SQUEEE!! 2

Ha! Take that Blogger! Shortly after seven the Yarn Harlot stepped up to the podium and took her picture of the audience. I am in the blurry side, way in the back. Here is my picture of her taking our picture (it is the only one I took that didn't come out blurry. Maybe it was something in the room). She was funny and thought provoking and she took a few surveys. Mostly to do with blogging, knitting, and technology. I will not quote her because you should all go and see her yourselves. Pick the nearest venue and just go. Take the kids, drag the spouse (better, let one of them drive and you can knit on the way). At the end of her spiel, Stephanie answered a few questions (and she only said "arse"once, but she was talking about hockey so it's all right) and we lined up to get our books signed. It was very well organised and gave us a chance to meet more knitters. I stood behind two Rogue sweaters. The ladies said they were pretty easy to knit and the pattern was very well written. One of them said something about it being one of the first sweaters she had knit. Yup! I need that pattern!

When I got to the front of the live Stephanie said, "Hi, Bonnie! Where did you and The Husband go for dinner? Was it any good?" Wow! Just as though she reads my blog as often as I read hers. So you can see just how tall I am (or how short Stephanie is, your choice) here is the sock exchange picture. I have the traveling sock and she has the Pink Ribbon sock. Just in case you can't tell us apart. Please ignore the glazed look on my face. It was quite a weekend. This morning when we came down to breakfast, Stephanie was waiting for her ride to the next venue. We had a nice chat about everything from maple syrup to living in a big city. Eventually her driver showed up and she was off.

How's the new book you ask? Ummm.....to tell you the truth The Husband and I were busy enjoying the city and I didn't take the time to read anything. I did, however get a hat knitted for the Represent collection.

Next post will have all the knitting content, for now I am just going to enjoy the fact that I got around Blogger. Hah!

SQUEEEE!!!

Take three. This time I will post in chunks(maybe that will fool Blogger) This weekend The Husband took me to Pittsburgh for the Yarn Harlot's booksigning. He did well, really well. We checked into our room and took a walk on the SouthSide. As we were walking around The Husband said it made him homesick for where he grew up and "how would you feel about living in a apartment again?"

When we got back to the B&B who do you think was sitting on the veranda? Yes! The Yarn Harlot herself!! I managed to speak to her without drooling on my shoes or throwing myself to my knees in obiescense (sp?) or anything. I even spoke in complete sentences. I don't really squee in public. I have more of the demeanor of Al Gore. The more important you are the more embalmed I seem to be. We chatted briefly and then The Husband and I left to find a little dinner for ourselves. We wound up at a place The Harlot had suggested and after tasting his dinner,called the Doublewide Grill. After tasting his dinner, Husband said, "They seem to know what they're doing here." High praise indeed.

After dinner we walked down to the bookstore where the Harlot was speaking and I settled into a seat in the back row while The Husband roved through the shelves (No. He didn't but any cookbooks. Why do you ask? He just added, "But I was tempted!") I found myself surrounded by our kind. This is a picture of Cathy and Kris (at least I hope I got the names right. I didn't write them down until I got back to the room, Bad blog writer) They are mother-in-law and daughter-in-law. Cathy said she has all sons and had despaired of having someone to teach knitting, then Kris joined the family and they go yarn shopping together. There is hope for my family (years ago The Baby asked me who was going to inherit the antique furniture. I told him, "The one whose wife I like the best.") I also met Cheryl but the picture I took of her came out with more of the floor than her face (excited? Me? Why, no. Why do you ask?)We had a wonderful time in the last row naming the patterns we saw aroung us (shawls, sweaters, socks) and we even had a demonstration of the magic loop sock method. We compared yarns, too. The next post will be about the speaker and her topic..........

Blogger Hates me!

I tried to let you all know what we did this weekend, and Blogger (we hates it!) wouldn't let me post it or save it. I will try again. Just stay tuned.

