Santa Pics, and NaBloPoMo completed!

I was too tired last night to deal with getting Santa pics up, but for your viewing pleasure, the story follows tonight. First, though, I have to proudly proclaim that I have survived NaBloPoMo. I was going to put up the "finished" logo, but the site is down at the moment, so I can't grab it.

Eden, if I'm a prize winner and you're checking for my thirty posts, I'll make your life a tiny bit easier. I did post every day this month, but there were two little snafus, which may put me out of the running for a prize. 1) there was a night when I hit "Publish Post" and walked away from the computer, only to discover the next morning that the server burped and the post didn't actually publish - so I published it about 10 hours late. 2) About a week ago, I sat down to write a post around 11 at night, and it took me just over an hour to finish, so it got posted shortly after midnight.

If I'm disqualified for a prize, I understand. I'm still glad I did it - it was a fun exercise, even though my readers were probably bored to tears many of the days. I will say that getting into the habit of posting every day makes posting easier, and makes me much more likely to write something up that I feel satisfied with. The down side, though, is that it does cut into my evenings and I haven't gotten nearly as much knitting and other stuff done this month as I usually do.

Okay, so on to Santa pics. This year wasn't exactly what I would call a wild success. It was late in the afternoon, so both girls were tired. I really wish they would schedule morning appointments. Sophie was pretty leery of Father Christmas from the get-go and really just wanted me to hold her so she could bury her face in my chest. Julie, on the other hand, was practically climbing all over him, telling him all about what she wanted him to bring her, and being the best version of herself I could have expected.



We struggled a bit, and then I brought out the little boxes of raisins.



Suddenly, everyone was happy, and Sophie was no longer scared of Father Christmas. But we had raisin boxes in all the pictures.



Santa did his best to hide Julie's.



And this is what happened when I tried to take the raisins out of the box, so she would have a fistful of raisins and no box.



Same thing, only I'm holding the raisin box out of frame to the left. I thought maybe it would look like she was looking at him. I think that last one may just make it onto the Holiday card. Must get right on that.

I still recommend this Santa deal wholeheartedly. It's Steamworks Coffee, and Aaron is the owner. Oh! and look! They were on the news tonight!

Tomorrow - the contest results. It's not too late to enter, and if you really can't come up with a good idea after all this time, I understand. I am hard to buy for. Just go to the Wish list post and comment that you think I should get a lump of coal, and I'll throw your name in the hat for the book. As long as you include your contact information. Thanks for playing.

Lost!

No, thankfully not the child. Although, this is a picture of Julie from late 2005, so the child she was then is gone, in a way. She has grown up so much since then.

What's lost is the hat. Sophie was wearing it this morning when we snuck out to the mall to try on new winter coats while Julie was at pre-school. She had taken it off and was holding it in her hand, and I thought I was keeping an eye on it as we strolled through Macy's looking at the coats (none that I liked) and waiting for Eddie Bauer and J. Crew to open. We had actually walked all over the place in the store, and then I looked down and noticed that the hat was.....gone. So we walked all over the place again, scanning the floor, me begging the clerks to keep an eye out for it, to make sure it gets to Lost and Found if they see it.

I gave my phone number to the Lost and Found people and tried to explain that this hat is special, that I knit it for my older daughter and that they've both worn it and it's part of our history. I know that to them I am just another self-important holiday shopper, and I can accept it. I am resigned that the hat is probably never coming back to us. It's hard to imagine someone finding the hat and taking it for themselves - it is not in brand-new condition - but it should have been on the floor somewhere in the store, and yet it was not.

And really, although it was beautiful, and impressively comment-inspiring, it was rather ill-fitting - too narrow around and too tall. And it was knit out of Cascade 220, which can be a bit itchy. I know this because my winter hat is knit out of Cascade 220 and I am constantly scratching my forehead. For those interested, the hat was a kit from KnitWits - the Herbie model.

Anyway, we eventually gave up looking for the hat, and headed on over to look at the coats I had in mind. As I feared, neither of the two stores carried that coats in question in the store. So I ended up calling in the order for the J.Crew one from the store to get the free shipping. And because I wasn't absolutely certain about the sizing, I ordered it in two different sizes, at least one of which I will return after I try them on. Let's keep our fingers crossed!

In a little while, I will be dressing the girls in their fabulous matching holiday dresses to go visit Father Christmas. More about that this evening, if I still have the time and energy after teaching my class tonight. Cross your other set of fingers for me that the girls cooperate!

Oh, and I'm editing to add that I just had second thoughts about the coat - not really second thoughts, just additional ruminations. I got another e-mail from Eddie Bauer offering free shipping and I figured what the heck, I've already mail-ordered two very expensive coats, why not go for a third? So I ordered the one I was thinking about from there, and will now be returning at least two coats once they've all arrived.

Also, I wanted to share this yesterday but forgot: Hip Hip Hooray! I'm wearing my pre-Sophie blue jeans. The post-Sophie blue jeans were getting ridiculously loose, so I summoned up the courage and tried on the size smaller which has been waiting patiently in my closet. They fit great! And they came from Eddie Bauer, so I was going to order another pair of them while I was at it, but guess what? Eddie Bauer no longer makes blue jeans without evil spandex content. I hate stretch pants. I'll have to go through the pants-finding process again. But at least that can wait till after X-mas. And Julie is waiting patiently for me to bring her some construction paper, so I better go do that.

Hey, Peeps!

I'm sitting in a local coffee shop, waiting for mt friends to show up
for what we call knitting night, but what is really an excuse to see
each other and gossip like old times. I skipped out of the house pretty
quickly after Joe got home, so I've already had time to eat a sandwich
and knit a few rounds. Now I'm sipping on my Medium-sized half-caf mocha
extra hot with cinnamon. I plan on staying out till it is time to go
home and straight to bed, so there will be no more posts tonight.

Oh, and Jen? That's your birthday present hiding behind the red monkey
bag.

Wish List Update Continued

Oh, I know you all just love me after my comments from last night! I mean, the response to this contest has been overwhelmingly fun. I truly appreciate all of your ideas, even when they are not things I personally want. I think lots of people are probably reading who are either trying to figure out what to ask for themselves, or trying to figure out what to get for cranky auntie so-and-so who is also horrid to buy for.

But, and I type this with a bit of a smirk on my face, I have gotten a few anonymous comments in the last 24 hours saying things like "I can see why you're so hard to shop for. In fact, considering how you've shot down every single idea so far, I wonder why you even asked your readers for their input? " And I laugh because um, the whole point of the contest is that I desperately want to ask for something special for me that I will enjoy, but I *am* hard to buy for! Not to mention that I haven't shot down every single idea. Joe just told me at dinner tonight that he has ordered some pajamas for me. So thanks to all y'all who suggested pajamas of one kind or another.

And just to make it perfectly clear: I changed the rules a bit. Just because it doesn't make it on my personal short list of gift ideas doesn't mean you don't get a chance at the book. If I say "your name is in the hat" that means that I've put your name in the pile of names from which I will draw the winner randomly.

Let's pause to look at a gratuitous cute-kid-and-cat picture which will hopefully make us all feel ever so much more relaxed and happy.


Now, on with the Wish List comments commentary.

Several kitchen appliances have been suggested. Yes, I'm going to shoot them all down for my own personal list, but I think most of them are great suggestions for people who cook. It just so happens that earlier tonight I was using my KitchenAid mixer to whip up a double batch of chocolate chip - pecan cookie dough. I love this thing. I had put it on our wedding registry, but nobody got it for us, and then we spent the Target gift cards on a video game console for Joe - I can't remember which one now - so then a year later I asked for and got this as a combined X-mas/Birthday present from Joe. I have to say, I'm glad I waited and did a little more research. If you're going to bother getting a KitchenAid, get the 6-Quart Pro version with a bigger bowl and a bigger motor. I don't think the smaller versions can handle double batches of cookie dough, or for that matter decent size loaves of bread. Now that Julie can eat wheat, I plan on trying my hand at baking bread more often.



As for the other appliances, I pretty much either already have them or don't need them. We just bought a new coffee maker, and although it is a Target cheapie, Joe is the one who uses it and doesn't much care about his coffee quality. I use a french press to make my cup in the morning. An immersion blender would be nice to have around, but I don't want it to be my personal Christmas gift. I think we actually have a waffle maker around here somewhere that I bought at a garage sale a couple years ago. Must go dig it out and try making waffles.

Someone mentioned a flat-bottomed whisk, and I am intrigued by this idea for a stocking stuffer. Joe, if you can find such a thing and it's a version that's safe for our non-stick pans, you have my permission to buy it for me as a stocking stuffer. All y'all kitchen gadget folks can consider yourselves in the hat.

