2017: A Year in Review

It doesn't feel like the end of the year without the Review!

1. What did you do in 2017 that you’d never done before?

After many years of hemming and hawing, I got my first tattoo!  It's a heart on my right wrist, made up by the boys' fingerprints.  I love it!!  I THINK I may be a "one and done" when it comes to tattoos, though.  

2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year?

I'm not a "New Year's Resolution" type of person.  I'm more of a "Make Plans and Goals" kind of person.  That being said....i made a goal of being healthier.  In some ways I did well--started drinking protein smoothies for breakfast and cutting back on the ice cream.  Then my stress-eating tendencies came out late in the year and well, My Fitness Pal shows me to be the same weight as I was last year at this time.  Turns out I'm a fantastic maintainer.  Goals for 2018?  Wag more, bark less.  Maybe get some more sleep, who knows.  

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?  I covered maternity leave for one of my co-workers, she had a baby in June.  

4. Did anyone close to you die?  Not close anymore, but one of the residents at my first property management job died in September.  We kept in touch for ten years after my leaving that job.  She was a wonderful person who dispersed fantastic advice, I'll miss her.  Traveling to that site will be weird, not stopping in to say Hi.  


5. What countries/places did you visit?

We had an AWESOME trip to Disney World in June!!  Can't wait to go again in a few years.  

6. What would you like to have in 2018 that you lacked in 2017?
Honestly, 2017 was a shit show in a lot of ways.  I'd like for 2018 to be a kinder, gentler year for my family.

7. What dates from 2017 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?   On October 19th, my mother had a small stroke.  Things ended up being OK with time, but it was rough.  

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Instead of achievements, I'm going to call them lessons.  

A.  When it comes to your kids, it's amazing how strong you can be.  Especially when strength is all you've got, and what you really want to do is fold or crumble, but you stand strong.  

B.  I've always had a hard time asking for, and accepting, help.  I think it's because I'm usually doing to the offering and helping.  But when it hits the fan, you have to learn to let people help you.  And man, I had a lot of help this year.  I've had friends and family members flock out to help us get through stuff, and I'm forever grateful. 

9. What was your biggest failure?
I refuse to call anything a failure this year.


10. Did you suffer illness or injury?  Nothing major.  


11. What was the best thing you bought?
For Mother's Day, Brian got me a cleaning service!  At first it was weird, but I cannot tell you how wonderful it is for someone to come to your house once a month and clean your bathrooms, floors, etc.

12. Whose behavior merited celebration?

Skip.

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?

Donald Trump, and many of his supporters.  Actually, the supporters were more appalling.   (this answer is too good not to keep)

14. Where did most of your money go?

Living expenses.  Pretty boring, right?  

15.  What did you really get excited about?

Disney World....and Universal Studios to see Harry Potter's Wizarding World.

16. Compared to this time last year, are you:

a) happier or sadder? A big ol' mix of all of it.

b) thinner or fatter? Right about the same.  (BTW, I hate this question.)

c) richer or poorer? Both, rich in some ways and poor in others.  It all offsets in the end.

17. What do you wish you’d done more of?
Read.  Knit.  Socialize.  Maybe not in that order....

18. What do you wish you’d done less of?

Work.  I took on a second property in May, and I covered a maternity leave and a manager vacancy this summer as well.  At one point I was providing coverage for FIVE SITES, bringing work home often, working long hours, going back after dinner, etc.  I often wondered "just how in the hell are you doing this, Ginny?"  But I knew all along that it was just for the short-term, and the bonus at the end of the year was worth it!

19. How did you spend Christmas?

We had a big family celebration at my house a few days before, and then my parents came on Christmas Day.  

20. Did you fall in love in 2017?

I've been in love with the same man for 19 years.  NINETEEN YEARS, holy crap.  

21. What was your favorite TV program? 

Eh....nothing really grabbed me to be a "favorite."  Though I do love that Will and Grace came back with new episodes!  

22. What was the best book you read?

I read 26 books, which sounds kind of low for me.  I really enjoyed "The Nest" by Cynthia D'Aprix Sweeney.  


