Finally! No more cold legs!

Back in August, I made my way to the fancy yarn shop and bought fingering weight yarn (that means skinny for the non-yarn-initiated) and size 2 DPN (skinny double pointed needles) to make Fortuny Baby Leggings for Josie. It took me quite a while to choose a color, not because of the large assortment but because I just wanted the perfect color that would compliment Josie's coloring and would go with her outfits. I ended up with this nice shade of pink rather than a light pink or purple. The pattern itself wasn't difficulty, it just took forever since it was knitting with skinny yarn and skinny needles.


Ideally, these would be perfect to throw on under a dress on a cool autumn evening. This has backfired for two reasons. First, I'm not a big dress person, so I haven't bought Josie many (any) dresses. Second, I made the bottoms too tight. I was afraid Josie's chubby little baby thighs would be too big, but no I just made the ankle parts a little too snug. That's ok, they are still cute and even if Josie doesn't get good use out of them, there are many babies on the way.

It was disgusting

Chris picked up dinner the other night and we all sat down to dinner. At one point I reach to the counter for a biscuit and notice a slimey smear on the counter. Then I look a little closer.

Hugs: EW! There's a slug on the counter!

Chicks: Huh, there is a slug on the counter!

Like I would lie about having a slug on the kitchen counter. It obviously snuck into the house on the back of an advertisement that Chris picked up off of the lawn and then put on the counter. When I say 'obvious' I mean that the slug trail led directly back to the advertisement.

Well, I wasn't about to touch it. Chris seemed more concerned about eating (and I can't blame him, it was a late dinner). So I attempt to ignore the slug in the room. That lasted about five minutes. But when I looked, it was gone! The only place it could have gone was over the edge. I slowly walk around the counter, afraid that if I moved too fast it would jump out at me and slime me a la Slimer.

It took me a second, but I finally found the slug hanging from it's own slime trail like a spider. I, of course, shrieked and backed away. Chris, of course, got up and took a close look. Then he got the camera and took lots of pictures.

Chicks: Cool, you can see it moving.

By 'moving' he meant writhing on the end of it's slime trail as it ever so slowly grew closer to the ground.

Finally, Chris took it outside. But I now have a fear of slugs hanging from trees and me walking into them.

And now I'm hungry

Ah, to be 31. Older but wiser. I totally wore my tiara on my birthday last week, even though it felt a little silly to do laundry in a tiara.

Recently I've become a little obsessed with food blogs. To be more specific, baking blogs. Why don't I just come out and say it, cakes and cookies. Mmmmm. I even happened upon CakeLove at the library and read it. I read a cookbook. Yeah.

Anyway, for my birthday I tried my hand at my grandma's chocolate cake. I always use box mixes for cake, so it was a little weird to sift the flour and melt the chocolate. It looks all fancy with the drippy icing and cake stand, doesn't it? It was all I could do to keep my dad away from it until cake time at Xander's birthday party. It turned out pretty well, just oddly crispy around the edges.


I didn't forget about Xander's cake. I did use a butter cake mix for his and it tasted great. My mom had given a combo gift of a cupcake mold shaped like a penguin so I could make Xander a penguin cake for his birthday. I was a little late getting the icing done, so I used icing bought at the store which was a little thin for decorating. And I didn't want to buy black icing so I used blue. It took me a few minutes to figure out the eyes, but I just popped in a couple of chocolate chips. So here is Xander's blue, juggling penguin that breaks apart into cupcakes.

Just for Filler

I can't find the pictures I want to include in a blog I just wrote, so here's something to fill the time. It's been a while since I've done a 'Guess the Screen Capture', so here is one on long ago cartoons. Do you know what shows these are from? Leave your guess in the comments. I feel like I may have done these before...

1)

2)

3)

When my little pleasures collide

Dr. Horrible

plus

Cake Wrecks

equals

(Dr.) Horrible Sunday Sweets

I was going to make Xander a penguin cupcake cake (you read that right) for his/my birthday but maybe I need my own cake after all.

He laughed all the way home

Chris's mom visited last week and was kind enough to help out with the kids. One day we all piled into Maxxwell the Malibu Maxx and headed out for some errands in town. Things went smoothly and we finished up and headed home when we were stopped in a turn lane waiting for the light.

