Beans & Cornbread

& puppies too!

Otter had to sneak up on him, but we finally got a picture of Frasier!  He was probably about to have a nap, she was standing in the hallway just where she could see into the living room and he was actually still for this.

This is what he did next!  It's what he usually does when he sees the camera, don't know why.

But he came right back when I said the word "hug" and he was happy about it.  He usually turns his head so that his head is behind mine, and he leans into me when he gets a hug.  He really seems to like to be hugged.

Can't forget about Maggie Moo!  She was right there when she saw that Frasier was getting attention, but she needed her own affection.  She has allergies, which causes her eyes to water and that's what you see on her face.  She gets regular face washings, which she does NOT like one bit!

The title refers to tonight's dinner.  I made a huge pot of pinto beans on Sunday.  We've been eating them since then and there are several containers in the freezer for Willieboy's lunches.  Tonight, I made rice and we also had a smoked sausage link in the fridge that we'd had for a while.  We don't eat a lot of stuff like sausage.  I cut the sausage up, stirred it into the beans and stuck it in the microwave.  When the rice was ready, I poured it into the beans/sausage and we had it with chopped onion, a little cheese and in Bill's case cut up jalepenos on top.  He also added picante sauce.  We still had some cornbread left, so we had that with it.  It was actually pretty good, not exactly red beans and rice but it was still pretty good.  And very filling.

I voted this morning.  I forgot to look to see what number I was, but there were three people leaving just as I got there and it was just a couple of minutes after the polls opened so I'm thinking I was probably around number 4.  There were two phone calls today, as opposed to what seemed like hundreds in the last several days.  Not that it's ever been any secret, but my candidates are all (and always) pro-life:

Psalm 139 (NIV and permission granted by the Author)*

1 O LORD, you have searched me and you know me. 2 You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. 3 You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. 4 Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O LORD. 5 You hem me in--behind and before; you have laid your hand upon me. 6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain. 7 Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? 8 If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. 9 If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, 10 even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast. 11 If I say, "Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me," 12 even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you. 13 For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. 14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. 15 My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, 16 your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. 17 How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! 18 Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand. When I awake, I am still with you. 19 If only you would slay the wicked, O God! Away from me, you bloodthirsty men! 20 They speak of you with evil intent; your adversaries misuse your name. 21 Do I not hate those who hate you, O LORD, and abhor those who rise up against you? 22 I have nothing but hatred for them; I count them my enemies. 23 Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. 24 See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.

*Author does not mean earthly publisher, either.  Just in case anybody was wondering.

Monday Stuff. Warning: Politics

Monday.  Back to the real world today!

The real world being work.  Which was busy, I'm cleaning out a lot of old files and stuff that should have been thrown out/shredded/donated years ago.  I got a lot done, until the 95 year old teenager got there.  Then progress was slowed considerably, but that's ok.

We have a state election coming up this month.  There is a specific race that is a new state office, it's a new senatorial seat that covers the district we live in.  It's actually a district relocation, and there is no Democrat candidate.  All four are Republicans.  Seeing as how I'm the only person in my house actually registered with a party (Republican, not that anyone is surprised), I'm suddenly very popular with people I've never even met before!  Because Oklahoma is not an open election state, if you aren't registered with the party - you can't vote.  Which is basically taxation without representation, but that's another argument.  I'm also only registered with a particular party affiliation so that I can vote in the primaries.  I'm as conservative as it gets, but I prefer to make my own decisions about who I want to represent me.  The point is - anyone who has that R on their voter's registration is suddenly getting visits, mail, phone calls, etc. about the upcoming race.  It's a primary, but since there are only the R candidates, the winner takes all and wins the seat.  One of them came to the door a week or so ago, but I was having to wrangle a large & furry dog who was suddenly not sure he wanted anyone to talk to me - Frasier gets like that when it's me and Bill's not within sight.    Bill was home, but he was in the other room and Frasier was "on duty" as we call it.  So I only talked to the man for a moment.  Today, Otter and I were just getting home and were actually still in the driveway when the next candidate showed up.  I had time to talk to him, since the dogs were safely in their yard and we were in the driveway.  My first question, as always, is "are you pro-LIFE?"  If the answer is no (it never has been so far), then my next comment will be to say that there is nothing I have to say to them and to say goodbye.  Today's politician said exactly what I'd hoped - that he is pro-LIFE without any exceptions.  So far, I'm not sure who I'm voting for in that race.

