Suzy's Knitting Notes

Still Here

2011-07-06T14:38:00.002-05:00

Its been a "different" year. Got laid off from my job last December. Was in a funk for a long time. I did get unemployment and my vacation time, but it does affect ones ego to be "let go" even if you did "nothing wrong". I was too used to working for my old boss I guess. No biggie, been busy doing mom things, being a housewife and moving.

We moved a few weeks ago. Still trying to get the house in order and have a ton of boxes in the basement to go thru. Planning a garage sale probably this fall.

The dogs are getting used to having a smaller yard but not being able to run. Need one more side of fence. Hoping to be able to put that up this fall. All it takes is $$$$

Been working on squares for Sara Smiles, yes I'm still plugging along on that too. I will have pictures soon.

Finished in time. Posted late.

2010-07-27T15:59:00.002-05:00

This is the blanket I made for my good friends granddaughter. The blanket I made for her (before she was born) was stolen from my friends car. She emailed me and asked if I could make another blanket before her granddaughters upcoming surgery. This is the finished product. Finished and delivered just in time! My friends daughter had originally asked for this design but 4 years ago I had no clue how to make it. Now it's one of my favs. I have another on my needles for another friend who is due in 5-6 weeks with her 3rd boy. She was hoping for a girl this time around so I'm doing what I can to help her realize another boy is a "good" thing :) Being a mom/step mom of 5 boys I know how fun it really can be.

Then my sisters baby. That is another story!

Tornado!!

2010-06-08T14:40:00.006-05:00

We had a busy weekend. Saturday night was a wild one. This is why:

These are just north of us. These shots were taken from my backyard. Yes that is DH is the one picture. The sirens went off and lil guy ran for the basement bringing the one dog that would go. DH and I ran outside to see what the fuss was about! This storm produced 4 more tornado touchdowns south of us. One in Magnolia, Streator and Dwight, IL. My inlaws live in Dwight and lil guy's mom also lives in Dwight. Dwight got hit with 2 tornados. Inlaws and lil guys mom are all ok. Amazing because of the 2 tornados one south the other just north of all of them!
It was exciting to see the tornado from our yard then it turned to horror as we heard of the towns and the damage that it caused just a short time later. Our photos were taken at about 8:15pm, the other towns got hit within an hour. We don't think it is from the same supercell that produced the storm we took photos of. Dwight is about 50 miles southeast of us. Lots of supercells were popping up. So far 14 people are missing in Dwight but no accounts of fatalities. Thank god. You can replace things not people. Our prayers are with the affected folks.

2010-04-20T16:02:00.002-05:00

Can we come in??

These are my babies. Zoe is the blond and Cubby is the dark one. He is only 4 months old and already is making Zoe (aka Burgers -don't ask) look tiny. She is my petite baby girl and will be 2 years old in August. He is the monster lab puppy who is adorable and dumb as a box of rocks. Oh can't leave the box o rocks around as he will eat them. He eats everything! My DH thought I was crazy to get another dog. He has since figured out two is much easier than one. They are comical when they play and Cubby has learned so much from our sweet baby girl Zoe. She is a great dog and is teaching him to be the same. They make life so much more fun. Tubby Cubby, yes got his name after the Chicago Cubs is there another baseball team?? Don't think so. (he was playing with Cubs ball in the first picture we saw of him) I started with Tubby because he walks like he weighs a ton. Waddles!! He's stitch. Took him forever to get his butt up on the bed and couch. He could touch the back of the couch but just couldn't figure out how to get his backend up on it. Our home is kid and pet friendly. It has to be with 2 dogs and 5 boys nothing is precious anymore. If it is, it's in my china cabinet or my hope chest. Away from ruin hopefully.

Time to go - baseball practice!!

Now that it is February - Already!!

2010-02-03T11:28:00.002-06:00

Where did January go?? I remember back when my boys were young January was one of the longest months of the year. It seemed to take forever to get to the spring. Now it will be here before we know it.

I've been busy working on a birthday present for DS#2. He doesn't know I'm making this so and I'm not sure if he actually reads this so I can't mention what it is until I know he has opened said gift. I also am sending along a pair of Boot Socks for Doc. Doc I think felt slighted that he didn't get said socks in the Christmas box and I think is hoping Kyle and or Dan felt there's. Dan also hinted at wanting a scarf. I've been progressing slowly on his scarf. It is a manly reversable cable in a gorgeous green. In between I've been cranking out crochet granny squares. They are easy to whip up while in the car. I dont' have to worry about juggling a pattern. (should've thought of that a long time ago DUH!!)

I need to get cranking on Sara Smiles Project. This is the year she wanted it done! So I have to hurry up get my ducks in a row and do it!

I also have to finish up my February sweater I started last spring. It is the first real sweater I've ever made for myself. Can't wait to finish it.. will probably be too hot to wear it by the time I get it done..lol

Time flies!

2009-12-17T12:18:00.002-06:00

OMG hard to believe the last time I posted was AUGUST!! I've been unbelivably busy and having no computer at home didn't help. Thank god for my Blackberry!! I don't know how I lived without that wonderful piece of technology.

My Christmas knitting is done. Photos as soon after Christmas as I can. I've been done. It's a first, I won't be knitting like a crazy women on Christmas eve!! We have most of our shopping done. We just have to get some gift cards, then stand in line to send off all of our boxes. It will be strange. This is the first time neither of my boys will be home on Christmas. I've always had one or the other. I don't have to cook either. Strange. I will make a turkey breast for lildude and my DH on Christmas eve but we are going to the Lodge for Christmas dinner. Lildude got a new outfit for his Christmas concert the other night so he has an outfit to wear. Not sure what DH and I will be wearing. Always a problem for me. I never know what to wear. I need someone to take me shopping and help me pick out clothes! It would help if I liked shopping for clothes but when you are a larger person it sucks. (to put it mildly) ANYway.... guess you know what my New Years resolution is .. same as half of American women, lose weight!!

I hope to enjoy the peace and quiet and have a great holiday knowing my boys are safe and happy. Enjoying the holiday with the people they love. Strange that I'm not upset. I'm happy for them. Something told me last year to enjoy them all being home. Next year they all hope to come home. The every other year thing is fine by me. Lildude is upset that there are very few presents under the tree. That will change over the weekend. I have more for him to wrap :) But our normal amount is greatly diminished by the packages having to be sent. Next year! We are Cubs fans we are well versed in that saying.

I wont be gone so long this time, promise.

2009-08-14T11:42:00.004-05:00

A couple of pictures of my new haircut. My hubby took my cutting 5+ inches off my hair better than I thought he would!! Got it done on vacation back in early July. Peer pressure helped and the fact that I couldn't find the blow dryer or my irons when we got to the cabin. We found them when we got home in a bag we never took out of the trunk!! OH well. I like that its short but it's different not being able to just put it up!

These are my just finished socks. First attempt at Magic loop and hand dying a sock blank from Knitpicks. I love how they match and that you don't get second sock syndrome! I know there are a couple of errors, but for a first time with a new method and all I don't think they turned out too bad. They fit and will do the job. I will go for perfection next time around. I will definately do another pair possibly with a more interesting design.

These are my dad's Birthday present...sshhh don't tell him.:) They are boot socks. I made him a pair a couple of years ago and he loved those. They were an acrylic blend and these are real wool. Glad he is retired and does alot around the house now. Mom is allergic to wool so he will have to hand wash his own socks :) These are so easy to knit up. Thinking of making the guys in my family some of these for Christmas, except for DS#1 he is in Houston for one and won't really need warm wool socks and he let me know long ago that socks and underwear are not Christmas presents! Kids!! :)

Back to business.

2009-07-15T09:31:00.010-05:00

We had a blast on vacation in northern Minnesota. First time for hubby and lil dude to travel to this part of our wonderful country. I had been near to where we stayed but not in the actual town. This was a so called "family reunion" type of trip. My parents and all of us kids and our families decended on the Bemidji area and stayed in a cabin on the Mississippi river between two lakes. We have friends that live up here and we enjoyed getting together and "catching up" with them after almost 30 years. My hubby and brother in law were not as thrilled going down memory lane as they were not part of the original storyline but they hung in there and appeared to enjoy themselves.

It was fun but now we are back to reality.

We will just have to wait until next year. We are Cubs fans so that is a well known phrase! We have lots of photos for us to enjoy and remember our trip "Up North". Here are a few to show everyone our fun.

Lil Dude enjoying the waterslide.

My honey & nephew ready to race!!

My honey's big catch! It was a record setter... on the board at the resort!

Paul Bunyan & Babe the Blue Ox

We just walked across the Mississippi!!

Turtle Races!!

Nephew ready for the pool.

This is the cabin.

We plan to go back with a few minor changes. We plan to go to a different resort. All get our own cabins instead of cramming in a small one. Also it was agreed to travel up the way we came home....much faster route.

Whew!

2009-05-05T11:40:00.003-05:00

This is what I saw when I was backing out of the driveway yesterday morning. I had to take a picture as they are all in bloom at the same time. I love lilacs not sure what the tree is a flowering crab apple maybe?? and the darker pink one is I think honeysuckle?? If anyone reading this can identify please let me know. I'm not much of a gardener and have never lived anywhere that was landscaped professionally like this new house obviously was.
Even Zoe is enjoying her new lawn. She is all worn out in this picture. Lil Dude runs her ragged. She loves ever minute of it. The minute he is in bed she climbs to "her spot" on the couch and passes out, until I get up and go to bed. Then she follows me. On a rare occasion she just goes to bed on her own. She is so good it's hard to believe she is only 9 months old.

We finally have the storage unit completely empty and mostly gone thru and put away. We have a good amount for the garage sale and my "craft room" looks like a bomb went off. I will take pictures to prove it.

On the needles I have a shawl/wrap for mom. I started a similar one for her a year ago and got frustrated. This time is was frustrating but I think I've worked thru it. I also went up a needle size. Recently finished a lapghan for Sara Smiles Project from left over baby yarn. It's from Connor's blanket so it's not baby colors. I like the way it turned out. Crochet lapghans go so much faster. I really need to get back into that. Hard with summer coming tho. Gets too hot to have a big blanket on your lap. Made a few dishcloths for the new house and a swiffer cover it kinda works on my laminate floors. I think I need to make a thinner one too tho.

Still getting settled in.

2009-04-20T10:03:00.003-05:00

We took the weekend off of working around the house. We had an overnight stay at a local hotel that included dinner. This is becoming an annual getaway for us. Purchased from the auction(thru my office)I bid it up every year and end up with it. It's alot of fun to get away even if it's only a few miles from home. I also enjoy being able to honestly answer questions when I get phone calls or emails about staying there. This year.. babygirl joined us. Now please understand I love my puppy and she is almost a year old ( almost 9 months) but she is terrible in the car and obviously away from home too. She is the biggest whiner... she needs cheese to go with the whine... one positive note, dearest hubby now will not hesitate to put her in the kennel for vacation! I sleep with earplugs, but she kept waking him up with every sound. So pet resort her she comes.. that reminds me I have to arrange that today for July's trip to MN. Hope to post new baby pics soon. He is growing like a weed. We had a get together for mom's birthday. I made her a sack sock and some dishcloths plus a gift card she really will enjoy.

DH is off today and is trying to get the storage unit cleaned out. We hope to get it emptied by the end of the month. He asked his son to come hang out next weekend. I know better.. it's hang out (help me move things around) and make a few bucks :) Better him than me!! I just can't do what I used to after this ankle thing last year. I know we will think long and hard before moving again!!

2009-02-25T08:50:00.006-06:00

Introducing Connor William

This is our neice Aly. She is two months younger than Sara. Happy to hold her new cousin.

Mama holding Connor. Look at his hair!! Lots of it!

I had to see his adorable little legs.

