The year in review/How'd I do?

A year ago I made the following resolutions:

1. Continuing to enjoy being at home with 2 crazy monkeys. I have made great strides in this area over the last year, and want to keep it up.
2. Getting more exercise. One 1 hour class per week probably isn't enough. Even if it is the hardest class on earth.
3. Improving our living situation. Whether this means buying a house, or finally getting the appropriate storage for this one, things could be better.
4. Not beating myself up for eating too much. I like eating and I should allow myself to enjoy it responsibly.
5. Making sure I continue to respect my own needs as much as I do those of the other people in my house.

So, how did I do? Okay, I guess.

1. I did/do enjoy being home with the boys, and I sometimes wish Sebastian were still home, but he's not and he's happy, so there you go.
2. I think I did pretty well with this one at the beginning of the year, but I only made it to one exercise class the entire month of December. And our current financial situation does not make me feel like a gym membership is a viable option, so I'll have to try harder. I'm hoping DDR2 will help with this.
3. We did buy a house. Which is awesome and way better than living in our old apartment. (Plus, the stair action must count toward number 2, right?) I'm still working on the proper storage arrangements for this house, though.
4. I apparently did so well with this one that I even forgot that I had to make such a resolution in the first place. Go me!
5. I would give myself a "fair" for this. I am definitely doing better than last year, anyway, which is a start.

So, what will the plan for 2009 be? Let's see...

• Painting the spare room, dining room and hallway
• Building a fence
• Growing a great garden and canning some of my own produce
• Not allowing myself to get roped into anything I don't really want to do, especially where Sebastian's school is involved
• and trying to find realistic, non-pharmaceutical solutions to my mental health issues.

Can I accomplish all that? Who knows? I'd say probably not, but that wouldn't be very optimistic, now would it?

Less nimble, smaller brain

We got an awesome package in the mail yesterday from my brother who sent both DDR: Hottest Party 2 and Big Brain Academy. (Thanks, Jack!) Unfortunately, I had to wait until after exercise class to try out the DDR, which was a gigantic mistake.

After Lois' butt-kicking class in which I had to lift 5 lb weights over my head 90 times in a row* among other things, I was more than a smidge tired and suffering from the jelly legs. You are probably wondering why I would even get on a dance pad at that point, and you would be totally right to wonder. I, too, am wondering the same thing. Especially since the new version is loaded with exciting new tricks designed to confuse even the nimblest among us. And apparently my mad skillz on the original Hottest Party are more attributable to repetition and memorization than to actual foot-eye coordination. I'm psyched about the new songs and looking forward to trying again...

...But today was spent enrolling in the Big Brain Academy where I discovered that, although my blog may be "genius" level, I am decidedly not. When tested, I received a C+. The horror! Sebastian got a C--, and Dorian got a D (for Dorian!). I am only slightly reassured by the fact that Jeremy got a C++, but I still kicked his ass repeatedly in the Brain Quiz and Mind Sprint categories.

*I totally only did 60, but it was still too much.

The reason I don't use patterns

Alright, I do use patterns. But there's always something I want to do differently. Not this time. I was fully prepared to follow the directions for this baby jacket. Every single direction. Without fail. Not only that, but I even scored the exact yarn the pattern was designed with, except in orange instead of mint green. I should have been all set, right?

Well, my gauge is apparently totally ridiculous. In case you don't know already, knitting patterns come with a gauge that tells you how many stitches and rows there are to make a 4" square. Even with size 3 needles instead of size 6 ones, I am still knitting way too big. I must be the loosest knitter around. (Don't laugh.) Now, this doesn't explain why my gauge is perfectly fine with the sock I'm working on (above, right).

Maybe it's the cotton yarn that isn't as elastic as wool. Maybe it's me. Either way, I get to tweak the pattern so I don't end up with sleeves to fit an adult.

The addiction

Even though I got some perfectly good vintage yarn from Clockwatcher for Xmas, I couldn't help but go down to Webs when they very kindly sent me a postcard detailing their big end of year sale.

I started trying to knit a pair of socks Xmas morning with the aforementioned vintage yarn, but it was a little stiff from waiting for a willing pair of needles, and I feared the socks would not be very comfortable, so I ripped them out and formulated a new plan for a throw pillow for the couch. But I really wanted a pair of wool socks since I am the only one in the house without a pair.