I am also not sure at all about the Presidential race in November.  I can NOT under any circumstances, and will NOT under any circumstances, vote for the incumbent.  Probably not a surprise to anyone.

Problem is, I'm not sure I can vote for Romney either.  It's not just me, it's all three of us.  Bill probably said it best:  "There is no way I justify myself when I stand before Father God at the judgement day and explain that I voted for someone whom I consider to be godless."  Yes, that does mean that we don't consider the mormon religion to be Christian.  Which does not mean that we think mormons are bad people.  I've known several and they are generally nice, like most people and they are very pro-family.  But I've done a lot of research on their religion - and many others as well - and we don't believe that it's a true or Christian faith.  For a lot of things, and I'm not going into details about their belief system - but a good book to read is Under the Banner of Heaven by Jon Krakour and there are several others.

That was part of today's discussion at work.  It got a little heated for a while there, the 95 year old teenager believes almost everything he reads and he read some Romney campaign material.  Then we had a history discussion, which I was correct about, and it got kind of interesting to say the least!  Among other things, he told me that faith needs to stay out of politics and shouldn't have any basis on who we vote for or in how we live our lives.  ????  I told him that we are supposed to live our faith in all things and that does include politics.  He knew he was on shaky ground at that point and changed the subject.  (I was never rude, I was always respectful but I was also always firm.  And he shouldn't have been surprised!)

OK, politics over.  For the moment.  Soapbox has been safely stored, but it's ready to be deployed at a moment's notice.

Otter and I did some rearranging yesterday.  Her craft/fabric stash outgrew the corner of her room where it's been stored.  A while back, actually.  I made some room on my craft/stash shelves in the office closet and she relocated some of her stuff to it.  She still could use something else, maybe a small shelf unit, in her room to contain the rest of it.

On Friday, I am acquiring a new niece.  Scooter (Froggy's oldest) is getting married!  Because it's on a Friday, and the specific Friday it happens to be, we aren't going to be able to attend the wedding.  Froggy, I expect a full report - with pictures - as soon as possible!  Do you have any suggestions for Mrs. Scooter's blog name, or is Mrs. Scooter ok?  (Scooter is Froggy's oldest's nickname from when he was very young).

Allergies are making their way back today.  I've sneezed a lot, but I was also dealing with a lot of dust today.  Billyboy was noisy all night.  Otter reports that she's starting to feel the tightness in her lungs that usually means asthma is thinking about showing up.  We had a long-lived thunderstorm last night, most of the night in fact, and it's been sunny today.  That means that things are going to bloom on overload for the next few days.  Joy.

We also had a lot of wind, although we don't have any tree problems this time.  Probably because it's already been blown out of/off of the tree!  There seem to be a lot of other people who have had tree issues, just not us.  Not that I'm complaining!  I'm not happy that anybody else has problems, I'm just glad that we don't this time.

This & That Thursday

This is my Presidential candidate:

The One I'm Voting For

We don't really expect Santorum to make it all the way, but we are hoping that he will.  We are not comfortable with Romney's record, he's not really Pro-Life although he claims to be.  We don't like Ron Paul at all, he's an isolationist and anti-Israel.  I'm not sure if he's pro-death or Pro-Life, but we don't like most of his other stands on things so it is kind of a moot point.  Gingrich has the potential to be a good President, but we don't think he's got enough of a following to become the Republican candidate.

We feel, and Bill said this months ago - and I've heard Gigrich say this as well as Rush Limbaugh and a couple of others, that the liberals want Romney to be the candidate because they know he's probably too divisive to actually beat obama.  (No respect = no capital letters).  Each time there has been a viable, strong, conservative candidate who really could win - he's attacked in the press and the feeding frenzy starts.  Cain wasn't the first one, but he was probably the one who was attacked the strongest - after all, if he were the candidate then there's no way that the liberals could claim racism.  Which they have done and will continue to do, especially if their chosen one doesn't get re-elected. We would have voted for Herman Cain, if we'd had the opportunity.  Gingrich has said that he will not drop out, he's in it until the end even though the liberal forces are marshaled against him.  Santorum is currently being attacked, the ads are really ramping up and I expect them to continue.

