Today began bright and early with loading up the car, bidding Stately IPB Manor fond adieu, and setting sail for Montreal*. Before beginning the journey, Victory Euro Mats consulted the trusty nine-years-out-of-date road atlas to make sure the route was properly planned. How’s it looking, Mats?
Looks like Mats is ready to go! “Wheeee! Road trip!” he squeals.
Because Mats is all about safety (note the sunglasses that double as a face shield), he starts his trip by buckling in. “Click it or ticket,” he chirps.
With the bags stowed in the back, and all occupants of the car safely buckled in, it was time to hit the road. The trip from Stately IPB Manor to Montreal is pretty much a straight shot, but some steering is still required. On previous trips we’ve developed a system of Pookie driving in busier areas and on all on- and off-ramps, while Schnookie does the endurance driving on the highway. This time Mats volunteered to do all of it, so we sat in the back playing cribbage.
One of the best things about a roadtrip (aside from driving mixes and having an excuse to watch crappy television in hotel rooms) is watching the scenery go by as you drive. This time around we were eager to try out our new wide angle lens in taking photographs of the highways between here and there as we zipped along. Look at how beautiful it is!
Heeeeey, waaaait… Upstate NY looks an awful lot like our garage… What gives, Mats?
Are we still at Stately IPB Manor? We haven’t gone anywhere, have we?
*OK, not really. Today began shortly after noon when the denizens of stately IPB Manor finally rolled out of bed and began a day of cutting quilt fabric, tweeting about potential Heatley deals like all the other good blogging girls and boys, and enjoying not being at work.
You guys are killing me with your twitter feed!
Hey, we’re giving all the flavor of a road trip to Montreal without any of the muss or fuss! I can’t believe we didn’t think of this in January when we first came up with the plan of going there…
I’m so glad you’re enjoying it, Kristin! Guess what inspired us to start it? That’s right! The Flyers On The Fly PR Twitter feed! We call it “Homer Mail”, a la “Tyra Mail”, and squeal every time it updates in my Google Reader. Heh.
How are you guys dealing with the news of Schlittsy’s surgery?
I felt so bad for poor hipsore Schlittsy. I hope he feels better soon.
Did we mention yet how tempting it was to try to adopt those kittens that were being fostered by Coach Foxy? We nearly DIED laughing about that. I mean, we want to name our next cat BeaksandFarts, and there was a kitten ALREADY NAMED RICHIE (which we all know is just Coach Foxy-speak for “Beaks”) that actually KNOWS Coach Foxy. Fortunately, cooler heads prevailed and we decided six cats was plenty, even if it meant that we’d never have a cat that knows Coach Foxy personally. :P
Cmon, you guys know I’m a bad fan. What on earth are you talking about with these kittens?!?!
Ah, I see it now. Somehow, I always miss the Flyers on the Fly updates in my twitter feed. That dude needs to tweet more. Or I need to weed out some of the people I follow!
And dude, has the Stevens’ family not heard of SPAYING AND NEUTERING?!?! Sheesh!
Pookie got some Homer Mail about the kittens. Apparently Coach Foxy was fostering a litter of kittens to be adopted out through whichever animal shelter charity it is he’s affiliated with. The kittens all had Flyers names — there was a Richie, a Braydon, a Riley (*shudder*), Claude and the girl kitty was Kate — and they were looking for people to call the animal shelter to adopt them. It was SORELY tempting. They had a photo gallery. Braydon was orange, so that was a no-go for us, but Richie (aka BeaksandFarts) was a goofy-looking black kitten. He would have been so happy here. And he would have responded positively to videos of Coach Foxy droning on in coachspeak. And we’d get to know that Coach Foxy knows our cat! Heh.
Oh shit. My brain is officially retarded. Should have read the whole story before opening mouth. Gah.
Ah, I see it now.
Hee! Information that would have been useful BEFORE I wrote my whole explanation of it. :P
And dude, has the Stevens’ family not heard of SPAYING AND NEUTERING?!?!
