(QUE BARBRA) MEMORIES, LIGHT THE CORNERS OF MY MIND

No new knitting to report today. I did complete a cotton dishcloth with a cat design in it, but decided to take a stroll down memory lane and show a crocheted lace doily I did back in 2003. My maternal grandmother (Flona) taught me to crochet just as I was entering my teenage years. She passed away several years ago, but I still miss her greatly; even to this day. She was a very dainty woman who never wore make-up or had on a pair of pants or shorts a day in her life. She belonged to the Church of God (Penacostal). Below is the doily that I crocheted and a picture of my grandmother. We were playing some kind of game around Easter one year where you had an Irish potato between your thighs and you had to walk up to a Mason (canning) jar and drop it in without missing. This may be a Southern thing :-)! I remember laughing so hard that I thought I would wet myself. I believe this picture was taken of her back in the late Sixties. That's me, my mother (Doris) and my youngest sister (Denise) to the left of my grandmother.

The picture below was taken when I was around 14 or so. I had just completed my first, big crocheted project; a large granny-square afghan. I was so proud of it. Lord, I was so homely looking, LOL!!

This picture was taken around 1991. I'm showing this one because it was around this time that I came out to everyone as a proud, gay man. The lady in the picture with me is/was a good friend of mine, Anne. She and another lady that I used to work with took me out to dinner at a restaurant named Julie's to celebrate my coming out. Notice my lazy eyes? I think I had like two or three glasses of red wine with dinner and I was definitely not feeling any pain. I can't believe how much hair I had and how physically thin I was. In some ways, I really miss those days, but as Doris Day once sang, Que Sera, Sera!!

In case anyone's interested, here's a link to a website if you want to start knitting up some cotton dishcloths to give away as Christmas/Hanukkah presents. The holidays are just around the corner, you know.

Well, that’s it for the moment. I may post another entry sometime later this week about my job, or better yet, probably here soon, the lack thereof. Ta-Ta For Now, possums!

ANOTHER SATURDAY

At the moment, I'm listening to one of Mozart's last string quartets he wrote before he passed away. I didn't get out of bed until late this morning. I've got clothes in the dryer and then I'm going to wash my bed sheets. Exciting, right?! Least I forget, I've got to cut grass today. I'm having a knit-in at my house tomorrow afternoon and I don't want them to see my yard my with grass not cut. Cutting grass is one of my least favorite things to do. It's not a big yard because I live in the city limits. All the same, cutting grass is cutting grass; not a big fan. I also need to clean out my car and wash it. Will that get done today? Maybe, maybe not.

Yesterday after work, I stopped by The Parthenon and picked up a Greek Salad for my dinner. I don't know if it was all the oil and feta cheese, but I've not been feeling my best today. Once I cut the grass, maybe I'll feel better due to the exercise.

I FROGGED my sock. I may try again with DPN's.

I hope that everyone is having a good weekend and feeling content, happy and at peace.

Shalom, my little prairie dog.

WORD VERIFICATION

Hello, everyone. I turned on the word verification option for my comment section. It seems that I'm reading more and more where people are getting spammed in their comment section. Arse hole spammers!! I hope that won't be too much of an inconvenience and you'll continue to post your comments. I enjoy reading what you have to say. I'm heading up to my younger sister's home today. She is giving her daughter a birthday party and invited me to come up. I've got to run and get showered and then off to the grocery store before I leave. I hope that everyone is having a good weekend so far. Smooches!

I'M SO MESHUGANAH WITH ANTICIPATION!

I can't wait..........I can't wait!!!! I got an E-Mail from Sony (Owner of Columbia Records) today advising that Barbra's new album will be out September 20th. I think it's going to be a great album. She and Barry are looking so fabulous. I can't wait...........I can't wait! Happy dance........happy dance!!!! Click on link below to see a video of one of the songs from the album.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000AOJ9EY/ref=amb_right-1_96005001_2/104-2189539-8930345

BTW, no I'm not Jewish, I just love Yiddish words. They're so expressive. I did date a Jewish guy from California for a while. He certainly was/is a character with a nice punem and schlong!!

IT'S ON!

I'm truly seeing red because I'm so mad. A woman from a company called All American called and left me a message on my answering machine and stated that it was imperative that I call them back. The thing is, I recognized the name of the company when they called last week. When I called her back last week, I asked her what company was All American and she said that it was a Title Company. When she asked for the last four of my ssn, I gave it to her. She stated, no you're not him and said that she would take care of it.

Well, I called back again and she once again asked for last four of my ssn. I gave it to her again. She stated again, you're not him. I then proceeded to tell her, "that's what you told me last week." That #@*&^ hung up on me. I immediately called back and asked to speak with a supervisor, she hung up on me again. I called again and the phone kept ringing and then she finally answered and I again asked to speak with a supervisor, she hung up again. I called back and after many more ringtones, she finally answered. I told her, "YOU RUDE ASS"!!!! and hung up the phone. Do you know she had the nerve to call me back and threaten to call the police and report me! I very loudly was in the process of telling her that if she/the company ever called me again I would do the same. That #@*&^ hung up on me again before I could finish saying it. I try not to let myself get so angry, but she truly fit the bill of a B****! This just happened so I guess that's why I'm still fuming.

