December 28

Nothing exciting to write about.

Here's my day:

• made banana bread
• worked some
• went to the Y for the first time in 7 years or so
• played a game of Mousetrap

Now I'm waiting on my mother to come over to babysit the kids. She offered today. I took her up on it. Now at 8:15, I decided to call. She thought I meant tomorrow night. She was still in her pajamas. I should have learned my lesson by now. She did say that she would get dressed and come over. But I'm sure she's not happy about it.

She's suppose to sit for us on New Year's. I think I'll tell her no. I'm sick of the flakiness. I love my mom, but she's like that.

FO: Celeste's hat

FO: J's sweater

 

FO: sidekick

 

FO: Dream swatch

My year of knitting

So I decided back in March that I needed a hobby and decided to knit.

Here is my list of FOs for the year

1. Stiped felted bag
2. Clapotis
3. Fetching
4. Marrakesh bag
5. Leg warmers
6. Safi hat
   
7. headband
8. wristbands
9. baby hat
10. camo hat
11. calorimetry
12. dream swatch
13. sidekick
14. J's sweater
15. vine lace baby hat

I only have one UFO, the touring wrap. Plus I have yarn for more projects, MSCS, dashing & something with my second skein of suri blue. J&A are asking for hats & scarves. So
Wow. That's quite a bit. I guess I'll continue my hobby into 2008

Christmas is over

We survived the holiday. Children are overly laden in gifts. Way too much stuff but they had fun. A hasn't put down her new Felicity doll. And she's carrying her around with Kaya. I was afraid that Kaya might get left behind, but they are sisters and best friends and they go everywhere together. J is all into the wii and he's been playing with his new games. B just wonders around following J trying to play whatever J's got.

DH came home from his parents on Christmas night and said, they got our kids more than we got them. Both of us are feeling the excess and not liking it. His mother is all about spending a certain amount on them. I'm all about not getting $600 in toys for Christmas. Not sure what we'll do about that, but we have about 300 more days before she starts bugging us for a Christmas list.

I had a lovely Christmas. First of all, my gift of the Wii was the ultimate gift. DH opened it and exclaimed "You win!" He always surprises me and I rarely surprise him. I definitely got him this year. Only poor baby B isn't happy with it because we won't let him play. He doesn't like watching, he wants in on the action.

I got a bunch of books: Dorie Greenspan's Baking, Chronicle Books Birthday Cake book, a Pie cookbook, a mother/daughter craft book, Last Minute knitted gifts. DH laughed at me because I went to bed reading a cookbook last night. I also got little stuff, a card reader, a phone charger and Ultra Fine Sharpies in all colors. I love my new sharpies. They make such nice crisp lines.

Overall, it was a nice Christmas but now I need to get some work done and start thinking about going to the grocery store. Today it is back to regular life.

I hope

I think I can I think I can I think I can

The sleeves are done. I'm weaving in ends in every spare moment I have. I might never knit another sweater but I will definitely never knit another single stripe sweater. Too many ends.

I'm very tempted today to tell my children to leave me alone and be quiet, I have a sweater to finish. But I did promise cut out cookies for Santa & soft trees for Daddy's Christmas present. Plus I have some bananas that need to be made into bread.

I will do all of this and stay up all night if I have to. I want this sweater to end.

A miracle may happen

Okay, it might not be a miracle, but I might possibly maybe perhaps finish J's sweater before Christmas!

I have 7 rows left to do on the first sleeve. Then the second sleeve. Then the seaming. Then picking up and knitting the collar. I have until Monday late morning to get it done. We're celebrating Christmas at my sister's on Christmas eve and then attending the afternoon Children's mass at 4:00. So I have about 72 hours to get it done.

Here's why it might happen. Kids get out of school at noon. We're taking them directly over to the ILs to spend the night. DH is golfing in late morning tomorrow. I'm leaving the kids at the ILs and taking advantage of the quiet time. I'll be able to just sit and knit without interruption.

Shoot, if I can just get the sleeves done by tomorrow, I'll stay up as late as I have to on Sunday to finish the darn thing. But it does require a trip to the store. I need a 16" circs to pick up and knit the collar. I'm not sure I want to try it on dpns.

I'll just be the Little Engine that Could. I think I can, I think I can, I think I can.

Done!

I volunteered for the position of room mom, but I'm not sure what I was thinking at the time.

I found out on Tuesday that they don't plan the class parties for the preschool like they do in the grade school. In the grade school, the party comes in a bag. There is a craft, a game, a snack and goody bags. You split the kids up and follow the directions and everyone is happy. I talked to the grade rep who directed me to the teacher who directed me to the other teacher who said my room mom planned our party. You can just do whatever you want.

That was on Tuesday. The party was Thursday morning.

Well, it is now Thursday morning and somehow I managed to pull it off. Last night the kids and I made chocolate chip cookies. I spent an hour cutting out ornament shapes for the craft. Then I was worried that I wouldn't have enough for the kids to do and I didn't have a goody bag. I made a quick batch of rice krispy treats, cut them big and wrapped them up for each kid.

Today was chaotic but we got it done. The one mom who offered to help actually forgot. Okay, I only asked one mom to help so it wasn't like the other moms refused. It was so last minute, I figured it was too late to try and round up help. I happened to run into this mom in the parking lot and she asked what she could do to help. I said, "Bring coffee filters." Then I saw her running down the hall after the play with keys in hand. Luckily the teacher was able to find a stack of filters in the lounge and all went according to plan.

We made coffee filter snowflakes, iced & decorated graham crackers and made these ornaments The room was a mess when we were done. Green sprinkles, little triangles of coffee filters and tissue paper squares were everywhere. The forgetful mom and her husband were a blessing. They manned a couple of tables and helped the kids with the crafts. But best of all, the children had fun.

I meant to take pictures. I wanted pictures of the kids with their ornaments but I was a little bit busy. Oh well.

Now I can relax until Valentine's Day.

Transformers are a whipping

Last night was J's birthday party. We did it Pump it Up with one of his best buddies. M's birthday is 12/20. J's birthday is 12/30. M likes to remind J that he is 10 days older!

This was his first 'real' birthday party where we invited friends from school. J was very excited about it. The party went pretty well. He only cried when he got a small rub burn on his chin when he slipped off of something. I'm not quite sure what happened.

