Smellyann Strikes Again

☺You Never Know Where You'll Find A Lava Rock☺

First Day of School
So this morning was a little rough on my schoolchildren! I woke up just fine, thankfully (and Rob called me to wake me up, which makes him a heckuva guy), but the kids did not. I opened the door, sweetly called out, "Jaaaaack! Chlooooooëeee!" and waited. No answer. I went in, started rustling up my boy, and he cried, "I'm too tired!" "Come on, buddy, it's time for school! Your first day! Kindergarten!" "I don't wannnnnaaaaaaaa."

I had less luck with Chloë.

When they were finally in a standing position, both buried themselves into my chest and sobbed.  I comforted them as long as I could, and then left them to get dressed while I called their father.

R: Hi, honey.

M: Hey baby.

R: What's up?

M: I just wanted to let you know, bedtime has officially been moved up one hour! These kids are whiny crybabies this morning!

Then, of course, came the flurry. Go get your socks, put on your glasses, let's eat some breakfast, who wants what? Nope, no sandals, you have to wear sneakers. Wrong feet, buddy, switch your shoes! Pick out a hair doodle, Chlo, we gotta do something with that hair. C'mon, finish your breakfast Jack, you won't get anything to eat at school today!

Finally, it was time to go to the bus. I forgot two things. My camera, as stated in the earlier post, and the name badge that Jack's required to wear around his neck for the first month of school. D'oh! I wouldn't have remembered, but we had a cute little girl kindergartener at the bus stop who was wearing hers. 

I gave Chloë explicit directions for where it was, and sent her running. One door down, two, three, uh-oh, there's a truck in the way, she doesn't know which way to go, "C'mon Chlo! Hurry up!" She made it around the truck and disappeared into the house. One minute, two minutes... still no bus, pleeease don't come... five, and she's out! And running this way! And she's got something yellow in her hands!

Whew. She found it. And then we waited another 15 minutes for the bus to come. Don't they practice the routes the week before?? It was already over 90 degrees outside by 8 AM. We were dying.

Finally, it showed. The instant it pulled up, Jack dashed ahead of everyone else and sprinted up the steps. He was excited! But I guess he got confused, not being on the special bus and having his own carseat, because he held up the line for a few minutes. Things got squared away, and as instructed, Chloë sat with her little brother. And off they went!

I shuffled back home and, because Sophia was still sound asleep, went to lie down on the couch. After checking emails, of course. The doorbell rang an hour or so later, the dog barked, and it was a freecycler to pick up all the small boxes I'd accumulated in the office. Still, no sound from Sophia, so I went back to sleep.

I dreamed about a certain cute boy I had a crush on in junior high (JK, Erin!). It was my first day of school, in 8th grade, and we were to choose secretly who we wanted to sit next to for the  year. I chose him, and he chose me! As soon as that was announced for seating, my alarm went off. Dang, I didn't want to goooooo.... oh, yeah, Jack.


I got up and waited and waited and waited, once again, for his bus. I waited 25 minutes, not having an exact idea when it would arrive and where it would drop him. I sat just inside the door to cool off in between going outside to check, and finally, I heard the rumbling of a school bus.


I forgot about the new little girl, so I was surprised when the bus stopped three doors ahead of mine, even though I was waving at the bus driver. Out Miss Cuteness hopped. Oh, yeah. I thought she was going to pull up, but then Jack came running out. No smile, no look in my direction, no 'Hi, Mom!' as he tore into the house. Just like that, he was gone, while I stood at the end of the driveway like a dumbass.

Good thing. The bus driver pulled up in front of me and told me she'd have forms for our cell numbers and such for tomorrow, saying something about Chloë, and mentioning she was glad I was feeling better now. Um? I swear I have never seen this person before in my life, but okay, yes, I'm feeling fine now, thanks.

Once inside, I had Jack go wake up Sophia, and she came down for breakfast while he had a snack. And then they had more snacks. And more. They were hungry little beavers. Some of it was healthy, and some of it was not so much, but whatev.

After a spell, I had Sophie run and put on some clothes, and we all put on our shoes. I had made an appointment for that afternoon with my prescribing shrink, because I was ... uh-oh, I still am, thank God Walgreens is open all night! ... out of my mind meds. We hustled out, got down the road, and made it just in time.

Dr. Pal was actually not an ass this time, even though I was bringing along twice my usual number of children. He kept his mouth shut, anyway, as I think he could tell I was not at all stressed out, and they were in good control today. At any rate, he quickly prescribed my meds, set my next appointment date, and sent us packing.

Back home again in the space of 45 minutes, well in advance of Chloë's bus, it was time for some fun. Dress-up fun! Sophia came running in with just unnerpannies, and I asked where her clothes were. "I'm going to put on my tutu, Mawm!"


                   
Only, she's not the giggling little creature who came running out in the tutu!


Instead, she wore  one of Grandma's purty contributions to the dress-up box.  And she's looking so cute in ponies and piggies lately!

Today, on the message board I frequent, I was given a link for making a tutu. I'm so totally going to do that! If it turns out, I'll  make more. Maybe sell them! I can't wait. Tutus are very popular right now.

Let's see... soon Chloë was running in from her bus.  I couldn't get a whole lot out of them about what happened in  kindergarten and second grade (!!!!) today. I still cannot believe that child is in second grade! And is going on seven! And has a loose tooth, and another growing in!

Anyway, Jack was in high spirits all day after school, so I'm guessing it was great, although he won't actually admit to having been there. "I didn't go to school! I went to the dentist," he says. The one thing he did say was that none of friends were there. Aw, buddy. He'll make new ones soon, I hope.

Chloë was in a great mood, too. She told me her favorite part of the day was lunch, because she was so hungry. She did eat all her breakfast, though. As for the rest, I have no idea what either of them did! Apparently no one went to PE, or art, or music, or the library, so your guess is as good as mine?

The kids went upstairs to rest after that, while I farted around all afternoon online, and worked on cleaning up my desk (a constant work in progress), and went through the kids' backpacks and folders. Daddy came home, but I can't remember anything special that he did.  Chlo soon returned from Quiet Time, and then Jack, but Sophia was sound asleep. Sleepy girl today!

Rob made dinner when I reminded him that they had to go to bed an hour earlier tonight. Nothing special, chicken breasts, mixed veggies, and tater tots, but they all ate a great dinner!  Rob gave them ice cream for dessert and then whisked everyone upstairs for baths.


I took that time to finish up the little dress for Carolynn, Steph's niece.  It has a few little imperfections (just in the evenness of the assembly) but for the most part, it turned out cute, right? I have a feeling it's going to be too small, though. I couldn't find a suitable stuffed critter in the house to model it, so we shall just have to see. I believe I made this dress for Sophie when she was  a tiny baby.
Nope, but I  did make it for the charity, and here it is! Much tinier than the current one, though.

