Earthquakes!

In less than 24 hours I've felt two earthquakes now. The one last night was big - 5.6 and only 10ish miles away. It was big enough that we stopped dance class and all ran for the doorways and stood there for awhile watching the room and the lightpoles outside sway around. It was a good size really - big enough that you really felt it but small enough that nothing was damaged. We didn't even have any pictures fall down or anything. Then just now there was an aftershock - 3.7 in the same location. It was small enough that I wasn't totally sure what it was. I would have figured I was imagining things except we just had that one yesterday and Chris, at home, felt it also. Very cool. Not everyone would agree with me but I think earthquakes are really exciting. I can be like the Helen Hunt in Twister of earthquakes. He he...

As seen at the local Japanese grocery

Mmmm... Meat...

Isaac, and another FO!

Isaac went under the knife today! Well, actually just under the toothbrush. They had to anesthetize him for it though. Poor kitty. He seems a little dazed now but mostly well. The ladies at the vet's office threatened to keep him. They said they'd never met a cat who purrs as much as Isaac does. I wonder if their affection for Isaac is just something they do to make their customers feel like their pets are being well cared for. Maybe that's too cynical.

Anyway, for your viewing pleasure today I have a knitted finished object! I've been working on this pair of yellow socks for ages now. It has a very complicated pattern though and furthermore I went into complete denial on my first sock until I got to the heel. It was at that point that I realized it was going to completely cut off circulation to my feet if I tried to wear them as is. So I ripped back (accck... gives me shivers just thinking about it) and started over. Now I have a pair of socks that are still tight but at least go on my feet. However, I think i was too impatient with their length and they're really more a size 6-7 foot. But an 8 (for me) in a pinch. Any blog readers out there who would appreciate a handmade pair of socks and has size 6-7 feet? Actually, any of you who have any hope of getting a pair of handmade socks should post your foot size. If you're a size 8-8.5 women's you can just say that. If you're any other size you should measure the length of your foot from heel to toe and the circumference around the ball of the foot. I enjoy the process of knitting much more than the finished product, so if you think you'd like a pair of socks I will almost certainly make some for you. Probably not soon, but certainly eventually.

Without further ado


These are kind of my stressful summer socks. They also went slowly because I was so busy moving and traveling and graduating that I didn't have time to work on them much. Here's a photo that Chris took.... just because it's cute and I'm happy.

Pumpkins, doctors, babies, etc

First off I want to say that I don't much like getting older. I suppose no one does. I went to the eye doctor today and they tell me I have developed an astigmatism. And also blood vessels are starting to grow into the colored part of my eye from oxygen deprivation due to long term contact use. None of these things are serious (they're changing my contact type and not even bothering to correct such a minor astigmatism) but they just seem like symptoms of my overall old-and-bustedness. I feel like our Honda - some part always a little messed up. Hopefully, like the Honda, I'll live on practically forever. Heh.

I've had a great weekend in spite of the fact that Chris is in Boise to see an ill family friend. On Saturday I spent most of the day at Chris and Shannon's. By command performance I made a pumpkin soup recipe that Shannon had seen hanging on my fridge. I think the pumpkin I got needed more hollowing out than I gave it though because it took forever to cook and there wasn't enough room inside for all the vegi broth, so it turned out more like a casserole. It tasted really good - with all that cheese and pumpkin and bread you really can't go wrong. It also got an A+ for presentation. I mean, cooking in the pumpkin? Very cool. Here's some photos.

 

Below Anne is using her mad packing skillz to stuff filling into the pumpkin as tightly as possible.

 

Below: the finished product. So elegant looking. In the background is the mac n cheese that Chris made which was also amazing.

 

Such a fun event. I ate so much that my stomach about exploded. I called Chris and told him I thought I was going to throw up just to make myself feel better and he told me that was called an eating disorder so I better not. I felt better after a couple of minutes or so but then about busted a gut laughing over a game of Oh Hell. The rules of the game indicate that you get most of your points by taking exactly the number of tricks you bid. On a certain round there were 4 available tricks, and people bid 1, 2, 2, and Shannon bid 4 tricks. Heh. On the first hand Shannon turned to Anne and said "Let me take this trick, ok?" Anne responded, "Ok." So Shannon played a low card, Anne played a higher one and took the trick. And then the pumpkin/cheese crazies set in because Shannon's reaction was hilarious. She was yelling at Anne and calling her names and threatening to storm off... all while we all laughed hysterically. Oh man. I'm laughing just thinking about it. Maybe you would have had to have been there though.

