Indecision

It's almost time to buy the yarn for my new sweater. I think I have it narrowed down to KnitPicks Wool of the Andes. I had contemplated using their new superwash, and I will buy some of that for a sweater for the Bug...but I think I want a traditional wool sweater. Plus, they have it in some really great heathered colorways that I think would add a nice dimensionality to the fabric.

Of course, I cannot settle on a color. I must have looked at the color card a zillion times. I think I will go with either Arctic Pool Heather or the Black Cherry Heather.

But that is today...I have until next Friday...my first payday in ten weeks to decide.

Bug Socks

It's funny how the projects you are working on take on the environment and memories from where you are working on them, and what is going on around you. My blue turtleneck sweater will always be my Knitting Olympics sweater. These socks will always be the Virginia socks because that is where the vast majority of them were knit.

They are fraternal, on purpose. I think they are cuter that way, almost matching, but not quite. I actually wanted them to be even more dissimilar, but the yarn just didn't see it that way.

I did make the second one just a tiny little bit longer in the foot. Something wonky happened last night while I was finishing it...the foot seems a bit narrower than it should be. I think maybe I forgot a few straight knitting rounds on the foot shaping.

It is possible...I was distracted.

I caved in to a guilty pleasure and watched Dirty Dancing on television. I have seen that movie at least eleventeen million times, but still, if I can catch it from the beginning, I will watch it every single time. It was popular when I was a senior in high school and it brings back a lot of memories...good memories.

"Nobody puts Baby in the corner."

Home Again, Home Again, Jigitty Jig

We are home...the beach is just a memory now.

Except for all the sand we seem to have tracked back with us in suitcases, that is.

The Bug was afraid of the water, but loved the sand.

The older boys loved the roughness of the waves and came back quite sand-burned from being tossed about in the surf. The waves were very big and fierce while we were there, maybe all the storms in the Atlantic lately?? The undertow was strong and they found it really cool to stand at the edge and let the waves recede and make them feel like they were sliding on their feet.

I love this sign! They have them all over Virginia Beach to remind people to watch their language. Apparently, they are trying to make it much more family-friendly, and less of a Spring Break, sort of destination. It seems to be working...lots of families and hardly any swearing.

I was like a fish out of water.

There are, like, a million box turtles in the little creek near Al's apartment, so we took walks over there to feed them. They were cute in a turtley way and the boys really got a kick out of them.

While I was gone, Colleen went and had her little one early (of course she did!). He is a little boy, all 5 pounds, 12 ounces of him. Just a wee little lad. His name is Cael (a good Irish name don't you think?), pronounced like the leafy green kale. I cannot wait to see him, but I will...because I know they need their rest for the first few days at least.

I haven't gotten all the labor details yet...only that it took 22 hours. First babies. Their labor just sucks--except for those annoying people who just seem to pop one out like it's nothing, not even breaking a sweat, barely making it to the hospital, hardly any pain...you know who you are. The rest of us hate you...but it's probably just, you know, the jealousy speaking and all.

Now that I know which flavor he is...there will be more knitting. Maybe teeny tiny socks for the little teeny feets.

??

None of my pictures on my blog show up for some reason on my husband's laptop down here...can you guys see them on your computers??

BTW?

We went here again last night.

It might be an addiction.

Send help.

Day 6...aka, Is it time for me to go back to work, yet?

Family vacations...

I remember my mother getting all annoyed and irate during the ones from my childhood, so I suppose I shouldn't be any different.

It isn't that bad, really. I mean, a root canal is bad. A migraine is bad.


Boys separated from their natural habitat, is not really bad so much as it is annoying. I have a lot of them complaining that they are bored, etc...apparently there is only so much Xbox 360 two boys can play in a day.

To combat the boredom...there is the pool...

But that isn't really relaxing for Mom when she has to deal with this:

A crazy Bug type child that has NO FEAR of the water and will launch himself into it over and over, completely trusting someone, anyone, to catch him.

There are outside distractions undertaken when Dad is around to help navigate.

This is the USS Wisconsin, we went and toured her on Sunday. It was nice, the boys really enjoyed it, especially my 36 year old.


There was also a trip to a LYS yesterday, The Knitting Corner, where I bought my souvenirs:

Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock in the amethyst Stripe colourway,

and...

