Markers and Mormons

Sooo...I've been reminded that I've been neglecting my bloggie. Oops!

The last few weeks have been interesting. After several requests, I started a thread on Ravelry about Mormonism. I was a tad hesitant, considering that the last several times my religion came up, it became a pulpit at which to scream for weeks about how "Mormons aren't Christian," or to compare the terror of Mormonism to a neighbor who skins cats. Yes, I'm serious. In comparison, the sermon about how "ridiculous" we are seems pretty tame.

Perhaps you can understand my trepidation. But, really, it's turned out pretty well. People have been curious, but not argumentative (much), and though some people still find our beliefs peculiar, those same people seem to respect them for what they are, and appreciate a further explanation. It's even more interesting to me to hear comments like, "I was raised to believe that Mormonism was a cult--it's so obvious to me now that you're not. And that you worship Christ." Well, thank goodness for that! I guess I'd never really realized how many people had been taught that we're a cult. It makes me a little sad, but I'm pleased that some good has come of these discussions. I'd just expected to answer questions about whether we're polygamists, or whether we have horns. (No, and yes. Um, I mean no! Hee.)

In knitting news, I finally finished Martha for Mom! It was a *lovely* finished sweater. I was really nervous to hand it over to my picky, picky mother, but it went over well! She even WEARS it! Woohoo!

Since, I've made a Clapotis, finished off my Felted Clogs, and started a Plain Vanilla Pullover and a Simple Knitted Bodice in the BMFA MilkyWay I bought at Fiber Fest. It's going to be reeeeally pretty!

Oh! And the CESOB girls had a stitch-marker swap! Oh my gosh--I'm a stitch marker makin' fool! It's so quick and fun, and I really enjoyed it. My only failing is that I'm not terribly ingenious when it comes to bead/color combinations. Some of the girls made really beautiful stuff...mine was just sort of pedestrian. But anyway, we each made six sets of markers and swapped, so I got six lovely sets (and a pair of earrings!) from all over the country. So fun! Thanks again, girls!

Schlurping from my Friends

Stolen from my friends iKate and Amander (she's British, you know), I give you The Unread Books Meme! I hate to

Instructions: The top 106 books most often marked as "unread" by LibraryThing’s users. As in, they sit on the shelf to make you look smart or well-rounded. Bold the ones you've read, asterisk the ones you read for school, italicize the ones you started but didn't finish.

1984
A Clockwork Orange
A Confederacy of Dunces
A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius
A People’s History of the United States: 1492-present
A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man* - BUSTED! I took Joyce as my senior seminar in college.
A Short History of Nearly Everything
American Gods
Anansi Boys
Angela’s Ashes: a Memoir - Couldn't. Couldn't do it. Don't do depressing well.
Angels & Demons
Anna Karenina
Atlas Shrugged
Beloved
Brave New World
Catch-22
Cloud Atlas
Collapse: how societies choose to fail or succeed
Crime and Punishment* - Russian literature is not my forte!
Cryptonomicon
David Copperfield
Don Quixote* - Only portions were assigned. But I read it in Spanish!
Dracula
Dubliners
Dune
Eats, Shoots & Leaves
Emma
Foucault’s Pendulum
Frankenstein* - I never got to really start, but this is in my to-read pile.
Freakonomics: a rogue economist explores the hidden side of everything
Gravity’s Rainbow
Great Expectations
Gulliver’s Travels
Guns, Germs, and Steel
In Cold Blood: a true account of a multiple murder and its consequences
Inferno*
Jane Eyre
Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell - Just couldn't get into it. I dunno.
Les Misérables
Life of Pi: a novel
Lolita
Love in the Time of Cholera
Madame Bovary
Mansfield Park
Memoirs of a Geisha
Middlemarch* - Still ashamed about this one. Need to go back and finish.
Middlesex
Moby Dick
Mrs. Dalloway
Neverwhere
Northanger Abbey
Oliver Twist
On the Road
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
One Hundred Years of Solitude
Oryx and Crake
Persuasion
Pride and Prejudice
Quicksilver
Reading Lolita in Tehran: a memoir in books
Sense and Sensibility
Slaughterhouse-five*
Tess of the D’Urbervilles*
The Aeneid
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay
The Blind Assassin
The Brothers Karamazov
The Canterbury Tales*
The Catcher in the Rye
The Confusion
The Count of Monte Cristo
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
The Fountainhead
The God of Small Things
The Grapes of Wrath
The Historian: a novel
The Hobbit
The Hunchback of Notre Dame
The Iliad
The Kite Runner
The Mists of Avalon
The Name of the Rose
The Odyssey* - Seriously? Who's read the WHOLE THING??
The Once and Future King
The Picture of Dorian Gray*
The Poisonwood Bible: a novel
The Prince* - I think we were only assigned excerpts. Machiavelli. Oy.
The Satanic Verses
The Scarlet Letter*
The Silmarillion
The Sound and the Fury
The Tale of Two Cities* - Eh. Dickens isn't my favorite. What can I say?
The Time Traveler’s Wife
The Unbearable Lightness of Being
To the Lighthouse
Treasure Island
Ulysses
Vanity Fair - I put this down when we moved and need to pick it back up!
War and Peace
Watership Down - In fairness, I started this when I was 10.
White Teeth
Wicked: the life and times of the wicked witch of the West (This was bizarre and very different from the musical)
Wuthering Heights*
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: an inquiry into values

