Okay, I just checked Shelly's blog and she is having a contest. Go on over and read the details and you may win some yarn and a book.

You have got to hear this. It made me cry!! Did you check it out? How amazing was that little girl?

My wrists, elbows, and shoulders are so sore from too much knitting. I forgot to take pictures of the baby pants I made to go with the sweater!! The shower was fun and the gift was appreciated. I hope to get some pictures of the new baby wearing the outfit. He is due on August 9. His name will be Brecken. Isn't that a neat name? Okay, I'm off to bed. Happy knitting!!

We went to see this at 12:01 a.m. on July 11. It was a good movie. We got home at 2:45a.m. I really liked the books better, but the movies are fun too.

I finished the baby sweater and I'll post a picture soon. Off to bed, I seem to be turning into a night owl. I'll have a rude awakening when school starts in Sept.!!! Happy knitting.

Oops, I forgot the picture!!

Monkey socks are finished!! Yipee!!!~ Yes, they are only ankle socks, but I was tired of working on them. I guess I just didn't feel the love that a lot of the knitters in the blogosphere did. I bound off too tight though, so I need to redo that. I am working on a baby sweater, so hopefully I can post a picture of that by Sunday. My great nephew is coming to stay with us tomorrow, so I'm not sure how much knitting I'll get done. He will be four at the end of this month, and we can't make it to his party because we have a wedding. I bought an ice cream cake from Culver's so we will have that tomorrow along with giving him his gift. He is so cute and funny!! I helped my niece when she was in labor and saw him being born. What an experience. I can't believe that was four years ago already. Have a good weekend and Happy knitting!!

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY AMERICA!!!

I have no new knitting news to share. Maggie is finished with softball. Her game last night ended because of lightning and rain. They were playing a very good team, and were only behind by two runs. It was sad to end the season this way. We have two nights off from watching baseball and then Patrick has a tournament this weekend. One game Friday night, two on Saturday, and one on Sunday. I hope to get some knitting done while I watch the games.

Maggie had some friends over yesterday for swimming, so now today Grant wants to have some friends over to swim. I guess that is only fair, but I have so much housework to do. It is hard to get the inside work done when I am outside supervising the pool. I know, it sounds like I am complaining about sitting around the pool, I am fortunate that we have one in our backyard. It is just difficult to get all my other jobs done during the day when we are out in the pool. Maybe I need to chill a bit and get over it. It will get done sometime.

Well, thanks for reading. It wasn't a very exciting post today. Happy knitting!!

Thursday Maggie and I took a kool-aid dyeing class at The Yellow Dog.
This is Maggie with her yarn.
This is my best friend Chris. She took the class with her grandchildren, Andrew and Robert. She also brought her daughter, Kaitlinn. We had so much fun. We also made our own knitting needles. Cindi was very patient with all of us.
I think I will try and dye some yarn with Patrick. He would enjoy this. He was suppose to take the class with us, but his big brother gave him a hard time about it, so he didn't come with.
We had a baby shower at my sister's house yesterday and Maggie and I ended up staying overnight. I didn't sleep very well, so I am off to bed. Happy knitting!!

FINISHED SOCK AND REALITY CHECK

This is the first sock made from the yarn I got from Shelly.
Isn't it cool yarn? It was fun the see the stripes come alive. I bought some sock blockers from The Loopy Ewe .
I don't like how my legs and feet look in pictures, so I thought this would be a nice way to show my socks that I complete. I may have made the sock a bit too long, but it's okay with me. I'm just glad I finally have a completed object to share with you. Now to explain the reality check part of the title.

I heard from the technical school about starting the sonographers program. Guess how long the wait is to get into the program....Fall of 2010!! That is if you have the classes needed just to get on the waiting list. I probably would need a few classes first, so we are looking at getting into the program in 2011. Then two years for the program. Now, I am not a spring chick, and this is the first time I have really thought about being a middle aged woman. By the time I finished with all the schooling, I would be 49 years old. Not very likely to get a job, huh?! Even though my body feels middle aged sometimes, I guess I never really gave my age much thought. When I get together with my friends, I still feel like a kid. I graduated from college 20 years ago and will be going to my 25th high school reunion in August. After I got the phone call, I was pretty bummed. My kids will be in college in 2011 and 2012. Patrick will graduate in 2015. We didn't budget for me to go back to school, so I guess I won't be.

I am okay with not going to school, what I am not okay with is the reality of being a middle aged woman. I need to process this. How could I not have thought about my age before now? It's weird, but I never really did. Birthdays have come and gone and I just keep on going. Being out of the job market for 14 years never really came to mind until now. I guess the best thing I can do now is try to enjoy my choice of being a stay at home mom, with teenagers!! It is just another chapter in my parenting book. I'll have to let some of the crap that my son says to me just roll off my back and try to not let it hurt my feelings. I've decided that I can just take a time out for myself when he gets to me. I'll remove myself from the stress(if possible) and hopefully that will make the tense moments a bit easier to deal with.