Sophiekat suggested getting someone to weave in blankie ends for me, which I actually don't mind doing so much, and says she's getting a massage. I've never had a massage before, but my back is usually a bit sore too. It's getting better now that Sophie likes to walk on her own more, and is sleeping in our bed less. Still, good suggestions from a fellow mama!

Katy had lots of good suggestions, and I especially liked the cloth menstrual pads idea, though somehow I'm just not ready to commit to them. Funny how cloth diapers don't bother me one bit, but the pads kinda do. Plus, I'm still strongly considering the whole ablation thing, and if I'm really lucky, it might render them useless. I think they're a great idea in theory, though!

Oh, and she also mentioned the TV series Firefly on DVD. I've already watched it through Netflix, and it was great! If you haven't seen this show yet, go buy or borrow it!

Allergicmom suggested some family board games, which sound somewhat appealing. Those would fall under family gifts, but I'm glad you brought them up so they're in the hat. We're done buying gifts for the girls, but maybe for the next gift-giving opportunity we'll consider them.

I have a light tent, and I have a full-spectrum lamp. But hey, Nicole! I love the idea of bronze knitting needles! Hey, Joe - $30. I want the size 00 ones.

Hey, Carol Ann - I have New Pathways for Sock Knitters - I recommend it - and thanks to you I just added Knitting America to my Amazon wish list.

Melonkelli had several good ideas - including the Daring Book for Girls, which I think sounds like a great book but that I probably wouldn't take the time to read any time soon, a Clover accessory case, which I think is incredibly cute, but I don't particularly need, and something from the Textile Center, which I love but probably wouldn't use. Good suggestions, Kelli!

Rustynoodle made me laugh my ass off when she suggested Joe have a t-shirt made for me that says "DON'T EVEN ASK...MY HUSBAND IS ASIAN" She's obviously been reading the archives and my rants about idiots who ask me where I got my kids. Joe thought it was funny, too. Rusty, you're in the hat for sheer humour alone!

notsupergirl suggested a "personal massager". I have never actually owned one of those, but have always been a bit curious. I have to wonder when I would find the time and privacy I'd require to try it out. I can't imagine trying it when Joe's around. hee hee. (and OMG I can't believe I'm talking about this on the internet. If you know me in person, please please please don't ever mention having read this part.) You're in the hat!

My friend Elizabeth suggesting this yarn CSA which I think sounds cool, but I'm having a hard time believing I would actually know what to do with the yarn. I think that would be a better option if I were a spinner and could do it with the fiber.

Michelle had lots of self-pampering ideas, all of which were very nice. You're in the hat Michelle!

Carol suggested a Knitzi, which is like a point protector gadget for a sock-in-progress. I think it's cool looking, but impractical for me since I have the point protectors with the end caps joined by elastic and almost never use them because I forget or am putting my knitting down so quickly that I don't have time to fumble with them. You're in the hat, Carol!

Oh, and I'm forgetting who suggested that I get some comfortable socks because maybe I don't wear handknit socks all the time. And it made me laugh because I do in fact wear exclusively handknit socks in the fall/winter/spring. I took a picture of my current collection minus a couple pairs that were either on my feet or in the wash at the time.



I have enough socks to go more than three weeks between washings if I wanted to! And no, it's not enough.

Oh, and finally for tonight - when I was shopping at Old Navy on Black Friday, looking for a winter coat for Sophie and boots for Julie, I picked up this sweater for only $25.



I like it, but the top is a little snug while the rest of it is a little loose. I'm thinking the designer didn't take into consideration that the cables at the top would pull in so much. Joe saw it and declared that the bobbles down the front looked like extra nipples and that I could nurse a litter in it. Looking at this picture again, I think I will keep it, but trim the "bobbles" off - they're not knit into the fabric, but knit separately and tied on, so it would be a breeze. I'm really short on wearable sweaters. I've put off buying new ones for way too long because I keep thinking I'm going to knit up some of the ones in my yarn closet.

Thanks again for playing, everybody - more later!

Wish List Contest Update

I've gotten lots of great responses so far to the wish list, and I want to respond to so many of them, plus give people additional chances to enter the contest. The rule was that you have a random chance of winning if you suggest something that I might actually want. Part of this post is to help narrow it down for Joe, who is reading along and still looking for ideas about what to buy me, so I'm going to be honest about what works and what doesn't. Still, there were some great ideas that just aren't right for me at the moment, so those people will get a name in the hat as well - because I like to imagine that there are readers out there just like me who are still trying to figure out what they want for the holidays, too, and maybe your suggestions will help them.

Allergicmom suggested a Wii. Great idea! and I loved the idea of the game you suggested. But, Joe - not for me this year. Too hard to find, too expensive, and honestly I just don't have the time to play it. I'd rather be knitting and blogging. You get your name in the hat, though.

Several people suggested an IOU or coupon-type gift for time off - a vacation or just time to myself or a night out. I'm sorry, but none of you win the prize - come back and enter again with a different idea. Here's the thing - I'm blessed with a husband who understands that everyone needs time off to go have fun. I get to go out and teach my classes, I get to go have afternoons or nights out with the girls when I want them. And I've already been promised a trip away by myself when I'm ready (after Sophie is weaned, and it's really my choice when I'm ready to wean her - I'm getting close.) There is only so much "extra" time available in our lives - only so many times when it is reasonable for me to be away - because things have to balance out with his time alone, family together time, time for chores to get done, etc. I am confident that I get my share already, and I'm sure as heck not going to accept what I consider a baseline part of our relationship in place of a Christmas gift. And neither should any of you! Besides, when people give coupons like that, it's really not fair because most of the time we still feel guilty for cashing them in.

Serenknitity suggested a gorillapod. Interesting idea, but we already have a tripod, and I have the feeling that I'd never have it on me when I'd need it. If you're into photography, though, go take a look.

Okay, a couple people suggested chocolate. I'm sorry, but if you've been reading here, you know that I just lost 15 pounds and one of the major habits I changed was the chocolate habit. Hi, I'm Shelly and I'm a chocoholic. I'm in recovery, people. We don't keep fancy chocolate around the house right now because I have no willpower. Hell, I'll even dig into the chocolate chips if I get desperate enough. I can hardly keep those around even. Joe, under no circumstances should you consider buying me chocolate any time soon. Anyone who made that suggestion, you're not in the hat yet - come back and give me something more appropriate.

Another suggestion was additional knitting needles. Believe it or not, I have more size 0 dpns and circulars than I care to admit. There are probably some gaps in the other sizes, but it's because I don't use them very often. Nice thought, but that's one of those items I'd buy if I needed it. And I'm too lazy to go figure out what I might want. You're still in the hat, though.

Some people suggested various yarn clubs. Joe was all hot on this suggestion, specifically the Rockin' Sock Club. He was all ready to whip out his credit card. I think it's a great idea, and anyone who suggested something like it is in the hat. But here's the thing. I already have tons of sock yarn. I love surprises, but I hate it when I get surprised with something that doesn't suit me. A big part of buying sock yarn for me is the falling in love with a specific skein. It's seeing it, fondling it, loving so much that I can't bear not to buy it. There is no way I could actually keep up with knitting along with a sock club, and I have a feeling it would just end up making me less happy over the course of the year as it all piled up unknit. So that's a no-go.

Lynn suggested various knitting notions for the stocking stuffers. That's a maybe. Joe, if you can find something cute and funny that you think I'd love, I'd be down with it. You know that stitch marker you found in the car the other day (and readers, go check out his post - it's hilarious!) I could use another packet of those. Seems kinda silly sending him to the yarn store for them, though - I'm in there twice a week.

A couple people suggested digital picture frames and/or photo albums. My Sidekick takes care of the portable pictures thing, and I like regular frames for around the house. I do need to buy and fill some more, though. Still, good idea for other people.

Oh, and Tupperware was another suggestion. I like Tupperware too, but in my mind, that is not a Christmas gift. That is a household necessity. It's not like I'm the only person who benefits from it - the whole family benefits from the work I do in the kitchen. Still, it's fun to go to their site and poke around. Maybe after Christmas spending is over I'll pick up a few new pieces. But I always do worry about plastics and food...must find balance!

Heather says I should get a magazine subscription. I already subscribe to a cooking magazine or two, and no fewer than four knitting magazines. I love getting mail! It's a great idea, but I'm already taken care of.

