Knotty Mouse

So.. I’m in my kitchen cutting off box tops for Munchkin’s school  (one of those ‘boxtops for education thingies that they’re doing for Valentines Day)  and I’m  struck with a case of deja vu.  I’m standing there going.. “what does this remind me of?” as I’m sticking the cereal box minus half its top flap back into the cabinet.. and suddenly it dawns on me.  There is a scene in the movie Better off Dead where the main character Lane Myer (John Cusack) is pulling out boxes of cereal from the cabinet and the cereal is pouring out all over the countertop & floor because the boxes have holes in them from where his kid brother has clipped the ads on the back to send away for the toys (and working rockets from vacume cleaner parts.. and books on how to pick up loose women..).  I am in the house by myself and I’m laughing my ass off over this –  the cat is now avoiding me because its clear that my crazy is of the contagious variety.

I don’t make a habit out of shopping and I don’t go out of the house much.. so it makes me a really good target for “sticker shock” when I actually do have to purchase something. When my car battery decided that it didn’t even have enough ‘juice’ to stay charged for a single day of use (close to 2 weeks ago now) I was forced to call around to auto shops for a replacement battery.  I was stunned to find out that a car battery - the cheapest one available for my brand of car- costs $60.00!! This is AFTER the $10 returned core fee…  *mouth gapes open*  I called EIGHT different stores to price compare and came down to that price as an average.

People.. I have a 1988 Dodge Shitheap with 200,000 ++ miles on it,  only 2 out of the 4 doors open,  no shoulder belts in the back,  the windshield wipers don’t work AT ALL, and only one window opens.  It also has no air conditioning or heat AND no working radio speakers.  You know that car commercial where the guys’ car is making a noise and he hits the dashboard, the car noise stops.. but then the car falls entirely apart? Yup, that’s what I drive. I’m beyond pissed that I have to spend this sort of money on a car battery for a car that I barely use - but my husband is out of town quite a bit and I really can’t be stuck here without a working vehicle in case of an emergency with Munchkin at school, etc.   I’m also irritated at Georgia’s utter lack of proper public transportation for those of us who live outside of the city of Atlanta.  I’d ride my bike (which is out of commission as well.. awaiting a tire & rim) but the nearest grocery store is about a 5 mile ride - which I’m not willing to do even if I was in the sort of shape that type of ride would require.

I’m still planning on having a second stash sale in the next week.. I’ve just been organizing, photographing & weighing out packages to check for postage prices. Thanks to everyone that bought in my fiber stash sale.. everything is out in the mail from that sale and should be on its way.

BTW.. I signed into my blog today and was told :

Blog Stats : There are currently 193 posts and 2,000 comments, contained within 27 categories.

2,000 Comments!  I decided after I saw that bit of information that a prize was definitely in order for the 2000th commenter..  so…  the prize for the 2,000th comment goes to Moon @ Nocturnal Knit Witch    so please email me with your address & I’ll send you a giftie! 

1. IMG_2215, 2. IMG_2218, 3. IMG_2217 4. Not on Flickr
A selection of the Buddha statues I have around my house.. all of various sizes & styles. (I realize that the #3 photo is actually a Tara statue but she’s also a bodhisattva.)  The largest one is the dark gray statue on the far right which fills the pass-through between my kitchen & living room  and was bought from Target’s outdoor section when the “World Bazaar” stuff was in stores a few years ago… its also admittedly my favorite one of the group.  Each one lives in its own room- the first in the photos resides just a few feet from where I’m sitting in my office, the second lives on the plant stand in my master bathroom window, and the Tara statue is in the bedroom.

Hey folks.. I’m destashing fiber & novelty yarns today! All payments are going to be done by Paypal (I’ll send you the info after I confirm your sale). Shipping prices are included in each item but if you want more than one item I’ll combine shipping. I’m trying to be fair with the shipping prices and if I overcharge you I will send you a refund. If you want to purchase anything you can either comment on the blog or email me (mousieblog (at sign) knottymouse dot com — put in the correct punctuation..) whichever you’d like. Earliest time stamp will win it and I’ll mark things sold as they sell. I’ll remove the sale comments as well after something is sold. Also.. all fiber & yarn is stored in a non-smoking household WITH A CAT. (allergy sufferers beware)

**I hate to do this to my non-US readers.. but this sale is ONLY open to US folks because my car is dead and I’ve got no way to the shipping shop so I have to mail via Paypal at the house. I’m sorry! ** On with the show…

2 balls of Dazzle railroad novelty yarn. 84 yards each ball. — destash price is $11.00 for both includes first class shipping & delivery confirmation.

