What's been going on

Not much to tell you the truth.

Hubby went to third shift, then got bumped back to second.

Baseball....well, we have won one game, tied a game, and lost the rest so far. We still have two more games to play. Against teams from a town where money is plenty and private lessons are bought often.

Knitting...well, not so much. A little here and a little there. Still working on the shrug, but it's not moving very quickly....not even half way done. But it looks good so far.

That's pretty much it. You can find me on FaceBook if you want!

When it rains....

It's cuz there is a little league baseball game scheduled...or a practice...or a scrimmage. I love how it is a freakin' drought here in Texas from the middle of June thru the end of August, and from the first of November until the first part of March...little to no rain during those periods...baseball season gets started, and all hell breaks loose, the rain comes on like a damn tidal wave, and games are rescheduled and rescheduled and rescheduled....our rescheduled games have been rescheduled for the love of God. I love rain, but why the hell can't it rain during the off season???

Knitting a shrug for the ocoler weather...it's coming along pretty nicely and halloween is just around the corner which thrills me to death...I love halloween. I googled "nail art" the other day and was thrilled with all the stuff I found, and horrified by some of it...try it. So I did my nails for halloween, with a bat decal...a hand-painted ghost, and red/black/white on the nails. Too much fun.

Well, gotta get the kids to school...

Today's word:

sockdolager:

1 : something that settles a matter : a decisive blow or answer : finisher

*2 : something outstanding or exceptional

No, it's not a joke...serious as hell, this was Miriam Webster's word of the day...go figure. Don't believe me? Look it up...and then hold on to it for your next game of scrabble...hehehehe.

Baseball: The babies had their first game of the season today...a makeup game from last week that had been rained out....of course, their team got their asses handed to them. We didn't know until the day before we were to begin playing games that we were playing by FULL baseball rules...no modifications for the age. Of course, since that night a week and a half ago, it has rained on all our game or practice days so that we haven't been able to work with the kids on exactly what those rules entail. Jogging while stealing a base....NOT GOOD. Stopping halfway to second while stealing the base....also not good. Watching the batter rather than your base coach....not good. There were good moments...we did score a run, so they weren't shut out, however, it was just an ugly deal all around. Practice tomorrow is going to be busy and a learning experience for the kids, to say the least.

Knitting...I don't know how many inches I have knit...not nearly as many as I could have if I hadn't been hanging out on the puter so much. I have decided to use a recipe as opposed to an actual pattern for my shrug...stitch counts and the like, but the shrug itself is what I like to think of as the backwards eye of pratridge...instead of slipping with the yarn in back, I slip with the yarn in front...it seems to give a little texture to the solid yarn and then about every ten rows or so, I throw in an eyelet row...just so the damn thing isn't too warm. I wanted to use the pattern for the "shrug" from my Jackets pattern book,but I can't find the damn book, which really pisses me off, but not enough to wait to make one till I find it...so I knit.

Life in general...well, I'm not pushing up daisies and no one I know died today, so I'd have to say it's a good day.

That's about it for now.

Another day....

...and the fighting continues. PW is on a new shift now, so he is home in the evenings and sleeps during the day since he works all night. I actually like it...having him here makes dealing with Mimi much easier, though she is still trying to argue if he isn't awake or around. Sooner or later she will get the picture and figure out that Mommy is soooooo done playing this game. Till then she will keep getting grounded and having things taken away from her. She failed a math test last week and tried telling me that I told her it was ok, but she'd better hope her teacher would let her fix it....Um, NOT!!!!!!

Baseball is day to day as there is bad weather and rain....go figure....seems like it hardly ever rains when there isn't baseball to be played, but when there is ball there is rain.

KNITTING!!!!!!!!! I have started a shrug for myself in Berroco's Comfort. Just plain gray, but it will go with everything, and the yarn is so soft and scrumptious. It's hard to believe it's acrylic, but it is...and I have seen a baby sweater made out of it, that has been washed numerous times and it looks like it just came off the needles...good news for me! Headbands are also on the knitting agenda since I am going to try to let my hair grow out some...can't very well tell my daughter she has to let hers grow out while I continue chopping mine off. Well, actually I suppose I could tell her that, but I always hated that "do as I say, not as I do" bullshit my parents force-fed me when I was a kid. Double standards are just fucked up, and kids learn by the examples they are shown.

