S....O...S...plase someone help me....

OK, this whole computer, new email address and such is not helping matters. ATTENTION TO MY SECRET PAL AND HOSTESS (I emailed the hostess), I have a new email RachelHough@gmail.com and I need you to send the emails there. I STILL haven't received my info for my pal, whom I would LOVE to contact. HELP ME!!! I'm currently going to be online for a little while (until Friday).

And she's off....

This morning at 4:10 am Em left to go to Florida with her aunt, uncle, and cousins. She stayed with us last night so i had to wake her up at 3:30! YIKES! She was getting a little nervous last night about being away from us so much and then this morning she was ready to go! I'm so worried that she'll end up getting homesick, but she'll have to make it through. I went to the dr. again yesterday and on top of the foot thing, and the root canals I now have walking pneumonia. Oh well! They gave me some great meds yesterday so, so far today I'm feeling rather human. Knitting is on the backburner until Monday. Tonight I am packing up everything we own, including the computer and putting it in the living room. Nan and I will be spending the rest of our time at my aunt and uncle's housesitting. I'll be able to clean the house up and such after B comes to get Nan this weekend. I'm not going to stress about it because it doesn't do any good.

That being said, as of today I won't be on the computer anymore. I'm going to pack everything up and be done with it. Hopefully I'll be able to use MIL's computer when I get there on the 3rd. We shall see!

Knittying? What's that?

OK, so no knitting has occurred at this house in over 3 days. What in the hell is wrong with me? Well, I have been packing, loading, chasing kids, gone to a graduation and 3 different parties, had a root canal, wearing Das Boot on my gimp foot, and sniffing, coughing and hacking with a sinus and ear infection. Grrrr....could the universe please hear my plea and help me get back to NORMAL???? Nan, seems to think so. However, all it takes for this kid to calm down is a trip to a Runza to get a frozen Mountain Dew Code Red and she's ready to chill!

La has finally graduated. This whole process has been drug out long enough. I'm so proud of her and just think she's a doll!

B and some friends loaded the UH*ul on Saturday. He left this morning and has already unpacked our stuff in the storage unit. He starts his new job tomorrow.

ON an even more pleasant note, La's brother T has decided that him and girlfriend J will be getting married July 21st of next year. Nan is the flower girl, Em a junior bridesmaid, B an usher and me a bridesmaid????? YIKES! I have about 6 months to drop about 50 pounds so I'm on a mission...once I get Das Boot off of my foot and settled into my new house. Calgon, where the F*ck are you to take me away??

YIKES!

OK, survived the graduation parties just fine. My grandparents' visit went wonderfully (yes, Sharon that is my grandmother and she has just turned 70). We had a very quiet Mother's Day brunch with my aunt/uncle and cousins. This week I've had a root canal, 2 fillings, and a knee high boot put on for my plantar faciitis. I've been working on another pair of F&F socks for a friend of mine before I leave as well as working on some Mason Dixon projects for a wedding in a few weeks. This week has been insane at work and I'm sure only will get worse as the end approaches! May 26th is the last day with kids, WOO HOO! As part of my going away present a dear friend of mine (the one I'm knitting the socks for) is GIVING (as in free) me one of her AKC Jack Russell Terrier puppies, which is the dog the girls and I have always wanted. The girls don't know yet and they want a dog named, "Daisy Mae", but this little baby looks more like a "pepper" or something like that. B knows and is NOT happy about it, but I don't care! LOL. Knitting has taken a back burner and it's very possible that in the next few weeks, this blog could too. The moving van comes on Saturday. B will be leaving with everything but a mattress, the couch, a TV and the computer on Sunday morning. Then he'll come back on the 28th and take my computer away...NOOOOOO! I'll try hard to post some pics really soon!

Mothers and Friends..

Friday was Em's 1st grade Mother's Day Tea. I took the afternoon off so that I could attend. My grandmother was able to go with me so that made it extra special. We had a fabulous time, and there were quite a few precious tears shed. I'm just so lucky to have a sweetie for a daughter. While at the tea one of Em's friends asked if she could come over to her house for a playdate on Saturday. Em was excited and I took her over there to find out that it was a Suprise going away party for her (because of our move). I was so touched that they woudl do that for her. There is just a few of the girls that were there (14 total) who all signed an autograph book, had snacks, played and made friendship bracelets. Knitting has been put on the backburner this weekend. I'll get to it later this week.
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Thanks...

Thanks to you all who commented as well as my yahoo group girls, and those who emailed me. I have tons of ideas for chemo caps. I came across this one that I'm going to do first. I found it at Head Huggers.org It seems like a great cause that collects tons of patterns too in knit, crochet, and sewn chemo caps. I have a feeling that I'll be making quite a few of these, not just for R, but just to give away as well. Cancer has taken a hold of several female members of B's family at one time or another. I think some of my other projects might have to be on hold for a little while.

Ideas?

