Friday Photos

It's spring, so of course you should be expecting some pictures of the garden. I have my first tulip completely up. It's a very pretty pink. I have a variety of daffodils. They hyacinth are looking good and there's lots of other stuff making itself known. The peonies, some lilies, some coreopsis, lavender - good things. I'll get surprises too because I don't know what got moved when the fence guys moved dirt around - some stuff might not have made it, other stuff may show up in a new place! I've also added a picture of the stole I am knitting for myself. It's about 2/3 done. I'm really happy with the progress and how it looks.

Happiness is....

...my honey coming home! A has been out in Indy since Friday at a conference for Fire Department Instructors. I miss him. I'm looking forward to seeing him tonight.

I must say - happiness is also having that fence! Boomer gets it now. When I open the door, he waits for the okay, then he goes dashing out into the yard to do his business and play a bit. If it's raining - I can stay inside and dry.

The fence is in!!

YAYAY - from both me and Boomer! A has not seen the finished fence yet, but he'll be happy. Boomer didn't really know what to make of it at first. He didn't get that he could just roam around. He just picked a spot and sat in the sun. Then, Bentley came to visit. Bentley is our friend's dog. He's an 8 month old Bassett Hound. The 2 dogs had such fun chasing each other around the yard. Boomer is now exhausted, laying here asleep. See pics of the fence and the fun below.

Friday Photos

Some more flower pictures. It's been a busy week. The fence is about half done - should be done sometime Saturday. Then I'll be off to the nursery to buy some new flowers. They had to dig some up to get it in and with our schedules, neither of us have had a chance to try to replant them, so I don't think they'll make it. I'm wondering what happened to the stuff that hadn't started coming up yet! We may get some surprises!! I can't wait for it to be done - to see Boomer run around his yard for the first time off leash.

Onion Grass

I hate it. It's annoying. It grows faster than our regular grass. It grows in my flower gardens. For that I blame the previous owners who did not take care of the gardens. I decided to get back to my "learning new things" project and learn about onion grass. Pulling it up only eliminates it to a certain extent - if you don't get all the little bulbs and all of all of them - it will grow back. Roundup works, but can kill your regular grass. Weed B Gone appears to be better. Would you believe that people eat onion grass? EWWWW! Apparently it is in the chive family. What I've read is that you use the top like chives. You boil the little bulbs with salt and butter - Yum! You can even eat them raw? Oh yuck. It's a weed! Clearly you should not eat them if you have tried to kill them with Roundup or Weed B Gone. Or if, like me, you have a doggie who may have done his business on the onion grass. If only dog pee would kill onion grass, I would be in business!

Friday Photos

Some knitting, some flowers, some fencing. Yeah fencing. I'm excited. Our fence was delivered yesterday. It will be installed later this month. I think I'm going to particularly love the fence come winter when I can just open the door and say "go do your business Boomer" and not have to go out with him.

The knitting is booties that I will send up to my new nephew. They were very easy to make. The pattern is at http://www.lionbrand.com/patterns/60091A.html?noImages=. They aren't fancy - I figure they are knock-around booties. I did a better job sewing the 2nd one up. The hardest part was the stupid tassels.

It's a double-sided coin

I got some answers today as to why I didn't get the spot of president. On the one hand, it makes me feel better to know what it was. On the other, I feel down because maybe I could have done better. It was all about the interview - or almost all. The guy who got it was "outstanding". I was not. Apparently I was not even close enough to outstanding to make them choose me to have a more appropriate balance. This makes the 5th white male in a row and 8 out of the last 10. Females make up 49% of the membership. He represents a geographic region whose members make up less than 2% of our membership. So I'm reading into all this that I wasn't even close enough to make them say "hey - they're pretty close, it's time for a woman, go with her." I could have done a better job. I could have worked on responses to some of the questions I was sure they would ask. Woulda, coulda, shoulda. I probably shouldn't beat myself up over it. Who knows if I could have prepared more. I prepared more than I did the year before. And now - this really puts into question what happened the year before. Was I maybe good enough - but they felt last year the other guy was close enough to me that they should choose him for balance? I'll never know. I should stop all this - but it's hard to let go of a dream.
One of the women in the next class is really pissed off about them picking another guy. She raised some good points about the process - one being that laying it all on one interview is a pretty narrow process. She's right. What's really wrong about that is that your body of work while on the Executive Board means very little - so what's the point? I wouldn't have been able to not work hard, because that's not my nature, but it hits home when the guy who got it last year got it because he had a good interview. He had been pretty much a non-entity in his 3 years on the board, but one interview and he's going to be president. It sucks - just sucks.
I need to let it go and move on.

