The One With Blonde Moment #2

So ... the other day I got home from work and decided I wanted a little snack. I decided to toast a couple little mini-bagels in the oven, so I turned the oven on to broil and heated it up a bit. I got out the cream cheese, and cut the bagels in half. I put the bagels carefully on a piece of parchment paper, on the cookie sheet. I put the bagels in the oven, closed the door, and looked at the clock. "Ok, about a minute and a half is all they need," I thought to myself.

I walked into the other room, sat down at the computer, and decided to start watching the next episode of Desperate Housewives that I had downloaded on iTunes while I waited ... and ... well ... you all see where this is going, right?

I was thoroughly engrossed in finding out if Mike was going to remember anything until about 15 minutes later, when my smoke alarm reminded me that I was cooking something. Ah yes. You know your food is done cooking when the smoke alarm goes off.

I raced out to the kitchen, and I could see the smoke coming out of the oven vent. I turned off the oven, and nervously opened the oven door, praying that nothing was actually on FIRE. No fire, but some black, crispy, smoking bagels sat on ashes of what used to be parchment paper.

I grabbed the oven mitts and pulled them out of the oven. My kitchen was filled with smoke. I turned on the fan over the oven, and then ran around the apartment opening windows and doors. Even after I had both the front and back door open, as well as two windows open and every fan in the house going ... the smoke alarm was STILL going off. Loudly.

I stood on a chair under the smoke alarm in the dining room, fanning it with the oven mitt ... and shouting at the stupid alarm to shut off. I was embarrassed ... every person who walked by my living window or past my open doors could hear the smoke alarm going off and see me fanning the stupid alarm up on a chair.

Just another day in the life of a space-cadet ...

P.S. -- we are behind on Desperate Housewives ... we are catching up in Season 3 and it is getting SO GOOD!! I can't wait to find out what happens!! I just found out that Orson's mom was actually the one that killed Monique ... so now I need to know what will happen with Orson and Brie! And Ian just proposed to Susan, and I love Ian, but I love Mike MORE (he is hot!) and I really really want Susan to end up with Mike. So nobody ruin it for me! I am going to get all caught up this weekend!! AAAHHH, the suspense!

The One With Random Ramblings

Some random thoughts today:

1. My Place of Employment (PoE) has a center atrium in our building. It has lots of potted plants and trees growing under a glass roof ... it really is beautiful. A lot of the offices have window looking out over it ... anyways, around Christmas time the gardeners put out lots of beautiful poinsettias in the planters. And now it is April, and we still have poinsettias. I am slightly annoyed by this. They are still blooming beautifully, but to me poinsettias are Christmas flowers. I want to move on to springy flowers.

2. I have actually been crocheting a lot in the last week, however I have no pictures to show for it. Every time I think to take pictures, I am driving, or working, or busy actually crocheting. I promise more pictures soon.

3. My dad called both me and T yesterday around noonish ... we were both working and neither of us answered the phone. T called him back like 10 minutes later, and my dad said that he had called because he couldn't find his wallet, and thought that maybe T had picked it up by accident when we were over the night before. T tells him that he was sure that he had only picked up his own wallet. My dad replies with "yes, you did ... I already found my wallet-- I had it the whole time" Apparently he had been looking for it all morning, and couldn't find it ... then when he called to check with us, he finally found it. T says, "so you pulled a Jessica! Ha ha ha ... "
They both laughed at my expense. But you all see? I get my ditziness from my father.

4. Spell check does not like the word ditziness.

5. I love to read, however I never have time for it ... and it puts me to sleep. But I really miss it ... so I decided that the solution to this problem is audiobooks. I downloaded my first audiobook (Hemingway's A Farewell To Arms) from iTunes and I am listening to it in the car during the commute ... it is really working out great for me ... I am getting that reading fix that I need ... and using that hated commute time for something productive! I really want to buy the actual book though, also. I want to go back and re-read some passages, see how some of the words look in print ... you just can't do that (at least not very easily) with an audiobook.

6. I have also recently discovered crochet/fiber podcasts. I listened to the one from Crochetville a while ago ... and then discovered several others listed in a thread at crochetville ... and from those I am discovering more ... I love to listen to them on my iPod at work, and while crocheting. It inspires me to crochet more, and (I'm hoping) actually finish stuff!

7. And last ... some pretty spring pictures that I took last weekend around my neighborhood ...

The One With the Big List

I have been working on my list of "100 Things About Me" ... and I finally finished! I even made a little button ... cool, huh? I will learn this blogging stuff yet ...

