Just Because

He's so cute. I took this in Sister Bay, Door County, WI. We were up over the weekend for Christmas with my family. The squirrel is eating on the back deck of the condo. He would chase away a chipmunk that was trying to get some food, too. The chipmunk would keep trying to get to the food, but he never made it while I was watching. H-bomb found it entertaining for a while but then the shiny presents caught her attention and she was lost.

First Trimester Testing...

Came back within in normal ranges. We have another set of blood tests coming up in 3 weeks, but nobody's expecting anything other than normal results for those as well. The tests were for Down syndrome and trisomy 13, 16 and 18, I believe. All are chromosonal disorders that usually include mental retardation and physical abnormalities in the baby.

Merry Christmas!

We spent last evening at my in-laws' house in Milton. We had a delicious dinner, complete with blueberry not-wine for me. There were many gifts under the tree, but I think the best one was the gift of a heifer through Heifer International, from Mema and Bapa.
Although it's not a gift to me, I've named my heifer LuLu. I believe she will be a wonderful addition to somebody's life. SuperGeek also received a heifer, while H-bomb was given a flock of ducks. She doesn't really understand what that means, but I think she's happy anyway.
H-bomb was pretty excited to see that Santa did show up at our house last night. He even found the Christmas stockings! She's been painting on the kitchen floor all morning, wearing the bathrobe he brought her.
We'll be heading back down to Milton for more food (cranberry steamed pudding, yum!) and family today.

Happy Holidays, everybody!

Baby's First Photo

We had our first ultrasound today, and everything looks perfect, according to the doctor. The neural tube is 1.5mm, which is well within the normal range (1-3mm). We have another scheduled for January 16, which seems like many years away. SuperGeek and I are both feeling a bit less anxious, although I'm still nervous and probably will be until the baby is born and everything is perfect.

Another FO

This is a phenobarbital molecule I made for my organic chemistry class. I have to give a presentation on the drug tomorrow and I'll be using this as a visual aid.
The gray is carbon, blue is oxygen and white is nitrogen. The green pipe cleaners represent single bonds, while the blue are double bonds. I left out the hydrogen atoms because I would need to make 22 of them and I don't have unlimited time.
Tomorrow is my last class for the semester and I have only 2 finals to take next week. I'm looking forward to a month off of classes, especially since H-bomb will still have preschool and I'll be able to get some much needed rest.

A New Toy

I'm the kind of person who never wins anything, no matter how hard I try. So imagine my surprise, and delight, when my name was called during the raffle at the ETC Holiday Party. I am now the proud owner of a Breville Cafe Roma Espresso machine. After checking websites and the information from my doctor, I found that I can actually use it, too!
SuperGeek and I have now won something 2 years in a row. Maybe it's the beginning of a streak?

Thank You

Thank you, everybody, for your very kind thoughts and words. We are very nervous at Chez Madisonienne right now, but we're hopeful we have nothing to worry about. We will be having an ultrasound on the 19th which will give us some insight into how the baby is developing.

For those who would like more information, here's a link to my husband's webpage.

My Birthday Present to You

Today is my birthday and I thought I'd share some good news.....



We're due on July 8, 2007, which puts me at about 9 weeks and 2 days. We're very excited and nervous about everything, but the doctor is very optimistic that everything will go perfectly for us this time around.

Finished Objects!!!!

The excitement at my house is running high right now. It's a little sad that I don't have anybody to share it with, but H-bomb will be home soon.

I finished Icarus! I'm so glad to get it done. I think it took forever and 5 days. I haven't decided where I'll block it yet, but I'm thinking my dining room table. We don't use it for much anyway. I'll get some photos posted as soon as I have the cable to connect to the computer. Somebody took it with him to work...

I also finished H-bomb's Halloween costume this morning. She chose the fabric for a princess dress, and I sewed it. It was my first ever dress, with a zipper and a lining. She's pretty excited to wear it out for candy tonight. And I'm excited for her to bring home the candy!

As far as school goes, I should be checked off for the three different types of needles on Friday. And then, this knit-blogger will be able to draw blood from veins. (We don't get to learn how to do arteries in this class.) I'll have another clinical rotation at the beginning of December, just in time for my birthday and final exams. Hooray!
I just finished 3 courses, with 2 A's and 1 A/B. I was hoping for straight A's, but as SweaterGirl says, "C's get degrees", so I won't worry too much about them.

I'm off to prepare for the ghosts and goblins tonight. They should be starting their neighborhood rounds any time now. ...mmm....candy....

Neat-O Cell Video

With extra-hot DNA replication!

Video

Yes, I am a dork. I am comfortable with my geekiness. It's something that comes with maturity. Now, to get some of that fine wine that goes along with it....

Update!

Baby Madelynn has been found safe and sound in our family room closet. I guess we just need a search team of children, even though they were searching for different toys.
It was a happy reunioun for H-bomb, as Madelynn is her favorite baby. (She doesn't know that you're not supposed to show favoritism to kids. Maybe baby dolls are an exception?)

On to Icarus....
I have 14 rows left of chart one. I think I should be able to finish them either today or tomorrow at school. I'd rather finish them at home, but I have an exam to study for, so I might finish them during my breaks at school.
I cast on last weekend for the Father and Son socks in the fall IK. They're moving along pretty quickly. I like having smaller projects to work on in addition to a large one. I'll feel like I've accomplished something when they're done, even if I still have most of another project to finish.

About Right

My Personality

Neuroticism	8
Extraversion	99
Openness To Experience	71
Agreeableness	62
Conscientiousness	26

Test Yourself Compare Yourself View Full Report Bebo, MySpace Codes and MySpace Layouts by Pulseware Survey Software

Icarus Progress.... With Photos!

Ok. So blogger doesn't want to put my photos where I want them. Anyway....
I started classes on Monday. Bright and early at 7:30 in the morning. I'm not really what people call a "morning person". I like to sleep. I like my bed. I like my eyes to be closed during the dark morning. I'm sure that I'll adjust in a few weeks, but until then, I'll be dragging.
Right now, I'm taking a break from my urinalysis studying (oh, yeah) to get these photos up.




I've been spending my breaks before and after class working on Icarus. It's taking roughly 30 minutes to do 2 rows, so I'm not getting a lot done at one time, but it is adding up. I have four more rows left to do on the third repeat. I'm using Mondial La Lana Merino Fine and size 2 Turbos.
Icarus is still small enough to take with me in a small fabric gift bag and fits nicely in my backpack. I've really been enjoying talking with the random people who stop to ask about the project. Finding new people to talk to is something I enjoy doing. As SweaterGirl and IKTI know, I'll talk to just about anybody about anything.

