The Transplanted Knitter

2009-12-05T08:19:00.001-05:00

http//www.cnn.com/2009/LIVING/12/04/knitting.irpt/index.html

I've heard of this before but the pictures are priceless....yarn bombing in Mexico City....to much!

You are still there!

2009-11-17T16:15:00.002-05:00

I'm so impressed. There are actually people out there who haven't deleted me from their blog rolls....quite impressive peeps, I'm honored.

I won't bore you with an update of my entire missing year but I'm still here and still knitting. I've had a rather large familial explosion (no, not me!) and have been knitting baby sweaters and the like. I currently have 4 sweaters...yes 4 that are completed but have not been put together. I think I need to get on that. I'm also knitting sample slippers for a friend who wants me to knit several pairs for her as Christmas gifts. She gave me a pair that her Grandmere had knit her however many moons ago and asked if I could recreate them. I think I'm pretty close and they are relatively painless to knit up so I should be able to help her out and make a little bank, the only downside to this project is she wants acrylic yarn...cheap acrylic yarn...you know...for wearablility....so while the project isn't hard it's not exactly my choice of medium if you get my drift.

For me I have a few projects on the needles as well. I've completed the Gathered Pullover for Interweave Knits but have yet to set the sleeves. I have completed one side of a fabulous stranded knitting bag and have almost completed the 1st 6 repeats of the lace pattern for the Icarus Shawl. Notice all the unfinished bits. I'm fickle what can I say.

Drama Queen is still dramatic but evening out which leads me to believe she's stocking up for her teen years.

Terrorist is still a terror when she wants to be but now that she's in pre-school 3 mornings a week Mommy gets a little "me time" and Life Is Good.

That's all for now...now I just have to see if my Bloglines account is still around and catch up on what everyone is up to.

Anyone still there?

2009-11-13T14:51:00.002-05:00

Look at that. It's been almost a year since my last post. I'm curious if anyone is still there. I'm still in Vermont, still have two kids, still knitting....now that I think about it not much has changed since my last blog post. I've decided that I miss my bloggy peeps....I need to get back involved.

Facebook ate my blog

2008-11-21T12:39:00.003-05:00

Yes it's true. I only have so much time in the day and I've become completely obsessed with Facebook. I've found practically my entire graduating class from high school. I've found people I used to work with. I've found relatives . I've found people I see everyday in real life.

I play Scrabble. ALL. THE. TIME.

When I need a knitting fix? I go to Ravelry.

Not that I'm saying I won't post here anymore, I'm just saying I'm having way to much fun uploading pictures onto Facebook for memorable events like New Years Eve of 1996. I mean doesn't everyone want to see themselves from 12 years ago splashed across the internet, especially when you are belting out your best Eddie Vedder impersonation while running Keg Laps? I'm so glad I'm the one behind the camera all the time....I can get you, but you can't get me...nany nany boo hoo!

Later Peeps!

P.S. I have been knitting. I'm almost finished with the sweater I posted about last time. I just have to finish the back and the arms. I was hoping to wear it to Thanksgiving but I doubt that will happen. Not sure where I'm going to find the time to sit down and whack it out. Without putting down Facebook that is :)

2008-10-22T12:00:00.014-04:00

OK, OK I know. I've been back since Sunday evening and haven't posted about Rhinebeck. I got a call from a friend last night demanding to know why the hell I hadn't posted yet so here I am!

I'm not sure how to describe the experience except to say WOW! The line of cars waiting to get into the fairgrounds at 9 am was unreal. Once parked Shele and I (one of my BF's--see Shele...I put it in writing!) in complete overload and wonder decided to walk all the way to the back of the fairgrounds and work our way forward. Good Thing. The first building we went into we found this
This my dear friends is the line of people waiting to pay for Socks That Rock. PAY FOR YARN. The line to get into the booth? 30 minutes of waiting. Did we do it? Yes. We. Did. We then waited for over an hour to pay. But you know what? No one complained, we had a blast waiting in line, chatting, discussing all the hand knits people were wearing. FUN. FUN. FUN.

Here's my loot. I know, a pitiful 4 skeins but remember this was my 1st purchase of the day and I was in complete sensory overload.

The two skeins on the ends do not have names because they are mill ends but the two in the center are, Potomac and Downpour. So pretty. My camera is wrecking havoc on colors. The 1st three are pretty true to color but the end one is not pinks, it's reds.

There were people there with several 100's of dollars worth of this stuff piled in their arms. Not that I blame them but Holy Cow people!

After I caught my breath from that little escapade I continued on and found this little gem

How fun is this? Flat Feet. It's 400 yards of sock yarn, already knit so you can see what it's going to do as you knit it up. You snip the waste yarn and then knit it, while you knit, it unravels and all the little funky kinkiness goes away when you block them the first time, after the first blocking? Machine Washable!

Of course my big purchase of the day was yarn to knit the Gathered Pullover
I linked to Ravelry, if you don't have that it's in the Winter 2007 IK, by Hana Jason

That's 1,950 yards of sport weight alpaca folks and it's to DIE FOR.

Look how pretty it is knit up.

I did buy some non-wool items such as needles, Euclan(in grapefruit) and a sheep fetish dish. Look at the dish. Doesn't he just melt your heart?

Then I found these sheep earrings. I'm a sucker for silly things like this.

After this I. WAS. DONE. Age was starting to attack and Shele and I agreed that we were not long for the world. Talk started to turn from "OH! Feel this!" to "My hips hurt, my knees are throbbing and I think I need a drink" so we started to venture out.

Then I found this. Last purchase of the day.

It's a silk bamboo blend and yes, it really is almost that shiny. The pictures doesn't do the muddy autumnal reds and browns justice. It also cost more for 215 yard then a skein of 650 yard of alpaca. But it will be a fabulous fashion statement once it tells me what it wants to be. Right now it's leaning towards scarf but I'm not sure it's dedicated to that project yet.

All in all the weekend was fabulous. Shele and I had the best time we've had in a long time. It involved lots of gin, food, Cosmopolitans, yarn, shopping, more yarn, more shopping, more food, more gin, cheese doodles and more talking and it truly was one of the best times I've had in a long, long time!

And the best part? When I got home, and blathered on and on to Spouse and the kids and DQ said she wanted to go next year. Do you want to know what Spouse said? "Nope, this is a special weekend just for your Mom every year, no kids allowed" WHOOT! Shele is already booking our hotel for next year. Perhaps one with a working ice machine so I don't feel like I'm back in college with a bathtub full of ice bought at the local gas station.

P.S. Actually saw Stephaine Pearl McPhee. SAW HER but didn't approach. I'm sure she would have been more than gracious to take a picture with Shele and me but you know what? She was waiting on line for a cup of coffee having a blast with friends and I just didn't have the heart to bother her. I regret that now, there is always next year. Of course I'm also kicking myself for not having this book with me because I saw Franklin Habit signing it but I didn't buy another copy to have him sign and I probably should have because I'm sure one of my knitting buddies out there would have appreciated a copy for Christmas or something and having two copies isn't such a bad thing. See what happens on wool fumes? You loose it!

2008-10-08T14:48:00.001-04:00

Ho Hum...here I sit, trying to link Yahoo with Flickr with Adobe....somehow all three of these entities insist this is possible...they are walking me through the process but it's not working...ARRRRGGGHHH!!!

I am however overjoyed that I'm leaving for this in a week and a half.....

I know I'm rubbing it in but I can't help it.

2008-09-22T13:34:00.002-04:00

I would like to thank Frank for 3 joyous hours of entertainment on Saturday. Because of you Terrorist happily played outside while I winterized my garden. Yes, you brought joy to my world. Now I'm sure you have a completely different view of what happened on Saturday. I'm sure each ounce of joy you felt at each near escape was quickly turned to dread each time you heard "Frank! Come Back!" and were pounced upon by my dearest daughter. I'm sure you'll suffer early hearing loss from being subjected to mad barking from the dog every time you almost made it into the field. I however found joy in harvesting all of my potatoes, tomatoes and brussel sprouts, pulling all of the spent plants and weeds and winterizing everything.

To Frank, you were a joy before you escaped that final time. Bless You.

2008-09-20T07:37:00.002-04:00

I'm so confused. My last two posts didn't post when I wanted them to. Here I thought I had new stuff sitting out there in blogland and nada. Nothing. Not sure why the whole 'publish' thing isn't working right.

So aggravating!

We'll I've caught you up on my guest post and friend D and my time is being taken up by Facebook. Yes, I'm there and so is my entire graduating class from high school AND our ~~20th~~ high school reunion is in the midst of being planned so there is a lot of action over there.

This is good and bad. It's good because it's really fun to see the pictures that Y has found from ohhhhh, 1984 and published for us all to giggle at.

It's bad because it's a vicious time suck..

I've also accomplished these lovely tasks this week.

Took Terrorist to ER for raging fever
Cleaned out kitchen cabinets
Girls night out
Boys night out
Stomache bug (go me!)
harvest potatoes
reading books with DQ
reaing books for ME
knitting

That's what's going on here....what's going on there?

2008-09-16T22:19:00.004-04:00

I know this has nothing to do with my regular bloginess but I'm just so proud!

One of my bestest friends is in the Navy, she's a very very busy gal so I'll give you a brief overview of her week.

#1 the ship she's on did this go read it.

OK, now realize that the street value of that? 278 MILLION DOLLARS...holy CRAP!

#2 she got her LCDR...that's Lieutenant Commander

I'm so excited for her. This is huge news!

I want everyone to let out a dig ole' "GO D!" just for me (and her of course)

2008-09-12T23:04:00.000-04:00

So I guess you missed me. I guest posted over at Domestic Extraordinare and I really thought I told everyone about it but obviously I didn't...not sure what happened with all of that but seriously. You should go read that and then the one about French Lick. Cause you know, any post about somewhere called French Lick deserves a read.

2008-09-04T09:38:00.001-04:00

I don't talk politics.

I'm not going to discuss my views or who I'm currently voting for.

I will however state that I'm ready to punt the TV through the window if I see Dr. Phil spouting his two cents about teenage pregnancy again.

2008-09-04T07:44:00.002-04:00

Well the thrill of the start of school has obviously worn off. We are back to that grind.

Behold my morning.

Terrorist crawls into bed with me at some god awful hour and then demands entertainment at 6am. I'm good after 6:30, but 6am, after staying up to watch Sarah Palin's speech is just to early.

Get her settled (big hats off to Disney movies!) and here comes DQ.

Me: Good Morning Sweetie.
DQ: Yeah, right.
Me: why don't you take a few minutes to wake up then you need to take a shower.
DQ: no response

fast forward 10 minutes

Me: you need to get in the shower.
DQ stomps to bathroom

1/2 hour later she's still in the bathroom...no water running

Me: You really need to get in the shower.

DQ: I'M WORKING ON IT!!!

(hear water running)

10 minutes later she appears clean and dressed (thank you God!)

Me: Cute outfit.

DQ: Huff, Stomp, roll eyes.

Me: you need to eat breakfast, tell me what you want for lunch, have me sign your reading log, pack your bag and make sure you have your trombone.

**yes, I am aware that you think she plays clarinet but that has changed, more on that later**

I'll save you the rest of the morning but it basically resembled that first part with me repeatedly telling her what she needed to do and her moving at the speed of a sloth in hibernation

Finally she wanders down to the bus, eating a cereal bar because heaven forbid we actually eat a REAL breakfast.

Welcome to the 5th grade. I suggest, only half jokingly, that you sent your children to boarding school sometime around 3rd grade.

2008-08-29T09:22:00.006-04:00

It's official.

I have two children in school.

5th grade and preschool.

I'm not sure if I'm ready to laugh or cry.

Last Thursday I saw DQ off to the 1st day of 5th grade

Then this morning it was Terrorist off to Pre-School.

Sigh.

At least she looked back to make sure I was still there.

2008-08-27T10:36:00.003-04:00

I'm in CT visiting with Clink who had surgery this week. She's doing well and the baby is a trip and a half as usual. Auntie Perry is here and she's on baby patrol while I'm on Clink patrol. Since Clink has been fed, medicated and put back to bed I have time to goof off.

So here I sit, at the computer surfring Ravelry trying to come up with a wish list of patterns, wool, etc and I'm overwhelmed. The really scary thing is right now that list only consists of three projects:

Endpaper Mitts by Eunny Jang

Hemlock Ring Blanket by Jared Flood

Gathered Pullover by Hana Jason

My shopping strategy?

I am going to Rhinebeck. YES. I. AM.

I already have my room. I'm going with my friend Shele (we learned to knit together) and I have a pretty decent budget. I've been skrimping and saving and tweaking to allow myself some much deserved cash flow for this weekend long event.

I have my list of yarn requirements for the above listed patterns and there are other things I want to. Blocking Board, sock blockers, ball winder, of course there is always room to sock yarn and single skeins for hats and stuff, you get the picture. I just know I'm going to be so competely overwhelmed I'm not going to be able to make a decision. This happened to me at Patternworks, I walked into the store, wandered for about 2 hours and walked out of there with, are you ready? A single skein of sock yarn.

I've got myself so excited about this that I'm going to be competely overwhelmed that I think I need a 12 step program. I'm convinced I'm nuts.

I know it's still 6 weeks away or so but I figure if I start to organize myself now I might actually come out with the yarn I want, in the yardage I want with no regrets.

HA HA HA HA HA!

I crack myself up sometimes.

If anyone has been to Rhinebeck and has any pointers for a first timer I'll accept them!

2008-08-19T10:03:00.002-04:00

The pressure is off. I was feeling guilty about being behind on all my blog reading. I have bloglines after all so no worries, I can catch up at anytime....that is until the Terrorist sat down at the laptop this morning and starting clicking away, unbeknown to me...yeap, cleared it all. Here is my blanket apology...I didn't read your blog and chances are I won't because I'm not going through my entire blogroll to figure out who I read and who I didn't and how many posts I missed...let's leave it at the fact that I had about 400+ unread posts...now there are 26.

I'm not sure if I should be thankful or pissed....

At least the guilt is gone :)

2008-08-17T08:57:00.002-04:00

I got the Fall IK the other day and promptly put it aside. I like to savor these things so I resist the urge to immediately rip into it and then get frustrated when the family won't leave me alone to drool in peace.

I finally got to sit down and skim through it. I really need to go back and really READ the article on Kate Gilbert and the Beyond Basics : Invisible Cast-On and Bind Off's!

Anyway, at one point, I stumbled upon an ad for Mountain Colors
I don't know why this particular ad caught my eye more than any others but it did and I flipped the magazine to Spouse and made a comment about just buying one of everything in IK and I'd be a happy camper. Spouse's response?

"Maybe if the person shopping for you had a list of projects you want to work on with yarn requirements you'd get something for Christmas"

I busted out laughing....Spouse is completely removed from my knitting, as far as he's concerned it's something that keeps me occupied so I don't try to talk to him while he's watching Bill O'Reilly or some John Wayne movie for the 4,000th time. The fact that he actually strung the words project and yarn requirement into the same sentence tickled me pink.....

2008-08-11T18:00:00.002-04:00

I survived the trip to Friend A's Camp just in time to get home, unpack, repack and leave at 5am for a family camping trip in PA with 27 family members and ample kids between the ages of 10 and 6 months with announcements of more to come WHOOT!

I'm home....I have unpacked...I am cooking dinner.... I may never recover!

On the knitting front, while in the car on the way to PA (a 9 hour drive) I completed the following:

1 pair of toddler socks
1 pair of children's winter mittens
1 pair of fingerless mitts

all of which had been started but not finished so I feel it was a very productive drive!

P.S. There was a message on the voice mail from the woman who runs Mom To Mom when I got home (I kid you not!)

2008-08-03T16:56:00.002-04:00

The Scene: Local convenience store with the cheapest gas and milk around so needless to say I'm a regular customer.

Here goes:
Walk in with Terrorist in tow...proceed to purchase things that are not my normal purchases...I'm milk, eggs, ketchup, gas, maybe ice cream kinda girl but the kids and I are going out to Friend A's camp again for a couple of days and since Friend A and I are equally bad influences on each other I was picking up supplies. My supply list included the following necessary items.

3 Packs of Marlboro Ultra Light Menthol
1 double bottle of red wine
1-18 pack of Bud Light
1 Quart of milk

Yeah, it was a shining moment in my parenting career..I was truly a little embarrassed. Well Terrorist decided that I couldn't possibly be embarrassed enough and is racing around the store that I'm stealthy trying to escape without being recognized and she shouts

"Look Mama! There's Pastor Dave from Mom to Mom" as he holds the door for me as I use my ample behind to hold the door for the Terrorist.

