Mail For Me!

I've been receiving really good mail lately!
I got some fabulous stitch markers from Holly:

Today I went at about 11:30 am over to my in-law's place and my mother-in-law taught me how to make Halishkes (Cabbage Rolls). I couldn't believe HOW easy they are to make! We even baked a little and made some banana cake. She made me some lunch (I had salad - with her homemade dressing - my fave in the entire world) and it was delish!

This evening I've been knitting up a storm (come back tomorrow for pictures!) I have been working on the blanket for charity. It's coming along great.

Tonight I watched 2 foreign movies, the first being My Summer of Love and the second movie I watched was Saving Face. On IMDB it reads "User Comments: You do not have to be Lesbian to enjoy this Film!" for My Summer of Love. Funny - I had no idea this was a movie about two girls who fall in love before watching it. The movie was not bad. The second movie I put in - Saving Face, which IMDB reads: "Plot Outline: A Chinese-American lesbian and her traditionalist mother are reluctant to go public with secret loves that clash against cultural expectations." Wow - two lesbian movies in one night, and I picked them both out without even realizing they were both lesbian movies. Both were interesting, but just okay. Saving Face was half in English and half in Chinese.

Playing Cards & Charity Knitting

My charity knitting is coming along in great timing! I just just started this blanket yesterday!(it's knitted up in strips, each strip getting shorter. I can't really describe it, you'll have to see it when it's done). I was given the pattern with the yarn to use and all I needed was the needles (which I had - of course). I think I want to make one for the baby's room after I'm done this one, but I think I am going to wait until I find out the sex of the baby on August 17th. This way, I don't have to do it in neutral colours. This blanket takes NO TIME at all to knit up! However, it's a really boring project, as it's all in just knit stitch, so I'm really bored with it. There is no shaping, and no other things to do but knit all the way across .... It's looking great though. I have 8 more squares to do (3 attached x 2 and then 2 solo squares) and it will all be sewn together to make this very interestingly shaped throw for a baby's room floor. (For babies to play on). Since the middle colour (pink in this case) is the only place that colour is used, there is JUST enough leftover yarn to single crochet that colour around the edges of the finished blanket... so I think I will do that). I'm not really too sure about making tassles for the "points" of the blanket... I am not into tassles.

I am really happy on how fast this project (for charity) is knitting up. I'll be done in no time!

These are the knitting playing cards I found at a store the other day. I picked up a deck for myself and a deck to send over to my secret pal!

The yarn in this image looks to be acrylic, but it's the thought that counts for the image... (I'm starting to hate acrylic for anything that is not baby items....). (Acrylic is the only thing I'd knit baby stuff with - just because it washes!)

I am soooo happy that I have a long weekend. My mother-in-law is teaching me tomorrow how to make her cabbage roll recipe (my recent craving) and not too sure what else is going on the rest of the weekend, besides some knitting and relaxing. My tenants are moving out tomorrow, and my new ones are moving in on Monday, so we'll have one weekend with no feet stomping above our heads (how that will be nice!) I really hope my new tenant's kids will be have and not run around all hours of the day... but then again in 5 short months (Yes! I'm in my second trimester now! Week 13 has begun today!!!) I will have a baby, and who knows if my child will keep them up. I'm crossing my fingers and praying for a good child, but you never know if you will have a screamer or not!

I've been invited to a baby shower for my cousin's wife on July 12th - I think that will be fun. I've been to 1 baby shower before (Jamie's sister's) so I can't wait to see all my family and see how big the mama to be has gotten. The last time I saw her, she was 3 months pregnant and not really showing yet (she's a tiny little one!)

Secret Pal Mail

So the gorgeous flowers in my backyard have been in full bloom. They are absolutely GORGEOUS. Don't you just LOVE these flowers? (And my new patio set - ain't it lovely? Lainie do you notice the candle on the table???!)

This is the bunch of flowers a little more up close... to give you an idea of how many there really are!

And here is a shot that I took tonight, I just love the colours and the way that the picture turned out with the entire back blurry and the crazy colours.... (sans flash - long exposure):

Here is my charity knitting started: It's a baby blanket, for the Montreal Knitting Guild. The winner of the best blanket (?) (I'm not too sure how they are picking the winner) will get to choose which Charity they want the blankets donated to: (the boring thing about this blanket is that it is done completely in garter rows and it's a little boring. I find that anything that is just plain and simple garter stitching - no purling - and no shaping - to me - is not "real" knitting. It's boring too - lol... (On a side note - I know of this girl who knits everything in just knit stitch, and just in rectangles or squares - that's all she can do - and in my opinion, it's not real knitting - (it's actually kinda funny) anyone can do the same motion over and over again - you know?) A knitter is someone who can knit/purl/shape and make things are turn into something.... And to me - this knitting. Anyhow, this blanket is for charity, and the yarn came with the pattern to do, so that's why I'm doing it! Mindless knitting....

Secret Pal has struck again! I received:

Some awesome smelling bath stuff (in my absolutely FAVE scents (peach & watermelon)), some fuzzy peach lotion form the body shop, some sugar-free cookies and brownies, as well as GUM! (I've been craving gum like mad lately - so it's perfect!)

I received this really cute elephant. I love and collect elephants,
but I think this one will go in the baby's room. (It's actually a piggy bank).

A homemade knitted sweater, by my secret pal! I think it's for about a 6 month old. I also go the pattern for it, and buttons to make my own (buttons are below):

Under the buttons is this really awesome book of baby knits! I can't wait to give a go at a sweater (I think for my first sweater I'll try a baby one) (gotta move on from knitting socks!)

THANK YOU THANK YOU Secret Pal! This was awesome.

I am ready to turn the heel on Jamie's socks - but I've put those down for a few days just to work on the charity blanket. I kinda of wanted to have a change of colour for a while, so I will go back to Jamie's socks soon. Also - I've got to finish up on Clapotis!!

Today was an awesome day off. I got some work done on my sewing machine (VERY IMPRESSED WITH MYSELF) and I got an article sewn for my birthday package for Cynthia (pictures will come once she receives the awesome package!) I took care of some over due laundry, and just chilled at home today. That was really nice.

Now, this dance I find funny. Check it out here.

Can Relax Now....

Between yesterday and today, I had two huge assignments due. Today, after handing in the last one, I have nothing due for a little while (minus a small quiz that's due on Monday, which I am not worried about whatsoever - layer styles, masks, easy stuff).

I feel such a relief right now, I can relax and spend my day off tomorrow doing some long awaited chores and some arts and crafts that I want to do - and I also want to work on Jamie's sock that I'm knitting (but neglected again today).... catch up on some reading, I may be having some lunch with a friend, (she's supposed to come over?) and maybe watch a movie.... Just a nice relaxing day....

Things I'm missing while being pregnant:

- a nice glass of red wine.

- hot tubs

- sushi (BIG TIME CRAVING!)
- a nice hot bath

Some of these things I can resume after giving birth - (like hot tubs and baths) but the wine & sushi will have to wait until I'm done breastfeeding.

Today I found playing cards with the picture on the back side being Knitting! Of course I had to get them, and get some for my secret pal - which I'll mail to her in August when she gets back from her month long trip to B.C. For some reason I thought that SP8 ran until mid-september, but it ends August 31st - according to the website. (I will take a picture of the knitting cards to show you tomorrow)

This evening once I got home from school, I crashed on the couch for an hour. That felt great. Once Jamie got home from work we headed out to visit his grandmother at the hospital. She was home for a week (which no one told us - otherwise, we'd have gone to see her) and she isn't doing too well at all... unfortunately. I will keep an update, as long as we're updated (we seem to be lost as far as people telling us what's going on - and we seem to hear things after the fact). Jamie was torn standing there in the hospital room, he kept saying "You have to get better and stronger so you can come home and see your great-grandchild soon" - but I don't think she had any clue as to who we were.... I stood there also, not knowing what to say, or how to comfort Jamie. I felt exactly how I felt when we went to see Jamie's grandfather 2 years ago just a short few days before he passed away.... in a situation where I didn't know what to say, or what to do. It really is awkward, standing next to someone who is losing a member of their family - who is now my family too. I hope for the best for her, but unfortuntaly to write this, I don't think there is much hope, she just wants to go and be with her husband... in a place with no suffering.

