What I Did Saturday

My sock met the Yarn Harlot's sock yesterday! My sock is the one on the left (the pattern is Fancy Silk Sock from Nancy Bush's Knitting Vintage Socks in Plymouth Sockotta yarn, a cotton/wool/nylon blend) and her sock is the lovely sock in blue and greys. As you can see, we both like sharp, pointy metal double points.

I realize that you can knit socks using two circulars or using magic loop, but really, dpns all the way for me! It is the one true way to knit socks!

I also met the Yarn Harlot. She is a truly lovely person, who even remembered me from a single comment I left on her blog. I am most impressed, as I can barely remember the names of all the parishioners at church--and I see many of them at least once a week! I wasn't able to stay for her reading/discussion at the Bluegrass Festival of Books, as we had to head up to Northern Kentucky for the wake of the church in which B was nurtured. I was able to buy two of her books and now have a complete library (with two of them signed!). Of course, being me, I was completely tongue-tied (meeting a new person, who is FAMOUS, and being my introverted, shy self), but I wasn't too inane. Or so I hope.

Being as I am often trying to be supermom (and regularly failing), I also wanted to make it home so I could make it to M's soccer game. I haven't missed one, yet, and I really wanted to go. Last week's game wasn't pretty (the Tidal Waves do not play well when they miss practice!), and I like watching the games. They played much better this week. M played his favorite position (fullback) for two quarters, forward for one quarter, and goalie for one. He did a really good job at all three. No one scored on him as goalie, and he had several assists. His team won, 14-0.

Ride and a joke

My favorite joke:

A skeleton walks into a bar and says to the bartender, "Gimme a beer and a mop!"

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Today's ride: 13.54 miles, 58 minutes, 02 seconds. 14.0 mph (I added a couple of big hills to the end of the ride). Slow, but not too bad. I am officially tired now.
Once school is over, I am going to go on a really long ride and see how it goes.

I also planted the peonies today (or pannies as L calls them) and did some weeding. My cosmos are already blooming and the day lilies are going to be really nice. Kentucky has some really nice weather at this time of year.

Just a Tuesday

Quick post, mostly because I'm trying to keep track of my rides.

Cycling: Today out past Union City and back home for a total of 13.5 miles. I made it in 56 min, 34 seconds, for an average speed of 14.3 mph. Considering I finished last season at 14.5, I think that my short term goal of 15 mph is in reach! I didn't do my usual stop and drink some water and rest a bit this time either. My hope is that soon I can do some nice 25-30 mile rides and really get some distance in (I'm going to do a century by the end of 2007!).

Oh, funny cycling story from last week. I stopped to take my inhaler and drink some water at the store in Union City. There are benches outside and it seems to be a gathering place of sorts. Usually I ride in the morning and see mostly the older farmer types, who are always pretty encouraging (yeah, I saw you going up that hill. You did great!). This time I was riding in the afternoon, and an older woman was sitting there. She watched me take my inhaler, asked where I'd ridden from, and talked. When I told her I'd ridden from my house on P drive, she said, "Does your mother know?!?" I replied, "Probably not." She said I really needed to let my mother know where I was at all times, as mothers tend to worry. I wonder how old she thought I was? What would she have thought if she knew I've been married almost 14 years and have two children?

In other boring news, I've made more granola for my breakfast. Before you call me Martha, you go try to find gluten free cold cereal that isn't made for children. Blech!

Happy Bearthday to Me!

Yesterday, according to B, I turned old and decrepit. (He says that every year and amazingly, I'm only old and decrepit for 18 days, which is when he turns back to the same age as me.) I turned 36, so if you every want to know how old I am, I'm the same age as Earthday (nope, not as old as dirt, quite!).

It was a really nice day. We all had pancakes for breakfast (poor B has to make two different batches, as I can't have gluten). I got my presents after breakfast, as the boys couldn't wait and we were going to have a very busy day. L gave me two peony plants (var. Kansas!) that he picked out himself. M gave me a Last Avatar DVD and a computer Scrabble game. M and I both love the various anime cartoons and Scrabble, so they are really for both of us. (I can share!)