Just as the light changed, the man in the van next to us signaled for MIL (mother-in-law) to roll down her window. We give each other a look and she does. The man tells us that we have keys hanging from the back of the car.

Huh. I recalled Chris saying he couldn't find his keys for my car after he took my car the day before. So we thank the man, I pull around the corner and pull over.

Yeah, I don't have a keyhole in the back of my car. I always use my fob to open the trunk, so I don't pay much attention. There are definitely not keys hanging from the keyhole in the back of Maxxwell. So I thought 'he didn't say where they were hanging from...' so I look all over the back of the car. I open up the hatchback and look around. I let MIL look around. Nothing.

So maybe they were hanging off the edge of the bumper and slid off. We hop into the car and circle the block, checking for keys that may be in the road. Nothing.

We go home and check the car over again. Nothing.

I call Chris to tell him about this and Chris is like 'I have my keys in my pocket right now.'

By golly, I think I was punked.

All that work for one hour of wear

The Baptismal gown is done! Which is good since the Baptism was this past weekend. Even though Josie only wore it for about an hour, I'm really happy I made it. Not only did I learn some new things about sewing, it's a real boost to my ego that I can make something nice. Oh, it's by no means perfect. I could point out the mistakes. But unless you are better at sewing than me (yeah, Julie and Sarah, you can look away) you won't notice the mistakes.

I added the little flowers to the front for prettiness. I was going to add some more along the bottom seam but due to time I did not. I think it might have been overkill anyway.

The finishing touch was the shoes I found at the neighbor's garage sale. They are pink and cute!

I made cupcakes and Chris bought chocolate icing. I wanted to make little crosses out of sprinkles on each one but that didn't work out. I won't go into how many ways we tried to get it to work. Finally I just used the cupcakes themselves to make a cross.

Hopefully the cantoloupe will be this big

We received our CSA delivery again last week and it included one turnip. Yeah, only one. One the size of Xander's head!


Chris has picked several cucumbers from our garden and they are all curved at least a little. The other day I saw one and laughed.

Hugs: Chris, look at this cucumber! It's round!

Chicks: Or it's a cantaloupe and not a cucumber.

You know, that other part of my life

Ah. Isn't summer nice and relaxing? No school, just a newborn and toddler to sap my energy. But notebooks and pencils are showing up in the stores again, so classes are looming.

Last year, as I'm sure all of you remember, I taught and I tutored. Teaching was awesome, overall. Four students for 45 minutes a day? All of them highly motivated and intelligent? Awesome. They all earned their Algebra credit with flying colors and will start their high school careers with Geometry.

Or, as I found out yesterday, they will start with Geometry and Algebra 2. Told you they were motivated. One of the girls from my class last year lives in my neighborhood and I ran into her and her mother while out for a walk yesterday. The mother even inquired about getting extra help for student when school starts. Hello tutoring!

Yesterday afternoon that same student called and asked to stop by real quick. Turns out that she and her mother bought Josie a few gifts. They like me, they really like me!

As for tutoring last year, I let go of the high school student because she was not showing up and I'm pretty sure just using tutoring as an excuse to get out of the house. I did stick with the 7th grade girl who wanted to study ahead so she could get into my Algebra class. The testing to get into the class was in May and the results took until the very last day of school to get. Keep in mind that my job (the awesomest job) kind of hinges on students passing the tests to get into the class. It was a little tense.

The student I tutored was the only one to pass with flying colors! Yeah for her! And a little yeah for me! Her parents already told me that they talked me up to some future 7th grader parents, so possibly more tutoring!

(Um, about all of that tutoring... I have a newborn and toddler at home. Hopefully that will work out).

Of course, one student does not a class make. So after re-testing, five more students were added to the class. Again, yeah! Of course now I have the fun of being moved to the computer lab that does not have a chalkboard or smartboard. The computer teacher has a plan, so I'll let you know how that pans out. Oh, and the great fun of finding a new babysitter (for a newborn and a toddler already) for while I teach is only mildly stressing.

