Grumble grumble

I have a cold, and am miserable and pretty pissed about it.



This song is brought to you by my trial Sirius XM subscription.  My usual favorite station is Soul Town (OF COURSE), but The Joint is also a good one.  I don't know how weird it is that some suburban white mom is blasting reggae out of a station wagon.  Granted, reviewing the channel guide for Sirius XM is quite suggestive of their target demographics.  Not anyone under thirty, to be sure.

So the reason that I have a trial subscription is the same as the last time I had one:  we have a new (to us) car!  The TDI buyback scheme is tedious and involves a lot of back-and-forth with forms--but even with all the forms submitted, we still had to wait TWO MONTHS for an appointment.  In the meantime, a car became available, and we were able to swing it, so we jumped.  And it's probably the car we should've gotten in the first place:  a 2013 Prius v.  And it's blue!  Hooray!  Learning to drive a hybrid is a bit of an adventure, but you get the hang of it fairly quickly.  You definitely sacrifice responsiveness for fuel efficiency, which is annoying in a hilly area when you have to quickly accelerate to 45 mph out of a turn or traffic light, but I suppose one must drive safely, regardless of mpg.  Anyway, yes, Yuppie Car #2.  But I'm averaging 45mpg every day, so I'm satisfied.

Speaking of which, I must pick up the child soon, but I do have a crafting update.  Inspired by the pussyhats, I've decided to keep some charity items in the mix.  I am working on a mistake-rib scarf for the Knit Your Bit project (one of my usual recipients, when I feel like crafting for charity).  I finally finished a black lace scarf, and started another black scarf.  Typical.

From the Queen of England to the hounds of Hell

Loving this so much today.  The muted trombone solo is amazing.  I could listen to Postmodern Jukebox all day!



Heavy crafting this weekend, including finally soaking and finishing handspun from last year (this is not hard or time-consuming, WTH?) in preparation for Tour de Fleece.  I also finished spinning this:

(Background photo is from last October, taken of the Hudson River at Cold Spring, NY.  It was also used in our holiday cards.)  I also sewed myself a very trendy kimono-style jacket out of a sarong bought on my honeymoon.  Oh, and we went to an actual play on Saturday night!  (Which means in preparation for the babysitter, I also cleaned the house on Saturday. Nice to have done.)

Zucchini, I promise you this:

Appropriate because we just bought a ton of produce:

This was of my favorite commercials as a kid.  It is funnier now that I actually know the original song. Also, is this when freezer bags came out? How odd that a product I use every day hasn't been around forever... 🤓

In other news, have you heard about the Volkswagen drama? We've been kind of in limbo since September, with a series of rumors floating around, but it looks like we'll know more on Tuesday.  Since we were all pretty much lied to, and the Magic Snowflake Fuel-Efficient Automatic with Cargo Space doesn't really exist, we've basically decided on replacing the Sportwagen with a CRV. Everyone we know who's ever had one has loved it, they last forever, reliability, etc. The 2015 models get about 33 highway, which isn't as good as I was hoping for, and I dislike having to get an SUV (I do put my foot down about minivans; I was willing to do a station wagon, but I have my limits), but it has more cargo room (note this is for Mark, who does actually haul things in the Jetta) and is waaay cheaper in the long run than the runner-up, the Prius V. (We also chose the Jetta over it back in 2013, for the same reasons.) Ideally we'd like the auto swap process to be a net-zero situation, but we may end up with a very tiny loan, depending on how much cash back we can get.  

It bears repeating

I finally watched The Silver Linings Playbook, and I did like it (though minus a star for the age difference, groan), but now I have this song stuck in my head.

Granted, it doesn't take much to get this stuck in my head. I still lament not giving The White Stripes a chance while they were still a thing. The movie had a great soundtrack in general - Zeppelin, even.