Good Morning Aunt Sue!! My sister sent this to show me he does open his eyes. He is all brighteyed today now that all of the meds from delivery are wearing off.

I got to spend some nice time with my tired but happy sister last night. So far Connor is a good baby. We will see how he does after he gets home! My sister and I had time to talk about the fact that she really did just bring another little person into the world after for so many years thinking Sara was her last. He is meant to be here and hopefully will lead a full and happy life. We will all work to help him acheive that goal. He is the new bright spot in the family. Welcome Connor.

Happy Birthday!

2009-02-24T08:34:00.000-06:00

Connor William came into the world this morning at 2:06 am. He weighed 8lb 10 oz. Mom and baby are doing great. Mom also said he doesn't look like his sister or brother. I can't wait to go see him this afternoon. I will post pictures asap.

Finished!

2009-02-23T09:26:00.005-06:00

The baby blanket I've been working on since Christmas is finally done. I expanded the original pattern because I felt the original was too small. I made it almost twice the size, this will help explain why it took me awhile to compelete this. I know the colors don't exactly say baby but those are the colors my sister wanted.

These are the booties I made for her. I had to give her something at her shower that I actually could finish in time.

The picture is kinda blurry but they are still beautiful. My valentine roses from my hubby. He has great taste. Even had them delivered to my office for the girls to see! He's a keeper!

Sorry I've sooo busy

2009-02-18T11:15:00.007-06:00

I have been so busy it's been insane. I've included some of the pictures I have from Christmas knitting. Finally huh?? Never too late I guess.

I made these sack holders for my inlaws. One mother in law one for father in law. They are divorced but live in the same senior complex (long story).

Hard to see but the hat I made my brother is too small.. only took 4 tries to get it right!

This is what I made for my older son's girlfriend. She loved it. I made a few more of the headbands for presents. Didn't get pictures of them all.

I decided to make a blanket for my sisters new baby. Well it was a great pattern Bliss Blanket on Ravelry. It is my first entrelac pattern and it is on smaller needles that I should've used. It is taking me forever to get this thing done!! I've been working on it almost exclusivly since Christmas. It has finally gotten too big to take with for a carry along project so I've been trying to get Kyle's Irish Hiking scarf done. Poor thing he wanted a scarf for Christmas and his was the only one not finished on time. He will be 21 on March 1. God my baby is 21 in less than 2weeks.. how did that happen. I'm not THAT old!! Anyway between those projects and life, work and everything else I'm required to be a part of I've had very little spare time. THANK GOD I have a husband who is the best in the world. He does laundry and cleans.. what more could a working mom ask for.. a clean house and clean laundry after a long day at the office :) Thanks babe!! He also supports my yarn addiction. I hope to finish both this up coming weekend. I will post photos when complete!

Move is almost done.

2008-11-06T13:53:00.000-06:00

Well we have survived the move to Peru. This is a move we have been looking forward to for awhile. DH and I both were driving the 20 miles each way for far too long. Gas prices and wear & tear on the cars helped the decision along. This move has to be by far the hardest we have ever had. Having just under a month to pack and go thru 3 years worth of accumulation didn't help. The basement was one of those things we constantly put off going thru and has ended up being the main nightmare. I swear things multiply when you aren't looking! I still had boxes we had never unpacked from the last move. DH has been going back and forth everyday this week to get the "last minute" crap. We hope to go and do a final clean tomorrow night. We need the deposit back!! Our new landlord needs to take lessons from our old landlord. He is cool with us taking a bit longer than we thought to get everything cleaned up. She (the new one) on the other hand, had things unfinished and far from clean when we took possession. Oh well. We know it will be much cleaner when we leave then when we arrived.

This home is only temporary. We plan to buy a house in the next year or so. I'm getting rid of as much "junk" now as I can. The rest is in storage. If I need it, I can go dig it out. There are many things I can't bear to part with but have no room for in this home.

Thank goodness for the support and help of my family. Everyone came out to give us a hand. My brother got us a truck from work - no charge and he paid for the gas. DH helped him move in July so he was "paying us back". He laughed at the realization that I still haven't seen his new home. I couldn't get around too good at the time of his move due to the ankle ordeal. I wasn't used to the crutches yet at that point. I will get there someday. My dad was wonderful. He was the only one (other than us) to make more than one trip. Mom was a great help with everything moms are supposed to help with. My sister and her hubby also were big helps. I ordered a tray of food from their Peru location and they ended up picking it up for me, and then not taking payment for it! Stinkers. I think the whole family was just happy we didn't have to drive everyday anymore. Oh it was also my other brothers birthday so we had pie and sang to him. His daughter helped organize my kitchen while I was out getting pop and beer to go along with the food.

My DH doesn't understand that my family helping like this is rather new to me. They never helped when I was married to my ex. They never really cared for him. I think they just didn't want to be around him. Oh well. A big thanks goes out to everyone for the much appreciated help. No matter what way you helped us.

We aren't thrilled with some of the things we have "learned" about this house but my dad is sure we will make it our home as best as we can. Lesson learned on being hasty in moving. I'm still unpacking and already preparing for "next time".

It's a BOY!

2008-10-24T11:32:00.000-05:00

As I noted on Sara Smiles Blog - my sister is going to have a boy. I went to my local Hobby Lobby at lunch and was hoping to find the "perfect" yarn to start a baby project. Nothing thrilled me. I walked out disappointed. I'm also torn on just what to make her?!? You'd think having the chance to make something new for this unexpected bundle of Joy that is going to change the family I would have a clue. Nothing - zip - nada. Maybe it's because I'm distracted with moving next week. I will chalk it up to that. I think I may just put it on the back burner for now. Maybe after going shopping or finding out a bit more on what colors she plans to use for the nursery. I'm hoping that will get me going. I do know that the baby crocs pattern I got a few months ago will probably be first.. something quick I maybe able to whip up in time to go under the tree.

I remember mom getting presents for the baby (now my son Kyle) back when I was pregnant. My ex hubby thought it was weird.. I enjoyed it. So I will hope to do the same for yet un-named baby :) She only had girls names picked out. Oh well she is ready just in case there is another one down the road. They were Sara's favorite girls names. So I'm sure they won't be forgotten anytime soon.

Scratch Utica - It's Peru for sure!

2008-10-17T16:04:00.000-05:00

Well things fell thru on the Utica house but we have since found a place in Peru. Peru is where we wanted to be in the beginning anyway so it is for the best. Lil dude is thrilled he's always wanted to live in Peru (he likes his dentist and the McDonalds - just wait until he see's the YMCA waterpark!) We still will be moving the end of the month. My house is full of boxes - my hubby has been packing like crazy. It sucks to move but having a new place less than a mile from work will be wonderful! I'm not looking forward to the work moving causes but the outcome is going to be worth the work! We will be walking distance to a park and the Y so no more excuses to not workout!

Watch out Utica we are moving to town!

2008-10-07T10:26:00.000-05:00

Yes, my daily commute has been reduced by more than half. We are moving to the booming metropolis of Utica. For those unfamiliar with the area it is the town across the river from Starved Rock State Park. Lil dude is ready to go. He thinks we are moving tomorrow. 3 weeks is still soon enough. So I won't be on here much until probably November unless I sneek on from work (like I'm doing at the moment) Keep everyone posted as I can. :)

It's starting to feel like fall.

2008-10-02T14:30:00.000-05:00

I've been trying to get my pumpkin and candy corn preemie hats finished. I wasn't in the pumpkin hat making mood this year. I think the candy corn ones are just adorable! These were sent out the other day to The Preemie Project for the newly reformed Michigan Chapter. Some lovely ladies have taken on the duty and have been running away with it. Jan was just getting too busy.

Last weekend the boys and I took a hike out at Starved Rock. My ankle was finally feeling "up" to it. Also the trails have finally dried enough to hike and not get covered in mud from the rains and area flooding. We hiked a bluff trail so we were way up high. This is Kyle and Michael at Aurora Canyon bridge. Kyle and I had stopped to pick up promotional materials (work stuff) and the marketing director told us it ws the first time she had seen water in that Canyon in years and if we wanted to see it we better get out there this week. (Main reason we went hiking) Kyle likes to get me up out of my chair.... he has a future in being a personal trainer. He is the big one in the picture. Michael is the youngest of my 5 boys. It was only the three of us.

This is the boys overlooking Sac Canyon. The bridges are at the top of the waterfalls. Thy are looking down at the water. I love that picture of them.

Both boys were fascinated by this fallen tree. It fell onto another tree that is supporting it at this angle. Not shown in this picture is we are up about 200 feet above the ground. We had a great hike even with the mosquitos that were swarming around us. The mosquitos are bad due to the flooding that was below in the lower parts of the park.

We enjoyed our day while dad was away. Dad went to his first Notre Dame footbal game with a good friend. I spent the day with my boys. We finished off our trip to McD's (Michael's choice) and then went to the mall to play Lunar mini golf. Everything was glow in the dark, even the balls!

FLOOD!!

2008-09-16T15:54:00.000-05:00

This is a view looking south where the Fox and Illinois Rivers meet.

View from the North bank of the Illinois River to the South bank. (Allen Park)

The playground at Central School.

Central school, Lil dude doesn't go here, this is for 4-6 grades. My 2 oldest boys went here before they split up the schools by grade.

This is the Fox River flowing thru the center east side of town.

The end of Superior St where it meets up with the Fox River. (end of my old street)

Our local YMCA is also underwater. I get out of working out for another week!

This is the entrance to Allen Park that is 2 blocks from my house. We also live along the river but we are up and away from the bank.

We are all ok. No one in my family is in harms way we all live up high. We are enjoying taking pictures of this once in a lifetime event. This is a record breaking flood. I will put more pictures on here from LaSalle/Peru area (by my office)as soon as I can.

New Addition to the Household.

2008-09-10T13:18:00.000-05:00

This sleeping ball of fur is our new puppy Zoe. We aren't "supposed" to have pets but we are planning to move next summer and I thought why not - our neighbors have had a dog for 3 years and I gave up my Lab/Sheperd mix Diamond to move in here!!

She is my anniversary present from my honey. He wasn't as crazy about her after our first night. (She had us up every 2 hours) She has completely stolen his heart since then. Her wagging tail and big kisses did him in. We also know he likes blonds :) She also slept thru the night last night, WOOHOO from me on that one!!

I'm working on a pattern for a "bone" that is perfect for puppy teeth. I hope to have that on here later.

DMB was great.

2008-08-11T14:24:00.000-05:00

I had a nice quiet weekend planned. Get the bills & such caught up with DH worked then relax and watch the Olympics with him and enjoy no lil dude. But NOOOO The phone rings and it's my brother looking for DH and I asked if he wanted me to call DH and ask him to call my brother. My brother tells me he is looking for someone to go to the Dave Matthews concert with him. I call DH and he is too busy working and won't get home in time to go.....he tells me to go. I thought yeah right.. with a bum ankle?!?! In lawn seats at Alpine?!?! Long story short I got ready and I went, trooper that I am!! I even got a shoe on for the first time since June! I did alot better than I thought and we had a blast! I sat when I got tired and stood when I could.... enjoyed the night and the time with my brother. DH told me to get a shirt and I got one he probably won't wear since the last two are more male looking :) I got him a sticker for his van. The cool part about going to the concert with my brother is he somehow gets the download of the actual concert and burns me a cd, so I can relive the evening's music anytime! Wish the cd was finished - I have a long drive to Chicago ahead of me tonight for a meeting tomorrow morning. Looking forward to a nice quiet bubblebath in the hotel and the king sized bed all to myself. I finished knitting a pillow for my ankle as now I'm in Physical Therapy 3 times a week and I have to keep it up or at least level at work. The footstool gets hard after awhile so I needed a cushion. It works!!

