Last night was the usual Wednesday craziness. Scott had bowling (4 PM to 6:30 PM), Caleb had swimming lessons (6:45 PM) and I had bunco (7 PM). Luckily, we were all able to get where we needed to go, but we were running around a lot.
I got home from bunco at about 9:30 in my usual GREAT mood. It is so freaking stressful dealing with these women! I am seriously thinking about resigning and becoming a hermit. I know they are supposed to be my friends, but I don't feel like I fit in with them anymore. Most of them are SAHM's whose kids all go to the same schools. And those that do work can only talk about how they would LOVE to stay home with their kids. They are constantly talking about carpools and teachers and field trips and test scores. Two of the women had their infants there and that just made me feel uncomfortable...I acknowledge that is all in MY head, but it just compounds the fact that I don't want to be there anymore. The NEXT bunco is supposed to be in 3 weeks and it is the annual Christmas party with gift exchange. I am definitely NOT going to that this year....last year it took almost 2 hours to decide HOW we were going to do the gift exchange. I do NOT need that stress in my life right now. And of course the "Supermom's" were there again last night. I spent the entire night avoiding them and I think I did pretty well, since I didn't sit by them the whole night. I know it is totally middle school behavior on my part, but I am sick of being judged by them. More accurately, I am sick of comparing myself to them and coming up short.
Mom and Dad are going through more hell with the business, and Mom is not doing well with it at all. I am really worried about her. Dad APPEARS to be doing OK, but that is because that is what he WANTS us to see. Yeah, learned a lot of ways to deal honestly with me emotions from that guy. I can't say much, but the IRS agent who has been harassing my Dad is at is again. Dad was just going to give in and retire, but Dad's lawyer is afraid that even if Dad doesn't sign any more returns ever again, this guy is just going to start digging into client's past returns and start assessing him penalties based on those returns. The lawyer wants Dad to "fight the good fight", but I don't know if either of them will survive the stress. Even after watching them go through 31 tax seasons, I have never seen them this stressed. At least with tax season there is an end in sight....get past April 15 and you can coast for a few months. This crap could go on for years and years.
Another epic blog post. Either I have a lot to say or I don't know how to shut up once I start.
Thursday, November 15, 2007
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
Crochet overload!
I have been diving head first into crochet lately (again) and am loving it. I am planning on making a bunch of Christmas gifts this year and have been finding lots and lots of cute patterns in the process. One of the latest things I want to make is a "swiffer shrug", which is basically a reusable wet swiffer pad made out of cotton. Will probably have to modify the pattern slightly to get it to work for the swiffer "max" that Mom has, but that shouldn't be too hard. I found the pattern HERE. They look really neat and are definitely eco-friendly!
I know I am the only one reading this blog, and I know what is in my own head, but maybe I should give a little background on how/why I crochet. I have had MANY hobbies in my life, but some how I keep coming back to this one. I wish I could say that I learned at my Grandmother's knee, but while Grandma did crochet, she never managed to teach me. I first held a hook while attending River Valley School (I was one of 6 kids in my class), a very small private school which subscribed to the Waldorf Method. One of the classes that was taught by one of the parents was knitting and crochet. We did everything in the process....sheared the sheep, washed the wool, carded the wool, spun the wool, dyed the wool...then finally got ready to learn how to knit/crochet. I was pretty much hopeless with both hook and needle. I crocheted a LOT of triangles (chain 1; turn?) and knitted lots of things with holes in them. Gave it up at the age of 9. Fast forward 16 years to early 2002....we moved into our new house and one Sunday we were invited to our neighbors house to watch the Packer game. My neighbor had a book entitled something like "learn to crochet" and was busily making an afghan. I borrowed a hook, read the book and took off flying. In a matter of a few minutes I had re-learned everything I thought I forgot about crochet and was "hooked". (I know, really bad pun!) I have been crocheting on and off ever since.