OK, I know what people need here in Nebraska because the climate is very typical of the 4 seasons. However, I'm not sure what to do about a friend that lives in Oklahoma. Recently my friend R has been diagnosed with breast cancer and now it is in her lymph nodes as well. She is the mother of a beautiful 14 y/o girl who I just adore as well. I got a call from my grandmother last night that said that the chemo is going poorly and the R finally allowed her daughter to shave her head since the hair was coming out so bad. I would love to find a lacey, lightweight chemo cap pattern or an idea of a shawl or wrap that she could use even this summer. Any ideas? I'm just not sure for a warm, humid climate what would be something I could make for her. She loves anything that is handmade, but I'm not sure how much time I have to make anything. Suggestions?

Home again....

OK, so I'm home today. I'm technically "Burning" off one of my personal days that I need to use before the end of the school year and technically Friday is the last day you can use one of said days. I "chose" today because our daycare is closed. My daycare provider likes taking days off and apparently 5 in the last 2 weeks is not enough so she had to take 2 more this week. I mean I realize that she is doing it to be with her youngest at her track meets (she'sin 11th grade), and she knows that since the girls only have 3 weeks left I'm not going to cause a big fuss....however, it does piss me off just a tad. I'm very thankful to have a day off though, we are down to 10 days before B gets the moving van and 90% of my stuff gets packed up and moved to Oklahoma. I have TONS of packing and moving and rearranging today and with Nan as my sidekick we should get quite a bit completed. My cousin La's graduation party is this weekend and my grandparents plus numerous relatives will be coming to town so this weeken is pretty much crap as far as all of that goes. Well Nan is bugging me to go clean up the garage. MAYBE I'll get the baby kimono done at some point today.

SP8...

I joined Secret Pal 8. I'm not exactly how sane I am for doing this with all the moving nonsense and such, but I'm rather excited about it all and I always like doing something to make other people happy! I'm such a stinkin' pleaser! LOL. I made my own button, but if you want it, just save it to your own computer. It's not great, but it's one of my favorite colors and well....it's all I've seen so far. As far as KAL's and all go, I've also joined the Mason Dixon Knit-a-long. Looks like a grand time.

Pictures....

OK, so I'm in a MUCH happier mood today. I've decided that I need to let go of all of my hostility and just enjoy the time I have left here in Nebraska rather than worrying about things I just can't control. Here are some pictures from yesterday's outing. Ann and Kay showing off the Log Cabin technique! You can see all the yummy yarns at Stringof Purls

While waiting for Ann and Kay to arrive I met some great people but I spied Elsbeth with her great sock bag. She made and designed it herself from odds and ends she had "Laying around". It's not just a purse but also a fanny pack to put your favorite sock and yarn in! It was fabulous! When I came home, and was irritated with B I spied a FEDEX bag from Atlanta! Lisa H sent me this fabulous socks for the exchange! I LOVE THEM and wore them for a full 24 hours! Thanks so much!

)(@$#(*&@#(*)& MOVING!

OK, so I had a grand time at String of Purls and seeing Anna and Kay! It was an intimate gathering and we had a fabulous time. I took some pictures...including of this great sock fanny pack/purse that Elsbeth (lady I met while waiting) made. I was so thrilled to come home and post the pics.....and then my camera battery went dead making uploading impossible. No biggie, just get the charger right? WRONG! Apparently while I was gone my kids went to my aunt's house and my husband decided to make up all "nonessentials" while also included giving away my 2 matching bookcases (albeit from Wally World) to some people who came by to look at the house. Not only did he give them the bookcases but also other furniture that he was ready to get rid of but I was not. nothing major, but still he was "cleaning". Amidst all the "cleaning" my charger to my camera has been packed....however where? is another question. Grrrrrrr...... I'm half tempted to walk out of the house and go get another one! LOL.

The story....

OK, I've been depressed, angry, frustrated and all those toher emotions that go along with stark raving pissed off. Apparently we are going to be "homeless" for about a month when we go to Oklahoma. Our house is not going to be ready any time soon and it's all due to a stupid crook that decides that he doesn't want me husband to come down and be his boss and the way to get back at us for ......doing absolutely NOTHING to him is to not build the cabinets for the people that are moving out of the house we are going to move into. I mean I can understand if materials aren't coming in or whatever but this guy is just doing it on purpose and said he was. FIL doesn't want to fire him yet because he needs him until B gets there. So we won't be able to move into our house until at least June 18th, possibly July1st. What are we going to do in the meantime? FIL and B came up with awesome idea about how the 4 of us (me, B and the girls) are going to live in a 400 sq ft travel trailer while we wait. I was not asked, I was not consulted, it was decided. I would LOVE to be reasonable, but I am probably one of the most claustrophobic people that you will ever meet and a month in a travel trailer in my ILs backyard with no TV, cable, internet, anything is more than I can handle. Alas, that is what I'm going to have to do. So I'll be making lots of trips to see my grandparents and outings for the girls and I. I'm slowly becoming more and more accepting of this idea it just added WAY too much stress to the moving situation....it'll be an adventure....right? It'll be ......fun?

I Love Amazon!!!

I ordered two books last week.

