Twisted Mix Tape Tuesday - It's New to Me

This week's Twisted Mix Tape theme is the best new songs you heard in 2013.  Jen has been very kind an allowed us to include songs that we heard for the first time in 2013, even if they came out before that.  This is a good thing, because I almost never listen to the radio anymore, and when I do it's usually an "oldies" station.  In the car I generally listen to audiobooks on my ipod and if I'm in the mood for music it's usually off my ipod as well.  So I really had to think about this one, but here's what I've come up with, for better or worse.

Blurred Lines - Robin Thicke 

I have to admit I heard ABOUT this song first and went and tracked it down on YouTube.  I liked the song a lot initially.  I like it a little less after the whole Miley Cyrus thing on whatever awards show that was.  I generally pay no attention to entertainment news, but the Miley thing was all over the place so I finally went and watched part of the video of it just out of curiosity.  Anyway, that incident diminished my enjoyment of this song somewhat, but it's still a pretty good song.

Jolene - Miley Cyrus

Speaking of Miley...  I am NOT a Miley fan.  She annoys me and I really can't stand to look at her facial expressions when she sings.  Nonetheless, this is actually a good remake of this Dolly Parton song.  Miley is actually wearing clothes in this video, but she still had annoying mannerisms, so just close your eyes and listen to the song.

Roar - Katy Perry

I don't dislike Katy Perry, I just wouldn't say I'm a fan.  In fact, this is the only song I think I know of hers.  I actually heard this song first on a video someone posted on Facebook of a little girl singing to the song in the car.  But it's a great sing at the top of your lungs song, and it has a great stand up for yourself message.

Wagon Wheel - Darius Rucker

This is probably the only album I bought all year.  Mainly because I've been a Darius Rucker groupie since way back when he was the lead singer for Hootie and the Blowfish and they were still playing bars all over North and South Carolina.  The man absolutely has one of the best voices I have ever heard.  This song was originally done by Old Crow Medicine Show, and I love that version too, but there's just something about Darius.

Carolina - Parmalee

Just heard this one towards the end of the year.  I'm a sucker for just about any song that has a singer longing for his Carolina home.  This is a new to me group that I'm going to be checking out a little more soon.

   
    Think I'm missing something great?  Let me know in the comments!

Twisted Mix Tape Tuesday - Hope It's Not A Mistake

Now that the holidays are over, I'm back with Twisted Mix Tape Tuesday.  This week's theme is past mistakes.

I think we'll skip the review of my past mistakes and instead talk songs that reflect what happens when you make a mistake.

First, there's the realization you've made a mistake and the consequences of that mistake, so I'll start you out with the requisite Journey song.

Open Arms - Journey

And after you realize your mistake, there's the period of hope that you can somehow fix it, make it right, or at least recover from it, depending on the circumstances. 

Amazing - Aerosmith

But then the hard work starts and you have to say you're sorry.  But....

Sorry Seems to be the Hardest Word - Elton John

Really, really....

Hard to Say I'm Sorry - Chicago

  
And often you have to say it a lot more than just one time.

I'm Sorry - John Denver

And hopefully, after all that, if you're lucky you'll get a bonus and realize

Everything's Gonna' Be Alright - Bob Marley

Of course the easiest thing is to just not make the mistake in the first place, but that would mean you're not normal right?     
 

2013 Knitting Review

I've been making a concerted effort to get some knitting projects I started last year finished this month.  There's no reason why the shawl I started in August and the socks I started in April shouldn't be done by now.  We won't even talk about the shawl I started in January 2011 that has a gazillion beads, but I am determined to finish...one day.

Unfinished projects certainly haven't kept me from casting on for totally new ones already, but there are even more that I want to start and I'm trying to keep the works in progress (WIP) to less than 10.  Yes, I said 10.  I've currently got 5 on the needles, but that's only because I've finished up a couple in the last week or so.

All that is really unrelated to the point of this post, which is to give you a sample of my completed knitted objects from 2013.  I showed you the sweater for my daughter and shrug for a friend in my December recap post, but here are a few more.