2 balls of ‘Glamour” yarn. 137 yds each. This photo was taken for Ravelry stash. I have since swatched from one ball & ripped out. No yardage was removed from swatching. Also, one ball band is missing. Bought at my LYS (going price online looks to be $9.95 a ball)– destash price $16.00 includes first class shipping & delivery confirmation.

****Edited again to add: Thanks for the great response on the roving/fiber.   I’ll be back with another sale later in the week with some sock yarn & standard worsted yarns. Things are starting to look up here.. and I’m really really grateful. ****

Its snowing in georgia! Woot!

You Are Amy Lee!

Gothy, expressive, woman-in-pain Who looks damn good in a corset “When you cried I’d wipe away all of your tears When you’d scream I’d fight away all of your fears”

Who’s Your Inner Rock Chick?

stolen from Dawn
Hmmm… I wish I could figure out what the other choices were to see if there was anything closer than Amy Lee of Evanescence…. I’m glad my inner rock chick is a goth hottie… lol.

Snow Watch ‘08 update: Its SNOWING! Munchkin is absolutely beside himself with joy..

Just a quick note to let y’all know that I’m going to be having a “de-stash” sale this week of yarn & roving. I’ll put stuff up as soon as I figure out shipping stuff and take better photos than are on my Ravelry stash listings..

edited to add: the weather is totally disagreeing with my need to take photos - we’re expecting sleet & freezing rain storms and the sky is gray & moody. I’ll be posting up sale stuff in the next week..

until then.. I’ll be on “Snow Watch ‘08″ for Munchkin.  Poor kid.. he’s dying to see some snow! (and not the stuff here on the blog.. lol)

1. A3-hooks, brushes, pens & needles, 2. A1- My spinning wheel and the table where I make jewelry & stitch markers, 3. A2- my computer screen says ” I will NOT draw as I’m told” 4. A4-handspun yarns, needles & spindles (clicking any one of these links will take you to a larger photo on Flickr)

I think that for me, part of being an artistic person is living with your tools of the trade all around you. I don’t “put away” my yarn because I love being surrounded by the colors and textures.. I enjoy seeing my spinning wheel, knitting needles, beads, hooks, brushes & paints. I’m sure its also partially because I’ve never learned to clean up my toys.. but the main reason its all out is because its inspiring to me.

Its taken me a long time to accept that I am an artist.. I create things.. its who I am.. and its a perfectly acceptable answer to “So.. what do you do?”. I’m so quick to bestow the title on other people “oh.. this? my friend made this.. she’s an artist” but when I’m asked what I do - I tend to flounder around with inane answers and make myself sound rather unimportant and boring. I don’t make resolutions, but if I did.. one of mine for 2008 would be to give myself more credit for my own creativity.

I realized while floating around in blog-land that there was to be a new ABC-Along for this year and decided to join. I started up a space for the posts and they will be housed in their own neat little category on the sidebar. I did crash and burn last time on the ABC-along sometime around P (for patchouli) but I’m going to attempt to redeem myself this year. I won’t be using any of last year’s words and am going to attempt to go in a different direction with the posts and the photos themselves.

I’m hoping that the ABC-along gets me using my camera more (I’m planning on carrying my old camera in my purse everywhere I go in case I see anything blog-worthy) and hopefully gets me to start posting more regularly.

I was taking down the Christmas tree today and remembered that it was Eye Candy Friday*.. so I snapped a photo of this little guy in my tree before I packed him up. This cute little bird clips onto the tree branches and looks about ready to fly away at any moment. We’re given an ornament for our tree every year by hubby’s grandmother and this was our one for this year. I finally have a tree that is sturdy enough to support these heavy and ornate ornaments and I was almost sad to take down our pretty tree this year.

ps. Its snowing here at the blog.. (thanks to Chris for the WP plug in)

*ok.. it WAS Eye Candy Friday but apparently the blog decided that it didn’t want to publish this post and it has sat here as a draft instead… oops.