I Got Mad and Threw It Up In the Air...

*sniff* "Mom, the remote control doesn't work."
"What's wrong with it?"
"It's broken."
"Broken how? What happened?"
"I tried to change the TV and it wouldn't work. I got mad and threw it really far up in the air and it broke."
"Maybe the battery just popped out. Bring me the pieces..." Uh, this is what I got...
You'll notice that there are several pieces that are, as of yet, still unaccounted for. Most notably, the actual BUTTONS one would push to change the channel. I'm not exactly sure where they are but I'm sure we'll find them eventually. They'll probably be right next to the other battery and the little part that held the batteries in place. Speaking of batteries...

Notice the concave nature of the positive end of the battery. Must have been some force it was thrown with. I'm just saying...

Don't You Love It When a Plan Comes Together?

We'll get to knitty stuff later... for now, we need to catch up on what's been going on at Casa de Thatcher.


We headed to the 'Boro the weekend of November 10th for my Aunt Jean's 50th SURPRISE birthday party. I emphasize surprise because normally she makes it a point to know everything about everybody and the fact that Amy, Kristen and Ginger (the daughters, my cousins) could keep it secret, and have everyone invited to the party keep it a secret, is monumental and worth mentioning. In fact, she was so surprised that it took her a minute to come in the door. So, here's a snipit of the reaction:
And for the cute baby photo of the night, I give you baby Kole - complete with his matching camo jacket and bappy. Can I get a collective "AWWWW" from the crowd? He probably should have been wearing this adorable gray wool sweater, but I digress...
In other news, my friend Joy's albums are FINALLY out (it only took 2 years...I'm just sayin'). You'll remember that I had the privilege of singing back up on one of the songs on her Christmas album - I was part of the live choir that did back up for O Holy Night - there were only 40 of us but it sounds like a lot more - good acoustics in the church we recorded in. Eventually (the week after Thanksgiving) you'll be able to buy them on CDBaby and iTunes (search for Joy Waters Fowler when you get there) but for now, you can only order them direct from the record company - Red Arches Records. Let me know if you're interested (thatch10ATbellsouthDOTnet) and I'll email you the order info. Or call me - if you're family/friend and have my number. Anywhoo, the albums are won-der-ful; the first one is all the hymns you used to sing in church (before praise and worship music took over) and the second one is all Christmas music. I'm sure you'll be thrilled with them - she's fantastic.

I'm almost finished with the Monkey socks! I only have the instep and toe to finish on my second one and I'll officially have a REAL PAIR. And they FIT! I know . . . shut up. I have a new pair on the needles - made out of Wick in a colorway called Painted Daisies. The pattern is from a book I can't remember but I'll look it up and post pics as soon as the batteries are charged in the camera.

I'm sure there's more but I can't remember what else I need to post. More to come...

Biggest Looo-zer

Can I tell you, my absolute favorite show on TV (next to Grey's Anatomy) is The Biggest Loser. What an inspiring show and such fun to watch every week. I've been addicted to it for the past 3 seasons. The only thing I hate is the D-R-A-M-A of it . . . it could be an hour long show. Instead, it's an hour and a half because of all the drama before and after the commercials. I totally need TiVo. I'm buying it for myself for Christmas. I just decided. I can't even believe that I don't have it yet. Am I like one of 4 people in America that doesn't? Hello?

I've got one of my Monkey Socks finished - except for stitching up the toe. I don't think I've ever been so happy to see something finished. I told Bill that I'm going to wear them all the time and show them to everyone - even complete strangers! That should make for interesting conversation in the checkout line at Publix.... "Hi. I'm a knitter and I made these really cool socks. See!" "Uh, Security? Anyone? I think she's a few skeins shy of a sweater."

That's all for now; I just wanted y'all to know I'm still here. Oh, and a random thought . . . it's way too early for Christmas decorations on the light poles in the Publix parking lot. I'm just saying. . .

Catching Up

Alas, I am a bad, bad blogger - again. Can it really be 2 full weeks since my last post? (Uh, yepper, I counted. 14 days. Last time I checked that was 2 full weeks.) So, here's what's been happening:

HALLOWEENIE (giggle)

Punkin was Ariel.

Apparently we're slowly working our way through all the Disney Princesses.

Remember Belle from 2005?

And don't forget Cinderella from 2004....

(We own the Tinkerbell costume, though to this point, that one's only been relegated to the dress up closet. There's still next year....)