23. What was your greatest musical discovery?
Pass.  

24. What was your favorite film of this year? 

The four of us recently went to the movies to see the reboot of the 90's film "Jumanji" and loved it!

25. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?

For the first time in 12 years, I worked!  The residents had a cake for me, which was really nice.  I took the following day off so Brian and I could spend it together.  We ended up watching Wonder Woman and going out to lunch.  

26. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
Less stress and worry.  Getting my son the help that he needed sooner.  But hindsight IS 20/20, and not worth it to dwell.  


27. What kept you sane?
My friends, that checked up on us, fed us, offered help, listened, offered advice when appropriate.  My mom, for being there when my husband couldn't.  My husband, for his shoulder to cry on, and his jokes to keep us both sane. 


28. Who did you miss?
My far away friends and family.


29. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2017:
Never ask "Could this get any worse?"  And above all, be grateful.  



30. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.

I don't know.

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Oh, my poor neglected blog.  What can I say?  Stuff happens, I want to write about it but then things get busy.  So here's some things that have happened.

-I took on a new property for my job.  Note:  I didn't get a new job.  I took on a SECOND property.  More work, (hopefully) more money.  So needless to say things have been BUSY!!  I start my days early and work late, last night I was here til 6pm.

-I went to this year's NERSC conference!  It was up in Rockport, ME, which was beautiful.  Not a lot of sun, but it is Maine in the spring, so what are you gonna do?  I walked the Samoset Breakway one day and that was breezy and the perfect ocean setting for a walk.  I spent an extra day up in Maine to visit friends, and all around had a good time.  An exhausing good time, and a good time nonetheless.

-TheWebs Tent Sale is coming up!!!  Or what I sometimes call "The Most Wonderful Day of the Year."  :)  I'm usually pretty organized about it, and have a list going months in advance.  Um....I made the list last week on the back of some junk mail and it has like four things on it.  I guess pulling my yarn stash out of the closet twice for the air conditioning repair guy (it's been replaced...yesssss)  has made me re-evaluate my yarn stash.  Somewhere my husband is jumping for joy...

-It's almost the end of the school year!!  Yep, limping along to the finish line.  More MCAS testing today for  my oldest, and my younger boy has his end of the year field trip next week.  What a year...it absolutely flew by.  Now we're back to making summer plans.

Well, now that I've read this, I've got to say....busy, but not super interesting.  Anyway, Happy Spring and maybe see you next month.

We Need CSI in Here

My older son suffers from headaches, and if he doesn't get medicine quickly and lets them linger, they will make him sick to his stomach.  He saw the doctor recently and the doctor upped his Tylenol dosage and wrote an order allowing him to have Tylenol at school.  One issue is also dehydration--the only thing he'll drink is milk and he hates drinking water.  So the doctor suggested getting a water flavor enhancer, stating that the pros outweigh the cons and it's about getting the fluids in.  So Brian bought a little bottle of Mio Water Enhancer in Fruit Punch flavor.

Will decided this morning to "experiment" with putting it in a little water at home to try before putting it in his water bottle to take to school.  I said that I would mix it for him because I could just see him making a huge mess with it, and nobody's got time for huge messes on weekday mornings.  Hell, most days I don't have time for BREAKFAST before it's time to take the kids out to the bus.

Hilarity ensues though, even with me at the helm of this experiment.  See my text messages below for proof.  Just another day in my life of luxury, folks.  It was pretty funny though, got all over his shirt and the nice, clean kitchen floor.  We did laugh, and luckily it wasn't too bad to clean up.  Just some damp paper towels while I ate an English muffin.  As for CSI....perhaps they're not necessary, because I CONFESSED.

That bus is later every day

Good news: will likes the water flavor enhancer and put some in his bottle today.

Bad news: it's not drops. It shoots off like a cannon and makes your kid and kitchen look like a grisly murder scene. We had a good laugh about it. And luckily will was wearing 5 shirts so we just took one off. (Not I'm not kidding....they took your layering advice very seriously, making the laundry epically awesome for the washerwoman.)

Well hopefully we get our regular bus driver back soon

I'm glad he likes it and we'll have CSI figure out who did it later.

2016: Year in Review

I haven't posted much recently but I always enjoy doing this one.  

