Starting To Breathe

I have a job!

That's one of the reasons I've been a bit AWOL lately.

It's a smallish job and the hours are a bit unhappy but the job is kinda cool and fun!

I didn't want to say anything yet, as I was in training and I wanted to make sure I at least made it out of training before I said, "I have a job!" and then if I didn't make it through training, I'd be all, "Um. Never mind. le sigh."

There's a company called Alpine Access (alpineaccess.com) and they are sort of a warehouse of customer service reps for Fortune 500 companies. These are customer service reps who work from their own homes. This is a legitimate company that I found while doing job searches. They were interviewed by Newsweek magazine and also featured on msn.com's home page in an article about best at-home jobs.

I was originally interviewed for Qwest. The interviewer has you open a bunch of web pages and makes sure you can find things on these pages and navigate the web. I failed. I couldn't find the local weather on cnn.com. I was putting all kinds of variations of local weather into the search engine and it kept giving me articles (damn that bubble boy's parents!!) so I timed out. After I timed out, she, very kindly and gently, showed me that if I had just scrolled halfway down cnn.com's home page, there's a local news and weather button!! I'm so lame.

She said not to worry, that my test scores were really high (when you first apply, there's a bit of a test to see if you can navigate things online and retain info and stuff) and that she was going to put me back in the pool of candidates and she was sure that another company would want to interview me. The very next day, I got another interview offer for a gaming company. That interview went much better (found the weather right away this time!) and I was hired!

We had about 2 1/2 weeks of training and now my class is in the "nesting phase". We are taking calls but we are rather closely supervised and after this 2 week nesting phase, we are in regular production like everyone else!

My first day went really well. I mean REALLY well! I had lovely customers who were patient and kind and I got stuck here and there but not too bad. Yesterday, my second day, was brutal! I was stuck all day and about 90% of my calls needed to be escalated for one reason or another. But everyone was still fairly nice and even though my call times are atrocious (I don't think I've had a single person that I wasn't on the line with for at least 20 minutes!), I'm working on that and since it's only been 2 days, I'm not that bunged up about it. Also, this company (has an X or two in it but not in any kind of porn way) is not as concerned with call times, they are more concerned with happy customers so that takes some of the pressure off as well.

Yesterday, it was discovered (not just by me) that when a call is escalated, it goes to Manila and if you get a man on the escalation side, they are very unpleasant and even downright mean! Our team leader says that the gaming company is in talks with Alpine to bring Tier 2 back to the states as well (they already brought Tier 1 back - that's the tier I'm on) and so people in T2 are rather on edge as they may be losing their jobs soon. Another female co-worker typed in the chat what I was thinking was that it was also a cultural gap. I mean, they aren't snippy with the guys on T1 and the females on T2 are usually quite kind. Just sayin...

Anyway, I work from 2:30p - 11:00p MST so I see the kids on my 2 10 minute breaks and my 1 30 minute lunch break. I have Thursdays and Sundays off. After 30 days, I can ask for time off but I think I'll keep this schedule as much as I can and see if I can switch a day here or there if I need to for kids' events or a night out with Dave or something.

It's not particularly high pay but it's not peanuts either and it's definitely more then I was making in the past 18 months which is zilch (except for my Stitch Saver sales!). I should at least make the rent money each month! And that means that both Dave and I can breathe a bit easier now. Takes some of the stress off.

Alpine, so far, is an excellent company!! It has opportunities for advancement and all the people I've worked with (particularly our instructor during training) have been kind, impossibly patient, knowledgeable and helpful. Oh, and when I'm taking calls, one of my team leaders.....

is a knitter.

Who could ask for anything more?!

Hello, thank you for calling, my name is Ruth, how can I help you today?, Ruth!

Guests

(Shamelessly stolen from kmkat)

Ten people I'd like to have at my Thanksgiving table...

Family and friends are a given so I'll skip them although I would like to see

1. My Grandma Hofer - she passed in 1997 and I miss her every day
2. William Shatner - my love for that man has been well documented on this blog
3. Seth McFarlane - the creator of Family Guy - he missed a flight that would've put him on the plane that hit Tower 2 on 9/11 and he's a straight guy that loves musicals
4. "Mick" Mennucci - my dance teacher from high school
5. Stephen King and Maya Angelou - my favorite authors
6. Joshilyn Jackson, Matt Diniman and Dave King - more authors but authors of the best books I've read in the past few years (Gods in Alabama, The Shivered Sky and The Ha-ha respectively)
7. Salvador Dali and Michael Parkes - my favorite artists
8. Oscar Wilde and Tennesse Williams - my favorite playwrights
9. The Marx Brothers - my favorite comedians
10. Brian Urlacher and Tom Osborne (along with his lovely wife Nancy) - the first is a defensive linebacker for the Chicago Bears and the second is the greatest Husker football coach of all time. These guys are for Dave to be able to watch football with on Thanksgiving. (OK, Urlacher is also eye candy for me!)

Looking forward to the Turkey Thorazine shuffle, Ruth!

About Last Night

Our date was so much fun!

We were laughing at the drop-off with the kids. You should have seen all the beaming parents who knew they were about to have a night without children. One woman walked to her car after kissing her kid goodbye and actually jumped for joy before getting into the car.

Dave and I had dinner out then we went to see a movie. The movie didn't start for another hour. We thought it started every half hour but we were wrong. Who cares! We had no time limit! We bought our tickets then walked to a nearby bar and had a drink. Hung out and killed time for a half hour then walked back to the theater and went to our movie.

We saw 2012. It was OK. Amazing CGI disaster scenes! It's phenomenal what they can do with computer graphics. Definitely wouldn't have wanted the kids to see this movie. There's no specific blood but there's lots of falling bodies and destruction. John Cusak was good as usual (and lovely to look at!) but the movie was predictable and a bit cheesy. (When the Vatican splits, it does so perfectly splitting god and Adam? How precise.)

The movie had this character actor that I quite like. I have a real thing for character actors! This guy's costumers always seem to put him in bow ties for some reason. I guess they do kind of suit him. In this movie, they've got him speaking with an atrocious English accent. At least I think it was supposed to be English - it was hard to tell.

There was a preview for a movie with Leonardo di Caprio called Shutter Island. It's set in the 50's and these two detectives have to go to an island where there's an asylum for the criminally insane to find a murderess who has escaped. Thirty seconds into the preview I think I already know what's going on. Ben Kingsley is the warden and during the preview he makes a comment to the effect of, "I've spent too much time building what we have here to let it be ruined." That sealed it for me.... it's a movie about the inmates taking over the asylum. Set in the 50's makes it the perfect setup. Sketchy phones, no faxes, no Internet. A sequestered island - how would strangers from the outside know who was supposed to be running the place and who wasn't? It still looks really good and I look forward to seeing it on video someday and hoping I'm wrong.

Need to get rid of the kids more often, Ruth!

Date Night

I'm going on a date tonight with my husband! I'm really pretty excited about it!

The school has a giant sleepover night and it's tonight. They have the kids together up until a certain point then the boys sleep in the gym and the girls sleep in the library. It was $60 for both our kids to be able to attend so we moved some groceries budget around and they are set to have a great night of fun.