Well, my hands are sore from the marathon knitting I did today to finish the sock. I'm going to take some A*v*l, and go to bed. Tomorrow Maggie, Patrick, and I are taking a class at
The Yellow Dog.
By friend Chris and her daughter and two grandsons are taking the class too. We will be making our own knitting needles and dyeing yarn with Kool-Aid. It will be fun!! Happy knitting!!

New Look

Do you like it? My neighbor, Patrick, helped me with this. He is wonderful with computers and didn't mind helping this old lady with her blog. We had fun trying to figure out how to make these changes and I can tell you that I learned quite a bit. We may do some tweaking in the future, but for now, this is what y'all get.

No new knitting news, but I will post some pictures later of the socks I am working on with the yarn I bought from Shelly.
She has ventured into the world of yarn dyeing. Check out her stuff, it is really nice yarn. It is soft and fun to work with. I am making just basic toe-up socks. She sent me a pattern of hers in with my purchase. She wound the yarn into skeins too. What service!! Go buy some yarn from her.

I need to get to bed. Happy knitting!

I've made a decision to try and go back to school. I have a Bachelor's Degree in Early Childhood Education, but I don't want to go back to teach. I tossed around the idea of Cosmetology, but after talking with my hubby and a neighbor, I have decided to look into being an Ultrasound Tech. I am going to go to our local technical college to see about enrolling. What has prompted this idea?
Well, it is hard being a stay at home mom sometimes. I don't like having to ask my husband all the time about purchasing stuff. I want a Hybrid car and hubby isn't too sure about that. If I have my own income then I could make the payments and not worry about it. Yes, we both agreed when we had our kids I would stay home, but I feel like a little kid asking my parent for money. I've heard many people say, "well it is your money" together, but really come on, he has the paying job and I don't. Yes, I work hard, but don't bring in one cent to this household. My kids are older now, and why not go to school while they are in school? My oldest child said a really nasty thing to me yesterday, and I have had it. This is what he said when I kicked him out of the pool for not following the rules, "Kiss my A...."! I was shocked! I have never, nor would I ever talk to my mom that way.

I'll just have to see if I can get into the program. Happy knitting!!

SUMMER VACATION

This was the first weekday of summer vacation. We all slept in and it was wonderful. The kids spent some time in the pool and I read. I didn't look at the calendar, and oops! Maggie had a game tonight. We arrived 10 minutes late, but at least we made it. They won and that was nice.

Gracie seems to being doing okay. She is walking normal and is eating and drinking enough. I have gotten creative when it comes to giving her the required medication. She seems to like vanilla yogurt the best. I am just going to keep hoping she will beat the odds and be with us for several months. We go back to the U of M on Wednesday afternoon.

I did work on my Monkey socks yesterday and I am almost finished. Work continues on my blanket too. Well, it is late and I need to get up early tomorrow to drive to Somerset for Maggie to get a manicure, pedicure, and hair cut. (all part of her birthday present) Miss Maggie turned 13 yesterday!! I have two teenagers now. What fun!???? Happy knitting!

Update on Gracie....she has congestive heart failure. We probably only have two months with her. We are giving her medication to try and get the fluid out of her lungs, so next week we'll see if it is working. For now I guess it is a waiting game. I am so sad, I just cannot believe we will be losing another pet so soon. We gave her a good life and I am glad we rescued her from the shelter. She is a sweet girl and everyone at the U of M just loved her. If you want, keep sending Gracie good vibes, she could use them. Thanks.

Secret Pal=Wonderful This was in my mailbox yesterday. Sock yarn, Knit Pick needles I was wanting to try, raffle tickets for a quilt in Alaska!!, salad mixers in the shape of claws also from Alaska, yummy candy, and a mug. Thanks Secret Pal. It was just what I needed because........

Gracie
Yesterday when I woke up I noticed that Gracie wasn't walking quite right. She looked awful. I called the vet and was able to get her in within a half hour. They took x-rays and blood work. The vet then sent us to St. Paul to the University of Minnesota Vet Hospital. Maggie and I made the trip over there in about 1 1/2 hours. They took Gracie from us to evaluate her. We didn't see the doctor for about another 1 1/2 hours. Gracie has a clot in her femoral artery which usually causes paralaysis immediately. They can't get a pulse or blood pressure reading in her back legs. They will be doing an EKG tomorrow because they think she has a heart condition as well. It was quite a traumatic day for me. I couldn't get Tom on his cell phone for about 6 hours, finally he called us back while we were waiting for the vet to come talk to us. I know I did the right thing by going over to the Uof M, but the cost is extremely high. Tom and I usually discuss things like this, but I had to make a decision and go with it.

