Success!(es!)

The end of May means that school is winding down which in turn means the end of tutoring season. The totals for this year are roughly a dozen calls of interest, three students who did come for geometry help, one student who stopped coming without explanation or even calling to cancel (can you feel the bitterness) and two students who stuck it out till the end.

One of those students has been struggling to pass but received good grades the last couple of quizzes. Yeah! On her last day, she and her mother showed up with these:



They like me, they really like me.

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I mentioned a while ago that the Women's Organization at church asked me to teach how to make a rosary. That was last night and it went pretty well.

I had to order the cord myself, as well as measure, cut and melt the ends. And I had to bring Xander along, but he sat in his stroller and chuckled for most of it.

There were 10 women there, which is a good size when you are walking around showing how to wrap a cord around your finger to make a pretty knot. As with any class, some caught onto it and others struggled. But everyone stayed in a good mood and there were two women who actually finished their rosaries.

Overall, I think it was a good experience. Some were talking about having a 'craft night' for the Women's group and possibly making the rosaries for other organizations. I will be surprised but thrilled if that happened. I'll let you know.

Proof that boys have cooties

So Chris mentioned that he had poison ivy. It was almost two weeks ago that if first appeared after he had worked in the yard. Within a week he had passed it on to me.

Last week I found a spot of it on my waist. Hey, I've had poison ivy before, no problem, I can tough it out. This week it has spread down my leg and across my back. Suddenly it is insanely itchy. I mean, last night spent an hour rolling and trying not to scratch. And it is red and swollen and ugly.

While tempted to try bleach, I instead went to the doctor. It was confirmed what I suspected - not poison ivy but some kind of contact dermatitis. And the reason that it is just now getting bad is because I was on a steroid for my toothache (did I mention that I am not getting a root canal - huzzah!) but when that prescription ran out this rash flared up with a vengeance.

So now I have more steroids to take. The problem is they are much stronger and Xander can't nurse while I'm taking them. So within the next week you'll find some stories over on his blog about how we are handling the abrupt weaning. This should be interesting.

Another Weekend, Another Post

Once again, it turned into a pretty decent weekend.

On Friday night we went to eat at a steakhouse with my youngest brother and his girlfriend. Xander was a little fussy with all of the noise and people, but I've finally mastered holding a baby and eating at the same time. After, Lee came back to our place for a fun game of Clue and we watched the second Fantastic Four movie. I don't recommend playing Clue and watching a movie at the same time, but we made it happen.

Chris went to the Rock on the Range concert on Saturday, so Xander and I hung around the house like any ole day. I did work on replanting some flowers I'd received for Mother's Day. Here are the gerber daises and geraniums.













And here are the azaleas that bloomed this week. They are such a gorgeous, vibrant color I just had to share.

I did some other chores, played with Xander and decided to treat myself with trying a new dessert. I made brownie pudding. It doesn't look like much, but it tastes amazing with mint chocolate chip ice cream.


I was carrying Xander while taking pictures. At one point he realized that I wasn't taking pictures of him, so he tried to remedy that.


On Sunday we spent a couple of hours walking around the local arts festival. I checked out the totes and bags being sold there. Pricey, but oh so much nicer than the ones I make. Plus I'd need to get tables and such for a booth. So I don't think I'll be going into business any time soon.

But it was fun just walking around with anther couple and their baby. We checked out some of the small shops downtown, saw the pet parade (they mean dog parade, there were no other animals in sight) and ate lunch while watching the local dance company perform. It was all very Gilmore-Girls-esque.

My first Mother's Day

What a great weekend.

On Friday, Chris and Xander took me to get my Mother's Day gift. It was 27 Dresses. Then we picked up pizza from a new place. It was actually good pizza with yummy crust. We have had a hard time finding any good local pizza. The place isn't that close to us, but we can save it for special occasions.

Saturday was beautiful, so it was yard day. Chris and Xander mowed and weeded and such. I bought a few marigolds, white petunias and vintas. I couldn't find impatiens, which I usually like. Then we had Game Night! It was a small crowd but loads of fun, I don't think we've ever had such a hard core game of SceneIt.

Sunday I received several phone calls and texts for Mother's Day, which made me feel very special. We packed up and went to visit my family for the day. Good thing too, there was apparently a huge storm here with a tornado. It was really great to see everyone and to just hang out (and let other people hold Xander).

I've gone on a sewing tear these past weeks. I finished making a pair of jeans into a skirt. I made three new bags. Two are based off of grocery bags and a tutorial I found online. They fold up so I can put them in my bag and bring them to stores to use. It's the first time I've actually had requests to make a couple, albeit 'more manly' or 'less bright'. Chris still wants me to make some to sell, but I don't know where to sell except the craft show at the church in the fall.

If only I could make a cozy for my tooth

About a week and a half ago I partook of ice cream cake and have been paying for it ever since. My teeth hurt. The right half of my mouth felt like it was soaking in ice filled water. Oragel wasn't doing much, but the Arm and Hammer toothpaste helped. Now the pain is mostly gone during the day, but I still wake up with it at night.

So today I managed to finagle an appointment at the dentist. The diagnosis is that one molar in the back is the culprit. The dentist has referred me to a specialist to get a root canal. Then I'll return to the dentist for a crown.

There goes our economic stimulus money. And now I feel old.

Chris thinks I should just get the tooth pulled.

In other news, I gave Chris part of his birthday gift early.



I knit this beer cozy from a pattern in a book called "Knitting with Balls." It required I go to an actual yarn store to buy special yarn with elastic in it. Yeah, I'm one of those people now. It was knitted in the round and turned out pretty snazzy. So snazzy , in fact, that I knitted one for Ukie for his birthday too. But Ukie is special and I tried cables for the first time on his.

Morning of the Lepus

Last Sunday, as we were getting ready for church, I saw two little bunnies enjoying our back yard. When suddenly one bunny turned and charged full speed at the second bunny! Then the second bunny leaped high into the air over the first one as it rocketed towards him! That second bunny easily reached three feet high.

They proceeded to do this twice more. Crazy!

Is this some sort of display of super-bunny-powers? Or the bunny version of bull fighting? Or were they just training to jump the fence into our new garden?

I was going to do a screen cap from Night of the Lepus, but I couldn't find a decent one. So in a moment of nostalgia, here is a screen cap for you to guess.