zigzag-stitch patterns

Two by One

2008-04-02T22:09:00.001-04:00

Two by One
a corrugated ribbed hat

experimentation

2006-01-28T20:41:00.000-05:00

I'm so annoyed that I can't get my links to link that I'm trying something new here. I haven't really done anything except put up the buttons I wanted to put up. I guess if you really want a kick ass blog, then you probably have to pay for it.

I should have a final decision on what I'm going to do soon.

coming to terms

2006-01-26T15:12:00.000-05:00

Since I've become a bit obsessed with the Yarn Harlot and the Knitting Olympics, I decided to pull her book off my shelf and read it again. I came to realize something very important about knitting in general.

Let me explain.

Here is one of the quotes from the book, and the insight the Harlot provides (I hope she doesn't mind, you can buy her book here, and I highly suggest you do. It's brought me joy and a great many laughs):

There is no right way to knit; there is no wrong way to knit. So if anybody kindly tells you that what you are doing is "wrong," don't take umbrage; they mean well. Smile submissively, and listen, keeping your disagreement on an entirely mental level.

- Elizabeth Zimmerman

If you knit long enough, you will discover that no matter what your style or expertise is, there is another "expert" who is convinced you are doing it wrong. She will believe this despite the fact that you are both producing beautiful knitting.

I will remember that individuality is a good thing, in life and knitting.

I thought of my mom when reading that page from the book. In fact, I've been thinking about my mom and her knitting ever since she learned how to knit. Honestly, the way she knits annoys the crap out of me. She holds her needles funny. She buys obscenely priced yarn because she is retired and she can afford it. She pays no mind to the fiber content - acrylic, wool...it's all the same to her. She'll never have a stash because she has a project (namely - a garter stitch scarf) in mind for every ball or skein she buys. She never ever has more than one project going at once. She knits slowly and can't really talk and knit at the same time.

Here's the kicker. She knits because she likes to knit! How can I judge her? She's doing it for the same reason I do it! Even so, we're completely different. I can't help but buy wool or other natural fibers because they're just so yummy. I hold my needles properly. I have a large and growing stash because I can't help myself. I buy yarn without an intended project in mind. I hate making scarves. I have unfinished projects all over the damn place.

I will remember that individuality is a good thing, in life and knitting. I will never again give my mom knitting advice or try to tell her to do something differently. I will embrace that we have a common hobby that we can chat about. I will hope the next time we go to the Wooly Lamb together, she'll buy me some yarn.

WHY AREN'T YOU WATCHING????

2006-01-26T10:56:00.000-05:00

Oh, my. Veronica Mars everybody. I woke up this morning and stayed in my bed for about 20 minutes replaying the events of last night's episode over and over in my head. I must be some kind of a freak to like a show this much. I will offer my sincere thanks again to my friend Dashiell for telling me that he thought I might like it. I was all like, "But I don't watch the UPN." And he was all like, "I think you'd like it." So I was all like, "I'll give it a try." And now I'm all like...you get the point. I could go on, but I'll spare you.

In other exciting news:

I'm 35 weeks along in the pregnancy, which means I go to see the midwives every week now. I'm getting very excited and a little nervous. I want to pack my suitcase for the birth center, but it's a little early still. I'm making lists of things instead, which suits me fine.*
I have a new bedroom and it's big. I don't have to shimmy around my king size bed anymore, and that makes me very happy every time I get up in the middle of the night to help Jerry go peepee. We've rearranged the house so the old TV room is now the bedroom and the old bedroom is now the baby's room. Actually it's not the baby's room yet, it's a room that has piles and piles of junk in it that I have to clean up before my Dad comes to make it into a proper baby's room with paint and shelves and a crib.
Speaking of shelves, I bought an unfinished wood one at the craft store and stained it once. I have to stain it again and then I'll use it for keeping my lovely cloth diapers on. Cloth diapers get pee and poop on them, but they're still lovely. You wouldn't understand unless you love fabric and fiber as much as I do.
M-in-law and I built a sewing table last Sunday using a solid core door and some table legs. I still have to paint it, but then I can set up my new sewing nook. I also have to build shelves to install above it. I think the nesting is coming on full force.
I wrote a birth plan yesterday to take to the midwives. Actually, I used some online tools and just copied and pasted. It's pretty standard for a birth center delivery, but they make you do it anyway. If I have to go to the hospital for any reason, the plan will be much more important. It includes things like: allow me to move around at will during labor and change my labor position as I desire, don't give my baby a bottle or a pacifier, let me hold the baby immediately after birth, don't take that baby away from me you crazy doctor, and other such commands.
Knitting Podcasts are the bomb. I've really only listened to the one, but it totally rocks. I was explaining to Gerald how I sat in my chair, knitted my giant sock, listened to the archived podcast, tried to keep Jerry relatively quiet and occupied, and became overwhelmingly happy. He kept trying to talk about football, but now I understand a little better how he feels about sports radio.
The DVR is just a glorified VCR - minus the tape, of course, but it's still pretty neat. I bet you can get a real Tivo that has many more exciting and convenient features, but for now I'm content. The trouble is that I think you have to make sure that the correct channel is tuned before you can expect it to record the program. If I hadn't checked it last night when Veronica began, I might have ended up with an hour of Bones and puffy eyes this morning with all they crying over that potentially devastating mistake. Now I know. I bet I can tell it to go to the channel by itself at a certain time. I'll have to investigate.

*That is a lie. I'm not actually making lists yet, I am just thinking about it. For the record, I'm on James Frey's side about the whole memoir crap. Do you think I always tell you the truth, blog readers? Of course not, I wouldn't be half as hilarious if I did. Now that's funny.

training continues

2006-01-25T17:26:00.000-05:00

Yes, I started a sock. But not the Olympic socks. It actually is the right size for The Giant of Knockmany Hill, but it's just training so who cares? I know now that I can turn a heel and form a heel gusset and other such things pertaining to socks. The pattern I used is from these folks here. It's quite straightforward. The largeness is my fault because I didn't check guage but I hate the colorway of the yarn anyway so I'll probably just rip it out when I'm done training.

I am greatly encouraged about my Olympic endeavor now. I cast this on last night [while watching American Idol in Greensboro!!] and look how far I got! I know, I know, it's only stockinette. But like I said before, the jaywalker sock pattern is very straightforward and I think I'll be able to make a pair in 16 days.

Here's the thing. There are all these knitters participating in the Olympics and there are buttons to put on your blogs to say which team you're playing for. HOW DO I PUT BUTTONS ON MY BLOG? PLEASE SOMEONE TELL ME! HELP ME! I want to play with the big kids! I'm a member of the USA Sock Knitters Team, but no one knows! HELP.

A tale of two yarn stores

2006-01-24T09:05:00.000-05:00

I've officially fired my coach. My coach for the 2006 Knitting Olympics, that is.

Yesterday I was delighted to find Gerald home from work early, and I quickly proclaimed: "I'm off to the yarn store!" With no objections from the boys, I headed into town to LYS (local yarn store) #2 - so named because it's the second yarn store that I discovered. My mission: acquire the equipment needed for the Olympics. Namely, sock yarn and US #1 dpns, preferably bamboo.

(N.B. - The swatch pinned to the armchair is not the beginning of the sock, it's me checking my guage. I'm not cheating, folks, I'm in training. My guage was spot on and the swatch has already been frogged.)

I was successful in the gathering of equipment, and seeing as the yarn lady was feeling chatty (and frankly - so was I) I decided to let her in on the story of my Olympic effort. I showed her the pattern, told her about the timeline, described that this will be my first attempt at socks, and listened as she deemed my goal unreachable.

"You have to be careful of online patterns."
"This seems like a hard pattern."
"You'd better get started right away."
"It wouldn't be cheating if you didn't tell anyone you started early."

First off, yes you have to be careful of patterns that you find online. But this particular pattern is very well regarded by the online knitting community and I know that because I spend lots of time online reading knitter's blogs. Second, it is actually not a hard pattern. It's not lace. It's a simple pattern involving increases (kfb) and decreases (sskp) that I have used before on other projects. The challenging part for me will be because it is a pair of socks and I've never done the whole turning the heel bit and all those other sock tricks. Third, suggesting that I cheat is just beyond me. I am a woman of integrity. The mere notion that I lie to the whole world just because YOU think I can't do it. Well, poo on you.

There are some important things that you don't know about me, knitting lady. Perhaps most telling, I was an athlete for many many years of my life. The competitive spirit that made me successful during those years hasn't softened. When I heard about the Olympics there was a spark in me that reminded me of my former self. I feel challenged and it feels good.

Also, knitting lady, do I seem stupid? Don't you think I've read through the pattern a hundred times making sure that I'm prepared for my sixteen days of intense sock knitting? Do you think I can't handle it? Do you think I should take advice from you just because you work in a yarn store? And suggesting I cheat! Blasphemy! I am intelligent and I've got that going for me.

I stood my ground while finishing my purchase. I told her I would not start early. I told her that even if I don't finish, I will have tried my hardest. I DID NOT tell her thanks for her encouragement. Poo on you, twice, lady. YOU'RE FIRED.

But why is this the tale of two yarn stores? Well, LYS #1 is much more homey and I think the knitters there are much more experienced. They just don't have the selection (yarn or needles) of LYS #2. The two stores are totally opposite, and I doubt they are friends. So I think I've made a horrible mistake by purchasing my yarn at LYS #2. I can't take a project using yarn bought at LYS #2 to LYS #1 to ask them for help. Or can I? Oh, who knows. And on top of it all, I'm 99% sure my Olympic efforts would have been understood and supported had I bought yarn at LYS #1.

I understand (maybe more today than I did yesterday, after the dumb lady's comments) that it will be a true challenge to finish this project in a mere 16 days. I won't be horribly upset if I don't finish. But I will try. I will knit my little heart out. I will prove all the disbelievers wrong. I will knit a pair of socks.

And I WILL NOT have a baby before February 26th.

my world just got bigger

2006-01-23T14:42:00.000-05:00

Yesterday my mother-in-law told me about the first summer she spent away from her home in Ireland. One day when she was sixteen her parents took her down to the tiny train station, put her on the train and sent her off to Dublin by herself. There she had to find a bus to get her to the airport to get on the plane that would take her to the South of France to live with her uncle for the summer. She recalls the night that her cousin invited her to go to a party on the beach with her and her friends. She wore a fancy cocktail dress and stockings and high heeled shoes because she didn't know any better and no one bothered to tell her. The other kids were all dressed in sneakers and jeans. My mother-in-law said it took her about one second to realize how big the world was and how much she didn't know about any of it having never been away from home. She said she still feels red in the face just thinking about that night.

My story isn't really that all-important, but I just listened to my first podcast. I feel much smaller now. There's so much out there! Two things. The podcast and the song. Just listen to the song. It's called the Boob Fairy for goodness sakes!

serendipity

2006-01-23T11:14:00.000-05:00

The serendipitous moment came this weekend as I was shuffling things around my house, including the television and all it's counterparts. While attempting to re-plug-in the sattelite receiver to the television in my new bedroom, it fell or something, the details are hazy. It stopped working. What to do? Watch television using an antenna or rabbit ears or some such contraption? Not in this house. After some online research and the suggestion from my husband to "see how much Tivo costs" we came to understand that a DirecTV receiver would cost about $65 while a DirecTV receiver with DVR would be free, less the $4.99 monthly subscription service. Eureka.

After a trip to Circuit City and a lengthy phone call with Jonathan from 1-800-DirecTV, I now feel a little more "with it" in terms of popular culture. I still don't have an iPod, but there is absolutely no justification in the whole world that I will ever ever need one, unfortunately.

Just for the record, I really didn't mean to break the receiver. But I sure am happy with the outcome of it all. If it weren't for the horrible time I just had at the library this morning, I would be downright giddy. Veronica is already scheduled to record on Wednesday evening, and I recorded Gray's Anatomy last night and went to bed early because I was tired. I can also stop worrying about the baby being born on a Wednesday night causing me to miss a new episode of Veronica.

Speaking of the new baby, both Gerald and his mom (noted in the past for their psychic abilities when it comes to predicting the sex of babies) have declared that they believe the new baby will be a boy. Perhaps my own declaration that this will be the second and final baby I bring into the world will turn out to be false, as I would really love to have a girl called Maggie with curly red hair and a fine temperment.

The Knitting Olympics: project details

2006-01-19T15:35:00.000-05:00

Here's a little more info about what I'm planning for the Olympics. I think I'll get some self-stiping yarn from KnitPicks in a shade I normally wouldn't choose: plum. Click here to see the other colors. Normally I would go for the forest shade, but hey, I'm challenging myself. And the whole time I was knitting Courtney's purple scarf I couldn't get enough of the color.

KnitPicks: Parade
75% Superwash Wool/25%Nylon

And the pattern is Jaywalker by Grumperina. Click here to go to the free pattern. Hopefully the zigzaging will look totally awesome with the self-striping yarn. The only place where I might run into troubs is that the KnitPicks yarn is a sport weight and the pattern calls for fingering. I'm allowed to do swatching before the big day arrives (training, duh) so I'll actually have to measure my guage and trust that everything will work out for once. Otherwise I might just end up with socks for The Giant of Knockmany Hill.

From MagKnits.com

birthing socks

2006-01-18T13:29:00.000-05:00

I'm going to the Olympics. The 2006 Knitting Olympics. The Yarn Harlot (from Canada) has come up with the totally awesome plan, and you can read all about it here.

Sounds fun, huh? So I'm challenging myself to knit socks. A whole pair. And without the help of wine or booze of any kind. Socks are somewhat a rite of passage in the knitting realm, are they not? So I'm taking the plunge feet first, proverbially speaking. Whatever that means...

Then when I go to the birth center to birth a baby (hopefully after the Olympics have concluded) I will wear my new socks that I will have just won a gold medal for. And then I will attempt to win another gold medal for birthing a baby without the assistance of modern medicine.

I'm feeling all patriotic and part of something big, and that's a good feeling. Or maybe it's the high that I'm experiencing knowing that I need to go buy some really great sock yarn from the yarn store. There's no telling.

mystery knitting

2006-01-16T18:13:00.000-05:00

I've been knitting this thing for months and that's why I'm showing it to you now. It's taken up lots of my knitting time, so I have just got to mention it. BUT WAIT! It's a secret knitting project! The intended recipient happens to be someone who reads this blog! THE SUSPENSE! It will take me a lot longer to finish since I'm only about half-way done but when that day comes and I get to give it away - oh what a happy girl I'll be.

