Wow!

Pia and Katie treated me to lunch and a show today. We saw "The Lion King", and it was sooo good! The costumes are beyond amazing, the acting and singing wonderful, and of course the songs are superb. Thanks for the special day, girls!

Yikes! Or Should I Say Golly...

I'm adding some 'vintage' pattern books to sell on my website. One is a book from 1941, and includes this doll, called a "Gollywog". Yikes, this is "so fucking wrong" as Katie just exclaimed. Was it okay back in '41?

More Phone Woes

I believe I've now destroyed my cell phone in every possible way. I was trying to 'hide' some weird icon and managed to hide EVERY one of my icons. Actually, after an hour at the T-Mobile store, they assured me it really wasn't MY fault, somehow my software got corrupted. So a new Blackberry is headed my way. Wish it was an I-Phone.

A Book for the Kids

I was at the thrift store today and found a Rotten Ralph book! RR was our very favorite character back when the 'Nottis were little tykes. He is 'still rotten' as the cover sticker guarantees, and as fun as ever.

Completely Logical

Liam is a very logical child. Recently, he wrote a story about crawdads (our favorite thing to catch in the Little Spokane River this summer). He illustrated it with a picture of a giraffe. When asked why he put a giraffe on his story his reply was, "I don't know how to draw a crawdad, but I can draw a giraffe." Makes perfect sense in this world!

New Socks!

I managed to finish something! These are "Monkey" by Cookie A. (no idea why they are called Monkey) The yarn is beautiful Orange Campari colorway from Wollmeise.

I need to drag out the Advent Tree patterns and see which ones I still have to knit for this year, it's coming up fast!

Book List

"Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend.
Inside of a dog it's too dark to read."

Groucho Marx

Here's what I'm reading right now, both of which I recommend whole-heartedly:

"Dancing in the Dark: A Cultural History of the Great Depression" by Morris Dickstein. This one might not be everyone's cup of tea, but it's an interesting look at the 30s written in an accessible style. The author uses the films, books, photos and music of the Depression years to analyze this era (with some pertinent parallels to our own financially depressed times).

"My Life in France" by Julia Child. Delightful! If you loved "Julie and Julia" as much as I did, you'll enjoy this account of Julia's years in France. Much of the film used anecdotes from this book, and it's fun to read the stories in Julia's own words.


I'm not really much of a fiction reader, but did read the new Dan Brown book "The Lost Symbol". Doesn't rate a picture lol. Actually, it was a fast, fun read, but I thought the ending was stupid (just like his other books). One fiction book I did enjoy was "Home Safe" by one of my fave authors, Elizabeth Berg.

Helen, a successful author, is thrown into emotional turmoil when her husband dies unexpectedly -- and leaves a secret. Her quest to find out if her husband had been leading a double life leads her on a path of discovery about her relationship with her daughter, her writing and what makes a home and family. OK, that sounds a little cheesy, but really, she's a wonderful writer, I love her! If you like this one, try "Range of Motion", "Joy School" or
"Talk Before Sleep".