The Sarcastic Klicker

A Lazy Evening

2012-02-15T15:53:00.001-05:00

Yesterday, on the way home, I stopped and picked up the latest KnitScene by Interweave

Browsing through this magazine, these three patterns really caught my eye.

Brindle Pullover - Debbie O'Neill

My weakness is for the colors and the pretty stitch created with a slip-stitch pattern.

Natalie Mitts - Andrea Jurgrau

These fingerless gloves are so feminine with the delicate lace and scallopped beaded edging at the wrist.

Flying Buttress Tank - Andrea Rangel

I'm in love with the shape of this one... light... flowing. I could show off my new waist come May!

The rest of my evening was spend with a good friend, knitting, chatting and playing with her kittens. The Demne hat is just about done!

Tonight: Groceries and hopefully cleaning out the refrigerator. My plan is to also make a nice salad for my lunches... Tex Mex style salad with black beans, corn, tomatoes, red pepper and Mango Peach salsa for a dressing.

Signing off for now...

The Sarcastic Klicker

A Little Kindness on Valentine's Day

2012-02-14T14:54:00.003-05:00

This morning, on the bus, I got a special Valentine's Day wish. A mentally disabled young man hopped on the bus and said "Excuse me!" repeatedly to people seated in front of him. No one offered their seat. I stood up, and offered him mine. He gave me the most genuine smile and exclaimed "Happy Valentine's Day!!". It warmed my heart and brightened my morning eventhough the sun was hiding behind the clouds.

My sweetheart brought me lunch today and is planning to take me out for dinner this weekend at this quaint little Italian Restaurant in my home town of Rockland. The place is called Rosalynn's Bistro and Catering. All I can say is... delicious... delectable... It's a hidden treasure. If you happen to drive through Rockland, Ontario one day, stop by for dinner. You won't be disappointed.

I will be completing the Demne hat this evening. It is a very quick knit. I'll post pics soon!

The Sarcastic Klicker

Demne - The End... or Almost

2012-02-12T16:31:00.001-05:00

Yesterday, I finished knitting the Demne cardigan. I was left with a gazillion ends to weave in. Yes, for such a small little item, there was many many ends.

Today, I weaved and weaved. Finally, it is completed!

Weaving is my nemesis. I despise it. Now I can focus on casting on for the hat. This should be quick. Well, it HAS to be quick. The baby was born early on January 30th and it was due today. I want her to receive it this week.

Yesterday, we skated on the canal. It was somewhat a rude awakening. The canal was lined with cracks in the ice. Yes. Deep cracks where a skate blade can get lodged and totally throw you off balance. My skating speed has slowed down dramatically and I was carefully negotiating every crack in my way. Stepping over them, side-stepping, hopping... I'm thinking my old figure skates were not well sharpened either. I didn't want to risk lacing up my newer hockey skates which I bought three years ago believing I could learn to skate like a hockey player. Hmmmm... you stand up straight on those things and you land on your ass pretty quickly. They've not been on the canal yet, just in hockey arenas about three times. The ice is softer there.

In the end, the canal experience was good. We skated four kilometres, enjoyed a beavertail and some hot chocolate. We even won prizes at the OLG booth (ok... an ice scraper for the car and a mini flashlight.). The ice sculptures were beautiful and we got to see them just as darkness was falling. They were lit up in pretty colors.

I have no pictures as I didn't want to risk bringing the expensive camera on the ice.

The week begins tomorrow with a renewed vow to enter the gym once again.

First, I need to cast on that little Demne hat, which I cannot wait. This will give me instant knitting gratification!

The Sarcastic Klicker

Knitting, A Manly Invention

2012-02-11T11:19:00.001-05:00

It is known to me that men invented knitting. In fact, I was quite miffed about it when I found this out in the past. Geez! Men had to put their noses in my business. It is quite logical. They had to knit their own fishing nets!

Oh! And it doesn't just stop there! They had knitting guilds too! For those who are not familiar with a guild, it is a group of people who meet to knit and discuss knitting. When these guilds were run by men, women were not even allowed!

The trend is now mostly a woman thing but I did find some manly evidence on YouTube!

The Sarcastic Klicker

Problems/Possible Solutions

2012-02-09T13:59:00.002-05:00

Problem - Lack of motivation to get to the gym.

Reason - Afraid of the stress it involves in the evening where I have to rush to do everything else and then get no relax time to knit
Possible Solutions - Waking up earlier in the morning to get things ready for dinner in the crockpot, getting the kids to do dishes while I go to the gym, be back home by 8:30pm to have time to knit.

Problem - Kids have a lack of responsibility and are messy (12yr old son and 16yr old daughter)
Reason - They don't have a set chores list and that's my fault
Possible Solution - Create a chores list for each day of the week and give strict consequences if they are not done. Such as no outings on the weekends, no t.v. in the evenings, give extra chores.

Problem - No money
Reason - Only one salary coming in
Possible Solution - Don't really have one yet... I don't shop (expect for groceries), I don't use credit cards (I am a total believer that if you don't have the cash, you don't buy it... except for my house and car) , my knitting budget is a mere $50 a month (cheap hobby) and we don't eat out. My electricity bill is pretty low... cost of living is going up drastically. I've already cut down on buying coffee at break and joined the work coffee club at $5 per month for unlimited amounts of coffee. I could begin designing knitting but refer to outdated technical equipment. Getting a second evening or weekend job.

Problem - Things around the house need to be fixed/updated. Windows, install outdoor lights, leaky faucet in bathtub, lighting fixtures in hallways and bedrooms, toilets replaced by water saving ones
Reason - Refer to no money problem
Possible Solution - Getting a second source of revenue.

Problem - Outdated or lack of technology (1999 computer, no printer, no wireless internet, no digital camera, no cell phone or Iphone or Android, no external drive to store pictures)
Reason - Lack of money
Possible Solution - Getting a second source of revenue.

A second job is an option but, do I want to sacrifice the time with my kids. Yes they are older but I feel that being home benefits them and gives us more opportunities to talk and be together.

I've thought of using my knitting for profitable ideas but I need a digital camera and updated computer/laptop to keep up with others.

Off to create a chores list for the kids... I'll start with that.

The Sarcastic Klicker

Blog For Comfort...

2012-02-08T14:10:00.001-05:00

This morning while driving to the bus station, I almost turned around and went back home to bed. I'm not feeling the hottest... cramping... bloating... nausea... But, I pushed on and made it to the office.

A nice hot steaming bowl of beef barley soup is sitting on my desk and I feel like wrapping myself in a blanket and knitting. I am wrapped in a nice warm wooly cardigan and I'll blog about some of the projects I've put in my favorites on Ravelry.

Sunnyside

This sweet baby cardigan called Sunnyside caught my attention when a knitting friend posted a picture of it completed. This smart little design was created by Tanis Lavallée who runs Tanis Fiber Arts. Her patterns and yarns inspire my creativity. The Sunnyside cardigan is perfect as I can pick out sock yarn for it.

February Lady Sweater

February Lady designed by Pamela Wynne, has been on my todo list for at least three years. Each time I see it in my favorites I love it as much as the first time I set eyes on it. The lace and the flared open front caught my attention on this one. One day it will be on my needles. Recently, I discovered that it can be knit with Briggs & Little Heritage and looks awesome!

Custom Knits

I've had this book in my collection for a few years and have yet to knit anything out of it. So many favorites out of this including:

Favorite Cardigan

If ever my body looks this sexy again...

Jewel

Looks awesome in a sparkle yarn!

Lettuce Cardigan

That color is awesome and long cardis hide the butt.

This last book brings to mind another book that I own. One that oozes patterns that I want to make.

French Girl Knits

As you can tell, I favor the fitted knits that then flair....

Louisa

Stella

Simone

My comfort level is restored, my soup bowl is empty and lunchtime is over. I feel better now.

The Sarcastic Klicker

You Joined A Gym... Then What?

2012-02-07T09:58:00.002-05:00

The first time I entered the gym in September 2010, I felt totally out of place. I didn't know where to go or what to do but I saw the Elliptical and it became my best friend.

Basically, I slapped my bottle of water in the holder, got on, didn't touch a thing and started pedalling. The thing lit up like a Christmas tree. I, a person who never set food in a gym, was WORKING OUT! Yes! I pedalled like crazy and was secretly trying to beat the guy next to me by going faster. The screen on the machine was saying I was going super fast but then I noticed the calorie burning thing was barely moving. Ten minutes into the workout, I was out of breath and my legs were burning. I slowed the pace for about three minutes, then stopped the machine, stepped off and almost fell on my face. My legs were so wobbly! I could barely walk around the machine to spray it clean. I was so ashamed! My legs could barely carry me to the change rooms!

We've all been there! We all have to start somewhere. I am blogging about this because a friend has just joined a gym and went through a similar experience on her first day at the gym.

The number one rule is START SLOW. You should get a free orientation of the equipment when you join a gym. Get one of the people who works there to get you familiar with each piece of equipment. I did so after one month of feeling like a failure at the gym.

Tips To Help You Get Started

STRETCH BEFORE YOUR WORKOUT.
Put the machine at the easiest level
Warm up (you can do this on the Elliptical too... just do 5 mins. of slow pace to get your heart going)
Then, up the pace a little for one or two minutes and slow back down for one or two minutes. (The idea is to build your muscles and build your cardio strength. Cardio was my nemesis and now, I can push through it) Do this for about 10 minutes.
Do a five minute cool down... slow paced and bring your heart rate back down.
Drink lots of water
STRETCH AFTER YOUR WORKOUT.

Do this three times a week until you notice your workout is becoming too easy.

Then graduate to doing longer periods at a faster pace and higher levels

Bring music (I can't workout without it.and be sure to choose a music at a slower pace when you begin. The music also zones me out from the gym! The more I love the songs, the more I want to keep moving.), never mind the other people oggling you (and if it really bugs you, oggle them back! LOL! I did and it works), track your workouts (the speed, the calories you burn, the time you workout... it's all there on the elliptical machine... just write it down in a book or track it online) as it helps you see the progress. Stay positive.

You will soon find that the Elliptical alone will be boring. I suggest you check out SparkPeople. I got tons of tips there and there are many many exercise and stretching demos for you to use. I built up my gym routine with that. I began with focusing on lower body weight equipment first to learn how to use it (and it strenghthens your legs for the elliptical). Then I graduated to upper body and last but not least core exercises. When using the weights, it's always good to do a light 10 minute cardio before... it warms up your muscles... and after.. it gets the circulation flowing back to your heart. This is just my way of doing things, other people may do other things.

I myself stay away from the treadmill. Not good on my legs and my shins really suffer on it.

I go to drop-in classes that are free for members. There are step classes, boot camp classes, cardio-kickboxing classes, etc... When I first attended, I slid to the back of the class and went at my own pace. If I really couldn't do a full two minutes of power jumping, I marched into place, drank a bit, caught my breath and then pushed on again. I always aimed to FINISH the class. I never walked out. The success was that I pushed myself to the end of the class.

Be patient with yourself. You will not become a gym pro overnight. Just keep going to the gym. Don't give up. Schedule your workouts. Write down what you are going to do and do it. If for a really really good reason you cannot go to the gym that night (the roads are dangerously icy, your child is sick, etc.), make a point to work out at home. Have a few fitness DVDs ready and do a workout. The hardest thing is getting yourself to the gym! That is half the battle, once there, work it out!

Make sure you eat a small snack before you workout (half hour before or so) to give you energy. You want carb and protein. Here are some ideas:

granola bar with nuts
Apple slices with peanut butter
Low fat yogourt with fruit
Low fat cheese with fruit
Oatmeal mixed with low fat yogourt and fruit

Again... this is just my way of doing things. You might hear different things from different people but I basically did what I thought was good for me. I by no means am a pro but I am much better than when I started.

Wishing you success! Now get back to that gym and show those people you mean business and you will stick this! It is better to have been on the machine for two minutes than not at all. Prove it to yourself that you can do this! :o)

The Sarcastic Klicker

Demne... will the story end?

2012-02-06T15:46:00.000-05:00

My weekend was enjoyable and relaxing. So much so that I might even call it lazy.

Friday, I checked out the canal during a lunchtime walk. The weather was perfect for it too!

Photo courtesy of Andrée Lise Photography

According to the news this morning, Winterlude's first weekend was a success in our Nation's Capital. I'll be lacing up my old skates this coming weekend to induldge in a Beavertail. A sweet tasty traditional Winterlude treat which I enjoy in the original brown sugar/cinnamon flavor.

The evening on Friday brought pretty lazy snowflakes to the scene which I watched from the Café Latte Cino, where I met my knitting friends. Meanwhile, my daughter was on a "date". According to her it was "No Mom!! It's NOT a date!" Yeah... I know... it's not a date. Specially when I picked her up and she was giggling with her friend in the back seat and whispering things about him and texting wildly on the ride home. Her friend kept asking, "What did he say? What did he say?"

Saturday morning, at 6h30am, I was getting ready for an Aquafit Bootcamp class at my local YMCA. Getting in cold water in the middle of winter is not my idea of fun. This was a special occasion. My sisters, my Mom and I were doing this class together. I managed to get my body in a swimsuit and didn't look in the mirror. I quickly shaved in the essential parts, had a coffee and a banana and was in the pool before i could turn back, BEFORE Mom and my sisters!

We acted like a bunch of brats. We shoved each other, yelled at each other to push harder, jump higher, run faster and swatted each other with noodles and flutter boards. Did we work out, you ask? Oh yeah, we worked out. HARD! I'm still not a pool person though. I would rather do my boot camp in the gym.

We then went out to a restaurant for breakfast to celebrate my sister's birthday. My breakfast omelette and potatoes quickly struck out any good the workout had done for me.

Once my house was cleaned up and dinner was cleared up, my laziness began with a nice glass of red wine and the Demne cardi. I was determined to finish it that evening. By 9:30pm, the workout, cleaning and wine had done me in and I was snoring away on the sofa.

Sunday dawned a beautiful one with the sound of a whining feline wanting to be fed and a whimpering pooch wanting to pee. Once the animals were happy, I brewed some fresh coffee, turned on the music and settled at my dining room table to work on Demne. My two legged children were not going to be up an about for another couple of hours and therefore I would have time to get some knitting done.

By late morning, the house was smelling of maple flavored bacon and crêpes, yet Demne was not complete.

I watched two movies on television, put a roast beef and veggies in the oven, and knit to my heart's content. Still Demne was not completed. Two more hours of knitting and this little puzzled cardi was sitting on needles.

I was SURE to have it on my completed list!! All this sitting and knitting left me feeling quite lazy. Beginning at 7:30pm tonight, working on the Demne will continue until late. You know the feeling when you read an exciting book and you flip and flip and flip the pages to finish it? This is how I feel.

The Sarcastic Klicker

The NOT so Yarn Diet

2012-02-03T11:47:00.002-05:00

This year, I decided to knit a lot of things from my yarn stash. To feel a little more organised, I also inventoried a lot of my stash on Ravelry, a Godsend of a website that lets me keep track of my knitting projects, stash my yarn in pictures and my own library of books and most of all, interact with many knitters from all over the world! My stash is not even 50% organised on the website yet and I have 52 different yarns inventoried. EEK! The yarn hoarding is much worse than I thought.

To remedy a little of the problem, I've updated my projects and also queued some and referenced them to yarns in my stash. In addition, I've made a pact with myself not to buy more yarn until the stash dwindles a lot. Two exceptions to this rule... I can still get sock yarn or accept yarn that is donated to me for free.

Today, I am meeting a knitting friend who bought the last of this discontinued Boot Sock yarn:

I am buying two skeins off of her in these colors! It's a happy day. A yarn day!

The Sarcastic Klicker

Wiarton Willie Predicts an Early Spring!

2012-02-02T12:49:00.001-05:00

Groundhog Day's a day I look forward to. I know it may sound cheesy to have a groundhog predict the weather but any mention of an early Spring makes my steps much lighter.

Photo Credit: Chris Young , CP Photo

The sun is bright, ice and snow are melting and you could actually smell Spring in the air early this morning.

Knitting Update

I've attached yet another piece to the puzzle of the Demne cardi last night. The right front is now part of the puzzle and all that is left is the right sleeve. I plan to add a hat and little booties to this as well.

Time for me to head out in the sun...

The Sarcastic Klicker

A Common Occurence Lately...

2012-02-01T15:50:00.002-05:00

Woke up to an icy wonderland again this morning. I knew that I had to rush but one positive thing was the fact that the school buses were cancelled and we didn't have to make lunches. In the last month or so, freezing rain warnings which follow a small accumulation of snow is a weekly ritual in Ottawa. Now I know why my left arm is larger than my right by a quarter inch! Scraping the ice of a car builds muscle and being right handed, the right arm is getting the workout and not the left one.

Turbo Fire Update

Fail. Postponed to a later post whenever my body and mind are in the mood for the challenge.

Knitting Update

This year, my goal to knit more is really becoming a reality. The Demne Cardigan is about 75% completed. I'm putting a rush on this one as the baby is due shortly. In fact, the neighbor's car has not been in the driveway all week and I am worried that the baby is already here! This pattern has me hooked. You follow it row by row, joining pieces as you go along and it is not boring me because you never know what comes next!

Let's go back to my project list for 2012 which I have updated a little:

1 - WIP began in Dec. 2011 - One-Skein Wonder Baby Sweater (Fighting with button flaps)

2 - WIP began in Aug. 2011 - Yarn Harlot Sock Recipe socks forAunt Gisele - COMPLETED
3 - WIP began in Dec. 2011 - Mosaic Scarf for my daughter
4 - From Stash purchased in 2010 - Clapotis
5 - From Stash purchased in early 2011 - Demne cardi and hat for neighbor who is pregnant - 75% done
6 - From Stash purchased in early 2011 - Yarn Harlot Sock Recipe socks for Aunt Claire - Ribbing completed on first sock!
7 - From Stash purchased in 2010 - Yarn Harlot Sock Recipe socks for ME
8 - From Stash purchased in 2009 - Decimal for ME
9 - Star shaped pillow - a WIP from 2009
10 - Baby something for friend who is expecting in April.
11 - Shetland Shorty - yarn purchased in 2009.
12 - Not yet determined... Something with Briggs & Little yarn purchased in 2005..

