Happy Halloween

THAT'S A WINNER!!

Cardinals win in 5, Baby!!!

At Home!!

First Time since 1982!!!

Congratulations!!

I would have loved to be downtown for this, but annoying drunk crowds tend to freak me out!

T's down there somewhere with "the boys"...I've gotten 4 phone calls tonight from various locations. Definitely a lot of celebrating going on! What a season!!!

Is "Blogiversary" Really A Word?

Because I just don't remember learning that one on Sesame Street....But I digress.

So tomorrow is my 1st "Blogiversary". No, I can't believe it's been a year and I can't believe I have knitted as much as I have, or rather amassed as much of a stash as I have!

In honor of my 1st Blogiversary, let's have a contest, shall we?? How about I put the names of all the people who comment on my blog between now and Nov. 9 in a hat (probably off the Knifty Knitter) and I'll give you something from the stash. (it's extensive, so it'll be good! It's grown a bunch since that picture!) Why the 9th? That's my actual birthday, which in my world is a holiday, so I should give gifts! So feel free to comment at will - compliments, criticisms, tell me I'm crazy, go crazy for the Cardinals, etc.!

It's sports night here at Chez Westie. I could have gone out with my brother, SIL and my uncle who was in town for the World Series from Vegas, but I didn't want to stay in "the city" too long tonight - it makes a REALLY long day. And I needed to finish up some work and I'll be gone the rest of the weekend, so I'm getting ready to work on a knitting project(there are SOOOO many to choose from) and flipping between the World Series (GO CARDS!!) and the Tulsa Football game. As of 8pm, the Cards are winnging in the 3rd and TU is losing 13-3 at home vs. UTEP. It's fun watching TU - I used to play Intramural soccer and flag football on that field....many a great game was watched on that field too!

Tomorrow is day 2 of spinning and it should be interesting...this will make or break my future as a spiner. If I hate it, then I just saved myself over $300...if not, there goes another hobby!! I'll keep ya posted!

PS - Stuff with T is fine...I just need to breathe and keep perspective. All is Ok - I just need to remember that it's about ME too - I need to take breaks for myself and RELAX - all will fall into place fine. And he ASKED me to lunch today which was great and very sweet. I know, I know...he's a keeper....no matter how goofy he is!!!

Waiting To Exhale

So I'm having some trouble adjusting. Yes, I really like my job and I like working in St. Louis and all, but I just feeling like I'm not settled yet.

Now I'm all about change, so I'm not fighting that, it's just that I still feel like I'm not in control and everything is not as it should be. I know better and know everything is OK, I just am letting the littlest things bug me, which is driving me crazy! I feel most sorry for T - he's such a great guy and a good sport, but I end up taking stuff out on him, which is so uncool and unfair! During a conversation with Anna last week, we decided that T's name should be: "Poor T....I know!" (This goes with "Poor Wayne...My ASS!" and "Poor Roger...He's Fine", but that's for another post)

I'm getting upset when he is going out with his friends! I never used to be like that with him...it really didn't bother me - we don't have to spend ever minute together and that's great. Lately though, it's just setting me off and I'm not exactly sure why, though I have some pretty good guesses. One is that I am adjusting to the new job and drive, etc. and I'm not doing the things I used to do as much. Since I'm not really working in the office as much, I'm not hanging out with friends at work. I haven't seen much of my ATI friends and it's been so cold that the neighbors haven't really been out too much. I'm really slacking in the workout department and I feel like I'm slacking in the household department. (Not to mention the knitting - eek, less than 2 months to Christmas!)

Bottom line is that I think I'm not adjusting as well to the changes as I should be and I'm taking it out on him, instead of doing something about it. At least I'm realizing it sooner than later and hopefully I can make the necessary adjustments before it's too late. (Today is our 8-month anniversary and I truly couldn't be happier about that!)

Now that all of that is out....I actually feel much better. (T, if you are reading this - I'm sorry and please bear with me - it will all even out soon, I promise!)

Let's continue with our regularly scheduled blog, shall we!...

