Squee!!!!

Rebecca's sweater is nearly done! I went to the knit clinic today and Rebecca (my friend from Ravelry) showed me how to do the buttonholes and tidy up the holes I accidentally created by increasing or decreasing. After that I weaved in all the ends, and when I got home I washed and blocked it. It's drying now, and by morning I think I can sew on the buttons and insert daughter! She's pretty excited, but I bet she's not as excited as her mom!!!! It looks fantastic to me. I'm sure once I have a few sweaters under my belt I'll look at it and cringe, but at this moment it's the most beautiful knit thing I ever created. Now I can finally finish Dan's poor neglected scarf. In other news, the Christmas packages from my brother and my parents have already arrived, and I haven't even begun shopping for them yet. I'm pathetic. I vow to get my shopping done early next week and have the box in the mail before the week is out. Please hold my feet to the flames over this. Things are not going well at Ben's school. I don't really have the heart to get into it right now, but it's been a very hard week. It's all related to immature behavior and not academics, so there's that to be thankful for. I'm looking forward to having the benefit of time to look back on this, because it's pretty tough to live through right now. But there are worse things, so I'm trying to be positive. Plus, it's the weekend, right? That's a good thing. The kids are home and I love them and need to be downstairs with them and appreciating them. They really are wonderful, even when they make life hard. Have a wonderful weekend!!

Dammit, I missed the cut-off again

Seems like if I don't get into bed by at least 11:00, I miss some kind of weird sleep cut-off time and I'm awake for at least another couple of hours. Then of course I get hungry and have to eat something. Which keeps me awake even longer. So here I sit, updating my pointless blog at 12:02 am because I know if I go to bed I won't be able to sleep. Maybe I'll just go change into my jammies, brush my teeth so I won't eat anything, and come back up here to this TV and watch the episodes of Ghost Hunters I taped. I don't tape that show downstairs anymore since I walked in and caught the kids watching it. No, strike that; it was Most Haunted they were watching which bothered me slightly less because it's so completely ridiculous. But still. Up here I have the Tivo KidZone where I can filter out stuff. Downstairs we only have the Cablevision TiFaux and it has far fewer nifty functions. Once we switch over to Verizon I'm getting a real Tivo for that room too. (We really, really don't like commercials. At all.) What else. Worked on my sock while watching Kitchen Nightmares. Do the producers require Gordon Ramsey to say a certain number of curse words per episode? That show has more bleeps than...I can't think of anything funny to say here. Let's just go with "a buttload of bleeps." Eh. I placed the unfinished sock stratgically far back on a table where even my long-legged puppy cannot reach it. Because I don't think the animal cruelty folks would look kindly on what I would do to that dog if he ate my sock again. What else. Rebecca joined the 3rd grade chorus, which began rehearsals before school today. I think she'll enjoy that more than orchestra, because it's like pulling teeth to get her to practice violin. But she sings and hums everywhere she goes. Did I mention that the kids had to get shots at their checkups yesterday? Yeah, I was taken by surprise and that's not good. I told them to suck it up, take their shots, and I'd get them each a new Webkinz. (Hey, I'm not above a little well-placed bribery.) Ben was a real trooper...whined a bit, but sat still and took it. Rebecca, on the other hand, behaved like a 2 year old, tried to run across the room, and replied when the doc told her she needed shots for school by saying, "Then I just won't go to school." I had to hold her hands and she was extremely bratty and melodramatic. In the end, though, do you think she got her Webkinz? DH was extremely upset with me for giving in to her. Hey, she did take the shots once all was said and done. Was I going to get Ben a toy and not her? Pppptthhh. And now I'm the only one in the house who has not had a flu shot. Living on the edge over here, I tell ya. 12:12. Nothing I've said has any point. But I continue to type. Off to change and maybe watch a little boring TV to make me sleepy. Night!

CS3, hurray!!!

I just installed the CS3 upgrade on our new Mac, and it's working perfectly. After a small glitch in trying to figure out how to make a clipping mask using one of Jen's new sketches (yes, Collection 22 is nearly ready and you're going to love it!!) I was off and running. And what a pleasure to be able to use Jen's text paths and have all my text fit perfectly into non-rectangular shapes!! I know I have a long road ahead of me, trying to figure out not only the updates that happened in CS3 but also ALL the things that have changed since PS7...ugh. A lot to learn. But I'm excited! Thank you Sweetheart for my wonderful birthday gift! I love it! Edited 2:58 pm: The yarn is unsnargled!!! YAY!!! I watched all of House and all of SVU and worked and worked and worked (taking breaks only to fast forward through the commercials) and now the sock yarn is perfection once again. And I get to knit tonight. :sigh: I entertain easily.