Now, I also need to get a move on with my daughter's scarf. Winter will be over soon!

After putting some stash on inventory in Ravelry, I concluded that something needs to be done with the load of Briggs & Little yarn I have. This has been in my stash since 2005 and that is the year when my pattern books and stash started going a little out of control. It is definitely the time for it to be used.

Here are a couple of patterns I found that were knit by others in Briggs & Little Heritage and turned out really nice!:

Drops Bag

Angora Bamboo Shoulder Shrug by Patons

The Sarcastic Klicker

NHL AllStars Town

2012-01-28T21:46:00.000-05:00

Once in a lifetime I get to be part of this great NHL event! The All Star Game is in our town of Ottawa! The Fan Fair was at the new Convention Centre downtown. Yes, I went with my boyfriend and my son, BUT I brought my knitting bag in anticipation of many hours of waiting in line-ups for hopeful signatures from hockey pros.

Yes, we waited in line, but really for nothing. There was no hockey pros to be seen today. Many booths with hockey memorabilia for sale and lots of opportunities to practise your slap shot.

We did get to see the Stanley Cup without having to wait in line for a picture. Thank God for zoom lenses!

Then I got to see my Jeremy suit up in an NHL hockey uniform!

While walking back to our car, we stopped by the canal to admire the scenery from Adirondack chairs.

And we got proof that we were at the All Star Game! Okay... it was Fan Fair but 20 years from now, who will know?

Now this is hockey where it's meant to be.... on ice!

His favorite team!

Our Home Team!

Knitting Update

January 31st is our Kanata Knit Morning Group's third year anniversary. We are celebrating with a potluck and some de-stashing of yarn, books and tools.

Currently on my needles is Demne, a baby cardigan. The recipient is due in February and I am quite taken with this pattern. At first, it felt like a puzzle but as I kept knitting, it started making sense! This is my progress so far.

Yes... it still looks like a puzzle... I know. It will come together though! :o)

The Sarcastic Klicker

January Rain

2012-01-24T12:37:00.002-05:00

Living in Ottawa, you never know what Mother Nature has in store for you. It was pouring rain yesterday evening and my driveway was transformed into a skating rink. My arms are still sore from scraping away at the ice. My salt bag was empty and I had not anticipated running to four stores in our lovely town to discover that no one had any salt left. Canadian Tire removed all their shovels and salt bags from the shelves and replaced it all by garden soil and garden tools! Not sure where people plan to make gardens at this time of year. Really! CANADIAN TIRE of all business should know about our winters... unless they know something I don't. Could Spring be happening next week?

Today is overcast as well but a welcome change from the -25 degrees we were getting over the weekend. This picture is from the Mooney's Bay Webcam.

Knitting Update

I have to say that I am mighty proud of these accomplishments.

Baby Cardigan is completed!

My Aunt Gisèle's socks are off the needles as well!

My Aunt Claire's socks are still at the ribbing for now. Lately, my bus rides have been spent burried in a book which decreases knitting time.

The next project is called Demme. I fell in love with this little cardi and its recipient is my neighbor's daughter who is expected to make her appearance next month..

TurboFire Update

Yes, my TurboFire plan is underway. My eating habits were cleaned up in the last three weeks and I was rewarded with a loss of 4 pounds!

The 9 week preparation schedule for TurboFire will help me be ready for the actual 90 day challenge. My workout tonight is a 40 minute stretch DVD. To tell you the truth, that is a wimp workout. That's why I'll drag my butt to the gym tonight and visit my old friend the Elliptical Cross trainer and get re-acquainted for a half hour or so.

Back to work I go... lunchtime is over already.

The Sarcastic Klicker.

The Butt Saga

2012-01-19T13:54:00.000-05:00

My fitness DVD library is quite extensive. Yes, I have Kathy Smith, Jillian Michaels, a few dance fitness ones, yoga, pilates, etc. My latest purchase was last fall. TurboFire by Beachbody. My attempt at beginning the 90 day challenge has been good. My success rate at completing the challenge is NIL.

With a six week fail of going to the gym starting in December and a 100% success at wolfing down every baked Christmas goodie around the house, my shock was staring me in the face last week. My butt. It is bigger, flabby and gravity is calling its name BIG TIME!

Coincidentally, a Beachbody coach began tweeting me last week. Her motivational quotes really inspired me. This week, she asked me to be part of her team. How exciting is that? I accepted her invitation!

With the TurboFire box in hand, I read the books from cover to cover last night. I'm ready! It's a 9 week pre-workout schedule and then a 90 day intense workout schedule.

TurboFire Plan

Monday, January 23 at 5am is my start day.

My goals? A sexy bikini body, a new pair of skinny jeans and a loss of 20lbs.

Sunday evening, I'll be taking pics, measurements and a Fitness test so I can fill it out on my Beachbody profile and track my progress to success.

Knitting Updated

I finished those button bands on that baby cardi. Only the buttons left to sew on.

My aunt's socks have a few rows of ribbing done.

I burried myself in my stash again last night and inventoried my Briggs & Little stash. Hmmm... I could whip out quite a few things from there!

I found this awesome shrug from Patons!

It will look great in the Briggs & Listtle Heritage in the Mulberry color. :o)

The Sarcastic Klicker

A Look Ahead in Knitting

2012-01-17T11:34:00.004-05:00

Yesterday's post was short for a reason. My knowledge to link pictures from my Flickr account to here is NIL.

Let's try this again.

Last year at this time I was over excited and stressed because I was getting ready to go here:

Three of my aunts and a cousin are departing tomorrow on a southern holiday and it reminded me of my trip to Riviera Maya last year. I long to just book a flight and head south.

If I close my eyes, I can picture this view from my balcony and the sound of the crashing waves... the smell of the tropical fruit in my drink, the feeling of the sun basking me in warmth and sand between my toes.

I look out the window today and a snowstorm has just begun. Up to 10cm of the stuff followed by freezing rain and ice pellets and finishing off with a flash freeze tonight.

Knitting update

I cast on a new pair of socks for my aunt (yes... one who is flying south). I've knit socks for everyone but myself. My cousin, three of my aunts, my Mom, my son, my daughter, etc. These socks are in vibrant pinks from Drops Fabel sock yarn. This is adding a burst of color to today's winter storm.

On February 4th, I will be visiting the Just Knitting shop in Carleton :Place and will have the pleasure of meeting the person behind Indigo Dragonfly hand dyed yarns. Since I am on a yarn diet (not purchasing yarn for an unlimited amount of time until my half full closet full is mostly used up), I will focus on just purchasing sock yarn for myself.

This little baby cardigan is the next item to finish (hopefully tonight). The pattern is out of the One-Skein-Wonder book. I have been fighting with the button flap, which is not part of the pattern at all but I wanted to add my own little touch. THIS is where the linking the photo in Flickr comes into play... argh!

Hmmm... got the picture up but it was not as easy as I thought it would be.

Let's get back to knitting... Here is a list of 12 projects I plan to knit this year to help reduce my yarn stash. This yarn has to be 6 months or older. Some projects have been on my to do list since 2009!

1 - WIP began in Dec. 2011 - One-Skein Wonder Baby Sweater (Fighting with button flaps)

2 - WIP began in Aug. 2011 - Yarn Harlot Sock Recipe socks for my aunt - COMPLETED
3 - WIP began in Dec. 2011 - Mosaic Scarf for my daughter
4 - From Stash purchased in 2010 - Clapotis
5 - From Stash purchased in early 2011 - Baby set for neighbor who is pregnant
6 - From Stash purchased in early 2011 - Yarn Harlot Sock Recipe socks for another aunt - Begun!
7 - From Stash purchased in 2010 - Yarn Harlot Sock Recipe socks for ME
8 - From Stash purchased in 2009 - Decimal for ME
9 - Star shaped pillow - a WIP from 2009
10 - Baby something for friend who is expecting in April.
11 - Shetland Shorty - yarn purchased in 2009.
12 - Not yet determined... I'll have to go back to my stash.

The Sarcastic Klicker

Where is 2011?

2012-01-16T15:39:00.000-05:00

Posting in 2011 was fruitless. Totally.

Mid-January in 2012, -30 degrees for the third morning in a row and I am just getting some down time to actually think of some resolutions for the year.

My main one is to be positive this year. Knit more. Stress less.

SI

A Mom's Reality Check

2011-01-13T09:10:00.007-05:00

My son gave me a few tests for me to sign last night. I was pretty proud of him as his grades improved!

Reading through one of his tests on electricity, one question was "Describe what your day would be like if you had no electricity?" The one statement in his response that stood out was "My day would be boring as my Mom cleans all the time and my sister is locked in her room." Talk about a slap in the face. It's like "Wake up Mommy you got told!" in a sort of indirect way.

I stood there, stunned for a bit and really started questioning how much time I do spend with my little man. I sit at the table when he does his homework. We play card games, on a regular basis. Up until before the holidays, we went to the YMCA together and he worked out with me. This is something we will start again on my return to Mexico as my hips are screaming in pain at the moment. We watch movies but that is on a rare occasion as I am not a big t.v. person.

Admittedly, he does have a point. I don't sit very often at all at home after coming home from work at 5:15pm. There is dinner to make, dishes, homework, going to the gym, laundry, lunches and yes, SOME cleaning.

So, this evening while I force myself to actually sit and give myself a pedicure, we will have a little chat about how we can remedy his boredom or how I can, as his Mom, fulfill his need for me.

Remember the picture of the yarn I plan to take to Mexico? Substract a sock skein and replace by this Yvieknits skein. Luscious sock yarn which I plan to hopefully turn into this:

Clapotis from Knitty.com

While on the plane, I plan to knit some socks... just the plain socks from Yarn Harlot's Knitting Rules book. The fibre is a self patterning yarn by S.R. Kertzer On Your Toes in the Raspberry print As a very very nervous flyer, I need something soothing and repetitive. Thank you Steph!

While on the beach I picked out this Grrlfriend market bag on Ravelry to knit and I am bringing the Bernat Handicrafter cotton in the bright Over The Rainbow shade.

I'm dreaming of Mexico...

Until next post!

10 Days To Go for Mexico!!! Feel The Heat Baby!

2011-01-12T10:48:00.005-05:00

I'm off schedule with my getting ready for Mexico. The pedicure was moved to this evening as I got wrapped up in laundry, cleaning and dishes, got lost in my yarn and then at 8pm a good movie was starting and I did not get the chance to set up my foot bath in front of the television before it began. With a steaming chai tea, I parked my behind on the rocking chair and picked up my knitting.

The movie was: Love's Enduring Promise which is the second movie in a series based on books written by Janette Oke.

Some people may think it as a lame movie but it's just what I needed... Simple love story in a historical time of early 1900s. Just reminded me of life's basics. Family, love, hard work... I have not sat to watch an entire movie on t.v. without falling asleep in a long time. Because it was a television movie, it had commercials which gave me the chance to run down to change loads of laundry, finish dishes and put away some clothes.

Immediately following my son's swimming lesson tonight, my pedicure awaits with my knitting. :o)

Hasta luego...

Countdown to Mexico - 11 Days to go!!

2011-01-11T14:13:00.006-05:00

Last night, I went through all my summer clothes and it was tough making decisions of what to bring and what to leave at home! So many to choose from!

Today I've been looking up luggage restrictions and what to pack.

Tonight, home pedicure and knitting! This will be soooooo nice!! Speaking of knitting, I am bringing these yarn goodies with me to Mexico. I plan to knit a market bag, some socks and I might just bring something else to cast on just for variety. :o)

I did not forget about my daily Spanish! I've been reading about grammar on the bus and I learned the verb SER in the present, past and future tenses. :o)

While imagining myself in Mexico, I was thinking up questions I might. I know the usual things but what if I want an extra towel? I usually use two towels for my shower... one for my hair and the other for the rest of my body. My guess for towel in Spanish is toalla... hmmm... let me look it up now.

Holy crap!! I was right! Toalla... so I would say something like Puedes traer una otra toalla por favor?

Like in French, there are so many different ways of saying things in Spanish and I am afraid to be rude when asking for something. Hopefully by adding "por favor" a lot, they will be nice to me. :o)

Bedtime! 6h00 am comes quickly...

Until next post...

K.

12 Days Before We Leave for Mexico!!!

2011-01-10T10:40:00.003-05:00

The temperature is getting colder here in Ottawa as it usually does in January but I'm getting the jitters about leaving on Saturday, Jan. 22 for Mexico! Maya Riviera for 8 days! The beach, the sun, the hours of endless knitting I will do!! Ahem.. oh yes, I am attending a wedding too while I am there. This is a first for me to attend a wedding down south!

What have I packed? NOTHING! I have bought shampoo and sunblock.

This evening, I'll be making a list of things to bring and go through all my summer clothes to pick out my outfits.

Tomorrow evening, I'll be doing a home pedicure for my feet and repeat it again next week. I'll be adding my nail polish on the Friday evening before I leave.

Wednesday, I'll be doing the summer clothes laundry.

Thursday, ironing of any summer clothes that may need it.

Friday, start a bag with my personal products, i.e. shampoo, conditioner, soap, etc...

For the next 11 nights, I'll be dreaming of this scene...

Until next post...

Picture courtesy of this website - http://www.trendmixer.com/grand-riviera-princess-hotel-in-playa-del-carmen

A Busy Weekend

2011-01-09T19:36:00.003-05:00

Friday evening, my son swam at the YMCA while I watched him and knit. Then there was the marathon of taking down the tree and all the Christmas decorations. I succeeded! My living room is back to being spacious. No more high jumping over the couch to get to the ringing phone!

Saturday, after an early start of laundry, shovelling, cleaning and dishes, I brought the kids and their friends sledding. They had a blast and so did I because I had an hour to myself to keep cleaning! Once I picked up four red-nosed and blushing cheeky kids at the park to bring them home, I made hot chocolate with marshmallows and took out some sugar cookies from the freezer. I tried to find enough space on the heater for four hats, four pairs of mitts and snowpants to dry them off.

I worked on Carmela, the wonderful luscious burgundy cardigan which I vow to finish this week to wear in Kanata at my next knit meet-up. Yes, of course, I will post a pic soon enough!

Today, Sunday, we slept in. Then, the BF offered to take us to see a movie. Something I have not done in a while. We saw the 3:45pm showing of Tron, 3D. It was a good movie! Lots of action too! The kids really enjoyed it!

Mr. Pooch and Ms. Kitty relaxed at home.

Until next post...

10 cm!!! Whhaaat????

2011-01-07T09:26:00.011-05:00

Yesterday, I distinctly heard the weather guy say 2 to 4 centimetres of snow today! Yes, my memory is failing in some areas of my life but definitely not when it comes to weather. So tell me, Mr. Weather guy. How does 2 to 4 cm suddenly amounts to 10 cm????

You know, I was really really loving the fact that we barely had snow, I didn't break my back shoveling yet and it has been basically above -10 degrees celcius! This is almost spring like weather here in Ottawa. This morning, -16 degrees, very windy and snowing! Usually when it snows, it hovers at -5 degrees or above. If the wind keeps up, I'll be shovelling and the snow will blow right back in my face! People tell me to shovel the snow on the opposite side. I share a double driveway with a neighbor... If I follow that piece of advice, I'll be covering her car in snow! I'm sure she would be impressed! So, yes, I can only throw the snow in one direction and lucky me, it's the direction the wind comes from. It is not supposed to come from the South but because I live in a dead end street the wind whips around and creates mini tornadoes. This is why my driveway gets the big snow drifts too.

Days like these, I wish I would have stayed in my pj's, with coffee and knitting just to watch the snow fall.

This is the winter scene our 10 cm of snow painted today.

Verbo ESTAR

Presente

Estoy

Estás

Está

Estamos

Estáis

Están

Pretérito Perfecto Simple

Estuve

Estuviste

Estuvo

Estuvimos

Estuvisteis

Estuvieron

Futuro

Estaré

Estarás

Estará

Estaremos

Estaréis

Estarán

Oops, I Did It Again!

2011-01-06T09:30:00.006-05:00

The yarn begged me to take it home! I SWEAR! How could I resist the soft and cushy, colorful skeins! They were screaming my name! It was all my sister's fault! I needed another skein of Nepal to finish her scarf. That's what led me to the LYS in the first place.

How could I ever resist this... discontinued... reduced...

I recharged my dinosaur of a digital camera and I'm planning to take pics of my yarn so I can post it all on my Ravelry stash and then link it to patterns and hopefully get it into the Knitting Queue.

A few projects have been finished which I have yet to post pictures of on my project page.

Currently, I am working on this scarf which will complete a set and matches the hat I knit for my sister.

Lots of Rav work ahead!

This was is my evening at my cousin's place... pj's, slippers/socks, candlelight, wine, knitting...

With this little creature tucked in my hoodie...

El verbo ser

Presente

Soy

Eres

Somos

Sois

Son

Pretérito Perfecto Simple

Fui

Fuiste

Fue

Fuimos

Fuisteis

Fueron

Futuro

Seré

Serás

Será

Seremos

Seréis

Serán

Un poco de español cada día!

2011-01-05T09:56:00.007-05:00

For the last five years or so, I've been learning Spanish on my own. Why? The explanation is not quite clear. There is a force that pulls me towards the Latin American culture... the language... the dance... the music. It warms my heart and makes me happy... food for my soul. It's a mystery. There might be some Latin Americans in my ancestors... who knows? When I am among those people, it feels familiar, soothing, like home.

In October 2010, I registered for my first Spanish class at an adult high school in my town. My teacher, Veronica is from Guatemala. It is kind of ironic because one of my really good friends (who helps me practise the language) is also from that country. Our term ended before Christmas but I enjoyed it so much that I'll be taking the next level in February. :o)

My goal is to learn the present, , past and future tenses of commonly used verbs before classes resume in February. Verbs like ser, estar, comer, ir, caminar, poder, querer, etc... Since French is my native language, memorizing verbs should come naturally. There are more verb tenses in Spanish too!

These books will help immensely.

YES! The one on the left is ALL in Spanish!! How to conjugate verbs. The second book is in French and explains Spanish grammar and all the similarities to the French language and also all the exceptions and differences. I LOVE Becherelle! It demystifies it all for me.

