We picked up A-1 today following her Girl Scout "Camping" trip at a local hotel and boy is she grumpy. The poor troop leader looked like she was on the verge of a nervous breakdown. She'd been confined to a hotel with 16 girls since 5:00 the night before. None of the 16 girls went to sleep until after 2:00 this morning and then it was only because the tl insisted. Anyway, I asked A1 to pick up her shoes which had been left in the living room. Her reply was, "Yes, Ma'am!" in a sarcastic tone of voice that bought her a oneway ticket to her bedroom. She isn't even 10 yet and her attitude has her in trouble. If this is a precurser to the teenage years then we're screwed. Remember that maternal longing I whined about yesterday? It's gone. Killed. Finito. Never again.

Other than pre-teen rebellion all is welll up here. My poor DH on the other hand is having a bad weekend. He stayed in Portland because his National Guard unit had drill. Last night while driving from a friend's to the hotel he was involved in a three car accident. The cause of which was a pedestrian walking down a highway ramp... duh. Luckily nobody was seriously injured. The car that rear-ended DH's was totalled. DH drives a Toyota Echo and it only sustained minor damage to the rear end. And then this afternoon he sent me an email saying that he was sick with the stomach virus that we all had earlier this week. I'm still waiting to see if he'll be able to drive the three hours home tomorrow night. If not then I'll take a train down and drive him back.

Admission requirements for the University of Washington's Tacoma Teaching Certification program arrived today. I might actually qualify! Whether I'll apply or not will depend on when B starts work again and if we re-locate. He's going to take some certification classes next month in the Seattle area. He would be able to do just about any of the IT jobs that he sees listed, but because he doesn't hold the actual certifications he's automatically disqualified for many of the jobs. And honestly, there are a lot of unemployed IT people right now so competition is tough. At this point we'd consider moving just about anyplace.

I'm still working on sweater sleeves, I don't want to post pictures until it's completed. Here's hoping that the official "Knitting in Public Day" had lots of participants. Cheers.

Friday Errands

Just about to head out for my Friday errands. Today I'll pick up the last of my Copaxone shots. So far I've not qualified for any supplemental insurance or drug coverage programs and we don't have the $1,500 a month to buy them outright. I'll probably take them every other day to stretch out the effects. That way if by some chance I can't get more then I won't just be quitting cold turkey and if we can get insurance I won't have to work on building up the effects of the Glatirimer Acetate from scratch. My other meds I can theoretically do without, I'll just be tired and cranky.

I also need to stop by the Girl Scout Store and pick up some badges for A-1's vest and update her uniform. She's really getting big and I can't believe she'll be in 5th grade next year!

Heck, lately I've been plagued with a strange phenomenon. All of my girls are out of diapers (obviously) and will be in school full-time this next year. I've dreamed of this day for years. But now I keep seeing people with small babies and I want one. I want to hold it and smell it and feed it... Somebody please come and slap me upside the head. Not only could we not afford another one, but I'm 38 years old for goodness sake. Hormones stink! I don't think that I really want one, holding someone else's until it cries or needs a diaper change might be all I need.

No new knitting pictures, I'm starting the second sleeve of the dreaded Liv sweater. Cheers.

Today was spent on yard work and organizing our "office". Because of the weather and time constraints our yard looks like it's home to the Clampetts. And because our immediate neighbors both keep immaculate yards our neglect is glaringly obvious.

At least my youngest is wearing clothes nowadays. For about a year A-3 would strip and run naked through the backyard (she's never dating). At some point the nearest neighbors will probably decide to replace the wire fence between their driveway and our side yard with something very tall and opaque. I've noticed that they now have their guests for bbqs on the far side of their house.

Oh, I finished the socks, they are a little big on me so somebody with even larger feet will receive this pair. I picked up the sleeves for the Liv sweater again. I had some serious frogging yesterday so there isn't much progress to show. I hope to finish that and start a summer tank. Bath time!

Return of the Dead!

Late last year I discovered a site featuring hand knitted zombies. I remember being fascinated with her site because 1. she made these knitted creatures without a pattern and is therefore very creative and 2. she created these purely for her own enjoyment without worrying that they weren't utilitarian or what someone else might consider practical. Heck, I feel guilty if I'm knitting and there are still unmatched socks in the clothes basket and I always try to justify my hobby by making only clothing or dishrags. Anyway, because I possess the attention span of a gnat I soon forgot about the zombies.

Flash forward to this past Monday. Throughout the day hints of impending illness were present, but that afternoon it hit hard and I couldn't get out of bed. Poor DH had to drive up from Oregon to take care of the girls. Joys of this particular bug included fever, body aches and dizziness that made sleep difficult at best. And when sleep did come it was haunted with strange dreams of those knitted zombies. Aaack!

Thankfully, we're back to normal here and DH was able to leave this morning for Oregon again. I hope he doesn't become ill while he's down there.

I didn't knit, match socks, cook or do anything else useful for about 36 hours, so now it's catch up time. A1 has a party today for her orchestra class so we'll be buying store bought cookies (blech) for that. Only 6 1/2 more school days left for my oldest two . Hooray. Time to set up the pool and start yardwork. Cheers!

I done fixed me a bicycle!

A3 has been asking to ride a two-wheeler for quite some time now. The problem was that the only bicycle small enough for her had flat tires. The operative word here being HAD. I changed my first bicycle tire today! I've changed plenty of car tires throughout my adult life, but while growing up my Dad always just took care of anything pertaining to mechanics. I tightened the chain and gave it a good spray down with WD-40 too. The entire endeavor took me approximately one hour. A3 eagerly awaited, bouncing with anticipation the entire time. She begrudgingly took a picture. I told her that Daddy would need proof that Mommy did this alone. When the moment of completion arrived she climbed on the bike, pedaled several feet then dropped the bicycle on the lawn and went to swing and play on the slide. But, but... oh well.









In the Friday mail I received this lovely postcard handmade courtesy of Peacock. It was made during May for Project Spectrum and green just happens to be my absolute favorite color! Thank you T!




In today's mail my the June Bug sock yarn arrived from Industrious Mama-E. It features lovely shades of blue with subtle variations and I can't wait to use it. Thank you Mama E!





I have precious little knitting progress to share. Hopefully these socks will be finished today so I can work on a sweater.

Off to the grocery store. I feel like I'm catching the stomach virus and we really need milk and bread. Cheers.