Quietish

Hey, how’s it going? I have a house guest, and we’re hanging with the kids. I don’t really have much to say.

Oh yeah, yesterday I drove Justin’s (manual-transmission, scary!) car home from the airport parking lot. And I didn’t die. That was pretty cool.

And I have a construction pic!

They’re digging big holes and putting in plumbing. Cian firmly believes that all of the equipment out there are called dump trucks.

Well we’re off to find something to occupy us for the day :) See ya!

This time by Gretchen.
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At some point today, each of the above links should have a Sunday Self-Portrait on them. Enjoy.

My self-portrait really isn’t a self portrait. I guess you could say I’m a cheater. But then I figure if I take the image, crop, resize, and write a little about it, I can probably go ahead and call it a self-portrait. Today’s picture originates from the photographic prodigy that is my son, Cian.

Justin bought Cian a disposable camera with Spongebob Squarepants on the front of it yesterday and Cian went to town. I will spare you the shots of the inside of Jamie’s nostrils, Justin’s fly, and my dusty baseboards.

Alrighty. I am off to kill time on the couch while I gripe to no one about being lonely and patiently await the arrival of my dear replacement-mom, who has volunteered to come keep me company while Justin is gone.

Pay attention, you all, because my Friday Snapshot is accompanied by something that is rarely seen from me lately: a plug for something scrapbooking related. Gasps will be heard from all corners of the world today.

This is the light switch in my “office.” It is so decorated as part of an assignment for a class I’m taking at Big Picture Scrapbooking. It is called U R2 Cre8ive!, taught by Stacy Julian. Of course if you are of the online scrapbooking collective community persuasion, you will have heard the buzz by now. Cool website, cool classes. I’m enjoying the quirky assignments Stacy has us doing in order to promote more creativity in daily life. And to promote fun! So yeah, check that out.

I figure while I am talking about online classes, I should also give an update on my Art Journaling adventures. We are in week 4 and while I still need to work on that particular prompt, I have done the first three:
Week 1
Week 2
Week 3

So, there it is. I have lots of cleaning and nesting to do this weekend, as Justin will be gone all next week. Sigh.

Although Justin generally does join me in my craftiness throughout the week, I don’t usually point it out. This week however, Justin has finished his current stitchie project. I have enjoyed watching him work each section of stitching, and of course appreciate having a stitching buddy. Good job, honey!

Dragon Dreams Fairy Tale Sampler

Upon his finish we pulled out our stack of charts so he could pick a new project, and he finally decided on Castle Sampler, by Teresa Wentzler. He hesitated to choose that one because it is one of my favorites, but really it just lightens my load. The more things he stitches, the fewer things I feel that I must stitch. So. Yay!

We were going to stitch last night, but the kids were difficult to get to sleep. He got this far:

and I didn’t even pull mine out. Sad. It has been this way all week.

Last week I got a new skein of yarn from Two Waters and couldn’t resist casting on a new sock. Now, when it comes to socks I generally am monogamous. So next to my computer this little ribbed cuff sits:

encouraging me to finish work on my focus sock so I can come back to it.

Justin’s socks.

They’re getting there. As with the stitching, I have not had much quality knitting time lately. Perhaps I’ll get some progress on it during the Sit N Stitch tonight.

So, I gave Justin the final say on the naming of his socks. After all *he* is the Disney geek. I’m just a spectator. Congratulations to Shells, who suggested his choice. He will be calling his socks Uncle Waldo, in honor of the drunken goose in the movie Aristocats. With the zigzaggy Jaywalker pattern, I have to agree that it is quite appropriate.

Thanks for popping by for some internet wealth. Here we are at a day of the week where I generally start to feel a little like I’m running out of time. I see that it is Wednesday, notice that the book I have been intending to read is bookmarked only about 1/2 an inch in, and get a little twitchy. I really would like to finish at least my current read before a new week starts.

With Justin going out of town next week as well I also feel the need to hurry and make sure I get a lot of major cleaning done and get everything in place so when it is just the kids and me, I don’t have to do anything but give them attention.

Alrighty. Links:

Librivox. “Acoustical liberation of books in the public domain” I bookmarked this for the obvious reasons. I believe it may come in quite handy in the near future.

Podsafe Music Network. “The best in new music and music podcasts from the creators of PodShow.com.” This and the previous link are ones I found through my various podcast listenings.

Coffeegeek and the Coffeegeek podcast. It may be awhile before I have the time or money to reach the level of coffee-geekdom I would like to, but in the meantime I soak up as much information as I can.