You've seen these before, but I'm still inordinately proud of my Water for the Elephants socks.

I did several shawls by one of my favorite designers, Romi Hill.

Winter's Moon

 

Misselthwaite

Song of Spring

 And another shawl from a different designer, Montego.

I also made Rob a pair of socks (which he didn't really want until he wore these hunting, and now he wants more) and a pair of hunting gloves (which I don't think he tried at all this season).

This shawl was made for a friend for her wedding.  Silver colored silk lace yarn with seed pearls.  I don't have a great picture, but she was happy with it.

I did a couple of samples for designers to take to shows or display in shops this year, including this single colored Coilis out of some really cushy locally produced organic wool.

That's not everything, but I don't want to bore you.  All in all, I finished 26 projects last year.  That's not as prolific as the 35 I did in 2012, but still a good bit.  I totally failed in my goal to knit 13 pairs of socks in 2013.  The ones I'm trying to finish now would have been pair number 5, so I didn't even get half way.  Oh well.  Knitting is relaxing to me, so I try not to stress about it.

Anyway, hope you've enjoyed the show.

New Year, New Approach

This little guy has nothing to do with the New Year, but he makes me smile.

I don't know what it is about the New Year that makes me feel like I have a clean slate.  It's not like there's any real change that occurs between December 31 and January 1, but it just feels like a fresh start.

I long ago gave up the idea of resolutions in favor of goals.  Resolutions always result in a feeling of guilt when they're broken, as almost always happens.  Goals feel more ongoing somehow, like something I'm striving towards rather than a set guideline or rule.  It's all terminology and semantics I suppose, but the word goal feels less strict to me.

This year I'm modifying my approach a little more and I'm stating several broad goals for the year, but I'm setting much smaller short term goals in each area.  I'm hopeful that this will keep me a little more focused in the short term.  Sort of a take it a day at a time approach, but on a monthly basis (or in some cases even weekly).  So rather than saying I'll post here 10 times per month, I'm saying my goal is to write blog posts more often, and my specific goal for January is at least 10 posts after this one.

I'm keeping most of the specifics to myself for the moment, although I may talk about some of them in the future, but here are my broad goals for the year.

• Health - Eat healthier, exercise more, lose weight
• Writing - Write more in all aspects, including blog posts, personal journal, short stories, novel
• Fiber Arts - Use my existing yarn/fiber stash and limit additions to stash, spin more

2014 Reading List

Books I've read in 2014 - Total 132

 

New for this year, I'm including audio books I listen to on my daily commute. I've also started reading some books on the Kindle app on my phone and/or iPad, so I'm indicating that by Paper (P), Electronic (E), or Audio (A).

January (13)
Knitting Yarns: Writers on Knitting edited by Ann Hood (P)
Across the Creek by Jeremy Asher (E)
The Spirit of Steamboat by Craig Johnson (A)
Beneath the Willow by Jeremy Asher (E)
Close to Home by Jeremy Asher (E)
Still Life by Louise Penny (A)
Free-range Knitter by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee (P)
Louise's Dilemma by Sarah R. Shaber (P)
A Fatal Grace by Louise Penny (A)
Knitting Rules! by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee (P)
The Cruelest Month by Louise Penny (A)
The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton (P)
A Rule Against Murder by Louise Penny (A)

February (14)
Copperhead Road by Roger Canaff (E)
The Brutal Telling by Louise Penny (A)
Someone Else's Love Story by Joshilyn Jackson (P)
Necessary Lies by Diane Chamberlain (P)
Beneath a Buried House by Bob Avey (E)
The Last Daughter by Jessica Ferguson (E)
Bury Your Dead by Louise Penny (A)
A Beautiful Blue Death by Charles Finch (P)
Buttons and Bones by Monica Ferris (P)
Unexpected Gifts by Elena Aitken (E)
Threadbare by Monica Ferris (P)
Gone But Not Missed by A.R. Kennedy (P)
A Trick of the Light by Louise Penny (A)
The Silent Wife by A.S.A. Harrison (P)