:^::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: I bet Homer says that to Stevens every day. Coach Foxy is like, “Look, I am just not that concerned about the players’ off-ice habits, okay?”
And Richie’s like “it’s just one loss! sheesh!”
:^::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: to both of you!
And Richie’s like “it’s just one loss! sheesh!”
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Poor Beaks!
I want Coach Foxy’s kittens! Maybe he can punch a couple of holes in the box and FedEx ‘em to me.
I want Coach Foxy’s kittens!
That’s what she said!
That’s what she said!
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Sigh. The kitties are very cute…but I am not supposed to have more than one cat as it is. I live in a townhouse community and some of the rules are a little strange – we can have 2 pets but they can be 1 cat and 1 dog, not 2 cats or 2 dogs, even if we can provide proof that we have had said pets spayed/neutered so they won’t breed.
I am grandfathered in at 2 cats now. There cannot be another kitty….and now I’m depressed. =(
We were friends with a couple that had four cats and a dog. And when they moved into an apartment near here, the landlord said pets were fine, then asked how many cats they had beside the dog. Their answer was, “Two,” followed by a silent “each”. So if you added another kitty, Sue, you could just say it belongs to one of the other kitties! :D
Ookies, VE Mats in the seat belt might be my favorite pic of him of all time!
Thanks, pam! We had a lot of fun with this photo shoot. :D
Heeeeey, waaaait… Upstate NY looks an awful lot like our garage… What gives, Mats?
Whenever anyone asks me what Rochester looks like, I always respond with “Like a garage.”
I spent the entire day in Buffalo and I can honestly say I don’t hate it anymore. (Don’t take offense Buff residents. The only reason I hated it before is because I was transferred there for work and I hated the job at the time, so it was hate by association.) I’ve clearly mapped out the streets I’d like to live on, I’ve listed all of the restaurants/bars I’d like to try, and I saw a Wegmans. Quite a pleasant day.
Good Morning everyone!
Draft day!! Woooo! Hopefully, we’ll see a handful of exciting (or hilarious) trades! Don’t mess this up, Gainey…
(and I agree with Pam, the VE Mats picture with the belt is perfect!)
The VE Mats picture with the belt is amazing.
we’ll see a handful of exciting (or hilarious) trades!
Any idea on what team brings the crazy today? Will it be one of the usual suspects or will someone unusual get hepped up on draft enthusiasm and make a wacky deal?
Whenever anyone asks me what Rochester looks like, I always respond with “Like a garage.”
:^::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: I’m glad you’re discovering you like Buffalo! When Kate gave us a tour a few years ago, I found it quite charming! The area we were in (uh… around Bidwell? Does that make sense?) was much hipper than I was expecting.
Will it be one of the usual suspects or will someone unusual get hepped up on draft enthusiasm and make a wacky deal?
Ooh, ooh, wacky deal! Wacky deal! Puhleeease let it be a wacky deal! Involving the Devils, Brian Gionta, and Vinny!
The area we were in (uh… around Bidwell? Does that make sense?) was much hipper than I was expecting.
It really is. It’s a great neighborhood to people watch, home gawk and Sabre see. Heh.
The first contender for wacky deal is allegedly on the table: Kessel to Toronto for Kaberle and the #7.
My tours of Buffalo with Meg and Heather were also very nice. If I could work from home, I might be compelled to buy one of those giant old houses. And I’m sure I’d go to that Greek restaurant a LOT.
Kessel to Toronto for Kaberle and the #7.
I hope that goes through, because some idiot commenter on Heika’s blog was trying to say that Dallas had offered the #8 and Matt Niskanen. That would be WAY wacky.
For one thing, if you need defense, you trade defense for defense because then you still need defense!
DANG IT! I meant you DON’T trade defense for defense. Sheesh!
So if you added another kitty, Sue, you could just say it belongs to one of the other kitties!
