So I had a dental appointment today for a root canal and a crown put in. I’m a high anxiety patient, seriously fearful from past experiences. BUT I can get myself in there and as long as they KEEP me calm I’m good to go. Today my MIL picked me up to drive me there (as they were sedating me almost fully and I would need someone to drive me home) get up to the office actually excited about getting this all fixed (as this is my last capped tooth we need to address, to find out that my dentist is no longer working in that office.

I had just seen him 3 weeks prior and no one called me to tell me that he was gone to teach full time. No one. Now they wanted me to schedule an appointment with his former partner for a different day.  “WHY?!” I asked “When your office can’t even call me to tell me my dentist is gone would I want to schedule an appointment with this office that has shown such unprofessional behavior?! WHY would I ever want to come back here to a place that has further fed my distrust in this industry?!” So I left with my amazing MIL.  On the way out she called my FIL and the incredible Salyer Network began buzzing. 1/2 home my AMAZING husband called me to tell me he had at least 2 different dental referrals from the girls in the office and is calling them FOR ME to check them out.

I can’t say enough how much I love this family and how much it means to me that they will go out of their way to help each other, and that they never consider it going out of their way.  This family unconditionally loves each other in a way you only find in Disney films. It’s a little weird, but fantastic. 

SO! Hopefully I will have another dental appointment in the near future to get myself all fixed up. It wouldn’t be so bad if it wasn’t a front tooth with a big stupid ugly patch on it that embarrasses me, but sometimes you just have to live through it & deal with the bs and move on. It’s ok. In the long run this isn’t even a big deal. Today it may seem like it, but this is not even a blip in life. Just a minor irritation.

IN OTHER NEWS!!

I received yesterday a package from my dad for my birthday! THANKS DAD! You totally spoiled me! I got so much stuff! Here are a few. I received a new camera bag, one that I can take hiking & camping & what not. It’s perfect! Everything fits in there & it’s really going to be easy for me to take everything along! This is a huge thing for me as I take my camera almost everywhere but not all my lens’s because it’s hard to travel with them & the bag I currently have.  It’s just so awesome!

Please ignore my messy bathroom & stupid expression. We just moved!

Then I received Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes A Daywhich is AWESOME! Of course I turned right to a page on how to make Limpa!  Figures! I think I have an extra sense for searching out Finnish recipies & anything that uses Cardamon. LOVE! Can’t wait to bake!

No I don’t know why I smooshed my nose. I was so excited. Yay for random pictures with NO makeup. Bleh.I also received a baking stone! I am so excited about this in particular. Unfortunately it arrived cracked in 1/2, so I will return it for a better packaged one Monday. But it’s going to be so freaking AWESOME!  I can’t even way to make Pulla on this thing! They are going to be perfect! No more cookie sheets for me!

To bad you are broken Soon I will have a replacement.

I ALSO, (God enough already right, but my Dad is the awesome!) received 3 knitting books. Latvian Mittens, Traditional Fair Isle Knitting, & Patterns For Guernseys, Jerseys & Arans. I am so thankful for all these!

And now I leave you all with a craptastic picture of one of my many hummingbirds. I always thought they were territorial creatures, but I have at least 10 my yard every day. They don’t even fight! So who knows, maybe they are poly hummers? ;D

 EDIT: So I made an appointment & went to another dentist today. One that the ladies at the Mr’s office really like. What a complete ass he was. Freaked me out even more, so now I’m back at square one.  Also, the really neat vintage starwars lamp I bought the Mr for his upcoming birthday arrived today.

Broken. It must be National Bummer Day & I didn’t know about it. I think I can fix the lamp, thankfully it’s in back AND at the bace. I’m just really bummed about it.

God I love this family. We don’t just circle the waggons hoping to weather the storm, we march with righteous indignation and tell the storm to fuck off.  The Devil himself would reconsider tangling with an angry Salyer I think.

Another busy weekend has just come to a close. Thankfully we seem to have gotten more done than the past few weekends and our house is finally starting to feel like a home. We are now the proud owners of a new fridge & stove/oven. So that means that cooking has finally resumed. What, you may ask was our first meal on the new range? Mac & Cheese, in the blue box. Oh yes, our tastes are finely developed.

