Saturday, November 25, 2006

Warming Kaitlyn Knitting

Knitting pretty pink squares out of merino and cashmere/merino is becoming addictive. My own daughter decided that she didn't like pink and black was her favorite color when she was six years old, so it's fun to indulge in some girly-ness for a change. Ariane said she had a tremendous response to this project, so I'll probably stop (though somewhat reluctantly)after the striped square>

Warming Kaitlyn Squares

My "Black Friday" shopping was limited. I did hop out of bed at 5:00 AM to go to Fred Meyer, where I achieved everything I was after. Then I went home and crawled back into bed. By the time I mosied into Target about noon, it looked like it had been hit by locusts. No Legos for me, and they were out of the $5 copies of Pride and Prejudice. Oh well, if you snooze you lose on Black Friday.

We are having a break in the rain currently, a good thing considering that with 5 days left in the month we have already broken the record for the rainiest November in the last 30 years. We are going to work on getting Christmas lights up on the house. We got another one of these this year:

Sherry 157

Apparently it's our civic duty to decorate.

Thursday, November 23, 2006

Thanksgiving. . .

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! The turkey is in the oven, it smells just like it is supposed to. I'm taking a break from cuddling on the couch with the husband and watching BSG 2.5 to jot down a quick post.

On Thanksgiving, and other times, I have a lot of things to be thankful for; one of which is that both my kids are healthy. There are a lot of bad things that can happen to kids, and so far (knock on wood) we've managed to dodge all the big ones. Not everyone is that lucky. So this Thanksgiving I'm putting aside my regularly scheduled knitting (a ribbed scarf out of soy/wool) to work on this:

Squares for Warming Kaitlyn

Ariane is collecting 5" knitted squares to make a blanket for Kaitlyn, a darling little girl with A.L.L. (Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia.) You can see Ariane's "Warming Kaitlyn" page here: http://wicked_stitches.typepad.com/project_warming_kaitlyn/ (yeah, I know, I really need to learn how to do the html code for links.) Or you can read Kaitlyn's parents blog at http://www.kaitlynsjourney.com. It's about taking a little bit of time to show some love. (Speaking of which. . .it's back to the husband on the couch for me!)

Monday, November 20, 2006

Three Cheers for Rupert Murdock

No OJ Simpson book and TV special. 'Nuff said.

Sunday, November 19, 2006

For the Love of Wii. . .

As a family with a teenage boy, our weekend was all about this:

Sherry 153

The new game system from Nintendo went on sale today. We all stayed up and headed over to Fred Meyer for the 12:01 release. . .and arrived just after they gave out their last ticket. James' friend Collin came running up to give us the bad news--tempered by his own excitement that they were ticket-holders number 47 out of 51. We headed over to Target to double-check their opening time, and there were some eager-looking high school boys getting pillows and sleeping bags out of their cars. We aren't the camping out all night in line types, but John and James did get up at 5:30 this morning, and they were numbers 12 and 13 in line (well, 19 and 20 after the high school boys let some friends cut in line with them,) with 23 game consoles available. When they came home James collapsed in bed to make up for lost sleep couldn't get it plugged in fast enough.

Friday, November 17, 2006

A Little Desert Humor. . .

I was born in Arizona. My family moved to far west Texas, on the Mexican border when I was eight years old. I went to college southern New Mexico. I never lived (and rarely visited) outside the desert until I was twenty years old, when John and I got married and moved to Kentucky for medical school. Then we went back to Arizona for his medical residency, and stayed for another 8 years.

I was blog reading one day, and over at Bella Dia ( http://www.belladia.typepad.com ,) Cassi had picked up the most incredible piece of vintage fabric at a thrift store. It was screen printed with cholla cactus and roadrunners and signed "Harwood Steiger," and I was overcome with covetousness. Of course the best place to take care of cravings for unusual vintage goodies is eBay, so I headed right over there. Harwood Steiger ran a studio in Tubac, Arizona for a number of years, and has some really beautiful work, with clean, bold graphics--mostly desert themed, but with an occasional floral or geometric thrown in. I've picked up several pieces, though so far not the Holy Grail of my Harwood-Steiger-eBaying: enough cholla and roadrunner fabric to make curtains for my kitchen. A lot of the pieces that turn up on eBay were apparently bought as souveniers of Arizona by winter visitors who took them home, because I've gotten pieces from as far away as Canada. They get listed on eBay by people who just don't understand them. Here are a couple of pieces that made me giggle when I saw the listings on eBay. Behold. . .PINEAPPLES:

More Harwood Steiger Cactus

And (hee, hee) A PEACOCK:

Harwood Steiger Placemat

Tuesday, November 14, 2006

Pincushion Swap

I know Carina has received her package for the pincushion swap, because she left me lovely feedback, so it's safe for me to post pictures without spoiling the surprise.

