Fall 2008 Getting To Know You

My thanks to my darling, looooonnnngggg-time friend Nancy, for sending the email to me. I love getting memes like this, because you can always learn something from even your oldest and dearest friends...(not that we're old......no, far from it....but she has known me for 34 years.....)


Welcome to the new 2008 edition of getting to know your friends! Have Fun!

1. What is your occupation? Goddess.
2. What color are your socks right now? I knit lots of them, but don't have on any right now.
3. What are you listening to right now? OJ Simpson Robbery Trial on Court TV.
4. What was the last thing you ate? Salad. Please ask what I really wanted.
5. Can you drive a stick shift? You Betcha!
6. Last person you spoke to on the phone? T Boone Picken's telemarketer for natural gas.
7. Do you like the person who sent this to you? Love her dearly!
8. How old are you today? auuugggghhh 47.
9. What is your favorite sport to watch on TV? FOOTBALL.
10. What is your favorite drink? hahahaha-must I choose? The house drink--vodka and fresca with a twist of orange peel.
11. Have you ever dyed your hair? Oh, please, I just got back 10 minutes ago from my monthly visit with Troy, who knows all my secrets.
12. Favorite Food? You're asking someone with 179 cookbooks THAT question?
13. What is the last movie you watched? Pulp Fiction. Again.
14. Favorite day of the year? Any day I'm boarding the Crystal Serenity or Crystal Symphony.
15. How do you vent anger? Try to be Buddhist...if that doesn't work, punch pillows.
16. What was your favorite toy as a child? A bunch of old pots and pans.
17. What is your favorite season? Spring.
18. Cherries or Blueberries? Cherries.
19. Do you want your friends to email you back? Naturally.
20. Who is the most likely to respond? Debo or Lori G.
21. Who is least likely to respond? Julie or Jan-Olav.
22. Living Arrangements? 2 parents, 2 kids and one dog. But multiple teenagers with other owners are here at any time of the day or night.
23. When was the last time you cried? Last night at a child abuse talk by Marilyn Van Debur.
24. What is on the floor of your closet? The entire lower rack--the pole hardware broke last night.
25. Who is the friend you have had the longest that you are sending this to? Kris, since Nancy sent it to me.
26. What did you do last night? Attend a talk by Marilyn Van Debur.
27. Nails painted or plain? Painted a natural pink.
28. What are you most afraid of? Something happening to my kids.
29. Plain, cheese or spicy hamburgers? SPICY!
30. Favorite dog Breed? Love my Chocolate Lab, but want a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel.
31. Favorite day of the week? Saturday.
32. How many states have you lived in? 9, plus Germany.
33. What makes you happy? My whole crazy extended family being together.

Über Squeeeeeee

(note- for you non-knitters, come back tomorrow or read archives....you just won't understand....)

LOOK WHAT JUST ARRIVED IN THE MAIL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Just look at the label, as if you couldn't tell by the gorgeous, juicy colors....


I made it through the Wollmeise Sock Club lottery!!!

OH MY GAWD!!!!!!!!!! Claudia sent -not one skein- but TWO gorgeous skeins, one translated as "Elderberry" and the other "Boxwood"...AND a set of rosewood DPNs .....AND a fabulous cabled sock pattern...

My first Wollmeise yarn...and it is just as glorious and gorgeous in reality as it appears on screen. I understand why everyone is gaga over it.....

Just remember...coveting is a sin...........................

I'm off to go pet my new yarn from Die Wollmeise!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Boy Runs!

So much for being more diligent about posting. Mea culpa mea maxima culpa. It’s been a rather active week around Maison Cou Rouge, and I’ve felt like Alice in Wonderland, running as hard as I can just to stay in place. And running is harder than it looks-ask Boy.

If you need to persuade Boy to do anything, just appeal to his sense of team. Cross country teams are made up of five runners. At any one time, Brentwood has four healthy runners. So when Girl’s cross country coach smiled hopefully at him and pleaded with him to run, he said yes. All he had to do, she said, was run in one meet before the region meet , and then both region and state meets.

All he had to do.

Now if you’ve read this blog for a while, you know that Boy is an athlete. Loves his football. Loves track and field even more. Excels in the 100, 200, and 400 meter distances. But running sprints resembles running five kilometers about as much as I resemble Madonna.

Pictures will speak for themselves…

5k?? Sure- be happy to..did I mention I played a really tough football game 12 hours ago??

Squish the cute guy when he's injured!

Girl's start-very intense

100 meters to go--it's was painfully humid and hot- Girl was cramping up and couldn't breathe

But she recovered quickly and was able to give her big brother advice..or was that taunting??

Boy asking advice from the varsity's #1 runner

Boy having second thoughts....

Mile one down--this isn't so bad...like a long 800....

WADDA YA MEAN, I HAVE TO RUN ANOTHER LAP??

This is a crazy sport...a really crazy crazy sport

It's harder than it looks........and I now understand the tshirt that says "Cross Country is a mental sport, and we're all insane..."

Well done, all you Brentwood Eagle Runners!!

Post Labor Day Post

Well, Labor Day has passed and I really must be more diligent in blogging. Things have been quite hectic around here, with school starting back up and being the mom of two high-schoolers. and a semi-mom to a 21-year old foreign exchange student (more on Kostya later). I am struggling mightily with procrastination- --that and the looming sense of desperation that only a knitter feels when a baby arrives on time (dammit) and there’s still one side of the baby blanket edging to finish. And the guilt I feel from my brother, Larry, when I don’t blog.

Oh, Larry—I must explain. Up until now, Larry has been Dude. But whilst (oh, I love the English equivalent of “while”) we were cruising around Great Britain, Dude informed me that the nickname “Dude” forced him to recall his rather debaucherous college years. So “Dude” has been renamed, after a family joke, “Larry”. And the high school nephew has inherited his father’s former nickname, Dude. I go to great lengths to please my family.

So I will get back on track in the blogosphere, but for now, here are some more recent photos, for Larry and family…..

Even in London, a Southern Girl can find Paradise...


Well, at least I don't embarass my nephew.



First Day of School--the last first day of school for Boy!!


Run through for the first game of the season...yes, we won.

And finally, a picture that made her father sit down and weep...

They grow up so fast.........

Catchup News and Pics

Well, I know I am remiss in posting- things have taken awhile around Maison Cou Rouge to get back to normal. While doing piles and piles of laundry- my new son arrived!!

Now, pick your jaw up off the ground...no real surprises--it's our new Rotary Exchange Student, Konstantine, who has come to spend a year at Georgia College and State University in Milledgeville. More on K later, but suffice to say that he's German, he plays the piano--very, very well, I might add-- and...well, he's just all around FABULOUS!

We have begun the college application process for Boy. Ayeayeaye...what paperwork. More on THAT later as well.

But to appease, here are just a few of many pics of the family trip to Great Britain...

The teenaged cousins often found things a bit puzzling...

Grumpy Guy and Girl spent an afternoon exploring the sport of falconry-

And we found out Girl has incredibly strong arms...

California cousin, the Sommelier, surprised us all be being able to come with us after all-

Daughter and Daddy danced alot...

And Boy's godfather arranged for us to have a private capsule and champagne on the London Eye...three bottles in 30 minutes!

More mirth and merriment to follow!!!!