Hahah I THOUGHT it was something to celebrate!

Well I have been working pretty much NON-FUCKING-STOP since I posted last. I did get a day off yesterday on Xmas...not because they were gracious enough to give it to me off....but because I took that shit! These people are out of thier fucking minds. The owner wanted me to bring my KIDS to the shop and put them to bed upstairs (where all of the BREAKABLE wedding stuff is kept mind you) and I told her she had lost her fucking mind. I worked about 75 hours just last week. That means I got about 25 hours of overtime. The owner offered me a position as a manager, but I don't think that I want it...AT ALL! That would require me quitting my other job and I just don't think that I am prepared to do that. I love my other job and I have NO intentions of leaving. She asked me to try it out for 2 weeks to see if she likes me as mgr and if I like being mgr and IF I wanted to take it, then I would put in my 2 week notice then, but after this holiday and and seeing just how fucked up this place is....FUCK THAT! The lady that hired me...has now quit so at the moment, I'm the ONLY designer that they have. It's a lot of bullshit to deal with as it is, but to have to do that AND be a manager too....FUCK NO! She isn't willing to pay me enough to do that.
I did actually try to do a little bit of knitting last night and I started a new project. I still have to make Josh's dad's scarf, but I started Scleaves last night. At the rate that i have been knitting, I don't know WHEN that will ever get done, but at least I've got something going right? :) I need something to keep my sanity right now with all of the fucked up shit that has been going on at home. Well I'm exhausted and I have some pics that I need to post, but don't really have the energy to do that I'll write more later though!
Much Love,
Amber

Something to celebrate :)

Ok so with everything else in my life basically in the shitter lately, I honestly didn't think that I would have ANY good news to post on this blog now, or anytime soon. Well, believe it or not, I was wrong. I know, I know I can't believe it either (that I was wrong, that is :) ) Anyhow, today I went out looking for a job and I turned in my application at Hobby Lobby....which would have been a wonderful job and I would have been happier than hell if I had actually gotten it, but I didn't even have a chance to call the guy that is in charge of the hiring. I also got an application for a waitressing job, which also would have been great. It wouldn't have excited me nearly as much as a job at Hobby Lobby, but any extra money right now is something I would gladly welcome...and then I went to Starbucks...no luck there. We were about to go back home, but I told Josh to go ahead and swing me by a florist that I heard was hiring and just give it a chance. I didn't even get to fill out an application. When I told them that I was an experienced designer they were falling all over themselves trying to talk to me. I sat and waited for about 10 minutes as the phone rang off of the hook and customers came in. I finally was able to talk to the manager and she asked me about my work experience, availability, and all that other good stuff. She asked me what I was making at my other job and then she told me to come in tomorrow at 9am. I asked her if this was for another interview or what and she said "Oh no sweetie, I want you to start first thing in the morning. I can most likely get you what you are making now and if not you'll get that in a month, but I want you to start tomorrow!" She told me that I would be getting so many hours here that I'll be SICK of working there!!! I didn't even have to fill out an application with them. Not only that, but I will still be able to keep my other job, which is excellent since I have NO plans of giving that up anytime soon. Most florists will not hire you if you work for another shop because they are very competitive with prices and things like that, but they have no problem with me working there. I'm glad because it sucks when you have to hide things like that. It just complicates things and the LAST thing that I need are more complications in my life right now. Either way, I'll be starting my new job tomorrow and I really hope that I like it there. It seems like it's pretty laid back there, but who knows really until I actually start. I know that this will be good for me right now because it's going to help take my mind off of all of the craziness and drama that is going on. Josh was so happy for me when I told him that I got the job. This will make it so that he will not have to work much and will be able to get himself taken care of and won't have to work while he's feeling so damn shitty. I don't mind taking on all of the responsibilities of the house right now...as long as everything chills out and Josh is able to get better and go to the doctors thwn he needs to.
Well, other than that I don't really have any news other than that. I'm still working on my new basketweave and I'm definatly gonna have to bust ass on that sicne i"m gonna be working so much now. I'll probably be working overtime so that won't leave much time to do my knitting. I'll let everyone know how my first day of work goes tomorrow. Much love to all of you!
Amber

YAY!!!!!

