Growing

Congratulations to Jenni for winning the movie line contest from Titanic. Great movie, definitely some cheesy scenes and dialogue, but worth it anyway.

The next movie line up for consideration is:

"You said you loved me."
"I meant it at the time."
"Well what was it, a viral love? Kind of a 24 hour thing?"

I lurve this movie. There are many more classic lines where this came from if you can't quite place it. Good luck to all.

In baby news, Sproutie got a new toy apparatus:

He's learning to navigate very well in his new walker. The cutest thing is listening to him laugh as he chases his brother and sister in it. It buys me a good ten minutes of blogging or knitting time. I would have gotten one for home, but my house doesn't have the wide open smooth surfaces that my sister enjoys at her house. The sweet little guy hasn't shown much interest in walking, what with so many arms to hold him and take him where he wants to go. Now he's starting to see the value in becoming independently mobile. My baby is growing up! Look at this sweet smile: To me he seems to be growing every single day.

I'm still working away on my second Mock Croc Sock. Up to about four inches in progress. That's pretty good considering I don't have the Count around to help me with the babies at night so I could get some uninterrupted knitting time in. Here I have to do it while travelling in the car, or wait until Sproutie is napping, which is real hit and miss while we're away from home. But it's good to know that the knitting is there waiting for me.

Last night as I was preparing to go to bed, I went to go round up ZimDee, and I couldn't find him anywhere. After searching the house, I came back to guest room to find that he had been there the whole time, watching "de Gow" which is his name for the Incredibles.How did I ever miss him the first time?

A Clue

Still enjoying family time over here in Chicago. My sister is now trying to get me hooked on DVD's of Charmed. She of the evil TV, who also got me hooked on anything reality-related (Survivor, the Apprentice, etc.) I have no choice but to go along. I'm in HER house after all. I mustn't be rude and ignore her offerings of caramels and chocolate and jalapeno chips and coca cola. That would be in bad form. I'm only doing it for her sake, you understand...

In knitting news, I'm about two inches in on my second Mock Croc sock. I'd show pictures, but all you have to do, really, is to scroll back to when I was two inches in on the first one to see what that looks like.

I've had no takers on the current movie line ("Sorry. You just seemed like kind of an indoor girl.") But I have had requests for hints, and I, ever accommodating, am happy to oblige. Here is another line from the same movie:

"Don't you do that, don't say your good-byes...You're gonna die an old lady warm in her bed, but not here, not this night. Not like this, do you understand me?"

Parts of this movie were beyond cheesy, especially most of the dialogue, but I still found myself caught up in the magic behind the story. Just don't expect the dialogue to hold up upon third, fourth, and fifth viewings.

Good luck to all.

I'll close with a picture of my sweet boy ZimDee playing Payday with the cat:Oh, the days of being a child of the summer...

Hello from Chicago!

Sorry it's been a while since my last post. I arrived safely in Chicago last Wednesday to spend some precious time with my sister and her family. My mom was already out here visiting. She will return home to Seattle tomorrow.

My children were complete animals on the airplane. Sproutie screeched loudly for the entire flight, and ZimDee didn't seem to want to keep his clothes on (!). He was crouched like a naked Smeagol (Gollum from the Lord of the Rings) on the floor for most of the flight. Germophobe that I am, I was horrified. Both boys managed to fall asleep right when the plane landed. I knew that that would be the hardest part of my trip: taking my three kids on the airplane by myself, and that the rest would be smooth sailing. The Count will be flying out to join us later, and we will all fly home together.

Here is a sweet picture of my babies all worn out from playing with their beloved cousins in Chicago: Before we left home, it was annual jam-making time in our household. Every year the Count and I take the kids to a local U-Pick farm and pick fresh strawberries and raspberries, some for eating, and some for freezer jam, enough to last until next year. We picked over ten pounds of raspberries this year: Raspberries are my absolute favorite fruit. I love the taste, of course, as well as the fact that you don't have to spit out messy seeds or stems. To me they are the perfect fruit. Also, when I was growing up, my grandma had an acre of raspberry bushes. It was so heavenly to wake up in the morning and walk out the raspberry field and pick my breakfast right off the vines. Good times.

