I go to the doctor’s clinic about every other week, but just as a chauffeur to grandpa. I bring my knitting, wear a skirt (the last time I didn’t grandpa said I, "looked like a hobo."), and hang out. I did that today, and got to enjoy grandpa completely mixing and matching two separate outfits I got him:
I wisely said nothing, but note to self: next time I buy his clothes make them all mix and match! Like his belt? I used my scrapbooking tools to punch five extra holes in it so he could wear it, LOL I use scrapbook stuff for everything! So anyway I also had an appointment today. I figured after I got married and got some "good" insurance that I should get a physical. I’ve been putting this off as the last time I went to the doctor’s with my paid-for-it-myself-super-cheapo insurance plan it cost 65 dollars, and the insurance shelled out $2.65. What the hell? Why bother right? So way back in April I made an appointment and it was today. I had no pediatritaion when I was little, my parent’s opted to take me to a regular family physician, so I literally have had the same doctor since I was a baby. They had a tray set up for an annual and I was like, um, NO, Dr. E, I’ve known you way to long. I’m all about the girl doctor for the girl parts. Anyway so it all went well. Apparently my body thrives on jalapeno dip, corn chips, and diet coke for breakfast (which is what I had this morning). I am seriously such a bad eater. I’ve written it all down before and half my calories are candy. Not chocolate, nothing with any kind of good powers, I’m talking jelly beans and marshmallows. Anyway I asked to have my cholesterols checked, sugars, iron, etc. I went down to the lab to make an appointment and my insurance doesn’t cover it. I have to go to the freaking hospital for that. So stupid. I’m being pro-active. I’m being good, getting all checked up before there is a problem, I mean won’t this save them lots of money in the long run? And aren’t they all about saving money and scamming me? Grrrr…
I remember when our exchange student Susanne was diagnosed with cancer. She was from Denmark. The government flew her dad over to come get her, they paid for everything, and her mom was by her side the whole time because they have very generous leaves. Sure they don’t have uber rich over there because like half there money goes to tax. But big deal, I mean if I got cancer right now I would be screwed, like so bad. My parent’s would have to bail me out, we’d be in debt, and I HAVE insurance. I watched Sicko when I was up in Alaska so I’ve been thinking about this a lot. I’m not politically inclined, and I don’t want this blog to be about all of that, but after today I just had to hold my head in my hands and say, really?
I just want to bang on my drum all day
Bj and I have been humming that song lately, "I don’t want to work, I just want to bang on my drum all day." Only instead of "bang on my drum" I want to knit, scrapbook, and spin yarn. Shocking I know. 🙂 I love Ribbon Jar, but lately I have been wanted to craft, craft, craft. Remember how I said I bought some yarn up in Bellevue? Well some of it was the old Tahki Cotton Classic that Mason Dixon made famous.
I had some before when I had a bad case of
I need to get some other colors, and I have a credit at a yarn shop in Portland that sells it. I think I bought all that orangish color because I was going to do something for V, but I can’t remember now so I’ve put it in the blanket stash. Hopefully I’ll feel the urge to do something else soon, but until then, happy knitting!
Oh and P.S. if you love knitting, stash collecting, and general yarn fun make sure you check out Ravelry. It isn’t fully ready yet, but I am on the waiting list. Still have over 10 thousand people ahead of me in line. But thought I’d clue you in so when I do get in maybe you won’t be far behind!
This and That
I’ve mostly been working Ribbon Jar, but I did sneak up to Seattle with Bj for a few nights. Carmen was in town for work so I couldn’t pass up the chance to see her "down south" hehehe. Anyway just wanted to catch you up on my projects:
It’s just the way it is framed up before the concrete is poured that I like, using narrow and more porous wood. And I like that it’s painted red. Our little porch is now and I think we want to stick with that. I also check out Paper Source (lord help me that store is fantastic but over priced), and Hill Top Yarns (oh I guess Hill Top Yarns east on eigth). Yummy! I got the softest lace weight stuff ever made I think. And a bunch of other stuff I really needed. Right. Well I might be working on stuff for Etsy to utilize all the crafty goodness I have going on in the studio. We’ll see my plate is just a touch full. 🙂 Speaking of the studio:
I found them, I found them! Well I should say I have them, I have them, but actually a friend of mine, Maia found them for me. She got them for her spices and thought they were they same. Turns out they are – exactly! I thought I was ordering the right thing the first time, but those didn’t actually have see through lids (don’t they look like they do?) but these from Specialty Bottle do and they stick to magnets! Since I just guessed on how many I’d need I"m three short from a perfect pattern of them on my wall, boo hoo. But still I’m very excited. They actually came last week but I had to wait for my super strong, be careful they might kill you magnets from Forcefield (on eBay). I forget how I stumbled across these guys, but they are crazy into magnets. They use them for power and everything. So if you need strong magnets go there, but be warned I got a bigger size than last time because they were out of the tiny ones. And at just 1/2 inch by 1/8 inch they are almost too strong for me to get apart when they get stuck to each other. I don’t know if you could glue them to anything either, because I’m betting the magnet would stay on the fridge or whatever, and the thing you glued to it would be pulled off. They are that crazy strong.