Ok so I finally finished my basketweave scarf after working on it for forever it seems. That has a lot to do with the fact that i haven't really been up to knitting anything, much less something that i have to carry a pattern around with me anytime that I feel like making any progress on it. Either way, it's done and over with and it turned out more beautiful than I could have imagined. Here is the finished product..

Yeah, I know, I'm a dumbass and I didn't get a finished shot of it before I wrapped up nice and pretty today. It's all good because I will be able to get a picture of it when I give it to Josh's mom. I promise that I will post it then. I started the second scarf in my "series" today. I am doing another basketweave scarf, but it's a different pattern. A much less complex one that is for Josh's dad. I'm not entirely sure that he will even WEAR a scarf, but I think that he'd at least wear it just because I made it for him. We'll see I guess. I don't think that you are able to see the stitch pattern in this pictures, but it's basically K4, P4 for four rows and then P4, K4...very simple. I'm hoping that I'll be able to knock it out pretty quickly. I did get some very pretty yarn yesterday from good 'ol Hobby Lobby and i can't wait to make something purdy with it. I also finally got some larger DPN's that I've been in desperate need of. On that same trip, I also went to the library and got a book called Wrap Style and it's a bunch of patterns for wraps, shawls, ponchos, capes and shrugs. I've been really itching to make a shrug lately but everything in this book seems a little difficult. I might need some direction from another fellow knitter before I can tackle what I'm wanting to try. I do know that I need something to take my mind away from all of the fucked up shit going on in my life...so what better to do that, than a new thing to knit. Might as well right!

Well, I've got some awesome news! I've lost about 18lbs.! I've got a pair of jeans that I've loved for ever, but they have been too tight lately to wear comfortably...as in, I have to lay down to get them buttoned and I have to break a rib to get them zipped. Well, I tried them on a few days ago and I don't have to lay down at all to get them buttoned. They actually fit GOOD! If that wasn't good enough, I went into work this morning, and Gina, my co-worker, any my new favorite person, said to me "GOD Amber, You've lost some weight haven't you!!!" Boy, does SHE know how to make someone's day or what? Haha!! I have totally cut out soda and I've been working out and cutting back on calories BIG time. It's obviously working so I'm not about to quit doing it now. Speaking of calories, dinner is about done so I"m gonna go, but I promise that I will start posting a lot more frequently than I have been. It will probably do me some good anyways. It's a lot better than sitting around the house just going nuts staring at the walls. Much love to everyone!

Amber

Life just keeps taking a dump on me

So, I'm like thisclose to shoving my knitting needles into SOMEONE'S throat. Nobody in particular....but damn it would relieve a lot of stress I'm sure. Well, I'm not EVEN gonna lie...I can definatly think of someone that would make that fantasy so much lovelier, but ya know...that whole prison thing just isn't quite as appealing. So I had my trip all set and planned...tickets were already being bought for me to hop on the bus and go to Kansas. Yes, people actually voluntarily go there. But my best friend that I haven't seen in way too many years is going to be there for Xmas to visit her family and Josh wanted to do something sweet for me and get me out there to see my girl. Well, I've already taken off of work and I'm taking care of all necessary crap that I have to do and then I find out that Greyhound has blackout dates that jack thier prices up to twice as much. My ticket there would only be $45, but instead of buying a roundtrip which would cost $186 I would have to buy two one way tickets and even THAT would cost $141. Well the person that was going to buy them for me wasn't going to have the extra $50 that we weren't expecting to pay...so i was able to come up with the $50 and then they decided that they weren't going to do it afterall. Sooooo, I'm all depressed and then Josh tells me that it still *might* happen possibly. So I have to sit here and stress about this until I find out for sure.....again! With everything else fucked up that is going on in my life right now...I REALLY need this trip and if it doesn't happen I think I'm probably gonna go postal on someone. So I will find out HOPEFULLY tomorrow if it's going to happen.
In the meantime, I've been doing my knitting OF COURSE. My loom knitting is coming along lovely. I actually kinda like it believe it or not. But at least I have one less thing that i HAVE to make now....Well, I'm going to go...hopefully to watch a movie with Josh if he doesn't fall asleep on me like he ALWAYS does. I wanna watch Enchanted that shit looks funny. Well I'll post tomorrow telling the final verdict on my trip and i'll post some pics of my knitting. Much love and sweet dreams to you all!
Ambz

