2 quality shopping days left.

Ok, so there you have it. I have 2 days left to finish off everything that I need to do.

I still have to finish decorating, wrap presents, buy a couple of last minute things, and finish up the last minute knitting.

And I have pretty much 2 or 3 days left to do all of this.

All I can say is I'm gonna have to be wonderwoman to finish it all, but I have faith that I will.

Merry Christmas!!!

4 days 4 states 4 games some knitting and a little added bonus.

Ok, after a fun filled weekend, of Hockey I end up with strep throat, I don't know were or when I got it, all I know is i'm suffering from it.

It sucks, for any of you who have ever had it it's awful, it takes over your whole body and just makes you feel weak and nasty. I've been on antibiotic for 24 hours now, so at least I'm not contagious any more.
Saturday, we went to Lowell Ma, to see the Lowell Devils play (and Bridgeort won) so that was a great game. after the game we drove back to Dawns house and stayed over night. So that too was fun.

Sunday, state number 2, we went to Manchester to see the Monarchs play, the outcome there wasn't as good. But hey you can't win them all, right, but it would be nice.

And now a break in the action and me to die for 24hours with strep throat, which inclued a fever of 102, the chills so bad I thought I was gonna freeze to death, aches and pains all over and just an overall feeling of yuckyness.

And now to continue with the days 3 and 4, with another little added bonus this time the little added bonus, was not being able to speak. So that was just cool. And yet again, one game was a win and one was not. Yet both games were played against the Senators.....hmmmmmmm, go figure.

Well, let me explain, ok the game on the losing end was the Islander's/Senator's and we were in New York, it was a good game, they started off kinda bad, but they were playing with a Ranger hangover so that kinda explains that.

Hey they woke up in the 3rd period, but too little too late.

And now for the winning game of the two, Bridgeport played the Binghamton Senators.....see I told you there was an explaination for it. The Senators scored 1st but that didn't help them win, they got the tied and Bridgeport scored with 23 secs left of O/T so that was a good thing.

Ok, I couldn't talk through the entire game, and I'm sure that made some people happy....hehehehe.

But hey it was another win on home ice so I'll take it.

Here's my 1st hockey rant of the season, but don't worry, there will be more to come.

All I can say is WOOHOO!!! for todays game. It was the 1st win of the season for Bridgeport at home in regulation. I can't believe it. It's the 20th game of the season, and they finally get a regulation win.

Ok so they have some problems, 1st we have a coach, that's never coahed before in his life, hey, when I grow up can I be a hockey coach, apparently if you ask nicely you can be, so everything is just a mess, theres never the same line twice, you look out, and you never know what you're gonna see.

Tonight, we had 2 forwards and 3 defenseman out for a faceoff, (hey isn't it suppose to be ther other way around) it was actually kinda funny. Let me continue, way too many stupid penalties, and the lack of skating ability. There's a player that just keeps falling down....all by himself, with no help of anyone else.

It was acutally funny the other night in hartford, during warmups he fell down, and all the guys turned and laughed at him, some evem pointed and laughed, it was very amusing.

Tonight was a turn around for a team that actually was dead last in the powerplay in the league at the start of the game, was able to move themselves up 4 places, after scoring 4 powerplay goals tonight, my thought is hey they're shy, they doing like scoring infront of a big crowd, and they certainly were busting at the seams tonight with a crowd maybe of 500 people, but those 500 people saw something no one else has all season....a win.

So far the highlight of the season, the team actually leads the league in the Penalty Kill, in 20 games they have only allowed to give up 12 goals (one of those was tonight) and trust me they are on the kill alot....hello all those stupid penalties they take, dumb, blatant penalties, things they should know better than doing.

Well this was the 1st game of the week, I have 2 more this weekend, I'm going to Lowell to see the Devils on Saturday, and Sunday to Manchester to see the Monarchs, hey it was suppose to be vacation this week and we didn't have anything planned so ROAD-TRIP, and staying over night in Hartford, at Dawn's house.

Sorry I ranted so much, but hope you enjoyed reading it all, I hope only to be able to write good hockey things from now untill the end of the season, hey I'm hopeful.

So, I may not have the lips of an Angel, but I do have the mind of a PSYCHO!!!

Ok, so it's black friday today. And yes, every year, it's kinda like a little tradition.
I get myself up at the crack of dawn and go out shopping, today was no different.
Went out yesterday and got all of the circulars and read through them. I was in search of a new camera, since mine died in the middle of vacation.

