SuperbOwl

I really prefer owls over football. 

I especially find crocheted owls to be suburb!  This little guy is part of my 2014 Mood Blanket (that still hasn't been touched since February 2014).  Free pattern can be found HERE.

We don't really watch sports, unless it's the Super Bowl, or the Olympics.  I know we are in the minority, but I gotta say, as a non-sports watcher, I'm often SO HAPPY that Jonathan is also not into watching sports on TV all weekend.  We are able to get so many other things done!

We do always watch the Super Bowl.  Mostly because I say we need to watch it, and that's because I wanna make Super Bowl food and use that time to crochet (and watch out the commercials) <----did anyone have a favorite commercial?  I found many companies using millions of dollars in ad time to come up with the "oddest" thing they could as their way of being remembered by the end of the night.  I always enjoy what Budweiser does, the Snickers one with The Brady Bunch was funny, and the #withdad Nissan one and #girlpower ones just made me all weepy!  I've always enjoyed Katy Perry and found the Halftime Show to be very entertaining.  Plus all the special effects and quick costume changes always make this theatre nerd giddy!  And as a theatre nerd - hello amazing Idina Menzel singing the National Anthem!  Seriously, she can do NO WRONG as far as I'm concerned.  End of story.  Don't try and tell me otherwise, because you will not convince me, or win!

It was just the two of us (and the dogs) so we didn't make a ton of food.  We had these INCREDIBLE Chicken Nachos that I thought were going to end up being a snack, but were definitely enough food for just the 2 of us as dinner (we did have a late lunch too).  They looked so amazing as soon as Jonathan brought them in, I didn't even think to photograph them!  I was too busy cramming them in my face and keeping the dogs away from said face.  Seriously, they're amazing.  I just love Ree and her blog!

And for dessert were had these little beauties:

I've always been a big fan of No Bake Cookies, so when I saw this recipe on Maybe Matilda last week, I knew they were a MUST for the Super Bowl!

  

Next time I make them, yes! these will definitely be made again, I'm going to try just using 1/2 cup of chocolate chips with maybe a little less than 1/2 cup of peanut butter.  It was almost too over-powering for the yummy Oat mixture to have such a thick band of chocolate on top.  Jonathan agreed, and I feel like that's saying something because I didn't think it was possible for him to have TOO much chocolate!  It was probably also a combination of the fact that we used dark chocolate chips vs. semi-sweet and the only pan I had to use was like 11" x 6" instead of 9" x 9"..... SOMEDAY I'll have my own kitchen again (and equipment for cooking and baking!)

By the 3rd quarter I was ready for a snack:

Living in Western NY Bison Chip Dip and STBC are pretty much a way of life - and both are always so yummy!!  Helles (Where the Helles Summer?) is their new Spring Lager.  Tastes an awful lot like Bud Light, which I'm okay with.  I'm just not sure how frequently I'd pay craft beer prices for something I could get for much cheaper by purchasing Bud Light.  We'll see, this was only #2 out of my six-pack so I have 4x left for Helles to convince me it's worth it!

Speaking of Western New York, we got hit with snow last night and this morning.  We live about 70 southwest of Buffalo, NY so we missed the CRAZY November storm.  We're also 400+ miles west of New York City, so we weren't close to being hit by Juno last week.  In all honestly, this winter has not been that terrible "snow-wise" - not compared to what I remember growing up.  Jon and I constantly talk about how badly we want a big snow storm or blizzard - the kind that keeps you stuck in doors in your jammies all day!  Didn't quite get this, but this morning was a bit closer to what I remember from my childhood!

Here's the view out the kitchen window as of 7:50ish this morning!  Probably close to 15" of snow came down starting at 5 p.m. through the overnight.  Our driveway is approximately 1/4 mile long and it took Jonathan over an hour to slow-blow the bare minimum width for me to get to work this morning!  Only about 6 school districts in the county closed today, so many were digging out and on their way to work & school (as is life in these parts 6 months out of the year).  Roads were decently plowed (for the most part) - all came down to what Mom and I often refer to as "winter roads".  Always thankful for how WELL my Jeep drives in the winter!

Out the backdoor, you could also see how much snow had accumulated up on the top of the garden gate.

Our metal roof collects a LOT of snow and ice in the winter.  This shot is looking out one of the living room windows.  I was sitting near this window during the Super Bowl last night, and a lot of snow and ice from the roof right above here came sliding down at one point and crashed to the ground scaring the bejezus out of me and the pups!