She made off with a decent haul of candy, most of which she'll never eat because she only likes chocolate. (That's my girl.) As for me, I just left our candy in a bowl on the porch with a sign that said "Take Some. When it's gone, it's gone." And you know what? When I got home, it was gone! Who knew? Probably went to the two 12-year old vampires we saw dragging pillowcases full of candy. To be expected on Halloweenie. The best costume of the night had to go to the Golden Retriever we saw dressed up as a parrot. She was walking with her two owners (girls dressed as pirates). The dog had on wings and had been "painted" with colored hairspray to look like a parrot. Too funny, though I'd hate to know that after traipsing all over the neighborhood I had to go home and wash the dog. Every good pirate has to have a parrot.

KNITTING

I've been working on the Monkey Socks - on double points. And they're coming along S-L-O-W-L-Y. But when you only work on them one complete pattern repeat every other day or two, what do you expect? Bill says that if I sold them, based on the time it's taking to knit them, they would cost $200! I guess that's why people give them as gifts instead of selling, huh?

I got my invitation to Ravelry! (For my non-knitting family and friends who reads this, that will make NO sense to you whatsoever - it's a knitting thing you wouldn't understand.) I haven't gotten a lot of time to play around in there yet, but I'm SO looking forward to it.

I'm not working on any of the other "projects in process" right now because I'm up to my eyeballs in my work at the Deathstar. Maybe with Thanksgiving coming up I'll have some down time to finish up the stuff I have that's almost done but not quite. There seems to be a recurring theme with all the projects in my life . . . almost done, but not quite.

OTHER STUFF

Guess what I'm doing tonight? Singing backup (in a choir) for my friend Joy's upcoming Christmas album (due out on 11/27/07 - I'll link when it's ready)! She said it's not a "paying gig" but we'll receive full credit on the album jacket. Who cares? It'll be fun and she's great so I'm totally in!

More later...

Water, Water...Nowhere

In case you haven't heard, we've kinda hit critical mass in the metro ATL. Based on today's news we only have 80 days worth of drinking water left in Lake Lanier. 80 days, people! And the Army Corp of Engineers still insists on releasing 250 million gallons of water daily to protect some endangered muscles in the Apalachacola (sp?) basin. WHAT? There are 6 million people in the ATL and we're worried about some muscles in Florida. I'm sorry - that just doesn't make walking around sense.

It rained today - for a grand total of 15 minutes. So, not much help for the drought. I'm not much on the whole Global Warming thing - in fact, I think much of the research is tragically flawed (leave nasty comments if you want, but when you have temperature guages in the New Mexico desert on the side of west-facing rocks, you're going to get higher temp readings) - not all scientists agree on the science of Global Warming - I don't care what Al Gore says in his little movie. Anyway, I DO think that people need to be responsible. So, we're now only running the dishwasher when it's actually full; same for the washer. Before you know it, they'll be rationing how many showers we can take per week. It'll be like living in France. :)

(Rant over...)

I said I wouldn't do it...but I'm now making the Monkey socks on double points, not circulars. I know, I know. But the circulars started to bother me. I'm also almost finished with a cardigan for Punkin's American Girl. We were at the yarn store on Saturday and she saw one on display in the shop. She choose her own yarn (pink, of course). The first skein she choose was $16+ ... um, I don't think so. We, the sales girl and I, were able to steer her to a more "reasonably" priced yarn for a doll sweater. It was a quick knit and I should have it sewn together sometime this weekend. I'll post pics.

Ladies and gentlemen, we have AquaDots! I'm not sure what they are, but Punkin's wanted them for, like, EVER and we finally broke down and bought them tonight. Once I figure out what they are, what they do and why they're such a big deal, I'll let you know.

Socks On Two Circs

I took a Socks on Two Circulars class at my LYS and can I just say. . . socks on two circs are a HOT MESS! All those cables and needles hanging and yarn getting all tangled up (and fussing and cussing...). All that and yet STILL easier than knitting on double points! Who knew? We worked on baby socks (Gracie's SOX by Cathy Hannigan) and I pretty much got the hang of it until it came time to turn the heel - the class was Saturday and I'm still trying to turn the heel. I think I need "professional" help. Know what I mean.

In other news, I cleaned out the "yarn corner" of my bedroom that was driving the dear husband nuts, and guess what I found? Not one, not 2, but FOUR started -but-not-finished projects. So typical of one who suffers from can'tfinishitis. It's a sad and debilitating disease...I'm sure you know. I would post a picture of said corner, but I'm just too embarassed. Sad. Just sad.

