oh. Hai!

Hello Blog. I forgot you were here. :)

I've been super busy. And stuff.

My baby turns 11 months today! Holy crap! Where did the year go? Seriously?

I think I need more knitting hours in the day. I've fallen way behind in the SKA knitting. I didn't finish Feb, I won't finish March, but there may be hope for April. Maybe. I've got to finish this dog sweater I've got going. It's a reknit in a larger size, and it's going a little slower than I thought it would be. I'm hoping it will be done by the end of the month.

Other than never sleeping, working here and there, and tending a almost 1 year old. Things are the same here.

Stuff.

So. What's been going on here? Lots of stuff. I've been working everyday to cover a girl that's on vacation. She comes back this weekend, so I'll be back to my 2 days a week.

Friday night we had a scare, at 2:30 in the morning a dude tried to get into our house. Turns out he was peeing on the lawnmower mans' lawn when he got home from work, and when the LM yelled at him, and called the cops, the dude FOLLOWED him into his house. LM's son ran after him, and he ran to our house to try to get in and get away. He was on the deck trying to open the door, and the dogs were freaking out and my husband got up and said 'what the f*ck!?' and the dude said "let me in!" as he ran away. I called the cops, and they were here in 10 seconds, as they were already on the way because LM had already called them. They swept the neighboorhood, even looking under the tarp that covers the pool next door. Crazy! I was pretty freaked out, and didn't get back to sleep until after 4 am. Then the baby got up at 7. We ened up takeing a couple naps together that day. :)

At work they got a new system, and need all the data transfered into it, so I get to work from home via remote desktop while the baby sleeps. Works in everyone's favor.

Dude.

I broke my laptop. It fell off the couch and the little plug part broke off into the plug part on the computer. It still sort of works, but I need a new mac cord. One that doesn't jiggle lose.
ack!

So I borrow my hubby's when he is not looking.

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner! :)

So, since I walked away from the casino with some monies in my pocket, I decided to run the contest like this.

I counted up all the yarn, 1-16. (Each person's vote gets 2 entries into my contest) I used the Random Number Generator, and Number 16 popped up! So, that means Aitara, you'll be getting the lorna's laces Franklin's Panopticon.

Congrats! And thank you all again. :)

A Big THANK YOU

To everyone who voted in the Zuda contest. My Husband thanks you as well. :)
So. Yarn drawing tomorrow. Why tomorrow, you ask? (I know you do. You can't wait, the suspense is killing you.) Because tonight, my hubby and I are escaping! We're going to the Ever Exciting Mystic Lake Casino and Hotel. We're not gamblers. Nope. Not in the least. But the rest of the family is, and they're all heading down, and they got us a room. So, we got us a dog sitter and we're taking Johnathan and we're going for our First ever overnight trip! Woo! The last time Hubby and I went away was...um... 9 months ago. We stayed in the hospital. Yea. Not a vacation really. I'm so excited for the 1 hour car ride. It's free knitting time! And, if there is a ton of family around, they like to steal the baby. MORE free knitting time. :)

Speaking of Johnathan, the little monkey turned 9 months yesterday! He started crawling a week ago, and it's been go go GO! Ever since. He had his 9 month checkup yesterday. He's 30(!!) inches long (94%) and 17 lb 14 oz (11%) He's a string bean. :) I will leave you with a little picture of the ham.

FREE YARN!!!

Did I get your attention? :)

Okay. So you all remember how my hubby is in that little comic contest? Well, it's the final week and he's doing a push to get out the vote. So I thought I'd do my part. If you go, vote for him, make him your favorite, and give him all the stars you can, I will in turn, give you yarn. for free! I will let you pick out anything I have in my stash on ravelry. Don't forget my sale/trade page.

All I need is for you to do this, go make an account, do the vote and favorite thing. Friend my hubby. Then post here with your user name and your top 2 choices. On March 1st I will have a uninvolved party use a random number thinggy to pick the winner. And I will send you one of your two choices. If you've already voted, thank you! Now friend my hubby and put your info here. Hell, if you have a Significant Other, get them to vote, and post here too. It'll double your chances.

Oh! And if you could, pass the word along, that would be great! Heck, I'd even give you an extra entry. Go post it on your blog, and link it back to me. That would be great! The more word out I can get, the better. I'd love to see a bunch of knitters win it for my hubby. :)

-I'll give you an 'entry' on the stash page. Meaning if there are 4 skeins of lace weight or 5 skeins of wool, you'll get all of them. Not just one.
-I'm pretty sure some of this yarn will never make it to the sale page. So this is the only way you'll get a couple skeins. That and you sneaking into my house at night to get it.
-I do have a few skeins of sock yarn not in yet. Some vesper, and sKitches and some lovely German stuff. Pick 'surprise me' and I'll send you one of those. :)

Thank you all. And good luck!

