Wow! I can't believe I have not been here for so long. It's been a very busy year. Anyway, so much has gone on I don't know where to start. I think what I will do is just show some pics. Then, when my brain gets used to the whole writing thing I'll come back and share some stories.

Well, blogger doesn't want me to show any pics right now. I guess it must be punishing me for neglecting my blog for so long.

I'll try again later.

my poor muscles

Dear muscles,
I know how sore you have been this week. I am sorry but you are going to have to just get used to it. I started the National Body Challenge this week and I'm sticking to it. Just give this whole exercise thing a little more time and believe me you are going to love it. Once all the pain goes away and you start feeling better, trust me you will love this. In a few weeks you should start to feel leaner and stronger and have a little more energy for me to do the things I like. I know what you are thinking, "yah right!". You just have to have a little faith that I know what I'm doing. Please give me two more days to prove to you that this is a good thing. In a couple of months you are going to hear people commenting on how good you look. Another reason to trust me, the fat that is now your roommate will be moving out. That's a good thing. Anyway, please bear with me.
your owner,
Nancy

just a little pick me up

You Are an Espresso

At your best, you are: straight shooting, ambitious, and energetic At your worst, you are: anxious and high strung You drink coffee when: anytime you're not sleeping Your caffeine addiction level: high

What Kind of Coffee Are You?

Happy New Year!

I know, I'm a little late on that. I've been a little late on a lot of things lately. It seams that the more I get done the more I have to finish. Just to warn you, this is going to be a very long post. I've got so much to say and a very short amount of time to say it. So, here goes.


Christmas knitting......


There was a little bit of knitting this year. I hadn't planned on doing any at all because I was so busy with everything else. Then, a week and a half before Christmas the boys asked if I was going to make their teachers the knitted washcloths. (ARGH!!!!) What was I to do?????

I knit them of course!!!!!!

They are all the knitting warshcloth from the Mason-Dixon book. The soap you see in front is hand made from a kit and there is a soap in each cloth. I made six, one for each teacher, one for the two teachers that I am the lunch aide for, and one for the head lunch lady. The soap is for the principle because I completely ran out of time. My arms and hands weren't feeling that great so i didn't really try very hard. I could have stayed up all night the night before the last day of school but I didn't.

A close up of the of the cloths....

Next up....Vacation

Well, I had a lot of plans for vacation. We were going to see movies, go to museums, and just have lots of fun. Didn't happen. First thing that went awry was Christmas Eve. See, it's soccer boy's birthday. That part was great. Then at night there is a lights parade that passes in front of my house. It is really cool. People decorate their cars and trucks with lights. There are fire trucks, and there are floats. They are all in lights with music and of course.....candy. Here was the first problem. Try putting to bed two boys who have been sneaking candy. Not easy. Finally about 10 o'clock they get into bed only to have the little throw up on everything. Yup, he comes down with the stomach bug. Great! Just Great! Now "Santa" has to try and deliver gifts to a little boy who keeps running to the bathroom because he refuses to use the bowl. After about an hour he finally fell asleep. Very quickly and quietly(we live in a one floor apt.) "Santa" gets all the gifts under the tree.

See, there are a lot. The red ones are not from "Santa". Those are what my husband sneaks after I've gone to bed. If you can see them, the Santa ones have Santa on the paper. I know, lots of gifts.

Christmas Day.....

Woke up about 6. Waited until 8 for everyone else to wake up. I have always woken up very early on Christmas since I was a kid. We opened presents in between actor boy's tossing cookies. (very nice). Then we just kind of hung around and enjoyed each other. We weren't having anyone over until later in the evening which worked out great. Actor boy stopped getting sick, took a nap and woke up fine. So, we had everyone over and it was a typical family Christmas. Did I mention the wine? NO? well there was some. Just for my brother and me. We drank Fat Bastard. Funny name, yummy wine.

Part of the boys present from my nieces was that they take them to a museum every year. Last year it was the Children's Museum. This year, the Museum of Science. This was on Wednesday. We were supposed to meet my mom and Aunts and Uncles and especially my aunt Bertha who was up from Florida for lunch. Well, can you figure out what comes next?

That's right, I got sick. See, soccer boy had it on the Friday before Christmas, DH for some odd reason only got the fever and aches. But nooooooo I had the full blown stomach attack. I had to spend the entire day in bed. That meant I didn't get to see my aunt at lunch. I also didn't get to do anything for myself while the boys were with my nieces. It SUCKED!!!!! See, when my nieces take the boys they are gone all day. This is the day during vacation that I usually get to spend the day doing whatever I want. Not this year. The boys didn't get home until almost ten that night. Oh the things I would have done.

Anyway, enough about that. It's still a little depressing. Onto the knitting after the holidays.

I'm still working on The Perfect Sweater. I'm in the middle of the first sleeve and it's going pretty good. Problem is I keep stopping to knit something else.

First I knit two washcloths and crochet a little basket for the WinterWonderland Swap. Nope, no pictures. I completely forgot to take any. I hope my swap pal takes some and post them because I kind of already forget what the stuff looks like.

Next up I made the boys some new slippers.

The pattern is from the new calendar I bought.

It has a different pattern every day.

