Zoom zoom

This week has flown by!

The husband got a promotion (yay!) that included a switch back to day shift; he’s worked nights for years and years, so this is a bit of an adjustment for both of us. It’s awesome to be able to do things as a couple in the evening; we went to the mall one night, and watched a movie on another. And we get to eat dinner together!

The middle son is learning to drive, and seems to have a propensity for speed… Going to have to keep an eye on that one. He practices every chance he gets, which probably isn’t often enough for his liking.

We’ve got the new garden ‘installed’ in the backyard and half planted. I will sow seeds in the other half this weekend: peas, beans, zucchini, pumpkin, lettuce, etc. There is a long list of yardwork waiting for us, as we’re still pulling out undesirable plants and putting in ones more suited for each area.

I’ve been going to Zumba classes for about six weeks now and have dropped a few pounds. My legs are stronger and I’m starting to see a hint of the waist that’s been hiding for decades. I’ve got a ways to go yet, but I am enjoying the classes and have let go of my inhibitions so that I shake and shimmy with as much energy as I can muster. I’m sure my kids would be mortified, and I am certain nobody over the age of about 25 should be attempting these moves in public, but nobody has asked me to leave yet.

In knitting news, I have been working on a couple pairs of socks, a shawl, and a market bag, and occasionally put a row into an afghan. I will finish off one pair of the socks this weekend, for sure.

I’ve got a craft show coming up next month, so I need to spend some time prepping. There’s a new tent to test out (to make sure it’s going to keep out the rain so we don’t have a repeat of last year), labels to print, lotions to make, signs to update, displays to finish…

Plus, we’ve got an exchange student arriving in seven weeks. There is stuff we need to get done before she gets here.

Summer always seems to go so quickly!

Amelia’s favorite game

My daughter’s little rescue kitten is now a year old, and has some of the most keenly developed hunting instincts I’ve ever seen in an indoor-only cat (both of our cats are indoors-only, both for their safety and that of the neighborhood bird population).

One of Amelia’s favorite games is a kind of hide-and-seek / attack game, consisting of a dining room chair, a bath towel, and a willing participant. She will sit on the chair and wait for someone to walk by, springing up at them if they don’t respond quickly enough. There are a few rules: there must be a towel over the chair, it should be one chair in particular, and there is a certain distance the chair needs to be pulled out from the table (approximately 8″; less and she can’t fit in the space, more and the chair tips over from her leaping). Optional rules are that you can use your hand or a chopstick (I much prefer a chopstick, as my hands have been subjected to her talons too many times). Beyond that, a healthy dose of patience from the human participant is needed, because this game will go on as long as the human will play (which is never as long as the kitten will play).

Here’s a little video I took last night.

 

The Self-Feeding Cat

Step One: Hungry Cat sees Human is not responding to plea for food. Takes matters into own paws.

Step Two: Locate food and evaluate the locking mechanism.

Step Three: Lift the latch (piece of cake!)

Step Four: Reposition to ensure proper lid-lifting technique.

Step Five: In one smooth motion, lift lid and insert top half of body. Enjoy the bottomless bucket-o-food!

Grooming in the sun

For six whole minutes, our two cats managed to be on the same piece of furniture together. They must have been delirious from the unexpected bit of sunshine, for they both took advantage of the warmth to do a bit of basking and face grooming before going back to the usual growling and smacking.

A little ray of sunshine

I can’t remember if I mentioned her before, but there is a little girl I’ve seen on the train a few times. She and her mom (who has her hands full managing a stroller) board the train somewhere after I do and the last time I saw them, the little girl sat beside me and said she liked my earrings.

This morning I was sitting on the train reading my book and I saw them get on the train out of the corner of my eye. The little girl looked at me and broke into a big smile, headed directly to me and sat down proclaiming, “I haven’t seen you in awhile.”

We chatted a minute while she got herself situated, then she looked at me and said, “I just had a birthday last week. January 31st!” I smiled; that was my mom’s birthday but I didn’t get a chance to say that because she kept right on talking, “guess how old I am!”

I squinched up my eyes and pretended to scrutinize her little round face, then proclaimed her  to look “exactly like 5!” Her grin widened and she looked both surprised and very pleased that I guessed correctly. I complimented her outfit (very green, from her frog rain boots and matching jacket to the cozy grass-green sweater dress) and when I told her my favorite color was green, she sighed and said hers was actually pink and purple, which was why her headband was pink. See?

