Okie Knitting in Texas

Long time no blog

2011-12-06T22:07:00.004-06:00

I know it's been like, forever, since my last post, but things around here have been absolutely CRAZY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So much has happened since my last post that I don't really know where to start, tho...

We had to make the most difficult decision of our lives up to this point....Daisy, the killer puppasaurus, is no longer with us :( She developed an aggressive form of k-9 cancer in her mouth and jaw, forcing us to have her put to sleep. After nearly 14 years of life with her, this almost killed me. She was, for all intents and purposes, my best friend, and my life was better for having her in it. There will NEVER be another like her.

That being said, after much pleading by the children, and needing a distraction to help dry my tears, we found

Sooner!!!!!!!!!

A toy rat terrier...she's no Daisy, but she's special in her own right...

And of course, the boy is smitten!

It's been a really long time since there's been a puppy in the house, and I have to admit that she's definitely a handful, but she's incredibly sweet and I love her.

On the knitting front, socks have been flying off the needles at a pretty good clip...5 pair in 2 months, with another pair almost half done...now that softball and baseball season have ended, I'm hoping to regain a little sanity around my home, but with jiu-jitsu, hitting lessons, strength and endurance training and try-outs for softball just around the corner, I don't think I'll hold my breath on that...lol

Bloody waffles

2011-10-28T19:22:00.001-06:00

Bloody waffles
Originally uploaded by okieknittingintx.

Bloody waffles

Another thing that chaps my ass

2011-05-11T18:38:00.000-06:00

People who say that they want to know what's going on, that say they carr, yet they make NO effort to be involved! Don't get mad at me for not stopping to call when I have a home to run, meals to cook, kids to take to the doctor, etc. Retirement means you can move at will and without planning....I on the other hand can't just put everything on hold to make a call to you. And since um taking care of 4 people as opposed to just myself, I have a tendency to forget shit....get over it already!

Now, for the fun stuff! I finished to ty-du socks in tropical...i love them! I'm now working on a pair in magenta moss...which incidentally matches my vera bradley stuff! I tried to make some socks from the silk garden sock that I bought, but the inconsistency of the thickness/thinness of the yarn was crazy, plus there was a knot where it broke and they just tied another colorway onto it....which really pissed me off. So the noro will become a scarf or something. The kids got me a gift of yarny goodness for mothers day...a ball of ty dy, and a skein of lana grossa meilenweit in sunset. I'm a happy happy yarn ho!

I also tried the square needles, but didn't like where the cable joined the needle because I had to fight to get the yarn over that joint :(....but if they fix those joints I am all over those needles!

All that being said, I will leave you with some eye candy for your viewing pleasure.....

Storms and knitting

2011-04-23T19:44:00.001-06:00

Well another pair of socks are off the needles and another pair is about to be cast on. That being said, the owner of one of the yarn shops I frequent asked what method I use to knit my socks and I told her magic loop. She said that I should give 2circs a try, as it's less "damaging" to the socks. So I think to myself....hmmmmm, I can't take her class because it takes two separate Saturdays, but I've taught myself pretty much everything I know about knitting, so I bet I can this too so I hook on over to youtube and found some videos by cat bhordi, and so tonight I will try it out. I'll keep y'all posted.

It's storming again lots of thunder and lightning, but not a whole hell of a lot of rain, when rain is what we so desperately need. Especially with all the fires.

I took the kids up to my mother in law yesterday..and will go and get them tomorrow, but the silence has been quite pleasant.

Well, its back to my socks...wish me luck!

Zauber mojo

2011-04-19T18:07:00.001-06:00

I'm liking this yarn quite a bit so far, and decided that since the yarn was so unusual, I'd go with the mojo socks.

That being said I'm on the verge of losing my freaking mind....when you say you understand, then go off the handle cuz you don't like the way shit is working out, yet YOU don't do anything to get the result you want don't bitch at me about it.

And another pair is off the needles

2011-04-18T21:33:00.002-06:00

That's right...the first pair of Paca-peds H-T is off the needles...I am now working on the Zauberball Crazy pair....I let Mimi choose which yarn to make socks with next...pinks/reds/purples, all blended together in gloriously bright and crazy yarn. I have completed my toe increases and am currently working on the foot of the socks...and while I didn't finish the last pair in record time, it was close.

The boys lost their game Sunday :(, but they played pretty well defensively....just didn't want to swing their bats...ah well, that the way baseball go.

Test

2011-04-14T22:33:00.001-06:00

Test

Omg.....I'm in love!

2011-04-13T17:20:00.001-06:00

Seriously! I am totally in love with this yarn....and I decided to go ahead with the contrasting toes and heels. I'm just about halfway to being ready to stay my heels...and here's a pic to show you the beauty of this yarn.

Ta-da!!!!!!

2011-04-11T15:00:00.001-06:00

They're finished!!!!!!!!!!!

Now on to another pair.....pics to follow!

What the hell!?!?

2011-04-11T08:36:00.001-06:00

So my dog has decided that there will be no ignoring her by knitting.....she has been stalking me thru the house. Every time I sit down she wants up in my lap. As you can see, I am now her body pillow. If I try to push her off she gives me a long-suffering look and did her paws in....i guess the socks are pissing her off. Though on a much more comfortable note I have started the ribbing. Which means that once they are finished I can start the next pair using three paca-peds h-t I got at the DFW FiberFest on Friday. The name of the colorway is "spring in my step"but to be honest the colors remind me of the sunrises in Aruba. I can hardly wait to get started on them....although if Daisy has anything to day about it I won't be starting therm as soon as I'd like :( It's actually unusual for her to do this, she tends to prefer my husband for this kind of attention, so since I'm not generally the recipient of her clinginess, I'm gonna enjoy it....and leave you with a picture!

There are days

2011-04-09T00:05:00.001-06:00

When I seriously consider packing my bags and walking away....no discussion, no goodbye, not even a "go fuck yourself". But there are children to think of, and I just can't be that damn selfish. So he'll get the one syllable answer treatment and if he doesn't like it that's just too damn bad.

The second heel is now finished and the cuffs are underway. I wonder how long it'd actually taken me to get these done...or rather how long they've been on the needles...lol.

Ok off to bed...gotta full day of softball tomorrow and an early start to boot.

Socks....again

2011-04-07T12:57:00.001-06:00

Well the first heel is finished and I'm getting ready to start the heel on the 2nd sock. It's been so long since I worked on them it took me a while to remember which pattern I used.going to find some Zauberball at the fiber show tomorrow. But if I don't it's not like there's a shortage of sock yarn in my house.

Right again

2011-04-06T16:25:00.001-06:00

So the kids have been giving me fits here lately...arguing, talking back, not doing what they're told, etc. And I told my friend Nita that I'd bet money that when hubby finally got tired of it, it'd be MY fault. Sure enough...he had a spinout last night and I had to ensure over half an hour of "they take their lead from you" "there only doing what you've shown them" "if you'd clean the fucking house they'd probably pick their shit up". Oh, and my absolute favorite, "maybe if you spent more time with them and less time smoking, they'd take you seriously." WTF, Chuck!?! All of this from the man who spends more time at work than at home, who takes everybody here for granted while standing up on his pedestal looking down on us mere mortals in disdain. He talks about how they take their lead from me....really!?!?! Last time I checked I want the one kicking off my shoes and leaving them where they landed for someone else to pick up. I'm not the one leaving snotty tissues laying where they land, or blowing my nose on dish towels then tossing them back onto the kitchen counter. I've also NEVER blown my noise on the bath towel then hung it back up for my spouse to use. Yeah....there taking my lead alright.
Oh, and to top it off, its my fault they ask for stuff. My fault they don't appreciate what they have and its my fault they disrespect me. Couldn't possibly have anything to do with them hearing him call me names or telling them he doesn't give a fuck what I told them. Noooooooo...it's always MY fault. I'm always wrong and he's always right. If somethings wrong its my fault. If one off the kids doesn't listen its cuz they have MY genes. What-fucking-ever. I'm just waiting....he'll say it again...his favorite line..."if you're so fucking miserable then hit the bricks"and when he does I'm packing HIS shit and he can hit the bricks. I'm so sick of his pointing fingers and laying blame while completely ignoring his own culpability in anything.

In the nice, quiet, happy side of my life I've gotten one strip of hexagons done and I'm getting ready to start strip two. Em has a tourney this weekend and boy has a game on Sunday. His team has won two in a row so I'm hopeful for a good showing. Unfortunately the spouse will be taking saturday off which means, I'm sure, that I will get to hear more about my shortcomings and deficiencies. Goody. He'd shit a twinkie if I actually packed my shit and left. He thinks its easy, it was when they were babies....they aren't babies any more...sports, activities, friend, school and all the other stuff that makes them kids and he's got no fucking clue

Wow!

2011-04-03T19:02:00.001-06:00

Well color me shocked! The boys came from behind and snatched themselves another win! Down 4 runs going into the bottom of the inning and I'll be damned if they didn't get 5 runs on 2 outs to win the game! It was a great comeback!

Now I'm off to do some crocheting and watch some more baseball. Its been a great baseball day with all my favorite teams coming out victorious!

Post one in the win column

2011-04-02T22:59:00.001-06:00

The boys win their first game today! I was very proud of how well they played today. Good at bats and wonderful defense! Just an all around great game.

Nothing else much to report....I'm off to bed. Going tomorrows game is as well played as todays.

What a weekend

2011-03-28T20:58:00.001-06:00

Five ballgames between two kids, plus a practice thrown in there...hubby's phone took a crap so he's taking the blackberry. I don't know if he'll like it or not but to be honest I don't really care.

Been working on some crochet....started the granny stripe blanket...we'll see howe long it takes me to finish it. Still need to finish the edging on the squares blanket sometime. I've had a pretty short attention span lately.

2011-03-25T21:50:00.001-06:00

Got a big day tomorrow...opening day for the league, games plus commissioner duties and still no uniforms for my team. Personally I don't care how damn good every look not getting them until the day of or first game is bullshit. Especially since they've had my order for 6 weeks.

Life as I know it

2011-03-22T16:16:00.001-06:00

A tournament over the weekend, baseball practice on Sunday, scrimmage tonight, baseball practice Thursday, games for the boy Saturday, Sunday and Monday, practice for the girl on Sunday, plus laundry, housework, cleaning and grocery shopping thrown in there somewhere. No wonder I'm so damn tired all the time....lol.

2011-03-19T15:09:00.001-06:00

I absolutely refuse to accept the blame for a choice that my child makes...maybe I'm not the most motivated housekeeper in the world, but her lack of effort on the softball fieldis not my fault, and quite honestly, I am sick and fucking tired of being blamed for the things that she does that he doesn't like. I didn't stand out there in the outfield and tell her to watch that ball go by her without really trying to stop it...so don't lay it on me.

The current work

2011-03-11T16:27:00.001-06:00

So, I guess the colors showed up ok. I now have all the squares joined and have started the dc edging. It won't be too big, but big enough to wrap up in, or to throw over my legs while I'm on the couch knitting or crocheting. I'll post another picture once it's finished.

Onto better news...Puppers seems to be recovering and is doing better every day. This is something I am amazingly thankful for as I'm not yet ready to let her out of my life...I don't think I will ever be, to tell the truth.

Bubba gets his splint off next Wednesday, and then he can finally play some baseball with his teammates...he's already looking forward to it. It's made even better by the latest news about him....read on

Wednesday afternoon hubby and I are talking and I get a phone call. Since it was a number I didn't recognize, I sent the call to voicemail, and we continued talking...only to be interrupted by hubby's phone buzzing from atop the microwave where it was plugged into the charger. I get up to look and the call came from the same number that had just tried calling me, so I indicated to hubby that he should wait, and called the number back. It was Bubba's school...the vice principal to be precise, telling me my son had just finished beating the tar out of another student at recess! I was flabberghasted. My son? My sweet, timid, kind, loving, avoids confrontation at all costs son? Are you sure? Yes, she was sure, could I please come to the school?

Long story shorter, the boys were going after a soccer ball and the other boy kicked Bubba, so Bubba dropped his head, threw out his arms and charged him, proceeding to hit and kick him. Teachers were running to break it up, kids were trying to break it up, but Bubba refused to stop, continuing to hit and kick this kid. We talked and were extremely confused until the conversation continued in the van when my son asked if he could have an ice cream for fighting to defend himself. I said no because he was only fighting because he misunderstoond the other boy's intent, especially since there haven't been any problems between you two, right? my son's matter of fact reply was...except at funscape. This boy he attacked for seemingly no reason, had just a few weeks earlier told Bubba that he was going to choke the shit out of him and kick his ass the next time he saw him at funscape...so my son, who doesn't really separate time the way most people do, thought that the boy was making good on his threat, and responded in a manner which he thought appropriate...he fought back. Now while this doesn't sound too impressive to some, the boy is about 4 inches taller than Bubba, and outweighs him by at least 40 pounds. Personally, I was proud of him for standing up for himself, even though I don't believe that the boy kicked him on purpose...Mimi doesn't agree, but she doesn't like the boy after having to rescue her brother from him at funscape.

All in all, this week has been interesting to say the least...thank God it's almost over cuz I don't think I could survive much more.

Things that irritate me

2011-03-10T23:31:00.001-06:00

I have to admit that this list could go on for quite some time, get rather lengthy and probably piss more than a few people off...but it's late and I'm tired so I will be brief.............i hope.

I'm coaching my son's baseball team again this season. Its actually something I rather enjoy, to be honest. That being said I have become increasingly irritated with one boy's parents. This boy was on my team last season. Thirteen games and at last twice as many practices and the only time this boy was on time was when his older sister brought him to practice....ONCE! So when his parents registered him late I figured it was a sign of things to come. Sure enough....he has been late to every practice and actually missed one altogether. My bitch is that this doesn't just affect their son but every other boy on the team. Just leave the house ten minutes earlier....seriously! I give up hours of my time to help these boys...am I asking too much to expect someone to be on time?

I hate this shit

2011-03-10T07:04:00.001-06:00

Puppers still isn't doing well. I realize that some people would say "she's just a dog". But she's not "just" a dog. She's my best friend...she's the one I talk to when I'm upset, when hubby and I have had a fight, when I'm sad or hurting she's always there wriggling her little nub of a tail reminding me that she loves me. She never gets mad at me, loves me no matter how much money I blow or how much laundry & housework I don't do. She never tells me I'm fat or lazy, she's always happy to see me even when I was the one to leave her at the vet all day. She's not just a dog. She's eaten binkies, barbies, tylenol, advil, m&ms, peanut butter cups, yarn, and more. She shreds toilet paper and plays with it, leaving the mess for me to find. She's never judgmental, or too busy to give me her attention. She loves to go outside on warm days and flop down in the grass before rolling on her back.
She's not "just" a dog...she's puppasaurus...and she's MY dog and I love her.

Blogging, fights and other stuff

2011-03-09T16:49:00.002-06:00

So it seems that the kids in my daughter's class are supposed to blog at least 5 days a week...I thought to myself...hmmm...seems to me I can do that...been a while since I have posted with any consistency so here we go...

I have strips of squares put together...now to put together the strips....blech. I hate joining. From now on it's join as I go...Not necessarily quicker, but easier, that's for sure. I'm still enjoying my crochet...haven't been knitting for a while...have a pair of socks I need to finish, maybe start some more.

So, my son got into a fight at school today...read on,

He was playing soccer with some other boys and the ball went to the fence, so he and another boy went after it. Bubba inadvertently got kicked, and thinking that the boy had kicked him on purpose, proceeded to charge said boy and start wailing on him. (Now anyone who knows my son, or who has heard me talk about my son, knows that he despises conflict...avoids it like the plague, so for him to charge and attack someone is very unusual) Only one teacher was able to get him to stop attacking this boy. Well, on the way home, after trying, unsuccessfully, to figure out what made Bubba think that the boy had kicked him on purpose when they were playing soccer, I made a comment about making good choices and leaving fighting for a last resort, especially since he and the other boy hadn't had any issues...right? Wrong...the boy he attacked had previously threatened Bubba at a friday evening funscape, telling him that the next time he saw Bubba there, he'd kick his ass. Well, Bubba has the memory of an elephant and assumed that the playground kick was intentional, and it was on like donkey kong. He wouldn't let up and even bit the boy at one point. Bubba walks a little taller now, and I have a feeling his sister may have a lesson or two coming her way sooner rather than later.

The fighting news came on the heels of having to take our oldest dog to the vet because she's been sick. This will be her second go round with pancreatitis, and this round might very well kill her...time will tell. At 13, she's had a full and good life, but I don't think I"m ready for her to pass away yet...I don't know that I ever will be :(

Softball and baseball have begun...Em made select and is flourishing and Bubba's team is just practicing...their season doesn't start for a couple of more weeks...I volunteered to coach again, but he can't do anything but run because he broke his arm back at the beginning of February when he slipped on the ice while walking the dogs. Poor guy, he wants to play so bad he can't hardly see straight. Fortunately it was just a fracture and not a complete break, so the season is still his to enjoy, I hope.

I think that pretty much covers everything that's been going on around here for the last few weeks. I'll be taking pictures of the afghan I'm working on and post them tomorrow...y'all can let me know what you think!

2011-01-14T15:54:00.002-06:00

Long time no posting

2010-11-16T10:09:00.002-06:00

Things around here have been hella crazy, but one of my goals is to get back into blogging on a regular basis...we'll see what happens.

In the last 7 months I have knit practically NOTHING, had a hysterectomy and coached my son's baseball team this last time out. I am currently trying to finish a pair of socks I have had sitting in my UFO basket for over a year, so that I can start a new pair of RED ones...I already have the yarn, just need to finish these others and get them off the needles and onto my feet! Now that cooler weather is here, I have pulled all my socks out of the drawer and begun wearing them again...I truly missed my knit socks.

Baseball and softball season is over for a few months, but basketball season is just around the corner for the kiddos, which means two practices a week-one for each-and games on Saturdays. Not sure how long the season is, but I'm not coaching, just driving....yay me!

I suppose that's really all there is to tell on this end....more soon along with pictures, I hope

What I've Been Doing...

2010-04-17T21:19:00.004-06:00

Crocheting. Yep...you heard right. I've been crocheting. And liking it. I am in the process of working two Babette blankets and African flowers...fun fun fun.

I'm including some pics for your viewing pleasure.

