A Monday

Finn has the oddest habit of grabbing shoes when someone comes in the house.  Not when someone is leaving, and needs to put shoes on, but when they're coming in.

When you adopt a rescued pet, you wonder (or at least I do) what kind of life they had before.  Finn was definitely trained to "stand up" and have his leash put on.  I wonder if this shoe thing was part of his training, too.

Sort of a quiet weekend.  Hannah worked both days.  I got a good amount of knitting done.  Briton  came over last night to watch "The Walking Dead."  Obligatory Daryl photo now:

I spent a whole lot of time looking up and printing out patterns.  I've got a sock and a scarf on the needles right now: the scarf courtesy of Roxanne.  A while back, she sent me two skeins of Chunky Mochi (color 817), and one of the patterns I came across was a scarf pattern calling for --- you guessed it --- two skeins of Chunky Mochi.

Got a follow-up appointment with the acupuncturist on Wednesday.  I'm anxious to hear her thoughts on the three-day-long headache I had after our first session.

March used to be a fairly busy month for me, events-wise.  My wedding anniversary is/was March 10th.  Mama's birthday is/was March 24th.  Dale's is/was March 31st.  Now, it's down to my best friends' birthdays.  Shari celebrates hers on March 1st, though she was actually born February 29th.  Tomorrow is Lisa's.  Hard to believe we're all fifty-flippin'-three years old.

Insert Needle A Into Body K

Going to an acupuncturist in the morning.  (Why isn't that spelled "accupuncture"?  Seems more accurate.)  Decided to try some other possible remedies for my anxiety/stress/depression and my headaches.  I've no fear of needles, so that isn't a problem.  I do wonder, though, what the feeling will be like as the energy begins to move around.  There's a whole lot of bad stuff stored up in this body, and I just wonder what it's going to feel like when someone tries to take it out.

I just have to do something.  Spinning in place has gotten old.  And Briton is convinced I'm suicidal again.  All I want to do is stay in bed and sleep, which has always been, as I'm sure I've said dozens of times here already, my Worrisome Sign.

So, we'll give that a whirl tomorrow.  'Til then, Rifftrax and Noro silk:

The Date

Yes, yesterday was Thanksgiving.  We were invited to dinner with dear friends, and had excellent food and unsurpassed company.

At one point, someone mentioned the date.  November 22nd.  And we launched into a discussion about how ours (the hosts' and mine) is the last generation that will have that twist-in-the-gut feeling whenever we see or hear that date.  It has always been a date that made me stop and remember the messages I got about that day growing up, and wondering (once I was old enough) what the world might be if that had simply passed as another day.

Every year that I taught, if the 22nd were a class day, I would ask my students if they knew why it was an important date.  The more years I taught, the fewer hands would go up, and the more quizzical the looks I got.  It would make me sad --- how could they not know?  But do I know, was I told about things that happened 25 - 30 years before I was born?  Not necessarily.  Still, I grew up in a very Kennedy-centric home, and that date. . .  That date. . .

Age

Ever wonder how old I am?  Really, now --- have you ever sat down and 

just pondered?

Well, a big box of family pictures I found at my parents' might help you.

For one birthday, I received these two albums.  And my hair was decorated with a thick length of white  ropey-like-woolish-stuff.

(The red one says "The Partridge Family Album."  Geez.  I gotta lay bread crumbs out for you people.)

For Christmas one year, one glasses-wearing, POW-bracelet-sporting, hair-parted-in-the-middle-no-more-yarny-tiebacks, quilted-satin-psychadelic-robe Christmas, I got this:

Do your math.

And the Winners Are:

For the Inaugural Knitters' Chick contest:

Dame Maggie Smith.

Never in doubt, really --- at least not to me.  From the first round, people were loving her.  And who can blame them? Lorette nominated Dame Maggie, and will be receiving the Knitters' Chick Grand Prize. Bridget nominated runner-up Meryl Streep, and will be receiving the Runner-Up Prize.

If you are interested, the final vote count was 69% for Smith, 31% for Streep.

And the 2012 Knitters' Hunk, coming from way behind earlier in the day is

Liam Neeson.

I had honestly thought Benedict Cumberbatch was going to win --- his margins of victory were always so big.  But the Liam Lovers among you came through, most of all Camille, who has won the Grand Prize.*  The runner-up package goes to, would you believe it, Lorette! She sure knows how to pick 'em!  Final margin: Neeson 55%. Cumberbatch 45%.

So, the reigns of Maggie and Liam begin, and we'll all meet again here next year to start all over!  Thank you SO, SO much everybody!


*Edited to add: Briana also nominated Liam, but sloppy record-keeping on my part didn't give her credit.  That being the case, I'm going to forego my usual tie-breaker, and send her a Grand Prize package, too.  Sorry, Briana!!

Elect!

Edited to add: The results of these contests have been removed on purpose.  In case anyone wasn't keeping up with these races today, the Finalists will be a surprise on Monday!  Have a great weekend!

Alright, folks.  Gut check time.  Down to the last four contestants in both Knitters' Chick and Knitters' Hunk.  Today's winners will vie for the titles come Monday.  And, the winners of the nominators' prizes will be announced!  Vote your heart and your knitterly intuition. . .

Pair Ninety-One

Pair Ninety-Two

Pair Ninety-Three

Pair Ninety-Four

Choose!

With these selections, the first Knitters' Chick will have reached the Quarterfinals!  Thank you all so much for supporting this idea!

We had a tie yesterday, which we will try to break in a couple of days: Jeremy Irons vs. Tom Selleck.  Clear winners were Jeff Daniels, Jimmy Fallon and Liam Neeson.  Here are your choices du jour:

Pair Sixty-Five

Pair Sixty-Six

Pair Sixty-Seven

Pair Sixty-Eight

Complete!

Well, after today, the first round will be history.  Only one more person (sorry, M.U.) has been eliminated from the nominators.  Who'll get the prize packages, and who'll join Anne Hathaway, James McAvoy and Meryl Streep in Round Two?

Pair Forty-Two

Pair Forty-Three

Pair Forty-Four

Pair Forty-Five

Hang In!

Closing in on closing out the first round!  Winners from yesterday:  TV's Craig Ferguson, Rashida Jones, Jon Stewart and Emma Watson.  (In the spirit of transparency, 2 of those 4 were my nominees.)

Contestants for today

Pair Thirty-Nine

Pair Forty

Move Along!

Yesterday's Winners: Sean Bean, Samantha Bee (by one vote), and the Fillionettes turned out to move Nathan on to Round Two!

Today's Contestants:

Pair Twenty-Two

Pair Twenty-Three

Pair Twenty-Four

Pair Twenty-Five

Go On!

Starting our four-a-day regimen today.  Hope you took your vitamins!

Pair Sixteen

Pair Seventeen

Pair Eighteen

Pair Nineteen

And this has nothing to do with KH or KC, but, Happy Birthday, Misha Collins!