Let the Trash-talking Begin

2006-01-16T08:04:00.000-05:00

Dear Tracy,

I hope you're ready for a big Carolina smack-down on Sunday. You're gonna get it. And can we all put our heads together and try to remember the last time that a team named after a bird actually won a Superbowl*? That's what I thought.

Love,
Mandy

*Edited: Okay, after doing some reasearch on my own, it appears that Baltimore beat the Giants in '01 in a stinker. Gerald must have blocked it out of his memory. But still, a team named after a bird? Come on.

twenty four

2006-01-16T07:09:00.000-05:00

Welcome to my television update. I have been watching less of the boob tube lately, but with the new crop of episodes all starting up, I can feel myself being sucked back in.

First off, 24, was really pretty awesome last night. I haven't been a diehard fan of this show at all, but after the football game I decided to sit and watch because of all the great things I heard about this big season opener. I can't say that I'll watch it religiously, but the two hours I watched last night were shocking and suspenseful and put me on the edge of my seat for tonight's episode.

Be that as it may, I love awards shows. I want to watch the Golden Globes tonight because this year I've actually seen some of the movies/television shows that have been nominated. I'm really a sucker for all that glitz and glamour of Hollywood. What will Reese Witherspoon be wearing? I don't know, but I can't wait to find out.

So Grey's Anatomy came back last night, and it was delicious. I'm absolutely hooked on that show because of the hot doctors, witty dialogue and soap-opera-ish tendancies.

I'm torn about Thursday night because The O.C., Earl, and Beauty and the Geek all come on at 9. What's a girl to do? O.C. = guilty pleasure. Earl = laugh out loud pee in my pants funny. Geek = makes me laugh, makes me cry. It's a toss up.

American Idol starts this week and I'll be addicted as much as I don't want to be.

And Veronica. Why do you make me wait like this? I almost can't take it anymore. Come back soon. And bring Wallace with you for crying out loud. And start solving the mystery.

Last but not least, a little excerpt from my latest issue of EW, in which Stephen King poses a series of unanswerable questions, the most intriguing of which follows:

If Veronica Mars is so cheap to produce (compared, say, to the per-episode budget of a show like Lost), how can it be so good? And how come budget seems to have so little to do with the relative merit of TV shows? For that matter, why is Veronica Mars so good? It bears little resemblance to life as I know it, but I can't take my eyes off the damn thing.

chapter 1: in which mandy goes on and on...

2006-01-15T06:46:00.000-05:00

Before you ask how my knitting lesson went, it didn't. Only one real person signed up, and the store owner was going to be out of town and the other instructor...blah blah blah. It didn't end up as magically as it began. I think that I can sense that the store owner isn't flaky, even though her name is Kim. But if I wanted to teach a class before new baby comes it would have been really beneficial to start the process. She is going to try to work something out for me, but I don't really see it working. Maybe over the summer.
I treated myself to a matinee of Brokeback Mountain yesterday. The theater was packed full. I'll admit for the first twenty minutes I couldn't stop thinking "gay cowboy," but as I've heard it described many times it really was a tender, epic love story and I liked it a lot. It made me cry. I was annoyed by the snickering women sitting behind me who seemed like they were there only to watch the two hottie cowboys make out. They snickered! A lot! It's definitely not a snickering type of movie.
I've liked Heath Ledger since 10 Things I Hate About You.
This whole pregnancy thing is really catching up with me. You know, I've felt really great during my whole pregnancy. Besides the first trimester, but even that wasn't that bad. Now, as I'm nearing my 34th week I'm starting to be all pregnant. I think I'm waddling more. I can't get to sleep. Then I toss and turn all night. Then in the morning when I wake up at 6am I can't get back to sleep. The heartburn is getting worse. I have to pee a lot all the time. I'm getting nervous feelings about labor & delivery. I'm having dreams about packing luggage and not being able to find things that I need. I don't feel ready. I'm finally gaining lots of weight, which is good for the baby, bad for the wedding I'm in in April. I'm tired tired tired.
So enough complaining. Yesterday Gerald did the jobs I was waiting for him to do so that we can start getting things rearranged in the house so we have a baby's room. He moved the satellite dish cable so we can move our TV. And he took out the huge ass wood burning stove that we never used so I can finally build my new sewing table. These are big steps in the direction of getting ready. I just wish the nesting would kick in and I would start feeling motivated. Mother-in-law is coming over today and if I am prepared with a job for her, then we'll totally get something done.
Sarah, why can't you see my blog? That is perplexing. I can't even attempt to figure out a reason because even if I knew a reason, what would I do with that information???

I've been reading knitting blogs.

2006-01-14T07:03:00.000-05:00

Here are some I check frequently:

Fig & Plum - scroll down to see the Norwegian Stockings. Someday I will make Norwegian Stockings.
Grumperina - a master knitter who has never knit a hat. Hats are all I'm good at! Go figure. And author of the Jaywalker sock that is all the rage. Free pattern.
Yarn Harlot - author of this book that I have that is real funny. She has two major strikes against her but I can ignore the strikes because the blog is pretty great. The strikes are 1) she's Canadian and 2) she talks about her cat.

Aside: Lots of knitters talk about their cats. It's usually pretty annoying. There's pictures of shawls and pictures of cats in every entry. If the yarn talk outweighs the cat talk, then I can deal. But if the cat is giving it's opinion on every knitted object, I move on.

see eunny knit! - This blogger has lost me with her in depth discussion of steeks. You can't even find a definition of steek in the dictionary! Nonetheless, if you look at some of her finished objects, they are nothing short of extraordinary.

update

2006-01-13T16:02:00.000-05:00

The volcano erupted.

This is obviously not a picture of the eruption, but it's pretty. Here's a report of current activity from the Alaska Volcano Observatory. That webcam from my previous post is obsolete because of the ash. Therefore, I've given you some more info in case you're interested like me.

Here's some more info that I got here:
"Augustine Volcano is a 1250-meter-high stratovolcano in southwestern Cook Inlet about 280 kilometers southwest of Anchorage and within about 300 kilometers of more than half of the population of Alaska. Explosive eruptions have occurred six times since the early 1800s (1812, 1883, 1935, 1964–65, 1976, and 1986). The 1976 and 1986 eruptions began with an initial series of vent-clearing explosions and high vertical plumes of volcanic ash followed by pyroclastic flows, surges, and lahars on the volcano flanks. Unlike some prehistoric eruptions, a summit edifice collapse and debris avalanche did not occur in 1812, 1935, 1964–65, 1976, or 1986. However, early in the 1883 eruption, a portion of the volcano summit broke loose forming a debris avalanche that flowed to the sea. The avalanche initiated a small tsunami reported on the Kenai Peninsula at English Bay, 90 kilometers east of the volcano. Plumes of volcanic ash are a major hazard to jet aircraft using Anchorage International and other local airports. Ashfall from future eruptions could disrupt oil and gas operations and shipping activities in Cook Inlet. Eruptions similar to the historical and prehistoric eruptions are likely in Augustine's future."

1896
1990

January 12, 2006

Augustine Island, AK

2006-01-13T15:01:00.000-05:00

I've nothing to say. The bloggness has left me as of late. But h-spo sent me a link of an active volcano in Alaska. It's friggin cool, but there ain't much daylight in the Far North these days, so be sure to look during AK daylight hours. I could probably tell you when daylight is up there, but you are smart, so figure it out yourself. It's about 3pm on the East Coast right now, and I can see it fine. Here's the link. Have fun.

And now for some photos I know you're dying to see:

A bunch of cut fabric and two wool soakers in progress. Gender neutral is making me gag.

The result my first time successfully using the serger and the snap press. Don't look too closely because it's pretty messy. As in - sewn poorly.

And since you've been so patient as I sit here and gab about a snap press without actually telling you what it is...Ta da!
It comes from China. It's expensive. It's all the rage among work at home cloth diapering moms. I am sharing it with my sis-in-law. I used it to put the snaps on the diaper above. It's frustrating because if you push too hard you break the snaps and if you don't push hard enough they don't set and you've ruined the snaps.

And I think it might put me into early labor. My arms are tired from just one diaper.

As if all the yarn wasn't enough!

2006-01-11T16:54:00.000-05:00

Today I decided to dive head first into The Great Cloth Diapering Adventure of 2006. Thanks to the generous donations from my sister-in-law (serger, snap press, and piles of fabric) I am well supplied for the adventure.

Cloth Diapering Fabric up the Wazoo

The thing about all this fabric is that I could probably benefit from an even larger stash. I don't have many "thirsty" fabrics to make the little dipes, but I'm making it work.

Workstation

I did all the cutting at the kitchen table today. Oh, the cutting mat was also a donation from the sis-in-law.

So I'm feeling pretty out of it. My poor little pregnant mind can't take much stuff clogging it up and what with the knitting, the sewing, and the complete disregard for household chores...I'm feeling foggy. Things are a mess and my ear is still plugged up from being sick and I don't feel balanced and I can't find any focus.

Nonetheless, I have formulated a preliminary plan for the diapering. This is what I plan on making (This list isn't for you, folks, it's for me. Get over it.).

3 dozen prefolds. I'll split this between newborn size and regular size. No more diaper pins in today's world - I'll buy some snappis.
8-10 PUL covers. I probably won't need this many but I have so many cute fabrics to use that I may as well.
10-ish fitted diapers. Thanks to the sis-in-law and her stretchy fabric donations. If I was only using the fitted diapers I'd need at least 3 dozen, but since they're mucho expensivo to make, I'll stick with prefolds and use these cute things for whenever I leave the house and need to show off a cute cloth-diapered bum.
2 wool covers. Just an interlock wool fabric that is felted and then made into a cover with snaps. Also expensivo but sis-in-law to the rescue again. Did you know wool is naturally antibacterial and water repellent? If they get peed on, you just let them air dry. If they get pooped on, now that's another story. Then they need laundering.
Wool soakers. These I'll knit with some string and some sticks. I have patterns but I haven't made one yet. I'll probably make 3 or 4. Just like the wool interlock, they are antibacterial, they go on over the fitted diaper or prefold, and they just need to air dry. If they're soiled, then I wash by hand.
Cloth wipes. I'll use scraps to make a bunch of wipes that I'll soak in a solution of water, baby wash, baby oil, lavender and tea tree oil. They clean messes better than sposie wipes and they smell really good.

I'm trying not to think about what I'm going to do once the baby grows out of this nice little stash I'm putting so much energy into. Some people buy used diapers. I could sell them and then use the cash to buy a) more supplies or b) bigger gently used diapers. Who knows. One thing at a time. If I can make it past April 22 with this stash I'll be happy.

Jerry just asked me to take a picture "in the back." He means take a picture of his ass because he's mooning me. Nice. Where does he get this stuff?

we're not poor, we just stick to the budget

2006-01-10T17:12:00.000-05:00

I have to tell you about Jerry's new shoes. I'd take a picture, but he's outside making sure they work.

We left his other shoes at my sister-in-law's house over Christmas and I was sick of putting on his non-sneakers, so I checked out the selection at Walmart today. Last time I perused the kids shoes at Walmart I was seriously dissappointed, but I decided to give it another go.

I have long had a theory about velcro closures on children's shoes. I didn't believe in it. I figured that if he is ever going to learn to tie his shoes then he might as well watch me do every time I put his shoes on. Gerald has long nudged me in the direction that velcro isn't evil. And someone recently commented: "They'll be able to tie them when they're ready, with a history of velcro or not." Given Jerry's knack for fine motor skills (and general mad skillz across the board) I came to realize that velcro isn't the end of the world.

At Walmart I found a really cute pair of sneaks, with velcro closures, for $9.96. We found the right size and made our purchase. Along the way we looked at some Spiderman themed shoes and also shoes that light up, but I do have limits.

When Gerald came home, Jerry showed dad his new shoes. "They have straps!" he explained with exuberance. And then he put the shoes on by himself. BY HIMSELF. I was so proud it almost brought me to tears. When Gerald asked if he had picked the shoes out himself, Jerry replied, "I liked the ones that lit up but mom said they were out of our budget."

So then came the testing. After he put them on he stood up and started walking around. He was so excited to learn that "they work for walking! They're good for running, too!" as he took off around the house at lightning speed. Then out the back door he went and we could hear him as we stood in the kitchen watching him tear through the yard, "They work! They work!"

they might be giants, but they're not the NY Giants

2006-01-10T16:11:00.000-05:00

I love peeling oranges. I just peeled my second one of the day. Jerry ate most of the first one, so I secretly escaped to my computer to eat the whole second one without sharing.
You have to teach your kids to share even when you don't want to. That's why I eat ice cream and oreos most often at night.
If you have a kid, or kids, you must immediately buy one of the cd's listed here. If you need convincing, just listen to the Alphabet of Nations track sampled here. It's great.

"Don't worry folks, it's only a football game."

2006-01-08T15:56:00.000-05:00

A stinker of a game. There's always next year. The shirts are still awesome, and I'll wear mine with pride even though Eli threw three interceptions.

BIG BLUE

2006-01-08T10:54:00.000-05:00

Since the Giants play in NYC (NJ actually but who's keeping track?), not NC, it's hard to find appropriate playoffs parafernalia (I've never spelled that word before) around here. Especially for kids. And you might get beaten up or something if you ask for Giants gear this week when they're playing the Panthers. So being the zigzag mommy that I am, I decided to make my own parafernalia.

Assembling the supplies:

Here I have a template for the logo, double-sided fusible webbing, blue t-shirts in appropriate sizes, and an old white maternity shirt that will be chopped up for the lettering/numbering. Not shown are the iron, the exacto knife and scissors, the ironing board, and my self-healing cutting mat. Also not shown is my dogged determination to finish this project before 1pm EST on Sunday.

Jerry got a hold of the camera:

Here you can see the chaos that is my sewing table (and my large ass). Since I've been knitting much more than sewing, things at the sewing table have been piling up. I can't wait to build my new sewing table, move it into my new bedroom, build an extraordinarily organized shelving unit and paint these goddamn walls a different color than their current shade of puke. All before new baby arrives.

