scriggle

I just ordered 2 crochet books from Amazon ..... One is patterns for making hats, and another is patterns for making "granny squares". I hate that term, but some of the ones in this book are not traditional looking old lady type things so I became intrigued.

I'm not exactly sure what I'll do with the crochet blocks that I make ... I've heard about several organizations or clubs that collect them and create blankets for charities, that might be nice. I saw the author of the hip hats book on "Uncommon Threads" on DIY one day and the hats she showed were so cool so I've wanted to get this book for a while.

I think I'm either going to need another set of hands, or more hours in the day to make all the stuff I want to make! Maybe if I just win the lottery soon I can quit my job and crochet all day long - man, that would be heaven.

Labels: crochet, hobbies

Posted by scriggle at 12:00 PM | Permalink | Comments | links to this post

It's all over the news now so I'm guessing its OK to blog about it. Today, the company I work for laid off 175 people. 100 of them in the home office where I am. I've never really been through a lay off before - it was weird, tense, nerve-wrecking, sad, shocking and upsetting ... but also a huge relief. We'd heard this was coming for a long time and there was tons of speculation about when, who, how, etc for weeks so its nice to have it finally over.

My job is safe, and so is my hubby's ...... my immediate team is also safe as is my hubby's. However, for those of us left standing now, everything will be different starting tomorrow. Hopefully for the better.

Labels: whatnot

Posted by scriggle at 10:29 PM | Permalink | Comments | links to this post

I just finished this cute octopus for my friend/boss Kelly at work. She specifically requested this shade of orange for her octopus, it's her favorite color! :) (UPDATE: His name is now Simon) I really think I'm getting faster at these critters, this one went much faster than any of the previous ones. Now, just to figure out what will be next .....

Labels: crochet, hobbies

Posted by scriggle at 10:04 PM | Permalink | Comments | links to this post

Well, another birthday has come and gone. And this year was a good year. On my actual birthday I slept in as much as I could and was as lazy as possible. I worked on crocheting my cactus (shown below), watched some TV and snoozed on the couch. Then for dinner, hubby and I went with some friends to The Melting Pot for dinner. It was AMAZING. Great food and great company, we laughed and had a fabulous time.

Saturday my Mom came over and we hung out for the afternoon, we had lunch at Chili's and mostly just visited, it was great. Sunday, hubby and I went to the Fort Worth Zoo to spy on the animals and that was a lot of fun. It was a pretty nice day, very cloudy and a little muggy but the rain held off so that was good. We took a lot of pictures (which you can see on my flickr site if you are interested) and had a good time. Then Monday - which I also took as a vacation day - it rained allllllllll day which is just fine with me, I love the rain. We ran a few errands and again I was as lazy as possible.

I'm back at work now, which is alright. And it was a fabulous birthday, so I'm happy and all's right with the world :)

Labels: birthday, me

Posted by scriggle at 9:41 AM | Permalink | Comments | links to this post

After making several critters for other people, I decided I needed to make something for myself. And voila! Here is Mrs. Cactus! I will be working on Mr. Cactus after a few more critters for friends that I've got lined up :) Mrs. Cactus is sporting a fashionable flower in her "hair", cute little black eyes and a cheery smile. I think I'll name her Connie.

Labels: crochet, hobbies

Posted by scriggle at 7:11 PM | Permalink | Comments | links to this post

Today is my birthday :) Yipppeeeeee!!! So far I have slept late, opened a couple of birthday cards - paper ones & online ones, had a couple of birthday phone calls, emails and even a text message!

I don't have much planned for today, just a lot of nothing which is what I like to do on my birthday. Then later tonight we are going out to eat. Yummmmm. That's all for now, I just wanted to say IT'S MY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!! :)

Labels: birthday, me

Posted by scriggle at 10:36 AM | Permalink | Comments | links to this post

My birthday is tomorrow!!!!! Yay!!!

I wish I could say that this has been a leisurely and pleasant birthday week but that is untrue. Things at work and at home are starting to overwhelm me and this makes me a bit nervous.

