And I'm back

As is usually the case with me, I was playing around on Facebook, when I noticed a link to a friends blog, and remembered how long it had been since I last wrote. (Thank you Debbie and Jessice, LOL). So here I am again. Life has been moving right along since Christopher started school. The days still don't have any rhythm, but that's what comes from working retail. I do love my job at PetSmart though. I'm so much more relaxed than I ever was before, and the majority of my conversations do not revolve around work, and work drama, and work stress anymore. Don't get me wrong, PetSmart has it's own hardships, it's own special breed of frustration - because now you've thrown in defenseless pets taken in by people who didn't realize that they didn't have the means to take care of this loving creature, or they just flat don't care about how to take care of them better. Discussing pet nutrition with people is a constant source of frustration for me, but that's another story.

My little guy is about to be 5 years old, and the never ending case of baby fever flares up even stronger this time of year. As I sit down to write invitations, and shop for party decorations at the store, I remember the feel of that tiny baby in my arms, and feel like crying for the loss of all things baby, at the same time that I'm planning and preparing to celebrate the independent little boy that has replaced those things, and all the legos, army guys, dinosaurs, and star wars characters that have taken the place of all the bottles, pacifiers, and onesies. Of course it never helps baby fever when it seems like you always know at least one person that is either pregnant or has just had a baby. But that's life. Brian is still not ready to entertain the idea of another baby, but deep down I know he's right. I need to finish getting the finances back in order, and we probably need to move to a different house before a baby can be a possibility. I just really thought I'd have all my children before I'm 30. Lol. I know how ridiculous that sounds. Brian tells me often that I'm not half as old as I think I am some times. But I do feel like time for planning babies is running out. But I just have to keep reminding myself that only God knows for sure, and I need to be looking to Him for my happiness, and not to another baby. He's already blessed me with one miracle little boy, and he's turning 5, and is getting very excited about that. But first we have to get through Halloween. Trick or Treat tonight as Darth Vader. He's so anxious to get going.

I finally feel like I'm starting to settle in at church. I've met a great bunch of ladies through my Bible Study group, and I feel like I have learned so much, and grown so much in my faith, and my walk with God, in just a few short weeks. Brian's still putting off going to check it out, but I'm hopeful that he'll like it when he goes. Or at least that he won't hate it. I still dream about the day that we all regularly attend church as a family, but I can't make that day happen, and I have to work on not pushing so hard. And not letting my disappointment show whenever he says maybe next week. That's just another form of pressure, and it doesn't help either of us.

As for me, and I'm working on it. Working on it all. It's one I do best. Pushing myself to constantly do better, be better, clean more, stitch more, save more. I am nothing if not my own worst enemy. And then there's the every present inner brat - Annie, who whines away in my head that I shouldn't have to clean on my day off, I should get to enjoy my day off just like everyone else; and I shouldn't have to spend time looking over sales add and clipping coupons to get the best deals, I should be able to just go in and buy what I want (alhtough this one, not so much any more. It's almost become a point of pride for me to work towards saving at least as much as I spent - and I am determined that I WILL do it; at some point.) She is a jealous little creature. But I'm working on her too. (If you haven't discovered your inner brat, trust me, she's there. One of the many things I've learned from FlyLady and her friends over the past couple of years. LOL.)

As for everything else. I just finished up another piece for the shop, Granny's Noel Throw. It's one of my favorite patterns. I made it last year with every intention of selling it, but as the pattern came together, I knew I wouldn't be able to part with it. So I kept that one for myself, and remade the pattern this year for the shop. Now that Granny's Noel is done, and listed, I'm working on a personal project - a snuggie for myself. It's a fairly simple pattern and one that I'm hoping will work up quickly. For right now, I'm leaning toward the wedding rings pattern for my next shop piece, but I haven't firmly decided yet. I'm still kicking around ideas.

For now though, I think I'm all caught up. So I'm going to get off the computer, hang up the delicates that I just washed, and toss in another load before I pick up the crochet hook for some work.

This week's question

The question posed by me Etsy group this week - Which song most resembles you or your life? Why and how?

