Night Mantra

I have fallen into a blog slump without my digital camera. Lots happening here, but not a heck of a lot of knitting. Maybe a part of me doesn't want to finish anything without being able to take a picture, but I don't think that's it. I've just been busy with busy-ness.

I found a pair of wool trousers to wear with a pretty sweater for last Saturday's wedding, and I ended up going with my parents, AND my dad danced! My sister ended up dateless as well because her husband also had to work. I secretly love hanging with my mum and dad and my sister - it takes me back to when it REALLY was just the four of us against the world all the time. No kids and no husbands - it's a rare occurrence that must be cherished. My sister and I giggled like schoolgirls the entire night. My favourite part was when we walked up to the DJ to request the Cha Cha Slide, and he asked us if we were seriously going to dance to it, and neither of us could lie to save our lives, so we just stood there and looked blank. He crumpled up our little piece of paper and threw it over his shoulder and said, "That's what I thought. Come back when you've had a few drinks." To which we slumped away embarassed. I just wanted to see who would dance and if they could do it. I don't dance sober, and I can't do the Cha Cha Slide - I missed the kindergarten class where they taught left and right. Everytime the DJ played a song and nobody danced, I yelled out "Whoever requested this mother-flippin' song better get up and dance!!" The music was loud, so I don't think anyone heard me. I also chugged back my water every time the DJ looked over (pretending it was vodka on the rocks), but it was to no avail. My sister got me really excited when JT came on, but I knew it wasn't the Cha Cha Slide even if I did start clapping.

The freakiest thing was when I pointed out this dude, and she nodded and agreed that he looked a lot taller on facebook. I didn't even say anything, and neither of us knew this guy from a hole in the wall. I was going to say the exact same thing - word for word!! That's insane. We laughed about that too. The dude was insanely short, and he looked gigantic in his facebook album. Let that be a lesson to you - don't share your photos with your network 'cause if me and my sister are in your network, we're looking at you right now and judging your height!

What else? Hmm. Sunday, the girls and I went to the Family Fun Event fundraiser for the non-profit agency for which I work. I think we ended up raising about $11,000. That's a tidy sum! And Monday I went to the dentist and had more glorious work done on my teeth, and this time I got to watch Seinfeld episodes on her new video glasses! I was in a fit of giggles at the same time I was getting a pretty filling. It was the one where Jerry declares that he hates anyone who ever had a pony, and Manya gets so upsets she dies the next day. I can't wait to go back next week for another appointment. Oh dear, it was hilarious!

Today I met with B's kindergarten teacher to make an action plan. We've both been concerned that she's not quite where she needs to be to prepare her for Grade 1. So we came up with a couple of pages of activities we can do at home. I am pretty happy about this because I really want to help her with her numeracy and literacy skills, but I had been a little unsure about how to go about it. Now we have some fairly easy and fun strategies that should ease her a little better into next year. For instance, we're going to start printing a little journal about B's day. I will ask her what her favourite part of the day was, and I will print it out, and she will copy it. After a few weeks, we'll have a nice little bedtime story going. Then I will make up some word cards, and she can try to find them in the other stories we read. I think we will also have special letter days where I will hide a letter under her pillow, and when she wakes up and finds it, it will be the letter of the day, and our activities may start with that letter, we could hunt for that letter, and eat foods starting with that letter. The possibilities are endless. As I said, I have a couple pages filled with ideas like these.

Anyone doing anything special for Leap Day? A couple of my silly co-workers have planned a night of family games to celebrate, so the four of us will head down to the centre to play. If it's anything like the other events they've planned before, we are in for a good deal of FUN.

This weekend is quite bare of plans so hopefully I can do some spring cleaning around the house as we seem to have accumulated a massive amount of crap over the winter. In some areas, all that is left is a pathway. The mess is making my head pound just thinking about it. Some of you may be asking yourself why I just don't turn off the computer and go clean it. Good question. I don't know. That seems like a weekend job. I also plan to go knitting at the Market on Sunday afternoon. It's been nearly three weeks, and I am starting to show symptoms of withdrawal like I can't remember how to purl and stuff like that. I admit that it has been a very long time since the knitting has been picked up. And when I say a long time, I mean a couple of very long days. My sister was telling strangers that I knit on the toilet - hey, my hands are free! Or maybe she said while driving . . .

Well, I must take off now to empty the dishwasher and load up the washer with laundry because the piles of clothes and dishes are starting to block my way to the bathroom, and when is a girl supposed to knit?

