Sewing Machines.....

Please excuse the stringy wet hair because I just got out of the shower about 10 minutes before this photo. I realized I needed to take in the shoulders of Hannah's Belle dress for trick or treating tonight and figured it was better to do it this morning and than at 5:30 pm with the kids breathing down my neck to get a move on so we could go out and get CANDY!
I take a whole lotta crap from hubby when I bring out my sewing machine ....I am usually in a hurry and then screw it up so (there is a lot of bad words said after the screw up), I don't sew much at the moment but hopefully, this too will pass in the future.

Hannah & Simon waiting for Mom to finish. Simon kept trying to get on my lap so he could help me by pushing buttons...yeah, that would help. See why I don't sew much????

Pumpkins....and stuff

Rosie & Woody sent this little ghost that sings Jailhouse Rock with Halloween words AND it lights up too. I think the batteries are going to wear out pretty soon or get "lost".

We carved pumpkins last night. The kids are busy drawing their faces!
Simon had no trepidation about putting his hand in his pumpkin but....
Miss Priss was about ready to have a cow when she had to touch the seeds. Hmm..guess she like the idea of a Jack o Lantern but not actually doing any of the work.


And here are the final products.

An Evening with Rosie & Woody

We went out for dinner with Rosie & Woody last night. I can't believe it but it was June the last time we got together, outside of our martini party in September. How can that be?

We saw their babies while we had drinks. Here is Rosie with her lovely bird who is finally getting all of her feathers back.

David & Woody. David is wearing the shirt he wore on our first date 9 YEARS ago come November 2. I haven't seen it in years and it now has a little tear on one of the seams so I don't think it will be around much longer!!!
Rosie & Woody got a new baby named Bella. She is part St. Bernard and something else but a very sweet dog.
This is my kind of cocktail napkin. Pretty much says it all.
And finally, a photo of Rosie & I at the restaurant. Whenever I see her hair I am so tempted to cut all of mine off again...but I have to wait a few more years since I have only been growing mine for 2 years and it is finally reasonable length after all this time!
Thank you Rosie & Woody for a lovely evening yet again.

Kitty & Christmas Knitting

I left my desk chair in my office yesterday and this is what I came back to in my chair.

Damn cat has some nerve!


I have also started knitting my entry for the Christmas Crap Along being hosted by the Knitting Curmudgeon. I will take a photo later today and post it while in progress. I finished about 2/3 yesterday so the knitting will be finished this weekend.

That's all for now folks!!!

Clapotis Revisited

Another couple of weeks, another prayer shawl going out to its recipient tomorrow.

You can see that I make pretty substantial shawls. I am not one to give a piddly little one, I want it to encompass the recipient like a big hug! It is longer than the couch and would easily wrap around me with quite a bit of "elan" after it was around once!

I used about 900 yards of Cotton Ease by Lion Brand and the Clapotis pattern from Knitty.com. I was a little worried about the two colors going together but since the Clap is a parallelogram, it lends itself nicely with the two triangles at either end going in opposite directiosn. It will probably be another year before I make that pattern again, if ever!

Tuesday & Wine

We were cat-sitting our old cat, Elsie, while her owner went to Disneyland and she brought back a Belle bank for Hannah, as seen below, and a light saber for Simon.

Here are the two hams posing for the camera.
Sophie LOVES boxes...and she was in my office playing with this box yesterday.
As you faithful readers know, it is SnB night on Tuesday's. However, it is also Pam's birthday on Thursday. We won't tell you how old she is this year!


We met at the Elephant Bar in Chandler. They had a great happy hour where the drinks and the appetizer's were 1/2 price. The only place they had big enough was out on the patio. The weather was great but the lighting was not!

Here's the birthday girl in the middle with Kelli & Heather.
Illanna brought Zira, who is here for a visit on her world tour. They are posing with Kelli. Zira even has a belly button ring! What a cool Monkey!

For once, there is actually a photo of me on this post and with the birthday girl, no less!

Melanie & Peggy were there too but alas, their photos did not do them justice!

Michelle looked great in her Clapotis and she brought me the 2006 Knitting Pattern-A-Day calendar from Costco! Thanks Michelle!
Hmmm...Melanie's birthday is coming up in the next couple of weeks....we might have to hit the Elephant Bar again! Ladies, what do you think?????

8:30 pm Sunday

So, as I was watching Desperate Housewives last night, the doorbell rings around 8:30 pm. Anyone that knows us, knows this is getting pretty late in our house.

I open the door and find this on my doorstep. Hmmm...don't think any of the neighbors left it there so I am wondering who left this on the doorstep.

And here is what is inside....CANDY. I love candy, it is like a food group, especially little snack candy like this that is so easy to eat many pieces before you realize how much you have eaten.
I am going to assume that my Secret Pal dropped it off since she lives in Mesa. However, if it isn't her and the Random Gifter reads my blog, please identify yourself!

We don't want this to go down like the time I got roses delivered to the lab while I was in Grad School from a Secret Admirer. The florist would not give me any clues and I never was able to figure it out! Please don't keep me in suspense!

