Some times life in general just sucks. Sometimes between work and life at home is more than you want to need to bear at that time. I wish could write my true feelings about a few things but as usual it would only get me into trouble because for whatever reason I don't have that right to express what I truly feel. So most of the time I keep it bottled up and just don't say much at all. I have never in my life had to do this but now I don't have much of a choice. No matter what I say it comes out wrong or is taken wrong and I wind up into trouble. At this point in time I can not loose my job, matter of fact I'm in the process of looking for a second job so I can pay some debt down I can not express how sick I am of not having even enough money to buy food but we make almost 70,000 a year. Its stupid but we did it to ourselves and now I'm going to take the bull by the horns so to speak and do something about it. There is no choice.

OK onto some knitting, I'm working on a vest for my mother but I stopped to make my son a beanie hat and a balaclava for the guys airsoft games this weekend, aka the testostrone events.



I like how it turned out except the next part is not long enough so I think the next one I make its going to be about two inches longer this time. And I haven't figured out what I did to the sides I guess I didn't decrease enough I will know next time.

I gave the hats that I had made for our friends girls to them over the weekend. The hats were suppose to be for Christmas but they were at the house for Cody's birthday and it was chilly outside so I went on and gave the hats to them. Here is a picture of them:



Work calls, more later.

I finished the Irish Hiking Scarf yesterday. It really turned out beautiful. And I really enjoyed working on this scarf. So much I started another out of the cashmere I have.

The kids and I had the opportunity to attend a Ole Miss game this past weekend in Oxford, MS. We had the best time watching the game and all the fun stuff that goes on at a college football game. The band was awsome, Shelby really like watching them. He liked watching the cheerleaders too but thats another story in itself. The sun was on us the whole game so I ended up sunburnt on my head and arms. I should have been smart and brought along some sunscreen but noooo didn't think that far ahead, was way to excited about going to the game.

After one of the many touchdowns.

The band.

The players.

The pictures are not good because I took them with my phone, I once again forgot my digital.

I knitted these up over the weekend for two little girls we know. Aren't they cute!!! I just love the pigtails on top. They are just going to love them. This is a pattern out of One Skein Wonders lots of great one skein patterns in this book. I have ordered another one skein book and hopefully it will be here this week sometime. I am going to make them a set of mittens each also to go with their pigtail hats and a hat and maybe a sweater for their little brother as well.

As promised here is the finished illuision scarf. Cody wore it to school on Monday for the first time and the other kids had a fit over it.


Gotta go to work!!

Saturday I started a Booga Bag for my friends daughter's birthday and finished it yesterday evening. I think it turned out rather cute. I did learn something in the process of making this one.

1) When doing fairisle don't work the stitches to tight where the yarn is being carried over.

2) When felting do not wash a darker color item with a white towel. Left some white fuzzy stuff.

Unfelted

Felted and finished bag.

Garter Stitch Bath Mat

I made this Garter Stitch Bath Mat and thought if anyone was interested in how I made it I would post the way I did it.

Garter Stitch Bath Mat

1. I used 3 Skeins of Wool Ease Thick and Quick (318 yards total)
2. Size 13 Needles
3. Size N Crochet Hook

• CO as many stitches as you wish for as long as you wish.
• Knit every row till it is as big as you want.
• Cast off, Leave a long enough tail to create a loop for crochet hook
• Pick up your crochet hook and with the tail create your loop
• Starting in the corner sc in each stitch around entire rug. Once.
• Sc 5 times in corner and sc in each stitch around with 5 sc in each corner all the way around.
• Cut yarn and fasten off. Tuck in all ends.

You can either buy a backing to sew on to the back or there is a brush on backing that you can buy also.

My family loves the one I make, it is absorbant and durable. I can throw it in the washer and dryer and it comes out looking good as new.

This past weekend my son and I went to my friends from work, daughters wedding. I had gone to get my hair cut, thats another topic all together, and had asked my husband to help Shelby get dressed for the wedding. I was thinking a pair of slacks and a nice shirt but when I came in the door this is what I saw:

Gary had dressed him in his suit, Gary's not Shelby's and it fit him. It's a bit to big thru the chest area but other than that he looked great. We drove what seemed like forever to Carahills, was a nice drive but looonnnggg. Anyway, Shelby was a perfect gentleman, no elbows on the table and he even asked my friend, the mother of the bride, to dance with him. He took her around the waist and began to dance with her. He didn't even step on her toes. The photographer saw him dancing with her and ran over to get a shot. After that dance was up, he went and asked another girl more close to his age. She tried to lead and he kept bringing her back for his lead. Where does he get this stuff? And where did he learn how to do that? I was impressed to say the least.