Woo! 23 of 106! I feel pretty good about that, though it seems I should have done better, considering the fact that I was an English major. I like that so many of them were read for fun, though. Go, literature! Now I have a list of recommendations for the future. Yay!

Swapping's in the Air!

My favorite group on Ravelry, CESOB, had a little Get-to-Know-You yarn swap, and I got my package from my swapper today! April, aka mamanak, sent all kinds of awesome goodies my way. Hang on for pictures!

First, a gorgeous skein of handpainted Snarky Design sock yarn in Island Ice Age. I'm excited to pick out a pattern for my very first pair of socks!









Next, some really cute sock and yarn-ball stitch markers. So darling! (And with purpel beads!)










And among other goodies, (some not pictured) loads of fruit-flavored Tootsie Rolls (my favorite!), two fantastic-smelling handmade soaps from Blue House Soaps, some fantastic local-to-Illinois potato chips, and a gift certificate to Cheesecake Factory! Woot!

Six Word Memoir

Genuine tagged me with a quick little meme, and it's taken me two whole days to come up with six words to describe myself. But here it is:

"Puts out fires all day long."

Why? Dude. I have twins. Apart from that, in an average day, even though my life seems pretty boring, it seems like I put out millions of little ones. Today was a little more ridiculous. For example, our recurring ceiling leak...recurred. We had to race the clock to rip open the patched hole in the boy's bedroom wall so we could climb inside the "Hole to Narnia" and poke around in the quasi-attic, searching frantically to find the d%mn leak, finally, before it stopped raining.

Of course, it stopped raining just as we got the hole open.

Luckily, it started again several minutes later, and we have success! We finally found the leak! Guess where it is? Up in the actual attic. With actual access. This better be the last time we have to patch that stinking wall.

Oh. Let's see. I'm supposed to tag 5 more people. How 'bout:
Anree, Stine, Essjay, iKate, and Leigha.

How boring am I??

So, so far, I've been mostly political and pedantic on this blog. BLARG! Are all of you (all three?) so sick of me? I am. Srsly. I now solemnly vow to just...post. About whatever.

Today was a good day. Dyeing Easter eggs with the kids and making cupcakes. They were in the shape of flowers, even. It was all about spring at our house! My kids were so into it, and that made it so much fun! They're diggin' on the Easter Bunny idea this year, and I'm so excited to play it up for them.

