Little Surprises

Warning, this is a bit of a whine. By "bit", I mean "quite a bit".  If you're up for it, carry on.  Sometimes, you just need to get it all out.

I suppose I should pop in here more often.  I had no idea how much it had changed. lol   I shouldn't be surprised, but I was.

One thing became rather clear to me this past year, I have a ridiculous need for 'order'.  Well, except when it come to anything that looks like housecleaning, then I'm good with a little disorder (though I still have my limits).  This need for order, for routine, can be a very helpful tool in life.  I make plans, I work towards goals, I get things done, I make new plans, etc.  That's all good, right?

Where it utterly falls apart is in the homeschool area.  This beautiful, wonderful kids are breaking my brain and have just plain ol' run me ragged these past few years.  We've worked on school for 3 full school years and two full summers in order to try to finish courses on time for the next fall.  I have rearranged our schedules and daily due dates in order to facilitate getting everything done on time.  It makes no difference.  We're here in another summer (and the weather is finally starting to look like summer), and courses are not finished. Again.

I have a lovely younger child who is probably most like me.  She is motivated by due dates, but once she's 'caught up', she's not interested in doing extra work to get ahead.  Unless there's crossword puzzles involved.  Then, she's all over it.  The eldest wants to do the bare minimum to pass, couldn't organize her way out of a paper bag and doesn't really care about deadlines at all.

Of course, in addition to school we have Musical Theatre classes, voice lessons and dance class.  Also include the extra practices that come just before performances, studios that didn't organize performaces very well this year, etc., and that's a bit closer to life these days.

This Spring, I became very aware that we are all burned out.  I have no time for things I enjoy (including blogs - reading or writing), and I'm too mentally toasted to enjoy much of the time when I do get it.  The kids are in desperate need for free time with no schedule pushing them around.  So.  I declared that there would be no mandatory schooling this summer. 

Bwahahahahahahahahahah.

I carefully laid out a schedule that would help the girls complete 90% + of their courses by the end of June (June 29 was the Last Day of required school), with just a small amount of classes to be made up over the summer if they chose to do so.  I informed them that I would gladly help them with any work they chose to do over the summer, but other than ask if they were doing any, I would not schedule any classes like that. 

My only requirements for the summer are that the girls work on some typing skills every day (a computer typing game, not a hardship), some foreign language lessons each day (1 or 2, and on the computer), and we are going to work on handwriting skills (printing and cursive).  We can easily complete all of these in an hour.  If they don't happen every day, no worries.  The eldest also volunteered to do a summer Math Lab, an online math class that meets for 1 hour Mon - Thurs.  She did this over the past school year, and it has made a world of difference in her math scores.  Even more exciting, she likes the class!

Now, the eldest has a huge pile of classes that she didn't finish for the year.  We were making great progress, but we hit technical difficulties.  The state cut the budget for online learning programs (they don't seperate optional online learning experiences from full-time online public school in the budget, so when they cut one, they cut the other), so the county in which our school is located decided to eliminate the school from their budget.  The technological impact of this was to switch all students and learning coaches (that's me) to another county's system. 

Let me start by saying this was to be a "Seamless Transition".  When you're done laughing, I'll continue.  No.  It's okay.  Laugh some more.

Yeah.  So, the week before my selected deadline, the whole system shut down and we couldn't get in to 'see' any of our classes.  Since many of them have at least part of the class and/or assessments online, this affected everything.  Now sweat, I thought.  We'll just push out that Last Week and do it the next week and we'll all be okay with that.  Uh-huh.  So it is now July 20th, the system still isn't working properly.  They reset all course values to the beginning of LAST fall, so the kids cannot see what is truly remaining in their courses.  Technically, we can continue to work forward (I do know where we are in the coursework, even if it isn't showing), but the kids won't voluntarily work on their own because it is a) depressing to look at all the zero values, b) really frustrating to have to look up each class in our workbooks to figure out where to go next, and c) much, much easier to just ignore the whole thing.

I've spent weeks on the phone talking to the same people who don't know anything, only now they've become people who can tell me the problem is located elsewhere in the system (a place I can't call) where they are working on a solution, with no idea when it will be corrected.  It seems they were surprised that it wasn't "seamless" and are trying to get it sorted out.  ALL of the students were affected, but I am just flabbergasted that so many students who are working to finish courses over the summer will be struggling with the system as it is.  As of now, there's no guarantee that any current progress will be properly meshed with the old progress when the system is fixed.  So, there could be yet another problem on the horizon.

So.  My attempt at letting go this summer, letting the chips fall where they may, letting the kids determine where they'd be next fall, etc.  Not working out so well.  I don't seem to be able to relax about the whole thing - AT ALL.  The kids' stress levels are on the decrease, I think.  Mine?  Not so much.

I spent two months planning for the Tour de Fleece this year.  I've had exactly 3 days in which to spin.  It ends on Sunday.  I have very little time for any spinning between now and then.  This plan failed spectacularly, and my stress levels reflect that.  Himself took a week off of work to 'do things around the house'.  Oddly, I thought that meant do his things, not involve the entire family.  I didn't schedule for that. We got lots of stuff done around the house, but I'm not really enjoying the positives that should go with that because all of it involved messing with my schedule (mostly to spin or just relax). 

Here it is, mid-July, and I still haven't reached a place where I can just relax.  I set very few goals for myself this summer.  One was to try to let the school thing go.  Just let the kids deal with their choices.  After all, it is homeschool and the 'grade level' thing isn't a huge deal.  We aren't that far off the mark.  The other thing was to just take time to knit and spin and read for fun. Okay, maybe toss some video games in there and a little sewing.  So far, that really isn't happening.  I keep telling myself that "next week, things will open up", but that isn't happening yet.  Other people (okay, Himself) keeps adding stuff to my plate and I really think I'm going to have to completely freak out before he stops.  I've shared how stressed I am, I've shared that it is due to too many scheduled things and not any time to just relax without having to do something or be somewhere.  Apparently, I speak an unknown language, because I went out of my way to be very clear in my word choice and explanation of my mental state.  sigh 

See me? Organizing my free time?  I can't enjoy the things he has planned because it doesn't fit in with what I wanted to do for relaxation this summer.  Friends call up and want a play date at the park?  I have to grit my teeth to go.   I can't seem to let the need to organize go long enought to just enjoy whatever it is that I'm doing.
Guess it is time to try again.  But I'm still having trouble with the school thing.  I think I may be broken.  Why is it so hard to let that go? 

When did Mondays start lasting all week?

I mean, I get that it happens now and then, but two weeks running?  :P 

We are not off to a good start this year.  I am extremely unhappy about that.  The changes in our online school program are really making it hard to get going.  Thank you, State of Washington, for screwing up a great program and making it harder to get any school done during the day.  NOT. 

The attitude of my youngest is making it even harder.  How do you spend 3 hours reading and get nowhere?   I'd bang my head on a wall, but I already have a headache.  She is all excited about working harder and getting done sooner, but she isn't doing the work.  I'm trying to get all the new regulations sorted and push her to do her work.  We had a great first week, then :P. 

I am hopeful that we will find a way to get it together, but she is really just NOT working.  Somehow.  Ah, Week 1 was So Promising!