Illusion Scarf

I have been working on this Illusion Scarf forever it seems.

And I'm about sick of this scarf!! It is going to be really cool looking when I'm done but for now its driving me nuts. I'm working on the last leg of it now and should be finished within the week, I hope!! I still have a sock to finish and the cable scarf I'm working on. I so much want to work on some baby sweaters

I finally was able to take a picture of London that shows how she is with my husband. I tried to get a better one than this where she is laying on his chest. But this one shows how she is. Usually she does this when she wants a bone. She is bone addicted, I mean she is really addicted to these bones. I have to be a good doggy mommy and not give in everytime she wants one because I don't want her to get fat and she would too. I mean really, she walks around woo wooing all the time demanding one of us gets up and gives her what she wants. So when that doesn't work she resorts to this,

This is not a very good picture but you get the point. I didn't have time to get up and get my good camera so I used the cell phone camera to take it. I wish I had been just a minute sooner, she had her head thrown back looking at him upside down and batting her eyes at him but she moved as soon as I tried to take the picture. She's such a suck up.

Here is a picture of my oldest son Cody. He will be 17 this year and is a junior in high school. He plays football for his school and is a great kid.

He had shown up at my work one day after football practice to see me. It is so hard to believe that he is already 17 years old it seems like yesterday he was just a baby. I would very much appreciate you guys that read my blog to keep him in your prayers, thoughts or what ever you do. He is having severe migranes and the doctor is sending him to a neurologist to check him out. I try not to worry but he has enough problems to deal with. Cody is ADHD, he has learned to deal with it to some extent but he is going thru a lot more than that. Most kids do not like him because he is different than they are. Hes not that good ole boy mentality that is very prevelant around here, he is just Cody. Cody is highly intellegent and is more comfortable with adults than around kids. Since he was small he has been able to carry on more adult conversations than those with people his own age. Most adults love him because his honest, trusting, and very hard working. It breaks my heart when he comes home and tells me of what cruel things the other kids say to him. Don't get me wrong he is not perfect but he is a good kid and I will do anything to keep him that way.

One the knitting front, this is what I'm working on for my son. He loves Harry Potter and saw this scarf and begged me to make it for him. I am trying very hard to get it done in the next couple of weeks so he will have it for Halloween.

Ok, I'm back to work it's trial day and its moving so very slow today.

Cables, I learned cables

I have learned to cable. I can't beleive it, I have really learned to cable. I am making an Irish Hiking scarf (http://www.helloyarn.com/irishhikingscarf.htm ) and it is beautiful!!




I'm using Cascade Pastaza to knit this scarf and its so soft. I'm thinking of knitting another one using a bulkier yarn thats 100% Cashmere.








I also just finished this one about a week ago. It's a bath mat. I had this Lion Brand Wool Ease Thick and Quick on hand but didn't have anything to do with it. So I decided to do a simple bath mat.





If anyone is interested heres what I did. I don't know how many I cast on but cast on for as long as you want it. Knit every row for the length you want. Once I had it as long as I wanted I then cast off and picked up a crochet hook and started sc all the way around. I did 2 rows of sc then fasten off. Thats it. Pretty easy. Washable, durable, absorbant and soft. Who could ask for more. I'm going to buy some non skid backing to either sew on or will buy the brush on kind to have a backing on it.

The Flex

Cody flexing for the camera. It's pretty weird that he would even consider flexing for the camera because most times when we try to take his picture he ducks and runs for cover. Don't know why, he just does.

I got up this morning thinking that this was going to be a good day. It looked like rain outside, for those of you who now think I'm crazy we have not had a good rain in months we are in a drought so rain is very appealing to me right now. I got good sleep last night, thanks to the @Estroven that I'm taking, I have had it with the damn night sweats, if I wanted to wake up wet I would sleep in the pool. The kids were all in decent moods and better than all my husband has a job interview with a new company today that might actually pan out. So I thought it might be a good day, UNTIL..... After I got up this morning I went to let the dogs out, thinking that I might want to go and check the fence to see if my smart son actually fixed the fence back, its gerryrigged, so the dog wouldn't get out, so the female escape artist that we have wouldn't get out and we wouldn't be chasing her all over the neighborhood. Lo and behold even after the speech last night about please go and make sure the fence is fixed and everyone in the house saying its OK the fence was not fixed and she was heading for it. So, I go outside in my underwear, not that you wanted to know that, to fix the fence. One of the items that we use to block the fence till someone will fix said fence is my wheelbarrow. The wheelbarrow is full of something, I'm thinking grass clippings and bark from a tree (I don't know the answer to that one) and as I went to move it back into its prime place of blocking the fence it dropped on my foot. My foot hurts so bad!! There I stand out in the back yard at 6:30am, in my underwear, cussing at the fact that the boy didn't listen and my husband didn't go check and that we have to even block the damn fence because she will get out and get hurt. See that would be a perfectly good reason for me to stay home. Dropping a wheelbarrow on your foot at 6:30am should be a reason. And I really want to stay home, I would work from home if I could make what I'm making now and the bills would get paid but right now I have to go to work, I hate it!!!

