Below the "No AQ" Line

Breton Bay Sunset - Photo by Johnny 01/28/06

Once asked to join the gang down at the Breton Bay beach cottage a few years ago, our friend, LL, declined the invitation and remarked that it was "south of the no Asian line". It was certainly true Saturday night at the Happy Dragon restaurant where the only Asians were the ones working there. The entire restaurant was full of "Kaw Dangs" (aka Cuello Rojos), except for me, of course. A yummy meal, but I never thought I'd feel out of place at a Chinese restaurant!!!

One of the big topics discussed today on talk radio was Bob Woodruff. Check out Crusher's Journal for some commentary. I didn't know anything about this story when I initially read Chris' blog and I left a generic comment. After further thought, I wondered why I do feel somewhat ambivalent towards Iraq and that region. I've never been particularly interested in government or politics or war. I haven't figured it all out yet, but know that I do feel sad for the families of all the folks killed every day for a cause I don't fully understand. My friends who are more politically minded will probably provide their thoughts and I look forward to it.

I meant to post the following picture a while ago... it's the iPod case I made that's too small for mine. It still needs to be sewn up. I could probably frog it and salvage a good portion of the yarn to make one that will fit.



That's all for now... looking forward to the BIG GAME this Sunday. Not sure where we'll be, but I'll keep you posted!

Lurking in Blogland

Apparently, in the Land 'o Blogs, there's a community for every hobby/interest/fetish you could imagine. For me, I guess that would be the CommunKnitty. Hee hee. Not really that clever... I saw it on a knitting blog. Although I haven't investigated it much, you can join a webring, which joins websites and blogs for people with the same interests. I haven't joined a webring yet. I LURK. There are certain knitting blogs I read daily and I click on other knitbloggers' links to see if other people have anything interesting to say or are working on cool projects. I don't trade knitting tips with other bloggers or go to yarn swaps. Very non-commital. I get to see what's going on in the knitting world without having to really "participate".

Is this wrong? I think this behavior pretty much how I've lived my life. Lurking on the fringes. The observer. Staying anonymous. Except with friends, of course. I could easily go to a party and just listen/observe without interjecting too much and still have a good time. In a group dynamic, you need to have the quiet ones too. Imagine if everyone in the group was loud!

I think I get the quiet trait from my dad, who is generally reserved but when he has something to say, it's usually pretty funny or poignant. In recent years, however, he's come out of his shell and is often the one chatting away amongst his golfing buddies.

Maybe that will happen when I'm old and retired. For now, I'll just lurk.

Dinner w/the P's

One of my all-time favorite Thai dishes is probably one of the most unhealthy in that it involves chicken fat. Emeril says, "Pork fat rules", but chicken fat in rice ROCKS!

John and I had planned on going out to dinner last night (I was thinking pasta) and on my ride home from work, Dad called and said they were having chicken w/chicken fat rice. Surprising how quickly I wasn't feelin' the pasta anymore.

The chicken is poached and quite plain when eaten alone. Being a Thai dish, of course you don't just eat plain 'ole poached chicken with rice! There's SAUCE! I know there's soy, ginger, vinegar, and minced hot peppers in this sauce, but I think there's some kind of fermented soy beans all mashed up in there too. On the side, you also have cilantro and cucumber.

As a kid, it was one of my daily chores to make a pot of rice for dinner. In a rice cooker -- I really don't know how to make regular rice in a pot over the stove. Every couple months, it was chicken fat rice night and I was the master chicken fat rice maker. You put a little salt and garlic powder in the rinsed rice and if you have it, substitute chicken broth (from the poached chicken) for water. And then there's the chicken fat. It sounds really gross, as this is what you'd probably toss out before cooking the chicken, but old-time Thai folk, being Asian and all, decided to save that chicken fat and chop it into little bits and toss it into the rice. The secret to this recipe is to make sure there's a little less water/broth in the pot than normal for firmer rice.

The method in which this dish is eaten is the way I did it as a kid and it feels weird to not eat it this way... My mom always served the rice in small bowls (Chinese style?) with a little plate on the side to hold your chicken and cucumber. If there was leftover broth, a clear soup was made -- usually with winter melon or zucchini as the veggie in it -- and served along side to cleanse the palate. And, most importantly, you eat the chicken and rice with chopsticks. It feels weird to me to eat this dish on a normal sized dinner plate with no rice bowl and a fork and spoon. Even with leftovers, I'll eat it out of a larger bowl with the chicken on top of the rice.

I put sauce and lots of cilantro on the rice and mix it all around. I sauce the chicken on the plate too, but sometimes with just a soy/vinegar concoction instead of the ginger sauce. Then, dig in... and take a bite or two of cucumber as a chaser. YUM!

