Dad is visiting!

Oye vegh! Little Petey has arrived! I've got him hooked on "Prison Break" now. We watched the Amazing Race last night and had a few good laughs. Anyway, he is here to go to the Phillies/Mets game with me tonight, then we will drive back up to the Cape together on Friday. Maggie, showing her true colors, slept with her grandfather last night. Gus and I had a lot more room to spread out without her in the bed with us!

Wendy reminded me to mention one more thing about Stitches. Someone who will not be named, asked me if the "dryer lint" scarf was me actually knitting with roving, right onto the needle, unspun. Moron. I can't even write anymore about the stupidity of that question.

So, I'm settling on my refi this am and since I'm going to work late, I've had some extra time this morning to do laundry. I really didn't know I could be this productive this early in the morning.
Time for more coffee.

Cashmere and Alpaca and Jelly Yarn, OH MY!!!

Dateline 930am Saturday September 24th; Dunkin Donuts, 20th and Chestnut Streets, Philadelphia

Robin, Wendy, Allison and I meet to embark on our yarn adventure.
Loaded up on caffiene and donuts/bagles (I tried to have a breakfast sandwich, but they put MEAT on it!), we head out across the Ben Franklin Bridge to knitting Utopia.

We arrive around 11am, wide eyed and with money to spend.

Robin, Wendy and Allison...sporting our great Rosie's Tote Bags

We made some major purchases...

I bought some amazing **** for Mom's Christmas Gift
I also bought some hand-dyed Cashmere for a hat
4 skeins of Kureyon in a "Fall-esque" colorway that will become a scarf and hat
some amazing Lorna's Laces sock yarn for grandma's Christmas socks

I saw the Yarn Harlot (she is SOOOOO tiny), the "modular knitting" lady, Iris Scherier (sp?)
and of course, some heinous things. Knowing we were not supposed to take pictures, I went on a recon mission with Robin as my "cover" to photograph my nominee for ugliest thing at Stitches:

This lovely little number for that special little girl in your life is made out of lovely ribbon and fluff yarn with PASTED ON SILK FLOWERS

You couldn't pay me to knit this let alone give it as a gift. The woman at the booth thought we actually LIKED it and was very apologetic that she didn't have a pattern for us...DARN!

The other EXTREMELY frightening thing we saw at Stitches was "Jelly Yarn." Remember Jelly Shoes when we were growing up? Yeah, they weren't good then and the certainly aren't good now turned into yarn with funny little names like, "black licorice, raspberry sorbet and lemon lime ice." I couldn't sneak any photos of this, but I did manage to find a link to their website where you can look and weep for yourself :

http://www.yummy-yarns.com/JellyYarnsSale.html

Note to the makers of Jelly Yarns, NOVELTY YARNS ARE SO OVER.


Other photos follow below...

Robin ponders Koigu colors for her "ramblin rows" baby blanket. Thankfully, Grace was there to help her through it.

Me, Robin, Allison and Wendy with some of our purchases!!!

More views of our goodies!

This just makes me want to DIVE into the Manos

I have other photos, but Blogger is not cooperating tonight. You all get the point though.

It was a good time. I feel very satisfied by the yarn purchases I made and even more satisfied as I sit on my couch with the feel of alpaca between my fingers...

Maggie and the Dryer Lint

While knitting this evening, Maggie snuggled up with me and the "Dryer Lint" scarf. I caught these photos which not only depict how cute Maggers is, but how cool the scarf looks. It is also SUPER soft and getting very long. Though the pattern calls for 4 balls, I'm almost through two, used about 3/4 of the 3rd for fringe and will likely make the matching "beret" with the leftover skein.




STITCHES IN 12 HOURS!!!! GIDDYUP

My pot bellied beagle

I got a great pic of Molly's pot belly, thanks to her enlarged liver.
She's still GORGEOUS (just like her mother) with a pot belly.

