I’m almost finished with the body of the shawl, then I need to work the edging and doodles. I’m going to need a couple of people to test the pattern for me–I think 5 will do nicely–so if you have time and interest, this is an intermediate level crochet pattern. It’s not a very deep shawl, so it should be suited well to those who are vertically challenged. E-mail me at melissa[at]catscradlecreations[dot]com if you want to test this one for me. I’ll take the first five e-mails and send a confirmation e-mail before mailing the pattern. I’ll send the pattern in .TXT format, but the finished product will be in .PDF format. Thanks y’all!
And one more thing, if you decide to test for me, please give me your honest opinion about the work-up and the end product! (Of course, if all my testers are my bitches from DoD, then I don’t have to worry about that!)

These are all real names of town across the US. I swear, I couldn’t make these up if I wanted to!

I’m not sure I’d want to live in any of these:
- Paradox, New York
- Crapo, Maryland
- Boogertown, North Carolina
- Spasticville, Kansas
- Hellhole, Idaho
- Purgatory, Maine
- Girdletree, Maryland
- Rabbithash, Kentucky

(more…)

< ~~~ Check out my Free Books list! Just click the *Free* Books bookmark button to see the list. I'll update it when I have more to add.
I heard back from my mom about the truck. Del's suspicions that the clutch was bad was confirmed by the auto shop guys. They haven't looked too far into the situtation yet, but said it could also be the transmission. We should know more by the end of next week--hopefully. My mom said that if it's just the clutch, she'll go ahead and replace it, but if the transmission is gone, she's going to scrap the truck and buy a new one. (more…)

• …that I had enough yarn to fill twenty 18 gallon totes and still have yarn in my “work chest,” behind the couch, and overflowing a cedar steamer trunk.
• …that yard sales were so much work.
• …that moving would make me so nostalgic for a city that has no real attraction for me. (I just spent the first 18 years and the last 7 years of my life here.)
• …that kids could laugh so loud that my head feels like it’s going to split–and they’re at the other end of the house.
• …that I had so much junk stored in my mom’s attic and hay loft.
• …that an unopened box of china is damn heavy (hey, I never lifted it before).
• …that my toddler daughter would enjoy dressing up in Halloween costumes and carrying a purse around the house.
• …that my sons would enjoy playing flute, trumpet, and piano and my daughter would enjoy playing drums.
• …that I had so many romance novels that I’ve only read once and can’t bring myself to read again.
• …that we had so much junk in our house–finding this out as we pack and get ready for our first yard sale. (more…)

Wow! Friday sure does get here fast! Here’s today’s installment: Breakfast for Dinner. I call it Breakfast for Dinner because I’m too lazy to cook this much food in the morning when I first get up. I love “breakfast” foods, though, so we eat this meal for dinner at least once a week.
Breakfast for Dinner

12 Sausage patties

Cheddar Dill Scrambled eggs

• 10-12 large eggs
• Dill weed
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Shredded sharp cheddar cheese

Biscuits

• 2 1/4cups Original Bisquick® mix
• 2/3cup milk

Grits

Well, sort of, anyway. Del and I loaded up the stuff from my mom’s attic into the back of her evil truck. Today, though, it was acting up from the time I left my mom’s driveway. All the way from her house to the gas station (about 15 miles), the truck would kind of lurch and jump whenever I changed gears. Not normal and not good. Once we got some gas into the tank, the truck did behave a little better–except when I tried to drive over 45 mph, and then the engine raced to over 2000 rpm. Again, not normal and not good. This went on all the way to our house. Driving time between my mom’s house and mine is usually around 40 minutes. It took 30 just to get to the gas station, and most of the drive was downhill.

Got the truck home and unloaded. Filled a quart-sized bottle with cold water from the fridge (gotta love Brita), I changed into shorts and sandals (from jeans and sneakers) and we headed out. From the start, I knew there was something wrong–the engine was racing when I was in 2nd gear and going just 20 mph. All the way down the major highway that runs through town (US 231), I had speed issues with the damn truck. I wanted to run around 45-50 (speed limit is 50), but I didn’t get over 40, even when traffic was moving well. (more…)

I did make some progress on Tina’s shawl, and I even remembered to take pictures of a certain stitch sequence to better explain it. I’m loving this pattern already, and it’ll work up with any size yarn and appropriate hook ’cause you don’t have to have a specific number of starting chains.

Got the boys’ hair cuts done–instead of their usual cut (just clipped with tapers above the ears) I decided to give them military cuts. Yep, the “high and tight” cut, or “Jar-Head” cut. They look absolutely darling and I will post some pics of them later tonight after I’ve had a chance to photograph them. I have recent pics of them so I can post “before and after” shots of each child. It’s a hoot to see how much hair I clip off their heads!

TIP: In case you haven’t figured it out by now, the comments on my site are referred to as “hairballs” so if you want to leave a comment, you need to “Hack a Hairball.”