Busy, Busy

I know I promised the answer to the word riddle in the last post but I am super busy so I'm going to have to give it to you next week.

Although it seems as though most everyone knows it and now I just feel dumber for having brought it up!

This is a drive-by posting....

Like a Bee, Ruth!

P.S. See y'all next year!

Stairstruck

I got an email from a friend asking where my blog went. I'm still here, just a bit busy.

Actually busy with xmas knitting! I have some FO's to show you but I have to get the pic's off my camera and into the computer so I'll do that later.

I've also been having some sort of small mental breakdown/cliche' midlife crisis something or other. I think the stress of the last three years has caught up with me all at once, so that's nice.

On Monday, Dave and I were driving around and the AC/DC song Highway to Hell was on the radio and if you know that song, you know it has a very definite ending. Boom. Done. Dave said, "See, that's the way a song should end." I looked at him quizzically and he elaborated, "I never understood songs that fade off. Like the band just walks away from the mike still playing?"

I laughed my ASS off. I never thought about it but that's so true! I said, "Yea, so I'm picturing the wandering minstrel walking away still plinking on his lute." And Dave said, "Or the band is on some flatbed truck driving to the next town."

I couldn't stop laughing. Literally. I was getting a touch hysterical! Then, out of nowhere, I got this huge lump in my throat - the kind you get when you're trying not to sob - and I seriously almost started crying. WTF???

Have I ever told y'all about my love affair with stairs? When I was 5, we moved to the ranch and it was the first house I lived in with stairs. I spent an inordinate amount of time sitting on those stairs. I'd sit there and daydream or read. Our cabin up at Shaver Lake (CA) also had stairs and those were even better since they were sort of dark and secret.

Then divorce and moving and no more stairs. Until I was in Basic Training. That was my only solace. I'd sneak off into the stairwell and be alone until someone saw me and I'd have to go back to whatever we were supposed to be doing.

Some stairs here and there throughout my time in Army barracks then no more until we moved to Colorado three years ago.

Our house in Parker had two sets of stairs (yay!). I'd usually sit on the set leading to the bedrooms. It was a great set as it was also close to the kitchen so I'd sit on them while waiting for things to cook. Our new place has just one set of stairs but they are good ones.

Dave doesn't understand my stair-sitting. He says, "Why don't you come down and sit with the family?" That's the whole point of stair-sitting! It's a chance to be alone but still be able to hear your loved ones and listen to them and how they interact with each other. It's a place to be still and be quiet. Stairs have always been an area where I don't have to think or worry or do anything but just be.

This would be my dream staircase leading to a little room just for me. The only thing I'd change would to make the stairs a bit wider.

So don't worry about me, friends. I'm here. I'm a bit stressed, even a bit delirious at times, but still relatively sane and sitting on my stairs.

I blame lack of sleep, Ruth!

A Lovely Pair

I had my first mammogram today. The mammotech (who is about 10 years older then me) had me in the mammoroom and I was fiddling with my mammokimono when she said,

"Wow! Those are really nice!"

Me: Um.... thank you?
Her: They are really awesome!
Me: Ummm.... thanks?
Her: Seriously! I've been looking for a pair just like those forever! Where'd you get them?
Me: Well, um, I guess, I mean... I.... grew them... in the... normal way?

Then she looks at me strangely... pauses.... turns beet red and says, "No, no, no, ohno. I had pointed to your glasses. I was talking about your glasses!"

Then we were both beet red and laughing until we both had tears streaming out of our eyes.

Why can't anything be normal and not embarrassing for me?

The girls are pretty awesome though, Ruth!

Twitterless

I have people following me on Twitter and I have no idea why since I don't Twitter. Ever.

The only reason I have a Twitter account at all is because I wanted to enter a Neil Gaiman photo caption contest and you could only do it through Twitter. (I didn't win.)

After I got my Twitter account, I followed a few people but I never have time to read them so the only time I even see twitters (tweets?) is on the sidebar of the Yarn Harlot's blog (right funny, those!).

I can barely keep up reading the blogs I like much less adding a bunch of Twitter stuff!

