february nineteen

I don’t often photograph my cat. He’s usually off doing his own thing or sleeping. Today he kept me company in my office. He cozied himself up next to some books that I have to sort through and kept me company. It was nice having him around. He’s such a beautiful color, and I love his unique patches. He’s such a good cat. (Except at 4 am when he’s trying to sleep on my head or vomiting on my yarn – yes, he’s done that).

The guys working on my bathroom today did all the grouting. There’s just the install of the fan, the light in the shower and the door to put on, and then paint my entire bathroom. They’re supposed to show up at 10 am Sunday morning to continue. What I don’t get is why they’re going to paint the bathroom first, to then put a hole in the wall for the fan and a hole in the ceiling of the shower for the light to have to touch up the paint. Doesn’t it make sense to do those things first then paint? Well, they know what they are doing, so I trust them. We chose a grey color with a hint of blue in it for the bathroom, which will give it a nice change from the beige that we’re sick of in there. Change is good. Now they’re saying that they should be finished by end of day on Monday. I’ll believe it when I see it.

Today I watched a ton of movies. (And took care of the never ending laundry). I started off my morning by watching Then She Found Me. It was an interesting movie with Helen Hunt, Matthew Broderick, Bette Midler and Colin Firth. Then I tried to watch The Namesake but it wasn’t for me. It had even more subtitles than the movie I watched yesterday (Raman Girl) and I just couldn’t focus. Maybe I’ll try another time to watch it. Then I watched Margot at the Wedding. It was alright. Nothing I’d watch again. Nicole Kidman, Jack Black & Jennifer Jason Leigh were in it. Then I watched the movie Dedication. It was a movie with Billy Crudup, Christine Taylor & Mandy Moore. It was alright (about a children’s book author). Lastly this afternoon I watched 2 Days in Paris with Adam Goldberg & Julie Deply.It was half French and half English (no subtitles), but that’s okay with me. It was alright as well. These were all movies that were on my list to watch for a long time. Then this evening, Jamie & I watched the Chris Rock movie I Think I Love My Wife. It was a cute romantic comedy. Steve Buscemi was in it as well. Today was quite the movie day. I don’t think I’ll be able to do these movie days again for a while. It was nice being at home while the house was being renovated.

I’ve been working on my February Lady Sweater. I will be starting the 12th repeat in the Gull Lace pattern tomorrow when I picked it up tomorrow. While movie watching today I worked on clearing out my entire email inbox, which I was very successful in doing, so I didn’t get much knitting done at all. It was much long over due to clear out my inbox and it feels good that I have done so. From what I’ve gathered from my research, it seems like most people have knit between 22 and 24 Gull Lace Repeats before the garter bottom, so if that’s the case, I’m half way to the bottom. Then there’s just the sleeves left after that. I have faith that I can finish this sweater before the Olympics end. Just wait and see!

This morning when I dropped off Mack at daycare his teacher asked me if he still naps/sleeps in a crib at home. I told her yes, because he does still. He’s only 20 months old. Sean moved into a big boy bed at 2 years old (just a few days after his birthday). I asked her how come she was asking and she told me that it was because I said that he naps on the weekends at home his usual 3 hour nap (sometimes even longer). Anyhow, she said she had thought of something, because Mack only sleeps maybe 1 hour at daycare every day. She said that today she was going to try to put him in a “crib like surrounding”. Basically she said she’d take cushions and mats, and make a “crib” for him. She had tried that once before with another child she used to have in her class and it worked. Well, when I went to pick up the kids today from school, I asked her about the napping situation and she told me that he napped the entire 3 hour naptime. Phew! Glad that is solved. He’s been coming home all week cranky because he hasn’t been napping properly. I am so relieved there is an easy solution to this.

february eighteen

Today I only got the chance to watch one movie – Raman Girl. Rhoda had recommended this movie to me a while ago, so I finally got the chance to watch it. It’s one of Brittany Murphy’s last movies, released in 2008. She was super cute in that movie. It had subtitles for some of the movie, but other than that, it was a cute movie. I also finished watching last night’s episode of Nip/Tuck, which I fell asleep watching last night. Boy that show is getting even more messed up than ever. Does anyone know if it’s the last season? I think I heard that, but I’m not entirely certain if that’s true?

