Tagged.....8 random things about me

I've been tagged! Thanks Cynthia! Just you wait....one will be coming your way!

Rules:
Once tagged, you must link to the person who tagged you. Then post the rules before your list, and list 8 random things about yourself. At the end of the post, you must tag and link to 8 other people, visit their sites, and leave a comment letting them know they’ve been tagged.

I can not grow long fingernails.......theystart to grow and then wham! Splittling, peeling, cracking, chipping, bending, breaking.....it all happens! Even fake nails seem to get torn off quickly so I've given up.

I go through phases of Coke addiciton (as in Coca-Cola....I'm not that naughty)...and its not the caffeine, its jut the bubbly taste that I crave. When I've had enough of it I'll walk away and not look back until the craving starts again a few months later.

I thrive in organized chaos.....disorder is my middle name and while to you its disorder and clutter and piles of crap, to me its strategically hidden gold mines of wonderfully hoarded stuff.

Shoes....I have an addiction to them, and probably over 100 pairs by now.....but at the same time I hate to spend more than 75 on a pair unless I REALLY love them.....i.e. my Stuart Wiseman's that I bought in Chicago, or my Pumas and Birkenstocks......I love German shoes.

Mirrors.....as my family well knows, I have a fascination with them.

Do you know how hard it is to think of 8 random facts that I've not already shared somewhere? Anyhow, continuing on with items 6,7 and 8

I have a fear of mice loose in the house.....but put them behind glass and its awwww....they are soo cute!

I love marker boards and the smell of the white board markers

And last, but not least......

Magnents......I love them.....I'll sit and play with them for hours. I have 8 small wall magnents stacked up on my computer stand that i play with while on telephone conference calls etc.


Now..........who to tag.......who to tag...... well it says 8, but I know many of your have already done this......so lets tag...... Anita, Marvie, Jenny, Stacey, Yasmin, Mimi ..... and whoever else has not been tagged, consider yourself tagged....sheesh......finding 8 people is hard when you begin to think, okay, who might possibly play along, who has not been tagged already......blah balh blah....thats it, I need a drink.......of Coke!

Random things to amaze your friends

Some random things to pull out on Quiz nights to amaze your friends and family with! Enjoy!


"Stewardesses" is the longest English word typed with only the left hand and "lollipop" is the longest English word typed with your right hand.


No word in the English language rhymes with month, orange, silver, or purple.


"Dreamt" is the only English word that ends in the letters "mt".


Our eyes are always the same size from birth, but our noseand ears never stop growing.


The sentence: "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog" uses every letter of the alphabet.


The words 'racecar,' 'kayak' and 'level' are the same whether they are read left to right or right to left (palindromes).


There are only four words in the English language which end in "dous": tremendous, horrendous, stupendous, and hazardous.


There are two words in the English language that have all five vowels in order: "abstemious" and "facetious." (Yes, admit it, you are going to say, a e i o u)


TYPEWRITER is the longest word that can be made using the letters only on one row of the keyboard. (unless of course you have a non-US keyboard - my W is not in the top row but the bottom row)


A goldfish has a memory span of three seconds. (Some days that's about what my memory span is.)


A "jiffy" is an actual unit of time for 1/100th of a second.


A shark is the only fish that can blink with both eyes.


A snail can sleep for three years. (I know some people that could do this too.!)


Almonds are a member of the peach family.


An ostrich's eye is bigger than its brain.


Babiesare born without kneecaps. They don't appear until the child reaches 2 to 6 years of age.


February 1865 is the only month in recorded history not to have a full moon.


In the last 4,000 years, no new animals have been domesticated.


If the population of China walked past you, 8 abreast, the line would never end because of the rate of reproduction.


Leonardo Da Vinci invented the scissors


Peanuts are one of the ingredients of dynamite!


Rubber bands last longer when refrigerated.


The average person's left hand does 56% of the typing.


The cruise liner, QE 2, moves only six inches for each gallon of diesel that it burns.


