rain on tulips

CC finally took off tonight, and spontaneously let go and walked!! In the end, he was taking between eight and ten steps back and forth from Fuul to me and back again!

He’ll be 11 months old in three days!

Methinks we are in trouble!!!

(Although, it sure is cute that he is obviously entertaining himself while he’s walking: each time he takes off, and often before he reaches his destination, he lets out this squealing belly laugh with giggles! Its so cute!!)

…because I just realized that after the huge gob of photos surrounding Christmas, I’d not taken any shots of the kids this year! Oops!

Enjoy…

(or random bits of information)

Fuul mentioned yesterday that, after all this time that I’ve suffered without my comments, that he could just stick in a new database field that the program can’t find now, so I would have current comments, and then later he can re-incorporate the old files when he finds them.

Now, if I could just get him to do either one of them!

On a side note: if you’ve noticed that my content has lacked interest or even much coherency of late, I’m still struggling to get back on my feet and back on schedule this year: what with the kids having been off school so much, and my trying to figure out how to work with EK doing school/therapy an additional day each week, well, things I took for granted (like monday morning laundry) just aren’t happening, and its taking me some time to get all the kinks worked out. Needless to say, when I get to my normal evening blog time, I’m lacking in the mental capacity to commit anything to the bits!

But I’m trying, and just wanted to let anyone who’s still out there know that!

Thanks!

Sorry we didn’t call… life and all that! But every time I walked past the calendar in the hallway and saw your name up there, I thought about it! That’s close, yes??

Love you, Mom!!

I started a cute knit hat for EK on DPNs*, and was making some good progress last night…

…Came down the halls to sounds of distress from the older kids to find the whole thing in a pile, 4 loose needles, random bits unraveled, on the floor. Seems EK had been trying to help out.

Think I’ll work on a simpler straight-needle project for a few days, before I get up the nerve to start in on that one again.

Sigh.

*DPN=Double Pointed Needles

So, I’ve been doing knitting recently — not tons, but I’ve been working on DA’s promised camouflage afghan, and a couple small projects in between (like CC’s sweater, that I still plan to get a picture of up soon!). I keep asking Fuul if he would like something that I knit for him. I offered to do a knit hat… one with Star Wars stuff on it, even! Or Knucks (fingerless gloves) — with Star Wars stuff on it! He’s just not interested!

So. Yesterday, he comes up with this great gem: “Why don’t you just pick on of those projects to do for me, and then, instead of knitting, spend all that time that you would have made something, and write instead!”

Bright boy.

I promise I’m going to get some writing done soon, Fuul. Really.

CC was lying down for his nap, sound asleep in his bed.

20 minutes later I hear him crying.

Instead of running right down, I waited. One, Two, Five minutes. And then nothing.

Five minutes after the crying stopped, I wandered into the bedroom to make sure he’s not emptied my bookcase from next to his bed*.

Little Boy is turned 180°, all scrunched up in his blankets… but sound asleep all the same!!!

Woohoo!

May this be the beginning of him learning to self-settle, and may my nights become more sleep-laden and less intermittantly-so!

ZZZzzzzzzz!

*He figured out this trick last weekend. Pulled all the closest books into his crib with him.

I was at Target today, picking up milk and bread and jeans for a little boy who’s outgrown all his pants this month (ahem — CC), and for fun I stopped and looked at the women’s jeans*.

I found some great stretch, midrise, bootcut jeans, and, since I had CC and EK there in the stroller, plus the cart dragging behind me, I sifted through them all, and grabbed one in the size that I usually wear**.

Or so I thought.

I got home, and tried on the jeans. They went on well, a little snug, but they are stretch, and its better they are snug to start out, so when they ‘relax’ over the first day they become perfect. But, they are snug, not tight.

So, walk around, sit, stand, check them in the mirror. When I am sure they fit and I like them, then I start pulling off the tags. And that’s when I see it.

The first tag I pull of says Size 6. Yup, you read that right: a S-I-X!!

Wow! That is not the size I thought I grabbed off the shelf. Not even by a long shot!

But, if thats the size I am into now (even with all my whining and obvious belly-weight gain over the holidays — darn those sugar cookies and buttercream frosting!) I may need to run back and grab another pair or two!

Because, I’ve not worn that size jeans in a good number of years!

(I guess the day’s looking up, in spite of another afternoon migraine that just won’t let up, and insists on ramping up the intensity with the intervening hours… )

But… a size six. Wow.

*OK, it wasn’t so much for fun, because one of my two pair that fit has worn through/torn all down one side of a back pocket… oops!
**I’ve found that, often, its easier to buy, try on at home, have Fuul check them out for me, then return stuff later. Its the same technique I use for clothes for him, as well.

