Pretzels and Pizza

Most of yesterday was spent watching the U.S. Open. The Federer/Djokovic was quite exciting. DD and I found ourselves rooting for both of them. They both played some great tennis. I hope the men's final will be just as exciting since the Clijsters/Zvonareva was a sleeper. The only nail-biting occurred when hoping that Vera would get some points so that she wouldn't have a complete meltdown. I think the stress of the match really did her in. I got most of the right side front on my cardigan completed.

I took a brief break to do the weekly supply buying trip. It included a 15 minute serenade by a screaming toddler whose parents refused to remove her from the store. She had a complete and total meltdown. I was afraid she was going to fling herself out of the cart. I know they needed groceries, too, but in my experience removing the child from the situation and refusing to give in their whims tends to prevent those shopping outbursts in the future. Plus, it made it very difficult to concentrate on what I needed. On the plus, it was great birth control for DD who proclaimed she would NEVER have kids since they sounded like that!

DD and I also took a walk down to the theater. In the midst of the trip, we had a sudden downpour/lightning, so our leisurely walk turned into a full sprint home. It's good to know that at my age I can still sprint a little over a quarter of a mile and not pass out--GO ME!!!

The biggest break of the day was to make dinner. DH decided he wanted soft pretzels AND pizza. I made a whole wheat dough for the pizza, but it was a little heavy. Next time, I'm going to reduce the amount of whole wheat flour and use more AP unbleached flour. It was still delicious, but I like my crust a bit lighter. The toppings (pesto, fresh and sun-dried tomatoes, Kalamata olives, and a handful of mozzarella) were delicious. DD help with the pretzels. We used Alton Brown's recipe. This is the second time we made them, and they are still delicious. We use marinara or mustard to dip them in. It was like a night out at Mellow Mushroom at a fraction of the cost.

Today's agenda includes lunch out with a high school/college friend, the men's final, and the season finale of True Blood. After today, I don't know what I'm going to do between now and hockey season for TV viewing so that I can knit.

Back to work

I like long weekends, but going back to work afterward isn't much fun. At least I did get some things done. The back of the Minimalist Cardigan is finished.

DD and I made the butternut squash ravioli. It was delicious. There are enough for leftovers, but there really isn't enough to freeze. I also made a big batch of butternut squash soup. Thankfully, there is enough of that to freeze. I also kept out a bit for leftovers one night. I used a recipe from the original Moosewood cookbook. I left out the mushrooms because I didn't want the color or texture of the mushrooms. It was still awesome.

KIPing

I had to take DD to the eye doctor yesterday so that she could get some contacts that she can see out of. I pulled out my Minimalist Cardigan and started knitting away. There were three or four of us in the waiting area. Another lady around my age pulled out her crochet and started hooking away. A few minutes lady one of the employees came over to watch us. She was able to identify that I was knitting and the other person was crocheting and that I was making a sweater. She said she crochets some but was never able to figure out the knitting. Our LYS has gone out of the business, and we discussed that for a bit. I got several inches done before DD was finished. She is fine but did indeed need a new prescription in one eye. It's not a very artistic picture, but at least I can tell that the back is almost finished. I love it, and there are not going to be any buttons or buttonholes to line up. The iPhone makes it look teal, but it is a little brighter than that. It is made out of Cascade 220. I picked it up at the LYS before they had to close their doors. There isn't another LYS within 50 miles, but that is another story for another day.

Last night I went to a Labor Day party at a friend's house. She has recently moved, and they have done a lot of great work on it. Including massive amounts of landscaping. She was kind enough to make sure I had some vegetarian options. They showed an outdoor movie on an inflatable screen. There was a lot of good conversation and good fun. Thankfully, it takes just 30 minutes to get to her house.

Hubby and I had to go grocery shopping yesterday morning. The store in a tiny town didn't have any sesame oil, organic vegetable stock, or quinoa. It's one of the many downfalls of small town stores. I'm probably the only in town who buys that stuff. Yes, I can make my own vegetable stock, but sometimes you need some quickly and don't have any left in the freezer. I haven't really gotten into the swing of things as far as my schedule, so I haven't been good about planning ahead. I was able to get wonton wrappers so that I can make ravioli from the squash I got from Turtle Bend Farm. I plan to make those this evening. Hopefully, I will have some pics this evening.

Market

Work is consuming my life these days, unfortunately. I haven't been biking since July. I've managed to get in three runs since then. So much for using exercise to reduce stress. I've knit about two inches on my Minimalist Cardigan. I haven't been able to finish the Hanging Garden Cardigan. On the plus side, the people at my current location are much saner and nicer than the last place.