And finally, there are the classes I am taking so I can renew my teaching license which is expiring... right... now. It involves videos and books and lots of typing. Oh my. I received an A- in the first class. The second class is nearly done. Once I send it in and get the transcript and send in the license application I should be good to go. I hope. *gulp*

Xander's Room

Since we've moved Xander's room I have had to do a little work to make it 'his'. I decided that he needed to see his name in his room so Chris painted these letters white and I added yellow, blue and green stripes. It doesn't look great on the counter but I think it will look awesome on his light blue walls.


The flowery curtain that the room previously contained had to go. So I found this striped material that worked. This curtain turned out so well even if it does look slightly circus-esque.


And of course a matching pillow. I managed to whip this out today and even learned a new way to make a pillow cover. It's amazing what you learn when you read!


I know many of you are thinking "Wow, she has a newborn and a toddler and she's doing all of this?!" Well, the curtain was done pre-Josie. The letters were done while Josie napped and Chris had Xander. And the curtain was done instead of the massive amount of chores I haven't done in weeks. Obviously I have my priorities in the right place.

And that bunch of green is called what?

Our vegetable garden is growing really well this year, thanks to Chris. I'm not sure what all we have growing, but it includes cauliflower, tomatoes (of course), peppers, cantaloupe and zucchini. The zucchini plant is huge and is slowly taking over one end of the garden, so I better figure out what else to make besides zucchini bread. Mmm, that sounds good right now. Zucchini bread with chocolate chips, yum! I did see a recipe for stuffed zucchini, maybe I'll give that a try.

We also decided to join a CSA program (Community Supported Agriculture). There were different amounts we could decide on and we prepayed one amount. We decided on getting one portion of vegetables and one portion of fruits every other week. Here's what we received the first time I picked it up.


I don't even remember everything we received. It included those beautiful strawberries, beets, turnips, broccoli raab (??), and a couple other things that I have no idea about. I'm really having to expand my taste bud spectrum here. I don't know half of the veggies that they give me or how to prepare them. I've never really eaten beets! The upside is that the program gave me the nifty bag you see in the photo and they also include a couple of recipes for the vegetables included. Slowly I will learn.

Does nesting = crafting?

About a month ago I realized there were several projects that I needed to get to, some I just wanted to do and some that have been on the back burner for a while (...Chris's sweater...). So I sat down and made a list of crafts I had in mind. I had 14 things! Some are important to get done, like the baptismal gown I'm trying to sew (have I mentioned that I am crazyinsane and am trying to sew a baptismal gown for Enchilada? that's because it's harder than anything I've tried before and I keep hitting points where the directions make no sense), some are projects that seem like now is a good time to get them done (see below) and some will stay on the back burner (...Chris's sweater...).

Just so you know, a couple of weeks ago we moved Xander from his room (which I now call the yellow room to stop confusing myself) to the old guest room (the blue room). When I moved his curtain (I think the proper term is 'valance') over to the blue room it didn't look right with the blue walls. When I moved the curtain back to the yellow room I became disgusted at how poorly it hung. You know how curtains are supposed to be all smooshed up and billowy? Yeah, this curtain was not wide enough for the rod and hung there like a limp rag.

So I ripped it apart. Really, I just ripped the seams. Then I cut the length in half and sewed together the sides to make a wide curtain. But now it was too short. So I bought purple material to add to the top. Viola!

When I went to mark 'fix curtain' off of my craft list, I realized I'd never put it on the list. Oops.

Next for the yellow room I decided to make a French memory board, roughly using these directions. Xander had a cork board that we'd used to post pictures and such, so I thought the memo board would be cuter. Chris suggested making one for Xander too, since the cork board is old and is not as attractive as it used to be. It took me four freaking trips to the craft store to get everything! The big problem was I kept running out of ribbon, because I definitely used more than the 5-6 yards the directions stated.

Here is the memo board for the yellow room.


Oh, and don't get me started on getting the ribbons to line up either. My poor math brain kept trying to figure out measurements and I kept getting stymied by the ribbon not lining up at the corners. It turned out really nice, but I know they are not exact rhombi and that will always bother me.

Here's the one for Xander in the blue room.

The canal to the root of my pain

Last year at about this time I was enjoying some ice cream cake in honor of Chris's birthday. And one of the bites that had some of the chocolatey chips in it hit the wrong spot on a tooth. Immense, blinding pain for about two seconds followed by days of aching (enough to wake me up) and not being able to chew on the right side of my mouth.

