I love Wordle!

Boxing Day!

1. What is the best gift you received this year? (Tangible gifts only, please!)
DEFINITELY the set of Signature DPNs my sister gave me! As well as the DPN case she put them in! Although, the stinky-stuff set my other sister gave me is a close second...
2. What is the best gift you gave this year?
The handmade washcloths and spa sets I gave to the women in the family.
3. When did you do most of your shopping/creating?
Ok, I admit. I'm one of those. I started knitting washcloths and planning the spa sets back in July, and I bought a bunch of ornaments back then, too. I'm a planner. I'm ok with that. Then again, for all my planning, I didn't mail everything until the 22nd! Guess that makes up for it, huh?
4. Did you go shopping the day after Thanksgiving (U.S.)?
NEVER!!!!
5. What stands out already about Christmas 2008?
Peace and quiet on the actual day, and the wonderfully chaotic, full of laughter dinner party with my church friends on Christmas Eve!

A clock!

Never mind... I can't get it to link. I was trying to put a clock on my blog from http://www.clocklink.com/ and I couldn't make it work... oh, well.

Happy Thanksgiving

I have so much to be thankful for...

1. Where is your cell phone? Top left-hand drawer of my desk
2. Where is your significant other? Cambridge at the moment; with me down here on the Cape this weekend.
3. Your hair color? Red/brown
4. Your mother? Yarmouth Port
5. Your father? Passed away
6. Your favorite thing? chocolate
7. Your dream last night? I slept too deeply to dream last night!
8. Your dream/goal? Diagnosis and cure for pancreatic cancer
9. The room you’re in? My "pod" office at school
10. Your hobby? knitting!!!!!
11. Your fear? fire
12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? In a law office/ courtroom
13. Where were you last night? on my couch, knitting
14. What you’re not? shy (any more!)
15. One of your wish-list items? my house to be fixed!
16. Where you grew up? Glen Ridge, NJ
17. The last thing you did? finished my 4th cup of coffee
18. What are you wearing? jeans, hand knit socks, fleece jacket, long-sleeved shirt, velvet scarf
19. Your TV? at home
20. Your pet? Lab/ Great Dane mix (Cooler) and black and white kitty (KitKat)
21. Your computer? Dell desktop, HP laptop (from work)
22. Your mood? anticipatory! (it's Friday!)
23. Missing someone? Yes!
24. Your car? Honda Accord
25. Something you’re not wearing? my Clapotis!
26. Favorite store? Sage Yarn!
27. Your summer? my vacation time!
28. Love someone? yes, but he doesn't know...
29. Your favorite color? purple
30. When is the last time you laughed? about 10 minutes ago!
31. Last time you cried? last weekend

November is Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month

Please, if you are thinking of giving to a charity this holiday season, I would ask you to consider including the Lustgarten Foundation for Pancreatic Cancer Research (www.lustgarten.org) on your list. They raise funds to support independent, non-government funded research into the causes and a potential cure for pancreatic cancer.

Pancreatic cancer is the 4th leading cause of cancer deaths in the United States. According to the American Cancer Society (ACS), in 2008 an anticipated 37,680 Americans will be diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, and 34,290 will die from the disease. For all stages of pancreatic cancer combined, the overall survival rate is less than 5%. For patients with advanced (metastatic) disease, the overall survival rate is less than 1% at 5 years. Most patients with advanced disease die within a year; average life expectancy is 6 to 9 months. Unless surgically removed in its earliest (localized) stages, there is no cure. Less than 20% of all cases are found in a localized stage.

The disease is highly aggressive and resistive to standard cancer treatments. Despite the high mortality rate associated with pancreatic cancer, its etiology is poorly understood. No tumor-specific markers exist for pancreatic cancer.
Source:
Pancreatic Cancer Treatment (PDQ®) from The National Cancer Institute

Let's increase funding for and awareness of this disease. I've written letters to editors of local papers in support of The National Plan to Advance Pancreatic Cancer Research Act (H.R. 7045). Would you consider doing the same?

http://www.pancan.org/Public/take.html

Thanks.