March (8)
The Beautiful Mystery by Louise Penny (A)
Angels Flight by Michael Connelly (P)
Louise's Gamble by Sarah R. Shaber (P)
The Guestbook by Andrea Hurst (E)
How the Light Gets In by Louise Penny (A)
Sandman by Morgan Hannah MacDonald (E)
The Amazing Thing About the Way it Goes by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee (P)
Shadow Prey by John Sandford (A)

April (8)
Spinning Forward by Terri Dulong (P)
Eyes of Prey by John Sandford (A)
The Drowning Spool by Monica Ferris (P)
Fit to be Dead by Nancy G. West (E)
Saltwater Kisses by Krista Lakes (E)
Silent Prey by John Sandford (A)
The Death of Bees by Lisa O'Donnell (P)
Winter Prey by John Sandford (A)

May (11)
Night Prey by John Sandford (A)
Moving Target by J.A. Jance (P)
Missing You by Harlan Coben (P)
Ruin Falls by Jenny Milchman (P)
After I'm Gone by Laura Lippman (P)
Mind Prey by John Sandford (A)
My Sweet Valentine by Jill Sanders (E)
Angora Alibi by Sally Goldenbaum (P)
The Heartbreak Cafe by Melissa Hill (E)
Sudden Prey by John Sandford (A)
The Chance by Robyn Carr (P)

June (11)
The Next Always by Nora Roberts (P)
Any Other Name by Craig Johnson (P)
Secret Prey by John Sandford (A)
Mr. Mercedes by Stephen King (P)
The Fault in Our Stars by John Green (P)
A Very Good Life by Lynn Steward (E)
Certain Prey by John Sandford (A)
Easy Prey by John Sandford (A)
Close Knit Killer by Maggie Sefton (P)
Murder in Merino by Sally Goldenbaum (P)
Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott (P)

July (9)
Chosen Prey by John Sandford (A)
Sweet Water by Christina Baker Kline (E)
Don't Murder Your Mystery by Chris Roerden (P)
Mortal Prey by John Sandford (A)
The Art of Fielding by Chad Harbach (P)
Naked Prey by John Sandford (A)
The Light Between Oceans by M.L. Stedman (P)
Yarn Over Murder by Maggie Sefton (P)
Hidden Prey by John Sandford (A)

August (13)
The Competition by Marcia Clark (P)
Starting Now by Debbie Macomber (P)
There's Only Been You by Donna Marie Rogers (E)
Broken Prey by John Sanford (A)
Blossom Street Brides by Debbie Macomber (P)
Carolina Crimes (P)
The Stories We Tell by Patti Callahan Henry (P)
Invisible Prey by John Sandford (A)
Designated Daughters by Margaret Maron (P)
Summer People by Aaron Stander (E)
Phantom Prey by John Sandford (A)
Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil by John Berendt (P)
Cora's Heart by Rachael Herron (E)

September (10)
Wicked Prey by John Sandford (A)
Ordinary Grace by William Kent Krueger (P)
The Long Way Home by Louise Penny (A)
The Ranger by Ace Atkins (P)
Arnco by Ben Muse (E)
The Ways of the Dead by Neely Tucker (P)
Storm Prey by John Sandford (A)
Remains of Innocence by J.A. Jance (P)
Buried Prey by John Sandford (A)
Outlander by Diana Gabaldon (P)

October (9)
Louise's War by Sarah R. Shaber (P)
Stolen Prey by John Sandford (A)
Louise's Blunder by Sarah R. Shaber (P)
Silken Prey by John Sandford (A)
The Secret Place by Tana French (P)
Eliza's Home: A Cypress Hollow Novella by Rachael Herron (E)
Field of Prey by John Sandford (A)
Dark of the Moon by John Sandford (A)
Dragonfly in Amber by Diana Gabaldon (P)

