It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown...

Living in an apartment, we don't get many trick or treaters, so this year I stole a great idea from a good friend of mine... we're doing a great pumpkin. The plan is to put together sacks of goodies for my two youngest nephews 3 and 5 (all my other nephews are in their 20's) and leave it on their doorstep from "The Great Pumpkin".

My husband and I had a ball picking out candy and other fun stuff to give the boys. Then today I went to Target and got more fun stuff. I admit the Great Pumpkin did go a little crazy. We got a flashing jack-o lantern necklace, a pez dispenser (classic!), stickers, tongue tattoos, hot wheels cars, AND a light up gyroscope. The gyroscopes came three to a pack so I had to keep one to make sure its safe, you can never be too careful (hee hee). I only wish I can be there to see them open it but, alas, the Great Pumpkin must remain anonymous.

Now that I look a picture of the haul, I think we may become very unpopular with the parents. It may be best to lie low for a while after this...

On the needle.

I finished my first fingerless glove. I am actually working on the second (yea!). This among the scarves and facecloths I am knitting for Christmas. Oy, the knitting but I do love it.

Here is the finished work (in case you're wondering that is not a ghost modeling, it's me)

Photos of the'fondled yarn'

I realized today that after my post yesterday that all the yarnies out there would perhaps like to view the yarn that sent me into a petting daze yesterday.

Here it is Mirasol- Sulka. It's an unbelievably soft combo of Merino, Alpaca and Silk. Like a baby's behind without the mess.

The Yarn Fondler and the Cat Whisperer

OK, so embarrassing day for me. I don't really get embarrassed all that often. Its kind of a game in my family to see who can be the craziest in public and embarrass the others, there once was an incident when I was a teen shopping for my first bra that from which I never quite recovered.

So after work, I head over to my local yarn store to pick up some yarn (duh) for another Christmas request (drat another scarf!). As I meander through the store, I touch and pet and stroke and yes, fondle the yarn. I rub it on my cheek, caress it on my neck. I am making a scarf, after all. As I am rubbing some super soft yarn on my cheek I give it a little sniff. I just can't help myself! As I am doing this I hear, "Can I help you?" I about jump out of my skin! Oh God! I'm sure she didn't see me sniff the yarn exactly but I'm sure my reaction gave away something weird was going on. I am a new knitter but I'm pretty sure sniffing may be out of bounds behavior in a yarn store.

Then I get home and I am famished. I don't really feel like cooking so I hem and haw awhile before deciding to treat myself to some McDonald's. Since I am leaving again so soon the cats look sad. I always think they look sad when I leave but I may be projecting. So I say out loud in my 'cutesy talking to the cats' voice (yes, I talk to the cats) as I am walking out the door "Don't worry Meow-Meows. Mama will be home real soon for good." And then I hear "Hi."

OH GOD.

Its our neighbor man across the hall.

The thing about talking to yourself, which, face it, talking to the cats really is talking to myself, is eventually someone will hear you. I tried to just play it off like I didn't say anything at all and hurried to my car where I burst out laughing!

What a day! Who knows, maybe tomorrow I'll accidentally grab someone inappropriately.

Pennies from Heaven...

The holidays are quickly approaching and in this economy it's sometimes hard to find the funds for those little extras, let alone Christmas gifts. For the past couple years, I have had a Christmas Club account. I have a automatic transfer put $35 a paycheck (biweekly) into the account and come October when I'm ready to start really shopping the money is there waiting for me. And the funny thing is that all year I never missed the money going into the account. Not once.

Another tool I use to help plan and control holiday spending is an excel spreadsheet. This may sound uber-geeky but I use it to make my list and layout a budget for each member of the family. Since I start shopping really early it helps me to not over-spend and keep things relatively even.

If you're looking for some more money saving tips, check out these articles I found on the web:

Find $1,000 by the holidays

Seven daily routines to break

Best Layed Plans...

On Saturdays I try to get things done around the house that I don't have the gumption to get done during the week. The problem? On Saturdays, I don't feel like doing it either! There's dishes to do, vacuuming to be done, sweeping, mopping, dusting, the list goes on. I enjoy living in a clean house, I just don't enjoy the process of getting there. I think because it seems like the hard work doesn't last because you just have to do it all again eventually.

