Wastin' Time

Okay, I created myself an avatar during my marathon computer session.

Angry, Very Angry in Dania Beach

Well, I'm home tonight trying to keep myself occupied. Luckily I just started school yesterday so I have been busy reading and doing assignments because last night I found out that my boyfriend of 2 1/2 years, who has told me all along that he was divorced, isn't.

Last night he asked me to look up a case number for him on a ticket he had gotten for keeping a fish he caught that was too small. I found the case number but not too much information so he asked me, "Is that all you can find?" So I began to delve deeper into the website looking under his name and such and found some legal documents having to do with the sale of his home, etc. and kept noticing that they all mentioned him as a married man. So I kept questioning him, thinking it was strange because the documents were very recent. I won't go into the entire story but after becoming more and more convinced that he was still married and believing his denials less and less, he finally admitted that he was still married. As you can imagine, I was furious, told him off, hung up on him and haven't spoken to him since.

I have brought the fact of him being divorced up to him a few times during the course of the relationship and he has ALWAYS insisted that, "of course" he was divorced and "why would you even question me about it?". Well, now I know why I felt the need to question him.

I feel like such an idiot. I believed this man for all this time and have conversed with his WIFE (thinking she was his ex-wife) many times. I even went out and bought a purse for her that she really wanted after seeing mine. This is such a blow. As much as I love this man I have always had reservations, such as he wanted me to live with him (in the house he bought in he and his wife's name. Ugh.) and I always hesitated for many reasons, but now I see that it was for the best. Somehow I guess I knew something wasn't right.

But, like I said, I'm trying to keep myself entertained. This quiz is probably the first of many online timewasters I'll take part in tonight.

Your Language Arts Grade: 100%

Way to go! You know not to trust the MS Grammar Check and you know "no" from "know." Now, go forth and spread the good word (or at least, the proper use of apostrophes).

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Chia, Weezy, Tony Pictures

Originally I started this blog to post pictures of my knitting projects. Since I don't seem to take a lot of pictures of my knitting projects (yet) I'm posting some recent pictures of my animals, just for a little interest.

This is my new pug, Chia. She did belong to my boyfriend but she didn't like him very much. My boyfriend is very loud and they weren't bonding, so he was going to give her to my boss, but when my boss saw her he didn't want her. I don't understand how you can look at that face and not want her!! Is she the cutest thing, or what? And she's SO good!! She's really funny. I couldn't love her more.



My pit bull, Weezy, has the patience of a saint because although Chia doesn't annoy me, she continually "tries" Weezy. I mean she NEVER leaves her alone. Here she is in action.

And speaking of my pit bull. Here's a picture of Weezy in her rasta hat on Halloween.

Speaking of Halloween, when I got my box of decorations out I found this wig. I've had it for years and it's always good for some laughs. Here's my son with it on. If you knew what he looked like without it on, you'd be laughing too. Way funny.

August, September, October

Since I haven't written anything since July I figured I'd take a few minutes and do a quick update.

Tony got his high school diploma and is working as a waiter at the Moonlite Diner. YEA!!! I love that kid/man!!

I'm still with Robbie and we're getting along pretty well!! He moved to Royal Palm Beach about two months ago and we really only see each other on the weekends so maybe that's why. Whatever it is, it's working. Things are good. He bought a Rottweiler puppy named Rocko and a baby Chinese miniature pot-bellied pig named Pugsley. Both are very cute. He wasn't bonding with his pug, Chia, so I now have her and I love her to death!! She is about as cute as they come!!

Robbie and I took his kids to Disneyworld and Animal Kingdom last month. That was alot of fun ... we definitely had some good laughs on that trip. Two weeks later Robbie and I went to Universal Horror Nights and went through EVERY single haunted house which I never thought I'd do. I'm usually very scared, but it was fun!!

I got my orange blossom tattoo finished in August. My tattoo artist, Dee Dee, does SUCH pretty tattoos. It looks awesome and I love having a tattoo on the top of my arm ... almost makes me want to do a partial sleeve. We'll see.

What else?

I'm starting online college classes to get an AA in Microcomputer Applications.

I'm a fanatic for computer Scrabble and am up to the Pro Level which, to me, is quite impressive.

I'm still knitting, although not as much as I used to ... see above paragraph for a partial explanation of why. I do continue to work on my sister's wrap and Tony's afghan though. My sister's wrap has been discouraging because I've messed up on it a few times and it makes me very frustrated. I think once I'm done with her wrap I'll be back on a knitting roll. Right now I feel pressure to get hers done in time for Christmas.

