Yarnocturnally

My man is coming home on leave tomorrow =) I am so happy! I’ve missed the hell out of him, so I’m very glad his command has given some leave time right now. Most of you probably don’t follow military news, and I have no idea if/how it was reported in the regular news but his carrier had a fire not long ago while they were in transit to San Diego. So they’ve stopped to make repairs, which I guess will take long enough for people to take some leave. While I hate that it took a fire, and a pretty bad one from what I’ve read, I am more than thrilled to get to see my guy for a while =)

My new job is going well, I enjoy the customers and the people I work with are very nice. I’m still adjusting to suddenly spending 6-8 hours on my feet, but otherwise it’s great. Oh, and adjusting to having to schedule my errands and such around the job too. It’s all very different that’s for sure! Thank goodness the boy is old enough to be helpful. He’s been helping me out with housework and stuff, and doing it decently at that. And without attitude. I do like that lol.

Speaking of the boy, I guess I better run. I’ve got to go sign him up for summer school this morning, maybe grocery shop and then I have to be at work at 12. Fortunately, I have tomorrow and Friday off though.

I doubt you’ll see much of me for the rest of this month, I plan to be very busy spending time with hubby when I’m not working =)

Today I go back to work for the first time since December 1999. I’d just about given up hope of finding someone to hire me after all this time, I’d put in applications all over but never got any calls from them. This time, I walked in and was able to speak to the manager right then and there and she hired me on the spot. It’s a part time job at a convenience store, but the pay is above minimum wage and she seems willing to work with me on scheduling. So I go in today for my first bit of training. Just an hour or two, but it’s a start. It’s a little farther away from the house than I was hoping for, but it’s only a few miles away. Good thing I’m a licensed driver now

I’m not too proud to admit I’m half scared to death lol. 9 years is a long time to be out of the work force. But I’ll be fine. It’s not a difficult job and things can’t have changed that much since I last worked this type of job. I was an assistant manager of a similar store when we lived in Arizona, though I wasn’t there more than a few months before I moved out of state. I have no wish to have that responsibility at this point though. I just want to work a few days a week, earn a bit of money and be happy to have a job in this economy.

That’s the main reason I’m returning to work. We aren’t hurting for money at this point, but it’s not guaranteed to remain that way. Hubby will be retiring soon and while his prospects of finding another job soon are very good…. I’m afraid it won’t pay as much as we’d been counting on. I know people who have lost jobs, only to watch someone else get hired immediately for less pay. Granted, those people weren’t in the line of work hubby is after, but it’s still a little scary. So I’m hoping that having a job will relieve my mind a bit. We don’t have much saved, nothing to fall back on if things get worse. It’s time to correct that problem.

So wish me well, I’ll be at work in just about 2 hours. That just sounds so strange to say. “I’ve got to go to work” is not a phrase I’ve used for a long time lol. Let’s hope I get along well with the people I will be working with and that the store isn’t one that gets robbed often. I forgot to check that out before I took the job, so it’s one of the first questions I plan to ask today. I have never worked anywhere that’s been robbed, even when I wasn’t there to witness it myself. I also know my hubby would not want me working somewhere that could be dangerous. One good thing though, is that there are always two people on shift and the store closes at 11pm. I’ve already told the manager that I can’t work nights, I told her 7 or 8pm is as late as I will work. So with all that, I’m hoping it’ll be ok.

At the very least, I’d like to hold the job long enough to build a reference. Then, if I hate it I can go looking elsewhere and hope that having recent work on my application will get a foot in the door.

OK, I’ve got some things to do before I get ready for work… which is another thing I’ve got to learn to do. Juggle house/mom stuff with working. Damn, I am so out of practice!

Well, summer seems to have arrived with a vengeance! We went from gorgeous cool non humid days, straight to Hell. I’ve had to start getting up at 5 am so I can walk Boomer before the sun comes up. He was really confused about that, let me tell ya! We’ve been going around 9am, and when it was cold we’d go around mid-day. Now, all of a sudden, we’re going before the sun wakes up. But after a day or two of walking in the morning sun with the humidity here and the temps rising… yeah, mama couldn’t take it. Much as I am not a morning person, I would rather get up at o’dark thirty to walk him than deal with that anymore. Tomorrow, it’s supposed to be in the mid-90’s with the heat index up to 103. Sucks like hell. There go my little electric bills =(