We got home last night and opened all the presents. This morning we unpackaged everything. All I can say is girl toys are soooo much easier. DH & I have been reading diagrams and transforming and un-transforming StarWars guys, Megatron, Power Rangers all day long. My finger tips actually hurt from pushing & pulling plastic apart. If we ever lose the directions, we're in for it. I'll never be able to turn Chewbacca & Han Solo back into the Millennium Falcon again. I have never bought these toys for J before. I'm much more of a car/book/train/blocks kind of mom. But that's what birthday parties are all about. Getting a bunch of stuff that Mom normally won't give you.

All I can say is

URGHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Work is a beating today, and yesterday and the day before, well since I got back from Jamaica. It isn't post vacation blues, it just that everything is going wrong.

For the most part, these are existing errors that I did not create. But the task of figuring out all of the legacy code and trying to explain the problem to people who aren't programmers and have been using this code for years and it has always worked before. Not fun.

I'm ready for a break but I don't know when I'll get it.

I think I'll go do sudoku and relax a bit.

So what's wrong with being Mom?

My husband & I were laying in bed talking. We do this often because it is generally the only peaceful time we get to talk without interruption. The original topic I don't remember, but the conversation turned to F (the BIL) and DH musing about how they are worried that I'm going to turn into Wowa (the grandmother name for my mother.)

DH says that he and Frank are concerned that I'm going to turn into a reclusive old lady who only knits. I'll spend all my extra money on yarn and I'll turn out (probably unwanted according to F) presents for all the family members. I asked him what he would like for me to do instead. He said that when we retire, he wants season tickets to all the sport teams in town and we'll got to games 3-4 nights a week and travel. That he would not sit home and watch me knit.

I had to defend my mother.

My mother still works a long hard fulltime job at the medical school but she spends all of her spare time and probably most of her money quilting. She goes to multiple quilting groups during the week. She does First Saturday quilt blocks at one shop, Third Sunday at another. She has multiple quilts being pieced at the same time. She goes on quilting weekends where she and a bunch of women take their machines to the country and sew. She lives for quilting but she is by no means a weird recluse locked up her room sewing. She is very social, she goes out 2-3 nights a week, she spends time with her friends, she is so busy that we hardly see her.

I told DH that his sporting events are to him as quilting nights are to Wowa. (How SAT of me!) Just because he doesn't enjoy what she does, it doesn't make her wierd or strange. They just like different things.

He agreed that I had a point. Besides, he pointed out a quilt that he liked and mom made it for him. He can't complain too much.

Total DH Vent

Okay, I don't think he reads this blog, but he knows I'm pissy right now so I don't care if I vent and he reads.

I know I've got it pretty good. He doesn't treat me like a possession, he isn't demeaning to me, he doesn't try to make me look stupid in front of people, he doesn't tell me I'm wrong when clearly he is wrong, especially in public in front of strangers and friends. And I know a husband like this, so I know I've got it pretty good.

He does do the dishes and sweep the kitchen floor. He does his own laundry and he is really handy at fixing things. He normally gets up with the kids on weekends. My oven, which has not been working since we bought this house and failed on me at many family gatherings involving lots of oven cooked food, finally seems to be working since he Macgyvered it. So I do appreciate somethings about him.

But for the past 7 1/2 years, I have been getting up and getting the child/ren ready for the day. We are not morning people, except for J who likes to get up at the crack of 5:00 am. We are all grumpy in the morning. A & I growl at each other and suffer through, some days with tears on both our parts. I make breakfast, cajole the kids into getting dressed, make lunches, make sure all bags are packed & teeth are brushed, all while counting down the time. "It is now 7:12, we have to leave in 18 minutes. You still have to finish breakfast, put on your shoes, comb your hair & brush your teeth." It is not fun at all.

I woke up this morning and instinctively knew that this was going to be one of those days. J for some reason slept past 5:00 am. He came into our room at 6:50 wanting someone to turn on the tv. (Why he can't turn on the tv in the morning is beyond me. He can turn it on at any other time of day. He has to wake us up in the morning to turn it on for him, but that is beside the point.) I realized I was late. I should have been up 10 minutes before. I climbed out of bed and just couldn't do it. I jumped back under the covers and told C that today was his morning to take care of the children. He had the gall to say "No, that's your job, I don't know how." I'm still feeling pissy about it. I just wanted a morning without conflict and yelling and to stay all cozy under the covers. I got up and did it.

This what makes me mad. Here is a typical morning for C. He gets up after the kids are up and moving. He gets the newspaper, he takes part of the newspaper off for his daily bathroom trip. 20 minutes or so later, he returns to the kitchen. He fixes a bowl of cereal and leaves the box out on the counter, generally right in the middle of my lunch making stuff. He sits down, eats his cereal, reads the newspaper with an occasional aside "Listen to your mother" or "Put on your shoes." I sometimes will tell J to go have his father help him brush his teeth or put on his shoes. C will grumble and do this. Then as I'm rushing the kids to get in the car, he gets pouty and acts hurt if we don't all kiss him goodbye.

The only good thing about this morning was that C ran out of his favorite cereal. He came into the kitchen and said that he could tell it was going to be a bad morning. Woe is him. Poor thing!

But as he likes to remind me, I've got it lucky, he does the dishes.

The Pink Firetruck cake

This is for my friend in TN. My red always turns out pink!

Tinker Tree & Basketball

We saw one of these on A Little Hut and we had to make one of our own.

Look at that form

Player & Coach

Friday evening

I'm sitting back and enjoying a beer. It is the end of the week. I think this is my relaxing part of the weekend so I'm going to enjoy it.

Tomorrow we've got basketball from 9-11, bday party from 12-2, bday party from 3-5. Sunday all we have is church but I also have to do a bunch of work this weekend. I've got to make database changes that can't be done during the week while people are using the system. It shouldn't be too hard but it is a lot of work.

Knitting - I have to felt the purse I made for my sister. I started trying to crochet bookmarks for the teachers, but I've decided that I don't have enough experience at crochet to handle it. I'll just write a note instead. I need to start the sleeves on J's sweater. I'd love to have his sweater done for Christmas. Of course if the weather here continues as it has been, he'll be able to wear his easter outfit instead of a wool sweater.

Kind of a boring post. But that's what you get.

Making things, part II

I suggested that the kids make things for each other for Christmas instead of buying things. Both A&J thought it was a good idea.

A made a stable for her plastic horses out of paper towels & cardboard. She wants to make one for J too. J isn't sure what to make for A but I think I'll suggest making blank books like one's I've seen on crafty blogs. Maybe SouleMama or Angry Chicken. She loves writing stories so she'll like it. Plus I've been itching to make one.