Plymouth Sockotta yarn in a cool muted lavender, plum, grey, and teal colourway, all so creatively name #26.

Sense a trend in the knitting-ness?

In knitting progress, I give you:


which became...


Sock number one for The Bug.

He loves it, and I am already afraid it will not fit when cold weather comes, I may make the second one a little bigger and try to squeeze a third out of the leftover yarn.

This yarn was bought ages ago at The Periwinkle Sheep, my LYS. It is Fortissima Colori Sock yarn in the Mexico Denim #9096 colourway. Knit on Brittany size 2 dpns...the toothpicks we bought, Amy.



The ever growing Clapotis. You can see the twisted stitches where the unraveling of the ladders will ultimately take place. Cool, huh?

Today?

A trip to the mall around the corner. Hopefully the maid will come while we are out so the Bug can have a nap when we get home. And, I have to cast on for the second Bug sock right away, or else it risks never getting done. And then? Maybe working on the Clap for a bit...I've been neglecting it in my sock frenzy.

Virginia Part II

Well, we are here and having a good time. My husband still has to attend his classes each day from 7am to 4pm, and the boys and I are just hanging out at his apartment which is nicer than our house! I keep joking that I am not going home.




It is very peaceful and relaxing here...no real chores to do, there is a dishwasher, and a maid on Wednesdays !!, so, lots of time to just relax.

We arrived late on Thursday evening. Got lost. Had a small anxiety attack on the bridge, but nothing I couldn't get through. Now that I know what to expect, the ride home will be easier, I hope. Got really annoyed with how poorly roads, and by roads I mean major highways, are marked down here...in New York, things are marked out so even an idiot could find their way. [Exit 8-- 1 mile, Exit 8-- 1/2 mile, Exit 8--1/4 mile, Exit 8--1/8 mile, Exit 8--
Right here by this BIG ARROW right before the exit ramp]. In Virginia, you get maybe one sign, and the arrow for the exit ramp is very unhelpfully placed AFTER the exit ramp, so you could miss it and drive right by before you see it in all of its smallness.

I was merging into major traffic on an entrance ramp when I rounded a corner to find my lane being reduced very quickly by big orange barrels into the slow lane that was packed full of cars, no warning, no sign. I clipped one of the barrels and almost hit a construction worker. Oh, and did I mention that it was DARK and also RAINING at the time?? No signs...no lights--just all of a sudden, no where to go, and people in the road.

Anyway...

Friday, we just hung out around the apartment while Alan was at class. I needed to chill after all the stress the night before! That evening, we took the boys out to dinner at Fuddruckers which they loved. Saturday, we got up early and headed to Virginia Beach (about 20 minutes away) to the Virginia Aquarium and Marine Science Center


While we were there, the boys got to pet Sting-Rays and Skates in their interactive touch pool.



They begged me to touch too, but alas, I am a chicken and could not bring myself to do it. It was amazing to watch though, because the rays love to be touched...they come right up to the side of the pool and poke their little heads out of the water and beg you to pet them...just like cats or dogs. It was really interesting and I am sure the boys will be talking about it for years to come.

After the aquarium, we took a drive up Atlantic Avenue in Virginia Beach to check out the action and see where our hotel is for next weekend. It looked good, and I am sure that we will have a great time there. Just what we need before we head home on Monday.

When we got back to the apartment, we hit the pool for a bit, then went out to dinner at a place we have seen advertised a million times up in New York, even though the closest one to our house is in Pennsylvania. The verdict? Very cool, good food, affordable...a hit for everyone involved!

Yesterday, we went into downtown Norfolk to take a tour of the USS Wisconsin, a huge warship that totally blew the boys away. Connor spent the entire time looking for orbs of light and other evidence of a haunting. I think he watches too much Most Haunted on the Travel Channel! They have a very nice museum there as well, called The Hampton Roads Naval Museum. It was nice afternoon. We came home, ate a delicious BBQ chicken dinner, and then played XBox 360 and knit.

You can guess who did what.

I brought Clapotis with me, but haven't touched it. Instead, I cast on for a pair of socks for The Bug. I would post a picture of that, and also of the Wisconsin, but the truth is that the camera is down in the car (three flights of stairs) and I am too lazy to go get it. Later, I will send one of my minions down there and post some pictures.