Blog Updating

Dear "North Texas Burning" and "Splash, Splash... Ahhhh!":
Yes, you know who you are! One cannot live on "Bill's Twisted Thoughts" alone! I may not update as often as I'd like, but I need to know what's going on with the rest of my DE pals too! Hope all is well in your corner of the world.
Warm Regards,
Jallie Beans

So... anyway, I finished a little project on Saturday after dropping a small fortune at a newly discovered yarn store. I made a knitted cover for my iPod and it is fabulous! If only my iPod was 4th generation and not the newer, bigger screened, right-sided headphone jacked Photo iPod. I'll have to modify the pattern. I had a plastic cover sewn in for screen protection, but I didn't like how it turned out, so snip and rip... out it went. I also took it apart to try and make it fit my iPod. I haven't gotten to the re-sewing yet... a little discouraged by the "didn't fit the first time" blues.

In other crafty news, another small fortune was dropped at the scrapbooking store shortly after my visit to the yarn store. I need to find cheaper hobbies! Johnny did find me a heat gun at the local tool shop, on sale for $10. It's bigger than the one they sell at the craft store for $25, but you can't beat that price! Sunday, with heat gun in hand, I did some rubber stamping and made a couple cards. The heat gun was used to melt embossing powder on the cards, giving the stamps a raised texture. Very cool!

Other projects in the works are my mohair sweater (still trying to match the color changes on the first sleeve), a couple scarves, and a baby gift for MB & E's little girl, due this spring. Speaking of baby girls, my cousin Kenny and wife Jewells are expecting another girl in June. She will join daughter, Adeline, who is sooo cute and although I haven't met her (they live in AZ), she seems as fun and goofy as her Aunt Kara.

Holla!

Car Collectors Converge

Yes, it's that time of year again when my hubby parks his toocus on the couch to watch the Barrett-Jackson auto auctions telecast from Scottsdale, AZ. This thing started Tuesday and goes through Sunday. Some of the prelim vehicles auctioned off aren't as cool as the ones you'd see Saturday, but so far, it looks like a couple Corvettes sold for over $100,000. They had a cool Amphicar (that car/boat thing) sell for over $124,000 last night. John and Freddy have talked about going to the auction some day... maybe they'll go to the one in Palm Beach this March. It's smaller than the AZ auction, but I'm sure the cars are just as cool.

Tonight, some co-workers are getting together to stamp (make cards and maybe scrapbooking) . I'm not sure exactly what I'll be making... maybe just playing around with the new stamps I purchased through Mary that came in yesterday. It was almost like Christmas around here with everyone excitedly opening and reviewing their purchases. Hopefully I'll have something cool to post when I'm done.

If you're not doing anything this Saturday, make sure to check out the Speed Channel for the car auctions. I believe it pretty much goes all day long... check your local listings. Your mileage may vary.

ISO "Jimmy" Buffet

YEA! A day off! My company celebrates MLK Jr. day and next month, I also get Presidents' Day off too! Woohoo! No excuse not to blog...

On Christmas day, John and I brought up the "album table", which is a console table on the lower level that holds John's albums... yes, the vinyl. It has two small drawers and a low shelf. We used the table as a sideboard or buffet to serve the yummy honey baked ham, mac & cheese, etc... It was a good fit and made it possible for folks to sit at our small dining table instead of balancing plates on laps. Since Christmas, we've been searching for some type of cabinet to replace the album table, which really needed to go back to it's original purpose. Behold our new acquisition... Jimmy Buffet:


New storage = more junk!!!

We looked around at a bunch of furniture places, but this is actually the first one we really liked (that wasn't outrageously priced). John's gotten a bunch of pieces from the Wood Market (aka 26.bz) and they were also having a "store closing" sale. The store is relocating near the Inner Harbor and was slashing their prices on all their stuff. Once I get all my stuff from William's place, this will come in handy for storing serve ware.

Saturday, John and I had lunch at Paul Key with Ron and Karen. It was yummy! We had shrimp wonton soup, Karen got some duck, I had Beef Chow Foon, Ron had beef and scallops and John had his old standard -- General Tso's. Afterwards, we went to my parents' and John caulked the new basement window and then we headed to Bethesda to look at furniture stores. Had it not been so windy, we probably would have walked around a little more, but we decided to head to Uncle Jed's and claim our seats for the 'Skins game. Sadly, it was another defense-dominant game for the 'Skins, but they did have a great season.

Sunday was spent running more errands. Jackass got some new shoes and an alignment. The new tires aren't as rugged, but I feel a little more confident I won't have a blow-out on my daily 100 mile commute. The previous set of tires lasted 5 years and at least 75,000 miles, so I definitely got my money's worth out of them.