On a sad note I also got news that my BFF lost her dad over the weekend. They finally got him moved up here from Arkansas last month and his health was a lot worse then they were led to believe. I will be heading up to the Chicago burbs again on Thursday to pay respect to a man that most of my young life I was afraid of! He had a VERY dry sense of humor that as a kid I didn't understand. He was a great family man and I know he will be missed by all who knew and loved him.

What a weekend!

2008-07-28T07:51:00.000-05:00

I left work at noon on Thursday. DH and I were heading to his first Jimmy Buffett concert. We checked into our hotel and were very happy with the room! We spent more on the room than we did the concert tickets so it was great that our room was so nice. We headed out to go and get some dinner on our way to the concert. Not one restaurant was to be found. Lucklly they had plenty of food at the Park. We parked and DH went to see what they had to eat. He came back and we realized we forgot to bring lawnchairs to "tailgate" before the concert. So I sat on the open trunk and he stood most of the time as we talked to a nice couple parked next to us. DH hubby enjoyed his first Parrothead experience and now is ready to go again next year!

The rest of the weekend was the usual watching Cubs games and Nascar. Sunday was my sisters birthday party. DH and boys went to work I picked up lil dude from his mom and we headed to the afternoon swim party. Before the food was ready my sister had eveyone head outside.... she had something to say. She said that if anyone had told her last year on her birthday everything that was to happen in the next year she would've thought they were on drugs! She said we had all been invited to for a reason. But the reason won't be here until MARCH! SHE IS PREGNANT!! I about fell out of my chair. My brother in law had a vasectomy when Sara was little....I guess he had it reversed in April and they had been trying ever since. Didn't take them long!!! Everyone in the family is thrilled. After all the heartache they have gone thru losing Sara this was a wonderful surprise. I'm sure Sara is looking down and thrilled for her mom and dad. She always wanted to be a big sister! Our family really needed this kind of news. I'm thrilled this is possibly the best gift we all could be given. Happy birthday lil sis!

Summer break is over.

2008-07-16T18:00:00.001-05:00

My lovely Frankenstein boot is now a thing of the past! My new air cast (below) is the replacement.

I started getting used to having the afternoon off - sit in the recliner and knit. I went to the doctor today and she wants me to slowly start walking without the crutches and with the air cast I can actually wear shoes! I just hope my walking is good enough for the Jimmy Buffet concert next week. I survived both of my feet swelling to twice normal size last year at Daytona!! I think I can make this one...slowly. I will just have a margarita and I won't think about it :)

Finished objects and ankle photos

2008-06-27T18:28:00.000-05:00

The following are pictures of the baby blankets I finished while being stuck in the recliner for the last week. The red, white and blue one is for the Yahoo group Angels4Preemies. The other is for a neighbor expecting her first baby.

The others are pictures of my ankle. Lovely isn't it??

I'm going to try to go to work on Monday. Not sure how it will go. Today it hurts almost as much as it did on Monday, yesterday was the best so far. But I lived it up and went and got my hair done. Highlights are back and it's chin length.

Not Broken!!

2008-06-24T09:50:00.000-05:00

I waited to post this. I was in alot of pain after arriving home yesterday. I had 3 doctors poking and prodding and I had to try to put weight on my foot.

I started off at my doctor. She unwrapped my foot and didn't like the way it looked so she called the Ortho doctor who's office was right upstairs. We got in a couple of hours later and they determined it wasn't broken just a bad sprain. So I got a lovely boot. I feel like frankenstein. Yes, they are that fashionable. I will hopefully be able to post photos soon. The boot is very cushioned and I am to try to bear some weight on it. If it is really painful I don't need to but I need to gradually try to walk with it without the crutches.

I'm off work the rest of this week. I go back on Monday if I'm able to get up stairs comfortably. Yes, I sit on my butt most of the day at a desk but we have 5 stairs leading into the office that I will need to get up. I'm glad I have time to get used to all of this. I have yet to figure out how to take a shower. I have also decided to take a major portion of my hair off! I know it took me a long time to grow it out but the length and the inability to do anything with it is really getting old. Miss having a style to it. I want to go with something that will work with my curl, so I don't have to fight it. Then ends need to be cut off they are getting fried looking.

Well going to get back to my knitting. Hope to post pictures later today.

Baseball is over thank goodness!

2008-06-21T20:19:00.000-05:00

I realize how busy I've really been when seeing the date on my last post. Thursday night was our last game of the instructional season. The 8 year olds are going to play in another town. It ws an exciting evening!

The game was going ok.. nothing really exciting... then I decided to go to the bathroom before our lil dude was up to bat. I go to get off the bleachers and was higher up than I thought... my foot hit the ground and my ankle gave way.. I fell on my butt and couldn't get up. My ankle swelled up almost instantly. My hubby and another friend tried to start taking me to the car. I made it about 10feet and almost passed out! My sister walked up at this point saw how pale I was and said I wasn't going to move until I looked better. Lil dudes mom was at the game - she ran to get our car to pull it up as close as they could get it to me. Here I am.. sitting trying not to pass out, as my ankle grows ever larger. They finally got my butt to the car. For those of you who don't know me...I'm not a small person I weigh a smidge over 200 something I'm very self consceince about and I do this on the most attended game of the year. I was so embarrassed! I'm so glad I won't see most of these people for another year! My sister took me to the ER. She tells me on the way - she's oncall and hopes it's slow there. She in oncall in a different department. Things went quickly. The doctor can't tell me 100% if it is broken or not. I have to wait until I can get into the Orthopedic doctors office. That won't be until monday or tuesday! Thank goodness I haven't used much of my sick time! I can't go to work until I know what's up. I also am having a heck of a time with the crutches! Being in your 40's and overweight is not a good match for handling crutches!

My hubby has been awesome. He teases that I need a bell. He has been out to the store a couple of times and has yet to bring one home. He normally does alot for me around the house. Alot more than a great majority of husbands. Ironically I sent him an appreciation letter from my Dale Carnegie Class monday night. He got it today. I don't think I will be able to finish that class. Which sucks. I really liked going to the class. I just couldn't make it as far as I have to go on the crutches. The class is in the room that is the far back corner of the school.

Oh well things happen for a reason. I know one big thing is I have to get really serious about losing weight. My son is coming home on July 12th. I know he will be a big cheerleader to me getting in shape. The sweetheart that he is he gave me his old ipod so I could listen to music while I went for a walk or got on the elliptical trainer which ironically was put in my bedroom the after noon of my accident.

Things for me to ponder while I'm sitting watching too much tv and knitting as much as I can. Funny how I don't really feel like doing that much.. I find that very strange. I know that will pass. :)

Baseball time is here!

2008-05-08T16:07:00.000-05:00

Things have been nuts the last few weeks. We are all getting used to baseball season. We had to wait soo long for it to get here. I'm thrilled lil dude is thrilled to be playing finally and he is doing very well. His first game was monday night but I had to miss it due to my class. I was happy to hear my sister & dad showed up of course my hubby and lil dude's mom. She has been much better about making it to his activities. I'm amazed at how many she has come to she lives 40 miles away and with the cost of gas!! I know he is happy to have his own cheering section in the bleachers. ( We cheer on everyone's kid tho!) I will be at Saturday morning's game until I have to leave to work the concession stand. Please remember this is all new to me. My boys were never sports minded and still aren't and that is ok :) I am really enjoying it and will miss it come the end of June when our season ends.

On the knitting front:

These are the hats I quickly got done to send to The Preemie Project Michigan for the April donation.

I'm currently working on a couple of things for Mom for Mothers Day so I will post those after she has recieved them. Can't be too sure she may find this :)

Baseball has begun!

2008-04-17T11:58:00.000-05:00

My older children never got into sports. Sure they rode bikes and skateboarded and rollerbladed but not organized sports. We signed them up the year we moved to Ottawa and had to pull them out once we realized we were moving in the middle of the season. No more - lil dude has officially started in Little League. DH and I looked at the schedule and thought that is all we are going to do for the next 2 months! I really don't mind. It gets us out of the house...away from the TV and doing something. I met some really nice moms who were very welcoming to me - they all know each other from school and last year. Their boys are a year older than lil dude and he goes to the one school that is split. Most of the kids live on the norht side of the river we are some of the rare ones from the southside. So naturally most of the kids on his team go to the southside school that we are about 6 blocks away from going to. I was nervous going thinking I would be the "Old Lady". Come to find out I fit right in. It seems that they are about my age. That was a great surprise. We also talked about walking the circle at the park where practice is held. I guess my knitting time is going to be interrupted. Oh well maybe at the games?!? Keep you posted and hoping to have pictures soon.

Which Fiber are You?

2008-04-11T15:18:00.001-05:00

I'm Angora - Soft & Warm

"Angora has a warmth that rivals cashmere and softness that rivals qiviut. Best of all, it comes from cute little bunnies that look for all the world like furry footstools with ears". The Knitter's Book of Yarn

Angoras are eager to please and are highly sensitive. Flexibility and adaptability are your strengths and sometimes your weakness, as well. You are essentially a warm and feeling person, and little escapes your impressionable mind. You are generous with others and strive for harmony in your relationships.

Big Surprise here!!

2008-04-02T09:29:00.000-05:00

You Should Spend Your Summer at the Beach

You're a free spirit who is always thinking of new ways to have fun.
And you don't just love summer... you live for it.
So, you really should blow off your responsibilities and head to the beach!

http://www.blogthings.com/whereshouldyouspendyoursummerquiz/">Where Should You Spend Your Summer?

Back to reality!

2008-03-27T14:52:00.000-05:00

Here we are at the Mirage in Las Vegas. We had a girls getaway weekend. We hadn't had one of those in almost (in November) it would've been 10 years! We planned this after the holidays. My sister who is on the right needed to get away after it would've been Sara's 13th birthday. Very emotional day for everyone in the family. Mom is in the middle and I am on the left. We are all wearing our "Born Lucky" Four leaf clover shirts (I forgot to tuck in my shirt!! on the last potty break) oh well we only had 2 pictures of all 3 of us in the whole trip. Would you believe by the same girls!?!? These nice young ladies first took our picture in the Ventitian, then we happened to run into them again when we wanted a picture at the Mirage.. strange huh..especially in Vegas when it was St. Patrick's Day and spring break. Crazy time to be there. We had fun, laughed and cried together and took home great memories and hundreds of pictures. While we were there we saw Bette Midler's show (fabulous) and went to Margaritaville for dinner then followed up that with the band "Whiskey Galore" who were playing Celtic Music outside of Fitzgerald's hotel and casino on Fremont St. We saw almost more kilts and met more people from Scotland than if we were in Scotland! (My dad is from Greenock Scotland)

I did get some knitting done on the trip on the plane...4 hours of uninterrupted knitting was great. I was testing a pattern for the yahoo socknitting group I belong to but screwed it up the night before we left so I took another pattern from that group they are Lilac socks and I'm using the purple sock yarn I dyed at Pennies! I thought it was a perfect pattern for that yarn! I will post a photo soon of those.

It's always nice to get away but it also is great to get back home. Makes me appreciate everything my husband does for me! (came home to a spotless house!) NO I don't rent him out :)

Baby Car #2

2008-02-18T15:43:00.000-06:00

This is our new car. We picked it up at my lunch hour today. Lil Dude used to call my Neon Mommy Sue's Baby Car. ( I called it that so he just thought that was the name) We have been debating for a while moving closer to my office. Unfortunately with the mortgage situation and we still have 1 1/2 years till DSS gets out of high school, moving just isn't in the cards for awhile. Also DH business may be expanding east of where we live so moving just isn't a good option at this point. So we started looking for a more economical car (like the old Neon) The old Taurus wasn't very good on gas and was starting to require more frequent trips to be serviced. So we opted for the new car :). I'm thrilled and can't wait to get out of work to drive it home.

