I did some shopping

This is an illness. Seriously.

Last evening I stopped at my LYS and picked up a pattern for a hooded baby sweater (my niece and a friend are both pregnant). I also picked up some yarn for both sweaters. Very cool stuff. Bright yellow and deep red. I guess I'm not into "baby" colors for babies. These sweaters are great. They have zippers up the back. Z-man had a sweater that had a zipper up the back and it was wonderful. They get knitted from the hood down.

I also decided to jump in and get the Knitpick needles. I ordered the set. I also ordered a 40" and 60" cable and a size 15 tips.

While I was at it, I also ordered some more yarn. I ordered a couple skeins of sock yarn, some Memories yarn for felted bowls. I'm planning on sending a skein of yarn and a pattern to my SP8 and Summer Fling Pals.

I'm going to send my One Skein Pal some sock yarn and a pattern for some really nice socks.

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Ah, its an illness. A really bad illness, but its safer than transquilizers!!! Gee, I wonder if I could take my knitting habit as a medical expense.

This is stupid and non knitting related, well maybe

Why is it that I am always the one to find the empty roll . . . you know the empty toilet paper roll, the empty paper towel roll. I thought it was just at home, but twice today, I have replaced the empty roll at work in the coffee room.

Dave too find the empty rolls at home, but the kids are semi-blind to it. I say semi-blind, because they will leave one square on the roll. Therefore, it is fair to assume that they know it is coming to an end but doesn't want to have toe change the roll. I realize that it is sooooooo hard to do so. For the toilet paper in all the bathrooms, it is a matter of either bending down and getting a new roll out of the cabinet or, in the case of the kid's bathroom, we keep them stacked on the back of the toilet (dual purpose in that it keeps them from piling it high with "STUFF"). The paper towels are a little more difficult in that they have to go to the garage . . . hmm, ten steps to the kitchen door, ten steps into the garage, repeat on the return . . . and there isn't a HOLDER. We keep the paper towels on the counter top between the sink and the breakfast bar.

At work, the paper towels are stored in a cabinet directly above the holder.

I know, it is the unwrapping that frightens them. Maybe I'll do a manual or training class on unwrapping.

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The bowl for the One Skein project is becoming a project. Somehow, I miscounted the cast on. DUH. and have five more stitches. I am at the decrease and have been frogged the last couple of rows more than once. Bah humbug!

Wendy's bag on the other hand will be ready for felting by this weekend. You (whomever reads this) are my witness(es) that it will be done this weekend. Seriously. Really. I will do it as soon as I am finished replacing all the toilet paper and paper towel rolls in the house.

Why is everything taking so long

I finally finished the long strap on Wendy's Lucy bag . . . I think it took longer to knit those 17 stitches 200 times than it did to knit the rest of the bag. I have a good four inches done on the short strap. And, I think I have that whole Kitchner's thing down. I did not cast on Z-man's sweater this weekend. We, Dave, Lindsey and Z-man went outlet shopping. I love shopping with Dave. I always feel so guilty when I buy stuff that is extravagent and he just does it. We bought new cocktail tumblers at Mikasa. They were $8 each and we bought four. He also bought seven new shirts. I have to cut the sleeves off of two of them since he won't wear long sleeves but he really liked the colors.

Anyway, on the way to Lodi, I managed to get mucho of the strap done. On the way back though we took the scenic route and had the windows rolled down. It was a lovely drive and I didn't do any knitting.

Last night (Sunday), I had the tv on, knitting in hand and Elizabeth Zimmerman's instructions on Kitchner's at hand. Dave commented on the fact that I was watching tv, reading and knitting? HA! I am superwoman. I did point out to him finally, that the knitting and reading go hand-in-hand.

We are going to have a discussion over the fact that he keeps messing with my knitting stuff. I have my knitting needle case, two bags (one with books, one with WIP) next to chair. During the summer months, he becomes the domestic diva and vacuums. A lot. And moves the furniture. And keeps messing with my stuff. He picks it up, puts it on the chair that I sit on and doesn't put it back. Makes me crazed.

