strange little mama

moved!

Hi all, I have moved my blog to WordPress, so to redd me, you need to load up http://www.strangelittlemama.com and re-subscribe. Then delete the old feed! Ok, go!!

Is blogger behaving yet? I posted this socky diatr...

Is blogger behaving yet? I posted this socky diatribe yesterday and I know it never showed up in Bloglines and I couldn't access anyone's blogspot blogs yesterday. I can't wait to get rid of this imbedded blogger business. I like my site's look, but it's been a pain in the ass getting it to this point and there are still unresolved issues.

We went to a SuperBowl party at T's boss's house today. I held out until the second half before I pulled out my knitting. It just seemed like it would be weird of me before that point. Needless to say, I didn't get a ton done.

I am working eight days in a row. I've put in three of the eight so far. I'm doing it so T can go to Fargo and see his grandma for a few days, which also means I'll be on my own with two kids for five days. Anyone want to come over for drinks after bedtime?

I've been thinking hard on sockapalooza. My giftee...

I've been thinking hard on sockapalooza. My giftee seems to be a very experienced knitter, socks included. This will be my second pair of socks, and while I most certainly want them to be impressive, I don't want to give myself undue stress either. I'm so tempted to knit "Friday Harbor" as an homage to my origins (Puget Sound) and perhaps in a yarn like Lost Trail, Sierra or Indian Corn all of which remind me of my current landscape. I think they would be mighty beautiful socks. However, I don't know if all that charting just might kill me. I guess I'll get through Pirates first and see how well I manage that chart.

I'll be joining sweet Lolly's Project Spectrum, too. It sounds fun and with my new house coming up soon, I need to flex my craft muscles anyway.

edited to add a bunch o' stuff since stooooooopid blogger is all messed up!

I'm thinking this beaded sock pattern could be very cool! Hmmmm. Must think about this.

I was unable to knit tonight since I left my bag at work and this freaking FIVE-year-old I work with thought it would be hilarious to hide it. I went back there to try to get it and it was nowhere to be found. I had a feeling she was responsible since she's obviously such a beacon of maturity, so I called her & left a message. She finally called me back about 1/2 hour ago, so there went an entire afternoon and evening of knitting time. Can you tell I'm a little cranky about this?

It's a stellar afternoon here for two reasons! 1)...

It's a stellar afternoon here for two reasons!

1) We have stucco! For some reason, this makes my house feel real.

2) Julia sent me my very own "strange little mama"! Whoever snapped up that extra hank totally scored! It's gorgeous!

Now, if I can get some headway on my second Jaywalker this evening (havng ripped it out twice now), I will have had an almost-perfect day!

I thought I'd share a few pictures here, since I'v...

I thought I'd share a few pictures here, since I've merged my journal & blog and many of you haven't seen much of my life.
Firstly, for those who don't know, we moved to Albuquerque from Seattle about five months ago. This is a huge change for us. I had wanted to move for years and never thought I could convince my husband. But here we are! And I love this place so much, it's ridiculous. It's very windy and rather cloudy today and there are tumbleweeds flying around like crazy and I LOVE them!
Ok, so we are having a house built. Here are some pictures of its progress, but those are a little outdated. The drywall is now up & I believe they are about to start the stucco.

And here are some pictures of my kiddos on a hike with T one saturday afternoon. You can see why I am in love with this place, can't you?
Oh, it's best to click on "view these pictures as a slideshow"-- you see larger pictures that way.

I'm off to pick up Silas & we are going to swing by the house to see if they've started the stucco!

Guess who got distracted at S&B and had to frog he...

Guess who got distracted at S&B and had to frog her second jaywalker?
Know this: Poor lighting + beer + jokes about spinning vernix = fucked-up socks.

Ah well, we had fun. A couple new people came who seemed very cool and the good ol' regulars held up their end of keeping it fun, too.