My February Lady Sweater is coming along!
Today I managed to knit on rows 73-84 this evening, which is now 9 full Gull Lace Repeats.
However, I took this photo before knitting more on it.

Lovin’ it.

Today I finally found some time to put up some decals in Sean’s room to surprise him. He had no idea about the solar system that I put in his room on his wall.

He did know about the alphabet decals, because those he got for his birthday. I lined them on his wall along the top. He loved it. I think decals are so great because they’re removable.

The shower is now all tiled. It’s coming along. No way is this going to be finished by Friday. Now it’s maybe Monday or Tuesday. Ah… gotta love contractors! I just want it to be finished already.

The good thing about being at home is I had the guy come today (since I was home anyhow) to replace the humidifier on our furnace. He was finished late afternoon. When Jamie got home from work, there was a flood in our furnace room, the humidifier was leaking. So we called the guy, he told us how to shut it off, and they’ll be back first thing tomorrow morning to fix the valve. It’s a good thing that Jamie went in that room to take a look at what they did, otherwise we’d never have known it was leaking. We do go in the furnace room, as we have an extra fridge in there, but we never go behind the furnace, where the humidifier is located. I can’t wait for that to be working again, I’m tired of waking up with dry (and some time bloody) noses. And Mack’s skin (eczema) might clear up a bit once that’s working too (here’s to hoping).

february seventeen :: 20 months old / 87 weeks old

Mack is 87 weeks old today & is now 20 months old. I can’t believe he’ll be 2 in 4 months.

Today I watched Coraline. I had started it once before but got distracted & never finished watching it. It was well done and really cute. Also too “old” of a movie for my kids to watch. Maybe when they’re older. I’m a fan of Dakota Fanning, who plays the voice of Coraline, which was nice. I like Teri Hatcher as well, and she played the voice of Coraline’s mom. John Hodgman, who I talked about yesterday “the PC” guy, played a voice in the movie too (the “other” dad). I also watched Dakota Skye. It’s an independent film that was made in 16 days! I really liked the main character, and the guy she falls in love with is a cutie. I really enjoyed the movie, however it was a little slow. People have said that “Creative concept, touching and original script and compelling performances make this the "Juno" of 2008.” I disagree. I enjoyed Juno so much better. I then watched the movie Martian Child with John Cusack. His sister was in it as well. (Of course she was). Amanda Peet was in it too – I like her. Also Sophie Okonedo is in it, never seen her before, but she’s a cutie. And the little boy in the movie, the Martian Child, was just adorable. Very cute movie, also a little on the slow side. I also got to watch the movie Numb. The movie was alright, about a guy who has a dysfunctional life.The guy is played by Matthew Perry. Lynn Collins was in it too and I think she’s really pretty. Saw her before in X-Men. Wow, today was a real movie day. I worked on tackling one more thing off my to-do list today, since I’m stuck home because of the bathroom renovations. I tackled putting all my printed photos that were waiting to go into an album in chronological order and then put them into the albums I had for them. Let me tell you, that I will never get behind on that again. It was quite the job. I had photos to organize from August 2008 until now. It was pretty much everything since just after Mack was born. Life with 2 kids…! Putting away photos into an album wasn’t a priority anymore after having 2 kids. So prints got made, ordered, brought home, and put in a pile “to do later'”. Let me tell you that I promised myself I really won’t do that again. Photos come home, photos go right away into the photo album… or a pile-up will occur again. I am really trying to work on my procrastination habit to break it.

The contractor miscalculated the tiles he needed for the bathroom shower floor. We’re 50 (small) tiles short. This means that he couldn’t finish today and I hope that it does not mean that it’ll take an extra day to finish my bathroom. Right now he said “maybe by Friday”. I hope that it doesn’t extend to “Maybe Friday or Monday”… ugh! I’ll wait to see what they say tomorrow when he comes back.



Sean came to me this morning with his tools in his pants. He had them lined up all the way to his back. There is even a hammer in there. He was so cute. My little contractor. I need to make him one of these tool belts. It’s one of the projects that I have lined up for my trip to BC this spring. My sewing guru Cynthia will help me make one, cuz she’s the best.



