Steve has flown off to Taiwan, leaving a dirty house and a sick wife who is supposed to do report cards.

Somehow this makes the day off for Veteran's Day really not exciting.

I could open a craft store.

I have some serious craft overload going on right now. I'm sewing my first quilt, knitting and crocheting a kajillion things, and for some reason I went out today and bought four Japanese kirigami/papercutting books. Plus there are the new cookbooks and sewing books I got for my birthday. Yikes. I think I need to quit my job and just make things all day long...

Is this not the cutest puppy you have ever seen? (We named him Leo, by the way.)

The excellent photo was taken by my brother.

Another happy...

Good news- we are officially no longer SINKs-- we're DINKs*!

And this makes the day we can be DIOKs a bit closer. Or DITKs. I mean. Uh. Do they stop with the acronyms after you have children?**



* Dual Income No Kids (AKA Finally! A job!)

** I am not currently gestating any little Italians. That, my friend, is the hopeful future. The future of not yet. The future which will not be happening in 2009 or in 2010 so don't get too excited, buster.

I said this year was going to be great, and so far I'm right.

My class is wonderful, Steve has at least one job interview lined up, and my knitting and baking are providing me with endless entertainment...

I made cupcake bites for Steve's sister's wedding shower yesterday, where part of my gift was a shawl the bride will most likely wear at the wedding reception.

Here's me in the shawl! I, somewhat amazingly, was able to knit it in 6 days.



I'm going to try to post more regularly... yeesh. Sorry.

A few things...

I know I haven't been posting much. I've been busy relaxing. It is amazing how much better I feel now that last year is done. This year? This year is going to be awesome. And it is starting already.



Yosemite, a few days before our 2nd Anniversary. Steve took me on what he promised would be an easy hike, just a little uphill. HA! The Mist Trail gains 1,000 feet in elevation over a mile and a half, including stairs. I'm very proud of myself for getting all the way up, although it took quite a while. We packed homemade bread, along with salami, cheese, and fruit. It tasted awesome, but not quite as awesome as the Gatorade I bought back by the campgrounds after we finished our strenuous hike. (Because... strenuous is what the hike is rated as. Arg. Need to get in shape.)


On our actual anniversary we went to The Plumed Horse and had one of the fanciest, nicest meals of our lives. It was perfect.


I also finished this sweater. It is crazy soft.

But not as soft as....


Tiny fuzzy puppies! Meet the new family pet. He lives with my parents in Southern California, and we get to go hug and cuddle him for the first time this weekend. Mr. Puppy is currently nameless, but I think Leo and Jake are likely options. Ahh! SO cute!

TastyKitchen.com

So, I am pretty excited about a new website- Tasty Kitchen- from Ree Drummond of The Pioneer Woman.

Go check it out. I'm a tad frustrated right now about my inability to re-order ingredients in a recipe I entered, but I think that it is a little bug that should be fixed soon.

Knitting meme (For my personal enjoyment)

I feel like doing this for some reason, so feel free to either ignore or enjoy. ;o)

Mark with bold the things you have knit at least once, with italics the ones you plan to do sometime, and leave the rest.

I did stars instead of bold, because bolded text isn't very noticeable on my blog.