Half-way there:

Amazing what sunshine can do for a photo. So I've fused the logo onto the front with my double-y fusible webbing crap. That stuff is amazing. And I did a little applique stitching around the "y." I really like how it looks without the stitching, but it would likely become very ragged after washing if I didn't do it. So I did the stitching.

The front:

Here's the front finished. A very proud Giants fan displays his new shirt. And notice in the background UNC (#25) is playing NC State (#12) and going on to beat them. Remember how nobody ranked UNC at the beginning of the season? TAKE THAT. Anyway, have I mentioned that I made three of these t-shirts! Yes, three! But wait, there's more...

...the back!

Jerry is #80, Jeremy Shockey - tight end (has a tattoo of a bald eagle/flag on his arm). I am #10, Eli Manning - the QB (he's like 21 years old!). Gerald is #92, Michael Strahan - defensive end (and nfl record holder for most sacks in a season). I haven't done the stitching on the other two shirts yet. It can wait.

In conclusion: GO GIANTS!

wish list

2006-01-07T17:50:00.000-05:00

mission: accomplished

2006-01-07T10:29:00.000-05:00

Big Cloche

Here it is before I felted it this morning.

Felted Cloche

And here it is now. I like how it turned out. The shape is just what I was going for. It's sad that I really don't have any occasion ever to wear it. I don't even have a nice coat that it would go with. So maybe I'll sell it. Not sure yet. The crown is quite tall, so it actually makes you seem a little taller. What I've learned (which isn't much) is that one purpose of the cloche was to make the wearer seem taller. So I've accomplished that. Also, if I make it again I will put the stripe lower even though it looks fine how it is. When it's dry I might try to find a nice piece of (velvet? grosgrain?) ribbon to wrap around the crown, below the stripe, to add a little tailoring to it.

Knitting Knook

2006-01-06T11:53:00.000-05:00

Lamp - Provides perfect lighting. Makes every other place in the house seem too dark for knitting.
On the coffee table -

Some Christmas decorations.
In the black box - This is a totally unneccessary thing I do with my yarn lables. I use a safety pin to hook the yarn lable to a sample of the yarn. Sometimes I attach an index card with notes about the yarn or the project I made with it. I think it's more of an excuse to play with and look at my yarn more, rather than an actual resource that I'll use in the future.
Current project - the heather green eyelet baby blanket.
A flashlight - for no apparent reason other than Jerry likes flashlights.
The pink thing - a silkie. A silkie is a colorful piece of silk that can act as anything from a picnic blanket to a tent. Useful in imaginary play for children. Not useful in knitting. In our house, the silkie is most often used as a superhero cape.
Other random things.

In the tote - Just yarn for this particular picture. I often use this tote for the library, but for some reason it has just recently turned into a place to store my new yarn as I inspect it, ponder it, feel it, etc.
The books on the floor - Library books. I always get knitting books at the library. I usually flip through them, copy a pattern if it seems like I might make it, or use them to learn a new technique. I borrow books multiple times from the library. I don't know why I do this, but why shouldn't I?
Next to the books - the cloche, before felting.
Behind the cloche - my needles. I have three cases for needles. One for circulars, one for 14"-ers, and one for DPNs and short straight needles. I love my needles and cherish them.
Not pictured (I don't know why) - my knitting tin. In my tin, which is about 3" x 5", are the necesseties for knitting. It is perhaps the best un-invention I ever came up with. If you knit, you know that you are always having to get up from knitting to search for your tape measure, a stitch marker, scissors, etc. Keeping these things in your needle case just doesn't work because it's too inconvenient to go digging in those pockets every time you need your row counter. My tin has revolutionized the knitting process for me. I have everything in there that may be needed at one point or another during knitting. The mini scissors are the most used, but I also have the darning/tapestry needles, stitch markers, coilless pins, split ring markers, the tape measure. There you have it. Go to Joann's and get yourself a little tin to keep your bits in. You will thank me for it.

the trouble

2006-01-06T08:45:00.000-05:00

Last night was a stinker because I felt like a terrible mother. I did not only feel like a terrible mother, I actually was a terrible mother - shouting and yelling at Jerry because he was shouting and yelling at me. Hello - cause and effect. If I didn't shout at him, perhaps he wouldn't shout at me. Anyway, long story somewhat short, he cried himself to sleep while I sat in front of his door so he was unable to come out. This means that we didn't have our nighttime ritual of reading books and laying down together, something I know he cherishes a great deal. And I cherish it, too, because I love him so much. So I cried and cried about it. But I stood my ground at least, despite countless pleas from him through loud sobs of: "I wish you would change your mind." And I'll try today and every day henceforth not to shout so much.

After he was finally asleep I knit for a while, crying a bit about what had just transpired, and trying to clear my head. I swatched some of that new yarn I bought because although I started making a pretty scarf with it I realized that scarves are boring and I don't feel like knitting one. So I swatched and tried to imagine what I could make with it. Then I remembered that I have the yarn and pattern for a baby blanket and since I'm 32 weeks along I'd better get crackin'. So I cast on 130 sts and started the blanket, loving the heathery green yarn (#668 on the color card) more and more with each stitch.

I finally calmed down a bit and my eyes were starting to cross and it was almost 11pm. Normally I would go to bed but I wanted to watch my new DVD so I popped it in and watched the first two episodes, totally amazed at how totally amazing this show is. I always think I don't want to watch shows that I've already seen, but boy oh boy it was good. Once you know the ending you can really focus more on the fun stuff, like how totally amazing the show is. For example in the first or second episode Veronica and Wallace are flying a model airplane and it's just the coolest looking scene. Like it should be a movie. But it's tv. UPN no less! And I had totally had forgotten how Wallace and Veronica became friends. And how much of an ass Logan was. And a bunch of other stuff.

Jerry is now awake, so I'm going to try and be his friend today.

Have a lovely day.

ballet slippers

2006-01-05T15:24:00.000-05:00

Aren't they wonderful? I love the rounded shape of the toe. And the mohair is just so fuzzy!They really do look like ballet slippers, and dare I say it, they make me look like a ballerina. Well, a pregnant ballerina. I guess that just makes me pathetic.

Nonetheless, I'm trying not to wear them until I get the slipper bottoms. In fact, maybe I'll try to find some online right this very minute.

i'll try to stay on task

2006-01-05T14:42:00.000-05:00

The house next door is finally on the market, after being vacant for about six months. If you want to live in NC and can afford a house that costs $52,500 and you have a small family and you want to be my neighbor, please contact me for more info. I wish we could buy it and then rent it out to a lovely family with a wife that knits, a husband that gardens and is a Giants fan, and a small child who likes to rough-house.
Gerald is at home. Doctor's orders. He has pneumonia. I made him go to the doctor and they gave him a shot in the ass. Thankfully, he's doing much better today. If you don't know Gerald, he is the type of person who NEVER misses a day of work. He also doesn't really like me asking how he is and if he needs anything. But after he realized that he had more than the flu, he was grateful that I ordered him to the doctor.
I'm reading this. So far it's delightful. I'll have to see the movie.
I am now the proud owner of Veronica Mars: Season One on DVD. I couldn't be happier. It was a gift from my very talented friend and famous graphic novel author. Thanks.
Auntie Linda has her felted hat and it fits and she loves it. I'm still working on the cloche. I'll try to remember to take pictures before I felt it. My pink slippers are done (i can't get any friggin pictures to work) and I was fortunate enough to happen upon a yarn sale at the craft store yesterday, so I have some fun scarves in progress.
I thought I had lots more to say but I'm so pissed that I can post my pictures that I'm done for now. Maybe later I'll try to edit this post and add a picture of my lovely slippers. Or maybe I'll just go punch myself in the face. Good day.

it's so cloche i can almost taste it

2006-01-03T16:00:00.000-05:00

Cloche Experiment

Here's the beginning of the cloche project. The purpley yarn is not so purpley in real life, just in the blog universe when it feels like flaunting it's stuff. I think I'll put a mild stripe somewhere near the crown as I'll probably need more than just one skein of the garnet.

The yarn-iest details:
Lamb's Pride Worsted from Brown Sheep Co (85% Wool/15% Mohair)

2 skeins (M-25) Garnet
1 skein (M-151) Chocolate Souffle

Christmas Presents for Me

Body Pillow

A body pillow for pregnant me that fits perfectly into my design scheme for my bedroom, as you can see. Sarah, did you actually sew that yourself, you devil? Gettin' crafty with it. Thanks, I can't wait to go to bed tonight. The Loopy-S man (Jerry speak for UPS) brought it up the stairs of the front porch and I was just so excited and surprised! Thank you!

Washing Machine

Who knew that I would ever get so excited about a new washing machine. Isn't it beautiful? The man at Sears promised that it has the best agitator in the business and who am I to argue? I really prefer to launder in the morning, but tonight I'll make an exception. I've got to go and gather all the dirty socks that Jerry and Gerald perpetually leave around the house. Yippee! I've never been so excited for this task before!

the gig

2006-01-03T12:38:00.000-05:00

So I traveled to the yarn store today and spoke with the owner about becoming a teacher of knitting. I think it's going to work out. The first thing I have to do is sit in on a "learn-to-knit" class (series of three classes) to get a feel for the format and how it all works. I'm signed up for the next Saturday series of classes, which begin mid-January. I'll get paid.

Before then I should probably teach myself how to cast on using two needles, since she said that's the method they teach. I should also teach myself how to knit in the continental style, since she said they will teach whichever method the new knitter seems most comfortable with. I'm pretty excited, but with a new baby coming and all I'm not sure if I can be considered a permanent fixture.

Just imagine what this new mini-job will do for my yarn stash! Oooohhh. I get all tingly just thinking about it.

So I'm going to work on making a cloche. Have I told you all that I dream of being a milliner? Anyway, it will be hard because I'm going to try and make up my own pattern and then I'll have to felt it so if I mess up it will be irreversible. I have the yarn. And now I have a headform. Pictures of experiment to follow.

can i please have the language of origin?

2006-01-02T21:03:00.000-05:00

Jerry was sick the whole time my parents were visiting. They came last Tuesday and left this morning. Gerald and I both got sick around Sunday. So it would have been really great if Jerry had been well and Gerald and I had been sick while my parents were here. Anyway, my point is today was totally crappy. You know when you're sick and nothing feels normal? Like Gerald said, he was in soup. It was so yucky. I mean, I know there are certain medicines I can take, but I err on the side of caution and I haven't taken anything but Green Tea with lemon (and sometimes honey). Nonetheless, we made it through the day with plenty of candy and children's television programs for Jerry while we napped and generally felt like crap. We also had much shorter tempers for anything out of line from Jerry.

The upside of all of this nonsense is that there was a marathon of the Scripps National Spelling Bee contest on one ESPN channel or another. So I watched it all day, in between channel surfing by Gerald of various bowl games, but mostly Notre Dame v. Ohio State. There was this whole backstory that the announcers didn't stop talking about the whole game: the ND QB has a sister who is dating alinebacker from Ohio. The linebacker sacked the QB like, four times. There you have it. Now you're caught up.

Other mentionables:

Mother-in-law went on a date today. The first since the mid 60's as far as we know. Thing is, she says plenty of men ask her out but they are usually so old that they can't hardly remember their own names. This man is eight years younger than her and tall and handsome and a doctor who lives in California. We don't know much anything else. I can't wait to hear how it went.
When my Grandma called on New Year's Day she talked to my Dad. She must have asked what we had been up to and my mom and I sat and listened as my Dad explained: "Well, Mary and Mandy have been knitting. Then they take a break to make tea. When they run out of yarn they go to the yarn store to buy more. Then they come home to knit and drink more tea." It was funny because he was totally right. That's all my mom and I did all week. Drink tea, knit, and go to the yarn store.
We actually went to the yarn store so much that I got a job offer from the proprietor. She said, "Do you have a job?" And I said, "No." And then she asked if I wanted to teach beginning knitting lessons once a week. I'm considering it. A 25-minute drive for $6 an hour? If they give me a discount on all their yummy yarn I'm so there. I mentioned that once I have the baby I'll be breastfeeding, so I'd bring the baby along and I didn't know if that would make her or other customers uncomfortable. Wouldn't it be a giant step for man-kind if they were okay with someone teaching knitting lessons while discreetly nursing a baby in a sling? I bet people wouldn't even know there was a baby in the room. I digress...
I'm sick of waiting for new episodes of my fave shows. Veronica! Please come back soon! I miss you!

some (un)important things I learned in twenty-naught-five

2006-01-01T11:21:00.000-05:00

Years go by very fast.
Using the term "graphic novel" is usually better than saying "comic book."
Watching football with my husband and son is enjoyable.
Knitting makes me happy. Yarn and fabric make me extremely happy.
I should have gone to school for design.
Boys will be boys.
Slipcovers are hard to make, and they should be left for the professionals.
There are always more bills in December. I should try to remember this lesson for next year.
Blogs are good because I can keep in touch with my peeps.
Being pregnant is pretty exciting, even if you weren't really excited about it to begin with.
Having a husband who supports even your craziest notions is perhaps the best blessing in the whole damn world.
If you are committed to a daily exercise regimen, you will feel better about your body and maybe even lose weight.
Costco doesn't develop photos well.
If a movie you want to see gets horrible reviews, you should go see it anyway. You might enjoy yourself.
Atomic clocks, created by some really smart people, keep more accurate time than the heavens.
Knitting cables is so effing easy.
When you prune a fig tree, new growth will appear the next year but no figs will grow on the new growth.
If you make your bed first thing in the morning, your day will be a little better than if you don't.
Knitting things on double-pointed needles impresses non-knitters a lot.
Getting older is not that bad. Unless you're like, 97 going on 98, and you couldn't remember how old you were. Then I think it would be kind of depressing.
Things always seem to come full-circle, and in a way, that is comforting.

Happy New Year!