So anyways, if you have a lot of extra time on your hands (or you are just a nosy stalker-type, like I am!) then go visit my list of 100 Things About Me ... hopefully you don't die of boredom!

(I made a completely different blog just for my list, so that the incredibly long post didn't take up a whole freakin' page on my blog ... )

The One With Baby Hats

So, I finished up some super cute baby hats for the twins! They are so tiny, but I think they will fit ... those babies are just so little! And these two are on the big side compared to many of the other tiny little babies in the NICU! I think I want to start making more baby hats and blankets for the NICU ... they have a lot of cute handmade hats and blankets in there, and they really brighten up the atmosphere!

Anyways, these hats were made from (a slightly modified version of) this pattern. I found it on Crochet Pattern Central ... The yarns are Caron Simply Soft, Red Heart Soft, and Bernat Softee Baby. I don't have the labels in front of me, so I can't remember the exact colors ...

They ended up being three different sizes (I am not so good at the whole gauge thing ... I don't try to match gauge unless I absolutely have to. I always just kind of eyeball it ... )

These were fun and fast and I can't wait to see them on their cute, tiny little heads!

The One with Crafting Updates!

Okay ... so the twin baby boys? The ones who were to receive the blankets I was (supposed to be) working furiously on? Um, Yeah. They were born this weekend. A month early, and a week before the baby shower. They kind of messed up my (unrealistic anyways) plans for completing their blankets this week. Instead of crocheting furiously, I was at the hospital visiting and oohing and aaahing and cuddling ...

They are in the NICU for a little while while they get a little bit bigger and are able to eat enough to gain weight without supplemental feeding tubes ... but really, they are doing just fine. A bit small, but perfectly healthy. And REALLY CUTE!! Mom and boys are doing just fine ... all are easily tired and mom is a little sore ... but they are bonding and healthy and did I mention CUTE?!

Sooo ... new plan. The big-sister blanket is almost finished. I will finish it this week, and give it to the new big sister at the baby shower this weekend. And also last night I crocheted two little TINY preemie baby hats ... when I get home tonight I will post pictures. I will probably drop those off at the hospital this week, but I think I will make a few more to give to new mom at the baby shower too. I do have (lots and lots of) store-bought gifts for the shower, but I want to put in something that is handmade also. And then ... the plan for the really cute baby blankets that I have all the stuff for? I am going to make them for Christmas presents for the boys. MUCH more realistic. I purposely planned these blankets to be pretty big. I made them the same size as a blanket that I received at MY baby shower, that my now four-year-old son is still using every day. The boys should be able to use these blankets well into their childhood, so receiving baby blankets 8 months after birth should be just fine. As soon as I make a little more progress on them, I will post pictures. I just LOVE how these blankets will turn out (I hope)!

As for other crafting that I have been working on ... I completed the little mini-scrapbook that I made for my sister, and it is waiting to get mailed off. I have been working on some ideas for mother's day ... scrapbooks with some of those black and white pictures that I have also been working on, where I color just one element in the picture. I am really excited about those. And I will also probably make some small little crochet items for mother's day also.

When I get home tonight I will post pictures of my progress on all of these!

The One Where I Share the First of Many Blonde Moments

Ok ... so to stall and entertain you all (anyone?) reading my blog just dying to see/hear updates on my baby blankets and big sister blanket ... I will tell you my embarrassing story from yesterday.

Yesterday afternoon after work I went to JoAnn's to get some yarn for the border of the big-sister blanket ... and I also piled a bunch of scrapbook stuff in my cart as well. But as I was finishing my shopping and heading to the checkout, I realized that I had not brought my wallet in ... so I left my cart near a checkout at the front of the store and told the checkout lady that I needed to run to my car and get my wallet ...

When I got out to my car, I dug through my (huge, suitcase-like) purse ... no wallet. I was annoyed. I dug through my purse again, just to be sure. I was CRANKY. I spent like an hour in JoAnn's trying to decide what to buy, daydreaming about crochet projects and mother's day crafts and scrapbook pages ... I had carefully selected a CART FULL of cool crafty stuff ... and I didn't have my wallet. And ... also I told the checkout lady I would be right back ... and so even though I know it was rude, I decided not to even go back in the store ... they would figure out I wasn't coming back eventually, right? (I know, rude! But I was embarrassed ... I felt stupid for getting a whole CART FULL stuff and then having to leave it there ... )

So ... I went to pick up The Technician from work ... and I was really early. (Sometimes we drive together even though I get off work WAY before him, and I kill time shopping! or crocheting! or even ... doing homework-- YUCK!). So I sat in the parking lot for about an hour and a half crocheting on the big-sister blanket (update to come!) and stewing about all my left-behind crafting items ... And I looked through my purse a few more times, just to be SURE!