VOTE

That's it. Vote. Really. The country doesn't work if we don't participate. I could go into a riff about how our ancestors fought for the right to vote, and how democracy is expanded every time one of us exercises our right/ responsibility, and especially how so many people in other countries walk miles and wait hours for the privilege of voting..... but you know all that, don't you. So, I'll keep it to one word:


VOTE

Happy post!

Time for a happy update! The weather is beautiful this weekend, I'm well into a knitting project that I'm really loving (see Lady Eleanor link), and I'm finally finishing my laundry! Every weekend I swear to myself that I will not only wash and dry all my dirty clothes, but I will also fold them and put them away. Well, today is the first time that's happened in about a month now. I've been living out of my laundry basket (what? It's clean!), shaking out wrinkles, or hanging stuff I want to wear in the bathroom as I take my shower, hoping it will unwrinkle. Or, just wearing it with the wrinkles and hoping nobody will notice.

Such a little thing, but such a feeling of accomplishment and control over my life. That's what it comes down to, really, just feeling like I have some control over where my time goes. I'm getting there, slowly.

I got my LSAT score in my e-mail yesterday. Sorry to say, it went down by 3 points. Sigh. And I thought I did so well. It's disappointing to say the least. Still, I'm trying to stay my usual positive self. I won't give up on the idea until I hear if I've been accepted to my first choice or not.

Meanwhile, I'm going to concentrate on my good knitting and laundry day, and enjoy the weather.

Random whining...

Ok, so I don't want to become the kind of blogger who always whines, but this morning I feel like I need to. And, lucky readers, you get to be the recipients of my general malaise!

Let's start with Ted Kennedy. Or, more accurately, the media coverage of Ted Kennedy. I haven't been out of my house since I got home at 3:30 yesterday, but poor Ted had another seizure last night, and went to the hospital. I can only imagine the media circus that is now downtown Hyannis. Why, oh why, do the TV stations have to flood tiny little Hy-port every time the poor man burps??? He has brain cancer, for heaven's sake! His doctors, if they're doing their job, will want him to get checked out for every little anomaly! And, having some experience with the absolutely excellent cancer center at Cape Cod Hospital, let me tell you -- the doctors are always doing their job, and are extremely careful. Sheesh. Guess I'm not going downtown to do my shopping today!

In other news, my rampant tendinitis flared up again yesterday. It's usually on my right side -- shoulder, elbow, hip, knee, and ankle -- but this time it flared up in my left shoulder. MAN does it hurt! I must have slept wrong Thursday night, because when I woke up yesterday I could hardly move my arm. It zings right up to where the tendon connects to the shoulder joint. Ask me exactly where that is -- I can put my finger right on it at the moment! It was better with ibuprofen, of course, but that wears off every 6 hours, so I was awake at 4:30 this morning looking for more. I'm trying to knit with it, but my arm gets tired very fast, since I have to hold it at a funny angle to avoid moving my shoulder. Also, my hand started feeling numb after about 20 minutes of knitting, so I had to put it down for a bit. I so hope this doesn't go on all day -- rainy Saturdays are best for knitting! I also have massive cleaning and laundry to do, which will take twice as long if I have to favor my arm.

Times like these, I really miss Steve. When this happened, he would bring me ibuprofen, sit me on the couch with the remote, and take care of everything else for me. It was so wonderful to have him to wait on me when I felt yucky. Now, I just let stuff go when I don't have the energy, or when my stuff flares up. Oh, well. I've said before -- the dust-bunny police haven't taken me away yet, so I think I'm pretty much off their radar screen.

Ok, enough whining for today. I might take a nap in my recliner this morning -- arm hurts less when I'm sitting up -- and try knitting again in a little while.

Ok, so I'm a bad blogger...

I just don't seem to be able to get into the swing of writing on a regular basis. I tell myself it's because I have such a busy life. Sure. That's it.