I wonder how the people that follow me found me, why they chose to follow me, and what are they following since I never do anything over there.

Is someone pretending to be me and posting really funny, witty tweets under my name? That would be kind of cool as I am not terribly witty and only marginally funny sometimes.

I ask that last question because I was following Christopher Walken's tweets for a bit but then they disappeared because it turns out it was not CW, but an impostor who'd opened an account with his name and picture. Shame, really, because the guy was damn funny!

I don't understand Twitter.

Feeling a bit old, Ruth!

Simplify

Yea. I can't even say that word with a straight face.

If I can't simplify, I can at least make it look a little more organized. My closet...

Before....

After....

I love bins. The two on the bottom (right and center) are all yarn. That's yarn from this year. Someday, I'll show you the bins and bags in my basement.

The ebay yarn store I have is a failed experiment (one of many) and I'll be shutting it down soon and just putting stuff on my blog from time to time. It seems like I'd sell just enough each month to cover the cost of having an ebay store. Anyway, all that yarn is in the basement, along with my already substantial stash. And I discovered hand-dyed sock yarn this year. sigh. I not only have S.A.B.L.E., I have S.A.B.A.L.E. (Stash Acquisition Beyond Anyone's Life Expectancy).

I am organizing a de-stashing (I know, I keep saying that, but it really is in the works).

Any good ideas on where to stash more yarn?

Just kidding, Ruth!

What Are Friends For!

This was the scene set in my basement last nite. My friend, Rachel, is going on vacation this weekend and wanted a bikini wax before she left. After a failed attempt using something called Nads, she asked if I could help. I wax my legs most of the time and have some experience with a wax pot. (Nads?? Seriously? Why would anyone name a beauty product after a man's testicles?)

The picture is of the wax pot, some soothing after-wax lotion, and a stiff drink. Rachel is a master drink mixer. Before we went downstairs, she made mojitos with fresh mint from her own garden. Then we moved on to coconut rum mixed with cranberry juice and pineapple juice. Mmmmm, tasty!

Here's a picture of Rachel's glass in front of mine. See how much more empty hers is? I was drinking a bit slower. After all, the waxing didn't hurt me a bit!

I'm enamored of this pattern on knitty.com. I have one ball of this color...

I need 4 more. I have these colors that I can trade....

girlie pink

white-ish

light tan

darker tan

black

Anyone out there game for a trade?

Off to wax my legs now, Ruth!

P. S. The yarn up for grabs yesterday is claimed.

What Month Is It?

THE CONTEST

THE PRIZES

Runs June 1 - September 15

____________________________________________________

Holy Shnickey's! Can y'all believe it's already June? That June is already half over?? Where did the time go?

I haven't even started the June Sockamania socks. Partly just paralysis through analysis. I can't decide which yarn I want to use. And I want to learn toe-up but figure I should finish a top-down sock first (for some reason). Not being able to decide which yarn to use... I keep thinking, "What if I use this yarn and then next month's pattern comes out and this yarn would've been better suited for that pattern?" It's so lame. I'm so lame.

I was able to score a spot in the Yarn Pirate's Sock Club. Which means that I am going to do some serious de-stashing to make up the money I spent. I got this great idea from Chicken Knits. Go to her site and see what's left! She's a lot faster then I am. My stuff will probably be up sometime next... who knows. I'll keep y'all posted.

Tippa Tuesday:

Again, Tracy-the-knit-guru's tips are all I got.
She says when washing handknits, all she does is fill the washing machine with water, put in the appropriate amount of Kookaburra (or similar stuff), put in the knits, give a light swish with her hands, let soak. Then you just set the machine to spin (no agitation) to get most of the water out. Remove items, reshape, air dry.

Here's about the funniest celeb-made video I've seen on the 'net. A chick at work told me about it. OK, I suck at this stuff. I can't seem to "embed" the video like I want so just go here.

Also, is it just me or is there a problem with the paragraph breaks on this site? I usually just go and hit enter twice to give a little space between the paragraphs. When I hit "Publish Post", it either gives me huge spaces or (more often and more frustrating) gives no spaces btw paragraphs. I wish I knew computers. I don't.