Sue suggested an annual pass to the zoo for the family. That's another one of those not-really-for-me gifts. I think it's a great idea if someone like the grandparents wanted to buy it for all of us. But I'd kinda be offended if they bought it just for me. Try again, Sue!

TheBon had some great ideas. A digital food scale - yep, I have two! They're great! Digital probe meat thermometers - I wouldn't try to cook without mine. I have a great one that has a probe attached with a wire to a unit that sits outside the oven. You can set the temperature you want, and an alarm will go off when the meat reaches it. It has a timer built in, too. Put that on your list if you don't have one. Oh, and we have Here Come the ABCs (not a gift for me, though - that'd be for the kids!) and we love it. Thanks for the heads up on Here Come the 123s, and if you haven't already, go check out N0! We love that one too.

J. Denae suggested a massage or facial. Hm. Interesting idea - I've never had a real massage, and it might do me good. She also suggested classes of some sort. It'd be tempting, but it runs into that time commitment thing, which I think I'm already maxed out on. I will say that the next time Susan Rainey teaches her zipper class at the Yarnery, I'm planning on finding a way to take it if at all possible. She also suggested DVDs of a tv show I want to watch - I use Netflix for that and love it. If you don't have Netflix already, ask for a subscription! I gave one to Joe last year for Christmas, and he loves it. I just added an extra DVD to my subscription and set him up with his own queue. He didn't think he would use it at all, but he does, and in fact it has saved us a lot of money because he was buying those DVDs before instead of borrowing them.

Wow - it's getting late, and I'm nowhere near through the comments so far. One last thing, though - lots of suggestions for PJs. And that's one that I'm 90% sure he's going to get me. I showed him the pajamas in the Eddie Bauer catalog. I like the flannel pants and the long-sleeved t-shirts. Some day I will wear silk pajamas, but they're just not practical right now.

Okay, I'm going to wrap this up and head to bed. But tomorrow, I'm going to head to the mall while Julie's at pre-school and see about trying on some coats.

Holidazzled

We had a really cool, surprise evening of fun today. This afternoon, a good friend of ours called us up and asked if our family wanted to be in the Holidazzle Parade tonight. Our friend works for Metro Transit, and part of his job is doing publicity for and and being in charge of the Twinkle Bus during the parade.

For those of you not native to the Twin Cities, we have this parade thing that happens in downtown Minneapolis every Thursday through Sunday from Thanksgiving till Christmas. They've been doing it for sixteen years now, I guess, and it's not just a parade. It's a lighted parade in the dark and in the cold, and there are people dressed up as all kinds of characters - and the costumes have lights all over them! And the floats have lights all over them! And it's really neat and the kids love it, and there is always a crowd even when it is cold because it's fun and exciting!

And we - we were very excited at the prospect of not just *seeing* the parade, but *riding* in the parade too. So we fed the girls a little early, put on our warm coats, and hopped in the van. We arrived in plenty of time to watch the floats setting up - in fact, we were stuck in traffic for a minute as the floats drove by from wherever they store them to their setup point and it was really funny because Joe said "Hey, look at that, the circus must be in town - it looks like a circus train!" And he was serious, and then I looked up and saw what he was pointing at and said "Uh, honey, those are the parade floats." It was mildly amusing.

And then we got there and started walking around amongst the floats, looking for our ride. And I realized that, like an idiot, I had left my camera at home on the kitchen counter. So all I have to show you are these crappy camera-phone photos. So crappy, in fact, that Photoshop didn't recognize the sideways ones and automatically rotate them for me like the good software it usually is.


Yep, that's a pretty crappy photo, but you can see the smiling faces.

And we found our bus - all decked out for the parade. Those snowmen on top of the bus - they wave their hands at the crowd as the bus passes by. Our friend J. was there, being all organized and taking care of details. His son M was there too, and some other friends of theirs, who were also very nice. M and his other little boy friend are the same age as Julie, and the stark contrast between the rowdiness of the little boys and the somewhat shy observance of our little girl struck me a bit.



Our place was almost at the end of the parade, so we got to stand at the corner and watch most of the floats as they started off. There was, indeed, a circus train.



Complete with little "animals" that were just as cute as could be - those are kids dressed up in the costumes.



The Hansel and Gretl float was beautiful, except for the witch who rode in the very front of it - not visible in my crappy picture, but she was a bit scary. I picked Julie up and gave her a big hug till that one went by.



Before long, it was time for us to take our places on the bus. Here's the view from the inside...Julie is looking up at the string which somehow I ended up being responsible for pulling - the string that makes the snowman on top of the bus wave at the crowd. It was kind of fun!



Joe and Sophie waving out the window. And somehow, Joe kept letting Sophie climb down the bench to sit with me, even though there was no room on the bench by me and I didn't have an extra hand to hold Sophie on the bench (because we were in a moving vehicle and all). Not that I'm complaining or anything.



Really, it was a great time. Our friend even handed out little flashing buttons for us to wear during the parade, and to take home. It just so happens that tomorrow's Show-and-Tell at pre-school is something that starts with the letter F, so Julie can take her "flasher" in and show it to her friends and tell them all about how she rode in the parade.

Saturday Stuff

Beowulf was fun. It wasn't a great movie, but the 3-D part was pretty cool. It reminded me a lot of looking at the Viewmaster slides, only oh-so-bigger and better. And it was fun to be out and about, free of responsibility for a few hours with my husband. Not to mention the popcorn.

I'm loving the suggestions on the Christmas list so far. Some of them are totally off-base, but there are at least as many pretty good recommendations. Keep 'em coming!

My new coat came in the mail yesterday. I opened it up and tried it on, and I was more than a little disappointed with it. It was too big, and the fabric was less than appealing, and it just didn't look good on me. So I took it back to the local store, no problem. But now I need to find another coat to buy. I've looked all over the Internet and haven't found anything that just screams "Buy me, I'm the one!" Right now I'm down to two contenders that are close maybes.

I like the crisp lines of this one at J Crew. I like that it has Thinsulate lining for warmth in Minnesota weather. I like the length. The price is a little high - the price is kind of a lot high. And I really wish they had it in an olive green color kind of like the coat I've been wearing for the last seven years. The brown color might not be too bad, though.

This one over at Eddie Bauer is a lot more affordable, and in fact is the one I was thisclose to buying earlier in the week. It doesn't come in green, either, but the merlot isn't bad. Joe says it's okay if I buy whichever one I want, especially if I think I'll wear it for as long as the current one. What do you all think?

I need to go get a little knitting done before bed...

Post-Thanksgiving MishMash

Hey, everyone - I'm really sorry last night's post was such a cop-out. I mean, I'm not ashamed to post a cop-out post here and there during National-Gonna-Blog-Every-Day-Dammit-Month. It's gotta happen. (Although I have to admit this month so far has been a good exercise in getting me to write at least a little something every day, and perhaps has inspired me to write one or two better-than-usual posts maybe). Yesterday, I had a very nice blog post all written in my head and then BAM! by the time I got home from dinner at the family's I was a walking zombie. I couldn't keep my eyes open, let alone type something coherent.

So here I am now, and I won't try to say what I was going to say yesterday, I'll just do a little brain dump and call it a night.

First, look what I finished on Thanksgiving morning...



Some Rainbow Barf socks for Julie, which I cast on just before the sock class I recently taught - these were my Magic Loop examples. Julie had been begging for more socks, and I figured smaller socks would be easier to knit along with the class. I let Julie pick the yarn.



That picture just speaks for itself, no?



I did 2X2 ribbing all the way down the cuff and along the insteps. It's the basic standard traditional flap-and-gusset sock, no pattern need be named, but I used 50 stitches circumference on size zero needles. I'm feeling a little bit guilty because this project went completely unmentioned on Ravelry till - well, I'll put it up right after this post. Is it cheating to cast on a bunch of projects and not put them up because who knows when you'll get around to actually knitting on them? That's a whole other post.

Back to Thanksgiving, though. It was a nice day, and best of all because I was only responsible for one dish. I made the green bean casserole, and instead of following the traditional canned-soup, canned-bean recipe, I once again followed Emeril's recipe, only this year I used this recipe for the mushroom soup. Last year I spent more than I want to think about on fancy mushrooms, and all it got me was WAY too much mushroom flavor. This year I went with the simple and cheap, and was wonderful. I had a bowl of the leftover soup for dinner tonight, and it was great. And the casserole turned out great this time too.

