Did I Mention...

That I'm getting my first tattoo on August 8th?



I just had to add the gangsta tattoo artist cuz I'm a Ruca and all! j/k!

Yesterday we took all the dogs and (the kid in the wagon) for a walk. We saw two pits chained up at different houses going ape shit and Alabama didn't even bark or care. In fact, I've never heard her bark. Ever. Her and Ruby walked with me side-by-side the whole way, which was so cool, since Ruby is the bitchy princess that rules the roost. Now Bama's laying next to me as I type. She's picked me as her owner. Or her whoever. Rick is jealous.

And I started the back to my Scot sweater last night while watching The Closer on DVR. That show is awesome.

A Sweet Home For Alabama

oh the tackiness of that title make me cringe!





I really feel blessed with the way things have gone since Alabama has been home with us. She is still doped up and in pain, but she is such a mellow, curious dog that just watches everything. My two crazy Boston Terriers sniffed her and walked away. I was expecting bitchy high maintenance freak-outs from a new doggy entering their territory, but they're fine! Ruby and Alabama actually slept next to each other on my bed for a while last night, and Ruby is the house princess that was my main concern. So I feel so lucky. Seamus LOVES her so much it's crazy! He gives her kisses (or licks, yuck!) and big long hugs. He pats her back and strokes her and she loves it. This situation has turned out way better than I could have dreamed and I would recommend anyone to just see how it works for their family. Of course all dogs are different, but this has just been so great that I just can't help saying it enough.

Sleeved.

~Alabama~

On Saturday Rick, Seamus and I went down to our local pound and adopted a gorgeous 8 month old blue pit bull. I can feel some of you cringing, and I totally get it. My mom hates pits, and tried to raise me to do the same. Rick had a pit when I met him, the sweetest girl ever, named Roxy. She used to sleep with a towel across her back that they called her blankie. She never bit anyone and Rick's niece was around it from birth and used to poke it in the eye and tug on her tail, and Roxy never even growled at her. Yes, I know that every dog is different, but I'm just trying to explain that there are good ones out there. You can tell within seconds what kind of pit they are. And the little girl we adopted is a sweetie. I was cautious about introducing her to Seamus when Rick took her to the play area, but she was very mellow, and Seamus walked right up to her and handed her a rope toy. He loves playing catch with the dogs we already have, and he really like this one. That right there was what sealed the deal for us.
She had been surrendered the night before by a family that was in the military and were moving. They took her and her brother pit to the local dog park, and she's even potty-trained. I think we hit the jack pot, and I feel really good about it. So, I hope that you guys can be too. We're excited about bringing her home today from the animal birth control clinic. Of course, if something changes in her temperament, then she will most likely be going back to a rescue. We have a large back yard with good fencing, and have side areas fenced off to for keeping her while Seamus is playing in his back yard, but if all goes well she won't need to be seperated. Wish us luck! I'll upload a picture of her once we bring her home.

And we'll probably be naming her Alabama, like in True Romance. I've just always dug the name, but wouldn't name a kid that. Rick rolled his eyes when I told him the dog would be named after a bad ass hooker.

Sushi...It's What's For Dinner

The chicken teriyaki and sushi was a moderate success. I vaguely used a recipe for sushi rice, but there was way too much sugar, which made it way too sweet. I think next time I will use half of the amount of sugar called for. The sushi rolls seemed way too fat too. Like large burritos. It seemed kind of funny, because I was pretty much clueless as to what I was doing. I was winging it. At the market I grabbed the ingredients that I knew were in the sushi rolls I usually eat at restaurants, and just did my best. And then I wanted to shred the imitation crab in my Cuisinart and add a little mayo to it. I ended up making a puree out of it, and it looked pretty disgusting, but tasted exactly the same. Next time, I will go about that differently too. But the baby loved the chicken, and I think that turned out the best.

I put it on pretty platters and called it a day. I had to take pictures because I was so damn proud of myself since this was my first attempt at sushi and wasn't sure I'd be able to pull it off. I had to put on my pretty apron, but I didn't wear it while cooking. I was too scared I'd stain it! And ignore my shiny face. I've had my make up on all day, it's July in So. Cali and I've been SLAVING away over a hot oven.

