New Year, new sock

I just finished the first of my pair of socks, and I'm quite pleased. Because I have a hard enough time holding my hand still when taking pictures with no flash, and I would also have had to keep my foot still, I was forced to use the flash and therefore wash out the colors. (My old lady palsy is so sad. The extra "t" is for tremors.) Anyway, they are actually quite vibrant, the red and yellow and blues. Perhaps when I finish the pair I will take a nice natural light photo for you.

Obviously, this sock is not totally done since I don't think I could fit those 2 needles into any of my shoes, but the knitting is done and that is what counts today.

May your new year also be filled with warm toes. Yours or someone else's, I don't care which.

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!