Relaxing weekend

I've just finished a lovely two days with our daughter and am missing her already. We tag teamed the Thanksgiving dinner which was a huge help. Dinner was awesome with plenty of favorite leftovers for the rest of the weekend.

Yesterday we started watching the first season of "Supernatural" based on the glowing description by Amy Lane. By the end of the first disc we were hooked and have now added the rest of the season to our Netflix lists. It was a relaxing day full of laughter and knitting as well.

At 10:30 PM, I realized we hadn't gotten the Christmas tree assembled and decorated as planned. Having slept in late, Nicole and I decided to get to it. After an eggnog toast we went to work. Although we usually have a real tree, this year I opted for the nice artificial one sitting in the garage to keep holiday expenses down. We played some carols and generally had a nice time.

Today as Nicole was leaving to head home, I got whacked by my husband's recliner footrest as I was getting up. It appears that I have bruised, sprained or broken the little toe on my right foot. It is painful to touch and I can't wear a shoe, so that is going to make life interesting for a while. I've been icing it, taking Advil and keeping it elevated. If it is still this sore by Monday I'll probably go to the doctor and at least get something better for pain. Ah, the holidays are such fun :-)

Have a great rest of the weekend!

Happy Thanksgiving

The house is quiet this early morning as I ready the kitchen for a day of cooking. Our daughter got in last night and will help today, which is always fun. Our son and daughter-in-law are going to my dad's to cook dinner there today. Thanksgiving to me is all about family being together. That is far more important than the turkey, pie and all the other goodies.

I remember a few years early in our marriage when we were alone for Thanksgiving. It felt strange after years of big family gatherings. Yet it also was a chance to create our family traditions, ones we would share with our children (It also gave me a chance to learn how to prepare a Thanksgiving on my own, as my husband was most forgiving).

Today, I wish for each of you a wonderful day to give thanks for the good things in life, whatever they may be!

Lazy Fall Day

It is a beautiful day in Arizona with clear blue skies and temps around 75 degrees. If it stayed this way all year it would be awesome! Next week is supposed to bring rain and colder weather so we might actually be able to use the fireplace on Thanksgiving. That always gives the holiday a nice cozy feel.

I wish I could say I was ready for Thanksgiving but I haven't even started my menu yet. Probably need to do that this afternoon so I can go shopping Monday. Nicole will be in Wednesday night or early Thursday so she can help with the cooking. She and I are the only ones that like deviled eggs so this is our holiday to make them. We usually finish half of them before the meal starts, but no one cares so all is good :-)

I am beginning to panic a little about getting the knitting done before Christmas but keep working away. I made it through both sleeves on the baby sweater so now am just finishing the body. Should be done sometime this week. I'm having trouble finding buttons online. It uses 5 13mm shank buttons and most of the really cute buttons are quite a bit larger than that. If you have any favorite button sites, let me know.

For those that wondered if attending school programs is a school board expectation, the answer is "no". I'm trying to show the principals and teachers that I am interested in what their schools are doing. Having worked with boards for many years, I know how easy it is to become disconnected from the real work that is happening. My goal is to be out at the schools at least a couple of times a year even though it takes a lot of time.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend and stay warm if you are in the cold country!

One sweater down

Well, I got one FO off the needles! Blue, the weiner dog, now has a new sweater. I'll be casting on for his brother Stumpy's sweater tonight. Since it is starting to get quite chilly in the Midwest, that is a good thing. I'm making good progress on my Monkey sock, except I can only work on it during the day. It is a darker colored yarn and I'm using Knitpicks Harmony DPNs. I love the feel of the needles but it is hard to see the stitches against the dark wood (or maybe it is my old eyes).

In the last two days I've felt like a real (not sick) human being. What a relief to finally feel healthy. I still have a few days of antibiotics to take and will faithfully follow the rules cause I DON'T WANT THIS BACK!

I'm working on getting out to visit all the schools and meet the principals, now that I'm a real elected official. Tonight I went to the 5th grade program musical program at my neighborhood elementary school. It was fun and I look forward to seeing more of what our schools are doing.

I keep working toward getting my desk together but haven't made much progress. I fell asleep on the couch this afternoon and barely woke up in time to go to the program. Just my body's way of telling me I'm still recuperating. I hear Roxie in my head reminding me to rest and take care of myself and go back to sleep :-) Based on her advice, I have also increased my garlic intake.

I'm off to Facebook to see what my daughter-in-law's latest craving is (last week it was coconut sno cones) and whether my daughter is surviving her nursing program this week. The instructors somehow missed that there weren't enough total points in the the test schedule and suddenly added a huge test in the next three weeks. Very unhappy students. Life is challenging all over but liberal doses of wool and purring cats reduce stress.

Knitting news

Empowered by the knitting prowess of my blogging buddies, I have four projects going right now for the holidays. I am confident these will be done in time - the other 4 or 5 I had planned might not make it. I like being able to pick up different projects to keep me from getting bored. I'm also finding that some I can do while watching Phoenix Suns basketball, some work with movies and certain projects demand my full attention.

I am about 1/3 done with the Cabin Fever Button Cardigan I am making for my friend's little boy. I don't remember where I saw the pattern but thought it was really cute. I read somewhere that a baby sweater is a good place to start learning the mechanics before trying anything for an adult. It is a top down pattern knitted in one piece so I am learning lots of new skills. I've never worked this much on circular needles but it is going well. Thanks to my sock knitting, I was ready for doing the sleeves on DPNs so I don't have to seam and so far have remembered my button hole rows. Once I have both sleeves down I'll post a picture. I'm using Berroco Comfort for ease of care and like working with it.