Sushi Please!!!!

I stole that title from Betsey.

In honor of the fact that I just bought the supplies for my first attempt at sushi making- AND that I just purchased another fab apron from my bloggy friend Betsey. I have decided to dedicate this post to sushi. I've been hearing about this apron fabric for sometime, and once I saw the finished product here, I knew my greedy sushi-loving hands needed one. For when I make sushi, of course! Cheesy? Possibly. But any chance I can buy something cool, and nearly one-of-a-kind, and cook one of my favorite dishes- I get giddy. So tonight, I'm gonna be making me some sushi! Maybe some chicken teriyaki on the side if I'm on a roll. HAHAHA, I made a pun when I wasn't even planning on it. I'm being so nerdy right now. I just need to stop.

And in CrackBerry news, me and my sister-in-law accidentally finally figured out how to add each other as BlackBerry Messenger friends. I'm sure if we'd read the manual we would have figured it out sooner, but that would've been too easy! And I think I successfully worried my brother-in-law that we'll be texting each other complaining about him and Rick. Uh...didn't he already know we did that????

Corgi Denial

My mom is in some serious Corgi denial. My mom and two littlest sisters just rescued this little fur ball from the local pound. And I mean fur ball in the kindest way. Anytime an animal can be rescued and find a warm home, I'm all for it. But- my mom is calling her new male companion, Gus if you want to know it's name, a Corgi. I recommended a DNA test, because it looks like a fat chihuahua to me. Seriously! I don't see Corgi anywhere.

The dog is a little sweetie and so cuddly, so don't think I'm complaining about my new brother. I am wondering what my mom might be smoking though...I kid.

Kind of.

A Week In The Life

I don't know why I've felt so busy lately. I guess I haven't really been. I have a part-time job that I rarely work. I had it before I was ever pregnant, and it's the only job I've had in the last 3 1/2 years that I get a paycheck stub for. It's a well paying one, that only comes around once in awhile for, so it seems like I'm only a stay-at-home mom. And I'm fine with that. I only have to work once every six months to remain certified. Dream job right? My point? I worked a couple days ago. So that took up a little time, but other than that, I've been struggling with a knitting pattern, struggling with my new CrackBerry, and playing with my kid. Tough life!

I've been letting the housework go as I obsess over trying to knit my everest of a Scot sweater. What a bitch! I stayed up so late knitting, and then proceeded to clean the kitchen because Rick was pissing me off and I needed to keep me hands busy or I probably would have killed him. Well, maybe not killed, but maybe screamed...

Then I got a kick ass haircut yesterday, and retouch of the bleach, so I don't look crack-ish as I lovingly refer to it. My old hair chick always rocks it and for half the price, so I think I'm going to use her more often now.



And went to a cruise night with Rick and my niece, and the little one stayed for a short time before the grandparents saved us! We had a whole bunch of fun, and I got a lot of compliments on my hair from the younger more impressionable high school and junior high crowd. Which to me is the biggest compliment, because that's when I saw someone i thought looked cool and decided that's how I wanted to look. So that made me happy. We were crusin' down the strip and I heard a girl sitting on a bus bench with her friends who were watching all the old cars say "I want to do my hair like THAT!", and her friends all looked at her like she was crazy, and she defended it. "Seriously! I want to put streaks in my hair like that and look like THAT!" I thought that was pretty cool. I had friends like that in high school that had the frosty hair and liked N'SYNC and the fake tans. Yuck, never was for me. Well, I tanned a little, but never fit in with them. So I'm glad if I can recruit any other girl to follow her own path instead of remaining one of the small town sheep. So in honor of that, I will show a few pictures of me from high school. I can't find the really good ones, but maybe one day I'll look better for them. I think I kind of look the same, but my face looks chubbier. And the kids aren't mine! My mom had a second batch of kids in high school and I was completely mortified, and everywhere we went, I was asked if they were mine.



But enough ranting for one session!

This lovely read my depressing post a while back, and was thoughtful enough to send me a little something that was SO unexpected! So, I think I'm going to need to send my caring bloggy-friends that were thoughtful a little something-something too. So be checking the mail-but in the next month, because I haven't figured it out yet, and I have a small destructo toddler I spend a lot of time wragnling, so it may not be too soon.


