Decorating

We bought a few items of furniture from our down-the-street neighbors who are, sadly for us, moving to Florida in a couple of months. On the bright side, they wanted to get rid of some of their stuff, so we took advantage. Most of it was basement furniture, but I did get a lovely corner unit out of the deal. I decided to find some decor for it today, and this is what I came home with:


I picked up the stuff on the top two shelves at Hobby Lobby. Yeah, I know I said I was never going to shop there again after The Shopping Cart Incident. But anyway, there are three vases, and the dark-looking thing on the right is a tiny wine-colored lampshade with little beads hanging off it. I fell in love with it, but they didn't have any stands there! So I have to buy one somewhere else. I hope I find one, or I'll have to return the adorable little thing. The middle shelf is just three candles, I think I need something else there, too. The bottom shelf contains two of my favorite cookbooks, and two bottles of wine. I had to choose those two because every other bottle we have, although much prettier to look at, is too tall for that shelf.

And I decided to do something useful with my yarn stash instead of having it take up space in my closet. See below:


Cute huh?

nano nano

No, it's not Mork. Check out what my wonderful, amazing, thoughtful, and generous husband bought for me last night!


It's a 2GB iPod nano!!!! It holds 500 songs and 25,000 pictures. I already have 75 songs on it, and I can tell that unless I decide to be more discerning, I actually won't have enough space on it. I got an armband for it, so if it ever gets below 100F, I can go for walks and have music! Imagine that.

There's something I never knew before until just now. There's a really weird gross sound in the song "Pump It" by the Black Eyed Peas. If you've heard it, let me know in the comments.

We have a BBQ to attend tonight with some friends from Dan's work (all the cool people! I feel so popular!), and then tomorrow night is the family picnic for Moms Club. Yes, in this heat.

Progress

I'm overdue for some knitting progress pictures, so here you go! The first is Pomatomus, knitted in Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock in Seaside. It's very slow-going, I've finished the leg and just started the heel.


And this is my progress so far on Tempting II, which I'm knitting in TLC's Cotton Plus in Spruce. It's for the Sexy Knitters Club knitalong. It's supposed to be stretchy, but right now it looks impossibly tiny, I'm not sure it's ever going to fit me. So far I have 9 inches of the body, I need to knit 7 more inches before I can start the sleeves. It seems like it's taking me forever, but I need to remind myself that it's knit in the round. Every sweater I've made so far has been knit in pieces, so you knit the whole front, then the whole back, which get sewn together later.


Today I ordered yarn for the Big Sack Sweater from Stitch 'n Bitch. It calls for Rowanspun Chunky, which is discontinued, but I found it on ebay for a great price. I got the Fern shade, which is a deep olive green - yummy!

Neglectful

Sorry, I haven't blogged recently. Lots of stuff going on, clients etc. but things seem to be slowing down now! I thought I'd post a quick picture. This is me and Mason (on the left) posing with my oldest friend Shana and her daughter Elise. Mason and Elise are about three weeks apart in age - her first, my third. Our moms were best friends growing up, how wacky is that? My mom is her godmother and her mom is mine.



This picture was taken at my grandma's 80th birthday party on Memorial Day weekend in Minnesota. We were just about to leave and go back home, Mason was at the end of his rope, so I'm surprised he wasn't screaming!

Not quite right

This is what the fourth of July is supposed to be like. But instead, it's eerily quiet. It doesn't feel like Independence day at all, actually. We're under a burn ban, and this year because of the drought, it extends to fireworks and charcoal grills. What's the 4th without fireworks and BBQ? This is the first year in a long time that we didn't buy a bunch of fireworks for the kids. Usually we brag about how we can shoot them off right in our own driveway because we're not in city limits. But not this year - there's not a pop to be heard anywhere.

Sunset

This is what the sunset looks like over my world:



I submitted it to the local news, we'll see if the meteorologist puts it on the news. We get a great view of storm clouds moving in, which I've submitted in the past, and he has used them. I wish the fiery red of the sun was more obvious in the picture, but you'll just have to take my word for it. That's the Hawktree golf club over on the right.

Summer

What is there to do in the summertime? Some knitters quit knitting when the temperature rises, but not I! Instead, I knit lacy socks. This is Pomotamus from Knitty, I'm knitting it on Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock in Seaside. I've been super busy with work (thanks, Tammie) so it's going pathetically slow. There are three pattern repeats in the leg, and I haven't even finished the first one.


