the end?

As you may have noticed, posts are not-so-much anymore. I blame FB and sister for getting me into it!!
As I look back on the year, knit wise, I didn't really accomplish that much, only 6 projects and 3 socks. A far cry from the hey day of purses and pairs of socks a month.
I did manage to make 3 sweaters (that 4th has been shipped to 2ll'd allisons grandma to finish)
I have lots of stash, but not really the whimsy to knit.
I did read a lot this past year, I think I counted right, 59 books!!! but I've had a book sitting on the bookshelf for a month, and didn't have nary the urge to open it.

One major change coming in the new year, I am going back to school!!! That is going to take up all the knitting and reading time. I'll be hitting the books and the internet (online class).

Wish me luck.

Happy New Year.
You may or may not see me here much, if you are on fb, and know my real identity, look me up.

so much to say!!!

and not so much time, so bullet points:

*computer is fixed, we have mother's old one, added new memory super fast!

*slowly slowly working on the Wicked sweater. 1/3 done with pocket, then on to sleeves

*also decided to cast on a scarf with left over "something red" yarn

*holidays coming, YIKES, almost done shopping

*still reading tons

*free time?? not so much anymore once January hits, more to come later ;)

oh happy day

Somehow the computer lady got the computer to work! All the data is saved. It is coming home tomorrow. I will have it hooked up on Wednesday, then we need to find the $$$ in the budget to buy a new tower. She doesn't recommend that we keep this one for much longer. It is 8 years old.....

Lots of hockey this weekend. Son #2 and hubby went to Traverse City. The won the tournament!! Son #1 and I drove up and down I-94 to Port Huron all weekend. His team was the runner up. (lost in championship game)
But everyone is happy.....and tired.

It's bad, REALLY REALLY bad

Had a call from the computer-fixer today.
She cannot pull any of my info from the old hard drive
over 600 songs in itunes
a year's worth of pictures
a bunch of word documents
I can't even fathom it

She wanted permission to buy a new hard drive, $50, she is still trying to make it work. I hope it does.
I am sad.

Round and Round

Well, the computer is stil MIA, no word how the rebuild is going....maybe today she will call.

Wicked is coming along nicely, round and round and round I go. This is the first sweater I've made in the round. Kind of nice, but mind numbing.

uhm

computer is broken
must rebuild operating system
it has left the building
should have back in a week

Lazy sunday

Good News: I have finally finished the Sunday Swing socks. They are wide, they will most likely go to sister.
I can now cast on Wicked. I can hardly wait ;)

Bad News: I have most likely killed (or seriously maimed) the "dinosaur" computer in the basement. It is 8 years old. I shut it down in the middle of an Apple iTunes update. I don't know if it can be saved. I am waiting for a call from the computer saver, I am the technology geek in our house. This is WAY beyond me. Wish us luck. There is no $$$ in the budget for a new computer, although we really need an upgrade. All of son #1's classes are using Word 7 (?) we don't have that and everything needs to be converted.

Almost done

I actually did some knitting on the sock yesterday. I had a few free hours, and whoooosh, I have 1 repeat and the toe decrease, then I'll be finished.

Can't wait to cast on Wicked.

back to the old grind

well, with all the back to school activities and back to work, not much knitting was done. I have turned the heel on the 2nd sock, so if I do get some knitting time, it should be finished in no time.
I am so looking forward to casting on the Wicked sweater. It was featured in one of the knitting catalogs that came in the mail this week.

oh, one of the new activities that we have added to our overloaded hockey schedule:
football. son #1 decided he wants to play lt weight football.
yikes
practice every day after school until 5.
this is in addition to hockey practice at night, sometimes.

Back to school

ahhhhhh

peace and quiet

What I did on summer vacation.......