Custom Corset Pattern Generator. Imagine Sesame Street characters singing about one thing being different than the others. This is a random link, but quite cool. I found it while browsing some crafting/diy forums.

There it is. To the grindstone with me!

I was tagged by Wendy, so here are 5 things:

1. I cannot stand to have my inner arms and/or armpits touched. Of course, this is Cian’s favorite place to pet or pinch me.
2. I used to think I was very allergic to wool, but now it turns out I find many of the synthetics to be scratchier.
3. I can crack my neck and my right ankle loudly and at will.
4. I still haven’t taken down my Christmas tree.
5. Apparently I share about myself so much, I can hardly think of anything new to say.

I’m a rule breaker, so I will refrain from tagging others. ;)

I skipped construction updating yesterday. Since I know it is eagerly awaited, here it is today!

The other day, Justin and the kids took a walk in the golf course. Imagine the “Mission Impossible” theme playing. They walked as far as they could on that side of the driveway before looking both ways and dashing across to the south side of the construction site. There is a little sign by the road there that is turned at just the right angle to make it impossible to view from our car as we go past. They snapped the picture and continued their little walk around the golf course.

Apparently, the shops/office-spaces/whatever-they-may-be will be pretty cute. It is hard to imagine they can fit all that in that wee former-field, but I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt.

I didn’t take a picture this morning, but since last week they have ripped out more of the trees on the east side of the lot, flattened the earth further, and dumped mounds of what looks like gravel. They also seem to have a bunch of plumbing hanging out and a few brand new fire hydrants. Guess they’ll be paving soon.

I think it’s a little odd to see all those trees in the perimeter after watching them tear out what must have been at least 20 full grown trees. Especially since the pics I’ve been taking have been from about the star in this image:

It has been a while since we’ve talked so I thought I’d catch you up.

We have had a pretty busy year but then that has been the case for the last few years, huh? The kids enjoyed Christmas and, of course, got way too many toys.

James visited us over New Year’s. You could have warned me that being so far from your brother sucks this bad. He and the kids hit it off pretty well though and, just wow. I’m not sure I can describe how it is to finally introduce your kids to their Uncle.

Speaking of James: He, his buddies, and Jeff got the house cleaned out alright. Apparently the new tenant was not happy with the condition of the carpet even after James shampooed it three times, but that doesn’t surprise me. I always thought you should just rip it up.

I made off with some of your photos and jewelry on my trip up there last year. Of course you know a lot of it isn’t my style, but I think I will wear some of your earrings today anyway.

Jamie is taking ballet now. Yes, I can hear your amused snort from here. Go ahead, you just laugh. I know you would be overwhelmed by her cuteness, despite all the pink.

Cian has become quite fond of cooking. His pot-stirring arm is mighty. I’ll let you know if he manages to top your spaghetti sauce.

Oh, guess what! I’ve been knitting, and quite a lot. Mostly socks so far. I’ve been really itching to try a lace shawl, and probably will sometime soon. My problem though is that I’m not really the shawl-wearing type. I’ve found about a dozen shawls I’d love to make for you, though. Red, of course. You know, lately I find I often gravitate towards red. I mean I’ve always liked it, but not more than say, green. I figure you have your hand in my sudden affinity for the hue.

Yes Mom, I’m still writing some, however half-assedly it is. I’m sure it will get better when I have more time to focus. Yesterday I wrote out the timeline of your life. There are too many holes. Too much I don’t know. I think that is one of the things that bugs me the most.

Happy Birthday. I miss you.
Rosemary

Self-Portrait Sunday

Players:
Amy
Cindy
JD (No link, sorry, you’ll have to take my word for it.)
Julie
Katie
Kelly
Lawanda
Roberta
Shell H.

On here and don’t want to be? Lemme know in the comments. Not on here and want to be? Lemme know in the comments, then plan on posting your pics sometime on Sundays. The above listed have til it is officially Monday to post their pic and if they haven’t at that point, the rest of you are welcome to send them lots of angry letters self-esteem boosting fan mail about how much you want to see their smiling faces.

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So I’ll fess up. Getting up early on the weekends is turning out to be pretty hard for me. I’ve always suspected my body could tell when there is another adult in the vicinity that is capable of looking after the kids. It is as if it comes awake just enough to peek around, see that everyone is safe, and retreat back into unconsciousness.

The plan for this morning was originally for me to get up fairly early, go to the workout room, and maybe get a pic of me on the equipment with my cute iPod. Then it was going to be me with my coffee on the balcony. However, it is apparently still too dim outside to get a decent pic. So you get a somewhat blurry pic of my feet… and Callie. Shivering on the balcony. You’d better believe that there is hot coffee above the frame.