My boyfriend is still really sick, and we still don't know what's wrong. He is finally more willing to cooperate where going to the doctor is concerned, but his last appointment she did not seem to really think he was sick. Which infuriates me and the woman is lucky I am five hours away because if not she'd be in for an earful. I'm just worried sick about him - he's never been this sick before, and it's been too long for him to be this sick.

I am attempting to learn to knit again. After watching my sister knit while she was here over the weekend I was inspired. The technique she was using was very cool, and it's something that can't be done with crochet. So I got some new knitting needles yesterday and have been practicing. The hardest thing for me is getting my tension right and then keeping it as even as possible. I do ok with the first row but then the second row always seems to be too tight. But all things considered I think I'm doing ok for my skill level and for having only one day of practice under my belt.

I got a new straightening iron yesterday. There is nothing wrong with the one I already had, I just wanted a new one. I'll admit, it's all the videos on youtube of being able to use a straightening iron to CURL your hair that had me intrigued. I couldn't seem to get my old one to do it though. So I got a new one, and it's actually been designed to be able to curl as well as straighten. Oh but now of course I found a video that shows the proper way to do it, from a professional (how do those other girls on youtube do it with their method, cause it would not work at all for me?!) and now I THINK my old one might work for curling anyway. Oh well. I still like the new one a lot. I still like the old one too. So I don't intend to get rid of the old one. I shall keep and love them both. (Despite the fact that in all honestly I rarely use the old one and know I will rarely use the new one either... I kinda just like having them. LOL) Anyway, in my attempts to curl with the new one last night (BEFORE finding that other video....) I did not succeed in curling my hair. I did, however, succeed in burning my finger. Which I suspect I'll do many times with this one till I get used to it. The heating plates actually wrap around and are on the outsides of the iron as well as the inside... perhaps not the best purchase for a klutz like me, but that's what they make burn ointment for. I tried again this morning using the method in the video I found last night, and lo and behold... it worked! Well... kinda anyway. It seemed like it only wanted to curl the last few inches of my hair, but not the majority of the length. I think I just need some practice to get it right. But at least now I know what I am supposed to do as far as how to wrap my hair & flip the iron around to get it to curl.

My mom also said she thinks because my hair is so thick and long (thus very heavy) nothing will give me the curls I am looking for, and I do think she's probably right. I have a hunch if I were to cut my hair, the straightening iron would probably be perfect for curling it. But, I'm not ready to cut my hair yet. My goal when I first started letting it grow (3 years ago in February... and keep in mind  I have also had several trims since then, and I did a couple small cuts between then and now as well) was hip length. I'm a good way past that now and have been for some time. Really, right now I am just kind of curious just how long I can stand to let it get. LOL

I think we have everything we need for Thanksgiving supper, which is good and means we are way ahead of the game this year. Usually we don't get what we need until the last minute possible and of course by then that means improvising and going without some things because everything's sold out. But somehow this year we managed to get everything early, and over a couple trips to the store rather than all at once. We have our turkey (we actually got two, so we're set for Christmas too as far as the bird goes haha) and stuffing, I stocked up on broth, we have noodles (I usually make homemade noodles for the holidays but it was just a hunch this year I'm not gonna feel like making them so I bought some Amish noodles, they're the closest to homemade you can buy!) and we got out jellied cranberry sauce, some canned veggies etc. I'm holding off on getting the fresh cranberries but I think that's the only thing left on the Thanksgiving shopping list. I feel quite accomplished. =) 

Last night I worked out the details for recipe contest entry number one. I think I'm pleased with it. I wish I had more taste testers than myself and my dad, but... I do think the recipe is good to go. I'm not sure when I'll start working on recipe number two. I'd planned to do it today but I kind of don't feel like it right now, so maybe tomorrow or sometime over the weekend. While recipe number one is very simple and quite tasty, I think recipe number two is going to be my favorite and quite possibly a winner.  

Anyway, I know my sister is going to call on her lunch break to nag me some more about whether or not I've been practicing knitting so I am off to get some practice in. She's so thrilled I'm giving knitting another chance it's kind of disturbing. LOL