The microwave was invented after a researcher walked by a radar tube and a chocolate bar melted in his pocket.


The winter of 1932 was so cold that Niagara Falls froze completely solid.


There are more chickens than people in the world.

Let the presents begin......

I finished the first of what may be many dishcloths. I saw on Ravelry that someone had used my Crazy Cloth pattern with a skein of Anchor Cotton which I have plenty of, so away I went with one skein of self striping yarn and a F hook.
The colors come out a little bit strange due to the combination of office lights plus cell phone camera, but they are as follows: Purple, Fuchsia, Reddish, Salmon.....very pretty and I love how the yarn stripes itself nicely in this pattern!

I am also working right now on a knitted Christmas design dishcloth....about half way done with it, and its turning out cute!! I am using a skein of Coats Lyric Cotton.....it works up so nicely!

Have a super Wednesday!

The countdown is on.......

Get Myspace Christmas Countdown

Lets all go Awwwwwww! Is he not the cutest? Horrible little message though....can you believe that Christmas is just around the corner? 2 months and 2 days to go! Eeeeek!!

What are you making this year for gifts?

I've not really thought about it too much yet. Perhaps some scarves or potholders. The family really does not want anything "homemade" aside from the little ones who think that Aunt Kim is super cool for being able to make things with yarn. My niece Megan has requested Dora clothes as follows: Purple Skirt, Yellow dress, Orange Shorts, Red Shirts, White Shirt, Blue Pants, Green Pants, Purple Pajamas, Pink Bathingsuit.....bright and colorful thats for sure! I talked her into the White shirt as at first she only wanted Red but I said that the Red Shirt would not look good with Orange Shorts which finally convinced her to allow the white shirt too.

I am going to make some ornament type things that the family can always hide at the back of their tree if they really do not like them! =) I fear that I'll turn into my Grandma who passes out tacky beaded ornaments by the handful that we all grin and bear.....last year after she handed us all handfuls at Christmas dinner we all sneaked ours on my Moms Christmas tree.....she found them when she took the tree down and could not possibly think where all 100 extra ornaments came from =)

Yet another weekend over.....

Can you believe it? For that matter, October is almost over! This year is simply flying by for me!

First of all, thanks to everyone who commented on my post about Zürich. I am indeed a little bit happy about the new job, although it does come with some reservations. I am not so sure that I want to stay in Europe, but unless I leave the boyfriend, that is really what I need to do! Andy - there is indeed a nice yarn shop in Zurich....or at least it looks nice from the window - I've never actually managed to make it there when it was open! One of these trips I will!

Anyways, how did you all spend your weekend?

Saturday was the normal shopping. Sunday woke up early (9am...which is early for a Sunday) and went with the boyfriend to the farmers market where he bought me another house plant (is there a theme going on here?) and a bunch of fresh fruit.

I also proclaimed it WIP day so I kicked the bf out of the apartment, lined up about 10 WIPs next to me, started a timer and went to work on them in 15 minute increments and forced myself to work on each for 15 minutes.

Here are some of the things that I finished over the weekend, including some WIPs....

Pattern Found here: Knitters Brooch I turned it from a brooch into an ornament by adding a loop.
Inverted colors from my last round ripple as I try to use up some yarn. Have finished the green and am now on the solid yellow section.
One side all sewn together all ends weaved in. Have started sewing the second side together.
Stitch markers that I made for a Swap package a few weeks ago.....forgot to post the picture.

I don't have pictures but I finally finished the Cabbage Patch Shoes and Pants - all ends sewn in and ties added to the shoes. I am putting the top on hold - just no time for it!

I also finished 2 more pairs of ice skates - pictures coming soon!

What else am I working on? Red Christmas Ornament washcloth, 3 Crazy Cloths, more Ice Skates (so quick and easy - perfect project to have in the purse), Irish Hiking Wrist Warmers, Dora the Explorer wardrobe in Rainbow colors, Square Doily, Snowflakes waiting to be blocked

I also want to find some time to make more snowflakes, some scarves, different potholders, finish my Weaved Hot pad design.....

way too much to do and no where near enough time!

