Heard while the children were playing:
Boo, wearing a black cape: Â “Hey, you don’t pinch Dracula!”
Me: Â “Yeah, you don’t tug on Superman’s cape, either.”
Kids: “Huh?”
Me: “You don’t spit into the wind. Â You don’t pull the mask off the ol’ Lone Ranger and apparently you don’t pinch Dracula.”
Kids: “Ohhhh-kay”
Methinks a little remedial Jim Croce is in order.
I’ll admit it, I’m burnt out. Â This homeschooling gig has finally gotten to me and for the first time since we started, Â we are taking the whole summer off and I’m looking forward to it.
I’m so tired. Â I’m going through the motions. Â There are so many other things I need to be doing – admittedly, none are as important – and they nag at me daily.
I’m an introvert and I need time alone every single day for my mental health. Â I’m not getting it and I can feel the affects.
And sometimes this blog feels like a burden, like it is something I have to be doing. Â Just one more thing on the never-ending list. Â I don’t want it to be like that.
I will trudge along with the schooling until we get to the point where we can stop for the summer. Â A couple of more weeks. Â I can manage that.
Then I will focus on my list, take care of those things that have languished over the last several months. Get some rest, take care of me for awhile. Â See if my blogging mojo comes back. Â I bet it does.
I had so much fun knitting Bip’s monster that I bought The Big Book Of Knitted Monsters. (Clicking on the book link doesn’t help me at all. I can’t be an Amazon.com affiliate because of the way my state collects taxes.) Then I joined a Ravelry group for monster addicts, er fans. Then I joined up with the Traveling Monsters Swap. The way it works is that all the participants knit a monster small enough to fit in the smallest USPS Priority mail box. On the designated date – which was Tuesday – we each sent our monster to a predesignated person.  In a couple of days we will each get a new monster in the mail to enjoy for a couple of weeks. Twice a month we send the monster currently visiting on his or her way and we receive a new monster. A round robin of monsters. We have enough participants to keep going for about 10 months.
Here is the monster I knit:
Trixie the Traveling Monster
Isn’t she cute? She is off to her host family in Kansas and adventures unknown. We are going to miss her while she’s gone.
I’m all ready to go!
The Sunday before last I ran away. Yes, Easter Sunday.
It had been a tough week around here. We’ve been really busy and my children had pushed and pushed and pushed and the night before, things had come to a head over the state of their bedrooms. It just pushed me to the edge. Then after church, they just pushed me over. I left. Changed out of my Easter finery, got in the car and drove. Cranked up the radio, rocked out to INXS. Me and mom jeans, driving my 11 year old minivan. Oh yeah, that’s just the way I roll. I even grabbed some knitting on the way out.
I ended up going to the mall, but it was closed, dang conservative, Christian town. I went to McDonalds, because I am such a rock star, see earlier paragraph re: minivan and mom jeans. I had a big ol’ Coke, which I had given up for Lent. It was cold and sweet and everything I deserve out of life. Then I went to WalMart – don’t hate my diva life- and bought bins for my daughter’s room. And a salad bowl. I know, I know!
I shushed a kid in church,too. It was the final blessing and he was just talking and talking and talking. Then when he started saying “she told me to shut up, she told me to shut up!” I turned around and told him that mass is almost over, he could wait a couple of more minutes.
Do. Not. Mess. With. Me. I will take you down.
(I got an apology from both the dad and the boy after mass, which is more than I got from my own children when I came home. I have since forgiven them and they treated me very well for at least 2 hours. Sometimes a mom just needs a break.)
I made this monster for Bip:
I started him 2 years ago when I was newly pregnant with Pipsqueak. The only problem was that I get this Super Sensitive Smelling Power when I’m pregnant. I can smell chocolate, through the packaging, while just walking by a display of Easter candy. Sounds cooler than it actually is because smells become so strong that I get nauseated. Well, this little monster is made out of wool, which has a faint smell. And when I was pregnant – wow! – I was totally overwhelmed with it. I tried to carry on, but I just couldn’t. I put it away, hoping to pick it back up before the end of the year.
One thing I forgot was that the memory of certain smells would still make me nauseated for a while after the baby arrived. And even the memory of being nauseated doing what I was doing at the time would make me nauseated. It was a very long time before I could even pick up the project bag containing my half-finished monster. Then one day last week I saw it, picked up and buried my nose deep in the yarn and breathed in. Nothing but the faintest of wool smell! No nausea at all.
