I'm back...

Sorry to be gone for so long.... We went on our vacation. It wasn't Paris, it was a cruise.

Long story short - Paris got too expensive too fast because we procrastinated on buying the plane tickets so we ended up with a last minute cruise deal to the Bahamas.

It was my first cruise and most likely my last. The weather didn't co-operate so we ended up on the boat all but one of our 5 days. We were let off in Nassau to shop but the days scheduled to be on the beach were cancelled due to swells that made disembarking impossible. The last night the ship rocked so badly I got sick and I have never gotten sea sick before.

My husband assures me this is rare and that it usually isn't like this but next time I just want a hotel, with a bed that doesn't move, on the beach, so that when the weather breaks we can make a run for it and snorkel.

Since Saturday was our First Anniversary I got these:

In case you can't count them all - 5 dozen roses. 5!! Yep, He loves me... and it was awesome getting 5 days alone with him even if we were stuck on a boat.

What a week!

We went down to my parent's house last weekend for Tulip Time in Pella, IA. It was a good time to reconnect with friends and let the kids run around with old classmates. We were on our way home Sunday night and got a call from our neighbor that a storm had gone through that morning and had taken a tree down in our yard. An hour later we came home to this:

The bad part was that it hit our power line on the way down and pulled the electrical box off the side of the house. See the flash mark on the side of the house?!? (Just to the right of the two gray boxes still attached)

The tree destroyed our fence, took out another section farther down, and lifted, moved and bent our new awning on the porch. My husband is building a storage shed and the winds took down one of the walls he had just put up the day before we left.

A great neighbor loaned us a generator so we could keep the freezer and refrigerator working so no food loss which was wonderful. But the worst part?...No power for 3 days and then no Internet for almost a week! Do you realize how much you can't do without the Internet?! Sheesh, I felt like such a dope. Always going to the computer and then realizing I can't do that until the Internet is back up.

So, no pictures of yarn today but I started a pair of Monkey socks to try out the Handmaiden Sea Wool and the yarn is just as nice knitted up as it feels in the skein. It is my first pr. of Monkey socks (free pattern by Cookie A. at knitty.com) and I really like the pattern. Easy enough to be my first pair of lace socks and it goes fast with a 12 row repeat. I have my first leg done and am ready to do the heal flap. Cookie A does such a great job with socks! Pictures soon.

More FO

I finished my drop stitch scarf and my Lady Eleanore last night. I am off to my mom's for the weekend and will use her steamer and blocking board for the large pieces. It is nice to have a mom with yarn shop in her basement. she has all the cool toys. Pictures on Monday...promise.

I smoked my neighbor because I just gotta be me.

Type out the sentence you end up with, in the subject line and post it as a comment.

Pick the month you were born:
January------I kicked
February-----I loved
March---------I smoked
April-----------I dry humped
May-----------I choked on
June----------I murdered
July-----------I did the Macarena with
August-------I had lunch with
September---I danced with
October------I sang to
November----I yelled at
December----I ran over

Pick the day (number) you were born on:
1-------a birdbath
2-------a monster
3-------a phone
4-------a fork
5-------a Mexican
6-------a gangster
7-------my cell phone
8-------my dog
9-------my best friends' boyfriend
10-------my neighbor
11-------my science teacher
12-------a banana
13-------a fireman
14-------a stuffed animal
15-------a goat
16-------a pickle
17-------your mom
18---- ---a spoon
19-------myself
20-------a baseball bat
21-------a ninja
22-------Chuck Norris
23-------a noodle
24-------a squirrel
25-------a football player
26-------my sister
27-------my brother
28-------an ipod
29-------a permanent marker
30-------a llama
31-------A homeless guy

Pick the color of shirt you are wearing:
White--------because I'm cool like that.
Black---------because that's how I roll.
Pink----------because I'm NOT a homosexual.
Red----------because the voices told me to.
Blue----------because I'm sexy and I do what I want.
Green--------because I just gotta be me.
Purple--------because I'm cool.
Gray----------because I was drunk.
Yellow--------because someone offered me 1,000,000 dollars.
Orange-------because I just don't like people.
Brown--------because I was high.
Other---------because I'm a ninja.
None----------because I can't control myself.

Now type out the sentence you made, and post it to my comments! Copy this to your blog. Let's play!

I'm in trouble...

I got this in the mail yesterday from Knit Purl http://www.knit-purl.com/Products/Product.php?Product_ID=404 and I am So in LOVE! It is Fleece Artist Handmaiden Sea Wool. The picture doesn't show it's shiny yarnness.

A close up, anyone?

I have a cheap-o camera so the colors are a little dull here. But trust me, it is amazing. I think my yarn pal for Sockapalooza deserves some Sea Wool yumminess. After all, isn't it the Sockapaloozer's way - to spoil your sock pal? She deserves nothing less. I will need to go get her a different color however. She seems to favor the reds and purples...and (cough) you need to order two skeins for free shipping....I'm in trouble.

Meanwhile I am getting to the end of my drop stitch wrap for the Paris sweater. It looks like a big scarf right now because (obviously) the dropped stitches some at the end. Again the colors don't show real well here but it is a very pretty soft green, with bits of pink and lavender and a gold thread. I am not much of a pastel girl but it looks fantastic with the Paris sweater.

A close up...

So pretty. It will look even better in a sidewalk cafe' on the streets of Paris!