Prettybird's Nest

The school year begins in Oz

2008-08-26T17:34:00.017-05:00

Just a short post. At least one person requested that I update this blog. I just can't seem to find the time to do it anymore!

The kids started school today. Last night when I was thinking about them and praying for them and what I wished for each of my children this year, I realized that they are just like the characters in The Wizard of Oz.

Christian needs to find a heart. I know that sounds harsh and he does have one. He is actually pretty sensitive. But he needs to find a little compassion, patience and positivity!

He is a senior this year and, as drum major for the marching band, I hope that he learns to lead with enthusiasm and friendliness! Today was his last first day of school. Sniff.

Kate has a brain, but needs to use it. I'm not talking academically here. She needs to keep her wits about her and remember things like her band hat and her homework amidst the ever-more-important social vortex she is swept up in.

Elliot needs to find his courage. He is very mighty, but forgets that he is also very brave.

And then there's Claire. I really think that with all of her gifts and abilities, she will be just fine as long as she has some shiny shoes!!

You guys really need a hobby

2008-01-17T19:22:00.000-05:00

Geeze guys! It's nice to feel loved and missed, but quite frankly 87 (and counting) comments is a bit creepy!!! I'm so glad you've been able to use my blog to further your own best interests, whatever the heck that may be.

I am still working at Bravo and after six months have yet to see any of you there during the day to visit me. Oh sure. You're all flattery and concern when you're posting anonymous (Brett) comments, but where's the real love? Where's the real outreach? It's all just a bit cold and detached.

Well, let's see...there was Fall. Yeah, that was pretty. And then we had the holidays. They were nice. The children did some interesting things. My hair is pretty long now. The laundry still doesn't get done with any regularity and I still make the same five or six things for dinner. Apparently I can still knit although I don't do it often. There are some books beside my bed too. I think I read one of them.

But seriously, everything is rolling along and we are all adjusting to me working. I am now understanding things at work that were totally bafffling to me at first and I think I've proven myself a reliable and capable employee. I've made some friends there too and promised Katie that I'd mention her in my blog. ("Part A!) She's a really nice girl, literally half my age (!), and she makes work so much more fun. We're Bravo BFFs!

The family is well. We're in the midst of Scouting events like the Pinewood Derby and Girl Scout Cookie Sales. Christian had his wisdom teeth taken out a few weeks ago and had a really good recovery. The High School musical is going to be Grease and Christian will play the part of Eugene as well as participate in the ensemble numbers. He's really looking forward to the show. Kate turned 14 yesterday and is steeped in the Middle School social life, skating and going to dances. She hearts the Pittsburgh Penguins (read "hockey playing guys") and has followed the Pens pretty closely.

Keith is happy with the growth at the church both literally and figuratively. The construction on our Education building is really coming along and we have had several baptisms and have others ahead. We've incorporated Power Point and other digital images into our worship services and it seems to be getting a good response. He's still a very traditional guy, but is exploring new ways to share the good news.

And Green Bay is doing great!!! Yay Brett Favre!! He's the man. Sunday night is the big game and I had my nails done today in green just for the occasion. Don't know how they'll feel about that at work, but oh well.

As you may have heard, the Povertyneck Hillbillies have broken up. I don't really want to say too much about it here because I don't really know any of the details and I have deliberately avoided reading or watching any news about it because it makes me very sad. I don't know everything that happened, but I know that Chris Higbee, our old friend from Dawson and Kate's violin teacher was pretty wrecked by it all and I feel very badly about it. I don't know everyone in the band that well, but I know how much PNH meant to Chris and his family and I know this is a really hard time for him. Sniff.

Well, I guess that's it. I've no more words of wisdom for you than I ever did. Glad to see you're keeping busy out there, away from your computers and my blog, making disciples and transforming the world. Keep up the good work! I'll check in again in a couple of months!

Buon Giorno!

2007-09-04T13:51:00.000-05:00

Hi everyone! It's been so long since I've actually posted here. Things have been crazy, but it's all getting ironed out and seems like all is well!

The kids are back in school and for the most part it's been a smooth transition. Elliot seemed to have some trouble last week. Lots of tears in the morning. He was SOOO excited to be starting first grade. Apparently it didn't really hit home that he would be gone all day until Day Two. I know he said he missed me, but more than anything, I think he just wanted to be playing with his stuff. I tried to tell him it wasn't really ALL day, just til the afternoon. I don't think he bought it. Each day got a little better and this morning he mentioned not wanting to go, but there were no tears. It's an adjustment for all of us. I finally told him that even if he stayed home, Mommy had to go to work. He thought about that for a while. I swear you can almost see the gears turning in that kid's head!

Claire and Kate have slipped back into their routine without incident. For the most part the friends are the same and the workload is similar. I don't expect any real problems with either of them. Christian is really ready for Kennywood to close if you can believe it! He has had his share of Kiddieland for one summer! He is only working on the weekends now and some of those are spoken for with band commitments. I'm not entirely sure what his plans are for Fall employment, but I'm a little tired of nagging so he's on his own. No money, no driving. Simple. He has a very heavy workload with almost all AP, college prep, classes. I know he CAN do it, but he's not the most self-motivated kid I know. For example, guess when he finished his summer reading and writing assignments? Yep. The Saturday before school started. I seem to remember Keith doing the very same kind of thing at Edinboro. "Sorry. I can't go out tonight. I have to write 35 journal entried by 7 AM." Genius by birth, slacker by choice. Christian does get it all done, though-I've got to give him credit. It's much like his driving...he doesn't do things (i.e. brake) as soon as I'd like, but he manages to avoid catastrophe.

Work has been interesting. Last week I started training with the servers at Bravo! Italian Restaurant even though I'll be hostessing. My manager wanted me to learn the menu since I'll be doing the To Go orders on my shift. The down side to this is that Bravo! has a huge menu and each item has a thousand ingredients. The up side is that I got to taste everything they make! Their food is amazing. For as much as I like their pasta and more traditional Italian dishes, their meat and seafood is unbelievable. Everything from the grill is great. I tasted every single dish and I can honestly say that it all tasted different (you know how sometimes everything tastes the same?) and I liked 95% of it. The 5% that I wasn't crazy about I would still eat any day of the week given the opportunity. And the desserts...don't even get me started. One word. Cannoli.

I am probably older than most of the people working there, but I don't think they necessarily would guess me to be as old as I am. There is a lot of turnover in the restaurant business so unfortunately most of the host staff is only slightly more experienced than I am. As a result, we have new people training new people and it's a bit messy. There is no one way to run the seating board either, so that's problematic. I like to do things in an orderly fashion, so it's killing me to just fly by the seat of my pants, but I have adopted a "keep your mouth shut" policy at work (except for the cannoli, of course). I don't intend to be a doormat, but there are enough people there that complain and gripe all day long and I don't need to be one of them. I've been a bit sheltered for the last 15 years (those of you in a clergy family are probably saying, yeah right!!). People are so angry and mean and impatient and miserable! My word. I can't imagine getting so upset because you were seated at a table near a plant or under a light or because you didn't have enough ice cubes. Good service is very very important, but to get angry about such things?! Personally angered? Geeze.

But, for every person that is negative there are many that are helpful, pleasant and appreciative. This week I've been helped so much by employees and guests alike. I am constantly asking for help with things at work. Apparantly it doesn't make any sense to look for Chicken Alfredo when the guest orders Chicken Alfredo. It's much simpler to order Chicken Woozie. Of course. Silly me. Gotcha. And don't even get me started on the salads! Do we really need to have six different kinds of lettuce and greens in a thousand different combinations!??? Some of them are free with a meal, some are discounted, some have a surcharge. Uggh. But anyhow, someone is always willing to answer my dumb question and set me straight. Did you know that you can actually order something at Bravo! that isn't even on the menu? Shhhh. Don't tell anyone. Please!

I like work. I like seeing the people and I like making their experience an enjoyable one. A lot of the service tips they pounded into our heads make perfect sense to me. Maybe it's a Mom thing...anticipating someone's needs or going the extra mile. That's what makes it such a nice experience. I keep busy and always find something to do like bussing tables or resetting other tables. There's always something that needs done and why shouldn't someone do it. I can always go right back to "my job". (And I hate that, too....it's not "my" job.) People really appreciate what you can do to help them out and the servers get really really busy. They are actually in the spotlight, so I don't mind getting drinks or dropping off dessert menus. And afterall, don't they have to tip out to me??! I took a drink order from an elderly couple expecting an order for water or soda, maybe coffee. Is that ageist? Sorry. Anyhow...they ordered these rockin' bar drinks that I had no idea how to even ring in. I was just honest with them and they got a real kick out of it! Maybe I made their day a little funnier. I usually just admit what I don't know (a lot!) up front instead of pretending to know it all.

Well, those are my thoughts for this week except for two things.

One, I must have the most wonderful husband in the world! He had dinner ready every night that I was in training, filled out FOUR SETS of school emergency cards and papers and even picked up groceries and school supplies. He has just been fantastic. If I had to come home and make dinner those first few nights I would have passed out. It's very weird to not share lunch together after 10 or so years of eating lunch together. I know he'll manage, but he's adjusting, too.

And two, God bless anyone out there, including my sister, who actually makes a living doing this! It is hard, hard work. It is physically challenging (the dinner size lasagna with its oblong dish and charger weighs almost 20 pounds!) and mentally stressful. The floors are slippery, the doors swing both ways (can you imagine?!...don't ask) and those knives are sharp. So, next time you go out for a nice meal, be good to your server, compliment the chef and be patient with the hostess!

What am I?

2007-08-06T09:38:00.000-05:00

I took this personality test after viewing Keith's on his blog. I don't really like taking these tests because the answers are so decidedly black and white. Many of the questions I could have answered either way, but had to choose one. Often it's also easy to see what to answer to conform to your existing opinion of yourself! I tried to just answer as honestly as possible and you see the results. I don't find much use for these tools which seem to only encourage pigeon-holing people, but I guess they are helpful for understanding how we relate to people and I know they are often used for conflict management and such. I found it very interesting that the description under my name says "supporter, protector". That's pretty cool! As a mom, and as a wife, I've always felt that my role is to support and protect! That's actually exactly how I would have worded it. I've always considered myself the glue that holds everything together. That's not to say that I feel in any way that my wants and needs aren't important or thought of. It's just that my function in the family dynamic is, hmmm, to make it all work. I've also often felt a bit like a mama bear protecting her cubs. I am pretty easy going and I don't feel that I offend easily, but don't mess with my children!

It's also interesting to take a look again at Keith's results. In nearly every instance we are exact opposites! This doesn't concern me in the least. I think it's just further proof that even though we were bumbling idiots in the early days of our life together, God must have known what he was doing. Look how well we compliment each other. Yes sir! We're the complete package...a little heavy on the "feeling" side (whatever that means), but I'd say that's accurate.

This test reminds me of the job applications I was filling out this past week. After 16 years of being a stay-at-home mom, I am venturing out into the work force this fall when Elliot, the baby (sniff), goes to school full time. It's time. I'm excited on the one hand, but I also mourn the days of being tied to the house with children completely dependent on me. That's nuts because it was so draining and so difficult sometimes to be constantly needed, but meeting those basic, physical needs was so much more straightforward that meeting the needs of older children. "I want juice!" I can do that. "I have a boo boo!" I can fix that. "I have to start thinking about applying to college and how I'm going to pay for it and what I want to do with the rest of my life and I don't know what I'm doing". Uh. You're on your own with that one. See, I can't do those things for them. I can help and guide and support (good thing I passed that part of the personality test), but I can't just take care of it. Oh great. Things are going to be any easier, are they?

Well, before I find myself completely over my head in deep thought (check out the WPAUMC Blogroll for deep, uh, thought) I'll sum up. If I wasn't absolutely certain with every fiber of my being that what I've been doing for the last sixteen years isn't of cosmic importance, filling out those job applications would be totally demoralizing! I never finished college, I haven't had a job worth mentioning in a decade and a half, I have no professional references, and I don't have any awards or degrees on my wall. My favorite application was for Steve and Barry's. Steve and Barry's is a clothing store that sells, primarily, graphic t-shirts, college apparel, jeans and casual clothes. What's really cool, is that most of the things are under $15...sometimes only $6.98. Anyhow, after filling out the factual part of the application I had to take a true and false personality survey consisting of nearly 300 questions. (Well, honestly, I swear it was the same 5 questions reworded about a hundred times...I know that math doesn't work out.) I could barely keep from laughing! "True or False: I often feel that everyone is out to get me." "True or False: Sometimes I really feel like punching someone." "True or False: It's OK to take something small from work every once in a while." Good grief! It would have been fun to really mess with them and fill it out like a complete psychopath, but as I mentioned I don't have many employment options out there. Anyhow, it was funny.

The exciting news is this...I was offerred a job that I didn't even apply for! My sister was wrapping up her last week working as a bartender at the Bravo Restaurant at the Waterfront in Pittsburgh. The kids and I went down one night to visit and she got the kids some milkshakes and smoothies from the bar. Yes, I sat at a bar with my children. Got a problem with that??! Anyhow, in the course of the evening I met some of her coworkers and one of her managers. The next day she called and said that he wanted to offer me a position being a hostess from 10-3, weekdays...exactly the shifts I want. I was ridiculously delighted that after filling out applications and lying about my desire to punch people, someone thought I was actually capable of working for them! It was so nice to be approached instead of having to ask, ask, ask. Things are nearly finalized, but I have to go down this evening to meet with the manager again. This is exactly what I was looking for...I can work with people, Bravo is a really beautiful restaurant, The Waterfront is a lively place, the hours are perfect and he knows that I am only available for those school-time hours. On the one hand I am scared to death (when am I going to do all the other stuff I like and need to do like cleaning (need), laundry (need), knitting (like), volunteering at the school (like), sitting on my butt (need)?? Well, it's time to start a new chapter, I guess.

OK. Well, my baby just got up...yes, it's almost 11:30 in the morning! We had a very, very long weekend; a picnic at Deer Lake Park all day Saturday a long day at Camp Allegheny on Sunday when we switched the girls at camp. Kate was at Drama Camp last week and we got to see the kids do their worship performance of Godspell at the Shanksville UMC at 10:45 AM. She really had a great time! Claire couldn't check in to her camp until 3:30 PM, so we had a very long day. And it rained. I hate getting wet in the rain when my objective is to keep stuff dry. Playing in the rain is one thing. Driving, walking, and carrying sleeping bags in the rain is another. But everyone is settled. Claire forgot some little things she was excited about taking to camp like some stationery she drew herself and her High School Musical book, so I dropped them in the automatic postal box last night. Pretty cool to be able to print out postage any time you want. Hope she wasn't too upset.

Now, back to my baby. It's dark and rainy so I think I'll get him something to eat, make him cozy and enjoy taking care of him for a little while longer. That is, after all, what I seem to do best!

Predestination

2007-07-29T06:48:00.000-05:00

Ha! Thought that would catch your attention!

Looks like my love affair with yarn was meant to be. And I actually did have a face; a really cute face. You just can't see it in this old picture.

Looking at this really makes me miss my Grandma. Ironically, I never, ever saw Grandma do anything with yarn. She was a sewing wizard, but it was my other grandmother, my Grammy, that knit and crocheted. This is her in a picture with my mom.

I think she's actually crocheting, but I'll let it slide. I've wished many times that I had started knitting while she was still alive. We could have enjoyed each other's company while we knit away. Her advice when trying to learn something new and crafty was always, "Just follow the directions and do exactly what it says. Don't try to figure out how it's going to come out in the end." Sounds an awful lot like "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding", doesn't it?

Inspired by John

2007-07-28T09:36:00.000-05:00

This morning I sat down to check what's going on in the blogging world and I was so inspired by John's blog, that I decided to update my own.

I think we've actually been doing more running around this summer than we ever do during the school year. For the most part it's been fun stuff, but many, many miles have been put on my poor old van. Most of this update will be in picture form, I guess. When did I actually post last? Oh dear. July 2nd. Well, here goes.

Our vacation to Kill Devil Hills, NC was wonderful! For months I worried and planned and fretted over whether the whole thing would actually happen (this is what I do) and it all went amazingly well! The only snag in the whole thing happened on the night we left. It was 9:00 PM and the kids and the luggage were all packed into the van. We slammed shut the trunk (hatch? whatever it's called on a van) and it didn't shut. We rearranged the STUFF and it still wouldn't shut. It was somehow stuck in the locked position and the little thingy that needed to move aside to catch on the other little thingy that keeps it shut wouldn't budge. Our guess is that while it was open, one of the kids hit the automatic locks and when we slammed it shut we jammed the mechanism. (Blame it on the kids.) Anyhow, after an hour of pulling and prying and pacing and crying (that would be me) we got the hatch shut with the help of our dear neighbor, Mr. Smith. A quick peck on the cheek and we were off.