And a picture of a jackass (I kid.) and his new favorite toy. Seriously. A grown man and his remote control car. So gay and neon. So 80's. I think it's time to take off those tires and that body. It's beginning to hurt my eyes.

I'm Such A Spoiled Brat!

Do I at least get points for admitting it?

And oh, look! I'm starting a pain-in-the-ass sweater. Well, it's actually the most challenging piece I've ever worked on, which is why I'm attempting it. I know it's nothing spectacular, or particularly me...but it must be the Irish in me(or the Scot ;P) that made me want to knit it. I've been busting my hump for three days and it has been making very little progress. I hate working at such a slow pace.

And for the record, my new phone is a bitch to learn! Seriously! It took two hours just to input my telephone numbers! Sheesh!

Oh geez...Her Crazy-Ass Did It Again!

Okay, I think I've been pretty good at the spending. Well, I was. Until I went to the yarn store last week. And then I did just buy a fancy CrackBerry...Okay, who am I kidding? I spend a lot of money sometimes! But I think I've been better lately because there is so many things I want that I tell myself I don't need, so I call that PROGRESS!

But last night, I went and checked out some embroidery patterns that people have been warning me about. And I fell in love, and I couldn't help myself. And I bought a whole bunch. Then there was a deal at the market and I picked up nine flour sack dishcloths for close to nothing! So...I hope this embroidery thing pans out, because I have yet to start anything, but now have a bunch of supplies AND patterns!

And last night I made yummy fish tacos and had my sister-in-law over, and we talked about yarn- among other more normal things...So I must be going crazy, because I've never found it cool to talk about yarn, even at my knitting best. But I was able to give away a little yarn, so I can make room for my sweater-to-be yarn I plan on buying soon. Further proof that I have the best yarn-supporting hubby ever! He encourages me to buy it and tells people that I make cool things! Best hubby ever I'm tellin' ya'.

A pic of the ends of the "straps" that hang down the hat. They're little pitchforks! So cute! All that is left are the horns. I have to wait for my sister to try the hat on so I can get proper placement of the horns. Everytime I've attempted to get her to wear the hat she has been bugging me for TWO YEARS to make, she tells me, "No, my hair's up and I don't want to mess it up."
D-I-V-A! Pain-in-the-ass diva! I'm about to tell the ungrateful bitch to shove it!

Devil Hat

I've been working on the hat for my pain-in-the-ass sis. She went into heavy detail about wanting "ear muffs" on the sides and long "straps" hanging down. She's lucky it is set like that in the pattern, otherwise I'd tell her to kiss my ass.

I'm actually digging the way it's turning out. I may have to make one for myself now too. It's pretty simple, and the yarn I'm using is so cheap. It's a win/ win.

~The Good Life~

Sometimes I think I have the most awesomest (yes, I know that isn't a REAL word) hubby ever. Yesterday he worked his butt off all day working hanging drywall for extra cash, then decided to take the night off his regular job so he could go on a bike ride and hang out with the fam. I dropped off the pink and yellow dishtowel to it's new owner, and chilled for a little. I know it'll be in good hands. Then I got to go home and knit until dinner was ready. Oh wait, I failed to mention that Rick cooked everything! And it smelled so good while it was cooking! And tasted yummy! Yes, my Rick. The guy never cooks! He cooked, watched the baby, cleaned up the mess (wiped down the sink, stove-and even gave the baby a bath and put him to sleep!!!!) Wow. I was IMPRESSED. Needless to say, he got some.

I finished the back of my tube top, wove in a bunch of ends and it's now sitting in a pile while I ponder whether or not to block it (press it) before I sew the two pieces together. Hmmm....


Then I started (and almost finished), a hat that will have devil horns on it when I'm done with it. My sister's b-day is in August and I promised her this hat a few years ago. While she saw me working on it, she didn't even remember wanting it. So immediately I wanted to choke her, since last week while I was knitting up my tube top she was bitching for me to make her this hat.

WTF, does she have dementia or something? I mean, I know it runs in the family, but she isn't even 22 yet!