Last weekend we went to the beach, for the first time in years (not counting a day trip last August, when it was in the 70s and too cold to even wade). Rosina's favorite part: wiping out in a (small!) wave. That and meeting a baby sea turtle at the aquarium. It was a nice trip! Our other excursions this summer are basically for family obligations, so it was good to have time to ourselves.

A prescient title

In my continuing examination of twenty-year-old music, Exhibit Foo Fighters.  Out of the ashes of Nirvana, polymath Dave Grohl writes and plays all instruments on the group's eponymous album.  It wasn't even an actual group yet (he had to recruit them for the tour!).  I liked Nirvana OK, but for all the posturing, I was never wholly a grunge person.  Even at my worst teen angst, I was still inherently an optimistic person, and have always been a lover of melody.  And even in this first attempt, we see what Foo Fighters would continue to be:  more melody, more interesting harmonies, better singing, a freaking sense of humor, lyrics that aren't just about shocking people... So yes, I maintain that Foo Fighters is/was a way better band than Nirvana, even at this stage.







And this video--with all its grunge-era posturing--is apparently about fighting viruses or something, a la Fantastic Voyage?  Already this is more fun than Nirvana.  Just wait until they start spoofing Mentos commercials!



Rosina had kind of a pointless field trip this morning--storytime at Barnes & Noble?  Other than change of venue, this is basically what they do every day at school--but after dropping her back at school, I had a particularly Bourgie Mom morning:  eyebrow threading (ouch! luckily I only do this about once a year to maintain shape), Bath & Body Works (belated birthday gift for my mother), then shoe shopping (because I always default to sneakers, even to work, and I don't love that).  Does it help that the shoes are faux Alegria Mary Janes with a blue-and-purple swirly pattern?  They should go really well with my new hipster-Ariel glasses...

Nostalgia

This makes me feel really old, but is also super awesome (stay tuned around 3:15):

Way to rock the Weber grill!

We came home an hour early today due to possible tornadoes, so now I'm kind of killing time with the kid. (Luckily she is over the drama that ensued when the television was turned off.). I think we will bake some bread! I usually go the no-knead route, but recently heard about a three-hour no-knead version--fantastic if it does work. I should really also clean the bathrooms...

It's like that thing where you say the same word, over and over...

...and it loses all meaning?

There are some very weird fan-generated Murdoch Mysteries videos.  This is not even one of them. But you can see that Yannick Bisson is an expert on smizing.  (I suppose puppy-dog eyes are a helpful tool.)

Busy busy over here--everybody getting sick (sidebar: tummy meds still working!!) while I desperately try to avoid illness in preparation for rehearsals starting tomorrow night!  (The chorus of the concert performance I alluded to a few posts back.  The audition did go fairly well, despite my jitters, and while they were quite complimentary, I wasn't cast in any of the comprimario roles I was interested in-- they were probably precast anyway.  I decided to sit in in the chorus, despite not having sung in an opera chorus since 2006--and then only as a favor!--and because there's more music to learn, it may even be more helpful for diction education than a comprimario part.)  The process has indeed been helpful in my comprehension of general diction in the given language.  (Vague Girl is being Vague.)  I feel that learning pieces in this language will be a lot easier in the future because of the work I'm doing now.  Plus I get to hang out in the vocal basement, my favorite place to live.

In other news, we are getting ready for Christmas, albeit slowly due to the aforementioned illnesses and music-learning.  We have a wreath on the house, and we bought a tree at Costco Thanksgiving weekend, but we haven't brought it in yet.  (There are NO TREES available here after December 10--it is so weird--so you basically have to buy early, cut off a few inches of trunk and keep it in a bucket of water outside if you don't plan on putting it up right away.  My father's birthday is next week, and he was grumpy about it, so we never put up the tree until afterwards.  Ideally, it would be up already, though.)  We had Rosina write a note to Santa, which she will deliver to our neighbor/professional Santa (who she knows is "Santa's Helper, not actual Santa") on Sunday.  We have not done any shopping for her yet, but I am almost done with a life-size knitted puffin. It's a very clever pattern, with lots of short rows and slipped stitches used to great effect.  I just didn't know it was going to be so BIG.

