The Saturday List

This week I bring you Foods for You where I list the foods that I am generously passing up on so that the rest of the world can have more. These are all things that I have actually eaten at some point in my life. I'm not including things that I assume I wouldn't like (like head cheese) because you never know until you try. At least that's what I tell Daughter all the time.

1. Onions. I will keep my onion powder, and even the onion flakes (because I can strain them out of the pot roast juice when I make the gravy) but you are welcome to my portion of raw onions in any form.
2. Tomatoes. But only the raw ones. Once they've been smashed and had some other ingredients added they're OK.
3. Caramel Custard, and by association, Flan. I apologize to my mother, but she knows what this is about.
4. Squashes. There's nothing redeeming about anything in this family.
5. Oranges that have been peeled by someone other than me. I can't explain this one. It's just one of those weird quirks. Hand me the orange and let me peel it myself, fine. You peel it for me, no thanks. It's not a germ thing, or a "I don't know where your hands have been" thing, I just lose any interest once someone else has peeled my fruit.
6. Coffee. I will give you that it smells great, but there's no way I can drink the stuff unless I have added a hugely unhealthy amount of sugar, and then it's just passable.
7. Liver. I was forced to eat liver maybe once a year when I was a kid. I haven't had any in at least 20 years. With luck I won't be having any for the rest of my life. Unless it's in Braunschweiger, then I'm in.
8. Cooked peppers. I'm a big fan of green peppers, red peppers, banana peppers, etc. The only caveat is that they have to be raw. Once a pepper is cooked, I lose all interest.
9. Prawns. This one is a matter of scale for some reason. I really like the tiny little salad shrimp. I like cocktail sized shrimp. I'm vaguely OK with jumbo shrimp. I have no desire to eat a prawn. For some reason, the bigger they are, the less I like them.
10. Avocados, and the related guacamole. It looks good, it sounds good, but it's not.

Fee Four FO Fum

I finished my fourth O for the year. I made a Whipped (link for Ravelers) scarf from some yarn I picked up at Stitches Midwest. It's Happy Feet merino, which is my current favorite breed of sheep.

Before washing and blocking:


And after:


As you can see, Daughter had decided that it's perfect for her. I foresee a custody hearing sometime in the near future, or a duplicate scarf so that we can both wear the perfect jeans scarf. That way we can both wear one the next time we go sledding on the day when it's 9 degrees Farenheit (that's -12 for my decimalific friends) without the wind chill factor from the gusting winds.

The Saturday List

This year, for no particular reason other than that it will give me something to write about each week, I will be making a list on Saturday. That's my only resolution. You'll have to forgive me for missing last week, but I hadn't had my brilliant idea then. So today I begin my first installment.

Authors I Need to Read
1. Stephen King. One of the few people who's books I buy in hardcover. Every one of them, as soon as it's available.
2. Dean Koontz. The other author that I buy in hardcover.
3. Clive Cussler. Makes me revisit the dream I briefly had in high school of being a marine biologist so I, too, could save the world every month or two.
4. Harper Lee. Well, yes, she did just write the one book, but it was a heck of a book.
5. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. I read all of the Sherlock Holmes stories at least once every year and I love them, therefore, I refuse to go see the movie.
6. Agatha Christie. I especially like Hercule Poirot. Dame Agatha's books are good for listening to in the car on the drive to Parents' house which takes 7 hours. Nothing that small ears can't listen to.
7. Vincent Bugliosi. I learned more about our criminal justice system from Helter Skelter than I did in my high school government class.
8. Barbara Walker. If you want to try a new knitting stitch, it'll be in one of her 4 books.
9. Stephanie Pearl-McPhee. Never heard of knitting humor? Don't see how such a thing is possible? Try her blog: The Yarn Harlot. If you like knitting at all you'll soon have all her books on order.
10. Erik Larson. The Devil in the White City and Thunderstruck are both excellent. Not just interesting historical subjects, but well written.

Sick of Socks?

I'm not. Not yet anyway.

Third FO for the year. Socks for Daughter made from Silkie Socks that Rock. They're a little too big for now, but at the rate her feet are growing they'll fit just right in no time flat.

Number Two

And the second FO for the year is:

A pair of socks for me. They're made from Serenity Sock Weight, just like yesterday's pair. It's one of my favorite sock yarns. Not only is it nice and comfy on the feet, I can get it a Hobby Lobby for relatively cheap. The fact that I finished them today is not as impressive as you might think. I finished the first sock in November. One of the unfortunate side effects of knitting them this far apart is that my gauge changed between then and now, and one sock is slightly larger than the other. It's a problem that I can live with.

And some cuteness from this afternoon:

Dog doesn't like it when he's on the wrong side of the door.

Hot off the Needles

Introducing the first FO (that's Finished Object for you non knitters) of 2010.

A new pair of socks for Daughter.

She can wear them to school tomorrow, which will be the day that I celebrate the new year.

Oh, and a little cuteness from Christmas:

P is for...

Proud

I'm proud of Daughter. Yesterday we were at the Morton Arboretum for their Fall Color Run. I did 5K, and she did a half mile.

I'm not proud of her because she finished first - she didn't.
I'm not proud of her because she was the best dressed there - she wasn't.
I'm not proud of her because she ran the whole half mile in record time for her- although that was cool.

I'm proud of her because she didn't quit. Daughter has a tendency to quit things when they become difficult. She has a past littered with dance classes, gymnastics classes, art classes, etc. When they got too tough, she didn't want to do them any more. At the race on Sunday she forgot to drink any water before the race and ended up getting what's commonly referred to as a stitch in her side. Even though it hurt a lot (there were tears after the race was over,) she didn't give up, she kept on going to the end and finished as fast as she could. She did mention that she was never running again, but after the investment I made in shoes and running shorts, she's going to keep running for a while, I assure you.







In case anyone's interested, I was 22 seconds faster than last year. I ran it in 31:55 and came in 754th out of a field of 1562. Among the women in my age bracket I came in 46th out of 126 competitors.


Before the race started, in the giant crush of humanity.


At the quarter mile.


Near the end.


Within moments of finishing.


How I did, approximately.