We're part of Super Tuesday, although Oklahoma is not an open primary state.  Which means that if you aren't registerd with a party, you don't get to vote in the primary.  We don't agree with that, but it's the way it is.  So, I'm the only one who can actually vote next week.  That's also the only reason I am registered as a Republican.  We are all extremely conservative, and our voting reflects that, but none of us like to be labeled to a particular party.

Friday. Raining.

At least it isn't snowing!

For some reason, I'm having problems typing.  I have been mis-typing all day,   It was one of those days where I wish I'd stayed in bed with the covers over my head.  At least as far as work went.  Major Stress Fairy visitation!  I was so glad when 3:30 rolled around...

Anyway.

It's been raining off and on today.  It was supposed to start late last night, but it didn't get here until around 9:00 this morning.  It's been periods of hard rain followed by periods of light rain followed by a very intense & loud thunderstorm followed by periods of hard rain followed by periods of light rain...  We do need the rain, but it always seemed to start getting really hard whenever I had to walk outside.  It would quit while I was in the car, office or Wally on my lunch hour.  But then it would start up again as soon as I was outside or out of the car.

Well, my two surprise bluebonnets are probably happy.  And also the tulips and daffodils, which are already beginning to sprout.

When I dropped Otter off at school this morning, the resident flock of geese was waiting.  They were all standing more or less in a row, on the sidewalk, like they were watching a parade.  Well, I guess they were - all the cars coming in and leaving!  Those geese are evil anyway, from what Otter tells me.  But they are also entertaining.

I did have a post up yesterday, about how I thought that the Susan Komen Foundation made the right decision in pulling their funding from one of the murder providers.  But they gave in and caved to the pressure today, so I took it down.  The murder provider claims that they used the funding for mammograms and for breast cancer treatment.  Except that that particular place did not and does not provide those services - what they do is refer women to other places that actually do provide the specific services.  But they claim the credit!

Anything to pretend that they are not what they really are:  a murder factory.

This & That Thursday

Read this:  (Warning, it's bad and pretty terrible).

I thought "we" made it legal so that this wouldn't happen

Or at least that is what the pro-DEATH people say.

Any way you name it, it's still MURDER.  And obviously, making it legal didn't make it "better".

Just a Few Quick Thoughts on a Saturday Night

To start with, my arms are sore and my shoulders are stiff.  Fingers are kind of ouchy as well.  That's what happens when I crochet all day (literally all day).  I finished the green cap I was working on yesterday, and decided to start on the next cap/scarf set this morning.  I started with the cap first, and it went so fast that I decided to at least get a start on the scarf.  It was going well, and I just never stopped until I was finished.  I'm going to pay for it tonight, I know.  And probably tomorrow as well!  But it was so worth it, I'll probably take a couple of motrin tonight and I'll have stiff shoulders tomorrow.  But I'll deal with it.  I just probably won't pick up a crochet hook for a couple of days, however!  (It was still fun!).

That makes 5 sets I've made for the military family donation.  I'll probably put that project aside for a while and work on a couple of other things, then get back to it again soon.

It's been pretty warm here the last few days.  Low to mid-90's, which isn't really hot yet.  It's just that we went from cold/wet/windy to Summer without the in-between phase.  We've spent a lot of time out on the back deck lately, enjoying the warm weather.  Today, when I wasn't crocheting madly, I sat out there with Bill and the dogsters (Otter was napping on the couch) for a while and it was really nice.  We have 4 hummingbirds which we watched for a while today.

Otter's jalepeno crop is coming along.  The plants are not tall, probably because the weather was just too cool and wet when they needed heat, but they are healthy and are beginning to produce fruit.  Her Rosemary plant is also growing well.  And so is the surprise bluebonnet I discovered growing two weeks ago, in the front of the whiskey barrel.  That's not the same one I found out there previously, this one is another one entirely.  It's been transplanted to a pot on the back deck and after a rough start, it seems to be flourishing.  It got moved instead of being left where it naturally came up because the LAST ONE WAS STOLEN OUT OF THE FRONT YARD EARLY ONE MORNING.  Some heathen dug it up, the entire plant.  (Yes, I realize that not everyone will realize just what they are without at least some Texan in the bloodline.)