B gave me a camelback, a couple of DVDs, and a new obnoxious chartreuse bag/purse. I needed a bigger one as I am carrying a lot more stuff because of L's needs. The camelback is going to be great--that way I can ride for a long time and have plenty of water. Besides, it has a spot for my cell phone, my inhaler and other stuff. I won't have to carry all that in my pockets.

M had a soccer game (they lost--better now and have it over with) and we went to the Domain. We had a picnic lunch and went for a hike. L and M were both able to hike for 5 miles. I was most impressed. We also got the Bishop to bless our new wedding rings (mine were lost--I'll tell that story some other time). Later, the boys went to parents' night out and B and I went to dinner at Outback. We actually could sit at the bar to wait for a table. How novel!

So, now I'm 36. No one believes me.

Ch-ch-changes

We've had a few changes here.

L has his newest pair of socks--he is a big fan of new socks. These ones were knit from leftovers from a previous pair. (Sockotta yarn, in a 4X2 rib pattern on size 1 needles.) I want to buy some yarn to make socks for the two bigger boys because L has many more pairs than them. Of course, L has much smaller feet and I can squeeze a lot more socks out of the yarn I buy for him!



Another change, which I thought was obvious, but apparently was not, is that I had 3 or 4 inches cut off of my hair (hard to tell, as my hair is pretty curly). It's gone from an unruly mane of tangled waves to a not-as-much unruly set of loose curls. B likes it, I really like it, but surprisingly no one else seems to have noticed. I've decided to think that's because my new cut is so great and is so me that no one can tell. This picture shows my hair a bit--I'd just finished a bike ride so my hair is in pig tails and a bit messy. Yes, I wore my helmet. (Motto: It's better to look stupid than be stupid!)

A third change is we now are the proud owners of a high efficiency front-loading washing machine! Woohoo! Can't you just feel the excitement? The boys (all three of them) like to watch it go round and round. Having a window so you can see the laundry apparently is really exciting. I like it because there's a lot less water going into the septic tank, and the clothes are dryer when they go into the dryer, using a lot less electricity. That warms my environmentalist's heart. I'm not posting a picture of the washing machine, because that's just too pathetic, even for me!

Added later:
Ride report: New ride today. I tried out a new route. It's also hilly. Total mileage: 13.56, total time: 1 hour, 2 min., 5 sec. MPH somewhere in the neighborhood of 13.3 to 13.4. This route includes waiting at red lights, so I think that it went pretty well. No wheezing once off the bike, so my fitness level is increasing. I made it home and showered just as the thunder started. I had pretty good timing for a change.

Going, going, GONE!

What we did Saturday afternoon:

going,








going,












GONE!




L is learning to ride his bicycle, too.

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter from us!

We hope that your Easter was full of joy and Alleluias!













Easter morning, 2006. In front of our apple tree.

Maundy Thursday

Today starts the serious Holy Week events.

Tonight is the Maundy Thursday service. This is one of the most powerful (to me) services of the year. The part of the service that resonates with me is stripping the altar. There is something very powerful about taking every bit of celebratory material off of the altar and leaving the church in darkness and silence. Unfortunately, the two boys are not really able to sit through the service yet so I won't get to go this year.

Tomorrow is Good Friday. B has a mass of the pre-sanctified at 12:10 and then we are sharing a Good Friday service with the Lutherans.

Saturday is the Great Vigil of Easter. That service is starting at 11:00 pm and won't be over until 1:00 am.

Sunday will be the three usual services, but much more celebratory!

Anyway, the above is a short explanation of why we are going to be extremely busy for the next few days.

In other news,

M's last soccer game was a great success. He played goalie for three quarters and did very well. No one scored on him (or the other goalie, for that matter). He is certain he is going to be a fullback/backup goalie when he starts playing in middle school (which is still 2 years away, thank goodness). I'm really quite proud of him. He has improved so much every season.