I've tried to come up with a plan that I do some cleaning for say 20 mins then do something leasurely for 20 mins. It seems to help because I can get a lot done in 20 mins but the problem is getting started. I think there's a quote but I don't know who it is by "He who is begun is half done." Good advice for anything especially cleaning house.

Oh, the weather outside is frightful...

It is a cold, rainy, gloomy week here in Indiana. I vaguely remember that there used to be this bright yellow thing in the sky but I haven't seen it in awhile, so I may have dreamed it. On the other hand, it's a perfect time to cuddle up with a good movie, some knitting and my faithful kitty cat Sullivan.

Sullivan doesn't particularly care for the cold. He gets to be a little cuddle slut when its cold out and cuddles with anyone that will let him including Sloane. During the cold weather is about the only time Sullivan will be nice to Sloane because he wants to curl up with him and get warm.

This desperation for warmth may be indirectly my fault. Every year I try to declare 'Heather Law' and state that we will not turn on the furnace until Nov. 1. Some years it sticks and some years it doesn't. The main purpose in 'Heather Law' is to conserve energy for as long as possible. By waiting until Nov. 1 we can have one more low gas bill and have time to put up plastic insulation around the apartment windows before turning on the heat.

This year is one of the non 'Heather Law' years. I came home from work, the apartment was empty (hubby is on 2nd shift now) but something was different. Then I saw it...the heavy flannel shirt my husband wears around the house when its really cold. And then I smelled the tell tale sign in the air... the furnace had been on! He had turned the furnace on. I checked the theromstat and it was on but then I turned it down a little bit but not off.

I guess someone has to be reasonable around here and at least it doesn't have to be me. : )

Authentic Self

Lately I've been a little meloncholy. I guess I've been struggling with a lot of different issues in my life that sort of all colminate into the idea of my authentic self. I struggle with my own identity and fitting into society while remaining my authentic self. I struggle because a lot of times I suffer from 'square peg-round hole' syndrome, its a very techinical term for not fitting in.

I live in a conservative mid-western city, I'm married but do not plan to have children, I have liberal politics, I am pro-choice and support gay marriage. The icing on the cake is I'm a vegetarian. All of this together and I raise a lot of eyebrows, in the conservative midwest, that is, but I have to be who I am.

But sometimes it's hard to be who you are when it's different from everyone else. The big thing that I struggle with in fitting in is 'no kids'. At first I would get the sympathetic looks or the 'well, maybe someday' from strangers when having this conversation (and seriously, I think "I'm having this conversation with Strangers?!"). But I felt that was misleading, now I just answer "No, we have cats." I admit that does paint me in a certain light that is just this side of crazy, but then there are no more questions.

I know I'm doing the right thing in not changing who I am because the world around me expects me to be a certain way, but boy, sometimes it sure is hard. I have to remember that nothing worthwhile is ever easy. I don't hurt anyone. I don't expect to change anyone. I just want to be Heather, and continue in the off-beat, independent minded, trailblazing way I have lived my life thus far.

Remember...it's a jungle out there, take care of each other.

Peace prize??

I was shocked to hear that President Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize this week. It wasn't shock because I don't feel that it's not deserving but shock that someone so new to the international scene could be awarded the highest honor in the international community. It's almost sad because it says so much about the Bush Administration almost more than it does about Barrack Obama. This actually seems unfair to Obama because unfortunately it feels like although he has been working constantly toward international harmony (which is what the award is for) but that they gave him the award because finally the US has someone in charge that isn't a short-sighted, big headed, money grubbing Texan. Praise the Lord and pass the chicken.

The other thing that is so disappointing is the reaction of the conservative community. One blogger that actually made it to Yahoo! News said he wasn't aware that the Nobel prize had an affirmative action quota. That is a despicable comment! This is an international award, the committee looks all over at all sorts of people before awarding the prize. There isn't anything that President Obama could have done to bias this decision. The committee awarded the prize to the party they thought deserved it. They've been doing this awhile so I don't think that they just give those away willy-nilly.

I think the calm reaction to fervent critics that President Obama has continued to keep will win out in the end and show that this inner peace he keeps is an example of deserving behavior that earned him the prize to begin with.

Economic Upturn

Economy got you down? Here is an interesting little article on indicators of economic upturn. They may not be exactly what you think they are...

Lethal Weapon

Last Saturday I took a 'knitting with double points' class. As a relatively new knitter, you could say I was more than a little intimidated. However, in my short history with knitting I can tell I already hate seaming. HATE it. So something had to be done.