My oldest son has the opportunity to go to Europe over spring break. I just don't know how the hell I can afford it for him. We can not come up with 2500.00 by November there is no way. They want us to come up with 100.00 this week then another 150.00 more in the next two weeks then 450.00 a month till November. No freaking way. I wish there was a way. I have looked into every possible way and I can't find it. Gary and I really hate it, we would really like to see him go what a great experience it would be for him. He would be going to England, Paris and then take the night train over to Italy. I so wish he could go.

I am loving Raverly what a place. I have already been trading yarn and making new friends, found old friends, I'm having a ball!!! I have been working on a pattern out of Wonder One Skein, the pattern in Bamboo Baby. I have had all kinds of problems with this one, well I found a girl that had made the same one and she had thought far enough ahead to take pictures as she went and the different pieces once they were finished. What a help she was to me!!
I'm telling ya Raverly rocks!!!

My Wittle Fireman

Gary has joined the Walls fire department isn't he cute in his fire outfit. He is really enjoying it and sounds like a little kid when he is talking about all the stuff he is learning. I'm glad that he has found something that he likes to do. I never thought he would want to be a fireman but he is. It is on a voluntary basis but he will start certification training in January.

My Best Friend is a Grandmother

My very best friend in the whole world has become a grandmother for the very first time. This is her new grandbaby!! She is one proud granny or MiMi as she is going to be called. Congrats Angie, I love you girl!!

Gary and Airsoft

Gary in all his airsoft glory!!! This was taken last summer when they were out playing airsoft.

Creation of socks

I don't know how to flip them other wise you wouldn't have to hold your head funny to look at my socks.

The Day Before the 4Th

Tomorrow is a holiday, not just any holiday but the birth date ( or what we celebrate as being) of America's freedom from the British. A day of barbecue, fireworks, watermelon and just plain fun. I'm sure down here in the south its going to be sweltering with temps as high as the humidity. We will all be melting like a Popsicle laying on a sidewalk in 100 degree heat as we hang our heads over our grills charring the meat that the families will be consuming. My family will probably stay in the house to avoid the heat. Gary might throw something on the grill don't know yet what is going to happen. Frankly I would be happy just hanging in the house playing video games and or knitting. I might even play Everquest all dang day to annoy the heck out of my oldest son, or rather he will annoy me telling me that I don't know how to play the game correctly. And I have a sock that needs completing. Oh I know the chores, that I can't stand to let go for not even one day, will have to be accomplished but there will be time left. I'm sure that the neighborhood kids will be in the pool either at my house or down at the other neighbors house that has a pool as well. So that means tons of towels to launder and puddles of water of feet prints running from the back door thru the laundry room out the door to the garage but hey its all in the name of fun. I just wonder what our fore-fathers, what they would think about all the carryings on of today. I'm actually looking forward to having a day off and not having to feel guilty taking it either, even with the kids home. I tell you this, I'm looking somewhat forward to the kids going back to school. On one hand, I love it because they are home, they do the chores but they give me headache arguing with each other, they make sure the dogs get outside to take care of business, but they argue with each other. School at least gives them something to do to keep them busy but then I wind up spending a bunch of time going to the office because the youngest can't stay out of trouble (I'm thinking this new year he will do better, he is getting older). I am going to take off a day after they go back to school just to regroup. Ahh there's the ticket, regroup. I do need to do that and get some priorities back in perspective.Ok back to the grind of work, hope all ya'll are having a great day and I wish you all a very Happy Fourth!!!