I need to come up with something for the kids to make for DH. We have the fallback of new slippers and a cd, but making something would be way more fun.

I'm excited!

Room Mom

Well, Friday was the bad boy's last day at school. I volunteered awhile ago so the lack of a room mom wouldn't be an obstacle to removing him from the school. They took me up on it.

I don't have an email/contact list for the class. Thursday is St. Nicholas Day and I have to fill the shoes. There are still a couple of kids who haven't been student of the week but I'm not sure who is left. There is a Christmas party at some point before the 21st. I have to figure all of this stuff out soon. I have to call the class coordinator tonight.

I hope it won't be too hard. I hope the boy gets help. I hope it helps the class and the teacher.

Now if we can just make sure that J's desserts aren't eaten anymore, then life in DK will be good.

Posting from Jamaica

I did it. I managed to finish 13 miles. I was doing great through 6 miles. I was happy to hit 7, half way done. At 8 I was wondering again why in the hell I signed up to do this. At 9 I wanted to turn around. I was told the turn around was at 9. It wasn't, it was at 9.5. I kept going. I did really well walking & running for the first 8 miles, but I walked most of the way after that. But I finished. And I finished it faster than I ever thought I would. So that was good.

Now, we're just lazy around, reading books, drinking drinks (although there is way too many fruity rum things, I've been sticking to the occasional gin & tonic), napping and eating. It is nice.

One bad thing about Jamaica. No diet coke. It is all pepsi. I've gone cold turkey.

Training 11/29

I haven't updated in awhile. My blog updates did help me keep on track for quite awhile but the bake sale/thanksgiving/general ennui overcame that need for accountability. Honestly, I finally gave up. I know that I will finish the race. But I also know that I won't run the whole thing or break any kind of speed record.

We leave tomorrow. I'm not prepared. I bet that even if I had followed the whole training regime, I would still feel unprepared. Plus one benefit of taking two weeks off, my calf isn't hurting at all. Not a bit. Maybe my body knew it needed the break. A little justification can't hurt, can it?

Maybe someday I will decide to do this again. Maybe I will decide to do it for me and for the challenge instead of succumbing to peer pressure and the incentive of a trip. Then maybe I can get past that mental wall that I never broke. But then again, going 13.2 miles is just crazy. What am I thinking? I'll never do this again.

Panic

I went to run errands this morning. I get to my first stop and realize I don't have my new credit card. I start to freak, internally. I mean, I can't cry in front of the clerk at Sports Authority. So I rummage through the junk stuffed at the bottom of my purse as my heart drops to the bottom of my stomach and pray that I don't have to tell my husband that I am the irresponsible just like my mother lose everything because I stuff it in my purse instead of taking the time to put it in my wallet person he sometimes thinks I am. As I left the store, I try to calm down and start to think about when I last used the card. My first thought is the last time I used it was on Friday, Black Friday, the worst shopping day of all. I went to like a hundred (or maybe 5) stores. And the last one I was at was Walmart. The worst one of all. I then spend the next 10 minutes trying to remember what I did the rest of the weekend and did I use my card at all. But by then, the panic has gotten to me and I can't remember a single second of the rest of my weekend. I finally decide that I haven't used the card since Friday. But there is nothing I can do until I get home. I will just finish my errands and go home.

Well, after a few stops, I am finally on my way home. I then notice the annoying dash notification telling me I have 15% left on my oil life and I need to get an oil change. I push the button to make it disappear and my mileage appear instead. Then I see, my miles are only at 30.6 miles. I remember. I put gas in the car on Monday. It was cold. I had on my coat. I know where my new credit card is!!! In the pocket of my coat!!!

The panic subsided and the relief was calming. I don't have to admit I'm to my husband I lost a credit card. Life is good.

What's with the kids in J's class????

Over the weekend we baked brownies. So for a treat yesterday, I gave each of the kids a brownie in their lunch. It was suppose to be a surprise but they caught me putting them in.

Yesterday afternoon, J asked me why I didn't give him a brownie. I told him I did. He told me when he ate his lunch there was no brownie. I asked A if I accidentally put 2 brownies in her lunch, she said no, she only had one.

J's response was "I guess M took it." I asked him why he thought M would take his brownie, he responded that she does that. I told him that I would send one in his lunch today but he said he didn't want one, because M would eat it again. I told him that I would give him a brownie and talk to the teacher.

So in carpool line this morning I asked the teacher if they had problems with food in the class. She asked what M had taken. I guess this is something that has been going on for awhile. I told her that J's brownie was missing yesterday. The teacher's aide said she had caught M by the lunches but she thought she had gotten her before she had eaten anything. She was wrong. Both of the women went and talked to M and her mother when she was dropped off. M had to apologize to J and the mom said that she would bring him a treat tomorrow.

I don't get it. What is up with these kids? The teacher said that she is just like the other boy in class, very disruptive and destructive of other kids things, but at least she doesn't have the obsession with evil/murder/blood/devil. Ugh. The school year is almost halfway over. I'll be glad when it is through.

Making things

I was reading the newspaper this morning. There was a letter in one of the advice columns that caught my eye. The letter was from a daughter who said that one year, her father said that he had received enough Christmas presents in a lifetime. If someone wanted to give him a gift, they had to make him something. It could be anything. She said that he had received anything from art to magnets to an opera starring him. Now that her father has passed on, she said she realized how much his gift request had added to their holidays.

I think this is a wonderful idea. I know that I would never be able to get my husband or BILs to participate in it. I read the letter to DH and his response was I can't make things, you make things. But the point is that everyone can make or do something. If you aren't a crafty or creative person, you could go repair something for someone. Just put some thought into it and you can come up with something.

I was talking via email to a friend on how to handle presents from children to parents and children to siblings. Right now I take them shopping and buy a present for them to give. Or I just buy something, wrap it and put their name on it. It kind of misses the point I think.

Since I can't get the adults to participate in making things, maybe I can start with the kids. They can make something, write a poem, draw a picture, be creative. Maybe it will stick and become a wonderful family tradition. I can hope.

