Sunday, September 21, 2008

oops I did it again...

Don't cha just hate that song????!!!!

But, it is an appropriate title for this entry...I stopped at my LYS yesterday...saw a finished head band and of course, promptly bought the pattern, yarn and circs....

Never mind I still have 10 projects on my needles that need to be finished...never mind that I should be grading papers, doing laundry or cleaning house...oh no...I have a new challenge in my knitting basket...taunting me...just calling my name...I am weak....pics to come...no, not of the dirty laundry, dishes piled or dust bunnies...

Saturday, September 20, 2008

The top 100 songs of 1981

I found this on Anita's blog. Imagine my surprise when I clicked on the link and it brought me right back to Minnesota!!!

I know I just posted a list of 100 books...well, here is another listing of the top 100 songs from 1981.

The rules:

A.) Go to Music Outfitters

B.) Enter the year you graduated from high school in the search function and get the list of 100 most popular songs of that year

C.) Bold the songs you like, strike through the ones you hate and underline or italicize your favorite. Do nothing to the ones you don’t remember (or don’t care about)

1. Bette Davis Eyes, Kim Carnes
2. Endless Love, Diana Ross and Lionel Richie
3. Lady, Kenny Rogers
4. (Just Like) Starting Over, John Lennon
5. Jessie's Girl, Rick Springfield
6. Celebration, Kool and The Gang
7. Kiss On My List, Daryl Hall and John Oates
8. I Love A Rainy Night, Eddie Rabbitt
9. 9 To 5, Dolly Parton
10. Keep On Loving You, REO Speedwagon
11. Theme From "Greatest American Hero", Joey Scarbury
12. Morning Train (Nine To Five), Sheena Easton
13. Being With You, Smokey Robinson
14. Queen Of Hearts, Juice Newton
15. Rapture, Blondie
16. A Woman Needs Love, Ray Parker Jr. and Raydio
17. The Tide Is High, Blondie
18. Just The Two Of Us, Grover Washington Jr.
19. Slow Hand, Pointer Sisters
20. I Love You, Climax Blues Band
21. Woman, John Lennon
22. Sukiyaki, A Taste Of Honey
23. The Winner Takes It All, Abba
24. Medley, Stars On 45
25. Angel Of The Morning, Juice Newton
26. Love On The Rocks, Neil Diamond
27. Every Woman In The World, Air Supply
28. The One That You Love, Air Supply
29. Guilty, Barbra Streisand and Barry Gibb
30. The Best Of Times, Styx
31. Elvira, Oak Ridge Boys
32. Take It On The Run, REO Speedwagon
33. No Gettin' Over Me, Ronnie Milsap
34. Living Outside Myself, Gino Vannelli
35. Woman In Love, Barbra Streisand
36. Boy From New York City, Manhattan Transfer
37. Urgent, Foreigner
38. Passion, Rod Stewart
39. Lady (You Bring Me Up), Commodores
40. Crying, Don Mclean
41. Hearts, Marty Balin
42. It's My Turn, Diana Ross
43. You Make My Dreams, Daryl Hall and John Oates
44. I Don't Need You, Kenny Rogers
45. How 'Bout Us, Champaign
46. Hit Me With Your Best Shot, Pat Benatar
47. The Breakup Song, Greg Kihn Band
48. Time, Alan Parsons Project
49. Hungry Heart, Bruce Springsteen
50. Sweetheart, Franke and The Knockouts
51. Someone's Knockin', Terri Gibbs
52. More Than I Can Say, Leo Sayer
53. Together, Tierra
54. Too Much Time On My Hands, Styx
55. What Are We Doin' In Love, Dottie West
56. Who's Crying Now, Journey
57. De Do Do Do, De Da Da, Police
58. This Little Girl, Gary U.S. Bonds
59. Stop Draggin' My Heart Around, Stevie Nicks With Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers
60. Giving It Up For Your Love, Delbert McClinton
61. A Little In Love, Cliff Richard
62. America, Neil Diamond
63. Ain't Even Done With The Night, John Cougar
64. Arthur's Theme, Christopher Cross
65. Another One Bites The Dust, Queen
66. Games People Play, Alan Parsons Project
67. I Can't Stand It, Eric Clapton
68. While You See A Chance, Steve Winwood
69. Master Blaster, Stevie Wonder
70. Hello Again, Neil Diamond
71. Don't Stand So Close To Me, Police
72. Hey Nineteen, Steely Dan
73. I Ain't Gonna Stand For It, Stevie Wonder
74. All Those Years Ago, George Harrison
75. Step By Step, Eddie Rabbitt
76. The Stroke, Billy Squier
77. Feels So Right, Alabama
78. Sweet Baby, Stanley Clarke and George Duke
79. Same Old Lang Syne, Dan Fogelberg
80. Cool Love, Pablo Cruise
81. Hold On Tight, ELO
82. It's Now Or Never, John Schneider
83. Treat Me Right, Pat Benatar
84. Winning, Santana
85. What Kind Of Fool, Barbra Streisand and Barry Gibb
86. Watching The Wheels, John Lennon
87. Tell It Like It Is, Heart
88. Smoky Mountain Rain, Ronnie Milsap
89. I Made It Through The Rain, Barry Manilow
90. You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin', Daryl Hall and John Oates
91. Suddenly, Olivia Newton-John and Cliff Richard
92. For Your Eyes Only, Sheena Easton
93. The Beach Boys Medley, Beach Boys
94. Whip It, Devo
95. Modern Girl, Sheena Easton
96. Really Wanna Know You, Gary Wright
97. Seven Year Ache, Rosanne Cash
98. I'm Coming Out, Diana Ross
99. Miss Sun, Boz Scaggs
100. Time Is Time, Andy Gibb

