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Love,
Ava & Lola

Whatever Lola Wants

Won't you please join us for the party and click on the link for the new Two Black Sheep? Please update your Bloglines (it's easy as hell) and follow the misadventures of the Sheep sisters. Besides, Lola is cooking up a little contest full of all sorts of freebies . . . and who doesn't like free?

Ava

Sing, Sing a Song

I have been knitting on the EZ Fair Isle on and off all week, but honestly, does anyone really want to read about 13 inches of stockinette? No? Didn't think so! I love the yarn, the color is sublime, and the pattern couldn't be easier - note to all: haven't reached the Fair Isle yet - but it is boring. Grace is progressing nicely, but I've already chatted about how I hate the yarn and the pattern is straight forward yet confusing at the same time. What more is there to say until it is done?

Somewhere, back in the fall, I suggested to Lola that we use song titles for our posts. There were two reasons for this: I am not that creative when it comes to titles and Degrassi: The Next Generation does it. Truly, there is a third reason: I love music almost as much as I love knitting. Every once and a while, I will sit down to list my ten favorite songs of all times, so here is that list. Nothing is in a particular order and one of Lola's is in there for good measure.

1. "I'm A Slave 4 U" by Britney Spears. Say what you want about my girl Brit, but I love this song, as does Lola. There is something about it that makes me want to dance - which I can't - and pretend to be Britney. I, however, would know when to flash the photographers and when to keep my legs closed. This is my ring tone for Lola, by the way. If you ever hear a vaguely porno-esque cellphone ring, chances are it's me.

2. "Into the Sun" by Joseph Arthur. If you haven't heard this song, go out and get it! It plays during the scene in Saved when all the characters are searching their souls; if you haven't seen the movie, get it, too. I like the basic premise of the song that whatever you do, the person singing wishes you peace and love.

3. "Yellow" by Coldplay. When this song came out, we were taking our first trip to England. The girls and I stayed in a little coastal village in Scotland called Ayr for three days. The brochure showed pictures of folks frolicking in the surf and having a gay old time. Silly me, I packed their bathing suits. Ummm . . . Scotland in July requires a coat. The video for "Yellow" has Chris Martin singing on a beach which looks surprisingly like Ayr - classic love song which I love.

4. "Breathe Me" by Sia. This is one that Lola introduced me to. Sia's voice is beautiful and haunting. It is impossible for me to break away from this song once it begins: in movie trailers, bad television shows, stupid commercials, Barnes and Noble.

5. "Fancy" by Reba McEntire. My sister made me do it! Lola's favorite song is "Fancy," oh she of poor white trash fame. She had it played at her wedding reception and performed a lovely choreographed dance to it. At least she didn't ask me to list "Pussy Control" by Prince.

6. "If God Will Send His Angels" or "Stay (Far Away, So Close)" or "All I Want Is You" by U2. I am a huge U2 fan, always have been and always will be. It is hard to pick a favorite song by U2, but it would have to be any one of these three. There are a few more, but it is something about the pacing and the lyrics for these songs. The Flyer says I am nuts because I think that The Joshua Tree is vastly over-rated, but he did let me name one of the girls after a member of U2's child. Sick, I know.

7. "Thorn In My Side" by the Eurythmics. Lola and MR had "At Last" as their wedding song; quite classy if you ask me. The Flyer and I chose "Thorn In My Side." It fits our sense of humor, we love Annie Lennox and Dave Stewart (better together than separate, if you ask me), and it makes for a good story.

8. "Feeling Good" by any artist who sings it. Bring it on Nina Simone, Michael Buble, Muse . . . it's all good. The beat is mighty fine for a little classy bump-n-grind and it is easy to sing along with it as long as you convince yourself that you are Nina Simone and not Michael Buble. Besides, Lola and I have a weird fascination with strippers and this definitely fits the bill.

9. "A Change Is Gonna Come" by Sam Cooke. Yes, Otis Reading has a great version and Taylor Hicks sang a near-perfect version for his American Idol audition last season, but Sam Cooke is the artist I prefer. I nearly weep when I hear this song; play it at my funeral or I will haunt you, Lola.

10. "You'll Never Find A Love As Good As Mine" by Lou Rawls. Remember when Lou Rawls did a guest spot on General Hospital? No? Well, he was the choir leader at the funeral for Justice's mother. I was waiting patiently for him to break into "You'll Never Find," but alas, it was at a funeral. Hey, Lola, play this one too! Same goes for the haunting!

Knitting content is coming . . . as is a potential switch to another site! Stay tuned.

PS - Since one was Lola's, my official ten would include "Hallelujah" by just about anyone, but preferrably by Rufus Wainwright. The girls don't like it by Leonard Cohen but even his version has a lovely quality to it.

No song title post because no picture post

I'm about to rip out my hair.

My skin is still rough and painful from our Chicago trip.

I got a horrible flat tire. I took it in and was told that I needed a new battery and new tires (It has been over 72,000 miles). MR thinks that tires cost $30 each, so when I tell him the price, he flips.

