Random thoughts and stuff

So, here's a bunch of us on Go Red Friday. I'm all the way in the back, right side (as you look at the picture), second from the right (dark hair, white turtleneck, between a black woman and a woman with red/black on). Note the men in the picture -- I think it was pretty cool that they participated.

Today is little Brandon's 4th birthday. His blanket was delivered to their house (in the pirate's chest) yesterday, so we're anxiously awaiting that phone call tonight.

I finished a hat I made for Lisa last night, too. Now she's got a hat to go with her scarf. She's good for my knitting self-esteem, claiming that she feels honored/privileged to be the "guinea pig" for anything I make. And she wears that stuff proudly! Gosh how I love that little dork-o-mine!

I've also been working on a three color project -- white background, green leaves, red rose flowers. It's really very pretty and I'm quite taken with my ability to incorporate multi-colors into a project.

I'm staying small for the time being -- no big projects, just little ones that are easy and quickly completed. I've done cloths with motifs -- yellow duckie, fish, sailboat, pear, apple, cat paw.

I have patterns for every letter in the alphabet, as well as several animals and other child items (planes, etc.) I have a pattern for awareness ribbons, too. I'm considering taking orders for them, as well as making up a whole bunch of them to sell at the Fall Foliage Festival in October (along with our other wares that we'll have at our booth).

The memorial service for my uncle is Saturday at 1:00. I figure to go down earlier in the day, hang with my aunt and uncle for a bit, then go with them. Lisa will likely stay home, which is fine.

Then I have to turn around and go back down there next Wednesday to go to traffic court. First ticket I've gotten in more than 20 years, and it was for doing a U-turn in one of those turnarounds on the highway -- you know the ones, they're built to turn around in, but they have a sign that says No U-Turn. Well, I was trying for more than 2 miles to get over to the right lane to exit, but I apparently offended the car that was in the right lane because, if I slowed, so did she, if I sped up, so did she -- she just wouldn't let me in. As my exit approached, I briefly considered a quick acceleration and shooting across the two lanes to exit, but people who do that piss me off and, it's not a very safe thing to do anyway. Just as I made the decision to stay on the highway and not shoot across the two lanes, I saw a state trooper in the median -- thankfully, I made the right decision. A mile or so down the road, I turned around and backtracked to my exit. Unbeknownst to me, there was another state trooper following me in an SUV. So, I got a ticket. I'm not going to fight it, just show up at court in the hopes that it'll be reduced to something that's not a moving violation.

The SuperBowl sure was a yawner, wasn't it? I mean, other than the first five minutes, that is. High points of the game was the Colts' offense racking up 190 rushing yards against what normally is a very stingy Bears defense -- the team of Addai and Rhodes just tore up the field.

Tony Dungy, in my opinion, should have been named MVP of that game. Oh, sure, he's not a player, per se, but he's a player in the bigger pictures. And here is a guy that got Tampa Bay just shy of the SuperBowl, and left an excellent team for John Gruden to take to the SuperBowl, and win.

I was glad to see Peyton Manning get that ring, but wasn't at all sure that the MVP selection was right.

I'm off the Provera now, and actually have my energy back. I spent the last ten days in such a fatigued funk that all I could think of all day long was a nap. Thankfully I only have to be on that crap for ten days out of every three months.

Almost every school in the area was closed yesterday. With wind chills reaching the -20 mark, the problem of child safety was a factor for most level-headed school administrators but, for those districts that typically don't close until AFTER the allotted time for federal monies, they were forced to close because the frigid temperatures caused jelling of the diesel fuel in the buses, and the buses just wouldn't run. Almost two dozen buses broke down and had to be repaired on the side of the road, while students waited in the frigid temperatures inside the buses.

As it turns out, the problems with the fuel jelling comes from a state mandate which requires the use of a low-sulfur fuel additive. I guess we'd better go back to the drawing board on that state mandate, eh?

Ever notice how severe weather brings out the excessively stupid? Here's a moron who saw other tracks on the ice at the local bay, and decided to drive his SUV on it. Now, keep in mind that, up until about 3 weeks ago, we had temperatures in the 50s and 60s since the onset of winter. Sure, we've had some pretty low temperatures, but not for a long enough time to completely freeze one of the GREAT LAKES. According to police, the tracks he saw were most likely from MUCH LIGHTER four-wheelers. What a stupid, stupid, stupid putz. Wouldn't you love to know how much it's going to cost him to get it out of the bay? They said he has to get it out, and very soon -- they're not going to let him leave it there until the spring thaw or anything like that. One tow truck operator estimates it'll run about $3,000. I hope it costs him his right nut, too. Idiot.

Miracles upon miracles, the Rev. Ted Haggard has been counseled out of his homosexuality, and after only three short weeks! I'm sure that his conviction of his heterosexuality doesn't have anything to do with any wants, needs or desires to head up another big-budget organization like the one he had before, right?