successful chemo cap donation * hazzah!

heart comfort hat

well, i had a very successful (finally) knitted chemo cap donation! after trying to give my caps of care to a local organization without success i decided to go rogue.

please do not be alarmed! i will not resort to running amuck, ammo strap filled with knitting needles and grenade holders containing balls of yarn. funny image though, innit?

i've posted a message requesting chemo cap recipient leads on mags kindergarten group board and hope to receive some info. i've got stitches of love and comfort to give, by cracky, and a well meaning, yet unorganized non-pro charity isn't going to stop me!

last week, i was discussing my plight with my friend mollie who said her neighbor was just returning from a bout of chemo. eager to part with my creation, i asked mollie if her neighbor would find a chemo cap useful or helpful. indeed, it was and is. mollie reported that her neighbor was bowled over by the sentiment and was having a particularly difficult post-chemo day and it lifted her spirits.

i've never read random acts of kindness, but it's one of those things that was instilled in me since childhood. for instance, did you know that if you smile at someone they are in turn likely to smile at someone else - so on and so forth, ad infinitum? don't get me wrong, i'm not some wacked out suzy sunshine skipping tra la la through life, but i do believe that little moments count big and we can each make a difference.

so, my PSA today is along those lines. i share a favorite quote of mine.....

Aspire, break bounds.
Endeavor to be good, and better still, best.
Robert Browning

pür joy

want to see what pure joy looks like? being a kid, sledding downhill....

the perfect mallow and s'mores

it is widely known to those whom i love and know me well that i feel the only good mallow is a crispy and charred mallow.

additionally, i enjoyed quite the perfect s'mores this day. nothing like a warm ooey gooey s'mores accompanied by a steamy cup of mexican chocolate to ward off the chills when playing in the snow.

Knitting Prana for Andie

Beetle Mania

It has been a decade since we owned a new car. No complaints here, it was never really a priority. However, a lovely holiday bonus and a clever trade in thanks to Chris, we have been enjoying a Harvest Moon Beige 2006 Beetle with mp3 ready plug AND BUTT WARMERS!! WOO! Love the butt warmers. I know we don't live in an über cold climate, but they are divine! People - please... you have to try them (not mine, necessarily). I've wanted a Beetle for as long as I can remember. When I was a kid our next door neighbors teenage kids shared a blue one. I came from "buy American only" stock, so having a V-Dub in the driveway was about likely to happen as pigs flying out of my butt (no, it can't happen, I don't care what Wayne says). Party on. Anyhoo, she is a beauty. Maggie loves to ride in her with me. Here it is... my farfegrüven

easy like sunday morning

panama rocks. my pumpkin spice latte and maple bar. breakfast of quasi-champions.

why i hate clowns

because they are evil. just look at this hideous jester we found in our local christmas shop. i would like to go on record for being perplexed that the moderate population of livermore can even support a christmas shop year round. the price tag was almost as horrifying as the creature itself.

a cool $1,100 could land you this freaky beauty.

Leafy goodness

Playing in the "leebs" is an essential part of living. Maggie has been eyeing our fading mulberry for a few weeks now. She's been licking her chops for a shot at leaf pile jumping. The ol mulberry finally dropped enough leaves to make her dream come true.

Christmas is coming the Yarn is getting scant

This woman has put a substantial dent in her Yarn stash by knitting the following Christmas pressies.
What does that mean? Of course! More Yarn is needed!

Top: Chris modeling the Irish Hiking Scarf I adapted to use Lamb's Pride bulky yarn in Blue Magic for Carson

Middle: Close up of the Old Shale Scarf I made for Auntie Tree using Cascade Quattro in Kuaui

Bottom: Felted Flap bag for Danell using Lamb's Pride in Sable

If a knittinista knits in Disneyland can you hear her purl?

By cracky, you sure can!

Boredom buster tip #152 - when in line at Disneyland, pull out your knitting and make use of your time!