And this is what happens on a hot afternoon when grandma takes the kids, and mom decides to hit the produce store while she's a little bit hungry:

I went a little hog-wild, but at least it's all healthy, right? I also bought a new blender so I can make smoothies. What the heck am I going to do with an entire watermelon?? Can you make watermelon smoothies? Watermelon daiquiris? Hmm... And there WERE more cherries and strawberries, but the boys and I basically ate them for dinner last night. Dan has been in Denver, and was supposed to be home by now, but his flight got cancelled, so now they're driving back. I expect him home around midnight, instead of 12:30 this afternoon. Bah.

How I Spent My Summer Vacation

Here are some pictures from our weekend trip to western North Dakota. We stayed in Medora and visited the Theodore Roosevelt National Park. These are some general pictures of the park:





Those are wild horses. We also saw one buffalo, some Elk and about 400,000 prairie dogs in a prairie dog urban sprawl ("town" doesn't do it justice - it even has suburbs). We decided it was the NYC of prairie dog towns.

Photo Deluge

My first harvest! Cherry Belle radishes. We ate some last night.

Darien all geared up for soccer. Obviously.

Running the ball down the field...

And back.

He had a great time, and can't wait for Wednesday night!

Jaywalkers

Here they are in all their glory:



I completed my Jaywalker socks over the weekend. They are so bright, not my usual style at all, but they're fun. It's amazing how alike they turned out, especially since I certainly didn't plan them that way. I did end up having enough yarn with some left over - whew! I already started a new sock using KnitPicks Simple Stripes (a yarn they are phasing out, unfortunately), pictures to come soon.

Yesterday I joined the Sexy Knitters Club KAL (knitalong) group. Our first project will be Tempting II - a sweater I've been wanting to knit. Along with about 37 other Knitty projects.

Tonight is Darien's first night of soccer. I will take pictures and post this week. He has soccer Monday and Wednesday nights from 6:30 to 7:30 until the beginning of August.

Fun in the Sun

What is there to do on a 94-degree day? THIS!


Don't you love their farmer tans? Meanwhile, Mason was entertaining mommy inside:


He did that all on his own.

Look What I Made!

I give you my completed Jaywalker sock, in Socks That Rock yarn, colorway Xmas Rock:



There's some crazy flashing/pooling, but I don't care, it makes them unique. The cool thing is, when I do the second sock, it'll look nothing like this one. Here's another shot from a slightly different angle. OK, I really just wanted to show off my sexy lower leg/ankle/foot. Rrrawwrrr.



I'm scared to death that I won't have enough for the second sock. If you're a fellow socknitter and you have a little extra Xmas Rock hanging around, email me. Call me cheap, but I just don't feel like spending another $23 on a toe's worth of sock.

And this is what I made on Monday Night Out with The Girls:



We went to Urban Girl for a little jewelry-making fun, and then margaritas afterward. This is a mother's bracelet - my birthstone (aquamarine) is on the far left, then two peridots surrounding the letter D, two sapphires surrounding the letter A, and two uh.. pink stones (tourmalines?) surrounding the letter M, then Dan's birthstone (peridot) and our wedding stone is the dangle (sapphire). It's my DAM bracelet!

Flashing my Stash

I've seen "Flash your Stash" pictures before, so I had to do my own. Now keep in mind, this is ALL SOCK YARN. I have other yarn. But I can make 14 pairs of socks!

Socks!

It's been a while since I posted sock pictures. So, below are my most recent socks. The pair on the left is Sockotta, I knit most of the first cuff during the Civic Chorus Evening on Broadway performance.. I only sang at the beginning and the end, so I had all this time to knit in between. The pair on the right is Opal Elements #1076. They are so pretty, and they turned out exactly identical! Ignore the cat paw in the upper right corner of the photo.




And below is my newest sock creation! I'm currently working on a Jaywalker sock, the yarn is Socks That Rock, colorway Xmas Rock. I've never done Jaywalkers before, it's fun! It's too hot to wear socks these days, but when fall arrives, I'll have really pretty feet.


I recently bought two skeins of Socks That Rock (Xmas Rock and Carbon), and six skeins of Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock (Black Purl, Aslan, and Seaside). I ordered Sensational Knitted Socks from Amazon, which arrived last week, so I have all kinds of interesting new patterns with which to knit up these gorgeous new yarns. They are SO soft and the colors are unbelievable.

I'll admit it - it's awesome that I have a sock yarn colorway named for a character in The Chronicles of Narnia. Rrraaaarrrr!

Even Better

Thursday night I made a nice dinner and decided to crack open a bottle of my favorite chardonnay, to date. I haven't had any Rombauer in quite some time, and it was yummy. I had a second glass last night.

