WINNERS!!! And SPT

Still no knitting to speak of. I have some ideas running through my head but I have had no time to pick up the needles and yarn- boooo.
Last post I had a little contest, and the winners are:
Karen and PennyKarma
These two ladies did some sleuthing and guessed the two desert events that stand out most in my memory.
Karen guessed correctly with "Thrust 2- setting the land speed record" and Penny Karma nailed it on the head by discovering the World's Largest Croquet game, formally know as "Croquet X Machina".
These stick in my mind because Thrust 2 was occurring when I first moved to Gerlach, NV. It was a huge deal and a pretty amazing site. Croquet X Machina is big for me because I got to participate. The crazy folks out at Planet X Pottery thought up this event and my family and several others participated... We were team orange- I still have my button and I have the Sports Illustrated for evidence. I promise to post some photos when I get a chance of these events...
I will be picking out prizes and sending them to you both within the next week... Stop on by and say hello to these gals.

SPT- I missed last week, so here are the final all of me pictures....
me in work mode, dirty grungy, tom-boyish and me in pretty feminine elegant mode... The first photo was taken last winter while the house of noodle was going under some major renovation. This is the kitchen we gutted the joint and made it all new and sparkely. The second photo was taken at one of my dearest and best friends wedding about 2 years ago (the bride is in the middle).

D is for...

I'm back.... But just briefly. .. No knitting to speak of unless you count the yarn catalog I have been flipping through at night before I go to bed... Yarn porn- oh man.

I have to say thanks for all the positive thoughts that everyone gave me about my yoga class. Tomorrow is the big day! I have over 20 people enrolled. I am so excited.
Oh and Tami, I will definitely let you know if I am going to be in the Bay to play- actually, there is a group of us (The Procrastiknitters of Reno) who are planning to meet up with Kat and her knitters to go to the Stitch n' Pitch Giants game (scroll down, you will see it) this summer. It should be a ball (ha ha, your so punny).

Now, onto your regular scheduled program:
D is for.....
I have a few D items. I can't decide so you get them all.

D is for Daffodil. I love these flowers because they are usually the first one's to open and say hello to the new season. These were some I found while in the Bay Area last weekend. Still a bit too cool for things to start blooming here.







D is for Denver.
I was there this past week on business. But I have lots of memories of the Denver from taking the train through this city. Almost ever summer my mom and I would take the train back east to see family. I loved coming into Denver on the train. There is the longest tunnel as you descend down the mountains and into the plains and sometimes if the weather was right an amazing lightening storm would flash us into the city. I also recall the really great old train station there. We would spend a few hours on a lay over, never quite enough time to go explore the city.






D is also for Desert.

I am a desert girl, I tried the coast and it just made me stir crazy. I like the open nothingness of the Nevada desert- the way that you can hear nothing as it hums in your ears. The way you can drive for hours and not see anyone else on the road but a cow or a coyote. I love the smell after it rains, the fact that it can snow and reach over 105degrees in the same place. I love the stars and the clouds the big-ness that makes you realize that you really are just a small part of it all. This is the Black Rock Desert. Lots of people know it for the legendary Burning Man Festival, but I will send out a prize (that got your attention didn't it?) to anyone who can name one of the other two giant events that occurred out on this playa in the past 25-30 years.

Thanks for coming back to read, I know I have been delinquent and distant. So I am glad you came to visit~

Post 101

I am alive and breathing- Just OVER the top busy!!!!
Things are crazy over at the Noodle House. There are lots of changes in motion right now, I will give more details once things are solidified-

We had a long weekend that included a funeral and an early morning (i am talking birds aren't even awake early-I am talking we should have just stayed up all night early) drive over Donner Pass to the Bay Area. Despite the reason, the visit with the family friends was a good one- sometimes the best thing you can do is have people around to make you laugh and smile- to remember the person who has moved on to the next stage of this crazy existence. I couldn't help but think all weekend about the book Mutant Message Down Under...
And while sitting in the Catholic church I tried really hard to make connections with the things I am learning in yoga to what the priest was talking about -life death love hope faith community forgiveness-. The pipe organ at the church sent me much as the harmonium does while at the studio when we chant-
It is funny to think of the parallels that cultures and religions have (music, movements, repetition, rituals)It fascinates me and I am working on looking at it all with a great deal of acceptance and non-judgment.

