Jennifer's 365 Project

And bringing home some work helped make it a tad longer.

Leki kept trying to nap on me while I played Mass Effect and I kept pushing him of. He finally settled in on the temporary table we have set up.

He's creepily close to eye-level...

It snowed a fair amount this morning. That haze? That's fine snowfall, falling fast and blanketing everything in sight.

After looking at the weather, I snuggled up and played some Mass Effect.

Eventually I got up, put some granola in the dehydrator, then promptly sat down and passed out for a few hours. Video games and reading will lull me to sleep quickly, especially if it's a video game with soothing music.

In the late afternoon we did head back out and drove around looking neighborhoods. We found a few houses we'd actually like to get into and look. So progress!
I also played around a bit more with the large knitting needles I have for a blanket I'm going to make. Previously I'd just created what amounted to a swatch to see if I was getting the size right. My gauge is a little off, but I'd say pretty close and since I'm not knitting a sweater I don't think it's going to matter too much. I spent about an hour (out of the approximate six this blanket is supposed to take) and I got a fair amount done. I think this blanket will take me longer than six hours, but since it's my second knitting project (even though my first isn't complete - scarfs take a LONG time).
Oddly  I think the "wrong" side of the blanket looks better than the purl stitch side.

There's a yarn show right next to the laundromat we use. It's called Threadbenders and honestly, I thought it was closed. It's kind of a poorly set up strip mall, so every time you walk past it the store looks dim and closed. Anyway, I wandered over and popped in. They have a lot of different stuff.

I walked away very confused.



Meanwhile Chris was doing laundry a few doors down. I used to hate going to the laundromat. Im still not keen on it (I'm a big fan of just leaving my laundry in the dryer until I need it which you can't do at a laundromat) but is growing on me. If nothing else it's a great opportunity to read.

Plus, I don't really do anything. Chris does everything except stuffing my clothes back in the dresser. So really, it's a awesome setup.



Once laundry was done we headed out to various part of Grand Rapids and looked at neighborhoods and various houses for sale. I'm sure we'll be back out tomorrow as well, working to whittle down a list of homes to something more reasonable than what we started with.

It was a long but productive day.

It was nice to see the ice rink downtown busier than it has been the last few Fridays around noon. Hooray for sunny weather on a Friday!

Sometimes the day is long, busy and exhausting. Suddenly you find yourself in the store to pick up dish soap and end up walking out with a whole roasted chicken.

At least I didn't have to worry about what to cook tonight.

Had a nice hour in the library with a new book and some tasty pumpkin treats that Erin made (these things are delicious!).

This is what we do during the State of the Union.

Every year my parents give me a ferret calendar. They tried to weasel out of it once or twice, but no! I accept ferret calendars from my parents only, as an Xmas gift. It's a tradition, like the Xanth box.

Anyway, I forgot it at my parents Xmas eve. Chris was kind enough to make me an alternative January calendar, but it's not the same. So hooray for my mom mailing it to me! Saves us a road trip to metro Detroit.

 We bought a mini-cupcake maker yesterday. I don't have a good reason for purchasing such a device, other than my co-worker raves about how much her kids love theirs and the fact that it was on clearance with a decent coupon on top of it. Sub $10 I suppose is worth checking it out.

And yes, I do actually have mini-muffin tins that I use so this device is almost redundant. But I digress...
I used a box of cake mix I'd actually bought for Chris's birthday last year. It was an emergency box in case my attempt at a home made chocolate cake ended poorly. It's been sitting in the back of the cabinet ever since.

By the way, a box of cake mix will yield a lot of mini-cupcakes....
I do still have a can of frosting as well from last year, but I decided to use up some cream cheese and other ingredients and make some home-made frosting.

I also thought I'd be fancy and try to make a piping bag at home and coat the mini-cupcakes all fancy. Yeah... That didn't work.
Still, the cupcakes came out cute. I even messed with some food coloring and made a few blue ones that remind me of smurfs.

 Leki messed with it a little once I hung it up, but honestly despite the bell stuffed in the ball end, it wasn't too interested. It bounces, it moves, but it's too high for my orange sausage cat. He has to stand to swat at it, and he really just prefers to squat and swat.

I may make another one down the road has a longer squiggle so he's more apt to swat at it.

If the cat never does quite take to it I can always just give it to the Peppy, who is always excited to stash fabric toys.
I also have a ball (or is it skein? Or is that the same thing? I'm not clear on the terminology) of this insanely weird looking Fun Fur that I ended up not using. Originally I was going to crochet the ball end with this so that the toy was more enticing to the cat. I tried crocheting with it a few times and kept getting it knotted with all the fuzzy strands sticking out. What a freaking nightmare. Maybe when I get better I can go back through and weave it in or craft another ball out of this.

Season 5 of The Guild arrived today in the mail. A perfect DVD for a snowy weekend.

Even the cat is interested. That's how awesome The Guild is.