I really needed a new one, so theres no time like the present.
After digging through, I finally deceide on Best Buy, they have a Kodak camera 6.1 mp with 10x optical zoom on sale (friday and saturday only BOTH DAYS) so I'm up and out of the house before 430am.

I start out at Bestbuy in Trumbull...the lines are crazy and the store isn't open yet. Go in and no camera. (they also had a laptop on sale for 327.00, but knew I'd never get it, so just passed it)
Next stop Orange, wait in line to get in and again, no camera. So I travel to next bestbuy in Meriden, again, wait in line, and again, no camera. But after that, bestbuy is in meridien mall, so take a stop off at the mall, and go buy a couple of outfits (hey i'm in the mall and other than bestbuy the malls actually kinda empty) The the final stop for the morning, West Hartford, again, line no camera.

It's now a little before 8am and I have to be in work for 9am, so I cut my losses and go to work.
In work all day for 8 hours, on what was suppose to be a quiet day, which it wasnt' was going to try to shop online for this elusive camera, i was too busy and I couldn't do it.

I couldn't even go after work because there was a game, so I figure, hey it's a long holiday season, someones bound to have a camera along the way.

On the way home from the game, I pass by....guess what. Best buy in trumbull .....yet again, and think, hey this sale was for Firday and Saturday, 2 days they shouldn't have been sold out of these damn cameras that morning they have to have more.

So back to best buy we go. And guess what. THEY HAD THE DAMN CAMERA!!!!!!!!

I knew a little perseverance and determination would pay off. So I am now the proud owner of a new camera. WOOHOO!!!

So for all of you that get pictures from me, you now will be able to get good pictures from me.
I can't wait to start taking them. It's going to the game with me tommorrow, the batteries are charged, the memory card is empty, all I can do now, is SAY CHEESE!!!!!

Ok, I made it home safe and sound.
It was a really really long drive, but it was worth it. I had a great time.
The whole reason to go to Disney World this past week, was Super Soap Weekend. What is SSW you ask? Well, let me explain.

Every year Disney has SSW and they take about 20 ABC soap stars and bring them to disney for 1 weekend, its a mad house, for 2 days in MGM Studios, this year there were about 25 stars and 65,000 screaming fans.

For those of you who watch ABC soaps you might have heard of this, but for thoese who don't. Here's some pix that I took with the 5 that I met.

And they were.

From - All My Children -

Jacob Young

From General Hospital

Scott Clifton

From One Life to Live

Kathy Brier

Renee Goldsberry

Erika Slezak

A bunch of pix are posted, in a few places so feel free to coment if you'd like. Hope eveyone had a good week. I know I did.

Other than SSW, Disney was great as ususal it really is the Happiest place on earth. I can go there time and time again, and not be bored. I really love it.

Don't bet me.

All I can say is if you bet me and lose....you will be sorry. Thursday night, I made a bet with a friend (he's a Devil's fan) that the Devil's would beat the Islander's. Ok, so if the Devils won, I would have to wear his Jersey, and if the Isles won, he would have to wear my jersey.

So as you can tell by the pix. Guess who won the bet? I'll give to a hint.........it wasn't him.



All I can say is he was a good sport about it, and he knew if the Isle's lost he would've made me wear his jersey and I would've done. So fare is fare, and now there are 7 more games this season and he's looking for some payback.

A witchy weekend.

Ok, it took me a while to write this one but it was worth the wait.
Had a great weekend in Salem. I can't believe the weather was crappy...yet again this year, Saturday was just gross and rainy and windy and cold...hey at least it didn't snow, so that's a plus.

We went around town on saturday during the day went to a few of the little shops in town, we went to a pshyic fair....and I paid $30 for what reason, for some ding-dong to tell, me the complete opposite of what really happens.

She told me I'm not a happy person, I get along with my mother and not my father, I should start to go out more, I always stay home, and a few other things that were so far off she could've been on mars. I even found a cool little yarn store, but it was closed....which made me sad

Saturday night we went to the big Halloween Ball it was great, I dressed as tinkerbell, we got there late, but that's ok. We actually ran into someone that we met the previous year...wow, what are the chances that would happen again, there were like 1000 people there.
Sunday we went back to town, did a couple of little things that we couldn't do in the rain and crappy weather. It was nicer but it was so windy I think we could've blown away from the damn wind.