Thus, my plan to go down to Webs for sock yarn was born. And that picture is what I came home with. Two balls of sock yarn, a sock on the needles (bottom left); 4 balls of cotton yarn for a little baby jacket (bottom right); a fancy skein of pink and orangeyness so Christine can make a hat (in the middle, leftish); and 12 balls of shimmery cranberry cotton for a jacket for me.

I am not prepared to admit what this set me back, but just know that it was a lot less than it would have been full price.

What a holiday!

Jeremy worked on Christmas Eve, so I spent the day trying (in vain) to keep the Kristmas Krazy Kids in line. We baked some cookies for Santa, delivered some presents to neighborhood friends, and got ready to head over to my in-laws for Xmas Eve dinner and gifts.

We've had a lot of weather around here and there was a lot of icy snow on top of my car. So, I was standing on the driver's side of the minivan next to Sebastian's seat and holding the frame between the front door and the sliding door while I cleaned the snow off the roof. (You may see where this is headed.) Jeremy gets into the driver's seat and slams his door closed right on my hand! My scream echoed through the neighborhood as he looked up to see my disembodied fingers inside the car. Lucky for me, I was just a little dented--nothing broken and less bruising and swelling than expected. Nevertheless, it was not the best start to our trip.

The visit was nice. We all got snowshoes, and I got a canning pot so I can stop improvising with my stock pot. But I left my purse at their house with my wallet and camera inside. This we didn't discover until after we got home and were dealing with the fact that...

Dorian threw up all over himself right before we arrived, covering his coat, his Christmas jammies and his carseat in puke. It's not a holiday without a little vomit management. He was devastated that he couldn't wear the pajamas, but they were washed and dried for him the next morning so all was well.

And probably the highlight of my day was this scene of Dorian opening his socks. I have never heard a child so happily exclaim, "Socks! I got socks!"

After the Xmas bomb exploded all over the dining room, we went outside to try out the snowshoes and hang up the new bird feeder. All the rain the day before made the mountains of powder more malleable, so we could make snowmen. The boys used the snowman kit for theirs, and I made 2 little ones with some pine needles and dried chrysanthemums.

Then we went to lunch where I finally got to try Peking duck. Every year I say I want to have it, and every year I don't. So it was very exciting (and delicious) to fulfill my dream of duck for Xmas. But more exciting was when I looked over at Sebastian and one of his bottom teeth looked crooked. I checked, and sure enough, it and its neighbor were loose!

Dorian is almost out of diapers and Sebastian's losing his teeth! What the hell?

Mail in a small(ish) town

Lucky for us, we live in a town that is not so big, or we might not receive some of our mail.

So far this Christmas, we have received one card addressed to us at "Fair St." (Only one letter right.) And today we got a package addressed to us at "Vine St." (At least it rhymes.) Either there aren't many people with our last name here, or we have some clever postmen.

On the other hand, we have also gotten mail for a woman with a totally different name who lives at "(Our #) Pearl St." which is 3 blocks away. And then we got a letter for someone with our last name, but at a totally different address on the street behind us. Both of those letters were correctly addressed but completely mis-delivered.

The conclusion? It's an imperfect system which has worked in our favor on a couple of occasions. Now I just have to hope that the letter I mis-addressed to Germany gets to the right place!

Not everything is bigger in Texas

Busy busy busy

My first project* for the day was this "maze" I dug in the foot or so of snow we have accumulated over 2+ days of constant snowfall. I took this from the boys' bedroom window, but the car should give you some sense of scale. Yes, I shovelled almost the whole yard. Yes, my back does hurt-- thanks for asking.

The early afternoon was spent supervising 4 kids decorating the gingerbread houses I made yesterday. (Pictures to come on the boys' blog. Maybe tomorrow.) They were fascinating to watch, as usual. Dorian was especially intent and spent a long time covering as much surface as possible.

And after our second annual viewing of Pee-Wee's Playhouse Christmas Special**, it was time to make the latkes for the first night of Hanukkah. We forgot to have them last year which was a total mistake because, really, you should never pass up an opportunity for fried potatoes.

* When I say "first", I mean after making a pancake breakfast for everyone.
**Do yourself a favor and watch this after you go check out that awesome guest list. It is truly hilarious.

The tree

Upon viewing the Xmas tree lying in the middle of the kitchen floor while we assembled the stand:

Dorian: Wow! That's a big tree!

Sebastian: Yeah! And such sturdy wood, too.