I was so happy to see that there was a deal if I bought them both together AND there would be FREE shipping! So of course I went ahead and bought my own Mother's Day present! LOL. I needed my own copy of MD for this Saturday's book signing. According to the tracking my package was in town on Monday.....however it had not yet been delivered. I was getting a bit antsy for them both I decided to knit myself a dishcloth....btw I LOVE this pattern and it's super easy and it's easy to remember. I came home so discouraged because I knew that they wouldn't be here...but they were! YAY!!!! Also I was thrilled to learn that my sock pal got her socks and LOVES them! So happy! I'm looking forward to Saturday so much and I'm even going by myself, but that's cool, I need some time away. Later, if I have time I'll have to relay the story of why I've been in a very very grumpy mood for the past few days and now that I've stopped crying incessantly for the 1st time in 48 hours I might be ready....might be!

Secret Pal 8 Questionnaire...

1. What is/are your favorite yarn/s to knit with? Rowan or any kind of great sock yarn. What fibers do you absolutely *not* like? Fun fur or anything flashy and hairy! LOL. 2. What do you use to store your needles/hooks in? I have a generic Hobby Lobby case for them, but it's way too full already! 3. How long have you been knitting? Would you consider your skill level to be beginner, intermediate or advanced? I've been knitting since September 2005 so I'm relatively new to it, but I would say I'm bordlerline advanced beginning or close to intermediate. 4. Do you have an Amazon or other online wish list? No not at the moment but hopefully I will soon. 5. What's your favorite scent? (for candles, bath products etc.) fresh smells like orange lemon or lavender 6. Do you have a sweet tooth? Favorite candy? CHOCOLATE!!!! 7. What other crafts or Do-It-Yourself things do you like to do? Crochet a little, and cross-stitch Do you spin? Nope, but I really want to learn. 8. What kind of music do you like? Anything lively like rap, hip hop and dance Can your computer/stereo play MP3s? YEP! (if your buddy wants to make you a CD) 9. What's your favorite color? Or--do you have a color family/season/palette you prefer?Orange, and light, pale pink. Any colors you just can't stand? Green and Burgundy. 10. What is your family situation? Me, husband, two daughters Em (6.5) and Nan (almost 3.5) Do you have any pets? Not yet, but hope to get a puppy before the summer is over. 11. Do you wear scarves, hats, mittens or ponchos? All of the above, although I'll be living in a warmer climate soon (Oklahoma) and I won't need the heavy stuff. 12. What is/are your favorite item/s to knit? Socks, and just gifts in general. I honestly have never made anything for myself yet. 13. What are you knitting right now? Moderne Log Cabin blanket from Mason Dixon book for my oldest daughter. 14. Do you like to receive handmade gifts? Yep! 15. Do you prefer straight or circular needles? Don't really have a preference Bamboo, aluminum, plastic? Bamboo of course. 16. Do you own a yarn winder and/or swift? Nope, but would love to. 17. How did you learn to knit? I was taught by a colleage to help reduce my stress and helped along by about 30, 11-14 y/o girls at my middle school's knitting club. 18. How old is your oldest UFO? About 3 months old. 19. What is your favorite holiday? THe 4th of July. 20. Is there anything that you collect? Music boxes in the shape of pianos and books. Lots of books. 21. Any books, yarns, needles or patterns out there you are dying to get your hands on? I'm up for any book with great patterns. What knitting magazine subscriptions do you have? None, I just pick up the ones with the patterns I like from the bookstore. 22. Are there any new techniques you'd like to learn? Cabeling, spinning 23. Are you a sock knitter?ABSOLUTELY What are your foot measurements? Women's size 10 shoe, about 10 inches in length from heel to toe. 24. When is your birthday? (mm/dd) September 25

I LUV Magknits!

I'm not sure if it's the great patterns, or the fact that they come out with monthly issues or both! Yes it is May 1st and the new MagKnits patterns are out! I'm thinking of tackling the Milanese Lack Sock eventually, however I just LOVE the Laura Jane Bears! Too Cute! I know some little kidlets that would enjoy this. I might just have to attempt these for the girls new rooms. It might be a nice housewarming present for the divas. Now with the socks finished for the exchange I feel able to do as a please. I'm still working on rectangle #3 of Em's afghan. It's coming along but the garter stitch has me BORED OUT OF MY MIND! I guess that's ok though since we are in the throws of moving. I've been working on trying to get everything that we aren't using packed up. The VIRUS is finally out of our house and thankfully things are going much better. B got it this weekend but hopefully all the Oust and Lysol will kill any lingering germs. I had a work day at work today and packed up my classroom (everything that is mine) and then decided to take off as soon as I could. I needed to get home to do some laundry (which I haven't done yet) and pack up the storage room. I am just so damn ready to move it isn't even funny. Apparently though we might be homeless for a little while as there has been a snag with the new house. Hopefully my FIL can get it all straightened out and soon. I'm so hyped up about this weekend and seeing Ann and Kay at String of Purls! I ordered my own copy of their book as well as the Harlot's new book as well. HOpefully they'll be her before Saturday!