Frustration...

Well it happened. Bad luck came in 3s. First as you know it was the air conditioner, then there was the washing machine and then the garbage disposal. The air conditioner had to be replaced. Luckily, we only had to replace the outside part that was broken which saved us mucho money. Then the washing machine was leaking water into the catch pan (which of course was flimsy and a little cracked). Another lucky thing, it was just the pump which was a relatively inexpensive item to replace (heck, that "service" just to come to your house fee was half the bill). And finally, last night the garbage disposal made a horrible noise and locked up. After much mutter cussing (my mom was here) and working out the allen wrench situation, it was fixed by my husband with the price of sweat and elbow grease. I will be knocking harder on the wood that we are at an end of our bad luck run.


Knitting -

Urgggg... I thought I was off to a good start on my second sock when I realized my pattern problem. I said to my self that it was OK that I could frog back. Well no, apparently I can't. It just looked like a scary mess to me.

So, I cut the yarn and began again. I have picked up the stitches for the one side and will be working on the foot part later.

I also have a dish cloth on my needles (it's for my sister) to practice my gauge for the Dish Rag Tag. Usually I'm not too concerned about the size of a dishcloth (if it's bigger than my hand and washes it's good with me), but for the tag game it needs to be 9 inches square.



Reading -

I am rereading a series I love by David Webber - the Honor Harrington Series. It is a SciFi series all about God, Country and personal honor. I feel that everyone (appropriate for all ages) who reads should give this series a chance. Baen publishing (http://www.baen.com/) gives everyone a chance to do just that with their free library. The first two books in this series On Basilisk Station and The Honor of the Queen are available in their free ebook library as well as many others. I will say that sometimes there is much technical talk/explanation in the books about ships and size and drives and impeller signatures that unless you like that type of math information you can just skip over and it does not affect the story at all. Also, those who are cat people will doubly enjoy this series for Honor Harrington's treecat companion. A wonderful creature that I wish I could have.


Family -

My mom made an unexpected visit yesterday for an overnight stay. She was supposed to fly to San Antonio yesterday morning to visit my sister Anna to help her set up her new house and her flight was canceled and she was given a new flight time of this morning (don't ask me why such a long delay). So instead of going home to Gadsden, she stayed with me. My mom has no hobbies except for cleaning - she loves to clean. I have hobbies so I'm not so much for the clean all the time and not sit & read or sit & knit or sit & listen to a book while knitting. Can you see that it might make me feel just a little guilty to be showing my mom my knitting stuff while she's cleaning some dishes by hand at my sink (by the way, those dishes go in the dishwasher perfectly well and were just waiting their turn). Oh well, differences aside - I love my mom and I think she's the best.

Knock on wood.....

that nothing else breaks this summer. Thank goodness that we got that portable air conditioner (that I can highly recommend) because the upstairs air conditioner compressor broke. That means no conditioned air upstairs. A new air conditioner is due to be put in today. Luckily, downstairs is nice and cool. I have been busy dealing with repair men and children. I haven't maimed or killed anyone...yet. When does school start back?? Ahhh poop, not until the second week of August. I think I can....make it until then without my head exploding (Orudis take me away).



Knitting -

I was working away on my baby sock during the aforementioned craziness and was about to start the heel when I noticed that instead of working the broken rib stitch I was just doing a 2 x 2 rib. I was going to rip back and start that section again, but I just cut the yarn and began again. The cast on looks better and I'm more pleased with the beginning of the new 2nd sock. I'll do pictures again when I turn the heel.

I'm also excited that I'm part of the Dish Rag Tag. This is going to be so much fun. Emily is shocked so many want to take part, but I'm not. Socks are great and who doesn't want a pair, but they are work intensive. Dish rags are faster and easier. No knitting in the round or sizing concerns. The only bad thing about dish rags are that they are meant for that four letter word - cleaning. Who wouldn't want to join such a fun knit game??


Reading -

The new Janet Evanovich book Lean Mean Thirteen is out. If you have not read this series, I highly recommend it. The series is about Stephanie Plum and her antics as a bail bond enforcement agent. They are better read in order as the characters interact and grow with one another in each successive book. These books are a really fast read. Also, if you choose to read these know that you will be smiling and laughing out loud and might have to explain to others that the book is just really funny (also, you might want to be care full about drinking while reading these books - coffee or coke stains on the pages and surrounding area could be a hazard).


Family -

Other than dealing with all the other craziness, my baby sister moved to San Antonio, TX on Wednesday. Tuesday, we trekked to my parents house in Gadsden for her husband's congratulations on graduating dental school and getting residency in oral surgery school and their goodbye party. My brother-in-law M did a deal with the Air Force in which they paid for the last 3 years of dental school and he owed them 3 years of (dental) service. But, he was accepted as one of 3 for their oral surgery students and now he'll be in school with the Air Force for another 3 years and then serve his 3 owed years. A (sister) and M will need all the prayers they can get as they also have a 1 year old daughter AB and no family in the area.

