a new FO, finally!

I finished of my Other Sister's dishcloth. Yay! It looks very nice, except for all the dangling yarn ends on one side. yep, still need to work in the ends. But, that's an hour's work, and it's finished.

I've started work on Big J's alpaca sweater again. Maybe because it's getting cooler, I feel like working on it. Hopefully, it'll be done by Christmas. Maybe. I have a list of Christmas presents (etc.) that is sooo- long that absolutely have to be done, so we'll see what actually gets finished.

Life progresses, but not much knitting

Let's see...we did go to the circus on Saturday. Much fun was had by all, including Little J. He slept through about half of the show, but he really liked the horses and the elephants. (I really liked the horses too. And the hunky guys riding the horses...) I forgot my camera when we went, so, all we have is one pic taken on Big J's camera that I need to have him send to me.

Today, was stressful. It's Little J's second birthday, and I took him to Toy's R Us to pick up his presents (I'm lazy, I hadn't got his presents in advance. I DID decide ahead of time what to get him, though) He did pretty well in the store, but after a few other errands I was wiped out. We went home, and we both took a nap. Hey, pregnant women need their naps.

Little Sis showed me her mid-term grades today. They had been handed out on last Friday, but she forgot to give it to me then. This all did not make me happy, because her grades had two F's and one D. If I thought she was struggling with the work, I could understand, but it's because she dosen't turn in homework, and she dosen't finish the work she does turn in. This happened last year too, both spring and fall sememsters. I don't understand why she is doing it, because there are things she wants to do, and she knows I won't give her permission if her grades are this bad. (Or, if I use my college psych courses: she does this so that she gets more attention paid to her and her school work, while avoiding the responsibility of being responsible for her own homework. Argh!) I mostly managed to avoid taking my frustrations out on her. mostly :( But now I have to email the teachers to see just how bad it has been. And why in world don't the teachers contact me BEFORE her grades are so horrible? I really don't like this school, and I don't like the teachers.

As I said, it's Little J's birthday today. After supper, Big J and I were frantically wrapping presents (wrapping paper may be one of the most wasteful expenses we ever have. Wrap, Tear off, Trash. But it's so pretty!) then we had cupcakes and present opening for the little one. Here's a picture of his pile of wrapped goodies (Please excuse the clutter. Little J was playing all over the house today). I may have went overboard with the presents, but really, they were things that I wanted him to have at this age, we just gave them to him all at once.

Here's one of his favorite presents. We (Little J and me) picked out a stick horse, and he was carrying it all around the toy store. He knew exactly what it was when he saw it again, no matter how well I had wrapped the head up.

This is a present sent by his Aunt S. Boy, does she ever know what he likes. It's a set of three board books, Police cars, Firetrucks, and Ambulances. Yep, I'm going to be reading those tonight, i betcha. Thanks, Aunt S!

His great-grandma sent him a birthday card along, too. It had Elmo on the front, which got a great big smile out of the birthday boy.

A-ha! Here's a picture of Little J, right after he put his fingers in the cupcake frosting. Hmm...I didn't realize Gallant was standing behind the boy. He must have wanted some cupcake, too. Little J's daddy picked out the cupcakes, so, the green ones are turtles (each with a candle) and the orange ones have Star War's figures on top.

I have actually gotten a little bit of knitting done. (Oops. I just realized I missed Knitting Night.) I've been spending way too much time on Ravelry (username marigo), and I would get more done if I stayed off the computer, and knit instead. (or maybe i should just clean the house? naaahhh.) Here's what I've been working on: Other Sis asked me if I would make her a dishcloth like the one I did for DishRag Tag. (I'm not sure if she plans to use it on dishes, or as a face cloth. Oh well.) I didn't think I had enough of the red/blue/purple varigated yarn to do an entire dishcloth, so, the middle strip is a different varigated that I had. And, I'm almost done with it. One more stripe!

Grocery shopping isn't for cowards!

We spent an hour grocery shopping. When I can get everyone to help, I try to make an expedition of shopping, and get at least two weeks worth of supplies at a time. At least. When I was more organized, I could get a month's worth of groceries, not including fresh fruit and veggies. The whole organization bit...means I have to sit down, write out menus (for the month, or for a couple of weeks) and do a complete shopping list. That takes time, but when I do, it does save us a lot of money. Some of it is that we save because we don't eat out as often, but a lot of it is because I know what I can buy in bulk, and I can plan to use left-overs, so we don't have to buy as many groceries. Also, I like to shop at the Army commissary in Indianapolis, and they have really good prices on meat.