We went to Joe's cousin Sarah's house for dinner, and because Sophie hadn't napped all day, she fell asleep in the car on the way there, and miraculously slept through me carrying her inside and laying her down in her cousin N's crib. She slept for a good hour, long enough for me to indulge in a glass of wine (enough to give me a good buzz and account to some extent for the extreme exhaustion later in the evening). Julie and her cousin K. were upstairs watching a video for the same amount of pre-dinner time, which meant that I was free to hang out with the in-laws and chat 'em all up, for better or for worse. It was great!

Sophie eventually woke up, in a great mood, and had all kinds of fun on the indoor playground.



Joe and Julie did a little story-cuddle, which was sweet.



We all stuffed ourselves on the most traditional of American 20th-century middle-class Thanksgiving food, including pie for all. I have to admit that during the pre-meal prayer, I shed a few tears when Sarah mentioned thanks for Julie being able to eat whatever she wants. Heck, I'm shedding a tear right now thinking of it. I am SO thankful for that! I think this was Sophie's first taste of pie...



And Julie thoroughly enjoyed her slice - she chose pecan.



Wanna know a pet peeve of mine? Where I grew up, it was pronounced puh-cahn. Everyone here pronounces it pee-CAN. ARGH! Like fingernails on a chalkboard!

But back to the story. Joe chose to get up at 2:00 this morning so that he could be at Best Buy to stand in line in 10-degree (Fahrenheit) weather for three hours to buy an X-Box 360 with Guitar Hero game package. It's my X-mas gift to him. He got it, he's happy. Then he came home and slept till we all woke up.

And then - then we went and had breakfast with an old friend. Back when Joe and I were dating and pretty much until we had kids, we used to eat breakfast more Sundays than not at the New Uptown Diner. We'd almost always split the Cajun Breakfast, and it is awesome. We only went a few times after Julie was born because she was so fussy it was hard to eat out with her, and then once we figured out the allergies it really wasn't safe for her to eat there. Since she's been eating everything again, we'd been planning to go eat at the Diner some morning, and today was the day. Only now there is a satellite restaurant called the New Calhoun Diner right by us, and we went there and it was all the same good greasy goodness. mm-MMM! Julie and Sophie had pancakes bigger than their heads, and everyone was happy.

We did a little shopping, in search of new winter boots for Julie (who loves to sing along to the Interjection! song on Schoolhouse Rock)



And a new winter coat for Sophie (how did we manage to get Julie to this age without ever having purchased a winter coat in size 2T - oh, because she was wearing 2T when she was barely 1 and therefore was still wearing the bunting style of winterwear.)

Sophie loves to take her shoes and socks off while riding in the car.



She's always so proud of herself.

We made it home and ate Thanksgiving leftovers for lunch, I put Sophie down for a nap, then I sent Joe upstairs for a nap. Julie and I did some cheesy arts and crafts stuff, Sophie woke up and we made and at some cookies (just a few from the pre-made dough I got in the school fundraiser) and then it was time to go meet up with awesome reader Katy who came through on the awesome Viewmaster offer. I can't believe she was willing to give us her childhood toy - not only an old-school viewer, but a projector and a stack of reels - all quality ones that I'm happy to share with my kids. I know, most of you probably think I'm crazy to hate Dora the Explorer with the passion that I do, but really she is evil incarnate.

Anyway, Katy was really cool and sweet even though I had, uh, left the package I'd meant to bring for her on the kitchen counter at home (argh!) - Katy, it's all packaged up and ready for me to mail out on Monday! And also, even though I was incredibly distracted my my four-year-old who was being a little monster-brat. I swear, she is not that bratty most of the time, but then again I don't usually take her out for meet-and-greets at 4:30 in the afternoon. I should have known better, I just didn't want to wake Joe up from his nap when he was clearly so tired. I can't begin to describe how disappointed I was in Julie's behavior. But it was really nice to meet Katy and put a face to the comments! Thanks again, Katy!



I look a little wild-eyed and crazed in that picture- trust me, I was. I was so pissed off at the squirming, whining preschooler in the stroller in front of me.

Now I must off to bed - tomorrow, the in-laws are coming over to watch the girls so that Joe and I may go see Beowulf in 3-D at the IMAX theater. All reports say that Beowulf is a horrid movie and not worth seeing even for the 3-D. You know what? I don't care. Anything for the chance to go somewhere and sit in peace with my husband for a few hours. And I don't think I've ever seen a 3-D movie before. I just hope I don't get motion-sickness. Do people get motion-sickness in 3-D movies? Full report tomorrow.

Thanksgiving

I'm posting only because of NaBlogMo - I'm exhausted. We had a great Thanksgiving, I am very thankful, my stomach is even a little bit thankful. Now I'm going to bed. Sorry.

Wish List - and a Contest!

Life is so simple sometimes. Like tonight, I mentioned during dinner that we would be going to meet Santa next week (and by the way, if you live in the Twin Cities, we visit the best Santa ever at Steamworks Coffee, and it's a great deal. Go check it out.) I told Julie that she would get a chance to tell Santa what she wants for Christmas, and asked her what she would tell him. She said "An Angelina Ballerina doll" and I did a mental jumping-up-and-down YAY! She also mentioned that she expects Santa to leave the doll in her stocking. And I'm thinking that can be arranged. It's good to know that I've scored at least one home run already.

Now, on to my own wish list for Christmas, which is oh, so much harder. The problem is that as a a grown-up, things that I want tend to fall into one of two categories:

1) I wanted/needed it badly enough and we could afford it, so I went ahead and bought it. For instance:

• Last year I told Joe that I really really wanted a new laptop after Christmas, and we went and bought it for me. Geesh, was that just a year ago?
• I really wanted a new handbag recently, so I bought one.
• When I got my eyes checked a couple weeks ago, I needed new regular glasses, but I also treated myself to my first-ever set of prescription sunglasses as well.
• On top of that, I just ordered myself a new winter coat last night - more on that when it arrives, but it was kind of a necessary purchase - although the one I have is at least five years old, probably six or more, it's still in fairly good shape and I *could* squeeze another year out of it if I had to.
• That crazy brownie pan, which is awesome - I bought it for myself just a month ago!
  
• And when it comes down to it, when I want some new yarn or a new knitting book - when I know that I *really* want it enough to part with the money, guess what? I buy it. This is why I have more yarn and books than I know what to do with.
  

Which leaves me with category number two - stuff that I would love to have, stuff that I would really love, but can live without and/or we really can't afford, at least right now. Like:

• Lasik eye surgery - I'd be a great candidate for that. I have awful nearsightedness, but it is stable. My eyes haven't changed notably since I stopped growing. To get it done right, it would cost around $4,000.
• Remodel the upstairs bathroom - we as a family almost desperately need this. But it would cost at least $5,000 to do it the way I would want to do it, not to mention no end of hassle.
• A new couch in the living room. And a new coffee table and rug while we're at it, but I could settle for just one of those things right off. I want a nice couch with slipcovers that we can wash, or at least have dry cleaned, when someone marks on them or does something unspeakably worse. I'm thinking Sophie's going to be potty training in a couple years. I think I'd like a sectional to replace both of the couches we currently have, which are old, yucky and don't even match or fit the space very well. This would cost somewhere in the neighborhood of $1500 at least.
  
• Okay, but before I spend that kind of money on new furniture, I've been wanting to get a consultation from an interior designer. A friend of mine told me about some people she used when she was getting ready to sell her house. For a couple hundred dollars, you can hire them to walk through your house with you and tell you how to re-arrange your own stuff to improve the flow, and just make things feel nicer. I bet if I hired them, they would make a recommendation as to what kind of couch would work best in our kind of weirdly laid out space. This might be an actual option for a present for me, although it really would be in the interest of the whole family, it's on the upper cost end of what I dare ask for as a present, and it would feel pretty silly to get all this advice and not be able to use it. But I'm sharing my dreams here, so now you know.
• I'd also kind of like the new Sidekick LX now that I've seen it in person. The brown color is a lot darker in person than it is in the pictures. Unfortunately, I haven't had my Sidekick 3 long enough to qualify for contract rebates on a new phone, so the thing would cost around $400. I can't justify that much money on a slightly-fancier version of an electronic toy I already own, even if I use it every day.

I'm sure I could think of several other incredibly spendy options, including fancy vacations that we also can't afford. The thing is, they just don't fit into our standard of living, and that is okay. We just saved up and bought a mini-van, and every time I get into it I think about how glad I am that we were able to buy it outright instead of having to finance it. We are only able to live the way we do with me at home full-time because we choose not to go into debt to buy fancy stuff all the time.

So, what to tell people when they ask what I want? Namely Joe, who is the only person who has asked. I don't really love the idea of gift certificates. So here is what I've come up with.

