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!

Shocking and Life Altering!

Ok, not really. I don't have much to blog about. I could tell you about the new fancy trash can but I doubt the foot pedal would be as exciting for you as it is for me.

So I give you this: The Pop vs. Soda Map! I am squarely a 'pop' gal but am fascinated by the use of 'coke' for all carbonated beverages. I also like the quick history of each term below the map.

Pop vs. Soda

I got schooled.

Saturday I had an entire day off. All to do with as I please! Whee!

What I actually did was spend the morning in a class to make lounge pants. Because my secret yearning is to be a lounge singer. Ok, couldn't fool you on that one. Basically I made pajama pants and Chris is the lucky owner of the newly created said pants.

Then Chris called and asked me to make an emergency run for bathroom remodeling supplies. So during the first flurry of the season I drove to the store and bought plantation blinds and little tabs to hold the mirror to the wall.

I arrived home for an hour break and then was picked up for my evening activity. It was a haul to get there, but it was a girls' night out to Glass Axis. We made glass ball Christmas ornaments! Well, we picked the color and design and blew into the tube, the knowledgeable expert did the heating and twirling to make the actual bulb. It was a really fun experience and I can't wait to see my final product.

The evening ended with dinner at a small Italian restaurant. It was a little awkward for me because I only knew one person but everyone else worked together. That is ok because I heard some great gossip about the hospital. If Xander ever gets sick, I either know people who work at the hospital or know something about them to get Xander taken care of quickly.

WiPs

(That's Work in Progress)

In the sewing realm, we know 4 couples that gave birth or will give birth soon so I made a big bunch of burp cloths for everyone! I tried to personalize them a little, one neighbor has a pirate theme, my cousin has pink, yellow, purple, and the others I wasn't sure about and I used the print you see here.

My Renew group at church decided to put together a 'care' package for the priests at church. I decided my contribution would be a couple of the bags I've made. I know I was going to sell them, but with a regular teaching job I don't have as much time to make them as I had planned.


Knitting wise, I'm working hard on Xander's booties. My mom gave me a kit to make that is for advanced beginners. Yeah, sure. I've gotten most of it, and I'll try felting for the first time. But I can't for the life of me figure out the laces that go up the front when they are done.


Here is what they are supposed to look like when done (except tan and green).

And finally, here is Chris's sweater. I've started it over 4 times. The first three because I couldn't figure out something or just really messed up something. The last time was to increase the size. Seriously, it looks like a sleeve for Chris, but it's supposed to be XL! So it might end up for me, or Xander when I eventually finish it. On the plus side, I'm really getting the hang of cables.

Next up, I need to knit X a pair of mittens and a hat to match his winter coat. And Chris volunteered me to make a hat and mittens for his coworker that complimented the hat I made him last year.

Christmas comes early

For some reason, Chris took it into his head to start searching for my Christmas present extra early. He found it already and it's hanging above the bed. It's The Singing Butler by Jack Vettriano.


It's nicely framed and I smile every time I look at it (or think of it hanging in our room). There something in the picture that I (and many others) just love, though I'm not very good at expressing why. Something about the moment that the couple is enjoying in less than ideal conditions. That's something I would like to remember, to find enjoyment at any time. And a maid and butler would be nice to have too.

I avoid Steve and Jimmy

To be properly attired for my brother's wedding I needed silver, strappy shoes. And I do not like shoe shopping. And September and October are not silver, strappy shoe season in the stores. And did I mention I don't like shoe shopping?

I don't remember when the dislike started. Shoes just never seem to fit me quite right. I'm not quite a narrow, but some shoes are too wide. I am too picky about style and color. I don't like to spend money on shoes that I don't know I'll wear on some consistent basis.

The exception being my Adidas that I don't wear often but will never get rid of.

To give you an idea, my senior year I bought a pair of tan Vans. The ones with a thick sole and rubber across the toe (I'd get a picture, but can't find one). I wore those things for two years straight. They were my comfort shoes during my first year of college. I loved those shoes and when the tread was gone, my mom tried to find a replacement pair. Unfortunately, fashion moved forward and she had to get a different brand that were not the same thing.

