knitgerie?

So remember when I whimsically considered learning to knit because I wanted a hat I couldn't afford? Well, A few weeks ago I found a Learn to Knit DVD at the Provo Library, and decided, on a second whimsy, to learn to knit. Last week I bought a cheep pair of knitting needles and gave it a try.

Wow, Anyone can make a how to DVD.

I think it was made in a garage, without a tripod, and with on on-camera microphone. My favorite was when the camera zooms in to show you how to do the stitch and the camera cannot hold still... how is that supposed to help me? Well, Several rewinds later, I mastered how to start and the basic stitch. Mastered, in this sense, means I can do it, not that I do it well; in other words, it means I didn't master it.

There is, however, and interesting section on knitting BIKINI'S- which basically reminded me of bra's and panties. I haven't watched much of that yet, as I haven't quite mastered the potholder, but it got me thinking...

How funny would that be to knit matching girl/boy lingerie sets...you know, for bridal showers? I mean, if you can knit a bikini... ha ha ha. Not to sound dirty, by any means, just a thought. Do you think there is a market out there for knitgerie? Wouldn't that be an entertaining product line- a cross between "Granola" and "Kinky."

Or, even better, picture it being trendy...."I knit my husband the cutest pair of speedo's the other day... I should give you the pattern"

For the record, Brett doesn't wear speedo's.

Sometimes I act like I'm still in High School

Like today. When I had to step out of class to blow my allergy blessed nose, and I stepped into an empty classroom where I impulsively wrote "I Love you Ben!!!" on the white board. Then I returned to my class and tried to calculate the odds of there being a Ben in the next class to use that class room.

No, I'm not pregnant, but good guess.

So All day long I had super-strength 3rd year Senioritus and wanted to pack up and move to California- do my internship, get a real job, stop taking stupid minor classes I don't care about anymore. Then, I got home and we got some mail, and that is why I cried. That's right, mail delivery, not a baby.

Brett applied for a training program with the Director's Guild in California. If he got accepted, then he would have a 2 year paid internship training to be an assistant director. At the end of the program, he can join the Directors Guild. That would mean I could get out of here, go somewhere where a photographer might actually make somewhat of a living, and maybe live somewhere where I am aloud to have a dog. (Stupid on campus housing and it's anti-goldfish ways). Ohhh, and maybe I could get a cricket too... what fun.

Well, the letter came today from the Director's Guild Producer training program, and I could see through it that it contained a self addressed stamped envelope- always a good sign- and it had more than a single sheet of paper in it, also a good sign.

No, he is not in YET. But they accepted him on to phase two- which means he flies to California after finals and takes a test and interviews a few days later. We will find out at the end of June if he is in, and if so he starts in August.

As far as I'm concerned the hard part is over (if you don't believe me, you should check out their 20-something page application), so I think I'm gunna start bringing boxes home from work and selling off furniture.

Okay I won't, but I wanna.

tee hee hee hee.

I am so excited I just broke down and cried, though I should better wait until B gets home to tell you why.

It may seem silly to post to say you are going to post again soon, but I can't help it, I'm all gitty. Besides, I know you all check this several times a day... I'm totally that popular.

Taco Lasagna.

Remember my Italian Brownies? Well, Taco Lasagna isn't that good either.

A cookie update from mia madre

my mother tried that some recipe and told me the same story about 30 years ago. seriously That was before email it spread by word of mouth and they passed the recipe along with the story in RS


(please excuse her bad punctuation and such. I've corrupted her with IM'ing.)

the $250.00 dollar recipe

We got this e-mail forward with the supposed $250 dollar Neiman Marcus Oatmeal Cookie Recipe. It was accompanied by one of those "true" stories explaining why I should forward it to everyone I know. I think Neiman Marcus Super Agents intercepted and altered the recipe, 'cause Brett made them today, and they don't really taste amazing. In fact, the free recipe that comes on the back of Quaker Oats is better... OR MAYBE the local "supliers" have inferior refined white sugar. Then again, deserts aren't Brett's specialty(he usually makes makes main/side dishes that require custom spicing while I tend to make various combinations of flour and sugar held together by butter), so maybe he didn't mix the cookies in the right size cauldren or remember to stir counter clockwise three times before chanting "be ye delicious."

Sprouts

Once upon a time, some of my seeds sprouted and I was sore excited. That time, it so happens, was today.

Pimp Your Kitchen Aid

Stop poring money into the appearance of useless things (like homes and cars). Show you are a tough momma by blinging what truly matters.

Check it out: www.Flameka.com

A Summary of March

1. Sat Feb 24th- March 1st:
My Parents came up to stay with Nanial and play with their grandson Bentley. Unfortunately I had 2 midterms in that time period, and part of a research paper due, so I didn't get to see them as much as them as I'd of liked. I did however, learn I really really like indian food.

