In case you ever wondered why

B has only two pairs of handknit socks and L has six pairs of socks, here is an excellent illustration of why. I finished L's socks today. L often winds up with socks made from yarn left over from other pairs of socks. There is also the joy of being able to finish a pair early.

No words of wisdom or even much thought today. L is sick so he and I are staying home today. He's still in his jammies and sounds just awful. He may not be able to go to school tomorrow.

Sigh.

Knitting and My Life

Yesterday, I received a package from my mellow secret pal. For those of you who don't know what that means, secret pals are the idea where you sign up to buy presents and send notes to someone you don't know and and someone else sends gifts/notes/etc. to you. It's a really neat way to get to know someone else and hopefully, send some brightness to someone else. I'm doing this through a knitting board (if you're interested it's http://www.knitty.com).

My secret pal has been doing some sleuthing with my posts, reading my blog, and the questionaire I filled out. I think that she has gotten a feel for me. This picture is of the package I recieved. B and I had the coffee this morning (and it is quite good--I've never had Brazilian coffee before), chocolate, the book, and a nice note. The book is really what has captured me. I have read a few chapters and it spoke to me.

If you asked me why I started knitting, I'd tell you that I began because I can't sit still and I needed to do something while waiting in waiting rooms at doctor's offices. I'd also tell you that I continue because I'm a control freak and it is one thing that I can control. But I'm not sure that those are the real reasons. I think that I also knit because I can do something for those that I love. I knit to make myself feel better about various bad things that happen. I also knit when I'm happy. The stitches are a way to let my feelings be tangible to me. L gets his socks because I feel badly about all of the sticks he has to have. M gets them because he won't wear sweaters and I want him to have something from me when he's not with me. B gets them because I knit them in bright colors and I get to smile at the thought of the priest wearing bright red socks under his vestments. There are so many that I want to knit for that I will be busy forever.

If you ever get something knitted from me, it is a sure sign that I deeply care about you. If you haven't gotten something from me, and you are sure that I do care very much about you, it will happen. I just haven't found the right pattern or yarn for you. (And for those of you who have received cross stitched gifts from me, the same thing applies. Cross stitch actually takes me much longer to do.)

Knitting has been an aid for working through my life which is full of uncertainty and change.

Pax.

3 Good Things

1. I am more than 2/3 of the way through the supersecret/boring-to-knit project.
2. I have one sock of a pair for L done. Using leftover yarn, no less!
3. It's Friday and I received a package in the mail from my mellow secret pal. A really, really needed nice surprise.

I'll post pictures later. I'm going to make cornbread to go with the chili that I made. I'm starving! Whenever I tutor after I teach, I don't really get to eat a decent lunch. Today's lunch was pretty lame (a small side salad and small french fries) but at least I had veggies.

I hope that you have three good things about today, too.

Pax.

Random Thoughts

Sorry, no stories about Hunt Hunt, his brother Hunt Hunt, his other brother Hunt Hunt, or his sister Hunt Hunt. Currently, they are taking a rest in outer space, aka under L's booster seat at the kitchen table. They took R2D2 with them. It's been lots of fun reading the comments I'm getting from you. I hope you are having fun reading snapshots of our lives.

The picture has nothing to do with anything I'm writing today. I just like it.

School's been busy here. M is busy (B decided to teach him long division--at school they are just starting division, so I expect to hear that M is bored at school again). Choir is fun for him and his younger brother, but M seems to really enjoy it. He is also going to begin being an acolyte at church. Now B gets to wrangle one of the boys sometimes at church.

L is L. Today he found more playdoh (I really thought that I'd confiscated all of it) and decided to put it into the family room space heater (electricity is less expensive than natural gas). I smelled smoke, and found it. At least I discovered it early. Some days I wonder if he'll make it to his next birthday (less than one month away). He also spent hours talking with Furby. I'm no longer sure why Santa thought that Furby was a good idea. The two of them have conversations that make no sense, but can be fun to listen to. He's an exasperating but really funny kid. Sometimes it's hard not to laugh at some of the things that he does.

B is busy with the new church building. He does all sorts of other things at the church, but I am not privy to many of them. You'll have to ask him what he's doing.

I am teaching (we're already 3 weeks into the semester) and I'm tutoring for four hours a week. I am knitting, natch! I learned that a sweater sleeve for a tall man with long arms is bigger than a sweater back for a largish kid. I've finished a sleeve for B (finally!) and the back for M's sweater. L's socks are coming along (it's hard to tell him no after he has bloodwork done) so maybe I'll finish something soon. Other things I'm working on are kind of secret still, so no comment. I am going to make a declaration: the next item I cast on will be for me. Or maybe not. B's mother is getting a vest, hopefully before summer.

Yes, it's a boring post. I'm sure it will be even worse once M starts playing soccer again. Between soccer and choir, we are some very busy people. Next year L wants to play. I just wasn't ready for him to play this year.

Pax.

Alien Abduction?

The saga of the Hunt Hunts continues...

L and I went up to the paternal grandparents' house before his GI appointment today. We arrived yesterday afternoon and of course the Hunt Hunts (Hunt Hunt's sister is named Hunt Hunt too) came also. L took them out of their house and was playing with them. Their home planet was the spikey baldy hat M gave grandpa (you probably don't really want to know) and they live inside the hat. Apparently their planet is cool because when you flip it the Hunt Hunts go flying all over the living room.

