Wednesday, June 27, 2007

Tell CNN we're out here!

Cnn.com's leisure survey includes knitting in the choices, but it's not showing up in the top ten . . .yet!

Vote Here!

Friday, June 22, 2007

Urk - Wish me well!

Had posts planned but no time. Going camping - not prepared, plus I really do not like camping. Ugh, the things we do for the ones we love.

Tuesday, June 19, 2007

Waaaa!

I missed M's Fifth Grade Recognition ceremony! On Friday, I asked him when it was (the schedule is messed up because they had to add 2.5 days to the end of the year due to the snow days) and he said Tuesday. I had the camera charged, a nice shirt washed for him, and a bag of toys to entertain E during the event. I couldn't find the latest newsletter, so I didn't get to double check. When I went to pick him up yesterday after school, the sign out front said 6/18 1 PM.

Argh! He was all morose walking to the car. I told him I had no idea, and he was shocked. Apparently the school called "all" the parents to remind them, and my name wasn't on the list of people they couldn't reach. I have no idea what happened, as my cell phone shows no missed calls and I have no voice mail.

Poor kid spent all afternoon thinking I just didn't bother to show up. I'm still sad/angry about this. The kids all sang a song, and then they got certificates, a pin, and a carnation. Then they had a classroom auction with the "money" they earned during the year. M bought a book. He had a bidding war with a friend over it. He said it was pretty fun, but he was still sad about me not coming.

He understands now, but that's not something we can get back. The only explanation I can think of is that his contact sheet was taken out when we changed our address, and never put back. Doesn't explain why they didn't cross-check with class lists, but since I've had calls from both his teacher and the office this year, I know they had the right number at one time, and it hasn't changed. I told him to make sure to tell the school that I wasn't called. Maybe they can come up with a better procedure for next year. And it's a reminder to me to double-check what he says. Ten-going-on-eleven may seem big, but he's still a kid prone to distraction.

I'll have to make do with taking lots of pictures of the last day of elementary school (today) instead.

Thursday, June 14, 2007

Unpacking my life, upturning my yard

I felt like I was making progress on the unpacking and organizing, until my mom finished moving. I am now in possession of everything she was keeping for me. A lot of it I had totally forgotten about.

There were some great blasts from the past, including a box of favorite childhood books, and some beloved dolls. Unfortunately for them, they were banished to the carport post-haste after I found some fossilized moth cocoons in there. Amazing how many 1970s dolls and stuffed animals had wool stuffing, clothes, felt faces or accessories. I'm sure the moth damage happened long ago, and there are probably no living creatures anywhere in there. However, the Room of Boxes is the future CraftRoom, and contains my stash. Not worth the risk! Sorry lovies, out with you.

My freezer is already packed full with flour, mixes, and other dry goods, as I apparently didn't succeed at abolishing the previous tenants' pantry moth issue. So far, I haven't found any contaminated food, but there are 6-8 in my sticky traps. I'm hoping that the traps are working so well that all of the males are stuck in glue and there can be no breeding in my kitchen.

Also hope they aren't working too well, and attracting all the moths from outside into my kitchen.

So until we find a good deal on a chest freezer, or I find some other way to make sure any moths in the dolls are dead, my husband's going to have to work around that box.

I'm not getting much done lately. We're (well, my role is pretty much limited to moral support and bring of cold beer) putting a foundation under the house this summer. All of the ground around the house will be dug out, the house jacked up, and the foundation poured in stages underneath. It really hit me what we were getting into when J told me he found the perfect length of plywood to use as a bridge to get in the door.

This means any interior, cosmetic, and yard projects have to wait. No point in painting or window treatments before we know what will or won't crack and be replaced. Can't landscape where the Bobcat will be driving.

My response to this has been a serious case of sluggishness. I have barely touched the boxes in the last couple weeks. I'm not feeling particularly motivated by my personal knitting projects, and a new design for the store is giving my serious grief.

I am also facing a bittersweet milestone: my firstborn, my baby big guy, is done with 5th grade on Tuesday. Just 3 days left in elementary school! Wow, time sure flies. Went to the first parent night at the Middle School. What a weird feeling that was! I remember those years so well, and I sure as hell am not ready for my kiddo to go through that huge transition from 6th grade to 8th, from big little kid, to teetering on the edge of adulthood.

Wednesday, June 13, 2007

Mmmm, lace!

Yarn dieters, look away!

Woodland Woolworks is having another "unfair internet advantage" sale. All lace yarns are 20%, only through Friday, 6/15. They have alpaca, cashmere, Zephyr, cotton, soy silk (including some beautiful hand-dyed colorways), merino, silk, and more.

Harlot sighting!

I was late leaving home, and got to my mom's too late to risk taking a bus. I figured I'd be circling the blocks looking for parking, but right as I turned at Powell's, a car pulled out of the 2nd spot!

It was around 6:30, and the place was getting full. (According to an employee, people started arriving at 4:00!) A very helpful person pointed out empty chairs to those of us that were milling around, so I actually got to sit, unlike the 100 or so that came later and stood behind the chairs, between the stacks, and crammed up against the elevator doors. While Powell's learned their lesson after the last visit, they still seemed unprepared for the barrage of yarn- and needle-wielding fans.


Running out of chairs

The hour flew by, full of chatting, knitting, and admiring all of the hand-knits. There were men, women, teens, and older folks.


Filling up the aisles

In the "small world" department, I was sitting next to Shelly, who lives in another small town near me. And in the autograph line, the woman behind me (OMG, I can't remember her name) who had driven down from Tacoma with her friends, grew up about 10 miles from here.


Astonished Powell's employee introducing . . .


A very blurry Yarn Harlot

Stephanie was hilarious. It was definitely worth the drive and the wait to hear her speak. She talked about the Blue Moon bank fiasco, how to respond when someone says "wow, you have a lot of yarn," and ways to get recognition for knitters.

After the talk, my book-signing luck deserted me. My seat was on the opposite side of the room from the line, and I had to walk upstream through those that were leaving. I think I stood in line for an hour. On the upside, I witnessed the hilarity of the Polaroid incident, and saw Monica PDX of Comments fame (go read her account of the event. Fabulous reportage, there!).

I made cherry-shaped cedar sachets to give Stephanie, and totally flubbed it. I was holding my bag, my socks-in-progress, and my camera in my left hand, and the book and cherries in my right. I handed them to her still in the ziplock, so she couldn't tell what they were. Then I took the bag out of her hand (I hope "snatched" isn't a more accurate word) and held them up. She did say they were very good, and tucked them into The Sock. She signed my book, and I walked away! Yeah, despite that fact that everyone in sight was getting photographs taken, I had a socially inept panic attack and chickened out on asking the women behind me to take a picture. No matter that we had been chatting about a wide variety of subjects for the past 45 minutes, no matter that Stephanie was happily standing and posing with everyone else.

Sigh. Some days I'm 12, I tell ya. Nope, didn't take a picture of the cherries either.

Saturday, June 09, 2007

New blog, same as the old blog . . .

As you can see, I haven't quite moved my archives over here, but I'm planning on putting all new blog posts here.

Apologies to Bloglines if you get an update every time I move an old post here.