November (14)
Heat Lightning by John Sandford (A)
Truth Be Told by Hank Phillippi Ryan (P)
Bones Never Lie by Kathy Reichs (P)
Personal by Lee Child (P)
Rough Country by John Sandford (A)
To Dwell in Darkness by Deborah Crombie (P)
Wait for Signs by Craig Johnson (P)
Revival by Stephen King (P)
Bad Blood by John Sandford (A)
Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter (P)
Guests on Earth by Lee Smith (P)
Shock Wave by John Sandford (A)
The Resurrectionist by Matthew Guinn (P)
Nora Bonesteel's Christmas Past by Sharyn McCrumb (P)

December (12)
Byrd by Kim Church (P)
Absolutely Truly by Heather Vogel Frederick (P)
Mad River by John Sandford (A)
Greenglass House by Kate Milford (P)
The Brands Who Came for Christmas by Maggie Shayne (E)
Storm Front by John Sandford (A)
The Collection of Heng Souk by S.R. Wilsher (E)
Deadline by John Sandford (A)
Mrs. Darcy and the Blue-eyed Stranger by Lee Smith (P)
Safe Harbor by Sherryl Woods (P)
Her Royal Spyness by Rhys Bowen (A)
A Cold Creek Homecoming by Raeanne Thayne (P)

December Recap

I had good intentions of posting several  more times in December, but that obviously didn't happen, so here's a quick recap in pictures.

I finished the Christmas decorating Thanksgiving weekend, and although it took several hours and pretty much every single ornament I own, the 9+ foot tree was done.

 I spent most of the first week of December in Washington, DC for a conference.  Of course I found a local yarn shop and made some new knitting friends.  I highly recommend Looped Yarn Works as a great place to shop and also very welcoming to strangers for knit night.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Most of the rest of the month was spent getting ready for the holidays.  Our daughter & her fiance and my in-laws came for a couple of days at Christmas. My parents and some friends here in town joined us for Christmas dinner as well.  

Somehow in all the hustle & bustle of present opening and socializing, I forgot to take pictures of the actual gift opening, but here's some evidence of the aftermath.

My daughter liked the sweater I knit for her.  She had picked out the pattern & yarn a couple of months ago, but had totally forgotten about it, so it was a surprise.

And my friend Nicole was happy with the shrug I knit for her.  She had picked out the pattern & yarn when I drug her to the yarn shop on our visit to PA in September.

A fitting gift for me this Christmas!  I got several other items I wanted, but this was the funny one.

So Christmas is over, all the decorations are put away, 2013 is gone and 2014 is here.  I've been thinking about goals for the year, and that's another post that I plan to write soon.

But for now, we're all wiped out around here.

Twisted Mix Tape Tuesday - The Christmas Version

I'm out of town all week for work, so a little late getting this done.  The theme this week is Christmas Songs. I love Christmas music, so it was a little hard to narrow it down to just 5 this week.

"Christmas Eve/Sarajevo 12/24" - Trans-Siberian Orchestra

Probably the hardest part of this week's selection process was picking just one song by Trans-Siberian Orchestra.  I finally settled on this one because it just begs to be played loudly, and I love Carol of the Bells in general. If you don't have their albums in your Christmas music collection, run out and buy them now.  Better yet, if you live in one of the areas they haven't gotten to yet on their annual tour, run out and buy tickets, it will be one of the best shows you've ever seen!

"Ringing the Bells for Jim" - Johnny Cash

Just to let you know how old I am, I had this album on 8 track as a kid. I would play this song over and over and get teary eyed every single time.  

"The Little Drummer Boy" - Jars of Clay

The song is a classic, but this is one of my favorite versions of it. 

"Mr. Snow Miser/Mr. Heat Miser Song" - Dick Shawn/George S. Irving

Like many of my generation, Christmas memories include the Christmas cartoons that came on every year.  In a time when there were 4 channels and no DVRs these were highlights of the Christmas season.  The Year Without a Santa Claus is not shown much anymore, but I have always loved these songs. 

 "You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch" - Thurl Ravenscroft

No Christmas medley could be complete without the Grinch!  My favorite Dr. Seuss book, and favorite Christmas cartoon.  I try to watch it on TV every year even though I own it on DVD. Half the ornaments on my tree are Grinch ornaments.

