Molly Bee's Attic

You know that old saying, "Better to be silent and thought a fool than to open your mouth and remove all doubt..."? I sure wish I could adhere to that one. I am the only person in a group of fifteen coworkers without a Ph .D. (or two or three) in a science-related field. It would sure help my image not to mention my self esteem if I would just SHUT UP once in a while...The story goes like this. The new boss bought my kids (the scientists) a new fancy- schmancy coffee maker. This thing looks like it was made by the space shuttle people. It has bells and whistles, knobs, dials, buttons and options for things I've never even heard of (decaf-half-fat-espresso- frappa -mocha- chino -what-o?) Now I've been against the whole idea from the start. We have a perfectly good vending machine nearby that dispenses coffee, cappuccino , hot chocolate and sometime copious amounts of money (See July 11 th's entry for details). A new fancy- schmancey coffee maker is all well an...

Heavy sigh..... As of today........ Ravelry You signed up on August 2, 2007 You are #22591 on the list. 11771 people are ahead of you in line. 7129 people are behind you in line. 35% of the list has been invited so far It's harder than getting Packer Tickets!!! I want to join the dance! I want to get off the porch and run with the big dogs!!!!!

This pretty much sums up the general atmosphere at Chez Bee these days. I had some kind of gastro bug last Wednesday and Thursday and never being one to not share (way to double those negatives MollyBee), promptly gave it to Mr. Bee who has been at home the last two days cursing my name. A lot of folks at work are being felled as well. I don't know if I'm the actual, original, Typhoid Mary ( I could be working off some bad leprechaun karma) or if someone else had it first, but it looks like everyone will get their turn with this one. Nasty little bugger. Gotta love that recycled office air! I have one of the Cascade Tulip Socks finished. There was a bug in the pattern. I'm pretty proud of discovering it, figuring it out and fixing it before I confirmed it with Bentley's hero, Heather, down at The Sow's Ear. I really like the pattern, but if I were to make them again, I would do a ribbed top and not seed stitch because I just tried it on once and the top is alr...

This just in from the "Just When You Think You've Heard It All' department. Friend calls up and asks me to come help her 'candle her ears'. Since I'd never heard of it, I didn't jump on the full-agreement bandwagon just yet and asked her what that was exactly. I still don't really know, I kind of blacked out a little bit when she got to the part about putting some kind of a LIT candle in her ear. Yeah, you heard me. Now at this point, I'm thinking, Holy Crap, what kinda gunk do you have in there that you have to go to those lengths to get it out?!?! I'm also wondering if she has maybe done this one too many times in the past and accidentally pulled out the bit of gray matter that is responsible for knowing not to pour molten liquids directly into your head! But I was curious, so I ask what my role in this macabre, voodoo- esque ritual will be. Chanting? Beheading the chicken? Gathering the eye of newt? And she says...get this...my job would ...

I don't know what's going on but there is this huge glowing orb in the sky today. It appears to be on fire and it seems to be heating the very air around us! Glory be the rain has stopped! It's about time, Mr. Bee and I had already set upon our path of collecting gopher wood and figuring out what to heck a cubit is! I'm not kidding people. It's been jungle rot and ark time here for a couple of weeks now. The bible says that God promised not to make it rain for 40 days and 40 nights again. This time he only went for 39! Thank goodness we live on a hill! I was felled by a virus of epic proportions on Wednesday and Thursday. It was nasty but allowed me to finish my 'So Called Scarf' in record time. Here it is begrudgingly modeled by Bentley. Oh he was all for it when I asked him yesterday and it was rainy and he was cold. But he totally reneged today when push came to shove since it's sunny and warm He was such a fuss-budget about it that Mr. Bee had to...

Mr. Bee and I toddled on over to the thriving metropolis of Milwaukee yesterday to go to IrishFest . In true Irish tradition, it poured . Wanna know what's scarier than wall-to-wall people? Wall-to-wall drunken Irish folks wielding umbrellas! Yikes! But we had a great time although I missed meeting up with Beth of Chocolate Sheep fame. I just missed her at the Curragh tent. Rumor has it that her husband's team won the races though! We heard some new Irish music, including a band out of Chicago we'd never seen before called The Tossers that we really liked, watched the Trinity Irish Dancers, listened to the Boudran and fiddle players, ate some yummy shepherd's pie [Which isn't really made out of shepherds at all. I asked.] and bought some authentic Irish tea at the Irish Supermarket. My favorite part, though, was the Irish Canine exhibit. I know...go figure. I am totally in love with Irish Wolf hounds. There was one male that was over 4 ft high at the head. And h...