Off to look through my stash, Ruth!

The Thing About Boys Is...

sometimes when they are showing you the owies on two of their fingers, they are also telling you to rock on....

And they are realllllllly serious about wanting you to rock on. I love his expression in this pic.

Thank you to Yarnhog and Uberstrickenfrau for the following blog fodder today...

I am most definitely NOT pregnant. Two reasons:

1. After we found out Davis was a boy (sonogram) and that Dave's aunt was the first girl in 100 years, we decided to stop at two kids. We also figured that after two, they outnumber you. Davis was born in May (2003) and Dave went in that October to get a vasectomy.

2. My period sneaked up on me this morning. I hate when it does that.

Too much information next, be warned...

I'd been on the pill since I was 17 but after Dave got, well, fixed, I stopped taking it (duh). After being chemically regulated for sooo long, I never have any idea when it's coming. Except that there are days when I feel like a raging bitch and then I suspect the period is near. But then, sometimes I'm wrong and it's just that I'm a bitch.

Also, when Dave went in for his vasectomy, well, first off, the Dr. told him I had to sign off on the form, too! Apparently they don't want to be held liable for some guy sneaking one in without his wife knowing.

It's kind of a funny story, the whole experience. (Maybe not as funny for D.) When we went to the initial consultation, after the talking part there was an... inspecting part. The Dr. told D to drop his pants (more diplomatically, of course) so he could have a look. (Still not sure why he needed a preview, but whatever.) Dave and I both looked behind D at the open blinds, the setting sun and the second story view of the parking lot and all the people below. D looked at me, I looked at him, we both shrugged and he dropped trou. The Dr..... inspected. Dave pulled up his pants and we left the office.

At the elevator, I couldn't help myself and had to ask, "So. Was he gentle?"

D: Shut up.

Me: Were his hands soft?

D: Shut. Up.

Me: giggle

The day of the procedure, we went in and D. got (had?) it done. It was a really quick, 20 minute outpatient procedure and after, we went to the elevator again. From another office comes this young woman. She had 4 kids under the age of six and another (possibly two more) very obviously on the way. She was hugely pregnant with 3 kids running around her legs, and one in her arms, his fists full of hair. One kid hit the elevator button, two more screamed, "I wanted to do it!!!! She looked at us calmly, smiled and shrugged. We looked at each other and smiled, both thinking, "Oh yeah, soo just did the right thing!" (I swear the vasectomy place hired her.)

Truthfully, though, Dave was a lot more ready to be done then I was. I still kind of wanted 3 kids and wasn't ready to be done with the whole tiny baby aspect of it all. About a year later, the last woman in my little kid playgroup to have her second child finally did. When it was my turn to bring food for her food parade, I went to visit. She had just gotten the sweet little girl to sleep and asked if I wanted to hold her (the baby, not the mom). I asked, "Are you sure?" and she said yes with a look on her face that belied the fact that it was more of a request on her part, not mine. I took the baby as gently as I could and sure enough, the little cherub woke up and started squalling. She let the baby cry for awhile, then took her back and popped her on a boob. It was at that moment that I knew I was OK with not having any more kids. As sweet as the child was and as much as I ached to have another while holding her (even while she cried), the look of bone-tired fatigue on my friend's face... I knew I was done. I was 34 by then and realized, I too needed some sleep.

Besides, we got perfection twice, why mess with that?

Alright, as promised more prizes for the contest...

This is a great book and since I hate when people talk about a book and only show the cover...

Also, this lovely hand spun I got on ebay...

Neither of these crappy photos does the colors justice. They are lovely spring greens/yellows/blues. Very light and pretty colors. The seller described the yarn thusly...

"four skeins of my hand spun merino wool yarn. I helped shear this sheep, and washed the wool, carded it, dyed it with Kool-Aid, and spun it and plied it. It is between a fingering and sport weight. The colors are delicate, blue and yellowish green.There are about 350 yards here, enough for socks or a wide lace scarf. Since it is hand spun the thickness of the yarn is not perfectly even."

