10 on Tuesday, um, I mean Wednesday

Here are my top 10 movies I watch over and over, especially while knitting.

In no particular order:

1. Singing in the Rain

2. Minority Report

3. The Santa Clause

4. Groundhog Day

5. Under the Tuscan Sun

6. Little Shop of Horrors

7. High Society

8. West Side Story

9. Chicago

10.  Big Fish

Um...half are musicals. What can I say...love em!  I can sing and knit at the same time too.

Washington DC

On Thursday we took the Metro into Washington DC and did some exploring!

 Mike and Veronica by one of the many Smithsonian buildings.

 Air and Space Museum.

 No explanation necessary...but, come on, you know you were wondering about this!

 Hogwarts Express?  No just a train in the Transportation section.

 Found something knitting related!!  A swift made of bone and ivory.

 On our walk by the reflecting pool to the Lincoln Memorial.

 Scaffolding on the Washington Monument.  Artisans are repairing cracks from an earthquake they had back in 2011.  You can even see the Capitol Building in the background.

 Mr. Lincoln

 View from Mr. Lincoln's chair...not too bad!

Really bad picture...but this was a duck family enjoying the reflecting pool.

Maryland Sheep & Wool

 Just a portion of one booth at the festival.  The yarn was wonderful but the sheep stole the show!

 This guy was almost falling asleep because of all the petting he was getting.  

 Sheep,

 sheep,

 and more...

 SHEEP!!

 And an alpaca or two.

 Sea of cars...all driven by happy knitter/fiber folk!

Here's my haul:  three skeins of sock yarn...the lighter color is Sea glass and has a sparkly thread in it.  Lace stitch markers and blue sheep project bag. The big plastic bag is a kit for a lace shawl with 100% tencel yarn...complete with pattern, beads and crochet hook for placing the beads.  

My kids finally figured how (and set it up so I could actually do it next time) to transfer my iphone photos to the computer.  Yeah!!  Now I really need to update my "stash" and project photos on Ravelry.  

TMI?

I just returned from my first "real" dermatology appointment.  My last experience and attempt at having a "skin check" was a disaster.  The PA came at me with the nitro-in-a-can and attacked me!  Jeez!  I just wanted her to look at me.  Anyway, today went much better...sort of.

Very nice doctor, she checked me all over and concluded that a mole on my nose needed a chunk of it removed for further examination.  Probably skin cancer like my dad has...the non-deadly variety of skin cancer.  A spot on my arm needed some nitro and that was about it.  Till I spoke up and mentioned a giant mole I have on my hip, right where my waist line of my pants hit. She said, "Do you want it removed?"  I hesitated, "Um, ok.  Yeah." She says, in a way that only doctors can say, "No biggie, really, no big deal."

She leaves to get the nurse to "prep" the room (God, I hate that phrase-ology!).  I'm nervous, cuz that's just how I roll.  In walks the nurse, who, by the way, looks young enough to be my daughter, starts prepping the little metal tray with containers with liquid (for cut off portions of yours truly, no doubt), cotton, and yup, a syringe.  Now, I'm not too squeamish about needles, having giving birth three times, but it's been a while, you know?

So, snip there, slice here and freeze action...I'm all done. Worse part is numbing shot in the nose...ouch! Now I look even more like my dad...complete with a band-aid on my nose and more chunk-removals in my future. Oh goodie.

The good news is that pesky mole on my hip is gone and won't be a constant irritation.  OH!  The best part is I learned that I'm very mature and wise.  Here's how I found out:

Me:  What about this brown mole, it's darker than the others.
Doc:  No problem, it's a "maturity and wisdom" mole.
Me:  These spots on my arms and hands?
Doc: Maturity and wisdom.
Me:  This crusty spot?
Doc:  Maturity and wisdom.

No need to go on, is there? TMI?  Probably.  Sorry.

Sharing a Poem

I saw this poem posted on another blog I follow and thought I'd share it too.  

Ode to My Socks

Mara Mori brought me
a pair of socks
which she knitted herself
with her sheepherder's hands,
two socks as soft as rabbits.
I slipped my feet into them
as if they were two cases
knitted with threads of twilight and goatskin,
Violent socks,
my feet were two fish made of wool,
two long sharks
sea blue, shot through
by one golden thread,
two immense blackbirds,
two cannons,
my feet were honored in this way
by these heavenly socks.
They were so handsome for the first time
my feet seemed to me unacceptable
like two decrepit firemen,
firemen unworthy of that woven fire,
of those glowing socks.

Nevertheless, I resisted the sharp temptation
to save them somewhere as schoolboys
keep fireflies,
as learned men collect
sacred texts,
I resisted the mad impulse to put them
in a golden cage and each day give them
birdseed and pieces of pink melon.
Like explorers in the jungle
who hand over the very rare green deer
to the spit and eat it with remorse,
I stretched out my feet and pulled on
the magnificent socks and then my shoes.

The moral of my ode is this:
beauty is twice beauty
and what is good is doubly good
when it is a matter of two socks
made of wool in winter. 

Pablo Neruda

Ten on Tuesday

Ten things I've learned or re-learned recently:

1.  The tax code is 100 years old.  The initial code was one page...today's is, what...something like 73,000 pages.

2.  No matter how many times I tell Gracie to "go lay down", she stays frozen and stares at me.

3.  My dog REALLY loves me.

4.  Getting your hands dirty while digging in the garden is fun and rewarding...even if you have to spend a few minutes scrubbing dirt from under your nails.  Digging in the garden with your daughter is even better.

5.  At some point I really should stop casting on projects and finish something.

6.  The "double-D" cutting edge on my CutCo knife cuts through tomatoes and fingers quite easily.

7.  I shouldn't cut my finger were it interferes with my knitting.  But I shall not be defeated by a band-aided finger when it comes to my knitting!

8.  Watching Spring come out, even after a somewhat mild winter, is wonderful.

9.  When the "Special News Report" comes up on the TV now...I just brace for the news.

10.  I love Mr. Rogers...

Come On SNOW!!

 Winter Reflection

Entangled Vines Cardigan

The color of my new sweater almost matches the reflected sky in the photo above.

We're supposed to get a bunch of snow tomorrow and Thursday.  Let's all keep our collective fingers crossed for our first "snow day"!!