I'm LOST

Who watched LOST last night? What an hour of tv. I just love that show. Thank GOD I tivo'd it because I'm going to watch it again and again. If you haven't watched it yet (ALLISON KELSEY) stop reading this blog, NOW.

You've been warned.


Okay, so in the hatch is power, and a blender, and an (albeit) ancient computer, fruit, records and a record player, bunk beds and this guy named Desmond who Jack encountered earlier in life. WHAT THE F***?

Tell me, who thought that was what was in the hatch?

And, clearly this guy has some control over things on the Island (polar bears, the Others, the amazing appareance of Evangeline Lilly's eyebrows?)

I miss Sawyer's abs last night.

I can't type anymore about it until I watch it again.

Then, I watched Invasion. First of all, I hate that actor Eddie Cibrion (he was in Third Watch). He belongs in only one type of show, soap opera. Anyway, Invasion was bizarre and I can't decide if I liked it because it really felt so much more predictable than a show like LOST.
I'll give it another week.

My other recommendation for new TV is "How I met your mother." I enjoyed this sitcom lots.

More later
Knitty Dr. Beagle Delicious

Update on Miss Molly

Molly had her ultrasound.
The test almost all but confirms she has Pituitary Dependent Hyperadrenocorticism--i.e.Cushings Diease caused by a tiny tumor on her pituitary gland. Next week she gets the final text to confirm the diagnosis. Good news is this can be treated with medication. The meds are pricey, but her quality of life isn't really affected--she's not in pain, and there are not a whole lot of side effects to the medications.

I had a total breakdown thinking I might lose another dog, just 7 months after losing Maxie.
Dr. Soli reassured me that "we are not there."
Think good thoughts for Tiny Molly and her mom and siblings.

Knitty D

Christina's Emmy Fashion Round Up

Contrary to Carsen and Kojo, I have some issues with things worn by some of my favorite stars last night; so here goes, Catty Christina's fashion round up

Best Dressed and Hottest Chic on TV: Mariska Hargitay



The daughter of bombshell Jane Mansfield looks AMAZING!
She can pull of the bright citrus color with her longer, lighter locks. And the bod! What I love about Mariska is that she isn't TOO THIN!



A+++++

PS You kick total ass on SVU









Worst use of ruffle by a piece of arm candy: Eric McCormack's wife
I wouldn't have let this out of the house




THIS IS JUST NASTY!!!!!
















Worst flesh tone colored dress with inappropriate cleavage: Kyra Sedgewick



I can't say enough negative things about this dress.
Kyra, would Brenda (her character on the Closer) go out looking like this? No, but then again, no one should.
You look like you need a blood transfusion to put some color back into your life.













MY EYES MY EYES AWARD: Tie between Star Jones and Kathy Griffin


I don't know where to begin to describe just how bad both of these dresses are.

Star, your shoulders might eat your head.

Kathy, have more plastic surgery, please.










To both, your ten minutes are up.







The "I could wear a paper bag and look hot award:" Halle Berry

Again, I'm speechless. I like Halle better with the short cut, but extensions worked well with this look. Her boobs are way to perfect.
















My favorite housewife: Felicity Huffman



I love this strawberry colored dress with jeweled embellishments. Felicity, you look amazing! I am so glad you beat that skinny bitch Hatcher for the Emmy!















Donald Trump: YIKES!!!

I NEVER EVER WANT TO SEE TRUMP IN OVERALLS AND A STRAW HAT AGAIN

Poor Megan Mulally!!!!














The, "Yes, I just had a baby 6 days ago award:" Heidi Klum


Bitch



Bitch



Bitch!









The I have issues with my arms award: S. Epatha Mickerson




Note to S: DON'T try to cover over your issues with your arms with a nasty velvet -esque shrug that doesn't match your dress! Also, when you put your thank you speech down your cleevage, be sure you can get it out again WITHOUT flashing the entire audience.










