::sniff::
No Grey's last night for me :-( My sitting ran late and by the time I got home it was time to scramble the kids through the bed time routine and get them to bed. Then I let dh watch his shows and it was time for bed.
The good news? DH is out of town for the next couple of days so I get complete and uninterrupted control of the remote and will enjoy several hours of tv/knitting time after the little ones are in bed for the next several nights.
I'm now on the bedtime countdown...
Friday, September 28, 2007
Thursday, September 27, 2007
TGIT (Thank Goodness it's Thursday)
So Excited!
Tonight should be a great knitting night. I have a sitting to shoot very early in the evening but then it should be nothin' but knittin' as soon as the kiddies are in bed. I feel I should take this time and say a special prayer of thanks for the amazing Tivo. God bless the person who invented Tivo. Love you Tivo!!! I remember attending an advertising luncheon in the late nineties and hearing the speaker tell us about a new device that would be like a vcr only enable you to watch any show whenever you wanted without vcr tapes. Sounded crazy futuristic and yet I've had one for many years now and can't imagine not having it.
I'll definitely be watching Grey's and probably ER. Usually wait to watch The Office when dh gets home.
Anyway, time to run but looking forward to knitting tonight!
Tonight should be a great knitting night. I have a sitting to shoot very early in the evening but then it should be nothin' but knittin' as soon as the kiddies are in bed. I feel I should take this time and say a special prayer of thanks for the amazing Tivo. God bless the person who invented Tivo. Love you Tivo!!! I remember attending an advertising luncheon in the late nineties and hearing the speaker tell us about a new device that would be like a vcr only enable you to watch any show whenever you wanted without vcr tapes. Sounded crazy futuristic and yet I've had one for many years now and can't imagine not having it.
I'll definitely be watching Grey's and probably ER. Usually wait to watch The Office when dh gets home.
Anyway, time to run but looking forward to knitting tonight!
Sunday, September 23, 2007
Feast or Famine (a.k.a. Picture Paloooza!)
Unbelievable though it may be, it's finally happened. I've managed to FINALLY take some pictures of my recent knitting. Whoa! Take a deep breath! Lean back in your chair! Don't fall over on me! I know it's hard to believe but below these next few lines will be ACTUAL PHOTOGRAPHS. Knitting in pixels!
First here are pictures of my Monkey socks:
And check out the needles--Sox Stix in size 2 that I picked up from Twist. Which is where incidentally I bought the yarn, the stitch marker and the bag that I carry it all in. Are you seeing a theme here? Love you Twist!
It may not be "The" Great Pumpkin, but I still think it's pretty great :-) This one is a birthday gift for a friend but I think I'll have to make another one for myself.
Pattern is 12:01 by Nathania Apple.
My blue-eyed beauty in her Drive-Thru sweater. Although I'm thinking of re-naming it Sunday School since she has been wearing it every Sunday to church.
And finally Twinkletoes slippers for my girls. I'm going to buy some suede slipper bottoms for them so they will hopefully last a little longer.
And now I'm signing off to go knit! It's been a super busy weekend, yesterday I had an 8 hour wedding shoot a couple of hours away which made for a 12 hour day. I had another wedding this afternoon although thankfully it was only two hours and was very close to home. However with all of the work it seems like the weekend positively slipped through my fingers. In order to remedy that to a small degree I'm going to go sit, knit and watch a movie with the husband.
So I hope you enjoyed the pictures, heaven knows when I'll manage to get more things photographed again :-)
First here are pictures of my Monkey socks:
And check out the needles--Sox Stix in size 2 that I picked up from Twist. Which is where incidentally I bought the yarn, the stitch marker and the bag that I carry it all in. Are you seeing a theme here? Love you Twist!It may not be "The" Great Pumpkin, but I still think it's pretty great :-) This one is a birthday gift for a friend but I think I'll have to make another one for myself.
Pattern is 12:01 by Nathania Apple.
My blue-eyed beauty in her Drive-Thru sweater. Although I'm thinking of re-naming it Sunday School since she has been wearing it every Sunday to church.
And finally Twinkletoes slippers for my girls. I'm going to buy some suede slipper bottoms for them so they will hopefully last a little longer.
And now I'm signing off to go knit! It's been a super busy weekend, yesterday I had an 8 hour wedding shoot a couple of hours away which made for a 12 hour day. I had another wedding this afternoon although thankfully it was only two hours and was very close to home. However with all of the work it seems like the weekend positively slipped through my fingers. In order to remedy that to a small degree I'm going to go sit, knit and watch a movie with the husband.
So I hope you enjoyed the pictures, heaven knows when I'll manage to get more things photographed again :-)
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
::peeking back in::
Yarn Harlot!! I went and saw the Yarn Harlot! To be completely honest I hadn't read anything more than a couple of her posts a day or two prior to her speaking engagement here in Wichita. Despite that I went and picked up a free ticket to attend her "lecture." It was another "stepping out of the box" activity for myself. For years, (ok, most of my life) I have felt the need to drag friends and/or family with me to activities I want to go to on my own. In last couple of years I have tried to grow up and be a big girl and just go by myself. Sounds completely ridiculous but it's been something I've had to work on. I don't know what I thought would happen if I attended an activity or event by myself. Maybe I thought everyone else would turn and stare at the poor girl with no friends. Or that I'd have no one to make small talk with. Truthfully I think it had more to do with the thought of having to talk to strangers out of politeness (is that even a word?). No, I'm not painfully shy I just can't be rude to other. Was raised better than that. Even if I think a person is creepy or scary I'm still polite. Sad but true. But in an effort to be a big girl I've been venturing out a little more on my own and I'm loving it. Turns out I'm pretty good company for myself. And I haven't been forced into conversations with weird people. Either everyone else is afraid of getting into conversations with strangers as I am or I'm really effective at giving off the DON'T TALK TO ME vibe. Either way, it works for me :-)
So I went to see the Yarn Harlot and had a great time. I had no idea there were that many knitters in Wichita! I'm sure quite a few traveled in for the event but it was still a surprisingly large number. She was a delightful speaker and her sense of humor was right up my alley. It was a lovely little event. And I didn't speak to a soul for two hours. Ahhh, bliss.
I do have much progress to report. I have about eight weddings that I need to photoshop so I don't have time for a picture taking session. Ironic, isn't it? I will get those done in the next few days so I can share all of my progress.
I have completely finished the Drive-Thru sweater for Sabrina. She's already worn it to church once and received quite a few compliments. Being my first sweater and that it's for a five year old I used ultra cheap acrylic yarn on it in hopes that laundering the inevitable dirt will be easier. If I had it to do again I'd use something a little nicer but it was perfect for the first sweater project. I think the yarn is Caron Simply Soft. Could be worse I suppose. Not much worse, but there you go. The body of the cardigan is Soft Yellow, the "fair isle" portion is Orchid, Sage Green and Soft Pink. I used lavender buttons that match the orchid color as well. Very bright and sunny just like our little Sabrina.
After finishing that I dove into 12:01. I've had the yarn and pattern for over a year but I just can't work on things out of order or before I've finished an existing project. So after the Drive-Thru sweater was complete I could finally start it. I had purchased the yarn last year so I could make it as a gift for my best friend. That obviously didn't happen so it will be this year's birthday gift instead. Of course I love it so much I think I'll have to go buy more yarn and make another one for myself. It was my first experience with that particular increase and felting. All in all it went very well. It's sitting on my dresser stuffed full of plastic Wal-Mart bags hoping to form it into a permanent pumpkin shape. I think I'll probably have to purchase something stiff to kind of line it with but that's ok. It's really cute! I was surprised at how long it took to felt it. Perhaps it's my washing machine but the felting process took at least 10 trips through my washing machine. I think next time I might try felting by hand, might work out better.
During the knitting of 12:01 I discovered that we have a new knitting store here in town!!!! I was soooo excited. Twist Yarn Shop recently opened in the same area as my own business. It was so exciting to go into a local store and see all the things I usually have to order off of the internet. I've been in several times and have even taken a class. She has great supplies and it's a darling little shop. I have gone to the other yarn store in town but her needle selection was limited and she just didn't carry many of the contemporary, modern knitting items that I've been eyeing. I feel bad for the old yarn store as it looks like Twist is really taking off. Of course I'm thrilled for Twist that it looks like it's going so well. Maybe I'll stop by the old yarn store and buy something to temper my guilt. The old yarn shop is just dated and she wouldn't help folks that came in for help with a project unless they had purchased the materials and supplies from her. She did have open classes that you could come to for help and it was inexpensive ($1-$2) as I recall but it just wasn't convenient for me. I think it all boils down to they each serve a completely different clientele. Unfortunately it looks like one is on the rise and one is on the decline and it makes me sad. I don't like to see anyone's business suffer.
Anyway! I love Twist! I decided I wanted to learn how to knit socks so I signed up for a sock knitting class. Imagine my surprise when looking over the pattern that I had basically made my first sock when I made the girls Twinkle-Toes slippers. I am, perhaps, not the sharpest crayon in the box. It was very worthwhile and re-assuring though as I felt like I finally had permission to tackle a real honest to goodness sock. I was a little behind everyone else in the class progress wise during the first class due to my own cluelessness. I thought I had the right size needles in my bag when I left the house but I didn't so I had to buy some at the shop which put my start time behind everyone else. They were all flying through the pattern and ahead of me. I kept working at it and just worked on it throughout the rest of the week as I had free time. We used a larger yarn and bigger needles so the socks worked up very quickly. Plus they had a very short ribbed section at the ankle so they were quick. I figured I would be the only loser in the class if I came with out having at least one if not both finished. I was a little embarrassed to show up for the second class as the only over-achieving geek who finished not one but both socks. Doh! Oh well, I bought supplies for my next two projects and started on my first pair of Monkey socks! I'm loving this pattern and having a great time with it. I'm not entirely sure about my yarn choice but we'll see how it works. It was a rainy dreary day that morning which I'm sure influenced my choice of a very mellow blue/green yarn. They aren't as bright and over the top as many of the Monkey socks I've seen but I think I'll actually wear these on a regular basis as they'll match more things in my wardrobe and will look great with jeans and loafers.
So, next time I'll see if I can get pictures in. It's been busy at work. I've redone out website, made a business blog and had my busiest month yet for shooting. Thank heaven school finally started!
So I went to see the Yarn Harlot and had a great time. I had no idea there were that many knitters in Wichita! I'm sure quite a few traveled in for the event but it was still a surprisingly large number. She was a delightful speaker and her sense of humor was right up my alley. It was a lovely little event. And I didn't speak to a soul for two hours. Ahhh, bliss.
I do have much progress to report. I have about eight weddings that I need to photoshop so I don't have time for a picture taking session. Ironic, isn't it? I will get those done in the next few days so I can share all of my progress.
I have completely finished the Drive-Thru sweater for Sabrina. She's already worn it to church once and received quite a few compliments. Being my first sweater and that it's for a five year old I used ultra cheap acrylic yarn on it in hopes that laundering the inevitable dirt will be easier. If I had it to do again I'd use something a little nicer but it was perfect for the first sweater project. I think the yarn is Caron Simply Soft. Could be worse I suppose. Not much worse, but there you go. The body of the cardigan is Soft Yellow, the "fair isle" portion is Orchid, Sage Green and Soft Pink. I used lavender buttons that match the orchid color as well. Very bright and sunny just like our little Sabrina.