I love paper. Notebooks. Stationery. Note cards. Anything paper related. I found this awesome (never used before) notepad on my desk in a cubby when I was cleaning up. I’ve had this for years. I bought it while I was still in school. Not sure why it never got used (but that’s a whole other story). Well, I pulled it out, took off the plastic and now this sunny notepad is on my desk and will get used. I am thinking about making March a “Not Buying It” month. I did this once before, either at the beginning of last year or the year before. One month not spending any money except on food & medicine (if needed) & any essentials that I must buy for the kids. I’ve done it before, I can do it again. Because I have willpower. I will also go through my things and find 10 items that I’ve bought and never use – and them use them. That sounds like a great plan! Don’t you think? I’ve done that before. It’s fun to do that little game.

Because I worked on photo organization today, I didn’t get the chance to knit during the day (though I should have instead, but didn’t). I did get to knit this evening and I’m making great progress on my February Lady Sweater. I’m now (tomorrow) about to start the 7th Gull Lace repeat on my sweater (which will be the start of row 73). I find that this knits up very fast. I’ll take a progress photo tomorrow.

I’m addicted to listening to K.D. Lang’s version of Hallelujah. I love it. Wasn’t it just amazing?

Well, I’m off to go crawl into bed and catch Nip/Tuck on FX at 11pm.

february sixteen :: Link Love

It’s been mild for the last couple of days, and finally today it got a little bit chilly, so I pulled out my Canadian Olympic Mittens to wear. They’re fleece lined and so cozy. I got them as a gift from my in-laws for Christmas. I love the someone made a pattern to knit them!

Go Team Canada! We won our 2nd Gold medal today in Women’s Snowboarding! Keep on winning them on home ‘turf!

The bathroom renovations are coming along. Right now we’re waiting for the plaster to dry. I also need to pick out a color to paint the bathroom. Time for a change in there. The contractor is bringing over a swatch book tomorrow for me to choose a color.

Yesterday I watched the movie Love Happens. It was a little slow, but cute nonetheless. Jennifer Anniston was really cute in this movie as Eloise. Nothing I’d watch again though. Today I watched the movie The Invention of Lying. Very interesting, but nothing I’d ever watch again. There were a couple of big name actors in this movie, Jennifer Garner, Rob Lowe & Tina Fey, but nothing fantastic. I didn’t hate it though. I love that the “PC Guy” (you know from the Mac commercials) John Hodgman was in it as the Wedding Commissioner. I also watched Paper Hearts. I think Michael Cera is such a cute kid. It’s too bad that he & Charlyne Yi broke up after 3 years of dating. They’re so cute together. I also then watched Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. There is no way that either of my kids would have sat through this movie, it’s a little too old for them. I thought it was cute. Also not really a movie I’d watch again. There was a lot of good voices in this movie, such as James Caan, Mr. T!, Benjamin Bratt, Neil Patrick Harris, Lauren Graham & a few others. It seems like I’ll be stuck home for the rest of the week as the bathroom renovations, which was supposed to be done by today, may only be done by… uhm, Friday. I’m not complaining, being “stuck” home means I get to knit, which is good during the Olympics, with a deadline! At least over the next day or so the humidifier will be replaced as well. The guy may come tomorrow if he gets the job he’s doing at my parents house done on time, if not, it’ll be on Thursday. Who knew they had to replace their humidifier as well. The company that is doing it is based off the island of Montreal, so hopefully they can kill two birds with one stone and do it at the same time in our area.

Isn’t this rug the neatest thing you’ve ever seen? Must find yarn that large!
I was told it could be sailing rope.
Hmm, interesting.

Progress on my February Lady Sweater. It’s starting to take “sweater” shape now that I’ve put the sleeves on separate cables (love knitpicks options cables for this), and am working up the body. It’s coming along lovely. Have knit rows 53 to 65 completed today. I’ve done a full 4 repeats of the Gull Lace (including the one repeat before the sleeve stitches were separated). I am currently on Row 2 of the 5th Gull Lace pattern. If I were to ever knit this again, I would knit the last stitch of every row through the back loop to give it a nicer edge. I am not liking the edge. I may have to add a simple crochet border to it afterwards, to hid the edges. We’ll see when it comes to that at the ends. I only thought of this now.