My feel good recipe

Jewelry is a great medicine.

I didn't get it

and the truth is, I don't even feel like going jewelry shopping this time.

Tomorrow is D-Day

Tomorrow I hear if I get the presidency of my professional association. I'm trying to prepare for a negative. No need to prepare for a positive - right? So, same kind of plan as last year - retail therapy. I've been researching jewelry. If I covet a Dooney & Bourke handbag again, I know to talk to A first, so that his buddy Pat, who works for Mr. B, can get it for me at his employee discount. So, I've been cruising some jewelry websites. I'm thinking a diamond journey necklace. Although part of me says I should take the peridot/diamond pendant my mom had made for me and get it made into a ring. I've wanted to do that for years. Is now the time? I'm leaning more towards something I wasn't going to have otherwise - to make it truly special. I do think my odds are decent. I think that in simple comparison to the other candidates, I match up well. If you add to it that with the guy who beat me out last year, it will be four men in a row - for an organization that is 49% female - I think being the only woman in contention plays in my favor. I'm not proud - I'll take the advantage. In the end though - it may all hinge on something else that is important to the committee that I know nothing about. So I move along with my plan to indulge myself if it doesn't go in my favor. My own personal silver lining - you know how it goes.

Friday Photos

As promised, here are pictures of my recently finished knitting project. It is a scarf - the name of the scarf is Bias Knit Scarf and it's a free pattern on http://www.lionbrand.com/. The pattern calls for mohair yarn and says to knit to 36 inches. I used Lion Brand Homespun - much softer - and made it a bit over 60 inches. I really liked this pattern. I knit it for my friend Deb. A few months back, my friend Patrick passed away after a golfing accident. Deb was his girlfriend. We had dinner last month and I was wearing a scarf I had knit. Deb loved it and the color and said "I want one" or something like that. So - I found a yarn with a color close to mine and decided to try a different pattern from mine. The first pattern I tried, I really didn't like. Then I thought I would try the Bias Knit Scarf -but using a smaller needle and cast on more stitches. I ripped that out too - or using knitting language I guess I frogged it. So - finally got going with a size I liked and it really moved pretty quickly. I gave it to Deb yesterday. I'm happy I could do something that made her happy. She's had a tough few months. So enough story - here are the pictures.

Happiness is... part 2

....learning to cable! Thank you "Stitch 'n Bitch"! It's also finally figuring out what knit the knits and purl the purls means. It was one of those "ah hah!" moments for me. I'm not planning to do any patterns with cables soon - but I plan to be practicing. For now, I'm working diligently on my stole. I finished the other project, will post pictures on Friday.

Happiness is....

....blooming daffodils! I love my daffys. I've got 5 that have popped so far. They are just so bright and happy and spring-ish. The weather is supposed to be good this weekend, so I see myself working out in the yard some. YAY!

Friday Photos

Here are some pictures of my "work in progress" stole. It requires a certain level of concentration, but I'm finding remembering the pattern is not so hard. I still count, count, count as I go along the pattern rows. I haven't been working on it the last couple of days because I wanted to try to get my other kind-of-secret project done so that I can give it away next week. That one is coming along nicely and will be done shortly. I will post pictures of it next week.

I've got to get over it...

Seriously. I've held a grudge for almost 27 years. I need to get over it. I realized that this morning - but I'm not sure I can do it. Here's the deal...when my father died, I was in college. The girl who had been my best friend from high school never called, never wrote - nothing. She never sent a single word of sympathy my way during the most devastating time of my life (at that point anyway). I've been angry with her ever since. I rarely see her, but when I do, it's all I can do to grind out a "Hello Melissa" (note that she was always Missy - so I'm being extra bitchy by calling her Melissa.) Today, I was reading a note on facebook about how one of our high school teachers is retiring. Missy posted about how her daughter is a sophomore now, and has this teacher for homeroom and her son is going next year and she was hoping he would get this same teacher. I read that and got angry. Why does she get to have kids and I don't. I know it's not her fault I can't - but I was - hell am - so pissed that this woman who couldn't show me the littlest bit of kindness gets something I so dearly want. I know - life is not fair and except for this one fault, I'm sure Missy has led a good life. I know I need to get over it. It was 27 years ago. But right now, I'm just going to wallow.