Which means Dave and I have a night to ourselves. Splee! We're talking dinner, maybe a movie, maybe some poker, maybe all three!

I'm so excited, I'm going to leave all knitting at home! (Unless we go play poker somewhere, because then I'll be out before he is as usual and when I'm out of the game... I knit.)

We used to have a date every Saturday afternoon when we lived in Tucson. The boys would go hang out with Dave's parents and we'd go have lunch and hang out with each other. I miss that!

We stopped doing it here. Dave's parents are 80 and 81 so it's not as easy for them to watch the boys. They say it's easier as there's no lifting or diaper changing to deal with. We've kind of taken them at their word lately since we've been going to play poker on Sat. afternoons sometimes. But we feel guilty about it.

But tonight - no guilt! I can't wait to drop the boys off. The little dears.

I'm gonna hold his hand, Ruth!

Snowy Days and Mushy Brains

Davis went to the second session of Creative Writing and he's hooked! For those just joining in, he went to the first session and sat there the entire hour not doing anything. Dave told him he could quit and I said he had to go to at least 2 more sessions (there's 7 total).

I think the problem with the first session is that he didn't know what he was supposed to do. I'm a bit disappointed with the teacher. When I talked to her (with Davis) after the first session, she said she didn't realize he wasn't writing. I mean, I realize it's a free library class but there's only about 8 kids in the class and I don't understand how she didn't notice he wasn't doing anything.

Once we got him home and Dave and I explained what creative writing was and got him to kick some ideas around, he got it. Last Monday's session, he did 4 pages in the "What If..." book they gave him! It was only a sentence or two per page but it's a start. And he seemed to really enjoy it this time!

It snowed today.

That means Dave had to work and that means no new knitting group meetup for me. But, on the other hand, no one else felt like braving the snow so we'll try again next week!

Here's a pic of the last snow we had...

That snowstorm (the week before Halloween) was a 3 day stunner! Today was pretty average and although the snow began last night, it had stopped by noon today.

Our minivan has new tires (and therefore, better snow traction) so Dave took it to go get his plow truck and go scrape some streets.

Me and the kids were stuck at home all day. Bummer.

Yea, right! They played videos games until I kicked them outside (where they played for almost two hours!). They came back in soaked and happy, I had them go take a warm bath, I made them lunch, then they spent the afternoon planted in front of the TV/video games/computer. Their brains are nice and mushy!

As for me, I watched TV all day while I worked on a special order of Stitch Savers and knit on some holiday gifts. So my brain's nice and mushy as well!

I watched a bunch of stuff I DVR'd. SVU, Community, National Treasure - Book of Secrets, and the first two episodes of the updated miniseries V. So, yeah, your basic completely mindless entertainment. National Treasure was so-so, nothing special. V is predictable and a bit cheesy but I've never been one to pass on a show because it's cheesy!

I'm going to read myself to sleep tonight and try to prop my squishy brain back up where it belongs!

Mushy, mushy, Ruth!

Aces High

At the bank yesterday, the cute teller boy asked if I had any big plans for this weekend and I broke it down:

Friday: Pizza night with the inlaws/grandparents.

Saturday: Drop the kids off with the grandparents so the husband and I can go play a free Poker tournament at the Celtic Pub. Then afterwards, pick up the kids and be home by 6p so we can watch the Husker game.

Sunday: Meet some of the girls at the Tattered Cover in Highlands Ranch for some knitting. (We're meeting at 10:30a and you're all invited!) Go back to Parker a third time to have dinner with the inlaws!

The Poker tournament isn't an every week thing (it depends solely whether or not it coincides with a Husker game), but it's damn fun! It's Texas Hold 'em and today I lasted longer then I ever had! I was rollin'! Playing pretty well and getting great cards. It's so much fun! Then I paid big to see a coupla hands and then about 20 minutes later, I was out. But! I was in for almost two hours! I never last that long! We usually meet our friends Donna and Daren there for the tournament and today was no exception. The last two people in the tournament today were Dave and Daren! Daren won.

I'm not a very good player because I know nothing of pot odds or reading people. Generally, I just play the cards in my hand. If you know anything about the game, that's a crappy way to play. Today I had so many chips, I actually got to bully people! That's not as bad as it sounds - it's like bluffing but more fun.

Donna and I bring our knitting so when we're out we can still be entertained. We always seem to raise eyebrows and get questions and comments. It's pretty funny! Today I had a guy ask me to make him a scarf and a woman ask me to make little sweaters for her Yorkies. I told them both that they'd have to pay me but I could certainly do it! Also, this one guy who is tall, lean, usually drinking quite a lot and pretty funny asked me to teach him to knit! He stood there and asked me to slow down so he could watch. I'm working some Malabrigo into a brioche stitch scarf and after watching me work one row, he started telling me what I was doing! It was amazing! He said, "Over, in through the right, next two in through the left." After one row!! Crazy, right?!

Still spreading the obsession, Ruth!

My Kid's A Star!

I totally forgot to tell you...

On January 4th (This Sunday) on ABC, my younger boy (D2) will be in the background of a clip on America's Funniest Home Videos! It's a preschool graduation where a lovely little special-needs boy named Aidan steals the show.

I've tried to prepare D2, letting him know we may or may not be able to see him, considering camera angles and possible editing. Aidan's family contacted me about a month ago about signing wavers so D2's face could be seen on national television. I readily signed off and I really hope they win!

Even in the background, he's a Star to me, Ruth!

ETA: kmkat, you're right! Here's some pic's of him.

Of Santas and Superheroes

We had a great xmas - how 'bout you? Whadja get?

The boys gave me a big bag of the dried blueberries from Costco that I love so much. And also my Neutrogena Sesame Oil (I use it after I shower).

Dave gave me a pair of really thick fleecy lounge pants - soooo warm! Best husband ever! Not so much because of the pants (which are perfect) but because he remembers that a year ago, I was trying to find some thick flannel pants! (Apparently those thick flannel pants don't exist anymore since fleece came on the scene.)

We had a really low key holiday. We didn't even get a tree this year. We don't have anyplace to put it anymore and with the cat...
Trev was upset about the tree - he was convinced that without a tree you didn't get presents. Once he understood there would still be presents, he was fine with it. Davis didn't even seem to notice.

Had xmas eve at the MIL/FIL's place, xmas morning with the four of us, then breakfast at IHOP with the inlaws and drove in to Denver to have xmas dinner with the BIL/SIL. Great family times!

This year, Trev was asking a lot of questions about Santa. Dave says, "We should just tell him. We shouldn't lie to our kids." I scoffed, "Dave, please. We lie to those boys every day - 'That show isn't on right now.' 'You can be anything you want when you grow up!'" We didn't tell him, but we suspect he knows.

It was really cute because when Trevor would ask us about Santa in front of Davis, Davis would get all serious and earnest and matter-of-fact:

Trev: Mom, Dad, is Santa real?

Me: Well, honey, what do you think?

Davis: Trevor. You know Santa. He's the guy who brings the presents, remember?

Very cute! Also, when we were getting in the van to go to the inlaws for xmas eve, the kids next door were hollering for their dad to hurry up and come see! "There's Rudolph!!!" Up in the night, there was a red light racing across the sky. The older kid next door said, "That's just a plane." That kid's dad said, "It's going way too fast for a plane." (It was, too - wonder what it really was.) Trev asked why Rudolph was here so early and my wonderful, quick thinking husband said, "They're just taking a test run."