Sunday I went to book club where we talked about sex, babies, food, and the book, which according to the people who attempted it was terrible. Glad I didn't bother. After that I went to Brandy's where I helped her watch Amelia while she made dinner and we just got to chat some. It was nice - I feel bad for her though. They all have colds at her house and she just seems so tired. They're talking about Bran quitting her job and staying at home which would probably help with both of those problems (colds, tiredness) and also would mean they would stay in this area. Yay! I hope she does.

All in all it was a very relaxing weekend and now I'm looking forward to Chris getting home tomorrow. I guess we're still newlyweds because I miss him even when he's gone such a short time.

Funny kitties and a haircut

A week ago Chris was taking the garbage out and grabbed a paper bag to put some recycling paper in. He set the bag on the floor and within seconds Isaac had managed to get his head stuck through the handle. So funny. But not as funny as the time he got the bag stuck around his neck like a cape and he couldn't figure out what was chasing him and he tore around the house like a crazy thing until Chris could catch him and free him. So funny.

 

 

 

And I got a haircut. Again. I really notice how fast my hair grows when I keep it short like this. The beautician was channeling Julie Andrews in the Sound of Music I think. It's more obvious from the front though.

 

Health stuff

Since I got new health insurance through work I've been catching up on doctor appointments. This week I had a checkup with a regular doctor and she decided that I needed a tetanus shot because I couldn't remember when my last one was. Now I feel like I've been punched in the arm. Those suckers hurt. I also made an appointment to get through the first step of lasik eye surgery (which I've been wanting to get for awhile) and then as soon as I hung up realized I'd made a horrible mistake. Actually I don't dislike my contacts all that much and the eye surgery is just so irreversible. So I called up today and canceled the appointment and I've felt so relieved ever since.

The kitties had a yearly checkup this week too - turns out they're both overweight. Neither Chris nor I believe this. Marie is just not overweight. She's such a slim little thing. I think the vet was just wrong. Also, Isaac has really severe gingivitis and has even lost one of his teeth! He has to go back to the vet for a very expensive tooth cleaning (and sedation) next week. Poor kitty. I can't believe he's lost a tooth. Otherwise they were healthy though.

I think that's all I have to report. Lots of fun planned for this weekend. More later.

The Fat Cage

Sometimes when Chris and I are feeling especially silly we have conversations with each other that begin with "When I'm dictator of the universe I'm going to..." This is usually preceded by some depressingly serious discussion on something that's going horribly wrong with the world. It's usually followed by a totally ridiculous discussion of something that might fix that problem but is so outrageous the only way it would ever happen would be if we were dictators of the universe. But probably not even then because we're both too nice to impose our weirdness on the world.

Anyway, awhile back we decided that when we're dictators of the universe (or when one of us is because I'm pretty sure there can't be two) we would solve the obesity epidemic with a strategy we call the fat cage. First, we would give people warning that it was coming so that they could possibly avoid it since we're nice that way (and probably launch a rebellion and depose us). Next we would make a jail and put the fat people in it. There would be lots of gym equipment and vegetables in the jail. And here's the kicker: you can leave as soon as you can squeeze out through the bars. That's it.

Anyway, I bring this up because we got to implement a modified version of this recently (since we're dictators of house). Isaac the Fat learned to jump on top of the dryer. This means he got into Marie's food which we kept up there so she could have as much as she wanted and he could only have what came out of the feeder. So we thought and thought about a cat sorting technique. She's a very slim 8 pound cat and he's a whopping 14 pounds. We want her to be able to have as much food as she wants. Chris built some contraption with pulleys and springs and trap doors and it didn't really work. But then I remembered the fat cage! We put Marie's food in the closet and experimented with cracking the door. It turns out that at 3 inches open Marie can just squeeze into the closet for her food, and all Isaac can do is get wedged. Problem solved! With the amazing reverse fat cage!

Now back to thesis writing...

No cans were harmed in the making of this weekend

So, as you can tell from the title, we did no canning this weekend. We may never can again. Many readers have pointed out that botulism is rare in acidic foods such as tomatoes, however Chris is sure that we'll manage to give it to ourselves anyway. Of course this is a man who reminds me that knives are sharp whenever I pick one up and cut towards myself, so maybe he's overly safety conscious. We did make some salsa this week with one of the cans that didn't seal correctly so at least those tomatoes weren't a total waste.

