Heading Outta Town

My mind is jumbled, so my post today shall be too!

1.  Packing up for a Resident Service conference this week in New Hampshire.  I'm driving 3.5 hours north to spend three days with my fellow RSC's, attending workshops and doing fun things.

2.  This is the second time I've attended the conference, the last time I went was when I was pregnant with Will.  Every year since, there's been a reason not to go.  Hubby working nights, stuff going on at home, etc etc. I was anxious about going but applied for a scholarship anyway.  Was I ever shocked that I got it!

3.  Brian has got this all under control and they will be fine, and that there's some fun planned for while I'm away.  He's reassured me several times and I know they'll be fine.  I'll miss them, though.  In thinking of the fun they'll have, things are probably gonna get messy.

4.  That said, I will totally understand if the house is a disaster come Friday.  And I'm ok with it.

5.  I've decided the great debate....packing is worse than unpacking.  This is true for trips AND moving.  Time constraints, worrying about forgetting something on your way to the New Hampshire mountains/woods.....I could do without it.  Of course, had I not spent 20 minutes last night searching for interchangeable needle tips and the perfect skein of sock yarn for a pair of baby leggings that I want to make as a gift....that might've helped.  I never did find the specific skein that I was looking for, either.

6.  In planning my trip, you KNOW that I googled any local yarn shops in the vicinity.  Surprisingly, there were two, but they're both about 40 minutes away from where I will be staying.  So no yarn this time.  :(  That's ok, the TENT SALE is just a little over three weeks away!!!

Weekend Photo Fun

Saturday Adventures:  The Karate Kid and Mr. Cool, getting ready for the Easter Egg Obstacle Hunt at karate.  It was so much fun!  At first Sean wasn't interested because he thought "I'm not old enough for karate."  So I told him that I was old enough for him and we'd go together.  Once he realized that it was picking up eggs and getting candy, he was allllll about it!  

Hunting for Easter eggs in the Family Egg Hunt at my parent's on Sunday.   Gorgeous day for an egg hunt! (And yes....Sean adores those Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles sunglasses!)

Family trip to Home Depot yesterday.  That's usually how we celebrate Patriot's Day, with some sort of home project.  'Cause that's how we roll in our house.  This is the Big Kid "driving" a tractor.  "Mom, if you're gonna take my picture, I don't want to smile.  I wanna look like I'm really driving it!"  

Easter Preppin'

Ah, Easter in New England.  Will the great Egg Hunt be a nice day or require mittens?  Or will it rain like crazy and have to be moved inside, where my parent's pups and my Joey attempt to be contestants in the hunt?

Speaking of Easter Eggs, I have never dyed Easter eggs with my boys.  I would have last year but we were packing up the house and getting ready to move so I deemed it "too messy" while there were showings going on.  (It's been a year since we put on the market and can you tell I'm still THRILLED to be done with that process???)  I asked the kids about dyeing eggs and I think we've missed the opportunity.  Because I heard "No, Mom.  We want the plastic ones that you fill with treats."    Well, of course!!  We would've had those either way.  So now I'm torn.....do I get supplies and do it (possibly by myself) or just be glad that it won't be a mess?  Hmmmm....

Sock Yarn Diving

We meet again, Yarn Stash.

I've been working in simple charity projects a lot lately, and another Virginia Shawl for me.  It's a pretty "blush peach" shade but I screwed it up royally last night, and must rip back several rows.  Luckily, it's not against the law to drown yourself in other yarns while avoiding the rippage!

In the picture below is two pairs of socks, a cabled hat and a pair of babylegs.  (Legwarmers for babies, I've always wanted to make a pair!)  Lately I've got socks on the brain.  Well,  sock yarn anyway.  :)

The Almost-Weekend Baby Cardigan

This is by far going to be my new go-to pattern when I have a new baby to knit for!  It's the Puerperium cardigan, which is designed for under ten pounds.  I made it for an old friend who had her third baby a week ago.  (So yeah....I'd better get that in the mail!)

It was almost going to be purple but then I found this mystery skein in my yarn stash that I liked better.  And the heart shaped buttons are just darling.  They're also the reason why it's not the "Weekend Baby Cardigan" because I drew the limit at midnight on Sunday/Monday to finish this!  Then, in typical Crafty Mama fashion, I let it sit for a week, just putting on buttons tonight.  Actually, that's pretty impressive.  Things like weaving in ends, blocking and sewing buttons usually take way longer than a week around here!

Finally, First Lost Tooth!

A sleepy Will showing off that he lost his tooth at breakfast today!  I was starting to wonder if that tooth was ever gonna fall out, or if it was simply going to take up residence with the adult tooth nipping at its heels.

Tooth fairy comes tonight!

Virtual Clutter is the Pits.

What is it about springtime that makes one want to cut through their clutter?  Seriously....I've been like this for a week or so and showing no mercy.  It's not just the house either, but email, Ravelry queue items, my "to-read" list on Goodreads....nothing is safe!

I guess just after a long winter, staring at the same projects, the same kidstuff sitting around, etc, going nuts with a trash bag (either in person or virtual) feels good!  I'm finding that once you decide what's important and what you want to spend time on, it's easy.  (Easier, I should say.)

This week:

Stopped reading "I was Told There'd Be Cake" halfway through.  Book jacket promised a "funny" collection of personal essays.  I'd use words like "ramble" and "boring."  Funny doesn't crack my top ten adjectives.  Life is too short to spend reading books that one is not enjoying.

In that vein of thought...why do I have 199 books on my Goodreads list?  I am never going to read all of them.  I'm kind of nuts about books....if I see something out there that interests me even slightly, I put it on there.  But surprisingly, I have a pretty hard and fast rule about not buying books unless they're something I love so much I'll read over and over.  Anyway....60 books off my reading list.

Also cutting back on the virtual clutter:  deleting emails and unsubscribing from newsletters and sales pitches.  My inbox feels so much lighter!  I also cut back my Ravelry queue to 100 projects and organized them by "quick" projects, "Gift" projects, etc.  And made a whole new category that just says "Yarn in House."  I've gotten acquainted with a whole bunch of "old/New" projects.

If I'd known how good this was going to feel, I would've done it ages ago.  I feel like I've lost ten virtual pounds.