Moments to Treasure from the Week

Not much knitting or anything done this week.  I mainly spent the week trying to meet a deadline, resulting in CG watching approximately four hours of Mickey on Thursday. To make up for it, we spent basically the entire day at the park on Friday.  This morning we had a photo shoot with Stephanie and discussed a possible second photographer role for me in her growing business.  I enjoyed our session and her company, she's a very cool kind of person.  I'm looking into investing in a used DSLR camera and  selling off my 35mm film cameras, with a promise to myself to buy an old Canon AE-1 (my very first camera which was stolen from me in Tucson) when I have the money and a darkroom.  I love digital, but nothing beats the feel of film, or the smell of a darkroom for that matter.  Anyone have any ideas where I can pick up a good used DSLR, preferably not a $2,000.00 one?

Simply Ten Good Things*

Dyeing eggs, for Easter deviled eggs
Beginning our own family traditions
A chocolate bunny
The excitement of Easter morning
A new handknit sweater
That sweet neck
That suit, oh I love that suit...!
Mama made toys and fresh flowers
Birds singing
Trees leafing out...

There's nothing quite like a list of ten lovely things to start out the week, especially on such a grey and rainy day. It grounds me in the now and reminds me of all the good I have in my life, despite the hardships coming.  Have a happy Monday!



*Inspired by Soulemama, though not nearly as lovely as hers.

Two

Connor is now two, two, TWO!!  When did this happen?  When did my baby become a boy? This past year has been so amazing.  He went from a little baby with a funny crawl to a boy that runs and climbs and goes down the slide all by himself.  He tells me "Connor's turn, mama"  when he wants a sip of my drink or to talk on the phone.  He climbs everything, knows his colors and even helps feed the dogs and make dinner.  My baby's a big boy, and I couldn't be prouder.

Then and now

The New Year

This is it, the New Year, the year in which we all change something.  Swear to ourselves that this year will be different, this year we will be better, this year we will do better for ourselves, our loved ones, our pets.  This year we will set and maintain goals, we will be more fun, more spontaneous, more exciting, more responsible, more, more, more...

That's something isn't it?  These broad promises we make to ourselves and then break and then torture ourselves over breaking them. We set ourselves up for disappointment, we think "Surely I must be able to keep these five, ten, eighteen promises to myself...There is soo much time in a year!  Certainly 365 days is plenty of time to do everything?"  I tell you this, after a disappointing year of breaking all my resolutions, this year I only hope. 

This year I hope will be better than the last.  This year I hope to do things for myself that I normally don't do...this year I hope to make more and do more.  This year I hope I can speak up when I am upset, rather than bite my tongue for fear of hurting the feelings of others.  This year I hope I can live more gently and thoughtfully, spend more time with my family, and find a way to make it all work.  This year I hope I can help people better understand me and I hope I can be clear when expressing myself.  This year I hope I can let go of resentment and jealousy and live happily within my own life with my own limitations. 

Most of all, this year I hope Ryan gets what he wants so that he can be happy and my that little boy (no longer a baby but a toddler, a boy) continues to grow and thrive and be healthy and happy.


Happy New Year to you, my wish is that you can realize at least some of your hopes for this new year.

Le Sigh

Wow! What a jerk, I've been. Not only did I blow my resolution, but I've taken months to finally get back on here and post something! I really admire those moms who post every day. They must hand their kids over to their husbands and RUN to the computer to put together a post. I wish I was more like that. In any event a lot has been going on since my last post. Connor began crawling and is now walking, well running really. He has also figured out how to go up the stairs and up a stepladder, but not down. He runs away and laughs when I chase him. It's all very cute. On the other side of it, I think he may be starting the "Terrific Twos" early. He screams, I mean SCREAMS when he does not get his way. HE has temper tantrums quite often. I do my best to ignore the screaming and crying and I explain to him why things are the way they are and give him something else to do. It works about half the time. So, what else? Well, the little monkey turned one on the 8th of April and Steve got married on the 10th of April. It was a nice wedding, although I STILL haven't seen any of their pictures.

On the job front, I still don't have one, but I need one before the end of summer. Sigh. The thought of putting Connor in daycare makes me queasy. I don't like the idea of non-family looking after him, but millions of people do it, so I know I just need to man up about it. In knitting, not a whole lot, some dishcloths some swiffer covers I have 2 pair of socks and a sweater on the needles. I'd really like to start designing. So maybe I will, I just really don't like gauge swatches! Again, I'm just going t have to suck it up, because I have an idea for a sweater for the C-Man and it's not going to write itself.