After dinner, we went to the Band Night parade. I wanted to go for nostalgic reasons, because on Band Day fourteen years ago, I first got to know the cute, nerdy trumpet player with the fast car, who is now my husband. We were in the Century High School band, I was the fife player (in the fife & drum corps, which you can't see in the pic below because they're way in front - but you can see them and the color guard in the link above) my senior year. But this is a shot of the band as it is now, and I had to repress the urge to holler, "Looking good, Patriots, WOOOOOOOOO!" at them as they marched by. Or "Guide!" which is only funny if you're a former Patriot. I distinctly remember some former CHS grads yelling that at us, at my first parade, and I thought it was mean and funny at the same time. I still have a little pride for my alma mater, even though my brother is going to make fun of me EXCESSIVELY for it.

Adam M., Katie N., and Cade R. - I know you don't read this blog, but we had some fun that year! I wonder if I can still remember how to play Yankee Doodle on my piccolo...

Look at that smile!

My baby's gone! Darien lost his first tooth tonight, as you can see. We're not sure yet what the tooth fairy is going to bring him. I guess it depends on how much cash is in Daddy's wallet. Congratulations to my sweet little guy!

Portrait of Relaxation

Yummy. Notice the empty wine rack in the background. Time to go shopping!

A funny note - excerpt from a conversation the boys and I were having at dinner:

Adam: Are bananas a fruit, mommy?
Me: Yes, bananas are a fruit. What other fruits can you think of?
Adam: Oranges!
Darien: Apples!
Me: and Watermelons, too!
Dan: Uncle Chris.

This is a test to see if he ever actually reads my blog.

La La La

Here is a picture of our chorus performing last night, taken with Dan's Treo. You probably can't make everyone out, but I'm in the fourth row (second row from the back) first person on the left. The chorus link above is not really a link to our website, because we don't have one, but hey - it's the best I could do!




This is a view of one of the boxes inside the beautiful Belle Mehus Auditorium:



Here's what mom and I did today! We planted radishes, beets, lettuce, and carrots. We'll plant the rest (warm-weather crops) later on:



And this is Adam being... Adam.

Blossoms 'n Baby Buns

I took this picture of the juneberry bushes out in our yard this morning. They're so tiny and pretty!

I did not have a good week. Shall I summarize? To start the week off, my mother-in-law got pneumonia on Saturday and had to spend Saturday night and Sunday in the hospital. Darien was sick (vomiting) from 4:30 Wednesday morning until 8:30 the following morning, and stayed home from school for two days. I discovered I'm over-scheduled for May and June: I have clients due 5/17, 6/3 and 6/5. And my mom will be out of town from 5/17 until 5/28, I myself will be out of town 5/27-5/28. So I'm praying my 5/17 client goes early and the other two hold off until June. Then on Wednesday, on the way to a client meeting, I backed out of the garage and hit my mom's car and did $768 worth of damage to it. Then to top off my great week, Kernel decided to investigate mouse poison. So Dan induced vomiting (a 50/50 solution of warm water and hydrogen peroxide, squirted into his mouth via a turkey baster - I'm sure this will be funny to us SOMEDAY), and I went to the vet to pick up some Vitamin K tablets, which he has to take for three weeks, because D-Con is just warfarin, which thins the blood so the mice hemmorhage to death. How lovely.

But the good news is: my mother-in-law is feeling better and is home from the hospital, Darien is now better, our insurance is going to cover the damage I did to my mom's car, and Kernel will be fine.

Tonight is our final Civic Chorus concert of the season, then we're done until September. Our theme for Evening at the Opera is going to be Mozart's Le Nozze de Figaro (the Marriage of Figaro).

And now it's time for a cute baby picture!

It's comin' around again

Hormones suck. At least, I think it's hormones. I'm emotional, my chin is breaking out, and the awful insomnia has returned. Just like last time. Hopefully this time it won't lead to a horrible sinus infection.

Banks also suck. Today is payday, but does our bank balance show it? No! Of course it doesn't! I'm waiting for a call back from someone over there who'd better tell us where our paychecks (direct deposit) went. I think I'd better put some wine to chill in the fridge starting now. Good thing I bought that before our checking account got so empty!

Now that's customer service.

We ate at DiDonna's for my birthday, I ordered tomato basil soup along with my entree, knowing full well I'd never finish it, but it's worth it. It makes for a fantastic lunch the next day. It's the best tomato basil soup on earth, let me tell you. My sister in law is a server there, and she even labeled my soup for me.