He played with the Hunt Hunts awhile and then decided to play with something else. Since I'm paranoid about the Hunt Hunts "adventuring", I told L to put them in their house. We found three, but Hunt Hunt with the baseball bat disappeared. L wasn't worried--after all, the real Hunt Hunt went home and came back. L decided that Hunt Hunt was going back home to bring back more Hunt Hunts (because they have no parents, donchaknow?), specifically ones that surfed! Grandma and I weren't so sure, so we looked on tables, in the bathroom, in the toy box, under furniture, moved the cushions, with no luck. We stopped for awhile.

After dinner, we looked again. We looked every place we could think and then just crawled around on the floor looking. Still no luck. Finally, I thought that maybe Patti (sporting her new custom made sweater made by yours truly) might have taken it and stashed it some where. Grandma thought not, as it wasn't food. I looked under G & G's bed and there was Hunt Hunt! I suppose that the Hunt Hunts are just the right size for a small poodle to carry off.

I no longer think that the Hunt Hunt adventures are over. I am sure that they will have many more adventures.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
L's appointment with the GI went pretty well. He now weighs a whopping 33 pounds and is just over 40 inches tall. He grew 4 cm since July! While this is a huge amount for him, I think that he's going to have to still have a harness and an aide on the bus for Kindergarten (and probably first grade, too).

M and B had a good time eating stuff that L won't eat (which is a surprisingly short list) and I can't eat. It was all good.

The Story of Hunt Hunt

I really have nothing to say today, so I'll write up an anecdote about L. Tomorrow we see his GI, so it's nice to have some reminders that L is still just a kid. Besides, it's a pretty cute story!

I have absolutely no idea of where Hunt Hunt came from. All I know is that when we left Lexington for KC, Hunt Hunt was not along (this was June 2004). By the time we were in KC, L had Hunt Hunt and Hunt Hunt was a big topic of conversation. Hunt Hunt is from outerspace, Hunt Hunt likes breakfast. Hunt Hunt fits in my pocket (a pretty impressive feat, since L was wearing something like 18 month sizes at the time and was 3!) Hunt Hunt slept with L, rode in the car with L and was a constant friend until we left. On the day we left, he couldn't find Hunt Hunt anywhere. He was in tears, and my parents were upset for him too. They told L that they'd look for Hunt Hunt and make sure that Hunt Hunt made it back to our house. L was worried that Hunt Hunt wouldn't be able to find our house because we were moving.

Shortly after we moved to the new house, L received a package and there was Hunt Hunt (and a few other little things that he'd left at my parents' house). There was much rejoicing on his part and Hunt Hunt again became a constant companion. Who would have thought an inch tall alien could be so important?

Tragedy then struck. Luckily, L was not home when I discovered it. Lulu (our completely insane lab) had found Hunt Hunt and chewed him up. I disposed of Hunt Hunt and later on L asked if I'd seen him. I decided to do what parents all over the world do: I completely fabricated a story. I told L that Hunt Hunt was lonely for his family and went back to his home planet. Hunt Hunt of course was sad to leave L, but the spaceship came and he needed to go home right then. Maybe someday Hunt Hunt would come back for a visit. L wasn't happy, but could understand being lonely for his family. I really thought that this was the end of the story.

Fast forward to Christmas, 2005. Hunt Hunt's been gone for about a year at this point. In a box from my parents, there are a bunch of wrapped little gifts. One is from Hunt Hunt. I think that maybe my mother found a little spaceship or something (I don't think that she knew about the destruction of Hunt Hunt) so I kind of sigh but put it under the tree. On Christmas morning, L is opening his presents and all of a sudden I hear: "Hunt Hunt came back! Look, he brought his brother Hunt Hunt, his other brother Hunt Hunt, and his sister, too! I knew he'd come back!"

Hunt Hunt, both of his brothers Hunt Hunt, and his sister all live in a little rubber maid style container and now travel with us quite a lot. I never expected that Hunt Hunt would come back, let alone bring siblings!

And that's the story of Hunt Hunt. May he live a long time.

I'm keeping busy here. The semester started on Monday, and that always keeps me extremely busy. Next week will be pretty busy too, as L has his checkup with the GI up in Cincinnati. I think that he's gained weight, but I don't know. He most definitely has gotten taller. He doesn't quite fit curled up in my lap anymore. I guess it was inevitable, he is almost 5!

I am becoming a prolific knitter. It's only the 12 of January and I've already finished two pairs of socks, a pair of fingerless mittens, and a dog sweater. I'm halfway through the back of M's sweater, and have just a few inches of B's sweater sleeve. The "secret" project is coming along nicely, too. I have vowed not to start another pair of socks until the secret project is done (mostly because the socks will be for me) unless I make L another pair of socks from leftovers (he's got tiny feet) and I know that they will be taking blood from him on Tuesday.

Today is going to be relatively busy. I should get on the bike this morning and I may (I watch episodes of The Muppet Show while I am on there. Thank you Jim Henson!) and after L comes home on the bus we are going into my school so I can sign my contract. I like being paid--it certainly makes work more interesting! I think that he and I are going to go to a book store after that. This evening, M has choir practice and they will be singing this Sunday. M is pleased because he has earned his surplice (in the Rose school, choristers earn their uniform) and will no longer be a probationer but a full-fledged chorister. Since B doesn't have to go to Berea this week, L can stay home so I can have the entire time to knit on the secret project.

I hope that things are going well wherever you are. Here, the sun's out and it's going to be warm, so it looks like a good day. May the sun be shining for you!

These are the Christmas socks that I knitted in December. Yep, two pairs for adults (and that doesn't include finishing up the giant Birch socks). The socks for MIL were the first patterned socks that I knitted. It was so much fun I decided to tackle cables for FIL.

I've decided to switch to blogger, because I can only publish one picture at a time. I want to be able to put up more pictures, and this seems to be the way to go.

School started yesterday, and I'm going to try and publish once a week. More luck to me