I read 22 books
I knit 4 sweaters
I knit 1 sock
I went to the pool, a lot
cleaned the house really good 1 time
went on vacation with family

what I did not do......
clean out the kids closets
pick out a paint color for son #2 bedroom
paint son #2 bedroom
go to a Tiger's game

Wicked received

I did finally received the pdf file for the Wicked Sweater. Now I have no time to start it!!!
Back to school/work prep work started this week, I have not been able to sit on the couch and knit all day :(, and soon, hockey will start and I don't know when I will be able to do any knitting!!
The weather is great (go figure) so I want to be outside!
ttfn

So I went with socks

I cast on my first pair of socks since last December? maybe? I can't remember.
It is SO hard knitting on size 1's after all those sweaters were done on size 7's.
The pattern is from the latest Knitty, going with some Pink yarn that was frogged from another pair of socks. I forgot I didn't like it because it is not a solid pink...But now, I have no pink sweater to go with the socks!!! ha, I will make that my next project :)

Off to 7th grade registration/picture day today. So close to school....so close

Summer of Sweaters

is almost over! I can't believe that I've made 4 sweaters since May! If you want to see the progress on the latest, Something Red, head on over to my Ravelry page. I have one sleeve and then picking up 180+ stitches to finish it off. I love the yarn and the pattern (so far)

Summer is winding down fast, I have to head into work starting next week to get ready for the school year, I can't believe it is time already. I am so ready for the kids to go back to school :) but not me !!!

Wondering if I should continue with the sweater making, or GASP go back to socks? I still have lots of sock yarn in the stash :) Thank goodness I don't have sweater yarn in the stash, as I bought it, I used it!

Back from banishment

and it really wasn't so bad, until the end, that is.

Weather was nice, low 70's and sunshine, I actually put on the bathing suit top for about an hour. Mornings started out cloudy and overcast, but by noon, everything was clear. We did lots of stuff (going into town) on Saturday, spent lots of money and drank some good cold beverages!! Also ate yummy pizza.

I only read 2 books and 1 magazine, did most of the knitting in the car. Relatives were there, so I couldn't ignore them!

Coming home was a trip, son #2 got hurt in the bush, so we packed up and rushed out at 2pm and drove all.the.way.through, arriving home at 12:30am (2 stops).

But, things are getting back to normal, laundry is done and I suppose I should go grocery shopping!!!

Finished FLS2

Here is the finished sweater, bound off last night after a 6 hour knitting marathon. Wanted to finish it up so I could take it to be blocked tomorrow and then cast on the new project before heading on vacation. I have no idea why it is sideways uugghh to early to fight with computer.

Off to cast on "something red".

getting ready to leave

Sorry to have left you all in a lurch.
I have not been doing much of anything.
Knitting is still happening on the FLS2, I am trying to finish it before we leave next week for banishment in the UP.
Then I can start on the new sweater.

I have been reading a lot. Nothing earth shattering, just for fun.

Rainy crappy weather

Due to a lack of sunshine and pool days, I have been doing lots of knitting on the FLS2. I just finished the body this morning. Off to the arms.

Beautiful sock yarn!!

Here is some sock yarn I purchased from my good old SP10 pal, you must check out her blog (on side bar BetteM) she is raising funds for mammograms and each purchase of this limited edition sock yarn, On The Wings of Hope, helps to fund it.
Please help her out, I think I was the first one to donate!

Let the sun shine!

Here is the finished (almost) Radiate sweater. I need to get 4 buttons and then have it blocked. It looks FAB U LOUS. 2l'dallisons grandma did a great job.





An added bonus in the box, a pretty painted picture by 2l'dallison! Thank you!!!

Here comes the sun!!!

I hear that the Radiate sweater should be on its way back to me soon.

More new yarn

Here is the progress on the FLS part 2. I am having issues I did not have on the 1st sweater, but nothing I can't handle. It is going to be so soft and pretty!!!




Also, here is the new yarn I bought for my next sweater! Blue Sky Alpaca Dyed Cotton, Tomato!!! It is for the Something Red Sweater. It will be my upnorth project.


I've yet to hear from 2L'dAllsion's grandma...I sent her the Radiate sweater to finish the button band.....hhhmmmm did it send her off the deep end too????

I'm blaming it on the full moon

I was forced to have a beverage at 3:30 today because of these 2 events:

My computer will not recognize my itouch. I have restarted, restored, unrestored, uninstalled, rebooted, etc. I cannot update it at all

Radiate the sunshine is making me nuts! I have tried many many times to pick up the 73 stitches to make the button bands, not.going.to.happen. It is being shipped off to 2L'dallsion's grandma tomorrow. She said she would finish it for me.

Oh, and #3, Tigers are losing big time.

Leaves me no choice but to crack a cold one and cast on a new project!
The FLS part 2, for me this time!

