Oh, God! I've been tagged.

I've always liked reading random things about people, but was also very glad no one had ever tagged me. I promise to try to get as random as possible, but honestly, I don't know if I can think of someone who has not been tagged.

Here are the rules:

1. Link to the person that tagged you and post the rules on your blog
2. Share 7 random and/or weird facts about yourself
3. Tag 7 random people at the end of your post and include links to their blogs. Let each person know that they've been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog

I have been tagged by Urban Knitrix with Flava.

1. I have two baby-daddys, affectionately referred to as BD1 and BD2. They don't like this too much, but hey, what can one say. With this fact I think I should add that I am the child support poster child. I want it, need it, and gotta have it. One pays and one is a deadbeat. If there's anyone out there who needs the courage and information about opening a case up for you and your household, I will tell you all I know. It's the right thing to do and DISOMASTER is your friend most of the time.

2. I was raised a Jehovah's Witness. I haven't been to the Kingdom hall regularly for about 20 years now. If you want more info about this just email me at nicole5249 AT sbcglobal DOT net and we can chat. But why I will never go back can not be summed up here. Several close family members are still in this organization, so this makes my life interesting at times. I love Jehovah and he is real and active in my life. Our relationship is genuine and I know I gotta lot of work to do. None of that work includes meeting your standards, Hater.

3. I want bunnies. Angora bunnies to be exact. Why? For their fur of course. I want to learn to spin, but this doesn't seem to be something that I can pick up on my own. As soon as I'm able to take a class I will. I've even asked my Dad to start building a wheel for me. He said no, but I'm working on him.

4. I only use plastic zip-lock type baggies once. On occasion, visitors to my home have remarked how, "Hey that still looks clean, you know you can use it again." Now, don't get me wrong, I advocate being Green, but I will not use a baggie more than once. You see, my mother's house husband (whom she had no kids with thank God) , used to come up with all these ways to save money ( I guess since he wasn't bringing none in). These damn bags would never dry after washing, so I would have to prop them up in strange ways over a period of days to finally get a baggie that you could fold and store for future use. If anyone has ever seen me transform into a fit of rage it was probably because they suggested I re-use a baggie. It really is an ugly thing to see.

5. Transformers!!! More than meets the eye. Transformers!!! Robots in disguise. My children can discuss freely with me their ideas and thoughts about action figures, super heroes and anything sci-fi cause they know I got the knowledge, baby. Love of cartoons and the marketing strategies employed to draw youth more in has never left my brother and I. He still spends like $50 on comic books. I had to go and have kids and use the money on groceries and stuff.

Hmmmm, this is getting hard. What else?

6. I can sing. This is no special skill in a family full of people who also got skills. I even almost got discovered when I was 20. I declined the offer because I thought that my skills should only be used to glorify the Lord. I should have at least seen what the producer dude was offering. My brother has even made 2 or 3 demos but has never gotten picked up by a record label. My cousin sang a track for one of the star wars movies (but they converted her voice into an alien tone, I think in Jaba the Hut's club), and my aunt sang back up for a reggae dude who's name I can't remember. I guess stardom is just not meant for us. Hey, the Lord might even use me if I would commit to joining and attending a church. I just HATE dealing with the kids in church. Even fetching them from children's church is more than I care to deal with. That's my excuse. I need two days off from having to get folks fed and out the door by some random time before 10 am, not just one.

7. I love burgundy hair. Ghetto I know. I would have had highlights, but you can't really highlight dreds. I mean, a lock is this color or that. You might can try some shading on the tips, put that's not what I want. As soon as I find that burgundy that can only be seen in the bright sun light and a colorist who can pull it off, I'm going for it.

Ok, I'd like you to meet some new people. This game of tag is going International. Ya'll consider yourselves tagged! I'm sorry if ya'll aren't into this type of thing.

Knitvicious, Hobbyzu, Navi, Pyogazel, StrawberryC, Superbonbon (my friend from Ravelry, apparently with no blog, ughhh!), Moniknits (Happy B-day).

A True Quickie

I'm sure I could have finished this Stash Basket in half a day if I didn't need to bathe myself and at least one kid, mow the lawn, feed the family throughout the day, comb real African hair, grocery shop, and do the laundry.


Even with all of that on my plate I started this on Friday night and I was still able to finish it and start my Green Gable by Sunday. This colorway is from Knit Picks Merino Style and is called dusk.

My Baby Ain't Yo Nigga

I got this email response from my son's teacher when requesting that he give him some tutoring for Algebra (he's in the 5th grade).

Hello Ms. Johnson,

Thank you for the e-mail. First I would like to say what a joy D**** is to have as a student. He is very articulate, enthusiastic, and a class leader. He is constantly challenging me to challenge him. It makes my job exciting and fun!

I want to explain about the tutoring. I will be happy to help him out with his algebra, when I am not helping other students. We are currently learning how to multiply by 2 and 3 digit numbers. This is very challenging to many students. Currently I am working with 7 students who are having a difficult time picking up the concepts as well as learning their time tables. I promised D***** I would help him once I am through working with these very needy students. I am hoping to make some time for him on Friday. D***** has currently earned an A+ with 106% in math.

Lastly I need to tell you of an incident which happened today. From what I am able to understand. Today at lunch recess D***** had a basketball and another student came to take it away. There was a struggle and D***** got mad and hit the other student. At this time the student called D***** the n word. D***** told me what had happened when I picked them up from lunch. I took both boys aside and lectured the student about the ugliness and horrible meaning associated to that word. I also let D***** know that it is not OK to use violence when he is angry. I asked the boys what they wanted to happen, and told them I recommended that they both loose recess for the next day, and write papers about what they had done and why it is wrong. D***** let me know about what your feelings are when this kind of stupidity surfaces, and as I thought about it I decided to let our assistant principal, Ms. J***** know about the incident, and get her opinion (she's African American). She decided to talk to both boys, which will happen tomorrow. D***** did come to me and said he forgave the student, and they seemed to be on friendly terms. Please let me know your opinion and any thoughts or suggestions on how you would like me to handle this if it ever happens again.