Interesting. Possible, but, at this moment, one of the cats, Eric, is at the vet. He just hasn’t been himself lately. I thought it was the weather, which as we discussed in another thread, has been atrocious and, in cat years, he’s now in his early 60’s and he doesn’t handle stuff like this very well. It could be something worse (the vet is doing an X-ray to make sure it’s not a tumor), but it appears he’s very, very constipated. Bring on the enemas!
Poor Eric. The poor vet.
Wait, Patty, what are you saying — DON’T trade defense for defense? That’s RIDICULOUS! You’ll never cut it as a GM.
And Sue, I hope Eric’s check-up goes well. Poor guy.
And Sue, I hope Eric’s check-up goes well. Poor guy.
Thanks…heard from the vet. No tumor, that we know of. Significant poop extraction. Very, very unhappy Eric. One more issue, although probably due to severe stress, blood sugar is high. They’ve sent the full blood panel out. However, they can’t give the poor cat a cortisone shot to relieve the irritation.
I may be able to bring him home late this afternoon. Fingers and toes crossed. Claudie is moping around w/out him, not that Eric will be in the mood to do anything.
Sue, your poor kitty! I hope he gets better soon.
That’s RIDICULOUS! You’ll never cut it as a GM.
Dammit! I should go fish my resignation out from under my vacationing boss’s door, before it’s too late!
That’s RIDICULOUS! You’ll never cut it as a GM.
I’m just thinking about the list of former (and current) NHL GMs who fit that description. And not because they said “DON’T trade defense for defense”…just because they don’t cut it as NHL GMs.
And yes, Mike Milbury, I’m looking at you. But not for long, it pains my eyes.
Dammit! I should go fish my resignation out from under my vacationing boss’s door, before it’s too late!
:^::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Your life is like one big screwball comedy! (Does your boss look anything like Cary Grant?) (Wait, that’s a stupid question. You’d NEVER hand in a letter of resignation to someone who looks like Cary Grant…)
(Does your boss look anything like Cary Grant?)
Actually, she kinda does. :P
This sounds weird, but that VEM buckled up in the seat picture is so adorably cute that I want to frame it and hang it up on my wall.
Heya, IPB! How’s the not-draft going?
Actually, she kinda does. :P
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Caitlin, you are always welcome to print any of our pictures. Especially VE Mats in a seatbelt. :P
The not-draft is going great! Now that I’ve dug myself out of the mud at the farm, we’re listening to Pookie’s driving mix and stitching. And eating cupcakes. Good times, I tells ya! How’s the life of a not-on-vacation working stiff this fine Friday? :D
How’s the life of a not-on-vacation working stiff this fine Friday? :D
Peaceful and quiet (for once!) and nice because I know I’ll have NEXT Friday off.
Ooh, stitching, eh? Anything fun?
Caitlin, you are always welcome to print any of our pictures. Especially VE Mats in a seatbelt. :P
People will come over to my house and say, “Why do you have a picture of a seat on your wall?” Then I’ll point out VEM and they’ll say, “Why do you have a picture of a toy sitting in a car seat on your wall?”
Then I’ll just show them my comic/movie toys and then feel ashamed.
I see from TSN and Puck Daddy that Nieds still can’t make up his mind about whether or not he’s playing/retiring/whatever.
No, I’m not blaming his mother on this one.
Captain “Fuck this shit” he ain’t.
Then I’ll point out VEM and they’ll say, “Why do you have a picture of a toy sitting in a car seat on your wall?”
:^::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: And you shouldn’t be ashamed of your comic/movie toys — at least you’re not posting pictures of them all over your hockey blog! :P
And the stitching is quite awesome. I’m doing the long seams now on this Amy Butler quilt. It took no time at all to put together the strips with the diamonds, and then I was like, “Piece of cake! Just sew seven long seams to put them together, and I’ll be done!” It didn’t cross my mind until I started actually doing it that the little 1.5-inch strips between the diamond blocks are two seams each. It’s actually 16 long seams before it’s all together. Me so smrt. (I’ve got 5 1/2 more to go.)