We went to AZ in May for my grandparents 60th wedding anniversary. I had a great time. We all did. We took Connor to the zoo for the first time and Ryan's second time. They loved it! There were bears and monkeys, lions and rhinos and elephants. It was great. i wish I could afford to go out there more often. It's always so nice to spend time with my grandparents. I really love and miss them so much.

I let Connor play with markers yesterday. It was both good and bad. Good: he had a lot of fun and I have his first masterpiece on the fridge. Bad: When he got bored he sucked on the end of the marker and we both still bear the marks of a green marker. Apparently they wash off of everything but skin. I think I'll get him some of those Crayola ones that only write on the special paper. Might be easier.

Well, I think that gets you mostly caught up with things. The stuff I skipped over is all of your typical family drama. Which I can't really talk about. Let's just say I'm hurt and I'm upset and I'm sad for Connor because he's really the one that loses on all of this. Speaking of Connor I'm going to end this with a few pictures of my baby boy.

On his birthday

At the splash park in Tempe, AZ

At McCormick Ranch Railroad Park in Scottsdale, AZ

Plants

I started keeping plants this year, well last year, but towards the end, and have managed to keep five, yes FIVE plants alive. Which is a small miracle because plants never tell you when they need water, they just up and die on you. Stupid martyrs. So I have two ivys a creeping charlie, some hanging flowers and a Christmas cactus, currently blooming. I also pulled up some wild mint from the backyard and put it in a pot in the house. It's growing like mad, and I have no idea what to do with it! Connor voted for eating it right out of the pot. Well, not so much eating as pulling leaves off and sucking on them until something else catches his interest. I voted that suggestion down, so now I just need to figure out what to do with this out of control mint. Suggestions? While you're ruminating, I am going to go out and get some pots to replant the cactus and the flowers, they are quickly outgrowing their homes. Maybe I'll go to Annie's they have a sign luring me over there...something about having everything I need to make my own terrarium...

Some things...

Apparently if you don't send thank you cards out right away people get upset. Who knew? Well, in any event, they are going out en masse today. In order to acheive that little feat I stopped bathing my baby. Yes that's right in exchange for "thank you's" I had to have a filthy baby for a few days. I mean, I wiped him with a washcloth but as we all know, that's not the same as a bath! He's cool with it though, he hasn't been crying about it and I can't write my name on him by wiping away filth, so all in all it's no big deal.

Moving on! Some things I have been knitting, I knit a bunch of bonnets and booties for an auction for my church, but of course I didn't take pics of everything. I also knit something for a friend's baby girl (bonnet & booties) and OF COURSE was in such a rush to mail it that I didn't take a photo of either, but they were super cute, lavender and flamingo pink! Can't you just picture it with little jeans and a long sleeve skull tee? I knit a hat for my dad, devil stylie, and an earflap hat for K and a Hannah hat for S. I'm starting a battle bonnet for Steve and mom & Anne are having gifts knit as well. And I need to do up another Gnomey hat for A's boy twin, the girl twin's is finished. Oh and I knit a Gnomey hat, a pixie hat and a pumpkin hat for C. So that's that, let's begin the photos! Of course, you can also access this on ravelry, too.

MONSTAH



Snowbunny



Laundry Day



Hannah Hat



Connor's Gnomey




Ok, so I have more photos but I haven't e-mailed them to myself from Ryan's phone yet, so we'll just have to wait on those.

I sent Ryan up justa minute ago to handle getting Connor down for a nap and it's completely silent. I wonder if they passed put from the stress of it all? Maybe Ryan actually got Connor to sleep and in his crib! I wonder...I better check on them...Nope, asleep on Ry's chest, but sleeping in his room. It's the little victories. Well, I better get to work over here. Until next time!

That didn't take long

Boy, it sure didn't take long for me to start breaking my New Year's resolution! Well, can I beg off and blame it on a lousy internet connection and wanting to maximize my last couple days with the mom & Steve?