Other than school, I haven't been doing anything new. I'm finally getting some ripe tomatoes in my garden, although my plants were really damaged during the storms last week. I'm hoping that the huge holes in the leaves won't hurt the tomatoes, pumpkins and cucumbers too much. The weeds seem to have weathered the storms (ha, ha) just fine, but my super-tall sunflowers were broken by the wind before I had a chance to get photos taken. But, thankfully, there's always next year.

Icarus Progress

I finally finished detangling my yarn for Icarus yesterday. 1250 meters of superfine merino.
I got through the second repeat of chart 1 this evening. At this rate, I might be done by December...

On the home front, I emptied out my black hole of an office yesterday and ripped out the nasty pink carpet. I'm not sure which previous owner decided on the carpets in our house, but they obviously had no taste. I spent a few hours scraping tape that was under the tack strips, and it's still not done. I have a feeling that Mema will be upset if I don't do it right, so I'll get back at it tomorrow. But until it's all done, I have a black hole of a dining room.

Sesame Street Rocks!

If you know me, even a little bit, you know that I'm a little obsessed with Law and Order. All of them. Even the repeats on USA and TNT and every other channel that plays them.
So, imagine my delight when watching Sesame Street with H-bomb on Monday night and this clip came on. I had to turn it up and tell my family to be quiet so I could hear what was going on. SuperGeek and I were left wondering where Ice-T's character, Finn Tutuola, was though.

On the knitting front, I've finished Sister Amy's shawl. It's thinner than I thought it would be, but that will probably change with blocking and gravity.
I've started the second repeat on Icarus. I know I shouldn't be, but I'm a little concerned because it looks like a blob of yarn right now. The pattern looks much more complicated than it is, but I've found it to be a nice "watching TV" project to work on.
I've also been making baby hats, since everybody seems to be reproducing at an alarming rate right now. They're nice and easy and can be finished in a few hours.

The painted bedroom floor looks so much better. I'm very pleased with the way it turned out. I think, though, that I will get the primer tinted next time to cut down on the coats needed for good coverage. I'm thinking that I could spend a few days this week working on fixing the "Black Hole", as SuperGeek calls my office. I'd love to rip out the nasty pink carpet and organize everything. I'm just not sure where I'd put the 'puter while I was working, since our house is so cozy....

One more thing.....
We had an awesome dinner party on Saturday night, and I'd like to thank everybody that was there for making it so wonderful. We're planning on putting in the dishwasher that's been hanging out in the garage before we have another one. Although, eating off the paper plates was convenient.
We were all missing the Honeymooners2006 a few minutes after they left. Come back soon! You don't need a reason to visit us!

Fabuloso

I found this cleaner at Target, and I love it. If you haven't tried it, spend the $1.49 on it. It took off who knows how much dirt from under the carpet. And it smells good, too.
Awesomeness in a bottle.

Update to Waiting

I got my grade via email yesterday afternoon....

I got an A!!!!
I was very excited about it, since I hadn't done as well on the first lecture exam as I would have liked and I was worried that I would do the same the second time around. But I only missed 8 points!!

So to reward myself, I pulled out the carpet in my bedroom. It was old and gross and stinky. Now we have the nice asbestos tiles showing. The plan is to paint them until we can afford to recover them with wood flooring. Or laminate. Or tile. I'm sure we'll figure something out....

Lolla was a blast, too. We saw Death Cab, Built to Spill, Calexico, Sonic Youth, Dresden Dolls, Flaming Lips and New Pornographers.
We were all getting tired after spending the day in the heat with sweaty, sticky people all around, so we went back to Amy 2's house for a dinner of ice cream and chips and dip. That's one of the fun things about travelling without children...

I'm almost done with the first chart of Icarus. I'll start on the first repeat in roughly three rows. I'm near the end of Amy 2's shawl, with plans of embellishment dancing in my head. I'm thinking a fringe with a bead on the end at the short edges, but she seems a bit wary of that idea. I'm going to try it and see how it turns out and if she hates it, I can change it.
I'm off to check for ripe tomatoes in my garden. We'll be using them for dinner if I can find some.

Waiting is the Hardest Part

I'm sitting here waiting for the email from my A&P instructor giving me my grade. I had my final exam this morning. I felt more prepared for this test than the first one, but I could only miss 23 points to get an A in the class. I could, however, have gotten only 17 out of 200 for a C in the class.

Later this afternoon, SuperGeek and I will be heading down to Chicago for Lollapalooza. I'm pretty excited to go, as I've never been before. We're planning to see Death Cab, Raconteurs, Gnarls Barkley and New Pornographers. And whatever other bands sound good.

On the knitting front, I've made progress on Amy's shawl, but not as much as I would like. I also cast on for Icarus last night during a study break. I've only finished 15 rows, so I'm not sure how it will look when I'm done. I also need to finish untangling the skein of yarn that I'm using. Perhaps yarn stores wouldn't go out of business if the owners were more neat with their product?
I'm not sure that I'll be able to make it to any yarn stores this weekend, but I will post about them on Monday if I do.

I hope you're all staying cool!

I'm Busy!

Wow! I'm almost done with my summer session of A&P. It's a bit harder than sociology. I can't knit during this class, because I need my hands to write. I suppose I could get a voice recorder and take notes at home, but I'd rather knit in the comfy chairs at home.
I just found out that I can start the clinical lab tech program at MATC this fall. I went from #20 on the list to #1. Which is a much better place for me to be.
On the knitting side of things, I finished the prairie tunic a few weeks ago. I love the reactions I get from people who think it must have been incredibly difficult to make it. But if you don't know how to do something, it can seem very hard. Plus, it looks like it was hard work. (photos aren't working right now, so will try to post on flickr.)
I was in Chicago over the 4th of July weekend. The ladies and I went to a yarn store near my SIL's house in Wheaton. She chose a ladder and an eyelash yarn for me to make a shawl for her. It's nice working with a "good" novelty yarn. It doesn't feel like it's cutting into my skin when I work with it.
I'm also working on another baby blanket. It's the Oat Couture spiral baby blanket that was the inspiration for the grumpecue. I'm using cream Cascade 220, although I took a break during the heat wave last week. The last thing I wanted in my non-air conditioned house was a pile of wool on my lap.
I'll be cleaning up from the storm last night and spreading mulch later today. It was a very thoughtful gift from Mema. Or maybe more of a trade, since she's taking the landscape rock to use in her rain garden. Either way, I appreciate it!

Where Do You Knit?

Young knitters in Madison are having a hard time forming good knitting groups. At least, that's what I'm getting from Madam and the writer of this blog.
To be honest, I'm not big on knitting groups. I do enjoy knitting with friends that knit, but the few knitting groups I've been to have made me long for something more. Like beer or wine or some kind of cocktail. Something to make things more exciting. SweaterGirl and I have discussed plans to create a bar/knitting store. I'm not sure how things would work out, since I wouldn't want tipsy knitters to spill their drinks on the yarn or poke somebody with a stick. But the conversations would be sparkling and ideas flowing freely and probably a lot of laughter and tears, since that's what knitters do. And I have an idea in my head that a tipsy knitter will buy a lot of yarn.
I think it would be great if Madison had a young knitters' group. Not too young, because even though I have a vast depth of patience, it runs out quickly when I'm around whippersnappers.

