Me trying to learn the ukulele amid the detritus of my home.



Eli dressed himself this morning in his Mario costume overalls from two Halloweens ago. His hair is a “row-hawk” – a row of sticking up ponytails. On his face is a “fake tattoo” of musical notes that does not want to wash off.  This is my child. And this is my other child:

 

Delicious.

Here’s a little movie of Eli and Sam “helping” me to practice This Land Is Your Land. They promised to be quiet while I recorded it… then — SABOTAGE!  (With thanks to www.doctoruke.com for the tips.)

More comprehensive catch-up blog planned for this evening. Lots to report! My husband insists we go outside and truly enjoy living in this beautiful place.

If you miss me on the blog you can follow me on twitter where I post more frequently! http://www.twitter.com/pamelamama

more here.   parent friends — if you don’t want your kid’s picture shown here, just let me know and I’ll take it down!

I knew it was a bad idea from the very start. But anyway, look I made yarn and turned it into knitting and made this useful (actually not) thing.

It started out as a little ball of fluff.  My friend Lisa from Selah (http://selahshop.com/) sent me some odd ends of fluff for spinning practice. See my new spindle? It’s happy sitting there amidst the fluff. Now I can turn fluff into yarn. I have life skillz that will serve me in the post-apocalyptic world. You laugh now, but you’ll all be cold and unclothed and have lots of stuff you want to tie together, and I’ll be all making my own sweaters and rope and stuff from scratch. You’ll see. 

You wish you were all Little House on the Praire like me:

I also made some gloves and other items for gifts. (Don’t get excited, it’s probably not for you. But, hey you never know, so you should be extra nice to me, of course.)

Awesome bag I got from http://slippedstitchstudios.etsy.com:

The WonderDress is coming along:

And, for hanging in there to the end, the reason most of you read my blog:

These are the happy thoughts of the day. Enjoy them.

I’m going to SOCK SUMMIT!  Non-knitters, in the words of my son, “YOU JUST DON’T UNDERSTAND!!”

Anyhow, it’s really cool and I’m going.  I need to know from YOU, my imaginary knitting friends who live on the internet:

1. Are you going?
2. Have you made hotel arrangements yet?
3. Will we meet in person or are you really a creature from another planet who can never show her face in daylight, much less Portland.
4. Other comments you care to make.

THANKS!  Need to start making my plans…

edited to add link to meetup thread on my forums.

EDITED AGAIN: How about a meetup on Friday at lunchtime?  Click over to my forums (above hyperlink) to put in your two cents!

It appears as if my ovary is housing a variety of unwelcome cysts and is going to have to take a hike, according to my doctor. Planning to wait a month until school’s out to take care of it. So I’ll let you know when to send those amusing notes and care packages. Even with this news, today was better than yesterday because at least today’s news was anticipated, y’know?

In unrelated news, I crocheted a series of interconnected flowery circles.  It seemed like the thing to do at the time.

Soon I will take pictures of the hilarious new knitting accessories I got over here at Slipped Stitch Studios, but for now just know they are awesome and you should buy some for yourself. 

And finally… I am going up to bed right…….. NOW.

What do you do when someone you’ve never met, whose work you’ve never seen, whom (who? whom?) you’ve never even HEARD of, writes a blog entry about you. And not a nice one. J’ACCUSE! Apparently, this person feels I’ve taken her idea and passed it off as my own. In a little freebie I put out recently. I assure you I have not.

After letting her know, as nicely as possible, that she is mistaken, and subsequently being scolded and accused of threats, I am going to just let it go. I think my reputation can stand up to unfounded assaults by this individual.  But yeesh. It sure takes a lot out of a person.

In happy news:
Sam got a sprained ankle and is walking on crutches but IT IS HEALING!
I had a long day at my VERY FULFILLING AND GRATIFYING JOB!
Though my personal children tried my patience today I DID NOT THROW A SHOE AT ANYONE!
My tired, stressed husband IS INCREDIBLY AWESOME AND SUPPORTIVE AND LOVING!
My still unfinished mother’s day gift is a REALLY COOL LIGHTBOX AND IS GOING TO BE SO USEFUL!
My February Lady Sweater needs buttons but OTHERWISE IS COMPLETELY FINISHED!
Even though my reputation has been maligned I HAVE LOTS OF SUPPORTIVE REAL AND IMAGINARY FRIENDS WHO KNOW WHAT A MORAL, ETHICAL AND GENERALLY GOOD PERSON I AM.

See how good I am at looking on teh bright side?? And you love me, right?

MY LIFE IS GOOD YOU OLD BAT! (Nods to Randy Newman)

Whee! I’m writing a dress/tunic pattern for little girls… hopefully available in June.

Question for you spinners: what would you buy as your first drop spindle? Links appreciated!

Short of a massive lifestyle change, it appears that Scott and I are going to remain fat. Keeping that in mind, I think I’ll make cookies tonight. And if I don’t get some of this soon, I may not survive.

Took the kids to family camp this past weekend with our school buddies. Some pictures to follow, from Scott’s fancy new camera. Kids had a great time despite massive downpour.

I’m writing a new knitting pattern for a baby/little girl’s knitted dress that turns into a tunic as the girl grows. Luckily, someone in my family has finally conceived a girl. Of all the first cousins, this is the first to have a girl baby. We’ve got boys a’plenty. I’m wishing cousin Michele an easy pregnancy and I’m getting to work on those girl duds.

Busy at work, busy knitting, busy with the kids at OT twice a week. Sam is learning to type with this cool Keytime class he’s taking. Eli loves chess.

Scott has prepared turkey burgers that taste like hamburgers. I will now eat.

a few pix from our trip to palm beach.

Our yearly charity auctions — this year in support of Heifer International… Shop for Good!