Here is my wonderful Count helping me (can you tell I miss him?) and a picture of some berries and jam. Yummy!
And here's my little Sproutie. It looks like he's going to be a raspberry lover like his mommy! In knitting news, we now have a sock! Yes, I completed my first Mock Croc sock! I grafted the toe just this afternoon, and before I catch the dreaded SSS (second sock syndrome) I immediately cast on for its mate. Behold my first ever knitted sock:
A shout out now to Amanda for putting this little knitalong together, or else I might never have started knitting socks. Thank you, Girlfriend!

Congratulations to Stephanie for winning the movie line contest from The Last of the Mohicans. Yes, Daniel Day Lewis was very charismatic in that movie.

The next movie line up for consideration is:

"Sorry. You just seemed like kind of an indoor girl."

Good luck to all.

New Line

Eagle-eyed reader Tam recognized the line "My ethics are that I know this about myself" from my previous post as one I've used before from the movie Housesitter. This line just tickles me every time I hear it.

The next movie line up for consideration is:

"No matter what occurs, I WILL find you!"

*sigh*

Good luck to all.

In knitting news, my sock is coming along swimmingly.

Now that I'm in the home stretch, it's very cool to see a sock transforming right before my eyes. I definitely see more sock knitting in my future (including the mate to this one-ha!)

For Sproutie's 1st birthday, I gave him the raglan sweater that I've been saving for him.

***I can't seem to get the hyperlink right, so I will cut and paste the excerpt from my 2/27/06 post here:

""Next, I finally seamed up a baby sweater that I knit last fall. The pattern is the raglan sweater from The Baby Knits book by Debbie Bliss. And here is my shameful confession: it is knit with Rowan Cashsoft (57% Extra Fine Merino, 33% Microfibre, 10% Cashmere). Please don't yell at me, I didn't know what I was doing at the time. I was still pretty inexperienced, and just blindly used whatever yarn the pattern called for. Now I know that cottons, acrylics, and wools are much more reasonable to use for children's clothing for washability if you want said child to wear the garment more than once in their lifetime. Perhaps I'll just put it on him for pictures. Or chalk it up to a learning experience when he spills green beans all down the front of it. But now that it's finished, it is quite snuggly and yummy and all those things that cashmere should be. So I have no choice but to enjoy it, don't you think? ""***


I knit it in size 12 months, but as you can see, he's got plenty of room to grow into it. He felt like a little teddy bear when I held him while he was wearing it. Enjoy these pictures of my sweet little man wearing his birthday sweater:


I love him so.

We have a heel!

Congratulations to Teabird17 for winning the movie line contest from The Sixth Sense. I actually saw this movie six times at the theatre, I liked it so much. And it got to be fun knowing when the scary parts were coming and watching everybody jump. Definitely a classic. Though unfortunately, I think M. Night Shyamalan peaked early and has never lived up to the hype created by his first commercial success.

So Teabird17, if you would like to email me your snail mail address at Katrina@HereInTopeka.com, I will send your yummy candy prize on its way to you. You have also earned the right to steal the movie line contest winner ribbon from my sidebar and put it on your blog sidebar if you so wish. Well done!

The next movie line up for consideration is:

"I punched a totally innocent Hungarian!"

and

"My ethics are that I know this about myself..."

Remember to elaborate, y'all. Good luck!

In sock knitting news, we now have a heel, ladies and gentlemen! Feast your eyes on this thing of beauty:
Everyone told me that once I turned the heel of my first sock, I would catch the sock-knitting addiction. I must confess that you were all correct. Now I got to go get me sum more a'dat.

Happy Birthday Sproutie!

Tonight brings back such sweet memories for me. It was one year ago that I woke up in the middle of the night with a tightness in my belly. Was that a contraction? No, I still have two weeks to go...wait, there it is again. I think I'll get up and walk around just in case. I don't even have a bag packed...

By the time I woke the Count up I was on my hands and knees in pain. I told him I wanted to shower before we left, and he just laughed and loaded my very pregnant self into the car. By the time we got to the hospital I was dilated to 6cm, and Sproutie was born an hour and a half later.

Did I ever tell you that I thought I wanted him to be a girl? We chose not to find out the gender, but I was secretly hoping. And Girlie said she wanted a sister. As much as I love my own sister, I wanted that for her too.