Well,  two weeks after we arrived home, I finished blogging the Europe trip. Check it out and leave comments, please!

That is all. Tomorrow, I will  remember to take pictures of the kids' , er, um,  second first day of school!

Fin.

Keepin' It Low-Key

First, a whine: I hurt my hand!! I don't what I did to it but it feels all twisted and tight and... hurty. Actually, I tend to sleep with my hand tucked under me when I snooze on the couch, and I think I did it then. But, owie! I hope the kinks work out in my sleep tonight so that I am free to do all kinds of crazy things with my hands when we're wrangling 50 bajillion suitcases at the airport tomorrow.

TOMORROW! Yeeee! By this time tomorrow, we'll be thousands of feet high over the Atlantic Ocean, taking an overnight flight to Barcelona from Atlanta. I don't know how, but I managed to get some sleep last night. I don't know how I'll ever manage that tonight!

So today, I'm sure you thought I was plenty busy, running around like a crazy lady, getting things done.

Ha.

Ha!

Not me.

I did that this weekend. The jobs are mostly done, except for the toiletries that I still need to pack after my shower tomorrow, and shoes! Oh, don't forget the shoes... and make-up. I still haven't decided if I am going to wear any make-up in Europe. It's just soooo frigging hot, y'all, and when you're fat like me, I swear, you feel it double. And that makes my face sweaty. And that makes my make-up goo up and slide down. You know? I may just take a little to wear to dinner and then whisk right off before we ... well, who knows what we'll do, of an evening, on a ship?

So instead of doing any mad dashing around today, and instead of taking on any projects with the kids, we mostly sat around, watched TV, read stories, and cuddled. Who knows, this may have been the last day I ever spend with my children, and I wanted to soak them up. But let's not talk like that... this is a happy time, not a sad, scary one!

I sent Chloë into the backyard with my camera, to snap some pictures of the wonderful lilies, and Rob's tree, growing in a corner there. Here are a couple:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We'd all gotten up around 0800, so by noon, we were all ready to crash. They had lunch, and were kissing me and going upstairs before I even sent them. Those are the days it's clear to me they still need their daily rest.

And I crashed, so hard, under my beloved new stripey blanket, on the couch. Oh, I love that blanket. Every night, when Rob is near me, I sit under that blanket and extoll its virtues. It just feels so good!!

When I woke up, it was just in time to get into the shower and get ready to go to my appointment at the nail salon. I was getting my first-ever pedicure, and a fill for my acrylics, and I had two nails that fell off and were in need of repair.

I tell ya, these things require some upkeep, and I may be a high-maintenance girl in some regards, but that's not one of them. I still haven't decided whether they're coming off when we get back, but for sure they're going to go shorter, at least.

Anyway, so I went.

Oh, the pedicure was nice. I wasn't at all squeamish about it, like I thought I'd be. Two funnyish things happened during it:

1. If you've spent a lot of time in the ocean, like I have, you know that sometimes, things brush up against your legs when you're not expecting it. And no matter how much you might know about the things in the ocean, this still probably tends to make you  jump up and squeal. Well, my feet were soaking in the foot bath, one at a time, while she worked on the other. And once, while I was in the middle of crocheting on the baby dress for Stephanie and completely zoned out, something brushed up against me. I jumped and squealed, as if I had been standing in the dang ocean!! Everyone stared at me. Turns out, she'd left a foot brush in the water, and it was floating around. Hi, I'm embarrassed, go back to your magazines now...
2. The chairs were like massage chairs, and they moved forward and back, reclined and upright. There was a remote control for doing so on my right armrest. Well, I was in kind of an uncomfortable, squinched up position, so after she adjusted my chair and went to work on my feet, I tried moving it back and reclining it. She reached over and moved it more forward and upright than it had been before! Every time she would stop and start chattering to the other ladies in Vietnamese, I would tap-tap-tap quietly on the buttons, inching my way back again. And each time, she would come back and move me forward. This went on about three or four times before I gave up. She never said a word to me about it.

We did talk, though. I hate hiring someone to do something for me (wash my feet, cut my hair, clean my house) and then acting like they are not there. [Although, now that I think about it, I am usually silent during hair cuts, because I'm reveling in the feeling of not hearing "Mommy! Mommy! Mommy! I'm hungry! I want a snack! I want some milk! I want a toy!" for that hour or so.] It's demeaning, isn't it? You pay someone for a service, but they are still human beings like everyone else, and you should acknowledge them. I know some people like to act like service people are invisible, but I am not one of them.

So anyway, Mimi and I talked about crocheting and knitting, and my children and hers, and it was very pleasant. She knows how to knit and not crochet, so we teased that she would give me free pedicures and I would teach her how to crochet. Hey, I'm all for it. I doubt it will work that way, though. Ours is not really a bartering society!

When it was done, I had 10 cute little bright red piggy toes and heavily lotioned legs and feet. I slipped on the disposable flip-flops and crossed the hall for my manicure with Amy.   We talked about my trip, and about their family-run shop, and her childhood in Viet Nam. She wished me a good journey and a happy Fourth, and I said the same... without thinking. Maybe they do celebrate it, I don't know? When in Rome...

I got back into my van, where the 'low fuel' light was flashing angrily at me. All right, all right... I went and filled 'er up again. $78, and I hadn't even reached 300 miles this tank. Sad. I really wish there were a hybrid minivan. I'd snap one up in a heartbeat.

Back at home, Rob was making Schwan's Cheesy Enchiladas for dinner, and singing a little song about them. I wish I could remember it; it was amusing. But then, he often is. Don't tell him I said that, though. I have tried to convince him he's not funny for years now.

We ate, and behold, it was good. That's one we'll order again.  A bit on the spicy side, but manageable for me. I'm not one for spicy. I just can't handle it Pain on your tongue is fun? I don't get that.

ETA: Here's what Rob does when he finds a piece of rubber cement lying around:

I went outside, back to the van, to search high and low for the pool passes, so Steph can take the Odettelettes whenever she wants. I had left them in the car on Friday after we swam, I was sure of it! But they were not there. Stink. Just as I was convincing myself that the van repair people, where Rob took my van to be inspected and repaired on Saturday, had stolen them, I walked back in the house and spotted them immediately on the shelf by the front door, where I pretty much always keep them during the pool-heavy summer days. Duh! So much for that wonderful system.

Chloë and I did a bit (a very little bit, sorry Steph) of cleaning in the office, and I cleaned out the litter box so Her Highness would have fresh clay on which to poop, and then Rob set up the vacuum cleaner outside for me on an extension cord. We'd never cleaned out the van as planned, and looking for the pool passes made it clear how necessary it was before handing over the reigns to Miss Stephanie. How much I sucked up out there! It was so dark, so I probably missed a lot, but I know I got lots of goldfish crumbs, cereal, and whatever else I let my kids eat in the car for the past five years. So much better.