Almost done

Why are they always sideways?
Anyway, here is the almost finished sweater. I only have the button bands left to do. I think it is going to fit me, tight, but it will fit.
Then I have a pick of sweaters to start on next!!!

New things

Well, since Wednesday is the new Friday (drinking with the hockey mom's) it only seems fitting that Sweaters are the new socks.

Remember when all I knit was socks? well now I cannot get enough of knitting sweaters! I have found so many that I want to knit. They take about the same amount of time so who knows? I know of at least 3 that I want to make NOW.

Radiate the sunshine

'cuz there ain't no sunshine today! oh my, what a cold and dreary day, is it really the end of June?? You'd never know from the weather.
I will finish the body of the Radiate sweater today, I will finish the body, just keep saying that, and maybe it'll happen!
update:
There, I finished the body of the sweater. Creative changes: totally zoned on switching to stockinette, kept going as was, so I needed to add 2 more rows once I switched, otherwise never would have got the curl at the bottom.
Off to the sleeves, I'm going to attempt to do them in the round, pattern calls for knitting flat, then sewing up.
TTFN

sad sad days

First Ed
then Farrah
then Farrah gets pushed aside for Micheal

They really do come in 3's.

Summer Vacation

Well, it has been a not-so-nice start, weatherwise, to vacation. Rain and cloudy and grey. No trips to the pool, yet. It looks like next week will be pool week.

Moving along on the Radiate the sunshine sweater. Bought more yarn yesterday for another sweater; either FLS or a different one.

Radiate The Sunshine

Here is the progress on the new sweater.
I don't know who it is going to fit...maybe anna banana?? cuz it is WAY small. Hopefully it will fit me when it is done.

Summer Reading List

Many thanks to Jen Lancaster, I've got plenty of books to keep me occupied this summer!!! Some I will get from the Library, some I will read via iTouch.

I picked up the Shoe Addict series today at Target, I had a gift card :)

Check out her list:
here

FLS is finished...

yes! and it only took a month! That is super fast.
It is blocked and ready to wear, I think by sister #2...we'll see.
I was going to make another one, in yellow, for me, but I decided to make a different sweater, Radiate, in yellow :)
photos later.
go wings.

Reading up a storm

Well, I have been on a tear lately reading the Charlaine Harris "Sookie Stackhouse" vampire series. OMG. They just suck you in. While the Stephanie Meyers "Twilight" series is highschool chick lit light vampire stuff, this Sookie is grown up adult vampire type stuff (all the way around) and I have been reading them one after the other....I only have #9 left to read, which just came out a few weeks ago.
Oh, and I've been reading all of them on my itouch. I LOVE that you can get a Kindle app and I have almost 15 books on it! and it is always with me. I prefer reading this way, and it feels weird if I have an actual book in my hands!


Here is the progress on the FLS. Should be finished soon.

on the arms

Here is the progress on the arms. They are the worst part of this sweater! First off, the arm holes are too big, I had to decrease the 7 picked up stitches, then I kept screwing up the lace pattern, never did in the body of the sweater, after the decreases, I think the arm holes are still too big, so I went down to a size 7, and now I am going to have to break into that 4th ball of yarn. uuggghh special trip back to the store to have it wound. I was hoping to not to have to use it, but since I made the yoke larger than expected, I've used more than the alloted yardage.

Other than that, I still love it and am most defintely probably going to make another, with a lot of modifications!

Oh, and I've been coughing up a storm since I started this, so I think I may be allergic to the yarn???? I don't know...anyway, hoping to finish it soon and see if the coughing stops. Off to eye dr today, cross your fingers that I get the ok to go back to my contacts, I've been wearing glasses for a week and a half. YUCK

Holy Crud!!

That is some fast knitting! I knit all day Saturday and all day Sunday. I finished the body of the FLS and now I'm off to do the sleeves. They seem to be too wide, so I am canvasing the forum on Ravelry to try and figure out how to fix them. I'm pretty sure I can just decrease the 7 additional stitches that were added under the arms...but how and when??

