Why I Love My Friend Beth

Beth tells me that she recently learned to knit and has made a few scarves. I congratulated her, told her how excited I was that I could start buying her yarn now. She replied with this:

Anyway - I would not say that I knit - I tie knots and sort of use needles to guide them….

What a fabulous description of learning to knit! I love it! That’s how I still feel when I use DPNs, for sure.

Water Dog

I grew up with labrador retrievers and a springer spaniel in the house. These dogs were hard-core water dogs. The springer (Shandy Gaff, bless his dear, smelly soul) used to stand in the lake with the water right at his chest and bark at the fish for hours and hours. My dad always thought it was amazing that no one took a pot-shot at him. The labs, well, they loved being in the water too.

So imagine my surprise upon adopting strange little Maggie - a beagle/doberman/who-the-hell-knows-what-else little beast - and finding out that the water just isn’t really her cup of tea. I was SHOCKED. And SURPRISED. And a little relieved, because at least it meant that I wouldn’t have to keep a big nasty towel in the trunk of my car to wipe her down with after walks, and because it also meant that I wouldn’t have to deal with that peculiar wet-dog odor that I grew up with.

And then imagine my surprise that after 2 weeks in Maine, with 2.5 labs (the third is a mix, and there is a basset hound too), she seems to like the water a lot more.

Here she is, giving the Damariscotta River a toe-dip. Silly (smelly) beast!

Restaurant Review: Thai Singha House (plus Momix)

Last night, Amy and I went to see Momix at the Annenburg Center’s Zellerbach Theater. Beforehand, we went out for dinner. Since the theater is about 10 blocks from my house, we decided to walk up to 40th St. to see what tickled our fancies, food-wise. I was craving Thai, so off we went to the Thai Singha House on 40th and Chestnut Streets.

There were several tables filled when we got there, but our section was rather empty. We were seated immediately and got water and menus right away. A short time later, our drinks arrived. For starters, we each got a soup. Mine was coconut chicken, and Amy’s was a shrimp lemon-grass. We both agreed that mine was the better of the two. Of all the coconut chicken soups I’ve eaten, though, I’d rate this as merely fair.

For dinner, Amy got a cashew chicken and shrimp entree. I ordered spicy crispy green beans with chicken and shrimp. When they arrived, I was pleased by the flavor of the green beans, the red curry sauce, and the chicken. The shrimp. though, left me with a bad taste in my mouth. Sometimes shrimp can taste really “fishy”, and I can’t stand that. So I pushed the shrimp to the side, and ate the rest of the entree. It was great, and if I go back there, I’d order it again without the shrimp. Amy seemed to like her entree as well.

The price was okay for the amount of food we got, if a little high for the quality. I’d go back, but probably only for a lunch meal.

Momix, on the other hand, blew both of us away. I have NO IDEA how they did much of what I saw. They performed a premiere called Lunar Sea - this is swiped from the Penn site:

MOMIX will return to Philly with a full-length world premiere, Lunar Sea, weaving props and ethereal lighting with elastic human bodies to conjure up a world of surrealistic images. Known internationally for its exceptional inventiveness, the company of dancer-illusionists is directed by Moses Pendleton.

Seriously - if you get the chance to go see them, do it. The money will be well-spent. My thanks go to my big brother for getting the tickets for us for Christmas. What an event to remember!

Today was spent in slothful indulgence. A trip to the dog park and coffee shop was followed by a visit to the PMA. After that, the magnetic sofa of goodness sucked us in for football and television. Not sure who I’m going to cheer for in next week’s big Vikings-Eagles game… But regardless of who wins, I’m sure to be happy.

Diets, of a sort

I’m on a few diets these days.

1. Money. I paid off my credit card last night, and do not EVER intend to get back to that point again. EVER. It feels so good, too. Time to start saving more money up so I can do the home improvement projects from my 2005 resolutions!
2. Yarn. I’m a knitter. ‘Nuff said.
3. Food. I’m at my heaviest weight ever, and it doesn’t feel good. (Okay, so I’m chubby and happy in a relationship, but I’d rather just be happy in a relationship!) Last year I went on the South Beach Diet, but found it very hard to maintain. Atkins scares me, and the rest of the fad diets freak me out. So I thought about what my friend Lloyd did last year, which was to E.L.E.M., or Eat Less, Exercise More. And I like that theory a lot, but need to figure out how to do the E.L. part effectively. And that’s when I found the No S Diet. And honestly, I can say that the snacks, sweets, and seconds are the problem in my eating pattern. So out they go, and I try to develop some new habits, and get a little healthier in the meantime.

At the same time, I’m trying to indulge myself in some other ways. I’ve got a few gift cards from Christmas to use (Amazon, BookSense, Home Depot), so will try to find some fabulous books to get, probably ones that are good reference books that I normally wouldn’t buy because they’re expensive. I’ve got a beautiful atlas already, and 2 great knitting reference books. So I need to think about that. If there are any indispensible reference books you own, let me know!

And of course, I also indulge the blogging habit again. Did you see my new banner? Yup, that’s the top of Mom’s Klaralund! I’m going to try to get the previous/next working on individual entries, and would like to get some sort of Flickr or fotolog feed working. All fun, this Wordpress stuff.

So now I’m off to do some more work.

Christmas Break photos

Some more photos from Christmas in Maine and Minnesota:

Here’s Amy with the posse of 5 dogs at her parents’ house. They are: Willie (basset hound), Emma (young, slender black lab), Walter (lab-pitbull mix), Morgan (older, chubby black lab), and Maggie (dobeagle/beagerman).

Here is Maggie underneath the Christmas tree. She spent a lot of time under things in Maine, partly for security, and partly because she just could.

Here are Amy and I on the north shore of Lake Superior, at Lutsen Resort. It’s gorgeous there.