A Gift

My Valentine recently honored me with a gift a long time in the making. Rick made a very special CD for me. It is so special because it contains some of his original compositions. There is even one he composed for me. All the pieces were composed on and are played on our piano.

There are three cuts in all: Stormy Weather an instrumental piece; Every Time, a melodic ballad he wrote for me in 2002; and Deep Freeze, a hard blues piece with a wonderful bass line.

I love to hear piano music in the house, and this way I can hear it even when I am home alone.

This is a gift I’ll treasure forever and always. Thank you, Dear!

Carnivorous Plants

Yesterday in science class the Artist was reading about carnivorous plants. Curious girl that she is, she asked me if we could get a video that would show such plants taking a meal.

photo of cobra lily patch from http://www.botany.org/Carnivorous_Plants/

Thinking this a perfectly reasonable request, I roused the sleeping computer and started looking around at the local library system. My first query did not give me a result. Undaunted, I tried again. I seemed to remember seeing something like this when I was in a junior high or high school science class oh so many years ago. Do you recall any such thing from your school career?

Repeated queries still gave me no results. Now it was time to call in the professionals for help. The librarian I spoke with was also certain the item I was looking for must be available somewhere. After diligent searching through the local system, through the state of Ohio and then in an expanded search she found it. One video from 1978. Located in Arkansas.

Ms. Librarian requested the video for me, but also told me that I may get a call from a real person (her words). If that happens that means the library was not going to be able to fulfill my request. She also admitted that it was likely this would be the case.

As it turns out, there are at least a couple dozen films of carnivorous plants in action. It is just that no one (well, apparently only one person) has made VHS or CD recordings of the action.

The librarian was very helpful though, and she suggested I look at the National Geographic website. She was right, that site does have a short video of a Venus flytrap, and a bug, and you can imagine the rest.

When Rick got home from work he immediately suggested You Tube. Why didn't I think of that? They have scores of videos about carnivorous plants. From my brief overview it looks like most of them deal with raising, transplanting, making cuttings, and other horticultural things. But some do deal with feeding. Being what the medium is, though, I'll need to invest some time previewing the videos to be sure they are acceptable for my little viewers.

My Sports Folder

The Engineer has had a budding passion for Football, Basketball and Baseball over the past several months. We're not certain when it all started. Perhaps when we went to the game in which the Tribe clinched the division last year. Or maybe it was simply by watching Daddy watch the Browns every Sunday for a few months. Or he could have developed his sports affinity in the back yard where he practices shooting hoops and sometimes plays baseball with Daddy and the Artist.

Whichever way, it is here and developing at a rapid rate. During football season he would ask interesting questions about the games or the teams and work up such an excitement I thought he was more entertaining than the television.

During the baseball season he didn't seem particularly interested, but still today when asked which of the games he'd like to play he answers "baseball!"

Now that it is basketball season he is very tuned in to the Cavaliers. He plays, calls, and referees several games a day in the living room. You should hear sportscaster Joe Tate's words coming from this tiny little voice!

Rick has begun using this interest to further the Engineer's education. Keep in mind this is a boy who asks to do math lessons when he is bored, "Mommy, can I please play math?" Rick and the Engineer browse through the standings together on line. And the Engineer has taken to doing the math in his head to find out how many more wins than losses, or vice versa any given team has. Now they spend a few minutes in the evening practicing addition and subtraction in their heads.

Rick had a great idea to help teach and reinforce another favorite subject of the Engineer's, geography. Over the 2008 sports seasons, Rick and the Engineer will work with the boy's new Sports Folder. Inside are three US maps from my school supplies, one each for football, baseball and basketball. I don't know exactly what Rick's ideas are, but I imagine the two of them will be labeling states and cities and locating team names. The Engineer is not much for coloring, but they may get into using team colors on the maps. Or maybe Rick will teach about the various divisions and conferences within the leagues. More maps can be added to the folder as needed.

