You are currently browsing the monthly archive for March 2009.
My MIL’s birthday was on Saturday the 28th. DH called her that day and we all wished her a Happy Birthday on speaker. She seems well and in good spirits. I wish we couldv’e spent some time with her on her special day, but, Lord-willing, we’ll get to see her soon.
So, here’s to you, Mom…
Thank you for your unconditional love and for your numerous prayers for us all. You’ve been a strong tower and a woman to look up to. I couldn’t ask for a better mother-in-law.
Happy, Happy Birthday!
We miss you!
-L
Look what I knitted:
Would you like a pattern?
The Mad Cowl
Materials:
Yarn: Plymouth Encore Worsted or any worsted weight yarn (I suggest using a varigated yarn, the increases will not be so noticeable)
Needles: US9 – 16 inch circs
Cast on 105 sts using the long-tail caston. Join in the round being careful not to twist.
Knit in seed st for 1.5 inches
Seed stitch:
Round 1: k1, p1 to end of round.
Round 2: p1, k1 to end of round.
Basically you are knitting the purls and purling the knits from the previous round. This pattern lays flat and will keep the edge from curling.
Knit in stockinette stitch until piece measures 4 inches from CO edge.
Increase 8 stitches evenly across row. I increased by lifting the bar btw stitches and kniting it through the back loop.
I did *knit 14, m1,* to last 3 sts, k3
Knit in stockinette for 8 rows.
Increase again 8 sts across row: *knit 14, m1,* to last 3 sts, k3
Knit in st st for 8 rows.
Do one more increase row.
You should have129 sts.
knit in st. st until cowl measures 10 inches from CO edge.
Finish with 1 inch of seed stitch. BO loosely in pattern.
Weave in ends and VOILA! You have a beautiful cowl you can wear with just about anything AND it’ll keep your pretty little neck warm. Pretty AND practical. What more could you want?
It was cold out early this morning. In the afternoon, the temperature was a cool 63 and it was soooo sunny-bright.
I love spring.
We have alot of crepe myrtles and cherry blossoms blooming their bright colors right now. Can you see?
*sigh*
Good night, sweeties!
-L
Poo!
There’s something wrong with the photo-uploader-thingy. I had something pretty neat to share. I’ve tried signing out and in again, and then closing out of the window completely and even rebooting. I don’t know what the deal is.
I’ll try again later.
This weekend was nice, besides the violent storm that passed through here Saturday. No worries, everyone’s ok. There were some strong winds and heavy rains. Some areas surrounding our county got some tornado activity and hail. I don’t think anyone was hurt (don’t quote me on that), but there are reports of damage from the wind and the hail. I was at JoAnn’s with baby girl when the tornado sirens were going off. Talk about FREAK OUT! I was about 20 miles from home with a toddler. Yeah. Needless to say, I got all worked up for nothing. I got home in time and the house is fine. We’re fine. Thank you.
Other than that, it was a great weekend 
I’ll try to post later (maybe wordpress is having issues)
-L
1. I have four tattoos. Two I got before I turned 18. Three of them are flowers and only one I show off.
2. I just got my glasses 2 months ago and I already HATE them. No one ever told me how dirty they get and how impossible it is to clean them and keep them that way!
3. My husband lets me pluck his eyebrows. (He likes the way it looks- clean, not RuPaul-ish)
4. I secretly want to be a mechanic.
5. I have an unhealthy fear of thunderstorms. We live in an area where we have a lot of those.
6. My mom has not said a negative thing to me in a very long time. Thanks Mom!
7. The fire hydrants here look like dwarf versions of the regular ones and they make me giggle when I see one.
8. The train station security guy is 74 years old and I say hi to him every time I see him.
9. I drink one 20 oz bottle of Diet Coke every day. (It takes me all day to drink it)
10. I force myself to drink 6-8 glasses of water to cancel #9 out.
We have no plans for the weekend.
There’ll be cuddling with the little ones and maybe some more drawing. I’ll post a pic of the self-portrait Ty did for Art class (He got an A!). We have more movies to watch. AND there’s monsoon-like weather predicted for tomorrow. Perfect timing.
LoveLove
-L
HELLO!
Just a quick one today.
Feeling smug.
Happy as a bug in a rug.
Tonight, I’ll be joining my friends for some knitting at Knit Happy. DH suggested a dinner out so I won’t have to cook. (Did I mention how much I love this man?)
I hope your life is in a happy place right now.
Hugs
-L
My sentiments exactly.
My mind’s cluttered today. It’s cold and rainy out, and all I can think of is sleep. Oh, to be in my warm comfy bed right now…..
