Glimpse into the Future

I'm currently in a McDonald's with Will.  We have a standing tradition of getting milkshakes before his therapy appointment.  It started out as a way to get him to not dread going and now it's just time for him and I to spend time alone. 

Not today.  Today a kid his age called him over and wanted him to play.  At first Will said he was having a shake with his Mom.  I finally said "go ahead, Bud."  He looked happy, hanging out and talking about Skylanders.  In a minute I'm going to call him over and say it's time to hit the road.

This is a little glimpse into the future, isn't it?  Me sitting on my own and the kids taking off with their friends.  It's both freeing and bittersweet.  For the first few years you feel like you are tethered to your kids and NEVER going to get a moment alone.  Now that it's happening and I can't help but feel a little misty-eyed. 

Next time I'll bring my knitting bag.  He's not quite yet at the stage where his Mom's mere presence in public is embarrassing.  Even then, I'll still bring it!

Dreams are Weird

I'm in prison.  Sitting on top of a cafeteria-style table, in a room with other women, all wearing the same jumpsuit as me.  You'd think I'd feel anxious, but I don't because I have my childhood best friend sitting next to me.  I don't even know what I'm doing time for, but I know that I'll be here for four months.  Less for good behavior.  Thinking of four months kind of like a semester at college instead of missing my family like crazy. Just push through and though the days will feel long, four months will go by quickly.

Oh dreams....There are times that whatever I was watching on TV invades my subconscious, but I haven't been watching Orange is the New Black or anything.  The night before I dreamt that we sold our old house to Brian's aunt and uncle in New Jersey.  They flipped it from this tiny cottage to a gorgeous home and then rent it out, but not before giving us a tour.  It was quite vibrant, like I was really there!  

But the absolute worst is the stress dreams.  I've had a repetitive one since college:  I'm working at McDonald's.  I'm making burgers in the back, I'm taking orders up front and I'm running the drive-thru and I'm all alone.  And then three buses pull in and everyone wants burgers and fries and they want them NOW.  When I wake up from that one, with my heart pounding, it's an instant sign that I've taken on too much and need to dial it back.  Oh, you crazy, all-knowing subconscious!

A Very Scattered Wednesday Post

-My calendar, both personally and professionally, is looking ridiculous for March.  I'm wondering how to clone Brian and I and see how we can get things done.  Doctors appointments (my first with the kidney specialist), birthday parties, school stuff, etc.  Aughhh!

-But on the good news front, Maureen is coming to visit this weekend!  We're going to eat delicious food at home, and do some serious knitting.  It sounds so, so good.

-Piles of snow everywhere.  It's all anyone can talk about, that and the condition of the roads.  It's getting depressing.  Spring is coming, right?

-We had a pipe freeze in the house again. With the re-zoning of the house, it only took out the bedrooms while the rest of the house was toasty.   Brian and I went out to a nice sushi dinner last Friday and afterwards we had a romantic time trolling the local 24-hour Walmart and scoring the last two space heaters in the place.  Brian's finally isolated the issue in the garage, and we're making amends so this doesn't happen anymore.  And hurrah...no broken pipes when it thawed!  I love plastic pipes.

-Speaking of house things....we're re-doing the master bathroom!  No more pale, newspaper-background paint and white beadboard.  It's going to be lovely when it's finished.  Right now it's not-so-lovely and on it's way to being trashed.  When it's done in hopefully a few weeks though, it's going to be pretty and so worth it.

-Knitting for some babies being born on Brian's side of the family this year!  Now that the Wallaby sweater for Will is done, I'm working on a scarf for my old assistant, Leona.  It's in bright pinks and purples because she loves brights best.  THEN bring on the baby knitting!!!

I guess that's all the news that's fit to print.  

My (Almost) Waterloo

This sweater.  It's called the "wonderful Wallaby" and I've been working on it since June.  I remember starting it while binge-watching the second season of Orange is the New Black.  Every time I came to an intimidating part, I'd put it down and fret.  The first spot was the pouch.  But then I just pushed through and did it, and the construction was fun.  A little unorthodox but fun!    Then came the fusing of the top of the pouch, and I hid from that for a little while.  I was hoping to finish it in time for Will's birthday in October.  That deadline whooshed by and then I was caught up in Christmas knitting.

 Finally I determined that this thing needed to be done before my big kid grew out of it.  I picked it back up and cast on the sleeves, and carried them everywhere until they were done.  Each sleeve was thirteen inches long, so this went on for awhile.  I joined them to the body with much fanfare, and started to make the yoke.  Everything was going great!  I wasn't even worrying about the kitchener stitch for the underarms.  (Kitchener stitch,  for the uninitiated, is a way of joining stitches together in a bit of a daunting way.  It's also how you finish the toes of a pair of socks.)

Then the big roadblock came.....ready to rib the neckline and make the hood.  That's when I discovered that I had 54 additional stitches on the needles.  And naturally, I had removed the stitch markers that were showing where the decreases should be.  Ahhhhhhhh!  Brian gently suggested I put it down for a couple of days instead of ripping out rounds like a maniac.  And a bit of a pleasant surprise....I listened.  Two days later, I was ready to take action.  It took an entire evening in front of the TV, but I managed to rip out a couple of rounds and re-place the markers.  This is a testament to how far I've come, because there was a time that having to pull out several rounds would've been my undoing, I've put projects in permanent time-out for less!

You didn't beat me, Wallaby.  I beat you.  And now Will has a great sweater that goes with everything.  See that smile?  That's what this is all about.

By the way....Will wanted to make sure everyone saw the pouch, so he used his two favorite stuffed animals to illustrate.  That's Brownie on the left and Oshawott from Pokemon on the right.  And nope, he's not photogenic AT ALL.  :)

The One-Upper

I'm such an overachiever.  Apparently, when my family gets sick, I feel the need to trump whatever they've had.  I started to feel crappy after the Superbowl, and then woke up with a fever and burning in my chest.  And here comes another Snow Day.  (Mondays are shot up here in New England.  We've had something like 75 inches of snow in a two-week time period, it's crazy.)  It was my turn to stay home with the kids and I was sick besides.  Then another snow day for the little kid the following day.  I finally rouse myself out of my bedroom around lunchtime and decide:  it's time to go to the doctor.  So off we go to the urgent care place in town where I get a big, unpleasant surprise.....THE FLU.    Awesomesauce.

So that's a week's worth of missed work, snowed in and feeling like death.  Good times for everyone.  I don't wish it on anyone, it's pretty damn awful.  I'm getting myself back on track, and hoping that it stops snowing long enough to get some normalcy back in our lives.

In other news, the only place I was able to drag myself out to last week (once I wasn't contagious) was to register Sean for kindergarten.  That's right, the "baby" is heading to Big Boy School in September!  I feel like I just did this with Will and I guess in a way, I have.  But the difference this time is that I'm looking forward to it.  I'm thrilled with the idea of both boys being in the same town and going on the same bus, albeit to different schools.  And man, this kid is READY.  He's bored with preschool and can't wait for the next thing.

So that's how life goes in our house.  Hopefully soon we'll all be healthy again!  I'm really looking forward to it.