But all-in-all it was a good weekend. Can't wait to do it all again.

I think I did a dumb thing.

I started Fantasy Hockey. I probably shouldn't have done it, but I thought it would be fun. I really think its going to either drive me to drink or want to kill someone.

But I got some cool players with my draft picks I even got the $67 million boy. WOOHOO, let's see how that works out for me....I'm thinking probably not so well.

Here's my team so far. Hope everone enjoys watching me drive myself crazy all season, but really thats not a long ride. I'm just happy I got a whole lot of Tigers. WOOHOO.
S. Crosby
S. Bates
A. Hilbert
S. Regier
R. Torres
R. Smyth
J. Blake
M. Satan
C. Armstrong
T. Hunter
S. Eminger
B. Gervais
C. Campoli
A. Zhitnik
R. DiPietro
C. Ward

It's all about the pink

This was a weekend of hockey, knitting and pink was included with both of those things.

I was knitting at the hockey game this weekend...of course I was, did you expect anything less of me. But I was working on the booties and now a hat. I can't believe it, back to the ususal.

I was watching 2 games our 1st two home games of the season, and yes they were both losing games :-(

I guess, they are just going to have to play all the games on the road. That way we might win all of our games.

Sundays game was "Pink Rink" night, it was for breast cancer awareness, the players used pink sticks and they auctioned them off, I think they said they raised over $7000.00 for everything that they did that night. It was a good cause so we dressed in pink to support this good cause. And I happily donated to the cause as well. Last weekend, we actually did the breast cancer walk and as a group we raised over $2000.00, so again, I think we did.

Here are some pictures of the pink sticks. Hope everyone enjoys.

Stupid Booties.

I've made and ripped out the same pair of baby booties 4 times. I hate the pattern I have!!!

Everytime I get them finished, I just don't like they way they look. If someone else has a pattern I would be forever grateful.

Sorry, just wanted to share my frustration.

Have a nice day.

1st weekend of Hockey.

It was a very long weekend.

1st after work on friday we saw our 1st regular season game. It was the Hartford Wolfpack vs Bridgeport Soundtigers. (the big instate rivals)

They squeaked out a win with 5 unanswered goals in the 3rd winning 6-3, it was looking a little scary for a while but they pulled it off.



Saturday we went to the 2nd game of the seaons in Wilkes-Barre PA. That game didn't turn out quite the way we wanted it to.

They lost 4-1, but in other good New's the Islander's won a game with the same score 4-1. woohoo, I guess if the $67million boy dosen't play we win.

But after driving home from PA saturday night, I got up early sunday morning and did a Breast Cancer walk in Harford, so, a 3 hour drive from PA, a 1 hour drive to Hartford, and 5 miles and 230.00 later, I'm home and 1/2 asleep.

The only good thing is, I finished the scarf that I'm going to wear to "Pink Rink" night on Sunday. It should be a fun game, the players are wearing Pink jersey's and gloves, and using Pink sticks. I can't wait to take pictures.....big burly hockey players wearing pink. It's going to be funny.

T-R-O-U-B-L-E

Ok, we went last evening to our annual hockey fun cruise with the players, but unfortunatly due to a broken boat, the cruise was cancelled :-( so they had to do some last minute scrambling and deceided to have the event at the arena instead.

So we went to the arena, and got to see a few old of the guys that have been with the team for a couple of years now.

Two players specifically, they love to hate us, and thats ok, The 1st words out of Matt Koalska's mouth were, here comes trouble, but thats what he always says to us, and Steve Regier, just put his head down and shook it. It truely was the funniest thing, I've seen in a while.

Two grown men....hockey players for the New York Islander's, scared of a few girls.

Ok they really weren't scared, but you have to know the two of them to really appriciate how funny they really are.

All-in-all, it was a great night, and we had a fun time. Can't wait till the home opener, it'll be here soon enough.

I did a bad thing.

Ok, I did a bad thing today,

I frogged a little bit....ok, alot. I ripped out both sweaters I'm working on. I think the green sweater was knitting to tight and I didn't like the way it was coming out, so there it went. Gone.

The 2nd thing that I did, was a the elusive orange sweater. It's gone and never to return. So know I have a whole lot of orange yarn, that I have to find something to do with it.