School starts again on Tuesday so I'm about to get even busier. The first few weeks of any new semester are always tough, until I get back into the routine of school. The hardest part is making myself find the energy to do stuff after I get home. Too often, I get home and just crash, I'm so exhausted, but I still have to do laundry, clean, get groceries, stuff like that. This is when I miss my husband the most -- he used to do all that while I was transitioning back to school.

Last year (my first school year without him), I kept forgetting to check the cat's food! Luckily, she has a self-feeder, but it clogs, and I have to shake it free every now & then. Poor girl, she was probably clogged for a couple of days before I remembered to check it and shake it! At least I remembered to shower every day, and to feed and walk the dog on a regular basis!

I'm also watching the track of Gustav tonight. I feel for the people who have to evacuate the Gulf Coast -- I hope they find somewhere safe and dry to stay, and that the area doesn't sustain too much damage. I have friends and family down that area, and I remember that they were terrified 3 years ago. Thankfully, everyone I knew was safe, but I still worried about them. Ironically, Extreme Home Makeover is re-airing their New Orleans build show tonight! It could be because of the Katrina anniversary, but still -- how weird is that!

Prayers and hugs to everyone who is not in their own home tonight, for whatever reason.

Saturday reflections......

My step-granddaughter has been visiting this week, as she has every summer for the last few years. This year her visit is only one week long; usually she's here for two weeks. While I wish we had more time together, it has worked out ok. We've had to focus our activities, and we've spent more time just hanging out together than we have in the past.

She arrived Sunday, and we went out to dinner with my mother, my sister and my nephews (sis and nephews were up visiting from NJ for the weekend). Just tonight, my mom and I were chuckling about how cute it was to see my GD flirting with my nephews in her little 12-almost-13 year old way! She was obviously smitten (and of course, who could blame her -- my nephews are cuties!), and it was adorable to watch, although it also gave me a little wrench. My little girl won't be so little for much longer!

Monday we just hung out. Went to lunch, did a little shopping for her step-father's birthday presents, bought purses from the same shop, walked by the Ocean St. docks in Hyannis, walked some more, then came home and made dinner and watched the Red Sox. Tuesday she went to her cousins' house in West Yarmouth and stayed overnight; Thursday we did a bit more shopping, Friday we played mini-golf, and today we hung out again. Nothing overly exciting, but it was just nice to have time to spend together.

Tonight we were reading (she has to finish her book to do her book report before school starts), and it hit me all of a sudden -- I really love this little girl. I'm so blessed to have her and her family in my life, and to have them stay in my life after my husband passed away last year. It's little moments like we had this week that make our relationship so special.

Tomorrow morning we'll go to church -- she loves to go to church with me -- and her mom and step-dad will be here around midday, so our time is coming to a close. I didn't take any pictures yet this year, but I will tomorrow, before she leaves.

Summer tank top?

Funny for today -- do a Google Image search on "Redneck Tank Top" and see what comes up! This was sent to me by my friend Elise, and when I saw it I laughed until I cried. Good stuff!

A meme for today!

The concept:
a. Type your answer to each of the questions below into Flickr Search.
b. Using only the first page, pick an image.
c. Copy and paste each of the URLs for the images into fd’s mosaic maker.

The Questions:
1. What is your first name?
2. What is your favorite food?
3. What high school did you go to?
4. What is your favorite color?
5. Who is your celebrity crush?
6. Favorite drink?
7. Dream vacation?
8. Favorite dessert?
9. What you want to be when you grow up?
10. What do you love most in life?
11. One Word to describe you.
12. Your flickr name.

Lilies July 2008

Lilies July 2008
Originally uploaded by PegiF

Last but not least...

Lilies July 2008

Lilies July 2008
Originally uploaded by PegiF

Eye Candy part 2!

Lilies July 2008

Lilies July 2008
Originally uploaded by PegiF

Eye Candy as promised!

