I swear I'm putting pictures up on Wednesday...

Speaking of crochet...I've slowly been working on a nice, heavy sweater for myself. It's a simple pattern from Better Homes and Gardens and moves pretty quickly (I get bored quickly, so I only work on it every few days or so).

Some people may have noticed the unusually warm weather Oklahoma is having. At this rate, winter is over and I might as well pack up the sweater to finish this fall, because it is not going to get anywhere near cold enough to wear it this season.

I could use a little cooperation from Mother Nature right now :).

I haven't done any blogging lately because the crocheting (and now knitting!) have completely taken over my life. Can you buy stock in Hobby Lobby?

I've finished several projects (pictures to come soon) and have several more in progress. Last night at the bookstore sewing circle I stumbled on what might be my favorite project of all - a mini-scarf out of frilly yarn and an L hook (that's big) that takes about an hour to finish. I can get two scarves out of one ball of yarn. I felt guilty about buying yet more yarn until I realized I was planning to go to Talbot's today to buy some silk scarves on sale. Now I can make my own for a third of the sale price. They will also make really great gifts.

I'm getting better at teaching others how to crochet. A bookstore staff member whose mother crochets came to the sewing circle last night wanting to learn. Instead of jumping right in, I had her chain until the yarn ran out, chain some more, then start on single crochets. She is very willing to do the boring practice to get it right and seems to be picking it up pretty well. My apologies to the guinea pigs I taught first - I could have done things better. The other staff members I taught is moving along nicely, however.

Home news: We have some happy news to report. We went to the Home and Garden Show at the fairgrounds last weekend and learned some interesting tidbits. Background: As we finally put knobs and pulls on our cabinets and closet doors, we have discovered that the previous owner used drawer handles that are no longer the standard size. Drilling more holes in the front of the drawer seemed like it would weaken the drawer front too much, but we couldn't find any pulls the right size. At the HG Show, we walked past a display of knobs and such, explained our situation to the attendant, and found out that he works for the Kitchen and Bath Gallerie just down the street from us. His answer - they probably have just what we need, and if they don't, they can order them for us! Woo Hoo!

We also talked to a painter who says we might not have to strip all the formerly blue trim. He tells us there's a product out there called Incredicoat that puts a super-hard finish on any paint that's too soft. I know it sounds too good to be true, but it would be a lot cheaper and easier than stripping and repainting. I've just about decided that we need to hire someone - after spending six weeks of my life painting this stuff, I can't mentally stomach having to do it all over again.

Continuing the scary electrical issues, we may have pretty much solved the dimming light problem. It all began with the cable going out on Monday. Not just the cable, but the internet and the phone as well. The phone creeped me out the most since I don't have a cell phone. Being suddenly cut off from all forms of communication is disconcerting.

I called Cox who said they'd send someone out by that evening to at least fix the phone. I had a big event at the bookstore (Kurt Browning) and never got around to telling hubby about the problem. Cox was here when he got home and told him the cable connection on the electrical pole out back had fried. As the cable guy climbed down the ladder leaning against the electrical pole, he and G noticed the garage lights flickering in rhythm with the wobbling of the electrical pole. Cox guy said we needed to call OG&E. G went inside, called OG&E, pressing the button for "flickering lights." When the CSR answered, he said, "OG&E emergency, how may I help you?"

Long story short: OG&E came right out (how's that for service!) and discovered that the grounding mechanism (this is all a bit out of my reach) on the electrical pole had corroded and was no longer working properly. They replaced it and (drum roll please) no more flickering lights. We turned on the toaster a bit later...the kitchen lights no longer dim by half. The washing machine cycles no longer set the bathroom lights to disco dancing!

Thank goodness the cable went out.

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I suppose that's enough general updating for now. I'll work on putting up pictures later.

Happy New Year!

I like doing different things for New Year's. When we lived close enough to downtown to walk to see the fireworks, we'd do that (I thought it was exciting). I danced the night away in Spain for the millenium. Collecting fun New Year's stories seems to be a habit.

This year, we played a hunch that we could see the fireworks downtown from the park around the corner. We live on one of the tallest hills in this part of the city and have a clear view of the capitol. So we packed up a half-used bottle of champagne leftover from the wedding, a couple of blankets, I wore my newly-created hat with fancy pom-pom (pictures to come soon) and we trekked over to the park.

There was a gazebo conveniently located at the perfect vantage point. We wrapped up, poured our champagne and toasted early so the alcohol could warm us up a bit. Then we waited. And waited. And then began to doubt that there would actually be fireworks due to the wind and the high fire danger we all know so much about.

But yes! Our watches were fast, because the fireworks did come. And we could see them perfectly.

I have another fun New Year's story to add to my collection. Hubby didn't seem to think it so fun, but he's such a nice man, he did it anyway.

Happy New Year!