As promised, here's a picture of the first completed sleeve on my new project:


Mohair sweater project

I used these "caution flag" stakes as blocking wires. They were $3 for 25 of 'em. Apparently, real blocking wires cost much more! See how the colors flow? Well, each ball of yarn is different and I haven't found another one the same as this. Sleeve #2 may be pieced together with parts of other balls of yarn to try and match this. I may just knit the second sleeve without trying to match the first one, but I'm not sure if it will look too weird if they don't match (somewhat).

That's all the news I have for today... I'm fixing bbq ribs in the crock pot tonight. It's been a while since I've cooked a real meal for my hubby. Have a good week!

Are Knitters Crazy Cat Ladies Too?

I was reading a couple of my favorite knitting blogs (I should post those links... ) and noticed most of these folks have cats. And they love to post lots of pictures of their cats. Some have more pics of their cats than their knitting projects.

As I've developed increasing allergies to cats (and some dogs), and have pretty much been indifferent to cats as pets all my life, I wonder if it's a requirement to be a cat-owner if one is also a yarnhead. Hmmmm....

This weekend should be a very exciting one in the DC area as the 'Skins head to Seattle. I'm sure you'll be able to catch us watching the game at Uncle Jed's Roadhouse. Sean, William, Freddy and John will be enjoying a round of black 'buca shots if they win. John and I picked 'da Bears in our little group pool, so I hope they do well against Carolina on Sunday.

In other knitting news (I know how much you love to read about my knitting projects, William!!!), I've been looking at patterns for a knit cover for my iPod. I've kept it in the little felty vinyl sleeve that came with the kit, but I need something more stylin'. iPod needs a name too. It's black and chromy. I'll have to work on something that incorporates those elements.

Have an awesome weekend, everyone!

Happy Trails, Fairlane...

The only picture of the whole car I have... (Chevelle blocks the view)

'57 Ford Fairlane is making his way down to a new adventure in Florida today. Fairlane was John's dad's last project car purchased and he did begin some work on it. I'm sure the car would have been beautiful like all his other restorations.

Two guys came up to take a look at Fairlane and bought him last night. They were ready to buy, pending any serious defects in the car or engine, I suppose. They brought a car trailer and considering they were driving up from Florida, I guess it wouldn't make sense to buy the car and have no means to get it home. John said Fairlanes are pretty rare to find as a project car. They're either already restored and running or too far gone. I wish I had my camera on me so I could have taken more pics.

In other news, I started the first sleeve of my mohair sweater and am hoping the end product won't be too itchy. It's knitting up very nicely. I probably would have preferred it to be a more solid color, as this yarn goes from a blue-green to purple-green to yellow-green and repeats that way. I want to duplicate the color changes on the other sleeve. I'm hoping all the balls of yarn are colored similarly so the second sleeve can begin at the same color point and change color the same way.

I'm trying to decide if in the "knitting world", this is too much symmetry. Maybe I shouldn't worry too much about whether the sleeves match or not. I was also thinking I'd like the body of the sweater to match the sleeves too. OK... that would be too much striping. Definitely not trying to have the yellow-green go across the sleeves and my stomach at the same point!

Getting the sleeves similar should be interesting, as mohair is not easy to rip out if mistakes are made. I caught one small error on the first sleeve and decided to rip back and fix it. 12 rows... mohair likes to snag on itself, so ripping isn't a smooth operation. The balance between being careful and being fast is a challenge, but I'm enjoying this project and can't wait to see the end result!

Knit On, Girlfriend!

Woohoo! The birthday sock(s) and X-mas scarf are done!!! This means I can start a new project! I just completed my brother's sock. He got one for his birthday and I hear his other foot is rather cold. I should have made the leg part a little longer, but I was afraid I wouldn't have enough yarn. One skein per sock. I read about a sock pattern book on a blog over the summer and bought the book. It allows you to customize the socks, as it goes by various measurements instead of a set pattern. In other words, I had to figure it all out for myself. Very scientific! Here's the second half of my brother's birthday present:


They'll go great with his crocs!

I also completed Diane's scarf earlier in the week. Here's a shot of it on X-mas day. It's knit with a drop stitch criss cross border on both ends and a [k1, yo, k2tog] lacy pattern. I just need to block it (wet it and pin it to the right proportions).


Diane's scarf made from Moda Dea Dream yarn... so soft!

The end of the week is quickly approaching. I love these short weeks! I have another Monday off on the 16th (MLK Day). WNTL? That's "What's not to like?" per Freddy-speak. And President's Day next month.

Just wanted to share my knitting joy with you. Short blog, I know. My next project is a mohair sweater from Family Circle Easy Knitting magazine. It will be made with this yarn in color 4118. Pretty, isn't it? It's the one John picked out last weekend.

