Yesterday, we drove out to the Heard Natural Science Museum to see the animatronic dinosaur exhibit. We had lots of fun seeing fossils and tons of lovely poisonous snakes (behind glass) native to our area. And lots of spiders and other beasties.

On the ride home, I saw something on Dr. Pig's collar and went to brush if off and then saw it was a big ass spider. This thing was the size of a dime and had red spots on its butt. Fortunately, I had an empty plastic water bottle in the car so I managed to imprison the spider. I figured out pretty quickly that it wasn't a black widow, but I was hardly going to try and smash the darn thing n Dr.'s shoulder when I wasn't sure what it was!

As near as I can figure, it's just a black house spider, but even those can mess you up a bit. A bite can leave you with an icky oozing sore and a killer headache, so I'm glad nobody was bit. Can't you just imagine us driving 65MPH on the highway with an attack spider? Thriller.

Bean always has some hilarious pretend going. Her bathroom has a separate bath and shower and these days, prior to her bath, she likes to go in the shower stall and "have meetings". Most of these meetings involve quite a bit of singing. After all, the acoustics in a shower can't really be beat.

So, one of her other pretends is that she is a teacher. She teaches the golden retriever class and will get on her scooter (we clean off the scooter and let her ride it inside as well since she understands that inside means not being a speed demon) and lead the class. Tonight she told me her teacher name: Mrs. Martinis. I found this too funny. She just misunderstood the name of one of the first grade teachers: Mrs. Martinez but the grade school teachers I know are all happy to be Mrs. Martinis once school lets out!

If the color portion of your printout is small, it's alot cheaper to just expense a color cartridge and paper and print it out on your own printer than pay Kinko's 49 cents a copy.


And isn't this the cutest Christmas ornament?















This is what I spent last week designing!

yeah yeah yeah

We used to have a little neighborhood bistro that we adored. Great food, great prices, great wine. And then the chef left and darkness fell on our little bistro because subsequent chefs were not quite as good. And then the light returned as the beloved chef bought the restaurant! MMmm, nothing like a really good meal that you didn't have to cook.

Even better were the two glasses of wine!

And pirate shoes (picture tomorrow).

When in doubt, post a picture of dirty sheep

I wonder what kind of Google hits that title will get me?






Sheep from Dallas Heritage Village aka Old City Park. (Link is to the page with the sheep shearing on it rather than the home page. I know my audience ;>)

It looks like the animal are right next to the street and, while they are close, they aren't as close as it appears. (It's also a relatively quiet street.)

Old City Park is a pretty interesting place. It's like having a historical reenactment festival all year 'round (ahem Carole ahem). To quote from the website, " Dallas Heritage Village is a living history museum portraying life in North Texas from 1840-1910. The museum is composed of 38 historic structures & boasts a working Civil War era farm, a traditional Jewish household, elegant Victorian homes, a school, a church & commercial buildings."

At Christmas, they have amazing candlelight tours.

My favorite building is the schoolhouse. All the kids were really taken with the McGuffy readers, etc. I'm thinking of getting the Bean a McGuffy reader for Christmas. The phonics, etc. that she is learning in her classroom fit amazingly well with the readers of old.

We toured a few homes that had reenactors in them. The best was the Sullivan home with the tour given by the family dressmaker, Mrs. Kennedy. She gave us some really interesting historical tidbits and she had some lovely knitting. I won the parental seal of the approval when I inquired about the historical accuracy of Addi Turbos (this was after everyone else had left - no other knitters in the group). And yes, there were cable needles in 1885! The woman informed me that she'd stopped knitting modern patterns and was now knitting exclusively from her time period in the park. I really wanted to stay and ask her a ton of questions about where she gets her patterns and what yarn she was using and did she spin and dye it herself, but I had to manage my group of kiddos. Maybe another day.

I've gotten absolutely no knitting in this week. Last night I was beat and that little voice calling me to the latest sock was completely quashed by the other voice reminding me that I had already ripped out that heel once by knitting when tired (KTI) and neglecting to slip the first stitch of the row on all of the heel rows. I didn't want to reknit it twice!

Today is a half day and we have parent/teacher conferences. The school very kindly emails you report cards in advance of the conference. I think it's fabulous, because you will then be prepared to ask questions, etc. Bean is doing very, very well in all areas except for a few behavior things like Not Resting Quietly at rest time. Good luck getting that to change and, if you do, please share with me! She's five, so I'm not inclined to worry about a bit of wigglyness.

Done in

We left the school at 9.30am and returned around 2.30pm. I'm beat. Bean is beat.

Funniest part of the day:

19 kindergarteners scaring the crap out of the sheep by baa-ing at them. Don't worry, I made them stop almost immediately while, at the same time, I was trying to get them to move away from the part of the fence near (very very near) the hind end of the cow.

Zzzzzzzzzzzzz

Computer problems yesterday mean yesterday's post this morning and today's post this afternoon.

I used to be able to sleep.

Then I had a baby. Between one thing and another, I am an incredibly light sleeper who suffers from frequent insomnia. Which I loathe.

This time change is kicking my ass. I usually wake up on my own around 6am. Sometimes, I wake up at 5.30, but it's not that often and it's usually sort of nice.

For the past three days, I've woken up at 4.30am. Four Freaking Thirty Ay Em!

And, today, I get to be a parental chaperone on the class field trip. Nothing like a field trip when you'd rather nap.

I'm trying NaBloPoMo so I have to post today but I have nothing to say and now I will go the grocery store.

Boring me.

Interesting me (relatively speaking) will be back tomorrow.

Migraine

Yesterday afternoon, I was felled by a migraine.

My head still hurts.

This is really pissing me off.

And I hate the sun.

Soctoberfest Roundup

Retina-searing Monkeys
Cherry Tree Hill Supersock
Crystal Palace bamboo DPNs, size 1
Knit the first sock in September and the second in October







Ribbed Jitterbugs (my own pattern)
Colinette Jitterbug in Jay
Crystal Palace bamboo DPNs, size 1
Knit the first sock in September and the second in October






Whitby socks by Nancy Bush from Knitting on the Road
Cherry Tree Hill SuperGlitz in Wild Cherry
Clover bamboo DPNs, size 2
Knit both socks in October





Rib and Cable socks by Nancy Bush from IK Fall 2005
Shibui Knits in Orchid
Brittany birch DPNs, size 1.5
Knit both socks in October




More Monkeys
STR in Rolling Stone
Crystal Palace bamboo DPNs, size 1
Knit the both socks in October
Cannot currently find other sock for photo op.




Man, that's alot of socks.

Christmas is upon me

My big project has been picking the annual ornament for the fundraiser for the childhood ministries board at our church. When I signed up for the job, I thought it would be a snap.

Wrong-o!

I never knew how hard it would be to pick out a nice ornament that people will want to pay a premium for in order to help us do things like provide certification instruction to our childcare/Mother's Day Out workers. And I was supposed to have everything ordered a month ago, but we have had trouble deciding on the ornament.

I discovered that I am Not A Shopper. Oh, sure, I'm pretty good at finding great deals on stuff, but that's because I shop at maybe 6 stores and if it's not there, I don't need it. Did I mention the ornaments need to be personalized? And dated?

