The Country Mouse

Such a Reader

2010-02-22T20:03:00.002-05:00

I don't know if you can see the headline on the front, there, but I'm sure he picked this magazine on purpose.

Tired of Being Good

Excuse me ... but did you know there's a dead fish on your head?

2010-01-02T10:31:00.004-05:00

So our family Christmas was last Sunday night, and I can finally show you the presents I was working on so madly.

Last winter, the online magazine Knitty published a pattern (Free! All their patterns are free. I love Knitty.) for a unique hat. Originally designed for a young boy who wants to be a sea biologist, it looks like ... well, it looks like a dead fish is eating your head. I was immediately captivated, of course. (You may want to refer back to my first post about these, where I said something about family weirdness.)

So, for the last year, off and on, I've been working to produce these (closeups courtesy of the lovely Emma):

Because nothing says Merry Christmas like a dead fish.

Mr. Popper

2009-12-26T08:42:00.003-05:00

Levi didn't get a ton of gifts for Christmas, but we tried to stick with the classics. Along with a Rolf Harris CD set (he loves this guy; if you don't, go look him up on YouTube), he got a Farmer See-n-Say, and a Fisher Price Corn Popper. You had one, remember?

He is completely delighted with the noise it makes (Also the fact that is filled with balls. Ball? Ball? Ball?), and when he gets it to work, he cackles with glee. Sadly, he hasn't quite figured it out yet - he doesn't get that he has to push it out along in front of him. So it's a little frustrating right now. He's keeping at it, though. Pop. Poppoppoppoppoppop.

Just for fun: no one seems to know the official name of this toy (I had to look on the label). What did you think yours was called?

And bonus points to anyone - except my sister - who can guess what the title of today's post is an homage to. (Bad sentence. Oh well. Not on the clock.)

Santa Baby

2009-12-24T10:46:00.002-05:00

Been an awful good girl

Santa baby, so hurry down the chimney tonight ...

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Aaah. There it is.

2009-12-14T23:25:00.004-05:00

I confess I haven't been feeling very Christmasy. I'd like to say it's because I've been so busy these last few months. I have, but I feel this way every year. In my own defense, I think I'd do better if the Christmas pushers didn't start right after the back-to-school sales get cleared away.

That's not going to change, so I usually just keep bobbing along and trying to fake it until something clicks for me. Pretty often, it's a song. Sometimes it's snow. One year, I reread The Very Best Christmas Pageant Ever and that did it.

Tonight, I came in late from a Christmas party, and all the lights were off, but Paul had left the lights on the tree lit. So I came in and sat in the dark and looked at it for awhile, and there it was.

The Christmas spirit, big as life.

I'm finally ready.

Vested Interest

2009-12-07T00:18:00.004-05:00

When Levi was about three weeks old, we found out that he has cystic fibrosis (CF). There are a number of daily meds and therapies that come with the diagnosis, one of which is chest percussion and drainage (PD). Till now, we've been doing PD by hand, but have been waiting until Levi was big enough for a therapy vest. It came last week, and it was an exciting day for a couple of reasons. We won't be doing it by hand anymore (I know I'm a wimp, but it's kind of tiring), and the vest will do a better, more consistent job than we ever could.

It's a pretty funny contraption - the vest itself is black canvas, and contains an air bladder inside. Two hoses run from the vest to a little machine, and when it runs, the air bladder inflates, and then the vest deflates and inflates at a rapid rate - up to 25 times per second. The technical name is high-frequency chest wall oscillation. To an ignorant layman (that would be me), it just looks like the vest is jiggling.

We were warned that Levi might really hate this until he got used to it, so we were geared up for a fight. He did cry a little bit the first time, right at the beginning, but he recovered quickly and really doesn't seem to mind at all. I'm so thankful! Paul has worked out that we can put him in his highchair if we take the tray off, pull the highchair up to the computer, and let him watch Rolf Harris videos (if you've never heard of Jake the Peg, do yourself a favor and go watch this).

Bonus: The vest makes you sound funny when you talk. Good for cracking yourself up and amusing your mother.

P.S. I have about one half project remaining for the Christmas knitting. I'm taking a quick break to knit Levi a pair of good old-fashioned wool mittens with a string attaching them so he can continue to go outside with his papa. We can currently only find one glove at a time, and it is cold out there. Here they are without the string.

Going Into a Skid

2009-11-30T23:15:00.003-05:00

So earlier this year I decided to knit a bunch of Christmas presents. Every niece and nephew on my side of the family is getting the same thing in different colors. I don't love the nieces and nephews on the other side any less, by the way. It just didn't seem appropriate. Maybe because my family is measurably weirder*.

Anyway, it's a blessing, because I couldn't handle knitting 14 of the same thing. I'm doing seven as it is. I started in April, fell apart over the summer, picked back up in September and made good progress. During November, I cranked out two complete projects in two weeks. I have about one and one-tenth left, and I have gone into a serious skid.

I seem to have a cycle on knit Christmas gifts. I do it every other year. So next year, I'll still remember that I hate knitting on a deadline (It's supposed to be fun. Deadlines are Not Fun.). Then in 2011, I'll decide that it will be fun, and if I start early and stay organized, it will be be easy. And I'll post this very same thing in December.

Are there any carols about knitting? I need some inspiration!

*That will make more sense after Christmas when I can post a picture. Though if you know us, it probably makes a whole lot of sense right now.

A Brown Howler Monkey

2009-11-29T01:20:00.003-05:00

Here are some belated Halloween pictures. Courtesy of Jill, who took a few shots for me when I discovered I had forgotten to check the battery pack in my camera. Whoops. Thanks, Jill!

Levi was blissfully unaware of why he was dressed as a monkey (possibly he was even unaware that he was dressed as anything in particular), but enjoyed himself anyway. He even scored a miniature pumpkin from someone after pointing at it and saying "Ball!" with great joy.

In the meantime, he's progressed from the single word to "Whuz za ball?" which means anything from "Where's the ball?" to "More milk, please!" and, possibly, "Good morning!"

I know I've been AWOL. We've been busy! Doctor appointments, the county fair, spiky fevers, Tamiflu, just-appearing molars, bonfires, more doctors ... and I got a job. It's 20 hours a week from home (in other words, perfect), but adjusting to it has taken a little longer than I thought. I think I'm settling in, though.

Hands

2009-08-19T16:06:00.004-04:00

Paul's family had a family picture session a couple of weeks ago. Levi was not so good at smiling that morning, and more of the pictures had little squinchy-faces in them than smiles, but the photographer got a few. When we got the digital files, she also sent some cropped photos of Levi sitting on his grandpa's lap. Very cute. Here's my favorite:

Isn't that sweet?

There's a Joke In Here Somewhere

2009-08-15T10:26:00.002-04:00

I got a notice from the library this morning that a book I have out is due in two days. I haven't read it, so I tried renewing it online, but I've already renewed it once, and the system won't allow me to do it again.

It's called Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity.

Oh well.

A Brush With Fame

2009-08-05T21:17:00.004-04:00

So Levi met a celebrity while we were in North Carolina.

Shortly after Levi was diagnosed* with CF my friend Tiffany, who is an avid blog reader (and has her own blog as well), told me about a blog she followed called Confessions of a CF Husband. I googled and found it, and started following too. In fact, the whole family got sucked in. Paul and Levi took to hanging out at the computer and watching videos of the sweet baby girl at the other end of the DSL connection. (We've gone over the difficulties of long-distance relationships with Levi, but he remains entranced.)

Turns out we got to meet the CF Husband himself a couple of weeks ago. We had a great time, and Levi even gave him a kiss on the cheek before we left. Here they are together, with grins matching in intensity if not in toothiness.

Thanks for letting us drop by, Nathan! It was one of the highlights of our trip. We hope to see you again.

*Hooray for newborn screening - bringing longer, healthier lives to CF babies everywhere!

Digging Out

2009-08-04T18:26:00.003-04:00

Wow. I was out of town, then I had houseguests, and I'm working some this week, which I usually don't. It's been a little wild around here. I'm currently digging through all of the papers on my desk and hoping that none of them are badly past their expiration date. Or that I am unable to decipher some of the notes I wrote myself. (Like when I put something valuable in a "safe place." Our passports, for example. I'm sure they'll turn up.)

The smallest person in the house has produced four teeth on the top in the last few days, though not without suffering. I feel a little sad about it (and not just because of the grouchiness). I will miss his enormous gummy grin, and I was just getting used to the two on the bottom. I probably need to get a grip, or I'll never survive preschool graduation.

I have finally uncovered the camera, and it has lots of really fun pictures on it. I'm sure I'll post some of them soon. Here's one to hold you over.

Ice cream. It's what's for dinner.

Happy Father's Day, Papa!

2009-06-21T07:49:00.002-04:00

When can I go on the road, you think?

A Strange Kind of Sense

2009-06-16T00:49:00.005-04:00

My mom called the other day, and, after saying hi, asked, "Do you know where my turkey baster is?"

After a split-second struggle with a wildly inappropriate joke (I refrained), I said, "Um. No?"

She explained. When she's in my kitchen and she's looking for something specific, she can almost always find it. So our kitchens must be organized the same way. So maybe, she said, if I remembered where my turkey baster was, I could tell her where hers was.

It makes a certain kind of sense.

Unfortunately, she'd already looked in the places I thought of. No dice. When she came over this evening to watch The Bean, I forgot to ask whether she'd found it.

When I got home, though, the stovetop had been cleaned, which I am pretty sure was not Paul's handiwork, and for which I am willing to buy her a new turkey baster every time she loses it for the rest of her days.

And, because I am not over it yet: look what else my image software can do.

I can't believe I didn't know any of these features existed. I'm not even going to tell you how long I've had this program. It's embarrassing.

About That Tooth

2009-06-12T10:33:00.015-04:00

It's been quite a while since I mentioned it. I never did get a very good snapshot of it, but Levi did get pictures taken at nine months, and one of them shows it off really well. Here you go.

He now has a tooth and a half - the second of the bottom center two has come in. He seems to suffer the most about 10-14 days before the teeth appear. I gotta say, I hope not all of them come in as hard as these two. We've had some miserable days and fevers up to 104 with each tooth. Yikes.