(OK, before blogger wouldn't let me have spaces btw lines, now it's putting them there when I don't want them - any suggestions??)

As an aside, Trevor entered a "Make Your Own Superhero" Contest. Meet Mr. Roar....







In case you can't read the boy's handwriting. They were given questions about their superhero...

Superhero's name: Mr. Roar

Superpowers: A huge roar and eats bad guys

Origin Story: A person was digging for dinosaur bones, when he found some. They were toxic. Then he passed out. When he woke up, he was a T-Rex.

Hobbies: yarn-maker (love that kid!)

Little known facts: He plays Football (Daddy loves him, too!)

That kid's little creative brain blows me away!

Hoping you got great swag, Ruth!

Reunion

I went to my 20 year high school reunion on Oct. 11. I graduated from Clovis High School in Clovis, CA - Class of '88 - Go Cougars! It's a small town (or at least it was small) outside Fresno. Redneck California. It's all orchards, vineyards and cows. We used to joke that Clovis and Fresno were 2 or 3 hours from anywhere you really wanted to be (the beach, mountains, San Francisco, LA, etc).

Anyway, I didn't plan on going. I never cared for high school and while I had lots of friends and even with a graduating class of over 600, everyone pretty much knew everyone else - still didn't care much about going back. But my best friend since we were 13, Nikie, was very persuasive. We used to see each other every 3 years or so (she lives in Georgia) and I was in her wedding and she was in mine, but we hadn't seen each other since my wedding in 2000.

So we convinced another friend of ours (Chelsea) to go and we all met up on Saturday night for the shindig. My husband bet me how many lines I could sneak in from Gross Pointe Blank - one of our favorite movies (it's a hilarious movie about an assassin who decides to go to his high school reunion). I got in about 6. My first opportunity was when we checked in and they handed us our stick-on name tags with our Senior picture on it. I looked at Chelsea and said, "Oh, it's a fresh kind of hell" which is the line Cusack says when they gave him his sticky label with high school pic on it. It was actually pretty helpful though since, out of the roughly 40 people who showed up, only 4 looked exactly the same as they did 20 years ago. And one of them was a cheat as he was one of the 6 black kids in our entire graduating class.

Another reason I didn't want to go was they chose a black and white dressing up theme for the party. Really?? We couldn't just have an equally lame luau theme and at least be comfortable??

I bought my dress a couple of days before for $6 (gotta love the clearance rack at Kohl's) and my shoes, make-up, nylons - pretty much everything I had on me had to be purchased since I don't dress up.

Here's a pic of Nikie, me and Chelsea...


Chelsea, I have to point out, is wearing a dress that she wore to a Winter Formal when we were in high school. Still fits her! (Her dad had kept it all these years.)

And yes, that is my finished Juliet! I'll give more details, better pics, and the story of that project in another post.

So it doesn't take a real keen eye to see that I had changed clothes during the evening. After dinner, when the dancing started, I went up to my room and changed to be comfortable. (BTW, the 3 story hotel didn't have any elevators. Haven't there been elevators since, like, 1810? Fresno.)

There was drinking. Lots of it. I kept telling Chelsea, "I don't know how you're facing this sober!"


Dancing


Group shot. The guy in the front row holding up his drink is the only teacher that showed up. It was kind of funny, because as I remember, this guy got in trouble for partying with the students 20 years ago! Apparently, he's still at it.


I don't know if I'm doing that old lady shrink thing already or what but all the guys seemed about 6" taller then they were when we graduated. It was weird.


The whole thing was surreal. I went by myself which was a bummer. I really wanted my husband and kids to be there (there was a reunion family picnic on Sunday). If for no other reason then to be able to use them as a distraction. As in, "Look, shiny children! Pay no attention to the fat girl behind the curtain, look at the shiny children and gorgeous husband!" The thought of facing my crazy family and former classmates by myself was giving me nightmares for awhile before I went.

But in reality, I had the best time!! (I'm sure the alcohol helped). Really, though. I had so much fun and everyone was really cool and laughing and having a great time as well. We were all filling in the gaps for each other with all the "Remember when" and "ohmigod, I'd totally forgotten that!" One of the women who showed up with her husband lives in Colorado now, one town over from me!

Sunday morning, I had breakfast with Nikie and her family before they headed off to Disneyland. Nikie had gone to the ten year reunion and she said it was so different because people still had attitudes and cliques and something to prove but at the 20 year, everyone was over it and was just there to have a great time.

Also, Nikie's daughters were breaking my heart. At 6 and 3 they are so beautiful and adorable, it just made me miss my babies so much!

On Sunday, I went to the picnic and hung out with Stacy (a friend from elementary school) and Chelsea. It was really laid back and other then one girl's insistence that we play softball, it was really mellow. No one wanted to play ball and I think everyone was just chillin' and recovering from the previous evening's revelry.

After the picnic, I stopped to see an old friend who had refused to go to any of the reunion festivities. In fact, her exact words were, "Awww, you're cute! Not going." I sat in her kitchen with her and her wife and we talked and laughed our asses off for almost 3 hours! It was so great to see her. I was teasing her that she is one of those people who's dog looks just like their owner. She's got this big, burly Akita. Looks really intimidating but is actually a teddy bear. Veronica is the same way. She looks like a short, burly, intimidating Samoan man but is actually about one of the sweetest, kindest people I know. I wish I brought my camera to take a pic with her but I forgot it at my mom's house.

On Monday, I went to my old high school to see some teachers. My friend Tiffany, works as the registrar at the school now and she told me not to check in first - she said if I checked in, they probably wouldn't let me go see anyone. She told me to call her in the morning and she'd tell me when/where to go to see the 2 teachers I wanted to see. I went to Mr. Menendian's class to say hi but he was out for the day. Then I went to see my dance teacher, Mick. She was such a huge influence in my life. She was a strong, stable woman and that was something I never had much of growing up. She was always so patient and kind and made us feel like we were worth a million bucks.

I went to the locker room to see her and the moment I laid eyes on her, I started tearing up. I swear, I had such a hard time pulling it together to tell her how much she meant to me. I kept starting to tear up and blubber like an idiot! I don't know where it was coming from but I got so emotional. What the hell! She was really cool about it and we got to talk for about 15 minutes before she had to go start her class. She's still the best! Here's a pic of us under the Dance Yourself Silly sign she still has over the door after all these years.


I walked across campus to the amphitheater. Sat on the edge of the stage like we always did at lunch way back when. Swinging my legs and wondering why such a land-locked town has seagulls flying everywhere around the high school (just like 20 years ago). Some woman who works at the schools walks up to me and standing not a foot from me and looking dead into my face snaps, "What are you doing?? Don't you have class to go to?" I looked at her and smiled, "um, 20 years ago." After she figured out I'm an adult, she was all smiles and sweet, "Oh, just visiting then? Well, have fun!" Some things never change.