Thank you,

Mr. P

My Response

Mr. P:

I'm satisfied with what you're doing so far. What concerns me most is that every year D***** has to deal head on with a race related issue. Nay sayers try to disqualify these such events , I'm sure because they're in denial. But Mr. P, it's still very real and relevant, even in liberal California. Racial slurs are not only ugly, they're dangerous because they chip away at our children's self esteem. Based on our direct, recent, personal experiences I think that discussions need to be held with students to inform them that this type of ugliness will not be tolerated. Let them know BEFORE it occurs.

Much of racism starts in the home and much of it can be ended there. Even D***** on occasion may try to make a joke about a particular race. At these times, I consistently remind him that he does not have the right to past judgment on any race. However, if a kid's parents don't feel that way what once was a little joke, turns into a hurtful habit. And this is just the mild side of racism. I'm sure I didn't need to explain this to you, but it's a struggle keeping D***** from being converted into a bully. He feels frustrated when he has to pay consequences for what he thinks is verifiable self defense. He's learning quite early that this is being Black in America. Succeeding greatly through the injustices. I thought he would be in college or something when he first picked that up. But hey, one of the reasons I moved from the Bay Area is so that he could get a better education. I guess this meant in all things.

This is the first time anyone has EVER asked me if I think the issue has been handled properly. Thank you. I know you didn't have to.

What I Really Wanted to Say:

Every year my child has to deal with this bull@#$%! Let somebody call my baby a nigga one mo gin and I'm comin' up there to act ka-razy! I'm finna show ya'll what a nigga is.

I know we can't be the only ones in northern CA dealing with this. I haven't knit any this week.

Shetland Triangle

Finally finished. Whew. It's cute, I like it. But it's not as big as I thought it would be. See the patten used 548 yards of Jaeger Cashmina, which comes 137 yds per 25 g. Is this right? Cause you were supposed to do only 8 repeats of the center panel. With my mere 370 yards (185 yards per 50g ball), I got through 11 repeats plus the edging with some left over. Oh well, yardage is yardage I guess, no matter what the weight is of the yarn.

Yarn Used: Louet Gems 100% mernio in colorway Caribou
Needles: Size 6 circular, 32 inches (this is my favorite length)

If I'm going to keep knitting lace, I've got to get me some blocking wires. :(

Princess Attire

Well, I finally found buttons for the mini Feminine Puff Sleeve Cardi. They're just little purple hearts that I forgot to get a closeup of (all pics enlarge). I wanted to post sooner but it's been rainy and overcast here and the light's not good on those days in my neutral colored home (I did that on purpose, I had no idea I'd try being an amateur photographer one day).



I like it a lot. We got this tu-tu at Walmart. It's by Danskin. I was all set to make one, I had even gotten the tulle cut. Thank God I only got 1/2 yard of each (a total of about $1.40). When going to get tights, I ran into this tu-tu in their dance wear section. Hmmm, the other Walmart nor Target had this much dance attire.

I finally finished the Shetland Triangle. It's blocking now and I'll try to get some good pictures of it. It had me angry for a minute, so I had to step away. That's when I started this....

It's going to be a little t-shirt made from the Knit-Picks merino that I tried to die with the strawberry kool-aid. Not at all the color I was going for, but it won't go to waste. I was thinking about calling it Melting Hearts or Cupid. At first the lace looked like hearts, but now I just see arrows. It's working up pretty quickly, but I had to put it down to finish those other two projects.

Getting Flowers

Today, my office mate (the two of us share one office) got flowers. She wasn't here when they arrived and I nearly burst at the seams waiting for her to return. The anticipation was fun and I suggested she guess who they were from before opening the card. "I think I may know. Oh I haven't gotten flowers in a very long time." She recently returned to her hometown in New Mexico and got acquainted with a cowboy while there. I've been teasing her ever since. Needless to say, the flowers were from that same cowboy. "Ooooooo!", I said. "He's trying to stake his claim. Everyone knows flowers attract attention." Teasing her was fun.
Now, as the day progresses, I keep looking at these f@#$%%@ flowers and realize that the last time I got flowers was from my brother on Mother's Day 3 years ago. I'm not jealous. God knows my office mate needs flowers just about as bad as I do. But damn, when are mine coming? To add insult to injury, I started thinking back to the last time a man wooed me with flowers. Turned out he wasn't worth the dirt they were grown in.

I remember clearly walking around the financial district of San Francisco. He bought me huge exotic bouquets that I would have a hard time placing somewhere safe while we ate lunch. Strangers would say stuff like, "You gotta a good one, girl." and "I'd keep him." They needed flowers too. Who knew that about 7 months later I would drop him instantly because upon discovering that he had fathered a third child, he decided that he didn't want anything to do with him but would pay child support. It was the attitude not the third child that sent me running.

It's not just flowers. My last love brought me watermelons grown carefully in the rich California soil by a Baptist preacher. Upon cracking one of these bad boys open during a family gathering at my home, that fragrant sweet smell was so overwhelming that several relatives demanded that I stop everything and summon this man so that he could bring them to the Baptist preacher so that they could get their own watermelons. He came then, but I don't get watermelons anymore.

My current life is so overwhelming that I barely have time to think about dating. If I were in a relationship he'd undoubtedly feel neglected. And these days I choose to focus more on living an abundant life that doesn't focus on wanting a man. I think I do a pretty good job. With that said. WHERE THE HELL ARE MY FLOWERS?!?!