Slow Friday

Guess what -- the dog threw up AGAIN last night! Big surprise! This time I took him to the vet. They did x-rays and an ultrasound, and decided he's ok. Of course they sedated him, too, so when I took him home last night he was nice and sleepy! That's ok by me. He did lose it again this morning, including what I hope is the last of his personal yarn stash, so I think he'll be ok in the kennel this coming week. If not, they'll call -- they're wonderful down there, and take very good care of him.

So, today, I'm doing last-minutes stuff before I leave in the morning -- cleaning, garbage, laundry, getting digital cable installed.... oh, didn't I mention that? Turns out it's cheaper to get digital cable WITH a TIVO than to have the cable and satellite I have now! Go figure! So, this gives me an excuse to hang out and knit while I'm waiting for the guy to show up. Works for me!

I'll see everyone when I get back. Meanwhile, look further on my blog to see piccies of my gorgeous lilies!

ETA: Back to the vet this afternoon! This time the dog's back right foot was folding under when he walked. Turns out it's just a muscle "belly" -- like a knot -- in his back right leg that's impeding the nerve reaction in his foot. All that's required is a little massage on the area and some ice occasionally, then he should be all set. Hmph. This dog is rapidly becoming a PAIN! I guess this is to make me really appreciate my vacation next week!

I discovered No-Knead Bread!

As I was looking through the boards on Ravelry -- my favorite thing to do these days! -- I found a recipe for No Knead Bread that sounded fabulous. I've always loved to make my own bread, and this is the simplest recipe ever. I guess it was published in the NY Times almost 2 years ago, and made the rounds of the blogs at that time. Of course, I'm late to the party, but I'm going to make my second loaf tonight. The fun part is that you mix the dough the night before, let it sit, covered, on the counter overnight, and then let it rise again for about 2 hours the next morning. Then you bake it for about 45 minutes all together -- 30 minutes with the top on, and about 15 minutes with the top off. I just love the taste of this bread -- it has the taste and texture of a really good bread you get at a nice restaurant, like Ardeo's for example!

Here's a blog post about it, where the author has her 4 year old son mix the bread -- it really is that easy! http://steamykitchen.com/blog/2007/09/10/no-knead-bread-revisited/

Oh, and I went to Hammond Castle for the first time last Friday --- check out my Flickr pictures of the castle... http://www.flickr.com/photos/21969818@N03/sets/72157606159621384/

This is one of my favorite rooms, the "small chapel" right next to the Great Hall:

Don't it just figure??

So, of course, since I had the carpets done last week, the dog had to barf on the living room floor on Sunday night. Of course. At least I went with the Scotch Guard, so it cleaned up easily, but isn't that always the way??? It's like washing your car -- it always rains right afterwards. Hmph.

In other news, I'm going to Mount Vernon, in Virginia, in about a week and a half! I'll leave here on the 19th, drive to NJ and stay with my boy, and head to Woodbridge, to my step-daughter's, the next day. I'll be leaving there on the 23rd, so I should be back home on the 24th, barring any traffic or automobile emergencies... here's what I'll be doing there: http://www.mountvernon.org/learn/teachers_students/index.cfm/pid/1105 Ok, it's a history geek's version of fun, but I'm ok with that! The dog will be in the kennel while I'm gone, getting a bath and nail trim, and being spoiled by the people who work there. They love him, for some unknown reason! Actually, I love him, too, I just need a break from him right now... can't wait to go to VA and get that break!

Pics tomorrow, I promise...

Almost the 4th

My first venture into blogging -- it might as well happen around the "country's birthday"! Although, historian that I am, I consider the country's birthday to be closer to the end of the War for Independence, but I also love tradition, so we'll go with it.

Happenings: I had to have the carpets shampooed this past Tuesday, after the dog had a panic attack and pooped on my new family room carpet last Thursday. They did a good job in the living room -- it looks new! -- but I still smell animals in the family room. Specifically, cat pee. Maybe it's just me -- or, as my friend Elise says, it's "stuck in my nose." Not out of the question!