On that note, I'm going to say goodnight.

Maya Wrap & Vesper Yarn

This Vesper yarn (in this colour!) that is carried in Toronto by Lettuce Knits (the ONLY Canadian retailer) - UGH! Can't even find it on ebay.... oh well. I guess I will check it out the next time I happen to be in Toronto! I just love love love the colours (apparently there are about 10 different colour combos - I am curious to see what else exists!)

I also love today this Maya Wrap:

I would need a size M and I am hoping that I can put it on a my baby shower wish list.... That's the plan. I love it in black, and there is a red colour that I love too - (Fabric #65 Bright Multi Stripe ) (the black is #57) They go for about 50$ US on ebay. Oh, I'd love one of these beauties.

Today I managed to finish my project on time in class, there were some last minute changes that I had to do - so I'm hoping that everything is going fine and I get a good mark on it.

Also - I got back my mark on my dubble bubble assignment from last week - I got 84% (which is 16.8/20 of my final grade - which rounds up to a 17/20). I'm happy with that. Apparently it was "too simple" - whatever. The teacher is a hard marker and he smells bad all the time, so I'll take whatever. An 84% is a fantastic mark anyhow!

No knitting today. This evening I tried to work on my assignment that is due tomorrow - but that didn't work. I mailed off one more small parcel to my Secret Pal (she should get it before she leaves to BC this upcoming weekend) as it was sent with "1 day" service (can be 1-2 days, lol) and I hope she likes it. I sent her all of Knit Cast on CD-Rom so she can listen to them, as well as a cake of 130g of the black and white lace weight yarn I've been winding on my ball winder from the mega spool I got.

This evening I also finishing doing some art and putting the final touches on the huge and heavy birthday parcel for Cynthia. Our deadline to mail them out it July 1st. I have something else that I think I want to do - but I'll have to wait until Wednesday (my day off) to finish it. So I'll probably end up mailing out the package sometime Wednesday - just so that's it's en route, and on it's way to her. I hope she really likes the unique pieces that I've been making for her - as well as a few pieces that were purchased, that I just CAN'T WAIT for her to receive - I wish I could see her face when she sees them! Oh well!

Alright. Going to go rest up. And Jamie's out playing ball tonight, (sub on a team that didn't have enough guys) so I'm going to start cleaning up some stuff in my office. I just got this sudden urge to clean!

Cabbage Rolls

*TODAY IS FOUR YEARS THAT JAMIE & I HAVE BEEN TOGETHER! WOW!* We started officially dating today, 4 years ago. We don't celebrate this anniversary anymore, seeing as though now we have wedding anniversaries starting with number 1 this September, but - it's still nice to acknowledge that we've been together now for 4 years! (Both of our longest relationships, now. Jamie's longest one before was 3 and a half years, and mine was 1 year 3 weeks with an ex-boyfriend).

Last night for dinner I had some cabbage rolls. They hit the spot. Today for lunch, I ate cabbage rolls. Then after going for Ben & Jerry's with Jamie, we did some groceries, and I went nuts at the store looking for my new craving item - Cabbage Rolls. I need to learn how to make them myself, I will ask my mother-in-law to teach me (the last batch she made, were fantastic!). Two stores later, I found said cabbage rolls. Mmmmmm - sooooo delicious. They are just fantastic! MMmmm!

This afternoon I worked on finishing my project due tomorrow, until we went for dinner with my family to celebrate my birthday. We went to my favourite restaurant (the same restaurant I went to last Saturday night with my girl friends) and that was nice. A little loud though, seeing as though Portugal had just wont the soccer game, and we were technically on the border of "Little Portugal" here in Montreal and people were running down the streets with flags and cars driving with humans sticking out of them (soooooo dangerous) honking horns and screaming... Quite the experience, let me tell you!

Not really any knitting today.....

But I love:

My fave flower.

And my secret pal got some buttons in the mail! She finally posted that she received them, so I can post them on here! Aren't they just fantastic? I have a set for myself too - I just need to put them on my knitting bag, or purse, or whatever! Keep meaning to, gotta just do it!

Yummy Yummy Brunch

Went out for a very yummy brunch around noon today with Jamie. We went to our favourite bagel place, and it just totally hit the spot. Exactly what I was craving. I always eat the same thing there - and it's just fantastic.

This afternoon I vegged, and Jamie worked a bit in the backyard. I worked on Jamie's sock some more, it's coming along nicely, this evening, Jamie had some friends over, so that I could work on my project due on Monday. It's coming along, but it's not done.

Jamie's friends have since left, and since I needed a break, we're about to sit down to watch the movie Control with Ray Liotta. I like Ray Liotta.

I can't wait for school to be over on August 11th. I have so many chores that I want to do around the house and art projects that I want to do before we leave on our honeymoon in September, and to Kansas with my mom for the dog show. Also August 17th is my first ultra-sound - so I can't wait to see what the baby looks like in my stomach!

Alright, movie time.

Frogging & Gift Yarn!

Yesterday I bought some Runts as I was kinda craving them, and after eating them, I decided that the tin it came in - is perfect for storing my row counter, as I would HATE for it to be in my bag and it get knocked around, and a couple of rows get added to the counter, then all of a sudden sock number two and sock number one don't match, because I was off a few rows... So, Willy Wonka's container, became a row counter protector:

Stores beautifully inside!

Took some beautiful pictures of the flowers in and out of my home today. (We discovered that we have a rose bush (that didn't come out last summer after we moved in, so this year, we have beautiful roses in the front yard, so I snipped a few and brought them inside):

In our backyard, you can find these beauties:

Isn't the orange just fantastic?

I got my stitch markers from Bren today, in regular mail:

And, Today, upon getting in from my morning class, I came home to a package sitting on my door step, my stitch markers from Adriane:

Along with the stitch markers (that are soooo pretty), was this FANTASTIC ball of sock yarn, a birthday present from Adriane - that was SUPER sweet of her. This sock yarn is absolutely gorgeous. I can't wait to make myself a pair of socks with this yarn!

I was sitting outside today, enjoying the good weather, and knitting (of course)
and Jazz decided to come take a peek outside:

Oh - and this afternoon I decided to frog Jamie's sock, and restart. Why??? Because he tried it on, and it was well, WAY TOO BIG. It was WAY larger than any of his socks that he already owns. I even SWATCHED out the yarn on the correct needles and plugged in the right amount of stitches per inch (in the sock generator that I use) and it was still WAY too big. (Really upset about that!) So - the sock has been restarted. I hope I get that crazy awesome pattern that came out of the yarn that I had started yesterday.

Today, I found a new show. It's on the DIY network (Do It Yourself) and we get it on Direct TV Satellite (as it's an American Show). It's called Nitty Gritty. It's a little cheesy, but the show looks very fun and I hope to learn some new techniques. It's on weekdays at 11:30 am and at 2pm (Two different episodes) and I'll try to catch as many as I can. Some have aired already, and won't be re-airing (that I know of). I've been surfing the DIY website to see airtimes, etc. Today's episode was on belt making. (Not that I'd ever knit myself a suede belt - but the technique was interesting!)

Jamie's Sock & The Yarn That Never Ends

My SP8 Pal is being spoiled right now majorly, for one, it's her birthday month (just like it was mine!) and also - because she's gone for the entire month of July in B.C. and won't have a mailing address. But I can resume spoiling her in August and part of September, when SP8 ends. Here's the huge birthday parcel I sent: (With two different kinds of yarn, {vintage sock yarn and brand new On Line City in a turquoisy colour she loves}, and a ton of other fun stuff.

In another package which she also received, I sent her a book off her amazon wish list. I thought the book looked really neat, so I picked it up for her, and sent it her way:

On the knitting front, I've started Jamie's socks:

I really love the pattern that has turned out of the Lana Grossa sock yarn. I hope it turns out that it's all got chunky stripes and it's not just random. Jamie's really happy that I've started his socks for him!

Also, on the knitting front, I've been winding on my ball winder, from a spool, some lace weight yarn. Last night at the knitting meet-up, I wound 2 cakes, one for my cousin Jenn, and one for another fellow knitter - Jennie E. I'd love to see what they make out of it. Jenn wants to make a lace shawl. Sounds great!


