What Scent Should You Light ?

Thanks to Kasumi's SEO for posting this. I thought it sounded fun and took the quiz myself.

You Should Light a Green Tea Candle

You are calm yet energetic. You take good care of yourself, and you have a lot of endurance.

Like most people, you have a hectic life. But unlike others, you try to have as many moments of peace as possible.

You're the type of person who's witty and insightful. You're secure with yourself, and you often have a hilarious take on life.

You are expressive and apt to talk quite a bit. However, you're able to kick back and listen too.

What Scent Candle Should You Light?

Rag Rug (Decision Point)

Congrats to Michigan State on their win yesterday over Louisville. It was heartbreaking, but State just out-hustled, out-rebound, and outscored Louisville. I still have to cheer for the Big East teams in the Final Four, though.

Now I'm at a decision point with my rag rug. I'm not happy with the evenness (is that a word?) of the ends. Although you can't see it well in the picture, the ends look like they're increasing, mainly 'cos I think I tried to compensate for the different widths of fabric I'm using in my turning stitches.

I have 2 options: unravel it and try to make the ends more even, or unravel it and try an oval rug instead. Since my husband likes oval rugs, I think I'll try that. And if I don't like it, I can always unravel it and start over !!

Elite Eight

This afternoon, Louisville plays Michigan State in the Elite Eight, so I'm ready for the big game. I'm wearing a red shirt, and I have my rag rug crochet project all ready. I'll post a picture of it tomorrow since it's getting much bigger and looking very colorful and rectangular.

I actually DID get to see the Sweet Sixteen game with Arizona, and it was such fun. My son's tennis matches got postponed and cancelled due to rain, so we were home just in time for tip-off.

Again, my lucky sisters are in Indianapolis for these games, so I'll get the official report later !!

Twilight DVD

YAY - my daughter got the Twilight DVD as a birthday gift from a friend, so now I'll get to watch it again. We saw it in the movie theater a week after it was released. I had just finished the book so it was kinda fun to see it translated into a movie.

When I saw it the first time, I enjoyed the fact that it seemed kinda unpolished and low budget-y (not sure if that's an adjective, but it describes what I want to say). I'm wondering if it will still affect me the same way when re-watching it. I'm also hoping that the new directors for the sequels keep the same feel, but I don't know how easy that will be.

Sweet Sixteen

Ok, it's another basketball night, so of course I have to write about the game. Louisville will be playing Arizona tonight in the Sweet Sixteen. I hope it's not another nail biter.

I'm not sure how much I'll get to watch since my son's tennis team has double header games tonight starting at 4 pm. I don't know if it would be a good idea for me to drag my crocheting project (rag rug) with me to the games since it is 6 feet long. But I have seen other parents bring knitting with them (usually smaller projects like scarves). Plus I think they have a small tv in the concession area.

Homescan Needs New Panelists

I'd posted earlier about being a Homescan panelist, and if you're interested in joining, they're looking for new panelists. Here's the information:

"We need households just like yours for our panel. We hope you enjoy being a panelist, and perhaps your family and friends would enjoy being panelists, as well! As you know, the Homescan Consumer Panel is the most prestigious of all household panels. Why not get others involved?

For each household you refer that completes the Homescan registration process and is subsequently selected and participates on the panel, you will earn 500 bonus gift points! It's quick and easy. Click here to join."

I'm not in any way affiliated with Homescan or AC Nielsen, other than I would earn 500 points if you join using my referral link

Carol O'Connell

I just finished "Bone by Bone" by Carol O'Connell and I loved it. It's a stand-alone mystery about a brother trying to solve his brother's vanishing 20 years earlier.

Carol O'Connell is a phenomenal writer. She creates characters and plot lines that are unforgettable. I first read her Mallory series and every time a new Mallory book would be published, I would rush to read it.

Rag Rug (In More Progress)

Whew - the Louisville - Siena game yesterday was a doozy !! I was holding my breath most of the time, and I wouldn't look at the tv screen. I just kept my hands busy with single crochets !!

The overall width is about 6 feet (hard to tell from the picture). It's a little more challenging since I'm using fabric strip leftovers that are different weights and widths, so I'm having to adjust my turning chains to make the sides even.

So far, I'm happy with it. My husband wants to know if I'll try an oval rag rug next, so I guess that means he likes it.

Plarn Grocery Tote

I finished the plarn grocery tote Friday night during the Louisville - Morehead State game. I think it turned out rather nicely.

Now I'm working on a rag rug that I had started months ago. I completely unraveled the whole thing since I wasn't satisfied with the gauge of the stitches, and I've started it over.