One can knit on planes, why not the Happiest Place on Earth? That's what this googly-eyed Disneyland-ophile did the weekend before Thanksgiving! I should have had Chris take my picture in front of the castle, but that's yours unruly in line at Flik's Flyers in a Bugs Land at Disney's California Adventure Park. I know, I have to slow it down. Living this fast pace is going to make me go out the way of the rock greats of the 60's.

happy birthday to me!

indeed.. it is the auspicious day of my arrival on planet earth. life sure is pretty good. the time of my birth 16:09. my dad used to make me wait to open my gifts until that time since it "technically" wasn't my birthday. i guess i get that dorkiness from dad.

my sweetie had me open my gift at midnight today. he bestowed upon me the lovliest silver swirl ring. i love swirls, what can i say? maggie made me the most beautiful card where she spelled out "I Love Mom" on her own.

i have wonderful friends and family who not only remember me but also carefully choose gifts they know i will love. as i reflect upon another year i realize i'm damned lucky. i have a beautiful, loving family, wonderful friends, a good job, all my own teeth (even if some are crowned) and my health. each new day is a gift and i'm honored to share it with the people i love.

namaste

182 days of chinese food

i love chinese food. is it because i'm half chinese? i don't think so, don't most people dig chinese food? go know? all i know is friday night chris and i were tired from a long week, couldn't decide what to eat and lacked the enthusiasm to actually go INTO a restaurant. i wanted pizza (the other half of me, italian). chris was on board, but the smallest and newest decision making member of our board of directors for the rosendin family claimed she was not in the mood for pizza.

some of you might say she's the kid and you're the parents, just have the pizza. but for foodies, it's not like that. we trio of rosendins are foodies and we try to respect each palate. this was a true test because it was 6:45pm, chris had gone riding and did not have much to eat that day (as usual) so he was bonking. my food intake was also scarce, a small bowl of oatmeal and a smattering of peanut m&ms when i got my 2pm chocolate jones. we older rosendins were furiously hungry and had maggie been lightly dusted in seasoned flour she might have gone in the frying pan, but we're better than that.... we accessorize, can rotate our thumbs and don't eat our young.

so, maggie offered her suggestion - chinese. she adores chinese too... and italian, and indian, and sushi and thai. a true foody if ever there was one. so, we called in our order to a new restaurant. not new to livermore, but new to us. now that downtown was open for the new parking, we decided to give it a whirl. i waited at home making the rice while mags and chris went to pick up our feast. now, a note about rice making. i am the BEST pot rice maker this side of of the great wall. don't show me any fancy rice cookers, i will scoff. my rice is light, airy and delicious and i do it in a pot over the stove. don't ask my secret, i will have to kill you upon divulging. 30 minutes pass and the loves of my life are finally home. apparently the restaurant was very busy so the 15 minutes turned to 30. chris starts opening the containers and we look in shock-horror.. that's not our food! apparently there was another chris and he made off with our order! would it be non pc of me to say we must look alike to them? heh. hey! i'm chinese, i can say that.

my beloved of 13 years packed it all up and drove back downtown to get our correct order. apparently they must have known he was coming having already realized the debachle with the other chris. my sweetie came home with not only our order, but the incorrect order as well. we have chinese food coming out of the wazoo! we couldn't give any away either! sridhar came over but he had already eaten. mollie, steve and the girls already had a delicious split pea soup feast ahead, bill, jan and the boys were busy all weekend. so, we have been eating chinese food for the past 4 days (okay, so 182 days was a teeny tiny exaggeration). but c'mon we all know headlines sell. would you rather have said "medical miracle! woman gives birth to self!" no, and lets face it that would be pretty gross.

so, above you saw the picture many take out containers and below my lunch today complete with a cuppa of my delicious fancy lipton decaf green tea (hey, it TASTES GOOD!), a small collection of some of our fortunes and pictures maggie drew of she and i.

i know i should just throw it away, but i can't stand to waste food. in another day this stuff will max out on shelf life so to avoid a runny bottom i will toss it out, but not before giving it the old college try! bon appetit!

ps - this chinese food is YUMMAY. a deffo do-over (just not 182 containers worth)

Staaaaaar Waaaaaaaars noooothing but Staaaaaar Waaaaaaaars

a long time ago in a galaxy far far away......


there lived a boy, a girl and a wee girl.... self-proclaimed star wars geek take back the night! livermore's downtown trick or treat was a great time for us to test ride our halloween getups. chris is obi wan, i am princess leia and maggie is padme. it was a fine time for maggie and i switching mother/daughter roles. maggie had some tricked out padme hair as you can see. she loves it so much she wants it like that every day. d'oh!

we get to do it all over again monday night! woo! maggie and i love halloween, chris takes some coercing, but he loves his girls. and now... for our dramatic pose....