I did order color cards of the KnitPicks yarns I am considering for My Rhinebeck Sweater (separate links, one for Rhinebeck and one for the sweater pattern).



So now I can maybe choose a yarn. I am considering the KnitPicks Swish Superwash and also their Wool of the Andes. I've used Wool of the Andes before and liked it.

Of course, that just adds more colorways to choose from!

Virginia

Well it is early, and we are off.

We have to drop Cooper off at Le Hotel Doggerie, then a drive through Dunkin' Donuts for some caffeine and then hit the NY State Thruway headed south.

I will be able to post at my husband's apartment, I think, but whether or not pictures will be involved--eh, I don't know if we have that kind of technology...drivers, cables, etc...down there. I think we do, but if not, there will just be lots of pictures when I get back.

Thanks for all the good wishes for Colleen and also on the topic of my bridge phobia. I'm sure that I'll be fine.

Definitely. I'll be fine.

I'll be fine, right? Squeak!

Watch the national news tonight...if there is no mention of a crazy lady having a panic attack on the Chesapeake Bay/Bridge and causing a ruckus, or of a major engineering collapse of said bridge? then I am fine.

: )

Beautiful Day

Today is such a beautiful day, sunny, warm, but not too humid, a perfect day to have lunch with your very best friend in the whole wide world and give her a gift of love for her soon-to-be-born baby.

This is Colleen (with her eyes closed mid-blink, I am a horrible photographer!)

Colleen is so special to me, I don't even know how to describe her. We are like soulmates, but not in a romantic way. She is closer to me than my sisters. She got ordained online so that she could marry us because I wanted someone who really knew us and all we went through to find each other.

Colleen had cervical cancer two years ago, right before she got married.

I love this wedding picture, they are "taking the plunge" by jumping over the bridge into the creek below...so cute.

Actually, she decided that Marc was the one after he didn't turn and run, but instead stayed by her side, took excellent care of her, and reassured her that he still wanted her even if she couldn't have any babies.

They eloped (her brother got ordained online and married them!--see what I started?).

She got pregnant last year, right around their first anniversary in early September. I started planning a blanket for her, and before I could buy the yarn, sadly, she lost that baby. A complication of the cancer treatments they said. It was devastating.

In true Colleen fashion, she didn't give up, and around Christmas, she announced that she was pregnant again. I started the blanket, the Sheep Dreams blanket, and with each stitch all winter and spring, I prayed that everything would be all right with this baby...and it is.

She is due at the end of August/beginning of September and although she looks small and they say the baby is small, everything is well. She doesn't know if it is a little girl or a little boy, they want to be surprised. She told me the top-secret names today too...but like I said, they are top secret...so I can't tell. They are just as I expected, unique but cute.

We met halfway between our two towns at Panera (she's a vegetarian and she likes the Mediterranean Veggie sandwich there). The Bug was excited because I let him have Sprite. I will pay for it later when the sugar high hits!

We ate, and talked, and gossiped, and I didn't rub her belly once, because I always hated that. Then, she opened her present and I held my breath that she would like it.

She loved the blanket and especially the little sweater and I was shocked to hear that she didn't have any sweaters yet for the little one. As soon as I know if it is a boy or a girl, I will be making another one for her.

She told me that they had made the nursery apple green and that they used the same color grass green for the accent color. She said it was perfect, and she hugged me tight.

Now if she can just hold that kid in until the 29th when I get back from Virginia so I can go visit her at the hospital! But, if I miss it, and since she is tired of being pregnant and ready to be done (I remember that feeling!) I will be totally okay with just visiting her at home. Think good thoughts for an easy labor and delivery for Colleen, would you? She's had enough to deal with lately.

About Me Questionnaire

I don't usually do memes...but I saw this questionnaire on Susie's blog and so I thought I'd do it here because it is a slow knitting day...

