Monday Mail

It's Monday, and it's a beautiful day. It's been a really good day.

I paid all the bills today, and we had money left! I managed to get the bills out to the mailbox just before the mailman came, too.

In the mail, came my package from my Spring Forward Secret Pal, Yours in Knit, on Knitty. She really paid attention to things that I like! She even sent some things for me to share. I have a box of girl scout cookies to share and coffee to share with The Collar. The best things are for knitting socks. I like to knit socks! YIK sent a skein of Socks that Rock which is a sock yarn I've never knit with before, two sets of size 0 dpns (I like to knit socks two at a time) and Nancy Bush's Knitting on the Road, which is full of sock patterns. Many of them are male-friendly too. :)

Here's a picture of the violas that are growing in my flower pot. Aren't they cheerful?

Surprises!

I did say yesterday I was going to talk about the box my SP#9 sent me. I try to keep my promises.

This picture shows most of what I received from inkydinkydoo. There's a box of white tea (which will be great to drink as I begin grading 60+ papers in just a couple of weeks), wool soak for my knitting, a Knitty Meet Up sticker from Philly (I am not sure how many of us would show up if we tried to do one in KY), and some chocolate (which is residing in our refrigerator, as yesterday we topped 93 degrees). Warning: the best light we have is in front of our bay window. The dogs like to stand or lie on the windowsill and look out. Apparently, part of looking out of the window is slobbering on it. We wash the windows, but we don't do it constantly. Hence, we have messy window panes on the bottom half.

She sent some of it in this fabulous box:Isn't it great? I really love the takeout box. (Yes, I'm weird. I save all of our gift bags and reuse them every year too. Maybe this year I'll make cloth ones and finally stop using wrapping paper or paper bags at all.)

One of the things inside the box were two dpn protectors, that look like this:To make certain that they work, I need to cast on a pair of socks, right?!?

And finally, she made me this:Someday, someone will receive this card for some special occasion. For right now, though, I am going to look at it and admire it. Isn't she talented?

Thank you, SP. I do know who you are, and I really have enjoyed being spoiled by you. Thanks!

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In other news:

The Wiz's midterm report was *very* good. He's testing on 96% for reading, has two perfect spelling tests, and is doing well in math. The Collar and I have been doing homework (pulling teeth) with him and are actually stunned. Maybe he's saving his wiggles for home now? This is a huge improvement for him. :)

Game Boy is also doing well at school. He has one B and everything else is an A. He says he wants to bring up the B, but we are not pressuring him. Yesterday, he brought home a fat envelope that informed us that he was being invited to sing in the CKMEA honor's choir on November 2. He's really excited. It's going to be a very musical weekend for him, because he's also singing Mozart's Requiem up at Good Shepherd that Sunday. Whew! It's amazing how far music is taking him. Next summer, he's probably going to New York City and the following summer the choir is going to England. Remind me when I whine about driving up for rehearsals that he is getting to go places and do amazing things, and it will all be good for him.

Surprises!

I've had a few surprises the last couple of days. First, when soccer starts in March, you don't expect to go to a game and come home with striped feet. It was at least 80 F out there. (Today, it was a record: it reached 82.) GameBoy's team defeated this team too--8-0. Second, when you have a dermatologist's appointment the next day, you don't expect him to be nonchalant about said sunburn. Basically, he said that I'm so fair, I'm going to burn. I'm currently skin cancer free, but most likely I'll have a recurrence or two (or ten). Growing up in Kansas was not good for my skin.

Another surprise is how straight A's are celebrated at GameBoy's and The Wiz's school. GameBoy was able to have the straight A's lunch (complete with medium frosty) and they gave each kid a bag of loot: a miniature light saber, a baton, a cup, and other things that I can't remember at the moment.

And finally, I received a surprise from my SP. I think that she's from the West Coast, but I am not convinced that I know where. She sent me a great package, too. Of course, there was yarn:

The Wiz saw the box, and decided that this yarn is for him. He likes the colors. If there's enough left over, I might make him a pair from the left overs.

She also sent me wonderful gardening gloves (goatskin, which make the best gloves for gardening in my experience) and flower seeds (hollyhocks, columbine, and Canterbury bells). Maybe we'll be able to plant flowers this weekend.

And finally, a really great t-shirt. Do you think it's me?