This morning I was working on my bowl for my one skein SP. But for whatever reason, I have decided that knitting on the morning bus hurts. I must sit funny or something. Maybe I should switch sits. It also doesn't help that one of regular riders gets on and friggin always opens the window. I end up wanting to wrap my knitting around myself. Its morning. I've only been awake 45 minutes. I want to be snuggling in my bed with a blanket and he opens the stupid window. I think, tomorrow, I will sit in his seat!

No knitting this weekend

Okay, simple equation here. There are 24 hours in the day. No matter what day of the week you are talking about there are still only 24 hours in any given day. However, if you stay up past midnight on any given day, you will then be able to really push that whole issue . . . but I guess that would mean that you would have had to get up at 12:01 or something.

Anyway, last week and this week I have way to much stuff to do and 24 hours a day isn't going to cut it.

I was in charge of the United Way raffle that we did last week . . . it went very well. We raised over $1,700. Not too shabby. I was disappointed that I did not win the tickets to WICKED. I did, however, win a gift certificate to a nice restaurant that is a favorite lunch place. I have invited a friend that can't usually afford to lunch and won't even allow me to occasionally "buy." Since it is a freebie, it should work okay.

I had my presentation on Thursday (went very well . . . at least in my mind). It was on Eli Lilly and is a case study for my Capstone course. Ah, capstone, another issue for another blog. I have my case analysis that is due this Thursday. "Should be simple because you are basically using the same information that was used for the presentation in the case analysis." Well, at least that is what the prof said . . . she lied by the way.

So, I have a 12 to 15 page report due this Thursday. I also have to read some Ethics stuff . . . even the prof says is boring . . . and have six worksheets with respect to the reading that is also due Thursday. It is on Confucious, Hinduism, Judai/Christianity, etc. zzzzzzzzzzzz
oops sorry I started to doze . . . .

I didn't knit all weekend. Nothing. Never ever touched it since Wednesday morning. I had school Thursday and it is the only day of the week that I don't bring my knitting on the bus (I review school work instead and don't take a lunch). I had a car pick me up at 5:30 a.m. and worked until 6:30 on Friday, had a dentist Saturday morning and then came straight to the office until 3:30 and then we went to neighbors for the evening. Later, I worked on my paper.

On Sunday, we took Linds to BW for the string camp. She will have a wonderful time. The campers sleep in dorm rooms. They wake at 7:00 and are out of the dorms by 8:30 a.m. They have sectional/orchestra rehearsals and private lessons in the a.m., after lunch they have recreation activities, then dinner, more rehearsals and then more recreation and back to the dorms at 9:30 p.m. The goal is to not only teach the kids how to work as a team and orchestra but to absolutely exhaust them! Check in was at 11:30 and was totally disorganized. I don't think that it was the school that was disorganized more like there seemed to be too many parents that had too many stupid questions. The school specifically said: DO NOT BRING YOUR LUGGAGE OR INSTRUMENTS TO CHECK IN. Anyone want to venture a guess as to how many parents and students were standing there with luggage and instruments????

Anyway, we didn't get home until after 4:00 p.m. Since it was 90+ degrees, Z-man and I first spent some quality time in the pool and then he vegged out watching Wizard of Oz and I wrote thank you notes to all the people who helped with the raffle. After he went to bed, and I had a glass of wine, I went back to my paper. I hate my paper. It is the SECOND last one I have to do and I hate it.

Back to the 24 hours, I don't have time. Nevertheless, yesterday I kept trying to figure out how I could squeeze in time to cast on Z-man's sweater. I thought about bringing the yarn on the bus with me this morning and balling it but decided that would be silly.

Actually, to be honest, except for my bus time, I cannot knit until this paper is done. Well, maybe I'll knit tomorrow at lunch . . . but I probably should work on my paper or the ethics stuff . . . oh, bah humbug.

Books, I bought me some books

Ah, someday I will be able to get to them all and make adequate use . . . but alas, it won't be today! Well, especially since I ordered the books from Amazon and they won't be here until Friday!!