Because I didn't have anything else to do

It's not like I totally underestimated how much I had left to do before my mother's visit or anything, right? Wrong. I forgot that Sebastian's presents required twice as much of my time as his. I forgot that I needed to get packages together. And then the last 24 hours hit me like a ton of fruitcakes. I needed to get a new tree stand before we get the tree tomorrow. This required going to the hardware store after Dorian's Little Peoples camp yesterday. The trouble?

• I forgot about Sebastian's "Writer's Celebration" at school. So, I had to
• Rush through the hardware store, discover that the tree stand was way too big to fit in the back of the jog stroller, and run up the big hill home to
• Scarf down a piece of bread with peanut butter and jump in the car to head back to school. (Worth it.)
• Rushed back home to try to get a little cleaning in before Bus Stop Loitering Hour.
• Got dinner together. Ran to grocery store for last couple items before impending visit. Forgot milk.
• Came back (why?!) so Jeremy could leave for a work function.
• Worked on Xmas cards while cracking the whip over Sebastian so he would finish his project.
• Got kids in bed. Wrapped presents for an hour.
• Had stupid fight with Jeremy that was induced by stress/exhaustion.
• Woke up bright and early, showered, and shovelled the 2 inches of snow so we could get to school at 8 to make healthy snack only to go inside and find out
• School is delayed by 2 hours.

Awesome. And here I could have been in bed until at least 7am.

What am I doing?!

Jeremy and I talked about how we were going to get our Xmas acts together, specifically by preparing the packages that need to be mailed. This was supposed to happen this weekend. Ha ha.

Between broken promises of a day off (totally not his fault) and a surprise visit by my electricity-less in-laws (not totally a surprise, just the timing), my Sunday was thrown off and I didn't get around to taking care of what I needed to before my mother's impending visit on Wednesday.

And now, while I should be taking care of that whole package thing, I'm blogging. Go figure.

Testosterone Town

Lately, I have been repeatedly reminded of the fact that I don't just have two children, I have two boys. When they aren't using the words "poop", "poopy", "diarrhea" or "pee" in every sentence, they find other ways to be completely rambunctious.

Such as:

• Running around mooning each other and singing, "My butt is stickin' out!"
• Becoming "powerbots" to fight their arch-nemesis "The Big Gorilla". This usually involves plotting some horrible death.
• Replacing song lyrics with potty language. For example, "Blitzkrieg Bop" includes the line "Pooping in the backseat."
• Getting K'Nex all over the house in their quest to build a robot.

Oh, boys!

The final Xmas project

Last night I got halfway through the final Xmas project. Can it be that I could finish this one today and finish the second sock a couple of days later and be totally done with more than a week before Christmas?

It's certainly possible. This particular project has been a long time coming. I started a similar item with this same yarn a few years ago and then an event arose that postponed the completion. Well, it is probably for the best, as this pattern is way better than the one I was making up as I went along. I can't reveal what it is, but suffice to say, it involves I-cords which I have never wanted to do before, but now find oddly appealing.

I also practically finished Dorian's first sock yesterday. It just needs to have the toe sewn up with the kitchener stitch. Assuming I don't give myself arthritis or carpal tunnel or something, this is shaping up to be a decent Xmas creating season.

Goddamn tiny needles

Our current ice storm action coupled with a chest cold has left me inside for the last 2 days. The work you see to the left represents hours of ignoring the recipient yesterday. I am still loving the striping, and for someone who literally doesn't get out much (in this weather anyway), it is endlessly fascinating. But I do now remember why I tend to aim more for the bulky yarn in my projects. It took me an hour and 20 minutes to do 3 inches of sock last night. The top half is 6 inches + a double knit heel + those bottom 3 inches= a long time. I thought a pair of socks for a 3 year old would be a quick knit. Wrong-o.

That's okay, though, because I only have one more specific project for Xmas in mind and it should be relatively quick. I'll probably do it between socks since the socks don't need to be done for Xmas. As you can see, they certainly won't be a surprise.

Look, Kathrin!

Thirteen years ago, Kathrin taught me to knit. My motivation was to make socks. I wanted a pair of socks to be my first project. She was having none of that. Rightfully so. Socks are not a good first project. You need to work out the kinks on a scarf or a dishcloth or something simple.

Well, not only were they not a good first project for me, they weren't a good 2nd, 3rd, 10th or even 20th project. Thirteen years later, I am finally knitting my first pair of socks. (This is where my mother tries to pipe up and contradict.) I made my mother some socks, it is true. But they were 2 needle socks with side seams I had to sew up. They were not the real deal, knit in the round on teeny tiny needles socks.