After finishing that I dove into 12:01. I've had the yarn and pattern for over a year but I just can't work on things out of order or before I've finished an existing project. So after the Drive-Thru sweater was complete I could finally start it. I had purchased the yarn last year so I could make it as a gift for my best friend. That obviously didn't happen so it will be this year's birthday gift instead. Of course I love it so much I think I'll have to go buy more yarn and make another one for myself. It was my first experience with that particular increase and felting. All in all it went very well. It's sitting on my dresser stuffed full of plastic Wal-Mart bags hoping to form it into a permanent pumpkin shape. I think I'll probably have to purchase something stiff to kind of line it with but that's ok. It's really cute! I was surprised at how long it took to felt it. Perhaps it's my washing machine but the felting process took at least 10 trips through my washing machine. I think next time I might try felting by hand, might work out better.
During the knitting of 12:01 I discovered that we have a new knitting store here in town!!!! I was soooo excited. Twist Yarn Shop recently opened in the same area as my own business. It was so exciting to go into a local store and see all the things I usually have to order off of the internet. I've been in several times and have even taken a class. She has great supplies and it's a darling little shop. I have gone to the other yarn store in town but her needle selection was limited and she just didn't carry many of the contemporary, modern knitting items that I've been eyeing. I feel bad for the old yarn store as it looks like Twist is really taking off. Of course I'm thrilled for Twist that it looks like it's going so well. Maybe I'll stop by the old yarn store and buy something to temper my guilt. The old yarn shop is just dated and she wouldn't help folks that came in for help with a project unless they had purchased the materials and supplies from her. She did have open classes that you could come to for help and it was inexpensive ($1-$2) as I recall but it just wasn't convenient for me. I think it all boils down to they each serve a completely different clientele. Unfortunately it looks like one is on the rise and one is on the decline and it makes me sad. I don't like to see anyone's business suffer.
Anyway! I love Twist! I decided I wanted to learn how to knit socks so I signed up for a sock knitting class. Imagine my surprise when looking over the pattern that I had basically made my first sock when I made the girls Twinkle-Toes slippers. I am, perhaps, not the sharpest crayon in the box. It was very worthwhile and re-assuring though as I felt like I finally had permission to tackle a real honest to goodness sock. I was a little behind everyone else in the class progress wise during the first class due to my own cluelessness. I thought I had the right size needles in my bag when I left the house but I didn't so I had to buy some at the shop which put my start time behind everyone else. They were all flying through the pattern and ahead of me. I kept working at it and just worked on it throughout the rest of the week as I had free time. We used a larger yarn and bigger needles so the socks worked up very quickly. Plus they had a very short ribbed section at the ankle so they were quick. I figured I would be the only loser in the class if I came with out having at least one if not both finished. I was a little embarrassed to show up for the second class as the only over-achieving geek who finished not one but both socks. Doh! Oh well, I bought supplies for my next two projects and started on my first pair of Monkey socks! I'm loving this pattern and having a great time with it. I'm not entirely sure about my yarn choice but we'll see how it works. It was a rainy dreary day that morning which I'm sure influenced my choice of a very mellow blue/green yarn. They aren't as bright and over the top as many of the Monkey socks I've seen but I think I'll actually wear these on a regular basis as they'll match more things in my wardrobe and will look great with jeans and loafers.
So, next time I'll see if I can get pictures in. It's been busy at work. I've redone out website, made a business blog and had my busiest month yet for shooting. Thank heaven school finally started!
Monday, April 09, 2007
Introspection and Gadget Admiration
Goodness, time does fly when you're having fun--or you've lost your sanity :-) Just kidding! Thanks to everyone who posted kind words of encouragement after my last post. I think it's fair to say that I'm not the ideal blogger as I seem to vent everything out in the blog and then abandon it until the next time I feel that need to let some of the pent up issues and emotions out. Needless to say that although my last post was a bit gloomy and depressed I've been slugging through life and things have been fine. All of the typical ups and downs but I did have a much needed mini-vacation which helped the old mental stability out.
I had a photography seminar in March which was out of state that I attended all by myself! This was quite a step out of the box for me as I used to feel compelled to always have someone go someplace with me. Anytime I wanted to take a class or go to an event I'd always talk a friend into going with me. Don't get me wrong, we always had fun, but there are times in life when you have to be the big girl and go it alone. But this time I flew out by myself and went to a place where I didn't know a soul and everything was just fine. A little intimidating at first, but just fine. It was a break that was much needed from all the mommy and business responsibilities and although I didn't indulge in any pampering, it was great. Well come to think of it, not having to make my own bed, cook or do any laundry for six days was pampering in and of itself. I was so busy during the seminar that I didn't even have time to go sight-seeing or shopping but I had a great time. It was fun hanging out with other photo-geeks who get excited about new gear and lighting like me.
I'm still struggling with some things but I imagine there will always be struggles with some of these things. I'm usually pretty good about rolling with the punches and dealing with things but I think last month it was got to be too much. I was so overwhelmed with all of the mommy/wife responsibilities and the business responsibilities that I felt as though I was just drowning from it all. Thankfully I think we're at least on the road to getting things back under control. One huge aspect of the stress was the book keeping for my businesses. I had been doing everything (appointments, photography, book keeping, photoshopping, lab drop off/pick up, order delivery, etc.) and the book keeping end just fell by the way side as I tried to keep all the customers happy. At least there's light at the end of the tunnel for that since my husband will be helping me out now.
It was reassuring to read from other mom's who feel the same frustrations. I love my kids and I love my job, I just never realized how overwhelming everything could be. Then to throw in some other issues of my own I just needed a little place in the world where I could let it all out. Perhaps one of the better aspects of all the introspection I've been prone to lately is re-discovering all of the promise of each new day and the unwritten future. If I spent all of my time lamenting the mistakes I've made and what I should have done I wouldn't be able to appreciate what I've learned and how to use that experience to shape the direction I want my future to take.
I need to learn to cut myself some slack in some areas and be stricter with myself in others. It's been a crazy year but I'm so glad that God has blessed us with all of the craziness. It's led me to some discoveries about myself and realizations that I'm capable of more than I had thought. I've also learned that I'm not superwoman and no matter how capable I am, I can't do it all and I really can't do it all on my own.
I think I remember reading once that changing careers can be as stressful to a person as having a loved one pass away. And if there's one thing I know about myself is that I'm very good at stuffing all the stress down and trudging on. I obviously need to work on that as well and thankfully this blog seems to be playing a nice little role in that.
But hey, this started out as a knitting blog, right?! Well there has been some knitting, there just hasn't been any pictures taken of the knitting. You'd expect nothing less right? I'll just wait and get pictures after it's finished. I have no idea how people have the energy to stop their knitting and take pictures of what they're doing. I sure appreciate it when I'm reading their blogs, it's really interesting. But when I'm knitting the last thing I want to do is stop, find the camera, get a empty cf card out and take some pictures that I'll then have to download, fiddle with and resize to upload to the internet. No way, when I'm knitting I'm *relaxing*! And I compulsively want to finish that row so I can turn and go to the next line in the pattern.
What is it I'm knitting you ask? (Because really, if I did post what I started it was probably months ago and I'm sure I didn't take any pictures of it). I'm working on the Drive-Thru cardigan for my youngest daughter. I've actually made good progress on it and should finish it this week if things go well. I have the body done, the sleeves done and attached as well as all of the color changes at the top. I'm now finishing up the yoke and will do the button bands last. Yay!
I'm wanting to delve into sock knitting soon so I may check some books out of the library and read up on that. And now for a small techie review, here are my two latest, favorite gadgets:
Sennheiser Wireless Headphones
I received these for Christmas and love them! When I was a kid I had one of my eardrums rupture from an ear infection. Between that and the constant fluid that seems to be built up on it I have a hard time hearing all the mumbling that happens on tv. So, my sweet husband bought these for me for Christmas. I usually only wear them when the kids (or husband) is in bed and I can't listen to the tv loud enough to hear what the heck is going on. It's great because the volume on the tv can be completely off but the headphone volume can be adjusted as needed. And they're wireless! Although how I, Queen of Deep Sleep, ended up with a family of incredibly light sleepers is beyond me. At least now we're all happy with the tv volume :-)
Neat Receipts Scanalizer
This is so cool! Makes tracking my debit receipts enjoyable. As mentioned previously my book keeping had fallen behind in epic proportions. With this slick little device I can scan the receipt in and categorize it by tax expense. It keeps a scanned copy of the image and I can then throw the paper receipt away. Yay! No more faded receipts or piles and piles of ones I need to keep on until I balance my checkbook. I can categorize them according to business or personal use and print out some very nice expense reports for tax time next year. And yes, I am backing it up after every use to a Rev disc along with my quickbooks data so I don't lose it all in case of electronic disaster.
That's all for now!
I had a photography seminar in March which was out of state that I attended all by myself! This was quite a step out of the box for me as I used to feel compelled to always have someone go someplace with me. Anytime I wanted to take a class or go to an event I'd always talk a friend into going with me. Don't get me wrong, we always had fun, but there are times in life when you have to be the big girl and go it alone. But this time I flew out by myself and went to a place where I didn't know a soul and everything was just fine. A little intimidating at first, but just fine. It was a break that was much needed from all the mommy and business responsibilities and although I didn't indulge in any pampering, it was great. Well come to think of it, not having to make my own bed, cook or do any laundry for six days was pampering in and of itself. I was so busy during the seminar that I didn't even have time to go sight-seeing or shopping but I had a great time. It was fun hanging out with other photo-geeks who get excited about new gear and lighting like me.
I'm still struggling with some things but I imagine there will always be struggles with some of these things. I'm usually pretty good about rolling with the punches and dealing with things but I think last month it was got to be too much. I was so overwhelmed with all of the mommy/wife responsibilities and the business responsibilities that I felt as though I was just drowning from it all. Thankfully I think we're at least on the road to getting things back under control. One huge aspect of the stress was the book keeping for my businesses. I had been doing everything (appointments, photography, book keeping, photoshopping, lab drop off/pick up, order delivery, etc.) and the book keeping end just fell by the way side as I tried to keep all the customers happy. At least there's light at the end of the tunnel for that since my husband will be helping me out now.
It was reassuring to read from other mom's who feel the same frustrations. I love my kids and I love my job, I just never realized how overwhelming everything could be. Then to throw in some other issues of my own I just needed a little place in the world where I could let it all out. Perhaps one of the better aspects of all the introspection I've been prone to lately is re-discovering all of the promise of each new day and the unwritten future. If I spent all of my time lamenting the mistakes I've made and what I should have done I wouldn't be able to appreciate what I've learned and how to use that experience to shape the direction I want my future to take.
I need to learn to cut myself some slack in some areas and be stricter with myself in others. It's been a crazy year but I'm so glad that God has blessed us with all of the craziness. It's led me to some discoveries about myself and realizations that I'm capable of more than I had thought. I've also learned that I'm not superwoman and no matter how capable I am, I can't do it all and I really can't do it all on my own.
I think I remember reading once that changing careers can be as stressful to a person as having a loved one pass away. And if there's one thing I know about myself is that I'm very good at stuffing all the stress down and trudging on. I obviously need to work on that as well and thankfully this blog seems to be playing a nice little role in that.
But hey, this started out as a knitting blog, right?! Well there has been some knitting, there just hasn't been any pictures taken of the knitting. You'd expect nothing less right? I'll just wait and get pictures after it's finished. I have no idea how people have the energy to stop their knitting and take pictures of what they're doing. I sure appreciate it when I'm reading their blogs, it's really interesting. But when I'm knitting the last thing I want to do is stop, find the camera, get a empty cf card out and take some pictures that I'll then have to download, fiddle with and resize to upload to the internet. No way, when I'm knitting I'm *relaxing*! And I compulsively want to finish that row so I can turn and go to the next line in the pattern.