La comida para mi alma!!

Before the Tree Comes Down...

2011-01-04T14:47:00.005-05:00

Just to finish off 2010 and before I take it down:

No resolutions this year. NONE! That way, if I don't live up to them, I won't feel like a failure! :o)

I shall try to:

Blog more even it they are short blogs
Organize and inventory my yarn stash on Ravelry
Develop a project queue on Ravelry and follow it
Use up lots of stash yarn
Eat healthier
Be more active (eventhough my hips are screaming in pain)
Plan a course of action for my early hip arthritis

Happy New Year everyone!

And to go with my eat healthier theme:

K.

Family Fall YMCA Challenge

2010-09-24T09:59:00.004-04:00

It's been a while since my last post and to tell you the truth, it was a pretty depressing one! I must have been PMSing.

After years of guilt for not being able to afford classes for my kids, I took the bull by the horns and got a family membership at our local YMCA. Three weeks in, I believe it's the best decision I've ever made! Yes, I have to scrimp and save to be able to afford the monthly fee but it is well worth it.

I thought getting home, making dinner, helping with homework, cleaning up was a challenge. This new schedule with 3 evenings spent at the YMCA is an even bigger challenge!

Tuesday - NHL Street hockey for my son / Gym workout or drop-in class for me

Wednesday - Salsa for my daughter and I

Thursday - Junior Fitness Club for my son / Hooping for me

Sunday - Swimming lesson for my daughter / Workout for me / Public swim for all three of us

I LOVE IT! My energy level is so much higher!! Yes, I have to run like a maniac to get meals prepared in advance for the following evening, do dishes and help with homework but the main thing is our household is so much more positive! :o)

Until next post...

A Wonderful Sound

2010-03-08T10:02:00.003-05:00

Every morning at about 6am, I groggily head outside to my backyard with my coffee and the dog at my heels. Since Jayk has been part of our family, he knows his routine of going outside at 6am. (Mind you, he's nice enough to let me sleep in until 7h30am on the weekends). The weather is gettting warmer by the day and I welcome the warmth of the morning sun just rising above the rooftops. What has really been enchanting me lately is the beautiful unique song of the cardinal. What a great way to wake up! My eyes closed, listening, and slowly sipping my coffee.

Lately, I've been a little down on my knitting. My Knitting Olympics project crashed and burned. The amount of knitting I have done for my supposed craft booth for this coming Christmas is low (like two items). Also, the fact that I am overweight by 15lbs (and still a cookie monster) is depressing and impedes on my motivation to knit when I should be exercising and eating healthy. Even more depressing is seeing people around me knit huge amounts of things and it seems that I'm always on the same project! But yet, I buy more yarn.... why? sigh...

Believe me, I know what needs to be done! I need to wake up at 5h15am, do a workout, take a shower, and get myself moving. In addition, I need to make meals ahead, make lunches right after dinner, do dishes and go to bed at a decent time. But NOOOOO!!! What I end up doing when I get home from work is clean the kitchen from the night before, have a late quick unhealthy dinner with the kids, do homework with my son, tidy up and do some laundry until 9pm then plop myself in front of the t.v. once my kids are in bed and fall asleep at midnight still sitting in front of the t.v.... not even knitting! WHY????? I NEVER USED TO WATCH TV!!! Well... not that much anyway!

Schedules have been made but they were never followed. A sweet kick in the arse is what I need. This would also help my kids. My daughter is lazy and has no chores. At fourteen, I was in charge of starting dinner for my Mom and doing dishes with my sister afterwards. That was on top of my homework!

It's like I keep telling myself that I need ME time. Enough is enough already! I feel like a failure half the time!

So, I'm off to make a new schedule which will be fine tuned with no reason to fail! I have to make this look like a synchronized dance that we have practised for years.... or maybe like the wonderful morning cardinal song... effortless.

Until next post...

K.

Cardinal Sound Clip courtesy of http://www.junglewalk.com

Red

2010-02-11T12:51:00.004-05:00

The stores beckon me around Valentine's Day. Red is the deep vibrant color that captures my heart. A warm feeling swirls through me when I browse the seasonal section spilling over with hearts in reds and pinks. The red makes me want to buy candy, buy gifts for everyone, including myself! It's a time where I have to reign myself in and say "Whoa", more than once.

This year, I'm taking the kids to the Professional Bull Riding event on February 20. They are ecstatic about it... and personally, I can't wait myself!!! YAY! Unfortunately, they won't be with me on the Heart Day. Tomorrow is Valentine's Day with my kids. They have a PD day and it's perfect timing. We'll bake a heart shaped cake and decorate it.

Plans this weekend include watching the opening ceremonies of the 2010 Olympics, skating on the canal, dinner at a restaurant and knitting with my Sunday group.

Since I won't be online this weekend, I'll take the opportunity to wish you all a

Until next post...

Unexpected Cleaning Frenzy

2009-12-30T09:35:00.006-05:00

Usually, I have some sort of weekly schedule to clean my house so that every room gets some kind of weekly dusting and cleaning. Then there are times when I feel my house is the dirtiest ever and go on a total freakish cleaning spree.

It all started yesterday evening when I noticed that my dog was shedding unusually large amounts of fur. Out came the brush and the dog to the garage where I brushed, and brushed and brushed. A plastic grocery bag was filled pretty quickly. Poor guy had dry skin too.

Then I took out the vacuum and went through every inch of the main floor and stairways and front entrance. Spots on the walls and base boards were noted so out came a rag and pail and the scrubbing began.

Of course, the couch was also covered and the dining room fabric chairs and my swivel rocking chair. Those sticky rollers are a God send! I rolled just about everything with it including my pants which were as black as the dog after I had brushed him!

After about three hours and a lot of sweating, I finally sat down at 11pm and felt much better! Tonight, I attack the bedrooms and upstairs washroom.

It's a good thing the pooch is so cute!

Today was another shopping day. Easy shopping. Yarn store. More gifts from me to me! :o)

Until next post...

Peace and New Year Planning

2009-12-29T09:02:00.010-05:00

You know the first moments after a storm? When everyone sort of crawls out of their homes to assess the damage and talk to their neighbors? This the the state I'm in. The crazy shopping (mind you this year, shopping was easy), the endless hours of baking and cooking and cleaning and the wrapping and decorating are over. My living room has been taken over by new toys, crafts, books and chocolate and best of all my body has been basking in the peace of it all. :o)

My heart is singing and my needles are clicking. I'm on the last row of the hat to match the booties and I'm just about done sewing up the SENS sweater for my son. YES!

This means that I shall pick another WIP to finish. The one I shall pick is this one:

Now, I'm making it into a size small. A few extra pounds showed up on me lately and wonder if my bloated middle will stick out of it now. Hmmmm.... this should motivate me to lose the extra middle early in the new year. No reason not to... right?

Ahem... so this evening I will grocery shop with health and weight loss in mind. This would be a great time to challenge my daughter to a good game of Dance Dance Revolution on the PlayStation too! Loose some extra calories.

Once the lace up sweater completed, I shall dwelve into one of the two sweaters I have lined up for me.

This one:

Or this one:

I love them equally but due to my usually turtle pace in knitting, I believe I shall choose the second one as it should be completed by May or June 2010. :o) It is lacy and light for spring or early summer.

Happy knitting New Year to you all!

Until next post...

Last Minute Crunch

2009-12-22T09:26:00.008-05:00

Well, I didn't bake last night. BAD! VEEEERRRYYY BAD!

We went shopping and got Jayk a new pet bed. His brother showed up last night and bought the other one for his dog. The new bed we bought has a removable, washable cover AND it's square and flat. :o) The pooch is so much happier now. He doesn't look like he's going to have an anxiety attack by lying down on it.

We shopped and shopped until 9:30pm.

Once we unloaded the car and had something to eat at home, it was 10:15pm. Too late for baking.

My boyfriend's brother came by with his girlfriend. We had not seen them in quite a while so it was really nice to spend time with them.

Back to the real emergency here... I am running out of time! No baking tonight as it's my boyfriend's office Christmas party. This leaves me tomorrow and the morning of the 24th for baking mini tourtières, finish decorating gingerbreak cookies, make one more dessert bar, wrap gifts, shop for food for the 24th and start preparing a few things in advance for the Reveillon. At least my shopping is done. Somehow, that doesn't really bring down my stress level. I believe I'll pull an all nighter on the night of the 23rd. Then I'll just sleep at the dinner table on Christmas Eve.

Knitting is definitely on the back burner for now. Mind you, while shopping for one of my daughter's presents, I got me this book:

I'm backwards... I know... I got At Knit's End... then The Secret Life of A Knitter and Things I Learned from Knitting and now this last one... well... one of her first ones, I think. :o) I'm happy... laughing by myself on the bus again. :o) She so captures the knitter in me... the sarcasm in me...

Gotta run... the stress is calling me....

Until next post...

A Sunday of Treasures

2009-12-21T11:05:00.004-05:00

This past Sunday, I attended a yarn swap/breakfast potluck with some knitting friends. You'll never guess what I got?

YES! It's a drop spindle and fiber! I am on the moon! This is a skill I have not yet learned but have been dreaming about for quite some time! I feel a new addiction coming. Litterally, I get butterflies in my stomach when I think about it!

In addition, I came home with all this yarn!

Visualizing the blue yarn for baby boy cardigans and hats, the white cotton for lacy baby girl sun hats and the chunky wool in browns for a big needle scarf with matching mitts and hat.

I'm lagging behind in the baking department. Also, a friend at the yarn swap brought these mouth watering cranberry white chocolate bars. I am going to make those!! Tonight! I still have about 100 of those mini tourtière pockets to make. They are easy to do... just very time consuming.

The dog got an early Christmas present yesterday. I'm not sure if he's impressed about it though.

When I put it on the floor for him to lay on, he was very excited about it. He jumped on it immediately and layed down. But then he rolled over to get his tummy rubbed and rolled right off the darn thing! Now he won't go on it unless I ask him to and he is now very cautious about lying down on it. He is not relaxed about it. How can I make him realize that he needs to use it a lot to flatten it out? Funny dog! He's a real wuss... scared of a lot of things but I love him to pieces.

Until next post...

Shopping Frenzy!

2009-12-18T11:52:00.005-05:00

Did I ever mention that I despise shopping? Unless it has to do with books or yarn, I cannot stand shopping. I have no patience for line-ups (which reminds me that I need to learn to knit and walk at the same time), crowds, rude people and overheating under my winter coat when it's cold.

This year, I have avoided malls. I have not made one single Christmas present purchase at a mall. The stores have all be out of the way stores or in my own little hometown with less people and line ups. I choose times where people are less likely to be out... early in the morning or just before closing time between 9pm and 10pm (because all the screaming kids are in bed... well... most of them who have parents with a schedule). Even between 5pm and 6pm is good because a lot of people are having or preparing dinner at home. :o)

Tonight is the first night I will be going in a mall. EEEEK! I have two stores to do. Two items only. Ordinarily, this should only take 30 minutes at most... right? With my luck, I'll be there for two hours stuck at the cash behind a person who has the items with no price tags. OR the item I am looking for is somehow not where it's supposed to be and then I have to run around the store to find a clerk to help me. Try finding a clerk during the holiday season. They are all needed urgently by someone else!

Now look what I'm up to tonight.

I'm going to enjoy my wrapping session while savoring a wonderful glass of wine and running downstairs to switch laundry loads and fold.

I used my newly bought Swifter last night. Not bad. The floors look nice and smell nice. I still needed to get the bucket and soapy water out to scrub the baseboards but at least my knees didn't suffer half as much by using the Swifter. :o)

Until next post...

A Christmas Concert

2009-12-17T12:17:00.006-05:00

Yesterday evening, when I got home, I barely had a chance to make quick Kraft Dinner, make hot chocolate, bundle the kids with hot paw warmers in their boots and rush to the church for the annual outdoor school Christmas concert on the steps at the front of the church.

We froze our toes, but my son who was singing in the concert played in the snow with his friends and was warm as could be. He was the last one to sing. My daughter and I sneaked into the entrance of the post office to warm our toes for a few minutes.

It was worth it. The kids did a great job and so did the teachers with all their hard work in organizing the event. Many parents braved the cold to watch their sons and daughters star in the annual concert.

My son is the furthest to the right of the picture with the black hat showing under his Santa hat. His chin is hidden by the child in front of him.

This morning was -20 Celcius and -30 Celcius with the windchill! Talk about early January weather! This global warming is making me believe that winters are starting earlier and getting colder.

I'm off from work today as I brought the kids to a dental appointment this morning. This is the time for me to do some major pre-holiday cleaning. Someone kick me the butt so I can get going! I really need it! :o)

Until next post...

Festive Lights, Pretty Bows and A Dog In A Santa Hat

2009-12-16T10:32:00.004-05:00

I really enjoy the holidays. This warmth fills my heart at the sound of Christmas music and the sight of houses decorated with lights.

My daughter and I decorated sugar cookies last night. This evening, I will decorate the gingerbread ones with white royal icing. They'll be eaten on Christmas Eve and given away as presents.

My shopping is just about finished. I'll be wrapping up a storm on Friday evening.

I have to find some time to go through my yarn stash as we're having a yarn swap with a knitting group on Sunday morning. So, I'll be bringing lots of yarn as I really need to clean up the stash. I also want to make sure that every ball of yarn is stored away with a project in mind. It will take me quite some time.

Our pup Jayk is also in the Christmas spirit. Not too sure if he's impressed about it though. LOL!

Until next post...

White Stuff...

2009-12-08T10:35:00.004-05:00

It's official! The white stuff was still on the ground this morning. Forecasters say that a snow storm is arriving tomorrow and it should bring 15 cm of snow. My new shovel which I bought from Costco will come in really handy! I love shovelling... as long as it's not the kind of shovelling I did in the winter of 2007-2008... EEEEK!

Christmas has taken over my house in a big way. Not only is the tree hogging all the space in my living room, so are all the baked cookies in my freezer and the extra bags of shopping tucked away in the yarn. See? Yarn is also a good cover up for gifts! :o) My yarn stash has now grown and I'm the only one in the house to notice! :o)

I'm sitting on edge today as I left the dog outside of his crate in the house. I've been testing him and we left him loose at my boyfriend's house yesterday. No messes... nothing misplaced... he just sleeps in the entrance and waits for us to come home. The only difference is, the Christmas tree is up at my house... not at my boyfriend's house. I'll know soon enough this evening when I get home from the office.

Until next post...

The Christmas Spirit...

2009-12-07T14:39:00.004-05:00

This time of year, for some reason, stresses me more than any other. Don't get me wrong! I enjoy Christmas time, the time spent with the family, the good food and watching the kids' faces as they unwrap presents. It's the getting ready for it that bugs me.

Shopping is not a hobby of mine unless it involves knitting books or yarn. Waiting in line at the cash requires a lot of patience and holding packages and knitting at the same time doesn't work very well. While in line, I feel like a beast waiting to pounce on the first crude person to try and sneak in front of me. Incredibly enough, there are many of those at this time of the year.

Baking... I LOVE to bake! You know how many knitters have a list of projects to finish by Christmas? I purposefully do not do that because of the baking issue. I always make about 6 kinds of cookies.... 6 dozen of every kind. By the time I finish with the cookie cutters and baking, I give up on decorating with icing (just like I did this past weekend). I'll decorate a little every night of the week so by next weekend, I'll be ready for the five double recipes of dessert bars. The following weekend after that? Meatpies! Once Christmas rolls around, I've just about had it with flour and dish soap. :o) It all is worth it when you see people savoring your home made goodies.

Unlike other years though, I am pretty much on schedule with shopping and baking. So much so that I've actually set aside a little time to whip up these little cuties:

Every year around October or November, I hit myself in the head for not knitting enough. One of my dreams is to actually have my knitted creations for sale at craft booths. So.... 2010 here I come! I have written down a list of small projects to knit in large amounts to get ready for that craft booth. Other knitters are joining me as well. 2010 will not be a year where I will be saying to myself "I wish I was selling at a craft booth".

Our dog Jayk is still the best dog in the world. We take him out almost everywhere we go. He came with us to watch the Santa Claus Parade on November 29. The firetrucks frightened him a little but once he saw all the dogs in the parade, his tail was wagging so hard that it made his butt wiggle. :o) Guess he never saw a horse before either because he didn't really know what to make of them.

Both kids are really excited for the holidays. Our Christmas tree is up as well as the outdoor Christmas lights. (I still have to bring all the Christmas decoration bins back to the basement though and our small living room is now very cramped with the 7' tall tree) My daughter will help me make dessert bars next weekend. My son will be performing in a Christmas concert next week.

Wishing you all a stress free December!

Until next post...

A Family Addition...

2009-11-16T18:37:00.005-05:00

I've been long awaiting the day when a new family member would arrive in our home. After searching and searching for months, we've finally found him!

Introducing.... JAYK!!!! His name was Jake but my daughter decided to change the spelling to make him unique. He is a 3yr old black lab/golden retriever mix. He was surrendered by his owner to a rescue shelter.

We are so happy to have him with us! He is the most quiet, happy dog. He really setlled into our home quickly and the cat (Chassie) took only a week to realize that he's not so bad after all. Jayk gave Chassie her space and never chased her. He just watched her curiously and patiently while listening to my "stay" command.

After only two weeks, I wonder what this place would be without him. He never barks, sort of grumbles/howls to go outside, is always curled up in my tiny kitchen where I do much baking or behind my rocking chair where I sit and knit. He absolutely loves to go for walks and was not leash trained much when we got him. Jayk is very intelligent and no longer pulls on the leash and walks calmly beside me.

Gotta go... time for Jayk's walk.

Until next post...

K.

News on Baby Nathan

2009-07-21T12:58:00.007-04:00

Baby Nathan is doing extremely well. Two days after his birth, he had a surgery to install a temporary bag on his stomach. His next surgery will be when he is 8 weeks old. He went home with his Mom yesterday and other than the usual new Mom nerves, things are great.

Here are pics of him and his Mom at CHEO.

As for knitting, I am totally frustrated. My goal is to finish my aunt's socks and my son's sweater before August so that I can focus on the projects intended for me during my holidays.

Here is my timeline:

July 21 to July 31st - Finish Aunt's socks, Baby Layette and SENS sweater.