- This photo makes me smile.
- This is the coolest Olympic ad ever.
- I love that this product still allows you to use broken crayons. I’ve been keeping broken crayons to DIY.

I’m beat. Had dinner with some friends tonight at a local joint I hadn’t been to in a while. We knitted (I made great progress on my Feb Lady Sweater, it's good that the lace pattern is so easy that I'm able to knit in public on it and talk at the same time), chatted, had good laughs and enjoyed each other's company. It’s time to go to bed, the kidlets will be up early tomorrow. I treated myself to some Strawberry Cheesecake for dessert and it was absolutely delicious. Totally worth every calorie. Ah, life is beautiful!

february fifteen :: 163 weeks old

Sean is 163 weeks old today.
He was a super star in his swimming class this morning.
He put his head under water whenever necessary.
He’s my little fish.

Today’s progress as of mid-day on my February Lady Sweater. She’s coming along.

My buttons are ready. I picked them up almost a year ago at the Knitter’s Frolic in Toronto.

I even tried it on. Though, it’s a little hard to see what’s going on due to the cable on the needle getting in the way. Though, I’m loving it so far. The color is gorgeous (a beautiful teal). And I’m really enjoying knitting with my zephyr tips.

Saw this dog wearing a knitted hat on a fido ad. This hat reminds me so much of this hat on Ravelry! Or even this hat. This hat is quite similar as well. It’s very cute in green. The dog’s got the right idea!

Renovations are coming along with the bathroom. It’s going to take longer than expected for it to get done, which I had a hunch this would happen. The cement has been laid down and now we’re waiting for it to dry. They’ll come in tomorrow do something, put down some more cement and then wait for that to dry. The fan needs to get installed, and we thought there was access to the attic, which there isn’t, so we’re going to have to create one, so that our house is up to code. (And if we ever need access to the attic, we’ll have one). Not sure why this house was built without access, but that’s another story. There’s still tiling to be done, the shower door install, and painting of the bathroom (since they took down some of the wall to open up the shower stall to let in more light, we need to fix up and paint). I just need to decide on what color to pain the bathroom. Not sure yet.

Since I was home today keeping my eye on the renovations, I decided to continue with my office clean-up. It’s coming along very well and I’m doing a huge purge. Call it early spring-cleaning? I’m not even sure how I’ve acquired some of the stuff that I have. Anyhow, I am making a very large pile of stuff and some of it will probably get donated. I really don’t want to chuck this stuff out because maybe it could be useful to someone else. I really am trying to de-clutter, and I think I’m doing a really good job of it. It feels very good to do this. Even the re-organization of my things on my desk, for example is very uplifting, if you could believe that. I’ve even chucked things that I am not sure why I was even keeping. And you know what? It felt fantastic. I recommend you do it. You'll feel freer too. Go on, free yourself. Clutter doesn’t do good to ones life, I’ve come to understand.

Off to go watch some tv with Jamie (24 is actually new tonight) and continue working on my February Lady Sweater. Only 13 days left before closing ceremonies and I totally want to have this sweater done so I can achieve gold for Team Montreal! I can do it. I know I can! I’d like to be reading to finish my book, I’ve still got more than halfway to read in my almost 700 page book, but my spare time is going towards reaching the end of my first sweater ever. The book will still be there when the Olympics are over, but the challenge of finishing my sweater before Feb 28th isn’t. Priorities!

february fourteen

I woke up after a beautiful sleep-in today to brunch being served in the kitchen. We still had some time before the kids came home from my parents house. Jamie got me a really appropriately written Valentine’s Card (he got his gift from me last night, as he was in the mood for chocolate, so he asked if there was any in the house, so I gave him his gift early, which included some chocolates). I got a gift card to Chapters (which is awesome, because I have a few books in my shopping cart). I also got some Bingo Lotto tickets, which was sort of an inside joke. You see, I have these 2 lotto tickets that have been sitting in my wallet for a while now. I keep meaning to scratch them and see if I’m a winner, but just never remember to find the time to sit down & scratch them. So he bought me 2 more, to remind me that I have to go and scratch them.

