Don't cry over spilt cat food or Get a sense of humor

After getting out of the shower this morning I spilled about 5 pounds of cat all over the bathroom. I filled half of the sink, an entire drawer that was pulled open, and covered most of the floor. I wish I was the sort of person when confronted with a drawer full of cat food to grab the camera and have a laugh. Instead I am the sort of person who is standing naked with a towel wrapped around her head saying “Shit” and thinking I should go back to bed and let the dog clean up the mess on the floor. I am also the same person who is looking at the drawer thinking to myself I was going to cut my toenails but now the clippers are buried under cat crunchies. I was feeling downright defeated and it was only the start of my day. After cleaning up the mess and back to my morning routine, I thought to myself I should have taken a picture because it’s not everyday you see a drawer full of cat food. Next time the unexpected happens I hope I am quicker to smile and grab the camera than to grumble and grab the broom.

Wishing you all a day full of smiles!

Lorenzo Lamas in a Speedo

Star sighting!

Today the pool was packed. After a four day weekend of stuffing myself silly with all the trimmings, me and everyone else dragged themselves to the gym. The pool was unusually busy and people were lined up waiting for others to finish. I vacated my lane and was toweling off when what to my wondering eyes would appear but Lorenzo Lamas in a Speedo!

No kidding!

This is a much younger picture, but he looks about the same with longer hair and leathery skin. It's scary that one can find a picture of him in a speedo in the first place.

Meet my Sock Monkey

Where have I been? What have I been doing? The answer is lots of what I am not supposed to be doing and doing little of what I am supposed to be doing.

Here is the little bit of craftiness that I created this week. Isn't she cute? This was inspired by a Japanese craft book that uses socks and gloves to create cute animals.

I also finished sewing my first dress!! YAY!!! But I don't have a picture of it yet BOO!!! :(

So stay tuned...

I promise it won't be so long next time.

Slaying Dragons in My Bathtub

I get up this morning and head for the shower. I draw back the shower curtain and there, curled up in the bottom of my bathtub laying in wait, is a SCORPIAN!!! EEEewwwww! My hubby and resident bug killer is out of town and I am left to face it...alone. I call my hubby for strategy and moral support as we devise how I am to destroy the three-inch scorpian in my bathtub. The killing of a stinging prehistoric creature with pinchers takes on dramatic proportions as in my pajamas I come face to face with a stinging, nasty, looks dead already, but I know it's just playing possum, dragon that is between me and my taking a shower. Of which I need because I didn't take one yesterday. I wasn't procrastinating I was knitting and how dirty does one really get when when is sitting on the couch knitting all day and night? Started a new knitting project, the Amelie bolero from Rebecca #28. Having a great time with it, but more on that later.

When it comes to dealing with most creatures in the house I am happy to return things back to the wild like baby lizards, moths, and spiders. But this is a SCORPIAN in my bathtub!!! I was dealing with a sneaky, stealthy, stinger that made it through the Animal Defense System (2 dogs and 2 cats). My first thought is to wash it down the shower drain, but my husband tells me it will just crawl back out later. Option number 1 is out and I have to face the dragon.

To get ready for battle I slip on my Ugg boots for protection and grab an ESPN magazine, which has an extra-large format and provides good weight and distance for swatting and killing unwanted creatures. My hubby informs me that if I whack it I have to whack it really good because scorpians don't die very easily. The dragon is in the curve of the bath tub and I don't have a good swatting angle. Swatting is out.

Here's how it went down.

Put down the phone. Face the enemy. Drop the magazine onto the scorpian. Pause for any movement. Stomp. Stomp. Gingerly pick up magazine. Scorpian is crawling around. SCREAM! Drop magazine. Stomp. Stomp. Dead.

Before I can pick up the phone again, I can hear my husband laughing and screaming to his friend. When slaying dragons in your bathtub beware of being mocked. The scorpian was swept out of the tub and into the toilet for a watery goodbye. I proceeded to take a shower and wash the heebie jeebies off of myself all the time wondering when the next fiend was going to pop into my shower and deliver the karmic sting. In conclusion, for the next few days I will be checking my shoes for tiny dragons curled up in the toes. Dragons BEWARE!

Caught in the act

There is nothing like admitting my personal procrastination problem and then posting the date I started to write my post...oh four months ago, to confirm that I truly have a procrastination problem. What can I say. I try to get up everyday and take a shower if nothing else!

I was supposed to align my forces of light this weekend with a yoga tantra sadhana intensive but it was cancelled. Doesn't that sound good...aligning the forces of light. Who couldn't use a good alignment once in a while? I guess I will go it alone on my light aligning. Any suggestions? Rituals? Cleanses? Mantras?

Well, I'll figure it out tomorrow.

All But...

Hello. I am Natalie and I am ABD.
What does ABD mean? All But Dissertation.
Which means all I have to do to get my Ph.D. is finish writing and file my dissertation.
But what does that really mean?
It means I knit.

The story of my study habits goes way back. In high school one of my senior awards was Class Procrastinator. I thought I was flying under the radar but there I was labeled by my peers and fooling no one. I was proud of the title bestowed upon me, smiling with my little "know-it-all" smirk that only a teenager can wear with infuriating innocence. Ahhh, the days of last minute cramming with flashes of brilliance through bleary eyes and foggy head, body on automatic pilot as it races down hallways to turn in that paper by final deadline and narrowly missing academic disaster like a "B" grade.

Procrastination and undergrad? No problem, just lots more racing through hallways and sliding papers under professors doors. This tactic has followed me all the way through to graduate school, but the smirk as been completely erased from my no longer innocent face and I have been humbled and bowed by the dissertation process. Yet old habits die hard. No deadline? Make my own schedule? I have all day to work so I'll do it later. Which becomes tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow. The motto "No time like the present" doesn't really apply to the procrastinator's task at hand, but it works for knitting.

Two springs ago I picked up the knitting needles and I haven't put them down since. Mostly I needed community. I had been living in abroad in Raleigh, NC and had recently moved home. Writing is a lonely job as any writer will tell. The writing appeals to my reclusive side that can hole up for days with maybe an occasional outing to the mail box. Although I have to admit that the recluse mostly likes to watch television rather than face the computer and the topic of dreaded dissertation. After moving away from my crafty friends in Raleigh I needed new crafty friends. After attending a party and admiring a women's scarf (which she made). I made a mental note of the Knit Cafe, which was her LYS and soon to be mine.

I signed up for a class at the Knit Cafe and Mary Heather was my teacher (Where are you Mary Heather?). I had been taught how to knit one summer as a kid on our yearly camping trip, but after that hot and dusty week, the needles, yarn, and strip of knitting were packed away like the rest of the gear. The Knit Cafe beginning class was a two parter and Mary Heather was a patient, kind and overall great teacher. Once I got going it felt totally natural like I had been doing it all my life. I whipped through my garter, stockinette, seed stitch swatch. The weekend between classes I was in a knitting frenzy. I showed up to the next class with three finished scarves. People in class accused me of being Amish! There is definitely a Southern Baptist or two on my mother's side but no Amish. As for the knitting, as I said earlier, I haven't put the needles down since.

Oh and the dissertation...still a WIP.