Tag: WordPress

WordPress wanted me to upgrade this morning.  And I’m not good at avoiding such “in-your-face” reminder tactics.  So I upgraded.  And then I found out one of the new features is a nifty new theme browser and you know I just HAD to try that out.

And plus, I was kind of needing to change the design of this blog anyhow.  I loved the old one and it worked very well for me.  But I don’t think it worked that well for everyone else.  And it was just plain TIME.

So here ya go!  There will be more fiddling here and there as I see fit.  But I’m looking at a huge yarn backlog (meaning tons of knitting), some blog posts on my other blogs that I’m behind on, several days with visiting family and various and sundry other things that are occupying my attention at hte moment.  So basically… don’t hold your breath.

Do you like it?  I think I do.  Looks a bit brighter and fresher.  It’s nice to clear out hte cobwebs after winter is over, yes?

In other news:  I hate caffeine headaches.  (Wait, that isn’t really news, is it?)

I’m still considering locking things down around here.  What do you all think?  We could become the “Slacker” family (this of coruse assumes that we’re not already the slacker family) and the children could have amusing and appropriate nicknames.  I dunno.  It has it’s charms, right?

We’re not going to church this morning.  Good thing too, since church started a half hour ago.  Kile let me grab another hour of sleep this morning, bless his heart.  Evie just has this thing about waking up at 7:30, rain or shy, hell or high water.  So Kile got to sleep in yesterday and I got to sleep in today.  Works, don’t it?  It felt good too.  Of course, now I have a headache that I dare say is caffeine-related.  I’m having a cup of coffee as we speak so you’d think that’d help.  But it’s not Rockstar and perhaps that’s the problem.  I think it’s time that I admit I have a problem.

I’ve been a knitting fool this weekend (speaking of which, see the handy new project progress bars in my sidebar there?  Su-weet!).  My parents sent me some birthday money so I went out yesterday and got some yarn and another pair of circular needles.  I’m hoping to start a “longies” project for Evie this week.  If you don’t know what “longies” are, no worries.  They’re basically pants that are meant to be used also as a diaper cover.  I’m a little scared to start it, since it’ll involve a couple more complex moves I haven’t tried yet, such as short rows and the kitchener stitch, but I’m sure I’ll be able to figure it out too.  I didn’t spend a fortune on the yarn, since this is my “test” project anyhow. Meanwhile, Kile’s hat has remained untouched for the last several days and Harry’s scarf is getting longer and longer.  I took the “blob” that I started knitting with and turned it into a bag. Right now, I’m making up an “icord” to use as a strap.  I’m so crafty, I kill myself.

Speaking of my birthday (we were, weren’t we?), I had a rather nice time Friday night.  Kile made me some absolutely wonderful lobster ravioli with scampi sauce and ZOMG it was to die for.  I did get a cake and it was marvelous as all cakes virtually are.  Liam loved my cake most of all, I think.  Evie even got a taste of it off my finger and didn’t seem to know what to think of it.  I got presents too!  Slippers, fleecy jammies and a robe.  These are good things to have in a house as frigid as ours, especially since a storm blew through Friday night that has caused the daytime high to top out around 30 degrees.  Good times.

On the whole, it’s been a nice weekend.  I can’t believe Christmas is almost upon us (gulp), but am ready to embrace it.  I don’t think we’re going anywhere today and that’s just fine by me because we are still having to ride around in Kile’s van and the alignment is off or something because it shakes and rattles something fierce and basically makes me want to freak the heck out.  So the less time I have to ride around in that thing, the better.

Okay.  Back to my knitting.  The only thing I have to decide is… start the longies or work on another project?  Decisions, decisions!

(okay, this is the SECOND time I’ve thought I’ve published an entry and I haven’t in as many days.  I completely blame the new WordPress version.)

Here’s some more thoughts.  They’re trying to make a break for it, so I better write them down first.  I guess I didn’t empty my head well enough yesterday.  You think after almost four years of blogging I would know better by now.