That will be my project for tonight's game against Siena and hopefully through the whole NCAA tournament.

Rag Rug (In Progress)

I'm getting all my crochet projects ready for the start of the NCAA tournament. Tonight Louisville plays Morehead St, so I'll try to finish the plarn grocery tote (I'll post a picture when it's finished).

Then I'm going to keep working on the rag rug I started earlier. I cut up bunches of fabric strips yesterday. Next I'll have to decide how I'd like to interlay the colors, then I'll glue the ends together to make 1 huge long fabric ball. I prefer gluing the ends instead of tying or sewing. (I'll post a picture of the rag rug so far - it's not too big yet !!)

Mom Makeover

I really got a kick out of this post from
The Flavored Mom so I thought I'd tell you about the Mom Makeover my kids gave me last year.

I ws a pretty traditional jeans and striped crew shirt (tucked in) person. Stacy and Clinton from "What Not to Wear" would probably have a field day with my closet.

So my kids told me to make 3 big changes in my wardrobe:
1 - no tucking in shirts. They told me I had a more flattering silhouette if I left them out
2 - other patterns besides stripes !!
3 - vnecks

And I'm so glad I listened to them.

Bandwidth Hog

My latest research project has been why one of us would get disconnected from the internet occasionally. It was worse when my son tried to use the WiFi on his iTouch.

So we tried an experiment: all of us on our computers, with my son starting his iTouch. We were all surfing joyfully along UNTIL I opened 10 sites (for EntreCard visits and drops). Then BLAM, my son gets disconnected.

So now they're calling me a "Bandwidth Hog" and we've determined that it's probably a bandwidth problem. And since I'm the most prolific surfer, it's more than likely my fault and I have to curtail my surfing during hours when we're all on the computer together. Oh well.....

Delayed Bake

I know this sounds kinda kooky, but I've never cooked with the "Delayed Cook" setting on my oven until today, but I was so happy that it worked !! With after school sports starting to ramp up, our afternoon schedules are going to be erratic, but I like having a hot meal ready when we walk in the door.

So my husband (who's an excellent cook, and maybe I'll tell you more about that later), suggests that I bake chicken on delay setting. So I like playing with gadgets and I like learning new stuff, so I started punching the buttons on my stove and get this whole thing figured out.

Big East Champions

I'm just taking a deep breath and starting to prepare for the roller coaster ride that the NCAA tournament will be. No, I won't turn this into a basketball blog. But it's SO exciting (and since Spring isn't here yet, there isn't a whole lot more to be excited about).

My sister already has tickets to go the regional games, so maybe she'll get us all souvenirs.

And I have to get new crochet projects ready now.... what shall I make next? I'm still finishing the grocery tote, but it's closer (I'll post a picture when it's completed). I'm running out of grocery bags, so I'll probably keep working on the rag rugs I started with scraps from my rag baskets (again, I'll post pictures).

Big East Championship

Ok, tonight's the big night as Louisville plays Syracuse for the Big East championship at 9 pm. I'm all set and have my crochet tote bag (being made from plarn) ready. I might run out of plarn and have to make more during the game, but that's ok since it will still keep me from pacing.

I got a chuckle last night since we were playing tennis and I kept asking the other players and spectators who won the Lousivlle - Nova game, and nobody knew !! They only knew the current WVU - Syracuse score (remember that we live in WV). So I had to wait until we got home.

Big East Tournament

What an incredible day yesterday in the Big East tournament !! I've seen the highlights from the Syracuse - UConn game about 20 times, and it is still unbelievable.

Tonight's games will be extremely interesting - especially to see if Syracuse has any energy left to play WVU.

And of course, I want Louisville to beat 'Nova. I'll only get to watch part of the games since we're playing tennis tonight, but they have a big screen tv so I'll be ok !!

Plarn Adventures

I've finally decided to try crocheting with plarn (plastic grocery bags), so I've cut up the grocery bags and made a huge ball of plarn.

My family was asking me "What are you doing this time?"
And my son astutely said "She needs another project to keep her busy during the Big East tournament and the NCAA tournaments".

So I'm going to make a grocery tote bag and I'll post it here when it's finished.

Charles de Lint

Charles de Lint is one of my favorite authors and has been for many, many years. The first book I read was "Memory and Dream" and after that, I had to go find every book he'd ever written (which wasn't always easy 'cos not all of them were still in print).

So it with mixed emotions that I'm posting about a contest to win a signed copy of his new book "The Mystery of Grace". Of course, I'd like to win it (and I get no extra entries by posting this here !!), but I want to also let everyone else know in case you've never read his books.