A Fall Day

	This was an afternoon a couple of weeks ago. Even though it was hot outside, the leaves started to turn. It made for a lovely photo.
	I'm going for the pretty, pretty blog post. Here are my feet. Every blog post with beautiful afternoon playing in the yard pictures includes a shot of the feet. The grass was wonderful, slightly cool but the heat of the sun kept my feet from being too cold.
	Baby B wasn't so cooperative on the feet photos. He just wanted to swing on the swing. He loves to lay on his tummy on the swing and push himself. He definitely likes to do it by himself.
	This afternoon outside was needed. J had been sick over the weekend. His fever stopped on Sunday afternoon, but I still felt bad sending him to school on Monday morning. It is only preschool so I kept him home. Boy was he bored. Finally he talked Daddy into helping him build a teepee in the backyard. Here are the results. It was a great playhouse for a day or two, until the yard guy came to mow and it had to come down. Now they've built a hut in the bushes with beach mats. It doesn't have to come down when the yard guy comes and there is instant access to berries to make pretend food with.

B's Bday (and Tday too)

Here's the football cake. I cheated and used Duncan Hines creamy homestyle icing. But I thought i had a can at home so I told the DH to get one more. So, as you can see, I ran out of icing. Oh well. He's only 2, he couldn't tell the difference.

This was about as happy as he was with the whole bday cake thing. It was a bit too much to have 30 people surrounding him and singing Happy Birthday. He refused to eat cake. I was sure that he was sick and gave him tylenol. I've never seen this kid refuse a sweet. Soon after this pic, he started crying, left the kitchen to go sit and watch football with his PaPa.

He did much better opening presents. Lots of balls so he was a happy kid. We were good on the present category. Not too much stuff. Even the grandparents didn't over do it. Okay, neither of my parents brought a gift. The ILs brought two gifts, but SIL forgot/didn't realise so she took one of the presents from MIL. It is much nicer and easier on the storage when a kid only gets 6 things. At least he's two and doesn't realize he didn't get much.

My father asks what he should get B. I said diapers, Target or Pampers, I'm not a fan of huggies. Too many leaks. Anyway, I quickly changed my mind and told dad to buy a g.c. I figure if I sent him for diapers, he would just buy a small pack. If I told him to get a g.c., he'd probably spend $20-25. B at least deserves a couple dollars of diapers! Funny thing is he will probably never get around to buying either one.

And we also celebrated Thanksgiving. That went fine. It was cold, but the kids went out and played anyway. It actually snowed. Nothing that stuck. We took pics but it was so light, you can't actually see the snow. The oven broke again while cooking the cornbread dressing. I sent DH to my sister's with the dressing and I got it working again to cook the other dressing & the spinach ring. Lots and lots and lots of dish washing. Not fun but I'm anal and don't like other people washing my dishes, so I did it myself. But overall a nice day.

update on J's class

I went this morning to drop J off. I forgot my note saying that his grandparents are picking him up. I went inside to get paper & pen. The teacher & director has just had a conference. His teacher pulled me aside and told me that other parents' were raising concerns and that something is being done. A decision will be made in the next week.

I think what is going to happen is that they will let him stay until the end of the year to give him time to find a new school. But again, all of this is implied so I don't know for sure.

working

My sisters make fun of me. They ask me all the time when I actually work. Most days I have extra time on my hand. So knitting a quick something is easy for me to do.

But the past 3 days have been hard. I'm having to think a lot. I haven't had to do that in a while. We're having reporting issues. I'm comparing 3 different reports that are giving me three different numbers and trying to figure which one is correct and why. I was up past midnight last night.

DH is giving me a hard time about this. I'm suppose to be working a parttime job. 25-30 hours a week. But I feel like this is an issue I'm assigned. There are lots of weeks when I work less that 25 hours. I can put in the extra time now to sort this problem out.

Plus, once I get a problem in my head, it haunts me until I figure it out. Even when I've slept the past few nights, I wake up thinking about the reports. I can't just let it go when I know it is a problem.

I had to tell DH to stop telling me to stop working. It wasn't helping. He didn't take it well. I was told that I'm too dedicated. I think this is the trade off for the nice benefits of my employment.

Hopefully, I'll figure it out soon.

Other updates

I finished the front of J's sweater last night. I was planning on casting on a sleeve tonight but I've got tired head. I spent the day in the office trying to figure out a problem that didn't get resolved. I'm suppose to look into it tonight but I think I'm going to bed.

I didn't sleep well last night. I knew I was going into the office and was afraid of being unprepared for the meeting. I stayed up late making sure I knew what questions I needed to ask and make sure I was prepared to answer questions from boss & saleslady.

But instead I was thrown for a loop with these report issues. I'm suppose to go back in tomorrow but I just remembered tonight that tomorrow is J's Thanksgiving feast. I'm just going to have to email and let him know that I will be available from home. Or I can come in afterwards if they need me.

Sad part about the day. I was planning on rewarding my day in the office with a visit to the LYS that is down the street. Instead I had such tired head, I just went home. I wasn't in the mood.

Another update

So today J's class was discussing thanksgiving and what each kid is thankful for. J said he was thankful for his family.

The troublesome boy said he was thankful for the Devil. J said he got in trouble and his grandmother had to come get him.

This is a 5 year old!!!! Another mother called because her son told her about it. She wanted to know what I thought of it all. I told her we already had issues with the boy. She mentioned going to talk to the teacher and the director about it. I encouraged her to go. I hope she does. If more than one parent complains, maybe they will do something. I'm planning on talking to them both in the morning.

Bake Sale goodies

Pumpkin bread in orange, banana bread in white. The pumpkin bread color improved over night, it looked much better this morning than last night when it came out of the oven

Almond-pear tart. The saran wrap covering detracts from what is a very pretty looking tart. The recipe calls it a cake, it is tarty to me!

Lemon cake. Again the saran wrap doesn't do much for the photo. I used my star bundt pan for the first time. I love bundt pans. I want to own them all. This is just a box mix and the oven screwed up while I was baking it. It does look pretty, but I wouldn't advice buying it!

Pear bread. Not wrapped up pretty yet.

I had a picture of the cookies but I don't know why it isn't here. I set 3 cookies in a silver cupcake liner, wrapped it up in saran wrap and tied with blue curly ribbon. It looked pretty.

I was nervous last night about having enough donations for the sale. But one lady dropped stuff off at my house this morning. She made 4 pans of brownies, 1 big plate of cookies and 4 tins of chocolate candy. If that trend continues, then we will be okay.

updates on J's class

So, I've spent a little time in the carpool line for the preschool. I've hung out at the classroom a little too.

I don't know exactly what they are doing but I do see some changes. First of all, as soon as the boy starts to act up, they are removing him from the situation. They take him to the gym and have him run around. They take him to the office until he is calm, but they aren't dealing with him in the classroom with all the other children around. That is better.

I ask J everyday and find out if the boy is acting out. So far, things have been okay the past 2 days.