The I learned HOW to cope with my arms award: Camryn Manheim



Dear Camryn

You make big girls everywhere have hope for good fashion options! Nice hair too! I was tired of looking at all those holes in your ears.














Well, that is as catty as I can be for now; but you get the picture!



Knitty "Fashionista" Delicious

For the love of my beagles

The pups and I had a very busy weekend, highlighted by our playdate at Aunt Jane's with fellow beagle, Lulu and Jane's 2+ year old Charlotte. Tomorrow is Molly's ultrasound...think good thoughts for tiny Molly and her mommy who is extremely anxious as she writes this.

Here are some photos of our playdate:

Maggie and Gus soak up the Sun; smiling the whole time

Hold me closer Tiny Molly...

Is this a hunt or a back yard in Chestnut Hill?

Gus says, "don't mess with me!"

The newest member of our beagle pack of pals: Lulu

And one final thought for this Sunday evening, why, oh why and I watching "Pearl Harbor?" Yes, I was TOTALLY bored by the Emmy's and the Phillies are losing, but this movie is such a car accident! I've been totally engrossed by the battle scenes and Josh Hartnett and Ben Affleck screaming at each other. I literally cannot turn it off. I try to toggle, but I'm engrossed. Clearly I need to go to bed.

Also, Maggie 3, remote controls in the bedroom, nothing.

What to knit next?

So I am contemplating what the next big project should be. Yes, I know I have MAJOR holiday knitting to do. Maybe I should start there, I have re-thought Grandma's Shawl. There is NO way that is going to happen. Call it a dose of realism, call it a dose of sanity. I will just call it "smart." If she was the only person I was going to knit for this holiday season and I wasn't an ADD knitter it might have worked. I stress might. But after the last two weeks of feeling totally stretched with the other aspects of my life, I just decided it will be too much. So, Grandma is getting socks. She loves my socks!

BUT, I am getting off the subject (which of course is ME) and what I should knit next as a big project. I WILL NOT START THIS PROJECT UNTIL THE SILK GARDEN SWEATER IS DONE AND IN DORA LYNN'S HOT LITTLE HANDS FOR FINISHING!!! But, that can't stop me from having some ideas!!!!!

Curtain #1
From Rowan 38 "Abigail"

http://www.royalyarns.com/ptrn/RNW/RW-Mag38/Scarf-Abigail-Rowan.html

I was trying to upload actual photos to the blog, but blogger is clearly pissed at me, so sadly it will just be links! Anyway, I've been coveting this scarf/wrap since I first laid eyes on Rowan 38. Then I looked at the yarn requirements and decided, no, not for me. Then the sample arrived at Rosie's and I was HOOKED again. It is totally DELICIOUS, however likely will cost out around $175 for the yarn

Curtain #2
"Samus" from Knitty
http://www.knitty.com/ISSUEfall05/PATTsamus.html


This is tempting too. I LOVE the Saxon braid cable (which I've done before), I like the simplicity of the rest of the sweater and I like the idea of a zippered cardigan (ie more HIRED finishing work). I also really like this new yarn that Lisa has at Rosie's called "Creative Focus" which is a wool/alpaca mix that comes in a delicious color palette. Also, the price is right---about $50 for the yarn for this sweater. But, for someone who runs "hot" is this sweater too much for the Philly climate?

Finally, Curtain #3
http://www.patternworks.com/PWShopping/partsview.asp?action=lookup&partno=100682

I'm thinking about the aqua colored cabled cardigan. Again, I like that this would be challenging knitting. I like the semi-open cardigan style. The yarn is lovely, Lush; BUT it has a fair amount of angora which makes my nose itch. And again, too hot for Philly??? This sweater would cost out about $170

From a COST only perspective I HAVE to go with Curtain #2
From a What I want the most perspective I would HAVE to go with Curtain #1
Let's be honest, Curtain # 3 is a dark horse.

