SUPER One Skein Secret Pal !!!! (can I say it any louder??)

Once upon a time, some people over at Interweave Press got this idea to kinda promote a new book that just so happens to be called "One Skein", to start a new secret pal exchange. The deal was that everyone was going to send someone ONE skein of yarn in June, and July and then in August send that person a knitted item from the book One Skein. Not a bad way to boost book sales eh? So, time rocks on and everyone is all paired up and today my June package arrived.




WHOOT!! My oh my my my!!! It's manna from heaven! I have THE best One Skein pal on the planet!! She sent a nice pair on the new Daisy needles in my favorite size, and some beautiful, beautiful Southwest Trading Co. "Kareoke" which is 50%wool/50%soy silk and some of her own hand spun in co-ordinating colors. I am in love with the colors she sent. And that is not all....a book!! I've been wanting (lusting) to get the new book entitled "big girl knits". Well, my fantastic pal not only got me a copy of this hilariously funny knitting book with great patterns in it for gals like me who are not a size M...BUT --- she got me a PERSONALIZED and SIGNED BY THE AUTHORS proof copy!! Now tell me just how flipping COOL is that? And the authors put a cute little promo pin inside the book that says "KNIT BIG". I'm telling ya, I don't know who my secret pal person is, but whooo boy, I could just hug your neck!!

I'm on chapter 3 so far in this book and I have totally cracked up reading it. I laughed on the first page. So much so that I had to read a few bits of it outloud to my DH. These authors are not the least bit shy about telling it like it is when talking about the female body and how it is shaped and how knit garments should fit to flatter it best. Just for example......ya got your boobs, your belly and your butt. Nuff said.....

Thank you one skein secret pal.......you are definately putting a smile on my face today!!

Summer has arrived in the Southland

Whew, I'm 'bout have dead I think! We are absolutely road foundered from all the baseball games we have been going to of late. That is pretty much where I have been spending 80 percent of my time. I think I have cooked 2 meals in my kitchen in the last 2 weeks. Otherwise it has been take out or frozen whatever out of the freezer. It is tough when you have traveling games and you have to go out of town. That adds hours to your day for sure!! Last week was KILLER hot and this old gal just about had a melt down. Then, by the time we do the round of ball, our yard work is behind and it takes us 2 days to catch up and do all of that because we have to mow and weed-eat an acre front and back. Needless to say, that I'm pretty pooped and I spend a whole lot of my daytime hours napping and recovering under the a/c and a lot of my evening hours after we finally get home from the ballfield, playing catch up on laundry and hitting the high spots in the house the best I can.

Anyway, I have a bit of interesting news I would like to share. Today in the mail I got the greatest gift! Some weeks ago I was browsing around the net and somehow stumbled upon Kathy Ireland's website. Well, besides being a supermodel,clothing designer, home decorating designer and all that retail stuff, Ms. Ireland is also a woman's advocate. Did you know that Ms. Ireland is an inspirational woman's speaker and also promotes supporting fair trade with 3rd world developing countries, specifically with woman run businesses? Well I didn't either! So I wrote a short note to Ms. Ireland and I told her how much I appreciated her work and supported her cause and told her that I too supported fair trade and tried to buy fair trade product whenever I could in my soap making business when I buy supplies. Well, I was very surprised to get a reply back from Ms. Ireland. And today, in my mailbox I received a personally autographed (in felt tip marker so it isn't a stamp) book that Ms. Ireland wrote entitled "Powerful Inspirations - Eight Lessons That Will Change Your Life" inside she wrote, "To Lisa, Thank you for your kind words & encouragement. God Bless you. Kathy Ireland" Well you could have knocked my over with the proverbial feather. I have always thought that she was very beautiful and wellspoken, but that she took the time to send me a book with an inscription. Holy wow! On the first page I read, was a bible verse. It just so happens to be one of my very favorite verses Proverbs 3:5; Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. I used to have a picture with that inscription on it years ago. That particular verse really means alot to me and I was quite surprised to find it right off the bat in her book. Somehow I have a feeling that this book will be very meaningful for me. I don't like to write alot about religion or my faith, but right now I really think that God is working through and with me. Too much is guiding me right now for it now to be so.

AND-------
There is a new fiber magazine coming out on-line. The first issue is due out in July. The magazine is called Fiber Femmes.

Fiber Femmes

Anyway, the editor has asked ME, to write an article for her for the upcoming SEPT/OCT issue. AND if she and I are happy with the article, I may write articles for this magazine on a continuing basis IF I can continue to think of things to write about and contribute to the fiber world. I am very excited about this and very apprehensive at the same time. I have always had the dream of becoming a writer and being published. This could and is the very first step in that direction. Whoooo- go me!