Which reminds me, I wonder how often one should have their A/C unit charged with freon? Does anyone know? I was thinking about how hard our a/c works to cool the house, in spite of the fact that I have covered 8 of our 10 windows with sheets or blankets to block the sun. We covered the skylights with my oh so lovely foil treatment about a month ago. I’ve got fans in three rooms going to move the air around. In spite of all of those measures, the a/c will run without stopping from about 1pm till near midnight. I’ve tried to find a temp that will be easier for it to maintain, but that doesn’t seem to matter. Higher, lower, doesn’t make a difference. So I’m considering calling someone out to take a peek and charge it up if it needs it. I’ve got a coupon that came in one of those envelopes you get in the mail. Less than $100 for up to a pound of freon. If that fixes the problem and lowers the electric bill, it’d be well worth it.

Hmmm, what else? Oh. The boy has gotten himself grounded again. It’s been a while since the last time, but still. This time, it is again over missing assignments at school. I got a call from his counselor telling me that he has 6 missing assignments in Science, and that he needs to turn them in asap in order to get a passing grade in that class. The reason this matters so very much is that the little turd is also failing English and Social Studies. Which means he’s failing 8th grade. But, when he turns those assignments in this morning he will pass Science. Then, he will go to summer school for the other two, and be able to advance to 9th grade.

I’ve never grounded him for his report card grades before. He does get one week grounded for each missing assignment though. I’ve informed him that this policy will change. Starting next school year, anything below a C will get him grounded. I haven’t decided yet on specifics (such as duration, the whole grading period or till progress reports come out) but he does know that when I ground him he looses pretty much all of his privileges. Xbox, gone. Computer, gone. All electronics, gone. Including phone use. No company, no going anywhere. Straight up lock-down. He gets books. I took him to the library and will take him every week (or more often) if I need to. I have nooooo problem doing that. He hasn’t asked, but I’d let him have his leggos or whatever if he wanted them. I’m thinking he’s outgrown them though, because normally he’d have asked by now. So I’m hopeful that will make him think twice next year. I flat out told him, he WILL make it all the way through high school, if I have to drag him through it by his ear kicking and screaming the whole way. No ifs ands or buts about it. So needless to say, he’s very unhappy about spending the next 6 weeks grounded. He’s not too happy either that he will have to spend his entire summer (mostly) getting up early and going to school, but he was less happy about the thought of repeating 8th grade. Which is something I just do not want to happen if we can avoid it.

I haven’t got any knitting news to report. There has been very little of that lately. I got on a reading kick and re-read all 6 of the Outlander books. Took me about a week and a half, during which I got not one stitch knitted. I do have a baby blanket in progress for my friend in Washington who is expecting her first grandbaby (a girl) in August. Ive only got one corner of it worked so far, it’s the diagonal garter stitch dishcloth pattern. I’m using Caron SS for it, because the mom is young and won’t have the time or energy for special care and I wanted something soft. I like the SS for that. I’m using pink and brown, colors the mom has chosen for the nursery. I’m planning to do it in stripes and at the end, I have ribbon that I will weave through the holes on the edges. It’s going to be so pretty! I’ll have to go back and buy another skein of each color though. I made the mistake of leaving Boomer out one day while I ran out for a short while and he destroyed one of each. I tried to untangle it but in the end, the time and effort involved just wasn’t worth the few dollars each skein costs so I pitched them.

I’m missing the hell out of my hubby, but each day that passes is one day closer to him coming home. We were hoping he might be able to sneak home on leave for a few days, but I’m not thinking that’s going to happen. Thanks to the stupidity of some of his fellow shipmates. I can’t go into details, because I’m not sure if I’m supposed to know or share but suffice it to say, if I could get my hands on those jackasses, I’d be kicking some serious butt. Granted, he hasn’t said it’s a for sure no, but either way they need their asses beat for their stupidity.

I finally went to the doc and got my un-healed LEEP scar fixed (for those who don’t remember, I had pre-cancerous cells on my cervix a few years ago and they went in and scraped them off but that spot never healed over). She put silver nitrate on it, to cauterize it. I won’t know if it’s truly fixed though, till I can test it. Which I kinda need hubby for She gave me a couple of suggestions for testing it out on my own… but the true test will be when he comes back. Either way, if the silver nitrate doesn’t do the trick… there is another option. They’ll go in and really burn it, thankfully they will numb the area first, but it still doesn’t sound very pleasant at all. The silver nitrate was painless. I like painless. Painless is good.

