Which means NOW it is ok to put out the Christmas stuff and play Christmas music. Did you hear me, all you freak stores out there? NOW, not two weeks ago, not two months ago. NOW.

Heyyyyy!  I have a new shift knob for my car.  My little blue 2 door Toyota Yaris hatchback is on its way to becoming a gamermobile.  We had the helmet, and my Dad has power tools.  So I have a custom made Halo 3 ODST shift knob!

Dog post was not entirely untrue.  I'll actually post what went on with it later.  OK,  Now.  It was kind of a viral thing.  Happened in CA.  Friends told friends who told friends, and like that game of telephone, details were either added or left out, and it just took off.  The owners of the dogs actually tried to stop it, but those doggies were so cute they won the hearts of everyone who looked at the picture.  They found a home for the dogs, but by the time they did, the information had already taken flight across the US.

OK, so I just discovered the coolest thing ever.  Zoho.com.  I actually found it by visiting a Wiki for something entirely different, and this was there, and I typed in the addy, and here I am posting to my blog from an online word processor.  I am still having fun with wrapping my head around all the cool things this does.  I know I sound like and advertisement, but I think this is the coolest thing.  It seems to be made of 10 different kinds of win.  I'll let you know more later.

A short post... As many of you know, I am a substitute teacher.  The substitute coordinator from School X called me last night to see if I could work today.  I told her yes.  She called me this morning to tell me not to come in, because that teacher had decided to come to work after all.  Not only that, but she didn't leave me enough time to call other schools to see if they needed subs.  Here's the deal... when someone asks me to work, I turn down other schools, because I have a job for that day.  Or not, as it seems now.  One day of work.  A substitute teacher only makes so much money for each day he/she works.  Not a lot, but it's money.  Today's pay would have bought groceries for a little over a week.  Paid for gas for the month.  Paid over a tenth of our rent.  Paid for phone and most of internet for the month.  Need I go on?  This pisses me off.  I committed myself to working there today, so I had to refuse whatever other calls may have come in, then she told me not to come in, and without enough time to call other schools to say, "Hey, I actually can come in today."  GRRRRRR!!!!!

So, tomorrow is "Q" day.  No smokey.  No more smokey.  At all.  None.  The more I post this, the better.  That way I'm a liar if I say I'm gonna do it and then don't.  So, it's just one more thing I don't want choosing to smoke to do to me - turn me into a liar.  Ahhhh, hell.  I just want to buy a pack and smoke the whole thing right now, so that way, I'll be all pukey and sick and won't ever want to touch one again.

One of the most disgusting quitting methods I've heard of is this:  Smoke as usual for a week.  Don't empty your ashtray.  At the end of the week, dump the contents of the ashtray into a tall glass.  Fill with water and let steep into a gross infusion of sorts.  Drink it.  In the bathroom.  With the toilet lid open.  Wait to puke for about 0.05 seconds.  Sleep in the bathroom, hugging your new best friend.  Congratulations, you will never smoke again.

Went golfing with my Dad and two of his co-workers today. This is actually a physically demanding sport. I will never make fun of golf again. And I looked cute - no ugly pants for me. The golf carts were a trip! I almost killed J- with two shots that went astray. We were also shooting out of a sand trap - we played best ball, where whoever got the best shot, that's the place everyone starts from - so back to the sand trap... Dad was standing in the WRONG place, and I hacked my ball out of the sand, and poor Dad got sand all over him. Head to toe. I didn't know what happened until I heard him spitting and saw him brushing himself off while J- and M- laughed. Lesson 1 - Do not stand to the player's left if they are right handed when they are hitting out of a sand trap. It was funny. I also almost dumped Dad out of the golf cart a couple of times because I was hot rodding over the rough terrain in the, well, rough. It was FUN!!! But right now, I am exhausted, sunburned, dehydrated, and hungry. I wrote this whole thing just to talk about clobbering Dad with mass quantities of sand. Wheeeeee!

Hey, I just found out the most interesting thing. Although not vegan, all vegan smokers are not vegan! The glue holding the cigarette together is made of casein (a milk product) and wax. There are MILK PRODUCTS in cigarettes. Hmmm, probably not too much, but you know how people can get. Thoughts?

