Happy Thanksgiving

So a big Happy Thanksgiving to all my readers- all one of you. If there are more, please leave a comment so I know you are out there!!

Anyway, today is the day we stuff ourselves with tons of food and then sit groaning on the couch arguing over who is going to fetch the remote from the coffee table so we can turn off the football and turn on something more interesting. Not big football fans around here. I did make an apple pie, and hubby picks up the pre-made turkey at 2, so, all is quiet.

As for tomorrow, you will find me cringing behind the couch and hoping no one gets killed this year in the mad Black Friday dash to supposedly save a few bucks. Remember folks, if they have 10 of the item and you are number 11, you might as well get something else!! ANd if you are wondering- my Hannukah shopping is complete, and all I have to do is wrap the gifts.

Giggle*Snort*

I am on Facebook and I really enjoy it. I have reconnected with some old classmates and am able to keep up with friends in other states. It's fun. They also have some great Fan Groups- Gecko Rouge, Cypress Station Grill, Neil Diamond and God Wants You to Know...

I was perusing the last site and looking at the photo people have submitted, elsewhere on-line, of things where they have seen images of different religious figures. One of them posted was supposed to represent Jesus, head slightly bent, hands palms-up, in that supplicant gesture. It was a pic of a dog's arse. Seriously. It gets worse- it totally looks like my dog's arse! I will spare you the pic, but still, who is taking pics of my dog's butt and posting them on the Internet as pics of the image of Jesus? For the record, our dog is Jewish, we've had him circumcised (read neutered)!!

Fun Stuff and a Rant

Well, I think I am addicted. My baby girl is a Brownie and I am their fearless leader. I am enjoying it, and baby girl thinks I am doing a terrific job. And soon it will Girl Scout cookie time! Who doesn't love Thin Mints???

Working through my projects and getting things done. No new ones added- yet! ALthough, I did see this really nice needle case...

Now for the rant. It's a little one, I promise. Why do uncouth people leave dirty diapers in the middle of the parking lot? It is so tacky and so unsanitary. The car next to mine, a Mercedes, had run over it, too. I do have kids, who are , thankfully, fully potty trained. But, when they were in diapers, I always carried small trash bags to dispose of their diapers. And, I always threw out the diaper in the nearest trash can. Although, there was this one time when I had to change my son's nappy on a plane- in the seat, no less. After being yelled at by the super effeminate male flight attendant, who called all his fellow colleagues over when I wouldn't sit down immediately, I handed him the trash bag with the diaper in it. His colleagues, all women, had a great laugh.

Countdown to the Holidays

It seems like my crafting-for-the-holidays list is getting longer. This happens every year. I find some great projects that I want to do and keep adding them to my list because the project would be great for __________. But, I have a plan, maybe.

I have made up project sheets for all the gifts I want to make. As each one is finished, cast off, etc., I check them off my list. I am also carrying a large tote with all my knitting projects in them. It goes everywhere with me- the bus stop, restaurants, doctor's offices (including the orthodontist) and anyplace else that I know I am going to have a long wait (Houston traffic). I need to make over 40 fishie washcloths and every time one is cast off, another is immediately cast on. Is it any wonder that I have the pattern memorized???

As for my sewing, when baby girl is in her sewing class, I have my sewing projects with me and work on them in a different classroom. I have cut out the pockets for the Brownie totes I want to make for my Brownie troop and I had enough fabric leftover to make tissue holders for all of them! I finished several crayon rolls and just need to sew the totes to go with those.

It may be coming together, but I may also be the one babysitting all the kids on Christmas Eve while the others go to Midnight Mass and finishing up my projects! Good thing I am Jewish and have no desire to go to church at midnight! Anybody know a good Chinese take-out in Springfield, Ill. that will be open on Christmas???

Once Again...

Evangelical Christians have gone too far. My baby girl- age 8- got a "treat" in her Halloween bag that was a blatant proselytizing tool. I think of it as more of a trick, though, to make children feel guilty. My daughter is a good girl and doesn't need to be told she is going to hell on a day that once meant fun and candy.