I caved and went to the dentist where I was told the dreaded words "root canal" and I was referred to an endodontist. The endodontist said that it appeared that the problem was actually some cracks in my tooth and a possible infection. I was told that I can avoid the root canal but possibly get a crown to hold my poor tooth together.

At this point I switched to a tooth paste that contained baking soda and that helped to clear the problem up pretty quickly. So, no pain = no crown and no root canal. I went merrily on my way.

Until April of this year, almost a year later. I was sitting there, enjoying my Raisan Bran and one little grain goes to the wrong area and I get the whammy again. Fortunately, it disappaited by nightfall. But over the next week it is definitely not doing well. So I was off to see the dentist again and was referred to the endodontist again.

As a sidenote, the dentist, endodontist and dental hygentists are all very concerned and helpful when you come in seven months pregnant. Not that they haven't been nice in the past. But if you want an extra pillow and less x-rays, you should consider getting dental work done when pregnant. I don't know what to tell the guys, you'll still have to suck it up and act manly.

So I get the root canal. It wasn't horrible or even bad. It helped that I kept my eyes shut for most of the time and didn't try to ask what the buzzing noise was or what the pincushion of needles was for. I went home an hour later with a lopsided grin and was told to be careful because there were still the cracks in the tooth.

But my tooth hurt for almost another week! My youngest brother was all like "I didn't have any pain after my root canal" so I hit him and asked if that hurt. Me, I was popping Tylenol. And the worse part is that I guess I clench my teeth when I roll over at night and when I sneeze because it would hurt. Then a week later I realized I didn't need any Tylenol. No pain! Huzzah!

The next day I was enjoying a bowl of Capt'n Crunch when I felt a weird sensation that reminded me of my youth. It reminded me of the time I was eating ice cream (or the time with the bubble gum) where I realized that my tooth was loose and about to come out. So I paused mid-chew and experimentally touched the tooth. And the front quarter of it fell off. Yeah, part of my tooth fell off.

I freaked a little, but no one was around to witness so I'm going to say I calmly called the dentist to find out what to do. Since there is still no pain, they kindly moved up the date to get a crown put on. Ok. Well then. No need to panic.

Every once in a while I look in the mirror at the tooth, all the way in the back, and can see a cross section of a filling, temporary filling and the rest of the tooth. I can't wait to get it fixed.

Momma's Day

Here's a little story for you. Way back in February, when I went to visit Chris in California, I took a long plane ride (shocking, I know). The first leg was on an airline with open seating and since I was at the end of the line I was stuck in between a man and a woman. Turns out that they were together (husband and wife, but that was never specifically said) (and really, what are they doing with a seat between them anyway).

Well, the husband is also a math teacher and goes on to tell me about how calculators and cell phones are the death of math education and why students are so dumb today. I politely disagreed with the calculator thing.

The wife told me about how once a month they take a weekend to go visit her son, son's wife and grandkids in Las Vegas. She proceeded to tell me that her daughter-in-law doesn't like her much because she buys the grandchildren ice cream and such. Turns out that the daughter-in-law is Chinese and has rules that this woman is not used to, such as food restrictions, no athletics, and just being uncomfortable with things like hugs. I'm thinking 'Hey, different culture, it's not like the kids are suffering.' But I didn't say anything.

Then she brings up that the daughter-in-law doesn't understand OSU mania and why family will question the kids being in blue and gold. I roll my eyes a little, but since I'm coming from OSU fan-world I don't say anything. Turns out this woman bought an OSU sweatshirt for the oldest grandchild to purposefully instigate a fight. My only response was that if the sweatshirt only has an 'O' with a buckeye leaf then it doesn't necessarily mean sports.

When I got off the plane I gave thanks that I do NOT have a mother-in-law like that. Really, who tries to start a fight with family like that?

In fact my mother-in-law gave me a gift card for a pedicure for Mother's Day. And my mom gave me a bag of sample size beauty stuff (creams, etc). So I will look great while in labor!

And thanks to everyone who wished me a Happy Mother's Day. It made me feel like it was my birthday :)

Oh, Chris and Xander took me to buy flowers for the flower pots around the house. I'll post pictures at some point because they are really pretty.