This is such a difficult question for me to answer. Those that know me personally know that I was very involved in band throughout my school years. Music is vital to me, and ever changing at that. The song that resembles me now will be completely different an hour from now.

I think at this exact moment, the song that defines my life is a country song that came out a few years ago.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bItpnDFh2pA

The song is called Ready, Set, Don't Go. Written by Billy Ray Cyrus, and - in this video - performed by him and his daughter Miley Cyrus. In an interview Billy Ray spoke about teaching his daughter to ride a bicycle and how he'd tell her "get ready, get set, go" as he let go of the seat of the bicycle. But as she got older and got ready to embark on her journey as an artist and an actress, all he could think was "don't go". While it's not nearly as dramatic, with my only son preparing to go to school, I feel the same way. He's ready - he's excited about school and can't wait to go, but I'm not ready. The little baby that I brought home from the hospital, grows a little more every day, right in front of my eyes. So I guess that would be the song I would choose to answer our question. Watch the video and enjoy.

A favorite story from my childhood

So an Etsy team I'm in, Create Crochet, has started offering a weekly question for us to all answer on our blogs so that we can better get to know each other through our answers. This week we have all been tasked with sharing a favorite story from our childhood. For me this is a difficult question, because there's not one instance that jumps out over all the others as a favorite.

I'd have to say that the time spent with my grandmother is the thing I remember most fondly about my childhood. For those that don't already know, I was raised by my grandparents, so were a constant present in my childhood. And since they were older and more financially stable than most parents are, Grandma was able to stay home with me while I was growing up, something she hadn't always been able to do when her own children were at home. She took me to school and picked me up almost every day (especially in my elementary & middle school days). I remember that she'd so patiently listen to all my prattle on the way home from school. She always had a snack when she picked me up - usually some cheez-it crackers with some cheeze-whiz on top. LOL, looking back, I think that's one of those things that only a kid could appreciate, kind of like Chef Boyardee spaghetti - have you tried that stuff as an adult? Absolutely awful. Most days we never went straight home, we were always off to Wal Mart or the grocery store, or in later years, perhaps the mall. I remember sitting at the kitchen table when we did get home working on homework while she cooked dinner, asking for help with any questions that were too hard.

I remember that as I got older and started wanting something to do after school, Grandma enrolled me ceramics class at the Rec Center. She had done ceramics when she was younger, and she passed the appreciation of it, and various other crafts on to me. Grandma was always crafting in some way or another. In fact, I credit her with me first trying crochet. If she ever saw something at a craft store or craft sale that she liked, she could usually figure out how to make it. When I became fascinated with crochet, she bought be a book that showed the basic stitches, and hook and a skein of Red Heart yarn, and told me to go for it.

As I got even older and got more involved with band then color guard, her and Grandpa never missed a performance. She taught me everything. At least everything important. And now, there's little I like more than watching her play with my son, and get to truly enjoy being a grandparent for the first time.

Chillin out

So I think I'm settling in at work. I'm learning A LOT, and I'm starting to find a rhythm with all the people there. This was my first Saturday really working the register and everything. All the adoption pets were there which made for an interesting (and loud) day. I think that's one of the hardest parts of the job. Seeing all those animals and not being able to take them home.

There's a particular pom-sheltie mix that's up for adoption. He's with a foster family right now. He's been adopted out three times since the rescue group got him (so 4 owners all together). It seems everyone keeps returning him because he's hyper. I can't understand why anyone would take a pom if they wanted a relaxed dog. Poms are hyper by nature. It just drives me crazy. But he's got an awesome foster family, and all I can do is hope a permanent solution comes along for the little guy soon.

On the personal front, I got my son's Pre-K packet in mail yesterday. That made for an emotional night. I can't believe he's getting ready to start school. I miss my little baby boy that would fall asleep in my arms. It's so bittersweet for me. Of course, hubby is thrilled at the prospect. I'm sure after a week or two, I'll find my rhythm with it, but right now, it's a little overwhelming for me. And seriously, when did Pre-K become an all day affair? He's going to be going from 8-3:30 every day! I could've sworn that my Pre-K days were half days. Maybe I'm wrong though. Who knows.