Great Weekend.

2008-01-14T15:11:00.000-06:00

First off, I was asked to write up something about myself to be a Michigan Chapter Preemie Project Volunteer Spotlight for the upcoming newsletter. So when Mike and I went to my Winter Party (dinner) for work I asked him to take a couple pictures of me when we got home. I chose the one on here. I hate having my picture taken but for this I will do it. I enjoy putting a face with the names of people who you converse with by email and blogs. The hard part is going to be writing about me. I have a hard time just blogging.

Yesterday I was cleaning up the desk which has a new home in a different part of the living room. (My idea to better bunny proof the living room, so Foo Fo can get "out" more often.) I was in the kitchen and the phone rang, I don't worry about the phone as it is 98% of the time not for me! Mike looked at the caller id on the tv and said the name, then asked if I heard of that name I shouted yes that is Sharon! It was a old friend from High School. We were practically attached together most of junior and senior year. We went thru beauty school together. After graduation we got busy with families and occassionally talked. It has been 13 years since we spoke last and had fun "catching up". With all that has gone on the past 2 months I totally forgot I sent her my phone numbers and email. She chose to call, I'm so glad she did. I hated to have to hang up with her but we had to leave to get lil dude.

OTN I have been busy trying to my first "lapghan" finished. I will post a picture on the project blog. I still have a hat to finish up for my brother and some preemie hats to make but now the main focus is getting Sara Smiles Project going.

YEA Me!!

2007-12-28T15:26:00.000-06:00

I've been such an airhead lately. DH is hoping my brain comes back soon. Can't blame it on the hair anymore. :) Anyway, I just realized I have been a NON smoker for a year now!! I quit a year ago on the 26th! I had a half a pack on Christmas 2006 so I actually quit as of the 26th. Woo hoo! I'm sad to say some of my old weight found me.. but that is the 2008 project. Changed my hair back to dark and told the family on Christmas I started the change at the top and I'm working my way down. :) Wish me luck!

Friday at last!

2007-12-14T14:08:00.000-06:00

I'm so happy it's friday. I don't even want to be at work anymore and I have just over 2 hours to go. I have lots of gifts to finish knitting & crocheting. . We are going shopping this weekend finally to get that all going. I love having lil dude around but out "weekends off" are so nice and like all weekends go by way to fast.

Life is slowly getting back to normal, altho normal isn't a good word. We are all starting to move forward is probably better. I think I will be happy to just survive the holidays. Normal drama in my house. Mike, Craig and I had a big blow up - figures right after I decide for the first time to send a family picture for our Christmas card. Never fails. Feelings about things get blown out of whack and I know in the end all will work out. I hope anyway. Misunderstanding on all our parts.. generation difference in the way we look at things in life is most of the battle... to put it in a nutshell. Not getting into it on here. Unlike my son he had to post his feeling for the world to read.

My sister is doing as good as anyone can expect. The one and only present she had purchased for Sara is a game that was basically to be shared by the 4 of them so now it will be given to her son and the 3 of them can play together. Sara would be happy about that. She is also thrilled about the Project and I think will be a big help in coordinating the efforts.

My apologies if my recent postings are kinda scatterbrained.. that is how I've been for the last 3 weeks. I'm hoping it will pass soon. Maybe when the holidays are past and things calm down a bit.

Some days are harder than others.

2007-12-07T10:12:00.000-06:00

Ever since the accident my mind isn't able to concentrate at work. I just don't want to be here.
Shocking things make you want to stay closer to your loved ones. I remember 9/11 I hated to send the boys to school and didn't want to leave the tv in fear something else would "hit" close to home. Even tho I have a "new"family I still have that feeling. I'm happiest at home.

Trying to finish Christmas projects and get into the holiday spirit. Mom is trying to do the same by having the younger grandkids over to bake and decorate cookies. This should be fun. I will bring the camera and share the fun. Even my sister is coming to help. She needs to get out of the house.

Our Sweet Sara has gone to heaven.

2007-11-26T12:10:00.000-06:00

We had a horrible tradegy strike our family this weekend. Our dear sweet Sara was taken from us after a terrible accident. She touched the hearts of many people and everyone she touched was changed by her sweetness. She will be missed desperately. The photo above was taken by my son Michael. He is 7 years old and has yet to fully understand all that is happening. He will have this photo in his room tonight for him to have "his Sara" with him.

My oldest son Craig took this picture of Sara having fun after Thanksgiving dinner. She was always the light in the room. New braces on her teeth and all. She was so looking forward to Christmas her braces were green and red. After this picture was taken she and Michael helped her mom put up Grandma's Christmas tree. The holidays will not be the same with out her smile to light up the room.

Some none knitting news.

2007-11-19T15:39:00.001-06:00

DH and I raced up to Rosemont to the Allstate arena to see Keith Urban friday night. On the way up we heard who was playing before Keith ... it was Gary Allan. We were excited as we both like his music also.

The concert was AWESOME! It has been over 20 years since I had been to a concert at "Rosemont". I show my age when I call it the Horizon. That was the name back in the day, when I saw bands like the Stones, Bowie and Queen there.

This photo is not from the concert as I didn't know I would've been allowed to take photos! Cameras were everywhere. DH was upset at that sight, as we bought an awesome camera for our Daytona trip. We found out later that a dvd was being filmed. Fingers crossed that it's true.

We also heard Nicole (Kidman, his wife) was backstage so that explained why when we left we hit an area that had heavy security. Frustrating when we had to walk all the way around the place to get to our entrance. Oh well we were inside and it was a fantastic evening. I plan to go again next time he is in the area!

On a knitting note. I finished my rib scarf this weekend. I started a couple of Christmas gifts. Also tonight is my very first knitting class!!! I've never taken a class before so when Pennie called to see if I would like to join her in taking this class I said sure. We are trecking up to Geneva to Wool & Company to take the Felted Clog class. I will tell you tomorrow how it went. I'm excited and can't wait to leave. Gotta finish up some work here then off we go..... :)

Yea me....lol

2007-11-12T14:48:00.000-06:00

I had a great birthday. My DH gave me great gifts. My DS2 gave me his nano - ipod with the understanding I had to use it to workout. I had no headphones or anything for said workout. DH got me an armband to hold ipod and earbuds (pink of course) so I can start working out. Oh I also got a bottle of my favorite cologne and tickets to see KEITH URBAN next weekend. Very excited about that :D

Now we need to rearrange the basement so we can both work out downstairs.. yea....:D

Happy Birthday to me!!

2007-11-09T09:21:00.000-06:00

I'm hoping to really enjoy my day today. It is a beautiful day outside today. Mid 50's and sunny. So far my DH and lil dude woke me up saying Happy Birthday, my sister and neice called me at work to do the same. I've also already received an e-card from DS1. Dad called to invite me to lunch today, kinda messed up DH plans for lunch but like he said he can take me to lunch anytime. He is a good sport about "sharing" me with family. I know he has "plans" as he has been bringing up my birthday to everyone. He also knows the ex didn't usually do much. I'm enjoying the attention.

On the knitting note:

Making this scarf for me! My birthday present to myself. The yarn I received from the Nascar swap and it is sooo soft I knew I had to make a scarf out of it. It is pink Crystal Palace Cotten Chenille. I'm doing a 2x2 rib pattern until I run out of yarn then it will be done.

I've also finished :

Lil Dude's mittens are finished. I have no picture of the finished product and as of yesterday they were lost already. He was afraid to tell me he left them at school - hopefully they are in the lost and found. We will know later today.

End of October already!

2007-10-30T09:26:00.000-05:00

Wow hard to believe - on a couple levels. My DSS has lived to see his 17th birthday for one. He has given us lots of heartache and disappointment in the past year. Hoping someday soon everything will "click" and he will wake up to be the great kid we know he can be. DH says he is too much like his mother..lol. I believe that but DH had his rebellious days from what I hear. :)

Tomorrow is one of the most fun days to have a 7 year old in the house. He can't wait to be Spiderman. Tonight is pumpkin carving and cupcake baking for tomorrow's class party. The pumpkin carving is being left to me so it will be a very simple design. Was hoping to carve them over the weekend while DS #1 was home but that like all weekends lately, we ran out of time.

I did accomplish getting two Santa hats done for The Preemie Project. I used Tracy's Christmas hat design. Thank you Tracy. Much faster hat design than the others. I feel it is a better size for the Preemie's also. More on those with pictures later. I also had a Bead Retreat. I held it at my office (big conference room table) which worked much better than my little kitchen table would've also we didn't interrupt the game & race. I think I've found a new hobby. Beading. I love jewelry but hate paying the big prices. Now I can design my own stuff. It is also much faster than knitting. I'm thinking quicker gifts! DH better watch out at the craft stores now..lol

Better get back to my paying job and I will have pictures after tomorrow!

Hike at Starved Rock

2007-10-24T18:07:00.000-05:00

This is the time of year I love my drive to work.
I drive this road to and from work and get to enjoy the scenery that people drive for days to see. (They call me for information that is how I know :) )

This is a special trip tho.. DH is with me and we are about to go hiking in St. Louis Canyon. We are entering Starved Rock State Park.

This is the path we hiked. I don't remember that tree that fell across the path. Luckily it is high enough most adults can walk under it with out ducking.

This is the South Canyon wall. The big rocks are part of the wall that has fallen.

Me resting on a rock. This hike woke me up to just how out of shape I really am. Think I better start working out on the treadmill before I hit the couch to knit :)

This is one of the better pictures of the waterfall. It was so dark it was hard to get a good picture. Told DH we have to come back in the winter when the waterfall is all ice. I enjoy the canyon hike in the winter. You can see so much more of the canyon when the leaves are gone and you can see the animal tracks in the snow.

DH enjoyed our hike and time alone together. Being the parents to 5 boys that kind of time is hard to come by. Next time maybe we will even include the boys.

So So Busy!

2007-10-24T16:05:00.000-05:00

I've been so busy I haven't had a minute to get on here. Last week was the auction. ANyone hwo knows me knows that part of August all of September and most of October are consumed by "The Auction". For those who don't know.. this is the main fundraiser of the year for my office. I work for a not for profit Economic Development organization - also the Chamber of Commerce for the Illinois Valley Area. This helps pay my salary so I have to be all consumed with it. We had a recordbreaking year this year! We hoped to surpass our $30,000 goal and we did we are $30 and change short of $35K. Which is an all time high! This was our silver anniversary (25th). We celebrated with Sparkling Grape Juice and donuts at yesterday morning's Executive Committee meeting. Champagne would've been nice.. but not at 8:30 on a tuesday morning.... when you have to work the rest of the day.

IN other news....... on Thursday (auction day) my brother who had had nerve damage in his back, went to "the spine specialist" @ Northwestern Memorial in Chicago. He was admitted imeddiately and told he needed surgery as soon as they could get him in. He was shocked and a bit freaked out.. but he knew this is the answer to what is needed to correct the problem. He had another MRI and waited.. he had his surgery yesterday and is doing great. I tried to call him earlier and he wasn't in his room so mom and I assume he was in therapy. His thigh muscles were so bad he could hardly walk. He had been sent home from work about a month ago and had been walking with a cane.. he will be 42 on Nov. 1st. Way too young to have a cane. He ended up having a ruptured disk in his neck. So that was all fixed and he is on the road to recovery.. it may be a long one but we all have our fingers crossed that this is the answer to the many prayers.

I also have been getting things ready for the "Fall Festival" friday night at little guys school. I have to man a booth for a half hour.. my neice is going to take him around while I'm stuck in the booth. I also am making cakes for the cake walk and getting things ready for the class party on Halloween. DH will be taking the treats in for that. I have been crocheting an afghan for my DS and working on a pair of socks. Need to regraft the toe on the finished sock as it looks funny. I keep the sock project in the car for lunch time knitting and the afghan at home as it is finally getting "there" so it is larger by the day. I'm hoping to finish it by Christmas but I'm not sure..... not many homemade gifts this year. I've been doing more things for Charity. I feel horrible because I haven't done anything for Camp Square Crew in awhile and do some for Preemie Project Michigan as I blogged earlier.

