It's Amazing...

...how bad you write when you are tired. My last post is awful. I think it was the three hours of sleep the night before. I kept myself up all day- no nap- so I slept well last night.

Road Trip- a friend adn I are heading out to Austin mid-October to join in a Knit Out at Borders. We think it will be a great trip. To make it easier on ourselves, and because we plan to have a few at dinner, we are spending the night. She's going to leave her car at my house, and I hope the bad golfer doesn't get her car like he got mine. Funny thing is, they are starting beginners classes at the club, and I would pay for this gut to go. It's cheaper than replacing my car's windshields every so often. I could aslo clean out the garage, but then I would have to dump my stash.

One fo my Knit Sistahs over at LSSK asked me to make her a pair of socks and autograph them because I got on the Harlot's blog. Any ideas??

Yarn Harlot in Houston!!

Yup, the Yarn Harlot made it to Houston, and was absolutely fantastic. Went with a good knitter friend, and we had a blast. First we went to Chili's and had dinner- with margaritas (one each)- and drove over to the venue. We were giggling like maniacs. We sat near my neighbor, another Harlot fan. I won a lovely door prize before the talk, too. It was a scarf pattern with the yarn. 100% cashmere yarn. I was being stalked in the parking lot for the yarn. Usually I'm the one doing the stalking!

The talk itself was hysterical. We laughed so hard. We were practically howling by the end of it. I may have howled when she told us about a comment she had from an elderly lady. Then we went and had our books signed and pics taken. Still can't figure out how to download pics very well, so hopefully next time. I found out she was going to be in Atlanta the following night, and almost went on a road trip to visit my sis in Atlanta just so I could see the Yarn Harlot again. Glad I didn't- over 700 people showed up!!

As for the spider soaps, let me explain- first and foremost, my family is a huge Halloween fan. My sister was born on Halloween. So we celebrate in a big way. Our house gets decorated, I carve pumpkins, we have a Halloween tree. Get the picture? Well, this year for my sis's birthday, I am making soap for her and her kids. I saw the spiders and thought they would be great to embed in the soap. So, when the Yarn Harlot wrote about being terrified of a spider in her shower- the one that turned out to be her hair- I knew what I was going to do with those spiders. Living in Texas, spiders are the least of our worries. Scorpions, water moccasins, and hurricanes are a lot scarier. In fact, spiders are nature's way of keeping down the mosquito population in Houston. Good thing, too, with all the West Nile virus and such. So, spiders don't scare me. If they get too bothersome, a whack with a shoe keeps them in line.

But there is something more about my morbid sense of humor, and it has to do with birthdays. Sis was born Halloween, Mom was born the Ides of March (when Caesar was killed) and I was born Friday the 13th. No joke. My daughter was due close to Halloween, but came 9/22, thereby breaking with tradition. But she was born on her great-grandfather's birthday. And, she was born between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, and this year her birthday falls on Yom Kippur, the Jewish Day of Atonement. We did celebrate early. So, you can imagine the fun we have with birthdays. My son was born on May 5th, Cinco de Mayo, Mexican Independence Day. Occasionally mine falls on Mother's Day and my hubby's falls on Father's Day, so we have lots of fun with birthdays around here. And, one of my husband's cousins gave birth earlier this year on our wedding anniversary (15 years!!).

My Knitting McGyver Badge- Level II

This is how I may have earned this badge. I was substituting at my fav HS. They had installed new A/C's that year, and nobody could make them work properly. If one zone was hot, another was freezing. Science was always hot. One of the science teachers asked if I had an extra barrette, so I loaned her mine, not realizing it was the only one in my bag. I did have a pair of bamboo knitting needles, though. A couple of quick twists later, my hair was up. And, yes I did walk around all day with a knitting needle stuck in my hair!! None of the kids said a word. I guess they were afraid that if I could put my hair up with one needle, then 2 needles would make me dangerous. On the down side- I couldn't knit on my break because I couldn't find the needle. Absent-minded professor- forgot the darn thing was in my hair!!!

And if you're wondering- I did cry at the bus stop as the bus was pulling away. I'm a big softy when it comes to my kids. Ask me tomorrow about our afternoon adventures in riding the bus as a Kindergartener. It's a long one, so I'll save it!

