62 Days and Counting..

Christmas is coming. There are lots of kids in my extended family, and for the last couple of years I've been pretty good about knitting things early for them, but this year I think I will run out of time. As I posted before, I've been working on a cross-stitched Christmas stocking for Big Trouble. Sadly, it was begun soon after his birth (mind you, he's 6 now) and put aside when I discovered how much I like to knit. He finally realized last Christmas that he didn't have a lovely hand-made stocking to match Miss Serious' and The Professor's. I've been working A LOT on this stocking, and it really makes me appreciate how much more I like knitting. After about 19 bajillion hours, it has gone from this:


to this:


It's looking more stocking-like, and even though to the untrained eye it looks almost done, it's not even close. What makes these particular designs so charming are all the details; what makes these particular designs a pain in the patootie are also all the details. I am now in the outline/detail phase, and I've reached the point where I am about ready to stick a tapestry needle in my eye. I would put it aside again, except for this little person that keeps coming in to see how it's going, and who exclaims excitedly over every new section. This child has even gone so far as to say, "It's ok if you don't finish it Mommy; I know it's a lot of work and I'll understand." Pure evil.

And So Ye Shall Rip

Haven't posted much lately - I've been knitting, but don't have much to show for my efforts, as I seem to be ripping out more than I'm actually producing. Exhibit A:

Yesterday this was a hat for Big Trouble. Unfortunately it was a hat that was a roomy fit for ME, and as Big Trouble does not have a freakishly big head, it is now back to being just a pile of yarn.

Exhibit B: Last week the weather decided to change directly from summer to winter, and my ears were freezing after walking the kids to school. I had seen the pattern for Calorimetry and thought it looked like it would work. I had some lovely Brooks Farms Four Play yarn left over from my mom's Christmas scarf; it's really soft and not at all itchy, so I thought it would allow me to wear it on my head without making me want to rip out all my hair.

Well, after knitting this thing several times, I was sorely tempted to do just that; the picture in the pattern is just the size I was looking for. Unfortunately, the first time I knit it I ran out of yarn as I was casting off right here:


If you can't see it in the picture, I had about 20 stitches left to cast off. So, I ripped back and reduced the decreases, cast off, tried it on, and Miss Serious said "Wow, Mommy, you made a bonnet!" While this may be a good look in the world of a 7 year old, it wasn't quite what I was going for. So, I frogged the whole thing, and cast on 100 instead of 120 stitches, and only did 10 increase rows instead of 16. This helped, and the final version looks like this:

Miss Serious liked it so much that I made her a skinny one with the leftover yarn (it looks more like a straight headband) to keep her ears cozy. It is warm and comfortable, but I'm not really into the whole mother-daughter matching thing; around here just the wearing of a hand-knit scarf on your head makes one stand out quite a bit. Adding in the cutsie factor of matching one's daughter may tend to cause people to raise more than an eyebrow. I may have to go all out and get us matching dresses...

Ohhh, I Get It...

We went to the local nature preserve yesterday, and I figured out why turkey is served (well, not by us, but by others) at Thanksgiving. While we we weren't able to spot any other wildlife besides a lone sparrow and hundreds of squirrels, the woods were overrun with turkeys. It kept surprising us to see them in the woods, as they are so big and yet so quiet. We kept coming across them, and they are quite brave - we probably could have talked one into getting into our car if we were so inclined. Luckily, we were not, and we left all the turkeys to the quiet of the woods. They're definitely not pretty birds, but carry themselves with grace and dignity; generally what I'm aspiring to most days myself.

Well, we are coming to the end of our 3-day weekend. I was able to catch up on my missed sleep from all of the subbing. Well, not actual subbing, but thinking about subbing, which causes me to not sleep and also to wake up and stare at my alarm clock starting at about 4:22 AM. The fact that I haven't gone in yet doesn't seem to matter to my sleep-deprived brain. I'm hoping that next week I will actually get a call, actually go in, and actually get over my silly self. Hope springs eternal....

We all enjoyed our time off, and even hit what is lovingly referred to round these parts as "The Big Mall." This is probably because it is a really big mall, complete with 4 floors, a carousel, and a ferris wheel. Being on the frugal end of things, we don't tend to go to malls very often, unless we have gift cards to use or a specific item in mind, which therefore makes going to the mall a real treat. This time we went to return a shirt, and so that Big Trouble could use his gift cards to buy a Wall-E robot. We had seen this robot in Target several weeks before his birthday, and he decided that he would like it. Little did I know that this would turn out to be an uber-popular toy, and when we got to Target, gift cards in hand, we were informed that they were sold out everywhere. Big Trouble handled the disappointment well, and we enjoyed the rest of the day.

I think that the fact that he handled his disappointment so well spurred me to try find this toy. I punched up the Target website, and though it was sold out everywhere, they did have 1 at a Target about 1/2 hour away. So, the next day we hopped in the car, made the journey, made a beeline for the toy section and, of course, it wasn't on the shelf. Two salespeople and several discussions later, they found 1 left in the back room, and Big Trouble was thrilled. I hope I haven't become one of those crazy parents who stampede all over each other to get their child a certain toy; as I didn't have to step on a single soul for this robot, I think I'm in the clear.