He's a pretty mobile little dude now - above you can see him motoring across the lawn. He's not walking, but he's trying to let go of stuff and balance, with varying degrees of success. Typically, he lands on his bottom. Yesterday morning, he went over like a tower. Sadness ensued. He'll get it one of these days.

I've actually been knitting a bit, but everything I'm working on is a surprise, so I can't share. Some are for Christmas, and some are for happy events a little sooner than that. (Hint: the latter are very small and soft.)

People keep telling me he's going to hate us for all these bath pictures someday. I'll take my chances. Also, I can tell him with a clear conscience that all those funny hairdos are not my fault. (Auntie, I'm lookin' at YOU.)

Paul goes to an old-fashioned barbershop - red and white pole, inappropriate jokes, and everything - for his haircuts. (I am chicken and won't try a flattop; I'm afraid I'll make his head look funny. Er.) He sort of begged me to let Levi go last time. He was having pictures taken the next day, so I relented. Note that I'm not opposed to barbershops as such. I am opposed to paying for haircuts on tiny people who aren't yet mortified that their mothers cut their hair. (I might even be opposed once they are mortified. We'll see.) Anyway, he went just this once. They had a great time, and I have to admit, his hair looked really nice.

Isn't he cute on his papa's lap in that great big cape? And isn't that a lovely toilet in the background with the seat up? I might need to work on my photo composition.

One last story before I go - a few days ago, the boys went on a walk while I cooked supper. They were going to see the baby chickens, they said. Half an hour later, I get this picture on my cell phone:

Apparently they (I use this term loosely) decided to walk up to the community center next door to us, which has a pond. Nobody was there except two tween* boys who a) wouldn't pay attention and b) couldn't care less anyway, so Paul rolled up his pant legs and the baby stripped off, and in they went.

The pond does not in fact have lovely vivid autumn leaves floating in it this spring. I didn't want to post the original photo and face child pornography charges, so I decided to blur it in my photo editing software. Instead, I discovered a feature that allows you paste random things all over your pictures. I have not wasted any time with this at all. Why do you ask?

The spider one frankly freaks me out more than it should, but who doesn't love a giant donut? Also, don't believe any of the photos you see in the Enquirer. Because we do not really have miniature elephants, even though that would be lots of fun.

*I'm deciding whether to leave that in. It has a specific meaning, but I'm not so fond of the word. I can't decide whether it sounds like Tinkerbell on speed or a painful muscle twitch.

A Tooth!

2009-05-13T17:19:00.001-04:00

Levi has a tooth! (Finally. These teeth have been coming in forever.)

Pictures to follow when I can catch a smile.

Yes It's True ... We Are Happy to Be Stuck With You

2009-05-08T23:42:00.005-04:00

Apologies to Huey Lewis.

On April 27, our family went to court and finalized Levi's adoption. Woohoo! It was, as we had hoped, a total non-event, except that Levi burped really loudly during the actual decree part, so we don't know what the judge really said. (The papers are all in order, though. We're not worried.)

Here's a picture of our family with the judge. Her name is Dixie, which I found completely incongruous with her appearance. I don't know why, but I expected a judge named Dixie to be at least 55 with smoker's voice. Hah!

I don't know if you can see it, but Levi is holding a little pencil with two erasers, shaped like a gavel. The judge gave them as souvenirs. He was allowed to chew on one, but the other is saved for his memory box.

I think I told pretty much everyone I've ever met that the finalization was done, so it didn't surprise me at all the the staff at the CF center knew about it (the social worker up there had in fact asked for a call when it was over). I was surprised, though, when we went up for our regular checkup, the door opened, and everybody on our team came in all at once ... with cake! We saved Levi's for later, and here he is enjoying it at home.

Our little piggy ate about 2/3 of the slice. I didn't let him eat it himself, but I did promise him a nice smash cake on his first birthday.

I've been impressed from the beginning with the Cystic Fibrosis team at the hospital, but they just keep getting better and better. Cake was not necessary, but I was very touched that they wanted to celebrate with us. (Has anyone else had a problem as they age with leaky eyes? I think mine are defective.)

And speaking of CF ... if you haven't had a chance, take a look at my Great Strides site and considering donating if you're able. I'm walking on Sunday May 17 to raise money for CF research. I hope that someday soon CF will stand for Cure Found.

We All Scream For Ice Cream

2009-05-06T00:10:00.005-04:00

Paul's current favorite baby video. He's asked several times for this one to make it to blog-dom.

No, I was not around to supervise bite size. Good heavens!

Hmm. I can't figure out what's up with the sound. It's not quite as fun without it. Basically, though, it goes like this:

Paul: Hey Beanie. Do you want some ice cream? Do you like ice cream? Here. Ugh, we dropped it. Here. Are you ready? Mmmm. Do you like Papa's ice cream? Hmm? You must have a papa that loooves you to share his ice cream. Huh? Mmmm. Tell Mama, "I like it! I like the ice cream." (fade to "I like the ice cream" song)

Big Boy Haircut

2009-04-24T14:14:00.004-04:00

I held off for a long time (he's too little to get a haircut!), but I finally had to cave. His hair really was in his eyes most of the time.

Here he is before the big moment. Note suspicious presence of combover, and little flyaway wings over ears. Papa really hated those wings.

And now, in his hillbilly barber cape, with all the hair combed down for display. Yeah, it's probably time.

Hooray! Stylin' new big boy hair do, and no tears. At least from him.

Yes, I saved the hair, because I am a sentimental goob. I never used to be. What has happened to me?

Puppies and Beards and Hay Bales, Oh My!

2009-04-21T20:07:00.002-04:00

The neighbors brought the new puppy over to say hello. His name is Hobo. He's just four weeks old (and shouldn't be away from his mama yet - he's a rescue). He is just adorable, and Levi loved meeting a puppy.

And ... there's a goofy bearded man in the house. ("Don't you mean," said my sister, "another goofy bearded man?")

It's always a good time when the big boys come around.

That's Matthew, Levi, Logan, and Orin.

New Babies

2009-04-21T20:06:00.003-04:00

Ain't they cute? (Too bad they grow up to be chickens.)

Wedding Shawl

2009-04-11T09:04:00.003-04:00

I kept promising pictures of the completed wedding shawl. (I'm sure you've been holding your breath.) Here you go.

Pinned and being blocked on the spare bed. If I knit anything much bigger than this, I'm going to need a better blocking system.

Closeup of the pattern after blocking.

I like this picture because the model is wearing black, which shows off how the pattern looks on an actual person.

Wedding day!

This doesn't have anything to do with the shawl, really, but isn't a cute picture of the bride and the baby?

I am proud to say that I finished the shawl a week before the wedding, giving me plenty of time for weaving in ends and blocking. The bride received it on Tuesday before a Saturday wedding. At no point did I have to pull an all-nighter. (Which is good, because in college I could bounce back from those pretty quickly. Not so much anymore.)

Special thanks to Gina and Mary Lou for extended knitting time provided by excellent babysitting services. It would not have happened without you.

Info for knitters who might want it: this is a Tuscany shawl from No Sheep For You - pattern by Amy Singer of knitty.com. Yarn is Luscious Silk in Narikama (part of the Spirits collection) from Blue Moon Fiber Arts, who hold the current honor of Biggest Single Threat to the Household Budget. Knit on Harmony wood needles from Knit Picks - part of the interchangeable circular set.

Happiness is ...

2009-04-11T09:02:00.002-04:00

... a papa who shares his ice cream.

Twins!

2009-04-11T08:54:00.003-04:00

One of our cows had twins yesterday. It's the first time since we've been married that we've had twins, so I'm a bit excited. The cow is mostly Black Angus, and she was bred by a Milking Devon bull. The babies reflect their parentage - one is black and one is red. The black calf is a bull calf, and the red one a heifer.

The video is 22 seconds long and zooms in for a better look at about 13 seconds. If you DO NOT want to see a very clear picture of bovine afterbirth, you should click "pause" at 17 seconds. (I don't have video editing software. Sorry.) If you have young boys, though, and want them to go EEEEEEEEWWWWWWWWW, watch on!

Best Cornbread Ever

2009-03-25T08:52:00.003-04:00

Last night, I pulled chili from the freezer for supper and decided to make cornbread to go with it. I found a recipe I'd printed off the internet a few weeks ago and decided to try it.

Oh. My. Goodness.

Best cornbread I've ever had. Paul said it's the second best cornbread he's ever had. The best was years ago, made by Grandma Kate (not his grandma, the neighbor's) and from freshly ground field corn plucked from the stalk at just the right time. I can't compete with that and I'm not even going to try.

But anyway, good cornbread. Here's the recipe if you'd like to try it yourself.

Sweet Cornbread

1 c. flour
1 c. cornmeal
2/3 c. sugar
1 tsp. salt
3 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 egg
1 c. milk
1/3 c. vegetable oil

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease a 9" round cake pan. (I used a deep dish pie pan.)

Combine all dry ingredients. Stir in egg, milk, and oil until well combined. Pour into prepared pan.

Bake at 400 degrees for 20-25 minutes.

P.S. If you happen see the shirt that the baby is wearing in the video below, let me know. It has entered the Great Laundry Vortex, and I'm bummed. I like that shirt.

We're In Trouble Now

2009-03-19T12:45:00.004-04:00

Levi has, just now, figured out the one-leg-at-a-time principle of crawling. There'll be no stopping him now! Also, he's finally figured out how to get his socks off. Thank goodness warm weather is coming. I read somewhere about a mom in Alaska who had to duct tape her baby's socks and boots to his pants because he wouldn't leave them on, and in sub-zero weather, it's not cute so much as it is frightfully dangerous.

I haven't been remiss in taking pictures, but I've been terrible about uploading them. Soon. In the meantime, enjoy this video of Levi and his uncle cracking each other up.

(The wedding shawl is finished!!! Yes, it deserves several exclamation points. Pictures soon.)

How do I order a safety bubble?

2009-02-27T18:04:00.002-05:00

So last Friday, I dropped a pan on my toe. After a couple of days it looked, as someone said, as if it was about to fall off. Happily it is healing well, and I can wear shoes again.