The picture on the far left is what I have so far....my method for these are really simple....

1. Draw two color names from the ziploc for the flower hex.

2. The center of the flower and the border of the hex are black.

3. Join the latest hex to the others as soon as it's finished...no sewing bullshit later.

4. Knot all color changes and crochet over the ends as I go...no weaving in 400 ends later bullshit.

5. Ten colors of green and blue...I know the colors look purple on some of the yarns...those are blue...bad lighting at 10:30 p.m. Sorry.

I'm actually enjoying the hell out of myself...I'm going to call this blanket my "ocean of flowers". I'll keep you posted with my progress.

That being said...the rain has begun to fall again, postponing games and making me long for a finished blanket that hasn't been claimed by kids or a dog, and a hot chocolate.

In more personal asides...My van is currently in the shop for repairs after being struck by a woman who decided that she would ignore her left turn only lane and go straight...into the side of my vehicle as I was turning left...she was offended when I asked her if she woke up stupid or was she working at it. I suppose I could have been nice, but I quit feeling bad about screaming mean things at her as soon as I found out she was driving around with NO INSURANCE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Thank goodness I hadn't cancelled my "uninsured motorist" coverage the week before while speaking with my agent. I will NEVER again question the worth and value of carrying "uninsured motorist" coverage for as long as I live. This coverage works for me, as though I were filing a claim with HER insurance...the only difference being, I have to pay a portion of my regular deductible....color me amazed. Needless to say my anger at her total lack of remorse has not really abated, however, I did find a small silver lining around the clouds.

Ok, well, I'm going back to my yarn now. More soon, I hope.

More Yarny Goodness!

2010-04-04T21:55:00.001-06:00

So, the yarn you see here is for my other Babette Blanket. No color changes...just solid squares, 5 colors. From left to right the colors and yarns are: Paton's Classic Wool in Regency, Wool-Ease in Fisherman and Cranberry, and Impeccable in Chocolate and Taupe. Most likely this will end up on the couch in the living room, but maybe not...it might just end up in my bedroom for me, me, ME!!!!

The next two pictures are of the first Babette Blanket. I am making this one with left over sock yarns and I even dug into my stash and rolled up some new skeins just to balance things out a little. I really like how it's turning out so far, but the sewing....OMFG the sewing these together fucking SUCKS!!!

I have to admit that I am surprised that I'm not already tired of crocheting, and I'm hoping that I don't burn myself out before I finish them. I am going through with the new yarns, making the squares a color at a time...right now I'm working the Regency, I have all of my 2 and 4 round squares complete in that color and I'm working on the 6 round...just one more of those. Then an 8 and a 12. I decided that since it's the color I have the most of it would be the one I'd be sure to use for the bigger squares. I haven't seen any of the Babettes made like this...there are some with only 5 or 6 colors, but the squares have color changes, and I didn't want to fuck with trying to balance things out with the color changes, so I figured I'd just do the solid squares then try like hell not to stick like colored squares right next to one another...lmfao...I may be screwed...we'll see.

Baseball season is in full swing and after losing their first two games, the kids actually came from behind this past Saturday to tie their game...You'd have thought they'd won...lol. They were all kinds of excited and it was good to see them so happy. We have another game tomorrow night, then I'm taking the babies to Fort Worth to watch the Sooner boys battle the TCU Horned Frogs in baseball....GO SOONERS!!!!!

I guess that's pretty much it. We'll see how things go with the blankets and the ball games.

And the sewing has begun...

2010-03-29T18:26:00.003-06:00

To encourage myself, I began sewing the sections of the Babette blanket together. Sections 1, 2, 3 and 4 are assembled and looking damn fine! LOOK!!!!!

I must admit that the assembled sections are quite encouraging. I am ready to make more squares. I still have about 30 4-round squares and even more 2-round squares to make, but the motivation is totally there. I'm trying not to put too many like colors right on top of each other, but as you can see, there is some slight over-lapping.

Are you ready for this?

2010-03-27T23:12:00.003-06:00

Our word of the day: esemplastic:

Meaning: Shaping or having the power to shape disparate things into a unified whole

Interesting when you consider this: These are the first squares finished for the Babette Blanket. I have now completed all the squares EXCEPT the 2-round and 4 round....that being said, I have about a hundred squares to crochet...lol. The strangest part is, I haven't crocheted ANYTHING since BEFORE we moved to Texas. I am still enjoying the crocheting part of it...we'll see if it lasts long enough for me to actually finish all the squares I need for the blanket. I am actually considering making more, to make the blanket larger...we'll see how that works out.

The monsters played their first game of the spring baseball season today. Unfortunately they lost. But there are 12 more games to play...maybe we'll win more than 2 this season. A mom can hope, anyways.

Not much else has gone on, really. Looking forward to spring and it's crazy weather.

Um...right

2010-03-17T12:40:00.002-06:00

I know, I know...it's been a couple of months. Not intentional...trying to find a damn job...not having much luck.

So onto the knitting front: Two scarves on the needles....a pink monster cartridge rib scarf, and a green monster scarf that I'm knitting up in the "habit forming" pattern. I really like the pattern, but to prevent the curling, I have a border that doesn't generally curl...we'll see I suppose.

The kids are at my MIL's house in Oklahoma...I'll be leaving out of here on Friday to get them and bring them home on Saturday...my childless week is quickly drawing to a close :(

That's pretty much it for me...the rest...well, I can't talk about that here.

A new year and new knitting

2010-01-16T07:39:00.003-06:00

So, it's a new year. I'm still knitting, but mostly I am busy looking for a job and trying to get my house in some semblance of order (my new year's promise to myself). Of course, with two miniature tornadoes running around my house, that is much easier said than done.

My first NEW project for the new year is this:

The Knock-off Scarf

Worked on sz 8 needles with Schaeffer's "Nichole" yarn in the Elizabeth Zimmerman colorway. I don't know what the gauge is cuz honestly, it's a damn scarf...lol. My goal is to imitate the scarves I'm seeing all over this year. Not too long, drapey and soft. You fold them in half, slip the ends thru the loop around your neck, snug it up and go. As you can tell, the colors aren't my usual palette, but I really love this yarn and would knit it even if it was orange.

This is a super-macro shot of the stitch detail. I wanted to do a stitch that would look woven, but needed to be able to drape the material. The woven stitch I found that I liked the best, is totally not drapey. Rather, it's so stiff the material could stand on it's own. So, after scouring Ravelry, I improvised my own, throwing a wrong-side row of purls into the equation. It also adds a wee-bit of texture to the scarf's material, as well. I am posting the pattern here, as well as on Ravelry. I only ask that if you make the scarf you do the following two things.

1) Send me a picture and let me know what you thought of it, as well as what yarn you used.

2) Please do not sell or repost this pattern. You can link to it from your blogs, or homepages, but don't sell or repost. Thanks.

Knock-off Scarf

Sz 8(US) needles

Nichole by Schaeffer - I used Elizabeth Zimmerman (I actually have 2 skeins of this yarn. I don't know how much I will actually need, but once I do, I'll come back and edit this section)

Crochet hook appropriate to your chosen yarn

Yarn needle for the ends

CO 60...You can use any method of casting on, I suppose, but to keep the cast on consistent with the scarf's "gauge" I used a knit cast on.

With this scarf, to keep the edges nice and smooth, you will slip the first stitch of EVERY row, p-wise, and KNIT the LAST stitch of EVERY row. This will give you the nice smooth edge we all like. That being said, we begin:

Knit the first row.

Begin knitting in the stitch pattern.

R1: (WS)-Purl
R2: * yf, sl1, yb, k1*; repeat from * to * to end of row
R3: Purl
R4: *k1, yf, sl1, yb*; repeat from * to * to end of row.

That's it! I know, tough, right...lol. I'm sure since I only have about 6 of my 72 necessary inches knitted, and it will probably drive me freakin' crazy before I get to the end, but what the hell. There it is. It's a good travelling, or tv watching pattern, as the stitch pattern creates a good rhythm for you to work, and it's not so monotonous as to make you crazy after the first 3 rows, but not so difficult that it requires your full undivided attention.

I hope you enjoy my FIRST "published" pattern. Please let me know what you think!

Happy Knitting!

What's been going on

2009-10-23T17:19:00.002-06:00

Not much to tell you the truth.

Hubby went to third shift, then got bumped back to second.

Baseball....well, we have won one game, tied a game, and lost the rest so far. We still have two more games to play. Against teams from a town where money is plenty and private lessons are bought often.

Knitting...well, not so much. A little here and a little there. Still working on the shrug, but it's not moving very quickly....not even half way done. But it looks good so far.

That's pretty much it. You can find me on FaceBook if you want!

When it rains....

2009-10-05T05:56:00.002-06:00

It's cuz there is a little league baseball game scheduled...or a practice...or a scrimmage. I love how it is a freakin' drought here in Texas from the middle of June thru the end of August, and from the first of November until the first part of March...little to no rain during those periods...baseball season gets started, and all hell breaks loose, the rain comes on like a damn tidal wave, and games are rescheduled and rescheduled and rescheduled....our rescheduled games have been rescheduled for the love of God. I love rain, but why the hell can't it rain during the off season???

Knitting a shrug for the ocoler weather...it's coming along pretty nicely and halloween is just around the corner which thrills me to death...I love halloween. I googled "nail art" the other day and was thrilled with all the stuff I found, and horrified by some of it...try it. So I did my nails for halloween, with a bat decal...a hand-painted ghost, and red/black/white on the nails. Too much fun.

Well, gotta get the kids to school...

Today's word:

2009-09-20T17:47:00.001-06:00

sockdolager:

1 : something that settles a matter : a decisive blow or answer : finisher

*2 : something outstanding or exceptional

No, it's not a joke...serious as hell, this was Miriam Webster's word of the day...go figure. Don't believe me? Look it up...and then hold on to it for your next game of scrabble...hehehehe.

Baseball: The babies had their first game of the season today...a makeup game from last week that had been rained out....of course, their team got their asses handed to them. We didn't know until the day before we were to begin playing games that we were playing by FULL baseball rules...no modifications for the age. Of course, since that night a week and a half ago, it has rained on all our game or practice days so that we haven't been able to work with the kids on exactly what those rules entail. Jogging while stealing a base....NOT GOOD. Stopping halfway to second while stealing the base....also not good. Watching the batter rather than your base coach....not good. There were good moments...we did score a run, so they weren't shut out, however, it was just an ugly deal all around. Practice tomorrow is going to be busy and a learning experience for the kids, to say the least.

Knitting...I don't know how many inches I have knit...not nearly as many as I could have if I hadn't been hanging out on the puter so much. I have decided to use a recipe as opposed to an actual pattern for my shrug...stitch counts and the like, but the shrug itself is what I like to think of as the backwards eye of pratridge...instead of slipping with the yarn in back, I slip with the yarn in front...it seems to give a little texture to the solid yarn and then about every ten rows or so, I throw in an eyelet row...just so the damn thing isn't too warm. I wanted to use the pattern for the "shrug" from my Jackets pattern book,but I can't find the damn book, which really pisses me off, but not enough to wait to make one till I find it...so I knit.

Life in general...well, I'm not pushing up daisies and no one I know died today, so I'd have to say it's a good day.

That's about it for now.

Another day....

2009-09-16T09:43:00.004-06:00

...and the fighting continues. PW is on a new shift now, so he is home in the evenings and sleeps during the day since he works all night. I actually like it...having him here makes dealing with Mimi much easier, though she is still trying to argue if he isn't awake or around. Sooner or later she will get the picture and figure out that Mommy is soooooo done playing this game. Till then she will keep getting grounded and having things taken away from her. She failed a math test last week and tried telling me that I told her it was ok, but she'd better hope her teacher would let her fix it....Um, NOT!!!!!!

Baseball is day to day as there is bad weather and rain....go figure....seems like it hardly ever rains when there isn't baseball to be played, but when there is ball there is rain.

KNITTING!!!!!!!!! I have started a shrug for myself in Berroco's Comfort. Just plain gray, but it will go with everything, and the yarn is so soft and scrumptious. It's hard to believe it's acrylic, but it is...and I have seen a baby sweater made out of it, that has been washed numerous times and it looks like it just came off the needles...good news for me! Headbands are also on the knitting agenda since I am going to try to let my hair grow out some...can't very well tell my daughter she has to let hers grow out while I continue chopping mine off. Well, actually I suppose I could tell her that, but I always hated that "do as I say, not as I do" bullshit my parents force-fed me when I was a kid. Double standards are just fucked up, and kids learn by the examples they are shown.

That's it for now...not really much else to report. Have a good one!

Oh, yeah...our word of the day!

PINK: to perforate in an ornamental pattern.

Let it not be said that you didn't learn anything today!

I never cease to be amazed

2009-09-10T05:58:00.004-06:00

At just how silly kids can be, and just how out of hand things can get.

Mimi has a friend whom we will call Midget 1. Midget 1 is a boy. They are buds. Keep in mind that most of Mimi's friends are boys, and she likes playing with the boys. However, there is a girl that Mimi is friends with...she is a girly girl. And she is a cute, girly girl. Midget 1, though he might not realize it, likes the girly girl alot. But, Midget 1 sometimes forgets that Mimi is not one of the guys, and begins to think of Mimi as a rival for the girly, girl's affections. Needless to say, fighting ensues. Sometimes they stop talking to each other for a few days, sometimes there is pushing. Yesterday, however, there were words exchanged and punches thrown. Seems the only lasting injury is a bruise to her foot, but she is nursing her mad at him, and it's so funny. So I had to remind her this morning that Midget 1 likes the girly-girl, and not to take it personally, or to stay mad about it, because he just can't help himself. Of course, if Mimi wasn't such a tom-boy, it probably wouldn't be an issue, but to be honest, hell will probably freeze over before my daughter would willingly put on a dress, or anything else girly.

That all being shared, everything else is going pretty well around here. Baseball is in full swing, we have our first game tonight. The kids are fired up and ready to play.

Knitting has been sporadic at best...I'm letting the socks rest for a while, and making headbands instead, trying to keep my hair out of my face to let it grow out some. Can't exactly expect my girl to let her hair grow out without complaint when I keep chopping mine off. I suppose I could just tell her to do as I say, not as I do, but to be honest, it always pissed me off when my folks did that to me when I was a kid. I think that as parents, we need to do our dead-level best to lead our children by example.

So, that's it for me...not much else going on. Housework is always available as is laundry, but the kids need to get to school, so off I go.

Finished!

2009-08-29T14:21:00.003-06:00

So, I finished the Tropical Triangle. I'm really confused, though. I thought that when I cast on, I was casting on the bottom and working my way up, however, what I thought was the bottom is actually the top, and my cast off edge is the bottom and sides...what the hell did I do wrong? Did I do something wrong? Or am I just too stupid to realize that that was how it was supposed to be?

HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Our word of the day is:

Defile: to march off in a line.

According to webster's :

The "defile" that means "to contaminate," a homograph of today's Word of the Day, dates back to the 14th century and is derived from the Old French verb "defouler," meaning "to trample on" or "mistreat." Today's word, on the other hand, arrived in English in the early 18th century. It is also from French, but is derived from the verb "défiler," formed by combining "de-" with "filer" ("to move in a column"). "Défiler" is also the source of the English noun "defile," which means "narrow passage or gorge."

Go figure.

Another day....

2009-08-25T16:20:00.002-06:00

...spent cleaning, washing clothes, vacuuming and rearranging rooms. I completely redid my son's room this afternoon, including moving furniture around and hanging more curtains. It looks pretty good if I do say so myself. I made him clean up his closet and his bathroom, which didn't take him too long, so as long as he keeps it picked up and puts things away, it's all good.

Tomorrow I will work on our room...putting away stray laundry and dusting and all that great shit. I got one of those swiffer duster thing-a-majigs, and I love it. No dust flying around or anything nasty like that. The guy came out yesterday and "cleaned" the air ducts...though I don't know how good a job he could have done cuz he didn't use a brush on them, just a giant vacuum hose, and he left a mess in my bathroom sink and vanity that I had to clean up last night. Like I dont' have enough people to clean up after as it is, he decided to add himself to my list. 'Preciated that one, big guy.

I might try to get the kitchen done tonight after dinner, but first I have to figure out what to fix for dinner. Maybe I'll do hotdogs. Hotdogs are fast and easy and God knows my kids love them.

The cable guy came out this afternoon to fix my internet problems. He replaced our router/modem, and all seems to right with the world now.

On the knitting front, I haven't touched it since I went to be last night. I may save the kitchen for tomorrow and just knit tonight. Wonder if the Rangers are on tv tonight. I love baseball.

The babies had their first baseball practice with their new team last night. It's great having a coach that has played baseball and knows what he's doing. I volunteered to be an assistant coach, so I will be there every game and practice. It was fun, but I am so totally not an athletic individual, and I hurt like hell when I rolled off the couch this morning. I think I might be too old for this shit...lol.

I guess that pretty much covers the last 24 hours of my life. More soon!

It figures...

2009-08-24T09:37:00.004-06:00

...that I take pictures, get them saved on the puter, and ready to upload to the blog and my damn internet takes a shit. Actually, I think it's my cable modem taking a shit because my cable is working fine, but for the last two weeks I have had to fight the internet.

So here are the pics of my continued progress on the Tropical Triangle. I am working on writing down my methods. It won't be a recipe per se, because I am just no good at that shit, but a recipe/method I can do...lol.
So this first picture is a fuller shot of the scarf/shawl thingie so far,

This second is obviously a close up to show the detail of the stitches.

On to the rest of life: I have been sick. Coughing, sneezing, runny nose...all the shit I get when my sinuses act up. So I ignore it...usually a few days and it clears up on its own, right? Ummm, yeah, usually wasn't this time. What made this time different? you ask. A little thing called mold. In my air ducts, or at least on the duct vent covers. The landlord is supposed to have someone come out to clean the ducts, then they'll put the new covers on. So, I am sleeping on the couch, still, after almost two weeks and my dog now believes my side of the bed to belong to her, and it seems as though I have been sick for freaking ever.

The kids went back to school today, and baseball practice starts tonight, and life has begun returning to normal. Thank God for school.

OH, yeah, and the word of the day is: Flout=to treat with contempt and disregard. To show contempt for.