In addition to all that, I had a Dr appointment this week. It seems that I'm beginning to develop high blood pressure. So I have to start taking low dose water pills and start making some dietary changes to see if we can bring that back in line. Of course, hubby is all "I told you so" about the way I eat, but that's okay. It's just because he loves me and is looking out for me.

For now, I'm going to clean up from dinner, and get little man ready for bed, and hopefully get in some stitching. I've been a bit too busy the last few days to get much of anything done.

Awesome Monda

For a Monday, today was pretty awesome and relaxing. I got a few chores done this morning. Before typing up the care instructions for the baby gifts that I finished up last night. I can't wait till Ms. Mandy gets them. I really hope that she likes them. Now I just have to box them up, and they'll be all set to go in mail Wednesday morning.

After wrapping up my chores I was able to squeeze in a workout. I haven't worked out regularly in ages. But 45 minutes with Billy Blanks, and I remember why I love working out. I don't know if I'll be able to squeeze one in tomorrow since I have to be at work in the early afternoon, but I'm definitely going to try.

Other than that, I've been able to get quite a bit of work on the gloves I've started on, and I'm going to get back to work on that while I was the season premiere of The Closer and Rizzoli & Isles.

A nearly wasted day off

So after finding out that I was going to have two days in a row off work, I planned on getting the house cleaned up, and spending the rest of my free time stitching - hopefully finishing up this baby gift I'm working on. Well, I woke up this morning with a killer migraine and wasted half the day laying around trying to recover. Once I shook the headache, I had a little time to work on my project before starting dinner.

I got the tacos done right after hubby got home, only to find out that I had failed to buy sour cream and cheese at the store earlier. Ugh. So after cleaning up the kitchen I got back to work and quickly ran through the current stash of yarn. I need one more ball to finish this project up, so I'll pick that up next time I'm in town. For now, I think I'm going to get started on another set of gloves to keep my busy tonight.

Busy busy busy. Story of my life. LOL. This week as been a little bit crazy with the holiday and all, but I figure I'll start falling back into the routine of things just in time for the weekend. I started my new job this week - sort of. So far all I have done has been watching the new hire videos and such. I'm anxious to wrap up all that and get into the real work. I'm working at PetSmart now. A definite upgrade. So much closer to home, more $ (plus more $ saved in gas), better hours. And so far everyone seems really nice. I think I'm going to like it there.

I went up today just to drop of my tax paperwork, and then it's back tomorrow. After that it waws back home to start the laundry mill again. I was going to spend some more time working on stitching, but I've made myself take a break to take care of some paperwork. And since some of that paperwork had to be printed, I thought I'd take a moment to pop in and update.

On the Etsy side of things, I've taken a semi break to work on a baby gift for a friend. After that, I'm thinking probably another pair of gloves since I have some yarn already stashed for that pattern. I'm also toying with the idea of adding baby layettes to the shop, but I haven't decided yet.

For now though, time to clear some space off the table, and get back to work.

Beautiful Sunday afternoon

So this weekend got off to a bang with the arrival of N and J. Unfortunately, EA was unable to join us, but it seems like she had a blast in ATL, so I'm happy. But I am feeling rather lonely these days, so I'll have to make some time to get together with her soon. But I enjoyed visiting with N and J immensely. I'm so happy that they're getting settled in NC, but I wish they hadn't had to move quite so far away.

I've almost finished the first of my pair of socks. It hasn't been as difficult as I envisioned it being. I think the next one will go quicker since I have the hang of the pattern now. I just have to finish working the instep, and shape the toe and I'm done with this one. But two nights in a row of staying up late, and I have no motivation to pick up the needles. All I want to do is curl up on the couch until I have to get ready for work. But perhaps the mood will strike before I have to get going. We shall see.