Cut it out

Just before Easter I had the strange urge to buy Easter cookie cutters. I've never before made sugar cookies and cut them out and it's been awhile since I've baked and decorated anything, so I figured it was time. Then Easter snuck up and I saw pre-rolled sugar cookies and figured what the heck. Then Easter passed and I never made my Easter cookies. They would have been darned cute too.

So I had the cookie dough sitting in the fridge and finally managed to use it. Instead of the Easter cookie cutters, I used the train cookie cutters we received from my mother-in-law. And I made buttercream icing and decorated them myself. Unfortunately, it was a day that was hot and I became tired of standing and decorating pretty quickly. It soon became 'wheel, wheel, window, done'. But they taste good and look pretty and that's what counts, right?


On Easter, my mom gave me Hello, Cupcake! and we sat around looking at all of the possibilities. And I don't think I'll have the time to make many of them soon, but there are lots of great ideas and none of them include fondant, which I have no idea how to use.

Return of Chris

Ah. I didn't quite realize how tough the past three weeks have been until they were over. For those who didn't know, Chris was on a business trip to England for nearly three weeks and just returned on Saturday. I managed to keep up with Xander, not let the house get destroyed (although the CD collection will never be the same) and even ate my veggies like a good expectant mother.

A big thanks to people who visited, babysat and ate out with me (and Xander).

Chris told me that he bought me a souvenir and that it was a shirt from a maternity shop. I have to admit that I expected a big t-shirt with a flag across the stomach. Instead Chris bought me this shirt at a downtown London boutique! Not something I would have picked out, but I love it and I am getting so many compliments on it!

Chris told me to go out and enjoy myself, but I haven't had a chance yet. So I'm totally scheduling a mani/pedi for next week, just in time for the wedding I'm in.

It smells vaguely of roses

In preparation for attending the Columbus Crew games that I have tickets for, I wanted to knit a scarf. Nothing fancy, just black and gold stripes. But by the time I got around to it I realized I wouldn't finish a long scarf. So I figured I'd whip out a hat. I used the same pattern that I used to make a hat for Chris, just different yarn. What a difference that makes!


Chris's hat is a beanie. This hat is definitely not. When I finished it last night, I had a faint hope that if I blocked it (soaked it, shaped it and let it dry) it might work. But the only way to lay it only accentuated the problem.


So I'll be wearing a beret to the games. And eventually a scarf. And very possibly I'll add a pom-pom to the beret, because I feel I should make it as funny looking as possible.

Have I mentioned that I'm not really a beret person?

Shrinkage Ahead

Sorry for being unable to update as much. If I'm on the computer, Xander either wants to be on the computer or decides to make a wreck of the CD collection. He goes no where near the CDs unless I'm typing, so I must be doing something wrong. I need to be scarier.

*Insert witty segue here* (I just found out how to spell 'segue', I originally had in 'segway' which I knew wasn't what I meant)

A couple of weeks ago I was shopping for groceries and had to pick up ice cream with all of the other essentials. My method of choosing is to see what is on sale and pick a yummy flavor from the 'lite' selection. No problem, fudge brownie chocolate!

A couple of days later I decide to have some fudgey brownie chocolatey goodness. As I'm pulling off the lid I realize something is off. As I stare down at the container I nearly curse aloud. Ok, I would have just said 'Fudge' but I restrained myself. The ice cream container is definitely smaller! Shrinkage! And probably not caused by the cold!

When you look at the front, the length and width look the same. But the depth of the container has definitely decreased. Sneaky! I noticed Edy's shrank a while ago, but it was a noticable change. This I didn't notice until opening the ice cream.

I know it's what companies are doing, especially to save money in this economy. Shrink the package, thus less product in each package, but keep charging the same price. I tell you, it makes me grumpy! I don't care if they leave out one olive from every jar (mostly because I don't eat olives). Even the dimple in the Skippy jar didn't bother me much. But now they are messing with my ice cream. I'd say those are fighting words, but I'm not really going to fight it. I'm just going to get grumpy and stare at the grocery shelves.

He'd need to shave his legs though

This morning, as Chris was getting ready to leave for work, I was hanging in the kitchen and Xander was chugging his morning milk, I commented that it was supposed to be nice today and maybe Xander and I would explore the back yard. Chris replied that this summer would be fun playing back there. I said yeah, especially telling Xander what he can't touch. Chris agreed, saying to Xander....

