Sunday, June 28, 2009

Things Aren't Always What They Seem

I saw a late teen/early 20's male on a bicycle today. He was wearing black pants, a white tank top/undershirt and had many tattoos and piercings. He was VERY strong and looked a little menacing.

He was riding along, saw a lemonade stand and stopped to buy a glass. How nice is that? Can you even imagine the excitement when the kids went inside having actually SOLD a cup of lemonade for 50 cents?? (50 cents for lemonade, inflation at work!)

He then, upon seeing a lady trying to get her stroller up on the sidewalk after crossing, stopped and helped her put her stroller on the sidewalk. (Yeah, traffic was slow on Main, he was my source of entertainment, your point?) Here is this kid, who looks a little like a punk, doing all these nice things. Just goes to show you, you can't judge a book by its cover. I hope he has a great day, he sure made mine.

Water Slides

Mac's entire purpose in life is to get me to go down the water slide with him. Finally, on Tuesday I relented. It was horrible. You slide down this dark enclosed slide, where periodically you get shot with water in the face. It seemed when ever I opened my eyes to see what was going on I got a face full of water. It was awful. I vowed to never do it again.

We went to the pool yesterday with a friend of mine, who my kids adore. When she showed up at the door, they were thrilled that Miss T. was coming with us. There were squeals of joy. Anyway, Mac resumed his purposeful demands that Miss T. go down the slide. My friend is a fairly fearless person, but she didn't want to do it. I am sure my description of the enclosed slide made her even less willing. BUT in order to keep the peace, I relented to go again. This of course peer pressured my friend into going. We opted for the open slide. Lo and behold, this was actually FUN. I went again. I wished I had done that first.

I suppose, just like life, I prefer to be in the light rather than the dark. I prefer to have some idea of what is coming up next rather than be surprised.

Friday, June 26, 2009

DONE, now I can blog

Ok, the panda is done. Finish, complete. OVER! I was so happy about it I finished my pig too. The pig was mostly done, I just needed to close up the butt. Since I was finishing things, I finished my May socks. Tonight I finish my charity scarf. Then, I will have only 1 pair of socks on needles.... what will I cast on next?

I am thinking a sweater for me. Maybe a baby blanket for my friend who is pregnant with twins, might want to get rolling on that, since I have to do 2. There is always holiday gifts, I have requests for market bags, animals and socks. It amazes me that people actually want me to knit stuff for them. Everyone in California asked me to make them something, it was such a nice compliment! Anyway, the finish objects for you review!

May Socks




Oinkers, the felted stuffed pig. A requested item, made for a birthday present. The little girl next door was watching me make Sam's panda and asked for a pig for her birthday. I was happy to comply! I think he came out really cute. Her birthday is the same day as Sam's.

I made a massive mistake when I started this, and didn't knit enough rows. I read each printed row as one row and missed the repeat part. But magically I figured it out when I knit the tummy. So when I finished the tummy and went to sew it up, they didn't match. It was a real brain teaser! Once I figured out my stupid mistake, I ripped out the back, re-knit and we were off and running. I think I need to reserve my spot in the Alzheimer's unit.


DRUM ROLL PLEASE... The panda. I am not as happy with the finished result. I feel that the proportions are a little wonky. I won't be using any more of these patterns in the future. Sam will like him though!

Thursday, June 25, 2009

Sam's Panda


I have to finish Sam's Panda... It always at the bottom of the list, but I think that it is because I don't want to sew it up. I started sewing this up, and realized I was sewing it up with the wrong sides together, duh. So I get to do it again. Needless to say that Sam is not really going to like it in the current state.

OK, I am going to finish this project. His birthday is soon... so soon... must sew panda... must stop blogging, must sew panda.

OH, btw, I just put my first picture in my blog... look at me, I am all technical now.

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Random thoughts on a Wednesday

1. All the strings from the winter/fall are being tied up... what trouble will I get myself into now?

2. I lost Sam at the pool, but didn't realize it until I had found him.

3. The grilled chicken at KFC tastes sort of beefy, it is ok, but the pin feathers on the breasts really bothered me.

4. Free food is the best, food I am paid to take out of the store is even better.

5. $1.00 movies are great!