Currently I'm watching the Cards in the World Series. It's the top of the 6th and they are losing 3-2. My dad and uncle are at the game tonight. My parents went on Tuesday night too. (They paid a bunch for tickets, but they deserve to go - they are big fans and have never gone - and they aren't paying for college anymore!) Good thing they won, as we were not going to let them go tonight - the Cards lost every playoff game they attended! Dad says it's Mom, but I'm not so sure, especially if they lose tonight! It's been fun watching them play, especially since I still can't believe they are actually playing AND contending. They need to cinch tomorrow night in St. Louis! Edited at 11:30pm - CARDS WIN - THAT'S 3 GAMES BABY!!! 1 MORE TO GO!!!

Speaking of sports, T & I took his brother Mark to the Mizzou Homecoming game last weekend. The game was great, but we left about 1/2 way through the 3rd quarter. Most everyone else had left at that time too - it poured from the second play of the game, until we got to about the Kingdom City exit. I haven't been that wet (while fully clothed) in a long time - my hair was DRIPPING wet in the car! Thank goodness we took the Volvo with the heated seats... The game was good though and it was fun other than the rain. It's been fun watching them this year, as I didn't go to a big football school. Now TU is doing well this year too, so football is good to watch all over!


Saturday night we are going to a Halloween party. I haven't been to a costume party since college, so I'm not sure what to dress up as. T and I are going costume shopping on Sat, though he called tonight to say that he already got a costume - he's going as a member of DEVO, which came up in a conversation over the weekend, which he didn't remember until I mentioned it. I'd have to say it's creative and quite retro! He suggested that I go as a "Queen Bee" - black & yellow stripes with a tiara. Now I'm all about tiaras, so we may have a winner! Just to put it together... (yes, I'll have pictures)

Ok, here's the skinny on the spinning. I can't spindle spin to save my life. (Sorry, Blogger is being crabby about pix tonight!) I have trouble getting the spindle starting, then getting the right amout of fleece going and not pinching it all too hard. Apparently I am twisting it too much and causing it to "double up" on the spindle. I didn't make the class this past weekend because of the MU game, so this weekend is the start of using the wheel. I'm excited to try it, as I hear it's much different than the spindle. That's good, as I suck at the spindle! And since I missed a week, Carol is going to have a make-up class for me on the 4th to go over it. We'll see how it goes - at least I can say that I tried it!

Christmas knitting is still going, though SLOWLY! I'm almost finished with the one side of the baby kimono sweater, but I think it may be too long in the front in order to get to the right number of stitches. It will be close though. It's such an easy knit, which is good. And I started the sweater for Little A, but I'm not sure if I have the gauge right. It might be a little big for her, but she's growing fast. I'm sure she'll love the colors too. (Pictures soon - didn't get them taken this round)

Spinning My Wheels

So I start spinning glass tomorrow. That would be yarn spinning, not that aerobic crap. (T does it and is good at it - I don't think I have the knees for it)

Anyhoo....from what I hear, you either love it or you hate it, so it should be an adventure. I'm not sure if my analytical mind can handle something soooo crafty, but we'll see. Hey, it was on my MEME list last year of "Things I Want To Do Before I Die", so I need to at least try it. I know, I've got time, but might as well get it over with. Oh, and it's at Meyer's House in Historic Florissant, so it will be a hike.

Oh, and I have to tell you...My cousin Kerin (Little A & Little E's mom) won this national teaching award this week. She was on the TV news in Chicago and all over the paper. The funny thing is that I caught the article about the STL winners and it mentioned that it was going to Chicago & Glen Ellyn to give awards there next. For some reason I had a sneaky suspicion that it might be Kerin and I knew it as soon as I saw her e-mail. CONGRATULATIONS KERIN!!

Ok, TOTALLY FREAKY...now if I can just channel that for MY benefit...

(Yes, for those of you keeping score at home...this is my 3rd post this week - so blah!!)

FORE!!!

Here are some pix from T & I golfing at Gateway National yesterday. It's located just over the river in IL and is right next to the Gateway motor speedway. The day, view and course were spectacular and being a Sunday, we got to hear the motors from the drag races all day!















