Needing a sponsor

I WANT TO BUY YARN!!!

NO I don't need it!

YES I have a ROOM full of yarn at home

Yes I've been SOOOOO good about knitting from stash for almost TWO MONTHS!

BUT I NEED A FIX!!! HELP!
HELP!
HELP!!!!!

RETURN OF THE OSCAR FASHION REVIEW

Since I got hosed with the cancellation of the Golden Globes, I've gone hard core with the Oscar blog...

Worst dressed female: Jennifer Hudson...we will never hear from her again

What is this Cameron, prom??? FIX YOUR HAIR!

Love George, hate the girlfriend...what color is her hair? Clearly not natural...

This is a trainwreck! She looks like she has antennas on her shoulders and he is wearing brown shoes!!! I don't care if you gave an Oscar winning performance!

LOVED YOU in Clayton! I thought you deserved the victory, but this dress is a disaster! It looks like a sack....

Worst use of baby glow: Cate Blanchett

Female Hall of Fame Winner: Heidi Klum

I'm a giant scientologist tangerine!

She cleans up nice: Amy Ryan

Worst Facial Hair: James McAvoy

Distinguised Lady: Ruby Dee! You are SMOKING!

Male Hall of Fame: George Clooney; now get rid of the arm candy!

I think Nicole might actually break in half! What is happening here?

This is Ellen's choice for best dressed-but I don't know...something is not right

Miley Cyrus-so cute, age approrpriate, smart and disciplined!

So, I hear you are dating my dream boy Javier...bitch!

I'm sorry but the fish scales just do NOTHING for me...but for some reason, she pulls this off

Cutest couple 1; Diane Lane and Josh Brolin

Cutest couple 2; Steve Carrell and his wife Nancy

Distinguised Gent Award: Tom Wilkinson. Brilliant in Clayton! Looks like the brit he is!


And now for my bests:

Amy Adams; love the green, love the faux bag, LOVE IT!!!

Keri Russell; the fit is impeccable...she looks like a goddess, albeit a very skinny goddess

Best Bling (worst hair): Laura Linney. I want that necklace

Best Bling with ok hair: Jennifer Garner. Looks effortless

Best use of preggers glow: Jessica Alba. She is always well put together and I LOVE this color...the only thing I would have done differently, lost the feathers.

The birthday beagle

Sure, yesterday was Valentine's Day for everyone else, but in our house, it is Gussy's birthday.

Happy 6th Birthday Gussy!

Gus came to live with me four years ago! I can't believe it! Where has the time gone? Gus continues to amaze me with his love, compassion, sweetness and silliness. Perhaps this is best illustrated in his "work" visiting kids and their families at Ronald McDonald House. He truly shines when he is there, and I could not be more proud.

Gus has a special affinity for stuffed dog toys that talk...they can't squeak...he is over that. They have to make animal-esque noises or actual human sounds. So, El and I went to PetSmart last night and picked out a very special talking stuffed elephant for Gus. It made this horrible shrieking squealing extravaganza of a noise. Gus loved it so much. I say loved, because he completely gutted it, along with the pink stuffed pig I bought for little Finney. Here is the carnage:

As you can see, there is very little left of said pig and said elephant. All in all, I think Gus had a great birthday. I guess it has just been a great week for beagle-dom in general...

Anther shot of the champ...

Best is show...and things to think about BEFORE you get a beagle

Yeah for Uno! He bayed and seemed to know he was the best dog in dog world. He was gorgeous and frisky and amazing! A snoopy finally gets it's day.

Here is the judging video, just in case you missed it...or...like me, you enjoy watching the poodle get TROUNCED! Uno kicks poodle ass!

But before you run out an adopt a beagle, please remember the following:

1) Beagles follow their noses. They are not dogs you can take to the beach to run off leash...they get a scent and they are gone. There is nothing worse than a missing beagle.

2) Beagles love to eat trash. You will need to purchase a heavy duty (I have a Simple Human) trash can and potentially need to install locks on this trash can. Trash can make for very sick dogs. This may also apply to your 'frig (Molly learned to open my fridge!).

3) Beagles are stubborn. Just this morning, Finn outright REFUSED to go outside. Of course the back yard looked like an ice skating ring and it was pouring rain, but seriously, cleaning up pee and poop kind of sucks.

4) Beagles can be loud...just ask my neighbor Eliza Jane how she feels about my babies...to which I say, you live in a row house, if you want silence, move to the suburbs!

5) Beagles are smart. They may look all cute and moronic...but they know what they are doing ALL THE TIME. They are always on to you and on to how to be naughty or make a mess or do something they shouldn't be (even if it is so cute!)

6) Beagles can have health problems; in particular back problems requiring surgery...like our Harry who had a laminectomy for a slipped disc several years ago. Yes the operation was successful and Harry has led a full active life, but it is also expensive ($3000-$5000) and has a bit of a slow recovery time

BUT...