What else did I want to talk about?  Oh, yeah.  jack kevorkian died.  (No capitals on purpose).  In case anybody doesn't already know our family opinion of him - life is precious.  It is not given to us to be destroyed.  Born and unborn, all are precious gifts from God and no one has the right to take it from us.  To assist someone in suicide is to commit murder.  He could well have been a serial killer.  He was at the very least a multiple murderer.

On that note, goodnight!  I'm going to take those motrin and head for bed in a few minutes.

Sunday Fair Food, Continued

More detail!

Here's the cheese sculpture!  I can't get it to orient right, so I guess you have to turn your head to the right to see it clearly.  :)  It was kept in a glass-enclosed area so it wouldn't get too warm.  There is a lot of detail although it might not show up so well in the picture.

Otter and BF rode a lot of rides.  The lines were long, averaged about 30 minutes for a 3 - 5 minute ride.  But they had a good time.  We bought ride passes, which actually save a lot of money because the rides are not cheap.  Ride passes can be used every day of the fair, BF went earlier with his family and then again with us so he definetely got his money's worth.  So did Otter, by the way.

There were not as many vendors and exhibits as have been there in years past.  But it was still fun.  We spent the entire day there.  We managed to remember everything we needed to take, with the exception of one very important item:  Sunscreen!  Otter's got pink shoulders, she had on a tank top.  She's been slathering on the aloe vera green goo that we use.

We enjoyed the prize winning displays.  The quilts were lovely, the artwork was very good although some of it was decidedly odd.  The photograph display has Otter seriously considering entering next year.  The crochet prizes have had the same effect on me - the crochet that earned ribbons was good, but not spectacular.  I'm considering a prayer shawl or another less common piece.  But I'll worry about that next year.

A big thing for Otter is the fact that she's now 18.  So she can legally sign petitions.  She couldn't get to the Right to Life booth fast enough, she wanted her first official petition to be the one that might help end legal murder.  (Legal doesn't mean morally right, by the way.)

The petting zoo was fun, it always is.  I took several pictures, but they all have faces in them so no pictures.  Otter was a typical girl, going crazy over all the animals - especially the babies, and she would have happily taken any and all of them home.  BF was a good sport about it, but I think he enjoyed the rides more than the animals.  We fed assorted animals including an emu, a couple of really sweet horses (mama and baby), goats by the boatload (lots of babies!), there was a camel but I'm not sure if Otter fed him or not, assorted cattle and we petted most of them.  There was also a tortoise, which caused me to immediately snap a picture on my cell phone and text it to somebody!  (Anybody care to guess who I sent it to?).

We avoided most of the food oddities.  The fried butter was the big thing that was talked up and publicized prior to the fair, but I never even saw a stand sellling it.  There were fried pickles, which sounds pretty gross, fried cheese, fried apples - which were in a cinnamon batter and served with warm caramel sauce & whipped cream and tasted pretty good and probably other fried things that I didn't see.  A couple of years ago, fried candy bars were the thing (but not my thing!).  There's always the standard food such as corn dogs.  My bad food was frito chili pie and it was very good.

By the time we left, it was just getting dark and there were still people arriving.  We managed to get a decent parking place, which doesn't always happen.  But we were all exhausted, but it was an enjoyable day for all of us.  My feet, back and knees were really hurting.  I took a couple of motrin last night, I think Otter also took one and she had the heating pad as well.

This is the first year that we can remember where it didn't rain once during the entire 10 day run of the fair.  That never happens!  Last year, it rained nearly every day but this year was clear.  However, we do have rain chances this week.

OK, that's my Fair report!  This was the first time we'd been in about 4 years and it was a lot of fun.  I'm glad we went this year.

Sunday Blues

Not blues as in depressed or sad, just blue!  For a couple of reasons.  Here's the first one:

We still have some morning glories, the ones that were originally there have survived and are blooming.  But there aren't very many of them.  The ones that grew really full and then died were probably the new seeds I planted this year.  It's the same story against the back fence, the new ones died and the old ones have come back.  I don't think we'll be planting any more seeds, the blue ones are very pretty and seem to be healthy.  Because we do have blooms, they will reseed like they have always done.

This is a closer shot of Otter's trellis.  By this time, it's usually so full that you can't even see the trellis underneath all the vines.