Luckily, someone found an adorable ornament at a very pricey boutique. The one thing I'm good at it taking someone else's idea and running with it. I spent most of yesterday getting supplies and creating a sample. We have a professional artist on the board, who has agreed to paint all of the ornaments for a very reasonable fee. I'll post a picture once I get our final sample. I can't believe how cute this is going to be. Nothing like setting an unobtainable precedent for whoever gets this job next year ;>

Post Mortem

The half an hour drive to Plano was totally worth it.

Bean had a great time and so did we. All of the parents in our group had big ol' go-cups of wine and the kids all ran around and enjoyed the fun.

Bean came home with a truly ridiculous amount of candy and in this neighborhood they go for full size candy bars. Based on our normal patterns of candy consumption, we have enough candy to last us for the next three years or so. The mind boggles.

There were a ton of spooky houses that really went over the top, but there was only one house I found freaky - they had a huge sign out front that read, "The only ghost here is the Holy Ghost." Don't mind me, I'm going across the street to enjoy my pagan rituals.

My feets is tired and I have miles to go before I sleep having made a unexpectedly time-consuming volunteer committment this summer that I am now paying for. Oh well. at least everyone will love me when I'm finished ;>

Hope your Halloween was happy.

Halloween Costume Ideas

The party on Saturday night was a blast. The Dandy Warhols were excellent. Collective Soul was OK, but they aren't my favorite band.

Some of the costumes were brilliant.

I had great admiration for the woman in the Catwoman outfit if for no other reason than she was walking around in six-inch spike-heeled boots and a vinyl Catwoman outfit that left nothing to the imagination. And she looked damn good. That takes a bit more dedication than I have!

My favorite costume was my friend who wore a Playboy bunny outfit with a skirt made of dust mops and with little ashy cotton balls all over her. She was a dust bunny. What made the outfit was the fact that her husband came in a French maid's outfit complete with fishnet hose and full makeup. Hilarious!

The big, hairy Italian guy who came as the Tooth Fairy was also pretty good. Nothing like a six-foot guy with a pretty good gut dressed in a tutu.

Another friend is a pilot for Southwest Airlines. He wore his uniform and his wife went as that trashy girl who got thrown off the plane. It was pretty funny.

There are always tons of Hefners and Playboy bunnies. On one hand, if you are over 40 and have the body for it, I guess you want to show it off, on the other hand, there were at least 10 couples dressed like that so it's not that imaginative. Not that our outfits of SNL's Killer Bees was so original, but there were only two other bees at the party and they weren't SNL bees. There were also a ton of pirates and wenches.

The most time-consuming costumes had to be the "Birds of a Feather" who all had very elaborate full body bird costumes created from crepe paper. Amazing stuff.

Overall, it's a can't miss party. I do not even want to imagine what their bar bill was (open bar with premium liquor for 1000+ people - you do the math). I'll bet the party cost more than my house is worth. Maybe even a couple of houses. It's an amazing shindig.

Karl Rove Hates Halloween

We have a small child. Hence, we usually go trick-or-treating around 6pm. This is the same time at which all the other small kids in the neighborhood go out.

The lovely idea of extending Daylight Saving Time (which ain't saving us squat because the lights I'm not turning on in the evening are the same lights I have to turn on an hour earlier when we get up), means that we'll have to trick-or-treat in the DAYLIGHT.

I think it's a government plot against Halloween.

And, no, we can't just go an hour later. She's 5. By the time we get home and get her calmed down from the excitement, it will be plenty late enough. She can barely make it to 7.30 on a normal night.

Just another thing that makes me wonder if Bush and his pals understand the difference between President and Dictator.

Ah, screw it, she's just going to have to be tired on Thursday. We're going to go to a neighborhood party in Plano. It's not like most of the kids won't be fried at school anyway!

Dumb things I gotta do today

Go to Joann and get batting to stuff bee costumes.

Make bee costumes for me and Dr. Pig for tomorrow's adult Halloween extravaganza. Which is seriously an extravaganza. I have a friend who throws these over-the-top Halloween parties. This year, they are renting out the House of Blues (open bar, food, valet) and the Dandy Warhols and Collective Soul are the bands. You have to be on the guest list, have your wristband, and be wearing a costume or you will not be admitted. It's a helluva bash. Hence, SNL Killer Bee costumes.

Finish Whitby socks. (Didn't even know I started them, didja? Quickest socks EVAH!)

Take bags of candy for Halloween party and Sally Foster order up to school since I forgot to do either at carpool.

Make a Target run.

Fold laundry.

Walk.

Wish I had time for a nap.

Take Bean to sushi tonight (promised by Dr. Pig and I'd rather stay home and order a pizza).

This weekend is going to be a beating, but it will be fun. We have 4 parties to go to, not counting the Saturday night extravaganza. We aren't going to all of them because I value my tenuous grip on sanity. But we have to attend two on Sunday and that will be plenty. More than plenty.

A bustle in my hedgerows

Sorry about the title, but given what happened, I couldn't resist.

I scored some Sundara sock yarn in her last update. This is another yarn that is new to me. I decided to be something of a literalist. I love Jane's green Hedgerow socks and here I am with green Sundara yarn.

Hedgerow Socks ensued.

Love the pattern. It makes ribbing a bit more interesting and the sock fits extremely well. This is definitely a sock to knit in a solid or slightly varied color rather than a variegated yarn. The pattern is fairly delicate, so I can't imagine it standing up to a stripe or high contrast colorway.

There was only one teensy weensy problem.

I totally horsed up the pattern. Instead of knitting pattern A on rows 1 and 2 and pattern B on rows 3 and 4, I knit pattern A on rows 1 and 3 and pattern B on rows 2 and 4.

Oops.

I discovered this when I was about to divide for the heel on the first sock.

The yarn has been rewound and it and the pattern are in time-out for a while.

Sockety sock sock

Sorry, no Rhinebeck stories here. It's expensive to get to upstate New York from Texas. And worse, it takes a plane trip and a long drive. I'd love to go someday, but I have to, unfortunately, be realistic. The good thing is that I'm nearer to festivals in Taos and Colorado, and I'm planning a little trip next year!

Meanwhile, the sock obsession continues.

I find it interesting that so many knitters seem to go on jags of knitting the same types of projects. We find ourselves lusting for lace, swooning for sweaters, etc. Last year, I had a huge lace obsession and then went back to sweaters, but I seemed to also be less interested in knitting (I had less free time as well, so that was a factor). Now, I'm back in the game full force and it seems to be all about socks. I have three sweaters that are literally only a collar each away from being finished, and yet I am not interested. I want socks.

What are your current knitting obsessions and why?

Today, it's about Monkey socks. Now, I've had some problems with the Monkey pattern. I really need to knit it on size 0 needles to get pattern gauge, however at the gauge where the sock fits, my variegated yarns all seem to stripe and pool in a pretty nasty way.

I did complete one pair of Monkeys that fit nicely:














Cherry Tree Hill. Knit on size 1s. I have no idea of the name of the colorway. The colors are not quite as overwhelming in real life, however these socks are pretty retina-searing. I like them, they fit well, but I think the color is just too much for the pattern.