I packed up a box of "what the hell was I thinking when I bought this" yarn and have it ready to send off to charity. Well, not exactly charity, but to a fellow knitter in D.C. who needs it for her student knitting group. It's not awful yarn, not even bad yarn, just not the kind of yarn I like these days. So, off it goes this week to find a good new home where it will actually be knitted. Novel concept, I know.

In the what I've been reading latetly category is It's About Your Husband by Lauren Lipton. Quite entertaining. And Drunk, Divorced and Covered in Cat Hair by Crazy Aunt Purl. Hys-ter-i-cal. Only a truely Southern gal could fully understand. Bought it on Friday - was finished by Sunday. A very quick, very entertaining read.

Tired...

I'm too tired to blog today...but I have been busy. I'll post tomorrow for real. Promise. :)

Alas, No Harlot for Me

I've been reading everyone's posts (JP, EvilScienceChick, HockeyMom, the KnitWitch, Jen and the lovely Melissa) about the Harlot's visit to the ATL. As you can tell by my title, I didn't go see her - I decided to do the wifely/family thing and spend Bill's birthday with him. I did that "how would you feel if it were your birthday?" thing. And, well, those of you who know me know that I make a HUGE deal out of my birthday. So, if Bill wanted to go see some golfer on MY birthday, well, I'd be pissed. Totally.

Since I'm back on the "plan" we bought a really tiny cake from Kroger. (Note to self, Publix icing is MUCH better than Kroger icing.) It tasted kind of plastic - not that Punkin cared. :)

On Saturday afternoon we went hiking with the Jenks on the Suwanee Creek Greenway, which I've run on many times while training for the marathon. However, I didn't know that they had unpaved trails. A nice break from the asphalt/concrete. Here is Punkin and her buddy, Austin, full of energy at the start of our little hike....

We only went a total of maybe 4.5 or 5 miles. There was some pretty scenery along the way...

I have NO idea what kind of flowers these are. I'm not "good" with flowers (I would post a picture of my yard but I'm too embarassed). But they were pretty nonetheless.

Back to the girls...this is what they looked like when we finished the hike - quite a difference, don't you think?

After we cooled off, we headed over to the Old Towne Tavern and Grille in Suwanee. HIGHLY RECOMMEND IT! That's also where we ate for Bill's birthday. If you go, get the Asian Chicken Salad. To quote Rachel Ray, "Yum-O!"

Oh, finished the BallBand Dish Cloth I was working on . . . and two others . . . and got bored and did a log cabin one, too. I'll post pics of the those later. But for now, here's this one.

Total mindless knitting. Love them. Weaving in the ends is a bee-yotch. No pain, no gain.

This weekend is the Duluth Fall Festival. A virtual cornucopia of craftiness! (And crap, but we're only going to focus on the craftiness, people.) It all starts with a kitchy parade of cheerleaders, football players, (the bar girls from Wild Bill's), political candidates, PTA groups, etc. All the things that make Duluth feel like a small town. After that candy-throwing nonsense is over, you meander through TONS of craft booths. Some of them are really good -real artisans, if you will, and others are, well... It's kind of like American Idol - you know where the really bad singers have been told by their families that they're really good - but you and ALL OF AMERICA knows that the really suck. Some of these people are still making crafts from the 80's - chee-zee! I'll see if I can sneak some pics. I love, LOVE, LOVE the Duluth Fall Festival. Small Town America at it's finest.

More to come...gotta feed the family!

Random

File this one under totally RANDOM thoughts.

On my "Today I Feel" link, you'll notice that today I feel FAT! As in huge, retaining water, blobbish, etc. And I have a headache (but there's no "PunkyMoods" icon for that - maybe I should suggest it). So, to make all my ills go away, and allow for some much needed sleep, I've had a nice glass of Savingon Blanc (sp?) with dinner and followed that up with a nice muscle relaxer (Flexeril, to be exact). Now, before you get the wrong idea, my neck has been killing me - too much work on the computer lately (see below for my random ranting about work) and not enough quality sleep. When my neck gets out of whack, it causes my muscles to tighten up and that causes the headache. Follow?

Speaking of work...could I have just a little more of it, please? (Hopefully you're reading the sarcasm - cause it's there.) I'm SO busy right now that I don't know which end is up and I spend most of my days putting out whatever is the most critical fire drill of the day. I'm managing the big software implementation project. One of my main vendors in the Midwest is going through major changes and the same vendor in the Southeast just isn't selling as much as they have in the past (and should be still). And it's my job to find out why and turn the ship.