But I digress.

I tried to shop for shoes, but the few I found and that fit cost $50+ which I didn't want to fork over.

I found a friend had been in many weddings and thought she had some. Unfortunately, they were a closed, pointed toe and half of a size too small.

So I packed up Xander and made one last effort to find a pair. Off to DSW and I actually found two pairs that worked and had to weigh the pros and cons and actually decide on one pair.

The first pair were these strappy reptile sandals. They were the first shoes I spotted after walking into the store, so I felt like it was meant to be. Pros: price, wearable with jeans. Cons: huge heel.

After meandering around I found these slingbacks in silver tucked away in clearance. They were ok. Pros: better price, lower heal. Cons: don't stay on as well, not really wearable with anything else I own.

So I wandered around some more and let Xander bop in his stroller to the new age-techno music they had going. I tried on these boots for fun and am still tempted to go back for them. And I finally decided to get the reptile sandals. I felt so cool buying them, I never make a purchase like that! And at the wedding, my sister was totally jealous. Of course my feet killed me by the end of the ceremony, but at least I looked good!

Another day, another dress

My brother is married! Wow, it's weird to say he has a wife. I'm sure my siblings thought the same thing when I got married though.

We headed home early on Friday so I could attend a surprise baby shower for my cousin's wife. My cousin and his wife live in Florida, so I gave them burp cloths I made (easy to pack) and pitched in for a gift card.

We went to our hotel and got set up there. It is weird to stay in a hotel in my hometown, but we figured if Xander stayed up screaming then at least we'd only keep up strangers. Lo and behold, our neighbors were my other brother and his girlfriend.

We moseyed over to the church for rehearsal. That and the dinner went smoothly. It was just huge, since the wedding party was huge and everyone's significant other and everyone involved came. Afterward a lot of people went out to the bar, but I headed back to the room with Xander. Chris stayed out late and I can't tell you how many people mentioned how he was the life of the party. Apparently Mark (the brother getting married) had to sneak out while Chris was in the bathroom.

Saturday dawned bright and early and I was off to get my hair done. All of the other girls had lots of curls, but I had more of a slicked back thing done since Xander is a hair puller. Then off to the church to get dressed. And I will be writing another post about my shoes.

The ceremony was sweet and went well. Of course this is where I make my first Bridesmaid Flub. Our dresses were strapless and had a small train and a sash that trailed. Trisha was sure to make sure she wasn't standing on my train when we started the recession, but I didn't do that with the bridesmaid in front of me. Fortunately she just tugged on it a little and made a face (I've heard of strapless dresses coming off when stepped on, yowza). I apologized so profusely afterward.

We all headed out to the party bus to get more pictures taken. The bus was pretty cool, it had seats turned around with tables between. Unfortunately I couldn't enjoy it because of my second Bridesmaid Flub of getting a migraine. I tried not to be a needy, attention hog but I ran off the the bathroom when people where getting pictures and kept standing out in the cold. Then I realized I'd committed another Bridesmaid Flub and lost my bouquet. Ack!

We headed to the reception on the party bus (nausea, nausea, nausea). I kept it together long enough for the introductions, but missed some of my favorite parts of the reception like first dance and cake cutting and food. But I didn't want to leave my brother's wedding reception. I mean, really, it's not something to miss. So I stuck it out and took a few walks out in the cold air. Fortunately, the migraine subsided and I was able to enjoy visiting with relatives I don't see often and some dancing.

By the end of the night I had committed two more Bridesmaid Flubs by breaking the strap of my dress (I added them at the reception) and Xander broke the necklace I was given to wear. I was a little worried he swallowed part of it, but I found it later. Fortunately my new sister-in-law was in no way a bridezilla, so I don't think I caused any issues with all of my problems.

Sunday we woke up and packed up the room and went to brunch at Mark's house to watch him and his bride open gifts. I'd hoped to get some more time in with my aunt's family but we had to head home after that.