It's a wostered, it's kinda shiny, and pretty, and very soft. It's an acrylic, but it looks like it could be silk. I fell in love with it, but I just can't do anything with the stuff.

Well, live and learn right?

Happy Knitting.

Started something else.

Ok, so the A.D.D. kicked in and I just couldn't help myself. I found the prettiest hunter green chunky yarn.

I didn't know what I was going to do with it to begin with so I figured, I just knit a nice warm winter sweater, nothing exciting or fancy, just plain with raglan sleeves, something to throw on when you are freezing (kinda like right now) I'm not ready for summer to be over yet, I hate the winter.

Also, I started a quick little scarf for myself, nothing exiciting there either, but I am doing a breast cancer walk on sunday, and I wanted to knit a pink scarf to wear, got about 1/2 of it done, but it'll be done on sunday so that's all that matters.

SO MUCH YARN, SUCH LITTLE TIME.

10 Comandments of hockey

Since opening day is less than a week away, I'd figure I'd share them with you. Ok, I need to work on a few of them, but what's a girl to do. At least it dosent say you can't knit and watch at the same time.

1. Thou shall keep thy butt in Thou's seat whenever the puck is in Play.

2. Thou shall not put any team before the home team.

3. Thou shall dress appropriatley so that one can be recognized for which team you are allienced
to, and so that there will be no need for fixing hair,makeup, and assorted bra-straps during the game.

4. Thou shall not have disruptive electronic communicative devices at your seat during the hockey game.

5. Thou shall not covet the visiting teams players.

6. Thou shall let others fully express themselves at all times during a hockey game.

7. Thou shall do everything humanly possible to disrupt the opposing goaltender.

8. Thou shall take the ref's name in vain.

9. Thou shalt not die during a hockey game.

10. Thou shalt cheer as hard as possible for the home team no matter what he score is, no matter what the season record is.

Here's the Scarf

Ok, heres the scarf for the ISE2 Hope everyone likes it, also hoe the person that I knit for likes it too.

It kinda looks like spaghetti or some thing that came out of the sea, like kelp,.

Excited about 2 things.

CLINCH!!!!! 9 years in a row. AL EAST CHAMPS!!! WOOHOO. Can't wait for the playoffs.



Ok, the 1st thing that I'm excited about is. The Yankees win the AL East Championship for the 9th year in a row. WOOHOO!!!

The 2nd thing that I'm excited about. While watching the Yankees lose the game tonight to Toronto, I FINISHED MY SCARF!!!!!

It came out really pretty. Can't wait to send it off. I hope the person that I knitted it for really likes it. So 2 good things in one night. Just wanted to share.

Have a good night. I know I will

It's almost done.

It's almost finished.
Woohoo, just wanted to share with everyone.

The purse is almost done, just have to sew it together and then felt it, and the scarf is almost done as well.

I got all this finished on Saturday and Sunday. Ok, so that's all I did all weekend was watch 4 Yankees game (only 1 winning game) and 1 Dolphin's game (no winner there...Stupid Dolphin's)
But hey all I have to do with the scarf is finish the last row and it's done. Granted that's almost 1000 stiches right now on the needle....uggghhh

Then it's baby blanket finishing time. Just have to get finished by October 1st so still have 2 weeks of quality knitting time.

Let's go Yankees

Ok, so I spent the last 2 weeks knitting up a storm.

Know it's gonna be a nasty weekend so I'm gonna finish up my bag from the ITEII. It's gonna be a lot of baseball watching and a lot of knitting. I should finish it up this weekend. It's almost done now.

Just have to finish the sides and felt it. WOOHOO.

All this and hopefully see the Yankees clinch the division.

Should I say it now you should I wait......

Ok, I'll say it now!!!

STUPID DOLPHINS!!!!!!!

Ok, so you all knew it was coming, but UUUUGGGGHHH, it's gonna be a long football season. That's usually something that happens about week 7 or 8, I'm wandering around aimlessly muttering it under my breath, ok so now I got to say it on week one....woohoo, makes me proud.

Ok, so I really wasn't all their fault they lost 28-17, but 1 bad penatly in when it was 3rd and 16, hands to the face, 5 yard/automatic 1st down. so what should have been a punt deep in enemy territory turned into the steelers marching up the field to the 50 yard line or so, then a 86 yard run back in the 4th quarter that was called a touchdown, but after the replay showed the guy was out of bounds at the 2 yard lines, ok so they still might have gotten the touchdown, but it wasn't a guarantee, they could have screwed it up and not gotten it. Then 2 passes by Culpepper, and 2 interceptions run in for touchdowns.