Each cake that I've made so far, is approx. 120-130 gram each, just a little more than what you'd get in a ball of sock yarn. Not too sure on the yardage though. And on top of it - you see NO DENT in the spool after one cake is wound - it's nuts! I have 4 cakes wound so far (2 given away) I think I'm going to send some off to my secret pal in a future package. I honestly think I'm going to make myself a lace shawl as well. I just have to find the right pattern. I also want to give a cake to a friend to make her smile - I think I'll surprise her with a present of yarn! I still have a LOT left on the spool after the 4 cakes of approx 130 grams each, and I still have a whole other spool! It was a lucky find, and I'm loving it!

On a non-knitting front - I went on a "field trip" with my class today, to a printing press that only specialized in newspapers. We got to see the daily "Le Metro" being printed for tomorrow's edition. They were also working on Saturday's edition, since they will be closed for the Quebec Holiday St. Jean Baptiste (which is Saturday). It was cool seeing how newspapers are being printed, but I honestly think it was a waste of 2 hours. The tour could have been done in less.... and my swollen feet/ankles were KILLING me after a 2 hour walk through this factory. (And on top of it - it really smelled!)

Anyhow, I'm off to go knit some more.

Birthday Shopping

Today after finishing my project I ran over to where Jamie works and dropped him off lunch. Last night we made dinner and made extras so that he could take it with him to work, and well, having never brought a lunch with him (probably ever) to work, he forgot it this morning. So since I was heading out his way to do some errands, I brought it over to him. What a nice wife I am!

So, I headed to do some errands. First I went to do some banking, and then headed over to Zellers. I had a gift certificate to HBC stores for my birthday, so first I went to check out Zellers. I couldn't find a scale that was digital (for weighing yarn), but did find this really cute 50 piece cookie cutter set. It's the entire alphabet plus the numbers 0-9 in big and small, (2 different sizes) and a bunch of symbols! Hmmm, fun cookies!

I also got this cute bag that can be used as a picnic bag, but I am using it for yarn travel! I also picked up the needed umbrella base for our patio set (which was "sold seperately").

Next stop was Chapters. I had a return to do, and then with my birthday gift cards, I picked up something for the baby (that was being liquidated but still brand new) and 4 books for myself!

Tales from the Crib by Jennifer Coburn
Escape from Bridezilla by Jacqueline deMontravel
Stupid and Contagious by Caprice Crane
Theodora's Baby by Penny Culliford

Hmm - notice a theme going on here with the books? Babies? Hmmm, what? Fiction about pregnant women? LOL....

Then, I went to the maternity store, Thyme, and picked out a shirt for myself with a gift certificate that I got for my birthday, and a baby outfit that was on sale, and it pretty much came out to the amount of the gift certificate. Perfect!

Next stop was Deco Decouvert - (HBC store) to check out digital food scales, and I found this one: (OF COURSE I bought it in PINK!) - Money spent on it does go to Breast Cancer. I have 90 days to decide if I like it or not, but we'll see how well it works out. It was tested out this evening at the Knitting Meetup and seems pretty accurate.

Since I was in the mall at that point, I went to get myself an ice cream at Laura Secord, as I was CRAVING ice cream, and haven't had good ice cream in ages. I settled on Pecan Butter (after a taster first) and boy was it delicious.

Next stop, in the mall, was BABY GAP. Since Gap doesn't have a maternity section and I was given a gift certificate I picked out some items for the baby. (Unisex of course). I got a ton of onesies on sale, plus a really cute gift set of 7 onesies, that were just WAY too hard to pass up.

Aren't they just the cutest things ever???

After the Gap I headed to do a return at Walmart, and then home to grab my knitting, then to pick up Angela, then to get Jenn and then to 2nd Cup for the Montreal Knitting Meetup. I had a good time, and a special Thank You to Jennie E. for the wonderful pregnancy safe beauty products that she got me for my birthday. That was SUPER sweet of her! I can't wait to try them!

Just got in from knitting and I'm zonked. More tomorrow after my boring Field Trip that I MUST take with school (I feel like I'm in primary school). I hope I don't have to hold hands with my buddy.

Taking Care of Business

My summer package to Lainie got received, and I forgot to take a picture of it before I mailed it off, so Lainie photographed it for me, and here's her loot:

A few days ago I posted what summery stuff I received from her! I'm glad that she loved the package that I sent her! Can't be disappointing now!

Today I had to sleep in - catch up on some deserved sleep. I even went to bed early last night - which is becoming routine now. I am trying to get into bed fairly early these days, to not miss out on any sleep. I'm hoping that my second trimester is easier, (which starts June 29th) as I need my energy back!

No knitting today (yet) (It's only 8:30pm) so maybe there's hope for some knitting time.

I did take care of some business today. I worked on some photos from my wedding that my mother wanted colour corrected and other corrections done, and then I filed all my papers (I do filing once in a while - statements that come in the mail from banks, credit cards, phone bills, hydro bills, gaz metropolitan bills, etc... bills, bills, bills. I have a nice and organized filing system and so far it seems to work for me. I just needed to clean up my cubby on my desk, so I took care of that today.

I also went to walmart and picked up some groceries from there (we have a small food section in our Walmart - it's not a super Walmart) and Jamie wanted some sweatpants for baseball. I found some t-shirts that I thought were cool from Walmart - but apparently Jamie didn't find them cool, so I'll be returning those tomorrow. Men and fashion - lol... everything has to be "plain"!

I found the coolest thing at Walmart - I'll let you know if it's any good or not. Cotton Candy flavored chocolate pudding. Two are pink and two are blue. I'll try them out soon (probably a snack at school) and I'll let you know if they are any good or not.

Tomorrow I have a TON more errands to do, and I have to finish up my assignment that is due Thursday. I have a bunch of other homework things to work on as well, and I plan on being productive tomorrow. That's the plan - let's hope it works out! I'm also going knitting tomorrow knit with Montreal Knits.

Last Comic Standing is on shortly, more later!

Swatch Night & Stanley Cup

Today I had a crappy day in school. I got enough sleep last night, I feel asleep aroung 11pm - and then woke up this morning almost getting 7 1/2 hours of sleep. Which normally should be enough, but lately, I guess not.

In my morning class we handed in our advertisment logo (mine was the dubble bubble ad I did) and then we learned some new effects, and revised for a quiz next week. (I'm not worried about it - we're allowed to use our notes, which I took damn good ones of!)

In my afternoon class I started on the project that is due next Monday, but I was getting very nauseas in class and the classroom was a tad noisey today, and I just couldn't concentrate. I'm actually thinking about taking tomorrow off, to sleep in and catch up on some sleep, and also to work on my project due Thursday and also this project due next Monday. I have all day tomorrow, all day Wednesday and I hope to get it done before the weekend, because I don't want to have any work to do on the weekend. It's a long weekend, and I just want to relax. (It's a Quebec holiday this weekend, St. Jean Baptiste - and it's too bad it falls on a Saturday, as I don't get a day off from school - which would have been nice - but oh well).

I got home mid-afternoon, watched Oprah, and then mindless TV for a few hours, in the heat, trying to cool off by a fan. I swatched 2 different yarns, I wanted to see what I'd get from it - and so I can decide what to do with it.

Above I swatched the Classic Elite Miracle yarn on 4.5mm circulars.

Above I swatched the Gedifra yarn I got a while ago, on 6.5mm circulars.

Wonder what I can make with these..... Can't decide.

The North Carolina Hurricanes just won the stanley cup.... (WHAT HAPPENED EDMONTON???) Maybe Montreal has a chance next year - I guess we'll have to wait and see.

Alright, I'm beyond exhausted. I'm going to crawl into bed, and hope that it's cooler in there, than in my boiling hot office (tomorrow I MUST bring a fan into here while I'm working on school work, or I'm going to die of heat!) I'm hoping it rains over night, so that the heat goes away (rather the humidity goes away - it's doing nasty things to my hair!)