Overall, a busy but fun weekend. I'll post a few pictures on Xander's site in a while.

Up in the Sky!

Your results:
You are Superman

Superman 85% Spider-Man 60% Wonder Woman 60% Robin 60% Supergirl 50% Iron Man 50% Green Lantern 45% The Flash 40% Batman 35% Hulk 35% Catwoman 30%

You are mild-mannered, good, strong and you love to help others.

Click here to take the Superhero Personality Quiz

All the king's horses and all the king's men

After I complained about it, the rash and the elbow miraculously healed themselves.

As for the foot and knee, I went to the doctor. He says the knee is actually iliotibial band syndrome. Which sounds about right. He gave me a list of stretches and exercises to help, but no running or weight lifting.

The doctor thought my foot was a stress fracture and sent me in for x-rays. That was last Monday. I finally heard from him on Thursday at about 6 pm. No sign of a fracture, so it was probably a contusion. I'm supposed to ice my foot several times a day and not repeat whatever I did in the first place (which I still don't know what has caused this).

I'm still limping, but now it's more of a stiff, achy feeling rather than the blinding shot of pain. Doc said to give it about three weeks and call again if it's still hurting. Just in time for me to limp down the aisle at my brother's wedding.

Falling Apart in my Old Age

What the heck?

I seem to be getting some minor rash again. Just a few itchy bumps on my arm and leg.

Since I've started running at the beginning of summer, my right knee has bothered me. During the run, the back and outside of it feels like it is tightening up. If I push it, I can't walk down stairs for the next two days. If I don't push it, there is just a minor ache. I've tried stretches, weight lifting and taking a break from running, but nothing helps. It still hurts when I run. I'll be setting up an appointment about this soon.

This past week my right foot started hurting. I can't see any bruising, but that is what it feels like. It's across the balls of my feet and across the top of my foot. It didn't help that I also managed to stub my foot on a shopping cart and have a screen door slam on the foot.

And to top it off, I managed to slam my elbow onto the arm rest in my car hard enough to hurt it. I can't lean on it or even lean on my hand. This morning I went to do my push-ups (did I mention I'm trying 100 push-ups?) and just whimpered.

I promise I won't be so whiny in my next post.

Turning 30

My birthday was on Sunday. I didn't dread turning 30. But it was important for me to celebrate it. Because when I turned 29, we had just spent the first night home with X. So that birthday was a little overshadowed and hormonal. When I turned 28, I was in the middle of the misery and suffering of a horrible job. 27 was pretty good though.

So Chris came home from his most recent work trip early for Xander's birthday on Thursday. And we all went to the county fair on Friday. And Saturday was the big birthday party! Wow, so many people came. Chris and I both felt bad because there were so many people who came from out of town and we didn't get to talk with them as much as we'd like to.

I did make my own cake again. I am so out of practice. I forgot to brush off the cake crumbs and the crumbs mixed into the icing. I used pre-made sugar flowers on it, so that saved time. It tasted awesome though.

On Sunday we went on a family outing and ended up getting new cell phones and updating our plans to have unlimited texts. So now I have speakerphone and cameraphone and can assign pics to phone numbers so your face shows up when you call. I feel like I could be a super hero now.

And my brother Mark surprised me by showing up on Sunday. As great as the party was, it's fun when things actually happen on my birthday. He bought Xander Mega Blocks, like large Legos. But I'll probably be the one playing with them. And Xander will destroy whatever I create.

One last note about 30. I saw at the store a magazine with the cover advertising something like "Happy and Sexy at 20, 30 and 40" and my reaction was "Wow, I have to turn to an entirely different page to be happy and sexy now."

No School Today...

...no school today....no school today cause it blowed....

Anyone living in Ohio knows that Ike swept through as a giant windstorm on Sunday. I heard the winds matched the Blizzard of '78 (or, you know, a hurricane) but without the snow (or rain). I actually had to drive one and a half hours in it and had to dodge around something in the road about once every mile.