Grown-up things

Oh, Veronica Mars series finale, you are so damn unsatisfying!! I suppose I'm lucky that this is my first time watching; the movie DVD will be on its way to me in a few days, but most had to wait seven years for it. And now I see that there are novelizations... And here I was expecting to have to resort to fanfic!

In other news, Rosina's school is out for Spring Break this week, so I'll be working from home, just like in the old days. There are a few fun things on the horizon, but I also need to renew my license (and replace a fairly good picture from EIGHT YEARS AGO with a new one--that is just cruel) and spend waaay too much money on an interior door panel for my car. Like, more than three car payments' worth. Or two-and-a-half months of preschool tuition. Ugh, the last six months have been really expensive...

Ah, bummer.

I like this song, but I don't love this video.  And now that I've heard her stripped-down performance for NPR, I don't love her voice, either.  Too bad!  I would have LOVED this song when I was 15.  Along with most of the other angsty girls.

In other news, my daughter's friend asked me if I "had a baby in my tummy" today.  (Probably time to get rid of this shirt!  But seriously, it does actually have gathers in the stomach region--plus it's too short.  It would've been a fine maternity shirt if it were longer.)  When I said no, she asked why I was fat.  (I may not even be paraphrasing.)  I told her that some people are fat and some are skinny, and that it's no big deal.  I was definitely not offended--she's barely four, and was just curious, plus I know I do not in actuality look pregnant--but I'm really glad her mother wasn't right there to hear!  Can you imagine how mortifying that would be?!?  I would want to sink into the earth.

The Saddest Song in the World, Part 2

Let's see if this actually works... The Blogger app has never been great, and it's apparently going to be a dick about posting videos--and despite the fact that they're all one big happy Google family now (all hail the almighty Google), YouTube doesn't have a direct share to Blogger on their app. Huzzah for dated interfaces... (Aaannddd...nope. Editing this on Safari, which is ridiculous. I may need to resort to email posts.  Maybe it would work with Google Plus? I gave up on that a while ago, when I grudgingly acknowledged that Facebook is a necessary evil.) 

Anyway, this is the second candidate for Saddest Song in the World. It was so sad that Joan freaking Baez decided to cover it. And I checked that: this is a Dar Williams original--in case your ears deceived you!  It was topical, as I mentioned, because damn, we had a rough February!  There were no keys freezing in ponds, but it was thirty degrees below normal. We have daffodils and seasonable temperatures at the moment, but jeez, it snowed TWO WEEKS AGO. Nuts.

(It would be remiss of me not to mention that my grandfather also died two weeks ago.  It sucks, and he will be fondly remembered by just about everyone he met--even if they'd just drunk his wine--but he hadn't been himself in so many years, and he was really suffering those last few weeks. Rosina and I got to see him in early February, luckily on a good day, so at least we got to cheer him up. I will never smell Old Spice without thinking of him. All this said, his death is not why I'm posting sad songs!)

Blah blah blah

Something I should not notice or care about: the voice actor who plays Prince Wednesday on Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood's voice is changing. (See also: Signs that you watch too much PBS Kids.) Also: the amount of Auto-Tune they have to use for Katerina Kitty-Cat's voice actor is unacceptable. I mean, there use way too much Auto-Tune to begin with (as does the universe), but like, why did they even hire that girl if she couldn't sing in tune?  Meh. 

In other preschooler news, I decided to go all-in and take away the pacifier yesterday afternoon. Fifteen minutes of screaming later, it was apparent that the nap was not happening. Mark apparently got Rosina to bed last night without much trouble, but I have no idea what this afternoon will hold. We have to drop off the Jetta across town for a service once Mark leaves the office, so her nap will be abbreviated either way. 

