The end...the beginning

So, I've decided to switch over to WordPress for my new knitting blog, kind of like a fresh start. I'm all set up over there, and I've even imported all my posts from this blog cuz that's a heck of a lot of stuff to just abandon completely. This blog will remain for now, but will no longer be updated. Please join me over at my new "Knitapeace" blog and continue with me on my knitting journey. :)

Just point me toward the bed

So. Four straight days (and half the nights) of nothing but knitting that darn sweater for Dan. And today at 2:48 pm I wove in the last end. It's finished, and just in time for his birthday party tonight. Now I'll grant you, the sweater has monkey arms. And even though it's a size large, it fits me like an XXL. But I still need to soak and block it, so I can (I hope) get rid of the saggies and maybe shorten up the sleeves a bit. I just needed to go ahead and wrap it first. I know he'll appreciate it; I just hope he wears it. As for me, I'm headachy and bleary-eyed and drained. I just want to sleep, but we'll be taking Dan to his favorite diner for dinner and watching him unwrap his gifts. Rebecca did ALL the wrapping ALL by herself. :proud: I was lucky that I didn't seem to strain any muscles in my hands, arms, or back despite the fact that I did a *lot* of knitting with very few breaks. In fact, for the past four days while the kids were at school I only stopped to eat and do a little laundry. I know it was dangerous, and I'm going to take a knitting break for the weekend. After that I have two pairs of nearly-complete socks on the needles that I want to finish before October. A group on Ravelry will be knitting (I think) the Nutkin sock in October, and I'd like to join them. Photos of the Cobblestone sweater to follow...I'm guessing it will take several days to dry.

Overcast with a chance of knitting

I have a feeling that this blog isn't going to be around for too much longer. I've come to the realization, after gradually unsubscribing to most of my digiscrapping newsletters, that I'm probably not a scrapbooker at all anymore. All my free time and most of my brain space are devoted to knitting now. I haven't scrapped a page in months. And I kind of don't want to have my main web identity to have the word "scrap" in it anymore. So probably over the next few weeks I'll scope out some new blog possibilities, probably just stick with good ol' Blogger but better to see what my options are, and then I'll let anyone who still checks in know where I've gone to. So, no go on that job. At least, I never got called for an interview so I assume it's no-go. My mom tells me to be patient, that the gears grind slowly at a public institution, but after a month I have the feeling that it's not going anywhere. I still have my eyes open, but I can't imagine anything more perfect than the situation I tried for. The kids are starting a new venture tonight...karate. Dan isn't thrilled because he thinks it's too "disciplined and militaristic." Me, I don't go for militaristic either but I think the discipline is exactly what a couple of smart-but-slacker kids need. Heck, I probably should get my butt out there too for all that. The best part is that they'll be in the same class at the same time, so no going back and forth four nights a week like with soccer. And I can sit and KIP while they learn. I hope there are chairs or bleachers or something. School is going well. Rebecca is taking advanced math and hates it. So far, each "problem of the day" has been incredibly difficult, and she doesn't like it when she can't breeze through stuff. The worksheets aren't bad at all, but they take a bit more time than she spent on math last year. I think as she gets into it, things will be better. She can do it, she just doesn't want to work that hard (see the "slacker" reference in the karate paragraph above). Ben is doing very well. He just did his reading evaluation and is now set into his reading level (level M, whatever that means). At home he's reading the Animorphs series of books right now, which is really at a fourth or fifth grade level, so I think he's doing fine for a second grader. :) He still has his hazy, out-of-focus moments, but they seem to be fewer than last year. Fingers crossed. Today: I'll be running between the washing machine and the sleeves of Dan's Cobblestone. I was really, really hoping I'd have it done for his birthday, which is Friday, but that's looking less and less likely as the days float by. I'm past the sleeve increases and just knitting around, and around, and around, and around...I'm looking forward to attaching the sleeves to the body and hitting the home stretch of the yoke. If I get a lot done today, I'll be more optimistic about hitting my deadline. He knows it won't be done in time and he's totally okay with it. I'd just like to surprise him by getting it done in time.

From Home to Home Again

I went "home" for eight days to visit my mom and dad, as well as my brother and his family. But you know what? I felt even more than usual that when I arrived back in NY that I was truly "home." When my little family of four is together, then we are all home. I didn't even take my camera! The only photos I have are of the scarf and hat I sent Dad for Father's Day, because I forgot to photograph them before I mailed them. I'm full of barbeque and Krispy Kremes and Mom's good cookin'. We had a wonderful time despite not catching one single solitary fish.

