Wordless Wednesday: A Little Reading

Today's Special

After 2.5 years of living in this house, we're finally getting around to decorating some of it.  Recently I had a thought:  that if I had to go through another winter of being stuck in our house because of the weather, I would need some stuff to look at besides bare walls.

Check it out!

I had an idea (from Pinterest) to repurpose an old window as a menu board.  We do write a weekly menu (and actually stick to it 90% of the time!) and I thought that this would look cool.  And I was right.

I got an old window from my friend Danielle, whose mother collects them for art projects.  Brian cleaned it and then touched up the frame.  Then he got some chalkboard spray paint and did the panes.  Voila!  Our very own "specials" board.  Not expensive either, just had to get the paints.

Next up, adding some oomph to our living room.  We're at least two years away from re-doing our living room so I think we can hang some things over the couch.  And taking down the awful wallpaper in the hallway and painting.

A Show-Off Post

I finally finished the Cable Monster!  No, that's not the real name.  This is a cabled baby blanket that I made for my sister and brother-in-law, who are expecting their first child in August.  I always wanted to make them an Irish Cabled something....and I chose a blanket because kids grow out of sweaters.  This took about three months to make and was tedious at times, but worth it.

When Brian was on deployment to Italy, he saw a beautiful cabled white sweater in a shop.  Unfortunately the shop was closed and he's sad to this day that he didn't buy the sweater.  He's asked me to make it for him and I want to....someday.  Let's just say that this blanket was "good practice."

In the Blink of an Eye

20 years since I graduated from high school.  Wow.  20 YEARS.

I can't type that in any way that makes it look less scary.  Twenty years.....such a long time but really, it goes by quick.  I graduated from a small-ish high school that was actually knocked down last year because they built a new one.  High school, like for lots of people, wasn't easy.  I wasn't popular but I had friends.  Good friends, considering how many of them I'm still friends with today.  I got made fun of for being timid, wearing glasses and having a name different than all of the Jennifers and Jessicas of my day.  (That would be today's Emmas, Hayleys or Nevaehs, or whatever is the flavor of the year)  Today I'm a bit outspoken, sarcastic (in a good way) and I think, occasionally funny.  I'm also forgiving....twenty years is a long time to hold a grudge for someone who teased you.  My friend Jen said something profound a few years ago...One shouldn't hold people to who they were in high school because it says nothing about the person that they've become today."  Those years are hell for everyone, even if at the time it doesn't seem like it.  

Thinking back to all of that, you might think that I'd hesitate when I got the invite on Facebook.  NOPE.  I was ready to go, I wanted to see all of these people and how they turned out.  Always the sociologist, I wanted to see if they stayed the same and show that I'm not the same person that I was 20 years ago.  I bought a ticket as soon as I could, I bought two tickets, one for me and one for my friend who ended up not making it from Illinois due to family commitment, so Hubby was my plus one.  And I'm so glad I went, because I ended up having a really good time!

Apparently, 20 years is the magic number where there's, to quote Mary J. Blige, "No More Drama."  People couldn't be more welcoming or nicer.  It's a time for friends to come together, to share the experience of growing up together.    It was great to see familiar faces, talk about fun times and basically let it all hang out.  For a little while, I even forgot that I was at a high school function.  I don't know, maybe it's my bittersweet nostalgia kicking in because my parents are selling their house in the town I grew up in after 31 years of living there.  Either way, I'm glad it was a nice time. 

Note:  I didn't even worry about Brian not having fun for two reasons:  people came up to him a couple of times and said "Hey I know who you are!  You're Mr. Ginny!"  He found that pretty funny, he's used to being called Will and Sean's Dad but not Mr. Ginny.  One person even said "I love the pictures that your wife posts of your food on Facebook, you must be a great cook."  (I wish I knew who said that!)  Also, it turns out that if you put two submariners in a crowded room, they will find each other and trade Navy stories from their enlistments.  :)

Apparently, I'm a Secret Agent

So.

I mentioned in my 2014 wrap-up post that I've got some hearing loss.  I'm not losing all of my hearing, just the middle frequency where conversation lies.  This type of hearing loss is called Cookie Bite Hearing Loss.  Let's face it, it's a cute name for something that kinda sucks.