I signed up to do an online course on the Constitution from Hillsdale College.  So far it is really interesting, but it is tough working it in around trying to get the youngest to do her daily work.  I really need more than 24-hours in a day. lol

On the painting side of life, I've finally decided that the color I used in the entry is too dark to keep.  The few days of clouds, and the evenings spent contemplating color, just back me up.  The lighting in our house is not very bright.  I want some new lighting in the entry, but it won't happen for a while and it still might not fix the problem.  After painting swatches near the brick on the fireplace, I've also decided this color goes a bit too yellow for me.  So, I'll be repainting that space a shade lighter and slightly different (more blue-green).  Not looking forward to the whole mess, trying to squeeze it in around the school work that already isn't getting done as it should.   On the up side of things, there's a big sale on the paint I'm using starting Friday, so I can get all the paint I need at a good savings.

Always have to look for the positive.

The sweater is proceeding nicely.  I'm on my first sleeve, and things are going nicely. After reading, and rereading, project notes for this pattern, I'm feeling pretty confident about the choices I'm making for the collar and button band (which is new to me).  I've got two sets of buttons secured, and will choose once I get a band done.  I've been rather lazy about the pictures, though. I need to remedy that situation very soon.

I'm also trying to do the Scary Sock KAL again, love these socks!  Sadly, my sock mojo is missing and I am really struggling to get things done with that KAL.  So far, we've had Frogs, Bride of Frankenstein and The Door With Seven Locks.  Very cute patterns, not enough time (or needles)!  I'm still hoping to get some done this year.  Ah, where are my time management skills?  Anyone see them?

More painting

Spent a bit more time last week painting the entry.  The final color does not really match the little paint card I was choosing from, and is much darker than the wet paint.  I'm not 100% sure how I feel about it, which I think means I need to repaint.  I think my waffling on the final color is because I don't want to repaint that space.  But, it was easier than I thought, though it did take all day, and if knitting has taught me anything, it is that it is worth the time to do things right.

So, I'm thinking I'll get some paint samples, and put those on the wall before making any additional decisions.  It is a nice color, don't get me wrong, but it is a bit dark (or is that deep?) for the area, at least darker than I intended, and what I put in this space will determine what I use in the rest of the living area (the walls all run together).  I really need to make sure I am happy with this choice before I can move forward.  I really need to move forward before the rain/clouds comes back to stay.  I really don't need to get paralyzed by indecision. lol

Speaking of taking the time to do things right, I just ripped a couple of inches out of the sweater.  Again.  At least I'm only at the shoulders, not starting all over again. lol  This time, I've second-guessed myself silly over the sleeves.  There's a provisional cast-on, but it does not say to use waste yarn, nor does it say anywhere in the pattern to pull out the waste yarn and pick up the live stitches and keep knitting.  I decided that since all my other patterns have been more specific, maybe the designer didn't mean that, and that I should do something more creative.  After a few inches, and more thought, I realized that the designer probably expected that I would just know that a provisional cast on should always be done in waste yarn, or something like that, and I was a doofus for trying to make it more complicated.  So, it is ripped, provisional cast on with waste yarn is done, I just need to get back to the knitting part.  I didn't realize the lengths I'd be willing to go to in order to avoid weaving in extra ends!  Because, that's pretty much the reason I got all creative with it. 

We helped a friend today by babysitting her two-year old.  Wow.  I'd forgotten how very busy they are. lol  The girls played with her all morning, and after her (too short) nap.  We got up extra early today, however, and I haven't been sleeping very well.  I'm exhausted!  I'm also rather surprised that ripping went so well on the sweater.

Finally Framed

I bought this print about 7 years ago.  I never got it framed thinking I could just do it myself. cue maniacal laughter  So, I found a big coupon on framing and bit the bullet, stopped putting it off and just got it done.  This, in turn, led to picking out a paint color and painting the room to go with the painting.

No.  The painting needed to happen.  We've been in this house 11 years.  The white walls look like it, in many places, and I've decided I should learn to embrace the fact that this is my house and I can paint the walls if I want to.  Not sure why that is hard for me to grasp, but it is.  Also, painting is a lot of work, so if I'm going to do it, no barely-not-white colors need apply.  Well, unless that's what I really, really want.

So, here's my newly framed print, at long last, and my very colorful room.

This is a Waterhouse print, Circe Invidiosa.  I love the colors in this print so much.  I have no idea why, but, there it is.

I spent the day yesterday painting my room with my kids.  I found that one of them is a bit erratic, but a crazy hard worker.  The other loses interest quickly and is a sloppy worker.  Okay.  I knew about the sloppy thing in advance, but I was a Good Mom and did not pick on her for the messes (they weren't too bad), just thanked her for her hard work.  They made the work go faster, though it still took up the whole day.

I got virtually nothing else useful done this weekend, other than cleaning out their closet, but I sure love my "new" room!

Ending just in time to start

What?

Yep.  Homeschooling two, in two different grades turned out to be more challenging than I ever thought.  Add in lost time when 1 is sick, much less when they are both sick but at different times, and, well.  This looks like a math equation, but mostly just = FAIL.  Then the music theatre class sucked out about 6+ hours per week of teaching time, the vacation days, time off for funeral, etc.  Wow.  

This year was an amazing learning experience, it just didn't fit into the "school year" timeline.

I gave up on blogging for a while, trying to stay afloat in everything else.  I didn't 'float' so well, but here we are the last few days before the next school year, and the kids are just finishing their work for last year.  I really need a vacation (October!), but we stagger on.  I think we've worked out the things we need to change to be more successful next year, so I'm optimistic.  The girls both admit they would have forgotten too much, and they "would've been bored" (their words, really), if they hadn't had some school to do over the summer.  We all agree that some school over the summer is a good thing.  Just not as much as we had. 

So, we are almost finished, just the eldest still working away.  She should be done tomorrow, but we'll see.  She's starting to get really lazy, getting in the way of her own success, really.  How often do we all do that each and every day.  My kids are really teaching me some valuable lessons in this process.  Stop getting in my own way.  Who knew?

The new school year starts on Tuesday, 9/6.  We'll have a little down-time as the new materials will be late in coming since the girls were late finishing.  So, some slower days to recover from the mad rush to finish.  Oddly, both are asking me to push them to work this hard from the beginning of the year.  You might think this is so they can finish early and have a longer summer.  What they say they really want?  To move ahead to the next grade faster.  When I've suggested this as a possibility in the past two years, they have rejected the idea as unappealing.  I have no idea what changed, but I hope I can set a good pace that will move them in that direction without burning us all out.

Seriously.  I need a vacation.  NOW.

We will make our scheduled family vacation in October, as per usual.  Florida is on the roster this year, and we are in heated debate regarding the parks we will visit this year.  I'm pretty sure that is all sorted out, but until the tickets are in my hand, I won't believe that any decision is final.  Sadly, the airfare jumped quite a bit in the time we've been kicking around ideas.  We really need to get that sorted soon.  We got all flummoxed when Himself announced a work trip to either London or Frankfurt.  There was a brief flurry of thought along lines of altering the family vacation to Europe, but spur-of-the-moment trips like this are very much out of the budget.  So, no go on that one.

My lovely girls are very sad to miss an opportunity to visit "all those cool places we've studied in history" and have to go to amusement parks instead.  Ah.  They are wonderful girls. :)

It seems a bit much to try to fill in all the blanks since I last posted a million years ago, so I won't try.  But, a highlight from the year was Tour de Fleece.  I managed to reach my goals and had a blast doing it.  I never totaled my yardage, but I was pleased.  I tried spinning from my first batts, managed some heavier weight yarn than my "usual", and spun with some new elements like firestar, faux angora, etc. My new goal is to knit with some handspun before next year.  I was surprised to realize I had never done that!