There has been much knitting going on lately.  I’ve abandoned all hopes in knitting cute summer cotton tops (because, it’s just not me) and started the Central Park Hoodie in some lambs pride worsted. I’m really amazed at how fast this is knitting up. I have completed both front pieces and am 1/2 way through the back.  Then it’s just the sleeves & seaming up this beast. I’ve already picked up the button bands because I’m not doing the hood on this sweater. I don’t wear hoods and I don’t like the hunch back look of them.  

As you can see there is major waist shaping happening. Yeah, thats actually how my body is built anything else looks boxy, even the gradual waist decreasing. I have always needed something more dramatic. I also added about 3 inches more to the length for my bust size. I like for my sweaters to hit the top of my back pockets. I’ve also increased the arm holes to 9″ instead of 7″ because I have bigger arms and didn’t want to be constricted there or else I would never wear this sweater.

Some days call for massive amounts of rum.  Mojitos sure helped cool us down as it was ridiculously hot all weekend! Thankfully we do not live in the valley where people are all sorts of crazy & might as well be living on the surface of the sun.

We also started hanging some art this weekend. I’m really not crazy about the bare white walls, but for now this bit of color really helps.  Hopefully the more we unpack the more pieces we will be able to put on the fireplace there. Most of the Mr’s ceramics are really thin procelin and we don’t trust them right on brick.

On saturday was Nancie’s Summer Solstice patry. It was great fun, but she does live in Filmore, and well, it’s crazy hot. As I drove from Ventura I watched my car’s thermometer gradually rise the further I got from the coast. It was hot, but as soon as the sun went down it was quite nice. It was quite nice to see everyone and there were many a flowy skirt to be had.

ALSO on saturday was the Anacapa Fine Yarns anniversary sale. So like many of the other thursday night knitters I was there at opening to paw through the discounted yarn bins. I got quite a nice haul. Enough Elesbeth Lavold angora to make 1 sweater, 1 vest & 1 scarf & enough frog tree alpaca (apparently) to make two sweaters (because I must have had a math breakdown when I was picking up bags.). So With all the new yarns put away it’s time to really get crackin in the knitting & get stuff cranked out for the upcoming christmas. Yes, I said it. You all hate me now, it’s ok. We will, as always, survive.

Thank you for all the comments yesterday and all the individual emails I received. I’m normally a very happy person and we all have our days. Anything that relates to my own fertility though usually brings me to the point where it might ruin my day. Usually I don’t let it and force it back, but yesterday was already a trying day and it just burst forth.

One thing I will never understand is why random people think it’s acceptable to ask you about if you & your SO want or have or why are you waiting to have children?  Honestly, if you don’t know the person well enough to already know the answer, it’s none of your business.

Thankfully the girls at knit night were fabulous as always and my dour mood soon lifted.  I’m a normally very happy person and don’t dwell so it’s hard for me not to be in control of this one emotion of mine.

This weekend is Nanci’s Summer Solstice party and I’m very excited. I’m trying to decide if I should make Sangria for it?   Also tomorrow the new stove/oven comes so finally we will be able to cook again. Slowly the house is pulling it self together. Mostly by the sheer will of the Mr. He’s really probably the most excellent man I have ever met and am blessed to have him as my husband.

The Mr got both computers hooked up & running last night. I think this is the least amount of Internet woe’s we’ve ever had in a new place. Score one for the home team. I’ve been knitting & knitting & knitting. But everything I’ve finished is nothing super special.

Hello boring pink Malabrigo Hat shown to you in bad lighting.

Hello pink Beaufort hat that is to small & will be donated.

Hello random handspun (no not mine) cowl. Actually I love you & will get better pictures of you asap.

Mmmm squishy garter st love.

I also swatched for my CPH last night. A propper swatch, with a wash & blocking too.

The Mr and I have no stove currently. But we are making due. We have decided that it’s high time we don’t “just eat”. If we are going to make dinner, it might as well be a taste experience. Which means a bit more adult foods & choices.  Easily done, even with a microwave.

First you send your wife to the store with an idea (actually, it’s the wifes idea), and she then proceeds to figure out how to upgrade it. The idea was quesidillas.  Here is what the results were.