And here I am, indecisive about whether to try and go to sleep, or to go up and finish the little bit of packing I can do before tomorrow. Or fart around on the computer some more, oblivious of the few hours left before we get on that big ol' plane...

Fart it is.

Fin.

Day O' Beauty

Welp, I stayed up 'til 0500 attempting to sew three pairs of matchy-matchy shorts. Finally around 0200, I woke Rob up from the couch where he was snoozing, because I was absolutely losing my mind trying to follow the damn pattern. I stitched, unstitched, and restitched countless times, and it Just. Wasn't. Working. I emailed an exasperated message to MIL, who was probably throwing her hands up at my density from afar!  But Rob, my professional seamstress husband, couldn't figure it out either.

We spent over an hour ransacking the internet for something that would help us put together a simple pair of kids' shorts. We knew what to do. We had the pictures. We had the diagrams. We had the pithy instructions. We just didn't have the know-how.

Finally, I decided to make a teeny-tiny doll-sized pattern of the shorts. I freehand drew on some scrap fabric with a pencil and came up with a reasonable facsimile of the actual pattern pieces, minus the pockets. Screw the pockets! I started fiddling around with the pieces when it became absolutely clear: it was physically impossible to make the shorts the way the directions were written.  It just couldn't be done!

So I did to the pieces what it made sense to me to do, after reviewing instructions from MIL, Rob, and way, way back 20 years in home-ec class, and it worked! I made this wee pair of shorts that, incidentally, fit perfectly on my husband's schlong (yes, he tried them on "it," because that's just the way we are and just be glad I spared you the picture):

Of course, no hems.

So within an hour, I had stitched together two identically-sized pairs of shorts for the non-twins and was debating what to do about Chloë's! Of course, we were quite pleased to finally have a resolution after hours of feeling like the dumbest people on Earth. It's not a feeling to which we were accustomed!

By that point, though, I was too tired to take out hundreds of small stitches, so I gave up and joined Rob on the couch for a few hours' sleep.

When I woke up, Jack was sitting next to me, and Chloë and Rob were gone to her audition for a NY agent. It was a no-pressure try-out, since she already has a New York agent. She just needs the practice.

I was just getting into the shower when they returned. Apparently the woman told Chloë she did a good job and was going to be famous! We shall see about that...

I left the house with instructions for Rob to give Jack these clothes and Sophia those clothes and take some pictures outside of them in their non-twin-set. The shirts are enormous; I'd bought a bunch of the smallest size they had at Michael's when they were 6/$10, with no real purpose in mind.

So, yeah, though the waistbands fit, they are still kind of swimming in the shorts. That's okay, they'll have them a few years.

Sophia loved her outfit and wore it all day long, but Jack couldn't wait to peel it off and get back into his beloved blue outfit he'd picked out for the day. He wants what he wants and he wants it now!

What do you think? I know, they are not exactly stylin', but I did the thing, anyway.

So my appointment was at my salon, where I was to get my most expensive 'do ever.  Normally I'm pretty cheap about taking care of my hair, although I would rather pay more for a decent cut, but I've always colored it myself at home. Not this time! I wanted something good for Europe.

Well, I was there almost three hours, and I wish I could tell you all the observations I made while there. I had good blog fodder, but now  I've forgotten it! Other than this: the woman in the chair next to me mentioned that she homeschools her children. But she was using the word "retarded" repeatedly in conversation, either blissfully unaware or not caring that it has become a major faux pas to do so in today's society. Is that really the sort you want educating their own young? Not for me. They are talking about it being illegal to homeschool unless you at least have a college degree, and I can't say that's the worst idea I've ever heard...

But enough about that; I know such an opinion will be controversial amongst my readers!

So after I was tortured pampered for so long, I went up front to pay my bill. I was so stunned by the cost (but of course, I didn't show it) that I forgot to buy the shampoo I needed. All I could think at the time was, Gee, I feel like the President or something...

But I did like the cut and color. See? I decided to go a little lighter, you know, for summer? I think it looks lighter IRL than in the picture. And ignore the silly look on my face; I was being goofy for Rob.

Afterward, I moseyed a few doors down to the ceramics studio, thinking it might be a good place to take the kids this summer, especially on a Monday when the pool is closed. Well, instead of answering my questions, the proprietor just handed me a sheet of paper, saying, "I think this will tell you everything you need to know." Not hardly! How exasperating. Can't you just have a conversation with me?? NO ONE else was in the store, after all. And come to find out, they are closed on Mondays, too. Ugh!

I called Rob to see how he and the chillens were doing, asking permission to go get my nail fixed. That's right, the superglue didn't hold and it fell off again that evening. Very annoying. Permission was granted, so I headed on over to that salon. I walked in and they were packed. Of course, Saturday afternoon! I was embarrassed to find myself flipping those fine ladies off when telling them the problem - it was my middle finger, after all! But they seemed to take no notice and told me to have a seat. It was another hour before I was finished, but I finally walked out, free of charge, good as new.

I was famished by then, since it was after 1600 and I hadn't eaten yet today. I called Rob to see if he wanted a sub or not, and he did, so I went in. The tomatoes were back on the menu, and I asked the guy if they were okay now. Duh, of course he was going to say yes, they put them out. But I'd been in a couple of days ago when signs were up that they weren't going to be serving them, so I figured if they had them, they were all right, right?

Rob was in the middle of eating his sub (his were the tomatoes; I don't eat them) when I got an urgent email about the Moe's shop (Welcome to Moe's!) I'm going to be doing this week, saying there must be no tomatoes behind the counter, yadda yadda. Were they safe after all? Rob did a little research online and finally decided to go ahead and eat them. Cross your fingers he doesn't get sick!

When I got home, after eating, I got back to work at the sewing machine. I finally decided, instead of ripping out all those stitches, to just cut the pieces apart and have the shorts be smaller and, probably, fit better. I had the shorts done in about 20 minutes, just in time for Chloë to wake up from her nap and try them on.

I know, this is a ridiculous, hideous picture. We'd just given her her allowance, so she decided to pose with that, and her stance makes the shorts look all bunchy. But she was thrilled with them and decided to keep them on for the rest of the night. I love that my girls love their handmade clothes so much, regardless of how well they're made.

And yes, I continue to make stupid goofs. I have a hem on the outside of Chloë's freaking shorts!!! By that point, I just didn't care anymore, since it was obvious these were going to be relegated to the 'playclothes' category.