Friday Photos - St Baldrick's Day

A after his St Baldrick's Day haircut - and a little embellishment added by his friends. Yes, that's a blue 1.

Happiness is...

....Spring on the way. Friday it will be spring! YAY! I know - it could still snow - but I'm kind of hopeful it won't. My crocuses are blooming. BTW - did you know that crocuses will naturalize all on their own? I didn't. I had some showing up in my front lawn and in new places in my gardens. I thought maybe they weren't real crocuses (a faux crocus - can you just imagine?) so I googled crocuses. That's how I found out they will naturalize like that - so I'm just going to let them have at it. It brings a happy touch to our yard - which is looking kind of sad and brown yet. Anyway, the weather has been getting better and better. Walks are becoming a daily routine again. I can take the dog out without wearing 3 layers of clothing. It's all good.

My Life Changing Moment...

....was 7 years ago today. I met A that day. I didn't recognize it as a life changing moment at the time, but it was. I had gone to the city to watch the St Patrick's Day parade with A's cousin B, who is my co-worker, and B's girlfriend. This was the first St Patrick's Day parade after 9/11. A was marching with his FDNY firehouse. I remember the sustained applause when the firemen came by. The parade paused for a moment in front of us, the people just kept clapping and clapping. This was the first year they had the probies carry the 343 flags - what a moment, it still makes me want to cry. As you might imagine, the city was teeming with firemen that day, not just from NYC, but from all over the country. We arranged to meet up with A at a bar on the Upper East Side - packed to the gills with firemen. So - B introduces us to A, he says "Nice to meet you, can I get you a beer?" He comes back with the beer and that was pretty much the last I saw of him. I wasn't really looking at the time and A was still married to his first wife, so I didn't dwell on the meeting much. He clearly stuck in my head from that meeting though - because 4 months later, B's girlfriend says to me "B's cousin A is down in his office. He's getting divorced. You should go down and say hi." I TOTALLY made up an excuse to go down there. I chatted with A for a few minutes, then headed back upstairs. A later came up to my office, passed me a business card with his number on it and said "Next time you are in the city, give me a call" and hustled out of there. The next day, he e-mailed me and asked me out. The rest is history. So - little did I know, but that moment in the bar 7 years ago changed my life. And I'm one happy girl that it did!

And so it begins...

I decided to make the Cozy wrap - third picture down from my last post. There were two primary reasons. First, the yarn that I had purchased was the right weight, so I don't have to try to figure out any adjustments my first time trying a pattern like this. Second, it has "rest rows" meaning that every other row is straight purling. I figured that would be easier my first time out with something more intricate. So far, I've only ever done stockinette stitch, garter stitch and then the baby blanket I made which had seed stitch and was the first time I had to count stitches and rows! I started last night, made an error in my second row of the pattern. I tried to find it, ended up ripping it out to the beginning. Second attempt has gone better. I'll be working on it tonight. My goal is to finish it by mid-June. You may think that's very doable - even too much time - but I have a habit of starting out great guns and then slacking. I do have an event to which I would like to wear this, so hopefully that goal will keep me on track. I've got another project I plan to spend some lunch hours working on - but I'm keeping mum about that, just in case the planned recipient pops in here. That one's easy - straight stockinette stitch for the most part.

Friday Photos - sort of

Okay - I'm cheating a little. I actually have photos to post - but I decided to do something else. I am planning to knit myself a stole/wrap. I've had trouble deciding what pattern I want - have even considered creating my own pattern. I plan to use off white yarn for the stole. The yarn I plan to use is thicker than what's in the first pattern, so the stole wouldn't be so lacy looking - but would have a nice pattern to it. So here are pictures of the possibilities - feel free to comment.

happiness is....

....good numbers. There are all sorts of ways numbers can be good - weight going down (or up for some people), salaries, house prices. For me right now, the good numbers are the ones I got yesterday on a big bond refunding we did. When municipalities need to borrow money, we sell bonds. Refunding bonds is pretty much like refinancing your mortgage. So, yesterday, we refunded about $30 million in bonds by selling $28.5 million in bonds. We saved $1.8 million dollars on a budgetary basis over the life of the new bonds. It's a 5.1% present value savings - WOO FREAKIN' HOO!! This is providing serious budgetary relief for the next two years - so I'm a very happy camper.