Knitting Lace by Susanna E. Lewis. It's long out of print, but copies are available - for around $90. I've wished for this one for a long time, but the price tag has always seemed a little too high to justify it. I have a wish list over at Amazon, and there are other more reasonably priced books on it. Any of those would still make me quite happy, and there is a nice range of prices among them. Be very wary of buying me a knitting book not on this list! I have a lot of knitting books already, and the ones I don't have (of those that are in print) are likely to be ones I've considered and rejected.

There are a couple of different page-a-day calendars about knitting out there. I bought both of them for myself last year and was not all that thrilled with either, so I may just wait till after Christmas and look for them on sale. But if someone put one in my stocking, I'd receive it gladly.

I was briefly toying with the idea of that software the Yarn Harlot mentioned a few weeks ago. But I already have Stitch Painter software, and I don't have any immediate plans for designing charted patterns. Plus, it's kind of expensive.

There is one thing I saw during the shop hop a couple months ago. It was that Artyarns Beaded Cashmere. I found it online here, and I like the colorways 2265-G and 2218-G. I remember seeing some Artyarns at Amazing Threads, but I can't remember if they had the cashmere as well. Anyway, if a certain husband were to find a supply of this stuff and were willing to fork over the cash for it, I'd need at least two skeins, but three to be safe in order to make a scarf to go with my new coat. But again, that's pretty expensive.

Alright, and this leads me to the contest. I need ideas. What do I want for Christmas? I don't want an i-pod (I have an mp3 player built into my cell phone, as well as a separate Creative Zen nano, which more than cover my needs.) I don't like smelly stuff - no candles, no scented soaps, no bath bombs unless they're stink-free. I'm trying to lose weight, so candy and food aren't great ideas. Fun kitchen tools might be nice, other knitting-related stuff might be nice, some piece of clothing that would suit me perfectly (although I don't iron anything ever). Go crazy with ideas. I'll admit it, I'm hard to buy for!

It just so happens that I sort of accidentally ended up with two copies of Clara Parkes' new book - The Knitter's Book of Yarn. I was so excited about it, I ordered it online, then forgot that I'd ordered it online and scooped up a copy at my LYS when it was available. Oops. But it seems like a great book, and maybe one of you would like it as a little early Christmas present from me. Just post a comment on this post suggesting a gift that you think my husband should get for me for Christmas. It needs to be under $100. Deadline is blog-posting time on December 1st (whenever I get the kids in bed and get around to my computer). I'll post a list of the gift suggestions that I think actually fit my wants, and randomly draw a winner from those who suggested them. Make sure you include an e-mail address so I can contact you if you're a winner. Oh, and Joe needs to stuff my stocking too (and I'm not talking innuendo here- I mean an actual Christmas stocking.) Give him some ideas for that as well. Thanks in advance for playing along!

Tossed-Salad Tuesday

This post is not about tossed salad. I just needed a title, and it's sort of a toss-salad of topics for this Tuesday - sorry, the holiday wish list is going to take at least one more day to ferment in my brain. And in case any of you reading this who haven't heard me talk in person are wondering, yes, I really do say things like "ferment in my brain" and sometimes when I say things like that, they come out with a slightly southern accent. I am, after all, from Missouri originally. Now that we got that straight, I'm going with a camera-dump post.

Sophie has a thing for messing with the Daisy cat whenever she gets the chance. Thankfully, Daisy is pretty patient with her. We have another cat, Harry, but the kids rarely see him because he spends most of his time hiding from them in the basement. I can't explain why Sophie is wrapped up in the afghan, but it was cute. That afghan was a gift from my maternal grandmother, and even though I barely knew her, I hold it dear.



Sophie with "Aunt Dottie"



And with "Uncle Bill"



There is a back story here. Aunt Dottie and Uncle Bill are actually the aunt and uncle of my Julie's namesake, my best friend who died of ovarian cancer two years ago in July. They are good people, and sort of my own adopted extended family. They live in St. Louis and were up here for a wedding, so they stopped by Sunday afternoon. Sophie took to Bill like a duck on water. Both girls enjoyed their visit, and ran a little wild while they were here. I think it was the toys they brought.

Here is proof positive that I am not the perfect mom, nor do I always make the best of food choices. We had McD's for lunch yesterday. Julie tried chicken nuggets for the first time ever, and liked them, and one of their hamburgers for the first time ever and hated it. At least we ate grapes and carrots along with our grease. I only do fast food like that maybe once a month, usually less. It used to be that Julie could only eat the french fries.



Sophie likes the grease too...



Here is today's lunch just before I served it.



This is much more typical at our house. It takes about five minutes to throw together, and even though they are going to leave something untouched on their plate, it's all healthy and they're likely to try something they don't normally eat if I just slip it quietly onto their plate. Julie loves it when I give her big chunks of, or preferably whole, cucumbers. Nobody but me ate the celery today. Those crackers? They're wheat, but they're a healthier whole-foods version of they type of cracker they resemble. Darn tasty, though!

And finally, Daisy came over to check out the giant bandage on my foot. That stupid toenail started to grow back, and it was immediately ingrowing again. This time I made it in to see an actual podiatrist, and he "took care of it" permanently (we hope). The good news is that the procedure was 99% painless. He somehow managed to numb that sucker up entirely, and was dismayed to hear what I had suffered through at the urgent care, although not surprised. He hears about it all the time. Man, he even had this magic freezing spray that he put on before doing the lydocaine injections, so those barely hurt.



Oh, and a follow-up to yesterday's post about the Christmas presents for the girls. Thanks to all of you who mentioned tips about the View Masters. I hadn't even considered getting vintage ones, but that's a great idea, and reader Katy says she may even have some around to pass on to the girls (crossing my fingers!) Hey, Katy - I could pay you in sock yarn and patterns if you want!

As soon as she mentioned that, I went and checked out e-bay - they have tons listed, and I may bid on a lot of those eventually. I had kind of a negative experience on e-bay recently where the seller claimed the handbag I bought was in barely used condition and it arrived quite worn. I tried disputing it through Paypal and got a big fat zilch back out of it. But you place your bet, you takes your chances. I've had lots of other quite positive experiences with e-bay and I guess eventually I'll have to jump back on the horse.

Also, thanks to Kathy for the heads-up about Hearthsong. I will keep an eye on the calendar, and cancel the order if they don't ship in reasonable time. That is SO frustrating!

Alright, I'm off to surf the net for my own present ideas. By the way, after writing yesterday's post, I started to wonder if maybe the present list for the girls is not so excessive after all. I mean, we don't have a huge extended family. They won't be getting many additional gifts besides what we give them - maybe 2-3 others, and probably half of those are likely to be ones we deem totally inappropriate and likely to "disappear" quickly. I'm really hoping we can convince Joe's parents to buy them a play tent with a tunnel attached. So let me ask you - if they were your kids, would you get them more stuff or less? Honestly. You won't hurt my feelings. Also, if you have suggestions of toys you think I might really really like for the girls, what are they?

Christmas List

Joe and I have been busy the last few weeks dreaming up gifts for the girls for Christmas. Christmas was such a magical time for me when I was little, a real bright spot of happy memories in a generally sucky childhood. I really hope and believe that my girls will have much happier lives overall than I did as a little girl, but the magic of Christmas - even though we are not Christians - is something that I want to share with them.

So, what to get? We put off buying toys mostly throughout the year. Yes, they get a few things here and there, for their birthdays and when the mood or need for a specific toy or craft supply calls. But most of the stuff out there is crap that will get played with for ten minutes while it's new and then become detritus for floors and every other surface in our home. I thought shopping was going to be hard, but instead we've managed to find more than enough things to give the girls (probably too much) and hopefully keep us busy through the rest of the dreary winter days after the holidays are over.

I should note that I'm pretty picky about toys - I don't like things that are battery-operated. I don't like things that involve over-marketed characters like Dora or Dizzney Princesses. I made a couple of exceptions for characters that the girls really like that I feel a little better about. I really like to focus on more open-ended and creative toys, because that's what's good for the kids in the long run, and because that's what they actually play with.

Let's get shopping!

Learn To Dress Elmo (at Amazon) $20

Sophie is currently obsessed with Elmo - I don't know why because we don't let her watch TV. But Elmo is one of the few words she says regularly, and it makes her happy to see him. I went searching through the Elmo toys on Amazon and elsewhere looking for one that I could live with and that I thought we'd actually get something out of, and I think this one fits the bill. We already have a plain Elmo doll buried somewhere around here. I think it is one of the toys I put away last year during a major purge, and I should probably bring it back out, but am a little afraid of turf wars that might ensue.