What is it I'm knitting you ask? (Because really, if I did post what I started it was probably months ago and I'm sure I didn't take any pictures of it). I'm working on the Drive-Thru cardigan for my youngest daughter. I've actually made good progress on it and should finish it this week if things go well. I have the body done, the sleeves done and attached as well as all of the color changes at the top. I'm now finishing up the yoke and will do the button bands last. Yay!
I'm wanting to delve into sock knitting soon so I may check some books out of the library and read up on that. And now for a small techie review, here are my two latest, favorite gadgets:
Sennheiser Wireless Headphones
I received these for Christmas and love them! When I was a kid I had one of my eardrums rupture from an ear infection. Between that and the constant fluid that seems to be built up on it I have a hard time hearing all the mumbling that happens on tv. So, my sweet husband bought these for me for Christmas. I usually only wear them when the kids (or husband) is in bed and I can't listen to the tv loud enough to hear what the heck is going on. It's great because the volume on the tv can be completely off but the headphone volume can be adjusted as needed. And they're wireless! Although how I, Queen of Deep Sleep, ended up with a family of incredibly light sleepers is beyond me. At least now we're all happy with the tv volume :-)
Neat Receipts Scanalizer
This is so cool! Makes tracking my debit receipts enjoyable. As mentioned previously my book keeping had fallen behind in epic proportions. With this slick little device I can scan the receipt in and categorize it by tax expense. It keeps a scanned copy of the image and I can then throw the paper receipt away. Yay! No more faded receipts or piles and piles of ones I need to keep on until I balance my checkbook. I can categorize them according to business or personal use and print out some very nice expense reports for tax time next year. And yes, I am backing it up after every use to a Rev disc along with my quickbooks data so I don't lose it all in case of electronic disaster.
That's all for now!
Friday, February 16, 2007
where did i go?
When I was pregnant with my first child I remember thinking that now was the time for the happily ever after to start. I would have the baby and life would cruise happily along and everything after that point was just the fun details of life. I don't know why I thought that exactly but that was my mind set. My mom stayed home with my sister and I and was a great stay at home mom. I was looking forward to doing all the same things and being the perfect mom. The first hint that things weren't going perfectly was the six weeks of colic we went through with her. Eventually that cleared up and things went fairly smoothly until we tried to get pregnant with a sibling for her. It took two years, some mild fertility medicine and one miscarriage before we finally became pregnant with her. She was an easy baby and things were going well. I was from a family with two children, both girls so I felt like I had everything under control. I knew what to expect, I was comfortable with this. Then we were surprised with our little boy, a surprise pregnancy. I love him dearly but my life has not been the same since the day I found out I was pregnant with him.
Everything has become more complicated. More busy. More crazy. More noisy. All of those details that I thought would work themselves out after we were in happily ever after mode have arrived. And they aren't working themselves out. Things aren't falling into place. There is a ton of work to do. No matter what I'm working on I feel like I'm neglecting someone or something because they aren't getting the attention they need while I'm doing this.
I'm frustrated and angry. I feel like I'm being swallowed up by life. I feel like a complete failure. I feel guilty. I feel like running away, not from my family but from all of the demands. No matter how hard I work the amount of work never seems to lighten or be finished. Not only that but I feel like I'm starting to become a little invisible. I'm disappearing but I don't know that anyone will notice until a bill isn't paid or everything else has ground to a halt. I'm living a life I never would have predicted. I feel lost without a map to navigate what to do or how to do it. I don't know what to do to be seen again. Maybe I do know but I'm too afraid to try it. It's always failed before, why would it work now? Do I have a choice? Are all of us broken somewhere and have a crutch that we lean on? If I give up that crutch will I just find a new one to replace it? Can I have a good crutch instead of a bad one?
I think I need to do some work. I need to learn to stand up with out the crutch. I need to do some rehab work on myself and learn to live without it. I'm scared of not having it, I'm scared of failing again. The failure seems inevitable. I'm not a fatalist except when it comes to this. I think it's something I'm going to battle every day for the rest of my life and that overwhelms me. I feel like not bothering with it since I'm doomed to fight it forever. But then I look at my life and where I'm at. I need to do this. Not for anyone else but for me. And maybe that's the first time I've finally reached that conclusion. Maybe that's what it will take.
I have a feeling this is going to be a year of change for me. And I don't know if I should feel scared, happy or even more overwhelmed than before because right now that's how I feel.
I have to make myself re-appear because I deserve better.
Everything has become more complicated. More busy. More crazy. More noisy. All of those details that I thought would work themselves out after we were in happily ever after mode have arrived. And they aren't working themselves out. Things aren't falling into place. There is a ton of work to do. No matter what I'm working on I feel like I'm neglecting someone or something because they aren't getting the attention they need while I'm doing this.
I'm frustrated and angry. I feel like I'm being swallowed up by life. I feel like a complete failure. I feel guilty. I feel like running away, not from my family but from all of the demands. No matter how hard I work the amount of work never seems to lighten or be finished. Not only that but I feel like I'm starting to become a little invisible. I'm disappearing but I don't know that anyone will notice until a bill isn't paid or everything else has ground to a halt. I'm living a life I never would have predicted. I feel lost without a map to navigate what to do or how to do it. I don't know what to do to be seen again. Maybe I do know but I'm too afraid to try it. It's always failed before, why would it work now? Do I have a choice? Are all of us broken somewhere and have a crutch that we lean on? If I give up that crutch will I just find a new one to replace it? Can I have a good crutch instead of a bad one?
I think I need to do some work. I need to learn to stand up with out the crutch. I need to do some rehab work on myself and learn to live without it. I'm scared of not having it, I'm scared of failing again. The failure seems inevitable. I'm not a fatalist except when it comes to this. I think it's something I'm going to battle every day for the rest of my life and that overwhelms me. I feel like not bothering with it since I'm doomed to fight it forever. But then I look at my life and where I'm at. I need to do this. Not for anyone else but for me. And maybe that's the first time I've finally reached that conclusion. Maybe that's what it will take.
I have a feeling this is going to be a year of change for me. And I don't know if I should feel scared, happy or even more overwhelmed than before because right now that's how I feel.
I have to make myself re-appear because I deserve better.
Sunday, January 28, 2007
no more apologies
Peer pressure. Blog pressure. Bleer Pressure?
I always feel guilty that I don't have tons of pictures to accompany my posts. Truth be told I love to take pictures but I don't have a little point and shoot to capture some of the day to day stuff. All of the blogs that I always visit have lots of pictures of the dinner they made, the latest knitting/craft project they're working on, kids, etc. I'd love to do the same but I'm just flat out exhausted, and the thought of having to do more photo related work stresses me out. I started the blog to write about what was going on in my life and knitting that I've done. But I feel guilty about not having pictures to post so I don't write. It's a vicious little circle.
Today we finally had the birthday party for my daughter. Poor thing was born in the middle of January which just isn't conducive to get-togethers. Inevitably someone is sick or there is a snow/ice storm and this year was no exception. We had planned to have her party last Sunday but we had about 8" of snow last weekend so we post-postponed it to today. She wanted to have a tea party (which she had last year too). The girl is nothing if not consistent :-) However it was a tea party with a Cinderella theme since my girl is positively obsessed with Cinderella. For the last two Halloweens she has gone as Cinderella. We have not one, not two, but three Cinderella costumes. And every single day she carefully brushes her hair and wears the exact same Cinderella headband which came with her first costume.
We invited five other little preschoolers over to the studio for the party. After everyone was there they had the option of changing into dress up clothes and then we proceeded with the glamour girl make-over. We painted fingernails, put on make-up and curled their hair. After a brief fashion show I then took pictures of each of the girls.
Then it was on to tea time. My wonderful husband had helped me prepare the tea sandwiches ahead of time. We made chicken salad sandwiches cut into little triangles, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches cut into heart shapes and cream cheese and jelly sandwiches cut into circles. We also served a veggie tray to get in something at least a little nutritious. The tea was actually Arnold Palmers (1 part lemonade 1 part iced tea), requested by the birthday girl herself.
While the girls munched on the goodies I quickly downloaded all the pictures and did a quick Photoshop job on them and then printed them out on our little Epson PhotoMate. Then I slipped each 4x6 into a little clear acrylic frame I got at Wal-Mart.
For cake I made a Cinderella cake of course! I have a special pan I bought a number of years ago to make all of the Barbie-style cakes that the girls always want. It's taller than the Wilton pan, and makes the perfect size cake. I did do something new this year though and used fondant for the skirt over the butter cream.
Sabrina had a great time at her party as did all of the other little princesses :-) It was a super busy day but fun. Now we're at home recovering from all the non-stop running of the weekend.
Last night I did manage to do my gauge swatch for the Drive-Thru sweater (I did finish the ballet slippers but I still need to buy the soles to sew on the bottom. But knitting-wise, they're done!). I had started to cast-on and then remembered I hadn't done the gauge swatch yet. So I reluctantly tore out the cast-on and then started the gauge swatch. Good thing I did, I ended up having to go up a needle size to get gauge. Can not imagine how frustrated I would have been if I had started working on it without having gauge!
Tonight I'm going to finally get down to work on it. I've decided to make the cardigan version and will be knitting it in her favorite color, sunshine (a.k.a. yellow). The contrasting stripes of the yoke will be lavender, light green and light pink. And since I've decided not to pressure myself any more I'm not going to promise photos. Knitting is suppose to be relaxing and enjoyable and I refuse to turn it into another obligation or job by giving myself one more thing to do on my to do list. If I feel like taking pictures I will but I'm not going to apologize about it any more.
I always feel guilty that I don't have tons of pictures to accompany my posts. Truth be told I love to take pictures but I don't have a little point and shoot to capture some of the day to day stuff. All of the blogs that I always visit have lots of pictures of the dinner they made, the latest knitting/craft project they're working on, kids, etc. I'd love to do the same but I'm just flat out exhausted, and the thought of having to do more photo related work stresses me out. I started the blog to write about what was going on in my life and knitting that I've done. But I feel guilty about not having pictures to post so I don't write. It's a vicious little circle.
Today we finally had the birthday party for my daughter. Poor thing was born in the middle of January which just isn't conducive to get-togethers. Inevitably someone is sick or there is a snow/ice storm and this year was no exception. We had planned to have her party last Sunday but we had about 8" of snow last weekend so we post-postponed it to today. She wanted to have a tea party (which she had last year too). The girl is nothing if not consistent :-) However it was a tea party with a Cinderella theme since my girl is positively obsessed with Cinderella. For the last two Halloweens she has gone as Cinderella. We have not one, not two, but three Cinderella costumes. And every single day she carefully brushes her hair and wears the exact same Cinderella headband which came with her first costume.
We invited five other little preschoolers over to the studio for the party. After everyone was there they had the option of changing into dress up clothes and then we proceeded with the glamour girl make-over. We painted fingernails, put on make-up and curled their hair. After a brief fashion show I then took pictures of each of the girls.
Then it was on to tea time. My wonderful husband had helped me prepare the tea sandwiches ahead of time. We made chicken salad sandwiches cut into little triangles, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches cut into heart shapes and cream cheese and jelly sandwiches cut into circles. We also served a veggie tray to get in something at least a little nutritious. The tea was actually Arnold Palmers (1 part lemonade 1 part iced tea), requested by the birthday girl herself.
While the girls munched on the goodies I quickly downloaded all the pictures and did a quick Photoshop job on them and then printed them out on our little Epson PhotoMate. Then I slipped each 4x6 into a little clear acrylic frame I got at Wal-Mart.