Today, I opened the car door into my forehead. I have gotten in and out of this car countless times without incident. I'm really not sure what happened. Anyway, there was a temporary dent in my forehead which has been replaced by a puffy place. I'm hoping for a really nasty bruise.

A few moments ago, I was slicing bread and got my finger instead. Fairly badly, though not badly enough for an ER visit.

So if anyone knows where I can find a safety bubble, I think I probably need one. Or I could just stay in bed on Fridays.

Readings from Ephesians. Sort of.

2009-02-17T21:34:00.001-05:00

Paul has a habit of doing his Bible reading for the day while he's giving the baby a bottle, and he reads aloud. He also works in statements that pertain to what's going on with the feeding.

So I'll be sitting here typing and hearing things like, "And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grab your bottle and throw it down. What was that about?" and then later, "...until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature ... Then we will no longer be infants, crying and filling our pants."

It's pretty funny stuff.

I Want To Do It Myself!

2009-02-10T14:59:00.003-05:00

So last night I was running late (yeah, yeah) and I needed to feed the baby, but I also needed to get dressed. I decided to see if he could hold a bottle well yet. Laid him down on the floor and let him try, and the little booger went to town.

Excuse the quality. It's a cell phone picture that I took to send to Paul.

This morning, he woke up and wanted a bottle, but he did NOT want me to hold it for him. He wanted to hold it himself. Turns out he did the same thing for Paul early this morning.

What have I done?

Splish Splash, Baby

2009-02-09T14:17:00.004-05:00

That boy, he does love a bath. Here he is in The Big Tub with mama.

And here he is by himself (not by himself, exactly, but he was the only one that was actually in the water), swimming after his bath. We're not sure what exactly is so much fun, but we're glad he enjoys it!

Needles Afire

2009-01-29T08:13:00.006-05:00

I had been meaning to make another wool hat for Paul, who runs outside into the cold a lot at work, and I finally finished it. Below, you can see it modeled on its intended recipient, and also on the baby, who looks rather like a mushroom.

I think they're both quite cute, but obviously I'm biased.

Also, the yarn arrived for my next Big Project, and I started working. It's a wedding shawl for the neighbor, who is getting married sometime in the spring or early summer. (Date TBA.) This is the Tuscany shawl by Amy Singer, from No Sheep For You. It's a lovely pattern, and I'm using lovely yarn - Luscious Silk from Blue Moon Fiber Arts in Narikama (part of the Spirits collection, if you're going to look). This yarn is a delight to work with, and knit up, it is soft and has excellent stitch definition to show off the pattern. This pattern is worked from the tip and widens as you go.

Non-knitters (which will be most of you, undoubtedly): Those orange lines running through it are not a part of the pattern. They are lifelines - used when knitting lace or something else which might make you weep if you had to rip it out. At certain points in a pattern - usually the end of a repeated set of rows - you run a thin yarn in a contrasting color through the work. Then, when you make an irretrievable mistake six rows later, you only have to rip out six rows, instead of all of them (in this pattern, all of them can be anywhere up to 200), and thread the needle back into the stitches that are captured on the contrasting yarn. Lifelines are removed when you're done knitting.

Also, since I am incapable of even serial monogamy when it comes to knitting, I am working on a pair of fingerless gloves for myself. Just a few rows to finish the top, and then I'll complete the thumb and have one done.

This is a new pattern, picked up at Lettuce Knit in Toronto, and I like it, though I may shorten the ribbed cuff by an inch or so if I make it again. It's my first time creating a thumb gusset, and like most things, it's a lot easier than I thought it would be. There's probably a metaphor for life in there somewhere, but I'm too distracted to figure it out this morning.

Stay warm out there!

Bath Head, Feet, and Bread

2009-01-21T16:13:00.003-05:00

I think Don King could learn a thing or two. (As perhaps I could about my camera. I don't know why that picture is grainy.)

Oh, and we have discovered our feet. Haven't quite figured out how to gnaw on them yet, but it can't be far off. (Look at those chunky thighs! I can't wait to show them off at his next appointment. See, I AM feeding him!)

I've been making bread lately. Mostly traditional whole wheat loaves with a little wheat bran thrown in for texture, but I've also been experimenting with no-knead bread. The whole wheat loaves have been coming out consistently tasty, but I'd like a little more loft to the loaf; I have short little pieces of bread when I slice. The no-knead has always been delicious, but I can't quite get the second rise to work correctly. I experimented a little with the batch I made today, so I'll let it sit in the fridge overnight and make a loaf tomorrow to see if it made any difference.

More importantly, I promised myself that I am not going to go bonkers with the bread. I have a bad habit of figuring out something new, deciding that this is the best new thing EVAH, and burning myself out in a while. So usually, this is how it would go:

I can bake bread! And it tastes good! Oh my goodness! I will bake bread every day. My family will eat only homebaked whole grain nutritiony goodness that has been formed with my loving hands. Commercial bread will never cross the threshold of this house again. Never, I say! Would you like me to list the advantages of homemade bread for you? Here you go. (I'll spare you the lecture. People who see me in person regularly are unfortunately not so lucky.) I am so excited about baking bread for my family! La la la la la. (Sung with dough on the hands and flour on the shirt.)

Then I would get busy one week and not have time to bake bread, and this would happen:

I am a terrible mother. I am a terrible wife. I can't even manage to bake bread for my family. *sob* What is wrong with me? Why am I such a mess? Why can't I get anything right? Why can't I accomplish a simple task like baking a loaf of bread?

Repeat a couple of times, and soon the decision comes that baking bread is causing me too much stress and I am clearly not good at it anyway, and so I am giving it up. We will buy our bread.

(Also, I suspect that the perpetual student that lives inside me gets really engaged while I'm learning about something and perfecting the process, and then gets bored once I've figured it out. "Another flaw in the human character is that everybody wants to build and nobody wants to do maintenance." - Kurt Vonnegut)

All of that is what I am trying hard NOT to do this time around. I told Paul, who really likes the bread and seemed to get just ever-so-slightly panicky today when there was just a crust left, that I will keep up with baking bread whenever I can, but I am not going to have a heart attack about it if I can't. I have a couple of loaves of our favorite store-bought in the freezer, and they'll get pulled out as necessary and used occasionally anyway for rotation. I am trying very hard to change my ways.

In fact, I am so enamored of my new way of approaching projects that I am sure I will never go back to the old way. Did you hear me? I am a changed woman! I am so excited about my new way of doing things and how I'm never going back, and I'd like to tell you about how it's changed my life. Are you ready? Are you excited to hear about my new ...

See? I have to watch myself every minute.

A New Trick

2009-01-13T08:41:00.002-05:00

After a few weeks of lying on his side and looking up at us as if to say, "Well? What now?" baby boy has achieved rollover. He especially likes to try on the changing table, which makes him both more dangerous and harder to dress.

In case you're wondering, that picture has nothing to do with rolling over. I just thought it was funny. And for the record, it was papa that did that to him.

Moebiuses (Mobeii?)

2009-01-12T15:44:00.005-05:00

More than one of them, at any rate.

I cast on a moebius on Election Day 2008 (see why here if you like), and finished in the run up to Christmas. It wasn't intended as a Christmas present - in the interests of sanity, I do not knit very many Christmas presents - but I gave it to my sister when it was done. It seemed fitting. I bought the yarn when I was with her, it was much more in her color palette than mine, and it may have convinced her that not all wool is Brillo-like. Here are a couple of pictures of the finished product. They aren't fantastic pictures, and my hair wasn't really feeling it that day, but it does give you an idea of how a moebius scarf/hood works.

The pattern alternates knit and purl ridges. If you are a math geek, you might like to know that the rows of knit/purl in this particular piece follow the Fibonacci sequence. The yarn is Malabrigo merino worsted in the loro barranquero colorway, purchased at Lettuce Knit in Toronto.

I really enjoyed knitting this - I find the construction of the moebius fascinating. The cast on is slightly fiddly but not hard at all (see the first link for a step-by-step video), and does not create an edge, but the very middle row of the moebius. So you begin knitting a thin piece of fabric, and it grows not longer but wider. I think Cat Bordhi, who invented the cast on, can see an extra dimension.

Anyway, I had so much fun with it that I cast on another yesterday evening. This one is probably for me, and I'm using stash yarn - some Malabrigo merino worsted that didn't know what it wanted to be when it grew up. It's a yummy warm red (yeah, I know) and I'm loving working with it.

A Young Card Shark

2009-01-12T15:29:00.002-05:00

He doesn't have much of a poker face, though.

Things Are Not Always What They Seem

2008-12-29T21:17:00.004-05:00

Here's a picture.

Doesn't that look lovely and peaceful? A father cuddling his child. Awwwww.

Here's what was really happening.

Christmas: A Time for Memories

2008-12-24T16:29:00.004-05:00

Ours are maybe a little more skewed than others. (Does anybody remember that line from As Good As It Gets? Jack Nicholson says, "Some of us have good stories, with picnics and boats and noodle salad. Just nobody in this car." That line makes me laugh out loud just thinking about it.)

Paul reminded me this morning to turn off the ringer on the phone in the bedroom, in case Kooky Cousin calls again for the holidays. (If you didn't catch the story the first time, check it out here. It takes a few minutes to read, but it's worth it.)

Last week, we reminisced about the bullpen (a shellacked pile of cow poo with a pen holder in it) from the paternal family white elephant exchange - it went to another family who will undoubtedly enjoy it just as much, but we have fond memories.

Paul's maternal grandmother would have been 103 today. She died in 2001, and he still misses her. He's not the only one, I know. She was a lovely woman. She was always kind (and always feeding people, I hear), but if she thought you were a little too whiny about whatever pseudo-tragedy you'd just experienced, she'd say, "Well, I hope that's the worst thing that ever happens to you."

Two years ago, Paul and I fled the jurisdiction and spent Christmas in West Virginia, and had a Japanese Christmas Eve dinner with a serviceman and his fiance (the four of us were alone in a hibachi joint). They were getting married two days later, and he was shipping out in a week. I can't remember his name, but I hope he is safe.

A couple of years before that, I offered to have the family Christmas at my house and cook the turkey. First time for both. Things were going really well until the oven caught on fire.