* Afghan
* I-cord
* Garter stitch
Knitting with metal wire
* Shawl
* Stockinette stitch
* Socks: top-down
* Socks: toe-up
Knitting with camel yarn
Mittens: Cuff-up
Mittens: Tip-down
* Hat
* Knitting with silk
* Moebius band knitting
* Participating in a KAL Sweater
Drop stitch patterns
Knitting with recycled/secondhand yarn
* Slip stitch patterns
Knitting with banana fiber yarn
Domino knitting (modular knitting)
* Twisted stitch patterns
Knitting with bamboo yarn
Two end knitting
Charity knitting
Knitting with soy yarn
* Cardigan
* Toy/doll clothing
* Knitting with circular needles
Knitting with your own handspun yarn
Slippers
Graffiti knitting (knitting items on, or to be left on the street)
Continental knitting
Designing knitted garments
* Cable stitch patterns (incl. Aran)
* Lace patterns
Publishing a knitting book
* Scarf
* Teaching a child to knit
* American/English knitting (as opposed to continental)
* Knitting to make money
* Button holes
* Knitting with alpaca
* Fair Isle knitting
Norwegian knitting
Dying with plant colors
Knitting items for a wedding
* Household items (dishcloths, washcloths, tea cozies…)
* Knitting socks (or other small tubular items) on two circulars
* Olympic knitting
Knitting with someone else’s handspun yarn
* Knitting with DPNs
* Holiday related knitting
* Teaching a male how to knit
* Bobbles
Knitting for a living
* Knitting with cotton
Knitting smocking
Dying yarn
Steeks
Knitting art
Knitting two socks (or other small tubular items) on two circulars simultaneously
* Fulling/felting
* Knitting with wool
* Textured knitting
* Kitchener BO
* Purses/bags
* Knitting with beads
* Swatching
* Long Tail CO
Entrelac
Knitting and purling backwards
Machine knitting
* Knitting with self-patterning/self-striping/variegating yarn
* Stuffed toys
* Baby items
* Knitting with cashmere
Darning
Jewelry
Knitting with synthetic yarn
Writing a pattern
Gloves
Intarsia
* Knitting with linen
Knitting for preemies
* Tubular CO
Freeform knitting
* Short rows
* Cuffs/fingerless mitts/arm warmers
* Pillows
* Knitting a pattern from an online knitting magazine
Rug
Knitting on a loom
Thrummed knitting
* Knitting a gift
Knitting for pets
* Shrug/bolero/poncho
Knitting with dog/cat hair
Hair accessories
* Knitting in public

Ahhh, nice and useless. And kind of entertaining, at least for me. (Sorry.)

Do you see that? "With sweet coating." Disgusting! Now when I take a tylenol I have to use juice instead of water so I don't have to taste the disgusting sweet abomination.

I've knitted three pairs of knee socks and bought the yarn to make two more pairs.

I think about how I need to go buy skirts to match knee socks I've knitted.

YouTube TimeMachine

Somehow (How? I can't even remember) I was alerted to the existence of Ghoti Hook reunion concert footage on You Tube. They played this week! In Philadelphia!

Here is some, and here is some more. My goodness, I had forgotten how good "Seasons" and "Shrinky Dinks" were. (Find them around the four minute marks.)

What else can I find on You Tube. Christian punk/ska music videos from my past? Let's see!

Ghoti Hook- Shrinky Dinks

Five Iron Frenzy- A Flowery Song My favorite band of all time. I saw these guys in concert a LOT.

Five Iron Frenzy- Old West (live) You might not know this about me, but I can skank like nobody's business. This video (12 years old!) makes me want to go back in time to a ska concert so much.

The Orange County Supertones- Adoni

The W's- The Devil is Bad

MxPx- Doing Time

Switchfoot- Company Car

Switchfoot- Chem 6A Man, I was listening to these guys in 1997.... I saw them open for Five Iron Frenzy one time, and Yuri from MxPx spilled water on me from a balcony.

It's getting really late, but I must include one more band. Warning: strange music ahead. I bought Danielson Famile's first album in 1996. When I saw them live in 2006 everyone at the sold out concert was talking about how they were a "Myspace phenomenon." Ha. I saw Daniel in concert by himself in 2003 with Ben. There were less than ten people there and it was one of the best two concerts I've ever attended.

Danielson Famile- Rubbernecker

Danielson Famile- Did I Step on Your Trumpet A recent video, but seriously. I think this music video is perfection.

Whew! Now I need to dig out my album of high school CDs! Hope some of you enjoyed these too. :o)

List: Tasty

I've been busy dealing with... stuff. If you know me in real life, you know what I'm talking about. Things will be better soon.

I thought I'd list out all the recipes from The Pioneer Woman that I've made so far, because 1) Yum and 2) I am curious to see my own list and 3) you need to try some of these too!