Monday was a great day for all of us, Steve babysat Connor so Mom and I could go out. We hit the salvation army where I got two wicker baskets, one for shoes the other for laundry, and three books for under $15.00! The we went to B&N and I got a couple knitting mags and a fun little book, the latest in the Undead & Unwed series. (I know, I know, but sometimes my brain needs a little bubblegum!) I also checked for Breaking Dawn in paperback, but they only had hardcover...is it in paperback yet? I sooo got sucked into that series. What can I say? I love vampire books. Anyway, so that was Monday and then on Tuesday it was time to drop them off at the airport. It was so nice to see them both, and I'll see them again in April for Connor's birthday and Stevie's wedding. It was such a help to have mom out here. Sometimes it's really nice to be able to have my hands free for an extended period of time!

This week I'm starting Connor on (hopefully) consistent naps in his crib, and not in the swing, in my arms, on the couch next to me, etc. and then we're going to move on to nighttime in the crib, consistently (hopefully). So I hope that goes well, but I think I might be in for an exhausting week or two. Right now he's playing in his pack n' play with his wooden caterpillar, but he just started making the sleepy noises so I think I'll go put him down for a nap. Pictures of my most recent knit things when I reconnect my laptop to the internet!

Bugger

I caught that bug, that nasty stomach bug that's been going around the area for weeks now. Normally, for whatever reason, my immune system is awesome and I wouldn't catch that nasty bug, or I would but it would be far less severe that what other people got, but not this time. This time I caught it and it had me down for the count for at least two days, and while yesterday I was feeling a bit better, by the time I went to bed that night I felt like garbage all over again. I eventually decided, upon Ry's brilliant suggestion, that I should sleep sitting up for two reasons the first was to avoid vomiting and the second was to avoid aspirating on said vomit...just in case. Luckily, I was able to avoid both, and by 3:30am I could lay propped up on pillows on my side and sleep until the alarm rang at 6:00am. I still, however had to go to work and class today. It's the first time I've left the house since Thursday. I could skip class tonight, but truthfully, I volunteered to cover a case for my second class and my Prof in my first class said all information relevant to the final would be covered in February, and let's not forget about that little thing of saving up my absences so I can miss classes after the baby makes his way into the world. So, as you can see, I just have to suck it up and deal. (However,I still don't feel good and I definitely would rather be in my pj's lying in bed until I feel better, but it would violate The Rule. The Rule is that if there's no fever and/or no vomit, then there's no staying home. Too bad! Deal with it, that's The Rule!)

That's why its been so quiet around these parts, sickness. Ry first, then me and hopefully that'll be all. Due to The Sickness, I have not been knitting for fear of infecting my knits with The Sickness. I also realized last night that I should soak my toothbrush in boiling water in order to avoid further infecting myself with the The Sickness. I didn't do it, but I did use the scalding, burning almost boiling hot water from the sink to rinse my brush off with this morning. Hopefully that will suffice. It occurred to me that toothbrush may be affecting my recovery, that and the fact that my blood volume has doubled but my immune system has not, so it's a lot harder for my body to fight off The Sickness.

That's all I've got for you. Sorry it's all about being sick.


...One more thing, I decided that I will try to replace my swears with "bugger" because of the little guy. I figure "bugger" is only offensive to the Brits and since i don't live there, i wouldn't really be offending anyone. It also prevents me from teaching the bambino swears inadvertently. So it's a win-win.

Lay-offs

Lay-offs are coming people, layoffs are coming. Even if I survive this round, there will be another when even more of our state aid is cut off in July. The upside? I get to be home with the baby and collect a check and because we were preparing for a period of time when my maternity leave would be unpaid, we have enough money put away to account for two months worth of my regular pay. (Thank God.) There is also a great state health insurance plan that we’ll qualify for that will either be free or have such a low premium that we’ll be paying less than what we are now, but getting better insurance.

All that said, it’s still massively scary, and will require some definite adjustments in our lives. Things will work out, though. Why? Because things always work out, one way or another.

Real Life Begins Again

Well, the holidays are over, which means my vacation from the blog and real life is over. Not that I wanted to vacation away from the blog, but you know how it is during the holidays...you'd rather be with family and friends eating pie that sitting in front of a cold laptop, typing away...at least I would rather be doing that. In any event, much knitting has been done in my absence from you. I knitted Stevie a bulky hat of my own design (to be posted shortly),

a bulky cowl and matching hat for my mom (photo quality's awful, I was in a rush taking the photos literally as we were walking out the door to the airport),


a February Baby Sweater in a pretty, rustic green color and began a pair of socks for Stevie for his b-day. (He knows, so the only surprise will be the color.)
I also got to get a picture (finally) of the hat that I knit for Stevie last year, apparently its his favorite hat, knit with his favorite blues. I am so glad he likes it and wears it!