If you're a little stressed about all the family celebrations and driving and schedules and all the pressure to be SO INSANELY CHEERY ALL THE TIME, remember that anything that isn't an outright tragedy will probably be hilarious later.

Merry Christmas!

What's In Your Stocking?

2008-12-11T22:57:00.003-05:00

I know this isn't really the intended use for Levi's present from Grandma, but I couldn't resist!

Caption Contest

2008-12-06T12:29:00.001-05:00

You tell me ... what should the caption be?

Should a Baby's Reach Exceed His Grasp?

2008-12-03T08:44:00.003-05:00

Levi's newest little adventure has been textures. If he's sitting up in Paul's arms, he'll reach out and feel his sleeve carefully. Or the surface of the Boppy pillow (it's denim-covered). Or whatever he can reach, really.

My personal favorite is his discovery of Paul's beard. He reaches up and pats and rubs Paul's chin with one hand, and his expressions are so funny - I'd love to know what he's thinking.

He doesn't have a great grabbing motion yet, but he has managed to knock the wipe container off the changing table a few times, so I think we'll need to be on our guard pretty soon.

I'm having so much fun with his discoveries and his new little skills ... but I'm sad when things fall by the wayside. (He doesn't get tightly swaddled up to sleep anymore, for instance. And it was so cute.) All of life is a mixed bag, I guess.

In knitting news, I am about 60% done with a moebius scarf, and I'm looking forward to getting it off the needles to see exactly how it looks. It's so scrunched up on circulars that it's hard to tell what the finished product will look like. Hope to post "done" pictures soon.

Already Studying Up On Farming

2008-11-25T01:34:00.002-05:00

Snow, Cousins, and the Cutest Picture Yet

2008-11-18T21:10:00.012-05:00

We've started having snow around here - it looked like this mid-morning today.

A little while ago, we had a snow flurry. Nothing much stuck, but it did stay briefly on the cows. (It's a little hard to see with the picture this size. Squint, maybe.)

The camera has arrived from Canada, and refuses to answer questions about the delay in returning home. I mentioned the casinos in Windsor, and received only a closed shutter in response. I'm not sure what to think, but it is clear that we will have to keep a closer eye out when traveling abroad.

Here are a couple of pictures of Levi with cousins.

And we were able to get some pictures of Levi enjoying his time with the baby in the mirror. Daddy calls him The Boy, as in, "Do you want to say hi to The Boy now? He's right here in the mirror!" We're not sure exactly how much Levi has figured out about The Boy - whoever is holding him looks remarkably like Daddy, for instance - but he sure does get a kick out of looking at him. Here they both are, fresh from their baths and with plastered-down hair and big heart-melting grins. (Click to enlarge for maximum effect.)

The Man in the Mirror

2008-11-14T15:15:00.002-05:00

Still no camera ... it is currently wending its way home from Canada. (Have I mentioned ever that customs via the postal service is a pain in the neck?)

I can give you a Totally Cute (tm) update, however. Levi discovered, for the first time, the baby in the mirror. Apparently he was quite pleased with his new friend and found him very amusing. He stayed in front of the mirror and laughed at him for a couple of minutes before he got tired of it. It was lots of fun, especially for Mom and Dad.

Phlegm for you? And you? And you? Yes, phlegm for three, please!

2008-11-06T10:06:00.005-05:00

Ugh. We have picked up icky colds. Paul is less sick than I am (I have written this before, and notice a trend; how is this fair?), and we are waiting to see about Monsieur Bean.

I managed to leave our camera in Canada over the weekend, so no new pictures for awhile. In the meantime, enjoy these from the archives.

Bean Boy in his little cold-weather outfit made by mama. (If you follow the knitting, that is the BSJ I was working on in August. No pattern for the hat - I used the gee-I-hope-this-works method.) We went to an outdoor party/fish fry a couple of weekends ago, and the ensemble was put to good use.

Hats are good. Hats that slip down over your eyes are, clearly, not. Ooops.

Baby contemplates next move. Torment mother by crying inconsolably for no apparent reason? Smile spontaneously for maximum cuteness effect? Maintain dignified demeanor while entrapped in inexplicable and torturous baby-toting device? So many options.

Really, It's Unfair to Other Babies

2008-10-29T21:30:00.002-04:00

Isn't it?*

*Please note that this blog does not claim to be an unbiased news source and that the above post is undoubtedly affected by blinding adoration. We do not intend any disrespect to other babies, and no babies were harmed in the creation of this post.

Daddy Is Silly

2008-10-24T21:45:00.003-04:00

This is not exactly news to anyone who knows us well, or even really at all. But tonight he reached new heights (depths?) when he gave the baby ...

a shamp-hawk.

Better Late Than Never

2008-10-21T22:00:00.010-04:00

Yes, I'm a bad blogger. Oops. The baby is unhappy about it, too. See?

Or he has gas in his tummy. It's hard to say.

I've been trying really hard to get a good picture of him in the sling. He spends really a lot of time there, and I figure we should document it. This picture was not it, though.

And neither was this one.

This one would be wonderful if I hadn't cut half his face off.

And this is the best I've achieved so far, I think. I'm going to keep trying, though.

We had to have a test done a couple of weeks ago which did not involve any needles nor any crying, but still resulted in him looking like he'd been in a fight.

Poor little guy. Time to go retrieve him from his nice warm living bed (he's sleeping on Daddy's chest). I'm sure he'll be really happy with me.

P.S. I neglected to talk about any knitting I've been doing. Which pretty much tells the whole story right there. Maybe later this week. (Oh, hush. Let me hold on to my illusions.)

Hooray!

2008-09-29T22:55:00.003-04:00

I just got word that the neighbors had their baby tonight and everyone is safe and well. Mama Neighbor and I were doing a bit of plotting earlier and sort of hoping that the baby would be a boy, because how fun would it be to have a built-in playmate so close in age and just right up the street? And we got our wish, and Levi's buddy has arrived. Hooray!

(I don't know who I think I'm fooling. If the baby had been a girl, I'd be over the moon about that, too.)

Gratuitous Cute Pictures

2008-09-28T11:29:00.004-04:00

That's it. Just some cute pictures. (If you have complaints about this post, please direct them to Auntie Lou, who will straighten out your priorities in short order.)

Levi likes his bath, although he loses patience with us when it's time to wash his hair. Last night, he took a shower with Mama (he's a slippery little sucker, but she held on very tight), which he really seemed to enjoy. His expressions were hilarious.

This was during a chorus rehearsal, when he was sleeping in his car seat. I was overcome by the cuteness of his little feet peeking out. I still am. (Hmmm. I cannot figure out how to rotate that picture in the blog. It's rotated on the computer, but doesn't transfer that way. To view properly, please flop your head over as if you are reading spines at the library.)

One of my favorite pictures so far.

Reward for a Good Deed

2008-09-24T21:40:00.001-04:00

My sister-in-law called this morning and said, "I'm going to bring you lunch, and I can stay till 3:00, so you can take a nap, or run errands, or whatever you want!" I was excited. She brought me an Oriental Chicken Salad from Applebee's (Yum. Perhaps my favorite salad ever.), and I took a nice shower without listening for the baby, and then I decided to run to Target.

This was such a nice thing for her to do, and I am so grateful. So grateful, in fact, that when I was leaving for Target, I just went ahead and backed right into her car.

I'm so proud.

A Friendly Ghost

2008-09-18T20:17:00.002-04:00

I had a totally weird experience today.

It was late morning, and I really wanted a shower. (I know. I'm so demanding like that.) I fed the baby his bottle, made sure he was well burped -- Paul is still trying to figure out why burps from the baby are praised, and burps from the daddy are not -- wrapped him up tight, and plunked him in his swing. I didn't turn it on, though, because he only likes that sometimes, and when he's not liking it, he lets you know. And off I toddled to the shower.

Just after I soaped up my hair for the first time, he started yelling. "Oh, well," thinks I. "Yell away." I'm really not heartless, but what am I going to do about it anyway? I may as well finish my shower. About that time, I thought that I may have heard a car door outside. But I didn't hear the house door, and I didn't hear voices or a knock or a doorbell or anything. So I rinsed and repeated, and then conditioned.

When I got out of the shower, I noticed that the baby had stopped crying. Nice. Probably fell asleep. I got dressed in peace, and walked out into the kitchen.

Where the baby was all swaddled up in the swing, wide awake. Swinging.

Somebody was in my house. The swing does not swing regularly all by itself unless you turn it on. Even if you walk by and give it a push, it doesn't start the mechanism. It just swings a few times and then stops when it runs out of steam.

As close as I can figure, somebody meant to stop and say hi. They came in through the garage, and stuck their head in the door when I didn't answer the knock. Heard a baby screaming, and so came in to see what was up. Heard the shower running and figured it out. Decided to start the swing (probably thinking that it had originally been running and had stopped), and then decided to come back another time.

I think it's clear that our ghost was benevolent. S/he wanted the baby to be happy, and for me to be able to finish my shower in peace. But I have no idea who it was. There was no note, no borrowed item returned on the table, and not even a footprint or anything for a clue.

So. Was it you? I'm really quite curious, and hoping someone will 'fess up. (And considering locking the doors more carefully when I shower, not because you are a kidnapper, but because you might have been, and then where would we be?)

Settling In, and a Completed BSJ

2008-09-04T10:03:00.006-04:00

We are all three settling in, and getting into some sort of a routine. I know it takes awhile. Here are some things we have learned:

1. Wet diapers are apparently quite comfortable.

2. Dirty diapers, on the other hand, are not to be tolerated for even one second.

3. It is wise to cover the plumbing at all times. A millisecond of non-vigilance leads to cleaning up the changing table. Again. (Yes, I know boys do this. But really, this much? Nearly every time? It's sort of impressive, really.)

4. Vitamin drops do not taste good. I am dreading the future on this front. Right now, all he can do is cry a little. In a while, I'm afraid it's going to be worse than baptizing a cat.

5. I like my blankie from my online aunties. (Grandma liked it, too.)

6. The sling is a Good Thing. Even though it does not necessarily induce sleepiness. (He tends to stare up at me for a long time after he's all bundled up. It's pretty funny, and the picture does not do it justice. Though it does show off his delightful pointy little chin, does it not?)