6. Hannah can sit through a movie without going potty even once...

7. Pinky Pie is no longer frozen.

8. Don't forget to put on sunscreen.

9. Built in underwear is itchy. (isn't all underwear itchy in Sam's world?)

10. My boys can play pokemon cards for hours on end, but can not sit next to each other in a car for 5 minutes.

11. I don't get pokemon, it all seems incredibly stupid to me, and yet the boys will play it for hours on end. They watch the shows and play the DS game consistently

12. Does anyone else get pokemon? If so, can you explain it to me???

13. Stinky is lost, this is not a good thing.

14. Knitting makes everything better.

There a knitters dozen of thoughts.

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Thanks world

In the past month I have received emails, phone calls, yarn, massages, candy, and numerous other gifts of support, both material and non-material. It has been so amazing to me the sheer volume of people that have reached out to us and given us tokens of support. May those tokens be gifts to cheer us up or actual job leads and networking contacts. People have volunteered to watch the kids so I could work and Bob could job hunt. Friends have dropped by meals, just cuz. We have had unemployment suppers with our other unemployed friends, and because of that, are starting to make new friends.

There are so many people praying for us, both friends and folks we have never met, it is amazing. The power of G-Ds will is mind boggling. Like tulips pushing through the hard ground in spring, I feel the power of things that are good, pushing through the bad. Eventually, those tulips have to blossom, and we have to end the uncertainty.

Our kids have embraced our new financial situation with great creativity. It is amazing the things these kids have figured out how to do for free. They are worried and scared, but for the most part, everyone is pitching in.

So, I know I am greedy, but please keep the support coming, and PLEASE, send us a job. We try and pay it back in ways we can right now, and totally admit we haven't been so good at paying it forward. We will get better. But, for now, thank you world for the help! Thank you for slowing the kicking down so that we can catch our breath!

Monday, June 22, 2009

Back to Reality

Well, my vacation from my life is over. It was so much fun! My mom took really good care of us, and we had a blast playing tourist in Cali. It seemed like everyday was better than the next. This is unusual, as I generally am a little bored when I am in California. But, we actually left with stuff to we wanted to do, being undone... waiting for us for next time!

Now that I am home, the house looks great, Bob did a wonderful job cleaning up. It is weird to see it because it does not seem like my house. It still doesn't seem like home... that said, there were flowers on my front porch. I had always planned to put some flowers there, but given our current economic crisis, I haven't wanted to spend the money. Well, as some RAK, someone left flowers on my front porch. Amazingly cool, and nice. I will have to play detective in the neighborhood to see who did it... or perhaps one of my other friends. It was a very nice pick me up.

I still feel sort of overwhelmed and scared about the future. I wish that we knew what was going to be...

Saturday, June 20, 2009

Somethings just don't make sense to me...

I know it is time for me to drop this, and be free of the bad stuff. But, I just can't understand how people can do some of the things that they do... it frustrates me.

Here is the deal, Bob's boss, Joel, told him that his employment contract was not valid. So, how does this man get up everyday, kiss his wife good-bye, hug his kids knowing that he had another man move his family across the country, buy a house, all predicated on an invalid employment contract. What kind of asshole does that? I just don't get it.

Let's just pretend for a minute that the contract is valid, then Joel does not want to pay Bob the money his owed. I don't know if this is a better scenario, because basically the people that Bob worked for lied or cheated him, or both. How do you do that and then think that you are so wonderful? I guess some people have no sense of how they are perceived.

The only thing I can think of is that Joel messed up and should have told Bob that his vacation was accrued. When he realized his mistake he freaked out and basically bullied Bob into accepting less. Ok, still not a really good scenario either. These people are really horrible. I wonder what the would say to me about this. I really wonder if they understand how totally unethically they treated us.

That said I harbor no resentment about him losing his job. I understand that it was a business decision. I do however harbor a very strong resentment about the fact that they screwed us on the way out.

Mean people Suck. Joel, Lynn and Leon, you all suck.

