WanderingAmylessly 2.0

Don't buy anything online that seems to be too good to be true. I am stoked that my Kansas City Chiefs are undefeated after 3 games this season, so I wanted to buy a jersey to support the team. I also want to support former Iowa Hawkeye Tony Moeaki, so I thought I'd get a jersey with his name on it. Enter DHGate.com, a site that purported to have just such a jersey and available to me for the bargain-basement price of $32 (less than half the price of the ones you order from the NFL shop). So I ordered. Then this morning, I got an e-mail saying that they didn't have any more Moeaki jerseys and that they would, instead, be sending me a different jersey. Not any jersey. A Montana jersey. Joe Montana? Really?? I don't even consider him to have ever been a Chief. He was mediocre. If I remember correctly, when the Hall of Fame inducted him, he went in as a 49er, as he should've. So why on Earth would I want a Montana jersey?! I did an online chat with the site's custo...

Write a rhyming poem about your car. That's what came up on the random blog idea generator today. And I'm sorry. I'm in no mood. I'd like to write a rhyming poem, a raging, angry, rap diatribe, in fact...about my miserable work situation at the moment. I think I'll spare everyone and go read or knit or quietly seethe. G'night.

I'm hawking Henry's wares everywhere else, I might as well try here too. Henry's school is doing a fund-raiser again this year to help pay for important activities. Grant Wood Elementary School in Iowa City is one of the most at-risk schools in the district. It has something like 80-90 percent of its kids on free or reduced lunches, and I'm only slightly exaggerating. The money from this fund-raiser goes to pay for field trips, classroom activities, student rewards and incentives, teacher requests, and other items to enrich the educational experience for Henry and his friends. Among the items for sale are gourmet foods, gift wrap, cookbooks, calendars, and other gift items. To order online, go here . If you'd rather browse online but order through us and pay by check, just e-mail or call me. Thanks for your time and support! The kids appreciate it!

If I could do anything I wanted and how much money I made (or didn't) wasn't a concern, what would be my job? Name 10, in no particular order. 1. Starbucks barista. I'd probably be a jittery mess from all the free caffeine, but I've heard it's a great company to work for. Plus I love the sounds of a coffeehouse: eclectic music, the whushhhhhh of the milk steamer, murmurs of patrons chatting over lattes and scones, the roasty smell of java. 2. Yarn store clerk. See one of my recent previous posts re: my love for all the yarny goodness. 'Nuff said. 3. Bookstore clerk. In the same way I love yarn, I also love books. That may sound strange coming from someone who adores her e-reader so much, but I'll always love the printed page, spines that haven't yet been creased, author readings, the joy of children's picture books. 4. Freelance copyeditor. I miss working from home in my flannel lounge pants, with my dog(s)curled up next to me on the couch, laptop...

Henry tells Tim this morning, after looking in his lunch box to see what I'd packed: "She packed me yogurt , for God's sake." My 6-year-old. Can't wait for junior high.

OK. I'm addicted to fibers, fabulous yarny goodness. I love starting new projects. I can have anywhere from 1 to 10 projects going at a time. Currently, I am working on a baby blanket, two prayer shawls, and a couple scarves. Today, I plotted my next moves! Kaleidoscope Yarns , one of my favorite places on the Web to buy great yarn at discount prices, is having a sock yarn sale. If regular yarn is my marijuana, then sock yarn is my heroin. I can't wait for cold weather so I can sit in my flannel pjs and knit socks every night. (Great excitement for those I live with, I'm sure.) The most fun part was that if I spent $25, I got free double-pointed needles! Bonus! Here are pics of the yarn I bought. The first is Opal self-striping, a color called "blind venus"...it's from the series Hundertwasser, based on colors from paintings by a renowned Austrian artist and sculptor who died in 2000. The second is Lang Jawoll Aktion Bamboo (50 percent superwash wool, 35 perce...

Five foods I hate This is a big deal because when I started doing this, I thought it might be possible that I wouldn't be able to come up with five. I love food. Even mediocre food. I love sweet and savory, spicy and salty, rich and all natural. But these...YUK... 1. Gnocci: I don't know whether I cooked it wrong or what, but it was slimy and squishy and tasted like dirty gym socks. OR what I imagine they would taste like. We threw it out and I think we ordered pizza or something. (And for those of you still back at the beginning going, "What is it?" it's Italian potato dumpling pasta.) 2. Liver and onions: I have relatives who would order this at a restaurant if we went out to eat. I have memories of my mom making it when I was a kid. No amount of ketchup puts a positive spin on something that tastes like you licked a dirt road. 3. Orange cream yogurt: I don't know whether my dislike is strong enough for "hate," but eating this makes my tongue ta...

The book you're going to write. What's going to be in it? Smut. I've already started writing it. It's been in my head for years. Unfortunately, the type of book I'd probably write no one I know would dare read it. At least no one would admit it. I love erotica. I appreciate the fantasy. A little bit of romance with a lot of naughty thrown in. The fun part about erotic fiction is that even though you know it wouldn't happen in your own life in a million years, you can still live a little of it in the quiet, secret corners of your mind. Your dirty mind. And although we all like to pretend we're straight-laced Puritanical folk, I think it's only human nature to want to be a little bit bad. Not that I even think embracing your sexual nature is bad, per se. Just raunchy according to society's standards. The thing about the novel I've started...it might have too much plot to be luscious mind candy. I've written nearly two chapters, and no one's...