And I immediately started (I want to say 'casting on,' but alas, this isn't knitting and the term doesn't apply) cutting out the pattern for one of the matching dresses I'm going to make the girls (in the blue, if you remember it) - and I totally forgot to cut out the notches on the first piece of fabric! Gahhhh!! What is wrong with me? I swear, sewing turns me into a bumbling idiot.

But I'm still enoying it! I bet Rob can't wait until I go back to my hobbies where I'm not constantly calling upon him for help.

Jack came down, wanting a snack, so he and Chlo were given an ice cream sandwich. We have tons of Schwan's ice cream in the freezer right now, and it's delicious! We've also tried the spinach artichoke appetizers and the cream cheese wontons, and we liked them very much, too. Just giving you a little update on how that's going, for those who were interested!

Edit to add: I got the book My Sister's Keeper in the mail today, a surprise from my MIL after talking about it but my not being able to find it at the library. Yay! I can't wait to read it; seems like I'm the last person I know who has. But I'm resisting the urge to stay up all night reading it. I'm going to save it for the cruise - well, the flights, anyway. Don't spoil it for me!

After dinner (frozen pizza, if you must know), it was story time for the kids. We read... oh, what is it called. That Enchanted Princess movie that came out a while ago, with Patrick Dempsey? But in book form. I so hate the children's books that are written after the movie. They are always so lame, and they skip so much anyway, it doesn't make sense unless you've seen the movie. But that's what they picked, so that's what they read. Ooh, I forgot to mark it on their sheets, thanks for reminding me. Summer Reading Program, we are still with ya!

The kids went to bed, and then Rob and I settled down to watch The Bucket List while I crocheted on Steph's baby dress. It's comin' along, my dear. And it was a good movie. We laughed, and I cried. Rob gave it a five; I guess I agree and can happily recommend it.

In health news, since you didn't ask, I had a lot of that problem with my eye today. I still feel like something is pressing on my left eyeball, and I couldn't help but think "brain tumor brain tumor brain tumor" whenever I had that sensation. I'm not joking around; two of my friends have actually had brain tumors, so the probability of my having one, too, has got to be slim! Like I said, it just better not strike me down during our cruise.

That's about all, folks. Happy Father's Day to all the daddies out there!

Fin.

Like Seven Inches From The Midday Sun

Man, it was a hot one.

{Name that tune!} {Red for hot!}

We woke up at 0800 today, because Chloë needed to be at the dance studio at 0915 for her ballet recital rehearsal. After I convinced Rob to drive her, and we got all the usual shenanigans out of the way about what to wear, they headed out, and I, well, I wasted time online. What else?  There was email to check, blogs to read, Webkinz to play... etc. I can always find plenty of ways to waste time online.

I eventually ran out, though, and went back to crocheting that shirt thing I'm working on for myself. I only got another two rows done before I was ready to konk out again. I don't know what it is  - yeah, I do, endless double crocheting - but I can't stay awake making it. I pushed through it and got back online so I wouldn't fall asleep and waste the day.

Then I went up to shower and fart around with Jack and Sophia while Rob was outside (finally!!! We were *those* neighbors) doing yardwork. The garden is still a mess, though. Shoot, I meant to take before/after pictures of our "yards," which I put in quotes because they are each, like, a square foot. I tried to get them to clean up their rooms, but it just wasn't happening today, so we played and fooled around and acted silly. Good stuff, makes them feel loved, and I got my warm fuzzies.

After Rob went back to pick up her-Chloness, I left to obtain my new glasses from For Eyes. Whoa! It's always amazing to go up a step in strength; everything looks so clear. Do you think we have enough pairs? That's not even all of them, but we didn't feel like going upstairs. We could open our own mall kiosk!

Afterward, I came home to get my family and my camera, and we headed back out. This time, to Red Wing Park for the Relay For Life event. Noo, no, I wasn't participating - not with my back! - but I had donated a raffle prize that I needed to bring out to Linda from Bunco, and Stephanie and Tim were there walking, too. Turns out their tables were right next to each other, out of a hundred or so!

Stephanie and Tim, sweltering after doing another lap in the 100+degree heat. Crazy freggin' hot!

Luckily, Stim had brought a cooler full of popsicles, and we quickly helped ourselves to five. Ahhhhh. That's relief.

Grayson, Steph's charge for the day, was desperate for some cooling down, too. Oh, man, we just wanted to skedaddle on out of there and go to the pool!

Poor Chris from Bunco, Linda's partner at the Relay, hurt her back! She looked much cuter than this IRL when not lying down!

Heeeeeere's Linda! She's good fun, very caring and full of laughs. She was disappointed we left so soon after we got there, but it really was too much for us. And I forgot to stop for cash for the raffles, anyway. Shucks!

After we left, we drove down to the Farmer's Market to visit with Uncle Chuck and score some of his fresh food of the sea. Actually, this was Rob's first time meeting UC, and he liked him right off the bat. I had him pick our selections this time, since I usually get to, and he chose crab cakes (good boy!), tuna, and frog legs?!!  I actually have eaten them before, on a previous cruise, but (a) they are not seafood and (b) c'mon, I'd rather do a muscular dissection than consume them. Blech. So those are all Rob.

That's all I have for pictures today, but it's not the end.

When we got home, the Littles took a nap while Chloë and I worked on whipping her monologue into shape for her audition with some casting directors visiting her acting school from L.A. She studied and studied, and practiced numerous times for her dad and I, so all that was left was getting there and going through it!

We saw several people there from her January iPOP! trip, so I spent some time catching up with them while Chloë waited in line with the other auditioners. Auditionees? I don't know. Of course, since we are 16 days away from flying to Europe, I had to share about our upcoming Mediterranean cruise! Well, that got a lot of attention, and we sat down gabbing about all the places we're going to visit and promises to email all about it when we get home. I, of course, completely forgot that I have a blog for such purposes, duh! I'll just email her the link, I think. ;)

Anyway, eventually I went back to the line to keep my daughter company, and she was getting so much attention from the staff and other parents that she turned into her usual, most annoying hypercharged kitty cat self, and I had to take her aside to talk to her about behaving more grown-up in the audition room. I also had a plan for later, so I promised her if she did really well on her audition, we could pick out a new Webkinz. I'm such a sucker!

Well, I wasn't allowed in the audition, but she told me they said she did a good job, and she said she only had stage fright for a minute before she remembered her monologue and said the whole thing. They asked how old she was, and she answered, "six and a half," and they asked her favorite food, and she said, "fruit! apples!" and something else. I wonder how that will all play out. As always, we shall see...

I'd forgotten my purse, so we had to drive all the way home for it before going to Walgreens. I needed to fill a prescription there, and I wanted to check and see if they had the special Webkinz Cares animals that benefit their foundation for helping children. They did! But only one kind. She picked a certain (had to be that one) L'il Kinz Cocker Spaniel out of the lot, and then we grabbed what we needed, and my Rx, and headed home to adopt little miss Fluffy.