The Unsuccesful Search

2009-08-19T23:44:00.003-06:00

For the last two days I have searched, and searched for a shawl pattern for my Eva Peron yarn. The cotton Susan yarn by Schaefer is beautiful, and deserving of a pattern that won't take away from the colors, but that won't be overpowered by the colors. After having searched and cast on, and frogged, and searched and cast on, and frogged, more times than I can even freakin' count, I got pissed and began working on my own. Necessity is the mother of invention, or so the saying goes. As such, I have been making notes as I traverse along this crazy ass path. We'll see how it goes. I may just end up with a ball of yarn, a circular size 6 needles and more white hair.

2009-08-17T17:19:00.004-06:00

Here is a close up of the dashing dolphins socks. I really like how these turned out.

This is a full view picture of the dashing dolphins socks. The color is slightly washed out...I suck, what can I say....

This is a close up of the groovy spring socks and the eye of partridge short row heel that I worked on it. I really love the heels on these socks.

This is a full view picture of the groovy spring socks. The yellowish color is actually more like chartreuse, or a bright spring green, not yellow.

This is a close up of the Lacy Leaf socks made from Cascade Heritage Hand paints...This yarn was awesome and I would definitely recommend it to anyone who asks.

This is a full view of the sock...Pretty, huh?

Just a simple lace pattern from my perpetual calendar of stitches, made from Toefutsies...Love em

Made from panda Silk...I love these socks....they are a dream on the feet and the colors remind me of an awesome sunset.

So, there are the socks that I have finished so far this summer. I have been a busy, busy girl. I am getting close to starting the heel on my Mojo My Flamingo socks. I am working those up in Smooshy, Flamingo Pie. I absolutely love this yarn and the tonal colors of the yarn. I can't wait till these are done. I am going to work the short row heel in the eye of partridge again, which will give the heels a little more oomph and thickness.

As for the rest of life, I think I have mold in my air vents. I am going to Home Depot tomorrow morning to pick up a home testing kit and we'll run thru that and see what the results are. I have been sleeping on the couch for the last week and a half cuz every time I go upstairs, within five minutes I am coughing and having a hard time breathing.

Fall baseball is just around the corner. I have heard from the babies' coach, I will be an assistant coach for their team, and since our coach has played baseball before, it is all good. Finally a coach that will know his ass from a hole in the ground. I can't wait.

Well, that's it for this post. Hope you enjoy the pictures!

Oh, today's word: Undulation: movement in waves.
I could think of a few ways to use this word, but I think I'll just keep them to myself. Have a good one.

Wow....

2009-08-15T22:03:00.004-06:00

So I have been downloading my email for the last two months, only reading what I absolutely had to and then leaving the rest for another day. Well, that other day was today, and I just finished deleting, sorting and saving over 900 emails. Holy shit on toast what the hell was I thinking? I used to go thru my inbox daily, religiously. I believe I will again. Starting now. I don't ever wanna have to do that shit again. That seriously sucked.

Onto the knitting. I still haven't gotten around to taking pictures of the new curtains or of all the socks I've knit so far this summer. Maybe I can get to that tomorrow. It's kind of late now, and the kids are trying to sleep and I need really good light to take decent pictures of my socks. I really want the colors to look right. Even though it seems like the colors never look like they do in real life. I am still working on the smooshy socks. I have slowed down some, especially since the kids are back from grandma's. I did enjoy their vacation and mine, but I am glad to have them home where they belong.

PW goes back to work on Monday, after having an enforced two week vaction thrust upon him. I have enjoyed all the time that we have gotten to spend together. I'll miss him when he goes back to work. :>(

That's just about it for me. I've been sick for the last two and a half weeks and it is really starting to piss me the hell off. I think it may be the air freshener that I was using, which is now turned off. I seem to be doing a little better since I shut it off at 3:30 this morning. I also took a duster to the living room and the fans to try to help myself out, as I am sure the dust wasn't helping matters. I bought one of those Swiffer duster thingies, and I have to tell you, I am totally sold! I still bought furniture stuff to use on the tables and furniture, but to get the dust, I am so totally using the swiffer thingie all the time from now on.

Ok, so I'm off to get some sleep. The kids return to their school schedule starting tomorrow night, and then I will actually have a little peace and quiet in the evenings. I've missed my down time at night. I'll try for the pics tomorrow, but no promises. Enjoy the rest of your weekend.

Another pair

2009-08-08T21:53:00.003-06:00

Yep, I finished another pair of socks. This makes five pair in a little over a month...I am so totally kickin' wicked sock ass...I have a skein of yarn waiting to be rolled into a big ball, then divided into two balls....I don't remember the name of it off hand, but it's tonally dyed and it's gorgeous.

I am planning on taking some pictures of the finished socks in the morning and hopefully getting them posted here soon after...as well as pictures of my newly face-lifted living room. I got tired of the heat over here by the puter, so I went out an bought some curtains for the two living room windows...to try to cut the heat that builds up in the mornings....We'll find out in the morning if it worked or if I just wasted thirty fucking dollars on curtains that look good. Not to mention the time I spent ironing the damn things before I hung them. It's gonna take a little getting used to, the new look, but I think I like it. They're a very pretty cranberry color...one of my favorites...which is a good thing I suppose, since I am gonna be looking at the damn things for a while.

More socks...

2009-07-29T15:57:00.002-06:00

More books. The kids are in Oklahoma with their Grandma, and I have just been puttering around, knitting, reading and doing housework. I am hoping to get the carpets in the living room and dining room cleaned with my steam cleaner tomorrow. I can't do that shit when the kids are home. I have been enjoying the peace and quiet that comes with not having the kids constantly underfoot and in the house, but I do miss them. I miss Mimi's grumpiness in the morning...I miss Bubba telling me he loves me as he comes down the stairs after he gets up in the mornings...and I miss my hugs and kisses night-night.

I have almost got the third pair of socks finished...three pair in just under a month....not bad for me...and I already have the yarn for the next pair picked out and ready to go....

I have to go see the dentist tomorrow....not my most favoritest place to go, but at least we have insurance to pay for it, so I won't complain.

Well, I suppose that's it for now...hope everyone is having a fantastic summer.

Lanuginous

2009-07-24T17:05:00.002-06:00

Our word of the day....means covered with down, or fine, soft hair.

Well, I've just been knitting and reading. I have been re-reading the Laurell K. Hamilton books...her Anita Blake series. I absolutely love them...I like her Princess Merry books, too, but there are way more Anita Blake books than Princess Merry books. I was trying to knit while I read,but that doesn't always work out so well when knitting socks. I have a jog in the latest pair because I miscounted.

Two pairs of socks in less than a month, but I have slowed down some...hopefully I'll finish the current pair soon...tho probably not till I finish the book I'm reading. I have tons of sock yarn to keep myself occupied with, so that's not an issue....the issue is deciding which color to do next. I have branched out from my blues and greens into pinks/oranges/yellows, but I think I am going back to my blues/greens for the next pair. I have some amazingly soft yarn upstairs that is just begging me to knit it up into a pair of socks.

The kids have been having a blast this summer, going to NRH2O and Six Flags. It's been fun actually. I have ridden more roller coasters this summer than I did in the previous 39 years of my life. Some of them a total blast, some of them pretty damn scary, and some of them completely and totally abusive to the body...abusive as in grinding joints and moving internal organs around inside your body. I have experienced shaken baby syndrome and let me tell you, as an adult, I can understand how it would seriously jack up a body...my head hurt for three hours after I got off the damn thing.

Well, that's about it for now...hope everyone else is having a great summer. I sure am.

Busy me!

2009-07-11T07:26:00.003-06:00

So, it's been crazy around here. We have done the extra fun classes for the babies, then Bubba had Social Skills Academy, and then some time in Oklahoma to visit family. That's not counting time spent at the water park and Six Flags...fun, fun, fun. I have finished one pair of socks already,

and started another

The first pair was made with Toefutsies in some colorway I can't recall. The current pair is being worked in Panda Silk...I love the colors.

Of course, my summer has not been all fun and games....no, that would be to damn easy. Let me share, the rash from HELL!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yep...that is my leg...no good pics of the rash on the other fucking leg..but really, need I say more? At first I thought is was just mosquito bites, till I got home and got a look at my leg. This shit sucks.

Okay, well, back to my food and my knitting!

I love baseball

2009-05-13T05:30:00.004-06:00

Especially when it's my kids playing the game. I realize that there are people out there rolling there eyes, right now, but really, what is more fun than this?

And lest you think that it's all about ball, the next picture will surely set you right, because we had a zen moment on the field during a pitching change.

I realize that some people won't give a flying rat's ass about my kids or their baseball, but since it's my blog and they're my kids...that's just too bad. I love the internet.

On to the rest of life...I am thinking about going to the doctor because of a swollen, painful pinky finger that is literally killing me. I cannot make a fist, and moving the pinky causes pain...yes, I know that if it hurts I shouldn't do it, but I never realized how much I used my damn pinky until I quit trying to use it...wow. No anti-inflamatory or pain reliever does any good...I'm getting ready to try icing it...I didn't do anything to it that I am aware of, but then I get huge bruises all the time with no recollection of how I got them. I will keep you posted on this.

Finally, I have my etsy shop opened up, however, as of yet, I do not have anything in the shop. I need to get busy. I have been busy making friendship bracelets for my son for his booth at the third grade economics fair....I hope they sell well for him. I suppose we will see.

I guess that is just about it. Have a good one.

Oh, and the word for today?

Calamari=squid used as food. (yuck)

Good deeds don't go unpunished

2009-05-07T21:41:00.002-06:00

I would know because after 8 months of never being late, doing more than was expected of me, working six day weeks because we were short servers and coming in to work on my days off, I was fired. Why, you ask? Because after a night of heavy storms and a freaked out nine year old, my alarm didn't go off, and I was an hour and twenty minutes late to work. Are you fucking kidding me? Seriously. That is the honest truth. So any of you living in Washington, Oregon or here in the DFW are, the name of the restaurant is Biscuits Cafe. The owner refuses to discuss this policy with me, though to hear the manager here tell it, it is his policy. Most places at least give you two hour window. Not to mention the fact that I was never late before this day, and I didn't even get a warning or a suspension. The thing that really pisses me off about it is the fact that I liked that job and enjoyed working there, and for all my hard work and the extra stuff I did, I got fired. No write ups, no troubles, no concerns, nothing...bitches.

On to the rest of life....I am knitting like a fiend...jewelry anyone? I am really enjoying making this stuff. Hopefully it will sell well.

Baseball....well, the Rangers are doing pretty well, having a winning record in the month of May. I can't even tell you the last time that was a fact. However, my kids' team is not doing so hot....they are something like 2-7...the problem is, you have these parents that sign their kids up for sports, then don't help them get better at playing those sports, so that it's not fun for them and the kids who do work to practice and get better are stuck on a team that loses because of lazy and unconcerned parents that have decided their kid is gonna by damned play a sport whether they want to or not...most of them don't. And the kids are getting to the age where it's getting more and more easy for an inexperienced player to get seriously hurt in this game. So, I have already made up my mind that I will be coaching next spring, maybe the fall if the kids want to play baseball again in the fall....we'll see.

Other than that, there really isn't too much happening here. Almost time for DH to get home. More soon!

Today's word is....

2009-04-27T12:26:00.003-06:00

Inveterate: Firmly established by a long persistence; confirmed in a habit.

I don't know if I'll ever use this word, but what the hell, it's good to know.

Now for eye candy galore. I have been making jewelry. Yep...quite a bit of jewelry, actually. And I don't plan on slowing down. I have been asked numerous times if I sell the jewelry I make, and up until now the answer has been no, however, I am thinking I should give it a shot. Here's what I've made myself in the last couple of weeks....

The green, pinkish, and clear are all bracelets, as is the blue. the shot with the seahorse is a two strand necklace, that took me longer to decide how I wanted to do it to properly show off the seahorse, than it did to actually string it all together.

I got these beads from a site that sells them as kits, and I love the greens with the crystal beads.

This bracelet was a kit called Raspberry Fields and the camera, as usual, did not do the colors of this bracelet justice. There are deep reddish purple beads, pinks, purples and more and they blend together nicely to create a wonder of beaded bliss.

This was my first kit that I purchased, called MoonFlowers. I absolutely love it the most. I will go with everything, dontcha know.

This is a different pattern and the thing that sold me on this was the puzzle clasp. Puzzle pieces are a big deal with Autism awareness and since our son has Asperger's, which is part of the autism spectrum, I had to have it.

The seahorse necklace began as a pendant that I found on sale, and so I began gathering up beads to showcase him. I love the colors in this necklace, and as I said, it took me longer to figure out how to do the beads to show him off without detracting from him, than it did for me to actually make the necklace. If I make another one, I might go with reds, since there is some red in him, but really, I don't think that I'll make another one of these, then I can say that mine is most definitely one of a kind.

I have another one on the needles as I type this...this one is just a bunch of beads thrown together that I thought would look good knit up together. I have really been enjoying the creativity I'm allowed to have with the beads, while keeping knitting, and it's quick enough that I don't get bored. Since the beads always change, even if I use the same "batch" of beads, each bracelet is still different, so that no two are ever alike, which also keeps the boredom factor to a minimum. I am planning on taking some finished bracelets and necklaces to some of the local boutiques here in town and seeing what I come up with. I'll keep y'all posted.

Word of the day....Slake

2009-04-15T21:02:00.001-06:00

To satisfy; quench.

I actually already knew the meaning of this word, but it will be a good word to include in my writing.

As for the rest of life...Well....

Baseball is baseball and they are unvictorious in their games so far. I am so coaching the kids next season. There is no reason for our team to not be doing better other than a lack of practice, as a team and at home. I realize that people have lives and not everyone takes baseball as seriously as my husband and I do, however, it doesn't take a lot of time to play a little catch in the back yard, or at the park. It doesn't take much time to hit the batting cages and spending a couple of dollars to help the kids learn to hit. the only ones getting screwed by parental laziness, are the kids. And not just their kid, but all the other kids on the team as well. I find it offensive to be honest.

Anyway, the kids had a game Monday night, and Mimi comes to me and tells me that one of her teeth is falling apart. I, being the loving, concerned and compassionate mother that I am, told her to suck it up and go warm up. I mean, really, a tooth falling apart in her mouth? Just how stupid does she think I am, I ask myself. MOM! Really," she says....'LOOK!" and she proceeds to drop a little piece of her tooth into the palm of my hand. Well, don't I feel like the biggest horse's ass in Texas?! So, after the game I take a look...yep, it's definitely falling apart. Call the dentist, took her today...turns out that we had no idea that her lower permanent molar was trying to come in because of the splint she wears to treat her TMD. Because the splint was protecting her tooth from wear and tear that it would normally endure, it wasn't loosening and working it's way out, so the permanent molar was just pushing on it until it gave...Then while the dentist was pulling the pieces out of her mouth, the one behind it fell out as well. So, of course the tooth fairy will be visiting our house tonight, and hopefully Mimi will be feeling better when she gets up in the morning.

On the son front...he's doing great. He got his glasses and has been doing much better in his classes and he looks so damn cute in them. He's just a fine looking little boy.

As for knitting...I have put down the wrap and the scarf and taken up something a little lighter and quicker to finish. I actually ordered the bead kits from a little site called EarthFaire. Bead Stew, they are called, and the bracelet that I am currently working on is the Moon Flowers kit and it's knitting up nicely and it is already amazingly beautiful. I can't wait to finish it and start the next one. Did you know that you can use a little dental flosser thing-a-ma-jig to string beads onto thread/string/yarn??? I didn't until a couple of weeks ago, but you can and it works quite well...I'm not really sure how I feel about the size 0 needles, but other than that, I really love working with the beads. They are different shapes and sizes and you just slide them up and knit them into place and keep on going. It's really very neat. I see Christmas presents on my needles.

I suppose that's about it for now. I am working on getting some laundry done and housework again. Have a great evening.

And our word of the day is....

2009-04-01T21:43:00.001-06:00

Extremophile: an organism that lives under extreme conditions (such as in a hot spring or an ice cap) (Miriam-Webster).

Well, with work and baseball and swimming and laundry and errands and all that I haven't had a lot of time to knit, tho I do get some rows in while Mimi is in the pool. The TAKS have already begun, and while I don't know how Mimi did on her writing, I do know that my Bubba passed his reading, which was the one I was most worried about him having trouble with. Math is next, and as long as he remembers to show his work, and work the problems out on paper instead of trying to work them in his head, as he likes to do, he should do incredibly well. Mimi has never had an easy time with Math, but I think that she will do ok. If her teacher doesn't cause her to have a complete and total breakdown before they take the damn test.

She came home in tears today because her teacher wouldn't grade her paper. She told me that the teacher told them that if they missed even one, then she wasn't going to bother grading it, that they wouldn't get a grade. They wouldn't get a zero, but they wouldn't get a grade, either....which makes me question what that would do to her overall grade. And I'm not real happy with the teachers anyways, because some of them are over a month behind in entering grades in the parent's portal, where we are supposed to be able to go daily and check on how they are doing in class. I find it incredibly offensive that some of the last grades entered were two weeks before the last progress report went out. The whole idea of this site was to allow us to see how the kids were doing each day if we so desired. And I have two kids in two grades and only one teacher in each grade is entering grades like they are supposed to. And I don't think the math teacher really understands just what she's telling the kids. If a child did their best, and for Mimi, sometimes just completing math homework is an accomplishment, then she has a moral obligation as a teacher to give them their grade for their work. I don't care if she doesn't want to grade eighty papers or not...if she doesn't want to grade the damn papers, then maybe she should get herself a different fucking job.

That being said, I am going to call the school tomorrow and inquire as to why the grades aren't being entered into the parent portal in a timely manner. If the teachers need help, then maybe they should hire someone to enter grades for each of the teachers for each grade. Look, more jobs.

Speaking of jobs and stupidity...how is it, that a grown man can honestly believe that a multi-million dollar company like GM would actually drop the price of cars if the line workers building the cars didn't get paid so much. I was told last night that it's the Union's fault that cars cost so much and that those bastards at GM building the cars are making 38 bucks an hour. I laughed and told him that he was mistaken. This gentleman then told me that he read that figure somewhere and they most certainly were making that ridiculous amount of money. Well, I responded, my husband's paycheck can quite easily debunk that misinformation that you're quoting. He looked at me kind of funny and I informed him that my husband worked for GM and I knew for a fact he wasn't making any 38 bucks an hour, and the new hires that came in over the summer, over 500 hundred of them at the plant here, were making less than 16 an hour.. Then he tried telling me that it was the union's fault that GM was in so much trouble, and I pointed out the following....