So I finished up that monster and presented him to Bip.
This project made me feel particularly good to finish because Bip was a good sport when I told him I could no longer work on it, but I would get back to it as soon as I could. Nothing like the smile on your child’s face when you fulfill a promise.
Last weekend we headed up into the mountains near Denver to visit the Ice Castle in Silverthorne.
In a word: amazing!
The drive was a longer one than we normally make with 16 month Pipsqueak in tow, but it was worth it.
We arrived, had a quick lunch, then bundled up in the snow pants, boots and gloves we’d packed along. Good thing, too. It was much colder than even we were used to!
I’ll just let the pictures speak for themselves.
If you go (and you should!), bring warm clothing and sunglasses.
I don’t actually have a whole lot to say today, but the opportunity to post on this particular date is too rare to pass up. Â So hello, how are you? Â I am fine.
Did you ever write letters like that when you were little? Â Once upon a time I had a school assignment to write a letter and mail it. Â I wrote to my cousin who is 3 months older than me. Â We became steadfast penpals and best friends. Â For the first couple of years, though, our letters were pretty much all, “Dear Annie, how are you? Â I am fine. Â What did you do in school today? Â I had a math test. Â Do you like math? It rained today. Â I am running out of room, so goodbye.”
I wasn’t always the riveting writer than I am today.
I was thinking of my cousin Annie today because I learned that Davy Jones of the Monkees had died.  We loved the Monkees, my cousin Annie and I.  Sometimes she’d come and stay with my poor lonely, only child self for a week over the summer.  Both my parents worked so we’d be at home watching TV pretty much all the livelong day.  The reruns of “The Monkees” were our favorite.  One year, she actually  brought her tape of a Monkees album with her and we’d dance around my room, singing Monkees songs at the top of our lungs.
I might have to head over to iTunes and download me some Monkees Tunes like the rest of the world, so I can once again sing them at the top of my lungs. Â It’s probably more fun when you’re 16 and home alone with your goofy cousin-turned-best-friend than say, home with a bunch of kids that are depending on you for an education, and I don’t mean of the pop icon variety. Â Oh well, you’ve got to work with what you’ve got.
And speaking of which! Â The next time Leap Day rolls around, assuming that the world doesn’t end this December, Pipsqueak will be 5, Bip will be 11, Pumpkin Girl will be 15 and Boo will be 17. Â And driving! Driving, I tell you! Wonder if he’ll be blasting some Monkees tunes in his car?
Relief!
I failed in my attempt to photograph through the alphabet in one year.
Which qualifies it for the Year of Finished Projects, don’t you think?
As part of my Year of Finished Projects, I actually started a major knitting project.  I’m a slow knitter at the best of times and with a my hands full of Pipsqueak all day, things don’t get done very quickly.  So starting a project during the year that I’m focusing on finishing those long overdue things seems sort of counter productive.
But as I was looking over my friend Sandy’s queue of knitting that she will never even start, I was reminded that my own list had stalled out. Â I have a ton of little things that I can accomplish easily – a toy monster in a bulky weight yarn that will take no time, lots and lots of socks that are surprisingly easy and some hats that I can do in my sleep. Â But I thought I’d like to get a Major Project (perhaps even a Lieutenant Colonel Project) (ha! Army humor!) started. Â I thought it would feel good to finish the “getting around to it” phase and actually cast on something out of my queue.
I picked Hanami. Â Please click on this link. Â There is a whole story behind this shawl I chose to knit that really adds to the appeal. Â Plus the link has pictures! Â Always a good thing. Â You clicking the link will let me *not* steal those pictures and paste them in here.
I have to admit that I am not a good lace knitter. Â I’ve only done one real lace project and I didn’t enjoy it. But I am drawn to all the beautiful lace. Â I’m not really up for the challenge, but I want that shawl. Â So I’ll persevere. Fortunately my friend in crafting-crime, Shanti, decided to knit along with me. Â She’s got a ton more lace experience than I, so she’s already passed me up. Â I’m not going to compare my progress to hers (ok, that’s totally untrue), but I am going to be inspired to keep going and actually finish this shawl in a timely manner.
And then I will have another finished project to share with you!
Pipsqueak is fortunate to have some awesome quilters in his life. My friend Shanti made him this beautiful quilt and I just had to share some pictures.
And it’s got a fun Eric Carle print on the back.
My mommy has the best friends!
His godmother made him a cute quilt, too. I’ll share pictures of that one next.
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