I will continue to keep an eye on things and hopefully the situation will get better.

gifts being used!

I was in carpool line today and I saw my sister walking out of the building. She had on her calorimetry! I waved and pointed to her head. She waved back and mouthed that my nephew wore his hat too. That makes me so happy! I'm glad that they both actually like them.

Thursday

Not much to say. I've been busy trying to get ready for the church bake sale this weekend. So far I've baked 2 loaves of pear bread and made choc chip cookie dough. I scooped and froze the dough so I can bake it on Saturday. I figure they will be fresher that way. I still have to make some more cookies, some brownies, banana bread & possibly a pear tart. Notice the influx of pear things. A friend gave us a bunch of pears. I'm finding ways to use them.

Sad part about this that I can't write reviews of the new recipes I'm trying unless I buy them. I doubt I'll buy them. I'll just hope that they taste good.

I'm probably overcompensating with my baking. I'm suppose to be co-chair of the bake sale and I don't feel like I've done enough. There have been lots of emails between the other chair & the president. They are friends and down the street neighbors. I have been slow to respond, mostly because they correspond at night and I'm generally off the computer at night. Too much sitting at the computer in the daytime. Anyway, I did reserve the room for collecting the baked goods. I will be there Saturday afternoon to collect the goods. I'm going to be there Sunday morning for set up. But I still feel like I'm not doing enough. So more baking for me.

Kids are still the kids. No soccer today so we're back to an almost relaxed Thursday night. Funny thing, I spent the day working and baking, so I didn't cook dinner. We ended up at McD at the last minute. Not my favorite but it did in a pinch. I thought for sure my Thursday night fast food dinners would be over. At least I know I won't be eaten it next Thursday.

Good part of the evening. One of the LYS had there anniversary party tonight. 25% off yarn, so I went. I found yarn for my scarf at 40% off plus yarn for my sister's present and my gloves at 25% off. So it was a good night. But it was crowded and I didn't know anyone. Everyone else seemed to know each other. I felt out of place but that wasn't going to stop me from getting a good deal on yarn. Besides, I know that I am never going to spend enough money on yarn to get to the point of feeling like one of the locals in my LYS.

Hopefully I'll have more FO soon.

FO: Calorimetry

I had extra yarn. I had never done short rows. Work was slow. So here's my calorimetry.

 

Here J was feeling left out because A always gets to model Mommy's knitted things. So he took a turn.
 

updates on J's class

I had another discussion with the teacher this morning. It sounds like they are in the process of removing C from the school. It was one of those conversations where someone implies what they can't say. She said the school counselor has been in observing the class and he is repeatedly defiant, disobedient more so that any other child she has ever seen. The teacher said they are meeting with the grandmother again today to see what she is doing to help with the situation, what she is doing to deal with C. I feel bad for the teacher. She is at her wits end.

The teacher said that she is not equipped to handle this situation and something has to be done.

So I'll wait and see what happens. I do know that I am going to start reporting anything that J says that C does. I'll be a squeaky wheel. I think the situation needs one.

Training 11/9

Running schedule Nov 4

• Tuesday - 4 miles
• Friday - 5 miles
• Saturday - 3 miles
• Sunday - 6 miles

Running schedule Nov 11

• Tuesday - 4 miles
• Thursday - 5 miles
• Saturday - 2 miles
• Sunday - 12 miles

Worried

J came home with a picture in his bag. It was someone stabbing 2 other people, bloody knife and dripping blood. In the corner was written, 'he sliced them into pieces until they were gone because he did not know good.' It was obviously written by an adult.

I immediately asked J where he got the picture. A boy at school, C, gave it to him. I told him that I was going to have to return the picture to his teacher. He wasn't happy with me at all. I told him I liked pretty pictures of people being good. If C drew him a picture like that, then he could keep it.

I took the picture in and gave it back to the teacher today. She pulled me into the hallway and explained. I guess they have the boy in counseling with the school counselor. They are working on getting him into a professional therapist. They are bringing in some special ed assistance to help with him. He says that he is bad inside and he cannot be good. He draw pictures of stabbing and choking and killing all the time. They are having him explain his pictures so they can give them to the counselor and therapist. She didn't know that he had taken the picture out of his notebook and given it to J. He says that he is the black spiderman and he is bad. The teacher had to go figure out who the black spiderman was. I guess it is a spiderman 3 reference? I never saw the movie. Why would a 4 year old have seen that movie? Anyway, she has started calling him Peter Parker in class. That is spiderman's good alter ego. It is her attempt to show him how to be good. I don't think that he has a good family history. I know he lives with his grandmother now.

I'm scared and worried for this little boy. Obviously something is wrong with him. He is defiant and mean. But I'm also scared for J. He's in class with this kid. I have seen him be physical with J before. He walked up and shoved him hard so that John lost his balance and fell down. Not really terrible but still mean and it could get worse. Stuff like that goes among kids, but, coming from C, it upset me and J. I know J is doing fine in school, but it can't be a good atmosphere in that classroom.

This just isn't the thing you want to be dealing with in preschool. So prayers for C and prayers for his family and prayers for J and prayers for the teacher. I hope it all turns out okay.

OMG again

They just sent the 3 year old sister down to our house to play too. By herself! Alone. Geez. I still can't believe it. I just wouldn't, couldn't do that.

I can't believe the neighbors

I was shocked the first time it happened, but it still shocks me. They keep letting their four year old walk down the street alone so she can play with A (who is seven, not four.) I know our neighborhood is safe, not much traffic. But still there are people who drive too fast and she's only 4!!!!

I have learned not to open the door too wide because she will just walk right in the house. I've been making excuses because she comes over at bad times. 5:15 just when I'm trying to get dinner ready. We eat early. Luckily the last two times, A hasn't been home.

Today I told her that A couldn't play because she had to do her homework and sent her home. Then once A was done, I sent the kids out to play and called her mom and invited Z over to play. Maybe the neighbor will get the message. That is the way it should be done.

Next project

I bound off and blocked the dream swatch today. I'm having issues getting pictures into blogger today. I'll have to upload them later.

I'm down to 2 projects on my list, J's sweater & touring wrap. I should work on J's sweater. It is just a bunch of st st and shouldn't be too hard to finish up.

But I really want to try calorimetry. I have the leftover camo yarn from the hat I could try it in.

I will not start something new. I will not start something new. I will not start something new.

Someday these mantras will work.