Day 30

Today is November 30th, the last day of the month, and the last day of NaBloPoMo.  I have succeeded in blogging EVERY....SINGLE...DAY this month, yeah me!  I know it hasn't always been exciting, or even interesting I'm sure, but I've done it, and that's saying something.

I also found the yeahwrite community, and through that have found a lot of great new blogs to read.  I hope to keep blogging at least regularly, and maybe some day I'll write a post I feel is strong enough to submit to the challenge grid.

And I found Twisted Mix-Tape Tuesday, which I plan to try to continue every week.  It's been a lot of fun wracking my brain for songs old and new to fit a theme.  And Jen's skewed view is great on days other than Tuesdays as well!

So I hope you found at least a day or two of interesting posts here, and that you'll check in again in the future.

What I've Been Up To

This is my new buddy Diesel.  He's an English Mastiff.  He belongs to the friends we  spent the day with yesterday and he's gigantic, and he's the sweetest, drooling, 170 pound teddy bear, and I love him. They also have another dog, Sasha.

But Diesel....

I love dogs, but I don't really want one right now.   We've had a couple over the years, and I miss having a dog when I'm at home.  What I don't miss is having to make arrangements to have them taken care of if we want to go out of town for a weekend, or even if we just want to do something after work without going home first.

Cats are much easier in that respect.  Just leave some food and water and they're good for a weekend.  If we're gone longer the neighbor comes in every couple of days to clean the litter box and make sure they haven't eaten all the food.  We'll probably have another dog someday though.

On a separate train of thought....I got a lot the the Christmas decorating done today.

The wreath is on the front deck, and the lights are up.  It's the first time I've put them up since we had the deck rebuilt a couple of years ago, so Rob had to go around and put in screws for me to use to hang them, but we got it all done.

I love the way it looks lit up, even if it does sort of make the house look like Saturn.  The tree is in the house and in the stand.  So far the kitten doesn't seem interested in anything other than the water in the stand, we'll see what happens when there are lights and ornaments all over it.

Tomorrow is college football with my family....Go Heels!...so that will take up most of the day. I hope to at least get the lights on the tree tomorrow night so I can put on ornaments Sunday and then the decorating will mostly be done.  Next weekend it will be time to tackle the Christmas cards.

Let the Holidays Begin!

Carolina Santas in the sun

The Carolina Santas are up, so that means the holiday season has begun!  At least in my home that's what it means.

Rob spent the morning hunting, so I started getting some of the Christmas decorations up.  My Carolina Santas are always one of the first things I put out because they make me smile.  So far, I've also got the wreath on the door, some bows on outside light fixtures and a Happy Holiday moose in the front flower bed.

But Rob's home (without a deer unfortunately) and it's time to get cleaned up, cook the green bean casserole, and head over to the home of some friends for some traditional Thanksgiving merriment.

I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving!  And if you needed any further proof that the holidays are here...my Christmas cactus bloomed this morning.

Getting Ready for Turkey Day

Proving that last weekend's kitchen drama was just a fluke (I hope)....proof that I can bake a pumpkin pie. 

Twisted Mix Tape Tuesday - In Trouble

This week's Twisted Mix Tape Theme is songs about doing things that would get you in trouble if you did them in real life.

I don't know why it was so hard for me to come up with songs for this week.  I was just drawing a blank, and ended up having to resort to quizzing coworkers for suggestions, which finally kicked my brain in gear and I actually came up with 5 that weren't used by Jen to begin with.  Not my best list so far by any means, but it will work.

"Cocaine Blues" - Johnny Cash

Johnny Cash did a lot of shit in songs that would put you in prison.  Hell, half of his songs are about being in prison.  But I still love him.

"Life's Been Good" - The Eagles

"I live in hotels, tear out the walls..."  Let's face it, we'd get arrested for pulling that shit since we're not famous rock stars with accountants to pay for it all.

  "Life in the Fast Lane" - The Eagles

Yeah, this one's a bit of a reach, but there's "lines on the mirrors, lines on her face" so they're doing some cocaine in this song and that counts in my book.