Ok guys, this post won't be the lovely ray of sunshine that my last post was....I promise! I was just in a shitty mood and I was in the mood to vent. So anyhow, I just got home from my inlaws and we ate lunch and decorated the Xmas tree with the boys. It was nice...the food was good...the boys had fun..and after this, I'm taking a nap.

We had pulled pork sandwiches and they were bangin'. I don't think that there is anything that she cooks that isn't just down right delicious. My morning started REALLY early today. I was woken up by Josh moaning and rocking in pain at about 4:30 am. He's really not doing well, and this was the worst that I have ever seen him. He couldn't describe what exactly he was feeling, but he was all fucked up though. I asked him what I could do to make him feel better and he said "just stay up with me" so that's what I did. I layed here and rubbed his back and tried to get him to relax a little. He sits up and I can tell that he's really frustrated and doesn't really know what to do with himself. Then all of a sudden, he jumps up and starts hauling ass to the kitchen while he projectile vomits all over the floor. I guess that is exactly what his body needed because he felt a lot better afterwards, but he was just drained. I feel SOOOO bad for him when he's like that because there isn't anything that either of us can do to make him feel better. He does have another Dr's appointment coming up this Thursday and hopefully this doc will be slightly less DENSE than the last one and will be able to do SOMETHING to alleviate the symptoms that he's having. He's just steadily getting worse and it's tearing me up.

So anyway, enough about that and how about some knitting talk. So I am still working on Josh's moms scarf and I also started one for Josh's dad in a plain basketweave pattern and another scarf that I'm doing on my knitting loom. I bought a set of those Knifty Knitters and I haven't really messed with them since I bought them several weeks ago so I decided it was time to bust 'em out. For those of you that have never used them, you can knit just about every stitch on them that you can on regular needles. I still don't really know much about them, but the stitch I'm using on this one is super easy and goes a lot quicker than regular knitting does. I'm sure using some of the other stitches and other looms might be a little more difficult, buy so far it's going great. :) Yay!

Well, I had really planned on writing more, but since I started a miracle has happened, and BOTH....yes, I said BOTH of the boys have fallen asleep. So I think that I should take advantage of THAT and take a nap myself. I will try and write more later. Have a lovely day!

Amber

Why does life have to be so damn hard?

So I haven't blogged in a few days. I haven't really been in the blogging mood, shit, I really haven't been in the mood to deal with my life PERIOD! Much less go and tell everyone else about it. Other than my brain-numbing headache that has lasted for days on end....everything is just driving me nuts. It seems like I am frustrated by just about everything. Everything except for my knitting that is :) At least I have one thing that will keep me semi-sane. I'm still working on my basketweave scarf and it's about 3 feet long so far. I am almost to the end of my second ball of my yarn and I am still debating on how long I want to make it. I did find out today that I will most likely be going to Kansas to visit my best friend Brittany while she is there visiting her family for Xmas. That should be awesome. I haven't seen her in way too long! Also, since I will have a 15+ hour bus ride each way, I will have PLENTY of time to take care of knitting. That rocks :) I have to pack LOTS of yarn and needles that's for sure. Not only that, but I also wanna teach her some awesome knitting while I'm there so she can become obsessed with it like I am. I couldn't pick a better OR a worse time to go out of town. I really need to get away and clear my head and think about a lot of stuff. I know that it will do me some good.
Some more good news, what is better than free yarn right? This morning, I went over to my inlaws and my M-I-L hands me a bag full of yarn that her friend Karen bought for me. Is that awesome or what? I couldn't be happier. Well, unless it was a bag full of money, but hell, I'll settle for yarn....because what would I spend that bag full of money on anyways? Yarn of course.
Well, I am going to go now...Josh should be home anytime and I've gotta find a movie to watch before he gets here, but I promise that my upcoming posts will be more interesting.
Ambz XOXOX

Wake-Up from hell!