I walked to the admin building to see Tiffany and take my pic under the mangy, stuffed cougar that's still on the wall there. Do you see his missing toe (it's the little white spot on his hind foot)? I wonder who snapped off that souvenir. People always get all bent about that cougar being there but the thing's been dead for over 40 years. It wouldn't be alive now even if it hadn't been killed and stuffed by some hunter so long ago. And we all know that back then, these things were more acceptable. Plus, as I've mentioned, Clovis isn't exactly forward thinking. So it's still there.



Clovis now has a population of over 94,000 people. That blows me away. It was like 30,000 when I left in 1991. When I was in 8th grade, there was this huge open field in one corner of the main crossroads in Clovis. Someone put up a sign that said, "Future Home of the Sierra Vista Mall. When I left 8 years later, that sign and empty field were still the same. The only thing they'd built was the movie theater in the field behind it. Now that mall is actually there. Shocker!

It's so changed and yet still so the same. The highway 101 is still a dead end. Usually when you see a sign that says, "Highway ends, 100 feet", it means that the highway turns into some random road. Not so in Fresno. In Fresno, it means, "No, Bitch, the highway ENDS. You best find the next exit." Otherwise, you'll be barrelling through wooden barricades and hitting a mountain of dirt. Ahhh, Fresno. How I've missed thee. (not really)

On Monday, I also went to see my high school sweetheart, Drew. We started dating when I was around 16 and were together for nearly 3 years. The first two years were great, that last one was mutual torture and drama. When I moved out of the house when I was 17, we lived together for about a year. We've always been friends and keep in touch by phone every year or so.

His family owns a big auto machine shop in Clovis and they all run it together. His dad (whose retired but still shows up everyday, because, really, what else is he gonna do?) is still there, Drew runs it now, and his oldest sister still runs the admin side of it. His little brother (who was about 6 years old when I left town) is all grown up now and is working there as well. (They have 2 other sisters, one is a teacher in Las Vegas and his littlest sibling, Sally Marie, is getting her Master's at Fresno State - she was about 3 years old when I left. I'm old.) His mom got paralyzed (waist down) in a car accident about 10 years ago (99 car pile-up in the fog on one of California's highways). She sometimes comes to the shop still, too but wasn't there when I visited. It was great to see them! I was a little nervous about seeing him in my current shape (or lack thereof) but I needn't have been. He got fat, too! We were laughing about our weight and the old times and the current times. We crack each other up, still!

His girlfriend showed up and they are having some drama. I was at the other end of the counter and I guess she told him, "Why don't you go start talking to her, then!" and left. He told her I was with the other guy standing at the counter (who is another old friend of ours, but apparently one she didn't know very well). I told him he should've said, "That? Man, she was 20 years ago!" Like I said, some things never change. Drew's not happy unless he's with a woman whose making him miserable. That includes me - 20 years ago, I was a total basket case! Thank Dog for therapy!

I also got to meet some of my "imaginary friends" (as my husband calls the bloggers). I had dinner with Quail Hill Knits (but forgot my camera again). She has the best stories! Like the fact that, recently, the police recovered a motorcycle that was stolen from her husband... 20 years ago!! Awesome.

And I got to have breakfast with and a ride to the airport from ChickenKnits. She's so funny and cool! I wished we live closer together!


I'd get into the drama that is my family but even I'm bored with it at this point and this post is overly long enough as it stands.

More fun then I'd ever imagined, Ruth!

More Weekend Fun

I've been having the best weekends lately!

Saturday before last, Donna and I went to work on the World Record Sock at A Knitted Peace in Littleton. That shop is one of my favorites - great staff, great selection, lovely store.

Here's Donna, seated at the sock...


Here's me working on it....


And the both of us...


And a couple of little kids that came later to work on it with there moms....

There was a little tag below where I was working on the sock and it said, "[child's name] - 6 years old worked here - be careful!" I wonder if she'll be the youngest. I wonder who will be the oldest?

I didn't get a good shot of Sam working on it but she has a bunch of pic's of it as well.

That's not even the full length of the cuff, people! And that table is probably about a 6 footer. It's a traveling sock in the truest sense - it's being shipped all over the world and when it's finished, it'll be about 14' from cuff to heel. I'd love to see how they turn that heel! It'll be at Knitted Peace until the end of August. If you go and work on it, you get to put your name in the book those names will eventually end up in the Guiness Book of World Records! I tried to make it all the way around the sock but only made it halfway. Sucker's big!

Then, August 2, a bunch of us went to Stitch and Pitch to watch a Rockies game.

String was there with a table full of free yarn. Sale bin stuff, but who's gonna turn down free yarn? And then, when you got to your seat, there was another free ball of something in your cup holder from Knit Knack (also sale bin stuff but still free!). Candace, one of our group, got the bright idea to go to the empty seats behind us and get more yarn. Pretty soon we were all doing it - it was like an Easter egg hunt!

Towards the end of the game, the leftover stuff from Knit Knack was being passed around in bags and you could pick what you wanted. Then at the last inning, they came with what was left in those bags and started chucking it into the crowds!

After the game, our group of 12 went to an Indian restaurant for a great meal. Then the light rail home and bed. I got home around 1am!

This guy was holding a big blue ball of yarn for his wife. Obviously really happy about it, while he watched the game. Sweet guy!

Then last weekend, D and I took the kids to Breckenridge! We got a 2 night stay at a nice hotel for $50 because we agreed to go see a timeshare. Totally almost bought a timeshare! But we didn't. Maybe later. Maybe not. Who knows? We have a lot of big news around here that I'm kind of keeping to myself until it's all worked out one way or the other (I'm not pregnant, if that's what you're thinking). So things are kind of up in the air financially right now.

But our Breckenridge weekend was stellar!

There was rain and lots of it. Sometimes, slushy rain. And it snowed up at the top of the mountain. We couldn't have been happier! After ten years of soul sucking heat and not much else, in Tucson, we love all this different, crazy weather. All weekend long, it'd rain for a couple of hours, then the sun would peak out for a couple of hours. It was lovely!

We drove up to Keystone and the boys spent quite a long time throwing rocks and sticks in the river.

Then the boys played in the play area, which strangely, had a jail and stocks...

When I asked Trevor why he was in jail, he said he stole a purse. He's weird.

On Sunday, we went to Frisco (which has a nice little yarn shop - I think it's called What's Needlin' U). The boys played on the statues...

and they were having there Founder's Day shenanigans with a free ice cream social. They have all these tiny cabins in the town park that you can walk through. They are original buildings from the frontier days that had all been moved to the park as a sort of museum. Very cool!

On our way home, I took a bunch of pic's of the bark beetle damage. Apparently, there's this beetle that kills trees. See the brown trees? Dead.

Lots of trees....

Whole mountains of dead trees. See that mountain on the left? See that little green triangle in the middle? That's all that's left of live trees on that whole mountain. All the reddish brown coloring - dead trees.

One of the bigger problems the beetles are causing besides mass murder of trees is the fire factor. Look at all the brown on that mountain. It's just one spark, one lightning strike away from total devastation.

A newspaper we saw in Breck. told about a man who is using beetle-dead trees exclusively in his log cabin building business. Great idea! But I doubt he'll be able to keep up. There's no way anyone could keep up. If they went in and just started cutting all the dead trees out, the beetles would just jump to fresh ones without even being seen.