Angelina Ballerina Doll and DVD (at Target.com)$15

Julie still has a minor obsession with Angelina, and she's seen a doll at a local bookstore several times and practically begged for it. I knew that this is one gift she'd open and be really thrilled to see. I'm not sure how much lasting power it will have, and certainly we don't need any more stuffed animals in the house, but I have a feeling this one will make her really happy in the moment.

Lap Harp with Carrying Case and tons of music (at Hearthsong) $80

This one is kind of expensive, but I saw it and wanted it for myself almost as much as for the kids. I feel like it's kind of an investment because I think they'll grow into it, and in the mean time, it's a great toy for me to sit with them and interact, singing and playing together. I need every tool I can get to have fun with my girls in different ways.

Nyokki Holiday Plant Pet (at Hearthsong) $10

This one is just silly! I think it will go in Julie's stocking, and I think they will both enjoy it - heck - we'll all enjoy it. I probably wouldn't have gotten this one if I weren't already ordering from this catalog.

Wooden Stencil Box Playset (at Hearthsong) $13

I thought this toy looked like a great deal. It's wood, it's something they'll be able to use for several years, it's open-ended and honestly I bet Julie will use the pieces for other things besides just stenciling.

By the way, I used promotion code HSA056 to get all the stuff from Hearthsong shipped for $5.

Rollipop Set (at Creative Kidstuff) $34

I've seen marble-track sets all over the place for older kids. They look like so much fun, for them and for me! But I just don't trust either of my girls to play with standard-sized marbles. Honestly, Julie puts things in her mouth more than Sophie does. Someone mentioned how worried they were about the beads my girls were playing with the other day - and trust me I was watching that game like a hawk. The moment anyone put anything in their mouth, we put it away. The marbles just have too much potential to roll off under the couch and someone finds them later when I'm not looking. Luckily, this set is made for toddlers. It's a bit more simple than the older-kid versions, but still looks like some good fun, and a good gift to put Sophie's name on.

Trampoline (at Creative Kidstuff) $70

This will probably be the big "Santa" gift of the year. It will go in our basement playroom. Julie has played on these at school in the past and enjoyed them, and we definitely need good ways to burn of energy when it's too cold to go outside for days on end. This will also help build muscle tone and coordination.

I chose the local pickup option for Creative Kidstuff when ordering this online because shipping would have been really expensive for the trampoline. Lots of catalogs have various versions of this toy, and this one looked like pretty good quality, and the local-pickup option clinched the deal.

Fashion Designer (at Back to Basics Toys) $20

Joe and I both noticed this in a catalog and remembered playing with similar toys as kids. This isn't the actual one I ended up buying - I found a similar one in a local store for $12 and picked it up. But the one in this catalog looks like maybe better quality than the one I bought. Julie loves doing art projects, and this will be a good way to keep her occupied at the table for a few minutes when she's bored or when I need to start dinner.

I know this sounds like a lot of stuff. And it is. But remember, I'm a stay-at-home mom, so we need more toys to keep us busy all day than families with kids in day-care all week.

A couple of things we considered, but didn't buy I think are worth mentioning.

View Master - remember this awesome toy? I really really really wanted to get one for my girls, but most of the reels are movie and/or over-exposed character related. Maybe next year.

Ed Emberly Drawing Books - Julie got one of these for her birthday, and it's great! Both girls love to hang out in front of the easel with me while we draw animals out of it. There are several in the series, and they're not even expensive. But we had already reached our spending limit, and I think we'd appreciate them more if we bought them in a month or two when the new starts to wear off the Christmas stuff.

In the interest of full disclosure, there may be a few other little things - stocking stuffers mostly. But these are the big ones, the ones I thought people with little kids like mine might be interested in. Next up, my own wish list...

Squeaking In Under the Wire

If I weren't trying so hard to blog every day this month, today would definitely have been a no-blog day. I spent my evening printing patterns for shipment, folding laundry, and generally attempting to dig out from under my desk.

I have a rockin' awesome post I want to put together, but I have neither the time nor the energy tonight. Sorry!

Happily Drained

The last day or so has been pretty blankie-licious for me. I know, I know, you haven't seen much of the blankie lately, and I'm starting to feel a little lonely for it myself. Amazingly, though, considering how little attention I've given it over the last few months, last night and today were blankie-intensive in the best possible ways imaginable.

First, last night when we finally came in from the naptime in the car, Joe checked the mail and found a large envelope postmarked from Australia.



I had almost forgotten about the e-mail interview I'd done with the reporter from the knitting magazine a few months ago. She had said she wanted to mention my blanket in an article about all kinds of ways to use up leftover sock scraps, so I assumed it would be something like a one-sentence mention as part of a little blurb. Even so, I was very excited when I pulled the magazine out of the envelope and saw such a lovely glossy publication.



As I flipped through the mag, looking for my little project, I saw lots of pretty and interesting things - some project that I might actually consider knitting myself even. And then, I found the page...



90% of the article on that page is the story of the blankie. I was dumbfounded and thrilled. I felt a bit like I was on some kind of high for the rest of the evening.

The blankie itself has been hanging around at the store promoting my class, which started today.



(Thanks for the photo, Sarah!) I'm always nervous when I start a new class, and today was no exception. It's always even a bit harder when it's a new class I haven't taught before, but I muddled through and everyone did okay and nobody cried or anything. Fun! Best of all, perhaps, was that the blankie had sold the class. None of my students were readers here (not yet anyway) so they were all entertained by the story of how I got the yarn and I didn't have to worry about which piece of too-personal information they were remembering about me from moment to moment.

The blankie came home with me today, and as soon as I finish the Christmas knitting, I swear I am going to start cranking out squares again. Teaching classes always leaves me happy, fulfilled, and also a little drained from over excitement.

We had no plans for dinner, so we took to our newly opened culinary horizons. Out we went to Punch for Neapolitan-style pizza baked in a woodburning oven. If you live in the metro area and have not yet tried this pizza, you need to go there as soon as possible. It's the yum.





Joe just *loves* it when I take his picture while he's eating. Loves it. Really.

Cookie Dough

The school where Julie and Sophie attend (Sophie and I go to mommy-baby
classes one morning a week) has a little fundraiser evey fall. They have
us sell tubs of cookie dough to our neighbors, friends and coworkers,
then we pick it up and deliver it on the Friday before Thanksgiving.

Generally, I don't mind this. It's a good excuse to visit Joe's office
with the girls. Today, though, we got to the school only to discover the
cookie-dough truck had broken down and was running late. Which left me
in a bit of a quandry.

Should I take the girls home, strip their shoes and coats off, get them
interested in some activity (and in Sophie's case, the preferred
activity would clearly have been nursing to sleep because she hadn't had
much of a nap earlier because I hadn't wanted to get her down just to
wake her up in time in the first place) only to, 20 minutes later, round
up my little herd of cats, get their shoes and coats back on, usher them
back out the door and into the van (which we continue to love) and get
the straps buckled, amen?

Or should I make up some brief errand to pass half an hour, keeping them
in the car and saving us all some hassle. I chose this route, and used
the opportunity to justify a *bucks run.

We are blessed with not one but two different drive-through *bucks
nearby, and I chose the slightly further-away one to kill an extra
minute or two. I ordered my usual mocha, plus two kiddy cocoas, extra
whip. The girls love whipped cream as much as I do, I'm afraid.

Well, Julie immediately took too big a swallow and managed to
hilariously spray chocolatey foam from her mouth just as I was getting
ready to help Sophie with her first taste of cream. So Sophie had to
wait while I cleaned that mess up. It really wasn't so bad and I was
pretty successful, especially considering that I was wearing my handknit
cream-colored bavarian twisted-stitch vest.

But by the time I came at Sophie with her cup once more, she was eager
in the I'm-almost-two-I-can-freakin'-do-it-MyselF! way that she's
adopted lately. So she grabbed it and dumped about a third of the
(thankfully diminutive) serving down her front. So I wiped her up a bit,
gave her her cup back and sat down for a moment to relax, sigh, and take
a picture.

We drove home and I ran in to get clean clothes, which we changed her
into in our blissfully huge and empty third-row bench (avoiding the
whole herding cats phenomena yet!)

Whew! The rest went just as planned. We wnt back and picked up the
now-waiting tubs of dough, visited Daddy and his coworkers with
amazingly smiley and well-behaved little girls, and now we are sitting
in the garage while the girls get a little nap till Daddy arrives home
or someone wakes up, whichever comes first.

I even have som knitting in my purse.