This is just the cutest thing! I've made notes for the next one...things I don't like so much that I will change :)

Hockey is over, final father/son game yesterday, the son's won :). Now we have a 2 month break, but the void is being filled by a new sport: lacrosse. About 1/2 the hockey team has signed up, so we will still see everyone all summer YEA

11 full days and 2 1/2 days until school is out for summer. Personally, I think my kids have already checked out, I know I have :)

First day off

Well, preschool is over, had the party yesterday, so today is my first day off!! Yea. Nothing pressing, no need to rush into the shower and get everyone off to school. Today was drop the kids off, come home and do nothing! Well, there are bills to pay, and the house to tidy up, maybe a trip to the bank, and knit on the FLS.

Oh, I did finally succumb to the pressure and joined Facebook, so if you're there, look for me!

Fri-day

Tie-(one on)-day
Preschool is over. We packed up the entire school last night. Yes, it fits into a tiny little square on "the dark side". Picnic next week and I am free (until August), when we take it out of the little box and set it all back up and clean everything.
It was a wonderful year.
We ended with a BANG, super birthday party for Mrs. T. She's never had a "school" birthday, so our 3am class planned a nice one. Pizza and lemonade and rice krispy treats and fruit.

Oh happy day

There has been a car parked on my street for over 6 months.
I finally got fed up and called the police last Friday.
I woke up this morning, car was parked in their garage (what a concept)

son #1 told me he saw "the dad" move it last night, but forgot to tell me.

Now, back to that nasty pool next door, you remember, the one that had the ducks swimming in it last year.....

button holes and eyelets

Here is the progress I made this weekend on my FLS. 2 of the button holes go the right direction (sideways) and 1 goes kinda up on one corner. As I said to myself, the buttons will cover the holes :)



I had issues with the eyelet row...not clear directions. I had to frog most of the row back, but then I improvised with the placement, and I've moved on to
"knit until they almost touch" I have no idea how long or far that will be.

Actual knitting updates

Here is the start of the February Lady Sweater. It is all the rage on Ravelry, and I am making it!! For Me!!! Can you believe it?





And here is the finised "Kelly"(sister) bag. It was quite fun (BORING) to knit. All that stockinette. And then you felt it, so what is the point?? Anyway, it is very nice and I proved to myself that I could purl a lot.

help, somebody gauge question

So, I am going to knit a sweater! Yes, the February Lady Sweater. A little help please as I've never been down this road before.

ok, so if i knit tighter than normal, i am at 4 1/8" per 18 stitches (pretty darn close, i just have to remember to knit tight, which is not normal for me...)

so, that means that for every 18 stitches, when i cast on 83 (xs size as everyone says it is big), by the time i am finished i will really be knitting the size that has...

let me do the math

18 stitches goes into 83 approx 4.6 times..so i will be adding an extra 1/2 inch? which turns out to be 2 stitches? so that would be 85.. and there is no 85, only 3 sizes that call for 83, you only change the amount of increases etc....maybe?

does this even make sense??

so am i good to go?

aaaccckkkk back to socks where i don't care about gauge, the socks go to the person they fit :)

It's Mother's Day

got up early to meet my mother for breakfast
(not recommended due to attending wine tasting party night before)
son #1 did not come with us, he was crabby and tired

came home, read newspaper
did load of laundry
did some knitting
went to hockey rink for son #2 game
he scored :)and I actually saw it
came home
took 1 hour nap
did some more knitting
son #2 helped make dinner
hubby cleaned up dishes

I think I'll go to bed early

Hope you had a wonderful day!!!

I think she likes it

Sometimes, you just know that your knitted item is in a loving home :)
This was the purse that just received handles after sitting in the corner for almost 2 years.

YOU ROCK!!!!!! Thank you sooooo much!!! The purse is just beautiful!! I just showed it off to the suite next door to Joe's office! That was very generous and thoughtful of you. I just LOVE it!

Thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou!!!!!

Hugs, your friend Beth

You are VERY welcome.
xoxo cindy

Do you live with a 12 year old boy?

Does this look familiar??
Are they clean?
or are the dirty??
Notice the laundry basket in the corner....
and the dresser next to it....

The one in which I am a princess for 2 days.......

Yes, it was my birthday this past week; and hubby says "you're birthday lasts the entire month of April!!". I tried to keep it to only 1 week this year :)
First up, "my REAL birthday"
I had to teach at preschool on Thursday, Mrs. T was off on vacation to Florida. It was a GREAT day to teach. I received a balloon, red tulips and a princess sceptor that I wore all day on my sweater. I had brought a special birthday treat, baked white cheetos and rice krispy treats (2 L'd Allison's mom went and got them, my 2nd favorite treat) and the kids all sang Happy Birthday to me at snack time.