It was just an ugly game, they started off so promising but it just didn't end that way.
Ok thats enough of my ranting.

On a postive note. While watching the game, I got 1/2 of my pocketbook knitted. So only a little more to go. It's gotta be done by October 31, it'll be done by next weekend, if I keep up at this rate.

WOOHOO!!!!

It was a nice holiday weekend. So far so good. I spent yesterday thinking I was some sort of water creature, because all it did was rain. But like they say when life gives you lemons....go shopping. Ok so that's really not the phrase but it works for me.

I spent my rainy Saturday seaching for yarn for my ITE2 bag, but after 4 hours and several LYS's later, I found it. It's yummy, and that's all I'm going to say because my pal wants a surprise....(so you just have to wait to see later.)

Also, spent a few hours in the mall. Again, not a problem. Wondering the local mall aimlessly on a rainy saturday. What can be better than that.

Sunday I spent the day doing the complete opposit. I spent the day roasting in the hot summer sun at a baseball game. Ok, so now I look like some sort of lobster, (get out your lemon and butter) But not to worry the red will fade and everything will be alright.

Now all I have to do, is survive one more day, going to be a glutton for punishment and do the same thing tommorow. (Maybe I'll bring my yarn with me and I can knit at the game. Usually I only knit at hockey games, but hey there's a 1st for everything right?)

Let's see if I end up a little more red tommorrow.

My 1st dishcloth....Hey i'm a little slow with the easy things

This is my first attempt at a dish cloth.

But I think it came out good, I really like it.

Here's the pattern, if anyone wants to try

Needle: #6
Yarn: 100% cotton
Cast on 4
Row 1 knit
Row 2 k2, yo, knit across
Repeat Row 2 until you have 28 stitches
Row 24 k2, yo, k11, p2, knit across
Row 25 k2,yo, knit across and all odd rows to 37
Row 26 k2, yo, k11, p4, knit across
Row 28 k2, yo, k11, p6, knit across
Row 30 k2, yo, k11, p8, knit across
Row 32 k2, yo, k11, p10, knit across
Row 34 k2, yo, k11, p12, knit across
Row 36 k2, yo, k11, p14, knit across
Row 38 k1,k2tog, yo,k2tog, k8, p16, knit across
Row 39 k1,k2tog, yo, k2tog, knit across and all odd rows until finish
Row 40 k1,k2tog, yo,k2tog, k6, p18, knit across
Row 42 k1,k2tog, yo,k2tog, k5, p18, knit across
Row 44 k1,k2tog, yo,k2tog, k5, p7,k2,p7, knit across
Row 46 k1,k2tog, yo,k2tog, k5, p5,k4,p5, knit across
Row 48 k1,k2tog, yo,k2tog, k5, p3,k6,p3 , knit across
Row 50 k1,k2tog, yo,k2tog, , knit across
Repeat Row 50 until you have 4 stitches on the needle.You can now either bind off or do a round of single crochet and make a little loop of chain stitches in one corner so you can hang the cloth to dry when you are finished using it.

Sari Yarn and Baby Blankets.

Ok, so the baby blanket isn't being knitted out of the sari yarn but still. Actually I think if I knitted the baby blanket out of the sari yarn, the mother of said baby, wouldn't use it.

She was actually grossed out one day by it because, we found a toenail in it. Hey the joys of yarn that was handspun in India....what do more do you want....at least it didn't stink too bad.

The baby blanket is coming along well, it's almost 1/2 done we are trying for it to be about crib size when it finishes. And it's almost there. Saw a real cute pattern for a blanket knitted on the bias, so I deceided to do that.

Let's see how it works out.

Now for the sari yarn update. It's a purse, not like I don't have enough already I might need another one. I really like the way its coming out. I messed it up a little bit and ripped it out (it was only about 4 hours of knitting that I started over....no biggy, I've done it before, don't worry, i'm sure I'll do it again.

So thats my little update. I'll keep you posted.

Sweep!!!!

It was a good weekend for Knitting and baseball.

The majority of the weekend was spent doing a little bit of both. Watching 5 New York Yankee games....which was a good thing, because they won all 5 games.

And yes while watching all the games. What did I do you ask? I was knitting.