My boys are such a treat, really. They were so cute about the eggs, wanting to check them every 30 seconds. "Are they done yet? Are they colored? Now check the green one, Mommy. Is it done?" So cute! And they wanted to help me turn on the mixer to make the cupcakes. "Mmm! It smells like cake!" :rofl:

So, the back piece of Martha's almost done! It's been slow going--the size 1.5 needles are killing me, but it's gorgeous. I'll take pictures in the morning and add them here. Well, maybe in the afternoon. I have a brunch in the morning. YAY BRUNCH!


ETA: Guess what I just discovered? This font is ginormous in Google Reader! Sorry, Reader readers. I tried going down a size, and it's impossible to read here at "normal" size. I dunno what to tell ya.

How to spy on what your friends are reading

My good buddy iKate tagged me with this meme, which is fun! And reading everyone else's responses is giving me some good ideas re: what to read next. Always helpful. Thanks, guys. :)

So, here goes!

The Rules:
1. Pick up the nearest book of 123 (or more) pages.
The Confessions of Max Tivoli. Reading this next, after I finish The Appeal, by Grisham. Which is by my bathtub; hence, why it wasn't the closest.

2. Open the book to page 123 and find the 5th sentence.
"I've lived here my whole life."

3. Post the next 3 sentences.
Her eyes widened. "Don't tell me it was South Park...."
"Not South Park," I lied.

4. Tag 5 people.
Ummm...I dunno. You wanna do it? DO IT!

100 Things About Me

I just realized that I didn't have my 100 things posted here. It was a little outdated, so I punched it up a bit, and made it more universal (it was originally posted on KH). Here ya go!