And, speaking of the pups - here's what Copper and Osa thought about watching football

such sweet dups :-)

Jonathan and I also both passed out before the game was over.  Woke up having missed the Patriots final Touch Down but did get to see what I'm certain will be remembered as one of the worst plays made in a Super Bowl and the "end-zone brawl".  As soon as it was all over, we switched back to Netflix for some of our favorite documentaries on castles in England.  Like I said, we don't care too much one way or the other!

I did do some crocheting.  Not a lot, so there really wasn't much to photograph and share.  I didn't even start crocheting until the 2nd half of the game because I was SO COLD!! Couldn't figure out why having a fire wasn't warming up the room, and me in return.  By the time we went to bed around 11 p.m. our bedroom was an ice box.  Turns out our gas was out and Lord only knows how long we'd been sitting around without heat.  I'm guessing mid afternoon cause it had been cold upstairs around 2, but we had a window open knocking down some ice so I didn't think much of it.  I didn't do any laundry that required warm or hot water so I didn't notice it then.  Even when I was washing my face at 11, I must have been too sleepy to realize that there wasn't really any hot water (probably just the little bit that was left in the hot water tank that was luke warm at best).  Jonathan trudged out into the snow to reset....whatever it is that has to be reset when that happens, and we warmed up quickly once the furnace kicked back on!  #superhusbandtotherescue!

Happy Whistlepig Day to you all!  We will be watching "Groundhog's Day" just as soon as I get home from my Board Meeting tonight.  and hopefully it'll be warm enough to crochet!  Today is one of Jonathan's favorite holidays, and this is definitely one of his favorite movies :-)

Up tomorrow - successes and pitfalls of January Goals and my February Goals!

Two on Tuesday

1. I'm thankful to have working heat and warm clothes on days like today.

This was the weather outside when I woke up this morning:

Naturally, the only thing to do when you can't stay in doors on a day like this:

you wear long johns under your work pants!

2.  Excited to have tried a new pattern and have another custom order quickly "out the door" (techinally this custom order just went downstairs as my Mother-in-law ordered it for a friend!)

Here's the finished product from Sunday's SNEAK PEAK:

The pattern is from Rachel over at Maybe Matilda and can be found HERE.  I did make a few adjustments though:

• starting chain of 100
• Round (Row) 1 - sc in 2nd chain from hook and across (99 stitches), sl st to join loop (making sure to not twist), fasten off
• Round 2 - started following pattern as Rachel wrote it for the V-stitch pattern
• Round 13 (final) - ch 2 into top of dc of V-stitch of previous round.  hdc into each ch and dc of round 12, sl st to join and fasten off

I look forward to making more of these in the future, including ones that are wider and maybe even someday ones that stash bust with ends and scraps vs. starting with  me pulling out new skeins of yarn!

Moody Monday - still catching up

First, let's just pretend that I remembered to hit "Publish" last night and that it's not already Tuesday, okay?

Okay.

I'm still working to catch up on my January days for my mood blanket.  I posted to the Facebook group last week how I have caught up on remembering all my moods from earlier this month.  I do continue to add to this journal daily, but with all of the other projects that I've been working on, I just don't have enough time to get everything done I wanna/have to do (nothing new there!)

Here are my "moods" from this past week:

1/20:  EXCITED - got to see some great friends for a final Christmas get-together of the season.

1/21:  TIRED - out too late the night before enjoying the company of previously mentioned friends!

1/22:  THINKING OF GRANNIE/SAD - watched a beautiful, pink sunrise on my way to work, which always makes me feel like Grannie is looking down on me.  I also had very odd dreams the night before that involved Mom and I going through things in Grannie's house and finding these hidden "gifts" with notes addressed to us from Grannie.  I put gifts in quotes as they weren't large gifts - but things like beautiful pieces of wood that had naturally occurring designs in them, and the notes explaining to us why she'd picked them specifically for each of us.  Like my Mom's had a pattern in it that almost looked like a flower so Grannie had mentioned in the note how it was like a Brown Eyed Susan for her (my Mom's name is Susan, and she has brown eyes, so Grannie really cherished the Brown Eyed Susan's that she had planted in her gardens).

1/23:  EXCITED - Mom and I went to see Kellie Pickler in concert at our local Ice Arena

1/24:  FRUSTRATED - all of last week had an underlying theme of being a bit frustrating for me.  Both personal and work situations had me ready to crawl out of my skin in frustration and everything collided and reared it's ugly head by Friday.

1/25: SNOWY DAY - no, not exactly mood or feeling.  But don't you ever have days where the sun shining makes you smile?  Or you love looking out windows that make you feel like you're inside a snow globe all day?  Or the rain puts you in such a funk that you feel like screaming?  Well, the weather does this to me, so it's almost like the weather is a mood; it definitely can have an affect on mine!  Most of Saturday, I spent inside the house working around - mostly in our bedroom, which has 5 windows on 3 walls so it was the ideal opportunity for me to enjoy the snowing and blowing that was happening all around me!