Have a great week everyone!

Hello from Zürich!

Thats right, I'm in Zürich today....I just do not seem able to stay in Brussels these days! I am here just for the day though which is not so bad. I came in for a meeting with the Finance VP on careers / future etc.

The result.....I'm switching jobs. Which is not a surprise to me . They moved me into a sidestep role in August helping out a new country region get setup and up to speed. This has been fun and interesting, but at the same time a TON of added work since I could not fully give up my old role.

The new position is still currently based in Brussels although I need to think about more long term and where I want to end up. Theres the possibility of actually moving here to Zürich which while not a requirement at this point might potentially become one in the near to mid-term if I want to stay in Europe.

I'll still report to the same boss which has him excited as the other 2 managers are leaving his group - one for MBA School the other to go back to the US. I will be the only remaining manager that was there when he took over the group, so I'll be providing the knowledge base and experience leadership for the team.

The only potential downside? The business that I'll be supporting has been supported in the past year by a manager and an analyst.....when I start it will be supported by me. Just me. So I'll still be doing 2 roles....I really wish I would be paid for those 2 roles. But I only get the one salary.

Crocheting news you ask? I started another Round Ripple today on the plane....I only brought 2 colors with me since I had to fit them in my computer bag and I am almost done with those so I'll have to wait until I get back to Belgium to really start moving along on it.

I washed the Granny Square Blanket that I made with the local acrylic yarn that I found here last night....with just one washing it has softened up considerably. I am very happy with it! I have enough left from what I bought to make another 2 blankets.....I'll probably make some double stranded round ripples from it instead of the Granny Square Ghan.

Deneen is working on a Felted Noro Shawl that looks really interesting. I still have some skeins of Noro left from my French Market Bag that I made for the Olympics....depending on her final verdict I might try this as well!

My project queue over at Ravelry is growing by leaps and bounds.....I really need to start making some of them! There seems to be an abundance of Cable Scarves and Sock Patterns queued. I do need to start working on Christmas gifts soon...hmmmmmm

Call the printing presses???

It seems that my history books were wrong.....or at least someone told me that! I was informed today that Americans were the cause of every major war in history. Imagine that! And this, might I add, by a German.

Lets see here.....

WWI - Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand (28 June 1914) followed by Austrian declaration of war on Serbia (28 July) and Russian mobilisation against Austria-Hungary (29 July). The US entered when Congress declared war on 6 April 1917

WWII - was a worldwide military conflict; the amalgamation of two separate conflicts, one beginning in Asia, 1937, as the Second Sino-Japanese War and the other beginning in Europe, 1939, with the German invasion of Poland. The US did not enter the conflicts until bombed by the Japanese in December 1941 and four days later, Germany declared war on the United States.

Vietnam War - War between North Vietnam and US backed South Vietnam. Various factors led up to the war and the fighting, including the US refusal to acknowledge the North's government, the US belief in the Domino Theory causing their support of the SOuth's "Republic" government.

Korean War - The Korean War was a conflict precipitated when the Soviet supported North Korean Army invaded neighboring South Korea (supported by the United States) on June 25, 1950. The main hostilities were during the period from June 25, 1950 until the armistice (ceasefire agreement) was signed on July 27, 1953.

Gulf War I - A conflict between Iraq and a coalition force from 35 nations authorized by the United Nations (UN) and led primarily by the United States in order to liberate Kuwait. The war developed out of the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait on August 2, 1990.

Note: Details on the wars come from Wikipedia.org

And those are just the major conflicts in the 1900s...I guess you can say we started Vietnam....or at least played a role in starting it. The current War in Iraq....we all know how that one started! And the War in Afghanistan. Other smaller conflicts. But the war that killed the most people? Started by the Germans. Who needs to go back and have a history lesson? I do not think that it is me!