After I had been sitting there for about an hour, it occurred to me ... did I ACTUALLY have my wallet with me in the store? In the cart? UNDER ALL MY STUFF? I racked my brain ... I tried to picture myself getting out of the car and walking into the store ... I didn't think I had my wallet. I was SURE (well, pretty sure) that I had gone into the store empty handed (and also? What kind of person walks into a CRAFT STORE empty handed? No wallet? No purse? What was I thinking ANYWAYS?!?!) but still I had this nagging feeling ... what if I had been even dumber than I first thought -- what if I really had my wallet the whole time and just DIDN'T LOOK UNDER my stuff to see if it was there? But no ... I wasn't THAT STUPID!!

When T. got out to the car, we began driving. I was just going to go home (which is on the other side of town) and make sure my wallet was safely on the kitchen table where I was (almost) POSITIVE it was ... but as I told T the story, he FORCED me to go back to JoAnn's (since it was like 2 blocks away) and double check.

I argued with him the whole way ... "but my cart isn't going to still be sitting there an hour and a half later!" ... "but I can just CALL and then I don't have to face the ladies laughing at my stupidity" ... "but ... but ... what if they are MAD at me for leaving my cart there to "run out to my car" for an HOUR AND A HALF?!?" (and yes ... I really worry about stuff like this. I am maybe a little bit weird? And also spacey. And also ... I worry about stuff. LOTS AND LOTS of stuff.)

We got back to JoAnn's ... I tried to convince T. to go in and look in the cart FOR me ... but the whole time he was just laughing and rolling his eyes. I told him that if the JoAnn's people laughed at me, I was going to be mad at HIM for making me come back. He laughed at me some more. Finally I went into the store ...

And my cart was right where I left it ... and as I picked up the stuff in the cart to look UNDER IT ... I found ... wait for it ... MY WALLET!! Yep. I had it the whole time.

Soooo ... I pushed my cart up to the checkout and the girl said "I was just about to go put that stuff away." Now, this was a different girl than had been there when I was there TWO HOURS AGO ... I could have just smiled vaguely, made my purchase, and escaped with little embarrassment. But as soon as she said that, I thought to myself, "you know, it really is funny that I did this" ... so I explained the whole story to her, laughing at myself the whole time ... "So first, I brought my wallet, THEN I thought I forgot it, and THEN I thought I had it in my car and THEN I realized it wasn't in the car and THEN I thought I left it at home and THEN I left for two hours before realizing that MAYBE my wallet was in the cart the whole time ... ha ha ha ... "

She stared at me. She sort-of gave me a half smile and kind of muttered "oh man ... " she QUICKLY handed my card back to me and pretty much shoved my bag at me and QUICKLY turned to the next customer ... Yep. She thought I was some (stupid) crazy lady.

When I got out to the car, T, still laughing, asked, "did they laugh at you?"

"Nope. I think they were a bit scared of the crazy lady"

He laughed so hard he was crying. "You HAVE to blog about this," he said. "It is just too funny."

The One With a Different Kind of Easter Bunny

Little Brother discusses people in terms of their strength and crime fighting abilities. He always tells me that he is eating his dinner so that he can "be strong so I can kill those bad guys." If Big Brother is not eating his dinner, he instructs him that he must eat so that he can get "stronger" in order to be able to "kill bad guys". He and BB are constantly debating the strength of different superheros, action characters, and cartoon characters. "Spiderman is stronger because he can throw webs and kill the Bad Guys" "But Hulk is really very stronger and he throws Bad Guys" "

Yesterday on the drive home, he was excitedly telling me all about their plans for an Easter Egg hunt today at his preschool/daycare.

"We have to bring in Easter Eggs and candy and we give the eggs to the Easter Bunny and he hides the eggs and then we find all the eggs and eat lots and lots of candy and I have to bring a basket to put all my eggs in and ALSO?! The Easter Bunny is really strong and kills lots of Bad Guys!"

Huh. I always pictured the Easter Bunny as this fluffy, pink and white ... uh, I don't know ... gentle, friendly, even SHY kind of guy. You know, he hops around hiding pastel colored eggs and leaves candy and never says a word ...

Boys are weird.