Life's A Bitch and Then You Die

That about sums up the way I feel this month. I swear I really do not think I can handle another damn thing to go wrong. It seems that everything that I have touched or came near has screwed up. Lets see the run down for the month is this (if I can remember all of it) First the bull with my lovely daughter, then hmm lets see, my window on my car just rolled down on its on the motor had gone out and had to be replaced ( I will say that we were blessed and it wound up costing a lot less than first assesed). Ok, then the computers hard drive crashed and had to be replaced (Dell fixed it for free because I had been smart when I bought the computer and bought the extended warranty), work and all its wonderful pleasures ***NOT***, getting sick twice this month actually I didn't get "sick" I have a hiatal hernia and because of said haital hernia I experiance GERD which causes my throat to become raw and burned and my stomach to be upset adn then the glorious onset of the trips back and forth to the bathroom. Due to all the stress it aggravated the problem and I missed two days of work, both on a Monday and both for the same reason which led to me being accused of "abusing sick time". Ok so on top of all the other stress that I am dealing with I was hit with that one too. And the cherry on top of all the BS I, yes I, and only I, screwed up the bank account that left a serious void in the bank account as well as putting some of the bills behind and no money for anything else. It was my screw up I will have to fix it just like I have to fix everything else. I'm sick of crying over all of it but dang it has to end at some point, hopefully that end is coming soon.

Back to work

I couldn't think of anything inspiring or interesting to title this post today. It's not that nothing is going on but instead my brain is not functioning well at all along with my body. I say back to work because I called in sick yesterday not because I wanted to stay home and knit or play around let alone clean the house or do laundry but because I am not well. I'm not going into the gross details or bore you with all that is wrong but I will say this, I have done it to myself. Most of the problems that I have would mostly go away (I say mostly because I know that I wouldn't suffer near as much as I do now) if I would only get this weight off my body. I have tried everything short of radical surgery or Jenny Craig (which one I won't do and the other I can not afford) and nothing seems to get my attention enough to stick to, so I continue to suffer with the problems that I have caused for myself. The stupid thing to all of it is that I know what the problem is but don't do anything about it. The absolute definition of insanity: Doing the same thing expecting different results. I finally finished the hat for the little boy that I have been writing about. I think I made it to big but it is cute. I still screwed up the decreases but my husband said that it looked great and he wanted one and Shelby said he wanted one too. I also have news about Will, he had his surgery last Friday and they were able to get to the tumor that was the size of a tangerine and were able to remove it and the mass around it as well as the tenticles that had branched out. I was told that the next afternoon he was sitting up in the bed talking to his mother. I haven't heard anything since Saturday but I was doing some thanking God for His mercy and love!! I told you miracles were possible.

The Curse of the Knitted Hat....

I have been cursed, I think. I was asked by my mother to make a hat for a friend of her's youngest child who has been diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor and is undergoing chemo and radiation treatment. So I started to work on this hat. The first time around I royally screwed it up and had to frog the thing. I started again on Sunday and yesterday when I took the kids to the dentist I started the decreasing on it but I screwed up again so back to the dang frog pond I went. About the time I had decided there was nothing I could do to save the hat my computer decided to give up the ghost and fry itself. Ok normally I would have gotten upset but after the last 2 weeks of crap happening to me I have about had it. Last week it was the mess with my daughter, then the window on my car rolled down on its own and come to find out the motor and the regulator and that was going to cost us about 210.00 to get it fixed. I'm telling you it has been a hoot. It got so bad last week I drank and entire bottle of wine by myself on a weeknight. Now, those that don't know me, I do not drink that often. I may drink a glass of wine with dinner, or a beer while watching the Titans play but as far as drinking its not my thing. I had, had enough that day and my mind could not take anymore from anyone. It was better if I were buzzed. However, sometimes if you just sit back and say a prayer or just hand it over to God things have a way of working out. I'm ashamed to say that I didn't do any of that but apparently God loves me and He wants to help me and I'm proud to say that I did say thank you. I may be a lot of things but one thing I most definatly am is a grateful person. Without Gods eternal love and care I promise you I would not be where I am right now. It may not be where I want to be but its where I have been placed at this time. The car was fixed not for the 210.00 but for 90.00. The computer will be fixed this week and it was under warranty and they are coming out to my house to fix it, I have lost a lot but I didn't loose a lot. See about 2 months ago on a whim I decided to buy 250 gig external hard drive and move all my stuff that I wanted to keep like pictures or files, over to that hard drive so most of my stuff was already backed up. Now I did loose all my games and such but thats a matter of loading all the software back onto the computer. My daughter will be ok its the age but the lying has to stop I can not stand the lying. My son is home and safe and the youngest is about to figure some of it out I think. And as for the hat, I guess I need to pray a little more thru the stitches for the healthy and the well being of this child and his family as well as for my own maybe I didn't pray hard enough. All in all God is good ALL the time even when you and I can't see it and think you can't feel it.