Ohh...the memories......

All Hallows Eve Dishcloth Swap - Topic #1

I found this cool list on Rhea W. blog for the first assignment on All Hallows Eve Dishcloth Swap. What would your list look like?

The Big Read is an National Endowment for the Arts program designed to encourage community reading initiatives and of their top 100 books, they estimate the average adult has read only six.)

*Look at the list and bold those we have read.
*Italicize those we intend to read.
*Underline the books we LOVE. (I don't know how to underline...so I am going to color blue the books I love...

Share this list in your blog, too, if you like.

1 Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
2 The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien
3 Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
4 Harry Potter series - JK Rowling
5 To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
6 The Bible
7 Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte
8 Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell
9 His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman
10 Great Expectations - Charles Dickens
11 Little Women - Louisa M Alcott
12 Tess of the D'Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy
13 Catch 22 - Joseph Heller
14 Complete Works of Shakespeare
15 Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier
16 The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien
17 Birdsong - Sebastian Faulks
18 Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger
19 The Time Traveler's Wife - Audrey Niffenegger
20 Middlemarch - George Eliot
21 Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell
22 The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald
23 Bleak House - Charles Dickens
24 War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy
25 The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
26 Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh
27 Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky
28 Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck
29 Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll
30 The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame
31 Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy
32 David Copperfield - Charles Dickens
33 Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis
34 Emma - Jane Austen
35 Persuasion - Jane Austen
36 The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe - CS Lewis
37 The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
38 Captain Corelli's Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres
39 Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden
40 Winnie the Pooh - AA Milne
41 Animal Farm - George Orwell
42 The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown
43 One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
44 A Prayer for Owen Meaney - John Irving
45 The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins
46 Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery
47 Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy
48 The Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Atwood
49 Lord of the Flies - William Golding
50 Atonement - Ian McEwan
51 Life of Pi - Yann Martel
52 Dune - Frank Herbert
53 Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons
54 Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen
55 A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth
56 The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon
57 A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens
58 Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
59 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon
60 Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
61 Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck
62 Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov
63 The Secret History - Donna Tartt
64 The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
65 Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas in French
66 On The Road - Jack Kerouac
67 Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy
68 Bridget Jones's Diary - Helen Fielding
69 Midnight's Children - Salman Rushdie
70 Moby Dick - Herman Melville
71 Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens
72 Dracula - Bram Stoker
73 The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett
74 Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson
75 Ulysses - James Joyce
76 The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath
77 Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome
78 Germinal - Emile Zola
79 Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray
80 Possession - AS Byatt
81 A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens
82 Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell
83 The Color Purple - Alice Walker
84 The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro
85 Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert
86 A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry
87 Charlotte's Web - EB White
88 The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom
89 Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
90 The Faraway Tree Collection - Enid Blyton
91 Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad
92 The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery in French
93 The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks
94 Watership Down - Richard Adams
95 A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole
96 A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute
97 The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas
98 Hamlet - William Shakespeare
99 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Ronald Dahl
100 Les Miserables - Victor Hugo in French

I only have 26 that I have read...I need to read more...What does your list look like?