And I made the mistake of buying groceries at the Super Wal-Mart in Suwanee last night. Don't get me wrong, I spent WAY less than I normally spend at Publix, and I bought a new dog bed for Gretchen. BUT (and this is a big but) the check out process is so TOTALLY stressful that it almost (not sure yet) negates all the savings. No lie. There are 26 checkouts at this Wal-Mart and they had, are you ready, 5 open! On a Sunday evening! When their parking lot and store were packed! What the hell? Come on Wal-Mart! You bully your way into a community, ruining property values, leveling acres of trees and the best you can do on a busy weekend day is FIVE FREAKING REGISTERS? Give me a big, fat break! (That feels better.)

On to knitting....

I'm still working on the Ball Band Dishcloths from Mason-Dixon Knitting. I'm loving the colors I've chosen (not those on the photo above) and they'll look nice in my new kitchen. I'm thinking of making some for Christmas presents for some family. I have a few aunts that would appreciate them. I think my mother-in-law and sister-in-law would also appreciate them. I'm thinking of making some for my brother's Red & Black University of Georgia kitchen. I'm not worried about fading since he doesn't actually cook there. It's kind of like he has a house that happens to also have a kitchen, know what I mean? Bless his heart....

I also decided to make the bib pattern from Mason-Dixon Knitting. I have a few friends who are having/adopting babies and the bibs make for easy, mindless car pool knitting. Speaking of car pool, I'm thinking of making scarves for the poor teachers who have to work car pool. I have some (OK, a lot) of Lion HomeSpun that was given to me and those Berroco Keyhole Scarves are just so easy. A few years ago at work we had a craft fair to raise money for the United Way and, no lie, I sold twenty of them in one day and wrote a check to the United Way for almost $200 (there were a few other stash projects thrown in there, too).

Wednesday is hubby's birthday and the day that Stephanie will be at Knitch in Virginia Highlands. And I have a "ticket" to go... Now I'm feeling guilty for not spending Bill's birthday with him. What's a gal to do? I have ALL of her books and this is the FIRST time (and presumably the only time until maybe the next book tour) she's come to the ATL . I'm still thinking it over and I'll let you know what I decide to do.

Whew Baby, I'm Tired!

I think the title just about says it all.

We went to Statesboro this past weekend - since we hadn't been there since March, I decided it was about time to pay a visit. Some good natured ribbing from mom didn't hurt, either. Plus, it was my cousin's wife's baby shower. She got a lot of nice things. Mine gift was the only handmade item, which is funny because in my area of the ATL, it's generally a contest at baby showers to see who can give the most FAB-U-LOUS handmade gift. We fight over knitted/crocheted things (me), hand-stamped things (me, Chauveen, & Andrea), handmade bags (Chauveen & Andi), handmade embroidered jumper dresses (Chauveen), handmade hooded bath towels (Chauveen - she's a busy gal - about to have a web store - I'll link when she does), etc. Quite fun to hear all the "oohs" and "ahs" when the gifts get passed around. Anywhoo, apparently that "trend" hasn't made it to the 'Boro yet. Maybe it will - maybe they just need some inspiration, oh, and a good craft store. Wal-Mart hardly counts as a good craft store. :)

Tomorrow is the baby shower for the girl in my choir. I was working on another baby sweater, like the one I made for my cousin's wife, but I SWEAR there is something wrong with the pattern and I just don't have it in me to sew and unsew it again. Hello! Read my title - I'm tired. And that includes being tired of re-sewing a baby sweater. I'm about ready to rip it all out and re-purpose the yarn - or just thow it away.

I've been inspired by this site to start making ball band dish cloths again. Her's are SO pretty and colorful and I'm tired of baby colors since all I've made lately is baby stuff. Not that there's anything wrong with that. And cotton dishcloth yarn is cheap - I like cheap. Even more, my husband likes cheap.

So, I think I'll dig through the stash and find some cotton yarn and start knitting. The pattern is an easy, no-brainer kind of patter and given my past 2 weeks and the next say, I don't know, 12 weeks are going to be nuts and I need something easy to occupy myself. Which reminds me, the baby's (from the shower) great-grandmother-to-be picked up my baby sweater, admired it and said "You know, idle hands are the devil's workplace." My reply, "No idle hands here." True, true.

Hey, next week I get to go see the Yarn Harlot at Knitch! It's on Bill's birthday; he said my gift to him was not making him go see her, too. Ha! The whole knit thing has been almost too much for him to swallow; and he totally doesn't get blogging about knitting (or any other craft). Poor him...he'll come around.

