sherriknits

I barely slept last night.  Sometime around 3 I got up and placed a book order.  I didn’t let myself start doing anything else because I had to be to work today at 9.  I didn’t quite make it.  Doesn’t really matter, though.  I spend my Wednesday mornings doing books for my family’s business.  My sister and brother were outside painting the building and I spent all morning and part of the afternoon trying to get a bank statement reconciled.  I did it 3 times before I could find the mistake, a transposed number.  Do you ever just have the worst time sticking to what you need to be doing?  I was really wanting to do just about anything else. 

I didn’t knit a stitch today.  However, last night was knit night and I did finish this little sock, no big accomplishment.  I got the second one started.  It’s funny, they are just weird to photograph.  It didn’t help that hubby was making fun of me for taking a picture of my sock on the floor next to the dog.  It’s dark and I didn’t feel terribly creative.

I heard today that Cat’s book has gone into 2nd printing and the books are getting hard to get.  I love it.  She deserves to have this do so well.  I managed to get ahold of 6 more for my shop and one is already sold.  This was my 3rd order since beginning of August!  (good thing I got up in the night to order, right?)

My co-worker was not thrilled to see that I had taken my nail tips off myself.  I think it isn’t really recommended.  I took her my Jil Jordan nailcare kit and she buffed and sanded on one hand this morning.  This afternoon, she did the other when she took a break   I promised her that next time, I would do it right. 

This post is so boring I can’t even believe I am going to put it out there.  haha

ps  Liz commented yesterday that we need to hold on to that spirit that brought out the best in many people after the tragic events of 9-11.  She is so right and I really do see that, too.

I just got off the phone with a dear friend who asked me to pray for a family member who is terribly ill.  Remember to tell those around you that you love them. 

It was kind of a theme of my day now that I think of it.  I heard on the radio on the way to work a book discussion about writing notes to someone in your life who needs to hear from you today.  I only heard about 5 minutes of it, but I think he said a person should make a list and then choose someone. 

Then tonight on the news, Ann Curry was sitting with a group of elderly ladies discussing the importance of friendship… there are really some health benefits to having multiple friends.

When I listened to my friend weeping for her family and asking for prayers for strength, I thought about that news story and told her about it.  We told each other how much we cared about each other.  The thing I love about friendships is that not one of my friends takes the place of another, they all add something beautiful to my life.  Relationships are important to me.

We had a funny end to our conversation…she told me there was a huge truck in front of her house and it was kind of creeping her out.  Her hubby was in bed.  All of a sudden she started screaming and screaming, which led to me screaming and screaming for her to tell me if she was ok and wondering what to do….when she told me she’d stepped on a slug! okkkkkk  thanks for scaring the daylights out of me!   lol

Anyway…do you have someone you need to love on today?  Take a minute to reach out.

pss  Yea Mariner’s!  I just woke up hubby and #2 daughter who had fallen asleep on the couch when we won the game tonight!  (finally)

Go away on vacation and look what happens!  I have really enjoyed getting to know people I may never have had opportunity to meet.  I am humbled that they would choose me!

Liz surprised me with this.  I happened to get her message when I was on the side of the road on the first day of our vacation.  We were having some minor problems with the motor home and hubby was changing some fuses and I noticed when I turned on my computer that I could get online for the 5 minutes we were parked there.   lol

These awards were started by Roberta Ferguson, and now I am supposed to 1) give her credit, 2) put up the badge and 3) add 5 other rockin’ girl bloggers to the list.

Every time I see someone receive this, they say how hard it was to choose someone to pass it on to.  Now I understand why.   This is hard for me, but this is why Liz nominated me….”who knits beautiful things and has a beautiful outlook on her faith and family”.  Thank you, Liz.  I have said this before and I will say it again, I am ever so grateful to have gotten to “know” you.  Here are my choices in alphabetical order because they are all great:

Diplady … she is a real life friend and I enjoy her enthusiasm for every knitting project she takes on.  I have watched in astonishment over the past year and a half that she has been knitting, nothing scares her.  She’s also a great friend.

Hasbu … she knits such fun things with style and photographs them so beautifully.  I’m so glad her blog is in English as well as Finnish.  She is the first Finnish blog I found.

Heidi … another Finnish blogger (Hasbu’s sis).  Not only do I love her knitting but her photography and her decorating style.  She has helped me understand a lot about Finnish culture and I am so grateful for that.

