Monday, April 30, 2007

Good eggs, coffee, bone tired

You know, I can do a whole lot of whining about this whole hospital experience, but it won't do anyone a lick of good. So instead, let me tell you about how I've tried ever so hard to recognize and be thankful for all the good stuff instead.

Up to this point we've been blessed with some really great staff. The nurses have been friendly, chatty, quick to respond to the point of almost spoilage. It's almost as if there's some universal law that says "enough crap! Give that girl a break!"

Today's been another long one. Wil continues to spike fevers and his white count is still through the roof, but I can tell he's improving just by the decrease in the amount of moaning and groaning going on.

Podiatry came in this morning and did some work on the nasty foot- helped clean up some of the worst of the oozing stuff, scrubbed it and wrapped it. Tomorrow morning they'll surgically remove the nail to help it drain some more. I don't know who's going to find it more uncomfortable, me or Wil. I've got a creepy thing about nails anyway, and he gets the added benefit of drugs.

They told us this morning that they were going to send him down for an MRI to rule out a blood clot, but so far that hasn't happened. I don't know if they're just overbooked in MRI, or if they decided against it. They'll probably come at 2 a.m. to do it, just when he finally gets into a good sleep.

And honestly, no one really knows what's going on, or what caused him to get this bad. Even the doctor said he's never seen anything like this in an otherwise healthy person.

Wil asked this morning if he might be at risk of losing more than just his toenail, and didn't exactly get a straight answer. That's a little unsettling, but we're being optimistic about it for now. As long as the streaking and swelling continues to go down, I'm assuming everything is good.

Meanwhile, not to sound like a whiney, self-centered wife, but I'm exhausted. I'm running on coffee alone and being torn between being here, and the adorable little munchkin that begs to go home and wants me with him. It's a tough place to be in and it breaks my heart. I only cry in the car, though.

Anyway, that's the update for now. I'm sure I'll have a great post about the gore of toenail removal tomorrow. God... I get all cringey just thinking about it!

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Sunday, April 29, 2007

Like a sponge

So, it's 3:30 in the morning and here I sit. My butt is completely numb from the ridiculously hard and uncomfortable chair in this room. I'm starting to think that the metal one in the corner would be more comfortable. What ever happened to those nice reclining bed-like things that they used to have in hospital rooms for the spouse/parent of the patient? I guess this is their way of discouraging overnight visitors. I'm more stubborn than that. Besides, they don't want my husband hanging around without me. He's quite a lot like a two-year-old without a nap when he's sick. He'd have the nurse call button taped down by now.

Is now a good time to tell you that it's colder than the the polar caps in here? Well, it is.

The good news is that he's on his 3rd bag of fluids and has drained two full bags of antibiotics since being transferred. He's either going to start feeling better, or seeping lactated ringers from his pores here soon. He's actually sleeping some, which I find admirable. Even if I did have the cushy (hey, it looks cushy to my aching butt!) bed, I don't think I'd be able to get any sleep.

Have I mentioned that I hate hospitals.

Oh, and just as soon as the sun comes up and they unlock all the doors, and I'm guaranteed to be able to leave and get back in with no problems, I get to go pick up the munchkin, as sleep deprived as I will be, then go across town to check on the critters, spend some time with the aforementioned munchkin, then drop him off at my parents to hang with them for an unknown amount of time, so that I can come back up here and flop my butt back in this same chair.

Notice there was no mention of any sleep in that sentence? Yeah, so did I, unfortunately.

The good thing about spending all of this time in a hospital room is that you can accomplish obscene amounts of knitting. So far I've finished all but a bit of seaming on the super-secret project, and also taken one toe-up sock from toe to mid-way through the gusset increases. And this is no ordinary sock, either- it's got cables and k4togs all throughout. No mindless knitting going on here. Man! How I wish there was! I may have to hit up JoAnn tomorrow if it looks like we're going to be here much longer. Oooh! Or I have my new ball of Magic Stripes that Amanda sent me. That would work well for some basic mindless socks.
Gee, if I can type all of this in an exhausted stupor, imagine the damage I could do if I truly had something to type about.

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Saturday, April 28, 2007

Hello Nurse

Gaahhh!!! You know, things can never be simple here.

I've spent the past 7 hours sitting in the state of the art emergency department of our local hospital watching my husband receive piss-poor care. Now, I'm not trying to imply that he's in a condition that is as life threatening as, say, the guy who took a meat-cleaver to the head, but he is sick, and a little communication could go a long way.