So what do my lovely little angels wake up with this morning at 6:30 AM? Um, about 3 quarters of a gallon of milk spilled all over my kitchen floor. Yeah, that's right....a freaking gallon of milk. Needless to say, I was just a little bit pissed off. So I spanked the culprit and stuck him in the room for about an hour. Couldn't he at least waited til the sun came up to start doing thoughtful things like that? I guess NOT. So, because I was woke up so early (and lovingly) when I went to church with my mother in law...I could NOT keep my eyes open to save my life. Literally! I don't think that God himself could have kept me awake this morning. So, since I'm so darn tired, I'm going to put the boys in bed, take a nap and hopefully I'll be able to stay awake for a while tonight and hang out and watch some movies with my DH. Much love to you all and happy knitting.

I *MIGHT* be done by Christmas

So I've been working on my beautiful Basketweave scarf and it's coming along quite swimmingly. I love watching the pattern come out more and more after each row. Also, since it's only 28 stitches I'm not having any problems being able to keep track of my stitches and flubbing it up like I usually manage to do. You wouldn't think that it would be THAT hard to count stitches, but for SOME reason I always seem to screw SOMETHING up along tbe way.
I also HAD to post a picture of my pretty kitty Church. She thought that napping on my nice clean, warm laundry was too good of an opportunity to pass up. I have never met a more beautiful, sweet kitty. Usually cats are kinda stuck up and can be kinda assholes, but not my girl. She comes to you everytime you call her because she knows shes gonna get some good lovin'. I even gave her some turkey and dressing on Thanksgiving....and she ate it!
I opened up a flickr account. I never got what the big deal was about it and why everyone had one, but hell I decided to go with the flow. http://www.flickr.com/photos/amberquamber/
Any of you guys that have flickr might be able to help me. When I was posting my pics, it said that you have a certain amount of space per month...Well I uploaded 200 pics, and it told me that I have to upgrade my account to be able to post the rest of them....does that mean that I'd be able to post them after a month? Or is it just a 200 picture limit period? I'm a little confused. I do have a couple of other accounts at some other photo hosting sites so it's not a huge deal, but I was just kinda curious. If I can't post more that will be pretty damn lame. Well, I'm going to work on my blog layout and spiff it up a little. Have a wonderful day lovelies!
Much Love
Ambz <3

GAUGE BE DAMNED!!!!

Ok soooooooo, I finished calorimetry FINALLY and I try it on.....and it's too damn wide. The length is perfect, but it's thick as hell. It's just kinda funny looking. The knitting looks great besides the one spot where I miscounted my purls and knits. That didn't mess it up too much but I did tell you that I can't count! I'm gonna take a picture of it ON me tomorrow, but I'm kinda busted looking tonight so I'll spare ya, but I WILL post a pic of the finished product. Screwy or not. You can see how wide it is compared to my hand. I think that I'm going to make another one of them because the pattern is SOOOO easy and I really want one that is a little narrower.

Well, I'm off to start that pretty scarf with the yummy cotton yarn that I got today. I hope that my DH's mom likes it. I'm sure that she will....she would like pretty much anything that I would make her. Have a good night guys...I'm off to watch some TV and do some more knitting....surprise surprise!

Yummy Yarny Goodness!

So I just got back from doing about 10 tons of laundry and guess what is convienantly about 3 doors down from my laundrymat? You guessed it! A YARN SHOP!! So...I went in there and drooled and fawned over all of the yummy stuff that they had there...and then reality hit that I'm kinda broke. Not broke enough to stop me from buying some pretty Peruvian Cotton that I'm going to use to make this for my wonderful mother in law. I also went to the bead shop and got a red horn bead to use as the closure for my calorimetry. I'm almost done with and I'm expecting to BO in about an hour or so. YAY!!! I'll probably post that tomorrow.