Monkey 2 (actually, this is more like Monkey 4, but the others were frogged)

Socks That Rock Lightweight. Colorway is Rolling Stone. Knit on size 1s. This sock is a bit loose, but it's not to the point of being floppy, so I'm not going to frog this sock - I'm going to knit the other one. These socks fit better when I used 0s, but the yarn pooled in a really unattractive manner. Sometimes, I don't mind pooling. This was not one of those times!

They aren't perfect, but they'll make nice socks for padding around the house. If I were a perfectionist, I'd rip and try another pattern. However, there has been a bit too much ripping recently and now I'm into Make It Work.

The DIC for Monkey 3.
The color is In Vino Veritas. I'm not normally much into wine colors, however my color choices have been changing quite a bit recently. My love for bright reds and pinks will never die. However, I've decided that I can try other colors and be happy.

It's a dark and stormy day here, so getting any kind of picture was work. This is the best representation of the true color.


And it had to be dark and stormy because Bean is Student of The Week this week. So, we had to bring in a big poster with pictures and I'm Snack Mom so I had three huge bags of snacks. You aren't supposed to park in the tiny school parking lot before school, but there was no way I was lugging all that stuff AND ushering my child through the pouring rain. Better to beg forgiveness than ask permission!

Making socks that fit

Today's Sock Obsession Post is about ribbed sock patterns.

The first up is Nancy Bush's Rib and Cable Socks from Interweave Knits, Fall 2005. Now, Nancy Bush is a Sock Genius. I love almost all of her socks patterns. This one is no exception.














I'm knitting them in Shibui Knits Sock Fluids, colorway Orchid (Loopy Ewe, yet again). This is pretty typical of my color preferences, but in a new yarn. I am loving this yarn. It's thinner than STR, which makes it a bit more flexible for pattern choices and more suited to my sock gauge.

My gauge adventure began with knitting these socks on size 1s. The yarn started pooling. I never knit socks too small, so I went down to size 0s. The pooling got much worse and the sock started to look oddly tiny. Like, I Can't Get This Over My Foot tiny.

Hmmm.

So, I did the unthinkable. I went up to 1.5s. I don't remember the last time I had to go up a needle size, but that did the trick. Oh, there's a little pooling on the foot, but nothing offensive. This sock fits beautifully and yarn is incredibly comfy. I'm holding out for a couple of skeins of Rappongi, now.

I did make a few changes to the pattern. The heel seemed really strange to me. I couldn't figure out why I would want decorative holes at the base of the heel. It seemed like they wouldn't wear that well and that they'd be sort of uncomfortable. So, I knit the heel flap in the rib and cable pattern and then knit a regular heel and picked up the gusset as usual. I like it. The only thing I did wrong was not center the cable pattern between two purl stitch sections. It's not hugely noticeable, but I think I'll center it better on the second sock and then write down the changes and put a note in my copy of the magazine for future use.

Again, the technically perfect knitter would rip, make the changes, and reknit. I am still into Make It Work mode. I'm going to be wearing shoes that will cover up the difference and I'm not planning on entering them into the State Fair, so, frankly, I'll live with it. I'm sure some of you are saying, "How can you stand to do that?" I think it's a matter of not realizing the issue until I was almost finished with the sock. I've frogged this particular sock twice already. I really want these socks and "As God is my witness, I shall never frog these socks again!" (With apologies to Scarlett O'Hara.)

I knit for my pleasure alone. Sometimes, I get very technical and rip until a sweater or shawl is perfect. Other times, I find that the "error" isn't enough to matter to me. I finally have a sock that fits perfectly and works colorwise. I'm letting well enough alone!!!!

A whole lotta sockin' going on (and a mysterious beastie)

It's been quite busy at Chez Casa Liz. We've been all about doctor's visits and the outlaws have come for a visit and gone again. Now that I have my house back, I have time to post! The doctor report was fabulous! Bean's eye alignment is spot on and, now that she's had some time to adjust to not wearing super thick glasses, her vision is incredible. Seriously, we're talking super-hero - 20/15. I couldn't even identify the letters with my glasses on and she was reading them like they were right next to her nose!!!

I seem to have taken Socktoberfest quite literally, as I have been knitting nothing but socks. Sadly, there has been alot of frogging going on as well, but I've learned that, as I stated in the last post, I really prefer a sock with some ribbing in it. They fit my foot and leg better and I seem to have much fewer gauge issues.

Let's face it, gauge matters for different reasons on different projects. In shawls, I really don't care about the finished size, as long as it's not too small and I don't run out of yarn. So, gauge matters, but only in regards to yarn quantity. In sweaters, I can usually get at least stitch gauge and, if I can't, I can always go down a sweater size to compensate.

Socks are another matter. Socks have to fit. Floppy socks aren't very comfortable. Too small socks are flat unworkable. So, my thought is that, out of all the types of knitting we do, gauge can be hardest to get in a sock and it matters the most because a very tiny difference in gauge can really screw you up. I find that knitting a sock swatch does me absolutely no good at all. I have to knit the damn sock to find out if it's going to work. That can be pretty frustrating.

So, ribbed sock Number 1: Jitterbug Socks.

I have no idea why my legs look like big 'ole columns in this picture and can only hope that they don't really look like that!!!

Love these socks. The yarn is soft and squishy. I could have knit these quite a bit taller, even with the skimpy yardage, but I kind of like having them as short, flirty socks. They'll be great with some clogs, peeking out from under my jeans when I sit down.


I knit a picot edge and then a 60 stitch sock with a rib pattern of K3, p2, k1, p2, k2 - of course, the k2 at the end of the repeat and the k3 at the beginning end up turning it into K3, p2, k1, p2, k5, etc.

If you click on the picture you get an accurate color representation. My camera isn't very good at close-ups of knitting details. It doesn't do subtle.




So, now we get to play Name That Beastie. OK, it's really Name That Birdie. Over the past several days, there has been this very large and very weird bird hanging around the end of the block. Google was no help at all, so I called Wild Birds Unlimited who knew exactly what bird this is. Bean decided it was a Duck Duck Goose.



























It's a Black Muscovy Duck.

Duck, it's what's for dinner! (Perish the thought - the creek down at the end of the block is just nasty. I see people fishing down there and all I can think is that I hope they aren't eating what they catch because God only knows what's in there.)

More socks to come. I didn't really end up with finishitis per se. More like sockitis.

socked in

It's official. The Summer of Love sock is no more and never will be.

I liked that pattern reasonably well, but I will admit I thought the yarn was fairly ugly. I figured I'd knit it anyway and see what happened. What happened is that the sock turned out huge. So, I ripped and reknit on zeros. Still enormous. Reknit on zeros in the size small. HUGE! I can't get anything resembling a fit on the sock and decided that I was putting in good time on a bad project.

I think I do better at patterns that have some ribbing. The ribbing covers up a multitude of gauge sins and, generally, makes for a better fitting sock.

So, I'm dumping that sock and finishing the second retina-searing green monkey.

Then, it's on to the rib and cable sock from Fall 2005 IK. In a very pink and green Shibui Knits.

Unless my Sundara sock gets here first and I start Jane's Hedgerow socks.

Ribby goodness!

Startitis

I have a new project that I am itching to start.

I'm trying to maintain.

I have promised myself that I will finish one sock (thus completing a pair) and the Bookworm sweater for Bean, before starting.