Training 11/7

I did it. I got up and ran yesterday morning. I was cold (temps dropped into the 50s) but I wore a hat so my ears weren't bad. I finished without too much pain. Especially since it had been a whole week since I've run.

I'm back with renewed enthusiasm for training for this race. Okay, not really, but maybe if I keep saying it, it will come true.

Running schedule Nov 4

• Tuesday - 4 miles
• Thursday - 5 miles
• Saturday - 3 miles
• Sunday - 6 miles

Running schedule Nov 11

• Tuesday - 4 miles
• Thursday - 5 miles
• Saturday - 2 miles
• Sunday - 12 miles

Bathtime

C did it again. He gave the boys a bath. It's the first bath since the last bath incident. Not that they haven't had baths for weeks, but I've been giving them showers instead.

I could hear C talking to them as he put them in the tub.

"Okay, B. No pooping. Do you understand?? You cannot poop in the tub!"

Then I heard A in the background. "Are you sure you want to do this? Don't you remember what happened the last time? Mommy isn't going to clean up a poopy tub, you know."

At least everyone know where I stand on the subject.

C was lucky tonight. We were "Baby Ruth" free.

Banana Cake recipe

Pillsbury Bake Sale cookbook.

Last Friday was parent teacher conferences. Kids had the day off. A got to go to a movie but J did not. He was not a happy camper. I offered to bake brownies. J wanted to make a cake. We pulled out this cookbook and paged through cakes until we found the one he wanted. Lucky boy, I had all the ingredients on hand.

Results: This was a good cake. A lighter, softer banana bread. It has a recipe for frosting which I made. Only to discover that my shortening had been sitting for way too long. Who knew that shortening could go bad? One fingertip of the disgusting stuff made me shudder.

Quick trip to the grocery store for a can of frosting and it was much better. Everyone like it.

Training 11/5

So I'm way behind now. The coughing up a lung thing turned into coughing up a green lung. The headache turned into a vise grip of death, give me an ice pick so I can release the pressure headache. A trip to Primacare followed. One very expensive z-pak later, I am much better. Not 100 % but much better. I skipped last week. I'm starting fresh this week on the regular schedule. Hopefully I can do this.

Running schedule Nov 4

• Tuesday - 4 miles
• Thursday - 5 miles
• Saturday - 3 miles
• Sunday - 6 miles

Running schedule Nov 11

• Tuesday - 4 miles
• Thursday - 5 miles
• Saturday - 2 miles
• Sunday - 12 miles

FO: Camo Hat

A is not a happy camper because I'm making her model a boy's hat. I told her that no one would ever see her in these photos. Well, at least no one important to her would see these photos. The hat turned out well and the nephew was actually kind of happy about it. Even BIL seemed to like it. Oh well, I can't have everything.

Training 10/31

I've gotten behind again. I skipped Saturday and didn't run on Sunday, went on Monday morning instead. So I pushed Tuesday back to Wednesday, but didn't get up this morning to run. I suppose I could make the kids run while trick or treating tonight. I have a feeling I'll be going out either at 4:00 after school, pre-tot or after 9:00, post-tot. I thought about running on the treadmill while DH takes kids out. But I will be home with B and will have to answer the door for tot-ers. So, treadmill is out.

On top of all of that I'm getting some upper respiratory/sinus infection thing. I'm coughing up a lung, headache from hell. It's lovely, especially facing a 4 mile run.

Running schedule Oct 21

• Wednesday - 4 miles
• Thursday - 5 miles (on Saturday)
• Saturday - 3 miles
• Sunday - 6 miles

Running schedule Oct 28

• Tuesday - 4 miles
• Thursday - 5 miles
• Saturday - 2 miles
• Sunday - 10 miles

Training 10/27

I'm totally off schedule this week. I ran Thursday today so I'll miss the 3 miles for today. Tomorrow is 6 miles. Ugh but at least it isn't 12.

Running schedule Oct 21

• Wednesday - 4 miles
• Thursday - 5 miles (on Saturday)
• Saturday - 3 miles
• Sunday - 6 miles

Running schedule Oct 28

• Tuesday - 4 miles
• Thursday - 5 miles
• Saturday - 2 miles
• Sunday - 10 miles

What to do???

The DH & older kids left for Autumnfest. The baby is down for a nap. What should I do? I have three knitting projects I could work on. I have multiple shows on tivo waiting to be watched. I could combine the two of those if I skip working on TW.

Or I have an empty bed and no one to wake me (except the alarm clock which I must set so I don't sleep the afternoon away and skip my volunteer shift at Autumnfest)

I'm thinking that sleep is going to win.

training 10/25

Running schedule Oct 21

• Wednesday - 4 miles
• Thursday - 5 miles
• Saturday - 3 miles
• Sunday - 6 miles

Running schedule Oct 28

• Tuesday - 4 miles
• Thursday - 5 miles
• Saturday - 2 miles
• Sunday - 10 miles

Halloween Pumpkin

Here's the Halloween pumpkin for the school's Autumnfest on Saturday.

 
Haunted House

 
Spooky Tree

 
Graveyard

FO: Headband

Here's the headband for my niece. It is made from cascade fixation. The colors look nice but the lycra in the fixation pulls the lace pattern too tight so you can't really see it. I tried blocking it (the orange towel looks lovely behind the pink, no?):

 
But it didn't help much. It pulled right back together. But it still looks good on. I don't know if niece will ever wear it. My sister tried to put it on her head when she opened the gift. She ripped it right off. At least I got a picture of A wearing it before we gifted it.

 

Wow on the neighbors

We were sitting here enjoying some nice quiet time. A was reading, boys were playing. DH & I were at our respective computers. Then the doorbell rang. I looked out the window but didn't see anyone.

I got to the door a realized why. The people there were too short. It was the 4 year old & 3 year old neighbor girls. Without their mother or father. I opened the door and said hello. Z (the older) walked in under my arm and said 'We're here to play with A' and walked off down the hall. F (the younger) followed right behind.

I had not idea if their parents knew they came over. But I let them in and sent them to the playroom with J & B. Eventually, maybe 15 minutes later, the mom showed up to make sure they had made it over okay. She asked for my phone number so she could check up on them next time. Then she said to send them home when we were sick of them.

Amazing!

training 10/22

Despite the fact that I was extremely tired, I went out last night to finish my week. I had already skipped on Saturday and my BIL was being my conscious. No more excuses I went. I wasn't happy about it so I walked the whole time. I didn't try to walk fast either. I decided that it would be a huge accomplishment for me just to finish. It is over.