One last pic, here's the Selbu mittens I made for my swap partner this year.


So that's my knitting, except for the FBS which is blocking as we speak, and waiting for it's little toggle buttons to be sewn on. The Baby Surprise Jacket (BSJ) is fun knitting, but I like the FBS a lot better. Maybe I'll change my mind as I get closer to the end, we'll see.

In regular life news, I started my last semester of classes (FOREVER) this week. The classes are all pretty interesting and I'm looking forward to what this semester holds for me. Quite a few people think I'm a little crazy for not taking this semester off because of the impending bambino, but I figure since I'll be on maternity leave, it will actually be better to finish up than to take a semester off and have to work and care for a baby and go to classes in the fall. Just makes more sense to only deal with baby and class, and not have to worry about work too. Anyway, I talked to all of my professors and talked to some people about note taking for me in my absence and everybody’s been very happy and excited for me, my prof’s told me not to worry about missing classes, and I’ve found some willing note-takers for me, so I’m pretty much set for the semester!

In other news, did anyone watch the Globes on Sunday? We only watched a portion of it because my main interest is in what they wear. So I was perusing the best and worst dressed lists and found that these two were put on several worst dressed lists, even though they look gorgeous: (Drew was on them mostly for her hair and Banks was on them for the dress, which I think is elegant and quite lovely.)




And THIS one was put on ALL the best dressed lists!


Am I crazy? Or is that the most UNFLATTERING dress you've ever seen? It's like a sliver sack tied in the middle, it does nothing for her shape! And, I'm sorry, if you've nursed 3 babies, you need a bra. That's just all there is to it. Sigh. I saw those lists and fell like I was living an world where everyone was drinking the kool-aid except for me. I know why she was on it, it's because apparently Hollywood thinks she's some kind of saint, never mind the fact that she can't raise her kids without a nanny for each one of them, nor can she take a vacation short two nannies, oh no, they had to call in the other two, apparently a one-to-one ratio on those kids is just not enough. God forbid you parent them for five minutes. Ok, sorry, for the rant, I'm just so sick of them and the fact that each time they reproduce its like the second coming or something.

Moving on, Ry's Mom & sister volunteered to have a baby shower for me, which I thought was very sweet. We're still working out the scheduling, but I think it'll be the 2nd to last weekend in February, so that will give us about a month to see what we still need and assemble anything big we may receive. Although, i get these e-mails telling me what this week's activities should be, and this week (week 29) they say I should be assembling the baby furniture. What furniture? I gotta tell, ya, we haven't bought a darn thing yet except for a few onesies for the little guy, and a cute little pair of baby sneakers for $2.50 at TJ Maxx. We may get that room organized and painted this weekend though, considering it'll be so cold outside it just won't be worth going to any of the place we'd wanted to for the long weekend. I wonder how long it would take for us to get to 60 degree weather from here?? I guess I shouldn't complain though, I heard on NPR yesterday that in North Dakota with the windchill factor it was 70 below. It's so cold there that they can't do field sobriety tests outdoors. On the flip side, the crime rate goes down, apparently criminals hate being out stealing cars and wallets in that kind of weather. Either way, I am VERY grateful that I do NOT live there.

Astra!

Well, we finally did it. We traded in our beater for a new car. At first i was not so keen on the new car payment that we would also be acquiring, but sine the old Saturn's door handles fell off and two of the four windows stopped rolling down and it’s iffy starting issue, we decided it was time. With Ry’s long commute every day and a baby on the way we thought two safe cars are better than one safe car and one death trap. So, with that in mind, we heard an excellent deal on the Saturn Astra being offered and we dove right in. What I love about it, is that even though it’s a Saturn, it’s a German engineered/German made car AND it has a huge sun roof that goes all the way to the back seat. Ry loves that it handles really well for inner city driving (great for where Ry works) and has a stick shift. So all in all we’re pretty pleased. Ry picked it up last night, so I haven’t had a chance to take a picture of it, but here’s a picture I pulled up on Google images. (Ours is the same silver color.)