In the middle of labor my doctor said the baby's hand was out, and you know what that means? It means it's a girl, because they always have their hands out, haha. But I was so deep in labor I didn't get the joke. And then the nurse that was coaching me to push kept saying, "That's a GIRL! That's a GIRL!" and I thought she was telling me the baby was a girl, not just encouraging me. So I was so happy to have what I thought I wanted. Then they held Sproutie up and he most definitely was NOT a girl. They handed him to me, and in my confusion, I...I cried.

There is a line from Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing that says:

Don Pedro: "...and to be merry best becomes you; for, out of question, you were born in a merry hour. "
Beatrice: "No, sure, my lord, my mother cried...but then there was a star danced, and under that was I born."

And that's how I feel about Sproutie's birth. I imagine a little star so happy in the sky knowing all that lies ahead of us. And dancing for it.

When I held that little bundle and looked into those sweet brown eyes, any thoughts of wanting him to be a girl just melted away, and it was just me and my baby, and all was right with the world.

Of course now I can't imagine life any other way. This little boy was so meant to be.

Happy 1st birthday, Sproutie. Your mommy loves you so much.

More Yarn-y Goodness

Congratulations to Tam for winning the movie line contest from Fatal Attraction. That's a scary one. I hope the guys that watched it were taking notes.

Tonight was the Tigard Knitting Guild's annual yarn silent auction. Imagine two rooms full of scrumptious yarn, all for the taking. I love silent auctions anyway, I think they're a blast, and when it involves nothing but knitting, well, I wouldn't miss it! Participants were told to package up the yarns they wanted to sell in clear bags and set their price. What a great, guilt-free way to rid your stash of yarn you KNOW you will never knit, and to possibly supplement it with something that you will. Chrissy, Amanda, and I had a ball. Here are my finds:

First up is a bag of 6+ skeins of Elann Den-M-Nit Indigo Cotton. I've been eyeing the pattern for Baby's Drawstring Denim Pants from Joelle Hoverson's book Last Minute Knitted Gifts. Now I'll be able to knit them up, guilt-free. This yarn sells for $3.25 per skein. I paid $5 for the lot.
Next, speaking of Chrissy, I snagged a bag of yarn that she brought to sell. I've been wanting to knit Tater's Cotton Cardi for Girlie ever since I saw what a great job mamma did for her girls' birthdays. I got this lot of Knit Picks Shine for $11, roughly half of the retail price. Thanks, Chrissy, I'll make sure it has a good home!
Next, Chrissy and I went halfsies on a bag of Blue Moon Fiber Arts Socks That Rock. The price tag on the label said $9 each. We each got 3 skeins for $17. It'll be for socks, of course.
And finally, I could not resist this last item. It was a bag of 8 skeins of Classic Elite Miracle (50% alpaca, 50% tencel). It is unbelievably soft to the touch, and reminds me of silk. This yarn sells for $8 per skein. I got the whole lot for $16.
On top of finding such wonderful deals, I was able to find new homes for some Lion Brand Homespun that I knew I would never find the time to knit. The buyers were very nice and even thanked me for bringing it, because one said it was exactly what she was looking for to make slippers with, and the other was going to make baby blankets. So sweet.

Too bad this is only a once-a-year sale. I wanna do it again!!

The next movie line up for consideration is:

"You sound a little like Dr. Seuss when you're drunk."

Good luck to all.

Just for fun until a real post comes along...

Borrowed from mamma:

Please leave a one-word comment that you think best describes me — it can only be one word long. Then copy and paste this in your journal so that I may leave a word about you.

Congratulations to mamma

Congratulations to mamma for winning the movie line contest from The Princess Bride. What a perfect movie. It has it all. Romance, comedy, intrigue...

The next movie line up for consideration is:

"I will not be ignored."

Ooh, scary. Good luck to all.

Congratulations to Amanda

Congratulations to Amanda for winning the movie line contest from Ghost. Great movie. Romantic. Funny. Thought-provoking.

The next movie line up for consideration, in honor of its re-release with new bonus materials, is:

"As you wish."

"...so I can clearly not choose the wine in front of me!"

and my personal favorite:

"I will never doubt again."
"There will never be a need."

*sigh*

Remember to have fun with your answers; elaborate!

In blog news, I have registered the domain name www.HereInTopeka.com. I would have chosen that for blogger, but it was already taken, so I had to go with topekatrina.blogspot.com. Anyway, when you click on HereInTopeka.com you will be re-directed to this site. Hopefully much less confusing.