Yes, I do realize Halloween has pagan roots, but so does Christmas. And as for resurrection, many polytheistic religions that were practiced in the time of Jesus had a resurrection story. Osiris, an Egyptian god, is killed by a jealous brother and then brought back to life by his wife Isis- twice!! And while we are at it, the "Virgin birth?" Really? The Greeks and the Romans had their stories long before Mary, who grew up hearing them! Zeus became a bull, swan, a woman's husband, a golden rain shower and other things to lie with and even impregnate lovely young women!

Tell you what, if we decide to go pagan and have a bonfire in our backyard and sacrifice a bull, I promise not to invite you to the festivities. You, on the other hand, must refrain from handing out such overly religious propaganda!

Ummm... Yeah

Between my husband doing something to my computer and the fact that I have been asked to be my daughter's Brownie Troop Leader, I have been busy. And to top it off, insomnia has hit in a big way. I was not meant to run on only 4 hours of sleep a night.

So, not much new at the ol' ranch. DD has been home sick one more time, but I think it allergy related and not the flu. My mom came for a visit and briefly upset teh balance in my universe. Hubby lost out on a bid and we are staying in Houston and not moving to some exotic locale, like Japan. Other than that, life is quiet.

Surly teen has started to settle down and do his work. He was on the honor roll the last 6 weeks grading period. I now have an honor roll sticker proudly displayed on my car! He even told me I'm a good mom because I "encourage." How many teens say that??

Baby girl continues her sewing lessons and is making a quilt using Hannukah fabric from my stash. I can't wait until it is done. I think it is going to be great.

Not much going on with me- trying to get the holiday crafts done, but failing miserably- too tired. I need sleep now- not when I am dead.

And So It Begins...

DD came home from school with a temp of 101.1 F. Apparently the brat who is next to her in PE coughed and sneezed all over her and then boasted she is sick. Great going mom of brat, sending a sick kid to school!

Now for my rant, which I haven't done in a month or so- if your chold is sick, please keep them home so as not to make my kid sick. While I realize you have to work, you do have vaction adn sick days for this type of thing- quit being so selfish and use your d*mn sick days to take care of your kid. So you have to cut your vacation short, isn't your child's health more important?? And odn't give me that crap about I don't understand because I have the "luxury" of staying home. It's not about working mom vs. stay-at-home mom. It's about our children. You'd be just as angry at my child if I sent her to school sick and she coughed all over your child.

And PS, if your job is more important than you child, you shouldn't have had a child in the first place!

School Starts Today

...Nuff said!

Dishwasher Woes

I enjoy the Yarn Harlot's blog. I think she is funny and insightful. I had to laugh when she had dishwasher problems, but I'm not laughing now. I just spent $167 USD replacing a piston on my dishwasher. I also had them clean out the drain while they were at it. The above is what they cleaned out- minus the quarter, which is there for scale. The gingerbread button is from some long forgotten craft project. The flexible plastic ring is possibly from a baby something or other. My baby will be 8 years old next month. At least my dishwasher won't be a breeding ground for bacteria any more.

One by One...

The kids are slowly stealing my sanity. Grumperina- the 7 yo- woke up in her usual grumpy self and spent the morning complaining about everything. I tried to get the child to eat, but she refused everything. And she felt like her older brother was picking on her- he was, but not to the extent she let on.

Surly teen was not all that surly, he just enjoyed picking on his sister and seeing if she would cry. She did- twice. Not a record, but...

I have since banished the both of them outside into the outer rings of Hell (aka Houston in the summer). They are cleaning their trash out of my car. I'm not sure what I'll have them do next.

Two weeks until school starts... two weeks until school starts... two weeks until school starts... I wish it would start tomorrow!

Is it Aug. 24th Yet???

I am soooooo ready for the kids to go back to school. Surly teen ingested a few too many fiber gummies I bought for 7 yo sis and he now has a stomach-ache. Well, duh- I'd have one too if I ate that much fiber. She couldn't go, now he can't stop. When I told that "this, too, shall pass," I did get a laugh from him, though, so he's going to be fine.