There is a 40% chance she will recover, but of that 40% , 25% will get another clot. I guess we need to wait and see what the results of the EKG are. If you want, send some good vibes for Gracie. When the vet called this morning, he said she was a very affectionate cat. We agree!! I hope she comes out of this okay. We don't know a lot about her because we got her at the Humane Association 2 1/2 years ago. We think she is somewhere between 4-7 years old.

My weekend of doing whatever I wanted didn't turn out the way I was expecting. I did get a little knitting in on Friday night. I watched three movies!! I know, that is a lot, but they were movies I know Tom wouldn't want to see. Go check out the blog at the Yellow Dog.

I have such wonderful friends.

Here are pictures of my sock yarn scrap blanket. I am having a lot of fun making this.
If you want directions on how to make this blanket, check out Shelly's blog. Her blanket is just beautiful. She was kind enough to send me some left over yarn from her blanket. If anyone else has some scraps, please email me at jaciquigleyATcharterDOTnet and I will send you my snail mail address. I figured out it take approximately 8 yards to do a square.

I am working on socks and my sweater. I need to get most of it done by June 19. Wish me luck!! We want to take pictures of all of the class participants to send to Sally Melville. More baseball and softball games this week. Tom and the boys are off to Milwaukee on Friday for two more Brewer games. I am staying home with Maggie because she has a pool/slumber party for a friend that she doesn't want to miss. I was looking forward to going to Milwaukee to shop cuz my birthday is Sunday, but I understand that when you are 13, going to a pool party and slumber party is much more important than your mom's 43rd birthday. Maggie and I have a bridal shower to attend on Sunday as well. I will have the whole house to myself on Friday night. I can't remember the last time I had this whole house to myself for more than a few hours. What should I do? I will get to watch whatever I want on t.v. and knit into the wee hours of the night!!

Well, it is off to bed for me. Happy knitting!!

Tom and Maggie in Times Square, NYC, April 27.
New York City, April 27. Picture taken while waiting for the subway. Gil Rogers
from Guiding Light. He was so nice. He didn't mind having a picture taken with us at all.

I bought myself this wonderful ring last fall, but just got around to putting it up on the blog. I purchased it through Dixie, at The Yellow Dog.

I just love this ring, I never take it off. If you want one, contact Dixie, and she can order one for you. I believe the designer lives in California. We are having a surprise 80th birthday party for Tom's mom tonight and his brother and sister-in-law and son are staying with us tonight. I need to finish folding clothes and wiping down the kitchen cabinets. I love my husband because he is so helpful with the cleaning. He vacuumed the whole house and swept the hardwood floors. I did the bathrooms and kitchen. It goes so much faster when you have help. Mr. Patrick even pitched in this morning to help us. He is such a good boy.

Have a great weekend. I hope to post a picture of my scrap blankie by Monday. I am having fun with it. Go to Shelly's blog to see pictures of her blankie and the inspiration for mine.

(Maybe you have noticed that I have links on my posts now. I just figured out how to do them!! It really wasn't that hard, I just didn't understand the written instructions I had gotten!)

Happy knitting!!

FINALLY!!

I got a picture onto my blog!! This is the wonderful gift I got from my Secret Pal 10 in April!! Sorry it took me so long to post a picture!! I love everything so much!! Thanks Secret Pal!!

We are off to the chiropractor and flute lessons, so maybe tonight I can post some more pictures I have been waiting to share with all of you!! Happy knitting!!

FO, HONEST!!

On the way to Milwaukee I knit Maggie a Calorimetry from Knitty. Can you believe I actually have a finished project?! I know that I am probably the only knit blogger who has just completed my first one, but I was waiting for the perfect yarn. Scout, hand-dyed some to match Maggie's ski jacket. It is perfect for her!! Of course I am still trying to get my picture to load onto photobucket so I can transfer them to this blog, but no luck. I am such a computer imcompetent. We had a nice time, even though the Brewer's lost both games!! They are currently winning, which is nice, but we are home!!!

I am going to work on my Monkey socks and hope to get them "off my back" this week! Then onto the socks from The Loopy Ewe sock club. Happy knitting!!

Again I have no knitting news, except I did wind three skeins of yarn into center pull balls today. That's it, I got nothin' else. How pathetic is this? Where do the days go?

I have decided that I am going to stop working on my sweater for now and concentrate on sock knitting. I have joined the Rockin' Sock Club from BMFA and also the sock club from The Loopy Ewe. I just can't get into my sweater now. I have a good reason, but it is pretty catty and I need to work it through. I know I shouldn't compare myself to other knitters, but this one in particular just takes the fun out of knitting this sweater. I will finish it someday, and I know I will love it.

We are going to Milwaukee again for two more Brewer games. I hope they win. We are staying at a hotel with an indoor water park so the kids are very excited. That is what we will be doing all day Saturday before the game and on Sunday morning. I hope to figure out my new camera and what I am doing wrong. I just can't get the pictures onto this blog!!

Have a good weekend and happy knitting.