And last but not least my favorite thing about the vacation...........

That's right. MALABRIGO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This is for a clapotis hat pattern that I found here.

I think this is enough for now. My hands are about to fall off and I have knitting to do.

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Where have I been?

I bet some of you are wondering where I have been. There's only one word to say, BUSY. Yup, that's it. I just started a new job at my sons' school. It is only about 2 hours each day but it is right in the middle of the day. I've had to completey rearange my schedule. It didn't help that I started 3 weeks before Christmas. Needless to say the blog has suffered.

I have done a lot of knitting though. I finished the front of the Mason Dixon Perfect Sweater. Made 6 washcloths and homemade soap to go with them. I am knitting a dish cloth for the winterwonderland swap.

I hope to have pictures soon. Maybe tommorow. We'll see. I can't believe it's Christmas Eve and soccer boy's birthday tommorow.

Have a very merry Christmas everyone.

I know, I know, it's been a while since my last post. I've have been just so busy lately. The soccer has stopped for the season. That's good. I don't think I could last one more week. It just got to be too much. Now the boys only have bowling and cub scouts. Although, as the assistant cub master, I'm am even more busy. I don't know why I volunteered. I am only the assistant but all the parents insist on calling me with all their problems. I don't know the answers. I keep telling them to call the cub master but they don't . I'm very close to stepping down. Soccer boy just really likes that I'm doing this so I guess I'll just have to stick it out.


Onto other news. My friend Terri and I went to The Museum of Science to see the exhibit Body World 2. It was fascinating! I thought I might have gotten grossed out, but I was totally wrong. It was the most amazing thing I've seen in a long time. Just trying to figure out how it was done was mind boggling. I just wish I had some pictures to show you but they don't allow cameras. I was tempted to take one with my phone but I didn't want to be asked to leave.

It was so nice to spend an entire day with an adult that I am not related to. We took the train into Boston. I was so relaxed. I didn't have to tell anyone to "cut it out" or "don't touch that". It was liberating. Yes, it had been a long time since I was out with friends. We had lunch and then took the train home. I so did not want to walk in my front door. I just knew the minute I got home the relaxing day would end. Boy was I right.


Anyway........

There has been some knitting going on here as well. I'm about 1/3 of the way done on the front of The Perfect Sweater. I had to stop to finish up a bag for a friend. It's gonna be a Christmas gift to her sister. I'm getting paid to make it. I am still in a little shock that someone is actually paying me. I didn't think I was that good. I'll have a picture of it as soon as I attach the handle. The one I have I don't like that much.


There is so much to to say but right now my hand is ready to fall off. Stupid Carpal Tunnel. I hate not being able to type or let alone write for any length of time. Guess I'll never be able to work in an office again.

Next up....Thanksgiving and more knitting pictures.

Knitting Update!

Finnally, I have actually finished something. Well, half finished. It's the back of the MD perfect sweater. Isn't loverly? Just take a look at that armhole shaping. It's my first ever. I can't believe I could do it. This last picture is just another look at that great hem.


Another project I'm working on is a bath mitt.



The pattern is from the inside of the sugar and cream label. This is the other picture of it. I decided to show this one second because without knowing what it is, it looks a little *dirty*.
This is really a very easy pattern to make. I'm thinking of making a bunch for gifts this Christmas.


Well, that's all I have for now.

I'm a bad bad blogger(slaps wrists). I can't believe I haven't posted for so long. I have just been so busy. Between field trips with soccer boy's class, soccer, cubscouts, and Halloween, I'm lucky to even be awake. I have a lot to share but I don't know if I will be able to tell you all at once. I might have to break this up into several posts.

Let's start with the field trip. We went to the JFK Library. It was amazing. I can't believe how well behaved 40 9 and 10 year old were. They were so engrossed in learning everything they could about JFK. I was in awe of their enthusiasm. Some of the things were saw were photos and items given to him on his trip to Ireland. Then there was the section showing the moon rock and other things he received from the space program. I even got to see the actual coconut that saved his life during the war. My favorite room is the very last one. It is all windows on one side and you can see his sailboat and Boston. The room is completely empty except for a few benches. There is a quote from Kennedy on one wall which says.

"All this will not be finished in the first one hundred days. Nor will it be finished in the first one thousand days. . . nor in the life of this administration, nor even perhaps in our lifetime on this planet. But let us begin. ".

If you ever get to Boston, you should definitely go and visit the museum. It is awe inspiring.


Next up is everything having to do with Halloween. Halloween for me lasted about two weeks. Between cub scout parties and just having to listen to the boys asking when Halloween was I had had enough before it even arrived. We had a cubscout party and all the scouts came in costume of course. There were games. My favorite was the doughnut on a string. Actor boy won this game. He was the smallest and youngest player and he beat them all(ha ha ha) I'm so proud. I don't know how he did it because he ended up eating 2 whole doughnuts. We had so many kids that we had to have heats and then the final race. I couldn't believe he had it in him to completely finish both doughnuts. Overall the party was a huge success.

Ok, that's enough for now. My hands are starting to cramp from all the typing. I will leave you with a little knitting though. Here is the beginning of my Mason Dixon Perfect Sweater. I'm so proud of myself for actually turning a hem.