School Starts Tomorrow

I still have some sanity left, so I think I may be fine. But, I've had a huge reality check concerning my DD- my baby. I think I am going to cry at the bus stop. Friday at meet the teachers, I was tearing up, and today talking with a friend, I started all over again. It's gonna be a tough morning. I am having lunch with another friend, so that may help. Unfortunately, all my teacher friends go back to work tomorrow, too.

So besides lunch, what am I planning to do??? I plan to get my knitting together and start all those holiday projects. I have socks to knit, and sweaters for everyone in the house except DS, who informed he doesn't want another one. He's 12 and I can understand- sorta. I also have quilts to quilt and birthday shopping for DD who turns 6 on 9/22. She has a Build-a-Bear leopard that is going to get a blue and white cheerleader outfit. Blue and white are her school colors, and yup, they are the Leopards. And, I've got patterns to type up- a Spider Guy one is in the works. And pumpkins to carve- I buy the carvable ones at Michael's. They last forever, and bounce. Thankfully no one has tried to smash them, but I have dropped them a few times. So, I am pretty much trying to keep myself occupied until 4 pm when I have to pick up DD at the bus stop.

Hanging in there

Well, we are in the home stretch to the start of school. Due to the incompetency of the TX legislature, we had a lovely extended summer this year. They all have nannies- I don't. And my usual baby sitter got her driver's licence and we haven't seen her since! But come Monday, the little darlings start back to school.

DS is starting Middle School- 6th grade. He has been threatened that I will find new ways to embarrass him if he so much thinks about acting up. I basically have a pair of ripped jeans- accidentally, not intentionally- and I threatened to wear them with "granny panties" in front of his friends. I'm not a small woman. I shop at Lane Bryant, so you can imagine how well that is going over.

DD starts Kindergarten. We figured out it was possibly cheaper in the long run to have them spaced out- hopefully DS will have graduated college when DD starts. Everyone thinks I am going to be a mess at the bus stop that first day. Yeah, right. I cried when DS got on the bus for the first time, then I went home and went back to bed. I was hugely pregnant with DD. It was wonderful to have the house to myself, quiet and no one running in the room every 5 minutes to "check on me," or ask for juice (big bro won't get off the computer long enough to help his sis!). So, I will be celebrating big time. If you stop by my house, I may serve you a mimosa!! Until then, I feel like my sanity is slowly slipping away.

Penguin Quilts, too

It's been awhile- over 30 days. My countdown clock is at 25 glorius days. School resumes and hopefully my sanity returns.

Anyway, As the title of this post suggests, I've been quilting. A friend of mine wanted to make a U of TX quilt for her son's best friend who graduated from there. Well, she is officially stitching the binding on as I type!! We "birthed" that quilt in about a week's time- taking time for lunch, the weekend and the occassional movie. And does this quilt have a little story:

We live in the Houston area. We could not find one yard of UT fabric anywhere- Plenty of A&M, but no UT. I had to go to Waco to take care of my mom while she was recovering from knee surgery. I found UT fabric there!! 3 different prints, to be exact, and this where it gets good. I called my friend and she said get 4 yards. I got 5 instead. We carefully cut and pieced the top and then layed the finished quilt top on the leftover UT fabric. We had just enough for the backing. Needless to say, that called for a quick celebration- ice cream!! SHe's thrilled. I think the recipient is going to love it, and her son can now stop grumbling about all the UT fabric in her house.

We are now onto different quilts for her grandkids. These will be so much easier because we don't have to do a lot of piecing like the UT quilt. But they will be fun, and the kids will love them.

As for knitting- I finished a pair of socks, and have been working on the MS3 and the Pacific Waves Shawl from elann.com. I've also got another pair of socks loaded up on the needles. Those stay in my purse for those long waits in various places around Houston.

Only 58 Days

That's how many days are left until school resumes. My kids have officially driven me to the brink of insanity. They had a full out brawl in the back of the car today over nothing. So they are now in separate rooms "thinking" of the proper way to behave. I actually found a countdown clock I could personalize and put in the first day of school!!! That may keep me from the abyss...

As for knitting- it's all mindless now since every time I start to count, I get interrupted by those famous words "I'm telling!" I started a cardigan and have been working on baby hats and blankets. I've also done some beading. But nothing exciting is actually going on around here. So... nothing more to write about.