Today Jim spoiled my surprise for his birthday. I had been saving up for an ipod, but he texted me from Target announcing they actually had a wii and I told him to just buy it. He always does this, just when I think I’m going to surprise him.

So we spent our few precious date hours tonight looking at video games… and new skillets. I SO need to buy new skillets the ones we’re using now have got to be past the point of healthy. I’m thinking I’ve got to figure out how to use cast iron and it sort of scares me. What I’d like is a couple 80 dollar Calphalon skillets from BB&B. What kind of skillets are you using?

Now I need to go peel my children away from their new game as it’s WAY past bedtime.

So that roast that I had planned to cook last week… I just cooked it tonight. Or tried to cook it that is. The problem with cooking something in the oven for four hours is that you have to find four hours straight at home to cook. (This is a recipe where the crockpot just doesn’t do.)

So I forgot to get the roast in in time. And it was 4:30 and I really needed to cook the roast because it had been thawed for a few days. So I had the brilliant idea to cook it at a really high temperature… as high as my new stove would go – 500º. I thought I’d get a good sear on the roast before I added the wine/broth mixture to it. And 10 minutes into cooking, I poured the room temperature mixture over the roast and walked away.

Then the stove exploded. Or I should say that the pyrex casserole dish holding my roast exploded. There was a big bang followed by lots of red wine smelling steam and smoke. And I now get to test out the self clean function on my new stove. That is, after I shop vac all the tiny pieces of glass out of it.

And all I really wanted was to eat my roast…

• The dog is about back to his usual self after his little surgery on Thursday. I think I’m going to have to go get one of those plastic collars from the vet, though, because he keeps licking his incision. dumb dog.

• I’m in the process of updating a few things on this site. I wish I had the time to give it a complete overhaul, but until then… You’ll notice I added my twitter feed, updated my links and I’m working on re-doing the knitting page.

• I started knitting Zephyr’s Tree Jacket. I think I’m going to really like it and wish I had it done today as it’s been pouring all day long. I chose magenta, do you think it’s my color? I’m trying to push myself out of my comfort zone.

• I’m trying to figure out what my summer “uniform” will be. I think the reason I hate summer the most is that I never feel cute in the summer time. What are you loving for summer clothing?

(need to bring my camera home from Tangle so I stop taking crappy cell phone pics.)

[ab fabric]

(I guess there is just a lot of randomness going on in my life these days!)

• I dropped Tucky puppy off at the vet today to get castrated. Poor puppy. We’re hoping this will help mellow him out a bit.

• I just committed to writing 3,500 words on knitting methods for an upcoming book. So I may be picking your brains here soon.

• Speaking of upcoming books, Pure Knits is available for pre-order on Amazon. This book will feature two patterns by yours truly. (So exciting!) The money I made from these patterns is going towards something very exciting for me that will be happening later this month.

• I am officially painting the dining room chairs. I purchased the paint for them today. I’m pretty excited about my plan to finish off the dining room. Could it possibly be because my plan includes the need to purchase more dishes? Because, anyone who has been to my house can tell you, I certainly need more dishes.

• Jim’s grandmother passed away on Monday. The service is in Wyoming so we aren’t able to make it.

• On a happier note: My good friend Carrington surprised me with a great pair of Keens last weekend.

• Having just sent an email to Subway complaining about their excessive use of the plastic bag, I realize I’ve been on an emailing rampage lately. Not sure if this is good or bad, but I do make sure to email companies when I like what they’re doing too. So I think it’s OK.

• I’ve tried just about everything with my dish detergent recipe to no avail and I’m starting to consider admitting defeat. This makes me quite sad.

• Honor and Eden have both gone through a growth spurt, so I’m going to spend the rest of my afternoon going through their clothes so I can see what they need. (Problem with these children is that they are so skinny that if the pants are long enough, they are huge on the waist – even with an adjustable waistband. And I think that everyone is getting tired of seeing Honor’s butt crack – just a guess.)