This shade of blue is my favorite color, so I'm not unhappy that it's the only color we'll have.  I'm just glad we still have them at all.

This is a stair-step plant stand that I didn't use this year, so it's on the side of the deck by the dining room window.  The morning glories apparently liked it, since they have climbed it.

Here's the other reason for the title.  The real reason, actually.

Baby Blues!  And it's not alone, there are four other bluebonnets coming up in the whiskey barrel.  When they get a little bigger, they will be transplanted into pots and brought inside.  They have shallow root systems and I have transplanted them before without a problem, but that was in the spring.  Which is when that are supposed to sprout!  We think that these are just confused because they are not in their Native Element.

Movie review:  Prince of Persia.  We rented it.  It was ok, it wasn't exactly oscar quality but it was a decent movie.  But it was just too "busy."  Too much happened in too short a time!  The acting was ok, not the best but not the worst either.  It was just too long and too busy.  But it wasn't horrible.  It would have been a disappointment if we'd paid theater price, however.

I got some crochet done yesterday.  I'm just about finished with the second pillow cover.  Then I am going to make the one Otter wants, which will just leave me two more for the living room.  I didn't get as much crochet done yesterday as I wanted, but I did at least get some done.  I'm trying to de-stash and the pillow covers are helping quite a bit.  Of course, I still have plenty of yarn in the stash.  :)

Doggieboos go to the vet Tuesday.  Shots, heart worm tests and behind squishing for Maggie Moo.

As I answered Froggy in an earlier comment, we've been slowly bringing the dogs back inside at night.  Winter is coming, after all.  They've been doing ok, but Friday night was really a strange night for the Maggsters.  She tracks flies when she sees them, if she can she'll catch them.  There was one that was all over the living room, it wasn't flying very high and kept landing on the floor.  Every time it would land, she would try to get it but it always got away.  After that, Maggie acted really strange.  Well, she acts strange anyway but really strange this time.  She acted like she was scared of something.  Really scared.  We never could figure out if she was seeing the fly and not realizing what it was since we'd turned out the living room light already (Otter was staying up watching Dr. Who and turned out the light when Bill and I were heading off to bed).  After we'd been in bed for a while, I heard a noisy dog collar jingle in the hallway and thought that something was wrong so I got up.  And nearly ran into Otter in the hallway, with the flashlight.  Seems the noise I heard was Maggie jumping the baby gate we use to keep them out of the hallway & bedrooms.  We looked in Otter's room and the office, no sign of the beagle.  Which meant that she was probably under my bed - and that's exactly where she was.  Acting scared!  We pulled her out, which she did not want, and I carried her back to the living room.  I wound up sitting there with Otter watching the show, and Maggie would not let me out of her sight the entire time.  When the show was over and we decided to go to bed (again in my case!), Maggie kept trying to jump the block again so we finally just put them outside.  She's been fine since then, but it has us all concerned.  There have been a couple of times when she's been having doggie dreams that almost looked like siezures, but we're not really sure.

We've been through a dog literally going schizo on us.  The first Tagalong.  It's not a fun thing, schizophrenia is rare in dogs but it is very bad.  In the first Tagalong's case, he was perfectly fine and literally in the blink of an eye he was wild.  To the point that he attacked me.  He didn't know me or seem to know anything, he was just a solid mass of anger.  And teeth.  He was about Maggie's size, not very big, so I was able to keep him from doing any real damage although I did have bruises.  I wound up tossing him in the bathroom and shutting the door.  He was still angry, he sounded like he was going to tear down the door and I finally just left him in there and went to my parent's house for the night - this was during the time that Bill and I were divorced so he wasn't around at that point.  The next morning, Dad comes over with me and there is no noise from the bathroom.  I opened the door slowly and the dog was fine, happy to see me and acted like normal.  I talked to our vet and described what happened, he said that it was classic schizo symptoms and that I didn't have a lot of options.  It could be a one-time occurance, but it usually wasn't.  I had to keep a close eye on the dog in case it happened again.  Unfortunately, it did.  At that point, I had no choice.  I had to have him put down.  He was one of the best dogs we've ever had and it nearly killed me to do it, but there was nothing else I could do because it would have continued and would in all probability have escalated.  I'd been lucky the first time, but he could have seriously hurt me.  We loved that dog so much that when Otter was very young and we got her a dog, we named him Tagalong the Second.