I'm so getting a call from someone this week....I can sense it....

2008-07-31T16:42:00.003-04:00

I met a new friend this week. Upon returning from NJ I was met with the glorious news that my friend AnnaMarie from Ravelry and blog goodness had arrived in the NEK safe and sound. We had met on Ravelry and got to know each other through mutual interests and her desire to move to Northern VT and the fact that I was already here. She'd send me listing pics of houses they liked and asked questions about areas and we gradually got to know each other. Well turns out? She bought a house in my town! How cool is that? so we decide to meet at the park for lunch one afternoon (you know, all public and safe like in case I was scary) I think we are going to be friends. I like her, I think she likes me..and she dyes and spins...two things I REFUSE to do...because you know, they *might* be addicting and I really don't need another addictive hobby....

So anyway, that has been the highlight of my week.

That and...all that legal stuff I've kind of hinted around for a while? OVER, DONE...as of today! YIPEEEE!!!!

2008-07-23T10:22:00.008-04:00

Looky here! I'm posting from New Jersey!

We've made it and have been here since Saturday. Originally we were going to drive down on Sunday but after discussing Jersey Shore traffic patterns I decided a Saturday day trip was in order. Quite uneventful outside of the typical 'two kids trapped in the backseat together for 8.5 hours' crap I put up with.

Saturday night I stopped by Friend C's to see her and the kids and catch her hubby before he left for work. That turned into a much later night than planned and after some great girl time and few beers I was back home.

Sunday we went to church and then headed back over to C's for an afternoon of pizza and pool because it was blazing hot, Africa hot..disgustingly hot YUCK!!!

Monday morning we headed over to Casa de Clink (she's visiting to, YIPEE!!) for some swimming and baby time (that girl is darn cute I tell ya!) Monday night was girls night out...it was ugly. DO NOT go out to a local bar on Monster Mug and Wing night where you are going to run into millions of people you know and not expect to get a little alcohol poisioning.

Tuesday was back to Clinks for some more pool and baby time, followed by naptime. Followed by a trip to visit a mutal friends new house with presents for the new home and more time with old friends (and more pizza!) Turns out Clink and our friend know a guy who was in UltraChrist so we attempted to watch it...attempt being the key word. It's nice to know there are other people out there who haven't really grown up either. If you decide to check it out Archangel Ira is the the friend from high school. If you do check it out, please don't hold it against me.

Today Terrorist and I are hanging at home, no plans and that is just fine with me. Mom and I are headed out to see Mamma Mia this afternoon then the girls and I are meeting yet more friends at the County Fair for a night of rides and fair food (Sausage Pepper and Onions here I come!!!)

Thursday I'm watching Clinks sprout so she and her Dad can have some time together, that is going to be the highlight of my week...she's MINE...all MINE...Thursday night is dinner with my friend Shele. (Shele and I are going to NY Sheep and Wool together..did I share that yet?)

Friday Mom and I are headed into NYC to see the Waterfalls and then out to dinner with the gang for hibachi dinner ,the kids think hibachi is the greatest thing ever and if they are going to sit still for me to enjoy a hot meal then I agree! Saturday is a beach day, Sunday is back to VT so there you have it...my entire week in a nutshell!

I'm really not getting much knitting done, everytime I try to work on something I get pulled away from it. But I'm trying!

So, how is your week going?

2008-07-17T17:07:00.002-04:00

Today I went for a hike with a couple of friends and their kids...a ~~brutal~~ 5 mile meandering hike. Sure, friend A warned us about the hill (one mile hill) but heck I can handle that. Put a couple kids in a double jogging stroller and push that bad boy up hill for a mile and then come back and see me. OK, I'll admit we traded off on the whole stroller thing but still..... It was all worth it because afterwards we headed to Camp M and had a picnic lunch and went swimming in the lake and fed the ducklings and ~~drank beer~~ re hydrated.

Seriously I had a blast, it was the perfect kickoff to all of us heading our separate ways for a week I'm really going to miss my VT friends. I'm finally getting to the point that the VT friends outnumber the remaining NJ friends.

I will miss you VT friends. But I'll be back in a week and then I expect to be back on the ~~party~~ exercise circuit!

2008-07-14T07:22:00.002-04:00

I went camping with the family this weekend. Four glorious days outside hiking, swimming, relaxing by the campfire and enjoying time together. Before that trip we spent an overnight at my friend A's camp with her and her kids, before that was the cruise. This week is a week off with only tedious things like hair appointments, soccer games and summer band practice. Next week is a trip down to NJ for Marine Biology camp for DQ...

I guess what I'm trying to say is I love and miss you all...I'm clearing out my bloglines....I simply can't keep up so please don't feel neglected.

I have been knitting though....2 1/2 pairs of socks completed (one so small that they are now going to be a Christmas present for DQ) 1 pair of fingerless gloves, one stranded hat (knit only to be cut apart for a steeking demo) one stranded mitten (knit only because the hat was so fun and I had left over yarn) one upside down daisy hat 1/2 done only because someone doesn't seem to have the right size double points to finish that project *ahem*

I promise pictures will be coming. I just need to get organized enough to do that...

2008-07-02T08:42:00.010-04:00

We are back! What a ride.... Here's a few highlights from the trip

On the Sunday we drove down to NJ to spend the night with my parents before driving into NYC to catch the ship. At some point in Massachusetts Terrorist claimed she didn't feel well and that her head and knee's hurt so I reach into the backseat to give her the typical "It's OK, we'll be there soon" pat down and she is burning up, FLAMING hot. I, being supermom, have Motrin in the trunk. Pull over, dose her, move on. Get to my parents house and she's obviously not feeling well but I'm chalking it up to being tired/excited/allergies...fast forward a couple hours (Motrin wears off) and she's burning up again. 104.5 people....that is HOT. After a couple phone calls to my old Dr in NJ and my new Dr in VT it is determined that it's probably viral, will work it's way through and as long as she's not vomiting or has the runs we are OK. Hang up the phone with VT Dr and WHAM, projectile vomiting all over my parents den. Lovely. I could continue with this lovely saga in detail but will break it down to this:

ER
urine test, strep test, chest X-ray
pneumonia

Only my kid, who has never even had an ear infection, gets pneumonia less than 18 hours before we are supposed to be on a ship.

NJ ER Dr decides that she's fine to go on the cruise, she'll have antibiotics in her system. Just keep her out of the pool (yeah, OK, that's going to work)

From this point forward add "and then we ate" at the end of each sentence.

On Monday we got up, drugged Terrorist, drove to the NYC Pier to load the boat (those Carnival people are efficient!) It was a little overwhelming, the ship, the room, the process but fun and handled well by all. Terrorist was a little cranky but other than that we were safe and sound on board and relaxing. Look! a self portrait..lifeboat drill...see the umbrella in my hair. That drink was GOOD and much needed!

On Tuesday we were at sea all day, thank goodness it was overcast and cloudy we managed to find plenty to do while avoiding the pool. WHOOT!

DQ Managed to find an airbrush tattoo artist

On Wednesday we landed in St. John N.B. Canada to glorious sunshine and perfect weather and a fever free Terrorist! I attempted to dump Terrorist at Camp Carnival but she was having none of it so I attempted (key word is: attempt) to take her off the ship to enjoy the sights, she wasn't having any off that either so while MIL and DQ took a horse drawn carriage ride tour around town and explored the sights I played on the ship with Terrorist.

Here is what I managed to see of Saint John taken from the balcony in our stateroom

We managed to avoid the pool but not the hot tub. Spent all afternoon in the stateroom while Terrorist napped (thank goodness for a good book and a balcony) but managed to wrangle MIL to stay in the stateroom after bedtime so I could get a few minutes to myself (Lost $20 in the slots and got hit on my some really fat creepy guy in the bar. My kinda night!)

On Thursday we landed in Halifax, Nova Scotia and I decided that no amount of tears or misbehavior was going to stop me getting off the ship and I put a kicking, screaming and nearly hysterical Terrorist in Camp Carnival and ran (OK, ran is bit of an exaggeration, I did stay on the ship for 1/2 hour and then called her counselor to make sure she was OK and she was happy as a clam) and then determined that I was walking to the Public Gardens. MIL and DQ decided to go with me, despite a lot of huffing and puffing and complaining about the walk to get there they enjoyed it once on the grounds.

Here's DQ doing what she does best, hamming it up for the camera

Having sufficiently tired them out, they headed back to the ship and I set off on a mission. A mission to find this The Loop Cafe. Very small, not a huge inventory, but I did manage to get a couple skeins of beautifully locally dyed yarn (at a shockingly dear price I might add) I got back on the ship and decided to enjoy a peaceful lunch so I went poolside and hit one of the million food places, ordered myself the drink of the day and relaxed until ~~alcohol~~ guilt overrode my senses and I figured I'd better spring Terrorist from ~~prison~~ Camp Carnival. I go to pick her up and guess what...she doesn't want to leave. Little stinker. So I left her there until they called me and told me to come get her. Sweet! At this point DQ came and found me and pleaded her case that she be allowed to attend the "All Night Party" being hosted by Camp Carnival because her new bestest friend in the whole wide world that she had known for less than 6 hours was doing it. I caved...I mean what kind of parent wouldn't want their child running around on a ship until 3am? The only rule was that she had to be VERY quite coming into the cabin because if she woke me or Terrorist up she was a dead woman. While DQ was out partying it up Terrorist discovered the tattoo lady

DQ took my quite seriously and returned, silently at 3:12 am and did not wake up until noon. WHOOT more relaxation for me!

Friday was another day at sea and was quite cold, overcast and foggy so we really hid inside for the most part. Terrorist went to Camp in the morning and since DQ slept until lunch time I had some more time to myself. Because it was so cold and damp I decided to hang out in the lounge and watch towel folding and participate in Win a Cruise Bingo. Guess how bingo turned out? Can you guess? Right now you are really excited because you think I won a cruise right? Guess again. Guess who won? Can you guess? The lady who wasn't going to play. The one that when she walked in I said "Come on, buy a ticket, all the cool kids are going it" Yeap, my MIL won a free cruise, lucky duck. But I got free art (the winner of the cruise also got to pick a painting from the gallery which she graciously gave to me) We did manage to spend some time in the hot tub again which was a big hit and of course we had to pack up and get ready to disembark on Saturday morning.

Saturday we woke up, were herded to the Lido Deck (source of all things food) where we sat around, ate breakfast and killed time waiting for our section to be called. Cruise Over.

All in all it was fun, I got a chance to relax and in general got to do what I wanted but I have to say that the next cruise, if there is one, will be either with my whole family, meaning Spouse comes OR without my kids. HMMM, I'm thinking a cruise for my 40th with only my girlfriends sounds right up my alley :)

So there you have it, my vacation relatively short and sweet! Next up...proof of knitting!

Chemical Free Cleaning Tip of the Post:

To clear clogged drains:

Pour 1 cup baking soda down drain followed by 1 cup hot vinegar (I heated mine in the microwave for 2 minutes)

Let sit for a few minutes, follow up with 1 quart very hot water.

Your drain will clear, and you won't be pumping chemicals into your septic!

This also works on toilet clogs.

2008-06-21T14:43:00.004-04:00

I'm leaving, again.

I doing this with my MIL, DQ and the Terrorist. Spouse has to work so he's going to be a bachelor while I'm trapped on a floating tin can with the crew.

Lord. Help. Me.

I'm looking forward to it, really, I've never been on a cruise and I'm sure it will be a blast.

But....

We are all staying in ONE ROOM. Yes, 4 of us. One stateroom.

MIL wanted to know if the girls and I could sleep in the same bed.

uhhhh, NO, we can't.

This is her dime, not mine so while I won the "Everyone gets their own bed" battle. I did not win the "Shouldn't we have more than one room?" battle

Nuff' said.

I'll be back next Monday.

If you hear of someone falling overboard I wasn't involved. Just send bail money and don't ask any questions.

I have, however, located a yarn shop in Halifax that looks like it's walking distance from the docks...

2008-06-18T07:42:00.003-04:00

MUHAHAHAHA!

The fear of MOM is fully intact in my house.

Allow me to share a story.

DQ had a friend over yesterday, she slept over and after a couple of thunderstorms, some general civil disobedience and having an extra 10 year old in the house my nerves were a little frayed.

They disappeared downstairs to play Webkinz, fine.

About an hour later they reappear, and start to stalk me. The following conversation ensues:

DQ: Mom, will you be mad if we tell you something?
Me: I don't know, I can't tell you if I'll be mad until you tell me.
DQ: Well, we typed something into the computer and now we can't make it go away
DQ Friend: And it's BAD
Me: What did you type?
**DQ and friend now argue over who's going to tell me**

I get up go downstairs, turn the computer back on and find the following gem in the Google Images search engine and find this gem.

Webkinz having sex

Oh yeah, love the way the 10 year old female mind works.

They had spend considerable time down there trying to figure out how to get rid of that bit of 'history' and when they realized every time they started to type Webkinz into the search engine that previous search came up they got REALLY SCARED.

With a very straight face I asked exactly what happened when they typed this .

With utmost embarassment and muttering I learn nothing, "just stupid pictures of Webkinz" they tell me.

I go on to give a stern lecture on surfing the internet and proper usage of the computer and threaten then with not being allowed to use the computer unsupervised again.

They were shaking in their boots I tell you!

I then go upstairs, lock myself in the bathroom and crack up and realize that Parental Controls are going to need to be looked into and put to use. UGH.

2008-06-07T10:09:00.004-04:00

I'm doing backflips, really. It's HOT, it's SUNNY, it's SATURDAY and we are off to the lake

I've packed a lunch, towels and sunblock. I'm ready....

If you aren't at the lake today (or some other spectacularly perfect place)

Head over to visit BF...it's her birthday...and if there is anyone who makes a bigger deal of a birthday than her I'm not sure who it is

She had the audacity to be sleeping when the girls called to sing a perfectly pitched version of Happy Birthday so we'll have to torment her here.

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2008-06-06T09:33:00.002-04:00

Bloggers are a knowledgeable bunch. I enjoy reading quite a few blogs that are usually eye opening and insightful. I learn about using coupons from Kristin (that girl can save some money!). I learn about homesteading and a crazy cat here. I learn about the fun side of parenting here.

I learn about all sorts of stuff on the internet. I am after all, a Google master!

One thing that I try to put to use everyday in different ways is my dedication to eliminating mass produced chemical cleaners from my house. It started with cleaning my floors with vinegar and water rather than buying a wood floor cleaner. Worked like a charm. Then I started using my old boxes of baking soda to deodorize my drains. Today I'm using a mixture of baking soda and vinegar to clean my shower heads of hard water/mineral deposits. I figured they may be someone out there reading my blog who might be interested in how to use common household items to clean just about anything. So occasionally I'm going to post something about cleaning. Maybe I'll start putting a little bit of knowledge at the end of each post. We'll see.

Today's chemical free cleaning tip:

Mix 1/2 cup baking soda with 1 cup of white vinegar in a sandwich bag (this fizzes, a lot). Use a rubber band to secure bag around shower head. Let sit one hour. Remove bag, turn on shower, rinse away mineral deposits. You can also dump the vinegar baking soda mixture down the shower drain to freshen that as well.

Next post? How to make an all purpose abrasive cleanser.

2008-06-03T17:02:00.006-04:00

The budget....the budget is YUCKY...I understand the need for my new budget. I like the budget, really I do, I made the budget so I really can't complain to much. However, the budget does not include yarn..no yarn, no knitting books, nada...and of course EVERYWHERE I turn all I see are projects I'm dying to cast on like this Brooklyn Tweed Blanket

It only calls for two skeins of EcoWool...that's what $30.00? That project has the potential of coming to life before the end of summer.

Not all of my future projects that live in my head are so economical.

I'd love to knit these, Ilga's Socks from Favorite Socks

They only require 5 skeins of yarn..Did you follow that all the way through? Did you see the cost of that yarn? OK, it is 360 yards so technically speaking that pretty cheap for a pair of socks but did you do the math? Those are $73.00 socks...yes I would have yarn left over and I could knit multiple socks from that wool....WAIT STOP...I'm not here to justify the purchase. Talk me down....breathe, breathe...step away from the shopping cart button...