Chicks: Stay out of Daddy's flower beds!

Hugs: I thought they were our flower beds? I mean, I know you do most of the work.... (I was thinking that I at least pick out the flowers)

Chicks: Yeah, there's the raking, watering, weeding, planting, trimming. So stay out of Daddy's flower beds!

Hugs: You know, according to that logic, you are wearing my clothes. Look Xander, Daddy is wearing Mom's clothes!

Chicks: ...... Have a good day Xander. (leaves)

Bitterness

I mentioned quite a while ago that I was knitting Chris a sweater.

That was sidetracked by the need to knit Xander a hat and mittens.


Now I'm back on Chris's sweater. And I've realized that I've totally messed it up. Oh, it looks all nifty, but it won't make a sweater. I didn't read the directions very well. I'm using circular needles (two needles attached by a plastic cord) which are used to knit 'in the round' or to make a circle or tube. For instance, Xander's hat.

Yeah, they didn't want me to do that at all. They wanted me to use circular needles to knit a flat surface (like a scarf) to make the back of the sweater. And then do the same to make the front. And I have a lot knitted. And it includes cables, which turned out great but were a lot of work. And I've tried to figure out how to salvage my work without ripping it apart. And I spent some decent money on the yarn for this sweater, so I don't want to just toss it aside. But I think it's going to have to be pulled apart and started over.

I'm so mad at myself about this I won't even take pictures of what I have done to show off. Augh!

A Conversation with Him

I walk by Chris as he is working on the computer and see Facebook up.

Hugs: You know, I don't know if I like you chatting with all of these girls that you knew in high school.

Chicks: She has a boyfriend!

Hugs: And you have a wife!

Chicks: Um....so I didn't have a good comeback?

No, sweetie, you did not.

Twitch, twitch

I know my life isn't exactly a stressful thing, especially compared to some of the active lives of my friends and family. But I've managed to develop an eye twitch today. My right eyelid just keeps sliding a little bit to the left and right. You don't see it unless you are looking for it, or you're trying to look out of said eye.

The big thing right now is that my teaching license expires this summer and I need to renew it. So here are the issues:

1) What is required for me to renew the license? I originally had a teaching certificate and when I renewed it I received a license. I think I just need 6 hours of classes, but one place on the website said something about a master's degree. When I emailed the Department of Ed asking this, they sent me a copy and paste of the website instead of a yes/no to if I was correct on only needing 6 hours.

2) Where do I get the six hours of classes? I can't really go to a classroom, since Xander isn't old enough to be left alone. So I was looking at online classes and some classes sent on DVD.

3) How do I pay for the classes? Holy smokes, my last school spoiled me rotten and paid for/reimbursed/had special deals for classes. Classes are freakin' expensive! And after that, the actual license renewal is still pretty pricey.

I was going to do a web class but they wouldn't give me any price info without me turning over my first born. And Xander is still kind of cute, so that didn't work. My neighbor is going through the same thing and decided to do a correspondence course. So it looks like I will sign up with her.

To add to the fun, the first Craft Night is a week and a half away! I have to get ready for that!

And Xander is testing his boundaries by trying to play with CDs and sitting on the filing cabinents!

And I'm pregnant and tired!

And the twitch is becoming like a personal strobe light for my right eye!

I quit!

I don't know if I have mentioned it here, but I am tutoring again this school year. I have a returning student from last year who is now a junior and a 7th grader who is trying to prep to get into the 8th grade Algebra. I've had a few other calls of interest but all have been from the Catholic high school I worked at a couple of years ago and now no longer live near. So once I explain that tutoring is in my home and it's a fair drive (unless you live in the area) I don't hear back.

The junior I am tutoring received her drivers license in November. She was coming twice a week for a half hour each time. Since she has started driving herself, her attendance has been sporadic.

She missed a day and I called and talked to her father who said that she talked like she made it to tutoring. The next time I saw her she apologized and said she spaced out.

Then she missed a week. I left messages with parents and received a text from the junior apologizing for missing.

The next week she texted both days to let me know she couldn't make it. Both times less than an hour before she was supposed to be here.

