I should have jumped in earlier...

So, I kept seeing people talking about Ravelry, and I didn't think I would worthy... I don't have the stash, or the projects that others have. But then I started thinking... how could I benefit from the goodness it plans to be? There will be (from what I've heard, there ARE) message boards. I could use them to my advantage to learn.

I guess I should be honest... I started knitting on a whim. I wanted Socks like Michele and Lara... I wanted fun stuff. I tried it. My first attempt at a project was socks. Yeah. I have the yarn, the needles and my pattern all stored neatly in a zipper plastic bag. I made attempts, but it just wasn't working. Then I moved on to wash cloths. I've made some for me, the girl across the street (little soft ones for her baby), and some for a charity my X-MIL is involved with. I made a bib. I made a scarf... that's it. I really wasn't thinking I would stick with it. I thought it would be like other stuff and I would start it and never finish anything. I've been knitting for about a year.

Then I signed up for that knit along. That could be a bit over my head, but I'm trying it anyway. I can do that... I've done some cable stuff... yeah, so they were dish cloths. And some cabled afghan squares. But they were still cables. I can do this.

So, I bit the bullet and signed up for Ravelry... because I'm impatient, I went to look at where I was on the list...

this is what it says:

You are #21799 on the list.
10989 people are ahead of you in line.
7902 people are behind you in line.

I might actually get an invite sometime before the end of the year... (yesterday, there were only about 3100 people behind me... wow... who knew there were that many knitters!)

Guess I'll just knit and wait, and wait and knit... I think that I might even venture to my LYS to pet yarns for the Wheat Ear Cable Sweater. Have to remember to take my magazine along for reference if I find something.

Today is the day...

My babies aren't babies. I know this. But do they have to rub it in?

Today was the first day of school.

As the girls got out of the car, I realized how far they had both come... They are best friends. At times, they are worst enemies.

Kay is a Senior. As she walked away from the van this morning, I could still see that little tiny child headed to Kindergarten. Full of excitement and happiness. All smiles and joy. She is still excited and happy about so much, and it shows. But where did my little baby go?

Nikki is a Freshman. My little ray of sunshine. If you've ever met someone that no matter how down in the dumps you are, they can make you laugh, that's Nik. She is silly and goofy. She has always been my jokester. She start to tell you something, and start giggling, and even though you don't know what she's giggling about, you are giggling right along with her. I think this will be her turning point year though. I think she will grow as a person this year, but I don't want to loose the crazy goofy girl.

Kyle is in the "Big Hall". He's in 3rd grade. He's such a little man it isn't funny. He can negotiate better then some lawyers. Several people have commented on him being a little lawyer. Don't let the serious side fool you though, he's a prankster. One of his favorite toys? A whoopie cushion. He's also my snuggler... well, they all are to an extent, but he'll still come over and want to sit on my lap. When he was little, and he would be nursing, he would take my hair and rub it between his fingers and his thumb. He still does that. Pretty soon, my 3rd grader will be too big to fit on my lap. I'm going to miss those snuggly cuddles...

It has been a pretty melancholy day. I've been thinking about the past... my babies. A friend said to me, if my kids are independent enough to do their own thing, I've done a good job. I hope the job I've done is good enough to prepare them for the real world. I think they have enough to be able to handle it, but not so much that they are too jaded, and not too little that they are too naive.

Happy first day... Now I'm going to buy stock in facial tissues... ;)

I got brave...

See that new button over there... the one for the Wheat Ear Cable KAL? Yeah, I joined... now I just need to go buy yarn. Oh, and to check my needle supply and make sure that the right sizes are available and don't have one of my million UFO's on them. If I make this, actually, WHEN I make this, it will be the first project I have done that wasn't a square. I've made washcloths, and a few afghan squares... Oh, I did make Kyle a snake scarf that turned out nice enough that my nephew requested one.

I'm hoping that I'll have decided on a yarn and will have pictures soon...

Anyone have a good yarn recommendation that isn't going to take me broke? :)

even if you have never met me...

or heard of me or my dear friend, please pray for her...

I got this message from my friend, Kim...

"Basically there is progression EVERYWHERE.

Dr. M. was pretty somber today. I've seen it before but not like this. Scared the shit out of me. He started telling us about the scans and not only did new spots appear, old spots grew.

Anthony and I asked him for a copy of the report and he said yes, take it for your records but you really don't want to read it. We haven't. We are just looking at it like its everywhere again why do we need to know exactly where.

So new treatment today, which we knew was going to happen but we were hoping only because of the skin spots was he going to change. Funny nothing on the report mentions the skin spots. He is going to watch them and see what the chemo does for them.I just can't understand how things looked so great and positive in May can take such a drastic change 3 months later.