Years ago, I read that the cure for syphilis - part of what's in the shot they give people - is primarily made up of herring sperm. Fish sperm. How did anyone come up with that being the cure for syphilis??

My connection to bark beetle's is this. I wonder what's out there that no one's thought of that would take care of them but not hurt other things. I hear cayenne pepper poured on an ant hill will take care of the whole colony. Wonder if that would work on bark beetles. But then you have the problem of also killing all the ants in the area and they aren't hurting anything. See what I mean?

Some yay-hoo called into a radio station, once, when they were discussing the beetle problem and suggested they bring in a certain bird that only eats bark beetles. Won't work. A) what bird only eats one bug? B)What happens to the environment when you bring in a natural enemy of one thing and when that one thing is gone, you're stuck with all these birds that don't really belong there either?

Wishing I could save trees, Ruth!

Weekend O' Fun

What a great weekend I had!

About a month ago, I met a woman at the Sit 'n Knit at Purls of Wisdom and she lives in my neighborhood. (For those counting, that's two women besides me in my neighborhood that have the "obsession"!) Her name is Donna and she and her husband Darren moved here in April from Miami.

A couple of weeks ago, they had a get-together at their house for Darren's birthday. He's English and there was another English couple they knew from Miami visiting and a bunch of work friends and Jen (owner of Purls). We let the kids have a "sleepover" at the grandparents house and we went to the party. Excellent fun! We drank to our heart's content, ate good food, enjoyed excellent company and felt like grown-ups for a change instead of just parents all the time.

Now, I don't know if I've mentioned this but my husband is almost perfect. The only thing that keeps him from being so perfect I'd have to keep him under lock and key so people wouldn't try to steal him for cloning purposes is that he's not social and he doesn't dance. Not social. There's an understatement. He hates people. He hates bars and crowds and is sort of shy and doesn't like meeting new people.

He had such a great time at the party that he wanted to know more about Donna and Darren. Long story short, on this past Saturday, we dropped our kids at the grandparents and the four of us adults went to Elitch Gardens! (Dave and I LOVE rollercoasters. Part of our honeymoon, we went park hopping in California.) The four of us had such a great time! We got there right when the park opened and within an hour and a half we hit all the major rides. We went on the MindEraser one more time and then off to lunch at P. F. Chang's. (Dave and Darren both really like Chang's.)


It's kind of funny because in the middle of our time at the park, we went on this tiny log ride. I mean tiny. It goes up a hill, turns right and goes level for about 6 feet, turns right again, goes downhill into the water and under a bridge and then your done. But. That downhill slams an enormous wave onto the bridge so even if you duck the wave when you hit, the water comes sluicing off the bridge as you go under and you are SOAKED to the bone. No avoiding it. So even an hour later, when we showed up at the restaurant, we were all still wet!

While we were eating lunch, we were talking about other restaurants and Dave suggested next time we go and hit this burger joint that got voted best in Colorado. That's right, my husband the antisocial, was suggesting another activity! I'm so proud of him!

As an aside, when we told Donna and Darren about our honeymoon on the rollercoasters, Donna mentioned they haven't gone on a honeymoon yet. I told Dave that they were still newlyweds (married October last year). Dave said, "Really? That's cool! Ruth and I are Shouldn't'aweds." He's funny! Soooooo very funny.

When we got home, there was a note on our door from the neighbor up the street. T walks to school every day with the 2 kids in that house (Boy A and Girl A). Their mom invited T and D2 to go to Chuck E. Cheese that night for Girl A's birthday. We went and picked up the kids. I got 2 presents and wrapped them and when it was time, I drove them to the Chuck place and hung out for a couple of hours.

Actually, I bought 4 presents because on Sunday, we had another birthday party to go to. Dave had an online poker tournament he won a spot in so I took the boys on my own. It was a bit tricky trying to watch both boys run around 4 different pools at this community pool place but I didn't want them to miss it. The boy whose party we went to used to be in T's class and they were good friends. The boy's family had moved and this party was likely the last time they'd ever see each other.

2 hours at the pool and then 2 hours at the boy's new house and then home, change clothes, go to grandparents for dinner. After dinner, home for baths and bedtime. Sweet, sweet bedti....zzzzz

Happy but exhausted, Ruth!

I Feel Like The Cheese

My SIL says I'm The Sandwich. She'd read an article where people who take care of the young in their family and also take care of the old are called The Sandwich.

My FIL got to go home from the hospital last Thursday. For those just checking in, he went to the hospital last Monday for a routine heart check. His EKG was very unhappy with him and they admitted him. His breathing for the past few weeks was very whistley, wheezy, and labored. When they first admitted him, the dr.'s were saying that due to his age (80), his quadruple bypass surgery 15 years ago, and his current health/breathing issues, he was a really bad candidate for surgery. He agreed and remembering how hard the recovery time was on him 15 years ago, he was really adamant that he didn't want surgery anyway.

After 4 days of hospital care and med's to clear the fluids in his lungs, his health/breathing made a 180. He still didn't want the surgery but one cardiologist that talked to him could "sell water to a drowning man" (as my FIL said). So he decided to do the surgery.

It's kind of funny because when the new cardiologist was talking to him about the surgery and explaining that now that his lungs were fine and he was a good candidate for the surgery - she was really trying to talk him into it.

She dangled the wife in front of him, "She'll miss you."
FIL: I'm 80, she's 79, we're good.
Dr. (dangles grandchildren) : What about them? Don't you want to see them grow up?
FIL: They're young, they'll be fine.
Dr. snatches his car keys away from him and he looks at me and says: Looks like I'm having surgery!

(Of course the dangling and key-snatching are strictly metaphorical.)

We had the family meeting Friday night and my BIL/SIL came, too. We all went out to eat and then to FIL/MIL's place to talk. The FIL had already made up his mind to get the surgery but the only thing making him waver was the up to 6 month recovery time. My BIL put it best when he said, "That 6 months is going to pass either way. It's what your life will be like beyond that 6 months that matters." If he doesn't have the surgery, he'll be on an oxygen tank, can't lift anything, can't drive anywhere. If he has it, he'll be better then he is now and will stay that way for many years to come. His chances of dying on the table are less then 20%.

So Monday this week, I drove them to the cardiologist for his appt. and then to the hospital again for his angiogram. I've been driving back and forth to that hospital at least twice a day all last week and part of this week. I didn't think it was bothering me, even though my MIL keeps pointing out how much stress I'm under with doing my job, taking care of the kids, and taking care of the grandparents. However, on Tues. I ran some errands, including taking the FIL to Home Depot (I had to go anyway). When I came home at 1p, I hopped out of the van, got Davis out and trooped into the house. Dave stopped at home 3:30p and when he came in the house, he said, "Why is the van on?" I said the van wasn't on and walked out to see. sigh. 2 and 1/2 hours of idling gas, wasted. WTF??

Anyway! Thanks for all your well wishes, they seemed to've worked! FIL's angiogram (they put a catheter in his leg and go up to his heart to film stuff) came out with really great news! They already knew he has Aortic Stenosis which means his aorta isn't opening all the way and would need to be replaced. They initially thought part of the problem might be that his quadruple bypasses, after 15 years might be wearing out. They are fine! There's one other vein near the heart that may need a bypass but other then that, the surgery won't be nearly as extensive as they initially expected. Splee!