Then there was the school break. After break she again missed a week and didn't cancel. So I had finally had enough. From the last ten times we were scheduled to meet, she had made it twice. Half of the times she missed she gave me less than an one hour notice. The other times I was left hanging. So I called her parents and left messages saying she hadn't made it and I would no longer be available for tutoring. I was a little chicken and didn't specify that her not showing up was the reason, I was just vague and said I was no longer available.

So imagine my surprise on Monday when the junior shows up at my doorstop for tutoring! "Um," I say, "I left messages with your parents that I wouldn't be able to tutor anymore." She tells me that her dad yelled at her to make it to tutoring. I think I was pretty straightforward in the message, so maybe he didn't listen to all of it? She asks if she can be tutored one more time and I look around trying to find some reason not to, but finally mutter that sure I can today.

I log off of the computer, wheel Xander around in his high chair (where he'd just had his afternoon snack, so I'm wondering how I'll keep him under control) and grab my tutoring binder when the junior says "I don't really have anything to work on, so maybe I'll just go." At this point I try to question her to see what she's working on, but she denies doing any work in class at all. So I see her to the door and roll my eyes as she drives away.

And that entire last paragraph included her texting the entire time. Even while driving away.

Starting something

As you may have noticed on my blog, I do enjoy my crafts. Some of you may remember that I taught people how to make rosaries out of knots last summer. One of those ladies came to me and asked about setting up a craft night through the women's group at church.

So here I am in the New Year, challenging myself by trying to organize this big activity from scratch with the lady who is also a big crafter. We have to decide on when (once a month, but being more specific is hard), where, what, who, etc.

Right now we are going to spend a couple of months on the rosaries. Several people who were at my 'lesson' last time mentioned that they still haven't finished their first one. So I figure if we meet three times, people can relearn (or learn for the first time) and will have times to come back with questions or to make more.

Then we'll move on to teaching knitting and making rectangles to be sewn into blankets. My cohort even hopes to move onto hats at some point.

All of these crafts would be for charity, so we'd have to pick which charities to donate to. The big problem then would be how to afford the supplies. I'm saying this in the vast optimism that the craft night will be a success, we may have two people that show up and then we sit and stare at each other.

So if anyone has advice, I'm all ears.

A Tasty Waste of Time

Last month Dandy sent me some pictures from the website Cake Wrecks. And now I check the site every few days. It ranges from ugly cakes to beautiful cakes to grammatically incorrect cakes. December was a fine time to check it out because there were so many holiday messes. One of my favorites were cupcakes with little signs saying "Merry Christmas" surrounded by little, blue Star of Davids.

A Month Later...

I want to apologize for not updating my blog, but really it's Xander's fault. Every time I'm on the computer, he comes over and a) tries to play with the CDs, b) tries to climb onto my lap and play with the keyboard or c) causes some other havoc.

Chris doesn't have this problem. He spent may hours the past two days on the computer without Xander causing problems. It's because I don't have the loud, scary "No!" voice.

I've managed to get quite a few crafts done over the holidays. Unfortunately, I have no pictures. So use your imagination peoples.

I knitted mittens for Xander, they are a nice, bright yellow to complement his blue and yellow coat. I even made a little cord to connect the mittens and run through his coat. The first time I made the cord too long and he'd walk around with his mittens dragging on the ground, so I fixed that. Now the mittens are getting holes because Xander figured out that to take off the mittens he just has to bite them and pull. I am working on his hat now.

I made my sister a pair of pajama (lounge) pants for part of her Christmas present. I bought a flannel that was plue with purple moons and pink stars. When I arrived home I realized that it was actually a little annoying to look at, but I didn't see anything I like better at the store. My sister asked them to be made long, and she's tall to begin with, so I added like four inches to the length. They turned out pretty well and I even added a little tag so she'd know which side was the back. Well, when she tried them on they were so long that her feet were totally covered. People laughed at me, but she said she liked it (or she was trying to make me feel better).

I also made curtains for our redone master bathroom. I used a sheer, white material and directions from a book. Pretty straight forward, just a lot of material and pinning and ironing. But when I hung them up, one panel is crooked and the other is flat out shorter. When I get up the energy to rip out the seams, I will fix it. So, Ikkin, it's up to you if you'd still like me to hem your curtains.

Aaaaaand, Xander is now acting up. Later!