Pork Rinds

So remember how I was just talking about Joe being horrified by my desire to eat five brownies? Guess who just ate pretty much an entire bag of pork rinds in less than an hour. It is so unfair that he is perpetually skinny despite eating his fill of fat and salt, while I am a chubby-wubby who eats only a small fraction of the naughty stuff I would if I could get away with it.

We are watching Casino Royale on DVD, a surprising thing because it came out of my Netflix queue, and because he actually wanted to watch it with me. It is rare that we both want to watch the same program at the same time.

And now I must really crack down and finish the class handout for Saturday.

Just more of the same

Even though we Kangs are all creeping stealthily back to health, the living is not all that easy around here today yet. Last night Sophie woke up in the wee dark hours and would not be immediately soothed. I wanted to avoid driving Joe out of the bed (as we had unwittingly done on Saturday night - he showed up in the morning cold from having been on the couch, leaving me to wonder what was wrong with the guest bedroom bed besides a few scattered items of mine to be removed). So I took Sophie down to the guest bed, and we ended up sleeping with me propped up on pillows and her in my arms. I think she needed the upright position to help the snot drain. But we got a couple more hours of sleep, and all survived another day.

Joe is sick, but is being stoic about it. He's grumpy, but in a quiet way. Julie is mostly better, with a bit of a cough now and then. I - I am full of snot to the point that I'm wishing it were a valuable commodity. We'd be rich. Oh, my life is so interesting!

I am starting to get nervous about the holiday knitting. I started the socks this afternoon, but didn't even get past the toe shaping, so I will get them both past that point tonight, then save the cruise-control stockinette of the foot for public knitting - those will practically knit themselves. I also realized that I need to type up handouts for my class starting on Saturday, so I'll put a little time into that tonight, plus start up a couple more mitered-square samples to show them. Perhaps next week I can do some of the little mittens and then it will be clear sailing to finish Joe's clogs in time. I did get some of the edging done on the charity blankie last night, but I don't knit all that quickly and there wasn't that much time. It would be nice if I could finish at least one side before I set it aside again for the personal stuff. I'm overwhelmed!

I have to say, though, I glanced at my server statistics the other day - it's amazing how many more people read your blog when you actually write every day. It makes way too much sense!

Save me from the Brownies!

Crap! I'm editing this at 9 a.m. Wednesday morning. I wrote up the rest of this post last night and I would have sworn I pushed Publish Post, but here we are the next morning and it's still sitting here waiting on my screen. At least it didn't all get deleted. Ah, I see a little error message that says securityToken: Your request could not be processed. Please try again. Ack! I was busy lounging on the couch with my knitting and did not realize that I needed to try again. I hope this doesn't disqualify me from that nifty NaBlogEverydayforaMo thingie. Why, oh why can I not remember the proper name of it? ACK! Must go finish drying my hair before Sophie gets bored with the Lego.

Gah! I am still so incredibly tired and crabby from this neverending cold. Julie was awfully squirrelly today, and I was trying to think up something to do with her that would be fun and also kill some time while Sophie was down for her nap. I'd been craving those crunchy-edged brownies again, and now that Julie can eat wheat (it's going fine - she's eating all the wheat we are and there have been no problems. We're going to start with the soy as soon as we get around to it.) I figured she'd like to enjoy some brownies with me.

As an aside about the brownie craving, Joe was headed to the grocery store last night to pick up some coffee because he had failed to mention to me that he was out of coffee, so I failed to buy him any coffee. He asked me if there was anything I wanted from the store, and I responded something like "I'd love to eat about five brownies right now, but I don't need them, so no thanks." He gave me a shocked look and said "FIVE?! You couldn't really eat five brownies, could you?" And I gave him a shocked look right back and told him I'd done it before and will do it again. I was a little floored that after five and a half years of marriage, plus years and years of dating before that, he has yet to fully appreciate my immense cravings for and ability to consume sweets. I mean, he's seen me head into the kitchen and bake a pan of brownies or a batch of cookies on a whim because of a craving. He doesn't understand it, but I thought he was used to it by now.

Which leads me back to today's brownies. We made them. I "only" at about three before I was full. I'm still trying to follow a reasonable diet, and I'm down about 15 pounds. I'm pretty happy about that, but I'm still a good five pounds over the maximum healthy weight range for my height. I've been sitting on a bit of a plateau for a few weeks, and I'm not too worried about it, but I do feel like it's about time for me to buckle back down and start counting points some more.

But I feel like I owe a few answers to questions about what exactly I've been doing, what habits I've changed. And it's nothing magic - I'm happy to share. I signed up for Weight Watchers online on September 3. I'm not going to meetings or anything - just tracking points online. The first week was super hard. I felt hungry all the time. I thought about food constantly. I made some hard changes. I'm not really proud about the little habits I'm about to describe, but I had fallen into them, and now I've mostly dug my way out of them.

I had been eating chocolate All.Day.Long. Lots of chocolate. Little bites of dark chocolate here and there for every reason and no reason. I cut that right out. For that bittersweet taste, I turned to an extra cup of decaf coffee with a bit of sugar and milk in the afternoon. It wasn't perfect, but it helped. Yes, there are calories/points in the coffee, but it takes a lot longer to fix and consume a cup of coffee than it does to pop a square of chocolate in your mouth.

And here's a thing that I realized about cravings. No matter how bad I crave something, I have two choices. I can give in to that craving - eat the chocolate - and I will still crave more. Or, I can suffer a while longer from the craving and maybe it will subside a bit. It helps if there is no chocolate in the house.

Bad habit number two involved Grande Decaf Mochas at *bucks. It had turned in to a more-days-than-not habit. I realized within a day that just one of those pretty much blew my points for the day. My goal is to rein in my points enough during the day so that I can have treat after the girls are in bed, and if I have even a tall, non-fat version of a mocha, it means that a treat after bedtime is going over the points. It's pretty simple. But at least, even now that I've gotten a little sloppy on this habit - must re-commit to the program - I'm getting the smaller non-fat version when I must succumb.

Habit number three is a little more nebulous. I had just gotten used to eating big servings of everything I was eating. A typical breakfast used to be a fried egg, two pieces with toast with butter and jelly, and sometimes a piece of sausage too. Now, for the same breakfast I have the fried egg cooked with cooking spray instead of butter and one piece of toast, no butter, no jelly, but with a splash of Tabasco on it and the egg. Yum! Other mornings, I eat oatmeal with raisins or yogurt with fruit. But the egg with its protein really seems to stick with me.

Another example of this portion-size issue is Chipotle burritos. Joe is obsessed with Chipotle, eats there several times a week. We tend to get it for lunch on either Saturday or Sunday, too. Before I was pregnant with Julie, there was no way I could finish a whole burrito from there. I'd eat half and be stuffed. Somehow during the pregnancies my appetite stretched and I was eating the whole thing without thinking twice. Adding up the points in the WW calculator, one burrito was basically my food for the day. So I started cutting it in half before even taking the first bite and resigning myself to leaving the other half. The first time was really hard. I felt so sad that I didn't get to eat the other half of the burrito, I gave myself a "bonus bite" - just one bite of that second half to help me feel better. But over the last couple of months, I've gotten used to the half-sized portion again, and now it's enough.

There are a thousand examples of the portion-size issue, and after a few weeks of paying attention, I kind of figured out what I should be eating for most meals. I tend to be a creature of habit, so as long as I'm not going out to eat, it's pretty easy to stick to my normal stuff. The less I can think about it, the easier it is to stay in line. This is a little cheesy, but I have been buying some Weight Watchers food - their Smart Ones frozen desserts and some of their frozen dinners. They're easy, no-brainer ways to give myself a treat without having to calculate a bunch of points. And somehow, those tiny little desserts are usually enough. Even when the giant bowl of ice cream with chocolate syrup and nuts on top wasn't enough. It makes portion control easy. And the dinners are nice for lunch some days when I want something more than just leftovers or cold cuts *again*. The ones I get are only four or five points, and it certainly doesn't cost as much as going out to lunch.

So anyway, I'm no expert. I haven't even reached my goal yet. But my wedding ring fits comfortably on my finger now, my pants are loose, the XL shirts are looking all sloppy on me and the L shirts are fitting just right. My tummy no longer looks five months pregnant, although it has never been flat and will never be flat. I feel better. I just need to re-focus and stay on this train a little longer.

Not So Secret Knitting

It's not really that huge of a secret - I just didn't want to post about it till I had at least a little something to show off. I mentioned this Rainbow Socks pattern from Magknits a week or so ago. I wasn't going to start it because there are too many other high-priority projects on the list, but, well, you know how it is...