Why can't finishitis kick in for a bit here?

Tired, back next week

This week has totally spanked me and it's not over yet. Poor Bean has been really tired and, consequently, very fussy. I won't bore you with details except to say that I'd like to go back to sleep but, instead, am going to go do a Girl Scout thingy.

At least there are cocktails in my future tonight!

Delete Button

All of the old posts that are being republished are due to my deciding to take Bean's pics off the blog. Fortunately, they have been few and far between, but what with all the stolen pictures on Orkut, etc. it makes me nervous.

Ergo, some editing!

Knitting later!

Volunteer

Anyone who knows me, knows that I am a sucker for volunteering. And, that I am not always the keenest mind with a calendar.

To wit:

Thursday: guest reader for Bean's class

Friday: Bake 4 dozen brownies and one cake for School Carnival, stuff folders for teacher
go to Bingo night (there is always a Bingo night before the school carnival) and drink beer

Saturday: Work snow cone booth at Carnival (it could have been worse - sno cone "juice" only makes you sticky. My friend working the cotton candy booth remarked that she felt like a giant scratch n' sniff.

Sunday: work at church getting people to submit recipes for the church cookbook (yes, I'm on the cookbook committee)

Sunday afternoon I am reaping my reward by completing Red's sleeves and drinking a glass of Dr. Pig's excellent 2.30 Maple Wheat (his best beer in my opinion).

Beer good!

Do you want to know what eight hundred dollars looks like?

See that big dirt patch on my lawn?

That is what $800 looks like.

Yesterday, it was a Rather Deep Hole dug in order to repair our sprinklers.

He had to replace the whole valve. Not one of those little flangy things most of us think of as valves. No, this thing was about a big around as a loaf of bread and half as long.

And, the psycho who had the sprinklers installed decided that, rather than putting the valve in the system on the flat part of the lawn, he'd rather install it in a maze of pipes about three feet deep on a Pretty Fucking Steep Hill. Our lawn has a huge grade to it over a very short distance. So, lots and lots of labor.

I do have to say that the man earned his money. He had to dig a three foot deep hole on the grade in close to 100F heat. And that's the part of the lawn with absolutely no shade at all. I tried to get a picture of the Rather Deep Hole, but I couldn't get a picture without repair guy being there and I really did not want to explain the whole blog thing.


Instead, I knit socks.

This is Colinette Jitterbug. The color is Jay.

I love this yarn. It's nice and sproingy and soft and I love the color.

I'm making up the pattern as I go along. Once I have a completed sock, I'll post the details. I did put up some detail in the sock entry on Ravelery, so if you can't wait, go there!

And, I completed one Summer of Love sock. It's not as wonky looking as in the picture.

Off not On

So, the sprinkler system broke last Thursday night. Dr. Pig found the shut off valve for the system, but the repair people can't make it until tomorrow.

And, of course, the good Dr. is in meetings and won't be able to be there from 11 'til 2 when they will arrive.

So, he sits me down with instructions on what to tell the folks.

Remember that Far Side cartoon about what we say vs. what dogs hear?

Yeah, the conversation went something like this:

Dr. Pig: The doomaflatch attached to the higgedlypink is stuck and won't floogle. So, we either need a new doomaflatch or they'll have to replace the flangeboggle.

Me: Say, which?

In reality, it's something to do with a solenoid, but that makes me think of adenoids instead and you don't want to know where my mind goes after that.

I'm usually fine with home repairs and get all pissed off talking to Repairmen Who Won't Listen To Women. Plumbing, however, mystifies me. All I can do is say, "Broke. Water won't turn off. Bad!"

In other news, last night was Back to School Night. We got to go and sit in teensy chairs and listen to the teacher tell us all about what happens during the day. It was fun, the school is a great place, and they seem to be really aware of the fact that these are little kids they are teaching. Our public school system is crap here. The Dallas paper states there is a graduation rate of a dismal 68% however, independent reports have stated that the on-time graduation rate is 46% - it's truly horrifying to be in a city that cares so little about education. DISD also claims that the dropout rate is only 1.3%, however, the math doesn't work since total class population went down by 1/3 while the student population in the district increased by over 10%.

I am insanely happy to have the ability to send Bean to private school and not deal with the lying, cheating (as in court-prosecuted for stealing from the school district) scumbag school board.

Something Red is buzzing along nicely. While the pattern states that you should complete the ribbing before knitting the sleeves, I'm getting sort of bored so I think it's sleeves next (which have a fair amount of ribbing themselves) and then back to the body. That will also tell me how long I can make the sweater. I have plenty of yarn, I'm at 20 inches in length (pattern wants 23), and I still have three balls of yarn left.

I started the ribbing a bit lower on my ribs. I have a larger bustline and I loathe garments with any kind of empire seaming because it inevitably creeps up and makes my bustline look like the garment doesn't fit.

Here's hoping this was a good decision. I do love the look of the original, but I really don't want to knit 87,000 miles of ribbing only to find out it creeps!


One little retina-searing Monkey.

My God but this is bright yarn. Wound up, it looks so pretty with the green and the blue and purple bits and the red and yellow. It's almost scary knit up!

I like the Cherry Tree Hill supersock. It washes up very soft and it gets a slight halo, which will tone down the brightness of the colorway.


Summer of Love sock. I had to rip back to the start of the gusset when I realized that I had been doing toe decreases on the gusset. Whoops!

I completed the toe for the Monkey right before I went to bed, and I'm apparently still knitting it.

I like the pattern with it's lace cuff, hidden ribbing, and plain foot, but I'm still not sure about the colorway. The good thing is that this one is not as bright in real life. The turquoise blue is quite bright, but less neon than in this photo.

I'm craving a non-variegated colorway for the next pair of socks.

When I first started knitting socks, I wanted the brightest and most variegated yarns possible. Now, I'm getting burnt out on the variegated. I love how so many companies are offering shaded solids that have a slight variations in the color, but are not actually variegated. These yarns offer the best of both worlds: you get some subtle color changes to keep it interesting while still being able to show off a pattern.

Of course, I still have a pretty big whack of the variegated, so I'm not going to totally stop with those ;>

Reading is Fundamental

Anybody remember the commercials for RIF?

I read to Bean's class. They all file in and sit down and a couple of the kids from last year's class are really happy to see me. C and K are girls in the class and M is a boy.

C: Hi Miss Liz!!!!
Me: Hi, C.
C: (Pointing at small boy rolling around on the carpet) That's M. He's BAD!
Me: You know, C, it's not very nice to say things like that about our friends.
K: (very earnestly) Oh, but he is bad! He really is.
Six other kids from the class join the chorus of how M is Bad.
Me: Oooookay, then. Well, how about we read this story!

Afterwards I laughed 'til I cried. Maybe you had to be there, but they were all so serious. Later, one of them told me all about how M is so bad and his apple is always on the trunk and never in the tree. "He's going to get A LETTER to his parents!"

One of the other moms had helped out earlier in the day. C sits at Bean's table (which is nice because they were buddies in Pre-K) along with two boys. M is one of the boys. So the mom is telling me how everyone knows M is going to get in trouble for something so Bean just took over cleaning up the table and organized everyone and shepherded M through the process. Cracks me up. My little organizer.