The Littles were up then, and we had our crab cakes, and some chips and dip, for dinner. Chloë developed a bad headache that had her in tears and nauseous (amazingly, our pukey girl didn't throw up), but Daddy gave her some elixir, and her mac & cheese seemed to help. She's passed out on our bed upstairs, though, not having made it all the way to her bed.

Well, I'm off like a prom dress. I'm going to try and work on that crochet some more while we watch August Rush.  Have y'all seen it?

Fin.

Napping Is Da Bomb

Chloë has started a summer blog! If you'd like the link to her little story site, post to me in the comments!

Thursday, I was granted a reprieve from all the running about. Which is good, because I didn't get much sleep, and I felt awful again. I have decided lately there is a direct relationship between the hours of sleep I get and how good I feel. I managed to get the kids to their buses on time, and since Sophia was so tired from my keeping her up all night to try on the new dress, I decided to take a nap until she woke up. Well, it was almost time for Jack to come home before I heard a peep out of her. Quite a nice little snoozy for moi!

Yes, I ironed the dress, but Sophia jumped and rolled around and climbed and what-have-you in it so much that you couldn't tell anymore, by the time I was able to take the picture.

She was very excited to wear it again. I couldn't find the white buttons I had purchased for it, so I had to go through my stash for one. We decided together on a blue and pink butterfly that goes with the stripey colors. It fits through the loophole, so even though it was much bigger than the prescribed 3/8", it worked for me!

We had this little new-dress photo shoot after dropping Chloë off at her last Brownies meeting of the year. Just one more skating party in a couple of weeks and that's it 'til September!

Rob came home while I was upstairs showering to get ready for our date and putting away all his laundry, which he is unable to do... so I had him go pick up Chloë while I continued working.

She came bounding up the stairs afterward to tell me about the meeting, during which she apparently made a bird feeder. I have yet to see this thing!

By the way, Sophia has learned to roll her 'r's and has been trilling away for the past three days. In a super high pitch! We keep trying to get her to stop, even for a few moments, but she loves it too much. She even trills when she says, for instance, "Dad" or "butterfly," but her favorite thing to say is "iArriba!"

The Littles were having fun on the floor, playing with empty laundry baskets and coming up with names for the games they were playing. Jack would say, "Mom, this is called circus robot game!" or some such. Before long, I lay on my belly on the bed to watch them but instead became their jungle gym. They were climbing onto my back, rolling off, taking turns, and I heard Jack say to Sophia, "Go around the butt. The butt is BIG." LMAO!

While we were getting dressed, Stephanie arrived, and the kids bounded down the stairs to meet her. They love their Steph. She was there because we were going out to dinner. I broke rules and decided to take a couple of Outback Steakhouse shops because they were new and we've never done them before, and I wanted to give them another try. Last time was in Panama City, and I was either newly delivered of Chloë or newly pregnant with the twins, and very hormonal and emotional. I couldn't find anything on the menu that wasn't either beef or mushrooms - two things I will not eat - and I sobbed, and we left. It was most embarrassing.

They have entirely revamped the menu since then! There were lots of things for me to choose from. In the end, we had the spinach artichoke dip for an appetizer (yum), Rob had the tilapia, and I had the grilled shrimp and scallops. No dessert, but then we had to go to the bar for a round of drinks. Rob had a Colorado Bulldog, which I partly suspect he likes to order to stump the bartender as much as for the taste, and I had an 'Aussie Skyy' with vodka and peach stuff and all kinds of tasty good things. Rob didn't like it, but it was right up my alley.

The restaurant was right next to, along with a lot of other really great shops including a knitting one and a sewing one, a Super Kmart, so Rob ran in there to look for water wings while I worked on the report in the car. No luck there, so we drove to the opposite corner of the lot and found a Dollar Tree! Gotta give the DT some love; they had a stack of ads with my baby's picture in them! I grabbed a bunch, if anyone needs or wants one! We found water wings there, and the very same swimsuits our daughter modeled. We ended up buying four new pairs of 6M swim trunks for our, yes, 5yo son, because they were only a dollar and they would probably fit better than the 2Ts he's always having to yank up now.  Then I grabbed a bunch of little-kid socks, since we're always losing them in the laundry.

Back at home, the kids were already in bed. Yes! We had planned on ... *ahem* ... but we both ended up falling asleep on the couch like a coupla old fogies. Oh, well.

Which meant I hadn't set my alarm and totally overslept for the umpteenth time lately. <Insert aggravated face here.>  Actually it wasn't too late this time, but having to get the Littles up to drive her to school when they'd rather be sleeping is annoying. Plus it was Field Day for Chloë, and I didn't want her to miss out on the fun. We remembered her bathing suit and special shirt, but I totally forgot to send her with an ice-cold water bottle. Oh, well, I knew they'd have water sports.

I got Jack on the bus and then Sophia and I sat around, while I tried to figure out what to do with her today. I was going to take her to pick up my new glasses and then go to the fabric and knitting stores from last night, but in walked Daddy about 4+ hours early, and all my plans went by the wayside. Instead, I asked for permission to close my eyes for a minute, and I slept. For much longer than a minute. More like 240 of them!

When I woke up, Rob was napping next to me, Sophia was down for her nap, and the Bigs were quietly playing with (and eating the contents of) the big box of Laffy Taffy Chloë won at school. More about that on her blog!

The mailman brought these little items for CARE Package from a lady who had found out about us from another lady on Ravelry. If you're out there, Cindy, thank you so much!!

In the end, I didn't get my glasses or do anything else, and the audition I was supposed to take Chlo to was rescheduled for tomorrow night. We ordered a pizza for dinner - and cannolis - and sat around watching An Arctic Tale afterward. I tried crocheting on my new top for myself, but again I put it down and fell asleep. I am a sleepy girl this week!  And that pattern is very poorly written. I'm not a fan of novicely-written patterns...

Tomorrow really will be a busy day, so I'm going to go get ready for it.

Fin.

Ah, Food. It's Good You're Back.

I just wanted to share more of the loveliness that is, officially, the "How Deena Got Her Oohs and Ahhs" Blanket from The Yarn Girls' Guide to Simple Knits. I have finished the triple single-crochet edging and now just have to weave in thousands of ends on the back. Steph, sorry I didn't stick precisely to your color scheme on the edge, but the purple was closer, so it went on the inside! I think I like the turquoise (aka "cayman") better on the edge, since it's more prevalent in the afghan.  Sarri, if you're reading this, I need your collage/mosaic help! I just did this in paint, but how do you do the fine-looking ones you've been doing on your blogs? Help a girl out!

