I Know There Are Ignorant People Out There...

...But come on. This one takes the cake. (Mmmmm. Cake.)

My husband and I were in a taxi the other night going to a friend's house for dinner. We were in San Francisco, the city in which we both work and have lived for years before moving north over the Golden Gate bridge about 12 miles.

San Francisco. Bumfuck it ain't.

Or so I thought. We're at a red light. A pickup truck pulls up next to our taxi. Woman in passenger seat leans out the window and says to our driver:

Woman: "How do we get to 101 South?"

Driver: "Make a left at this light and go about 2 blocks. You'll see it on your right."

At this point, the guy driving the pickup truck who is out of our line of vision calls out the the taxi driver:

Redneck Asshole: "Hey. Where are all the gays at?"

Driver: "Huh?"

Redneck Asshole: "You know, gays."

When he didn't get a response, he kicks it up a notch:

Redneck Asshole: "OK. Where are the prostitutes at?"

I'm no pollyanna, but if I didn't hear this with my own two ears I may not have believed it. And not because he ended his questions with a preposition. But because of his sheer stupidity.

And...these two morons had little kids in the front seat with them. So for those of you wondering where ignorant children come from, I'll tell you: Ignorant parents. Wouldn't it be great if one or both of the kids turned out to be gay?

That would be just desserts, so to speak.

(Mmmm. Dessert.)

Secret Pal Goodies!

Sorry, I've been remiss in posting pics of what my fab Secret Pal sent to me. Things have been a little busy (yeah, yeah, who isn't busy?) and my knitting, and all things related to it, have just taken a back seat.

Here's where my head is currently when it comes to knitting:

A.) It's friggin' hot out. Who wants to knit in this heat?
B.) I have 9 million projects but don't know which one to start.
C.) I'm still "perfecting" how to figure out adjusting sweater patterns for me and I don't want to start something that will just get ripped out.
D.) I'm the kind of knitter who wants to wear something immediately. There's nothing I want to wear less in 90 degree heat than a scarf, hat or sweater. And since I don't knit socks, that's not an option.

So those are my lame excuses for not posting about knitting or my Secret Pal. But enough of that. Let's see what my Secret Pal sent:

The packaging:


Everything wrapped up so nicely inside.

Now to the goodies:


Pattern and lovely red yarn to make the "potato chip" scarf. A friend of mine made this scarf and I was interested in making one myself. Now I can!


Mini tootsie rolls. Who doesn't love these? (These will stay hidden until I win my weight loss competition!)

And wait until you see this:


The Laughing Cow! My favorite. Where on earth did my Pal find this? It's a little tin tray with the famous cow. So great. I love it! And Monkey tissues! Adorable. Anything monkey is perfect for me.


A book that celebrates the power and potential on one: You. (Or in this case, Me.) It contains interesting quotes such as:

"Put your future in good hands--your own."

and

"The best day of your life is the one on which you decide your life is your own. No apologies or excuses. No one to lean on, rely on, or blame. The gift of life is yours; it is an amazing journey; and you alone are responsible for the quality of it."

Hmmm. My brother should contemplate that last quote...

And the very best (IMHO, tho it is hard to top the Laughing Cow...):


Beautiful glass beaded stitch markers.

I have always used the crappy plastic ones. Not any more. These are just beautiful. They could be earrings. Or a necklace. They'll be fun to knit with. I'm inspired to start something right away that needs markers!

My Pal also sent delicious raspberry Altoids, but those are on the desk in my office and were not able to participate in the photo shoot!

Thanks Secret Pal. You researched me well and did an awesome job of sending me unique things that are just my style. You're a great Pal! (And sorry, once again, for my late posting...)

Thanks Secret Pal!!!

I got such a great box of goodies right before I left for the long holiday weekend. All of the items are truly fab. I will post pics tonight of my goodies.

Thanks Secret Pal. You're the best!

Obesity...Part Deux

Who could imagine all that could happen as a result of purchasing a stupid scale?

As my previous post mentioned, I bought a new scale. This new purchase of mine tells me I'm 44% body fat. While I don't necessarily believe its technology and doubted its reading to be true, I was realistic enough to know that my body fat percentage was higher than it should be.

So last week, I had my body fat percentage tested at a nutritionist's office. (Said nutritionist also mentioned that I should start eating meat again -- which I found a bit strange for a Northern California nutritionist, but I digress...) Thankfully, my real body fat percentage is not 44%. But it ain't very pretty. It's 36%. And I should be in the vacinity of 24%. Oooof.

So now I'm faced with a decision: A.)Ignore it. Or B.) Do something about it.

I opted for B and decided to join Weight Watchers. I know. How dorky. But they must do something right. They've been around for 40 years and are the number one weight loss plan around for keeping weight off.

My friend Marissa decided to join me in my quest to lose a few. Which then led to the two of us crafting a little competition. Who could lose the most weight in a 10-week timeframe? The winner (ie: biggest loser) pays the loser (ie: not the biggest loser) $150 bucks.

That led to adding our frind Christina into our little competition. Which led to adding Judi, and Alison and Ally and Terry. Now we've got seven participants in our little weight loss-apalooza.

The rules are simple: she who loses the largest percentage of body weight after 10 weeks collects $150 from all the other participants. That's a total windfall of $900 smackers.

I'm going to win.

Think of the yarn I'll buy.

I'll keep you posted. Or you can follow along at our blog.