The drive through the night went very well, though the time through Virginia seemed endless. Keith and I took turns and the kids slept for almost the whole trip. We arrived in North Carolina around 7:00 AM. By 8:00 or 8:30 we were in the Outer Banks. This may be the first picture from vacation...Me and Claire at Stack 'em High Pancake House.

We actually ran into my dear friend, Kathy while we were driving around waiting to check in! They live in Punxsutawney, PA. She had our condo the week before us and she referred us to the owner in the first place. We spent about 20 minutes together at the beach before they headed North. Check out the slide show for other great beach pictures!

We went to Jockey's Ridge in the middle of the week and walked on the giant sand dunes there. Now that's a workout! We didn't try hang gliding, but took our kites and let the kids run up and down the dunes. It's a very cool place!

(No McIlwains were harmed in the filming of this video)

So, yes, vacation was wonderful! The kids enjoyed the water itself a lot more than I expected and played in the ocean quite a bit. Keith and I were able to relax. We saw some historical sites including Roanoke Island and the Wright Brothers Memorial. I have tons of pictures, but particularly liked this one of Claire at the Flight Memorial...

When we returned to PA we began some new adventures as well...

I spent a day at Kennywood with my friend Angela and her family. Angela's dad turned 70 on June 29 and the whole Battaglia family was gathered to celebrate. I've known Angela since we were 12 and she holds a very dear place in my heart. Her dad doesn't look a day over 50! He's in remarkable shape and is still just a jovial and, frankly, clueless as he was when we were in high school. No wonder he looks so good! Keith came out later in the day and we celebrated our anniversary at Kennywood Park. Our anniversary is July 6 and Angela's and Stephen's is July 4. It was a fun day. Here's a picture of me and Angela.

We celebrated the Fourth of July and watched fireworks at Kennywood...

Kate went to Strings Camp at Heinz Hall with the Pittsburgh Youth Symphony. Uber cool! I was so proud of her and even enjoyed the mornings that I had to drive her into Pittsburgh at 7 AM. I am not, repeat, NOT, a morning person, but it was very invigorating to be out and about so early. The city was like Richard Scarry's Busy Town. On Thursday she even treated me to Starbucks. Here is a picture from her concert at Heinz Hall on Thursday afternoon. Kate is the pretty one.

And now the kids are beginning their annual camp experience. Elliot just returned from Jumonville where he spent part of the week with John and Michelle Shaver at Mini Camp. He did very well, had a couple of bouts of homesickness, but had a great time. We found this picture of him walking to the cross. He's on the far right.

I took Claire shopping for camp...

So. That covers most of it. Now all of you loyal readers that have let me know about my lazy blogging skills can get off my back!! I guess I should be glad that someone out there is paying attention.

Oh! For those of you expecting knitting content...

I got this yarn at the ocean. It's 100% bamboo. Cool. Now that I know where the knitting store is I'll be sure to stop at the beginning of vacation next year!

Oh! How could I forget! I finished the seventh Harry Potter book last night! I'm so sad that it's all over...no new books. It was a wonderful ride! I started reading the first book to Claire and Elliot and was just gleeful re-reading Chapter One, "The Boy Who Lived". I commend these books to you. I know there is controversy and concern about them, particularly in Christian circles, but perhaps it would be a good idea to read at least the first one and see what it's all about! I saw the new Harry Potter movie a couple of weeks ago and now I'm just waiting for it all to wrap up. Don't believe any of the rumors! Read Book Seven for yourself!

When the heck did July get here?

2007-07-02T18:55:00.000-05:00

There is really no content to this post! Just wanted to acknowledge that I haven't posted since the middle of May! All is well! We just got back from vacation, and despite the one picture that my husband posted (poor Elliot) we had a lovely time. I even found a knitting store toward the end of the week (which, financially, was SO much better than finding it at the beginning of the week!). When I get the pics organized on the computer, I'll update y'all. God is good!!

Quick Update

2007-05-31T07:14:00.000-05:00

I am still here. I have not done such a good job of keeping up with my posts, though. Here's a quick update since last time...

Mother's Day here was lovely. This is what I gave my mom. Well, the real gift was that I spent the whole day with her...just her and me...no kids or husbands. We really had a nice time. I wanted to have something to give her though, so I made this the day before. For explanation, my mom has this thing about trees and has made a "tree room" out of what was once my sister's room at home. She likes to collect anything that has to do with trees. So...

It is the Candle Tree pattern from A Treasury of Knitting Patterns by Barbara G. Walker. It's an early edition...copyright 1968. Kathy gave it to me when she visited. I finished the square and then, wondering what in the world to do with it, adhered it to a piece of floor tile that I found in the basement and set it in a plate stand. Not too shabby.

The following weekend Claire and I made Italian Wedding Soup and had my parents over for dinner while Keith spent the day with his mom visiting and sprucing up the cemetery in Johnstown. Claire loves wedding soup! She also likes to cook so I thought we should give this a try. She made Oreo Pie for dessert and set the table just right.

Christian has been working, Kate has been camping and Elliot is counting down the days 'til his birthday! We spent Saturday and Sunday at Sandcastle Waterpark. This year I got us season passes so we can go whenever we want. This past weekend was a preview weekend...it doesn't officially open until June 9, but we wanted to get in as much swimming as we can!

I've been reading a lot, too. I haven't updated the "Good Books" page on the right, but let's see...Christian got me a book titled "Boo" for Mother's Day. It was a very enjoyable read and there's a sequel, I believe. I read a book called "Don't Look Down". It was pretty terrible, but I have this thing about abandoning books. I actually threw it away when I was done with it. Keith doesn't like to throw away any book (which is why we have so many boxes of books!), but this one had a LOT of bad language in it and just wasn't worth keeping or passing on. I also finished (BIG YAY!!) "A Breath of Snow and Ashes" by Diana Gabaldon which I've been trying to finish for a couple of years. I loved the first 5 books in this series and just couldn't get into the latest one. But I finally finished it and I still love the characters and story line. You can read about them here, here or here. I highly recommend the entire Outlander series. In fact, Keith says I'm a bit like a pusher trying to get people hooked. Call me. The first one's free.

I am working on a bit of a secret project. I'd like to have it finished by the middle of next week (Hint #1), but I'm not even sure if it will fit (Hint #2). I'll have more info here in the days to come.

What else? Keith had a baptism on Sunday and took in several new members. It's so nice to have those opportunities and be in an area that is growing as rapidly as Jefferson Hills. You could really tell that he was thrilled to welcome these new families into our church. Christian was inducted into the International Thespian Society on Thursday. He worked really hard to get in all of his hours including tech hours. He really enjoys the drama club at school and hopes to student direct the Fall play for his Senior project (which you do your Junior year??) They have had all of their year end band and chorus concerts. Last night Kate had a Academic Award night at the Middle School. She was awarded Highest Honors With Distinction, Golden Reader Award and Outstanding Student in Orchestra. Go Kate! Claire is nearly done with her first year of Brownies and has her big Jumping Ahead ceremony into Girl Scouts on Friday night. That's exciting! There's a dinner and square dancing afterward. (Betcha didn't know that, Keith!) Elliot has learned so much in Kindergarten and is well on his way to reading. He'll be six on June 13 and can build anything put in front of him if he has directions and the right supplies. He and Claire are quite the little water babies, too, and love playing in the pool.

23 days 'til the beach!! I have the condo keys in my possession!!

And now I have to go to the grocery store.
bye!

New Socks and a Serious Side

2007-05-05T14:41:00.000-05:00

I've added a new feature to my blog. On the side you'll see the WPA UMC Blogroll. The blogs listed here are Methodists, some clergy and some lay people, from throughout our Western Pennsylvania Conference. If you check out these blogs you'll often stumble upon some heated discussion or serious subject matter. However, as often as not, they're acting like complete goofs and talking about comic books. But, I digress. These are some of the people that are nearest and dearest to me. Some I've known for years, some I've never met, and one I even married. They are all doing their best, every day, to bring the Good News of Jesus Christ to the people with whom they come in contact. It's not an easy task. Please join me in praying for them every chance you get. Pray that they have endurance, inspiration, discernment, gentleness, patience, a good sense of humor and a touch of humility (sorry, guys). Pray for their families, friends and flock.

I love you all.

Here's the groovy sock.
(Well, it is a knitting blog after all.)

Happy Birthday Audrey Hepburn!

2007-05-04T12:33:00.000-05:00

This little piggie...

2007-04-30T19:50:00.000-05:00

What to make next

2007-04-30T14:10:00.000-05:00

My knitting obligations are all met! I finished the baby blanket I was making for my mother-in-law to take to a baby shower. I was really happy with it and only found one mistake which, of course, I didn't point out since it was so minor. I forgot one small section (5 stitches?) of knit on a row of purling, so the garter stitch border is missing one ridge. No big deal. Other than that it is lovely. I just used TLC Baby Yarn by Coats and Clark in Powder Blue. I had my mother-in-law buy 5 skeins, but I only used one full skein and a few yards of another. Amazing how much yarn is in one skein! I also used my good circular needles to make it. It's the first time I've stuck it out with the circulars. Just seems like I'm always slowing down to push the stitches up onto the bamboo part of the needle even though the circulars are well-made and have a nice smooth join. I noticed it more on the rows with several yarn overs. I'm glad I stuck it out though because I want to get used to using circulars and they are nice for toting around a project...no big needles sticking out.

I also finished the socks I was making for Karen, my mother-in-law's friend. You can read about them at the end of this post. There's a picture there of one of them. The other one looks the same. Ha, ha.

I finally put the finishing touches (i.e. buttons) on this cell phone bag...another felting project. I'm waiting for some books of felted purse patterns to arrive at the library. I know I could probably play around with some existing patterns and figure out what I want, but I'm not much for improvising. Give me a pattern and I'll follow it! I'd like to make one for Claire's Girl Scout leader and I told my sister I'd make her one, too.

So, now I'm at that happy place where I'm anticipating the next great knitting project! Elliot and I went to Knit One in Squirrel Hill on Wednesday. It was pouring down rain, but we braved the weather and found the yarn store I've been wanting to check out for months. The Yarn Harlot was there last year and I know she's made other visits, too. Elliot was a very good companion in the yarn store and wanted to touch everything. Well, so did I. He was particularly fascinated with the ball roller and helped me roll my new purchase...Jitterbug Merino by Colinette in Mardi Gras. It will make some really wild socks! Watch Elliot's awesome winding ability!

The end is my favorite part!

THE SUN IS SHINING!!!

2007-04-21T08:03:00.000-05:00

I realize that it is considered bad form to ever type in all capital letters or use exclamation points when blogging or messaging, but

HOLY CRAP! THE SUN IS SHINING!!!!!

The DJ on the radio yesterday played Katrina and the Waves "Walking on Sunshine" and said he was going to play it all day (which he didn't).

So, click on the video and turn up your speakers!!

THE SUN IS SHINING!!!!

A Dream Is A Wish Your Heart Makes

2007-04-09T16:24:00.000-05:00

Ever since Christian was 5 or 6 he's had a great love for Kennywood Park. He can tell you any bit of information about its history, its layout or its rides. When Christian was younger his friends use to tease him and told me that Christian could somehow use the word "Kennywood" in every one of his spelling sentences. He has Kennywood posters in his room and a bolt from the original Steel Phantom.

Well, this past Friday, Christian went to Kennywood for his employee orientation!! He will be working on the rides in Kiddieland. Usually the younger kids (under 18) get to work the games or concessions so he was really happy to get to work with rides, even if they are mini rides for kids. It's a dream come true!

Saturday we dyed Easter eggs. There were no major dye incidents but I had the dropsies. I dropped 3 or 4 of the kids eggs and even made Claire cry! But it all turned out in the end.

Easter Sunday we had a lovely morning at our church, Jefferson United Methodist, beginning with sunrise service, followed by a pancake breakfast cooked by the men of the church. Yummy!

We had another service following breakfast, then we went home and enjoyed a nice day with family. Here we are before we all ran off to put on our comfy blue jeans. Usually we wear jeans to church anyhow (well, not Keith) but decided to wear something a little nicer for the holiday. God is good!

So Excited!!

2007-04-02T09:05:00.000-05:00

It was so much fun!!! I went to Joseph-Beth Booksellers on the South Side Friday night and saw The Yarn Harlot!! There were quite a few people there...I think the manager said about 125.

Here's a review of the evening in pictures.

These are the ladies from my knitting group that went with me...

Jaretta did say she would sue me if I put her picture on the Internet, but I'm really hoping she was just kidding.

Here is the spot where Stephanie would eventually dazzle us with her wit and charm...

I love this shot of part of the crowd. Take a good look at the sign I circled. (click on it) HA!!

Jack was there...

...and then SHE came in (!!!!!) and after being introduced...

...took a picture of all of us with the SOCK!!...

...and then I got to MEET HER!!...

...and now we're best friends.

The End.

For Stephanie's version of the evening go here. You can sort of see me in my blurry best in the third picture. I'm standing in the back, directly above the middle of the sock. I have on an olive tank top. You see me??

I have to also mention that The Yarn Harlot LOVES Pittsburgh (as she should)!
Yay us!

Demented and Sad, but Social...

2007-03-29T20:07:00.000-05:00

Guess where I'm going tomorrow night???!!! Go ahead. Guess.

I'm going to see The Yarn Harlot!!! In person! Stephanie Pearl-McPhee, writer and knitter extraordinaire is going to be in Pittsburgh at Joseph-Beth Booksellers on the South Side. I have forced, uh, convinced, some ladies from my knitting circle to go with me to the book-signing tomorrow evening. I'm sooo excited!! I plan to take my camera and two of her books that I currently own. I suppose I'm nearly obligated to buy the new book, don't you think? Wonder if I'll be in any of the pictures on her blog. What should I wear? Should I take knitting with me? What should I say? Should I get a picture of us together? Where does one draw the line between admiring fan and crazy stalker? (Then again, it is the South Side, and "crazy" is a relative term.) Will my new-found friends disown me? Stay tuned for more up-to-the-minute information...

In other news...

Claire got her hair cut today! It's been a long, long time since it was last cut. Here are some before and after pictures in this slide show. She looks like such a fashion plate. Don't know where that girl got her great hair.

I always kind of laugh at the people on TV who get their hair cut on some make-over show and cry, but I have to say, when April (my knitting group leader) started cutting I felt a bit light-headed and sad. Don't know why. Claire didn't mind at all! April did a great job. Leave it to a knitter to really give a great precision cut.

Claire is donating her hair to Locks of Love, a charity that collects hair to make hairpieces for children who suffer from long-term hair loss. Most of the children have lost their hair due to alopecia areata, a disease which has no known cause or cure. I'm very proud of Claire for her willingness to share her lovely locks!

For Keith

2007-03-29T20:06:00.000-05:00

I'm 100%

2007-03-23T06:27:00.000-05:00

You are 100% Pittsburgh.

Great job! There's nooooo doubt about it. You're from Da Burgh. You deserve a reward, so go have an Ahrn City or two. And GO STILLERS!

How Pittsburgh Are You
See All Our Quizzes

Notes...musical and otherwise

2007-03-20T09:51:00.000-05:00

Goodness! It's been a long time since I last posted. Here's a quick glimpse of what's been going on...

The Thomas Jefferson High School spring musical, The Music Man, was a big success! This was Christian's first musical and he had a very good singing part. He was one of the school board members that forms a barbershop quartet. There was a lot of singing and he had the uppermost part...he had the best falsetto! We were very very proud of him.

Here's a picture of the curtain call on closing night and Christian in one of his costumes.

We had beautiful weather for a couple of days and the kids got to go outside and play a bit...

Kate and I made another trip to NYC. She took this picture and got to see Phantom of the Opera while I did some shopping and had a fabulous lunch in Little Italy.

This is the felted purse I was working on.
Before...

...and after.

Felting is so cool! It's amazing that it really works! I kept calling Keith down to the laundry room to "see it now!" I finished knitting the purse the morning of our trip and didn't finish sewing on the strap and button until 11:00 PM. (Our bus left at 1:30 AM and returned at the same time Sunday morning...uggh!) I told Keith I was taking that purse with me even if it was still damp! The flap was my own little creation...whoopee! The original pattern had the purse open at the top and I thought that would never do for the city. So, I just picked up some stitches and added the flap and a magnetic closure (which are super cool).

Christian also found out that he was hired by Kennywood Park to work the rides in Kiddieland. He was super excited! He has loved Kennywood since he was a toddler and working there is a real thrill!

Those are the highlights of the last few weeks. The truth is that for the better part of two weeks Claire's been very sick with a cold and an uncrontrollable cough. We had her to the doctor for the second time yesterday and they prescribed a different antibiodic. Hopefully this one will do the trick! She is one miserable little girl and I miss her *BLING*!!