Anyhow, I ordered three books from Amazon.com. Two knitting and one really weird one but one that I know that I will use.

The non knitting one will only be appreciated by anyone who has ever had to live through incredibly boring powerpoint presentations. They can be hideous and real snorers. It is called Beyond Bullet Points.

Now doesn't that just sound so incredibly exciting!!!

I have a presentation to do Thursday night (a powerpoint no less) and after listening to this guy's podcast and the information he provided, I am going to have to change my presentation . . . oh, yeah, tomorrow is Thursday . . . hmmmm, I shouldn't be blogging . . .

Anyway, the other two books are knitting related and since I am really getting into reference materials, I have decided that I would just buy the things for me. So, at the same time I am getting my powerpoint book, I will be getting:

and

However, I went back and forth on the Yarn Harlot books and moved them to my wishlist. I'll wait another day for those.

Non Knitting Stuff

I have only six more weeks of school . . .

I feel like a kid when we were getting out of school . . . happy dance, happy dance!!!

I have a presentation this Thursday (worth 35% of my grade) and 10-15 page paper (worth 25% of the grade - due a week from Thursday) and then all I have left is a five week Ethics course and the teacher is awesome. He did our Action Research Projects and besides being funny, articulate and cute, he seems really interested in what we are doing and how to do a better job of it. I have to find some nice woman for him. Really, really.

I've spoken with the people at CSU regarding the MBA and the missed classes (will have to make up the Team Dynamics at Progressive in Fall 2007 . . . gee that seems so far away) but will be able to start the rest of the program in mid-August and will be done with my MBA in June 2007 (well, except for that nagging Team Dynamics which will take six hours over two classes times).

Z-man goes to Zoo Camp tomorrow -- 9:00 to 4:00 with all kinds of fun activities -- giving Dave an opportunity to clean his classroom without a five year old underfoot!! Maybe he will be able to get his entire classroom done by Friday. There is a 3:00 p.m. program on Friday for parents.

Linds goes to string camp at BW on Sunday. It is totally different kind of camp for her. And, yes, she does have to take her violin. But she will have a great time. We bought her portable music stand today and extra strings. Phew, those extra strings are expensive! $29 for a set and even though this isn't a knitting post, I can only imagine the yarn I could have bought.

Speaking of which I also bought Size 15 DPNs yesterday at LYS. I need them for the bowls.

We did find knee socks at Target for her for school next year. The school dress code has changed that requires that only knee socks may be worn. She and her girlfriends thought it would be cool if I would knit up a couple pair for them! HA!!!!

Anyway, I need to get back to my presentation . . . and, oh, yeah . . .

Happy dance, happy dance . . . this long process of my getting my BA is finally coming to an end!

p.s. Mom and Dad, I know that you know that I finally did it . . . 34 years after HS graduation but I finally did it!! I love you. Too!

There are days and then there are others . . .

Didja ever just have one of those weeks?? I cannot even begin to tell you how weird this week has been.

Among other things, I had bought some yarn for my One Skein SP project awhile ago. There I was knitting away and, to be honest, I bought the stuff on sale. I talked to the woman at the LYS about it (it was in the $5 bin) and she said "sure it will felt." Today, I was at the same LYS trying to find some yarn for a wallaby sweater for Z-man and the some of the same yarn was in the same bin but this stuff had labels. In fact, one of the staff was rewinding an entire box of different yarns some of which was this stuff. It turns out that the stuff I was going to buy was Superwash. Oh, crap!! I had just spent the last week and two balls of yarn making a bowl that won't felt. LESSON LEARNED: only buy stuff with labels, no matter what the staff says! However, on the upside, when I was knitting with this stuff, I kept thinking what a wonderful cowl it would make. So, I will get a cowl and I bought my SP new yarn to make a bowl (and I did, indeed, read the labels!!).