Oh What A Night

Last night was plain weird.

The three of us went to our favorite sushi bar last night in celebration of our anniversary. Dinner was superb, as usual and Bean ate her weight in grilled chicken meatballs.

We used to always split a small cold sake and a beer between us. It ends up being about 4oz of sake and 6 oz of beer, so we're not talking about anything near what I would call overindulgence. However, about a year ago, I decided to stop drinking sake because it was giving me strange dreams. Last night, I indulged. And paid for it.

Oh, I fell blissfully asleep. The bliss didn't last though, because then I started having nightmares. The horse that someone made me keep in the refrigerator was bad enough, but then we bought a very expensive house that was furnished. In the nightmare, I was very pleased to find a complete collections of linens of all sorts for every holiday under the sun.

I say nightmare because I am not a holiday towel sort of person. I do have a small collection of seasonal items that I use to decorate the front porch, and I think I have a plate with a Santa on it somewhere, but that's about it. People kept making me decorate things and it was driving me crazy.

And then I couldn't figure out how we were going to pay for the house now that we'd bought it and why we would buy a house that put Bean in a bedroom on a different floor and at the opposite end of the house from us. And I just wanted to go back to my house and now the horse was a Great Dane and then I was very thankful to wake up.

Phew!

I think I'll go back to white wine.

Happy Anniversary

Anyone remember the Flintstones?

Nine years today. I didn't scan any photos, but that day was the first day we had rain in over three months. The priest told us that there is an Italian proverb that states that rain on your wedding day means no tears in your marriage. I wouldn't say we've had no tears, but we've had precious few.

Bean is happy that Daddy is finally home. I am happy that I didn't get mad last night when she woke up 7 times. Once to ask if she could use our bathroom instead of hers. Ahem.

Now, can anyone tell me why I was fool enough to schedule my annual on the same day as my anniversary?

It never rains

Well, really it does. Today is a huge gullywasher - nothing like trying to get your child to school when it's raining so hard you can't see the road. Our little creek at the end of the block has overflowed it's banks as usual. Hopefully, the rain will stop in a bit and I can get a picture of the floodplain. It's pretty amazing.

Fairy tales

Bean has been writing a story. She's doing all of the writing herself, including the spelling.

One of today's pages had a picture of a plane with people looking out of the windows and underneath she wrote:

U plane flu n the eyr

(A plane flew in the air.)

I was pretty impressed that she got everything phonetically correct (remember the Texas accent, y'all - "A" is pronounced "Uh", "air" is "ay-er", etc.).

Art class starts tomorrow and she cannot wait. I'm hoping for some sun, so that I can take some pictures of her artwork. It's pretty fun stuff!

An inglorious start

I took many, many stash pictures today in order to import them into Flickr and then into Ravelry. Because I was avoiding every single other freaking thing I'm really supposed to be doing (and I bought yarn, too!).

And then I deleted the pictures from the camera rather than downloading them to the computer. I redid some of the work but the rest can wait.

Poo!

I'm on the board of a local charity organization. One of my duties is to create the newsletter and send it out. It's due today and I have less than zero desire to work on the damn thing. It's not even that big a deal - they are just happy someone is willing to do it! But it's a pain in the ass and I'm undermotivated.

I think I'll work on Red for a while. Nothing like a little procrastination!

Seeing Red

In a good way!


The thing I love about top-down raglans is that they start to look like a sweater very quickly.

I'm nearing the point where I'll start the interminable ribbing. I am lengthening the amount of plain knitting a bit. I want the ribbing to start well under my bustline and I can tell from trying the sweater on that, if I knit that pattern as written, the ribbing will be a bit high. There are so many empire-waisted shirts and dresses these days, that I have become an expert at determining which ones are going to work on me. I want plenty and enough room in the bust, otherwise I end up with a stupid line across my boobs. Not flattering!

So I'll give it a couple more inches and then ribs ahoy!

This weekend is going to be a major push to finish a bunch of things that need small amounts of seaming or pressing or whatever. I have a tendency to let items simmer in the finishing basket for a bit before the final bits and pieces. Bad habit, but it's my own!

Glamour Don't

As an avid Project Runway fan, I was looking forward to Tim Gunn's Guide to Style. Gunn seems like a natural choice for such a show. He's clever and full of constructive criticism. I thought it would be a witty version of What Not to Wear. Maybe even a successful version of the Queer Eye show that featured women (and bombed horribly due to the boring hosts).

It's more like What Not to Watch.

They had a "sneak preview" last night and I was bored pantsless. They pick the same sort of stuck-in-a-rut, dressing 20 years too young people that WNTW picks. They have the victim try on clothes and then critique them just as in WNTW. They go shopping and have plenty of product placement treats. (WNTW) Hair and makeup (WNTW) .

Last night, the big deal was getting a dress from Bill Blass. Bill freakin' Blass? Has Bill Blass been at all big since the 70s? Maybe the 80s?

As for supposed life coach, if I need a life coach, then I'd like someone who maybe had a few years of life experience under his belt rather than some nerd who needs to shave and still uses Clearasil.

Gunn is over his head. He visibly cringes at the wardrobe he's facing and then cringes from making any judgments. There is an art to critique without hurting someone's feelings. Gunn has it on Project Runway, but with a full show resting on his shoulders, he can't keep it going.

Monkey See, Monkey Do

This version is a big improvement!

The shorter color changes combined with a lighter weight yarn are making for a more interesting sock. I'm knitting on size 1 needles. I would have had to go down at least to a zero, if not smaller to get the sock the right size with the Silkie.

Yay for fun socks!

Mangia Mondays

Homeade Pepperoni Pizza


Making your own pizza dough is surprisingly easy, particularly if you have a food processor.

Crust - adapted from Mark Bittman

1 tsp instant or rapid rise yeast or 1 1/2 tsp active dry yeast
2 1/2 C AP flour (more if needed)
1/2 C cornmeal (Bittman specifies semolina flour, but I never have semolina. However, as a good Southern girl, I have cornmeal which is close enough. The semolina/cornmeal adds some crunch to the crust. If you prefer it sans crunch, just put in 3 C flour.)

1 C water (do NOT pour all of the water in at once - add gradually)
2 T olive oil

Combine all dry ingredients in food processor and whiz until mixed. Add water and olive oil through the feed tube. It's been so humid down here that I have not needed the whole cup of water. The dough should form into a nice ball - not sticky.

Turn it out onto a floured work surface and knead for maybe a minute. Put it into a bowl and coat with olive oil and let it rest for a couple of hours or so. Sometimes, my yeast is a bit off and I find that this recipe produces very little first rise, but I just keep going. The crust tastes good regardless.

Divide the dough into 4 pieces. Knead each for a few minutes and form into a small ball. Cover the balls of dough with a tea towel and let them rest (no more olive oil) for another hour or so.

Roll or pat into a pizza and cook at 500F for about 7-8 minutes. Go light on the toppings - otherwise the 'za will be soggy. 1 pizza should serve one person. The thinner you roll out the dough, the crispier your crust will be.

