the first day

treated myself to a Sparkling Izze at Starbuck’s today! yummy….

put out the scarecrow and the fall flag and brought in some geraniums, rosemary and ivy today….

found objects at the back of the closet during cleaning this week: 1st born’s jazz, dance shoes, shin guards, soccer socks and pom-poms….(yeah, it’s been awhile since i’ve been all the way to the back of that closet)

finished knitting ANOTHER pair of socks…

hubby brought me 6 amazing pieces of sea glass from his work trip this week to San Juan….(yeah, he gets to travel there to paint in a Gap store, weird huh?)

snowed here this week for 5 minutes! but i guess that’s no big deal. friends and family had inches!

speaking of Gap…maybe we should all go out this week and help Bono and Friends and buy “something RED”.

have a good weekend.

things i’m lovin’ right now….

wearing scarves almost everyday, i think i might enjoy them more than sweaters and i have more handmade scarves than sweaters.

Pom iced tea in the very cool re-usable tall glasses. i now have a set of six.

my longer hair. scrunchies, headbands and ponytails. not having to wash my hair everyday. (did you see Friends with Money?!?! i’m way over 40 and what is it about the hair thing?)

knitting socks….go figure….i can’t get enough.

honey-crisp apples.

nesting at work. i’ve been there a month now and just this week it hit me…i’m ready to move it. bought office organizers, supplies, rearranged things, brought in picture frames for family pixs, a plant. is it because i’m finally feeling like i’m getting my skin there a bit? maybe the cardboard box smell is wearing off. things are “winding up” a bit and getting a tad bit stressful, again, you know, that honeymoon, newness….gone. guess i have to find my comfy couch space.

long, hot, baths.

the slow, changing colors of fall. i’m forced to notice them a bit more as i walk the dog across the street, along the fenceline of the golfcourse with the many beautiful trees. it’s enjoyable to slow down a bit.

climbing out of my warm bed in the mornings to the cool, crisp house. some people don’t like that. but i do. must be that Norweigen Blood. i just grab my socks, which are usually on the floor. it wakes me up and gets me going.

what else…hummm? that’s all for today…….

seems the week flew by…suppose that’s good.

went out with co-workers after school yesterday.  hadn’t done that in ages. fun to connect, yak it all out, and bitch and complain a bit over a drink.

treated myself to a bit of yarn store shopping this morning. i headed out, three pattern books in hand and ideas in mind. i’m doing a bit of planning for Christmas gift-giving ideas. the shop is about 25 minutes away so i thought it was a perfect time to catch up on my podcasts. so with nano and “pods” in ears, some ideas in mind, i set off. listening to The Creative Mom this morning it seems that everyone has gift planning and ideas on their mind. it was inspiring as usual.

is it still or really illegal to drive with headphones? remember in highschool driver’s ed they told you it was illegal to drive without shoes! or was that my mom, who was just trying to get me to wear shoes. i used to walk all the way home from H.S. without my shoes on. couldn’t stand shoes. first of all, how gross is that and 2nd, why would i want to carry them along with my books instead of just wearing them on my feet?  but i know i did it.  i can clearly remember it, and i had a pretty long walk. who knows why…those were also the days that we did weird things like “froze for fashion” and never thought twice about it. 

anyways….the trip to the yarn shop was a success. got yarn for two gifts, found some of that Trekking #126 sock yarn that was all the rage on the blogs the beginning of the summer. you know the one. i tried to find this yarn on line everywhere right after the big craze. this yarn shop had only one skein, which will make a pair. seriously, if they would have had more i would have bought it all. i know i could sell it on Ebay for twice the $. this is the self-striping yarn that knits up these cute socks that remind you of the colors of those old fashion Brach’s Neoplitan Candy (brown, pink and white). they will have to be knit on size #2 needles. #3 is really my personal limit but i really want a pair of these socks.  and…i went to the shop with a FILLED punch card!!! that’s like $ in the bank!  so put that toward some Debbie Bliss yarn for me, in black. i don’t think i’ve ever knit in black? maybe i have?

tomorrow hubby and i are going to head to Sandwich, Ill for the GIANT antique flea market. (is that a play on words?) i’ve heard about it for years and it was featured in this month’s Country Living Magazine. so we thought we’d have a go of it.

it’s rainy and gloomy. i bought the dog a new bone at Target, should keep him busy awhile. i think i will take to the davenport and the Food Network today and knit.

have a good weekend.

what do you do with books that you’ve already experienced, traveled through, cried and laughed with?  you can only save so many. they began to fill bookshelves. then over-take bookshelves. spill onto the floor, bedside tables, and any other nook and cranny you can find.

at the end of last year, when i knew i was leaving the school i was at and i knew the teachers would be off for summer break with time to read i did a “sweep” of my bookshelves. put many enjoyed, but able to part with novels in the teachers lounge with a sign “free-enjoy”. they were gone in 2 days. i was so happy! on to good homes.

well……it wasn’t enough….you know how you don’t think you can part with things until you start to and then you give yourself a little more time and you’re ready to do it again. today i was ready…again.

i did another “sweep”.  i have 2 full size “Gap” shopping bags fulled with books to the top after this mornings sweep. and of course in my opinion, better choices for the “finders” this time around than the first time around.

also in my book shelf sweep i took off all the paper covers from the hard cover books and shelved all the books by the colors of their spines. i think it’s beautiful.