Other than that, there hasn't been much going on. So I think I'm going to get off of here for now, and spend some time with the family. TTFN

Beautiful Monday morning

Not a whole lot to add since Friday. We did luck up and get a very nice patio set for pretty cheap at the BX this weekend. I am going to miss the prices of things on base once our ID cards expire. But, that's okay. I'll just have to practice my skills at finding good sales in town. It's hard to believe that tomorrow is my birthday. 28 years old. Weird. Unfortunately, I got sucked into working because of inventory. Everyone is working tomorrow, so I wasn't able to get the day off after all. But hubby and I are going to spend some time together before I have to go to work. We're either going to go to the Shops at River Crossing and do some browsing at the stores, or we're going to hang out in town, and pick up some plants for the back yard. I think we're leaning more toward the plant idea, but we'll see. And the hubby is so sweet, he got me a stake yesterday to hang my strawberry planter on, so I'm anxious to get some strawberries growing.

I got another early start this morning, so I've been able to accomplish quite a bit already, and hope to get at least a few rows on my socks done today too. Little man woke up and wanted some sausage and OJ for breakfast, so he's munching away while playing Lego Indiana Jones - one of his favorite games. Kid is so busy playing I have to keep reminding him to stop and eat a little bit. But I try to cut him a break and let him play while he eats sometimes.

Just a few more days until N and J get here for their visit. I'm so excited. I can't wait to see my friends again. And I just found out that K is going to be in town this weekend too, but I don't know if she'll have time to meet up with us or not. I know when you're visiting like that, it's hard to make time for everyone that wants to see you. But we'll see how the weekend goes. The menu for this weekend is set. Spinach dip for starters, shish kabob and rice for dinner, and hummingbird cake and possibly homemade ice cream for desert. Can you tell we love entertaining? But anyways, I'm going to get off of here for now, and try to get some more done before I have to start getting ready.

TTFN

Another week gone

Here it is Friday, and I can't figure out where the week has went. Of course, that probably has more to do with the fact that I literally slept through the first two days of the week than it does with time going by fast, but you know. I was down for the first part of this week with a UTI that had spread into my kidneys. But the doctor gave me some antibiotics, pain killers, and phenergan so I seriously slept all of Monday night, all day Tuesday and all night Tuesday night. But I'm feeling better now (still a few days worth left of antibiotics of course) and am starting to get my energy back, so it's all good. The only drawback is that I haven't gotten any work done on my knitting or other projects because once I was up and moving around, I HAD to start catching up on housework. Fun stuff. But I'm happy with where the house is for now - although I will have to do some more serious cleaning before my friends come in from NC next week. I've missed them terribly and CAN'T wait until they get here. Plus, BONUS, Tuesday is my birthday. So next week is going to be fun all around. Of course, I already got my present, the hubby usually doesn't make me wait when I know what I'm getting anyways, but we're still going to go out, just the two of us for lunch and some shopping. Mostly window shopping, but it'll be fun. On a side note, I actually was at work the other night, and I was checking out a customer - a young man - and he asked me how old I am. Less than a week away from my birthday, I just said, I'm 28 (will be in a few days, so what's it matter, right?). His response is, "Huh. I'm 25. You're 3 years older than me." I'm thinking, really? are you going anywhere with this, or do you just enjoy pointing out to women how much older than you they are. Hmmm, probably why you're not married yet. Of course that's still not as bad as the guy that swore I was either pregnant with twins or a rather large baby when I was 7 months pregnant, but that's not the point. Other than that, work is work. Still short staffed, but we're managing. We are having some problems with the two new cashiers - one more so than the other, but I'm not convinced yet that either of them will make it yet. On Wednesday night I was working, still feeling like crap - but hey a) short staffed, and b) can't afford to miss two shifts in a row if I don't have to. I'm running around setting tables, endcaps, all kinds of fixtures - and he's walking around the sales floor talking on his cell phone. You've got to be kidding me, right? So now I'm going to have to start being the bad guy at work, and I hate being the bad guy. But I don't know what else to do. Either you do your job, or I don't have time for you. Is that really so wrong? Probably - depending on the perspective, but that's what life hands us. Little man is same as always. Growing like a weed, and something new at every turn. Yesterday, I go to Nana's to pick him up from work, and he's speaking German. My kid is learning German. It only took us three years to get him speaking English. Of course I shouldn't be surprised. Right. These little guys amaze me at every turn. But that's my life in a nutshell this week. For now, I'm jumping off and picking up the knitting needles. TTYL

Good morning world. It's a beautiful - but slightly chilly - weekend here. It's getting off to a long start after an 8 hour shift last night, and a rough nights sleep. We're puppy sitting for the parents, so for the weekend I have 3 dogs at my house and the 2 poms fight like tasmanian devils. No sooner did I start to drift off to sleep last night and they would start chasing each other in circles through the bedroom. Rather annoying to say the least. But it's only for one more night, and they always return the favor when we go out of town, so I'll survive.