Work is crazy, we have a new CEO so everyone is on edge wondering what changes he will make and when they will happen. Plus it is review time and the way reviews are being conducted this year is different than in years past so its sort of like learning how to do them all over again. Not to mention that there's a huge launch of some new stuff on the website next week so getting prepared for that as well as the changing of promotions twice in the next several days which is always pretty involved. I think just about everyone I work with right now feels the same way I do, like we are all running around blindfolded bumping into each other trying to figure out which way to go.

The home situation isn't anything bad, just a little hectic. I'm so beat when I get home from work that I don't have the umph to do what needs to be done. I'm trying to get the taxes done, and need to make some phone calls about that, which as everyone knows is quite stressful. Plus the hubby and I are planning a trip to Germany this fall and neither one of us has a passport at the moment so we've got to get that going. I've had one in the past, its just been expired for a long time but he's never had one before so we had to get his birth certificate and all that jazz. Then there is the figuring out when we will leave and return and where to stay and all that. Which is really exciting but also confusing since I'm not too familiar with places over there. Then there is the fiasco that is the yard. Ugh. It needs some desperate attention but truth be told, although I want a pretty lawn and a nice flower bed ... I despise gardening and yard work. I should just bite the bullet and get a service. Sigh. Another thing to put on the to-do list.

Anyway, I guess I just needed to vent a little. Life's not bad, just a bit kooky at the moment. But that's all OK because tomorrow is my birthday and I've got a 4 day weekend to relax and do nothing but sleep, watch TV, crochet and hang out with my hubby and kitties. Plus my Mom's coming to visit on Saturday so that'll be fun! If I can just remember to breathe between now and then I think it'll all be fine ........

Labels: birthday, me

Posted by scriggle at 6:58 AM | Permalink | Comments | links to this post

Here's my next critter, this is a Raccoon I made for my friend Brandon at work. I think its eyes are a little goofy, but then again .. Brandon is a little goofy so I think its appropriate. Enjoy!

Labels: crochet, friends, hobbies

Posted by scriggle at 10:33 PM | Permalink | Comments | links to this post

As I sit here procrastinating ... something I'm really good at ... these are the things I hear around me:

• The hum of the refridgerator
• Water trickling through the pipes
• An airplane flying over head
• A truck driving down the street
• The whir of the ceiling fan

None of those things are very loud, I had to listen intently to hear them. I love how quiet my house is.

Leave me a comment and tell me what you hear right now ......

Labels: whatnot

Posted by scriggle at 7:40 AM | Permalink | Comments | links to this post

FIVE DAYS TIL MY BIRTHDAY!!! YAY! WOOO HOOOOOO!!!!

For those of you who might have never met me, here's some Debi info: I LOVE MY BIRTHDAY!!! It is my favorite day of the year, and I never let anyone forget it. I celebrate at least all week and I also celebrate my half-birthday when it rolls around. Most people think I'm crazy and that after the age of about 14 or so you shouldn't be so excited about your birthday like I am. But who cares what they think!

Last year on my birthday I had a big party with a bunch of friends at my house because I was turning 35 .... this year, at 36 there will be no big party - which is fine - but a few celebrations are already planned. Tuesday I'm having a lunch with several friends from work, we are going to have BBQ at Railhead which is soooooooooooooooo good. Then Friday, my actual birthday, a few friends are joining us for a fondue dinner at The Melting Pot. I've never been but have been wanting to go for a while and so many people say its fabulous so of course, I know it'll be great.

I got my birthday present today from the hubby since we were both off from work and out and about. I got this: LaCie 250GB mini Hard Drive & Hub from the Apple Store to go with my Mac Mini. I'd been wanting one for a while because as much as I love my Mac Mini, I've pretty much used up all the hard drive it came with just with my iTunes library!! So, now with this new external hard drive I can do more graphics and other hoo-ha on the Mac without space issues, yay!

I'll check back in as the big day approaches :)

Labels: birthday, me

Posted by scriggle at 7:20 PM | Permalink | Comments | links to this post

I've finished my second monkey! Tho this one was made from a different pattern. It's from a pattern that was written by a member of crochetville.org which is a forum about crochet that I read. It's from her "lazy days" series ... so you'll notice this monkey is laying down!

This monkey is for my friend Rachel, I'll post the name as soon as she's named it (and decided if it is a him or a her).