I've been totally salivating over this sweater. I know it'll be a bit of a challenge too. I showed it to Rick and he actually thought it looked cool. Usually he isn't into knitting, but after the tube top he seems to have changed his mind about it. I think I'll buy myself the yarn once I finish seaming the top, and finish my sister's hat. I may need something to keep me motivated.

And to prove that I really do have the best hubby ever, he's letting me buy my red Blackberry that I wanted since around New Years'. Yes, I've wanted it for that long and held back. My sister-in-law just got it, and I whined about it to Rick and last night he told me to order it before he changed his mind. Yay!!!!! Oh, how he spoils me...

And proof that even if I clean my house like crazy everyday, I live with a toddler keen on destruction. Look, he wouldn't even turn around when he knew I was taking his picture!

Still Me

I'm sure that some of you guys are a little thrown off by my more recent posts. Yes, I knit. Weird, huh?

I started blogging when I was pregnant and not working anymore and had nothing better to do other than knit and show off all the baby sweaters I still have yet to complete. Since then, this has been more a blog about bitching and life. Isn't that what blogs are supposed to be about anyway? So, you may see a little knitting here and there...but you will still see the dresses, the cool shit I buy, my adorable little kid, and hear me bitch about Rick.

Why? Because I love to do it, and apparently that's my nitch in this blogoshpere.

*Oh, and the anchor top will be done tonight!*

Friends Don't Let Friends Loose In Yarn Stores...

How it is that when I get a last minute invite to Jo-Ann's, I end up spending more than the other two women who had planned on going? I seriously only went to get a transfer pen. Then ended up with a pen AND a pencil. And some glue to set it. Then some wannabe Addi Turbos. Then I saw some yarn I'd been eyeing for a year. Then I needed to buy yarn for a beanie with devil horns on it for my sister's b-day. And then a Twix bar because I was hungry. Uh. This always happens to me. That makes a total of ONE HUNDRED DOLLARS this week. And yes, I'm broke, and apparently going need to pull this money out of whothefuckknows. I bought 5 skeins of yarn and a bunch of gadgets. ??????? I spent more than the other girls! My sister-in-law is a total yarn junkie and I swore she would be spending far more than me. I think I barely exceeded her in spending by a dollar...but still!



So, in more, "Knitting drives me crazy" news, making the tube top longer seemed to be a bad idea. It's almost done and looking way too long. It was just hard to tell until this point. The intarsia threw me off, that's my only excuse. So, at this point I'll finish this half then decide whether to pull it and do it properly/ or burn it with a torch in the back yard while on a crazy manic knitting gone bad episode. Hmmm...tough call.

Update: I finished the front piece, and am very proud of myself for actually completing the intarsia. And if I do say so myself, I really like the way the anchor turned out! It kicks ass! And I put it up next to me, and it's only a little longer. If I had gone and read the directions and knit 12 rows of striping instead of 15, I think it would've been the perfect length, but I think it will barely be noticeable to anyone other than myself.


I'm not looking forward to weaving in all those ends. I've been working on it for a while already, so there isn't much left to do. Im almost there.

Now I get to start ton the back piece!

Progress

Intarsia is a mother f-in bitch! Everything I have every started that had it, I have put down and has been hibernating for years. Waste of time, waste of money, waste of space in my closet. But I was determined to figure it out this time. Every time I liked the way it was coming, I would realize that I fucked up the chart and had to start all the way at the beginning of the anchor. Fuck! But last night I got to where it actually looked like an anchor, so I was willing to put it down and get some sleep.

The pattern is from Knit1 Magazine. Here's the pattern. I got idea from The Domesticated Dame when I saw hers on Ravelry, so I will give her due credit for it. Hers looks awesome, by the way.

I hope to be finished with this by the end of the weekend, but since I get bored wit projects easily, it may never get finished :(

Also, I plan on embroidering some dishcloths, and Craftyminx's knitting pin up, and I really love Stellina's Man's Ruin. My hubby actually wants to get that tattooed on him, so it seemed extra cool. But I'm starting off small, and admiring everybody else's work. And I probably will b asking for a lot of advice. So thanks!