Look What I've Been Up To...

The baby sweater is complete. I'm still convinced that there is something wrong with the pattern since I worked it and ripped it out not once, not twice but THREE times and I still don't think it sews together correctly. Oh well, it's cute and it's finished.

I also started this - the Wavy Scarf from Knitty.com.

(Did you notice the hardwood floors? Just thought I'd point that out.) I've had this pattern for quite some time and finally found the yarn I wanted to do it in. I'm using Paton's Shetland Chunky, a wool blend that feels soft and has some great color variations in it. See... Pretty, huh? I'd like a whole sweater made out of this yarn. The pattern is fun, too. I had to modify the stitch count since this yarn is way bigger than what it calls for on the pattern. I'm always amazed how you can get two simple stitches to "move" like this. Fascinating.

As for what we did over the holiday weekend...it was quiet and relaxed. On Friday, on a whim, we went bowling. Though I had my camera, it never occurred to me to actually USE it. So, I give you a picture of Punkin putting her real shoes back on after we finished. *sigh*

On Saturday night we went out to dinner at a new BBQ place with several families. It was YUMMY! The kids had quite the time at their own table while the grown-ups had normal conversations at their table. Here's Punkin and Palmer hamming it up. After dinner they set up a beauty shop and decided to make each other over - at the table. Too funny.

On Sunday night we went to Shawn & Kimberly's for dinner. Punkin played with all the kids and ended up spending the night with Austin - quite a big step based on all the separation anxiety issues we've had over the summer. Whew! Big sigh of relief. On Monday, we met them at the park for a quick picnic. We took Cody and Leah to burn off some energy at the dog park, then came home. After a nap and dinner, it was time to get ready for the back to work/school drag....

I love long weekends.

It. Is. Finished.

To say it took "longer than expected" would be a gross understatement. It took from Saturday until this morning to get all the boards down. The trim work still needs to be done but Bill says that he's going to hire someone to do that. I'm not sure he can tackle that task, based on this past weekend, without some serious medication. And medication and a miter saw just don't mix well.

Now we just need to get the new counter tops. We'll definitely be paying someone to install those - not doing so just might lead to D-I-V-O-R-C-E.

I sewed the baby sweater together, then took it apart, then sewed it together again, then took it apart again....are you seeing a pattern? I thought so. I seems that when one sews it together, there aren't the correct number of stitches at the neckline to make the neckband work correctly. I've re-done one of the front panels and now I'm re-doing the sleeve to see if that's where the pattern error is. (You see, it must be the pattern because it most certainly cannot be me.) I must say that the sweater is VERY cute when sewn together and no one would probably know that the neck stitches were whack - but I would know and it would drive me nuts. So, I'm giving it one more go and if that doesn't work, I'll check out the publisher's site and see if there are pattern errors. On second thought, maybe I should have done that after the first sewing and ripping...oh well, live and learn.

Progress

Did I mention that we have a lot of angles in our kitchen? We do. Friends, I give you . . . progress!

I Hate . . .

Painting yards and yards and yards and yards of white trim! But the results will be WELL worth it. I'll post "in progress" pics over the weekend.

I'll also post the complete baby sweater. Can you say "too stinkin' cute"?

Now Is the Time

Ladies & Gents, the time has come to install the hardwoods. Do you know how many angles are in my kitchen? Here's a hint - LOTS! I'm pretty thankful that I am not the one putting them down by myself. We're going to have help; Bill's dad is going to come up and help us.

We've pulled up the old floor and it looks like this now:

Nice, huh? Notice the blue tape? Still haven't finished painting the trim. Guess that'll be tonight or tomorrow night. To keep Punkin entertained, we're having a friend come over to spend the night.

As for crafting, I'm working on a baby sweater (crochet) for a girl in my choir who is having a baby in October. Her shower is September 13th. I chose crochet because it's faster for me to do for gifts. If she were a really close friend or a family member, I would have knit something. Given how crazy my life is right now, it might take me months to knit a baby sweater. (Reference my post from early July that listed all my works in progress. Need I say more?)

Tonight is Curriculum Night at school so I'm off to grab dinner before we go. And, since you asked, we're having Mexican...again. :)

Send me back to Palmetto Bluff!