In 1999, there were over 111,000 hourly workers and over 39,000 salaried workers employed by GM.
In 2008, there were just over 57,000 hourly workers and well over 29,000 salaried workers employed by GM. So they cut the hourly work force almost in half, and didn't even manage to cut the salaried workers by 1/4.

There is a definite problem when one area has two hourly employs working and there are eleven supervisors standing over their shoulders asking how long before the line is back up and running.

Rick Wagner has cut the market share that GM held, by getting rid of some of the company's best selling vehicles, like the Firebird and the Trans Am...you know, affordable cars for young people, cute sporty cars. His reason? Because the company wasn't making a large enough profit on each car.

They stopped selling fleet cars to police and state departments because they weren't making enough of a profit per car....

Seems to me if you finished with even one more dollar than you spent, it's a good fucking day.

God Bless Notebooks

2009-03-25T13:14:00.001-06:00

Simply because, even in the middle of thunderstorms and flashing lightning (I just watched my desktop shudder a little), I can still access the internet, without fear of frying my entire hard drive and everything on it. Of course, should the power go out, I will lose my internet connection, and then I'll be pissed, but what the hell...for now I have power, therefore I have internet.

That being said, this week has been completely crazy so far. The babies had a ballgame Monday, which their team lost, then last night, at practice, the two kids who probably need to practice and learn the most, weren't there. I have decided that I'm coaching next year. Fuck the rumors and the male chauvinists....I can do at least as good a job as some of these ass clowns, if not better. I am totally willing to give it a try and I can arrange the practices so that there's not too much or too little. I sometimes think that too little practice is worse than too much. But that's my opinion and I'm sticking to it.

So, tonight, in the midst of thunderstorms, we have swimming, at an indoor facility of course, but I hate driving in the rain with these psychos who think that they can drive in good weather, then the rough weather gets here, and they just get more stupid and ignorant and dangerous. Then of course, we have swimming Thursday and Friday, too. I actually have a day off today, and another day off on Friday.

Speaking of work....I got a phone call yesterday morning at about 7:30, from one of my co-workers, asking me to come in early because another server didn't bother showing up. Well, he called and called and called, but no answer. She finally called back at like noon and said she didn't recall anyone telling her that she was supposed to work on Tuesday, which when we had a full serving staff, used to be her day off, but the boss has told us I can't even count how many times over the last month to check our schedules every week to see when we're working. Now this woman is my age, so she is damn well old enough that she shouldn't have to be told when she works or when she's off, she should be responsible enough to check her fucking schedule and see when she is supposed to be at work. So we worked yesterday with two servers rather than three. And the thing that really pisses me off about it is that I am pretty sure she knew she had to work, but knew that there was no way the boss would fire her ass because we're already short handed as it is, and that would leave us with only three servers for the weekend. So she will probably get off scott free for that shit, and I find that incredibly offensive. I know that I don't have to work if I don't want to, but it seems to me that she could have at least enough consideration for her co-workers that she'd bring her hyped up ass to work when she's scheduled to work, rather than leaving us to work even harder and go home twice as tired. I would bet money that if our company did drug testing she would fail...she has serious mood swings out of the blue...she runs around like she's got a fire in her underwear, then she's totally bitchy and snippy, then she's cutting jokes and happy go lucky, etc. I would never come out and say it, but she has the signs of drug usage. I don't care, it's her brain she's fucking up, if that's what she's doing, but it affects everybody around her.

There has still been no knitting, and I can't do laundry or dishes because the water is off again until three or five, whichever...so that means that I'll be up in my room most of the night tonight trying to get the fucking laundry caught up later rather than now. Go figure.

I wanna give a big shout-out to the Men and Women's Basketball teams of the University of Oklahoma. "TAKE IT ALL!!!!!"

That's it for now...hagd!

Another Fine Day

2009-03-22T05:59:00.001-06:00

In which I have to work and forgo such things as housework and laundry...lol. I would like to get back part of the four hours I slept away last night, but that ain't gonna happen, so I will have to try to make up for it this afternoon. I want to finish up Bubba's room and get the charity shit out of Mimi's room and then finish all the damn laundry and enlist the help of the children to get it all put away. I should probably have my son get up under his bed, and Mimi, too, after they get home this afternoon to dig out all the socks that I am sure are under them. Once I have them do that, it will pretty much ensure that I have all the dirty clothes out of their rooms.

I suppose I should get dressed for work and start trying to put the house back in order. I got a bunch of the trash taken down to the dumpster last night when I took the dog out, so that's done, though I am sure that I could find more trash to take this morning.

Off for now...hope everyone has a beautiful day.

Sometimes it just sucks to be me

2009-03-21T21:31:00.001-06:00

So I'm going along minding my own business, and one of my teeth starts hurting. Really bad. Just out of the blue. So I'm thinking that maybe I should call the dentist, but my ears are hurting too, especially the right one, so I figure that I have an ear infection, and I'm also running a low grade fever on top of all that. Go figure. I hate getting sick. Especially since I don't have another day off until Wednesday, so I can't even rest and try to get over whatever the hell it is that I have.

So, I almost finished Bubba's room last night. Then today, after work, I went to ToysRUs to find him a Godzilla figure....eleven or thirteen inches high, and he is absolutely going to love it. I wanted to get Mimi some Legos, but the cheapest set of themed ones was 23 bucks and it wasn't really that much, so I bought her a 212 pc set for like 17 bucks. This way, like I had to when I was a kid, she will have to use her imagination, and she can use them to add to what she already has, which will do her good. As long as she keeps them picked up out of the damned floor, because the first time I step on one, she will become lego-less. I'll take every one and chunk 'em.

I wish that I could report on some knitting. And I probably could if I had managed my time after work better, but I can't because there hasn't been any knitting. Usually this is a good thing, because then when I do start knitting again, I'm refreshed from my little hiatus. That being said, there will be almost no time at home in the evenings next week because there's a baseball game Monday night, baseball practice Tuesday night, and swimming Wednesday, Thursday and Friday nights. I guess it's a good thing that the kids had a week off.

Other than that, there really isn't too much going on around here. My back, from where I pinched my sciatic nerve is still killing me, my ears are killing me and I have to hostess tomorrow and make no fucking money to speak of.

The Whole Story

2009-03-20T18:25:00.002-06:00

It seems, from what I can gather from various blog postings and information sent to me from the Ravelry lawyer, there was some trouble between the Democrat members of Rav, and the Republican members of Rav. Evidently, displeased with the election results, the Republican members created a site, off Rav, called BunkerBoard.com. They would then link to Ravelry from this site, and allegedly create trouble. I say allegedly because I don't know exactly what they are accused of doing, or what they actually did or didn't do. Allegedly they caused trouble for other Rav members, I am assuming (oops, we know what that means) that there was flaming and back-stabbing going on, but I could be wrong. But, I digress. So, Ravelry, tired of the political b.s., decided to ban members of BunkerBoard.com, en masse. It would seem, however, that there was a glitch in the banning program, and I was banned also...which if you read my earlier post, you will see my confusion as to why I was banned. After e-mailing and whining, and ranting and what-not, the problem was remedied and I was reinstated to my Ravelry account. I was not supposed to have been banned and they apologized profusely for the mix-up. Forgiveness was asked, and I have no hard feelings since I have been allowed back on. I see no reason to stay pissed when the problem has been solved.

That being said, things around here are incredibly, wonderfully, blissfully quiet, as my two little ones are in OK with grandma, and I have the house to myself each evening. It would be cool if PW was here, but he has to work, so I have been busy cleaning the house and getting rid of a bunch of shit that isn't being used, has been outgrown, or is just cluttering up the damn house. I have about six bags of clothes and crap from one child's bedroom alone, that will be going to charity this weekend, including yarn, shoes, clothes and other shit ( and by shit, I simply mean stuff that we no longer need or use). I have to finish her bathroom then move my ass upstairs to my son's room to get started on it. I might get it all done by the time everyone gets back on Sunday afternoon. I hope. I know for sure that I will have the kids' rooms done, at least, so that's really all that I was worried about to begin with, so that's the focus of all my energy right now. I found about three loads of laundry in the floor of Mimi's bedroom last night...I say three loads, because though I am relatively certain I know what's clean and what's not, it's been in the floor for over two weeks now, so rather than hanging it up, I am just going to re-wash it all and threaten her with her life if it ever happens again.

Bubba's room isn't as bad as Mimi's, mainly because he doesn't try using the "i'm scared to go in my closet" excuse when I tell him to hang his damn clothes up. I have news for my darling daughter, that shit ain't gonna fly anymore, because Mommy cleaned out the damned closet and there's no reason why she can't go in there and hang hangers on the rod where they should go, as opposed to the footboard of her damn bed.

Both bathrooms are equally a mess...it would seem my son has an issue with flushing, so his room and bathroom stunk to high heaven earlier this week. that was solved with a flush and about a cup of bleach into the toilet bowl. His room, while somewhat messy, should actually only take me about an hour tops to fix. Mimi's took me almost three, and the closet? Well, between the two of us, meaning my shit and hers, it was a five hour job. It's a good thing we took her clothes shopping a few weeks ago, or she wouldn't have any damned clothes to wear since I got rid of everything that was too small or too girly. This amounted to pretty much every item of clothing that was still in her closet. The rest of her clothes were either on the floor at the foot of her bed, or are in a basket in my room.

Well, I had better get off here and get my ass in gear. There is a shitload of laundry to be done, and it won't do itself.

Reinstated!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2009-03-18T19:15:00.002-06:00

Well, the mistake has been remedied and the ban lifted. I am back on Ravelry. I got a message of apology from the legal department and the Ravelry leaders, and all is well with the world.

I missed my Ravelry.

But, I still say that as Americans we should have the decency to agree to disagree rather than berating or harassing someone for having an opinion that's different from ours. As the old saying goes: Opinions are like assholes. Everyone has one and they usually stink.

'Nuf said.

I'm a member of what?!?!?!?!?

2009-03-18T15:24:00.003-06:00

Have you lost your fucking mind?!?!?!? I would no sooner join BunkerBoard than I would willingly work for a Republican candidate. Um....helloooooo...read my damn blog. I am a democrat. Never made it a secret. Never tried to hide it. There was even a counter on my damn blog counting down the days until Bush's sorry ass left the Oval Office. I did a happy dance in the middle of my living room when Obama was announced the winner of the election. Why would I go and join a group of people who so vehemently disagree with me? Why would I put myself in the middle of that kind of shit? Hell, before this afternoon, I had never even heard of BunkerBoard. How the fuck can I be a member of something I never heard of????? Could someone please tell me this? No, I am not a Republican. Let me make this clear. I do not believe that pro-choice means pro-abortion. I do not believe than anyone has the right to tell me what I can or can't do with my body. I don't believe I have the right to tell anyone what they can or can't do with their body. I believe that pro-life means pro-life...not anti-abortion. McCain says he is pro-life, but he supports the death penalty. That ain't pro-life, sir. You can't say you're pro-life, then turn around and say that you support the death penalty. I don't believe that the breakdown of society can be blamed on homosexuals. Why do people care if a gay couple gets married? How exactly is the marriage of a gay couple going to affect your family? What, is it going to make you gay? Is it going to make a husband fall in love with a guy and leave his wife and kids??? It's not contagious. "it's a sin". Really? And what about lying, stealing, lusting after your friend's spouse, hitting your spouse, cheating on your spouse, pre-marital sex, murder, greed, gossiping, etc. Here's a hint. Look in the Bible. It specifically states that the wages of sin is death. Sin is an abomination to God. Not some sin. Not gay sin, or abortion sin....SIN!!!! God doesn't classify sin. It says that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. Therefore, the hate-monger is just as bad as the gay guy, who is just as bad as the child molester, who is just as bad as the thief, who is just as bad as the murderer, who is just as bad as the guy who cheated on his wife, who is just as bad as the rapist, who is just as bad as the woman who drowned her kids in the hotel room bathtub, etc. We are the only ones who classify sin, and we are just like the guy in the Bible who thanked God that at least he wasn't a tax collector, but the tax collector was truly repentant. So who do you think God is going to be more willing to listen to?

But, back to the matter at hand! I understand that people are upset...but most of the ones banned, have admitted that they are members of this BunkerBoard site, but I'M NOT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This shit really pisses me off, and the main reason is because I wasn't even notified and given a chance to answer any allegations regarding this matter before I was uncerimoniously kicked out of the group. What the hell? I thought people were innocent until proven guilty! I thought you needed some sort of evidence?! Where was the proof that they had...my IP addy??? Um, my IP addy changes everytime I get on the net. It's my internet provider's way of stopping some something or another. So I am to be punished for the actions of another group of individuals whom I don't agree with, yet I have been lumped in with. I don't care if we don't agree. That's what's great about living in America. Our right to agree to disagree. I have never attacked or maligned someone because they are a Republican. In fact, I avoided joining any of the political groups on Ravelry because it wasn't really anybody's business who I was voting for. Maybe I should have joined one of the Obama Groups. Maybe then they wouldn't have suspended my fucking account.

This shit really pisses me off.

That was weird!

2009-03-17T05:43:00.002-06:00

So, you know how you have those dreams that make absolutely no sense whatsoever, but there they are in all there strange and discombobulated glory? Well I had one, or maybe it was two...I'm not sure to be honest, this morning.

So, it starts off, I am soaking wet and I'm in this building I've never been in before, and I knock on a door or what I think is an apartment, because of the peephole in the door. Well, this guy opens the door and invites me in, and I ask for a towel. He leads me through this HUGE area with a bunch of weight machines and workout benches and stuff, down a hall, past a kitchen, where we stop and wait. Now, everything in the "apartment" is gray...the walls, the trim, the carpet, the ceiling, the doors. All of it. So we are standing across from each other, waiting, and it dawns on me that he is wearing a robe and a shower cap. A pink shower cap. All of the guys that I have seen are dark complected, with black hair and eyes, while all the women in the apartment are blonde, tall and very well endowed. I don't know, it was just some of the stuff that I noticed. I also noticed that there were about fifteen doors down the length of the hall and at the other end of the hall is what looks to be another huge area like the first one inside the front door. So, we are waiting in the hall and a guy comes out of a door and the guy who's with me goes in.

The next thing I know I am in my van headed somewhere, and I see a building and think to myself that I really want some Chinese food for lunch. So I make a left and then a right into the parking lot of this really tall building. I go inside, and see a sign that tells me the Chinese restaurant I'm trying to get to is on the first floor, so I go through the only door I can find, only now I'm in a stairwell, and there are these winding stairs. Going up and down, there are winding stairs, in the center of the stairwell. There are also windows on one side of the 'stairwell', and through those windows I can see what looks like a swimming pool. Only this one is like an olympic sized pool...it's huge. So, I look at the number at the top of the stairs and it says 31. Just like that I'm on the 31st floor???? WTF? How is THAT possible I wonder, but dumbass that I am, I just start going down the stairs, trying to figure out how the hell to get off the middle staircase and onto one of the outer ones. But, here I am going down, and I get to the thirtieth floor, and there's another swimming pool. Or maybe it's the same damn pool following me down the stairs. I don't know. I just know it makes no sense. So, I'm about halfway down, when it dawns on me that there is no elevator, the stairs are descending into the bowels of the earth and once I get my damn food, I will have to turn around and climb back up 31 floors to get to my car. Providing that the pool beside me, doesn't collapse the floor and drown everyone below, because there can't possibly be any fire escapes in the building...there aren't even doors on the floors, to allow you to get out of the stairwell.

All of this occurred to me right before the alarm went off for me to get out of bed and get moving for my day. Go figure. I don't know if the door that I came into the stairwell from was still there because my alarm woke me up before I could get back up the stairs. I hate dreams like that because then I feel unsettled for the rest of the day.

On top of that, last night, while I was doing a deep cleaning in the living room, I bent over to pick up a pair of kids' shoes that had been left in the floor and pinched my sciatic nerve. I know this because I felt my hip actually slide, and the nerve catch, and I thought I was going to die right then and there. It hurt so bad I got sick to my stomach, and I couldn't hardly move at all. I can move now, but only if I stay upright and don't try to sit or bend my big ass over. Getting old really sucks.

Well, I suppose that's all for now. Still no word on why my Ravelry account is banned. I want my Ravelry back, dammit.

WTF?!?!?!?!?!?!?

2009-03-16T19:36:00.002-06:00

Ok, so I'm getting on the puter yesterday, gonna get on Ravelry and see what's new...but there's a problem. I can't. My account has been temporarily suspended. Why? you ask? I asked too. Only problem is, I haven't gotten an answer yet. I don't know if I will ever get an answer. I want on Ravelry!!!! WAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!

Mimi's wrap is coming along very nicely. I am almost through with the first skein of yarn and while I"m not currently knitting on it right this minute, I have almost fourteen inches. Since I have six skeins of the yarn, that bodes well for it's length.

The kids are in OK at their grandma's and the house is blissfully silent! So quiet in fact that I haven't turned on the television or the music to try to tune out their fighting and squabbling. I'm enjoying the silence and the peace. Maybe tomorrow after work I'll turn on some music to listen to while I'm recording shows off the cable box onto disc. I had to go buy discs today because the ones I bought a few weeks ago, won't work in any of the dvd players in the house except the one in the living room and while I dearly love my son, I so am not watching Top Ten Bombers again. I have watched it too many times to count since it was recorded in January and if I have to sit through it again, I may just lose my fucking mind...lol.

Mimi took her dog with her to Oklahoma, as well, so I am down to one very low maintenance dog. She's old and she just wants to be left alone most of the time. At least till PW gets home from work. Then she wants his complete and undivided attention.

So my schedule at work looks like a train wreck. I don't have another day off until next Wednesday, and this weekend I am hostessing. I don't mind hostessing, but on the weekends I could make a hell of a lot more money waiting tables than running the front door, and even though I'm not happy about it, I was hired as a hostess, not a server, so I guess I won't complain. Even though I was also hired to work only during the week and I have given in on that because I really like working there. But I am gonna have to have at least three days off during the week or I'm gonna have to quit this summer. As much as I love it, the kids have to come first and not the job.

