It's Friday!

And it is stupid hot. Stupid, stupid hot.

Therefore I'm giving you my latest favorite video from YouTube that just makes me smile.  Happy Friday!

WIP Wednesday

I need to type fast because we are having a humdinger of a thunder/lighting storm outside. Normally, I'd be out watching it but this is my only time today to post.

I've got several projects on the go and summer unemployment on the horizon, so I though a weekly check-in would shame me into getting things done. So here we go

1. Double Heelix Socks- I finally got to try this baby on and I think the cuff is long enough. Now I just need to bind off and seam the toe. I suck at Kitchner stitch so I need to spend some time and find a good video. Oh and do the second sock.
   
2. At knitting tonight I cast on Boys Can Wear Pink sweater, and then realized I needed a shorter cable, which I didn't have with me. 
   
3.  Because it is in Little Miss's Batgirl tunic. I should probably finish this soon.
   
4. Dude and Little Dude shirts- I've got the pattern pieces ironed and cut out. The fabric has been washed and is waiting to be ironed and cut.  
5. Boy Scout quilt- I'm a good chunk of the way through the quilting. We see my FIL at the end of June and I'm hoping to get this done before we go. I need to cut the binding, which means I need to find time when the minions are not around. It's probably best to keep them away from the rotary cutter. 

There it is. I better go before this storm does bad things. 

Ten on Tuesday

I had forgotten it was Tuesday until I saw the topic in my inbox. Three day weekends always screw me up. The weather this weekend was horrible. Rain, wind, chilly + long weekend + 2 kids under the age of 5 = cabin fever. At one point I sent Little Dude to run around the trees in the back yard to burn off a little steam. 

10 Things You Did This Weekend.

1. Weeded the kids' books. Outside of their daycare is a Little Free Library, a little house structure filled with kids books with the idea of "take a book, leave a book." I filled half the box this morning with books they have outgrown (and a few Mommy and Daddy couldn't stand to read anymore)
2. Swatched for Little Dude's latest sweater request, well one of his many sweater requests. I've agreed to make him Boys Can Wear Pink by Kate Oates. I'm making this out of the yarn from my frogged Kyoto sweater. The main body will be gray and I'll let him pick the tie color out of the yarn I have. 
3. Bought fabric for Dude and Little Dude matching shirts. I'll be sewing them with this: Simplicity Pattern 5581. We found a great pirate map fabric that both the boys agreed upon. I even have enough to make Little Dude the hat. (He's very excited)
4. Bought a new mattress. This should make a big difference in the amount of sleep I get. My mum is paying for it so even better. Our current mattress is at least 12 years old and wasn't fabulous to begin with. But it was what we could afford at the time. It has acquired over the years a horrendous sag in the middle, fondly referred to as "the pit". Now we'll be drifting off to dreamland on a gel memory foam cloud of heaven. But this means I must paint the room before it is brought in. It will be a while before we get to gutting our room so I'm throwing up a coat of paint in the meantime to class it up a little. Plus I need to paint over the spot in the ceiling that the former owners missed for the sake of my OCD.
5. Further cleaning of the garage. I did a bunch of this a few weeks ago but reached the point where I needed a hand. The husband and I (finally) moved all the weights down to the basement (where they can get used), sorted what was trash and what was to keep, rearranged and organized some. This gives me space to start staging for our tag sale in a few weeks.
6. Ate a s'more. Or a modified version of one; we had no chocolate. Last night it was finally warm enough and nice enough to light the fire pit and introduce the kids to the art and science of toasting marshmallows. Little Dude liked making them, would eat a few bites, then hand it to me and make another. Ah, 4 year olds. I'm determined to get more use of the fire pit this year. 
7. Accomplished several steps in the great furniture rearranging. Normally this is a task I'd tackle in one day, but with minions underfoot I've been having to break it up. I've got two of the big units cleaned out, moved and refilled. I managed to cull at least a box of stuff to sell, inventory my everyday dishes and pack up the set we're not currently using to sell. 
8. Researched and found our glassware. In the paring down of our belongings, one of the things to go are the extrainious glasses. We're going to get rid of our everyday glasses and use the barware we registered for when we got married. It's just missing a few basics and I managed to find the pattern. At Bed, Bath, and Beyond. You know, the people who send you coupons every other day. This is a sign from the universe that I am doing the right thing. 
9. Rescued a friend from a knitting disaster. My lovely friend Suzanne reached out to me with an issue with a wedding shawl she is knitting. The pattern is Bleeding Hearts Stole by Anne Hanson and the yarn is Zephyr Wool-Silk. She's doing a beautiful job on some tricky lace but had been thwarted by some dropped stitches. Dropped stitches in a very open part of the lace. How she even found them is beyond me. How could I not help? For one, we've all been there and two, I can always depend on her to watch the kids for me, whether it's so I can work late or spend some time with another BFF on my birthday.  Plus she's just awesome and one of my dearest friends. So I squared off with a familiar yarn and got to work. Sad to say, I was not able to pick up the dropped stitches but I did tink it back to a workable row for her. Good news, it's back on track.
10. Taught Little Dude what a diorama is and then we built one. He did a crafting project with these little animal things that you color and assemble while I was doing shawl diagnosis. He assembled the first one by himself without any help before I even knew what he was doing and then he charmed Suzanne into helping him color. So what is one to do with a bunch of jungle/safari animals with no place to go? Make them a home. With some paper, markers, an inspirational viewing of The Lion King and a box we made a lovely little home for them. Look at that face. He's so proud.