I sat with her this morning and finished up one of the socks I'm giving my mother-in-law's friend, Karen. I found the pattern here. I really love the cable twist pattern.

The yarn I used made them a bit bulky, but they should be lovely for lounging. I'd like to make a pair in a lighter gauge to wear with my new ballet flats.

And, ANNY HAD HER BABY!!! He's soooooooo sweet. Check him out here.

Uh-oh

2007-02-19T21:19:00.000-05:00

Cake Mania Mania!

2007-02-17T17:56:00.000-05:00

My embarassment at admitting that I am sometimes addicted to computer games is WAAAAAAY overshadowed by the exhilarating fact that I JUST FINISHED MY CAKE MANIA GAME...ALL LEVELS! DONE!! MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!!

"What," you may ask, "is Cake Mania?"

Cake Mania is a game I initially found here and downloaded to my computer for a trial run. (Well, several trial runs...can you say "delete cookies"?) Eventually Keith bought me the full version and made an honest woman out of me.

Poor Jill, the brave heroine in our game, has to save her grandparents bakery by successfully waiting on customers of all types and filling their culinary orders in a timely and efficient manner. Easy? At first. Then there are more customers and grouchy customers and higher goals to meet. If you aren't quick enough for certain customers they just up and leave and then you're stuck with their cake which brings down your final profit. This is serious business! I have actually found my heart racing while I try to beat these levels.

Here's one screen shot of the game. You can see the different customers and the cakes they are ordering in the little thought bubbles.

As you earn more money you can buy faster equipment, super-speedy tennis shoes and a TV to keep your customers happy. You can even buy a microwave that makes cupcakes to give the impatient people in your line. The trick is knowing who is patient (college students with lots of time and little money) and who is not patient (the Cupid and Easter Bunny characters, not to mention the brides!).

So, now I feel all empty inside since I've finished all the levels. But it is nice to have the feeling back in my "mouse hand" and my heart rate has returned to normal. I strongly suggest you try this game! Don't think I haven't searched for a knitting game, but I haven't found one...yet.

Survey says...

2007-02-15T22:16:00.000-05:00

If you really want to know if the sleeves will go into the sweater if they're knit in the round...take a sleeve out of an existing sweater and try it!

(Be sure to use as many colors as possible so that it looks ridiculous!)

This is soooooooooooo not like me to try something out to see if it works. I'm a "give me a pattern and I'll follow it really well" kind of person. But...I did it and it seems to work even though I didn't actually finish the sleeve in question.

Since I'm sick to death of Winter (even though we've only had about 2 weeks of real winter weather) I thought this awesome bright pink felted purse kit would give me a nice pick up!

Isn't it great? And yes, it really is that bright. I've never felted anything before so I suppose this could be considered a learning experience and not just therapy knitting.

To be honest, I bought the whole darn kit because I loved these...

Can't wait to sew them on the finished product.

This very pretty picture is a quick look at the before-mentioned ucky Winter.

Good News, Bad News

2007-02-14T19:17:00.000-05:00

Well, there's been no more progress on the Fair Isle teddy bear sweater. I have the entire body and one sleeve finished and just don't seem to feel like casting on the second sleeve.

Instead, I've been working on adapting my favorite teddy bear sweater to work it in the round. The good news is that it began beautifully! There are no side seams...

and I sewed up the shoulder seams using the Kitchener Stitch...just lovely.

However, I didn't make the armhole decreases as usual because I didn't think the sleeves would turn out right. So, the bad news is...the neck is way too wide.

If I make the armhole decreases like the pattern states, will I be able to pick up stitches and knit in the sleeves? Seems like they will set in funny. I'm taking the whole thing to my knitting group tomorrow night for some expert advice!

In the meantime, Kate is knitting this awesome iPod cover...she even learned how to change colors. Isn't she amazing?

I also got these lovely orchids for Valentine's Day from my darling hubby.

In Holiday Inn, one of our favorite movies, Bing Crosby's friend orders orchids for one of his performers. He goes into a flower shop late on Christmas Eve and orders "Orchids. Lose. Looking like they don't care." That's what I got! They're so pretty.

Something new

2007-02-05T15:35:00.000-05:00

This weekend I started some teddy bear sweaters using a new pattern I saw on Knitty Gritty. I have made 10 or 12 sweaters with a different pattern, (you can see some of them here, here and here), but I have wanted to learn how to make one in the round so that I can cut down on the seam-sewing. I absolutely loathe sewing sweater pieces together (which is funny because I like to sew, but if I'm knitting I want to knit...but I digress) so I couldn't believe it when this pattern fell into my lap! I missed some of the footage from the show because the show is inconveniently scheduled for 11:00 and I need to meet Elliot's bus at 11:20 each morning, but I think I can figure most of it out.

The first thing I had to do was get some yarn that would get my gauge close to the gauge used in the project. Of course everything I had was too heavy or too light, and I really hate to use yarn that doesn't feel nice, so most of my acrylic junk was out of the question. Now I know what you knitters are thinking..."You just HAD to make a trip to the yarn store! Clearly you had no choice!" Well, that may be, but instead I only went as far as the Joann Fabrics in town. As much as I love a good trip to Joann's, their yarn selection leaves much to be desired. I ended up buying the Lion Brand Microspun yarn (which I've never used before) in lavender and lime. It's not exactly what I wanted, but I'm approaching this as a prototype to be perfected later.

Anyhow, (my! she's long-winded) I cast on and got this far the first night...

I'm really happy with the color combination and the yarn is very soft, though it splits easily.

One of the things I liked about the pattern, and had seen before, was this hem facing that will be turned under to make, well, a hem.

Even though I also like the ribbed hem of the previous sweaters, this is a nice alternative.

So, today I finished the body of the sweater. It turned out pretty well.

It's difficult to minimize the ladders (loose stitches) between needles because you have to leave enough ease as you change colors so the sweater will stretch as it should. Perhaps some blocking or a fluff in the dryer will even out some of the rough patches.

There is no neck band as in the other sweater pattern. Rather, the shoulders are sewn and the remaining opening is the neck. Apparantly I'll be using these purl stitches (one round of purling before casting off) to magically sew the shoulder seams together.

It looked like a breeze on the show...we'll see!

What I'm trying to determine is if it is worthwhile to make the sweaters this way even though I am so much more familiar with the other pattern. A deciding factor may be the steeks. I have never (intentionally) cut something I've knit and I'm not really looking forward to it! I'm hoping that it is a technique that gets easier (and less daunting) every time you do it. Seems like you can get such wonderful results!! I'd also like to be able to make textured sweaters with cables and all-over stitch patterns, but I've never done this in the round either. Do I just adapt the pattern as I go since there is no "wrong side"? So much to figure out! I'm going to need to make a nice simple pair of socks after this. And that will definitely require a trip to the yarn store!!!!

We entertain on Fridays

2007-01-26T22:55:00.000-05:00

Kate and I found evidence of one heck of a party that took place in our back yard tonight...

We were a bit unnerved by how close this party occurred to our house!

But nothing could have prepared us for what we saw next. Brace yourself...

According to the Discovery Channel, there are only four of these creatures currently being raised in captivity! Amazing.

...and by the way...

2007-01-23T12:39:00.000-05:00

YOU DA MAN!!!

First Fair Isle

2007-01-23T12:07:00.000-05:00

Finally! We have snow on the ground. Not so much that it's interfering with travel, but just enough so that it looks like January. Perfect.

Having said that, I would like one giant snow storm before Winter is over...the kind of storm that means that no one is going anywhere. The kind of storm (that hopefully hits after a productive trip to the grocery store) that shuts down the whole town for one solid day...no school, no work, lots of cocoa!!

Thoughts of snow made me think of hats and mittens and I decided to make Elliot a new set to match this year's red and black coat. This is my first Fair Isle attempt!

Very cool! At times I felt that I was completely tangled in the yarn, but I soon got the hang of it. This is the second project I've worked on lately that uses more than one color. The fist was last week's penguin hat. I think I prefer the Fair Isle knitting with it's continuous pattern to the Intarsia color blocking. I'm glad that I've tackled both since it opens up new opportunities for varying my knitting. To teach myself these two techniques I relied heavily on my Knitting for Dummies book (by far the best present my mother-in-law ever got me) and this great site that has video tuturials that are very easy to understand.

I also finished one bear sweater for the elementary school's Oktoberfest. (Yes, it's in October.)

I figured if I could make one sweater a week...minimum...I'd have 37 sweaters to sell at the craft table. Might as well give it a try, right? Nothing ventured, nothing gained!

All done!

2007-01-19T10:48:00.000-05:00

Finished the penguin hat last night. Cute, but I don't really know how often she'll wear it!

It was a bit tedious at times...my first project with Intarsia...I'm not a big fan! It's not too bad if you have a large area of color, but small spots like the beak and the eyes are a bit of a pain. I'm sure there's a much more clever way to do it than the way I did it!

Happy Birthday Kate!

2007-01-16T19:27:00.000-05:00

Kate turns 13 today!

(They always love these early morning photo shoots!)

Most of the excitement happened over the weekend...she had friends over Friday night...

Carlie stayed here Saturday through Monday...

and the family came over Sunday for dinner and cake and ice cream.

I just can't believe that goofy little Kate is a teenager! She's quite a remarkable young lady, too.

I was to have this penguin hat finished for her by today, but alas, 'twas not meant to be.

Of course this blasted chest cold isn't helping me get anything done. I thought today would be my one day to be sick and lazy. Looks like I'll still be sick tomorrow, but can't afford to lie around again. Ugggh!

Some Days I Feel Just Like This...

2007-01-14T08:56:00.001-05:00

http://stuntmother.blogspot.com/2007/01/expertise.html

I'm not crazy! (and other updates)

2007-01-12T06:38:00.000-05:00

I went to my knitting group last night. It was our first meeting since the new year. Our fearless leader, April, brought the cool "thing" she was making in the fall. How to describe it...hmm. It is like a shrug with only a back and long sleeves. Know the kind I mean? It was knit in an amazing assortment of variagated wool in a cable pattern and looked really cool when it was on. It looked like a very short sweater with no neck hole when you held it up, but you slipped it on, and...well, it was just really neat! She also brought her drop spindle to show us how she used it to spin wool...super cool. It looked frustrating and time consuming to get any significant amount of yarn on the spindle, but she swears it is relaxing. She has a traditional spinning wheel, too. Seems a lot more complicated than buying yarn all wrapped and bundled, but I'm sure it's also very rewarding.

Are you wondering what makes me think I'm not crazy? I was trying to knit a hat for Kate that looks like a penguin. I saw it in a check-out counter booklet for babies and knew she'd love it (and is just goofy enough to wear it.) It uses black, white and orange and is the first thing I've knit with an Intarsia pattern (or blocks of color in the design). I also thought I'd be a smarty pants and knit it on circular needles so I don't have to run a seam up the back. Guess what? Turns out you can't do Intarsia on circular needles. I sat at home, banging my head against the wall wondering what "duh" thing I was doing wrong. I kept ending up with my yarn at the wrong end of my work. I'd work a row of black and come around to knit the next row and the yarn was at the wrong end. Like trying to type on a manual typewriter (remember those?) without hitting the return key. After showing it to April we agreed that it can't be done. So, I've got to rip it out and put it on straight needles. So much for my stroke of brilliance!

I've started knitting this super simple (since my brain is still on post-holiday meltdown) scarf. I got the yarn at Pat Catans for $1 and the knitting needles were my birthday present from Kathy. She made them herself! They aren't a specific size, so I can only use them on projects requiring "Kathy-size Needles". Fortunately, this is one such project.

I've decided to use my Barnes & Noble gift certificate from Keith's mom to buy this...

I've wanted it for some time and saw a great sweater in the Knit Picks catalog that was from the book. Love doing cables. So how long before I actually make myself that sweater? Quite a while I bet, but I'll still enjoy having the book.

Love these guys!

2007-01-08T17:43:00.001-05:00

Bookless!

2007-01-07T21:58:00.000-05:00

I stayed up until 2 AM last night reading my current book, The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield. I didn't finish it last night, but I did finish it late this afternoon. Creepy. It was the kind of book that made you question your decision to read until 2 AM...alone! I swear I keep seeing things out of the corner of my eye.

Now, unfortunately, I am bookless!

So, tell me. What are some of your favorite books and why?

Oh, and I do still knit!

2007-01-06T19:02:00.000-05:00

I just looked back over the pictures in my file of the things I knit (or tried to knit) in 2006. There were a lot of projects there! I don't seem to get as much knitting done as I'd like, but I guess it hasn't been too shabby! Maybe I should begin a 2007 gallery for knit projects...not a bad idea.

Here's what I've been working on this week...

These little mittens are for a much-anticipated baby in our church family. The family is pretty sure it's a boy, but I went with the multi-colored yarn instead.

I am really proud of these mittens for a silly reason. Originally they are made up on straight needles and a seam is run up the side. I decided to make them on double-pointed needles instead and eliminate the sewing up. I also had different yarn than the pattern called for (that darn "gauge-thing") and had to try several times to get a decent size. So, basically I made up my own pattern...something I'm not really good at.

These bibs are for Claire's teacher's much-anticipated baby. Her teacher, Mr. Very, is anxiously awaiting his first child. Mrs. Very was due Friday and the kids are so excited. I thought I was pretty clever with the wording..."Very Sweet" (Mr. Very, get it?) and "Teacher's Pet" (he's a teacher, get it?) I just crack myself up! They're obviously not knit, but I still like them.

I also have two or three other projects started. A scarf for Matt...

...(good thing he didn't come in for Christmas, huh?)...

...a sweater for Claire (I hate the HUGE skein of yarn, but the price was right for this first sweater attempt)...

...and a mystery project in the bottom of this bag.

My knitting group begins again on January 11. I'm really looking forward to chatting about our knitting again. I want to get some help adapting my teddy bear sweater pattern (well, it's not my pattern, but it's the one I use all the time) for circular needles. I absolutely detest sewing those sweaters together. Other than that they are very simple to make and they are darling. I hope to make a bunch between now and October and sell some at the elementary school's Oktoberfest. I want to make different colors, patterns and maybe even some intarsia with Christmas trees or jack-o-lanterns. We'll see how it goes!

I know, I know

2007-01-04T11:02:00.000-05:00

This is just a very short post before I have to meet Elliot's bus to let you know that I am aware of the dreadfully lagging status of my blog! Hopefully it will be up and running soon. (Hopefully I will be up and running soon!)

speedy catch up

2006-12-13T17:03:00.000-05:00

Since the last post (about a hundred years ago)...

We've grown a sixteen-year-old...

...decorated for Christmas, including my Grammie's "so-tacky-it-must-be-vintage" aluminum Christmas tree...

...finished a pair of socks for my mom's visit last week...

...had Wacky Hair Day at school...

...a Christmas dance...

...and recruited two new knitters.

Sorry for the short post, but it's so warm here in Western Pennsylvania...I have chicken cooking on the grill!

Merry Christmas and God Bless us Every One!!

Gotcha!!

2006-11-03T23:33:00.000-05:00

Ha! Hooked another one!

Finally got the pictures up!

2006-11-03T22:36:00.000-05:00

Here's a pot luck of pictures and updates...

I delivered the baby blanket (yes, the baby blanket) to Jakoby last week. He was (and I'm sure, still is) absolutely adorable, squeezable and sweet. Here are a couple of pictures.

Miss you, Kathy!

When I moved away from Big Run these boys were nine and six! I love this picture. It makes me feel so little!

In other news...

Halloween was a real success here. Elliot has been so terribly frightened by all things Halloween for over a year. He's been so truly afraid of skeletons and scary masks that he nearly broke my glasses trying to get out of the cart at Walmart when we went by the spooky section. I've been trying to reassure him while at the same time giving him the space to be scared. This is a real balancing act! Anyhow, we weren't sure how he'd handle the party and parade at school or if he'd even go Trick-or-Treating. I did talk to his Kindergarten teacher and she was fantastic about the whole thing. I'm sure she's seen everything...she's been a Kindergarten teacher for over 30 years! He had a wonderful time at school and even though he told me he cried on the bus because someone got out his ugly mask and was teasing him with it, he felt really good about the day. I think it helped for him to see the kids getting dressed, maybe. He did a great job going from house to house and only really hesitated once when he saw a skeleton head on someone's front porch. He went right up to it and stuck out his tongue! I was so proud! It was really hard to see him so very fearful for most of October!

Here are Claire and Elliot on Halloween. Kate and Christian were off with their friends by this point so it was really just the four of us. (Funny, sometimes it seems like we "lose" kids the older they get! We go from a family of 6 to a family of 4 quite often anymore. Don't know how I feel about that.)

I love this picture of Elliot. He looks like such a "guy".

Claire was so sparkly in her genie costume (Thank you, Mom, from the bottom of my heart for buying this as a birthday present so I didn't have to make it!) she was her own reflector!

