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.

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!

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.

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.

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!

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...