N

"Bye-bye Black-ee" Or "Ode to My First Car"

Mondays are not our favourite days. Especially when you hear from your insurance company and their settlement for your much loved little car is not what you were hoping. Is it childish to love a car so much?

I got my 1996 Acura Integra while I was in teacher's college and my dad thought I would need the wheels to get to the schools where I would be teaching. Now, I was always a public transit kind of person, living in metro Vancouver with buses and sky trains but my dad insisted and I returned home from classes one day and there she was sitting in the driveway. Shiney and sweet, not to mention fully loaded, she became my second home and accomodated my growing load of books and teacherly things.

When I moved out to London a few years later, I packed her up with all of my belongings and sent her across the country on a train. Somewhat spoiled from living in the temperate climates of the west coast, she had no problems adjusting to the harsh winters of Southwestern Ontario. And she did it without complaining, unlike myself.

Then a year and a half ago, when the hubby and I moved to Minnesota she was again packed up and away we went. T even learned how to drive in her at the ripe age of 28.

Before the accident she was still in great condition with a few more years ahead of her, even being twelve years old. T tells me that she went out like a champ and that we should remember her in her glory days, zipping around Vancouver, with the windows rolled down on our way to Grand Bend, and getting us across the boarder to Winnipeg (long story). So I'll wipe away my tears and thank Black-ee for keeping me safe during the accident and through all of these years and know that she had served us well. We love you Black-ee .

-T

Wedding Bells Indeed

I wish I had some knitting or crafting to report and I also wish that I had some sort of picture to post. As it goes, I am pooped and Sunday is quickly coming to an end and the list of things to do remains incomplete. I'm sure you all know what I'm talking about. But we had great weather this weekend, T and I think that we found our wedding reception venue, and I've got an apple crisp cooling on the stove. Could be worse.

We spent Saturday looking at two possible wedding venues. The first one is the Shriner's mansion here in Minneapolis. I thought it was intriguing because it's an old heritage building with a lovely staircase and 1930's architecture. It turned out to be not exactly what we were expecting or wanting. A little on the tired side, the banquet rooms were not even housed in the mansion but in a separate building. I could certainly picture the Shriners members having their bingo night there, let's just say. So as much as we wanted to support a good cause, the mansion just was not what we wanted.

So after a quick brunch at the Egg & I, we headed downtown to the Crowne Plaza. The hotel had three rooms that we could use. One was a nice bar area where guests could get a drink and mingle before dinner. Then the next room is the actual dinner area that was the perfect size for our small wedding. Intimate with nice modern amenities and decor. Then the other room is the fireside lounge where the dancing will be held. Both T and I were quite pleased with what they offered and the staff seemed very cooperative and flexible. I'm very tempted to just go for it since we both like it so much. I think we may look at a few more places but this is definitely a contender.

Then we spent the rest of Saturday looking at cars but I wont go into that right now. We hear from the insurance company tomorrow and I may or may not write a seething post about our insurance company. Cross fingers!

I hope the wedding that you attended was lovely. Let me know if the bride and groom did anything fun that I could copy! Bye for now!

T

Wedding Bells

I'm not sure how it got by me, but I have a wedding to attend tomorrow night, and I haven't a stitch to wear, my hair is here, there and everywhere, and at this point, it's gonna have to be cash in a card. Sweet.

The camera is definitely busted, so it will be some time before I can throw up some pics. Perhaps it's time to go through the archives and search out some gems. I looked up my receipt from the camera, and we only bought it 13 months ago. Ugh.

In other news, I have finished watching the first 12 episodes of Freaks and Geeks, and B's new favourite song is Joan Jett's Bad Reputation. You should see her shake and dance to this. What 5-year old loves Joan Jett? That kid is gonna be a real punk like her sister! I guess I was never meant to have sweet, sugary, little princess-like daughters. My mum probably thinks I have it coming to me, but I swear to Todd, I was a pretty boring kid. I was the Freak and the Geek. Or the Geeky Freak, or the Freaky Geek. Ask anyone.

I still have Jules et Jim hanging around, and I have a pot of chocolate coffee brewing, so I think I will lay back and get back to my SWS clapotis. Oh crap! The laundry - I nearly forgot. Must do that too. Maybe there's something in there I could wear . . .