Friday Photos

I've been slacking a bit - sorry. Last Friday, I started my day in beautiful Laguna Beach, California. Here are some pictures I took.

Happiness is...

...okay - so I'm a little late in the day - but....happiness is catching up with girlfriends. I had dinner tonight with two girlfriends. One I had seen not so long ago, but we haven't had a chance to sit and talk recently. The other I hadn't seen in months, but had kept in touch with via e-mail. Tonight was fun to sit and talk about all sorts of things that came to mind. We all need such nights once in a while.

Snow thoughts

It always amazes me what other people consider to be adequate removal of snow from their car. We got over 10 inches of snow last night. I saw a car that cleared the windshield off - but left the 10 inches that accumulated on the hood and the roof! And there are the ones that clear off the front windshield, but not the back? Of course, they may have cleared off the back, but left the 10 inches on the roof, which then slid down and covered the back windshield. One of my favorites is not clearing the snow off around your license plate! Mmmmm way to avoid that speeding ticket.

Next snow thought - I arrived at work only about 10 minutes late. That's actually pretty normal for me. My employee who lives in walking distance - shows up 1/2 hour late. What's up with that! She says to me "I thought we were closed." Uh - since when? We hardly ever close. Anyway - it's the snow, freezes peoples' brains - must be.

Thoughts on the plane

I travelled to California this week. I went out there to interview for the Presidency of my national professional association - same thing I went after last year and didn't get. Maybe this year is my year - if not, I'm not trying again. Anyway - I had lots of things running through my head while I was on the plane, so I wrote them down, planning to post them on my blog when I got home. So - here it is, as written, no editing (except to protect the innocent). It's really just a stream of thoughts.

I'm on a plan. Flying west. Feeling lost, scared, nervous. I'm out of my element. Missing A. I'mnot the same person I was before him - not as independent and self-reliant. I wonder where she went - that woman I was. But I love who I am now. Wife, partner, friend, lover. I am a better me with him. It's not easy to be apart from him. I want to do this. It's scary. It means more to me than last year maybe. Is that an advantage? I will be the outsider tomorrow night - not part of the in group. I'll feel welcome, but a little odd. Need to put on that persona - the at ease, confident woman they expect. I hope that made the trip wiht me. It will be okay as soon as I'm with everyon. I'm sure I'll fall into the groove. Is she really me? Will I be ready tomorrow? Will I impress? I need to practice, find the second me, not the scared lonely me who is missing her other half.

Later - I got a little more practical. You have to understand that when I have a big presentation or something like this interview, I feel that if I look my best, all put-together, then I don't worry about that and I feel more at ease going in - you know - not all focused on "will they notice how flat my hair is" kind of thing. I also look for omens - I'm superstitious. So - here are the rest of my thoughts from my trip, from right before I went in for my interview.

Cell phone dead. Two nail chips - can only band-aid one. Too much mousse, sticky hairspray - but looks okay - just kind of stiff. Dolphins! So - good omens or bad? Anderson Cooper is funny, but it's weird to watch "live" shows that are taped.

And, off I went. I think I did a good job in the interview, but who knows. So much of this is whether or not you are the type of person they are looking for to lead the group. Hopefully I fit the bill this year. If not, well, I'll just indulge in some retail therapy.

I'm still here

I've just been busy. I've thought of multiple subjects that would make good posts - but haven't had time to follow through. My fave - and I will get to it - is the subject of visible panty lines. There's always my driving pet peeves and photos and rants. I'll be back - not until the weekend though. I leave tomorrow for Laguna Beach. Before you go getting all jealous - I am flying most of tomorrow, will be busy in the morning and will have only Thursday afternoon to enjoy the scenery before heading home Friday morning.

Happiness is...

...being able to sleep in - which is what I'm hoping for on Saturday - so someone tell my dog please. I'm glad it's hump day. Tonight is the last of the meetings for the week - thank God. The last two have each gone until 10 pm - that's tiring. I can't get home and drop right off to sleep on those nights.

Happiness is also getting to work on a deal that will be good for the Town. We have the potential to save a decent chunk of money over the next few years by refunding some of our debt. It means some extra work for me during one of the busiest times of the year, but the payoff is worth it. This is the finance geek in me coming through.

Lastly, this week - happiness is my husband making a commitment to get in shape. I think he really means it this time. I really hope he does. His weight is not healthy - particularly not considering the work he does.