Anyway, I was excited to be able to get to the market the past two weeks. It is the highlight of my week. I LOVE that we have a farmer's market with local, sustainable farms. I wasn't caught up on my work, but I was determined to go to the market this week. I'm glad I did because Turtle Bend has butternut squash--one of my favorite veggies of all time. On top of that, Mecca had a great recipe for soup without cream and tips on making butternut ravioli (my favorite dish). The ravioli needs no modifications to make it vegetarian. The soup just needs a substitute for the chicken stock--easy, peasy. Unfortunately, I forgot to get cash before I went, so I couldn't buy very much. I would do the subscription, but I'm afraid a lot of it would end up going to waste since we are such a small family. I've managed to do some cooking and freezing. We don't have a separate freezer to do much of that, though. I am excited to be getting eggs this coming week.

I have been on an anti-buying kick. I see stuff as what is making me continue to work rather than spend all my time doing what I want to do. However, my cutting board finally died. Since I had a coupon and Amazon had a sale, I was able to splurge to a smaller Boos Block. It is awesome. It is the perfect size for me since I have a lack of counter space in my humongous kitchen. I still need to buy a skillet (waiting for another sale) and a kitchen island (I can't commit to spending that amount right now, so I just push the family out of the way as I cook. They have plenty of other places to stand in the kitchen rather than where I'm cooking).

There isn't much going on in the reading department since everything I had time to read lately has been work-related. I have several knitting magazines and books stacked up and waiting as well as some recommended fiction. DD and I have picked up True Blood and spent the summer watching the first two seasons on DVD and are caught up to the current season. It is entertaining even if it isn't high brow. I don't know what we are going to do after the season finale airs--go into withdrawals, I guess. At least hockey starts fairly soon after that.

Hubby said he would take me to a Thrashers game this season. I'm trying to find one that they will be reasonably sure to win.

I'm NOT a Creep!

If you have to start your conversation with "I'm not a creep, but...", then, yeah, you probably are.

The other day I had to stop and get gas. I was out of town in another tiny town. There was one other car getting gas. We are both pumping and minding our own business when this unsavory and CREEPY dude walks up to me. I know you can't judge a book by it's cover, but if you were going to pick a serial killer for a horror movie, it would have been this guy. Did I mention that I am alone as the other car had driven off by this time and I am a small female. He stares at me for a minute (okay leers) and says, "I'm not a dick. I'm going to pump your gas."

Ummmmm, wow. I managed a polite, "Thank you, but I've got it under control." I immediately grab my cell. Thankfully, it has service. I dial DH. "Yeah, hon, how are you?"

He responds with a confused, "What?" It is the middle of the day. Surely, I'm not calling to chitchat.

I continue, "Wouldn't it be weird if, like, some random dude was staring at me right now and wanting to pump my gas and telling me he isn't a creep.......Yeah, I know you don't like other men pumping my gas."

DH is pretty quick on his feet. I can hear the concern in his voice as he says, "You mean, there is someone there doing that now! Can you leave?!?!"

"Well, if he weren't standing in front of my car."

At that moment, another car pulls up. The dude looks at me and says, "I'm not a creep or crazy or anything." No, I'm sure you're not, sweetheart. People always approach lone women at gas stations, offer to pump their gas, and then block their cars so they can't leave. It didn't make me feel any better that the attendant casually watched through the front window.

You may be thinking, "Damn, this woman is an idiot. Why the f*#% did she not call the cops."

I was going to, but I thought 1. is it really a crime to announce that you are not a perv AND offer to pump someone's gas 2. if I am talking to someone on my cell phone, surely he has enough sense to leave. Anyway, I had decided at that point, I would just run the creeps ass over and then call 911. Can you imagine that call:

"What is your emergency?"

"Yeah...some dude tried to pump my gas, so I ran his ass over."

"What???"

"Well, he did indicate something about a dick..."

I'm with Crazy

Life seems to kind of get out of control sometimes, and suddenly it's November. I'm trying the multiple projects thing. I have one that is languishing alone at the bottom of the knitting bag, one that I get out and work on a couple of times of week, and smaller projects that I knit up and finish in the meantime. I've gotten an okay amount of knitting done.

I've been reading a lot of books lately-mostly fluff. I've watched a lot of movies (mostly foreign). I LOVE Netflix instant play queue.

I've also been dealing with a couple of months of crazy--not my own, but I am afraid that it will rub off on me. Unless you are inoculated against them, crazy and stupid both tend to be contagious. I am around an excessive amount of both. That's all I have to say on that topic.

I'll try to get some of my knitted items posted here. If you are a member of Ravelry, I've posted several pictures there. Hopefully, I will find the time and sanity to do more with it soon.

FO's

Yes, two are in yellow/gold. I had some leftover yarn for the Fetching, and DD wanted another pair. It worked out perfectly!

DD and I went to see Harry Potter in Imax 3-D today. It was great. Without giving away anything, I find it interesting that characters are not always what they seem to be but are rather reacting to situations that are thrust upon because of life's situations. Although there are definitely good and evil characters, most of the characters fall somewhere in between and have moments of both.