2006-01-01T08:36:00.000-05:00

just pieces and bits

2005-12-29T07:29:00.000-05:00

I casually asked my mom if she knew what a blog was. She did. I more casually mentioned that I have one. She didn't seem the least bit interested in it.
The stockings were hung by the chimney with care, in hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there.
All last night I dreamt/thought about a scarf that doesn't exist. See, my mom bought me this rather expensive yarn to make a hat from a pattern that I got from my new knitting magazine. Well, I got the yarn home, made a couple of guage swatches for the record, executed a provisional cast-on for the very first time ever no joke, and then proceeded to fumble throught the first 13 rows of the pattern with no understanding of why I was doing what. Don't you like to know the why of a pattern? Well I do. So that's why there was dreams of a scarf. I must have decided in my dream to forget about the dumb (but oh, so pretty) hat and just make a scarf.
Maybe it was because my mom was sitting in my knitting chair so I couldn't properly concentrate and I was awfully uncomfortable sitting on the floor trying to knit a hat on size 4 needles.
I suspect that in the next bunch of weeks you may hear me says things like "and I was so freakin' uncomfortable I can't tell you" a lot.
I got a good picture of our tree on Christmas morning before anyone was awake.
My favorite Christmas present? Perhaps the tea kettle I picked out myself. I've been using it a bunch with the new teabags Gerald gave me. I also like the Bob Dylan CD that Holly sent. It's totally rockin. The nursing bras my mom gave me from Title 9 will probably get the most use. Gerald got me a subscription to a knitting magazine that comes four times a year, so every time that comes I will be surprised and delighted. There's probably more that I'm just forgetting.
Jerry's favorite Christmas present? It's hard to tell. He really likes the Nerf gun. And all the Playmobil things make him really excited and take up lots of creative playing time. He got new bug Wellies. And a huge box of Legos. And new dragon slippers. But he was just happy about everything.
I'm hungry for breakfast and I must go.

oh, the hat!

2005-12-27T11:57:00.000-05:00

I've knit and felted a hat for my Auntie Linda. I wish I had taken a picture of the pre-felted monstrosity, but alas there is no turning back the clock, especially with felting. I just plain forgot.

So I bought this styrofoam head from the craft store to help me along with this project. I figured it would save me from putting a soaking mass of wet/stinky wool on my head. I put it on my head anyway, to see if the head was working. Turns out my head is large. I measured. My head is about 23" around at the crown. The head form is 20.5" around.

Here's to hoping Auntie Linda is a little more average than I am. I'm assuming she is, since she's not as tall as me.

I plan on giving you all the details of our Christmas weekend festivities, just not yet. I know you're all dying to know more about that tea pot merrily sitting on my (husband's) stove in the background of the photo. You'll just have to wait until I'm ready.

Good day.

new book i might buy

2005-12-26T18:11:00.000-05:00

It's called the Happy Hooker. I'm feeling like I should pick up the crochet hook immediately.

i keep messing up this damn post this time it had better work

2005-12-23T10:40:00.000-05:00

I woke up this morning in a pissed off funk. Don't know why. Maybe because I stayed up later than usual last night. Maybe because today is cleaning day because mother-in-law is coming over tomorrow. Maybe because Jerry was running around like crazy and being loud and I'm not so much into crazy/loud when I first wake up. Maybe because I'm finally sick of listening to "Non-Stop Christmas Favorites."

Gerald said what he always says when I'm being pissy: "Just decide to be happy and be happy." Which always pisses me off even more, and I start slamming cupboards a little louder than normal, and I wipe the counters because I'm obsessive like that, and I keep my head down and stomp around, and then I realize that he's right.

So I recalled why I stayed up so late - the pink slippers.

And so I put Counting Crows on the compact disc player, then I sat down in my knitting chair with a cup of hot tea and performed a very satisfying three-needle bind off on my new slippers.

Goodbye Orange Crush, hello Raspberry Sherbert!

Yarn
-Cascade 220: 100% Peruvian Highland Wool (color #7802)
-Handpaint Originals from Brown Sheep Company: 70% Mohair, 30% Wool (color HP40 Strawberry Patch) [hols, i think you used this for that blue/green hat. it's very similario.]

I have sad feet.

2005-12-22T08:59:00.000-05:00

Everything comes together. Just as I am finally knitting the slippers for Gerald, the slippers he's been waiting for almost a year, my own slippers finally decide to bite the dust.

What does this mean? Do I sit around my house in my slippers too much? Am I being punished for loving them just a little more than I should? Should I be looking for some kind of a sign?

"Whatever the reason, his heart or his shoes, he stood there on Christmas Eve hating the Who's."

That's from the Grinch. I don't know why it comes to mind, other than I'm hoping the slippers stay together just long enough to warm my toes on Christmas morning. Otherwise, I'm going to be pissed. I'm going to feel Grinch-y.

Also, now Gerald is going to have toasty warm slippers, which he may or may not wear, while I have to wait until I knit and felt another pair for myself.

Oh, poo.

This is where we started this morning...

2005-12-21T09:16:00.000-05:00

...and an hour later we've got this!

2005-12-21T09:04:00.000-05:00

Yea! The gingerbread house is finished! I have no patience for doing it any better today. I decided before we even began that Jerry was going to be allowed to do it his way. This just means I have to put aside my perfectionist tendencies, and live with the fact that it wasn't going to be done exactly how I wanted to do it. But see? It looks pretty good anyway. And he thinks it's the "best gingerbread house ever," and who am I to disagree?

Also, I did all this with one batch of frosting, and I don't feel like making another batch. So that's really the main reason we're finished. If I feel like it later, perhaps I'll whip up another batch of frosting and do some landscaping. I doubt it, especially since there are massive amounts of cut-outs to bake and frost.

the goose is getting fat

2005-12-20T09:35:00.000-05:00

So here's phase I of the Family Gingerbread House Extravaganza. Everything is assembled and we'll wait until tonight or tomorrow to add the decorations. As you can see it looks awfully forlorn, but all that will change with a few pounds of candy. Just you wait.

isn't it funny?

2005-12-19T16:37:00.000-05:00

I just took about 1,000,000 pictures of my Christmas tree, downloaded them, and realized they all turned out like crap. All fuzzy and ugly. Except for this one.

as if you care

2005-12-19T07:11:00.000-05:00

I'm so excited for Christmas. Gerald and I went shopping yesterday and finished up the toy shopping for Jerry. It was really fun, despite all the millions of people trying to do the same thing we were doing. We also went out to eat by ourselves! A rare occurance for us and it was a really nice and enjoyable date.

So what does a three year old get for Christmas? Well, here's the list. We might not give him everything because we're conflicted about how much he should get. You know, Christmas is not about the presents. Anyway, the list:

A Transformer (Robots in Disguise). It's small but totally cool. This will fulfill the "robot" from his list.
A Nerf Gun. Fulfilling "gun" from his list. This was hard to find, and only when we were leaving the toy department did Gerald spot it by chance. They must not be a very popular toy, because we only had one choice. This will likely be the hit of Christmas morning.
A Hot Wheels race track. We went to a Christmas party at mother-in-laws place of business where Santa came and handed out presents to the kids. Jerry got a cool jungle floor puzzle. After the party Gerald said to Jerry, "Can you believe Santa knows how much you like puzzles?" And Jerry replied, "Yes, but I really wanted a race track." So said race track is simple, but at the end of the track the car crashes into a truck. If you know Jerry, this is right up his alley.
A Book with an Elephant. "Stand Back," said the Elephant, "I'm going to Sneeze!" I got this from Amazon, I've read it, and it's so freakin cute. It has great vocabulary which is important to me, and it's funny. "Book with elephant" was on his list. I hope he likes it.
Candy Land. Not on his list, but I think he's ready for organized game playing. And we have a tradition at our house of buying board games for Christmas (which coincidentally we never play), and Jerry's been begging to play them, which he can't because they're like Monopoly and Life. So now he'll have one of his own. Actually, so as to not overwhelm him with huge numbers of presents, I think Gerald will give the present to me, and it will be a family thing.
Stocking Stuffers. Just a bunch of little bitty things - chocolate race cars, a coloring book, stickers, a Hot Wheels ornament with a tiny car that has fire flames on it, a candy cane filled with M&M's. Nothing big, but fun stuff.
The Toy in Question. This is the big/small controversy of Christmas this year. We both agree that Jerry doesn't need piles of presents on Christmas morning, but we also want to make our bubba happy. Gerald's on the side of saving the toy for another time, I want to give it to him for Christmas. Anyway, it's this fire truck that makes a bunch of noise and has flashing lights. It comes from the Wilco-Hess gas station (much like Napa toys in the North). The company comes out with one each year and they are totally awesome. We've bought them the past two years, but had initially decided Jerry didn't need one this year. Until we saw it was a totally awesome fire truck. What we may do is give it to him on Christmas Eve, because Gerald's family has a tradition of opening one thing on Christmas Eve. But we're still not sure.

So that's the story. While we were shopping, Gerald and I also bought things for ourselves that we're going to give to eachother. This was a really great revelation about husband/wife gift giving. I picked out a tea kettle. Gerald chose some cute serving spoons for the kitchen (i can't find a pic) and The Farmers Almanac. I told him that I think this is a fun Christmas idea, but I'm not wrapping my own present.

movie night: back with a vengence

2005-12-17T09:16:00.000-05:00

Movie Night. I finally made it to the movies again, this time for The Family Stone. I'm so glad I went because I really really enjoyed it. Luke Wilson was great, as was SJP. In fact, all the roles were outstanding. I laughed a bunch and cried a bunch, too. And I was happy that Claire Danes was in it, because although I was aware of her role I must have forgotten for one reason or another that she was in it. She was delightful. It was a great little flick. I'm not sure if they are comparable movies, but it had the one thing that Elizabethtown didn't (that I expect from a rom-com): great and believable relationships between people.
New Policy. My no-movie-review-policy was in effect, as I didn't read any reviews before going to see it. I'll have to see if I can find one to read.
Go Mountaineers! Appalachian State University made North Carolina proud last night by winning the NCAA Division I-AA college football championship game.
Exterminators Unite. Today is the annual gathering of exterminators for the office Christmas party. Last year our babysitter (mother-in-law) was late and we had to sit at the far end of the table. This put us next to Andy, the very kind large-man-secretary, and his wife who informed all of us about the joys of keeping hedgehogs as pets. You think I'm kidding, but I am not. They seemed overjoyed that someone (me) was interested in their unusual hobby. I really was. But this year we'll hope to arrive earlier in order to jockey for better table placement. I think Kenny keeps chickens. We'll try to sit by Kenny. It's all so much easier to pretend you are having fun when you can drink beer.
Creepy Exterminator Stereotypes. Yes, the stereotypes you have of exterminators are correct. Most of them wear clothes that would have been stylish about twenty years ago. And their hairdos - oh the hairdos. It's like, come on guys, have you been in a box? So when people ask what my husband does, I don't mind saying he's an exterminator because he is good at his job and I'm proud of him for everything he does for our family. I do wish I could say, "But he's not a creepy exterminator."
Brownies and Cookies and Frosting, oh my. I think my melted butter & unsweetened chocolate mixutre is cool now, so I'm going to go make the brownies. Then bake the cookies. Then pass out from sugar overdosing or exhaustion, whichever comes first.

yesterday's ice

2005-12-16T12:12:00.000-05:00

The ice was never that bad here, although I think about 400,000 homes in North and South Carolina were still without power this morning. The roads were never icy, and we never lost power.

You can kinda see the ice on the trees in the picture, and you can really see The Beast, Gerald's Blazer from the late 70's. I think it gets between 7 and 11 miles to the gallon. On the highway. There are visions of fixing it up and taking the top off and driving to the beach like a bunch of crazy college kids, but that will never happen. Whatever does happen to The Beast, I've requested that the American Flag license plate gets transferred to my car.

I've also requested an airbrushed license plate like you get at the fair that says "Gerald & Mandy Forever" but somehow everyone thinks I'm joking. I'm not joking, I think it would be the funniest thing ever. You actually see them in the South!

Here's a good one. Part II

2005-12-15T08:32:00.000-05:00

The Royal Icing

I got this recipe, and the gingerbread recipe to a great extent, from the book Gingerbread Houses: A complete guide to baking building and decorating by Christa Currie. It helps if you have a big mixer, like a KitchenAid, but I'm sure a hand-mixer would work equally well if you have strong arms, a good helper, or if you don't. She calls it egg white icing, but I find it more delightful (and who doesn't like delightful at Christmastime?) to call it Royal Icing.

Empty 4 c. (a 1 lb. box) powdered sugar into a large mixing bowl.
Add 2 lg. egg whites, 1/2 t. cream of tartar, and 3 to 4 t. warm water.
Blend the ingredients on low speed, then beat on high for 8-10 minutes, or until the mixture holds a stiff peak.
You can add 1/4 t. of warm water at a time if the mixture has gotten too stiff. It should be stiff, but you should be able to easily push it through a decorating tip.
How many times should I say stiff?

Tips from the Queen:

Get your decorating tips and bags at a restaurant supply store. (That's too pretentious. If you're thrifty, get them at Walmart. Find it all in the craft department. They also carry the gel type of food coloring which works really well with this icing as it doesn't make it runny. It keeps it stiff, hehe.)
I usually keep all my icing white because it just looks so pretty. The candy makes it colorful.
You can keep the icing in the fridge, right in the decorating bag, and it will stay stiff. The tip might dry out, but water washes out the tips nicely.

So to put your house together:

Build the house on a piece of cardboard covered with foil. Please don't use that silly non-stick foil, as your houses will slip right off. Trust me on this one, I know.
Use the icing as glue.
Use cans, if necessary, to hold the walls up while the icing dries.
The icing will dry hard as a rock. It's like cement. In my experience, I haven't had any trouble building the house. I suppose if you build a gigantic house, you might need some flying buttresses or internal supports, but I've always built a relatively small house. It doesn't matter if the icing you use for construction looks messy because you can just cover it up with candy later. I usually use one of the star tips during construction so I can make all the seams pretty. Really, it's not an exact science. Use as much icing as you need to keep the walls up and the roof on. Just go for it. You can always make more icing.
Your hand on the bag will make the icing warm and a litte runny. Just pop it back in the fridge for a bit to stiffen it up.
After you've built the house, let the icing dry before adding decorations. The candy adds a lot of poundage, so you want to make sure your house is nice and sturdy before adding all that extra weight.
I hope I'm not forgetting anything.