Anyway, today I messed up and forgot to pack my knitting as I headed off to work. I was lost. My fingers were itching to knit on the train and lunch break was spent staring at the wall. I usually have 2 or 3 knitting projects in my bag any given day. But not today. I can blame the age, or the weather, but I know better. Lesson learned….
Winter is giving us one last burst of cold.
There is more light than dark out.
The knits are being washed and packed away for next winter.
Tomorrow, there’ll be sunshine!
-L
It’s warm outside this week…
The kids have been so happy for some outside-play.
Also, I talked to my best friend from 7th grade, Robin. I haven’t seen her in 22 years! She’s happily married with SIX kids and living only FOUR hours from me. Wow. She actually found me on facebook. Thank God for facebook! Our conversation left me so warm and fuzzy on the inside…
AND I finally talked to Marsh. Hi Marsh! I’m still praying about making it down to her in August. Anyone know how I can get cheap airf*re to Samoa? Frequent flyer miles, anyone? I have the time saved up with work, I just need a ticket.
Two, TWO conversations with really wonderful women/friends/sisters. I’m a happy girl.
And look what came in the mail:
CRACK!
Aren’t they pretty? My face is hurting from smiling so much.
Red, Aquamarine and Green. The one in the middle is my favorite.
I’ve already cast on for a project with the green one.
It’s heaven to knit with. So soft and squishy. It’s mostly bamboo with some wool and nylon. Yummy!
Yeah. I had a great day yesterday. I’m so blessed and I don’t even deserve it.
I hope you find happiness today.
-L
“That our love is true,
The way black is black
And blue is just blue
My love is true
It’s a matter of fact
Oh, and you love me too
It’s as simple as that
Baby, our love is true…”
Sappy, I know, but a catchy and happy song. It makes me smile when I hear it…
Anyway, this past weekend we took the kids to ChuckEChee5e to celebrate Lai’s birthday.
The kids had so much fun.
Didn’t do much of anything else the rest of the weekend. We watched 5 movies over the course of last week. Cleaned, cooked, played a little outside. The usual things. It was a very nice weekend. The weather was warm and sunny and the trees are budding again and the grass needs cutting. Spring is here!
-L
Just a short post today, because the rest of the day we are celebrating Lai turning THREE!
(don’t mind the date, it was 2006)
Her first birthday:
Drool. 
Her 2nd birthday:
happy birthday my sweet girl. You have brought so much joy to our family.
Have a great weekend!
-L
I was trying to embed a slideshow of some pics of Aunty Doris and Lolo that Dad took while they are visiting in Vegas, but it didn’t work. ??????
Hi Dad!
Anyway, my friend Michelle (on the train) was the only person who was willing to cut my stitches out for me. And believe me, I asked EVERYONE. She so sweet.
It looks good. (Sorry for the crappy pics, I snapped these with my cell phone)
Thanks Michelle!
Oh, and on an un-related note, I have successfully recruited another soul to the dark side. My brother, Gordon. He is officially a knitter! Yay. He is helping me thin out my stash. Hopefully, he can help me knit some things for the “shop”. I will let you know what’s going on with that as soon as I discuss the plans with him.
Here he is a couple of weekends ago. I snuck up on him while he was on his lunch break at the mall.
I’m so proud of him….
You can see his first project here.
It’s spring break here. The kids are spending their time off going to the dentist and the gym with Daddy. It is beautiful outside today, warm and sunny.
Hope it’s warm and sunny where you are!
-L
As you know, every first Saturday of each month, Goodw*ll has everything on sale for 1/2 off. Like a lot of people, I love a good deal. I enjoy perusing through old things and finding little treasures at a fraction of the price.
This last first Saturday, I was able to wander the aisles at our local store for a good 2+ hours. DH and the kids waited in the parking lot and snuck in a nap (they were tired)….
So here’s a couple of things that had to come home with me:
A cable car!
I’ve been wanting to get into embroidery lately and this little beauty has made my desire a little stronger.
Also, I spent a ridiculous amount of time with the children’s books.
This one had me at Hello. I mean, look at the illustrations:
Isn’t she adorable? Don’t you just want to squeeze her?
I do.
Ok, one more:
Moving on…
The scarf I blogged about yesterday is done. Well, the knitting part anyway. I still have to sew the ends together and the ends in, but I kinda dislike that part.
For my next project, I am looking for a hat pattern. Any suggestions?
Happy Tuesday!
-L
hehe
We were watching one of our favorites last night.