I got to talk to my grandparents and my mom for a few minutes yesterday. GP is doing well after this last round of chemo. Still a little run down from it. And they shaved his head this time. His hair was getting so bad, he had GM go ahead and shave it. They sent me pictures after. It's weird to see him like that, but overall he looks good. And he saw the lung specialist after chemo, and he said it looks like he's getting a little better. But only time will tell.

Other than that, there hasn't been much going on. Little man is up and playing Lego Batman, and as soon as hubby wakes up, he's going to head to the range and do some shooting (as long as he doesn't sleep too much longer). As for me, I'm going to go start another load of laundry and pick my knitting needles back up. So far, I'm pretty happy with how the socks are turning out, but I haven't made it to the heel yet and, as I understand it, that's the hardest part to work. So we'll see how it goes. But I'm off for now. Talk to ya'll later.

Spring is HERE

You know I do try to write more often, but I just never seem to get around to it. Maybe one day I'll remember to make more time for blogging. Life has been full of many ups and downs lately. I found out last week that a sorority sister had passed away - reminding me that life is often too short, and to not let each day go to waste. And then through some unfortunate circumstances, I lost two of my co-workers - two of my friends. One resigned and one was let go. So, needless to say, it was a fairly emotional week. My store is so small that we develop these friendships and we become pretty close to each other. At least that's how I felt. One of the girls will no longer speak to me. But I shouldn't take it personally I suppose - she's not talking to anyone from BBV anymore. I spent almost all of last week crying between all the things that happened. It was unreal. I know how my mom talked about getting sick and wrung out when her company was going through lay offs, and how emotionally taxing it all was, but I didn't think I'd ever have to go through something like that. BB isn't a big company to just walk in and lay off ten people any given day - we don't even have 10 people on staff right now. But that's how it was. I went to sleep crying and woke up crying. It was insane. But I started doing better over the weekend. All I can do now is praise God that I still have my job, and pray that my friends find something soon.

On the family front - Little man has finally decided to be done with diapers. A few weeks ago I decided to cut out juice in an attempt to make it easier for him to tell when he needed to go - but I caved one morning while I was on the phone with Grandma and he was crying for a juice box. As soon as he finished his juice, he went and hid and used the bathroom in his pants. As the day wore on and I thought about it more, I decided to try another tactic. I gave him another juice with his dinner and took him straight to the bathroom as soon as he finished drinking it. He hasn't had an accident since. It's amazing to me that after all the fussing and fighting, it was that simple. But that's my little boy for you.

In other news, I'm just about finished up with the baby blanket I'm working on. And have a custom order through etsy to knock out after that - thank you SC. This particular blanket has to be one of my new favorite patterns. I can't wait to get it photographed and listed. I have a feeling it's going to be very popular. I am struggling to decide on a price for this one. A lot of yarn, and a lot of detail went into this one, so I want to charge a little more than I have been for baby blankets, but don't want to end up going too high. I just have to keep turning it around in my head. I'll figure it out when it's time to list it. I'm also going to try taking the photos for this one outside. I'm so unhappy with my listing photos, and really need to figure out my lighting issues. But we'll see how it goes.

For now, I think I'm going to get some laundry going and try to knock out the border on the blanket. Have a good one everyone.

Lazy morning

I have the morning off and don't have to start getting ready for work until about 1:00. So I am being lazy. I spent all day yesterday running errands, and doing chores, so this morning, I'm kicked back in the recliner watching Desperate Housewives on DVD while putting in some cross stitching on the second panel for the baby blanket. I have to finish this panel and do 1 more, and then I can do all the puff stitching between the panels, and then I'm done. This pattern is going to come out beautifully - but there are so many details in it; it's a very time consuming pattern. But I love it.