Hope and Change, People, Hope and Change

I just want to take a moment to say that although I do my best to keep this blog free from any political ideology, I think this past election was far too momentous in our lives as Americans to fail to say anything. Whatever your political leanings may be, I hope you at least fell proud of this country for basing its political decisions not on race, but on qualifications. Not on skin color but on basic political ideologies and reasons. I know that some people out there did vote based on race, but I think its apparent that those who did were in the minority. considering that it was not that long ago that African Americans could not drink from the same fountains, could not ride the same elevators and could not even go to the same school as others, I think we can say, as Americans, we achieved something important this election year. To be honest, I wasn't sure this was something I would see in my lifetime, but I am so glad that I have been a part of history.

Then (1956):


Now(2008):


We had two outstanding presidential candidates this year, and for the most part they acted with grace and dignity throughout their campaigns. They are both devoted to our nation and devoted to getting our country back on track, even if it means they have to "reach across the aisle". I was unable to see Obama's acceptance speech on Tuesday, but I was able to watch McCain's concession speech. We should all be proud of the graciousness with which he delivered that speech and the kind and decent words he had to say. Congratulations to us all, Republican, Democrat, Independent, libertarian and the rest. We should all be proud of what we and our nation has achieved this election year.

Happy Halloween

Just a quick note to say Happy Halloween! Hope you have a good one, whatever you decide to do!

Quickly

Quick post for your reading pleasure, many exciting things have been happening that I need to update you all about, but it will have to wait until next week. (Are you waiting in suspense? You should be.) Something I was thinking about the other day was how disappointed I am when some of my favorite bloggers don't post every day or even every week. I always think to myself "Hey, I'm trying to keep up with you and your creative life here. Throw me a bone!" Then I realized what a hypocrite I was being! I don't post weekly, though I try, and I definitely don't post daily! Who am I to judge? I always have a rationalization for it though, "I'm in law school, I'm busy" "I'm too tired to post after classes" "I'm always on the computer for school and work, I just want time to knit/sew/relax" So if those are all my excuses, what do you suppose a mother of three's excuses are? Or a photographer with baby's excuses are? Or anyone elses excuses are? Surely they are at least as good as, if not better than mine! In that vein, I have decided to be less of a judgy-judgerson until I can get my act together. No promises, but I will attempt to be a bit better about the old blog here. Even if it's just a quick update. Well, I'm off! Two big projects due for two big classes!

Oh no!

Oh. my. GOD. I sent my boss's boss an e-mail that said "What the hell? Has this even been assigned yet?"

It was supposed to go to the office administrator.

Not my BOSS'S BOSS!!

Oh.my.God. Hopefully I don't get fired or severely reprimanded over this.



Update
I didn't get fired, I sent my boss's boss an apologetic and self-denigrating e-mail, and then met with him in his office. He said not to worry about it, I was over-reacting and he didn't care. (Thank God) Still. How embarassing. I'm going to have to double check if I hit "forward" or "reply" from now on.

Ahhhhh....Sweet, sweet release

I am done, finito, fin, with my finals! Yes, I turned in my last final yesterday and then went on a much needed kitchen cleaning spree and then made an apron. Yup, I cleaned thoroughly, I even wiped down the microwave, toaster oven and wiped the grease off the teapot (I don't know how it became greasy, it was here and greasy when we moved in.) After the kitchen was sparkling, I went right upstairs and used the pattern in Amy Karol's Bend the Rules book to make an apron out of a pretty half yard of fabric I had in my stash. I really love the way it turned out although next time I'll probably make it a bit wide and add a pocket or two.



Now that I have finished with my exams I can finally share that red sauce recipe I found. The Original recipe is here. The original is from the Orangette blog (If you have not been there yet, you really should see it, the description of food and the gorgeous ohotographs make the mouth water.) As I have said before, finding this simple red sauce recipe was a goal, a challenge presented to me in such a way that I would rise up and meet it. So I did, and in my quest I found Orangette's recipe, which served as an excelelnt base, but somehow did not seem quite perfect. Without further ado, here is my adapted recipe:

Infamous Red Sauce

28 oz. can of the best whole peeled italian tomatoes you can find (I like the organic tomatoes, the taste is perfect)
1 medium to large yellow onion peeled and halved
1 stick plus 2tb. of butter cut into pieces

Puree the tomatoes in the blender. Combine pureed tomatoes, butter and onion halves in a medium pot. I like to use our cast-iron pot for this, but it is not necessary. Cook for about 1 hour stirring occasionally. Remove onion before tossing with pasta.*






*Save the onion, it's excellent chopped up and put into the next mornings eggs or use it in a salsa.