2. Friday March 9th- Saturday March 17th:
Brett forgets to tell me that his mother is coming up to stay with us and that his sister is having surgery. I get a 2 hour warning. Fortunately Brett helped me clean up the house and make room for her, and it all worked out. Sunday we drive up to see B's dad and step mom talk in church. The week ends up being a marathon of the extended versions of LOTR. This, fortunately, gives me the chance to excuse myself from our guests and catch up a bit on my homework. Carrisa (B's Sister) has minor surgery on Wednesday and is coherent but a bit disconnected for a few days due to painkillers. Incredibly early Saturday Morning, Brett's mom leaves for the long drive home.

3. March 17th:
I have plans to fold the Laundry I did earlier that week, start up some new laundry, catch up on homework, work on my Ling 450 paper and my BFA paper. None of this happens.

Brett sporadically makes plans for a ST. PATTY'S DAY dinner and invites His dad, Mary, Sophie, Carrisa and Rylan over. He want's to go to Costco but really really wants me to go with him (and they make fun of girls who can't go to the bathroom without a buddy). We end up spending a long time in Costco without realizing it. Plan's change and we are going to have dinner at Carrisa's cause she is not yet up to leaving the house. I help brett with some minor details of the cooking, then leave him to finnish while I do homework... except I find out that I forgot all of my books. I brought everything else I need (syllabi, computer, etc.) but left my books on a pile on the table at home. I'm frustrated with my stupidity, and decide to go across the street to Lowes and START A GARDEN. That's right, a garden. My maternal instincts are kicking in, and since I'm not even allowed to have goldfish in my apt, I've decided, somehow, that watering plants will have to do. I get some little mini windowsill greenhouses, peat pellets, and 7 packets of seeds (4 flower, 3 herbs). I spend my spare time after dinner planting my little seeds- One green house for flowers, one for herbs. I borrow some of Carrisa's herb seeds and get a 6-herb garden instead of 3...yea. At the end of the night We are carrying all of our stuff to the car and I drop my flower greenhouse. I am disappointed because now I don't know which flowers should be coming out which pellet. I AM SUCH A BAD FLOWER MOMMY.

4. Sunday March 18:
Brett has a job on Monday in SLC, but since we only have one car, I drove him up Sunday after church to stay with his dad overnight. We have dinner there and I manage to finally finish a really long chapter for one of my classes, but keep falling asleep. I don't know why I am so tired because I got enough sleep the night before. I drive home that night and happily listening to an audio book... Which is why I don't notice for a very long time that I have gone North on the freeway instead of South. By the time I realize this I AM IN A PART OF UTAH I'VE NEVER BEEN IN BEFORE. I get off a ramp to discover that I am in an exit only area of the freeway, and must drive along side the freeway until I can find a freeway entrance and head home.

5. Today:
I wake up abnormally hot even though the fan is on and keep trying to sleep. I am incredibly thirsty but too stubborn to get out of bed. I am really hoping I haven't caught the hip new illness. I don't want to be vomiting for days on end. I check the outside temperature and it is below 60*, so it can't be the outside temp. I call in sick to work, don't go to school, and lie in my bed till 2 pm hoping that if I rest my body will manage to not get sick. I have to pick up B from SLC tonight and realize that seeing as I didn't have to drive to work today after all, I should have just let him take the car to SLC yesterday. grrrr.

THE END

Sometimes

Sometimes I like brownies.

Right now I like brownies.

5 important Charlo facts:

1. I can fit a dollar's worth of DIMES in my belly button. I can actually fit more than that, but anything beyond a dollar falls out when I walk around.

2. I adore the SMELL of PEPSI. I don't really like the taste of it, mind you, just the smell.

3.In addition to having a favorite toilet stall (http://charlorae.blogspot.com/2006/05/every-employee-should-have-one_25.html) I have a favorite TEST TAKING DESK. Sometime in High School I figured out that I can concentrate better on tests when I sit in the back, right-hand corner. Something about having a wall behind me and to the right of me just works. No, really- I got a 103% on the midterm I took in the corner, and only 83% on the midterm I took elsewhere in the room ( have two classes in the exact same room). I am totally convinced of the power of my corner.

4. I can also fit QUARTERS in my belly button- though I haven't tested yet to see how many.

5. Last Year I watched half of the Rose Bowl on T.V and that WELL OVER DOUBLED the total amount of sports I have EVER watched (with the honest of exception of a group a friends that played intramural softball).

Stroller parades

I often see herds of women going on walks together, pushing their baby strollers. I say herds, because that is, in fact, what they look like-- Small herds neatly lined up in rows of 2 or 3, as if driven by some unseen shepherd.

Well I must have stepped on the invisible Stroller-shepherd's foot today, because he made sure I got trapped in the very middle of his driven livestock. It was like driving a Geo Metro on the free way and 18 wheelers come out of no where and trap you, forcing you to stay with them for a good 15 miles- and I was scared, mommy, I was scared.