Today was quite active, though I just couldn't shake the sleepiness out and wake fully up until the evening. I way overslept this morning, waking up with just five minutes to go before we had to leave for the bus. I was like a marathon runner's coach, getting Chloë ready: "Come on! Let's go! Go potty! Take your clothes off! Hurry up, let's go, go, go! Shorts on! Here's your shirt! Get some socks! Here's your shoe! Here's your other shoe! Don't undo them all the way! C'mon, c'mon, you can do it, almost there...!" and so on. But, hallelujah, we made it with two minutes to spare! I call that a victory.

I came home, checked email, chatted online with a friend for a bit, and then lay back down to snooze for an hour until I had to get Jack ready. Well, I overslept again and this time had just ten minutes to spare before his bus arrived. And he was still in his jammies! Normally he jumps right up and dresses himself, but not so this a.m. So I had to do the whole marathon coach thing again, shouting up at him, "Your bus is here, your bu is here, get your pants on, let's go, buddy!" etc. At least this child had breakfast, since no one wrapped up the leftover strawberry biscuits and he'd eaten four of them! Rotten mommy, I know I am.  Thankfully, they both had a decent lunch, since I had time to pack him one and she buys at school.

I got Sophia dressed shortly after that and jumped into the shower, so I could go visit my nemesis Dr. Pal, aka my prescribing shrink. He tops my list of Medical Types Not to Love. He's just so... cranky! For no reason. It's not necessary. Sophia is a lovely, charming, ingratiating child, but he always glowers miserably whenever I walk in with her. Jerk. But then she starts chatting away while he's writing out my scripts (my visits invariably last less than ten minutes and go like this: "How are you doing on your meds?" "Fine, I feel good." "Good, here's your prescriptions, see you in X weeks") and he softens considerably. Finally today he acknowledged her by saying, "She talks a lot." Which, I think, was a compliment to her verbal abilities. In any case, I'm going to take it that way.

I've been seeing him a little more frequently lately because of the allergies. We have narrowed down another suspect: Trileptal. It's now eliminated from my medicine diet because, having gone off it, I'm taking far less Benadryl and having fewer reactions than before. So right now the Big Baddies are: Trileptal, Anceph, Percocet, chlorine, manmade fibers, and apples. Who knows to what else I will fall prey? Hopefully not strawberries, but either way, I'll no sooner give them up than I will my beloved pool time!

Anyway. So he's a jerk, but I can handle him for less than 10 minutes a month, right? At least he makes me laugh and not cry, with his crotchety self.

It's two weeks tomorrow since I got my nails done, and I definitely turned out to have fast-growing nails. Who knew? They break so easily. So, Sophia and I went to the nails shop for a fill, and OH. MY. LORD was I IN PAIN. She kept burning my nails with the motorized file thingy, and I kept having to jerk my hands away. This was a different nail tech than the first one, who was very careful not to hurt me. And oh! I can not stand all the filing and buffing and filing and buffing that it takes. I'm very sensitive to filing anyway, so getting my nails done is like pure torture for me. I very nearly gave up all the national secrets I knew, but she couldn't break me.

We ran next door to Farm Fresh to get the grocery ad, and then we went next door the other way to Subway for lunch. Sophie saw the marquee and wouldn't stop pestering me about it, and right now I am a pushover when it comes to a tuna sammy. But in the end, she refused to eat, having only one bite of sammy and maybe four chips, wanting instead to go home and have some juice. Uh. So we did just that.

I was going to go upstairs and tackle the laundry, but we had less than an hour left by that point before Jack's bus would come, and I didn't feel like going up and down, up and down. I was so tired, after all. So we watched a little PBS Kids while I completed the two edgings on the blanket to end all blankets.

The boy came home and wanted to finish watching Super Why! with his sister (they love, love, love that show). I agreed and told them it would be nap time when Chloë arrived, which appeased them. I kept my word, and as soon as they were all in their rooms, I finally collapsed under my loverly blanket for an hour. The dog wiggling around in her kennel woke me right up after that, and surprisingly, I wasn't tired any longer.

Good thing. We still didn't have any food in the house, and that's my job to rectify. I got out my previously-fetched grocery ad and wrote down all the sale items that we use on my list, then retrieved the Sunday paper to scour for coupons. I found a lot of good ones and saved nearly $40 this trip, 11% of my total. We were darn near out of everything except meat, which we rarely eat nowadays except when I go to the fishmonger at the Farmer's Market for seafood.  I shopped for an hour and a half; my cart was full before I even finished getting half of my list. For the first time ever, I tipped the bagboy who loaded up the van (hurts my back to do it) because it was so much. But the cashier forgot to give me my 5-cents-per-bag discount for bringing in my own. Grr. It annoys me that the policy isn't better known among the cashiers and isn't advertised to customers at all. Come on! That would bring more people like me into the store!

I'm starting to ramble, aren't I? I know some of you are saying, "Isn't that what all your posts are?" Yeah, it's true, I'm a babbler. And yet you stay!

We had dinner plans (by that I mean, I had picked out what Rob was to make), but the kids just kind of ended up eating as we unloaded and put away the food: some baby carrots (shared with the bunny), some Italian bread (still as delish as yesterday's), milk, Tic-Tacs. So they went to bed when they'd had their fill, and then we cooked our crab-stuffed whitefish pinwheels. They were good. Not as good as fishmonger food, but I'd had them in the freezer for a few months and wanted to get rid of them.

So do you want to know about our plan?

We've talked about this many times over the past 7.5 years of our life together, but tonight we really started being serious. Rob retires in five years. After that, we may just sell off a bunch of our stuff, put the rest in storage, and buy a boat on which to live. We'll travel around, bipping around the country, the Caribbean, go through The Canal, see where we go... and homeschool the kids as needed. I like to call it "worldschooling" them, because they'll gain such an education from traveling and meeting different cultures. Once our European cruise is over, I'm going to start putting us on a tight budget, so we can pay off our ever-accumulating credit card debt, start building a retirement fund, and see what it's going to cost us to live on this boat. I'm excited about it, and I know Rob is. It's his dream!  Sound fun?

Of course, there better be room for my yarn...

Fin.

Welcome Back, Hurricane Season!

At home last night, Jack came downstairs and went to sleep inside the cat scratching post tunnel thingy! So funny.

We were up late last night, so we slept late this morning. It still wasn't enough, and I was bleary-eyed for quite a while. Let me tell you, blear looks really hot on fat people.

I made my way downstairs where Rob was feeding the kids, and set to work sewing the panels of my stripey blanket together. I got about halfway through the first seam when I remembered Rob needed to finish his LensCrafter's shop for his new eyeglasses, ie, pick them up so I could do the pick-up section of the report. And there was no food in the house and he'd be right nearby, so I wanted him to go to Panera, too. Yum, yum.