 "Dead or Alive" - Journey 

A double secret agent paid to kill sounds like trouble to me.  But it doesn't sound so bad when Steve Perry sings about it does it?

"I Can't Drive 55" - Van Halen

 O.k., I admit it, I have a bit of a lead foot, so if any of these songs is true for me, this one is it. 

Thanks again to Jen for giving me something to write about today!

Monotonous Monday

I've got nothing today.

It was a quiet day at work, a relaxing evening at home made even better by the fact that I had dinner in the crock pot so I didn't have to do much when I got home, and I've been trying to come up with something to write about for almost an hour now, with no luck.

The only interesting thing that has happened is the last 30 minutes when there was apparently a jester in my internet, because I could get to gmail and Facebook, but nothing else.  And no, it wasn't just cached pages I was accessing, I was able to actually post on Facebook, but Blogger, and several other random sites I tried wouldn't come up...."cannot find the server" said Firefox.

Rob and I discussed Christmas presents for various family members tonight.  It's the part of the holidays I like the least...deciding what to get for gifts.  Don't get me wrong, I love giving the gifts, it's the figuring out what to get someone that I hate, because I really want to get them something they will LOVE, and that's not always possible, especially when I have no clue what that is.  I personally love to get gift certificates to specific places, but I always feel like I'm copping out when I give them, like I didn't care enough to figure out something specific to purchase. 

That's my exciting day.  I'm not complaining, it was a pleasant day, just nothing to write about really, so that's what you get.

Here...I'll give you a picture...can you spot the cat?

Adventures in Christmas Baking

In the interest of getting ahead for the holidays, I had two items on my list to get done in the kitchen today: 1) to get cheese biscuits made and in the freezer, and 2) to make up sausage balls and freeze them raw to be cooked closer to Christmas. The first one is done, but I'm not happy with the result, and I almost screwed the second one up too.  And the whole thing took at least 2 1/2 hours longer than it should have.

Unattractive Cheese Biscuits

I don't know what was up with the cheese biscuits, but I couldn't get the dough to be the right consistency.  I've made this things a gazillion times, but I've never had this problem.  The only thing I can imagine is that it's because I used real butter instead of margarine (although I could swear I've used real butter before).  The whole mess was just too soft and sticky. 

Gooey cheese biscuit makings

Balls of cheese biscuit dough

See those balls above?  See how they look all pointy and prickly, instead of smooth and round?  That's because they wouldn't stop sticking to my hands because it wasn't the right consistency.  I added a little extra flour, which helped a bit, but I was afraid to add too much and make them floury tasting.

I finally baked them all, and they're done, but I might break down and make another batch before Christmas actually rolls around.  I had counted on using some of these in gifts for the neighbors, but I'm embarrassed to send these out.

I got the ingredients for the sausage balls in the bowl and mixed up and started rolling the balls.  They didn't seem to be the right consistency either, and I was beginning to wonder if my attempts at holiday preparations were just going to be jinxed completely today.

Looks yummy right?

That's when it suddenly dawned on me that I hadn't put in the bisquick.  There's not a lot in the recipe, but it's definitely needed to make everything stick together right.

Bisquick added

So I got the sausage ball mixture done and rolled lots of little balls and put them on cookie sheets.  The plan was to freeze them on the cookie sheets, then once they're good and frozen I put them in a ziploc bag and back in the freezer until I'm ready to cook them.

Yummy sausage balls in the freezer

 Did I mention we had to buy a new refrigerator this summer?  Yeah, well, we did, and the cookie sheet that used to fit on the top shelf of my old freezer still fit just fine, except the door wouldn't shut because of the way the ice maker takes up so much of the door on this fridge.

Grrrrr

Fortunately, a little rearranging fit that cookie sheet on a lower shelf and a smaller cookie sheet on the top shelf left enough room for the door to shut, or I would have lost it by that point.

I've exhausted my Christmas spirit for today.  I just hope this isn't a sign of the next few weeks.