Well, I’m going to stop babbling now and go check in at a few other places I have been neglecting lately. I’m sure my Bloglines is crammed full after all this time. When I get sucked into books, I don’t get online at all. Other than to read my email, and if hubby were home I probably wouldn’t even bother with that. Hope y’all have a wonderful weekend and don’t get overheated out there!

Aren’t they lovely? They just arrived a few minutes ago. With no name on them. I am assuming my darling husband sent them though. I love them! They came on the perfect day too, because it is cloudy, rainy, windy and cold right outside right now. Those yellow roses are like little sunbeams, reminding me of warm days. (I’ve had to backtrack and correct a number of typos already because my hands are freezing. I am about to get a hot cup of coffee to snuggle with lol) Anyway, just wanted to share my little moment of happy with y’all =)

I love Saturday mornings. It’s so peaceful and quiet. No clock watching to make sure the boy wakes up and catches the bus on time. No rushing around. No noisy school buses or trash trucks on the street. Just quiet coffee time. The boy is still sleeping, and will be for a couple of hours. It’s cloudy and cool out so I can relax about the dog and walk him a little later than usual, which will upset him but I don’t really care. He’ll get his walk, just an hour or so later

I’m almost finished with the first grandbaby project. I’ve finished the squares, woven some of the ends and joined the squares. I still have more ends to deal with and then it needs to go through the wash. I’ve decided to make bibs instead of socks with the Paton’s Grace. This baby is already 7 or 8 months old and she was a drool factory when we met her. Bibs to catch the slobber seemed a better fit than socks when I remembered that.

So I searched out bib patterns and of course the only one I loved was in a book I don’t posses, so I just used some measurements I found and freehanded a slip on bib. It’s nearly finished but I have two more to do. When it’s all done I will post a pic.

We didn’t get to start Boomer’s obedience school last Sunday, the trainer had a death in the family and had to leave town. So tomorrow will be his first day. I’m very much looking forward to it.

The boy has brought home several “A” test grades in the past two weeks. He seems to have really taken our little discussion to heart. I hope so because I’d hate to see him repeat 8th grade OR have to spend his entire summer in summer school. So I’m praising the hell out of these good grades and telling him to keep it up, with grades like thoses he just might stand a chance. I’m currently keeping to myself the thoughts I am having that go something like…

“If he’s so capable of whipping out these last minute save his ass “A’s” wtf has been his problem this whole year long?”

Among other thoughts along the lines of what sorts of changes I think I’m going to make before next school year starts. But anyway, I’m not talking about those things with him just yet. I’m saving that little talk for after he’s pulled his ass out of the fire and proves to me that he really can do it. Then I have a lot of words for him.
A lot.

OK, well I am going to go enjoy my peaceful Saturday morning now =) Crochet a little and then walk the dog. Those are my only plans for this day, if I can help it that is.

Oh man was Saturday fun! We stayed up too late Friday night so we only got a nap before we got up and hit the road. I started feeling icky not long after. The boy kindly shared his stomach bug with me. We made a pit stop in Quantico, where I purchased Immodium and proceeded to take an entire day’s worth of pills over the course of a couple of hours. After reading the stories of the long lines and porta-potties I wasn’t taking ANY chances. I did pretty well, only needed to take one more dose after eating some of the delicious, but greasy, ribbon chips.

I’ve never seen so many fiber lovers in one place in my life. This is not the greatest picture, but look at that crowd of people.

That was taken sometime before or right around noon. All those little dots in the center distance in the pic are people. Lots of people. But I have to say, everyone was pretty polite and considerate. I’d read stories of stroller incidents and backpacks smacking into people, but I experienced none of that. When someone bumped into me they almost always said sorry or excuse me (as I did) and people were happy to trade places with me in the crowded booths so I could get out and they could get in or vice versa.

I didn’t take a single picture of the gorgeous yarns on display. I blame the yarn fumes. I just never had the thought register when I was in the presence of the actual yarn. I did take lots of pictures of sheep and alpacas.

Aren’t they adorable? I want. The chocolate colored one was making the cutest sounds. I can’t even describe it. But the poor guy was stressed out. All the people and noises and everything. There was a truck behind me creeping by as I took that picture, so that’s why his ears are laid back.

And finally, the haul.