The Sky is the Limit:

Really, anything edible works for decorating. As long as it won't spoil.
My rule of thumb is the more candy the better. I've found it more pleasing to the eye, and more fun for kids, albeit gaudy, if every single surface of the whole darned thing is covered with something.
But it's all up to you! Go crazy! Remain subdued! Have a theme! Knock yourself out!
Trouble is that it can be expensive to buy tons of various candies. Walk around the grocery store and use your imagination. Lots of different things work. I have been known to use any or all of the following: pretzels, M&M's, jelly candies, cereal (frosted shredded wheat for the roof), tootsie rolls, hard candy of various colors...lots more.

If you attempt this, you must send me pictures. And I release myself from any liability. Direct all complaints stemming from Gingerbread House disasters to the Gingerbread House Hotline: 1-800-It's-Not-Mandy's-Fault.

Here's a good one.

2005-12-15T07:50:00.000-05:00

I'm going to tell you how to make a gingerbread house. It's a family tradition for my mother-in-law. Well, she started it and she's trying to pass it along to me to make it a tradition. I'm hesitant to take over the whole thing, but I think we'll make one for ourselves, at least. I don't really know how to give you the pattern pieces for the house, but if you are resourceful (which I trust you are) you will find some on your own via the omnipresent google search engine.

The gingerbread recipe:

Mix together the following. It will look funny, but not to worry.

1 c. vegetable shortening
1 c. granulated sugar
1 c. dark molasses

Then sift together and mix in the following:

1 t. baking soda
1/2 t. salt
1 T. ground cinnamon (hint: For a more fragrant mix, use a mix of nutmeg, cloves, cinnamon and ginger. It doesn't really matter if it's more than a tablespoon. Actually, the more the better. But don't go overboard, of course.)
2 T. cornstarch (hint: This helps the gingerbread stay nice and firm, which is important since you are using it to build walls and such.)
4 1/2 to 5 c. all purpose flour

You can now mix it all up, kneading if necessary, until the dough is even in color and smooth, not crumbly or dry. Form into a log and divide into three pieces. Wrap two logs in plastic to keep in the fridge to keep them from drying out while you work with the other piece. It is adviseable to chill it a bit to make it easier to roll. The oven should be preheated to 375 degrees. I've just noticed that my hand-written recipe doesn't have a suggested baking time, but you, resourceful baker, can probably determine that on your own. I'd say about 10-15 minutes? You don't want it to be too cakey, and it shouldn't be burnt, so figure it out.

Other (necessary) tips from the Gingerbread Queen (me, if you please):

Roll it out on a flipped over cookie sheet.
You can use lots of flour when you're rolling because after it's baked you can just dust it off. Also, you'll probably cover most of the house with frosting and candy, so it doesn't matter if its flour-y.
After rolling, place your templates over the uncooked gingerbread and cut them out. Remove the excess dough before baking.
When you take it out of the oven, carefully place your templates over the pieces again and use a bread knife (serrated, you know) to trim the pieces to their exact dimensions. They probably grew a little in the oven so to get the best house construction, you'll want to trim away the excess.
Take the pieces off the cookie sheet and move them to cooling racks soon after taking them out of the oven. They're still a little pliable when they're very hot, and will be prone to breaking if you let them cool too much on the pan.
Let them cool in a dry space. Moisture is to a gingerbread house as termites are to a real house. Let them sit and dry out for as long as possible. Like, days. The longer the better. This will lessen the chance of catastrophic collapse.

So now you have gingerbread! It's crunchy and hard, but it actually tastes really yummy. What's the point of having a gingerbread house if you can't eat it after Christmas? Anyway, I have to locate my recipe for Royal Icing, so in the next installment we'll discuss constructing your house and going crazy with decorating! Waahoo!

one two three

2005-12-15T07:11:00.000-05:00

Happy Birthday, Hols. You are getting old.
We're having an ice event here. One-quarter of an inch is predicted, and it's already pretty icy out there. Three years ago we lost power for a week and had to spend time in a hotel with 1-yr-old Jerry due to an ice event. The worst part is that Gerald will probably have to work on Saturday which always sucks a big one, but is even worse because Saturday is his birthday.
My playdate turned out good but started out funny. When I arrived there was a babysitter there watching the children. Odd. Linda (the mommy) had tried calling to say she had somewhere to be, but I was already off to see the midwives. But she finally arrived, we had tea, and the boys played nicely. I think we'll set up another playdate next week sometime at my house. About Linda: she's going through a yucky divorce, had two really really cute (i mean abercrombie-cute) college age yard guys tending her yard while I was there, and is much older than she looks.
I didn't tell you all (y'all) before, but when I first met my new friend she started breastfeeding her 14 mo. old -- in public! I knew it was a match made in attachment parenting heaven. You just don't come across those folks by chance very often. If only she would have been wearing a sling...
Last night we watched the Grinch. It was pretty fun for Jerry. He was a little dissappointed because in the book the line is "he called his dog Max, he took some RED thread and he tied a big horn on the top of his head." The movie says BLACK thread for some reason. Actually lots of the words are different, I don't know why that's the one he noticed.
So we watched the Grinch, brushed teeth, read books, then I laid with Jerry in his bed - AND FELL ASLEEP UNTIL 11PM! I was pissed because I finally realized that Alias is now on Wednesday night and I was totally going to watch it (Vaughan is back, apparently) and I slept right through. It's a good thing I have an Alias connection. Its also a good thing that Veronica was a rerun because I would have been double pissed. Liked, pissed pissed.
I am gestating. I am 29 weeks along as of yesterday.
Yesterday we put up our tree. Jerry danced around it singing: "Our Christmas tree is love-ly, Our Christmas tree is love-ly." It was cute. Perhaps today we'll put the decorations on. He used to call them decelations.
One more thing about Jerry and then I'm done. The other day he was playing at the kitchen table and I swear he was saying: The Golden Crap! The Golden Crap! I have no idea where it came from. So yesterday when I had all the peanut butter balls sitting on the kitchen table I couldn't help thinking he had been foreshadowing their appearance in our lives. Peanut Butter Balls = Golden Crap! Eureka!
I should have ten things, right? Right! So good day to you! I love you all! Peace out.

Jumping on the Bandwagon

2005-12-14T07:33:00.000-05:00

The Best Christmas Cut-outs EVER! (Mom's of course.)
For Christmas or any other holidays that deserves a cookie. Like, all of them!

Cut-Outs
Ingredients:

1 c. butter
2 c. sugar
1 t. vanilla
1 and a half t. baking soda dissolved in 2 T. milk
3 eggs
1 and a half t. cream of tartar
about 5 c. flour

Put it all together:

Cream butter and sugar together.
Add vanilla, milk & soda, and eggs.
Sift dry ingredients with about 3 c. of the flour, and add to wet ingredients. Combine.
Add extra flour, just enough to be easily rolled.
Put in fridge to chill.

Let it roll:

Roll to your desired thickness, and cut out desired shapes. Keep the dough you're not working with in the fridge to keep chilly.

Bake it baby:

400 degree oven
about 6-8 minutes

Frosting
Ingredients:

1/4 lb. butter (room temp.)
1 egg
1/2 t. vanilla
1 lb. confectioner's sugar
milk

Mix it up:

Combine ingredients, except the milk.
Add the milk, little bits at a time (like a tablespoon or less at a time) until it's a good spreading consistency.

Enjoy, and save some to give away, if possible.

playdate

2005-12-14T07:19:00.000-05:00

So I called my new friend and invited myself over for a playdate. It's just like a first date. I'm nervous and excited. I'm wondering what I should wear. I guess when you don't have any friends like me, it turns you into a big huge dork wad.

I wish I was better at making friends. For my sake as well as Jerry's.

golden globe nominations (click here)

2005-12-13T10:29:00.000-05:00

Go Grey's Anatomy! Go Jason Lee! Go Joaquin! Go Reese! Go SJP! Go Dr. McDreamy! Go Sandra Oh!

bits of this and that

2005-12-13T08:32:00.000-05:00

I feel...well, I just feel wrong about it. We bought a christmas tree on Sunday. It's beautiful and perfect, but I felt sick to my stomach about it. Why? Well, we got it at one of those home improvement mega-stores, and it's like laughing in the face of the local family farm market. We were just trying to save a buck, but seeing as my dad makes a living by selling christmas trees at a local family farm market, I feel like a traitor. Next year I'll insist on doing the tree my way. Consolation: We bought it at Lowe's, and even though it's a big box that might put local hardware stores and farm markets out of business, it's a NC based company.
Speaking of doing things my way. I have very little say in the way of Christmas decorations at our household. If I decorated the outside of the house, there would be garland around the railings, candles in the windows, wreaths adorning each window, and maybe some white lights. As it is now there's icicles, colored lights around the windows, and the prospect of mechanical reindeer in the back yard. Our tree inside will have colored lights (I prefer white) and there will be lights hanging around inside the house on various doorways and windows. Every year I give a little stink about it all, but it's a battle I won't win and really isn't worth the fight. Besides, the boys love it so much it would be truly grinchy to deny them the pleasure.
New friend update. I met a fellow mother at storytime yesterday who was eager to make a new friend. Boy could I use a friend who has a rough-and-tumble three year old boy. So we've exchanged phone numbers. I'm just wondering if it's too soon to call.
Chicken story. My mother-in-law's mother always kept her own chickens. She lived on a farm in Ireland, so why not, right? So anyway, when she became ill, her family sold off the chickens because there was no one to tend to them. She never ate another egg in her life. I love that story.
Brain fart. I feel like I had all this crap to tell you about it, but now my head is empty. All I can think about is my plan today to do laundry and clean the bathroom (I probably won't do either, since I'm back on the knitting train after a short hiatus).
But I just thought of another m-i-l story. She (Noreen, the mother-in-law) bought a new car with four wheel drive for the one day of the year where there might be snow that makes it difficult for her to get out of her driveway to get to work. So we were talking about how four wheel drive works and I told her about that time my car was acting all funny and it turned out I had accidentally hit the low-4 button in my blazer. Anyway, I've been driving my car the past two days wondering what the hell is wrong with it, and why the wheels won't turn without trying to stop dead. I finally told my husband, and of course it's probably because Jerry hit the low-4 button and of course it didn't cross my mind. I hope that's the problem because there are no available car-repair funds at this time.
Your birthday. If you're birthday happens to be in two days, I'm sorry but I didn't send a card. I try to stay on top of these things, but isn't an e-card sufficient? Actually, after an extensive google search, I've discovered that your birthday falls on the same day as Bill of Rights Day, the day in 1791 when Virginia signed the Bill of Rights and it went into effect. Neat, but not as neat as when your birthday falls on Alaska Day.

we've got names, baby

2005-12-11T07:20:00.000-05:00

Gerald and I spent about an hour last night rifling through the baby name books I borrowed from the library. It was surprisingly fun, and we came up with some good ones. Seriously, none of the following are jokes.

William Edward, called Ned or Will, we're not sure.
Finn (also spelled Fionn). Gerald has always joked about this name, Finbar in particular, but when I really think of it, Finn is a pretty cool name. Then when you read about it the legend of Fionn Mac Cool is neat. We have this funny book about Fin M'Coul, The Giant of Knockmany Hill.
Woodrow something, called Woody. We really like Woody, but imagining the poor child on the first day of school is likely to make this one a non-choice. We don't want to ruin the kid's life here.

Gerald likes Rory, but I'm not really down with that. I like Zack, but it's not Gerald's cup of tea.

Here is more about Fionn Mac Cool from this website (not really sure how accurate it all is):

Means "fair-headed." Fionn Mac Cool (read the legend), a central character in Irish folklore and mythology lead the warrior band, the Fianna (read the legend). Fionn was not only incredibly strong but he was also extremely brave, handsome, generous and wise, a wisdom he aquired by touching the "Salmon of Knowledge" (read the legend) and then sucking his thumb.

read it, then watch it

2005-12-11T07:17:00.000-05:00

Here's a review of my second favorite show, and it pretty much sums up how corny it is, but why I can't get enough.

Here's a picture.

Enjoy.

A fake tree? Yup.

2005-12-10T18:51:00.000-05:00

The only reason I am allowing a fake Christmas tree in our house is because of the pure joy Jerry showed when we discovered it in the attic of the house we've lived in for two years. Friday evening, the boys ventured to Walmart and bought about $5 worth of lights and decorations. Since then Jerry has been saying, "My tree is going to be fan-tas-tic." It really is. And hearing him say "fantastic" is pretty darn cute, too. He gets to keep it in his room and everything. I'll tell ya, three-year-olds can be a trying time for parents, but it's amazing how much he takes in and how delighted he is by the simplest things.

Merry Christmas, Bubba. I love you.

Christmas Parade

2005-12-10T18:46:00.000-05:00

We shivered a bit in the shade, and whined when the candy throwers didn't get their treats past the first row of kids, but overall it was a great parade and the beginning of a fun (and free!) family tradition. Next year we'll arrive early with chairs and get a seat in the front row so we can catch all the candy.

terrible news

2005-12-08T14:40:00.000-05:00

The zoning officer from the city just returned my call. No, we are not allowed to keep farm animals, including poultry, on our property.

I suppose that this doesn't mean we won't. But if we got caught we'd probably have to pay some sort of hefty fine and be featured on the evening news with some absurd headline such as "Are your neighbors raising fighting cocks? Find out tonight at 11."

In other news:
Did you see Veronica Mars last night? Just when you thought Wallace was gone forever! And Logan shedding tears? Come on! But seriously, remind me why you're not watching? It's the best show ever.

It's pathetic, I know.

2005-12-07T16:23:00.000-05:00

I can't believe I was going to call the fire department over this. I was embarassed even to show my face when Gerald got home last night. I made such a big deal out of something that didn't even gush blood.

My hand.

2005-12-07T16:18:00.000-05:00

Here you can see the small red spot on my ring finger that got pinched. I'll try a close-up...

Jaws of Life, or why I am naked

2005-12-07T06:47:00.000-05:00

So y'all know about my little chicken plan. I was surprised to see so much interest (and so many comments), but really what happened to me yesterday was much more exciting...kind of.

It all started with the damn Blockbuster Online dvd's.

I head out the back door to put the dvd's in the mailbox to send off. I catch my finger on the screen door somehow. Not just any finger, but the finger with my wedding rings on it. I think my wedding ring has had a crack in it for a while. See, when I acquired it, it needed to be enlarged quite a bit and it was narrow in the back. So a while back it must have broken in the narrow part. It never really made any difference.

