Feelin’ Festive ;)
December 20, 2009 
Taking a page from Dee’s book, I’ve cued my newly minted iTunes holiday music list, lit the Christmas tree candle, and plugged in the lights.
Take a peek!
Christmas lights look so pretty (the rest of the kitchen not so much)
Kitty likes her new perch.
December 16, 2009 
Awesome.
December 9, 2009 
“Special Weather Statement”
- “MUCH COLDER AIR HAS BEEN SPREADING ACROSS CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST ILLINOIS THIS MORNING. AREAS WEST OF I-39 AND HIGHWAY 51 WERE BELOW FREEZING… AND EASTERN ILLINOIS WILL FALL BELOW FREEZING OVER THE NEXT COUPLE HOURS.
- DUE TO THIS RAPID COOLDOWN… WET ROADWAYS FROM THE RAINFALL YESTERDAY AND OVERNIGHT HAVE BEGUN TO FREEZE. THIS HAS CAUSED NUMEROUS ACCIDENTS. WINDS GUSTING AS HIGH AS 50 MPH ARE ALSO CAUSING PROBLEMS WITH KEEPING VEHICLES UNDER CONTROL.”
Heehee:
- “Interstate highways in the CHAMPAIGN vicinty were reported HAVING SCATTERED SLIPPERY
- Interstate highways in the DECATUR vicinty were reported CLEAR OF ICE AND SNOW
- Interstate highways in the EFFINGHAM vicinty were reported CLEAR OF ICE AND SNOW”
And I we get into negative wind chills tonight! Yay! It was.. 55 last week? I think I’m wearing my running tights from work to the car tonight and tomorrow. Sexy.
Grateful for:
(in alphabetical order)
An adoring kitty who curls up in my arms every night
Being born to my parents in the country I’m in and having had the childhood I enjoyed
Being done with Christmas shopping!
Chai tea
Christmas lights
The DSC when they make me smile or laugh
Garlic
Good friends
Good health
Intelligent conversation
Internet shopping
A job and my coworkers
A knowledgeable, inspiring, patient, and kind advisor
Off-the-wall humor
The Office
A patient co-grad student who has helped me not blow anything up in the lab yet (and uses his impressive sketching skills for a few good laughs)
Projects (crafting, cooking, baking, canning, knitting, making, decorating)
My SO
My sister for being strong and doing the right thing
Soft and warm cashmere scarf from Scotland
Talents
This staying green
Top-notch professors who are leaders in their fields AND teach kick-ass thought-stimulating, humorous, and enjoyable courses
Warmth
Watching D grow from an adorable child to a sensible adult, and listening to the stories she tells every night
Update from MIA-ville
I’m dealing with a lot of issues right now on top of what is normally a hectic time of year (end of semester) so I’ve been pretty quiet everywhere. Here are some quick updates:
Miata is done and happy! Christmas shopping = done. Credit card is not so happy.. I’m toeing my credit line (on my regular card), so that’s been stressful without a good reason (I have the money to back it up .. it’s just making me anxious for some reason). Maybe this is TMI.
It’s snowing and so so cold. I feel like that came out of nowhere.
Here are some recipes I’ve tackled recently:
A few I have the ingredients for:
- THE Best Sugar Cookies Ever (IMHO) (I’ve made these before)
- Bread in a Jar
- Peppermint Bark
And a couple recipes that have been haunting me:
- Pumpkin Cheesecake with Caramel and Gingersnap Crust
- Oatmeal Cookies
- Sweet Potato Pie
- Vanilla Syrup in a Jar (I love the picture of this one!)
There you go. Happy weekend!
(sick)
I’ve been (sick). (shh.. don’t tell anyone.. people like to freak out and ask if it’s h1n1; truly, I don’t know but doubt it)
Anyway, I have a camera card full with some pictures to share (not even close to full) from the past few days but it’s not MY camera card because mine is stuck in my card reader at work! I’ll try to rescue the reader tonight (so I can lay claim to my new pics) after I get my new SNOW TIRES on! (I think that’s a ! .. it might be a ? or a … ). So I hope to have something interesting up here soon (yes, “interesting” is relative).
Too many parentheses.
I wish the header picture would glitter. That would be pretty.