Running schedule Oct 14

• Tuesday - 4 miles
• Thursday - 5 miles
• Saturday - 3 miles (skipped!)
• Sunday - 9 miles

Running schedule Oct 21

• Tuesday - 4 miles
• Thursday - 5 miles
• Saturday - 3 miles
• Sunday - 6 miles

I'm bored

Can you tell?

Baby B just went down for a nap. DH is out traipsing (that spelling looks wrong to me but I checked m-w.com, it's good) around in the countryside. He's working, so that's good.

My work is slow. I've read the forums on ravelry & knitty. I've blocked the headband for my niece's bday present. I should work on other knitting or do some laundry or something practical.

Instead I'm contemplating cooking chickens in the slow cooker. I bought another rotisserie chicken from the grocery store this week. I think there should be a better/cheaper way to get chicken. I don't want to roast it in my oven. It's too wonky and just know that it would quit working in the middle of roasting chicken . So I thought slow cooker. I've looked up how to do it on the internet. I've thought about it. Now I just have to go buy some chicken. Maybe I'll wait for a good sale.

While looking for slow cooker roast chicken recipes, I saw that people make spaghetti sauce in the slow cooker too. Maybe I can stop buying all those jars of Prego and make my own instead. I can make a ton and then freeze it for the next time I need sauce. I should become queen of the slow cooker.

All this recipe reading makes me think about baking. I want to bake but I can't bake. I would eat way too much of it. When I worked in a office it was easy to bake, leave a little at home and take the rest to the coworkers. I can't do that anymore. So I'll just read recipes instead.

Chicken enchiladas

from Everyday Food magazine

Recipe: Saute onions & garlic, add canned tomatoes & salt, pepper & chili powder. Simmer for 20-30 minutes & break up tomatoes. Roll corn tortillas with chicken & cheese. Pour sauce over, top with cheese and bake.

Changes: There were suppose to be jalapenos in the sauce and on top. I left them out for the children. The sauce was okay but I think I would add some cumin, or maybe adobo next time for a litte more flavor.

Results: I made this and let it sit while we went to soccer practice. I baked it when we got home. As a result the corn tortillas got really soft & mushy. I liked it. It was a good quick meal. A&J picked at it. B only ate the chicken. But DH and I both enjoyed it. I wonder how long I have to wait until my Texas born children start to like Mexican food?

I don't like candy corn!

Baby B has sitting on the potty chair. He will sit on it for a long, long time. Especially if Noggin is on.

Thus I have the song 'I don't like candy corn' stuck in my head. I woke up in the middle of the night with it running through my head. Ugh. I tried to get it out of my head and in popped Fabulous from High School Musical 2. A was singing it in the car yesterday.

Why can't I get my childrens' music out of my head.

So back to the potty chair. B been on sitting on the potty chair for awhile now. He sits for a long time. Eventually he will insist on putting on his diaper. He then proceeds to wet his diaper and gets mad and insists on being changed.

Last night before bath he wanted to sit on the potty again. I put him on but no Noggin. He sat, read books, ran around and sat again. Eventually he got up and ran away crying. I went to get him so we could get in the bath before he had an accident. That's when I heard J say, B went pee-pee in the potty. Sure enough he did, and it freaked him out. He ran away from me crying. I followed him clapping & yelling 'Yeah, B, what a big boy! A & J joined in. Finally B slowed down. We showed him the potty and everyone cheered. He finally stopped crying and started laughing and clapping with us.

I don't know what this means. I'm certainly not ready for potty training. He's not even 2 years old. This morning we got home from taking the kids to school and the first thing he wanted to do was sit on the potty chair again. I guess I'm going to be forced into this.

FOs

 
Here's the umbilical cord hat

 
Here are the wristbands. The top one has a pattern of a ribbon purled in the st st. It didn't work out that great, so the second one is plain.

photo ops

This is Baby B after a particularly hard morning. He was playing I was working and all were happy. Suddenly he started throwing a fit. I realized that it was 12:30, we were an hour late for lunch and a half hour late for nap. I tried to skip lunch and just put him down for a nap, but he wasn't doing that. So I put him in the high chair and started to fix food. Next thing I know, here he was.

We went to an Oktoberfest party at a local shopping center. They have the party every year and every year we say we should go and never have. This year we made it. We saw a bunch of families we know from school & church and the kids had a lot of fun. We waiting in line for almost an hour for the face painter. A & her friend got matching flowery things. J & his friend got pirate skulls.

updates

Running:

My calf has been bothering me. I walked tonight and it wasn't too bad. I think I'll try running a little bit tomorrow.

Knitting:

I finished the baby hat for friends' new baby. It took me about a day to get it done. I finished 2 pink wristbands for my sisters' 3 Day walk. I'm glad that is done and out of the way. I need to get back to J's sweater. I emailed the lady who created the touring wrap. I asked her how many repeats she had in the original wrap. She responded and it is 44. I've only done 13. Who knows when I'll ever finish it, but I'll keep trudging along.

Family:

Not much new. I've been asked to decorate the pumpkin for the Autumnfest silent auction for J's class. Here's how that happened.

I make napkins for J's lunch every day. I draw a little picture and write something like 'Have a good day!' on it. I started picking pictures based on the letter they are studying, A is for Apple, B is for Bear, etc. The teacher thinks I'm very creative. She started keeping J's napkins and hanging them on the board. She told me she's going to make a napkin book and asked me to make some A's and B's for her since she didn't keep those napkins. So she thinks I'm some sort of artist and asked me to decorate the class pumpkin. I said okay.

But then I went into a panic. What was I suppose to do with it?? I haven't never looked at the pumpkins at Autumnfest before. I didn't know if there is a theme, if I was suppose to carve the pumpkin or not. I did a little asking around and found out:

1. You don't carve the pumpkin, you just decorate it
2. You can incorporate the class by putting all the kids' names on it
3. There is a theme. Since it is close to Halloween this year, it is a Halloween theme. But nothing gory

So I talked to J & A and we decided on how to decorate. I'm going to paint a haunted house on the pumpkin. Then we're going to make bats & ghost with the kids' names, attach them to wire and push them into the pumpkin. It is actually a plastic foam pumpkin, not a real one, so I don't have to worry about it rotting. I hope it turns out okay.

Pictures:

DH is home with my card reader so I can finally post some pics.

training 10/17

I skipped yesterday and walked today. My stormy run on Sunday definitely didn't help my right calf. I've been limping around the past 2 days. It was feeling better today so I went ahead and walked.

