Secret Pal Wrap Up

I received my final package from Melinda last week and am so sorry for how long it's taken to post about it. She has been so great and I'm super glad to finally read her blog. As you can see in the picture above, Mel put together a stellar final package. First she placed the cutest sheepy postcard in it and a fuzzy sheep counterpart to cuddle with. To fulfill my chocolate cravings she included a delicious dark chocolate bar and several yummy Galaxy cocoa's with a very cute green and blue mug to go with it. In fact, I'm going to go fix a mug right now... brb.

Mmmm... Cocoa! So creamy and chocolatey! Ok, ok, back to work.

She also included a wonderful set of old fashioned knitting needles, and bag to carry everything in (that's the blue mesh thing on the side. It's kinda like a mini hammock and so cute.) From her trip to europe she included Dorset Shortbread, which looks so tasty I can't wait to have them with a cup of mint tea from her last package! Finally, she include two of those most wonderful yarns. A hank of baby alpaca in the most beautiful turquoise blue, and two balls of a bumpy/loopy sort of varigated blue that is called COLORADO!!! How very perfect to round out my final package!

Mel, you are amazing! Thank you for this most enjoyable round of SP. I can't wait to make something of the Colorado yarn. I don't know what yet, but maybe a scarf? And the alpaca is soooooo soft! I sure hope to keep in touch. It has been great getting to know you. Thank you agian!

Home Sweet Home

Yesterday I flew home to Oregon to spend some time with my family before heading up to Spokane, WA. In light of being unable to make it home for Christmas, I was a little nervous that we were might get snow in Colorado earlier than predicted. Well, I made it...in one peice.

Chris and I both packed up yesterday and headed out at the same time. In fact, our flights were only like 10 minutes apart. This was nice because we didn't have to make special arrangements to get to the airport, and we got to hang out longer before we left. He is off to Italy for the Winter World Univeristy Games until the 29th, then will head on to the Netherlands and to Hungary for a couple weeks, returning on February 12th. I got really lucky and will be keeping myself busy by coming home until the 18th, then heading to Spokane to work the National Ice Skating Championships, then back to Colorado on the 30th. I'll have a couple days off then will be working the Four Continents Figure Skating Championship in the Springs for a week. So I shouldn't get too bored waiting for Chris to come home.

The flights were uneventful, which in this day an age is to say something. Dad and I went to have some lunch at Fins (a great old fashioned burger diner) then dropped by to see mom at work. Earlier in the day Grandma had gotten a call from the bank saying that she had overdrawn her checking account by $100. So, Dad asked me to take Grandma to the bank to sort things out. It turns out that Grandma had a Phisher call her and try to steal money from her, but because she can't hear so well, she said she'd just have to check with the bank and didn't give any personal info...THANK THE LORD! It was really disturbing to see that Grandma is getting to forgettful, but I guess that's to be expected.

Today I don't have much planned, a Dr. appoint ment in the morning then will being going to make lunch for Grandma (yummy turkey chili). Tomorrow Dad and I are driving up to Moscow, ID to watch Kacie's swim meet. I have brought along some cheapo yarn from JoAnns to make a cable beany and scarf for Kacie. This will be the first time that I've done cabling, so I'm kind of excited. If I get it done, I'll post pictures. But for now, I should go pick up things for lunch.

Gifty #2 and a BONUS!

Oh boy, oh boy, OH BOY! It came, gifty #2…with a BONUS!

So it looks to me like our mail lady is really having trouble catching up having had an extra day off this week. Usually we get our mail around 5 p.m. (we’re the last on her stop,) but on Wednesday, I checked it at around 8 p.m., and no mail. Yesterday, I checked the mail at about 6:30 p.m., and there was mail (which included my gifty!) I thought his would be the end of the mail for the day, but my boyfriend mentioned that the mail lady had just arrived at 7:30 p.m. when he was pulling in to the apartment complex. Yippee more mail! So Mel, no worries, the package got here. It seems things are a little backed up, but that’s alright!