*gulp*
I’ve spent too much on my car to date and counting!
It’s back from mechanic and onto the body shop. Running total so far is $1756. Ugh….
On a brighter note, I really enjoyed driving it the precisely 2.0 miles between the mechanic and the auto body shop. Very smooth. Zoom zoom!
Also, the hardtop seller had a super-sweet front license plate holder for his Miata that he made. He made me one and is sending it to me for the price of the materials. I thought that was so kind of him. Miatas aren’t designed with a front license plate holder in mind (there’s no good spot for it) so when they drill it into the body it looks bad and messes up the finish. There are plenty of threads on Miata forums that attempt to address this issue.
I think that’s it for now. : )
Ten Days of Miata
I haven’t spent much money on my car since I bought it in August of last year. It likes gas and oil, but beyond those two and insurance, I haven’t spent a penny on this car (wait! no! I did buy a battery in March or so.. but regardless!).
Until now. Dun, dun dun.
1) I’ve kept my eye out for a local (too expensive to ship) used (1/3 of the cost of new) Miata hardtop with defrost (it’s for the winter anyway!) since I bought the car. Last Sunday I finally finally found one for a reasonable price in Springfield. We picked it up yesterday and it’s everything I could have hoped for! (except bright red) The seller really knew what he was talking about when it came to Miatas which made a fun conversation. He also gave me *almost* all the hardware for the conversion (all hardtops from 1990-2005 physically fit on all cars from 1990-2005, but there are some conversions required). I arranged for a local body shop to paint it to match my car and mount the conversion brackets, etc.
2) I’m also about ready to purchase snow tires since last winter was pretty iffy with the all-season tires. My dad sent me Consumer Reports’ tire review, and this week I’ll call around for good prices on the tire I’ve picked. I could probably wait another week or two, but I don’t want to risk being up in Chicago during Thanksgiving with snow next week.
3) Had the oil changed on Saturday. Usually this is a DIY project, but I think it’s good to have a professional check things out every once in a while. As it turns out, the premium price for this check-up was wasted since:
4) It’s at the mechanic’s now! My car wouldn’t start this morning (well, it did eventually). I don’t expect it to be too serious, but it’s being properly attended to.
5) I need to get new floor mats since the current ones are not original to the car and they’re starting to stiffen up and interfere with the pedals (not good!). So, you know, I haven’t done enough for my car lately. I might as well get these too.
6) Car is ready for its 60,000 mile check-up/routine maintenance. Might as well get this done too if the mechanic has the time.
So it’s a bit of a perfect storm right now. Aside from the floor mats, these all sort of occurred serendipitously. My car’s never been so popular. 
Updates
Grand Canyon:
I received a little more info on the details of the trip. It looks like it will not be rim to rim, but I don’t think that’s a dealbreaker. While I would still like to hike that, the itinerary is quite appealing. I guess the rim to rim hike is more populated and built-up (and has mule poo!) while they will be hiking more remote areas. I talked to my mom about it last night and I think I’m going to go for it. I’ll probably register next week. Yay! (PS – San Diego Tracy, I’ll still come out to visit you and we can do the rim to rim hike with your buddy)
Spike, Moe, & Frieda:
It has been a while, but I think it’s going to be worth it! Here is our “all-growed-up” cactus & random succulents:
Spike!
& the gang!
The gang consists of Frieda (top right), Lechuguilla (bottom right), random succulent (bottom middle), Living Stone (top left – ugly elephant toe-looking thing), horsey & rocky. Sadly, we lost Moe in a tragic drout incident. Oh! And it looks like a runaway succulent “leaf” trying to propagate (top middle).
And just so everyone else in the office doesn’t feel left out, here are the rest of the plants.
Knitty Fingers at the Ready! – Cables
I’m obsessed with cables. Once you have the basics of knitting down, cables are just a slight modification. They allow for a 3-D over-under texture that knit-purl patterns lack. I think they make a fabric appear plush and inviting.
Here are a few examples (mostly from etsy).
- Of course, the classic winter-white winter hat:
- And finally, a hooded sweater from Delia’s:
I have so many ideas for projects involving cables, but I really need to sit tight for a little while longer first. *sigh*