I have started many projects and even managed to finish a few, including baby blankets, a crib mobile, hats, scarves, etc. I have yet to finish a full size afghan, but I have one that is about half way done that I would like to finish before the end of the year. Doubt it will happen, but miracles happen everyday. :)
I know I am the only one reading this blog, and I know what is in my own head, but maybe I should give a little background on how/why I crochet. I have had MANY hobbies in my life, but some how I keep coming back to this one. I wish I could say that I learned at my Grandmother's knee, but while Grandma did crochet, she never managed to teach me. I first held a hook while attending River Valley School (I was one of 6 kids in my class), a very small private school which subscribed to the Waldorf Method. One of the classes that was taught by one of the parents was knitting and crochet. We did everything in the process....sheared the sheep, washed the wool, carded the wool, spun the wool, dyed the wool...then finally got ready to learn how to knit/crochet. I was pretty much hopeless with both hook and needle. I crocheted a LOT of triangles (chain 1; turn?) and knitted lots of things with holes in them. Gave it up at the age of 9. Fast forward 16 years to early 2002....we moved into our new house and one Sunday we were invited to our neighbors house to watch the Packer game. My neighbor had a book entitled something like "learn to crochet" and was busily making an afghan. I borrowed a hook, read the book and took off flying. In a matter of a few minutes I had re-learned everything I thought I forgot about crochet and was "hooked". (I know, really bad pun!) I have been crocheting on and off ever since.
I have started many projects and even managed to finish a few, including baby blankets, a crib mobile, hats, scarves, etc. I have yet to finish a full size afghan, but I have one that is about half way done that I would like to finish before the end of the year. Doubt it will happen, but miracles happen everyday. :)
Friday, November 9, 2007
Crochet: Finished Projects!
Since Scott took Caleb to PetSmart last night, I was able to spend a little time finishing up two projects that were on my crochet WIP (work in progress) list. Thought I would post some pictures since I very rarely actually REMEMBER to take pictures of my work. How silly is that? I give 90% of it away and I have no real record of it. Anyway, here they are:
(I am not very good at posting pictures yet!)
The first is a baby blanket that I started a LONG time ago. I thought that adding the crocheted edging would be quicker/easier/simpler to do than actually crocheting the whole blanket....boy, was I wrong! It took forever to punch all the holes and then to crochet 4 rounds. And to top it off I HATED the yarn I chose to do the edging as it was a pain to work with, but I was too far in to quit. I got it almost done and just couldn't stand it anymore so it got put into a bag a stuffed in a corner. But after finding it I decided that I had to finish it or there was no point doing all the work in the first place. Don't know who I will give it to, but at least I have it ready to go for the next baby that comes into my life.
The second picture is of a little gingerbread man that I made as a Christmas ornament for a gift exchange through my local crochet guild. He was a ton of fun and worked up very quickly. I am thinking about doing a few more just like him for the Christmas tree or for gifts. With all my other WIP's though, I may have to way until next year!
(I am not very good at posting pictures yet!)
The first is a baby blanket that I started a LONG time ago. I thought that adding the crocheted edging would be quicker/easier/simpler to do than actually crocheting the whole blanket....boy, was I wrong! It took forever to punch all the holes and then to crochet 4 rounds. And to top it off I HATED the yarn I chose to do the edging as it was a pain to work with, but I was too far in to quit. I got it almost done and just couldn't stand it anymore so it got put into a bag a stuffed in a corner. But after finding it I decided that I had to finish it or there was no point doing all the work in the first place. Don't know who I will give it to, but at least I have it ready to go for the next baby that comes into my life.
The second picture is of a little gingerbread man that I made as a Christmas ornament for a gift exchange through my local crochet guild. He was a ton of fun and worked up very quickly. I am thinking about doing a few more just like him for the Christmas tree or for gifts. With all my other WIP's though, I may have to way until next year!
Thursday, November 8, 2007
October Sucked
I know....I know....once again I am here explaining why I haven't posted in a really long time. At least this time I have a pretty good excuse. On September 18, I had a positive pregnancy test and we were really beyond excited. I scheduled our first OB visit with a new doctor and we went about picking out baby names and telling our family. Our first Dr appointment was on October 5th, when I was just 7 weeks along. The appointment went great, until the very end when they did an ultrasound. The doctor said that things were not as developed as she would suspect, but told us not to panic and added another blood test. That afternoon she called to tell us that the pregnancy was not viable and that we should expect a miscarriage at any time. I was devastated to say the least.