MAY THE FORCE BE WITH YOU (and you and you and you)

hip knit chick alert!

i was looking through knitty.com for something and then happened on this wonderful article http://knitty.com/ISSUEsummer04/FEATknittingissexy.html which made me think. it was a perfect time to read it because i just started a very arduous project for chris. i began a worsted weight raglan rollneck sweater and i have been feeling like those cartoon characters.. you know the ones.. their legs are spinning a million miles an hour and they are not advancing. then, i found the article and realized i was creating something from nothing for my sweet baboo! he would cherish it always and it would be against his skin. for me, that is sexy! "ooh, looks like someone just got sexy all over me!" (guffaw)

so, i finished the article feeling envigorated and recharged by the perspective that i'm knitting sexy here, people! as is my nature, i love to read about other people and decided to check out rachael's blog. o my lord, run, do not walk to this blog http://www.yarnagogo.com/ what a funny, hip knittinista! and she's a local girl, can't beat that!

knit on!

gonna dress you up in my love

i'm completely ecstatic that maggie is at an age where she appreciates, ne is uber proud of the things i knit for her. i finally finished the musique sweater coat in colour: dune. marjie says it reminds her of a seashell and how right she is with that yarn colour name! we chose her buttons last night after work.

at pick up today a few of the mom's complimented my handiwork. apparently after chris dropped mags off for morning assembly she was showing off the sweater. aww! pardon me while i enjoy this now before she gets to an age where i am a complete idiot and she hates my entrails.

runner up!

i am thrilled to make the honorable mentions page for knitty's calendar. they didn't even choose the photo that i would have (scarf on tree, below). go know? i wish they had used the tree hugger snap.

to quote eloise - oh my lord! my bra strap is showing in this one... further to quote eloise, here's what you have to do, sklathe yourself off of the floor clink clank pick up that phone and say i had no idea they would choose THAT photo, thank you and goodbye!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/amyknitty/55741770/in/set-1207459/

Daisys in the Nursery!

well, our first daisy scout activity was quite fun. the alden lane nursery fall festival was full of adventure and the girls had a blast. we will get our activity patches soon and get these gals up and running with their patch mania. on deck at alden lane (my favorite place to shop for growing things) petting zoo, 4H display, scarecrow contest, old farm equipment display and the girl scouts booths - apple fishing, hoop/pumpkin toss, pony ride. yay! here are the gals and i before entering (we're sans maya in this picture - darn it! she came along a bit later). DAISY'S ROCK!

It was a million to one shot, doc. Million to one.

Two visits to Muir woods to get "the money shot" (one pre-op and one post-op) and several months of waiting later, I discovered my name was not on the list of finalists for the Knitty Calendar photo contest. Oh well, I'm posting my tree hugger shot here as an homage. She will always be beautiful enough for a calendar to me. what can one do but KNIT ON!

namaste

i have proudly made a substantial dent in my yarn stash - hooray! after months of yearning to go back to yoga, i did. after months of coveting the yoga mat bag in knitted gifts, i finally made one! now i can go to and fro toting my stylish, handmade felted yoga tote. i'm deeply satisfied with the way it came out, maybe even a little.... enlightened.

new knitty, daisys & the power of om

well, the new knitty fall issue is up and i'm chompin' at the bit for those fall surprises! soon i will find out if my photo of the latifah scarf will be published in the knitty 2006 calendar. it's been two long months of waiting. keep your fingers crossed. i wouldn't mind being ms. october or something. i really think the "tree hugger" pose of the scarf wrapped jauntily around a beautiful mossy tree at muir woods captured what they were looking for, but a spin of the troll doll for luck can't hurt!

daisys.... my favorite flower. be it white marguerites (which maggie was named after), shastas, or the ne plus ultra... gerbers. i am now fully ensconced in daisys. the daisy variety i speak of is girl scouts kindergarten level. they ask for a leader volunteer and i waited. my friends were proud of me for not jumping right away.. but after a week with no leader, i couldn't take the pressure any longer and my hand flew up. so, i will have 8 little girls in two straight lines in my charge. it will be really fun and rewarding watching the lil gals grow, make bonds, learn their capabilities and empower them as they hurtle toward their bright futures. DAISYS ROCK!

lastly, i have taken steps to a stronger mind and body. i'm back in betsy's gentle care and restoring my body and mind with wednesday morning yoga. it is so refreshing and wonderful.

namaste