N

The Visit to the Ketchup Lady

Woo-hoo! I'm happy to be back home. A good time was had with Julia - not entirely as planned, but well worth the trip. Baby Nathan is now a walker and still a big sweetie. We only watched one movie - the only one without subtitles. Who were we kidding? We can't knit and read at the same time. And sewing wasn't in the cards - the machine was being a bit of a bugger. We did start some clapotis' however - Julia picked a pretty 'putty'-coloured bamboo yarn, and I had brought my Patons SWS in the Geranium colourway. I have just started dropping stitches, and I immediately regretted not reading the Ravelry notes on other SWS claps! They stick. They stick real bad. This may be a real money-maker for the eldest - she can drop the stitches while watching TV and charge me a bundle, and to be honest, it will be worth every cent.

Julia dragged me to Newmarket's local yarn store Unwind, or maybe I dragged her. Either way, it was absolutely amazing. All of their Handmaiden and Fleece Artist was 25% off, so I picked up a Fleece Artist sock kit and some Handmaiden Mini Maiden. I also bought two skeins of Cascade 220 for 70% off, and three skeins of some Fat Ruth wool from Uruguay for dirt cheap. Never heard of that last one, but it was dirt cheap, and I was game. I swear to Todd, I was on the highest of highs coming out of that store. As Kat would say, "It was purely yarn sex."

We got stuck babysitting her niece and nephew for the day, so what do you think we did? We taught them to knit. Check out this masterpiece! It's a manly boy collar thing. Not bad for an 8-year old (and me). It was totally off the cuff. Get it?

The little girls didn't get the hang of it as well, but they certainly liked playing with the needles.
I did break the camera while away, so photos are courtesy of my partner in crime. And in more recent news, I have a new addiction - I managed to get the first 12 episodes on DVD from the library, and I have 7 more to watch before tomorrow when they are due with no chance of a hold. Arghgh. I need to mention that each episode is an hour long? I need to get going because I have a long night ahead.
N
PS - A shout out to our friends Rae and Katherine who gave us You Make My Day Awards. I'm blushing so much that my face is on fire. You guys are cool. Ditto that. The random golf shirt and golf balls I won yesterday don't even come close to this highly esteemed honour. T and I will get right on spreading the love as soon as we can agree on just 10. I don't think there's a real rule that it has to be 10, but we'll research that while we're at it. B just told me she's 'meltin' like a popsicle!' - I hope it's not my face. Seriously . . .

Sunday Night

Dear N,

I hope that you had a wonderful weekend in New Market. Hope you did lots of crafting, saw lots of foreign films, ate junky things, and talked and talked and talked. Also hope that you are now safe at home and warm in your bed. It's Monday again tomorrow.

I just wanted to let all of our London readers know that our heart throb, Hawksely Workman, is coming to your fair city on March 3. He will again do two shows, an early one and a late one. If only I were there, we could go again. Remember waiting with our Tim Horton's coffees to get into Aeolian Hall and then being so tired the next morning at work? Oh but being in the second row and hearing that incredible voice was so worth it. You must go N, you must! Thanks for the video link by the way. The 80's cheese is fantastic.

No crafting this weekend although after I post I am going to cast on for one of the Mother Bear bears from Knitting for Peace. I have to stop crying when I read that book.

Before I go I just wanted to share a picture of the cake that T got me for my birthday. I thought you'd get a good kick out of it. G'night!

Road Trip

Unfortunately I won't be up at the Market this Sunday knitting with my posse because the girls and I are going on a road trip to another market - Newmarket! Ladies, if you're out there reading, remember to pester the Tea Haus staff in my absence. Em and I tried the "But you let us take our tea to the end of the balcony last time!" in an annoying whine, and it worked last week. I'm just saying, that's all. I have some great shots of Dora the Explorer and the Town Crier, too, if anyone wants me to share. This is my knitting and my much-too-far-away tea.

I've made some slow progress - I now have one baby orange Koigu sock and one adult-sized Charade sock. I love how both turned out despite the square and snippy toe of the Charade. I purposely did not take a picture of the Charade that showcased the dang toe. It's rather embarassing as Isa tried to tell me that I was leaving too many stitches to graft, and I stubbornly refused to listen to reason because I would not stray from how the pattern read. It screams square toe. Isa tried to console me by saying that some people have square toes, but I don't think they're anything like this! That Isa is a true friend.


Well, I'm off to pack. I picked up some awesome movies from the library, and I am so stoked to sit down and watch them! We're going to stay up late watching foreign films, eat cinnamon buns and chocolate by the bowlful, knit and sew as if we were really crafty, go thrifting and antiquing, and just laugh like it's 1992! I am looking forward to the skinny latte with which I plan to treat myself tomorrow morning as we head out onto the highway.

And T, one last birthday treat for you - check out this new video from our dear sweet Hawksley. It's cheesy, but in all the right ways.

N