You get the picture. I'm behaving, honest I am. I have projects in the "to be finished pile" I have yarn. I just don't want THOSE projects or THAT yarn..thank goodness for Knitting Guild this past weekend. I learned how to knit with two colors and at least I'm being kept busy knitting up a hat Mine is red and white since I'm using scraps to knit it.. but you get the idea. Once it's perfect I get to take it back next month and learn to steek...EEEK!

sigh, It's going to be a long summer. Good think my library card is up to date. SIGH.

2008-05-22T08:36:00.002-04:00

I had to share this.

Thanks to Lime & Violet

2008-05-19T16:49:00.013-04:00

Construction Update!

Remember this?

Now it's this:

And this

Then we had this:

Which is now this:

This lovely space?

Now houses this lovely room:

Is it wrong that I want to hang that little picture you see propped up by the window above the toilet? It's this painting by Edward Hopper I personally think it's very fitting.

It also holds this door...dum, dum, duuuummm

Which hides this...YARD SALE!

Here we have this space:

Which is now this:
Please pardon the 1/2 made bed and the unfolded sweatshirt, If I waited until everything was perfect you'd never see this stuff.

And last but not least, drum roll please:

The craft room. A work in progress to be sure! Tonight? That Good Mom sign is getting hung. I think seeing it in the room gives you a bit of spacial reference. It's resting on the floor and the counter is 3 feet high. Yes that's a gun cabinet in the craft room. It's the price I had to pay for actually having a craft room.

2008-05-19T15:21:00.000-04:00

This is the post where I lovingly mock some of my favorite bloggers:

Tabula Rasa likes to dream about Hollywood. This guy to be exact

She also likes this guy -- whatever.

The rest of us know it's all about this guy. SWOON!

Now a teasing post wouldn't be any good if I didn't take a hit at Casey she does after all participate over at Linoleum Dynamite

See what I can do. Darn church ladies made me be in charge of goodies for our last Mom to Mom group meeting so I had to crack out the Betty Crocker hat.
Yummy Banana Bread in front of luscious triple chocolate mini breads. I also whipped up this bad boy (Yes, Casey I know you would NEVER have photographed it with the icing running all over)

This is Gingerbread cake with yummy cream cheese filling...delicious!

then lastly I have to steal from my pal Norma way up here in VT with me and post the State of the Garden Address.

Here's the start of the veggie patch. Spouse insists it's big enough. I know it's not. We have planted peas, carrots, asparagus, lettuce, brussel sprouts and potatoes so far. Very little room left for the tomatoes, green beans, eggplant and peppers we want planted. I'm already plotting next years expansion.

This is my perennial bed in front of the house. Not to special yet but it's depths hold phlox, canterbury bells, coral bells, phlox, hollyhocks, rudebeckia, pink cone flower, black eyed susans, day lilies, delphinium and oriental poppies and a butterfly bush. It may not be pretty yet but it's getting there.

Lastly my shade garden a small, quick, unintended bed that holds hosta and bleeding heart because spouse didn't like where I originally wanted them.

Of course he won't admit that he wanted it moved to protect himself. See that garden? See the hose reel and the dogs water bowl below it? That's a big rock with about a two foot drop off, that he drove the tractor off last year. *snicker*

Of course there could be knitting pictures. I have completed a couple pairs of socks and a kid sweater.

There could be construction updates because the basement is done.

but I wouldn't want to shoot the whole load in one post now would I?

2008-05-17T14:51:00.005-04:00

Want to see what I got today? Clink is going to be soooo jealous so I'm going to rub it in her face publicly.

See this?

I got this image. But is says Good Mom across the top Life is Good and it's 4.5 FEET by 4.5 FEET

cause it's a display sign, from a store....WHHOOOTTT..

Those who know me in real life know how funny this is......

2008-05-09T12:47:00.002-04:00

I'm in Heaven.

Remember this post?

Well today Friend L dropped her youngest off so that she could register the oldest for Kindergarten and actually be able to pay attention without chasing a not yet 2 year old around.

I happily watched him. I also offered to keep both kids for a while so she could run errands solo. She's watching our other friends two girls this afternoon since Friend J has physical therapy. I figured she deserved at least an hour of kidfree errand time.

Do you know what she did? She declined. You know why? Because she felt it was better is she took mine so that I could do errands SOLO, Afterall, she said, once you've got 4 at your house what's 1 more? You can imagine my response. YES! YES! YES!

So she just pulled away. I'm going to the grocery store alone. Know what it's costing me? A green pepper, a can of corn and a local newspaper. AHHHHHHHHHH

2008-05-01T08:02:00.005-04:00

Look at that, I missed posting for the ENTIRE month of April, see how I did that? Pretty cool huh?

Let me tell you several things I learned in April that I failed to share.

1) You can knit for an entire month and still not complete the lousy pair of socks you are knitting

2) You can read the same book (Middlesex by Jeffery Eugenidies) all month and still not be finished

3) You go the entire month without making a single Knit Night or Knitting Group due to crazy busy schedule.

4) You can spend time outside working in the glorious sunshine in your new gardens only to have it snow again that very same week.

5) You can loose complete and total control over your bloglines account and be so overwhelmed by the sheer volume of posts you haven't read that you can just give up and realize you are never going to read them all. Sorry!

6) Your youngest can make up her own vocabulary. My new favorite word? Lasterday. That would be like yesterday but can truly mean any random day that already happened and Lord help you if you don't know exactly which 'lasterday' we are talking about!

Things overheard:

#1

Me: How's the neighbors goat? I hear he's not healthy.

DQ: He's just standin' there dyin'

#2

Me: I heard Joe is moving to Chicago.
Friend: No he's moving to Illinois
Me: Chicago IS in Illinois
Friend: Oh, I'm no good at geometry

#3

Phone rings, upon reviewing Caller ID, I know it's Friend.

Me: Your ears must have been ringing I was just about to call you.
Friend: I have ESPN.
Me: Oh, you got your cable fixed?

(come on people, sometimes she just fun to mess with)

Things I have accomplished now that's it's May (not it's not the socks but I'm very close to toe decreases)

#1 I have prepped my veggie garden and have planted asparagus, peas, carrots, lettuce, potatoes and brussell sprouts so far.

#2 I have prepped and planted columbine, lilies, peony and phlox in various gardens around my yard.

#3 I have finished Middlesex by Jeffery Eugenidies for my book club only to find out that I was supposed to be reading A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson. GO ME!

#4 I actually made it to a Knitting Guild meeting. And had FUN. And want to go AGAIN!

So see? Now you are all caught up on April and you didn't have to read 10-15 posts to know what's going on.

Go forth, have fun, enjoy the sunshine. I'll be visiting soon :)

2008-03-26T18:59:00.003-04:00

I know, I suck, I've been a very inconsistent blogger recently and I have to blame it all on babies.

My family twin, my cousin Dana, just had her second son aka Hank, she lives in North Carolina so the only time we see each other is at big family functions. Well, she called last week and said "What cha' doin? Want to meet half way while I'm still on maternity leave?" After a few quick calculations and phone calls it was planned. The Terrorist and I headed out the door Tuesday morning enroute to Harrisburg, PA to visit my Aunt where we would meet Dana and Hank. Of course this also entailed other cousins and their babies showing up so by the time all was said and done we had four cousins all with their kids, the Terrorist being the oldest. Friday I headed back to lovely snow bound northern Vermont (they have daffodils blooming in PA, DAFFODILS, NO SNOW...PLANTS) and BF arrived on Saturday with Riley to celebrate my birthday. She just left yesterday. So, my lack of blogging has everything to do with a massive baby fix.

BF will have a post regarding her trip. The person singing isn't me.... she might try to tell you it's me but I'm going to deny it.

So just to fill you in on the kind of relationship BF and I have. We were sitting on the couch chatting and my birthday came up and I was explaining that I didn't care what happened for my birthday as long as I didn't have to cook dinner but that my 40th birthday better include something big, like a massive party. BF in her loving wisdom decided that there was plenty of time to plan this party. She then proceeded to argue with me about how old I am....then finished the argument with "Holy Crap, when did you get so OLD?" She dead I tell ya, dead....

To finish catching everyone up:

The basement is finished, just needs to be furnished and assembled (Pics later)
I have been knitting, I swear.
The ground is still snow covered here. Please do not call me and tell me you can see grass and flowers. I might hurt you.
Saturday Night is girls night out. Meet me at Lo's Tavern at 6:30pm, it's going to be a good one if I can find a designated driver.

Bye :)

2008-03-15T17:56:00.002-04:00

Norma did this to fill up space on her blog and I got sucked right in. I usually think this kind of stuff is crap but this sounds eerily like the person I share my skin with....

What Elizabeth Means

You are friendly, charming, and warm. You get along with almost everyone.

You work hard not to rock the boat. Your easy going attitude brings people together.

At times, you can be a little flaky and irresponsible. But for the important things, you pull it together.

You are relaxed, chill, and very likely to go with the flow.

You are light hearted and accepting. You don't get worked up easily.

Well adjusted and incredibly happy, many people wonder what your secret to life is.

You tend to be pretty tightly wound. It's easy to get you excited... which can be a good or bad thing.

You have a lot of enthusiasm, but it fades rather quickly. You don't stick with any one thing for very long.

You have the drive to accomplish a lot in a short amount of time. Your biggest problem is making sure you finish the projects you start.

You are incredibly wise and perceptive. You have a lot of life experience.

You are a natural peacemaker, and you are especially good at helping others get along.

But keeping the peace in your own life is not easy. You see things very differently, and it's hard to get you to budge.

You are usually the best at everything ... you strive for perfection.

You are confident, authoritative, and aggressive.

You have the classic "Type A" personality.

You are full of energy. You are spirited and boisterous.

You are bold and daring. You are willing to do some pretty outrageous things.

Your high energy sometimes gets you in trouble. You can have a pretty bad temper at times.

You are a seeker. You often find yourself restless - and you have a lot of questions about life.

You tend to travel often, to fairly random locations. You're most comfortable when you're far away from home.

You are quite passionate and easily tempted. Your impulses sometimes get you into trouble.

You are truly an original person. You have amazing ideas, and the power to carry them out.

Success comes rather easily for you... especially in business and academia.

Some people find you to be selfish and a bit overbearing. You're a strong person.

What's Your Name's Hidden Meaning?

hmmm, the spirited, boisterous, quick tempered, hard to budge parts really convinced me, these were traits I though I hid pretty well, but maybe not ! My impulses getting me into trouble isn't to far off the mark either.

2008-03-11T10:56:00.002-04:00

I'm here, really. I know I left everyone hanging. I didn't even mention that I was yet again headed south to visit the family in New Jersey but I was and I did and I'm back.

I managed to complete the socks Spouse was promised for Christmas WHOOT! cast on a Big Footed Bunny from the Knitted Toys book and also the hooded tunic from Knitting Pure and Simple for Terrorist. Lovely. Eventually I'll provide pictures.

Allow me to also explain some of my delay in posting. I. AM. DYING.

A select few of us gals up here in the Great White North have decided that our time spent at the lake this summer should be in bathing suits that we look better in that last summer. We formed the Fat to Fabulous club and we get together once a week to ridicule each other about gaining weight and snickering at each others lack of will power.

As part of my commitment to a healthy Liz in 2008 I have joined this group and so far have the biggest weight loss of the group (a whooping 3.5 lbs) and have joined Ben's BootCamp.

Let me tell you. Boot Camp? That whole "hurts so good" belief... so NOT. TRUE. I'm in agony. I can't stand up, I can't sit down. If I get into a position I can't get back out of it. I need a crane to drag my butt of the toilet. I'm jacked up on Aleve and still can barely function. Spouse finds this hysterical. He finds great amusement in making witty little comments like "Gee, you look sore" or "Moving a bit slow are we?" or "Do you need help getting up?" Jackass. Know what? I'll be going back because I refuse to have my ass kicked by some ex Marine with a rock hard body who has obviously never know what it is to be fat and out of shape.....(OK I'll give Ben a little credit, he used to be fat and out of shape and then he got tuned into the whole eat healthy and exercise kick and he never was a Marine but you get the mental image.)

So anyway. That's what's new in my life, what's up with you?

2008-02-19T18:12:00.003-05:00

I have these crazy cousins, three girls, all athletes. They really put me and my couch potato ways to shame.

Last week I got an email from the youngest of the gang who happens to be not only an athlete but one smart cookie as well. Now that she has completed her Masters in Adaptive Education she's moving on to something else challenging. A Triathalon.

I know, I know you are still remembering my plea to help out with the MS Bike A Thon but this is another cause I support wholeheartedly. I have family members who have had cancer, close family members like my Mom and my Spouse. Both are in remission and doing great but there are a whole lot of people out there that aren't so lucky and don't have forms of cancer that are as easily treatable as what my loved ones had.

When Cousin Kelly sent out an email telling us what she was up to and asking us to donate to the cause I jumped on the bandwagon sent her a check and asked her permission to pimp her and her cause on my blog, so here it is, an excerpt from what she sent to me:

On June 22, I will be racing in the Philadelphia Insurance Triathlon at Fairmont Park. That is a swim of 1.5 K, a bike of 40K, and a run of 10K. This is where you come in! No, I don't expect you to run the last 6.1 miles with me, but to donate to my cause: The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

I have an honored hero named Brooke who was diagnosed at just two years of age with ALL (Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia). She is now 16 and in remission! She loves riding horses and hanging out with her friends just like any teenager does.

I've made it easy for you to donate, just click the link below and you get to see her personal webpage where not only do you get to donate to a worthy cause but you can see what she's up to with training and you get to see a picture of all three sisters. See how cute my family is?

I'm also going to see if I can put a linky thing in my side bar to keep this up and running. If anyone knows how to make a linky button for such things (and wants to make one for me) let me know.

Support!

1-800-222-1222 (good for US Residents Only)

2008-02-17T15:43:00.000-05:00

I am an award winning Mom. I often joke about winning the Mother of the Year Award, a goal I will never reach. Yesterday was a high point of my career. I have been a Mom for 10 years. There were a few things, before I became a parent, that I knew would happen. I knew I would love my children, I knew I would end up in the ER with them at some point, I knew if my kids had my personality we'd butt heads occasionally.

Yesterday the Terrorist, who is most definably THREE, was in the bathroom. I didn't think anything of it. She'd been in and out for about an hour using the potty, testing the potty, demanding big girl panties and the like. She has reached the stage that she does not want me in there while she's bowing to the Elmo Throne. Fine.

I hear her calling for me. I'm reading blogs. She calls again. I'll be there in a second I respond. MOMMY NOW! K... off I trot to the bathroom and what do I find?

An open container of pills, pills all over the counter, the floor. A brand new prescription of fluoride tablets for Drama Queen. I demand to know if she ate any "Yes Mommy, they good, they taste like strawberries, YUMMY" I quickly find the remaining pills, count them, and pop them back into the bottle. Except, there are 45, the prescription filled 2 days ago was a three month supply ie: 90 pills. YES 43 pills missing, gone. She ate 1/2 the bottle.

I call the pharmacy, they direct me to Poison Control, GREAT, a ground breaking moment. I call, they couldn't have been nicer although there was a little bit of a silence when I explained that she had eaten 45 pills, I know they were wondering where I was while she chowed down. I explained that these luscious little treats taste like strawberry, it's out of season you know, strawberries are a real treat in these parts.

After some research, a little hold time (very minimal I assure you) a few questions about the label on the bottle, her age and her weight I was assured that the amount she had eaten was not toxic, give her a glass of milk, she might throw up. If she has muscle weakness, tremors, or violent vomiting take her to the ER immediately. WHEW.

Then they asked for my address and said they'd send me a refrigerator magnet, you know, so I don't have to look the number up in the phone book again.

Terrorist is fine, she spit up a couple times last night. Nothing I would actually consider vomit, just a little GACK. No muscle weakness, no tremors. Peachy keen she was, while her parents sat on the couch feeling like this.

I really need to watch Band of Brothers again.

2008-02-13T11:21:00.009-05:00

I have a basement. It looked like this:

This would be kid heaven, dirty, unfinished but they can basically do what they want

this would be JUNK.. some of this stuff has not been out of boxes since the 1st time we moved in 2000, I think a 'go through boxes and throw stuff out party' is in order

Then I had a magician show up and look... studs!

This is our future guest room (BF already intends to be the inaugural visitor)

This is my craft room, drool now, it's 11*10 feet of knitting, scrapping and sewing space. MINE, all MINE! I've already informed the masses that there will be a lock on this door, preferably one of those James Bond Retinal scanners muhahahahah.