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Tori getting her hair done for the pageant tonight

A good day to play in the dirt

We worked on the new flower beds today. Last year in the fall we had dug up the new area and laid one layer of the stones we were using. Finally today we got the 2 yards of dirt and the rest of the stones to finish up. We had to dig up all the plants, put the dirt in the beds then replant all the plants plus put out a few new ones.

As you recall this is what the house looked like last year when we bought it:

And this is what it looked like when we dug up last year:

We really had a lot of fun out working as a family. My mom came over and joined in the fun the only one not out was Cody and only because he has a cast on his arm for the next two weeks.

And what it looks like now that we are almost finished. I say almost because we have another bed that we have to work on soon.

Teaching

The owner of the newest LYS and my friend, has asked me to teach a crochet class this Saturday, I couldn't be more excited. Let me share what I'm teaching: Isn't that cute! The colors are great and the yarn worked up really easy but maybe I could have put the colors together in a different way. Putting colors together is definitely not one of my strong suits. Speaking of colors, my husband and I are going to be painting out house the end of May when we finally get to take a vacation (vacation as in we are taking time off from work to work at home). So we have been looking into different ideas of what colors we want to use. Lets say this, I'm better at matching colors than him. For example, I want to paint the master bath an olive or sage green so when we were talking about it Gary makes a suggestion to paint the trim black. Oh no not going to happen. While that bathroom is very large its not that large I would really like it to remain large in apperance. No not black trim. But he did have great ideas about the exterior, so I must give him a bit of credit. I will post pictures of what we come up with, hopefully it won't be that bad.

This past weekend was a hoot. My mom and I had a carport sale I say I but really it was all her. She did most of the work while I was running around with kids. I have to say it turned out really well and I am most grateful. The city had an event for Arbor Day at the local park . My daughter and I went for a bit and I bought a couple of plants that they had for sale and we walked around a bit just checking stuff out. One of the booths that was set up was a rehabilitation center for wild animals and they had a large owl with them to show. The owl had been injured and lost a wing so it could never be released back into the wild.

What a gorgeous creature. The owl really did not like it when the helicopter started to take off.

Yesterday was a lazy day of sorts. Gary didn't get in till early in the morning Sunday but I got up early Sunday and went to Walmart for dirt and tomato plants. I have this old wash tub that I got from an estate sale so I poked a couple of holes at the bottom and filled it with dirt. I planted 2 tomato plants and 2 pepper plants along with some small marigolds. Then I also have an old coal bucket that I put petunia's in. So then I also bought a couple of basil plants, chives, and more marigolds so I took a plastic tub and put holes in the bottom, filled it with dirt and planted them also. After that I sat on my back porch and ate breakfast. It was so nice just to sit back there with the dogs with a nice breeze blowing thru. So after all the yard work I went in and showered, ate some lunch and did some laundry. Tori and I went back in the bedroom to watch TV. So I finished the baby blanket for her teacher and worked on my socks. She fell asleep and took a great nap. I looked over and Dakota had stretched out on the chair next to the bed and was just snoozing away. I couldn't help myself I had to take a picture of him.

Is that not pitiful or what? I guess I should have been snoozing as well.

I completed a second fair isle hat Sunday. I still messed up on the pattern, just can't figure out what the heck I'm doing wrong on it. Apparently I can not count. The hat is still cute and I figure once I put the pom pom on it no one will notice the mess up. Not likely anyone will anyway and really who cares the kids that wear them won't they will be happy just to have them. I will get it right eventually but in the mean time I'm just going to have fun knitting its really not that serious of a sport....er hobby.

Ok lets see what else is up, I have started a pair of socks with some yarn I bought at Kathys shop. The colors are just beautiful. I will have to take a picture and post it in the next few days. I also have a baby blanket on a hook that I have to pick up some more yarn so that I can finish the one I started. And then I have another one that has to be done by the end of the month as well. All these new babies. I really want to start knitting the pattern of Kathys the felted bag. Last night I went thru my yarn looking for the right colors to use and I think I found what I want to use. Also, Raggie crochets baby girl dresses out of the crochet thread and I want to learn how to make them. When she comes home we are going to sit down and she said that she would teach me.