So while we sit there watching the IV bag empty, still waiting on a pillow or a blanket, or maybe a Tylenol to help with the 103.5 fever, we have no idea that they've decided to admit him until I finally take a stroll out to the desk to finally complain about the no pillow/blanket situation.

"Oh, they're getting ready to transfer him."

"Really? Where to?"

"You mean they didn't tell you?"

"Ummm, I guess not."

"They're keeping him. We're just waiting on a bed to open up."

"Oh, ok. Well, it might have been nice to know that, say 5 hours ago."

So two transfers later, he's finally in a permanent room, and I'm left to meander my way through 1/4 mile of corridor back to the emergency department to find my car so that I can come home, walk the dog, pack a few things, and head back.

All over what started out as what we thought was in ingrown toenail.

Now it's gone to cellulitis, parenechia, a question of a blood clot, a nasty infection, and Wil groveling about whether or not he's going to lose his leg. Of course, he's a bit dramatic. Most likely it'll just be a few days of IV antibiotics and some time off from work while it heals.

Ugh. I'm incoherent, I know.

And on a personal whiney note, which seems so absolutely superfluous while he sits there feeling miserable... WHY THE HELL DID IT HAVE TO BE RIGHT WHEN I'M GETTING READY TO GO ON VACATION?!

There's some sort of bad karma between me and Pennsylvania, I swear. Last year it was brush-fires that shut down the interstates making it impossible to get to the airport. And now this. So much for Faerie Festival. So much for MD Sheep and Wool (which I was secretly jumping for joy about being able to go to.)

*sigh*

Back to the hospital for me.

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Wednesday, April 25, 2007

Cat Puke Finished



I finished seaming the "cat puke" sweater today. I have mixed feelings about it, too. Knitting it was a great learning experience and it convinced me to think outside of the patterns. Usually I knit exactly to a pattern and I'm afraid to make any sort of changes, lacking the confidence to make anything turn out right without the lifeline of a roadmap.

I got the idea for this thing from a pattern in a book for a simple knit shell. Yeah, doesn't look much like a shell, does it? It was just a basic thing with a cable running up the front. Well, I kept the cable, and ran with the rest. I knit the sleeves a little tighter than most people would, but that was intentional. You see, Once I finished the body pieces, seamed the shoulders, and added the collar I realized two things: I was going to be cutting it REALLY close on the yarn, and the sweater was already a bit smaller than my gauge swatch had told me it would be. I didn't think loose sleeves would do for a tight-fitting sweater.

As you can see by the lovely modeled picture, it wasn't a total disaster. I think I might even like the color. But it IS pretty small-ish. It shows off the fat rolls perfectly, and if I were to do it over again I'd certianly add a couple of inches to it in length. If I had yarn left over I might have been tempted to cut off the ribbing, and kitchener on a little more, but alas, there's literally less than 3 yards of yarn left, and that's counting the little inch-long scraps. Sure, I could go buy some more and do it, and I haven't completely ruled it out, but lets face facts here: It's a sweater and I live in Florida. It's mostly acryllic yarn bought on the cheap and it was simply an exercise in trying something new. I'm not entirely disappointed in it. If it were wool I'd take the steamer to it, but being the synthetic beast that it is, I don't know if there's any hope of eeking out another inch or two that way. It'll just spring right back into it's original shape and size and leave me cursing.

Now that I'm convinced that I'm capable of knitting something on a larger scale than socks and baby stuff, maybe I'll indulge myself and pick out some luscious fiber and make another one.

In other news, I treated myself to a haircut today. This is one of those things that I really only do about twice a year, and it was entirely necessary. I'm feeling about 10 pounds lighter, and I'm loving it.

Yes, that is my natural curl. It was hiding all this time under the weight and ponytail that is my usual 'do. My hairdresser is good to me. She's also good to my kid. She took one look at his head today and laughed and asked who did it to him. Then she sat him in the chair and evened out the edges and around his ears, gave him two lollipops, brushed him off with a giant brush and baby powder, and then got him his own special chair to sit in while she set to work on my mop. I heart her in such a big way- especially since I'm not one of those regulars that's in there every other week. Did I mention that she didn't carge me for fixing his? Sure, it wasn't a major thing, but still- this is someone who gets paid by the job, ya know? I am known to tip well, though.

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My big boy

got his new big boy bike on Monday. He's in love. Honestly, if he could, he'd sleep with it on his pillow at night.