Format Change

So, what do you think of the new page design? It literally took me HOURS to get everything transferred over. My DH thinks that I have lost my ever lovin' mind. He absolutely does NOT understand blogs. Even though I was *specifically* told by my therapist that I was to start journaling. Plus he knows good and well that my daughter reads my blog/journal here online. I'm not sure why she does, but she does. I guess it gives her an inside peek inside my oh so scary head lol. Oh the things she only wishes she knew.... Me, I really like the new look with the exception of the font size. If I can ever figure out what the key to enlarging it is I will be happy. So far I haven't figured out what that HTML code is yet. It is quite a bit different from the HTML coding of the other one.

I also moved my reading list to a whole other page of it's own. It was just getting too long and taking up too much room on the sidebar. So you can find a direct link to the book page. Now I can put a link up too for all my knitting books. I'm getting a pretty nice collection and I'll write a little book review of each of them for ya.

Interesting Week

I have had one of the more eye opening, enlightening weeks that I have had in a very long, long time. I have also taken bigger steps towards my own personal mental health than ever before. I'd say that before now, that the time was just not right. The reason I say this, is because I now believe that God has sent to me a therapist who really can help me do the work this time. Finally. Oh boy, this is going to be scary, and quite a journey. But it will be SO worthwhile and long overdue. I've only had two sessions with my new therapist, but already this woman has SO got my number. She says that she is me a few years ago is why she understands so well. She feels as if she was called to be a therapist and that it truly turned her life around to be helping people healing their lives. Yes, finding her is definately a God thing.

On the needles this week: a felted cell phone case. We got new phones some few weeks ago and I didn't really like any of the cases I saw online. I found Tony one he likes and I wound up settling for one that I thought I could live with but when it came it was just too tight to get my phone in and out easily. So, I knew I could make one. I have some yarn that I've been wanted to make something out of for a while so I decided to use that. Only today did I figure out where to get more so now I can make something else if I want. Here is the finished phone case I made. It was really simple.........


I've also been reading the book

Marley and Me

I was crying by page 70. This is definately a great book! If you are any type of a dog lover, I highly recommend this book. It has made me appreciate my rough and tumble, airhead bulldogs a whole lot more just reading about Marley. I now know why I'll never own another Lab. I've laughed alot while reading this book, so don't get the wrong message.....it isn't a total cry fest. It only has a few sweet tear jerking moments in it. Most of the time you wonder what kind of crack kibble they feed that dog.

Riverboat Cruise

My son, Brandon, asked me to go with him to a company dinner the other night so of course I couldn't very well turn him down because he hardly ever asks me to go anywhere with him. The event took place on the riverboat the Arkansas Queen. We got a dinner cruise on the Arkansas River and a prime rib dinner. Not bad. One of his co-workers snapped this picture for us. I'm amazed how much Brandon favors me as an adult. He used to as a baby, but I didn't realize that he still did until I saw this picture of us side by side.


This is a picture that I took of the sunset through the old Union Pacific railroad bridge that spans the river. Beautiful.


This submarine is the USS Razorback. It is a WWII sub that is now permanantly docked in Little Rock. They have it set up so that people can go down inside of it and take tours and stuff. I hear it's pretty neat, but I've never gone inside. It's not my thing.

Well, I've got some errands to run today. I guess I'll get to them. The boys are content watching the baseball play offs. It's that time of year already. I get in alot of good knitting time while Tony watches baseball.

SCORE - Baseball 1, Rear Window 0, Allstate $1200.00, Me $150.00

The words "OH SHIT" just do not quite cover the experience. You see that very TALL chain link fence in that photo? Well a kid on OUR OWN team hit a foul pop fly ball over that fence and it landed on MY car. Yes. MY. CAR.

OH.

And I wasn't parked all that close. And would you believe that the very next day, the very same kid did it AGAIN and hit another car??!!?? Cept this time it hit metal and not glass. I swear, it is big business for glass this time of year I bet. My insurance man didn't even bat an eye.

One of the umps said it had been several, several years since there had been any glass busted out there. Lucky us huh? Our car, by one of our team kids that my husband coaches. Great.

Gotta love it.

