It's here, it's here!

    I checked the tracking on my jacket this morning, and it arrived at our local little post office this morning at 8:10. In small print under that, it said to allow 1 or 2 more days for "processing". That really irked me, as our local post office is really small. What will it take them two days to do to my package? What could they possibly do to warrant even a one day delay?


    As I was going to watch the older grandson this afternoon, I went to the post office first. Lo and behold, my package had somehow not needed the one or two days for "processing". I had a yellow package slip in our box. Yippee Skippee I was so happy! I then went and got some gas, then went on to relieve Mason's regular sitter. I will be needed again on Friday. I have no problem with this, as I welcome the chance to hang out with both him and his sister. Today I got to get her off the school bus. She's in 1st grade now. I am impressed. She is so smart, and well behaved.


     When I got there, Mason was napping, so I started working on a new crochet project. I have decided to make some of my famous "Lazy Bitch Cat Toys" to sell at craft fairs and such places. If you don't remember my cat toy, there is an earlier post in which I talk about it. There are even photos. I got three done during and after  Mason's nap.


    Now I'm waiting for Hubs to get home, so he can see my jacket. Then I'll cook dinner. I'm getting hungry. Later! 

Time got away

    Time got away from me yesterday, and I never got a chance to write to you! Today almost got away from me too. I babysat my beautiful grandbabies today. We had fun, but now I'm really tired.


     There's a little progress on the Super Secret Project, as the grandkids let me knit sometimes when I'm there. I've really been slacking, I'm still mostly reading. I believe I've worked my way up to book 9 of the Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter series. It's called Obsidian Butterfly. It's like all of them in the series, extremely good. I don't think I need to state again that Laurell K. Hamilton is my very favorite author.


   For a while there, I was reading a whole book a day. I really didn't mean to rush through them that fast. I'd like to take my time, but I've read them more than once, and they're very familiar to me.


    Well, I know it's not that late but I'm that tired. So good night to all of you!


   

A busy day

    I was up early today, babysitting the grandkids. I had fun, and I hope they did too. When I got home, Hubs was waiting very impatiently. He was more than ready to go to Kingston, to Woodstock Harley Davidson, and pick up his new toy.


    I know what you all are thinking. And when we were first together, I would have agreed with you. Heck even he said, at that time, that he wouldn't get a bike because he'd kill himself on it. But my beloved Hubs has grown up a lot in the last twenty five years. And for all that time, he's done many things for me, for our kids, for his mom and mine. Even for his job. He always does for everyone else, he never thinks of himself first.


    When he started telling me that he was looking at motorcycles, I was a bit taken back. I mean, seriously? But I could see the longing in his eyes. After much thought I decided he deserves to have this. I want him to do something just for him.


    So we went Harley shopping. We went to two sort of local dealers, on the same day, just to look and see if they had the bike he wanted.  I ended up having to babysit for the grandkids again this week, so I didn't get to go with him for the serious shopping.


    We went together and he got his motorcycle permit, and he went to a two day motorcycle safety class. It was intense training, and at the end of the second day, the class all goes to the DMV and gets their licenses. This particular class is the only one that gives the students a waiver for the road test. Of course, he passed!


    Off he went yesterday, while I was babysitting, and found exactly what he wanted, for a reasonable price. We went today to pick it up. I got to follow him home, as he's riding for the first time, on a road, in traffic. As we got near to our home turf I relaxed a little.


    He told me that he was grinning almost the whole way home. We made a short side trip so he could show of his bike to our son, then we came home. Now I just have to find a really good protection spell..... just as an extra precaution.


    I took some photos, but Hubs doesn't want me to post them, at least for now. But it's a really cool bike.

I TINK I taw a mistake.....

    This morning, as I was babysitting the grandkids, I was knitting along. I stopped to check my progress, and to my horror, I had made a pretty bad mistake about six rows back. Considering it's all garter stitch, it wasn't that bad.