I really have no idea WHY my wrist was hurting me so bad last night, but today is a whole new day and it's not bothering me AT ALL *KNOCKING ON WOOD* Well I'm off to finish my headband and then probably take a good nap so I can stay up late and work on my lovely basketweave scarf with my yummy soft cotton yarn! Oh I also got it on sale for 50% off! See, I can still get good yarn for the same price of Wal-mart cheapo stuff! Cuz THAT is how I ROLL!!!

Much Love

Amber <3

Carpal Tunnel? Or just a sign telling me to STOP!!

Ok, So I've been knitting all damn day and I've made some decent progress on Calorimetry. I've had to slow down to a crawl in the last hour because my wrist is flippin' KILLING ME!! I've never had this problem before. I don't know if it's because I went from knitting a few projects on circulars and then switched back to straights or just because of my last month to month and a half of pretty much non stop knitting. All I know is that my wrist is aching! That is really lame because I have tomorrow off and I had some PLANS for my needles tomorrow.

So, I've been doing a lot of knit blog reading in the last few days and I have to admit, I feel like a cheap yarn whore. I know that I'm JUST starting out and all that good stuff and that I can barely knit a 2x2 rib without fucking it up and miscounting stitches, but I have a serious yearning for some expensive, soft, awesomely colorful yarn! I think that I'm going to treat myself to a big ol pile of it really really soon. I need SOMETHING to cheer me up with all of the crazy shit I've been dealing with in the last couple weeks. I wanna make a shrug or something. Something a little more complicated than a damn hat!! Reading all of these hardcore knitbloggers posts have me jealous and itching for some REAL yarn. Don't get me wrong, the $1.99 Wal-mart yarn has been doing the trick for me, but I feel like such a novice using it. I know that I AM a beginner, but I can at least get some good yarn to kick off my stash with. I hope that I get lots of yarn for Xmas..cheapo or not. I just love knitting so I don't really mind what I'm knitting with. Ok I'm going to try knitting again and see if my sore wrist will cooperate or if I'm gonna have to suck it up and put the needles down for a little while *SIGH*

Finally finished my hat!

Ok so I finally finished my hat! This is the second hat that I've knitted this week and my first one for myself. This pattern is so damn easy now that I have it figured out. I had to frog Josh's camo one 3 times for various reasons. Mainly because of my own inexperience. I "THOUGHT" that the decreases were supposed to turn out differently than they did...and I said, that's only because of my own inexperience. i've never really done anything that had decreases or increases so I was expecting something different. Either way, after I got that figured out I wasn't sure if it would be long enough for Josh to want to wear and I didn't see much sense in knitting him a hat if he couldn't wear it. Finally I was able to finish it and I promptly started my own. I have started my calorimetry, but I have to keep starting over because I have some kinda constant problem with counting my CO stitches and keeping track of something as complicated as a K2 P2 ribbed pattern. I'm bound and determined to get it right THIS TIME though....I guess third times a charm they say :) Oh! I even added a little homemade pom pom onto mine! It's that the cutest damn thing you ever did see? Well *I* think it is :)

In a few hours we are going to venture to Josh's parent's house for some delicious food and I can't wait. It would be a lot better if Josh didn't have to work immediatly afterwards, but hell, what are ya gonna do? At least he'll be home in 6 hours rather than 12 like yesterday though.

Last night I was sitting here reading Grrleighknit's blog and I was bombarded with these horrible stomach pains. Not just the run of the mill tummy ache, but I was wracked with pain. I climbed up in the bed and was even in too much pain to knit! When I told Josh that, he KNEW how serious the pain was (haha) So I was laying there rocking back and forth in a ball and I get the I'm-gonna-puke feeling. I've had this kind of stomach ache before and the only thing that makes it feel even close to better is puking. So puke I did! So today, after power puking my innards out my throat is raw and my taste buds are all fucked up. I'm hoping that doesn't interfere with my Thanksgiving pig out.