A Wedding, Father's Day & Birthday Celebration

This morning at 11 am we had Jamie's good friend Marc's wedding to Kim. It was very nice, yet simple. It was a very small wedding, which was nice, as lately I've been to huge weddings that are very crazy hectic/busy (including my own!). It was a nice to go to a small affair for once. I have three more weddings to attend this summer (one in July in Ottawa, one in August the week before the one in September) and all three of those will be big weddings. The groom wrote a very nice speech to his new wife (Jamie & I didn't do any speeches at our wedding) and that was very nice. The food was excellent, and there was no dancing (nor a dance floor) at the hotel (which is where we went to after the ceremony at the synagogue near our house).


It's been a while, but here is a picture of Jamie & I. It's been a while since we've taken a nice one together (I think!) (Besides the one taken in Vegas, it's been a while).

At the wedding, we sat at a table with another couple (whom the groom works with) and finding out that they are due (to have a baby) the day before us (January 10th) at the same exact hospital (a different doctor though) and she warned us to be prepared that it may not necessarily be my doctor who will deliver the baby as he may not be on duty (this will be their 2nd child).

After the wedding, came home and napped for a little bit with Jamie, and then we headed over to my parents house for Father's Day dinner. Dinner was nice, but I was a little full from the huge lunch we had at the wedding. I got to go swimming for like 10 minutes - but that was exactly what I needed. I just wanted to get my fix of being in a bathing suit in a pool - it was just so refreshing.... even if for just a few short minutes.

My dad liked his father's day gifts, we got him a huge book on Mustangs and some Beatles collectable items. (His two favourite things, the cars and the musical band!). A perfect gift. Finally we had something this year, and it wasn't an IOU because he's a hard man to shop for!

After dinner we went over to my aunt's house to celebrate my birthday as well as my cousin Mike's birthday. Today was his actual birthday. He's exactly 363 days older than me, so he just turned 26 today.

Every year, my Aunt makes cookie cakes for us (as tradition) and usually it's just the shape of our name initial. This year, she got a little creative, and I got a happy face (which I still think is an alien) and Mike got a heart with an M on it.

We also got candles that don't blow out..... TRICK CANDLES. That was NOT nice. I didn't want to turn it out by licking my fingers and pinching it - didn't really want to touch the flame, so I used a piece of pineapple (hey - it's moist) to blow out the candles.

The cookie cakes were gone within minutes... They are always a huge hit and we have a very large family.

Today, I received some more birthday treats:

-From my parents - a card to go with the pair of glasses that they got me.

-From my grandmother - some birthday money (which will be applied to the last batch of yarn I purchased.

-From my Aunt, Uncle & Cousins - two gorgeous maternity shirts. I can't wait to wear them (probably on cool nights or in the fall - they are long sleeved. One is pink and one is white, they are really really nice! Nicer than a LOT of the maternity shirts I've been seeing!)

-From my brother & his girlfriend - two books (1 is a baby book for record keeping, and 1 is Diary of a Mad Mom-To-Be*)

* Funny story. Last year my brother & his girlfriend got me a copy of I Do, But I Don't by Cara Lockwood, which at the time they gave it to me, I was actually in the middle of reading it - and owned it. So we exchanged it for something else. This year, fluke again, they bought me Diary of a Mad Mom-To-Be by Laura Wolf. Which, ironically, I am in the middle of reading now, and own it. How funny is that? She must be psychic or something, to pick out the perfect books, which I would totally love to read, and am.... I guess she just knows me! Too funny. So sometime this week I'll go to Chapters & exchange them. Too funny.

Girl's Night Out

Today was a really nice day. I slept in a bit until about 11 am. (However now, I wish I had slept in longer). We went out for lunch with Jamie's dad & step-mom as well as Jamie's sister who was in town to celebrate my birthday and father's day. We wen out for Chinese and it was as delicious as ever. (Our fave Chinese place near us). I received a birthday gift from my in-law's - I got this gorgeous set of 3 travel makeup bags (but seeing as though I don't wear makeup - I plan to use them for knitting projects - they are certainly big enough! Perfect!). I also received a gift certificate to HBC and I can't wait to see what I can find for myself. Not sure what I want. One of the stores associated with HBC does sell yarn - but mainly acrylics and some cotton, and nothing else really that interesting. (The selection of yarn at Zellers is pretty crappy - as it really does only contain acrylic (which I will now only use for afghans, and baby items).

After lunch, I came back home and tidied up a bit. My sister-in-law came over and we sat in the backyard at my new patio set (minus the umbrella seeing as though we don't have the stand for it yet) and talked. Eventually some friends started arriving, and we were supposed to have a free facial/makeover at my house at 3pm. Well, this was moved from about 2 weeks ago, to today. I figured it would be cool to have her come a couple of hours before going out for my birthday dinner, and receive some nice treatments and then go out looking all pretty, for my birthday dinner. Well, 20 minutes before she was supposed to show up here (and she lives 1 hour away from Montreal in Mascouche), she cancelled on me. Says she can't get a babysitter and so she can't come (2 weeks ago, her husband had to work and she couldn't get the car. I wonder what was wrong with her husband, he obviously wasn't working, as she had the car today....?) I was very sad!

But, those who showed up early for the facial, we still had a good time. We hung out and talked, and enjoyed my backyard. It was nice.

Eventually a few more people who were coming just before we were to leave for dinner starting showing up.

My cousin Jenn got me a ball of sock yarn for my birthday - a ball that I had been admiring at her house - I AM ABSOLUTELY IN LOVE WITH THE COLOURS! It's the Calgary Canadian Colour by Regia.


Don't you just LOVE the red, yellow, orange and pink mixture? Heaven! I can't wait to start knitting these up!

Dinner was fantastic and at the end of my usual meal, my cousin Jenn nonshalantly asked me "After the wedding, when I come back here - what dessert should I try?" I told her the cheese cake was fab! And .... a few minutes later, without me realizing, the waitresses came out singing happy birthday to me, with a nice piece of Cheese cake. Mmmmmmmm Boy was it delicious!

After dinner, outside we took some fun pictures. Here is a picture of Vera (with her coat as a pregnant belly) taking a silly picture with me, with my pregnant belly!

Here is a group picture of a few of us who came out for dinner! There was 12 of us girlies, and it was very nice. I had a good time.

Left to Right: Amy, Jenn, Robyn, Vera, Iris, Saskia.

After dinner four of us (Jenn, Vera, Andrea (my sister-in-law) & I) went out on Monkland for some "drinks". For me that meant water and a salad (since, of course, I was still hungry)! It was nice to go out with some friends for my birthday, just the girls. I can't remember when the last time I went out just the girls. This was definitely a treat.

I got treated to a few other gifts today:

From Vera I got a pot of gorgeous pink flowers.

From my sister I got 2 books (Odd Ball Knitting and a book on pregnancy/babies).

From my friend Julie I got a gift certificate to Thyme Maternity.

From Mindy, she paid for my portion of dinner (that was nice of her).

From Saskia I got some lipgloss, chocolate and bath soaps.

From Jenn I got that ball of Calgary Regia.

It was nice to receive some gifts, although totally unecessary! I just wanted my girlies to spend some time with me out to dinner, all that was just an added bonus!

A Quarter of a Century

So, I've lived on this earth now for a quarter of a century.

I've had a good day today.

Got 70% on my exam this morning (and I'm cool with this mark). I was relieved on actually taking the exam, at first it wasn't as hard as I thought it would be, but I made a few small errors, hence the 70% and not any higher, but I am happy with this mark, so I will take this mark!

This morning in class Laura gave me a birthday present, pink measuring cup set (big bowl with measure on it, then 2 different matching sets of pink measuring spoons/cups, etc, and also a pink cutting board (Jamie's going to kill me with the pink overload in the kitchen - lol).

After class, I came home, got my mail, and got 2 birthday cards in the mail. I've never actually received birthday cards before on my actual birthday. Usually when people mail them, they come the day before or the day after - but never on my actual birthday. (So thank you Cynthia & Sherrie!) I also got some stitch markers in the mail - my first set from the swap I hosted. They are from Jennifer L. and they are gorgeous - absolutely gorgeous - I love them! Aren't they wonderful? They're little candies!



Then I ran to the bank, took out money to go to pick up that white rocking chair that I saw around the corner from my house - for the baby's room. I love love love love the rocking chair. I just need to either make my own pads/cushions, or find some. Gotta make it comfy to nurse the baby in!

