A week in the life of

**The kids are back in school (woohoo!)

**We bought a new fridge and stove that will be delivered on Saturday. I don't think two people could be more excited at the prospect of having cold water and ice readily available without having to open the door. (yippee!)

**Call me crazy (because obviously I AM), but I have agreed to take my two children and three of their friends to a nearby amusement and water park this weekend, BY MYSELF. My two goals are that we don't lose anyone along the way and, more importantly, no one hurls. Shall be fun. I will have a full report next week.

**Did you know that a mosquito bite on the eyelid is not very fun? Did you know that it can cause the eye to swell completely shut and that you may look like Rocky Balboa? Don't worry, it's not me. If it was, I would be posting a picture. Instead the affected party is one of my daycare children. She looked so pitiful today. :(

**My monthly visitor decided to show up today. Remember I said that Saturday's activities would include a water park? (yippee....NOT!)

**Rush concert tomorrow night. Ron is psyched. He's been preparing himself for the past couple of weeks by listening to all of his fave songs. I've been preparing by lifting weights so I can push back this time around and not get trampled. I'm sure we'll be breathing in some second hand doobage.

Goodbye carefree days of summer!


Hello, first day of school blues!



The picture may be blurry, but you can still make out the scowl. :) Classic!

New York City: Day Four

Ok, ok. I know it's been forever and a day since I attempted to finish out this NYC thing. And I'm sure you're all over it by now. But I want to end it so I can look back at all the fond memories when my own memory has failed me. So, here goes....

After a fun-filled previous day packed with lots and lots of activities from dawn until way past dusk, we decide to sleep in a bit. This was probably a good idea. I was just recently discussing some of the trip with Ron and, apparently, he has no recollection of most of our activities on Day Three. I have no witnesses to back me up, only one picture of the two of us at the Norah Jones concert. He continues to deny falling asleep (standing up) and almost knocking people over multiple times until I finally gave up trying to nudge him in the side. Also, sleeping through half of the broadway play. And then through part of our Frenchy dinner. I must be a real exciting date, eh?

9:00 am -- We wake up to shower, dress, and make ourselves look pretty. Not everything in that last statement is true. As I was attempting to dry my hair, the electricity went out. This was the second time. Oops! Forgot that we can't have the t.v. and air conditioner running at the same time as any other appliance. It takes the handyman way longer than we have time to wait for him, so off we go to catch the train--wet hair and all.

10:45ish am -- We arrive at "Good" with a few minutes to spare. Of course, just about every woman walking up to the restaurant is thin with long, dark hair. Is that her? Nooo...is that her? No worries, Bearette shows up right on time as the first guests are being let in the door. No line! We exchange a quick hug and head in for some grub.

11:00ish am -- Bearette's husband, D, joins us for some good food and good conversation. We soon find out that even though it might be awkward to meet up with someone that you feel like you already know, but you don't really know, it's still possible to hold down a relatively interesting conversation. As promised, the food was not just "good", but scrumptious. I had the lemon ricotta pancakes. I seriously need to find a recipe for those. They are soooo yummy. Ron had some sort of breakfast burrito. He said it was good. I'll have to take his word on that one. I've never been a fan of stuffing breakfast items into a tortilla. To each his own.

12:00ish am -- Bearette had offered to show me her favorite yarn store (and who am I to deny a great yarn buying/feeling experience), Purl. So we head over there, minus D who decided to go for a bike ride.

This is what I found at the store....

Sock yarn!!!

1:00ish pm -- Bearette offered some of her leftover yarns to me and there's no way I can pass that up. :) So we head to her apartment. We had plenty of time to chat along the way while avoiding getting run over by crazy taxis. Luckily, by this time, I had learned to be an agressive pedestrian. Or at least more aggressive than my usual timid self. I'm one of those people who does not step an inch off the sidewalk until I see that little, white walking statue. If you've ever been to NYC, you know that you'll never get ANYWHERE if you do that.

Her apartment was very cute. Of course, there were ducks aplenty. :) And I got a preview of some of her finished projects, even getting to model one of the Christmas presents. Unfortunately, I totally forgot to get my camera out during our entire visit. :( But I did get a juicy tidbit of info that I've had to bite my tongue not to release. :D

Free yarn!!! The hot pink ball on the top is what I used to make the flower lapel pin.

3:00 pm -- Finally realizing how late it had gotten, we decide to head on out. We bid our goodbyes, promising to bring the kids the next time we visit. The New York Metropolitan Art Museum was next on our list of to dos. It did not fail our expectations. In three hours time, we only made it through half of the building. I was surprised that they allow photography, as long as you don't use a flash. I absolutely loved how much history is interlaced within the pieces of artwork. Here are some of the highlights.

This is probably my favorite picture. I didn't snap it, but it was my eye that caught the perspective.




This guy must have thought highly of himself. Must. Protect. The. Royal. Jewels!



A bunch of headless, armless statues.




Check out the intricate beadwork. I can't even imagine how long it took to make this one.





More perspective? Just proof that I think I should be a professional photog.




Obviously the miniature men think highly of themselves, too.




I love these little guys. I was tempted to ask if we could take them out and play. :P




Whussup!!!!



Off with your head!



Whaaa?? The artist had a little too much to drink (hence, the empty glass) and lost their bright idea.