There is also this, which will be curtain #4
http://www.royalyarns.com/pbks/Noro/BlissNoro2/DBNoro2_18_42_Kureyon.jpg

Now, many of my knitting friends know that I've been planning on making this sweater for some time. Having almost finished the Silk Garden, is it too soon to do another Noro sweater? Can a girl EVER have TOO many Noro sweaters (NO!) I don't care about heat or cost with this sweater, I WANT TO MAKE IT.

Crap, the bottom line is I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT TO DO.


Please,


Help


Knitty D

GO PHILLIES!!!!!!

The Tribe Has Spoken

On another note, last night was the premiere of SURVIVOR: GUATEMALA.
I LOVE SURVIVOR. It is the big daddy of all "reality" shows. Last night was awesome; probably one of the better first episodes; full of things like 11 mile hikes through a jungle, monkeys and vomit!

I also am the administrator of the HUP and Friends Survivor Pool. Voted out last night was Jim (gramps); in the pool played by Jen Stone Wynne.

Tribal Council Rocked: Here is a photo




We also have a photo of this week's sacraficial lamb; Jim, with his makeshift sling. He was toast as soon as he came into tribal this way. I think he wanted to go home.

Poor Jim. At least we have one last guy to watch vomit.

Thanks god it is Friday

This has been the longest week ever. Work is sucking my will to live. The only thing really great was the Phils taking 3 of 4 from the Braves and staying in the Wild Card Race. I don't REALLY think we have a shot in hell...but who would have thought we would still be contenders on Sept 16th. I also have been devoting more energy to rooting for the Tribe, who continue to kick some major ASS in the American League Central. If the Tribe could keep the Yankees out of the playoffs life would be so sweet.

As promised, here are some photos of Luther sitting at the kitchen table at the Joyhouse; I can't wait to see him again!

Mood Changes

It's been a fairly eventful morning and it isn't even 930 yet!

To start the day off, the fastener on my pants broke (after I got to work) and they are now held on with a paper clip. This works surprisingly well.

One of my nurse practitioners COMPLETELY wigged out last night and this morning and left me messages in the middle of the night about things she forgot to tell me during the day. I just got done talking her off the roof.

Maggie left the carcass of some sort of large bug (about the size of my thumb) on the hallway floor. It was gross.

Dear Eagles, 15-1 is a FINE record. It was an UGLY game last night.

I think I am over my sweater angst. The bottom line is it is gorgeous regardless of what Allison thinks about the stripes. My Koigu sweater is similar and looks amazing on me.
I swatched last night for the drawstring baby pants. I still knit tight with cotton blends. So I'm up on an 8 with the Rowan Calmer. The yarn is super soft...will start the seed stitch extravaganza tonight...

Apparently Luther sits at the kitchen table with my parents while they eat breakfast. In his own chair. I told my mom to put a napkin in his collar and take a photo. Hopefully I will have the evidence to post of this debacle soon.

Finally, I hope today will be the LAST 90 degree day of the season. For god's sake, Stitches is next weekend. How is a girl supposed to be motivated to look at acres of wool when it is this warm out????

A Failry Decent Monday

My string of decent days continues. On top of the weather continuing to be GORGEOUS, I got my house appraisal back---let me just say that I did well. The refi is moving alongt swiftly. I am so HAPPY! Now I get to buy my new washer and dryer and a new bed. Who wants to go shopping with me??????

Today is Maggie's 1st birthday. We had some SUPREME cuddle time this morning and tonight she split a burger with her brother and sister.

I managed to get the chofa out of the house BY MYSELF. Its amazing how decent the living room can look when Maggie can't destroy things made of foam.

The Phillies are CURRENTLY beating the Braves 4-0 and the Eagles game is on in 20 mins.
Of course, the Braves pitcher just hit a double off the wall...guess I blogged about it too early.