I know God will not give me anything I can't handle. I just wish that He didn't trust me so much. -- Mother Teresa

I got sucked in, as usual. There are a handful of movies that, when I pass by them channel-surfing DirecTV, simply grab hold of me and won't let me go. I end up watching the rest of the movie, usually quoting many lines out loud. It's like I'm brainwashed. Hypnotized. Tonight, I fell victim to Jack and Annie. That is, Keanu and Sandra. Yes, "Speed." It's corny and predictable. But oh so fun. Here are a few others that I can't escape. 1. The Fugitive: Arguably Harrison's best movie. Certainly Tommy Lee Jones's. Much of the last part of the movie was filmed in the Chicago Hilton, where Tim and I stayed last time we were in town. Yet another reason to watch. In fact, I think they play it on a loop on one of the hotel TV channels. We watched it while we were there. 2. The American President. I love writer Aaron Sorkin. This movie was a precursor to The West Wing. So clever. From "the Dish Room" to the Michael J. Fox bit about spelling "e...

Today is one of those days when I get a glimpse into what it might be like to be a single parent. I don't like what I see. Tim has an all-day shoot in Chicago that he just left for. Which means I have to take H to school, which means I had to get online for work at 6:30 and work from home for 1.5 hours in the midst of getting H ready for school. That was after I got up at 5 to take the dogs for a walk. I'll take him at 8ish, then head to the office, where I'll work through lunch and get off at 4:30. Then it's home to let the dogs out, then go pick up H from after-school program, home for dinner, then off to swim lessons. After swimming, it's home for shower, snack, reading, and bed. Oh...I think we have homework in there somewhere. I may have to get back online for work if I didn't fulfill my 9-hour-a-day-of-productive-work mandate. Where's my time for reading, knitting, exercise, TV, personal e-mail, etc.? Maybe tomorrow.

Inspired by Tim's recent garage-cleaning, toss-out-the-junk obsession, I've decided to start on the basement. Our basement, as is the case with most people's I think, has become a catch-all for anything we don't really want but are not ready to throw out. Now's the time to do some throwing. I'm going to keep my eye on the prize -- that is, when we get the cleaning done, we might actually be able to think about finishing the basement (electrical outlets, more lighting, walling off rooms, slapping up drywall). When that happens, we'll turn the basement into a family room/home theater, which means I'll get the TV out of the living room upstairs and replace it with a cushy couch on which I'll read my nook incessantly. So here I go, into the dark, spiderwebby cave that is our downstairs. Wish me luck.

Name the last 3 people you e-mailed and why. 1. Sarah -- I have a Burley D'lite baby bike trailer to sell, for a fab price. If she says no and you're interested, lemme know. 2. My mom -- In response to her e-mail that said TGIF, I told her I had never been so happy to see a Friday. I also told her congrats on her Weight Watchers result for the week. 3. Tim -- To tell him I wanted to rent a movie on Friday. He did rent The Runaways, but the Redbox DVD was a scratched-up, skipping mess. So I don't know whether it was any good. Doesn't matter, since I'm sure I wouldn't have been able to stay awake to watch it.

I had a friend tell me about her new attitude on life. She heard it from another friend and liked the notion. She said she was tired of being stressed about everything. So her new way of living is to tell herself to not be stressed. That she just wasn't going to be stressed about anything anymore. She wasn't going to let herself. She could be "concerned" about something and work to relieve the concern. But stress? No more. Do you really think it's that easy? To just tell yourself not to be and, poof, stress goes away? I think that's fantasyland talk. I tell myself I shouldn't worry about things all the time, but I still worry. And if I weren't worrying, I'd be worrying about NOT worrying. I think a little stress is healthy. It's motivational. It pushes us to move on past whatever's stressful, so that we might find some relief. I think a lot of stress is dangerous. And I think telling yourself you are not stressed is, well...denial.

Friday makes me... Tired, when I think of all I've done during the week. Excited for upcoming football games and weekend activities. Want a drink after work. Giddy, when I know my boss is out of the office for the next 6 workdays. Remember that weird Tuna Biscuit Roll thing they served in school lunch on Fridays when I was a kid. Also remember the other Friday school lunch staple: chili and cinnamon rolls. YUMM. Watch the clock all day. Think of all I want/need to accomplish on my days off. Hope we get takeout instead of having to cook dinner. Melancholy, knowing that there's only two days of freedom and then it's back to the old grind.