And... the light bulb finally flickers on.

Thanks to Emily's email that got the idea to me and started the percolating and a fair amount of reading help blogs --- I finally figured out how to do the whole html code thing for the buttons on the side. It was a collaborative effort to make things click for me, but isn't that how things work sometimes? Instruction and information pouring over you until that last bit of info and then you can't understand why you didn't clearly understand before all the effort. But, I've got that piece now. ;-)

Is it really Wednesday??

Time seems to be poking along and speeding by. I think it has to do with the children being home all day. I do know that I seem to hear more questions than any person should ever have to.

I got to watch a little bit of So You Think You Can Dance tonight. I DVR'd it so I'll be able to do things like fold clothes (boo) and work on my second sock (No one foot for our little cousin) while I watch the whole program.


Knitting -

I finished my first (baby) sock. Yea for me!! I would like you to look at my picture and critique the sock (not the mediocre photography). I need to know what you see - that if I did this ____ technique or pulled/didn't pull my thread tighter, it'll get better with practice -




I really would like to know what you think (praise is good, but constructive criticism is really good).

Also, I would like to know if anyone knows of a plain stockinette sock for my daughters (too big for baby, too small for women's small). I found a generic sock pattern here: http://www.hjsstudio.com/index.html and it looks good, but I was wondering.....?

I signed up for Emily's Dish Rag Tag at http://yarnmiracle.com/ (soon I will learn to attach the button and link - if you can tell me in little words I would appreciate it - Emily already tried and I only sorta got it, obviously, as the buttons still don't work) and am so excited to participate. I can totally knit a dishrag in a somewhat speedy manner - socks, not so much with the speed.


Reading -

Yesterday morning, on my favorite SciFi book web site http://www.baen.com/ , I saw this book Beast Master's Quest. I was excited about it because I like stories with "intelligent" animals especially cats. I like Baen because you can "preview" all their books and they also have a free e-library. I read my preview and the library near me actually had the book and it was in - kismet. Unfortunately, this story turned out to be just ok for me. I'm not sure if it's because I didn't read the first two (which of course the library doesn't have), but the story just fell flat about 3/4 of the way through. If you like to read this genera, it wasn't bad, but if you don't enjoy reading don't check it out.


Family -

Ummmm.. Mimi, when can the children come to your house for the week??

My First Post

Ok. So I've been meaning to do this for a while and as you can see I've done it.


I am now a blogger.


Is there a "step" program out there for me now?? I know I need a "program" of some sort for my crafting of which knitting is my newest craze. I probably need intervention of some sort for my reading obsession. And, I'm sure I need therapy (shock - drug - other??) of some sort for being a stay at home mom of 3 (ages 10-Ashleigh, 6-Lindsey and 2-Matthew).



Goals of, for and about my new blog:


I hope to be encouraged and encouraging with my knitting (and other crafts).


I hope to inspire others to read with well directed reviews of books I have read. (I'm an eclectic reader and feel that those who don't care to read just haven't met the stories/authors that fit their tastes.)


I hope to cheer and commerserate with others about our husbands and children (or you know ummm whatever fits your situation) and make note about all the things my mom says I need to write down because I'll never remember them later.




Knitting -


I've been working on a small sock for my husband's first cousin's baby boy. I wanted to dip my toe into this whole sock thing and I feel it's going fairly well.




Well enough that my daughters want their own socks. These are my choices for them.

Ashleigh loves green right now. (Yes, I am holding out my swatch with 2 dpns.)

Lindsey is pink. (No swatch just yet.)

Reading -


Instead of going with my favorite authors and trying to figure out in which order they should be presented for your perusal I'm going to go with exactly what I'm reading now (which has a lot to do with release dates) and then what I'm filling in with between release dates. (Can you now see that intervention could probably done but that I would reject that like any addict??)


I have just finished the new Tanya Huff The Heart of Valor. I had gotten A Confederation of Valor (an omnibus edition of the first two novels) from the library the last week of May and the new book came out on Tues, June 5. (Oh the waiting!?!) Now I have to wait a WHOLE year for the next book (it's already slated - I saw on some website). This book is a Sci-Fi military action featuring Torrin Kerr. The Heart of Valor can stand alone although I highly recommend reading the series in order. The series is a good story about the main character and her military career. Well... I loved it - the whole series and will be reading all 3 stories again.



Family -


Well.....my DH(Shane) went out yesterday to Lowe's and bought us a portable air conditioner for our family room area. You might be thinking - oh those poor folks, they don't have air - this would be incorrect. We do have central air, but with 100ish degree days and no shade trees in the yard it can only keep the house at 76/77 at the hottest part of the day. This is unaccepable to my DH. Durring the summer it needs to maintain a 70/73 degrees in our house for my husband to be pleased. So far this new plan is working and the portable is doing it's job.

Today, my girls went to Westwood Baptist's Vacation Bible School and enjoyed themselves.



I think that's it for today. Comments are welcome.