Hooray, Hooray! I Got An 'A'!

In soc. I'm not surprised by this bit of information, but it is always nice to see that letter on an official letter from school. I'm glad that I was able to get those credits worked in around my knitting time.
But since that class has ended, I've been studying human anatomy and physiology. Unfortunately, it's not a knitting-type class. And I actually have to put some effort into the studying. I did take an anatomy class in high school, so it's not brand new information that I'm trying to process. Which seems to be the case with the young whippersnappers in the class. Except that they didn't learn anything in their high school classes, and they're trying to get through this class without learning anything, too. Kids these days...
On the knitting front, I have just about an inch and half to go on my prairie tunic before I start my short rows. It's taken a very long time to get to where I'm at and I've decided that I will have to modify patterns so that I can stop purling forever. The tunic would be much easier and faster to knit if the pattern had been written for circular knitting, which is probably true for a lot of patterns. Live and learn, I guess.

You know what's not fun?

Algebra.

I'm studying for a placement test that I need to take before I can register for fall classes. I don't remember much of the algebra I learned almost 10 years ago, so I have a feeling it will be remedial algebra for me.


On the knitting front, I finished 6 dishcloths last week. I also did 6 more inches on the prairie tunic and started a shawl for SuperGeek's aunt. I'm going to have it done in time for the ladies' weekend in Chicago.... hopefully.....

I started school (again) today. Intro Sociology. I spent most of the class knitting today. It was quite nice, actually. I cast on for the front of the prairie tunic yesterday and have about 20 rows done so far. The amount of purling really makes me wish it was a circular knit. And my needles seem to be about a mile long.
On the home front, our lawn mower decided to eat its own cord on Saturday. Just before H-bomb's birthday party, so we had a meadow in the back yard. Correction... we have a meadow in the back yard. I used the weed wacker to create some paths for gardening and briefly thought that it would be possible to mow the lawn with it. Luckily, I was able to talk myself out of it.
We are also the proud owners of a new fridge. After spending most of last evening trying to hook up the water line, we decided to get a different one. We ended up using plastic tubing which was far easier to work with than copper. When we get around to fixing up the kitchen, we can put in a copper water line, but for now a leak-free plastic tube is fine with me.

What a Weekend!

Phew!! My dancing legs are tired! Saturday was the big day for Kara and Dan. The wedding went very smoothly, as did all of the preparations in the two days leading up to it. SuperGeek and I left Mad-town on Thursday afternoon, arrived at the hotel and then went to Kara and Dan's house. It's super cute. We drank some wine and beer and ate bar food. Then went back to the hotel, which had the most comfortable beds I've ever slept in.... at a hotel.
Friday was spent eating garlic for lunch, decorating the reception hall and wrapping the bouquets. The flowers turned out lovely, if I do say so myself, and Kara got many compliments on them and requests for the florist's name. We wondered briefly if we could start up a business, but decided that it probably wouldn't work, mostly because of the 5 hour drive time between us.
The rehearsal went almost smoothly.... Mrs. Jesberger has some particular ideas for how things should work and is not shy about sharing those thoughts. After running through the ceremony a few times and making sure our foot angles were right, we watched the guys move tables. They did a wonderful job and it was very nice having room for the dip.
We had a rehearsal dinner at the hotel, with many pitchers of beer and lots of good conversation.
Then came Saturday morning! It was very relaxing getting my hair done. I think the last time it was styled was for my own wedding. Jessica, another bridesmaid, and I spent time working on our knitting projects. After getting dressed, it was time to head down for photos. As we were standing on the hotel restaurant's deck, it started snowing. And we got locked out.
Heading over to the Smith Avenue Overlook, it started pouring, but was done by the time we got there. We then went back to the Bluffs of Mendota to get ready for the wedding and reception. A few last minute decisions were made and guests began to arrive. The whole night went smoothly and we all had a lot of fun.
Kara and Dan seem to be made just for each other and I wish them the best in their long life together.

Party Stores....

Are incredibly overwhelming.
I went out to find invitations and other supplies for a birthday party for H-bomb. After taking University to Middleton, I was ready to get off the road. I went to the party store next to Target. I wandered around the store for a while, trying to find Princess Party Stuff. Well, they have about 8 different styles. H-bomb wants a Sleeping Beauty party, but there weren't any supplies for that. Instead I went with Cinderella invitations. I haven't made a decision on tableware, but it will probably end up being the heart-shaped Princess stuff.
While I was there, a man was looking at the same sort of stuff. I wanted to ask how old his princess was going to be, but he was on the phone, presumably with his wife. I felt sorry for the guy. If it was too much for me, I'm fairly certain he was about to faint. They were calling each other back and forth, trying to decide what sort of gift bags and activity kits to buy. I had gone into the store with the idea of getting foamy tiaras for the girls to decorate, but they didn't have any that I liked.
So I headed over to Michaels, which was full of women planning what sounded like a bachelorette party. Since I haven't had one, and one has been promised, I would like to take this time to suggest that foamies are for kids. I'm hoping that the women get the bride nice and drunk before springing the foam accessories on her.

On the knitting front, I finished the decrease rows on GG last night. I also cast on for the Prairie Tunic from the latest Interweave Knits. I started with the medium size, but it would have been way too big, so I ripped it out and started over with the small size. The lace pattern is similar to the Green Gable's, so it should be a nice tank to layer over a cami for the summer.

Mother's Day

I was talking with Sweater Girl earlier this week and she asked me if I was getting a gift for Mother's Day. We barely celebrate regular holidays at our house, so greeting card holidays are mostly ignored. I'm not one to turn down a gift, though, so I've been thinking about what I might like. While I do spend a lot of time with my knitting, I don't really need anything. That's not to say that I don't want anything. And a lot of my time has been spent outdoors this spring, where it has been sorely needed. So maybe I should be lobbying for gardening supplies.
Or we could just skip a celebration and I can use the day for rest and relaxation, however I see fit. Knitting and gardening, with my family fanning me with palm fronds while I sip an ice cold drink.

Here's one from the Peanut Gallery

Which Muppet are you?

I'm Waldorf and Statler. Now, for those of you who know me, you'll see that these internet quizes simply can't be trusted.