That's it for now...not really much else to report. Have a good one!

Oh, yeah...our word of the day!

PINK: to perforate in an ornamental pattern.

Let it not be said that you didn't learn anything today!

I never cease to be amazed

At just how silly kids can be, and just how out of hand things can get.

Mimi has a friend whom we will call Midget 1. Midget 1 is a boy. They are buds. Keep in mind that most of Mimi's friends are boys, and she likes playing with the boys. However, there is a girl that Mimi is friends with...she is a girly girl. And she is a cute, girly girl. Midget 1, though he might not realize it, likes the girly girl alot. But, Midget 1 sometimes forgets that Mimi is not one of the guys, and begins to think of Mimi as a rival for the girly, girl's affections. Needless to say, fighting ensues. Sometimes they stop talking to each other for a few days, sometimes there is pushing. Yesterday, however, there were words exchanged and punches thrown. Seems the only lasting injury is a bruise to her foot, but she is nursing her mad at him, and it's so funny. So I had to remind her this morning that Midget 1 likes the girly-girl, and not to take it personally, or to stay mad about it, because he just can't help himself. Of course, if Mimi wasn't such a tom-boy, it probably wouldn't be an issue, but to be honest, hell will probably freeze over before my daughter would willingly put on a dress, or anything else girly.

That all being shared, everything else is going pretty well around here. Baseball is in full swing, we have our first game tonight. The kids are fired up and ready to play.

Knitting has been sporadic at best...I'm letting the socks rest for a while, and making headbands instead, trying to keep my hair out of my face to let it grow out some. Can't exactly expect my girl to let her hair grow out without complaint when I keep chopping mine off. I suppose I could just tell her to do as I say, not as I do, but to be honest, it always pissed me off when my folks did that to me when I was a kid. I think that as parents, we need to do our dead-level best to lead our children by example.

So, that's it for me...not much else going on. Housework is always available as is laundry, but the kids need to get to school, so off I go.

Finished!

So, I finished the Tropical Triangle. I'm really confused, though. I thought that when I cast on, I was casting on the bottom and working my way up, however, what I thought was the bottom is actually the top, and my cast off edge is the bottom and sides...what the hell did I do wrong? Did I do something wrong? Or am I just too stupid to realize that that was how it was supposed to be?

HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Our word of the day is:

Defile: to march off in a line.

According to webster's :

The "defile" that means "to contaminate," a homograph of today's Word of the Day, dates back to the 14th century and is derived from the Old French verb "defouler," meaning "to trample on" or "mistreat." Today's word, on the other hand, arrived in English in the early 18th century. It is also from French, but is derived from the verb "défiler," formed by combining "de-" with "filer" ("to move in a column"). "Défiler" is also the source of the English noun "defile," which means "narrow passage or gorge."


Go figure.

Another day....

...spent cleaning, washing clothes, vacuuming and rearranging rooms. I completely redid my son's room this afternoon, including moving furniture around and hanging more curtains. It looks pretty good if I do say so myself. I made him clean up his closet and his bathroom, which didn't take him too long, so as long as he keeps it picked up and puts things away, it's all good.

Tomorrow I will work on our room...putting away stray laundry and dusting and all that great shit. I got one of those swiffer duster thing-a-majigs, and I love it. No dust flying around or anything nasty like that. The guy came out yesterday and "cleaned" the air ducts...though I don't know how good a job he could have done cuz he didn't use a brush on them, just a giant vacuum hose, and he left a mess in my bathroom sink and vanity that I had to clean up last night. Like I dont' have enough people to clean up after as it is, he decided to add himself to my list. 'Preciated that one, big guy.

I might try to get the kitchen done tonight after dinner, but first I have to figure out what to fix for dinner. Maybe I'll do hotdogs. Hotdogs are fast and easy and God knows my kids love them.

The cable guy came out this afternoon to fix my internet problems. He replaced our router/modem, and all seems to right with the world now.

On the knitting front, I haven't touched it since I went to be last night. I may save the kitchen for tomorrow and just knit tonight. Wonder if the Rangers are on tv tonight. I love baseball.