He still getting the hang of the pedals. His trike didn't have brakes, and so the whole stopping when you push backwards on the pedals is strange to him. To get the hang of it, we turned the bike upside down and practiced with our hands so he could see that it only works one way. I think he gets it now, but he loves the upside down bike thing. He sits and pretends he's the captain of a ship and uses the front wheel as his steering wheel. If any of you have seen Dora's Pirate Adventure, you'll be familiar with the song "Isa Turn the Wheel", which he sings while doing this. It's adorable.

When we first got the bike home and I brought the box inside, he was a bit confused how a bike could fit into a box so small. It wasn't until I opened it and started pulling pieces out that it clicked...

"Oh, right Mama, gotta put it together. I get Dada's tools."

I have no idea why they're Dada's tools when I'm the one that does all the fixing around here, but that's another post, isn't it?"

He dragged out the toolbox, and had a ball helping me put it together.

So, here are the obligatory pictures of him trying it out. We'll be going to the park later today so that he can actually give it a try on a nice long stretch of sidewalk. We don't have those luxuries out here, and we live right in the bend of the road, which makes me leery about letting him try it out in the street, even with me right beside him. I'll be investing in a whole bunch of those bright yellow caution signs and cones that they sell at the toy store, I think.

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Monday, April 23, 2007

It's not too late!

Want to win some Noro?

It's really easy to do! In celebration of her blogiversary, Gretchen is holding a contest. All you have to do is write a simple post linking to the yarn raffle she's holding in honor of Nova and let her know that you've done so and she will enter you in the drawing for 3 balls of Noro Kuryeon. Simple as pie.

And if you're feeling so moved, go ahead and enter into the big raffle! $5 will get you entered into each of the drawings, and all proceeds go to the American Heart Association. It's a worthwhile cause with some seriously fabulous prizes.

But even if you choose not to donate to the raffle itself, you can still get in on the yarny goodness by participating in the blogiversary link-a-thon. Help us spread the word about congenital heart defects!

But act fast, the blogiversary contest ends on the 25th.

Go. Link. Do something good.

Sunday, April 22, 2007

If cats puked yarn

then the results would be the same as the sweater I'm currently knitting.

You could otherwise title this "When will I learn?"

The story goes like this: I was at the store the other day picking up something completely unrelated to my own personal knitting, and this yarn on an endcap really caught my eye. Actually, it caught J's attention first, and he snatched up a ball of it and said "Here Mama, yours yarn." When I went to take it away from him, I couldn't help but love how soft and squishy it was. That, coupled with the fact that it was on sale, and I really like eartyh greens, helped it find a home with me.

Ok, I admit it, it's mostly acryillic, it's chunky, and now that I've been knitting with it, it's also incredibly splitty, but that still hasn't deterred me from trying to coax it into something I might love.

Go ahead, roll your eyes.

So, I started out thinking "vest". Just something simple without much shaping that I can throw over a shirt when it's chilly. Of course, it's never really chilly here, but that didn't stop me either. I cast on, despite all of my better judgement, and despite the splitty quality, I really enjoyed the instant gratification of the big needles and thick yarn.

Let me pause here and say this, though. I've read a lot of people who say "I knit on size 15's with two strands of super-chunk yarn because I have arthritis and the little needles hurt my hands." And to them I say "You're full of crap!" Ok, so maybe it would be hard for you to manipulate size 00's and embroidery floss, but how in the world do you think holding those heavy, huge needles with 10 pounds of weight suspended from them is easier on your hands and wrists? For the first time since I started knitting, I'm working on a project that has left a callus both my thumb and index finger. Probably doesn't help that I use my thumb to push the needle with advancing my stitches, but hey, it's worked all this time.

Ok, back to the story. I've finished the back of the sweater, started the front and I've added a big cable down the center to give it a little more interest. BTW, did I mention that I'm pretty much winging this thing. Call me adventurous, or a moron. Either way, it's turning out ok, and if nothing else, I'm learning from it. I get to about 3/4 of the way done with the front and I ask hubby whether he likes the color or not. He stares at it for a few moments, I guess trying to gather the nicest words he can come up with, and then he sweetly tells me that it reminds him of cat puke.

Thanks honey! Really, is that the best you can do?


But the more I look at it, the more I think he's right. Of course, even that hasn't stopped me from working on the hideous beast, and I'm determined to finish it. I've actually finished the front, done the collar, and cast on for a sleeve now. My biggest problem here is that I've never really constructed a sleeve without a pattern telling me when and where to do my increases, so I've started and frogged a couple of times, looked up some tutorials, and will start again renewed today.