You have to Look at this

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First Fair Isle

Thursday night there was a sweet lady at the after hours knitting group who had just learned to knit fair isle. The process looked very interesting to me so I thought that I would attempt to teach myself how to do it. Yesterday was a very rainy day, it rained pert near all day long and it was a good day to sit and knit with my good friend Raggie. I sat with her while she crocheted and I knitted while we enjoyed each others company as well as some wonderful conversation that caused some tears and laughter. It's a good thing to be able to sit with a good friend and not be in a hurry. While there with her I taught myself to knit fair isle. The hat is not the best in the world but its my first and I'm just impressed that I was able to work two strands of yarn at the same time. Here's a picture of what I had done as of yesterday evening.

I think I messed up on the pattern somewhere but thats ok really since it was my first. I will do much better on the next one.

I finished it!! And as promised here is a picture of my daughter showing it off.


Thanks to Bron and to Deneen for helping me out with this one, you guys rock!!


You can see how small she is, I made that sweater the smallest size because she is so small.

I was wrong I was sick all weekend and still sick today. I made it to work but I'm miserable and would really like to be home on the couch not doing anything but crocheting the last sleeve. See Here is the unfinished sweater which I hope to be a finished sweater and my daughter showing it off this evening.
I actually took this picture at work with my camera phone so its not the greatest but will at least show it off for now. I promise to post a picture as soon as it is finished and I can get her to put it on.

Not allergies...

Ok so its not allergies I guess I have a plain ole cold. My head hurts, my sinius' are on fire, my ears are stopped up and my throat hurts, in fact I feel so bad I missed my daughters last soccer game of the season last night and didn't get to go to the knitting group last night. Tori made another goal last night and I missed it but I couldn't pick up my head off the couch to go see it.
I'm going to take some medication and go back to bed and maybe I will feel better and not be sick all weekend.

Allergies....so much fun

Up until the last couple of years I had never had allergies of any sort, now is a completly different story. Tuesday afternoon when I got off from work Gary and I went out back to cut the yard for the first time of the year. All the dead grass, dirt, pollen and whatever else was under all that caused some of the most sneezing I have done all year long. My nose is now running, my head hurts, I'm sneezing, and my throat is raw from the drainage. Yuk!!! It's all allergies! I took a Clariton this morning but its not touching it either, well I say its not but really it is. I'm also so sleepy. The dogs kept Gary and I up from about 3am to 4:30am. Sucks. Dakota was coughing (he's not sick he has allergies of the sinius' too and he hacks up well you really don't want to know) till he woke us up. I got up to let him out of the house and then to get some water. I got him settled down then London wouldn't come back in the house. I can't leave her out because she is a great escape artist, finally I got her in the house. Then Indigo started up cleaning his paws and one of the cats started scratching on the bed. I finally yelled out will you animals stop it and for some weird reason they actually did.
I took a half of day off today to get the front yard cut, now I'm feeling worse since I'm stubborn and couldn't wait until Gary got home. Tori has her last school soccer game this evening and I have to be there but gosh I need to go to bed and stay there.

Just another day

Gosh that title seems so glum. Not really feeling all that glum but in desperate need of a vacation from this place. I really shouldn't be bitching to much because I have gotten 2 raises in the last month and no I'm not that good they were just to put us where what we should have been making. See we didn't get a cost of living raise last year. Normally every year at budget time they would give us a percentage across the board for a cost of living raise but they were not able to last year so they made up for it now. I am very happy to have gotten it and have no complaint it will be much easier for my family now, but even still I need a vacation away from here, a solid week that I don't have to worry about here and I can work in my flower beds, knit or crochet or hang out with my kids somewhere. I do have a vacation coming up in May but geez that's May and the end of May at that. I really just need to hush because I'm lucky to even have a job and a good one at that.

On to fiber related things, I still haven't sewn the sleeves in that sweater I will eventually but I just don't want to right now. I'm still working on the other sweater and the Charles Tahki sweater as well. I'm having problems with the Tahki one and might need some help...**wink wink Deneen**. I'm following the pattern but somehow I think I'm not reading it correctly. I also received some wonderful wool yarn from a swap I did on Crochetville from my partner. All of it is wonderful and I can't wait to find something to use it for. Last week my daughter and I went to the new yarn shop in Hernando to sit and knit with the owner and some other wonderful ladies. I had so much fun and can't wait till tomorrow to get to go again. They are all so nice and so very interesting to talk to. Learning new stuff from them is going to be great!!