I highly recommend the purchase of a pizza stone and a peel. You find lots of discussion about just getting an unglazed quarry tile from Home Despot for your pizza stone, but I found a perfectly great pizza stone for $10 at Target (my Home Despot only had glazed tiles). I did go to Williams-Sonoma for my peel, but it was only $14 and it gets quite alot of use.

Put some cornmeal down on your peel (this works much better than flour), put the rolled out pizza dough top, and add toppings. Be sure to give the peel a short jerk to make sure your pizza will slide into the oven easily. At 500F, you don't want to be messing with a pizza that folds up. If the pizza does not slide easily, take a bench scraper or metal spatula and wiggle it under the pizza until the pizza comes up. If you have not enough cornmeal or too many toppings, the pizza will stick.

This is a really fun dinner for children, as they can help assemble their own pizza.

Wrap leftover uncooked pizza dough in plastic and refridgerate and it will keep for three or four days. Let it come to room temp before cooking.

I have frozen this dough with mixed results. Frankly, it's so easy that I'd rather just make it fresh.

Monkey See, Monkey Ew

One ugly Monkey about to be frogged. First, I've decided that I really loathe this colorway. I haven't been too thrilled with the colors from the Rockin' Sock Club this year - lots of muddy greens (2 out of four skeins so far have been muddy greens).

I love the Monkey pattern, but this yarn is doing nothing for the pattern and the pattern is making a yarn I'm not super fond of to begin with into something I really don't like very much at all.

I was on the fence about re-upping for the sock club this year and now I think I will not do it next year. I like the concept, but I think I need a sock club that's tailored a bit more to my personal preferences. Next year I will introduce the Dalai Mama Sock Club which will order whatever the heck sock yarn I feel like getting for myself ;>


Moving on to the next shot: bright colors with lots of short repeats! The yarn is Cherry Tree Hill Supersock. I have no clue as to the colorway.

Let's hope this is a better fit!

Something New

I have long wanted to knit Wendy Bernard's Something Red. I bought the Blue Sky cotton at kpixie and yesterday decided to cast on. This completely violates my intentions of finishing two or three items before casting on anything new, but most of my UFOs involve some sort of lace and I'm more in a stockinette mood. Y'all know how I love my stockinette.


The color is called tomato, but it's really more of a brick red. This will be the perfect fall sweater for Texas. I can wear it with a tank top once it starts to cool down (approximate Fall Start Date is October 31st. Halloween is always either the first really cold day or it's sweltering and all the kids are boiling over in their costumes.

I also cast on for the first Car Pool Sock. Any bets as to how many socks I can knit this year while waiting in the Car Pool line? (The duration is from now until the first week of June.) The average car pool wait is currently 20 minutes - afternoon only. I hit the sweet spot for morning drop-off and it takes about three minutes.

A monkey in STR Silkie. The color is Walking on the Wild Tide. Right now, it's particular to the Blue Moon sock club, but it should be available to everyone next year. I'm going to complete the ribbing and try to get in one pattern repeat this morning before consigning it to the car.

Becky is largely complete. I love how the cabled neckline continues all around the back of the neck.

I still have to weave in the ends; my most hated task.

For blocking, I am going to cheat. I'm taking the sweater to the cleaner's and letting them do it. My experience with blocking Cathay is that it looks better after being dry cleaned.

I had big plans for Getting Shit Done this afternoon. At about 10.45, I received a call from Bean's school. The power has been out all day, so they canceled classes.

Instead of errands, I am starting some Monkey socks. I need carpool knitting.

Cableiscious!

I love the cable detail on Becky. It's a very simple cable, but really pops against the plainness of the rest of the shell.




I had a Moment of Duh last night upon realizing that, if I seam after the fact, I'll lose the edge stitch on each side, so it won't look the same as the established double cable section.

I decided to knit two extra repeats of the cable pattern before dividing for the neckline. That should give me a crucial inch and a half. I don't mind a deep vee, but there's a deep vee and then there's the Grand Canyon.

Inching along

Becky is inching along. I'm at the waist on the front now. I have another couple of inches or so and then I get to start the cable neckline.

I'm trying to figure out how to make the neckline a bit more demure. My cleavage is substantially more impressive than the model's. Instead of an expanse of chestbone, you'd get quite the eyeful. I know I can just wear a cami underneath, but it's freaking hot here and I'd rather not if I don't have to. I have decided that I will finish the sweater per the pattern and then decide what to do. I imagine I can just seam the neckline a crucial inch or two to preserve my dignity. The way the neckline is designed, it should be fairly easy to do since there is already a double line of the cable at the base of the vee.

An FO of another sort

I married a "handy" guy. He can install a new light fixture, rewire a lamp, take down wallpaper and mud a wall, etc. He also likes to Build Stuff.

Usually, we end up with some weird project like the beginnings of a solar-powered air conditioner (no, I am not kidding) that never get completed and end up rotting in the side yard.

This time, we ended up with this.

A fort for Bean.

It still needs to be stained and have a roof put on, but it's pretty darn cool. It's 6x6 feet, so there's room for all.

Bean is thrilled. Daddy is The Coolest Ever. I'm thrilled because it's finished and, when big trash comes, the huge pile of wood in my backyard will go away.


The stand of trees are crape myrtles. This is what happens when you don't commit crape murder every year. They don't need to be topped. This tree blooms numerous times throughout the year - delicate lavender blossoms. It's gorgeous.

Poor Dr. Pig though, he now has the Creeping Death Crud that has afflicted the rest of us. On his birthday no less. Happy Birthday anyway, darling!

Trouble

Oh, man, I've spent the last three days uploading stuff to Ravelry. I have all this stuff on my Palm Pilot, but Ravelry is so much more fun. And I haven't even started exploring everyone else's stuff. Additive is the least of it. I've been slogging through my huge pile of WIPs.

I'm currently working on Debbie Bliss's Becky in Cathay. I wonder if they've done a little reworking of Cathay, because this is a new color and it is much less splitty than when I worked with it right after it came out.



I'm also trying to finish the Sea Silk Lace Wings shawl from Alice at Lettuce Knit. It takes one skein of sea silk. My problem is that I keep putting it down to do other things and then it takes me a bit to figure out where the hell I am. It's a super easy pattern, but somehow it gives me brain freeze. After I finish those two, I'm diving back into CeCe.

This has been a very odd year and, while I have started a ton of projects, I don't think I've finished any of them. Several of them are either reworkings of almost-finished items that I decided I loathed. I'm back to the knuckle-down plan I always use when the WIPs get out of hand: finish three and you can start one. Much finish projects!!!

Updating everything

Somehow I managed to delete my blog template and all my links. I do have a copy, but I decided that, since I'm going to have to redo it anyway, I might as well change my template. Hopefully, I'll get that up later this week.

I've been cleaning out, cleaning up, etc. It's amazing how much stuff piles up when you aren't looking. I'm doing pretty well and I even have a pile of yarn that I need to sell. Let's face it, the chances of me knitting with Rowan Kid Classic for wear in Texas is pretty slim.

I've also gotten into the fabulous time-suck that is Ravelry. I received my invitation back in May and still had done nothing other than put in a username and password. I started feeling sort of guilty that they have this enormous waiting list, and yet I can't get my butt in gear to make use of my membership. So, I've been adding stash and needles. Hurricane season means that it's cloudy all the time here - though with very little rain. Hopefully, I'll get some sun this week so that I can photograph stash. I feel kind of weird putting my stash online, because it's really gotten out of control, and now I just feel greedy. I've given away tons of very old stash with the realization that it I haven't knitted anything with it after having it for 15 years, I probably won't ever knit with it.