How did I find this out?  Well.....Hubby was telling me like a year ago that I wasn't hearing things that he or the kids were saying.  I got pretty defensive, telling him that he mumbles.  And he DOES, just not as often as I thought that he was.  I insisted that my younger son is a soft talker, and he IS, but not as softly as I think that he is.  And if he's talking to me in the car, I can't hear him over the engine.  I don't listen to the radio in the car a lot anymore, I used to think it was because I enjoyed the silence.  Turns out that IS true, because my brain is tired from trying to parse out what everyone is saying.  And I was starting to stay home from things, to spare myself from not being able to hear anything from the damn background noise.

So when an audiologist was coming to my work for screenings (I work in elderly housing) I said "hey while you're here...." and was blown away when she told me that I had profound hearing loss and "would greatly benefit from hearing aids."  Honestly, I found it devastating, especially on the tail of just finding out that my kidney stones are caused by a disorder.  It was like a big "What NOW???"  I've had some time to mourn it and I've ordered my hearing aids.  They're small, but I ordered them with a "vivid lilac" plastic casing.  Because you know what?  If you are going to have to deal with this crappy thing, you should at least have some outrageous personality about it.  I pick them up Tuesday.

I found this blog, "The Cookie Bite Chronicles."  I recognize myself in all of them (minus the hearing aid ones, but I'm sure I'll get there.) To get an idea of what life's been like, read this post.   All the nodding and smiling.......I won't miss that.

I know that I feel crappy about it right now, but I'm sure that I will feel differently this time next year.  Especially when I can tell Brian that he still mumbles. :)

The Holiday Post.

December is always a busy time but this year it went full-tilt.  There were a few unpleasantries, but that's the way life is sometimes.  There was also my birthday, and then Christmas and ho look at that....New year's is almost here already!

In their natural order, let's talk about my bday first.  It was a pretty good day with some dark overtones.  We had just found out that my father-in-law was in the hospital and would be having heart surgery, which was originally scheduled for my birthday.  It was postponed to the following Monday and went very well.  In fact, as I write this he's been home in PA for a few days and is getting stronger every day!   Despite Brian's state of mind he still gave me a really great birthday!  I got a pedicure at a new place which will be a favorite from now on, we got to enjoy lunch out sans children AND see a movie in theaters that didn't feature cartoons or talking penguins.  And he gave me a beautiful new red winter coat.  Can't wait to make a scarf to go with it!

Christmas Eve found us at home, him working on the next day's desserts and me wrapping.  Wrapping all day.  ALLLLL day.  Usually I don't mind doing the family gifts on Christmas Eve, this year it was stressful and there was a lot of "What the hell was I thinking??"  That and weaving of ends and sewing buttons on Christmas gifts.  Hopefully next year will be better for that.   We have a tradition of going and looking at people's light displays on Christmas Eve and our town didn't disappoint.  They had a contest for residents in the weeks before and published the addresses of the winners.  It's a lot more fun when you're guaranteed some pretty displays!  After that it was popcorn and a movie until it was time to wake up for Santa the next day.  We spent the day at my brother's house, while the older cousins played and I got to snuggle my baby nephew.  

Then.....Legoland!!!!  We'd given the boys a trip to the new Boston Legoland Discovery Center for Christmas, and they loved it.  Everyone had a great time.  I took pictures but they're all pretty blurry.  That's because the kids were frenzied most of the time they were there...hopped up on plastic building bricks.  

We can talk about my knitted Christmas gifts a little later.  :)

Sweaters for Summer

Why is it....that as soon as the weather turns summer-like, I get the urge to knit a sweater??  I can count on it like clockwork....mid-June and BAM!  It's sweater-time.