Robbie and I went out this past Friday for my sister's 52nd birthday at Jazzits at Hard Rock. Her girlfriend, also named Christine, surprised her and flew down from Minneapolis for the festivities. Tom, Peter, Logan and my mom were also there. I had an awesome orange martini, sesame crusted seared tuna and pumpkin cheesecake for dessert. Good stuff.

Pop

I'm at a loss for a title for today's entry so I chose the word "pop". Why? Because I noticed last night that the English like to use the word "pop" to mean many things. "I'll be right over as soon as I pop into the store and buy some tea." "Let me just pop this last bite of biscuit into my mouth." "Yes, I'd like a cherry pop please." Just one of my many useless observations.

Running lately has been a chore. I've been running for 26 years and I don't ever remember it being as hot as it has been lately. I usually take Weezy (my pitbull) with me. Lately I have only been able to take her for 10 minutes or so because she gets WAY too hot. I took my greyhound the other day and I think he almost suffered heatstroke. I'm serious. That night I almost took him to the animal emergency clinic. He was still panting (about 2 hours after we had gone running), had a blank stare and was walking like he was drunk. No more running with the dogs until it cools off in this God forsaken state.

I'm currently working on knitting about 20 different things. It's completely out of control. I know I have knitting A.D.D. For some reason I always have to be starting a new project. I have 6-7 scarves on the needles, 2-3 shawls, 2 afghans, a cat blanket, a baby blanket, a washcloth. I had to put my sister's wrap on hold AGAIN because I screwed it up AGAIN. I've been writing the next row on a piece of paper that I put on the needles so I know the next time I pick the wrap up which row to knit and I still messed up somehow!! So now I have to pull out about 5 rows again!!! God, I hate that. But God, I LOVE TO KNIT!!!

I'm getting more work done on my orange blossom tattoo at the Coral Springs Tattoo Convention in August. I'm pretty excited about that.

My son has been gone for almost 2 weeks. He's in Asheville, NC visiting his dad. I'm hoping that when he gets back home he'll get his act together. He's supposed to be working on finishing his high school diploma, but he's been very bad about it and it's getting extremely frustrating. It's like he just doesn't care.

What else? I would really like to get a degree. I would also like to be completely bilingual. These are both easily obtainable goals. The hard part is getting myself to actually do it. I need some inspiration.

Postcrossing is a new thing I'm into. Sending postcards out to different countries and receiving them in return. I absolutely love it. I've only received 4 so far and out of those 4 2 were pretty cool but the other two were awesome and perfect for me. One person sent skeletons that looked very Grateful Dead-ish and the other one is like a smart ass sign.

Other than that the subject of moving in together came up the other night with Robbie and the thought of it absolutely terrifies me. I love him, but wonder if I'll ever be able to live with him. I feel that he would instantly expect me to be a housewife and I don't want that to be expected of me. If it could just happen when I want it to happen that would be great, but he is a person that sort of demands stuff and I'm not ready for that. I'm 43. Will I ever be ready to be expected to be a housewife? House-girlfriend? Probably not at this stage of the game. I wonder how other women my age would handle this sort of situation. If only he didn't expect so much. His belief is that he pays for everything so in return he should sort of be waited on at home. Ugh, I sound bitter and don't want to sound bitter. Never before have I experienced loving someone but being very scared to live with them ... never. He says he is by far the best thing that has ever happened to me. Shouldn't I be the one to decide that?

I'm Forcing Myself to do This!!

I don't know where the time goes. Every time I get on here to add something a month has gone by!! So, right now I'm forcing myself to do write something. (Watch though, once I get started I'll think of a thousand things to write ...)

On the knitting front I continue to work on a wrap for my sister. It's a really easy pattern but it's taking me a long time because it's wide and really long. I'm making it with Rowan Summer Tweed and the yarn is SO nice. It's silk and cotton. I have a few other things on the needles but am trying to discipline myself to finish this for her, foregoing all other knitting pleasures until it's done.

Robbie bought an RV. It's a 26 foot GMC Palm Beach from the 70's. It's green and we call it The Pickle. This weekend we're taking it to Big Cypress RV Park for our maiden voyage. Big Cypress is a Seminole Indian Reservation in the middle of the Everglades. Once in the RV park you can't venture too far out of the park on foot because there are bears, alligators and wild boar frequently near the outskirs of the park!! How fun!! Seriously!! I'm looking forward to making coffee in the morning, sitting outside and looking for wildlife. There are also a lot of deer in the area so I'm hoping to see one.

Other than that my life is pretty much just working, running, taking care of my house, reading, knitting and hanging out with Robbie. My son is 20 and so he does his own thing with his friends and OCCASIONALLY hangs out with me a little bit, which is nice.

