Winter Blahs

I beleive I am firmly stuck in a full blown case of the winter blahs. I have been knitting and stuff but without much finished product, it is a bit non-motivating. And since I don't have much stuff done, I don't have pictures so the blog will be really boring. This will be one of those "life" entries.

St. Valentine's day was fun. Zach and I decided that trying to go out to eat in the evening on a St. Valentine's day that was also a Saturday was probably a bad idea. Instead, we went out for lunch. They just put in another Japanese Hibachi style resturant in Barboursville called Shogun. We went for dinner when it first opened and like all hibachi resturants, it was pricy. But I was perusing the menu and found a lunch section. They do lunch hibachi. It is way cheaper and you get the same portions except you choose between soup and salad and you don't get the two shrimp appetizer. It is very cool. A great niche that hasn't been filled yet. They also do Bento boxes, which have sushi and tempura and whatnot. Awesome. And their sushi was tasty too. I am still waiting on my St. Valentine's present though. Well, actually we both are. We decided to split the cost of the entire series of PowerPuff Girls. This year was its tenth anniversary. I celebrated by staying home (I had the day off anyway) and watching episodes from 6 am (well more like 8 when I actually got up) to 8 pm and then there was an all new episode. I should have watched the PowerPuff girl movie after that just to properly ice the cake, but I didn't think about it then. I wasted a perfect opportunity.

::digs through old posts:: Fail. I really thought I had mentioned this before and I now feel awful that it appears I haven't. But I have been working on it in the non-blogoverse. The Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act. On the outside, it seems like a perfectly logical and great idea to keep children safe. But because of some major oversight, this act would essentially eliminate the ability of handcrafters to sell their children's products. The biggest movement I've seen to get this act amended is the Handmade Toy Alliance. Already a lot has been done. A stay has been granted so that there is time to review it. The best thing you can do is to write your congresspeople and let them know this is something to take a look at. Which brings me to my main point. I wrote my congressmen. And I received a response from Senator Robert Byrd that made me very happy and proud he is my senator. He/his office (I honestly don't mind if someone in his office wrote it, it means he has people that make an effort and care enough to be informed and write back) wrote me back the first time saying that they were not fully informed of these issues or the Act and that they would look into it more and write me again. And they did! I got another letter in the mail the other day. It said Senator Byrd had sent an inquiry to the CPSC about the Act. He included a copy of the report that they had sent him. He told me about some legislature that was currently before a committee to ammend the Act. And although he wasn't on that committee, he would be sure to watch for when it comes before the senate. I felt like I really was a part of the process and that my letter might have made a difference. Thrilling stuff.

I've finished my taxes. Yay! I will be setting aside a chunk of the money for the Maryland Sheep and Wool Show. This will be my first year going and I am super excited. Aimee is going with me. I think I might also have to set aside a little of that chunk for my fiber guild's sister fiber guild's Hawks Nest Retreat. I'm going with Aimee to that too. I think I will be there to help her stay strong. She is on a fiber hiatus (diet is such an ugly word) and that much lovelyness might be a bit overwhelming. I'll buy everything she wants so she isn't tempted. But she is allowed to buy stuff for her etsy shop she hopes to open soon. Especially if the fiber is from a local farm, it would make a great selling point. She does great dye work and I can't wait to do a post telling everyone about all her great stuff and her store.

But this weekend I am going to the Tournament of the White Hart with Grace. I think it will be fun. I whipped up a Viking apron dress for the occasion. All I need now is to find some broaches to hold my dress on. Yay! I'll try to remember to take pictures