Until yesterday when I catch it on the screen door. It all happens so fast, but it seems that catching it on the screen pulls the ring apart just enough to grasp a little bit of my skin in between the little broken crack. I look at my pinched skin, wonder what to do, then take my dvd's to the mailbox. Then I sit on the back steps pondering what to do for about three minutes. I try pulling and tugging a little, but it doesn't budge.

It isn't hurting or bleeding, but it looks like the ring has gone clear through my skin. I keep thinking of stories of how people get impaled by large metal objects through their head but they can't feel a thing and they're not bleeding. Their chances of survival are very slim.

So I get a screwdriver, thinking I might pry it off, but I never try as it doesn't really seem to be the right plan of attack. I think about driving to a doctor. Or calling the fire department. Yes, the fire department seems to be the best option. But first I call Gerald. O Wise and All Knowing husband. I always consult my husband before making any big decisions.

"Just get a pair of pliers and pull it off," he says.

"But I only have one hand to work with. And the ring is platinum! I think I'll call the fire department," I say.

"Just go over to my mother's house. Or I can come home if you need me to."

Click.

Okay. I call my mother-in-law (O Wise and All Knowing mother-in-law) and she advises I come right over and she'll take a look. It should be noted that it is her 60th birthday and in my crisis I forget to mention a quick happy birthday on the phone, but I do remember before running out the door to grab her birthday present.

I arrive, she gets her present, and we proceed inside to perform the operation. She has spent the 30 minutes it takes for us to get to her house setting up every single pair of pliers and screwdrivers that she owns. If only she had set them on a white cloth it would really be like the emergency room. Nonetheless, she makes quick work of the surgery. The ring is removed from my finger. It doesn't bleed at all and really it is quite a minor injury. I think my chances of survival are quite good.

I tell her about how my plan was to call the fire department, we laugh about firemen and their jaws of life for a bit, and she says she would have just driven to a jeweler. (Really, how dramatic would my story have been if I had just driven to a jeweler? Much too logical of a thing to do in my opinion.)

So to make the most of her birthday morning, we take a quick trip to Walmart, have breakfast at Bojangles (think buscuits, fried chicken as fast food, and lots of old men sitting around having free coffee) and laugh the whole ring fiasco off.

But why am I naked? Well luckily I'm not really naked, but my ring finger is until I get the ring repaired. I spent the whole day yesterday amazed at how many times I inadvertantly take my thumb and twirl my ring around. I only notice now because the ring isn't there. I had a little heart attack every time I went to twirl and the ring was missing, but I'm getting used to it now.

The ring is in my purse which prompted Gerald, in his dry sense of humor to ask, "So does this mean we're not married anymore?"

"No honey, we're not married until you get me a new ring," I reply.

He quickly responds, "I think they sell them at Sears."

Oh, boy.

we're hatching a new plan

2005-12-06T07:58:00.000-05:00

Pun intended. See, my husband has got this idea that he wants to raise laying chickens in our backyard. Truth be told, the idea is kind of appealing to me as well. So, being the dork that I am I picked up a book at the library yesterday: Living with Chickens: Everything you need to know to raise your own backyard flock. It's a great book with lots of pretty pictures of chickens running around and such. It also contains lots of valuable information. For example, now I know that a pullet is a young female chicken that is not yet a year old. And I know the difference between laying hens and meat birds.

Fresh eggs, now wouldn't that be wonderful? It also seems to me that chicken husbandry would give me a good project to focus on. Not like I sit around on the couch all day eating bonbons, but it wouldn't hurt to have a purpose to each day. And what better way to teach responsibility and accountability to Jerry and the new baby?

Most importantly really, once you have a flock of chickens it wouldn't seem such a stretch to get a nice sheep, shear it, spin its fiber into yarn and knit a shawl. See where this is going?

mom is a genius

2005-12-04T21:39:00.000-05:00

I've whined and complained about how I can't make pies in the South for about two years. My mother, a self-described shortening snob, sheepishly suggested that instead of the cheap-o brand, I try Crisco. Holy Crap. She was right! I made the best pie ever today, after a quick trip to the supermarket for a small jug of Crisco.

Who knew? Well, I should have known. I stand staunchly by Walmart's "Great Value" store brand, but I should have known Food Lion's store brand was crap after I tried to save a buck by purchasing their peanut butter. It was totally yucky.

Food Lion store brand = poo
Walmart store brand = not so much

Now I'm going to go eat my delicious pie until I burst, and then watch Gray's Anatomy.

How are you feeling?

2005-12-04T08:23:00.000-05:00

This question is perhaps the most annoying one I get. You know, I'm pregnant. And people ask because they care. And I really don't mind if my mom or mother-in-law or anyone that I can speak about my girly bits asks me. But when casual acquaintenances wonder how I am feeling, do they want the truth?

In all honesty, I feel rather normal. The effect of a child growing in my womb has so far only been that I look a little silly trying to stand up from a chair, and my lower back is starting to ache constantly. But when folks ask how you're feeling, do they really want to know about all the weird and yucky symptoms that often accompany being pregnant? Hemorrhoids anyone? Bloody noses? Strange discarge? Swollen feet? Stretch marks? The constant worry and wonderment of labor & delivery? Sore nipples? Strange and uncomfortable feelings of pressure in the nether regions? HEMORRHOIDS ANYONE???

Today we're going to the annual Christmas Party at my mother-in-law's place of employment. It will be full of casual acquaintenances (they know my name, for the life I me I don't know theirs) who in all likelihood will inquire as to the state of my pregnancy. I can't freaking wait.

"I'm feeling great! I was constipated during my first trimester, but I've seemed to get over that! My vagina goes through stages of being angry with me, so that sucks! I do my kegels every day to prepare to push that little sucker through the birth canal! My lower back is in a near constant state of soreness! Soon my ankles will start to get really swollen! And every day my maternity pants feel a little tighter! How are YOU feeling?"

The second question they ask, "Do you know if it's a boy or a girl?" Another cycle of madness that drives me nuts.

My life could be much much worse.

In other business, the first boy name that Gerald and I have agreed is not horrible: William Edward, we'd call him Will.

Good day.

my mom's china pattern

2005-12-03T09:13:00.000-05:00

Here it is.

sa-weet

2005-12-02T20:48:00.000-05:00

So we ordered a pizza online from Papa John's and we got a free month of Blockbuster Online (ghetto-netflix).

Any really good or really obscure movie suggestions? Anyone?

The Lovely Mantle

2005-12-02T16:24:00.000-05:00

With a $10.00 wreath, a $2.50 bunch of holly, and a slew of discounted un-smelly candles. It's the first of the holiday decorating. And, of course, both the wreath and the holly are un-fake. I don't really stand for anything less. Duh.

And...

2005-12-02T16:23:00.000-05:00

The holiday mood is a tad bit dampened by the state of affairs in the rest of the room. I'm ashamed to even show my still-half-finished slipcover.

overheard

2005-12-01T17:17:00.000-05:00

Scenario: Jerry helping Daddy with dinner. Taco night. Getting the rice started. Daddy adds water to the pot.

Jerry says: "Put the top on so the steam doesn't come out."
Daddy says: "Okay, mister."

Conclusion: I find this to be the most adorable thing ever in the world.

24 Days to Go

2005-12-01T16:45:00.000-05:00

Knitted Gifts for Christmas: Status

I finally made a list.
There are 23 gifts total to create.
4 are complete.
That leaves 19 to go in 24 days.
I'm screwed.

ooohhhhh

2005-12-01T16:43:00.000-05:00

I had to put a picture of this yarn up. It's so delicious I can't stand it. It's for a hat that I'm knitting my Aunt Linda. It will be felted.

Yummers.

last week was lots of fun

2005-11-30T07:05:00.000-05:00

I had lots of fun last week in B-lo. I should have recorded my thoughts sooner so as not to forget everything (preggers, duh), but here goes. Don't poop out, it's gonna be long. This recollection is more for me than for you. I don't want to forget everything that ever happens.

Monday

We arrived in Buffalo (no snow) and visited Grampa at the market. Smelled like Chistmas, due to all the trees, and I loved it.
After picking up H-spo from the airport, we left Jerry with Uncle Ed and headed to the wedding site for a walk-through.
But first a stop a Starbucks for employee-discounted decaf coffee. Yummers.
The place of the wedding is gonna be sweet. I loved it a lot. I'm glad that it's not me planning the wedding. Too much to think about. But it's going to be a great party. I hope they let us get rowdy. Actually I hope they let everyone else get rowdy, because I'm going to have a very small baba, so I won't get rowdy.
Then I went to help frost the cookies for Holly's shower. It was a big secret project, because we wanted Holly to be surprised.

Tuesday

Wedding Dresses! Oh what fun! Jerry got to stay with Great Grandma (still no snow) while Holly played dress-up and Mom and I watched. I took so many freakin great pictures, but it doesn't seem right to post them on my blog. So I won't.
If I didn't think I'd get flagged, I'd also post the picture I took of Holly in her "wedding dress bra" or glorified expensive underwear. It's this great thing that gives Holly the perfect boobs. Not like there was anything wrong with her boobs to begin with, I guess it's just you need a little oomph for your wedding day.
The dress she bought is perfect.
Then we went to the florist. I think I'm going to carry a bouquet of pink tulips, which will look great with the black dress I'll wear. I loved the florist, because she was down to business and her place of business was a bit of a wreck, which made me happy. It also smelled like flowers.
We had a roast chicken dinner at Great Grandma's house. Even Eddie came.

Wednesday

Coffee in the morning at Panera with Mom's crazy retired knitting friends.
Jerry spilled his hot chocolate all over me.
So we went to the mall and I bought new pants. I also got a new preggers sweater to replace the old preggers sweater that I am soooo sick of. That was nice.
Then I had my dinner and a movie date.
I tried to watch Veronica Mars, even though Jerry was still awake. Did Logan call her "Veronica-won Kenobi?" It doesn't get better than that.

Thursday

Typical turkey day stuff. Jerry helped Grandma get the turkey in the oven. It was huge.
I took Jerry to my Aunt & Uncle's farm. We saw goats, sheep, ducks, horses, a pig, a miniature horse, a donkey, chickens, etc.
Then we went inside where my Aunt showed me how to needle felt (I feel a new crafting obsession coming on) and Jerry played with my cousins. I think that was the only time during the week where he played with other small children.
Back at home, my mom made me make the mashed potatoes.
Dinner was totally yummy. The apple pie was the best ever.
Then my mom and I "fake-counted" the grains of rice in a small jar so that at the shower someone could guess how many there were and win a door prize. We didn't totally fake it. After we counted 1,000 grains, we used our mad skills to hypothesize how many grains were in the jar: 5,623.

Friday

I had to get up early to make the crudite for the shower. Wegmans, normally a mecca of a produce department, was just opening after being closed for the holiday, and their selection was disappointing.
Spa Day! I was invited to join Holly and her high school friends for a day at the spa. My first spa visit ever! I had a facial and a manicure. It was really quite fun. Holly has pretty crazy friends.
Then lunch, where I ordered a salad (shocker) and actually enjoyed it.
The shower! Linda had the shower at her house and it was totally lovely. There was food enough for about 200 people - there were only about 30 people in attendance.
Of course it snowed about 8 inches just when the shower started so people had to drive in blizzard-like conditions and then walk through it in their nice dress-up clothes.
Jerry stayed with Grampa and watched Sponge Bob for the second time in his life. The first time was when Eddie watched him on Monday.
I realized that I am actually not a maid-of-honor. I have the distinguished title of Matron of Honor. If that doesn't make me feel like an old bag...
After the shower I packed all my crap (how I ever got it all into the suitcases I'll never know) and went to sleep for a few hours so I could get up at 4am to get on the first plane out of B-lo in the morning.

I can't type any more. And poor readers, you can't read anymore. But lots more happened once I returned from the North...

I have a yarn type! Look!

2005-11-28T20:12:00.000-05:00

I am 100% Cotton Classic.
I am versatile and enjoy practicality. I'm easy to
get along with and work well with others.
I tend toward the basics in life and enjoy high
quality in all I do.

What kind of yarn are you really??
brought to you by Quizilla

To my dear Dashiell:

2005-11-27T08:56:00.000-05:00

I think I have a new movie policy. Let us see if it holds up. I have recently seen Walk the Line and Harry Potter, and enjoyed them both immensely. I held off on reading reviews so as to not spoil the movie viewing experience.

It worked. I just read Owen Gleiberman's review of Walk the Line, which he rated B+, and agreed with everything he said. But I don't care about the things he said were wrong with the movie. I give it an A. So that's the new policy. I'm going to read reviews only after I see a movie. This really only applies to movies I am really excited to see (e.g. Pride and Prejudice, although I think I have read some reviews already.) There you have it.

In all honesty though, the very very very best part of Walk the Line was the company in which I viewed it*. I went with my very very very bestest friend of all from high school, after a delightfully satisfying meal that left me stuffed until turkey the following day. The whole day was an eerily familiar throwback to high school, minus the Lincoln Town Car, and it lived up to all expectations that I had built up in my head. If I had my way (which I don't, given the whole East coast/West coast, woman with child[ren], limited budget thing) this type of dinner and a movie thing would happen with a bit more regularity - even once a year would suffice.

*Besides my very bestest friend from high school there was a group of adults with disabilities in the theater who cheered and clapped and stomped their feet during the Johnny Cash songs. It was how I felt during those performance scenes, and I will never forget the experience every time I watch the movie, as long as I live.

Coloring Contest

2005-11-20T10:13:00.000-05:00

How cute?

grim outlook

2005-11-18T12:02:00.000-05:00

Okay. So SI puts Dook at #1 in the preseason college basketball rankings, and on the cover of their magazine. Kinda makes me want to puke.

But can UNC really not show up anywhere in the top 65? Yes, all their starters are gone. Yes, they are a young team. Yes, yes, yes. Blah, blah, blah. Maybe they won't win the National Championship. They probably won't win the ACC tourney. But come on. It's UNC.

I'm just saying. They're not gonna suck. And I look forward to them proving all the experts wrong.

Houseplants, and other important topics.