I did complete my first BSJ. The morning before Levi was born, in fact. (I have not done much knitting since.) I am excited for him to be big enough to wear it, and I will surely post pictures of that! In the meantime, here's the finished product, minus a model.

I really enjoyed this project, and I'd like to do another. This was a worsted weight on size 6 needles (I think), and I may do a worsted on size 8 for a slightly larger size. I have great grand ideas of doing a coordinated set for some twins that are yet to be born. We'll have to see how things go, and how much knitting time I can carve out of my days in the future!

Breaking Radio Silence

2008-08-28T08:26:00.005-04:00

I've been pretty quiet during the month of August. It wasn't on purpose, but I was fairly distracted, and trying to get a bunch of things done around the house. Last week, I reorganized the basement, so everything is in totes or boxes and on shelves. I feel like an "after" picture in an organizing magazine. Anyway, the reason I've been so distracted (and so motivated to get the basement done) is this:

That's Levi Michael. He was born Friday, August 22, and he came home to us on Wednesday, August 27, after all the adoptive placement paperwork was completed. We are head over heels in love with him. Even after last night. (I'm sure the nurses in the nursery didn't mind him being up all night, since they had to be up anyway. It's not going to work long-term at home, though!)

I'm a little foggy, and I can't think of any other news to report, but here are more pictures, since that's probably what you want anyway. Oh, the cuteness!

My mama likes me, I think. (Ignore her puffy eyes. I made everybody stay up pretty late.)

See, I do have eyes.

Ready to go home!

Sleepy boys, home at last.

Bean baby. :)

A BSJ Attempt

2008-08-08T15:39:00.003-04:00

I am at last making an attempt on the venerable Baby Surprise Jacket. This pattern was written by Elizabeth Zimmermann in 1968 and has apparently been knit in great numbers every year since then. It's still very popular, which I find amazing. It is in fact so popular that it's known by its initials (the BSJ) which is sort of like being Madonna. Or Cher, if you're old enough to remember her. Mostly what I remember about Cher is that scandalous outfit she wore in the video for "If I Could Turn Back Time." Understand that I grew up without a television, and did not see music videos. Then we went to a hotel, and I turned the TV on and saw a woman dressed in fishnets and ... belts, maybe? dancing around a bunch of sailors. It was all rather shocking, and I've yet to figure out what the Navy has to do with that song. You may still be trying to figure out what Cher has to do with the BSJ, and thinking that I don't have much of a leg to stand on if I'm going to get all snotty about relevance. I'll try to reign myself in.

Anyway, having recently fallen rather hard for the Heartbreakingly Cute Baby Kimono and knit three of them in quick succession, I've had a few people mention the BSJ to me as an even more fantastic baby pattern. One of the yarn shops I visited had the pattern in stock, so I snapped it up. I'm about 40% done right now, although the picture below doesn't show quite that much progress, since it was taken yesterday and I've been working a bit since then.

I know what you are thinking. You are thinking, "Uh, that doesn't look like a baby jacket." You are so right. Hence the surprise. This is such a clever pattern. Basically, you knit a blob, fold it a certain way, and you get a baby jacket. It's great motivation to keep knitting. I keep thinking, "Really? This is actually going to work?" so I keep knitting along to get to the surprise.

Aren't the colors cute? My friend Beth (the Fetching recipient) helped me pick them out the other night. I'm calling it the Lil' Punkin jacket. Heh.

I know Elizabeth Zimmermann is probably spinning in her grave, but I'm not knitting this up in the strongly recommended wool. It's in Berocco Comfort, which is a very nice quality acrylic/nylon. I have not yet been able to bring myself to knit a baby garment in something that has to be handwashed. I know what babies get on their garments.

There's an adult version of this jacket as well. Perhaps I should knit one for Cher. That outfit can't be very warm.

Sisyphean Dreams

2008-07-15T08:58:00.002-04:00

Someone said once that dreams are the only way a sane man may express his madness.**

Well. I must have some serious unexpressed madness about me lately. For the past three nights in a row, I've had what I can only describe as Sisyphean dreams. Dreams of being given a completely impossible, unending, and frustrating task, of trying so, so hard to get it done, and of feeling like I can't walk away from it. The task is different every night, and to be honest I can't remember the details, mostly (although I think one of the tasks was trying to keep Paris Hilton from buying anything while in a ten-floor posh shopping mall, and how weird is it that I was dreaming about that?). But I wake up exhausted, and discouraged.

If I had to guess, I'd guess that it's about the total lack of control I'm experiencing over large events in my life, and my inability to be at peace with that lack of control. A lesson which you might think I should already have learned (and you'd be right about that), but at which I am apparently quite a stubborn pupil.

So if you have any suggestions -- preferably of the non-trite variety -- for hastening the learning process, I'd be grateful for a good night's sleep. One in which I actually rest.

** I googled my little fingers off and couldn't find the exact quote; if you know what it is, I'd be delighted to credit it.

A Little Fainting Spell (and, Knitting Again At Last)

2008-07-11T21:39:00.007-04:00

Oh, well, actually ... not quite. I've always thought it would be romantic to faint (preferably dead away, and preferably with a prodigiously handsome man nearby to catch me), but I've never managed it.

I did squeal like a little girl, though. My very attentive husband thought I'd been shot. Or seen a mouse. What brought on this excitement, you ask? I was mentioned by The Yarn Harlot herself. (It took awhile to explain to him why this was so eventful that it was necessary to give him a mild heart attack. I'm not sure he gets it yet. I don't understand why none of my links show up, so we're even.)

I feel like I've been allowed to touch the hem of her garment. I'm inspired to cast on all sorts of things that are far beyond my ability. I, too, can knit multiple baby sweaters in just a few days! *cue Chariots of Fire theme*

Righto.

I am knitting again, though, which is Very Good. I know it sounds silly, but honestly I could hardly think of my own name there for awhile. I could just manage some garter stitch if I concentrated really very hard, and went along at a pace at which snails would scoff. Now, though, I'm five days out of quarantine and back on the thyroid medication.

I'm not back to normal (or what usually passes for it), but I'm making progress and have graduated to working on Annie's little surprise for Italy again. I've committed to finishing that before I cast on a Tuscany shawl for myself in Pumpkin (lovely, lovely dark-ish orange) Sea Silk.

I'm still deciding whether to rip out the Dashing I finished, or knit another and give the set as a gift to someone. Here's a picture:

It just does not fit me and my manly wrists. But it might be lovely for someone else. What do you think?

In other news, I noticed that I got "occurrence" wrong in the title of my last post, which I've now fixed. I used to be an editor, for heaven's sake. That's just embarrassing. And now I'll wait for someone to point out something awful I've done in this post as well.

An Occurrence that Shouldn't Be Newsworthy, But Is

2008-07-01T10:22:00.004-04:00

I just got off the phone with someone at our health insurance company who:

- knew what he was doing,
- got me the answers I needed,
- apologized sincerely for the month-long runaround I've been getting, and
- seemed to actually give a hoot.

I don't have words.

Wait, I do:

Thank you, Michael.

Of Cheese, and Other Things That Make Me Happy

2008-06-26T09:04:00.003-04:00

I am tiring quickly of this silly diet. Of the things I may not have, I think I miss cheese the most. More than chocolate, even. Since I may not have any cheese with this particular whine (oh, har-har, I know), I thought I'd make me feel better by listing some things that make me happy that I may have:

- dozing through thunderstorms
- Handmaiden Sea Silk (being knit up into a surprise for Annie)
- big sloppy wet kisses from nieces and nephews
- friends who listen to me whine
- Netflix, who is singlehandedly keeping me entertained while I am too mentally foggy to focus on reading
- friends and family who will ferry me about without whining
- Socks that Rock, being knit up into socks for me

And none of those things are fattening, either. Perhaps I'll have to rethink my love of cheese.

Or not. Only 11 1/2 more days, Lord willing and I pass the blood test.

Fetching Relatively Vegan Food

2008-06-15T16:52:00.004-04:00

I cast one my first pair of Fetchings about 10 days ago and finished them in two days. (For those not obsessed with needle arts, Fetching is an insanely popular pattern published about two years ago at knitty.com.) I began to see immediately why it's such a popular pattern. They work up really quickly and are very pretty. I used a cotton nylon blend yarn from KnitPicks, so these are also super soft. Here's a picture.

As of this morning, they're residing with their intended owner, Miss Beth. Who is married to Uncle Jeffy, but is not called Aunt. Keeping track of our actual relations, shirt-tail relations, and those we have just shanghaied into relation is rather complex. Ahem.

It's my fourth day on my not-quite-vegan low-iodine diet, and I'm doing well so far. Yesterday I made egg salad with egg whites only and avocado instead of mayonnaise. I found some dry mustard in the cupboard to spice it up a bit, and if you can get past the color -- sort of non-gendered baby blanket green without the cute factor -- it's pretty good. I had it open-face on bread today, with tomato slices on top. Fresh pineapple on the side. Not bad at all.

Not that I wouldn't jump on some lasagna if I could. I'm just sayin'.

A Whirlwind Tour of New England

2008-05-31T10:46:00.013-04:00

And only bits of it, at that. I'd like to go back at and take a more leisurely pace through Boston, at least.

Our original reason for going was the annual meeting of the American Milking Devon Association, held annually in Tunbridge, Vermont. Tunbridge is a delightful town. We met in the Town Hall, next to the church.

After leaving the meeting in Tunbridge, we stopped at the birthplace of Joseph Smith (paging Carrie!) and visited the monument there.

At the bottom of the hill, we stopped at Dixie's. I believe there were eight tables inside, they only took cash, and they had the best turnovers I have ever eaten. Which cost $1.25. It is good Dixie's is not nearby, or I fear I would develop an addiction to her raspberry turnovers. Yum.

Continuing our (completely unintended) religious education theme for the day, we stopped at the Enfield Shaker Museum. Our guide was pretty funny, and tried to draw us into a discussion of national and local politics. Having no knowledge about the latter and being pretty tired of the former, we politely declined. In fact, I believe we played dumb, which is a more useful tool than you might believe.