MEME stolen from Robyn of Bitchypoo

I AM: Glad that my headache is finally going away. There has been some evil little badass monster pounding on my temples and eyes for two days now and I’m just about sick of it.
I SAID: “So when you fall out of that tree and break your neck, don’t come running in here to me crying about it.” OHMYGOD did I say that???? Someone shoot me now…….I’ve become my mother.
I WANT: Laying on the California beach somewhere next to my sister Patricia listening to the waves ebb and flo, just letting the breeze go softly by.
I WISH: I could undo all the mistakes I have made as a parent.
I HATE: The weather in Arkansas, especially the heat and humidity of summer. I’d give anything if the climate here was different, then I would be perfectly content to live here forever.
I MISS: The ocean and my sister Patricia like nobodies business.
I FEAR: Physically I fear falling from heights the most. Emotionally I fear abandonment. I have HUGE abandonment issues that I’m working on.
I HEAR: The A/C blowing out of the vents and Rudy snoring.
I WONDER: How much time it will take to start to feel/think differently since I’ve been seeing a counselor? I wonder how long it will take for it to make a difference in my life and my marriage.
I REGRET: Not following my dreams when I was younger and had a chance to do so.
I AM NOT: afraid to be by myself. I’ve spent a lot of time alone in my life and I am not at all the type of person who constantly has to be entertained or doing something or be with people.
I DANCE: Like a fool. But I will dance when the mood strikes me and a funky song comes on. I love to dance and act silly with my grand daughters.
I SING: Whenever the mood strikes me. It’s not anything that will make dogs howl, but it’s nothing to call Nashville over either. I hum more than I sing.
I AM NOT ALWAYS: The best dressed girl in the place. I’m built for comfort, not speed and since I no longer have to dress for the public eye, I definitely dress to please myself and my husband first.
I MADE: My #1 son happy tonight. I’m going to be his escort to a fancy schmancy company dinner tomorrow.
I WRITE: A lot. I have always wanted to write a novel.
I CONFUSE: Myself easily these days.
I NEED: To get back in shape again. Since I got hurt and had so many surgeries I’ve SO gotten out of shape and gotten lazy.
I SHOULD: Quit talking about painting the various rooms in this house that I want to paint and just get off my ass and DO it.
I START: Reading a good book and I can’t hardly put it down. That’s why I can easily read 6-10 books a month.
I FINISH: A knitting project before I begin a new one 99% of the time. I am very monogamous to my knitting. Just like my marriage.
I BELIEVE: That life is an ever changing, educational journey and that you never stop learning until the day you die.
I KNOW: Even though I have been through some tough times in my life, that there is a reason and that I am a stronger person for having gone through all of it even though I may not know what the lesson is just right now.
I CAN: Do anything I set my mind to. My husband says that I am a damn genius. Gotta love that man!
I CAN’T: See the point in jumping out of a perfectly good airplane.
I SEE: Sleeping, snoring dogs sprawled across my legs and one big fat cat curled up in her bed.
I BLOG: At least once a week, more if I can remember.
I READ: A LOT!! Books were my escape mechanism as a child from a world that was less than peaceful.
I AM AROUSED BY: A man who has a sense of humor, who is willing to laugh at my jokes, who is strong yet tender, loves animals and kids and who has a muscular upper body…arms, chest, shoulders.
IT PISSES ME OFF: When I hear people use race or ignorance or poverty as an excuse. It also pisses me off when I hear someone mock the handicapped. I can just smack someone when I hear that.
I FIND: That I am a lot more tolerant and open minded about certain things because I am not a “born and raised” southerner. My husband tells me that I have “those California ideas” which to me means more liberal thinking.
I LIKE: My knitting and spinning. A LOT.
I LOVE: My husband, my sons, daughter, my family, my bulldogs.
* * *

Monday musings........

Look at all that fresh lavender. That is from ONE plant that I planted last year. I was told that it took lavender at least a couple of years to produce, so apparently this plant is happy where I planted it. It started out as a 4" pot and now it is at least a mound about 18" across. I'd say that is pretty good for years growth. I planted 3 more in the same general area this spring. I'll have lots of lavender once they all get to productive.


This is a blanket that I finally finished for one of the new babies that was born in our
family this year. Little miss Tynlee came a month early and spent that month in the
neonatal ICU at Lubbock, Tx. She is home now and doing fine. Her mom, my neice
Randa says she is spoiled rotten because of the exquisite care that the nurses gave her.
The blanket is made from a cotton chenille yarn and it is so very soft and cuddly. I’d
love to have a whole blanket made out of the stuff just for me. I adore soft cuddly
blankets.



I finished my felted tote project. I love this bag. The colors turned out great. They were
Brighter before it was felted but I guess the hot water faded out the wool. I’ll be sending
This bag East to the person who was assigned to me. I’m anxious to see what my person
Makes for me!

No that I have absolutely NO mandatory projects looming in my future for the needles, I can finally make something for myself. Heh, that will be different. I haven’t made anything for myself in a very long long time. Being that it is summer though, I’m not sure what I’ll tackle. I do a lot of KIP at the ballpark and anything big will just be too hot in out wicked humid weather. Socks maybe? I’ve got some nice sock yarn in my stash and with my cold feet I love socks. I’m probably the only crazy person in the South who wears socks year round…..at least indoors that is. We keep our house cool so my feet are always cold.

Ugghhh tomorrow is going to be a long day. We have to go to the Rock first thing in the morning and we have a ballgame tomorrow night. Bleh...