Then on Friday, aka beverage night, some of us tailgated before the game and my good, no GREAT friend gknee brought me a REAL tiara and a princess balloon and pink carnations and a sceptor she made me at craft night.

And then when we were at the party (BW3) after the game....she had a cake for me (yellow cake/chocolate frosting) and the entire team sang to me :) It was the best!!



Oh, and this purse has been siting in the corner for a year and a half waiting for handles. I finally bought some on Friday. Along with yarn to make the February Lady Sweater, greeen, of course.

a/c in April?

Yes, I do believe that April 25 is the earliest we have ever turned on the a/c.
It was hot.
It was humid.
My allergies were making me miserable.
I'm sure it will be off by Tuesday.

I will post later about the birtday week festivities :)

When scrapping and hockey collide

or, why does my family have to follow me when I go away????

Sister and I have had a scrapping weekend set up for the past 2 months. Just last week, son #1's spring hockey team signed up for a tournament in a city close to where I was going (alone.with no kids.just sister). uuuggghhh
I was able to see the 1st game, as it was on the way to where I was going, and sister wasn't going to be in town until about 8. Games 2 and 3 were at the same place, but no way was I leaving the scrap for hockey, I haven't scrapped for over a year.
Yesterday I get a call
"we are in the finals in (city where I am)"!!! 10:30am, are you going to come mom??"
Of course I will be there. We asked around and get this....
the rink is right behind our hotel.
No plans were made for scrapping today, I finished all that I had brought with me,
so, the scrapping is done, sister is leaving and I'll be at my 2nd home, the rink :)

Baseball is back................and so is the

knitting!!! Imagine that, nothing to do but sit and watch baseball and the knitting mojo decides to kick in!! Because, you know, you cannot watch hockey (too much action) and knit at the same time. Well, I can't anyway.

I was all over Ravelry yesterday trying to find something to make with all this gorgeous Shepherd's Mill Wool that I got last Friday. I was going to make the Celtic Tote, but too.much.thinking., even with baseball. So I was going to make the Vermont Felted Bag...that didn't work out, but sisters annabanana will be receiving a nice blanket/rug for her dolls. I decided on this bag. More details as it progresses.

When I wasn't on Ravelry, it was time to transplant the tomato plants! Look how much they've grown. We have 11 plants, some are going to mother and some to sister. I am not that crazy that I need 11 tomato plants, especially since no one else eats them! I told son #1 "YOU WILL EAT THESE"








Oh, hubby's boss asked how the "vacation" was. Hubby replied, it was no Mexico.
So boss says, "want to go to Cozumel next year?"
Heck yea!! So, I think we are going back.

WTF

Yes, we are on spring break.
Yes, that is snow.
And yes, that is Santa in the background.

This is what today is all about.....

Hubby is going downtown for the festivities, and then to the game. I'll be home with the boys.

Go Green
Go White

Ooooooobleck (Dr. Suess)

Home with the kids for spring break and nothing to amuse them?? Make some oobleck, courtesy of Dr. Suess. We've made this at preschool and the kids love it. Son #2 made it in science (4th grade) this past week and wanted to make some for at home.


1 1/2 c corn starch **I think we needed 2c to make it the correct consistency
1 c water
food color (optional)
Mix in pie tin **do not pour into sink when finished, it will clog the drain, throw the mixture away**

when it's pushed together, the oobleck will appear dry and solid, but when you let go, it will flow like a liquid. Lots of messy fun.

On the knitting front, I've got some new yarn (I had a gift certificate and a 20% off coupon due to it being my "birthday" month) and hope to cast on a new project. Hoping this will get me out of my "non knitting" funk. I'll post more as it progresses.

The one with all the stress

1-teaching preschool today, never had to teach this day before, it was Easter egg coloring day and 3 painting projects. uuugggghhh I did survive, thanks to all the hardworking moms and my replacement.
2-printer issues. massive headache yesterday after trying for 4 hours to fix a network issue. For some reason, all that hard work in Jan/Feb was for nothing as I was kicked out of my own network and now I can't print.
)(*&^^&%$#^&&*(*))_
so I ordered new wireless printer today, sister will get the old one, which is not even a year old.
3-all my fans wanting to know about new posts, boy I sure feel "famous", this one is for you guys!!