2005-11-18T08:58:00.000-05:00

Knitting News

I've got that big bad bag knit that I'm going to felt, but for the straps. It is daunting. Almost daunting enough not to finish. It might be because I don't have proper stitch holders, and that scares me. Not like I can't come up with something ingenius to hold the damn things. It's just daunting. And I feel like changing the pattern a bit so that the straps taper at the top to an i-cord, so I'm creating the "daunting" myself. Oh, and of course there's not enough yarn of the intended color to do what I really want. So should I drive the 20 minutes to the yarn store to spend $5 on another skein, or use what I have? AAAAaHHHHhfhdafhdajkgha. It's driving me mad.
Have you discovered SSK? I love it way more than K2tog. It's more fun to execute.
Things are coming along nicely on my gift list...until I look at my list of "items still to knit." Yikes. Yikes. Yikes. And I still don't have really good ideas for the men on the list.

Jerry News

Jerry knows how to rhyme. My mom says this is a good step in learning to read. He also can recall stories that we read. For example, I'll read a library book once or twice to him and then if I listen to him closely, he'll be reciting the book nearly word for word while he's doing something random like playing with Legos. This is also something that kids should be able to do before they learn to read, according to my mom.

Houseplant News

When I was doing my internship, my boss lady gave me a nice little houseplant after our big event that we put on. That was a long time ago. I can't remember what the plant is called and if I think about it too much it will drive me crazy so I'm not going to. Anyway, it flowers every once in a while, about two times a year. I was expecting it to bloom in early September and it didn't. It's finally blooming now, but only after my mom visited and gave it some TLC.
I used to have a bromeliad, but I killed it.

Television News

Holy crap. Lost was really really good on Wednesday night. Gerald was right on from the beginning with the creepy "other" guy.
Holy double crap. Veronica Mars was totally the best. Probably because Mr. Logan Echolls was in fine form. Hilarious. But I miss Wallace. Duncan was an okay sidekick for the first time and did a pretty good job at crimefighting, but Wallace is the man. I hope he's not gone forever.
Don't forget about Gray's Anatomy, which is always good.
If you're still not watching these shows, then you're not watching enough television.

Breakfast News

Jerry wants pancakes, and he wants them now. The only way to get him to stop whining is to go ahead and make them.
Yum, they were so tasty.

Gambling News

We still haven't won the lottery.
If we ever did win you wouldn't see us on tv holding a giant check.
Gerald would be the first one I'd tell.
Then I would go buy a truck.
And I would fill the truck with yarn.

Travel News

Jerry and I are headed to B-lo for Thanksgiving.
I hope it snows.
There's lots planned during the week. Wedding shower, wedding dress shopping, spa-going, movie-going, Plant-eating, visiting. Of course there's also the turkey and all the fixings.
Still haven't decided if I'll be partaking in the annual gathering of fellow graduates of my high school at the local bar. The main reason to go is because I'm pregnant, which probably freaks a bunch of those folks out. That would be fun. The main reason to not go is because I can't for the life of me remember anyone's name, and I don't care, and I don't really want to talk to them and if you're there you have to be cordial.

Congratulations are in order if you've made it this far. Now get to work!

full of turkey

2005-11-17T15:17:00.000-05:00

North Carolina and Minnesota are the nation's two leading turkey-producing states.
Turkeys can drown if they look up when its raining.
When the Airforce was first conducting test runs on breaking the sound barrier, fields of turkeys would drop dead from apparent heart attacks.

39 Days to Go

2005-11-16T07:45:00.000-05:00

Knitted Gifts for Christmas: Status

5 gifts complete (with some random weaving in of ends and other crap like that)
A bunch to go.
A couple in progress.

Things are looking good on the knitting front. I have even decided on the hats for the little neices and nephews (and maybe the buddies, if time and yarn stash permits). And I'm having so much fun doing it all. I read my pattern book like a novel daily. I even make little index cards with my yarn lables and little samples of my yarn. I KNOW! It's so pathetic! But I love it! I want to start more and more projects because it is just so fun! Weehoo!

Soon I'll have to stash the stash away so that I can find a path to my sewing machine and whip up some other things I have in mind. Like a needle case for my mother, a newly initiated stitch 'n bitcher (even though she's still sticking to garter stitch scarves). And a knitting tote that I have a plan for but need to design an actual pattern for.

************

Oh my gosh. I discovered this pretty neat thing called StumbleUpon. It's so cool that you need to try it. It's a toolbar that you install and then you tell it your interests and then when you click "stumble" it takes you to a webpage that other stumblers with your interests have said was cool. At first I had all these interests (like movies, family, parenting, kids), but now I've just limited it to crafting/knitting/sewing/quilting and I've come across some of the coolest sites. Then you rate the site if you like it. I guess it's like when you rate books and stuff on amazon. It's really a good time waster, like I need that, but it's totally freakin' fun. Try it, dude.

she's back

2005-11-15T10:27:00.000-05:00

Mandy is back, as you all know and love her.

The past few days I have felt rather yucky. Like out-of-body kind of crap. Now I feel better, but the scratchy cough and snot blowing out of my nose is likely to stay around for weeks, if previous colds repeat themselves.

I'm off on a yarn stash enhancement operation. Wish me luck. Hope I don't forget my tissues.

things and things

2005-11-14T15:27:00.000-05:00

I got dressed today, because we went to the library for storytime.
I think I have peed in my pants one thousand times today. This is because I have a cough/cold and because I am pregnant and a little pee comes out every time I cough. I hope it's because I'm pregnant because if this continues, I'll feel like a total louse.
Jerry has watched bunches of television because I have a cough/cold.
I feel like crap.
Jerry ate lots of stuff today that is considered "junk food." This is because I have a cough/cold and I could really care less. He might give me a mother-of-the-year award, but social services might have something else to say about that.
I never went to see a movie this weekend because I was coming down with a cough/cold and all I wanted to do was sleep.
Due to my cough/cold, even knitting is making me exhausted.
I drank a hottie tottie last night while watching Gray's Anatomy that my mother-in-law gave me to make me sleep better. Honestly, it really didn't work but it tasted heavenly.
I found the honey and I am going to make a cup of green tea with lemon and honey.
I don't wear perfume, but if I did it would probably be SJP's new scent, Lovely. I've never even sniffed it.

this & that

2005-11-12T07:09:00.000-05:00

I have a bunch of knitted stuff completed for x-mas gifts. Of course the large, daunting projects have not been started yet. Let's see, forty-three days to go. Yikes. I had better get crackin.
Jerry came out of his funk by Wednesday night/Thursday morning. He's spent the last two days making up for sitting on the couch all day. That is, he has been talking non-stop. His two current favorite things to say: "Why?" and "What?" I'm all about telling him why things are the way they are. It does gets on my (and Gerald's) nerves a bit. Especially at the end of the day. Especially when there's no easy answer. "It looks like a windy day." "Why?" "Because the weather's changing." Fine. But, "Please pick up your trucks." "Why?" "So no one gets hurt by stepping on them." "Why?" "It's dark at night, and we might not see them, and someone could trip and get hurt." "Why?" "BECAUSE I SAID SO. THAT'S WHY." "Why?" "OH FOR CRYING OUT LOUD GO TO YOUR ROOM." "Why?" I try to remain calm most of the time. Sometimes I cannot. Mommy guilt kicks in as I banish him to his room for two minutes only because he wanted to know "Why?"
I was going to see Derailed last night, but the dumb movie didn't start until 10:10 and after I put Jerry to bed I was so tired, and I feel a sore throat coming on, and I fell asleep by about 9:20. Maybe tonight. I know my movie nights are soon coming to an end so I want to go every chance I get. But I'm already feeling a bit crappy sitting in a movie for a couple hours without getting up. I'm pregnant.
The last movie Gerald and I saw before Jerry was born was Spiderman and my feet/ankles got so swollen during the movie that on the way home I had to sit in the back seat with my feet elevated while Gerald drove. I forget a lot of things, but I won't ever forget that.
Jerry wrote a letter to Santa yesterday, at zip code 99705, which is North Pole, AK:

A video game. (when pigs fly, or when you get an allowance and then you can buy it yourself)
Robot. (this is a reasonable request)
Rocket ship. (also reasonable)
Gun. (if he means a toy gun that shoots things for outside playing, then fine)
A book with an elephant. (oh, you precious thing. such a boy, but still love books)

OOhhh! I got my box of preggars clothes from OldNavy.com! Lots of things that are black. But some pretty pink things as well. The shirts are nice and long, but they'll probably shrink and expose my belly as soon as they're washed.
Breakfast is ready.

yea, he's sick

2005-11-09T09:43:00.000-05:00

It's about 10 minutes after I made my hypothesis about Jerry being sick. He's passed out on the couch now. This is a boy who need not nap. Ever. In fact we try our darndest not to let him because if he naps he doesn't go to bed until 11pm. His poor little body is hurting. Now will be the time to consider medication, which I don't like to give him other than at night. Today he might need it.

I'm sad: it sucks to be sick.
I'm in for the long haul: sick means less sleep at night for parents.
I feel guilty: I'm going to knit, and I'm excited about that.
Poor guy: he's over there on the couch sleeping and moaning.
And he's so cute: it wasn't long ago that he was making silly faces in the mirror with his new hat and scarf.

cutie pie

2005-11-09T09:19:00.000-05:00

Here's the new hat and scarf, made with the hope of winter weather. I love the hat. I think it is so cute. And it was whipped up in no time. This might be the answer for x-mas presents for the neices/nephews, even though they live in SC. And the scarf is done but for the weaving in of the ends. I did half of that before the scarf was finished, so it's not that daunting of a task.

Jerry is acting weird today. He's been constantly whining and kind of moaning and he feels hot. And now he just asked to turn off the tv, and he's lying on the couch. So not like him. I guess I had better hunker down and prepare for a sick bubba and hope he gets out of this funk quickly.

frolicking with fig leaves

2005-11-09T09:09:00.000-05:00

Yesterday we raked. Well, you know how it goes. I raked and Superman, man of steel, unraked. But it was fun. Autumn here is really nice. The weather is unbelievable, but I have one gripe. The leaves fall from the tree when they're brown (except the fig leaves). So it's pretty, but not too pretty.

At least I know how to matriculate.

2005-11-07T21:44:00.000-05:00

My sister-in-law homeschools her children. Last time we visited, she had a list of homophones (e.g. see/sea) hung on the wall. Lessons in reading, I guess? Since then my mother-in-law has been keeping a running list of homophones that she thinks of. We were at her house last night and the most recent on the list was freeze/frieze.

I'm totally amazed by her ability to do this. I don't think she sits down with a dictionary and looks up words. I am certain she does not use the internet. They just come to her. Do you know what an adze is? She does. And it's a homophone, of course (adze, ads, adds). Her complete list must include over 40 of them. And not the simple ones like dear/deer or know/no. But words that I never use and would not be able to define without faking. Like dain/deign and others I can't think of.

The part that kills me is that my mother-in-law is a restaurant manager. A respectful profession for sure (she's worked at the same family owned restaurant for 25-ish years), and she is great at what she does. But once she told me that she doesn't have any skills, or in other words, she was never trained to do anything useful as a job. In school in Ireland she learned things like Latin and history, a got a very good education in things of the sort. Then she came to the United States when she was 18 and never went to college.

She is probably the smartest lady I know. You wouldn't believe the number of times we've gotten out the dictionary while visiting to look something up. Or sometimes she gets out the French/English dictionary. She just knows so many words! Like antimacassar (a small cloth placed over the backs or arms of chairs, or the head or cushions of a sofa, to prevent soiling of the permanent fabric). Now I know what it is and I use the word frequently (but not the actual thing). And we once looked up peloton because I didn't believe Gerald when he told me what it was, before my Lance infatuation began. I did, however, stump them both with matriculate. I did it a bunch of times, so I should know.

So I guess I'm just more of a science/math kind of a gal. I'll leave the homophones to her and just be happy that I have the best mother-in-law one could hope for.

There is one other reason I like her a bunch. If you ask at noon if it's too early for a glass of wine, she'll dutifully reply with a hearty chuckle, "It's six o'clock in Ireland!"

Thank You, Jacques Torres

2005-11-06T08:55:00.000-05:00

Thank you for laughing in the face of my wonderful idea to make candy canes for Christmas. Last year I made marshmallows and they went over well. Now I feel I have a candy tradition to uphold. Maybe candy canes aren't the place to begin the tradition. Some excerpts from the recipe (linked above):

Before you begin this recipe, please take a class from a professional on working with sugar.
Working with sugar will burn your fingers so know before you start that your fingers will develop burn blisters.
Remember, the sugar is at 320 degrees F, and that will burn you.
I use a special sugar box that includes a special heat source, If you don't have one, you can work in front of the oven. Set the oven to 300 degrees F. Open the oven door and place the silpat on the oven door. It provides a similar effect to the sugar box heater.

Given all that, I'm not completely discouraged. I don't know why. All I would need are some silpats, which I think they sell at Williams-Sonoma or the restaurant supply store in town. I even think they sell gloves made out of the stuff. And if I mention this crazy idea to my mom-in-law, she would be most encouraging for sure. Heck, she's probably done it before.

Here's more encouraging news. I haven't asked Martha if she has a recipe, which she probably does. And she will likely suggest that this recipe can be accomplished easily at home by a novice candy maker. It will be a good thing. The marshmallows of last year were from Martha, and even though I'm still finding bits of sugar & egg white stickiness all around the KithenAid, they were so worth it.

what's doin'

2005-11-05T09:18:00.000-05:00

With laundry, dishes and knitting hanging over my head, I figured I would take a moment out to blog a bit. It actually takes me a while to compose these entries that you see here, so really I'm procrastinating while J & G are out at the closest mega-supercenter stocking up on the week's necessities.

The beach was fun. Some highlights:

Dad can listen to the most horrifying radio stations ever. I can stand the country only because every once in a while a classic or sing-along comes on. But the adult contemporary? Come on Dad. Were you daydreaming or do you actually like that music?
Nance's still has the best hushpuppies.
Sorry Ed, the lazy river was closed for repairs. So were all the kiddie pools. But the beach was fun. Given my extreme general dislike for sand and its propensity to stick to the body, it was surprising to see Jerry actually turn into the sand man. He was covered from head to toe.
The Coral Beach resort is the same but for a new coat of paint and some flashy curtains. It was sort of like coming home.
I could eat ice cream from Kirk's every day of my life, gain 100 pounds, and live happily ever after.