Needles to say, I was NEEDLE-Less all weekend. I am not sure if I am going to make my Olympic dead line with the Mrs. B's. Although I do have a plane ride to Denver tomorrow that could allow a bit of knitting... hmmm.

My yoga class starts this Saturday- I have a crazy number of people signed up already- over 12- YIKES- how cool is that though. It should be a really great learning experience for me (and hopefully those who are attending).

I promise to post sometime later this week, but since I will be away from home it will have to wait..
Hope everyone is well in blogland- check back in on Friday :)

Love is in the air...

This is my 100th post! wow...

Let me wish all of you a very lovely Valentines day....

















Today is Tuesday, here is my SPT:

She's RED hot today...

I have recently fallen in love with the color red. I think it has a lot to do with these shoes. They are my favorite. I wear them all the time. They are in desperate need of some polish, but that is okay...
Dressed in a red/pink theme today for Valentine's Day....
I like to get dressed up in a color theme, so today it is pinks and reds especially for the holiday! None of the colors *match* one another, they are all just in the same color scheme- it is something I have always done and it makes me smile because matching doesn't always have to mean matching, ya know?

UFOlympics:
well folks, she had done it! The socks are off the needles and in a giftee bag for my mom. I am going to drop them off at her house onto he way into work this morning... I can't wait for her to slip them on her feets.
now on to the next challenging event, Mrs. Bs!

Teaching!

Y-O-G-A
I am so excited- At lunch I strolled down to a place called ACHIEVE Fitness to talk to the owner about possibly doing my "internship" teaching at their studio. She was very excited and we instantly were in the office going over dates and schedules.
I am going to start teaching~ woot! Woot!
My certification only requires that I do a four week course (I will be doing a "basics class"), but the owner asked me if I would mind extending it to six weeks so that it could be a "Community Based Class". Because this is part of my training I won't be getting paid in cash, but rather in the learning experience I get in teaching. Sounds cheesy, but I can't think of a better way to learn.
I start on February 25th... (if you are one of my local readers and want to come out drop me a line and I can get you signed up)
I also contacted a studio that is currently only based out of Truckee, but are setting up shop here in Reno sometime this spring. I am hoping that I can get a gig with them as well.
Things are looking good on the yoga front. I am feeling energized and excited to start teaching. I can't wait to share all that I have learned.

KNITTING:: I am almost done with the second sock. Just in time as they are someone's Valentines day giftee. I just have to close the toe- yippeeeee. I really love making socks and am plotting my next pair.

The Invitation

A wonderful friend of mine sent me this today... I thought I would share the words and the thoughts.

"The Invitation" by Oriah Mountain Dreamer, a Native American Elder

It doesn't interest me what you do for a living. I want to know what you ache for, and if you dare to dream of meeting your heart's longing.It doesn't matter to me how old you are. I want to know if you will risk looking like a fool for love, for your dreams, for the adventure of being alive.It doesn't interest me what planets are squaring your moon. I want to know if you have touched the center of your own sorrow , if you have been opened by life's betrayals or have becomed shriveled and closed for fear of further pain. I want to know if you can sit with pain, mine or your own, without moving to hide it or fade it or fix it.I want to know if you can be with joy, mine or your own, if you can dance with wildness and let the ecstacy fill you to the tips of your fingers and toes without cautioning us to be careful, be realistic, or to remember the limitations of being human.It doesn't interest me if the story you're telling me is true. I want to know if you can disapoint another to be true to yourself, if you can bear the accusation of betrayal and not betray your own soul.I want to know if you can be faithful and, therefore be trustworthy. I want to know if you can see beauty even when it is not pretty every day, and if you can source your life from God's presence. I want to know if you can live with failure, yours and mine, and still stand on the edge of a lake and shout to the silver of the moon, "Yes!"It doesn't interest me who you are, or how you came to be here. I want to know if you will stand in the center of fire with me and not shrink back.It doesn't interest me where or what or with whom you have studied. I want to know what sustains you from the inside when all else falls away. I want to know if you can be alone with yourself, and if you truly like the company you keep in empty moments.

On your marks, get set...

I was just over at the UFOlympics home base and realized I needed to post where I was on my UFO.
So here it is:
Mrs. Beetons-














First Socks-

So there you have it- my starting blocks have been placed. My needles are shiny and ready to go. I have my yarn and beads strategically placed - on your marks, get set......