One Angry Fish

This is Twyla the fish. Twyla is a betta fish (and a male, and even though the children know this, they decided that he should be named Twyla because of the pinkness). This is our 3rd betta. The kids got the first for Christmas a few years back, and when it died about 1 1/2 years later, it was replaced with betta fish #2.

And then Miss Serious went to a birthday party. Let me preface this by saying that around here, children's birthday parties are completely over the top. They are rarely at the child's home (if they are, they involve the rental of blowup jumpy castles, clowns, and snow cone machines) and are usually at a themed restaurant or activity place, which costs the birthday parents a startling amount of money. After having gone to many of these extravaganzas, Miss Serious asked me where she would be having her birthday party last year (we had it here, no clown, no blowup jumpy castles, but it was a tea party, and pretty spiffy if I do say so myself).

The nice thing is that as they get older, these have become drop-off parties, so the adults don't have to be subjected to the incredible fun-ness of the whole thing. At the party in question, I walked up the front walk to pick her up and passed a father holding a fish in a clear bag full of water. He looked at me, smiled a bit, and said, "Yeah, you'll be getting one, too."

Enter Twyla. We bought a bigger bowl for him because the bowl that was given in the goodie bag was about 3 inches around and seemed more appropriate for a mosquito than a fish. This fish is crazy. Having had other bettas, I know their propensities to puff up when you get close to the bowl, but this one takes it to a whole other level. Cleaning his bowl takes twice as long as it should, because it is prefaced by chasing him with the net for an inordinate amount of time. Once he's caught, it's still a little exciting, as the first time I pulled him out in the net he leaped out onto the counter. Where he thought he was going, I have no idea.

I've finally decided that he's being extra fish-macho to compensate both for the name and the pinkness. I'm not sure who he's trying to impress, but so far, it's not me.

Back in the Saddle

Or keyboard. Or whatever. I've been kind of MIA lately - haven't even been keeping up with email. There have been some changes round these parts, and I'm working on getting my head back in the right place. We had the big family party for Big Trouble's birthday this weekend, which invariably takes up buckets more of my time than I anticipate. It's not that it is too hard or time-consuming, it's just that I have discovered I am really bad at estimating how long things will take. Denial, or something, I don't know.

This week Big Trouble began full-day kindergarten; his school does half days for the first month to help the kids transition. It seemed like a good idea initially, but after a week, both my kids were more than ready for full day. We walk to school, and I was getting to know all the crossing guards really well, as Miss Serious has been full day since the beginning, requiring multiple trips to the school.

I've been very ambivalent about him going off to school full day. I don't yearn for the days when the kids were young, or wish that I could turn back time or anything. I've enjoyed my kids at each age they've been, and never feel the need to change that. This is different, though, because I've been a stay at home mom for almost 8 years now, but once the kids are out of the house all day, my role is vastly different. I told The Professor it was like I've been working at a job I really enjoyed, and now it's been outsourced, a feeling which surprised me and threw me a bit off balance.

I plan to go back to teaching next year (I am SO looking forward to job hunting after all this time....), so in aid of this I interviewed to be on the substitute teacher list in the kids' district. I filled out my application, sent in my resume, and was placed on the list. I thus don't quite know why I was so profoundly shocked when my phone rang yesterday morning just before 6:00 AM asking me to sub; it was at a different building, so I had to say no, but now I know it's official, and sooner or later I WILL get called, and WILL need to dress myself up in grown-up clothes and teach a strange class full of strange children. Don't get me wrong - I loved teaching school, and I'm sure after the inevitable growing pains I will be fine. While my kids have been home I've taught graduate school and supervised student teachers teaching their classrooms, but it's not the same as teaching elementary school myself. It's just that subbing is much less suited to my temperament. I am someone who likes to know plans far in advance, and I have a distinct need for a feeling of control. These things are all impossible in a situation where you don't know if (or where - could be kindergarten, could be 5th grade) you will be working until the jangle of a phone early in the morning.

I gathered my wits about me yesterday, hit the teacher's store, the internet, and my old files, and have compiled a pile of things which may or may not be useful. Having only subbed twice in my life (and that was back in the dark ages, before I had taught school, had gray hairs, or children of my own) but having survived those, I'm sure I will survive this next chapter in my life. Unfortunately, my obsessive nature woke me up at 4:30 this morning to look at the clock and wait worriedly for the phone to ring. It did not, and I heaved a sigh of relief. Until tomorrow when 4:30 rolls around....

Happy Birthday Big Trouble!

Six years ago today, I gave birth to a beautiful baby boy. He was a sweet, exceptionally cuddly child (still will snuggle any chance he gets), and it's amazing to me how fast the time flies. He's now a kindergartner, and was really looking forward to his birthday this year. He started asking me weeks ago how many days until the big day, and now it's here. He brought his birthday bag to school (they share special things about themselves) as well as low-fat muffins (they no longer want frosted cupcakes for birthdays; I understand the reasoning, but it still makes me sad) for special snack. Even though I use the name Big Trouble for him (he started this when he was about 3, using the phrase "Here comes Big Trouble!") he is a lovely, sweet-tempered, joyful child with a wonderful sense of humor and fun. I am so proud of the boy he has become, and am always proud to be his mom.

Happy Birthday Big Trouble! We all love you.