After lunch I put Mack down for a nap, Jamie took Sean up the street to the park to skate. I got some peace & quiet for a few more hours this afternoon and decided to do a huge clean-up in my office. I’m really trying to de-clutter the house. My goal is to de-clutter and keep it organized & clean. The only parts of the house that I will not have control over is the kid’s play areas. As much as I try to keep that organized and clean, it’s just always a constant mess. But that’s okay.

Today was Sean’s first time using his new hockey skates. He had a fantastic time. Jamie had to drag him away from the rink!

Here is today’s progress on my Feb Lady Sweater mid-afternoon. I’ve done a lot more since. I’ve since finished 44 rows and I’m at the eyelet increases. However, I’m not sure if I am going to be doing the eyelet increases… we’ll see. I’ll make that decision tonight before starting to work on it again tomorrow. I think I may eliminate the eyelets and just do a simple kfb increase instead. I’m not sure. I am going to read some notes on other people’s sweaters on Ravelry and see what they say about them. Or why they chose to leave them out. I also want to make sure that I don’t make the sweater too “swingy” as the pattern talks about it being. We’ll see. Decisions, decisions.


The yarn though, is completely dying my fingers.I did not have this when I was working with the Happy Forest Colorway on my Mara Shawl. I think it’s because it’s blue dye. I think there is something in it that isn’t in other colors which is why it’s rubbing off on my fingers, but I could be wrong?

Tonight I watched Montrealer Alexandre Bilodeau win the first Gold Medal for Team Canada on Canadian Soil. Team Canada has gotten Gold before at the winter olympics, but never on home turf. He was absolutely incredible tonight. GO TEAM CANADA!

february thirteen

This afternoon Croquette had a meet-up at her house for the Knitting Olympics. I had never been to Ste-Marthe-Sur-Le-Lac, so I mapquested the directions and headed out there. After an almost half hour drive, and one stop to pick some goodies to eat for everyone, I made it.

I worked on my Feb Lady Sweater, making some progress.

It was a nice afternoon with some really nice knitters. I knew two of them from beforehand, Sandra (took a sock class with Sandra in April of 2008) & Christine (whom I used to see at NDG Knits). Also there today was Elaine, Johanne, Cynthia, & Marie-Christine. It was a nice change of pace, in a different atmosphere. It was nice to see what other knitters were working on for the Knitting Olympics! Go Team Montreal!

This evening we dropped the kids off at my parents house, and headed into the city to our fave restaurant for dinner. We went out tonight for Valentine’s Day instead of tomorrow night, since it was easier to have the kids go spend the night tonight out. Thank heavens for my parents living close-by and being able to take the kids overnight. Dinner was fabulous and as good as it was last time we ate there. It had been way too long.

Off to go work some more on my Olympic Knitting and watch some TV and enjoy the rest of our time in peace & quiet. The house will be back to it’s usually busy-ness tomorrow.

february twelve

I stayed in today after taking the kids to daycare to oversee the work that was going on in my house. We had the plumber come in today and re-work the pipes for the water under the floor, instead of around the back. You can see the way the pipes were in yesterday’s post. Upon ripping up the old shower and having the plumber look at all the piping he said it was very badly done. These are the things you don’t see when buying a house. Thank heavens we are re-doing it. He said we could have started to have problems later on. Not 100% that we would have had problems, but most likely. I can’t wait for it to be done already.

When the guys left today, they did a pretty good job cleaning up. You would never have known they were here, unless you saw the actual shower stall in the bathroom. I was worried because my cleaning lady was just here on Thursday morning about 2 hours before they started ripping up the bathroom. Thursday night they left a mess, but upon leaving for the weekend it was all cleaned out.

   Today I prepared to start the knitting olympics!

It was time to put a new “collage” in this picture frame that I had other yarn in for while, so I decided to scrounge up some leftover bits in the appropriate yarn colors, and make something for the olmypics. I think it’s cute.

My skeins are wound. Dream in Color Classy in Blue Lagoon. I can’t figure out why, but one of the skeins was divided in 2. Not so happy about this. I do have another skein left in my stash, but I didn’t wind it, just in case I don’t need it.

I swatched. I got gauge. I needed 18 sts in 4 inches in garter ridge. Got it. Check.