Shopping could have taken longer. At the end, Little J was being held by his daddy, and screaming, and that really encouraged me to hurry up and get done. Poor Little J had had a very short nap, and was in no mood to shop. We still finished with one full grocery cart. Very full. Overflowing, almost.

Usually, we shop like this, and I come home exhausted, and with my feet and legs killing me. Today, well, I was exhausted, but that was from the hour and a half stuck in traffic on the way home. (it should have taken half an hour...) And my feet didn't hurt! Yay! I just got new sneakers, and, I LOVE my Ryka's. They're designed for a woman's feet, instead of being based off of a man's, and they are wonderful! These are the first new pair of sneakers I've gotten since I was pregnant with Little J (2 1/2 years)...hmm...maybe that's why my feet were hurting...

Tomorrow, the circus!

In Memoriam

Robert Jordan is dead at the age of 58. CNN article.

Socks for loved ones

This is the first sock I've knit for Little J. (i never made booties for him...couldn't find a pattern I liked, and the first try at improvising was VERY discouraging.) It's knit in Opal sock yarn, and is just a basic pattern. The sock does have some problems (short row heel did something funky, and it's about 1/2 inch longer than it should be...) but Little J loved it when I grabbed his foot to try it on. So, I'll stick it in a drawer until his foot grows some more.

Darling husband seems to think that it will take me forever to finish the second sock. I'm thinking, I'll have the second one done by Monday. We have 8 hrs of driving over the weekend, and if I can convince Big J to do most of the driving (he usually does) I should be able to finish a little boy sock in that amount of time.

We're going along with Big J to Columbus, Ohio. He needs to go for a work-related event, and we're tagging along. We may take in the Zoo there, or maybe just hang out. We'll see. I'll have the Little J sock to work on, I'm taking along sock yarn for a pair for me (I'm thinking the 'Back to Basics' pattern from the newest Knitty), and I'm going to take along the alpaca sweater, too.

counting up books...

I have 94 books listed on my books list. And that's an incomplete list. hmm...think I read too much?

Naaaaaah.

We won!

We won third place! My team, Rag Racin', won third place in the Dish Rag Tag contest. Is that spiffy, or what? A lot of people participated (over 200!) and, it was a lot of fun working with other knitters. hmm...maybe they'll do it again next year :)

Book List

• Deliverer, by C.J.Cherryh
• The River Knows, by Amanda Quick
• The 2nd book of Swords, Fred Saberhagen
• Love, Lies and Liqour, by M. C. Beaton (I really liked her Marion Chesney Regency romances, but, I don't think I'll be reading any more of the mysteries. I just don't like the characters. Whiny, stupid, self-centered...)
• White Lies, by Jayne Ann Krentz

When I was nineteen...

Inspired by a conversation I overheard during lunch at Denny's. A woman, who didn't seem very satisfied with her current life, was having a discussion with a philosiphical good-ol-boy who tended to go off on tangents, about what their nineteen year-old selves would have thought about what they were like today.

When I was nineteen...I think I would have liked the today-me. Yeah, I haven't gotten all my goals accomplished, but, sometimes life hands you curve balls, y'know?

However! Back then, I did have this idea that I would have a career, and kids, complete with a nanny to take care of the kidlets. By the time I was thirty, of course. The important part, and oh-so-relevant to tonight, is that I never ever ever envisioned poopy diapers. Or poopy clothes, when the poopy diaper falls off/explodes. Or, trying to clean off the poopy child before we pop him in the bathtub to get clean. How did I NOT think of this stuff?? I'm the oldest of 4 kids, fer gosh sakes. I had changed enough diapers, even before I started highschool. silly me...

Little J overdosed on apples today. We visited a pick-your-own orchard, and he had so much fun. He ran up and down the rows of trees, under the trees, pulled apples off, and he's been nibbling on apples all day. Which is a good thing, but, it led to a very stinky diaper. I think a lot of those chunks of apple he gnawed on passed right thru his digestive system. Ick. He was a very good boy - after his diaper fell off (!) he came and told me he was stinky. Now his daddy's giving him a bath in lots and lots of bubbles.

I wonder what my nineteen-year old self would have thought about this? hmm...probably that it isn't any worse than taking care of bottle-fed calves and lambies.