In 1991, Christian was only 11 months old and we took him to get his first pumpkin at a stand in East McKeesport. This picture was taken of me then...

...and this is me now.

Here is Kate on the night of her Halloween dance at school. She was a flapper girl. Gone are the days of sitting on the front of Stevie Stumpf's pedal John Deer tractor in Big Run. (Stevie's the sweetie in the green shirt in the group photo above.) She's wearing my Halloween costume from last year!

I don't have the picture of Christian sitting on top of our car holding a pumpkin nearly as big as he was, but here he is now, nearly old enough to drive the car!

Now, look back at the baby picture at the beginning of this post and then scroll down to the good-looking TJ sophomore. Yep, that's about how fast it went!

I heart November

2006-11-01T16:10:00.000-05:00

I do. I really love November. When I was a child, November was just the month that stood in the way between Halloween and my birthday and Christmas. But now, I appreciate November for what it really is. One last chance to breathe deeply before the Christmas madness seizes us. In November, it's all about potential. The holidays are not yet here, but they're so close. It's exciting. I even love the way November looks. Most of the leaves are off of the trees, the corn, if it's still standing, is dry and brown and things just look...November-ish. I always think of the line in the hymn, "All is safely gathered in, ere the winter storms begin". Love it. Since today's November 1st, it's time for us to put out our Thank Tank. Years ago we saw this idea in a children's bulletin handed out at church. We use an old oatmeal or breadcrumb cannister and put in slips of paper that say what we're thankful for. (I know, poor grammar there). At Thanksgiving dinner (or sometimes the night before) we read the papers. It's very touching, sometimes even funny. One year someone was thankful for MONS. MONS?? What the heck is MONS? "Turn it over, honey!". SNOW.

It's getting increasingly difficult to not rush November. Tonight "The Santa Clause" is on TV...a great, GREAT, Christmas movie. But, do I watch it or wait until after Thanksgiving? We also have a tradition of "no Christmas music until after Thanksgiving". But, my Harry Connick, Jr. CD is right where I can get to it. The kids are going to be practicing holiday music at school, so it's hard for them to wait. But, I really want to slow down and be excited a little longer.

Come, ye thankful people, come,

raise the song of harvest home;

all is safely gathered in,

ere the winter storms begin.

God our Maker doth provide

for our wants to be supplied;

come to God's own temple, come,

raise the song of harvest home.

-Henry Alford, 1810-1871

Sigh of Relief

2006-10-24T20:07:00.000-05:00

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

To tell you the truth, I'm sinfully proud of this blanket! I keep admiring it and touching it. It's actually a lot prettier than it seems in the picture. I keep telling my family, "I knit every single one of those stitches. Isn't that amazing?". Oh, they're amazed. They can hardly contain their joy!

Having said that, check out the shawl Yarn Harlot recently finished.

OMG! Is that amazing or what?!!! I will not be intimidated (gulp), but rather, inspired to do more lace work in the future.

Pics with baby and blanket soon! I'm off to Kathy's!

Browser Difficulty

2006-10-23T22:07:00.000-05:00

Not that you'd notice, but I deleted the last post I had, um, posted. For whatever reason (maybe the slide show or the video) it was throwing off the whole page and I figured the quickest and easiest thing to do was to get rid of it. I didn't realize that the whole blog looks different if viewed with Internet Explorer! Somehow I had gotten used to using Netscape Browser for my, um, browser, but I think I'll work my way back to Internet Explorer. It loads faster and most of the web sites I go to look better when viewed that way. I'll have to rebuild all of my bookmarks and passwords blah, blah, blah. Isn't this fascinating!!!??

In other news.....IT SNOWED TODAY!!! I know I'll be sick of it before long, but it was pretty nice. We had chimney sweeps come to the house today. Looks like we won't be able to use the fireplace this year after all. They didn't feel it was safe and it would need some improvements to bring it up to code. There's no way I'm putting fire in my house unless I know it's completely safe! Duh! It was really neat to watch them work...they had all the brushes and things you would expect (especially if you've ever seen Mary Poppins), but they also had a cool camera that they could put up the chimney and the biggest shop vacuum I have ever seen. I could have cleaned the girls room in 2 minutes with that thing! All in all I was very impressed!

I'm off to visit Kathy this week and the baby blanket is 6 rows from done! I have pictures, but they're still on the camera. I'll have a full update when I get back and baby pictures, too!

We've been so busy...I know there's more to say, but I'm going to sleep!

Oh! One more thing...The Povertneck Hillbillies are in People Magazine's Country Edition (November 8), p. 30!! Whoopee! You can go here on Friday to download their song, "Mr. Right Now."

Room Fairy

2006-09-27T08:59:00.000-05:00

My mom just sent this to me via e-mail. I had forgotten all about it. It's something I did for Kate when she was younger and struggling to keep her room clean. Unsurprisingly, not that much has changed! Hope you enjoy it and don't think I'm a complete loon! (Or at least, I hope you enjoy it, decide I am a complete loon, but figure I'm harmless enough.)

Dear Kate,

Today you have been visited by the room fairy. Actually, I am the very same room fairy that use to visit your mom when she was growing up in Pittsburgh. Somehow I always knew that she would one day need my help again. Because you are loved, your room has been cleaned from top to bottom by me, Room Fairy No.8: Specialist in the Servicing and Organizing of Artistic Stuff and Milky Pens.

A visit from a Room Fairy is a rare and wonderful thing and you should never assume that I will visit often. Some girls live their whole lives without ever having an encounter with a Room Fairy all their own. Ask your friends. I bet some of them have never heard of us.

If you are familiar with the story of Cinderella you will remember that she had to be home by midnight or the spell would be broken. Since Fairy Godmothers and Room Fairies operate in a very similar way, there are now some rules about your room. We find that having some guidelines makes things easier for everyone involved.

Rule No.1: Since Claire is only 4 years old she is not old enough to have a Room Fairy too. I will only be checking on your part of the room you share and will surely understand that she may sometimes make things messy. But Room Fairies are very clever and I will always be able to tell if you have been doing your part to keep things tidy.

Rule No.2: You will not leave clothes on the floor or cram them into the dresser drawers. The items that need to be hung up will be hung up securely on hangers. I have spoken with your mother and she will help you decide where your clothes should go and make sure that you have enough hangers.

Rule No.3: While it is true that Fairies in general are a friendly people, there are times that we have our disagreements. Currently we are working on improving our relationship with the Laundry Fairies. Putting clean clothes down the laundry chute will certainly make them angry and they will, no doubt, blame us for the extra work. Please, in an effort to preserve the peace, think twice before you toss.

Rule No.4: Your bed will be made neatly each morning and decorated as you see fit. Making a bed includes pulling up all of the bedding (sheets included) and keeping the linens from dragging on the floor. Some children think that this is an easy rule to bend, but be sure, we are very serious about it and will check under the covers.

Rule No.5: Your room will be generally tidy. This means that parents will not feel the urge to scream when they enter your room and no one will trip and break their neck should they make a surprise visit to your room.

I am a very busy Room Fairy and normally I would not be able to check on your progress each and every day. But since I was so very fond of your mother and because I know that you have a good heart and a quick mind, I will make a point of stopping in each school day around noon to see how you are doing. I tend to go to glamorous, all-night parties on the weekend and I do not check into the Room Fairy Office unless there is a very serious emergency. I will leave the details about your room to your mom and dad on the weekends. If I feel that you are living up to your end of the bargain I will leave my calling card with you. Oh my, I forget that children these days probably don’t know what a calling card is. Fairies live for so long and usually have trouble leaving our old-fashioned ways behind us. A calling card was something like a business card that your dad may have in his wallet. When someone wanted to visit a friend or neighbor, they would present the maid or butler with their calling card and it would be taken to the lady of the house. If she was able to see them at that time she would have them invited in and the visit would begin. I think it’s a lovely tradition, but people just don’t seem to do it anymore. Anyhow, if I feel that you have done a good job, I will leave my card with you in this envelope which you make keep on your door. Don’t be surprised if I am picky. I have heard wonderful things about you and I expect wonderful things from you. See, I know you can do it.

When you have collected ten of my calling cards you may return them to me (in the envelope) and I will let you know what your reward will be. I will have to speak with your mother from time to time and make sure that what I have planned will be ok with her. We fairies are not very practical and I wouldn’t want to put her in an awkward position. Sometimes you may receive a little surprise right away and sometimes you may receive instructions about your reward. Please remember that Fairies cannot carry a lot and we do not use Big People money so the rewards will always be very special because they come from a Fairy, but they will not always be fancy.

If you think that this is an arrangement that you could live with, please complete the enclosed form and leave it in this envelope for me to see tomorrow. You have my word that I will do all I can to work with you in this very exciting adventure of having a special room for yourself. I have gone over these plans with your mom and she can answer any questions you may have. I’m sorry that this is such a long document, but with the unfortunate rise in Lawyer Fairies, we can never be too careful and find it best to straighten things out at the very beginning.

Have a wonderful evening and enjoy your clean room. It really is quite lovely; I like what you’ve done with it.

Magically Yours,
Room Fairy No.8: Specialist in the Servicing and Organizing of Artistic Stuff and Milky Pens.

Room Fairy Registration and Contract

Name ____________________________________________________

Age________Boy or Girl (Please circle one)

Location of Bedroom (Example: first floor, back of house)

Do you share a room? Y_____N_____

Name of Room Mate__________________________________________________

Age of Room Mate________ Boy or Girl (please circle one)

Would you like your Room Mate to receive a letter of
explanation about our services? Y_____N________

Mother’s name_____________________________________

Father’s name______________________________________

Name of brothers or sisters and ages_______________________________

Please answer the following questions.

The thing I like best about my room________________________________________

The thing I like least about my room__________________________________________

I find this the hardest thing about cleaning my room _____________________________

Please circle the number that tells how you feel about the Room Fairy service with 1 being “bad” and 10 being “great”.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

I, ________________________________, promise to do my very best to work with my

Room Fairy to make my room a special place to play, work, rest and dream.

_________________________________________________________
Name

____________________
Date

Hmmmm...if only there were a Checkbook Fairy!!

The Spice of Life

2006-09-26T10:03:00.000-05:00

Time for that post about the Clergy Spouse Retreat! Each year the Clergy Spouses (dubbed "Spice" by resident lunatic, Brett Probert) have a three day retreat at one of the conference camps. This year the retreat was held at Camp Allegheny, near Johnstown, PA. For ten years I have been attending these retreats and I think I have only missed two...once because I was pregnant with Claire and near my due date and once because the retreat was rescheduled due to the September 11 attacks. There are very few other reasons I would miss it. Being a clergy spouse isn't easy. At least I don't think it is, and I really like people. As a clergy spouse you are in a unique situation where you are thrown into a new environment, and yet, you can only really connect with that new environment in so many ways. No matter how much you love your congregation and no matter how dear certain people become to you, you still have to have some boundaries regarding confidentiality and intimacy. I've gone round and round about this with some people and we don't all agree, but if you're looking to find your best friend in your local church, chances are you're going to be terribly disappointed. To me, a best friend is someone I can say anything to at any time. Say the wrong something to the wrong someone in a church and your husband is suddenly standing in the pulpit each Sunday with a giant target on his chest. The same holds true for your children. There is a certain amount of protection that is necessary to survive the role of clergy family.

Now, this all sounds very negative, but it isn't. It's real. I have met hundreds of truly lovely people in our ten years of ministry. The far majority of people I've met would never do something to hurt me or my family and I am so blessed for that. But it only takes a handful of people to make things really, really miserable. What I'm saying is, that even though we're dealing with the most intimate issues of our humanity...spirituality, love, service, death and life...I have always felt I needed to be a bit guarded. That's just been my experience. The clergy spouse retreat gives me the opportunity to unload, relax and let that guard down. Of course, you have to watch what you say there as well, because everyone knows everyone (!), but these are friends that I have grown to have such a deep connection with, that I feel I can trust them and be myself. And we have so much fun! This year's theme was "joy"..."The joy of the Lord is my strength". The retreat committee did an excellent job! It's not easy to plan such an event and work out all the details. Having served on the retreat committee for two years, I can appreciate all that dedication. This year's committee really thought of everything. We had plenty of time to relax and also had nice options to choose from. There were some crafty things to do. I made this snowman and some other people made really nice stamped cards or learned how to crochet. There was even horse-back riding. Thursday night Bishop Bickerton joined us and we spoke for a while about joy and how to have joy in our lives. I think it's basically a decision we make. Joy doesn't mean that nothing "bad" ever happens or even necessarily that you're happy all the time. But joy comes from knowing that through it all, we're God's and he's always, always with us. The bishop was a little under the weather and he had a long drive to and from Cranberry Township, but we were really glad that he made the time for us.

This year we didn't have breakfast until 9 AM! Usually we have to get up for breakfast at 8:00 or so...while that's certainly not early and we're all usually up before that on a regular school day, it was nice to sleep in a little bit. However, I was starving!! I really had a good time. I just love these friends. There are some people I have seen every year since 1996 and some people I met for the first time. Then there's Ken! Bless his heart! Ken has been at every retreat I've ever been to and always has something wonderful to share. He is so comfortable with himself, he doesn't mind being the only guy there. (Then again, we're such a beautiful bunch, who could complain??!) Christine was there (calling me a heathen) with her mother, Wilma Jean. When Wilma Jean talks, we listen! Mary was there too, knitting something amazing! She is the first person I ever saw knitting socks with self-striping yarn and little bamboo needles. She inspired me to learn to knit. Now I want to learn to quilt because she's an amazing quilter. She's going to think I'm stalking her! Cheryl and Kathy signed one of the hymns for us...beautiful. We told jokes, shared funny stories and talk way into the night. I took an upper bunk (big mistake) and got so wrapped up in my sleeping bag that I abandoned it the second night. Wilma was there with her cousin, Lynn who is a Presbyterian pastor's wife. That's cool...I think we should do more together. These are just some of the people I thought of, but they're all great. As soon as the weather gets cool and I know retreat's coming I start to think of them. Maybe next year Doreen will be able to make it, but she's in Ireland now and that's a bit of a trek!

Since I've been home I made this bib for a baby Keith baptized on Sunday. Not bad for one night's work. I also finished Carlie's socks! I knitted about 9 inches of the leg while on retreat and got them finished this afternoon. I can't believe how well the stripes line up. I had made really detailed notes about where to stop and start different parts of the pattern. I guess it paid off!

I hope they fit her. I'm going to include a pair of googly eyes in the package, too and tell her if they don't fit she can make them into sock puppets!

Back from camp

2006-09-23T16:22:00.000-05:00

Big post tomorrow about the Clergy Spouse Retreat, but for now, check out Kate's blog.

Arrrrrrrrrrrrrrgh!

2006-09-19T08:33:00.000-05:00

It's International Talk Like A Pirate Day!

Really.

It is.

I swear.

I found this website to confirm it!

And just to show you how far-reaching the whole knitting thing is...

A Booty Bag! I know about a dozen kids that would love this! Too bad I knit at a snail's pace!

Watch this to get you in the Pirate mood (whatever that is)! I just loved the first Pirates of the Caribbean movie. The sequel wasn't nearly as good, but the music from the movies is great! (You'll want your speakers on. Savvy?)

Now that's some serious knitting music!!!!

Vote!

2006-09-18T19:21:00.000-05:00

Just a short post because it's nearly time for kick-off (GO STEELERS), and because I don't have anything to say nearly as important as Keith, Brett and Chris!

Saw the Povertyneck Hillbillies last night at a benefit concert for the TJ Youth Football organization. Despite the fact that the event staff did not seem to have their heads screwed on tight (should the "security" really be guzzling beer all night? Isn't that like getting drunk at your own party?) and despite the fact that I had to relocate my car to a far-away shuttle stop after being told to park in the closer lot by the event staff (perhaps they had already begun to enjoy the bubbly) and despite the fact that I kept wondering, " SHOULD THEY REALLY BE SERVING BEER AT A FUNCTION DESIGNED TO RAISE FUNDS FOR YOUTH FOOTBALL????!!!!" (a drunk football mom is not a pretty sight).....

Gasp!

....I had a really good time.

There were two main reasons for having a good time.

Number one...I went with my super-cool daughter, Kate who is a great gig date! Even if she did abandon me to rush the stage and stand at Chris's feet, she's so much fun to hang with. Love you, Kate!

Number two...The Povertyneck Hillbillies are awesome! I still enjoy seeing them after all these times.

If you want to see their new video featuring Steeler's Quarterback, Ben Roethlisberger, click on the button to the right.

To vote for their video on GAC tv (Great American Coutry)...go here! Last week they were Number 2 in the nation! Move over Carrie Underwood!!!! You can vote once every 24 hours (and if you know how to delete the cookies on your computer, you can vote over and over...not that I would condone stuffing the ballot box...wink, wink)

Gotta Go! Enjoy the game!

r

Other folks

2006-09-16T14:16:00.000-05:00

Other people have some really neat things on their blog right now.