2016: A Year in Review

1. What did you do in 2016 that you’d never done before?

Well....I turned 40!  

2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year?

I'm not typically a "New Year's Resolutions" kind of girl.  I'm more of a "Make some plans and goals" kind of girl.  For example, last year I wanted to purge some stuff.  I kept a list in a notebook every time we gave something to charity, or sold something, or whatever.  We also rented a Bagster and filled it up.  There are currently two bags of trash and another bin of items to donate waiting for me in the garage.  So when stuff starts to pile up, it's time to get rid of some of it.  

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?  No one this year.  

4. Did anyone close to you die?  Not this year.  


5. What countries/places did you visit?

We went back to Williamsburg, Virginia for vacation this year.  Had a great time, visiting Busch Gardens, Water Country and of course, Colonial Williamsburg.

6. What would you like to have in 2017 that you lacked in 2016?
Patience.  I think that I wish for that every year.  

7. What dates from 2016 will remain etched upon your memory, and why? 

November 8th.  Whether you voted Trump, Clinton, third party or not at all, I doubt you'll ever forget this year's election.    

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?

I don't really know.  

9. What was your biggest failure?

No BIG failures, but certainly little ones.  That's ok, Failure is part of the process.  It's inevitable.


10. Did you suffer illness or injury?  Another year, another kidney stone.  Hopefully I've put all of that behind me!  


11. What was the best thing you bought?
A new refrigerator.  It was a proactive thing too, to replace it before it went.  

12. Whose behavior merited celebration?

Anyone who does good deeds for their fellow humans.  Those are the people that news stories should be written about.  

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?

Donald Trump, and many of his supporters.  Actually, the supporters were more appalling.  

14. Where did most of your money go?

Bills.  karate for the family.  yarn.  Probably not all in that order.  

15.  What did you really get excited about?

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them coming out in theaters at last!  And it certainly did not disappoint!

16. Compared to this time last year, are you:

a) happier or sadder? Probably the same.   

b) thinner or fatter? Right about the same.  I'm excellent at weight maintenance.  I need to be more excellent at losing it.

c) richer or poorer? Both, rich in some ways and poor in others.  It all offsets in the end.

17. What do you wish you’d done more of?

Not tried to be everything to everyone, and taken care of myself more often.  I'm getting better at it, but still have a ways to go.  

18. What do you wish you’d done less of?

Worrying about things that one cannot control.  Getting frustrated when trying to view the future in a crystal ball, only to find out that I don't HAVE a crystal ball.  

19. How did you spend Christmas?

We went to my brother's house for a fun, simple Christmas.  It was the first year in a long time that it didn't feel like we overdid it on gifts for everyone, etc.  Truly a lovely holiday.  

20. Did you fall in love in 2016?

No.  But I continued to love.

21. What was your favorite TV program? 

We binge-watched The New Girl this summer, and I loved the heck out of This is Us.  

22. What was the best book you read?

I read 44 books, but I wouldn't call any one of them "the best."  Perhaps I'll get wowed by a book in 2017


23. What was your greatest musical discovery?
Brian and I went to see Garth Brooks in February.  It was easily the best concert that I've ever been to.  I now count myself as a Garth Brooks fan.  

24. What was your favorite film of this year? 

Hands down.  Fantastic Beasts.  

25. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?

I took the day off with Brian and it was rather low-key, which I liked.  Birthday pedicure, lunch with my parents, a little shopping and knitting.  Brian made a steak dinner and a flourless chocolate cake, it was a great day.  


26. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?

My year would've been much more satisfying had the mice of the neighborhood not blown up my central air conditioning.  


27. What kept you sane?

Brian, always.  He talks me down when I want to head out swingin.'  Harry Potter books and movies also help, a lot.  And the knitting.  


28. Who did you miss?

My far away friends and family.


29. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2016:

"Surround yourself with people that love you for you, and make you feel good about yourself."  


30. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.

"The best of us can find happiness, in misery."  Fall Out Boy, "I Don't Care."

2016 Ravellenic Games!!

Now that Cursed Child has come out and I've read it (I have mixed reviews.....I liked it but I didn't LOVE it) it's time for the next thing:  the 2016 Ravellenic Games!