For cake I made a Cinderella cake of course! I have a special pan I bought a number of years ago to make all of the Barbie-style cakes that the girls always want. It's taller than the Wilton pan, and makes the perfect size cake. I did do something new this year though and used fondant for the skirt over the butter cream.
Sabrina had a great time at her party as did all of the other little princesses :-) It was a super busy day but fun. Now we're at home recovering from all the non-stop running of the weekend.
Last night I did manage to do my gauge swatch for the Drive-Thru sweater (I did finish the ballet slippers but I still need to buy the soles to sew on the bottom. But knitting-wise, they're done!). I had started to cast-on and then remembered I hadn't done the gauge swatch yet. So I reluctantly tore out the cast-on and then started the gauge swatch. Good thing I did, I ended up having to go up a needle size to get gauge. Can not imagine how frustrated I would have been if I had started working on it without having gauge!
Tonight I'm going to finally get down to work on it. I've decided to make the cardigan version and will be knitting it in her favorite color, sunshine (a.k.a. yellow). The contrasting stripes of the yoke will be lavender, light green and light pink. And since I've decided not to pressure myself any more I'm not going to promise photos. Knitting is suppose to be relaxing and enjoyable and I refuse to turn it into another obligation or job by giving myself one more thing to do on my to do list. If I feel like taking pictures I will but I'm not going to apologize about it any more.
Sunday, January 14, 2007
I am so cold...
Brrrr. I. Am. So. Cold. I haven't felt my toes for most of the day. We had a sleet storm set in on Friday and it settled in for the weekend accompanied by snow and wind. Good times! Normally I would have enjoyed the pretty look of everything blanketed by snow but we had a big bridal fair that our company participated in this weekend. This meant I was walking around in dress shoes in the snow and muck. Today I walked across the street to get some lunch and my shoes swallowed about a quart of snow each. My poor little toes still haven't recovered. Even with the terrible weather attendance wasn't too bad at the show.
It's been a busy week getting ready for the show but I did manage to get some knitting done. I finished the second yellow ballet slipper and started on a hot pink pair for my older daughter. I just have the two by two ribbing to do on it and it will be finished. Then I'll just have the second pink one to make and I'll be done with the ballet slippers. I think I've decided to knit some Sweet Mary Jane slippers for Christmas for some of my aunts. After whipping up several of the ballet slippers I think I'm in the swing of the knitted shoe thing. I'm even thinking of adding some beads to the slippers for a change of pace to glitz things up too. And like every good knitter my list of projects I want to knit seems to be getting longer and longer. I've also ordered the pattern for the Drive-Thru sweater. I'm looking forward to making one for one of my daughters.
And as usual, I haven't had a spare second to snap any pictures at all. I'll have to get some after I finish the second ballet slippers and they can model them together. Did I mention we got a dog? He is so cute but I fear he'll be full grown before I can manage to get some pictures of him as well.
Off to dish up dinner. My sweet husband made a batch of chili in the crock-pot while I was trudging through the snow around the bridal fair today. I'm going to curl up on the couch with a warm bowl...
It's been a busy week getting ready for the show but I did manage to get some knitting done. I finished the second yellow ballet slipper and started on a hot pink pair for my older daughter. I just have the two by two ribbing to do on it and it will be finished. Then I'll just have the second pink one to make and I'll be done with the ballet slippers. I think I've decided to knit some Sweet Mary Jane slippers for Christmas for some of my aunts. After whipping up several of the ballet slippers I think I'm in the swing of the knitted shoe thing. I'm even thinking of adding some beads to the slippers for a change of pace to glitz things up too. And like every good knitter my list of projects I want to knit seems to be getting longer and longer. I've also ordered the pattern for the Drive-Thru sweater. I'm looking forward to making one for one of my daughters.
And as usual, I haven't had a spare second to snap any pictures at all. I'll have to get some after I finish the second ballet slippers and they can model them together. Did I mention we got a dog? He is so cute but I fear he'll be full grown before I can manage to get some pictures of him as well.
Off to dish up dinner. My sweet husband made a batch of chili in the crock-pot while I was trudging through the snow around the bridal fair today. I'm going to curl up on the couch with a warm bowl...
Tuesday, January 02, 2007
Finally, a few pictures...
I tried the finished ballerina slipper on Sabrina this morning. Although a little big it does fit and she's very excited about it. I think I'm going to look into getting some slipper bottoms to sew onto the bottom. Now it's on to the second slipper!
Monday, January 01, 2007
Happy New Year!
Wow. Did I really last post in September? No wonder I have been banished from some if not all of the webrings I belong to. To say that things have been busy is an understatement. We moved the studio to a new location which needed lots of work. We pulled up the old carpet, painted the ceiling and walls, built a wall and put down new flooring (not necessarily all in that order). Between that, the kids, work, etc. there has been no time!
Now that we're pretty much settled in though things are getting a little less crazy. I did manage to get a little bit of knitting done but didn't get any pictures. I made a little hat and baby bootie set for my business partner. However, in my usual procastinating self I literally finished the booties minutes before I left the house for the baby shower. I'll try to get pictures of the items actually on the baby after he arrives :-)
In other knitting news, I made lots of progress today! I knitted the first half of a pair of the Twinkletoes ballet slippers for one of my daughters. It was a learning experience for me, I had never done short rows or the cable cast-on before. Felt good to learn a little something new and get a little more knitting experience under my belt. Tomorrow I'll cast on for the second half of the set and hopefully finish it up before this weekend. Then I'll be doing another pair in a different color for my oldest daughter. I'll try to get pictures as well. I find that I usually post to the blog (usual? Did I just say usual? Who am I kidding, I haven't posted since September?!) after my entire family is asleep and getting out all of the camera gear, etc. would wake everyone up. Going to have to try to do better on that....
Let's see, what else has happened since I posted last.... Oh! My darling husband built a big wooden barrier to the huge, dirt-filled planter that had been the source of much grief and vacuming. I'm happy to say that we no longer have a fine layer of dirt all of the front of the house now. My son has now moved on to much more interesting pursuits since his indoor dirt pit was taken away. He is now busy trying to reprogram the heat/ac control pad whenever we aren't watching. There's nothing like waking up to a house that is 68 degrees in December! Or noticing that instead of just turning the heat off he is now going the extra step and turning the AC on. Good times!! We may have to buy a little plastic lock box to go over the heat/ac controls. That should be a charming addition to the decor, always looks so delightful in every school or office I've ever been in. Maybe my husband and I could even leave each other notes taped to it like you see in every church, "Do NOT set below 71! (also please take out the trash)." I always read all of the hand written notes in the churches, they do amuse me so. I'm always hunting around for the electrical outlets and light switches to take the wedding photos and frequently run across the notes. It always strikes me as funny just how angry the notes can be in a House of God. I came across one on Saturday that was quite lengthy and detailed about not leaving the lights on after a week night event as the lights don't turn off automatically and "WILL STAY ON UNTIL I COME IN THE NEXT DAY AND TURN THEM OFF MYSELF." (the all caps were actually written over twice to make them that much more bold for the reader or the inconsiderate, irresponsible, electricity-wasting church member going to the panel to make a lighting adjustment)
In holiday news I'm trying to decide what to do for Christmas next year. This year I was so busy that I bailed on making some of the things I had planned and went with gift cards instead. I'm thinking of starting the holiday stuff right off the bat, working as quickly as I can and then moving on to more of the things I want to make. We'll see, knowing me I'll just meander through the year and then start getting anxious about Christmas in August...
Now that we're pretty much settled in though things are getting a little less crazy. I did manage to get a little bit of knitting done but didn't get any pictures. I made a little hat and baby bootie set for my business partner. However, in my usual procastinating self I literally finished the booties minutes before I left the house for the baby shower. I'll try to get pictures of the items actually on the baby after he arrives :-)
In other knitting news, I made lots of progress today! I knitted the first half of a pair of the Twinkletoes ballet slippers for one of my daughters. It was a learning experience for me, I had never done short rows or the cable cast-on before. Felt good to learn a little something new and get a little more knitting experience under my belt. Tomorrow I'll cast on for the second half of the set and hopefully finish it up before this weekend. Then I'll be doing another pair in a different color for my oldest daughter. I'll try to get pictures as well. I find that I usually post to the blog (usual? Did I just say usual? Who am I kidding, I haven't posted since September?!) after my entire family is asleep and getting out all of the camera gear, etc. would wake everyone up. Going to have to try to do better on that....
Let's see, what else has happened since I posted last.... Oh! My darling husband built a big wooden barrier to the huge, dirt-filled planter that had been the source of much grief and vacuming. I'm happy to say that we no longer have a fine layer of dirt all of the front of the house now. My son has now moved on to much more interesting pursuits since his indoor dirt pit was taken away. He is now busy trying to reprogram the heat/ac control pad whenever we aren't watching. There's nothing like waking up to a house that is 68 degrees in December! Or noticing that instead of just turning the heat off he is now going the extra step and turning the AC on. Good times!! We may have to buy a little plastic lock box to go over the heat/ac controls. That should be a charming addition to the decor, always looks so delightful in every school or office I've ever been in. Maybe my husband and I could even leave each other notes taped to it like you see in every church, "Do NOT set below 71! (also please take out the trash)." I always read all of the hand written notes in the churches, they do amuse me so. I'm always hunting around for the electrical outlets and light switches to take the wedding photos and frequently run across the notes. It always strikes me as funny just how angry the notes can be in a House of God. I came across one on Saturday that was quite lengthy and detailed about not leaving the lights on after a week night event as the lights don't turn off automatically and "WILL STAY ON UNTIL I COME IN THE NEXT DAY AND TURN THEM OFF MYSELF." (the all caps were actually written over twice to make them that much more bold for the reader or the inconsiderate, irresponsible, electricity-wasting church member going to the panel to make a lighting adjustment)
In holiday news I'm trying to decide what to do for Christmas next year. This year I was so busy that I bailed on making some of the things I had planned and went with gift cards instead. I'm thinking of starting the holiday stuff right off the bat, working as quickly as I can and then moving on to more of the things I want to make. We'll see, knowing me I'll just meander through the year and then start getting anxious about Christmas in August...
Wednesday, September 20, 2006
Playing catch up
Hello! Long time no post! I am finally starting to catch up with life. A little. I have been completely swamped with work, this summer was busy, busy. So, so, so many weddings. It's been great, the business is really growing but it's been an adjustment. Most nights I'm up until about 1 am trying to get work done while everyone is asleep. Needless to say there hasn't been much progress made on any knitting at all.
I do think I'm finally starting to get on top of things though. ::crossing fingers:: I'm pretty much caught back up on the photography end of things. Now I've just got to maintain that while I get the business/financial end caught back up. So much to do! I did manage to get all of my clients entered into a new accounting software so it's much easier to keep track of all the different account balances and all the details. We're also in the process of moving to a bigger business space which is exciting, although lots of work.
Perhaps one of the most exciting developments of the summer was the construction of a large wood device whose sole purpose is to permanently block access to the enormous planter of dirt in the house. Although my two year old boy is disappointed that he can no longer use his earth moving toys for actual earth moving inside the house, the parents are delighted.