The next morning, after church, we drove to Walden Pond, and saw a replica of Thoreau's house, and the pond itself. I was most struck by how quickly I could clean that house, leaving plenty of time for knitting. Of course, I'm not sure my yarn stash would fit. Or I'd have to choose between Paul and the yarn. So probably moving is not a good idea.

Sunday evening, we arrived outside of Boston, and the next morning we went on a whirlwind tour of the city. We saw the harbor

and the aquarium

and the Old Burying Ground

where Sam Adams is buried

and then a swan napping on the Boston Common.

We left the next morning, after deciding that the 12 hour trip home would be better split into two days. We stayed overnight in Seneca Falls, New York. (Thank goodness there was one hotel room left. One. We didn't have a reservation, and ended up in the handicapped access room, which is the same except more room between things and a very large shower. In fact, we liked it a lot.)

After breakfast in Seneca Falls, I realized that one of my favorite yarn dyers is in the Finger Lakes region. I couldn't remember exactly where, but I thought if we were really close, I'd never forgive myself for not trying. Figuring we were probably a couple of hours away, I decided to give it a shot anyway. A friend at home found their phone number on their website (thanks, Big Daddy!), and I called. We were only 15 minutes away. I was very excited, and Paul was very tolerant. :)

Here's a picture of one of the stockrooms at Schaefer Yarn. I nearly had the vapors.

The company operates out of an older yellow farmhouse, and I was able to watch some of the employees dipping yarn, and hand-painting yarn. I was asked not to take any pictures of the process, so I can't share any here. Lovely, friendly employees. I enjoyed myself very much.

We drove back to Seneca Falls later that morning, and went through the national park for women's rights. Here's a picture of me next to a likeness of Sojourner Truth.

If you've never read her famous "Ain't I a Woman?" speech, delivered in Akron, Ohio, you should go do that right now. (That's a link, for your convenience.)

That's about it. Hope you enjoy the pictures. I'm off to bake cornbread and chocolate chip blondies, and then take a nap.

P.S. Picturs? Ain't I an editor? Thank goodness for the edit function.

The Big Secret

2008-05-30T11:54:00.005-04:00

My friend Carrie has a dear daughter who was scheduled for heart surgery on May 1. I wanted terribly to DO something for them, but since they live eight states away (or more; I didn't count), I couldn't give them hugs or bring them food, which is my usual expression of love and concern.

So I thought about knitting something. A prayer shawl seemed like an okay idea, but not quite right for a five year old. I was stewing about it and not coming up with anything and coming right down to the time when I really needed to cast on or I'd never make it (and yes, maybe panicking a little), and I found the pattern for this.

(Modeled by a friend's daughter, since just lying there by itself on the couch it looked like the dog's breakfast.)

It's a Little Red Riding Hood cape. It's a costume, it's a toy, it's a warm hug, and it's a prayer shawl. I was very happy. (I was also very happy that it was well within my limited knitting skill set.)

Carrie is a loyal reader, so I didn't dare post anything about it before the package reached her. Happily, the mail was quick, and I found this picture on her blog.

Anyway, the Big Secret itself was physically small, but it was a big surprise for Carrie and her daughter. And it was perhaps my favorite thing I've knit so far, and the most fun I've had. It was a nicely done pattern, and easy to knit, but I think the secret was all the love and good wishes that were in my heart while I was knitting.

I am happy to report that Little Red Riding Hood came through surgery like a trouper, and the surgery itself was pronounced a resounding success. She'll be wandering through the woods for many many years, charming the teeth out of the big bad wolf, and spreading her special brand of love.

Oh, dear.

2008-05-29T08:54:00.002-04:00

I realized that I never revealed The Big Secret. (Although the person most interested discovered it in her mail, so that's alright.)

And I haven't put up any pictures of our trip to New England.

I'm leaving the house in 15 minutes, so probably now isn't the best time. Tonight, though, or tomorrow. Swear.

Movie Meme

2008-04-14T11:33:00.000-04:00

(I was tagged by Carrie of SCAREHAIRCARE.)

Favorite movies you have to be "in the mood" for in order to enjoy:

1. Life Is Beautiful
2. Bull Durham

Favorite movies that make you laugh out loud no matter how many times you have watched them:

1. The Secret of Roan Inish
2. Crossing Delancey (mostly when Bubbe is talking)

Your favorite "Guilty Pleasures"
(Not sure what this means. Taking a shot.)

1. Monsoon Wedding (considering it guilty b/c there's way too much gratuitous cussing)
2. any of the Bourne movies or Ocean's # movies

Favorite movies you have seen so many times, you can recite all the lines

1. The Princess Bride (Even though I haven't seen it in years. You killed my father. Prepare to die.)
2. My Big Fat Greek Wedding

Movies that "Opened your eyes."

1. Hotel Rwanda
2. Khandahar

Most Overrated

1. Citizen Kane
2. The Graduate

What were the last 2 movies you watched

1. The Secret of Happyness
2. Big Night

Favorite "smart" movies
(Again, not sure what this means.)

1. Akeelah and the Bee
2. 12 Angry Men

Your spouse's/significant other's favorites

1. A Family Thing
2. The Secret of Roan Inish

Your all time favorites:

1. Crossing Delancey
2. anything based on an Austen novel

Spring Hath Arrived

2008-04-04T08:31:00.002-04:00

And about time, too!

In other news, I seem to have lost the little whozits on the side of my blog. I was just trying to update my template and get rid of the snowy landscape! I'll have to dredge through my memory and try to recreate them. (On the other hand, if I can't remember what was in them, perhaps I should forget about it altogether.)

We're going on our belated anniversary trip this weekend. It's at Landoll's Mochican Castle, and we'll be there from tonight through Sunday afternoon. There's really not much to do in the area, which is just fine with us. Boring is good. :)

The Big Secret knitting project is complete, but cannot be revealed on the blog until the recipient has opened the package. Just in case. (If it were for my mother, I wouldn't worry a bit.)

So that's my exciting life -- not too exciting, really, but I didn't want to maintain radio silence for too long. Again.

Healing Quickly

2008-03-27T22:21:00.006-04:00

It's been almost three weeks since I posted. Sorry 'bout that. To make it up to you, here's a picture of my neck. (I know. It's so exciting.)

Seriously, though ... there are several of you that I don't get to see in person very often, and I thought you might want to see how it's healing up. We're very thankful. It's still a bit swollen along the incision, but I'm told that's because the stitches under the skin haven't dissolved yet. They will dissolve eventually, and then I'll just have a pink line that will fade to white. A woman at church showed me her 11-year old thyroidectomy scar a week or so ago, and it's really nothing at all.

I met with the surgeon this week, and he was very pleased with my progress (as if I did anything but sit around and take opiates for a while). I have no restrictions, a clean bill of health, and apparently no more chance of recurrence or other cancer than anyone else who has never had cancer at all. Pretty cool.

In knit news, stuff has been flying off the needles. Either I'm devoting too much time to it, or I'm getting faster at this. Probably it's the former, but I'm caught up with laundry and mostly with dishes, so I'm not going to get all picky about it.

Here are some really fun dishcloths I worked on in the hospital -- very cheery, they were.

I have a few other really fun projects, one of which is a Big Secret, and some which I just don't have pictures of yet. Must work on that.

Is anyone really, really ready for spring? Paul tells me that it's just around the corner, and one day I'll wake up and the grass will be green. Maybe it will be tomorrow!

A Snowy Anniversary

2008-03-08T19:52:00.007-05:00

Happy anniversary to us! It's been five years since Paul and I got married. I'm happier than ever that we did, and he is too. Or at least he says so.

We are celebrating with macaroni and cheese at home. Lest you think we are beyond redemption, we didn't intend to. We originally had a weekend getaway planned at Landoll's Mohican Castle, but had to reschedule because of my surgery planned for Monday. Instead, we decided that we'd go with our good friends Dan and Karen to The Melting Pot. The weather had different ideas. We are more or less snowed in. We could doubtless get out for an emergency, but somehow an anniversary dinner didn't qualify.

So mac and cheese at home it is. I'm disappointed about not getting my fondue, but it's been a peaceful night, and I'm thankful to be safe and warm, and with someone I love.

Deep snow, while not appealing in some ways, is very conducive to knitting. I whipped out an iPod sock today,

and worked on some thank you gifts for friends that have been helping me out. Michelle and Tanya came over yesterday and cleaned my house. It spells like Pledge, and in places it is actually sparkling. I can't tell you how peaceful it is. I've been so tired lately that I start to do something and quit half way through. So the poor house probably doesn't know what hit it. And they brought over five freezer meals with instructions on top, so Paul can just pull them out and stick them in the oven. I am beyond grateful.

The baby kimono has been finished for a few days, but I still need to figure out a fastener for it. Here are a couple of pictures of it in a state of completion and non-fastenation. (Hee.)

Also working on a baby blanket. It's not for anyone in particular, but there's always a baby shower coming up, it seems. This should be a cute gift for one that sneaks up on me in the future.

I'll be off now, to knit in front of the fire. Aaaaah.

Baby Kimono In Progress (and a P.S. Finished Product)

2008-02-28T10:51:00.006-05:00

I was going to wait until I was done, but I've had a request, so here's a picture of the kimono in progress. I'll still post when I'm done, too.

Is this not the cutest pattern EVAH? I love it.

P.S. Here's me wearing my completed Montego Bay silk scarf. I love it just as much as I thought I would. Pat, thanking you for taking the picture.

An Unexpected Bonus

2008-02-26T12:11:00.002-05:00

A good friend of mine from chorus is a nurse anesthetist (goodness, what a word). She asked last night which surgeon I'd been referred to. When I told her, she informed me that she works with him all the time, and if I drive a few extra miles (perhaps 20 instead of 15), I could schedule at her hospital, and she could be in the operating room with me the entire time I'm having my thyroid removed. In addition, another lady that we sing with is a surgical nurse at the same hospital, and works with scheduling. They could work out the schedule so that they'd both be there and could take care of me in surgery. I checked with my insurance, and there's no reason I can't go to the hospital where they work.

That may seem like a silly thing to get excited about, but I can't tell you how comforting it would be to know two of the people in the operating room personally. Besides, they both said that my doctor is an excellent surgeon. The nurses always know.

