Some Housekeeping

Well, Sandy has come and gone.  We were lucky to have kept power, kept internets, and our 3 mega sump pumps may not even have run at all.  I know so many others were not nearly so lucky, and my heart goes out to all of those who have suffered property damage or injuries in this storm.  I will probably spend a large part of today catching up on the news and figuring out plans to get to my relatives in New Jersey to help with cleanup and recovery.

On the upside, preparing for the storm meant that our house is probably cleaner than it has been in a long time!  We vacuumed and mopped all the floors and cleaned the basement and put away/threw out the clutter that has accumulated since our basement was flooded last year due to Hurricane Irene.  That's one way of forcing you to clean your basement, I suppose!

In case you haven't noticed, I also did a little cleaning up around this old blog, just trying to make a it a little more streamlined and easier to navigate.  I got motivated when I read Kristin's post on how to clean up your blog!  She shared some great tips, and to make it even easier for her readers, included links on where to get blogger based code.  Thanks Kristin!

What else?  Oh yes, I got on to Instagram.  Well, I signed up a well back, but never got around to using it on my dinky little android phone.  I am just starting to really like the app, and finally figured out how to get my pictures online.  For some reason, the idea of my photos just floating around in some camera stream somewhere makes no sense to me; I always need to know where the actual file is.  Well, now they're on Flickr, just another online account with another account name and password that I'll have to remember.  So here's two of my first photos that I took the other day.

The weather is getting cooler in the Northeast now, and we finally started our first woodstove fire of the season!  I love how our living room gets to a toasty 80 degrees, and then you have to put on socks and a jacket to make a mad dash to the bathroom or kitchen.  Isabel likes to pretend to be a dead deer right in front of the fire until she's a ball of hot fur, then come over, pant in your face and ask why it's just so darn hot in here!

I've been crocheting like a mad woman lately, getting ready for a holiday show in December, but I took a little time out to whip together a baby bear hat for a friend's baby shower.  There it is, sitting on the newest giraffe in the family.

If you'd like to follow me, or whatever it's called on Instagram, you can find me @1dogwoof.

Can you believe it's only a Tuesday?  Regardless, have a great week everyone!

Click here to see where I party!

A Root Beer Tasting

We have this store by us that sells nothing but beers - all sorts of craft brews, microbrews, international beers, as well as the big brands.  It's just one of the great things about living in the Hudson Valley, or so the men think.  But for me, walking into this place is like dragging Drew to Macy's to shoe-shop with me.  It's just BORING.  There's nothing but boxes and boxes and boxes of very colorful but probably fairly disgusting (to me) lagers and ales.  Probably like how the shoe section of Macy's has a nice selection of wonderfully colorful shoes that would be disgustingly uncomfortable for Drew.  You get the idea.

But now, I actually like the place!  Because in addition to selling alcoholic beverages, they sell craft ROOT BEERS and sodas!  WHOA.  I first got hooked when I went to Chicago and tried a root beer and cream soda from Sprechers, and both were delicious.  Then, in a frantic hunt to find more after we blew through the 4 bottles on hand, we realized these were not the easiest sodas to buy.  Cue disappointment and a sugar withdrawal.

Imagine my surprise when, bored out of my mind at our next trip to HalfTime, I discovered the entire AISLE of craft root beers and cream sodas from all over the nation!  There sat my beloved Sprechers, in its lovely little 4-pack, just waiting for me to stock up.  I exercised some restraint and decided to buy one of every type of root beer/birch beer/sasparilla and one of every cream soda to have a little personal tasting, all by my lonesome.  For this particular exercise, I decided to skip the cherry sodas, shirley temples and ginger beers - too fake, in my opinion.

So, I'm going to share my root beer experience, because you are just all on the edge of your seats! Yes, I actually did take notes on each one.  

They all tasted pretty much the same.

Ya know, root-beer-y, or sasparilla-y, whatever the case may be.  There weren't really any subtleties in flavor, except one where I thought I tasted mint.  I know, I'm sorry, what a let down.  But hey, here are my notes, but it will get better!

Sioux City Sasparilla: more spicy than normal (2-liter) root beer, slightly bitter.

Stewarts Root Beer: candy + medicine.  oxymoron?  possibly.

Johnie Ryan Root Beer: minty aftertaste, almost like a candy cane.  very ...rooty.

Virgils Root Beer: nothing to write home about.  Save your money and buy the 2-liter stuff.

Sioux City Birch Beer: This one is from Drew - "carbonated Robitussin".  It was actually a bit of a red color, and very root-y.

Saranac Root Beer:  Here is where we decided to make a blanket statement about how the beer companies we like also make decent root beer.  This one was sweet but not too sweet, flavorful, but not too mediciney, and balanced, if you can say that about a soda.

I went back today and bought 1 of every cream soda again, because the CREAM SODA tasting was way better!  I'll be re-tasting and taking more notes, and I'll be sharing my personal opinions of each one in the upcoming weeks, as I get around to drinking them all.  So stay tuned!

Click here to see where I party!

Heartache

This is just a quick post to explain why I haven't been around as much.  I had some posts lined up, but really haven't been feeling very social lately.  After the SYTYC contest ended, I had the fundraiser and then the craft show and I was pretty burnt out.  As in, sit on the couch and do nothing but play Scramble With Friends sort of burnt out.

On top of that, we find out my father is sick.  So between being tired and being worried, I've found excuses to avoid writing.  Blogging is such a social activity; writing to share with others requires putting yourself out in the world, and all I've wanted to do is to crawl into a hole somewhere...and crochet....and maybe rewatch The West Wing...or LOTR (which I did - the extended version, and the making-of discs as well).  You never really think it'll happen to you, but when cancer rolls into your life, nothing is really the same afterwards, is it?  

My parents are away, seeking treatment, and I miss them terribly.

From the little things, like not being able to Skype with them, to scary things like getting myself checked for genetic issues, there's just more on the mind these days.  This is the time to be making plans for the holidays, and I don't know how.  How do I make plans when I don't know what next week will bring?

I have another craft show in December to get ready for, and with work being stupid and family issues that I don't want to think about, crocheting has been my way out.  If only I can crochet and watch Korean soap operas all day, right?

I wasn't even sure if I should share this news, but here it is, my truth, as much as it makes my heart heavy.  But I think sharing and accepting will enable me to get on with the happy chirpy posts that I wanted to write about, like my Cream Soda tasting, and my plans for the attic, and the new crochet goodies I'm putting together.  So, to not be a total downer, here's some big J cutness for you, because a post can't be without a picture!

We had a photo session with Hendrick Moy Photography last month, and I'm loving the results.  Check out his post for more photos!

Click here to see where I party!