1. First Name? Jaimi
2. Were you named after anyone? My dad's commanding officer's daughter. He was in Viet Nam when I was born, and they had created a landing base in the jungle called Camp Jaimi, after his daughter, so that is why I am spelled the way I am. I grew up never seeing any close spellings, but as I get older, I see it more and more. I hated it growing up because it was different and I couldn't ever find any license plates for my bike with it spelled correctly!
3. Last time you cried? Yesterday, it was the one year anniversary of my friend Toni's unexpected death due to a brain aneurysm.
4. Do you like your handwriting? I have absolutely beautiful handwriting, not to brag much, but I do.
5. What is your favorite lunch meat? Hmm...salami?
6. Do you have kids? Three gorgeous little boys at last count. My favorite picture of them ever?

7. Would you be friends with you if you were someone else? I am a loyal friend, but I have issues with keeping in touch. Maybe I would. Maybe not.
8. Do you keep a journal? Just this blog
9. Do you tend toward sarcasm? Me? Not at all...wink, wink!
10. Do you still have your tonsils? Absolutely.
11. Would you bungee jump? Certainly not.
12. What's your favorite cereal? Raisin Bran.
13. Do you untie your shoes before you take them off? Not unless I have to, which is annoying when it comes time to put them back on and they are all tied up still.
14. Are you strong? Not as strong as I'd like everyone to think I am.
15. What is your favorite ice cream? Cold Stone Creamery's Cheesecake flavor.
16. Shoe size? 8.5 US -- they used to be a 7.5, then I had three babies.
17. What do you like least about yourself? How when I get stressed (always) I clench my jaw until it, and my teeth, ache.
18. Who do you miss the most? My husband right now...but in the larger sense? My grandpa.
19. Do you want this sent back to you? Put it on your blog and send me a link if you want to.
20. What color pants and shoes are you wearing right now? Army green capri pants with pale pink Chuck Taylor low-tops.
21. Last thing you ate? A granola bar...chocolate chip.
22. What are you listening to right now? Wilco's "I Am Trying to Break Your Heart"
23. If you were a crayon, what color would you be? Carnation Pink.
24. Favorite smell(s)? Baby lotion, freshly cut grass.
25. Last person you talked to on the phone? Alan
26. First thing you notice about someone? If they smile or not.
27. Favorite musicians? Dave Matthews Band, John Mayer, Counting Crows, Eagles.
28. Favorite drink? Alcoholic? Captain and Coke. Non-alcoholic? Chocolate milk.
29. Favorite sport? Baseball. ...sigh...Grady Sizemore...
30. Eye color? Greenish gray
31. Hat size? I hate hats
32. Do you wear contacts or glasses? Funky cool, apparently "emo" (or so my students tell me) librarian type glasses...with little rhinestones!
33. Favorite food? Lobster
34. Scary movie or happy ending? Happy endings, life is scary enough.
35. Last movie you saw at a movie theater? Movie theater? What's that? We have a toddler, no movie theaters for us. The last theater I was at was Proctors for Phantom.
36. What color shirt are you wearing? Deep pink.
37. Summer or winter? Autumn.
38. Hugs or kisses? Hugs.
39. Favorite dessert? Strawberry shortcake on angel food cake.
40. Magazine/catalog in your bathroom right now? Blender, Glamour, Vogue Knitting
41. Toppings on pizza? Pepperoni, sausage, and mushrooms
42. What book(s) are you reading? Mr. Darcy Takes a Wife by Linda Berdoll. A sequel to my absolute favorite book ever, Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. I am reserving final judgment on it until I am done--but it doesn't look good. So far, all Darcy and Elizabeth are doing is screwing. A lot. All the time. In decidedly un-Victorian ways. It's kind of porn. Good for porn's sake, I suppose, but not literature at all.
43. What's on your mousepad? No mousepad, we have a rollerball mouse.
44. What did you watch on TV last night? The last two episodes of Season One of Grey's Anatomy on DVD. Now the wait for the Season Two DVD begins...29 days!
45. Favorite sounds? My children laughing, the ocean, my husband's car in the driveway
46. Rolling Stones or Beatles? Aerosmith
47. The furthest you have been from home? Not very...Milwaukee or Orlando. But we are going to Jamaica, mon, next April!
48. What are your special talents? I am very organized.
49. Where were you born? Saratoga Springs, New York
50. Favorite guilty pleasure? Hershey's Special Dark bars, Most Haunted on the Travel Channel (I'm not sure I believe, but it's fun to wonder and watch), and Kelly Clarkson--loud on the car's CD player.