Lauri … another real-life friend who is a fearless knitter.  She knits 3 or 4 things to everything I start!  We’ve had great times knitting together.

Mary … I’m not exactly sure how I found her blog, but she has entertained me not only with her knitting but her fun way of sharing what she’s up to.  I especially loved her Aug. 16 post! 
 

I got this from  Hasbu…I have thoroughly enjoyed her and her sister’s blogs.  I am Finnish and it is so fun that they post in Finnish and English.  I can actually recognize some of the words I used to hear when I was growing up!

I am going to pass this on to Liz .  This past year has been pretty overwhelming to me at times and she was one who really picked up on it and cared.  I disappeared for a very long time and when I came back, she was right there.  She’s an incredible knitter and how she does that along with all the other things going on in her life, I don’t know but I’m sure grateful to have gotten to know her!

I have to say, it has been so much fun to have my little shop.  My customers have become my friends and constantly bless me just by being able to get to know them.  The other night we had our knit night and look what one of my friends brought me!

She knit me a bead bracelet and I just love it!

It’s so beautiful, I would have worn  this to the wedding!  All day yesterday, I just kept looking at it and enjoying it so much.  Thanks so much, Amber!

This is my latest sock using Cat’s new method.

Next sock, I think I will do single strand and make it for normal wear.  It’s just nice to do something quick so I can work through the different parts and try to get the concept to stick in my head a little more each time.

Last night we went on our mini-date.  We were on a quest for shoes for the little imp.  Who knew it would be so hard!  I couldn’t find any locally so we went to Olympia.  The first store we went to had nothing for him, but hubby and I both ended up with new shoes…it was buy one get on half-off and since I have found I can’t wear any cheap shoes but my Crocs any more, it seemed like a good deal.  I actually could have bought 3 pairs, but I resisted.

The one good thing is that I wear my shoes for years and years.

Then we went to Barnes and Noble and I could not believe what I found!  I was restless and couldn’t find anything to look at so I was wandering around and came upon a table of audio books.  I have looked and looked for this book on audio but could never find it for less than $30.  I could barely contain my excitement when I found this for $15 after our membership discount and an extra coupon!

I read this last summer, a few chapters at a time at B&N.  I knew I wanted to buy it but I wanted to savor it by reading bits at a time.  When we left on vacation last year, I finally bought it (the same copy I had been reading there) and made myself make it last.  I don’t know why it affected me so deeply, but it really did.  I will listen to it while on vacation this year.  Hubby and I listened to it on the way home last night and he actually enjoyed what he heard but I bet I can’t get him to listen to 16 hrs but we’ll see.  We have listened to books before together in the car and loved it.  He just can’t do his channel surfing that way.

This weekend or early next week, we’re taking off for a little bit on vacation.  The little imp is pretty excited because look what’s sitting in front of our house waiting to take us away.

We have some great friends who lend us this almost every year for the past 6 years or so.  This time it will just be the 3 of us taking off and then the older kids will come when they can.  Some of them will have to set up a tent because our family is growing.  We love getting to do this.  The little imp is hilarious, he thinks he owns this.  When we go to our friends’ house, he goes straight into it and sits in *his* seat…the passenger side.  Good thing I hate sitting there.  I get to do whatever I want, watch a movie, read, knit…and they navigate. 

It’s always fun trying to make something to eat while we travel, usually sandwiches…and not lose it all over the floor.  Our funniest experience was when we were trying to get to Ka-knee-ta (sp?) and it was so scary winding down or up on the narrow road.  I was just about to scream “slow down!” (we were only going about 30 but it was so rattle-y and steep) but before I could get the words out, the refrigerator door flew open and we had pop cans and fruit rolling everywhere.  The kids and I were laughing so hard and trying to gather it all up that we didn’t have to endure the rest of the trip.  I loved the campground there but never want to do that again, it was awful.

We leave this weekend and have 2 weeks off altho we won’t be away all that time.  Woo hoo!

As usual, I had a rough start to the new clue…it just seems to be my way.  The pattern is fairly simple but it’s short rows and I had to learn how to tink back without losing the purl 2 tog at the end of the purl rows….they get away so fast!  I finally got smart and put a lifeline in the last row of clue 4.  I wore out some of the yarn and ended up just breaking it off and starting over.  I had the brilliant idea of changing needles and ended up with quite a mess on my hands.  Oh well, it’s just part of the journey.