Over the weekend I started a new project:
Another one of these. It’s for a friend on the train. She picked the color (a fun mustardy yellow) I really like this yarn (Berocco Comfort). It’s soft and machine washable! Two of the best qualities in yarn for me.
It was a nice relaxing weekend for us. There was a lot of rain. I was also able to hang out with the knitters at Starbucks yesterday. It was a small gathering (3 other knitters) but a good one all the same.
My brother and I had another photo shoot with my little fashion designer/model:
She decided that my mom’s scarf was better as a hairpiece.
Have a great week!
-L
This morning DH took a little train ride with me to Mt. Juliet and back.
Isn’t he dreamy?
We rode on the second level to Mt. Juliet, then on the bottom on the way back (the other train broke down and this was the backup train). He was supposed to go downtown with me and ride back, but there wasn’t enough time for that. Ty had practice this morning.
Anyhoo…
Baby girl is doing this new thing when she’s mad. Like when you take something away from her (a pen, a knife, a piece of paper) she’ll pout and fold her arms. I caught it on camera: (this was after I took a spatula away from her)
I feel like doing that sometimes. Don’t you?
Don’t worry, I gave her a piece of paper and a pen.
See? All better.
My baby is getting so big. She’s turning 3 next Friday. THREE! Wow.
Have a great weekend lovelies!
-L
Hello.
I was sick yesterday. I didn’t go to work. My visit to the ER on Sunday included a tetanus shot which caused havoc on my system. I had a fever from Monday til yesterday. I’m better now, thank you.
Anyway, today I forgot the card reader. I had some cute photos to share, too. But instead will share a recipe…
Biscuits and gravy
*Ingredients:
1 pound ground pork (or ground turkey)
2 packages of frozen biscuits
2 cups milk
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
salt and pepper to taste
Preheat oven and bake biscuits according to biscuit instructions and while the biscuits are in the oven, prepare the gravy as follows:
In a large skillet, brown ground meat. Add flour to form a paste. Then add milk gradually while stirring constantly to avoid lumps. If the gravy is too thick, you can add hot water until it is a little watery. Add salt and pepper to your taste. Turn off stove. Gravy will thicken as it stands.
Ladle gravy over baked biscuits and serve!
Enjoy.
* This amount serves 6-8 people. If you want less, just divide amounts in half.
Last weekend was the first time I tried this recipe and my family really enjoyed it. I think this is will be added to the weekend breakfast rotation.
Today we have snow flurries. Strange, because only 3 days ago the temperature outside was 80 and sunny…
Spring break is next week. No plans. DH is planning a big cleaning frenzy for the garage. He’s threatening to throw everything away. 
We’ll see how it goes.
Hope your having a good week!
-L
Besides the knife/cutting debacle, this past weekend was pretty awesome.
First there was Ty’s lift-a-thon at his school Friday night:
The rest of the pics I took were blurry.
Here’s Bubba that night:
Saturday:
- got a car-wash
- bought a new digital camcorder. Yay! A new toy!
- went thrifting
- rented and watched Pineapple Express
- played with the new digital camcorder filming the little ones dancing
- sorted laundry, managed to only do one load. ugh.
Yep.
M’kay.
I’ll leave you with a shot of the little girl practicing her cell phone skills:
And one more:
Let’s not forget Nacho:
Oh,
HAPPY BIRTHDAY MARSH! I miss you. I’ll call you tonight.
-L
Guess what I did yesterday?
The back-story:
I have been complaining about how I needed a new knife. The knife I had been using for cooking was as dull as a butter knife and I was tired of “sawing” things like cabbage and chicken. So DH gave in and bought me a fancy “Chicago Cutlery” knife. It is beautiful.
So, yesterday DH wanted an apple and I wanted to be nice and cut it and core it for him. So I whipped out my new knife. And the rest….
Well, I ended up with my fingertip flapping open. Gross, I know. I really didn’t want to go to the hospital, but after talking with Annie on the phone, she suggested that I get stitches. I even got a second opinion from my neighbor the nurse. So off I went, along with my injured son Ty to the ER.
We were a pitiful pair. Him in his knee brace and me with a gauzed-up bloody finger….
Four hours and four stitches later we were home. I was so bummed that I had to spend our Sunday like that.
Oh well. At least I have learned a valueable lesson: ALWAYS use a cutting board!
Yeah.
And you know what I was worried about? That I couldn’t knit! But fortunately I can with this injury. Whew.
How was your weekend?
-L
* Update:
Here’s what it looks like today:
Kinda cool huh?
Not.
BYEEEEE!