1. My maiden name is Read. Like a book. I was sad to give it up when I got married, but I was happy not to have to spell it for anyone anymore.
2. I live in the town where I was born and raised, though I did leave for college and a few years after. I love it here, and wouldn't want to live anywhere else.
3. Except maybe Cannon Beach, Oregon. It's my favorite place, but I don't know if I could handle the rain.
4. I hate winter. Gray skies make me feel yucky.
5. My favorite season is Fall.
6. I was a National Merit Scholar. I was always the "smart girl" growing up...but I still totally tanked my college scholarship in the first year. Too much playing.
7. I graduated with a degree in English, and worked for several years as an editor and marketing writer.
8. I have a compulsive need to edit everything, and it drives me nuts when things in mass-production (commercials, print ads, etc.) are not grammatically correct!
9. But I'm not judging anyone who isn't as OCD about it as I am. :)
10.I used to do spelling bees, which we always did by teams. We always won.
11.I got a newspaper article written about me because I knew how to spell "sauerkraut." It was a bonus word.
12. I quit working a few months after my twins were born. I love being a SAHM.
13. I stay in some kind of lounge-wear about 4 days out of 7. I'm pretty lazy.
14. I sing. I have a respectable lyric soprano voice, and I've been taking voice lessons for the past couple of years.
15. DH and I have been married since 2001. We met in high school, when I was a senior and he was a junior (Hee hee!).
16. But I'm only 7 mos. older.
17. I sang in the jazz choir, and he was the bass player. We were acquaintances, but never hung out. We ran into each other in college, and he asked me out, but I cancelled the date when I found out a guy I liked was coming into town. I haven't lived that down yet!
18. A year and a half later, we went on our first date. It lasted 20 hours, and we got engaged two weeks later. We were married within 9 weeks of that first date. Yep, you heard me!
19. We moved back to Boise when we found out I was pregnant, just 8 mos. after we got married. We were really glad to be living near family when we found out we were having twins.
20. My boys were only 4 weeks early, weighed 5 pounds each, and never spent any time in the NICU. I'm still grateful for that.
21. My favorite TV show is probably House.
22. I also love 24, Law & Order, The Soup, Best Week Ever, The Office, Scrubs, and Without a Trace. I probably forgot some. I'm a proud TV junkie.
23. I started sewing when I was 12. I worked as a freelance seamstress after high school. I only really enjoy making things for my home.
24. I reupholstered my couch, and then did it again when it turned out I hated the fabric.
25. I love to cook. Which is a bummer. I was much skinnier before I discovered it! I have a hard time loving anything that doesn't involve lots of fattening ingredients.
26. I play the piano. I quit lessons when I was 16, which bummed out my family, because they thought that was where my talents lay. I just didn't enjoy it anymore, but now that I don't have to practice, I really love to play.
27. I took ballet classes for about 10 years, though I haven't danced in about that long.
28. I learned to knit exclusively online. Mostly from the videos on knittinghelp.com. Also, some of my best friends came from the forum there, though I don't visit it anymore.
29. My first knitted project was a lace sweater for my newborn niece. I got bored with sewing and decided I could probably make a sweater. Hey, why not, right?
30. I've become a chronic project-starter. I'm training myself out of that.
31. I can't seem to buy yarn unless I have an actual project in mind for it. Just buying "some" because it's pretty...I can't do it!
32. I tend to never finish things I'm making for myself. And like most other things, I do better if I have a deadline.
33. I have to have the TV on when I knit.
34. I love (good) old movies. TCM is awesome.
35. I speak Spanish, but only when I have to. My DH's family took all of us to Spain, and I couldn't seem to say anything unless I was alone, in which case I spoke fluently! I also understand about 1,000 times more (and process it faster) than I can speak.
36. I get embarrassed if I have to do anything that I don't believe I do well.
37. Actually MAKING a fool of myself almost never embarrasses me, though! I'm not easily offended or embarrassed.
38. Most embarrassing moment: when I ran over myself with my van.
39. I don't smoke or drink. Ravelry is my vice.
40. I have a tattoo just inside my right hip. It's a butterfly, which at the time held some significance for me. Now that I have stretch marks, its wings are lookin' pretty ragged.
41. I used to have my navel pierced, too.
42. I did both on a dare.
43. We live in a house that my brother built in 2007. It's awesome because it's custom, and because it was so much cheaper that way. :)
44. I'm a Diet Pepsi fiend. I used to drink Diet Coke, but I was getting withdrawal headaches, and I found out Pepsi has less caffeine. I don't have as many headaches now.
45. I get nasty migraines, which they used to give me narcotics for! Now I take the anti-seizure med, which prevents most of them, and Imitrex. I worship at the feet of Imitrex' creator. :p
46. I have Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome. I was diagnosed in 1992, so I've seen treatments come a long way. It's been an interesting ride.
47. I'm not big on sweets, but I loooooove salty things!
48. I love Italian and Chinese foods. I can't decide which is my favorite.