Well, I'm off to get some more housework done before my sweet hubby gets home from work.

Wraps and Birks

2009-03-09T20:04:00.003-06:00

I started a new wrap last week. Mimi has been asking me for the last year for a wrap, and I've been putting it off. Well, after knitting and knitting and knitting and knitting on the Tropical Clap, I figured out it wouldn't be long enough so I'll have to rip the damn thing out and start over. Well, I was just about tired of working on it anyways, so I decided to start Mimi's. Berroco Comfort in the Maine Woods colorway. Cammo basically, and she likes it, so I'll keep knitting it. She's small enough that the six skeins I found of it should be plenty for it. So I'm working on that for now, and I'll go back to the other eventually. But for now, I'll get hers done and then move along to something else.

On a lighter, happier note, I got a pair of Birks. My first true pair and I absolutely love them. The coolest thing about it is that I can wear my hand-knit socks with them! I really should live in Washington or Oregon, where this is common place, but I don't so these damn Texans can kiss my ass for all I care. My husband hates it when I wear socks with sandals, but I'm not stopping now. I made them, I love them and dammit, I'm gonna show them off.

Gotta get some laundry done and get some cleaning done too.

The beauty of nature....

2009-03-03T06:48:00.002-06:00

...sitting on my patio last night, I was indulging in a moment of childless silence, as they were both in the house...one on the puter and the other playing with the play-doh, when I heard, coming from the direction of the lake, the sound of coyotes. They were talking and howling and yipping to one another, and I did manage to get Mimi out on the patio in time to hear them, but Bubba was too late. Maybe another night. It was really very pretty and mournful and fascinating.

Very strange....

2009-02-20T07:08:00.005-06:00

My most recent knitting project is the clapotis. Again...lol. This time in Schaefer's Susan, a wonderful cotton yarn. This colorway is called Eva Peron, and I am loving it. As you can see from the pictures below, the colors are just bright and springy and ready for spring and summer to arrive. I can't wait to finish it. I don't know how long it will take, since I am working more and more now, but it will get finished. I knit on it at night after the kids are in bed and I have cleaned up the destruction from hurricanes Mimi and Bubba, during swimming and any other time I can. I found some really good help for the pattern at a website that I will try to remember to post the addy to another time...i'm pressed for time this morning and don't have the time to try to find it in the faves folder right now. I really like how it's runing out so far, and the idea of purling the drop stitch on the right side rows and knitting on the wrong side rows has actually made it lay better when I want to take a look at it, plus, I could actually forgo the stitch markers once each new increase row is established. Which would be a good thing since I am using little pony-tail holders that like to drag on my needles.

On a different note...not one usually approached by me...food. Well, that's not true...I approach food plenty, but I don't always talk about it on my blog. But this time was just too incredible to pass up. What you see here is the inside of a red bell pepper that I was using in one of my husband's salads. That being said, this pepper was unlike any other I'd ever cut into. I always cut off the top and pull out the guts, but this time, when I pulled the guts out, I found this....
A little baby bell pepper growing inside the rather large bell pepper I had bought. I personally have never heard of this before, nor has anyone that I know, but here it is.
Isn't it just adorable???? I didn't cut into it to see if it was as perfect inside as it was outside, but I'd be money it was.
I was so surprised that I actually went and woke up my youngest daughter to show her. It was too amazing not to photograph.

That's it for now...hope you enjoyed the pictures. But I leave you with the absolute best of all recent pictures taken. This was a picture I snapped of Mimi as she scored the go ahead run in the scrimmage game at the end of the Sooners winter baseball camp. Once again she was the only girl, scoffed at by the boys until they saw her play. And once again, Coach Sonny pointed to her as an example of hard work, good attitude and determination. Way to go Mimi.

Holy freakin' cow, man!

2009-02-18T06:21:00.003-06:00

I can't believe it's been nearly two months since my last post....bad mommy...lol.

I have side-stepped into a server role at work, part of the time, and I have to say that I don't at all mind the extra money. It sure beats the hell out of what I get when I hostess...lol.

All that aside, I haven't really got much to report. Well, that's not entirely true. DD1 has left the loser boyfriend, DD2 has resumed swimming, and unfortunately, her hormones seem to be in overdrive, which is about to send me over the freaking edge of sanity into criminal insanity. DS is just himself, with a little attitude thrown in for good measure. He and his sister got into it last night as she told him to give him his bike and she'd take it upstairs and he could carry the scooter, cuz it was time to come inside. Well, he wasn't giving up his bike, so she grabbed him, and he started hitting her repeatedly. Now, I have told her I can't tell you how many times that she needs to be nicer to him because while it may be hard to believe, she will not always be the bigger of the two and she's gonna piss him off well and good one day and he is going to snap and beat the living shit out of her. And she will have earned every lick she gets, too, believe me.

Both babies got sick after Christmas break with the gastro virus from hell...and I do mean from hell. When it was all said and done, Bubba puked off and on for over 5 hours and it took me an hour to clean my bathroom after Emily puked in there. I, fortunately, had a severe sinus infection so I couldn't smell a thing....God is good, let me tell you...lol. Interestingly enough, I never got totally sick....just felt really funky for a few days, so for almost a week, we were all living on broth, jello, toast and bananas.

Baseball camp went really well, and I finished the Sooner double wrap cowl that I was making for myself. I started another pair of socks and another cowl, but those are on the back burner...just knitting to knit, really. The socks are from the flat feet yarn that I found here in Texas, but I have to tell you, while I love the concept of this yarn, I'm not entirely sure that I like working with it because of all the kinks from where it was knit up. The other double wrap cowl is in Malabrigo, which I just adore working with, but there's only about four inches knit of it, maybe...lol.

What I am working on now, however, is much more better and funner and stimulating. I got some Susan by Schaefer in the Florence Nightingale colorway and began working with it. Then I got some Susan last week, in the most incredibly bright and fun colorway of Eva Peron...omg, it's awesome. Well, the pattern I had originally intended to use with the yarn, wasn't working. The yarn wasn't pooling right, the pattern was getting lost in the color changes, and the pattern was breaking up the incredibly beauty of this yarn. Well, I tried and tired to find a pattern that would let me make a lightweight scarf/wrap for spring while showing off the beauty that is this yarn, but none of the patterns I tried really worked for the yarn, or the yarn for the pattern until I went back to the standby of great scarves...the Clapotis. Now, keep in mind, I still have one on the needles, unfinished, languishing in the depts of my closet somewhere, that needs to be finished, but this yarn, it must be knit now. It cannot wait for me to finish anything...it won't let me alone. Really, it won't. So I am knitting, and knitting and knitting and knitting. It's a wonder my fingers don't just fall off. And I am loving it. I can't read while I work on this one, but I can still watch a movie.

I have more to share, but there are pictures that need to be uploaded to share with the stories, so it will have to wait.

It's cold outside

2008-12-23T19:06:00.003-06:00

So I have been knitting hats. One for each of my kids, one for each of a couple of my co-workers, and one for me, so far. I have another one to cast on for my good friend who will be going skiing in a couple of weeks. So, as my gift to her, I am knitting her a hat. No socks right now. Just not really in the mood. We'll see how I feel after Christmas.

We're leaving for Oklahoma on Christmas afternoon, then coming back on New Year's day. I got the time off work and the kids have a baseball camp that they are attending. Plus, on the 30th, I will be the big 40! Ugh! Beats the alternative however, so I won't complain.

That's pretty much all that's been going on around here. Sorry. Pretty boring actually.

From the photo files

2008-11-13T19:36:00.003-06:00

I have been having the time of my life with my new camera...taking pictures of all sorts of stuff...mostly the kids playing baseball, but a few of the dogs and a few other things...here are just a smattering of the new camera's capabilities.
This is my little pitcher/catcher. He can throw a strike and look damn good doing it!

Here's my big hitter. She was off her game at the plate the last couple of times, but she's got her groove back now. Notice the intensity on that pretty face...that's my girl!

Here are my puppies. Aren't they cute???

Here's my hubby...he's a hottie.

And finally, from the mind of my demented youngest daughter...this is what bath-time toys in my house are subjected to...death to the alien. She'd play with real knives if I let her.

All in all, the new camera is a huge success. I am absolutely loving it.

So, I've been working on my writing and having fun with it, but I haven't really gotten much knitting done. I may be waiting tables at work starting very soon, which is ok with me, because it means more money in my pocket, but also more work...which isn't necessarily a bad thing. The harder I work the better I sleep.

Well, I'm off to fold some laundry, and maybe play around some more with my camera. Hopefully I will have some knitting to post pictures of next time.

2008-11-03T19:02:00.003-06:00

My boy the pitcher! Throwing strikes and taking 'em down.
Another strike another batter down.
"I am the Dominator and Eliminator" My girl the pitcher and my star athlete.
This girl is the shiz!

So my new camera rocks and takes wicked good pics and I'm having the time of my life snapping pics of my kids playing ball. Their team's not so hot. They still haven't won a game, but my kids are working hard and playing hard and doing a great job.

Bubba finally got to pitch this Sunday, and he was throwing strikes and taking care of business. But alas, the season is nearly over and we've been telling the coach since the second week of practices that he could throw strikes and yet, he didn't get to try until there were only 4 games left. That's ok.

I'm so excited!!!!!

2008-10-24T14:33:00.002-06:00

I went to Wolf Camera this afternoon after work and bought my new digital camera. A Fuji s5700, with continuous shot mode. Which means action pics of my children playing baseball!!!!! I am so damn excited.

On the knitting front, not a lot has been happening really. I have been busy with the kids, baseball, work and cleaning, plus writing, so I haven't gotten as much knitting done lately. Actually, I think I just needed a break from socks and knitting in general. But yesterday, while I was sitting at the tire place waiting for them to fix my hubby's car, I decided to work on the toes of my Sooner Mojo socks. The toes are almost finished and ready for the foot! I think I have two more increase rounds to work and then I'll be onto the foot.

I leave you with eye candy-a pick of my new camera.

What the hell?!?!?!?!?!

2008-10-09T21:53:00.005-06:00

sally said...
I came across an online community for individual seeking interracial love. It is ++++((((---Blackwhitemeet. C O M))))++++ All singles there are seeking interracial relationships. Interracial is not a problem here, but a great merit to cherish!
October 9, 2008 8:39 PM

This was the comment left on my blog earlier this evening. I don't know who this person is, and I really don't care...but I would like to know what the hell makes her think that I am interested in an inter-racial relationship! Is it because I posted something about Obama??? So...here's a thought...learn to fucking read! I am in a relationship! I am MARRIED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I have since deleted this comment because it pisses me off. I don't have a problem with inter-racial relationships...but if I want one, I'll find it myself thanks.

I despise shit like this...it really just chaps my fat ass.

One day...

2008-10-07T18:04:00.004-06:00

...my bag will come. One day soon, actually. This will arrive in the mail for me. And I will do a happy dance around the mail boxes before bringing it into the house and filling it with my knitting and the other odd N end shit I cart around in my purse. When it does, I will be thrilled because I have been lusting after one of these bags for the last 6 months. I could have gotten a lime green one at my old lys, but the charcoal will go with everything I own, never, ever clash, and I like it. It's not black, but thank God it's not silver, either. I am so excited I can hardly wait for it to get here.

In the mean time, I am knitting socks, still...working with the yarn from hell, also known as Tofutsies. I love this yarn. Really I do. What I don't love are all the fucking splits and weak spots and knots. This last ball had 8 total. That, imho, is ridiculous when you think about how much I spent on it. I didn't spend 17 bucks on this yarn to lose more than two yards to knotting the fucked up sections. That is bullshit my friends.

Speaking of bullshit...let me show you some more! Here's a copy of an email that I got from a couple of friends.

Everyone of voting age should read these two books.
Don't buy them, get them from the library before they are removed from the shelves.

From Dreams of My Father:

'I ceased to advertise my mother's race at the age of 12 or 13, when I began to suspect that by doing so I was ingratiating myself to whites.'

'I found a solace in nursing a pervasive sense of grievance and animosity against my mother's race.'

'There was something about him that made me wary, a little too sure of himself, maybe. And white.'
'It remained necessary to prove which side you were on, to show your loyalty to the black masses, to strike out and name names.'

'I never emulate white men and brown men whose fates didn't speak to my own. It was into my father's image, the black man, son of Africa , that I'd packed all the attributes I sought in myself , the attributes of Martin and Malcolm, DuBois and Mandela.'

And FINALLY the Most Damning one of ALL of them!!!

From Audacity of Hope:
'I will stand with the Muslims should the political winds shift in an ugly direction.'

* If you have never forwarded an e-mail, now is the time to Do so!!! We CANNOT have someone with this type of mentality running our GREAT nation!! I don't care whether you a Democrat or a Conservative. We CANNOT turn ourselves over to this type of character in a President. PLEASE help spread the wo rd

Send to all you can!

This email is circulating to people around the world...know what the problem is with it? Let me show you....

June 3, 2008

Did Obama write that he would "stand with the Muslims" and that he nurses a "pervasive sense of grievance and animosity" toward whites?

Can you guys provide some context to this e-mail. Not sure if you have already but thought I would pass it along. Thanks.

Misleading Obama E-mail:
"In His Own Words"

The last quote tells all we need to know! Be sure and read that one!

This guy wants to be our President and control our government. Pay close attention to the last comment!! Below are a few lines from Obama's books " his words:

From Dreams of My Father: "I ceased to advertise my mother's race at the age of 12 or 13, when I began to suspect that by doing so I was ingratiating myself to whites."

From Dreams of My Father : "I found a solace in nursing a pervasive sense of grievance and animosity against my mother's race."

From Dreams of My Father : "There was something about him that made me wary, a little too sure of himself, maybe. And white."

From Dreams of My Father : ; "It remained necessary to prove which side you were on, to show your loyalty to the black masses, to strike out and name names."

From Dreams of My Father : "I never emulate white men and brown men whose fates didn't speak to my own. It was into my father's image, the black man, son of Africa, that I'd packed all the attributes I sought in myself, the attributes of Martin and Malcolm, Dubois and Mandela."

From Audacity of Hope: "I will stand with the Muslims should the political winds shift in an ugly direction."

No. A widely circulated e-mail fabricates some quotes from Obama's books and twists others.

Anyone looking for Barack Obama's real sentiments about whites, blacks and Muslims won't find them in this scurrilous collection of falsified, doctored and context-free "quotations." The e-mail claims to feature words taken from Obama's books, "The Audacity of Hope" (2006) and "Dreams from My Father" (1995, republished in 2004). But we found that two of the quotes are false, and others have been manipulated or taken out of context.

We have received many inquiries about this from readers whose suspicions were aroused, with good reason. Aside from the fact that the e-mail incorrectly cites the title of Obama's book as "Dreams of My Father," rather than "Dreams from My Father," you may have noticed that none of the quotes in this e-mail contain page references. This should be a sign to any reader that the author is trying to pull a fast one, betting that you won't take the time to read through all 806 pages of Obama's books to get to the facts.

False Quotes

We'll take these supposed Obama quotes one at a time, starting with the ones that are simply false. The first has Obama confessing to a "sense of grievance" and "animosity" toward whites.

Misleading e-mail: From Dreams of My Father : "I found a solace in nursing a pervasive sense of grievance and animosity against my mother's race."

Actual quote from "Dreams from My Father": Nothing like this quote appears in Obama's books.

The Obama campaign states that this quote does not appear in Obama's book "Dreams from My Father." We carefully looked through that book, as well as "The Audacity of Hope," and found nothing similar. The popular urban legends reference site Snopes.com comes to the same conclusion. Snopes also notes that a similar quote does appear in an unfavorable review of "Dreams from My Father" that was published in the March 2007 issue of The American Conservative. But the words are those of the reviewer, Steve Sailer, not Obama.

Steve Sailer: He inherited his father’s penetrating intelligence; was raised mostly by his loving liberal white grandparents in multiracial, laid-back Hawaii, where America’s normal race rules never applied; and received a superb private school education. And yet, at least through age 33 when he wrote Dreams from My Father, he found solace in nursing a pervasive sense of grievance and animosity against his mother’s race.

We find that this e-mail takes the personal opinion of a conservative author and falsely presents it as a confession by Obama.

A second false quote has Obama saying he would "stand with the Muslims," words that don't appear in his book. What he actually said is that he would stand with American immigrants from Pakistan or Arab countries should they be faced with something like the forced detention of Japanese-American families in World War II:

Misleading e-mail: From Audacity of Hope: "I will stand with the Muslims should the political winds shift in an ugly direction."

Actual quote from "The Audacity of Hope" [pg. 261]: Of course, not all my conversations in immigrant communities follow this easy pattern. In the wake of 9/11, my meetings with Arab and Pakistani Americans, for example, have a more urgent quality, for the stories of detentions and FBI questioning and hard stares from neighbors have shaken their sense of security and belonging. They have been reminded that the history of immigration in this country has a dark underbelly; they need specific assurances that their citizenship really means something, that America has learned the right lessons from the Japanese internments during World War II, and that I will stand with them should the political winds shift in an ugly direction.

Obama did not say he would side with "the Muslims," which could easily be read as meaning he would side with the world's Muslim population even if it meant working outside the best interests of the United States. He said he would side with "them," referring back to his mention of immigrant communities and specifically to "Arab and Pakistani Americans." Furthermore, he was speaking of an "ugly direction" like the mass internment of Japanese Americans.

This false quote goes hand in hand with the equally false rumor that Obama is a Muslim.

Doctored Quotes

We next turn to a quote that is manipulated to make it sound as though Obama is saying he would "never emulate" a white man, when he was actually describing a personal struggle to come to terms with his own mixed-race ancestry, and the failings of blacks and whites alike.

Misleading e-mail: From Dreams of My Father: "I never emulate white men and brown men whose fates didn't speak to my own. It was into my father's image, the black man, son of Africa, that I'd packed all the attributes I sought in myself, the attributes of Martin and Malcolm, Dubois and Mandela."