Oh. My. God. Palmetto Bluff was fab-u-lous! I still can't believe or describe how fabulous it was/is. You totally feel like you've stepped off the face of the earth to a little piece of heaven (minus the mosquitos - they were SO bad). The land once belonged to Cornelius Vanderbilt and his wife. They built a HUGE (summer) plantation house there in the early 1900s and it burned 14 years later. The story says he was so distraught over the loss of the house that he never returned to the property. No lie. Here are some pics:

This is the chapel - there was a wedding there on Saturday night. Very quaint; very romantic.

We did quite a bit of boating on the Intercoastal. In this pic, we're beached on a sand bar at low tide. We tried to swim a bit but the water was gross - full of "stuff" coming in with the tide. Ooooohhhh. That's me (sporting a shirt because of sunburn earlier in the day), Toey, Tamara and Melissa.

This is the "cottage" we stayed in. Cottage being a 3 bedroom, fully appointed HOUSE, complete with a Viking kitchen, hardwood floors and down blankets and pillows. I told you it was a little piece of heaven.

Here are more pics from my Flickr account and from Tamara's. Too fun!

In other news - yesterday was the first day of school for Punkin. She loves school - still hates Little Tikes (the afterschool program). We're still working on that.

Look where I'm going - Palmetto Bluff / Hilton Head, SC. Woohoo! We're leaving on Thursday after Punkin goes to meet her first grade teacher. We're going with a bunch of folks from Bill's office - his boss has a house there and we're all staying together. Cozy, huh? There's free golf, free spa, free BEACH, free food. Did I mention the beach? :) I love the ATL, but I really miss the beach. Living in Statesboro, I was 45 minutes from Tybee Island and 1 hour from Hilton Head Island. I could literally wake up on a Saturday and decide, on a whim, to go to the beach. As I drove down I-16 I would decide which one I wanted to go to. If I wanted a "nice" beach, I'd make the turn to I-95 and head to the Head. If I just wanted to get a beach "fix," I'd stay on I-16 and head through downtown Savannah, out the Islands Expressway and on to Tybee. Now, it would take me at least 4 1/2 hours to get to either.... *sigh*

I'll post pics and details when we get back on Sunday. Not much knitting right now because, HELLO, it's 100 degrees and 90%+ humidity! The last thing I want to touch is wool.

More later!

Today Was A Good Day

Punkin had a great day! She met me at the door this afternoon and said "Hi mom! I didn't cry today." Be still my heart! No one can truly know what a monumental step forward this is. I worried about it all weekend - she worried about it all weekend. She's been absolutely fabulous tonight and she looks happy again. I'm beginning to feel the weight lifting. We still have a long way to go but I think the medicine is starting to work. I think I can see the light at the end of the tunnel.



I didn't knit this weekend....because of this:

I started on Friday night and finished on Sunday afternoon. Typical of my reading habits - get my nose stuck in a book and don't put it down until I've finished. I've never been one to "savor" a book - reading it leisurely. Now I've gotten about 1/3 of the way through the next book in the series, A Good Yarn. I guess when I'm done with this one I'll have to get the next one, Back on Blossom Street.

Oh, and I'm still working on Tempting. I've got one of the sleeves on the double points and I'm working it. It took me (no lie) three tries to get going on the DPNs. For some reason I've always struggled with double points - which explains why there are two pairs of socks that I've had cast on for almost a year that I haven't finished.....

So many projects, so little time.

Back to Normal (maybe)

I think we've got Punkin's meds issue figured out. The neuro called and gave us the OK to put her back on what she's been on for the past 6 years. So far, so good. She still doesn't want to go to school, but we have a week for her to change her mind.

Now that the medication problem has worked itself out, I have more time to dedicate to fun stuff! I wanted to have the Tempting sweater finished by this weekend but it appears that half a dozen rows ago I switched knits with purls and now I have to ladder those stitches back and fix them. I just don't have that in me right now. So, I'll work on an easier project - like socks or something. Maybe I'll finish the Wildstripes blanket - it's all done except for seaming up one end of the lining and adding the topstitching details. My hubby would be SO excited to actually see me finish something.

I still need to finish the Knitting Pure and Simple Summer Cardi (knit in Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece in a nice shade of blue - goes well with my eyes). I've gotten as far as dividing for the sleeves; so it's pretty much straight, mindless knitting from here on out. I've got a lot of travel for work coming up and this might be a good project for my first plane trip. Afterall, it's kind of hard to screw up plain stockinette stitch.