Lil' sis is itching to go to the vets with me. She wants to be one when she grows up. I made her a vet costume for last year's "Career Day" at her school. They did it right before Halloween to offset the holiday. She dug out the costume, I lengthened the legs and ironed it and she is ready to go.

Which brings me to the other events of this morning. As I was reading teen the riot act for his fiber overdose, hubby comes out to tell me that he is working from home and I should be quiet. I gave him "the look" and explained to him that he was in my office during working hours and this is my job. He got a kick out of that and went back to his work. Really, he did, he thought it was funny. He thought it was even funnier when I was wrestling the cat into the carrier and the cat peed on me. I should get hazard pay for all that I do.

As for knitting.... it's too hot, she whined. I just can't bring myself to do anything. Not even a simple cotton dishcloth. I do have a new fiber addiction, though, wholly unlike my son's! I got into crazy quilting and took a class a couple of weekends ago. I am having fun, too, and enjoying the embroidery aspect of my new hobby. And, lil' sis is loving her sewing classes, too. Another craft addict in the house. Hubby is doomed!

Movies and Babies

So, hubby and I went to see HP6 last night- without our kids. Youngest would have been too scared and oldest would have spent most of the time in the bathroom pretending not to be scared. We passed by a row and I noticed 2 women there with very young children- under the age of 2. The previews start to roll and when the one of the new "Twilight" movie shows one of the characters turning into a werewolf (sorry folks, I didn't jump on the "Twilight" train), the younger kid starts screaming. I report it to the manager who asks the (very) young lady to take her screaming child out. After the movie is over, she is sitting there, holding the now sleeping child and giving me the evil eye.

1. If you can't afford a babysitter, or your family won't watch your child, then you can't afford a night out at the movies.

2. Take your kids to the movies earlier in the day so we adults can enjoy a kid free movie.

3. Use birth control so you don't get pregnant in your teen years and ruin your life and my movie.

4. My taxes paid for that baby's birth and all his pediatrician bills as you are not working and his daddy is absent! Get over yourself.

If I go to the movies with my kids, who are 7 and 14 now, we go to the earlier shows. When my youngest was an infant and before we knew anyone in our new neighborhood, I would take her to the movies. We tried to time it during her naps and I fed her as the previews were rolling. If she fussed, either my husband or I would take her out of the theater immediately. My first child was born was I was 28, and the last when I was 35, happily married and on firm financial legs.

Things to Do...

...while waiting in line to pick up your kid at summer school:

1. Try to keep his younger sister entertained. I taught her to knit and needlepoint. Does she bring her projects with her?? No. So, she climbs around the car acting like a monkey.

2. Listen to the hybrid engine not make emissions!

3. Get ahead on Christmas knitting- or at least, that was the plan!

4. Listen to the Disney Channel and try not to poke out eardrums with knitting needles.

5. Wonder if feeding kids peanut butter sandwiches for dinner, again, is child abuse. I do include carrots and either milk or juice.

6. Wonder what fabulous meal hubby is having with his colleagues at dinner.

I have not poked out my eardrums, yet. I did finish a simple garter stitch bib and started a knit burp cloth. I have not throttled monkey-girl. I have packed up a bag of her projects. We have run out of peanut butter and I really don't want to go to the store today, so it's spaghetti for dinner. Hubby's fab dinner turned out to be Whataburger.

May was a disaster...

...and June is not looking too good, either. My son turned 14 in early May and those hormones kicked into overdrive. By the time he is done with puberty, his sister will be starting. I've got at least another 11 years of the hormonal roller coaster and I truly want to get off- NOW!!!!

Not only are his hormones out of control, so is his mouth. It got him suspended the last two days of school. Not foul language, just sexual remarks. I think the entire school heard me yelling at him in the AP's office. My voice does tend to carry. I am still angry and he is still grounded from all thngs fun- computer, Play Station, Wii. And as for TV- only what his sister wants to watch. She likes Hannah Montana and iCarly, so he's haitng me right now.