Photos from hiking trip soon!

Fall is here... altho you can't tell by the weather.

2007-10-02T19:07:00.000-05:00

These are the hats I've made for the fall donation for Preemie Project in Michigan.
I was hoping to get more finished but as you can see in the next picture, I've been busy with another project.

This is the baby blanket and lace beanie hat I made for DH step daughter. This is a daughter that came along with his first wife. She had a baby girl today. Mom & baby are doing well, Daisha (sounds like day-sha, also not sure on exact spelling) arrived a couple weeks early and weighed in at 6 pounds 6 oz and 19 inches. I'm sure pictures will follow as soon - altho DH upset the ex by saying he wasn't technically a Grandpa. We havent' seen mom in almost 4 years to explain my DH attitude toward the whole thing. Babies are always a blessing no matter the circumstances. I just hope they like what I'm sending.

Tonight was open house at school for lil dude. We had fun. He enjoyed showing me his work and all of his papers around the classroom. He was also thrilled when he got the book he wanted from the book fair! He is disappointed about not being able to watch the Cubs playoff game as it starts after his bedtime. Thank god for DVR's. :) I told him I don't think daddy will make it to the end either. Go CUBS!!

What a Fabulous weekend.

2007-09-24T08:01:00.000-05:00

Mike and I had a great weekend. The weather was fab and we had a lot of time with just us. We don't get that very often. Yes, lil dude goes to his moms every other weekend...but we always have so much going on that we don't take time to breathe and concentrate on us. Satuday morning we got up, met my parents for breakfast then headed up to Plano to go to the Plano Molding Outlet store. We found some great deals on things we needed. I was especially happy about the tool rack for big tools. This would normally go in your garage.. to keep shovels and brooms in order.. instead it will be in our basement to hold many brooms and mops of DH. Owning a cleaning company those things seem to multiply when you aren't looking. After bargain hunting we headed to DH old hometown to go to Harvest Days. We had a blast walking around the craft show and flea market. DH got a new Cubs shirt and I got some Halloween decor for the door and outside. :) We headed home and cooked brats for dinner on the grill. We had planned to sit outside but the bugs were bad so we stayed in and vegged out on the couch. I finished a candy corn preemie hat and started a pumpkin hat. They are so cute. I feel bad that I haven't done more of my charity knitting recently but as I usually do this time of year the carpal tunnel is aggravated by all the typing needed for the auction at work. I was happy to finish the 2 hats I got done this weekend. I still have a ton of knitting to do before christmas. I just do what I can as I can and hope it's enough. I will make up for it after the holidays like I usually do. :)

It's been 3 years already!

2007-09-04T16:04:00.000-05:00

Hard to believe 3 years ago I had just gotten married to my soulmate and best friend. DH sent me these beautiful flowers to brighten my day for our anniversary today. We decided to not buy each other anything and get something we both want so the flowers came as a complete surprise! I thought we would just exchange cards tonight after he got home from work, but he as he always does knows how to make me smile and put me in a better mood. He is the champ at that! One of the many reasons why I married him. :) I know we will be together until the end.

Glad last week is over!

2007-08-27T15:07:00.000-05:00

I will start out with what I purchased at Stitches. Yes I know it was a couple of weeks ago. But things in my life have been crazy. So here goes - I got to meet a lady in one of my Yahoo groups. She is just as sweet in person as she is online. She is basically a neighbor living about a hour west of me. Near where my maternal grandparents are buried. I bought some Noro Kureyon in a fabulous varigated color. #214 for the Noro fans out there. I'm just finishing the bag I decided to make with it. I also bought some sock yarn. Regia I don't have what kind right in front of me as I'm at work. I love the color and can't wait to get "going" on those. I also bought some Cascade 220 in Orange and a funky fall tweed color. I want to make some felted pumpkins and I didn't want to buy green and brown so I got this lovely color that is a mix. Got home to find it is exactly the color called for in the pattern I have. :) Pennie and I had a blast she took a class and it filled up before I could get signed up so I sat and knit at Project Linus and waited for her. Met some lovely ladies from Ohio and Virginia. All I can say is either bring lots of cash or prepare to have your credit cards smoke because the I've never seen more yarn in one place in my life! It was like a mall of yarn stores. All the online stores I've ever heard of and more in one place. That is the best way to describe it for anyone who has never gone. Every kind of yarn imaginable. Demonstrations on many different things. I dyed my own yarn - that is the strand kinda draped over every thing in the photo. Beads are big also. Adding beads to your knitting. Pennie is a Bead Instructor so she was really interested in that. I did what I set out to do tho. Purchase yarn I can't find at home. I can't wait for next year!! Starting to save for more yarn. Working on using up the stuff I bought too.

The boys have started school. Lil dude survived his 7th b-day and is anxiously awaiting going to the Peoria Chiefs baseball game next weekend. We tried last weekend (a week ago) but the rain kept us away. Little did we know it wasn't raining down there and we would've been fine. Oh well gives Hubby a chance to go buy a new cubs hat so he can get Ryan Sandbergs autograph. More on that later. He is enjoying the first grade and is proud to be the only one he knows with the Chicago Cubs backpack!

We had more rain then I can ever remember in this last week. My basement lost it's carpeting but that is the worst that happened to us. Thank goodness. My parents were in MN and came home to a glowing thermostat. The HVAC guy that came and replaced it at 11pm saturday night said he had never seen that before. Mom says the dvd doesn't work either so we are thinking that is from one of the many storms that came roaring thru. Glad nothing else was wrong. Easy to replace items. With their move a couple weeks away they really didn't want to have to replace anything major. My brother got 8 inches of water in his basement and he has his house up for sale. They had luckily moved everything out of the basement about a month ago so they are just cleaning up the mess.

Saturday night that same brother and I headed North to WI to Alpine Valley to see The Dave Matthews Band! Once we got there it was great! With all the rain that had gone thru everything was mud. The parking lot, the "lawn" you name it - covered in mud. We left home at 2 pm arrived in Lake Geneva at 4:15 had a great dinner at a little place right on the lake. Great view, excellent food. We left and was on the road again by 5:20 started heading north on this back road DB said he likes to take o.k. Well I guess everyone found his "backway" because we sat in traffic for over 3 1/2 hours. We finally got into the concert about 9:00 we found out we missed only 4 DMB songs and the opening band. I didn't care at that point we got there and we had fun. We had pavillion seats (thank god) and right before the encore I asked DB is up the hill (over the so called lawn) the only way out of here?? He said yes. I said you are going to have to help me up the hill. As I thought it was solid mud so it was a joke trying to get up it. Lost my sandel at one point which he hurried and grabbed. Thank go dhe wasn't afraid to hold his big sisters hand! After that I went shoeless until we arrived at the parking lot (part gravel) Got in the car to sit and wait again. We finally made it home just before 4 am. DH knew I would be late just not THAT late. But he didn't worry cuz I was with my bro. I felt bad for my DB as he had tickets for last night so he had to do it all over again. Better seats (11th row) made him make the trek again. His wife went with him to that concert and he planned on leaving at noon! I haven't talked to him to see how it went. I definately will think more than twice about seeing a show there again. It was still great to spend time with my DB I think it was the first time we had ever spent that much time alone together. Many wonderful and funny memories from it too!

Bunny Foo Foo and more!

2007-08-10T11:53:00.000-05:00

This is Bunny Foo Foo - we adopted him from our neighbors who called him Thumper, many buns are called Thumper and he just looks like a Foo Foo to me so he is called that. We have had Foo since right before Christmas but he is shy when it comes to getting his picture taken.

DS2 has a love of animals bigger than mine - he needed to get in his bunny loving time while he was home. He got Foo to go into a trance with no problem!

They stayed like that for a long while. I just had to share these pictures. Now if I can only figure out why Foo is recently pouncing when we feed him. I think he is either saying hey this is my house get out or he is trying to play.. not sure. Anyne with bunny knowledge on that kind of behavior please comment!!

In other news I got my invite to Ravelry late yesterday. I considered myself warned by others who say it is addictive.. that is the understatement of the year. I now realize I need to take better photos of my work! Also, once better photos are taken get them uploaded to Flickr!!

Stitches Midwest tomorrow!!!! I can't wait. Will share the trip when I get back.

Why do weekends go by so fast?

2007-08-08T12:11:00.000-05:00

Justin(SS1), Craig(DS1), me, DH, Lil guy(SS2) & Kyle(DS2)

At the end of a wonderful weekend with my boys, we all posed for a family photo. This is something Mike and I had wanted since we were married. We are missing Zach but it is a very rare occassion to have Zach, Justin, Craig & Kyle all at home at the same time. Our place just isn't big enough. Maybe when we get our house we can have everyone at home at the same time. This is my crew. This will also be the Christmas card photo.

Monday it was up to Wisconsin to take Kyle home. This was the first time I have been to his new apartment since he moved from Chicago.

This is his new home. The trees in the far end of the photo are at Lake Michigan. Big cliff down to the waters edge.

It has a fabulous view. This is to the south along the lake.

With all the heat and rain we have had I can say I had very safe travels. DS1 drove with me. He went home last night. He lives the other direction in Central IL. My brother drove with me. Lil guy doesn't like long car rides so he stayed home with DH. My brother and I had a ride home we won't soon forget. The lightening was unbelievable all the way home. Thankfully the rain waited for us to arrive home before it made it's presence be known. We received 3 inches of rain overnight.

Back to normal life in my house again. School starts in another week. The holidays will be here before we know it. That is when we will all be together again. Not soon enough for me but such is life.

I got my Swap box.

2007-08-04T10:54:00.000-05:00

Cathy Davies was my swap partner. I wanted to get this picture posted so everyone can see what she sent. Thank you for all the cool stuff!

I have to run and get to the bank this morning. I can't wait to get home and "play" with my new "toys".

My boys are HOME!

2007-08-03T15:46:00.000-05:00

Yes, not one but both of my boys are home!! I arranged for the train tickets and got them to arrive within a half hour of each other. For those of you who don't know. My DS1 lives in Bloomington/Normal IL. My DS2 lives outside of Milwaukee WI. so to get the trains that close was just short of a miracle. DS1 called to let me know his train was running about a half hour late, his was due to arrive first so.... I delayed leaving by about 20 mins. I get to the train station in Joliet ( about 45 mins away from home) I see DS2 walk up to the van. I wass shocked as his train was due in after his brothers. He said when he got to Chicago he was able to get on an earlier train so he did. Poor thing - his cell phone was dead and didn't have enough change to call and see where I was. So he waited in the hot sticky evening air. He was very happy to see me and I apologized for not getting there earlier. Minutes later his brother walked up and we headed for home.

I took the afternoon off today and they helped me out at work this morning. So nice to have them around. Love the DSS's but not the same as your own babies. Sometimes hard to believe they are so grown up as I don't feel that old! I did start earlier than some folks I wasn't a baby momma by any means. A week shy of 21 isn't old or too young. Just planning to enjoy them being home as I know this weekend will go by in an instant. They always do!

I will post pics later.

I've been tagged!

2007-07-27T09:09:00.000-05:00

I've been tagged for the first time! Melanie tagged me and now I have to turn around and tag 6 people. I also have to tell 6 weird things about me. Ok here goes. This is hard... I don't think I'm that weird altho my DH could probably answer this with out a problem...lol

1. I eat potato chips with ketchup. I don't think this is weird but my entire family does. To me it is like having ketchup with french fries.