I feel more like the ham, Ruth!

Fly Bye

My FIL is in the hospital. He went in for a routine heart check on Tuesday and the EKG wasn't happy with him so they've admitted him. I'll know more on Friday but it's not looking good. He had quadruple bypass surgery 15 years ago and those bypasses are wearing out. He' 80 so he's not willing to have invasive surgery of any kind (valve replacements, shunts, etc.). The doctor is agreeing with him on that. Because of his age, weight, and previous surgery, he may not survive another surgery. They may try angioplasty but the doctor says that's a very short term solution to a very long-term problem.

It's so strange because he's in top spirits. He's his usual self and is cracking up the staff, enjoying the food services, the bed and generally having a great time!

I'll give more details on Monday when I know more.

For now - Sophanne has won the contest!

The Spring Fling was a rousing success again this year. We raised nearly $10,000 in 3 hours! The Silent Auction raised $6600 (with the Yarn Bouquet going for $100) and the rest of the event raised over $3000. We have a popcorn/cotton candy/pizza/soda/bake sale and then outside, we sell tickets for carnival games, a fake jail to put your friends in, a jumpy castle and a giant inflatable slide. We have this event and a Fall Festival and between these two events (and a couple smaller things we do during the year), the kids never have to go door-to-door selling crap no one wants (I'm looking at you $8 popsicle mold and $10 wrapping paper).

I've been woefully slacking on the blog front lately. I have no excuse other then stress. I've had many bloggable and exciting things happening here. I've not had a free weekend for over a month now! I even have a couple of FO's. I've even got pictures of most of these things! Stress. Killin' me. I need a massage!

Send good vibes to the FIL.

More soon, Ruth!

Day Trip

Dave thought it would be fun to go up to Loveland for lunch. We actually went to Loveland to look at this Sports Bar/Grill for sale - we went to check it out and eat lunch there. It's kind of like Dave's version of window shopping. He's ready to sell the FedEx route we bought, the one that brought us to Colorado. I'm in a bit of a huff because I thought when we moved it was to be our last move until the kids graduated high school. Both D and I were moved around quite a bit as kids and we don't want that for our boys. We're still talking that over.

I know he wouldn't actually buy a restaurant/bar because as much as it seems like a decent idea/venture, we both know that no matter what the owner says, the owner most likely lives at the business. We'd like to find something where we can see D every now and then. He's never had a 40 hour/week job. It's always 12 or more hours a day and days that start ass-early in the morning. Which is really odd, since D's no more a morning person then I am!

OK, so our trip. Loveland is, well, lovely! It's such a beautiful town and not very big, I want to say 30K people? Maybe? And it has a few gorgeous lakes. It also has one of the main Interweave Press offices (you know, Interweave Knits magazine?). We took the kids with us and had lunch at the Bar/Grill. It's a nice enough place, not very big, though. The service stank but I just think that was our waitress, not policy or anything. The food was good but nothing special. Except the wings. We had an order of chicken wings and they were the most tender,fallin' off the bone wings I've ever had! With a really unique BBQ sauce that made me want the recipe.

The bonus of making my Stitch Savers is that I have an excuse to find the yarn shop in every town we go to! I went to the two shops in Vegas last time we vacationed there and on this trip to Loveland I went to Woolen Treasures . The shop was so well stocked, warm and friendly. D and the boys stayed in the van while I went in to ply my wares. Sneaky yarn purchases ensued. I scored two skeins of Shibui Knits sock yarn (one in chocolate brown and one in robin's egg blue) to make the Transitions gloves and since it was still around my birthday, I got 'em at 15% off! Splee!

What a lovely little shop! Well, not that little, really. It's in a home made over in to a Yarn Shop. The owner was there and she ordered some of my stuff, so if you're in Loveland, you can get Stitch Savers there instead of paying shipping to my Etsy store.

Dave had heard there was a Big Red Store up in Estes Park (that's a store that specializes in Nebraska Husker gear) so we decided to go on up and check it out. Wow! For those who've been up there for the Wool Festival or actually live there, you are so lucky! It's such a gorgeous drive and another beautiful Colorado mountain town. The drive was so picturesque that I put my knitting down for the rest of the drive and just enjoyed the scenery. Estes Park is SO touristy but still retains a quiet, inviting feel.

Oh, side not. Sad note. On the way between the two towns, we were stalled on the freeway because of a wreck. It was the strangest thing - it must've just happened. There were no less then eight cars stopped (6 on our side of the freeway and more on the other side). We didn't see any wreckage, though. There was an ambulance in the right-hand lane next to us and it didn't have its lights on or anything. When we got closer we saw a man on the ground, fairly surrounded by people and one other man was preforming CPR on him. The ambulance pulled over to the on-ramp across from the median where the crowd was (I think some of the people standing around actually flagged it down, so it stopped).

We read in the newspaper on Sunday that the man didn't make it. He lost control of his motorcycle which propelled him into the cable barrier between the two sides of the freeway and he had no helmet. The newspaper, strangely, made a point of writing about the fact that the man's motorcycle was homemade and he'd made it back in 1999. I don't know why that was relevant - I have some friends who're into bikes and they "handmake" their rides from what they call "basket cases", motorcycles that are nothing but parts and pieces sold in "baskets". Anyway, D and I would talk about the man from time to time throughout the whole day - it really seemed to effect us, seeing that guy doing CPR and all those people standing there, helpless to do anything but watch. According to the paper, the man was pronounced dead at the scene. So sad.

On to Estes...
We went to one Husker store and it was tiny! We looked around and then left. Dave took the boys down to the river (which runs through the whole town) and I asked if there was anything in the store he liked. He said the sweatshirt he was looking at but $50 was too much for it. I told him I was going to go back in there and see if I could look in the phone book to see if there was another yarn store in Estes - you know, to see if they wanted some Stitch Savers! I went back in and btw the phone book and the man behind the counter, realized that the yarn store was across the street in another shopping center! I told D I was going over there. I hoofed up a 90 degree hill (OK, it just felt like it) and in the middle of this shopping center was the place I was looking for. The Stitchin' Den - another great shop! Not as big as the one in Loveland but a great selection nonetheless! I didn't buy anything at this one because I knew I was going to try to sneak back and get that sweatshirt for D without his noticing.

I did it, too! (Do not underestimate the sneakiness of the 5elementknitr!) I got it for him for an anniversary present (8 years on the 22nd!). When I went back into the store, this women walked in about a step ahead of me. She was my age or older (I'm 38) and she had stuffed her not small body into this white micro mini and tank top. I mean, that skirt was so short, I could practically see all her business when she put a foot on the step going into the store. I didn't realize the look of horror I had on my face until I saw the guy behind me looking at me - you know, the guy that was her companion. Ugh - I really need to work on my Poker face!

We spent the rest of the day wandering the town. We bought the boys ice creams (Estes has no less then 7 ice cream shops in one block. SEVEN! And another Husker store, too! We took them in to the fossil store where they got some cool rocks. I bought a baseball cap (been looking for one for awhile). Then we took them up to the area by the yarn shop. They have a small pond where you can feed some trout. These puppies were enormous! I guess it's all that fish food people throw to them.