Meanwhile I still search for the fan….
Jar Love
This is what I did All. Weekend. Long. And I roped Bj into Ribbon Jar stuff. The jars rock if you ask me, I’m just about to release them here. But also we (Bj) revamped the ideas page, and added a much asked for gallery of past jars. The only problem is that now people want to order the sold out jars. I added a little note on the page saying they were sold out, but I’m still getting emails about it. Hmm what to do. Anyway check it out and let me know what you think. My goal is to get a lot more ideas on the ideas page, I’ve kinda let that slide.
Ikea Love
Ah sweet Ikea how I love thee. Well I really really like thee, but Bj LOVES Ikea. We went right after it opened in Portland and it was crazy. We were a little concerned seeing as how they had people parked fair style on the grass because the place was overflowing, but we knew what we needed and it was actually pretty painless. That was about mmmm, a month ago. We put most everything together right away, but something needed a bit of tweaking, so we just finished that today. First though, what I have been wanting since April. We had planned to go to Ikea in Seattle the weekend we found out about Bj’s dad and never had a chance to go back, then it was getting so close to the one opening here we just figured we wait. So what did I want so badly? 
This awesome bookcase. It comes totally open, and then you can pick and choose things to go inside each hole. So we picked five door units to make it look a little sturdier and because we figured the bottom openings would get dusty easily. I think they make it look really awesome. Then we also picked up a few of those bins for things. 
They are excellent. This one bin replaces like a dozen boxes of Christmas bulbs in the storage room, and now I can enjoy them year round! Plus I haven’t had my books all out like this for almost two years, so it’s great to see all of them and pick them up whenever I like. We also got Bj a few things for his office area:
Two desks and a little file cabinet thing. Of course I just couldn’t stand it if everything was new so I work my little touches in whenever possible.
Hehehe, but seriously all this stuff was just crammed in a shopping bag before I came along. So all of that was done weeks ago, it was this that we just finished today:
I tired merging those two but it didn’t work out. So we bought that buffet thing knowing it wouldn’t fit, and just got around to cutting the top. It’s still makes the opening a little smaller (from the dining room to the kitchen) but not bad enough to really be annoying. The reason this is so great is that little plug you see there, it’s a grounded gfi plug, the only one in the kitchen, and now we have a workspace there so we can use it! An additional plus is all the new freed up space in our cupboards. So this is supposed to get us to cook more. Let’s hope it does!
Spin Cycle
I’ve been over
Today it was try and I can’t wait to knit it up, I’m thinking a cap.
But first I am going to spin up my souvenir from Alaska:
I wanted to get some thing to take home that wasn’t like a traditional gift or whatever. So I got this at this super cute little yarn shop called Knitting Grounds (hello Zaynab is you’re reading this). These bats were only six dollars each, what a steal! I also finally got some Zimmerman books there. OH I might have to make a baby surprise jacket with this!!! I’ve already started:
Now this is what I call a lovely relaxing birthday!
Then and Now
By the time I finish posting this it will be my birthday, and I will be 27 years old. To give you an example of how much I’ve changed here I am 20 years ago:
Some where in between there I had to work on an "about me" project for my eighth grade English class. Here was my finished project.
I really liked to go above and beyond on these types of projects and made a replica of my much loved back pack as the covers of the book. I opened up the zippered pocket today and it was complete with mini Hello Kitty pens and pencils. Anyway we had to choose from a list of projects and put them together in this book. I have a sampling for you. Here is how I described myself:
I love the people person graphic, check out the necks on those guys! So that’s what I thought of myself. And a lot of those still hold true for me. I wonder how I would change it now I’m a Garrison. Hmm, it’s hard to think of things like this. I guess that’s why I added a ‘most of the time’ and ‘kind of’! Here’s another project, a joint time line. Things that have happened/and made up future stuff:
Can you read that? Basically I’m a super star actress/archaeologist/philanthropist/contractor who has 10 kids in the span of 5 years (scared Bj?). Oh ya and I win lots of Oscars and travel the world in a balloon. And my kids are geniuses who star in movie with me. Right… because that’s a totally feasible future. I do like that I gave myself eight years to finish college, and until 2009 to get married, I have both those beat!
So life. I’ve been thinking about getting older, not really because of this birthday, more because of hanging out with grandpa so much I think. It’s hard to talk to him sometimes, so set in his ways. His mind made up about things that make no sense to me. Like telling me my house is old (1940s) and there for worthless to invest in. Saying that things aren’t worth anything any more, that everyone wants to take advantage of everyone. When it boils down to it grandpa is frail and weak. He’s 87 years old and only has his grandson and me for company. I’m happy to know him, and I’m sure my life is more affected by this fact than I may even know. But it’s sad, so so sad to me that his life is what it is now. I’ve never been good around the elderly and I don’t want to fear growing old. I want to embrace my life one day at a time. I want to look back on fond memories but leave them there and move on. I want each day to be better and I really think it can be. I want to surround myself with family and friends, and things that I love just like I did when I was little.