I'm also making some progress in the organization of the entire home. Slowly, but it's being made. During the insanity of the summer wedding season everything pretty much ground to a halt while I was working on all the photography stuff so the house spiraled out of control. Which I can't stand. So, I'm trying to implement better routines so I can at the very least stay on top of things. This summer I barely kept my head above water by only keeping up with the laundry and dishes. So not my idea of a clean and tidy house. I do struggle with the kids rooms though. I want them spotless. Heck, I want the whole house spotless. But I struggle with knowing I should have them do it themselves so they learn how to clean their room and also the consequences of their actions. Unfortunately I find myself doing a quick pick up in the morning after they're at school which completely defeats the whole consequences thing. Oh but how I love walking through the whole house when everything has been put away. ::sigh:: I'm trying to work on this by helping them clean up at night so that they can learn what is expected/how to do it, while satisfying my need of getting it done how I want it.
Spiritually I am so far behind on my bible reading it is not even funny. Or possible to catch up. I read through the entire bible every year for four years in a row. I love it. However, with the start of this business I've fallen hopelessly behind and feel awful about it. I thought about taking a Bible Study class at church this fall but didn't sign up. It was being held on a morning when all three of my kids are in school. For the first time since before my oldest daughter was born (8 years ago) I have two mornings all to myself and I selfishly decided to keep it that way. I've got to do something though so I'm going to work on getting my quiet time back.
Which leads me to realize that virtually all my struggles in life go back to not being a morning person. I have all these things that I could get done and my day/life would go so much better if I just got up early and did them: quiet time, working out, cleaning. I am so so so not a morning person. Staying up to 1? Not a problem. Getting up at 6? Virtually impossible. I've got to work on it though.
I'm looking forward to getting to the point where I'll have some free time in the evenings back so I can relax and knit or do whatever. Instead of always working. Speaking of knitting, I have my next project ready to go, just need to find the time. I've ordered the yarn and pattern for the Sweet Mary Jane Cardigan to make for my mom for Christmas. With it being September already it's looking like this probably won't be done in time. Maybe for next Christmas...
Well, that's my little catch up for now. Hopefully now that things are a little less crazy and the kids are back in school I'll be able to post more frequently. And get some knitting done!
I do think I'm finally starting to get on top of things though. ::crossing fingers:: I'm pretty much caught back up on the photography end of things. Now I've just got to maintain that while I get the business/financial end caught back up. So much to do! I did manage to get all of my clients entered into a new accounting software so it's much easier to keep track of all the different account balances and all the details. We're also in the process of moving to a bigger business space which is exciting, although lots of work.
Perhaps one of the most exciting developments of the summer was the construction of a large wood device whose sole purpose is to permanently block access to the enormous planter of dirt in the house. Although my two year old boy is disappointed that he can no longer use his earth moving toys for actual earth moving inside the house, the parents are delighted.
I'm also making some progress in the organization of the entire home. Slowly, but it's being made. During the insanity of the summer wedding season everything pretty much ground to a halt while I was working on all the photography stuff so the house spiraled out of control. Which I can't stand. So, I'm trying to implement better routines so I can at the very least stay on top of things. This summer I barely kept my head above water by only keeping up with the laundry and dishes. So not my idea of a clean and tidy house. I do struggle with the kids rooms though. I want them spotless. Heck, I want the whole house spotless. But I struggle with knowing I should have them do it themselves so they learn how to clean their room and also the consequences of their actions. Unfortunately I find myself doing a quick pick up in the morning after they're at school which completely defeats the whole consequences thing. Oh but how I love walking through the whole house when everything has been put away. ::sigh:: I'm trying to work on this by helping them clean up at night so that they can learn what is expected/how to do it, while satisfying my need of getting it done how I want it.
Spiritually I am so far behind on my bible reading it is not even funny. Or possible to catch up. I read through the entire bible every year for four years in a row. I love it. However, with the start of this business I've fallen hopelessly behind and feel awful about it. I thought about taking a Bible Study class at church this fall but didn't sign up. It was being held on a morning when all three of my kids are in school. For the first time since before my oldest daughter was born (8 years ago) I have two mornings all to myself and I selfishly decided to keep it that way. I've got to do something though so I'm going to work on getting my quiet time back.
Which leads me to realize that virtually all my struggles in life go back to not being a morning person. I have all these things that I could get done and my day/life would go so much better if I just got up early and did them: quiet time, working out, cleaning. I am so so so not a morning person. Staying up to 1? Not a problem. Getting up at 6? Virtually impossible. I've got to work on it though.
I'm looking forward to getting to the point where I'll have some free time in the evenings back so I can relax and knit or do whatever. Instead of always working. Speaking of knitting, I have my next project ready to go, just need to find the time. I've ordered the yarn and pattern for the Sweet Mary Jane Cardigan to make for my mom for Christmas. With it being September already it's looking like this probably won't be done in time. Maybe for next Christmas...
Well, that's my little catch up for now. Hopefully now that things are a little less crazy and the kids are back in school I'll be able to post more frequently. And get some knitting done!
Friday, April 21, 2006
let's make a deal...
Confession: right now I should be scrawling prices on pieces of masking tape and affixing them to mountains of junk that will be in my garage sale tomorrow. What am I doing instead? Sipping a berries & cream Dr. Pepper (note: it's brand new and pretty tasty) and cruising the internet. I have massive piles of stuff that need to leave my home forever so I had that moment of temporary insanity where I mentioned to my uber organized best friend that we should have another garage sale. She thought this was a great idea. So she did all of her spring cleaning, cleaned out every closet and room, sorted, priced and neatly stacked her garage sale items. I am still staring at the same boxes overflowing with toys and shoes from the night I first tossed the idea out. I am quite convinced that she doesn't sleep or is really a feminized Stepford-bot of some kind.
I think it might be almost more entertaining to not price any of the stuff, mix up some margaritas and just throw the crap in the middle of the drive-way. Watch people wrestle over my diaper genie and fisher-price piano. This is definitely the last garage sale for a while. It is so much easier to just haul it all to the Goodwill or DAV. I don't make any money that way but it takes way, way less time and effort.
Have I mentioned that I really don't want to do this? ::sigh:: Can't wait until the sale is over. You may wonder why I dread it so much. We live in the perfect garage sale location. I have never advertised or put up any signs or banners. All we ever do is haul things onto the driveway and people swarm. Our street becomes packed and there are nearly wrecks on the major street bordering my house because of the traffic to my place. And then there is the negotiating. Ugh.
I suppose I should be psyching myself up. But it's just more work. I'm so not looking forward to it. Better go find my masking tape and marker. And my happy face. I'm off to battle the garage sale beast.
I think it might be almost more entertaining to not price any of the stuff, mix up some margaritas and just throw the crap in the middle of the drive-way. Watch people wrestle over my diaper genie and fisher-price piano. This is definitely the last garage sale for a while. It is so much easier to just haul it all to the Goodwill or DAV. I don't make any money that way but it takes way, way less time and effort.
Have I mentioned that I really don't want to do this? ::sigh:: Can't wait until the sale is over. You may wonder why I dread it so much. We live in the perfect garage sale location. I have never advertised or put up any signs or banners. All we ever do is haul things onto the driveway and people swarm. Our street becomes packed and there are nearly wrecks on the major street bordering my house because of the traffic to my place. And then there is the negotiating. Ugh.
I suppose I should be psyching myself up. But it's just more work. I'm so not looking forward to it. Better go find my masking tape and marker. And my happy face. I'm off to battle the garage sale beast.
Thursday, April 20, 2006
Home, dirty home
My family and I are fortunate to live in a very large if slightly eccentric home. This home belonged to my husband's grandfather and has seen almost every member of his family live here at one time or another. This home was built somewhere in the 40s or 50s and has some very unique design features. It has a very open floor plan with a large kitchen as well as a pretty darn big living room which are both wonderful features. Some of the more "unique" design features to this home are the geometric, wood trillis which divides the entryway from the dining room, the linoleum in the kitchen which features ships with sails and windmills (all in the ever stylish and current shade of harvest gold) and the bathroom which looks like something out of a high-end vegas suite from the 60s. This bathroom doesn't have sheetrocked walls. Instead it is covered in some kind of thick plastic like substance that comes in large sheets. The lower portion is black while the top portion is the same black but is flecked with pink, peach and white paint splatters. Except for the one wall which has green plastic sheeting. I guess they ran out of black for that one. Or maybe it's a "design feature." This bathroom has generated more comments than any other room of the house. My friend's little daughter saw it for the first time and was in awe. "Wow mommy, this is like a hotel bathroom!" I'm not sure where they have been staying while on vacation since I haven't seen a hotel bathroom like this except on early James Bond films.
The other rooms feature windows of non-standard sizes which are off of the ground in non-standard measurements. The walls are sheetrock with about 1/2" of plaster over it. When my husband was attempting to do some computer networking and needed to drop a cable down a wall through the attic (before wireless networks were readily available) our friend came over to help. They drilled the hole in the attic and tried to drop the cable down. Only it wouldn't go. It was stopped. Why? Because the builder but cross beams between each stud all the way down. And I can't forget to mention the mysterious Light Switch to Nowhere. We don't care when the kids play with that one. We let them flip it to their little hearts content. They could be turning lights on and off somewhere in China for all we know.
But perhaps the single most frustrating design feature of this house are the built in planters. These are large limestone planters filled with dirt, inside the house. Yes, inside the house. When I first laid eyes on these planters while dating my husband I thought they were quaint. After we were married and I moved in I even tried to use them. I went to the nursery and bought some cute little flowers, brought them home and planted them. They really did look cute--that day. Then the next day I went to check on them and the little flowers had all turned their pretty little heads straight to the window and the sunshine that steamed in. Which looked cute if you were outside of the house looking in at them. Which of course no one can do since there is a huge flowerbed on the other side of the window. So I had all these cute flowers that no one could really see. But that wasn't so bad. At least we had cute flowers growing in the house! How cute! How Martha Stewart!
Until the aphids came. I noticed these tiny little bugs all over the plants. Ewww. Sprays didn't work and just made the house stink. People would walk into our home and were instantly assaulted by the smell of insecticide. Then they would see the strange little anti-social flowers who wouldn't even dignify my hard work to keep them alive by even looking at me. After the aphids returned again, I caved. I pulled up the plants and tossed them. This left me with the dirt. It didn't look great but there wasn't much else to do with it. We joked about it but grew accustomed to it. Eventually we had children. Now the planters are no longer jokes. They are evil design features placed here by an obviously childless architect. Every child has each, at their own time, discovered the dirt planter and delighted in playing with it. They throw the dirt on the ground, they sprinkle it on the piano, they bury things in it. They eventually learn that playing in the dirt inside the house is not allowed. The first two children (both girls I might add) would occassionally make a mess but for the most part were very careful and tried to leave it alone.
Now we have our son. He is almost two. Living in a home with a large planter filled with dirt must be his equivelent to a college age boy at the playboy mansion. If there were a tiny milk and cookie pub for the male toddlers to frequent I'm sure he'd be there everyday bragging about his dirt playland.
And really, I can't blame him. I'm sure it's a huge temptation and great fun. I'm just getting completely worn out with all the dirt and the vacumming. We've racked our brain trying to figure out how to fix this problem. We've looked for tile to tile in the middle of the planter but nothing matches. Let me describe it. It is probably around eight feet long and about three feet tall. The front is limestone and each end meets up with a wall. It's about two and half (or so) feet wide and has windows that run the length of it. The top of the planter is marble and has an opening of somewhere around 6-10" by about 7 feet which is where the dirt is.
My best guess is that the marble needs to be removed with crowbars (some of it is in bad shape) and then the dirt would be removed, the surface prepared and then we could tile the whole thing over in something nice and put some throw pillows up there. Of course this all takes time and money, both of which are in short supply. At this point I think I'm going to get a really big, ugly piece of plywood and lay it over the hole to keep the munchkins out of it.