Just look at that form and those views!













I shot a 98 and T shot a 99 for the day. We played AWFUL on the front 9, but improved drastically on the back 9. I'm not sure if golf is fun again, but playing on days like this sure make it tolerable again!

Oh, and T wanted to make sure that I got this picture in to...In fact, I believe he wanted me to make sure I told you "Hey Everyone....Come see how good looking I am!"

Coming Up for Air!

Hi, cute, blonde slacker blogger here. Blah, Blah, Blah...I know I have a ton of excuses and you don't want to hear them, but I promise I have some good stuff...

So I started the new job a couple of weeks ago and I LOVE IT! I love being in St. Louis, I love being in a group of 15 engineers where 8 of us are WOMEN, I love doing REAL engineering work again, I love working and NOT having someone micromanaging me or looking over my shoulder and I love that I have a big cubicle WITH a WINDOW! Yes, there are things I DON'T love, like the drive and being away from home so long, but I figure if all works out I will be able to move closer. And I found out yesterday that I'm getting a company phone and most likely going to take over as the project manager on a job at a local company, so that's cool. I've been a little nervous as I go along with this, but I keep reminding myself that I CAN DO THIS...I've been doing this for years and they truly wouldn't have hired me if they didn't think I could do it!

On the social side....We went to my cousin Lisa's wedding over Labor Day. It was such a blast! Our family weddings are such a great time. We all love to dance and party (woohoo, open bar!) and all get a long well, so it's always a great time! (Ok, T's request for "Kung Fu" fighting was not taken well, but other than that, they loved him and he had a great time!) And the wedding itself was really pretty. Lisa's dress was gorgeous and apparently my uncle Bob had picked it out because it looked like the "whipped cream" girl on the cover of a Herb Alpert record from the 60's!! (Try explaining that to your grandkids!!) The girly's were the cutest flower girls and we got a kick out of Little A waving at everyone down the aisle! Here are a couple of pix from the wedding:


We've been golfing a bunch and going all over the place. A couple of weeks ago we went over Fairmont Park for the horse races. I lost about as much money as T won, which means that I have to bet like he does from now on! We went down to see the MU game against Ole Miss and that was great. I did miss the fact that I didn't go to a bigger school with a great football team, but TU has been holding their own lately too! In fact, we went to the "Watch Party" for the Alumni Group to watch their OT victory over Navy - what a great game!

Last weekend I went to the Toby Keith concert with a friend of mine. It was so much fun. We had VIP parking about 20 spaces FROM THE GATE! And then our VIP bands got us free food in the VIP tent and our hosts bought us drinks all night. Our seats were in the VIP boxes right behind the floor seats and they were AWESOME! EDITED BY REQUEST TO INCLUDE: It was totally awesome. Hell, he even dropped money all over the people in front of us when he first came out. How awesome is that. And how about Willie Nelson on the big screen. Straight from jail, we were sure. And the opening act, Joe Nichols, was awesome too. Although we weren't sure we knew any of his songs when we got there I think we sang every one. The weather was awesome and it was great company - at least I thought so. (The original post was abbreviated, as a certain "queen" may find out and throw a fit - just don't tell her who I got the tickets from, OK!....all the above is true as written - and then some!) I would include pix, but they are not uploading for some reason...I'll try again soon!


Ok, So here's the skinny about the knitting... I do actually knit when I'm not feeling guilty about keeping the house clean, working out, spending time with family/friends, blogging, etc.! THE SIL scarf is done and given! I ended up doing a garter stitch with a cute varigated pink chunky yarn and it turned out really cute.


I also have been working on the baby kimono from Mason-Dixon knitting and I'm up to the first sleeve. It's such an easy knit and may be the "baby sweater" pattern of choice! I may do some booties too, if I can find an easy pattern. Next up is the sweater for Little A for Christmas. I have the yarn picked out and actually need to START it. The pattern looks easy, so I'm not too worried that it LESS THAN 3 MONTHS TO CHRISTMAS...

Better get back to the knitting!