The Ravellenic Games, formerly known as the Knitting Olympics, is something that Ravelry puts on and takes place during the Olympics.  You challenge yourself to do something yarn-related starting during the Opening Ceremonies and finishing during the Closing Ceremonies.  I've done it twice, getting medals during the 2010 games in Vancouver and the 2012 games in London.  (I don't know what I was doing in 2014 during the winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia.)  Looking to add 2016 in Rio to my Knitting Glory List.

Usually I cast on something new and challenge myself to finish it.  The first time, I was a green knitter and cast on a simple scarf.  In 2012, we were on vacation and on the road a lot.  So I challenged myself to make as many baby hats for charity as I could in that time period.  This year, casting on something new seemed daunting.  So I am wrestling with WIP's.  (works in progress.)  I chose six things:

My Hufflepuff House Scarf, which just needs ends woven in and fringe.

My Sewanee shawl, which is off on it's stitch count before I can do the lace edging.

Oh my goodness---my spring cardigan.  This thing.....I want to finish but I don't know if I ever will.  I'm going to try!

A newborn hat and sock set--I can remember working on this in 2014 and tossing it aside, since it didn't have an intended recipient.  Hat and one sock are done, and how hard can it be to pull off a second sock?  Pretty hard, I guess.

Sundance lacy hat for charity-a little white lace hat that I started the other night while waiting (fuming) on additional yarn for something else.  (I'm not ready to talk about it.)

And finally, the damned, damned blue vanilla socks.  

Thanks to Brian hooking up a fancy antenna to our TV (no channel 7 on DirecTv because of some crazy dispute) I will be watching the Opening Ceremonies and starting on the WIP pile.  The way I see it, I'm a winner if ANY of these things are completed by the end of the Olympics!!

"Legendary Stash"

I've officially crossed into "SABLE" status in terms of my yarn stash.  (Stash Acquired Beyond Life Expectancy.)  I can hear my husband's eyes rolling as he's reading this, and probably nodding enthusiastically in agreement.  I finally put away all of my yarn from the Webs Tent Sale earlier in the month and made the mistake of telling him how many yarns I have stashed in Ravelry.  (Answer:  triple digits.)  He did some quick calculations to see how much I spent on all of it and almost fell off the couch.  Dude, don't do the numbers.  We don't wanna know.

This year's Tent Sale was on May 14th and was fantastic as usual!  A gorgeous day, not a whole ton of people the second we got there and a small group to boot.  I had been squirreling cash from yard sale items and things for quite a while and was pretty proud that I covered all but $10.00 of my yarn with it.  We had a fantastic lunch at Northampton Brewery and then Maureen and I headed home to get our knit on.  We've also picked out a new KAL project, "The Joker and the Thief."   (Photo courtesy of Melanie Berg, on Ravelry.)  mine will also have grey as a base color, but then varying shades of turquoise and purple.  Fitting, right?  :)

Anyway, I wish I could say that I'm going to go cold sheep (no yarn purchases until a set amount of time/stash is used) but I know that I don't have the willpower for that.  Especially since I'm making my first trip to the Maine Fiber Frolic with Maureen and Cindy this weekend!  AND Mom and I are trying to make plans to go to Rhinebeck in October.  Yep.  The stash will continue to grow, though no exponentially.

A Rare Sighting

What's that I see coming up ahead?  Oh my goodness, it's a weekend with no plans!! No.....it's a THREE DAY WEEKEND with no plans!! No karate (we compromised to two weeknights instead) no parties, no obligations.  Nothing.  And I'm so grateful for it.  The past few weeks have been insanely busy as we're continuing to "come down" from Christmas.  I predict a lot of pajama-wearing, doing whatever pleases us.  The kids want to spend hours on Club Penguin?  Cool.  Let's snuggle in my bed and read books?  Yes, please.  Knitting and coffee in the afternoons? You betcha.

Comedy of Birthday Errors

Sean's birthday is coming up, and it just hasn't been my week.  Anything concerning his birthday has been nothing short of disastrous.  