Oh well, off to finish up more schooling.  We'll see if I can't juggle more things this year. lol

March Madness

Well, more like sickness.  The kids both have what must be the slooooooowest moving bug I can remember encountering.  The symptoms took nearly a week to move to the "real" sick stage, including fever.  I'm still in the "I don't feel quite right, but I don't really feel sick" stage.  I have no idea if I will get worse, or better.  Down side, eldest has spent her 11th bday feverish.  Up side, we had the party last week when everyone was healthy (though the symptoms were starting to show).

Himself stayed healthy long enough to toddle off to Long Beach to give a presentation at a Writers conference.  He gets temps in the 70s and sunshine, we have temps in the 50s and a steady rain.  Fair trade, I guess, since no one here is healthy enough to enjoy good weather anyway.

I'm busy knitting along on a test knit.  A pair of mittens for the upcoming Princess Bride Sock Club (for which the RNG did not see fit to select me!).  I'm loving the mitts, though the yarn I had on hand to use isn't the best choice for the pattern.  The yarn is beeeyootiful, but too busy for bits of the pattern.  I still like them.  A lot.

Sadly, my brain is over-eager to cast on many other projects now.  I really should not do that, though.  I've counted my WIPs recently.  I'm scared!  7.  I have 7 WIPs sitting around, some of them kind of big.  So, adding more would be a bad idea.  Right?  Yeah.  I think so too.  Which is why my crazed brain is determined to find new things for me to cast on.  In all my spare time.  lol

Yeah.

I love my brain.

I don't hate blogs

Really.  I don't. 

I have found, however, that they do not blend all that well with my former schedule.  Yeah.  I said former.  Himself has declared this year to be the Year of the Schedule (or should that be year of THE schedule?).  After a mere two weeks of one new schedule (just plotting out the general hourly flow of things Mon - Sun)  he has decided we need much more daily detail. 

Very nice for him.  He only has to schedule himself.  I have to plan/schedule for 3.  Color me displeased and quietly (and gleefully) hoping the new(est) plan dies a miserable death soon.  The first schedule idea was working pretty darned well.  I was exercising again (after 6 months off), school was starting earlier and, better yet, ending earlier, the kids were back to guitar lessons.  Ah, it was nice. 

The newest schedule thing, however, is tedious, time-consuming and makes my head go 'splodey.  My rebellion has been noted, and frowned upon.  Perhaps that's why I couldn't stop giggling when Himself got stuck in the bathroom after putting too much lotion on his hands with new doorknobs that are very slippery.  Tears-streaming-down-my-face laughing.  Ah, such a bad wife, I am. lol  I did get up to help him.  Eventually.  But by then he had it all sorted out.  I didn't realize he'd missed the girls doing this, too.  So far, I'm the only one in the family who's managed this predicament without an audience.  Yay, me!

At any rate, I'm hopeful that now that we have a Shiny New Schedule, I might work in time for the blog more frequently. 

Since I picked on himself so thoroughly there, I'll share the lovely hat and scarf I did for him.  Just to prove that I can be a good wife when I want to be. lol

This pair was knit up in Dream in Color Classy Worsted, November Muse colorway.  I used the Palindrome Hat & Scarf pattern, which was lovely and very simple to memorize.  I was knitting some socks for myself in this color (in fingering weight) and he darned near drooled all over the yarn.  That almost never happens, so I figured I should do something for the poor man who supports my fiber habit.

Oh.  Did I mention that the scarf measures 10 feet in length?  I'm concerned Himself might resemble a mummy once wrapped in it, but as long as he's warm...  And, he did request the length, or at least "knit until all the yarn is gone", so that's what he got.

I'm currently in a Stash-Down Mode.  I'm working harder on WIPs and trying to work from stash.  Hopefully, this will help me feel like I'm making progress on something around here. lol  I'm also trying very hard not to buy any new yarn, but I'll likely put myself in some lotteries to win places in some new yarn clubs coming up on Ravelry.

I have had a very busy time since I posted last.  Most of the house repair/remodels are done now.  Thank goodness.  I'm pleased as punch with the results, but my photos are not all that great.  We made our October vacation back to Texas, to visit my family in Dallas and in Odessa/Midland.  We had a lovely time visiting with family, and I was able to have lunch with friends from high school, and even a few I've known since 1st grade.

Sadly, we repeated the trip in November, just a few days after Thanksgiving, when my grandmother passed away.  My mother's mother helped raise me after my parents divorced when I was 6, and we lived with her from the time I was about 10 until I got married.  I was named for her, and we were very, very close.  I don't think I've properly dealt with her death, or grieved.  I was much too busy getting my mom through it all and successfully pushed it all away.  When it catches up with me, I will be a complete mess.  Until then, I carry on.  My grandmother was a crocheter, and loved to see my handspun yarns and finished projects.  I had just purchased a nice red yarn to make her some fingerless mitts a couple of weeks prior to her death.  Not sure what I'll do with it now.

The holidays were not entirely good this year.  I was sick for Christmas and New Years (with different viruses) so I was actually quite ready to move into the New Year and hope for something better going forward. Then, Himself was out of town for my birthday (in Vegas! for work), so that was bit of a let down, as well. 

Sorry for the whining, but, well, now that it is out there I can just move on.  Hopefully, the (first) new schedule will help us get off on the right foot for the year.  You know, if Himself will stop pressing the other new schedule, that is.  lol

Owls

One of the fiber clubs I joined this summer was a Percy Jackson club.  The colorways were inspired by characters from the books, and ancient myths (of course).  I only did the first run, as I was stretched a bit thin between fiber clubs by the time the second Percy round came along. I can still pick up the colorways, though, which is good.  There's Some yummy colors there.

The girls and I have been (slowly) reading the books together, so I allowed them to select their colors and I promised to knit the yarn up for them.  They both selected the Athena colorway, there were some very tough choices, and then we spent a good deal of time selecting just the right project.

After discussing Athena for a while, and browsing patterns (they wanted hats), we hit upon a pattern for an owl cable.  Perfectly fitting for Athena, if not for the color patterns in the yarn.  Eh.  So I fussed and fussed with the pattern, which called for worsted when all I had was fingering.  At some point, my brain cells started functioning properly and I doubled the yarn. Doh!  (Why is easy stuff so hard?!)  The hats then languished as I fiddled around with shawls and such. 

The guilt finally caught up to me, though, and a desire to get something done, and I finally got to knitting on the hats.  They weren't as fast as the baby bonnet, but they just flew by!  Get it?  Flew? Owls?  Oh.  I just kill me sometimes!   Of course, no matter how much they wanted the same hat, they wanted them different. So, one owl hat has silver beaded eyes, and the other has lilac eyes.  The show best when actually worn, but here's the photos anyway.

Silver:

 

Lilac:

The girls love their hats.  In fact, the eldest rarely takes hers off.  She even tried to go to bed with it on the other night.  I can live with that.  As long as they take them off to shower, I guess we're all okay.  It is rewarding to knit something so instantly, and thoroughly, loved.  I've got plenty of yarn left for some mitts, I think.  So I might be adding some fingerless mitts to the collection, though I'm undecided on continuing the owl motif.  I have a pattern with the owls, though, so it does seem likely.

I've also cast on another Two-Fisted Tank from Pints & Purls.  The first one was in an alpaca blend. It was so lovely and soft and squishy I was really loving it.  But about 1/3 of the way through the top, I tried it on.  Once I was done loving the squishy softness of it, I was sad.  It is a ribbed tank, with negative ease, and that just doesn't work with the alpaca (70%) of the yarn.  It didn't say "I'm snugly fitting the shape in me".  It said, rather, "I am a soft, squishy formless glob, and don't even get me started on the body wearing me right now."  Sadz.