I would really like to get to knit nights at least twice a month because I'm starting to feel like I have no life. Robbie gets so weird when I mention venturing off to knit. It's like he gets jealous or something and to avoid any confrontations about it, I just don't go. I know this isn't healthy in a relationship.

Anyway, my sister is moving to Minneapolis so I won't have her around to do things with, and I don't hang out with my other friend anymore since she and her new boyfriend have taken up swinging and drugs!! God, aren't you supposed to be over experimenting with drugs once you get in your forties? I just can't be around it and so I can't be around her.

So, even though I probably sound like "woe is me", I'm not. I love my job, I love my dogs, and running and knitting and all my other "things" ... I just need to get out a little more, with other people, that's all.

Crikey, She's a Big One!

Okay, so I have a thing about iguanas. It started about six years ago. I became intrigued with them for whatever reason. Everyone who knows me, knows this, including the people I work with. Frequently there are big iguanas outside the building at work and whenever someone sees one, they let me know. This means that I go outside and look at the iguana and try to catch it. I have never been successful until yesterday. There was a 3 1/2 footer outside in the parking lot basking in the sun. I went out there with two people I work with, snuck up on it from behind a car and tried to grab it. The first try was unsuccessful ... she whipped me with her tail and then rolled and got away but as soon as she stood back up I grabbed her. Here's a couple pictures. I am truly an iguana wrangler ... and the people at work think I have entirely lost my mind. Tee hee ...

P.S. - I caught her while wearing a long skirt and heels which makes it even funnier.

Tampa Tattoofest

I'm back at work after a great weekend. Robbie and I drove up to the Tampa Tattoofest. I've gone for the last three years and it's always a good time. We left Friday morning and stopped at an alligator farm in the Everglades, hit an antique mall, had lunch at the Sebring Diner (best food we'd eaten in a long time ... if you ever pass it, stop in and eat!!), went to an outside iron work gallery somewhere near Brandon (also awesome), stopped in for coffee at Starbuck's, bought a couple shirts at Harley Davidson of Brandon, spent two hours in Target and finally got to our hotel.

Saturday we cruised around the Tattoo Convention and hotel all day until it was time for us both to get tattooed. Robbie filled in an empty spot near his neck with a really nice water flower and I got orange blossoms tattooed on my arm. It starts at the top of my shoulder and goes about halfway down my arm. It's not finished yet, but so far it looks awesome! I love it! After getting tattooed we were starving so we went for late night french toast at the local Village Inn ... went back to the hotel, watched a show about the girl who went missing in Aruba and went to bed.

Sunday we took a very leisurely drive back home. We stopped at Barnes and Noble for coffee and bagels and shopped around for a little while. Got back on the road and about 20 minutes later I realized I didn't have my backpack with me. So, in a frenzy I called Barnes and Noble ... sure enough I had left it in the cafe and we had to turn around and drive all the way back!! Robbie wasn't pleased, but handled it well. This is the typical type of situation that would have sent us into a brawl months ago, but doesn't now (after all our therapy ... lol). We stopped for boiled peanuts at a little place somewhere in Okeechobee called J and S Fish Camp. There were a lot of bikes there and it was really nice. We sat outside by the water, had a beer and enjoyed our boiled peanuts. They were damn good!! We proceeded down the road through parts of Florida I didn't even think existed anymore. There was lots and lots and lots of land and open spaces. It was really beautiful and reminded me of how it must have been when my parents moved down to Florida in the 60's. I loved it!! At one point we got lost on a detour on 441 where it ended into Pahokee. No offense to anyone who may be from Pahokee, but it looked pretty rough there. We turned around as quickly as we could and got the hell out of there. The rest of the drive was pretty uneventful and I got a lot of knitting done. I'm working on a beautiful wrap for my sister. It's made from Rowan Summer Tweed and I can't wait to finish it. It feels really nice and has an awesome drape. We got to Robbie's house, unpacked everything and watched The Soprano's. To me the show is a little bit lame this season but Robbie's really into it and it gives me the opportunity to do even more knitting, which is a good thing.

So now I'm back ... back to the daily routine of working, knitting, cleaning my house, running, spending time with Robbie and my son, etc. Doesn't sound like much, but I'm happy.

Also, Robbie and I started watching Lost last night. I ordered the DVD's from Netflix. We watched two episodes so far and it is SO good. I can't wait to watch the next one. Also, we got Cirque Du Soleil tickets for Apri 22nd. We're going with my mom and my sister ... should be fun. Idol sort of sucked last night. I didn't think anyone was that great although I basically like Taylor and Elliott regardless of what they sing or how they perform because they're just great no matter what.

I Feel Like a New Person!!