Our next visitor was a plumber.... and now I have this:

That's a bathtub because BF requires her own personal bathroom when she comes and who am I to deny her? What BF want's BF gets (she's reading this right now, rolling her eyes, muttering something about hating me but really knowing that her family is the REAL reason we are finishing the basement)

then a really big truck showed up and unloaded a whole bunch of stuff in the snow and now I'm getting this:

Walls! Glorious walls!

It is nothing if not noisy in this house right now. Snow day, kids, spouse working OT and contractors but very very worth it.

Now if they'd just leave for lunch so I can go down stairs and be nosy and see what they did next!

2008-02-08T17:07:00.001-05:00

I haven't talked about this in full detail but I know I have mentioned on the blog that we are being sued by a family member. I'm not going to go into detail except to say that I have spent hours of aggravating time trying to get our former banking institution to provide copies of canceled checks to prove that this family member is certifiably insane and doesn't know what the hell she's talking about. You would think this task would be easy, we live in the age of computers. Hit a button print some check copies. If I still had access to my online account I could do it. I started this in OCTOBER, I still do not have all the documentation I need nor am I getting service from our former bank. My buddy Joe doesn't know how to deal with the public and the fact that he can not return a single flipping phone call without me practically going postal is proof that he should not hold a job where he works with the public. He promised he'd call with an update today, he didn't, I called him, they REFUSED to put me on the phone with him and insisted he'd call back. He didn't. He has my email address so he wouldn't even have to talk to me if he'd simply send an email and let me know what's up.

The last email he sent me? Really, the ONLY email he's ever sent me because he doesn't know how to FOLLOW UP on anything.

Here's an excerpt:

I’ve informed them that u spoke with me and we’re going to work it out between you and our branch to see how much of the tap we’re going to pick up.

Do you see it? Can you find ONE thing that is so flagrantly wrong with this email. This email that is supposedly from a PROFESSIONAL dealing with a CUSTOMER regarding a LEGAL matter?

I am not the most proficient writer. In fact, I had a bookcase full of books on how to write professional letters in my office when I worked as a manager so u know...I wouldn't do something stupid and unprofessional when I wrote u a business letter or email.

I'm going to have a glass of wine and try to calm down.

2008-02-06T08:46:00.000-05:00

Happy Birthday Terrorist

I know, right now you are thinking "Didn't we just wish one of her kids Happy Birthday yesterday?" and the answer would be Yes you did. I'm nothing if not consistant and although my children are 7 years apart I some how managed to have them one day apart. If I had worked on it I could have had them the same day but I'll deny that my water actually broke the day before but wanting to make sure DQ didn't have to share her birthday I ignored it.

The Terrorist lives up to her name, she's into everything, takes her life into her own hands on a daily basis and is a funny, funny kid.

Happy 3rd Birthday sweetie!

February 6th 2005 I got this:

February 5th 2008 I got this:

Happy Birthday to both my girls.

In case you were wondering when I asked the Terrorist what she wanted for her birthday dinner the answer was "Cheese Doodles"

2008-02-05T08:49:00.001-05:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DQ!

Today is DQ's birthday, it is the BIG 10, double digits, one year closer to being a teenager.

She's taking brownies that she baked to school, she's getting taco's for dinner and she gets her favorite ice cream cake.

She's beautiful, talented and can be uber sweet when she wants to be.

Apparently she's just like me when I was her age. I'm not sure why my mother let me live.

Picture's later :)

2008-02-03T14:08:00.000-05:00

It's Super Bowl Sunday. Might as well be a National Holiday around here considering the Giants (spouse and BF's favorite team and our former hometown boys) are playing the Patriots (yea, whatever, but we do live in New England now so I guess there should be some "Go Pats" pride)

We decided to host a party. You know the drill: junk food, beer, people screaming at the TV, kids running amok.

We also decided to keep it small, it is after all a school night.

My phone has been ringing off the hook with the infamous "What should I bring" question.

Spouse obviously forgot the 'keep it small' part of the plan and has told everyone we have ever met about our small party and people have turned down other offers to come here.

Now I'm prepping fried chicken, making munchies and trying to clean my bedroom for clear access to our master bath, scrubbing toilets, vacuuming, dusting, cleaning fingerprints off the TV, making a list of last minute things needed at the store and, and, and...

Have a great Sunday!

GO GIANTS!!!

2008-02-02T12:27:00.000-05:00

I pretty confident that most of my whole 5 commenters out there are the laundry doers in their house.

A question, followed by an evil plot.

Do you have a front loading high efficiency machine? If so do you only use HE detergents? If not how much regular detergent do you use in your machine? OK so that's really three questions but I'm sick of being stuck using HE detergents. My grocery store has stopped carrying the brand I use so I bought another brand but I'm not happy with it. I am allergic to the main producer of HE detergents (Tide) so I'm kind of stuck. I've heard rumor that you can use 1-2 TBSP of regular detergent rather than using HE detergents but don't actually know anyone who does this and of course the HE people put the fear of God into you about destroying your machine if you don't use their recommended products. Marketing? or true threat?

Evil Plot: I told DQ to get her laundry together and put it in the laundry room for me to wash, she did, leaving a pair of pants so foul they followed me down the hall and begged me to wash them in her room. I put them out of their misery by washing them. Of course the reason these foul things were not in the hamper was she was planning on wearing them AGAIN.. (GAACK!) She ranted. She raved. How dare I do her wash! This is inconvenient! I'm out to ruin her life! And then she said it. "I'll just DO. IT. MYSELF. How hard can it be?!?"

So should I boycott doing her laundry or what?

2008-02-01T15:58:00.001-05:00

Playgroup

My House

5 Moms

10 Kids

9am arrival

2:30 departure

I just got done putting the house back together

I'm going to bed

2008-01-29T14:38:00.000-05:00

I went to Walmart today, for many of you a trip to a store such as Walmart may not be a big deal, a bi-weekly trip, a I just ran out to trash bags I'm going to go to Walmart trip but up here in the wilds of Northern Vermont our closest Walmart is in Littleton New Hampshire an 1-1/4 hour drive, each way. This is a monthly trip, if that often.

Anyway, I have 6, yes SIX, functions in the next 10 days or so. 3 Baby Showers and 3 Birthdays (2 of which are my kids) so a trip to Wally World was warranted. Of course once there I'm like a kid in a candy store. OH I have to have that (economy pack of Rubbermaid food storage containers) hmmm, mega box of Goldfish crackers, come to Mama.

The Memorex OptiFix pro * was NOT on my list, I had heard of this thing and you would think that with the number of scratched DVD's in this house I would have hurdled Mt. Rushmore to get one. No, I just watched the first15 minutes of Cars over and over and over and over and over because that is where the scratch resets itself and Terrorist will not let me SHUT IT OFF and I haven't seen the ending of Shrek 2 in months because the disc just stops in it's tracks.

For $17.88 I am the proud owner of this thing and given the price of DVD's I figured if it fixed 2 scratched discs it was worth it. I've 'repaired' and 'cleaned' both Cars and Shrek 2 according to their instructions (a whooping 3 minutes per disc to complete this process) and VOILA Cars is in right now and spinning happily away and although no one is in there watching it, it hasn't jumped stuttered or gone back to the beginning. I'll reserve judgement on Shrek 2 for when we watch it but I'm sharing all of this with you because I know I have several Mom readers. Moms of toddlers who probably have scratched DVD's just like me (unless you are my friend Lisa who shot me a dirty look when I bought this thing and said " You let your kids touch the DVD's? mine are only allowed to touch the cases" insert big wet raspberry here LISA, my kids are smarter than your kids and know how to OPEN the cases) and this thing also repairs CD's Gamecube, XBox and Playstation games and it WORKS. They even give you enough fluid for repairs and cleaning to do 15-20 repairs and 25-30 cleans and you can buy refill pads and fluid, go figure!

I'm off to find every scratched and dirty DVD in this house and clean away.

*I'm not being paid by Memorex for this endorsement I and a sound believer that most of this kind of stuff doesn't work and never fall for it but I was weak, I was in Walmart and now I must tell the truth.

**seriously, this is a joke, I love Lisa and in no way am I implying that my kids are smarter than her kids

2008-01-28T15:11:00.000-05:00

A Romance

I figured since I'd lured you in to my ring saga I might as well share where it all began.

Back in the day (roughly 1987) I was and EMT on the local first aid squad
Back in the day (same time frame) my now spouse was a member of the local fire dept.

One day there was a fire at a local farm. Him being the manly man fireman was valiantly trying to save the burning structure while I the fearless EMT was sitting back watching all the pretty colors as the barn burned.

As I was sitting back cooling my heels a cry went out of "Man Down!" Jumping into action I ran across the muddy field lugging all my gear to find this manly man sitting in a puddle of mud, leg stuck in a hole. He refused to be treated. Would not go to the hospital. His chief decided other wise. He was not going down without a fight. It became a test of wills. I won when I told him "Get your fat ass on that stretcher" I believe he was smitten from the beginning.

Move forward several weeks and our Squad was out collecting money to support ourselves (we were a fully volunteer organization and relied solely on the support of the residents of our town) I rang a doorbell and lo and behold who answered the door but Mister Belligerent Fireman himself. Sporting a fine set of crutches and a beer (flip top Grolsh if you must know) he invited me in, offered me a beer (lets not discuss my underage status) and wrote me a very nice check for my efforts (never did apologize for being a pain in the ass patient)

We became friends. At first only seeing each other at fire dept and first aid squad functions but eventually exchanging phone number and chatting from time to time.

Eventually I became engaged to someone else, he had a girlfriend and we kind of lost touch never truly off each others radar but not really on it either.

Move forward to 1992, I'd completely lost track of him and after leaving several unreturned messages on his phone finally called a mutual friend and asked where he was. "Um, in the hospital with a staph infection, you know, from the chemo?"

"WHAT?"

I know he really finally realized he loved me when I called him in the hospital and said " You are a fucking asshole for not telling me you had CANCER" and then hanging up. Really, it was love at first verbal abuse.

Same scenario, kept in touch, drifted apart. My engagement ended (before the wedding thank you very much!) and we ending up getting back in touch. We became each others safety date. You know the one, nothing better going on but have a function that requires a DATE, we'd call each other and always had fun.

He asked me out a few times. "Hey, wanna be my girlfriend?" (he's nothing if not romantic and verbose) I always graciously declined. "Who wants to ruin a perfectly good friendship with dating?" I'd reply.

Moving forward yet again (1995) we were each others safety dates to a wedding both of us had been invited to. He was in the wedding party, I an invited guest. After copious amounts of alcohol being consumed he got down on his knees in the middle of the dance floor and begged me to got with him. In my embarrassed drunken stupor I said "If you'll leave me alone I'll go out with you!"

At this point I lived in Northern NJ and he still lived in Central NJ where we had first met. A lot of traveling back and forth ensued.

One weekend, 5 months into our dating relationship, he insisted I come down to Freehold instead of him driving up to Wayne. I drove down after work, battling rush hour traffic, trying to make it there in time for dinner. I got to his condo and he wasn't home. I waited, slightly pissed off. I waited some more, getting really pissed off. I called our friend Brian, he hasn't seen Spouse all day, I call Eric, same answer. I waited some more. Now I was MAD. He strolls in the door. "Where have you been?" " I've been waiting for hours" and what does he tell me? "I was over at Brian's watching Eric work on some landscaping" He insists we leave for dinner. I'm so mad I'm not talking to him, he lied to me. I called Brian, I called Eric, neither of them had seen him all day and here he was telling me he was with them? What the F?

We ate dinner in silence, I refused to talk to him. I had my Irish up in a major uproar and I was not going to crack until he admitted he lied to me and told me where he was!

We leave the restaurant and start to walk down Main St. because Mr. Sweet Tooth just has to have ice cream. As we are walking down the street he grabs his knee and insists he has to sit down, his knee hurts so we walk over to the steps of the library where I turn to sit down, as I turn I look and see him on one knee. "OH SHIT" I say (because I'm all kinds of eloquent) and he proposed right then and there. To a girl who had not spoken to him in at least two hours, because he was late getting home, because he was trapped at her fathers house because her father was messing with him and wouldn't give him an answer when he asked for her hand in marriage. And the friends? They knew exactly what he was up to and figured it was easier to deny seeing him than risk admitting what he was up to, even though he had been at Brian's watching Eric landscape, killing time, waiting for my Dad to get home...

11 years later we were married and I still love him :)

2008-01-27T11:02:00.000-05:00

Last night was ladies night out. Roughly 10 of us went to the nicest restaurant in the area, dined, then instead of doing what old married ladies with kids should do (go home) we went to a new bar in town.

AHEM.

The following exchange took place:

Boy Hitting on group of Married Ladies: "Soooo, what did you ladies do all day today"
Friend M "I changed shitty diapers, what did you do today?"
Boy Hitting on group of Married Ladies: "WOW! So you are a real live MILF"
Friend M "What's that?"

It was all down hill from there.

I can tell you that I left the bar with approximately 4 boys earnestly believing I was 29. Beer Goggles are good!

2008-01-25T09:27:00.001-05:00

Many moons ago, roughly 12 years ago, Spouse proposed. It was very romantic, actually quite funny, maybe I'll tell you about it sometime considering I was so furious with him that I hadn't talked to him all through dinner yet he proposed anyway, but I digress.

He proposed, I accepted. The ring? A simple solitaire, in a very plain, very slim gold solitaire setting. After I said yes he insisted we go to a jeweler and have the stone reset in the setting of my choice. I cried foul! This is the ring you gave me and this is the ring I shall wear.

That ring has lasted for 12 years. It lasted until this week. I was doing my wifely duties (get your mind out of the gutter, I was putting away laundry) when I caught my hand on the wire shelving in the linen closet. I don't know what made me look down at my hand but there it was. My lovely plain jane setting WITHOUT the diamond. CRAP! (ok, you got me, I didn't say crap, I do believe I muttered the F-Bomb) I screamed (shrieked is more like it) for Spouse to come assist. I hadn't heard anything hit the floor so I knew it was in the depths of the closet somewhere. We found it, luckily, as stupid us.. that damn ring is not on our insurance policy...

Anyway, this is where you come in.... I get to pick a new setting, I mean why not right? It was promised to me and this is a sign that I deserve a new setting, right?

AND it was Spouse's idea that I get a new setting so I might as well run with it!

So what do you think?

Exhibit A: Plain 6 prong, wider band than I have now but other than that basically the exact same setting but not in yellow gold.

Exhibit B: Basically the same as A but 4 prong and not as high of a setting

Exhibit C: This one has the same details (the lines on the sides) as the anniversary ring I got for our 10th Anniversary not that I'll be wearing them on the same hand but I kind of like that it matches.

What do you think?

Oh, and do I get a matching wedding band while I'm at it? You know? Cause I could....

Tag... please don't hide :)

2008-01-24T20:51:00.000-05:00

I got tagged from my new blogger friend Heather and figured I'd play along. It's easier than that 50 things I've been trying to put together! Heather and I have a lot in common and I like her so play nice and participate! Unless you really don't want to and then I promise I'll forgive you.

Four things

Four jobs I've had in my life:

1. TPA (Third Party Administrator for an insurance co.)

2. Customer Service rep

3.Accounts Receivable Manager (for business, no it was not me who called your house!)

4.Waitress

Four places I have lived:

1. Cuddebackville, NY (No I did not misspell that)

2. Wayne, NJ (college WAHOO)

3. Freehold, NJ (BRRRUUUCCCEEE!!) that's Springsteen if you aren't from Joisey

4. Vermont!

Four places I have been on vacation:

1. Australia (Amazing, Amazing, Amazing, would sooo go back!)

2. New Zealand (pretty cool, more sheep than people and I'm sure I'd do that trip differently now that I'm a knitter)

3. Colorado (No Pain No Jane!, ski that black diamond baby)

4. Nova Scotia, Canada (Bay of Fundy is cool!)

Four of my favorite foods:
1. Pizza

2. Lasagna

3. Roast Chicken

4. Chocolate

Four places I would rather be right now:

1. CT snuggling with BF's baby

2. Las Vegas, partying like it's 1999

3. Cruise ship, anywhere is good, just take me away please

4. sleeping, sleep would be good.

Four friends or relatives I think may respond:

1. BF

2. Michele

3. Andi

4. Kristina

2008-01-22T13:33:00.000-05:00

Damn...