2. I'm a shoe collector. I like buying shoes - you are rarely too fat to fit in your shoes :)

3. I also collect snowmen. I would leave them up year round but family thinks the end of January is long enough.

4. I can't drink milk with pizza. My DH drinks milk with every meal. Milk and pizza just don't mix for me.

5. For a knitter I don't have a huge stash. I try to buy the yarn I need for a specfic project and use it up. My stash in recent months has grown a bit.

6. I have no LYS but hope to someday change that by opening my own shop. We all gotta dream right?!?

Ok. If I tagged you then you need to list 6 weird things about yourself then tag 6 different people you know or blogs you read :) Good luck and have fun. This was alot of fun.

My choices are:
1. Pennie @ Extreme Yarn
2.Tracy @ W ool Windings
3. Lana @ Knit and Pray
4. Libby @Knit Tidbits
5. Natasha @ Gritty Knits
6. Cat @ Cat's Crafty Corner

You're it ladies..... have fun.

Some other things I've finished this summer.

2007-07-19T14:59:00.000-05:00

I have been working on squares for Camp Square Crew but I've also finished some things for the Preemie Project also.

Thanks to Jan in Michigan for posting this photo on the Michigan website so I could save it to put on here. I forgot to take a photo -thought of it after I mailed it. Sorry blond moment. I made one of the pink hats on our trip. Need to break up what I'm working on - I get bored way too easy.

The next thing on my needles is going to be a feather and fan baby blanket for my husbands step daughter who is expecting in October. Figured I better get it going now so it's finished. You never now when babies decide to arrive so earlier is a good thing. Plus by the time she is due Christmas is right around the corner, and I will be up to my eyeballs in projects like I am every year.

DH is home this afternoon. Told me he is cleaning and doing laundry. It's amazing how fast I got used to him taking care of that stuff. Now that his business is getting busier by the day, I'm alot more appreciative of him taking care of that stuff. I promised the family favorite dinner tonight in exchange for the hard work. Part of the madman cleaning is an appointment right when I get home from work. Counselor is coming to the house regarding SS1. Having teenagers is always exciting. Never dull. We only have him in the house for another 2 years then lil dude is the only one. The house will be so quiet. It will be a nice change.. altho..having had been close to an empty nester at one point it is very strange at first. Kinda like going home to mom & dads. Not quite what it was like when I lived at home.. back then it was crazy ( I'm the oldest of 4) Now it's only crazy when we all come over at once.. but now we bring spouses and children so it's even crazier!! My coworker is one of 9 I can't imagine the insanity of the holidays at her parents house. Especially because it is a SMALL 3 BR house.

My garden is doing fabulous. The rain in the last couple of days has probably made the tomato plants shoot up even more. I will have to check tonight after the meeting. We are starting to collect tomatos. Peppers are still off in the distant future but they are flowering and budding like crazy. We certainly picked the right spot this year!

We had a fabulous time!

2007-07-12T17:47:00.001-05:00

Here we are on the beach. This is Vilano Beach which is in St. Augustine, Florida. I have a huge smile on my face because an hour before this photo was taken, I had lost my glasses in the surf. I prayed really hard and my guardian angel put my glasses into my hand under the water. There were strong wave warnings but after driving for almost 2 days and 1100 miles we went in the water anyway! Mike enjoyed his first birthday on the beach!

We made it!!! Now find a parking spot!

This is for the Jeff Gordon fans in my groups. I'm not a fan of his but I did think it was very cool that he "made an appearance" in the garage area. This was taken on Friday 7/6/07. The afternoon before the Busch race. We paid the extra to get admission into the "Fan Zone". It was worth the $20.00 a ticket. We got to see lots of Drivers and crew. You also are able to see them do the inspections of the cars. Cool to see. Kinda like an upclose parade of the cars and crew.

For the Camp Square Crew Girls - Ricky says THANK YOU!!!

My dear hubby told him about what we are doing for Victory Junction Camp and he thought it was awesome! We only stayed at Speed Channels Nascar Live for a few minutes because we got backstage passes to meet Shooter Jennings who was performing at the same time.

Here is Shooter Jennings. For those of you who don't know he is Waylon Jennings son. We had a great time but were anxious for the race to start. So soon after his concert ended we headed up to our seats.

A view of the mob getting a close look at Juniors car. They were just starting to uncover the cars.

This photo is one of the saddest moments of the entire trip.

Denny right after bonehead Tony wrecked him. Lap 14 and I wanted to cry! Then to see Junior get caught up in that made the blow even worse.

After seeing the crew trucks rolling down the highway- heading the same direction we were... I had my eyes peeled!

I got upset when I took this picture.... the one rest area we didn't stop at and it had 3 haulers. This picture..hard to tell is Kasey Kahne. Reed Sorenson(Target) and Jeff Green (Best Buy). Everyone is headed for Chicagoland Speedway, just 45 miles east of our town. Right down I-80 waiting for the phone to ring, my brother always calls at the last minute with extra tickets. Not sure if I'm up to it this year! After my feet I might just sit on the couch and put them up and watch both races.

These are only a few of the many photos we took on our trip. I'm going to have to put my needles down and get a scrapbook finished to document our trip. We had to wait almost 3 years but our honeymoon was worth the wait!

Only 2 more days!!

2007-07-01T09:25:00.000-05:00

SO hard to believe that in 2 day swe will be on the road. Please bear with me.. I haven't had a "real" vacation in 4 years. Weekends don't count. Slowly getting things packed. DH thinks I'm nuts packing already.... He can pack in like 15 mins. But I don't like to forget things. Yes the sunscreen is already packed in the "bathroom" bag.
The weekend started out with lil dude going to mom's. Then the other son was invited to go camping for the weekend with his g/f family. We said seeya!! So NO KIDS for the weekend! Friday night we relaxed had a couple drinks and listened to music but by friday we are both so tired we ended up in bed early. Yesterday I had a hair appointment so I had to be up and in the hairdresser chair by 9. Karla redid my highlightes which were way overdue. We are slowly getting my natural hair grown out, with highlights to "cover the grey". She did another great job. Put a bit of red in this time....which looks good. :)

DH and I had a nice lunch and went shopping after I got home. We later rented a couple of movies which we laid around and watched after watching the DVR taping of the Cubs game and the Busch race. Getting tired of the Cup drivers dominating the Busch race. We had a nice night again no kids :) Unfortunately DH ended up with a terrible stomach ache. Toady we have some errands to run and then we will get home in time for the race. Then every for DH birthday party with my family. Lil dude has to have a party for daddy before we go.

I did finish a sqaure for Camp Square Crew and a Preemie hat. I posted the pics on Flickr. When I can get one of my boys attention for a bit.. I will have them tell me how to add that to this....lol I do so many technical things at work but this is beyond me....lol Showing my age I guess. Altho I see blogs from people that blow my mind. Where they find stuff and how they figure out how to get it on there makes me jealous.

Time to go .... stuff to do.

We are on the countdown!

2007-06-21T14:35:00.000-05:00

I can't wait!! 12 more days til we head south. Just the thought of no kids or work for a whole week is exciting. We had to wait but I tell you I'm glad we did. We will enjoy this trip much more than if we went right after the wedding. Things in our life were very crazy back then. Not that now is much better but it just seems calmer. It has been 15+ years since I've been down there. I'm sure lots of things have changed. Just from what I've seen while researching for hotels..St. Augustine has grown! One thing I'm not thrilled about is that you can no longer drive on my favorite beach :( Oh well no kids in tow so no toys to drag out to the beach!.. I think we can handle carrying our stuff. I have to make a list of things to get before we go.. sunscreen is on the top of said list!! I already have the beach bag done and ready to go.. didn't turn out as well as I hoped but I'm going to give a different pattern a try.

What a week!!

2007-06-15T11:18:00.000-05:00

Busy week! DH landed one of his largest accounts to date. This is for a larger company in the area, cleaning m-f. He held interviews yesterday and hired a couple of different people to help him. He hired 3 women, this way if one quits he has backup. We need someone to cover his accounts while we are on vacation.

I also joined Camp Square Crew Yahoo Group. This group is a knitting group that makes squares & rectangles in bright colors to be sent one or two other memebers to be joined together to make afghans for the Victory Junction Gang. This is a Camp for Special needs children, opened by the Petty Family. They aim to send every child home with a blanket/afghan as a souvenir of there time at camp. Most of this group is made up of the Nascar Knitters but that is great. Dana has been great to work with and her patterns are really fun to knit. Having worked with special needs children, having an autistic stepson and an Aunt with Downs I felt the need to put my talents to good use. I still knit for the preemies also.

DH went to one of his favorite clients the other day- he is trying to get out of residential cleaning as it is a challenge, but this couple he really enjoys. They sent him home with stuff.... thank goodness for the van. They sent him home with a dvd/vcr combo player for Michael... lost the remote so they didn't want it anymore. Gave DH a Yamaha acoustic guitar, a plastic 3 drawer dresser ( fit most of my stash very well) and a few other smaller items. He was thrilled with the guitar. He has wanted to take lessons and play songs for me. He is a fabulous poet so who knows....someday he may play me my own song.

Then last night I was relaxing, knitting on the couch while Mikey played outside and I got a call from a friend of my SIL she wants me to make knit bags - she has a few friends in her piliates class that keep asking her about her bag. Hers was a gift from a friend in CA but she saw me working on my beach bag and thought maybe I could knit some up and sell them. I said sure come on over and this way I can take a look at her bag to get an idea of what they are looking for. I hope I can come up with something they will like or that is close.

OH I also have this link for anyone who thinks I knit too much. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=460754&in_page_id=1770

I think it is a cool idea and I hope they raise the money they hope to!

Knit in Public Day!!

2007-06-09T10:34:00.001-05:00

Today is knit in public day. The only "local"events for this day is in Millienium Park in Chicago. Of course (my luck) I'm a week late. We were up there last weekend showing Uli around Chicago. No events in the immediate area so I guess I will just go sit outside on this glorious day and knit. I need to work on getting some sun. Don't want to fry when I go to Florida in a few weeks. Currently have a few different projects on the needles. I have my bag for FL need to finish the strap. I have a Earnhardt dishcloth, my socks, and a preemie hat. I think that is all lol.

I'm going to vote for Denny this week to win the race. He is starting second and dominated these races last year. I'm hoping for a repeat performance.

Gotta go finish my "inside work" so I can go and enjoy the sunshine and perfect temperature outside.

Almost the weekend.

2007-05-24T14:26:00.000-05:00

My DH is a cleaning maniac. He is running around cleaning and straightening and just in general getting the house ready for our friend Uli who is coming in from Germany on Monday. If you didn't know better you would think she was royalty. :) He is just very excited that she has decided to come and spend her "holiday" with us. He has known her from chatting online for about 5 years. We've talked on the phone and she sounds wonderful. I can't wait to meet her. What I thought was funny is she was hoping I wouldn't mind her drinking beer. I told DH I don't care she's on vacation! She can do what she wants.. the other thing I can't wait to do is take her swimming at my sister's house. DH told her to bring a swimming suit. She asked him if we would swim in the creek?? He said no swimming pool. Her English is a bit broken but I have no problem figuring out what she is trying to say. Maybe it's from years of trying to figure out what my Grandmother was saying. She had a heavy Scottish accent. Some of her words had different meaning than what we were taught. Like a biscuit. To most american's that is a roll or a biscuit like biscuits & gravy type. Nope to Nana those were cookies. We figured that one out quick. Imagine her first time at the bakery after moving to Chicago. She told me she had "a hell of a time telling them" I guess she finally just pointed to what she wanted and they all figured it out. I think it will be good for the boys to learn about someone from another country. I had my grandmother so it was normal for me. My boys knew her breifly. My younger neices and nephews got to know grandpa.... but he didn't talk funny like grandma did.