!” It didn’t cross my mind until I started actually doing it that the little 1.5-inch strips between the diamond blocks are two seams each. It’s actually 16 long seams before it’s all together. Me so smrt. (I’ve got 5 1/2 more to go.)
That quilt is so pretty! Pretty soon y’all are going to have quilts in every room of the house, man. Has that quilt taken long? It doesn’t seem like it would, even with sixteen long seams. (Are you guys doing this by hand or with a sewing machine?)
I decided last night that Sleepy Hollow can just suck it. I put too much time on that thing to give it up. It’s getting framed, water mark and all, I don’t care. Throwing it out or just letting it lie is going to make me even more neurotic than I am now.
I agree with Sue on the Scott Neidermayer assessment. I keep imagining what going out to lunch with Neids is like.
Me: You ready to order?
Neids: It all look so good.
Me: Okaaaaay.
Neids: Still, I can’t help thinking we should have gone to the Thai place instead.
Me: ……..
I’m glad you’re going to persevere with Sleepy Hollow. I would recommend that you send it to Sandy at The Attic for framing — she’s expertly cleaned up a handful of pieces that we’ve sent her (with all manner of stains, watermarks, etc). I would daresay she’s a miracle worker.
And this quilt has taken me no time at all. I started it after dropping Squaresville off for quilting. It’s always hard to go from “intense stretch run finishing” to “starting a new project”, and this one is such a simple pattern that I went from starting to “intense stretch run” in about one day. I’ve been working on it for something like two weeks? Three? And I’m almost done already. It’s a VERY bobo pattern. (It also has a lot of things that REALLY suck about it, so it’s the last free Amy Butler pattern I ever make.) And that’s doing everything by hand. If you machine pieced this, it would literally take no more than four days, and that’s if you sewed extremely slowly. :D
Me: You ready to order?
Neids: It all look so good.
Me: Okaaaaay.
Neids: Still, I can’t help thinking we should have gone to the Thai place instead.
Me: ……..
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I decided last night that Sleepy Hollow can just suck it
Yeah! Take that, Shivers! (Seriously, that’s the best thing to do. It’ll look fabulous in the end because you’re stitching itself is going to rock! And that piece is so fun on it’s own.)
Morgan, :^:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
And that piece is so fun on it’s own
It is probably the most fun I’ve ever had cross stitching. I love the variety in it and even though stitching the multicolored garland on the house made me want to bleed from the eyes, it was still fun. Slightly bleedy fun, but fun!
I would recommend that you send it to Sandy at The Attic for framing —
Will do! Thank you for the advice. :) I’ve been really lazy about hunting down a local framer anyways so I was just going to be even more lazy and just call the Attic and see if they’d do all my stuff. :D
(I’m terrible.)
Also, you guys have been doing your quilts by HAND?!?! That is crazy awesome. I only ever saw the machining side of it.
And I’m almost done already. It’s a VERY bobo pattern. (It also has a lot of things that REALLY suck about it, so it’s the last free Amy Butler pattern I ever make.)
That’s so cool that you almost have a finished quilt THAT quickly! I know what you mean about the pattern sucking, though. My mom did a pattern once with lots of curves that had some serious measurement problems, and I think that’s what caused her to drop kick quilting to the curb. She still hasn’t forgiven that pattern, I think.
Morgan, :^::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
It’ll look fabulous in the end because you’re stitching itself is going to rock!
I HOPE so. I hope I don’t do anything to massively screw it up. … Besides having a cat who knocks a huge glass of water on it.
Boomer was also a bit bleedy-from-the-eyes thanks to that garland. That, and the roof, which took her about 6 months to make. There are a LOT of stitches in the roof. Heh.