Blogger is driving me nuts. I don't understand why you can change back to the widget format as easily as you can switch to the old format. We've lost Haloscan again. (I'll be thrilled with the new domain once it's up & ready. MR is loving the idea about creating our banner) Why?

Bloglines isn't taking updates from the new blog. I'd hate to switch and not get my updates. Don't take away my needle! Why, Bloglines? Why?

The new pay schedule is screwing up how I do bills. Getting paid every week was easier to handle than every 2 weeks. I'll get used to it in time.

I almost ripped out my progress on Nephew's Wallaby because I thought the size 6 was closer to a size 4. I realized that I cast on the same amount for Beaner's 4T sweater. Almost in a hysterical fit, I grabbed a ruler. I completely forgot that I increased after the ribbing . Thank god I didn't rip. I was one bad American Idol try-out from putting the Wallaby into the ball winder. I would have done it, that's how pissy I am.

One good note, I'll cast on STR G-Rocks without finishing my 2nd Pomo socks. I forgot that I need something to knit while at the beach in FL.

Another good note, Gus is putting so many words together it isn't funny. Somewhere he's learned to say "boobies" and he knows what they are. He's also learned where his penis is. We're not sure how this came about, but he grabs his diaper when I asked (MR was giving him a bath and having him wash all of his body parts. He didn't think he'd know penis. And he did. We don't go around saying the word).

Home

I made it home. I'll post some details about our trip. Can't say to much about the actual contest (entire reason we went to Chicago) because I signed an confidentiality agreement. We had a lot of fun despite the -23 temperature that followed us. At about 1 p.m. on Sunday, the fun was gone. I had had enough. You'd think that you can't tell a difference between -15 and -23, you'd be wrong. I've got a list of things to do:

1. get Gus and Pup from Mom
   
2. clean up all of the mess from Chicago
3. clean up all of the mess from before we left
4. work (it is Monday, after all)
5. oil change and tire rotation
6. slather a horrid amount of lotion on my itchy body
7. balance our checking account
8. work with Ava to fix the blog (not sure if I like the Haloscan commenting)
9. knit something

The Moment I Said It

Winter has finally hit the East Coast. Sure, we have dabbled in attempts for the past few weeks, but I think that it is here to stay no matter what Punxsutawney Phil or that ground hog from Staten Island has to say about it. It was 11 freaking degrees this morning on the way to church and only warmed up by about a degree in the ensuing 45 minutes.

Veronica kindly modeled the class hat even though Betty has claimed it

We had parent teacher conferences this week, which can only mean one thing: heartache. The conferences in February are the gut wrenching ones; we only ask for them if the student is in danger of failing the year so they are never truly happy conferences. I believe that I heard the following statements way too often: I don’t know what to do with him/her and I am not making excuses but (fill in the blank). You get the picture. I told the Flyer that if I had a dollar for every time I said that, I could book another trip to England post haste. Luckily I had my EZ Fair Isle sweater with me. There was a lot of down time in this conference, so I knit while waiting. In a few long conferences, I even picked it up and knit under the table.

Having a relatively simple pattern has come in handy recently. I knit the whole way through Pan’s Labyrinth last night which was probably for the best. Guillermo del Toro is truly a gifted filmmaker, but if you don’t know anything about him, I can understand why you walk out of the film thinking, “That was a little violent.” He is a horror film director, folks. The fact that he could turn out something relatively sedate for him speaks volumes. And, truthfully, the original Grimm’s fairy tales weren’t happy-go-lucky . . . we have Disney to thank for that.



Grace is progressing nicely. I finished the other front and have begun the back. Unfortunately, it is a pattern that requires some attention, so I am only working on it when I don’t have something else to pay attention to. There are several things going on in the photo: Grace (fronts complete), the doctor’s bag from Knit 2 Together, my hat from the Fair Isle class, and the beginning of the EZ Fair Isle sweater (now about 12 inches in).

Thank you all for the kind words on the post about Clark. This might have been the first year that I really didn’t have a total break down probably because it was the first year that I confessed the willingness to trade away parts of my life just for a cup of coffee. On other brother news, our bro who is 25 has finally set a graduation date of June. Lola wasn’t too happy with the June decision because it conflicts with a family wedding. Truthfully, I would rather be at the wedding, but I am really looking forward to holding up signs spelling out “FINALLY” for the family Christmas card picture.

Ava

PS – Go Bears!

Silent Lucidity = (Silent) Poetry

Since the post titles have been song titles for several months now, I am not about to break a theme for the poetry reading. Besides, Lola is in Chicago trying out for The World Series of Pop Culture and Queensryche has a Chicago-based tribute band of the same name. This is the poem, "The Armful," by Robert Frost. I often reread it when things get a little out of balance.

For every parcel I stoop down to seize
I lose some other off my arms and knees,
And the whole pile is slipping, bottles, buns,
Extremes too hard to comprehend at once
Yet nothing I should care to leave behind.
With all I have to hold with hand and mind
And heart, if need be, I will do my best.
To keep their building balanced at my breast.
I crouch down to prevent them as they fall;
Then sit down in the middle of them all.
I had to drop the armful in the road
And try to stack them in a better load.