Finally, here are the tomato plants.

The one where a complete stranger

Edit:
Here is the photo of my hair cut. Funny thing is, I'm due to go in on Friday!! So hopefully she cuts it the same way, because it took 3 tries last time to get it right!!!

gives me a compliment!
So I am at Sam's today, pumping gas, when I hear behind me:
"Excuse me, can I tell you something? I REALLY like your haircut, it is really nice"

Thank you so much! The lady that works in the little house out by the gas pumps came out from behind her glass and out into the sunshine to say this to me.
It made my day. I was sure to give kudo's to my hairdresser :) yea you!!

This is an UUGGGHH

I have come to the realization that I am NEVER EVER going to finish the current sock that has been sitting next to the couch for over a month.
I will be frogging it, and either starting something new, or go on a knitting break for a few months.
HA, like I haven't been on a break since forever.

If someone has my mojo (LaurieC) would you kindly return it?? :)

P.S.

DO NOT DRINK MANY BEVERAGES AND WATCH MAMA MIA!!!
or you will call sister numerous times as it is SO hilarious.
and you will have many bathroom breaks
and the movie will take FOREVER to be done.
But Pierce is really cute :)
but he can't sing

The one where I am home......alone

Due to a scheduling glitch (my sickness),
I am home.
by myself.
alone.
with no one.
How did this happen?

Son #1 and hubby are out of town at hockey tournament. Son #2 is at a friend's house. I had to work at preschool this morning, so after practice last night, he went home with a friend (as there would be no one to watch him this morning). I was invited to play cards tonight, so I asked if they could keep him another night.

Well, the sickness I have contracted has made me:
1) sneeze
2) blow nose
3) wash hands
4) repeat, many many times.

So I bowed out of cards, called friends to let them know I could get son #2 and bring him home, son #2 says: "no, I want to stay here".

So I went grocery shopping, did a load of laundry, and now I am having dinner;
beer and popcorn. Yum
Then I'm going to watch a movie.
Then off to bed.
Life is good.

The one with the cold medicine that you

take "every 4-6 hours" yet it stops working after 2 hours, thus leaving you miserable for the next 2-4 hours (depending on if you go by the directions).
And it's beverage night.
What to do???

The one in which the entire hockey team goes

out after practice to celebrate 3 birthdays and I end up coming home with 2 extra kids.
Son #2's hockey team in THE BEST, we all get along very well, we like going out after games/practices to partake in a few beverages. Last night was no exception.
We have the most wonderful team manager, gknee, she is the one who makes sure the evening goes off without a hitch. And she does this almost.every.week.
Since last September, when the season started.
So, last night was her son's birthday, it was also another player's birthday this past week and Son #1's birthday is next week. Her son wanted his party at BW3's and she/he was kind enough to let the other boys celebrate with him. There was one big cake and singing and lots of merriment.

Must I confess that we started the merriment at 5:30 while the boys were at practice?
Back to the extra kids....after the evening of merriment is over (not just tonight, but every Friday), the boys like to pester their "beveraged up" parents for sleepovers, with the players changing houses willy-nilly. Son #2 had already asked for P1 to sleepover, he was not coming to practice, P2 had to back out after parental figure said no. P3 and P4 were readily available (I guess they were a package deal). Fortunately for me, Son #1 gets along well with P3's sibling, so I only agreed to the terms if Son #1 went home with P3. All was arranged and we went on our merry way.
If you've ever had a hockey player, you know what they do. They play mini-sticks in your basement until 2:30AM. Never mind that they are spending the entire day at your house on Saturday, no, they must play into the wee hours of the morning.

I must be out of my mind.
Oh, and hubby is gone to a seminar and won't return until this afternoon.
Just me.
and 3 hockey players.
and rain.

Here is an updated photo of the tomato plants. They really started taking off last Tuesday, after I decided they needed to be watered.

The one in which I think of all the witty things

to say while driving the kids to school in the van, but by the time I get home, I've forgotten most of them because it took the computer so long to boot up.
haha I'm going to be funny today, should make for an interesting post.