Z-man graduated from kindergarten this past Thursday. I didn't cry. Really, I didn't. I really only had something in my eye! It was a wonderful ceremony with all the kids, Fr. Mike was great and Mr. H was also wonderful. Fr. Mike introduced Dave and told all the kids and parents how blessed they were to go from Mr. H to Mr. J in first grade. To be honest, it is really wonderful that the school has some incredible males to be role models . . . especially since so many of the kids do not have positive male role models in their lives. Anyway, Fr. Mike also commiserated with Z-man over the fact that next year, he will be blessed (or condemned) by having his father for his teacher.

Fr. Mike started his comments talking about the fact that the garden at the rectory is finally at the point where they can plant flowers (they had a fire a couple of years ago and much of the stuff from the fire was dumped in the garden area). Anyway, he asked for donations of perennial plants. He said that they were, once again, overwhelmed with the generosity of the parishiners and neighbors.

He then proceeded to thank the parents for allowing the school to nurish their flowers and plants . . . in that we have allowed the children to be like the plants . . . cared for and loved by some really wonderful people.

Mr. H, the kindergarten teacher, is a wonderful guy. He presented each of the children with special awards. There were awards for being the most improved, for trying the hardest, for being the friendliest, for being artistic, for being the most energetic, for being a leader, etc. Z-man got an award for alway having a ready smile, every day, morning and evening.
Ah, I sat there and wondered how much this might impact the kids in the long run. Would there always be that point where Z-man isn't just feeling like smiling but will because, after all Mr. H gave him the award for always being there with a ready smile.

It was a wonderful day.

One Skein Pal

I received a skein of Bernat's denim style yarn from my One Skein Secret Pal. It is a purple and white and is almost like a heather. The pattern on the label has a hat and scarf on it. I'm thinking that it will match my youngest DD's winter coat. She is always cold and I can see her hunkered down and snuggling with a warm cap made with her favorite color. Very cool!

Dyeing yarn

I spent some time with my siblings this weekend. One of my older sisters has taken up dyeing yarn. She had two skeins that she did and they are beautiful.

I have started the handles on Wendy's Lucy bag. I was going to do an I-Cord on the bind offs but just couldn't get it to work so I just did a standard bind off. The handles are not that difficult, just tedious. I want to get this done this week and get it felted by the end of the week. I am going to use a balloon to do the shaping for it.

I didn't get mucho knitting done this weekend as I have two much homework to do. This strategic planning stuff is exhausting. I need to really focus and organize it better. There is too much data and we have to whittle it down to five pages. And the worst part is that it is boring!

My SP8 sent me some awesome stuff

I received a package from my Secret Pal. I don't have my camera with me so I cannot post pictures of everything, but here is what I received:


I have looked at this book sooooo many times. I am so excited. I love bags. I don't know which one to start with. Ohhhhh.

And then . . . there were these:





They are great additions to support my stamping "habit"!

I also received some beaded stitch holders . . . they have beautiful, a pale green, marbelized beads.

I also received a note card set and even though I love the internet and email, I also love sending personal notes and cards. These are beautiful.

There was also a great box which will be a great place to store some of my knitting do-dads . . . and I have lots of them . . . but then again, you can't have too many!!

Again, thanks so much. I love this stuff. What fun.

HAPPY JUNE!

I love June.

I love the weather and the beginning of the season. I love working in the garden and doing battle with the weeds!

I love the fact that my kids will play outside.

I love going to bed with all the windows open and waking up to the sounds of the birds. I will even tolerate my oldest daughter's complaining about the lack of air conditioning because the birds twitter louder than she does.

I love the fact that school is almost over and Dave and the kids will spend quality time at home and he will tell them to leave me alone at work. He is the sweetest guy. I love the fact that because he will be home, the dishes will be done and dinner will be ready. I love that he takes them places (the zoo, the dentist, the doctor, the orthodontist) and doesn't resent doing this.

I love sitting on the back porch in the evening, with a glass of wine and watching the kids swim in the pool. Or sitting on the back porch with Dave and a glass of wine and knowing that the kids are all tucked in bed.

I love June.