 
And I cast on just after 9pm EST (6pm PST) as allowed in the rules. This evening I made it to row 14 and now I’m going to head up to bed in a few to get a good night’s sleep so I can continue knitting tomorrow. I’m knitting the February Lady Sweater (My Ravelry Project). It’s been in my queue forever and I’m finally getting to it. 16 days left. One sweater. I can do it and get gold! This will be my first sweater for me. It’s about time, right? (Ps- That’s a blurry Wayne Gretsky on the tv getting his torch light).

I learned something new tonight. I learned how to do a one row button hole as suggested in the pattern. I found this youtube video. I am a visual person, so videos are awesome. I wrote down the instructions and will be able to do the other 2 buttonholes the same way. Gotta love the internet & youtube.

Are you doing the knitting olympics? If so, what’s your challenge? I’ve never knit an adult size sweater, so that’s my challenge. It may be a little crazy to knit one with 16 days left… but I think I can do it. And if not, at least I’ll have tried, right?

My in-laws came for dinner tonight, bringing my step-MIL’s meatball sauce. We made pasta. It was so good. I can’t even begin to tell you how much I enjoy her cooking. I’ve never made her meatball sauce before, but I’ve made her meat sauce one. Speaking of which, I have frozen meat in the freezer and we’re due to have a new batch of sauce. (Just need to find the time to cook).

The kids had their valentine’s party at school today. They got some nice cards from their friends & teachers. I keep these sort of things in their baby box. I want to make each of them a memory box so that they can decide later on in life if they want them or not. Keep it for their wedding day or something. I think it’ll be a very nice keepsake. Do you have anything like that for your children? Anything you do that is unique? I’m always looking for neat ideas. Do share.

I was sad to learn that Sean’s best friend will be moving to the next class as soon as he’s back from his trip next week. (It’s his mom’s 40th birthday today so they left to Cuba for a week – lucky them). Sean’s kind of upset that his friend will be going to the next class, but there is still one more child older than Sean to move before Sean would move. Plus, I love Sean’s teachers, and even though I know Mackenzie will be going to that class by the fall, I’m not ready for Sean to move classes just yet. Sean’s best friend is an October baby and then there is one more child in November that is older than Sean who was born in December. He’ll still get to see his best friend in the school yard when they play outside, but as far as activities, Sean’s class does them (Science, Dance, Music, etc) with Mackenzie’s class, as they are the 2 youngest classes. He’ll be okay. I just know it.

february eleven

I got some mail from Bea today! She sent me along (as a trade) some Mini Mochi yarn. It’s colorway 115. I’ve been dying to try Mini Mochi for quite some time now, and I didn’t have any in my stash. Well now I do. And because I am on a yarn diet this year, we swapped! I made no payment or money exchange to get these. Trading/Swapping is allowed! I’m allowed to receive gifts as well. Just no actual purchasing of yarn. Thank you Bea for the exchange! She also sent me along this really cute tile pendant, but it was super hard to photograph today, so I didn’t get a good shot of it before the sun set. I’ll try again tomorrow. Thanks hun!

If you would have asked me this morning if I was doing bathroom renovations today, I would have told you no. We had a guy come in and give us a quote on Tuesday evening just before I left to go to Guild, and he wasn’t free until March 1st. Somehow, over the course of today, we agreed to go ahead and the guy found time to come in today. Apparently it’s a quick job to re-do a shower stall, so it’s was no problem at all.

The shower is in the wall of the bathroom, so it’s like a closet off the bathroom. The tub is separate from the shower. (We have both in there). Anyhow, I think the people who had the house before us just put in a “shower liner” to clean up the bathroom to sell the house. In any case there is no fan in the bathroom (which we’re having installed) and we’re gutting the stall and re-doing it with tiles this time. We’ll be getting a brand new door. And a new paint job in the bathroom. They promise to be finished by Tuesday end of the the workday.

This renovation is a must. There are 2 cracks in the shower stall floor that could have moulded underneath, and that would have been a whole other ball game. LUCKILY upon ripping out the stall, there was absolutely NO damage whatsoever. Phew! We probably saved ourselves a few thousands of dollars since we don’t have to rip up the floor or the ceiling of the room below the bathroom (which I’m almost certain is my office). However, had we not done this renovation, it could still have moulded the floor underneath in the long run. Also the shower door doesn’t close properly and the pain on the upper inside walls of the stall is starting to chip. I’m going to love the change, I’m sure. It’s definitely a must.