When it is dark enough, you can see the stars. --Ralph Waldo Emerson

10 bits of corporate lingo I hate ('cause I'm in that kinda mood) 1. Leveraging 2. Synergy 3. Bandwidth 4. All-hands meeting 5. Do the heavy lifting 6. Value-stream mapping 7. The big picture 8. Lessons learned 9. Team cohesion 10. Best practice

Name five things in your freezer. 1. Morningstar Farms veggie burgers 2. Blue Bunny Bunny Tracks ice cream 3. Frozen garlic cauliflower 4. Ice packs for H's lunch box 5. 1/4 package Ore Ida tater tots

Would you work for someone who stresses you out even if the money was good? Bwaaahhaaaahhaahahahahahhhaaahahahahahaa! A better question might be: have you ever worked for anyone who hasn't stressed you out? And a follow up to the first question would be: how good? Define "good."

I'll never do __________ again. And here's why... DATE. I've told Tim that we can never ever get divorced because we've invested too much in our lives together and we have a great relationship and we just click. PLUS...I never want to have to do what has to be done to find another partner. The thought of the bar scene or blind date-fixups from friends or scouring for potential mates on the Internet just makes me shudder. All that getting to know someone, figuring out whether he's just quirky or downright nuts, unpacking all that excess baggage, meeting the family and friends, ick. Just plain ick. No thanks. Sorry Tim. You're stuck with me, for better or worse. But we're still on for "Date night" right? There are pluses to that, you know. We pay from a joint account, so it's like going Dutch! And, I'm probably a sure thing. LoL.

10 Unforgettable Moments in my Life (in no particular order) 1. That day, in 4th grade, when I was pulled out of Mr. Goertz's class to be told that my sister had had a baby girl. Brianne and I are 10 years apart and I never made her call me "Aunt Amy" because it made me sound old, I reasoned. I remember being so excited when I found out earlier that morning that she was on her way and so extremely pissed that my mother wouldn't let me miss school to go to the hospital with her and wait. September 25. It's coming up soon, Bri! 2. When I found out my brother was getting married to a woman with two kids! Two little, adorable, blonde toddlerish kids!! And then when they went on to have two more of their own...gosh, I love my nieces and nephews! 3. Anything having to do with Henry. The day we found out we were pregnant, the day we found out our peanut was a boy (via ultrasound), the day he was born, and pretty much every day since...our lives have changed forever. What...

What one gift would you like for yourself? It's so appropriate that I landed on this question at the prompt generator. Events of this week have spelled out exactly what four-letter gift I'd like for myself: TIME. I already felt like there weren't enough hours in the day or week or month. And then this week, we got called in to the boss, who informed us that the finance department doesn't think we're working hard enough. So we all have to work an extra 5 hours a week until at least the end of the year. It's only one extra hour a day, but we're also being scrutinized about what we do while we're at work. We have been told we can't charge anything to overhead...it all has to be "productive" work billable to specific projects/clients. Nothing like being told you've been a total slacker up to now. I feel like I've had five hours of time yanked from my family AND from myself. Less knitting, less blogging (not that I've been all over t...

I'm sitting here in the guest room/home office, enjoying some peace and quiet. Except it's not quiet at all. In the last five minutes I've heard... 1. Tim reading Henry a chapter of Harry Potter (book 3) 2. The dogs chewing their compressed bones 3. Cars zooming past 4. The "clink" of our neighbor's horseshoe pitching 5. Neighbor dogs barking like mad 6. The TV being turned on and tuned to the Vikings/Saints game 7. Clanging and banging from road construction (and I thought I had to work long hours)

What are values you cherish even though they run counter to societal values? I'd like to think that the values I cherish are slowly being embraced by society. Maybe it's wishful thinking. Maybe it's desperate hoping. At any rate, here they are. OPEN-MINDEDNESS, OPEN-HEARTEDNESS. I think adults should be able to love each other without restrictions. We ought to be able to marry who we want, start a family with who we want, and be treated with respect no matter who shares our bed and our life. COMMON COURTESY. Whether it's talking loudly on a cell phone in the line at the grocery store or cutting someone off in traffic, rudeness seems to rule these days. I enjoy polite courtesies. Hold the door open for someone. Refrain from flipping the bird at a bad driver. Smile and say hello when you pass a stranger on the sidewalk. It won't kill you. THE ABILITY TO TRULY LISTEN. So many times I start to have a conversation with someone only to realize quickly that it isn't a ...

From the Imagination Prompt Generator (because I have no imaginative ideas of my own lately)... Top 10 favorite scents or smells 10. Whatever cleaning solution is used by a business near my gym at around 6 a.m. weekdays. It must be Pine-Sol-ish, because it takes me back to my babysitter's kitchen back when I was just a tot. I remember the radio playing country music from KFDI in Wichita, Kansas, while we sat around Mrs. Nix's kitchen table coloring or making art projects. 9. New car. It's a cliche, but since we just bought a new vehicle yesterday (a fabulous purple Honda Fit), I feel justified. 8. Jimmy John's. The smell of baking bread gets me every time. Only thing better than smelling Jimmy John's subs is eating them. Yumm-o. 7. Newborn baby. After he's been washed and freshly diapered and swaddled, smelling that little baby smell and stroking that feathery soft skin is luscious. 6. Cedar chest. It reminds me of fall, getting blankets and sweaters out of ...