August 1st to August 10th - Finish lace front sweater for myself and a couple of dishcloths.

August 11th to August 16th - Finish my own socks.

August 17th to August 21st - Finish my own lace scarf.

August 22nd to August 30th - Start my daughter's socks, Cast on Decimal for myself.

Long weekend of September 4th to 7th - Cast on something for the man in my life.

This timeline of course will be among all the summer holiday activities we are planning with the kids. These include, going to a cottage for a few days, my son's birthday party, my big huge annual family reunion, Rockliffe Park for a picnic, the Navan Fair, Rideau Carleton Raceway. BUT all these places are made to bring my knitting along! :o)

Until next post...

K.

Aren't We In July????

2009-07-09T09:51:00.005-04:00

This morning felt like September. 11 degrees! The sun is out now and the temperature is supposed to climb to 25 degrees. :o)

There was a first for me yesterday!! But before I tell you that story, here is my knitting progress... or NO progress is more like it!

Socks For My Aunt

After running out of yarn for my aunt's socks, I unravelled the pair and started over. I am now turning the heel of the first sock.

SENS Sweater

Just a bit of sewing to do.

Laced Front Sweater

No progress. Just the back started.

Baby Layette Set

No progress. Still booties to do and fast as the baby is here!

Scarf for Me

No progress. Halfway through.

My New Job!!

Monday, July 6th, I got a call from my sister-in-law at 4h50am. Her water had broke and she wanted me to go with her to the hospital. Wow! I had never taken part in a birth other than my own children. Calmly, I told her to see how things went at the hospital, get the epidural and then call me. It took me 14 hours for me to get to that point with my first child. I also needed to get to the office as I had a young student waiting for me to fill her day with work.

At the office, I read my emails, went through some things with the student, made a few calls and then the call comes from my sis-in-law's partner at 9h30am. "She's getting the epidural now and she really wants you to be there." Oh my GOD! That's fast! My heart started pounding... how was I to do this? The only experience I had was watching a gazillion re-runs of "A Baby Story" on TLC and of course giving birth to my own two children. I left the office and drove to the Montfort Hospital with sweaty palms.

At the hospital, all nerves were forgotten. She was relaxing with the epidural in place and had a big smile on her face. Funny how my instinct just took over and made me focus on the task at hand. By 12h30pm, she was fully dilated but the baby's head was turned sideways. The doctor advised to wait a little longer before pushing and let nature take its course. The baby was coming down the birth canal on his own. At 2h15pm, she started pushing and at 3h11pm Nathan was brought out into the world. I cried. She laughed and her boyfriend stood there in awe. :o)

The joy was short lived though. Once Nathan was checked by the pediatrician and nurse, they discovered he was born with a defect called imperforate anus. It means that the anus was never developed in utero. The little guy had to be rushed to CHEO.

My sister-in-law was already discharged from the hospital this morning to be able to join her baby boy. I'm anxiously awaiting news.

Until next post...

K.

Hide Me Under A Blanket

2009-05-08T10:22:00.003-04:00

This coming weekend is so packed with plans, I just want to go home and hide under a blanket and let the weekend go by.

Tonight only relaxing time before the rat race
Saturday morning - 9h30am road trip with my knitter friends
Saturday lunch - meet my aunt at M&M Meat Shops to have a burger lunch to support Chron's disease
Saturday dinner - possible bbq at friends' place
Saturday night - dancing at a bar for my boyfriend's brother's 40th birthday
Sunday morning - running to check out a house that my boyfriend's sister wants to buy
Sunday lunch - visit with boyfriend's Mom for Mother's Day
Sunday dinner - run back to my place to have dinner with kids
Sunday evening - visit with my Mom for Mother's Day.

AAAAAAAK!

On a less stressful level, I am making progress on my aunt's sock. I plan to bring it on my travels this weekend. Another great thing is that I started taking the bus again this week to get to the office and it gives me extra knitting time. :o) The SENS sweater and baby layette set will be worked on as well this weekend.

My mood is exceptional today... don't know if it's the fact that it is Friday, the sun is out or I'm really getting ahead on stuff at the office and today is a quiet day.

Until next post...

Kim

The SarcasticKlicker's Adventure to Montreal

2009-03-25T10:29:00.005-04:00

My boyfriend was in stitches once I told him all that happened while going on training in Montreal. In his words he said I always seem to get into these funny situations... like Mr. BEAN! I hope he didn't mean I looked like him.

My story will be told in point form or else it will be waaaaay too long. It will be long in point form as well.

Monday, March 23

3:30pm - Park the car and figure out parking fee of $14 ($7 maximum daily rate) and walk in Via Rail station.
3:35pm - Teller tells me I paid too much parking and to keep that in mind for next time, gives me my train ticket and informs me that VIA1 passengers can wait in the "lounge".
3:37pm - Walk in the "lounge", get a paper, a coffee and seat myself on a comfy leather couch. Too fidgety around "important VIP people" to knit. Try to look important and read paper.
3:50pm - Nice VIA staff take my luggage to the train.
4:00pm - Go to washroom before train leaves at 4:25pm.
30 seconds past 4pm - pull down pants to pee and startled by loud speaker "Attention please. Train #36 departing for Montreal is now boarding VIA1 passengers at Platform #2".
4pm and 35 seconds - struggle with my pants, run water in sink while trying to grab luggage and put on my long heavy winter coat, run out of washroom without drying hands.
4:01pm - chase down other people that were in VIP lounge with me, run down the escalator, relieved at seeing other VIPs rounding a corner, follow them up another escalator, fast-walk the whole length of the train to get to VIA1 car.
4:03pm - Settle in my seat on the train, take my coat off and wipe sweat away from forehead.
4:05pm - Fidget around and look for small pull out tables to put my pattern on. Press button on right arm rest and go flying back and surprise passenger behind me. Apologize profusely and give up on finding pull out tables. Take knitting out and relax.
4:20pm - Drop my knitting as the VIA Hostess asks me for my tickets. Pick up my knitting.
4:22pm - Drop my knitting again as VIA Hostess offers me chips. Pick up my knitting.
4:25pm - Train departs station.
4:26pm - Drop my knitting as I am offered drink by VIA Hostess. Hostess flips out little table which is under the armrest and puts my diet soda on it. Oooooooh... so that's where it's hidden! Put my pattern on the table beside the soda and pick up my knitting.
4:30pm - Notice guy across the aisle (well, his legs) trying to stretch out his feet on the seat across from him. He is too short and manages to get his toes on the edge of the seat while trying to look all cool and relaxed. I snicker to myself after his feet slide off the seat a fourth time.
4:32pm - Drop knitting... VIA Hostess deposits a strange looking wrapped sandwhich in a clear plastic pouch on my table. Tear the wrapping open and almost drop the steamy hot washcloth on my lap. Wonder what the heck I'm supposed to do with it. Peek at other passengers, do as they do and wipe my hands. Drop washcloth on table and pick up knitting (ok so other passengers didn't pick up knitting).
4:35pm - Loud speaker announces the dinner menu. Smoked salmon entrée, choice of pasta or beef for dinner and carrot cake for dessert. I am not a fish/seafood fan.
4:45pm - Realize that rows 5-14 are the pattern repeats in my scarf. NOT ROWS 1-14!!!! Grumble and start unknitting as it is a lacy cable pattern.
4:46pm - VIA Hostess literally says: "Now it's time to stop counting (referring to my knitting) because we're going to have dinner. Okay?" She promptly flips out the other table from the empty seat beside me and sets down a tray. My face must have said it all as she quickly lost her smile and turned back to her food cart.
4:46pm - Second VIA Hostess asks me if I want red or white wine. I gladly go for the white.
4:47pm - Stuff knitting in bag and eat salmon while trying to hide the taste and texture with wine and stuffing lots of bread with it. Mom taught me to not say a word and eat what was served.
5:00pm - VIA Hostess inquires politely what will be my choice for dinner. Pasta is the choice... I already have white wine.
5:20pm - Offered more wine by VIA Hostess. Why not! My knitting is abandonned in bag.
5:45pm - Finish dinner and dessert and am offered coffee. Good idea to sober up before I get off the train.
5:46pm - VIA Hostess ask for the linen napkin which is still on my lap. She says she has laundry to do. Haha!
5:50pm - Realize that my hot flashes are not menopause... it's the wine.
6:00pm - Afraid to pick up knitting as I may just summon another VIA Hostess.
6:02pm - See the Delta Hotel from the train! Wow! It's right in front of the train station. How can I get lost?
6:10pm - Walk off the train and up the stairs into "La Gare Centrale" and run to the washroom.
6:12pm - While peeing, I notice I forgot my folder (holding my return ticket, maps, hotel confirmation) on the train!!! Pull up pants. Grab my luggage. Run hands under water without bothering to dry them and break into a sprint.
6:13pm - Notice that they were closing the gate! WAAAAIIIT!!! They look up, smile, unlock the gate and escort me back to the train. By this time, I am drenched in sweat and my wonderfully curly hair is a frazzled mess.
6:15pm - VIA staff escort me back up the stairs to the "Gare Centrale".
6:16pm - Look for a way out of the "Gare Centrale" that will put me on the street of the Hotel.
6:17pm - Walk up a set of stairs and come up to a large metal door. Open the door. Dark staircase. Close door. Go back down set of stairs.
6:19pm - Follow a crowd through a set of glass doors. Go up an escalator. Go up another escalator. Land in the main reception area of the Royal Bank building.
6:21pm - Walk outside on René-Levesque Blvd. Walk to the corner of the street and see the Delta down the street. Walk down on University Ave.
6:27pm - Enter Delta reception area with relief. Happily give them my name.
6:28pm - They announce that I don't have a reservation there and ask me if I knew that there was another Delta 7 blocks up the street. I put on my best smile and walk out.
6:29pm - Get back out on University Street ready for a nice leisurely walk to calm my nerves. Start walking, then look up.... waaaaaay up. This University Avenue is quite a seven block climb!
6:40pm - Take a breather from walking four blocks uphill and listen to my heart thumping out of my chest.
6:50pm - Reach President Kennedy Street where the other Delta is located and breath a sigh of relief that I had made it before dark.
6:55pm - Enter reception area of the Delta hotel and wait in line to register.
7:05pm - Finally! In my room! I check every corner, open every drawer and find no surprises.
7:10pm - Change into fitness clothes to at least do something healthy and workout in the fitness club. Realize I forgot my running shoes.
7:15pm - Decide that I had enough fitness on that day and think it's a great idea to go out and get me some wine to unwind. Change back into work clothes. Head to lobby and ask reception where nearest "dépanneur" is located.
7:20pm - Arrive at "dépanneur" which is only two blocks from hotel and browse the wines available.
7:23pm - Spot the wine I want and pull open the fridge door. Pull open the fridge door again as it doesn't open. Frown. Give the door handle a good yank. Nothing. Notice people staring at me. Step back from the wine fridge (trying to look really cool here and failing immensely) and notice sign above: "Please see cashier for alcohol beverages". Then notice big padlock on the top of the fridge door.
7:25pm - Walk to cashier's register and tell him what wine I want. He smiles, grabs the padlock key, unlocks the fridge, takes the wine out and punches it in the register. I pay for wine and head out the door.
7:30pm - Back in my room! Run to ice machine in hallway to fill up wine bucket. Chill wine, wash up, put my pj's on, take out my knitting, turn on t.v., grab a glass and the bottle of wine and set it on night table. Get comfortable on the bed.
7:40pm - Pick up glass and bottle of wine and DOH! Realize I have no corkscrew.
7:41pm - Frantically search the contents of my purse and pull out keys. Mangle cork with keys and fail to open bottle.
7:43pm - Pull out dpn (double pointed needle for you non-knitters), shimmy it between cork and side of bottle. Bend the dpn to try and pop the cork and end up with an L-shaped dpn. Hmmmm.
7:45pm - Call house guy to ask for a corkscrew.
7:50pm - Happily receive corkscrew, open the bottle and poor some wine.
8:00pm - Call kids to say good night.
8:15pm - Find the hockey game on t.v. and pour more wine.
8:20pm - Knit.
9:50pm - Fall asleep with t.v. on and knitting in my hands. Just like home.

Tuesday, March 24

5:45am - Wake up early and enjoy quiet slow morning.
7:45am - Check out of hotel room and head to training which is only a block away.
9:00am to 3:45pm - attend boring training.
3:50pm - Walk to "Gare Centrale" to relax before train departure at 6:15pm.
4:15pm - Grab food and coffee in mall near "Gare Centrale", settle at a table, eat and knit.
5:15pm - Decide to be a tourist and walk around the mall without straying too far from the "Gare Centrale" as this underground shopping is a maze.
5:45pm - Head back to "Gare Centrale", find VIP lounge, sit and wait.
5:55pm - Go to washroom before train arrives.
5:56pm - Pull down pants to pee. Startled again by muffled loudspeaker voice (unlike the Ottawa train station there is no speaker IN the washroom). Pull up pants without tying them, open the door just in time to hear that train #39 heading to Ottawa will be at Gate #20. Close washroom door, flush toilet, tie pants, run hands under water without drying them, grab luggage and run out of the VIP lounge.
5:58pm - Board train, settle in my seat, pull out little table expertly and take out knitting.
6:15pm to 7:15pm - everything goes smoothly and I even know when the VIA hostess will be bugging me and am ready for her with my tickets, when she offers chips, wine, entrée, dinner, more wine. Beginning to think I have the hang of this.
7:20pm - Accept coffee offer from VIA hostess, grab a cream and sugar. Shake sugar packet before ripping it open and it magically flies out of my hands and lands on the head of the guy sitting in front of me. Woman across aisle laughs hysterically at me. I am beat red with embarassment, apologize profusely to the man, try to explain what happened and politely ask for my sugar back. He laughs it off.
7:25pm - Finish dessert and put linen napkin in tray. Napkin knocks off plastic lid which falls at my feet.
7:26pm - Trying to access fallen lid with feet as pull-out table is restricting me from bending to pick it up. Manage to kick lid so that it somehow lands on my knitting bag where I am able to reach it. Notice woman across aisle snickering. Put on my best smile and drop the lid back on the tray.
8:20pm - Train pulls into Ottawa station.
8:25pm - Walk up ramp in main lobby of station and get teary eyed while watching passengers greeted by family with hugs and joy. No one is waiting for me. Figure I must be PMSing.
8:30pm - Load up car and drive to Mom's to pick up kids.
9:10pm - Am greeted by the happiest of kids. Get teary eyed all over again.
9:30pm - Get kids to bed, slump on rocking chair totally exhausted.

Until next post...

On A Roll...

2009-03-23T12:57:00.004-04:00

Can you imagine??? I have uploaded pictures and published posts. There are still quite a few left to upload but it's a start. :o) I'll be back at it on Wednesday evening. :o)

It's a hotel night again! Relax... no dinner, dishes, homework. Just knitting. I'm headed to Montreal for training by train. Two hours on the train with my yarn and needles! Yay! And then two hours on the way back tomorrow evening! My projects? The scarf on the train and the SENS sweater in the hotel room. As usual, I don't have my camera with me. :o( No pics of my knitting progress this evening.

My two vacation days with the kids were awesome! BF surprised me and joined us on Friday.

Thursday:

Got up very early (6h30am) and hogged the computer until 10am. We headed out for the 12h20pm showing of Marley and Me at 11h30am. It was a wonderful moving movie. If only someone had told me to bring a box of kleenex. All was fine... I wasn't going to cry... I just had the ball in my throat... very very painful ball in my throat and a lone tear had slid down my cheek. But then, a little girl sitting behind us started sobbing "IT'S SOOOOO SAAAAAAAD MOOOMMMMYYYY! Sniffle! Sniffle!". That it... I lost it... no kleenex... sniffling away and wiping the tears away with the back of my hand trying to be all casual about it. No one noticed... I think. :o)

Following the movie, we went to Pet Smart to pick up a new fish for my daughter. Sadly, her other ones never made it. So about six weeks ago, I cleaned out the tank, put in clean water, started up the air bubble filter and let it run. She happily adopted a male Beta fish and named him Kurt. He is so beautiful! I promise to post pictures soon.

Friday:

Again, I got an early start to my morning and hogged the computer until Noon while doing laundry. Our plans were to go bowling in the afternoon. BF phoned and surprised me by telling me he had taken the day off and was joining us. It was the Rock N Bowl! Black lights and disco lights and blaring music. I was having a blast until I looked down at my red sweater and because of the black lights, all the white fuzz balls and my cat's white hair showed brightly for everyone to see. Frantically, I pulled at as many fuzz balls as I could. Finally, I gave up... what was I there for anyway? Stressing over fuzz balls or having fun bowling with the kids?

After four games of bowling and my muscles getting sore from all that squating to the floor, we head to a fast food (rare occasion) place, ate dinner and I immediately regretted it. My stomach felt awful!

Next stop was the Pet Smart again as I had forgotten to get vacation food for the Kurt man. We stayed there for quite a while admiring the birds, fish, reptiles, etc.

We were meeting up with my BF at a second hand store. I love those places. After two hours of browsing, I came out of there with a bunch of knitting needles, a book, books for my daughter and jeans for my son (I buys lots of jeans there for him as he wears through almost 10 pair in a year).

Saturday:

I slept in until 9h30am and then started packing as we were going to the west end of town to sleepover at BFs place for one night. The plans were to go out dancing with a friend while the kids watched movies with BF's sister. We ended up leaving by 11pm and had only two hours of dancing. Oh well, the kids didn't have a chance to miss me as they were in bed by the time I left.

Sunday:

We had a lazy morning in pj's (well a whole day in pj's) and had a big bacon and egg breakfast. We watched a movie and then the kids and I left in our pj's and went back home.

Back to work on Monday.

Until next post...

K.

Post Workout

2009-03-17T09:03:00.003-04:00

Last night's workout was great! I felt energized and healthy! 20 minutes on the eleptical cross trainer, 10 minutes on the exercise bike and 10 minutes of stretches, abs and squats. No sore muscles today which is probably due to the fact that I stretched before and after my workout. :o) From now on, at the end of every post, I will track my workout and weight. Hopefully within a couple of weeks, we should start to see some changes.

No worries! This is still my main knitting blog and my focus will always be knitting.

