Tony's Picture

Okay, here's the picture of my son at his visit to Full Sail. God, I love him.

Clapotis, Full Sail, Roller Derby ...

Since my last post I've continued to work on my Clapotis and am getting there, slowly but surely.

I finished my sister's wrap that I've been working on since March of 2006!! It turned out more like a lap blanket and has some mistakes, but it was made with love and I know she'll find warmth in it ... even if it's spread out on her lap instead of around her arms! lol I vow that the next thing I knit for her will have any mistakes frogged, but frogging on this lace thing was near impossible.

I took Tony to visit a school in Winter Park that he is interested in attending called Full Sail. He really loved the school and it's so nice to see him excited about his future. Now we have to cross our fingers that either he can get Financial Aid or I can get a loan ... or here's a novel idea, maybe his father will come through for him for once in his life and help him out!! That would really be pushing it, but stranger things have happened, right? (I have the best picture of him at the orientation, but Blogger seems to be having problems and won't upload it. I'll put it on the next post!)

I also joined the Broward County Roller Grrls and have been going to practice twice a week. I am having such a good time skating and laughing with these girls. They are a lot of fun! No pics yet, but I'll have some soon. I still need to think of a roller derby name. So far this is what I have ...

Bipolar Roller

Misty Meaner

Veggie Roll (since I'm a vegetarian)

Wheels-A-Go-Go (my mom came up with this one ... )

My mind is constantly working on this, but none of them really "grab" me. My boyfriend, of course, loves Bipolar Roller, because he thinks I am ... lol ... but I'm not. My sister hates that one, but loves Misty Meaner. Eventually a name will stick ... and voila, my alter ego will emerge. Stay tuned ...

Henry Rollins!!

Henry!!
He's intense, he's intellectual, he's inquisitive, he's angry, he's out there, he's provocative, he's tattooed, and gosh darn it, he's HOT!!











Tony!!
Tony (my son) and I went to see Henry Rollins do his "Provoked" show tonight at The Theatre in West Palm Beach. It was a very small venue so I got to see Henry up close. It was an awesome show.

My First KAL

After two and a half years of knitting, I've finally joined a knit-a-long. 10 or more of the other Betties have also joined to make a Clapotis. It's nice to be knitting something with other people in my knitting group so we can all see each others progress!! I'm using Jamaica yarn by Katia. Here's what I've knit so far ...

Where Does the Thyme Go?

A friend sent me an email nudging me to post something on my blog. Little did I realize, it's been THREE MONTHS since I posted anything!

Well, I've been very busy. I finished a very hard Accounting class with a B+, so I'm one class closer to my degree!! The bad news is that I'll only be able to take one more class between now and March of 2008. My job has a limit to the amount they'll cover and I'm almost there. At least in the course of a year I'll have managed to get through six classes. By this time next year I'll be very close to being done. My son also wants to take some college courses which I'm very excited about.

I spent a weekend in the keys with my boyfriend, his son, his nephew and his brother in July. We went rafting behind Robbie's boat and he and his brother did everything they could (like going REALLY fast) to get me to fall off the raft. They wanted to see how long I'd be able to hold on. Mean, right? Well, I managed to hold on long enough to really impress them without getting hurt. Robbie ended up hurting his arm. See how Karma works?

We went to Robbie's Marina and fed the tarpon and ate dinner at Island Fish Company:

Also in July we took Robbie's kids up to Orlando for the weekend. Unfortunately it rained really hard almost the entire time so we weren't able to go to any of the parks. We decided to drive to Cocoa Beach and hit Ron Jon Surf Shop. Unfortunately while trying to turn around in a tight space, Robbie "dented" the new truck he had just purchased ... two days before.

A couple of weeks ago we took a road trip to Bethany Beach, Delaware. One of our first stops was at South of the Border where I was in hysterics when Robbie put on these glasses. Ha Ha Ha!!!!

I was also very excited to take my picture with Favio. So excited in fact that I put my purse on the floor to pose and then forgot about it. I didn't realize until we were about an hour down the road. We had to turn back (Robbie WAS NOT happy) and thankfully someone had gotten it and saved it for me!!

We went to Oriental, NC where I almost stepped on this snake in the woods, posed with this fantastic horse made out of driftwood, rode a ferry to the Outer Banks of NC and saw wild ponies and beautiful landscapes in Beaufort.

Arrived in Bethany Beach, Delaware, where

I met Robbie's relatives. This is his niece's

daughter, Naya ... Is she cute, or what?!

We went crabbing, caught lots of crabs and

ate them:

We went to Ocean City, Maryland before we

headed back home.

AND I knit a Mason Dixon ballband dishcloth!!!!

Father's Day 2007

Another great weekend to report. I drove up to Palm Beach this weekend and went horseback riding with my boyfriend's sister-in-law (who is also my new friend). We had SUCH a good time!! We're usually with the guys on the Harleys, so this time it was just me and her on the horses ... good fun, lots of girl talk. Very cool!!

Other than that, it was a very rainy weekend so my boyfriend, his kids and I hung out alot at his house. We watched Norbit and Night at the Museum, ordered pizza, I got to do a lot of knitting, and then while my boyfriend took a nap his kids and I decided to let the dog AND the pig in the house so they wouldn't get wet. lol






Pugsley and Chinka.