Little man is in his room playing games. It seems like he's feeling better today. He was pretty stuffy yesterday. All out of sorts.

I'm on day 4 of quitting smoking. The patch is helping a lot - along with a lot of prayer. But it's far from easy. And while the cravings aren't as bad as they were on that first day, I find myself being more irritable. Not bad at all, but just irritable. But it's okay - I WILL quit smoking. Things at work are going alright. We have a big store meeting on Saturday - something about all the rental terms changing. I think I'm going to make a new scones recipe to take along. Bad enough that we've all got to give up part of our Saturday, might as well get some yummy food in exchange. I found a new scone recipe online that I think just might do the trick, it looks pretty yummy. Plus I'm working on a design for a twilight themed cake for the New Moon midnight release. It's going to be so much fun.

Other than that, it's business as usual at my house. But for now, I think I'm going to watch a few more episodes, and put in a few more stitches, before I have to start getting ready for work. TTFN all.

It's been too long

I'm always appalled when I log in and see how long ago my last post was. I wish I was able to devote more time to blogging. I do actually enjoy doing it. Oh well, such is life.

We got to spend an extended weekend with my grandparents last weekend, which was really nice. I miss them all the time, and really wish that they lived closer. But it's always so much fun to see them with little man. Unfortunately, the hubby spent most of the visit sick. He came down with a stomach bug right after we got there, and then as soon as we get home - the munchkin gets it. Poor little guy. But they're both doing better now.

The dogs had a great time staying with the parents. And we get to puppy-sit their precious little pom this weekend so they can go away for a few days. I can't wait to see them all together. And since it occurs to me that I have yet to post a picture of my new best friend, here's one for you.




So precious.

I did finally scratch out some time to get a new listing up in the shop. I have one more piece completed and ready to be photographed, but I keep waiting on good lighting to get my pictures of it. And of course, the next piece is well underway.

So that's life at my house lately. Now it's time to get off of here and get some things done before I have to get ready for work. I get to work an extra long shift tonight courtesy of a conference call that is scheduled to run longer than normal. Fun times.

Busy weekend

So hubby took a some days off to make his weekend a little longer. We've spent a fair portion of the extended weekend on spring cleaning and major household decluttering. I'm happy with how far we've come, but I still have some things I'd like to get done before I'm happy with the placement of everything.

I also got to pick up some cotton yarn on sale for some future personal projects. So happy. I'm still waiting on my afghan hook to arrive in the mail. Not that I'm in a major rush on it - I don't need it until I have the current piece finished. But I get excited every time I'm waiting on a delivery. I'm like a kid waiting for Christmas. Anyways, in other shop news ~ I got featured in a treasury. So exciting! I do believe it's the first time I've ever been picked for a treasury. They chose my white pineapple baby blanket.

And back in the home life - my little man had his 4-year check up today. Poor little guy had to get 5 shots - so not fun. But he seems to have taken it like a champ. No fever and very little fussiness. So proud of my little guy.

And that's about it for this weekend. Tomorrow, it's back to the normal routine, and back to work myself.

Learning new things

So I signed up for a Ravelry some time ago, in a quest for new patterns. I haven't done much with it since then, but I logged in today to check on some things, and realized how much I can do with my Ravelry. So I've decided to dive in and figure this thing out. I've added my current project, and the one I have slated as my next one to my notebook, and am looking for friends to add. Hopefully, I like the sight as much as I think I will.

I also ordered the yarn for the next project today (hooray for yarn sales! got it all for 20% off!). So I can't wait for that to arrive. Fortunately, the sweet hearts blanket that I'm currently making is a favorite that I've made many times, and I should have it finished fairly quickly.

And tonight little man is going to stay with the grandparents for the evening, so that hubby and I can get some much needed alone time. We're planning on some shopping at the flea market (and possibly the book store for me), and then chilling out with some movies at home. I hope that everyone enjoys their weekend as much as I plan to.