Tomorrow morning: family haircut time! That sounds way more Duggar-y than it actually is. We're all just going together, with Mark's appointment with a different stylist 30 minutes after mine, and Rosina's basically tacked onto the end of mine. She hasn't had a haircut since November (I can maintain her bangs, mostly), and I don't think I've been since February! My split ends are making me sad... 

Nature's first green is gold

...Her hardest hue to hold. Look at me quoting Robert Frost, and it's not even a holiday or anything!  ;) Everything here has been covered in a yellow-green haze for the past few days, but it rained this evening, and is supposed to rain again tomorrow, then get really cold. I'm hoping all the rain and the cold front coming in will wash all the pine pollen out of the trees. Wishful thinking, I know, but the poem is called "Nothing Gold Can Stay". That said, I don't think there are pine pollen issues in New England...

I am enjoying some yogurt and an adult beverage after a very long day. Mark woke me up at about 12:30 last night because I was snoring, so I moved to the couch, where I woke up in considerable neck and shoulder pain, and very confused after a rather, um, vivid dream about a guy from my old neighborhood. Other than that we have a lot of mutual FB friends, I have NO IDEA where this came from. 

 

[FB sidebar: the annoying person I mentioned last week is ALL OVER my feed for some reason. I don't want to have to hide him/her--and honestly, we would all be better served if I just stayed off FB!  I do want to crowdsource some preschool options, but since my aura is apparently detrimental to the operation of Windows (I did get the old laptop from work today, but I'm not taking a lot of chances)--and I refuse to install FB on my phone, maybe I will just cool it for a while after tomorrow.]

I just made reservations for our anniversary dinner online. Welcome to the Twenty-First Century!  My cousin is coming to watch Rosina (they are going to have a LOT of fun!), making this our first date night since...the summertime, I think. The night of the Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me movie theater simulcast. We definitely need to do it more often. Ugh, I just feel like the last six months have alternated between very busy and decidedly shitty (illness, bad weather, grueling/disappointing travel). I know that was when my job started getting crazy, and when I got the first cold of the season--from which my sinuses have yet to recover. 

Speaking of which, I did finally make an appointment with that new doctor today. Unfortunately it's three weeks out, so I finally broke down and made a massage appointment for this weekend. I have been dealing with this shoulder crap since Christmas--enough!  No wonder I'm so damn grumpy all the time! O_o

Other news: we have learned almost all of the Bollywood choreo, with more than a month to go. On my way out I saw a tiny frog. I should've taken a picture--Rosina is really into frogs right now, and she was very excited to hear about it. It was smaller than a palmetto bug!  I think I could almost handle having tiny frogs living under the chimney. As long as I didn't find them in the toilet, or in my kettle! :/

Selfie:  I took this one on my way out of the car, listening to a new "New Rock" station. (It's from one of those soulless radio conglomerates, but they are actually filling an underserved market niche, at least.) I like that they throw in some Foo Fighters and Beastie Boys for the oldsters, and they even played Lorde today!  When I took this, there was a song on by one of those bands that wS heavily influenced by Blink-182. I think you know what I mean...

I love lists

This face says two things:

1. Somebody got some sun today. I wore sunscreen that apparently wiped off, and I got tired of the hat after a while at the (fun and low-key) birthday party. I may need to resort to a baseball cap. The freckles are taking over, and it's only mid-April! O_o

2. Will we ever find a flavor of training toothpaste that Rosina likes?! She likes the strawberry Tom's of Maine, but the dentist doesn't want her using fluoride toothpaste before she learns how to spit. In the meantime, she has tried and vetoed My Little Pony and Elmo flavors. I do hold out some hope for the Elmo, but the My Little Pony one does taste weird... In other tooth news, she finally for sure has broken tooth #17, after like, ten months. I still don't even feel two of her molars. I wonder if they'll even be in by her next dental appointment. 