  • I updated to WordPress 2.7 this morning.  It was surprisingly painless.  I only had to deactivate one plugin and I did that before I upgraded.  I like the interface MUCH better and I feel like I can customize everything a lot more to my wishes (and demands *cackle*).
  • Of course, now I feel like my blog needs something new and shiny as a result.  After all, now that the “backend” is looking so spiffy, that change needs to be reflected on the front end as well.  However, I still love my design so I’m not sure what this would entail.  A new plugin?  Hmm.  Must think about this one some more.
  • I’ve got about nine inches of red scarf finished so far.  I’m making this one for Harry, on some soft, acrylic yarn that he picked out at the craft store.  I’m doing a rib knit on it (K2P2, for those in the know) and it’s looking great and all but DANG, it’s getting a little boring.  Whenever I get too tired of it, I switch to working on Kile’s cap (in a heathered dark grey acrylic yarn), but his hat is in the ribbed stage as well.  SIGH.
  • This could be why I’m knitting in my sleep these days.
  • I’m also spending a lot of time on the goodmama thread over at Diaper Swappers.  This could also be why I was buying diapers in my sleep last night as well (when I wasn’t knitting, that is).
  • I think I need a life.
  • Mah birfday is tomorrow!  However, I don’t think I’m in any way going to get the kind of attention and adoration Rhi got for her birthday with all the posts that sang her praises.  Whatever.  Attention hog. *wink*
  • I need a shower and with both of the wee ones taking naps right now, I could take one.  But I’ve sorta grown to enjoy taking one at night after I get Evie to bed.  It’s a very relaxing way to finish the day and my hair has enough time to dry before I go to bed myself.
  • Kile did not mail off all our packages yesterday.  He stopped after three because the cost started to scare him.  SIGH.  This is officially going to be His Deal, not mine.  And on that note, why does it cost so much in this day and age (and yes, even with the gas prices which really aren’t so bad right now anyhow) to ship something across country?  It’s goofy!  Overnight, Two-Day, Priority… those I can almost understand.  But First Class and Parcel Post should be a LOT cheaper than they generally end up being.  Makes one wonder why they don’t have a “Strap to the back of a passing burro” option.  I’m thinking that could be a lot more affordable.
  • And while I’m ranting about the Post Office… It happened AGAIN yesterday.  Kile brought home the mail from our box (we have one of those “community” box thingies down around the corner from our house) and in it was a “Sorry we missed you” package delivery slip.  Normally, they give you those when a package is too big to fit in the little locker thingie and you aren’t home when they bring it to your door and it needs a signature.  But no one EVER came to the door.  Our mail man has been getting VERY lazy.  He doesn’t even TRY to come up to the door to see if someone is home (and yes, I’m pretty much ALWAYS home because I’m a total hermit).  He just puts that slip in the mailbox and we have to go down to the post office (a good ways away from here too, down the interstate) to pick it up. I tried last night to go on the website and arrange for a redelivery but they wouldn’t even give me the OPTION to have it redelivered.  I even tried to send them a pointed note saying “STOP IT!  BRING PACKAGES TO MY DOOR!” and that “failed” out.  Grr.  The Post Office is OFFICiALLY On Notice.

Ahem.  There.  I feel much better now.  Hopefully this brain-emptying will stick this time.  I really don’t have a lot of room to spare in there, you know?

So I was tagged for this one by a lovely gal named Susan.  Tagged!  Me!  Doesn’t happen very often.  And I like to try to obey when it does.  So even though I did a big ol’ long meme this morning I’m doing another one this afternoon.  You’re just gonna have to deal with it.

Four places I go over and over:

  1. Whole Foods.  We just cannot stay away.  I think Kile is even more affected by it than I am.  He can’t resist the cheese counter and I am always and forever drooling over the baked goods.
  2. Sam’s Club.  Not only do they have the cheapest lunch in town (hot dog and a soda for $1.50!), but there’s always plenty to look at there.  Not to mention all the free samples.  And the cheap milk.
  3. Walmart.  Yeah, this surprises no one.  But I can’t resist the rock-bottom prices on my grocery items.
  4. Smiths.  It’s the closest store to our house and when we need to pick something up quick, that’s where we go.

Four places I’d rather be right now:

  1. Asleep.  I pretty much always would like to be asleep over anything else.
  2. On a beach somewhere.  Sans children, of course.  I love them but sometimes a break would be nice.
  3. Visiting my dear friend Brit.  She’s a rock.
  4. Nowhere.  I’m pretty much a homebody and being here at home is almost always exactly where I want to be.

Four TV shows I watch:

  1. “How I Met Your Mother”
  2. “Real Time with Bill Maher”
  3. “True Blood”
  4. “Fringe”

Four things I eat for breakfast:

  1. Cereal.  More often than not, I have cereal for breakfast.  Not exciting, but what can ya do?
  2. Bagel with cream cheese.  I love bagels.  MMM!
  3. Biscuits or cinnamon rolls.  This is mostly on weekends.
  4. French toast.  One of my favorite breakfasts of all time.

Four animals I like best:

  1. I’m pretty fond of rat terriers, which is why we have two of them.
  2. I’d love to have a bearded dragon lizard someday.  I’ve always thought they were cool.
  3. Yeah, I’m one of those people who thinks hedgehogs are pretty darn cute these days.
  4. Cats.  Yeah, I guess I still like them, despite the horror that was Tiger.

Four beaches I’ve been to:

  • Capitola Beach in Capitola, CA.
  • New Brighton Beach State Park.  We used to go camping there every summer when I was a kid.
  • Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk.  A must-visit every summer for thrill rides and cute lifeguards.
  • Some nude beach near Santa Cruz.  I didn’t know it was a nude beach beforehand and I was only ten when my brother and his girlfriend took me and my friend there.  Did they know?  I never found out.

Four people I am tagging: You know I’m crappy at tagging people.  So I’m not going to.  Simple as that.