Still working on 3 projects. 1 baby blanket for a friend, a purse made of recycled sari yarn, and the ever elusive orange sweater.

The baby blanket, I ran out of yarn, and have to go to the store and get more. The purse, I'm knitting in the round and got about 25 rounds done on it.

And the ever elusive orange sweater....still sitting in my knitting bag, the only thing i've done to it, I need the needles that it was on to work on the purse, so I took it off the circular needles that it was on and put it on straight needles.....woohoo, I got a row knit.

Knitting Olympic's....Part Deux.

Ok Small Snafu in the Knitting olympics.  My original project had to be put on hold.  Why you ask?  I now have an emergency baby blanket to knit.....by SATURDAY!!!!!!!!!!!  UGGHHHHH. 

Ok, so that only now gives me 4 days.  So I better get my fingers a cracking and moving quickly.  So if you see the picture above.  This  is what I'm now knitting.   Ok, so it's not as challenging as the sweater....Which BTW is more than 1/2 finished.

So wish me luck and let the games begin....AGAIN!

Ok so sitting in drs office waiting for babby to come out contemplating the weekends events.

--

Mobile Email from a Cingular Wireless Customer http://www.cingular.com

Interesting Weekend

Ok, I don't know if I would call it interesting, but....I don't really know what to call it.

It started out, as a simple hockey weekend away. One night in the fabulous city of Wilkes-Barre, PA woohoo, simple easy to the point. We set out to leave for the WB on Saturday morning around 10am, again, ok no problems there, and 2 1/2 hours later we arrive at our destination, still ok. We were suppose to go to the.................

Signs of knitting addiction, and here they are:

1. Do you lose time from work due to knitting?
Um, no! Of course not! Who would do that? (You're not counting knitting blogstalking or looking up patterns or yarn online, right?)

2. Is knitting making your home life unhappy?
Unhappy? Definitely not. Now, untidy....um yes...there's yarn everywhere

3. Is knitting affecting your reputation?
I have to admit I might just have a reputation as a knitter.

4. Have you gotten into financial difficulties as a result of knitting?
Let's see. Needles, knitting basket, silk yarn, novelty yarn, wool yarn, new bamboo needles, and goodies, goodies, goodies. Moving on.

5. Does your knitting make you careless of your family's welfare?
I think I did let the cat see the bottom of his food dish a couple of times. And when was the last time I really cleaned the litter? Count this as a 'maybe'.

6. Has your ambition decreased since knitting?
No way. I aspire to bigger and better projects all the time!
Oh - does this not mean knitting ambitions?

7. Do you crave knitting at a definite time daily?
One time every day? Nope. Now, several times - yes. In the morning, in the afternoon, after dinner. Almost all the time. The only time I don't crave it lately is when I have a deadline. (Fu

8. Do you want to knit the next morning?
Of course - I might not have finished it the night before!

9. Does knitting cause you to have difficulty in sleeping?
At least once that I remember. It was the night when I realised that I'd done something wrong in the baby blanket AGAIN and figured it out as I was falling asleep.

10. Has your efficiency decreased since knitting?
See above re: blogstalking etc.

11. Do you knit to escape from worries or trouble?
I live in a wonderful land of yarn and needles and patterns and blogs. What's to escape?

12. Do you knit alone?
Almost exclusively. I also knit at work, at my discussion group, in waiting rooms, on planes, and once, on the highway (gotta love long car trips) I've abandoned my purse, and carry my wallet in my knitting tote with me everywhere instead.

13. Have you ever had a complete loss of memory as a result of knitting?
I'm sorry - what?

14. Has your physician ever treated you for knitting?
So far... No. Will keep you posted.

15. Do you knit to build up your self-confidence?
You bet. Look! Look what I can do! I didn't think I could do this, but it worked out and it's magic and don't I look self-confidant now!

16. Have you ever been to a hospital or institution on account of knitting?
Does A.C. Moore count as an institution? Is Michaels rehab?

So there you have it. I'm fine. Really.

Now, where are my needles?...