Today was another day I felt really tired, but couldn't nap, even when the rest of the house was asleep. I'm turning in soon, and am taking advantage of our computer-less state to sleep in until nine-ish--at which point I'll call my manager to find out if the old laptop in the office will actually work, so I can come pick it up. (I drove all the way down there on Friday afternoon to get it, but there were so many updates to run, it probably took hours and hours. Definite waste of time and gas--though I will definitely be counting the bullshit and travel time in my hours.) I don't know how long it will be until the new one arrives, and we haven't taken any action on our own computer issue--other than to basically rule out the Costco floor models.  I think Mark may be considering a Galaxy tablet at this point. I suppose we can blame Sara Bareilles for that. ;)

So tentative plans for tomorrow: 

1. schedule a physical with a newly-recommended doctor (my former PA has moved out of the area), which will hopefully include referrals to a GYN specialist--because this Pill is NOT regulating my PCOS, let's be real--and an orthopedist--because my old one' s now out of network, and my shoulder exercises are not helping. I realized the other day that I'm currently on track to be in habitual pain, just like my parents are now, and I want to take charge of this now while my body is still fairly young (and before I develop diabetes caused by my unregulated PCOS, sad trombone). 

2. Drive to my office, pick up laptop. Possible stop at Trader Joe's on my way back! (I have to drive past TWO of the three in the metro area on my commute--though surprisingly only three McDonald's.)

3. Start putting out feelers for area preschools that aren't too far from my projected commute. I suppose this is something for which Facebook will be useful, for once. 

4. Work on this dumb sock. I am finally through the leg, and am decreasing the gussets now. Mark has seen it enough now, and tonight Rosina said, "Mommy knitting Daddy sock" within his earshot (she also said, "Rosina knit Daddy sock," and pretended to knit, which was really freaking adorable--though I will probably wait another year before trying to teach her! She's got great fine motor skills, but I'm not going to push it!), so even if I don't finish before Wednesday night he will get them soon!

4. Laundry. At least two loads. I have new wool dryer balls ready to be felted, so that'll be fun...

5. Much-deserved Bollywood break! 

Sock Purgatory

Arrgh, this is boring, and it's not getting any larger!

I'm trying to finish it for our anniversary on Wednesday, and now that I've given up on it being a surprise, I will actually be able to finish the pair on time. But this is really a snooze...

We had a friend over for dinner tonight, so we decided to run errands early this morning, but I didn't get a whole lot of sleep last night so I could've used the opportunity to sleep in! Tomorrow we have a birthday party to attend in the morning, and we have some important landscaping and computer-purchasing research to do in the afternoon...

Radio commentary

"Wild Thing" by Tone Loc came on the radio tonight. When you actually listen to the lyrics critically, the last verse makes no sense: the first three verses are seemingly meant to demonstrate that he has no trouble getting laid, but in the last he's propositioned by a prostitute. Why is this necessary?  I mean, was it just to shock people?  I don't get it. Anyway, right after that "Close Your Eyes Forever" came on. (Yes, I still know the words.) This got me thinking that I had never gotten around to watching The Runaways. I am moderately interested in the topic, so I think I can get past Kristen Stewart's involvement. How the hell is she famous?! She is a truly horrible actress (unless you're a fan of the "something smells bad" school of acting), and her face is not pretty to me. I just don't get it. 

In other radio news, I heard Pat Benatar's "Heartbreaker" twice in an hour, on two different radio stations. It must be fairly inexpensive to license. Not that I'm complaining. 

