I'm Back

Did you miss me? I missed you!

Fair warning, this is going to be a long ass post, so I would suggest getting your beverage of choice. Mine is a spiked Arnold Palmer (Smirnoff Citrus Twist, Lemonade and Tea – yum). I’ll wait while you get it.

(insert Final Jeopardy music here)

Ready?

It’s been a bit crazy over the last few weeks. I was also feeling some burnout trying to post to the blog everyday. I had a good run. Part of it was thinking of interesting things to write when my life has been less than interesting. Times are tough, and we’ve been feeling it.

Kevin had an out patient surgical procedure a couple of weeks ago. Prognosis good, and he’s fine and went back to work within a few days. I have also been working diligently building my insurance business with mixed results. This has been very frustrating, yet I persevere.

I am excited about something that I’ve been thinking about a while. Earlier this year, I secured the domain www.solslett.com. I lost Venka.com a few years ago to a toner company in England, which sucked. So what to do with a website? Go look. I’ll wait.

(insert orchestra piece, something along the lines of Disney)

Well? Yeah, it’s still rough and needs some work, but I’m going to publish knitting patterns. My sister-in-law and I are also going to add some of our more expressive photography for those that may be interested in purchasing them for their home or office. I’m still working out the legal aspects, but I remain positive that this will be a successful venture. Keep your fingers crossed for us!

I have been working on writing up patterns. I have a sock pattern called With A Twist, which is a ribbed sock, and fits quite nicely. I also completed a pattern for a wash cloth called Lattice & Columns. Then there are the sleeping masks I made for my life sensitive, desperate to sleep in on the weekends, husband. Last is the Summer Fling Bag.

I have also been working on a line of patterns called Eco Clever Crafting. One of the patterns ready to go has a Eco Clever Crafting tip! Since I’m severely cash strapped right now, I cannot justify spending any money on craft supplies. My solution – thrift stores and Charities such as the Salvation Army or Goodwill.

The Salvation Army has a half off sale the last day of the month. I found a number of good “fiber” sweaters that I am going to unravel, wash and create. A 100% wool sweater in a men’s large was had for only $1.50. Yes, there is work involved, but the sweater was new and a good, workable color. I picked up a few more sweaters with different fiber profiles. I also picked up some old handbags. Purse handles are sometimes quite expensive, and if I can get a bag with interesting handles for a $1 or $2, then why not. It’s a new twist on the Reduce, Reuse and Recycle philosophy. I’m thinking of creating patterns for a shawl, a shopping bag, a laptop case and a few other goodies. Stay tuned.

So, what else is going on……

There was a family reunion in Norway weekend before last. I wasn’t there, obviously. Either was my mom – it was her family. We were both a little emotional about the whole thing. What came out of it was a surprise – cousins that I haven’t seen in years, and spouses I have never met – have been reaching out to me through email and of all things Facebook! I only signed up for that as a lark and never thought it would come to anything. It’s been amazing and wonderful and awesome! I have intermittent contact with two of my aunts, but that’s been it for years. My cousins have told me that Mom and I were spoken of often throughout the weekend and we were very much missed. Now that they know how to reach me, they will keep in contact. How cool is that?

Speaking of cool – we headed down to Los Angeles last weekend. Spent the weekend with our extended family – our wonderful friends. This past weekend at the Hollywood Bowl, Eric Idle of Monty Python fame presented his new project Not the Messiah (He’s a very naughty boy), “a comic oratorio inspired by Monty Python’s Life of Brian”. Billed as “5 soloists, choir, orchestra, 4 bagpipers and some sheep…”, it was a delightful musical romp through the movie. My friend Tammi and I thought it would be fun if we all dressed for the evening, similar to what we did last time we were at the Hollywood Bowl. That was for Rocky Horror, and a much different crowd. Many people thought we were part of the production, and we were the ONLY ones that dressed for the evening. I went as far as to make 3 caftans and a couple of vests which Kevin and our friends Chris and Damon wore for the evening. Tammi brought some costumes from a theater she works for. I have created a Webshots album with the pictures Tammi and I took. Go take a look at us crazy people.