Shortly after he left, Stephanie called me to say she and Tim were on their way over for our Day O' Fun. Rut-ro, Raggy! I was still in a nightgown, Rob was out, and the kids were in various states of undress. But we quickly got our bathing suits on, just in time for Stim (their name together, see) to come a-knockin'.

I kept on seaming my blanket while we waited for Rob, and then I gobbled down my brunch while he got ready for the pool. Mmm, mmm, Panera. Good stuff, man. We shared some cookies with Stim and the kids, and then scrambled to get our pool necessities together. You can't just go to a pool these days. Of course, there must be towels - five. Then there must be "some scream," no matter what time of day or how short or long your visit. And most importantly, there have to be pool toys for each child. We ended up bringing all the blow-up toy prizes from our night at Motor World last weekend.

The pool water was frrrreeeeeeeezing. Rob barely made it into the pool at all. No meat on his bones. The rest of us managed to acclimate just fine. We didn't have any water wings (must put those on the shopping list), so Chloë clung steadfastly to the wall as she played with Stim and her school friends. Jack and Sophie were in and out, in and out, cold and hot, up and down. Little monkeys, they are. It was a good time. The adult swims were very much welcome, as the neighborhood kids were there in abundance and got quite rambunctious. Can't tell you how many times I was pushed and shoved with a baby in my arms. Don't like that. Not a bit.

After a while, we left and came back to our house, where everyone changed and showered and dressed. Oh. Ask me what's the worst that could happen? I'll tell you: Being allergic to the pool, my oasis in the summer months. But not just allergic. Full-body-welt highly allergic.  The hives were huge and angry, and my face swelled up, and it was all very uncomfortable and unattractive. Once in the house, I chugged some four or five Benadryls and waited for the ugliness to depart. The ugliness caused by chlorine, anyhow. It took a while, but I'm back to "normal" now. I use that term loosely.

Then Steph and I took Jack to the grocery store for some dinner needs: Dog food for Lily's sup, and sangria, green beans, linguine, strawberries and Italian bread for ours. Jack picked out a new car (I'd promised him a few days ago for something), and I picked up some Cottonelle wipes four our tushies. I love those things. No more TP for me!

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, Rob was peeling and cooking up some shrimp scampi to go atop our linguini. Linguine or linguini? I'm too lazy to go look at the box right now. When we arrived, he set to work boiling water for the pasta while I sliced up the strawberries for our dessert. Those things were almost as big as my hand, look:

Ginormalous!

The kids (and Rob) kept buggering me for some berries, but I threatened them with my knife and kept the thieves at bay. (Not really, put down the phone.)

Then I remembered I didn't have any whipping cream for the strawberry shortcake, so Stim took Sophie back to the store for some heavy cream and, oh, yeah, can you pick up some more Bisquick too?

Dinner was excellent, and we all ate our fill.  Even the kids did pretty well with no complaining, other than Jack repeatedly tell us he didn't want his shrimp even though no one was making him. I should have bought more than one loaf of the bread, though; it was awesome. I had two glasses of wine and got quite inebriated, and Stephanie soon joined me so we could be silly together. And we were. I said a lot of dumb stuff and giggled at myself. 

We went back to the living room to rest our bellies and let the kids play while I tried to show Steph briefly how to crochet. She did a stitch or two and looks like she's going to be an easy student, so we'll have to sit down together soon and do it fo' real. I had finished seaming up the second seam earlier and was working on the edging of my stripey blanket. We were also running back and forth, Steph and I, to the kitchen so I could show her how I make the biscuits (big tongue stuck out to Stephanie-Canada!). It was a lot of back and forth. I got a little dizzy. Remember, I was drunk. (Hey, let's call a spade a spade. I wanted to say 'a worm a worm' just there. I don't know why.)

Um, so, what else...

The shortcake (biscuits :P) were finished, finally, so everyone regrouped in the kitchen to down some strawberries. It wasn't our usual shortcake: I'd added more sugar to the biscuits than usual, and I didn't have milk so I used some of the heavy cream in them. And Rob whipped the cream and some sugar together instead of using the canned stuff. It was so-o-o good. We all scarfed it down pretty well. I never get tired of strawberries. Maybe I should think of some new things to do with them? I don't know, if it ain't broke...

Rob made Tim give Jack his growth hormone shot after that, so he'll be able to do it while we're in Europe. It went as well as expected. Jacky cried, and it's sad, so I showed Steph how much he's grown since taking the shots for the past almost-two years, versus no growth over the previous two. They'll be fine. I'm sure of it.

Drunken self-portrait of Stephanie

Rob and Tim, overjoyed about sticking little boys butt's with sharp needles

Stim left shortly after that, and the kids went to bed, so I finished up my single crochet edging. I have two more rounds of single crochet to do, and all those ends to sew in, but for the most part, it'd finished! Yippee! I've only been at it for a few months, off and on of course. It's cotton and really heavy. I'm loving the colors together. Steph really liked it, too, and she called it funky. I think. Now she wants one. A day after I told Rob I was never going to make another one of those again (it was my third). Haha! But of course I will, if she wants.

I fell asleep under my new allergy-free blanket right after that, from the effects of the pool and too much good food and fun times with our friends. Very comfy. I love it!

Fin.

Geek In The Pink

So this is the pink set to which I was referring last night - I couldn't find it on the blog, but I'm quite certain I've posted about it before, right? Anyway, this is the set that the Saartje booties completed. (Look, Steph - same buttons! Eight buttons that matched!)

Welp, I woke up on time - early, actually - to get Chloë up, dressed, fed, and on the bus. Yay! One small victory for Smellankind.

I was going to snooze before I had to get Jack up, but I was actually wide awake. What? Enough sleep, after snoozing all Mother's Day? We're sleepers here, I tell you. We're sleepers.

Good thing, though, because Jack woke up earlier than usual and came downstairs to sit with me during Ellen. He started asking about Robby and God again (he's got this jealousy thing against God having Robby and keeps trying to insist they're not twins and shouldn't be together, poor thing), and he wanted to see pictures of his twin. So I sat him on my lap and we looked at the pictures on the CARE Package site, first the two of them together in my belly, and then Robby all hooked up to tubes and monitors in the NICU.

He asked all about the tubes and what each one was for, and about Robby dying and stuff. And then he wanted me to scroll down and show him more pictures. Of course, the very next ones were of himself in the NICU, also hooked up to many tubes. He looked at me for a moment, frightened, and asked, "Did I died too?" And it made me feel something for him that I have not felt since he was in the NICU, the time I was sitting next to him and he started desatting after Robby died, and I freaked out and ran away, terrified I was going to lose him, too. So today, on my knee, I kissed his soft cheek and rubbed his sweet head, whispering to him how much I loved him and how happy I was to be his mommy.