Oh and this is an ode to my sister, who has made me feel self conscious about my silk garden sweater. Allison said, "you know I don't do stripes." Now I can't seem to bring myself to knit another stitch of it! HELP ME knitter pals! Have I made a mistake with the silk garden sweater????? Is it too much horizontal striping for a girl of my girth despite the textured VERTICAL rib pattern????????? I AM FREAKING OUT and now will swatch for the drawstring baby pants for Juliana...at least she can't talk and criticize my knitting.

Sunday in the Park

I love wasting an entire day in Rittenhouse Square with the fellow "knitastics" (as I've dubbed us) drinking coffee and being catty. I also learned all about "jews for jesus" today...not willingly I may ad! But I feel so good after spending most of the day outside breathing in the gorgeous late summer air. AND, to boot, I got a lot of knitting done. Here is the silk garden sweater (pieces parts). The front is still on my needles.

These are the sleeves...I blocked one a bit...thus the reason it is so much larger

This is the back...HOT HOT HOT

Here are the beagles this weekend...I've got to go on vacation...I need to take pictures of things other than these dogs with this new camera. This is getting dull.

Magnolia sleeps (for about 5 minutes)

I'm five years old...I used to be four years old, but now I'm five years old

Gus Bach, winky delicious.

Happy Birthday Molly and Magpie

Happy Birthday to my girly Beagles, Molly and Maggie. Today Molly is 5 and Monday Maggie will be 1!!!! To celebrate, I went to POOCH and purchased a GIANT dog biscuity with the word "Happy Birthday" inscribed in Caro. They attacked it and even shared with their brother Gus.

Now they are enjoying birthday greenies.

Go phillies beat the fish!!!!

Fairly unhappy

It has been a crappy week pretty much and now I feel like venting...

1) I'm going to hurt my neighbors. Their gutting of the third floor continues...but for some reason the workers show up every night at 545 and POUND POUND POUND until 830 at night. I'm feeling a bit intruded upon as this is typically my DOWNTIME. Not to mention I have a WICKED headache today and all this banging is not helping. When is enough enough? I've already said something to R once...he promised me "they are almost done." That was 3 nights ago--and the pounding CONTINUES. I'm pissed.

2) Maggie ate Albo. She killed him once and for all. And while I cleaned up stuffing from the beloved bear, I did realize, I love Maggie more than Albo. He is being retired to my keepsake box. ***Note burial instructions; I want him buried with me.

3) The Phillies lose three straight to the ***kin Astros. Billy Wagner blows two of the games. My dreams are nearly over

4) They are still banging

5) My bad streak with technology continues. I dropped my cell phone in (of all things) a glass of milk. It died. Sizzle sizzle haha. I have replaced said phone---it was NOT cheap.

6) I still haven't written my article and I have NO motivation to do so.

7) The appraiser came at 645 this morning. This reinforced that I am NOT a morning person. And since they are banging and pounding next door, I can't take a nap.

8) I'm VERY crabby.

Dr Beagle

I hate baseball

Its 718 and I turned the Phils came on (which started at 705) and they are ALREADY losing 4-0. Why god? Why?

Also, why did my neighbors (the ones I typically like) decide that 830 this am would be a great time to start gutting their 3rd floor? So much for sleeping late.

And yes, I cleaned the front porch and it looks awesome. And yes, I sold some yarn...about $80 worth in less than 24 hours. Not a bad turn around. I keep this up and it will be more lucrative than working at HUP.

Included are some new puppy photos...

Maggie cuddles up with big brother Gussy

Gus Bach, King of Beagles

Molly Bach Queen of Beagles

Maggie Bach Puppy Princess

The Wynne Family: T-Bone, Bob, Alex, Sammy and Jen

at their pre-labor day party

Sitting on the couch with my dog

come on, sing it to the tune of "Sittin' by the dock of the bay..."
Seriously, I am sitting on the couch and Gus is laying on top of me. If he could type on the blog at this point I believe he would.