So, I removed it from the needles, pet it for a while and set it aside.  I need to re-skein the yarn, which will likely become a lovely snuggly scarf/hat, but I generally wait until I have lots of winding/skeining things to do before getting all that equipment out.  I ordered some Knit Picks Shine Worsted in Hollyberry, and cast on a new version Saturday night.  This is looking much more the thing, so they were right when they selected a cotton yarn. lol  I should not have deviated so far from the intended directions.  No.  I'm sure it would have worked in something with more body/memory.  There was just too much alpaca in the other yarn. 

Gratuitous shot of my new sink modeling my yarn. :)

My problem with the project, really, is in the gauge.  I cannot get gauge in a fabric I would want to wear. Why do pattern writers insisted upon gauge swatches done in 2X2 rib?!  Really?  Do you stretch that before measureing? Just a little? Hmmmm?  

In order to get the gauge, I have to go up so far in needle size my fabric is too loose and see through (not the look I was going for).  So, I'm staying with the fabric density I like and going up in size of pattern.  Fingers crossed that it will all work out in the end.  I don't fancy ripping this out again, but I am determined to knit up this little tank because it is cute and easy.  You can tell it is easy, right?  Because of all the work I'm putting into it up front. lol  If it were way beyond my skill level, I'm sure it'd be going much better for me.  That's just the way it works.

The summer school work is all done but the final draft of the final paper.  We should have that done today!   It is done now! W00T!  There is a whole 9 days left to just play with no obligation to any kind of work!  For her, anyway.  I've got to get things organized and cleaned and tidied, etc. :p

The work on the last bathroom continues.  He thought he'd be done yesterday (Sunday).  I think I'll be happy if he is done by Friday.  We'll see where we end up on that.  He did get my deck ripped out, though.  Which feels really good!  There was lots of dry rot out there, so I was very relived to see it all in a pile in my yard.  (pictures eventually)

Ah!  I am looking forward to a Fall with new bathrooms and a new deck!  And I've been watching football!  And brewing beer!  Man!  Does it get any better?

Winding Down

So I've spent pretty much the entire summer not doing what I thought I'd be doing.  Anyone else do that, too?  I can honestly say, however, that I don't feel like a failure. lol  Stuff got done, just not most of the stuff I had planned.

The eldest and I have slogged along completing courses for summer school.  We're still doing it, but we will finish this week.  If she will write the papers necessary to complete the Composition portion of her work.  I am most grateful that the math course finished up with topics that were much easier for her to grasp, generally speaking, than those we started with.  I'm also grateful that it did take us this long to finish.  She'll have a week or two off, and then get back to math again.  She'd like a permanent break, but at least it won't be so long that she'll forget everything.  Turns out that I really needed to set a rigorous schedule and hold to it no matter what.  None of that, 'you can have today off if you do double the lessons tomorrow' business.  That just doesn't work for us.  Maybe I'll remember that next year. 

Bwahahahahahahahahahahahahah!

Okay, I'm better now.  In other news, the youngest will be joining us at home this year.  I am certain this is the right thing for her in terms of learning, I have no idea if it is a good idea for her socially/emotionally.  I'm hopeful that having them both on the same schedule will allow us more freedom to take day trips to the zoo, or whatever, to break up the sense of being stuck at home.  Also, they are going to take a Musical Theatre class for homeschoolers, so in addition to the Hip Hop class, they'll be getting out and doing stuff with other kids (plus the play days with their daycare friends). 

I plan to do more homebrewing, and perhaps that will help me cope with having both of them with me 24/7.  We'll see.

We refinanced our house this spring and got a home equity loan to make some necessary repairs to our home.  I've needed to get a little plumbing work done in one bathroom so that I could re-caulk the bathtub in the other bathroom. When asking around for plumber recommendations, I found out our daycare provider's son is a plumber (and general contractor).  He is hoping to start his own business, and is looking for opportunities to do some extra work to satisfy union requirements.  We are happy to help him with that goal. lol  So, for the money I originally earmarked for potential costs on bathroom repair, I'm getting both bathrooms updated.  I am so happy with the work he's doing I may end up moving into one of them when he's done. Seriously.  The difference is amazing and I am really, really happy.  Of course, I want to do the kitchen now, but that is NOT an option.  I can just dream. For now.

We have a deck out back that is officially unsafe, really.  I've been waiting on Himself to get it replaced (doing it himself with friends or hiring out) for 3 years.  Turns out, our contractor can do the deck, too.  So, that's next on the list and I'm taking care of it.  I'm done waiting on Himself. 

We also set aside $ to replace the carpet and paint the outside of the house.  I'm not sure the budget is going to stretch that far by the time we're done (it was all based on estimates/guestimates anyway), but I've decided to go with the carpet if I only get to get one done.  My reason?  Well, the house paint is really bugging Himself, but I know that if I don't get the carpet done this time, it won't happen.  The paint will happen next year, even if we have to wait, because it is really bothering him.  Selfish?  Yes.  But I'm applying what I've learned from the deck experience.  If it doesn't annoy him, it won't get fixed.  The carpet doesn't bother him enough to get him to replace it.  But seriously, white carpet with two kids (now 8 & 10)?  It is nothing like white anymore, and doesn't really even resemble any exotic animals I can think of off hand, either.

I'll get photos of the updates done eventually, but so far, the ones I've taken haven't looked very good.  I'm working on it.  It is hard to take good pictures in a tiny space (bathrooms).

In knitting, I finished up a bunch of small things, cast on far too many new things and did a reasonable amount of spinning for Tour de Fleece.  (Just a small sample of what I did.  I never got around to photos of the other yarn I got spun up.)  This yarn is from Dreams In Fiber for her The Dark Is Rising (by Susan Cooper) fiber club. This series was one of my favorites as a child, and I still enjoy them very much.  This set jof fiber was for the Over Sea, Under Stone book.  The shipments are alternating fiber/yarn, which is fun.  I'm not yet drowning in fiber.  Not that I'd complain, mind you.

Of course, after TdF, I bought more fiber.  I should really pause the next time I decide to join a fiber club.  You know, just long enough to consider what I'm actually doing.  Maybe just space them out more, or something.

Small knitted things include a baby hat, knit on a whim for a friend at church.  Very cute and FAST.  I really should reconsider knitting for babies, I suppose.  Here is the Perry the Platypus Inaction Figure (it doesn't do anything!) modeling the Marshmallow Bonnet.

A couple of Jayne Hats done, and an extra for a friend to give to her son for his upcoming b-day.  One traditional (orange/yellow), and one in dream inspired colors.  I love it when I dream about simple knitting.  It is the complicated stuff that gets me.  Now if only the rest of that dream would..., erm, nevermind.

The two shawls continue, slowly, but surely.  I'm still enjoying them, but the time I have available to concentrate on them is limited, so progress is slow.

Ah well, brief update, now back to school.

More lace

So here's my next Lace Folly.  This is the end of Clue 1 in the Evenstar Mystery Shawl KAL, by Susan Pandorf.  Why on earth I thought signing up for a Mystery Shawl KAL for another circular shawl was a good idea, I may never know.  I mean, the original one only took 2 years, right?  Why not?