I know it’s all over the internet, but in case you don’t know about the mystery stole, we did find out last Friday what the theme was…Swan Lake.  The last part of the shawl is a wing…it is asymmetrical.  Melanie gives the option of repeating all of the clues over and making it symmetrical but I think most are going with her original design.  I am hoping I don’t regret shortening it, but personally, I just don’t want to go back any more.  It should be about 66 inches and I hope that’s enough.

I seem to be sailing smoothly now.  I’m on row 71 of 99 rows.  It was my hope that I’d finish the clue this weekend so I could knit on something else, but it wasn’t to be. 

Tomorrow we go for the little boy’s therapy.  We have only gone once this summer so far.  This will be the only visit this month because we hope to take a little bit of time off later this month if I can figure out how to do it.  I think it would just be the 3 of us this time since the other kids are working now.

The little imp got a job at church morning.  We give mugs filled with candy to any first-time visitors.  A few weeks ago, I was talking to a friend and I saw him take some of the mugs to the front to hold them up when they asked if we had any new visitors.  I am not a mom who sits back smiling when her child does something like this, but somehow I saw he had a need to have a part.  So did the the head usher and he went up with him and sat in the front row.  When some people raised their hands, he steered him to them and they were pretty tickled.  I was talking to them this morning and they said they could certainly arrange to have him help.  He needs to understand that he can’t do it every week, no one else does… but he can have a part.  It might keep his thoughts from being part of the worship team. 

I was blessed so much during worship this morning.  Hubby was leading and during one of the songs, I heard a beautiful (young lady’s) voice singing this song:

Amazing grace, How sweet the sound
Amazing love, Now flowing down
From hands and feet, That were nailed to the tree
As grace flows down and covers meCHORUS:
It covers me
It covers me
It covers me
And covers me 

and it took me a minute to wonder who it was…when I looked up there, I could have fallen over…it was my #2 daughter who was the only female on the platform! (I did know she was playing keyboard).  We’ve always known she had a beautiful voice but she hides it from us all.  She also has a heart of worship.  She’s been leading worship in youth church for a few weeks, but we’ve respected her wishes to not go until she is more comfortable.  To hear her voice come out so strong and clear during Sunday service was so incredible.  Hubby and I have been humbly grateful the past few months over our kids and what we are seeing.  So, my heart just sings today.  I am the only un-musical member of our family, but I do love worship just the same…I just need someone to follow.

I totally forgot Saturday’s sky yesterday and can’t even remember what it was like…pretty exciting, eh?

Back to knitting a few rows on this crazy stole!

Yesterday was the little imp’s birthday.  I should have looked closer at the pictures I got, not so many good enough to share. 

Our family has a tradition of “birthday breakfast”.  He was up early and was excited for his request for french toast.   But important things first.

This was the year for musical cards…he got 4.  I bought one for him in January or so…and then the newlyweds got the same one! High School Musical of course.  He also got Shrek and Pirates of the Caribbean.  We had dueling cards for awhile yesterday.

We aren’t sure he understands the concept of a gift card, but when he gets to go buy a dvd, it will make a lot of sense to him!  He wanted to get “Night in the Museum” but he actually got that for a gift.  We watched it last night and it was hilarious.

He also got to go to lunch with Daddy.  Every birthday person gets to have that privilege.  This year we moved up from McDonald’s to the favorite pizza parlor in town.  Make that “pepperoni, cheese, sauce, that’s all.  And ice water, please.”  The favorite waitress wasn’t working yesterday, though.

He blew his candles out in the silliest way I have ever seen…one at a time!

(Can you guess what his favorite shirt is these days???)

Today I continued to move along on my mystery stole.  I only have to backtrack one row if at all.  Today, though, I was struggling through one row (why is it that one will just give you trouble over and over? ) and I realized I didn’t even know which row I was on…my tape was covering 2 rows and I had no idea until I realized one of them had beads on it and this wasn’t a bead row.    Gosh, this silly thing will find any way to confuse me.  I have been able to work on it while carrying somewhat of a conversation with others, though.  I have stayed with the written version of the chart and still feel like I am knitting blind but I don’t make as many mistakes…my hope is that I can go back to the visual charts next project, but this one has no repeats so no opportunity to memorize.

I am on row 123 now, almost halfway through the 2nd clue.  Since this Friday we’ll get a clue and then next week we won’t, I’ll be caught up soon, I’m sure.