Today was another recuperative day. As predicted, the Bollywood class took a lot out of me. After we performed last session's choreo, I really needed a nap!  But here I was before I got all sweaty:  

Note to self: the flash is your friend! Does this look like a fancy Instagram filter? I call it "Nighttime at the Lake Lynn Community Center". I am sporting my former favorite T-shirt, which I got for two bucks at Target but has recently acquired bleach stains so is now relegated to workout wear. I'm also wearing my shearling-esque Mom Fleece. I call it that because when I bought it, I remarked that it looked like something my mother would wear (she is always wearing white cardigans, in various states of rattiness depending on their age). Indeed, when she saw it she immediately asked where I got it. (Costco. Yes, I have become a person who occasionally wears clothing from Costco. Almost all of Mark's work shirts are from there, and they carry cute toddler clothes--mostly Carter's--but the choices for women are definitely of the middle-aged white lady variety. I don't want to lose all my mostly-imaginary indie cred just yet!) I had planned to buy her one for Christmas--we live far enough away to avoid the embarrassment of matching (omigod)--but they sold out before I could get it. I'll keep my eye out for something similar in the fall. It is very thick and warm, and surprisingly easy to keep clean. Maybe when I finally find/design the perfect Aran cardigan pattern, I can give mine to her. 

This is a Prime Number

It was not a bad day, but I think I'm developing laryngitis. Vocal rest for everyone!

Also, in the most Bourgie news ever, we went to Carrabba's for dinner. I initially wanted Indian, but I could tell Mark wasn't feeling it. Comfort food it is!

I got a check from my grandmother. I am always conflicted about this: she doesn't need to be spending her fixed income on me, but then who am I to tell her not to spend her money however she wants? Mark said I should consider the check paying for our dinner. :)

Anyway, yes: prime number. I should not have acne and sun damage and wrinkles, but such is life. I should be thankful that my hair color is 100% my own! (Another thing to thank Grandma for, since I certainly didn't inherit the delayed grey from my mother!). Also, while I am no longer "cool" in the traditional culturally-dictated sense, I know plenty of awesome people in their forties and fifties; I would gladly emulate that kind of cool. A prime number is not a death sentence!  Honestly, being 23 totally sucked until I met my husband--another prime number. (Which reminds me that our ninth anniversary is in a few weeks, and we really need to start planning if we actually want to do something big for next year. Huh, that is a "mature" thing to do...)

I had been looking forward to going to the Lebanese festival today, but we're still just so run-down, and I could tell Mark wasn't looking forward to fighting crowds downtown--so we took Rosina to the playground instead. It had been two weeks, so she really let off some steam!  I took this great picture on our way to the car:  

My two favorite people, outside on a beautiful day!  That's a pretty nice birthday gift. :)

Photobombed...

No idea what this face was for...

More extra work today--no big deal, but it's not very interesting. We did have an exterminator come today, which is good because it means I won't have to kill palmetto bugs anymore. Mark has sprayed in the past, but it's never quite done the trick. We finally decided it was worth paying someone--plus we found a company that tries to use the least chemically-offensive methods, and was also reasonably priced. So yeah, exciting. 

Still not feeling 100 percent--and I'm trying to taper off the Sudafed--so my dancing today was limited to some improvisational stuff. Kind of liking Egyptian hip circles today!  

The plan for tomorrow: Lebanese Festival! I think I'd like Indian for dinner. Mark says my present is on order. Maybe I'll get a raincheck on the diapers for the day...

A happy surprise

Today I was at Target, and I didn't notice until it was time to pay that I'd left my wallet home. It would've been annoying to waste the trip, but there really wasn't anything that couldn't wait until tomorrow--but a woman came up behind us and offered to pay for our order. Twenty dollars! I tried to refuse, but she insisted. My faith in humanity is restored! I'll be paying for a few anonymous drive-thru orders in the next few weeks. :)

It took a long while to fall asleep last night--even with NyQuil in my system--but I did actually feel better in the morning, and am well on my way back to normal now, hopefully. I can taste again, and maybe my left ear will get back to its usual 75 percent one of these days. Who knows, maybe I'll be up for cleaning the house one of these days! Seriously, the living room carpet and the master bathroom. No, just no. 

I was too sick to go to my dance class last night, but I did hear about this today. Sounds like a great way to stay motivated--and five minutes a day is nothing. Hip bumps while making dinner, even!  (Which is basically what I did today.)

