The new reality

This semester is not going to leave much time for blogging. It won't last forever, but it's going to pretty much be this sporadic all fall. Not that I'm that exciting to begin with.

Baseball season is going away and I'm sad. Of course I'm sad that my Brewers didn't make the playoffs after such a promising start, but Gator is a Cubs fan, so one of us was going to be happy no matter what. As long as the Cardinals bit it.

My last game of the season was a blast, as always. I've totally gotten the "going to the baseball game" bug. It's just so very fun. This time, V invited me along to her workplace picnic at Miller park.


At the tailgate, there were celebrity sightings! Exciting!

I was accosted by a Klements Racing Sausage (My favorite! Bratwurst!):


Bernie Brewer was starting to drag after many pictures wth fans. I admit that I perked him up a bit by patting him on the behind. That's why he's looking a little shocked in this pic:


I've loved every second of my time at Miller Park this summer. I can't wait until next year.

_____

'Tis me risin' from th' dead

Arrrr! It be International Talk Like A Pirate Day! Shiver me timbers!

As much as I would like to post entirely in Piratese, it just doesn't come across in print very well. Arrrr!

Oh, yeah, Hi! Been awhile, eh? After my company left, I got a wicked cold and the workload this semester is crazy. I haven't blogged, I haven't done any handwork -- I do homework and sleep. Mostly, that's totally it.

But that's no fun to blog about! Luckily, I have a whole passel of pictures from when my Best Friend Missa came to visit me weekend-before-last. Yay!

She flew up from Missouri to see me, obviously, but also to see our favorite band, Rush, when they played here on Sept. 6. The concert was a total blast and we had a ball. Afterwards, as we walked to the bus stop, a couple of college-age guys on bikes stopped us. One had a bouquet of roses in his hand. He offered them to us and we were trying to politely refuse ("candy" from strangers and all that -- it was around midnight in the middle of the city, after all), when he explained that he was just having a really hard time riding his bike while carrying these flowers -- and wouldn't we like some beautiful flowers? So we finally accepted. Unless they contained this cold virus Missa and I both seem to have picked up, no harm came from taking flowers from a stranger. They were pretty beat-up at the time, but I trimmed them and put them in water when we got home and, by morning, they had perked up to be very lovely indeed. Missa beautifully posed with them:



Saturday morning we drove down to the Lakefront and Missa posed,


I posed,


We met some birds,


and Missa tried to get to know one of them better (it flew away seconds after this photo was taken).


We took in a few more sights, then met up with New Friend Veronica for the Miller Brewery Tour. It was fun, free, and included beer. Perfection? Dang close. Missa and I got up close and personal with a large fake beer bottle. Why not?


Missa, me, and V posed together at the back of the High Life Cruiser, a big, very retro Miller bus thing-y that we decided was just pretty cool. Although, I think that great old "Girl in the moon" logo may be the best thing about Miller. They should use it more, methinks.


Missa didn't get to stay nearly long enough, if you ask me. But it was great to see her, hand out with her, and to have my first official out-of-town visitor come to my humble abode in Beer Town! Yay! It was fun playing hostess and I tried to instill my insane crazy love for this city into Missa. I think I did a pretty good job. I can't wait until she can come back!

::cough::

Seriously, do you think those guys made us sick with infected roses??

::cough::

Yeah, okay, maybe not.

I have company!

Today's Saturday Sky is courtesy of Best Friend Missa, who visited my roof earlier this morning and shot this pic. It's going to be a gorgeous day today in Beer Town -- perfect for visiting friends from Missouri!!! Missa flew in on Thursday and will be staying until tomorrow morning. We've been having all kinds of fun and have a great day planned for today.

So I'm off, but I'll tell you all about our fun weekend later, I promise!

Dad's new job

Dear Gator,

When the Biology Department has functions, they provide water for us packaged in these bottles. They're cute and round and kind of funny:


They are also apparently marketed by your father:


That's right, baby -- they're ORBTASTIC!!!!!!!!!!

_____

Movin' right along

So, I didn't study very much over the long weekend, and I certainly didn't clean my apartment. What I did was sit on the roof during the day and enjoy all the sunshine I possibly could, and watch X-files DVDs in the evenings. Both activities were perfect for doing handwork.

Knitting ballbands frees my eyes up for more important uses, like looking at David Duchovny. I finished number four.


Days in the sun were perfect for completing the squares necessary for the next strip of the Crazy Quilt Coverlet:


Talking on the phone to Gator, my Sis, and Missa were perfect opportunities to complete the strip...


...and attach the strip to the rest of the afghan. That's the new one there on the right.


There's only one more strip, then the border. Thank Goodness. The border in the pattern is quite narrow and I've been thinking of beefing it up a bit. We'll see when we get there. I'll probably make it up as I go along.

Speaking of making things up as I go along, I got a wild hair. I had laid out my completed ballband cloths and realized that, really, they're just big ol' afghan squares. I'm completely addicted to making them, so perhaps I should make a stash-busting Ballband Afghan. I'm going to use the same color for the background of all the squares and mix up the 'ridges'. I'm still mulling around the joining technique, but I think I know exactly what I want to do -- if I can just get it to work (those sides are messy). I'm not ready to post any pics, but when they come, you will eventually get sick to death of them. Also, this may kill my ballband addiction. We'll see.

Teaching on my own for the first time this morning. Gots me some butterflies. I'm sure it will be fine. Wish me luck, though, anyway, K?

_____

Happy Labor Day!

I hope everyone has time for a little fun and rest today, even if it's not an official holiday where you live. Fun and rest are always a good idea, especially on a Monday!

I have labored (in the sun, on the roof, by the pool) this weekend and I'll have a little to show on that tomorrow. For now, I'll get back in the flaking groove:


This is another snowflake done according to Judy's pattern. I love this design. The first time I made it, I used #20 thread and the flake is pretty small. I wanted a larger one, so I whipped out the #10 thread and went to town. Hmmm. They're both pretty good, but I think I really like the small one best after all.


Have a great day!!

_____