This one is different, though.  This one is LOTR themed, which = cool and it appeals to my inner (and outer) geek.  Evenstar.  It is a KAL ( Knit-A-Long), so there are lots of other folks out there involved and there's a whole group of people to talk to about it as we go.  The Sock Scarefest was a fun KAL, so I thought this one might be, too.  It is a mystery shawl, so the designer sends out the next chart every two weeks.  I'm all about mysteries.

As you can see, lots of motivation to give it a try.  So, I signed up.  This KAL actually spurred on the finish of the Pi.  I wouldn't let myself start this shawl until the other one was done.  So, that worked well for me.  Then I decided to splurge on the recommended yarn from The Unique Sheep, Eos laceweight.  Then I decided to not only try their gradience colors, but I ordered a custom colorway.  That part worked out really well.  I love the colors and Kelly (at TUS) liked it so much, she says they might add it as a permanent choice and call it Midnight Special.  The colors may not show well, so it runs from a rather bright denim-ish blue (in back) to a very lovely purple (up front).  

The part that didn't work well?  Oh, that would be the backorder on the yarn because so many people ordered it.  There are 1000 people in this KAL, though not all of them are probably KAL-ing along right now.  Not all of them ordered the recommended yarn, either, but enough of them did so that they had to re-stock before the KAL kicked off.  Even so, there were quite a number of us who were waiting on their yarn and didn't get to start with everyone else.

I put the time to good use.  That's when I was finishing the edging and doing repairs on my Pi.  Now, the last clue (#7) comes out this week, and I'm still on Clue 2.  I'm feeling pretty optimistic, however.  There were a number of clever people in this KAL who started knitting before the ink was dry on the copies of the charts/written instructions.  They have sorted out the (very few) problems, and have posted helpful links and tips on how to manage some very tricky stitches.  Additionally, there are some lovely people who are obsessively (I say this with love and understanding) symmetrical who worked out some alternate stitches to adjust the way some motifs leaned in the lace.  You know, so the leaves are balanced, etc.  These were optional, of course, but with the side-by-side photos available to browse while waiting on my yarn, I was able to decide what I liked best and make notes on my charts where I wanted to do something different.

As a result of this incredibly well-planned approach to this shawl (comparing to the first Pi), this baby is soooooooooooooo easy.  I mean, there are some stitches that are challenging for me, make no mistake, but the challenge now is fitting my needle in the stitch to do a kfb7 - k3tog without dropping 6 stitches as I make the last (7th) one, not in figuring out what the heck it is.  I did have to rip everything out. Twice.  That was totally me with some dropped stitches and I wanted another go at it from the beginning to try to avoid ladders.  Then I ripped part of the 1st clue three times as I kept dropping blasted stitches in the same stinking row, and I'm pretty sure in the same stinking place. 

I finally made it, however, and in the process decided to change needle size as well.  I have to say, I LOVE this yarn!  The pattern is beautiful, and I cannot wait to see how this turns out.  My dear friends who are LOTR GEEKS are going to love it, too, but you'll have to settle for pictures.  This puppy is mine!  So, naturally, I signed up for her entire LOTR series of patterns.  sigh  Because my obsession is completing a series.  I don't have to knit them all, but I do have to have the patterns in my collection.

My obsessive collecting is also leaking over into my video life.  Again.  I've tried to avoid it for a while now, but I finally splurged on some DVDs to complete one series collection I've been dragging on.  It is tough to justify because the kids can't watch it with me, so I've fallen behind on watching it.  But. I. Must. Have. It.  So, since we got our tax money in, and Himself spent some on music for himself (heh, Himself/himself), I figured I could do the same, even if I don't get to watch them all as they come in.  Of course, there are other series out there that I also "need", but so far, I'm feeling pretty good about just having the one done.

School is going well, but a bit slow.  We are so far behind in math we will be doing it all summer.  The up side of that is that I think if she had a summer off, she'd forget everything she managed to learn this year.  So, perhaps the summer-long work on math will help her be/stay prepared for the next school year.  We are signing up to do this again next year, and I am still undecided about the youngest joining us.  She's all for it, but I'm not sure it will work with her.  I'm taking the summer to decide.  Other classes, though, are going well and are more or less on target for completion at the right date.  You know, assuming she doesn't just totally drag her feet.  One recent stroke of luck for us was the volcano in Iceland blowing right when we started in on plate techtonics and volcanoes.  Thanks Iceland!  I was happy, however, that we made it through the earthquake chapter without any personal demonstrations.

Ah well, now.  Back to school!

Let's not dwell

Rather than dwell on how long it's been since I last posted, I think I'll just move along with a post.  The dwelling has actually kept me from posting anything new for at least a month, already.

My big news is that I finally finished the blasted Pi Shawl! On March 19 at 10:10 pm, to be exact.  It was quite a happy moment.  The blocking was another interesting first for me, and went reasonably well, but I think I learned from that as well.  So without further ado...

However.  After blocking, I noticed some weird holes in places just slightly out of alignment with where they should have been.  So.  I decided to try to make adjustments to the stitches to close those up a bit.  That took about 10 hours, or so.  I think. 

I'm still not sure if the weird holes are due to: A) misplaced stitches (yarn overs), B) the way I moved the stitches along the needles as I knit (putting too much tension in the stitches by letting them pile up, or get pulled along at an uneven pace), or C) failing to move my stitch counters at some critical point which cause the end of the pattern to be off by a few stitches (which is sort of like misplaced stitches, but different in how they got there).

I don't think I'll ever know for sure, but the amount of time spent on the attempted repairs has taught me to be much more cautious in the future!  I'm pretty sure I've learned that, at least.  I've taken close-up pictures of the before repairs, and after repairs, and I will take more after it has been soaked and blocked again.  Then I'll post them.  Hopefully sooner than four months from now.  The nagging problem remaining is that my stitches no longer look even in the sections that were repaired.  Before they were even, but there were big holes.  Hmmm.  Which will be more noticable?  I just don't know.  Maybe that will block out, at least a little.  I will always see the errors, I guess.

Still, on the bright side, I've learned a lot from this whole project that will make my next project go much more smoothly.  I'm not sorry I did it, just sorry I jumped in without all the information I needed to do a better job of it.  Oh well.  I've never been one to look for an "easy" first project.  Oh looky, the deep end!  Let's go there first!  LOL  That's me.

So.  Where have I been?  Well, homeschooling, too much time on Ravelry and on the Wii I got for Christmas.  In my defense, I got the Wii Fit Plus.  It. Rocks.  I hate exercise.  Do. Not. Like It.  I've done classes, videos, tried just getting out and walking, etc.  Nothing sticks.  I don't enjoy it and the least little thing gets me to stop.  The Wii?  I'm loving it!  The days I'm not on it are upsetting to me.  Yes.  I think it is still me looking back from the mirror saying "I love my Wii".  It could be a clone, though I haven't seen any pods lying around.  I'm up to a 30 minute jog and a 10 minute Super Hoola-Hoop session every day + some yoga and strength exercises.  But then, I bought Walk It Out, and now I can't stop walking in my house.  Seriously.  I average 4.2-5.2 miles. Every. Day.  Sadly, I don't do both the Fit Plus and the WIO every day, it is an either/or thing. 

Have I lost weight?  Heck no.  In fact, I think I've gained.  But I can tell that my legs (in particular) are firming up, so I am losing fat.  At least in my legs.  My blue jeans seem to be fitting a bit differently.  I do feel miles better, have more energy (in general) and I get all twitchy and upset if I can't get on my Wii every day.  It is insane.  But, I am grateful for the insanity and I am embracing it in the hopes that it will turn into a habit that I can live with and maybe even build on.  You know, actually get exercise outside?  Where all the pollen and other allergens are?  Crazy, huh?  I did four hours of yard work last week and didn't even feel it the next day.  I wouldn't believe it if I couldn't see all the cleared out berry bushes and short lawn out there. LOL  I'm pretty sure the pixies didn't do it.