*My love to all*

Congratulations to Jenni

Congratulations to Jenni for winning the movie line contest for Overboard. I'm curious--did you like the movie? It's one I could watch over and over again. Especially since it was filmed here in Oregon. And it's just so dang cute.

I have a new rule for the movie line contest. If you're going to make a guess, I'd also like you to make a comment on the movie you're guessing about. Loved it? Hated it? Loved it but didn't care for the actors? Share. Tesify. Elaborate. No more one-word answers, please. I want to know what you think about the movie.

The next movie line up for consideration with the new rules in place is:

"You in danger, girl."

Good luck to all.

Thank you, One Skein Secret Pal!

The spoilage continues! Please don't hate me because I've got awesome secret pals. Look what came in the mail yesterday from my One Skein Secret Pal: A beautiful skein of Wool in the Woods Helix (97% Cotton, 3% Nylon) in gorgeous purply-pink colors (my favorite!). Along with that came the book Knit One, Kill Two by Maggie Sefton, which includes a knitting pattern and recipe for cinnamon rolls. There was also a cute little book on the history of knitting, two note pads with my initial, and an adorable sheep measuring tape. Last but not least, some yummy Godiva chocolates that almost didn't make it to picture-taking time. Thank you sooooo much, O/S Secret pal! You rock!

And now for some knitting progress. I'm almost ready to start the heel on my Mock Croc Socks. Though not officially addicted to sock knitting yet, I am loving the portability of this project and the fact that I don't have to consult the pattern constantly because it is so intuitive. And I will admit to finding myself browsing the sock yarn section of yarn stores wondering what this yarn or that yarn would look like knitted up into a sock. But I have resisted buying until I see how this pair turns out.

There is still a movie line contest on the table. The current line is:

"I almost had to wait."

More lines from the same movie:

"A falsetto child?"

and

"I just. ate. a bug."

Good luck to all!

Who wants to play tag?

A tag from Kim:

I WANT to never lose my sense of humor.

I WISH I could have met my father.

I HATE disrespect and rudeness.

I MISS living near my sister. Every day.

I FEAR losing someone I love.

I HEAR my children playing.

I WONDER what my children will be like when they grow up.

I REGRET not learning to knit sooner.

I AM NOT an early riser by nature.

I DANCE a lot around my children.

I SING whenever the feeling strikes me.

I CRY when I laugh too hard.

I AM NOT ALWAYS on time for everything, but I do get there.

I MAKE WITH MY HANDS many crafts that bring me endless joy.

I WRITE similar to my grandma.

I NEED the love of my family.

I SHOULD go to bed earlier.

I START most every morning with a pot of tea.

I try to FINISH every day with a bit of knitting.

I TAG whomever feels like playing!!

Congratulations to Stephanie

Congratulations to Stephanie for winning the movie line contest from Terms of Endearment. The line was: "You parked in my driveway you're breakin the laaaaw!" and it was said by Jack Nicholson's character. I love that movie.

But I don't love all movies. Who would? Remember Sleepless in Seattle? Some of you may have liked that movie, but not I. I thought Meg Ryan's character was more like a creepy stalker than innocent potential love interest for Tom Hanks. I mean, remember the scene where she pretty much hunts Tom and his son down and stands staring at them from across the street? What was that all about? Apparently, I'm not the only one who felt this way. I ran across this gem on a website where they tweaked the movie trailer to make it sound more like what I thought the movie was like. Go take a look; it's amusing. I can't make the hyperlink work, so I will spell it out here: http://www.tomatopatch.com/films/sleepless.htm Go watch it and let me know what you think.

The next movie line up for consideration is:

"I almost had to wait."

Good luck to all.

To quote mamma...

In the famous words of Mamma, WTF?ZimDee has started a new hobby lately, which is taking his sister's pajama pant bottoms and stuffing them with his body, along with a few puffy blankets. It does beg the age old question: WTF? The picture looks like something out of a crime scene photo or scary movie: dismembered legs with no body. What WILL he think of next? I'm almost afraid to ask.

State Fair Knitalong

I apologize for not posting this sooner, but blogger has not been very cooperative when I've been trying to post pictures lately. We've since made up, and hopefully we can put it all behind us now.

You may have noticed from my sidebar that I joined the State Fair-along, hosted by Larissa. I attended the kickoff party this week, and as a door prize I was given this adorable bag with the Booga bag pattern and the Noro yarn to make it with. Score! I want to say thank you to Larissa for putting the KAL together, and to Abundant Yarn for donating the bag. It will definitely be put to good use!