A couple weeks ago Spouse and I applied for a loan, a big one, to refinance our mortgage and spend a hefty penny on finishing our basement which is currently a black hole of cement and insulation.

We locked our rate, it was a good rate, a lower rate than our mortgage and we were happy.

We close tomorrow.

The Fed just dropped rates another 3/4...

Damn us and our conservative ways. We'd be paying less right now if we were gamblers.

2008-01-21T10:34:00.000-05:00

Today was supposed to be a big day for me. My first baseline mammogram. 12:30 today I was supposed to have my boobs squished. I was kind of looking forward to it. I was supposed to have my baseline done at 35 since both my Mom and one of her sisters were diagnosed with breast cancer in the same week (weird huh?) but I went out and had a baby so at 35 I was nursing. At 36 I was still nursing, at 37, we'll just say that I was busy (Not sure I want to admit that I was still working on the whole weaning thing) . I'm still technically 37 but not for long and upon appearing at my annual gyno exam I was humbled (in a nice way) and the appointment was scheduled.

Alas, in my usual organized fashion I did not line up childcare. Nor did I remember that there was no school today. Nor did I think of this when I told DQ she could have a friend sleepover so I have a house full of kids and no babysitter.

I promise I'll reschedule it tomorrow.

2008-01-20T08:44:00.001-05:00

It's going to be a long day here at Casa K. Last night was ladies night out. WHOOT! 6 of us headed up to Sherbrooke, Quebec for Thai food. Thai food in Quebec is a challenge if you don't know diddly about Thai food and go to a restaurant that does not have English menu's or servers who speak English. God Bless Julie, the organizer of this event, who is fluent in French and patiently answered the questions of the rest of us. Let's just say that we didn't get back into the US until after midnight, I didn't go to sleep until after 1am, spouse had to be up and out the door by 6:30 and Mommy is TIRED...I think I may be napping today. What are the chances that the stars will aline, harmony will prevail and my kids will let that happen

great, the Terrorist just came and poked me in the leg with a knitting needle. The one I just used to cast on for a new project. It's going to be a long day.

2008-01-19T10:34:00.000-05:00

Busted!

Spouse found me. He knows I blog but I guess I never realized that he didn't know about MY BLOG.. you know, this one right here, where I said THAT..yeah

Crap!

Delete, delete, delete, edit, edit, edit

OK, honey, come on in.... read away.

This post? What? HUH? No I never said anything about your Mom in public.

I'm just typing this to see if you comment on it, really, to see if you are on your toes and if you are reading my blog

Love ya!

2008-01-17T22:19:00.001-05:00

Look I knit!

Lace Beanie from 101 Designer one skein Wonders. This picture really isn't doing this justice. I really need a fake head to put this stuff on. I can assure you that I get lots of compliments on this hat when I wear it. My first finger weight project and my first foray into alpaca. YUMMY!

Then I did this
Elizabeth's Perfect Hat also from 101 Designer one skein Wonders. Gifted to DQ, just because, who wore it to school once and whose only comment was "Don't ask me what the kids in my class thought, but my teacher liked it"

After gifting an unappreciated NORO hat to my daughter I decided to knit one for myself and did this
Check me out, self portrait, almost in the frame, double chin not noticeable wearing my new specs. I look soooo cool (humor me K?)

Wait til you see the top of this hat

SO COOL! An the best part? Free pattern on line. It's called the Noro Spiral One Skein Hat Her directions are wordy but even I figured them out and this was a really quick knit. Cast on last night. Finished tonight. Ta Dah!

Now I would like to introduce you to my model of the first couple of hats:

See, told you I needed a foam head or something, that would be a ceramic mixing bowl perched on top of a roll of paper towels.

All this hat knitting is prepping me for my new challenge.

I'm playing Hat Attack. muahahahah. You get a pattern (advanced beginner) cast on and knit like a mad person, as soon as you are done you send your completed hat to your victim (they are now assassinated) your victim must now send you their uncompleted hat and their targets info and you finish that one and mail it off. Another one bites the dust. All this is going on while someone is knitting you a hat and once you get it you are dead so the fastest knitter wins and everyone gets a hat, knit by who knows how many assassins.

I just had to do it, I need a little spice in my life and this is just harmless enough but with just enough blood and guts to keep me happy. Sign ups still open I think until the end of this month, the pattern and details and initial assassins and targets are being sent early February.

Wanna Play?

2008-01-16T16:31:00.001-05:00

Video as promised!

Sorry it's sideways, for the life of me I can't figure out how to 'flip it'

2008-01-15T08:50:00.000-05:00

I've got video footage of the Terrorist's 1st snow shoeing attempt. However blogger is not letting it upload...damn.

On another note I downloaded sitemeter and can now track all the crazy people finding my site.

So far no one has found me by putting in perverted searches but I did come up under "red head in Staples commercial" hmmmm...

2008-01-11T14:58:00.000-05:00

Jack the Dog has a girlfriend. Look how handsome, he should have some puppy love.

They met about a month ago. A cute shepard mix dog started visiting the yard. (I'm making my lineage statement based solely on looks) She'd sniff around. Leave a present and then wander off. I was rather annoyed by the present, not to mention the fact that her owner was no where to be seen.

The next time I saw her I decided to let Jack out. He's rather territorial and usually keeps all living things off his turf (expect humans, he is a lab after all) and he chased her but she didn't really leave. She'd sit right on the edge of the property and taunt him, she wouldn't come into the yard and he wouldn't leave it.

This look but don't touch love affair continued for a couple of days when Jack obviously decided that she was OK and invited her into the yard.

He's now OBSESSED with her. He sits in the yard and howls for her. He yipes. (he's such a nerd) he bays, he barks and she comes running. She was missing for about 4 days. Jack was DEPRESSED.

She is now here every day. We have figured out that she is owned by newer neighbors of ours about 1/4 of a mile away and they have learned to come here first when she's AWOL.

Her latest tactic is to plant her sweet little fanny on my porch until Jack realizes she's there and goes ape shit to get outside then she turns around and presents her feminine *ahem* parts for his amusement. Jack the Dog is not fixed. I think I could be a Grandma soon.

Here's the problem. In my minds eye I see puppies, really cute puppies. Puppies of my dog whom I love. Puppies that I envision will look like this

but with long hair and floppier ears, because the Girlfriend is long haired and has really expressive floppy ears. I want one!

Is it wrong that I'm not breaking up the doggie style frolic that is happening daily because I want a puppy?

2008-01-09T16:16:00.000-05:00

I'm a STACKER

Do you understand what I'm saying here? I can only hope it's not hereditary because if it is I could be in trouble when the girls get older.

I want to state for the record that these are only snipets of my house. The entire place does not look like this. These are the nooks and crannies of my life so don't judge me to harshly K?

This picture is a slight misrepresentation since a lot of this is Christmas shopping prior to the wrapping nightmare but still. That's the foot of my bed. UGH! Upon closer inspection I'm also noticing the laundry all over the bed. sigh....

Can you say HIDDEN KNITTING? cleverly disguised in Price Chopper and Walmart bags as to not give away it's true identity

My dresser...aka Books to be read pile, I made it through two of those since taking this picture. Not bad

This stack of crap was destined for the basement. Look I even put it in a laundry hamper to make it easier to carry. If memory serves it sat there for over a week.

Minor pile, also destined for the basement

I just looked at Drama Queen's room. I am definitely doomed.

I may be motivated to actually clean up this crap at some point since I may have a guest over the summer. Notice the cool button to the right? I even gave her top billing.

I'll admit that Jack the Dog and I are a little depressed to learn that she'll be traveling solo. I'd really love to have her and her dog.

The First Dance

2008-01-05T07:41:00.000-05:00

Drama Queen went to her first dance last night. I had been thinking about it all day. This was the first time she had gone somewhere with friends, alone. Yes there was supervision at the dance but unknown supervision, people I didn't know. The dance was at the local municipal building, sponsored by the local recreation department and was something I knew nothing about except cost, date, and time. I let her go.

I was on pick up detail so I went a little early to be nosy. Dim lights, disco balls, flashing lights, blasting music from the DJ and lots of kids swaying to the music. Some kids were sitting in chairs off to the side or milling around but I was surprised at the number of boy/girl couples on the dance floor. This was a dance for 4th-6th grade. Do they boy/girl dance at that age now? I had expected a lot of kids running around and general mayhem. Not actual dancing.

I was promptly spotted hovering in the doorway and approached by DQ and friend who kindly let me know that the dance wasn't over for another 10 minutes and could I kindly wait in the car. (Damn they grow up fast!)

On the way home talk was of boyfriends, girlfriends, who danced with who, who refused to dance with who, who's boyfriend didn't show up. One girl (a 4th grader) moped all night because her "boyfriend" didn't show up and refused to dance with anyone else because if he did show up and 'caught' her with another 'man' he'd be pissed. (Ummm, I really don't remember such turmoil until the summer before I started high school how about you?)

Once we dropped of DQ's friend talk turned a little more serious. DQ was confused that no one danced with her and thought it would have been easier if she had taken a boy with her. She didn't use the term date, just wanted a dedicated male dance partner for the slow songs. Apparently the two girls had spent a good portion of the night trying to get boys to dance with girls. Not asking boys to actually dance with them but acting as a go between for other girls.

I had a tough time handling the conversation. It was obvious she wanted to talk but I wasn't sure how to handle the conversation. The protective Mom wanted to tell her she was to young to worry about this and blow it off. Do not worry about boys, they don't matter I wanted to say. But the other Mom, the one who wants her child to open up and talk about what's on her mind realized this was a major milestone and conversation that could set the tone of our future relationship.

We talked for quite a while, actually standing in the garage after we got home (can't let Dad in on the boy talk now can we?)

She wanted to know if I had a date for dances I went to. I told her not until high school and even then the boys I went with were friends, not 'boyfriends' and that even today, when Spouse and I go to functions that a lot of the time it's all the girls out on the dance floor dancing together. It doesn't have to be boy/girl. (can you imagine the sweat/terror/uncertainty this conversation was causing in me?)

I asked her if she really cared about boys. I asked if she was confused by the talk and actions of some of the other kids. She didn't (care about boys) and she was (confused by the talk and actions of some of the kids)

I think we finally ended with an understanding that it was OK to not be interested in boys at her age. That being friends is fine but that titles such as boyfriend and girlfriend and the emotions that go with those titles were better off left alone at this point.

This morning she said she had a good time last night, wants to go again, and wants to ask Jeffery if he'll go with her. You know, just as friends.

Lord Help Me.

2008-01-04T16:22:00.000-05:00

JACKASS..

So apparently my heating issues were here only to make me feel like a psycho homeowner. My builder shows up, walks in the door and WHRRRRR... the furnace kicks on. He assures me he doesn't think I'm crazy but I can see it in his eyes. I'm "that homeowner" that crazy lunatic who doesn't know her ass from her elbow and is making stuff up just to make his life miserable.

Well the heating guy came, took everything apart, checked all the parts and tinkered.

The final diagnosis?

It's dirty, the furnace is very, very dirty and this homeowner failed Furnace 101 by not scheduling a furnace cleaning this year.

I use the term "this homeowner" loosely since I do subscribe, ever so slightly, to the belief that the MAN should do a couple of things. These few things would be: shovel snow, turn over the gardens in the spring, and schedule the furnace cleaning and the septic pumping.

They are fitting me in next week, because yes "this" homeowner picked up the phone and scheduled the appointment.

** UPDATE**

ha! I'm not crazy. My furnace guy just left, he replaced parts! Now if you have to replace parts and it's not because they were dirty either, they were malfunctioning parts! I'm NOT crazy!

2008-01-04T13:41:00.000-05:00

It's cold.

DUH! you say, you live in Northern Vermont.

It was -25 last night when I went to bed, that's without windchill.

It's now 24, a veritable heat wave yet I am COLD.

Wanna know why? Because I don't have heat! Because the furnace is messed up AGAIN!

Last year, after the furnace battles (ever see A Christmas Story? where the father goes downstairs and battles the furnace, picture that) we learned, after shelling out a pretty penny for emergency calls on a SUNDAY, that the furnace was installed wrong. That was corrected(supposedly). Well it's not running again. So I called Spouse and work, just to let him know that I was cold and annoyed, not a good combination when he's working overtime and then called the builder to let him know that if I didn't hear back from him within an hour that I was calling the furnace people and having the bill sent directly to him.

At least this didn't happen yesterday when it was really COLD.

Off to load wood into the stove.. thank goodness for that!

2008-01-03T09:47:00.000-05:00

Arrival time: 12/20/07 2:30pm
Departure time: 1/3/08 9:42 am

My house is again my own.

2008-01-02T08:51:00.002-05:00

The One Where the Raveler does not use Ravelry

I love Ravelry and have fun reading posts in groups, oogling projects, checking out yarns and causing general mischief. I have not however quite managed to get all of my stuff organized into all their neat little areas.

To this end I have a binder packed full of patterns I've printed off the internet. It's well organized, I even have little dividers labeling the sections and the binder is FULL, I can not possibly fit another thing in it. (I've even put all the patterns in page protectors so when I take them out they don't get mussed)

Then I have the stack of books and the basket of magazines and catalogs. In all of these publications I know there are things I want to knit but ask me to remember what it was I saw where and when I can't tell you so if I want to knit 'those wrist warmers' you can imagine the time it takes to actually find 'that pattern'

Then I have my computer. That resource is another mine field. I finally actually made a folder in My Documents labeled Knitting Patterns. I predict that if I went through Knitting Patterns and the Binder I would discover almost everything is duplicated. I print the pattern because a bird in the hand....then I save it on the computer because what if I loose the binder. It really is a sickness.

So here is a sprinkling of my saved items:

Let's not pass judgment here people. This is cathartic and hopefully the first step to me actually using Ravelry to it's full potential

Felted Diaper Bag Let us all realize that I do not crochet. Why do I have a printed and online copy of this pattern?

Fairytale Princess Dress This one might happen, upon checking the archives I don't think I printed it but I'm pretty sure I emailed it to BF so I'd have a backup, she enables me you know. She doesn't knit but she is cloth diapering so I see woolly undies in my future, anyone know of a good pattern? I can't find one I like.

Retro Throw EWW?

Wavy Scarf Again, saved and printed and when checking stash for some reason I have two skeins of Cascade 220 in HOT PINK...for the life of me I can't remember why I bought that yarn. Could it be this scarf?

Norwegian Star Earflap Hat This one at least I understand having printed, filed, sitting in my Knitting Patterns folder AND printed again. Obviously I have decided that a little two color knitting is in my future. This would probably go along with the "Knitting Fearlessly" email I got from Knitting Daily today.

Leif's Twisted Tree Pullover Just found this one, again saved in the computer and printed look how cute this kid is. I think I like the pattern but it's the curls this kid is sporting that really gets me.

Whew.. Ok that was painless. OK, OK I'll admit that there at at least 50 more patterns I didn't share but how long did you want to be here really? I didn't even touch that "Word Document" section where I found patterns and cut and pasted the nasty bits into a Word Document and then saved it but without a picture so I don't have a clue as to exactly it was I was after when I saved it.

Perhaps I should pull out all the books, the binder, the magazines and open that folder in my computer and really use Ravelry to it's full potential.

Of course cataloging my stash online won't help with the frenzy of insanity that went on here last night when I decided to knit "that hat" with "that yarn" since none of my stuff is hidden in the same spot.

that my friends is a whole other post.

Christmas Review

2008-01-01T08:10:00.000-05:00

Hang in...there are pictures at the end!

I can see that the MIL issue is a sensitive one. I think that post generated the most comments I've ever had on a post! I thank you all for some much needed support!

I've decided to make a New Year's Resolution, this is something I don't do. I mean why make all these promises you aren't going to keep simply because the date on your checks changed. I'm sure everyone has good intentions, as do I, however it's simply unrealistic to think that silly date is going to force you to turn over a new leaf. So while all of you are resolving to eat better, quit smoking, go to the gym, save money I'm going to post right here for the whole world to see that I, TransplantedKnitter, am going to stop complaining about my Mother In Law. That's right folks. the woman is not all evil, she really is well intended and does love me and my family. So there. I've said it and it's up to you to keep me on track so if I say something negative or nasty here please call me out and remind me of my resolution. I'm sure I'll slip, if resolutions were easy we'd all be filthy rich, healthy and skinny. There. I feel better.