Anybody want a DOG?

Okay, it was my fault. I left my knitting on the couch when I went to bed last night. So this morning while I was upstairs helping the kids get ready for school, Seeger expressed his displeasure with being left alone by completely mangling the yarn and ripping out several rows of knitting. The only consolation I have is that I was using metal needles, so they didn't get chewed up (THIS time). So instead of knitting while watching House tonight, I'll be untangling yarn. Joy.

Happy Birthday to me

Yep, 39 for the first of many years, I'm sure. Got some lovely attention and prezzies from my family: cute keyfob from Ben, ceramic flower with jeweled dragonfly from Rebecca, and the upgrade to Photoshop CS3 from DH. Yay, I'm happy! We'll be going to dinner at a nice seafood place in about an hour. Cast on the Nine-to-Five sock last night for the Sockdown! November challenge at Ravelry. Gave up on the buttonholes in Rebecca's cardigan and will get some help at Knit Clinic on Friday. Casting sidelong glances at Ben's socks and DH's scarf, hoping they won't be too upset at being ignored a bit longer. Downloaded a kit from a new NDISB designer, Dawn Inskip. The kit is called Kaleidoscope and it's so colorful and fun! I know I can find some perfect photos for it.

The downside of sleeping in

DH and the kids let me sleep in today. Great, right? Except now it's 1:17 am and I'm not sleepy. I probably would be, if I'd take out my contacts, brush my teeth, and lie down. But I'm still on the computer. Rebecca's sweater is nearly done. Finished the sleeves and one button band, then started on the button band that needs buttonholes. Uh oh. The buttonholes are giving me trouble. Luckily for me, the local yarn shop is having a knitting clinic on Friday morning so I'm going to take it in and have someone help me out with it. Maybe they can show me how to duplicate stitch over the places where I accidentally made little holes as well. In the meantime, I'm gonna haul out some of that sock yarn I bought at the big sale on Black Friday and cast on another pair of socks for me! I still have that pair for Ben I'm working on, but I'm not enjoying them very much because the stripes are really rather huge-ish. At least I can tell him that he was the one who picked the yarn. I have a couple of cute sock patterns to choose from for myself. I don't mind experimenting a little for me...if it's for someone else I want to make something I won't screw up too badly. Oh, who am I trying to kid? At this point, everything I make is new to me. That's the joy of beginning a new hobby, as well as the bane. It's taking all my willpower not to go cast them on right now. I know as late as it is, I'll just make a bunch of mistakes I'll have to rip out tomorrow. But I really do have to get in bed for Pete's sake. Rebecca has a soccer round robin tournament tomorrow and she has to be there at 9:00. I told DH I'd take her since I was the one pushing her to join this pretravel team. She has another game at 11:30, and then that will be it for soccer for us for a while. We all need the break. Good night!

New from Susan Bartolini at ScrapKitchen Designs

Susan has a new collab kit out with Christy Lyle called Blustery Day, and I used it to create a funny little layout documenting how much we love my mom's homemade blackberry jam, and how distraught we are when it's all gone. In other news, Thanksgiving went well. Very busy, went late as usual, but overall the food was good and everyone had fun. And the lights stayed on, bonus!

What moms can do.

Lift a sleeping 6yo child who is completely upside down and uncovered on his bed, lay him right-side up again, cover him up, and steal a kiss, all without waking him even for a moment. Good night, everyone, and sleep well. :)

Whatcha been up to?