**I added five more**:
51. What do you do with your life (j-o-b)? High school English/Language Arts teacher.
52. What is your favorite number? 11...I have no idea why.
53. What type of car do you drive? A fully loaded mom-mobile (mini-van).
54. What type of car would you drive if you won the lottery today? An expensive BMW or Jaguar.
55. What is your biggest fear(s)? I am crazy, so I have lots. Losing a child. Bridges. Frogs. Not being able to buy yarn. The usual.

Clapotis and Mrs. Sizemore

The very first thing I do when I have a long pattern with lots of rows and lots of repeats of said rows is a little trick I learned from Amy. I put each row on a separate 3x5" index card (being careful to mark each section carefully and put a note on each card in the section so that if your common household variety two year old comes by and decides to have a "rain" of cards, you can put them back in order...don't ask how I learned this lesson).

This card trick does two things: one, it helps keep track of which row you are on as you shuffle through the cards; and two, it reduces the chances that you will accidentally look at the wrong line in your pattern and screw things up royally. So, last night, I carded out Clapotis:

That is a lot of cards, you can't see very well from this photo

...but it is A LOT of cards!

I also made some quick and plain stitch markers for the project because you need 18 of those little suckers! I opened up a large-ish jump ring, stuffed a small little glass bead on there, and closed it back up.

Voila! Stitch markers. 18 of them.

After one false start, I was tired after all from the not sleeping bit, this is how much I got done last night while watching the Tribe game on our super-de-dooper Extra Innings on cable and indulging in my "really-this-should-be-embarrassing-but-I-seem-to-have-no-shame" Old Lady crush on Grady Sizemore.

It's not like I'm old enough to be his mother or anything. I mean, I was only 12 when he was born! [This is supposed to take away some of the ickiness of the age difference--but it is glaringly unsuccessful!] And, it's not as if I am going to go out and get me a t-shirt that says this or anything:

Well...never say never.

They apparently come in a pink version at the team store. And you know, I love me some pink stuff. At the very least I would like a jersey with his name and number on it. [A navy blue one, honey, if you are reading this...it would be a great Christmas present! Unless you can find the pink Mrs. Sizemore shirt...you wouldn't be jealous, would you? I mean, I understand your little crushes on (the "yummy" I believe you called her?) Angelina Jolie and the older version, non-husband stealing, Kristy Swanson, don't I?]

...sigh...Grady Sizemore...

Seriously?

The only thing keeping me from stalkerdom is about 496.1 miles

and 12 years

and one husband

and three children

and, well, self-respect really.

I'm thinking that only True Stalker Types would know the exact mileage to Jacob's Field from her house.

There might be a restraining order in my future.

**Fine print...the exact magnitude of my OLC (old lady crush) on Grady might have been exaggerated just a little bit for dramatic effect and to make my husband just a little bit jealous and to keep him on his toes, because, hey, I had a dream last night that I met Grady Sizemore and he didn't seem to think 12 years was that big a deal. I don't look 36 after all!**

Insomnia

Some of you know, that my husband is away. He had to go to Norfolk, Virginia, to a school for his job for 22 weeks.

156 days.

He has been coming home every other weekend, alternating between driving home (9 hours) and flying home (the company will let him expense five round-trip tickets during the five and a half months).

That means that I am pretty much on my own with the three boys. I have my better than sister and brother-in-law, Steve and Amy, nearby to help keep me sane, and in Amy's case, well-adjusted (she's also an excellent chiropractor), but my biological family is hours away, and so are my in-laws.

Now, I've done the Single Mom thing before. With two boys. And that was hard. They were 2 and 6. But three of them? Much harder, and harder because it isn't the same situation. This seems harder to me because it was our choosing, and it sucks, and I can't blame it on anyone else...like I could the first time.

I am beginning to think the pressure is taking its toll on my well-being. I cannot sleep at night. I've given up even trying to go to bed at a decent hour and instead, stay up until I feel like I cannot keep my eyes open. Then I go to bed and read for a bit. Turn out the light, and usually fall into a very fitful, restless sleep. I wake up a zillion times for no reason--or juvenile reasons:
Was that someone in the house that I heard? What is that shadow over by the door?