    But I have no confidence, so I can't just take it off the needle and rip it back. I literally had to tink it, one stitch at a time. It took a while, but I finally got it. Now, I'm back on track. I just need to pay closer attention.


    No photos of the project, since it's classified as Super Secret. But I'm excited. It's almost 1/4 done. I know I've said that before, but now it's REALLY almost 1/4 done.....

Almost got it all done

    It was THIS close..... Then I ended up sitting on the side of route 9 after pulling out of the Stop n Shop plaza. It seems my brake problem had decided to come back. The right front brake is seizing or something. Hubs told me before that when it happens, I should pull over and let it cool off, then it should let go and after a while I can drive some more.


    That's what happened the day it took me three hours to get home from Fishkill. I had to stop three times to let the brake cool off. Thank the Goddess that yesterday I was close to home, and only had to stop the one time. I only had to wait a half an hour before trying to drive the rest of the way home. I made it!!


    While I was sitting there waiting, I got a call from my son James. He told me that he had gotten a call from a friend that I was on the side of the road, so he called to see if I needed help. That was so sweet. I told him I was just waiting for my brake to cool off. It really didn't occur to me to call anyone for help, I knew what to do. I mean, my kids are all grown up and busy with their own stuff. And my Hubs will fix it the next day (today). So in the morning, Hubs took me to James and Jessica's house so I can watch the kids, and then he came pick me up afterwards. While I was gone, he fixed the brakes.


   On a positive note, I got some knitting done in the time I was sitting there waiting for the brake to cool off. See? That's why I always have either my nook, or my knitting with me. Sometimes both. You never know. It's almost gotten to be a superstition with me. If I go out without at least one of those things, something bad will happen....


    In fact, I thought the brake had a problem because I had taken the extra skein of yarn out of my bag. When I started knitting, I thought I was almost out of yarn. But I was wrong, there was plenty left.


    So yesterday I got almost all my errands done. I just wasn't able to get to the pharmacy. But I have plenty of that medication and don't need it yet. I can pick it up another day.

Running errands today

    That's my job for today. I have a few things I have to do, and I better get them done since I will be watching the grandkids the rest of the week.  I feel very privileged to watch them, to be trusted with their care. But they do exhaust me. It's weird, it's like they suck the energy right out of me! But they are so awesome, it's worth it.


     So let's see, what do I have to do? I need to get some gas for the Jeep, then I need to head to Adam's, since we are out of chocolate truffle decaf coffee, and nearly out of regular chocolate truffle. Can't have that, can we? I also need meats for dinner, and more little cans of ginger ale. I have found that the meats at Adam's are superior, and not as expensive as other supermarkets.


    After that, I have a scrip to pick up at the pharmacy. And hopefully I will hear from my friend Bonny. She texted me last night, but I had misplaced my phone, and didn't find it until this morning. I sent her a text explaining what happened, but I haven't heard back from her yet.


    I am still knitting away on the super secret project. I'm pretty sure that I have enough yarn now to finish. I just have to find the time.

A day with the grandkids

    I spent the day today watching my grandbabies. It was awesome. I give my son and his awesome wife tons of credit. They are doing an extremely good job with these two. They listen to you when you talk to them and do what you ask of them, including putting away their toys! It's been quite an eye opening experience.


    I have one more day with them, then their regular babysitter will be all recovered. I sure hope they call me to sit with the kids when they decide to have a date night! It would be my pleasure!


    Now I am completely exhausted, since they are very active. And Mason needs to be reminded that G-ma is not a jungle gym. But he is so sweet and eventually he gets it. Chloe couldn't wait until Mason went down for his nap, so she and I could crochet together. I tried to teach her, but I'm a lousy teacher, and I think she might be a little young yet. But she did try. We will wait until she gets a little more manual dexterity under her belt. And Goddess love her, she was willing!

And at long last...

    Today I had my Hubs take photos of the arm warmers, which came off the needles last week. I finally crocheted the seams a few days ago. And without further ado, here they are!!