The Yarn Harlot had a picture from one of her recents adventures of this really cool t-shirt.

Well, actually, the picture was of a person wearing that really cool t-shirt.

There is a comment-war on this blog. These people are great (OK, my husband included)...they do a lot of great things, but they're a bit silly! Love you, guys!

Anny is back! Yay!

This is a new blog I've been reading. Check out the first sentence. "This is what I've been working on for the last two days". "TWO DAYS"????!!!!!! If I accomplished that much in two weeks I'd be thrilled!

I've recently realized (well, I've re-confirmed what I think I already knew) that I love to read about knitting, talk about knitting, blog about knitting, photograph knitting, and dream about knitting, but I can only actually knit for so long. I just can't seem to get comfortable and I can't really sit and do much of anything for too long. I need to get up and move and I have a really short attention span. I see people who accomplish so much with their knitting projects and I get really down. It takes me forever to finish something.

For instance, this guy will be in college before he gets his baby blanket. Ain't he cute???

My next mission is to find a knitting circle somewhere near me. Not a class, but just a group of people knitting. So, if anyone reading this is from the South Hills of Pittsburgh and you know some knitters, send them my way!

Well, time to go. Elliot just informed us that he is going to make juice by himself...this can't be good! Maybe I'll even do some knitting today!

I Heart Bake Sales!

2006-09-06T14:33:00.000-05:00

Elliot and I spent the afternoon doing some good, 0ld-fashioned baking.

He made these...

...and I made these.

76 lemons??!! No, no, no. Didn't I explain the whole "Western Pennsylvania's Love Affair With Football" thing?

76 football cookies. After all, the bakesale is right before the NFL Season Opener and after all, the Steelers are playing, right? We'll all need tons of sugar to get through our first game without Big Ben. Appendicitis?? Good grief.

Lessons learned today? Flour looks really cute on 5-year old faces...

...but kind of stupid on my favorite black sweatshirt!!

Random Catch-Up

2006-09-01T13:17:00.000-05:00

Well...hello. I'm just checking in to acknowledge the continuation of my existence! Here are one or two random thoughts I've had lately...

...how incredibly blessed are we to live in a place where we can see fireworks at a ballgame and know that the lights and sounds are all orchestrated and not part of some military attack?

...why does The United Methodist Church have no presence in Downtown Pittsburgh? Really. I'm asking. And if I'm wrong and we do have something going on in the city I would be glad to admit my error. I saw information about this in the program for the musical Rent. I was embarassed that there was no United Methodist church listed among the active congregations working in Pittsburgh. (And no, you haven't somehow skipped over to my husband's blog...I can be serious too!)

...how much better would this picture be with Christian in it? We moved here after the picture was taken, but he did get his own picture taken last week. The band was in the Fall Fantasy Parade at Kennywood last week. They really looked sharp!

...isn't it ironic that I moved to the city/suburbs from the country and now I see more wildlife than I ever did. On my way to the highschool last evening I saw 5 deer, 2 groundhogs and 10 wild turkeys. Cool.

...did you know that if you buy beer in a can at Heinz Field the vendor will have to open the can and pour the beer for you? I know this because last Thursday I worked a booth at the Steeler game. Aramark (a vending and food services company) allows various non-profit organizations to work their booths (concessions and beverages) at the stadium in order to raise money for their group. The TJ Band Patrons work these games and I went to my first one last week. It was really fun and I had the best view in the stadium (of the city, that is...not the game). I can say I have actually bled to raise money for Christian's band trip. I cut my finger opening one of the 407 cans of beer we sold from our cart. We advertised "the coldest beer in the stadium" since it had been on ice for nearly two hours. I was advertising "the coldest hands in the stadium" since my hands were in ice for nearly four hours. Most of our customers were very nice, seemed to be drinking well-within moderation and some even left us tips. Pittsburghers are great! The women were so happy to be carded, but the guys looked a bit less-pleased. So, if you're at the stadium, be nice to the vendors! I'm going back on Thursday, September 7...the season opener. Pray for me. It will be a madhouse. I did get to (shhhh) sneak down after we finished (the beer booths close early because we serve no alcohol after the fourth quarter starts)and saw the last 5 minutes or so from the back of the first section. It's amazing in Heinz Field...and very very loud...almost a scary sort of roaring noise. I can't imagine how expensive the tickets in that first section are, but the view is fantastic...even from the fifth level the players look like real people, not little black and gold ants!

...TJ Football beat Belle Vernon, 48-0...yippee! Woodland HIlls HIgh School lost (yes, lost) to Mt. Lebanon. High School football is serious business around here. Check out these rankings.

...is it beginning to sound like I care about sports? Scary. Where's the knitting? Where are the recipes? Have I temporarily taken leave of my senses. (Yep, it's Fall in Western PA...it happens)

...if you haven't seen the Pixar movie Cars, don't walk, RUN to see it!

It's in our dollar theater now, so you may have missed it since it was released in early June, but do yourself a favor and see it as soon as you can even if you have to wait for the DVD. It is truly amazing...the animation is my absolute favorite so far. I'm a big fan of Pixar. Not only do their movies look great, but the story-writing holds up, too.

Major Accomplishments

2006-08-09T20:02:00.000-05:00

We have a lot to show off tonight!

Claire made these this week...two plastic bowls she made with those cool melt-in-the-oven bits you use for sun catchers.

She used a cookie cutter in the center for the heart and the car and then baked them in a tin pie pan in the oven. Then you let them cool, remove them from the pan and place them on a can in the oven again so they droop and turn into a bowl. Pretty neat! The kit was her big purchase at the rummage sale the church is having (one PK perk...you get to check out the church sale stuff before the sale!!).

Elliot made this puzzle tonight. He wanted to be sure I got a picture of it with him and by itself!

Kate made these cookies, too. Between the six of us there aren't a lot left, but they're really good!!

Christian had band camp today and his band tan is coming along very nicely! GO TJ!!

And what did I accomplish?? Well, I knit about 6 rows on Kathy's baby blanket at the playground today and then I, gasp, ripped out about 7 rows to go back and catch a mistake. SCARY! I know I could have just un-knit it (what's that called...tinking?) but I was too lazy, so I bit the bullet, layed it out on the table and pulled it out until I was fairly certain I was past the mistake and in a place that I could identify on the pattern. Looks like it's OK...

I also did laundry. Less exciting, but certainly an accomplishment!

Wow

2006-08-03T20:02:00.000-05:00

This is the view from my back porch this evening. Kate and I were trying the different settings on the camera to finally capture a pretty good picture. We didn't have a tripod, but we did have a plastic table and several boxes. We set the camera on its nighttime setting and used the timer so we wouldn't jiggle it while the shutter closed. Pretty, huh?

It's a stormy night here after three days of brutal heat and humidity. I'm very grateful for the air conditioning we now have. It's great to have the windows open to enjoy the summer breeze, but when there is no breeze and it's nearly 100 degrees I'm all for the AC!!

I had to have some repairs done on the van yesterday in Connellsville, so the kids and I paid a visit to Dawson and then we went to the Fayette County Fair. Oh my, it was a really hot, sticky, dirty day, but the kids had a lot of fun and got to visit with some old friends. We didn't head for Pittsburgh until nearly 10:00 PM and I had several kids to drop off en route. When we finally pulled in the garage I thought, "Oh, it's so good to be home." That's when it occurred to me...this is home now. For about a month it still felt like the "new house", but now it's home. I will always have a soft spot in my heart for Dawson (and yes, I did buy a new cowboy hat at the fair...check out Yarn Harlot's entry for August 2...she wants to be just like me), but we are very blessed to be where we are and it just feels good. Maybe it's because I grew up right across the river in the same county and I love the city (hate the traffic, love the city). Dawson is an awesome summer place in particular and I will always keep a bit of that country girl in me, too.

I have done a bit more work on the baby blanket. It's 165 stitches wide and each row seems really time- consuming, but it's a great pattern and I'm very pleased with how it's turning out. Here it is with a lamp I got at a recent auction and one of two tea cups and saucers that Dennis and Doreen brough me from Ireland.

Think I'll finish this up and do some more knitting. Tomorrow we're off to Idlewild Park in Ligonier. Another long, hot day! Christian starts band camp on Monday, so we're trying to get some things done before he's gone every day. This year it's "Go Jaguars!" for this family!

Finished!

2006-07-27T19:35:00.000-05:00

I just finished the last of Kathy's bear sweaters. It's really amazing how quickly they come together and they're so small that the finishing doesn't take too long. I've made so many of them that I almost don't need the pattern anymore. I remember my grandmother saying the same thing once about making a pair of slacks for my cousin and she sewed the two pants legs together!! The moral of the story...always refer to the pattern!

Another notable thing about the picture of the sweater...the plant that the sweater is resting on was a welcome gift from someone in our new church.

What's so amazing about that? It's still alive!!! And it has a matching twin that I've also kept alive for nearly a month! I tend to kill plants despite my great love for all things floral. This beauty actually is on its second life. One day when it was nearly 100 degrees outside I went out to find them withered and definitely near death. I took them to the basement, filled the laundry tubs with a couple of inches of water and let them soak in the cool basement over night. Voila!!! They live!! I felt a bit like Dr. Frankenstein running around the basement yelling, "It's alive!!" (See, I really am pretty easy to amuse.)

Now I can move on to working on the baby blanket...yippee!

Summer In the City!

2006-07-24T14:50:00.000-05:00

This is Claire at our new local park today. The park isn't new, but we're new to the park...get it? The move went off without a hitch and we are trying to settle into our new surroundings. There's way too much to catch up on, so in the words of Forrest Gump, "That's all I have to say about that."

Back to the picture. Doesn't she look cute with all that water behind her? There's a part of the park with water shooting out all over. Reminds me of the kids you see on Sesame Street that are cooling off with the fire hydrant in the city. Well, we're not really in the city, but "summer in the city" sounds more interesting that "summer in the suburbs"! Here are some other great pics from today.

I have also been catching up a bit on some knitting. Not as much as I'd like, though. (I have these fantasies of me spending hours at a time knitting one beautiful gift after another and maybe even knitting something for myself.) Here's the progress on the third of Kathy's teddy bear sweaters.

We have a lovely porch on the side of the house and I've enjoyed knitting out there when it's cool enough. Since this picture was taken I've finished the back and one sleeve and cast on the second sleeve. I'll have this out to Kathy by the end of the week. Then it's on to the scrumptious baby blanket and eventually a couple of shawls for a charity auction and a Christmas present. (See what I mean about the fantasy thing??!!)

OK...gotta go do some fantasy laundry. I'll try to check in more often now that my schedule is back to normal (whatever that is!). Thanks for your patience!

Boxes and Boxes!

2006-06-24T14:05:00.000-05:00

When I was in high school, LONG before Harry Connick, Jr. was popular, I was in a production of The Pajama Game. I was just a dancing member of the chorus with no speaking part, but it may have been the most fun I have ever had. There's a character in The Pajama Game, Max, that is the salesperson for the Sleeptight Pajama Company. Max also happened to be my very first boyfriend, Kenny Van Cara. In our sleep-deprived, giddy state, certain lines from the show would seem really funny if said over and over and over again. To this day, I can't think about boxes...a LOT of boxes...without thinking of my high school chums and Kenny Van Cara. For some reason, each time he delivered his line about the "Boxes and Boxes!" of pajamas piling up in the Sleeptight warehouse, we would just laugh like mad. As I was looking around the girls room, which took a full two days to ALMOST finish packing, all I could think of was Max's "Boxes and Boxes!".

I guess it's good to maintain a sense of humor!

The kids had their farewell party Wednesday night. All together, there were about 30 kids at the church next door. We had planned an outdoor party, but the forecast called for rain, so we moved to the social hall. It went very well, considering there were three different age groups there. The kids played DDR (Dance Dance Revolution), Twister and listened to music...really loud music. They ended the night by singing selections from Wicked, the Broadway musical. Again, this was very loud. A good time was had by all.

I've said so many goodbyes lately...I thought I was nearing the end of my weepiness. I was OK that night until I started saying goodbye to Christian's friends. All the kids have great friends, but I've known his friends the longest, they've been the most constant and they are really a fantastic group of kids. I will miss them dearly...their familiar banter, "band-geekiness", youthful exuberance, polite friendliness and down-right goofiness. WOOT! (band cheer)

(KATHY STOP READING HERE IF YOU DON'T WANT TO RUIN YOUR SURPRISE!!)

On a lighter note...I have managed to get in just a smidge of knitting time. I am making this baby blanket for a certain someone (sorry to ruin the surprise) from an old pattern book my mom has had for over 30 years. It is actually falling apart, but that adds to its charm.

It's my first experience with circular knitting needles. It took some adjusting (they're so short!), but I can definitely see the benefits of using them for something with many stitches. We shall see how much gets done! I have an image in my head of sitting on my new porch in the evenings after the unpacking is done and serenly finishing this sweet gift. It's my anchor...it's one of the things that is getting me through the chaos!

Gotta go do something productive like make dinner or so some laundry. The three older kids are off to camp tomorrow for a week. Hopefully I will make a big dent in the packing while they're gone, but tonight we have to get them ready to go. Went "junking" this morning with my friends Patty and Eugene. These are serious garage sale professionals! We left at 6 AM (yikes!) and blew through three towns and dozens of yard sales by noon. I got some little stuff, but the steal of the day was this sofa for the new basement...$75.

I really had fun, but it was exhausting! There is definitely real training necessary for this kind of shopping!

The Tall and the Short of It

2006-05-31T06:07:00.000-05:00

We're in the final stretch here for all school activities and school itself. Phew! What a busy month of May! Christian and Elliot both had big events on Friday. Elliot graduated from TUMC Preschool in Scottdale, PA and Christian had Freshman Fun Day at school. Yeah, about that. The school had scheduled this "fun" day and the kids were going to play softball all day. Softball. My son would rather stick pins in his eyes than play softball all day and so would his musically-gifted friends. So we, The Parents, decided that they could stay home from school and do something different. They went to see the new X-Men movie and hung out for the rest of the day having FUN. Can you imagine if the school had told the students they were going to spend the day watching musicals or jamming in the band room all day? I don't know why they didn't have more choices.

Elliot had a lovely graduation ceremony. Short, sweet and to the point. One of the best things about his preschool (which I have loved since Claire attended in 2002) is the simplicity of the school. It is very calm and the teachers are gentle and friendly. Here's the whole class.

Did you notice the boy with the mohawk in the front row. That's Billy. Great hair...it's often green, too. Elliot is circled for you. Here we are together.

And here are pictures of the watering cans I made for the teachers.

After graduation on Friday I went to New York City with my friend, Patty. It was totally spur of the moment. I found out Thursday night that she was going and had a place for me. I went with a whole bus tour from our church and town in November with Kate, and this time it was just five ladies in a van (sounds like a rock band). Patty goes to New York often to buy things for various fund-raisers or her gift shop. Most of what she sells goes to some charity or the church or someone in need...I don't know how she does it...she gives so much away. She and her husband Eugene are the two most generous people I have ever met. Case in point, I went to NYC with $20 of my own. Twenty dollars. Patty paid for everything else and gave me spending money, too. She thought I needed to get away! Everyone should have a Patty. I had a blast. I thought I died and went to purse heaven. We were in the wholesale district and went in a store that was all purses. I seriously couldn't breathe! I have a real thing for purses. These ranged in price from $.75 to $12.00. I bought about five and bought others along the way from vendors or other shops. It was amazing.

I still have the peanuts from someone's McDonalds sundae in my purse. We figured if we had the peanuts we could spend all our money and still have nourishment to make it home. As it turned out we had enough to have dinner at O'Reilly's Pub before leaving the city.

I am so blessed. Not because I get to go to New York and shop, but because my days are full of experiences I share with other people that I love...not just my family, but my friends, too. I can't possibly keep up to date with this blog because there is always something wonderful and interesting happening in my life. They're not always big things, but they're memorable and important...they're the stuff life is made of. Thank you, God for the madness in my life!

Long Time No Post!

2006-05-24T06:13:00.000-05:00

Wow! When was the last time I posted? Thursday, May 11; nearly two weeks ago! A lot has happened since then. Let's see if I can catch up...

Monday, May 15: Kennywood Picnic for Connellsville School District...and of course it rained! The kids really wanted to go so we grabbed the rain coats and umbrellas and hit the park. Once we arrived and had our lunch, the rain stopped for the whole day although it was pretty chilly and the park closed at 7:30...pretty early. However, there were not a lot of people there, so the lines were short and the kids got to ride everything they wanted to...several times! Elliot rode the Jack Rabbit and the Racer rollercoasters for the first time and loved them. He was a bit put out when his coaster train didn't win on the Racer, but he still liked it a lot. Claire rode the Thunderbolt for the first time, too. Check out the cool face painting that Claire and Elliot had done...