In a matter of 2 hours they ripped out the shower stall and the wall above the shower stall. (We’re opening it up for more light). I can’t wait for it to be done. This is so exciting. What a mess though. It’s winter and the guys came in and didn’t take off their boots. (Which sucks). The guys seem super nice, and they’ll be doing work at my house as well as work at my neighbours around the corner (they’ve already started a job there and are in the middle of it).  I actually know this neighbour that they’re doing work for.

I can’t wait for it to be done. And I can’t believe that they ripped it up. It’s actually happening. And I get to take the day off work tomorrow to oversee the house and the workers.

Oh, for those of you who are collecting points, I’ve got one more Huggies Code worth 5pts for you today: It’s BFCWD-QLZKN-PMPGB. I am not sure if it has an expiry date, but I would use it right away so that you’re guaranteed for it to work. I actually had enough points today and redeemed it for a musical toy for Mack. He loves music and it’s something that he will enjoy. I’m not sure how long it will take to arrive. I’m not really sure how these things work. Hopefully it will come soon!

february ten :: 86 weeks old

 
Mack is 86 weeks old today.

Early afternoon I decided to take a drive over to Ariadne to pick up the latest copy of Knitscene (Winter/Spring ‘10). I was so happy that they had a copy left for me (it was the last copy in stock). There are a handful of patterns in the issue that I just love. I couldn’t believe how hard it was to locate a copy! I called and went into a bunch of the magazine shops in my area, nothing. Well, I didn’t mind driving downtown to get a copy at Ariadne, but I wanted to first see if I could find a copy closer to home. Anyhow, on my way home I got stuck one car behind a truck that COULDN’T fit under the under pass. Idiot! We all (and there was a line-up) had to back-up so that he could back-up and let us all go through so that he can turn around and go some other way, because he clearly didn’t fit through. His red boards that are on top of the truck tore apart (as you can see above) as they used to be all attached in a straight piece. Thank goodness I didn’t have anywhere else to be, but that was a real bummer getting stuck behind this guy.

This afternoon I did a bit of rearranging in the house. I took Sean’s bookcase from his bedroom and exchanged it for my bookcase from my office. His is a 3 shelf and mine is a 2 shelf bookcase. I needed more space for my knitting books, and he actually needed less space for his books. So I did a little swap, instead of going out and buying a bigger book case for my office. It’s perfect. I even have my hardcover knitting & crochet books on one shelf and my paperbacks on another. On the top shelf I have little books, and also all my binders with patterns in them. It’s looking neat and organized and I got a lot of books off the floor and now on the bookcase (they were starting to pile up on the floor as I had no more room left in the smaller bookcase. The smaller book case now resides nicely in Sean’s room. It’s perfect for his height. No complaints here. It was a good idea.



I got some fun mail today, a fellow raveler sent me some leftover yarn for my Babette & Sock Yarn Blanket. She also included a really pretty row counter bracelet. Knitters are awesome people. Really.


 Madeleine brought me a gift last night. She got me a mechanical tricotin. I want to make a bathmat like this one with it. It would a great way to use up some stash cotton yarn. I’m not a fan of knitting with cotton, but to use it on the tricotin, I don’t see it being an issue. (I find cotton dried out my hands and I don’t like working with it)

This evening I was supposed to go out for dinner/coffee with some friends but somehow those plans fell through. One was home with a child who wasn’t feeling good, another wanted to be better for our plans on the weekend, another friend’s husband was busy with a meeting (I think) and she couldn’t leave because of the kids (or something) and I had a bit of a migraine today, so I stayed in the rest of the afternoon and this evening to try to get rid of it. I am feeling a bit better now, and I’m hoping to wake up tomorrow with it gone.

february nine

SPECS:
Pattern: Roar (My Ravelry Project)
For: Sean
Yarn: Cascade 220 Superwash in Black & Really Red
Needles: US 7 / 4.5 mm
Size: Toddler/Child
Timeline: February 6-8, 2010
Modifications: Knit pattern as written for the Toddler/Child Size.
Opinion: I love it. Mack loves it even more. That’s what matters.
This pattern is a great stash buster! Between the 2 colors it only uses about 52g.

