Marriage V Single

So a few of my single friends have expressed to me recently that they wish they had someone...
someone to cuddle during movies and football games...
someone who was always there to pick one up from the airport...
someone to love forever and ever...

But I have to admit every once and a while, I miss being single.
Free to, let's say, take a bath by candle light...
as long as I wanted...
with the hottest of water...

And not have the following playing on the stereo in the other room on a loud level:
1. The theme song from Magnificent Seven
2. The theme song from Superman
3. The Olympic Theme song...

Now I'm not saying that the songs are bad songs, they're great.
They're just not my top choice of bath music. Especially since I have already heard them in the car today.

Hubby made a mix CD today - movie theme songs. Sigh.

Some FOs and other Pictures

Hello!!
First here is the picture of my shortbread cookies...

And here is where I am with Harland's Sock:

I don't like the way it shows all tension problems... and the way I knitted it the part that was the side is now down the front.... Oh well.

Now, Dad if you are reading this, you can't show the rest of this blog entry to mom...
I've knitted Mom some washcloths and am planning on getting some nice soap to round out the gift when I go to visit them in a few weeks (them meaning my dear parents, not the washcloths, I, um, currently live with the washcloths) Here they are!


I really enjoyed making this round one. I see many in my future. Which probably means someday there will be one in your future. :) Here is the link to the pattern if you can't wait for me:
Click Here
However, reading that pattern is a little annoying if you (like me) take your knitting on buses and subways and don't want to carry paper instructions. So I devised an easier way to remember the pattern:

Instead of counting the stitches left and turning...
the first 3 even rows follow the YO with K11 then turn
then Bind off 3sts, knit 2, Yo then K8, turn
the next 2 even rows - after the YO K8
then Bind off 3, knit 2, Yo then K5, turn
the next 2 even rows - after the YO K5
Bind off three, knit across



This is the ballband cloth from Mason Dixing Knitting - I'm big fans, their website is over on my side bar -------> My dearest KB sent me their Book; and here's an article about this pattern (pattern included)


This last one is pure Jessica... Just your everyday seed stitch with a few rows of garter stitch in between.

I wish it were sunday...

Only a minute here to post since it is Monday Morning...
My friend Tyler had her baby on St. Patty's Day - Welcome to Isabella Rita!!

This weekend wasn't terribly exciting - I volunteered for the Arlington County Chapter of the American Red Cross for their big fundraiser. And then Sunday I baked some shortbread cookies (pictures maybe tonight), worked on H's sock (again pictures later) and just was generally lazy.

I finished the 100 miles by April 1st this morning... Although mostly it was biking and you can do a lot of miles in a short time on the exercise bike. Maybe I'll try another new goal for running. We'll see.

Hope all is well.

what's cooking

Well, no knitting was done.
And no real exercise either - unless you count cleaning the bedroom. We never really unpacked some boxes in the bedroom and put up any pictures... so while H. was out on Saturday I cleaned, unpacked, and decorated. It looks sooo much better and just having one of our two rooms without clutter makes me sooo happy I can't even explain it.

And also I cooked a lot this weekend. I made a deal with H. that we should eat vegetarian this week at home. Actually I am hoping to continue this trend because we have not been eating a lot of veggies. He's a meat and starch kinda guy so I had to find some recipes to slowly break him in.

First up?
Tofu Pot pie. I got it from my favorite vegetarian cookbook, The Compassionate Cook (if you want/need one vegetarian cookbook in your house I suggest this one.) It has all the basic recipes you could want and it is completely vegan (which doesn't mean you couldn't add cheese with the recipes in there). Anyway... the pot pie the best thing I have cooked all year, I think. It was remarkably tasty.

Today I was a little more creative.
We had leftover bread that was getting quite stale that I baked last weekend. So what can you do with stale bread? Make some bread pudding, of course!

And then finally I made some spaghetti sauce.

To make some broccoli/spinach lasagna.
Yum! It was really easy to make and I even used a bread loaf pan to make a small one to put in the freezer for one of those, "what shall we make?" kind of nights.


I kinda made up the recipe as I went along as a combination of several recipes I had here - but I'll post it for you soon.
Hope your weekend was lovely too!

What happened here???

Just a snapshot of the crazy weather week:

Wednesday
6:45pm
75 degrees
Daffodils blooming along I-66

Sunny/beautiful

Friday
6:45pm
30 degrees
Cars skidding along I-66

Sleet/snow


Can you believe it? It is supposed to snow 3-5 inches tonight! Or sleet!

Food for thought

Happy PI day!!
(Here's what I am talking about)
It's 3.14!

Anyway, Just some updating - I am still on week 1 of my running. The reason? Terrible shin pain. Not shin splints, but horrible pain that doesn't go away while running. I think I may need a new set of shoes, maybe this weekend I will have time to head to a real running store and have them pick me out some new shoes.

Anyway if you are having shin problems here is a nice little spot to find information.

Also, I have a new favorite breakfast food - Trader Joe's vanilla granola (just the clusters) with vanilla soymilk topped with a spoonful of freshly ground peanut butter. The kind without the sugar.

I have no idea where I got the idea to do that, it just came naturally. H. thinks it is gross. Maybe. But it is sooooo delicious.

I've begun lifting weights Tues/Thursday/Saturday too, so tomorrow is a weight day! Yay!
And they somehow fixed the floor above us so that the bedroom floor doesn't grind every time the woman above us walks around. So today was the first day she didn't wake us up at 5am! Yay!!!! Happy Pi day y'all!

what's happenin'

Not much really. I have (get ready for this) not knit a single stitch this week.
Not one.

I have worked out 3 times so far, which is good. I did two days on the plan and then one day just on the elliptical machine because my shins were killing me. I also lifted weights one day. So I am on the wagon there. I was not as good at eating healthy because we had a big meeting at work and there was pizza and cake (for a co-worker whose wife is having a baby!) so that blew the diet out right there because I admit I can not resist cake at all. I love cake, it really is my favorite dessert.

I also had a weird sleeping schedule this week because Wednesday and Thursday I took CPR and First Aid classes after work which lasted from 6-10 (and then I had to drive home) so really I was tired. I usually go to bed at 10 and Arlington is like 40 minutes away.

Anyway, if you never took a CPR or First Aid class - I highly recommend it. Find your local American Red Cross at their main website. If you haven't taken a class in the last year, you'll want to take a new CPR class because some of the recommendations have changed in the last 8 months. Also if you have (or are planning on having) children there is also a CPR class for infants and small children. I did not take this class, but when my certification is up next year, I'm planning to take the CPR for Adults, Children, Infants and AED class.

Speaking of children, I have to offer up congrats to Rebecca, my dear friend. She had her baby this past Monday - Issac Benjamin - which I think is a terribly sweet name. He was over 9lbs. and 21 inches!! Yay!

And, well, that was my week in a nutshell.