Then we find out that one of his teachers has been arrested. Apparently the guy may have been taking pics up the girls' skirts. There is the part of me that wants him hung out to dry- revoke his teacher's certification, send him to jail and all. Pedophiles are the bottom of the heap in jail, too, so he's going to have to really watch his back. But, this is middle school, and the kids are vicious. Girls' skirts are really short, too. As the mother of a little girl, though, I have to have empathy for the girls who were vicitimized. If it really did happen, then jail is appropriate. If not, then I feel sorry for him because his carreer is all but ruined and there will be no consequences for the girls.

How to Annoy Your Teen, pt. 1

My almost 14 yo son has outgrown his clothes and shoes in record time. I spent Spring Break buying new shoes and clothes for him. Since there are certain things I will not allow him to wear- suggestive clothing- I am stuck with the dubious honor of taking him clothes shopping.

So, we are in Waco, visiting my mom and we are at the mall. I decide to look at some clothes there at a store called "Buckle." The displays look nice, the clothes look fine... That's how they reel you in. I find a very nice t-shirt that he likes and I can tolerate. I look at the price. I look at the price, again. I about swallow my tongue and start sputtering. Put down your beverage before you read this next part. The price of this "nice" t-shirt was... $68.50. If you read sixty-eight dollars and fifty cents than you read it correctly. I asked the over eager sales girl if this was the right price and she cheerfully confirmed that it was. $68.50 for a flimsy t-shirt that will fall apart the second time I wash it?? No, no, no, no, no!! No, I will not buy a t-shirt for that price.

this is where the embarassment begins. As we are walking out of the store, I was still incredulous and remarking very loudly that I was not about to pay that price for that shirt. Surly teen was mortified and kept saying "mom, mooooommmm, all the kids have one." Suddenly my mother's voice is heard "and if all the kids jumped off a cliff would you do it, too?" The problem is that my mom was not shopping with us that day. Surly teen is glaring at me. A group of older teens has overheard us and are all laughing and we end up going to Kohl's and buying his clothes for a lot less. For the prcie of that one t-shirt, I am able to buy him 3 pairs of jeans.

He got over his embarrassment when he realized that we were in Waco and not Houston and noone knows him in Waco except his grandma and her friends.

Rome Is Burning...

So, yesterday I was out running some errands around town and meeting with a friend to help her with a knitting problem and I realized what a sorry state our country is in. The sense of entitlement begins very young.

Scene 1- I am at Michael's waiting for the Pier 1 to open and I am standing in line to make a purchase. Two customers in front of me is a late20/early 30ish woman and her pre-school daughter. The friendly cashier gives the child a free glow-in-the-dark bracelet (Halloween leftovers that can't get rid of??). Does this child say "Thank You?" Does the mom prompt the child to say "Thank You?" If you answered "No" to both questins, then you are correct. I was floored. I could not believe it. They walked out and said absolutely nothing to the nice lady behind the counter. WTF???

Scene 2- at the library. I met a friend at the library to help her with her knitting. There was a young (early 20's) woman at the computers with her toddler who was extremely fussy. She was totalyy ignoring this child who continued to fuss and carry on wanting attention. Another lady, once again late 20's/early 30's comes in with two preschool boys who are left unattended while she disappears into the stacks. These two little heathens begin to fight, wrestle, run-around, yell at each other and disturb all of the others who are tryong to be quiet. They are soon joined by a third boy whose mom is on the computer in Internet oblivion. I complain to the nice volunteer who tries to calm the children instead of finding the responsible adults and telling them to rein in their brats!!!

I have 2 kids- a 13 yo son, and a 7yo daughter. They can be a bit much at times and I have been known to call them the poster children for birth control, but I did teach them manneers and would have been mortified if my kiddos had acted like the ones mentioned above. If you don't say "Thank You," you must return the gift to the giver. You do not disrupt in a public place. If I was that desperate for a book, I would have either waited until mom's-day-out or my husband came home. I would not have taken such out-of-control brats to the library with me. Truthfully, my kids love books and woould have sat looking at them for ages, quietly. But, my kids are not perfect, either. Ages is about 15 minutes in reality, which is just enough time for me to find a book for me. They would also follow me into the stacks and sit at my feet looking at their books while I looked for mine.

