Life as a reformed Zookeeper. Now living a life as a working mother who dabbles in karate, scrapbooking, and Coors Light!

Saturday, January 16, 2010

Ahhh, Weekend!

....this weekend shall be fun, I hope. It had a good start. Aaron made us dinner last night, so I came home and ate a bit before heading out to sparring class. It was a good class, but I always feel like it could be longer. We worked some full-contact training. Not that we did a lot of contact, but I did get to hit Gary without feeling badly about it. He told me to! Of course, I'm sure my punch pales in comparison to the two guys he did the cage matches with.

...After sparring class, we turned in the Griff Fantastic for the Pinewood Derby that will be later this morning. I didn't help with his car in any way, shape, or form. It was something Aaron and Griffin did together. Which was kind of nice for me, since I'm teh one who usually does most of the Cub Scout things.

...I snuggled in on the couch with Erin last night and started on a new scarf for Aaron. He's requested a specific color scheme, and I'm trying to make one look decent for him. I'm not so sure about this right now, though. We'll see. I made about ten or so inches of the thing, and both Aaron and I have decided we don't really like it. We'll see how it goes.

...I got up to run this morning, and made most of the course. The best part of it is that I don't feel like I'm going to die. That, alone, is worth it for me! That, and I got to run with my friend Rebecca and her dog, Simon. Her husband also tagged along today, which was cool with me. The bad part about running when it's been cold is that there were slick patches on the road. Am hoping that those won't be there tomorrow when we try it again. In retrospect, I do believe that perhaps I tried to get back in the swing of things too quickly in November/December. I felt so much better today than back then!

Thursday, January 14, 2010

Busy....

...so I think that I've told the blogging world about how busy I am right now. My friend Melissa always makes fun of me, and lets me know that I really need to learn the art of saying NO. Perhaps I do. So far, I not only work outside the house full time, but I also teach karate two nights a week, take karate a few nights a week, am Griff's assistant den leader for Cub Scouts, and am the Cookie Mom for Erin's Girl Scout troop. Needless to say, I'm running like a madwoman these days. Oh, don't forget that I've made it my mission to make things for the hospitals, too. You know. In my free time.

...speaking of free time, I don't generally watch television in my spare time. I just don't. Not that I think that there is anything wrong with television. I just usually wind up spending my time on the computer or crocheting when I'm wanting "down time." Well, Tuesday night found me watching The Biggest Loser as I sat crocheting on a project I'm wanting to get done. And SOBBING LIKE A BABY! Not sure why I was so awash with emotion at Patti's pleas to keep Stephanie on the ranch, but holy crap, I cried. So methinks perhaps I shall keep with no television. It's very hard to crochet through the tears. That, and I got the WORST headache from it.

...Tuesday also found me sending off my first set of things for Stitches from the Heart. I sent in 13 red baby hats, in hopes that they could use them for Valentine's Day. Valentine's Day was the first of three "holidays" that the twins spent in the hospital, and I found it a little comforting when the hospital put little notes or did little things to celebrate. So I'm trying to pass that along to the other people who are going to be spending holidays, no matter how big or small, in the hospital.

Saturday, January 09, 2010

Here We Go Again...

...so in part of my absence of blogging, pretty much the entire house got sick with something or other. We'd been doing so well. Griffin got up this morning, and was much cuddlier than usual. He's definitely the only one of my kids who will just cuddle up with me on the couch and snuggle. Collin's beyond it, and Erin does NOT sit still... I wind up with either her butt or one of her gangly appendages in my face. Not typically the snuggle am looking for. Anyway, he snuggled with me for a good half an hour, much to Erin's chagrin. Just before Aaron made it home with our DD run, he came in to where I was, and started retching. I got him to the trash can before any calamaties could occur, but needless to say, he didn't get his chocolate iced glazed donut. Poor little man is definitely not feeling well at all. So he's happy to lay on the couch and watch tv.