Then, I came home and dropped off the rocking chair (that was sticking out of my trunk being held by cord) and then dashed off to my fave souvlaki restaurant (Marathon's) for lunch. I had lunch with Jamie and his 3 ex-co-workers , whom have become our friends. After the meal the waiters came by with some backlavah (spelling?) with a candle in it - and sang me happy birthday (how embarrasing).

After lunch, came home, and UPS showed up with my One Skein package. DUTY & BROKERAGE FEES? WHAT? Yeah - I had to pay 23.04$CAD for a gift! Here's the story (well the shortened version with all the key points):

UPS is not user friendly. (That's why I never use them or order from anywhere that only uses them).

I had to pay 23.04$ CAD to receive my One Skein Secret Pal package. Why? Because only items under 20$ CAD don't get a brokerage fee and pay Quebec taxes. My secret pal marked the value of 20$ US - which is 22.46$ CAD as of today. Also, because she marked her name as "Secret One Skeiner" UPS thought she was a business and that I was buying the item from her - even though she marked REASON FOR EXPORT: GIFT on the slip.

So I gave my visa to get the package.

Then, I called up UPS for a refund. The first guy I spoke to - was a loser, and after I explained the whole thing to him, he hung up on me. So even more furious, I called back again, and spoke to someone else. He said, after I re-explained again, giving even more details as to what the One Skein Secret Pal Exchange is - and all that jazz, that, all my pal has to do is fax UPS changing her name on the document from Secret One Skeiner (which UPS thinks is a company) and change it to her real name. And then they'll refund my money.

Alright.

But, while I was out - doing an errand late in the afternoon, UPS showed back up (Jamie was home) - the guy had forgotten to write down the expiry date of my credit card, so - as of now, they can't charge me for the item. Their loss, and I will figure out what to do next when the situation arrises, because now that my Secret Pal has faxed over proper documentation to UPS - that it is a gift (even though it was marked on the original paper, but that wasn't good enough for UPS) it should all be fine! Maybe the guy won't come back after all. Who knows.

But, at last - here is the WONDERFUL sock yarn that my secret pal has sent me! I have heard of Trekking XXL before, and have been curious to try it. (I've also been curious about Mega Boot Stretch sock yarn). Trekkin has some wonderful XXL colours, that I'd love to try to get! Maybe once I'm done with my sock yarn stash!


So, today, I started organizing my yarn. It was all over my office, and time to go into somewhere else, so that I can start cleaning up my office which will be the baby's room in January.

Anyhow, I remembered that I had space in my dresser in the bedroom that wasn't being used (two spaces one on each side of my dresser unit) so I filled it up with yarn. One side has two buckets full of sock yarn (I Heart Sock Yarn) and good quality yarns (Noro, ZarOne, Classic Elite, etc) and the other side, has all my balls of acrylics (for afghans I want to make) and some cotton (those neon balls on the bottom). I love my new organization... and there is still a TON more yarn that has not yet been organized! (OY!)

So I've got 50 grams left of the sock yarn (Socketta) - I think I have enough to make myself 2 more tennis socks! 1 more complete pair! I'm going to weigh it tomorrow on a more accurate scale, but I think it's good for 1 more pair! How convenient!

This evening I played poker once Jamie got home from his ball game, and we had a few people over at our place. It was nice to see everyone and hang out and play some poker. Time to get ready to clean up a bit more then head off to bed. I've got a long bid day tomorrow and can't wait! I have a lunch with my in-law's and sister-in-law, then a Mary Kay rep coming over to my house to give free facials and makeovers (the only catch is that she wants "after" pictures for her portfolio), and then a dinner with approx. 12-13 of my girl friends.

Last Day of Being Age 24

Tomorrow I turn the big 2-5. That's half of 50. That's half of my 20's gone.....
How do I feel about it?

- a little freaked out, actually.

People keep saying that it's my last birthday before having a baby to enjoy it the most - but honestly, baby or no baby - I'm not a partier and I'm not into drinking (besides wine) - so I won't be out partying anyhow... a nice quiet dinner with family, a nice fun dinner with friends, Jamie will be cooking me dinner or taking me out for dinner (not sure yet).... but just quality time.... with friends, family and hubby - that's all I really want.

Hubby did good for my birthday. (He gave me my card & gift tonight). He asked if I wanted to wait til tomorrow - NO WAY!

I got a gift certificate to Chapters/Indigo/Coles (for you Americans, that's like Borders) and also - I got a gift Certificate to the LOCAL YARN SHOP near his work/my parents place. AHHHHH!!!! Yessss!!! Good job Jamie! I'm soooo proud of him.

He basically said that jewelry was for anniversaries and special occasions like that - and my birthday was for treating me to things I like. (Did I marry the right guy, or what????!!)

So - I have some shopping to do at both the book store and the LYS! (Chapters is already holding for me a copy of Odd Ball Knitting by Barbara Albright. I want to look throught it first before deciding whether to buy it or not. They had only 3 copies in stock, and they weren't even in the knitting section (now they are back in their proper spot) but just to be safe, I am going to check out the book before buying, because I have no idea what the book entails. (Anyone have it or seen it? Any good reviews?)

I also got a package today in the mail from my friend Miriam in Toronto. A birthday package - with some letters that she's been writing and a book and this gorgeous notepad. The book she sent me is called Daily Candy A to Z. It has no author. Looks very cute. I haven't really flipped through it - I'm freaking out about my exam tomorrow at 9 am - so I'll read it tomorrow after I get in from said exam.

I love receiving packages in the mail - so that was totally awesome.

Speaking of packages - my One Skein package (from Interweave's One Skein exchange) is on it's way via UPS and it's already arrived into Montreal, and is being sent out for delivery. It's coming from very far - from I think LAKE CHARLES, LA, says the UPS tracking information. It's travelled from Louisiana to Mississippi to Indiana to to Ohio to New York and is now in Montreal, but just not at my house yet. I am going to leave a note for the UPS guy, with instructions on where to leave it - like I did today, otherwise I don't know how I will receive it. I know they try twice, or something like that, but I'm usually only home on Wednesdays (day off) and if he tries tomorrow, (I'm in school then have birthday lunch plans as of now) and then Monday (I'm in class from 8-5 on Mondays), then I don't know how I'll get my parcel! I'm dying to see what One Skein my secret partner has sent me - because she actually owns a Yarn Shop! So - anything's possible! I think it's really cool that she owns a yarn shop - that would be a DREAM job for me! I'd love it. Anyhow, I'm so excited to receive this parcel, as I know it's on it's way!

Alright, one exam done (today in group with my friend Laura - I know I did REALLY well on it) and one more exam to go - tomorrow - the nasty killer one! Wish me luck, so I can go on and enjoy my weekend!

Saddly no knitting today.

No Knitting Today

Today, my day off, I spent trying to study for my exam on Friday. It's really hard material and I am starting to really hate it. Some of it is common knowledge once you know the terms, but it's all technical details and I NEED to pass the mid-term and final exam in order to pass the course in order to graduate on August 11th. I'm sure I will do fine on her exam (the last exam I had with her was a final exam in Typography last semester, and I got the highest mark in the class on the exam with a 15/20). I think I'll be okay, but I'm just really freaked out about the exam, and scared of it! It really truly is HARD material. And it just sucks that we have this REALLY tough exam - on my birthday. (Sucky deal!)


I got some mail today from my dear friend Lainie. She rocks. Truly. Thanks a million Lainie! I got 2 balls of Kid Merino yarn (gorgeous colour - need to find a project to knit with it!) 2 Baby Einstein VHS tapes (IRONICALLY the 2 episodes that I don't own on DVD), some really cute ribbon, some candles, some awesome stationary and note cards, some Vegas Style stitch markers, and a book that her friend wrote, The Mother of All Parenting Books by Ann Douglas. There was a few other things in there - and that was fantastic! I love love getting mail. It always brightens my day.

Absolutely NO knitting today - as I had school work to take care of - and studying to do. I can't wait for the exam to be over on Friday, so I can enjoy the rest of the day on my birthday and the rest of the weekend!

Socks Done!