Isn't his pitbull, Chinka, cool looking? He has awesome amber eyes and is almost as sweet as my Weezy.

Weezy













Chinka

Blogging with Pictures is a Nightmare

I spent close to two hours trying to get the spacing right around the pictures in the post below, to no avail. Every time I moved one thing into the right position it screwed up something else. I finally threw in the towel. Definitely need to educate myself on inserting pictures correctly!!

Mother's Day 2007

What a great Mother's Day I had!! I drove down and picked up my mom in Miami. Our first stop was Elegant Stitches where I bought some awesome cotton yarns ... a step up from Peaches N' Cream, for my new fascination with knitting washcloths. Then we ate at Outback and went shopping at T.J. Maxx (my mom bought me a gothic-looking black cross ring there). We finished off the night at Cold Slab Creamery (I think that's what it's called), went back to her house, had some wine and did word puzzles together and then watched Mad T.V. and I knitted.

Today we (I) got up VERY LATE and my mom wanted breakfast at Wagon's West. We got there and it was closed. So we went to this bagel place down the street and it was closed. So we went to the Bagel Emporium and they were closing and we could only order takeout, so we went to JJ's Diner and they're air conditioning was broken and it was about 100 degrees in there so we left. We wound up eating Mother's Day late lunch at Denny's and it SUCKED!!!

So we took a drive through Coconut Grove since neither of us had been down there in years, then we drove to Crandon Park and went walking through the park that used to be the old zoo. It was awesome!! There were hardly any people around and lots of areas to explore.

There are all kinds of birds that will actually let you get pretty close to them, like this one.

There are also TONS of iguanas, so if you don't like them, this is probably not the place for you. My mom hates them, but was SUCH a trooper!! I was told that if you go during the summer you have to be careful that you don't step on them because they're EVERYWHERE! Needless to say my 77-year-old mom probably won't want to join me when I go back this summer.

Okay, so I drag my mom way back into the zoo, off the walkways and we turn the corner and find these!! They're not real, they're from the old zoo, but when we first saw them they scared the hell out of us! By the way, at the entrance there's a sign that tells you to watch out for crocodiles (meaner than alligators) which I didn't see on the way in (woops)! We probably shouldn't have been back in these areas, because there probably are real ones, but it was some good explorin' fun!

This is my mom wandering by the old cages that used to house some of the animals at the zoo. If you used to go to Crandon Park Zoo as a child, I recommend going here. It brought back so many memories and seeing it now was sort of surreal. Very cool ...

My awesome mom and I back at her house trying out the new beer called "Chill". It's a new light beer made by Miller with the taste of salt and lime. It is SO good!! Definitely my new beer of choice.

Finally ... Knitting Pictures!!

I started this blog to post pictures of my knitting, but never have. So tonight's FINALLY the night. I have been in school and my knitting has suffered because of the time I have to spend doing homework, but I did manage to finish a dishcloth and am now working on another one.

Some knitting is better than no knitting, right? :)

Plus I really love knitting these, they're quick, easy and useful!

I was going to give the completed one to my mom but it does have a couple mistakes in it, so I might just keep it for myself. If all goes well with the second one I'll probably give it to my mom, or maybe my sister.

No Post Since November!!!!

I can't believe it, but for a while there I think I just forgot that I even had this thing! So, here's an update.

I started school in December to get my degree in Microcomputer Applications. So far, I've completed two classes and have a 4.0!! I'm even on the Dean's list and LOVE being in school and learning. It's great to have a focus and be striving towards something!!

I'm still knitting and still love that and my Monday night knitting group although I haven't been able to go as often as I'd like to due to school and having pneumonia for the last three weeks!! I don't feel bad, just have a terrible cough!!

The holidays were nice (other than the night after Thanksgiving ... explained below). I spent Christmas Eve with Robbie and his kids. He convinced me that he's crazy about me and asked me to stay with him. He said the divorce would be final very soon. He even explained the situation to my mom and my sister which was pretty stand up of him ... the only problem now is that he's STILL married. And deep inside I'm still VERY angry about that. Anyway, Christmas Eve with him and the kids WAS very nice. I spent Christmas Day with my mom and sister ... and my sister moved to Minneapolis to live with her girlfriend the next day. We miss her but she's very happy there so we're happy for her. In fact, she said that Ft. Lauderdale pretty much sucks compared to Minneapolis. There's live music everywhere they go, lots of little artsy places, lots of parks with waterfalls, etc. I can't wait to visit.

For Valentines Day Robbie sent me roses at work and then gave me chocolates and a really powerful vacuum that I wanted (and needed with my 4 dogs and 2 cats!) We went to Le Tub for dinner since that's where we had our first date. The wait for food was like 2 hours so we just had a drink and then went out to Hollywood Beach. We got pizza and ate it out on the boardwalk and then did some people watching. It was really fun!!!

Other than that here are some new pictures:

My sister and I when she visited in February.

My son, my mom, my sister and I at Mom's Birthday dinner at Rustic Inn - Feb. 20, 2007.

Weezy yawning!!

The most awesome dog ever!! I love her SO much!!

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).

Are You Gooder at Grammar?
Make a Quiz

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!!