Until then it's just me and vacum.
The other rooms feature windows of non-standard sizes which are off of the ground in non-standard measurements. The walls are sheetrock with about 1/2" of plaster over it. When my husband was attempting to do some computer networking and needed to drop a cable down a wall through the attic (before wireless networks were readily available) our friend came over to help. They drilled the hole in the attic and tried to drop the cable down. Only it wouldn't go. It was stopped. Why? Because the builder but cross beams between each stud all the way down. And I can't forget to mention the mysterious Light Switch to Nowhere. We don't care when the kids play with that one. We let them flip it to their little hearts content. They could be turning lights on and off somewhere in China for all we know.
But perhaps the single most frustrating design feature of this house are the built in planters. These are large limestone planters filled with dirt, inside the house. Yes, inside the house. When I first laid eyes on these planters while dating my husband I thought they were quaint. After we were married and I moved in I even tried to use them. I went to the nursery and bought some cute little flowers, brought them home and planted them. They really did look cute--that day. Then the next day I went to check on them and the little flowers had all turned their pretty little heads straight to the window and the sunshine that steamed in. Which looked cute if you were outside of the house looking in at them. Which of course no one can do since there is a huge flowerbed on the other side of the window. So I had all these cute flowers that no one could really see. But that wasn't so bad. At least we had cute flowers growing in the house! How cute! How Martha Stewart!
Until the aphids came. I noticed these tiny little bugs all over the plants. Ewww. Sprays didn't work and just made the house stink. People would walk into our home and were instantly assaulted by the smell of insecticide. Then they would see the strange little anti-social flowers who wouldn't even dignify my hard work to keep them alive by even looking at me. After the aphids returned again, I caved. I pulled up the plants and tossed them. This left me with the dirt. It didn't look great but there wasn't much else to do with it. We joked about it but grew accustomed to it. Eventually we had children. Now the planters are no longer jokes. They are evil design features placed here by an obviously childless architect. Every child has each, at their own time, discovered the dirt planter and delighted in playing with it. They throw the dirt on the ground, they sprinkle it on the piano, they bury things in it. They eventually learn that playing in the dirt inside the house is not allowed. The first two children (both girls I might add) would occassionally make a mess but for the most part were very careful and tried to leave it alone.
Now we have our son. He is almost two. Living in a home with a large planter filled with dirt must be his equivelent to a college age boy at the playboy mansion. If there were a tiny milk and cookie pub for the male toddlers to frequent I'm sure he'd be there everyday bragging about his dirt playland.
And really, I can't blame him. I'm sure it's a huge temptation and great fun. I'm just getting completely worn out with all the dirt and the vacumming. We've racked our brain trying to figure out how to fix this problem. We've looked for tile to tile in the middle of the planter but nothing matches. Let me describe it. It is probably around eight feet long and about three feet tall. The front is limestone and each end meets up with a wall. It's about two and half (or so) feet wide and has windows that run the length of it. The top of the planter is marble and has an opening of somewhere around 6-10" by about 7 feet which is where the dirt is.
My best guess is that the marble needs to be removed with crowbars (some of it is in bad shape) and then the dirt would be removed, the surface prepared and then we could tile the whole thing over in something nice and put some throw pillows up there. Of course this all takes time and money, both of which are in short supply. At this point I think I'm going to get a really big, ugly piece of plywood and lay it over the hole to keep the munchkins out of it.
Until then it's just me and vacum.
Sunday, April 09, 2006
A little adventure
Yesterday I did something I don't think I've done since college. Or maybe ever. I went on a little adventure--by myself.
My in-laws took care of our three darling children while my husband and I went out of town. He had a tournament to go to in Topeka and I had, get this, NOTHING TO DO. Seriously. Nothing to do. Several hours of empty time stretched out ahead of me. Oh the possibilities! He asked me what I was going to do. Hmmmm. No idea. This is very unlike me. Amy of the "We Must Plan Everything" had no plan. Well, I take it back. I planned on not hanging out at the bowling alley with him and his team mates. That was definitely part of the non-plan.
I decided my nails were looking pretty sad and in need of a manicure so I grabbed the phone book and looked up a nail salon. Kissed the hubby good-bye and took off for the salon. Only there wasn't a salon. There was urban blight and bars on windows. Not my idea of a girly afternoon out. So I turned the truck around and headed back to the safe side of town. I mean, don't get me wrong, I'm all for some adventure but blocks of bail bondsmen, pawn shops and seedy bars is more adventure than I'll ever be wanting.
So, back to square one. I go to gas station and buy a map and decide I'll drive into Topeka and find a shopping center. And then I remember, The Yarn Barn! I had heard about that little store and it was in Lawrence, not too far from where I was. So, I grabbed a Dr. Pepper and set off on my own little adventure to Lawrence and the rumored yarn heaven that is The Yarn Barn.
It was a beautiful afternoon, a rare Kansas day of a light breeze, vivid blue skies, perfect temperature and no humidity. The drive to Lawrence was scenic and lovely. It was marred only by my realization that I hadn't grabbed one of my cameras to take with me. In our rush to pack five bags for five different people and grab all of the necessities (Did we get her Night Night (translation: her special blankie), what about Carson's pillow? Did you pack enough diapers? etc.) I had not grabbed my camera bag. And I was so sad about this. Especially when I drove past the quaint cemetary on the hill with the tall, ornate headstones. I so wish I had remembered the camera. But I suppose if I had I would have made that into work and maybe not have completely relaxed to do nothing as I ended up doing.
I drove into Lawrence and stopped at the visitor center and asked for directions to the Yarn Barn. Drove over and was shocked at the amount of traffic and people out shopping. I hadn't been to Lawrence in years and had never been in that area of the town before. It was so cute! So many shops to visit and hundreds of people walking up and down the sidewalks shopping and socializing. Who knew? Took a while to find a parking space but I managed to find one a block away from the main drag and went back.
At this point I have to confess. I have never spent much time with just me. As a kid I always had my sister around. As a teenager and early adult I always had friends with me. I'm a bit social and always think anything I want to do will be more fun with friends. I admit, part of me has always been a little scared of doing things on my own. I felt like I needed friends with me. If I didn't know anyone who would I talk to? What if no one talked to me? What if I was all alone? Over the past year I've been doing more things on my own. And I like it. It's not scary like I thought it would be. It's peaceful and calming. Don't get me wrong, I love my family. I love my crazy kids and my sweet husband. But sometimes it's nice to be by myself and not have anyone need one single thing from me for an hour.
I browsed through the shops. Looked at toys for upcoming birthdays. Smiled at baby furnishings wistful that I would never need to shop for them again but relieved all at the same time. Admired hand made jewelry and artful blown glass sculptures. I went in the stores I wanted to see and stayed as long as I wanted to stay. I didn't feel rushed, I went at my own pace.
And then there was the Yarn Barn. How is it possible that such a small town can have such a fabulous yarn store? My own town is hundreds of thousands of people larger and our yarn store is a fraction of the size. I had the best time taking in all of the colors and textures. There was just so much to see. I spent a fair amount of time just looking at it all. I almost bought some yarn to make something for my sister. She now lives in Seattle and I was so tempted to by the beautiful hand-dyed $30 skein of red silk that was called "Ruby Red Slippers" but I resisted temptation and put it back. All told I think I spent under $4 for my afternoon shopping but the experience was worth far more than that.
On the way back I saw a sign for an apple orchard and stopped on a whim. They had fresh apple cider donuts and cold apple cider. I picked up the little treat and headed back to town. Normally I want to stop at those little places but my husband doesn't. And I can't say I blame him. If we stopped everywhere I wanted to we probably wouldn't get very far.
I drove back to my husband listening to jazz and realizing that I'm starting to discover more about myself this year--who I am, what makes me happy. I'm a bit more introspective now that I'm in my 30s. I'm surprised at how I feel about things that I thought would make me feel fulfilled. After all, I had planned it all out. The 30s feel like I'm finding the glove that fits and putting it on and getting comfortable. Not picking out the one that I want to fit and trying to squeeze it on.
I like jazz and chocolate and stretching my creative muscles. I enjoy driving to a new place and trying new things. I get frustrated when I get interrupted doing anything--I like to start and finish things all at once. I love my family with all my heart, but I'm a better wife and mother when I take a little time alone. And that was time well spent.
My in-laws took care of our three darling children while my husband and I went out of town. He had a tournament to go to in Topeka and I had, get this, NOTHING TO DO. Seriously. Nothing to do. Several hours of empty time stretched out ahead of me. Oh the possibilities! He asked me what I was going to do. Hmmmm. No idea. This is very unlike me. Amy of the "We Must Plan Everything" had no plan. Well, I take it back. I planned on not hanging out at the bowling alley with him and his team mates. That was definitely part of the non-plan.
I decided my nails were looking pretty sad and in need of a manicure so I grabbed the phone book and looked up a nail salon. Kissed the hubby good-bye and took off for the salon. Only there wasn't a salon. There was urban blight and bars on windows. Not my idea of a girly afternoon out. So I turned the truck around and headed back to the safe side of town. I mean, don't get me wrong, I'm all for some adventure but blocks of bail bondsmen, pawn shops and seedy bars is more adventure than I'll ever be wanting.
So, back to square one. I go to gas station and buy a map and decide I'll drive into Topeka and find a shopping center. And then I remember, The Yarn Barn! I had heard about that little store and it was in Lawrence, not too far from where I was. So, I grabbed a Dr. Pepper and set off on my own little adventure to Lawrence and the rumored yarn heaven that is The Yarn Barn.
It was a beautiful afternoon, a rare Kansas day of a light breeze, vivid blue skies, perfect temperature and no humidity. The drive to Lawrence was scenic and lovely. It was marred only by my realization that I hadn't grabbed one of my cameras to take with me. In our rush to pack five bags for five different people and grab all of the necessities (Did we get her Night Night (translation: her special blankie), what about Carson's pillow? Did you pack enough diapers? etc.) I had not grabbed my camera bag. And I was so sad about this. Especially when I drove past the quaint cemetary on the hill with the tall, ornate headstones. I so wish I had remembered the camera. But I suppose if I had I would have made that into work and maybe not have completely relaxed to do nothing as I ended up doing.
I drove into Lawrence and stopped at the visitor center and asked for directions to the Yarn Barn. Drove over and was shocked at the amount of traffic and people out shopping. I hadn't been to Lawrence in years and had never been in that area of the town before. It was so cute! So many shops to visit and hundreds of people walking up and down the sidewalks shopping and socializing. Who knew? Took a while to find a parking space but I managed to find one a block away from the main drag and went back.
At this point I have to confess. I have never spent much time with just me. As a kid I always had my sister around. As a teenager and early adult I always had friends with me. I'm a bit social and always think anything I want to do will be more fun with friends. I admit, part of me has always been a little scared of doing things on my own. I felt like I needed friends with me. If I didn't know anyone who would I talk to? What if no one talked to me? What if I was all alone? Over the past year I've been doing more things on my own. And I like it. It's not scary like I thought it would be. It's peaceful and calming. Don't get me wrong, I love my family. I love my crazy kids and my sweet husband. But sometimes it's nice to be by myself and not have anyone need one single thing from me for an hour.
I browsed through the shops. Looked at toys for upcoming birthdays. Smiled at baby furnishings wistful that I would never need to shop for them again but relieved all at the same time. Admired hand made jewelry and artful blown glass sculptures. I went in the stores I wanted to see and stayed as long as I wanted to stay. I didn't feel rushed, I went at my own pace.