In other news, J's hair isn't growing fast enough for my tastes, but I do have to admit that his new shorter style is starting to grow on me. Not so much that I would consider keeping it this short, but as Gretchen sweetly said- now when you look at him you see his adorable face instead of his hair.


Please ignore the mess in the background- that's the "dryclean only" pile, and it's not sufficiently large enough to warrant a trip to the drycleaners yet. :)

And what else have we been doing? Well, my kid loves to help me in the kitchen, and at least once a week he asks if we can make "dough-dough". Who am I to argue with him when he already knows which ingredients we need and goes to get them before I even say yes?

One of the goodies we were given for Easter was a humongus jar of Nutella. Now, this stuff is like crack! Once you start eating it you'll want to put it on just about everything. J is enamoured, and right now it's being called "Apple pudding" by J because he likes to dip his apples in it, and I guess it does sort of look like chocolate pudding.

A while back I had read on a food blog that I frequent a recipe for nutella self-frosting cupcakes. Sounded like a winner to me. So I did a search, found the recipe, and we set to work. They couldn't be any easier! And they sure did turn out delicious! No wonder I'm having such a hard time keeping the weight off lately. I'm going to have to start making up for my sinful eating with some miles-long stroller pushing walks, I think. Tell me you could resist these.

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Sunday, April 15, 2007

This little light

I was so excited to see that Gretchen was planning on holding her second annual fundraiser in honor of Nova this year! Now, I'm not a rich person, but I decided that if I could afford to make a $25 donation, I could make that go even further if I were to give Gretchen the $25 to apply towards prizes that would in turn entice more people to donate. And so, I wrote to Gretchen and asked if I could help.

Gretchen is so good to me. She lets me feel like I'm actually helping out when really all I'm doing is oohing and aahhing and jabbering on and on with ideas and whatnot.

We decided that in order to make the fundraiser as much of a success as possible this year, we'd ask some of the fabulous fiber folks to get involved with us, and their response has been staggering. I don't know that we ever expected the generosity that we've encountered!

Check out the buttons in my sidebar to see some of the great folks that have donated products for the five monthly drawings! Incredible stuff, all of it! And even though I know that Nova was and is an amazing child, capable of touching so many, I guess I really had no idea just how many people he was capable of shining through to.

Then I get an email yesterday from Gretchen telling me that Sue of Harvest Moon Designs had contacted her asking if she could donate her patterns--not just a few--all of them. Imagine that! Word of mouth alone! We had not contacted Sue about a donation at all. I find it staggering and amazing and humbling all at the same time. Gretchen and I will be adding some cotton yarn into each of the prize packages so that you will be all set to go!

And so, this post is intended to be nothing more than a big giant thank you to everyone that has taken a moment to read about Nova, to donate money to the American Heart Association, whether in his name or independently, and also to those fine folks that have nearly smothered Gretchen and me in their generosity. You guys are all awesome!

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Thursday, April 12, 2007

Bzzzzzzzz

So, I'm in the kitchen fixing breakfast for the munchkin and myself this morning. Meanwhile, he's in the bathroom just adjacent and he's brushing his teeth.

"Mama," he calls, "I've got Dada's razee."

Now, this is nothing new. He likes to pick up Wil's electric razor and pretend that he's shaving his beard.

"Ok, honey, leave it on the counter, please."

Next thing I hear is "Bzzzzzzzz." And it's not the kind of Bzzz that sounds like a razor just simply turned on, but that tell-tale grinding, hair-chewing buzz.

OH CRAP!

I drop the oatmeal and run into the bathroom to find a huge chunk of his beautiful curly goodness in a pile in the sink. My heart almost broke in two.

Ok, so I know it's just hair, and I've always had a hangup about cutting those precious curls, but never in a million years did I ever contemplate having to give him a complete buzz down.

To tell you how shocked and upset I was about it, I didn't even pause to take a picture of the self-inflicted bad hair day. I knew if I didn't do it, and do it quickly, I was never going to be able to. And so, without thinking much at all, there it went-- all of it.

I'm still a little teary over it, so please don't make any comments about what a terrible job I did of cleaning it up. I kept it as long as possible while still matching the side he cut himself. It's terrible! But, it'll grow back and be luscious and beautiful again in no time, I'm sure.

Here's a picture of last night.



And here's one from today.

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Monday, April 09, 2007

Thank you Easter Bulldog!


A squishy package arrived in the mail today from Amanda. I knew what it was as soon as I opened the mailbox, my prize from the Mystery Sock KAL! I couldn't even wait to get inside, and opened it while still standing in the driveway.