(Did I just say "thusly"?? Is that even a word?)

I haven't, as of yet, received any helmet liners. To sweeten the pot a little, whoever (whomever?) gets me the first one, gets to pick which prize they'd like.

Going to practice my grammar and syntax, Ruth!

EVERYone's A Comedian

I'm kind of all over the place today, so I apologize in advance. There's re-hashed yarn porn at the end!


OK, let's start with Massage Monday. Today a stretch....

This is a two part stretch.
Part 1 - Sit in your chair and look straight ahead. Slide your right hand, palm up, under your right thigh. Keep looking straight ahead and tilt your left ear straight down to your left shoulder. NO CHEATING... keep your left shoulder down. As with any stretch, you want to take it into a stretch, not into pain. (I'm talking to you, Rachel!)


Now, the second half of the stretch is simple. Keeping your head at the angle you've achieved with part one (left ear towards left shoulder), tuck your chin towards your right collarbone. You may feel this stretch down your back. This is fine.

Repeat on the other side. Hold each stretch for a good 10 seconds. Again, into a stretch, not into pain. Don't forget to breathe! When you get really good at this one, you can hang onto the underside of your chair instead of the underside of your thigh.


I've had some unexpected laughs this past week. Much needed ones, too. Last Wed. I had my orientation for Target. 5 hours. Ack! It was a lot of cheesy videos and paperwork. After the first hour, the General Manager of the store came in to meet/talk with us. His name is John and it was The John Show. The guy was super funny and had a game where we all had to tell him our name, last school attended, department we'd been hired for and favorite sugar cereal. The cereal had to come in a box (no Marshmallow Mateys) [sidebar: just googled that cereal to make a link. How weird is it that you can buy it on Amazon?] and once someone named a cereal it was off the table for everyone else. He also knew that the freeze-dried marshmallows in Lucky Charms are called Marbits and that Lucky Charms were the first to have them. There were 7 of us in orientation and I was picked 3rd to last. Cocoa Puffs are my favorite but were knocked out early so I went old school and chose Count Chocula. John said that's the best sugar cereal ever because not only do you get the chocolate milk, you also get the Marbits. He knows his cereals a little too well. Weird.


Then last weekend, our oldest came up with a couple of jokes on his own that were actually sorta funny! He's been interested in jokes for about two years now. Ever since his grandparents got them some Popsicles with jokes on the stick. You read the joke and the punchline is available further up the stick when the Popsicle is gone. He kept trying to come up with his own jokes but they never made sense so we finally bought him a little kid joke book. He calls it his "Ha Ha Ha book". OK, so two years later, he's making his own jokes and they finally make sense and are even funny!


First joke...
Needs a little back story. If you haven't seen the movie Cars, there's this little town and it's sorta rundown and the neon doesn't work. Well, around the middle of the movie, the neon gets fixed and there's a big party.
Trev said: When they had they're party, the cars can't play limbo. Do you know what they play?
Me: What?
Trev: Limo.
Of course, he's got to follow up so he makes sure you understand, "Get it? Limo? Like limousine."


The other joke...
Trev: What did the bed say to the kid?
Me: What?
Trev: I'm kidnapping you. Get it? Kid. Nap. Bed. Get it?
OK, that one was a bit dark. But he's six. Whaddya want?


I had my first day at Target yesterday and it was very trial by fire. But not too bad, really. I know that's contradictory, but if you know me, it's normal. I was left with a very nice older woman who showed me some stuff on the register at the 10 items or less line. Then after 1o minutes, she told me it was my turn. Another ten minutes and we are sent to register 5. The woman told me that 5 and 6 are the busiest registers. All. The. Time. And it's a Sunday, ya know. After another 30 minutes, her shift is up and she wishes me well and goes home. Holy crap, it was NON. STOP. I got one 15 minute break and then one 30 minute meal break. Other then that, I was a ringin' up fool. Good, I guess, made the time go faster. Only when I got home my feet and back were killing me. I beat up a tennis ball last night (newcomers need to look at past Massage Monday entries for that to make sense!).