Thursday, June 18, 2009

Underwear

A recent news story tells about a town that requires all employees to wear deoderant and underwear. The Mayor takes has an issue with the required underwear ruling, "I find that a little restrictive. How do you police that?" Upon hearing the tail end of this story, so missing the name of the town, this reporter is interviewing Sam about his thoughts on this new found information.

An interview with Sam:

What do you think about this rule, requiring one to wear underwear? Not good.

Would you like to live in the town that requires you to wear underwear? NO

Why not? Because I don't like underwear.

Why don't you like underwear? It is itchy.

If you were Mayor would you change the rule about wearing underwear? yeah, Mom are we done with this it is boring.

Sam leaves the room to figure out what he wants to do, currently wearing underwear.

'Till next time. This reporter is signing out.

Butterflys

Yesterday we went to see the butterflies at the SB Museum of Natural History. It is a really cool exhibit, and this year it was free!! Last time we went, the year my sister died, it was $2 a person. I was so happy that we got to do this fun thing for free!!

But, it also reminded me of the last time we went, 2 years ago. It was in August, and the hills far behind my mothers house were on fire. Bob was employed and all seemed relatively ok with the world. We were all worried about the fire, which based on the last 3 fires they have had here in SB, was craziness!! My Mom and I left Bob and the kids in charge of the SB house and went to Seattle to my sister's memorial service. Bob had his evacuation plan, a list of radio stations to listen to so he could track the fire's progress. The announcer always ended with, be safe, be prepared and have a plan. I have always thought that was fine advice, so Bob was prepeared. Looking back it was laughable, as the likelihood of that fire impacting the greater community was so remote. But, hey it was his first fire, I wanted to make sure my peeps were ok!

Ending the flash back... the kids, now so much bigger, enjoyed the butterflies, Hannah and Sam were so cute giving each other hugs and trying to catch butterflies for each other! It was a nice trip. We all recalled the Zaca Fire and Katie's funeral.

Saturday, June 13, 2009

California Dreamin'

It seems like a winters day here in not-so-sunny California... but that is ok! The kids and I have been chillin' with Grandma. She has been taking really good care of all of us. I think I might gain 15 pounds. That isn't such a good thing.

The thing I love about coming to my Mom's is wine time. It is absolutely my favorite time of the day. This happens during the space of time between the kids eating dinner and taking baths and going to bed. For some reason I can not recreate the vibe at my own house. But essentially, the kids play in the backyard (we have one of these at home) and my Mom and I chill. Sometimes my Aunt and her puppy swing by, but lately it has just been us. Mom usually has a glass of wine, I have been working on my May/June sock. The kids play together well... it is so awesome.

I don't know why we can't do this at home.. part of the problem is that the weather does not really allow for it but 3 months a year. Probably the other part is that after dinner we try and clean up the massive mess the kids have made during the day. Maybe we need to move cleaning up to before dinner and have that time after dinner to all chill together. I don't know, but for now I am enjoying wine time here in Cali.

Tuesday, June 9, 2009

A very busy weekend

This weekend was super busy. I scored a ton of yarn, buttons and needles from a friend of mine, who had a connection with a woman who owed a now defunct yarn store. My basement is slowly becoming yarn heaven. The yarn is mostly novelty, but I am slowly coming up with some projects that are pretty interesting. The ball bands have price tags that are all over 15 bucks. Some are even 30 bucks. I would never be knitting with yarn like this in real life, so it is sort of fun. As well as a creative challenge. I will post some pics, once my camera and computer are talking again.

On the topic of the computer and camera not talking, I was trying to get some stuff done prior to leaving for California, and the computer died. Yeah, again. The brain trust at Dell promise me that it is the power cord this time, so they are sending another one, in 2-3 business days. The other thing I was reminded about was that I have catastrophic and accidental breakage coverage. I think the guy was trying to get me to tell him that my computer was broken so they would send me a new one. Something to think about... Maybe I should let the kids use it... but that would take 7-10 business days to replace. Bob has handled this all much better than I did. That was the event that put me over the edge. As I like to say, my ability to cope was outstripped by the events of the day.