The young lady (I say that because we're probably about the same age ;)) teaching the class at my local yarn shop was spectacular. She was so patient and before I knew it I was knitting on four needles! Look at me go! I still get a little confused sometimes and sometimes try to look a little too closely at my knitting without being fully aware of the placement of all the needles. Pointy needles + eyeball= bad, bad news. But thus far, have avoided tragically loosing an eye and growing more and more confident. I deem the class a success.

My first double points project...

a fingerless glove.

Music Calms the Savage Beast...

Whoever said music calms the savage beast isn't too far off the mark. Music can lift a mood or transport to another place. Today as I leave the hustle and bustle of work, go out into the gloomy, misty, cold, I get in the car and put in one of my favorite Christmas CDs featuring Dean Martin and Nat King Cole. I let the music envelop me and transport me. I am calmed. The music gives me happy thoughts of the impending holiday. Thoughts of gifts yet to be made and given. Thoughts of spending time with family and friends. These thoughts warm and relax me. Once again the beast within is calmed, for another day at least.

Day to Day

Everyday our lives our filled with the mundane. Commute, work, bills, etc. Things that take up our day but give us very little joy. The challenge is how do we change the mundane and make is extraordinary. One is to count our blessings. I hate paying bills and going to the grocery but I should be grateful that I have the ability and the means to do so. Another is to bring joy to others. give at least one genuine compliment everyday. Make someone laugh. This brightens my day as much as I have brighten theirs. Also challenge yourself outside your comfort zone. Eleanor Roosevelt said "Do one thing every day that scares you." This is the one that is the hardest. Putting yourself out there, out of your comfort zone isn't easy but it does eventually pay off.


Remember... Its a jungle out there, take care of each other.

An Evening at the Theatre

Last night I went with a couple friends to a musical production at the local university. The production, oddly enough, was called Urinetown: The Musical. Yep, that's no typo.

The premise of the musical was that there is a severe water shortage following a 20 year drought and as a result all private toilets are banned. Everyone must pay to go to the bathroom and all the facilities are owned by the same evil monopolistic company (of course). Those found violating the law by 'doing their business' in public are sent away to the mysterious 'Urinetown' as punishment.

I am usually not one for musicals (really we're bursting into song, again?) or even toilet humor for that matter but this production was great. It was very poignant but didn't take itself too seriously, it was great balance.

I don't live in a city where people get outside the box much, sometimes it's a black hole for forward thinking. Pretty much people just go to the movies, or do something 'family oriented' so I was impressed that the university pushed the limit by doing this production and even more impressed that the house was nearly full. Maybe there's hope yet.

Age Old Power Struggle

In our house there is a classic power struggle. I could almost liken it to the biblical 'David and Goliath' or to those with human children it's called sibling rivalry. Sloane and Sullivan our two whisker kids have that love/hate relationship that many human siblings experience. Except in most cases the older/bigger sibling strives for domination but it is just the opposite in our house, which why they are David and Goliath instead of Cain and Abel.

Sullivan the youngest is constantly badgering his older and much bigger brother. There is the lurking around the corner from the litter box waiting to pounce the minute Sloane steps out. The running out from no where to hurry and take Sloane's spot on the ottoman just seconds before Sloane sits down as in "Ha, Ha, I was here first!" I have taken the liberty of translating one of their classic tussles from Meowese to human. I think I may strike a cord if you have sibling or even children.

Setting: My living room when I am at the computer with my back turned.
Sloane laying peacfully and Sullivan starts to circle.

Sloane: (Hiss) Dooon't

Sully: (circling) I'm not touching YOU.

Sloane: (Hiss) Stop iiiit.

Sully: (still circling) I'm not Touching YOU.

Sloane: (Growl) QUIT.

Sully: (circling) I'm still not Touching YOU. God, you are such a baby.

Sloane: (Growl) Stop, I'm gonna tell mom.

Sully: (Pounce and bite) Ha, ha two for flinchin'.

Sloane: (Growl, Hiss and MEOWWWW) OOOUUCH! That hurt! MOOOOOOMMMMM!

Me: BOYS! Knock it off! Sullivan let your brother alone, don't be such a bully!

Sully: (Innocent look) I didn't even DO anything, he's such a tattletale.

Sullivan (left) and Sloane (Right)
My David and Goliath