Claire is a butterfly and Elliot has a shark on his face that really bites! Cool. Here's a picture of me and Christian. He really is taller than me, isn't he? Also cool.

(The Kennywood pictures were taken with an old camera and the quality isn't too great, but I still thought they were good)

The day after the Kennywood picnic, I loaded the kids into the van (no school, since it was election day) and we went to neighboring Greensburg to shop for the dances that Christian and Kate had that weekend. Just outside our first destination we were rear-ended by another driver. Everyone is OK, but we were very shaken (and stirred) and the van had some damage to it. The other driver was OK, too, but her car was really a mess. We were all checked out at the E.R. and there was no spinal or serious neck injury to anyone. I had a neck strain, but nothing too serious. It really makes you stop and think though after you've been in an accident. How cautious and focused are you when you drive?? I'm a lot more careful now. Especially in the rental van!

Wednesday I chaperoned Claire's field trip to the Pittsburgh Zoo. I love the zoo. It's really cool. We go at least once a year and usually more often than that. I know there is some opposition to having animals in any kind of captivity and I can see that point. But I believe that the Pittsburgh Zoo has done all it can to make these fantastic animals available to the public while trying to preserve their dignity and well-being. Did I mention it rained that day, too?

Thursday I had to take Kate and Christian shopping to get the things we were unable to get on Tuesday. I decided to just take Christian's friend Jessica (his date for the Freshman Farewell Dance) since he had no clue what he should wear. We had a fun time. Kate liked having Jessica there to help her try on outfits (her Spring Fling Dance was Friday night) and to play big sister for a while. The kids clean up pretty well, don't you think?

Friday night was the Freshman Farewell at the Junior High and the Spring Fling for the elementary school. I managed to get everyone where they needed to be (on time!) with my sanity in tact. Keith had a wedding rehearsal and some important visitation calls to make, but we managed. Claire and Elliot rented "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" (not as good as the musical Kate and I saw in NYC) and had a cozy night at home. Elliot had quite a cough and I don't think anyone slept real well that night.

Saturday the girls had their last soccer games of the season. Both teams won and the girls really had a good time. There is a tournament next weekend, but we have the Tri-Town Homecoming (street fair) here in Dawson which none of us want to miss. Keith and I carved out some time to attend the wedding reception for the couple he married Saturday afternoon. What a lovely wedding...very tasteful and elegant. The bride was just beautiful and the groom was very relieved that the ceremony was over. There was a lot of kissing! It was nice to see such a sweet couple have a beautiful day, especially after a week of rain. The sun even came out Saturday evening.

Sunday we had church and a pot luck dinner at one of the churches in the evening.

Monday I took Claire and Elliot to the new school in Jefferson Hills. Elliot had his Kindergarten screening and Claire went for a tour. Can someone tell me what difference it makes if Elliot can walk backward, toe to heel? How often are you asked to do that? I just thought it was kind of silly, but I'm sure it indicates something developmentally. Everything else was fine. There were some things that he missed on their little quiz, but I'm not concerned. Who cares if you draw ears and a neck on your stick figure when you're clearly a genius anyhow? The teacher didn't even notice that he was left-handed. Wonder how she did on her Kindergarten screening? Hmmm...

We have Vacation Bible School this week next door and Kate's last All Star Band concert was last night. Elliot is taking his birthday treats to school today since his birthday is in June and Friday is his Preschool graduation. I love his preschool and think his teachers are just out of this world. We were blessed to have him attend the same preschool that Claire attended in 2002...we don't often get to repeat things like that since we move so much, but it all worked out this time and we got Elliot into the same preschool. What a great experience for both kids.

So, now I suppose I should freshen up and get ready to take the kids to the bus stop and school. Today's a bit of a breather and it picks up again tomorrow. To illustrate the amount of running around I've done lately, I put 350 miles on the rental since Thursday! Keep in mind I am a "stay-at-home" mom. Isn't that ironic?

About socks...

2006-05-11T16:32:00.000-05:00

I have a question for all you sock knitters out there. Do your socks ever look as nicely shaped as the ones in yarn catalogs and pattern books? (see photo at left). Mine (see photo below)always look fantastic on feet, but really sloppy otherwise. It's almost like they're too big. I thought that maybe I am a loose knitter, but I checked the gauge and it is spot on. The pattern requires 64 stitches on size 3 needles for yarn with a gauge of 7 stitches per inch. That's what I've got! So, is it just one of those things? Like the photographs in recipe books that look so wonderful and even though your recipe tastes fantastic it looks a bit...thrown together? I know there are photographers that go to painful lengths to make that food look good. Are there non-knitters out there making knit items look picture perfect? And is this fair to the average knitter? Knitters of the world...SPEAK OUT!

Still here

2006-05-11T09:46:00.000-05:00

Last night Keith and I were happy to see Kate perform with the PMEA District Band at Connellsville Jr. High East. Here she is...

What? You don't see her? OK, here...

She's sitting right in the front because she was FIRST CHAIR FLUTE! Yay Kate! I'm perfectly within my parental rights to brag, aren't I? I'm really proud of her. And she looked so professional and pretty sitting up there. She really had a good time and the kids were fantastic. They've come a long way since "Hot Cross Buns" (not that I don't love a rocking rendition of "Hot Cross Buns").

In other news...I did some house work this week. I figured I don't really have to live in complete filth until we move although the packing thing was providing a pretty good excuse until I came out of denial and realized that I wasn't packing yet either. So, some floors got cleaned and some laundry was done. All in all a good attempt. I also got this much done on Carlie's socks.

Any of you who read this post may notice that it doesn't look like much progress has been made on said socks. This is because I came across a knot in the yarn where two pieces were actually joined together. Yuck! I tried working around the knot, I tried ignoring the knot, but in the end I decided to begin again and eliminate the knot all together. It was really messing up the stitches and I was concerned about how the finished socks may wash up and if the knot would come through to the front and...blah blah blah. OK. I give. I'm really just a perfectionist.

The kids are wrapping up a lot of stuff at school for the end of the year. Here is Claire with her New Mexico project for Impact.

There's a little chili bean with a sombrero climbing the ladder! Is that too cute or what? (Give the picture a couple of clicks to enlarge it.)

This picture is a bit fuzzy because I took it through the screen in the window, but I think Claire and Elliot look sweet here. In reality they're probably plotting their hostile takeover of some small unsuspecting country.

I really must snap some pictures of Christian doing whatever it is that Christian does...marching band, computer, video games. He's been really busy lately too and soon he'll be going to his Freshman Farewell Dance. An excellent photo opportunity. Stay posted! (ha, ha)

Why I live where I live

2006-05-02T14:41:00.000-05:00

I was peeking at Anny's blog just last night and saw this subject posted there. So, I got to thinking about "why I live where I live".

I live where I live because in 2002 we were sent to Dawson, Pennsylvania for my husband to pastor three small United Methodist churches. In our United Methodist system, the Bishop makes an appointment and the pastor itinerates to that appointment. There is no hiring or firing.

I love Dawson. There is no logical reason that I should love Dawson, but I do. My husband and I are suburbanites. Dawson is the smallest of small towns. Here's a picture of my house.

It's a lovely house that needs a lot of work. I have loved living in this house despite the cabinets that don't close right, the ceiling that drips and this...

Yep. That's a train as seen from my front porch. It goes through town about 30 times a day (and night). You do get used to it, but it's still very annoying. The first night we stayed in Dawson the train woke us at 3 AM...Keith and I sat up in bed and laughed and laughed. Not only was the whistle horrendously loud, but the train sounded like it was falling apart and wouldn't make it to the other end of town. I told Keith, "If there is a train that takes you to Hell, that's what it sounds like".

Here are some of the other reasons that I love Dawson.

This one needs some explanation...See that colored blur in the middle of the river? That's 400 rubber duckies racing down the river at the Annual Duck Race. Each duck is numbered and "sold" for about $5. The first duckie under the bridge wins! No one has fun like a small town!

Now, here's the irony. After realizing how much I love this little town, the Bishop is appointing us to another church...in the suburbs. We will be moving to Jefferson Hills (Pittsburgh) in July. While I am excited to be making a move that is good for our family (good appointment, great school district, near family) I will miss Dawson desperately...especially in the summer. It's hard to believe that I can find such character and charm in another place, but that's what I have to believe. Otherwise I'd be dead in the water. And I know it will come...there will be other wonderful people and other great things to do. But it's bittersweet to leave the town, the river, the people, the house, the fairs and even the train, behind.

OK, Kate

2006-05-01T18:28:00.000-05:00

Kate has informed me that I "really need to update my blog".
Ok, Kate...but I'm keeping it brief!

See these?

They represent what I should be doing.
See this?

This is what I am doing.
By the time we move I will probably need a bulldozer to get it all done!

By the way, I did finish Bear Sweater #2 (shown here with Bear Sweater #1).

They really are cute. Bear Sweater #3 needs to be done by August...no sweat.

Bad to Blog?

2006-04-24T07:48:00.001-05:00

It is possible, just possible, that reading all of the cool blogs that I do is messing with my brain right now. Why? Well, everyone has such fantastic stuff they are designing, knitting, sewing and actually finishing and I can't seem to get my butt in gear long enough to finish the laundry. I'm stuck.

Stuck in the "we-can't-move-for-another-month-and-a-half-and-it's-really-too-soon-to-
get-serious-about-packing-so-why- bother-cleaning-anyhow" rut.

This is paired with the "I-really-don't-like-to-clean-this-big-unruly-house-but-do-actually-take-some-
pride-in-it-when-its-clean-but-can't-relax-or-really-enjoy-doing-much-of-
anything-if-its-not-clean" phase that I'm going through.

It's a toxic combination. I need a game plan. I need to just dive in and get started. Our church is having a rummage sale in two weeks and they are getting the bulk of my "treasures". Two weeks to purge and then the packing can begin. It's just such a daunting task. It's so messy. It's so disorderly. I don't do messy or disorderly very well, although my life as a pastor's wife with four children tends to be messy and disorderly.

Breathe.

It will all get done, right?

Right?

Jimmy

2006-04-24T07:38:00.001-05:00

This was drawn by Jimmy (James) Elston, one of my husband's dearest friends. Don't you love this picture? You can see a lot more here (his blog) or here (his web site). Yay Jimmy!

Warming Grace

2006-04-22T10:56:00.000-05:00

Here's the square I knit for the Warming Grace project.

It is the Berry Stitch I found in Barbara G. Walker's A Second Treasure of Knitting Patterns (reviewed by Anny here). I would like to send more squares, but for now this represents the only wool I have left in my stash. As I come across more I will send more squares. Unfortunately there will be a need to comfort children with cancer for a very long time. Finding these projects in which to participate helps me to have hope. Hope that there are people out there doing good for other people...often people they don't even know. We have to have faith.

If you would like more information about Warming Grace, please click on the button in the side bar.

One. Day. At. A. Time.

2006-04-20T07:44:00.000-05:00

Well, I did it. I managed to stay on my (enter expletive of your choice here) diet for one day. Yesterday, actually. I did really well. I ate my targeted amount of points, drank a lot of water, had several fruits and veggies, passed up the Snickers Easter egg (even though I had enough points to eat it) and opted for fat-free pudding instead, and walked with hubby on the Yough trail. So why doesn't it seem to matter? Why am I so darn impatient? Why am I so hard on myself? I haven't weighed this much since I lost 60 pounds 3 years ago, but so what? I haven't gained it all back and I intend to take it back off, so why am I so obsessed? Hopefully after tonight's meeting I will be able to put the past behind me and just forge ahead. Remember, I plan to accomplish great things in this next month. (Read this.) How did I manage to stay on my diet yesterday? Look closely at this picture.

We put up the gate to keep the dog from the extra food we had in the pantry over Easter. But, in reality, I think it's higher purpose was to keep me away from this...

Every time I had to step over that (enter expletive of your choice here) gate I remembered to eat well. Maybe I should set up gates all over my house! Imagine the workout I could get jumping from room to room!

Took these pictures to find out what color Kathy prefers for her daughter's bear sweater. I think they're pretty.

When is purple month for Project Spectrum? I'm also going to knit up a square or two for Warming Grace. I don't have a lot of wool, so I'll have to see what I can come up with. Gee, I might just have to go to the yarn store!

Let In the Light!

2006-04-19T06:54:00.000-05:00

This is a picture of the rainbows cast on my stairwell by the sunlight shining through the front door.

See the illuminated words?

Cool.

A gentle reminder.

Who's In?

2006-04-17T17:38:00.000-05:00

I have to get serious about my diet. It's just that simple. Can't call it "eating healthier" or anything like that...it's a diet. I will still use the Weight Watchers program (which I highly recommend) and I absolutely have to get to my meetings. This may be a challenge with the moving and packing and such, but I really need to do it.

So, the question is...who's in? What do you want to accomplish in one month?

In one month I will be going to Kennywood Park for the school's picnic day. This is a super-fun tradition that means a lot to my family. I went to Kennywood at least once a year as a kid because I lived just about 10 minutes away. Now we go each year on the school picnic day. I will be absolutely miserable if I don't lose some weight before then. I will beat myself up for not looking nice, won't have anything to wear and will probably drive my poor family nuts.

In the next month I will...

1) Follow the Weight Watchers program which includes eating a well-balanced diet and drinking plenty of water

2) Stop thinking about "last year this time" and think about one day, one meal, one moment at a time

3) Not consider every occasion a special occasion; I can celebrate without pigging out

4) Turn my thoughts to other things when I am freaking out about my weight

5) Lose weight. I will consider all weight losses a success...a step in the right direction.

6) Spend some time looking for help in the right places. I really need to get into prayer and my bible every single day. I have Almighty God at my disposal and I'm not even checking in. Duh.

I found this in a devotional book many, many years ago. The book, Daily Strength for Daily Needs, is a must have for the women in my family. My grandmother read hers every day, my mom reads hers every day and I, sadly, have a copy, but do not read mine every day. I will.

This is my favorite entry (October 4)

Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed:
for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.
-Joshua 1:9

By Thine unerring Spirit led,
We shall not in the desert stray;
We shall not full direction need,
Nor miss our providential way;
As far from danger as from fear,
While love, almight love, is near.
-Charles Wesley

(and this is my favorite part)

Watch your way then, as a cautious traveller; and don't be gazing at that mountain or river in the distance, and saying, "How shall I ever get over them?" but keep to the present little inch that is before you, and accomplish that in the little moment that belongs to it. The mountain and the river can only be passed in the same way; and, when you come to them, you will come to the light and strength that belong to them.
-M.A. Kelty

Let not future things disturb thee, for thou wilt come to them, if it shall be necessary, having with thee the same reason which thou now usest for present things.

-Marcus Antoninus

Are you in?

Happy Easter!

2006-04-15T20:20:00.000-05:00

In honor of Project Spectrum, here are some orange and yellow Easter eggs the kids made this evening. The egg cups were my Grandma's. Aren't they fabulous?!! I hope you all have a blessed Easter!

One Down, Two to Go

2006-04-13T19:50:00.000-05:00

I finished the first of three bear sweaters I'm making for Kathy. I think the pale blue is really pretty. They are getting easier to make, and I finally feel like I know what I'm doing! I was even thinking of making the next two different, but I'm not sure what Kathy wants. What do you want, Kathy???

No one has commented on my quest for cool sock yarn. I'm in between projects and feel a bit antsy. I'll probably just get back to work on the bear sweaters since I don't know how much moving will interfere with my knitting. Has anyone figured out a way to move to a new home without having to pack and clean the old one?? If someone can tell me that, I'll pay big bucks. Uggh!

Gotta get going. We just finished up Holy Thursday services and have Good Friday services tomorrow. Happy Easter everyone!

P.S. Check out Yarn Harlot's most recent post! She loved Pittsburgh (my hometown)! I wish she could have seen it at night. Read "Duh" to see why I didn't make it to the book signing myself.

Question

2006-04-11T06:18:00.000-05:00

Let me know what you think...

What is your favorite sock yarn?

I'm looking for something that is washable (as close to 7 sts/in as possible) and in this case pretty brightly colored...striped or an otherwise funky pattern. I want to make a pair of socks for Kate's friend, Carlie...she'll probably be wearing them with her Chuck Taylors. Think fun! This is a girl who wore this to church on Super Bowl Sunday!

Comment here or e-mail me your ideas.

The Eagle Has Landed

2006-04-11T06:11:00.000-05:00

Safe, happy and tan!

