Today’s topic, 10 Movie Stars You Would Like to Meet, is inspired by this week’s Academy Awards Ceremony. No big surprises on my list, I bet.

1. Meryl Streep. I’m putting her right at the top because I honestly think she’s the finest actor of our generation. She nails every part that comes her way.
2. Mo’Nique. She certainly has a different take on things and I’d love to learn more.
3. Sandra Bullock. I think she’d be a lot of fun – I’m thinking we could get mani/pedis together.
4. Julia Roberts. We watched Pretty Woman the other night and it made me fall in love with her all over again. Plus, she knits.
5. Gabourey Sidibe. The girl is just full of life and optimism.
6. George Clooney. I think this one is self-explanatory.
7. Jeremy Renner. Perhaps he can explain the appeal of The Hurt Locker to me.
8. Stanley Tucci. But only if he promises to keep his Lovely Bones character well hidden.
9. Colin Firth. I’ve loved him since Bridget Jones’ Diary. And he IS Mr. Darcy, after all.
10. Morgan Freeman. The voice. It’s all about the voice.

It would truly be such an honor to meet any one of these talented individuals. I’ll just keep dreaming. In the meantime, if you want to be included in the weekly Ten on Tuesday topic emails, please let me know.

Spring really is coming!

This week we are doing 10 Things You Want to Knit RIGHT NOW. Another easy topic, I think I’m sensing a theme.

1. Hamamelis. I think I might even start this one this week.
2. Brainwash Bag. I promised myself I would try intarsia.
3. Spartan Pullover. Dale needs a new sweater.
4. Multidirectional Diagonal Scarf. This will look great in handspun, I think.
5. Morning Surf Scarf. Another scarf for using up the handspun.
6. Entrelac Scarf. I’ve wanted to make this since Hillary did.
7. Fountain Pen Shawl. Susan designs some of the best shawl patterns.
8. Maplewing Shawl. I’ve put this off because it looks overwhelming but I know it’s a project I can sink my teeth into. Plus, it’s gorgeous and I want to wear it!
9. Ulmus Shawl. I have a bit of sock yarn and I think this pattern fits the bill.
10. Simple Things. Again with the handspun projects.

That’s my list. Of course it’s subject to change the minute I see something newer and shinier on a blog or Ravelry. I know you all know what that’s like.

You ever have one of those free weekends? The kind where you need somewhere to go or something to do? And you know there are places you’ve been meaning to go but now that you have the free time you just can’t remember what those places are? Well today’s Ten on Tuesday post is all about that. Because sometimes we need a list to remind us of the 10 Places We’ve Been Meaning to Visit.

1. Historic Deerfield. Yankee Candle for me, history for Dale. That’s a win/win.
2. The Isabella Stewart Gardiner Museum. I haven’t been since the big heist in 1990 and Dale has never been at all so this is way overdue.
3. JFK Library. I worked for a caterer and we did an event there years ago but that’s it so it’s time for an official visit.
4. Sandwich Glass Museum. There’s a nice tea shop nearby, too.
5. Peabody Essex Museum. This is recently remodeled and I know we’d both enjoy it.
6. Fruitlands. I read about this in Yankee magazine and I want to visit this spring.
7. Providence Place. I’m not much for shopping malls but I hear awesome things about this place.
8. Webs. I have still never been. Can you believe it?
9. Nantucket. Dale is reading In the Heart of the Sea by Nathaniel Philbrick right now so he’s all psyched for a trip to the island.
10. Portland, ME. We went there for a wedding several years back and we’ve been meaning to go for a weekend alone ever since. Maybe this summer?

That’s my list. Let’s hope that Dale takes all those hints.

Do you think the official Ten on Tuesday blog is officially defunct? There hasn’t been an updated topic since January 12th. Hmmm. Anyway, this week the renegades and I are listing our 10 Favorite Places To Knit. I should time myself and see just how fast I can write this one.