I see the surgeon tomorrow morning, and I'm going to request that particular hospital and those particular nurses. They're both willing (excited, in fact) and so I don't see any reason he wouldn't accomodate me. Hopefully, by this time tomorrow I'll know when I'm having surgery and can start to get ready.

I cast on a Heartbreakingly Cute Baby Kimono (don't laugh, that's the official pattern name) a couple of days ago, and that sucker is knitting up so quickly. It's lots of fun. I'll post a picture when I'm done, but in the meantime if you want to see what they look like, you can see someone else's finished kimono here. Mine is pink, because it's for a yet-to-be-born girl.

What I'd love to show you is all the pictures on Ravelry with the babies in the kimonos, but you have to be registered. They are so stinkin' cute! Some of the babies look happy, and those are great pictures, but I actually like the pics better where the babies are ticked off. I don't know why; it just cracks me up. Widdle baby in the cutest jacket ever, screaming her head off at the injustice of the world. (I hope that doesn't make me sound cruel. I know their mommies are only seconds away from picking them up and comforting them.)

I also started a baby blanket. I've not knit this pattern before, but I'm liking it a lot so far. It's very simple, but it ends up being semi-random blocks of color. I'm doing it in purple, tan, yellow, pink, blue, and green -- all pastels. My hope is that it will be a non-gender specific baby blanket, good for a gift at a later time. Someone's always having a baby, and it's best to be prepared.

Three Little Words

2008-02-20T19:22:00.002-05:00

Not the ones anybody wants to hear, though.

I have cancer.

More specifically, I have a papillary tumor on my thyroid. (If you want to, you can find out more about that here.) It's very treatable, it's been diagnosed early, and I'm seeing a surgeon in only a week to discuss the course of treatment. The prognosis is excellent, and there is a lot to be thankful for.

But ...

I. Have. Cancer.

I don't think I've really wrapped my mind around it yet.

Hodgepodge

2008-02-19T14:13:00.004-05:00

My birthday was a week ago. I saw my friend Jen yesterday for lunch, and she asked me how it was. My answer made her laugh out loud. Apparently I'm the first person of whom she's asked that question who said, "Honestly, it was pretty awful."

I started it off with a full-on argument with a nurse over the phone. I know that there are many medical professionals out there who are incredible, sensitive people. I am in fact related to several and friends with some others. This lady is not one of them. Then my darling took me away for the night to try and get my mind off everything that we have going on. Unfortunately, I was pretty sick and ended up with my breakfast in the sink. Bleah. On the way home, Paul asked what I'd like to do for Valentine's Day. I asked if we could just take a pass on the whole thing this year. He was agreeable. Even after my fever abated, I didn't regret the request. Saint Who?

In happier news, I'm working on a little cable-licious swatch, which is a sort of a prerequisite to a project we're going to start in the Wednesday knit group. Some of us in the group are going to be working on squares for Great American Aran Afghan. It's my most ambitious cast-on so far, and I'm a little skeered. But I think I'll learn a lot by attempting it, which is really my goal.

And the Girl Scout cookies have arrived. I will be eating all of them. Today. Seriously, what do they put in there?

Whatever

2008-02-08T22:48:00.001-05:00

We had dinner with friends tonight, and had a lovely time. We hadn't had a chance to catch up with them for quite a long time, and it was good to do so. The chili was excellent, and I got the recipe for the cornbread. (No wonder it was good. The amount of butter in it would give a cardiologist hives. And then we added more on the outside. Mmmmmm.) Paul got to sample their hot sauce collection, too, which made him happy. I don't understand the drive to burn your tongue off as recreation, but whatever.

Speaking of whatever, I was just talking to my brother about that word. It's so useful. Think of all the things it can mean:

- I think torturing your tastebuds for fun is silly, but it's no skin off my nose.

- I don't care -- you pick.

- No, I don't know why he has a safety pin in his eyebrow. I wouldn't do it, but I'm sure he has a reason.

- I'm too tired to make a decision.

- I'm not sure why you just bit my head off, but I'm going to forget about it instead of either escalating or holding a grudge.

- Yes, that was the ugliest couch I've ever seen, but I don't have to live with your mother (or sister, or business partner), so I don't care.

- That's really messed up. But you're a big girl, and I can't fix you, and I can't tell you what to do. Look at me not having an ulcer about it.

Saying "whatever" doesn't mean not caring, but it means letting go of the illusion of control. It means cutting other people a little slack, and not forcing my opinions on them. It doesn't mean having no standards, but it means not expecting perfection from other people. Or from myself, which can be harder.

I think some people probably perceive it as rude.

Hey, whatever.

And for the record, my mother-in-law's couch is lovely.

P.S. I have completed a whole sock. I was so excited that I lost my head for a moment and made Paul admire it much longer than his initial interest warranted. He made all the right noises, though. What a guy. Here's a picture:

Sock Update

2008-01-29T09:50:00.001-05:00

Because I'm sure you are riveted, and cannot go on living until you know how my sock is coming along.

No crazy relatives have called lately -- well, none that are out of the ordinary -- and so I don't have any early morning phone hilarity for you. I can't offer you a thoughtful essay because I'm too distracted right now to think any deep thoughts. That may be a permanent condition; I'm not sure. Anyway, I don't have much to offer, but here's a sock update.

This is the sock on my hand. I tried putting it on my foot earlier, and I popped a bunch of stitches off the needles. I remained calm and fixed the problem. Okay, that's a lie. I did not remain calm. At all. Anyway, that's why it's on my hand.

For your further amusement, here is a picture of the sock as a sock puppet. Imagine the sock puppet speaking in a high, squeaky voice, and saying, "Hello. I am an alien and these are my antennae. Take me to your leader."

In case you worry for my sanity, the sock puppet came to be over the weekend, while I was sitting and knitting at a registration table. In three hours, one person came to register. We were so bored that an alien sock puppet seemed positively sane, and pretty funny.

And doesn't it look much more like a sock now?

The Sock - It Lives!

2008-01-17T10:44:00.000-05:00

So I called my knitting teacher, the Fabulous Maureen, and told her that my life would not be complete unless I could knit socks. She very graciously did not laugh at me but instead brought patterns to our Wednesday meeting.

I have begun my first sock. Here is a (kind of bad) picture of it. It is only a couple of inches long, but it will grow.

The sock, it lives! Wheeeee!

Sickness of Various Sorts

2008-01-14T20:33:00.001-05:00

1. Sock Sickness

I am taking a firm hold on myself and refusing to buy sock yarn. But just look at THIS and THIS (click the capital letters to see the pictures). Is there anyone on earth that would not love socks made out of this yarn? I don't think so. Your feet would be so happy they would dance by themselves. Yes, it is frightfully expensive. But that is not the worst thing.

This is the worst thing: I don't know how to knit socks.

I just want the yarn. It does make me want to learn to knit socks, though. Perhaps if I complete a pair of lovely socks in economical yarn, I will give myself a present. An expensive present. A present that will only make the sickness worse.

I think I should get an internet filter that blocks Blue Moon Fibers. They are clearly evil marketing geniuses.

2. Hat Sickness

I am knitting a lovely (terribly boring) hat for someone. He has a large head, which bothers me only because I am very sick of this hat. Boys don't seem to like things in vivid colors with frilly edges**. It's sad, and makes it much less fun to knit for them.

3. Actual Clinical Sickness

My darling (thank you, dear) brought the ick home from work. My throat feels swollen to thrice its normal size and is very scratchy. In addition, my head hurts and I've lost my balance. I am running into corners and walls in an entertaining (if you're not the performer) way. If you see me with large bruises, be aware that Paul is responsible for them only in the sense that he originally infected me.

** Except Paul, who has been known to wear pink feather boas to church. But not in our home county.

A Drive-By Post

2008-01-03T10:54:00.000-05:00

I have barely any time today, but I just had to post this picture from our family's Christmas festivities. One niece and one nephew are, between them, missing three front teeth. (The fourth is in a most precarious situation and I am expecting an update any day now.)

We were entertained by a rousing rendition of "All I Want for Christmas" and I was able to take this picture. Which I will definitely display at their weddings someday. Mwwaaaahahaha.

You canNOT be serious.

2007-12-31T17:05:00.000-05:00

You'll need a little bit of background to appreciate this one.

Paul has a lot of relatives. (Well, so do I, but that's not what we're talking about right now.) Most of them live pretty close to us, but there is a contingent in Indiana, and a few in other states. A couple of years ago, around Christmas, we got a call from a second cousin living in a nearby state. She didn't seem to want anything in particular, or have anything particular to say, but whatever. Paul chatted with her awhile and she seemed happy. It must be said that she is slightly loopy and more than slightly nosy, but Paul is a patient man.

About a week ago, we got a call from her again, at just after 7:00 in the morning. A bit early, but we figured it was our every-couple-years Christmas call. I can stand lots of things if they only happen every couple of years. Unfortunately, Kooky Cousin (hereafter known as KC) was a bit behind on family stuff and asked how our beautiful little boy was doing. Paul explained that we had lost him when he was two months old, very sad, thank you for your sympathy.

"WELL," said KC, in the way of well-meaning but buttinsky people everywhere, "you should adopt from China. There are two couples at my church that have adopted from China, and it has just been wonderful." I'm sure there was more, but I was spared the play-by-play. Paul did the Nod and Smile Routine, in which you pacify someone but pay no attention to their advice. After all, while KC is related to Paul, she doesn't really know us and is at least a year out of date. He didn't feel like sharing personal plans for our family with her. We talked about the phone call and forgot about it.

Okay, now you're caught up. I hope that wasn't too painful.

This morning, the phone rang at 6:42. In the morning. (I said that already, but I thought it needed repeating.) I would only call someone at that hour if a) I knew for a certainty they were up and I had something important to tell them that could not wait, or b) there was a flat-out it's-time-to-panic-now emergency. Since anyone who has ever been slightly acquainted with me knows that I do not rise cheerfully from my bed, I assumed that someone had died or was in the process of it. Having recently received a phone call from the EMS regarding my mother (she's fine) and also having an uncle who we recently found out is quite ill, I was even a bit more attentive than usual to the possible emergency issue.