A friend stopped by today and blessed me with 2 books on cd for my iPod.  If I can figure out how to get them onto my computer, I’ll be a happy camper.  I’ve done it before but the ‘how’ is eluding me tonight!  My iPod is safely in my purse after taking a little trip down the hall yesterday.  I don’t want to point any fingers but everyone had wondered why it was where it was but me (who didn’t see it there) and one little imp.  I only could find my jumbled up earphones under my pillow and am amazed I didn’t wake up hubby trying to find it last night.  My Palm Pilot makes a pretty good flashlight but I never found the iPod until this morning.  (it seems someone might have asked me why it was where it was, though..don’t ya think? )

Back to knitting and the Mariners…..

Hubby and I got away fairly early on Friday.  We got a 2 day date!  I think this is the first time either of us could remember getting away and actually having some quiet, down-time.  We got to Seattle in the early afternoon and checked into our room.  We went out and got a bite to eat and drove around downtown Seattle a little bit.  It was crazy….lots going on!  I took a few pictures, but none of them were really good enough to waste space here.  For you coffee lovers, though…here is the Starbucks executive offices.

I wanted to get a picture of the original Starbucks but the crowds were so crazy and we didn’t get on the right street because we were sick of waiting for lights to change.

We got back to our room early and spent an enjoyable time relaxing for awhile.  Then we had to drive over to Barnes and Noble to spend our usual Friday night.  :)  The difference was, we didn’t have to drive an hour home.  We of course had to visit Starbucks there…but it’s not a B&N Cafe as we are used to and we had to sit in there without anything to read.  (Although I have been to that one several times and never knew I wasn’t supposed to bring things in to Starbucks just to look at!  I’m glad I never set off any alarms!)

Hubby was pretty tired and went off to sleep at a normal time.  I could not quit thinking about my Mystery Stole so I got up and started working on it.  MS3 and I are  not on speaking terms at the moment.  What’s crazy is the this is not a difficult pattern, but why I spend more time going backwards than forwards is beyond me.  I decided to put it down for a few days.  I was up until 2 working on it!!!!

In the morning we went to breakfast and actually just sat around the room until 11!  We can’t ever think of a time we just did that rather than being out and about and barely seeing the room.  It was great! 

Then it all kind of changed.  lol.  I realized I did not bring any mindless knitting with me and we were going to have lots of time to kill at the stadium before the concert.  Soooooo….I looked up several yarn shops in the phone book and told hubby just one was fine for me to stop at.  He wanted to figure out the parking at the stadium….but he said we had more than enough time to do that.  Well, we ended up way off track on the first shop and had to call #1 son for driving directions.  Since we wasted so much time driving through residential streets trying to figure out what in the world we were doing….it was getting a bit tense.  I also asked for directions to another shop.  That seemed easier so we switched plans and headed to that one.  Wouldn’t you know it?  It was downtown close to where we needed to be…but no parking.  Hubby dropped me off.  I won’t say much about the shop … I was so excited to go there but I had a really hard time finding some sock yarn (do love what I ended up with) and needles..and they didn’t seem to  understand that when I said hubby is driving around the block and I need this wound quickly please that I needed to get out of there.  I was feeling sick over it because it took so long at every light and I knew if he had to go around too many times it was going to be stressful.  He finally appeared in the shop (BEFORE they started winding my yarn) and told me not to worry.  The shop was cute, though.

We then drove to Qwest Field.  We have gone to enough Mariner’s games that we knew where to look for free parking and it’s a good thing we decided to do this hours before the concert.  People were already heading to the stadium.  We didn’t have to walk far at all.  In fact where we parked by a business, they were renting their lot for $20 a space. 

It was hot, hot, hot.  We walked around outside looking at all the fun stuff.  They were giving out free hot dogs, water, and pop by the Brooks and Dunn truck.  We’d just eaten, but stood in line for water, it ran out right before us and we tried a Jones diet cola…not bad for free. 

We got in line as a crowd started forming since we’d been told they’d open the gates at 2:30.  Thankfully we’d bought water but it was so hot and I almost finished mine.  For some reason, hubby didn’t open his.  We stood there baking and by the time they opened the doors at 3…we were all pretty hot, but in good spirits.  I had to throw out the rest of my water because it was open, but he got to keep his.  Our tickets were on the 3rd level and hubby said we should just walk up rather than find an elevator.  I think he might have regretted that decision later!