Actual quote from "Dreams from My Father" [pg. 220]: Yes, I'd seen weakness in other men - Gramps and his disappointments, Lolo and his compromise. But these men had become object lessons for me, men I might love but never emulate, white men and brown men whose fates didn't speak to my own. It was into my father's image, the black man, son of Africa, that I'd packed all the attributes I sought in myself, the attributes of Martin and Malcolm, DuBois and Mandela. And if later I saw that the black men I knew - Frank or Ray or Will or Rafiq - fell short of such lofty standards; if I had learned to respect these men for the struggles they went through, recognizing them as my own - my father's voice had nevertheless remained untainted, inspiring, rebuking, granting or withholding approval. You do not work hard enough, Barry. You must help in your people's struggle. Wake up, black man!

The e-mail cuts out important words, changing the quote's meaning. Gone is the notion that he "might love" white or brown men. Gone also is that Obama was speaking not of white or brown men generally, but specifically about "these men," his white, maternal grandfather Stanley Dunham and his Indonesian stepfather Lolo Soetoro. The doctored quote makes it appear as though Obama said he would never emulate any white or brown man, based on their race.

Gone as well is Obama's admission that his black friends sometimes "fell short of [the] lofty standards" of black role models like Martin Luther King and Nelson Mandela.

Another doctored quote is trimmed to make Obama sound as though he is wary of working for a white man because of his race, when Obama actually wrote that the "problem" of race had been raised by the man himself.

Misleading e-mail: From Dreams of My Father: "There was something about him that made me wary, a little too sure of himself, maybe. And white."

Actual quote from "Dreams from My Father" [pgs. 141-142]: Now he was trying to pull urban blacks and suburban whites together around a plan to save manufacturing jobs in metropolitan Chicago. He needed somebody to work with him, he said. Somebody black. ...

He offered to start me off at ten thousand dollars the first year, with a two-thousand-dollar travel allowance to buy a car; the salary would go up if things worked out. After he was gone, I took the long way home, along the East River promenade, and tried to figure out what to make of the man. He was smart, I decided. He seemed committed to his work. Still, there was something about him that made me wary. A little too sure of himself, maybe. And white - he'd said himself that that was a problem.

The e-mail's edited quote makes it appear as if Obama is left with an unfavorable opinion of someone based on race. The full quote shows that Obama's mention of Marty Kaufman's race is made only after Kaufman raises it as a potential problem in light of his consideration to hire Obama for a job on a community organizing drive.

Obama took the job. "Kaufman" is actually a pseudonym. Obama told Chicago Sun-Times reporter Lynn Sweet that the man's real name was Gerald Kellman, who was Obama's boss at his first job in Chicago as a community organizer at the Calumet Community Religious Conference. Obama worked for him for three years before going on to law school. Kellman has said of Obama: "One of the remarkable things is how well he listens to people who are opposed to him."

Context, Please

Other quotes in the e-mail are offered without their full context, which we offer here.

Misleading e-mail: From Dreams of My Father: "I ceased to advertise my mother's race at the age of 12 or 13, when I began to suspect that by doing so I was ingratiating myself to whites."

Actual quote from "Dreams from My Father" [pg. xv]: When people who don't know me well, black or white, discover my background (and it is usually a discovery, for I ceased to advertise my mother's race at the age of twelve or thirteen, when I began to suspect that by doing so I was ingratiating myself to whites), I see the split-second adjustments they have to make, the searching of my eyes for some telltale sign. They no longer know who I am. Privately, they guess at my troubled heart, I suppose - the mixed blood, the divided soul, the ghostly image of the tragic mulatto trapped between two worlds. And if I were to explain that no, the tragedy is not mine, or at least not mine alone, it is yours, sons and daughters of Plymouth Rock and Ellis Island, it is yours, children of Africa, it is the tragedy of both my wife's six-year-old cousin and his white first grade classmates, so that you need not guess at what troubles me, it's on the nightly news for all to see, and that if we could acknowledge at least that much then the tragic cycle begins to break down...well, I suspect that I sound incurably naive, wedded to lost hopes, like those Communists who peddle their newspapers on the fringes of various college towns. Or worse, I sound like I'm trying to hide from myself.

On its own, the quote can be interpreted as Obama rejecting his white heritage and, by extension, the entire white population. But, in full context, the statement is part of Obama's assessment of "black or white" individuals' first impressions of him as a person of mixed race.

And finally ...

Misleading e-mail: From Dreams of My Father : ; "It remained necessary to prove which side you were on, to show your loyalty to the black masses, to strike out and name names."

Actual quote from "Dreams from My Father" [pg. 100-101]: To avoid being mistaken for a sellout, I chose my friends carefully. The more politically active black students. The foreign students. The Chicanos. The Marxist professors and structural feminists and punk-rock performance poets. We smoked cigarettes and wore leather jackets. At night, in the dorms, we discussed necolonialism, Franz Fanon, Eurocentrism, and patriarchy. When we ground out our cigarettes in the hallway carpet or set our stereos so loud that the walls began to shake, we were resisting bourgeois society's stifling constraints. We weren't indifferent or careless or insecure. We were alienated. But this strategy alone couldn't provide the distance I wanted, from Joyce or my past. After all, there were thousands of so-called campus radicals, most of them white and tenured and happily tolerated. No, it remained necessary to prove which side you were on, to show your loyalty to the black masses, to strike out and name names.

On its own, the quote makes Obama appear racially militant. Whereas, in full context, the quote illustrates Obama's confusion over his race and cultural heritage. This is emphasized in the preceding paragraph, where Obama describes himself as someone compensating for insecurity in his "racial credentials."

- Emi Kolawole and Brooks Jackson

Sources

Obama, Barack. The Audacity of Hope. New York: Crown Publishers, 2006.

Obama, Barack. Dreams from My Father. New York: Crown Publishers, 2004.

Sailer, Steve. "Obama's Identity Crisis." The American Conservative. 26 Mar. 2007.

Now while I don't normally put shit like this on my blog...I admit I give my opinion on quite a lot here, but it's my blog and if you don't like it you can go somewhere else...sorry...this is the kind of shit that should have American's pissed as hell. But it doesn't. Why? Because we are all guilty of it some times, though our usual book of choice for taking parts we want and ignoring what we don't, taking out of context and using to suit our own "pious" purposes. It's bullshit and it needs to stop. I am guilty of it. At leat I admit it. The fact of the matter is...the truth isn't what people wanna hear...they wanna hear about what a "devil" Obama is. Or what a "slut" Palin is. I just want the facts, and I'll decide for myself. I don't want my preacher telling me how I should vote. I don't want an email telling me to pray about the upcoming election and to vote the way my Christian beliefs would have me vote. If I did that, I wouldn't be taking my ass to the polls cuz they are both politicians and neither one of them would piss on any of us if we were on fire.

Wow

2008-09-25T05:45:00.002-06:00

When we first moved to Texas, all three kids lived with us...so, our oldest, Liz, had her own room downstairs...we took the smaller upstairs bedroom and the babies shared the master bedroom. Well, Liz has been gone for a year now, and Mimi and Bubba have had their own rooms for that time. Mimi has gotten quite territorial since her relocation into Liz's old room and very rarely allows her brother entrance into said room. However, for the last week, Bubba has become increasingly reluctant to sleep in his room, as he is convinced that there are ghosts in that room. Going so far as to sleep on the floor in our room Tuesday night and in the floor of his sister's room last night. So, last night I began moving furniture. PW and I will relocate to the master bedroom and Bubba can have the smaller of the two rooms...by which he will have less area to clean and keep track of his things in. Of course, his sister, who will rarely allow him entry into her room has almost free reign of his room as their game system is in there...so some new ground rules will have to be established before any bullshit takes place.

I find it amazing that my dearest youngest girl will rail and bitch at her baby brother for leaving his shoes or a blanket in her room but EVERY time I go into my son's room I find at least one pair of her shoes, clothes, and even her toys strewn thru-out her room. Since he now has a smaller room that shit will have to stop immediately.

Being in the master bedroom now makes things easier on me as I will be closer to the laundry room, and will eventually, thanks to this move, have the perfect reason to clean out the closets in our and Bubba's rooms, thus getting rid of a bunch of shit that we have touched since we have moved in, donating most to charity at the first opportunity. I will be kind of limited on how much I can get done as I am not off till Saturday and Sunday, and we have a ballgame on Sunday, but I'll manage. The first order of business will be to clear out the closet in our old room so that I can then clear out the closet in Bubba's room and then move all our shit into that closet. With our relocation into the master bedroom, I can now go find a frame for our bed and put the headboard and foot board back on. Our old frame was worn out and so we tossed it when we moved down here, but the room we were in was just too small for putting the headboard and foot board onto the bed. Of course, having the bed on the floor was fuel for "redneck" talk from some of the family but really, there are more important things to worry about and to be honest, no one but us and the kids really ever went into that room, and the kids weren't really caring about whether or not the bed was on a frame.

Well, I had better get moving or we'll all be late this morning.

Another finished pair....

2008-09-23T12:41:00.003-06:00

....of almost socks. These are more like ankle socks because after going rounds with this yarn 5 times, I was well and truly sick of looking at it. So I did the ribbing and the cast off and put them away cuz I sure as hell ain't gonna wear them any time soon. So I brought out a skein of Tofutsies and cast on another pair of socks. This time I am gonna use the Glacier Lake pattern I found on Ravelry. Yes, I love Ravelry. I would dare say that I am an addict. I check once a day to look for new sock patterns. I am also a sock addict. My name is Melody and I am addicted.

Baseball starts this weekend. The babies play their first game Sunday afternoon. I, for one, am excited. Bubba is thrilled to be catching real pitching, and Mimi is excited to be pitching. We'll see how they do. I'll keep y'all posted.

That's about it for now.

Lookie! Pretty!

2008-09-17T18:43:00.003-06:00

So, the polish is a little uneven around the edges, but hey...nobody's perfect. I had fun doing my nails this afternoon while the kids were at school and I was HOME ALONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

No knitting, but what the hell. My nails look good...lol.

WTF?!?!?!?!?!?

2008-09-16T17:31:00.005-06:00

I am not one to mince words...usually. There are times when I bite my tongue and decide that discretion is the better part of valor, and just keep my big mouth shut...but I have to get this off my chest and now...

My son comes home, and is doing his homework, when he tells me that he has a note from his gym teacher. It's a "conduct report". According to this conduct report, he broke the following rules...
-Be a good listener
-Follow directions
-Keep hands and feet to yourself
-Be kind to others
-Be a good sport
-Use equipment correctly

Now I will be the first to admit that when it comes to group games my son is not the greatest. He has a tendency to not want to follow the rules...however, the above list had all these items checked, with no explanation or information regarding what was going on in class. Add to this the fact that I knew nothing of this, other than what my son was telling me about yesterday when he got into the van. So now I have this note...no explanation for the note...the teacher, whom I just spoke with has no idea what happened or what was going on, and I never got a fucking phone call. If my son, was being so damn awful and troublesome and disrespectful for lack of a better word, then why the hell wasn't I called? I mean, seriously?!?!??! If I'm a teacher, and I have a kid acting like this, his ass is going to the principal's office straight up. And I refuse to let this slide. I had no idea that he was having problems in gym class last year until after the fact. And now I have no idea what he was doing or to whom or if the damn teacher even saw what in the hell happened or if she just took some other kids word and didn't give my son a chance to explain his side of the story. I have no idea I guess because she feels that she can just send this shit home and not give me any explanation and that I will just punish him without knowing what in the hell happened. Of course, this is the same teacher that has been riding herd on Mimi because she throws the ball "wrong" during softball in PE class. Um, excuse me? She was taught to play ball by two baseball players, she played on a Championship softball team when she was SIX and a Zone Championship team when she was EIGHT!!!!! I think she knows how to throw a fucking softball. This is the same teacher who had a test question that read: How many points is an extra point worth in football? Um, ONE!!!! According to her, that answer was wrong. Both of my kids answered one and she counted the question wrong for both of them. I knew what she was trying to ask, but it wasn't WHAT she asked. I am not going to punish one of my kids just because the teacher says they broke a rule. What rule? What else was going on? Was anybody else doing it? Did they also get in trouble? My son is not a trouble maker. In fact, I would have to say that out of the three of my wonderful kids, he is the sweetest, kindest, most eager to please, but games like dodge ball, four square and shit like that, are hard enough for kids that don't have social and emotional issues...I hated those fucking games when I was in school, because if you weren't the "popular" kids, then you were the fucking target. It was never about playing a game, it was about punishing the unpopular ones, the weaker ones...the outcasts....it's games like dodge ball that begin to foster an early hatred in the "odd" children. Ask me how I know.

The fact of the matter is, this shit pisses me the fuck off because some of their fucking rules are just bullshit. Like talking in the lunch line...ok, seriously? I have been up there at lunch time and all the kids are all talking all at the same time...so how the fuck does this teacher know that it was my son that was talking??? And who else got a mark? No one. I asked. She didn't give anyone else a mark. Why? Because I saw him talking she said. And she admitted that she saw others talking as well, but she didn't give them marks. I despise it when people pick and choose the things that they want to expect others to live by...it's either wrong for everybody or it's right for everybody, but it shouldn't be right for one child and wrong for another.

So I will wait to hear back from my son's teacher about what happened in PE on Monday. If I find the explanation lacking merit, or feel that it's bullshit, I will talk to said PE teacher soon. I don't have a problem with my son getting in trouble if it is warranted, but if you tell me that he is in troulbe for a whole slew of things, at least have the decency to explain what the hell was going on.

On the knitting front...the socks, since I have started working during the day outside the home, are moving, but rather slowly. I have found that working seriously cuts into my knitting time. If I didn't have a goal in mind for working, I'd quit...lol. I have the heel finished on one sock, and half finished on the 2nd sock...all my wraps are done and the markers place, I just have to go back and re-wrap and pick up and knit the double wraps. I like the double wraps because I don't get holes on the sides of the heel. What can I say? It works for me. I am sorry to say I didn't think of it myself, but I have picked up stuff from so many different sources and kept the stuff that I liked or that worked well for me and incorporated those things into my socks...thus creating a recipe of sorts for each pair...a recipe that I don't stray far from, to tell the truth, though I am seriously considering trying to work the Eye of Partridge on a short row heel...just not with this yarn or these socks...not after having been through four froggings and some of the colors are just too dark to try that with. I'll give it a try with one of my lighter yarns, and see if I can pull it off...I bought some graph paper for situations like this...times where I get a little big for my britches and decide that I am gonna try my hand at "creating" something...like I could do something new with knitting that someone hasn't already done. Ah well, who knows, I haven't managed to find an Eye of Partridge short row heel pattern, so maybe I will come up with something new and different...if it's not too much fucking trouble...lol. I think I'll try it with some worsted wool, and knit up a swatch for testing purposes...but first I have to get these socks off the needles and onto my feet.

The one thing that I don't like about my new job is that I can't wear my hand-knit socks to work. My work socks have to be solid black...there is no way in hell I am knitting solid black socks. That so isn't happening in this lifetime. I have a hard enough time seeing the stitches in the darker colors, let alone trying to see shit in black...like my wraps on the short row heel...yeah, right. Check please!

So, that's about it for now. Not much else is really going on. Stay tuned for an update on the gym teacher from hell.

And the socks go on...

2008-09-09T16:56:00.002-06:00

And on, and on, and on. This first picture is just one of the pair...Knit in Berroco Sox, color 1477, I am calling these Too Damn Groovy. I really like the coloring of this yarn and can't wait to get my hands on some more Berroco Sox. I really love the colorways.

This second picture is a close-up giving you a good look at the detail of the stitching. Personally I love the way it's coming out...how the decreases are off-set from the knits.

I really have liked working with this pattern, but I have to tell you that I am ready, after 4 attempts, to be finished with this fucking yarn. I know that sounds harsh, but last time I had to frog this, I was up the cuff after finishing the heel and was thinking about binding off. Needless to say I was really freakin' pissed when I had to rip those bad boys out. I think I may work with some of my hand-dyed yarn this next time...though I might not. I have so many sock patterns in my Ravelry queue, and so much sock yarn, it's hard, really, to decide what to do next...lol. Of course now that fall is here, I will be pulling my shawls back out to continue working on them. You can see them in some of my previous posts.

The kids are doing well in school so far, though we nearly had a melt-down of gargantuan proportions this afternoon. Mimi came to the van instead of going to choir practice. When asked, she said that her name wasn't on the list, and that she asked her music teacher about her permission slip and he told her there wasn't one...so I went in with her and talked to him, because I had stopped to talk to him after I put her slip on his desk Monday. So he let us fill out another slip and turn it in, so all ended well. She seems very excited about choir, and since she didn't make the drummers, I am glad that she is happy about it. It's rained off and on all afternoon, and the forecast is calling for more rain this evening, tonight and tomorrow, which could be bad news for baseball practice on Thursday.

Bubba is helping in the school library and having a good time doing it. He is starting to make friends I think and seems to be keeping up ok for now in his classes. We'll see what happens after this week, as they have benchmark testing this week to determine where the kids are starting off and so that is eating into half the day for two days...which really pisses me off because I hate that they are being taught tests, rather than information and knowledge, then being tested on what they have been taught. But don't get me started on that shit.

I am still enjoying my new job. I must say that it's really nice to get out of the house, but there are times when I miss being able to just flop on my couch and do nothing...lol. My dh would say that's typical...never satisfied...lol.

Well, it's time to get dinner started and make sure the kids get their showers. I hope everyone is having a good week so far. I'll be back soon to let anyone who cares know how it's going...

Holy shit, man!!!!!

2008-09-08T20:26:00.002-06:00

So, my dad calls me tonight, and we're just chatting away, then he says...
"Hey, do you remember Todd?"
"Todd Cruz?"
"Yeah."
"Hell yes I remember Todd. I was just thinking about him a couple of weeks ago. I saw a kid playing for one of the major league teams that looked like he could have been his son. Why?"
"He was found dead in his apt. swimming pool last week."

Well, hit me with a bat and call me foul. It was like taking a gut shot. I really had been thinking about him just a couple of weeks ago. I saw this kid on tv, playing for a team wearing red and white...that should about narrow it down. Come to think of it, his last name was Cruz. Or maybe I just saw the last name Cruz on a jersey and it made me think of Todd...but what-freaking-ever...you get the gist. So I remember telling my husband about him, how he and Lonnie Smith played in Oklahoma City together when I was a kid, and how Lonnie always gave us his tickets to the games and we'd sit with the players' families or behind the dugout, and how cool all the guys were...cuz they were just Minor Leaguers then...still fan friendly...b4 they get into the big leagues and get jaded and cynical and full of themselves. But anyways, I told my husband about how Todd was always cracking jokes to make us laugh, and had the greatest smile...it just made you wanna smile right back, no matter how shitty a day you were having. He was younger than my dad is and he's dead.

