feel for this little girl and her family.

This morning I saw a segment on Good Morning America that made me want to scream. A mother is giving her 8 year old daughter Botox injections in her face because the beauty pageant world is tough.
What the hell is wrong with this mother? What 8 year old has wrinkles? Besides concerns over injecting a substance (from a source she doesn't want to identify) into her child, what is she teaching the child about accepting her appearance? And what about simply enjoying childhood?

I would have been just as outraged to hear this story last month, but hearing it after learning of another 8 year old who will be getting injections that have nothing to do with a vain mother who is apparently living life through her child, I would like to scream and maybe shake the San Francisco mother until her teeth rattled.

Will common sense ever be fashionable again?