This yarn has been calling me for ages, too. It's Vesper Sock Yarn in Love Stinks (yeah yeah) colorway. Let me just say that I think this is a cool pattern. I think this is awesome yarn. But I'm kinda debating frogging the whole thing right now, for a few reasons.

First, I think the striping pattern on the yarn is a little too wide to maximize the effect of the short rows. Second, although I've done this type of Japanese short rows before, it's been quite a while and I was screwing it up on the first few repeats - they look sort of lumpy because I wasn't bringing the yarn to the front at the exact right moment during half of the turns. Third, and this is a little silly because I knew what I was getting into when I started the pattern, but socks are linked in my mind with simple, brainless knit-knit-knitting. It has to be something pretty wonderful to get me to do fiddly stuff on a sock, and I'm not quite sure this qualifies.

Even so, I'm kind of hooked and not quite ready to give up on these just yet. Luckily, I don't have to decide right now because I'm going back to the charity blanket. My attitude has improved a bit and I know that bottom-line I want that project off my back and my plate as soon as possible. Especially considering that I have two pairs of mittens, a pair of socks, and a pair of felted clogs to make before Christmas. Not to mention a few other loose ends of which we will not speak till later.

Oh, and honey? You're the one who likes to "knit" thongs. As much as I know you'd love to put on a wooly g-string and prance around for me, I'm afraid you'll have to design that one for yourself. I think you'll get a lot more wear and less chafing out of the felted clogs.

By the way, I talked to Molly's mom this evening. Ron is out of ICU and doing as well as can be expected. The full story is horrifying - the bullet passed about a centimeter away from his heart. But he's alive, he's determined to get out of the hospital as quickly as possible, and he's going to be okay. I'm so glad I still have a cousin Ron. Whew!

Good God.

My cousin Ron was in a hunting accident yesterday. Apparently, he was shot in the chest and is now in ICU in Fargo. I don't know a whole lot more because I was out of the house when his wife called to tell us. Joe found a link to an article about it here. His wife said he is stable and expected to recover, but still. I'm horrified. Because I'm feeling helpless and worried, I'm sharing this with you and asking you to think positive thoughts, send them your strength, and if you pray, do that too.

Here's a picture of Ron and Molly with Julie from a couple of years ago at Christmas - aside from being great friends to me ever since I moved up here in 1997, they have been wonderful family for my girls, always welcoming us to Christmas Eve at their house and making our girls giggle when sometimes no one else can.



Thanks.

Oh, and by the way, we're all one tiny step toward better with our colds. Sophie is still sad and clingy, and is eating only the broth out of the chicken wildrice soup I heated up for lunch, but at least she is eating something.

I'll try to pull together an actual fun post for this evening. You want to see that secret, selfish project? I'm not sure how in love with it I really am, but it has been a learning experience so far, and I'll tell you all about it later.

Sunday, Crappy Sunday...

We're still sick. I dragged Sophie in to urgent care this afternoon after waffling about whether to get her seen all weekend. She's going to live, but let me just say that watching your toddler get a chest x-ray is not all that fun.

She slept on me, on the couch, for more than three hours this afternoon. At least I got a nap in for a while there too.

I've been upstairs twice getting her back to sleep, and Joe's up there right now. I'm going to watch another episode of Grey's Anatomy on the internet and go to bed. Sorry for the lameness.

Yeah. Day Ten or Something

So I'm squeaking in right under the wire, but I'm actually posting for my tenth day in a row. Despite continuing to suffer through the cold from hell. Let's start with the positive stuff, though.

This morning, Sophie slept very very late, and this allowed Julie to come cuddle in bed with me and Joe for a long while - long enough for me to slowly wake up, get some good Julie-cuddles in, and have a little conversation with her about a few things. Then she started saying she was hungry, and she asked if we could have pancakes for breakfast. And a lightbulb went on in my head - a happy lightbulb - and I said "Yes! Yes I will make you pancakes. And we can all have wheat pancakes for breakfast together!" So I got right on it.



And there were many pancakes. Julie ate more pancakes than I though her little tummy capable of holding.



And then she asked for even more. That was the best part of my day.

Next best was hanging out with some great ladies at the yarn store knitting socks. Today was our last class, and they all agreed to share some of their results.



Normally, I bake some kind of treat for my last classes, but I was so polluted with insidious germs, I decided it was better if I bought something. Nobody seemed to mind.

The worst part of my day? Poor little Sophie woke up with her face crusted with dried goo. I had to go in and wake her up at way past ten in the morning. She had a fever, and she spent the day limp and sleepy. It was quite sad. So sad that I felt a little guilty being away most of the day, but that didn't seem to stop me. By this evening, her fever had broken. She was still very tired and didn't eat much dinner, but I am really really hoping that she will get a good night's sleep and wake up hungry and perky in the morning.

Now, instead of going to bed early like I should, or working on that charity blanket like I should, or reading parenting books like I should or all the many other things I "should" be doing, I am going to sit here and watch an episode of Grey's Anatomy from the Internet and knit on my new selfish little project.

Cold Remedy

Along with nursing three colds this week (Julie's, Sophie's and my own), I've been quietly working on a project that is almost as draining of my knitting mojo as the colds...

Remember these squares that I brought home from Camp?



They're the squares that my knitting students made to be put together into a baby blanket for charity. Put together by me. As in, I get to do all the "fun" part of finishing. Me, the girl who avoids knitting things in multiple pieces because even though I'm pretty darn good at finishing, I really have no fondness for it. And like most UFO's, the longer a knitter puts it off, the bigger the hurdle to getting that finishing project done.

So I pulled it out, and I knit a couple squares to replace a couple that were a little too wonky. I seamed them all up into groups of four, but it was clear that one mega-square was much bigger than the others (bottom-left).



So I picked up stitches along two edges of each of the three smaller mega-squares and knit a few more ridges of garter stitch to help compensate, then joined all four mega-squares with three-needle bind-off.



And right now it looks like this:



It's a little psychodelic. The one square is still a tiny bit bigger, but I'm still planning to add a border around the whole thing and block it, which should help.

Tonight, though, I have had just about all the blanket finishing I can handle. I am so tired from a week of taking care of sick little girls while dragging from my own nasty cold. I even ordered out pizza for dinner - something that I couldn't do until just a few days ago when we were cleared to try Julie on wheat - and we were all pretty much too tired to really enjoy it.

And when we came down from putting the girls to bed, Joe asked me to promise him that I would go to bed early tonight. So I did. I have until 10:00, and then no matter what I am doing I am going to put it down and hit the hay.

In the mean time, I am going to watch a DVD and start a totally frivolous, just-for-me knitting project. I need to feed my knitting mojo. Wish me luck!

It's About Time

I've been meaning to put this activity together for a long time, and finally got around to it...

15 pounds of uncooked rice...$6.42
1 15 Quart plastic box............5.98
350 plastic beads....................1.99
Measuring cups.......................3.99
Measuring spoons...................2.08

Two happy kids digging through rice making a mess....





Just about worth having to clean the mess up when we're done. There are two major problems with this activity 1. getting the mess cleaned up when they are done without having them track the rice all over the house - where am I supposed to put the kids while I clean up the mess? 2. When one child starts eating the rice and/or intentionally throwing the rice on the floor, I pretty much have to cut the activity off for both children, which feels awfully unfair.

And, by the way, we used to do an activity similar to this one with dried beans, and I stopped about a year ago when Julie kept putting them up her nose. Please I hope she doesn't start *that* again.

And now, I must go see what's up with Sophie, who has apparently coughed herself awake, and then I am going to bed myself. This cold is kicking my butt.

Jammy Day

It's 10:21 on a Wednesday, and we're all still in our jammies (except
Joe, who left for work quite a while ago). The girls are sick with a bad
cold - it was coming on yesterday, but Sophie spiked a fever last night,
so I decided to self-impose some quarantine in the interest of the
herd.

Julie says she wants to wear her pajamas all day, and although I
personally plan to take a shower and don fresh clothing, I'm inclined to
let the girls have a day in their soft fuzzies.

(Crappy photo courtesy of the camera on my Sidekick.)

(Edited to add the picture, which somehow did not transfer from my Sidekick, which is doing squirrelly things with e-mail today. Also, they did end up putting clothes on. Julie agreed that it would be worth getting dressed so we could go to Chipotle for lunch. I was going to let her try the flour tortilla, but she said she didn't like it without actually tasting it. Oh, and as far as we can tell, the cookie experiment last night went quite well. Julie was asking to e