Holy crap, what have I done?

I just applied for a job. Dan and I have had conversations over the past years in which he mentions gently that it might be time soon for me to start looking for a job, and they always end up with me in tears. I love being here for the kids if they need me during the day, but it's time I faced facts and realized that I am BORED at home. And I guess nothing is ever going to get me motivated enough to start cleaning regularly. So why not contribute to the income, right? I found a proofreading position at Stony Brook University, and over the past few days I've been mentally writing up a resume and cover letter. Today I sat down and the computer and wrote them up. Dan the Resume Man helped me edit, and just a moment ago I clicked "send" and sent them off. I'm actually excited about this opportunity because they're flexible with the job being full or part time. I'm still adamant that I want to be home when the kids get out of school, so I could easily do part time hours. Fingers crossed that I get called for an interview. But I am still shaking a little.

Disaster Cake

Ben's party went very, very well. Four children called at the last minute to say they could come, which made me very happy, and we still came in right at the number of attendees that we estimated for the Mad Science people. Our Mad Scientist was funny and engaging, and he managed the kids wonderfully. They were very well behaved, so he didn't have much to do in that regard, but he had a good grip on how to allow them to call out without it turning into chaos. There was only one problem all day. Me. I was a completely klutzical mess. I think I spilled, dropped or broke at least five or six things throughout the course of the day. The most embarrassing was when I was bringing out the cake (more on the cake in a minute) covered with sparklers and steaming potions, then hit the cake tray on the inside of the doorway and spilled one of the potions all over the floor. But that was nothing compared to the Disaster Cake. I decided I was going to make the cake myself. So Saturday night I baked one sheet cake and realized it looked kinda puny. So I baked a second one. Sunday morning we were doing final preparations with the guests due to arrive around 1:30, and I decided around 12:00 to go ahead and ice the cake. I iced the top of the first sheet cake, put the second on top and began to ice it. And you know how when you bake a cake it's kind of domed on the top? Well I didn't bother to cut off the tops of the cake because it seemed like a waste. However, because the flat side of the top layer was sitting on top of the domed bottom layer, the top layer started to bend until I had a literal canyon running down the center of the top layer. There wasn't enough icing in the world to make it look like anything less than a disaster. Dan suggested we just take the top layer off and put them side by side. I could ice over any mess. But as you can see by the photo below, it was too far gone. So at 12:30 I ran to the grocery store and nearly shook the bakery girl by the shoulders while crying, "You have to help me!!!" In moments they had a perfect yellow 1/4 sheet cake with white icing that I could take home and decorate with a mad science theme. Unfortunately I don't have a still photo of the finished cake, but Dan promises me he did get some video. And the Disaster Cake was a good chatting point during the party because I didn't want to throw it out...it still tasted fine! We did have to come inside because it began to drizzle during the last half hour or so, but everyone who wanted to did get to swim for a while. And for the most part the weather was gorgeous. So aside from my embarrassing moments, which I think weren't that big a deal to anyone but me, the party was a success. And then I had a beer. PS: I finished a pair of socks this morning.

Party time!

Ben is turning 7 on Monday, so we are throwing him a big bash tomorrow. He's never had a really nice party so far. It feels really unfair, but it seems like Rebecca gets all the good parties. So this time around we're having a MAD SCIENCE party! There's a company called Mad Science that sends out people to put on a show with cool experiments, lots of bubbles and smoke and stuff, and since Ben is such a science fanatic he's really psyched for it. We have 10 kids coming, and Dan has really outdone himself planning for other activities besides just the show. The show has quite a bit of audience participation (particularly for the birthday kid), but Dan also has homemade, nontoxic lava lamps, rubber ball making, and bubbles. Plus he wants to put dry ice in the pool. That one I'm no so sure about, but we'll see what happens. :P There's still a lot to do. Tonight I'm making the cake and tomorrow I'll decorate it with beakers of colored water steaming with dry ice, sparkling candles, and (hopefully) cool icing. I'm already tired just from getting the house ready today, but I'm very excited and I hope he'll enjoy himself and feel very special tomorrow. He's just the best boy in the world and he deserves to have a fantastic day. I opened a can of Coke and poured it in a glass with a little rum. I haven't eaten since breakfast (it's now almost 7pm) so I don't want to overdo it, but I do like a good rum n coke every now and again. I may have to save it for later though. The party people across the street (not the ones with the perpetual Christmas decorations but the ones with the spoiled rich kids) are having another party tonight, and I may need the help of Mr. Bacardi to get to sleep once the noise level goes up.