Labels: crochet, friends, hobbies

Posted by scriggle at 9:39 PM | Permalink | Comments | links to this post

We had a few friends over yesterday to play some games. Now, when I say games .. I don't mean Monopoly, Parcheesi or Clue. Nor do I mean Charades or Pictionary. Not that I have anything against any of those games. I don't. I actually like those games. But these games are different. We took it a little easy on them since this was their first introduction to "our" kind of games.

First, we played Blokus - which is a Tetris-y/Puzzle type game. I love this game because it starts out really easy and then gets harder the longer it goes on. Plus I love puzzles so this is right up my alley.

Then we attempted to play some Ricochet Robot, which my husband LOVES, but I am horrible at. It is also sort of a puzzle type game but it hurts my brain to try it. You have these robots and you have to make them ricochet off walls and each other to move a certain color robot to a matching color spot on the board. Ouch.

Next was another one of my favorites, Mamma Mia! This is a card game where the object is to try and "bake" pizzas. Its a fast game, and although the instructions are monstrous to try and interpret, once you know how to play it makes a lot of sense and is fun to play.

After that we played SEVERAL rounds of Apples to Apples, which is a fun big group game! It's completely based on what cards you have in your hand and the whim of the "judge" for that round as to whether or not your card will win. We had lots of fun with this one, but I will say - this game gets really crazy after everyones had a few drinks.

Lastly we finished up with a round of Tutto (or 'Volle Lotte' or 'Fill or Bust'). This game has several names ... makes it a little confusing. It is a dice/card game where you attempt to score all the dice to get bonus points that are shown on the cards. But miss one, and you lose all your points.

All in all we had a great time. Next time we will have to break out some of the big guns of more unusual games :) Thanks to the friends who were able to make it ... and we look forward to many more game days in the future!!!

BTW .. All links to games are pointing to BoardGameGeek.com which is a site ran by a friend of my hubby's. If anyone wants to know more about any kind of board/card/dice/etc. game out there you should check it out!

Labels: friends, games, hobbies

Posted by scriggle at 1:17 PM | Permalink | Comments | links to this post

Another week has gone by. I see people that I haven't seen in a while and they ask me "what's new?" and I have not much to tell them. Which, surprisingly to me, I'm sort of OK with.

For so many years of my life there was major activity, like for a 12 or so year stretch I think I moved an average of once every 12-13 months. I've been in my current house for over 3 years, which is the longest I've lived in one place since I was 18 years old. There are times when I am sad about not moving but mostly I'm glad not to have to think about packing my stuff in boxes and changing my address and phone number again. I got so good at turning utilities on and off that I could make all the phone calls for electricity, water, cable/satellite, phone, etc in under an hour. Which if you've ever tried to do that you know what a feat that is.

However, there are still parts of me that are in the constant relocation mindset. For instance, We've hardly decorated our house at all. There are very few pictures on the walls and no rooms are painted any different colors from when we moved in. I'd really like to decorate more, hopefully one day I'll get around to that.

I need to come up with a good response for when people ask me "what's new?" .... I guess I could say "nothing. literally. that is what's new, which is definitely something new for me."

Labels: whatnot

Posted by scriggle at 8:17 AM | Permalink | Comments | links to this post

I just finished this weekends crochet project ... a monkey for my aunt :) I think she will like it ... this is the aunt who is the mother of the cousin who is getting the orange and yellow frog I made last weekend! So, this week the frog and the monkey will be boxed up and sent to Germany where the 2 of them are living this year. A little something from home to make them smile! Without further ado .....

Labels: crochet, hobbies

Posted by scriggle at 10:13 PM | Permalink | Comments | links to this post

This is my friend Brandon ... he made a "music video" from a song clip I found. The song is from a band called Undercover, I used to play the crap out of their album (yes, on vinyl) titled God Rules when I was about 14. They were (or I guess, are) a punk/ska Christian band. Yeah, I know. You wouldn't think those things would go together. The song is "Jesus Is The Best" .... take it away Brandon .....

Labels: friends, funny, video

Posted by scriggle at 2:18 PM | Permalink | Comments | links to this post