My Name

What Patricia Means

You are influential and persuasive. You tend to have a lot of power over people. Generally, you use your powers for good. You excel at solving other people's problems. Occasionally, you do get a little selfish and persuade people to do things that are only in your interest. You are usually the best at everything ... you strive for perfection. You are confident, authoritative, and aggressive. You have the classic "Type A" personality. You are a seeker. You often find yourself restless - and you have a lot of questions about life. You tend to travel often, to fairly random locations. You're most comfortable when you're far away from home. You are quite passionate and easily tempted. Your impulses sometimes get you into trouble. You are wild, crazy, and a huge rebel. You're always up to something. You have a ton of energy, and most people can't handle you. You're very intense. You definitely are a handful, and you're likely to get in trouble. But your kind of trouble is a lot of fun. You tend to be pretty tightly wound. It's easy to get you excited... which can be a good or bad thing. You have a lot of enthusiasm, but it fades rather quickly. You don't stick with any one thing for very long. You have the drive to accomplish a lot in a short amount of time. Your biggest problem is making sure you finish the projects you start. You are very open. You communicate well, and you connect with other people easily. You are a naturally creative person. Ideas just flow from your mind. A true chameleon, you are many things at different points in your life. You are very adaptable.

What's Your Name's Hidden Meaning?

Weekend Wrapup

• Oscars! - The Oscars were Lorelei's dad's favorite night of the year (because he was a huge movie dork), so of course I stayed up to watch the entire thing. It wasn't that late, but apparently I'm an old lady because I have really been dragging today. Anyway, I found the show a little boring, which I guess is to be expected since the writers only had two weeks to work on it. I didn't really care about many of the nominees or winners, I really liked the songs from Enchanted - I may need to see the movie, George Clooney looked good as usual, and I want to be Helen Mirren when I grow up - she's just so pretty and glamorous.


• I finished some Lorelei socks. She had requested some "red socks" but when we looked at the stash she was unhappy with the selection of reds and picked some black/white yarn. So I present "Lorelei's black socks."

Yes, they're pretty plain, but I'm really happy at the way they turned out.

• I started a pair of monkeys. I've already finished the first two repeats. I'm using some yummy etsy yarn that my friends bought for me - the colorway is Chocolate Cherry Truffle.
• Lost = GREAT!
• SNL - I actually thought it was funny for a change. Maybe that was because Tina Fey was back. The show hasn't been the same since she left.
  

Random Thursday

• I really meant to post yesterday, but as usual time got away from me.
  
• Lorelei and I have been sick the last couple of weeks. Lorelei just finished up the anitbiotics for her double ear infection this morning and I'm almost back to normal after my cold.


• FOs! - I got a little distracted by the sickness and Vday and I forgot to post pics of my FOs. First , Hedera. I LOVE these socks - the pattern is pretty, the fit is perfect, the old school KP Essentials is nice (the new Essentials is nicer, but this old stuff is still good), the color is perfect. But the pattern is so fiddly that I don't think I'll make these again. (Go to flickr to see other pics)

Next, the dishcloth from heck. I'd been planning on making this pattern for a while, I thought it was interesting and was just waiting for the right yarn. Turns out I HATE this pattern and will NEVER do it again. I only finished it because it was easier to just finish it. The yarn is still pretty and it's a dishcloth so it will get used.

• Last week was my first Valentine's Day alone in at least 11 years. Not much fun.
• The writer's strike is over. Yeah! New episodes in April, just in time for my birthday.
• I'm loving the new season of Lost. The flash forwards are adding some excitement back into Lost.
• Lorelei went ice skating for the first time a couple of weeks ago. Though it was mostly "Lorelei wore skates and made the adults push/drag her around the rink." She had a good time though and next time might actually try to skate by herself.

I have skillz!

Your English Skills:

Grammar: 100% Punctuation: 100% Spelling: 80% Vocabulary: 80%

Does Your English Cut the Mustard?

Belated Random Wednesday

Late and short this week, but at least it's something.

• Sawyer says my nickname is Munchkin.


• The SuperBowl was great this year. I was so glad that the cheaters didn't win and that the Dolphins continue to have the only perfect season in NFL history.


• I have some FOs. I'll save the pictures for Friday, but I finally finished my Hedera socks. I wore these already and they are my favorite socks now. The pattern was kind of a pain, but I LOVE the way they look and feel. I also finished a dishcloth. It ended up being a stitch pattern that hate, but at least it was a dishcloth and not a pair of socks (I actually printed a sock pattern that uses the same stitch - I won't be making those ever).

I got them all on the 2nd try!

In 3m 57s

Click here to Play

Random Wednesday

There's nothing like a random Wednesday to get me back into the blogging mood.