Thanks to BF who gave me a little verbal 'bitch slap' for being mean, she didn't come right out and say anything but she made me realize that my post was leaning towards the nasty and she's right and although I should be able to vent my frustrations perhaps I could just type them and not actually POST them...

On to 2008!

Here is my holiday in photographic review!

Here we are going to church, our greeters for the day were some donkey's. How fun is that!?!

Once we made it past the donkey's the kids participated in a little Christmas show. I'm down front directing. That would mean constantly making hand signals to SING LOUDER. These kids worked so hard on this little production it was really cute. Terrorist is in the front row in the red dress. Drama Queen is on the far right top row wearing the red sweater.

It's a good thing I put a limit on gifts this year because this is what it looked like Christmas morning and that's with Mommy strictly enforcing the "no more than 4 presents per kid" rule. Yeap, I was one tough cookie and some people who failed to follow this rule had to leave presents in the trunk of their car to be opened at another time.
Here's the bro's hat. The only picture taken of Christmas knitting he loved it and agreed that it definitely needed the tassel at the end!
Queen Mum was gifted this scarf (it was finished I promise) she loved it and it matched a turtle neck the Bro gave her so she felt very stylish and pulled together in her new outfit.

At the end of the day we ended up with this. Can you see it? That would be the Terrorist passed out cold at the end of the hall in the doorway of her room. Just a little to much Party for her to handle.

It was a great holiday, family, food, presents and general fun was had by all. Now if I had only remembered to take pictures while Bro and I were skiing. It's really a dangerous sport since we tend to turn it into full contact racing at some point. My Dad actually placed a bet with us on who would come back injured. We both made it home in one piece but I will rat out Bro and tell you all that at one point he shouted "Stay Left on the Trail" and promptly disappeared. I came around the bend and wondered where the hell he went. Stay Left indeed. Then I notice one lone ski in the middle of the run. HMMM.. what could this mean. Then I noticed the body laying off to the side down a little slope in the tree's. Found him. pahahahah... YARD SALE.. 1 point Self, 0 points Bro.

I didn't rat him out to Dad though and he still walked away with his $1. Dad is nothing if not a big gambler :)

2007-12-25T07:12:00.000-05:00

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

The kids have been up since 6am. Daddy doesn't get home from work until 8am. Attempting to keep them out from under the tree has been time consuming to say the least.

45 more minutes til gift opening. WHEW!

2007-12-19T11:17:00.000-05:00

Dear Friends,

Yes, you. The one's who call and say "Can you watch my kids for a little while" "Can you pick up so-so after school?" " Can I drop off my kid at your house to catch the bus since there is a delayed opening?" "Can you feed my dog?" To all of you I say YES! of course, I'm a SAHM and proud of it and I will do whatever it is I can to you assist you in your daily lives, really, it's no problem.

But, could one of you step up to bat and take my kid for just a couple hours so I can go do my MASSIVE food shopping I must do to feed the gang for the next week? PLEASE???

Do you not understand that when I took her to the food store last week the entire front end cheered when we left? I kid you not. Even the bagger made a comment about how horribly The Terrorist can scream. HELP ME!

She refuses to stay in the cart, I refuse to let her out (she runs away if I do, really, and she's FAST) . She DOES NOT LISTEN.. she is 2...

I'm sure there is plenty of advise to be had about forcing her to behave but I'm just not up to it. I want to go food shopping ALONE..

and I want to GO NOW..

So friends... how about a little payback?

2007-12-18T13:51:00.001-05:00

Spouse and I are cleaning the living room. This requires re-arranging, moving rugs, furniture, you get the picture. All in prep for Christmas. He found my yarn stash... the bags of stuff hidden behind his chair. He knew it was there. But he moved the chair, it fell over and he realized the exact VOLUME of stuff hidden there. So I got questioned. What's this for? What's that for? I had potential projects for each thing he found YEAH ME! (OK, some of it I made up on the fly, I am nothing if not an accomplished LIAR) Then he questioned a started sweater that he hadn't seen me working on:

Me: That's for Clink's baby but I need to rip it out and do it over, I don't like the gauge I'm getting.

Him: You know, you'd get a lot more knitting done if you'd stop taking it apart all the time.

Captain Obvious is his new name.

Contest!

2007-12-18T10:30:00.001-05:00

Check out what you can win! It's a sling and while I'm well past the sling stage BF is just entering it so I'm doing a little public service and telling the rest of you about it while entering the contest myself! I know a couple of you (Patty!) could definitely use this handy dandy thing

Winna'

2007-12-16T15:41:00.000-05:00

We have a winner!

Drum Roll Please....

Kristina over at Yarnsticks come on down.....

Now what to gift! I'm going to stalk her on Ravelry to figure it out :)

P.S. the massive snow storm is not all it's cracked up to be. Maybe 8 inches? I know they are promising it'll come back but they reduced our snow totals to a mere foot. Bah Humbug! Although at this rate no snow day tomorrow and Spouse is off work! Momma's vacation day is around the corner!

All Christmas decorations have been hauled out of the basement, the tree is up and decorated. The Terrorist has managed to get the play Santa Train stuck in her hair which required surgical removal, break a couple very old ornaments and fall off the step stool. Drama Queen was sufficiently snotty to make me have to give her a verbal bitch slap (and I did it without raising my voice which I think scared the crap out of her) Now everyone is comatose in the living room with hot chocolate and the movie Spirit. 3 hours 15 minutes til bed time....

2007-12-16T08:36:00.000-05:00

The pressure of the 100th post has overwhelmed me. Should it be funny? Insightful? Educational? I've had a million thoughts running through my mind and finally decided I should sit down and see what happens. Today has the potential of being a very llloooonnnngggg day. It's snowing. A LOT. It is not supposed to stop and we are expected to get about 2 feet by the time all is said and done. This on top of the over 3 feet sitting on the ground means that unless Mommy gets outside and does a little prep work the Terrorist will not be able to play outside since the snow happens to be deeper than she is tall. A tough bunch of luck if you ask me.

I'm getting stuck in my usual holiday rut and I'm really wondering why each year I insist it's not going to happen. Each year I have a game plan, I start thinking about it well in advance. Because I have so much time I have this wonderful list of things to accomplish and so much time to do it that I get this false sense of security. It's crunch time people and the tree is not up, the holiday baking is not done, the house is not clean, the holiday knitting is not complete and I have people starting to arrive this week. By Saturday there will be 4 additional people in this house. I know some of you are thinking that 4 extra people isn't to much but these 4 include my MIL (she can be slightly difficult to swallow) Queen Mum (the peace keeper) my Father (cranky pants) and my brother (party boy) What is coming down the pike is my MIL pissing off my Father and him being unable to control his temper due to medication he is on. He'll tell her off (he has the knack of saying exactly what I'm thinking but not willing to say as she is, after all, my Spouse's mother). Queen Mum will be the epitome of helpfulness and cheerfulness and prevent me from loosing my cool with Drama Queen to often and will listen to me vent about MIL. My brother will swig back beer and other beverages of choice which will stress out Queen Mum and make me spend considerable time telling her to lay off, he's a adult and we can't control his drinking. Good Times. The saving grace is that all but my brother are staying at the local Super 8 (big sigh of relief!)

Remind me to share my little jaunt into the mental health medication aisle sometime. I'm feeling that way again (although not nearly as severe) but I'm wondering if I just stopped by my new Dr's office and said 'Drug Me!' if he'd so it...I've heard rumor of Dr's that do this but have yet to have one myself and the thought of a little pill to make Mommy feel better is oh so tempting.

Now since no one will leave me alone for 5 flippin' minutes I'm going to have to log off. I'll read my 100th post emails and determine a winner later :)

Hope everyone is full of holiday spirit and lacking in holiday induced stress. Damn Jews. Their holiday is over...

#99

2007-12-13T08:10:00.000-05:00

So far I've only seen 1 email titled 100th post in my inbox so that person very may well could be the winner as she is the sole entry so far... get off lurk status people! (read the post from a couple days ago if you have no clue what I'm talking about) Update!! I thought I had a 'contact me' button linky thing on my sidebar but apparently not! (thanks WPPGAL!) I've added my email addy to the right so NOW all you guys can email me and play in the fun!

Anyway...

I have pure unadulterated cuteness....

I love the Boppy pillow. Ingenious invention that is. So versatile. Riley just loved hanging out in it listening to my pearls of wisdom I was dispensing, such logic as "Only poop right after you've had your bath" Make sure to wake up whenever Mommy thinks she might get a shower while you sleep" . So far she's been listening :)

I Went, I Saw, I Kicked Baby Butt...

2007-12-12T10:16:00.000-05:00

I'm so glad to be home. I missed my family and the insanity that is a regular part of life around here but leaving BF and her new family was just as tough. You forget so quickly what it's like to care for an infant, a breastfeeding infant, who is still adjusting to her surroundings, the new people in her life, her cats. LIFE is hard out there little one! BF and Spouse and Riley are doing so very well. Relaxed, taking it as it comes, a fine mesh of care, love and sleeplessness. I was only about an hour away from home when BF rang my cell to let me know that Riley was aware that I had left and had been crying and basically miserable since I'd been on the road. It was pretty much all I could do not to turn the car around and head back south. She needs me! She loves me! It was such a joy to be able to go down and help everyone adjust. A fine line I walked between wanting them to do baby care but still getting my snuggles and trying to do what was useful but trying not to offer to much advise unless asked. That's a tough one for me. I'm an advise giver and I try really hard to only give it when ASKED. I don't like unsolicited advise and assume most people are the same. Back on track. It was a great trip. I miss them horribly.

More on the WEBS detour later. OIY! 1 hour is NOT enough :)

2007-12-08T08:17:00.000-05:00

I'm headed out peeps, on the road, siyanora, adios, bye-bye. I'm headed to CT to help BF and Spouse with the new wee one. My Spouse is currently teasing me because I haven't packed yet. I haven't packed because if I pack I'm going to leave and I can't leave because I've been given marching orders on when to arrive and I will follow the rules cause I'm good like that. I'm already leaving earlier than I should because I've decided, after being mocked by Exit 18 on Route 91 in Mass. for over a year, that I will actually pull off that exit, head down that ramp and go to WEBS... yeap, I'm going shopping. Do I need yarn? No, Do I have a specific project in mind? No. Am I going anyway? Yes. The only thing I know I 'need' is 200 yds of purple worsted weight yarn. What's that? 1 skein? No nearly enough to take advantage of the discount offered so I know other items will be purchased. Now the question is...is 1 hour enough in WEBS? one un-distracted hour? No kids, No non-knitters mucking up my thought process, just me and a paper towel to stop the drool. I'm showered, put on make-up (wouldn't want to scare the yarn) and have mentally packed....still 2.5 hours until departure...it's killing me..

So help me think of something else. How about a contest. I've been giving this some thought. I've missed my 1st blog anniversary so we can't do that but I believe this is my 97th post so we are quickly approaching 100 and I'm thinking maybe prizes might be in order. Here's the dilemma. I'm going to the yarn shopping mecca today and could easily pick up some fabulous yarny goodness as a prize for my contest but then what of my non-knitting readers. Then I thought coffee! Some locally roasted VT coffee, perhaps a pretty mug to drink it out of, some chocolate on the side. Yet some of you are not knitters AND not coffee drinkers (I'm not sure how you people are surviving but to each his own) Alas, my prize-y goodness is eluding me. I may have to have a few options and let the winner pick.

So here's the deal. I'm not exactly a regular blogger so this could be tough, guess the date and time of my 100th post. DON'T put it in the comments. Email me privately and put "100th Post" in the subject line. I'm not going to peek at your submissions (wouldn't want to 'cheat') I'll check the emails once I've posted, the time of the post will be used as a tie-breaker just in case we need it. Winner will get a custom goodie tailored to their likes. If you're like me you may just get yarn AND coffee... WHOOOT!

I'm going off to hold a baby...

I'm an "Aunt"!!!

2007-12-04T07:53:00.000-05:00

BF had her baby! Info is over at her place.

2007-12-03T07:53:00.000-05:00

Today could potentially be never ending.

It's snowing, a lot, there is no school. The kids are already annoying each other, Spouse is working midnights which means he'll be off work in approximately 6 minutes and expect to come home and sleep the day away (ha! ha!) AND

BF is at the hospital, being induced....I could be an "aunt" by the end of the day! Lack of information about what's going on could kill me....I'm an information person. I want to know what's going on. Is she there? Have they induced? Did it work? ARRRGGGHHH!!! this really could push me over the edge today. Alas, I will sit here and await either a phone call or text message letting me know the outcome.

2007-11-30T14:01:00.001-05:00

The Terrorist goes running down the hall from her room, into the living room at breakneck speed. WHUMP!! I hear the face plant and wait for the scream... nothing, I look around the corner and discover she's laying the floor face down, looks up at me, say's "I OK Mommy, I'm gonna try that again" and she's off.....again....

We managed to avoid all ER visits until Drama Queen hit 5 at which age she graciously broke her arm. We are soooo NOT making it another 2.5 years with this one.

I Am Thankful For

2007-11-26T13:28:00.000-05:00

My Family: What a fabulous holiday it was, despite the long drive it was well worth it. 23 family members in attendance and so many babies!!! I finally got to meet Cousin Joe who is now 17 months old and I had yet to lay eyes on and he is so precious. I think he might be mentally challenged however as my 17 month olds were NEVER that well behaved, Please, Thank You, eats nicely, uses a spoon I'm not quite sure how his parents are pulling it off but it's working. Of course he's going to be a big brother in February so we'll see how that goes I also got some snuggle time with RKE who is simply the snuggliest sweetest little girl and her cousin HQS who's walking already despite being a couple months short of 1. Mix my two in there and there was a lot of mischief this weekend. It was great to see all my cousins, Aunts, Uncles and Parents
A big shout out to our Favorite Aunt Mary who called a couple of days before we were due in to tell us she had room at her house and to cancel our hotel reservation! WHOOT!

My Car: It traveled like a champ, low gas usage, speedy and safe trip. 9.5 hours out 12 hours back I love my VW!

My Portable DVD Player: A life saver!!

Potty Training: Terrorist has hit this milestone head on. Despite Mommy's pleadings to PLEASE use the diaper that is on your butt, it's OK, we don't need to stop. She refused and would have a holy breakdown if I didn't stop when requested. (Note the 12 hour drive home)

Being Back Home: I'm happy to be back home with Spouse, he couldn't come with us due to his work schedule and I missed him, I missed him despite the fact that when I was getting ready to leave I was cleaning the house. I hate coming home to a dirty house. He said don't bother, I'll be home alone and I'll clean everything. It'll be easier. YAHOO! Sold I said.

Ask me what surface in this house got cleaned, go ahead, ask. Hmmmm, couldn't tell ya. NOT ONE THING... so I've been doing laundry and scrubbing the damn toilets..

I noticed this is my 93rd post. Some people celebrate a year but I think I'll celebrate at 100 posts. Maybe I should have a contest or something....I'll get back to you on that!

Potty Training 101

2007-11-21T15:48:00.002-05:00

I know I have discussed the Terrorist's lack of potty training here before. She is simply not interested in using the potty. She'll be three in February and I refuse to be stressed about this. We are prepared when she decides she's ready. Training pants, pull ups, Elmo potty. We are ready.

Just this week BF inquired about Terrorist's potty training status. I, in my best parenting voice, informed her that we were not potty training. She's not ready, and I'm certainly NOT going to start potty training my kid the week of Thanksgiving when we'll be in a car for 11 hours each way traveling to PA and then staying in a house with 12 other people and 2 bathrooms. Not going to happen.

I think Terrorist was eavesdropping. Yesterday and today? Total potty usage. We've had few instances of not making it in time but damn that little sucker, she's potty training herself.

The only thing I have going for me is she refuses to wear the big girl training pants so we've upgraded to pull ups, at least if Mommy can't find a bathroom in time we'll be OK.

How Do I Love Knitting, Let me Count the Ways

2007-11-20T14:29:00.000-05:00

I bring proof of my knitting abilities, please look away if you are looking for an inspirational, anyone can do this kind of post. It's going to get ugly quick...

I bring you my failed attempt at felted slippers for the Terrorist:
These stupid felted slippers. I must have cast them on 10 times and never ended up with the right # of stitches where they were supposed to be. So I improvised. Thou shall not improvise if Thou does not know what thou is doing. The one on the right looks OK but that one on the left. This picture is doing it justice, really, it's worse than it looks here.