A new baby came into the world last Thursday. A little early, a little scary but healthy now. :o) My boyfriend's neighbor welcomed a 5lbs baby boy. He was a month early and Mom suffered from placenta previa. It was scary for Dad and big sister but both Mom and baby are healthy. What does a new baby mean? More knitting! The pattern is already picked out for the little guy. I'll make it so that he fits in it next fall. It is out of Knitty and called Trellis. Isn't it adorable????

We might get to meet the new arrival this evening. Both him and Mom are still in the hospital and depending on how he is doing, they may come home today.

I neglected to knit last night. Instead, I did my workout as soon as I came home, had dinner, watched a movie with my boyfriend and indulged in a glass of red wine. :o)

Fitness Diary

March 16th

Eleptical Cross Trainer - 20 minutes
Exercise bike - 10 minutes
Stretches, abs and squats - 10 minutes

Weight - 147lbs
Water - 31%
Fat - 28.5%

Until next post...

K.

March Break Week

2009-03-16T09:57:00.005-04:00

Both my kids are on March Break this week. They have a week of activities planned. I'll be joining them for a break on Thursday and Friday of this week. We are planning to see a movie and go bowling. :o)

Springtime is in the air. The weather is mild (3 degrees celcius) and sunny. The urge to go outside is much stronger.

Another sign that springtime is here is the urge to lose weight and exercise. I've set myself a goal to lose 13 lbs by May 15. To help me with this, I've found this really helpful site! SparkPeople gives you a menu plan which you can change at any time, tracks your goals, helps you with fitness and has forums for you to participate in. I have just dabbled a little in it so far and love it!

The SENS sweater has one completed sleeve now. While at the Knit Meet-up near my boyfriend's place, I knit like crazy.

I also started the other sleeve as well.

This evening I'll be doing a 30 minute workout on both the eleptycal cross-trainer and exercise bike (15 minutes on each). In addition, I plan to do a 10 minute stretch before my workout. This is part of my new fitness routine. When I am not at my boyfriend's, I'll be using the fitness dvd's at home.

This time, I will be sticking to this diet/fitness routine! I will start shopping for what I need for my menu plan tomorrow evening. Furthermore, I would like to use this blog to track my progress. I start this on Wednesday.

Until next post...

K.

Doing the Restaurant and Dancing Thing...

2009-03-13T11:38:00.003-04:00

Dancing and music are also a big part of my life. The last time BF and I went out dancing was some time ago. I was thrilled that we were invited for a get-together at a local bar tonight. Drinking is not something I do on a regular basis (dancing is though) and after a couple, that's it. A couple of drinks to start off the evening and then water to hydrate myself as I dance non-stop for 3 hours. Usually, I shed two pounds! LOL!

My progress on the SENS sweater sleeve is a little slow, but I managed to get a few rows in last night. I plan to knit a lot tomorrow and Sunday at the Knit Meet-up.

Short and sweet post today... too busy.

Until next post...

K.

Windswept

2009-03-11T11:08:00.004-04:00

Today's forecast? Wind warnings! Maybe even some thunderstorms! We're expecting winds to gust up to 100km an hour. I was outside at 9h30am and winds were already picking up.

The pet shop trip with my daughter was short. When we arrived, we noticed that it closes at 5:30pm. They let us in to look at the animals quickly but no puppies were left to cuddle. :o(

We came home, had dinner and watched Dr. Phil together. It was a show about the Mother of Octuplets. I just believe the whole thing is ridiculous and being blown out of proportion. Let the woman be.

My daughter and I got a little knitting done last night. :o)

Wednesday means knitters in my dining room tonight! Maybe I'll have a brain again and remember to take out the camera. I had a bit of iron defficiency lately and since I have been on iron supplements, I feel more alert, less sleepy and groggy.

Until next post...

K.

The Perfect Combo

2009-03-10T10:32:00.006-04:00

My boyfriend is a completely passionate hockey fan. He knows all the players, the rookies, even what player was drafted by what team! He can tell you all the latest rumors about trades. He never saw it coming... Gainey fires Guy Carbonneau as Montreal Canadiens coach. :o( We were both shocked! My son called me from his Dad's place and announced the news. My boyfriend frantically flicked channels on the television and stopped on the live press conference with Bob Gainey. In my opinion, they lost a great coach.

What makes knitting and hockey the perfect combo?

1 - you can still spend time with your boyfriend while watching the game on t.v. and knitting.

2 - You can bring your knitting to the game.

3 - You can use your knitting to warm yourself up on the bench of the hockey arena.

4 - You can knit a team logo on just about any project.

5 - Going to hockey practise at 6am doesn't seem so brutal if you have your knitting.

6 - You grin from ear to ear when your boyfriend announces that there are 3 back to back hockey games on t.v. More knitting time!

7 - Knitting your own hockey wearables is cheaper than buying it pre-made from the store. It's also original and durable!

Can you think of others??

The first sleeve of the SENS sweater is half completed. :o)

Tonight is Mom and daughter night. She has picked a trip to the pet shop as our activity.

Until next post...

K.

UGH!

2009-03-09T10:52:00.006-04:00

Yesterday while cleaning out my photos, I was suddenly struck with some form of stomach flu. No warning, no cramps, nothing. Out of the blue, I started feeling nauseous, dizzy and within 5 minutes, I was in the washroom with violent diarrhea. I felt queasy and weak. Then I started shiverring and was very cold. My BF was surprised at how sudden this was. I wrapped myself in a blanket and was even too weak to pick up my knitting. For an hour, I felt dizzy, weak and nauseous. This is one of the rare times where I turned into a fearful wuss and told my BF "This is not right... something is not right". I don't like being sick and rarely admit to not feeling strong enough to do something. It was so scary. I felt powerless and drained and there was nothing I could do about it.

This had all started around 11h30am and I had slept in that morning (probably due to the time change) and not eaten breakfast. Thinking that toast would somewhat settle my stomach, I ate a couple. The nauseousness disappeared after a half hour, but I was still feeling extremely weak. I picked up my knitting (The SENS Sweater) and just watched hockey with my BF for a few hours.

The weather was beautiful so the kids were outside playing with friends all afternoon. I don't think I could have handled them being in the house... "I'm hungry! I'm bored! MOOOOOOMMM!!! He won't let me on the computer!!"

Finally, by 5pm, I mustered enough strength to make dinner and continue doing the laundry I had started earlier that day. I managed to eat a tiny portion of food and bread for dinner and then finish laundry.

On the bright side, I did get a good four inches of knitting done. :o)

Otherwise, my weekend was very productive. Friday evening, I totally finished re-organizing my yarn stash.

Saturday, my room was a mess again as I sorted through a gazillion pictures and momentos. Lucky enough I had just about finished cleaning it up by the time the stomach flu hit on Sunday.

Today, I'm still queasy and weak but I made it to the office. I may leave early as I feel extremely tired and I could fall asleep in a minute.

Time to get back to work...

Until next post...

K.

Breathe... Relax...

2009-03-06T09:02:00.003-05:00

The end of a long week. Finally, able to sit, breathe and relax.

As mentioned in my last post, I did not update my blog last night. After the kids were in bed, I flopped in front of the t.v. and watched a documentary called "Shock Wave". It's shocking to know that in the imminent future, a monumental tidal wave will hit the West Coast and even more shocking to find out that 39 tidal waves hit in the last 10,000 years! Too bad I fell asleep during the last half hour of the show. :o(

On tonight's agenda:

- Spending time with my kids while pushing them to clean their rooms

- Yarn De-stashing/reorganizing finale while my kids clean their rooms

- Blogging BIGTIME while doing laundry

- Staying up as late as I can because it's Friday. :o)

Time for me to get to work!

Until next post...

K.

Mark The Calendar!!!

2009-03-05T12:32:00.003-05:00

I'll let it speak for itself:

I took my camera out at knit night!! This is my cousin, Diane, who is proudly modeling her finished shrug! We're all so proud of her as she worked really hard on that project and finished it!! YAY!!

After a morning training session, my energy is practically nil. Sitting in a room and listening for two and a half hours is NOT one of my favorite things. After 30 minutes of sitting idle, anywhere, I look at the time and my legs want to get moving. Just look at my knitting habits! I'm always looking at new patterns, starting new projects, buying yarn, going to knit nights and meeting other knitters, reading up on anything knitting related, started designing some of my own stuff, feel the need to want to learn to spin yarn, etc. I'm a jumping jelly bean! Even my everyday work is a multi-tasking juggling day. That's the way I like it... not routine, not repetitive, a surprise every day. :o)

Need to catch up on work related things now. My tummy is full and I've reloaded on caffeine.

Until next post...

K.

Second Hand Shop Treasure!

2009-03-04T08:25:00.004-05:00

After work yesterday, my boyfriend and I made it out to a second hand shop because his brother had seen old hockey cards and decided to alert my hockey fanatic boyfriend. Therefore, my planned trip to Walmart to get storage bins for my yarn was slightly delayed. Boy! Was I happy! It did not take me long to figure out that there was no knitting needles there so I sauntered over to the books and didn't find any knitting ones (but found a great massage book! BONUS!) which brought me to the bag/purse section. Ah Ha!! Check it out!

My first pack sack type knitting bag! At $3.50, I couldn't leave it there.

Today's high is a sunny -3 celcius in our Nation's Capital! I'll take that over the -30 we had yesterday morning. :o)

Someone PLEASE remind me to take my camera out at my knit night tonight!! The problem is that I have so much fun entertaining, chatting and knitting that I forget to take pictures! LOL! I might have some for you tomorrow.

Back to work!

Until next post...

K.

Startitis Meltdown!!

2009-02-24T08:52:00.004-05:00

BBWWWAAAAA!!! I must be PMSing. There are all these wonderful looking patterns out there that knitters are working on and I SOOOOOOOOOOO want!!! Literally, I am drooling and feel butterflies in my stomach just by looking at them!!

First, there is a sweater called February Lady designed by Pam aka Flint Knits which is gorgeous! I don't like this color but Stephanie Pearl-McPhee spun her own colors for this sweater and it is absolutely GORGEOUS!

This means I have to learn how to spin! What am I thinking??? I could never get the same color way in a million years! DROOOOOOL!

Next on my drool list is Sylvi by Mary Muinonen. I mean, look at THIS!!!

RED!!! MY COLOR!! Isn't it just to DIE for????? Worst is, I have THAT yarn!!!

Knitters are working on amazing projects and by the time I get to knitting them I am SOOO behind in the times!

BWWAAAAAA!!! I WANT to start something NEW!!! Can I act like a two year old and throw myself on the floor, kick my feet and scream???? Or jump up and down, stiff as a board, wailing and sounding like a siren??? WAAAAAaaaaaAAAAAaaaa!!!

Until next post...

K.

GRRRRRidlock!!

2009-02-20T10:14:00.002-05:00

Honestly, this city has had its fair share of gridlock traffic lately.

1 - two month bus strike and living in the car approx. three to four hours daily

2 - Obama Day! Who had the bright idea to schedule his departure at the beginning of afternoon rush hour on a Senators' game night???? I spent 45 minutes on the same street! I mean, they could have kept the guy here for dinner or something! NoooOOOO! They had to block all the friggin' streets because apparently he drives on 10 streets at once to get to the airport!

3 - Gas leak! Yep... a main downtown street was blocked due to a gas leak. I just missed THAT one!! Good thing I'm in the office early! By 8:45am, streets were lined with cars, buses, trucks as far as the eye could see.

On the yarn front, Mom visited with me last night and brought her knitting. She was so frustrated with the lace socks she was knitting that she ended up bringing a super easy scarf she was making. A free pattern offered on the Boa yarn. She somehow managed to complicate that pattern as well. LOL! She said she was too much in a rush to get something started to bring on her trip to Cuba. Good luck Mom! Hope you figure out the super easy scarf! :o)

A measly two more inches and the back of the SENS sweater will be done! The sleeves will be casted on tonight. I'm knitting both at the same time because I'm too scared of ending up with different lengths!

This has been a looooong week and I can't wait to get in my car and drive!

Until next post...

K.

Love...

2009-02-13T10:30:00.006-05:00

One look
One smile
One touch
One embrace
One kiss
One love
Two people
Two minds
Two souls
Two destinies
One road
One journey
One ending
Together.

- Melissa Higgins

When I read this quote, its simplicity and meaning touched my heart.

Happy Valentines Day!!

Until next post...

K.

Dyeing Excitement!

2009-02-10T08:12:00.003-05:00

How many times do you wish you were at home instead of at work? It doesn't happen too often for me but due to a couple of factors, today I wish I was.

First, Ottawa is expecting ice pellots and freezing rain for most of the day. School buses are cancelled and my kids are with their Dad. Usually this happens when they are with me.

Second, I am anxious as a child waiting to open presents! This evening will be the true test of dyeing wool with Kool-Aid.

Third, I feel like a jumping jelly bean at the office. Urgent demands, new responsibilities and procedures I have not dealt with to date. Frankly, I would rather have it this way as I am easily bored and crave new challenges all the time. Hence the reason I am a knitter and have the startitis disease (the uncontrollable urge to start something new) as The Yarn Harlot puts it.

I will post about my Kool-Aid dyeing experiment tomorrow. :o)

Kim

Kool-Aid and Wool

2009-02-09T09:51:00.004-05:00

A new thread about Kool-Aid has come up in one of the Ravelry groups I belong to. This has always been something I've wanted to try and after a little research on the web, I discovered that this should be pretty easy to accomplish. My daughter is pretty excited in trying it out with me. :o) We'll go out tomorrow night and purchase the Kool-Aid and some vinegar. On my lunch hour, I will walk to my local downtown LYS and find me some white wool.

Looky here!!!

(picture CBC News Website)

The buses are back!! ... well... partly. My Express route is not scheduled to run until April. I may try and take the main route bus on Wednesday and see how it goes. If that route is too full, I shall take my car until the Express route starts up again. 5:30pm is the deadline for me to be at the daycare to pick up my son. That is not a time I can negotiate.

The refunds really frustrate me. They are really not fair about this. I have an Express Route EcoPass. This means that my bus pass fare comes out of my pay automatically every month. My Express Route is not scheduled to operate until April 6th. EcoPass holders are getting free service from now until the end of April where they will resume the monthly deductions from my pay. During the bus strike, my pass was paid from Dec. 9th to Jan. 31!! Almost two months with no buses!! Do the math... I get 3 weeks of free service because my bus is not running until April 6th and people using regular routes get a full refund! It isn't right!! I'm trying to find a place to voice my concerns on their website and I really don't see a place where I can do that. :o(

How Dare Mother Nature Interfere with my Knit Night!

2009-01-15T08:28:00.003-05:00

The artic air hit this city yesterday and it's brutal! It is definitely cold when after running your car for 15 minutes, it's still not warm! The roads were icy and full of accidents. Yesterday, our high temperature was -22 degrees celcius. Our high today will be -19 degrees celcius. BRRRRRRR!

It was so cold last night that none of my knitters showed up! I knitted solo on the Poonam sweater and watched t.v. until I fell asleep with my knitting on my lap at 10pm.

Sad news on the fish front... we lost all of our fish. :o( My daughter and I will clean our the aquarium, fill it with fresh water and then wait approx. 3 weeks before putting any fish in there. We'll see how it goes from there.

The usual routine starts again with laundry, packing and getting ready to go to Kanata. No activities tonight or places to go... laundry, knitting and packing. :o)

Until next post...

K.

Living In Your Car

2009-01-13T08:31:00.003-05:00

Recently, I've posted about the length of time I spend in my car due to our public transportation system employees being on strike.

On average, I spend anywhere between 4 to 5 hours in my car on weekdays to get to the office and then drive back home. Luckily enough, I am not a driver to just sit there and follow the long snake of moving cars to downtown. If I did that, I would definitely be in the car 6+ hours a day! You learn very quickly to be an active driver. For one, it keeps me away and secondly, I get to work earlier.

By no means am I an agressive driver... just sneaky and fast. I take exit lanes and sneak back in to traffic before the exit if it will move me ahead and even take the exit completely if there isn't too many cars at the light and then take the on-ramp on the other side of the traffic light.

Most times, taking a back route or two really cuts down on my travel time. Since the beginning of this strike, I've been able to shave at least 30 minutes off my travel time. Can you imagine when the buses start running again? When I need to travel to the west side of the city to go to my BF's place, I take the car to the office. On those days, I'll be at work much quicker as I investigated other routes. It will shave my usual 1 hour to get in to maybe 40 minutes! Woohoo!

If you practically live in your car 4 hours a day, you need to be organized and thoughtful! Here are some tips from someone who's been there...

1 - Bring your coffee (but not too much so that after an hour on the road you drive cross-legged)

2 - Bring a snack or two (just make sure it's spill proof or have an extra change of clothes)

3 - Ensure that you have at least 5 pre-set radio stations on your car stereo and CD's of many genres of music (variety is the key here - up beat music to keep you awake / soothing music to calm you when stupid drivers annoy you / Carribean music for when you are cold...)

4 - Bring a small knitting project... something easy to follow and knit a few stitches while you are COMPLETELY stopped (imagine... 5 stitches per stop in traffic can really make a difference! 5 stitches X 30 stops = 150 stitches!!) (I bring a big project too just in case... you never know, you might be involved in a minor accident and be sitting for an hour waiting for the cops to show up)

5 - Ensure you have a headset for your cell phone... safer driving and you can chat away.

6 - Good time to check your agenda and make quick notes of upcoming appointments / activities / important dates etc...

7 - Bring your camera!! You never know what you might see. (I always forget mine and so many times I wish I had it; like the time I saw a mama fox and her little ones or a lone wolf standing on the side of the road or a huge horned owl on a post or a spectacular sunrise and sunset...)

Can you add to the list??

Another snowy day today my friends. Picture is courtesy of the Lord Elgin Webcam in Ottawa.

What does this mean??? Nothing... just a three hour drive home.

Until next post...

K.

Enough Already!

2009-01-08T10:26:00.005-05:00

This snow, no city buses and 3 hour drive into work story is getting old.