Tonight I just couldn't even fall asleep. So I came out here to unload my heavy mind to see if once it's lighter I won't sink down into some much needed sleep. So, here it is, the rambling contents of my mind (scary, yes?):

• Why does the milk that I just bought today with an expiration date of August 23 taste odd? Not really off, just, odd. Will it hurt the kids to drink it? What if they all get sick at the same time? I bought two gallons of it too. Will the other one taste the same? I think I'll just pour it out in the morning and go get some different milk at a different store.
• What should I do about the highlights in my hair that are growing out? [Apparently, this is a pressing issue of global importance in my life, because I had a dream about them during the 48 minutes of sleep that I actually got last night]. I don't really want to go to the salon to have them touched up. I hate the salon actually. I despise making small talk with the stylist...I go there as a luxury and to relax, not to chitchat. I talk to enough people at home. Have you ever had a 20 minute conversations about Pokemon with a 13 year-old? I want some quiet time! I bought hair color to cover the highlights over...but I can't decide if I want to or not. Indecisive. Shallow. This is me, dears.
• How would I get all three children out of the house by myself if it were to catch on fire? Chalk this one up to crazy, but I worry about this constantly. I don't want to have a Sophie's Choice type of moment, you know? I bought new batteries for the smoke detectors and made sure they are working, and went over with the big boys how they should get out of their windows if they have to. Luckily, we have a one story house.
• How will I deal with all three boys on a 9 hour drive to Virginia all by myself? We are driving down this next week for 11 days. I dread the drive by myself. My in-laws live in Cleveland, which is about 8 hours and change from our house, and we do that drive a handful of times a year, but I've never done it by myself.
• How will I deal with this?

• This is the Chesapeake Bay Bridge/Tunnel and it is 20 miles long. I have a severe bridge phobia--"gephyrophobia" . For some reason, bridges over water are the only ones that bother me. I am certain I am going to drive off into the water. be unable to get out of the car, and drown. I have had this fear ever since I can remember, with no good reason for why. My mother, believes in reincarnation and swears I must have drowned in a car in a past life. I think I am just crazy. But, ever since I can remember, bridges over water freak me out. I can drive over concrete or railroad tracks all the live long day, but not water. And now that I am driving around with three children most of the time, it is worse. How will I get them all out of the car in time? [See Sophie's Choice above!] Especially the Bug with all of the harnesses and such in his car seat? To go around the bridge, would add about 2 hours and all of the hassle of Washington, DC traffic to my trip. I have to just suck it up and do it. But, it is weighing heavy on me. I had my first full blown anxiety attack (hyperventilating and everything) going over a much smaller bridge years ago. But, I'll handle it because I have to, right?
• I haven't had an anxiety attack in years now, since my first marriage broke up. I've gotten a lot stronger since then. I will be okay. My husband will call me on my cell phone and talk to me the whole time. It'll be okay. Notice the repetitive self-convincing going on? All part of The Crazy.
• Bordeaux?
• Dublin?
• Truffle?
• I did buy the pattern though.
• I probably shouldn't actually post this...it isn't really that interesting. But, I am finally tired, and so...my defenses are low.
• If you hung around this long, bless you and goodnight. More about knitting tomorrow, and less neuroses, I promise!

Pile o' Knitting...(and lots of links!)

This sad little pile of mystery knitting...

Turned into this:

A modified Baby Yoda sweater. I changed the collar a little bit by adding two extra rows of garter stitch to make it more of a stand-up collar. It is the cutest little thing. This is such a sweet little sweater to knit, and fast...it is quickly becoming one of my favorites. Thanks, Cari!

It goes with Colleen's Sheep Dreams blanket. I like that it could go for either a girl or a boy (although, I am feeling like she is going to have a boy...don't know why, and just so you know, this usually means she will in fact have a girl. I am almost always wrong! Ask Connor, he slept in a pink rosebud bassinet because I was sure he was a girl and he wouldn't cooperate during sonograms to find out for certain.)

Anyways...I just couldn't bring myself to do one freakin' more duplicate stitch sheep on the thing, so...

I just winged it and free-hand embroidered an outline of a little guy on there. Cute, right?