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

"Thanks Mom for reading those 'baby' books so we didn't turn out 'messed up'."
~Nathan age 16

Sunday, September 7, 2008

Hurry...

Registration is open until Friday the 12th for All Hallows Eve Dishcloth Exchange....the sequel to Summer Dishcloth Swap.

It is always such great fun getting to know your partner and having someone stalk your blog, as well...and of course, the great package....

Are you still here? What are you waiting for...shoo!

All Hallows Eve Dishcloth Exchange Questionaire

Knitting Yarn
1. Do you knit or crochet? For how long?
I have been "seriously knitting for about 3 years. I learned to crochet a long time ago from my Gramma...I don't do much crocheting anymore.

2. What sort of needles or hooks do you enjoy using the most? Are there some you've been dying to try out and haven't? I love bamboo needles. Most of my collection is metal, due to the fact I have picked them up cheaply...I am slowly adding bamboo to my collection. There aren't any that I am dying to try out...

3. What kind of projects do you most enjoy? Small things you can take with you, or big complex ones that are just gorgeous when they're done? I need gratification. I have not knit anything big and complex, yet. I just don't think it will ever happen...I like socks, little projects, and of course, dishcloths...

4. List one pattern for a dishcloth that you love to make, or just tell us about one you've made or received that you loved. I really love both the feather and fan pattern and the waffle stitch pattern.

5. What are your 'must have' notions? Are there any notions you need or can never have enough of? Any that might make you cry if you owned more? I don't use a lot of notions...I am always looking for a little scissors...seems like it is always..."in my other bag"

Petting Yarn
6. What are your favorite yarns to work with? Any you hate or are allergic to? I like soft and squishy...I like soft and warm...I do use wool a lot...have tried bamboo for socks...don't like acrylic or novelty yarns...

7. What colors do you like to use in projects? Any we'd never catch on your needles? I think I am generally a earthy person...greens, browns, reds, warm colors...although I have used bright and fun also. I can't think of a color that I wouldn't try at least once.

8. Any cottons you'd like to try you can't find by you, or just haven't gotten around to getting? nope...

Halloween, Fall, and General Stuff
9. Do you like to use bar soap or shower gel more? What kinds of scents do you love? What kind do you hate? I use shower gel. I like clean scents, don't like roses...like just about everything else...

10. What's more 'Halloweeny' - Ghosts, Pumpkins, or Witches? pumpkins

11. What's your favorite Treat to get? Sweet or Salty? Anything you're allergic to or just hate? Definitely sweet...and has to be dark...dark chocolate!!! (Although I have been known to consume large quantities of just about anything sweet)

12. What was your favorite Halloween Costume as a kid? As an adult?? I don't remember any favorites as a child...as an adult...I showed up to work one Halloween looking 9 months pregnant...that was pretty funny.

13. Are you on Ravelry? What's your ID? I am "alaina" on Ravelry. I haven't done anything on there in ages...my poor neglected Ravelry...Le Sigh.

14. Anything else you'd like to be sure your pal knows? no, I am pretty easy to please....

Monday, September 1, 2008

It was a short summer...

...and now it is over....

As I sit and type...I really should be heading for bed...the alarm will be going off way too early...although I got a taste of early last week...we were required to be there Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday...I was also there on Friday....I am ready...at least my room is ready...lol

I had surgery on August 22....Click here if you want the details...I faced being "put out" for the first time in my life...was a little scarey...but, it all went well and I am recovering...Was a much better alternative to a hysterectomy. If you have questions...I am open to discussion - but wasn't sure this was the place to do that...so, email me.

I spent most of the summer dealing with the medical business leading up to the decision to have the procedure done....seems like the summer really went by fast.

On a lighter note...I spent Saturday night with three very close friends of mine...two of which are experiencing "empty nest" syndrome...so, we had a "sleep over"...literally...It was a lot of fun...lots of laughter and chocolate.

What would we do without good friends to share our life with? They are the ones who lift us up when life hits hard, celebrate with us when life is good, and know when to just listen and hug. Thank God for good friends. They have truly been a blessing in my life over the years.

I did finish my scarf - pictures to come this week...I hope.

First day of school tomorrow- Chris' "last" first day.... the start of his senior year....we had his grad pics taken on Friday...another story for another day....