Pincushion Swap I

These are my first pincushions and they were so much fun to make (once I got started.) The hedgehog is made around a polished stone, and he has a nice weight to him. The cup is tiny, and handthrown by someone named "Suz," and was a thriftshop find. My kids noticed right away that it looked like a little cup of coffee, and that was exactly what I was going for.

I like swaps. I like the challenge of creating something I haven't made before, or showing off something I do well. I like putting together packages for someone else. Working on a deadline is also good for me, and something I am working to improve on. Time is often in short supply at my house, and I'm sort of disorganized by nature, so that's another real challenge. But that's another thing I like about swaps, and about having my own blog to feed--it forces me to FIND time to make things, which I enjoy, but otherwise might not otherwise take the time to do.

Bookmark Swap

I almost swore off swaps entirely after someone severely ding-ed me in Swap-bot feedback for being late with this package (above) for a bookmark swap. I was late, but I included a note of apology/explanation and tried to make it a particularly nice package, but she was still unhappy and exaggerated about just how late I was. Ironically it was someone who had poor feedback herself for sending inappropriate things or not sending anything at all on several occasions. I hate having imperfect feedback. I feel like I'm marked with a scarlet letter---maybe "T" for tardy? Sigh. I decided to suck it up and deal with it, and just work harder at getting things out on time. I've met some really wonderful people through swaps, and I wouldn't want to give that up.

Tuesday, November 07, 2006

Meme

Okay, Suse over at Pea Soup did a cool meme, and I thought about doing it too, but then Alison at 6.5 Stitches did this one and said "anyone else stuck inside on a cold wet windy day" should do it, I decided I definitely qualify for that. We are having RAIN here. Serious RAIN. Record-breaking RAIN, which considering this is the Pacific Northwest, is saying something. We had 4.04 inches yesterday, beating out the 3.94 inches one day in 1962. Fortunately with all the work the Army Corps of Engineers did on our rivers when they flooded after Mt. St. Helens erupted, and the diligence of city workers in keeping the storm drains working, we're safe and dry, even though our county is one that the Governor has declared to be in a state of disaster. I'm thankful.

1. Flip to page 18, paragraph 4 in the book closest to you right now, what does it say?

Jack Whyte has some honking long paragraphs, there are actually only 2 paragraphs that begin on page 4 in "Uther:" As it turned out, however, and despite what the elderwives might mutter during their shadowy gatherings, Tamara was unfortunate in that she bore no twins. Instead, she bore one single, monstrous lump of a boy who tore her cruelly while forcing his way, a month and more before his time, out of her small body." OUCH!

2. If you stretch out your left arm - as far as possible, what are you touching?

A bookcase. Pretty much if you stretch out your arm in any room at our house you'll be touching books.

3. What's the last program you watched on tv?


I watched the news this morning, but that's not really a program, is it? I watched "Heroes" last night, and I'm hoping there's a new "Veronica Mars" tonight.

4. Without looking, guess what time it is.

11:45. I'm late, as usual. It's 11:52.

5. Except the computer, what can you hear right now?

Rain, guinea pigs drinking, the cat purring, the refrigerator.

6. When was the last time you were outside and what did you do?


I drove the kids to school and dropped my husband off at the hospital this morning.

7. What are you wearing?

(Ummmm. Can I go change real quick?) Blue fleece pajama pants and a cream cotton tank top.

8. Did you dream last night? If you did, what about?

I usually don't remember my dreams. Last night is a blank. The night before I had a pretty vivid one about Taco Bell messing up my order at the drive through window.

9. When was the last time you laughed?

I had a good laugh yesterday afternoon. I had a van-ful of neighborhood kids (James, Audrey, and 4 of James's buddies) that I was giving a lift home from school, and I was deflating a helium balloon to get it out of the way, so I took a big snort of helium and sang "Ain't Nobody Here But Us Chickens" to an appreciative audience. It was very silly and we were all giggling. (I sound much better on helium. Sigh.)

10. What's on the walls, in the room you're in right now?

A couple of prints of altered photographs of Parisian doorways, and a bulletin board that could do with some clearing off.

11. Have you seen anything strange lately?.

A boy (10-12 years old, I think) in the grocery checkout line demonstrated his hopping abilities, asked me if I knew he weighed 182.5 pounds (sadly appeared to be true,) and sang the "Mario Anthem" (from the video game--no words--just "doo, doo, doo, doo") for me. That was unusual. I humored him.

12. What do you think about this meme?

It’s a fine meme.

13. What's the last film you saw?

"Flushed Away." Good fun. Excellent way to waste a couple of hours.