The Rules of Knitting and Dating

1. Don't knit your boyfriend a sweater, it's bad luck, guarenteed, to break up if you do.
2. Don't wear itchy fabric's on a 1st date. (don't use fun fur either it might make him sneeze and make him think he's allergic to you.)
3. Don't take you knitting on a 1st date (well duh, then he'll think you're bored with him)
4. DO!! take you knitting on a 1st date (if it's a speed dating event, if the guy is boring you have something to do)
5. Don't let dating interfere with your knitting. (offer to watch a game with him and score for both of you.)
6. Invest in a handsfree headset (already have one, it's the best talking on the phone and knitting at the same time)
7. Make sure you needles are safely stored away. (ouch keep them off the couch or out of bed)

It's official

UNIONDALE, N.Y. (AP) - Steve Stirling unwillingly joined a not-so-select group: New York Islanders coaches fired by Mike Milbury.Stirling was dismissed Wednesday night by Milbury, a person familiar with the decision told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the official announcement was scheduled for Thursday. It is the eighth coaching change the general manager has made in nine years.An interim coach will be in place before the Islanders' home game against Calgary on Thursday night, and it won't be Milbury, who has had two stints behind New York's bench. The rest of the coaching staff is expected to remain and Stirling will likely be offered another position within the organization.He went 38-29-11-4 during his rookie year of 2003-04 and guided New York to its third straight playoff appearance after taking over for the fired Peter Laviolette. But a recent skid dropped the Islanders out of the playoff picture and sealed Stirling's fate.The final blow came Tuesday when the Islanders lost in Nashville to fall to 18-22-2, fourth place in the Atlantic Division.Stirling, who ran practice Wednesday morning, was hired as the 11th coach in Islanders history in June 2003. He is the second NHL coach to be fired this season, joining Pittsburgh's Ed Olczyk. New Jersey coach Larry Robinson stepped down, citing health and family issues.After the Islanders dropped a home-and-home series last weekend to Carolina, in which they were outscored 7-1, Milbury said he wouldn't sit back and watch the club fall out of playoff contention.New York, which slipped into 12th place in the 15-team Eastern Conference, traded disappointing defenseman Janne Niinimaa to Dallas on Tuesday before the 2-1 loss to Nashville.But if the move was intended to create a spark, it didn't happen instantly as the Islanders lost for the eighth time in nine games and 10th in 13 - including six straight on the road."If you win, you keep your job. If you don't win, you could lose it or you do lose it," Stirling said after what turned out to be his final practice. "I didn't make the rules, Mike didn't make the rules."Milbury has revamped the roster several times, changed coaches eight times, and has never won a playoff series since he's been in charge. Yet, his job has never been threatened by team owner Charles Wang.When Stirling replaced Laviolette after the Islanders' second consecutive playoff appearance following seven years out of the postseason, Milbury figured this was the last coach he'd be allowed to hire.That wasn't the case, and more changes might be coming.Milbury took a chance on a guy who had never led an NHL team after Stirling came off a successful two-year stint as coach of the Islanders' AHL Bridgeport affiliate.While Stirling lasted less than 1 1/2 seasons, Laviolette moved on to Carolina and now has the Hurricanes in first place in the Southeast Division, just one point behind Ottawa for the best mark in the Eastern Conference. Laviolette will also be the U.S. coach at next month's Turin Olympics.Stirling was The Hockey News' minor pro coach of the year in 2001-02, after taking Bridgeport to the AHL finals, and compiled a mark there of 83-51-19-7.He got the unexpected call to the big leagues at age 53.Stirling's only trip to the playoffs ended in a five-game loss to eventual Stanley Cup champion Tampa Bay.When the Islanders got back together after the lockout wiped out last season, they were a different club.During the offseason, New York decided against buying out Alexei Yashin's big contract to create more space under the $39 million salary cap and instead dealt away Michael Peca. Not only did the Islanders keep Yashin, Stirling named him Peca's replacement as captain.But Yashin has not become a leader on or off the ice. Despite being one of the highest-paid players in the NHL, he has produced only 15 goals and 38 points in 42 games. In Tuesday night's 2-1 loss at Nashville, Yashin took two of New York's four penalties - both for delay of game.It wasn't just the loss of Peca that left the Islanders looking for leadership, they also saw defensemen Adrian Aucoin, Roman Hamrlik and Kenny Jonsson depart, along with veteran forward Dave Scatchard. Replacing them with defensemen Alexei Zhitnik and Brent Sopel and forwards Mike York and Miroslav Satan hasn't helped.And Stirling's final three games were lost with rookie Wade Dubielewicz in goal instead of injured regulars Rick DiPietro and Garth Snow.

I don't know if I like these statistics....