My mom sent me a great recipe for a breakfast casserole so I thought I'd share:

Sausage Grits Casserole

1 lb sausage, ground

1 c quick cooking grits (not instant grits)

8 oz grated cheese, divided

1 c milk

2 Tbsp butter

1/2 tsp salt

Brown sausage and drain. Prepare grits according to package directions. To the cooked grits add 3/4 of the cheese, stir until well melted. Add the sausage and other ingredients; pour into a casserole dish and top with remaining cheese. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

Painting's Done . . .Almost

Kitchen's painted! Well, technically the main wall color is on but I still have to work on the trim. Have I mentioned that I. Hate. Trim. Just curious. Trim takes all the fun out of painting.

I'm really very happy with the color - it's not too dark, not too light. Not too green, not too olive. Like Goldilocks, it's "just right." Walking in the door and seeing it makes me smile. I can't wait until we get the floors down. But, no floors until I finish the trim. ARGH!

The maids come to clean tomorrow. (Sometimes I wish I could read their minds when they walk into my house. I'm sure that they tell all of their friends back in Brazil about that crazy girl in Duluth who has a room full of yarn and paper and who never sweeps.) After they're done I'll finish the trim and then we'll start pulling up the old floor and getting ready to put down the new one. Here are a few of the other pics....

What to do? Knit? Run? Or Drink?

Such tough decisions....it's been a little stressful at our house for the past few weeks. So stressful that I can't decide if I should eat, run, knit, drink copious amounts of alcohol, or some combination of all of them. I read in Vogue Knitting today that some lady in the UK won a Guiness Book World Record for knitting a scarf while running a marathon. I knit. I've run a marathon. I could get one of those little "beer hats" with the 2 straws that come down the sides....I could knit, drink and run -- ALL AT THE SAME TIME! We've been dealing with changes to Punkin's seizure meds and it's Wearing. Us. Out! So much so that I just washed down a muscle relaxer and 2 Excedrin . . . with freakin' a Mojito! (Not that there's anything wrong with that.)

On a positive note, the kitchen got painted. I still have to do the trim work - I'd rather stuff a hot poker in my eye, but hey, it has to be done if I want my new floor to get installed. I've taken a few "in progress" pics but none since we finished painting. I kind of want to get everything back in its assigned place before I snap the finals. Now that I'm in love with the color, I think I'll keep the cabinets white. With the new floor, new paint and new counter tops, the cabinets should look like I intended for them to be white.


On the Tempting sweater........I'm almost finished. I now have to decide if I want to make it plain (no cute ribbon threaded through it) or make it so I can change the ribbon out. I'm totally torn. Part of me wants just a nice, normal black ribbed sweater. Another part of me wants the cutie-patootie ribbon sweater. What's a gal to do? I hope to be completely finished with it by this weekend - it's kind of hard to get a lot accomplished between conference calls and a 6-year old having medication-induced meltdowns. Our trip to Hilton Head is next weekend and I'd like to have it done so I can wear it then. We'll see....

New Kitchen Alert

OK - so painting my kitchen and putting down hardwoods isn't exactly "crafty" but it is a little creative, right? I'm up to my eyeballs in painting supplies right now. My 6-year old assistant/sidekick/helper and I finished putting Kilz2 on all the leftover navy blue tonight. Tomorrow morning will be all the little areas around and above the cabinets. Such a pain. Once that's done, on goes the paint - Montpelier Olive from Valspar (at Lowe's). It's more "artichoke-y" than olive which is good 'cause an olive kitchen would be, how shall I say, DRAB. Just gross.

Anywho - the new floor is called Summer Butternut and is a yummy shade of golden oakey goodness. All 14 boxes are still sitting in my van and stinking up the place. :) I'm hoping to get the floor down sometime this week. Hubby and I are debating whether or not to pull up the existing, builder's grade (read: crappy) vinyl that's currently there or to just put the floor over it. I say rip it, he says lay over.

Once the floor is down we're on to new counter tops. I wanted something fancy (like granite) but, alas, that's a BIT TOO MUCH money! So, we're settling for a laminate called Labrador Granite - looks like granite . . . but isn't. We're hoping that with the new paint, new floor and new counter we'll like the white cabinets that are still there. There's just NO way we can afford to rip those babies out and start over.

In knitting news, I'm still working on the Jenna Adorno Tempting sweater from Knitty.com (like 3 years ago). I've made it up to where I divide for the sleeves. My goal is to have it finished by the end of September. It's in black Debbie Bliss Cashmerino - otherwise I'd try to post a picture. I stumbled across a blurb on a blog (Crazy Aunt Purl) about a knitting store in ATL called Knitch. Hello! How did I miss that? It's in Virginia Highland; not exactly my "side" of town, but I'm always up for a yarn road trip. I just wish some of my buddies were yarn people instead of scrappers/stampers. What's a gal to do?