I got two skeins of Socks That Rock. One in Mossay and I forget the other colorway. I got two skeins of Brooks Farm yarns, Solo and Acero but I can’t remember the color names and I am too lazy to get up right this second. The yarn closest in the pic is Jitterbug. All sock/fingering weight except the lace. Destined to become socks and fingerless mitts probably. And I got two skeins of gorgeous green lace weight, I don’t knit lace but it was only $10 a skein and I love the green… maybe I will find a very simple lace scarf to do and that can be my summer project. I also got a festival tshirt, which I forgot to put in the picture.

It was an awesome day. The drive up was not bad, other than the gut issues. The traffic to get into the fairgrounds was backed up quite a ways when we arrived but I expected it. Driving home… well I don’t know what Kelly told Maggie (the GPS) to do but Maggie sent us into downfuckingtown Washington DC. Seriously, into the ghetto. We saw row houses and crack dealers and the Capitol building right up close and personal. Kelly got some pictures (I was driving) so I’ll have to get copies of them and post ‘em. We finally got off the city streets and onto the highway and eventually came out the other side heading for Richmond. But ohmygawd it sucked like hell. I never ever ever want to drive in or near DC again. Ever.

I can’t wait for next year! We’ve already decided we will find a different route, but we’re going back!

It’s Friiiiiiiiiiiiiday! Tonight, my friend Kell is sleeping over because we are leaving at 4am tomorrow morning to drive to MS&W! I can’t freakin’ wait! It is going to be so much fun =) I fully expect to have multiple fibergasms tomorrow.

I know you’re supposed to go to these things with a battle plan. Knowing what sort of yarn you want to buy, with a list of yardages and all of that jazz. I’m throwing caution to the wind though. I have no plan. I’m taking a certain amount of cash and I plan to just impulse buy. I don’t have any specific projects in mind for the near future anyway. I have a vague idea of yardages required for some things, such as sweaters, blankets, etc. so if I see something I have to have for a specific thing, I will just have to make my best guess and then add a skein or ball or two for good measure. The only planned project I have is still pretty vague, something for a baby girl due to make her appearance in August. The mom is using pink and chocolate brown as her colors. I haven’t decided if I’ll be making her a blanket or a bear or what. No clue. So, I’ll just have to be on the lookout for pink and brown yarns that trip my trigger.

On the other hand. They have spinning wheels there. I’ve wanted one for a very long time now. I might wind up spending my budget (and then some, thank you president Bush!) to get myself a wheel. Knowing me, I will restrain myself though. But we’ll see =)

The kid is sick. I had to pick him up from school yesterday and he’s staying home today. I will so kick his ass if he’s so sick I have to stay home tomorrow. Seriously. OK, maybe not, but I would be very bummed. So please send get better vibes to my brat child so his mommy can go out to play tomorrow! I’m going to be stuffing Advil down his throat all day today. Whatever it is has been going around the school according to the nurse. She didn’t even give him a choice in the matter yesterday, when he told her his symptoms she said “You are going home, let’s call your mom.” With SOL’s looming around the corner, they aren’t sending kids home lightly. They are all about the prepping for those damned tests and making sure your kid is there every day, on time and ready to work. *Sigh* damned viruses. Get well vibes. Lots and lots of them please!

OK, so I’ve been tagged once again for the 7 random things meme. Ktb I’m not sure I can think of 7 random things that I haven’t already told everyone about. I’ll try though.

1. Tomorrow is my first ever fiber related festival. Hopefully the first of many =)

2. I don’t really like crowds but I am willing to make the sacrifice for the sake of fiber.

3. I was at a friend’s house yesterday and missed the birth of her puppies by mere minutes. She knew her girl was pregnant but thought she had *just* gotten pregnant and that they had a couple of months before the puppies arrived. I saw the dog trying to nest in the couch pillows and told her that when the dog went into labor that would be her spot. Turns out I was right! I should be able to see the pups later today.

4. Boomer starts obedience school Sunday! Woohoo! I’m finally going to learn how to get him to walk properly on leash! He’s signed up for the beginner class, but he’s already got a head start on things because he knows a majority of what they teach. Or at least he has a basic knowledge of them. I’m very excited though, because this class will help me teach him better. It will be good for both of us. The boy will be attending too, so he can learn how to handle our big guy better. My hope is that after this, I can send them out for walks and feel more confident. Right now I worry that Boo will yank loose and run off if he sees something he can’t resist, and he outweighs the boy by a good 30 pounds, so it’s possible lol.