Anyway, today will be all about me saving the economy; because if you haven't noticed, no knitting is happening in this house.
Yesterday I went shopping, for the first time since probably Christmas.

First off, new purse, I've been using the green one for almost a year, so it was time. I got it last year on clearance, thinking the color was not "happening" that is why it was on clearance. Well guess what? that is the new "it" color for spring, all the new purses are green. So of course, I can't match everyone else, I orginally got it so I could be different. So this time, I bought red. Again on clearance.
I think Sister wants the old purse.

Next stop, the bookstore. I hardly ever buy books**, I always get them from the library, much cheaper that way.**except for Twilight series, I went nuts and bought them all, got my money's worth, read them all twice, going for the third time now.
Anyway, my teacher gave me a book to read, she bought it because the lady at the bookstore said "everyone is reading it". Well, she started reading it, determined she wasn't "hip enough" and gave it to me because she thinks I am "hip" :). She also loves that I wear 70's type jeans, they would be the ones sister made me buy. Turns out, the book is by Jen Lancaster aka Jennsylvania (see side bar for link to her blog). Sister read them all, told me to read them, I never did. I started Bright Lights Big A** yesterday. OMG, it is so funny, I was laughing so hard I was crying. Son #1 wanted to know what was wrong. I had to put the book down many times to compose myself. Found a 20% off coupon online, went to the bookstore and bought the first book, Bitter is the New Black.

Off to buy soap, you know, from that fancy store, they were having a sale (they are ALWAYS having a sale).

Last stop, JCP for a new shirt. Saw a shirt in the April 1st Family Circle (yes, I am sensible) that I liked, so I was on a mission. Finally found the shirt, and another, so I got them both. Hubby wants to know where I will wear these shirts. We don't go out much.together.alone. Mostly all the time with the hockey team.
He says they are kind of "busy" WTF, I'm not wearing them together.
Hmmmmm, old purse matches one shirt, new purse matches other....

And that is how I saved the economy yesterday.

Last, but not least, here is an update on the tomato plants. If you look really close at the one in the bottom left, you can see a tiny sprout. Not much going on in the other pods.


PHEW, that was the longest post EVER, I hope my 5 friends enjoyed it!!
And I saved it like every 10 seconds because you know how Blogger can be; and I wasn't going to retype everything. TTFN

mom's night out

oh my.
hockey team had mom's night out last night.
we ate and drank and laughed and cried
and ate and drank some more.
and it was a sleepover.

I need 2 days to recover.

Mid Winter Break Blahs

Here we are at the end of break.

We did not go anywhere exotic or fun.
We did go to the movies, a birthday party and the rink.


We did play countless hours of video games and watch lots of tv (boys)
We did read 2 books (me)

Son #1 wants to grow things, here is his new project, tomatoes.
I will keep you updated.

No knitting, the socks are still waiting at the heel, I haven't decided if I want to do short row, or heel flap.

Sister is MIA.

2 hours

That is how long it is taking son #1 to eat dinner.
Son #2 finished after an hour.
This is so out-of-control.

It's not like I made them eat liver and onions and lima beans.
It was pork chops, cooked in the crock pot. With sweet spices.
They said it tasted funny. I thought it was pretty bland.

I am locked away upstairs, and guess what?
The wi-fi that is based in the basement, reaches all the way up here!

She is so bossy

Sister says I need to update the blog
Sister says she is tired of looking at the socks

Maybe Sister should try and come up with witty and exciting things to talk about if she has that much time on her hands :)

Anyway

I was home with a sick child for 2 days this week. I did a lot of nothing.
Read a book, did lots of laundry, started a new sock.
I am using what I thought was solid pink yarn, but it isn't, there is sort of a stripey thing going on (2 different shades)

I'm not happy about that.

Maybe I'll give Sister the not-solid-pink socks; then she can put them on her Facebook page, 'cuz I think that is where she is spending all her time lately, she sure isn't calling me.
:)

Happy Feet Ampersand

Here are the socks. I will wear them this week.
Hubby had camera with him in DC, sorry for the delay.

The socks are done! The socks are done!!

Yes, finally, the socks I started last October are finally finished. I knit up a storm yesterday afternoon/evening and finished the mate. Now, what do I do?? Work on the hibernating Modern Quilt Wrap? Work on the scarf? Start more socks??
Photo to come later.

yea me!!!