I'm trying to quit smoking. I'm doing ok, but when I'm at home, I go nuts and want to smoke smoke smoke. Although difficult, I'm noticing, when I go 6 or 7 hours without one, how yucky I feel when I do smoke. Hopefully this will encourage me.

In an interesting shape on my end table.
Close-up of detail.

This scarf, although it appears to be made of nothing but holes, is soooo warm and cozy. The yarn is the same as in the hat below. It is super soft, and I love the way it feels. It's made in a v-stitch - very quick to work up, and the stitch looks very pretty.

Whole hat.
Detail.
Top view.

I heart my hat. It has a matching scarf that I'll post soon. This is a rolled brim hat of my own design. It's cuddly soft and very warm. I love it. It fits loosely, so it doesn't feel confining at all, which is why I usually eschew hats and deal with the cold. Looks even better on.

This is my Faerie Rings scarf in an autumnal colorway. In case you couldn't tell, I was inspired to create this design by, wait for it, paper chains. Paper chains! Who woulda thunk it? The rings really do interlock, as there are no seams. I have made one in the same colorway but included a sage green ring, one in JMU colors, and one in dark and light turquoise.

People are wanting what I'm making! I'm kind of excited about that. I'll be posting pictures as soon as I get them onto my computer.

Fertile Ground Gathering 2009
May 7 - May 10
Prince William Forest Park
Triangle, Virginia

Among the trees, beneath the stars, we come together once again to celebrate Beltane in the spirit of days long past.

This year, Fertile Ground Gathering has expanded to be a four-day festival! We'll once again be celebrating spring, life, family, and the fertile soil which will offer us the opportunity to grow the seeds of community among those who walk the Pagan paths once more!

Fertile Ground is a family-friendly Beltane festival which offers fantastic workshops and services, diverse rituals, spectacular entertainment, drum circles and dancing around nightly bonfires, cabin camping, fantastic meals, some very special guests and of course, dancing around the maypole!

Last year's gathering was an amazing success and we're looking forward to doing it again this year - bigger and better! We'd love for you to join us!

Please visit our website at http://www.fertilegroundgathering.com for details and to register for Fertile Ground Gathering.
Camping space is limited, so register early to make sure you get a spot. We hope to see you there!

Details about what to bring, pricing, accommodations, meals, workshops and activities can be found on our website. There is a lot to see! Please visit our website today!

http://www.fertilegroundgathering.com

Fertile Ground Gathering is sponsored by ShadowGrove , an ecclectic pagan community in Northern Virginia. For more information about Fertile Ground or ShadowGrove, please contact SpiritHawk or Truthsong at grovekeepers@shadowgrove.com.

So, I'm pissed. Job #2 hasn't been taking out my federal taxes. So, all my return from Job #1 has been eaten because I had to pay the taxes that should have been taken out all along for Job #2. These are the same people who rarely pay us on time. I hate them I hate them I hate them and I hate them. Did I mention that I hate them? Because they're fucking with my money, which means they're fucking with my family. You don't fuck with my family, or there will be some very serious come uppance, which I am plotting right now. As soon as there is enough shit collected, I will legally and brutally bring it all home to them.

The challenge meme


Lovely meme borrowed from sunrising and venchue and felinea

The Challenge:
- Post 3 things you've done in your lifetime that you don't think anybody else on your friends list has done.
- See if anybody else responds with "I've done that."
- Have your friends cut & paste this into their journal to see what unique things they've done in their life.

1. Sang on the stage at the Kennedy Center (ask - it's not what it seems).
2. Went tornado chasin' (and freaked out before it got too bad and went home).
3. Designed a study and wrote a 26 page paper on whether or not the images in Playboy over a 40 year span of time reflected the women's movement (they do).

Bonus thing I've done... lost the 26 page paper. Drat. I was proud of that.

It's funnn!!! I like looking for interesting shapes in it. Like cloud watching. I think I'll make another one soon and use Matt's colored pencils on it. Prismacolors are awesome. It's a shame that non-artsy people like me are not introduced to them until an artist friend tells them that there are such wonderous implements of coloring out there!!!