For the next week, I waited for something to happen and it never did. I was a weeping puddle of mush most of the time, but I couldn't seem to get past it or move forward in the grieving process because I was technically still pregnant. So, I called an scheduled a D&C for the morning of the 16th. Mom was kind enough to come down and spend some time with me and drive me home. I took that day and the next day off to be alone, but then I had to go back to my life as usual. At least once it was over, I was able to "move on". Whatever that means.
I still have episodes of sudden tears and a sense of loss, but they are getting further apart. It has been hard because not many people know I was going through this, so they couldn't understand why I was acting so strangely.
Added to that is the fact that after 33 years, my parents are being put out of business by a rogue IRS agent who has decided that he doesn't like my father. This has been super stressful for both my parents and I have been worried about both of them.
But some good things did happen in October. Caleb was an adorable pumpkin for Halloween and I won $40 at bunco. Scott shot a doe with his bow, which means that we have more meat in the freezer and now he has earned the right to try for a buck during gun season. We got to see some old friends when they came to town for the MTU vs UW hockey game last weekend; that was a lot of fun, but I think I am still recovering from all the cleaning I had to do beforehand. :)
We got the news last night that Caleb is being moved up a level for his swim classes! He is finally getting comfortable with the water and we are happy that he is coming along well. Of course, he still has problems with putting his face in the water and with listening to the teacher, but at least he is making progress.
Hopefully next time I will have some happier things to talk about. I am currently making a bunch of crochet items for charity and for gifts so I will try to take pictures of them as I get them done so I can post them on here. At least I am being productive now that it is too cold outside to do anything productive.
For the next week, I waited for something to happen and it never did. I was a weeping puddle of mush most of the time, but I couldn't seem to get past it or move forward in the grieving process because I was technically still pregnant. So, I called an scheduled a D&C for the morning of the 16th. Mom was kind enough to come down and spend some time with me and drive me home. I took that day and the next day off to be alone, but then I had to go back to my life as usual. At least once it was over, I was able to "move on". Whatever that means.
I still have episodes of sudden tears and a sense of loss, but they are getting further apart. It has been hard because not many people know I was going through this, so they couldn't understand why I was acting so strangely.
Added to that is the fact that after 33 years, my parents are being put out of business by a rogue IRS agent who has decided that he doesn't like my father. This has been super stressful for both my parents and I have been worried about both of them.
But some good things did happen in October. Caleb was an adorable pumpkin for Halloween and I won $40 at bunco. Scott shot a doe with his bow, which means that we have more meat in the freezer and now he has earned the right to try for a buck during gun season. We got to see some old friends when they came to town for the MTU vs UW hockey game last weekend; that was a lot of fun, but I think I am still recovering from all the cleaning I had to do beforehand. :)
We got the news last night that Caleb is being moved up a level for his swim classes! He is finally getting comfortable with the water and we are happy that he is coming along well. Of course, he still has problems with putting his face in the water and with listening to the teacher, but at least he is making progress.
Hopefully next time I will have some happier things to talk about. I am currently making a bunch of crochet items for charity and for gifts so I will try to take pictures of them as I get them done so I can post them on here. At least I am being productive now that it is too cold outside to do anything productive.
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
Poor Puppy!
It looks like when Ruby (our Vizsla) hurt her foot a few weeks ago that she hurt it much more than we originally thought. She must have caught it in her crate or something because we didn't know she hurt it until we saw her limping pretty badly. Of course, that was on Friday of Labor Day weekend and we didn't want to pay the ER vet prices, so we figured we would take the wait and see approach. By Tuesday she was walking just fine, but had started really licking at on particular toe on her foot almost constantly. Fast forward three weeks and I noticed that the tissue around her one nail was turning black and looking infected. Guess it is time to take her to the vet....
Had an appointment last night and it turns out that she must have broken a nail way up in her foot and it was finally growing out to the point where we could see it was cracked and severely damaged. They said that the whole nail was going to have to come off, which would require a mild sedation. We took her back in this morning for the procedure and we just heard that she came through it just fine. her foot is going to be bandaged and sore for a few days, but at least it will start to heal now instead of rotting away in her foot. Don't want to see what the final bill is going to be, but I guess that is just life when you have a pet that is like a family member.