I started my first official sock last night using two circular needles. I've only made one in the past using regular worsted weight yarn on double pointed needles as a sample run through. It came out okay, but have not tried to started another one with regular sock yarn. I then purchased Cat Bordhi's Socks Soar On Two Circular Needles and am so far finding the experience fun. Don't get me wrong, both the circs. and dpn's and good in their on right. I guess it's just up to one's preference. I'm just on the 2x2 ribbing so far so we'll see when I get to turning the heel and then the gusset. I hope that everyone is having a good HUMP DAY. Two more days until the weekend. Thank gawd!!!!

ANOTHER YEAR OLDER, OY VEY!!

Yes, this past Thursday (the 11th), I turned 44. I don't feel my age except maybe a slightly stiff back in the morning. I'm way out of shape and need to do something about it. Funny that I know I need to lose about 25 pounds, but the majority of time spent for my birthday Thursday through Sunday was eating more than my share of food.

Friday night myself, two ladies from the local knitting guild I'm in and my ex. went out to dinner at The Parthenon. Great Greek food. I only got the Greek salad and had water instead of beer. The only thing is, it comes in this huge bowl. I sat there and ate just about the whole thing; what was left came home in a doggy bag. Not to worry, my pretty, I polished it off around midnight as a snack. Thanks for the great company and meal Millie, Gail and Dallas!!

Saturday myself, my ex. and his sister went out to lunch at a Chinese buffet. I don't remember the name, but yes again, I over-ate. Not hard to do at a buffet. I love Chinese food.
Thanks for the wonderful meal, Dallas and for being a great person that I'm so thankful to have in my life. Linda, you're a sweetheart.

Sunday, my friend Alyson and her dad (who came over from Sumter) went out to lunch at Yesterday's where I proceeded to order the Mushroom Cheeseburger with French Fries. I love mayonnaise with my fries and could live quite happily in Belgium because of that (not to forget that they're one of the largest producers of beer in Europe)!! Yesterday's is in an area of Columbia called Five Points which is near the University of South Carolina. Need I say that school is back in session and the male eye candy has tripled in that area of town! Alyson, you're a dear friend that I've known for many years now and I just LOVE to shop with you. You see, we never tell the other not to buy something, whether it's truly needed or not.

My mom and dad sent me a gift card to Target (that was used yesterday), my friend Robb from Las Vegas sent me a gift card to Best Buy (that was also used yesterday). Yes, they both were used yesterday while shopping with Alyson. Thanks mom, dad and Robb. You guys know I do like to spend money; especially when given to me. I used my Target gift-card to buy misc. things. My big purchase was at Best Buy where I used Robb's gift-card toward purchasing Oz: Season Three. Christopher Meloni can be husband anyday!!










This is the birthday card that Robb sent me. On the inside it said, "You Sure As Hell Ain't 39"!!! I thought it was pretty funny.


















So, as I look ahead to a new birthday year, I so need to make a commitment to losing weight and getting out of my present job that is slowly, but surely, driving me insane. It's a very large, national telecommunications company that really doesn't care about the kind of stress they put on their employees. It's all about your performance numbers, my dear. Okay, well great, but you sit down and try and do it and see how successful you are!! Enough said. I'm off today and don't want to think about the place.

On the knitting front, this is the one thing that I've finished since the Afghan. It's a dish drying towel. I still need to add a button and then block it. The top folds over and buttons onto a drawer or oven handle. It's made from some left-over (that I still have more of) cotton yarn. My cat, Tiger said that he must be in the photo.







"I'm ready for my close-up, Mr. DeMille"!! Have a great week, everyone.

















P. S. I am so excited that next month, if everything is still on schedule , that Streisand has a new POP album coming out!!!! On her website, she has some wonderful, personal views on what's going on in our country today. You go, girl!!

C'EST FINI

Oui, mon cher. C'est fini. I have finally given birth. No RG (real girl) has anything on me. I gave birth and immediately got up and took pictures. At times, I didn't think that I would ever finish, but I did. As I mentioned in an earlier post, this is the first time that I ever finished an afghan (throw). I usually would get bored with one and never finish it. I'm glad to have it done so that I can now start on something new. What will it be.........? Also, as mentioned in a previous post, the colors have no rhyme or reason. It's yarn that a friend gave me and I was trying to thin out my stash. I had to put the white in it because there was not much of the yellow. Anyhow, I'm okay with the way it came out. It's not as wide as I had thought it would be, so I'll probably use it as a throw instead of an afghan.

To finish it off, I decided to crochet a shell stitch border instead of putting tassels on it. I now have it in the wash so that I can put it away until Winter.

While finishing my knitting project today, I watched this DVD from my collection. Every time I watch this, it never fails to crack me up. Such funny stuff. The parts where she talks about gays is hilarious. I hope that everyone is having a great weekend. TTFN.