There was a different older woman at the express register and in the occasional lulls, she kept telling me how I was rockin' and she was impressed with how well I was doing. Very sweet of here! But really, the registers they have, it's hard to screw up. I hate asking people if they want to apply for the Target card. Did you know it takes around 3 points off your credit score every time you apply for those store cards? Whether you get approved or not!


At my meal break, I ate and then got my knitting to work on for about 10 minutes before I had to go back to work. There was this man sitting next to me that literally exclaimed, "Hey!" when I pulled out the needles. He said, "My wife does.... [waves hand at knitting] that." I couldn't resist, I smiled and said, "Does what?" He said, "You know... [more hand waving and some knitting gestures] click, click, click. She made an afghan!" I thought it was funny his wife has this hobby that she does, "all the time" and he doesn't even know what it's called! He seemed pretty proud of her about it though! I told him he'd get major points if he went to the local yarn store and bought her a gift certificate. Gotta support the woman's habits! Especially since they are also my own.

See?....

The amazing Schaefer Anne sock yarn I won over at Nishanna's. Still can't believe she gave up this fiery awesomeness! I just love Nishanna's button with the classic painting of a girl knitting. The caption is priceless!


The-even-more-beautiful-since-it's-wound-up Fearless Fibers sock yarn. Can't wait to use these!



Still trying to figure out socks, Ruth!

Story of my life

5elementknitr -- [noun]: A level headed person who always makes the wrong decision 'How" will you be defined in the dictionary?' at QuizGalaxy.com

I forgot to link to Rabbitch, when I was talking about funny things I read at 1am.

Here's a great example. Specifically her post on Monday, May 28/07.

What's In A Name?

THE CONTEST

Running June 1 - September 15

____________________________________

Up til 1a last nite. Unless you're entirely new to this site, your used to my sleepless ramblings.

I got an email from Girl On The Rocks last week or so. When I was cleaning out my email, I saw a name that seemed oddly familiar. I mean, I knew it was GirlOnTheRocks, but the name seemed more familiar then that. Then I realized it was the name of a character on a TV show I watch. I emailed her this morning telling her about it and following up with, "I'm sure you get that all the time." She said, yes and that people ask her if she was named after the character even though the show is about ten years old and she's around 30!

My name is Ruth and I, also, get stuff like that All. The. Time. Baby Ruth, Ruth Buzzie, Dr. Ruth. I always smile (sweetly) and say (sarcastically), "That's the first time I ever heard that one again." There was even one guy who asked me if I was related to Martin Riggs (Riggs is my maiden name). I looked at him blankly, waiting for him to laugh and let me know he was kidding. He wasn't. I sighed and said, "You mean that fictional character from the movie Lethal Weapon?" People are stupid.

Even more stupid are the people who give their kid F'ed up names. I went to high school with a girl named Candy Barr. When I was in the Army, in the medical field (kinda), I had to go through a lot of medical records. Seriously F'ed up names. Rhett Butler, Anita Freemann, and (my favorite) Krista Shanda Leer (seriously, crystal chandelier??). I swear, Candy and Krista's parents wanted them to be strippers.

Also, in the Army, your rank can play havoc with your name. I've met a Private Parts, a Major Player and a Captain Dick (imagine when he gets promoted to Major!). Then there was the Navy kid, Seaman Smiley (ewww). With a name like Smiley, I don't think I'd even join the military.

I forgot the worst name I'd ever heard. Ellipsisknits' comment reminded me. I used to work on our pediatrician (as a massage therapist) and we were talking about bad names. The worst she ever saw was a little girl who's name was pronounced femahlay. The dr. asked the mom how she'd come up with that name. The woman said the nurses named the baby before she (the mom) had a chance to. The woman, bless her ignorant heart, was reading the card they put on every girl baby's bassinett in the hospital.... Female. That poor baby. Yeah, I know. I begged the good dr. to tell me she was kidding, that it was a bad joke, that no one could really be that stupid. And what the hell, how could the nurses let her leave the hospital thinking that? The good dr. assured me it was all true. Sad, but true.