Die - T

Yea you know what a diet is, it is DIE with a T!! Garfield had it right the first time around. I'm not really dying I just know in order to loose this weight I have to control what I eat. Oh I can eat anything I please just as long as it comes to the number of calories that I have limited myself to. I'm not starving or hurting myself I'm eating well and making better choices and nor am I beating myself up when I screw up but a cheeseburger and fries sound like a dream right now. To be perfectly honest I will be not eating so well this weekend because we will be driving to/in South Carolina for the weekend which means road food and eating out a lot. I refuse to give up and will make the best choices possible while I'm on this trip but I know it w0uld be stupid for me to assume that I won't make a bad choice.
I have lost 13 lbs so far and have a long way to go but can do it no matter what. Gary has been a wonderful support partner in this. He knows how important it is to me to loose this extra poundage that I have put on and been to lazy to get my fat butt up and loose it. I found a great website that helps count calories, fat and the whole shabang for you all you do is enter in what you ate. I love this site and recommend it to anyone that wants to loose some extra. Its:

www.my-calorie-counter.com

Check it out if you want its pretty cool I think.

After I posted this morning, I went and got in the bed. I was freezing so I had sweat pants on, covered up with two quilts and still was cold. I didn't wake up till around 12:30 and decided I needed to get up. I ran a low grade fever for most of the day and my head is still pounding. Ahh the joys of feeling like crap. No matter what I have to go to work tomorrow even if I'm dying.

Monday Blues

I swear I feel like poop. I stayed home from work because my head was pounding and my nose stuffy but now...dum dum dum.....dum my throat hurts and I feel like warmed over poop. I know that was really a gross analogy but it is the truth. It's been a rather hard weekend to tell the truth. The man that married Gary and I, is dying. He has had heart conditions for a long time and has a pace maker. He had been in the hospital about 3 weeks ago and got out of bed, fell and broke his foot. They got that fixed up so about 2 weeks ago he got up out of bed, fell again this time breaking his hip. He had surgery week before last for that. But he is slowly going down hill. He's about unresponsive and they took him off his meds which they say was keeping him alive and have only given him about 4 days. He's 93 years old and his lived a good life. I have known this couple since I was 6 weeks old. Raggie was my babysitter from 6 weeks till about 12 years old so I spent my entire childhood with them. He was 86 in the picture with me on the day he married us. Oh and thats my shadow, Shelby he was about 4 there.

I have almost finished that sweater that I started weeks ago. I have to put the sleeves in then its pretty much done. I screwed up, when I bought the yarn I didn't check lot numbers (I know how stupid). When I bought it, the yarn had been intended for something else I guess that was about 2 years ago. Anyway, the color is a not a big difference but it is noticable. Everyone that has seen it thinks it looks cool because of the way the color changes so I guess its ok for my first. I have no plans to frog it because my daughter thinks its cool that way and she said she would wear it. I will post a picture later of it, after I get the sleeves in.

Same ole Same ole

Its the same ole song and dance around these parts. Work, school, cook, clean, let the dogs out, clean some more, drag the kids where ever, etc. The best part is when I actually get to sit down and knit or crochet which ever I have going at the time. But the rest of the drudgery is driving me nuts I love the cold weather, not the bitter cold but I like it cooler than the normal 102 degrees you get down here in the south, but it is starting to warm up which means I'm gearing up getting ready to work in my flower beds and create more flower beds but it is not quite warm enough and it probably is going to get cold again before its over with. So, I really can't start planting or working on the beds just yet so I'm basically still stuck in the house waiting for the day that I can get out and dig in the dirt. Oh speaking of digging in the dirt, I bought two huge, do you hear me huge seeds that will one day be an elephant ear plant. I really don't know if that isn't the correct term, maybe they are tubers or pods are something other than seeds but jeez Louise they are huge. My plan is to dig up the area around on the side of the house where my rose bushes are and plant these monsters close to the fence line. Then dig up around where the air conditioner units are and put down some pea gravel around the units to get rid of the weird weeds there. I want to dig around where the roses are and fill in with some good dirt and out line it with timbers or the stones that I have around the front. I also have to get the stones to finish the front and a truck load of dirt for that bed. Oh yea and the bird bath I am putting out there. I'm looking at all kinds of plants and flowers for that bed. I really want it to be bird and butterfly friendly as well. Then the other bed in the front has to have some work as well. Plus I want to dig up under the bay windows for an herb garden.