Then we got some gas and while we were pumping the gas, we saw 2 big female Elk crossing the street! It was so cool! The kids loved it! (sorry for all the !!! but we were pretty stoked about it) After that, we ate at Poppy's restaurant. Again with the slooooooowwww service! We sat with our menus and our hungry little guys for almost 15 minutes before they even took our drink order! At least the food was good - love sweet potato fries, find them so rarely.

It reminded me of the times with D before kids. We used to take these impromptu day trips all the time. I love driving around with no real plan or agenda like that. Especially since D never wants to me drive (fine by me - I hate freeway driving) and extra-especially since I learned to knit!

The kids had a great time, we had a great time and we found new places to hang out and spend time together instead of in front of the TV/video games/poker tournaments where technically we're in the house together but I wouldn't even pretend to call it "family time".

We left at 10 am and didn't get home until 10p. D was in the fossil store with the boys (I was outside watching their ice creams melt) when someone passed and commented to their friend, "Ohmigod, it's 5p already!" Wow - where'd the day go?? Who cares - such a great day!

Can't wait to go back, Ruth!

Spoiled

THE CONTEST

THE PRIZES

Runs June 1 - September 15

Spread the word!

__________________________________________________

I'm terribly spoiled! At least I was when we lived in Tucson. I have great inlaws. I'm writing this because there seemed to be some concern about our inlaws staying with us.

Dave and his parents are really close. When he and I first met, he was going to there house every Sunday for dinner. We still do (or did, in AZ). He's an only child. Sort of. His dad was married and had two boys. When the boys were teenagers, the parents got divorced. Dad met Marilyn a couple of years later, got married and they had Dave. They were 40. The boys were, I think, 16 and 18. They are all incredibly healthy about it.

When Dave and I got married, we did a destination wedding in Tahoe and reserved condos for everyone to stay in. There were 3 0r 4 bedrooms per condo, so it was really cheap for everyone without being really cheap, ya know! When Dave told me that the boys (and their wives) were staying in the condo with his parents, I said, "And your mom's OK with that??" He said, "Yeah. Why wouldn't she be?" I said, "I don't know. I guess I was thinking of my family!"

When we first met and until we had Trevor, Dave's parents were snowbirds. That means they lived in an RV and during the brutal Tucson summers, they traveled. When Trev was born, they stayed that summer to help out and then they decided they were pretty much done with the whole snowbird thing. Partly because of their age and partly because of the grandchild.

This is where I really started getting spoiled!! They were the primary caregivers for our kids. When Trev was tiny and I went back to work, they'd come over an hour or so early so I could take a nap before going to work!

We never bought toilet paper or paper towels and the last 6 months we lived in Tucson, we never bought diapers either. We kept telling them we didn't need them to buy us stuff but it was like the diaper fairy came over. I'd go to work and when I came home the diaper shelf was overflowing! After awhile, you quit arguing and just be thankful.

His mom cooked for us about 4 times a week and when they watched the boys at our house, she'd clean the kitchen and do the laundry. I'd try to get these things done before she came over but my version of clean and her version are very different. Hers is cleaner.

They'd also watch the kids on Saturdays so Dave and I could have a date.

Did I mention that they are in their 70's??

We want them to just live with us but they want to live on their own as long as they are able. It's fine that way. Dave and his mom have a blowout every now and then and I gotta make peace. Other then that, we get along splendidly!!

When we first started talking about moving to CO, they said they were done moving and probably wouldn't come with us. Well, when the time got closer and they realized they weren't going to see the boys every other day anymore... They changed their minds. There's nothing in Tucson for them, really. Some friends but their closest friends had moved to Iowa the year before. The heat and the crime in Tucson is way too much for them so here they come!!

They will be the primary caregivers again. Mostly for Davis as Trev will be in school from 9-4p. We all can't wait!! I love the whole multi-generational thing. Growing up, my paternal grandma would come stay with us during the summers and every now and then my mom would kick us over to her mom's house for a few days or a week. Parents need a break, donchaknow! I'm so happy that my kids get that, too. Now if I can only get my mom to move out here, too! (Miss you mom!)

As to my stash being in the basement with the inlaws, I'm planning like I would for a long vacation. I have what I'm working on and what I want to work on in the near future safely ensconced in my closet upstairs. Besides, it's not like I can't go down there. That's where our laundry room is, for one. For another, they won't care if I need to get something from down there. We aren't' locking them in the basement and they will be going on day trips here and there to find a place of their own.

The only thing I'm not looking forward to is the sugar rush.

Going to go clean the basement, Ruth!

Dear John Letter

warning: this is a picture heavy post. They're really embarrassing pic's, too!

Dear John,

Look how sweet you were!


Then as you got a little older, you turned into this mean bastard that used to beat the shit out of me on a daily basis. You’d punch me if you didn’t get the first bowl of the sugary cereal our parents rarely bought. You’d punch me if you didn’t get the last bowl. You’d hit me for not waking you on Sat. mornings and you’d miss Scooby Doo. You’d hit me if I did wake you because you wanted to sleep. You once hit me out of the blue and when I asked why, you said it was because I was your sister and not your brother. You’d make me touch the hot-wire in the pasture to see if it was on or not.

(see me leaning away from you! haha)

BUT, you were always, always, ALWAYS there for me when I needed you. You never let anyone else lay a finger on me, talk bad about or to me. You taught me to be tough. To never take shit from anyone (including you). To never give up. To never, Never say “Uncle”. (If I did, you’d hit me for being a pussy.)

Remember the endless hours of games we’d play? Life, Sorry, Backgammon, and (my two least favorite, your top two picks) Parcheesi and Uncle Wiggly. You taught me to play football and to skateboard. Dad and mom taught me to ride a bike but you made me brave the scary vertical dirt hills across the street. You were always pushing me to try new things that scared the crap out of me. You’d say, “So you fall, so what. You get back up and try again.” Pretty wise for a 10 year old.

Remember when we almost set the back field on fire? We’d found those black worm fireworks in the kitchen junk drawer and went out back to set them off. They wouldn’t go (we didn’t realize they were probably duds) and we put some dry grass on top of them and lit it. They still didn’t work but the fire we set went racing down the hill towards that field. That 50 acre field of tall summer-dried grass. I looked at you , you looked at me, we both looked past the spreading fire to that field. You yelled, “HOSE” and went racing after the fire. I ran to turn the hose on but the damn thing wasn’t attached to the spigot. I yelled, “NOT ATTACHED!” You were stomping on the fire, we switched places. You got the hose attached and doused me and the flames. We spent about an hour kicking dirt and other grass onto the blackened ground. Breathing hard and laughing nervously at our stupidity. If our parents knew, they never said anything!

You could always make me laugh. Still! With your, “What’s the dill, pickle?” Or when you’d call me “dut-butter”. What does that MEAN? I still don't know!

You literally saved my life at least 3 times. You saved my ass more times then I can count. I saved yours plenty, too!

In high school, you became a long-haired, metal head/stoner. In every sense of the word. We drifted apart then. You had your friends, I had mine. We didn’t really have anything in common except growing up in our crazy family.

With that long blonde hair and your steel blue eyes, you got all the chicks! You were quite a dog but when you settled on the one you wanted, you were done with all that.