She said she liked my earrings, I said I liked her backpack, especially the little bluebird embroidered on it. She asked about the nook I was reading and I explained how it works, then asked if she liked to read. She does, sometimes but not always and more if there is pictures in it. She described her current favorite book – something with swallows and Amazons (but she isn’t sure what those are) and Queen Elizabeth is in there too. I didn’t tell her about my book (a government conspiracy theory with lots of killing) and instead asked if she was on her way to school. Oh yes, but today is math day. She doesn’t like math. And they were running late and you can’t be late for school but that’s why her mom forgot her water bottle and man oh man, she was thirsty. I assured her that there would be water at her school.

She snuggled in closer to my side as if she actually knew me, and my heart melted. Her mom was just eight feet away and I made sure to keep my own behavior appropriate, but what I really wanted to do was scoop up this little ray of sunshine and give her a big ol’ hug. She is such a cheerful, well-spoken, polite little thing and she totally made my day. We continued to chitchat until the last stop, which was hers (and mine!); I wished her a good day at school and nodded to her mom as I headed to the stairs. Such a little ray of sunshine, I smiled all the way to the office.  I wish every day could start like that.

Tomten time

One to-do off my list: a Tomten jacket for a sweet little guy.

Holiday Zenitude

I’m feeling very Zen about the holidays this year. I decided early in the year that I would not stress myself out over gifts or become over committed; the most rewarding gifts are family and friends – so why get all wound up (and go in debt) over a gift list? Setting realistic budgets and focusing instead of spending time with those I love has made this one of the most relaxing holidays seasons I can remember.

This morning I sealed up two boxes destined for distant relatives. Combined with the box sent yesterday to the distant son, this completes my gifts-that-need-to-be-shipped list and allows me to focus on the gifts-to-give-local-family list.

I also wrapped most of my gifts last night!  (this didn’t take very long since I don’t give a lot of gifts but HEY! I have a little stack of wrapped gifts on the table!) No ribbons or bows this year due to the The Kitten, which kept the wrapping quick and easy.

There are three family members on my list for which I would like to find a gift; it would help immensely if I could figure out what kind of gift I want to give each of them, but so far I have not had any epiphanies. I’m keeping my eyes open for inspiration and am mulling over some ideas to see what sounds right. I’m sure something will fall into place.

Knitting: I am down to one knitted gift to complete and it’s more than halfway done so I know I’ll get it done before the weekend. And that’s it, all other knitting is for myself or next year’s gift list.

Baking: In the holiday baking arena, there is very little to report. I decided not to make much this year – a bit of fudge was made on Sunday and I’m considering some bread or marshmallows this week but haven’t committed yet. I’ve been working with my soap wholesale account on some changes for next year and it’s hard to focus on food when you are surrounded by soap…

Sewing: Hm, just remembered I have a couple of sewing gifts to finish… I’m feeling pretty optimistic about those, but it wouldn’t be the end of the world if I didn’t get them done by Christmas, could always just be a late gift.

Long weekends

I must say, I could get used to four-day weekends. Thursday was full of family and food, Friday was a fun day of soap sales at my first open house, and Saturday so far is mostly for knitting and watching Breaking Bad episodes on Netflix. I do need to go out and tidy up my soap room a bit, and get out for a walk this afternoon – but for now, I have my slippers on and a cup of tea at hand.

On the knitting front: I’ve been plugging away on my wooly rib warmer but am running out of wool… I have pulled a darker brown from my stash and the upper back will just be a different color than the front, nothing I can do about that. I’ll call it a Design Element. Or a Happy Accident a la Bob Ross.

On the home front: we know that winter has truly set in when Snickerdoodle starts to brood over the heat registers.

Speaking of cats, I’m still not certain we should put up a Christmas tree this year… The kitten continues to be a chewer and all-around pesky hooligan that is prone to psychotic freak-outs that involve gymnastics on her cat tree and wind sprints across the wood floors. Earlier I was making eggs and watching her contortions on the cat tree, I turned away for thirty seconds and when I looked back she had raced across the room and grabbed my knitting. A Christmas tree just sounds like too much of a temptation. Wonder if the kids would be disappointed if we skipped it?

Catdog

Amelia has started to lay on the tile like a dog, with her belly flat against the floor. Only the tile, never the carpet. Must be cooler on the tummy.

Mother may I

have new shoes? These won’t keep out the rain…

(there’s a hole in Jordan’s sole!)