...In preparation for my imprisonment in the infirmary, I went to Michael's today with my dear friend Judy to buy yarn. Well, I came away with enough yarn to make several baby hats, an afghan, a scarf for a friend for a belated birthday gift, Valentine's Day presents for the teachers, a few stamps for a friend....you name it. But as I was picking her up, she told me to come in to see what SHE'D been working on lately. OMG!! Take a look at the coolio pin she let me have (and try not to make fun of the stains on my ten year-old down jacket that needs to go to the cleaners!)!! I never cease to be amazed at what she comes up with next for her next craft.
















...I finished a hat today.... I think that perhaps I need to stick with using a pattern to make things, maybe? (Don't worry... I just double it up the fold and it looks fine... but it's pretty funny, no?)

Thursday, January 07, 2010

Mixed Emotions....




...So I've had a bit of a shitty day today, and my first thought is to just say... "If you can't say anything nice...." But I will instead redirect my shitty mood to positive things.



...So I suppose a few holidays have happened since I last bored you with my pratter.... And Christmas means one of my favorite things--Homemade Gift Exchange with my awesome crafty girlfriends. The first pic on this blog is of what I gave this year. Judy and I, while taking a break from eating our way through Wisconsin, went to a craft mall, and found ideas galore... of which I've already spoken. The items in front are actually felt doilies. The first two from the left were started in front of Judy, so I knew I had to do something different for her. So that's why the third one is so different. For hers, I also used a Michael's coupon to get a deal on a circle Sizzix die. And, while not as economic, as the ones I hand-cut had less waste, it was nice to not have to worry about making them as perfect as could be... cos they were perfect! While at that craft mall, Judy inadvertently opened Pandora's Box for me. You see... I learned to crochet as a very young girl, but hadn't done it in YEARS. Judy mentioned, as we were using my camera to steal every idea we possibly could, that she would love nothing more than a stack of crocheted wash cloths. Well, I wanted to do something to completely surprise her, so I bought some yarn and the washcloths you see here were born. The girls were really surprised to open them!


....and this next picture is what I received from the girls. I MADE. OUT. LIKE. A. BANDIT!!! My girls are the most awesome bunch I could ever hope for. All handmade and all surprises. Even though we have all shared stress over what to make and feeling like it's adequate, we always love what we receive and I am washed over with warmth from the love that went into the project. Oh, and another fun homemade gift and complete spoiling by my friend Rebecca was a dozen homemade tamales. Though I don't think she helped with this year's round of them, she has helped her friend and her family make them in the past. And I can tell you that tamales are some of my favorite food...and that I have yet to meet one I didn't like. I've eaten them now... and they were AWESOME!




...and now back to the aforementioned Pandora's Box that Judy helped to open.... Not only did I make about ten or so washcloths over the holidays, I got my cousins started with crochet. And because of one of my cousins, I was able to get into touch with Stitches From The Heart, which provides hand-crochet and hand-knit items to both babies in long-term NICU care (like Erin & Griffin and other micropreemies) and those babies who might only go home in a diaper because their families are too poor to buy clothes for them. So, I emailed the leader and got information. While I was waiting for the information to be sent to me, I got a huge wild hair up my ass to crochet some scarves. The first one I did, and I'm not going to lie when I said that I ripped the entire first one out and redid the thing, was Aaron's scarf, which you will find on the far right of the photo here. Then, after I finished that one, Erin brought me her skein of yarn to make her scarf. Knowing I'd be in trouble if I didn't do hers next, I set to work. Then, tweedle-dum followed tweedle-dee and Griffin wanted me to do his scarf. Of course I bragged to my Facebook audience about my work, and my friend Christy wanted a red scarf made of soft material.... So over the course of three days, I made three scarves. And over that weekend of scarf-making, I received in the mail my information about Stitches From the Heart. Well, I'd bought some baby yarn, but hadn't really done anything with it. So I did the second work ever from a pattern.... And made a hat. I've now done two more that just need the final touches done to them. I'm quite excited to start this new venture... so much that I'm trying to start a crochet and knitting group with my friends. Our first get together is just a few weeks away, and I'm totally excited.



My wish for you is that your year be filled with more blessings than you can count!