It's scary to see that, ya know. I mean, my mother died when she was 52. A class iv brain tumor. But, it's different when it's a guy that was younger than your folks and he just drops dead. And you look at your parents, who aren't exactly spring chickens anymore, and it just really scares the shit out of you. Or at least it should. I feel badly for his sister and his two boys. I lost track of Todd after he left the Angels organization, and to be honest, didn't realize that he'd played for the Orioles in 83 when they won the series...of course, I wasn't really interested much in baseball then.

I am saddened by the loss of this guy that I used to idolize and nearly worship. I remember telling my dad that I wanted to marry him when I was old enough. Dad and Lonnie used to laugh. We're gonna miss you Todd!

It's been a while

2008-09-06T15:28:00.002-06:00

A couple of weeks actually, but I've been busy working and knitting and getting the kids settled back into school and their schedules...which the school stuff alone has damn near driven my ass straight to the local sanitarium for a much needed break.

I have knit and re-knit the same damn yarn four times...frogged the socks...the last time it was after I had done the heels and was part way up the fucking leg before I thought to check and see if it was gonna fit, and of course it was too damn small so off the needles it came and out came all the stitches...I was just moderately pissed. No, that's a lie, I was wicked pissed. Beyond pissed. Pissed enough that I said a string of curse words that would have shocked a sailor into silence. Quite honestly I was ready to chuck the yarn out the fucking window and just start with a new skein, but I didn't. I persevered and have restarted another pair of socks, this time using a pattern called groovy. It kind of reminds me of the Razor shell socks, but not...go figure. I'll post pics after we get back home from MIL's house.

That's really all I have to share right now. I can add more on Wednesday, my day off, and tell all about the latest visit to OK. Have a great weekend!!!!!

Bubba's Socks

2008-08-21T20:07:00.004-06:00

These socks really are coming along nicely. There have been a few glitches, but they have been all mine, and not the pattern's. This pattern is so simple, I had it memorized by the time I was done with the first 4-row repeat. And they moved very quickly, too. These pictures were actually taken day before yesterday. I am now fully up the leg and have started with the cuff, just a simple k1,p1 ribbing, which I hope to bind off tonight or in the morning. He is very excited about having his own pair of socks knit for him by his mommy...he is so easily pleased.

We went to school tonight for meet-the-teacher night. He has his sister's Language Arts teacher from last year as his home room teacher, which means that his teacher rotation will be the same as his sister's, which means that I already have a good relationship with these women, which will make this year somewhat easier, as we are all already comfortable with one another. His IEP is in place, which will make this year much easier as well, seeing as how now that we know he has AS, we can work with it and "around" it. His assignments will not be reduced but broken into smaller pieces to make it easier for him to complete them in a timely manner. He will still have much the same workload as his classmates, but with longer time to complete those assignments. I feel very confident that he will do much better in school this year.

Mimi has moved on to 4th grade, and is looking forward to trying out for the school's "dynamic drummers". She is also looking forward to baseball.

Both of them would be looking forward to their upcoming train ride, if they knew about it, but since I value my sanity, I have decided not to tell them anything about it. I may not be the brightest crayon in the box, but I know my limitations.

I have the yarn picked out for another pair of socks as soon as I am finished with Bubba's socks. I just have to figure out what pattern I am going to use. I have one in mind, but I'm not sure yet. I just finished taping a bunch of patterns from the internet into my pattern notebook, so I will figure it out eventually.

Well, it's time to tuck in the kids.

Stash...

2008-08-19T16:34:00.004-06:00

...it's a wonderful thing.

And as soon as I am done with Bubba's socks, I will start in one of these wonderful yarns...now, which to choose.

Latest pics

2008-08-11T12:50:00.004-06:00

Here are the finished Shibui socks!Well, pretty much finished. I still have to weave in the ends at the top of the sock, but other than that they are good to go. The pattern was really very simple, just a 4 st ribbing worked for 2 rows, then an eyelet row thrown in for a simple lacy look, along with a k1/p1 cuff and a picot edging, and they are done. I am glad too, cuz once I started thinking about Mimi's monster socks, I really wanted to get this pair off the needles and get started on hers. I have a sampler bag coming to me soon with a bunch of different yarns that I can't wait to dive into.

Mimi's room is finished except for the re-hooking-up of the spare computer...here are the pics.

The mirror is where her chore list is...written in dry-erase marker for easy cleaning.

Off to get some lunch!

Industrious as hell...

2008-08-09T07:21:00.007-06:00

...almost! I got a hair up my ass yesterday and bought Mimi a new comforter for her bed. Up to this point she has been using the one that her Grandma got her for her 8th birthday last summer, but the comforter was for a twin bed, not a full...so now there is a comforter that fits, the bed is no longer against the wall, and the floor is clean and uncluttered for the time being...how long this will last, I have no idea, though my money is on less than 1 day, but what the hell. I tried. The idea is to start having her make her bed in the mornings BEFORE she leaves for school. I'm sure that this will not happen, but I am determined to try. Here is the room before the move....
As you can see, I had already begun my little adventure when I took the pictures. I will post pics of the completed room sometime this weekend or first thing Monday...I still have to reassemble her tv/dvd player and the 2nd computer that is in her room, and finish putting things away or designating them for charity and getting them the hell out of the house. Next on my list of attack and destroy is our room, then Bubba's room...hmmm...I would reverse that, but really, since the ps2 is in there, I think it will wait a while...I absolutely cannot clean with them in the room...they try so hard to help but all they really do is get in the freaking way.

Now on to the knitting.....
Okay the picture above is obviously another damn sock...lol...this is a detail of the eyelet ribbing.This is a pic of the heelAnd of course, the pair together, on one needle, before I finished the 2nd heel. I am hoping to get these finished before the weekend is over, though if I don't it really isn't any beg deal...I mean, it's not like I am on some sort of schedule.

I have managed to get ahold of some small sample hanks of sock yarn, which I will snap some photos of to share with my limited audience. My next pair of socks is going to be for Mimi, and they are going to be Monster socks, or Dobby socks, depending on whom you talk to...basically, just a lot of leftover sock yarn, knit together grab-bag style...though I haven't decided if I want them to match or not...hmmm. I guess I will let her decide...no, no I won't. I think I will make them match for the most part, since she will probably wear them to school. Bubba will just get plain old socks, in a cammo yarn...no point in making his life any more difficult than it already is.

Well, I'm off to have a little smoke, then it's back to finishing Mimi's room...have a great weekend, y'all

More socks

2008-08-05T21:44:00.003-06:00

I am still working on the pair that I started in the Texas panhandle...I actually haven't touched them today. I finally found a phone. I am taking the Blackberry and dd1 can have my old razor...I really can't see buying her a new 300 phone when she doesn't answer the one she borrowed from her grandma to begin with. Personally, I have half a mind to cut her ass off and take her phone from her and just make her get her own if she wants one.

The knitting has been minimal the last two days, but hopefully I'll get caught up on the rest of my stuff around here, and the knitting can resume. I have been gathering up the sock yarn leftovers to make a pair of monstersocks for Mimi...she asked me to knit her a pair, but since she wouldn't wear what I knit her the last time she asked for something, I'm not gonna buy a skein of yarn to make her a pair and when I suggested just using scraps, she got really excited and went bouncing off to play the PS2...go figure. They will be bright and colorful, though mostly greens and pinks...since that what I prefer to knit with...there are some blues, but, well, you get the idea. Her socks should literally fly off the needles since she has littler feet than me...a quickie pair...go figure...and if Bubba insists on a pair, then I have some cammo yarn for him...a hat that never got knit...it happens.

More soon

I survived...(picture intensive)

2008-08-02T21:41:00.006-06:00

...six days in a car with my kids! Granted, these six days were not consecutive, but it sure felt like it as our vacation neared it's end. Here are a couple of reasons why it was totally bearable...

Of course, neither slept at the same time as the other, but it did cut down on some of the chatter. Actually, the ride out to California was really quite calm, but the ride home not so much. There were various unnecessary potty stops, and a lot more, "are we there yet?" but all in all they were good little travelers.
Along the way we saw various points of interest...the kids had me snapping pictures left and right...like these...

There were mountains, plateaus, buttes, rain, deer, signs warning us to watch out for elk, crazy drivers and lots of barren nothingness, which I discovered is called New Mexico. In the following days, I will post more stories about our vacation, which I thoroughly enjoyed and am eternally grateful to my husband for agreeing to. He's a good man.
Know what you get at 5000 feet elevation? You get this....
And then you get this...

One of the most beautiful sunrises I have had the pleasure of watching. It was fantastic. This was taken in Grants, NM, where it was a wonderful 72 degrees when we arrived at about 6 in the evening, and when I took the dog out the next morning, it was just barely 64...after the Texas heat, which got up to 104 today, it was like standing in a refrigerator, and I was wishing for a sweatshirt...don't worry, though, I got over that real quick as we came down off the mountain, and finished up the day in Needles, CA, which if you ever pay attention to the weather, is one of the hottest places in the US...and the day that we were there it was no exception, having reached 110...yes, that's right...110 degrees, Fahrenheit and there is a difference between Texas heat and desert heat...I've felt it and I believe it....I didn't sweat in Needles like I do here at home...I got out of the truck this afternoon after returning home, and was sweating within a minute. I didn't miss sweating.

Tomorrow, I will try to post about our trip to Disneyland, including pictures of course.

You would think....

2008-07-20T06:52:00.003-06:00

...that at my age I would know better than to buy something white. And I do, but it was such a cute top that I couldn't resist. Well, said top has caused me more grief than necessary so said top is no longer white. After pre-treating and washing 4 times, I got pissed and went out and got some fabric spray paint. I refuse to go to California without this top, and I couldn't wear the top with the stains on it, so I eliminated the stains...in a redneck manner of speaking. My white top now looks like this....Pink, green and black. The shirt was bunched and twisted like I was tye-dyeing it, but with spray paint...I really like how it came out, and wish there were more at the store where I got it, because I could totally live with doing another two or three of these in different colors...lol. So now I get to save my shirt and wear it too....now to pack it and get ready to head out!

Another one bites the dust!

2008-07-19T10:42:00.005-06:00

That's right...there's another pair of finished socks in my home, and they are prettiful!!!!! SEE...

Apicot cast off and they are nice and stretchy! They are a little loose in the leg, but I like them. I think my next pair will have a decrease after the heel, so that the leg fits more snugly on me.

I'm off to pack for vacation and get my knitting ready to go...tomorrow is the big day. I'm taking the camera and will be trying to post from the road...hope everyone has a great time...I plan to.

Ah, socks....

2008-07-17T05:39:00.002-06:00

So I was reading e-mail this morning and got to my Knitter's Review newsletter, and there was a link for a website...a yarn shop/site. I clicked it and fell in love. I really need to quit smoking and maybe get some stuff selling on e-bay or etsy, because they have a tofutsies sock of the month club that I desperately want to join. Not only that, they have a limited edition color thing for 64 bucks that I would love to get my hands on as well. Four skeins of tofutsie sock yarn, a bag made for the "kit" and a cd-rom with like 10 patterns on it. If I do the math...then my smoking habit would pay for the yarn in two weeks. If I do some more math, my smoking habit would pay for the new camera I want in about a month and a half. More math tells me that my sock of the month club could be taken care of every month with plenty of money left over to join another club or two and probably even have lunch out. I really need to get of the smokes. But I like my smokes, so I'm still there...tho I don't smoke inside the house, and I don't take my knitting out when I smoke, so there's that.

My socks are coming along nicely and I am almost to the point where I need to start my ribbing. I think I want to make these a little longer than the last pair. My problem is, my cuffs keep getting shorter because I want to get the damn socks off the needles and onto my feet...lol. I am really enjoy sock knitting again, and since they are small and portable, taking them to California with us is no beg deal, because they won't be smothering me on the drive. Plus I don't the dh would be cool with me carting along the Before the Storm wrap or the Aruba Sunrise wrap. Of course, now that the temperatures are up over 95 degrees EVERY day, I really don't have much of a desire to work on a wrap...what the hell do I need a wrap for when my fat ass is melting? Honestly!

I took the kids swimming at the pool here yesterday...of course they got into an argument. He's cheating, she's being a hateful butt, etc, etc. I am really starting to feel like one the "great" thinkers of our time, Mr. Rodney King...."Can't we all just get along?" It's funny because she can be as mean to her little brother as she wants, but God help some other kid that's mean to him or makes him cry...she's ready to pulverize their little ass. Go figure. She is very protective of her baby brother.

Speaking of Bubba....

I spoke to the woman at the district office for the schools yesterday. I explained to her that while I like the asst. principal at our school just fine, I resent her putting my son off all year, and because of her "untrained" opinion, causing him to suffer needlessly. Now that he's had his eval and we know what we're dealing with, all of our lives should be much easier, but this woman needs to be made aware of what her actions wrought. He spent most of the last 9 weeks of school grounded because I thought he was just dorking off in class...he had to quit swimming, because school work and good grades come before the athletics here...and still I was getting nowhere with him. I was getting nowhere because he wasn't getting the help he needed. I want her to understand that she has NO right to try to determine whether or not a child is in need of services....she is an administrator, not a psychologist, and she should behave as such. It was very hard for me at the end of the school year, when I went to her office to fill out the paperwork for Bubba's eval, to keep my mouth shut and not ask her why we were signing it in May, when she had been asked to do all this in August...but I kept my mouth shut....Not anymore.

The woman in the district office listened to me, thanked me for being a supportive parent and assured me that she would have a meeting with the asst. principal to further educate her on just what can happen when we ignore parents and teachers' cries for help. I just don't want to see this happen to another parent or child. It sucked.

Well, it's time to get my little man up for his "school". I hope everyone has a fantastic day!

What happens when...

2008-07-15T16:24:00.006-06:00

...you give a 9 year old girl this???

Then Mommy (that would be me) gets to spend and hour and a half helping to build this...

The final result? This...

She's not your normal girl. I tried to get her to look at arts and crafts kits...I tried to get her to look at other "girly" type stuff...it just wasn't happening. Lego Castle. That's what she wanted. At least she's happy. Even if she didn't get the two hundred dollar clarinet she wanted that will probably end up sitting in the closet next to the guitar, collecting dust and falling over on my foot every time I go into her closet to get some yarn or a book or a knitting bag.

Speaking of knitting bags....my friend got this...

The lime green Malibu bag by Namaste...I am so totally jealous! It is absolutely beautiful and huge and I want one so bad I can smell it ( I smelled hers...what can I say?) It's absolutely incredible and I am totally trying to figure out how to gather up the cash to get one soon.

I went back to the mall to The Children's Place today to get another couple of pairs of shoes and ended up getting her some clothes, too and a pair of shoes for Bubba. Two pairs of yoga pants, a couple of t-shirts, a pair of shorts and a little sundress all for less than $32. They were having a 50% off sale thru the store and everything that was already on sale, was 50% off...it was great. I usually don't even go in that place, but I got such a good deal yesterday that I couldn't resist going back today and got an even better deal today...lucky, lucky me. Or rather lucky, lucky hubby, as it's his money getting spent...lol.

2008-07-14T15:01:00.002-06:00

So, here are the tofutsie socks so far. I just finished the heels on the 2nd last night, and began working the leg, though I haven't really made much progress.

In my errands today I found these shoes that you see below. I absolutely love them and they show off my socks, which I wanted, can be worn any time of year, with or without socks and they are cuter than hell! They are called Audrey, by Crocs...think Mary Janes without the straps! They are also really comfy...a huge plus for me. I am sure that I will hear all about how I shouldn't wear socks with them, but like I give a furry rat's ass. I do a lot of shit I shouldn't do, so why stop now?

I absolutely love working with this yarn. It's not hard on the hands, has a hint of sheen to it, and just plain feels good on my feet.

I saw some clear Skechers online, but saw the colored ones in the same style today and decided that I didn't really like them. I'm not sure why...I think it's the strap going over the top of my foot. The only time I like anything binding my foot like that is when I'm wearing sneakers. So when I saw these, I knew they were the shoes for me.

Oh, happy day!

That certainly took long enough

2008-07-13T22:12:00.004-06:00

This is Bubba. He is just as sweet and precious when he's awake as he is when he's sleeping, though, when he's awake he could try God's patience. He is loving and kind...he worries about the feelings of others and he always wakes up in a good mood. My favorite thing is when he comes down the stairs in the every morning and the first words out of his mouth are, "Morning Mama, I love you." It's hard to have a bad day when it starts like that.

That being said, it concerned me this past school year when we started having problems finishing work and staying out of trouble. He is a pleaser, and he hates for someone he cares about, or an authority figure, to be disappointed in him, but even faked disappointment didn't help things. His teacher pushed for an autism evaluation from the school psychologist. Nothing...the vice principal decided that he didn't need one. He just needed a little more discipline. The teacher continued to push, and the vice principal continued to put her off and tell her things like, "he's fine" or "if so&so didn't qualify, neither will he" or my favorite, "he was tested last year and no you can't have the files because they're locked up somewhere off campus" Now, the requests from the teacher began in August or September. After the last comment about the testing, the teacher called me and asked if he'd been evaluated, and when I found out what had been going on, I immediately called the school and demanded a meeting with the principal. Well, when I got there, there was a permission slip for me to sign, giving the school permission to have him evaluated in the classroom to see if there was a need for further testing. There was a need, and on Wednesday evening, the district psychologist told us that he has Asperger's Syndrome, which is a part of the autism spectrum. Kids with asperger's will be little scholars about a few areas of interest - like my son with Godzilla, dinosaurs, military airplanes and tractors - have a hard time with social situations, feel that they are wronged by others in everyday situations, even though it's just the give and take of conversation or society and have few friends. He has trouble with loud noises, and overstimulation.