Not the Messiah


We stood out. I typically avoid such situations. This was fun and the vodka didn’t hurt either. The one that looks like he’s drunk – he’s a goof. That’s Damon. My mother l-o-v-e-s him. Damon being Damon loves attention, is very charming and v-e-r-y friendly. But that’s how he endears himself to people and we love him the way he is. It’s never boring with Damon around. We also came up with (I should say Kevin came up with) a gesture to remind us of the evening. Most of you would be familiar with "jazz hands". This is also used as sign language for applause. Well, because we are a little twisted, we employed "crucifiction hands". I know, I know. Blame it on the alcohol.



This would be my hubby, who grew his beard out just for this weekend, and my BFF Chris. The guy cut off on the left is Damon. Chris got on a plane the next day with his daughter and is now in Hawaii playing beach bum. I send a raspberry in his general direction. He better take lots of cool pictures with that new Nikon of his.

What else…..

I think I will end with some brief comments…

Brett Favre is a drama queen – but I would love it if he played for the Vikings. I would like to be proud of them again. 20+ years of disappointment is hard to live with. Go Vikes! Kick Seattle’s ass this Friday. To the Hall of Fame selection committee - when the hell are you going to nominate Cris Carter? 8 Pro Bowl selections, 3 times All Pro, NFL's 1990 All-Decade Team, 1100 receptions, nearly 14000 receiving yards and 130 touchdowns isn't good enough? Shesh.

Paris Hilton – I don’t hate her anymore. Her “response” ad to McCain’s Obama Celebrity bash was hilarious!

McCain – I liked you in 2000. I could have voted for that McCain. Not so much anymore. Can we hear what you will do – a consistent message that doesn’t change for a week or so – instead of what Obama knows/doesn’t know/lies about/doesn’t have experience with? What happened to the Straight Talk Express?

Obama – specifics please. No more race baiting. Yes, the Republican smear campaign will do its worst. It’s what they do. I would hope that you would take the high road.

Clinton – I love you Bill and would vote for you again in a minute, but quit being such a whiny drama queen. “No one is ready to be President” my ass. Were you back when you took the oath? Way to go in supporting the party.

Democrats – what the hell? 7% approval rating isn’t enough to wake your asses up? You CAN’T blame it all on Bush and Republicans. Get a clue. We the People are fed up with your partisan crap and continuing to flush the country down the toilet. There have been so many incidents of corruption and illegal activity in this administration, it makes Nixon’s actions petty in retrospect. Also, I have a simple suggestion. Close the damn Enron loophole and take speculation out of the energy market. How many more hearings do you have to have, how many people have to tell you that this loophole can easily be closed and should be? Are you people deaf or just dumb?

China & the Olympics – The OCC made a huge mistake granting these summer games to China. Of course, since they own us we can’t protest too much. Bush has zero pull, and every request he has made has been denied. He wanted to go to an underground church on Sunday – nope. He wanted to give a speech a la Reagan at the Berlin wall – hell no. There were other examples, but these stood out to me. Bush thought he could give a speech in a public square – in China? Pushing for that positive legacy thing can be tough. We can’t get China’s support in Darfur. What on earth makes anyone think we can change how they treat their own people within their borders? Two words – Free Tibet!

Wow, didn’t realize I had that much of a rant in me tonight. I’ve typed almost 1500 words. That’s an essay. Good thing I’m not being graded. Am I?

I don’t know if I’ll get back to posting every day, but I won’t go almost a month without a reason. I missed this more than I thought.

I’m out of beverage and I need to load this.

Again – thanks to those that reached out to me and posted comments during my absence. As always, it was much appreciated and much welcomed. Looking forward to your comments in the future!

Take care and I’ll see you soon.