Our electricity was out for about five hours on Sunday, but was back on at about 7 that evening. The flashing was peeling off of part of the roof and one small chunk of siding came off. So we got off pretty easy. Walking around the neighborhood yesterday was odd, seeing how many people were on their roofs to fix shingles. One house put up a tarp (and the owners had just moved in last week), another was missing siding on half of one side. A couple of trees went down, but since most trees are still young, most people were ok on that front.

In the town, half of the electricity is still off, including the grocery stores. I stopped at one yesterday and they were selling non-perishable foods. It's odd walking through with only half of the lights on, all of the meat gone, the frozen foods section roped off and plastic hanging over the dairy. Lots of big trees are down around town. Fortunately, I haven't heard of any injuries.

So no school yesterday or today. We already have off Thursday and Friday. So we may have only one day of school this week. Or possibly none. I may work for less than an hour each day, but I still love getting out of school.

I do have a lot of little things to pick up at stores, but I don't know what is open and what isn't. I think I'll chance it just to get out today.

Little Stories

Teaching is going really great. The students are definitely getting more comfortable with me as a teacher. They are great at doing homework and asking questions. And yesterday when I changed my mind about the homework assignment and gave them the night off they thanked me. Like honest and proper "Thank you Mrs. Hugs."

I'm still trying to adjust to the whole thing though. The class that uses the room before me keeps running a little bit later every day. I started five minutes late today. I'm just used to having bells to tell teachers to change classes.

But I had steam coming out of my ears today. I have asked twice about special schedules and how they might affect my class. And twice I was assured that my class is close to lunch time and won't be affected by assemblies and such. And twice this week I've had shortened classes. I asked about this and was told it was on the schedule. Yes, there are special events listed, but no one told me that my schedule would be affected! So now it is my responsibility to email in and ask every time I see something on the schedule. Which I can handle. I just wish I wasn't assured that my schedule wouldn't be changed just to have a ten minute class today.

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Yesterday I went to the library. Pretty much, I go to the library about twice a week. While I was checking out with one librarian (the cool one who is mid-twenties, wears nice button down sweaters and has tattoos covering her arms and chest) a man walked up to the librarian next to me. He said he wanted to check if he still had a library card and how he could get a new one. The librarian took his driver's license and looked him up. Yes, he did still have a card with them. However, he has two overdue books from '94. He could return them or pay the replacement cost.

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Our area had a special election in August over a couple of issues. One was a levy for senior citizens. The other was an income tax increase for a rec center. I'm happy to say I voted and Xander came along and smiled at the ladies working at the polls. I found out later that both issues passed, but the rec center issue was very close. A week later I read a statistic that said only 10% of the area actually voted that day. So about 5% of the local population decided that everyone needs to pay an extra hundred dollars or so each year.

So I made Chris register to vote.

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And finally, a fun link. I was actually rather proud that I know 11 of the answers. :)

Movie Poster Quiz

Have an awesome weekend!

He lives in the WOODPILE behind the SHED

That title is much funnier if you imagine Chris Farley saying it.

Back in the day I mentioned rabbits acting funny. Dandy mentioned that she thought it was a mating thing. Lo and behold we have a cuddly baby bunny in our back yard. I think it's adorable. Chris wonders where the hawk is.

Today was my second day of teaching. So far, so good - all four students returned! I think the students will be great, it's the classroom that is the problem. There are two small chalkboards up front. One is nice, the other old and scratched up. The nice one is magnetic and the regular teacher used it by putting flashcards (with magnets glued to the back) all over it. She also placed the alphabet to hang over the old board. Soooooo, where am I supposed to write all of my fancy math equations (ok, we're actually only working on expressions right now) (and I wonder how many of you know the difference or care) (I know at least one person does)? So today I neatly took down half of the cards and placed them on the table.

This problem would be easily solved if they would only splurge on a SmartBoard. And if I worked full time, had a full class load and more students than I could count on one hand, well then I'd bring it up with the head honcho. For now, I guess I'll just make due.

PS My birthday is coming up and if anyone wins the lottery, you can buy me a SmartBoard. And a TI-84 Plus Silver in pink. Ha!