I still have to decide what I want to make for the fair. I'd like to submit the project to both the county and state fair. Maybe I could knit another silk scarf? Any thoughts?

I know it seems liked I've gotten very spoiled this week, but I assure you that I've maintained my composure and haven't let it go to my head. What's a little spoilage among friends?

Silk Scarf

Since blogger is actually letting me post more than one picture at a time, I can finally show you a finished object. It's a silk scarf I knit for ZimDee's fabulous teacher, who is retiring this summer. Specifics: Knit with two skeins of Debbie Bliss Pure Silk. Modified from an Artyarns pattern by Iris Schreier. Needles used: my trusty steel size 8 straights. Prominent pattern: Daisy stitch. Here is a close-up of the stitch detail: I wrote an article about the knitting of this scarf for the Tigard Knitting Guild's June newsletter. Here is the article:


"How do you say goodbye to a wonderful teacher who is retiring that has made such a difference in your child’s life? Words can hardly convey my appreciation, but I can express myself through my knitting, weaving warm thoughts into every stitch.

Like a lot of knitters, I try to purchase yarn for a specific project. Otherwise, you can soon find your nooks and crannies stuffed with yarn that doesn’t yet have a purpose. But there are times when a certain yarn catches your eye, and even though you don’t know what you’re going to do with it yet, you know you must have it. Such was the case when Pure Silk yarn by Debbie Bliss called my name. The fiber content is exactly what the name implies: 100% silk. What attracted me to this yarn was its shimmer and luxurious softness. At $13.95 per 137 yard skein, it is fairly reasonably priced for silk.

While on the lookout for the perfect project to knit with this yarn, I ran across the Flower Shawlette pattern by ArtYarns, designed by Iris Schreier. The pattern calls for two skeins of ArtYarns Royal Silk yarn, and while very lovely, is priced higher ($22 for 163 yards) than the Debbie Bliss Pure Silk. The pattern also calls for silk fur yarn for trim, which I preferred to leave off. I opted to make a scarf rather than a shawlette, so instead of making it 8” wide, I chose to make it closer to 5”, which would also allow for the difference in yardage.

The pattern is made up of the Daisy stitch, which shows off the sheen of the silk perfectly. The pattern is a 4 stitch repeat, so it was easy to modify the width of the scarf. The Daisy stitch is as follows: purl 3 stitches together, leaving the original 3 stitches on the left needle; wrap the yarn over and around the right needle, then purl the original 3 stitches again, this time pulling them off the needle.

You can find the Daisy stitch in Barbara Walker’s first Treasury of Knitting Patterns. To quote from her description: “This beautiful fabric is a relative of Trinity stitch, although both technique and appearance are different. Daisy stitch is definitely feminine, dressy, and decorative. It can be used in many different ways to make delightful garments for women and girls, or pretty baby blankets. It makes a flat, shapely piece, requiring little or no blocking.”

Montse Stanley describes the Daisy stitch in Knitter’s Handbook as the sequence of stitches being staggered, so the flowers run diagonally slanting to the right throughout the knitted piece.

I expected the yarn to be very slippery as I knit with it. I was pleasantly surprised to find that this wasn’t necessarily the case. While a bit slicker than wool, I didn’t encounter too much trouble in keeping the stitches on the needles. The strand of silk is similar to cotton in its lack of elasticity. While this sometimes created a slight challenge when attempting to purl three stitches together, it wasn’t terribly frustrating or impossible.

The knitted fabric itself is fairly elastic, and quite striking the way the sheen of the silk catches the light and enhances the stitch detail.

True to Barbara Walker’s words, the Daisy stitch fabric does lie flat and even, but I found the garter stitch border in need of some blocking. I pinned the scarf down and lightly applied steam, and am happy to report that this yarn blocks like a dream.

I am thrilled with how this project turned out. I’m proud of my handiwork and am excited to give this dainty silk scarf to my son’s beloved teacher. She will be missed."

Thank you, Marji!