Christmas is over...and other thoughts

I went for a walk today - actually two walks. While walking around my neighborhood, I couldn't get over how many people still have their Christmas decorations out. Not winter stuff, but the wreaths, the Santa flags, the reindeer - that kind of stuff. I can't tell you how many! Literally - I can't tell you because I didn't count - but the point is - Christmas is over people! Heck, it's almost Valentine's Day.

On the first walk, I took the dog. Boomer is mainly white. When snow is melting, the ground is kind of muddy, spits that stuff up. So - white dog, mud spray - you get the picture. He loved it though.

I think Mother Nature is messing with us. No way is winter over. She's just trying to lull us into a false sense of security - then WHAM - we're going to get hit with more snow. It will be sad.

We have grass in our backyard. I had forgotten. It had been so long since the yard was anything but a blanket of white!

I'm watching the pro bowl. Football's last gasp for the year. Good thing pitchers and catchers report soon - it gives me something to look forward to.

Oh - speaking of baseball - not sure which is my favorite - A-Fraud, A-Roid or A-R*d. He's not exactly my favorite - that would be Derek Jeter - but I always respected that he achieved what he did naturally. So much for that.

Update on the diet

It's been a while since I talked about weight loss. I hit my goal weight almost 6 months ago. I've been able to stay actually a couple of pounds below it for all this time. I did notice that, with the help of a couple of events, I had crept up a little - not even a full pound - but that little bit made me say - WHOA! I have lost that same 15 pounds at least 4 or 5 times in the last 15 years. I want this to be the last time. So, I'm back to one of the WW basics - the food diary. I have to say it's helping. I'm very conscious of what I'm eating. I've got to get active again. It's hard during the winter when I have so many night meetings. I've got to squeeze exercise, along with housework, time with A, projects, all of that into precious little free time in the winter. The milder weather this weekend will help. It looks like the next week will be decent enough that I will be willing to walk at lunchtime. Another alternative is this new ropeless jump rope I got - just need to hook up the DVD so I can watch the how-to video. And I do have a Wii fit. I like it - but I don't think the fit program provides the level of cardio that I want. So I'm looking for other options. Anyway, I'm bound and determined not to gain back the weight this time and being active is key in that.

Friday Photos

Just thinking spring with the flowers here. Plus I've been too busy to take photos this week.

A day late but..Happiness is...

...the forecast for the weekend - 50 degrees! WOOOHOOO! Life is crazy busy due to work - but I think I will get some relaxation time this weekend - so I can do stuff around the house. But - I will be outside walking, getting some exercise, getting the Boom Doggie some exercise and just loving the break from the dregs of winter.

Time for a Boomer Post

I cheated on Boomer Sunday. He knows it too. I went to a friend's house for a Super Bowl party. They have a cute basset hound puppy. I let Bentley sit on my lap. When I got home, Boomer did the sniff test. I failed. He still loves me though.

A & I did a little teasing thing to Boomer a couple of times lately. I had been outside with Boomer when A came down to breakfast. Being a dog, therefore being vertically challenged and unable to see over the counter, Boomer couldn't see A sitting in the dining room. I told Boomer to go find A. He understood and went into the living room, then tore up the stairs and raced around the bedroom looking for A. He then came downstairs again, confused, then went to check the dining room. We did it to him a second time with the same results. Mean - I know. Today, I decided to try it again. Well - he learned from the last two times and did not go racing up the stairs to find A - he looked in the living room first, then went to the dining room. Gotcha! A was still in bed. I know - shouldn't tease the poor dog. He's such a love!

He gets so excited to eat his meals. It's kind of cute. But I wonder where it comes from. I think back to him being abandoned in a park and wonder if that poor little puppy thought he was never going to eat again, so maybe that's why he's so freakin' excited to eat everyday. Or maybe he just loves to eat. And he loves his treats. He sticks to me like glue when I'm leaving for work. It's not because he's sad at the prospect of me leaving him. I give him a treat when I leave. He loves these things. We have a little routine where he gives me his right paw, then his left paw, then he lies down and I give him the treat. You should see him start trying to give me his paw as soon as I approach the cabinet. And damn can that dog rush through pawpawdown - lickety split I tell ya'!

Anyway - despite the pain that it can be to suit up to take him out to do business in the middle of the winter with 6 inches of snow on the ground - I love the Boom Doggie.