Additional benefit: my formerly broken leg is working/feeling better after a few months on the Wii than it has felt in the tw years since I broke it.  The balance programs and exercises are building up those little muscles that have so far escaped strengthening.  That alone is worth the price of the Wii. 

Disclaimer:  I do not work for Wii.  I am merely a very satisfied (and somewhat giddy) customer.

Next time, I'll tell you about my new lace project.  I will simply say:  I am an idiot. :)

My brain hurts

It could be the cold, but I don't think so.

So, I had this fun idea of using up some leftover Fangasia yarn to make some fingerless mitts in a pattern that will echo the fang motif in the Love Bites scarf.  I planned to alternate rows of the Fangasia colorway with rows of plain black silver sock yarn (if you can call "silver sock yarn" plain).  This may be the worst idea ever!  Not because the colors aren't working out.  Nope.  They look fine.  Not even because I can only knit one at a time.  I have gotten used to doing two things (socks & mitts, not sweaters or hats!) at the same time, but these should go quickly. Right?  Little mitts?

Gah!  I'm doing the mitts on two circs, as usual.  But the pattern has all these YOs and K2tog right where the stitches start or stop on my needles.  A yarn over at the end of one row, then switch yarns for the next row is very challenging in the round.  At least, it is for me, and I'm worried that there will be a big, gaping hole in one spot of the glove.  That would not be pretty.  The K2togs keep happening when I have one stitch left on the end of the needle, so I keep moving them around every other row. Pfffffft.  I'm not enjoying this at all.

Yes, I know.  No one is making me do them.  But I want the mitts in this colorway.  This is the only way to get them.  I suppose I could hurt my brain further by seriously moving stitches around to try to adjust where the starts and stops are, but, hey do you smell smoke?  I don't know.  It is just rare for me to get off to such a very bad start with a project (deliberately ignores the disasterous Pi Shawl start). 

Perhaps starting the project while the girls were at dance class wasn't the best idea.  I was seriously distracted by the number of kids going in and out of the room leaving the door open with the music blasting and the teacher counting!  How was I supposed to count independently of her?  That doesn't usually happen, though, and I have spent many, many hours knitting there without any problems at all.  No.  It is just this pattern/project.  I actually started out thinking I could manage to do both mitts at the same time.  That would be FOUR bits of yarn to track , keep in the correct order, etc.  See?  Flat. Out. Crazy.

As it is, I will undoubtedly rip out the four completed rows and give it another go at home in relative quiet.  If it is still such a struggle, I'll reconsider the pattern, or my alternating yarn.  I could just try to do one in the yarn I have left and see if it is enough. I know it will be very, very close, but which side of completion is the sticky bit.  Will I have just enough, or barely not enough?  Is it worth the effort and time to knit it with the one yarn and see how far I get?  Will I rip it all and do it again with two yarns if it doesn't work? 

Yeah.  I don't know, so I thought I'd just make it "easy" on myself by using both yarns from the start.  Mitts are usually a traveling sort of project.  I can work on them anywhere.  Perhaps not this time.  I'll have to find something else to carry around.

I'm also working on a cross stitch quilt square.  Still.  I have never, EVER, had this much trouble with a simple cross stitch square in my life.  E.V.E.R.  I have had to re-work 3 out of 4 major motifs, not just once, but multiple times. Each.  Then I get to the "easy" part (should be) and find that one of the motifs is short by a stitch, and I had to rip the whole thing (single motif) out and re-work it.  Again.  sigh  Perhaps I'm just distracted, or something.  I don't know.  The due date for the square was last Sunday, but we had an unoffical extension to this Sunday.  Good thing.  It will take me that long to correct all the errors in this puppy.  (And, yes, you could tell that there was an error in all instances.) 

I'm trying not to let myself work on much else until I get this thing finished.  However, I have been doing lots of Pi Shawl work before bed (on the nights where there's time for that).  I'm halfway through the last pattern repeat!  I find it ironic that after struggling so long with this project, it is now the easiest thing I'm working on. 

Oh, well.  Nothing like uncertainty to keep you on your toes, right?

And now, after all that whining, some yummy, happy fiber!  This is locally dyed BFL in the colorway Dawn In Paris by Auntie Karen & Co.  I picked up 8 oz at the LYS and can't wait to get to it.  The dyer does not seem to have her own website or anything, just a local who sells through the LYS.  That's fine with me.  I also picked up 4 oz of this nice bit of BFL in Black Forest Cake.  Same artist, same store.  Black Friday sales can be good. I wasn't expecting to be out shopping, but Himself had me helping with a project of his and we ended up right around the corner from the LYS, so there was no real reason not to go.  I have no idea what I'll do with either of them, though I'm thinking a scarf for the Dawn in Paris.  Maybe a hat for the Black Forest I want these colors very, very visible!  Too yummy!

Caught Up On The Wrong Things

Well, not wrong-wrong, just not the stuff I should probably be spending my time on right now.  Isn't that just the way some of us work, though?  I just spent the past hour taking and uploading photos of projects and fiber, updating Ravelry, etc.  pffft!  I should have been doing something more useful, like going to the grocery store.  Or, maybe working with eldest instead of letting her have an extra long lunch today. lol Like she's complaining.

Still, that means I have way too many pics to post now, so I'll try to break it a bit, posting the oldest things first, with the exception of my newly finished Love Bites scarf.  This was knit up in Fresh From the Caudron's Silver Sock base in the Fangtasia colorway (Sept. shipment in the yarn club, didn't even get that one posted yet).  The pattern was fun, simple to memorize and seem to take for-stinking-ever to finish.  Of course, I could have stopped any time I wanted to, I just wanted a longer scarf.  As it is, I think I went a bit too far, I don't have quite enough left for mitts.  So I'm thinking I'll use some black silver sock from my stash and alternate rows with Fangtasia/Black and see if some work out. Anyway, you can see the two little holes in the wider knitted bands, like fang marks/bites.  Love Bites?  Ha Ha?  I think it is cute, but probably won't explain it to very many people.  They think I'm weird enough as it is.

On the idea of getting things done late, do you see that nice picture up there of the nice brew with the blue yarn?  I took that baby two years ago, and I've been looking for it ever since.  Seriously.  I've searched on every thumb drive in the house, every computer (we have, ahem, more than two) and everywhere else I could think of (at 2 am, sometimes).  WhenI finally embraced the fact that it was lost, gone forever and not-reproduceable (not exactly, anyway), after Himself updated all the software, etc. poof!, there it is. 

Seriously.  In His photo collection, which I thought was in the whole Picture folder (he didn't even know he had one of his own).  Moral of the story?  Never say die!  Or dye, or something like that. lol

This yarn is Michael, for Michael Corvin in the Underworld movie.  Actually, not a vamp, either.  This pair of lovely blue/black Merino / Silk skeins are destined to become a Clapotis.  At least, that's why I got two of them.  I hope they don't demand to be something else once I get started knitting on them.  The blues shade from very light to a rich, deep blue then bits of black as well.  So very pretty!  The yarn is huggably soft, and slippery with all the silk.  I'm sure it will be lovely to knit with! 

