Happy Knitterversary to me!

Seven years ago I had a 7 month old baby, the weather was turning cool & there was a knitted baby hat pattern in a baby magazine that I'd stare at.  Daily.  I copied the pattern & meant to send it to my mom & MIL in hopes that one of them would make it for Sunshine.  

I never mailed it to either one of them.  It sat on our desk for what seemed like forever.  I'd look at it every day as I'd check email & my Ivillage Expecting Club turned Baby Board.  And I'd think that I was pretty sure I remembered how to cast on.  And I remembered how to do the knit stitch.  And I remembered that purling involved the yarn & needle going through the front of the stitch.  I knew that I couldn't remember how to bind off but between the people at AC Moore & various internet sites, I'd figure it out.

So one day, my beautiful 7 month old baby & I trotted off to AC Moore (oh, how I miss you!! Curse you, Joanns!  Curse. You!) where I bought 2 skeins of Baby Teri Yarn (one pink, one green) and the required size 6 & 8 needles.

As you can see, my stripes aren't even, the shaping on the top isn't right & seriously, it's the lamest pom pom ever.  But for my first project in nearly 20 years, it was pretty darn good.  So good in fact, that 2 friends requested I make hats for their babies.  And they'd pay me.  

As you can see, my hats got better.  This one was one of Sunshine's favorites.  She's pretty much always been a pink girl!

The frightening stage of fun fur scarves (carried with homespun or some other yarn) on large needles followed & was quickly left by the wayside, thankfully.  I then ventured into baby ponchos.  I mad LOTS of those.  Sunshine & her little girl friends were well turned out that spring.  I also made 12 for the baby girls at our Ivillage April '04 Expecting Club's meet up in '05.  

Knitting kept me sane during 2 of Hunter's deployments, on road trips when he'd drive & is now my weekly "therapy" session when I go to Panera to knit with my knit group.  My mother taught me how to knit & was taught by her mother.  One day, Sunshine will pick up needles & continue the tradition.

Veterans Day 2011

There's a comraderie that exists in the military.  It exists between soldiers & it exists between wives.  Think about it---you're in the middle of a combat mission.  Things can happen so quickly & your life can change in the blink of an eye.  The guy riding next you might be pulling you out of your vehicle &; to safety. Or you might be pulling him out.  Or treating his wounds.  Or worse.   This experience creates a bond that lasts a lifetime.  It's one that, unless you were there, you will never get.  Sure you can read it about it, you can watch the Military channel & see what happened but you will NEVER really get it because you weren't there.

Last year on Veterans Day, HBO showed a documentary called War Torn.  If you haven't seen it, I highly suggest you do.  Especially if you know someone who suffers from PTSD.  I spent the majority of the time watching it in tears.  And not just *sniff sniff* how horrible tears.  I'm talking streaming down my face, blubbering like an idiot, tears.  After dealing with Hunter's PTSD for several years, it hit me that there were other people living with the same situations as we were.  I wasn't alone anymore.

Earlier this week, I received the following message on Facebook:

Hello my name is William Fraas I read your comments about Wartorn just want to you thank you for reminding me that I and my family are not alone. And by the way I'm the one in the film and I know it's hard to live with someone with PTSD and you are very strong person and again thanks



Um, first of all, dood, YOU'RE in the film & you're thanking me?  ME??  I'm sitting here, identifying with your wife & you're thanking me?   Wow.   Goes back to that comraderie.  I replied & thanked him & his family for putting their life on film so that wives like me know they're not alone.

And then the hangover set in

The Fall Festival hangover, that is.

I got home Friday night around 945 & the minute I sat down the fatigue kicked in.  Every part of my body was tired and sore.  I don't know how much running around I did over Thursday & Friday, but it was a lot.  I wish I'd worn my pedometer to measure just how much.  Saturday morning, my super sweet hubby let me sleep in until 10.  Same with Sunday.  I felt more human on Sunday than I did on Saturday & by Monday I was back to myself.  We spent an hour & a half counting money from the FF & then I did our banking.  I still need to sit down to add up our expenses vs. profits but we did very well.  Parents were happy & so far, all reports have been positive, which is always nice.  A lot of time & energy went into this event.  And then some.  We've already discussed ways to improve next year's festival but have until July/Aug. to actually implement them.

And then it was Halloween.  Sunshine's school has been raising money for Alzheimer's research & had the kids bring in $3 to wear a costume to school on Friday.  She was a ballerina princess as my inner control freak was concerned about her Cinderella dress getting torn on the playground.  The BP costume allowed her to run around freely without me worrying.  Which is always a good idea.  