I’ve been annoyed with this dumb quilt because the diamonds are all — duh — sewn on the bias. And the templates included “a scant 1/4 inch seam allowance”. Define “scant”, bitch! So there I was, hand-seaming these, like, 10-inch seams, totally paranoid that I was putting too much fabric in my seam allowances, convinced the whole thing was going to be RUINED, and then I ended up with seam allowances that were too small. So now my strips of blocks are too long for the strips that go between them. Between all the seams on the bias and having to strrrrrreeeeeetch the sashing as far as it will go, this whole thing has a kind of ruffled look to it. It’s just a lap quilt, so whatevs. :D (Pookie is going to be embarking on a pattern with lots of curves in it — I take it we shouldn’t ask your mom for advice? Heh.)
Caitlin, I just told Boomer your status report on how you’re enjoying Sleepy Hollow. She commiserated about the garland, then said, “I don’t want to disturb her, but the church isn’t any easier to stitch than the house. That piece is NOT for the faint at heart.” Hee! You and Boomer are stitching buddies now — you’ve both gone through the trial-by-fire that is Sleepy Hollow! :D
I’ve been annoyed with this dumb quilt because the diamonds are all — duh — sewn on the bias. And the templates included “a scant 1/4 inch seam allowance”. Define “scant”, bitch!
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UGH. 1/4 seam allowance?! Bias? Excuse me while I spasm. (But it’ll be totally gorgeous!) Did you have to do all that annoying foldy-pressy with the iron and everything?! That is why I could never be a quilter. I’d iron my own hands off.
Between all the seams on the bias and having to strrrrrreeeeeetch the sashing as far as it will go, this whole thing has a kind of ruffled look to it.
But that sounds really cool! I’m really stoked to see how it turns out now. You guys are going to be PREPPED for winter.
That, and the roof, which took her about 6 months to make.
THE ROOF IS KILLING ME. Seriously, that fucking roof. I’m doing double duty on the roof and the tree and the roof wants to make me rip my molars out. (I have three rows done on the roof. Eff.)
“I don’t want to disturb her, but the church isn’t any easier to stitch than the house. That piece is NOT for the faint at heart.”
No, I accidentally looked ahead on the chart and read the instructions for the church. You’re supposed to stitch by block, apparently, and I was just like, “What new fuckery is this?” The church and I, we’re not going to be friends. (The church may have a sign stitched in front that says “St. Shivers Episcopal Church” or something, I dunno.)
I feel like kindred spirits with Boomer now! Fist bump to Boomer. Man. It’s a really enjoyable pattern but there’s lots of little things that can drive you batty.
You’re supposed to stitch by block, apparently, and I was just like, “What new fuckery is this?”
:^:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Boomer’s like, “That’s what I’m SAYING! It’s something determined to DRIVE HER CRAZY.” (She did the stitching by block. We nearly lost her to it.) She also just added, “It’s so you can feel a kinship with the Puritans.”
I think a sign that says St. Shivers Episcopal Church would be AWESOME.
And yeah, the quilting has the folding and pressing. I have done more ironing in the last six months than I have in my entire life. No joke. I never iron ANYTHING. It’s been quite a learning experience (and I’ve only had one really severe burn so far, so I’m proud of that! :D). What makes the ironing fun, though, is this joke we just will not let go: we have a favorite album by Sexmob, a jazz CD of James Bond soundtrack music. It’s the BOMBDIGGITY. I discovered it while listening to random midday NPR about 10 years ago. The guy was explaining in the radio show why they’d done an album of Bond music, and remarked that when he started listening to the original soundtracks, he discovered the tracks all have hilarious titles. Like the music from the scene in “Goldfinger” where Oddjob crushes dudes into a car in a junkyard is called “Oddjob’s Pressing Engagement”. So thanks to the fact that we frequently listen to this album, that’s often on the forefront of our minds. Now every time any of us has to go do any ironing of seams for our quilts, we announce dramatically, “I have a pressing engagement.” HAHAHA! Sigh. We crack ourselves up. :P
The church may have a sign stitched in front that says “St. Shivers Episcopal Church”
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Did I ever tell you about the piece I was working on that had random letters strewn throughout it? I was going to rechart them so that I had a “F T O O S” to stand for “Fuck This Over One Shit”. Now I want to work Shivers into everything! Imagine “The Houses Of Shivers Hallow”!