Editor's Note: It wasn't Secret Pal and it wasn't my girlfriend that lives around the corner. Please don't leave me in suspense.

33" Inseams!

It has been a quiet weekend at Chez HB.  Kinda sounds like Garrison Keillor: “Well, it’s been a quiet week in Lake Wobegon, my home town…..”.  I always loved the ending of his News from Lake Wobegon:  “Where all the women are strong, the men are good looking and the children are above average.”

If you have never listened to Garrison Keillor and are from the Midwest, you should.  Lake Wobegon is like every small town with the Catholics and the Lutherans and everything in between with a healthy dose of towns people with interesting foibles.  Of course, I can’t ever remember when he is on here in Phoenix…hmm…makes me wonder if I can get him as a podcast or something!!!!    Ok, Ok..but I digress.

So, back to reality!

I took the kids out yesterday and we went around checking the neighborhood garage sales.  Hannah rode her scooter and Simon rode is “big wheel” and they both did a great job staying out of the road and listening.  This is an especially big achievement for Simon as he is 3….an only recently started listening at all!

I only bought a 5 ingredient cookbook.  Nothing else really interested us but it was a nice morning walking around the neighborhood.

We just hung out and had a relaxing Saturday.

Today we stuck close to home too.  The kids and I went grocery shopping while David did some work on the computer.

This afternoon, Hannah & I headed out on our own.    I really need some jeans that fit.  You ladies out there know what I am talking about!  Ashley summed up my jeans shopping perfectly in her “Curvy Girls Guide To Life” post.  I had a coupon for Lane Bryant and there is one close to my house (about 3 miles) so we went over there on a whim.  My main problem is I have a 33 inch inseam.  The regular pants usually have a 31 inch inseam and the tall pants have a 35 inch inseam.  Hmmm…no mans land.  I know I can get them taken up but $12 is a bit much on top of a $60-75 pair of jeans.  Imagine my surprise when, I see their Supreme Brand have an “extended” length of 33 inch inseam!  Yes, you read that right; they have jeans with my EXACT inseam.  Needless to say, I bought 2 pair with a $25 off each pair plus another $25 off a future $50 purchase.  What is not to love?????

Now, if only the “God’s of Pants” would deign themselves to making some regular pants in a 33 inch inseam I would be in PANTS HEAVEN!

Fall Festival

There were two fall festivals to attend yesterday. One at Hannah's school and one at Simon's preschool. So..we headed to Hannah's first and there was a little petting zoo.

Hannah saw a bunch of her friends and had a nice time seeing the animals too!
There was popcorn and lollipops to be had as well as a hug from Dad after they got their glow in the dark necklaces.
A little fishing in the fish pond and we were ready to head out to the next festival........except...some idiot boxed us in with their van! There was no way on God's green earth we were getting out. I even had the Principal made an announcement but they never came out. Thankfully, the truck in front of us came out after about 10 minutes and we were able to get out!
At the preschool, there were a lot of different activities like face painting, temporary tatoos, gummy fangs....
and sunglasses from the fish pond!
It was a good evening had by all!

On the knitting front, I have a recipient for the shawl. A friend lost her Mother unexpectedly last week so...I guess there was a reason I started it over the weekend.

Off the Vine

David & I went to the Hospice of the Valley, Off the Vine Event last night. It was held outside at the Royal Palms Hotel.

You walked past this really pretty pool & fountain before you stepped down into a sunken courtyard where they had different food stations and a whole lot of wine to taste.

Here is a photo of the backdrop of the event in the courtyard.
And then....I saw these 3 ladies with the $160+ knitted bags that I mentioned about a year ago. We ended up sitting next to them for a few minutes and I asked if I could take a photo of the bags for my blog. Obviously, they said yes.
We were talking and David told them I knit and knit similar bags....one of them suggested I should start carrying my own bags and selling them but.....I have in the past, and when someone asks the price, they are really scared off! However, there were 5 ladies (all friends) who were carrying these bags last night. I guess it is a society thing.
After the dinner snacks there was a live auction of wine and some trips inside the Estrella Room.
And finally, here is a photo of David & I with me wearing a jacket David bought for my birthday about 3 years ago. He is happy that he was able to buy me a piece of clothing that I actually like to wear and do so pretty often! Thanks Honey!

And here is my progress on my Clapotis. I am about 300 yards into it. I got about 15 rows knitted in the car on the way to the Royal Palms last night. I am going to have to supplement the colors I have with a lighter color of turquoise to get about 1000 yards of yarn to finish this prayer shawl. You know me, I rarely keep anything I knit....it is the process which relaxes me and I need an outlet for my knitting because I can't keep it all!

Laser Printers

I have been drooling over a laser printer for quite some time.  In my head, they are quite expensive and maybe not a needed business expense.  So….I am a big lover of Slick Deals and they showed a color Laser Printer for $200 after rebates ($599 regular).  I thought, this is what I have been waiting for so I ordered it last Thursday and it arrived on Friday.  

Hmmm….the page is full of magenta toner.  I call tech support and the guy tells me I need a new toner and a new drum.  Great, it arrives on Tuesday.  Open the bag of the toner, and it is full of magenta powder.  I call tech support again and they said, no, the toner is not supposed to be all over the bag, we’ll send you another one.  