Halloween was a hoot.

I planned on using eyeliner to paint a beard on Jerry's face. I don't wear makeup, but I found an old Village Idiot-era eyeliner pencil in the bottom of a drawer and tested it on Jerry's face Thursday afternoon. Off Jerry went to Walmart with Gerald and when they came home I noticed that a small rash had broken out where the eyeliner had been. Ergo, no beard. Only one senile man thought Jerry was anything but a pirate, so the beard didn't matter.
In my neighborhood there aren't many trick-or-treaters so the folks give out whole handfuls of their candy. Jerry's bucket was filled after only about ten houses. He couldn't even carry it.
I wore a headband that made me look like an alien.
On our particular street we were the only house handing out candy. It doesn't help that three out of the ten houses have no one living in them, and they're not even on the market. Man, it is so the ghetto. I wish whoever owns the houses would just sell them for cheap and let nice families (like us) buy them and fix them up (like us). Ah, well.
We didn't have many trick-or-treaters and I've been eating the left-over candy non-stop.

I'm going to a spa.

My first time going to a spa. I had a massage once but it was years ago and it was on the beach in Hawaii. This time I'm having a pregnancy massage and as Holly said, "I hope it doesn't induce labor." Hells right, I hope it doesn't induce labor. That would suck.
I wonder if I could get a mani, too. I'll have to consult the spa-day planners on this one.
It seems like it would be fun to get a mani and a massage and drink champagne starting at noon. Oh well. Maybe in ten years when Holly and I get around to going on our vacation and I don't have pregnancy and babies to think about then I can go on vacation and start drinking at noon while having a mani and a massage. In Vegas.

The shower invitation DID come to my house.

Linda was so smart to think I'd want to see it.
It's so pretty!
I'm making crudite. Well, I suppose not really making it, more like preparing it. But I am making the dips. And it's not going to look like that picture, but I will use a basket. So there.

I've been knitting.

But I can't show you the stuff because it's stuff I'm knitting for you, loyal blog readers.
Except for you, Dashiell, because I can't seem to find a cool enough hat pattern for a Los Angeles type of a guy. I'm not quite smart enough on the knitting front to just make something up. Not yet, anyway.
But I am making Jerry a hat and scarf to go with the new winter coat Mom gave him, which has to be finished in two weeks if it's going to be worth anything.
And I call you all loyal blog readers in order to make you feel guilty if you don't visit often enough.

And with that...

...I am finished.

The rents are here.

2005-10-31T08:31:00.000-05:00

I think my mind goes blank when my parents visit. But it's still fun to have them here, if only because they are like full time babysitters.

I've been knitting a lot.

They're taking me and Jerry to the beach on Wednesday. Myrtle Beach. Just like old times. Except now I'm not a youngster. Now I'm a responsible adult.

I think that lots of folks (college kids) go to Myrtle (as they call it) to hit the clubs and party like rock stars. It's sort of that kind of place, but a family destination also. Go figure.

I have 5 (maybe more) knitting projects going. I can't help starting new ones when I get a little bored with the old ones. Maybe the beach will be a time to finish. I'll only take works-in-progress.

The beach in November?!?! Well, it might be a wee bit nippy, but Grampa really wants to go to the beach. He has spent the last few months picking pumpkins and carrying them all over creation (not to mention the corn...the corn!!), so if he wants to go to the beach, then by golly we're going.

We bought a pumpkin at Walmart (blasphemy) for $2.50. Grampa brought a similar pumpkin for us that was marked $7.00. I guess that reflects the planting/caring for/fertilizing/picking of pumpkins yourself versus the cost of hiring migrant workers to do it for you. Stew on that.

I think we might run out of candy for trick-or-treaters because I've been secretly eating the stash for the last few days.

Holly, do you have size 13 dpn's? I can't find them for shit and I've looked almost everywhere. I'd rather pay you the money in S&H to borrow them then buy a $20 set online. Then I could return them to you at Thanksgiving.

We're almost out of milk.

I have season 1 of Lost on DVD. I have season 4 of Alias on DVD. I feel very lucky. But the trouble is, I don't have an autographed copy of the Italian version of the Alias graphic novel. I'm willing to pay relatively good money for something of the sort. You might consider me a collector. Or not.

Did you see Gray's Anatomy? For crying out loud. I cried out loud. It was so good. It's like Felicity, BUT BETTER.

That is all.

baby needs cake

2005-10-28T13:59:00.000-04:00

My sis-in-law knows what she's talking about. She has four children, hopes for many more, and claims that everything in the second trimester tastes good. She's sooooo right. When Gerald gets home I think I'm going on a super-secret supermarket mission to get:

vanilla ice cream
roasted & salted whole almonds
chocolate syrup

It's secret because I want it all for myself and I don't want to share any with anybody. I'll get away with not sharing until Grandma & Grandpa arrive for a visit tomorrow and expect dessert. Given that, maybe I'll buy a super-duper-secret pint of Ben & Jerry's in some flavor that includes peanut butter, like Chubby Hubby if that even exists anymore.

Ooohh. I just thought of a good boy's name.

But seriously, all I want to do is eat cake. I see a picture of a cake and I want to eat it. I see Paula Deen making some tasty buttery concoction and I want to eat it. It's not me, IT'S THE BABY. THE BABY WANTS CAKE. NOW.

The long frumpy hair

2005-10-27T08:17:00.000-04:00

This was a few weeks ago, so you can imagine how much more frumpy his hair was yesterday morning. And it was starting to get fuzzy in the back where he sleeps on it. I always say I'm going to let his hair grow long so he can look like a surfer, but that's so not realistic.

And besides, he looks pretty darn cute with a big boy haircut...

"Shall we have a shampoo?"

2005-10-27T08:16:00.000-04:00

That's what the lady at the Walmart hair center could have said, but instead it was more like, "Wanna shampoo?"

"Uhh...this is his very first real haircut, so I think no."

It was all very exciting. Who knew this child could sit in a chair while some stranger came at him with clippers and sharp scissors? I didn't. But he was cute. He was neither overly enthusiastic nor completely freaked out. Angie, the stylist, did a great job. She got down to business and the cut looks way better than anything I would have done. The promise of a "special treat" definitely played into his complacency during the whole ordeal. It was a balloon, which lasted through the shopping we did post-haircut, bumping me in the head a million times and blocking my view of oncoming cart traffic, but blew away once we got outside.

I was laughing on the outside during the haircut because he was being so cute tilting his head this way and that, but crying on the inside as I realized that my baby is growing up. It's just the thing that happens to all of them, I guess. As a parent, you want them to be able to do grown-up things like sit in the hair-cutting chair, but you still want them to give you hugs and kisses and hold you hand and cuddle. He'll still be little for a while longer. I can be happy about that.

Autumn Wreath

2005-10-26T14:14:00.000-04:00

close up

2005-10-26T14:12:00.000-04:00

See how different the wall color looks in each of these pictures? Baffling.

non sequitur

2005-10-26T10:05:00.000-04:00

"sunt lacrimae rerum et mentem mortalia tangunt"
these are the tears of things, and our mortality cuts to the heart
-from Virgil's Aeneid

But if anyone has a better translation, I'd love to hear it.

Nota Bene: I just told my high school latin teacher about my blog. What was I thinking? Ah well, carpe diem. This won't stop me from continuing ad infinitum, or ad nauseam if you will.

Mastering the Art of French Cooking

2005-10-25T08:53:00.000-04:00

I'm reading a new book. It is called Julie & Julia: 365 Days, 524 Recipes, 1 Tiny Apartment Kitchen: How one girl risked her marriage, her job and her sanity to master the art of fine living. It's non-fiction, but according to the introduction, loosely non-fiction. I read about it in Entertainment Weekly and decided that it might be a good book to give my mother-in-law for Christmas. But before I decided for real to give it to her for Christmas I thought I'd read it first, just to make sure. So I had the library acquire it for me, rather than Barnes & Noble. It's much cheaper to have your library do this - free in fact - you just have to wait a few weeks and then you also have to return it before they charge you late fees. And as far as I know, you can have your library acquire any number of books you want as often as you like. I feel a little guilty about having them do it too often so I've only done it twice. The other book was Riding the Bus With My Sister, which was unfortunately turned into a made for tv movie with Andy McDowell and Rosie O'Donnell but was a great book.

Anyway, I don't think my mother-in-law would like it. The first clue was because there is a mention of J.Lo, and I am not entirely sure my m-i-l knows what that stands for. But it was still under consideration. Then there was a line that says, "the place was lousy with Republicans." Now I know my m-i-l reads thousands of books, and I'm sure she's read a bunch that have Republican bashing themes or whatever, but I wouldn't knowingly introduce this theme to her.

See, the m-i-l and her son (my husband) are Republicans. But I'm not going to talk about that here. Like I told Gerald on our very first date, I don't talk about politics. Little did I know that coming from an Irish family means talking politics often. Very often. American politics. Irish politics. French politics. You name it. Surprisingly, he still fell in love with me. And we still find interesting things to talk about, most of the time, even if it is football.

Maybe I ruined it for myself when I decided to read the book first. Oh well. Actually she's probably the only person that I have really good ideas for in terms of gift giving. Her birthday is near Christmas, so she's going to get a knitted/felted hot water bottle cover for her 60th birthday. Then she'll get a knitted wine cozy for Christmas, filled with a bottle of wine, and two of those really cool stemless wine glasses that you can get at Williams-Sonoma.

I've felt like I've had the diarrhea of the keyboard. I'm so sorry to bore all of you, faithful readers. Please forgive me. My life will have a theme someday, and my blog will become an enjoyable recollection of something meaningful. Good day.

62 days to go

2005-10-24T16:47:00.000-04:00

Knitted Gifts for Christmas: Status

Gifts Complete: 1
Gifts in Progress: 2
Gifts to Go: 7011

I know this is getting old. But it's my little motivational tool to keep me going. Here's the dilemma: I just got the gigantic box of yarn that I purchased online. Am I supposed to continue working on the two projects I have going when I could start on something new and exciting? I don't know the right answer, but I'm going to start something new. I just don't have all the necessary needles yet, which is baffling because it seems like I've bought a whole shitload.* And you know what? My Joann's has started selling Clover Bamboos and you can use your 50% off coupon. Let me say that again - YOU CAN USE YOUR 50% OFF COUPON!!!!!!!!!! When have you ever seen bamboo needles at 50% off? Never! And even if you live in the boondocks - say, Alaska - you can sign up to get the coupons online or in the mail, and they always offer a 40% off coupon for online purchases. See how much I love coupons! The only trouble is that you only get one or two coupons a month and sometimes the knitting gods demand that you start a new project immediately and you need to go get those size 13 DPNs at the nearest yarn store as soon as humanly possible. But still.

* If you're not familiar with a shitload, it's a lot.

It just keeps getting better.

2005-10-24T12:44:00.000-04:00

Check this out. Gerald found a better hat at Walmart. I've made the vest, sash and bandana. But the white puffy shirt and black pants aren't even sewn yet. I could quit right now and call it a day. But I think I'll finish, despite the fact that the shirt pattern calls for lots of basting and bunching of fabric - things I don't normally have patience for.

And why, you wonder, are these pictures taken on my bed? It's because the only time Jerry can see himself in a mirror is when he stands on the bed and looks at the dresser mirror. He loves it, although he's already taken the whole costume off. I'm not worried about this, though. Last year he would keep his doggie costume on for about 1.5 seconds while I was trying to sew it and fit it for him. Then Halloween night came and he kept it on all night, hood and all. He was a real trooper. He carried his pumpkin bucket all by himself while trick-or-treating and we were appalled when we realized the weight of the candy he had acquired.

I'm done talking about this now. Goodbye.

Say NO to Desperate Housewives!

2005-10-23T21:47:00.000-04:00

Hi. I'm so glad that I didn't have to watch Desperate Housewives. I was busy processing my first order from Etsy! Woohoo! I'm putting a link to my little store over in my links section. There you go. Ebay wouldn't sell it, so now Etsy does. Go figure.

And if anyone can take my crude logo drawings and somehow make them banner size so I can put it on my little store, speak up already! I don't know why I can't do it myself, but I've tried and tried and it never works.

Time for my second favorite show. Gray's Anatomy. And since I cried about four times at the movies today watching In Her Shoes, I can guarantee that at about 10:59pm ETS I'll be balling. It's the hormones, man.

Jerry v. The Dryer

2005-10-23T08:37:00.000-04:00

A few weeks ago Gerald got me all slobbering over the prospect of purchasing a new washer and dryer set. We currently use two very old models that were either purchased at Burtner's, the used appliance store, or came with the house we bought. I can't remember which ones they are as there was some shuffling when we moved them into the house (or more accurately, the back porch/laundry room/mudroom/shoe pile/tomatoe ripening room).

So we were walking around with damp socks because when I wash on hot, it leaks a little onto the carpet and whenever you go through the back porch, which is a lot of times, you may step on the soaked carpet with either your left or right foot depending on whether you are entering or exiting the house. It was then that Gerald proposed the idea of a brand new washer and dryer from Sears and the slobbering commenced.

I bring this up because something just happened that I hoped, in vain I suspect, would break the dryer. I think the dryer is fine, and it appears that with a little wiggling once he gets around to it, Gerald will be able to fix the hot water leak in the washer. But anyway, Gerald was allowing Jerry to help him with the laundry earlier, and Gerald left the soap on the floor in order that Jerry could get a scoop and dump it into the washer. Jerry figured he would do an extre-super job and add the granulated soap to the dryer, too, unbeknownst to anyone. Luckily when I started the dryer I forgot to add the dryer sheet, so when I remembered and opened the dryer a minute later I was greeted with a storm of laundry soap.

The detergent is off the floor and stowed safely in the cupboard. The clean wet items that were covered in detergent are back in the washer for a rinsing. Jerry has been informed of the difference between dryer sheets and laundry soaps, and warned not to use either unless under the direction of an adult. The dryer is very clean, free of detergent, and not broken. And I am left here, with two appliances still working, just glad that our first "Jerry v. the Dryer" experience didn't involve a small child wondering if he could fit his body inside.

oh my word

2005-10-21T12:26:00.000-04:00