DST vs. EST

Let me give you a little run down of my morning so far....

Because just about every clock or time piece I have adjusts itself automaticlly I forgot to manual change the time on my alarm clock Saturday night. So of course this morning it went off an hour early and scared the beejesus out of me. And becausee it was 4:45 am when I tried to adjust the time and alarm, in the dark, I did it wrong and then overslept.

After I jumped out of bed and yelled, "We're late!" I went in the bathroom and realized I hadn't changed the time on that clock either. I reached up to take it off the wall and dropped it. It broke into about three pieces.

Thinking that coffee would be the only thing to help, I turned on the Keurig and took off the water cyclinder to fill it. Yep, I then dropped the full water cylinder and caused a small tsunami on the counter top.

I need my hour back.....

I'm In The Guild

guild also gild (gld) n.
1. a. An association of persons of the same trade or pursuits, formed to protect mutual interests and maintain standards. b. A similar association, as of merchants or artisans, in medieval times.

Kelly over at Knitn' Green started a Fiber Guild and was kind enough to send me an invite! I don't usually do well in groups, I am kind of a loner, but I decided to put on my big girl pants and do it!

I am a big fan of pj's and my chair on a Sunday night (or any night) so I wasn't sure I would be all that excited to go out. Molly told me about her experiment to experience more of the "real world" instead of just the world wide web. I thought this was a good chance to test it out.

We had a great time! The guild was cool, lots of ladies with their knitting, crocheting and quilting. A delicious pumpkin latte and I met a few new people, definitely a good decision.

We meet again next month and I am already looking forwrd to it!

The Part Where I Wake Up...

About eight years ago a friend of mine taught me how to knit and a whole new world was opened up to me. I started knitting all the time!  Who knew there was all those yarns and needles and notions out there just waiting to be discovered!

At this same time I had just really gotten into the Internet and blogs. Unbelievably, blogs are kind of on their way out now that facebook and twitter has come on to the scene, but back then I could spend hours reading other knitters blogs and feeling like I was making a friend. My husband used to tease me when I talked about one of my Internet friends , " You mean the ones that aren't real?", he'd say.  But they were real, I knew all about them and what they were doing and what they were making. I really considered them a friend.

I got so in to it that I decided to start a blog. I wrote about my knitting a lot, but then it grew into more about my child, my husband, my family, the loss of my mother and so much more. I did some really good writing on that blog. I won a few small blog awards and I was really proud of what I had done.

I see now that I was naive, that I did not comprehend the scope and distance of the Internet. Sure, I had readers from Finland, Sweden and Ireland, but they were my friends, they left lovely comments about things that I said. They admired my knitting and laughed at my jokes and were kind.

Then one day I had a terrible person with a terrible agenda enter my life and when I realized she could see my life on my blog I completely lost it. I erased the whole thing in a second, years of thoughts, pictures and stories were gone. It was all I could think of to do to protect myself and my family. I wish now I had done it differently and somehow preserved what I had made for myself, but oh well....

Once my eyes were opened to "the other people" on the Internet I checked my flicker account stats and realized 1000's of hits were being made a day on my beautiful little girls pictures, by strangers who had found the pictures by googling things I won't even write here.  All of these led me to be scared of the Internet, of those people, the ones that were not kind.
I went a long time with no presence on the world wide web. I slowly came back to it, but with much more knowledge of protecting myself and the ones I loved. I use all my privacy settings and restrict access to things I didn't before. I joined facebook, but hid myself. I kept my flickr, but no one can see my pictures but me and my family. I didn't restart my blog, all my previous work was gone and I was too afraid to start another. I missed it though, very much. I missed the writing and the comments and the people, the kind ones.

I finally started a blog again a few years ago, just a little post here and there. I go long stretches with nothing to post. I had a hard time writing, deciding what was safe to tell people about. I didn't tell anyone about it and I don't promote my blog to other bloggers, part of me was still afraid. I realized I missed sharing and hearing from people. I want to get those comments and questions, I want to know that someone was touched by a story I wrote about my mother. I want someone to say that they love the scarf I just finished knitting. I missed the connection....

I know those other people are out there still, but I refuse to let them scare me any more.

Friday Night Is Pizza Night

Pizza

P...I...Z...Z...A

PIZZA!!!! (Internet shouting)

If I was stranded on a deserted island all I would need is my knitting and pizza, it sounds quite nice actually.

Pizza is my favorite food, hands down, no question. I like a lot of things, but I can't imagine a life without ever having pizza again.

We have a long history, pizza and I. When I was little it was Sunday nights with homemade pizzas at the grandparents for Mutual of Omaha Wild Kingdom and Walt Disney World.  When I got older every other Thursday when my mom got paid she brought home a Susie's Pizza, which was and still is, the best pizza I have ever eaten. Those night are so special to me now that I am older, because I realize what a big deal it was for her to do that for us. After high school I worked at a pizzeria and learned to make pretty good pie. I was a hit at my apartment, because I usually brought home a mistake pizza or one that didn't get picked up.

After my mom died my dad, sister and I survived on pizza for several months. My dad had gone from his mother's farm table to his wife's table and knew very little about grocery shopping. My sister and I were kids and knew less. So every night I brought home a pizza and wings and we ate it for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Now that I have my own family Friday night is pizza night. Momma works a long day helping the public to get smarter and then comes home tired and cranky. I am ready for my wine, pj's pizza. I usually start thinking about it about 3:30 and the anticipation grows....

...was that the door bell?

Alligator's In The Air

Cause the free wind is blowin' through your hair

and the day surround your daylight there

Seasons cryin' no despair

Alligator lizards in the air

NaBloPoMo

I'm going to try to post everyday this month for national blog posting month.

Even if it's just something dumb and boring....like this.

"Who's too old to trick or treat?"

Not these girls apparently. When I suggested they just walk around and enjoy the evening I was given looks of utter disbelief.

"You mean NOT get any candy?!"

Fourteen is still little, don't let those push up bras fool you....