Well, the time has finally come. We have put Bentley in rehab. The poor boy can’t even begin to hold his licker and it’s time for him (and us) to dry out. Yes, his name is Bentley and he’s a kissaholic. Ever since we adopted him in March he’s had a compulsive people-licking problem and doesn’t want to stop when he’s told ‘no’. Any body part exposed is fair game and sometimes if skin is not reasonably accessible, clothing will do in a pinch. For the past three days, we have cut him off cold turkey, telling him ‘no kiss’ and pulling away every time he tries, which is… conservatively estimated…every 2.6 nanoseconds. There is such a hurt look on his big, goofy, doggie face, but he seems to be getting the hang of it. Now instead of rushing at us, lapping with wild abandon, spit and drool flying; he tentatively approaches and kind of sticks his floppy tongue out and gently touches you with it as if to say, “Is this what you said not to do?”. After he 'gets it' completely, the doggie...

It's been an pretty eventful and productive week at Chez Bee. We belong to a Community Supported Agriculture program and got a butt load of fresh veggies last week so I have been looking for new and inventive ways to use them. I made a killer Ratatouille and some refrigerator pickles. New potatoes and green beans are on tap for tomorrow's supper and kielbasa and summer squash after that! We also got the world's tiniest watermelon. It was a little smaller than a cantalope. I kinda felt bad eating it but not too bad because it was YUMMY! Here is a truly sad photo of it before its demise with my water bottle for reference. Things were productive on the knitting front as well. I finished sock one of my Tidal Wave socks and was pretty happy with the way it turned out. It's made out of Toefootsies Yarn which is a blend of (among other things) soy and shellfish shells! The truly disastrous photos continue with a shot of the sock and a close up of the pattern. The closeup ...

My evil plan worked fairly well this weekend. Didn ’t do a whole lot, just hung around the ol ’ abode. It was the first rainy weekend we’ ve had in forever so it was nice to just curl up inside with a good book, some ' Eureka' and some knitting. I cleaned a bit and cooked a bit: made a taco salad, some lemon crumb bars and baked chicken. It was good to be a domestic goddess for a couple of days. The lemon crumb bars were great. It was a new recipe I’ ve never tried that called for lemon cake mix, sweetened condensed milk and saltine crackers. If you’re intrigued, comment me and I’ll send you the recipe. We went to The Melting Pot with friends D&T after work Friday night. I hardly ever drink. Two glasses of wine a year and maybe a mixed drink at the Company Holiday Party and that’s it. I am a very sleepy drunk. It doesn ’t take a whole lot to get me looking around for a corner to curl up and snuggle down in. But the Melting Pot makes this kind of chocolaty-Baileys-vodka c...

I finished my Kid Haze shawl Wednesday night! It’s unblocked so no photo. Jury is still out on the beads. I’ll decide once it’s blocked. It’s so soft and light and airy that I’d hate to ruin it with the cold, hardness of a bead. (Over think things much? Why yes I do, thank you very much!) I started on my Tofootsie socks yesterday but only got the top 1.5 inches of ribbing done. I’m going to attempt the Tidal Waves pattern from the South West Trading Company site. We’ll see how it goes. Sometimes I try new sock patterns but then give up on them if they are too ’thought intensive’ in favor of the lulling meditation that is K1/P1 rib and the basic sock pattern. I’ll try to focus this time though. I really like the look of the sock and I have a good feeling. Went to see ‘No Reservations’ last night. I went against my better judgment since Catherine Zeta Jones drives me ABSOLUTELY INSANE. She and Nicole Kidman are in cahoots to drive me over the edge with their phone-it-in-eye-fluttering-...

Found this quiz over at Mel's site and couldn't resist. Thanks to Mr. Sheehan...I've still got it!