Time Lost

Yes, there were a lot of things I was planning for today, cleaning the kitchen (the floor is a wee bit sticky and oddly covered with black patches...), sewing buttons on the HBS, preparing for Passover, working on the Purple Pesach Pullover (you have no idea how long it took me to come up with that alliteration), cutting out the skirt to go with the PPP, getting some fresh air and exercise, and so on. What did I actually do:

I read this. I was going to be tricksy and say "it starts out a little unformed and yes, there are some punctuation errors (I am that anal-retentive, and YES! there is a hyphen). Some places I am not sure if Amy meant to use the word that is there and a few places seem to be missing a word or two" .

But! I am torn between putting this in the hands of everyone I know so they can read it and telling them to buy their own damn copy so Amy can quit working for the prickweenies and being worried about cleaning her house and just keep telling us stories! Yes, it did seem a little unformed and unfoscused at the start, but that may have been me. I was going back and forth between the book and Amy's blog and some times I heard her "blog voice" while I was reading her story. It may also be that she intended it that way because as the story grabs you (and woo! does it grab you! In all the right places, deep breath, pardon me) you see that the main character grows with the complexity of the plot. I have read vampire fiction from Bram Stoker to Laurell Hamilton and I liked this one the best. Not many books make me put them down because I have to take a walk and absorb what happens. At least twice, this one did. Aside to Amy : You know how when you read a book, you tend to identify with the main character? I am Grace. The best part about being a vampire cook? No breathing, no onion tears. Just sayin'. Love......

Books!