And, I must say that this is not the first time that I have been told that it was the Americans who started WWII.....also by Germans. Did they miss something here? Invading the surrounding countries, bombing the UK, marching on Moscow, submarine warfare.....

Rugby, Crocheting, Shopping

That was the extent of my weekend! I watched several games of the Rugby World Cup matches, crocheted while doing so, and managed to find some time to go shopping, do 6 loads of laundry and a whole list of other things around the house!

Greece was tiring. It is absolutely gorgeous, but I am glad to be back just to not have 6:30am wakeup calls and returning to the room at midnight+. Meetings are nice, but at the end of the day exhausting.


Often while wandering around Brussels you will find painted picturse on buildings....Brussels has a huge comic book industry....think of TinTin, The Smurfs... Here are some that I found this weekend:


And to leave you for today, two pictures from Brussels...one of meti with the Mannequin Pis and one of me with the less known Jannequin Pis.


Have a great week!

I'm tired.

I am tired of working all of these hours. I am tired of things being piled on me because they know I can get it done. I am tired of listening to the guy above me stomp across the floor all night long (just what is he doing up there that causes him to stomp stomp stomp?). I am tired of lots of things. I am tired of travelling.

But travelling I do and a travelling I go.

Just back from Zurich and I was told today I have to be on a plane tomorrow morning at 9:35 and return Friday evening at 11pm. The destination is great, but the hours will stink - 8am starts, midnight+ finishes. All taking place in the wonderful city of Athens Greece!

I'm excited! I've not been back to Greece since my cruise there with my Aunt a few years ago. I just wish I had time to stay the weekend and relax a little bit but I really need to find the time to grocery shop and do laundry this weekend!

It looks like we might have a 45 minute walking tour of Athens one evening. I might get some pictures....otherwise I'll just recylcle pictures from my last trip there =) You'll never know right? *grin*

Before I forget, the linkage for the Ice Skate ornaments is HERE

I also came across the pattern for adorable mini stocking ornaments

I am off to get some work done, and then packing and perhaps a few starter loads of laundry....there is about 3 weeks worth of it piled up right now!

Deep Breathe......hold it....hold it.....

Thats it......now exhale *whoooosh*

I survived.

I think.

=)

The trip to Zurich was an omen of things to come. Where to begin.....

My car had to be taken to the Audi garage while I was in Zurich, but thankfully one of the building workers took it in for me so I did not need to handle the Swiss-German garage speak - nightmares!

I never really did see the hotel room and absolutely nothing of Zurich aside from the office, hotel restaurant, Starbucks and as I said, to some extent my hotel room. Every day I was out of my room before 8 and standing in Starbucks to grab a Strawberries & Cream Frappachino....I had to walk past Starbucks which was connected to the hotel lobby so how could I resist? I then would spend the next 14 to 15 hours at the office. When I would leave about 10:30 / 11:00 to head to the hotel with a colleague who was also staying there where we would go to the restaurant with out PCs and continue working using the wireless connection. I would stumble into my hotel room at about 12:30 / 1 am where I would call the boyfriend to tell him good night and then promptly pass out to be rudely awoken at 7:00 to start it all over again.

The crocheting that I brought with me never saw the light of day....nor the hotel lights at night.

Friday ended at 6:00pm where I then sprinted for my car and began the 6 hour drive back to Brussels.

I was so tired by the time I made it home and utterly exhausted that I could not sleep. I kept waking up talking about work and thigns that I had hoped I had done etc.

Its over for a few days. I can only hope that the next rounds of submissions are easier and I can have some sanity at the end of October left!

I was able to do something crafty this weekend. I've been scrambling like mad to make some Christmas ornaments. The ones that I sent in August to my swap partner have gone MIA so I am making new ones to send. Here are the ones I made for her yesterday:



Are they not cute? My Grandmother made similar ornaments for our tree when we were young, except that they were made from felt, not crocheted.

Okay, more meetings - have a great day!