    In other news, I am thrilled to report that I am getting to spend time with my grandchildren this week! I sat with them this morning for about three hours, and tomorrow and Friday, it will be all day. Well, until about 2:30 or so, when their dad gets home from work. This opportunity makes me very happy.

No Photos Today

   It's been snowing here, and I went outside with the camera to take some snow shots. After maybe three or four photos, the low battery light came on, and then the camera died. Don't you think I might like a bit more warning than five seconds?


    I was also going to take a photo or two of my crocheting progress on the fingerless gloves. Now I can't do that either. I worked until it got too dark last night, then did some while hanging with the Cherub this morning. I can't work as long as I used to, my hands get sore. I guess I'm not as used to it as I once was. Knitting is easier on the hands than crochet.


    Hubs decided to go out hunting in the snow, he hopes it will make the deer more active. None of his friends have even seen a deer this season. So he will sit there until he freezes, then come home and want me to warm him up. I can do that, I'm good at it.

Necessary Adjustments

     It's been a long day, and I'm tired, but I thought I'd better get today's post out of the way.  It has been four days since Hubs started working days. He is temporarily working Monday through Friday, 8 to 5, for training. I must say that I am pleasantly surprised that I'm adjusting kind of quickly.


     I get up in the morning, and if I don't have to sit for the Cherub, I can have my coffee and watch my morning programs. At 11:15, I leave to go sit for Miss Malia. I am usually home by 3:40 or so. That is a good time to do last night's supper dishes, I'm finding. I get them done, and then I can go watch TV, and wait for Hubs to get home.


     Right now, I'm having conflicting feelings, because he's home in the evenings. For all these years, he's been gone in the evenings half of the week, and that was my alone time. I got used to being alone during the day, since he was sleeping, and therefore not around that much. But now my alone time is only during the day, and he's here  every  evening. This is the hard part for me. I am used to watching whatever I want on TV, and eating dinner when I want, and even whatever I want to eat.


     Now I'm having to make dinner every night. So far, it's not been too bad, I'll  just have to wait and see how this whole thing plays out. Like right now, he's in the bedroom watching Thursday Night Football. So I can still watch what I want to.


      I have always told him that I sleep better when he's here. Now I will get to sleep well every night!

In Which I Get Clever

    This morning, at Stitch n Bitch, I made the decision that the cotton baby blanket was too big. So I stopped working on it. But I didn't really want to frog, and wind by hand, six whole skeins of cotton. So I got a clever idea.


    I decided to start the next blanket with a new pink border, like the old one, and then start the body with the other end of the skein I was using. I would use up the skein, until I was frogging the old blanket, as I worked along, to use on the new blanket. With any kind of luck, I would get to the pink border of the old blanket by the time I was ready for it.


    I started shortly after I got to Miss Malia's house this morning, having stopped at my house to pick up the pink. She was naturally very curious about what I was doing, especially since I prefer to count out loud. It's just easier for me, I tend to not lose count that way.


    So far, it's working very well! I have gotten a lot done, all through one skein of the body color, and started the second. It helped (not) that Miss Malia didn't nap until 4 p.m. But she did sleep for a total of three hours. After an hour and a half, she came out from the bedroom, climbed up on the couch, and fell back asleep for another hour and a half. Sweet!


    All in all, it was a very long, nine and a half hour day. Not my usual four hours. But I do get a three day weekend this week, I don't go back until Tuesday.


    I am so tired right now, I can't even take a photo of my progress on the new blanket. I'm looking forward to seeing them side by side, connected by the yarn. I will take one tomorrow, and post it for you see.


   

Randomness

    There are so many thoughts running through my head tonight, it's hard to keep them straight. I have no idea which one, or ones, will decide to come to the forefront to be heard at this time.


   I believe I'll start with a pastel rainbow circle blanket update. It's darn near finished. Three more rounds to go. And of course, they are the three longest rounds, they seem to take forever. But it's very satisfying, all the compliments I'm getting on  these blankets. One more blanket to go, for Sara, then I'll be done. I believe I can take a break before beginning the last one, I probably should wait for an announcement of impending parenthood.