And then there was the Yarn Barn. How is it possible that such a small town can have such a fabulous yarn store? My own town is hundreds of thousands of people larger and our yarn store is a fraction of the size. I had the best time taking in all of the colors and textures. There was just so much to see. I spent a fair amount of time just looking at it all. I almost bought some yarn to make something for my sister. She now lives in Seattle and I was so tempted to by the beautiful hand-dyed $30 skein of red silk that was called "Ruby Red Slippers" but I resisted temptation and put it back. All told I think I spent under $4 for my afternoon shopping but the experience was worth far more than that.
On the way back I saw a sign for an apple orchard and stopped on a whim. They had fresh apple cider donuts and cold apple cider. I picked up the little treat and headed back to town. Normally I want to stop at those little places but my husband doesn't. And I can't say I blame him. If we stopped everywhere I wanted to we probably wouldn't get very far.
I drove back to my husband listening to jazz and realizing that I'm starting to discover more about myself this year--who I am, what makes me happy. I'm a bit more introspective now that I'm in my 30s. I'm surprised at how I feel about things that I thought would make me feel fulfilled. After all, I had planned it all out. The 30s feel like I'm finding the glove that fits and putting it on and getting comfortable. Not picking out the one that I want to fit and trying to squeeze it on.
I like jazz and chocolate and stretching my creative muscles. I enjoy driving to a new place and trying new things. I get frustrated when I get interrupted doing anything--I like to start and finish things all at once. I love my family with all my heart, but I'm a better wife and mother when I take a little time alone. And that was time well spent.
Wednesday, April 05, 2006
time flies...
Wow! Can't believe it's been so long since I've posted. Time seems to just go a little faster every year.
Things have been busy as usual. My calf is doing ok. I've been off crutches for a while but it gets tired quickly and has been hurting a little more than usual since yesterday. My sister recently hurt her back and her chiropractor recommended pilates to help her strengthen her back. I thought I'd look into it for myself and ended up signing up to take classes here at the local pilates studio. I've only had one class so far and I am really enjoying it. I've also renewed my effort to lead a healthier lifestyle, lose weight and get in shape. It's going to be hard work but it's something I need to do.
On to knitting! I started knitting a teddy bear for my son's birthday and it has gone fairly well. I now have it all knitted and just need to assemble the knitted/stuffed parts. I had to set it aside temporarily though while I started a baby blanket for a friend's shower. I saw a post on another blog about the pinwheel baby blanket and wanted to give it a try. It is now going well and I'm making good progress on it. Unforunately I don't have time for pictures today but will get some up soon on these works in progress.
Oh, and I did get a fun new knitting tool! Went out and bought the Needlemaster set which I *love*! It's awesome and so fast to knit with. I used my 40% off coupon at Michael's to get it and am so glad I made the investment in it.
Things have been busy as usual. My calf is doing ok. I've been off crutches for a while but it gets tired quickly and has been hurting a little more than usual since yesterday. My sister recently hurt her back and her chiropractor recommended pilates to help her strengthen her back. I thought I'd look into it for myself and ended up signing up to take classes here at the local pilates studio. I've only had one class so far and I am really enjoying it. I've also renewed my effort to lead a healthier lifestyle, lose weight and get in shape. It's going to be hard work but it's something I need to do.
On to knitting! I started knitting a teddy bear for my son's birthday and it has gone fairly well. I now have it all knitted and just need to assemble the knitted/stuffed parts. I had to set it aside temporarily though while I started a baby blanket for a friend's shower. I saw a post on another blog about the pinwheel baby blanket and wanted to give it a try. It is now going well and I'm making good progress on it. Unforunately I don't have time for pictures today but will get some up soon on these works in progress.
Oh, and I did get a fun new knitting tool! Went out and bought the Needlemaster set which I *love*! It's awesome and so fast to knit with. I used my 40% off coupon at Michael's to get it and am so glad I made the investment in it.
Saturday, March 04, 2006
Things I've learned this week:
How to use the OnStar phone in my SUV.
I will never be able to knit those $^@# mittens.
I can knit the matching scarf in two days.
When I'm confined to my living room chair.
The exact snap and feeling of ripping a muscle in your calf. While shooting a wedding. Two hours from home. Two hours from the end of the shoot.
That the emergency room has thankfully revamped itself and it no longer takes 4+ hours to receive emergency treatment (although it did take 5 hours to get there from the time of injury).
That there isn't much you can do to treat a torn calf muscle other than some anti-inflamatories, pain meds and rest.
That a one year old boy can figure out in a day that you can't chase him. So he laughs and runs away. Over and over.
That it is nearly impossible and certainly dangerous to try to drive with a torn calf muscle. Two hours from home.
Thank God for cruise control.
That I can try to get caught up on a little knitting and correspondence.
That my husband loves me and will take care of me, the kids, the house and my business in addition to his own job. What a man :-)
I will never be able to knit those $^@# mittens.
I can knit the matching scarf in two days.
When I'm confined to my living room chair.
The exact snap and feeling of ripping a muscle in your calf. While shooting a wedding. Two hours from home. Two hours from the end of the shoot.
That the emergency room has thankfully revamped itself and it no longer takes 4+ hours to receive emergency treatment (although it did take 5 hours to get there from the time of injury).
That there isn't much you can do to treat a torn calf muscle other than some anti-inflamatories, pain meds and rest.
That a one year old boy can figure out in a day that you can't chase him. So he laughs and runs away. Over and over.
That it is nearly impossible and certainly dangerous to try to drive with a torn calf muscle. Two hours from home.
Thank God for cruise control.
That I can try to get caught up on a little knitting and correspondence.
That my husband loves me and will take care of me, the kids, the house and my business in addition to his own job. What a man :-)
Saturday, February 18, 2006
Ode to a fountain pen...
Yay me! Finally figured out how to put some fancy buttons for my webrings and links. Check out the sidebar. Guess my miniscule bit of knowledge about html paid off a little. And I even managed to move the links to sidebar all on my very own. :-)
Had a college flashback today. My daughter attended a birthday party at the bowling alley at Wichita State University. It was neat to walk around and see all the changes and how some things are still exactly the same. I walked around the bookstore looking at all the sweatshirts, hats, keychains and stuffed WuShocks. While browsing through the children's WSU merchandise I found an extremely cute tiny little baseball hat for my extremely cute tiny son. He now looks like quite the little man.
And in other exciting news I nearly jumped up and down when I found my favorite pens. In college I always bought these disposable fountain pens at the bookstore on campus to take all of my notes in class. They write so smoothly, the ink just flows out. I can remember taking notes in class and watching the ink spread out on the paper feathering ever so slightly away from the penstroke I had just made. Believe me, at times watching the ink was much more interesting than paying attention to the lectures. I loved these pens but couldn't find them anywhere after I graduated from college. And then today, ten years later, I was reunited with my beloved fountain pen. Evidently that's the only place in Wichita that sells them, and believe me I've looked. Everywhere. Even when on vacation if I'm in a stationary aisle in a store I look. I've looked online for them but somehow never found them there either. So at least now I know where to get them. Yes, that's the exciting life ten years after graduating from college. You find fountain pens exciting.
I took my son's counted cross stitch Christmas stocking with me to work on but didn't end up being able to work on it. I'm going to try the cable cast-on tonight for the mittens. I'm feeling a little more in the knitting mood with the downright frigid weather that we're having. Time to get dinner in the oven: roasted chicken with red potatoes and steamed veggies. Yum...
Had a college flashback today. My daughter attended a birthday party at the bowling alley at Wichita State University. It was neat to walk around and see all the changes and how some things are still exactly the same. I walked around the bookstore looking at all the sweatshirts, hats, keychains and stuffed WuShocks. While browsing through the children's WSU merchandise I found an extremely cute tiny little baseball hat for my extremely cute tiny son. He now looks like quite the little man.
And in other exciting news I nearly jumped up and down when I found my favorite pens. In college I always bought these disposable fountain pens at the bookstore on campus to take all of my notes in class. They write so smoothly, the ink just flows out. I can remember taking notes in class and watching the ink spread out on the paper feathering ever so slightly away from the penstroke I had just made. Believe me, at times watching the ink was much more interesting than paying attention to the lectures. I loved these pens but couldn't find them anywhere after I graduated from college. And then today, ten years later, I was reunited with my beloved fountain pen. Evidently that's the only place in Wichita that sells them, and believe me I've looked. Everywhere. Even when on vacation if I'm in a stationary aisle in a store I look. I've looked online for them but somehow never found them there either. So at least now I know where to get them. Yes, that's the exciting life ten years after graduating from college. You find fountain pens exciting.
I took my son's counted cross stitch Christmas stocking with me to work on but didn't end up being able to work on it. I'm going to try the cable cast-on tonight for the mittens. I'm feeling a little more in the knitting mood with the downright frigid weather that we're having. Time to get dinner in the oven: roasted chicken with red potatoes and steamed veggies. Yum...
Thursday, February 16, 2006
A hat, a bunny and yarn, oh my!
Here they are: real, color photos!
Yes, I've finally managed to take a few quick pics of my knitting projects. First I have a long overdue Thank You! to Amy. I won a little trivia contest on her blog and she graciously sent me a big box full of yarn.
Yay! Let's open the box and see what's inside!
Look at all the beautiful yarn! So excited! Thank you Amy! Most knitting blogs catch a cat in the background of their yarn, not mine. That's my son's feet speeding past in the corner of the picture. Some of you may be wondering who the cute little bunny is. On the front page of Amy's blog I noticed a cute little bunny in the picture. I recognized that bunny, my daughter had the same one. Then I read the very touching and sad Saga of Bunny. When the yarn came I thought I could pay homage to their Bunny with a little photoshoot featuring our Bunny. Amy & Emma, I hope you enjoy knowing that your yarn is now being watched over by another bunny :-)
I haven't been accomplishing as much knitting as I would like. Been busy with the business and kids. But, I do have some pictures! That itself is progress if you ask me. Here is the Sunshine Hat (really known as the Child's Bulky Knit Rolled Brim Hat):
Here are the little crocheted flowers that I need to sew on:
Now here's what's been holding me up:
My first mitten. It looks great. Except, when I went to seam up the side I realized that my daughter would never be able to squeeze her cute little hand into it. The cast-on edge is way too tight. So, now I'm going to have to frog the whole thing and start over. I'm going to try a cable cast-on and see if it will work better. So that's where I'm at. I was making some fabulous progress until I hit that snag. So I sat it aside for a while but I'm ready to jump back into it and complete it. Hopefully it will work!
Yes, I've finally managed to take a few quick pics of my knitting projects. First I have a long overdue Thank You! to Amy. I won a little trivia contest on her blog and she graciously sent me a big box full of yarn.
Yay! Let's open the box and see what's inside!
Look at all the beautiful yarn! So excited! Thank you Amy! Most knitting blogs catch a cat in the background of their yarn, not mine. That's my son's feet speeding past in the corner of the picture. Some of you may be wondering who the cute little bunny is. On the front page of Amy's blog I noticed a cute little bunny in the picture. I recognized that bunny, my daughter had the same one. Then I read the very touching and sad Saga of Bunny. When the yarn came I thought I could pay homage to their Bunny with a little photoshoot featuring our Bunny. Amy & Emma, I hope you enjoy knowing that your yarn is now being watched over by another bunny :-)
I haven't been accomplishing as much knitting as I would like. Been busy with the business and kids. But, I do have some pictures! That itself is progress if you ask me. Here is the Sunshine Hat (really known as the Child's Bulky Knit Rolled Brim Hat):
Here are the little crocheted flowers that I need to sew on:
Now here's what's been holding me up:
My first mitten. It looks great. Except, when I went to seam up the side I realized that my daughter would never be able to squeeze her cute little hand into it. The cast-on edge is way too tight. So, now I'm going to have to frog the whole thing and start over. I'm going to try a cable cast-on and see if it will work better. So that's where I'm at. I was making some fabulous progress until I hit that snag. So I sat it aside for a while but I'm ready to jump back into it and complete it. Hopefully it will work!