I was doing a different kind of work this weekend though - writing my thesis. I took my thesis back to my advisor a week ago or so and he said (again), it's pretty good, but it needs to be longer. Fortunately he suggested some subjects that need expounding upon, so I had my work cut out for me. When I wasn't writing thesis I was doing laundry, going to the farmers' market, watching a movie, visiting Brandy and Amelia. The usual. Oh, and sleeping a lot. I was so tired this weekend - I think maybe from getting a flu shot. But who really knows. Anyway, so photos to entertain you.

First a photo my sis-in-law took when she was visiting of Chris and I outside our cute house with oranges off our cute trees:


Next, our extremely cute baby nephew. He had his photos taken this weekend in a sweater I made him before he was even born. He looks a little like my sister did as a baby in these photos. It's fun to see a little family resemblance.



What a little angel.

This game is stupid

Ok. I have officially taken my local food, Martha Stewart, 1940s housewife thing too far. This weekend, I decided to try canning. I was energetically awake at 8am on Saturday so I went to OSH and got canning supplies and then to the farmers' market where I bought 33 pounds of tomatoes.

Then I spent forever this afternoon peeling and slicing tomatoes. Resulting in two huge vats of slimy tomatoes. Before this afternoon I loved tomatoes. But I could barely face looking at tomato toast for lunch today, just because, dear heavens. More tomatoes? This photo really does not show how big these bowls of tomatoes are.

We put the cans in the hot water bath (thank goodness Chris was helping - I would have never gotten through this without him). At our first check we had busted the bottom clean off one of the cans and its contents were floating around and filling the house with a bad bad smell of boiled tomatoes. Then the timer goes off indicating the first batch is done and we pull out our first jar, which looks like this:

Uh, surely it's not supposed to look like that. It is around this point that Chris tells me it's very easy to die of botulism from canned tomatoes and I say to myself, uh, do I even use canned tomatoes? What was I thinking!?!?! Aaaah!

Flowers, freezer, feline

Thought I'd make a little post while I wait for code to compile. I swear compiling takes forever. Anyway, here's some photos taken with my iPhone, which actually I'm surprised that I use, but I end up doing so quite often. It's picky about the lighting, but pretty high res for a little phone camera.

First, the cactus in our front yard puts out these huge beautiful blooms very intermittently. We were surprised by how many were on the plant a couple of days ago.

 

Next, the fruits of my labor from Sunday. I wanted frozen meals for the next week and couldn't bring myself to buy Lean Cuisine given the obsession with local food. So I got ingredients from the farmer's market and made two dishes to freeze. I was surprised by how many servings they made - I made a total of 16 lunches with about 3 hours of work and $20 of ingredients. Here's just the ones I put in the freezer. I was so proud. It was a lot of work though.

 

Finally, here's Marie flaked out under the microwave stand. I have no idea what was going through her little cat mind, but this was how she decided to hang out for 15 minutes or so.

 

A month without corn syrup

Barbara Kingsolver makes a comment in her book Animal, Vegetable, Miracle that a year without corn syrup is a step in the right direction for her household (or something like that). So in addition to getting as much produce as possible at the weekly farmer's market (and just living without what's not there), I'm adding one more challenge to my semi-fanatical locavory: don't eat any corn syrup for the month of October. Chris then immediately asked: high fructose only? or all corn syrup? I'm going for no corn syrup at all. So then I started going through my pantry trying to figure out what I couldn't eat. So far I was only able to come up with jelly beans and cheapo Safeway Jelly. I did notice that the Luna bars I just bought have rice syrup as their first ingredient. I'm going to allow rice syrup though. Then I got to work and eyed my coworker's candy jar. The usual Snickers bars, Milky Way and 3 Musketeers are now off limits. So I'll just have to hope she puts the straight chocolate bars back out. I'm not even sure why I'm doing this... it just seems like an interesting challenge. And what is corn syrup anyway? Is it even food? I'll report back on if it's difficult or not...

I've been trying to track down things I've knitted that never got posted in my FO albums (Finished Objects, to non-knitters out there). So here's some photos of stuff that I knitted awhile back but never posted about:

First, a sweater I knitted for my nephew Grant. This was commissioned by my sister when I was visiting for her baby shower and was really quick and easy and fun to knit. But is huge on him. Hopefully it'll fit when winter comes.

The socks I made for my sock pal for Sockapalooza. These were sent off to Germany and as best I can tell from my pal's blog post she seemed to like them. The yarn was a type I had always wanted to work with but it's pretty pricey... these were like $25 socks. Pretty though.

And finally, going way back in time, a dress I made for Amelia more than a year ago. It still is too big for her, though I suspect that the yarn stretches out under the weight of the dress itself, so it gets bigger every time she wears it. Anyway, here's some really cute photos of her I took this weekend.