Still working on my Day Zero list...and on it is an item to knit sweaters for my husband and children.  I made Sean's at Christmastime.....so as soon as I bind off the "Up to You" shawl  I am going to make one of these two sweaters:

 This one is called "Chili Pepper."  It's a British pattern so it requires a little tweaking.  I bought yarn for this two years ago (Yes, really) that's a really cool twist of black and gray.  Very masculine.  :)

This one looks small for Will but it comes in sizes from baby to adult.  It's a really popular pattern called the Wonderful Wallaby, and it looks kind of like a hooded sweatshirt.  Very versatile.  The yarn for this has been kickin' in my stash for about a year (no judging!) and it's a charcoal gray wool/acrylic blend.  That means that it can go in the washer and dryer, which for kids' garments is a very good thing.

I don't know if I can finish both of these by the fall.  But I can try, right?

Home is Where the Yarn Is

I'm back, and so glad that I went to this  conference!  I was a little nervous at first, going away for a few days.  But I got to know people that work for the same company better, and had a lot of fun along the way.  There were workshops, keynotes, dinners, and a lot of activities in-between.  First:  the location.

The Omni Mount Washington Hotel and Resort., Bretton Woods, NH

This place was INCREDIBLE.  It was built in 1902, complete with a ballroom and a former speakeasy.  How COOL is that???   Sadly, I didn't get to stay here because the place was booked faster than fast, lickety-split.  I stayed at another even older hotel about thirty minutes away.  It was a bit inconvenient, but I worked it out so that I only drove up to the OMW once per day and one of  my co-workers were gracious enough to let me store my dress for the Roaring 20's Dance Party in her room.  This means that I got up super-early each day and drove before breakfast and coffee, which was nuts.  It also meant that I knit in between workshop sessions which was of course wonderful.  

Here was my view after the afternoon workshop on Thursday:

Got home Friday afternoon and picked up the boys at school. They were so happy to see me and I them!  I think there was a bone-crushing hug or two in there.  :)  Traveling is always great, but coming home is the best part, to these two kids (and of course my husband, who held down the fort fantastically.  And looked really happy to be getting out of the house to play volleyball alone on Friday!)

Next year's conference is in Stowe, Vermont.  And I will definitely be going!

Here are my babes, "destroying stormtroopers" at the local mall.  

p.s.  Yes.  I did sneak in not one but two local New Hampshire yarn stores.  One in Derry on the way up and another in Concord on the way down.  Thirteen days and counting to the Webs Tent Sale!!

These Winter Blues

I'm not typically a whiner about winter.  I live in New England, I expect snow and cold.  But this winter can turn even the cheeriest person into a gripe.  Polar vortex dropping temps into the negatives, huge snowstorms, surprise snow totals, freezing rain, freezing pipes, permafrost, cracked sidewalks, icy roads, cracked skin, etc etc etc.  Kids out of school due to storms.....MOTHER NATURE WE GET IT YOU ARE ALL POWERFUL.  Now, please think some warm thoughts like spring breezes and crocuses.  No one likes Easter egg hunting in a winter jacket.

So how does one beat these winter blues?  Well, I like to knit.  I know, when DON'T I like to knit.  And in defiance to Mother Nature, I cast on a cotton summer dress for my niece.  It's using up several skeins of purple worsted cotton in my stash and should be ready to wear when the weather warms up.  I don't care if the pattern says that it could be worn over a long-sleeve t-shirt, I'm choosing to ignore that!   I'd like to say that going to knitting meetup on Wednesday nights is helping, but two of them have been cancelled recently due to weather.  (Mother Nature, you're killin' me.)

Getting out of the house helps, too.  Brian and I had tickets to see Alton Brown's "The Inevitable Edible" tour last weekend.  Despite getting some more of the white stuff, we got there.  If you've ever read my food blog you know that A.B.  is my husband's idol.  When I heard that he was coming to town I just KNEW that we had to get tickets.  What I didn't know was how funny and sincere he is, and how hard I would laugh during his show.  If you ever get a chance to see him live, you should.

Let's see, what else helps?  Oh I know.... planning our first garden for this house!   I didn't get to have a garden last year due to the move and I was seriously bummed.  This year Brian and I have all sorts of plans, starting with deck boxes of fresh herbs.  We're also going to build a raised bed and grow carrots, beans, tomatoes, cucumbers and zucchini.  That's the plan anyway.