Unfortunately it just shows how aggressive and almost chemo resistant this is. I just don't know how many more chemos there are out there for me and how much more my body can take.My platelets were too low to get one of the chemos. The treatment will be every other week. There is no limit on how many treatments I can get.

So lets hope and pray this knocks some (all) of it and I can stay on it. Something just has to start working."

Please say a prayer for her... for her husband, and her beautiful children. This disease angers me. Why after all the millions of dollars for research are there no cures? Why is she still having to fight this? Why isn't there something else that can be done? Is there some alternative thing that she could do to maybe help? It's so frustrating... and I'm not the one with cancer.

Kim, I love you. If you need anything, you know where and how to find me. You truly are an inspiration to me. I don't know if I could be that strong. HUGS!

Feeling a little squirrely....

I'm sure you've all heard that expression... well, for me it means something else. Those stupid rats with fancy tails are on my hit list...

When we bought our house, our realtor gave us 2 pear trees. One died, so last fall we replaced it. This year the one we had first got pears. 3 nice sized pears. I had been watching them all summer... it was almost time to harvest my 3 pears.

This afternoon, I was standing at the back door watching the rain and I noticed a squirrel. Hmm... what does he have? It almost looks like... Sure enough... there are no pears on my tree... that stupid rat and all his thieving relatives are enjoying the fruits from tree! GRR! I'm not one to wish harm to any animal really, but that's one squirrel I hope takes his time crossing the street... or better yet, I hope he chokes on the seeds.

Of course the neighbors probably thought I had gone off the deep end while I went running out in the rain to yell at the tree and call it a few choice names.

On a non-squirelly note, pictures as promised. My summer in a photo log. :P

Friends....

This past weekend was great. I went to my annual Mom's BBQ. You might remember the big secret from last year's. This year, there were no big surprises. Just lots of fun, food and family. These women aren't my friends. They are the sisters I never had. In a conversation I overheard, one of the kids asked if one of the other kids was her cousin... I guess even the kids feel the same way we do.

We laughed, we ate, we drank, we ate some more, and we drank even more! I think I ate more junk food in one day than I have eaten all year! It was great though.

The kids are now almost 8 and they are pretty self sufficient. They played together all day, and even walked to the park together by themselves.

It was great to see everyone, and we were sorry that a couple of them couldn't make it this year. We even got a call from Cherie since she missed us so much. Once bitten by that BBQ bug, it's never the same.

I'm sorry the weekend went so fast, and I'm already looking forward to next years. Cincinnati won't know what hit it! LOL!

Yes, I took pictures, no I don't have them downloaded yet. I will get Hubby to do that tonight. I will post the link tomorrow. Promise.

In the mean time, you can hit Traci's and see some of them there.

Time flies like an arrow...

and fruit flies like a banana... yeah, whatever...

I guess I could do what seems to be the trend and have me some Bullet Point Thursday... How about it?

• My Co-Worker is still out on medical leave. She won't be back until September 10th. I never thought I would say this, but boy do I miss her.
• My little pissy kitty, that thinks that every thing in my house belongs to her and to prove it she will pee on it, is now my little Prozac kitty. Yep, my cat is among the many on anti-depressants. Wonder if she'd notice if I swiped a couple of her pills...
• School starts in a couple weeks. I will have 2 kids in High School. I'm sure I am now living someone else's life. I refuse to look at these grown up girls and realize they were once my babies. Nope, I'm not gonna do it.
• My littlest baby is in 3rd grade. He is halfway through Elementary School. This too can not be happening. I refuse to believe it. Will whoever took my babies please give them back. I'll take the teething/pooping/sleeplessness nights, just give them back.
• This weekend is my annual Mom's BBQ. I am really excited. Great friends, new friends and the kids! This year we will be going back to the same place Hubby and I got married. I'm sure with as sappy as I am, I'll get a little teary.
• We are headed back into Cub Scout season. Should be fun, we have 2 new leaders and some new boys.
• Yes, I'm still crazy. I am still the Assistant Cubmaster. But, shhh... don't tell anyone, but while I love to complain about being the one sucked into all this, I really enjoy it.
• While away on vacation, there were some great strides made in mending my relationship with my dad, but once we got home, I haven't talked to him since. I think I need to call him.
• Today is my anniversary. I thought it was tomorrow, only because I had the dates wrong... I didn't know what day yesterday was. Yeah, I'm an idiot.

I think that's enough randomness for now... I had to get some of that out there, before too much time passed and it didn't make any sense.