GASP! Does his tail make it look like he is pooping? One of the boys just asked me if it was poop. Granted, they are all about the bodily function humor lately, but--now I have a complex. Poop or Tail?

Up next?

I was thinking, I should probably start a project to wear to Rhinebeck in October. Right, Amy? Last year, as a relatively new knitter, I made a scarf that I forgot to even wear that day in the fiasco which was my first trip to Rhinebeck.

Read, it, you really should...I'll wait.

I cracked myself up re-reading it! So funny now, so NOT funny then. Oh, and I think I can manage to stomach going with a friend now, a year later. [Wink, wink, Amy. We still have to craft our master plan for getting me away from this den of testosterone for that Saturday at least...we'll talk.]

For the occasion, this year, I am thinking I will knit this (the long sleeved version). Seriously? "The easiest sweater I will ever make"?? How could I not? I mean, this was my first sweater!

Since I am not a millionaire, instead of the oh-my-god-how-much-for-one-sweater? Tilli Tomas yarn, I will knit it in this. If I can decide on a color. I am down to Bordeaux, Dublin, or Truffle. Leaning toward Dublin...

or Truffle...

or Bordeaux.

You can see the dilemma.

But, I have to wait to buy the yarn until my first paycheck when I get back to teaching after Labor Day...not because I can't afford it now, but I pledged to myself, not to buy ANY new yarn all summer and I haven't broken the promise. The last yarn I purchased was over Memorial Day weekend. Aren't I stoic? A trooper? Full of self-control?

And as for the beaded, flashy sections in the sweater? I think I will string my own beads on a carrying yarn and do it that way. I am such a rebel. And, also? I've bought lots of beads this summer...because, after all, I didn't promise not to do that.

In the meantime, in the interest of keeping self-made promises, I will bust out some pretty acrylic from the ancient stash (way back before I knew that acrylic was NOT the bees knees):

Red Heart Super Saver in Artist Print, which reminds me of an impressionistic painting, I can't even care that it is acrylic, look how pretty! And it will be washable...very good.

and start this.

You in Amy? We've been talking about it since you taught me!



This post's pictures courtesy of my brilliant brain which figured out a way to use just plain html code to put in photos stored on the web and, thus, completely avoid Blogger's ridiculously unreliable photo tool. Of course, then I had to figure out how to make them normal sized, and not HUGE like they initially were...but I think they are okay now! I am a rocket scientist my loves!!

Glamour

Or:

"A day in bullets for your enjoyment and to aid in that oh-so-fuzzy-I'm-glad-I'm-not-her-feeling":

• First, I cleaned up a cat barf/regurgitated hair ball that I stepped in before my eyes were even open.
• Then, I realized that one of the cats peed somewhere in our bedroom which is decidedly NOT near their litter box...why, oh why, did they do this? They must be mad at me for something. After all, they own this house and rule it with their iron paws. I cannot find a wet spot, but the smell is unmistakable. One trip to RGT (Target in Bug language) and $21 of carpet cleaners, candles, and pet deodorizers later, I can still smell it, although everyone else who lives in this house says it is all in my head. Convenient for them--they don't sleep in there.
• I wrestled the king-sized duvet cover off my comforter and washed, dried, and wrestled it back on. Followed by a quick visit to Ebay (it's an addiction people) to see if I could find a colored down comforter at a reasonable price so I don't have to wrestle with duvet covers any more.
• Then, the Bug and I went out to pooper-scoop the back yard. This was followed quickly by aforementioned insect-type boy stepping in poop and trying to scrape it off with his wee two year old fingers! Eewwww...
• Followed just as quickly by Mommy washing off said fingers in the garden hose and then taking him inside to clean off the bottoms of his sneakers with an old toothbrush in the kitchen sink and those cute fingers with anti-bacterial soap. And then her flip flops when she realized that at some point in her mad rush to keep fingers clean and sanitary, she had somehow stepped in poop herself...and tracked it all over the kitchen floor.
• Followed by mopping and perhaps some choice curse words. It pays to be married to a former sailor.
• Followed by having to take poop from the neighbor's dog back to whence it came after the irresponsible dog owner did not pick.it.up.gasp! I would never let Cooper poop on someone else's property and not clean it up...but this woman does it almost every day, and I havehadenoughthankyouverymuch! I scooped it up, and put it at the end of her driveway...with her watching from her window. I did smile at her...very friendly and civilized, I assure you.
• Followed by having to kill the most gi-normous (that is gigantic and enormous smooshed together, btw) f-ugly brown spider I have ever seen in the laundry room. You can add your own shrieks and screams in your imagination here for special effect. Don't even start with me about how they are spinners and their webs are lovely and such crap...I hate spiders and don't care. Judge me all you will!
• And he was crunchy too.
• I hate the jumpy crunchy ones.