Halloween night we went Trick or Treating with friends of ours.  These kids slay me.  When I was little, we ToT'ed  until our toes fell off.  Until our fingers were crippled from ringing door bells.  These kids?  Four streets later they were done.  The upshot was we were home before it was too dark & got Sunshine into bed about 20 min. past her regular bed time.  And like any good parent, I examined all of her candy & pulled aside a baby ruth as my payment.  Maybe 2 ;)

Today is boring ol' laundry & some cleaning.  And treasurer duties.  I have reimbursement forms to be signed by reimbursees  (sure it's a word) & have written out checks to said reimbursees.  I need to get up to school to make copies for our Movie Night With Dad invitation for next week but I think that'll happen tomorrow as it's already noon.  I also need to run to Home Depot for paint for our kitchen & dining rooms.  They'll be the same color which is one shade lighter than our living room.  It'll be nice to finally have all the rooms painted that need painting!

Was that drive by posting?

It was.  I'm home on a "lunch break" from Fall Festival 2011.  Eight weeks worth of work culminates in a 3 hour festival tonight.  Yesterday I was working on the FF from 8 am until dinnertime.  I left school around 330 to run to the bank & while I was standing there, realized just how tired I was.  When I got home, it was time to put our class' basket together for the silent auction.  Let me just say that I was channeling Martha Stewart circa 2000 with my glue gun skills.

Got to school today at 8, ran around non-stop.  Again like the proverbial chicken sans tete.  We've had some um, commitment issues with our VP & I may or may not have snapped at her while counting wrist band money.  She shows up sporadically---basically when she HAS to, does a little work & then announces how tired she is after working for an hour & cuts out.  I didn't really snap at her per se, but my OCD when it comes to our paperwork & money handling practices came out.  And really, it's not my handling practices---it's what the state PTA requires of us.  I apologized to her but still wanted to throttle her for being absent on many days when the FF Chair, PTA President & I were working our tails off to make tonight a success.  

So now I'm sitting on the couch, waiting for my lunch to finish cooking.  And I'm watching Beavis & Butthead.  There.  I said it.  I'm a B & B fan.  From way back.  Back in '94, my answering machine was part of a tie in for their show.  Yes, I realize your opinion of me has changed & I'm fine with that.   I'm also reading a book on European royal history.  It's from one extreme to another around here!

I'll head back up to school at 130 to put the finishing touches on my basket, drop it off in the gym & then get to work delegating set up stuff to our volunteers.  Sadly, alcohol is frowned upon on school property but I'll have a nice glass of wine waiting for me when I get home at 9 tonight.

Let the weekend begin!

It's definitely Fall

As we're doing all sorts of fall related things, PSL's, enjoying the cooler weather, report cards (Way to go, Sunshine!!) & visits to the pumpkin patch.  Last weekend, it was such a beautiful Saturday that we decided to take a long drive out to the Ft. Valley, GA area & visit Lane Orchards.    

We went through the corn maze & unlike this family didn't need to text our way out of the maze.  Sunshine led the way & did a great job despite not wanting to go into the maze in the first place.  

This is one of my favorite pictures of the day.  I just love the way Sunshine is looking at Hunter.  She didn't want to leave the playground when it was time to go.  

There's something totally awesome about a daddy who will get on the teeter totter w/ his child!  We love our Daddy bunches!!  

The upshot of driving out to Ft. Valley meant that I had 2 hours of uninterrupted knitting & managed to get my scarf finished.  It wound up being over 70" long which is perfect for me.  It blocked beautifully & I'm going to CO matching mittens this week.  I'm working on my Mara shawl (circa 2010) & am almost ready to start on the ribbing portion.  I still have no idea who this will be for.  It had been for Sunshine's ParaPro from Kindergarten who has since retired.  I know, egg on my face.  Her Kindergarten teacher is still at school but I've got a project planned for her that is both quick & easy (the easy shawl pattern from Ravelry).  Then, I need to make a decision about lining a bag that I've made as a Christmas gift.  The ones I've seen aren't lined, which is fine, but I find a lined bag just looks better.  I'm hoping one of the ladies from my knit group can help me out with it or else I'll wind up shipping it home to Mom.  If I had a sewing machine I could do it myself but really, I don't sew enough to warrant investing in one.  Then I start thinking about all the sewing that I *could* do but then it would cut into knitting time & such.  And, I'm not hand sewing my lining!  I learned my lesson with the cushion covers on one of my wicker chairs in the sun room!  It was 9 years ago & I'm still practically crippled from it!

Speaking of Christmas (weren't we discussing Fall?), my shopping is coming along really well!  The only people left to shop for are my nephews (itunes gift cards or something along those lines), Hunter & Sunshine.   The ILS are done, BIL/SIL are nearly done, their son is done.  My Mom is done.  I came up with a great idea for my brothers---I'd found a picture of my Dad circa 1949 with his baseball team online in the UVM archives.  None of us knew this picture existed so it was a very pleasant surprise to see my dad's 18 year old face staring at me via the 'net.  I'm having it printed in 8x10 & framed for them.  I can't mention Hunter's gifts as I know he stalks , reads my blog.  I do need to get going on a scarf for Sunshine's teacher, but I have 2 more months for it & can definitely get it done.  (Please hold me to this when it's December and I'm in full blown panic mode with Christmas,  Secret Santa Shop at school, class parties & the like, shopping, baking, etc).  Speaking of baking---we'll do this again for our neighbors.  It's a tradition that Sunshine & I look forward to doing together.  