On a non UFOlympics, but totally knitting subject. I wound up frogging the Odessa- I couldn't figure out where the ribbing got off count and it was making me NUTS. So I resolved to start the whole thing over and only work on it when I can give the work my full attention.

Its a bird, its a plane... No its a flying yogini~

Look at what I did last weekend~(scroll down to the Reno pictures) this was so much fun. I felt like I was four years old again!
Such a cool interpretation and integration of yoga and acrobatics.
Okay, that is it- just had to share.

C is for....

yin and yan
Originally uploaded by NessieNoodle.

Cats, kitties, or as my good friend Amanda calls them Kratins - but that would be K is for and I have another idea of K... So C is for CAT~

These two little monsters are my babies. They snuggle, they hiss, they get on the counter and in the toilet. The newest thing is to get on the stove and lick the pans after I have made eggs in the morning. My little yin and yan...

one dark one light, one skinny one fat, one who will sleep all night the other is party animal.

This is Lester Lewis-

he is about 5 years old. I got him while I was living in Auburn, CA at an animal shelter called the "Cat House". He was a sweetie from the moment I brought him home. Big time snuggles and lots of kisses. pas times include hunting, getting Gertie to groom him, and laying on the heater vent.

This is Gertrude Marie. She is 3 years old. I got her right after hubby and I got back from our honey moon. She is a talker, is a big girl, and drools when she snuggles.
Her pass times are sleeping, eating, licking the dishes in the sink, and preening Lester (as long as he doesn't get too pushy, then she kicks his arse).

C is for CAT

All of me- SPT

Today is Tuesday, so you know that that means. This is a warning, this month's SPT is all about ALL OF ME. And I have that for you. It isn't a bad outfit or hairdo. It isn't an ugly way I can twist my face or a deformed toe. This ugly is something all together different.
This is a really hard post. I have debated long and hard about actually doing this, but the point of this month's SPT is to show something about ourselves that is "ugly" EDITED: or rather parts of ourselves that we usually hide because we don't like them-
this is the very first thing that popped in my head when I read about what our goal was for the month-
So here is the "ugliest" or the part of me (physically) that I hide the most- part of me.

A little bit of waxing could take care of this issue, but to be honest I am embarrassed when I go in to the salon to have them removed it. I hate to go.... I can only imagine what the estitician is thinking and it kills me.
I like my belly otherwise. I don't think it is huge. As a matter of fact in the past week I have had different people say, "you are so little" that makes me happy I guess- but it is the un-feminine hair that drives me crazy. The "happy trail"- that makes me so unhappy.

The fact that woman, in an ideal world are supposed to be as bald from their big buoyant breasts down to their feet as a 7 year old child makes me crazy. It bothers me that our culture can't accept that hair grows on our body.

It bothers me that it bothers me ... It is an ugly circle. I would probably feel more at ease with my tummy even if it isn't flat and strong if it were smooth and silky and, well, hairless.

So what does one do when she looks down and sees this sort of thing? She goes along with her usual after work routine. She has dinner:

Asparagus and pretend chicken nuggets with garlic and thousand island dressing.

She blogs.

She knits:

(Odessa Progress)

And she does her yoga homework so that she remembers how important the inside is, not the outside.

She lives and she laughs and she loves, and well, she has a hair tummy.

nobody is perfect.

AFTER THOUGHT ADDED:

I thought about this post all night- I had dreams about what you would all say, or not say and maybe never come back to my little humble blog again. Because WHY,oh WHY was this woman putting up a picture of here gut? (It is amazing what this blog thing gets us to do)- to put ourselves out there for people to see- people who I have never met - and if I wasn't "into" blogging like I am I would probably think or say "can you believe what is out on the internet? Can you believe what people put pictures up of? What they talk about?"

is this blogging thing kinda like talking on the cell phone in the doctor's office waiting room? Obnoxious like that? No, I don't think so-

No, because you don't have to listen to the conversation, you can disconnect yourself. You can surf on and read something else. So even though this blog thing seems really crazy and weird to some people that I tell, I still really like it. It has given me an outlet for my thoughts- I am finally writing again. It has given me some really great new people to know, even if it is only through cyber space, and it has given me amazing inspiration for my photography and my knitting. And because of that I am happy- hairy tummy and all (which by the way I shaved this morning while in the shower... smooth as a baby's bottom I tell you- should I post "after pictures" tonight? just for good measure? just kidding, I will spare you another gut shot...)