The babies had their first baseball practice with their new team last night. It's great having a coach that has played baseball and knows what he's doing. I volunteered to be an assistant coach, so I will be there every game and practice. It was fun, but I am so totally not an athletic individual, and I hurt like hell when I rolled off the couch this morning. I think I might be too old for this shit...lol.

I guess that pretty much covers the last 24 hours of my life. More soon!

It figures...

...that I take pictures, get them saved on the puter, and ready to upload to the blog and my damn internet takes a shit. Actually, I think it's my cable modem taking a shit because my cable is working fine, but for the last two weeks I have had to fight the internet.

So here are the pics of my continued progress on the Tropical Triangle. I am working on writing down my methods. It won't be a recipe per se, because I am just no good at that shit, but a recipe/method I can do...lol.
So this first picture is a fuller shot of the scarf/shawl thingie so far,








This second is obviously a close up to show the detail of the stitches.







On to the rest of life: I have been sick. Coughing, sneezing, runny nose...all the shit I get when my sinuses act up. So I ignore it...usually a few days and it clears up on its own, right? Ummm, yeah, usually wasn't this time. What made this time different? you ask. A little thing called mold. In my air ducts, or at least on the duct vent covers. The landlord is supposed to have someone come out to clean the ducts, then they'll put the new covers on. So, I am sleeping on the couch, still, after almost two weeks and my dog now believes my side of the bed to belong to her, and it seems as though I have been sick for freaking ever.

The kids went back to school today, and baseball practice starts tonight, and life has begun returning to normal. Thank God for school.


OH, yeah, and the word of the day is: Flout=to treat with contempt and disregard. To show contempt for.

The Unsuccesful Search

For the last two days I have searched, and searched for a shawl pattern for my Eva Peron yarn. The cotton Susan yarn by Schaefer is beautiful, and deserving of a pattern that won't take away from the colors, but that won't be overpowered by the colors. After having searched and cast on, and frogged, and searched and cast on, and frogged, more times than I can even freakin' count, I got pissed and began working on my own. Necessity is the mother of invention, or so the saying goes. As such, I have been making notes as I traverse along this crazy ass path. We'll see how it goes. I may just end up with a ball of yarn, a circular size 6 needles and more white hair.

Here is a close up of the dashing dolphins socks. I really like how these turned out.





This is a full view picture of the dashing dolphins socks. The color is slightly washed out...I suck, what can I say....





This is a close up of the groovy spring socks and the eye of partridge short row heel that I worked on it. I really love the heels on these socks.



This is a full view picture of the groovy spring socks. The yellowish color is actually more like chartreuse, or a bright spring green, not yellow.





This is a close up of the Lacy Leaf socks made from Cascade Heritage Hand paints...This yarn was awesome and I would definitely recommend it to anyone who asks.



This is a full view of the sock...Pretty, huh?








Just a simple lace pattern from my perpetual calendar of stitches, made from Toefutsies...Love em







Made from panda Silk...I love these socks....they are a dream on the feet and the colors remind me of an awesome sunset.







So, there are the socks that I have finished so far this summer. I have been a busy, busy girl. I am getting close to starting the heel on my Mojo My Flamingo socks. I am working those up in Smooshy, Flamingo Pie. I absolutely love this yarn and the tonal colors of the yarn. I can't wait till these are done. I am going to work the short row heel in the eye of partridge again, which will give the heels a little more oomph and thickness.

As for the rest of life, I think I have mold in my air vents. I am going to Home Depot tomorrow morning to pick up a home testing kit and we'll run thru that and see what the results are. I have been sleeping on the couch for the last week and a half cuz every time I go upstairs, within five minutes I am coughing and having a hard time breathing.

Fall baseball is just around the corner. I have heard from the babies' coach, I will be an assistant coach for their team, and since our coach has played baseball before, it is all good. Finally a coach that will know his ass from a hole in the ground. I can't wait.

Well, that's it for this post. Hope you enjoy the pictures!

Oh, today's word: Undulation: movement in waves.
I could think of a few ways to use this word, but I think I'll just keep them to myself. Have a good one.