Much Ado About Socks

I've finished the first Stripey sock & have started on the second! So far the stripes are lining up PERFECTLY! Yea Me!

In other news, it's been a full week since I emailed my spoilee for Sockapalooza 4 and I still haven't received a response. She has updated her blog a few times so I know she is about. I resent my original message yesterday afternoon in case it was inadvertently deleted, not received or marked as spam. How long do you think I should give it before I contact the moderator? I don't want to be a pest, but I also don't want to wait forever to get started! It wouldn't be bad that she hasn't responded, but she didn't include any info in her profile.. no colors, no sizing, no pattern clues... nothing! (sigh)

Socks & Sprouts

Since I have finished the baby knits (for now) I decided to start on a pair of socks using a beautiful merino yarn I picked up in Philly back in December. I've lost the band, so I can't tell you who it's by. This is my progress so far.
Windle decided he was being ignored & demanded to appear in the next one.
I'm knitting 72sts on size 2 needles. Started with a 2x2 rib and the rest is plain ol' stockinette. I have about 1/2" to go before beginning the heel flap.

Also, my seeds are beginning to sprout.

Oregano

Basil

Cucumbers & Beets

The weather has been beautiful these last few days, so I moved them outside this afternoon. Hopefully the other seeds will sprout under more direct sunlight. :)

In other news, I'm sure you've all heard about the new expanded pet food recall, which includes dry food. Apparently they now have reason to believe the poisoning was deliberate. They are also warning people against eating pork. Thankfully neither the kitties nor the puppy's dry food is on the list and they are getting their wet food home-cooked. How far is this thing going to go?

Edit: So I just realized that I'm knitting these socks on size 0 needles... how could I forget that?! I even had to go buy the damn needles, because I didn't have anything below size 1 and that was too loose with this yarn! Crazy!

Sunny Sunday

Is is me or does that little cloud look like a jellyfish?

Nice bright sunny day, still chilly but more springlike. At least it isn't snowing. So I decided to do this...
The individual planters have herb seeds (basil, oregano, parsley, cilantro & rosemary) and the large starter tray has veggies (carrots, cucumbers, peppers, beans & beets). This is the most veggies I've ever attempted to grow. I'm really hoping the carrots & beets turn out because I would love to make the Russian Beet & Carrot salad using home-grown ingredients! :) I also got the seeds going in the little kitty planter we got for x-mas.

There's no catnip, just wheat, rye, barley & oats. I don't know how the cat's will take to it, but there's no harm in giving it a go.

The Insurance Battle

Today I had my first (of many, I'm sure) talk with Blue Cross. Apparently the referral I had was a "global office visit" referral and did not cover the operation, even though it was performed by that doctor. They said I need to call Dr. Randolph's office and have them submit a request for authorization. Ok.

So I call there and am told that, because the operation was performed at the hospital & not "in office", I need to contact surgery scheduling at the hospital & have them do it. I did find out from the lady at the office that I wasn't supposed to get a separate referral, they (meaning surgery scheduling) were supposed to submit said request prior to my operation. So, not my fault. Ok.

Call surgery scheduling. They are going to "try and get the surgery retroactively approved" but need me to call my primary care physician and have them issue a surgery referral. I told them that Blue Cross said I didn't need to do that. But, whatever.

So, tomorrow I have to call my pcp and have them do a retroactive referral and then call the hospital billing dept. and let them know what is going on. Somehow I just don't see this being cleared up anytime soon. (sigh)

On the bright side, I came home to find such loveliness blooming in my backyard...


Also... Honey & I are working on setting up my own website (since I already own the domain). I have set up a blog at wordpress to get a general idea of how I want it to work with multiple pages. Please, take a look and let me know what you think. What aspects do you like/dislike from my blogger site and which aspects do you like/dislike from wordpress. I'd really appreciate the feedback!

Sunny & 70!

That was yesterday. 73 actually. Gorgeous! To take full advantage of the weather, I took Corrina to the dog park after work. It was packed! There must have been 20-25 dogs there! Needless to day, she had a wonderful time and came home absolutely filthy! Kris will be bathing her tonight!

As a consequence of this beautiful weather, my poor plants are prematurely budding:

This premature warming is wreaking havoc on the poor things. Alas, they will be dead by morning, as we are supposed to get snow overnight. I have to say, I can't remember when we've had such a mild winter & I've lived here my whole life!

In music news, I've been listening to The Essex Green lately. Honey loaded them on my ipod, cause he thought I'd like them. He was right. The female vocalist reminds me of early 10,000 Maniacs era Natalie Merchant, especially on the first track "This Isn't Farm Life". I'm really digging them. Check out Don't Know Why (You Stay) from their latest album Cannibal Sea. Catchy, ain't it!

Thanks for the suggestions on the use of my beautiful Manos yarn. I think I may go with the "My So Called Scarf" pattern that Ingrid suggested. Very purty!

Ok, now I must have myself a little rant. Has anyone else been following the firing scandal in the justice department? I swear I don't know how much more of this people are going to stand before they impeach this administration! For pete's sake, they impeached Clinton for lying about having sex! These idiots have lead us into a war under false pretenses, are sanctioning torture, and have suspended habeas corpus! The rampant cronyism & incompetence are disgusting! (puts soap box away... for now)

Spring?

The first signs of spring are appearing here in frosty Ypsilanti.

A few days ago I noticed little green hosta shoots beginning to peak out of the soil. I've been hearing more and more birds tweeting in the trees. And today, I saw the first open Dairy Queen! It is official! SPRING!

Of course, the temp is supposed to get down to 5 below tonight. But that's just a technicality! ;)