It’s a long walk when you’re hot and tired.  He wanted to walk around a bit but for some reason, I got concerned about our seats.  I am horribly afraid of heights.  He said he thinks all reason left me.  lol  

I wanted to go find our seats and let me tell you…they pointed up the highest section and said follow the alphabet until the double letters started, then find our seats  (we were ii)  As he started climbing, I fought panic but stuck with him.  Gosh… 35 rows up and it was already high.  I’m not sure if it was good that there was really no one else there yet or not.  Here is our view:

Please note the fact that the roof is hanging right over us.  I managed to take this picture after I finished bawling from being so freaked out.   I do have to laugh.  Poor hubby had a permanent crease in his shirt from me grabbing it when I felt like I’d spill out of the seat.  It really IS better when there are people sitting in front of you.  He is so patient and talked me back to rational thinking.  I was trying to figure out how in the world I was going to get back down, though, I didn’t think he’d enjoy seeing me crawl or go down backwards.  LOL

I was more than grateful for sock yarn at that point.

Sorry it’s blurry but I was not done shaking yet.  I don’t know how I managed to get that much knit, but by then people were coming up and I felt more secure in my seat.

A little aside, I am sick of this kind of thing ruling my life.  I had to rationalize my thoughts and looked around at everyone else laughing at how high they were and actually run down the steps.  If I believe God is in control, then I need to act like it even when I don’t feel like it.  I hope that’s progress.

Hubby really wanted to go walk around and convinced me that to sit in that seat from 3 until 11:30 pm was not very feasible.  Down we went.  I can do it easily if someone is walking in front of me.  We enjoyed roaming around but there is something I totally regret.  There were seats outside the food area that we think now were not ticketed seats and we could have easily had one!  I was kind of ticked that our tickets were NOT the cheapest ones and I couldn’t see how any seat there could be any worse than what we had.  I later met a lady who spent even more than we did and she was on the other side in about the same place.

This plane flew in circles around Qwest Field for hours. Someday I will think to zoom in so you can actually see what I’m trying to get a picture of.  It said “KC 2nite  and the name of the radio station”

When we made the climb back up, I told hubby I wasn’t going to do that again.  It was too much in the heat.  I would rather stand than climb all those steps again.  We stayed up there for 1 1/2 groups and then he wanted to go get dinner.  We took all of our stuff and ate down there and then found a great place to stand.  It’s good it was great (although it was behind those seats that we could have had) because we stood there for over 3 1/2 hours!  My legs ached so bad all the way home and all day today. 

We went to see Kenny Chesney but enjoyed much of the rest of it.  What I forget about events like this is that many people get pretty rowdy and it can get a bit much to deal with when they start knocking in to you.  It was still fun. Hubby was a professional musician when we got married and he just loves all the lights and equipment and everything about the production.  All our friends laughed when they heard what we were going to…because now all hubby does is worship music but that part of him will always be there to see the big show so the kids gave him tickets to The Flip Flop Summer tour.  Here he is looking at all the equipment down below where he wishes he could have walked.

 
We loved when Brooks and Dunn did “Only in America”….they had several video screens behind them of differnt flags, and then at the end of the song, different members of the military came out and stood across the stage.  I’d have gotten a picture but they got a standing ovation and it was way too cool to think about taking pictures.  Hubby sang that song at church several years ago when the whole worship team wore cowboy hats and stood behind a scrim so we could only see the outlines and red, white and blue shirts. 

Anyway…Kenny Chesney really knows how to put on a show and appreciate his audience.  I love that.  Look how beautiful it was.  (my Saturday sky picture)

See that bright spot down on the floor?  Here’s a closeup.  He came up out of the stage and played for a little while. 

 It’s pretty awesome seeing a show like this.  Outside, warm…lots of energy.

At the end, he signed a guitar and gave it to a little girl in the audience. 

When it was all over, the crush of people leaving was incredible.  We walked down the ramp and hubby had someone step on the back of his sandal and loosen the strap.  If he’d tried to stop and fix it, there would have been a domino effect of people falling so we just kept moving.  I tried to take a picture on the last round before we hit the street…the camera was over my head and I just clicked…and missed the mass of people, but you get the idea.

We got home at 1:30.  Hubby had to be at church by 7:30 this morning and the middle kids were playing on the worship team this morning also so they had to be there early too.  This left the little imp and I home to get there by the time 2nd service started.  I got up at 8 and could not believe how bad my legs hurt.  When I decided we should start getting dressed and maybe make it to first service so we could have the rest of the day home…I couldn’t find the little guy.  He was asleep in our bed after getting up around 6!  He slept until 11:30 and I gave up and zoned out on the couch.  That’s a rare occurrence but I just didn’t have it in me to drag him out of bed, get him dressed (tons of verbal reminders) and figure out how to get myself ready too. 