It was a good moment.

And then he asked for breakfast.

So we did that, and I made his lunch and got him bundled up for school. It was another cold, wet, stormy day. What, is this not May?! In Virginia?!!! Come on, weather! Shape up!

After he hopped on his bus, while I was reading emails, I heard Sophia wake up upstairs. So I brought her a banana to eat while I was in the shower, getting ready for my appointment with that nasty Dr. Pal, who isn't mine. Pal. Get it? Ugh, I can't stand him. He's so unpleasant. But, he's in charge of my meds and literally keeps me sane, so we must deal with him.

As usual, at his office, I instructed Sophia to stay in her chair and keep quiet. She usually does very well, and today was not bad. She hopped into my lap, though, and chatted away, sweetly asking toddler questions while he wrote out all my scripts. He actually looked up and smiled at her, wonder of wonders, and commented that she kept me busy with her curiosity. Then he went back to his disdainful glare, which he usually carries when there is a small child (of mine) in his midst.

Leaving the building, Sophia asked for a Panera sandwich for lunch. Um, hm, let me think about it for a mi... okay, yes! Panera it shall be! She knows it's my weak spot, little devil. It was pouring when we drove the couple of blocks over there, so instead of taking her out in the yuck, I called my best friend, Dr. Lisa, to pick her brain about all the allergic reactions I'm having lately, since Pal was no help (other than thinking it's one of my meds). She didn't know either but is at least willing to look it up, and it was good to talk to her and hear about her Mother's Day with her two little cuties.

The rain wasn't letting up, so we finally went for it and dashed in. Sophie was so cute in her purple raincoat and blond hair that curls up when it's wet. She had her usual grilled cheese, and I my usual tuna and broccoli soup, and we giggled and talked and smooched our way through lunch. She's such a pleasure to spend a day with!

Oh, cute quote: At the drink station, Soapy saw the container of sliced lemons and said, "Can I have an orange? I mean, a yellow?" Hee.

Back at home, chores awaited, so we spent an hour and change doing laundry while we awaited Jack's return from preschool. Normally I let them watch a PBS show when he comes home, before nap, but she was rubbing her eyes and yawning. I put her down a little early, and she curled right up and went to sleep practically before I shut the door.

Jack came home and, not seeing his sister, asked me if he could go wake her up. As if she'd been in her room the whole time he was gone, ha ha! I gave him a quick snack and then sent him upstairs for quiet time. He seemed only too happy to go, for once. Tired kids! When Chloë came home, I gave her the choice of resting or starting homework. She chose rest, too. Yay, nap time for me! I was sooooo sleepy by then. Guess I didn't have quite enough sleep to make it through the day, after all.

   Chlo came down a long while later, so I got up to help her with her homework. This picture is before we got to the math part; then there was much clenching of jaw and gnashing of teeth. Actually, tonight's wasn't so bad. She seems to understand rudimentary fractions a bit better than monetary stuff.

While the rest of the family ate dinner (of which I couldn't partake, because I had lunch instead of a Slim-Fast shake, and I'd already had my dinner shake), I watched Dancing with the Stars and crocheted this onesie to complete yet another package for donation.

This is the set it completes. The blue is slightly off, but it looks better in real life than in the picture, I think.

I watched The Bachelor while I organized a bunch of loose patterns into my binder, choosing a pattern for one last set I'm going to complete tonight before donation.

Ohmigosh, did any of you watch that? Were you completely stunned he didn't choose Chelsea? I totally thought she was the one! That didn't stop me from crying my eyes out during his proposal to Shayne, though!

'At's about it for tonight. Are y'all having better weather than we are?

Fin.

Let's Not Do Anything Rash

I got another Bloggy Giveaway prize in the mail! This bracelet, though, is not exactly what I thought it was going to be: A thick, beaded bracelet on stretchy elastic. Instead, it's on wire, with three coils. I'm donating it to Chloë for the time being. I like it, but obviously not enough to, uh, bother taking a halfway decent picture...

Also in the mail: Our  Mediterranean cruise tickets!!! In a fancy, non-plasticky envelope. If I could do cartwheels right now, I'd have done a hundred. We're going, we're really going!!!! In just over six weeks!

Rob looking all cute and athletic after his Dodgeball games yesterday. Note that he now has as many crow's feet wrinkles as tattoos. Hehe, my boy is getting old (and I like it)!

Last night I couldn't sleep, so I puttered around and wound the natural, undyed (white) wool that I bought at MD Sheep & Wool into a useable (and humongo)center-pull cake. I figured on crocheting a blanket for the red sweater set today with it.

Well, add that to the long list of things to which I am highly allergic. I woke up this morning with severe, painfully itchy rash, one which even massive dosages of Benadryl couldn't combat. Wanna see? Sure you don't.

Very attractive, no? Especially on such chubbiness. Now picture that over every square inch of my body, sparing only (thank heavens) my face. I took my Bennies. I sprayed my Kenalog spray. I scratched myself violently from head to toe - violating the corner of the wall in an illegal manner in 23 states. It was of no use. The rash wouldn't go away, and it hurt like hell, and I was fecking miserable. I canceled Sophie's and my plans to visit the ladies at the Knitting Corner (a LYS), dashing off an apologetic email before retreating to my corner of shame. I was disappointed, but I just did not want to go out in such a state. It's ugly and embarrassing, and really, do they need to watch me digging my nails into my ass? I didn't think so.

When it looked like the reaction wouldn't abate, I threw caution to the wind and decided to crochet the hell out of that blanket anyway.  While we watched morning shows, I made it in more or less one three-hour sitting. I didn't notice it before, but you can see the natural variations in the "white" portion, which adds interest for me.

One more complete set, (almost) ready for donation!

So that was complete, and  yeah, using that wool for that long didn't help the allergy at all, in case you were wondering. Worse than ever. Mommy in a great mood. Not. (Tomorrow's my follow-up appointment for the allergy test, and I don't think I've ever been more excited for a non-prenatal doctor visit in my life!)

I decided it was finally dive into my ever-growing stash of FOs (finished objects) - both mine and donated - to see how many packages I could make. First I sort out the items by category:

Sweaters/gowns and hats/bonnets

Booties and blankets

Some of those hats are a sight bigger than preemie-size...

And then I match them up to make a complete set, with one item from each pile. I try to do it so the gown, booties and hat coordinate well, and then pick a matching but contrasting blankie so the baby will stand out in pictures.

Imagine my surprise in finding about three dozen complete packages that required absolutely no additions at all! That rarely happens; I'm usually labeling each of them with a sticky note telling what needs to be made to finish the set. Love it.

Soon, after I finish the two - just two! - packages that need additional items, I will do