So there you have it....my plan to keep Mother Nature from getting the best for me.  And besides, she's got to crave sunshine and warm weather sometime.  

Another Snow Day!

Another New England Storm....another Snow Day.

So far we've made the best of it and had dog-piles:

and sculpted towers with hangers.  Oh, and my craft room is pulled apart due to an energy audit yesterday.  The guy had to get into the attic and guess where the entry is?

We've also had a little bit of productivity.  When we moved out of our old house, we sentimental types took the piece of trim from the boys' room that had all of their height measurements on it.  Since the trim in this house isn't the same, Brian took the time to transfer all of the measurements to the trim by the boys' closet door.

So all in all it's been a good day so far.  As long as we keep the kids busy and entertained, we'll be OK.  The dead TV in the family room certainly isn't helping, though.

Whatta Guy

Time for this Day Zero List Item

32.  Write a love letter to my husband

This particular blog post will be his love letter.   It'll probably make him blush a bit but I really don't think he'll mind too much. Instead of making it all mushy and squishy, I will instead shout to the world, Internet, why I married perhaps the best Man on Earth.

1.  He's got a twisted sense of humor, and so do I.  We laugh over so many things and have lots of jokes that only the two of us "get." 

2.  He is a wonderful father.  He's always got time to spend with his boys and teach them stuff.  He enjoys talking about Legos and watching Mythbusters with Will, and making jokes and playing Angry Birds with Sean.  He's been a very hands-on Dad from the very beginning....changing diapers, kissing boo-boos, doing the baths and soothing after nightmares.

3.  He's a team player and a good partner.  We divide the housework nicely for the most part.  My favorite thing is that he's always willing to fold laundry during Flyers games, even if it's five loads.  

4.  He's thoughtful, considerate and kind.  Most mornings he brings a cup of coffee to me while I am getting out of the shower.  Sometimes he takes my car and gets gas so that I don't have to worry about it.  And today he stopped by work to drop off a package of yarn that I had ordered, just so that I could work on a hat that I am knitting at Knit Night tonight!  How many guys would do that!

5.  He's an excellent cook, and loves to do it.  He also likes nothing more than having people over.  The more people to cook and show off his skills to, the merrier.

6.  And most importantly, he loves me at my best and he loves me at my worst.  He is proud of my accomplishments and gentle but willing to help me with my shortcomings.  

So there you have it....and this is an abbreviated list.  I love you, Brian!

The Dreaded Diet

On January First, I started the two dreaded words that all fiber enthusiasts fear:  Yarn Diet.

A yarn diet is where a knitter/crocheter takes a look at their yarn stash and decides to knit down from it.  As in, "Holy crap that's a lot of yarn.  I'm going to knit from what I have and not buy anything new for a time period."  Or as my husband likes to put it, "Good God!  You have enough for a small store in there!"   The marked end of my dreaded yarn diet is the annual Webs Tent Sale, which I would only miss if I were dying.

What brought this on?  Well besides the fact that I have a lot of that fibery goodness, we are planning a big secret family trip in April.  Secret as in secret to the boys, but everyone else knows.  And I don't plan on telling the kiddos until a few weeks out.  If I could hold off the fact until we're on our way to the airport, I would, but I don't have that kind of willpower!!  Not buying any yarn is one way to save some cash for the trip.  Because yarn shopping is quite possibly my favorite thing to do.

I've had some interesting experiences in the last couple of days, and I thought I'd share:

1.  I posted something earlier about the "Podcaster's Throwdown" for donating hats.  Diving into my stash to find non-wool yarns for hats to donate has actually been kind of fun.  I've already made one and am madly working on another.  I've found things that I had forgotten I had!  I've also found a couple of things that are clearly going into the "de-stash" pile to offer to my friends at our annual De-Stash Event before the Tent Sale.  (I'm looking at you, ten skeins of charcoal-colored cotton-acrylic blend that was going to be a sweater four years ago.  What in the hell was I thinking??)

2.  When catalogs from Knitpicks or emails from Webs come, I feel like I am doing something dirty by flipping thru the catalog.  It might as well just be porn.