I am going to talk to the vet, but I really don't think we're dealing with the same thing with Maggie Moo.  It's just that, having been through it once, I know what to look for.  Mostly, I really do think that Maggie was scared because she was pretty good up until the light was turned off and then she probably wasn't able to see the fly until it zoomed by her.  Which it was doing, I think it was probably not healthy because it didn't seem to be able to fly very high.

Something we believe in strongly.

I am going to post pictures on the craft blog, possibly I'll get it done this week, of the bookshelf that Bill built.  It's getting regular use, since it's for our library books and we make regular trips to the library.  He's been building a wall-mounted double case for his pachinko machines today.  He has a bunch of wood that was given to him and he's using it.  It's the same wood he used for the bookshelf.  He might be getting another pachinko machine tomorrow.

I think he's got close to 30 now!

Last Day of May, Books, Monday

First:  Books!

1.  Bliss to you, Trixie's guide to a happy life by Trixie Kootz, dog as told to Dean Koontz.

2.  Tasty Crochet, a pantry full of patterns for 33 yummy treats by Rose Langlitz.  This was my Mother's Day gift from Bill and I'm working my way through it.  Lots of fun.

3.  The complete book of crochet stitch designing by Linda P. Schnapper.  A review of stitches, not much new but interesting.

4.  Dead Space. This was based on a sci-fi video game and was a book that Otter recommended.  It was actually pretty good.

5.  Chasing the white dog, an amateur outlaw's adventures in moonshine by Max Watman.  Gave it a try, and then gave up on it.

6.  Customizing cool clothes from dull to devine in 30 projects by Kate Haxell.  I think this was also Otter's recommendation.

7.  Bend the rules with Fabric by Amy Karol.  Ditto # 6.

8.  Maus by Art Spiegelman.  This is an animated history of a man's experience with his father who was a holocaust survivor.  It's auto-biographical and is one I highly recommend.  It is excellent.  Just a very well done book.  Otter read it a few years ago and thought I would like it, but I never could remember to request it at the library.  I'm glad I finally did remember.

9.  Kokoro no Te, handmade treasures from the heart by Kumiko Sudo.  Interesting but not anything I want to make.

10.  The rhinestone sisterhood, a journey through small town America one tiara at a time by David Valdes Grenwood.  This was interesting, and I enjoyed it.

11.  Crochet bags, 15 hip projects for carrying your stuff by Candi Jenson.  I didn't find anything I particularly liked in this one, but it gave me a couple of ideas.

12.  Super finishing techniques for crocheters, Inspiration, projects & more for finishing crochet patterns with style by Betty Barnden.  Too many words in the title!  Also possibly a rerun, but I found a pattern I liked.

13.  The big show, high times & dirty dealings backstage at the academy awards by Steve Pond.  History of the Oscar's award show, it was interesting but could have been written better.

14.  Crochet in color, techniques and designs for playing with color by Kathy Merrick.  OK.

15.  Crochet adorned, reinvent your wardrobe with crocheted accents, embellishments & trims by Linda Permann.  Remember what I said about the more words in the title, the less substance in the book?

16.  Batman  (Otter and I keep thinking that we've read them all.  Then we find another one).

17.  Labor of Love, a mid-wife's memoir by Cara Muhlhan.  Not impressed with her as a person.

18.  Batman

19.  Batman

20.  The Telling by Beverly Lewis.  Part 3 of a 3 part series.  Not nearly as good as her earlier works.  Very predictible.

21.  Knit's End, meditations for women who knit too much by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee.  Funny, for the most part.

22.  Ortho's all about deck & patio upgrades.  I was thinking about our deck but didn't find anything in this book that I liked.  It had some interesting projects.

23.  Knit & crochet ponchos, wraps, capes & shrugs by Edie Eckman.  Not impressed.  Should have been renamed Mostly knit and very few crochet...

24.  Home Planner outdoor project collection, 113 easy to build projects.  Nothing I liked in this one.

25.  Live from New York, an uncensored history of Saturday Night Live by Tom Shales & James Andrew Miller.

26.  Batman

27.  Start spinning, everything you need to know to make great yarn by Maggie Casey.  No, I'm not going to start spinning my own yarn!  But I enjoyed it.