So, Rome is burning, folks. Are you a fiddler or a fireman???

10 Reasons Why I Hate Houston

I've really had it with Houston today, but why should today be any different from any other day. So here are the Top 10 reasons why I wish my husband's company would send us somewhere else- anywhere else, even outer Mongolia!!

10. Pretentiousness- "THE" Woodlands- accent on "THE." Yup, one of the- excuse me, "THE"- suburbs of Houston is actually called "THE" Woodlands. I admit the capitalization and quotations are mine, but when they say it, it sounds like how I wrote it- "THE" Woodlands.

9. Smog- must I live in a city where the ozone alerts start in April and end in October??

8.Traffic- Names of the highways are crazy-weird here. Each highway has 3 identifications- the number, a North Houston name and a South Houston name. And don't get me started on the whole Kuykendall name, either. There is no "r" in the name, so why do people insist on calling that street Kirkendall??

7. Traffic- Stop signs were put up for a reason, and just because your car is bigger than mine, it still doesn't mean you have the right of way if I got to the Stop sign, first. Oh, and bicyclers, you ARE supposed to follow the rules of the road, too. You MUST stop at Stop signs, too, whether you like it or not. Same for you guys at the golf course. If the road you are crossing is a public access road, and NOT behind the gates, you have no right-of-way. Just ask any cop- I did.

6. Traffic- Speed Limits are there for our safety and just because I choose to go the speed limit and you are running late does not give you the right to tailgate me and almost cause an accident because you couldn't leave your house 5 minutes earlier.

5. Traffic- Most of the highways in all three of their personalities can be major parking lots at any time of the day anywhere in Texas. And FYI, if the guy in front of me is not moving, then neither am I, so quit honking and tailgating.

4. Traffic- the inability of those with large vehicles- Suburbans, Hummers, SUVs, pick-ups, mini-vans- to actually park their auto correctly. Sometimes they take up 2 spaces, or park at an angle in a non-angled slot. I was once blocked in by a guy in a pick-up who had parked his vehicle just as I was getting ready to leave. He became upset with me because I asked him to park a little straighter so I could get out. I even used the word "please." There is absolutely no reason to call me a *itch.

3. Traffic- Hummers. I have never seen so many Hummers in one place. It's no wonder we have all those ozone alerts. Oh, and to the guy in the olive green Hummer who called me a "fat *itch," sorry about your penis.

2. Traffic- Drivers on the phone. Honestly, people, haven't you heard of bluetooth??? Most cars come equipped with it and it goes through your speakers in your car. And, no, you cannot drive and talk on the phone at the same time. You've almost run me off the road on several occasions, hit me in the parking lot, and oh, yeah, blocked me into my parking space!!

1. Traffic (were you expecting something different??)- I have been tailgated by people on phones and was forced off the road on more than one occasion because they were encroaching on my tailgate. I have been almost hit by people who decide that they can make me speed up by tailgating. On the flip side, if everyone else, including me, is passing you, please move over to the far right lane. And, just because you drive a big-ass, flashy, pretentious, gas-guzzling, ozone deteriorating, over-priced vehicle and pull up to the stop sign after me does not give you the right of way. I do realize your huge car could crush my Prius, as could your carbon footprint, but I was there first.

Can you tell that despite that is absolutely gorgeous outside, I still have issues with Houston and it's traffic???

It's Genetic!!

About a week ago, my 7 year-old daughter came and asked me to teach her to knit. She had a skein of bulky weight yarn in her favorite colors- pink and purple. I dug out a pair of US 13 needles and commenced to teach her how to knit. She caught on like a champ and is now got about 10" done on a scarf. She loves it. there have been a few errors along the way, but she is doing great. I am so proud.

She did take it to show her 1st grade teacher and a couple of kids tried their hand at "knitting." Their version was to slip the stitches from one needle to the next without making a new loop through the loop on the previous row. DD waited patiently while I undid the errors and I made her promise not to take it to school again- or at least let anyone else try to knit her scarf.