We did actually use a little cheddar, but white, aged, irish cheddar

Is there anything that panchetta doesn’t make better? & blue cheese, yes, excellent.

In it’s melted splender.

Surprisingly tastey

Next time we make these we are going to spread the tortilla bread (yes it’s actually called tortilla bread, I never knew about it either, but California stocks such things, it’s tastey, go find it) we are going to spread garlic on the bottom & stick them in the broiler for a bit on a pizza stone.  Now I need a pizza stone. BADLY.

This weekend was quite good in many ways.  The Mr, the inlaws & I went to a cigar hurf this weekend in Saugess and it was quite lovely. I do have to say though, that I usually like the men more than I like the wives/girlfriends at these events.  I don’t know why the men always seem pretty darn normal and then the women all seem like they have lost their minds.

Now, as you might now I’m all about over sharing. It happens to me quite a bit, BUT there was this woman just a bit older than me at the hurf & she over shared with in 5 seconds of actually talking to me. As I’m learning bit after bit of information you only tell to your best girlfriends after 10 years, I’m trying to remember her name. Of course I love my MIL & one of the other ladies that we know quite well is pretty normal & easy to talk to, but the rest? Honestly, I didn’t have anything to talk to about.

When someone asks you “Do you party?” What is your answer?  I mean the Mr & I are by no means prudes, but what exactly does this mean? Well she clarified for me “Do you drink & do drugs?” O_O Well, we drink occasionally, sometimes excessively, and do no drugs. My only true addictions are coffee and yarn. (And maybe cheese?)  This is a classic example why I don’t have any friends in California in their mid twenties like I am.  I left my shots & chasers in college, now I only want to drink something if it tastes good.

On sunday was Father’s Day and we met up with the parents for some brunch at the Sidecar.  Great food, excellent service.  I had the goat cheese & summer squash omelet & it was fantastic.  Then, randomly the FIL looks at us and asks if we want to go to Lowes. Well. Um, not really, but we still need a stove & he really wanted to go, so off we went. No one answered the help page in appliances so we left, hit up 3 other appliance stores & ended up back at lowes.

Now, we all know our prior experiences at Lowe’s. I really never wanted to go into this store ever again. But the FIL insisted it was ok. So in we went, found our stove & our fridge. It went something like this.

1.Find appliance, ready to pay.
2. Can’t find anyone to help us.
3. Guy randomly wanders over & helps people there before us.
4. Exactly 1 billion people come up & want to also buy appliances
5. Finally after 20 minutes of waiting we are helped by oldest geezer on the face of the earth.
6. Does not have stove we want in stock & floor model is sold.
7. Ask about stove next to it
8. That stove is also sold out
9. Ask to buy floor model (as stove #1′s floor model was sold)
10. Am told they don’t ever sell floor models and that was a special instance
11. Ask about ordering second stove asked about in BLACK
12. Was told that it would take 2 weeks for delivery for first stove asked about in WHITE
13. LOOSE MIND, the Mr takes over
14. Stove ordered, in BLACK
15. Proceed to fridge ordering. Walk away with MIL before I break sales person’s neck
16. Hear “PREITA” from across store. Sigh, trudge over from pretty counter tops to boring fridges
17. Fridge is not in stock. Fridge won’t ever be in stock because it’s discontinued
18. AM ASKED IF I WOULD LIKE TO BUY FLOOR MODEL. O_O
19. Remind them they DON’T sell floor models.
20. Am told they do for discontinued items.
21. Say we’ll take it. (I honestly don’t care. It’s clean & it will keep food cold, it’s good). Are offered 10% off
22. FIL steps in & says “How about 20% off for all their trouble with this store so far?”
23. Sales geezer says he’s not authorized to do that, FIL says to call a manager
24. 20% off fridge authorized
25. Walk to register. Get 20% off fridge, get 10% (instore sale) off oven/stove, get another 10% off entire order for double charging us last time.
26. Save $300
27. Collapse into exhausted heap, make mental note to learn how to build appliances from pipe cleaners & tin foil in the future.

Good news is that the FIL really likes the lime tree we got him for father’s day.

Also!!! Fellow Ventura residents! Gas at the Johnson Drive Exit (the 76 station across the street from the Ventura Theater) is $4.43 a gallon. Cheapest gas I’ve seen in weeks.