Mama's little cookie monster

Because it's funnier in sequence. I give you Adam, in the throes of being spoiled by his grandma.

Mmmmm.

Yeah, that's a full case of my favorite wine. Twelve sumptuous bottles. Which makes me one happy mama. It's a wee bit blurry, and no - it's not because I drank one of those bottles already (I actually haven't had any yet), it's because my camera battery is just about kaput. Cheers!

In like a Lion

I don't know if you can really tell from the picture, but it's snowing like crazy out there. I tried to take a picture out the other window, so you can see the actual snowfall, but somehow it doesn't look as bad on the picture as it does looking out my window right now. Oh well.

Listening - a double dose!

This CD - "Wicked" Original 2003 Cast Recording - has taken top spot in my car. I think I'm obsessed with it! In a good way. I just finished reading the book upon which the musical was based. It all started when I got the latest Lorie Line book, Now and Then, for Christmas from my mom, and two pieces from "Wicked" are in it. I fell in love with the music with the first measure of "For Good".




I just LOVE this CD. "Trouble" by Ray Lamontagne. There aren't too many tunes on it I don't like! My favorite is "Shelter", but I also love "Trouble", "Narrow Escape" and "How Come". It's one of the few CDs I can listen to, front to back, without skipping any tracks or getting tired of it. A review done in O Magazine said at first she (I can't remember the singer who reviewed it) couldn't tell if the singer was male or female, white or black, and she liked that. I agree. If you liked the Amos Lee CD below, you'll love Ray.

Whee.

Ten Top Trivia Tips about Jen!

1. Ideally, Jen should be stored on her side at a temperature of 55 degrees!
2. Jen has three eyelids.
3. Reindeer like to eat Jen.
4. Bees visit over three million flowers to make a single kilogram of Jen!
5. You can tell if Jen has been hard-boiled by spinning her. If she stands up, she is hard-boiled.
6. If you break Jen, you will get seven years of bad luck!
7. An average beaver can cut down Jen every year!
8. Astronauts get taller when they are in Jen.
9. Jen once lost a Dolly Parton lookalike contest!
10. Jen can be found on a Cluedo board between the Library and the Conservatory!

I am interested in - do tell me aboutherhimitthem

C'mon, try it - it's uh.. fun. Sort of. OK, I admit it, I don't get out much.

If you need a laugh, go here: Stuff on my cat

I did another one, and this one's funnier:

Ten Top Trivia Tips about Your doula!

1. In her entire life, your doula will produce only a twelfth of a teaspoon of honey.
2. Twenty-eight percent of Microsoft's employees are your doula.
3. You should always store your doula in an airtight container in the fridge.
4. Olive oil was used for washing your doula in the ancient Mediterranean world!
5. Oranges, lemons, watermelons, pineapples and your doula are all berries.
6. Your doula is the only metal that is liquid at room temperature!
7. Your doula can fly at an average speed of fifteen kilometres an hour.
8. Plato believed that the souls of melancholy people would be reincarnated into your doula!
9. Pacman was originally called your doulaman.
10. In the Great Seal of the United States the eagle grasps 13 arrows and your doula.

I am interested in - do tell me aboutherhimitthem

Addictive

We've been having fun with this since the weekend:

Frvade

If you decide to try it, you MUST read the "Information" section first (and refer to it while trying to solve the puzzles), and you really should sign up for the Forums. I wouldn't have been able to solve most of them without the forums.

So far we've made it to Level 25. I'm ashamed to think of how many hours I've wasted playing this game, but once you start figuring out the puzzles, you don't want to stop.

First Socks of the New Year

I got these finished in January, but didn't get a picture taken until just now. This was my first attempt at making identical socks. Usually I just pick up the yarn and start knitting, with no regards to where I am in the colorway. They didn't turn out exactly right, but I'm pleased with them! These were made with Fortissima Colori Socka yarn, on size 1 Brittany needles. I picked up this yarn at Urban Girl, where the lovely and talented Katie from Sage Junction Yarns stocks some yarn and needles. Sage Junction is about 20 miles from here, so it is much easier to just drop by Urban Girl. However, that didn't stop mom and I from taking a little mini-road-trip out to Sage Junction this weekend! We picked up some coffee and went out there with the boys. I got a ball of Opal and two balls of Socka.

I now have one ball of Sockotta (#2 in the picture) on the needles right now, 2 balls of Opal (Elements #1076 and Lollipop #1012) , 2 balls of Socka #9074, and 6 balls of Magic Stripes all waiting to be made into socks. I'm also working on a gift for someone, but it's SECRET, so I'm not going to disclose any more!