I couldn't take a picture that did it any justice, since it's all grey and rainy here today, but inside was a skein of Magic stripes in yummy purple and blues, the cutest little sock coin purse with puppies on it, an adorable sheep magnet which J has already confiscated, and lovely little leaf stitch markers. And while the notecard did not bear the expected bulldog emblem, it did sport a little canine beauty with a dachshund profile. Amanda always has the most beautiful notecards!

So thank you Amanda and Katrina, for dreaming up the idea of the Mystery Sock KAL, for hosting it, for holding a drawing, and for picking me! You gals are wonderful, and I can't wait to get started on another pair. :)

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I love this age

Jonas is at this age where he is just so much fun. Up until now he hasn't really had any interest in, or understanding of, the holidays. Even as recently as this past Christmas, he didn't really understand what the big fuss was all about, and it wasn't until all of the gifts were opened that he really understood, and wanted to play along.

But Easter... oh Easter! It was the beginning of a whole new phase in our lives as parents. I mean, he still isn't old enough to understand the meaning behind holidays or anything, but he is a much more willing and interested participant.

Of course, I was looking very forward to having an excuse to dye easter eggs, and neither of us were disappointed with this festivity. You know, it also made me realize how fuzzy my own memory is because I thought I remembered egg dying as this hours-long tedious process that required tons of preparation and what-not. Doing it with J, I think we had them dyed, dried, and back in the fridge in under 30 minutes.




Of course, the easter bunny paid a visit in the wee hours of Sunday morning. He left behind a fabulous basket of goodies (most of the non-candy variety) and a trail of easter eggs starting right in J's little hand, winding all through the house, and leading to the basket. J was a bit confused at first.

"Mama, what's that?" He asked, examining the egg in his hand.

"It's an easter egg. The Easter Bunny must have come last night." I replied.

"Oh, right, easter egg." He agreed, rubbing the sleep from his eyes, still unsure.

"It's a clue. Look! There's more. Can you find them."

"Oh! Wook Mama, Clue's Clues eggs! I find them!" And he hopped out of bed, grabbed the strategically placed empty basket, and took off.

He was surprisingly adept at finding the eggs. I mean, to be honest, the bunny didn't hide them all that hard, but it didn't take very much prompting for him to find every single one of them.



Later in the afternoon we went to the grandparent's house for dinner and more egg hunting.





Steven is the greatest big cousin in the world. He's so good to J-man. Despite their age difference, I really hope that they remain close for their whole lives.

Oh yeah, just in case you were wondering... the hand-made bunny, while not nearly as adorable as all the bunnies available in the store, was warmly accepted by the munchkin. He was even bestowed a name, which is an honor that none of his other teddy bears have received. His name is now "Ollie".

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Friday, April 06, 2007

Today



it's been 1 year since Erin and her family had to say goodbye to their sweet baby boy. He was an amazingly special little boy who touched the lives of so many during his short time with us, and continues to do so through his family's efforts and dedication to the American Heart Association.


Erin, you're in my thoughts constantly, and I hope that on this day you're finding comfort in your friends and those around you amid the certain tears and sadness.

There aren't many of you that visit these pages that don't already know Erin, but for the few of you that may not, I invite you to read and learn, and perhaps even make a donation to the American Heart Association in his honor. You may visit Erin HERE, Nova HERE, and if you're a fiber junkie and want a chance to win some fabulous prizes while doing something great for millions of children with heart defects, go HERE.

*Please note that I did not create the image above. It was taken from Erin's myspace pictures. Despite my efforts last night and this morning, I couldn't create anything that did him any justice*

Wednesday, April 04, 2007

No tengo


Yep, it's official... I don't havethe mad skillz when it comes to embroidery. Still, he's kind of cute in his own little hand-made way, isn't he?

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Tuesday, April 03, 2007

Anyone else got a wrench for me?

Gaahh! It's just been one of those days where nothing could possibly go easily, or even right.

Work was total chaos from the moment we unlocked the doors until well after we locked them. Mosty conisting of angry clients who are unhappy with the fact that it takes more than an hour to work in their perfectly peppy dog with a bit of an ear infection because we have 9 other emergencies ahead of them, most of them actually bleeding or trying to die on us, on top of a fully booked appointment schedule, and two doctors out for various reasons.