Mostly, we've just been sick for the last month. It seems like that is all over. I still have a helluva cough, but I took my last antibiotic today so I'm hoping it'll dry up this week.

It's all just in time for Bean to start school. Start the wailing and gnashing of teeth - I have a kindergartener!

Expounding the reazles for sneezles and wheezles

AA Milne would be proud, because I certainly have Phtheezles.

My internist has a new nurse who I haven't met. She asked if I had been around Bean while she was running fever. Heh.

Thank God for antibiotics and cough medicine with codeine. Now, I'm just hoping Dr. Pig doesn't get it.

And hey! The antibiotic can also be used to treat anthrax!

Maybe they knew I'm a knitter?

Starts with P

A skein of cashmere to the person who guessed pneumonia.

Bean is Not Well although she loved having the chest x-ray and the thought that people were taking pictures of her insides. Me, well, let's just say that "Turning Japanese" kept running through my head.
I want the doctor to take your picture
So I can look at you from inside as well

Ahem.

It's been a long day and then I get notice that my rebate for my lovely carpet was denied because Great Indoors seems to think that 5/27 does not fall between the dates of 4/15 and 5/31. Bastards. We'll be contacting the store directly about that one.

If I had any energy left after 4 1/2 hours of doctors and pharmacies, I'd take a picture of my dinner. As it is, you'll just have to envision a very full glass of an extremely dry French rose.

A plague upon your house

Bean has been ultra-generous and given me whatever godoxious plague that she has. The bright point was that, after I finally took to my bed this afternoon, she brought me one of her favorite stuffed animals to make me feel better. Given that Bean has had this crap for about 10 days so far, has been on antibiotics for three days and is still running fever, coughing her head off and generally pretty darn sick; my future is bleak.

Back to bed.

Wake-Up Call

We're going to the circus today. Bean very timidly asked the doctor if she could still go yesterday and the doctor gave her a Well Duh! look and told her, "Of course you can go. Why not?!) Our church has a summer program for the small fry, and, when they offered up circus tickets at $10 each, Dr. Pig and I responded with a hearty, "Hell, yeah!" to be parent leaders of the expedition.

We are meeting at the church in an our or so and then taking the train into downtown. It's going to be a total blast.

Bean cannot wait. In the most literal of fashions. Somehow, she decided we all needed to get up at 6.30am, so we won't be late. At 11.30pm, I was woken out of a very sound sleep to a small person by my bed telling me it was 6.30am. I sent her out to her father who was still awake for a glass of water to help with the coughing and to go back to sleep.

At 5.03am, we are both awakened out of even sounder sleeps (I think I was drooling) by a very cheerful voice telling us that it HAD to be 6.30 by now.

We just got her up for the real wakeup and she's dragging around much as you'd expect. The best part? "Mama? I'm reeeeaaaallly tired." Heh! Me too, you little rat, but at least I can have coffee. You can't. Nyah nyah nyah!

Just when you think it's stopped raining

It floods.

Bean has had a nagging and increasingly worrisome cough percolating for about a week, so today I took her to the doctor. Experience has taught me that in the case of anything that seems cold related, it's best to let it wait for a week unless accompanied by a crazy fever. Otherwise, they just tell you to wait a week and then charge you $120 (after insurance) for the pleasure.

She has an antibiotic, thank Pete. While we were waiting for the visit and then the recheck of her oxygen levels and then another listen to the lungs, etc - took 1 1/2 hours, all hell broke loose weather-wise. It was sunny when we went in.

About 15 minutes before we left, it started raining cats and dogs. I asked a nice lady to stand with her while I ran to get the car. (You can do this in Texas plus it's not like there was anywhere she could go.) I stepped out from under the porte cacher and was immediately soaked to the skivvies. It was like standing under a shower whilst fully clothed. I couldn't see through my glasses. The puddles were about a foot deep. Weird stuff. And, of course, I had my new leather purse and a pair of leather loafers on. The loafers are probably a write-off, but I left the purse with Bean, so it's fine.

So, get the car under the porte chacher and get Bean in the car and go home to find Dr. Pig making dinner.

Dry off.

About an hour and a half later, Dr. Pig heads out to fill the prescription. It stopped raining an hour ago, so all should be well. He heads to get coffee for tomorrow first, but the intersection is completely flooded out so he heads north for the scrip. The power at the Walgreen's is completely out and the doors are locked with a sign up.

Off to the next Walgreen's. This involves a trip past the flood point.

Maybe we stopped too soon on the ark building. I did a quick check of our yard and there are some small branches down, screens off the gutters, and a general vague sense of something apocalyptic in the neighborhood. We regularly get high straight line winds and other meteorological oddities up on our hill, but this, apparently, was a doozy.

Miracles do happen

Most of you will remember that Bean had surgery for strabismus on both of her eyes in January.

Today was her six month followup and the doctor told us that Bean no longer has to wear glasses! The doctor was just as amazed as we were but Bean is doing great and has near perfect vision and her eyes are in alignment! We are having to patch her to strengthen her weaker eye for a couple of hours a day, but that's OK.

Thank you so much for all your thoughts and prayers at that time because I fully believe that had a hand in what is pretty much a miracle for our family. It may not sound that significant, but if strabismus isn't treated properly, it can result in blindness in the affected eye.

Obviously, she may have to wear glasses again in the future, but it's amazing that she's out of them for the first time since she was 20 months old!

Carpet

The carpet will be installed Tuesday.

Because I cannot read a calendar, I scheduled the carpet to be installed two days before I am hosting an art class for my church kids group. The plan was to have the class outside, however, we are still busy with the ark building and whatnot and I will never move to Seattle because My God The Rain Is Making Me Crazy.

Normal Texas summers include swimming and playing in the sprinklers and being outside and having to get your butt to the playground before 9 so it's not too hot to play. This Texas summer features nothing but rain. We had 11 inches of rain in June. Normal is around 2 inches. My tomatoes were all blooming and lovely and ready to produce a huge crop. We counted 182 grape tomatoes growing on the vines and countless blooms ready to pop. All rained to death. We never got any sun so they never ripened.

Meanwhile, I have to have 1400 sq feet of house including all of our closets moved into the garage before Tuesday. And I'm hosting a dinner party tonight and I have a hair appointment at 2. Apparently, I no longer believe in sitting down.

Good thing guacamole is the easiest and most appreciated appetizer in the world.

Guac

2 medium Hass avocados
Juice of one lime
small spoonful of mayo
minced red onion
minced cilantro
diced tomato
salt

Dice the avocado and add the lime and mayo and mash until smoothish. You want some texture, but no big chunks of avocado. Add salt to taste. Add the red onion, tomato and cilantro to taste. I add probably a couple of tablespoons of each. Taste and add a bit more salt and lime if needed.

Make it up no more than half an hour before serving. Put in a bowl and put plastic wrap on top of the guac (not the bowl, the guac itself), making sure no air pockets are left. The pit doesn't really do anything except stop oxidation where it comes in contact with the guac. Putting plastic wrap directly on the guac accomplishes the same goal.