I understand, city bus drivers are allowed to fight for their rights. But what about the people who can't afford extra gas and parking? Like me! This is an additional $400 out of my pocket! Monthly! I have to cut on food for my family (I am a single mother of two), no money for coffee at the office or allowance for the kids, none to buy salt for my icy driveway, etc. etc. I've cut everything out except for the bare necessities! No lottery tickets, no gifts for my nieces' birthdays in December... This is sad!

Excuse my venting but spending an average of 5 hours a day in a car is not my idea of commuting to work. 5 hours! I could be past Quebec city on my way to New Brunswick!!

These are the roadways. The second picture is traffic going home!

Knitwise, I did nothing last night as after driving 2.5 hours to pick up my son, we went to the gas station, cleared the ice off the wipers and windhield and gased up, went to do a bit of grocery shopping and drove home. When I got there... HOLY CRAP! Total déjà vu from last year! A snow drift up to my waist in my driveway.

With one fifteen minute break, it took me 1 hour and a half to shovel and drive the car in the garage and unload the groceries. After all that? It was 9:30pm!

My poor son had a bowl of cereal for dinner and a banana. :o( Then off to bed for him. I put the groceries away, checked my son's school work and then chatted with my BF for 20 min. and I was off to bed.

Up at 5am again this morning to get ready for the 6am departure. I made it to the office by 7:55am... just under two hours.

Tonight? The agenda is to play a game with my son and then update blogging pics.

Until next post...

K.

Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow....

2008-11-25T09:02:00.003-05:00

As I have mentioned countless times in this blog, I am NOT a fan of winter. The white stuff is on the ground this morning. Traffic was no issue though as I took the bus. Or maybe it's the fact that we got so much snow last year that Ottawa drivers are now experts in maneuvering a car in snow.

Within minutes of me being in the office, people started asking about other people's Christmas traditions. It was nice to hear everyone's special moments and memories at this time of year. I am happy to report that I am in unusually good Christmas Spirits. Or it could be the fact that I did some Christmas shopping last night.

I saw the new baby yesterday evening. Nina is a happy new Mom and her baby boy (yet to be named) is adorable. A flood of memories came rushing back when I held him. Those little sounds newborns make! You forget so quickly!

The planned sweater I will knit for him will be swatched tomorrow evening. The yarn was bought a while ago. Dale Baby Ull in a natural color. Perfect for the Poonam Sweater!!

The good thing is, I have Friday off… Thank God for PD days. :o) So technically, I can get a huge head start on knitting this little thing. I will stay up late on Thursday evening and clean my house so that the weekend is spent knitting (and putting up the Christmas tree, Christmas lights and going to the Santa Claus parade as I promised the kids… hmmmm… manageable).

I am a slow knitter… I take joy in every stitch and despise rushing to finish anything. If a project stresses me out, my motivation to work on it practically disappears.

The other good thing is I LOOOOVE starting a new project! :o)

Until next post...

Kim

The Baby is HERE!!!!

2008-11-24T10:28:00.003-05:00

It's end of November already??? Just got a call from my boyfriend who announced that his good friend had her baby, a boy! He is the Godfather of the newborn and I thought it would be special if the baby received a hand knit sweater. The sweater is not even on the needles yet! Hmmm... I'll cast on for a couple of sizes bigger than newborn.... maybe 18 months to fit him by fall 2009.

This was the sweater I picked to knit for him with a matching hat.

Baby Pooman from Berroco

I better get knitting! Another new project to start... hmmm... I have socks, scarf, SENS sweater, old baby set I never finished, a toddler holiday sweater I designed but did not finish and now, this new baby sweater and hat. I can handle this!

Until next post...

K.

November Summer????

2008-11-07T15:47:00.003-05:00

Ottawa has been getting unseason like warm temperatures this week! Sunny and 17 degrees today! In November!!!! I am totally not a winter person and this suits me just FINE! :o)

My week has been a whirlwind. Travel, catching up at work, running to indoor soccer for my son... It was a good week though. :o)

The SENS sweater is on my knitting agenda tonight while watching a movie with my BF. We are renting Swing Vote... the Kevin Costner movie I wanted to see in August but never got a chance to. It is out as a rental now and I can't wait to see it. I am a BIG Kostner fan!! A collar will be added to the SENS sweater design (Yes, I design as I go along). After looking at various styles of collars, I picked a nice loose ribbed collar because my son cannot stand anything touching his neck too much. This evening will be grueling math as I knit. I am also contemplating a zipped collar so he has the choice of wearing it up or down.

Tomorrow, sadly, I need to come into the office. My two days spent in Toronto put me a little behind on things. But hey! This is the first time at this job that I come in on a weekend. Much improvement from the last one! :o)

Yesterday morning while at the office, I got a scary call from my daughter who was crying on the line. She leaves the house much later than I do to go to school. She had picked up her school bag in the entrance to then run out and catch the bus when her neck cramped and she was not able to turn her head. She was in a lot of pain and scared. Thankfully, after a quick trip to the clinic and advice from the doctor to treat it with heat, she was much better yesterday evening.

Well... off I go. I'll blog again soon this weekend with my knitting progress.

Until next post...

K.

THe WHITE STUFF!!!!!

2008-10-29T11:29:00.003-04:00

This was our city this morning! (Picture courtesy of our local newspaper)

All I have to say is EEEEK!

Until next post...

K.

After 16 years...

2008-08-29T09:53:00.003-04:00

This is my last day in this building as an employee. I begin my new job on Tuesday September 2. My emotions are like in a mixed bag. Stressed out because I have so much to do still before I leave and I only have a few hours left; Depressed because I am leaving behind many wonderful people and friends; Anxious to start at the new place. BWAAAAAAA! Excuse me while I have an emotional meltdown.

Long weekend! You know... the first thing I'll do when I get home is relax and let this whole day sink in. My stomach is upset, I have a headache and I am dizzy because I have not eaten yet and am not hungry.

That's all for now...

Until next post...

K.

The Frenzied Life...

2008-08-27T15:52:00.004-04:00

Back to school for the kids! This is when I throw all organizationals skills out the window. Somehow, I am always at the store for extra school supplies and whatever I had planned for the evening is forgotten.

Out come the lunch boxes, school bags, gazillion forms from school, homework and the hectic running around like a chicken with its head cut off! EEEK! Coming home is always a huge surprise as to what happened at school and what is needed for special school projects and trips to the library/store to get the needed whatever to complete them.

Funny enough, with all the hooplah, I get just as excited as the kids when the first week of school rolls around. I go nuts buying myself new school supplies too! Of course, I get an agenda that begins in August so I can follow the school year... so much easier!

On the yarn front, I have been knitting away for the last month and here is what I have done so far...

The scarf for donation

My first ever design which I name the Holiday Toddler Sweater. This gave me a lot of grief... knit, check, grrrrrr, rip, knit, check, grrrr, rip... hmmm... could be a new hip hop tune! LOL!

AND the beginning of my knit along by designer Joan Michaels-Montgomery

The long weekend will be full of knitting for sure!

Until next post...

K.

Sublime!

2008-08-03T13:04:00.005-04:00

I bought this yarn last Thursday evening for my Lace Front Sweater in the Knitting Lingerie Style book by Joan McGowan-Michael. The yarn is Sublime - Baby Cashmere, Merino and Silk DK.

Then I swatched it and gently rubbed my skin with it... oooooh ahhhh!

I have to say in the last two weeks, I have been knitting and knitting and I am in lalaland!! sigh

Tonight... racetracks again! And knitting! I'm bringing my knitting to the track. I'll finish the scarf for Sheppards of Good Hope charity.

Gotta get stuff done before tonight.

Until next post...

K.

I know why I'm with him...

2008-07-30T13:50:00.005-04:00

The evening of my birthday could not have been more perfect... had I had been standing, I may have swooned to my knees quite a few times.

I got to my BF's place after work, dropped my work bag and purse in the entrance, greeted the cats (his sister's cat is boarding there too now) and got myself a cold diet Pepsi. The cats were begging to go outside so they joined me with my knitting on the front porch. My BF had told me he would be home by 6:30pm so I decided to keep knitting like a maniac to get the scarf finished for the knitting event tomorrow night. I had the needles flying on the bus ride home as well.

BF showed up and barely said boo and rushed in the door with grocery bags galore. I was busily chatting with the neighbor and their 5 year old daughter. The neighbor retreated to his house and I brought the cats in BF's house and he announced he was cooking dinner for me. He ordered me to sit and relax after I asked him if he needed any help. Hmmm.... I was up for that! Quickly, before he changed his mind, I went back to my knitting. A few minutes later, a glass of Shiraz appeared before my eyes! I instantly ditched the Pepsi and indulged in the wine.

After sitting there by myself, I felt guilty so with wine and knitting in hand, I went to join him on the back deck where he was busily grilling on the barbecue. We chatted over wine and knitting (for me) and beer (for him).

Once the meal was ready, we savoured his famous home made fajitas (this guy can cook!). These were delicious! I could see he had planned everything with detail. He asked me to relax after my meal and he went back in the house and I again picked up my knitting. A few moments later, he came out singing Happy Birthday with a cake lit up with candles... My! When he put the cake down and I blew the candles, I gawked over the cake! A chocolate brownie caramel cheesecake! I love caramel, chocolate and cheesecake!!! My mouth is still watering at the thought of it. Look at this!

I let every bite of that piece of cake linger in my mouth as I long as I could. Mmm MMMMMMM!

He gave me a birthday card that was very emotional. A poem by Emily Matthews by the title of "You're Still The One" *sniff*

He slipped back in the house, then came back outside and asked me to walk into the living room. Walking in slowly, I discovered candles, lavender candles! I love lavender. We sat together... watched a movie and then the rest is... well... between us. :o)

He put so much into the evening... just for me... nothing I ever experienced before... and I could see how happy he was to do it all. I feel so special when I'm with him.

Until next post...

K.

The big FOUR-OH!!!!

2008-07-29T09:19:00.003-04:00

Today is the day. The day I was dreading since I was thirty. Now that it is finally upon me, it really isn't bad at all!

I am happy with who I have become, where my life is at and what I've accomplished over the years. My health is good, I'm a proud Mom of two wonderful kids and I'm with someone who loves me for who I am.

Here's to toasting FORTY and enjoying this decade to the fullest!

Until next post...

K.

Wonderful Weekend!

2008-07-28T10:59:00.007-04:00

This past weekend was packed with fun AND KNITTTING!!!!

Friday evening, I picked up my daughter at her Dad's place and we headed home. I had not even stepped out of the car and she popped a gift bag in front of me and demanded that I open it immediately! LOL! My birthday is not until July 29, but my daughter will not be with me on that day. It was out of the question that I wait until THE day to open it! She is so creative! The gift bag was decorated with a party hat, streamers and those long thingies you blow in and they roll out. Check it out!!

And yes, I am not ashamed to say I am turning the big FOUR-OH this year. When I was thirty, I thought I would freak out when I did turn 40 but oddly enough, I don't even feel any older! I can keep up with my kids, I can still dance the night away until 2am, stay up until 3am to knit a last minute project, run like a maniac all day to plan an event, and multitask (talk on the phone while cooking, keeping an eye on the kids, doing dishes and watching t.v.), and pack for a camping trip in record time!

Back to the gift opening... I pulled out a cloth bag and inside was a scroll of paper. It was a gift certificate the Cedar Shades Campground!!! Woohoo! What a thoughtful daughter I have! She knew I was planning a camping trip with them and she got me a free night at the campground. This place is not far from where we live but has everything the kids could ask for. My priority was for the kids to have activities and fun. I hit the jackpot with this spot! They have bingo for kids, treasure hunts, bike rallies, an amazing man made lake, arcade place, etc... I can bring my knitting and relax while they have fun!

What a sweetie my daughter is!

After the gift opening, we packed our stuff and headed to my BF's place in Kanata. Once there, we watched a movie and then headed to bed.

Saturday was a great day! We started it off with a matinée viewing of Mama Mia. It was HILARIOUS! I totally recommend this movie! I love ABBA music... I grew up with it! Mom used to play ABBA while cleaning every Saturday morning. My sisters and I used to know all the words to the songs and pretend to be ABBA and perform for our relatives.

We finished off the day with shopping (great summer clearance sales!) and a stop at a place called Kravings café in Kanata, ON. Oh the sinful, delectable desserts and coffee! Steep in price but well worth it.

Last stop was my LYS! I picked up some free acrylic yarn to participate in an all day knitting event at Yarn Forward in Kanata on Thursday evening. The yarn was donated to the store so that knitters could knit hats, mitts and scarves for the Sheppards of Good Hope charity. I started knitting a scarf yesterday and will be knitting on like crazy tonight. As I am not a fast knitter, I wanted to get as much done in advance because I do want to finish something to donate. The event is also in Memoriam of a knitter/young mother who was killed in a tragic car accident. I only unravelled the beginnings of a scarf three times on Sunday.

Sunday evening, we went to the horse races! That was totally awesome!!! I kept my betting to minimums and chose the right horses and came out of there with $14 out of my $60 which was bet through 15 races. So, including ice cream, coffee, hot chocolate and a chocolate bar (this is split between my daughter, my BF and I) it cost me $46 for a five hour outing! Pretty reasonable if you ask me!! :o)

What's on tonight??? You guessed it! KNITTING! I apologized to my BF in advance... I'll be holding my needles and yarn more than I'll be holding him.

Until next post...

K.

Knitting in Groups...

2008-07-25T14:34:00.004-04:00

With my holidays coming up, knitting activities are lining up. I plan to dramatically increase knitting time. Seems to me I am repeating myself... I plan for knitting time but somehow it gets dropped off of my schedule! LOL!

Yesterday evening I had the chance to meet someone new in the knitting community! I went to a new knitting group and one person was waiting patiently by herself. I am really happy she waited as I was late due to a crisis at the office. My stress showed in my knitting and Yvonne's sanity kept me from losing my mind. We chit chatted about a lot of things in knitting and learned of this hand spun, hand painted yarn made from silk and camel hair. My interest is totally piqued by this yarn and will surely check it out.

While knitting last night, Yvonne told me of another event taking place this coming Thursday at a local yarn shop. It is an all day knitting event where knitted items will be donated to a local homeless haven. Being a supporter of charities, I accepted to participate and will be knitting away on Thursday evening. I am so excited by these knitting commitments which actually force me to schedule knitting time in my agenda!

Knitting in groups is the best! You learn of knitting things, events, meet new people and get some knitting done! What more could you ask for??

Planning some knitting time tonight while doing laundry and watching the tube with my daughter. :o)

Today is a gorgeous sunny day and when I get home, my porch will be the spot with a nice vodka cooler and a book while my daughter catches up with her friends at home. She was away at Dad's place all week and misses playing with her friends.

By the way... my car passed its emissions test with flying colors!!! Woohoo!

Wishing you all a great weekend!

Until next post...

K.

At The Movies...

2008-07-23T12:57:00.004-04:00

The theatre is not a place I visit very often. Not that I don't like movies, I just don't like spending money on watching something I can watch for cheaper in the comfort of my own home while knitting! :o) And the food! $12 for popcorn and a pop! Are they insane???? Just goes to tell you that I have not been to the theatre in almost two years!

All things aside, we saw Indiana Jones and Batman Dark Nights. It was half price Tuesday in Kanata so well worth it! I got home at 1am! I enjoyed Indiana Jones and laughed! My BF didn't find it as good as I did. And Batman? Well great movie! Lots of action and surprises and loud!!! LOL!

Look at my lilies! Aren't they just beautiful???

Tonight is emissions testing for my car. I hope it passes because I really cannot afford to get it repaired. *crossing my fingers*

The weather today is crap. Cloudy, dark, depressing... UGH!

Until next post...

K.

I have it!!!!

2008-07-22T09:38:00.006-04:00

It's not my birthday yet, but my BF surprised me last night with this!

He figured I would want it for a knit along I will be participating in on Ravelry. My very first knit along! I will make the time to participate! There is one pattern in this book I absolutely love. The procedures for this knit along are vague to me. We are now voting for a designer and Joan McGowan-Michael is the leading one.

Yikes! Guilty of starting another project soon!

There is something exciting going on at Ravelry!!! The RAVELYMPICS 2008!! With so many things on the go with little time, I want to dedicate time to this event so I chose to compete in the Designer Discus event. My Toddler Holiday Sweater is my item of choice. I cast on during the Opening Ceremonies of the 2008 Summer Olympics and I have until the last competing day to finish my item. Woohoo! I'm a little nervous at doing this... funny though... I knit better under stress anyway... like at 2am while beat tired and frantically knitting to finish a piece.

Hmmmm...I just thought of something... I may just knit the sleeves of my Holiday Sweater first! Then I will see more how long the body should be compared to the armholes. I am not allowed to cast it on until the Opening Ceremonies... but I can swatch, draw, plan to my heart's desire until then!

My stargazer lily bouquet is just gorgeous! Look at them! :o)

Until next post...

K.

Doin' the Friday Dance!! :o)

2008-07-18T13:15:00.005-04:00

It is FRIDAY! Woohoo! This week has been horrendous at the office.

On the agenda tonight....

Shopping at Dollarama, Shopper's Drug Mart and The Great Canadian Superstore. YEY!

Cleaning. Booooooo!

Doing a French manicure and painting my toe nails with a glass of wine. YEY!!

Saturday, we are entertaining friends and then going over to their place for drinks and munchies (they have a little one who needs an early bedtime).

BF asked me what I wanted for my Birthday and honestly, I couldn't think of anything on the spot. But then I remembered this:

I saw it at Chapters and fell in love with the patterns! So exquisite! So fashionable! So feminine and young! So SEXY! Unbelievable the treasures that can come from two sticks and yarn. I sent him a pic of a book. I will spare you the comment that I got from him. LOL! I SO WANT THAT BOOK! While flipping through the pages, I felt like a kid in a candy store.

Sunday, my sisters and I are taking Mom out for her birthday. Psssst! Guess what?? After years of her being single, she found a boyfriend! Woohoo! I am SOOOOO happy for her! I have not met him yet, but I have heard about him. :o)

Off to the rat race again. My 10 minute lunch hour is over.

Look what BF got me!! My favorite!!

Until next post...

K.

Birthday Party Preparations

2008-07-16T11:02:00.003-04:00

On August 8th, my son will be turning 9 years old. He requested a sleepover with some friends. We are going to drive around town this evening to drop off the invites to his friends. Needless to say, he is excited!