I've heard (along with a lot of birthday wishes) that people are reading even when they don't comment and would like to hear from me more often. To that end (and because, you know, we are the house of books) here is a meme I picked up somewhere or other:
Look at the list of books below:
Bold the ones you’ve read,
Italicize the ones you want to read
Leave blank the ones that you aren’t interested in.
1. The DaVinci Code (Dan Brown)
2. Pride and Prejudice (Jane Austen)
3. To Kill A Mockingbird (Harper Lee)
4. Gone With The Wind (Margaret Mitchell)
5. The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King (Tolkien)
6. The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring (Tolkien)
7. The Lord of the Rings: Two Towers (Tolkien)
8. Anne of Green Gables (L.M. Montgomery)
9. Outlander (Diana Gabaldon)
10. A Fine Balance (Rohinton Mistry)
11. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Rowling)
12. Angels and Demons (Dan Brown)
13. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Rowling)
14. A Prayer for Owen Meany (John Irving)
15. Memoirs of a Geisha (Arthur Golden)
16. Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (Rowling)
17. Fall on Your Knees (Ann-Marie MacDonald)
18. The Stand (Stephen King)
19. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Rowling)
20. Jane Eyre (Charlotte Bronte)
21. The Hobbit (Tolkien)
22. The Catcher in the Rye (J.D. Salinger)
23. Little Women (Louisa May Alcott)
24. The Lovely Bones (Alice Sebold)
25. Life of Pi (Yann Martel)
26. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (Douglas Adams)
27. Wuthering Heights (Emily Bronte)
28. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (C. S. Lewis)
29. East of Eden (John Steinbeck)
30. Tuesdays with Morrie (Mitch Albom)
31. Dune (Frank Herbert)
32. The Notebook (Nicholas Sparks)
33. Atlas Shrugged (Ayn Rand)
34. 1984 (Orwell)
35. The Mists of Avalon (Marion Zimmer Bradley)
36. The Pillars of the Earth (Ken Follett)
37. The Power of One (Bryce Courtenay)
38. I Know This Much is True (Wally Lamb)
39. The Red Tent (Anita Diamant)
40. The Alchemist (Paulo Coelho)
41. The Clan of the Cave Bear (Jean M. Auel)
42. The Kite Runner (Khaled Hosseini)
43. Confessions of a Shopaholic (Sophie Kinsella)
44. The Five People You Meet In Heaven (Mitch Albom)
45. The Bible (Well, the first five books or so)
46. Anna Karenina (Tolstoy)
47. The Count of Monte Cristo (Alexandre Dumas) Edmund Dantes, need I say more?
48. Angela’s Ashes (Frank McCourt)
49. The Grapes of Wrath (John Steinbeck)
50. She’s Come Undone (Wally Lamb)
51. The Poisonwood Bible (Barbara Kingsolver)
52. A Tale of Two Cities (Dickens)
53. Ender’s Game (Orson Scott Card)
54. Great Expectations (Dickens)
55. The Great Gatsby (Fitzgerald)
56. The Stone Angel (Margaret Laurence)
57. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Rowling)
58. The Thorn Birds (Colleen McCullough)
59. The Handmaid’s Tale (Margaret Atwood)
60. The Time Traveller’s Wife (Audrew Niffenegger)
61. Crime and Punishment (Fyodor Dostoyevsky)
62. The Fountainhead (Ayn Rand)
63. War and Peace (Tolstoy)
64. Interview With The Vampire (Anne Rice)
65. Fifth Business (Robertson Davis)
66. One Hundred Years Of Solitude (Gabriel Garcia Marquez)
67. The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants (Ann Brashares)
68. Catch-22 (Joseph Heller)
69. Les Miserables (Hugo)
70. The Little Prince (Antoine de Saint-Exupery) In English and French
71. Bridget Jones’ Diary (Fielding)
72. Love in the Time of Cholera (Marquez)
73. Shogun (James Clavell)
74. The English Patient (Michael Ondaatje)
75. The Secret Garden (Frances Hodgson Burnett)
76. The Summer Tree (Guy Gavriel Kay)
77. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (Betty Smith)
78. The World According to Garp (John Irving)
79. The Diviners (Margaret Laurence)
80. Charlotte's Web (E.B. White)
81. Not Wanted On The Voyage (Timothy Findley)
82. Of Mice And Men (Steinbeck)
83. Rebecca (Daphne DuMaurier)
84. Wizard’s First Rule (Terry Goodkind)
85. Emma (Jane Austen)
86. Watership Down(Richard Adams)
87. Brave New World (Aldous Huxley)
88. The Stone Diaries (Carol Shields)
89. Blindness (Jose Saramago)
90. Kane and Abel (Jeffrey Archer)
91. In The Skin Of A Lion (Ondaatje)
92. Lord of the Flies (Golding)
93. The Good Earth (Pearl S. Buck)
94. The Secret Life of Bees (Sue Monk Kidd)
95. The Bourne Identity (Robert Ludlum)
96. The Outsiders (S.E. Hinton)
97. White Oleander (Janet Fitch)
98. A Woman of Substance (Barbara Taylor Bradford)
99. The Celestine Prophecy (James Redfield)
100. Ulysses (James Joyce)
As you can see I read. A lot. Not so big on the things people say are "good modern literatooor".
(Elder Son wants me to post his latest bon mot: At work today someone asked him where he was going. His reply, "I'm bringing sexy back. It was three sizes too big.")

Happy Birthday to ME!!

If you are reading this on March 21, it's my birthday! Welcome to the party!

This is for Rae. Mix to your heart's content. A few weeks ago we had a Purim party at the Temple. Every year we work really hard to make sure our kids enjoy the Jewish holidays. A friend and I decided that this year it should be the adults' turn. I made four kinds of creamy drinkees. Here you see the ingredients and final products (well, two of them). On Purim we are commanded to get drunk enough so that we can't tell the difference between, "Praise Mordacai" and "Curse Hamen". That takes me, oh, about, um, one. Best part of the evening: One of the members of the "other" congregation told us she almost didn't come to our "Adults Only" game night because she thought we were selling .......sex toys. Yeah, and when she showed up, she had her six-year-old with her. Fun times. For the record, we just didn't want anyone underage finishing the drinks while no one was watching, and we played Scrabble. Scrabble, people!