so….come Monday morning there will be new novels at school again. however this time i guess i will either put them in the copy room or put a memo in mailboxes for teachers to visit my room if interested.  oh, we have an amazing teachers lounge with beautiful IKEA-like furniture, a wall of windows, great cabinets and counter tops. we’re just missing stuff like, electricity, a microwave, sink, water, stove, and refrig…….someday!

oh…other junk…

i now have a pair of Sunflower Socks, remember, i had one to finish. they’re happy and cute!and that 2nd one went very fast. now i’m casting on for a pair of wool, cabled, knee hi’s. got some new boots to wear with skirts this fall and knee socks are everywhere! i think they will be fun. also working on a Multi-Directional Scarf (sample for a class). and would like to work up the pattern for a sweater i just saw in the new Sundance catalog, or i could just buy it……tempting? and i NEED to get on those Christmas stocking for the mantle. i only have 2 done and my goal was to do another over the summer. what happened?

i should go grocery shopping today….but don’t really feel like it. if i went to Trader Joe’s that would put me in the mood.

we have to make a stock-up trip to Pet Smart today. The Dog always gets to come along. he loves it.

hey, want some fun, Fall cooking ideas? www.susanbranch.com click on What’s Cooking.

have a good weekend!

yep, i missed last saturday. hey, it was the Holiday Weekend. i went to lunch at one of my fav spots, Grand Lux Cafe’ and did some shoppping on Michigan Ave.

boy do i have a drawer of random stuff today.

have you checked out the newest Martha magazine? yep, she’s at it again. i don’t think she sleeps. the 2nd issue of Blueprint Mag is out. kinda cool. check it out, i like the Suede projects and the wardrobe ideas.

in your ears!!!!……i’m lovin my Nano! besides the music, i’ve found 2 weekly podcasts that i really enjoy. www.cast-on.com  Brenda is a knitter from Wales. she’s spirited, informative and fun to listen to. i usually enjoy her mix of music too. www.creativemompodcast.com  this podcast is a bit different. i think her name is Lisa(?) she is a mom of little ones so there are some things that i don’t relate to in that respect but she talks about many different art-related subjects and gives great resources on her page, and has a nice, relaxing voice to listen to. i love her music choices too.  i would say give them both a try sometime!!!! also, both podcast can be found and downloaded on itunes.

i’m ready to start getting out some of the fall home decorations in the next few weeks.  ready to begin to change the outdoor planter boxes from summer flowers to fall mums. the squirrels are starting to get very busy, have you noticed? and a few leaves, here and there are starting to fall in the driveway.  start unpacking those sweaters!!!!

i found two, new, fun websites!!! you should put them in your favorite places. they are busy, busy! hip and happening! be sure to check them everyday.

www.lifever.com  go ahead, scroll down. oh-my-gosh! so cool. you could spend days here and you just want EVERYTHING……

…….and http://dannyseo.typepad.com/my_weblog/   love Danny.  and if you have Sirius Radio he has a show on #114 i think.

go see the movie Little Miss Sunshine!!!

need a laugh? go to www.youtube.com and do the search for “treadmill dance”.  go ahead, i know, there’s mostly just crap on sites like that.  really….i’m so not in to sites like that, but someone linked me to that crazy treadmill dance and if you need a good laugh go ahead.  it will just take a minute. trust me, you will laugh.  and give the guys some credit for all the practice time. and then i started wondering  about how many skinned knees there where or stuck shoe laces or other wardrobe malfunctions.  whatever….it’s just good old-fashioned funny.

you’re curious now aren’t you?  have a good weekend!!!

this is really not suppose to be a saturday to saturday blog but this week it sort of looks that way…

cleaned and worked in my jammies all morning today!!!

made a quick, 24 hour trip to Michigan to visit with my little Grandson. nothing feeds the soul like slowing down and play at the park, sharing the whipped cream on top of your mocha at the coffee shop, watching videos of tractors and diggers, talking about “Thomas” (the train that is), reading Dr. Seuss over and over, and rocking at bedtime.

there’s some knitting news:  twisted socks on the needles.  they’re my to-go project, colorful and fun to work on.  a new cardigan is only 2 weeks on the needles and close to being done. knit in my NYC, cotton, snuggly, yummy yarn.  a new pair of fingerless mitts are done and ready for that first cold-snap. (oh no! they’ll wait happily on the shelf).  and a felted bag is about 3/4 of the way to complete.  yep, i’ve got something of everything going on around here.

remember those ads around the 1st week in august. Old Navy’s Best Week Ever!!!!  i know, i wouldn’t have remembered them either.  well they had TV ads and ads in their stores.  well on a saturday i was there shopping, minding my own business and employees were walking around the store passing out game cards.  you could win stuff like Baskin Robbins Ice Cream, candy, music, IPOD Nanos, even a new car.

i won an IPOD Nano!!!  got it in the mail about a week ago. i’m really having a lot of fun with it.  i like listening to music on it, but mostly i’m enjoying downloading Podcasts of a few of the Knitting Podcasts that i have listened to on my computer before, now they are portable.  how fun is that. i’ll have to give you a review in the future.

i’m soooo enjoying my daily blooms that my morning glory’s continue to give me. those simple flowers just make me smile. 

enjoy your weekend, whatever you choose to do.