28.  Batman

29.  So Simple crochet, a fabulous collection of 24 fashionable and fun designs by Melody Griffiths.  A few ideas.

30.  Sweater Quest, my year of knitting dangerously by Adrienne Martini.  I think this would have been better with a different name - 12 months of griping about a specific designer would have been a better title.

31.  Ready made, how to make (almost) everything by Berger & Harothorne.  Interesting projects, but I could have done without the extreme liberalism tree hugging commentary.

32.  Just let me lie down, necessary terms for the half-insane working mom by Kristen Van Ogtrop.  Don't bother.

33.  Crochet with wire by Nancie M. Wiseman.  Not something I want to try, but interesting.

34.  Hooked Jewelry, 40 + designs to crochet.  Again, not anything I want to do but I enjoyed it.

35.  Tunisian crochet, the look of knitting with the ease of crocheting by Sharon Hernes Silverman.  I had been thinking about learning Tunisian crochet but I think I've decided against it.  But the book was good.

36.  Elegant 2 piece sets in thread crochet by Kathryn A. Clark.  Didn't find anything in here.

37.  Batman

38.  Loop D Loop crochet, more than 25 novel designs for crocheters (and knitters taking up the hook) by Teva Durham.  So-so.

39.  Saving Henry, a mother's journey by Laurie Strongin.  I really feel for this woman, she lost a child to an inherited illness that is incurable.  But I really have to disagree with her reasoning behind his death.  He was killed by an inherited illness without a cure - undergoing IVF treatments with the express intent of only implanting the one perfect embryo and destroying the rest is not the way to go.  Those embryos are unborn, human beings and it's still murder, all 90+ of them.

Wow, I didn't realize I read that many books this month!  Also, I didn't capitalize most of the words in the book titles.  My skin is bothering me somewhat today and it's easier if I just type and don't keep hitting the shift key.

Back to the real world tomorrow, the day off today has been nice.  Otter and I had a couple of errands today, including Hobby Lobby.  Bill got out the grill and we had burgers & dogs, which were good but I really think we ate too much.  I know I did.  But we don't do this too often, so I'm not going to complain about it.  But I probably won't have another hot dog for months now, since I had one today.  It was delicious!

OK, now back to the living room with Otter and Bill.  The movie Wall-E is on.  It's cute.  We just ignore the obvious Agenda to it and enhoy the movie as entertainment.  We have to do that quite a bit, actually.

Super Bowl Commercial Comments

Although I think it could have been stronger, I have one thing to say about the Tebow commercial.

THANK YOU CBS

It's a start.

Product Un-endorsement

I'm not big about product endorsements. I like what I like and that's about the end of it. However, if I DON"T like something I am very likely to talk about it.

This is one of those times.

I've done the research on this one, and although it sounds to horrible to be true - it's 100% true.

Neocutis is a brand of make up. I don't wear make up because my skin can't handle it, that is the only reason I don't. However, even if I did and even if I was paid to wear this brand it would never happen.

One of the ingredients is "Processed Skin Proteins" which sounds harmless, right?

But "Processed Skin Proteins" means something else entirely. This company has come out and admitted that they are using SKIN CELLS FROM ABORTED FETUSES. That's right, UNBORN BABIES WHICH WERE MURDERED.

For profit, no less.

There are times when I fear for the human race. This is one of those times.

There is no excuse for this one, no matter what someone says. There is no justifying this one. And yes, I did the research. Unfortunately, this is 100% true.

The First 100 Days

It's been 100 days since the inaguration.

In that 100 days, many things have happened.

War has been declared on the human race. Specifically, on the unborn. But don't worry because stem-cell research is going to save us all! Except that it won't.

War has been declared on small businesses. Which are the backbone of this country. But, apparently, if you make a profit then you must be evil. And you have to share everything with everybody else, because otherwise it's just not fair. Socalism, anybody?

But the real war, the one to keep us safe from terrorists, is being backed away from. And ignored. Because, as we all know, if we don't think about it then it won't happen. After all, that is what seems to be the theme lately. We're not supposed to use terms like recession or any other things that sound scary. (Didn't hitler try something similar?) Well, the world is a scary place at times. But we aren't supposed to admit that. Except that I refuse to be an ostrich.

But we don't have to worry. The government is going to take care of all of us. And when we are all dependent, we are more easily controlled.