I hope everyone has a fabulous weekend and remember those who fought for our freedom. Also anyone who has passed before us who shaped us into the people we are today.

I can't fall over.....

2007-05-18T11:30:00.000-05:00

My beloved sister in law is coming over today and spending the night. I guess we are the only ones who can drive to and from Dwight in one day and not need to spend the night. We are talking about 43 miles here people... not like we live 4 states away. I shouldn't complain she hasn't been to our house since the Daytona 500 in Feb. 2006. She swears she was here this last feb for that same race, but she wasn't.. Justin's wonderful girlfriend came over and proceeded to piss of my father in law who left with half the race to go.
I'm hoping tonight will be like old times.. sitting at the patio table, sharing some good drinks and conversation and listening to music... maybe a fire to go along with it. This time it's at our house tho.. not hers. We used to hang out in her backyard when Mike and I first met. I'm also glad she is spending the night.. because I know from first hand experience.. it sucks to drive home late at night after having a couple drinks. Not to mention dangerous. I'm going to fix the other breakfast braid so we have food in the morning with out alot of fuss. As Mike and I have to go clean and meet with our insurance agent, and Jen to get her back in the swing of work for the summer. :) All in all it will be a good day despite what the wonderful teenager living in my basement tries to do to mess it up.

I hope to get close to finishing my bag. It's getting there.

My DH said is still looks like a boat not a bag.. but it takes time for knit items to "evolve" sometimes. I think he is just happy I'm finally making something for myself. I was looking through Knitty.com and found this wonderful bag it is called Kitchensink by Faye Whyte. I fell in love with it while searching for the perfect beach bag pattern. I hope to get the smaller bag done in time for our trip to Florida. I was recently bummed to find out you can no longer drive on my favorite beach.... so now we have to drag our crap to the beach.. hence the need for a big beach bag! We are going to spend a good portion of a day at Anastasia State Park , beach in St. Augustine. less than two months! I can't wait! If you would like the pattern you can find it here .

Thank you.

2007-05-16T16:17:00.000-05:00

Anyone who knows me knows my weekends are at the mercy of the Nascar race for that weekend. My life is pretty much planned around the races. I do have to say that it is better than it used to be but we always watch the race. My good friend found out how devoted a fan my DH was when we came down to visit. He sat patiently for about 2 1/2 hours before the Saturday night race was cancelled until Sunday due to rain. We still had a great visit.

My point of all of this is the Yahoo group, Nascar Knitters accepted me into the group. My DH is saying you need another group ..lol But hey he has turned me into a Nascar fan (Go Denny!!) and I love to knit (especially during the races) so what better group for me to join?!? I'm still a bit confused on how they earn points in this group but I'm sure I will figure it out soon. Looks like fun. Can't wait to get to know everyone.

I'm also going to have to figure out how I can put my name in for a winner of the Pepsi 400. I won't have access to a computer because I will be at the races that entire weekend. ( Help on htat one would be great??) We are finally taking our honeymoon.. almost 3 years later.. but hey better late than not at all!! I will be attending my first Nextel Cup race (I've been told Busch races don't count) and it will be DH first time at Daytona. Yippee..... somewhere he hasn't been before.. that wasn't easy.

I have a bag for that trip currently on the needles. I've taken a break from my preemie knitting to finish up some projects I've wanted to make for me. This bag and some socks. I will post pics asap.

It's a Girl!!!!

2007-04-19T08:01:00.000-05:00

My sisters best friend Jennifer just had baby #4, another shocker. She is very irregular so when she gets pregnant she doesn't know right away.... it takes a few months. Anyway she had her 1st girl. After Cody, Travis and Jaren they had Madison early this morning 2:43am. Miss Madison Janelle weighed in at 7 pounds even and is a petite 19inches long. Much smaller than her brothers, so mom is amazed on both counts. Little, girl. I'm told she resembles the youngest of her brothers who has told the family that if the baby wasn't a girl the doctor would have to take it back. Jaren didn't want anymore brothers :) I have no pictures yet but hope to this weekend. She will hopefully make her family debute at mom's birthday party. Yes they are also related. Jennifer's hubby and my sister's hubby are cousins. Congrats Jen & Shane!!!

Cardigan in memory of Julie is finished.

2007-04-15T18:05:00.000-05:00

I have finished the cardigan that was a knit along in memory of the knitting groups I belong to - the moderator's daughter. I enjoyed making this. Not the reason it came to be. Losing someone is always a difficult thing to go thru but children are not supposed to go before there parents. I made this for my mom for her birthday to hopefullly keep her warm and looking good on her trip to the southwest. They leave the day after her birthday.

Back to working on my hats for Preemie Project. I got a fleece remnant and cut it in half. Got the small hole punch - punched all the way around in order to crochet an edge and it started to unravel once I started to put the edge on. Talk about frustrating! So I basically thought screw it, I will go back to knitting it's easier... less to worry about. Knitting I can almost do without looking.

Found out yesterday that Mike and I will be able to get away the first weekend in May. We are going to go and visit my dear friend Kathy and her hubby. They just bought a home in KY and we are heading down. They have never met Mike so this will be fun. It's been 4 almost 5 years since I saw them. They were in Virginia Beach back then. Jeff is from KY so they moved home. His home. She has had a hard time getting used to rural life. She was thrilled to hear we are coming down. We need the time away!!

New Socks!

2007-04-12T15:10:00.000-05:00

This is my other project on needles. My Mock Cable socks. I got the pattern from Scarlett Knits . I found her pattern while searching for a pattern that used the sock yarn (Plymouth Yarns - Socketta. Thank goodness this is easy to tote!

I can screw up just about anything..

2007-04-10T16:03:00.002-05:00

Here I take this cool quiz and it screwed up while copying and pasting. Oh well if you know me then you know I'm not very technical.. which is very ironic as my title at work is Technical Assistant. HA!!

2007-04-10T15:54:00.001-05:00

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Here is what I've been up to.

2007-03-31T13:27:00.000-05:00

These are the hats I sent for the March donation to The Preemie Project Michigan. I was working on the items below when I had to send the others in. So I guess I have a head start on the next donation deadline. :)

I've also been working on a knitalong for my other knitting group KnittingMadeEasy4U. We are honoring our moderator by making this sweater in memory of her daughter Julie Bird Manson. I'm making this one for my mothers birthday. I hope she likes it. I thought the color would look great on her for summer.

Still have a way to go on it. But it is nice and easy all garter stich. I found out after this was well under way that a few of the ladies in the group are knitting this in seed stich. That would make a great pattern. Maybe I will make the next one in that. I'm hoping to make myself one next.

Pennie and I went out yarn shopping last weekend. I got some nice yarn. I got myself yarn! I bought the yarn pictured below. It was my first trip to real yarn shops, Pennie got a kick out of being with me for my "first time".

Well gotta get off here.. storms a comin.

Finally!!

2007-02-28T09:47:00.000-06:00

The plans are set, the tickets purchased and hotel reservations made! We are going to Daytona!! We are finally taking our honeymoon. We wanted to go to Daytona 500 after the wedding but it got delayed. So we have it all set to go to the Pepsi 400 and celebrate Mike's birthday in FL. I can't wait. Sand and surf in St. Auggies again. My fav beach and city to stroll around in. I hope the weather is good not too hot. A new track to visit been by many times wanting to go in. Now I will get the opportunity to walk thru the gates instead of going thru the doors of the mall across the street! DMIL is coming to watch the kids. This is our first real vacation ever. We have taken a weekend here and there but nothing like this. :)

It's a sad day in Bears country.

2007-02-05T07:54:00.000-06:00

The game started off fantastic. Our favorite rookie Devin Hester ran a kickoff return for 92 yards for a superbowl first - touchdown. We held on to the lead for most of the first half. Then the colts just showed the Bears that a Quarterback with 9 years of experience pays off. Oh well, I think the Bears did a great job this year! Just getting to the Superbowl is a major accomplishment and they should be very proud. Now we just need them to bring some of the Florida warmth back home with them. This 0 stuff is getting old..daytime highs of 3...brrr!! Too cold for me. But we all will be complaining in a few months that it is too hot. I guess we are never happy. Until I can afford to move somewhere that is warm year round....like San Diego I guess I will just have to continue bundling up!

Superbowl Fever has hit!

2007-02-03T09:21:00.000-06:00

Yes the city of Chicago has gone Bear crazy! Everything is blue and orange. Even Sue the dinosaur at the Field Museum, she has a Urlacher jersey on! This is the best picture I got on my travels to pick up Kyle in the big city. He needed a ride to bring "stuff" home to mom's. He will be moving soon to Milwaukee. I got an email that his brother is coming home today. It is rare I get to see both my boys at the same time and it not be a holiday. I guess the Bears being in the Superbowl can be considered a holiday in Chicago!

Finished Projects

2007-01-31T19:41:00.000-06:00

I'm finally getting around to posting some of the projects I finished while I was home recooping from my gall bladder surgery. I have more finished (Preemie Project items) and I hope to get them posted on here soon. Maybe one of my kids can help me figure out how to make an area that my photos go into. I can put a website together at work but this baffles me...go figure. I'm just enjoying having faster internet at home :) Ok, so the kids are right.... it does make a difference. I'm spoiled with wireless at work. But to do this (which I can't do from work) it makes it alot easier and faster.

This is a little baby hat I made for my doctor. I got a copy of Itty-bitty hats by Susan Anderson from the library. I love this book. If I can I should have Kyle get me a copy before he leaves for Milwaukee!! It's nice having a son work at a book store! I know it seems strange to make a baby hat for your doctor, but she is wonderful and he is her first. He was a Christmas baby, but like Kyra was due in the middle of January. I guess both of them wanted to be here early!

This is the blanket I made for Kyra. It's finally finished. I got an update today. She is doing fantastic and everyone is hoping she will be able to come home soon. I'm not sure if I should mail this to her or just wait for her homecoming?!?

I can't wait to she her and the new house. I missed the new house when I came up for the shower. Sometimes I do miss living up there.

I found out this evening that my son is coming home for the weekend. He also was happy to tell me it looks like he found someone to sublease his apartment. So he will be moving to the Milwaukee area. I hope things work out well for him up there. I'm not very familiar with that area of Wis. but I will enjoy learning and having a new place to visit. I've wanted to take lil dude to a zoo and I remember the Milwaukee zoo being a family favorite. Dad used to truck us all the way up there instead of going to the Brookfield zoo that was 25 miles away. It will be fun. Looking forward to hearing about Kyle's new adventures. He had his time in the "Windy City" time to move on again. At least his rent will be half and easier to come up with. Just hoping that all the paperwork on this goes thru. Keeping my fingers crossed!!

Baby is doing great.

2007-01-03T08:56:00.000-06:00

Baby Kyra had her surgery yesterday and is doing fine. The surgery was for a defect in her heart. This was the first of 3 surgeries she will face in her lifetime. The next one will be in a few months.. then again at a few years old. All are doing fine. I'm almost finished with her blanket. I will post a photo of the completed blanket. I'm also trying to decide what to knit next. I'm debating about a felted purse for me out of the left overs from Christmas. I just haven't found a pattern I like just yet. I only have a week til my surgery so I better decide quick. Well back to work so my desk is clear next week while I'm gone.

I survived Christmas....barely

2006-12-28T09:12:00.000-06:00

I got all my knitting done just in time. Sorry no pictures. I need to remember to take photos of my FO's. Currently on my needles is the baby blanket for my adopted older sister's daughters baby. Kyra was born last night and is currently at Children's Memorial in Chicago. She needs surgery for a heart defect. I haven't heard any more details. So I need to get the blanket finished.