1. 44 percent of adult Americans are single, according to U.S. Census figures. This means there are over 100 million unattached folks out there. So, if you've ever worried, "There's nobody out there for me," know that there's hope!

2. Statistically, the find-someone odds favor guys: There are 86 unmarried men for every 100 unmarried women, although in some regions the gender ratio favors women, especially out west. Paradise, Nevada, a suburb 10 miles from Las Vegas, has 118 unmarried men for every 100 unmarried women. Other cities where gals got it good include Austin, Texas; Fort Lauderdale, Florida; Tempe, Arizona; and Sunnyvale and Santa Ana, California. A coincidental bonus for women thinking of relocating: All of these cities are sunny and warm.

3. The best place for single people on the prowl is New York, where 50 percent of state residents are unmarried, and Washington, D.C., where a whopping 70 percent of the population is single. The worst places are Idaho, where 60 percent of people are married; and Utah, where 59 percent of people are married.

4. Think you'll find love while perched on a barstool? Think again. Only 9 percent of women and 2 percent of men say they've found a relationship at a bar or club—blame it on the beer goggles. So if you're lonely and looking, you're better off hitting on cuties at Starbucks.

5. Got someone hot in your sights and want to reveal your interest? Fifty-one percent of people use flattery, according to the book Are You Normal About Sex, Love, and Relationships? Or, try touching them, a tactic used by 25 percent of single folk. Still another 23 percent utilize the schoolyard approach and send the word out through a friend.

6. If you're into online dating, you're hardly alone: 40 million Americans use online dating services; that's about 40 percent of our entire U.S. single-people pool. So if you haven't tried it yet, maybe it's time to dive in!

7. Profiles and photos go together great. Online, being bashful will get you nowhere. Women and men who post their photos receive more than twice as many emails as those without photos, according to a study published by economists at MIT and University of Chicago. And a Match.com survey revealed that profiles with photos had 15 times the response rate as those without. Some numbers!

8. On a date, first impressions do count: Men take only 15 minutes to decide if a woman is worth a second date. For women, the clock isn't ticking quite so fast—they ponder whether to get together again for an hour or so.

9. The number one problem for couples in America? Disagreements about money, according to a poll by the University of Denver. So, don't write off a date just because you two bickered over the dinner bill; everyone clashes over cash.

10. If you're feeling like your relationship is hitting the skids and want to bail, the painful face-to-face approach might not be necessary: An estimated 48 percent of online daters report that their breakups have happened over email. Call it rude or just plain convenient, but it happens a lot.

New Years Resolutions...and other stuffs....

OK, so my new year didn't actually start off with a bang, it actually just fizzeled in with a...... I don't know.

Since last year kinda just sucked more than anything that's ever sucked before, we can only hope 2006 is going to be a better year than last.

This is how 2005 went.....badly......It was my 1st year as a single girl in 10years, ok how do you deal, how do you get back into the swing of things, I know it's like riding a bicycle but come on it's been 10 years, so you bound to be rusty.

JANUARY.
Knitting.....Hockey....1 date.....More Hockey

FEBRUARY
Knitting.....Hockey....no dates...More Hockey....Hockey All-Star Games

March
Knitting....Hockey....No dates....More Hockey

April
Knitting....Hockey....2 dates and a break up.....More Hockey....Wait something different....Baseball Starts

May
Knitting....Baseball....No Dates...More Baseball

June
Knitting.....Baseball....No Dates...More Baseball

July
Knitting.....Baseball....No Dates...More Baseball

August
Knitting....Baseball....No Dates...A Birthday...More Baseball

September
Knitting.....Baseball....No Dates...More Baseball....Wait...New...Football

October
Knitting....Football....No Dates....More Football....Wait...Hockey's Back

November
Knitting.....Football..Hockey..1 bad date....More Football...More Hockey

December
Knitting....Football..Hockey..No Dates....More Football...More Hockey

All in all the year kinda sucked. If this is what I have to look forward to for 2006, I might just die. Ok, so I have some good friends and a family that loves me, but thats just not cutting it for me. I want more out of life, I want a family of my own, someone that loves me for me, baseball, football, hockey and all my yarn, is that too much to ask for. UMMM NO I really don't think it is.

And now for my resoultions.
To be happy what ever life brings me and to make the best out of everything that comes my way. I know this is a general statment, bur really this is what I need to do, this is how I need to approach things.