I love three day weekends. Even though I worked today for 4 hours, it still felt manageable because I have tomorrow off. I wasted the rest of the day away with work pal Julie, having brunch at Marathon and then being catty in Rittenhouse Square commenting on some downright BAD fashion. Given the events of the week and my generalized bad attitude, it felt pretty darn good. Then ventured to Rosie's where I purchased the yarn for Mike's Christmas gift. So at this point I've got everyone covered for xmas (except mom) and all the yarn I need and a serious amount of knitting to do. I FINALLY finished the sleeves of the Silk Garden Sweater and have started the front. I'm going to plug through it with hopes of finishing it before the end of Sept. That leaves me two and a half months for holiday knitting...totally doable as one and a half weeks is vacation!!!

Maggie continues to eat everything in her path. Today she killed my favorite Teva flip flops and a new throw pillow I had purchased for the lounge. BEATCH! She also TRIED to eat a tube of Sunscreen but I stopped her before it got ugly.

It took me 2 +++ hours but I listed ALL my yarn for sale on ebay. Let's hope I make some cash-o-la. Tomorrow I clean the first floor and do laundry. Planning to get up early and get the chores done so I can waste the afternoon napping, knitting and doing sudoku puzzles,

Peace, love and beagles

Why I love Michael Moore

I received this from Ms. Kelsey and thought it deserved a blog post...

Friday, September 2nd, 2005
Dear Mr. Bush:
Any idea where all our helicopters are? It's Day 5 of Hurricane Katrina and thousands remain stranded in New Orleans and need to be airlifted. Where on earth could you have misplaced all our military choppers? Do you need help finding them? I once lost my car in a Sears parking lot. Man, was that a drag. Also, any idea where all our national guard soldiers are? We could really use them right now for the type of thing they signed up to do like helping with national disasters. How come they weren't there to begin with?

Last Thursday I was in south Florida and sat outside while the eye of Hurricane Katrina passed over my head. It was only a Category 1 then but it was pretty nasty. Eleven people died and, as of today, there were still homes without power. That night the weatherman said this storm was on its way to New Orleans. That was Thursday! Did anybody tell you? I know you didn't want to interrupt your vacation and I know how you don't like to get bad news. Plus, you had fundraisers to go to and mothers of dead soldiers to ignore and smear. You sure showed her!>

I especially like how, the day after the hurricane, instead of flying to Louisiana, you flew to San Diego to party with your business peeps. Don't let people criticize you for this -- after all, the hurricane was over and what the heck could you do, put your finger in the dike? And don't listen to those who, in the coming days, will reveal how you specifically reduced the Army Corps of Engineers' budget for New Orleans this summer for the third year in a row. You just tell them that even if you hadn't cut the money to fix those levees, there weren't going to be any Army engineers to fix them anyway because you had a much more important construction job for them -- BUILDING DEMOCRACY IN IRAQ!

On Day 3, when you finally left your vacation home, I have to say I was moved by how you had your Air Force One pilot descend from the clouds as you flew over New Orleans so you could catch a quick look of the disaster. Hey, I know you couldn't stop and grab a bullhorn and stand on some rubble and act like a commander in chief. Been there done that. There will be those who will try to politicize this tragedy and try to use it against you. Just have your people keep pointing that out. Respond to nothing. Even those pesky scientists who predicted this would happen because the water in the Gulf of Mexico is getting hotter and hotter making a storm like this inevitable. Ignore them and all their global warming Chicken Littles. There is nothing unusual about a hurricane that was so wide it would be like having one F-4 tornado that stretched from New York to Cleveland. No, Mr. Bush, you just stay the course. It's not your fault that 30 percent of New Orleans lives in poverty or that tens of thousands had no transportation to get out of town. C'mon, they're black! I mean, it's not like this happened to Kennebunkport. Can you imagine leaving white people on their roofs for five days? Don't make me laugh! Race has nothing -- NOTHING -- to do with this! You hang in there, Mr. Bush. Just try to find a few of our Army helicopters and send them there. Pretend the people of New Orleans and the Gulf Coast are near Tikrit.
Yours,
Michael Moore

Addendum

After my lovely post about the universal remote, Maggie ate it. I purchased a new one and will program it tonight. I will have to have a new magic number...