I am indeed, having quite the day of glamour...I am not worthy.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I have Disc 2 of my crack to watch.

Oh, and this too...

On a cuteness scale of ten, this is about a seventeen...

ToysRUs came through...and it wasn't even in the "Girls" aisle at all, but in Pre-Schoolers, thank you very much...

Knitting? What's Knitting??

It's like crack...only reasonably good for you.

How on earth did I miss this for two freakin' years??

Today, all of Disc 1--five episodes back to back. Tomorrow, Disc 2. It is a sickness, people, a sickness...do not judge me.

I'm ready to pre-order Season Two which comes out in a month...do you think I can catch up before the new season starts on September 21st??

Happy Feet

Happy nine year old feet...I swear, his feet grew in between the two socks...one is smaller than the other, and I measured them to each of his feet as I knit them! They were only about three days apart! No wonder he complains of growing pains so often!

The completed pair:

Nice.

This is what nine year olds do to amuse themselves and their step-fathers when they are bored.

Don't ask. They were clean and relatively new. What a relief, right?

The Bug has a new fixation:

Funshine Bear--remember these guys from the '80s?

He saw a Care Bear movie on the Disney Channel this morning and it is all he is talking about. He calls this one "sunshine belly". I told him tomorrow that we could go to "RGT" (this is what he calls Target) and see if we could find a stuffed one. I told his father about it...but left out the fact that when I looked it up on the ToysRUs website that I had to look under "Girls' Favorites" !!!

Speaking of RGT...I was there yesterday and dropped $110.00 on just school supplies for the two big boys! Remember the good old days when the schools actually could afford to supply crayons and pencils and pens?? As a teacher, I spend so much of my own money on classroom supplies that it isn't even funny because the school's just really can't afford it all. The $250 federal tax deduction I get to take doesn't even begin to cover it all.

Note to teachers...RGT has Papermate pens (blue and black) for 50 cents/ten-pack. And notebook paper for the same price/250 sheets. I'll have to get some when I go back tomorrow. The kids never have paper and pens for English class. Doesn't that blow your mind? I mean, its English...there is a pretty decent chance we'll be writing something every day!

I would chalk it up to the poor socio-economic status of most of my students...but the truth is, the middle-class kids don't come prepared either! It must be a teenage thing.

I've tried a borrowing system where they have to give me a shoe (hard to leave without a shoe) if they borrow a pen. Smelly teenage feet put an end to that brilliant idea! Then, I tried to sell them pens to teach them responsibility (25 cents a pen). That lasted until the first time a student said, "Mrs. F, I can give you a quarter, but it's my lunch money (reduced lunch price at my school). Since that day, I just give them away. And keep a cup of quarters in my desk for lunch money. I make it known that I always have lunch money if they need it in case they "forget"to bring it. I have at least one taker a day because they trust me and know that I don't expect it back.

I have regulars who "borrow".

The things we take for granted as relatively financially stable people amazes me every day.

It's humbling and sad.

Mamas don't let your babies grow up to be Cowboys

Ryleigh (my niece) and Campbell Joe at Gram's in cowboy hats

WsIP

I think I have come to the realization that a sock project in progress is not an infidelity to a monogamous knitter. Socks are too utilitarian to be a luxury like a second bigger project would be...so I (hold your gasps and shocked exclamations) have two Works in Progress (WsIP) to show you.

Connor's second sock:

I have just picked up the heel flap stitches and am ready to continue on with the foot of the sock.

And, Work in Progress #2...a.k.a Mystery Knitting:

Today's goal is to finish the sock.

A Day's Work

Yarn: Fantasy Yarns Cashmere/Wool Blend in Natural
Needles: US 6s

What could it be?? Hmmm...