Just Call Me Ruby...(RedRuca) Stewart

Man, today's been a doozie? Is that how you spell it? I worked this morning from 3AM-8AM. The kid kept me up until midnight, and I was so scared that I'd sleep through my alarm- that I couldn't sleep. By the time I went to bed around 9AM, I had been up for 24 hours!!!!!! WTF, right? Usually when I work that shift, Rick takes Seamus for the day and I let myself sleep until noon. I woke up at 3:30 that afternoon! I forced myself to get up, drank tons of coffee, and then went to a doctor's appointment at 4. Then I went to Michael's and bought some yarn for a tube top I'm going to knit. Did I mention it has an anchor on it? And black and white stripes? Anyone who knows me, that equals love in my department. My best friend got me a bag for my b-day that has anchors and sparrows all over it. Yes, I love it. Since it's a little too over sized for me, I use it as a diaper bag for now. I also bought a few embroidery things. But no one there could help me figure out how I was supposed to transfer an image onto the cloth I plan to embroider on. So I went and looked at the tutorial by Craftyminx, and realized that I'm supposed to trace it with a transfer pencil. Cool. I guess I'm a little slow, but I'll admit that I'm pretty fucking clueless in this department. It's new somewhat uncharted territory for me. My Nana showed me how to embroider when I was in forth grade, but the image had already been on the cloth. So I bought tons of embroidery floss in all the colors I liked and thought I'd use, a ring frame thingy, and some needles that I hope are big enough to loop the floss through. I spent $40, which is a lot less than I expected, but I still have to buy the dishcloths, some fabric and the transfer fabric. So we'll see what the grand total really turns out to be!

And when I got home, I noticed three packages. And I'm a girl that loves to see packages! (Wait, that sounds kind of like something Samantha from SATC said.) Well they were mail packages. One was a frame that I had ordered a longtime ago to put a picture from my bachelorette party in, another was some fine china display holders, and the other was a little one from this sweetie. It looks like handspun(?) yarn and a little note with it. How sweet is that? It's fucking awesome and so cool that someone wanted to do that for me. So thanks Michele! And your name is spelled with one "L" just like my mom's! All this stuff has made my f-in day. And now, this Ruca's on a cleaning/ organizing binge again. And I will probably stay up way past my bedtime knitting my tube top. Look, here's how much I've done so far.





And then I wiped all the dust out of the built-in hutch and set up my fancy china on the display thingies. I think it looks so perfect and organized that people will be so mesmerized by them, that they won't notice that the floor is sprinkled with dog hair and the clutter on my desk or dining room table.

.Perfection.

Last week a little packaged was shoved into my mailbox. I could see the mailman struggling, and I knew it had to be it. And it was!!! Yay!!!


I opened it as fast as my greedy little hands could move.Yes, the lovely Betsey Booms, did her thing and made the most fabulous (yes, I know I write for dramatic flare, not for proper grammar), apron I ever did see. Yes, it is absolutely perfect. In fact, it is PERFECTION at it's best! And that is the highest compliment my cold black heart can give. I love the fabric, it looks like my kitchen. It looks like my floor. There's a fancy mixer in red (damn, maybe I should've gone with red instead of yellow!). The stove. The curtains. Ahhhh, I love it so much! I could pontificate for hours over the perfection of this apron. In fact, I wore it all day long. It looked great.







I wish the pictures had turned out better. I had envisioned them different, but Rick's been working day and night, and the pictures I took were with 10-sec delay. The first is the fancy Nikon and the others are my shitty little Canon. I feel bad that they aren't better, and I promise I will come through with some AMAZING ones in the next week. I just didn't want to put off this post anymore, and I just wanted to go on and on about how bad ass this fucking apron is. Do you see the Dolly Parton boobage? Do you see the amazing fabric? And trust me when I say that this is A+ craftsmanship and quality. Go buy one! Seriously, Betsey if fucking amazing!!!!!! She has already told me about one with sushi rolls on it and I'm already going crazy. Go buy an apron goddammit! They're cute, sexy and make me want to bake and clean, or at least hold a feather duster.


And I've heard aabout many other fabrics that I feel my kitchen needs. So keep churning them out baby, and I'll be saving my pennies to buy them!

Another DishCloth...