L had a hematology appointment on Tuesday. He is doing okay--he seems to have gained about a pound since January (so maybe 6.5 ounces a month). Of course, hematology's scales don't count (according to the GI), so next month we will really see how he is growing. He has been sick too often this winter (last year was a fluke) and so we are investigating giving him IVIG or SCIG next winter. Right now, he has another cold, and he's complaining that his face, eyes, and head hurts. I think that he has a sinus infection. Poor kid.

He and I also were able to see some of B's relatives or as L likes to say "Cousins!" It was nice to see Aunt B and Uncle T, J & K and their 4 boys, and K and J and their four children, none of whom we are able to see very often. Grandma and Grandpa were also there and L loves to see them. After the appointment, we met all of the cousins and Grandpa at the zoo (the best bribe ever) and had a lot of fun with them.

I have tomorrow off from school--convenient, that. Today, I was able to ride again. (It's amazing how much it helps me cope.) I was much faster today. I went 12.54 miles, in 53 minutes 13 seconds, and at a speed of 14.1 mph. Much better than last week's ride. I also didn't spend another hour wheezing.

L will be home very soon from preschool, so I must go. I hope that the sun is shining for you!

The real post

It's a two post day. There's so much going on that I decided that I needed to do two!

Church news: The steeple is being delivered today. It's a miracle. The church is coming along so quickly. The mild KY winters make it possible to start a building project in January (well, actually December). If you want to see progress, you can start by going here and viewing the progress. There will be steeple pictures soon, I'm sure!

Boy news: The boys went fishing today. All of them. They didn't catch any fish, but they did have a good time. I did not go. I do believe that fishing is the most boring activity known to humankind.

Cycling news: I went for a ride today. It's the first real ride of the season. I was a bit slow, but I made the entire 12.52 mile ride at 13.5 mph in 55 minutes and 41 seconds. I only lost a bit of time since last fall. I guess the trainer helped me stay in shape after all. My hope is that I can average by summer 15 miles an hour. I'm still having some wheezing now after 2 hours, but that will pass. (I'll just drink more coffee!)

Knitting news: I finished my Norwegian Socks! I started them on the 12 of March and finished them on the 4th of April. Yes, it took three weeks. However, I finished a pair of socks in that time, ripped out 6" of vest, and these are knee socks! The pattern was from Nancy Bush's Folk Socks and the book and yarn came from my secret pal, Valerie. I am definitely going to make more socks from this book. There are only two real projects on the needles right now: B's sweater (which I keep telling myself doesn't need to be finished until October or so) and a pair of socks for L out of left over yarn. I am probably going to start another pair of socks for me and I want to buy some yarn for socks for B and M. Socks are easier to work on when it's hot, and I know that they will be worn.

M took this picture of the very fancy socks for me. I quite like them!

Next week will be busy--it's Holy Week and L has his appointment with the hematologist. He's still coughing and today is his last day on antibiotics. I guess we could go to his pediatrician, but it won't hurt to have the hematologist listen to how L's doing.

Portraits

We had our family portrait taken not long ago. Here we are:
M is 8 in this picture and L is 5. There are also pictures of the boys and of just B and I.
So this is what we look like now. Note the matching sweaters on the boys. This was not my idea. But they look very handsome anyway!

Spring Break

The boys are on spring break.

No, you don't understand, The boys are on spring break!

Grocery shopping with them is not fun.
Listening to them annoy each other all day long is not fun.
Telling them to clean their rooms 50 million times (+/- 3) is not fun.

However,
seeing M really ride his bike is fun.
watching L use M's scooter is also fun.

And finally, sleeping until 7:00 am for (almost) the whole week is also fun.

In other news: M's soccer game went extremely well, even though both teams technically forfeited. They wound up playing 4 v 4 with M playing fullback. After the first quarter, the other team had another player show up so they had a sub. The Tidal Waves won anyway: 8-1.

L and I got sunburned (first one of the year!).

The church is moving along quite quickly. The steeple is coming. The bricks are going on the exterior walls. There are rooms inside the church building.

See you--I must finish making dinner.