Blogger hates me today and will not upload anymore photos, it just flat out refuses. I will add more later when blogger and I have reconciled.

Not enough time in the day

There is just not enough time in the day for me to create everything that is dancing around in my head and still get work, school work, time with the dogs and time with Ryan into my week. If only I had a clone that could sit through my classes instead of me, I'd be golden. Anyway, I am in the process of making some shoddy cloth napkins. I say they are shoddy because three are one size and three are another size and, quite frankly, I don't care! They are just for us because I want to stop buying so many darned paper towels. I'd like to relegate the paper towel use to the exclusive arena of cleaning up any of Sam’s little accidents and/or the occasional dog sick. We already have quite a few cotton cloth hand towels, and some fancy napkins, but I'd like to make a slew of cloth napkins. Part of the sizing problem was haste and my lack of a self-healing mat so that I can use my rotary cutter. I know, I know, it was very shortsighted of me to purchase a rotary cutter and no mat, but what can I say? At the time I had already blown most of my craft budget on yarn! I also hear tell of these lovely plastic squares that you can use in quilting to make a perfectly square square! Imagine that! So, obviously, when I purchase my self healing mat, I'll need to get a couple of different sized squares in order to make a few different sized napkins. I think, once the summer semester is over, I will be crafting more, especially since Ry will still be studying for the bar, and it's something I can do quietly upstairs so as not to disturb or distract him. If things go according to plan I may even be able to open an etsy shop in time for the holidays. Wouldn't that be lovely? At the very least it might help pay for some small portion of the wedding expenses if any of it sells, that is.. In other news Ryan and I have decided that Saturdays will be our day together. “Special Saturdays” is what we have dubbed them, and last Saturday we when to the local farmers market and bought fresh lettuce, tomatoes, strawberries and rhubarb. (There isn’t a lot in yet.) On Sunday I made strawberry rhubarb pie, for the first time, and it was delicious. I’d show you a picture, but we gobbled it up! The only thing I would change in the recipe, is that I would bake it for longer than the recommended time, it was a bit too liquid at first (strawberries juice like a sonofagun) and had to go in for another twenty minutes; and I would add much less sugar, there’s just no need for it, the strawberries are already sweet and the rhubarb is tangy sweet, so I’d reduce the sugar by at least half. We also went to see Indiana Jones, great summer movie, perfect little escape on a muggy day! (Thank you!) Moving on, this Saturday evening we have friends coming over for a barbecue at night and we’ve decided we want to go back the market and get more lettuce, I also want to get more strawberries and rhubarb so I can make an upside down cake for barbecue. But other than that we’re not sure what to do. Maybe a picnic or maybe there’s a festival or something. I'll have to check into that...I think that the Taste of Amherst is happening that weekend, so maybe we will do that, if the weather cooperates. So anyway I had a weird dream last night that I was elected as a State Rep. All I had to do to be elected was give an impromptu speech in front of the five other Reps and then they texted me later that day to ask me for the correct spelling of my name so I could be put on payroll. I didn't even live in the town I was representing and they didn't care, just wanted me on payroll. When they texted me Ry and I were walking around some little woodsy town that I've never seen or been to before, holding hands. Very weird dream.