3.  This yarn habit really is a mild addiction.  I've been tempted to fall off the wagon more than once!  The same emails that come in with subject lines like "Yarn for You" feel like my dealer is trying to entice me and pull me back into the fold.

4.  While working on projects for others with deadlines (of course), I am dangerously running low on yarn.  These are commissioned items, and I have to finish them.  One of them the person is paying for the yarn, the other is a more-than-half-done charity item.  I had to suck it up and order a ball of yarn.  Not only that, I had to pay a ridiculous amount of shipping for one damn ball of yarn.  Totally not counting that as a slip.

5.  And perhaps the funniest example yet:  it's in my dreams.  I had a nightmare the other night that Brian and I had taken a trip to Montreal for some R+R without kids.  We ended up at a mall, and there was a yarn shop.  And every time I tried to walk in, the woman in charge would say in French, "Sorry, we're closed" and slam the door in my face.  But she let my husband in and I watched others shop.  Then I got lost while my husband went to a pub and got his drink on, and I had no knitting to entertain/calm me while I wondered where the hell he was.  I can't make this stuff up....I woke up in a foul mood.  He of course found the whole thing utterly HILARIOUS!!

Let it Snow.....Dammit Let it Snow, Let it Snow.

Not even Christmas yet and we're on the second snowstorm.  This weekend involved eight inches of snow and a birthday party on Sunday morning.  What kind of sadistic soul schedules a birthday party on a Sunday morning?????

Today's snowstorm brought on an early release from school.  That's a special kind of hell, getting your kidsready for school, and then messing up the day to be home for when they get off the bus, etc.  I got the call from Will's school that there was no afterschool program today, which wasn't in the original call.  Naturally, this call came AFTER Brian had left to take Sean to preschool.  Had I known that, I would have kept Sean home with me.  Instead I went to work for 2.5 hours.  And I did it in jeans, a sweater and no makeup.  Yep, I sure did.  The world didn't end, and only one person said "You look really pale, do you feel alright?"  

Now the boys and I are home, and Daddy is at work.  And will likely be at work because his boss doesn't believe in closing early.  Ever.  I've baked cookies though, and am about to settle down and watch Phineas and Ferb with the boys and work on that blue sweater for Sean.  Which is knitting up nicely by the way.  Optimistically, he might be able to wear it on Christmas.  Pessimistically, it will somehow wind up having a third sleeve at the neck.

So keep snowing, dammit.  Snow all you want.  I'm not going to let you break my spirit, Mother Nature.  It's way too early in the season for this New Englander.  :P

Duty to Warn

I've discovered another reason why I keep a blog, and why I go back and read things again.  Especially during the month of December.  It's the definition of insanity......"doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results."

Oh the potluck dinner.  I both love and despise you.  I love the fact that everyone shares the cooking by bringing something to share, instead of one person/family being responsible for the whole thing.  I detest picking out something to bring.  And then I re-read posts like this one that serve as a not-so-gentle reminder to cut the crap and pick out something simple.  Or if at all possible....something jazzy that Hubby is happy to make.  That's why I'm bringing stuffed shells and a case of soda to Friday Night's knitting group swap and potluck.  Stuffed shells aren't something I'd ever consider making myself, but he looks forward to it.  And I play with the kids/keep the house going while he cooks.  Sounds pretty sweet to me!

Another potluck for work on Tuesday....and it's an hour away.  Looking at the list of things that people are already bringing, I see that it's short on entrees and quite heavy on dessert and appetizers.  Then I spy that someone is bringing roast turkey.  So I'm bringing a potato side dish.  Not sure what kind of potato yet, but even I can handle that.  Done, and done!  No cookie craziness with five hundred ingredients, no possiblities of inhaling jalapeno.  Merry Christmas to ME!  :)

The Best Hour of the Day

Today's prompt:  what is the best hour of the day?

The best one is when I read to the kids, and spend a little extra time with them before bed.  (I'm not crazy a lot of nights about getting them IN bed, but usually it's not too bed.)  After some books, a lullaby, some extra hugs and kisses...once I close that bedroom door I'm off like a bandit.  I always feel like I accomplished this BIG THING and am getting away with something when I get them down for the night successfully.  

