I am, Clearly, an Idiot...

"Put things where they're supposed to be."

"Put that where you know you'll find it."

Both of these were things I heard (frequently) from my (obsessively neat and compulsive) grandma. I am neither obsessive or neat.

And I am, clearly, an idiot.

Found!

Remember the Case of the Missing Needle? I was all kerfuffled, bemused, annoyed, frustrated, and bamboozled. 

Till I got home. Yeah. There it is. Just where I put it. Because it's near my other knitting stuff (where it's supposed to be) and because I knew I'd be knitting last night (so I knew where I would find it).... Big as life. I stuck the white card behind it just so you could see it.

If it was any bigger, it would've bitten me...

Anyway.

I'm back on the "right" formation of needles for the KAL sock and I'm forming the foot right now. When I got back from my Zonta meeting, I knitted a few rows while watching the nail-biter of the Hawks' eventual win against the Wild.

I'm not a huge hockey fan, but knitting helps take the edge off the frenzy at my house.

What can I say? I'll never be my granny; I just have to keep better track of my stuff.

Hang on. She used to tell me that all the time, too.... (sigh)

Atkins...

Lunch today was actually particularly good. I mixed an Italian blend of lettuce, butter lettuce blend, olives, avocado, roasted chicken and a small cucumber. Add a lemony Greek-ish dressing, and you have a delicious (and filling) salad.

Which is good, because tonight is yoga, and I find that I can't eat a "real" dinner on yoga nights. I know - you should eat regularly. But you haven't lived till you're in Adho Mukha Svanasana (downward facing dog) and your dinner starts moving back up your esophagus. 

Trust me on this... It's just easier. So my lunch was a little more "carb" than it probably should be, but I'm happier on yoga nights. 

I feel lighter. I'm not sure if I truly AM lighter (other than the 5 lbs. I lost the first week of Induction), and I've learned in this 2-week induction phase that I have to still watch portions. But I'm finding that I have almost lost the craving for sweets (except for that rogue carrot cake last night, but I have an excuse). 

So the rogue cake?? Our women's group met last night. I knew it was going to be "appetizers, salad, dessert" instead of our regular meeting fare. And I figured the appetizers part might be mostly fried stuff. 

But I didn't count on calamari. 

I hate calamari. That was the last-minute substitution of "appetizers." Needless to say, almost 40 women were NOT happy. We had all of THREE calamari fans at our table. I wasn't one of them, and I did really well avoiding the breadsticks and rolls. 

Then out comes the salad........ Oh yeah. I remember THIS disaster from last year. The restaurant does this "salad" that they claim is one of their most popular lunch specials. Not so sure about that.

It's a sliced baked potato - served cold. Layered with tomato slices, green pepper rings, cucumber slices and carrots on the bias. With a small bunch of sliced mushrooms, and sprinkled with green onions. Your dressing options are "Creamy Garlic" and "Italian" - and the garlicky one was REALLY strong. 

No, I didn't take a picture. And yeah, it looks "vaguely" like a sorry imitation of a Caprese salad. 

I didn't eat the peppers. Or the carrots. Or the spud. I was starving. Well, probably not really starving. But hungry. 

Then they set out the carrot cake. I ate it. I'm not sorry. I learned one thing in Weight Watchers - log it, move on and just try harder. 

It was worth it. The salad sucked. 

Buddy...

Introducing -- BUDDY. This is my mom's new dog. He's a Pug-something that she found in the local paper through a new rescue, so new that half of its website is still "under construction" so I won't post the link here. 

Buddy & The Bone

She's had him since Saturday. He's already peed in the house, totally normal behavior for a rescued dog in its new home. He's making himself totally at home, as you can see. 

As a "welcome home" package, Hubby and I picked a selection of stuff from Fun Time Dog Shop, an online shop we frequent where all the profits go to rescue. Check them out at this link:  FUN TIME -- and they're having a Fourth Anniversary Sale, so go and shop!!

My friend Sarah, who owns and runs the business, was kind enough to provide a receptacle for the "basket" and she also tossed in the sample of that green bone Buddy's protecting. He loved it. It's in their shop, so go find it... Can you tell, I'm enthused about their products??

Buddy Basket

So my mom says he's already glommed onto the Tuffy starfish. Love those Tuffy toys - they're just about Husky-proof, too! He's not so sure about the grunting hedgehog. I thought I got the smaller one - this guy is just about his size!! 

He's got more toys than you can shake a stick at, but that's ok. Our dogs have a full toy-box. Buddy will likely get a basket full eventually. 

He's already very protective of my mom and quite attached to her, which is just what I want to see. The little bugger took almost HALF AN HOUR to get near me. But yet, my nephew walked in, and according to my mom, "Buddy just snuggled right up to him."

What??? I even smell like GIRL DOGS.... Aurrrrrrrrrrghhhhhhh!!! Dogs. 

But really, I'm glad he's cautious. I'd rather he be a noise-maker for her, and he was. He barked at me and for a little guy, he's got a lot of bark in him. If you didn't see him, you'd think he was bigger. 

She's happy. He's happy. It's all good. 

Random Picture...

Clouds. Which is what we've had a lot of. This was from a few days ago. Everyone's sick of the rain - just like they were sick of the snow. But it's spring. It's helping the drought we had last year.

Yep, believe it or not, even with all the snow this year, the water table is still a little shaky. We need all of it we can get. The farmers need to get their crops in, but Mother Nature has not been all that cooperative. Rain, yes. But not floods, please, if you don't mind! Let them get the crops in at least!!

Our garden is doing nicely. We already have the radish seeds starting to sprout!! 

OK, blog done. Gotta knit a couple of rows on that sock, then go do my lunch dishes. And I need to get up from this desk anyway. I've got "sit-itis" and it's gotta give soon!

Oh, one of the things we did at the meeting was write 3 goals we want to accomplish for summer; they've been saved and we'll revisit when we reconvene in September. Mine are:

1. Bike the I & M Canal Trail
2. Get Raisa through Obedience
3. Knit a pair of socks (preferably lace?)

Even if I just bike a tiny bit of the I & M, it'll be a true accomplishment. I haven't been on my bike since I started the heart meds. For some reason, I don't do heat all that well... I get really dizzy. So if I can even bike a mile, I'll be feeling rather proud of myself. 

The rest is up to Raisa and the Knitting Goddess...