Check out the centerpiece I made for my table. I had a vase full of dried roses and I decided to put the heads into a brass bowl. I also took some of the dried petals and then layed the heads on top of those. I think it's awfully pretty. I sometimes like dead roses even more than the live ones. I know, I'm weird! Also, floral designers everywhere would probably cringe over that :)

Well, I'm off to see if I can get the first couple of rows done on my calorimetry without having to frog for the fourth time. Have a Happy Thanksgiving! Eat Lots and be Merry!

Another hectic day!

Well, I just got home from work and it was SOOOOOOO flippin busy today. All the rich people in the Springs were wanting thier flower for thier dinner tables for Thanksgiving. I'm glad THAT is over. It's not anywhere close to being as busy as our other holidays but I've never worked during Thanksgiving or Xmas at the florists....only the hardcore ones like Valentine's Day and Mother's Day.

Tomorrow we will be going over to Josh's parent's house for Thanksgiving dinner. I can't wait because Kay is the best cook known to man. The only thing that I'm disappointed about is that Josh has to work tomorrow. I told him that I wanted to wait for him to get off so that we could eat together, but he told me that he'd be pissed off if I didn't eat with his parents and the boys. I just don't want him to have to eat alone.

My pretty little hat is coming right along and I should be done with it in the next hour or so. After that, I'm going to start a quick little project that should give me some instant knitting gratification. It's called calorimetry and it can be found here

I think that this one is awesome since i have several feet of unruly hair and I need something awesome and stylish to keep it under control. After that I'm planning on starting either Jackyl & Hide which is so damned awesome that I can hardly wait until it's done....OR I really wanna try clapotis....I love the pattern, but the name is just SOOO ugly. It makes me think of genital disease. Either way, it is very pretty and I want one of my own :)

Last night I spent all night on my computer waiting for Josh to come home. I did nothing but look at all things knitted. In that process, I came across the most kick ass awesome blog. This chick seems like she could be my long lost sister or something. She is hilarious and I can't wait to read more. If you have never seen her blog...check it out!
Well, I'm off to strangle my boys, I mean put my boys down for a nap. I get off of work to find out that they were HORRIBLE for Josh's parents today. My FREE babysitters....did I mention that they do this for us for FREE!! If these little monsters keep it up I don't know if thier sanity is worth doing us that favor. Even I feel like demanding some sort of pay from SOMEONE for dealing with them on one of thier especially torturous days. Which can sometimes come as often as once a week. Anyhow, I hope that everyone has a great holiday and be safe and eat lots of yummy food.
Playboy Mommy

My very first blog :)

Well I've never gotten into the whole blog thing, but because of some prompting from a friend, I decided to go ahead and start one. I just got off of work and it was SOOOO hectic today. Because of Thanksgiving coming up we've had to do a TON of centerpieces. I love my job and I love making the arrangements, but when I have to do the same kind of arrangements over and over and over again it can get a little tedious. I'm also in the process of knitting a new hat for myself. I had never even attempted to knit a hat until a few days ago and I made one for Josh in this kick ass camo yarn and it turned out so awesome that I promptly started one for myself in some pretty Plum Pudding Yarn. Yeah, because of my lack of money I'm forced to use the $1.99 yarn from Wal-mart. I know that the yarn snobs out there are probably cringing, but I don't really care. Since I'm just learning I don't see any sense in using $15 yarn to make something that will probably have a few dropped stitches and isn't as nice as I would like it. Once I go pro :) I'll probably start investing in the over priced stuff, but until then I'll stick to my cheap-o stuff that works just as good.

Today is Josh's first day at his new job at Independent Records. He actually started the other day, but as of today he's working at a different location so it might as well be his first day....again! He's stuck working nights now so I will be at the house with the boys all night without him. I HATE that, but I think I'm gonna put the boys to bed nice and early...have a glass of wine...put a movie on my computer and finish my hat. Sounds like my kinda night :)

Well I'm going to wrap this up, but hopefully I'll be able to do this fairly often and hell, I might even get a couple of people that are bored enough to read it. Have a lovely night!
Playboy Mommy <3