Tonight I put some pattern-work words into DA’s camouflage afghan that I’m working on, but I’m not sure that its showing up very well (and I’ve not been able to lay it out well to see it flat and in good light to check).

I may end up having to do a duplicate stitch over the original work to help it show up more. Or something.

(And something else with duplicate stitch: using duplicate stitch as a weaving in method for finishing knitwork).

• Drove Fuul to his interview in Big City Downtown — good thing, too, because I’ve been there a few times and didn’t get lost doing it!
• Got a little lost driving back across the lake to our town
• Dropped off DA’s doctor release form for wrestling at the doctor’s office; afraid it won’t be completed before its due at the school tomorrow. sigh
• Picked up GC.
• Drove back to Big City Downtown to pick up Fuul; got there just as he finished up
• Drove back across the lake, picked up lunch, and drove home. Fuul changed clothes and headed out to work.
• GC and AE went to piano lessons.
• I ironed JS and AE’s quilt fabrics so they would be done before quilt class
• All at the same time: Quilt class for JS, AE & I; Cub Scout Pack meeting for DS; and a PPI meeting for Fuul. DA stayed home with GC and the babies until Fuul finished his meeting. Talk about everything happening at once!
• Fuul fell asleep on the couch watching TV, and I’m going to head that way myself

I feel like today’s been one of those go-go-go type of days, but when I put all the things I did onto my calendar, it seemed rather empty! EK had school, CC and EK got new shoes, movies got returned, fabric got ironed, plans got made, dinner got done. Somehow that ate up all the entire day, and I’ve not a lot to show for it in the end.

Tomorrow is even fuller… Fuul has an interview with a contracting company in the morning, then there’s piano lessons and scouts and quilt classes and sports medical releases and prescription refills and laundry… far too many things to keep up with, and in the end I’ll have nothing to show for that day, either.

Ah well. Someday, hopefully, I’ll have lots to show for all these long, weird days.

Fuul informed me last night that, no matter how much he works, we will never be ‘rich’ based on that. And that I need to get off my butt and start working on my writing, because it holds the possibility of our being able to make more money. No guarantees. But its a lot more likely than ever doing it based on his income.

No pressure, of course! LOL

(New idea last night, based on the Mythbusters Pirate Special… still just amorphous stuff, but there’s some good stuff there!)

I went to another session of just reviewing stuff with the local karate instructor… surprise, surprise: all the forms are still there in my head, if not quite where I can call them up at will. I have a lot of the forms written/described in my notebook from forever ago, but am missing the bulk of 3 Kata, and all of 4 and 5 Pinans. I’m also missing Combinations 11 and 17 from my written stuff. (Hey, K!? Wanna write them out for me, in general, so I can have a refresher for when I work through them?? I’d love you forever!*)

I spent almost 2 hours working, doing mostly forms, and one run-through of combinations. Mostly, though, I did Statue of the Crane. About 12 times. I landed most of the jumps. But boy, are my knees going to hurt tomorrow!

Anyhow. Not much else going on. Still need to decide if I’m going to pay for lessons here, or figure out how to make regular trips to the old school (regular being the key word!) in order to get going again!

*Like I don’t already! Ha!

I have been freezing for the past 3 days, and its getting old! (Funny to feel so cold, when the weather is finally returning to Northwest Drizzly Grey Normal!)

Yesterday I wore 3 shirts layered one over the other, plus shoes and socks and jeans and a blanket and my craft gloves. And I’m still cold!!

Last night I spent an hour while I watched TV and nursed CC looking for knit sweater patterns, hoping to feel warmer!! I found a great pattern for wool soakers (now I just need to find some good, not bank-breaking wool!), a wonderfully cool ‘nerd’ scarf, a cool turn-of-the-century-esque corset-style sweater, a fun looking crochet earflap hat for toddlers, a very tempting knit skirt, a wrap with sleeves, instructions for Kitchener grafting (cool assembly technique!), and a wonderful, knit with any size needle and any style yarn adjustable pattern toddler cardigan called Haiku. Still trying to find the right sweater for me… and still cold!

Updated to add that this sweater might be fun, and fitted… and easy to do! (And WARM!?)

Updated again to add these instructions for a figure eight cast-on using two needles.
(more…)

In case it looks as though I do and do and do and never finish: I did finish the blue knit hoodie sweater for CC yesterday! Its very cute! (He’s not so fond of the hood, but he doesn’t like hats in general!)

Maybe I’ll try to pull out my camera later and get a picture of him in his new duds??