Christmas was lovely, peaceful and fun. The boys all loved the gifts they recieved. I wasn't feeling the best all day.. had pain in my upper abdomen. After a late night trip to the ER I found out I'm full of gallstones and will need surgery to remove my gallbladder. Mom had this surgery when she was younger than me. Go to the Surgeon on friday to set everything up. Nervous but looking forward to getting it over with so the pain will be gone. Hope to get more than one day off... I can recoop and knit :)

It has been extremely quiet and calm at my house... the boys are both off visiting there mothers. Rare occassion to have both gone at the same time for more than a day or two. We have calm & quiet until Jan. 1 ahhh got to enjoy it while it lasts.

Christmas is coming.

2006-12-03T09:42:00.000-06:00

The hubby out ready to shovel our snow!!

The weather outside was fightful. Friday we got 15+ inches of snow. That and having the first snow day from work in the 8+ years I've worked there has put me in the Holiday spirit. The above photo is the Christmasy part of my next donation to the Preemie project. Now that those items are finished I can concentrate on the Christmas presents I need to work on. I got a compliment from my father yesterday. I made him a pair of boot socks for his birthday back in August. Everyone looked at me thinking why warm socks in August. Well dad put them to work on friday plowing out his driveway, he said they are VERY WARM..He had previously used them for slipper socks around the house. He found out just how warm they were on Saturday when he wore a different pair of socks and his feet froze. He thanked me for the wonderful present from his crafty daughter. My sister is the shopper of the family. She puts equal amount of thought in her purchased gifts. My hubby wants a pair and for me to make his father a pair. My father in law is adjusting to the colder weather since moving back north from Kentucky. Off to work on the gifts!!

Bummed

2006-10-03T16:08:00.001-05:00

Just got back from the doctor. Found out my wrist problem is carpal tunnel....:( So much for my typing and knitting for awhile unless I can work it with my brace. I can probably do it but slower. I will have to see.

Wow I'm floored.

2006-10-03T11:59:00.000-05:00

I got an e-mail this morning that Jan in Michigan got my Preemie Project donation. She always posts pictures to share so everyone can get on and see what everyone else is making. I got on to check and my pumpkin hats are the picture attached to the October Donations. AHHH make me blush. Here is the link if you want to check it out. http://bloberry.typepad.com/ppm/ This is the chapter page for Michigan. Michigan is just really getting going on collecting donation. Seeing I live almost in the middle between Iowa and Michigan I send my work to Michigan. They need more hands.

I go to the doctor this afternoon about my wrist. I had shooting pains into my fingers last night so Mike urged me to call and get it checked out. I just hope it is nothing serious. I have to get the baby blanket for Ashley done in only a few weeks. I will post a picture of that hopefully next time.

Better get back to work. Wrist hurts too..so I better stop typing.

October already.

2006-10-01T09:21:00.000-05:00

Hard to believe it is October. Friday I sent out my donation to The Preemie Project. I sent off 3 pumpkin hat sets and 5 hats. Seems small to me but with everything that is happening I guess it is better than nothing. With school starting and Mike's new job. Things have been very busy.
Mike was in the hospital and we are still dealing with doctor visits and testing. Kyle had strep that ended up causing an absess on his tonsil so bad he could hardly breathe or eat. Both are now on the road to recovery (I hope!) We also have a new member in our family. Mike got his truck. He has wanted a new truck forever. My baby car was not doing well so we decided before she caused us greif and more money, we traded her in and got the truck. I love the color. To our surprize we went to show it off to the parents and had the first load in the back. Mom gave us her headboard.. we could never bring it home until now!! No more "how are we going to move that" problems anymore. It will also help when we have "big" jobs with the business.

Well off to pick apples.

Yeah almost the weekend!

2006-09-07T11:48:00.000-05:00

I have to admit, I love fall. My allergies don't care for it, and I'm known to be quite miserable with the allergies but it's nice when it's warm not hot during the day and cool enough for good sleep at night. That is how this week has been. :) I also love the smell of burning leaves and the apples... gotta love the apples!! I can't wait to take lil dude to the Apple Orchard this year. We didn't make it last year. But I think he will really enjoy himself this year. I love bringing home the apples and making all kinds of great things, pies, applesauce, maybe this year I will try Apple Butter?!?

I've been knitting away on the pumpkin hats. Getting kinda tired of them actually.. but that is what they need for the donation so that is what I'm making. I finally found the Red Carons Simply Soft at JoAnn Fabrics yesterday. Now I need the white and I will get rolling on the Santa hats. I also found a great remnant of boy fleece. I will put an edge on that soon. The piece was big enough for me to get 2 - 25" blankets out of it. I have to find and edge that is not too difficult and not too girlie. I have a feeling these will be fun to do. Something different. I get knitting ADD sometimes.. need to keep switching. good thing the baby stuff is small.. goes quick usually before I get bored I'm done.

I got some sad news last night. One of my forever friends future granddaughter was found to have a heart problem. They found something odd during a routine ultrasound, they went in yesterday for a longer one and it found a problem with the baby's heart. Tomorrow is the big full blown ultrasound. Hoping and Praying it is something that can be corrected!! I just had Ash pick out what baby blanket she wanted me to knit for her, on sunday. I want to get the supplies but I also feel I should wait to make sure the baby will be ok. Very torn on this. I think I will wait - what is one more day. Keep her in your prayers.

I will update again soon.

Fall is in the air.

2006-08-17T08:52:00.000-05:00

Here is a picture of my pumpkin patch. It is a small donation to the Preemie Project. I lucked out at Wal-mart and found a 12oz skein of the orange I needed to start these on CLEARANCE!! Always a good thing. I haven't had as much time as I would like to knit. I did most of these in one weekend. (I was in the car alot that weekend.) I hope to get more done before the next donation needs to be sent.

The Hubby landed the job he's been hoping for (for over a year now) and started on last monday. He really likes it so far. Work isn't quite as hard as he thought it was going to be and the guys are really nice to work with. Yeah for him. It has been an adjustment - I'm used to having the house to myself in the morning but it's nice to share a cup of coffee before we leave. The rest of this week has been spent getting the boys ready for school. Hopefully once everything settles down and the cooler weather approaches I will get the itch to knit more. :)

I've been asked to make these hats in a larger size for bigger children. I guess I will have to mess around with the pattern and see what I can do. These might be good to make for the craft fundraiser for Preemie Project?!?

Happy Knitting!

Wow best Tuesday on record!!

2006-08-09T10:09:00.000-05:00

I have to state the sad news before we get to the good stuff. "Fleas" pictured above is allergic to fleas. Aunt Diane let the mother in law know about this sad fact. I hope she is doing better, since getting treated by the vet for her condition. :( I miss my baby girl.

Now for the Good Stuff. The hubby was expecting a call from his new employer. He got the job everything looks good. He starts next monday!!! He is bouncing off the walls. This is a job he has been hoping and waiting for - for just over a year now. It is one of the best places in town to work. The turnover rate is extremely low - most people just retire they don't leave. So he is pumped and so am I. This will mean we can seriously start saving and looking for a house next year. Things around the house will change. Saddest of all is I probably won't have near as much time to knit now.

Other good things. Lil dude is signed up for school. Only down side is the first day he only goes for an hour. I will have to take the morning off of work to take him. I guess it's kind of a meet the teacher thing. It is so hard for me to believe I have to go thru the school thing all over again. My baby graduated from HS in June. Having inherited a lil guy means school for another 13 years!! YIKES. I said something at registration and one of the women said I didn't look old enough to have one that graduated from HS. I wanted to kiss her...lol JK but I did like the compliment. :) I told her I have one turning 22 this fall and she was amazed. Maybe it was just an act but I'll take the compliment anyway.

We also had a nice dinner with my p's. They are head north to Alaska today and were so excited. They looked so cute. I hope they enjoy and take lots of pictures!! I didn't dare ask dad if he figured out the video camera. Been a sore spot with him since he bought it from my brother.

I'm almost done with the booties to go with the Pumpkin hats I've been working on. I will post a pic of my pumpkin patch when completed.

July's Finished Projects

2006-08-05T10:17:00.000-05:00

For the hubby's birthday I made him a sweater. I know knitting a sweater in July is a bit nuts. This way it will be ready when it gets cold. He has been very patient while I've been knitting for everyone else, mainly the Preemie Project.

I also finished a pair of cute socks for my neice's birthday. Hopefully she will like them. She just turned 7 and is a girlie girl. She likes wearing skirts and dresses. I thought these would be cute with a dress or skirt.

Now I'm back to knitting pumpkin hats and booties for Preemie Project. I just received beautiful yarn from Jan in Michigan and Kristy in Utah. I will start working things up with that yarn as soon as I get the booties finished to go with the hats. :)

It's June already!

2006-06-02T07:58:00.000-05:00

This is my most recent donation to The Preemie Project. Actually this is the last of the items I sent in for the month of May. I found out I didn't win the contest but it is always fun to enter and give me a little boost to keep going and getting the items finished and sent in. I won't have much time this weekend to knit. Kyle's graduation is tonight - thank god the weather is cooperating! Then parties all weekend. Lots of work to get the house cleaned up and the yard! The storms we keep having every few days knocks more tree branches in the yard. Hasn't been dry enough to burn them.

I'm excited to find out my great friend is coming down for the parties. She was a neighbor when I was a kid. She was too old to hang with me. I hung out with her younger sister until they moved away. In our 20's we luckily reunited and have been great friends since. Our children are only a week apart so we connect on the trials of having teenagers the same age. Her daughter is now expecting ( big shock) and we are coming to grips with that. :)

I'm trying to secretly make my husband a pair of Boot socks for Fathers Day. He supports my knitting , is so proud that I knit for the Preemie Project. But wants me to make him something. I need some double pointed needles and hope to get them Saturday when we venture to Indiana to pick up his son. The stores around us don't carry double points!! They have one set - of course the size I already have! He thinks the needles are for the baby items - which they are to an extent. But I have fallen in love with making socks and want to make him a few pairs..I think this year will be the year of the sock. I plan to make some for Christmas gifts. Need to get the needles and yarn and get going. Lots of family members to knit for. My son is into the fingerless gloves and I want to try out making a pair for him. Those will be easier than socks for him. The boy has size 13 feet!

Wish me luck on getting thru this extremely busy weekend.

It's almost the weekend.

2006-05-05T09:07:00.000-05:00

Once again we have a jam packed weekend ahead of us. Kyle is in The Taming of the Shrew at school. He plays an old man. I'm not sure of the spelling of the characters name. As usual he steals the show with is acting. The boy is a comic. I was too busy trying to video tape the 3 hour long show to bring any knitting with me. Altho at lunch I did almost finish the preemie gown I've been working on. Once I figure out how to post a photo on here I will show the finished product. It is so small it looks like it's for a doll. I've also made 2 of the ruffled bonnets and booties to go with them. Those are adorable. Just need to get some ribbon to embellish them. I think I'm going to make some blanket squares next something quick and easy that I don't need to concentrate on a pattern. I try to balance out the harder things with the easy. I got some Caron's Simply soft Baby sport in yellow. I thought it would make great sqaures. Hard to believe I found that in a basket of yarn at the Salvation Army store. I go there to bum around on lunch now and again. You never know what you will find in those places. Hey I will take half priced yarn anyday! It was a nice surprise. Great to take advantage of when you aren't wooried about having enough to make something. It's great to make the preemie things - you get so many items out of a small amount of yarn.

New Blog!

2006-05-04T09:14:00.000-05:00

I have a couple of other blogs but not one that is just for my knitting. I have recently started knitting for The Preemie Project. My first donation consisted of 4 hats with booties..2 girls & 2 boys. I also participated in the "Boy Contest" by making two outfits. I also crocheted 2 small blankets one girls and one boys. I find this very rewarding and stree relieving. My husband says all I do is knit when I'm not working. I enjoy making things. He enjoys his sports and Nascar. This is my thing. :) I'm just glad I now have a place to talk about it and show off what I've done.