Christian is back from Disney World and had a wonderful time. I feel so proud that he was able to manage all of that on his own, came home with money (!), didn't get lost, chose thoughtful gifts for everyone, didn't lose anything, isn't banned from Disney World, didn't have a huge fight with his friends, isn't burnt to a crisp, hasn't taken up smoking or drinking and is willing (and anxious) to travel again. It's a strange feeling to have one of your children have an experience that is completely seperate from you. Does that make sense? This was completely his . I'm very happy for him.

Duh

2006-04-10T18:01:00.000-05:00

By the way, guess who was at Knit One in Squirrel Hill, Pennsylvania (as in, less than an hour from me) Friday night? That's right, the Yarn Harlot herself, Stephanie Pearl-McPhee. Guess who didn't even bother to check her tour schedule until Friday night? Yep, that would be me. Duh.

Exhale

2006-04-10T17:29:00.000-05:00

Now I can finally share the news. We found out about a week ago that we are being reappointed to a different church. For those of you unfamiliar with "Methodist-speak", this means we're moving. The new church is in the South Hills of Pittsburgh...Jefferson UMC. Today is the first day I can really talk about the whole thing because we only just told our own churches yesterday, Palm Sunday. It was a very emotional day...lots of tears and hugging. It will be up and down for the next two months and very difficult when we leave. So, that's enough about that for now...sniff.

On a lighter note...I'd like to take back everything I said about the Demon Socks. I just tried them on for fun after their first run through the wash (don't look back and see when they were finished and how long it's taken them to be washed...it's not pretty) and they are the softest socks I have ever worn! Too bad they're Kate's. They washed up so nicely and there is no sign of any ladders or too many imperfections. I thought I'd model them for you...laying on my bed with my feet in the air. Aren't they pretty? Very nice for Spring and certainly not too heavy to wear any time.

I haven't been knitting too much with all of the running around of the past week (checking out the new place, mom's surgery) and I actually tossed the back of the bear sweater that I had already done. I knew I had counted the rows wrong and would have to fudge it when I made the front to match. It didn't really take that long to make anyhow, so I just started it over. Besides, I somehow ended up at the JoAnn Fabrics near my mom's hospital and got some new bamboo knitting needles. I don't like them as well as the Brittany DPNs I got a while back, but they are still really nice. They are shorter than my other needles which is alright for this small project.

Look who's peeking at me through the window. Isn't he cute? Elliot and I went to the park today after preschool. We really had a nice time. I kept wishing I'd had my camera with me, but I probably would have worried more about capturing the moment than enjoying the moment. Why do I feel like I accomplished such a big thing just taking him to the playground? I guess because I'm always running here or there and don't get to do some of these small things with him. Just seems like park-going should be one of those things we do more often. There is a playground just up the road (but we'll have to drive because the street is quite heavily traveled) at the new house, so maybe we'll get there more often. In case you were wondering he's this tall.

Christian, my oldest, has just landed at the Pittsburgh International Airport. He has been in Florida at Walt Disney World since Thursday. He went with the Connellsville High School marching band and from all reports, has been having a fantastic time. I was a little freaked out about him flying (didn't tell him, of course), but I was checking his flights on the Internet and knew he'd landed safely. I'm sure he'll have a lot of stories for us tonight.

Gotta go. The dryer just buzzed and I think that means I'm supposed to do something with the stuff in it...is that right? What's that? "Fold it and put it away", you say? Gotcha.

Busy, Busy, Busy

2006-04-04T08:36:00.000-05:00

This is just a short post to acknowledge that I haven't posted at all since Thursday. Quite unexpectedly things got very, very busy and I just haven't been able to sit down to say hello. I didn't even go to Weight Watchers on Thursday night, so I don't know if all of that hard work paid off or not! However, I've been pretty much eating non-stop since Thursday evening so I have my work cut out for me. Boy is it hard to get back on track! I guess there's nothing to be done but keep trying. Sure is tiring, though.

Mom's knee-replacement surgery yesterday went very well. The doctor said that he doesn't know how she went as long as she did with the horrible condition of her knee. Once the recovery is over she should feel so much better. We were at the hospital at 7:45 AM for her scheduled surgery at 10 AM. They didn't even take her to surgery until 11:30 AM and she was finished at 2 PM. She didn't get into a room until 7:30 PM!!!! I guess they didn't have any rooms available. Grrrrr! Frustrating. It made for a very long day...but I did get half of Bear Sweater #1 done.

I made a mistake in the Moss Stitch pattern near the top of the sleeve...can you see it? Guess I'll need to fix that up. I also think I made this sweater a bit longer than the first, but I guess that's OK. I must have counted the rows differently or something.

Finished the Socks from Hell on Saturday evening (well, actually only the first sock was from Hell; the second went much better). I'll post a picture when I can find them...Kate has taken them and I don't have the guts to go into her room to look for them. They are fraternal twins as Anny mentioned, but I think I like them that way.

That's it for now...more exciting news to follow.

6/7 X 2!

2006-03-30T10:48:00.000-05:00

It's the end of another week (as my diet week goes). This week I exercised 6 out of 7 days again. I'm really proud of this. I get a little green star on the calendar each time I exercise and Claire gets a little orange star each time she practices her piano. She's doing really well, too!

Here's what I did this week:

Friday I did this,
Sunday I did this (I taped an earlier episode),
Monday I did this ("Get Fit!") and walked for 45 minutes,
Tuesday I did this (I taped an earlier episode),
Wednesday I did this,
& today I did this (extra credit for doing Fit TV's Carribean Workout in very non-Carribean Western Pennsylvania).

I'm making much quicker progress on the second sock than I did the first one.

I really, really tried to start sock #2 at the same place in the color wash as sock #1, but, as you can see, I wasn't too successful. This is a lot easier when the sock yarn has a definite stripe to it. Kate says that she doesn't care...she likes it just the way it is. (She must have seen the maniacal look I was getting in my eyes!) The lady at Knit Wits, whom I called to ask for some pointers, said that many people prefer to have the socks a bit different. (She must have heard the maniacal sound in my voice!) I'm so transparent. I hope to have the socks done this weekend so I can begin 3 bear sweaters for Kathy. Mom is having knee-replacement surgery on Monday so I'll be knitting in the waiting room. This is the first time I've knit for cash...I'm a bit nervous that everything will go wrong! You know how you can make something a hundred times (like your favorite cookies or whatever) and then you try to make it for someone else and it's a disaster? That's what I'm afraid of.

Some day I'd like to make this for me!

Isn't it fantastic?? I saw it on the Yarn Harlot's review of Inspired Cable Knits by Fiona Ellis. I think I'd make it exactly like the picture...same color and everything. The ties on the sleeves may have to go though. I can just see me getting sucked into the copier at the church or being dragged down the street by the school bus. Now, where can I get the model's thin thighs?

Finally!

2006-03-24T10:51:00.000-05:00

I finally finished the demon sock!!

Even as I was finishing up the last few rounds I mentioned to Keith that I couldn't believe how much trouble this sock had given me and I dropped stitches! Right at that moment! The sock is posessed, really. I checked my gauge again and it matches the pattern, but it looks really big and baggy, don't you think? Socks look so nice and...well, sock-shaped...in the pattern pictures. Do you think they block them first? I can't imagine blocking socks. What do you think? The sock looks really pretty on Kate, though.

Too bad she won't be getting a matching one. (Just kidding.) I think it should be my "thing" that I never make matching socks. There's a great idea there somewhere! What does Yarn Harlot call that? SSS. Second Sock Syndrome? So true. But I will make the second one because I'm just wired that way. I don't even abandon books I dislike unless I really, really can't bear it. I am going to try to start the second sock at the same place in the yarn as I started the first one, but it will be tough. I figured I could work the ribbing and see how well it matches up. I wouldn't mind reworking the one inch of ribbing a couple of times to get it right. This yarn (Trekking XXL) says on the band "for best results work with alternating skeins". What does that mean? I've heard of doing that if you have to use more than one lot number of a particular yarn, but I'm not sure why they would recommend it in this case. Anyone? In other news...I lost two pounds this week, yay. Notice that's a little "yay", not a big "YAY!!!!!". I know, I know. A two-pound weight loss is a healthy amount. I know, I know. I have to be patient. I know, I know. It's not all about the numbers. But I would have been a lot happier with a three or four pound weight loss. Seems like that would better match the hard work I put in last week. But, I'm going to soldier on. I can still drop a nice amount by Easter and should be able to reach my goal by Mid-June.

Don't know why I took a picture of these guys working outside my house.

Yesterday they interrupted my nap. Elliot thought the bulldozer was awfully cool. I get a kick out of the guy whose head is peeking up out of the street. I don't even know what they're doing out there. They're from the gas company. Should I be concerned?

6/7

2006-03-23T14:55:00.000-05:00

I am very pleased to announce that I did my exercises 6 out of 7 times this week! (My "fitness" week runs from Friday to Thursday since my Weight Watchers meeting is Thursday night.) "Why only 6 days?", you ask. Even God didn't do cardio on the seventh day!!!

Here's what I did:

Friday I did this (I taped an episode earlier this month),
Saturday I did this,
Monday I did this,
Tuesday I did this,
Wednesday I did this again,
and today I did this again.

Hopefully it will pay off on the scales tonight. I do feel pretty good and I guess that's what's important. (Really, it's about the numbers!)

I did it!

2006-03-21T16:53:00.000-05:00

I DID IT!!!!

Don't Look Back

2006-03-21T11:14:00.000-05:00

Yeeeeeeeeeeeee-haaaaaaw!!!! We found out in church on Sunday that the Povertyneck Hillbillies (our local country band) will be played nationally beginning this week and their CD ("Don't Look Back) is now available in every market in the country! Awesome. When I say "local", I mean really local...their fiddle player, Chris Higbee (in the hat), lives about a mile from us, is a member of our church and my daughter's violin teacher (when he's not touring, which isn't very often anymore). I am so happy for the guys! Just to check it out I went to Amazon and found this. "Kinda Cool, Ain't It?" The link in this post is a different link than the one on the side bar. I just found it myself and haven't really checked it out. Looks like you can listen to some music there.

Signs of Spring

2006-03-20T19:47:00.000-05:00

Yippee! I saw many signs of Spring today...

1) I'm wearing my daffodil apron, so it must be Spring.

2) I saw a robin (or two, or three). This is my collection of robins. I thought they'd qualify for Project Spectrum since they're red-breasted. Now, technically some of them look a bit more orange than red, but I'm still counting it!

3) Work is progressing on this spring-like, yet Satan-spawned sock. (Recognize the bag, Kathy?

4) Walmart had these pretty cupcakes to celebrate the end of Winter.

I think the kids really enjoyed them. Smile!

Quick Post

2006-03-18T09:41:00.000-05:00

I've got some things to do this morning before I get Claire to her friend's birthday party, but I wanted to post the recipes for these two great quick breads.

The one on the left is a pumpkin bread from the Fannie Farmer Cookbook. I don't actually eat pumpkin bread, but Keith and the kids apparently love it, so it must be good. It smells great when it's baking, I can tell you that! The bread on the right is White Nut Loaf. I have no idea where the recipe came from originally, but it's the nut bread my mom has always made. I know that one's good. I like to toast it for breakfast. Yummy!

Pumpkin Bread

1 1/2 C flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1 C sugar
1 tsp. baking soda
1 C pumpkin puree
1/2 C vegetable oil
2 eggs beaten
1/4 C water
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. allspice
1/2 C chopped nuts (optional)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Sift together the flour, salt, sugar, and baking soda. Mix the pumpkin, oil, eggs, water, and spices together, then combine with the dry ingredients, but do not mix too thoroughly. Stir in the nuts. Pour into a well-buttered loaf pan. Bake 50-60 minutes until a straw comes out clean. Turn out of the pan and cool on a rack.

White Nut Loaf

3/4 C sugar
2 Tbls. vegetable oil
1 egg
1 1/2 C milk
3 C flour
3 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
3/4 C chopped walnut

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Mix sugar, oil and egg. Stir in milk. Combine flour, baking powder and salt. Add oil mixture to dry ingredients. Add nuts. Pour into loaf pan. Let stand for 20 minutes. Bake 60-70 minutes or until center is when checked with clean knife.

The great thing about both of these recipes is that they mix up so quickly without needing a mixer or anything. I guess that's why they're called quick breads.

I can explain...really

2006-03-17T17:28:00.000-05:00

You see, I went to get an eye exam and order new glasses at our local Sears. The only way to get to the Optical department (the only way, I assure you) was to walk through the purse department. Even though I just got a new purse from Kathy, I've been needing one (really, needing one) with a longer strap. Did you check out the price tag on the purse? Click on the picture to zoom in. It was originally $30 and was on sale for $7.49!!! So, you can see how someone that has a thing for purses would just have to buy this cutie.

The next picture shows what happens when a half dozen or so kids from the Jr. High band come over after school...on a band day.

Look at all that black! I guess it's not all bad. I found this on the piano bench.

Seriously, they're good kids; very polite and quite entertaining. I think they're filming a movie this afternoon.

If you go here and then select DEPARTMENTS, ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS, DUNBAR TOWNSHIP and scroll down you can view the video the kids made during Super Bowl week. It makes me smile.

Snagged the kids for a photo.

They were so excited to be on my blog! Aren't they dear? Life is good! Don't believe the hype that "today's youth" are doomed. Check out this quote..."The children now love luxury. They have bad manners, contempt for authority, they show disrespect to their elders.... They no longer rise when elders enter the room. They contradict their parents...and are tyrants over their teachers." Know who said it? Socrates!

Catching Up

2006-03-17T10:48:00.000-05:00

I haven't posted for a while. Here's why...

This is the plastic that's covering part of my carpeting so the workers can put new windows in the parsonage. This plastic is so cool...it's like a giant roll of tape. How can I get some of that to use every day? Can't you just see me covering everything with it? Can you say Monk? But the good news is...they are almost done putting in 18 (!) windows and they are really nice. This is the window in the dining room.

The old windows were so drafty we could see the curtains blow even when they were shut. It's a lot warmer and a lot quieter in the house now. The men are doing a great job. The first day they arrived around 7:30 AM and Elliot kept saying "Hi Dave", "Hi Steve". Now, I have no idea what their names are, but I guess Elliot thought those were good manly names.

While we were escaping the cold and the noise in my bedroom, I finished this for my mom.

Now both of her scarves are done. I think I'm over the "funky yarn scarf" thing. I'm working on the socks again, but don't have a good picture so far. I haven't been able to concentrate or knit without interruption for a few days so I set them aside to finish the scarf. Claire has been invited to a birthday party at the rollerskating rink tomorrow, so I should get some more done then. Thanks to Anny for the adivce about the ladders. I'm willing to try anything at this point! She sent me "good sock vibes" too.

(Wow, it's cold in here...there are still windows out as they work on the kitchen. I wish I'd learned how to knit some of those fingerless gloves!)

Now, on to Project Spectrum. Here is one of my favorite red things...my purse from Macy's in NYC.

It's not a fancy purse, nor is it an expensive purse, but I love it because I actually walked into Macy's and bought it. Kate and I went to New York in November and had a blast. We'd both move there in a New York minute. We might even take the rest of the family with us. (Maybe.)

Our local JoAnn Fabrics is going out of business (sad), but they are having amazing sales (glad)! Look at what I got for $5.42!!

Two sets of circular needles (of which I have none), a cool tape measure and a counted cross stitch kit that's all PURSES!!!! Whoopee!!

Think I'd better go warm up now or I'll have pneumonia just in time for Spring!

This doesn't look right

2006-03-14T16:53:00.000-05:00

So, this is where I am with my socks right now.

I know, I know...I'll never get anywhere if I keep starting over. I just wasn't happy with it and what's the point of working on something if it isn't making you happy? I'm going to cast on again (thank God for band concerts!) and give it my all. Keith says I really need to commit to finishing the sock this time. I think he's worried about me! I also wound the portion of the skein that I'd already used into a ball hoping it would stay neat. I did my darndest to keep it loose, but it's still too tight. I'll have to tug to get it out as I knit, at least for a while. In the words of Sponge Bob, "pourquoi?!?"

Grrrr!

2006-03-14T09:03:00.000-05:00

I'm getting frustrated. I'm making these socks and I'm not happy with them. I'm having trouble with the ladders that appear when you begin stitching on a new needle. Know what I mean?Everything I've read has said to tug the first and second stitch a bit tighter, but it doesn't seem to make a significant difference. I'm pretty sure that it will look better when stretched over a leg, but it still bothers me. And I'm pretty sure that no one (except maybe another knitter) would even notice them, but it still bothers me. I don't even know if you can see them in this picture.

And another thing. Why does this always happen to my yarn when I try to pull it from the skein??!?

Does everyone else always make a ball of the yarn first? This always happens. Knitting these socks isn't nearly as enjoyable as it was supposed to be. Althought I love the Brittany bamboo needles. I'm not even crazy about the colors. I'm not usually into pastels, but I thought this would be nice for Spring. I'd really prefer these socks that the Yarn Harlot made. Much more to my liking.