I've got one pair of socks going and have at least one more pair planned. This time I'm doing Monkey Socks, a pattern I've heard a lot about, but never tried (other than the baby ones I did). I'm using Trekking XXL but it doesn't feel as soft to me as some I've worked with. I'm wondering if it will soften more after washing.

I've started the Transition fingerless mitts which is a real challenge since I've never done any color work. I'm trying to learn Continental style so I can hold one strand in each hand. It is working but is slow going. Any tips from your experience?

My final project is another dog sweater for my granddog. This one is a wool blend so it will be a little warmer for those Iowa winters. I'm over halfway done with that one and then will cast on for the other dog. My Dad's neighbor wants a sweater for her weiner dog too so have to get that done sometime before the first of the year. Those are easy, basketball knitting kinds of projects so don't think it will be problem to get them done.

Hope your holiday knitting is moving along as well. The countdown to Christmas has started!

A slight delay

I was charging ahead on cleaning out the bedroom, got the desk ordered and got all of my software in, when my sinus infection reappeared. Little by little I could feel the symptoms returning, so I'm back on antibiotics trying to kick this thing once and for all. For the last two days I've done nothing except watch television and knit. Hopefully by tomorrow I'll be ready to get back to work.

I'm saving the assembly of the computer desk for the weekend so my husband can at least help hold pieces. We don't always work together well but for furniture assembly it really takes two sets of hands (especially when the predrilled holes don't line up).

All of those projects can wait until tomorrow. Tonight I have a marinated pork tenderloin baking in the oven and the Phoenix Suns game is coming up, so all is well. Throw in a little knitting and it sounds like a fine night to me.

Busy, busy, busy

It is that busy time of year and I have four WIP's on the needles (plus a couple more planned that need to get done before Christmas). Although it seems like a long time until Thanksgiving, when I look at the calendar, it is just around the corner.

We are doing turkey day at our house this year instead of going to my sister-in-law's house in California. I hope I still remember how to a fancy holiday dinner. It will be just the two of us and our daughter this year, so probably will have way too much food. On the other hand, leftovers solve the dinner problem for a couple of days.

I had my first meeting with the school superintendent this morning and got up to speed on a couple of the issues. Even though we don't officially take our seats until January, the new board members are included in most meetings so we can learn. I am trying to get out and visit all of the schools before the end of December, so that should keep me hopping.

I've spent the last couple of days shoveling out our spare room and trying to find spaces for the all those extra things we store in there. Do not move to Arizona if you have a lot of stuff (toys, collections, sports equipment etc.) There are virtually no basements or attics, which makes for interesting storage issues. I just ordered a computer desk to go in the bedroom, so I can set up the new business computer. I'm much better on a deadline, so knowing the desk is coming makes me move faster. Today I'm packing up part of my depression glass collection as I don't have room to display it well. When the economy picks up, I probably should sell some of it on Ebay. For now it is going in storage.

Thank you for the nice break. Now it is back to work before I weaken and take a nap :-)

I got elected!

Can you believe it? I actually got elected to school board on my first try. I picked a good year to run given the country's mood about incumbents. Of six candidates, I was the second highest vote getter with 6614 votes. The top finisher had 6642, so it was pretty darn close. One incumbent was re-elected but had significantly less votes than we did.

Thanks to all of you for your support! I'll probably need it even more when I find out what I've gotten myself in to. I have accomplished several things this year that I never thought I would, and you've been there every step of the way encouraging me. That means a lot.

Well, I'm off to pick up my campaign signs before someone writes a nasty letter to the editor about littering!

Another sock off the needles

I just finished my Spring Forward socks (now that it is fall). I really like how they came out and would definitely knit them again. Now I can start working on some of those Christmas presents I've been meaning to get to.

I wish it felt like fall

As I sit here in Arizona, the temperatures are still in the 90's. It is supposed to drop a little next week and then come back up. This is the time of year I hate the most. The calendar says it is fall, fall clothes are in the stores and have been since July, I need to be planning for the holidays but it still feels like summer. I'm sick of summer!!!

I want to wear sweaters and my new hand knit socks. People will still be wearing sandals until Thanksgiving. Every year it is getting worse. The summer last from March or April through November and the winters are mild. Summers are hotter and dryer. My conservative father keeps telling me that global warming is a myth perpetuated by Al Gore (we all have our crosses to bear) but we are all living with some weird weather/climate changes.

Thanks for letting me rant. I always get this way until the weather finally breaks for good. By then, of course, I'm way behind for the holidays.

I am continuing to recuperate but get pretty washed out if I do too much (like go grocery shopping). I talked to a friend yesterday who had the same bug with a secondary infection and she's still not 100% after 3 weeks. I'll just have to be patient (not one of my virtues) and do what I can. I'm just grateful for full nights of sleep in my own bed.

I got ultrasound pictures this week of my grandchild. I can already tell her or she is attractive, smart and talented :-)














I'll probably drive you all crazy with baby news but at least this first time I get to celebrate a little. I've lived long enough to know that you have to take the sweetness in life when you find it, to balance out all the other crap that rolls in without permission.

Have a great weekend.