I loved this idea the minute Rick told me about it, and the Engineer was very excited when we presented his new Sports Folder to him.

Audrey Challenge

The Audrey sweater is turning out to be a challenge for me. I love the yarn and how it feels. I am enjoying working with the thicker yarn more than I expected to like it.

The pattern still charms me, but we have had our moments. Before I started knitting it I did some web research to see what other blogs had to say about it. From this I learned there was an error in the pattern for the front panel. But errata were nowhere to be found. It was encouraging to read that other knitters found the error easy to correct. But when I got to that point, like a dufas, I completely forgot about writing down the corrections so I could post them for future Audrey knitters everywhere. That is an opportunity missed and gone. After re-working the top eight inches of each panel twice I'm not about to rip and re-knit again without dire need.

I have knit all the pieces and attached and shoulders. The next step in the pattern is to pick up stitches for the button and collar band. But I don't like the way the piece is so floppy right now and I don't want to stress the shoulder seams, so I attached the sleeves instead. Next I'll sew up the side and sleeve seams. That will leave the button and collar band for last. It should also give me some time to go haunt some stores in search of the right buttons for this project.

Audrey doesn't look like much yet. The lifelines are still in place from where I had to re-knit, the cast on tails for seaming are still dangling where seams will be sewn and the shape is largely absent because the seams are not together. Balls of yarn are still attached just in case...And there is the lingering fear that this sweater will need to begin again at square one. I'm hoping this is because I have not made a fitted garment like this before and because the button and collar band are not created yet. But I'm beginning to fear it will be a little too small. But I'm still hoping it will not. I did follow the measurements before I began (repeat to self ad infinitum).

Much smaller on the challenge scale, I made bread yesterday for breakfast this morning. And Look what I found in the refrigerator: The most slender column remaining from a stick of butter. It might melt into a half teaspoon of butter. I cannot spread it thin enough to cover half a slice of bread. I suspect the same person who habitually leaves one or two sheets on the toilet paper roll to avoid having to change the roll.

Kitchen Completed

The kitchen work we were so long anticipating is completed! We are very pleased with the new look and happy to have the efforts over and done. Last week I showed a photo featuring the new floor. This floor is a joy to take care of. So much nicer than the linoleum slats cut, colored and textured to look like wood. They may have been nice decades ago, but with age the slats warped and curled and cracked and every time I mopped a new piece would come loose. It was pretty bad. The new floor looks clean after I clean it. I like that in a floor. The floor was rather easy to do and it was completed first. The counter tops, dishwasher and sink were completed another day. That was a long frustrating day for the contractor and his assistant. But it was eventually completed, with two runs to the store for supplies. Such is life with houses approaching 80 years old.

A new shoe cubbie helps to organize the area under the low shelf. It was always such a mess before. And along the same line as the floor, I finally have a sink the looks clean when I clean it. I'm liking having the two basins already. But then, I knew I would. The things we have done opened up some new things to do, as is usual with home improvements. The water filter is out of commission. I cannot believe how much I miss that. We have had the filter for years and years, and I had forgotten what tap water tasted like. I'm hoping to find a way to mount the filter under the counter and have an auxiliary faucet on the sink, but the filter is old and I don't know if the hardware parts are still available.

The last thing that jumps out at me now--the kitchen curtains. These curtains are the prefect shape for the kitchen window. It is just that the variegated edging on the ruffles and the brown, yellow and orange pompoms no longer coordinate with the rest of the room.Does anyone have any experience with making knitted curtains? I'm wondering if I can find a nice lace pattern and adapt it for this area, keeping the same basic shape as the current curtains.

And Now, A Word from Our Sponsors

In our house we watched both the game and the commercials last night. If you have known me for a while you will be amazed. In 16½ years of marriage I had the well-established habit of falling asleep on the couch while Rick watched any football games. Then two years ago I re-discovered knitting, and found a way to keep myself awake.