1/26: CRAFTY/PRODUCTIVE - while I did have to spend a little bit of time yesterday getting our laundry finished for the week, we also had our first official Panama Rocks meeting of 2014 and I set myself up to be VERY productive with custom orders- like my SNEAK PEAK SUNDAY photo! 

Osa's contribution to our meeting was snuggling my foot to keep me warm :-)

By Sunday we also had enough snow that we had to send Jonathan out to snow plow before more snow came.....and while Sunday was our "warmest" day for the foreseeable forecast, I sent him out with nothing but his EYES showing!

 So really, it was a productive day for him too ;-)

He came in looking like a "Alla-ka-zanie" snow monster!  (sorry, I know only 3 people are going to get that, but I HAD to say it LOL)

So WHERE does my 2014 Mood Blanket stand at this point?

No, these aren't the hexagons for the past week based on the moods listed above - it's just all the furthest I've gotten so far...period.  I can't figure out how I messed up the pattern on a third purple hex on Saturday morning and I honestly haven't picked it up again since.

Here's to having more real-time progress to share next Monday - you know, ON time!

Two on Tuesday

It's been about 2 days past forever since I was last on here on a Tuesday with the time to stop and think about things that make me happy.  In honor of Thanksgiving week, I'd like to my post 2 things that I'm thankful for:

1.

Snow is gently falling out my office window this afternoon and soon Winter Storm Boreas will be in full force.  Most of yesterday afternoon I would see something about the Holiday Weekend weather and dread the thought of having to drive north in another winter storm......then I'd remember; WE DON'T HAVE TO!  For the first time in more years than I can remember almost a decade, not only will we not be driving home in a blizzard, but we don't have to travel at all!!!!

2.  Thankful for a 4-day holiday weekend.  This ties in with #1 but with no travel involved this year, it's a solid FOUR DAYS off (#thingsIneverget)!  I'm positive that I won't get everything done I want to, and I'll likely still be sleepy when I return to work on Monday, but for now, the thought of 4 whole days of crocheting, my sweet husband, our puppies/kitties, sleeping in, sweats and family is enough to get me through the rest of this short work week!

As promised, my update post is coming....stay tuned!

RIP and another snowstorm

Over the weekend my mom and I lost a close friend who was near and dear to our hearts.  Cindy passed unexpectedly on Saturday evening so it was a shock for all that were touched by Cindy's kind heart and warm smile.
Her son made this wonderful tribute to his Mom which was shown at the viewing last night.  Thure did a wonderful job and I cried and laughed through all 6 minutes of it.

We love and miss you Cindy!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6lAXJwtbnwc

We are gearing up for another snow storm here in DC.  We've had no where near the snow we had last year but this one looks to be the biggest yet.  They're calling for snow totals anywhere from 3-8 or more inches of snow depending on where in the metro are you are, and where the "snow bands" end up sitting!  Coming from WNY and those of you reading this in WNY are thinking "that's not a storm!!"  Well it is in DC.  Most drivers down here can't handle rainy conditions so all hell really breaks lose when it snows!  This morning we had gotten around 3" over night, but it has started to rain on the snow early this a.m......they schools shut down for the day.  Between what was still being treated on the roads and the pending doom of the evening commute tonight they didn't even do a 2 hour delay!  Around 11 a.m. OPM announced that the Federal Government is urging people to leave work 2 hours early and many offices have already made the decision to close down at 3 p.m.  This means we have also been given this option and I plan on taking them up on it and am leaving at 3:30.  They're calling for around 2" per hour starting at 4 with 1/4 mile visibility.  Not something I want to commute 8 miles uphill in!  Leaving work early and the fact that there is a possibility that the city shuts down tomorrow means everything has to be packed up and brought home with me today.  Laptop, paperwork, contact phone numbers, etc.  I'll spend more time packing it up to take it home and setting everything back up once in the office again that I will spend on my computer at home I fear.....

Safe travels to all those on the East coast who will need to drive over the next 36 hours!

Snowmageddon 2010

Ok, so no this isn't the pictures I took from all our snow in February. I just wanted to say that they're still coming, and in light of the fact that we're now not going to get anything from "the big monster" dumping on the Northeast the end of this week I just got to thinking about my pictures and my lack of posting!

They're even on my computer too. I uploaded them to show Mom over the weekend. Now to just get online and post! There's a better chance of it happening if I was going to get a snow day this week, but I might try afternoon. Probably won't happen tonight because there is a brand new digital video camera sitting waiting for me that I'm gonna wanna play around with tonight :-)