Tuesday, June 30, 2009

entering the contest...

MommaB is having another contest because she's got an over active guilty conscience. I can relate to that. Her sister won the other one fair and square (they claim ;). So I enter again.

I think this bag would be perfect to carry all of the little projects I plan on doing, like the not-quite-so-weird-and-drunk-looking frog who is hoping to be born soon and will be a cousin to this guy (the weird-and-drunk-looking one):


My husband's work friend told him he'd buy a frog if I could make one after seeing a penguin and a lion I'd made for a couple of the women in the office who recently had babies.

crossing my fingers 'cause I'd really like to win!

and PS, I get extra-credit if you leave a comment on her blog saying you saw it here first! Oh and hey, check out MommaB's Etsy shop!

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

because I get thirsty

I've been a lot more active lately. I go to the gym and lift weights regularly and I like to ride my husband's bike. I would rather ride mine, but it has two flat tires that need to be completely replaced because of a nasty patch of those evil goat-head weeds. I hate those things. My bike is nicer. His gears slip and the water bottle holder is broken off. I don't have a clue what to do about the gears, but as far as a water bottle holder goes ... well ... I remembered a knitted item (scroll down to the bottom of the page for the pattern) I'd seen once on a friend's blog. I didn't feel like knitting though, I wanted to crochet. It's faster. So I made a crochet water bottle holder from no pattern. I like it.

I made it with cotton yarn. I don't make many items for myself, and I can't wait to use this!

Monday, June 22, 2009

so much better


Megs, Suzy and I recovered the dining chairs.

before:
this one was, by far, the worst.

my girls, troopers that they were, took the covers off of 4 and a half of our 6 chairs (Doug and I did the other 1.5)

after:
they look so. much. better.



a special thanks to my friend, Michelle (who is yet to get a blog even though she is super amazing and should absolutely have one!), for giving, yes giving(!), us this lovely upholstery fabric.

Thursday, June 18, 2009

I wanna win!

So my blogging friend (and regular friend too, actually) MommaB has an Etsy shop where she sells her photos and very cute crochet things. AND! she's having a giveaway. That I want to win. But really, who wouldn't want to win this awesome clutch? That's what I thought. So the deal is if I (or you or anyone) blog about her giveaway and send her the link (I'll probably just put it in her comments section) she'll enter me (or you or anyone) once. If someone clicks over to her blog from my entry and leaves a comment saying as much (psst ... my name is Marcia!) she'll give me a second entry. 

I really like the lining. I'm bummed, however, that the adorable little model on her blog doesn't come with it though. Too bad. I'd like that!

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

an alternate reality

So I'm finding myself in this crazy alternate reality called "summer." Just before the end of the school year my husband changed his work schedule and is now home & wandering around until 4 in the afternoon. Add to that a house FULL of kids, about double the number of children to whom I gave birth. It's nuts. It's like every day is some insane never-ending Saturday. And Saturday is not my favorite day of the week! I'm having a hard time finding a way to ground myself. I think it's strange that the adjustment has been hardest for me when I'm the only one who didn't change my normal location. I'm finding all of these people everywhere I turn! What am I to do?



On another note: Here are some pictures of a baby pheasant we found while walking home from the park the other day. Megs caught her and we took her up to the bird sanctuary place and found out that Meg is old enough to volunteer for them. She's really excited and the other girls are really jealous.

Monday, June 15, 2009

Not Me! Monday



"Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week." (copying her text because I'm not feeling clever enough to think up my own)

Well, I'll start by happily announcing that I did not miss a single day of going to the gym all week! Nope! Not me! (Yay me!) But if someone were to tell you that I went only on Monday, you can be sure not to believe a word they say because again, I wouldn't miss a day, no not me!

Another plus in the healthy category, not only did I not forget to take my medication even once, I also ate NO refined sugar on either Friday OR Saturday. Another plus was my ability to keep wheat out over the weekend too. I didn't cave on any of that, no not me!

Of course I did not turn a blind eye to the laundry and secretly enjoy watching my husband wash, dry & put away every last piece then proceed to go through the girls clothes with them one by one, weeding out nearly half what they possessed (stained, too small, etc). I wouldn't do anything like that, no not me!

I also didn't spend too many hours knitting and watching hulu. I didn't ignore the weeds overtaking my garden. I didn't forget to water my hanging baskets. I didn't wear the same pants all week without washing them even once. I didn't neglect the grocery shopping and I didn't forget to return any phone calls or emails. Nope. I was on top of it, I'm telling ya!



Thursday, June 04, 2009

dishcloth frenzy


The end of the school year is upon us and now I'm in a mad frenzy to knit dishcloths for several teachers. I wanted to give sets of two which would mean I still have six more to knit (one class has a helper). Anyone care to guess what I'll be doing today?

Monday, June 01, 2009

the invisible wall


Two books in two weeks, unusual for me. This week I read "The Invisible Wall" by Harry Bernstein. And I loved it. There were a few (but not many) editorial errors that would normally bother me but the storytelling was so wonderful that they were easy to overlook. 

It's a book about Harry's childhood as a young Jewish boy living in England before (and during) WW1. On one side of his road lived the Jews and the other, the Christians. Mostly divided by the "invisible wall" that ran down the middle of their cobblestone street, the families from both sides did come together on occasion. The unthinkable happened when Harry's sister fell in love with a Christian boy from across the street. 

I plan on reading his next book, "The Dream."