Wednesday, January 30, 2008

prepping

my mom's surgery is tomorrow. i just checked in with her and she's doing fine. cleaning the house like a mad woman because her sister (lucy! in waterloo! i know!) is coming next week. she was lamenting not washing her floors. she's been off her artithis medication for a week because of the surgery and can barely walk and she's worried that she should have washed her floors. i think she is a wee bit nervous.

in preparation for a few long days hanging out at the hospital, i am packing:

1) the hourglass sweater yarn, pattern, and needles. time to cast on!

2) my ipod. i'm loading it up now and wondering if i should find a podcast to keep me busy or a e-book from the library. i'll do that next.

3) snacks and water. cereal bars, some baby carrots, a banana, gum, maybe i'll snag some arrowroots from the wee one.

4) a magazine. today's parent. i live on the wild side.

5) a book. balazac and the chinese seamstress (book club) or divisidaro, m. ondaatje.

lots to keep my hands busy and my mind occupied while they de-uteru-ize my mom.

Monday, January 21, 2008

when it rains

i go for weeks and weeks and feel like i don't have anything new to say. and wham-o, everything seems to be happening all at one.

so here's what's been going on in the 'loo.

i turned 33 last monday. john woke up before the boy and nipped downstairs to make lattes. i got to open presents in bed, sipping my morning cup of pick me up. nice.

he got me the daring book for girls and how to be the best at everything. which of course i strive to be so yea! perfect presents. and there was one more on the way.

the one more arrived today. knit picks options. i lurve them! i will keep the denise set i have but will probably only every use them in an emergency. plastic, blecky. the knit picks are metal and pointy and sharp! love 'em!

the (big) boy turned 43 on saturday. i celebrated by going to shall we knit? and buying some myself birthday yarn. i made him french toast and put the monkey down for his nap first. then went to buy yarn.

shall we knit? is the perfect store. karen is awesome. her stock is amazing. her husband is the sweetest. they have a large table with chairs for friday nights knit and chat. perfect. janelle was being so helpful and friendly i thought she worked there too but no, just hanging out and helping out. totally worth the drive to new hamburg.

then i came home and made a catalan flam for the boy's birthday dessert. mmm, flam.

i picked up odd balls of yarn. one ball of malabrigo and two balls of marisol because so many knit bloggers drool over it. two balls of sumblime cashmere merino in black. one cone of bamboo for baby hats. i got home, got on ravelry and checked out all the things i could make with my odd balls of yarn. i love ravelry. i can't wait to cast on!

the monkey turned 1.5 years old last week. his first sentence was "i got you." which mostly comes out "i gah chu" or "gah chu" but sometime is crystal clear before he runs away shrieking with laughter. he'll say "ee i ee i o" to get us to sing old mcdonald to him. he knows most of his alphabet and can count to ten though he tends to forget 9. he is starting to assert his will and has brief moments of resistance or frustration but it usually over in a flash. he's got bruises on his left shin from climbing up on chairs, the toilet, the trunk, whatever he can get his fat little leg on, and on his forehead from bumping into things or falling over, or just being a boy. he makes many animal noises and will fill in the sounds for us when we read "moo, baa, lalala" by sandra bouynton. he loves reading and has practically no interest in tv even though we wish he'd sometimes sit still and chill for a minute. he loves to cuddle and always wants hugs and kisses. he's lovely.

Tuesday, January 8, 2008

look ma! knitting

i'm actually kinda doing some knitting. i took lynn's advice on the basket weave and am knitting that alpaca into a manly scarf that has manly approval. only it is going so s-l-o-w. taking forever. sheesh.

on the upside my mom is having surgery* on the 31st and i've booked off a week to take care of her. i see lots of knitting happening in that week. i'm thinking about casting on the hourglass sweater.

*if there is an upside to surgery, concentrated knitting time would be it.