5. I miss the hell out of my husband. It hasn’t even been a full month yet. I need one of two things. A) one of those nifty transporters so I can go visit him at will. or B) A time machine so I can hurry this year along and get him home. Yes, I watch too much si-fi and I am a dreamer. But if anyone happens to have one of these items hiding in the basement, gimme a shout ok?

6. I’m running out of random things to say.

7. Oh, wait! Here’s one more. I started the baby blanket over again. This time I am making 12 inch squares. Same stitch pattern, just on a smaller scale. Somehow, the edges are turning out perfectly this time around. Don’t ask me why because I have no idea. I just know I have made three and a half squares and they have nice straight edges. I also feel like it’s progressing much faster. I can whip out a square in an afternoon or evening of crocheting. I think I’m going to like it better this way, so maybe it’s a good thing I had to start over. In spite of the fact that I hate joining squares lol.

OK, so my 7 random things are kinda lame and boring but it’s early and my brain is not really awake yet. I’m not tagging anyone else… for the simple fact that I don’t want to get my ass kicked So go for it if you feel the urge (the meme not the ass kicking!) or if you just need blog fodder….

I’m ticked off. At myself. Just look at this…

This is a baby blanket for a friend’s first grand-baby.

More than a month’s worth of work. Fucked up. I didn’t learn my lesson regarding checking gauge and stitch count very well did I?For point of ref. the strips are meant to be horizontal, but the picture didn’t show the screw-up well with it the right way. There are two extra stitches, and the edge I’m working on is TWO WHOLE INCHES wider than the starting edge. WTF?

I seriously doubt I could block this to work out. I’m going to have to frog it. Dammit. I was only about 6 inches from being DONE with this. I’m going to go have a wee cry now, then set up the winder so I can frog it and start over. Well, almost over. I’ve got to go so far back it might as well be starting over.

Damn. Just shoot me now.

This is a milestone!

Yes, Boomer and Tux are sharing the bed. Tux was sleeping peacefully there on the corner, when Boo decided the floor was just too uncomfortable. So he walked over to the bed and sort of walked across it, when Tux didn’t move he walked away, but then came right back. He acted like he was going to lay down so I told him it was ok, just don’t squish the kitty. He walked away again, but again went right back and that time he turned a few circles and flopped right down. He only stayed about three minutes, but it’s something!

Tux has always been our dog hater. He was the one I was most concerned about when we got Boomer. But things seem to be working out just fine =) That makes me happy.

What didn’t make me happy was the nail I discovered embedded in the back tire of our car. I took the car up to Sam’s club to get them to patch it (which they do for free if you’re a member, just in case y’all didn’t already know that… I didn’t!) Turns out, they couldn’t patch it. Not enough tread left on it. I could have sworn hubby left me with four good tires. So, I had the nice boy put our spare on (which is a full sized tire) and now I’m going to have to buy a new tire. I had him look at the other back tire and he said it’s ok for another 10-20,000 miles. Then in the next breath said I should just get four new tires when I replace the spare. Ummm, but the two front ones are new. Like, really new. (I think?) So, shouldn’t I just need two new ones? I mean, I get that you don’t want to replace tires one at a time. But why should I replace the two new front tires? Gah. So, while I had hoped to enroll the dog in obedience classes next month, it looks like I’ll be buying a pair of tires instead.

Other than that, a whole lotta nothing going on. I’m getting farther along on the baby blanket I started before our vacation. Nearing the finish line actually. I’ll post pics when it’s there. Other than that, just keeping up with the house and yard work. Fun times lol.

I know. I’m never around any more. I really am going to try to get better, if for no other reason than so hubby can keep up with the goin’s on around here. Boring as that may be. I’m hoping he might be able to access the blog from the ship, so he can see photos and read about the stuff we’re doing. I just came to this brilliant conclusion this morning. Yep, I’m quick like that

So, today a friend and I decided to go garden hat shopping. We each wanted big floppy straw hats to keep the sun off our faces while we garden. So we went shopping! Yay! (Shhh don’t tell hubby, but I bought a new purse too ) I found the PERFECT hat. Wanna see?

Yep, Boomer wanted in on the action. But doesn’t my hat ROCK? Here’s a bit of a better view…

Who is that I hear hollering to see my tshirt? Yes, I hear you back there! OK, OK. This is the Tshirt I bought in San Antonio, on the lovely Riverwalk the day I got to meet Wendy. She’s been wanting to see the shirt on me, so here ya go Wendy!

And in closing… Boomer says

Hi!