I started off the day with a HUGE double iced white chocolate mocha and I'm still exhausted by the end of the day! On a whim, we decided to go to the L.A. Zoo since Seamus is really into animals right now. Especially monkeys, elephants and birdies. We even saw Reggie! We bought a book all about Reggie too. I chuckled when I read the line, "...my owner used to feed us pet food, leftover pizza and jelly donuts...". I don't think the mistreatment of animals is funny, but the fact that some idiot would actually feed their animals that way if just ridiculous! What is wrong with people!


And here's a couple pictures of the dishtowel I'm working on. I've been wanting to do some easy mindless knitting just to relax me and make me feel like I'm expressing some art, even if it is a dishtowel! So I went through my little stash of yarn, and found what I believe to be the best colors to make a friend of mine a dishtowel. When I went to her house a few days ago she was working on a crocheted version of one, and that's when I got the idea. I have been so bored lately and just want something to do. So I started it last night, and will be binding off on it tonight. I think the colors suit her, she seems to love pink, or at least I think she does...And all the dishcloth's I've made have to match fiestware colors. I don't know why, but they just do, probably so I can keep some artistic integrity by them looking retro-ish. So I took some pictures with it posing on my Fiesta dishes, cuz I'm a nerd like that. Feast your eyes on it. Even though pink isn't my favorite color, I still totally love it and will probably make another for myself.




* And tomorrow will be a whole post dedicated to my beautiful new apron!

Not The Most Amazing Post Ever

First of all, I'd like to thank everybody for the nice comments. Sometimes I just need a place to vent. But I'm pulling myself out of my slump and trying to forget it happened all together. So, I'm moving on!

I've had a bit of writers' block. Does that count for blogging? For some reason I just can't write when I'm pissed off or upset, probably because all I did was write when I was younger because I was always pissed off or upset, and I realized that I had to stop being in my head so much because it didn't seem to help. So now I seem to only want to write when things aren't so bad. That doesn't even make sense does it? Well, either way- things are a little better, and I don't feel so crummy. But I feel a little "hung over" from feeling so crummy. So give me a couple more days and I'll be back to my usual blogging self.

So what have I been doing in my state of crumminess?

*I've had a couple scoops of Breyer's Natural Vanilla Ice Cream that I've topped with blackberries, the best dessert ever and reminds me of PinkBerry. (I think I like it more because I'm pretty sure it's healthier since I know the ingredients.)

*Killing flies with Windex. Yes- I know I'm taking two steps back from eliminating my carbon footprint, but these fucking flies are zipping around me like crazy and I can't take it anymore. So I squirt them with Windex and need to be a little more through about picking them up right away. My son handed me something a few days ago when I noticed him near out kitchen screen. "Fly." He said matter-of-factly, and then dropped it in my hand. Ewww!!! We did some major hand scrubbing, and I still felt like we were dieased.

*Prancing around in the most amazing, gorgeous, awesomest (yes, I know that's not a REAL word) apron ever to hang in someone's kitchen. And I will devote an entire post to it, as soon as I can get my photographer (Rick) to help me snap a couple shots with the fancy camera, because I forgot how to set it to 10-sec delay and spent way too long trying to figure it out yesterday.

*Riding my beach cruiser named Bettie, with my little backseat driver on the back. (Okay, I've only did this once last week since I hate excercise and would rather wallow in self-pity.)

*Reading all of your blogs. Seriously, like checking them every hour like a psycho stalker because everytime I try to start a new blog post, I don't know what to write.

*Eating yummy fatty food. It's the best isn't it?

And I've been working on another dishcloth!

No 4th of July pics because I can't find my small camera. Yeah, I'm always so preoccupied usually that I set things unknowingly all over the house, and don't remember where they are. But I know that the battery needs to be charged, so even if I did know where it was, there still wouldn't be pictures due to the dead battery.

But, we did the typical patriotic way to celebrate the birth of this country. Block party, BBQ, watch the drunks light firecrackers, drink, swim, keep babies up way past their bed time...you know. Rick pointed out that this was the first holiday that we didn't fight. I don't believe that, but I definitely think it was the first holiday that we haven't fought-in a while.

So there it is, something. Tomorrow or later tonight, I'll do something a little better. Pinky swear.

These stitch markers are too funny. And too perfect!