In knitting news, I received 3 sets of steel needles yesterday afternoon. Nothing too exciting about them, other than they came from Goodwill. $20 goes a long way there. H-bomb is the proud owner of 4 new books; 3 Berenstain Bears and 1 Disney Cinderella's Stepsisters.
I'm almost finished with the right front side of her cardigan, and am waiting for the camera battery to charge so I can take some photos.
I like the lace pattern and the yarn I'm using is so soft. The sweater would be knitting up much faster if I wasn't spending so much time outside in the yard.
I'm running out of room for planting and I want to add so many more plants. I need to find some space for 2 third generation plants I'll be getting from my dad, a bleeding heart and lilac shoot. It's kind of neat having something living as an heirloom.

Weird plant part 2

I'm starting to think that it is maybe an asiatic lily. I don't remember planting any in that area, and none of the ones I have planted are sprouting, but weirder things have happened in my yard.

Weird Plant

I'm not sure what this plant is.... Can anybody help? It's growing in a shady spot under two huge Norway Spruces, next to some daylilies. And a tree that's growing through the fence. (We have a few of those.) My neighbor doesn't have any on his side. They're really soft and unscented. I'm planning on letting them grow to see what they do.

Adulthood??

We spent another evening checking out appliances. This time we went to American, after recieving a postcard in the mail letting us know that they were having an employee pricing sale. We had been planning on going there anyway, but it was nice to know that they were thinking of us. And everybody else in Wisconsin.....

We decided on this stove, in black, which has lots of extra features and was somehow priced lower than a lot of the more basic models. My in-laws had lent us a Consumer Reports book, which they had used to look for appliances for their own house, and they had this model circled. I wouldn't have been surprised if there were balloons, confetti and flashing lights over it at the store, it seemed like it was the one we were supposed to buy. So we did. It will be delivered on Saturday, just in time for me to make something for Sunday brunch at SweaterGirl's house.

Since the stove is black, and our current fridge is white, we decided to get a new fridge, too. We decided on this model, also in black, but shiny instead of pebbled. H-bomb likes the idea of water through the door, which I do, too. It will free up a lot of space that is currently being taken up by the Britta pitcher. The fridge won't be available until early May, and hopefully the one we have will last until then.

Buying these appliances has made me feel very grown-up. Even more than when we bought the house. I wonder if this means we'll have to do the adult thing everytime now? Or are there still chances for us to act like kids?

Finished Object

I finally finished the baby blanket yesterday. I had to rip out my bind off, which was a little scary as I don't usually rip things out very well. I'm very happy with how it turned out in the end, so all's well that ends well.

On the appliance front, we've been shopping around and adding to the seemingly endless decisions to make regarding them. We're trying to think ahead a bit and buy accordingly, but it's really hard to think of what we'll need in a few weeks, let alone a few years. So we're still grilling and microwaving our meals.

I cast on for a sweater for H-bomb on Friday. It's "Reid" from the Spring06 Knitty. After starting and frogging roughly 20 times and crying for help, I finally
checked the pattern to see if there were any changes or extra directions that I might be missing. Yeah, a kind of big one. Instead of having the k2tog, they had knit 1. That was leaving me with an extra 8 stitches everytime I tried working the row. I blamed my sisters for distracting me, but that didn't work once they left. But now I'm over half done with the back panel, and H-bomb is very excited to have a very soft new pink sweater. She's already planning the outfit that she's going to wear it with. Not surprisingly, it's her favorite dress.

When it rains, it pours

Not only doesn't our original stove work, the replacement doesn't have a normal plug. It has to be hardwired or something similar. So I guess we'll see if the old one can be fixed and if not, we'll be going appliance shopping! SG is on the case right now, hopefully finding a solution.
And you know what sucks? Microwave cooking.

Do you ever get the feeling

that your house is trying to talk to you?
In addition to the problems of last week and the need for a new roof, our stove decided that it would like to shoot sparks at me while I was cleaning it today. Apparently the grease spatters were its protection. Luckily for us, we have an extra in the garage, for situations just like this. Not really. It came from my dad's Door County condo and has been waiting to be put in the kitchen.

In other news, H-bomb and I worked outside today. I cleaned our garage, while she had a slumber party with her imaginary friends. Then she played outside while I raked leaves from the shrubbery to the street, in case the city decides to pick them up sometime. I ended up digging up more of the yard to make room in the garden. I found a bunch of bricks buried under the grass. I wondered at first why they were there, but then I remembered where I was. It made perfect sense then.... Where else would a person keep their bricks??

I've been making slow but steady progress on my blanket. I ordered more yarn to start some summer projects, but it hasn't been sent yet. Waiting really is the hardest part.

More gardening

H-bomb and I spent another day outside planting seeds and bulbs. We planted sweet pea, hollyhock and more sunflower seeds. We also planted some asiatic lily, ranunculus, gladiola and dhalia bulbs that she picked out with Mema. I've found that the ground is pretty nice in the back corner where the trees were cut down last summer. And the leaf mulch and topsoil have done a lot to improve the clay soil in the other gardens.

I'm thinking of expanding the vegetable garden another foot or so to make room for more veggies. It wouldn't be much, but I'd be able to have another plant at the front of my rows, and less lawn.

Of course, with a bigger garden, I won't have as much time to work on my knitting. And if I decide to take summer courses, I'm not sure that I'd have time to do anything. What a conundrum.

Spring Gardening

H-bomb and I went out to enjoy the sunshine and warm weather. We planted some sunflowers in random spots around the backyard. They're the kind that are about a foot in diameter, so they should add a lot of nice color this summer. And will hopefully bring back the cardinal family that was living in our backyard last summer.
I broke my trowel digging up "pricker things", or thistles if you want to get technical. I have a feeling somebody is feeding the seeds to the birds that live in our trees. Which means I'll be digging them up for as long as we live here. Which means I'll have to make a trip down to Jungs to get some new tools. And I suppose while I'm there I'll have to check out their bare root plants and see what I need. Which means I'll have to expand the gardens. Which means less lawn!

Work avoidance....

Er, I mean, child avoidance..... I took the quiz to find out what kind of yarn I am. Shetland wool.

"You are a traditional sort who can sometimes be a little on the harsh side. Though you look delicate you are tough as nails and prone to intricacies. Despite your acerbic ways you are widely respected and even revered."

I suppose this could be used to describe me. In my head, I'm as revered as the pope.

So, what kind of yarn are you?

Explosions

Well, after 3 hours and 125 feet of cable, our sewer was unclogged on Friday. According to Rooter Man, after mild winters maple trees get really thirsty and will go after water anywhere they can get to it. The Sweater Girl family had the same issue a few weeks ago. Apparently business is booming for the rooter people.

Friday night we headed up to the Dells for the conference. I'm not sure if it helped or not, but I'm glad we went. H-bomb and I decoupaged a candle for Alex when we got there, then headed down to the pool. SuperGeek played water basketball with some of the other fathers while H-bomb and I sat in the hot tub. We tried going down the water slide, but she wasn't a big fan. SG and I thought it was great; neither of us could remember the last time we were on one.