    Babysitting went very well today. Miss Malia was in a good mood, even though she was pretty tired. Within 20 minutes of her mom leaving, she had fallen asleep for her nap. Lately her naps have been lasting about an hour and a half, yesterday's was very unusual at three hours.


    Today, as she sat on the floor surrounded by her blocks, I told her to find certain numbers on them. She got every one! "Find a 3!" She looks around at the blocks, and picks up one with a three on it. "3!", she hollers. I kept going with some different numbers. She got every one.


    There is also good news. My legs aren't hurting as much these last couple of days. It seems to be worse in the evening, especially after a long day. I was getting a bit concerned.

Adventures in Babysitting

    What a week it's been. Monday, Miss Malia decided to throw her wooden blocks all over the place. I had had enough, especially since a few had come close to making contact with my face. I started picking them up and putting them in their bag.


   Naturally, she objected to this, loudly. I got her to stop by picking up a block, and showing her the number on it. I asked her "What number is this?", and she would answer me, then I'd put it in the bag. I tried to get her to help me, but she wasn't buying it. She did, however, get every number correct. I even took a 6, turned it upside down, and asked her "Now what number is it?"! She got it right, she yelled "9!". I kept flipping it back and forth, while she laughed. "6! 9! 6! 9!". Remember, she's now 20 months old. Eventually, we got all the blocks put back in their bag.  She did start crying again when I closed up the bag. But she got over it quickly.


    This morning, I went to watch the Cherub. I seem to remember her mom, my good friend Kim, telling me to make sure she got all her before school stuff done. This morning, however, the Cherub wasn't cooperating. She told me more than once that she didn't need reminding. I told her that I thought it was part of my job to do so. When we picked her mom up from work, I made a point of asking Kim if it was indeed a part of my job to make sure she gets her before school stuff done.


    It turns out that I was right, but it's a good thing I checked, I wasn't really sure. In the process, I royally pissed off the Cherub. Perhaps I could have waited and asked Kim when Cherub wasn't around, but I am not good at waiting for things like that, I tend to forget. I just hope she will get over her snit, and we can still be friends. After all, she is my BKF (Best Kid Friend).


    Today was unusual, in that I went right from watching Cherub to Miss Malia's house. My alarm went off at 5:45 a.m. and I left my house at 6:10. I finally got home at 3:40. It was a very long day. Made even longer by the fact that I had intended to go to bed early, but one of my very favorite movies was on, so I had to watch it. It was People Will Talk, starring Cary Grant, from 1951. It's an absolutely awesome movie.


   All this, and it's only Wednesday! What other exciting things are in store for me the rest of this week?

I think I'm finally done with the skull thing...

    Yesterday, while I was babysitting, I finished my second skull potholder. Then I was stuck with a napping toddler, and nothing to do! Anyway, here are photos of the finished potholder:

    Yup, I'm such a rebel, I made the two sides different. Just like the blue/purple one. Here is a photo of the two together!

    Unfortunately, this means I currently have nothing to work on. Perhaps it's time for a break. I will let you know, and keep you updated on the crafting front.


    And perhaps, if I feel up to it, I shall report on the medical tests scheduled for later on today. But right now, I'm starving, and cranky. No coffee this morning, and no food after 8 a.m. I watched Cherub this morning, so I wasn't even home until 8:30!

Not knitting today

    Nope, I am not knitting today. I think. So far. First of all, I got to sleep in this morning, until after 9! That's huge for me. I am still, at 11:22 a.m. drinking my coffee.


    Second? There is nothing currently on the needles that I wish to work on. Not the Baby Surprise Jacket, not even the Wingspan Shawl. I am not in love with either of these projects at the moment. I was thinking maybe I'd look for an old project still on the needles, a shawl I started when we were in Fishkill, I was using Paton's Lace yarn in the Patina colorway. Very pretty stripes.