First up....for some reason Sean's birthday always sneaks up on me.  It's not that I don't know when his birthday is, I mean I was there when he was born!  It's just that Christmas has just passed, and that whole "I can finally relax" feeling sets in and I underestimate how many days there are between Christmas and Sean's birthday.  Poor kid.

He's going to be six this year (sniff) and we promised him a party outside of the house for his 6th birthday.  He chose a popular playplace nearby that has inflatables to play on.  I booked the party and they sent me the invitations in the mail.  A few days after Christmas, I settled into my comfy recliner with a Harry Potter Movie and the invitations and wrote them all out.  I invited all of the kids in his class, something like 23 of them.  I mailed them out almost two weeks in advance, and used my cellphone for the RSVP so people could call or text.  The first text I get:  "Charlie is very excited for Sean's party!  I'm confused though....you wrote Saturday the 10th and the 10th is a Sunday.  What day is the party?"  UGH, you see where this is going, right?  So far fifteen kids are coming and I've had to clarify fifteen times.  

Then last night, I realized after dinner that we were busy every other night this week so I needed to go birthday shopping.  I chose Walmart because it was something like 10 degrees out and that's not far from home.  I walked around for two hours, trying to settle on birthday presents from us and worrying about party favors.  I hate giving out party favors!!  I'm so not the mom that has it together in this category, and cannot possibly pull off party favors that are Pinterest-worthy.  I don't like giving a bag of junk that's going to end up in the junk drawer or at the bottom of a closet, broken and forgotten, either.  So after much hemming and hawing, each kid is getting a box of crayons and a little tub of play-doh.  (Hey, that's a lot better than some of the favors we've gotten, even) 

   I get through the register and start heading to the car.  As I was wheeling the cart towards the car I hit a bump, sending half of my purchases flying into the air.  I'm frantically scooping up crayons and birthday cards and toys, practically on my hands and knees.  Then a car comes near me and is making motions for me to get out of the way, they want to park there.  I finally scoop up the last box of crayons and wonder (out loud and with much cursing) why this guy can't park in one of the thirty other spots available.  Whatever.  I get to the car, only to find out that I can't get the back door open.  Nope....that door is staying shut come hell or high water.  This is when I melt down into something resembling a toddler throwing a tantrum.  It's freezing, my feet hurt, all of that crap fell out of my cart and what's worse, I've just spent TWO HOURS IN WALMART.  I wanna go home!!!  That's when I started throwing (literally) everything in the back seat and cursing like a sailor.  (Believe me, I know sailors)  I'm glad I didn't see anyone I know, I may have been unrecognizable.

So.....that's all done and I'm putting it behind me.  I'm ready for Sean to have a lovely 6th birthday.  As soon as I order the cake this afternoon, which I hope will go without a hitch.  Fingers crossed.

39.....really??

Another birthday has come and gone.  And with it, I turned 39 years old.

I dreaded it all week.  I don't know why, but birthdays that end in "9" really are hard for me.  When I turned 29, I was sad because I didn't have any kids.  That changed by my 30th, as I had a three month old and just wanted a birthday gift of sleep and a shower.

So imagine my surprise when I woke up on Saturday morning a year older and in a fantastic mood!  I'm thirty-nine, and I'm happy.  I have my family, my friends, a stable life, wonderful children and a fantastic dog.  And many, many other things.  So why not celebrate?  I started with an ice cream sandwich at breakfast, followed by my parents and brother and family coming for cake and presents later on.  I finished the book that I was reading (Kitchen Chinese, by Ann Mah) and later on, Brian and I drove down to CT to celebrate with my Birthday Buddy.  Maureen and I have been friends for close to 20 years and had never celebrated "Our birthday" together.  Here we are!

So Happy 39th to me.  I hope that I can maintain this happy feeling about the big 4-0 next year.  We shall see.

A Big Mashup Holiday Post

Yep.  I haven't posted once in December so let me sum up.

1.  I have a love-hate relationship with the month of December.  I love the holidays, but I hate the chaos.  Plus it's difficult to keep any sort of routine, so the kids suffer a bit.  This is Sean's first year having Christmas at school (they didn't celebrate holidays at his preschool) so the crazies are strong there.  Lots of frustration, stomping of feet, slamming of doors and remarks like "this is the worst Tuesday of my life" and my personal favorite:  "It's not even time to go to the bus yet and I. Already. Have. A. Frown. on. my. FACE!!!"  It was tough not to laugh, let me tell you.  Lots of extra snuggles and patience.  I'm great at the snuggles, but patience is not a strong suit for me.