I can't wait to get started, but I'm also not sure if I'm ready for another big-ish project.  I might do the fingerless mitts in the leftover fangtasia first.  I just can't decide, but I'm freezing right now.  I have not adjusted to our current temps outside.  Pathetic.  I know.  I always need a couple of weeks to settle in, though, then I'm pretty good.

This guy is The Eccentric.  He is named in honor of a character from a series who's author is very, very, happy to sue anything that even breathes the name of her characters.  Once the dyer got wind of that, she modified the names and made the all exclusives to the club.  Paranoid?  Maybe, but better safe than sorry. 

The picture is not good, but I just don't seem to be able to grab the turquoise and plums in this one.  They are quite lovely and the yarn is BFL.

This yarn is an acquaintance to the character above.  He is The Antiquated. Rich plums and browns make up this fellow's pallete, and are absolutely scruptious!  Also BFL, very yummy.  As was the character, IMO, but I'll stop. lol

I'm a bit alarmed at how much fiber has found its way into my home over the past several months.  I was doing an excellent job of not buying anything (other than what came in the clubs), and then BAM!  I seem to have forgotten what it is to think calmly through all purchases, considering the likelihood that a yarn will be used. Soon.  sigh. 

Although, I suppose my most fevered stashing seems to be in fiber.  Since I added that jumbo flyer, I seem to think I'll be doing all this spinning. lol  I am trying to keep it in the loop, at least once a week at minimum.  I'm about 3 oz into a 4 oz braid of the Frabjous Fiber in Atlantis I've already posted (bad) pics of.  It is turning out very lovely, but it is a slow thing. 

If I pre-draft the fiber, I spin it too thin, if I don't pre-draft, it is pretty uneven.  I rather like the thick/thin (within reason), so don't mind too much, but it'll be nice when I get a better handle on this new flyer and thicker yarn.  I don't want everything I spin to come out sport weight.  I was hoping for something worsted-to-bulky in this yarn, but I knew it would be sort of random at this stage.  I just wanted to keep spinning.  Still, I'm hopeful that I can do a nice sweater or something out of this yarn.  Though I'm not delusional enough to think that will happen in the next month or so. lol

Drips and Drabs

I've been waiting for inspiration and time to get together and shake hands before posting again. Apparently, that isn't going to happen any time soon. lol



I've made zero progress on the vacation photos, which is too bad. I need to get them in order for Christmas pressies. Ah well, nothing like waiting until the last moment, right? OTOH, at least I got mine on the computer. Himself can't even get that far (which is my excuse for not getting to work on photo packages for the family at Christmas).



I found that much of the progress the Eldest and I made regarding a homeschooling routine went right out the window in a week's time. We've spent the past three weeks trying to get back to the relatively smooth routine we had before the trip. I think we're there again. You know, in time for all the holiday breaks. Still, at least I remember what the routine is, instead of trying to create one, so for me, at least, it is easier. Unless you count the fun of dealing with Eldest on the whole thing.



I've done a bit of spinning on this fiber, which is lovely.

It is a nice squooshy Merino and I just love the colors.
There's a bit more of the cream color than I would prefer (more green!), but it is really nice. I have quite a bit of it, 24 oz, so I'm hoping to be able to make something biggish and nice. Sweater of some sort? I just don't know. I'm using my new jumbo flyer, but I am having a hard time letting myself spin a bigger, fluffier ply. I practiced and thought I had it down, but it is a struggle. Still, I'm going to keep going with it anyway. There's a lot to spin, so I'm sure it will be a very "art" yarn when I'm done.

I played a bit with Navajo plying last weekend. That went better than I thought. Very much something to try rather than read about, I found. I don't want to do that with this yarn, however, because I want to maximize yardage to make something bigger. It is a tough choice, though, because I do want a thicker yarn in this colorway. I think.

Ah! To be a more experienced spinner!

Still, I can't save all the "best" fiber until I get to be an "experienced spinner" or else I'll never spin anything! Right? Right. Plenty of fiber in the, erm, sea. Or, something like that. Anyway, I'll try to get a pic up of the result asap. Obviously, you shouldn't hold your breath or anything.

I've made small progress on the Love Bites scarf. I still love it, but long scarf + fingering weight yarn + limited knitting time = long time to finish the project. I've been working more on the Pi Shawl. I'm happy to say I'm 5 rows shy of the last pattern repeat (repeating Pattern 1 for the last time, that is) then it will be on to the border pattern. Woo! Hoo!

I can't help but wonder if this thing will be as big as I need it to be once I'm done. I mean, it looks sort of small right now, even though there are so many stinking rows of knitting. That tiny, tiny laceweight yarn... I just don't see how it will be big enough, honestly. But, my grandmother is also a tiny thing, so I'm trying to reassure myself that it will be big enough.

I honestly don't know if I could ever knit lace again if I spend this much time on something that is too small. You hear that, lace? You've been warned!

Well, it is time to go read to dogs. Lately, I've just been getting lots of cuddles. Guess they've gotten used to us. lol

The family and I just returned from a fantastic vacation to Orlando. Himself's family is there, a few friends and relatives of mine are there, and, of course, The Mouse is there.

We managed to squeeze in some of each, though I'm convinced vacations are either too short or too long. Has anyone had exactly the right amount of time for everything? No? Yes? Maybe it is just me.

More photos may come, but there's 600+ for me to sort through (just the ones I took), and, well, I'm just not up for that yet. Anyway, here's a few just to prove we were there.

I had hours and hours on the plane to knit, but it was hard to concentrate on it for long. I had no trouble getting my knitting needles through security (I used my bamboo needles) and I didn't even try to take scissors. I'm working on a scarf in sock yarn, though, so it is taking forever to reach the end. Sort of like one of those things where you knit and knit and never get closer to the end, I think. I did get a good deal of knitting on the plane, and a little at the in-law's house, but not as much as I thought I'd do.

Himself was inspired to book the trip because his high school had a band alum reunion (all years) for the school's 70th anniversary. The alums were able to sit next to the band at the homecoming game on Friday and play along. I think the band director may have gotten an ulcer over his lack of control over the alums. They played whenever, and whatever, the wanted fairly often. The current school band had to stick to a more rigid plan. I suspect his mantra was "alums give money" or something like that. LOL Still, I sometimes caught this look on his face...

We went to the Magic Kingdom on Tuesday, and attended Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party later that night. You must buy special tickets for that, of course, but they close the park to non-ticket holders and there's trick-or-treating, fireworks and a parade. The kids brought their costumes and we took a break in the evening to head back to the hotel and change. It was so much fun! It was such an incredibly long day! 11 am - midnight. Exhausting! I don't think we waited more than 15-20 minutes for any ride, and for most of them, the wait was the length of time it took to walk from the entrance to the loading area. October is the month to go!

Wednesday we went to the Animal Kingdom. It was also pretty awesome with minimal wait times. I met up with a buddy from college (Austin College) and her mom for a few hours. They are living out that way now and so, when I do make it back to Texas, I never get to see her. The park is terrific, though much smaller and with fewer rides. We went to see several shows, including Nemo, The Musical, and rode several things twice. I made it on Expedition Everest, but only once. No one else would ride it with me and I felt bad making them all wait for me, even if the wait was short.

I will share one funny thing that happened at Animal Kingdom. While having lunch with everyone, I kept feeling this poking on my rear end. I thought it was my youngest child being obnoxious. It wasn't. It was a rather cheeky duck, pardon the pun. He was looking for a bit of my lunch and had the most remarkable expression on his face. Well, it looked that way from my point of view. Sadly, no one had a camera sitting out (safely tucked away from the food), so I can't share a photo of the fellow. He was rather bold, though. Just sitting there looking at me with an expression that said "Well?!"