The day was relaxing.  I worked on my new sock yarn a bit.  Can you guess what it is?

Pretty, eh?

Before  I show you…here is the boy doing his sprinkler imitation.  LOL  Big sis didn’t get the whole picture, but you see the fun he has.

Here’s hubby convincing me he should go to Stitch n Pitch on July 26 to see the Mariners…

He didn’t want me to put this on here … but then said I could.  He’d been sleeping and had put my knitting on his chest so he didn’t mess it up.  I asked him if he was knitting and he showed me he was.

Here’s the evidence that I did the work.

The daughter was taking pictures of me unbeknownst to me and I am not sure I really even combed my hair today so this is all you get to see.

And here is what I’m making.

If you’re still here after such a long post, thanks for sticking it out.   I’m finally making a Jaywalker sock…a few years behind everyone else.

ps.  My computer has been repaired and should be home Tuesday!!!!  No word on that blessed iPod.

Did you do anything fun to celebrate Independence Day? 

It was a busy day for us, mostly because I wanted to go to Macy’s for their one-day sale and it gave hubby the perfect reason to go to Guitar Center.  We drove up the freeway in the Jeep with the top off, my hair was just lovely by the time we got back home.  lol  The kids were jammed in the back seat.

This was actually after we left Macy’s.  Let me tell you…we had quite the time loading our stuff in the jeep!  Hubby got some super bargains, not too big, at Guitar Center, the kids got some stuff at Ross…and I made a haul at Macy’s.  We had to stuff things in everywhere we could. 

Look what I got!

Those are all serving dishes.  It was because I got this from daughter’s boyfriend.

I told him I’d never have had to go spend all that money if he hadn’t gotten me started.  lol  Nah…I’m a shopper and I knew the sale was coming.

I also got the last color I really wanted.  I think it’s called Plum.

Excuse the dust but they all come out of the box this way and hubby wanted to get going while I was trying to take the picture.  He never complains, but thinks it’s a bit silly. 

On the way home from shopping, we drove out to our favorite place.  The kids had never been there, mostly cuz all we ever do is park and look at the water.  Today we walked down on the dock and sat awhile.

Mom, could you please just hurry?

I thought I’d get a picture looking back up towards land….and someone popped in the picture.  I never liked having my picture taken like my kids do!

We couldn’t go home without having a snack.  (the little imp could live on ice cream)

Now to the knitting.

I bought myself a new book and am having fun reading through it.  A friend took a class in Bohus Stickning and I have obsessed over wanting to learn it ever since I saw her cuffs she made.

Last night, I was getting ready to go to bed and I thought…hmmm, I haven’t knit on my stole all day, maybe I’ll just knit one row over and one back.  Wellllllll…..I ended up knitting several, and then dropping a stitch and couldn’t find it so I had to go back to my lifeline, which was in there some wonky way.  I had to go back 2 more rows from that and then, obsessed as I am, I had to knit back up a few rows.  I was rather upset at myself for even starting it so late.

This morning, I got up early and spent some time on the porch rocking and knitting.  As I was knitting, I saw a mistake way back where the lifeline was.  I knew I had gotten off and just did a cheat fix because I couldn’t see where the problem was.  After I knit about an inch and a half, it was very clear where it got off even though the specific place didn’t show.  I kept knitting and convincing myself it was ok.  I could learn to block in a way that it wouldn’t be so noticable (and it wouldn’t have been to anyone but me anyway).  I just couldn’t see going back.

I sat down to knit after our afternoon venture and wouldn’t you know it?  I came to a stitch that I could not figure out what happened.  I’ve seen a few of those and haven’t figured out if it is an uncompleted stitch or what….  after I tried the next pattern row, I realized it was off so I started tinking back.  Well, you know how sometimes the mistake just keeps going with you?  I finally decided (after getting quite frustrated) to just frog back to the lifeline and fix that other error.  It is a pain trying to get this yarn back on the needles from the lifeline.  It is white and the yarn is vanilla.  I learned my lesson a long time ago and don’t use a color on white.  Since I got it back on the needles, I have now gone back 2 or 3 rows trying to find the error that was already there (I knew that it happened the row before the lifeline and kick myself for not putting that lifeline in when I told myself to…the row BEFORE the error).