Well, I did it. I've been thinking about chopping off my hair for a long time. I'm 43 years old and my hair has been at least below my shoulders for probably 41 of those years. At times it was down to my waist, at one point it was touching the crack of my butt, and most recently it was down to my bra strap. I was reading the Pixiestikz weblog and kept noticing how cute Heather's haircut was. I found myself going to her weblog daily just to check out her cool haircut. I pondered and pondered, and made myself nervous with the thought of it ... but I was also getting strangely excited about the thought of being able to do all sorts of fun things with my hair like put wax in it and make it really piecey and play around with little barrettes, etc. Anyway, when I was just on the verge of making the decision I read Mimi's weblog, Skulls N' Bats, and lo and behold she had just cut her hair really short and was talking about how good it felt. That was it. I was convinced that it was some sort of sign. I made an appointment and went last Saturday and cut it all off. I LOVE it!! I'm still adjusting to not being able to just brush it and put it in a ponytail, but it looks really hip and fun and I'm so glad I just did it!! When I get a picture of the new "do", I'll post it.

Finally ... a picture!!

I am definitely a newbie to the blogging stuff ... I learned tonight how to post a picture. So this is a picture of me from when I went to Aruba with my boyfriend in January. I plan on posting more pictures of my knitting, my animals, etc. now that I know how. Yep, that's me!!

A Resolution Not Kept

I had to laugh when I just read my post from January 3rd ... "One of my New Years resolutions is to be better about posting to my blog." Well, I see how well I've stuck with that!! I've literally posted only one time each month in 2006!! And the sad thing is that Robbie (my boyfriend) gave me an awesome camera for Christmas. I could be posting all my cool pictures from Aruba, pictures of the things I've knit, pictures of the dogs, the cat, the iguana, the son.

I'm very inspired by other people's blogs, especially the knitting blogs. All the girls are SO cool and have such interesting blogs. In fact it causes me trouble at work because sometimes I get so into reading them that I have a hard time pulling myself away. I really need to learn more about how you add all the neat links, etc. to the blog to make it more interesting. Mine is definitely boring at this point, but I will make it better.

Another F.O.

New Knit Addict

This blogging isn't going too well ... I'm not very good about keeping up with it. Anyway, last night I finished my Daikeito Diameusse scarf. What great colors!!! It looks awesome. The only problem is that it is knit in mainly stockinette stitch so the damn thing rolls into a tube!! I still like it though.

What's Been Up ...

One of my New Years resolutions is to be better about posting to my blog. It's been quite a while.

Anyway, I spent four days in Key West with my sister and my mom for Christmas. We rented a cottage and a little electric cart and drove all over the place checking stuff out at all hours of the night. Christmas Eve my sister and I were actually out in the cart in our Christmas pajamas cruising around in the cart!! Ha! It was definitely the non-traditional Christmas and one that we will always remember. We had SUCH a good time!!

New Years started out to be pretty uneventful. Robbie and I couldn't decide what to do ... stay in and watch movies or go out. I had a craving for a sandwich from Primanti Brothers on Ft. Lauderdale beach so we dressed really casual and headed down there. We ate and then decided to drive down Ft. Lauderdale strip before we went home. Well, it was probably about 10:30pm or so ... we turned the corner from Las Olas onto A1A and it opened up into a gigantic crowd of people. It was packed down there and everyone looked like they were having a lot of fun so we ended up parking and hanging out. We sat out front of Blondie's and had a drink and waited for midnight. When midnight came the Elbo Room had a machine blowing confetti onto everybody and everyone was going crazy. They shut A1A down for about 10 minutes and people were running around in the streets. It was really fun!! So for an evening when we had nothing planned, we ended up having a really good time.

Last night we met my sister and her girlfriend at Tatu, the restaurant over at the Seminole Village at the Hard Rock. The food was good but the service was terrible. After we ordered drinks it took about a half hour to get them. Robbie and I's meals came out at one time and my sister and her girlfriend's came out about a half hour later. We had gotten there in plenty of time to hang out and eat dinner and they ended up scarfing down their sushi and rushing out the door because they were late to their concert because it took so long. The place looks really cool, but the waitress and the manager really had big attitude problems and I don't think I'll probably ever go there again. For the price, the service isn't what it should be by any means!!

So, that's about it ... other than Robbie is taking me to Aruba. It was my birthday present. We are leaving this Sunday. We are in therapy ... have been for about a month or so now. It is helping ... things are better. Not perfect ... not even close ... but better and we're working on it.

OH, and I'm STILL knitting ... of course. No interest lost. I have about 17 projects going right now and I just finished an awesome cranberry colored scarf Sunday night.

Mimi if you read this, thanks for inviting me out to knit night. I will get there one night. Monday nights seem to be really difficult for me, but I will get there eventually and I appreciate you thinking of me!!!!