Way out in the Middle of Nowhere

6: Trans-Siberian Orchestra Tix Won! Vicki McKenna runs a talk show on 1130 Am out of both Milwaukee and Madison. We are regulars listeners as well as have her on FaceBook. One day she ran a FB contest: whomever could show her a large, ugly mass of Box Elder bugs won TSO tix. I sent over a picture of our mass of Japanese Ladybugs. Yeah, I was never good on details. Well, she was so horrified by my picture she gave the tickets to us anyways! So off to the Kohl Center we went: A visually stunning show, great seats, we had a great time. 5: Lunches and Open Knitting On Thursdays Both of which I miss. When Alex was going to the International Academy, I'd go into Janesville early on Thursday and take him to lunch. We'd end up at places like Subway or KFC, and talk for an hour before going to knit with the ladies. Open Knitting at the Dragonfly is a blast! Whomever would drop by would stop and knit, critique new knitting magazines, show off our stuff, and use some good ol' pe

I'm going to remember 2010 by the good things that happen. Be ready for some funky memories: 10: Gall bladder surgery. Yep, that's a good thing. This stupid gall bladder has been invading my nighttime peace for about 3 years now. It's time that Fred and George the gall stones get a new living quarters of a plastic jar. 9: Firefly and Zoe. Two Shawls that I have designed all by myself. A learning experience to say the least! The easiest part is knitting the buggers, charting however..... 8: After a few years of messing with an old well pump, pressure tank and water heater, I THINK we're done now. Everything has been replaced. Next spring we'll have to do some landscaping where they dug the 4 foot trench but hey....I wanted to plant some new flowers around here anyways. 7: Alex is 18!!!!! My dear son has made it to be an adult! There's minimal scars, no juvenile record, no grandchildren, no rehab bills. We've made it!

So I picked up a job doing some data entry/mail sorting for a few months; mainly to pay off the debts on that junker of a car of mine. If possible, I'll save up enough for another decent-running yet used car. The bag selling enterprise is still running, albeit with less inventory. I can still do some sewing after work and on weekends, so I will be doing more fabric buying online. Which is good actually, since I get the better designer fabrics that way. Christmas is over, and I'm glad of that. The crappy Wisconsin winters make driving a stressful experience and for some reason, I do not do well physically at my In-Law's. I always wake up feeling as though I've been crumpled like a piece of paper. My sinuses were screaming and I could not deal with the lights at church. I ended up looking downward at the Nativity Set during the service. Our gift giving between Dave and I involved exchanging top-shelf liquor: Bourbon for Godiva Chocolate Vodka. I think it was a great

The other day, I was posting on some forum or another about how things were different 'Out here in the black.' which is a term from Firefly. It's amusing how idioms from favorite shows sneak into your every day language. I've been watching NCIS for years, and now things that are just not-right have become, 'hinky'. But out here in the black means something that is just more than being in the middle of nowhere. Out here in the black...20 miles from the nearest moderately large city...we make do for ourselves when things go hinky. Like when your well pump goes dead and you have no water. Dave's been teasing me about my obsession with putting gallons of water on the back porch/laundry room. It's not really a porch per se...more like a mud room. I stash gallons of water back there just in case and last weekend we used all 10 of them up plus refills. But out here in the black, we learn to deal with minor crisis with a calm stubborness. We will not let it g