This is for Knitterbunny. I got a few early presents for myself (these, and I spent waaayyy too much money at Knitpicks, the package hasn't come yet, pictures later). The little teapot makes about 2 cups of tea. That little ball of stuff in front of the teapot is a "blooming" tea ball. When I drop it in hot water, not only do I get some tea to drink I get a beautiful flower to look at.

Oh, yeah, I also got a book. I'm putting off starting it because I hear how people are just sucked in and can't put it down. Thanks, Amy. One of the reasons I am wary of getting sucked in is that I decided (during a moment of lunacy, or maybe just not enough sleep) to knit a sweater (the Cable Down Sweater) for First Seder (April 2). We are going to a friend's house this year, which means I won't have to do as much cooking, so, hey! I can knit something special in eleven days! I'm taking out a couple of days because The Husband is taking me to Pittsburgh for the Represent Tour. He made reservations in a B&B just around the corner from where Stephanie is going to speak. I just have one questions for you all: How long in advance (the lecture starts at 7) should I get in line to get a seat?

One last picture: usually at our house the birthday cakes are homemade. The cake of choice is Boston Cream Pie. Since it is my birthday, and I am the only baker, The Husband picked up this little goodie. Chocolate AND peanut butter, yum! I can do this because The Baby is not home (he is allergic to PB) and he got his birthday cake last week (the aforementioned BCP). For anyone searching for knitting content (aside from the moment of insanity above) the Huge Blue Sweater is all knitted and sewn up. I am looking for good buttons. I found some in my stash that work, but I'm not feeling the love. Tomorrow I should (ha!) have some time to drop by a button shop and check them out. I have been working on some Pink Ribbon Socks with Miss Violet's Pink Ribbon Yarn, but you will just have to wait for pictures. Now, I am going to go knit a Pesach sweater and watch the tube (Love you, Netflix!) Thanks for coming to the party!

Come on in!

It's been a long week (even though it's only Thursday). We're doing the State Mandated Ass-esments and I spend a lot of time watching little people write (well, OK I get to do some knitting, too).
Listen up people, next week is my birthday, and along with Alison (who had this idea, well, sort of) I would like to invite you to my virtural birthday party. What kind of tea (or drink and drinkipoos count!) and what sort of cake does it for you on your birthday? I'll post a picture of my cake on the day.

Moovies!

Well, Ive made the (forced) move to "New" Blogger. Let's see what goes wrong, now, shall we?

Amy started a meme for the Academy Awards and since we have (yet another) snow day, I'll do some typing.

1. Top 3 "good" movies

Casablanca

Lord of the Rings (Julie has a point)

Gone With the Wind

2. Top 3 "bad" movies

Monty Python The Life of Brian

The Princess Bride

Young Frankenstein

3. Number One Quoted Movie

White Christmas

4. Favorite Action Movie

Tied between

Great Escape

Indiana Jones and the Holy Grail

5. Favorite Romance

Any Fred and Ginger

6. Favorite Weeper

An Affair to Remember

7. Favorite Director

Mel Brooks

8. Top "Good Movie" Moment

"Louis, this could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship."

Casablanca

9. Top Three "Bad Movie" Moments

Mel Brooks at the Last Supper

Dancing Crucifixion

The Swimming Nuns in History of the World Part I

10. Top Three Movie Quotes

"By the time you get aroung to getting what's left to be got, whatever's left to be got won't be interested in whatever it is you've got left to get." (read it out loud)

"My name is Inigo Montoya. You are the man who killed my father. Prepare to die."

"Yes, he vas my boyfriend!" Frau Bleuker (neigh) from Young Frankenstein

11. Top Movie in the Last Two Years

I think the only movie we went to in the last two years is "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest".

There you have it. We watch White Christmas every year (it is a family tradition, my mother and I could always catch it sometime during the holidays) and mostly know it by heart. Just this morning Elder Son looked out the window, turned to me, and said, "Must be beautiful in Vermont this time of year. All that snow?"