Last night, after I finished the other project (finally!) I could allow myself to start on these socks for Dorian. They look huge, but I swear I'm following the pattern exactly this time. No fudging, no making shit up as I go along. So if they are too big, they are too big. But you and I both know how that child can grow.

The best part of this whole project is that I finally get to use self-striping yarn. Even a basic stockinette stitch is thrilling when the color changes all by itself every once in a while. And knowing that I don't have to weave in a million ends to have a fancy pattern... it makes my heart skip a beat!

Santa scored big time!

This weekend, Sebastian asked Santa for "a kind of fancy costume, not just one random kind." Now, I'm not entirely sure what that means, but Santa (spoiler alert: that's me) got one hell of a bargain yesterday.

I went out to a party store thinking that they must have some costumes available at all times, right? Wrong. I looked and looked while Dorian did his best to manhandle at least one of every type of party favor known to man. I decided I may as well check the cake decorating aisle while I was there, and lo and behold, there was the Halloween clearance section. As I was trying to determine whether a foam clown nose and a green pageboy wig would fit Sebastian's vague specifications, my eye fell on a "Honey Bunny" costume. What is a Honey Bunny, you ask? Well, apparently it is a child in a pink velour dress with marabou trim and a set of bunny ears. When I checked the price tag I was floored, but knowing my retail protocol like I do, I knew that even if it were a mistake they had to honor the price.

The costume that originally retailed for $24.99 now said $2.19! Boy, was I psyched. And when I looked to the right, there was a "The Thing" costume (from the Fantastic 4 or something) which originally sold for $34.99 going for only$1.09!

So, I walked out with two full costumes and a couple of stocking stuffers for $5 and a penny!

The mysteries of the world (or at least this blog) revealed

Chances are, you probably don't care why my blog is called "There'll be days like this" and you probably never bothered to wonder why the address is "marmoset-marmoset.blogspot.com". But just in case you ever did, this should illuminate things for you. I always sang this Shirelles song this way to be silly, and that's where I got the blog name and address. And now Clockwatcher, savvy sis-in-law that she is, has uncovered this little gem:

Enjoy!

The procrastination station

This weekend, in avoidance of a certain project for which I never should have done the math, I have completed one mystery knitted item and these 2 little cuties.

Once upon a time, I was given an advanced reader copy of Oddball Knitting, which is not for people who are oddballs, but for using up leftover skeins of yarn in creative ways. There was a pattern for mini stockings which I thought I might whip up a few of if I had time left over after finishing my planned projects. Well, somehow these became more inspiring to me. I did not follow the instructions exactly because I was using different needles than suggested and I didn't have quite enough yarn and I don't think I have ever followed a pattern exactly... but as you can see they do look like Christmas stockings, which was the whole point. I also decided to add the crochet edging as an embellishment.

Now I just need to decide who will receive them. I'm thinking the red one will go to my paternal grandmother, probably full of chocolates. I'm still undecided about the green, though.

This little elf is still hard at work

A little tease of 2 projects: one halfway there, and one complete. The one on the bottom is using up leftovers from the big blanket with a very subtle pattern of natural sheep colors. The top probably did not come from blue alpacas and sheep, but you never can tell.

It's not Xmas in Brattleboro without...

ELFRED !!!!

A Tale of Two Knitties

Yesterday, I had the opportunity to knit in two very different knitting circles.

The first was more of a knitting triangle, consisting of me, Amanda, and Allegra trying to knit at my house amidst toddler chaos. Two 2 year olds and one newly 3 year old are not ideal knitting companions. It was like knitting in a room full of kittens. We made a little progress all the same, and enjoyed each other's company and some yummy bagels and muffins.

The second was the knitting circle (more of a rectangle because of the table) at the local yarn store. Generally, I think it is a nice way to escape for an hour and a half a week. I am also often surprised by who I see there. But last night, I had to listen to several of the group's members express their deep and abiding love for Scrubs and how it is one of the best written shows on TV. One person said, "It makes TV worthwhile." I bit my tongue. And I also realized that the owner has a really (or should I say reawwy) bad habit of using baby talk in general conversation with other adults. It makes my skin crawl. But I did get a lot of my knitting done.

So, on the one hand, I was trying to knit while Dorian was dive bombing from a table to the couch and tangling himself in my yarn, and on the other I was listen to someone say, "She shouldn't go outside, it's fweezing. It's fweezing out there."

Which would I rather experience again? I'll take the toddlers any day. At least they are supposed to talk like that.