So, last weekend Michael and I went out to eat at probably the fanciest restaurant in town. Now, I know that we live in the middle of the Midwest, but still. It was a fancy place. Hubs wore a black button down, and a suit coat and jeans. Very cute. Very hipster. I worn a fine gauge v neck sweater, a dark grey denim pencil skirt and black boots. And we were by far the A) youngest couple there and B) The almost best dressed. (And older gentleman was wearing a tie)
So. What can't people dress up any more? I mean, I saw middle aged women in fleece shirts. You know the kind you get at old navy for 5 bucks. I mean, we walked out of there with almost a 100 dollar bill. And I only had 1 glass of wine. And the food was AWESOME! But yet, I felt weird because I felt overdressed.
Is it because I live in the middle of the middle west? I've been to funerals where people wear jean cutoffs and the ratty old t-shirt you won from the MN state lotto. You know, stuff you'd garden in. I've talked with professors in college who have had to have classes to teach kids what is appropriate to wear to a job interview. That short skirt and hoochie mama shirt that shows off your boobies? Not appropriate.
What's happened to this world that people don't dress nice for 'special' occasions anymore? Am I the only one wishing that people still dressed for dinner?

World Class Favor

So. Ya'll know how my husband is awesome right? Well. He is. See, he's got this comic in a little contest over at Zuda Comics. (they're like, affiliated with DC comics of something) Anyway. He go in the contest, and it runs the month of February. Could you do me just a tiny little favor and head over there and vote for him? You could even make a profile and tell him how awesome he is. Make the comic your favorite! Give him 5 stars. He'll thank you for it! :)



That will take you right to it.

Thank you!

Where I don't really talk about knitting at all.

Today we are braving the cold to go out to eat with Hubby's family for his birthday. He turns the BIG 3-5 on Tuesday. I'm working on a project that will hopefully be finished sometime on Tuesday so he'll have a b-day present. :)

Also starting on Tuesday, I'll be doing some fill in temp work for a week at a place I worked a few summers back. I've been filling in here and there as of late. One of the girls is going on vacation for a week, so I get to work full time while she's gone. It'll be a change!

On the job front, I'm still looking. I think I'm going to try and get into a salon. That does extensions. Or, just get a booth rental and do extensions. Because that's the reason I went to beauty school in the first place, so I really should do something I enjoy, not just something that pays the bills. I'm really excited about this, and hope that I can get some clients and make money, but not work full time. I'm thinking ahead here... but thinking about offering some really sweet discounts to start, to build up the clients and to get some portfolio pictures. I don't have any pictures anymore. And no pictures of my extension or deadlock work. I don't know. I love crazy big hair, and I know Minneapolis/St Paul is a better venue for it. But I'm not driving, and if I just start out small and cheap with good quality, and share booth rental with someone, I think I just might be able to pull it off.

So yeah. That's what's going through my mind this weekend. I haven't been excited about work in forever, and this has got me excited.

I have 8 little baby hats ready to mail. Yea, I didn't make it to the post office on Tuesday. But, the point is, they're ready and will be mailed well before the 31st due date. Woot Woot!

I picked up yarn for a scarf for my hubby. It's not often that the hubby wants knitting, so when he asks, I knit. :) I also have to get some time to quick like start and finish his b-day present. I have no idea when I'll get that started, let alone done.

Johnathan is being fussybaby to the 10th tonight. Just when I get ready to sell him to the gypsies, he'll smile at me. The stinker. :) I'm thinking maybe teeth are bugging him? All I know is I hope I get to sleep tonight, I have to work for a few hours tomorrow, and don't want to fall asleep on the job.

MLK day is on Monday, and the Obamas called people to service. I've been thinking about that, and what I could do to help. There isn't a lot going on in St Cloud that I can be a part of. They have a blood drive and a book drop. But I wanted something more, and something that wouldn't require me to find a sitter. Plus, if it could involve knitting it would be all the better. Then it struck me. I've been wanting do some knitting for the Knit One Save One campaign. I've got one hat knitted, but I keep pushing the rest aside. How hard is it to knit a few baby hats? Considering I could actually save a baby's life? I should *only* be knitting baby hats. So, starting today, I've put my selfish projects aside, and until I go to bed on the 19th, I'm only knitting baby hats. Then when I get up on Tuesday, I'm heading straight to the post office and I will send them off. The mail date is Jan 31st, but I don't want to dink around and miss the date.

Dogs and Knitting.

Things have been quiet around here. My PT job ended, so I've been on the search for a new one. Had an interview on Tuesday, but I didn't get it. So the search continues. I've been working on my Jan SKA sock down socks. I'm to the leg now, but the picture was too cute not to share. Osiris thinks that any sunbeam is fair game. Even if it's on the table. Silly dog.

Johnathan is growing like a weed. If you ask him "how big is Johnathan" he'll lift his arms "So Big" It's too freaking cute. He'll sometimes 'give kisses' by popping his lips. His grandma has been on vacation for 2 weeks, and these are things he's developed while she's gone. It'll be fun to show off his new skills.

Other than that... quiet. Which is good. Just staying inside and trying to keep warm. Like the dog.

Random Thoughts regarding the old and the new.

So, 2009 huh? Wow.