Whenever I can't sleep, I go to the Yarn Harlot's site and work my way through her archives. She's always good for a laugh. Then I go to Steve at The Sneeze. He is the funniest F'er on the 'net. He makes me snort laugh every time! I have to be careful reading him late at night. I have a really loud laugh. Here's a video that Steve has a link to....



After I saw that, I put misheard lyrics into the search window at YouTube. There's over 2,000! Some very creative people out there! Of course, as knitters, we know this. The only really misheard lyric I can remember doing was this....
Friend and I are in car and this song from Live comes on the radio. I'm singing along and I look at my friend and ask, "Who is Walter?" Friend says, "It's our love is like water, not Walter."

Going to take a nap, Ruth!

Cake Anyone?

We've had more cake in this house then anyone has a right to. I made cupcakes on May 4 for Davis' b'day. They lasted about 24 hours. Then I made a sheet cake (their choices by the way) for Trevor on May 11 (the Friday before his b'day, May 14). On May 13, We had Dave's brother and wife over for dinner as well as his visiting parents. His mom bought a layer cake for dessert since D and I were cooking everything. Then the BIL and wife showed up with another cake that said "Happy Mother's Day". Then we had to buy a cake for the boys' b'day party on May 19! MIL bought it and of course she had to buy the biggest one available.

Can anyone blame me for cake-induced nightmares about cake? Never thought it was possible but I don't. Want. Anymore. Cake.

Nothing much on the knitting front. I'm still (and for the rest of my life, it seems) swatching the Drops Alpaca and the Ornaghi Filati Gong for the Ogee Tunic (from Knitting Nature) and the Mason-Dixon After Dark Nightie, respectively. (Seriously, really long sentences. It's a curse I have.)

OK, I try not to read other blogs before I post because I don't want to be unduly influenced for my subject du jour (read: I don't want to rehash/steal/bogart ideas). But.... I just read today's installment at Mason-Dixon and she mentioned the young relatives singing American Pie and how long the song is. It reminded me of a friend of mine from my Shiatsu class. She told us the story of a time when she and her friends were underage and they used to hang out at this bar. They'd hang there because the proprietors weren't all that diligent about carding and it was a place to waste time before the place they really wanted to be opened up. She told us that every time they were there, they'd go to the juke box and put in, like $5 worth of quarters and request American Pie about 15 times in a row. Then they'd leave. I love that song but that's just cruel.

So here's a video I like. It's actually really impressive knitting....
I was going to try to post it but my computer skills are famously lacking so here's a link. And thanks to NoMoreSweaters here's the video!



Photos tomorrow, Ruth!

More 7's Please (And a Rant)

I had this brilliant idea about making a blanket for Trevor. Davis has a fairly intricate hand knit blanket that a woman gave me at his baby shower. Very sweet, especially since I didn't know her all that well.

Anyway, my idea was to use the Pattern-A-Day perpetual calendar. I'm planning on doing 11 big blocks (19" X 20") using dates that are important to our family (birthdays, anniversaries and such). Plus one block of stockinette with his initials purled in. I figured I'd do a block a month and then I could give it to him for xmas.

HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!! How freakin' delusional am I??? Here it's almost halfway through May and this is all I have...

That's not even half of one block. sigh.

Now there are two things I have to knit (OK, only one is "have to") and they both need the size US 7 32" addi's that are stuck in this block. I'll probably bust out the block and then use the needles for the other projects and then someday, maybe when he goes to college, he'll have a nice, new blanket. sigh.

(BTW, here's the sight that has the errata for that calendar.)

Last weekend, Dave and I watched Gunner Palace. It's a documentary about soldiers in Iraq, made in 2004. It's pretty good. It's depressing and sad and a bit hopeless. There are funny parts, too and there's no visible violence/gore so I suggest watching it as soon as you can. The saddest part, for me, was hearing the AFN (armed forces radio network) news blurb saying that our government was going to send 187 billion dollars to help our troops - getting them the equipment they needed to be safer, etc. Then they show some guy joking about how much of that money they actually get - showing the "high grade Iraqi metal" (scrap metal salvaged from suicide bombed cars and buildings) that they were having to use to reinforce their vehicles. It makes me sick.