Gym Story

The gym I go to is in the heart of the downtown area, it’s the only place to exercise that is within walking distance to many of the offices here, so most of the people that come and go, do so between noon and one, and are normal business type people. Occasionally though, you get a weirdie. For instance, a few days ago, a little old Chinese man in khaki pants, a white undershirt, wool socks and Birkenstock sandal was just pedaling away on the recumbent bike. That was the first time I’d seen him and haven’t seen him since, however seeing an aged Chinese man in street clothes pedaling his heart out on an exercise bike is a bit startling. Then we have the attorney who wears short-shorts (I mean really short, horrifyingly short) and reads the paper while he leisurely pedals along on a standing exercycle. There’s the runner who when he’s finished on the treadmill stretches out in front of the ladies on the elliptical machines in a desperate attempt to have someone, anyone pay attention to him. There’s a young man who, when he runs on the treadmill turns it up so high that he has to grip the back of it so he can keep up and force himself to continue to run. There are two ladies, one heavy one thin who discuss in the locker room how thin the one lady is and when they work out, the heavy one doesn’t even bother to put her hair up because she moves at a snails pace on the elliptical and therefore never sweats. I guess the thin one doesn’t have the heart to tell her, that she probably needs to get the old heart rate up to lose some weight. The best so far, however, was yesterday. Yesterday the all the elliptical machines were taken, so T and I did the stair climber, the bikes and the treadmill, kind of like a gym triathalon. We’re on the stair climber when suddenly someone’s cell phone rings. Yes, you read it correctly; someone had brought their cell phone with them to work out. I can accept that under certain circumstances, like you’re waiting for a verdict to be returned, your wife is due to go into labor soon, your husband is coming out of surgery (although I don’t know why you’d be at the gym instead of the hospital, but still) or something along those lines. So, the phone rings and I look over and it’s some forty year old faux-blond woman in fluorescent orange shortie-shorts and a white tank top, and she answers the phone. The ensuing conversation is something along the lines of a woman giving an order to either a dog or her husband. I’m going to guess it was her husband because she didn’t strike me as the kind of person that would train her dog to dial the phone that would take too much time away from her “me time”. Then she hangs up, tucks the bottom of her tank top into the top of her tank top…you know that look, that kind of ‘80’s dance video meets low-end prostitute look? (They used to do it with t-shirts in the ‘80s) The kind of look that a kid of a teenager could pull off, but on a a 40-something looks like a desperate attempt at trying to be young and super-hot. Anyway, that’s what happened, and then T and I went to the bikes. Then the phone rings, again and she answers it, again. On this call she is talking in all sweet sounds and words, I heard things like “I love you so much” and “Well that’s why I have all this love for you.” (This is clearly not a verdict coming in.) Then she does the unthinkable, she gets off the elliptical and sits on the weight bench in the middle of the gym to toss her hair and finish her call. She does not go into the locker room for a private conversation or even out to the deck to be alone. (There is hardly any one ever on the deck.) No, she makes herself as visible as possible by sitting on the weight bench in the middle of the gym. At first I gave her the benefit of the doubt, thinking she must intend to continue her workout after the call. Nope. She finished the call and then went in the locker room to shower, change back into her street clothes, and leave the gym. T and I looked at each other, and then suddenly T shouted, “LOOK AT MEEEEEEEE!!! LOOK AT MEEEEEEE!!! I’M VERY BUSY AND IMPORTANT!!!” Perfect.

Hi! I missed you!

Where have I bene and what have I been up to that I wasn't blogging regularly? Well, I've been busy! First it was finals, and then on the 17th Ry graduated from lawschool. It was so wonderful to see him in his cap, gown and hood. He looked so handsome. He also won an award, highest achievement in labor law! (So proud.) When his sister S saw him acceot the award she started crying and my FMIL got a little choked up. Me? I thought he was keeping it a secret, so I was excited when I heard, but couldn't beleive he kept it a secret from me! Well, as it turns out, he didn't even know, it was a surprise to all of us. Afterwards we had a drunken grad party at his parents house (just family). it was lovely, lots of food booze and good company, just what a grad party should be!
Then the following weekend we went to the MAss sheep and wool festival in Cummington Mass, where we watched the border collie trials and met up with my friends in the knitting group, Deb, MA and Lexi. I (of course) bought llama and some gorgeous alapca yarn, all natural and undyed, something about that espresso brown alapca and creamy white llama and alpaca really called to me. Then on Sunday we went to Ry's Aunties house for his cousin's girlfriend's baby shower. It was lovely Auntie really knows how to hostes a party! I knit Anouk and matching saartje booties. (pics will be posted soon) I think they were well recieved, she was so excited about all of her gifts it was hard to tell! When we got back I went upstairs for a nap, and then we went over to J&M's place for some drinks and didn't get home and to bed until 3am! MOnday was a study day (because classes started last week), and here I am today. Now that classes have begun, there's not much going on in my life, mostly because we're squeezing a semester of classes into less than 2 months. Can you imagine? The reading load is insane! Well, I'm in class right now, so I'm gonna split, talk to you soon!