After that....Hubby and I have our time.  Most of the time this involves television and ice cream, but it's perfect.  We unwind before bed, watching whatever tickles our fancy.  Yep, that amount of time right there, from putting the kids to bed and then ending the day next to him....that's the best hour of my day.  :)

Rhinebeck!!!

The mecca for all knitters/crocheters/fiber enthusiasts.  The holiday of the year!

I never thought I'd be able to arrange going, since it's about 3.5 hours from home.  But it turns out that Webs offers a bus trip and tickets were a mere $45.00.  For $45.00 you get a ride that you don't have to drive, a busful of awesome knitters like yourself all excited to be going somewhere, the ticket to the Rhinebeck Sheep and Wool Festival and your name entered in several of Webs' fabulous raffles.  (Mom and I won none of them, but all of our seatmates around us seemed to hit the jackpot.)

Mom stayed over on Friday night because Saturday was going to be a super-early start.  Brian scoffed my "I'm going to get up at 4:45AM!" and remarked that this was something that he just had to see.  True to my word, when the alarm on my phone went off, I popped out of bed and said "Look at that, I'm up and no snooze button!"  (it helps to have a continual nightmare that you've missed the bus.)

5:30 AM:  Mom and I are in her truck, cruising down the MassPike in the dark.  We made it in plenty of time for the 6:30am bus boarding, and it was a fairly uneventful trip to the Duchess County Fairgrounds.  Well, except for the part where it took 45 minutes to get in there.  But what are you gonna do, it's a fantastically popular place!  People flock from all over to attend this.  I've never seen anything like it, I've been to a few festivals but this was by far the biggest gathering of "my people,"  all wearing hand-knits and radiating excitement.  And oh....the hand-knits!  Everyone oohs and aahs over things that people are wearing, and they bond over patterns and yarn types.  Chatting about yarn and patterns almost sounds like a different language.   (I love your shawl...is that Wingspan?  No it's Hitchhiker.  Oh, this?  It was supposed to be a dress but I modified it to be a tunic.  You can find it on Rav under "Pambe dress")

We'd been warned that there would be long lines for food, so Mom and I opted to eat right away.  The place had everything for food....barbecue, greek, fancy, pasta, burgers, seafood, etc etc etc.  What it also had that was kind of annoying was bees.  It was an unusually warm day for October and they were out in full force.

After lunch it was time for SHOPPING!!  There were so many vendors there I lost count.  Mom and I brought home lovely treasures:  buttons, notions, stitch markers....and Mom got some fabric of sheep knitting on black background to make a few project bags.  And of course, there was the YARN.  SO much yarn in one place!  Chock full of yarny goodness!  Gorgeous colorways in every weight.   I practiced quite a bit of restraint by only bringing home four skeins of yarn.  This one was my favorite:

 Madelinetosh Tosh merino light in "Jasper."  Saw it across two tents and it "spoke to me."  Green usually isn't my thing but I had to have it.

We also saw animals:  I got to pet a beautiful sheep named Leanne, she was a doll.  And they had a kids' area that was full of activities had we brought the boys, including a little zoo.  There were lemurs and baby kangaroos.  I'd never seen a kangaroo up close, and I can now say that our dog Joey is aptly named!

These guys posed for a photo.  

Several hours later we piled back onto the bus for the ride back to Northampton and then an hour's ride back home from there.  It was dark on the way home too, making the day feel surreal.  And when we got home, Brian had cleaned the house and there was dinner for us on the table.  It was wonderful!

All in all, a fantastic day.  I wish I'd taken more photos.  I'm so glad to have attended and I'd certainly do it again.  Next time though, I'd like to get the Yarn Harlot to autograph one of my books.  :)  And see one of the Ravelry meetups.  And maybe, just maybe, take a workshop.