Upon coming home from school today (after finding out that my perspective project is now due next Thursday, insted of this Thursday (so I can now breathe!) I finished working on my socks! (My perspective project is coming along great - see yesterday's post with the images!) These are actually my first pair of finished socks. Very first pair!

I love my new socks. I've fixed the boo-boo with the error with the missing 8 rows - and love love love the pattern that spiraled on only one sock! Weird - but whatever! I seriously have 50 grams left of the yarn, (of a 100g ball) I am pretty sure that I have enough to make a second pair of socks! I'm going to use Jenn's scale on Saturday when I see her for my birthday dinner, but I am sure that I have enough! Crazy - really! Tennis socks don't take us much yarn! They're perfect for me too!

I am going to finish up on closing the toes on the socks that I started a while back (gosh, months ago - my first pair of socks ever that I started) and then I will continue on Clapotis. Right now I need a huge break from Clapotis.... It was just sooo repetative - that I got a little sick of it. However, it's coming along great, and I love it - but need a break from actually knitting it!

School Stuff, Long Day

Today was a really long day. I hate Mondays. I have 2 back to back classes from 8 am until 5:00pm. It's my only day like this, and I dread Mondays. I can't wait for school to be over. Monday, August 7th will be my LAST Monday in school forever. (Unless at some point I go back to school and do something else, but that won't happen until after my baby is born, and probably not for a long time after that!)
In my photoshop class this morning I got my project that is due next Monday done, but it took the entire 4 hours of class to do it. I traced the dubble bubble guy in Adobe Illustrator, as well as the sign for dubble bubble, and then imported it into Photoshop to do the lettering and the stylizing.

I am very happy with my results, and I learned some new tricks while working on this, and I'm very pleased. I wasn't really sure how this would turn out in the end, but I'm very very happy. Woohoo - one project done, just a few more to go! (And a huge exam on Friday (my bday) to study for - blech!)

In my afternoon class I worked on my Perspective project that is due on Thursday. I kind of freaked out in class as the project is really difficult and I wasn't sure what to do next. This project really has been stressing me out - but my teacher spent about 20 minutes to half an hour with me alone, helped me get going, showed me a few tricks that she had shown the class, but I guess she went to fast, because I wasn't sure what she had done, and didn't know I could apply those techniques to my project.

Bridal Shower Fun & Sock Surgery

Jamie's car wouldn't start this morning, due to the rain (the wires on his car are old - he needs to get work done on his car) and so he had to take my car, as he was working today for my sister, so that she could attend the bridal shower as well. So I got stuck without a car, and luckily there was room in my grandmother's car for me to get a ride.

Today I had my cousin Jenn's bridal shower at 1pm. I had a lot of fun, and even got to dress up as a toilet paper bride (teams of 6 people toilet papered one person to look like a bride) No idea where this idea came from - but I was embarrased a little, and since I was the youngest one in my group and one of Jenn's bridesmaids, I was designated to be the toilet papered person

I had a really good time at the party, and I hope that the bride-to-be did as well! It was nice to see everyone in the family, and catch up with all the good news. Of course people were rubbing my belly - and at first it made me a little uncomfortable since I'm going through a phase right now where I don't want to be touched - but I guess I will have to get used to it - as my belly grows, I think people are going to want to rub my belly even more! This comes along with being pregnant I guess!

After the bridal shower, Jenn helped me fix my sock. (See problem in yesterday's entry about my boo-boo). So - this is what my sock looks like now:

Jenn picked up the stitched on the row below the ribbing that I had done and inserted my needles for me. (These are actually the 2.75mm Bamboo needles from my secret pal - boy did they come in handy - Thank You Secret Pal!) So, once I'm done closing the toe (which is the next step tomorrow) I will then use yarn to knit upwards! (Heel up). I never even thought this was possible to be fixed, but cousin Jenn to the rescue. I am soooo happy that I do not have to restart this sock all over again, and that there was a possible way to fix it. Do you see the really COOL pattern on the sock? I didn't want to lose that - and I felt that if I undid the sock, and restarted it - that it would be lost.... Anyhow, the knitting upwards is because I forgot to knit 8 rows after the ribbing, so I will knit 8 rows, then rib (k2 p2) for 8 rows, and then voila - my sock will be done! (I swear I have enough yarn for a third sock!) (Since I don't wear long songs, and love tennis socks - maybe mixed in with another yarn, I can do another pair of full socks!) (Once I have leftover sock yarn of another colour!) What do you think? Possible? (Anyhow, just to show you, I photographed the ribbing that was cut off - it's there above the foot part of the sock).

This evening I went to my sister's apartment, to check it out. I really like the way it's layed out. They have plenty of room for just the two of them, with their two adorable kittens. I am really glad I finally got to see my sister's place. I then got a ride home from my sister. It's been a really long day, and I'm just exhausted (with a little headache). So, since I have an 8 am class tomorrow, I'm going to go hop into bed. I am going to watch a little bit of TV, but I don't think I'll make it awake very long, I'm just zonked!

Knitting Guild & Maternity Clothes Galore!

This morning I got way toooooo early. I woke up at 8:30 am. I don't recall the last time I've seen 8:30 am on a Saturday morning. Anyhow, I got up - I got ready. I picked up my cousin Jenn and we went to the Knitting Guild Garden Party - which was held indoors due to the rain. I had a good time meeting all the members who showed up, and working on my sock. I am also participating in making a Baby Blanket for Charity, and the winnter of the blankets gets to choose which charity they want the blankets to go to, and I am not sure if that same person, or if another person can win a free 1 year membership to the Guild. I've never done a project for charity before, and I think it's pretty cool. The pattern I received also came with the yarn, so that's a very nice thing for me to do. Jenn's making one too - so that will be nice. I'm going to work on it over the summer, I have until September to finish the baby blanket (which is more of a throw). The colours are nice and bright and fun to work with. And the yarn is pretty funky itself! It came as a kit.

After the guild, Jenn and I headed to Walmart as she had a return to do and I wanted to check out the maternity section, to see if only the Walmart near me had a shitty selection of maternity clothes. There wasn't a huge section, but they had some really cute stuff, and I found some really cute tshirts, and dress shirts, and some polo shirts for only 9$ (which are too big on me now, so I'm going to see if they have a medium, as I don't even think with a big belly at 6-9 months pregnant I'll ever fit into the large - these shirts are made huge (even though on the hanger it doesn't look soooo huge). Anyhow, I found some great stuff, so now I don't have to have have the pregnancy fashion police on my case!

After Walmart I went over to Jenn's house and first helped her pick out an outfit for her bridal shower tomorrow. I did not approve of her wearing black capri's and a black shirt. Her mother told her to add more colour - and if I had to wear a skirt - she had to wear a skirt! LOL. So I helped her pick out a really cute outfit. I am very happy with what we picked out - and I hope she doesn't think that I fashion policed her! I don't usually wear skirts, and my mother is making me wear one!

We chilled and knitted as well - and that was fun hanging out with her!

Tonight I have just been chilling and watching the hockey game with Jamie. I am really really really tired. Tomorrow I have to do some returns and an exchange at Walmart, and I want to get to the bridal shower early, for good parking (as dumb as that sounds). But the streets near my cousin's aunt's house are not that great for parking, and I think there is going to be almost 50 people there tomorrow! (Not 50 cars, but people who don't carpool, will be coming each in their own car!)

Tonight - I realized that sock number two doesnt match with sock number one. I thought I was doing it right, but I'm missing about 8 rows. The first sock, I did was 8 rows k2 p2, and then 8 rows of just knitting and then started on turning my heel (I like tennis socks, I never wear socks higher than my ankles). And the second sock - I did 8 rows k2 p2 and then 1 more row to get needles 3&4 on one needle to start turning my heel (with short row wrap & turn) but forgot about the 8 rows straight knitting, so one's shorter than the other, and I didn't realize until I was just about half an inch away from closing the toe. So - I freaked and called Jenn. I can either re-do the sock (don't want to) or I can use circs to catch the row after the ribbing and then cut off the ribbing and then knit up the other way...... HMMMMMmmmmM! I am way toooo scared to do that myself, but Jenn the expert knows what she's doing - so I'm going to trust her and let her cut off the ribbing on my sock and I'm going to fix that missing 8 rows!!!!

