It was a gray, cold day here in Beer Town, but not as bad as it has been. But my Saturday Sky (I know! I haven't posted one of these for ages!) is not much to look at. I included some pretty church for interest.


Thursday was my birthday (39, if you're wondering) and I had a fabulous day! There were presents, food, and lots of cards! I almost ran out of room for all of them on my sideboard!


It's a bit humbling, really. I'm not sure I'm a good and thoughtful enough friend to warrant the outpouring I received. There was some serious love I was feeling. So nice, though! Many, many thanks!!!

Yesterday was laid back, but today was another fun day. V and I went shopping, then we had a terrific supper at County Clare, then we went to the Marquette v. UWM basketball game -- a cross-town rivalry that was a really good time. Marquette won (we were heavily favored) so I got to cheer a lot. We were pretty sloppy and high-strung during the first half, but we calmed down and got the job done during the second half. Especially the defense, but the offense really improved, too. Nice playing.


Then I came home and found this on Wil Wheaton's blog. HILARIOUS.


And now I'm going to bed. My life is very good right now. If Gator lived with me, it would be freakin' perfect.

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Festival farewell

It was another uneventful week in the lab (except for that annoying yeast infection in all my cell cultures, but I really hope I have that under control) and another fun and busy weekend -- thus insuring that I will not become a dull girl because of all work and no play.

Friday night I went with Veronica, Rachel, and Rachel's family to the Lakefront Brewery tour and then for a fish fry. Rachel's son brought a date for me -- a giant stuffed alligator to stand in for Gator, my DH. He was quite the star of the tour, too! He loved posing with me:


We had a ball. Rachel's kids have taken to calling V, Anne and I their "Crazy Aunts", which I absolutely adore. I try to live up to this as much as I can!! Plus, there's nothing like chasing 8- and 11-year-old boys down the street so you can hug them good-bye and give them cooties! Hee!!

Saturday was Party On The Pavement and Art Walk in Racine, WI. I went down with my neighbor and we had a great time. First we walked around part of the residential area down by the lakefront. At Gateway Technical College there stands the first statue erected of Abraham and Mary Todd Lincoln portrayed together:


We strolled past the Hardy House, a Frank Lloyd Wright original:


This crazy pink Victorian explosion was the second house in as many blocks to have a sawed-off classic Milwaukee Harp Street Lamp in the front yard. I love these lamps. Apparently there is a way I can get my own one day. That is good to know.


I love the cool facades found on many Masonic Temples:


It was a gorgeous day for October -- the sky and the lake were clear and beautiful!


Soon, we headed to the festival. There was awesome Spanish food and tasty beverages and quite a crowd down at Monument Square:


Most importantly, this crowd included Chewbacca!!! And he spoke Shyriiwook fairly well!


Yes, that was pretty much the highlight of this dork's day! :)

We only got to enjoy a little bit of the festival nightlife before we had to catch the last bus back to Beer Town:


Back home, I listened to the Brewers beat Philly only to listen to them lose today and end their season. It was sad, but I'm glad we didn't get swept in the series and at least had one post-season win. At least that's something.

After the Brewers lost I watched the play-by-play internet coverage of the Broncos game, which they won. Apparently the Brewers and Broncos are not allowed to win on the same day. I hope this means smooth sailing for the Broncos here on out.

It's been cool but pretty up here lately, but today it's been nothing but rain all day. I'm glad I got my partying in when I did. I fear it's the last festival of the year. :(

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Bad news football; good news baseball

So maybe I just shouldn't watch football this season.

I hadn't watched any Broncos games until today and they were undefeated until today. Maybe I'm bad mojo. This is, of course, ridiculous -- my presence or absence in front of a television screen has nothing to do with how the players perform miles away from me. But as far as sports superstitions go, it's completely reasonable. I will ponder this possibility and decide what to do before next week's game.

Since I have no television of my own, I had to go to the Union Sports Annex to watch the game -- they have Sunday Ticket -- and it just so happened that the screen showing the Brewers game was right next to the screen playing the Broncos game. It was maddening. It's bad enough watching two different football games at one time, but to watch two screens showing two games of altogether different sports, both of which I was heavily invested in, was really difficult. Plus, the football game was horrible, while the baseball game was terrific. An emotional roller coaster if ever I've been on one.

Anyway, the good news is that the Brewers won and the Mets lost, so the Brewers are going to the playoffs!! We're all very excited up here in Beer Town, to be sure. Go Brew Crew!!!

Oh, and I made one and a half dishcloths while watching all of this. True multi-tasking, I'm telling you. I had completely depleted my random dishcloth stash when I visited my family this summer, so I really needed to start stocking up again. I think I'm up to around four. Many more to go!

Okay, so I know I promised State Fair pictures a long time ago. But somehow this pressure has become too great and I've just not been blogging instead of doing all the photo manipulation required to present such a post. And, since Yarnthrower reminded me that I made a New Year's resolution to not feel guilty about my blog, I'm permanently throwing that to the back of the back burner for the sake of blogging in general. So there, guilt! Away with you! Ppbbfftt!!

On to a little progress report! The Maui Shrug is indeed finally finished (the one I tried to do for the Ravelympics and failed horribly) but I don't have pictures yet. It really needs to be modeled to be seen properly, and that will require enlisting the help of a second party to snap the pic and looking decent myself for the picture. This will require planning. So it may be a while. I can't help it. I'm vain yet lazy. It's a terrible burden, I assure you.

My friend Anne's bridal shower was a couple of weeks ago and I finished all her gifts in good time and went on to have a blast at the event itself. It was held at a wine bar and there was quite a spread. And I couldn't believe all the gifts she got -- what a haul!! And that was just the shower!!!

My addition to the haul included dishcloths,


potholders,


lid hats,


and a market bag.


I put it all together and made fiber content/washing instructions tags for everything.


She loved it! Here's Veronica, Anne, Me, and Rachel at the shower. It was great!


I have also finished the wedding gift for Anne and her finace, but finished pics will wait until after the giving. Just in case.

Tonight I started the Seraphina shawl. I've never felt the shawl love, but this pattern is calling to me for some reason. I've only got a tiny bit done, so I'll save pics for next time. But I'm really enjoying it so far. In fact, I think I'll get back to it right now!

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