Newness of it All

It's been a crazy week, with trying to get a routine down.  Even though we've been living here 2.5 months now, it all feels new again.  Will almost missed the bus yesterday, but luckily ran like heck to get there and the bus driver waited for him.  :)  I miss having the bus stop directly across the street from my house.  But, if he does miss the bus the school is at mile .75 of my 2.6 mile commute.  Not that I'm rooting for that, mind you.  He seems to be enjoying school for the most part.  He's back to being super-tired at night, and now there's a new thing called homework.  No arguments yet.

Next week we'll have something else new:  Seanie is starting preschool.  Can you believe it's that time already????  I certainly can't.  He will go two days per week, and tomorrow I am taking him there to check out the place.  Oh, I do hope it goes well!

How about one more new thing...  We've replaced the screamy dishwasher!  Hubby just finished hooking up the new one.  It only took three trips to Home Depot.  Any homeowner knows that at least two trips is customary.  

So we're off and running....without much time to get used to the "new" again.  We're getting there, though.  In the next few weeks we're bound to find a groove.  That's the hope, anyway.

Tax-Free Weekend

I've always looked at tax holidays as a gimmick just to get people to flock to stores and buy a bunch of stuff they don't need.  I've done enough of that in my life, and 6.25% savings isn't enough of a reason to go out there and buy a TV for the sake of no sales tax.  However, this was the first time I actually was looking to purchase something and it coincided with that!  Happy to participate and stimulate the economy, Massachusetts.  It also didn't hurt that we had a 10% off our entire purchase at Lowe's, either.  That is one of the things that's great about moving to a new house, all these companies send you coupons and stuff.  In fact, I've got a 20% off Bed Bath and Beyond one that I may go out and use later!

So, the dishwasher in this house.  Absolutely HATE IT, it is so loud and it screams kind of like a woman.  We wait to run it at night as we're going to bed, it's so disruptive.  You can only turn up the TV so loud to drown it out before it wakes up the kids.  And the fridge...the freezer on the bottom is great and I love having an icemaker (when the ice isn't freezer burned...ugh that's gross) but the ice eats up a lot of room.  We'd been talking about getting a chest freezer for the garage.  So dishwasher and chest freezer:  PROCURED.  To be delivered in the next ten days.  Which is fine, because Brian spent a good amount of time clearing out the rest of the boxes in the garage while I was yarn-shopping yesterday.  (Have I said lately how awesome my husband is??)  

We were shopping kids-free, so it was kind of like being a kid in a candy shop.  We picked up a pot and pan rack for the kitchen cabinet, so now it's easy to put away pots and pans, instead of having to put some on the floor and counter while you are looking for which one you need.   We walked past the lighting department and this chandelier caught our eye.  Now, the chandelier in the dining room is functional, but kind of dated and ugly.  So why the heck not??  Brian installed it this morning, and it went quickly and smoothly.  

BEFORE:

AFTER:

 

Lastly, the paint department.  I love looking at paint swatches and trying to decide on colors.  We picked an off-white for the boys' bathroom and I'm looking forward to painting hopefully in the next few weeks.  And we have swatches all over our bedroom, from purples and grays to ocean blue and even an accent red.  Not looking to start soon but it's never too early to start planning.  

Autumn on the Brain

I think that I must have been a teacher in a past life, because as soon as the calendar hits August 1st I'm all "Oh crud....Summer is OVER."  Where it really isn't...and we still have a lot of plans coming up.  However, school starts August 28th so I guess I'm not so far off the mark.  The commercials for "back to school shopping" on TV no longer seem ridiculous, and fall TV promos are starting to leak on Facebook and Direct TV.  So I guess it's only a matter of time.

My head must be in September, though.  Because lately I've been looking at sweater patterns.  I started a sweater for Hubby the other day, and last night I screwed it up promptly.  I was four rows in when I realized that I hadn't changed to smaller needles as the pattern indicates.  And like every other delicate knitter at 10pm that discovers this, I said "screw it" and put it back in the bag to deal with tomorrow.  Or maybe even another day.  I'm doing a really good job not going crazy Christmas-Knitting and the sweater will be done when it's done.  MY sweater still isn't done, and I started it a year and a half ago.  I started it while on a trip for my brother in law's wedding in Pennsylvania.  The sleeves have me flummoxed, because the stitches keep falling off the double-pointed needles.  My friend is going to help me master "Magic Loop" so this frustrating thing can be mastered but she's expecting a baby any day now.  (And yay!  a new baby girl that I got to knit a sweater for...this comes from having boys.  Whenever there's a girl to knit for I just get so excited)