By this time, I tell the guy, this is not boding well for a $600 printer if the darned thing doesn’t work.  I get the new toner on Wed. and put it in…..get a FATAL ERROR, needs service call.

I call tech support again and the guy tells me the printer has a faulty fuse which messes up the print quality and I need to return it.  Office Max came and picked it up today.  Sometimes there are just omens telling me I did not need such a fancy laser printer.

By this time I had talked to my sister who told me she had bought a black laser printer for $119 with a $30 off rebate at Staples.  Needless to say, I went to Staples and bought the $119 one with an additional $10 discount so including the rebate, it will be $79.  

So…off I go and my hubby can’t figure out why I need ANOTHER printer because I bought a fancy all in one to upgrade from the last one earlier this year.  Today, he is in my office and I print something on the laser printer and it becomes crystal clear.

On top of that, I also scanned in my signature into the computer and have been printing it directly onto a bunch of work documents that required a signature.  Why the heck didn’t I think of that last week…about Wednesday????????  Better late than never but…still, it would have saved so much time.  Oh well, I guess I will make up for it with the new laser printer!

On the knitting front, I am in the straight part of the Clapotis.  It is now turquoise for the middle section and will be green again on the decrease.  I’ll take a photo tomorrow.

We are off to a Hospice of the Valley Wine tasting tonight in Scottsdale.

And, for anyone with a Costco Membership, will you pick me up a 2006 Knitting Pattern A Day calendar?  I will pay you for it!  My sister, Naomi, told me that they  have them for $7.99 (regular retail $13.99).  Email me (sbridger3 at cox dot net) if you are part of my SnB and can pick up one for me!!!! (Because if I have to pay shipping then I haven’t saved anything because that calendar is HEAVY!)  Thanks!

YUMA

Dang was it a long day! I left the house at 6 am and got home 9:15 pm. I tell you, the drive back was LONG. I was tempted to stop and stay overnight somewhere....but, other than Gila Bend, there is nothing.

Look at how gorgeous the sky looked about 10 minutes after I left the house. Sorry for the blurry photo but, what are you going to do when driving? It is just point & shoot! The colors were gorgeous!

And then, the weather changed to this.........
And then, there was some idiot in the Jeep Wrangler with some huge item covered in cardboard bungee corded on to the top of the darned car.

Things went pretty well in Yuma. We will see what happens!

We are DONE with Diapers!

Simon is potty trained!

We bit the bullet last night and sent him to bed in underwear.   He has been waking up dry for the last 4-5 days and this morning was no different!

He woke up dry, albeit that it was at 5:20 am and I took him to the bathroom and sent him back to bed.  It was still DARK!!!!  

Anyway, #2 is no longer a problem because he just goes when he has to go.  Of course, he announces in a VERY LOUD voice “I have to go potty!” and starts to run for the bathroom but that is ok!

WAHOOO…no more diapers for us.

I am off on a road trip to Yuma, AZ tomorrow for a job interview/potential client.   I have to give a power point presentation about moi.  What the heck???

Anyways, it is done and ready to go on my jump drive.

So, no posting tomorrow.  Will leave the house at 5:45 am and get back around 8 – 9 pm.

Have a good one. Tonight is a bit of knitting and watching Footballer’s Wives (a UK version of Desperate Housewives) then Desperate Housewives and off to bed!

Saturday Night

Before we went to dinner at Chili's the kids convinced David he needed to push them on the swing together.

Here they are swinging like "2 year old", just a little baby swing.

Here they are swinging a like a 5 year old.

And finally like an 8 year old! See? Kids need Mom's to keep the house together but they need their Dad's to make up crazy games and do all kinds of silly things! At least it works that way in our house.

Then, we went out for dinner at Chili's. Thankfully, we got there before the mad rush around 5:15 pm. The kids were so well behaved....it is tempting us to start going out for dinner more often in the future.

David & I ordered the Presidente margaritas that came in this cool shaker, which you could purchase for $2. We have enough alcohol gear at our house so we declined. They were pretty good and not too badly priced considering the volume you got. A bit light on the tequila but, it is to be expected based on the price.

The Princess with her purse! Nothing in it but some change but....must now carry a purse. Lord help me when puberty hits. My niece, Cwen, in California was at her first Junior High dance with a boy in her computer class...how can she be that old???????
Finally, some knitting content. I have been a bit stressed, hence very little knitting going on in Chez HB. However, this yarn floated to the top of my stash and the Clapotis pattern was tempting me because it is just interesting enough without being totally tough plus. Linda...I am trying to finish that shawl for you but...there is a motivation issue because I have done it so recently. I will try to get it done one of these days.

I am using Cotton Ease on size 10.5 needles. Plus, I don't use stitch markers but instead purl the stitches that are going to be dropped. How do you determine which one to purl on the right side??? Well, when you are purling the wrong side after doing the yo, you knit that stitch on the wrong side and purl it on the right side. It drops just the same as a knit stitch and no stitch markers to deal with or find that many to use on a shawl sized Clapotis!!!

We went out for dinner last night at Chili's.