Great. Now I have that song stuck in my head.

Its been a week. And I mean that.. its been a week. A rough week. We've had sick kids. John Edwards didn't do as well as I'd hoped in Nevada. And the kicker, Green Bay lost to the NY Giants... bleh. It could have been worse, like a loss to the Cowboys. I generally stick with the NFC team, but this time around I'd risk a case of the hives. So.. GO PATRIOTS!

Anyway.. I have a little in the way of food, fiber, and fun from Chez Martin..

These are the Blue Chip Cookies, posted on Smitten Kitchen last week (Deb has been my culinary inspiration lately.) I like a chewier cookie however, and these were quite crunchy. But the toasted pecans vs. traditional walnuts made them worthwhile and a definite future do-over.

I finished the socks. Nothing special. Just the basic sock recipe from one of the Yarn Harlot's books (Knitting Rules maybe?) Worked on size US1 needles in Shibui Sock "Breeze".

I finished spinning a single of my first bundle of Oompa Loompa BFL roving from Spunky Ecclectic..

And finished plying it the very next day. Navajo ply, not sure of the yardage.. I forgot to count as I wound it. Only two more bundles to go.

Red is impossible to photograph. At least for me it is. This is a little side project which will be revealed maybe in the next week or so. Being worked in a new to me yarn.. Debbie Bliss Luxury Donegal Tweed. I don't adore the yarn. But I don't hate it either. I do however, love my donkey stitch markers.

Lastly, Gilbert found a new hiding place under my new chair. She didn't appreciate being my subject this morning.

*phone rings*

Carla: Hello?

brief silence before recored message starts

"Hello, this is Rudy Giuliani, calling to let you know that I support my friend, Joanie Mahoney.. "

The point worth mentioning? Joanie Mahoney doesn't deserve my vote. Giuliani?... *eye roll*

In a few days, on Sunday to be exact, I will celebrate my first annual 39th birthday. This is a big milestone, no? Well, maybe it isn't since I plan to celebrate the same birthday every year from here on out.

So I'd like to entertain a little reversal here, and have a little contest. No answering questions, no donations to charities, just leave a comment telling me about a favorite birthday present you've received. I'll pick one at random on Sunday, November 4th and put together a little surprise package for the winner. See, as much as I love receiving surprises.. I adore putting together surprises for others. If the winner is a knitter or spinner, perhaps you'll get a nice fibery surprise in the mail. If you're not, maybe an Amazon or iTunes gift certificate... I have lots of ideas!

And here, I'll get you started. What is my favorite birthday present? Cassidy! She was born just a few months shy of my 30th birthday, and I had always wanted a baby before I turned 30 (weird.. I know!) But besides all of that, Richard and I were both surprised, since we had always thought our path to parenthood would be a difficult one. We were looking at facing lengthy and heartbreaking fertility cycles.. then there it was.. a positive pregnancy test, all on our own. And after a rocky first trimester, when we were expecting the worst to happen every day, despite bed rest and progesterone supplements, we were truly blessed... just in time to fulfill my 30th birthday wish.

Now, go, and tell me all about your favorite birthday present! As you can tell, it doesn't have to be a "thing", it can be "the perfect day", a great meal... anything.

P.S. Scorpios Rule!

And this one is pretty interesting since it encourages both sides of the argument to participate in the political commentary, mostly unmoderated. In some of the threads I've read, the arguments are pretty fierce, making me wonder why most right wingers who debate on the web, lack basic understanding in the English language and grammar. Hopefully some sane conservatives will find these forums and bring some thoughtful debate with them.

While the forum's name, "Argue With Everyone" describes what goes on there, no one wins when you just scream at each other.

Cross posted at liberalmom.com

Y'all know I adore Keith Olbermann and despise Bill O'Reilly. But this is the first time I'm going to say this publicly, on my blog and not just to those close to me..

If you watch Bill O'Reilly, or the rest of Fox News programming, for anything other than pure entertainment... the kind of entertainment where you proceed to throw soft items at your TV, or curse loudly, or just laugh at Bill, Sean or Gibby's obviously insane lies...

Your an idiot.

I won't limit your idiocy to just watching Faux News. I'm including listeners of the same knuckle dragging jerk's radio shows.

There I said it, and I feel better.

Just because the news of the day doesn't go your way, doesn't mean you should create a news channel just to make shit up. Got that Rupert?

Its time for some surfing and linky love..

Bento Yum. I adore Bento stuff. I'm addicted to looking at it. I want it all. The bonus is that one of the mamas who writes this blog, also writes another I've enjoyed for a long time, The Lactivist Blog.

Colored Paper Art. So much fun to look at. I swear!

Country Living, Country Skills. There are so many things on the list that I've wanted to know about. Homesteading has always interested me (on some weird level,) though I need my basic technologies.

Mr Picasso Head. Make your own Picasso!

The Sheep Market. Though I don't totally understand the why of it. I like mousing over the images and who doesn't like sheep?

Beer Cupcakes. Yes you heard that right.. BEER cupcakes.

Love Americans, Hate Bush. I don't think I need to say anything more.

Knitting post later.. ok maybe later. I'm having a bit of a painful issue in my upper right arm. I'm not sure if its tendonitis or something else, but it started bugging me on Saturday and has gotten progressively worse since. I don't think its related to knitting since I haven't been doing much at all. Its also aggrivated by typing and using the computer mouse.

Anyway, I'm up to chart three on the Dark Mark Illusion Scarf. And I started another project.

So if you scare easily by curse words, and unadulterated political ranting, avert your eyes (or don't make the jump)

Blue Gal blogged about a post at PoliTits, and I can't agree more. The entry's title is award winning (jump inside the extended entry)

Come on now, get out of my head..