• I loved Heath Ledger in 10 Things I Hate About You. His daughter is close to Lorelei's age, so it's a little creepy how this mirrors my life right now (except that Lorelei's dad and I weren't separated).
• Oscar nominations came out yesterday. Gabe was a big movie nut - the Oscars and the World Series were the biggest events of his year. So it's a little hard for me to get excited about the Oscars now that he's gone.
• Fabio - this article is hilarious.
• I'm still knitting. I just haven't finished anything in a while. I'm at the heel flap of my second Hedera sock (still LOVE them). I've also finished about 8 inches of the front of my Perfect Sweater (the back and both sleeves are already completed). I may actually have to sew up my sweater soon - the sewing up doesn't seem too bad, but knitting the neckband is a little scary. Also, some of my work friends bought me some yummy Chocolate Cherry truffle yarn from SunnysideEllen.etsy.com that I think is destined for some Monkeys. Why yes, I am the last person on the face of the earth to decide to knit some Monkey socks.
• I'm very excited about Lost starting next week. I can only watch so much Law & Order before I need something else. I'm hopeful that the writer's strike will be over soon.

9 years

Today would have been my 9th wedding anniversary.

Would have been if Lorelei's Dad hadn't passed away two weeks ago.

At the age of 33. Too young to die in your sleep.

2007 Knitting Summary

37 completed Knitting projects

• 12 Baby items (including hats, bibs, booties, and mittens)
• 7 pairs of socks - 6 adult, 1 Lorelei
• 5 hats (not baby-sized)
• 5 dishcloths
• 5 scarves - 3 Branching Out, 1 Lorelei scarf, and 1 for me
• 1 sweater - Lorelei's wallaby
• 2 misc - Fetching and Cozy

Happy 2008!

FO Parade

I've been busy with Christmas knitting so here are some FOs that I neglected to post.

Here's a scarf I made for Lorelei. Not really a Christmas present, but I did give it to her on Christmas eve (because that's when I finished it). I made a modified Palindrome scarf (I took out one of the able repeats to make it Lorelei-sized) using some red Plymouth Encore left over from Lorelei's wallaby.

Here is an unoriginal hat using some WOTA bulky hand-dyed (Redwood Forest?). I didn't have large enough DPNs, so the hat turned out a little tight, but I've been wearing it anyway because it's so pretty.
This is a last-minute purled beret that I originally started for Lorelei's cousin but I didn't have enough yarn so the finished size was too small for the cousin, but fine for Lorelei. After I realized it would be too small, I ordered more yarn and made another, larger one (this one I left knit-side out instead of purl-side). In the end, I blocked the cousin's so much that it ended up being too big.

Hope you have a Happy New Year!

Weekend Wrapup

Every Monday, I want to name my post "Weekend Update" and then I remember that's not what I call it. Maybe I've seen too much SNL.

• The Dolphins finally won a game. I had been starting to get a little discouraged since it is so late in the season, but at least they won a game. Yeah!
• Sad day - Dan Fogelberg died. Same Old Lang Syne (aka the grocery store song) is one of my favorites. I'm always amused that this is considered Christmas music - unhappy people running into old loves. Not the cheeriest of songs, but I love it anyway.
• The writers strike is still going strong. There's rarely new tv episodes in December anyway, but I'm worried that I'll have nothing to watch when Jan. starts. The new reality shows look ever worse than the old ones. Thank goodness for tv on DVD - I can watch my favorite shows over and over while I wait for new content.
• We finally ordered Lorelei a twin-size mattress (we converted her crib to a toddler bed a while ago. I'm tired of the crib sheets, it will be much easier to buy new sheets when I can go to any store that sells bedding (Target, Macy's, BB&B).
  
• OTN - I'm working on another purple hat (the first one I made for my niece was too small because I ran out of yarn, so I gave it to Lorelei). I finished the first Hedera sock, I'm about half finished with a new scarf for Lorelei, and one of these days I will finally finish the second sleeve of the perfect sweater. After Christmas, I'm going to work hard to finish the sweater - I'm ready for it to be over and it would be nice to be able to wear it this season.
  

Top 5: My favorite Christmas/Holiday movies

In no particular order:

• The Grinch - the old animated one, not the Jim Carrey thing.
• White Christmas - a classic.
• A Christmas Story - one of my favorites as a kid and I still try to watch it at least once a year (which is easy when one of the cable channels usually plays it continually for at least 24 hours). You'll shoot your eye out!
• It's a Wonderful Life - I don't watch this every year, but I still love it.
• When Harry Met Sally - One of my favorite movies of all time, and though not really a holiday movie, since the end takes place during a New year's party I always associate it with the holidays.

I was pleasantly surprised by the Shrek the Halls special this year. Lorelei giggled throughout the whole thing and I really liked how each of the characters had their own version of The Night Before Christmas.

You better watch out ...

This weekend, I took Lorelei to see Santa for the first time. Her daycare had Santa visit on Saturday, so we were able to meet Santa in a nice, familiar setting. Which was good since Lorelei started shaking as soon as we walked in the room. After she saw one of the other kids talk to Santa, she calmed down and went to sit on his lap.

S: What do you want for Christmas?
Lorelei: Chocolate.

More Santa and birthday pictures at flickr.

What happened to my week?