    Later on, I shall look for it. Here is a photo I took of my progress at the time:

    I think it's safe to say that I haven't made any more progress on it that the photo shows. Looking at the photo really makes me want to go find it.... I want it to be huge, and I know I have more yarn in my stash.


    Wish me luck in finding it! Looks like I may knit today, after all....

How My Day Went

    This morning started out with me in the middle of a really interesting dream, when BEEP BEEP my alarm went off. It was 5:45 a.m. Not my favorite time to get up, not even my 10th favorite. But I do what I have to do for a friend, and I am getting paid, so I get up.


    That job is only 2 hours long, two mornings a week. It won't kill me. And Cherub is a sweet tempered child, whose birthday is quickly approaching. Three days, as she reminded me more than once this morning. Then she will be in the double digits, age-wise, a huge deal.


    After I got home, I made myself some coffee, chocolate, of course. That's all we drink. I even made it full caff. Hubs has to drink half caff, so that's what I usually make. I felt I needed the full caff to get through the rest of the day.


    Somewhere along the line, during the three and a half hours until I had to go sit for Miss Malia, I forgot to set the coffee maker up for Hubs. That is one thing I always do for him. So when he gets up for work, all he has to do is turn on the coffee maker. As a stupid boy, I figure he can handle that.


    Today Miss Malia was not having nap time. I have a sneaking suspicion that someone spiked her morning bottle with some sugar. The past two weeks, that child had fallen asleep before noon, and mostly slept for up to two hours. Today, however was different. At 2:45 p.m. she finally climbed up onto my lap, grabbing her blanket on the way. I swear to you, she passed out as she leaned her head on my chest.


    She was still sleeping at 3:20 when her dad came. So I didn't get my planned knitting time today. I was disappointed.


    I kind of figured that Hubs would be a little perturbed at me for coffee maker thing. He wasn't! Since it's his first night back to work for the week, he was up a little early, and was able to make it himself. He made a full pot, and I got to drink the last cup. So I have enough energy to stay awake for a while this evening.


    After Hubs left for work, I sat here and knitted a little bit, maybe three or four rows. I broiled the sirloin tips. Now I just have to make some garlic mashed potatoes, and eat my dinner.


    I have been thinking, sooner or later I will have to buy a thesaurus. I've caught myself wishing for one in recent weeks. I'm betting you'll notice when I finally break down and do it.

An Almost Perfect Day

    Today will be one of those. I got to sleep late, and now I'm having my favorite chocolate coffee. I really don't want to go anywhere, or do anything. Just sit here, drink my coffee, and knit.


    Oh yeah, and keep an eye on the pool filter. And finish the laundry I started last night. And there are some dishes that could use a washing. I guess it never really ends, does it? But if I'm lucky, maybe I can get a few good knitting hours in.


    I am currently working on the Arachno Shawl by Jennifer Dassau. (Available on Ravelry) My bestest knitting buddy, Kim, had started it, and I thought it was really cool, so I bought the pattern too, and started it a few days ago. I know, I am making the Wingspan shawl, but I am taking a break from that. I'm using that for my purse project right now. You know, the one you keep in your purse for when you travel? In my case, it's for if I get stuck somewhere, or the Jeep breaks down or something. I always either have my nook, or a knitting or crochet project with me at all times.


    I have the next few days off from babysitting Miss Malia, so that's nice. Even though she is a sweetheart, it's nice to take a break. I go back Wednesday.


   I am supposed to visit with friends today. But I just don't want to leave the house. I went to Bonny's last night and we sat by the fire pit and talked. It's fun when we do that. But I can't do it too often. Being that my lungs are bad, I can't take the smoke too often. In the Winter, she uses her fireplace, and I can't visit then, either. The smoke makes it really hard to breathe.


    So, for as long as I can, I am going to enjoy this almost perfect day! I hope yours is perfect as well!