During all this, we found out that my niece's babysitter is trying to teach her to crochet. the niece is on my husband's side, so no genes from me! After a lesson or two, the babysitter was off for a few days and Grandma was watching her and her sister. Niece asked grandma to help her with the crochet. Now, my MIL is creative in other ways, but not knitting or crochet. She told niece to wait until she saw Aunt Terri again to help her learn some more crochet!! Hopefully we'll be able to get together over the summer so I can help her and maybe teach her to knit, too.

And, I am working diligently on my handmade pledge for this year. I have completed 2 washcloths, some scarves and various other things. Now, if I would just stay off Etsy, I wouldn't have so many pattens and great ideas!! I made the mistake of looking at their sewing patterns and now I've got a stack of those and a hundred new ideas!!

February Rant

And, no, it's not about Valentine's Day. I married my forever Valentine almost 17 years ago and am very happy;-)

This is about cell phones and driving. In the last week, I have seen too many people almost have accidents because they were on the phone while driving. One of these people was in an SUV and trying to turn and hold the phone and chat. I'll admit, I have driven and yakked before, but after a near miss, I activated my Bluetooth. It comes through the speakers on my car and can be a little annoying for the person on the other end, but at least I am somewhat safe.

And, what about those speaker phones? I hate those. I really don't want to hear both sides of your conversation. And, if you have to yell to be heard, please step out of the restaurant so the rest of us can enjoy our meal in peace.

I also thinks it's funny when 2 people are on the phone at the same table. You just want to ask them why they can't speak directly to each other since they are sitting so close. I know, they are usually talking to someone else, but is that really the point of the date- to spend it on the phone with your BFF's???

As for me, the tendinitis is clearing up, but my right shoulder is about jammed into my ear. The in-laws are coming in a couple of weeks and I am frantically cleaning house.

Inauguration Knitting

If you watched the Inauguration on CNN yesterday, you probably saw some pretty cool knitting, amongst other things. Mrs. Robinson, the First Grandmother and President Obama's MIL, was wearing a beautiful ribbed knit scarf and matching hat. One of the First Daughters' escorts was wearing a beautiful fuchsia knit shoulder shawl that made me wonder if it was handmade. Can you tell that Wolf Blitzer's constant commentary was driving me insane???

As for the First Daughters, Malia and Sascha- I sure hope they become role models for the young ladies of America. They were dressed demurely and seemed oh so sweet. It was truly refreshing to see young girls dressed in that manner.

As for me, knitting is on the back burner until my tendinitis in my right shoulder clears up.

It's Gonna Be a Long Week

I injured my shoulder somewhere between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Despite the pain, I continued to work on my many projects. I knit, crocheted and sewed away the holidays. After the New Year, hubby and I were goofing around and I sprained it again. Get your mind out of the gutter. We were acting like HS teenagers before the discovery of sex;-) So, I made an appointment with my doctor and now I have been banned from every activity that requires the use of my shoulder- most especially knitting, crocheting and sewing.

It's only 3 pm and I feel like I am going insane. My furry babies did entertain me for about 5 minutes, but then quit fighting when the cat got the upper hand and fled. DS isn't due home for another 30 minutes. Maybe I should go lie back down.

Tech Socks Done!!

Huge sigh of relief over here!! The red yarn came on the 31st, so I immediately cast on for the socks. By midnight, I had half a pair done!! Then I drank some Champagne with the hubby and decided not to try to knit another sock while slightly buzzed.

Babysitter came over yesterday to watch kids so hubby and I could have a quiet dinner out and saw the one sock. She said she would take it and hop around the dorm if she had to. We got home early and sat down to watch the "Twilight Zone" marathon on SciFi and since I was tired from staying until 2 am the night before, I decided to get through the heel turn and then go to bed. Well, first it was Burgess Meredith breaking his glasses and then it was Telly Savalas- with hair!!- getting killed by a doll. Before I knew it, I had not only turned the heel, but finished the heel gusset. Got up this am and by 10 am, the socks were completely finished. EB can now have nice warm feet back at school. LB, her mom has been threatened with bodily harm if she goes anywhere near the darn things!!