Mel did an amazing job of theming each package. This gifty is PINK themed! Each wonderful present was packaged in pink tissue to make it all the more exciting to open. First I opened the yarn, which wasn’t pink, but is totally appropriate for this time of year. It’s got a wonderful red and dark green all mixed in. I can’t wait to figure out what to make with I; perhaps a hat? Then came some delicious dark chocolate sticks which will be perfect for stirring in coffee or adding a nice bite to hot chocolate! There were so many little packages, I didn’t know what to open next. A heavy round one looked good, and will feel good too when I use it. It turned out to be a fizzy bath ball! Then came Bubble Gum Lip Smackers, Strawberries and Cream shimmer gloss, and Tickle Me Pink nail polish to round off the pink pamper yourself items. Mel also included a cute Winnie the Pooh calendar and a sparkly fish magnet to hang on the refrigerator. Last but certainly not least, there was a pink Grow Your Own Kitty Kit! Which I promptly put in water to grow!

Thank you so much Mel, everything was amazing and makes me super excited to see what’s in the last package! We have snow today, so maybe I’ll have a soak in the bath tub and then paint my toenails while watching a Disney movie. I love the chocolate and have already dug into it once or twice. The calendar will be great to hang right by the computer so we won’t forget a date. I’m not real sure what’s wrong with the kitty, maybe she’s just stubborn, but she hasn’t grown too much yet. Heheh she’s a slow developer. Thank you! Thank you! THANK YOU! You really have put thought into these gifts, and I truly appreciate that.

What’s even better though, is that in that extra pile of mail that we got late last night, I ALSO received the postcard that my amazing knit pal sent from Dorset, England over the holidays. It really does sound like you had an amazing time there, and I can’t wait to read about it on your blog in a month!

Happy New Year!!!

I hope everyone had an amazing night ringing in the New Year. Chris and I spent most of the afternoon and evening playing a number of board games that we purchased with our Christmas gift cards. We also went out for sushi at one of our favorite sushi joints for an added treat.

I spent most of the 31st and the morning of the 1st working on a new knitting project. I was bored hanging around the house so I decided I would find something to knit away the boredom. I had some yarn in my stash that was originally picked out for felting a bag, but found out that it wouldn’t felt. So instead, I looked around for a quick/small project to occupy my time. After looking through hundreds of hats, I decided on Knitty’s Astrodome pattern. Having never done Fair Isle before, I thought something small like this would be great to learn on. I didn’t have the appropriate size yarn in my stash to make this hat, so I had to use the smaller needles recommended for the yarn I was using. I figured it wouldn’t be too big of a deal since the finished hat would have been too big for my tiny head.

It turned out great, but a little small. I think I might frog it and try again with one size smaller needles and adding an extra pattern repeat and an extra row of the stars. Since it didn’t take too long to make, I don’t feel too bad about trying again! It was a fun pattern and I had great colors to work with. When I finally get the hat the right size, I think I’ll make the nifty scarf to go with it! Happy Knitting in 2007!

Merry Christmas!!!

This was our Christmas card picture!

(With a little formatting help from Christy! THANKS!!!)

Last night we went to midnight mass at one of the church’s downtown. It was a beautiful cathedral like church with a warm and inviting pink ceiling with gold accents. Chris said that they had recently refurbished all the artwork and statues, which were so pretty in soft pastel colors. I’ve never been to a midnight mass before, so I think I expected candles and other different sorts of things, but was surprised to find it almost exactly like a normal Sunday mass. Carols were added as the hymns, and the place was packed. It was nice, but I must admit, it was hard to stay awake in the warm and quiet room. By the time we got home it was well past 2 a.m., so we were both wiped out and ready for a good nights sleep.

In an effort to make the day feel more festive, I thought I’d start off by making gingerbread waffles, eggs, and bacon for breakfast. The waffles were delicious with some cinnamon whipped cream and maybe even a touch of chocolate syrup. After breakfast, we both opened our one present left (both were books) and started working on a puzzle while watching some movies. We really didn’t have much planned for the day, but made due with a movie (A Christmas Story, of course,) warm fire, puzzle, and each others company.

The Loot List (so far):
-A Knitting Journal from Gretchen & Kevin
-The Great Santa Search by Jeff Guinn, Target Gift Card from Galen
-Lovely placemats from Bridget & Brandon
-A print of Winnie the Pooh Fall Colors from Bonnie
-Pilates mat, box of chocolates, bike shorts and socks from Chris
-Sleeping bags from ourselves

We finished the puzzle around 4:30 p.m., and decided to start Christmas dinner. Since finding out we wouldn’t be going home, I was determined to bring some of our family favorites to us. We had ham, mashed potatoes, green beans, and rolls to compliment Aunt Karen’s Baked Beans and a delicious homemade pecan pie. Though it wasn’t the same as having dinner with our families, it was still nice to know they were eating some of the same exact things.