Updates

Re Tiny Molly
Her CBC came back normal. The only abnormality continues to be one of her liver enzymes; alk phos, which is elevated (and getting worse based on other labs done last year). So the next step is for me to someone collect her first urine of the morning (stop laughing) for a cortisol-creatinine test and then an ultrasound to see if there is anything in/around her liver and adrenals. She's very smiley tonight and seems to be holding her own.

Re New Orleans
So I really want to go. We got an email today at HUP re mobilizing a team of HUP workers to head down, probably starting late next week for two week stints. Then came the kicker, we have to take vacation (some vacation) or UNPAID leave to go. 1) I will need my already scheduled October vacation when I return. 2) I have 650 hours of sick time accrued that I will not get to use EVER. To the University of Pennsylvania Medical Center Department of Human Resources, let your skilled healthcare employees go where they are needed and help in this national disaster. Don't punish us by making us take unpaid leave. I promise you we will be working our hearts and asses off and putting a great face forward for the health system, something I'm sure US News and Worlds Reports would like lots when its naming its top hospitals. For gods sake I'm specially trained in end of life care and bereavement! LET ME GO! PAY ME MY MONEY! (It's not like you are paying me that much!!!!!)

Re beagles
Mom and Dad have already volunteered to take said dogs should I go to New Orleans

Re Donations
Have you yet????? Because if not, I'm starting a "send Christina, kickin relief worker, to New Orleans" fund.

Re Harry Connick
I have ALWAYS loved that man. For the look, the crooning and now for his tremendous heart.

Re Roger Federer and the US Open
YUMMMMMMM

Re the Phillies
I will be holding my breath about this team until October. Go phils...visualize October baseball

I continue to clean sweep...tonight I worked on about half of the lounge, finally getting rid of all my VCR tapes (donating) and other junk (three more trash bags). Tomorrow I conquer the scrapbooking desk and the rest of the lounge (including all those cd's) and Monday its the porch. The house gets appraised for my refinance on Wednesday.

Tiny Molly

I took tiny Molly in to see Dr Soli this afternoon. Not only is she a FLEA BAG but she may have Cushings disease; which would explain her hyper need to drink all the time and then pee everywhere. So, think good thoughts for Miss Molly! I have treated the three amigos for the fleas and am genuinally grossed out by the fact that the things are in the house. The Frontline is supposed to kill them all.

The students are back and there went my parking...

Ode to New Orleans

These are lyrics from a favorite song of mine, "Do you know what it means to miss New Orleans"


Do you know what it means to miss New Orleans
And miss her each night and day
I know I'm not wrong because the feeling's Getting stronger
the longer I stay away
Miss the moss-covered vines, tall sugar pines
Where mockingbirds used to sing
I'd love to see that old lazy Mississippi
Running in the spring
Moonlight on the bayous
Creole tunes fill the air
I dream about magnolias in June
And I'm wishin I was there
Do you know what it means to miss New Orleans
When that's where you left your heart
And there's one thing more, I miss the one I care for
More than I miss New Orleans

The disaster footage is staggering and heart breaking. I've spent many a fun time in NOLA, starting at age 17 with the South High School Marching Band and most recently in March of 2003 with my bud Trish. I love that city; the architecture, the culture, the food, the music, the galleries, the excess, the feeling of being able to totally lose yourself. Now it is gone. I'm not a religious person, but my prayers are with those impacted by this disaster. I know many people are wanting to help and that many dollars are going to the American Red Cross, as they should. But being an animal lover, I want to encourage my readers (all 9 of you) to donate to the North Shore Animal League http://www.nsal.org which has set up a special site to take donations for our four legged friends who are also victims.

Here is a funny photo of me in NOLA
Good times, good times.