Speaking of dinner, I made this tonight, and it came out really well. I used fat-free evaporated milk and low-fat sour cream instead of half-and-half and heavy cream, and it worked out fine. I also used homemade stock instead of bouillon. Does anybody really use bouillon cubes? Ugh, that is so much salt. I mean, maybe if you're camping out, or in your hurricane supplies, but really, yuck. 

I did promise selfies, did I not?  

Dirty hair and weird lighting, but I did promise.  These always look weird to me, presumably because they are reversed from what we see in the mirror. I'm sure I don't really have crazy eyes--not all the time, anyway.  

Go home, Winter; you're drunk

What's that? Somebody on the East Coast complaining about the interminable winter? Oh, how novel... I suppose we must really be done now, in this state at least, but even two days ago there was a possibility for snow. Jeez. 

Right around the time of my last post I got a sample to knit, and it was more time-consuming than I'd assumed, even before a few minor issues came up. My wrists were killing me! While the body was blocking, I dashed off some chemo caps and some tawashi for a swap, then jumped right back in. As soon as I finished that I knit two pairs of socks during the Olympics (that seems so long ago!). Then I finished my Temperature Scarf and a Pinwheel Sweater for Rosina, all while dealing with a much heavier workload than normal (yay extra pay, boo extra hours spent Googling). Also, there has been some snow in the past two months. 

At least she looks happy about it...

Anyway. So things are okay here--ups and downs, I guess. Neck issues, eating too much junk, and I just caught a cold from Rosina. At least I know it will be brief...  I finally broke down and started a Color Affection, while I was on a garter stitch kick. And my next project will be another thing I said I'd never knit: a fingering-weight cardigan. It will take a LONG time, and I haven't picked a pattern yet, but we are planning some serious road trips this summer, so it should keep me out of trouble. I got a huge cone of (I think) LB 1878 from my parents for my birthday last year, so free sweater!

Speaking of my birthday, it is in nine days. It is a prime-number birthday, which is not a cool thing in my dork mind. I'm thinking about making it a Selfie Month--"this is what a prime-number-year-old looks like", or whatever. I guess I need the boost!  We shall see. 

Stir crazy

We definitely should've tried to go out today...but when it finally stopped raining it was almost time for Rosina's nap. And I'm not going out tomorrow unless it's absolutely necessary. I could lie and say it's because my kid has no body fat, but nope, it's just too damn cold. I have no idea how the Jetta's glow plug and engine would react at nine degrees. It almost makes me want to go out and start the car in the morning to see how long the glow plug indicator stays on. Almost. So yeah, everybody bundle up!  I foresee drinking a lot of tea tomorrow.  Oh wait, that's every day. It will definitely be a good day to make sauce. I may even make homemade pasta--it would keep me in the warm kitchen, in any case. 

I have taken time off knitting for the past few days to rest my wrists. I am about to start a new sample project, and it will be knit at a fairly tight gauge, so I need the break now! That green fiber is working up  pretty quickly (or maybe I've just finally gotten the hang of this drop-spindling thing), and will be nice to return to when I need a break from the sample. 

Speaking of the fiber crafts: I suppose I can't be the last one to know about the Yarncraft alums' new (non-fibery) blog and podcast. Pretty good so far!  I knew I liked them for a reason. They are funny and definitely not G-rated (not that I mind). I've also started listening to Neil DeGrasse Tyson's podcast--relevant to my interests and funny!  Eugene Mirman, man. 

In Anglophilic news, I am down to my last Mma Ramotswe book. :/ On a happier note, Downton Abbey!  Carson FTW. Business as usual for Thomas! Grr, that stupid maid. Poor Anna and Bates...and Molesley!  Oh man...  I am excited about the guest stars for this season. Kiri Te Kanawa as Nellie Melba!  (I'm guessing there is a lot of overlap between opera nerds and Downton fans.)