Well, it's about time for me to go get ready.  We'd been up in the air as to what we were doing today.  I'd toyed with the idea of going to Auburn as a yarn shop is closing.  I just destashed a bunch of stuff at knit group but I really have a hard time turning down sale yarn.  I managed to talk myself down (there's an Auburn home game today---hello! Crazy traffic!) & we've decided to go to a local pumpkin patch for a hay ride, some pumpkins & a short drive.  Sunshine was mad that Hunter didn't bring her to Starbucks this morning, so she's been promised a Rocky Road cake pop this evening after dinner.  

Have a great weekend & I hope you're enjoying this beautiful Fall weather, too!

Dish Rag Tag V--V is for Victory!

The box arrived yesterday.  Our team name is All Four One (we're team 4)---tradition is everyone signing the box.  Here's the box minutes after coming in from the mail box.

My goodies from Amy in VA!  Lip balm, chocolate, MORE chocolate, hot cocoa mix, pretty stitch markers & THE Dishcloth.  So pretty!!!

Here's my cloth about 1/2 way into it. Fun pattern, easy to remember & I love the colorway of the yarn.  I had hoped to get it finished & boxed back up   before the post office closed, but sadly that didn't happen.  It went out first thing this morning with goodies for Sara in AL.  I'd tell you what the goodies are, but that would give away the surprise.   

Has it really been a week?

Goodness, time flies when you're having fun.  And busy!

Fall Festival's coming along despite the fact that so many classes have parents who just don't want to do anything.  They don't want to be involved, they don't want to help solicit donations, they don't want (or can't, which I understand) to donate themselves.  Ugh.  The upshot is our raffle is on fire!  We've gone through our initial order of tickets, our 2nd order & are now on order #3.  The tickets went out on the 16th of September---this is crazy!  We're making some good money for the PTA which will help to pay for activities during the year.  Woo Hoo!

Sunshine is finished with Speech Therapy.  We had received a letter indicating that further therapy had been deemed unnecessary but we could appeal.  We then received a call from the head of the therapy center & then from her speech therapist who both said we could appeal but appeals aren't always approved.  I love her ST--she's a kind, patient woman & Sunshine adores her, which is always the litmus test for me.  I asked her what her professional opinion was--she indicated that Sunshine has made such great progress in the 6 months she was there & that honestly, with the work we've done at home, she feels that we should take a few months off & see what's what come the new year.   But her speech is really so much better that I think we're truly done.

Friday I was going from the time the sun came up until the sun went down--- brought Sunshine to school, talked to the neighboring teacher whose class is being paired with ours for the Silent Auction basket.  Ran to the commissary, lunch w/ Hunter, Lowe's for picking out wainscoting for dining room, TJ Maxx for Spode Christmas Tree bowls (!!!!!!), picked up the 3rd order of raffle tickets,  back to school to drop off tix, help count $$ & then run to the bank.  The Fall Festival chair brought Sunshine to her house to play so Hunter & I could have date night.  Went out for sushi w/ Hunter, back to FF Chair's house to pick up Sunshine, spent an hour or so visiting w/ her & then to Starbucks for a quick sweet treat.  Phew.

We had a great weekend---the weather was perfect!  Fall has arrived in the South!! Saturday we went to the Cotton Pickin' Fair & had so much fun.  Sunshine & I went a couple years ago & enjoyed it so much.  We were smart & hit the ATM on our way so we'd have spending money as well as lunch money!  Are Square Readers really such a secret to vendors at these things?  Anyway, beautiful fall day, my beautiful family & a good time had by all---can't beat it with a stick.

Sunday was spent knitting with friends in the morning, followed by football in the afternoon.  And a home cooked meal on Sunday night!  I usually order out if the Pats are playing or sometimes will do a "fix it yourself" dinner for Hunter & I on Sundays.  But since the Pats game wasn't televised here & I really had no excuse not to cook the turkey tenderloins in the fridge, I made some turkey cordon bleu.  So yummy!

Last night our knit group did a sale, swap, trade on our stash & knitting books/notions.   It's common knowledge that I have a decent size stash.  It's common knowledge that I'm a bit of a yarn snob on occasion. Well, not really a snob as I have plenty of Sugar & Cream in my stash (best for every day dishcloths!), so maybe more of an afficionado.  I appreciate a good yarn.  As do my fellow knitsters---Mama brought home her goal amount!  Sweet!

Today I'm conducting an experiment---felting in a front loader.  I've got my FO in there with 2 pairs of jeans, 2 towels & this is the 3rd time it's gone through.  The first time was only for 35 minutes which I knew wouldn't be enough time, but I wanted to see what happened.  The 2nd trip was 1 hour---not bad but I decided to chance it & go for a 3rd trip.  I'm about 10 minutes away from finding out what the final verdict is!  But the felting gods have smiled on me today & you CAN felt in a front loader!

PTA duties are looming so I am off.  Have a great week--enjoy the beautiful weather!