Crochet

The crocheting is coming along pretty well. I am enjoy the process and I like how the sweater will look.

I'm trying to distract myself because hubby let the boys go out to star gaze and I am a bit nervous. We live in a nicely wooded area with a meadow near by, but it gets very dark at night. I like having everyone in the house by this time of night. Our nephew is staying with us for a week, and I'm not sure how his mom would feel about him being out this late. They have another 19 minutes to be out there. I'm sure they are fine, I'm just a worry wart.

I took Miss Maggie to camp this afternoon. She was so excited. She is in a cabin with a lot of her friends, and some more friends are in a cabin about 20 steps away. I was remembering back to when she went to camp 5 years ago and how I cried so much when I dropped her off. It was the fear of the unknown for me. I hadn't ever been to this camp and she was so little. It was strange dropping her off in the care of two counselors that I hadn't met before. She had a great time and has kept going back. I remember that I slept in her room two of the nights she was gone!! I missed her so much that it hurt. I will still miss her this week while she is gone, but I won't sleep in her room and it doesn't hurt that much anymore. I guess this is all in the process of letting my child grow up and away. She informed me that when she is 16 she wants to be a counselor at this camp. Wow, she would be gone all summer. That will be hard, but a good learning experience for me. She will go to college someday and be gone for a lot longer. Why is it so painful to let your kids grow up?

Finished Baby Sweater



.....made from Blue Sky Cotton, Blue Sky Alpacas. Pattern is from the book Oneskein by Leigh Radford. This knit up very fast, just the seaming took me awhile. The baby is due two weeks, so any day now we could get a picture of him in his sweater.

I may have another picture to show you tomorrow. I am going to try to crochet a sweater. I'm going down to YDK
to have Cindi help me. Happy knitting!!

Jon Bon Jovi
Richie Sambora
Mr. Bon Jovi again!
A few pictures for you...enjoy. Off to take Maggie to VBS and Gracie to the cities. Happy Knitting!!

just got home from the U of MN with Gracie. The fluid is building up in her lungs again, despite being on medication. We probably have two weeks with her. I'm very sad.

P.S. the vet just called with her blood work results. Her kidneys look great. She told us to up the dose of her Furosemide and that will hopefully get the fluid to go away. Keep your fingers crossed, Gracie isn't ready to go yet. She is still fighting...maybe we can get a few more months.

I'M DONE!!

With the last Harry Potter book. I won't put anything on here to spoil it for anyone. Just read it!
I stayed up too late this morning (2:45) trying to finish it. I fell asleep and had to finish it later this morning.

I haven't knit for almost a week. That's what happens when you go to Country Jam for three days, a baseball tournament, and read a new book. I have to clean the house before Tom's brother and nephew get here on Saturday for a family wedding. Tomorrow I take Gracie back to the U of MN for a check up. I think they will do x-rays and another echo. She seems to be doing fine, so hopefully the tests will confirm that for me. I am too tired today to knit, so I guess some of the cleaning will get done. Have I told you all that I hate to clean? Yeah, I thought so. Oh well, that's part of the job. Have a good day. Happy knitting!

COUNTRY JAM!!

Wow, Maggie and I had a great time!! Lots of good music and fun. I can't believe I actually saw Jon Bon Jovi!!!! It was simply AMAZING! I know it is like screaming when you capitalize all the letters in a word, but I don't care! That was my intent. Reba was wonderful and she had Kelly Clarkson with her. Montgomery Gentry fantastic as well as our favorite, Trace Atkins. I bid on a signed guitar from him and we got it. It now has a new home in Maggie's room. I told her that if I find that on the floor in a messy room, it will become mine. We'll see how long the room stays clean. I'm guessing a few days.

Patrick's team took second in the baseball tournament. He did very well again.

I am so tired, so I am off to bed to read more of my new Harry Potter book and get a good night of sleep. Happy knitting!!

Okay, I was going to post pictures, but the kids used my camera and the battery needs charging! Ugh!

I am working on my June pattern from the Rockin' Sock Club.
Instead of using the yarn that came with it, I am using Crystal Palace Panda Cotton in the Caribean Blue color way. I love the yarn that came with my pattern, but the pattern is a bit busy and I wanted the work to show up. I will probably use the STR yarn for just a basic stockingnet stitch sock.

I am thinking of signing up for the Master's Knitter program. Anyone out there done it? Do you recommend doing it? Cindi at YDK has done it so I know she will be a help if I decide to go for it.

I won't be posting for a few days because Country Jam starts tomorrow. I will be going with Tom tomorrow and then Maggie and I will go on Friday and Saturday. Bon Jovi will be the headliners on Saturday night!! I can't wait. It is weird that my daughter loves this band as much as I do. I'll have lots of pictures on Monday.

Have a great weekend all and Happy Knitting!!

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.