I think that Mother Nature has autumn on the brain, too.  The past few mornings have been cool, crisp and without a cloud in the sky.  Perhaps autumn is her favorite, just like mine.  Chilly night air, apple picking, sweatshirts and jeans coming out of the closet, leaves falling off the trees, I love it all.  The leaves will be interesting this year too, since this is the first time I've had trees in my backyard in a long time.  Also, once the leaves hit the ground it will be "interesting" just to see HOW CLOSE the MassPike is to the house.  Close enough to hear nighttime construction pretty well, is what we found out the other night.  Despite the cool air outside, the windows needed to be shut and AC turned on just to drown out the noise and get some sleep.

So we're enjoying the last few weeks of playing at the park in the warm sunshine, eating ice cream at all the local places and in a week or two, heading to Maine for a short vacation.  You enjoy your rest of the summer, too.  Because all too soon, it will be first grade homework, preschool for the little one and then the dreaded W-word.....WINTER.

Memory Lane

For the past week, we've been packing up and de-cluttering in order to get the house on the market.  Savers came this afternoon and picked up a very large pile of donations.  Mostly  baby stuff, like the changing table and diaper bag.  Strangely, I don't feel too sad seeing those things go.  We're quite happy with the "babies" that we have.  And we're almost to the home stretch where there will be no diapers anymore!

Brian and I have started taking separate trips down to the basement to go through things down there with a trash bag in one hand.  I've unearthed craft supplies that I forgot that I had.  For one thing, I found a sewing project that I started with my mom, a nightshirt for me.  I had to have started it at least nine years ago so it won't fit me.  Into the trash it went.

Then I made a fun discovery:  in a diaper box marked "sharp utensils" I came across every single on of my diaries!  I brought the box up to the kitchen table to marvel.  I also had another box containing letters from my high school boyfriend, B.  We dated for two years, and he was my first heartbreak.  I didn't keep these things because I still hold a candle, but because they were snapshots of the past, time preserved.  Plus his notes were always fun, with pictures that he had drawn of people we knew, jokes, and general sweetness.  I didn't go through the notes much, but I've already discovered that in the twenty years that have passed, I don't "get" all of the jokes anymore.  :)

So all productivity ceased and I took a stroll down Memory Lane, allowing me to do this:

70.  read all of my old diaries

I had diaries from 1988-2002.  I was in fifth grade in 1988, and 2002 was the first year we owned this house.   I was big on diaries, I would spend lots of time writing in one.  Sometimes it was theraputic, sometimes it was just about documenting things that I wanted to remember.  Some of it was good, and some of it was not-so-good.   All of it was intriguing.  The younger years are what one might expect, "I'm mad because so-and-so is no longer my friend" or "we had chicken for dinner."  Really deep stuff.  :)  As the years go on the content gets better and the writing improves.  There are a lot of Madonna lyrics in the teenage, junior-high years.  (Apparently this was before the music companies were required to carry age labels I guess....racy!)  

I was apparently boy-crazy.  Every entry revolves around some boy named Dave, or Mark or Pete or WHATEVER!!!  A lot of teenage angst.  I wouldn't repeat that time of my life over again for all the tea in China.  (So-and-so is mean....this so-and-so is trying to wreck my life.  I have no friends.  WaahhhH!)  Interestingly enough.... A lot of my "so-and-so"  friends from those years are still people that I am friends with today.  So I guess it all worked out!  Old friends are the best.    They also made me happy that I have BOYS.  No teenage girl drama in my house.  Though....if these boys are heartbreakers like their Dad was back in the day, I may have some teenage girl problems after all.

Brian got to enjoy some of this too.  He got ahold of the diary that I was keeping when we first met, and those first few months together.  That was fun to re-live for both of us.

Back into the box they go.  Maybe I'll find them again in 20 years and do it again.