Now I can bring you my Zen like reading abilities:

That's Noro Silk Garden in a lovely masculine colorway of browns and greys. I decided I did not need to read the pattern beyond the 'cast on x number of stitches if using x weight yarn. I failed to read the "KNIT the 1ST EIGHT ROWS to form a garter stitch band" DAMN..now the hat is cute but with that whole rolled brim thing it's not very masculine. Not masculine enough for the 6'2" manly man it was knit for. I mean I AM going to put a pom-pom on it because I'm his sister and he HAS to wear it but I'm not quite mean enough to go rolled brim. I'm mean, but not that mean.

The elephant sized washcloth:

Now here's a beautiful project. It's pretty enough, fun to knit and would be practical, if it wasn't about 20 inches in diameter. Yes, this lovely show of talent is brought to you by someone who thought that if the pattern calls for fine linen and size three needles that all would work out in the end if they used Sugar & Cream and size 7 needles. I mean really, shouldn't that work?

Next up SOCKS!

Quite the psychedelic colorway don't you think? All Lime N Violet. This is my second pair of completed socks. I have promised myself that I will knit a pattern sock once I master plain sock knitting. This does not bode well for a pattern ever occurring. I knit the sock, I turned the heel, I picked up gusset stitches, I decreased evenly, I grafted the toes. I WORE my new socks..the toe unraveled. ARRRRGGGHHH!

I can also state, with lack of photographic evidence, but trust me on this one. That I have no idea what row of the cable pattern I am on for the Whitby Cabled Vest, NONE. I have tried to figure it out, really, I've frogged, re-figured, re-knit, frogged, re-thought, re-knit several times. Last night after almost bursting into tears over that thing Spouse lovingly suggest that I take it to knit night and let Miriam the Wonder Knitter figure it out for me. This is tempting. I just might do it after the holidays.

I know some of you are thinking that this many failed projects isn't bad, and it wouldn't be if they were spread out over, lets say, a 6 month period... they are however, all within the past 3 WEEKS...

It's getting ugly around here folks.

Just so you aren't completely disheartened I will say that there are a couple presents for people on the needles right now that seem to be coming out just fine. I can't post pictures of the presents here because Queen Mum occasionally reads and we wouldn't want to spoil the surprise and Spouse is home so I can't whip his out since he's seen the yarn and knows it was for him so he'd guess what I was up to. Sneaky bastard. I'm also to the arms of Drama Queens sweater and it is A-OK at this point. It's a simple roll neck knit in the round raglan so really, nothing can possibly go wrong at this point. RIGHT? RIGHT?

I'll post again after Thanksgiving. I will! SHUT UP! I will post...

It's a Moose, Man!

2007-11-14T08:47:00.001-05:00

Look who was walking across the neighbors lawn this morning. I'm so excited! I love moose!! She was a very nice visitor, ambled on through, the dog didn't even bark at her. Unfortunately she didn't turn around for a face shot.

My Day...

2007-11-09T11:07:00.000-05:00

My day in a nutshell:

I decide to water my garden, as I turn on the hose in the driveway, I look over at my car and decide it needs washing. As I start toward the garage, I notice mail on the porch table that
I brought up from the mail box earlier. I decide to go through the mail before I wash the car.
I lay my car keys on the table, put the junk mail in the garbage can under the table,
and notice that the can is full. So, I decide to put the bills back on the table and take out the garbage first. But then I think, since I'm going to be near the mailbox when I take out the garbage anyway, I may as well pay the bills first. I take my check book off the table, and see that there is only one check left. My extra checks are in my desk in the study, so I go inside the house to my desk where I find the can of Coke I'd been drinking. I'm going to look for my checks,but first I need to push the Coke aside so that I don't accidentally knock it over. The Coke is getting warm, and I decide to put it in the refrigerator to keep it cold. As I head toward the kitchen with the Coke, a vase of flowers on the counter catches my eye--they need water.
I put the Coke on the counter and discover my reading glasses that I've been searching for all morning. I decide I better put them back on my desk, but first I'm going to water the flowers.
I set the glasses back down on the counter, fill a container with water and suddenly spot the TV remote. Someone left it on the kitchen table. I realize that tonight when we go to watch TV,
I'll be looking for the remote, but I won't remember that it's on the kitchen table, so I decide to put it back in the den where it belongs, but first I'll water the flowers. I pour some water in the flowers, but quite a bit of it spills on the floor. So, I set the remote back on the table, get some towels and wipe up the spill. Then, I head down the hall trying to remember what I was planning to do.

At the end of the day:

the car isn't washed

the bills aren't paid

there is a warm can of Coke sitting on the counter

the flowers don't have enough water,

there is still only 1 check in my check book,

I can't find the remote,

I can't find my glasses,

and I don't remember what I did with the car keys.

Then, when I try to figure out why nothing got done today,
I'm really baffled because I know I was busy all damn day,
and I'm really tired.I realize this is a serious problem, and I'll try to get some help for it,
but first I'll check my e-mail....

Thanks to whoever forwarded this to me. If I wasn't so damned busy I'd figure out who it was :)

P.S. The dog is doing well, his eye is still messed up but the lesion is healing, the pressure in his eye is down so the medications he is on are working. He goes back Monday for another check. At least spouse is off work for this appointment so I'll be able to take care of this without my 2.5 year old assistant.

And the Hits just keep on commin'

2007-11-06T13:21:00.000-05:00

Spouse broke the dog. Yeap, BROKE the dog.

I know he didn't mean to do it, it truly was an accident but I'm the one who is the puddle of sobbing goo because my middle child is injured. He's at work dealing with a sobbing me on the phone at a safe distance.

We are the proud owners of this fine piece of equipment. It's called the Hyper Doggie Driver (pretty clever) and it allows spouse to practice his golf swing while launching tennis balls far far away for our middle child to retrieve (he is after all a retriever) this gift has been the provider of hours of entertainment for the men in the house. Yesterday it made it's appearance. Fun was being had.

YIP! YELP! dazed dog, wandering in circles. UM, Hon, I hit the dog, with a tennis ball, in the head, HARD. Uh oh... well he did seem OK, he has a hard head and was acting OK so we let it go. Last night I decide he's not looking to good. He's not opening his eye and he's not being his normal drive-Mommy-up-the-wall-by-following-her-around-the-house-at-tailgating-distance self so I watched him for a while, let him come up into the bed with us, gave him extra love the whole time spouse is proclaiming he's FINE. NO HE'S NOT...I'd reply. Well needless to say spouse left for work this morning and since I was left alone unsupervised with car keys, a check book and a dog that wasn't right I called him at work and announced "I'm taking him to the vet!" His eye didn't look good, he wasn't opening it, it was a little oozy and when I did manage to pry it open it looked cloudy and his pupil looked dilated. Off I went. I could go on about the trauma I endured but lets paraphrase here.

The eye, the vet said, does not look good. It's blown, his eye (insert technical jargon here) may be stuck to the lens. There is pressure in the eye but we can't give him anything for that because his cornea is scratched and the medication combined with the scratch would damage the eye further (give him glaucoma) and we can't give him anything for the cornea damage because that medicine will affect the pressure in his eye. If you REALLY want to know what's going on you need to take him to a canine ophthalmologist (In Quebec) but that's going to be really expensive because they'll need to do surgery and remove the lens and repair the eye (blah, blah, blah) I turned it off here I just couldn't absorb it as fast as it was coming at that point. So after informing the vet that while we love our middle child very very much Momma needs an ophthalmologist to and since she didn't get one neither is doggie.. what can we do I plead
so here I am armed with ointment to be applied 6 times daily to the eye (to prevent infection) eye drops awaiting at the drug store to be picked up that will need to be put in 3-4 times daily (also to prevent infection) and pain killers/anti-inflammatory for pain and swelling 1x a day (these at least are chewable and he ate the 1st one like a champ) He goes back for a check up on Thursday to check the status of the eye but truthfully the vet does not seem optimistic about the course of treatment and seems to feel that he will loose the eye, which will lead to pain, which will lead to surgery to remove the eye.

I'm so sorry this happened to you Jack.

BF has suggested we rename you Patch. She always knows how to listen and then how to make me laugh :)

One of Those Days

2007-11-06T08:48:00.000-05:00

Today has started just fabulously.

Drama Queen was great this morning. Then it was time to leave for school. As I pulled out her reading log to sign it I found a notice from school. A bill for her lunch card. A card I fund bi-weekly to allow her milk in the morning and 2 lunches a week. The bill for $9.60 is now the third time I have received such a notice. This notice screams of my child blatantly ignoring the fact that she MAY NOT eat breakfast at school NOR may she purchase lunch more than twice a week. I am furious. We have had this discussion several times. She is not a slim child. She does not need two breakfasts, particularly when the school breakfast consists of such lovely items as cheese danish, apple turnovers and the like. We are not talking eggs and bacon here folks, we are talking pure sugary carbs. Which my child would consume until she was 300 lbs if given the chance and I have FORBIDDEN IT!! yet she ignores this and because the school lunch system is funded by a credit cardesque system I don't know she's done it until the bill appears. Today she lost all privileges. I am calling the school. I am talking to the lunch lady and she is being banned. I have had it. This child of mine does not listen, she shows a decided lack of respect for me, she can be extremely rude and she is completely unappreciative of what her father and I do for her. The world is hers for the taking and she doesn't care who stands in her way. Yes, I am aware that this is typical 9.5 year old girl behavior but I have HAD IT! Her favorite lines are "I forgot" "I didn't hear you" and my personal favorite "HUH?" it has been suggested that she may have a hearing problem. Yes she does. It's called selective hearing and it happens only when her mother talks to her. All she hears is 'blah, blah, blah, yadda, yadda, yadda'

In her defense she can be a spectacularly fabulous kid. Her drawing skills are amazing, she can whip up a mean batch of pancakes and she can be incredibly responsible and sweet to her sister when she wants to be. I know eventually she'll become a responsible member of society,will have some manners and learn the meaning of respect but right now that seems so far away.

The Terrorist is also showing her claws. Ah, the joys of the almost 3 year old. She is refusing to attend Kindermusik this morning. Don't get me wrong, it nasty outside. Rainy, windy and the potential of some snow showers. I'm all about a pajama day BUT I know what's coming. Once Little Einsteins is over she's going to want to go to 'music class' and it'll be over. Sorry kiddo, to late. I attempted to haul her out the door despite her protest but she became so adamant that she wanted to stay home that I decided to let her make the decision and now she'll have to live with it.

I hope your day is going better than mine!

As Promised...

2007-11-01T12:08:00.000-04:00

Look at that, two posts in one day. This afternoon I bring you a brief Halloween re-visit. We came, we saw, we trick or treated.

The girls were both witches. Drama Queen lived up to her name and came home from school announcing that she hated her costume (Dead Housewife) and that she wanted to be something else. Couldn't I just crack out the sewing machine, whip up a little number in a few seconds and by the way, she didn't like the face paint I bought either so could I take care of that to. The compromise was rummaging through the house, finding a black dress and letting her wear my witches hat and doing her make up from my "real makeup" Doesn't she look thrilled?

Crisis averted but not without some drama (I really named my children appropriately!) . Since she pilfered my costume I had to go as myself. AKA "Mother of the Year"

We trick or treated for an hour which was plenty for Terrorist and thus secured just enough stash that they both felt good and not so much that I cringed when we got home. Parent Tax was charged and I got a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup and a Milky Way out of the deal!

So Much To Say

2007-11-01T09:27:00.000-04:00

I have a list of posts in my head:

My Basement
My Knitting
The CSA
My Mother-In-Law
Holiday's

I really need to start using the Drafts option available to me!

I promise to post a later today since Spouse if off midnights and I again have computer access.

One thing I can share right now is a new blog. BF has finally stepped up to bat and left the world of MySpace for a REAL blog :)

She's a hoot, I told her she was funny as hell but she doesn't think so and to tell you the truth I'm probably a bad judge, I know her very well, love her to death and appreciate her humor. Perhaps strangers won't find her nearly as funny as I do but then again, you read me and BF and I are scarily mentally connected.

Introducing BF! Now to be known as Clink...

DRUM ROLL PLEASE...

Tabula Rasa

CSA and a Meme!

2007-10-24T19:37:00.000-04:00

It's CSA day again today. I'm a little disappointed that we didn't get more of the bread we got last week. It was simply delicious and I had gotten an email asking for opinions on how frequently we would get the bread obviously my opinion of "every week" didn't make the cut. I'm hoping it's at least bi-weekly! This weeks share included Bonnieview Farm Mossend Blue cheese from South Albany, VT.(sorry no website to link to but it's made from goats milk) Tofu from Vermont Soy , green tomatoes, tomatillos, garlic, onions, swiss chard, mesculin greens, assorted peppers, carrots and white beets. Last night for dinner we had marinated flank steaks, carrots sauteed in brown sugar and butter and oven roasted beets. DELICIOUS! I meant to sprinkle some blue cheese over the steak but forgot! DAMN!

This isn't everything. All the 'round' produce, peppers, onions, tomatoes and carrots where getting a little rowdy and had to be confined to a bag for photo purposes.

Today for lunch I had a salad of left over steak from last night, mesculin greens, swiss chard, big crunchy croûtons (store bought) topped with crumbled blue cheese and some homemade vinaigrette. YUM!

I got tagged for a Meme **read edit** by Kristina over at Yarnsticks I'm so excited to be included I feel like a total nerd! I'm also reading two books and one of them is the same as hers although she's reading it to her kids and I am not (bad Mommy!) but for the sake of the Meme I'll only do one book which is one I'm reading for my book club. Spook, Science tackles the Afterlife by Mary Roach. Here's the sentence:

"The discarnate who will be asked questions via Allison DuBois today is Monty Keen, a British colleague of Schwartz's who collapsed and died of a heart attack the previous month while arguing with a skeptic about telepathy at a panel in London."

This is not the type of book I normally read. I read a broad range of books but science books are not among them. This one is fascinating if not a slight struggle to read but very appropriate for the month of October and all things Halloween. I'm not trying to be unkind but I have a feeling only a couple of us in the group will a) get through it and b) understand any of it. It should be an interesting meeting.

Have a good day all!

** I'm such a dork I participated in the Meme without passing it along!

Here's the deal : Turn to page 161 in whatever book you are reading and read/enter the 5th sentence. Then tag 5 bloggers to play with.

OK FroggieMeanie, Fibreholic, Moosh inIndy, Poot and Cubby, and BF you are up! I can't link to BF we really need to get her up and running on a real blog site instead of MySpace!

The Week in Review

2007-10-22T08:42:00.001-04:00

So much for the plan of posting 3 times last week. That came and went with nary a moment to sit down and do much more than read and occasionally comment! I think I need to start posting before I read all my feeds! Drama Queen has decided she is to sick to go to school today. Normally I would not let her get away with this. I really don't believe she's sick. Yes, she's a little congested and yes, I believe her head hurts but I don't think either of these issues are severe enough to not be overcome by a little Motrin and a shot of decongestant! However, she pulls this "I'm to sick to go to school occassionally and I never let her stay home. I kick her out the door medicated and miserable. Today the weather is forecast to be in the 70's. Sunny, stunning weather. A day when all children should be outside playing and living it up. She has been confined to her room. She may not watch TV. She may not go outside. She may not have FUN... she has already asked to be allowed to join the Terrorist and I on our walk this morning, a fabulous jaunt down the bike path that runs along the eastern shore of the lake. A 4-mile jaunt we take, weather permitting, several times a week. NOPE! sorry, your to sick to go to school you are to sick to take a walk. Que "But fresh air is going to make me feel better" My response? "Go open the windows in your bedroom" I can sense the 'maybe I should go to school vibe' already. She's really going to be miserable when the neighbors come home from school and are outside playing soccer, jumping on the trampoline and riding their bikes. OH THE MISERY that will ensue when I refuse to let her go outside. I feel this will be a lesson well learned!

Well enough of that! Here's the week in review:

CSA news! Look at this!
FABULOUS!! So far the only thing that we haven't used is the Napa Cabbage and the cauliflower. Everything is so fresh and crisp. The only thing we didn't get this week was the tofu. I'm not a big tofu eater, I've had it but never prepared it and was a little daunted by it but it wasn't available last week. Apparently we are getting it this week so if anyone has a yummy tofu recipe they'd like to share send it on over.
I'm very happy with everything we got and what I've made so far which hasn't been anything to exotic, boiled brussel spouts with carrots, fresh mesculin greens with carrots and peppers, roasted fingering potatoes and fresh baked homemade bread with apple butter (I made the apple butter) I forgot to include the bread and the dozen eggs in the picture. OOPS!