She also just added, “It’s so you can feel a kinship with the Puritans.”
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(Like the Puritans had anything better to do with their time except watch their crops rot.)
we have a favorite album by Sexmob
::makes mental note to look this up on iTunes when I get home::
Now every time any of us has to go do any ironing of seams for our quilts, we announce dramatically, “I have a pressing engagement.” HAHAHA! Sigh. We crack ourselves up. :P
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You crack me up too! That is too great for words. Is there a song for Jaws called, “I’ll Have To Chew That Over”?
Did I ever tell you about the piece I was working on that had random letters strewn throughout it? I was going to rechart them so that I had a “F T O O S” to stand for “Fuck This Over One Shit”.
You worked a piece like that? That would have been great if you had done that, though, so that when you gave people tours of Stately IPB Manor, you could just casually announce, “This is my piece that I worked really hard on, and that stands for Fuck This Over One Shit,” and then move on like NOTHING HAD EVER HAPPENED.
Heh.
Now I want to work Shivers into everything! Imagine “The Houses Of Shivers Hallow”!
Shivers strikes again! The Houses/Shores/Village of Shivers Hallow would be amazingly awesome. Have you seen the Halloween piece with the pirate ship, where it’s got the wee ghosties and skeletons? You could name the ship the USS Shivers or something! The possibilities are LIMITLESS. Shivers: The Gift That Keeps On Giving.
I don’t know if I ever told y’all, but the guy who directed Fear of Clowns, the flick featuring Shivers, actually found my review and left a very sporting, very nice comment on it. So really, I think he’s probably owed a Shivers-esque cross stitch piece from me or something.
Biggest hockey news of the day so far: VWacey Rabbit is a free agent!
Do it Bob, I don’t care about Kovy, I want Rabbit!
Oops, that’s just Wacey, not VWacey, of course!
I clicked on that link, Grrrreg, to see who you meant by “Wacey Rabbit.” I had forgotten that was his actual name!
I had forgotten that was his actual name!
That poor kid. He must’ve had years of therapy. What were his parents thinking?
I had forgotten about him too, but I just read about this on twitter. I want a Rabbit Jersey.
VWacey is Wacey’s younger, less talented brother. In other words, he’s Lowell material!
Is there a song for Jaws called, “I’ll Have To Chew That Over”?
:^::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: If only!
And that is SO COOL about the Shivers director! I think you should totally make him a USS Shivers Halloween cross-stitch piece. :D
VWacey’s got a built-in endorsement deal from Volkswagen!
Is there a song for Jaws called, “I’ll Have To Chew That Over”?
:^::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Someone tossed a plugged-in toaster in a bathtub on Columbo and there was a hearty round of “Shocking!” from us. Heh.
That’s really cool about the director leaving a comment on your review!
VWacey’s got a built-in endorsement deal from Volkswagen!
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That’s exactly what I was thinking, but I didn’t know how to phrase it!
I think you should totally make him a USS Shivers Halloween cross-stitch piece. :D
With a clown lurking somewhere. Heh.
Someone tossed a plugged-in toaster in a bathtub on Columbo and there was a hearty round of “Shocking!” from us. Heh.
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I love jokes like that. Best ever.
Hey guys! LOVE your twitter feed. LOLLERSKATES!
Thanks, Carol! We just want to keep the world abreast of all the news here on our not-trip to not-Montreal to not-see the Draft. :D
I wanna do a live blog of the Draft, but I’m scared.
Patty, I’m also scared, but we started a diary anyway! Hee! Anyway, there’s a new thread up for the Draft.