There are many things I know now that I could tell my 13 year old self to make it easier for her to get where I am. But I never would because I wouldn’t be me. Even the things I wish I could have changed I don’t call real regrets. My grandmother had a birthday party days before she died and I didn’t go. I can’t remember why now, her mind was gone and I had other things to do I guess. It’s sad that I didn’t go but I don’t regret it, because I will never say no to another opportunity like that with out thinking about all the consequences.
I’m so glad my parents had a stressful thanksgiving vacation almost 28 years ago and made me. I love being alive. I love my husband, my family, my friends. I’m crying right now, but I’m not sad. I just don’t understand how I got it so good. And I don’t know how I am going to pay karma back and do enough good things so I grow old to be surrounded by lots of love and not all alone. I suppose I’ll spend the rest of my life trying to figure that out.
Lets talk nasty motels for a minuet
Bj and I did not plan for this trip. Not really. Two weeks ago in Vegas I pulled out the big map that came with the guidebook and said, "okay so we’ll take this road, than the Alaska Highway, then a little cut-off and we’ll be there." And since we had no idea how long any of that would take, me being the notorious, "That was a cool sign, are you sure you don’t want to turn around and take a picture?" Bj, "I don’t want to, do you?" Me, "No…. that’s okay" (my voice trails off a little at the end there). And then Bj has to turn around so we can get the sign.
Which I knew would be alright even though it totally was NOT a Scottish Lodge, and a bit on the dodgy side. Why did I know? They had a flower garden in the front where some clever person had tucked in tomato plants, and I’m pretty sure you can’t be murdered in your bed in a motel where there are tomato plants being lovingly cared for. But I’m pretty sure you CAN be murdered in your sleep when your room has a blood stain on the floor, a bathroom type door as your outside door (read: no real lock), and soap this big:
WHAT IS THAT? I was laughing my ass off at this soap. What do they repackage the slivers of other hotel soap? They must. So let me back up here. The whole day we were driving towards Dawson Creek (NOT Dawson’s Creek FYI) and we didn’t know how far we were going to get and I started to be concerned about our hotel options. But we couldn’t use our iPhones for fear of the 79 cents a minuet special Canadian rate (now looking back this does not seem like all that much). So I say, "maybe we should stop somewhere and use a pay phone to reserve a place." And Bj is a bit indifferent, so we don’t. So we get to Prince George and the place I had just randomly picked from the guide was a nasty dive right (and I mean RIGHT) next to a fire station. Loud much? So we drove around, and around, and around. There was a swim meet and by the time we got back around to the "downtown motel" it too was full. So we had to head outside of town. When we pulled up a drunken man opened his door with a huge beer can in his hand ahhhh, run!!!!!! But we couldn’t, it was late, and the more north we got the further in between things got too. So we stayed there. And I was thanking every ounce of common sense I have that I brought my own blankets.
I called my mom to check in, quickly saying, "We’re in Prince George, Bj didn’t want to make reservations, we’re probably going to get killed in our sleep at this dive," and hanging up. I’m sure that was really comforting to her. At least the soap and the towels lightened the mood. Oh the towels, you want to hear about that? So there were no towels in the bathroom, Bj went to get some, and the woman said she was sorry she forgot, and would bring some. She showed up with a stack of towels, looked Bj up and down and said, "you’re tall I bring extra." (Side note this lady was seriously way too sweet to be at this place – it’s only redeeming quality). The next morning after I showered I started chuckling, the towels didn’t even fit around me! Slightly bigger than a hand towel, but not by much.
Needless to say, we made reservations for the rest of the trip the next day.
Crafty Little Sister
So every Tuesday during the school year I picked Emilie up from school and we had a good old time watching Veronica Mars and being crafty. This summer we thought we would continue with Tuesday, only she’s been coming over to help me with some Ribbon Jar work. But we still manage to find time to be crafty. Yesterday we resurrected an old favorite easy craft project of mine: tacks! Here’s Emilie’s mess:
The key to this project is the cheapest, most flat topped brass tacks you can find and E600. Smelly, but perfectly clear and strong.
Oh and I loved all the comments on the laundry. He did go back and fold them after I posted that, and it was funny to watch him pick up one of my skirts, "you’re clothes are so small!" He doesn’t know it but that made my day!
Helpful? Doubtful.
So… I’m upstairs cooking in the kitchen (with my vintage apron on – how 1950s housewife of me) and my dear husband decides to help me out. I hear the dryer going, and four hours ago before I went to the grocery store and the bank I told him he could switch the laundry, none of my shrinkable things were in the washing machine. So like I said I heard the dryer. I went down to put another load in (the laundry is my job after all – we divide and conquer the housework). And this is what I see.
Please note the nice folded clothes in the basket. Those were sitting right under the dryer. I thought that clearly meant: "fold me and put me in the basket just like this" But he had other ideas. I would be pissed if I wasn’t laughing so hard. Boys, sigh.