49. I don't really like chocolate. Seriously.
50. My blood-type is B+. According to my doc, that probably indicates that I have Native American ancestry.
51. This, of course, could be ridiculous. But one of my grandfathers doesn't know who his father is, so it could be true...
52. I'm 1/8th Danish, but the rest of my known ancestors were mostly English. I can trace some of my genealogy back to Charlemagne, which is cool.
53. If I could visit anywhere on Earth, it would be Florence, Italy. I'd also love to see Ireland. I'd like to go back to Spain, too--Toledo and Seville are my favorite cities there.
54. I read like a fiend. I stay up most nights until around 2 am, just reading away.
55. Luckily, my kids don't wake me until about 9 every morning, so I get plenty of sleep.
56. My favorite actor is Anthony Hopkins. But I love Johnny Depp. And Kiefer.
57. My favorite musician is probably Sting. I also love U2 and Barenaked Ladies and Sarah McLachlan.
58. I hate fluorescent lighting. My whole house has those great Reveal bulbs. Makes the colors in my house look prettier. Yes, I realize I'm going to global-warming hell.
59. My mom's an interior designer, so I grew up in House Beautiful. That was cool, but I never got to have posters and things on my walls--I had to hang them inside my closet!
60. I'm turning into my mother more every day. I'm down with that.
61. I proudly drive a minivan. When it's dead, we'll probably buy another, but I'll hope for a hybrid. I heart good gas mileage.
62. I have one brother, who's 6 years younger than I am. We're really close. DH comes from a family of 6 kids!
63. I will neeever have 6 kids. His family get-togethers can be fun, but all those people are overwhelming for me!
64. I'm shy at first, but I've learned to fake it because people used to think I was stuck-up when I was shy.
65. Once I feel comfortable, though, I won't shut up. It's kind of embarrassing.
66. I'm fiercely loyal.
67. I'm an optimist.
68. I'm insanely independent. It never occurs to me to ask for help until I've tried something myself.
69. Other than my husband, I'm probably closest to my mom. We like to pal around together.
70. I always wished I had a sister.
71. I love to write, but only non-fiction. I never could make up a good story. I'm very opinionated, so essays were always fun for me.
72. My dad's a lawyer, so I grew up knowing how to argue. I still like a good debate.
73. I love to plant things, but I'm really bad at taking care of them.
74. I have really long eyelashes. I can't ever find sunglasses that don't smash them.
75. For several years in college, I went by "Jade."
76. That's because there were 3 Jennifers in my apartment, and I once got asked on a date (via phone) by a guy who'd thought he was talking to one of the other ones! It was pretty humiliating when he came to pick her up and I came to the door.
77. The name Jade came about because I was a Clothing Design major for one semester, and I needed to come up with a name for my clothing line. A friend and I came up with "Jade Bradley". He thought I seemed like a Jade.
78. The name stuck, and I have several friends who met me as Jade and were shocked to learn my name was Jennifer. They were also amazed to learn I wasn't really a redhead.
79. I was engaged to someone other than my husband. I was 19, and it was highly dramatic and short-lived. Interesting.
80. I have to chew my food on both sides of my mouth, symmetrically.
81. I can't go to sleep unless all the doors in the house are closed.
82. I won an award as a jazz soloist. I had to prepare 2 songs, and I arranged one of them myself.
83. When I couldn't figure out how to end it, the perfect idea hit me in the middle of the night. I got up and figured it out on the piano at 4 am, which thrilled my family. The only person I shared the story with at the time is now my husband; it's probably the only real conversation I had with him then.
84. On our first date, DH and I had lunch and dinner, got caught in the rain and then a sandstorm, got kicked out of a park after dark, and danced on the beach in the moonlight. Who wouldn't fall for all of that?
85. I always wanted to be either an archaeologist or a lawyer. Don't think I could do either in my jammies, which is the big perk of my current job.
86. I like to mess with my haircolor, but it's currently my natural dishwater-y light brown.
87. I love having really short hair, but it's not very flattering on me at my current weight. So it's below my shoulders. It spends most of its time in a ponytail.
88. I have cute feet. Really!
89. I have super-hard fingernails, so they're almost always long. They don't break very often.
90. I've never had a cavity.
91. I do have a bunch of crowns and fillings, though. I broke 6 teeth when I hit a pebble while roller blading. I'd just careened down a steep hill, so I was going way too fast. I didn't even know I was falling, so I couldn't catch myself--I split my chin open to the bone. Luckily, some runners saw it happen and helped me to my car. Then I drove myself to the ER (stupid).
92. I've never broken a bone.
93. I've never seen Grey's Anatomy. Or Lost. Don't kill me!
94. I sort-of play single mommy half the week, while DH is working FT at night and going to school. Only two semesters left, and I can have my husband back!
95. I heart my king-sized bed.
96. I'm a Republican. For reals, y'all. (*GASP!*) But I try not to let it make me a freak.
97. I'm a formula-feeder. And my kids haven't died yet. (Hee hee!)
98. Ohh...what else? Have I covered it all? I'm LDS.
99. I'm obviously incredibly wordy.
100. And this list of 100 things probably encompasses about 300. :p