Rock Star

Bean achieved an important milestone last weekend.

Her first rock concert!

This one featured the not-at-all-painful musical stylings of Ralph's World (punk rocker turned kid's singer) who sing one of my favorite songs ever:

M-O-M-M-Y needs C-O-F-F-E-E
D-A-D-D-Y needs C-O-F-F-E-E

(fun and educational because Bean learned to spell Mommy, Daddy and coffee!)

also featuring the verse

I need a latte, a cappuccino
and tonight I think I'll have a little vino

At the end of show, they got all the kids on stage and, of course, parents took their kids.

This is what happened.



Yes, I'm playing the bass.

Yes, I'm really playing the bass.








You can see the part of the bass player on the extreme right of the photo. And pieces of three of my adult friends in the background. The bass player handed me the bass and told me to strum. So, I did.

There's video.

With headbanging.

(Much to the bass player's delight - he said most people are too embarrassed to have fun with it. Like you can embarrass me.)

Fortunately, the people with the camera are in their 40s like me, so YouTube is doubtful.

Parts

I was putting the washing into the dryer when I spied, on the bottom of the washer, a roach corpse. Or, rather, two pieces of a roach corpse. Now, I am fine with any kind of bug or critter except roaches. In Texas, we get these enormous Bugs Of Doom. This thing was probably a good 1 and 1/2" inches when whole. So, anyway, I'm putting the laundry in the dryer and then I see roach bits stuck in a couple of the holes in the side of the washer. And a big smear of roach guts.

Fortunately, my husband was still home and cleaned out the washer for me (I then ran a towel and alot of bleach through because EWWWWWWWWWWW) but I had to shake out the laundry and, I don't really want to talk about it except to reiterate that I Really Don't Like Roaches.

I'm rewashing everything now. I was afraid I'd be washing my face and run into a roach leg.

Gives me the wiggins.

I've got good company for my birthday

Thumper and Yarn Harlot.

We've been doing nothing but celebrating. We went out to eat Tuesday courtesy of a friend, last night courtesy of my husband and, today for lunch, courtesy of my parents.

After all of this gluttony, I must eat super-healthy for a while because it's bathing suit season and I'm passing the point of wanting to appear in a suit. Granted, most women hate bathing suits, but I want to keep it where the first thing that's noticed is the chest. That way no one will realize I even have thighs! My thighs are threatening a corporate takeover. Bad thighs! The sad fact is that after 40, your body views calories in an entirely different way and wants to keep them and love them and hug them and slather your butt with them.

Today is the start of an overly busy weekend. It's been feast or famine around here. I'm hoping that, after this week, we can settle down to a mellow summer. I need time to knit a shawl for my mother's birthday in a couple of months.

My foot hurts

Oh, it's not awful, but I have been on my feet for most of the day and, suddenly, my big toe has started to feel a bit owwy.

Good excuse to sit around and knit while Bean is at Vacation Bible School, huh? (VBS this year is a bit too Jesus Camp for me, so I declined to teach it. Bean loves it and the people are all very, very sweet, but I'm a bit too world religion to relate stories as "a true story from God's word". I'm more on the level of, "it's a cool book about God and have you read this one from the Upanishads?")

Today, I occupied myself working on a business plan to get angel investors for a friend's real estate development company. (And suddenly found myself with the job title of Director of Operations which just makes me laugh like hell. That MBA is coming in mighty handy these days. That and years of experience watching small companies blow up through lack of proper planning.)

Not as bad as it looks

It's a good thing that you can't see under the bandages, because I have a nice slice in my foot. I patched myself up with butterfly sutures and a couple of big bandaids, but it's a bit nasty under there (no, I did not need stitches, but it was close).




Don't drop one of these on your foot.

Cleaning House

I'm not knitting.

I'm shopping for carpet.

We only have hardwoods in a small part of the house. We've been here for eight years and the carpet wasn't new when we moved in. After 6 years of dog and 5 years of child, the carpet, she is shot. It's that nasty stuff made out of plastic so it doesn't wear out so much as ugly out. The stain resistance? Yeah, not so much.

So, instead of yarn, my wool of choice these days is carpet. We've narrowed it down to two. And I'm buying a houseful of the stuff this weekend.

This is the part of home ownership that's not so much fun.

The carpet buying isn't so bad. Plus, I have a neighbor who is a decorator with fabulous taste so I laid out the samples for her and then did the Happy Happy Joy Joy when she picked my favorite as the best one. But when it sank in that I would have to clean out the closets and under the beds and move everything small into the den and kitchen? Not a pretty face. Charities all over town are getting stacks of lovely things I don't want to touch more than once. Example: Husband's bachelor kitchen stuff was under the bed. We haven't thought about it in eight years. Goodbye 30-year-old Corelle!

Ralph!

No, not ralph.

Ralph's World!

Coming to town.

Bean is so excited she keeps asking me if it's a month from now yet.

Ralph is revered in our home - along with Dan Zanes - for providing music for children that still manages to be witty and entertaining for the adults and is never condescending to the kiddos.

Ralph! At House of Blues!

Of course, there must be at least a small fly in the ointment and there are two:

1.) The show is the same day as the birthday party of Bean's best friend. Fortunately, the timing is such that she can attend both, but it's going to be a long day.

2.) The show is general admission and at 9AM. This means having to get up hella early to go to the show. I hate getting up early to stand in line more than almost anything in the world. Including oral surgery.

Oh, and the show is during Birthday Week. But making Bean happy as a clam is a pretty good birthday present for me!

What you get for your PhD

Me: Is that thunder?
Him: Yes.
Me: Tell Bean to get inside and you might not want to be standing around on the patio with those metal tongs in your hand.
Him (aggravated): It's not lightening.
Me (smartass): And it thunders when?
Him: Bean, get inside.

Heh.

On a serious note, it's not raining at all but it's pretty loud thunder and two guys in town were electrocuted in separate incidents this weekend because they figured that if it wasn't raining, they were OK.

Is it summer yet?

Because, dude, it was 90F yesterday.

Oh, wait, that's Texan for spring.

But Bean and I are ready for the slower days of summer. It's birthday party season which means a party or two every weekend. Combine that with a sudden flurry of adult activities and several pretty hefty storms resulting in a constant need to clean tree limbs (not even our trees sometimes) out of the yard and you have a tired child and tired parents.

I can't wait for Memorial Day.

New adventures in arguing

The Bean, being a relatively bright kid, can and will use logic and reasoning against you and has for about the past year-and-a-half. This can make parenting ... interesting.

Yesterday, the zoo brought a bunch of animals to her school and she learned that animals that are awake in the night are called nocturnal. She also learned what animals that are awake in the day are called but couldn't remember. I thought it was diurnal, but we got busy and I didn't have a chance to look it up.

Long about 3pm, we're back at the house and she's getting really cranky, so I tell her she really needs to take a nap.

Much screaming ensues. (I've heard that 5 is The Year of the Boss and, so far, she's right on schedule.)

"I CAN'T TAKE A NAP. ONLY NOCTURNAL ANIMALS SLEEP DURING THE DAY AND I'M TURNAL!!!"

Ah, the benefits of education.