Had an appointment last night and it turns out that she must have broken a nail way up in her foot and it was finally growing out to the point where we could see it was cracked and severely damaged. They said that the whole nail was going to have to come off, which would require a mild sedation. We took her back in this morning for the procedure and we just heard that she came through it just fine. her foot is going to be bandaged and sore for a few days, but at least it will start to heal now instead of rotting away in her foot. Don't want to see what the final bill is going to be, but I guess that is just life when you have a pet that is like a family member.
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
BFP!
I can't believe it! I'm pregnant! We have been trying for a couple months with no results. Then, today just before lunch I realized that my cycle was due any day and that I could probably try to take a pee test. I happened to have one in my desk drawer (long story) so I stuffed it into my pants pocket and headed to the bathroom. Sure enough, there were two lines! I still can't really believe it!
I thought about waiting to tell Scott until I got home, but there was no way that I could sit still. So, I grabbed the cell phone and headed to the car. Needless to say, he was really happy! I think I am still floating on air, and it hasn't really hit me yet, but I am sure it will. Soon.
I thought about waiting to tell Scott until I got home, but there was no way that I could sit still. So, I grabbed the cell phone and headed to the car. Needless to say, he was really happy! I think I am still floating on air, and it hasn't really hit me yet, but I am sure it will. Soon.
Tuesday, September 4, 2007
Still Standing....sort of
Let's just say, I am glad to be sitting down again. We were so busy this weekend that I have no idea how we got everything done. Saturday and Sunday passed in a blur of cleaning and prepping and scrubbing. Caleb was a trooper all the way through, even though Mom and Dad were so busy and didn't get a chance to play with him too much. The good news is that the party on Sunday went really well. The Kiwi's had a great time and stayed for more than 5 hours. We have enough food left over to feed an army and we will be eating potato salad for the next week at least. The fridge is busting at the seams and we aren't going to be able to see the back of it for a while.
The good news is that my house is the cleanest it has been since we moved in six years ago. It is nice knowing that all I have to do is pick up a little clutter and a few toys and the house will be sparkling again. After the cupcake debacle (more on that later) my kitchen needs some definite attention but I just didn't have the energy to deal with it last night. I will tackle it tonight when I get home and that is good enough for right this minute.
Yesterday was Caleb's birthday and we just took it easy and enjoyed the day as a family. Caleb opened some gifts and then watched a little TV. I got up early to do some dishes and then decided to see what I had in the cupboard to make a birthday cake for the little man. That is when I made my first mistake....I asked Caleb what kind of cake he wanted. He said strawberry. Strawberry? I had white, yellow and chocolate. I even had an angel food, but no strawberry cake mix. Since I wanted to make cupcakes for him to take to school today, I decided that I would just run to the grocery store to pick up a couple of quick items. Get to the cake aisle....no strawberry cake mixes. Hmmmm....picked up some strawberry extract and since I knew I had a white cake mix at home, I figured that would work. I would just find a recipe online to help me with the ratio. Grabbed some strawberry frosting and a couple of other things and headed home. It was a gorgeous day and I was driving the TJ with the top down. Can't get much better.
So I get home, and get ready to make the cake quick before we head out for a day of fun. That way it would be cool and ready to frost during nap time. Perfect! Get Caleb all set to help, pull everything out of the fridge....only have 2 eggs and we need three. Crap! Remember how I just got back from the store? yeah.....so I run next door to Cindy's and borrow an egg from her fridge and run back. By this time, Caleb is getting antsy. We quickly get the cake mix put together and put it into the oven. Twenty minutes later I am curious as to how it is turning out and it just doesn't seem to be rising all that much. I think the humidity was wreaking havoc on the cake and the top came out all sticky and gross even though the cake inside was finished. Thought it might firm up as it cooled....nope, it stayed sticky and mushy.