Running schedule Oct 14

• Tuesday - 4 miles
• Thursday - 5 miles
• Saturday - 3 miles
• Sunday - 9 miles

Running schedule Oct 21

• Tuesday - 4 miles
• Thursday - 5 miles
• Saturday - 3 miles
• Sunday - 6 miles

training 10/14

I almost talked myself out of running tonight. I really didn't want to go. My right calf started hurting again. I really wanted to skip. But the kids went to bed easier and earlier than most nights, especially Sundays, and at 7:45, I found myself donning my running shoes.

I went out the door finally at 8:15, got to the end of the street and turned around to come home. I felt a couple of raindrops and thought I would skip. But I stood at the corner trying to decide what to do and it stopped, so onward I went.

I walked the first 3 miles. As I said earlier, my calf is hurting again. I tried running a little while and decided not to push it. I would just walk. I don't have to run a half marathon, I can walk it. I still need to train to walk 13 miles, so I walked.

After 3 miles, I thought maybe I saw lightning. At first I tried to convince myself that it was the streetlights flashing behind blowing tree limbs. But after a few flashes, I knew it was lighting. I kept going. I crossed Midway and the farthest point from home. I knew now I just had to get home, there was no turning around. That's when the sprinkles started. I got to the end of the block and the rain started. I turned the corner and started running. If I was going to be out the in the rain, I wasn't going to walk through it. The rain really started coming down. I was soaked and dripping. But I thought, at least it isn't a downpour. I got to Alta Vista and thought, I could turn here and go to the S's house. I could ask them to take me home. I was all set to turn when I checked my watch. It was 9:20. They have a 3 week old baby. I couldn't show up soaking wet at 9:30 and ask for a ride home. I kept going. The rain came down harder. I was almost to Northaven and miserable when I saw a car headed toward me come to a stop. If this was a woman offering me a ride home, I was taking it. But I ran past the car only to realize they wanted to turn left into a driveway. I turned down Northaven and thought less than 2 miles to go. I can do this. That's when the torrential downpour started. Waves of rain, wind blowing, ankle deep puddles of water. I was miserable but I kept running. Then I noticed that the Lenny Kravitz song, Stand by My Woman, was playing on my ipod. I don't normally run with the ipod, but boy was I glad I had it then. I turned up the music and ran through the storm.

The rain slowed down to a trickle when I had a couple of blocks to go. I was about to stop running and walk the rest of the way but God had other notions. I was slowing down while trying to convince myself that I could keep running. But I was also wet and miserable and tired. Just as I was going to stop and walk, there was a clap of thunder and another burst of rain. I ran the rest of the way home.

When I got home, Chris asked if I was alright. He's been sick in bed all weekend but he was contemplating getting a neighbor to stay with the kids and go searching for me. It seems I ran through a purple storm on the radar. I could have told him that!

I now know what I need to make me run. The longest I had run until tonight was 2 miles. Tonight I ran about 3 miles in 37 minutes. All I need is a torrential downpour and I'm good. Let's see how I feel in the morning.



Running schedule Oct 7

• Wednesday - 4 miles
• Thursday - 4 miles
• Saturday - 3 miles
• Sunday - 6 miles

Running schedule Oct 14

• Tuesday - 4 miles
• Thursday - 5 miles
• Saturday - 3 miles
• Sunday - 9 miles

Pink wristbands

This morning I made it over to a LYS. I asked for the cascade fixation and was met with blank stares. They hadn't heard of it. But then they asked me what it was and I replied that it was cotton with lycra and she said Oh yes, we do have that. They had a nice pink colorway, it goes from light pink to hot pink. I only bought 1 skein so the sisters are only going to get one wristband each.



The 3 Day walk starts 2 weeks from yesterday. I have to cast on and knit quickly.

training 10/13

Running schedule Oct 7

• Wednesday - 4 miles
• Thursday - 4 miles
• Saturday - 3 miles
• Sunday - 6 miles

Running schedule Oct 14

• Tuesday - 4 miles
• Thursday - 5 miles
• Saturday - 3 miles
• Sunday - 9 miles

The dreaded Baby Ruth

DH has been handling bathtime for the boys lately. The boys are happy because Daddy lets them play. I am a mean bath Mommy, according to J. I prefer to think of it as efficient. I stick them in without toys, douse with water, wash the hair, soap them down, douse with water again and out they go. DH puts them, gives them every imaginable bath toy, lets them play, washes their hair, lets them play, washes bodies, lets them play, rinses, lets them play. He'd rather wander around doing other things than sit in the bathroom with them. I know not the safest way to give a bath but I think this practice has ended.

Two baths ago DH was letting them play, when suddenly J yelled "OOH GROSS!!!!" Yes, Baby B had pooped in the tub. DH was not happy about it, but he handled it all.

Last night was bath night again. DH put Baby B in the bath. J, remembering the poop in the tub, decided to take a shower in our bathroom instead. BB was happily playing in the tub when I reminded DH of the last bath and suggested it might be time to get him out. DH promptly went to get BB out only to discover he was too late. He was mad.

He stomped around the house for awhile complaining that no one ever picks up. I got the other two shuttled in and out of the shower. While supervising teeth brushing, I realized that DH hadn't cleaned out the tub yet. The rest of the house was spic & span but he was avoiding the bathroom. I asked him when he planned to clean it and he said he did it the last time and it was my turn. I told him no. I don't let the boys play in the bath just so I don't have clean up bath poop. He was going to have to take care of it himself. He wasn't happy. More stomping, more grumbling, eventually the tub was cleaned, the toys were sanitized, and all was done.

But I have a feeling we are a family of 2 mean bath parents now.

Knitting obsession

I think I'm officially obsessed. I spent all night long dreaming about knitting. I dreamed that I ran out of yarn making something and I was trying to fold fabric into something that I could use to finish. Then I dreamed about knitting socks. Lots and lots of socks. I don't even like to wear socks.

Training 10/11

I didn't want to get up this morning but I did. 5:30 came way too soon. I finally dragged myself up around 5:45 and ran. One more day down.
Running schedule Oct 7

• Wednesday - 4 miles
• Thursday - 4 miles
• Saturday - 3 miles
• Sunday - 6 miles

Running schedule Oct 14

• Tuesday - 4 miles
• Thursday - 5 miles
• Saturday - 3 miles
• Sunday - 9 miles

WIPs

Touring wrap, 13 repeats done
The flash really makes the zigzags of color stand out. They aren't that obvious in natural light.
 

J's sweater, about 1/3 of the back done