That was my habit for regular season games. Ever since one of my public relations classes in college I've paid attention to the commercials in the Super Bowl. My favorite for being most memorable was the Bohemian Rhapsody - Mountain Dew commercial from several years ago. (I guess it worked - I still remember the ad, the product, the brand and I told you about it.)

Yesterday I was disappointed for the most part. The lack of taste showed in the amount of gross-ness on display.

The breweries had some very nice ads, and there were some funny ones, but there were not as many home runs as I had hoped to see. This should be like the home run derby during the all-star break.

My first tier favorites, in no particular order were:

Wine & Cheese Party for Bud Light
Great appeal all around! If I were a beer drinker I might recall the brand name. I'm not a beer drinker, so I took notes.

Shaq Horse Race for Vitamin Water
I laughed out loud and laughed hard. This struck me as genuinely funny. I do enjoy horse races and maybe that helped me. I was disappointed I didn't hear any talk about this ad on the radio this morning.

Parade Balloons for Coke
This one just edged out the Shaq Horse Race for me. It is classic, as Coke always strives to be associated with the classic beverage. And talk about a feel-good ad, Charlie Brown achieved a success during a football game.

Talking Shirt Stain for Tide
Wow! Annoying as all get out, but memorable. It cleverly presented a common problem and the solution.

And in the second tier:

Wheel for Bud Light
Funny, I like the way they turn a concept on edge. Or off edge as the case may be.

Making the Team Next Year for Budweiser
Nice concept. Great way to get both icons in the commercial. A feel-good spot.

Pick-up Lines for Bud Light
Have I seen this ad before? It was still funny.

Red for Dell
Even though I must say I didn't really get it after seeing it twice. I guess I should have known who the guy was? Why does it say "save lives"? Too bad I'm not intrigued enough to look it up.

And what about bad ads?

Any thing gross I'd put in this category. I don't care if it's a Godfather car ad, a stock trade ad featuring spit up, animals chewing someone's face off or myriad other creepy crawlie things. Too many times last night I said "I'd rather not see that." The advertisers created resentment in me, thank you very much.

And I did learn something else. I learned Derek Jeter looks very creepy in a trench coat. My notes tell me this ad was for Gatorade. I'm glad that was in my notes. All I could think about it when I first saw it and all I think of now when I remember it is Art Lover by The Kinks. Eeewwwwww -- That is a major gross out factor. The football portion of the ad was clever and funny. The baseball portion could have been the same if it were not for the major wardrobe faux pas. Please lose the trench coat!

This morning I heard the Engineer tell his sister, "Football starts again in August." And I though to myself, "And baseball starts in less that two weeks!" Pitchers and catchers report on the 15th and the first pre-season game is Feb. 28th.

What were your thoughts on the game, the ads?

Polled

It finally happened. That $30 we donated to the RNC ten years ago must have landed us low down on a poll lists, because I was called for the first time today.

I was not impressed.

Because I was preparing dinner at the time, the caller did not have my full concentration. She introduced herself and launched. She rattled off something to the effect of:

Do you believe it is important to stop the democrats and people like Hillary Clinton from becoming elected?

What kind of question is that? It is so insulting to be treated like a yoke and bit led work mule. Am I not capable of thinking? Of course she was looking for a yes (or no) answer. But I'm way past being merely frustrated with their R vs. D political games to play along.

So I launched. I doubt my missile hit its target, but I sure felt better.

Because I was trying not to burn dinner at the time, my answer did not have my full concentration either. But it was something to the effect of:

What is important is protecting our American freedoms. I'm not impressed with the way the democrats want to do that, and every day I'm less impressed with the republicans.

Apparently failing to reply with a yes signals the caller to drop to a part of the script down at the bottom labeled:

Lost Cause! Get Off The Phone Fast! But don't forget to rattle off a phone number where the callee can donate funds.

Am I supposed to be more impressed now? My nose hurts with too much holding it shut while I vote.