Then I find this article. It tells how there's this system that already works being produced; this system can detect and diffuse RPG's (rocket propelled grenades) within a certain radius of a vehicle. This could save countless lives and limbs of our troops but the ARMY won't buy them because they have an $70 million contract with Raytheon. Raytheon, who is developing the same technology but estimates that they are 5-6 years from completion. WTF??!! So, not only is the government screwing our troops, the Army is jumping in for a sloppy seconds screw as well. Does this give anyone else a headache?

In a perfect world, the Army would bite the bullet (so to speak), end the contract, and go get the systems that are already working. In an even more perfect world, Raytheon would gracefully bow out and let them get what they need.

Then I see things like this movie called Delta Farce coming out. So, yeah, let's take the fact that our troops are overseas, losing vital body parts and dying and let's make a farce out of it for some quick cash. It's the American way, right? I love America and I wouldn't want to live anywhere else but sometimes it makes me so mad that it's OK to belittle such important things.
Freedom of speech, they can exercise it by making such drivel and I'm exercising it here. I only wish common sense were as prevalent.

Praying my active duty friends are safe, Ruth!

Food Hangover

So, Friday was my B'day and Dave said to pick a restaurant and we'd all go out. (The boys, D, and me) I picked Cheeseburger, Cheeseburger. It's a burger joint (obviously) and I was craving a real burger and a shake. Plus we love the way the boys play with the name whenever we pass one. We'll say, "Look, Cheeseburger, Cheeseburger." Then Davie will start, "Cheeseburger, Cheeseburger, What. Have. You. Done?", then we continue the rhymes like in the "Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear" song. It's really funny the way Davis says it and hard to convey here but it's like he's accusing the Cheeseburger of something nefarious.

OK, so we get there and order. You can order any number of delicious toppings for no extra charge and I had a "Semi-serious" size burger, med/well with lettuce, tomato, bleu cheese crumbles, and BBQ sauce and horseradish sauce on the side. Dave got a "Serious" size, medium, with jalapenos among other things. The boys split a small kids burger meal. Boring and mundane so far, right?

I'm a third of the way through this delicious, amazing burger when I see it. It's either a very small hair or (I'm hoping) an eyelash sticking out of the meat. We show the waitress, she takes it away and starts the kitchen on a new burger for me. I don't send stuff back, I really don't. I spent 5 years in the Army and it takes a lot food-wise to gross me out. I, however, can't deal with hair of any kind in my food.

This is one of those places that actually forms the patty and cooks it, so it takes, like, another 15 minutes for the new burger to show up. (Meanwhile, I'm working my way through the large order of fries and onion rings we ordered and finishing my chocolate/peanut butter/banana shake.) The burger shows up.... with jalapeno and yellow cheese. The boys (all three of 'em) are done eating and now it's just funny. I'm laughing when I point out to the waitress that this is Dave's burger (which, incidentally, they brought him the correct burger but the wrong size - mine was bigger, his was the smaller). At this point, I should've just shut my mouth, asked for a to-go box and we could've gone home. But it was my birthday, dammit! So the waitress
apologizes profusely and takes it back so they can make my burger.

Long story short (too late), I'm eating a whole other burger, at home, at 9 o'clock at nite. I couldn't breathe and had the worst heartburn and all day Saturday, I felt like shit.

Question of the day - "Can you get a hangover from food?"
My answer - "Why yes. I believe you can."

The food was great and we will be going back sometime. Just not for awhile.

Tomorrow we focus on a different kind of stupidity involving swatches and our need to ignore the obvious. Along with a great tip for frogging.

Starting to feel better,
Ruth!

P.S. Here's a contest for today http://kmkat.typepad.com/kmkat_and_her_kneedles/2007/04/what_buzz_wordp.html
The deadline for this contest is midnite on April 17/07
This contest was sited on a post from Stumbling Over Chaos.