Saturday was full of emotional explosions, starting bright and early at 8:30. The IDCW brought in a speaker from Colorado, Olon Lindemood. He spoke for over an hour, using Care Bears as props. I was hoping that he would throw the things around the room, but he didn't. It's kind of weird being angry at stuffed animals, but I doubt that I was the only one.
Later in the day, we went to a memorial service for the 37 babies being remembered. It was really hard seeing all of the photos of the babies. And listening to the sobbing of the other parents was very difficult, probably because I knew just how they were feeling.
We met Amy and H-bomb down at the pool afterwards, then went to dinner for SG's birthday. There were lots of drinks and steak - dinner of champions..... And after such a long day, it was nice to laugh and smile. And watch H-bomb fall asleep on two dining room chairs.

I'm hoping to lose myself in some yarn for a few hours. I finished my first sock on Saturday, so I'm going to get started on my second sock; I might have just enough yarn to make it.

Still broken

Yep. The toilet is still broken. But it's not the toilet. The toilet is just the most convenient spot for water to come up into our house. SuperGeek said the floor was soaked this morning when he got up. And I was just doing some laundry, when H-bomb started screaming from the bathroom. Yeah, water from the toilet is scary.
So I put in a call to some rooter guy who told me that since we don't have a basement, this repair would be a bit more involved. I'm really hoping that isn't a euphemism for "really expensive." Somebody should be here in an hour, so I will hopefully be able to finish the laundry before SG gets home from work. Why do crazy things happen right before you go somewhere?

You Just Can't Leave Boys Home Alone

Sweater Girl and I went to the knitting group at Lakeside Library last night. We met up with Lee from Stash Dreams. It was really cool meeting somebody face-to-face after reading their blog for so long. Sweater Girl and I left our blogdresses as our contact information. It was a lot of fun explaining blogs to the leader of the group. Hopefully she'll start one so we can read it. She had an interesting idea for a sweater, and I'd love to see how she executes it.
After the group, SG and I went to Benvenuto's for $3 big glasses of beer. We'd never gone out together, and it was fun. I got you next time, tho....
Then we headed back to my place. Complete insanity. Worse than normal. Worse than a house full of half-drunk women at a bridal shower.
Apparently, somebody broke the toilet at my house. Since there were only 3 people who would have been able to cause such a problem, I'm putting my money on SG's hubby.....
We came into the house and were met by the sound of the shop vac. SuperGeek was vacuuming up the water from the floor. Cory was in the family room, or as we like to call it, the West Wing, watching the kids. "It's under control!" The girls were pretty excited to see their mommas and ran around the house showing us what was going on. There's really nothing quite like an 18 month old telling you all about the kitties.
So, the boys left to buy a special plunger and some drain cleaner. When they got back, I was able to get H-bomb in bed. She fell asleep 5 minutes after I started her stories.
The toilet seems to be working today, but I'm a little afraid to test it out. I am hoping that we'll be able to put in new flooring, since the ugly carpeting got all wet. And, thankfully I don't keep any yarn in the bathroom.

Photos

Mema put up photos of Kara's shower on her flickr page.

Phew! What a weekend!

The party went off without a hitch! I was able to see some friends I hadn't talked to in a long time, which I guess makes them acquaintances, but they left the party with promises from me to get in touch with them sometime soon. The food went over well, except for the weird goat cheese/potato things. It is possible I made them wrong, since the recipe was less than clear. That maybe should have been a hint to not make them, but that's just not me. There are no red lights here.
So now I have a nice clean house, and leftover cake and box wine. It's quite nice. If only it could stay this way without any work......
SuperGeek, H-bomb and I are going to the Wintergreen Resort in the Dells this weekend. They are having a conference for bereaved parents, sponsored by the Infant Death Center of Wisconsin.
The conference coincides with the one year anniversary of Alex's death, which is on Sunday. We're not sure what to expect, but hopefully it will be helpful. H-bomb is excited about the indoor water park. She doesn't remember ever going to an "inside swimming pool" and wants to take all 3 of her swimsuits. Yes, she has 3. They range in size from a 2T to a 5, for length. I will be taking my knitting along, and SuperGeek will bring his mistress, Apple.

Speaking of knitting, I don't have much of a stash to flash, so maybe I'll do it next year. All of the other ones I've seen look so much bigger and better than mine. I have stash envy. But I'm ok with it.

Oh my

I'm not sure that I've ever seen this much yarn outside of a yarn store. I'm simply amazed. My stash is pitifully small compared to that, and I thought I had a lot.

My sock is almost done. I've been a lot busier this week with bridal shower prep than I thought I would be. I've started baking and decided to take a few minutes to rest my feet. Mema, H-bomb and I went grocery shopping at the new store for supplies. I was very happy to find everything I needed, and more. Mema went home with sushi for dinner. She tried it for the first time in Hawaii, and liked it so much she's willing to try grocery store sushi. The samples we had were quite tasty.
But back to the shower.....
I'm making cranberry biscuits that will be served with turkey and mustard. Marinated asparagus and some chevre/potato/endive thingies. And a cake. Plus extra food coming from some of the guests.
And I can't forget the boxes of wine. And brandy slush. This should make for a very interesting party. But it's fun to plan and have parties, and I'd do almost anything for Bride-to-be Kara.

My neighbors are hungry

We went to Pierce's, the new grocery store down the street from us tonight. It was insanely busy. We were there for 45 mintues, 30 of them spent waiting on line. It looked like they carry everything that we buy at the "other" grocery store. I was pleased with the selection of food they had, quite a wide variety for such a small space. And good beer and ok wine selections, too.

I should get back to dinner. And then I'll be knitting the night away. I'm almost done with the gussets on my sock. Then I'll just need to finish up the foot and toe so I can cast on the next one.

Do you smell that?

It's the sweet smell of spring! Finally! I have the windows open to let the fresh air in. It's a bit chilly, but the house is so stuffy that I simply can't wait any longer.
Here is a photo of the finished yarn that H-bomb and I dyed last week. There are more at my flikr page.

Busy Saturday

We had a busy day today.
First thing this morning, we took H-bomb to Bowl-A-Vard for her preschool's social. It was a hoot watching her and her friends bowl. It was the first time she had gone, and also the first time that SuperGeek and I had bowled together. We had a really good time. I even won a game! Of course, we forgot the camera at home. We also forgot the phone, so we couldn't even take bad photos.
After we were done bowling, we had lunch at the alley and then cruised home. We wrapped the gift for a birthday party that we went to at Animart for one of the girls in H-bomb's class. We then turned around and jumped back into the car so we could get there on time.
The kids were having a blast there as well. One of the employees took the kids on a tour of the store and brought out animals for the kids to pet. H-bomb thought that the snake felt "slippery" and was afraid to touch the hedgehog because it was "prickely". She was ok with the turtle, rats and birds. I had to leave after that to take Mema's truck back to the airport. They returned from Hawaii this afternoon. Since we haven't heard from them, we're assuming that they made it home safe.
H-bomb has been pretty hyper since we got home, and will probably crash in a little bit. I've been busy working on the last-minute details of Kara's shower and winding my new yarn. It's taking a very long time to get the hanks into balls that I can work with. I wish I had a swift.