Now I knew that he marched to the beat of a different drummer -like, all the time-and when he was little he was diagnosed with sensory integration dysfunction, but he had no real troubles last year, so I thought that we were past all that, but the school psychologist said that kids with asperger's aren't usually diagnosed until 4th or 5th grade. We were fortunate that he had a teacher who had worked with kids with autism and aspergers in the past, therefore she knew what some of the signs were, but the thing that really pisses me off, is that the vice principal, a woman who doesn't spend 6+ hours a day in a classroom with my son...a woman who doesn't see him struggle to concentrate to finish his homework, even though there are no distractions or problems, a woman who was hired by the school district to be an administrator, not a psychologist, is telling my son's teacher he doesn't need an evaluation. I could literally kick her skinny ass...I fought with my son, grounded him, took toys and other things away from him, and basically made both our lives hell because I thought he was just fucking off. If she had allowed the teacher to put this stuff in motion back in August or September, he could have had help this year...he could have had large assignments broken into smaller parts, he could have been having the therapy he needs to be a more "socially acceptable" child. Instead my son would come home crying because the other kids were "picking on" him and tell him that HE's mean. Kids with aspergers don't realize that they are different, they don't realize that their reactions to others hurt them, they aren't mean, they just don't understand. They don't pick up on all the rules of acceptable social behavior like others do while growing up, so they don't always get the give and take of conversation and play and stuff like that. So, for 9 months, my son suffered unnecessarily because the vice principal thought she would make the decision as to whether or not my son needed help. Gee, thanks. I have called the district offices, and since his teacher is no longer at this school district, I plan on filing a full complaint now that we don't have to worry about her being "punished" for not giving up on one of her students.

So, today he starts a district program called Social Skills Camp...three hours a day, four days a week, to help him learn to interact "properly" with other kids, so that as he grows up, he will be more adjusted and accepted by his peers, and perhaps won't suffer from depression, which I can already see signs of at times. It's damn sad that an 8 year old little boy is suffering from depression.

Anyways...my dear sweet boy ... he always brings a smile to my face...look below to see why....

Serious one minute, laughing and squealing the next...he's just Bubba

2008-07-12T13:34:00.001-06:00

Books and knitting

2008-07-11T18:07:00.003-06:00

So I got some books from the library...knitting books of course.I really love our local library because the books that they have aren't just the ones from the 70s and early 80s like the library where we used to live. No, these are good, modern books...books that have patterns that you wouldn't be embarrassed to wear...patterns that don't all make you say WTF?!?!?!?!? So I got Favorite Socks, More Sensational Socks, Knitting Vintage Socks, Knitting on the Road and Vogue's Stitchionary, Knit & Purl. Good patterns found in all, and I'm utilizing them as we speak...I have to have something to knit while we are on vacation in California...knitting for the road, since we're driving out there to see my folks. I'm really looking forward to the trip. I am already pulling my yarn for the trip as well. I don't know just how much knitting I'll get done while we're there, but I have at least 4 days of driving to knit thru. Now if I can just get a new camera for the trip, I'll be set!

My socks are coming along, but I'm not getting as much done as I'd like. I still have a ton of housework to get finished before we leave, so I should probably get off here and get to it, but I felt like updating my blog. There is a huge ass pile of laundry sitting on my bed waiting for me to fold it all and put it away, Mimi is sick and asleep already, and Bubba is feeling under the weather as well.

I did help a friend, who I have turned into a yarn junkie find what had to be the last lime green Malibu Namaste knitting bag on the net, and she should be getting it in a few days. Me, I want the Laguna in Olive or Charcoal...oh, to dream.

They're finished!

2008-07-10T17:32:00.005-06:00

The pink socks are finished...finished them on the 8th, and cast on another pair of socks. This time I am using Tofutsies, a blue, green, yellow combination seen below. I started with a pattern that I thought would look really good, something that looked a little like fish scales, but the passing the yarn over, over the two knit stitches just wasn't happening, so that pattern went into the recycle bin and quick...so I am using a the Vog on pattern from Knitty, Summer 2007, and it's working up nicely. Once again, working two at once, toe up and while I'm not getting them done as quickly as the others, they're moving along nicely and they'll get done probably before the next week is over...I just have to make myself a schedule and stick to it.

Here's a detail photo of the new socks...well, sock...I like it.

Well, I'm off to re-dye some yarn and get the some laundry and housework done...have a great one!

Two at Once Totally Rocks!

2008-07-04T06:14:00.004-06:00

Working two socks at once totally rocks! Would you like to know why? Because, starting two socks on the 28th, I finished those bad boys on the 2nd!!! LOOK!

And then I started these! These are my "Saving the ta-tas" socks....knit two at once with Lorna's Lace's Shepherd Sock in Flamingo stripe

This pair started off much the same as the mojo socks, however, I didn't turn the toe inside out on this pair like I did the mojo socks. I think I like the smooth toe....I got rubber bands today at wal-mart to help me with my heels...though I did find a short-row heel tutorial that requires no wraps....YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am almost ready to start the heel...This pattern for this sock is really not much...a couple of rows of straight knitting, a k2/p2 row, two more rows of plain knitting, and a p2/k2 row...it gives the material a very nice texture without over-powering the striping, and since there's no real "pattern" it can't get lost in the striping. I am already thinking ahead to my next pair of socks...I am hoping to have this pair off the needles before the weekend is over.

Two at a time!

2008-06-28T06:16:00.005-06:00

So having knit more than a couple of pairs of socks, I have begun getting a pattern to it...yet, it wasn't good enough. I decided yesterday, since the wraps are getting too big to take to the water park with me three days a week, to make another pair of socks...I am doing this while I am in the process of teaching a friend to knit. Well, I started with my newest toe up cast on, and had increased to 50 total stitches when I got a wild hair up my ass to try doing two at a time....so off came the solo. I wound the yarn from one ball into two balls, put them in ziplocs to keep the tangling to a minimum, and got to work. So far I have 56 total stitches for each sock, and it's nowhere near as hard as I thought it would be...in fact, since I use the magic loop method to knit my socks...and I snug up my first couple of stitches pretty tight, I don't even have any ladders...I am so damn proud of myself I can't see straight! The thing that I really love about this whole two at once thing is a finished pair of socks...no knit one, then the other...you can't really go around wearing one sock. If I were lucky or from another place, like Washington or Oregon, I could wear socks with my sandals and not be thought a total freak weirdo dork. But I am fully planning on wearing these or my "birk" style shoes all winter and showing off my knit socks. Here are the socks so far...
Not a whole lot to look at so far, but I'm getting there...I have 8 more increase rounds before I am ready to get into a pattern....which I think will probably be this pattern here... http://donyale.wordpress.com/2008/04/14/lost-your-mojo/

Sorry, I don't know how to do hyper links...but you can copy and past and go. I really love the different stitch patterns...kind of gives you a change of pace, as well as a unique pair of socks...without the color changes of these....

There are other socks like these with their patterns on the web, and I love them all because they are different and unusual...there is also a company now making CLEAR clogs for us sock knitters to show off our socks...how damn cool is that...you can find them at www.knittersdream.com and they are too cool for words...I am totally getting a pair in time for winter!

It's funny really...my MIL asked me why I would spend so much time knitting socks when I could buy them at the store....I tried explaining the difference but to a non-knitter it just doesn't make sense....which is ok...she admitted that she didn't get it, but that I was weird...and when I said thanks...well, we both got a laugh. It's not about the finished product so much for me...obviously since I have so few finished products lately, it's about the knitting...choosing yarn, then a pattern, casting on...but finished products are nice too...so I am off to work on my socks....have great weekend and if I don't get a chance to post while we are in Oklahoma next week...have a fantastic 4th!

Wow!

2008-06-23T05:45:00.004-06:00

Two posts in one week and I just seem to be on a roll! I am still working on the Before the Storm wrap, but I of course began another wrap while I was at it. Couldn't help myself. This wrap is being made using the same stitch pattern as the Before the Storm wrap, only this time, I am just using one yarn. Cascade's hand-paints. I bought this yarn last year after we got back from Aruba. It's the only thing I have ever seen really that comes close to showing the beauty of the water around those islands. This yarn in particular reminds me of the sunrises in Aruba..These pictures can show you better than I can describe...

Of course, I don't have any pics that really show off the ocean to it's bluest during the day, as most of my pics of the water that weren't taken at sunrise, were taken while we were on the beach and closer to the water. Aruba was just incredible, and I love the yarn, so I thought that I would take pictures of it and share it all with you...plus this project is like my scrapbook of our vacation there, though I hope that we can go back and do it again. It was absolutely incredible there.

Well, the kids and I are going to go to NRH2O later this morning. They are gonna play and I am gonna sit in the sun or the shade and knit...Yeah, me! I love that we can do stuff like this together and I am fully planning on taking my camera one day and snapping some pics. All in all, it's gonna be a great week, I think. I hope everyone else has an incredible week.

Before the Storm

2008-06-19T13:23:00.004-06:00

So I dug thru the stash...and it was digging let me tell you...and came up with 16-17 yarns that went fairly well together...greens and blues...more greens than blues, but you get the idea...using these yarns and some numbered slips of paper, I did the drawing and for each number used the corresponding yarn. Pull of a length, tie it to the last, make a ball....a big ball...two big balls, actually. Started off with some Vanna's Choice in olive and began working the stitch pattern, which I got from my ripple stitch book by Jan Eaton. The stitch pattern is called blue lagoon, but this project is Before the Storm. A lot of times, just before a really bad storm, the sky will turn an eerie shade of green...trust me, if you don't live in a tornadic state, green sky ain't good. But....I love the stitch pattern as it only requires my full undivided attention for one of four rows. I also love that it's not too wavy. But most of all, I love that the yarn changes every row or so, giving me the variety that my twisted little mind craves and needs.

When this one is done, I have a few magic balls in pinks, reds, and oranges that I am planning to use in the same way. Though the sections of yarn are longer on those balls, so the colors won't change every row or so.

A word to the wise...if you make a magic ball for crocheting....DON"T use fun fur or boa or some other novelty yarn like that...the reason being because it's real easy to lose your stitches in all that shit. I only recommend the fuzzy novelty yarns if you're knitting...unless of course, you're a sucker for punishment...then by all means, knock yourself out...but I for one don't have the patience to search for my stitches...that's just me.

That's pretty much it. I am really surprised at how quickly the project is moving...but the changing yarns helps a lot. I just started really working on it yesterday...it took me nearly all night Monday night to do the balls...and the bummer is I don't think I made enough, but I'm gonna wait and see...it's not hard, but it is tedious and time consuming. I guess that's pretty much it for me for now...more to post soon I hope.

Random Magic!?!?!?

2008-05-28T19:05:00.004-06:00

I know, it sounds weird, but that's what it is. I actually did this a few years ago, but decided to try it again, only this time without the second solid strand.This time I am using various shades of pink, red, orange, yellow, rust and white to create magic balls for a wrap that will keep me warm on those chilly mornings and evenings at home and at my MIL's house. The great thing about this method is it uses up your scraps and single skeins, as well as eliminating color changes. The bad thing about this method is that if you hate having ends hanging out, you're gonna be weaving a lot in, though that can go faster with a smaller gauge crochet hook. That being said, here's my take on the Magic ball and the fun it can be.

I made this scarf a few years ago, when we still lived in Oklahoma. I had, at the time, a freaking SHITLOAD of novelty yarns...I mean, we're talking 3 big garbage bags full when I loaded it up to take to charity, and that was after I made TWO of these scarves. I used the various yarns...and some numbered scraps of paper. For me, I had so many that I literally made a list of the yarns and colors and placed a number beside it on a piece of notebook paper, then drew numbered slips out of a butter bowl, looking up the yarn on my paper, then pulling off a length of that yarn and tying it to the last, winding these into a ball as I went. I think the actual drawing, pulling and knotting took longer than the knitting, because once I had the balls made, I coupled them with a black boucle and just knit in garter stitch till it was the length I wanted and finished off. For a more bohemian look, I pulled all the ends to one side, and left them hanging. I also added some fringe to the ends of the scarf pictured here, but not too much. I really loved how this turned out and while I am using an actual stitch pattern this time, it's just a simple ripple pattern that will allow for movement in the yarn, while not being too busy or difficult to look at (I HOPE!)

I will be posting pictures of my progress as I make it...I have just barely gotten the first repeat of my pattern done, a simple 4 row repeat variation of Old Shale. Very easy and quick moving on larger needles. I am really looking forward to this project and am planning on one done in greens and blues later.

UNDEFEATED!!!!!

2008-05-12T19:02:00.006-06:00

Mimi and Bubba's ball team went 8-0 for a perfect regular season. They play their end of season tournament this coming weekend. If they make it to the final game, they will play at the Dr. Pepper Ballpark in Arlington. Very cool! They have had an incredible season. Mimi and Bubba have both been really hitting well, and all the kids on the team have done a wonderful job. The above pics were taken by their coach...he rocks! I love these pictures!

I have been knitting, but not a whole lot, just piddling here and there. No real progress on any of my multiple projects that I have on multiple needles...go figure. I can't knit during the ballgames because I'm the scorekeeper, so I knit during practice. I have been trying to get a blanket started, but it's not really going anywhere. I am thinking that I will have to work it in strips, because I don't think I could stand working on a full blanket in the heat of the summer.

Mimi has to keep a plant journal. She planted 5 beans and has to keep track of all the care that she gives them and how she takes care of them, etc. So we planted the beans tonight and started her journal. I helped her start off her journal, and from here on out, she will do all the work and writing in the journal. No more help from me. She has to take the plant back to school on May 29 and the child with the tallest plant is the winner.

Anyways, I suppose that's pretty much it for now. I really don't have a whole lot to talk about that wouldn't just bore the living shit out of everyone,but I do have a picture to share with y'all.

This is Mimi and Jack after his latest hair cut. He is wicked stylin' in with his mohawk.

What a day!!!!!

2008-04-05T16:55:00.002-06:00

Well, the babies played their first game today after being rained out twice. Their team won, 20-5 after 4 innings. Good ball was played by most. My two hit well, ran good and played some great defense, so I was thrilled. We have a makeup game tomorrow at 1. Hopefully we can get thru the rest of the season with no more rain outs.

On the swimming front, Bubba was moved over to his sister's group, as his instructor in his original group has two girls who still need near constant supervision, so he wasn't getting that much instruction. He's improving rapidly, though he is so skinny he has to really work to stay afloat. There really isn't any fat on my boy. Mimi is doing really well, and is stopping to rest less and less. I think swimming has really helped them both in the pool, and on the ball field.

As for me, I'm driving and going three nights a week, knitting when I can, and just enjoying the warmer weather. Of course, I say that, but the fact of the matter is, yesterday was kind of chilly, and today was cool, but nice. I wore sandals on Thursday, then a sweatshirt and turtleneck on Friday. Go figure. I am really loving this ball season so far.

Knitting is knitting. There isn't really a whole lot getting accomplished. I mean, I'm knitting like crazy, but then I'll decide that I don't like it and rip it out. I have frogged almost as much as I've knit. Maybe more...lol. i really think I have knitting ADD. I just can't seem to stick with any one thing here lately, but I love to knit, so I'll keep knitting and frogging till something sticks. I'm not in the mood to knit socks. I haven't really figured out how to knit two at once, and I don't really feel like figuring it out, and I know that if I start a pair, the first will sit around by itself forever. I have a sock in lorna's worsted that is still single. Too bad, so sad.

There's really not a lot going on right now that doesn't involve the kids to be honest. I took a break from cleaning and rearranging Mimi's closet to piddle on the puter for a little while, then I'll get back in there and finish up. Mimi's dog pooped in the chair last night, and she didn't realize it and ended up sitting in it, so the blanket and her pants are in the wash. Their uniforms are in the dryer, and there's a mountain of laundry to do in her and her brother's baskets. I'm going to try to get it all caught up this weekend and then I'll be able to stay on top of it. Boy's closet may get attacked tomorrow. Then again, it may wait till next week. I don't know yet. I know that I'm tired and I really just wanna sit on my big ass and knit something else to frog.

Well, I suppose that's about it for around here. Maybe this week will be more interesting...lol.

Holy Shit!

2008-03-26T12:43:00.003-06:00

That's what my sweet angel faced son said at the park Monday evening when he tripped over his own two feet. I am the guilty party who says that certain phrase quite a lot, so I am totally accepting my responsibility for that one...however, not for the one following.

My dear son...just look at this face...
He spent spring break in Oklahoma with my MIL and SIL...and at one point, he said, "Uh-oh, stink-ass comin'!!!" My SIL sent him to the bathroom, then asked him about what he said. He claims that I told him that he is supposed to warn people when he's about to fart....EEEEEEEEEEEEEK!!! That so wasn't what I said. I told him that if he tooted and it was a silent one, he still needed to say "excuse me" so that people would know he'd tooted...and not so much so that they would know that he tooted, but because it is just the polite thing to do. So, out of the mouths of babes will soon come bubbles if he's not careful.

So, with that story told, I have been bouncing around with my various knitting projects. I've made a few headbands, but when I went to get my bangs trimmed up, the lady took too much off the back, top and sides, so I'm gonna have to hold off wearing them for a few weeks...dammit!

I am so totally thrilled! I am actually wearing flip flops today! FLIP FLOPS!!!!! I love wearing flip flops. But, unfortunately, I really need to give myself a pedicure, so I'm off for now to scrub at my icky heels. If I ever make some notable progress on my knitting, I'll be sure to post a picture of it, but don't hold your breath! Between baseball and swimming, I'm driving more than I'm knitting....go figure!

Oooooooooooooh! I have a pirate name!

2008-03-11T07:12:00.003-06:00

My pirate name is:

Mad Jenny Vane

Every pirate is a little bit crazy. You, though, are more than just a little bit. You tend to blend into the background occaisionally, but that's okay, because it's much easier to sneak up on people and disembowel them that way. Arr!

Get your own pirate name from piratequiz.com.
part of the fidius.org network

This is so cool...just answer the questions and it'll give you your very own pirate name as well.

On the knitting front...I am working on the clementine, the Montego Bay scarf, my Not Quite Montego Bay Scarf, the Hemlock Ring blanket, and thanks to all the freaky ass weather we're having I am seriously considering some damn mittens!

On the kid front...the babies and I are gonna go see the OU boys play some baseball over in Frisco tonight, then tomorrow afternoon, we're going with PW to see them play again. Mimi is really excited about seeing the boys and the coaches again since she had so much fun at the winter skills camp this past December. Though you can't really blame her...she was the only girl and the boys were seriously doting on her all three days.

Well, I'm off to get some cleaning done before PW gets up and around...hagd, argh!