I caught this particular meme over at Sizzle’s joint and you know me.  It’s a weekend, I’m tired and a good, fun, meme is just what the doctor ordered.  I did what any self-respecting blogger would do: I blatantly stole it.  I swear, I even used a lot of her choices.  I’M SO ORIGINAL.  I couldn’t stop there and had to steal some of the choices from the gal she got the idea from in the first place.  So that makes me DOUBLY original.  So here you go (and now you know how screwed up my priorities REALLY are):

  • coffee over tea
  • bed head over flat iron
  • Grey’s Anatomy over ER
  • the movie over the book (generally because I lack time for the book, even though the book is almost ALWAYS better.  However, if the movie is really good I will usually read the book and prefer it.)
  • the Jackson Five over the Keating 5
  • roses over dahlias
  • acoustic guitar over electric guitar
  • the theater over the sports arena
  • sitting in the audience over talking to the crowd (this should come as no surprise to anyone)
  • tacos over burritos (interesting… ten years ago I would have said the opposite!)
  • yoga pants over running shorts (the main problem with the latter being that they’re SHORTS)
  • Twitter over IM
  • painted toenails over painted fingernails (I think painted toenails are a necessity in the summer months, if not all year long)
  • silence to noise
  • sunset over sunrise (one requires me to up early and the other does not)
  • American Idol over American Gladiator
  • getting wet over using an umbrella (umbrellas have never seemed to be worth the trouble)
  • peanut butter over jelly
  • Jon Stewart over John McCain (was there ever a question???)
  • humming over whistling
  • Stacy over Clinton (though I’d probably be just as happy to have both of them raid my wardrobe)
  • breakfast over lunch (breakfast is one of my favorite meals to order in a restaurant)
  • Winter over Autumn (but just barely.  Still, nothing can compete with snow.)
  • Henry Rollins over Henry Fonda
  • pants over dresses (I want to love dresses, but they’re just so darned drafty)
  • following over leading
  • nights over mornings
  • sitting still over dancing (though it really does depend on the song)
  • the beach over the desert (by FAR and it’s not just about the waves)
  • smiling over frowning
  • tanned over freckles (though my skin would beg to differ)
  • brain fart over brain freeze (seriously, the latter can just really hurt, as I’ve recently discovered)
  • eating a pickle over being in a pickle (then again, I’ve enjoyed pickles since I was knee high to a grasshopper)
  • making people laugh over making people cry
  • Christmas over birthdays (everyone gets into Christmas.  No one gives a shit about my birthday.)
  • chaos over organization (I’d like to say the opposite, but have you seen my house??)
  • being the passenger over being behind the wheel (I’ve never really liked driving that much)
  • ketchup over salsa
  • Hillary over Bill (it used to be the other way around, but this particular election left a bad taste in my mouth)
  • too cold over too hot (how is it that I’m not living in Alaska??)
  • manicures over massages
  • essay writing over test taking (I could always bs my way through an essay much easier than straightforward test questions)
  • Woody Allen over Woody Harrelson
  • Jefferson over Washington
  • salt over pepper
  • Llyod Dobbler over Ferris Buller
  • Everyone over Karl Rove (I blame him entirely for the atrocity that is George W. Bush)
  • Rachel Maddow over Everyone (I puffy pink heart love her)
  • too fast over too slow
  • doctor visits over dentist visits (by FAR.  As reluctant as I’ve been to go to the doctor, I haven’t been to the dentist in over TEN YEARS)
  • star gazing over Star! reading
  • house salad over Caesar salad (and, for whatever reason, I really like it with ranch dressing and salt)
  • Nicole over Paris (one is at least TRYING to be a responsible adult)
  • cocktails over beer (I just don’t like the taste of most beer)
  • not trying over making the mistake
  • milkshake over smoothies (I HATE smoothies)
  • Reno over Las Vegas (duh)
  • fruit over chocolate (give me strawberry ice cream ANY DAY)
  • knee high boots over stilettos (or really, pretty much any kind of shoe over any other kind of shoe with a heel)
  • Matt over Ben
  • avoidance over confrontation
  • Italian food over Chinese food
  • too much over too little (unfortunately for me and my messy house)
  • Pride and Prejudice over Sense and Sensibility (but just barely because I liked both) (and I am ashamed to say that I’m talking about the movies here)
  • CBS over NBC (one has “How I Met Your Mother”, one does not)
  • spending over saving (sadly.  Fortunately there isn’t much to spend!)
  • salty over sweet (generally but not always.  but generally)
  • dogs over cats (another one that I wouldn’t have guessed ten years ago)
  • OBAMA over Hillary
  • lipgloss over lipstick
  • J.K Rowling over J.R. R Tokien
  • Jennifer Garner over Jennifer Lopez (EASY)
  • sense of humor over sense of style
  • Jeopardy! over Wheel of Fortune
  • pro-choice over pro-life (but only politically)
  • Rockstar over Coke
  • The Breakfast Club over Dirty Dancing
  • pirates over ninjas
  • Stewart over Colbert
  • french toast over french fries
  • Ariel over Cinderella
  • The Oscars over The Olympics
  • Steve over Joe (any “Blue’s Clues” fan will agree with me)
  • “Armageddon” over “Deep Impact”
  • Sawyer over Jack
  • iPhone over any other cellphone
  • Wii over Xbox 360
  • minivan over SUV

Okay, that’s enough.  I think I could probably keep this going all day long.  So what do you think?  Do you agree with me or do you think I’m messed in the head?  Go ahead.  You can tell me.  I can take it.

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