So, this is what it looked like when hubby is impatiently patiently standing there waiting to go to the bride and groom’s house (they’re on their honeymoon still) to watch fireworks. 

It is a little smaller than that right now.  I spent the time while waiting for the fireworks to start trying to roll the yarn back up.  Hubby was scolding me for doing it in the semi-dark after I got a knot and had to break the yarn.  Arrrggghh.  I can’t seem to learn some lessons.

I do know I will be happier with this when I get going again..even though I was only a few rows from being done with clue 1. 

I got a really cute gift from a friend yesterday.

They are stitch markers and they say:  I believe … Harmony … Wisdom … and an ice cream cone.  I love them and it’s fun to have something that makes you think about that person who blessed you. 

And now…I leave you with a few pictures of the honeymooners.  Take note of the tree that they are passing … she flies by on the top and he is well below it.  She got to do this in Costa Rica last November and loved it so much.  They’re having a great time.  Might as well, when they get home…life begins. 

They actually have a lot to look forward to…she’s always known she’d be married to a youth pastor.  They have great things ahead of them.

Happy 4th!

I had a fun day today. Our family has a tradition of having “Birthday Breakfast” together. I honestly didn’t care this year if it was Dutch Babies or French Toast. I just wanted cherries. We had a great breakfast together (french toast…it’s the little imp’s favorite and his birthday is in 2 weeks so he’s glad to get mine out of the way!) Hubby has the tradition of taking the birthday person to lunch but today a friend called and asked if she and another friend could take me to lunch. I could tell it really took some pressure off hubby and we just planned to do a family dinner instead. It was a great time. I have always felt like the restaurant we went to is a “chick restaurant” and I always enjoy it there.

For dinner tonight, we did shish kabobs, the yummiest corn on the cob, and baked red potatoes…it was so good.

While the barbecue was going, hubby put together my new porch-knitting chair.  :) 

Tonight I decided to face the music and see if I could get into my Quickbooks files for my business. I had them taken off my harddrive of my dead computer. It only took me an hour and a half to access the files off the disk. Gosh, I think I sweat off 10 pounds trying to get the program to give me permission to get into the files. I have done this before and never had the problem I had tonight. I can’t tell you how sick it was making me to think I had lost all of my bookkeeping for my business. All is well now and I’m not overdue on any bills….whew!!!

I’m still knitting on clue #1 on the mystery stole. I have not a clue how some of the ladies had their first clue completed in a matter of hours. I feel like I’ve knit pretty steadily off and on and I am only on row 79. I’m not that slow a knitter and I haven’t had to do much tinking and no frogging. The pattern is fairly easy if you just go slow and like I’ve said before, I am loving the bead knitting. I have tried and tried to get a picture of the beads but they just don’t show up on the camera. The pattern doesn’t call for a lot of beads, just enough to get the hang of it. I am pretty comfortable with the concept now.

The work week ahead is pretty sparse. Today was my day off, I work tomorrow, am off on Wednesday for the 4th, work Thursday and am off Friday and Saturday because hubby and I are going to a concert Saturday afternoon (Kenny Chesney and Brooks & Dunn!) The dear friend who lent me her laptop offered to work for me on Friday. We’re so ready for a break … recovering from the wedding and all the hassle with all my electronics…. just ready for a break!

Semi-good news on the electronics front. I called on my iPod once again. It’s been almost 2 weeks since they said they’d mail me a label so I could return the defective iPod they sent me. I am pretty ticked because it’s been over a month now since I have had it. The kind lady said she could fax me the label…why couldn’t they do that before? They have tried twice to email the label and once to snail mail it…and always told me all that had to be requested from another office. I told the lady how very disappointed I am in their service. She filed a complaint for me and then transferred me to their customer service to file a complaint myself. Who knows what good it will do but I am really fed up. (did I already say that?) I hope and pray I don’t go through all of this with my laptop, which should have arrived to the repair center by now. I really hope they don’t decide to replace it with who knows what they would offer me.

I think I need to be rolled off to bed…after dinner we had ice cream sundaes and I only ate part of mine. It was a good day even though the Mariners lost tonight.

Things just don’t stop happening here.  As if we haven’t had a lot going on, yesterday we have an official new driver in the family!  It would actually have been nice to have this kind of help before the wedding.  The little sis got her license!

Home safe after her first drive alone. 

Big brother was pretty proud.