 

I had to add the picture of the silly face because it's just too cute not to. Little Dude is a ham.

Well that was my weekend. What did you do?

I don't think we're in Kansas anymore.

I think I'm starting to understand how Dorothy felt. I feel like normal has been ripped away from me and I've been trying to get my new footing. But it seems like every time I do the landscape shifts.

But now the work season is done and I have a little time to regroup. I can't tell you how many posts I've started and then not posted because by the time I could finish them their relevance was a bit dated. One of the hardest things I am struggling with is the fatigue. I get so frustrated that by 5pm I am wiped out and many of those days the hubby is working late and I still have 3 hours to go before the kids are in bed. I'm often in bed right after them. It's hard enough to accomplish things with how distractible I am, without losing hours of productive time. It's even more frustrating when a task wears you out so that even if you have the time, you are too exhausted to accomplish anything. I remember sitting there one night with my crochet in my hands and the hook was too damn heavy for me. A stupid crochet hook (size G for those wondering).

I was discussing this with a friend's husband. She's in a similar field (theatrical carpenter) and pregnant. I was explaining how that as women we have to work so much harder to be regarded as competent, let alone respected. It's very, very difficult for us to admit to any limitations. It feels as if we admit we need to step back a little, whether it is from illness or pregnancy or injury, we will lose all that we have struggled to earn and be immediately labelled as weak and helpless...and useless. It's frustrating and has been one of my biggest struggles of late. With pregnancy it is one thing...after you start to show it becomes a little more acceptable (sometimes). The problem is that MS is an 'invsible' disease. Yeah I look fine, but I'm not. Sometimes when people comment on how good I look it feels as if they are accusing me of not really being sick. It's a weird place to be in.

I'm trying to find the new normal. And I'm frustrated that I get so little done each day. I've got big plans (I always do) and they seem so much farther now.

So anywho....I guess I needed to get that off my chest. I'm planning a redesign of the blog but is seems you need to be awake for that to happen. I'll be off contract soon and it looks like the summer gig fell through. But that's what happens when the company wants the project done for less than half of the bid. They are falling into the category of "Bat-shit Crazy" if they think it can be done for that little. It's not a project I really wanted to work on but I really wanted the paycheck. I'm currently picking up odd jobs here and there.
I'm hoping to make some headway in the home projects. We promised Little Dude a room re-do for his 5th birthday.  He want's a superhero room and how could I deny him that? We've found him a new bed, and he's picked a wall color. Before I can start painting, the husband needs to add a smoke detector to his room and we're pondering a ceiling light. We did that in his sister's room and I'm leaning towards it. Once that is done, I can paint and then go to town. I'll be doing a new bed quilt and I think instead of painting directly on his walls I'll paint a bunch of small canvases to look like comic book panels and then we can shift them around as desired.
On of the most important and desired projects is a tag sale. My step mother has offered to come out and organized it for me, which is totally her bag. So, over the next few weeks I will be going through everything in the house, and I mean EVERYTHING. I'm really looking to pare down to mostly essentials (crafting stuff excluded, of course). I'm not going to let sentiment make me hold onto things I really don't want. My esthetic has changed (and people who have no concept of me or my esthetic have bought me lots of crap) and it's time to let go. We just purged a ton of baby stuff and it feels so good. I'm looking to continue the trend.
I've a ton of pictures to upload and sort through. And a bunch of fun smaller projects in various stages.
So that's what's coming down the pipeline...a redesign, some fun projects and with luck more and more blogging.

Ten on Tuesday

10 Things You Would Bring on a Picnic

A picnic can mean many things, but in my mind I see a lovely outing for my husband and myself, sans minions, on a beautiful day, out in nature where we can remind ourselves why we fell in love all those years ago. (Can you tell we've not had much alone time? or that our 11th anniversary approaches?)

1. Our picnic basket. I just showed this thing to Little Dude and he was very excited about it. This basket is truly awesome. It comes fully stocked with all that you need, even the often forgotten corkscrew (You can open a bottle of wine with a screwdriver...it's just not pretty). Sad to say, we don't use this as often as we should. I'm vowing here and now to change that.
2. Wine. White. Probably a Pinot Grigio or one of my old favorites: Arctic Fox or Goose Watch Bartlett Pear wine. 
3. Cheese. A must. Soft cheeses, hard cheeses, and at least one really good stinky one. 
4. Bread. Fresh...probably a nice crusty baguette. 
5. Sopressatta. Or something of the like.
6. Fresh fruit. Peaches, strawberries, grapes are the top three that come to mind.
7. Tomato/Basil/Fresh Mozzarella. Add a little extra virgin olive oil and what more is there to say?
8. Something spreadable. Along the lines of a sun-dried tomato & olive tapenade, or a white bean/spiniach/artichoke sort of thing.
9. Something sweet. Mini tarts or chocolates.
10. A book to read to each other.