You see where this is going, but I, in my sleep-induced numbness, did not.

"H'lo?" I mumbled, thanking goodness and Paul (who put it there) that the phone is right by the bed.

"Yes, is Paul there?" Well, yes, but he's in the bathroom. I might tell you this if I know who you are, but you've not identified yourself. And you do not have an Emergency Tone, so why are you bugging me?

"He's not available," I said, with more politeness than I felt. "May I take a message?"

"Oh, this is just his cousin Kooky from Nearby State! I called to see if you'd taken my advice about adopting from China."

...

I just wanted to let that sink in for a little bit. A crazy woman called me at quarter to seven this morning to ask if we had decided to adopt from China.

AND THEN she asked me my name.

I am not making this up.

...

Anyway, after I said something along the lines of, "Well, we didn't really do anything major in this last, y'know, week and a half," I heard Paul coming out of the bathroom, and I passed the phone over to the person who was guilty of being related to the kook on the other end.

KC, perhaps rethinking her original strategy, didn't mention China to Paul, but instead grilled him about the possible worth of her current vehicle, which is a '92 Something Junky with only a few rust spots. She got it from a former missionary to Mexico. I'm unsure how this affects the value of the vehicle, but she felt it was important. After being told six different ways how extremely difficult it is to evaluate a car you've never seen and have only the barest details about, she signed off.

I heard Paul hang up the phone in the kitchen and then say, "I wonder if she's been drinking?"

While this latest episode has been quite entertaining for both of us, I am hoping that it will not become a regular occurrence in our household.

So. If you have to call me early in the morning for some reason, and I am not by the phone with caller ID, I hope that you will understand if I let you go to the machine and identify yourself before picking up.

Oh, presents!

2007-12-30T17:48:00.001-05:00

My brother and his family stayed with us for the last few days, and we had our family's Christmas celebration on Saturday the 29th. I had so much fun with my sister-in-law and my niece, who have also recently picked up knitting (my sister-in-law was a knitter when young, but hasn't done anything with it for awhile). They are now calling me The Enabler. I think it's because I went to yarn shops and patted skeins with them. And I had fun with my brother, too, and my nephew, but they did not knit. I think my nephew would, but he's two, and his favorite thing to do with yarn is grab and run.

Anyway, I so much enjoyed giving away the few Christmas handknits that I had this year. I would like to do more next year, but I know myself. I will need to start in February if I want to do it without having a nervous breakdown. Here are the things that I did this year:

I tried to tailor things to the recipients in nice ways. The legwarmers were for my sister. They are super soft and machine wash and dryable, because she is Anti-Handwash.
The multicolored scarf was for my sister-in-law (the one that was staying with us), and was just a couple of Noro Kureyon skeins done up in seed stitch. Nice and warm, because she sometimes rides her bike in the city in the wintertime.

The orange scarf, which translates least well to photography, is a simple garter stitch with a ruffle on each end. The yarn is all cotton from Maggi Knits, and it's so bumpy and fun; it makes a wonderful texture and looks like much more work than it was. I am hoping that it will complement my sister-in-law's favorite color.

I need to learn to photograph my projects better, because I don't think any of them look as yummy in the pictures as they do in real life.

Right now, in the washing machine, I am felting a Bracelet Bag from Crazy Aunt Purl, which I whipped out this morning while I was staying home from church because I felt pretty queasy. Really, I was not well enough to go, but sitting very still except for my wrists seemed okay.

I need to make some progress on the in-midstream projects, because I have so many Grand Ideas for new projects. And I need to figure out my travel knits for when I go a-visiting to Canada next weekend. And what to take to help my 19-year old niece, who is going along, with her very first knitting stitches! (I'm so proud.)

I'm feeling a little sick again. I think it's my body's way of punishing me for all the evil foods I ate during the past week. Ugh. Saltines and 7-Up, here I come!

Silent Night

2007-12-24T16:43:00.000-05:00

'Twas the night before Christmas, and all through the house not a creature was stirring, not even to go to a party. And boy, were they happy. Yes, even though we are invited to something, we are staying in this evening. I am so thrilled. I even had baklava all baked and ready to go, but when Paul said, "Hey, let's skip it tonight," my response was very little hey-I-got-ready-for-this and almost completely oh-are-you-serious-I-love-you-for-saying-that. So I am in my jammy bottoms and a t-shirt and I am planning to start knitting myself a new lacy shawl with some silk yarn that has been calling to me. He's outside playing with the cows (actually, I think he said he was moving hay so they'd have something to eat), but he should be in soon. We can sit by the fire and not do anything that we don't deem worthy of the effort required to rise from the couch. Pure heaven.

I wish for all of you a Christmas Eve so exactly suited to your desires. Merry Christmas!

Christmas Presents Complete

2007-12-20T13:22:00.000-05:00

Hooray! All my Christmas presents are complete. I'm very excited. Now I just need to wrap them. Or -- and this is much more likely -- dump them in gift bags. Gift bags are God's little present to the wrapping paper impaired.

I will be posting pictures of the completed projects, but not until after the 28th -- our immediate family doesn't celebrate Christmas until then, and I don't want to give anything away. Even to my sister, who already knows what she's getting, but hasn't seen the purtiness of the finished product.

The Fabulous Maureen taught me a new stitch yesterday, and I'm whipping through a scarf using it. (In the picture, you can also view my new Lantern Moon needles, which I am pretty much in love with.)

She calls it Chain Link Fence, because when you stretch it out, it looks like a ... well, you know. It's very quick and I think it's so pretty. I have a stash of yarn that I've been looking for a project for, and I think I'm going to do an afghan in Chain Link Fence. Just as soon as I finish this scarf, which I think may be a fun gift for someone as yet to be named. Don't you just wish it was you? :)

New Hair!

2007-12-15T12:08:00.000-05:00

I got new hair!

Last time I saw my friend Jen, she was fresh from the salon, and her hair looked great. I was openly jealous, so she invited me to come with her the next time. I had terrible guilt about abandoning my stylist, but I decided to give it a try. I love it! (Sorry the picture isn't better, but it does at least give you an idea of what it looks like.)

My favorite part is the low-maintenance of it. I was instructed that I may a) allow my hair to air dry, b) blow it dry, c) use a flat iron on it, or d) any combination of a, b, and c. I love the flexibility. I can run out the door quickly, or I can gussy it up a little. A study of past behavior indicates that I'll take option a most often, though!

Advent

2007-12-14T12:19:00.000-05:00

On the radio the other day, I heard a man talking about the coming of Christmas, and what it ought to mean to us. His message, at its heart, said that we've been going about this whole Christmas-is-coming thing the wrong way, which is something I've believed for a long time. While I applaud the extra cheer that many folks seem to muster up, I'm not a fan of the general frenzy that is most of December. The Christian season of Advent, he pointed out, has never been about sugar and presents and decorations, or even about families getting together. Advent is about expectation and hope, and longing.

So rather than asking you what you want for Christmas, let me ask you this: what do you long for? It may be reconciliation, or a child, or a vocation. It may be a resolution to a tangled problem in your life. What space is there in your soul that cannot be filled with anything wrapped up under a tree?

I cannot guarantee that longing will be fulfilled on Christmas morning. I can almost guarantee that it won't. So life, like Advent, is bittersweet. We are all of us walking around with holes in our hearts.

I don't have any objection to Christmas cheer. But I think it would be so nice if we took the cup of kindness with us past the New Year celebration.

Christmas Knitting Pressure

2007-12-12T19:09:00.000-05:00

So I went to my Sit 'n' Knit group this afternoon. I thought about skipping it, because I really needed to clean up the kitchen and vacuum and do some other things. Like put up the Christmas tree already. But then I decided that the dirt and the tree would be here when I got home, so off I went. And I was glad, as always.

We had a great time chatting away, though Pat was very quiet today. She's working on felted slippers that require her to count carefully on every single row. Counting like that always shuts me up, which is probably a relief for the other knitters!

It seems like everyone was working on Christmas gift projects. Pat's slippers were intended to be presents, but she's not going to get enough pairs done, so I believe she's given up on that. Melanie just finished a collection of purses for her aunts and mailed them yesterday. She said she never wants to knit another purse. Or at least not for a long time. Maureen, our Fearless Leader, put some finishing touches on a sock monkey, Jackie was working on socks (perhaps the only non-Christmas item) ,and Pam was attempting to finish a copy of a vintage knitted Christmas stocking. Everybody in her family has one, and she's making one for her granddaughter. It's got overstitching and sequins and all kinds of good stuff. She's very brave.

I was working on finishing a set of legwarmers for my big sister. They could not be easier: K2 P2 ribbing and sewn together at the edges. They're the third and final gift for Christmas that I am knitting. I didn't want to get into knitting a whole bunch of stuff, because I knew that I would just lose my mind at about this time, and I wasn't signing up for a nervous breakdown this year.

The darlin' boy is herding me into the car. He really is like a sheepdog. I'll be back ...

My Silly Name

2007-12-07T21:57:00.000-05:00

I wasn't sure how to introduce myself initially, because I'm not sure I'm really that interesting, except perhaps to myself and my dog. Oh, wait, I don't have a dog. Humph.

I am the Country Mouse to my old college roommate's City Mouse. (I don't mean that she is old. Certainly not, because we are the same age. I just mean that I no longer live with her.) Annie and I were paired up by the computer our freshman year, and what an interesting ride it's been. We hardly like any of the same things, except the Barenaked Ladies, alfredo sauce, and each other. She had never seen a Black Angus cow until she met me, and I had never ridden a subway until she took me on one. I hardly ever have again, unless you count in Washington D.C. and Toronto, but I don't think those count as actual subways because they're so clean. Anyway, one time I was trying to explain to her why I didn't like something (I can't remember what is was, but probably living with so many people in such a small space), and she said, "You're such a country mouse." Since she's pretty firmly a city mouse, we'll likely never live together again. I like visiting cities, and I even lived in one for almost five years. At heart, though, I like it out here where the nearest grocery store is at least a 15 minute drive away.

Besides, I got married to a farm boy, and he's not moving anywhere where he can't have at least five acres around him.

Speaking of the farm boy, he's going to be herding me into bed soon, so I'd better sign off. Happy December!