1. The couch. I don’t know if this is my favorite place to knit but it’s definitely the place where I knit most often.
2. The car. Only if I’m a passenger, of course.
3. Work. There’s nothing like knitting a row or 2 on a sock while waiting for a software upgrade or while stuck on a long telephone call. Of course I never knit at work when I’m supposed to be working.
4. The beach. This is probably my favorite place in the world to knit. Too bad I can’t do it more often.
5. Waiting rooms. People always tell me they don’t have the patience to knit. I say that I knit because I am terribly impatient. Knitting makes you glad to wait.
6. My deck. I can watch the hummingbirds (in season, of course) and keep an eye on Dale while he’s doing the yard work.
7. Anywhere with a friend. Being with a friend and knitting is one of my favorite things to do and it doesn’t matter where we are.
8. Airplanes. Nothing passes the time flying faster than spending time with my knitting.
9. Knitting group. The library knitting group has gotten sort of inactive lately. I’m hoping spring will revitalize this group because I miss knitting with my ladies.
10. Anywhere. Really, I always have my knitting with me so anywhere I’m knitting is my favorite place to be.

Guess who wore his Civil War uniform for a meeting the other day? I couldn’t resist hauling out the camera for a photo or two.

The off-topic topic this week is 10 Household Tasks You’ve Been Avoiding. I have an ulterior motive for this one – I’m going to use this as my “to do” list for the next few weeks. I’m hoping that putting these things out in the blogging universe will keep me focused. Here we go:

1. Clean up the bedroom closet. The new shelves we installed last year are working great but things have gotten messy in there and I need to go in and straighten up and reorganize a bit.
2. Paint an accent wall in the kitchen. We’ve got white walls and I love them but there’s one wall that I’d like to paint a sunny yellow. It won’t take much time so I just need to DO IT.
3. Organize the pantry cupboard in the mudroom. I tend to buy stuff and stick it in there and then I forget about it. A little inventory is in order.
4. Take photos of yarn. Okay, technically this isn’t a household task but it sort of is because I don’t put new yarn away until I’ve photographed it and entered it into Ravelry. Right now all the yarn I’ve bought recently is in a basket on the floor in our home office. Time to photograph it and put it on the yarn shelves.
5. Straighten up the craft room. Christmas wrapping paper is still out, empty boxes are on the floor, yarn is spilling out of baskets. It’s a mess in there and it’s time to do something about it.
6. Pick out a window treatment for the dining room. Right now I’ve got a plain sheer up there because I just can’t decide what I want. Time to make a decision already.
7. Clear out the clutter in the mudroom. It needs to get warmer before I can tackle this one, though!
8. Wash the windows. I’m hoping I can bribe Hannah to do this one.
9. Get a center piece for the dining room table. See #6.
10. Go through the coat rack and donate the ones we don’t wear anymore. I meant to do this before Christmas and it completely slipped my mind. It’s still cold here, though, and I know the shelters are full of people so I’m hoping my coats can still make a difference.

And there you have it. Just writing this stuff down has helped me feel more organized!

Ten on Tuesday didn’t post last week so there’s no official topic again this week. Luckily, I have come up with my own idea and have shared it with a few friends. And if you are someone who would like to be notified of the topic I pick when there isn’t an official one – please give me a shout out in the comments today.

Anyway, today we are listing 10 Ways To Get Through The Rest of Winter.

1. Take a vacation to somewhere warmer. I already did this and it sort of helped – but I’d like to go back already.
2. Buy yourself some pretty flowers. Tulips are my favorite and they just happened to be on sale this week. Score.
3. Knit colorful socks.
4. Hang out with a cat. There’s nothing like a kitty snuggling by your side to make you feel warm.
5. Watch for signs of daffodils and tulips and crocus coming up. I usually see the first green shoots poke through in early February.
6. Get yourself a pedicure. Personally, I get one every two weeks but I know a lot of people stop in the winter.
7. Go to the flower show. The Boston Flower Show is back this year and I’m so happy about that!
8. Have an indoor picnic. It’s been a long time since Dale and I have done this, and the dog can make it rather challenging, but it’s still fun to put a quilt on the living room floor and eat some bread and cheese and drink some wine.
9. Force some forsythia to bloom indoors. Nothing says spring like forsythia.
10. Go to SPA. A weekend of spinning, knitting, eating and drinking with grrlfriends is appropriate anytime of year but it’s especially welcome at the end of February.

It’s not easy to make it through the winter when you love the warm weather like I do. Thanks for sticking around and making it better for me!

It’s another fun topic for this week’s Ten on Tuesday – Ten Songs You’re Embarrassed To Like. Writing my list will be fun but what I’m really looking forward to is reading all of your lists!