Our house will be done in two months. My brain is bursting with cool crafty decor ideas and it is making me crazy not to be able to actually execute them!

Both kids had their annual check-up today with their new doctor. She was cool. They are both smack-dab average height and weight and are ridiculously healthy with perfect vision and hearing. Now when they go to the dentist next week, I'm sure it will be a different story. They seem to have inherited my weak enamel and deeply creviced molars. Poor kids.

This is random. And possibly quite boring. Whoopsie.

cool, huh? go have some fun.

Um, yeah. I am way. too. cool. for memes. Sorry du...

Um, yeah. I am way. too. cool. for memes. Sorry dudes.

Kidding!!!!
I think memes are fun.
Jenny tagged me with this one:

Instructions: Remove the blog in the top spot from the following list and bump everyone up one place. Then add your blog to the bottom slot.

KimberliNY
Unraveling
Knitorious
Woman Obsessed
strange little mama

Now, who to tag?? Hmmm.... I'm going with bloggers who are new to me (or have new blogs)!
Snowball in Hell, Chef Messy, Christiane, Knitting Iris, and The Silent K.

What were you doing 10 years ago?
Getting ready for my wedding and freaking out about being on unemployment.

What were you doing 1 year ago?
Plotting how to convince my husband to move to Albuquerque!

What were you doing 1 hour ago?
Pumping gas.

List five creative things you want to achieve this year:
1. Re-learn to sew.
2. The soopah-seekrit project with scout.
3. Needle-felting.
4. Decorating my house on a v. limited budget with style & edge.
5. Knit. more. socks.

List five snacks you enjoy:
1. Chips & salsa
2. Tamari almonds
3. Baby carrots & hummus
4. Edamame
5. Beer (what do you mean, that doesn't count??!!)

List five things you would do if money were no object:
1. Build a totally custom house with a huge gourmet kitchen and an insane master bath.
2. Travel the world so these spoiled rotten kids could see how life really is. Kidding! Sort of. I really would travel the world, with them some of the time, with just T some of the time, and with sisters/girlfriends a good hunk of the time.
3. Walk away from work and never look back.
4. Hire a full-time housekeeper.
5. Two words: shoes and yarn.

List five bad habits:
1. I interrupt.
2. I swear. A lot.
3. I allow my face to be overly expressive when annoyed.
4. I tut.
5. I forget to wash my face at night. Or, more accurately, I'm too lazy.

List five things you like doing:
1. Knitting, helllooooo.
2. Running.
3. Shopping. Sometimes.
4. Going out for dinner/ drinks.
5. Hanging out at home watching movies.

List five favorite gadgets:
1. I-pod
2. Laptop
3. Ball-winder
4. Vegetable/ rice steamer
5. KitchenAid. Oh wait, I don't actually have that.

Name one thing you like about yourself:

I am intensely loyal.

.....................

I wanted to thank you all for your kind thoughts for my friends and Todd's grandma. I feel surrounded by this. My boss's father is also very close to dying and I am juggling the schedule around like mad to try to cover her and she is constantly in tears and it just feels like death and illness are everywhere.

If you read this, I'm asking you to think some goo...

If you read this, I'm asking you to think some good thoughts for two of my online friends. One lost her mother today from metastatic breast cancer. It was diagnosed very recently and it all happened so quickly, and having been through this with my own mom, I just ache for her.
Another friend just found out that her mother has had a biopsy done, after ten years of being free of breast cancer. She is shocked, of course.

Please do whatever you to to send good energy to these friends.

Todd's grandma is dying, too. She has mesothelioma and had become very ill very suddenly. She is very much the family matriarch and it will be hard to see her go. She is almost 90 and has, until now, remained very vibrant. He will be flying out to see her in the next couple weeks. She will have been the last of our grandparents and my kids will no longer have a great-grandparent. Her name is Evalyn, so please, again do what you do to put positive energy out there that her remaining days will be peaceful and as painless as possible.