Sunday, January 29, 2006
House hunting....
Again, I have no pictures. Well that's not true exactly. I have hundreds of pictures. Thousands of pictures. But they are pictures of brides and grooms, boquets and rings, flower girls and bestmen. They have nothing to do with knitting. I've been so busy with work that I haven't had a chance to take some knitting pictures. This busyness has guilted me into not posting because I keep promising to post pictures and haven't gotten it done. Not to mention the thank you notes. Oh the guilt.
Not only have I been busy with the business, I've been busy with house hunting. I always thought I'd be EXCITED! HAPPY! to go house hunting. Because when you dream of a new house it's always perfect. It has the perfect layout, the perfect number of bedrooms, the perfect neighbors, the perfect street name (yes I'm that much of a dork), the perfect trees, the perfect location. In reality (or realty ha! ha!)there's always a strike against it somewhere. And if I think it's perfect, or at least a possibility, I can guarantee you that my husband doesn't agree. We're looking for a house closer to my daughter's school with more room than what we've got now. Oh the stress. We can't seem to agree on anything.
We were looking at houses today when a real estate agent practically attacked me for taking pictures of a home we were in. And let me clarify this--there wasn't a stick of furniture in it. Just room after room of tacky wall-paper borders. And really that's a subject worthy of an entire blog entry of it's own--wall paper borders and their assault on home decorating. Anyway, I was shocked at how rude she was. She went on and on about how it wasn't proper or accepted to take photos of homes that are for sale. People could have expensive pieces of art or children there. Again, no furniture, no art, no kids in this house. She asked me how I would like it if I had an open house and people took pictures. I told her that would be great, because the object is to *sell the house*. If that necessitates pictures, go for it. Anyone with a few brain cells bumping around would *remove the valuables* before the open house. And likewise with the kids. I was astounded. She thought that was a way to attract buyers? Unbelieveable. Now she's e-mailing us trying to sell a house to us. I have half a mind to send her on a never-ending search for the perfect home for us. First time I've been treated like a criminal for taking pictures. Whatever...
And it's January so that means that we're on a rotation basis with the illness. Sabrina started first with it, then my son, then Sabrina again, then my older daughter, then my husband and now I think I'm getting a touch of it. We've rescheduled my daughter's fourth birthday party two times. I'm crossing my fingers I can get the family healthy by Saturday for the birthday party. Can't bear to think of rescheduling again.
And knitting? ha ha ha. I took it with me to sewing night with my two girlfriends but we just spent our sewing time racking up an embarassing large tab of appetizers and margaritas. But that was some money seriously well spent, we hadn't had a girls night in quite a while. And it's hard to think about knitting mittens when we're having 50 & 60 degree days. My pear trees have started to bud out already which just can't be a good thing. Maybe we can find that perfect house before the trees all get burned with a freeze...
Oh, someone had asked my opinion on the Sony N1. I tried to respond but the e-mail didn't go through. I've not personally looked at that model but I've had good luck with Sony digital cameras. I've had one and my parents have had two. They're good little cameras. I shoot with Canon digital SLRs now (which I *adore*) and have a Nikon for film. Have fun camera shopping!
Not only have I been busy with the business, I've been busy with house hunting. I always thought I'd be EXCITED! HAPPY! to go house hunting. Because when you dream of a new house it's always perfect. It has the perfect layout, the perfect number of bedrooms, the perfect neighbors, the perfect street name (yes I'm that much of a dork), the perfect trees, the perfect location. In reality (or realty ha! ha!)there's always a strike against it somewhere. And if I think it's perfect, or at least a possibility, I can guarantee you that my husband doesn't agree. We're looking for a house closer to my daughter's school with more room than what we've got now. Oh the stress. We can't seem to agree on anything.
We were looking at houses today when a real estate agent practically attacked me for taking pictures of a home we were in. And let me clarify this--there wasn't a stick of furniture in it. Just room after room of tacky wall-paper borders. And really that's a subject worthy of an entire blog entry of it's own--wall paper borders and their assault on home decorating. Anyway, I was shocked at how rude she was. She went on and on about how it wasn't proper or accepted to take photos of homes that are for sale. People could have expensive pieces of art or children there. Again, no furniture, no art, no kids in this house. She asked me how I would like it if I had an open house and people took pictures. I told her that would be great, because the object is to *sell the house*. If that necessitates pictures, go for it. Anyone with a few brain cells bumping around would *remove the valuables* before the open house. And likewise with the kids. I was astounded. She thought that was a way to attract buyers? Unbelieveable. Now she's e-mailing us trying to sell a house to us. I have half a mind to send her on a never-ending search for the perfect home for us. First time I've been treated like a criminal for taking pictures. Whatever...
And it's January so that means that we're on a rotation basis with the illness. Sabrina started first with it, then my son, then Sabrina again, then my older daughter, then my husband and now I think I'm getting a touch of it. We've rescheduled my daughter's fourth birthday party two times. I'm crossing my fingers I can get the family healthy by Saturday for the birthday party. Can't bear to think of rescheduling again.
And knitting? ha ha ha. I took it with me to sewing night with my two girlfriends but we just spent our sewing time racking up an embarassing large tab of appetizers and margaritas. But that was some money seriously well spent, we hadn't had a girls night in quite a while. And it's hard to think about knitting mittens when we're having 50 & 60 degree days. My pear trees have started to bud out already which just can't be a good thing. Maybe we can find that perfect house before the trees all get burned with a freeze...
Oh, someone had asked my opinion on the Sony N1. I tried to respond but the e-mail didn't go through. I've not personally looked at that model but I've had good luck with Sony digital cameras. I've had one and my parents have had two. They're good little cameras. I shoot with Canon digital SLRs now (which I *adore*) and have a Nikon for film. Have fun camera shopping!
Friday, January 13, 2006
no pictures yet, but I've made some progress...
Wow has it been a busy couple of weeks. My refrierator is positively bare and I just haven't had enough time to even make it to the grocery story. Business at the photography studio is really picking up. It's so exciting! I'm completely booked with weddings for June and have many more booked throughout the year. Yesterday I even booked one for 2007! Yay! The growth of the studio has allowed me to finally give my notice at my part-time cake decorating job. I've enjoyed the work there but have just been stretched too thing with the family, photography and cake decorating. Whew, it'll be nice to just focus (ha ha) on the photography now.
On the knitting front it's been a bit of a challenge. I finished the sunshine hat, just need to crochet a few flowers for it. But, the instructions (crochet) are a teeny bit confusing so i'm going to have to sit down with my mom and work on them. The hat did turn out quite cute if I do say so myself. Again, pictures will be coming soon. Our DVD burner died so I can't delete the wedding pictures I took last week from my cf card until I have a back-up dvd burned. Ya'll probably think I've completely made up all this photography business with this blog being completely devoid of pictures. I'm hoping to get some up soon. Did I tell ya that my sweet husband helped me make my own double pointed needles for the hat? Couldn't find any the right size in town and the ones I could find online were going to be $9 plus shipping. So went to the hardware store and bought the right size dowel rod for $0.85. Sweet.
I have started my first mitten to match the sunshine hat. I made a guage swatch but it was too big, went down a needle size and it was still too big. After looking at my swatch I decided I was knitting too loosely and tried it again, finally got guage. Began the mitten and it is going well so far. I've been learning a new technique with each thing I knit and this time I'm learning how to make slanting increases. Really enjoying it and I'll post some pics soon. Seriously. Otherwise I'll be forced to break out my kids crayolas and scan my sad little drawings in. And really, who wants to see that? I can promise you, you really don't.
And BTW, what on earth is this Dancing with the Stars? This summer my sister was in town from Seattle and we had each thought this was a joke. I mean we seriously thought it was a spoof commercial when we saw it for the first time. I'm watching some of it now and it's interesting. I enjoy seeing the dancing but it seems kind of campy. I can already see them talking about this on VH1 in ten years when they do the "I love the 00s". Well thank heavens they just told Lisa Rinna she could stay, I thought she might start bawling any minute on camera.
Welcome to those of you who have taken the time to stop by my blog! I'm new to all of this and really enjoying it. Now that the holidays are over hopefully I'll be able to post more. Well, let me make that after my daughter's birthday is over. Her birthday is Monday, she'll be four. It's gone by so fast! We went through quite a bit to have her so at the time I thouht her birthday was a fine time of year. I quickly learned though that it's not such a hot time. At two weeks old she was sick with a winter bug. And every birthday since then has been a challenge planning her party. I get so caught up with Christmas it's hard to remember how quickly her birthday will be there afterwards. We finally got her party planned and the invitations out only for her to wake up with a stomach bug today :-( So, her party will be postponed until next week. Maybe I can have her hat ready for her by then.
Real color photos coming soon...
On the knitting front it's been a bit of a challenge. I finished the sunshine hat, just need to crochet a few flowers for it. But, the instructions (crochet) are a teeny bit confusing so i'm going to have to sit down with my mom and work on them. The hat did turn out quite cute if I do say so myself. Again, pictures will be coming soon. Our DVD burner died so I can't delete the wedding pictures I took last week from my cf card until I have a back-up dvd burned. Ya'll probably think I've completely made up all this photography business with this blog being completely devoid of pictures. I'm hoping to get some up soon. Did I tell ya that my sweet husband helped me make my own double pointed needles for the hat? Couldn't find any the right size in town and the ones I could find online were going to be $9 plus shipping. So went to the hardware store and bought the right size dowel rod for $0.85. Sweet.
I have started my first mitten to match the sunshine hat. I made a guage swatch but it was too big, went down a needle size and it was still too big. After looking at my swatch I decided I was knitting too loosely and tried it again, finally got guage. Began the mitten and it is going well so far. I've been learning a new technique with each thing I knit and this time I'm learning how to make slanting increases. Really enjoying it and I'll post some pics soon. Seriously. Otherwise I'll be forced to break out my kids crayolas and scan my sad little drawings in. And really, who wants to see that? I can promise you, you really don't.
And BTW, what on earth is this Dancing with the Stars? This summer my sister was in town from Seattle and we had each thought this was a joke. I mean we seriously thought it was a spoof commercial when we saw it for the first time. I'm watching some of it now and it's interesting. I enjoy seeing the dancing but it seems kind of campy. I can already see them talking about this on VH1 in ten years when they do the "I love the 00s". Well thank heavens they just told Lisa Rinna she could stay, I thought she might start bawling any minute on camera.
Welcome to those of you who have taken the time to stop by my blog! I'm new to all of this and really enjoying it. Now that the holidays are over hopefully I'll be able to post more. Well, let me make that after my daughter's birthday is over. Her birthday is Monday, she'll be four. It's gone by so fast! We went through quite a bit to have her so at the time I thouht her birthday was a fine time of year. I quickly learned though that it's not such a hot time. At two weeks old she was sick with a winter bug. And every birthday since then has been a challenge planning her party. I get so caught up with Christmas it's hard to remember how quickly her birthday will be there afterwards. We finally got her party planned and the invitations out only for her to wake up with a stomach bug today :-( So, her party will be postponed until next week. Maybe I can have her hat ready for her by then.
Real color photos coming soon...
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