After picking up my CSA food the girls and I headed to Heath Orchards up in Quebec for some apple picking. I had just planned to pick up a bucket of apples but they convinced me that we needed to actually PICK the apples. We had a lot of fun and the Macintosh apples are so crisp and sweet!

Then on Thursday I did this

Quite a difference since that morning I looked like this

My lovely tresses are sitting on my counter awaiting mailing to Lock of Love I've been growing my hair for a long time and had planned on doing this last year but chickened out and wasn't quite ready but on Thursday I made the leap and I'm loving my new haircut!

Lastly some knitting. The cabled vest is not going well. I've apparently lost track of what row of the cable pattern I'm on and when I had to flip over the the front to begin working the sides again I messed up. I have not had the brain power to sit down and figure out what the heck went wrong nor have I been able to make it down to my LYS for professional help. SIGH. I did however cast on a Leaf Pattern scarf with O-Wool. This stuff is simply phenomenal. Beautiful, soft I'm not sure how to describe it but it's organic wool from Vermont and I think I'll be knitting with it pretty frequently.

This picture doesn't do the color justice. It's a deep grapey/burgundy/purple color. The pattern is a little tricky lots of M3(make 3, who knew?) K2TOGF and K2TOGB, yarn overs etc, etc, etc and it's a 12 row pattern so there is no way I'm remembering the pattern but I'm loving it.

Lastly, I'm going to Rhinebeck next year. YES. I. AM. I have already recruited a friend to go with me. Nope she doesn't have a choice. She will try to wiggle out of it but she's not going to get away with it because she'll have fun just like she always does when I kidnap her (ROCHESTER!) that's for her cause eventually she'll read this and know who she is. I have already booked my Mom to come up and stay with the girls since DH says there is no way he's taking vacation time for me to go buy wool (AHEM, a little harsh don't you think?) I won't be buying anything for him I can tell you (I'm all talk no action)

Well I need to go finish getting ready for my walk. Have a great day!

Tuesday

2007-10-16T08:16:00.000-04:00

Ahhh, the loveliness of a Tuesday, not a Monday that is gone and not quite hump day but Tuesday none the same! We are preparing to leave for Kindermusik this morning. An activity the Terrorist adores, truly, absolutely and without reservation she's a Kindermusik maniac! While I have knitting content and other lovely things to write about I'm going to leave you with this for now.

The Terrorist at her last ice skating lesson. Such a little trooper. Drama Queen loves it to and I have footage of her as well but she's bigger and faster and harder to capture on film LOL.

I promise I'll be back later with more run stuff.

Monday, no knitting....

2007-10-08T08:47:00.000-04:00

Well a little knitting. I'm as far as I can go on the Whitby Vest without assistance and tonight is knit night so hopefully I'll be able to get some attention and assistance with the whole "at the same time" issue I've got going on. hmmm, knit, shape, bind off...AT THE SAME TIME..In my mind it makes sense... however I've gotten myself into trouble before with stuff that 'makes sense' so I'm waiting for an expert opinion before I do anything rash.

Today is a big day for BF and I'm posting hoping to get good vibes headed her way. As you all know BF is expecting in November and has MS with both of these things stress is not really a good thing and BF is very susceptible to stress. I love her but she's a tad sensitive these days and small things push her right over the edge (LOVE YOU!!! REALLY!!!) Anyway...today, this very morning, she is hanging out at UPENN while her Dad has brain surgery on a tumor. It's benign, thank God, but still brain surgery is a big deal and I know right now she's stressed, freaked, anxiety ridden , you name it she's feeling it so I'm putting it out there... please pray, send vibes, whatever it is that has worked in the past to bring good outcomes send them all her way today :)

Oh, and have you seen, felt, heard about O-Wool? OMG...more later :)

Getting on the Ball!

2007-10-06T15:11:00.000-04:00

I'm not quite sure why I always think I'll have time to do stuff every time the schedule changes. Summer will be a breeze, no school, no plans...BANG! it was over and I was swamped the whole time. Then I figured I'd start blogging on a regular basis once school started, things would be more settled, we'd have a routine. I'd blog. no so much....

So far this week we have participated in the following activities:
4 mile walk on the bike path (we actually did this walk 3 times the week before but this week? no time for more than once)
Kindermusik class followed by a couple hours at the park
Pot luck dinner at church
a morning of scrapbooking with a friend
womens bible study at church
knit night at my LYS
horseback riding lessons
ice/figure skating lessons
a small baby shower for a mom that just moved to the area and doesn't know anyone yet
a home demonstration party

I'm insane... truly... I have been knitting honest. I have frogged the Whitby Cables Vest TWICE... not the whole way mind you but I was about an inch from finishing the 9.5inches for the back when I laid it out to measure and found a GLARING problem with the Whitby portion of the pattern. So glaring that the owner of my LYS took one look at it (before I even laid it out to show her) and saw it... so I ripped..all the way back, to where I had placed stitches on holders about 8.5 inches of patterning, sizing, decreasing... UGH! then? I DID IT AGAIN... some how when I ripped back and reknit I failed to realize that I had to CAST OFF sixteen stitches before I started the patterning again so I knit happily along and when it got to the point that the pattern told me I should have 82 stitches I had 98.. CRAP! so I frogged... AGAIN.... I'm not quite sure I want to say how far I've now knit again for fear of jinxing myself but I think I'm going to be OK...we'll see....

Now I'm thinking the fact that I never got a partner for the Fall Into Autumn Swap is probably for the better... I just realized today the the swap boxes are due on 10/31..I do not have a partner. At first I was a little hurt that I was neglected by now I'm thinking the big man upstairs is seizing control of my scheduling issues ;)

A big shout out to my friend Patty for checking in on me :) She know something must be up since she had posted pictures of her beautiful baby and I hadn't commented. Thanks for missing me Patty :)

Outside of knitting and running the kids all over God's green earth we have been muddling through our legal issues with spouses family. We are winning WHOOT! which we knew we would since the whole shebang is such a bogus pack of lies it's just the aggravation of having to hire and attorney and deal with all the BS that is so exhausting... I may post the whole sordid story once it's all said and done but I'm not sure yet how I feel about it. Although spouse and I did nothing wrong and a court of law has/is determining that it's a little embarrassing to be related (although only in marriage) to a family that could actually treat each other this way.

ANYWAY! I'm going to try and be a little more frequent with my posts... I think I need something to tie me to it.. a schedule of posting perhaps? Mondays :knitting Wednesdays: CSA (which starts Oct 17th!) and Fridays :kids Don't hold me to it just yet LOL.. but I'll try!

SEX and the CSA cont....

2007-09-20T13:49:00.000-04:00

I covered the SEX part yesterday (if you missed it you'll need to scroll down) I've gotten over my little issue. OK, I'm not OVER it over it but I've decided it's in God's capable hands (he's telling me not to take it personally and not let a misguided person ruin my good time here on this planet) That and I sent all the papers to our newly hired handy dandy attorney so now he has to deal with it! Love ya Vince!

On to the CSA part of the post.

CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture which means I shell out some cold hard cash to buy my share and then viola I'm the proud owner of locally grown and raised food. The one I've joined is Pete's Greens . They also have a blog if you are interested. I've selected Pete's Green's because not only do they provide me with fresh seasonal veggies and stuff but It's also a Localvore share which is really intriguing I'm all for supporting local markets and farmers and do my best to buy what I can get locally prior to hitting Price Chopper. Price Chopper has it's place in my life but if I can run out and buy my food from someone who lives and produces my food locally I'm much happier. Many people in our area took a challenge this summer to "Eat Local" for one month. I'm not sure anyone made the month goal but several people I know managed a week. The only products they were allowed to consume from outside a 100 mile radius were salt, pepper and exotic seasonings (no basil! put down the basil! that grows in VT!!) I'll admit I did not attempt this challenge. Being relatively new to the area the idea of trying to figure out where to buy my local food was a little daunting. I live in a relatively rural area and know where the Farmer's Market is and the local Meat shop ( I can't call it a slaughter house, although that's what it is) Even armed with this ammunition I wasn't quite ready to step up to the plate and accept the challenge. No Stouffer's French Bread Pizza or chicken fingers to fall back on? YIKES!

Being an avid blog reader it wasn't long before I stumbled upon a post about a CSA. I was hooked. Fresh veggies, all year around. Not a slave to my own non-existent garden (next year!) Support the local economy? I'm in! After some research, reading, thought and writing a check *gulp* I signed my form and mailed away. From October 17-Feb 13 every week I'll be driving down to visit Pete and pick up my box. My game plan is to change my food shopping day from Mon/Tues to Wed/Thurs since I'll be picking up my box on Wed. that'll give me a day to rumage the box, research recipes and manage a list to work around my local food for the week. On the blog they offer recipes and storage tips for what you get. Hopefully the family will be on board for some more exotic recipes. Although I've never been afraid to try something new this will be the first time it's been provided to me, not selected by me. I may have to make Wednesday's CSA post day. I'll let everyone know how my experiment works.

The only hitch I see in this plan is I'm really going to miss that fiery red headed cashier at Price Chopper. I love her. She's my friend. She opens lanes for me when Terrorist is cranky. We talk. We are buds. She misses me if she doesn't see me there at least 3 times a week. I might have to set up a playdate. Just me and my cashier. Is that weird?

SEX and the CSA

2007-09-19T13:26:00.001-04:00

Got your attention didn't I? Are you going to be horribly disappointed when I tell you what kind of SEX I had? Probably, unless you are a knitter, in which case this is almost better than actual sex..Almost...

S.E.X. =Stash Enhancement eXpedition and I've been on one for a little over a week.

It started innocently enough, listing to Lime N Violet and I'm hearing yada, yada, yada, blah, blah, blah Lisa Souza, blah,blah, yada, yada, awesome yarn etc, etc, etc. You get the drift. Then I accidentally end up here Whoot! Having no idea what I'm about to find. I could go on and on but I ordered this
Which now looks like this:

and I also ordered this
.
So then I traveled on down to my LYS Wool Away down in Saint J just to sit and knit. NOT purchase but alas I walked away with this and these
THEN, yes, there is a then. I went to NH (Portsmouth to be exact) and stumbled upon a little shop the Yarn Basket right around the corner from our hotel and walked out with these

So that's what? 5 skeins of sock yarn? and not a mass produced yarn in the bunch. In order of appearance we have Lisa Souza Animal Fibers Sock! in LimeNViolet and Shade Garden, Rio de la Plata Kettle Dyed Yarn with no colorway but the tag says "Evergreen, yellow corn, poinsettia, blue iris, red brick and cardinal. Mountain Colors Bearfoot Maria's Falls and last but not least J.Knits Superwash Me Sock in Michigan. Simply loverly...of course to go with all that there were these that would be 7 new patterns. 3 Fiber Trends, 3 Knitting Pure and Simple and 1 Black Purl

I'm now going to leave you hanging with a poorly executed blog. I know I promised SEX and the CSA but the CSA part will have to wait until tomorrow...or later today but I'll leave you with this:

Thelma and Louise are back in action and have decided to NOT leave spouse and I out of the foray and we have been served with legal papers so full of lies and insanity I truly feel sorry for the attorney's involved. I now have a headache and the impending need to either have a drink or cry. Considering it's 2pm and I still have driving to do today I'm headed off to hide.

MOOOMMMMYYYYY

2007-09-10T14:06:00.000-04:00

I've decided to veer away from the belief that I actually should have something to say before I post therefore today I bring you this:

MOOMMMMYYYY.... DO YOU HEAR ME? (battle cry during nap time duly ignored my moi)

MOOMMMMYYYY...I POOPED (not ignored by moi)

Oh, HI MOMMY. I pooped. Here. (as she nice presents said nugget into my HAND)

YUM!

I heard.... she said

2007-09-06T14:49:00.000-04:00

I heard:

Mommy, open the cat nip I want a big fat new Mommy....

She SAID:

Mommy, open the cabinet. I want a big fat Newton. (her version of Fig Newton)

This obvious hearing defect comes on the tail of the "Your 20th High School Reunion is October 2008" email I just got... CRAP!

Signs of Fall

2007-09-05T13:45:00.001-04:00

Evidence of Fall:

1st Day of School (two weeks ago, I know I'm late!)

Mum's on the Porch

Green bag things on the house:

That turn into this (providing at least 1/2 hour of entertainment while the kids watch the whole process)

Of course there is also knitting:

The finished Irish Hiking Scarf:

The Whitby & Cables Hooded Vest (on the 3rd repeat of the cable pattern)

A really cute Baby Hat, knit with sock yarn, that I made for a baby shower I'm going to this weekend at the barn (Drama Queen's instructor is expecting and the owner of the barn is throwing her a little shower) This woman (the instructor) is insane. She is due 9/30. She sent an email out explaining that 9/30 would be her last day of giving lessons since she's expecting...She loves her kids and horses so much she is literally working until her due date (whacko!)

I have also 'completed' the second sock. This is a loose term as the toe is not yet grafted which I haven't done since I'm not sure I'm happy with how I picked up the stitches from the instep on the second sock. This is my very first pair. Do I frog, re-pick up, and redo or do I graft my toe and proudly say I finished my first pair of socks and let them be lesson to be a little more careful in the 'pick up' stage?

Opinions?

Fall Into Autumn Swap

2007-09-03T14:42:00.000-04:00

Here's my Swap Question Answers:

Intrigued? Go check it out at the Fall Into Autumn Swap site.

1. Do you knit or crochet? Knit How long have you been doing it? 2.5 years

2. Have you made dischloths before? Do you use them yourself, give them as gifts, or both? I have, use them and have given them as gifts

3. What's your favorite cotton to make cloths from? What cotton would you like to try that you haven't before ? I've only used Sugar and Cream but only because it was gifted so I'm not sure what else is out there but I look forward to checking it out!

4. If you knit, do you prefer circular or straight needles? For all, do you prefer wooden, metal, or plastic needles? I use both circular and straight, I like wood, unless for socks then metal dpns

5. What are your favorite colors? Any colors you don't like much? I love all colors except NEON

6. What do you like best about Autumn? crisp air, falling leaves, yummy apples, what's not to like about fall?

7. Pies: Pumpkin? Apple? Pecan? All of em? or No Thanks! APPLE!

8. When you were a kid, were you the one who couldn't wait to get started with school , or the one who overslept on the 1st day? Loved the 1st day, so full of hopes and dreams, that usually went down hill pretty quickly LOL

9. Do you celebrate Halloween? (The real key here guys is especially knowing if you have an aversion to the holiday or little goodies/decorations associated with it, given the timeframe of the swap)I do! of course I have kids so it comes with the territory but even if they were out of that age I'd still decorate

10. If you had to choose just 3 edible 'goodies' to eat for a full year, what 3 would you choose? Chocolate Chip cookies, apple pie and ice cream

11. Do you have any pets? Kids? Husbands who seem like kids? ;) Yes, yes, and yes. One 6 year old black lab, two daughters 9 and 2 and one juvenilesque husband

12. If you were to describe a particular yarn that shares traits of your personality, what would it be and why? Wool, no particular brand but it's warm, durable, felts when wet but that doesn't ruin it, just changes it.It can be fine and artistic or rustic and bulky but it's all good! It's the ultimate in flexibility :)

13. Do you use your cloths mostly for dishcloths, or as facecloths? dishclothes

14. Favorite Fall Holiday: Halloween or Thanksgiving and why? (Feel free to share another fall memory if you do not celebrate either of these holidays)Thanksgiving because the ENTIRE family gets together and that is a big deal since we are now as far north as Vermont and as far south as Alabama

15. Do you have any allergies or aversions your pal should know about? Nope

Overheard at Casa K

2007-08-31T16:57:00.000-04:00

DQ: Hey Mom, I've got these lumps on my chest and they hurt
Me: They hurt? What lumps?
DQ: These, right here on the side (rubbing side of chest)
Me: Right here? (feeling same area)
DQ: Yeah, and they hurt.
Me: Those my dear are called... BREASTS
DQ: EWWW! GROSS! (slams door to room)

LORD HELP ME!

ATTN: Vermont Knitters

2007-08-30T16:31:00.000-04:00

Look what was in today's paper...

Yeap, that is THE Cherry Tree Hill Yarns. THE ONE..

Anybody want to go?