Morning Messages

Has anyone else noticed that there are more things talking to you than just your rice krispees every morning?
A few months ago I realized that there were. I came across the fact that there are messages everywhere.
I like it.
I especially like it when the messages are subtle and you have to notice them on your own. The kind of thing where you have to be paying attention otherwise you will miss it-
"When you first see a new picture, you don't want to miss the boat. You have to be very careful, you might be staring at Van Gogh's ear."
(quote from the Basquiat soundtrack).

I collect fortune cookie fortunes,

and so when I noticed that my tea and my raisins also had something to say I was excited!

I love that there is a little message there to great me as I slowly wake up each day. As the steam from the boiling water steeps the tea, I to "steep" into a richer person. Just as the honey and milk make it cool and sweet, I too become the same.

As I hold the warm mug in my hands I look down to read the quote and smile. I try to think about how I can apply the words I read to the day. Sometimes the words are right on track, other times I have to think about what it is all supposed to mean.

For the yoga teacher training I recently read an article that talked about the importance of ritual and spirituality. How even the smallest things that we do every day can blossom into much more over time. Doing something that has a spiritual connection doesn't mean that it has to be a huge undertaking, ordeal or involve anyone else but yourself. I like to think of my morning cup of tea, and my box of raisins as a seed that will become a flower of my spirituality. The quotes and words of wisdom help me make it this so.

I was debating saving this post until week "F is for..." In the ABC along, but I just needed to post it... So here it is. n-joy

I love when I get mail-

Pictures of my Odessa and progress so far can be seen here. But I will give you a little taste of what you will see in case you don't feel like traveling anywhere.In other news, I got a little package in the mail today I can't say what all was in the package, as there is something special and top secret for my Felted SP. I got a huge smile on my face when I opened up the card and saw what Caro over at Splityarn had snuck in there for me! Isn't she super-duper cool? Little did she know how much I had been wanting one of these. (Scrabble is one of my ALL TIME favorite games, I have been known to play by myself and try and top my own score- nerd!)
EDITED: I decided that I loved this little marker so much that I needed to wear it today- I have it on as a little charm on my necklace. I love it! Thanks again Caro~ Now that I got the stuff from Splityarn my first package for the secret pal can be placed in the mail tomorrow at lunch. I sure hope the recipient enjoys all the goodies! I had a drink with one of my sweet wonderful friends tonight. We are talking over potential opportunities for my future. It just felt good to bounce some ideas off of her. She is a really amazing, driven, successful and beautiful person and I trust what she says comes from the heart. I had to snap this shot of the sky on my way into the restaurant.
Oh, and before I forget and because this is one of my favorite holidays,

Happy Ground Hog's Day!

The Odessa-y

Be careful what you wish for- because last night Whit was reading my previous post and she took it upon herself to start our KAL. The Odessa KAL has begun!
I am looking at this as an adventure - could be becuase I just finished reading the Penelopiad (which I highly recommend). So the story of The Odyssey is fresh in my mind and I am full of thoughts of adventure.

Thanks Whit for getting this moving and grovin' I hope we get a good group to join. I know that Grumperina has listed our KAL on her blog which is pretty cool- there are several other KALs going out there for this, but join ours damn it!
- I might even throw in a giftee or two if I like ya'all enough~

I cast on this morning at something like 6:30am- its sick, I know. But sometimes when I get up in the morning there is nothing better than getting my mind going with some fiber (no, not like the raisin bran kind) and needles (no, again, not those kind of needles)- I am talking yarn and addis here people.
I will post pictures tonight when I have a chance to upload....

Yes, I am alive....

I am here. I am alive. And I have been knitting- swear to FSM I have. There are socks on the needles, an itty bitty watch cap and, and, and, well - that's it- actually, there is more knitting happening in my mind than anywhere else- sad.
I just haven't been posting- I will get a few pictures up of my progress sometime this week- promise.

I was out browsing around blogville today and guess what? The new Magknits is up AND there is a pattern in there that I can't wait to start. It is by Grumperina. I think she has done it again, peeps.
I would love to start a KAL but I am sure someone else already has, and I am not sure what being a KAL hostess involves... Anyone interested in joining me?

The best part about the pattern? I have the yarn- no having to go to the yarn shop that is across town and deliberate over picking the right color.
I have it sitting in my stash. Its in there in like, um, 4 colors or something wonderful ... SWEET~