Friday night:

7pm - Guests arrive
7:30pm - Serving of cake
8pm - Games (I have to find something original and funny... like dressing a doll as
fast as you can)
9pm - getting the sleeping area ready and movie and munchies
11pm - lights out (Yah right! As if they will sleep!)
7am - Mom crawls out of bed to check that the basement is still intact and get coffee
7:30am - start preps for top your own pancake breakfast
Wait for the boys to wake up and dress...
9am - breakfast
9:45am - wash-up boys and dishes
10am - Give out goodie bags / boys free play / Mom cleans up.
11am - send off

Darn... no time for a knitting class with them! I don't think my son would be impressed... it is not cool to have a knitting class at your birthday party! LOL!

Toddler's Holiday sweater design is slow but I got to test a smaller sized needles and I believe this does the trick.

I re-organized my kitchen last night. When I went to my friend's place before heading out to the beach with her on Saturday, she gave me a tour of her place. She is single and has no kids. You should see her place... no nick nacks anywhere, not even a bill on the kitchen counter!!! It is so clean!! That made me feel totally embarassed about my place which looks cluttered with everything I need to keep up with the kids' schedules. My kitchen is just a little space with cupboards, sink, stove and refrigerator. Clutter accumulates easily in there. It took me two hours of work last night and now I love my kitchen! Everything has its spot! I realized I need cupboard space, therefore, I am looking into building a corner cabinet in my dining room as a food pantry. This evening, I'll focus on order in my dining room and living room.

The kids are off to La Ronde in Montreal tomorrow. Thursday evening, I'll be weeding my backyard gardens... they are totally neglected as I am hardly home. Then it will be knitting and relax time.

Until next post...

K.

Soccer and Knitting - A total Disaster! LOL!

2008-07-15T11:40:00.008-04:00

Soccer preps:

At 4:30pm, I drove like a maniac from the city to my hometown (45 min. drive), stopped to gas up the car and flew home. Once there, I peed, fed and petted the cat, ran upstairs to get a warm sweater for both myself and my son, got something to munch on for me and my son, got cold water bottles for my daughter and diet pepsi for me, grabbed the camera and my knitting, made sure the camping chairs were in the trunk of my car and I was off again.

It is now 5:30pm and I am speeding over to pick up my kids from a farm where my daughter rides. Once there, I noticed my daughter had not changed in her soccer outfit and I was still a good 10 minute drive away from the soccer field. Rushing is NOT my thing. Frowning at her, I asked her why she was not in her outfit. "It's ok Mom, I'll change in the car" Ahem... I said to myself, no it's NOT okay but we were too much in a rush to argue.

As I am driving like bat outta hell again, from the back seat comes "MOM!!! I DON'T HAVE MY SOCCER JERSEY!!!!" Pulling the car to a stop, I ask "What do you mean you don't have your jersey???" She just looks at me and shrugs. At the price of gas, I am NOT willing at this point to drive back home and back out again. To heck with it! "We're going back home and that's it!" Then comes the "But MOM!!!!" To which I say "Listen young lady... I asked you to pack your soccer outfit yesterday evening and put it by the door. You should check in the bag what you have packed. This is not the first time I go running around for forgotten things. Mom is not a bank..." and blah blah! The point is, she is soon to be 13. My repeating and reminders to her go on deaf ears. Lucky for her, I drove by her father's place which is two minutes from where we were and low and behold!!!! She found her jersey!!

The game:

Just as soon as I parked the car at the school, where her game was being held, she scrambled out of the car yelling "BYE!" and ran to the field which is quite the hike, if you ask me. Packed like a mule a few minutes later with chairs, knitting bag, camera, sweater and food I headed to the field with my son in tow.

Once settled, I munched a bit and drank my diet pepsi then took out my camera to take a couple of pictures of my forgetful star player as they were starting the game. Scanning the field, I noticed she was not out there... hmmm... I check the extra players beside the coach and no daughter. Weird. I must have missed her on the field with all of the players twice as tall as she. So I scanned the field a little more slowly confirming no Number 4 on the field. My heart was pumping a little faster now and I stood up, thinking I could see better. Then I hear the coach hollering "Pick up the ball M______!!!!" I was looking frantically all over and could not see her... again the coach yelled "Run to it and pick it up M_______!!!!" Well low and behold! Running up to the ball in another colored jersey was my daughter. She was the goalie!!! I never saw her goaltend before so it did not even dawn on me to look in front of the net! Whew! Relief! Here is my star goaltender.

Oh lookie here!!! Big grey clouds... hmmm... are my umbrellas in the car?

Just as I put the camera back in my bag it hits. Torrential downpour! The only thing I had to save me was my chair and I flipped it over and onto my head. My son came running from the play structures and did the same with his chair. 3 or 4 minutes later and my pants a little soaked on the bottom, it stopped. I flipped my chair back and sat on it. My knitting bag, purse and camera bag did not fare so well... they were all soaked! :o( Good thing my knitting bag has a lining and it didn't get wet.

My little goalie let a goal in during the downpour as the rain got in her eye glasses and she couldn't see! Poor kid!

No sooner that I take my knitting out, it hit again! Cramming the knitting back in the bag I stood up with my chair on my head. I then noticed that it was fast becoming a trend among other parents with no cover! LOL! This time was not good. I was drenched as a gust of wind accompanied the rain. Giving up and shivering, I packed my things and headed for the car to warm up. This is what my pants looked like. Notice the darker side of my left leg? That is wet!

The lawn had just been mowed and my feet were camouflaged in grass clippings!

They still won their game. :o) What an evening! I finished it off by getting the kids in a nice warm bath and myself into dry clothes with a nice hot tea at home.

Until next post...

Kim

Beach blast!

2008-07-14T10:10:00.005-04:00

So much for bringing my camera to the beach! I never took pictures. We had so much fun that it was not until I picked up the camera bag when we were packing to go that I realized I had no pics! LOL! Honest to God I never knew that the Ottawa River near Shawville was so beautiful! It looks like a lake with a beach! Food, sun, water, beach, good friends... what more could you ask for? I did find these pics of the beach online. :o)

After the sun and beach, we went to a talent show called Copycat Opery in Portage, QC. What a nice little town! There was maybe 60 people in attendance (the town only has 300 people) but they sure have some talent. We indulged in poutine and a drink and enjoyed the show. Bravo Portage!

This evening is for knitting and soccer... :o) I will bring my knitting at soccer that is. Fun stuff! I'll be taking soccer pics of my superstar daughter... they have not lost a game all season!

Until next post...

K.

Night of the Bs!

2008-07-11T09:18:00.002-04:00

B for Beer
B for Bands
B for Blues
B for Black Crowes

Bluesfest is on in Ottawa and BF and I took in some of the action last night. We absolutely enjoyed the band Three Days Grace... they were awesome and got the crowd involved. My excitement was dashed when the band I really wanted to see, The Black Crowes, played. They never addressed the crowd and only played one of their old hits "Twice As Hard". They did play an amazing harmonica piece that got fans dancing.

Next year, I plan on attending more than once. Aikon is set to play Saturday evening, but unfortunately, I am not able to go. The kids would have enjoyed him.

Knitting will resume tonight while I do laundry. The swatch for my little sweater design needs to be redone and I need to make progress on the Sens sweater.

Tomorrow's B word? Beach! My daughter and I will be relaxing on the sand, with cool drinks, books and knitting. :o) The weather is supposed to be hot hot hot!

Until next post...

K.

My first attempt at designing... :o)

2008-07-06T12:39:00.007-04:00

After being at the office all afternoon, I figured it's time for me to dip my hands into designing. Ideas are swirling around my head like mad and I have purchased the yarn to design a toddler (girl) Christmas sweater.

Here is my first draft sketch of it along with notes of what stitches are to be used. It is very useful when you have kids and have access to coloured pencils.

The next step is my swatch. I had bought a size two top just to gage the measurement of my sweater.

The yarn is Bernat Satin Sport and an eyelash yarn...

I chose the Horizontal Herringbone Stitch for the border after the fur but when I was knitting it, it didn't look right. It came out looking like something else, but still very nice! So it is a variation of the stitch and this is what it looks like.

I then proceeded to knit the stockinette stitch and I don't know if it's the cheap yarn or the fact that the herringbone stitch has no give compared to the stockinette stitch... but it don't look right... I think I'll use smaller needles for the stockinette stitch and see what that gives.

I need the stockinette stitch in there as I want a snowflake in the front of the sweater.

No doubt there will be starting over parts a gazillion times and frustrations but I love the challenge! By Christmas, I should have a creation of my own. This is soooooooo exciting! I have dreamt of this for quite some time and I am itching for this project to be finished.

The real fun begins!!

Until next post...

K.

Knitting Treasures...

2008-07-05T11:10:00.004-04:00

Surfing the net the other day, I came across two sites I wanted to share.

The first one is Knit Daily. I have been trying to register there for quite some time and oddly enough, I can never get access. I go on the site, enter my email and password, then go to my email to confirm my registration and the site is down. Or I don't have time to check my email, think about it a month later and my spam watch has deleted it. Hmmm... I tried again this morning with no luck. The site is down. I want my 50 free patterns and weekly free pattern!

The second website I came accross is Meetup. This place is awesome! You can search interest groups in your city. I found knitting groups and spanish language groups. It lets the organizer post information on the group and their next meeting times. Members can also comment on the meeting groups. What a nifty idea!

Look at the Echanacea in my garden... I am a sucker for flowers and gardens...

Well, it's off to work for me. Overtime... UGH!

Until the next post...

K.

I want the SLOW lane.

2008-07-04T09:27:00.007-04:00

So much has happened in the last month! I won't let this post turn into a boring long book, but it has been hectic.

In summary:

Summer is here! The sun, the heat, the humidity, the tanned skin, the shoeless sockless foot, warm sandy beaches and lush green grass to lie in... I could go on and on... I love it!

School is out for the kids, which means summer vacation plans and making sure they have some place to go while I work the month of July away.

NEW JOB!!!! I applied in April and received my letter of offer a week ago! Less stress, more pay... GREAT MOVE!

Looking forward to taking the month of August off, going to my BF's Dad's cottage, knitting my days away on the beach, on my front porch, under a tree in the park, picnics in the park with the kids, bike rides and walks, going to summer festivals, country fairs, etc...

Lots of overtime. My month of July is jam packed with overtime as I get this office cleaned up and ready for my successor. One last push to the end!

Knitting... my everyday dream... I dream of doing it constantly but my time is filled with other things and that does not include watching TV. I am not a tv watcher. I will have to resolve by taking the bus on a more regular basis to increase my knitting time. My Sens sweater is slowly inching forward and so is my second (first) sock... I am saying second (first) sock as the original first one was never truly completed due to a lost stitch.

This coming weekend, I will attend the Ottawa Bluesfest on Saturday evening. The rest of the time is at work, mostly.

Do you ever feel like you're running a never ending race? No matter what you do, something unexpected happens and the rest of your ordinary life is shot to h*ll. Is there not a slow lane I can move to for a while? I feel exhausted a lot and I feel I have no time for myself. Time for some holiday time!

Until next post...

K.

The last of the Stitch and Bitch season...

2008-06-03T13:39:00.004-04:00

Last Thursday, I held the last Stitch and Bitch night which temporarily stops meeting over the summer months. I had a bigger group with non-knitters as it's my family who usually attends and our family loves to get together and chat. Two more aunts and a cousin showed up. We chatted much more than we knitting but had a great time.

The weekend was an odd one. Friday evening, I had a great time at my cousin's place with my kids. We barbecued hot dogs and made strawberry smoothies for dessert. After settling the kids with a movie, we caught up on gossip. My cousin recently found herself on the single scene again, which broke my heart. She is a 31 yr old pretty, giggly, intelligent, social butterfly. I honestly don't know why her true love has yet to find her. In any event, I wish her the best in her search because she truly deserves a prince charming!

Saturday, I did laundry, cleaned, washed the windows in the upstairs bedrooms and entertained a little neighbor. As a lot of parents know, when children have a guest over, you have an immense amount of time on your hands. The sibbling squabbles are silent, they are not bored or hungry all the time and the basement is turned into an imaginary village of tents made out of blankets. Needless to say, I got a lot of housework done. The evening was not so wonderful. My kids had a sleepover at my sister's place while I went into the office to do some catching up... major catching up. An employee left for a two week sick leave and the extra work is piling up. I stayed in the office until 1:30am and on the way home that night, my car seemed to be pulling left while driving. When I got home, I was so exhausted, I went to bed.

Sunday morning, before heading out to pick up the kids, I checked the tires and discovered one totally flat. The impact in the pot hole must have caused the flat tire. Mom came over and loaned me her little compressor which slowly put the air back in. I drove to my sister's and collected my kids. For months I had promised them that we would go out for breakfast. They absolutely wanted to eat at a small breakfast place in town. Pano's is a restaurant that has been around since I was a high school student. in the 1980s, it was an italian/pizzaria place. It used to be a hang out and the restaurant, at that time, was owned by one of our fellow students. A new owner took over and turned it into a breakfast place. Great food and healthy choices!!

Monday morning, I pumped up my car tire and drive to the mecanic's. They confirmed that my tire was finished. I needed another one. It had to be ordered from Montreal as none were available in Ottawa. They temporarily patched my tire and told me to stay off the Queensway and drive slow. *pout* I love driving... fast... This woman is NOT happy taking the back roads to the bus station and driving slow. It makes this driver very grumpy (as my BF commented). I'll be grumpily driving slow until Friday morning. >:(

I've been neglecting Yarn Harlot's blog lately and I miss reading it dearly. Today, something rare happened. I took a lunch hour and read Yarn Harlot's posts for May. Not to repeat myself but that woman absolutely amazes me!! She has 3 girls and can knit up things like a factory machine! You blink an eye and it's done! I so envy her! My time is spent more on dreaming of knitting than knitting itself!!

Lack of time for my hobbies and family is the reason I applied for another job. My first interview is this week on Thursday. There will be three people in the room bombarding me with questions. I am studying like crazy as not only is the pay better, the hours are better and there is less stress there. A regular lunch might just be part of my agenda! Woohoo!

Until next post...

K.

Knit talk...

2008-05-28T11:09:00.004-04:00

While reading my post from yesterday, I completely forgot to mention that the Sens Sweater is on the go again. After the fiasco with the sock, I needed something else to do and dug out the Sens Sweater and made a little progess on that. Due to the complexity of the chart, there is a lot of counting and weaving to do while knitting it up. One row takes me almost 15 minutes to ensure my 8 balls of yarn are at the right spot to start up the next row. This is not a project I can work on while watching t.v. or chatting with my knitting group.

I have neglected posting my posts for my blog as I have yet to upload the pictures from the digital camera. There are more than a dozen posts to publish!

The workout did not get done last night. After running to the paint store with my BF so he could chose every color under the sun to repaint his whole house, then a quick coffee at Tim Horton's, then dinner and dishes, we flopped on the sofa and watched a weird horror movie "30 days of Night". Movies and I do not go together so well unless they are during the daytime. I fall asleep everytime! I really impressed myself last night and only missed the last 5 minutes of the movie. This frustrates my BF to no end! LOL! Why did I not take out my knitting needles and knit? The answer is simple enough... it was dark, my eyes were irritated and frankly, I was too exhausted to knit!

Until next post...

K.

A sock made for garbage...

2008-05-27T14:42:00.005-04:00

You know, sometimes you wonder why you keep at it when a project was a disaster from the start. This is my problem with my first sock. I proudly slipped my sock on my foot. I was turning my foot this way and that way and smitten with myself for finally finishing it. Suddenly, skin caught my eye... on the left side of my foot. Oh no! A hole! NOOOOOOO! IT CAN'T BE!!!! Another lost stitch! I just about bawled my eyes out! The sock was ripped off of my foot and then took a flying leap towards the garbage can in the kitchen. Sadly, it missed the can and landed on the kitchen floor. After a few calming breathing sessions, I picked it up and retrieved the pesky stitch with a stitch holder and shoved it back in my bag.

While out of town for work, I took the dreaded sock out and started to painstakingly look where I had weaved in the end to undo it. After about a half hour, I could find it. Giving up, I cast on the needed stiches for the second sock. Hopefully I will have better luck for this one.

The grass seeds which were sown in my backyard about 3 weeks ago are now nice bright blades of grass. The weeds are overtaking my backyard like mad. This coming weekend, I plan to be on my hands and knees pulling them out one by one. I'll then spray the lawn with weed and feed and hope that the pesty things do not grow back!

This week has been good so far for exercising. My BFs eleptical cross trainer is a personal trainer on its own. The machine has a setting which gives me a work out routine... a different one everytime I use it. It sort of goes like this:

3 minute warm up
1 minute squat position, in reverse and fast speed
2 minutes regular speed for recovery time
1 minute slow, leaning back and in squat position
2 minutes regular speed for recovery time
and so on... with different commands
the last 3 minutes are cool down time

Man! After getting off this thing, I can barely walk! My legs are like Jell-o!!! Tonight will be my fourth workout on it and last for the week as I go back home. I'll be focusing on strength and aerobic exercise combined with power walking while back at my place.

Until next post...

K.

You have to see THIS!!!

2008-05-14T13:25:00.008-04:00

It is done! My first sock is C-O-M-P-L-E-T-E-D !!! Can you believe it?? *dancing a little jig*

Hey Moms! Did you have a nice Mother's Day weekend? I sure did! ... Well... I stuffed my face at a restaurant on Saturday and stuffed my face at my Mom's on Sunday. Oink!

Me and Mom...

My best present? My kids! My daughter got me flowers and my son made me a beautiful bowl to put candles in and sang me a wonderful song. I'm the luckiest Mom to have two loving, healthy children. I love you Marissa and Jeremy!

I fell off the wagon and started knitting up my el cheapo yarn I got because I love the color and texture so much. It knits up beautifully! Why pay $100 when you can get this for $4.97????

I have decided to make this out of it.

Now that I know what I will make out of it and pretty much figured out the gauge, I need to take my hands OFF of it and get back to the Sens Sweater. *kicking myself*

Until next post...

K.

Long Weekend for Me!!