1) Beagles are affectionate, loving, snuggly, friendly, protective, humerous and good with kids
1a) Beagles want to be your companion, best friend and confidante
2) Dogs Rule; Beagles rule dog world.
3) Beagles need to be rescued! Before you look at a breeder check out rescue groups. Beagles are used frequently for research and vet training (including here at VHUP/Penn Vet where I work) and of course, for hunting. Dogs who don't "cut it" at hunting are often left to fend for themselves and end up strays. Gus and Molly were both failed hunting dogs. Finn's mom was shot in a hunting accident. Maggie was a lab bred beagle

That is my beagle public service notice...congrats to Uno!

UNO!

UNO THE BEAGLE FOR BEST IN SHOW!




GO UNO! BEAT THE STANDARD POODLE!!!

There is a dog in my office!

So the benefits of moving over here to 38th and Spruce are becoming more evident.
1) It is freezing this morning...11 degrees with a -something wind chill. I bundled appropriately...but the bus, literally, drops me off at the door.
2) Wawa is across the street....coffee, all day, everyday.
3) Dogs visit my in my office! Today, Daisy has been hanging out with me. She is a young pit mix...full of love, affection and tenderness. She belongs to a vet student, but hangs out here while she is in class. She was rescued, running around the streets of West Philly, with an electrical cord around her neck. She also had a barb from barb wire embedded in her back and had clearly had puppies recently. She's been adopted by said vet student, given her shots, spayed etc... but she has serious separation anxiety, so her doggie day care is here with us in 1 Rosenthal. She has found my space heater and has been laying in front of it for a while. She is a darling and hopefully this is the beginning of a new and wonderful life with her. (She just had her head on my knee! I'm melting!)

Finn had a great time yesterday at his first knit-o-rama! He loved meeting and playing with all of his aunties (Trish, Lisa, Nicole, Heather, Elizabeth, Allison and Ellen) but most of all, wanted to get to know Ellen's Maltese, Jake. Jake is not so interested in other dogs...and poor Finney...he just wants to play with everything all the time.

We also had a lovely time watching part 1 of Masterpiece Theater's treatment of "Pride and Prejudice" with my boyfriend, Colin Firth. Yum yum yum.

So, on with Monday and time to do some work...or at least snuggle Daisy some more...

Crappy blogger

I just realized I hadn't blogged in a couple of weeks! Oye vegh. I wish I could say that exciting things have been happening, but it has been pretty much, same shit different day.

Perhaps the biggest news is that I have (finally) moved my office to the vet school! Yeah! I feel legitimate! The move itself was a giant CF...it made me feel awkward and bitched up. Essentially I was homeless, without a computer, phone...etc for a day. Not really a big deal, but I was a mess. Plus I was teaching all week (the "Human Animal Bond" lab for Intro to Clinical Veterinary Medicine) and this being the first time I've taught this class, I was naturally worried and wanting to do a good job and set myself apart from my predescessors. Anyway, I ended up walking all over campus after I dropped my penn card, which ended up in Trish's office at HUP (of course) and the classes went fine (still have two to go).

My new office is a bit of a cave...but after a few hours of unpackins and decorating and "christina-ing" the space, it was starting to come together. I waited ALL DAY Friday for IS to come and hook me up to the web...so that was a bit of a pain as one of the projects I have to work on in the next few weeks is re-doing the social work web pages for the vet school's new website.

So another weekend is here and I'm knitting...I wish I could say I was knitting feverishly, but I'm not. I've been feeling a little uninspired lately. I've picked up the "Kimono Shawl" in Anne that I started in '06. It is just amazing and I am enjoying the knitting...but I'm getting that lace callous again on my right hand index finger from the addi lace needles. I got one last year when I was working on the Highland Triangle. I'm also trying to figure out what to make for Heather/baby and wondering if I will ever knit another sweater.

The reason I haven't knit a sweater in maybe two years now...the silk garden debacle. I worked my tail off to finish this 3/4 sleeve pullover in silk garden...even paid to have the finishing work done so it would look professional and gorgeous. I got it home and it was an absolute disaster...two big everywhere...no drape...nasty...fugly. Needless to say, Grace frogged the ENTIRE thing and I hadn't really thought about it since...until mom and I were working on the hobby space and I found all the yarn. I was really depressed...I really do want to knit a sweater again, I'm just so terrified of the possible end products.

I found the bell sleeve pullover in the UFO's a couple of weekends ago and decided that if I was going to do anything sweater wise, it was going to be that...so every few days...I think about it, visit it...wonder when I'll feel "safe" enough to venture into sweater land again. Until then, I'll keep working on kimono, the hex afghan and my entrelac extravaganza, and learn to be happy with it.

Finn update: He is huge...almost Gussy's size now...I'd say around 35 lbs!!!
Maggie's prozac has kicked in...the other night she caught a possum in the back yard! Thankfully she was NOT successful in breaking it's neck and after a few seconds of playing possum it got up, hissed at us and walked away.
And Gus, well, Gus is the king of beagles! His birthday is Thursday (Valentine's day!) and we've got a big party planned...well at least some sort of special dinner for the G man!