Add to that the 400th phonecall of the day regarding what foods have and have not been recalled, and getting into the science of wheat gluten, and whether corn gluten is also affected, and whether it would be safer to just switch Fido to some wacky off-brand Ostrich and Green Pea formula, and whether their pet that died 6 years ago of cancer at the age of 17 could have possibly been eating contaminated food, and the cranky doctors that are fighting over who is going to take the hypoglycemic 3-day-old puppy in room 1, and who is going to try and wrestle the feral cat that just bit the tech through industrial leather gloves into the iso tank, and it just makes for an incredibly LONG day.

Then, finally I get to Abuela's house to pick up the munchkin, only to be told that she can't watch him on Friday because she has a doctor's appointment. Ummm...hello! I've only been working the same schedule for the past 5 months! Couldn't you have let me know sooner so I could arrange something? Or maybe make your appointment for a different day of the week. I mean, there are 3 full weekdays that I don't work at all. Of course, being short a receptionist at work, and having one going on vacation on Friday does not make me Ms. Popular when I call one of the girls AT HOME after a really tough day to inform them that I can't work Friday. But I have no other babysitting options since my parents are going out of town and so is the only friend I'd really trust with him.

What's a girl to do?

On the way home in the car I called hubby to sort of chew him out a bit about not telling me sooner about his mom's appointment, but when I got him on the phone and asked where he was, he told me he had just pulled into his parent's driveway and was going in to wish his mother a happy birthday. DOH! Negative points for the daughter-in-law. I feel like a total ass for forgetting, and for not at least wishing her a happy birthday while I was there just 5 minutes prior. And, of course, a little guilty for being angry with her just a few seconds before. Needless to say, I didn't give him the earfull that I originally intended to.

About the only thing that HAS gone right is that J fell asleep on the ride home, which means that I have the rest of the evening blissfully to myself--complete silence and junk food for dinner.

Of course, if I want to end this on a pessimistic note, it means that he'll probably wake up around 4 a.m. ready to go. Super.

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Monday, April 02, 2007

Blah, blah, blah

I realize that this blog has been severely lacking in content lately. My apologies to the handful of folks that read here regularly. I guess I just haven't had much to say.

There are so many people that truly love spring and consider it a time of awakening and rejuvenation, but I am totally opposite. Between the pollen blowing around and making me and the kiddo miserably stuffy, having to kiss tolerable weather goodbye for the next 8-10 months, and the dry, crispy, rainless world outside my window, I despise it. I suppose if I lived somewhere else in this great big county of ours, I'd love it too.

But, regardless of the season, we have to just plug along, don't we? And that's all we've been doing... plugging along.

Poor J is about to go stir-crazy from spending so much time indoors, but with the pollen dust covering every surface, and even coating the sidewalks in a yellow dusty film, I'm leery about letting him spend a lot of time in the great outdoors. Already, he's snotty and wheezy. And maybe keeping him in really isn't doing all that much good, but I'd feel like a horrible negligent parent to watch him run about in the pollen-coated outdoors.

Of course, you can't keep an active 2-year-old confined ALL the time, and so we have spent SOME time outside. Here's a picture of J playing with Dada and the big RC car. His little hands still have trouble working the controls, but he's getting the hang of it.

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And here's one of his sitting atop his favorite truck. It's the best $4 I've ever spent, picking it up at the consignment shop. It's virtually indestructable, big enough to ride on, and even comes with two cars to haul. Apparently, it makes a great Go Diego Go! watching seat, too.

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On the knitting front... well, there's the secret project that's coming along slowly. I'm about 1/3 of the way through it, but to be honest, I've hardly devoted any time to it at all and keep finding other things to start. And to think that for the first year of my knitting adventure I was monogamous to my projects. How did I ever survive?!

Granny's socks got finished just in time for her birthday. I originally thought I'd have until Sunday to get them done, but then we ended up having the birthday dinner on Saturday, so I had to hustle! They turned out well, though. Probably the best pair of socks I've made so far, and I'm rather proud that I did them without any sort of pattern.

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This weekend some random knitting newsletter ended up in my inbox, and somewhere inside of it was this simple pattern for a stuffed bunny. Now, I've got a virtual ton of yarn lying around that I will never knit into anything wearable, so I figured "why not?" and I cast on for him. I've never knit a stuffed animal before, and it shows with this one, but I did enjoy the process, and it'll look cute along with J's easter basket. Here he is, still missing his face. I realized that all of my embroidery thread is somewhere out in the shed, and I'm not about to go digging through that mess for it. So, next visit to the store, I'll spend the $1.00 or so and get what I need to make this poor guy a face.

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And that's it. Really. Nothing horribly exciting going on around here.

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