Today I feel a little annoyed

You wanted more Dorian? Well, you can have him.

After writing on the wall and on himself with markers, and peeing all over the house, I'm trying to make dinner when this happens:

D: Mama, I put the toothbrush thing in my potty to make it better.

M: (through gritted teeth) What "toothbrush thing"?

D: In here.

M: (enters bathroom and sees potty full of pee but no "toothbrush thing") What did you put in the potty?

D: (points) Wha-wha

M: What?!

D: (points again and mumbles) Yuck.

M: (holding mostly full tube of toothpaste globbed with same) This?!

D: (nods) Wha. Yuck.

M: (sniffing tube) No...

D: (nods)

Today I'm a little frustrated

Frustrated because the more I think about it, the more wrong I think that teacher is. (See previous post) First off, because I'm quite certain that one of the children she was probably referring to was shopping at the fair this morning. And secondly, because I can think of 8 children who definitely could buy something. Especially since they have several non-book items available for less than a dollar. And now I'm concerned about how her attitude is impacting the kids in her class.

I'm also frustrated because last night I made a mistake in knitting that backwards ass scarf, but I couldn't even deal with trying to figure out where I went wrong. So this morning I take a look and there's the mistake... right at the beginning of the damn row. Which would mean pulling out 300 stitches to fix. So, I looked at the picture of the pattern again. And then I unraveled the whole god forsaken thing. Fuck that scarf. I would feel lousy that I had wasted 3 hours of my life, but I did learn a lesson: Don't knit scarves that way because it is totally stupid.

Today, I'm a little sad

I'm sad because of a conversation I had with Sebastian's teacher this morning while I sliced cucumbers for healthy snack. I asked whether their class would be going back to the book fair this week so I could give Mr. S a little spending money. I think we all remember the book fair, right? The glossy movie novelizations, the bendy pencils, counting out your change to buy that special thing that (chances are) your parents would never have picked out.

Well, the teacher said no, they would not be going back because it is just torture for the children who know they can't have anything. How many kids could that be? Oh, only 13 out of the 18. The teacher said that probably only 5 kids in the class would be able to buy anything this year. It just made me want to cry.

She then went on to say that she "fears for our community, the number of children growing up in squalor." I would have guessed that 5 of the kids were really poor. Not 13. What can you do about that?

I guess I just have to resist the temptation to get really frustrated that I am the only parent who seems involved on a regular basis, and be thankful that those kids (and their teacher) at least have one person helping them out.

Weirdest collection of bumper stickers I've seen in a while

1. Something about organ donation, with a toll-free number
2. The USAPATRIOT Act-- One Nation, One God, One President-- Sieg Heil! Sieg Heil! Sieg Heil!
3. Try to take my gun away and you won't get my trust
4. Dragons are HOT lovers

All this on a truck with the handicapped license plate GEEK

Eventful morning

The Good: We started the morning off with the best All School Sing yet featuring everyone's favorite performer, Sebastian. He was the first of three soloists from the multi-age classes, singing a song about no more pie. Very cute. (Sorry no video, I didn't want to try to get permission from other people who might have popped into view.) Then, his class was one of several demonstrating the Twist. All 450-ish students plus 50 or so teachers and guests were twisting away in the sweatiest dance party I've been to in a long time. And me without my vinyl skirt...

The Bad: On the way to Little Peoples camp, I was crossing in the crosswalk at Malfunction Junction* (if you've been to Bratt, you know where I mean). A pickup turning left stopped to let me pass, as he should have since pedestrians have the right of way. The old man driving the car behind him neglected to notice, and I heard a CRUNCH! Whoops. I booked it up the street, which I don't think was technically leaving the scene of an accident since I wasn't in one of the cars involved. Besides, I'm the only person I've seen in this town with a giant, bright red jog stroller, so I'm sure they could track me down if they wanted to.

* What does it say about VT that every town seems to have one of these?

Things I said to Dorian today and where

• "Take your face out of the toilet."-- public bathroom
• "Next October."-- explaining for the umpteenth time when Halloween will be happening again
• "At the end of the month."-- explaining yet again when Xmas will be
• "What if I cut off the leaky parts?"-- in the kitchen while negotiating his PB&J lunch
• "Not right now!"-- answer to the interminable question "Can I go on PBSKids?"
• "Don't put pretzel sticks in your ears."-- living room
• "Don't put pretzels in any holes in your body."-- living room 1 minute later after seeing them hanging from his nostrils