... I can't believe what I did!

Don't do this at home!

Alright, more tomorrow. (With pictures of my dumbass move on the sock knitting!) {Teaches me right for not writing down what I did and not keeping track!}

My Socketta Socks

So I wanted a new address and new look, just to spring clean. I absolutely LOVE the new colours, and my new banner. The new banner - I made myself, and it's a dyptic of two images that I took on my trip to Israel back in June 2004. It's 2 images that I put together (dyptic) for my portfolio upon graduating from Professional Photogaphy in May 2005. I like the two images together, and they have nothing to do with knitting, but they're my work and I love them. Love the colours. My last banner (which Karine says she liked better) was my image, but I didn't make the banner (That was curtosey of {love, joleen}). Apparently the black background, and the hot pink writing was WAY too much hard on the eyes, but then again, Karine liked it because it was good for reading in the dark at night. I do see a point there - but most of my few readers that I have - don't read my blog at night in the dark - and had told me that they had to highlight the text on the screen in order to be able to read the hot pink on the black. Too many suggestions (I'm not going to call them complaints) = time for a new blog look! Which was fine by me, because I used to be very crafty (which was incorporated in the name of my old blog) and now I've got pretty much only time for knitting (or the occassional crochet) so the new Knitpurlknitpearl is VERY appropriate, and I think very cute! I'm loving the new name.... and the new look.

Today, Friday, in class in the morning, my teacher went over a bunch more complicated things. I'm starting to really hate this class. It's just really tough material, and an exam on my birthday. And we're not talking about some little quiz here. We're talking about heavy duty material. Exam material is including: Pre-flighting (which is a program that checks if you're file is corrupted or missing fonts, or "defective" pretty much), the different types of printing techniques (press printing and publication printing, not like printing at home on your printer but at a printing bureau type of printing), web press vs. sheet fed press, different types of screens (AM/FM - not the radio stations - but a type of screen), colour separation, dot gain, types of prepress proofs, printer's spread and reader's spread (where you'd find the location of the front and back cover, the inside front and back cover, and the inside center spread), different binding methods and creepage/shingling (which are binding/folding things).

UGH! This is A LOT of material for next Friday's exam. I am just happy that it will be over by noon and then I have the rest of the day to enjoy my birthday. Goody!

This morning my teacher also approved my thumbnails for the session project (boy is there a lot of work to do in all my classes this semester, I just DO NOT see how there is going to be enough time. There's already just about 9 weeks of school left, or something like that - and most of my session projects are due the second to last class, so there is only 8 weeks left to do them. Yeah - you can say I'm slowly starting to stress out - but I'm trying to keep my cool - for the baby!

All afternoon I just relaxed at home, watched CSI from this past season, my mom sent over some episodes I missed on tape, and I've been knitting and working on my sock. I love the yarn I'm using, the Socketta - it's fantastic. I don't think I've seen socketta in Montreal LYS - but I am curious to what other colours exist. I think once I'm done with these socks, I'm going to start on the pair that I've promised my hubby. He keeps saying that I have until October to finish them, cuz that's when he'll start wearing warmer socks.... but I'd like to be done them way before then! Socks have been really easy to knit - for me, and I love making them!

This evening Jamie had a bunch of friends over, and I took another self night. It felt great just to do nothing and watch TV. I am going to go head into bed and watch more TV - and knit. I have to get up super early tomorrow as I'm going to the Montreal Knititng Guild Garden Party with Jenn and it starts at 10 am! 10-2pm. And then I'm doing some errands with my cousin Jenn (Walmart!)

Every Day is a Long Day These Days

Here is a recent picture of Bosco - my parents dog. He is soo cute. He even gives these cute little hugs. I can't believe HOW SMALL he used to be. I keep noticing HUGE changes when I see him - cuz I don't see him often at all.

Today, I could barely get out of bed. I was just so tired this morning, yet I went to bed at a decent hour. In my morning class (Adobe Illustrator) I worked on my perspective project that is due next Thursday at the end of class (which I'm stressed about getting it done on time- but that's another story). In my afternoon class I finished my estimation (as in pricing) project with my group partner Laura and that project is done, so that's one less thing to worry about. Phew!

By the time I knew it - it was 5:30pm and it was time to go home. GOOD - because I was zonked. My sister stopped by on her way to class - as she wasn't feeling well.

At Walmart I bought a GEORGE skirt from Walmart. It was 19.98$. I wasn't so sure about it - so I went to return it and found out that it's at 14$ now. For 14$ it was more worth a second consideration. Anyhow, it also was worth a second consideration in a second colour. The one I returned was in white with turquoise flowers. Anyhow, the girl wouldn't give me a price match at their OWN store (not even a price match from another store!) and made me return the skirt. But Walmart has a 10 day price match if they reduce the price and it's been within 10 days that you've purchased the item. Well - I had bought the skirt 9 days ago. So - I did my little shopping (found a cute maternity shirt for 19.98$ and picked up the same skirt in pink (14$) and found a pair of shoes for 7$ - soooooo cute. They had the turqouise skirt on the floor - but they didn't have my size, and the girl at the cash who I returned it to - wouldn't give me the skirt to repurchase - she said if there was one on the floor I could purchase that at the new price, if not, I'd have to come back tomorrow when the merchandise goes back on the floor. So I waited til I got to the cash, and asked the cashier to get the skirt for me, but the girl at service wouldn't give it to me. My sister even tried. No luck. In the end - we had to wait like 10 minutes for a manager to come, we asked to speak to him, and he agreed with us - they do have a 10 day match price policy, and even still, they would have had to return the skirt to me at the price I actually paid, and I could have rebought the skirt..... That girl was such an idiot - it made me so mad. So I ended up spending so much more time at Walmart than I wanted to. But - in the end, the manager handed over the skirt - as I was right, and we told him to inform his employees of proper policy! In the end, I walked out a very happy camper.

I've been wondering lately about Tay Sachs.

What Is Tay-Sachs Disease?

Tay-Sachs disease is a fatal inherited disease of the central nervous system. The most common form of the disease affects babies. Affected babies appear healthy at birth and seem to develop normally for the first few months of life. After this time, development slows and symptoms begin. Sadly, there is no effective treatment for these babies. Babies with Tay-Sachs lack an enzyme (protein) called hexosaminidase A (hex A) necessary for breaking down certain fatty substances in brain and nerve cells. These substances build up and gradually destroy brain and nerve cells, until the entire central nervous system stops working. Symptoms of classical Tay-Sachs disease first appear at 4 to 6 months of age when an apparently healthy baby gradually stops smiling, crawling or turning over, loses its ability to grasp or reach out and, eventually, becomes blind, paralyzed and unaware of its surroundings. Death occurs by age 5.

Who Is at Risk of Tay-Sachs Disease?

Tay-Sachs disease occurs most frequently in descendants of Central and Eastern European (Ashkenazi) Jews. About one out of every 30 American Jews carries the Tay-Sachs gene. Some non-Jewish individuals of French-Canadian ancestry (from the East St. Lawrence River Valley of Quebec), and members of the Cajun population in Louisiana, are at similarly increased risk. These groups have about 100 times the rate of occurrence of other ethnic groups. The juvenile form of Tay-Sachs, however, may not be increased in these groups.

How Is the Disease Transmitted?

Only through heredity. A Tay-Sachs carrier has one normal gene for hex A and one Tay-Sachs gene. The carrier does not have the illness and leads a normal, healthy and full life. However, when two carriers become parents: There is a one-in-four chance that any child they have will inherit a Tay-Sachs gene from each parent and have the disease. There is a one-in-four chance that the child will inherit the normal gene from each parent and be completely free of the disease and the Tay-Sachs gene. There is a two-in-four chance that the child will inherit one of each kind of gene and be a carrier like the parents and free of disease. If only one parent is a carrier, none of their children can have the disease, but each child has a 50-50 chance of inheriting the Tay-Sachs gene and being a carrier.

Info from this site.

- Ok - so both parents have to be a carrier.

I first learned about Tay Sachs when my rabbi who was marrying Jamie & I mentioned that we should get tested before getting married, that he recommends this to all this clients. I say client, because technically we did hire him to marry us, as we don't belong to his congregation. We never got tested before getting married, I didn't think much of it then, and apparently I don't know where to even get tested, as the Montreal Children's hospital will only test you under 18 years of age - and there isn't many other places that do it.