2008-05-08T12:13:00.003-04:00

Day off tomorrow! Woohoo! Well... I have a dental appointment with the kids in the morning but the rest of the day is free for ME! Me and my knitting. Yep Yep! The Klicker is KLICKING! I will be bringing my klicking to my aunt's place and just chill out for the afternoon.

The ladies will be coming to knit tonight as my son puts it. He always asks, "Mom, are the ladies coming over tonight?". It always makes him happy when they come over because he can play video games while Mommy knits (otherwise unallowed on week nights).

Now that the office is quiet, time to catch up on work.

Until next post...

K.

Still no rain??

2008-05-07T13:16:00.004-04:00

For once I am asking for the clouds to roll in and pour rain! Nothing yet! We are expecting some rain this afternoon but only showers.

I did manage to get out last night with the kids and go to the convenience store. It is a store that has been there since I was a child. My Aunt (who comes to the regular stitching group) used to live in front of it. This lady's grandmother was the original owner of the store and the lady who runs is now must be near 75 years old. As a child, I used to remember the place being cluttered with so much junk for sale... almost like a huge flea market! But the best part was she had tons of candy for kids to buy and she still does! So we had fun looking at all the candy and picking out a few treats. YUM!

Tonight I am attempting to install new wipers on my car. I bought them at COSTCO and the instructions come with them... how bad can it be right? Imagine me driving in the rain tomorrow with wipers flying through the air! LOL! The break light in the rear window of my car is out as well so I will be installing a new one of those too.

Look at my plants! Are they not just lovely? They are growing so fast! :o)

Still no birds at the feeder. :o( Where ARE the little buggers??? Heeeeeere birdies! Chirp Chirp Chirp!!

Until next post...

K.

Let the seeds grow!

2008-05-06T11:59:00.005-04:00

You know the weatherman is never right. Why, I ask myself, did I even bother to listen when I seeded my backyard with grass seeds? It was supposed to rain, starting today, until Friday. What does the forecast say this morning? NO RAIN! I have to rush home and water the little buggers hoping against all hopes that the birds didn't get to them. Initially, I wanted to water them last night, just in case the weatherman might be wrong, but I couldn't find the tap to turn on the water outside! I stood along side the myriad of copper pipes and spouts in the basement trying to figure out which one turned on the outside water (I didn't use it last year and it was my first summer in the house). So, while taking out the trash and feeling a little brainless, I approached my neighbor who was leaving for work and asked him where his was. He gladly gave me the info I needed. Now, if only the work day could end soon so I could go give those little seeds a sprinkle!

My bird feeder is still barren and void of birds. :o( Not even the squirrels have attacked it yet! I was so hopeful when a bird landed in a branch just above the feeder when I was outside with my morning coffee today. Nope... it just flew off! It will be a week Thursday that I have put it up! I've concluded that this town's birds are anti-social. LOL! It is odd as I hear them chirping away as early as 4:30am outside my window.

Tonight, my knitting needles come out! After a walk with the kids (which I promised), vacuuming the living/dining area, washing my entrance floor and a bit of laundry. Hmmm... I may divert my walk with the kids to the park! That way, I can sneak my knitting with me. If only I had the hand eye coordination to knit and walk! My hand eye coordination is terrible... I cannot even play my fiddle and tap my foot to the beat! My bow just follows my foot! LOL! I look pretty depilitated when I try to do so.... like a stuttering fiddler.

Talking fiddle, I did take it out last night and played. It didn't go well. I regret buying that fiddle... it sounds nothing like my el cheapo student fiddle I had which amazingly enough, sounded just beautiful. My new more expensive better quality fiddle sounds like crap. Almost canny... It may be the bow... or the strings... I'll change the strings first before spending $400 on a new bow. And guess what??? My son's daycare provider plays the fiddle!!! She is looking for a learning partner! Woohoo! We are planning to take lessons again starting this fall. Hmmmm... another thing on the ToDo List this evening... fiddle practise!

Cheers to another 1am bedtime!

Until next post...

K.

Ladies' Night

2008-05-05T09:29:00.005-04:00

The weekend was off to a great start. A friend had invited me along with other girls, who I had not seen in a couple of years, to a Ladies' Night charity event in the town of Russell. Well Friday night was a blast! The evening they put on for the 650 ladies who showed up was amazing! I had not laughed like that in a while! They turned this into a sort of Chippendale style event.

The proceeds of the dinner, silent and live auctions were being donated to the Huntington's Society. Huntington's is a disease I was not familiar with and I got to learn about it as the night went on.

Dinner was delicious, including the desserts.... Yummy Cherry Cheescake was my pick.

The live auction and evening was hosted by Joel and Kathie from Regional Contact. Items for auction included dinner for 8 ladies served by the Local Firefighters' Department, Sleigh ride, a classic John Deere bike, Via train tickets to Toronto and the list goes on! Each sponsor put on a little show before their items went up for auction. They even had the town doctor doing a strip tease type dance which had us roaring with laughter.

Bravo to Russell's Agricultural Society and the organizers of the event. I am sure to attend next year and bring friends with me.

Saturday, I came in to the office while the kids spent the day with friends. I was so grateful to get a lot of things organized at the office. I need another couple of Saturdays to get everything totally in order.

Sunday was a lazy day in pj's with my BF and the kids. We had a nice big breakfast, watched hockey and I did some laundry.

I did indeed pick up my needles to get that sock undone. Now I have to knit it back up and finish it, but first I will take advantage of the sun and rake my backyard this evening and put seed because there are a lot of bare patches with no grass. This is perfect timing as it is supposed to rain tomorrow afternoon. Hopefully, I get another sunny day this week so I can get to those. :o)

Until next post...

K.

Thursday night Stitch and Bitch

2008-05-01T11:23:00.005-04:00

Woohoo! I was looking forward to stitching and bitching tonight! My son and I will be baking muffins for the event. :o) I served fresh pineapple and honeydew melon last week to celebrate the sunny weather.

I went to a discount store last night and got discount yarn. Now, I've heard comments and know of knitters who cringe at the thought of buying cheap unknown fiber yarn. Here is my story... I am a single Mom with two kids and no support so yes, I buy the Kraft Dinner type yarns. I am addicted to knitting and I need fiber to knit with so I buy what I can afford. Back to the discount yarn I purchased... here is the pic.

I would like to find a nice long fitted cardigan pattern to make with it with a tie at the waist. The color is gorgeous. :o) And you know what? I am just as excited with the purchase of that $4 a ball yarn as I am with my $13 Lana Grossa Mutieffekt self patterning sock yarn!

I'll be out with my coffee at 6am tomorrow to check out the birds or shoo away the squirrels! LOL!

Last, but not least, is my down time. Bubbles, candles, music... I've been craving one of these moments for quite a while.

Excuse me but the bath is waiting. :o)

Until next post...

Kim

Shopping... don't ya love it?

2008-04-30T09:15:00.006-04:00

The only thing related to knitting in this post is that my needles did not come out of my knitting bag last night. Shopping took the most part of the evening. Costco is the word of the day. No matter how much we tell ourselves "WE ARE ONLY GOING IN FOR ONE OR TWO THINGS!!!", we always end up in there for hours. We check out all the new gadgets, taste all the food, take a half hour to go through all the books, take another half hour in the seasonal aisle and end up running to the cash at closing time. So we got a Costco pre-made meal of beef stir-fry with noodles to heat up at home and it was delicious! For $11, this container could have easily fed four people. You cannot feed four people beef stir-fry on that budget if you made it yourself.

I was out again at 6:30am looking for birds at the feeder... NONE! Guess they have not noticed it was there yet. Tonight I set one up at my place as well. :o) See?

Exhaustion is the word of the day for me. Seems work is getting more demanding every day. I never seem to be able to catch up and be up-to-date... always running a never ending race. :o( That is my rant today.

I am in the hopes of getting my needles in my hands tonight. Funny, I dream of sitting and knitting all the time! Beautiful yarns and creations flow through my mind daily and I sure wish they would become reality.

Until next post...

K.

New opportunities...

2008-04-29T10:34:00.003-04:00

For quite a while now I have been wanting a change in my job life. Part of me is fearful as I have been with this Department for 15 years and know all the ins and outs here. Another part of me wants change... I applied for a job with an agency and I sure hope I get a call. It sounds perfect! I am keeping my fingers crossed. :o)

Tonight, I will definitely get the needles out. I want that sock finished! It is bugging me that I can't even find the time to correct on little mistake! Only one problem... I am running errands tonight with BF... BF loves to shop and look at everything... I do too, but not on weeknights. We'll see what time I actually get home.

I was up at 6am this morning checking for birds on the bird feeder at BF's place. No luck, it was empty. They'll probably be there this evening. I just hope it holds true to its name and it is squirrel proof. You'll see bird pics tomorrow if any feathered creatures are on the feeder this evening. :o)

Until next post...

K.

A Glorious but Hectic Weekend. :o)

2008-04-28T09:28:00.006-04:00

Weather is dreary in Ottawa today but we are getting much needed rain. To tell you the truth, I am happy when it rains on weekdays. Sunny days are always better on weekends, don't you think?? :o)

Knitting was a no go this weekend. It all started with a birthday party barbecue on Friday after work for my BF's Dad. Great food, great company! Can't beat that! :o)

On Saturday, I slept in until 11:30am... a rare occurence in my life! Then I took my time waking up, enjoyed the sun on the front step at my BF's and we chit chatted over coffee. I then got myself ready to go to work at around 3pm to catch up on a lot of stuff. To my surprise, I got to the office only to realize that I had forgotten a couple of things including change for the parking! I turned back and drove back to BF's place, fixed my make up and got ready to go to the restaurant for my sister's birthday dinner at 5pm. My BF's good friend, Vichay, showed up and they were going to play darts and watch the hockey game. I made it to the restaurant about 15 minutes late but before my other sister who thought it was at 6pm! LOL! Food was good and I had a great time chatting with my Mom and sisters. I called my BF, told him I was on my way and was happy to know that his twin sister, Angèle, had come over for a visit. She is a kind and sweet girl with a pretty smile. Driving back to my BF's in the pouring rain was a challenge. People were driving 60km on the Queensway as the rain was coming down hard.

Boy! Was I happy to get back as the darkness and the rain made it hard for me to see the road. Finally back in the house, I opened a beer, relaxed and gabbed with BF's sister. We played a few games of Guitar Hero and laughed. We enjoyed a movie at went to bed at 2:15am! Both Angèle and Vichay stayed overnight.

Sunday morning was a lazy one with coffee in the sun, lots of chatting again with everyone and unfortunately, I had to leave to go to the office and do the catching up I was supposed to do the day before. Yes, some people think me crazy for working on weekends but it saves me stress on weekdays.

After work, BF and I went shopping (an activity we both enjoy) at Walmart. We both got bird feeders. I know, you're supposed to feed the birds in the winter, but I love sitting outside and watching them! I'll get nice pics of them this summer. Both our feeders are squirrel safe. :o) See? This is my BF's feeder.

Until next post...

K.

It's Knit Night!

2008-04-24T09:46:00.007-04:00

It was tough dragging my butt out of bed this morning. Extremely tired! Must have been the fact that I worked late last night. I took my time going into the office and drove the kids to school. After all, I had worked four hours overtime the night before. Getting up was worth it to see these angelic faces. :o) So hard to wake them up when they look so peaceful!

It turned out to be a nice day! After work and picking up the kids, we went shopping. My son needed running shoes and sandals and both my kids needed new bycicle helmets. We rushed home, made a quick hot dog dinner on the barbecue and got ready for the ladies to arrive for the regular stitching and bitching. That is exactly what I did. I bitched about my sock which I had to undo. Here are a couple of pics. :o)

Until next post...

Kim

Short lived excitement...

2008-04-23T13:14:00.003-04:00

After running like a maniac making dinner yesterday, doing dishes and a quick trip to my cousin's place, I finally sat down to sew up my finished sock. Once half of the stitches were grafted, I noticed a little loop sticking out about half an inch from the toe. Inspecting it a little closer, I realized it was a dropped stitch! EEEK! I gently put the sock down, took out a stitch holder and put the stitch onto it and decided to watch the last of the hockey game between the Flyers and the Capitals.

You can inspect the litte pest of a stitch yourself, hoping my picture is clear enough.

Tonight, I will attempt on finishing that sock once and for all, and get going on the dreaded Sens Sweater. Don't get me wrong... I LOVE to knit... just a little frustrating when you have to back track. While I am stuck in ruts like this, I try to visualize the next project so that it motivates me to finish this one (or these ones). :o)

Rain or a thunderstorm in the forecast today, but the warmth is still with us at 24 degrees celcius!

Until next post...

K.

Well I'll be!!!!

2008-04-22T13:15:00.003-04:00

Guess what? I finished one sock! Woohoo! Now, before I forget the pattern completely, I have to get going on the other soon so I can use my new sock yarn by Lana Grossa. :o) Here is my one lonely sock:

Not much to update on other than the weather is like July here. I am not complaining! It's about time! We went from Winter to Summer in practically one day! I have been impatiently waiting for the time to sit on my front step with my tea after dinner and my knitting, listening to the kids play and chit chatting with the neighbors.

My weekend is already packed with activities. Summer is always like that for me. A party here, a barbecue there, an outting with the kids, a picnic at the park, drinks with friends on a patio, etc... it never ends! BUT! At least I don't have to warm up the car, worry about driving in bad weater, dress in layers and wear the big honking winter boots! I can just basically get up and go! :o)

Cheers to the sun!

Until next post...

K.

About time!

2008-04-20T10:41:00.002-04:00

Today, a miracle happened! Seriously! Something that rarely occurs lately! :o)

My day started off with a big breakfast at my BF's place... bacon, eggs and toast. I drove home with my son to wait for my daughter to arrive from her Dad's place. She attended a birthday party for someone in the family. She was not feeling well but she insisted she still wanted to go to the party. I made her promise to sleep in this morning.

I first brewed a pot of coffee and then took out my fiddle and played for about an hour. :o)

Gathering my knitting, a fresh cup of coffee and a patio chair I headed out on my front step and sat to knit! Yes! Two whole hours of sitting and knitting! This is the work I accomplished on my sock which I started last November. I plan on finishing this one tomorrow. :o)

After a quick phone call, my friend from yesterday came back for a visit and we were able to catch up and talk. My daughter got to hang out with her daughter (they were best friends in school before we moved away in January 2005). I was grateful that she came over. I miss her dearly and she is such a great person. We were on the community association and planned many activities in the community for the children. :o)

Back to work tomorrow. I was off on Friday therefore I am sure I have work cut out for me to catch up.

Slowly, I am gathering information to get a knitting group going here in my hometown. I have to return a phone call tomorrow and see how I can get this set up by September 2008.

Until next post...

K.

Spring Chores

2008-04-19T09:53:00.001-04:00

Today's weather was phenomenal! 22 degrees and sunny!

My front walkway was clean and so were my little gardens on each side.

My car got a nice spring cleaning and Armor All shine inside.

I took down my Christmas lights, did a ton of laundry and cleaned my entrance. I also nursed a feverish daughter. Poor sweetie had a sore throat and stuffy nose. How depressing on such a beautiful day! :(

With all of this done, it gives me knitting time for tomorrow. They are calling for more sunny weather.

A friend of mine and her daughter came over this evening. My BF had spent a good part of the day with his Dad and his girlfriend (Dad's girlfriend). It was a rush at the front door! BF came home with his Dad and his girlfriend and I gave them the tour of the house. My friend and her daughter came over at that time. My dinner was ready (overcooked actually! dried chicken! YUM!). I felt awful eating dinner in front of my friend and the fact that I had other company at the house, so I made a point of inviting her over again the following day.

Later in the evening, I went over to my BF's house. We watched a movie and caught up on hockey news.

Until next post...

K.

A day off!! FINALLY!

2008-04-18T12:21:00.001-04:00

Today I am organizing the gazillion patterns I printed from the internet. So many free yummy patterns!

I have binders, plastic sleeves and I also created cover pages for each binder. This will make my knitting area a little more organized.

Shower is needed... Let's see... I was supposed to have cleaned the car and washed my windows and started laundry and it is hmmmmm... 2pm? Oh well, Mommies need to rest too, right?

I guess tomorrow is a good day to do the car, windows OH! and take down the Christmas lights now that the ice is gone. :o)

BF is coming over this evening. We plan on battling it out on Guitar Hero with the kids. :o)

Kim

I done it AGAIN!

2008-04-16T14:55:00.005-04:00

My craving for yarn won again. As many knitters can relate, I experienced the weakening in the knees at the sight of yummy yarn while in a yarn shop yesterday. I walked out with yet another ball of Lana Grossa Multieffekt in a different color and a couple of pattern books. See?? The ball I bought on the weekend was lonely. It needed a friend. Hihi!

The sun is shining brightly again today, as it did yesterday and I am anticipating the drive home (I love driving on a sunny day with the music blaring) so that I can have a quick dinner with my son, take a chair out on the front patio and whip out those knitting needles.

I am slipping this little note in discretely as I am appalled and ashamed... My son found his DS at his Dad's house in a Walmart bag. *mumble* You know the feeling of crawling under a rock somewhere to hide... that is how I felt when he happily announced his discovery. *sigh* I feel terrible about it now! :o( I'll be dragging my feet to customer service at Walmart and apologize profusely.

Last night was a lost cause for knitting. While waiting for my BF to finish at the office, I sat in the car and lost myself in Yarn Harlot's "At Knit's End..." and that is as close to knitting as I got. Why? I am asking myself that very same question eventhough I know the answer. LOL! BF bought a new shelving unit for his basement in order to organize it better. After the shopping, we got home at 9pm and like a little kid with a new toy, he HAD to put it up right away and organize all his Christmas stuff on it. Of course, I cannot stand sitting and knitting while someone is working so hard... I HAD to help... somewhat. I was exhausted and basically felt like sitting and doing nothing... but I always feel guilty doing that... so I stood up and did nothing. LOL! (Okay, I helped a little.) I have to admit, he did a great job of organizing his stuff. :o)

Now I am leaving you all with pics... of sitting in the sun and knitting away ... my son enjoying being outside with no boots/mitts/hat/scarf with make up from school as he was an Iroquois Indian for a school project.

Until next post...

K.