For me, mostly healing and knitting. Today was the day I was supposed to go shopping: Michael's yarn sale and the grocery store. But my stomach is not feeling so great and I'm getting these strange sharp pains in one of my incision sites. It comes and goes, so I think I'll just take it easy today instead. It's supposed to start raining soon so I'll be cozy and dry in here. I've completed a few knitting projects and started a few more. Here are some photos to share. First, a sock I've begun for Ben. I've finished the toes and started up the foot, slipped it on him this morning to find it's fitting perfectly (that's the benefit of doing toe-up as opposed to cuff-down), and I'm really enjoying the simple 4-stitch pattern I chose. This is the first project I've done where I've fancied up some bare-bones instructions to suit me, and I'm inordinately proud of myself. Next is a set of mittens and headband/earwarmer. The Warmest Mittens are from Knitting Pretty and the Calorimetry headwarmer is from Knitty online knitting magazine. Next is a cardigan, still in progress, for Rebecca. I over-Photoshopped the picture and you can't really see what a delicate heathered yarn I'm using. You can see it better HERE, just scroll down to Tidepool Heather. Working on the first sleeve, only the second sleeve and button bands after that. LOVE LOVE LOVE working on circular needles for the first time ever! Other than that, nothing much going on. Dan is in California for a few days, which means we're having lots of diner food and Kid Cuisines for dinner. I hate to cook when he's not here. The kids don't appreciate it and I hate the cleanup. Starting to think about Thanksgiving, which is next week, and I'm really excited because we get to have everyone over here again this year. Last year was SO fun, partly because the power went out just as we were having dessert and the kids thought that was just the best thing ever. Hopefully we'll have just as much fun this year, only with lights and heat. Everyone pitches in, so it doesn't end up being too much work on my part. The dog is good. Took him in to be weighed yesterday so we could get the right dosage on his monthly heartworm pill, and he's 39 1/2 pounds. It's like going to Weight Watchers, only in reverse. :P Okay, I've blathered on enough for one day. Off to knit and maybe watch some of the DVDs I got at the library: Season 1 of House, which I only saw for the first time last week. Pretty good show, I think. I know, I'm late to that party. As usual.

I survived!!!!

Yes I did, I survived gall bladder surgery. I can't say I enjoyed it, but it's good to know it's gone. The surgeon said that I had HUNDREDS of small stones, so it's pretty safe to say that we did find the source of the pain. First, I have to tell you that the waiting was the worst part. I was scheduled to go into the OR at 1:30 and didn't get there until almost 3:00. Since I hadn't seen the doctor yet, they waited to put me under until he had arrived and had spoken to me. Then the anesthesiologist said, "You're going to go to sleep now!" and I said, "Okay." And then I lay there for a minute and said, "I'm not asleep yet." I didn't want them to start cutting, lol. And she said, "Don't worry it takes a minute. Just take nice slow deep breaths." And the next thing I remember I hear someone talking about Starbucks and I'm trying to croak, "Hey, I want Starbucks too." Then someone puts my glasses on my face and I say, "Can I please have some water?" and she says, "No, honey, you just came out of surgery two minutes ago." They told me Dan had gone home to have dinner with the kids and his mom, and I got moved pretty quickly from Recovery to my room. I had to share with two older ladies who were in real pain all night long, so it was very difficult to sleep. One of them turned on her TV to some war movie, tons of gunshots and screaming. The other one was moaning all night. The worst thing was that they put these leg wraps on me that inflated every two minutes or so, to keep my blood circulating. I would just drift off and those things would roar to life and squeeze my calves, waking me up again. I understand now the workings of sleep deprivation torture. It also didn't help that I was sick a couple of times from the anesthesia, and I had to ask for help every time I went to the bathroom. Overall, I'd rate being at a hospital a great big zero. Well, except for the "healing me" thing, that worked out okay. The next day I was out of there almost before I could finish my breakfast. I guess I ate and peed to their satisfaction because they sent me straight home where I was greeted by enthusiastic family members (the dog was a bit TOO enthusiastic...jumping up on my belly was not a good feeling) and two beautiful bouquets of flowers from my family and Dan's brother's family. Today I'm very stiff and sore still, but I did manage to get out of the house to the dog park for a bit. And I've rested plenty too. So, I made it. I can no longer claim that I've never been in the hospital. And I look forward to feeling much better once these stitches have dissolved. Thanks to everyone who encouraged me...it really means a lot.

:sniff: I thought I was good, but apparently not

I'm scared. I have to go in to have my gall bladder removed tomorrow, and the closer it gets the more afraid I am. See, I've only been in the hospital to be born. My own kids were born in a birthing center and I've never so much as broken a bone. Even though the surgery is laproscopic and the surgeon has done this over 5000 times (he told me so) I'm still terrified of general anesthesia. I've been trying to relax and get a grip today, but I can't help think of what might happen. I've given DH instruction to print out all my saved scrapbook pages for the children. He's being less than sympathetic, as usual. (He has very little patience for my emotional outbursts, but despite that I still keep having them.) I asked him to take me out to dinner tonight and he said, "Why, do you think it will be your last meal?" He was only joking, but I didn't need that in my head. So, I will be in the hospital beginning tomorrow at 12:30, surgery is at 1:30 and I hope to be back home on Saturday morning. I plan to be as annoying as possible so they'll let me go sooner. Also, I'm pretending that the flock of hundreds of shrieking birds that just landed in my backyard is not a bad omen.