dee kneetter eez deed

Yep, killed today by a woman who lives near Portland, OR.

Last week, I killed a woman in Anchorage.

WTF you ask?  Well...TF is an international competition of kill or be killed...by, yes, knitted headwear.  Otherwise known as "Hat Attack II: The Death Hat Always Knocks Twice" (or three times in my case).

OK, so you already think your Ironfriend is nuts.  But yes, yes I am.  That aside, I signed up in August to take part in the second ever Hat Attack.  In fact, over 600 other knitters signed up to do this thing, which is we pay our $2.00 entry fee, buy the specified yarn, knit a practice sample swatch or two to ensure we're close to the correct gauge, then we wait...wait...wait...receive our "target" information (that is, the person we're intended to kill)...wait...wait...wait a little more...until this last September 16th when the game pattern was released and then knit fast and furious trying to get our completed "weapon" in the mail to our target, all the while anxiously checking the mailbox for our own "hat-of-death" to arrive from our assassin.  When you're dead you stop knitting and if you have an uncompleted hat in your hands at the time of death, it gets mailed up to your assassin...if your assassin is dead, then it goes to the next person up the list who is still alive.  Your target is the person down the list from you, so if your target hadn't completed their hat when they died, it'd come to you and you'd get to also kill your target's target...and so on.

Anyway, the hat that killed me tonight, one month to the day of the pattern launch, was dubbed by my assassin "Caramel Apple."  (If I could figure out how to post pictures, I would)

Goodbye cruel world!

dee feesh eez deed.

Went to my niece's wedding in Spokane a few weeks ago and for table centerpieces they used goldfish in little bowls.  Daughterdigger loved the idea of taking a bowl home and after much pleading, I acquiesced, though I explained numerous times that the two goldies would likely not survive the 5+ hour drive home the next day.

Darn it all, they lived.  Not only that, but a couple days later we had a full-blown 10-gallon aquarium to set up, not to mention two more flippin' goldfish!  On top of that, we got a betta for Sondigger so he wouldn't feel left out, but betta's are "easy," right?  (Guess who has to clean the fish bowl?!)

Fast forward to last Thursday night: a couple of the fish (of the goldies in the big tank) didn't look well.  I told Daughterdigger that we'd look into it, but there wouldn't be time before DH and I went away to Portland for the weekend.  We would have to look into it when we got back.

[sigh]

We returned Monday evening to two floaters: Bulbous-eye and Bob, while Mr. Glub-glub and Dottie were in their death throes.  The other two, we found, had passed overnight.

We still have Spike, the betta who looks like he needs a bath, and an empty 10-gallon tank which needs to be cleaned, treated and hopefully restocked with more vicious fishes, or possibly "victim fishum."

Yay! I ran 5 miles! Went to PDX this last weekend to watch dear friend EJ and her BF MM run the Portland Marathon (his 1st--yay!).  This is the first year I've not done a marathon -- I've done four marathons in as many years (two of those attached to the end of a friggen Ironman triathlon)! And the crazy part, yes there's always a crazy part, I missed it!  I signed up and ran the token 5-mile race and the whole time thought about how I wished I was doing the fully mary.  Of course, I'm nowhere near able to do one presently.  The 5-mi was a challenge and I was sore for the rest of that day part of the next.  But now I'ma wanna do it again.  Maybe PDX next October.  Maybe the brand new Seattle Rock n Roll mary in June.  Maybe I should just shut up now.

OK, this is bad.  The last few times I've gotten on Mindsay I couldn't (right away) because I'd forgotten my password.  I know I have the option to stay signed in or have the browser remember my password, but...that expires after a certain amount of inactivity...like months.  Bad.

I am anxiously awaiting Tuesday's launch of "Hat Attack II: the death hat always knocks twice."  Yes, dear friends and loved ones, I could be murdered by knitwear in just a few short days.  It's kill or be killed, people.  Once the hat pattern is released, I must knit up a nifty striped hat and mail it to my, as yet unknown, target before my assassin mails their completed hat to me.  It's an international, somewhat-online knitting competition of fearsome proportions.

What's with me and these insane competitive feats?  First running, then Ironman, now this?!  Well, I can tell you that the competitive spirit must've come from my mom's side because it certainly doesn't come from my dad, but that's a topic for another therapy session.

Speaking of Ironman...I ran today.  I ran a whoppin' 3 miles, ran 2 miles earlier this week, swam once and even rode my bike over the weekend.  This after having a Happy Un-Ironman coffee with KE (co-iron-conspirator who is also starting to re-catch the bug) a few weekends ago.  Mostly I'm sick of the fact that all my pants are now too tight, so I'm inspired to get moving again, but I also really miss having a ridiculously big goal to work towards.  If I don't have a goal, I don't move.  If I don't have a goal, I don't save money.  If I don't have a goal, I don't care.  Didn't really realize I was so goal driven, but there ya go.  Not training for a race = gaining it all back.

So, what race(s) will it be?  A half-iron distance tri in late spring?  A marathon next fall?  Shorter? Longer?  Maybe I'll keep working on the baby steps for now.  Oh, I kinda want to get a team together for the Hood to Coast relay: a team of six people each completing six legs of the relay to cover 197 miles.  It starts at Timberline Lodge on Mt. Hood and finishes on the Pacific Ocean at Seaside, OR.  Sounds fun, right?

Damn, I'm nuts!

I guess not, but then again maybe.  I'm surprised at how long it's been since I've blogged.

I completed Ironman #2 in August, 2007, followed by much burnout.  I did a half marathon in Portland, OR, in April '08, but have mostly been a slug ever since.  The job's keeping me busy, the 2nd job's keeping me busier (doing some bookkeeping on the side), and took up a new expensive hobby, knitting.  I've already made bunches of yarny lovelies since right after Christmas: scarves, socks, an afghan, a square for a group-made afghan, a purse, and more.

The sad part: my pants have gotten tight, I get winded walking uphill, I have difficultly sleeping, my swimsuit reveals more sticky-outy parts and fewer muscly parts. I miss training for Ironman, rather, I miss the benefits of training for Ironman.  Not to say I'm going to sign back up again right away, but needing to get back on the bus.

Maybe publishing my goals, along with sharing my knitty-stuff, will motivate me to get off my ass!