2008 was a crazy arsed year. I think that about sums it up.
We went on a mini-vacation, got a new car, got fired, had a baby, had my dog almost eaten, got flooded, rebuilt, stressed way too much about politics, actually volunteered and donated money to our chosen side, learned how to make dogs throw up, got a new job...and..here we are. 2009. I'm surprised we made it through alive and intact. But I'm very glad we did. I've learned some valuable lessons this past year, which I thought I'd share with you.

-Dealing with insurance is going to take longer then you think. ALWAYS. Proof? I got in a car accident in Dec 2007. We finally got my new car in Feb 2008. Reason? Insurance snafu. Basement flooded in August. Still waiting for a final check for that. Dog bite in July. Waiting for a check. Now, granted, on the dog bite issue it did take me a while to scan in the bills. But you ever try to scan in 2,000 dollars of bills while a baby naps? yea, it takes a couple days. :)

-Having a baby is not as scary as everyone makes it out to be. Epidurals are AWESOME! And when you get a great doctor and nurse, you can actually be laughing to hard to push. And tell your family to visit later. Not in huge groups. It might seems fine when you're all doped up on pain meds. But dude, trust me, you need the sleep. It's the last you'll have for months. :) Also, when just starting with breastfeed, tell your family to not come at all. Everyone wants to hold the baby, and you can't feed the baby and it's a mess and you end up sobbing on the for to some one from the La Leache League. But, an upside? They make house calls!

-Trying to take care of an eaten dog and a 6 week old sucks. It's like trying to take care of twins. I think I showered and slept less after my dog got eaten then when I had my baby. Family will help with babies. Not always with eaten dogs.

-Did you know the 6 full grown birds can live in the vent? 6! And they only have bird parties at 2 am, while you're trying to sleep. Awesome! But they make these little cages you can put on the vent to prevent them from getting in. But make sure they're all OUT before you put it on, otherwise they're trapped in.

Well, that's all I can think of for now. Use the knowledge wisely. :) Here's hoping 2009 is calm and about eleven million times calmer then 2008.

Hello new year!

Goodbye hair!

My friend Tonia came for a visit today, and she chopped off all my hair. Hooray! I loves it.

Still Sick.

But I think we're on the upswing.

In other news, about a month ago we went to see Santa. There were no tears at all. Little smiles and he thought that the fuzz on Santa was awesome. At least that's what I think he thought. I just guessed from the look on his face.
At Crafts Direct they had a 'donate to the food shelf, get you pic taken with Santa' day. The lines were short, and it helped out a worthy cause, so we went. Glad we did and that we didn't have to brave the mall. :)

Winter in MN

So we had our first real storm of the year yesterday and my baby has his first cold. We were up last night a 3 am with a fever of 101.1. Called nurse line, and don't have to worry until it hits 102. So I took off his jammies, left him in his diaper and slept on the couch with him on my chest, propped upright so he could breath. Got a little sleep I think . Today he's still streaming boogers, but the fever is gone. And I'm staying home from work. Poor little dude cries every time we come close with a tissue. And the booger sucker? Torture.

PSA

So. I'm still here. Really I am. I can't believe it's already December. Holy carp when did that happen?

So. Since it's December, you know what that means. Cold. And gifts. Right. It's cold, and it's time to give those you love gifts. What about our four legged friends? They get cold too! Well, if you're an Italian greyhound in MN you do. Anyway, my point is this. If you know anyone that has a cold little dog, why not head over to the K9 Knitters website and pick a sweater up? Not only are they hand knit at a really good price, 100% of the money raised goes to a nice pet charity. They have sizes all the way up to moose sized.

A dog you know gets a sweater, and the money goes to a pet charity. It's like..win win win!

Just so you know, I've knit a couple sweaters for this group. And I plan to knit a whole bunch more. :)

I'm a working mama!

Which is... well.. weird. It's just weird and I'll leave it at that.

Work is good. Everyone is super nice and it's pretty fun and I got covered with glitter yesterday. So when I got home, my baby was covered in glitter too. Poor guy.

Friday Hubby had baby duty, and I guess Johnathan threw an unholy fit. Wouldn't eat, just fussed. Michael said that during the episode, he would swear that Johnathan cried "Mamaaaaaa!" My poor guys.

Erm... that's it really. Nothing much else going on. I knit my husband a hat. But it's not been photographed yet so you'll just have to picture a hat here in the open space.

Also, I am behind on the blog stalking. So, here it is....

I love puppies because they are warm and share the covers with me and I like to knit them sweaters. :)

Hopefully? Yes?

I think I have a job. Well, I'm pretty sure I was offered a job today. They did ask when I could start. :) Crafts Direct. It's only seasonal, but if I kick ass and they really really love me, it might be permanent. So, I must kick ass and they must like me. :) Just waiting to hear back from the girl in charge of hiring to set up a training schedule and what not.

Now. Just have to figure out the baby feeding thing......

Bah!

Well. Crap.

That's pretty much it. I have to find a job. Have to. Hubby just got his hours cut at work. So I have to either force my baby to take a bottle (he stopped taking them out of the blue back at the start of September) so I can work a full day, or try and find a job that will let me work a full day with an hour lunch so I can run feed the boy, or work in 4 hours shifts part time somewhere. Ugh.

Stress. Level. Rising.