1. I Won’t Do That by Meatloaf. Oh hell, anything by Meatloaf. Even Paradise by the Dashboard Light is a freaking disaster.
2. Can’t Fight This Feeling by REO Speedwagon. This is probably my most embarrassing confession of the list but I really do love this song. Pathetic, I know.
3. Achy Breaky Heart by Billy Ray Cyrus. This was a big hit when I first started dating Dale and I’m ashamed to admit that I tried to convince him to learn the line dance and teach it to the fans of Dale and the Duds. Let me say it right here: I’m sorry, honey.
4. Cotton Eye Joe by Rednex. Perhaps I have a line dance problem?
5. My Heart Will Go On by Celine Dion. Yeah, I really do like this one and I can’t believe I’m admitting it.
6. And while we’re admitting to liking Celine Dion songs how about It’s All Coming Back to Me and Because You Loved Me. Sheesh.
7. Ultimate by Lindsay Lohan. It was from the movie Freaky Friday and I loved the movie and somehow wound up liking the song, too.
8. The Boy I’m Gonna Marry by Darlene Love. Bring on the Phil Spector wall of sound!
9. Tired of Toein’ The Line by Rocky Burnette. This one is on here just for Dale – it’s his favorite and it is total bubble gum music.
10. And finally, let’s end this on a truly spectacular, horrible note: Hero by Enrique Iglesias

And now I will just say: you are welcome for all the ear worms!

Dixie doesn’t get nearly the coverage she deserves here on the blog.

I love movies so I’m quite happy about this week’s Ten on Tuesday topic, 10 Best Movies You’ve Seen Lately. I’m going to switch it up a little, though. I’ll list a few good movies I’ve seen lately but then I’m going to list movies that I want to go see – I know there are a bunch of those. Here we go:

1. The Blind Side. This is the most recent movie I have seen at the theater and I thought it was terrific. Heart warming and inspiring.

2. The Hangover. Okay, it’s not a great film or anything, but it’s set in Vegas and I loved seeing the strip all over again.

3. New In Town. This is a silly little film but the caricature of small town people live in the midwest is priceless.

4. Defiance. I enjoyed this more than I thought I would. I like a movie that fills me with righteous indignation.

5. Sherlock Holmes. I might be the only person left who hasn’t seen this one yet.

6. The Lovely Bones. The book was wonderful, although difficult to read. I’m interested to see how it translates to the screen.

7. It’s Complicated. I love anything with Meryl Streep.

8. Young Victoria. I always enjoy period pieces about English monarchs.

9. Nine. All those famous actresses AND Daniel Day Lewis? Bring it on!

10. Precious. Sure, it will be depressing but I’m hoping it will also be inspiring and heart warming, too.

It’s almost Oscar time and I can’t wait!

No official Ten on Tuesday topic for this week means that I’m making up my own again. As it seems appropriate to review the year, here’s a list of My 10 Favorite Hand Knits of 2009. I’m not going to write about each one but I am linking to the blog post for each project – feel free to go back and read the details if you like.

1. Dale’s Selbu Mittens

2. Bird in Hand Mittens

3. Everyday Cardigan

4. Diamond’s Are Forever Vest

5. Trellis

6. Northern Lights Shawl

7. Baby Chalice Blanket

8. Bristow Sweater

9. Light As A Feather Shawl

10. Hug for a Friend Shawl

This week on Ten on Tuesday we’re talking about 10 New Year’s Resolutions. I’m going to do it and I’m going to do it with a positive spin. It’s all in the wording, kids.

1. Enjoy exercising. I’m committed to walking with a co-worker, I might as well have a good time and enjoy being outdoors as much as I can.

2. Eat smaller portions. Okay, this could be construed as a negative thing but I’m looking at the positive side of not feeling overly full and bloated after dinner every night.

3. Learn to count. (those of you here early in the day will understand this one)

4. Spend more time with my spinning wheels. This uses up fiber which means I can buy more fiber. Hooray.

5. Finally tackle homemade pasta. I’m filing this under “just do it.” And I’m betting that it will actually be fun.

6. Pay off thebig-ass new TV we bought for Christmas.

7. Be happier. Sometimes I think I’m afraid to be happy because that will make something bad happen. I’m working on letting this go but it’s not easy.

8. Be fearless with my knitting. Trying new techniques is definitely a positive resolution.

9. Start Project 365 on flickr. I started last year but I didn’t post my first photo until January 5th and it bugged me that I didn’t start right on the first. That made it easy for me to give up but this year I’m trying again and I’m going to stick with it!

10. Have lots of fun. This is the best resolution of all!