NotAnotherPrincess

I’ve hit a motivational road block on my cotton tank, and I decided to whip up a quick-knit project for the sake of my sanity. I chose a cowl; knit in worsted weight it uses only about 120 yards of yarn.

I picked the best shade of Caron Simply Soft I could find in my stash and went for it. And though Sam just doesn’t “get” the idea of a neckwarmer, I love love love this thing!

Pattern: Thermis by Kris Knits, $2.49 via Ravelry.com

Started: August 24, 2010
Finished: August 25, 2010
Estimated # of knitting hours: 8

A couple weeks ago I read Confessions of a Shopaholic and loved it. Well, all but the ending which I felt was rushed and didn’t fit the flow of the rest of the book. Regardless, the book was recently made into a movie and it just so happened to be on the Netflix Watch Instantly list.

I just spent an hour and forty-five minutes of my life watching a movie that had absolutely NOTHING to do with the book. The character names were mostly correct and she did actually buy a green scarf, but they basically re-wrote the entire plot. And don’t even get me started about the talking mannequin madness — that was definitely not in the book.

Though it was a fun, lighthearted chick flick, I was once again left disappointed that screenwriters often completely ignore pertinent scenes and story lines when they translate a book into film. (Exhibit B: the Twilight saga.)

It’s just 10:45 am and the house is already 81 degrees inside. Today’s going to be another scorcher. 90 degree heat makes me an insta-bitch, which means as soon as Sam is home from work today we’re heading straight for the swimming hole.

On my list of things to do this Hump Day:

• Laundry
• One last load of dishes leftover from yesterday
• Drop off my $140 tire that I curbed so bad it punctured a hole in the sidewall, so that they can order a replacement (thankfully Sam bought the Extended Warranty and it won’t cost me a dime except the $14 mounting fee for putting the tire on my rim)
• Try not to die of heat stroke or punch anyone in the face out of heat rage
• Head for the water as soon as Sam gets home

Here’s hoping this damn heat wave ends soon. I’m so ready for cooler Fall weather.

I’m not feeling well today after a long, outrageously busy week. To tide you over, here’s a little of what I’ve been up to lately:

• I spent a day driving along the Oregon coastline with Sam, stopping at various beach fronts all along the way.
• I spent 4 hours painting and laughing with Jeana — our collaboration piece turned out incredible.
• I drove 100 miles to the beautiful town of Olympia, Washington with Kristin to attend my cousin-in-law’s wedding. It was beautiful.
• I learned that the Grandpa in the 90’s cartoon Hey, Arnold has a gigantic cock’n balls on his head.



• Experienced the most horrific, vivid nightmare where I actually died.
• I spent 1 night alone while Sam was camping in Washington for his dual race day. He was only gone for about 30 hours and I missed him the entire time. I’m very happy he’s home. =)
• and I’ve now been feeling horrifically ill off and on since Friday and I’m ready for it to go away.

Life has been unusually busy lately, and every time I’ve found myself with some free time, I’ve been knitting like a mad woman and trying in vain to become interested in the storyline of The Host (so far it’s just not working out for me). I need to just give up and try something else, but I’ve read everything else on my shelf. It takes a certain mood for me to read a book more than once.

I spent 2 and a half days knitting what I was convinced would be the most amazing pair of knit handwear I’d ever created. Unfortunately, what I ended up with is far from practical, and might even be completely and utterly useless. As in completely non-functional as, well, anything. I’m so frustrated with them that I haven’t even sewn the buttons on yet, and there certainly isn’t photographic evidence that they even exist. I’ll let you know how it ends; at this point I’m just not sure.

10 more days and it will be The Day. As in the anniversary of The Worst Day Of My Life. In just 10 days, Heather will have been gone from us for a full year.

It still hurts so much. I miss her. :’(

Tomorrow will be Day 60 of eating vegetarian. Ironically, I’m very seriously considering carefully introducing certain meat products back into my diet.

I haven’t made up my mind quite yet, and this doesn’t mean I’m going out for a hamburger. I’ll let you know how it goes.

Each of my growing number of tattoos holds a story. My newest piece is no different. On the top of my left foot I now proudly boast the words “Love always” in my Grandmother’s handwriting (we call her Grammy).

Thankfully Grammy is still with us and this is not to be mistaken as a memorial tattoo, but rather an honorary daily reminder of just how much I am loved every single day. I did speak to her about this idea and was given full permission before I made the appointment.

As my artist was preparing to lay the ink transfer onto my skin, he asked me to remind him to face it towards me, as the general consensus is that tattoos should face others and not yourself. (I disagree with this “rule”, as I get all of my tattoos for ME, and I want my text to be readable when I look down at them.) Sure enough, when he went to set the transfer on my skin, he was holding it with the text towards him — therefore making the words upside-down when I looked down at my feet — and I had to politely remind him to flip it around so that I could read the text. He laughed at his ironically predicted oversight, happily corrected the position, and less than 30 minutes later I was the proud owner of a tiny masterpiece.

*Whoa. Does my hair not look like Syndrome from The Incredibles!?

This tattoo really speaks for itself, and though I’ve repeatedly tried to put all of it’s meaning into words for all of you, I’ve failed. Words simply cannot accurately describe everything this piece stands for, and I’ve realized that trying to over-explain it only detracts from the meaning.

I will say this: It hurt. A lot. But not for very long. And it was over before I knew it.

Sam visited me at the tattoo shop after work, but only made it for the very end of my pain time under the needle. He left while Mom was getting ready for her “Ester star”, something she’d been talking about ever since I got my own stars back in 2007 (my name, Ester, means “star” in Hebrew). She finally decided where she wanted it, and less than 20 minutes later she was the proud new owner of this little beauty:

I’m quite proud of her, I must admit. This was her second tattoo (her first being the ankle tattoo we share, now 6 years old), and she took it like a seasoned champ. Actually, I fear she may now be slightly addicted to getting tattooed… (You might say that this is what she gets for talking me into getting my tongue pierced 5 years ago!)

Yay for new ink, after nearly a year dry. I plan to get more soon; maybe I’m the one that’s addicted.