Apple Tart- So easy!!
Apricot Bars
Beans and Cornbread- I keep making this. It is cheap and tasty.
The Bread (herb-y)
Cinnamon Rolls (omg)
Egg in a Hole- Egg! In a hole!! That is all I have to say.
Ginger Steak Salad
Macaroni and Cheese
Monkey Bread
Mystery Rolls
Onion Strings
Penne a la Betsy
The Pioneer Woman's Favorite Sandwich- This is seriously super good.
Roasted Potato Wedges


There are a lot more that I have my eye on... I only found the website 3-4 months ago.

You might gasp if you saw the highlighted index of my 2009 Cooking Light book, where I marked all the recipes from the magazine I made in the last year, for future re-cooking. I spent like four hours doing that today.

I wish I could just cook and knit and bake all day, instead of this pesky "work" stuff.

67 Cinnamon Rolls!

So, I made eight pans of cinnamon rolls tonight with this recipe.

Go take a look....

Ok. Now, the only problem with that recipe is that it does not accurately portray the FREAKING OUT that will occur if you attempt to make these by yourself. Okay, maybe if you have Ree Drummond's kitchen it would be okay, but not here in teenycondokitchen. We didn't even have enough counter space to roll out the dough, so I floured the kitchen table and we rolled the dough out on that. And then poured melted butter all over the dough. (Yes... about that melted butter. She says 1 1/2 - 2 cups but WOAH that is way too much.)

Said freakout happened when I could tell that there was imminent danger of melted butter flowing right off the dough and onto the table and floor. Which it did. Then, when I was rolling the dough up, a huuuuge flood of melted butter-sugar-cinnamon started charging toward another side of the table, and how can you be sitting there playing video games? There is melty cinnamon sugar butter falling onto the floor!!! Get up! Help!

I think I lost a few days off my lifespan there. Fortunately the second batch of dough went better, since it was cooler in the house and we rolled the dough much much thinner. And I didn't even attempt to use 1 1/2 cups of melted butter.

I made a lot of cinnamon rolls... more than I thought was possible to make.

In the morning I'll be making these "Mystery Rolls" at school. (Also from The Pioneer Woman) It is my turn for treats, and I have a tradition of slightly insane baking. Usually it involves two large sheet cakes, plus something else.

Ah yes, we made soft pretzels from scratch last Sunday. They're from Smitten Kitchen.

(Maybe I'm a little crazy with the baking this week. I also made my first from-scratch brownies last night. They're "Brrrr-ownies" from the book Baking: From My Home to Yours. They have York peppermint patties in them.)

Enjoy! Go do some crazy baking! Or come be my coworker and enjoy the baked goods I keep bringing to school because I tend to make too much...

I have a lot of time to knit.

I finished the knee socks after I came home from my surgery on Wednesday. I worked on them in the waiting room, and would have knitted during recovery except that the doctor forgot to ask Steve to bring them back like I'd asked. But anyways, socks are done! When I finally am able to try them on, I'll have what appears to be a 2.5 inch long vertical scar straight up my right kneecap. (I won't actually be able to see the scar until next week, when the rest of the surgical dressings come off at my post-op appointment.)

I wrote some stuff here about the surgery, but I'm just going to replace it with this: it was scary, I cried, and the nurses were really nice. I fortunately don't remember the surgery, as the anesthesiologist put something in my IV that made everything go blank. My leg didn't hurt until the next day.

Right now it only really hurts for a few minutes every time I stand up, and I'm supposed to spend as much time as possible sitting with my leg elevated. No bending the knee, and no unnecessary walking. So far I've finished the knee socks, started a sweater for mom, made a felted box for Steve, and crocheted an apple, three apple slices, a mushroom, and an ice cream sandwich for a set of play food I'm making. Not bad for three days...

I can't wait to be able to bend my knee again.

Thank you for your thoughts and prayers regarding my surgery. I'm very glad they didn't have to do a skin graft or tissue rearrangement. I don't even want to think about how much more it would have hurt. I'm still waiting for the pathology report on my knee area, and I have oncology and other appointments lined up for the next few weeks.