But, again, you were always there for me. I loved when you walked me down the aisle, you on one side, dad on the other. It was perfect.

You lived hard and drove fast. I never thought you’d see 30. I was even skeptical about 25! You did, though. And then some! You’ve made a great career as an electrician and you’ve been there for mom when I couldn’t. And you NEVER age, what's up with that?? You’re a compassionate, loving, loyal man and I’m proud of you!

Happy 40th Birthday!

Back Story

Here's a yarn smile for everyone. I actually tossed this onto the floor to take a pic and that's how it landed. What are the odds? It's the Mason-Dixon After Dark Nightie in progress. Doing the front and back at the same time (hence the two skeins). Yarn: Ornaghi-Filati Gong. Needles: Addi Turbos US 8, 32".

LOVE the stitch definition...



Alright, from here on out, it's some of what's going on at Casa 5elementknitr.

We first came to Parker, CO around Nov. 06. We were looking to buy a business and there were two around here (ish) that we flew out to see firsthand. It was also our first trip with just Hubby and I since T was born May/01. It was a whirlwind of a trip. We flew into Denver Tues. morning, spent the night in Colorado Springs (the site of the second business we came to look at) and flew out of Denver Wed. night.

We fell in love with the Parker/Castle Rock area. We knew we had to live there. We searched different businesses for over a year and finally settled on buying the FedEx route in Parker. I know, who knew those were for sale? Turns out the FedEx Ground guys are all independent contractors. Not FedEx Home or Express, they are employees.

We took a second mortgage on the house in Tucson, used it to buy the business and moved to Parker. A year, almost to the day, after we came out here the first time. We still love it.

We bought our house in Tucson in Jan/03 for about $130K. We sold it in Apr/07 for about 215K. Tidy little profit only the money was already gone, used to buy the business and move. And, if you're doing the math, we paid for two domiciles from Nov/06 - Apr/07. We are strapped to say the least.

We figured any money I'd make from a job would get sucked up in childcare so I've been a stay at home mom. We are paying around $600 a month for health care. Health care we never even use. We are all insanely healthy. But, you can't go with out it because, healthy or not, if there's an accident (broken leg or whatever) you're screwed. Like 10's of 1,000's of dollars screwed. So we pay.

We finally decided I had to get a full-time job with benefits. Again, anything I made, we knew would be sucked up into childcare but we figure the benefits would be worth it. (Not that they are exactly free either but at least not $600/month.) So I got a job at Target. As a cashier. Not exactly where I saw myself at age 37 but whaddya gonna do? And I shop at Target all the time plus the Target here has a full grocery store so we figure the employee discount wouldn't hurt either.

Well here's the dilemma. I'll be making $8/hour and any hours I work Monday - Friday, I'll be paying $10 an hour for childcare. Minimum. (Not like I want to go bargain shopping for childcare. It'd be dumber (and more dangerous) then bargain shopping for a tattoo.) The employee discount is only 10% and I won't be eligible for any benefits for 6 months.

Once Dave's parents move out here, whole different story. They'll watch the kids and I can work whenever. But they've just put their house up for sale in Tucson and with the market what it is.... who knows when they'll get here?

It sucks. Total Catch-22. Why is health care so god-awful expensive? Especially for really healthy people? When I run the world....

1. Health care won't cost nearly as much. It won't be free, I'm not that Utopian.
2. If you don't use the health care you're paying for, then you'll get at least a partial refund of the bucks you put out.
3. Free health care for kids. (I know. It's contradicting what I said in #1, but, they're kids.)

Speaking of people who should get refunds....
Karen, the midwife that delivered Davis got out of the midwife scene a few years ago. It cost her something like $16,000 or more to get out of her malpractice insurance! It was like they were holding her hostage. She couldn't stop being a midwife til she paid. The reason being that even though she was no longer in the business, someone whom she'd previously helped through a delivery could come along in the next 10 years (or whatever the statute of limitations is) and still sue her. So I say, when that time is up and there's no lawsuit, shouldn't the insurance company give her the money back?? Just sayin. Insurance companies suck ass.

Frustrated and going in circles about it, Ruth!

More Snakes a Tip and a Timer

THE CONTEST

Running from June 1 - September 15

_________________________________

I hope everyone had a lovely and restful weekend! Ours was blissfully lazy and uneventful.


Got this in the mail...



It's the sock yarn I won over at Nishanna's. My photographic skills (or lack thereof) don't do justice to it's fiery goodness and I can't wait to make them into socks!


Friday evening, my husband was in the bathroom while I was folding clothes by our bed. Our bathroom has no windows and w/o the lights on, is relatively dark. Out of the blue, D says, "I think we need to call a vet!" I asked what he was talking about (as we are currently petless). I turned around and see him walking out of the dark, shirtless, with his arms flexed in the classic bicep-flexing pose, " 'Cause these pythons are sick!" What a goofball! Laughed for days! He'd heard it on the radio along with some other ways to say how big your arms are ("I'm not allowed on the playground because these guns aren't registered", etc.). We made stupid, buff-arm, python jokes all weekend. We're lame. (Very different then last week's snake story, no?)

Since we moved here and he's had this new job/business. He's lost around 30 pounds. He's around the same weight as when we met. (Hot!) I wish I could say the same (she says, sitting on her butt at the computer or knitting all day).

Alright, on to Tippa Tuesday...


Last week, I posted a tip on how to make frogging a little easier. Yarnhog left another method in the comments (thanks, Yarnhog!). She said to put a smaller knitting needle on the row you are ripping to and rip away. I thought that was a great tip. I had tried that a long time ago when I was still a relatively new knitter and didn't keep the needle on the same row somehow.

After I read her comment, I tried again on a swatch and got it right this time. I also tried it a different way - instead of using a smaller knitting needle, I used a darning needle and some waste yarn. It worked great! It was flexible and, for me, easier to manage. I thought it would also work especially well with large pieces.

The second tip is for Massage Monday, which I missed yesterday by announcing my contest (see link at top of post). (By the way, I initially forgot to tell everyone where they can send the helmet-liners. I've remedied that and it's towards the bottom of the contest post.)

How often do you get up from your desk/knitting/other seated activities during the day? I know how it is, you get going and 3 or four hours have passed and you haven't moved. I do it too. At least I used to. It's So. Very. Bad. for you. You've got the stress of work combined with being stagnant and you go home with your shoulders up in your ears.

The easiest way to remedy this is to set a timer. You want to set it to go off every 50 or 55 minutes. (I use a kitchen timer but I hear there's a way to set a timer on one's computer.) When it goes off, don't just reset it. Get up! Walk to the bathroom, stretch, breath. This will, believe it or not, make your day go much faster. It's a physical break, it's a mental break and it will make you more productive. I'm not talking about taking 15-20 minute breaks every hour, I'm talking about 1-3 minutes.

I gave that tip to a client I had at the spa and he told me he couldn't possibly, he was too far behind on his work. I told him if he was that far behind, then a couple of minutes every hour wasn't going to make a difference and (as I already said) it would actually make him more productive. He didn't believe me. A few weeks later, I got an email from him telling me that he'd tried it, was all caught up on his work and did I have any more tips for him!

Going to go stretch now, Ruth!