My mom seems to think that I may have been tested back in high school or elementary school and is looking for my medical records from back then (which would be nice to have).

Anyhow, this evening I took a self night, didn't get any knitting done at all - I had some other things to take care of - but wish I had time. I took care of some homework for tomorrow and I should go crawl into bed now. Every day has been a long day lately, and I'm just frankly exhausted come early evening - even though I crawl into bed, it still takes me hours to fall asleep - sucky - really.

Honeymoon Plans

The only knitting I got done today was 5 minutes at the OBGYN's office and 5 minutes at my parents house later on this afternoon. I had a really tiring day, and just didn't feel like knitting. Plus, I was running around all day, so that was just nuts. I guess that is why I am zonked!

So, I emailed my secret pal telling her about the message on my yarn order, and asked her if she emailed the company to send me a message as a surprise. It wasn't my secret pal! So - confused I emailed the company I ordered yarn from (littleknits.com) and Sue, who was my contact there, emailed me to tell me that she wrote this on the package, as the yarn I got she marked it was a gift, so the I would have no problems with customs or have to pay duty taxes on the yarn. Cute! I was so confused though - I thought it was genious though, it's a good idea. Example: Let's say I find out that my secret pal ... oh, I don't know - purchased some music cd's from amazon or purchased shoes from some online company (just as examples) - it would be cute for me to email them, tell them that I'm their secret pal - and ask if they didn't mind including a note with their order wishing them a good day and to enjoy their products that they purchased. However, I don't think a huge company like Amazon would do that - but maybe a smaller seller online (like a crafter whom sells online) would do such a nice act of kindness to include a specialized note, and take time from their day to do so. Just an idea - cute thing I thought of - after realizing that the "secret pal" on my yarn order was just a decoy for customs! Imagine I wasn't participating in Secret Pal 8 - and it came to me like that with a note from my secret pal - I would have been EVEN MORE confused! You know??

Alright, so my day.

Started off at 8:30 am when my mother picked me up to go to my very first gyno appointment as a pregnant woman! We got there early, and was seen early - which is good. I have sat there and he's been like 40 minutes late. I guess when you go first thing in the morning, it's a whole other story, and he's actually on time.

I was in for my full first physical. The nurse took my blood pressure and weighed me on the scale. The doctor examined me and that was very quick as well. I learned, after in his office (he checks you first, then sees you in his office) that a) he doesn't do ultra sounds in his office (this is not done in Canada) and my first one will be at 4.5 months at the hospital around the corner from my house. It's free. I also was told that everything seems normal and I'm due approx. on the 13th of January according to my doctor (not the 11th of January which is the online calculator told me - but the 11th or the 13th - whatever - because usually first babies are late. (Me personally I was 2 weeks late - I was due on June 1st, and my mother went into labor on the 14th, and the 16th I still wasn't out - so my mom had to have a C-section in the end!) I had to go for a blood test afterwards.

I also have the option to do (at 11.6 weeks pregnant -13.6 weeks pregnat - I don' t know what the .6 is - but that's what the paper says): a non-covered by insurance (as i'ts not done at any hospitals - just at the private clinics) a Triple Screen Test. Here is a description:

The triple screen test is a maternal blood screening test that looks for three specific substances: AFP, hCG, and Estriol.

AFP: alpha-fetoprotein is a protein that is produced by the fetus.

hCG: human chorionic gonadotropin is a hormone produced within the placenta.

Estriol: estriol is an estrogen produced by both the fetus and the placenta.

It is a non-invasive procedure done through a blood test with little to no known risk to the mother or developing baby.

What does the triple screen test look for?

The triple screen is measuring high and low levels of AFP and abnormal levels of hCG and estriol. The results are combined with the mother's age, weight, ethnicity and gestation of pregnancy in order to assess probabilities of potential genetic disorders.

High levels of AFP may suggest that the developing baby has a neural tube defect such as spina bifida or anencephaly. However, the most common reason for elevated AFP levels is inaccurate dating of the pregnancy.

Low levels of AFP and abnormal levels of hCG and estriol may indicate that the developing baby has Trisomy 21( Down syndrome), Trisomy 18 (Edwards Syndrome) or another type of chromosome abnormality.

Although the primary reason for conducting the test is to screen for genetic disorders, the results of the triple screen can also be used to identify:

A multiples pregnancy.

Pregnancies that are more or less advanced than thought.

This information is from this site.

I don't think I have anything to worry about - as I'm healthy and in a good age range to have a baby, but you never know (Knock on wood). So, I'm going to go through with this test, once I can. The site I just got that information from says it is performed between the 15th and 20th week of pregnancy although results obtained in the 16th -18th week are said to be the most accurate. I think I'll ask the doctor before going for it - just to be sure, because my paper says between 11.6 weeks and 13.6 weeks. Maybe testing in Canada is more advanced? I will ask, as the site I just checked is an American site.

On my way home from the doctor's I stopped with my mom to pick up a few things at a store around the corner from my house, and then headed back home to do a few things before going over to my friend Cindy's for lunch. I picked up lunch on the way to her house - souvlaki - which I was totally craving, and it was DAMN good. It was really good to see her, and it's been over a year since I'd seen her last. I think she's going to come to my birthday dinner next weekend, so that will be great. Since Jamie's got a bachelor party the night after my birthday, I planned a girl's dinner at my favourite restaurant. Very excited about that.

After lunch I had my appointment at the local CAA to book my honeymoon with the travel agent that my mom uses all the time for her trips. I had thought it would only take 1 hour, but it's a good thing that I had nothing else booked or planned, because it took 2 hours. The original cruise that I wanted to take ( from Venice to Barcelona) was booked solid with a huge waiting list) so we looked into a cruise from London to Rome, and here's the itinerary:

Day/Port
1 London (Southampton), England
2 Brussels/Bruges (Zeebrugge), Belgium
3 Rotterdam, The Netherlands
4 Paris/Normandy (Le Havre), France
5 At Sea
6 Vigo (Santiago de Compostela), Spain
7 Lisbon, Portugal
8 Seville (Cadiz), Spain
9 Casablanca (Marrakech), Morocco
10 Gibraltar (OUR 1 YEAR WEDDING ANNIVESARY!)
11 At Sea
12 Barcelona, Spain
13 Cannes, France
14 Florence/Pisa (Livorno), Italy
15 Rome (Civitavecchia), Italy

This cruise had only interior cabins left - but how much time do you really spend in your room anyhow, that you'd need windows or a balcony? If by chance someone else with a nicer room cancels their trip we always have the option to be upgraded and we get priority because it's our honeymoon and anniversary!

I have until June 14th to decide - but after discussing it with Jamie this evening we're going to go ahead and book! I am sooooo excited! I'm going back to Europe! I love Europe! I've been twice - once in 1998 and once in 2002 each for just over 3 weeks. The second time I was with my sister. 8 countries in each trip. Oh - I love travelling!

After CAA I went over to my parents house, and hung out with my mom and Bosco for a bit. We went for a walk, and that was nice, and then just got back in time for my dad to come home from work with dinner. I was supposed to go to dinner at my sister's new place so that I could see her new place, but it ended up that my father invited my sister and brother over (now that none of us kids live at home anymore).

I was going to go knitting tonight - but after finding out that Angela wasn't going because she just moved and nothing is unpacked yet, Jenn is sick, Kadi has laringitis according to her blog post this morning, Molly Ann is in school, Deawn is out of town, and I wasn't sure of the names of the other two email addresses that did say they were going - that I just decided to forgo going this evening to a Montreal Knits Meeting.

But - boy am I zonked! What a long day. Really. And a long day of 2 classes back to back tomorrow - and I can't sleep in too late tomorrow - I'm just zonked. I am going to go get ready to crawl into bed for 11pm's Sex & The City on ABC. I love 11pm now because of this. An excuse to get into bed and either relax by knitting or just by being in bed earlier than I used to be! I'm still a night owl pregnant or not! It's a little tough these days to be a night owl, because I'm pregnant, but I'm trying to get to bed decently!