I'm also deciding whether to continue teaching, or whether to move on to something else. I go through this every spring, it seems, and I keep thinking that, if I were truly happy with teaching, I wouldn't go through a period of feeling like I want to get out at the end of every year. This, especially, was a hard ending to the year -- for the first time, I had parent complaints about my teaching methods! That's really a blow. The problem with looking for another job is that there are not many jobs that call for a history degree and the ability to control a room full of 14-year-olds. I'm checking out the Dept. of Ed. and textbook publishers for now.

On a positive note, my lilies are starting to bloom, and I think they're more beautiful this year than ever before. Am I biased? Of course I am! I'll take pictures tomorrow and post them. The Asiatics are about half out, and the first Oriental is about to bloom. I think it's a Stargazer, but I forget every year which are planted where!

Off to knit some more wash cloths -- I'm trying to get ahead of Christmas stuff this year. I think the wash cloths will go in a basket with some lotions and soaps, and maybe some lavender sachets -- I bought a big bag of local lavender at the Farmer's Market last week. I wonder if I could knit a sachet? Hmmm...

That Book MemeThe Big Read reckons that the average adult has only read 6 of the top 100 books they’ve printed.
1) Look at the list and bold those you have read.2) Italicize those you intend to read.3) Underline the books you LOVE.

1 Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
2 The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien
3 Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
4 Harry Potter series - JK Rowling
5 To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
6 The Bible
7 Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte
8 Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell
9 His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman
10 Great Expectations - Charles Dickens
11 Little Women - Louisa M Alcott
12 Tess of the D’Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy
13 Catch 22 - Joseph Heller
14 Complete Works of Shakespeare
15 Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier
16 The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien
17 Birdsong - Sebastian Faulks
18 Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger
19 The Time Traveller’s Wife - Audrey Niffenegger
20 Middlemarch - George Eliot
21 Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell
22 The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald
23 Bleak House - Charles Dickens
24 War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy
25 The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
26 Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh
27 Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky
28 Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck
29 Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll
30 The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame
31 Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy
32 David Copperfield - Charles Dickens
33 Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis
34 Emma - Jane Austen
35 Persuasion - Jane Austen
36 The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe - CS Lewis (Just FYI -- this is the first of Lewis' "Chronicles of Narnia" books)
37 The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
38 Captain Corelli’s Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres
39 Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden
40 Winnie the Pooh - AA Milne
41 Animal Farm - George Orwell
42 The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown
43 One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
44 A Prayer for Owen Meaney - John Irving
45 The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins
46 Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery
47 Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy
48 The Handmaid’s Tale - Margaret Atwood
49 Lord of the Flies - William Golding
50 Atonement - Ian McEwan
51 Life of Pi - Yann Martel
52 Dune - Frank Herbert
53 Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons
54 Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen
55 A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth
56 The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon
57 A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens
58 Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
59 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon
60 Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
61 Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck
62 Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov
63 The Secret History - Donna Tartt
64 The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
65 Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas
66 On The Road - Jack Kerouac
67 Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy
68 Bridget Jones’s Diary - Helen Fielding
69 Midnight’s Children - Salman Rushdie
70 Moby Dick - Herman Melville
71 Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens
72 Dracula - Bram Stoker
73 The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett
74 Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson7
5 Ulysses - James Joyce
76 The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath
77 Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome
78 Germinal - Emile Zola
79 Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray
80 Possession - AS Byatt
81 A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens
82 Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell
83 The Color Purple - Alice Walker
84 The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro
85 Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert
86 A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry
87 Charlotte’s Web - EB White
88 The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom
89 Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
90 The Faraway Tree Collection - Enid Blyton
91 Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad
92 The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery (in French, in high school)
93 The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks
94 Watership Down - Richard Adams
95 A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole
96 A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute
97 The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas
98 Hamlet - William Shakespeare
99 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl
100 Les Miserables - Victor Hugo