So then we run out the door to go to Red Robin (Caleb's favorite) for his birthday lunch. Have to take the long way since Caleb doesn't like to go fast with the top down on the TJ. Nice drive and a very nice lunch. From there we went to play mini golf, which is something that Caleb seems to really enjoy. The only problem was that we decided to go mini golfing on the hottest and busiest day of the year. By the time we got done with 15 holes we were dead and decided to basically skip the last few. We grabbed some desperately needed water and headed home for a much needed nap.
During nap time, I was going to make the cup cakes for Caleb to take to school on Tuesday to share with his friends. Decided I was going to try to a cute recipe that I saw using ice cream cones instead of cup cake wrappers. Guess what else I forgot to buy? That's right, ice cream cones! Scott ran to the store to pick up all the stuff I had forgotten earlier while I worked at getting the cake mix prepped. Got everything into the oven pretty painlessly, but when it came time to pull them out, only half of the batter in each cone actually baked while the other half was raw. Gross! Tried to salvage a few of them but decided to give up. Stopped at the store on the way to school the next morning to BUY cupcakes, which is what I should have done in the first place. I am done trying to make cupcakes....they just never want to turn out for me. How sad is that?
The good news is that my house is the cleanest it has been since we moved in six years ago. It is nice knowing that all I have to do is pick up a little clutter and a few toys and the house will be sparkling again. After the cupcake debacle (more on that later) my kitchen needs some definite attention but I just didn't have the energy to deal with it last night. I will tackle it tonight when I get home and that is good enough for right this minute.
Yesterday was Caleb's birthday and we just took it easy and enjoyed the day as a family. Caleb opened some gifts and then watched a little TV. I got up early to do some dishes and then decided to see what I had in the cupboard to make a birthday cake for the little man. That is when I made my first mistake....I asked Caleb what kind of cake he wanted. He said strawberry. Strawberry? I had white, yellow and chocolate. I even had an angel food, but no strawberry cake mix. Since I wanted to make cupcakes for him to take to school today, I decided that I would just run to the grocery store to pick up a couple of quick items. Get to the cake aisle....no strawberry cake mixes. Hmmmm....picked up some strawberry extract and since I knew I had a white cake mix at home, I figured that would work. I would just find a recipe online to help me with the ratio. Grabbed some strawberry frosting and a couple of other things and headed home. It was a gorgeous day and I was driving the TJ with the top down. Can't get much better.
So I get home, and get ready to make the cake quick before we head out for a day of fun. That way it would be cool and ready to frost during nap time. Perfect! Get Caleb all set to help, pull everything out of the fridge....only have 2 eggs and we need three. Crap! Remember how I just got back from the store? yeah.....so I run next door to Cindy's and borrow an egg from her fridge and run back. By this time, Caleb is getting antsy. We quickly get the cake mix put together and put it into the oven. Twenty minutes later I am curious as to how it is turning out and it just doesn't seem to be rising all that much. I think the humidity was wreaking havoc on the cake and the top came out all sticky and gross even though the cake inside was finished. Thought it might firm up as it cooled....nope, it stayed sticky and mushy.
So then we run out the door to go to Red Robin (Caleb's favorite) for his birthday lunch. Have to take the long way since Caleb doesn't like to go fast with the top down on the TJ. Nice drive and a very nice lunch. From there we went to play mini golf, which is something that Caleb seems to really enjoy. The only problem was that we decided to go mini golfing on the hottest and busiest day of the year. By the time we got done with 15 holes we were dead and decided to basically skip the last few. We grabbed some desperately needed water and headed home for a much needed nap.
During nap time, I was going to make the cup cakes for Caleb to take to school on Tuesday to share with his friends. Decided I was going to try to a cute recipe that I saw using ice cream cones instead of cup cake wrappers. Guess what else I forgot to buy? That's right, ice cream cones! Scott ran to the store to pick up all the stuff I had forgotten earlier while I worked at getting the cake mix prepped. Got everything into the oven pretty painlessly, but when it came time to pull them out, only half of the batter in each cone actually baked while the other half was raw. Gross! Tried to salvage a few of them but decided to give up. Stopped at the store on the way to school the next morning to BUY cupcakes, which is what I should have done in the first place. I am done trying to make cupcakes....they just never want to turn out for me. How sad is that?
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