Yarn dyeing photos

I didn't get around to posting the photos last night. H-bomb was busy playing her preschool game on my 'puter, and Blogger probably wouldn't have let me upload them anyway, since it's picky like that. But here they are in all of their wooly goodness. The end product didn't turn out the way I had thought it would, but I think that they are pretty hanks of yarn anyway. And we had a good mother/daughter bonding experience.

Steamy Yarns

I was so inspired by Elizabeth's yarn that I decided to color my own.
I started at the same spot, the Dig & Save on Park St. I didn't find anything, but that was probably because I got there 20 minutes before they closed. I wasn't sure what to expect, since I'd never been before, but it was pretty much what I thought. Although I had imagined the boxes to be shorter.
Since I didn't find anything there, and H-bomb was with my sisters, I drove out to Goodwill on the East side. I found a huge off-white wool sweater, along with 2 nice spring sweaters: a navy silk/cashmere and a loose knit brown cotton. I spent last night frogging the sweater and today hanking (is that a word?) it.
Shortly before 5 this evening, I was ready to begin. As was my assistant, the plucky 3 year old. Not one to be shy around color, she used as many combinations as possible, but mostly pink. We used Wilton cake icing colors: sky blue, rose, red red, leaf green and a mixture that turned purple. The leaf green and sky blue made a gorgeous teal that didn't make it through the steaming. I've got two still in the pot and will get photos up later tonight, but for now, there's a Fat Squirrel with my name on it.

Too sick to knit

It's been pretty depressing around here. H-bomb, SuperGeek and I have all come down with the flu. H-bomb started it, and has an ear infection on top of it. I spent Thursday, Friday and yesterday laying on the couch or in bed. I haven't been this sick in such a long time. You know something's not right when a pillow feels like it weighs 50 lbs.
SuperGeek started feeling icky on Friday, but seems to be doing much better with the virus than H-bomb and I. Of course, since he's a man, he won't complain about being sick. He has taken some medicine, though, which is his little way of saying, "I don't feel so good."

I've been inspired by Elizabeth at SABLE. Her hand-painted yarn looks so amazing. She also included some instructions on how she did it. I have a box crammed full of Wilton icing colors, so once I feel better, I'm going to paint some yarn.

Commenting

SweaterGirl let me know that I needed to approve comments before they were posted. I don't remember changing that setting, and I wasn't getting any emails, but I switched it back so anybody can leave a comment now. There were 14 missing! Thanks, everybody, for reading!

This is my new yarn that I picked up last night. They were rewound by Miranda, who was very nice about being the go-between. Her employee last night was concerned that I hadn't paid for the yarn. If it had been me, I would have been a bit suspicious of the disheveled woman claiming to be trading little monsters for yarn. I think that I'll start carrying them around with me and see if I can trade them for other goods, since I have a lack of actual money. The snowstorm today will probably set back the sprouting of my money tree, too. Stupid snow.

Bartering

I made these two guys for a woman whom I've never met. She's trading me two skeins of Harrisville Highland. The owner of Lakeside Fibers is our go-between. I'll be making the trade later tonight.
The other woman is going to send them to her neice and nephew in SoCal. It's kind of exciting to think that my handiwork is being given as a gift.
And the colors of the new yarn are an aubergine and iris. I'm not sure what I'll do with them, but I'm sure I can find a project.

Spring has sprung!?

These are tulips, I think. It's our second spring in our house and we're hoping for a better year.
It's finally a nice day in Madison. I've got my doors open to let in some fresh air and the cats are crying because I won't let them outside. H-bomb is with Pookie in Illinois, so I have the day all to myself! Life is good.
I finished a new pair of socks for H-bomb and will hopefully have enough yarn left for one more small sock to give to SweaterGirl's wee one. She might end up with a different colored toe, though.
I'm almost half done with the fifth color of my baby blanket, which is turning out quite nicely. It's a nice, easy pattern that is somewhat mindless so I can knit while watching tv or playing endless games of "Go Fish".
Yesterday I cast on for a pair of jaywalker socks. I'm not sure if I like the pattern or not. The yarn is a gorgeous sky blue from KnitPicks. I will try to get photos up later today.

Well...

H-bomb has enormous feet. I guess this shouldn't come as a surprise, as I've been warned about it pretty much since the day she was born.
I finished her pink socks, and they turned out ok. They just don't fit on her feet. She can't even get them over her heels. The pattern says they should fit a 4 to 5 year old. It also claims to have larger sizes in parentheses, but those are conveniently missing. Perhaps that should have been my first clue that the pattern might not work out?
So, I'm going to try again, with the same pattern on size 3 dpns, since I don't have a circular in that size. After trying the magic loop, dpns are very unweildy to use.

Hannah's new buddy

I got an email from Knitty this morning

and went to check it out with Hannah. She chose this little guy for me to make. I used Cascade 22o for the body and some baby acrylic for the hair. Hannah hasn't chosen a name for her new toy, but I'm sure it will be creative when she does.

Crochet for Knitters

I'd rather be a knitter....

Sweater Girl and I took a class at Lakeside on Saturday morning. I did not have much success. Part of the problem was my plastic crochet hook. Another part was my yarn. I was using Cascade 220, but it was splitting like you wouldn't believe.
It would have been nice if the lady who had called to confirm the class had told me to bring a knitted square, but since she didn't, I got to spend a bit of time knitting up a swatch so I could practice crochet edges. The edging was working out ok, until I got around to trying crab stitch. NOT FUN!
The sweater the instructor brought out would be so freakin' cute on Hannah, but I don't think I can make it, since it has the crab stitch edging....
Sweater Girl was very generous in giving me a ride to and from the class, and as we were en route to mi casa, we passed Christian and H-bomb going out on their date. They went to the Childrens' Museum and Ella's Deli.
I had 4 hours to myself. It was bliss. I practiced my new crochet techniques and decided that I would stick with knitting. I can do edges now if I must, and that's good enough for me.

Our Anniversary

Thursday night, Christian and I had a Date!!!
Pookie generously watched H-bomb on her birthday so we could have a night out. We had dinner at Smoky's on University. I think that we will both recommend dining there. Of course, we'd rather have Bapa take us out next time....
We had a bottle of Mouton Cadet Bordeaux (2003)with dinner. It was quite yummy, even for the white wine drinker.
I had picked Christian up from work, so he had his computer bag with him. He thought that it would be a good idea to bring the man-purse inside with him. I was able to talk him out of it by reminding him that the fleece that was keeping him warm, would keep the 'puter warm, too. Thankfully, I didn't have to share my anniversary dinner with his mistress.....
So, here's to 4 years, and many more!

