slow day

today's been a slow day, knitting, and/or otherwise. We went to church last night, Big J had to work today, and me and the kiddos just hung out at home. Didn't do much, just read, watched TV, and yes, did a little bit of knitting on the grey blob sweater. Oh, and I was playing around on the internet a bit...Ravelry is EEEEvil!

For the rest of the week, it's a bit busier. Monday, I've got a dentist appointment. It's a new dentist, and I'm already not too happy with them, because the receptionist didn't want to schedule my kids visits over the phone. grr...And after that I shuttle Little Sister to the library for a craft project. But, I get to knit with all the kewl knitters at Panera's that evening. :) Tuesday, Little J and I may be driving in Indy to find me some new bras...this depends on how tired I am, i think. Little Sister goes back to school on Tuesday, too, so it would be _just_ Little J and I. Then Wednesday, there's a LLL meeting in the morning, and I have a doctor's appointment in the afternoon. hmm...can I just sleep all day on Thursday? (not if Little J has anything to say about it)

Have you noticed the more frequent postings? Let's see if I can keep it up. I don't do NewYear'sResolutions, but, I would like to keep up with this blog. Let's see how I do.

Hot Cocoa Swap Questionnaire

And, from the Hot Cocoa Swap, enrollment is closed, and it's time to fill out our questions...

The Questionnaire!

It's here at long last... so let's hear it for the Questionnaire!

Cocoa:
1. What is your favorite way to drink cocoa? Prepared with milk? Water? from home made recipe or store bought?, In a tea cup, or big mug? I Like cocoa with water, from store bought mix, in a big mug.
2. Marshmallows or whipped cream? Whipped Cream!

Yarn/Knitting/Crochet
1. What is your favorite type of yarn? In what colors? Wool, usually worsted weight, in neutrals or blues&greens
2. Do you knit or crochet (or both)? Both, but I've been doing more knitting the last few years.
3. What are your favorite type of needles, would you like to try something new? My favs are still Brittany Birch, but I like trying new stuff, too.
4. Do you have a healthy supply of notions? Err...no. Either I don't have things, or I'm making do with something not really intended for that purpose.
5. What one thing do you keep thinking you need to buy for your knitting habit (outside of yarn)? heh, more books, of course! Actually, I keep thinking I need a small pair of scissors to go in my knitting bag. That's another of the notions that I don't have.
6. What is your favorite 'quick knit/crochet' pattern (quick gratification) I'm trying to think of one...socks? no, wristwarmers! very fast, easy knitting.

Miscellaneous
1. What is your favorite thing to do in the Winter? Read a good book
2. What is your favorite animal? cat, or a platypus. But I don't collect either one.
3. Do you get the 'winter blahs'? yes :(
4. What is your favorite way to beat the blahs? Sleep until it's summer. ;)
5. What is the thing you are most looking forward to this spring? having a new baby around! (She's due in March)
6. What are your favorite treat? Real carrot cake with cream cheese frosting. Sorry, I don't really have a favorite candy.
7. What is your favorite board game? Risk
8. Do you have any children (furry or human)? 13 yo little sister lives with us, our 2yo little boy, new baby coming soon. Then, there's the pets (which are not my children BTW, they are pets.) Gallant, the oversized part Husky dog, Princess the fluffy cat, and Rama, the rambunctious Siamese cat.
9. Do you have any allergies or special considerations you partner should know about? Nope

A year of Zimmerman

On ravelry, there's a group that's going to work thru Elizabeth Zimmermann's "A Knitter's Almanac". I'm planning on doing most of the projects (I did tell you about my yarn purchases, right?) and I cast on for another today. My Piggly Winks sweater! Well, Little J's sweater. No, it dosen't have pigs on it...if you have preschoolers, you might know about a cartoon on PBS called "Jakers, the Adventures of Piggly Winks". It's a very cute thing, about a little pig and his friends in Ireland. And the thing is, this pig always wears a little Aran sweater! Yep, I'm trying to knit a sweater that I saw in a cartoon....i must be crazed. But I've wanted to since the first time we watched this show, and the Knitter's Almanac group is a perfect excuse. I've got about 3 rows of my swatch knitted; it's not going very fast.

I've also started again on the surprise grey sweater. this time, I started by knitting the contrasting panels on the bottom. My hands were hurting a bit after I was doing those, I think it is something about the seed stitch. I can do knit stitches with fewer movements than it takes for a purl stitch.

Hmm...gotta go fold laundry, so I'll have a place to sleep tonight (currently, the bed is covered in clean clothes. And the husband objects if I sleep on his clean shirts.) Later!

Mommy paranoia

Have I ever mentioned how hypochondriacal I can be? (yes, that's a word if I say so.) Especially in regard to Little J? Big J is more verbal about it, but, i know all about everything that COULD happen (the hidden danger of majoring in biology in college) and I worry very much. Little J coughs, and i worry that he's developing pneumonia. He has a rash, and I'm concerned it's food allergies, or eczema, or scarlet fever. He scrapes his knee, and I wonder if i should take him to the emergency room...

Poor Little J bit his tongue this evening. He was standing on our bean bag, looking over the back of the couch, when he slipped and hit his chin on the hard part of the couch. Ouch! I couldn't tell at first if he had, but he was crying on me, and then he had blood oozing out of his mouth. we gave him a couple pieces of ice to suck on, and that seemed to help. Then later, he had stuck his shirt in his mouth (he had decided it was a good way to hold his shirt up when his hands are full), and it must have hurt his tongue again. He opened his mouth enough that I could see where he had bit his tongue. It's way back in his mouth, near his molars. It seems to have stopped bleeding now (cross my fingers) but, I was considering calling his pediatrician, or taking him to the emergency room. How does this relate? Well, I know the first-aid for mouth injuries, I know that wounds to the tongue usually heal very quickly, and I still had to check in my child-raising book, and online, to reassure myself that he would be okay. And I'm still so sorry for him, because it obviously hurt him quite a bit.

I don't know if I can take 18 more years of this...

Last Reading Update of 2007

Here we go! I haven't been reading as much, what with traveling for the holidays and making presents for said holidays, but, I do have a few more to add.

• Hogfather, by Terry Pratchett
• Widdershins, by Charles deLint
• The Virtu, by Sarah Monette (Very good, includes sexual themes, not recommended for children)
• Paloma, by Kristine Kathryn Rusch (Interesting ideas about alien/human interactions.)
• Knitting on the Edge, by Nicky Epstein

And, for the final total(okay, so I didn't get all of my reading listed on here, so this is all an estimate):

Books read in 2007: 144
average books per month: 12
average time per book: 2.5 days