Hope everyone is having a fantastic 2006 so far! More news on the mohair sweater later...

Happy 2006

Another lovely weekend celebrating with friends. I had to work on Friday and it seemed as if I'd be on the go all weekend. After work, I had to rush home to change and then go out to pick up some pork skewers for Saturday's party. We headed to Austin & Linda's New Year's Eve Eve (and housewarming) party where William, Mike, John and I actually branched out of our normal little group to mingle with some new people. Weird, huh? Austin & LL's house is out there in lovely Potomac and we're so happy they've found one another and their little haven.

Saturday was very busy from the moment we got up. We headed out to get some last minute party items, had lunch at John's favorite chicken sandwich place (Chick-Fil-A) and then off to Leonardtown. Once there, we unloaded the car, turned on the heat and hot water, dropped a load of sheets in the washer for our guests and headed out to my favorite southern MD yarn store, Crazy for Ewe.

In early November, I bought some lovely Peruvian Alpaca yarn, but didn't buy the correct colorway. I tried to exchange it Thanksgiving weekend, but I didn't know they were closed on Sundays. Luckily, we were down there this weekend, as I only had a few more days left before the 60 day exchange policy expired. I also ended up buying some really pretty green mohair yarn. John picked the color. I was eyeballing the red-orange blend, but he picked one that matches our couch. LOL.

I quickly left the store before doing any more damage. Kara N's X-mas gift certificate helped with the purchase ( Thanks Kara!) but I certainly could have spent a lot more $$$ in the shop. It was off to the grocery store for me and to the hardware store for John to fill the propane tank for the grill.

We had a very low key New Year's Eve party that included Mike, Sean & Val, Joe B, Joey L & Michelle, William and Freddy. Nate and Linda had other plans for the weekend and we're sad they couldn't make it. Joe B brought his dog, Sam, Freddy brought Molly and and Joey L brought Mac down. Unfortunately, Molly didn't take to young cutie, Mackie, and tried to bite his face off. We're trying to figure out why she couldn't bring herself to love a sweet dog like Mac, but she did get on with long-time pal, Sammy.

We learned that Joey and Michelle finally made it official and got engaged. William had been circulating this rumor for months, but it finally happened. Congrats, Joe and Michelle! They're planning a September 2006 wedding.


Newly engaged Joey and Michelle

So, the festivities at the beach cottage included lots of football watching and charades. Oh... and Freddy, Val and William played "Hide and Seek". We must have eaten a lot throughout the day, as the couch collapsed and Johnny had to fix it. My husband is a genius when it comes to power tools!


Johnny fixes the couch

New Year's came pretty quickly... and I was ready. It was a very long day of party prep and fun.


Best buds Freddy and Mike sing "Auld Lang Syne"


Val and Sean congratulate Mike on the NY Giants' win...

It was a really wonderful New Year's celebration... my first New Year's as a married chick. Who'd a thunk it? So much happened in 2005... here are some of the major events:

1. I saw the safe return of my family (first my bro and his family, then my parents, then my aunts) from Thailand
2. We had the tragic losses of John's dad and Diane's mom in the spring
3. I lost my job at ATS in May and saw my friends lose their jobs at CTM later in the summer
4. We traveled to Dallas for Heidi's birthday, where I also got to see DE buddy, Chris
5. John and I got engaged Memorial Day weekend and were married a month later
6. I found a new job at DCVS working with Kara, Denis, Christine and Khayyam (former ATS colleagues)
7. A big party/picnic thrown by the GO7 to celebrate our marriage
8. We had a Thai Wedding (blessing) ceremony (our 4th celebration?)
9. We traveled to Las Vegas and enjoyed a short but fun vacation with friends
10. We celebrated Thanksgiving three times (with Jim's family, with the B clan and with friends at the beach cottage)
11. John and I hosted Christmas Day with our families and friends

When John and I returned from Leonardtown yesterday evening, we went to see "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire". It was packed full of action! I hadn't re-read the book before seeing the movie and didn't remember the storyline (except for the Wizarding Tournament). I may have to read the book again to see how the movie differs, as John didn't remember being introduced to Cedric Diggory so early in the movie

Today, was a laundry and lazing around the house day. I finally completed Diane's Christmas gift (a blue scarf) and it's ready for blocking. I'm working on Jim's other sock, which was his birthday gift. I promised John I wouldn't start a new project (with the yarn he picked out) until the scarf and sock were completed. And then there's the three other scarves on needles and a "sock" for my iPod. No rush on those, as I don't have any intended recipients for the scarves.

Hope everyone had a wonderful (and safe!!!) New Year's and I leave you with this photo of Sean pulling an infamous Freddy move (get the kids out of the room first!). Poor Val didn't know what happened until after this was snapped...

... and so ends 2005!!!