Get Well Soon, Kara!!!

I got a call from Kara's mom last night around 9. Kara had an emergency appendectomy at 9:30 last night. Sadly, she had no Dr. Carter to take care of her.
I wasn't able to talk with her mom last night, but I got in touch with her this morning, and she let me know that everything went ok and that Kara is recuperating at United Hospital in the Twin Cities.
I had left a message on Kara's cell last night, assuming that Dan would call me back, but to my surprise, Kara called this morning. She said that she was in a lot of pain, but was doing good. The nurses were keeping her well supplied with Vicodin and morphine. She also told me that she's ready for a party on April 1.
So, tonight I'm raising a glass of Covey Run Chardonnay to Kara. We love you and want you to be better soon!

Happy Birthiversary!

Last night we went out to the Prairie for dinner to celebrate my sister's birthday and our 4th anniversary. We got Pookie Mosby's Medical Dictionary. There are a lot of cool pictures in it. Gross ones, too. I'm not sure that I would have been so excited about a dictionary, but it seemed to make her happy.
I also cleaned out her closet and dresser. We are definitely sisters, as she is fond of making piles, too.
The Birthiversary isn't until Thursday, but due to scheduling conflicts we decided to celebrate early. Pookie told us that she would watch H-bomb for us so we can go on a date. I'm not sure what we'll do, but it will be nice to get out sans child.

I started the yellow on my blanket last night after we got home. I broke my personal rule of not knitting in bed. My bed is for sleeping, not knitting, but it's so comfy and cozy that I may just sit and knit in there instead. I haven't done anymore work on the socks, but I've been busy getting the invites to Kara's shower put together. They are all done; now I just need to find some envelopes that will fit. I don't think Mead security is the look I'm going for.....

Here are the two projects I'm working on right now.
The top one is the baby blanket, with the third color started.
The first color is actually purple, not blue. The next color I'm going to use is bright yellow, followed by orange and then by blue.

The bottom photo is a pair of mismatched socks for Hannah. I'll be doing the same socks in the same colors so that she has two pairs. It's my first attempt at two socks on one circular, and it's working out much better for me since I got some good directions from Emily.
 

Stretch

Stretch
Originally uploaded by Hannah's Mommy.

This is Stretch after he had his bath on Friday. He wasn't very happy about the whole ordeal, but it helps keep the dander down, which makes it easier for us to breathe.
Beebo got a bath, too, but the photos I took of him didn't turn out very well.

Christmas in February

We had another Christmas at Bapa and Mema's house last night. It was nice seeing the Mara family again. Dinner was lasagna salad and garlic bread with tiramisu for dessert. Mema can make a mean tiramisu. Although it sounds rich, the meal was actually low fat and delicious.

Irene brought her 6 month old kitten, Babes (pictured) to the gathering, although she stayed upstairs in the guest room. Discussions about kittens at our house have stalled. Perhaps after some wine, we can resume negotiations.....

I've spent the day cleaning off my dining room table. I can't wait for the front closet to be dried out so I can use the room for eating, instead of storing stuff. Once that is done, I'm sitting and knitting.

Grr...

OK. I'm a wee bit frustrated at the moment. I'm trying to figure out how to knit two socks on one circular needle. It's driving me nuts! I'm doing something wrong, but I can't figure out what it is. My stitches are bunching up and slipping off my (brand new size 2 turbo) needle.

Hannah's already in bed. She fell asleep on the dining room floor right before I left to get Christian at work. She wouldn't even wake up for dinner. I think she had a pretty wild day at school. Plus she got to spend some time with Auntie Jenni this afternoon while I ran to Home Depot - for the third time.
The cold water tap is fixed in our bathtub. And the front closet is drying out. As soon as it's ready, I'll be spraying some foam insulation on the dirt under the tub to seal it and hopefully get rid of the smell.

Ouch

So we just had the roofer come out to our house to see about fixing the leaky spot over the family room. We thought it was just one little spot that needed fixing, but no. The entire roof needs to be replaced. And that's just the flat part. The gable part is nearing the end of it's life, too, and there are spots that need to be repaired there, too. Fabulous.
At least a new roof will help with the resale value of the house.

On a positive note.....
I started the third color on my baby blanket. Bright green this time. I really like how it's looking so far. I think it will be really cool once it's done.
Christian bought me my Valentine's Day present on Saturday at Lakeside. I just have to get the hanks into balls and I'll be ready to go.

Hannah and I made an enormous amount of heart-shaped cookies this afternoon. We're waiting for them to cool so we can frost them. In the meantime, we'll test the cookies for quality control purposes.

Sprouts!

Sprouts!
Originally uploaded by Hannah's Mommy.

Sprouts!

Sprouts!
Originally uploaded by Hannah's Mommy.

What a waste of an hour

So says Christian while we were watching Meet the Press this morning. We rarely get to see it, as it doesn't involve Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty or PBS Kids. I'm not exactly sure when it became ok for the President to do whatever he pleases. I don't understand why he's resisting obtaining warrants or changing the FISA law. If it's really in the interest of national security, I would expect my Congressional representatives to work to fix the problem. I think that most American citizens feel the same way.
When I'm Queen of America, I promise that nothing bad will ever happen again. I'd say, "Thanks for your vote", but I'm planning on just taking over. I've got my resume all set in anticipation of my new job, a la George Deutsch.

So, what did you do on Saturday???

Christian and I went down to the Garden Expo with Sweater Girl and her hubby. It was a fun time, although we were worried about getting hit in the head by big iron sticks. We weren't sure what they were, but they were selling fast. Everybody had one. I overheard a woman talking about hers, and she said it was $24. Now we know why everybody had a globe-y thing with an arrow through it on a stick. For that price how can you go wrong????

Christian finally got to Lakeside Fibers with me today. He seemed underwhelmed. But, on a positive note, I only have to spend $95 more to get $20 off my next purchase. Or I could get a tote bag.

We then went to La Hacienda for a late lunch/early dinner. A good meal was had by all, even Christian, whose food wasn't spicy enough.

After we got home, Christian took a nap while I went to Michaels for paper to make Kara's bridal shower invitations. They are going to be pretty kick-ass, if I do say so myself. Right now the plan is to have it at my house on April 1. No joke.

I've spent the evening drinking some shiraz and embossing paper and using spray adhesive on 24 invitations. I'm feeling pretty good. I've posted photos of them on my flickr page.

Blanket without flash

Blanket without flash
Originally uploaded by Hannah's Mommy.

Seedling setup

Seedling setup
Originally uploaded by Hannah's Mommy.