I'm still working on that sweater that I was working on the last time I posted. I am about half done on the last sleeve. I can tell you this I'm about tired of this sweater. I'm tired of the squeaky acrylic yarn, I'm tired of the color I'm just ready for this sweater to be done. And I'm sure hoping that it turns out OK for my first one. I'm using Lion Brand Jiffy to knit this one and it doesn't look bad and it doesn't feel bad but I hate the squeaking. I will post a picture as soon as it is done. Then I'm starting on the Tahki pattern for my daughter. I went to the LYS and bought the yarn needed for that one. But they were out of the soft yellow so she ordered it for me and is shipping it to me since I'm in MS. Very nice of them I can tell you. I wish I had more time to go and hang out at the yarn store when I'm in Memphis that would be great. I'm hoping when the new one opens down here I will get to go and hang out with other knitters.

OK will write more later when I have the chance maybe next time I can post a picture of the sweater.

February already

I can not believe it is February already, I mean dang wasn't yesterday Christmas? And why is it I can't I remember to write something in this place at least once a week? I know its been a month almost since I have even darkened the door of my blog don't know why, don't really have a good excuse. Maybe I will do better.

Ok on to what has been going on around these here parts. Lets see where to begin? We bought a new washer. Not any washer but GE Profile Harmony. I know they dang thang set us back a bit but we got it at a discounted price because it was dented on the back side. You can't see the dent and the dent does not affect the washers ability to wash clothes but we got it for about $250.00 less than retail. I swear the day we put it in the entire family including my mom stood around and watched it wash clothes. See it has a clear top so you can see what you are washing, it provided some very interesting entertainment for the family. I love the it and we are thinking on buying the dryer also if we can get it for discount as well.

I am knitting a sweater. Yes, I Carol the one who was so chicken to knit or crochet a sweater is actually doing it. I'm working on one of the sleeves right now. It is a dark blue and I am using a Lion Brand Yarn, Jiffy. That was the only yarn I had on hand in the amount that I needed to make the sweater. So far it is looking alright and so far it hasn't been to hard to follow. But I'm wondering which stich should I use when I get to the point of seaming it together. I guess I will figure it out when I get there. Also I have an Alpaca scarf on my other needles. Thats for when I get bored with working on the sweater. As soon as I finish this sweater I'm working on I have 3 that I want to work on. Lets see, 2 are knitting and one is crochet,

This one: http://www.knitty.com/ISSUEwinter06/PATTthermal.html

This one: http://www.bernat.com/pattern.php?PID=2050

And this one: http://www.tahkistacycharles.com/Patterns/patterns_detail.asp?CatID=16&ID=797&New=SP&pg=17

Plus I have a few baby blankets to work on. One of them I have to get to pretty quick because I think she is coming up due soon.

Monday I ended up in the doctors office because I was sure I was having a heart attack. Turned out to be possibly a hiatel hernia. They are not sure that is what it is but it sounded like it. I'm having problems with food feeling like it is stuck in my throat and I can't swallow sometimes. I wound up staying home that day because the doctor said I needed to relax so I stayed in the bed and rested. What I really need to do about it is get this weight off of me. Then I wouldn't have some of these problems I have.

The kids are doing great and I can't wait till I can post a picture of Cody on here all dressed up in his new suit. He looks so good.

Ok thats all I can think of at this point but I might write more later.

Whoo Hoo its the Flu!!

This weekend has been something else. Friday Cody stayed home from school running a fever, aches, pains, sore throat.....etc. I came home for lunch to check on him and we wound up going to the doctor to get him looked over. The doc said he had the flu and an middle ear infection and that was only the beginning. Saturday he was the fever had broke for him so I went running around for a bit doing some shopping and heading to the yarn store in Memphis. While I was out wallowing in all that wonderful yarn at the yarn store, my husband calls me and now he has the flu. His throat was hurting and was begining to run a fever. Now I have two with the flu. Gary ran a fever from Saturday to this morning. I had kept Shelby staying at my moms trying to avoid him catching it as well but that didn't work, they called me this morning and he had 101.2 fever this morning and as soon as I got off the phone with my mom Tori calls me from her friends house. Toris throat hurts and she is running fever. She will be the one that gets the sickest from it she always is. So far I haven't even had the first symptom but I'm having to stay home from work tomorrow to be with the youngest ones. We have court tomorrow but I can't help it my kids come first.

First FO's for 2007

I have finished one of Deneen's Bubble Blanket and a Sweater. I used the SLK pattern for most of the sweater but some of it I just added on. I had so much fun crocheting this for the couple I'm giving it to.

I am still working on a scarf that goes with a hat that I gave my coworker for Christmas. I wasn't able to get the scarf finished in time but I'm finishing it this weekend and giving it to her next week. Then I am going to make me a scarf. I haven't made myself anything since I started knitting or crocheting. So I bought myself some alpaca and I'm going to learn to cable by making me a scarf. Whoo Hoo!!