Tomorrow we leave for California. It should be nice to have a vacation from my life. I already know I am getting a massage in 6 days... yeah!! For now, I hope the gods of airline travel smile upon us and that the trip is smooth.

Mac wants to know why the people that read my blog don't read his... you know who you are! LOL hi from mac!

Friday, June 5, 2009

Yarn Barf

Today I spent the better part of 2 hours untangling a 450 yard hank of yarn. I will never do that again! It was so frustrating, somehow the ends of the hank meshed together... so I would unwind a little, then turn the other direction and unwind some more. Of course this was done after much untangling! If it was alpaca, I might have felt differently about it, but it wasn't.

The kids started summer vacation today. Can you believe I now have a 4th grader, 1st grader and preschooler? I can't! It seems like yesterday they were just little (9 lb plus) babies in my arms. I remember our very first day of school, we were living in the apartment and driving over here. It was not the smoothest transition, but now Mac can walk home by himself and today was lamenting the fact that school was over and he would not see his friends. What a difference 9 months make!

Wednesday, June 3, 2009

Forgot about the underwear

So, here is the scene, we are at the library listening to a children's musician. As these things go, this group was alright, Macaroni Soup if your interested in checking them out. Anyway one of the songs had some audience participation, the kids had to get up and dance based on what they were wearing. We were sitting near the front.

"Everyone wearing blue jeans" Sam couldn't get up and dance, he was wearing khakis.

"Everyone wearing white socks" Sam couldn't get up and dance, he wasn't wearing any socks. Joys of fur lined crocks.

"Everyone wearing underwear" Sam couldn't get up and dance, he wasn't wearing underwear. This was not a shocker for me, but the lady singing was a little surprised, that was her one thing to get everyone up! Sam is a fan of being commando...

"Ok, everyone with a belly button, everyone has a belly button, so everyone can get up a dance." She said this, while looking straight at Sam.

We all danced!!

Tuesday, June 2, 2009

They strike again, part 2

Unfreakin' believable, but the swine have come back to the well for more. I apologize to swine everywhere for insulting them. I have met the Devil. I suppose at the end of the day, you do what ever it takes to get the Devil out of your life.

That said, some good happened yesterday, I got another package of yarn in the mail. It was so cool and fun to have another surprise in the mail!!!

This morning my husband got a call from a very influential man in his industry. Essentially, to guys who do what he does, it is like getting a call from a rock star. That was pretty cool, so we will see what comes of that.

I guess the right perspective for the day is: 1) got call from rock star, 2) got Devil out of life. All good right?!

Monday, June 1, 2009

They strike again...

***warning, some language might be offensive***

Because I can not say this to the sucktastic douche bags that my husband used to work for:

Dear Joel, Lynn and Leon:

I guess things are really bad for the business right now. I guess that the $3,700 that you legally owe us, under IL state law, is going to materially impact the business, because it is so much more important to you than it is to us. You can have it. I don't want it, even though my family could live off it for a couple of months while we look for another job. You take it. When you put gas in your fancy car and take your wife out to dinner, remember who is paying for that.

The cost to us emotionally, is not worth the argument about it. We want to put this horrible situation behind us and move on. We will win.

This bs about the fact that the employment contract my husband signed isn't valid because he worked for a different division is all smoke and mirrors and another example of your underhanded unethical business dealings. Grasping at straws are we? You told us that you had the authority to offer him the job. I have to believe that once you start to believe in people and treat them with respect, you will get that back. Until you can do that, well, then you will always believe that you are being taken advantage of...

Remember, you are an evil troll, your in-laws are also evil trolls, and the illness and bad things that come to you are created by the evil that you have enveloped yourself in.

I am looking forward to getting my bright, talented, honest, loyal and wonderful husband back from the very dark place that you people pushed him into.

Enjoy the money we have given you. I won't itemize the amounts, but it is a fairly substantial amount. I am glad that you feel your endeavor is so important as to have us pay into it. May the karma that you have sewn in how you have dealt with us soon come back for you to reap.

Susanna

With this I hope that I will be able to move on, and focus on the next steps on this journey!