We spent lovely time with family, mine and his, but it was all too short. Well, most of it was. Some folks are best in teeny, tiny doses, but I'll not dwell on that bit. LOL October is the best month for Florida, I think. Not too hot, but plenty warm for the kids. Himself and I were glad to return to Washington and real Fall weather.

The last day or so of the trip, the youngest developed a bladder infection. Sleep-deprived mom didn't really notice, or more correctly, connect the dots on that one until the night before we left. Seriously, I could not adjust to the 3-hour time difference the whole trip! Who knew those three hours could make my brain FAIL so much all week? It didn't help that the youngest was in total denial of all symptoms, for some unkown reason. So, the first day back, we were at the clinic for antibiotics for her. On the second leg of the flight home, the eldest got a sore throat. So, today we were at the doctor's office for her. She's got strep throat, and so they are both an antibiotics now. I hope that at the least, the meds will help the youngest recover from one and avoid getting the other. The adults will have to take their chances, I guess. Oh well, no one was sick while there and so far, no nasty swine flu symptoms.

I still say this was the best vacation ever, and I do hope we can go again in a couple of years. I miss my family, but visiting them is never relaxing, really. Visiting the in-laws provides innumerable amusement parks to visit, plus the beaches, and NASA, and goodness knows what else! But it also allows me to actually just enjoy the trip in a way that I just can't when visiting my family. So, the next trip will certainly be to see my folks, but probably not for a while. Which is good. I have all these photos to work through first...

How are we doing?

Well, we've been at the homeschool thing for about 2.5 weeks and we're all still alive. Week 2 was better, this week has been up and down (and it is only Tuesday!). We are still trying new stuff, new schedules, etc. and I don't expect everything to go smoothly while we are fiddling around. I have signed up to add Latin I class to our schedule. I think it is an awesome foundation for understanding English, and many other languages as well. I had two years in high school and quite liked it.

Yes. I'm a geek. lol

I'm still waiting for all the pass codes to get into that one, but it looks like a nice online class. I'm hoping the youngest can be part of the class so that she can benefit from it too.

On the knitting/fiber side of life, I finished my Jason Stackhouse Cat's Face Lace socks. These were a fun knit, and went pretty quickly, for me. They got interrupted for another cross stitch quilt square, which slowed me down, but no biggie. The pattern is from Ravelry but is heavily, heavily modified. The modifications were to suit my artistic muse, not because the pattern is in need of modification.

The original pattern is alternating rows of cat paws and cat faces. I decided I only wanted the faces. Then I decided I wanted to readjust the spacing on them, again, my muse was feeling uppity. These are toe-up socks, so the faces on the feet are in slightly different alignment than the ones on the leg, but I'm not even sure I could tell now. I did have some trouble at the top. Since I had a very generous amount of yarn, I repeated the pattern more than called for in the original (you may be wondering if anything is like the original pattern, right?). I thought the sock was a bit loose, so I went down a needle size for the ribbing, did the bind off and started weaving ends. Then I tried on the sock and it was too tight. I pondered my options for a silly hour or so, then I ripped out the weaving, the cast off and the ribbing on both socks, went, back up to the original needle size and did it all again. And now they fit. The stripes are interesting as they mirror one another, but the back of one sock matches the front of the other. I think it is cool.

I then cast on the Love Bites scarf (Ravelry, again) with the Fangtasia yarn in the same vamp club. The colors are really nice and I love they way they blend. The pattern is easy to memorize and goes pretty quickly. BUT, this will take forever to knit up the 400+ yds! At the end of the scarf, you drop three stitches and let 'em rip all the way down. This will be my first project like this, so we'll see how I do.

I bought a jumbo flyer for my wheel. I spent the week before school staining the thing and getting it all put together. I've managed to squeeze in a little time during school to spin a little practice fiber to get used to it. I really seem to NEED to spin thin yarn. I would really like to loosen up a bit. lol I bought a bunch of lovely stuff, but I won't touch it until I can make it do what I want.

I'm not sure how the colors will show up, but there some lovely shades of green, medium blue, white and a medium brown. The colorway is Atlantis, and the artist is frabjous fibers in Vermont. It is Merino Top and I picked it up from the LYS in Snohomish.

I've joined the Super Sock Scarefest again this year, and I nearly missed it! I've just been so busy I wasn't checking the group. I missed the first pattern release, and decided I'd wait for the next one. Since I have so much spare time on my hands, ahem, I'm thinking maybe I'll go with #3 pattern. We'll see how it works out.

I've got other fiber photos, but I think I'll save them. Maybe I can use them to motivate myself to post more often.

Homeschool

Sort of. This is what has been taking up my time. My eldest has been agitating for homeschool for about two years. I promised her we'd talk about it this summer and make a decision. So, we did. I was trying to help a friend with zero homeschool contacts find some info about programs / curriculum that people liked. In the process, I stumbled upon WAVA (Washington Virtual Academy) and it sounded like a really good way to get started. If you know it and it isn't, don't tell me now.

This program is technically NOT homeschool because it is part of the public school system and I do not pay anything additional (to my regular taxes) for the materials. What it is is a home-based education program and I work with a state certified teacher on a regular basis, to make sure we are meeting our goals & requirements (state requirements). The teacher will also help me work out strategies for more successful work with my child. The lesson plans are already built, but I can mix them up a bit if I want (I can't drop any subjects, but I can add things if I want).

We're into day 3 today, and I want out! I expected to feel this way, so I'm not panicked. I also will not be quitting today, so don't worry. As with many new things in life, this is more time-consuming and much, much more tiring than I thought it would be. I have never worked so hard in my life, I don't think. Oh, sure, maybe shoveling snow or painting a room or rearranging furniture is harder in the short term, but this won't end until June 16, 2010.

My self-pep talk today was all about staying adaptable every day, learning new strategies from one day to the next, and just hanging in there! It sort of worked. I'm hoping we will see some real progress in our attitudes/habits after a month. That will really go a long way towards giving me some much needed energy.

I think.

Right now, we spend more than double the time expected on Math alone (today, nearly 3 hours!). Not because we like it. No. Because the child has to change seating arrangements 50 times, get more ice (she's addicted to ice, but at least it is fluids) and make drum sounds. sigh I've already learned that I cannot, CANNOT, do any other thing while she is working on math. That includes knitting. That may change, but not any time soon, I'm sure. I can almost read email, but usually only one or two. If the reply is more than five sentences long, I'd better not try it. After completing (successfully) 19 problems, the 20th problem will warrant a long questions, stony silence and borderline tears even though it is exactly like the other 19 (successfully) completed problems. She can read directions, but if they are for math, it is like she is reading a foreign language phonetically. It has no meaning to her at all. Mind you, she is breezing through all the language and reading materials at light speed, so she does comprehend words. Just not words in a Math Book.

Well, to put a positive spin on the situation, I am learning a lot about my eldest child. She is probably learning a lot about me. Maybe we can both improve over the next year.

The youngest, you say? Ah. She would rather eat worms than be home with me for school. At least, that's where she is this year. We'll see how she (and I) feel about it next year. This is a trial program, Eldest and I both have the option to say No More! for next year. The youngest has the option to join if she wants, but I will not force the issue unless some unforeseen event moves me to change my mind.

Himself is very excited we are doing this. He is (currently) very supportive of this change. We'll see how he feels a month from now. lol When all those things I've been doing regularly start piling up again.