This is more like what REAL artwork should look like.

I Want to Live!

I want to live. I want to grow. I want to see. I want to know. I want to share what I can give. I want to be. I want to live. --John Denver

I want to go to parties and socialize.

I want to take dance lessons.

I want to go camping with only a backpack.

I want to bake some kind of goody at least once a week.

I want to meet new people and make new friends often.

I want to go snorkeling in sparkling blue waters.

I want to finally learn how to play the guitar that we bought over a year ago.

I want to have at least one good friend that I can turn to with anything.

I want to always be surrounded by love.

I want to go to local musicals and plays on a frequent basis.

I want to start up a baton twirling group again.

I want to make sure I don't miss out on the ever decreasing amount of time that my kids are still kids.

I want to feel contentment at the end of every day.

I want to party like it's 1999.

I want to go on a river rafting/camping trip.

I want to start going to bed earlier and, therefore, wake up feeling refreshed every morning.

I want to make homemade Oreo cookies. :)

I (still) want to have another child.

I want to keep donating blood.

I want to finally go to the dermatologist and get rid of my acne.

I want to run in a race.

I want to let my hair grow down to my waist and then dye it a chocolate brown.

I want to eat chocolate everyday.

I want to live on the beach.

I want to learn how to surf.

I want to visit as many foreign countries as possible before I die.

I want to go on a safari.

I want to be able to fix my weird wandering eye so I don't look like a freak.

I want to go on a whale watching expedition.

I want to go on a shopping spree, with a stylist, on someone else's dime.

I want to write what ever's on my mind without feeling like I have to hold back.

I want to attend ALL of my kids' activities, awards ceremonies, sporting events so I never have to feel guilty again.

I want to lay on a beach for a week, having drinks and food delivered to me. And when I get too hot from baking in the sun, I'll frolic in the waves in my cute polka-dotted bikini.

I want to be the life of the party, just once.

You know you've been married too long when......

....you both forget your anniversary until two days past. Oops! We were camping this past week, eating hot dogs, swimming in the lake, getting rained on, riding bikes, almost killing a raccoon with an full bag (minus about 9) of marshmallows (well, it was HIS fault since he took off with the whole bag). But the one thing we didn't do was celebrate (or even acknowledge to each other) our 16th wedding anniversary. Welp, there's always next year! (except we say that every year)

MIA

I know I've been missing-in-action lately. I've been busy knitting up a storm, visiting the Columbus Zoo, and trying to keep the kids busy for the remainder of the summer.

The knitting group that I joined is making an afghan to donate to charity. These mitered squares......

....will be sewn together.

I love how the group consists of a wide variety of people of all ages, personalities and genders (yes, there is one guy). It's really nice to get together with a group of people who have this one common interest, but often the conversation revolves around daily life. We share patterns, tips, and ooh and ahh over everyone's most recent projects. But we also learn a little bit more about each other without the irritating structure of a formal, over-organized group. Some of our most recent outings included a visit to a baseball game of the local AAA team. We called it "Stitch 'n Pitch". It was ultra fun including goodie bags (given by our lovely coordinator) filled with Big League bubble gum, a sample of yarn, and a plastic clapping hand. Yippee!! I can't wait for next year's! What better way to pass the time during a baseball game, but to knit, knit, knit away! See Bearette? I told you we had fun here in Ohio. ;)

I'll leave you with these............



The first of a collection of dishcloths I got hooked on. This one is the same pattern as the one I made for Bearette. Unfortunately, the pattern did not show up so well on her's because I used variegated yarn.



This pattern is named "Elfin Lace".



I love the earthy colors in this yarn. These are all going to be Christmas gifts. I'm making a bunch more to add to the collection. I'm officially obsessed. :)



And this lapel pin is a gift for the new mom-in-law. Ron says she'll love it because it's hideous. I knew I had to make it for her as soon as I saw the pattern. She has an eccentric style which works great for gift making. The bright pink yarn was a gift from Bearette. She gave me a bunch of leftovers and look what I created! (told you I loved scraps!)



Mary Jane slippers for my mom's birthday. Cute, eh?




And finally, a handbag I made with a bunch of scrap acrylic yarn. I've gotten a ton of comments on it so far. All my knitting buddies just love it. (so do I!) It's the perfect size to carry my current project around with me. I'm going to make one in shades of blue for my mom's other birthday gift. And Jesse has requested one in hues of blue and green which I'll probably surprise her with as a Christmas gift.

A T-Shirt I Spotted Today

Vegetarian

Ancient tribal slang for the
village idiot who can't
hunt, fish, or ride.

Nice, eh?

I love how people try to put down others to make themselves feel superior. Why must we continue to judge others because of their beliefs, what they eat or don't eat, how much or how little their weight is, what their abilities or disabilities are, and, of course, the color of their skin?

Aack! It puts a bad taste in my mouth spotting something that to some might seem so simple, but, to me, it says a whole lot.

Is this phallic enough for you?

I think Liz may have sent this one into Postsecret. You think?

Go meat!

(hee!)

If I ever had a fantasy about being serenaded.....

Every time I listen to the sweet sound of Michael Buble, it feels like absolutely nothing could be wrong in the world.

Seriously. Nothing. Plus, he has a cool last name.