Immediately following this celebration, we took all the gifts to the newlyweds’ house so they’d be there when they came home from their 2 nights away, before the official honeymoon.  We had a creative helper.

These kids have been blessed!

This doesn’t really look like their hands (the fault of the photographer mom) but the rings are pretty close.

And today I decided I needed to put my mind to knitting again.  I tried to work, but I was so tired that I really just kind of played around.  I did manage to get my laptop hard drive backed up so I can send it in for repair or whatever they are going to do…grieves me…as does the fact that they have yet to respond to getting my iPod replaced!  grrrr

But the high spot is that I ordered yarn to take part in the Mystery Stole 3 knitalong.  I am hoping it ends up being something I like, but I need a knitting challenge and the surprise element appealed to me.  Hopefully the yarn will arrive tomorrow or Friday so I’ll be able to start with everyone else.  I didn’t ever get a chance to swatch, but hey…why start with that now? 

I have always wanted to knit with beads and tonight we left town a bit early to try to get to the bead store before they closed.  Shipwreck Beads is supposedly the world’s largest bead store.  We really were cutting it close and when I ran through the door, the gentleman on duty told me I had 9 minutes.  I needed to find size 8 seed beads and I did know what I wanted.  I was actually able to find a size 13 crochet hook that belonged to my grandma that fit through the little hole in the bead so I’m all set.  I think I understand the concept of attaching the beads this way so I’m confident I can do it, although I won’t be suprised if it feels awkward at first.  I’m up for the challenge.

I don’t know if you can tell how tiny that hook is…I can’t believe it just slides right into the hole in that tiny bead so easily.  I’m excited to try this!

I got to have a nice dinner with hubby…it was our ‘mini-date’ night and we went to a nice (and cheap) Italian restaurant.  Then we got to meet up with the newlyweds at Barnes and Noble just because we had some gifts in the car for them.  We’re dead set on not bothering them too much, but it was nice that they wanted to meet us for half an hour.  They had to stop here on their way home to pick up her laptop (which works!) and another gift that was left here.  I loved listening them talking to the other kids and enjoying each other.  My kids are all used to going to their big sis’s house on Wednesday nights to watch Lost after youth church. 

I still have so many pictures to look at for the rehearsal and decorating days for the wedding, but it’s a huge chore.  I’ll just make flikr pages as I get them done.   Hopefully I’ll have more knitting content to share in the days ahead….a nice change of pace.  I did work on my Tofutsie socks today in the car in spite of that fact that all those days of being tangled in my purse bent one of my size 0 addi’s pretty bad.  I got it somewhat straightened and it should be ok. 

And now, to bed!

We had the most wonderful day.  Over 300 people showed up, it was horribly stormy off and on, but at the most important moments, it was perfect.  We had to start 15 minutes late because people just kept coming an coming.  There was a huge downpour as the most people arrived.  Someone told me that there was a line of cars a mile long!  I wish I could have seen that!  I put all the pictures from the wedding day on flikr and if I can figure out how to get them linked here, I will do it soon but I need to go to bed.  We slept about 4 hours last night, both hubby and I got sick when we got home.  It probably had to do with not eating much all day but junk, then eating dinner at 9:30 pm. 

We had an ice cream social and it was so much fun!

The little imp walked the grandparents in and then me.  He did such a great job … that aisle was so long!  I have to find out who was in the area that he slowed up and smiled every time down the aisle.

After everyone was in and in place, we chose a dramatic entrance for the bride.  Everyone had come in from the side, but we had the bride and her daddy stand on the other side of the barn doors and at her big moment, her cousins opened the huge doors and there they stood.  Everyone tells me there was a huge gasp and people were sooo moved….but I missed it.  I was too caught in the moment.  I also missed big brother start crying.  He’s my sensitive one.    Little sis cried, too.  She didn’t expect it, but when she saw her brother cry, so did she.  The little imp knew he was to stand on his piece of tape and when the ring bearer tried to get him to step off, he looked very firmly at him because he knew his job.  When the ceremony was over, his job was to come to hubby and I and take us out.  People were so impressed with the job he did.

 We had so many comments on how caring the bridal party was towards each other and the fact that the pastor knew the kids well and was able to share some very thoughtful stories about each of them.  He shared that the bride had always known God would bring the right man along and she was willing to wait.  Everyone saw the change in them before they did.  No one was surprised when they realized they were interested in each other.  I think I was the only one who didn’t see it coming…probably because I was the one who most wanted the day to come.  haha

Pictures soon!