T-shirt Haiku

Those of you who have read my plethora of Apx Alarm Haiku's know how I do enjoy a fine Haiku. The following Haiku is copy-write of the red shirt worn by a boy who was sitting two rows to my right in my linguistics class on Wednesday. Take time to savor my last sentence

Haiku's are easy
Some of them don't make any sense.
Refrigerator.

Excuse me, I've been corrected

I've just been informed that although the box is from shotgun bullets, there are none inside. Instead he is storing shells from spent non shotgun-bullets so that he can remake the bullets. So what I should have said was this:

"yummmm... Brass"

I just couldn't stand lying to all y'all-- Not after the last time

This is what it is like living with a boy

I go to the pantry for some food and find a box of shotgun shells next to the cans. Yum. Lead.

Eclesiastical Harmonica?

Today I heard something I'd never heard before

Harmonica in Church.

We went to see Brett's dad and step mom, who were speaking in Church up in Sugarhouse, and like usual, they had a musical number in between Speakers. In this case it was an old man on a harmonica, with a Piano accompanist that slowly joined in... It kind of caught me off guard... Harmonica?

It was, infact, lovely, but - as is the often the circumstance with harmonica's- quite depressing. I found myself torn between thinking I should learn to play the harmonica, and feeling like I should ask him to play at Brett's funeral... not that I am planning for his death, but it would be a shame to leave such harmonica skills to waste.

Then I wondered if I could make a living playing harmonica at funeral servicces.

Pouting for FREE

So on wednesday I went to the dental hygiene school and got free X-rays and my teeth cleaned for free. The hygienist did an awesome job polishing my teeth. I have never seen such shiny teeth; I couldn't help staring at them in every mirror I past.

The hygienist (and supervising dentist) said that I had pretty good teeth considering I that I haven't' been too a dentist in 2 years. They seemed disappointed. Almost made me wish I had worse teeth so that I could get a little more free dental work out of them. On the bright side, I'm gonna get some free sealant done monday morning.

Afterwards I was going to take advantage of the fact that I had the day off of work, and go get a free haircut- but Brett was a baby and whined about how he needed the car at 11:00. Well, it ended up that he didn't need it until 12:30, and by the time I found this out it was too late to get my free haircut. I pouted, but as is usually the case, pouting didn't get me any more free stuff.

Poppy Farm.

I think I am going to start a Poppy Farm in Utah. I will raise poppies, make money, have a life time supply of poppy seeds for lemon poppyseed muffins. Oh, ya... and occasionally I will run wild through my lovely poppy field in a blue-checkered jumper-skirt on my way to the Emerald City. That's my latest plan.

Extra credit

Today one of my teachers told me that I have a good sense of humor.

Apparently if you give the wrong answer for a bonus question you still get credit for it as long as the teacher finds it funny.

Recent thoughts/adventures

1. After failing to find any poppy seeds anywhere, I gave in and made lemon poppy seed muffins from a box. The lemon had a smell (and a flavor for all I know) akin to "Lemon Joy." I am a trained professional. DO NOT try that at home.

2. a couple months ago I decided I wanted to become a Rubik's Cube Master. Naturally I was too cheep to do anything about it, and so I suppressed the urge. Last night I played with Sophie's Sponge Bob Square Pants Rubik's cube somewhat obsessively. It was small and flimsy and had the wrong colors - but that did not stop me from looking up solutions on the internet, modifying them for my color scheme, and trying my best to defeat the monster. After repeatedly getting stuck at the same point, I gave up, scrambled it, and started from scratch (...drum roll....) with out a cheat sheet.

Hours later I succeeded.... in getting one layer done. I got a solid blue side... 9 squares of blue goodness... repeated images of some cartoon character all facing the same direction. the edges of the touching side were uniform colors matched to their center- if that makes any sense.

I decided to stop there before i became truly obsessed.

3. For some reason I often pass a truck from a particular company on the same street... I have never, in fact, seen any of these trucks elsewhere, and they are always heading in the same direction. I am wondering if they drive in one direction on the street, disappear in a portal on the end, and reappear at the beginning of the street and start the journey anew.

But, Atlas, that is not the point. What I am awed by is their logo... Not their company name logo, per say, but rather an Icon that always accompanies their slogan. I want you to picture this... Close your eyes and have some one read the rest of this post to you- that way you can fully visualize the awesomeness of this. Firstly, It is a roofing company. Secondly, the slogan reeds as follows: "The Confidence you need." What do you picture?... what sort of image would you associate with a roofer?... not just any roofer, mind you, but one that you can have confidence in... and not just any confidence.... the confidence you need...

Now did you picture a perfect circle of shredded dry wall? Okay, good... now did you see a sleeveless muscular arm protruding from this hole ( as if it had punched it's way through)? You did, okay, good. Now, was this musculature vindictively clenching a broken ax ? Really, It was? Wow, I must be the weird one then, because something about a strong roofer swinging an ax and punching holes in my wall doesn't really instill me with confidence. In fact, I wouldn't want to let the wannabe Paul bunion in my house, let alone on my roof.