Vegas, Baby!

That's where I've been for the past week. Bill and I left on July 8th and came back on the 15th. Can I just tell you, that's WAY TOO long to spend in Vegas. The trip was for Bill's job and we spent at least 10-12 hours per day working. Then.....we went out and partied until 1:00 AM+. I think I might be a little too old for that! Getting up the next morning by 6:00 was HARD and recovery time, well, I'm still recovering. :)

So, I haven't crafted anything since then. However, I did get my new Stampin' Up Fall catalog and L-O-V-E it! I'm heading to a Stampin' Up Hostess Club on July 30th - this year's Hostess Club will be doing more scrapbooking (which is good because I'm so far behind on my books!). I'll post pics of what we do. (I think I have the picture thing figured out now - I now have a Flickr account. We'll see.)

We're heading to Lowe's to look for a new kitchen floor. We're also thinking of getting our cabinets refaced (http://www.kitchenfrontsofga.com/) instead of springing for brand new cabinets. We have to do something because my kitchen is making me NUTS!

More later!

I Obviously SUCK at Blogging!

It's fair to say that anyone who goes S-I-X months without a S-I-N-G-L-E post might not be cut out for Blogging. However, the third time's the charm, right?

It's been a busy first half of the year. The merger between AT&T and BellSouth (merger - funny word....totally was a "we bought you" takeover) closed in late December - practically on New Year's Eve. Since then, my life has been a total blur. Work got crazy. I got moved to a new team with a new boss who is in Chicago of all places. (I love Chicago.) There's no one on my immediate team in the ATL. The good news is I like what I'm doing and it's relatively the same as what I was doing before.

I ran a marathon! Totally true. 26.2 miles. I decided that I needed a way to manage stress (and the accompanying fat ass that it gives you) and it was either take up running or become really good friends with the wine guy at the Duluth package store. You get some "interesting" looks when you go to Cost Plus World Market, load up a cart with bottles of wine and respond "nope, all for me" when the clerks says "having a party?" Plus, a good Baptist like me isn't really supposed to be coping with a nice bottle of Chianti, right?

Back to the maratoning....so, in January I signed up with the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society's Team in Training program to run the Rock 'n Roll Marathon in San Diego, CA on June 3rd. My first run was 3 miles at the beginning of February and I thought. I . Was. Going. To. DIE. Seriously. Nearly killed me. Four months and more than 350 training miles later, I ran my first marathon! I finished in a stellar 6 hours, 39 minutes and 55 seconds. (You had to finish in less than 7 hours -- 20 minutes and 5 seconds to spare!) Who cares? I FINISHED! And I raised more than $4500 for those in Georgia/Atlanta metro area who are battling blood cancers. I told everyone that, next to childbirth, it was the most exhilirating and excruciating thing I've ever done. And it was. This picture of me is post race (see my medal around my neck!) and I was getting my blisters, um, "tended to" by some poor volunteer.

Crafting...ah, yes...my forgotten hobbies. Now that it's summer, I have time to break out all the works in progress. And honey, there are a lot of WIPs. Just ask my dear husband. He'll tell you. I'll try to take pictures and post but just for your pleasure here are the ones I can think of:

• a lovely blue top-down cardigan
  


• an crochet afghan for Neely that I just have to piece together (hello? what was I thinking? 48 different pieces)
  


• two different pairs of socks
  


• a blue "fish-netty" scarf out of Melody by SWTC (sidebar: quite possibly the most frustrating yarn I've ever worked with)
  


• a white heirloom baby afghan that's 3/4 of the way done
  


• a pink baby afghan for a baby that was born LAST NOVEMBER
  


• a black bottom up 2x2 rib sweater from Jenna Adorno (pattern from Knitty.com)
  


• this cute tank for Neely which needs to be seamed and blocked


• an adorable purse made out of crocheted triangles that I need to piece together


• then there's the ballet neck sweater from "Hip Knits" that I finished in 2005 that I steamed and blocked and just haven't sewn together (I obviously need professional help for my "can't-finish-itis")
  


• and that's just some of the yarn projects. We haven't talked about scrapbooking and stamping and sewing and . . . .
  

Whew! That's enough, I think. Perhaps my goal for the rest of the year should be to, I don't know, finish what I've started! Oh, I'm not sure if that hurt or felt good?