I am sure being spoiled lately. Look what the mailman brought me today: It's my Knitting Vacation Swap package from the fabulous Marji. She sent me the most adorable hand-knit tea cozy, which Girlie wants to steal. And I'm so proud of myself--I didn't peek at it on her blog when she posted a link to it. She also sent two proper tea cups and saucers, made in England. I love them! Along with those, she sent a tin of tea and some yummy lemon and chocolate tea biscuits. She also included the book A Good Yarn by Debbie Macomber, which I've been wanting to read. Last but certainly not least, she sent a skein of Plymouth Sockata yarn, and I am in love with the colors in it. Thank you so much, Marji! You are far too kind.

I'm kinda likin' this swap thing.

Thank You, Secret Pal!

Lookie here what the mailman brought:A wonderful package from my Secret Pal. In it was Miss Bea's Seaside pattern book, The Yarn Harlot book, 2 skeins of Galway pure wool yarn (in purple, of course), and some hand-made stitch markers that she made herself. The pattern book is perfect because I love to knit garments for my little ones, and this book is full of adorable patterns, designed by Louisa Harding using Rowan yarns. That's a match made in heaven for me. I already found several patterns that I want to knit Right Now. And I love the Yarn Harlot. She's always good for a laugh.

Here is a close-up of the stitch markers:Aren't they beautiful? I just love them!! I am so excited to get them, because I really really wanted fancy stitch markers and didn't have any yet. How did you know???

Thank you so much, Secret Pal! I feel very spoiled indeed.

Thank You, Kim!

The mystery has been solved. The secret sender of the coveted JambaCard was Kim, who was my spoilee in the Knitting Vacation Swap. The card was sent as a thank you for the package I sent to her. How sweet is that? Thank you so much, Kim!

Congratulations to Jennifer for winning the movie line contest from My Big Fat Greek Wedding. A lot of people have families like that. I myself married into one. The movie is so universal in that the loud, boisterous family could be from any country, not just Greece, and the characters still fit. So when you watch this movie you are also watching my in-laws in all their glory.

Much knitting has been happening here, but for whatever reason I'm having a real challenge trying to get blogger to display my pictures. Right now I'm working on teacher thank-you gifts. Nothing like leaving them for the last minute. I can't wait to share them with you. And the croc socks are slow but steady.

The next movie line contest up for consideration is one of my personal favorites, quoted randomly by me at odd moments:

"You parked in my driveway you're breakin the laaaaaw!"

Good luck to all.

Congratulations to mamma

Congratulations to mamma for winning the movie line contest from Notting Hill. Nice job!

A big thank you to Jennifer for letting me know about the books on tape websites (www.librivox.org and www.podiobooks.com). What a great resource!

Girlie's teacher arranged for an Author's Tea for her 2nd grade class. The students wrote, then "published" their books at school. On the night of the event, they dressed up in their finest and read their books aloud into a microphone in front of the audience of family members. It was quite an evening.

(Due to technical difficulties, the part of Girlie will be played by a little red x in a box. Blogger is really freaking out about pictures lately! What you should be seeing instead of a silly red X in a square is my darling daughter in her pretty blue dress standing with her brother. If you click on the X the picture may or may not display for you. Stay tuned for updates. We now return to your regularly scheduled programming...)

Girlie did well. It brought back memories for me of why 2nd grade was one of my favorite years of school: because the world of imagination really started to soar. I was very proud of my angel girl. And she felt pretty because I let her wear my shiny lip gloss.

Speaking of the world of imagination, guess what project Girlie is working on now? She is hatching a batch of sea monkeys. Does anyone else remember doing this as a kid? Well, let's put it this way: I tried to grow sea monkeys, but they never hatched. But now it's all high-tech, see? The kit comes with a thermometer, which is set for "the triops zone". (I guess sea monkeys are actually called triops, or brine shrimp. Who knew?) You must make sure that the water is the correct temperature by warming it under a lamp. The directions are very specific. Maybe that's why I was not successful as a kid. But today when Girlie came home from school, she was delighted to find four little sea monkeys floating/swimming around. They're about as big as a small flea and they're kind of transparent. The book says they only live for about 20 days or so, so I don't have to worry about getting a pet-sitter or anything like that. Fun stuff.

And guess what the mailman brought today? That is a Jamba Juice gift card. I would like to say thank you to whoever sent this to me, thus enabling my addiction, but alas, the card wasn't signed, and there was no indication who it was from. Would anyone like to 'fess up so I can thank you properly?

And now it's time for another movie line contest. The line up for consideration is:

"So today here, we have apples and oranges. We're all different now, but in the end, we're all fruit."

Good luck to all.