I'm not affiliated with the publisher in anyway

Denise Mina

I've just finished Denise Mina's latest novel "Slip of the Knife" which features journalist Paddy Meehan. So far, there is a trilogy of books that shows Paddy's progress through life and career.

It seems like several years were skipped between book 2 (The Dead Hour) and this one, so I am actually re-skimming book 1 (Field of Blood) and 2 to reacquaint myself with some of the characters.

I've read all of Denise Mina's novels and I've enjoyed her raw, gritty books. They're in the same vein as Michael Connelly and Ian Rankin.

Brian Sighting Game

I'm inviting you to join the new Monty Python Brian Sightings pre-game. If you click on the picture and join, I'll get points (I guess). When the Brian Sightings Game begins, I'll receive credit (points) for all the visits from this link (I think).

Anyway, I also found out that Monty Python now has an official YouTube channel which is also how I found the Brian Sighting Game. My son and I watched part of a BBC Monty Python marathon last summer and couldn't stop laughing. But he didn't get to see some of my favorites, so maybe now I'll be able to find them.

Louisville vs. West Virginia

Louisville ends the regular season schedule tonight with a game against West Virginia. I'm a big Louisville fan (since I grew up there and attended college there) but we currently live in West Virginia. The fans around here are very cordial, though, and don't give me much grief.

In fact, while were looking for a house here, Louisville and WV had played football the night before, and WV had won in triple overtime. Although the realtors were happy, they didn't gloat, but it was fun that they could tease me about it.

Our Williamsburg Ghost

I was inspired by plowandpony.blogspot.com so I'll share our ghost story from Williamsburg, VA. My family took a vacation there several years ago and wanted to take the Haunted Williamsburg ghost tour. Since it started so late, we decided to get the ghost story books and make our own tour.

We'd stop at the houses and read the ghost stories related to that house. It was really fun until we got to the Peyton-Randolph house. It was dusk, we were sitting on the porch of the house reading the ghost stories, then the door handle behind us rattled.

We all heard it very loudly and thought that a caretaker was coming out to tell us to get off the porch. With our hearts in our mouths, we ran out to the sidewalk to get away from the house. My parents took pictures with their digital camera, and you can see circular orbs (click the house picture to blow it up to full size).

We took the tour of the house the next morning, and the area containing the door is roped off and not accessible. Hmmm,I guess we'll never know.

#Includes

I've just learned how to use the #Includes command to "include" text and html into a web page. This is fantastic and is going to be SO useful. I've tried it before and couldn't get it to work with my web host, but today it all worked beautifully. I started investigating #Includes again since I need to make some changes to my menu bar and I don't want to cut/paste the changes onto every page.

By experimenting, I also found that it works with "div" tags, too, so I can kinda remotely position pictures and code just with a few key strokes. YAY !!

Scanner

I've mentioned that I'm a Scanner, so I thought I should give you a little more detail about that. The definition was coined by Barbara Sher. I first read the term in her book "Refuse to Choose" which deals with people who have so many interests that it's difficult to choose just one.

I'm the type of Scanner who gets intrigued by something new and decide that I want to learn it. Barbara calls these "projects". Then I dive in and research it and begin to try it. Whether it's crocheting (my latest project), or beading (my project before that), or learning parts of CSS (ongoing project), I stick with it until I can do it to my satisfaction.

I'm not affiliated in any way with Barbara Sher

Linky Firefox Add-on

While I'm thinking about EntreCard and Top Droppers, I really enjoy seeing the Top Droppers lists on other people's blogs. I use the Linky add-on for Firefox to select their whole list and then open all the links in new tabs.

It's such an easy way to help promote other blogs and to visit new and interesting topics. And since I'm a Scanner anyway (see my About Me on the right side panel), I've learned alot from reading the posts in the new sites that I've found.

I'm not in any way affiliated with FireFox

Top Droppers for February

Thank you so much to my top droppers for February. If you want to know more about this, please visit EntreCard

And thank you to sudhersana
Moshi & Kibo's Dog Blog
Dallas Marketing Services
Art Joolree
Confessions of a Psychotic Housewife
Singapore Draws
C'est La Vie
Half Price, Full Pantry
Athletic Alley
DB Comix
Serian Man
Treasure Nature
Eating in New Zealand
Three Different Directions
Kinda Life Of Mine
Personal Finance Management Guide
Search Engine Panel
Lenox Knits
Life With Roxxymetal
Flo, the Photo taking Fool
Pinoy Make Money Online
Human Touch Designs
Superficial Gallery
Whateverebay
Mind Relaxing Ideas