Monday, September 22, 2008

Clean 8 Year Old Laundry
The chores are never done. I've got to fold and put away the kid. sigh.

Saturday, September 20, 2008

We are a Rare Breed

What makes knitters the eternal optimist glass half full type of person? This past week when many here in Ohio were (and still) without power, did we knitters get upset? No we did not, thankyavurymuch. I know that I among others thought, "Yea, verily, yea. Knitting time without annoying electronic distractions." Although distractions of a kid type were increased by whines of "I wanna play the Playstation" and "there's nothing to doooooo", "Mooom, make him stop bothering meeeee". My all time favorite is the high pitched girl scream of "Get out of my room!" followed by the slamming of the door.

Maybe we are the optimist (or the fool, I think sometimes the two are interchangeable), because we continue to knit on a sweater that after having laid it aside for a few days, pick it up, double check which size we are working on because we can't remember, realize that we are working on a size too small for us, but continue to knit it because our optimist (foolish) brain thinks it will some how be 'all right'. (How's that for a run on sentence?)



Hence, the non-end woven, armpit ungrafted, Sitcom Chic. Even though I knew that I should have done the bigger size, because there was no way this was going to close over my 'hey my eyes are up here', I kept knitting.

When I finally admitted it to my self I did what any foolish (let's call a spade a spade, shall we?) knitter would do. I cast on another sweater. It's going to be a green Malabrigo cardigan.



I know that this one will fit or my name isn't Edna Krabappel.
Crochet is Evil







Bad, Crochet, bad! Give the man back his dignity, Crochet.

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

I'm Stumped

Here in southwest Ohio we were hit with Ike. Go figure. Evidently Mother Nature likes to shake things up a bit. She likes to screw with us enough to bring us the remnants of Ike. By the time he got here, he was packing sustained winds of about 40 mph with gusts (recorded not 5 miles from here) of 84 mph. Not only was he an unwelcome guest, he hung around for 4 hours on Sunday afternoon ruining a perfectly lovely day with the kidlets (and I had cast on for the Malabrigo cardigan I've been ruminating about for eons), even the Husband had a rare weekend off, for a while...until Ike showed up and he was called into work.

Not to minimize what the poor souls in Texas are going through, but Ike sucks eggs. Over 1 million people in our area had their power knocked out, and about 1/2 that number are still without, and many aren't expected to get it back until the weekend. So those unfortunate few will be without for a week.

So this is what has me stumped, not so much stumped as worried about our society in general. When this first started, those of us with Husbands that are anal about such things (another reason I'm glad I'm married to him), pulled out their 'crisis kit' that contains flashlights, batteries, battery operated AM/FM/weather radios, glow sticks, water bottles,extra toilet paper, and angry eyes (you never know), and fired up the radio to see what the heck is going on. It was then that we heard it could be a week for some before power was restored.

So the next morning, I grabbed a few kids and the cooler and went in search of ice. We found a Walmart 15 miles away open (with no ice to be had). Not knowing how long we would be without power, I decided to grab some non-perishibles. Luckily when we built the house, I insisted on a gas stove (I hate electric stoves), so I was able to light the stove with the 10 (o.k., hunny, it's only 5) lighters the Husband had stashed in the kit. I already had some food in the larder that would last until 2010, but we had picked up a few extra kids (the nephews) along the way, so I grabbed more soup, ramen noodles, bread, etc.

Here is the incredible part: There is an operating McDonald's inside this particular Walmart, with a line 50 deep waiting to be fed! Knowing they could be without power for a week, these people (people with children I might add) chose to spend their cash on fast food rather than stock up on bread and peanut butter. I'm worried about our society.

What happened to our pioneer, can-do, self-reliant attitude that our forefathers had? This was not the only fast food place that had power that I saw huge lines. Every restaurant that was open was packed!

Have we become too soft? I'm sure this is one of the reasons terrorists hate us. We have an entitlement mentality. We would rather be waited on than do for ourselves (Big Macs v. peanut butter, handknit v. store-bought). I found this disturbing. Maybe I've just been married too long to Mr. Survival. Actually, we were a little disappointed when the power came back on. I kept telling everyone it was like camping, but with out the sleeping on the ground bit.

Sunday, September 07, 2008

I Have a Girl Crush







When I started this blog, I made a vow to myself to stay away from political discussions. This was strictly to be about knitting. Seeing as how I'm not the fastest knitter on the planet, and mentioning that I've joined the sleeves to the Sitcom Chic body is, let's be honest now, not the most exciting thing to read. Although it is very exciting to me. This means I may actually have a sweater I can wear the moment it comes off the needles. Unlike the wooly 'go to' sweater I finished in time for 80 F weather.





Any who, politics. I find myself very excited about this presidential election. Look what has happened in the past year. This is the first presidential election in which we have had a woman and an African-American with a real possibility of winning the office of President. For the first time there is a woman on the slate for VP that people can get really get worked up over. I just don't remember Geraldine Ferraro getting people talking the way Sarah Palin is. I seem to remember Ferraro being dismissed by the opposition as 'not a threat'.





But I believe that Sarah Palin has the Democrats worried. Worried that she just might be what the Republicans needed to win the election. Why else would they drag up any little thing they can about her? Good heavens, her husband had a DUI 22 years ago! She is clearly not suitable to be VP (this is where you read that last sentence with a sarcastic tone).





Shame on anyone that infers that she is not a good mother, because she had a Down Syndrome baby and went back to work 3 days later. Shame on you for stating that she shouldn't even be running for VP because of baby Trig or her pregnant daughter. This would be a non-issue if she were a man.





For those of you that feel she should be spending more time with Trig, Alaska's "First Dude" works part time, and as anyone with a large family knows, the older children are usually drafted to do their part. So I'd be willing to bet that Trig isn't missing out on attention.




Her pregnant teenage daughter should be off limits. It is a family issue and should remain a family issue. Even Sen. Obama has said so.




I don't necessarily agree with her position on abortion and same sex marriage, but I do admire the woman. Any woman that can co-helm a family of seven, run a state government, and field dress a moose is o.k. I can't even manage to get to the grocery before we run out of milk.

Saturday, September 06, 2008

Labor Day Weekend


Our local YMCA hosts a 'family camp' over the Memorial and Labor Day weekends. The extended family has made a habit to go either weekend. It's just like kid's camp with all the activities - horseback riding, archery, banana boat riding, crafts. My nether regions are no longer sore from the above activities, and no, I didn't get an arrow in the butt.


The food is just like kid's camp food, also. Gawd awful. They took the leftover chicken nuggets from dinner the night before (that the kidlets pronounced 'icky' - how do you screw up nuggets, fer cryinoutloud?) pour in sweet and sour sauce (the Husband said it was karo syrup) and throw some marichino cherries and pineapple chunks in the bowl. Voila! Chinese for lunch! The salad bar was a big hit that meal.


There was one difference from kid's camp though. I'll bet you wouldn't see a moon this size...