Help!!

God Bless the United States Postal Service

2006-03-13T16:01:00.000-05:00

Hard work does pay off! I set aside my knitting today to do some long overdue housework. I steam-cleaned the carpets on the first floor while Elliot was at preschool and also scrubbed the kitchen floor on my hands and knees with ammonia (yuck!). If you're looking for a really good way to work your triceps, I highly recommend floor washing. The floors are cleaner than they've been since we moved in four years ago! The laundry is started and I've got a plan for the rest of the week. So, what's the reward? This! All of this came in the mail today!

The flower pot, Mary Engelbreit book, and awesome purse (I have a real purse fetish) are from Kathy. Who but Kathy would send me polka dots through the U.S. Mail?! The purple bag is from Keith. It's a knitting bag from JoAnn Fabrics. I saw it on the Internet and sent him an e-mail that it would make a really nice gift for me. I didn't think he'd actually buy it! I love it. It's got cool pockets and a drawstring top that you can cinche up over your knitting. There's even a seperate bag for needles. Sweet.

This is my first entry for Project Spectrum.

I collected a bunch of red things from my kitchen. I love red. Love, love, love red. If you notice, even my kitchen is red. The speckled canisters are not vintage. The glasses are vintage. Aren't the little juice glasses adorable? The black and red items are Mary Engelbreit. Elmo sits on the shelf above my stove. The cherry wreath is from, yep, you guessed it, Kathy.

Well, the rain and storms are here. Guess I should finish this up and move along with the laundry. Hubby is making spaghetti for dinner and I'll be running to the library. We have no other commitments tonight! Wow! What a rare treat. And a thunderstorm. Sounds cozy.

Uh-Oh

2006-03-12T08:34:00.000-05:00

Uh-Oh. This could become addictive. This is the second scarf I've made this week and it only took me about an hour. I realize that everyone else has already jumped on (and maybe off) the fuzzy, skinny scarf bandwagon, but I just started. It's just amazing that you can make something so pretty with so little effort! The color of this yarn is beautiful (Patons Allure- Sable)...like a champagne...very shimmery. The scarf is for my mom. She wears them year-round at work to keep the back of her neck warm. I made one last week out of the left over pink fuzzy from Danika's poncho and have one more to make out of black. Only ten stitches, garter stitch, it doesn't get any easier than that!! Time for church. Can you imagine me telling my husband I missed church because I was blogging (or worse yet, knitting!)?

Goodies!

2006-03-11T17:49:00.000-05:00

Got back from Knit Wits a little while ago. My mom got me this...Yay Mommy...

and I got this (and these)...

to make this.

Yippee!!

Life Is Good

2006-03-10T06:23:00.000-05:00

I just love this line of clothing and accessories. Life IS good! So much negativity out there. It's nice to see a positive message for a change! Plus, this guy looks just like my friend, Brett...Birkenstocks and all!

P.S.

2006-03-09T13:02:00.000-05:00

P.S. I gave the little poncho to Danika last night at church. She and her grandma loved it. (Although Danika may have been slightly more excited about the cute purse-like gift bag I put it in!) It fits just fine and is surprisingly warm...just right for these first days of Spring.

Good Genes

2006-03-09T11:41:00.000-05:00

So, while I'm bragging about Elliot's little genius brain, I thought I'd post some pics of some great stuff my family has made. Today I'm just focusing on my parents, grandmothers and my sister. Some other time I'll go on and on about how talented my children are. There are a lot of pictures...Enjoy!

My dad made this (the garage, not the little boy...I made him).

What? Yes! Of course it's a working elevator. This has gotten a LOT of use and the clearance bar on the top is a new addition; leave it to my dad to find a creative way to add a handle.

Then, my dad made this for Elliot to put his cars in. I was expecting something like a milk crate on wheels, but I forgot, Dad goes all out!

Did I mention that Elliot probably has well over 300 Hot Wheels cars? And that's just the small size...we have countless other trucks and cars of various sizes. (Really, it's getting to be quite a problem!)

My mom did these floral prints in pastels when I was very young. They were in my grandma's bedroom for the longest time and now they're in my room.

Mom also stitched all of these things.

She made towels for every month...they're lovely. And the pillow case (one of two) was a present for our 10th wedding anniversary.

My grandma made this quilt for me. She pieced the whole thing by hand and quilted it by hand on a big quilting rack.

She made one for each of her four grandchildren. I remember her sitting at the end of her diningroom table with a little cardboard box that had all of the pieces in it. She would sit there and watch "her programs" and put it all together. She obviously had a lot more patience than I have!

Grammie made this needlepoint.

She also made beautiful beaded Christmas tree ornaments and did a lot of knitting. I wish she were still here to give me advice now. I have her rocking chair and it just occurred to me that it's a chair specifically for knitting...the arms are very short and just long enough to rest your elbows but not interfere with the knitting needles. Cool.

My sister has this bizarre ability to look at a room full of beads and figure out how to put them together to make something really cool. I would be beside myself with such a big decision to make. She made these for me or my daughters over the years.

I've been trying to convince her to make knitting markers and things for crazy knitting people like me. We'd buy them, right? Clearly she doesn't understand just how far-reaching the whole knitting revolution has gone!

This has been a nice way to realize how much talent there is in my family. Believe me, this is just a sampling of some of the projects we all get involved in. My dad builds a lot of miniatures, too; perfectly to scale. He does all of this just because he has fun doing it. Grandma sewed nearly everything she wore and a lot of clothes for the rest of us. She taught me to sew when I was only ten. She also made the best hamburgers and coffee in the whole world. Wow, I really miss her.

This was painted by...I have no idea who painted this, but it's above my computer and I think it's pretty.

Now, on to more pressing matters. See this? This is the inside of my knitting bag. Do you see anything in here? No!

It's been a long time since I haven't been working on something. But, the good news is...I finished four loads of laundry this morning and cleaned up the house! Probably just a coincidence.

Poncho Post

2006-03-08T17:32:00.000-05:00

I whipped up this poncho for Danika, a sweet little friend from our church. If you remember, I was making her a cute baby kimono before the Knitting Olympics began. I was going to finish it, but it really seemed so baby-ish, and even though Danika is only 18 months old, she just doesn't have a baby attitude. She's much more of a diva than that! I thought this would be a lot cuter with her little jeans or something. Unfortunately I think it may be too big...who knows...I didn't really use a pattern. I used big needles and it was only 20 stitches across...speedy! If you look closely (click on the picture) you can see some family photos on the buffet behind the chair. Wish they were more clear...they're some of my favorites.

Friday night I'm going to see the Pittsburgh Ballet Theater's production of Swingin' It, featuring the music of Frank Sinatra and Cole Porter. My mom got tickets for us. It will be a nice night away for me and I'll be spending the night at her place...a mini retreat! Saturday I'm taking her to Knit Wits in Greensburg. To be honest, part of the reason I made the quickie poncho for Danika was to free up my time to start something new. I wonder what it will be? Something for moi, perhaps? Imagine that!

Look what we did!

2006-03-08T06:40:00.000-05:00

Last week (Friday?) I finished this. I'm really happy with the way it turned out. I didn't follow the pattern completely when it came to finishing the neck band. It said to leave some of the seam open and use buttons to close it. I elected to just sew up the whole thing. It's a lot neater and will be a lot easier for Claire to put on and take off.

Elliot got these cool Lego robots on Monday night. He spent yesterday putting them together. Didn't he do a great job?! He's so smart. I helped him assemble the first one and he followed the directions in the book and put together the next two. I have to just brag here and say that the box said "age 6" and Elliot, smart and handsome boy that he is, is only 4 (and a half)! Isn't he just adorable? Hey! It's my blog! If I want to go on and on about my kids I will!!

Wow!

2006-03-05T11:36:00.000-05:00

Last night I was priviledged to see the Connellsville Area High School's production of The Wizard of Oz. Wow! I was really, really impressed! The singing and acting were all above what I consider average high school caliber. I was also very impressed with the sets and the tremendous amount of work the stage crew undertook. There were a gazillion scene changes, strobe lights, pyrotechnics, creative lighting (like a yellow-brick patterned spot light that Dorothy followed up the auditorium aisle), and flying witches and monkeys. Perhaps the biggest scene-stealer was the tornado! It was awesome. It was a circular black and grey cone constructed of tatterred, flowing fabric that rotated and made a complete sweep of the stage. Very nice for a live show! The Kansas scenery was entirely black and white with very stark lighting and even Dorothy's gingham dress was black and white, not blue and white, in the beginning. The actors used the whole auditorium, often coming up the aisles or peeking in from access panels above the main stage. Miss Gulch rode her wicked bike right down the aisle and up on the stage...it was also made to fly during the twister sene. By contrast, Oz was very colorful and fanciful. There was initially a bit of trouble with Glinda's "bubble" entrance, but it all worked out. The Witch appeared and disappeared in a puff of smoke, the Tin Man also puffed smoke from his funnel hat during his dance scene. There were dancing Poppies and then Snowflakes outside Emerald City. There was an additional scene that I'm not familiar with in which the Witch sends The Jitter Bug to wear out Dorothy and her friends in the wicked forest. The entire cast was part of this scene either dancing or singing on the stage and throughout the auditorium. It was swinging! There was even a real Toto that barked on cue and revealed "that man behind the curtain". I am a very "visual" person, so I am emphasizing the aesthetic, but the acting and singing really held up. It wasn't just flash and tricks. Most of the singing was better than a lot of the American Idol contestants...very consistent, strong and natural...not a lot of showboating or singing like a pop star (which I hate). Bravo! I took all four kids and my mom to see the show (poor hubby had another engagement) and each one loved it, from 15 years old to 4. I didn't expect to be so enchanted. I have pretty high standards. I was in three high school musicals as a kid in a school district that put a lot of time and money into it's productions. I was in the first graduating class from Woodland Hills High School which had merged three high schools into one. Woodland Hills is a consistent contender for the Gene Kelley Awards in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Incidentally, that's "NFL High" for any of you who follow High School football. Woodland Hills has a powerhouse football team which has launched several players into successful college ball careers and some into the NFL, like the Miami Dolphins' Jason Taylor.

Anyhow...thank you Connellsville High School for a truly magical evening and for reminding me how much fun I had in high school. I have been truly blessed to enjoy the performing arts in such a personal way! These kids are everything that's right about public school, small towns and America itself (cue Patriotic music here).

Marching On

2006-03-02T09:18:00.000-05:00

March is here! That's got to mean it's almost Spring, right? To be fair, we have had a very mild Winter, but if it's not going to look like Winter anyhow...let's just jump right to Summer! Today is so cloudy and rainy it's all I can do to not jump back in bed and pull the covers over my head.

I've finished the sweater for Claire's bear. Well, it isn't actually put together yet. I'm really pleased with the cables and the Moss Stitch pattern. It looks a bit like blueberries, doesn't it?

The amazing thing is that the front and back match exactly even though the front has a different neckline. This picture has the front laying on top of the back...see how the edges are even? This wasn't really a difficult pattern, but to keep the cables and all-over pattern consistent throughout the armhole and neck-edge decreases I had to really concentrate. Several times I had to undo a couple of rows and start again.

Does anyone else's pattern look like this when they're done??

I still need to add the neck and some kind of button and button loop. I'm not really sure what that's all about. Anyone want to take a look at the pattern and give me your input?

I've also decided to do something each month for Project Spectrum. This month's colors are red and pink. Red happens to be my favorite color (which Christian says changes every week). I think I'll probably take some pictures and maybe bake something with red or pink in it. I even thought of some songs that have "red" or "pink" in the lyrics. It's amazinig how much you notice one color when someone points it out to you. Who knows what I'll come up with!

I've decided to not weigh in tonight. That's an option we have at Weight Watchers. We are only required to weigh in once a month. I just don't feel any lighter and I haven't been feeling well this week. It's all such a mental game with me...if I'm even up a half pound or so it will really wreck me...so I'm going to give myself another week, ensuring that I'll get good news. It may seem like the cowardly way out, but I'm doing it anyhow. I'll still go to the meeting and hear some good ideas. If my cold is no worse tomorrow I'll resume exercising too. That's kind of hard to do when your nose isn't working properly!

Yippee!!

2006-02-28T16:01:00.000-05:00

I got it! I got it! See my beautiful gold medal on the sidebar? I'm so excited!

Blah!

2006-02-28T09:44:00.000-05:00

Ever feel like this?

This one's for Kathy

2006-02-27T16:30:00.000-05:00

Kathy,

How about this? Take a picture of coffee in one of your favorite coffee mugs and when we want to have a "cuppa" coffee we'll just publish a post with the coffee picture. It will be a nice surprise when we check each other's blogs! It's a high-tech, 21st-century way to be together! Miss you!

Post-Olympic Blues

2006-02-27T09:45:00.000-05:00

I really miss the Olympics; both the Knitting Olympics and the Torino Olympics. It was nice to have something interesting to tune into. And the blogging community made it even more fun because people were commenting on the games and the personalities. I think there must be more Canadian knitters/bloggers than anywhere else??!!! What's up with that?

Keith says that March Madness will start soon,but we're really not too terribly excited about that. Know what else I miss (and this is really pathetic)? I miss the cool way that Google was changing their logo to fit the various Winter Games. They are so creative! I know they change them throughout the year for holidays or special occassions, too. It's just not the same. (pout) Since the Olympic knitting is finished, I have turned to new knitting adventures. I could have resumed work on Danika's sweater (see "Good Results"), but I just didn't want to dig in to a child's sweater right now. So, I started a bear's sweater instead. You can view the pattern here. The sweater is for Candy, my daughter's friend from the Build-A-Bear Workshop.

I've been checking out the other blogs to see what they say about their Olympic outcomes. As of this morning, Yarn Harlot didn't even have a post about weather or not she finished her sweater. Gee, I just feel so lost! Congratulations to Anny for finishing her beautiful sweater...and an adult-sized sweater at that!!

Now, one last thing. Can anyone offer suggesting for getting good pictures of detail when photographing knit items? I have a pretty decent digital camera that I basically know how to use, but I still get frustrated. I know it's a flash adjustment or lighting, but thought I might get some good advice from you knitting bloggers out there. I see wonderful pictures on your blogs, so share! Share!

Official Knitting Olympics Qualifying Post

2006-02-26T12:10:00.000-05:00

Guests for lunch in two minutes! The scarf is officially done (ends woven in, blocked, etc.). I am really happy with it. Now what do we all do? What is going to happen to the Olympic timer when it runs out??! We may shut down the entire Internet with our Olympic madness! Congratulations to everyone who took time out of their busy lives to do something just for fun! Yay!

Done!!

2006-02-25T11:43:00.000-05:00

It's done! It's done! See how happy I am?

Remember in grade school when you'd take a test and then slam down your pencil and yell, "Done!"? That's what I felt like. Unfortunately I was at a church meeting for Vacation Bible School, so I just kind of set it down and grinned and looked at Keith and whispered, "It's done!". This was really fun. Now, technically it's not completely finished. It still have ends to weave in and it should be blocked because some of the sections are a bit narrower than others. But that's no problem. Yippee!!

Prettybird's Nest

The school year begins in Oz

You guys really need a hobby

Buon Giorno!

What am I?

Predestination

Inspired by John

When the heck did July get here?

Quick Update

New Socks and a Serious Side

Happy Birthday Audrey Hepburn!

This little piggie...

What to make next

THE SUN IS SHINING!!!

A Dream Is A Wish Your Heart Makes

So Excited!!

Demented and Sad, but Social...

For Keith

I'm 100%

Notes...musical and otherwise

Uh-oh

Cake Mania Mania!

Survey says...

Good News, Bad News

Something new

We entertain on Fridays

...and by the way...

First Fair Isle

All done!

Happy Birthday Kate!

Some Days I Feel Just Like This...

I'm not crazy! (and other updates)

Love these guys!

Bookless!

Oh, and I do still knit!

I know, I know

speedy catch up

Gotcha!!

Finally got the pictures up!

I *heart* November

Sigh of Relief

Browser Difficulty

Room Fairy

The Spice of Life

Back from camp

Arrrrrrrrrrrrrrgh!

Vote!

Other folks

I Heart Bake Sales!

Random Catch-Up

Major Accomplishments

Wow

Finished!

Summer In the City!

Boxes and Boxes!

The Tall and the Short of It

Long Time No Post!

About socks...

Still here

Why I live where I live

OK, Kate

Bad to Blog?

Jimmy

Warming Grace

One. Day. At. A. Time.

Let In the Light!

Who's In?

Happy Easter!

One Down, Two to Go

Question

The Eagle Has Landed

Duh

Exhale

Busy, Busy, Busy

6/7 X 2!

Finally!

6/7

I did it!

Don't Look Back

Signs of Spring

I heart November