These last 7 days have been a little crazier than usual.

It all started with Lorelei's third birthday party. Actually it started with a visit from my parents and lots of time in the kitchen. I made a lasagna for the party as well as a cake, cupcakes, and blue frosting. In keeping with our Blue's Clues theme, I made a blue round cake with blue cupcakes to simulate a paw print (as seen in the Blue's birthday episode). [Photos will be added later, I'm pretty proud of that cake]

The party was good, though small. We only invited one of Lorelei's friends and her three local cousins. With friend's brother, there were 6 kids under 5 in my little house. More than enough.

Monday I took a day off work and wrapped presents. Santa is all ready to make an appearance at our house. BTW, Lorelei will have her first visit with Santa on Sat morning.

Yesterday, we had our first snow of the season. It was pretty, but it made the roads icy today.

All in all, a very busy week.

Random Thursday

OOPS - I seem to have missed Wednesday. Not to mention Tuesday.

• Hedera seems to be taking up my every waking moment (though of course, it's not. I have a job and a Lorelei and a house to get ready for a party.) I'm into the foot of the first sock and I love it more than I should. Especially since there are two rows where I knit row 1 instead of row 3. I'm not calling them design features. Features that will hopefully not be repeated for sock #2. The sleeve of my perfect sweater is starting to feel a little neglected. As are the Christmas hats/scarves/mittens that need to be knit.
• Lorelei turns 3 on Monday. I'm convinced that the "Terrible Twos" are really the "Terrible Threes". The tantrums for no reason, the arguing just because, etc. are all starting to drive me insane. Thank goodness, she's so cute and smart. Otherwise, I don't know how I'd put up with it all. Last night Lorelei wanted pancakes for dinner. So I served pancakes and she screamed. Then she stopped screaming, ate, wanted more. I made more. She screamed. I ate the pancakes. Then she stopped screaming and got mad because I ate them. At least the pancakes were good.
• My parents are visiting this weekend for Lorelei's party. It's Thursday and my house is still a mess.
• I broke the carafe for my coffeemaker on Monday. It was so traumatic that I still haven't fully recovered. It doesn't help that my coffeemaker seems to be discontinued so I had to order a replacement carafe directly from the company and I don't think they've shipped it yet. Thank goodness that they sell Starbucks in my office building. I don't know what I'm going to do this weekend.
• I know random posts are supposed to have at least 5 items, but I can't think of anymore right now.

Long Weekend Wrapup

A long weekend off of work has turned into a long weekend away from the blog. NaBloPoMo seems to be falling apart, but I've posted over 20 times in a month (about a third of the entire year's postings).

We spent most of the weekend with my SIL, BIL, and Lorelei's cousins. Lots of playing, lots of screaming, and not enough napping.

I finished up my latest Branching out scarf (except for the blocking). I'm on the heel flap of the first hedera. The heel flap seems longer than normal (but what do I know, I usually do short row heels). Next up are some hats for the niece and nephews for Christmas. And a new scarf for Lorelei.

I can't wait to finish up these Christmas presents because next up is Adamas.

Random Wednesday

It's the day before Thanksgiving. Let's see what's going on.

• I worked from home today so that I could go to the Thanksgiving feast at Lorelei's preschool. There was actually a lot of food and pie.
• Unfortunately, Lorelei decided that it was time to go home after we ate. So I didn't get to work much this afternoon.
• Luckily, work was dismissed two hours early for Thanksgiving.
• I got a lot of knitting done while Lorelei was taking a nap.
• I'm almost to the heel of the first Hedera sock. I'm over half finished with my mom's Christmas present. Still working on sleeve #2 of the Perfect Sweater.

Have a Great Thanksgiving!

I admit it ...

I missed a day of posting. And it's not even the holidays yet. Why would someone decide that November was a good month to write a novel, blog post, knit a sweater, etc. when it's a short month with one of the largest holidays of the year? I admit short months are good for blog posting, but for writing a novel and knitting a sweater wouldn't you want a month with an extra day?

I was hoping that this month of posting would help me to get a routine of posting started, help me find my "voice", and really rev up my little blog. I'm not sure it's helped. Also, I admit, I did not officially sign up for NaBloPoMo because I assumed I'd fail.

Anway, still knitting the same old stuff. Lorelei is still not potty-trained. I'm not traveling for Thanksgiving. Same old, same old.

Sunday is quiz day

Your Karaoke Theme Song is "Margaritaville"

You are a true party animal, but your style is mild and chill. Kicking back with a few friends and a few drinks is all you need to be happy. You certainly don't feel pressured to be a part of any party scene. In fact, you avoid trendier spots. You've been known to kick loose anywhere and everywhere. All you need is a cooler. You might also sing: "Gin and Juice," "Love Shack," and "Red Red Wine" Stay away from people who sing: "Wind Beneath My Wings"

What's Your Karaoke Theme Song?

Lazy Saturday

What did I do today?

Nothing.

What do I have to post about today?

Nothing.

Hope you're having a great weekend!