Friday

I thought I'd take a few moments to post some photos of my current knitting project and my seedling trays. Both are very exciting, to me anyway.....

So I've spent the day cleaning my house. I did the laundry and dishes, and rearranged the furniture in my bedroom. I'm planning on spending the evening sitting on the couch, knitting and watching er. Dr. Carter is coming back?!

I only have one(!) project that I'm working on right now. I've been planning on making some socks for Hannah, and Emily sent me links to some promising patterns. I'm going to try knitting two socks on one circular needle using the magic loop method.

Sweater Girl and I had a conversation about swatches yesterday, and I have decided that I will try to make swatches for all of my projects from now on.

February

Hannah had her first school picture day on Tuesday. Naturally, we forgot about it until it was time to head out the door. At least she let me brush her hair.....
Christian and I are off to parent/teacher conferences tomorrow morning. I'm not exactly sure why we need to have a conference with her teachers, since we can see how well she's doing in preschool, but if they would like to talk about her, that's ok. Strangely, we don't mind talking about her.

We're planning on heading out to the Garden Expo with Sweater Girl and her valentine this weekend. I can use as many good ideas for our lawn as I can get. The previous owners weren't too worried about appearances, inside or out, so we have our work cut out for us. It would really help if the money tree I planted last year would hurry up and sprout.

Felting Queen?

Yeah, not so much..... I finished the bag I wanted to felt Saturday night. I felted it, but it didn't shrink enough width-wise, so yesterday I cut it apart and sewed it back together to see if I could get better proprotions. It still didn't work out the way I wanted it to, but I now have some very nice, soft felted wool. The fabric will make some nice throw pillow panels.

The rest of my seeds came in the mail today, so I took Hannah down to Jung's and bought some seed starting supplies. I planted two different types of cherry tomatoes and ornamental peppers, both of which I'm going to use in containers. I also started monkeyflower and johnny jump-up seeds. If all goes as planned (I'm not holding my breath), I'll be able to move these seedlings to bigger containers and start seeds for the garden plants in a few weeks.

Done Waiting

The concealed carry override was shot down. Yay!

Here's what Mark Pocan had to say about it: "Wisconsin will continue to be a safe place to raise your families, thanks to the Assembly's actions."
He's not my representative anymore, but Dave Travis doesn't have his own blog.

I guess that I'll start a knitting club instead.

Waiting

I'm waiting for news to come out from the capitol on the concealed carry law. Those in the state legistlature are working on a few more votes to override Governor Doyle's veto.
If it does become law, I'm starting a Feminist Gun Club. I'm sure that's what Dave Zien had in mind.

Dirty Mittens

What a day! Christian took the day off of work and stayed with Hannah while I ran errands this afternoon. I started at the Northgate Antique Mall. I was looking for sets of needles, but didn't find any. I did find some unlabeled yarn that was 25 cents a skein. For whatever reason I had then, I didn't get any. Even if it's crappy acrylic that pills, it's 25 cents. So, I'll go back tomorrow and get some.
I went to Michaels after that. I picked up some baby acrylic for a blanket that I'm going to be making for a couple of friends. They've been trying really hard to get pregnant (the best part) and were successful and will be having a baby in July.
I then stopped at the grocery store and went back and forth between the front of the store and the dairy section at the back 3 times. I even made a list. But I guess that only works if you look at it......
After the grocery store, I stopped to put gas in the car. Pretty uneventful.
On my way home, I noticed a weird noise coming from the back of the car. Given our neighborhood, I thought it was probably somebody else's loud car. So, I'm turning off of Northport onto Troy when I noticed I was having trouble steering. That's when I realized that I was making that noise! Flat tire.
I grabbed the milk from the backseat and started walking home. Then spent 20 minutes searching for the AAA card, before realizing that we could probably change the tire ourselves in the time it would take for somebody to come out and do it for us. We are true city folk.
The tire was changed quickly and easily by Christian, but Hannah and I both helped.

These are my mittens after changing the tire. They're soaking in the sink right now and will hopefully come clean. They were a fairly quick knit, but I want to work on other things now.

Look at me! I'm a programmer!

As you may have noticed, I've made a few changes to this blog. The template I chose didn't have a special section for links, so I had to make one. And I did it with code.

We're slowly becoming the same person......

On a brighter note, the sun is out and I finished Hannah's right-hand mitten today.
I also put up a new piece of composite trim in the bathroom. I used the mitre saw without any trouble, except that the blade kinda melts the stuff. At least it won't rot in the bathroom.
And I've thought more about the garden. I have lots of plans for that, but haven't started anything yet. I still need to order my seeds and rig up the grow lights, both of which should take less than 20 minutes. But that's 2/3 of an hour that I could be knitting.

Mitten Madness

I finished a left hand diamond pattern mitten for Hannah today. I used Filatura 501 in color 191, a rosey pink, and Knit Picks Wool of the Andes in Cloud. And since I only have 4 size 3 dpns, I'm loosely knitting on an additional size 2.

I also made a hat for Christian that he promptly lost for two days. He then found it in his computer bag, or as I call it, his man purse.

And I finished a pair of mittens for myself this past Saturday. I then wore them to Sleazy E's Deathtrap in Edgerton. We went to Schlock's reunion show with Roxy and Cory. Christian and Cory went to school with the guys in the band so we went to see them. We didn't stay long, as we're getting old and the smoke and claustrophobia were getting to us. We've been spoiled by smoke-free venues.

But back to the knitting, I also have a seed stitch scarf that I'm making for Christian. It might even be ready for next winter! It looks pretty cool, but it gets very boring after a while.

Cooties

The H-bomb missed school on Tuesday, after getting sick in the car after her first dental cleaning visit. I figure it had something to do with the "raspberry" fluoride treatment. Or possibly when Daddy hit her head on the light.....
We made it to school today, only to find out that the school has been taken over by head lice and pink eye. It's almost enough to make home-schooling sound like an alternative. I think that we will be able to make it through such a crisis - as long as the bugs stay out of my yarn!

On Tuesday, Alex would be one year old.
It's been a trying month. The worst day, so far, was Wednesday night when Christian did our taxes. He needed Alex's SSN and the card wasn't in the lock box. I pulled out the green fabric box that contains the few pieces of his short life. All of the cards from family, friends and strangers, the blankets from the hospitals and the tiny clothing he never had a chance to wear are in this box. But no SSN.
I found the file that contains all of the insurance papers. And his death certificate. We found the number there, but it was impossible to read through the tears.
I find myself staring off into space with tears rolling down my face a lot lately. I know that things will get better, but it's hard to get my brain and heart on the same page. Although it would be regressing, I sometimes wish I could feel numb again.
I would give anything to hold him again and hear him cry, something we never heard.
I miss you, Alexandar, so very much.