 

I am so happy he likes it, and it matches his jacket perfectly!

Last night I booked a trip for Mackenzie & I. We’ll be Vancouver bound at the end of April for almost a week. We are going to be staying with the lovely & wonderful Cynthia for a week of crafting, knitting, and maybe some touristy things. I am very excited, and it’s just what I needed. Kind of what the doctored ordered! Cynthia & I have been friends since 2006 and it will be nice to finally get to hang out with her. Cynthia & I were conspiring earlier, sometime last year, that we wanted to organize a girls craft weekend, so now we’re going to make it happen! (And for just a little bit longer than a weekend!) We’re going to sew and knit and craft. I can’t wait. It’s going to be so much fun! She’s even going to organize a stitch’n’bitch while I’m there. It’s going to be so awesome! I cannot wait! If you are in the Vancouver/Mission area, and want to join us for our knit night – do let me know! I’ll get you the details!

This evening Madeleine came over for supper and then she drove me to the Guild Meeting. I couldn’t stay for too long as I had to ditch out early and be back on time as Jamie has hockey tonight (he’s on the ice now). I started some Man Socks for him, I’m not sure yet what design I’ll use, I’ll get to that after the ribbing. Maybe I’ll design my own man socks. We’ll see soon. I needed a project to cast on to work on until Friday, so I decided to go with the socks that I promised Jamie I’d make.

february eight :: 162 weeks old

Sean is 162 weeks old today.

Sean had swimming this morning. I enjoy the time while he’s in the pool – as I get to knit! I worked on Mack’s Roar. Sean actually went to the bathroom on the toilet before and after class today. I was so proud. I can’t believe this potty training is actually in full swing…! Maybe he’ll be potty trained before I know it!

I had lunch today with my friend Gillian. It was really nice to see her again and catch up. I don’t think I’d seen her since she took me out for my birthday in June last summer. I couldn’t believe it was that long ago. So much has happened since and things have been so busy with the kids. Actually, no I saw her in July for her daughter’s 1st birthday. (Her daughter is 3 weeks younger than Mack – they were in playgroup together – though my friendship with Gillian goes back to the days I was in youth group). We definitely have to meet up again soon, hopefully we can find time to get the kids together.

When I picked up the boys from daycare today, I had a tough time with both kids. When I was dressing one the other was running wild. When I dressed the other (gosh do I hate winter) the other started undressing himself. Sean’s best friend in his class’ father was there picking up his 2 kids, (Sean’s best friend is two months older than him and his sister is a month younger than Mack, and she just started there a week ago). Anyhow he made a comment than rang a little true “It was so much easier when they were at two separate daycares to get them dressed”. Yes, for that I agree. For some reason, that was so much easier.

Tonight I tried a new recipe. It was supposed to be a Slow Cooked Pork Burrito Bowl. I picked up the ingredients yesterday when I took Mack grocery shopping. I’d never just walked around a grocery store looking for ingredients I had never heard of before. I then bought some of these ingredients that I needed help locating, to then decide this morning to alter the recipe, and made it my own.

It actually came out really good. I think what I’m going to do is pull together my 30 recipes, that I said I would, and then offer these recipes as a PDF for those of you who are interested. It’ll be the “go to guide” when you’re stuck and need something for dinner. They’ll mainly be easy recipes and I’m going to cater them to feed a family (since that’s what I’m doing here)…! I like this little projects that I’m doing, and I think it’ll be fun. I am not really sure how long this project will take me, but I’ll keep you posted on it’s progress.

I watched the movie Couple Retreat today. It was really cute. I like Jon Favreau, Vince Vaughn, Kristin Davis, Kristen Bell & Malin Akerman is so cute. It was a nice comedy mixed in with a little romance. Kept me entertained. Not sure I’d watch it again, but disappointed I watched it without Jamie. I think he may have actually liked this one. I don’t think he’d watch it on his own though.

This evening while watching tv with Jamie I finished Mack’s Roar. FO pictures to come tomorrow. Mack’s asleep and I don’t exactly want to wake him up to photograph it on him!