I did it!
Also overlooking the easy, obvious choice:

uninstall the printer
reinstall the printer, making sure laptop is on and connected to network

printed, twice!
Now, do I dare to turn off either computer? or even the printer??
Because if I do, will it all work when I turn them back on? and in which order do I turn them on??

So, now, hopefully this blog will go back to knitting and not computing.

Missing Stephanie

Well, I have been cruising all over the internet and I cannot find a crockpot site like Stephanie's :( I really miss her Crockpot 365 blog. I am making the Pasta E Fagioli for dinner, it smells really good!
More bad news: that darn printer is still not working. I am going to give up. I can always print from the desktop, so I will let it go....
Good news: I have been knitting fast and furious on the Ampersand sock. Finished the gusset today and now I just have to knit on down the foot!

Finally, knitting

Yes, I have turned the heel on the mate for the Ampersand socks!
but the printer still won't work.

and now.............

the printer won't work. uuuuggggghhhhh


print from desktop - check
print from laptop - no check
print from laptop via desktop - check
print from desktop via laptop - no check

I don't think it is a mcafee issue, though, you never know.
This is a "print spool service not working" issue. I did find
out how to re-set it, which I have done 2 times. But I can't
seem to figure out how to make it work correctly.

I think it is 5 o'clock somewhere.

Still with the computer not working.....

STOP THE PRESSSES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I FIGURED IT OUT!! AFTER I TYPED IN ALL THE PINGING STUFF, I DECIDED TO GOOGLE THIS PROBLEM AND SOMEONE HAD THE EXACT SAME ISSUE (CAN YOU BELIEVE IT)
SO I DID WHAT THEY DID AND IT WORKS! I CAN SEE THE DESKTOP.
it was McAfee firewall, I had to allow incoming from the trusted laptop :)
I
AM
SO
SMART


Ok, it's been almost a month since I set aside the non-connecting issues between the laptop and desktop. I decided to try again today. not good.

Here is what I've found out, with some help from sister's husband:

I am able to ping the laptop from desktop
I cannot ping the desktop from the laptop
I can ping the router from the laptop

In the meantime, I'm still not knitting that other sock or the scarf. I am reading "Inkheart".

Also, son #2 won his hockey tournament this past weekend :)

-25 cold day

No school today due to frigid wind chill temps.
so......
son #1, who we have to DRAG out of bed every morning for school...waltzes downstairs at 7, makes himself comfortable on the couch and refuses to go back to bed UUGGGHHH
son #2, comes into my room, sees that I'm still in bed and says "mom, we're going to be late for school, get up" :), no school today, go back to bed!
no, they both plant themselves in front of the tv.
Meanwhile, I have to go to the bank and go grocery shopping! Also, I hear that we may get 7" of snow tomorrow.

Cold Cold Cold

Oh bother, time to move to Florida, or maybe just a vacation. I'm tired of this cold and snow and wind. Well, if I make it through the rest of the week, maybe the rest of the winter won't be so bad. HA, this is Michigan, this is just the beginning of winter.
Anyway, finished my 2nd book, and still the sock sits there. I also cast on a new scarf, Ruffles, but that is going to take FOR-EV-ER. So, I won't even worry about finishing it anytime soon.

Out of the gates........

So, I finally cast on the mate for the Ampersand sock AND I started a new book, Water for Elephants. It's ok, nothing I can't put down and walk away from each night (unlike the Twilight series).

Back to work and school today. We survived, wonder how tomorrow will be??

Time to 'fess up

Ok, so here is what I've been doing for the past 2 weeks.

Banging my head against the computer!! I don't know what else to do!!

As I posted previously, I have a new mini netbook, HP 1035nr. I was able to do something, don't ask me what, or to do it again, but I am able to see the laptop from the desktop (aka access the files). This is great! It took me a week, but somehow, the stars lined up, I hit the wrong, or right box, and they connected.

But, I really, really, really, want to be able to sit at the laptop and see the desktop. Can anyone help me figure this out?? I have been emailing HP, but with no luck, nobody can point me in the right direction. I have been all over the internet, it seems lots of people have this problem, but nobody can tell them how to fix it.

This has taken up DAYS of my vacation and it bothers me that I cannot figure it out. Can anybody help me????