2.  Have I mentioned that I am the BIGGEST HYPOCRITE EVER??  Yes, I am.  Sean was so sad that there's no Elf on the Shelf at his house that I caved and bought one last week at the mall.  Will's been so sweet to his younger brother, helping him name the Elf (Chippy) and coming up with ideas.  So we have an Elf, but I said that Chippy is a trainee, having shown up the week before Christmas.  Brian and I don't believe in the whole "The elf is reporting back to Santa" thing so it's just a fun thing in our house.  As soon as the kids go to bed at night one of us moves him. Brian watched me set up a Connect Four game between Chippy and Will's favorite Pokemon, Oshawott last night.  He remarked that I seemed to be enjoying it, and honestly, I was.  I love whimsical things.  I also will NOT be putting up a daily photo on Facebook about what Chippy's up to.  If Chippy wants to be on FB he can get his own account.

3.  You saw that Will is helping with Chippy, huh....  Well, Will pulled me aside at Thanksgiving and said "I have a suspicion that Santa Claus is really you and Dad.  I really need you to tell me that's not true."  I can't lie, it breaks my heart a little bit that he no longer believes.  But now he's excited about the magic of it and is encouraging his brother's belief in Santa instead of telling him.  It's sweet to watch.

4.  We had two Holiday concerts this year, Will's was last week at night at the high school and Sean's was this morning.  Both boys were adorable!  Now we have karate graduation tonight and I think that's all the obligations.  Wait no.....both boys have holiday parties in class tomorrow and I need to buy donut holes for one of them, I just can't remember which kid.  Hopefully I figure that out by tomorrow morning!

5.  Two things that have gone WELL this year....the holiday knitting is DONE and I won't be spending all day Christmas Eve wrapping gifts for my extended family.  However, I need to learn my lesson and weave in ends and block finished items sooner.  And next year, I think that I'm going to do the same item for all knit gift recipients, like an infinity scarf for everyone.

Well, that's pretty much all that is going in our world.  Merry Christmas to All and to All a Good Night!!

Birthday Madness

Another year has passed and my older boy is now 9.  NINE!!!  Seriously, it blows my mind.  How did that sweet little baby grow up into this tall, handsome third grader?  This kiddo is tall for his age and almost fits into my shoes.  In another year I can borrow his sneakers if I want to.  (Probably not.)

We celebrated with a family dinner on his actual birthday, and then had a birthday party with his friends yesterday.  Man.....having a party with ten 3rd and 4th graders running around the house for three hours is INSANE.  Some of that is planning on my part.  I'm not the greatest at party-planning.  I mean, I went shopping for the goody bags only three hours before the kids were due to arrive. Pinterest Mom, I am not.  You can't put together a great goody bag on that kind of notice.  But "Last-Minute Lisa..."  that's how I roll.  So instead, it was a straight-up candyfest.  Hey, we're just prepping those kiddos for Halloween!  They loved the idea of an ice cream sundae bar instead of a birthday cake.  And who wouldn't!!

By time everyone left I just dropped into my comfy chair, exhausted.
The birthday boy had a good day though, but was bummed that not all of his friends got along.  He really is a peacekeeper, and watching two girls fight because they didn't like each other was tough.  It probably doesn't help that he's admitted to me and his grandmother that he's in love with one of them.  (Dear Lord....and with nine brings puppy love.)

Piles Upon Piles

It's October.....and my yarn is organized.

Christmas gifts are going on and off the needles and it's all coming together.

Until it isn't.

Hopefully it's just a bump in the yarn pile.  I'm very good at  biting off more than I can chew, but somehow making it work.  It usually works out but having so many projects going at a time is stressful!  Just looking at the pile of "stuff to block" and unfinished projects on my living room table is......ugh.

Thank goodness this is a long weekend coming up.  Lots planned, but definitely some knitting time.  It's time for make-or-break.