Just before going to sleep I’m going to give Chris the last present that I have hidden away for him. Several weeks ago, we went to Wilson’s leather to look at a jacket for him. Well, we found one that he really liked in his size, but decided to think about it over night. He forgot all about it, and when he called a couple weeks later found that they did not have his size anymore. In fact, the only store in Colorado that did was the Cherry Creak Mall store. After making a number of calls and trying to buy it online failed, he had just about given up. What he doesn’t know, though, is that I bought it the next day and have hidden it away. He continues, even today, to call around and see if other stores might have it. I can’t wait to see his eyes light up and wonder how I had managed it! So, I better get ready, Merry Christmas and I hope you have big plans for the New Year.

Home for the Holidays...NOT!

We are going NOWHERE for Christmas! GRRRRR!

Because of this wonderful blizzard that has lashed out on all of Colorado for the past couple days, we will not be making it to Oregon for the holidays. We were suppose to leave out of Denver at 12:55 pm today, but obviously we and many others are going nowhere. However, I must admit we are lucky in the sense that we did not get stuck at the airport, and we are safe and sound in our own home. And because our flight was scheduled on day 2 of this blizzard, they did not officially cancell our flight until about 9 am this morning. This made it difficult to convince any airline representative yesterday that our flight needed to be changed even though their computers said it would be "on time". So everyone from yesterday who had their flight cancelled was given a jump start on filling in all the extra slots on each plane once the airport did reopen. The earliest we would have been able to leave was late on the evening of the 26th, which was a total waste since we would still have to come back on the 28th for Chris to be at work. We discussed driving home, or even to Salt Lake City where they could get us a flight, but they were all not very practical ideas. In the end, it was a tough decision, but we finally just asked for our money back.

Though I understand it is not anyones fault per say, it still makes me angry and sad because I know it won't feel like Christmas here! We aren't with our family, we have nothing planned, and maybe worst of all, we have opened all our presents already. We opened them early because they were gifts we were not going to carry all the way to Oregon, open, and then lug back. Now, I'm not trying to be material, but you have to admit, if you have presents and they have already been opened, it kind of ruins the excitement for Christmas Day. I suppose, though, what I'm most worried about is that because we're not going away for Christmas, our "vacation" will feel like just a long weekend. We'll stay home and do practically nothing and then the vacation will come to the end and it won't have had any special holiday feel. I don't know, maybe I'll get over this, but right now its worrying and upsetting.

In an effort to combat the week long weekend blues, I think we may try to do some fun things around town, and maybe even try to go snowboarding one day! We'll see, that will take a little research as well. Happy Holidays to everyone out their, and when you say your Christmas dinner prayers, be thankful that your loved ones could join in your celebrations!

The World Beer Tour Finale!

(Left: Me drinking my 110th beer.) If you're not familiar with the restaraunt Old Chicago's, they have this program that you can sign up for called The World Beer Tour. Each beer on their menu (and there are over 150) has a number associated with it. When you drink a beer, that number is recorded on your WBT card. As you drink your way through 110 different beers, yes they must be different, you are given prizes. For example, after you have drunk 10 beers, you are given playing cards. After 25 a clip on watch with compass, 40 a bottle opener, 55 a t-shirt, 70 a travel mug, 85 a baseball cap, 100 a cooler, and finally when you've drunk 110 beers you get a sweatshirt and your name emblazoned on a plaque in the Hall of Foam! (Right: Me with all my swag that I won for completing the tour. Look that black shirt has a reinBeer on it. heheheh) It has taken me two and a half years, but I finally completed my tour of 110 beers. Now understand, I am not an alcoholic, nor do I really enjoy the majority of beers, so this was a test of will and I won. In fact, there were some very NOT GOOD beers that I ended up drinking since you can't really double up on the good ones. However, I have gained a greater appreciation for a number of other beers that really were "not too bad." And some day I can take my pals to my home Old Chicago's and show them my name eblazoned in this HALL OF FOAM!!!!!