14. If you became a multimillionaire, what would you do with the money?

Get a bigger house and hire staff. Remember Mr French on "Family Affair?" I need a Mr. French to keep house and tell me when appointments are. I'm a lot of wonderful things but I'm a dismal housekeeper and horrendous with appointments. And bills. He'd have to pay the bills, too. I'd have a sewing room, a papercraft room and a dark room. I'd replace the minivan. I would let my husband quit his job, and I'd buy him the bar he's always talking about, the one he wants to own so his band can play in it. I'd hire staff for him, too, but Mr. French is mine. I'd make sure all the extended family was comfortable. I'd start a huge solar energy farm in Arizona or New Mexico. I'd grant large chunks of money to the local school system with lots of strings attached. I'd travel. And I'd tip really, really well.

15. Tell us something about yourself that most people don't know.

I'm a dismal housekeeper. . . no, wait. . . as much as I try to keep that a secret, lots of people know that. . . .Hmmmm. I don't like winter squash, not even pumpkin pie.

16. If you could change ONE THING in this world, without regarding politics or bad guilt - what would it be?

Ending poverty is political? Or not? If ending poverty doesn't count, I'd say to have intelligence valued as much as sporting ability.

19. What do you want your children’s names to be, girl/boy?

We've got James Christopher and Audrey Elizabeth, though originally we had planned to have four children (but then we had two and realized we had our hands quite full), and the other two were going to be Sharilyn Paige and Something Alexander.

17. Do you like dancing?

Sure, when other people do it well, or when I think no-one is looking.

18. George Bush?

Horrors. Some of my best friends are Republicans, and we get along by being very ladylike and not discussing politics or religion. I won't elaborate.

20. Would you ever consider living abroad?

Yes. We're hoping to have a year in Australia in a few years with the kids.

21. What do you want God to tell you, when you come to heaven?

Hmmm. I'd like to hear something like "Nicely done," but it would probably be more like "Hah, see, I told you so."

22. Who should do this meme?

Anyone needing blog fodder.

Sunday, November 05, 2006

Life Goes On. . .

I never meant to take a blog break. It just kind of happened. I haven't exactly been idle. I went to the middle school every day for more than a week and sold BooGrams during the two lunch periods as a PTO fundraiser. A BooGram is a party favor bag with a handful of treats and favors in it which the kids buy and exchange with their friends (sort of like Valentines.) We made 2,080 and sold the majority of them for fifty cents a piece (or 12 for $5.)

BooGrams

There was the end of soccer season, and the end of soccer season pizza party with trophies. (Surely I'm not the only Soccer Mom who has a special celebratory end-of-season dance?)

Soccer Trophy

Yesterday the one Christmas Bazaar that I am taking part in this year took place. There were a couple of (largely unnecessary)days of frenzied beading to add to my wares. I share a table with a couple of friends (fellow soccer moms from our sons' team of several years.) We had a great time chatting amongst the three of us, and we saw lots of people we knew among the light turn-out for the bazaar (we're blaming yucky weather, although it was warm and dry in the hotel ballroom,) but we sold practically nothing, as did most of the other craftspeople. Sigh. I had lots of left-overs. Lots.

Bazaar Leftovers

And of course there was Halloween itself. Audrey will spend yet more time on the therapy couch in the future because I didn't get around to making the Renaissance maiden costume she chose (the one with more pieces than my wedding dress that I was supposed to alter to fit her from a women's size 6 pattern.) She dug out a wizard's robe I made in 2001 (also with more pieces than my wedding dress and largely handsewn in parts due to awful sequined fabric cuffs which the sewing machine refused to go through,) wore school girl clothes underneath, teased her hair, carried a book and a wand and was the best Hermione Granger ever. James joined a group of his friends, wore his fantasy adventuring clothes, carried his glowing sword, stole his dad's awesome boots and trick-or-treated around the neighborhood while singing Christmas carols. Yes, Christmas carols. If that's their idea of Halloween mischief (and we are talking about 13 year old boys,) I'm a very lucky mom. Today's chore, to get rid of the remaining Halloween decorations. This is what is left, but we had more.

Halloween Front Porch

I suppressed the urge to put together a still life of soup and tea and cold medication, but I'm also on day nine of a respiratory infection with a persistent cough that has been complicating our lives. The whole family stayed home on Thursday with it. We slept late (other than me getting up several times with puppies and John putting in a cameo appearance at the hospital to see a patient in intensive care and tell them he wouldn't be in clinic,) we had a fire in the fire place, we drank lots of tea and soup, and played several games of Munchkin, an evil and addictive card game. Unfortunately the Thursday we were home sick was also the Thursday I was supposed to get my pincushion for the Pincushion Swap out in the mail. I've got some catching up to do. There is a plan:

Supplies for Pincushion Swap

I'm looking forward to receiving my pincushion, too, because apparently I'm under-pincushioned at my house. I woke up and found this in the living room catch-all bowl this morning:

Pomegranate Pincushion

Thanks to my husband for retrieving the stray needle, and apologies for there not being a pincushion where he thought there should be. Audrey's digital camera was handy this morning, but I noticed sort of belatedly that she has the date stamp turned on.